//------------------------------// // Chapter 16: Insomnia // Story: Equestria Girls: A New Generation // by Naughty_Ranko //------------------------------// Dear Sunset Shimmer, I apologize for not writing back sooner. Given the urgency and alarmed nature of your last letter, I thought it best to cross all the Ts and dot all the Is on my end before responding. So I’ll get straight to the point. I’ve checked on the Horn of Sombra personally, and it remains safely locked away beneath Canterlot in the secret portion of the Star Swirl the Bearded wing of the Royal Library. I have subjected both the protection wards and the artifact itself to every scanning spell I know. Neither show any signs of tampering, recent or otherwise, and the horn remains in a depowered state. I then proceeded to my old workshop where I keep the disassembled pieces of my Portal Amplification Device. While I ran the same battery of magical tests to be safe, it was clear by the layer of dust that nopony had disturbed the pieces, not that they would do anypony any good without this very journal, which has never left my possession over the years. Finally, I instructed Starlight Glimmer to inspect the Portal Mirror itself at the Castle of Friendship. In addition to the scanning spells, (again no sign of foul play,) she conducted one more test on her own initiative. By measuring the thaum decay around the mirror, she was able to calculate the last time the portal was active: 2 years, 1 moon and 13 days ago. (Plus or minus a couple days, given the error margin of the formulae she used.) I’ve checked her math twice, and that date puts it right around the time we managed to stabilize the portal for the last time with the remaining magic of your geodes to bring Mage Meadowbrook through to have a look at your friend Pinkie. Just as we would expect. To sum up: We’ve all but ruled out the possibility that the entity you described and have dubbed a ‘Shadow Puppet’ could have crossed over from this side to your world via the usual means. The natural alignment of the moons that could open the portal isn’t due for another couple moons either, I believe sometime around spring next year according to your calendar. … I hesitate to bring this up, but are you absolutely sure that you saw what you think you saw? Judging by your most recent letters, it seems clear to me it might be that perhaps it’s Would you agree that your return to CHS might have stirred up some painful memories? Given that mental state, maybe you just saw would it not be possible that you saw a shadow, and your mind started playing tricks on you? The inherent irony of me accusing somepony else of twilighting is not lost on me. But I also know the toll the aftermath of the Maretime Bay incident took on you. So here’s my official advice as the Princess of Friendship: Talk to your friends. They’ve lifted you out of the darkness before, and they can help keep you from sliding back into it if you give them the chance. Of course, I’m here for you as well if you need me, though I feel as powerless as I did two years ago to help. Know that you are in my thoughts and that I will always be here to listen to your worries, day or night. But please also talk to your friends, or at least my counterpart. She knows you better than anyone. Your friend, Princess Twilight Sparkle P.S.: And promise me you’ll look after your health. Remember to eat! Sunset Shimmer sat atop her bed, wrapped into a blanket burrito and just having finished reading the letter from the journal out loud. Before her on the bed laid said journal and her phone, the dim glow from the screen being the only illumination in the room. “So, that’s what she had to say,” Sunset said. There was a pause, and she added: “Sparky? You still there?” A long yawn could be heard over the speaker setting of the phone before Twilight’s voice replied: “Yeah, I heard all of it. So did you?” “Did I what?” “Eat something today, Sunset?” “I think I had a candy bar sometime today. … Maybe that was yesterday.” Twilight’s answer was accompanied by a sigh. “Oh, Sunset.” “You don’t have to say it, Sparky,” Sunset said while rubbing her stinging eyes. “Not enough that I made her worry, then I went ahead and called you up in the middle of the night as soon as her reply came in. I feel like such an ass.” She glanced at the clock on her wall reading shortly after 3 a.m. “Don’t,” Twilight said, followed by a slurp of what Sunset presumed to be freshly brewed coffee. “I’m glad you decided to call. If you’d waited til morning, you might have decided to deal with this by yourself after all. Again. Besides, I’m a PhD student. What the hell even is