Friday Evening, 8 PMM
Father Cross was having a good Friday. He was sitting in his quaint home, relaxing in his comfy leather chair, enjoying the tender warmth of the fire place, his favorite drink (Apple Family Cider) was in his hand, and his favorite TV show was on.
"How could you have beaten me," Oscura, the Dark Witch hissed to her hated foe, robbed of all her power.
"You were defeated," Princess Lorena of the Diamond Warriors said in a voice that combined both compassion and strength, "by the power of Friendship."
"You tell it, sister," Father Cross yelled at the TV, manly tears flowing down his face. He was such a fan, he was even wearing a Diamond Warriors plastic crown, which was pink and studded with plastic sapphire jewels.
Suddenly the doorbell ring. In a panic, Father Cross shut off the TV and threw it behind the sofa. He also ripped off his Diamond Warriors crown and hid it under his chair.
"Just one second," he said nervously toward the door. Scrambling, he pulled out some old bible and put on his glasses, attempting to look like a humble monk pouring over the scripture.
"You may come in," Father Cross said. The door opened, and Sunny Flare walked in. She was carrying something in a white box.
"Sunny," he said, leaning up from the book, "how are-," he paused when he noticed the miserable look on grey-skinned girl's face. "Sunny," he said, compassion rising in his face, "what's wrong?"
The two walked over to the kitchen. Over a chocolate cake, Sunny told Father Cross the whole truth. Well, the truth that was the "official" story: Twilight dying in a motorcycle accident, but Sunny treated it like a code word for what actually happened. Forcing someone to use a faulty motorcycle she couldn't ride was heinous enough.
She then told him about how they discovered Twilight was alive but still missing, and that when she came home, her brother was gonna pull her out of school.
"He says that I'm not gonna be allowed to see her anymore," Sunny finished with tears in her eyes. The chocolate cake had been half-eaten. "I mean, I do deserve it, but, I really want to make it up to her. But...there isn't an apology for...what I did."
"There's an apology for everything," Father Cross said a wave of his hand, "as long as you are sincere in how you say it."
"The fact that she's alive doesn't change the fact that I nearly got someone killed," Sunny argued miserably, "she'll never talk to me again, and I'll be damned to hell-,"
"Listen, you're not damned to hell if you don't get forgiveness," Father Cross said firmly. "I told you that I did things I never got forgiveness for. Atonement is not about getting forgiveness. It is about turning away from your sins and being a better person."
"It isn't just this," the grey-skinned girl, "I spent two years hurting her. I spent two years being a jerk to her just because Suri told me to. All that time, I didn't just hurt her. I was hurting her family." Her face fell into her hands. "What was wrong with me?"
"Pride," Father Cross said simply.
"Pride?" Sunny asked, pulling her hands off her face.
"Pride, they say, is the worst sin," Father Cross said ,"because it is where all other sins come from. Pride can make a bad person think they're good, a strong person think they're God himself. Pride means thinking you are better than everyone else. Pride means caring only about what you want. That's why you were so mean to Twilight. That's why you made Twilight jump on that motorbike. Because you were so blinded by pride, you couldn't see the humanity in Twilight." A reassuring smile formed on his face. "The fact that your here means that you've gotten rid of a lot of pride. You don't know what to do, so your asking for help. That's a good step in the right direction."
"I guess," Sunny said reluctantly. "So what do I do?"
"If Twilight is alive, hasn't even returned home, and hasn't tried to contact her brother, then I'm assuming she is in a very bad place," Father Cross said rather gravely. "Both physically and emotionally." Sunny's guilt and anxiety grew at that. Largely because she didn't know what Twilight's condition really was, or how she was doing in that pony world. Any guess by Father Cross wasn't helpful, despite his good intentions. "The fact that she had made an effort not to be found, despite being badly injured, should tell her about her mood." Sunny's mood worsened even more.
"If you find her, you have to expect that she's not going to be in a generous mood toward you," Father Cross said gravely. "If you want her forgiveness, you can't just say sorry. You have to assure her that you understand what you did was wrong, that she's a wonderful person, and you're prepared to do whatever you can to right the wrongs you committed."
"Twilight's brother and Lemon are coming up with gifts," Sunny said. "But...is it wrong to bribe her?"
"A gift isn't necessary a bad thing," Father Cross said. "However, you can't get her something random thing. Whatever you give her, it has to be something meaningful, something that proves if she were to go back to school with you, things will be different. Something that proves you accept her choices."
"And what if she still doesn't forgive me?"
"Then you have to accept it," Father Cross said with a stern voice. "Being a good person means accepting someone's choices, as long as those choices aren't harmful. If Twilight feels better away from you, the best thing you can do is respect her wishes. That would be the ultimate sign that you've changed: accepting her choices."
"I know that," Sunny said miserably. "But...just. I told you about Juniper, right?"
"That girl you helped out?"
"Yeah," Sunny said. "She turned out to be this great person. But it was because I helped her out. After learning those things about Twilight that I never knew about, I realized that Twilight could've been great if someone had been there for her."
"And now you want to be there for her, and your upset that you might not have the chance?" Father Cross said.
"Yeah," Sunny said sadly.
"Well, if it comes to that," Father Cross said reassuringly, "just be better. Just use what happened to learn from your mistakes. Your life is far from over, Sunny. Barring tragedy or complete lack of personal responsibility, you've still got 60-70 years left to write your story. This is but one chapter, but you've still got plenty of time to turn yourself around. And based on what you told me, you already have. Just remember that steps of forgiveness: humility, honesty, compassion, generosity, and acceptance. If you do all those things, you can be redeemed."
"Thanks Father," Sunny said with grateful smile, which she returned. She looked at her watch. "I got to go."
"Having you over is always a pleasure," Father Cross said. "Besides you come with chocolate cake. Gluttony is one sin I've never been averse to," Father Cross said while patting his gut. Sunny chucked a little herself, before walking out of the house.
"Sorry," Sunny she said, suddenly coming back into your house, "I think I left my purse in your living room."
"Don't mention it," Father Cross said. He continued sit in his kitchen, dining on the chocolate cake, when suddenly Sunny came into the room.
"Sunny did you find your," Cross paused when she saw Sunny holding his Diamond Princess crown while giving him a mocking grin.
"That's not anything," Father Cross said nervously. "A...one of my nieces left that there." Sunny wasn't impressed. "It was accidentally shipped to my front door." Another pause. "A hosted a birthday party."
"You wub Diamond Princess don't you Father Cross?" Sunny said in an adorably cute voice. Father Cross' face turned red with embarrassment.
"I banish thee to the depths of Hell," Father Cross said, holding up a cross and directing it toward Sunny, "ye foul demon!" Sunny fell to the ground in laughter, making Father Cross' face turn even more red with humiliation.