“I thought we had a deal,” Twilight yelled over the pounding dance music. She’d crossed her arms and put on a pout. “You don’t get to fight menacing magical monsters without me!”
“Monster, technically—there was only one,” said Sunset with a big smile. When Twilight’s glare just grew sharper, Sunset took her hand. “I should have brought you, I know! But I could barely stand having one person in my brain. Any more, and my head might have popped.”
Twilight pulled away. “You could have at least told me what was going on. What if your plan hadn’t worked, and the Marabunta killed you? What would I do then?” She gestured to the Fall Formal going on around them. “They’d be holding a funeral instead of a dance!”
Sunset groaned and looked around. She hadn’t mustered the courage to tell Twilight about her mind-adventure until they’d arrived at the Fall Formal—on Sunday, two days after the fact. Arguing with your girlfriend was already stressful, and the strobe lights and thumping music of a high school dance didn’t help.
Now, Twilight and Sunset sat on the bleachers in the corner, close together but feeling miles apart.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Twilight asked, hugging herself tighter.
“I’m sorry. I wanted to, I just—” Sunset stared at her lap, twiddling her thumbs. “I didn’t want to tell you about how awful I used to be.”
Twilight raised a brow, but wouldn’t look at her. “What do you mean, ‘awful?’”
“What kind of person casts a spell to create a monster whose only purpose is to hurt people? An awful person.” Sunset nodded at the gym’s opposite wall, where none of the brickwork seemed to match. “It’s only been a year since everyone saw me go crazy and destroy the school. Everyone but you. I don’t want you to ever see that part of me.”
“That was a year ago. The mistakes you’ve made are in the past.”
“The Marabunta wasn’t. That’s a mistake I was still paying for in the present. I’ve caused a lot of problems for people, Twi.”
“Maybe you have.” This time, Twilight grabbed Sunset’s hand. “But we all cause problems sometimes! What’s important is that you try to fix the problem! And it sounds like that’s what you did.”
Sunset chuckled softly. “Yeah. It seems like I fix those sorts of problems a lot.”
“You don’t have to fix them alone.” Twilight tightened her grip. “I don’t care about what you used to be. I care about what you are — and I just want to see you safe.”
Their eyes met, and they shared a smile. Then with both arms, Sunset pulled Twilight into a hug.
Sunset buried her face into Twilight’s shoulder. “I’m sorry for not telling you what was going on. It was really stupid of me.”
“Yes, it was.” Twilight laughed and rubbed Sunset’s back. “But you look lovely tonight, so I’ll forgive you.”
The two pulled away—then Twilight’s eyes sharpened back into a glare. She poked a finger into Sunset’s chest. “That said, next time you shrink down in size to explore the inner machinations of someone’s psyche, I come along.”
Sunset giggled. “Sure.”
The music lulled, and from a few feet away came a new voice. “Okay, she’s smiling. I don’t think Twilight dumped her.”
Twilight and Sunset looked up to find Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy heading towards them.
Rainbow waved. “Are you two done arguing, or should we try again later?”
“Nah, we’re done,” Sunset said. She flicked a glance at Twilight. “We are done, right?”
“For now,” Twilight said with a smirk. She turned to Rainbow and Fluttershy. “Hey, you two. Thanks for helping Sunset out.”
Fluttershy gasped. “Oh, Sunset told you? And you’re not mad?”
“I’m still a bit peeved that you didn’t take me along to study this rare creature,” Twilight said, “but I understand.”
“That’s good,” Rainbow said, rubbing the back of her head. “I’ve had a lot of friends mad at me lately. It’s not fun.”
“No, it’s not,” Sunset murmured. She and Rainbow locked eyes for just a moment, but it felt like a whole conversation. It turned out that letting someone pick your brain—literally—did wonders for strengthening a relationship.
Speaking of which...
Sunset took her girlfriend’s hand again. “Uh, Twi... would you mind if Rainbow and I talked for a sec?”
Twilight raised a brow. “Excluding me again, I see.”
“No, no, it’s just—”
“I’m kidding.” Twilight stood up and stretched. “Besides, if I’m seeing right, I just saw Pinkie Pie get her head stuck in the lemonade pitcher. I’ll be back—no magic while I’m gone.”
