Northern Star smiled as she prepared snacks for her daughter and her guests, the distant sound of laughter coming from above. It had been far too long since Sunset brought any friends home; her studies had always taken priority over friends before they moved. Her first couple weeks in town may have been much different than she expected, but at least she found some friends, even if the circumstances of their meeting and nature of those friends were more than unorthodox.
She felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her midsection and a chin rest on her shoulder. Turning her head, she saw her husband beside her. "Someone seems to be in a good mood," he whispered.
She leaned her head against his. "I'm just so happy for Sunny that she made friends. It's been just so quiet at home all the time. This is so much better, don't you think?"
He nodded before pulling away. "I agree. A young girl like her needs someone to help her loosen up. Even so, it's still hard to wrap my head around the fact that there are two of her up there."
"Mhmm," Northern agreed, "they are so much alike but still so different. Just like twins." She stopped for a moment as an idea came to her mind.
~*~
Twilight Sparkle stepped out of the bedroom she had spent the last couple hours inside with both Sunsets—watching movies, playing games and telling stories from Equestria—and walked down the short hallway. So far, the evening was a success in her books; not only were they having actual fun, but she was successfully distracting her friend from the earlier interactions with the students, Anon-a-Miss and the Rainbooms.
The last week Sunset had spent with her in Equestria had been taxing with the downtrodden mood the girl had been in after her friends' betrayal, but now, she was laughing and enjoying herself again.
Twilight sighed. She still felt incredibly guilty about what happened, even if Sunset never blamed her for anything. It was her after all that left Sunset in the Rainbooms’ care, believing them to be just like her friends back home.
She shook her head. Blaming herself would help no one. She made a mistake and had to live with it. All that was important was helping Sunset now to make up for her mistake.
With that thought in mind, Twilight reached her destination and opened another door, stepping into the bathroom.
Ten or so minutes later, Twilight stepped out of the bathroom, only to stop when she saw Northern Star standing by the door to Sunset’s room, the door cracked open as she peeked in. Curious about what she was doing, she approached the woman. "What are you doing?" she whispered, causing Northern to jump in surprise.
"Oh, there you are, Twilight," she said softly after catching her breath, her hand to her chest. "I was just testing something that came to my mind a few minutes ago."
Twilight looked the woman over, her eyes narrowed. She didn't like the sound of that. "Testing? What do you mean?"
Realizing how that sounded, Northern quickly waved her hands placatingly. "It’s nothing like that!" she said. "Just… Hmm, how do I say it...? Just satisfying my curiosity about something. You see, my daughter has an obsession with a certain snack, and I was curious to see if Shimmer had the same taste. So, I went ahead and brought some of them over while you were gone."
"Oh, that doesn't sound so bad," Twilight said, relieved. A moment later, Northern could see Twilight’s curiosity showing itself. "So, what's the result?" Instead of saying anything, Northern waved her over, and together, they peeked into the room.
Sitting on the ground in front of the screen where she left them, the two identical girls sat, glaring at each other. Neither of them seemed to move or even blink. Each of them had a hand hovering near a small dish on the floor between them. Twilight squinted her eyes at what was on the dish. "Is that a snickerdoodle?"
"Yup," Northern said. "Sunny’s obsession and greatest weakness. Never try to get between her and her cookies, or you’ll regret it. She tends to bite."
"I’ll keep that in mind," Twilight said carefully. Her thoughts drifted back to the events of the Fall Formal and how it could have ended with some cookies at hand if they are such a weakness of her Sunset as well, causing her to snort at the mental image. Shaking her head, she returned to the matter at hand. "But what are they doing? It looks like they’re frozen."
"Well, much to my surprise, they actually shared in the beginning." Seeing the confusion on the girl’s face, Northern elaborated, "There are not many people Sunset shares her snickerdoodles with. Seeing her share them with Shimmer immediately was a big surprise." She smiled. "That lasted until there was only one left. Now they seem to be locked in a battle of wills. They both want the last snickerdoodle, but they both know that the moment they get distracted, the other will take it. They are now waiting for the other to slip up."
