It had been a rough month. Twilight had agreed to help clean up the mess she had been responsible for at Sweet Apple Acres, as well as personally apologize to everypony she hurt. It had been a long first week, going to everypony’s house. Apparently, she had hurt a lot of ponies. After crying herself to bed every night for a few days, Spike slowly warmed up to her again, although he didn’t want to talk about the whole ordeal as much. But at least he wanted to talk to her.
She hadn’t seen Applejack much since that day, other than glimpses of her at the farm. Even then, the orange mare never even as much as acknowledged Twilight’s existence. Big Mac had talked to her more, and that was saying something. It took a few days for anypony to talk to Twilight, but maybe she looked so pathetic that they took pity on her. That had to be it, Twilight decided.
Her other friends had visited her occasionally. Pinkie Pie came over with a lemon pie and a smattering of balloons that spelled out ‘We know you’re super sorry and it’s not your fault and we still love you!’. Yeah, that was a lot of balloons. Twilight was still finding random pieces of rubber with shriveled up letters on them all over the castle.
Rainbow Dash came twice as well, although always accompanied by Fluttershy. Fluttershy, surprisingly, did most of the talking, though. Rainbow Dash had always opted to sit at a distance from them, occasionally looking over at Twilight, and then looking away. Fluttershy kept reassuring her that she just needed more time. Twilight thought that surely meant forever.
Rarity had insisted Twilight come over for tea. She went twice. The unicorn had filled her in on some of the latest gossip and recounted stories that Twilight missed out on. Needless to say, Twilight didn’t have much fun. Maybe she should have had fun, though. Rarity was just trying to be nice and catch her up. Why did she have to be so awful to her friends?
With a groan, Twilight rolled over from her bed and stared at the ceiling. She didn’t deserve to feel sorry for herself. She deserved much worse than what she was getting. Applejack had the right idea by ignoring her. Twilight put her hooves on her face. She should just be banished from Equestria, or thrown in Celestia’s deepest dungeon to rot. That’s what monsters like her deserved, right?
The soft pitter-patter of steps interrupted her thoughts. Twilight looked to her side to see Spike running up to her. “Uh, Twi? You have a visitor.” He fiddled his fingers. “Well, I guess not really a visitor, but—” he shook his head. “Nevermind, just go downstairs. And do yourself a favour and open a window. It stinks in here.” With that being said, he turned around and walked down the hallway in the opposite direction of the stairs. Twilight shook her head, knowing that he had just left their guest alone in favour of going to his room.
Well now I have to go down. I can’t be rude on top of everything else. With a grunt of effort, Twilight lifted herself off of her bed and stood up. She looked in the mirror she had placed near the door to her room and frowned. There was no time to fix… that, but she ran a hoof through her mane to at least make it look like she was trying to take care of herself.
Satisfied enough, Twilight made her way down the stairs and looked at her guest. Her eyes widened as she exclaimed in surprise. “Starlight?”
The lilac unicorn waved sheepishly at her. “Hey, Twi... Uh, how’s it going?”
Twilight paused, keeping a few hoof-lengths away from Starlight, unsure of why she was being… friendly. “Oh, you know… The usual?”
Starlight nodded awkwardly and looked over Twilight, who suddenly felt self-conscious. “Listen, Twi,” she started. Twilight went rigid. “I came to talk to you because I get how you feel, in a way.”
Oh, of course. If anypony would understand, it’d be Starlight. Or Sunset, but Twilight had a feeling she wouldn’t really want to talk. Or be able to leave the hospital anytime soon. Choosing to try to stay friendly with Starlight, Twilight smiled. “Yeah, I guess you’d have some experience with making terrible decisions that almost ruin everything.”
Starlight winced. “Well, I just meant ponies having a hard time trusting me, but that too.”
Twilight paled. How could she be so stupid? Why would she say something like that? “Oh! Of course, I was just… I—”
Starlight held up a hoof with a relaxed smile. “Hey, forget it. You’re right anyway.” She looked around. “Uh, can we maybe… go somewhere to talk? Like the sitting room or the kitchen or literally anywhere we can sit?”
Twilight couldn’t help the small smile that reached her lips. “Of course. We can go to the kitchen, it’s about time I had breakfast anyway.”
As Starlight followed Twilight to the kitchen—although Twilight knew Starlight wouldn’t need a guide—she cocked her head. “Breakfast? But it’s like… four.”
“Ah, well, I guess I slept in?”
Starlight shook her head and forced Twilight to sit at the table. “Twi, trust me, I’ll make you food. You need more than just a bowl of sugary cereal.”
Twilight frowned dismissively. “Hey, I don’t just eat sugary cer…” she trailed off, looking as Starlight held up several dirty bowls that were once filled with cereal up with her magic, as well as the once-full box. Twilight flushed and rubbed her neck. “Okay, I guess you’re right.”
Starlight hummed approvingly as she levitated what clean dishes were around and opened all of the cabinets. “Sheesh, Twilight. When’s the last time you bought groceries?” She spun around to face the alicorn, who fiddled with a quill on the table.
“I haven’t gotten around to it.”
Starlight frowned. “But you’ve been back for a month. What did you eat during that time?”
Twilight laughed nervously. “Cereal?”
It went without saying, Starlight was not impressed. She sighed and face-hoofed. “Stay here, I’ll be right back.” And then with a snap, a crackle, and a pop, she disappeared.
The alicorn groaned and slammed her face into the table. “Why is she being nice to me?”
“You made a mistake. And everypony deserves a second chance.”
Fluttershy’s words echoed in Twilight’s head. Even though they had been spoken to her a month ago, they reverberated in the deepest parts of her subconscious. She’d been trying to make herself believe it rather unsuccessfully. But having somepony outside of her main friend group—somepony who understood the importance of a second chance—made her feel a little better.
Twilight lifted her face from her table and stared ahead. She’d get through this somehow. She’d make it up to everypony.