Mirror Equestria

by FujiwaraJunko


Purpose

After all the chaos with the Crusaders and Nightmare Moon, peace seemed to finally have returned to the humble little town of Ponyville. But Sunset wore a frown on her face in contrast to the smiles surrounding her.

“I understand now that you still have a purpose here.”

No matter how hard she thought about it, she just couldn’t make any sense out of the Moon Princess’s words. What exactly did Luna mean by that? What purpose do I still have here?

“Loosen up, Sunny!” Sunset nearly jumped out of her skin when Pinkie suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

“Gah, Pinkie! Where did you even come from?!” Pinkie just grinned.

“My Pinkie Sense told me that somepony was feeling down, so I came to turn that frown upside down!” Sunset just shook her head.

“Of course, never question the Pinkie Sense. Or Pinkie Pie in general.” Pinkie just giggled as their friends trotted up to join them.

“No kidding. So, what’s on your mind, Sunset?” Sunset couldn’t help the small smile on her face as she looked to her friends.

“Oh, it’s nothing much, girls.”

“Are you thinking about your own world?” Fluttershy asked curiously.

“My own world?” Sunset was surprised when Fluttershy brought that topic up. She hadn’t thought of her world for a while now, not since her talk with Luna a few nights ago. “Now that you mentioned it, I still haven’t figured out how I got to this world. Everything after I casted that spell is a blank.”

“Do you ever think of going back?” Rarity asked.

“I…actually haven’t given that much thought at all.”

“Well, aren’t you going to go back then? After all, your work here is done, isn’t it?” Pinkie asked.

“H-Huh? What do you mean, Pinkie?”

“Oh, I get it.” Rainbow Dash said as she flew down to Sunset’s side. “I mean, think about it! Everything here was a mess until you came in and solved all of our problems! Isn’t it too much of a coincidence?” Sunset raised a brow at her.

“Pretty sure it’s just a coincidence, Dash. Besides, I couldn’t have solved all the problems without you girls.”

“And we wouldn’t have helped you if you hadn’t managed to solve our own little fight.” Applejack said. “By yourself.” She added as an afterthought.

“That was one time, AJ. And I didn’t even do much. All I did was point out loopholes you didn’t consider because you were busy ignoring one another rather than talking it out.”

“I say it still counts!” Rainbow Dash said, doing a somersault in the air. “You were a stranger and you didn’t have a reason to help us, but you did anyway! Isn’t it like you were sent here to fix our mess?”

“Yeah! So it’s like, now that everything is peaceful and everypony have smiles on their faces, Sunset has fulfilled her purpose!” Sunset’s eyes widened at the word Pinkie said.

“My purpose…?” She frowned, putting her hoof to her muzzle thoughtfully before looking to the girls. “Girls! Before Luna left, she said something that I still can’t understand.”

“What is it, darling?” Rarity asked, their curiosity piqued.

“She told me that I still have a purpose here.” Confusion was evident on their faces as they took in her words.

“So…does that mean there’s still a problem that you haven’t fixed, which is why you can’t go back to your own world yet?” Applejack asked.

“Maybe…?” Sunset shrugged. “But hey, for all you know, there could be a way for me to go back, we just have to find out how!”

“You were sent here for a reason, Sunny. You’re gonna need a reason to be sent back!” Pinkie chirped. All was silent for a while as everypony stared at Pinkie.

“…How does Pinkie seem to make sense and not make sense at the same time?” Sunset asked as she groaned, putting a hoof to her head as she shook her head. “No- Nevermind. First rule in any world; never question Pinkie Pie.” All of them broke out in laughter at that.

“Still, sugarcube, do you want to go back?” Sunset looked to her. In her head, all kinds of thoughts were running through, while her friends just remained silent. After what seemed like an eternity, Sunset finally sighed.

“Part of me wants to go back. I mean, I have you girls here, and you’re the best friends I ever had. You’re pretty much even my family, and this place is probably my home now too! But…” Sunset looked down. “But it wouldn’t be the same. Here, I have friends and a place to call home. Back in my world though, I have a city where many ponies hate me, and I face the possibility of incurring the wrath of the strongest pony in Equestria. And yet, is it bad that I still want to go back? I want to go back and apologise to all the ponies I’ve wronged. I want to go back and start over again as a new pony. I want to go back and show them that I’ve changed, that I’m a better pony. I want to go back and…see Princess Celestia- my Princess Celestia- again. I owe her so much. But…”

“Hey, Sunset, listen!” She looked to Dash, who crossed her hooves. “If that’s what you want, then do it! No matter what you decide to do from here on, you know we’ll always support you, even if we aren’t physically there.” She smiled confidently as she flew down to meet Sunset’s eyes. “Trust us, we won’t abandon one of our own.”

“Dash is right.” Sunset looked over to Fluttershy, who smiled reassuringly to her. “We’re your friends, Sunset, and we really care about you. So if you want to go back to your world, we won’t stop you.”

“Fluttershy’s right, darling!” Rarity said as she walked to Sunset’s side. “My only request is that you won’t ever forget us.” Sunset offered her a smile at that.

“Never. Not when you’ve been so kind to me.” Her eyes trailed down to her geode. “And especially not when we have something unique connecting us.” No sooner had she finished speaking that she was pulled into the tightest hug that only one pony could achieve.

“P-Pinkie! Too tight!” Pinkie just pulled away without the slightest hinge of remorse on her face. Instead, she wore a large grin on her face.

“Remember to smile, ok? Smiles can turn a bad situation into a happy memory! So even if you leave someday, you’ll look back and find yourself smiling when you remember us and everything we did together, even during bad times!” Sunset smiled.

“I’ll keep that in mind, Pinkie.” Pinkie finally released her from her hold as Applejack walked up to her.

“An Apple never forgets family, and you’re part of my family, Sunset. Nopony can replace you, and nopony can replace us either. But if you do ever leave someday, promise us you’ll make friends.”

“AJ, I-”

“Pinkie promise us!” Applejack urged. “Swear you’ll make new friends, no matter where you go!”

“C-Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” Sunset nervously recited as she made a cross motion across her chest and put her hoof to her eye.

“Good.” Applejack nodded in satisfaction. “Make sure you make new friends who are just as irreplaceable as us.”