"Interesting... but what now?" Twilight asked. "Do we just wait?"
"Yes and no," Northern said with a smile before she opened the door fully and walked into the room, past the two girls—neither of whom paid her any mind—and towards the desk, Twilight following her. She took a piece of paper from the printer, ripped off a small part, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it lightly against her daughter’s head. Sunset’s eye twitched upon impact, but otherwise, she didn’t react, her eyes still locked on her counterpart’s. Northern giggled while she prepared the next paper ball. "Now, we’re going to have some fun. Let's see which of them succumbs to outside pressure first."
Twilight stared at the woman, surprised by her childish demeanor, but when Northern offered her the second ball, she took it. She hesitated at first, her eyes moving from the little paper ball in her hand towards her friends, before she gave in to temptation and, just like Northern did before, she threw the ball against Shimmer’s head, where it bounced off harmlessly, resulting in another eye twitch.
Twilight couldn't resist giggling. "Okay, I have to admit, it's kind of fun."
Northern gave her another smile. "I knew you would like this. Now," she said, handing another piece of paper to Twilight, "let's see who will win this fight."
Twilight nodded as the two of them ripped off pieces of paper to create more ammunition for their assault against the two girls.
~*~
Angel Bunny didn't know what to do, which was a rare moment. Usually, he knew exactly what he wanted and how to get it. When the pink one arrived earlier with his crying master in her arms and placed her on her bed, where she curled up into a crying ball, he was certain that he knew how to handle the situation once the pink one left.
He was wrong.
He tried everything, from patting her back to nuzzling her cheek and cuddling with her to make her feel better, but nothing worked. She even told him to go away!
That was unacceptable.
He wasn’t the only one worried about her, either. Some of the others tried to cheer their master up as well; the kitten was walking all around her, rubbing herself against her to maybe get a reaction out of her; the bird was singing a song, and the hamster was running in his strange ball against everything in its way, probably trying to make her laugh. Nothing worked.
Angel frowned in concern at the crying girl. To most people, he was just a grumpy bunny that was a huge jerk to everyone, and that's how he liked it, but he also cared deeply about his master. If there was anything he could do to help her, he would do it if necessary.
He rubbed his little paw under his chin, thinking about what to do. Being there for her was not enough, and neither was trying to cheer her up. He was a very good listener, but she didn't want to talk to him.
An idea came to Angel as that thought crossed his mind. She didn't want to talk with him, but maybe she needed someone to talk to her. But who? He couldn't speak her language, and neither could any of her other pets. Her parents weren’t home, so who—
A sound from one of the nearby rooms made Angel pause in his thought process, pondering what it was, before his eyes widened. There was someone else who could help, but Angel was wary. Getting him to help might be the solution to his problem at paw, but he usually made everything worse. Angel looked over at the crying girl and made his decision. Even he couldn’t make it that much worse.
Hopping down from the bed, Angel made his way through the door the pink one left open earlier. Soon after, there was a commotion accompanied with some shouting before Angel reappeared in the doorframe, a hairbrush in his mouth, which he dropped on the floor.
Moments later, a young man appeared in the doorframe. "You little rat! How many times do I have to tell you to stay away from my things?" Zephyr Breeze yelled. He bent down to grab his brush, but once he was close enough, Angel pulled on his vest and pointed into the room. "What are you—" Zephyr began to say, but he stopped the moment he saw his older sister crying on her bed.
Seeing that he had finally noticed her, Angel hopped back into the room and on the bed, where he rubbed his head against Fluttershy's without any reaction coming from the girl.
His brush forgotten, Zephyr rose and stepped into the room. He maneuvered carefully around the concerned animals until he reached the bed and sat down beside his sister. "Hey, Flutter-Butter," he said softly, laying one hand on her shoulder, "what's wrong?"
"Go away."
Zephyr grimaced but didn't move. "Now, there are at least two reasons why I can't do that. The first is that your little knight in white fluff would probably drag me back here by my ear or my hair if I try to leave."
Angel pretended to think about it for a moment before he grinned and nodded vigorously.
