Sunset Shimmer struggled to hold back the tears as she left Canterlot High. So many emotions swirled about inside her: Anger for being thrust into something like this so unexpectedly. Confusion over the fact that she didn't know how she was going to handle it. Frustration with the three week deadline that had been dropped on her. Even sadness and a hint of betrayal due to the fact that her friends would all be going their separate ways.
The girl knew it was wrong to feel that way. She hadn't really expected everyone to stay together forever, had she? Flash Sentry had already announced he was leaving to try out for the Canterlot Police Academy (the same academy Twilight's brother had attended and graduated from after his Crystal Prep years). And Trixie was planning to take her magical acts on the road. To say nothing of how Wallflower Blush was leaving for the countryside to continue her plant based studies. Of course her friends would have goals and desires that would ultimately take them far away.
But a small part of Sunset had hoped that she and her friends would be an exception. After everything they'd been through, how could they just split up?
These feelings lingered in Sunset like her past misdeeds. Not since the Memory Stone had erased everyone's memories of her had she felt this alone and vulnerable. And this time she didn't know what she was going to do. Was she really up to the task of protecting the secret of Equestrian Magic's existence? She'd tried once before and had failed. Who knew how many threats existed in the human world that were just like the threats Princess Twilight and her friends had faced? What would Sunset do if she came up against a threat like Sombra or the Storm King?
Immediately upon returning to the apartment she'd called home for years, Sunset threw her backpack down on the ground and threw herself upon her bed. "Why do I always have to deal with these things?!" She thought out loud, even though the only one who could hear her was her pet salamander, Ray. "Everyone else gets to live their lives in peace. But I always have to deal with Equestrian Magic, all because I chose to come here because I couldn't see past my own ego."
Minutes of muffled crying filled the air as Sunset buried her face into her pillows. The more she thought about it the more it seemed so unfair. To ask a girl like her who hadn't even been in this world for that many years, to do something that had previously been done by an entire team of professionals. And the worst part was, she couldn't just fail her classes and not graduate. Because she would still be without her friends, and sooner or later she would have to leave Canterlot High behind.
When the tears finally stopped flowing, Sunset felt only slightly better. A rumble in her stomach turned her attention to other things as she set about preparing dinner for herself, and spent a good deal of time playing video games. But they were nothing more than temporary distractions. They couldn't give her the satisfaction or answers she so desperately desired.
So it was that eventually, Sunset turned off the game console and sighed heavily as she went to retrieve her backpack. Inside was the one thing she could always turn to when she needed help, her magic journal. She picked up a pen, flipped open the journal to an empty page, and wrote:
Dear Princess Twilight,
Sorry if this catches you at a bad time. Guess it's been a while since we just talked to each other.
Anyway, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that I'm finally going to graduate from Canterlot High in a few weeks. The bad news is, I found out today that the superintendent of Canterlot High's been working to keep all knowledge of Equestrian Magic under wraps. And after my friends and I graduate, we'll no longer have that protection.
All of my friends are going to be leaving for different colleges, except for Fluttershy. But even then it seems like our life goals are going to take us in a dozen different directions, and we may never see each other again.
I really don't know how I'm going to single handedly keep Equestrian Magic under wraps the way Canterlot High's superintendent has. Especially not with the possibility of portals besides the one at Canterlot High.
Sorry to drop all this on you, but I really need your advice. What should I do in this situation What can I do? Are my friends and I really going to have to go it alone when we go our separate ways?
Please write back to me. This time I really don't know who else I can turn to for help.
Sincerely,
Sunset Shimmer
The ink had barely dried on the pages when the journal glowed brightly. Sunset quickly read the new words that appeared on the paper:
Dear Sunset Shimmer,
First of all, congratulations on making it all the way to the end! You remind me of Starlight Glimmer when she graduated from her studies. Ultimately, she chose to stay with me in Ponyville, partially because I wasn't ready for her to leave yet. But also partially because she still felt she had stuff to learn, though now she's kind of become a teacher in her own right.
Second, I've been looking into those portals ever since that cruise you and your friends went on. I can't say for sure how long they've been active or when they were created. Even Starswirl the Bearded doesn't seem to have any recollection of them. He was surprised to learn what happened to the Dazzlings after he banished them.
Anyway, maybe the portals existed long before you ever came along, and maybe they didn't. Either way, it seems like the world you live in and Equestria are intertwined in more ways than we might have thought. If that's the case, I'm not sure if you can really keep Equestrian Magic a secret forever. Nothing really does secret forever, sooner or later the truth comes out.
As for you and your friends, I can't say for sure what the future holds for you. But while friendships may change it doesn't mean they have to end. True friendships can endure many hardships. I've seen the bonds you and The Rainbooms share. I know about all the new friends you've made and all the foes you've helped to redeem. You remind me a lot of my friends. And take it from a pony who used to think she didn't need friendship, I could never imagine my friends and I truly being apart forever. Though our lives may go in different directions we'll always still be together one way or another.
Perhaps you won't see each other face to face as often. Perhaps you'll need to find new ways to stay in touch. But those bonds of friendship only end if you let them fall into disarray.
And whatever you choose to do with your life, there will always be a place for you here in Equestria.
Hope that helps,
Princess Twilight
P.S. Starlight Glimmer says 'Hi.'
Reading the words again, just to be sure she hadn't misread anything, Sunset felt something be lifted from her ever so slightly. Her worries seemed so silly now. "Princess Twilight is right," She thought to herself. "We've been through too much together to let our friendships end after high school. We'll find a way to stay in touch."
The next day, Sunset Shimmer was feeling much more cheerful. Almost as if the events of yesterday had never happened. Her fellow Rainbooms were most surprised at this and blinked.
"Just who are you and what have you done with the real Sunset?" Twilight demanded. "Are you some kind of clone?"
"Or maybe you're a spy sent to find out what the real Sunset knows?" Rainbow Dash questioned.
Pinkie Pie gasped! "Or maybe you're a clone who's a spy!"
But Sunset smiled. "It's really me, girls. I know it's probably a surprise, but I've come to realize that our friendships don't have to end when we graduate," She explained to them as she strolled up the familiar steps. "What we've done here is created a bond that can last forever, if we're willing to let it be that way."
Rarity nodded. "We were starting to think the same way, Sunset, dear. And there's something we want to show you. Something we created after you left yesterday." And they showed her a laptop that displayed a custom page of a familiar website, one that they had used occasionally (or in Sunset's case whenever she was livestreaming one of her video game play sessions).
Fluttershy explained. "This is a way for us to stay in touch no matter where our lives take us. We even got Neighsay to sign onto it, so we can contact him if we ever run into trouble. He stays it'll still be up to us to monitor every instant of Equestrian Magic and keep it under wraps."
Applejack added. "But in all honesty, that's probably gonna be an uphill battle even with us all in different places. The world's super connected, stuff travels faster than you realize. A video featurin' just seconds of somethin' unusual can go viral in half an hour or less."
Twilight grinned. "I'm still working on a way to do what Neighsay claims he did all the time. Everything is still experimental at this stage though," She added with a blush. "No breakthroughs yet. But as Edison said when inventing the light bulb 'I haven't failed, I've just invented one hundred ways in which it won't work.'"
Sunset couldn't help but chuckle at that. She knew now that even if some things did change, the bonds she had with her friends wouldn't. They were bonds that would last until the end of time, no matter what came up.