Sunset held up three fingers. “Scout’s honor.”
Twilight scoffed. “There is no way you were a Girl Scout.”
“You’re right—I was a Filly Scout,” said Sunset with a nod.
“They have those?” Fluttershy asked, eyes widening.
Twilight rolled her eyes, but snickered as she walked away.
That left Rainbow and Fluttershy to sit down next to Sunset. Rainbow knocked her knees together like a nervous tic, and she seemed to look everywhere but Sunset’s face.
After a too long silence, Sunset tried, “So, how have you been—”
“I’m sorry. Again.” Rainbow knocked her knees faster. “I went into your thoughts when I shouldn’t have, and nearly got us killed. It was wrong, it sucked so hard, and I’m sorry. I mean that.”
“Oh.” Sunset blinked. “Thanks.”
“I know I always say sorry, and I never change.” Rainbow bit her lip. “I just assume that everyone will forgive me, and I don’t care. So I’m sorry for all the times I’ve said something stupid, or knocked into you, or teased you, or—”
Sunset held up her hands. “Rainbow, stop!”
Rainbow moved her mouth wordlessly for a few seconds, then stopped and looked to Sunset.
“I accept your apology. But it’s not true that you don’t care—of course you care! You came into my head to help me confront my demons, you pushed me out of the way of the Marabunta. Fluttershy even told me about how you helped her fix her birdhouse!”
Fluttershy smiled. “It has lightning bolts on it now.”
“But I was the one who broke it in the first place!” Rainbow yelped. “All I do is cause problems.”
Sunset sighed. “It’s true, you can be reckless and impulsive. And there’s stuff you can improve on, sure.” She laid a hand on Rainbow’s shoulder. “But don’t start hating yourself. You don’t need to become some perfect person. Admit your flaws, but don’t start hating yourself, hating everything you’ve ever done. That’s how you end up like me, lying to everyone about your feelings because you’re scared they won’t like you.”
Rainbow opened her mouth like she was about to argue, but instead just nodded.
“So let’s try this again,” said Sunset. “Without the self-hatred.”
Rainbow took in a deep breath. “I need to be more considerate, I guess. I need to slow down, start thinking before I speak or act. It’ll probably keep me out of a lot of trouble.”
“That’s better.”
“But is that it?” said Rainbow, turning to Sunset. “I screwed up. I want to make it up to you!”
“Well...” Sunset paused to think. Then, in a low voice, she said, “I always say that I’ve moved on from my past, but it still controls me. I’m so scared of repeating my mistakes that I close people off, lie to them, just so I never let them down. But that’s a mistake. People are close to me because they like me, not some paragon of perfection.”
Sunset took Rainbow’s hand in hers. “You showed me that. You and the girls forgave me for all the bad things I did, all the evil I had in me. I need to start loving myself like you all love me.”
Rainbow frowned. “Okay, but what does that have to do with me?”
“Someone once told me that what matters the most is that you try to fix the problems you’ve caused.” Sunset grinned. “You wanna make things up to me? How about this: You try to be more considerate, and I’ll try to stop being so ashamed of my past. Deal?”
“That’s it? I thought I was gonna have to do your homework or something,” Rainbow said. But she still shook hands with Sunset. “Deal.”
Fluttershy let out a long, shuddering breath. “Oh, thank goodness you two made up. I can’t handle all this interpersonal drama!”
Sunset and Rainbow shared a giggle—until Sunset glanced over at the opposite end of the gym, and her face went white. “Oh, crap, now Twilight’s stuck in the pitcher too. Be right back!”
She jumped up and sprinted away. Rainbow watched her go, beaming.
“So.” Fluttershy tapped her chin. “How do you feel?”
“How do I feel? I got friendship advice from Sunset Shimmer! That’s enough to make you a Princess in some places!” Rainbow threw her arms out wide. “I’m a new woman!”
She froze, however, when Fluttershy caught her left hand—just an inch away from smacking Fluttershy in the eye.
Rainbow cringed away. “Oh, uh... sorry.”
Fluttershy sighed. “It’s alright.”
“Damn.” Rainbow scratched her head. “This is gonna take longer than I thought.”