"Yep," Zephyr mumbled to himself before focusing on his sister again. "And the second is that I'm still your brother. I admit that I might be a bit troublesome sometimes..."
At this point, Fluttershy lifted her head enough so that he could see her “Are you kidding me?” look, the same look every single animal in the room gave him. Zephyr looked around the room, slightly creeped out, before he sighed. "Alright, I'm a real pain. Happy now? My point is no matter how much I annoy you, I’ll always be by your side if you need me, even if it's only to comfort you and listen to you talking about your problems."
Fluttershy looked at her brother in surprise, and for the first time, she didn’t see the usual nuisance that drove her up the wall but instead saw a caring little brother concerned about his sister. The thought brought a little smile to her face.
"Now, how about you tell me what’s bothering you?"
And just like that, the dam broke again as her mind drifted back to what she did. She threw her arms around him and cried into his shoulder, blabbering things Zephyr couldn't understand. He tried to get her to tell him what happened, but every time she tried, she just started crying more loudly, so he decided to just be there for her for the time being.
He sat with her for over an hour, rubbing her back and doing whatever he could to comfort her, while Angel and the other animals did the same until she fell asleep.
~*~
Sitting on one of the hills of Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack sighed as she looked over the orchard into the sunset. Her ears were still ringing from Granny Smith tearing into her upon her return from school with Apple Bloom. She was furious with her younger granddaughter, but she was equally angry at the older one, as well.
Telling someone to be a part of their family only to discard her just a few days later was not something the Apple matriarch liked to hear. So, Applejack had received her own verbal lashing before being sent out so that Granny could deal with Apple Bloom.
“Granny’s right,” Applejack thought. “Ah messed up big this time. Ah shoulda been more open before accusin’ her like that.”
But now, it was too late; the damage had been done. She had hurt Sunset deeply, her trust in her sister had been shattered, and there were still the consequences of Anon-a-Miss coming up that they had to deal with. And all of this because she didn't spend enough time with her sister or trust her friend.
"Applejack?"
Looking behind her, she watched as Apple Bloom slowly climbed the hill, a grimace on her face which seemed to deepen with each step, until she stood a few feet behind Applejack, barely looking at her sister. "Granny told me to get ya. Dinner’ll be ready soon."
Applejack nodded and turned her attention back to the sunset. She could hear her sister turning to walk back. "Bloom? C’mere." The girl hesitated for a moment before she stepped beside her sister. "Come sit with me."
Apple Bloom bit her lip. "Um, if ya don't mind, Ah’d rather stand."
Confused, Applejack turned her attention back to her sister. The girl stood beside her but didn't look her in the eyes. She held her hands behind her, and Applejack could just make out barely visible tearstains on her cheeks. Combine that with the grimace she wore on her way up to her, and Applejack recognized the signs and smiled in sympathy.
"Granny tanned yer hide, huh?" she asked. Apple Bloom looked down before nodding. "In that case, ya better sit down." Apple Bloom's eyes widened. "It's part of the package, or do ya think Granny is gonna let ya stand durin’ dinner? Better get used to it beforehand. Believe me."
Apple Bloom remained standing for a minute before she slowly sat down, grimacing in pain all the while. It took her another minute to find a halfway comfortable position, but in the end, both sisters sat side by side, watching the sunset.
"Why did ya think it was a good idea to spread those secrets?" Applejack finally asked. "And Ah'm not talking about yer reason for doin' it in the first place. Why secrets, of all things?"
"Ah dunno," Apple Bloom said, looking into the distance. "It looked like the best way ta make ya angry without really hurtin’ you."
Applejack huffed. "Well, in that case, you were wrong. It may not hurt physically, but when everybody starts making fun of ya, it still hurts. It’s just a different hurt." She looked down at the younger girl. "And it hurts even more learning that it's yer sister sayin’ those things and makin’ fun of ya."
Apple Bloom sniffed. "Ah'm sorry."