sleep? Are you gonna take her advice and tell the others?” “No, I don’t think so. Not without concrete proof. I’m not sure I could stand seeing that pity in their eyes again. That might actually send me spiraling.” There was a long silence that followed. “You agree with her, don’t you? That I’m making this up?” “That’s not what she said, Sunset, and you know it. The sovereign ruler of an entire nation took you seriously enough to drop everything and launch a full-scale investigation into your claim within a day and a half. The least you can do is consider the alternative. She’s too polite to say it, but I’m not.” “Sparky, don’t …” “This could be your PTSD talking, and you need to acknowledge that possibility. I’ve seen you go down that road, and I’m not about to let it happen again. I need to hear you say it.” “Sparky, please don’t make me …” Sunset was all but pleading with her old friend. “Say it, Sunset!” Twilight insisted in an unusually harsh tone. Sunset drew in her breath while the tears welled up in her eyes. “Pinkie Pie’s death was not my fault.” “The whole thing, please,” Twilight said, obviously straining to keep that same firm voice. “We practiced this.” “We don’t know what caused her mysterious illness, so there is no proof that either the Maretime Bay incident or Equestrian magic are to blame,” she went on between short breaths. “And even if that were the case, there is nothing I could have done to prevent it.” Except never having brought Equestrian magic to this world in the first place, she added silently. So you can make me say it all you want, but I’m not sure I’ll ever fully believe it. “Are you alright, Sunset?” Twilight asked, her voice immediately softening again and shifting back to concern and sympathy for her friend after that exercise. “… Please stop chewing the corner of the magic journal. That can’t be good for you.” “Er, what?” She shifted again, this time to confusion and, Sunset thought, perhaps a little bit of fear that her friend had just fully cracked. “Sorry, Sparky,” Sunset said with a sniff, “talking to the dog.” She lifted the small creature up from where he was assaulting the binding and into her lap. “Come on, puppy. What’s wrong? We walked around the block three times while I was waiting for Princess Twilight’s reply,” she said while the little ball of nervous energy kept wriggling and whining in her lap. Another voice preempted by a yawn came over the phone. “Reach behind his ears and give him a couple scritches. Those pet cones are torture.” Sunset did so, carefully reaching into the pet cone and behind his ears. The effect was immediate as the puppy’s whines turned into panting, and he relaxed, sprawling across her lap. “Thanks for the tip, Spike.” Twilight came back on. “Are you okay now?” Sunset took a deep breath and wiped her face with her pajama sleeve. “Yeah. Thanks for the tough love, Sparky. You were right. Other Twilight is too polite to give me the slap in the face I needed, but she knew you could do it.” “Well, that Twilight never slept with you, so.” A soft chuckle escaped Sunset’s throat in spite of herself. “That’s true. I don’t know how I could have survived this without your help back then. And here you are, still dealing with my shit. I’m sorry, Sparky.” “Don’t be. We all took Pinkie’s death hard, but nobody was hurting quite the same way you were. … I think we all feared at one point or another that we might lose you, too.” Sunset was taken aback, feeling like Twilight had just let something slip that she’d carefully kept a lid on for all this time. “Wow, that’s dark,” she said in a whisper. “I know I was in a dark place, but I never considered how it looked from the outside. I’m so sorry I had you all so worried. I promise, I won’t let it get that far this time.” “I’ll hold you to that,” Twilight said. “Don’t be afraid to ask for help. I may not be your girlfriend anymore, but I am still your friend. If you need help, the others and I are here for you.” “I know. Thanks, Sparky.” The dog in Sunset’s lap gave a short bark and looked at her with his big puppy eyes. Somehow that also helped soothe her aching heart. “Sounds like your new friend agrees with me,” Twilight added after that. “Try to get at least a little sleep tonight, will you? And eat something in the morning, even if you don’t feel like it.” “I’ll try,” Sunset promised before ending the call with: “Goodnight, Sparky.” She sat there in the darkness for a moment, until a retching sound broke the silence and something warm spread across her lap. Sunset nodded. “Yep, I’ll try to get some sleep. But first, I gotta clean up after the puppy that just threw up in my lap.”