"Ah know," Applejack said, sighing deeply. "But sayin’ 'sorry' doesn’t fix everything." She remained quiet for a minute before she spoke again. "Do ya even know why we spent so much time with Sunset lately?" Apple Bloom shook her head. "Because she’s all alone, somethin’ we only realized after the Battle o’ the Bands when she opened up to us. She has no one else in our world and not many more in her own world. Her parents even died when she was a baby. She can't remember anything about them."
Apple Bloom looked at her sister in surprise before she lowered her gaze to the grass. "Just like me..."
Applejack nodded. "Just like you, but at least ya had Mac, Granny and me, along with all our relatives, to take care of ya. Sunset had—has—no one.
"Before our first sleepover and this whole mess began, Ah learned that she never celebrated Christmas since comin’ here. She just saw it like any other day," she continued. "So, we wanted to make it the best holiday she ever had by spending time with her and invitin’ her to the Christmas party here at Sweet Apple Acres, as part of our family."
Apple Bloom pulled her legs towards her chest and rested her forehead on her knees, ignoring the pain from her aching backside. "And then, we ruined everything."
Looking into the sunset, Applejack sighed. "Yeah, ya did, but so did we."
Both girls fell into silence while the sun slowly disappeared below the horizon.
"AJ?" Apple Bloom asked after several minutes of silence. "Do ya hate me?"
Taking a deep breath, Applejack thought about it for a moment before she answered, "Bloom, what ya did put a big strain on our bond, and it’ll take a long time before Ah can trust ya again, but no, Ah don't hate ya, especially not for somethin' that shouldn't have worked in the first place without me messin' up as well. You’re m’ li’l sister, and no matter what happens, Ah’ll always love ya." Applejack's shoulders slumped. "Ah just wish Ah treated Sunset the same way."
They fell into silence again. Only when the day fully gave way to the night did they rise and walk back toward the farmhouse without saying anything else to each other.
~*~
The scratching of pencil on paper was the only sound in the room, followed by the sound of paper being crumpled before joining its friends in the paper bin, which was already overflowing.
For the last few hours since returning from school, Rarity had tried to distract herself by working on new designs, but no matter how hard she tried, the results had been downright terrible, many new inhabitants of her closet of shame should she ever dare to make them.
Shimmer’s words have been echoing in her head the entire day, reminding her of how much her actions had damaged the girl and their relationship. Even though she held on to that little hope, she didn't expect that the girl would or even could forgive her or the others for what they had done. They didn’t just break her trust; they crushed it into so many pieces that it would never even be close to how it used to be. And her relationship with Shimmer wasn’t the only one in pieces.
Sighing, Rarity placed the tip of her pencil once again onto a new sheet of paper, but after drawing just a few lines, she was interrupted by a light knock on her door. "Rarity?" Anger rose inside her upon hearing the voice of her sister, one of those responsible for the entire debacle, but she said nothing.
A second knock echoed throughout the room before the door opened just enough so that the girl could see her sister at her desk. "Rarity? Mom told me to get you. Dinner’s ready."
Rarity gripped the pencil harder and answered without turning around, "I am not hungry right now. I will eat something later. Now leave me alone." She was surprised that she could make her voice sound so calm, considering how angry she was.
The door did not close. Instead, it opened even more, evidenced by the sound of the slightly squeaky hinges Rarity truly needed to do something about. "Are you sure? Mom made—"
Sweetie Belle was cut off when Rarity rose from her seat and slammed her hands on the desk, snapping the pencil she was still holding in two. Sweetie recoiled and gripped the door, hiding behind it.
Rarity still didn't turn to face her sister when she spoke, her voice rising with every word she said. "I said. Leave. Me. Alone!"
Tears running down her face, Sweetie slowly closed the door behind her. Rarity could hear her retreating footsteps and her whimpering until everything was quiet again.
Slowly steadying her breath, Rarity slumped down on her seat. She looked at the remains of the broken pencil on the desk and the half still held in her hand before she tossed them into the waste bin. She took a new one and lowered it towards her sketch, but before it even touched the paper, tears fell from her own cheeks onto the paper.
At first, she was only whimpering, but it quickly turned into sobbing. Not long after, she buried her face in her arms on her desk and cried.
Things would never be as they used to be.