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// Epilogue – Calm After, Calm Before 
// Story: Chromatic Aberration 
// by Avery Day 
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The next few days after the sleepover were some of the scariest days I ever lived through. That felt weird to acknowledge. Even aside from the fact that every night, I’d go to bed thinking there was a nightmare waiting just around the corner of unconsciousness, nothing out of the ordinary really happened. But that was exactly it—when was the other shoe going to drop?

It was still hard to believe that night with Fluttershy was real. The understanding she gave me, the emotions I felt, the catharsis from letting out months of bottling things up—all of that was very real; uncomfortably so. It was progress, but that was terrifying. Every step forward presents the risk of a longer fall back down. Even if I didn’t trip, there was nothing saying I wouldn’t be pushed, and I was still owed more than a few shoves.

As scary as everything was, and as shaky as my footing might have been, there was one thing I could take comfort in: if this was all real, then it was true—I didn’t have to do this alone anymore.

And it did get a little easier. Not only was Fluttershy behind me, but the girls were right by my side, too. When I arrived at school in the mornings, my friends were always there to greet me, and would walk with me to my first class of the day. If we shared a class, they’d usually walk me to my next, even if their next class was in a completely different direction.

Admittedly, I kind of resented that at first. It felt like another expression of pity. I would have never asked them to do something like that; it wasn’t something I thought I needed, but they did it anyway. Once I realized how much that lessened the ordeal of navigating through the school, I learned to quiet that voice. Because the truth of the matter was: that was something I needed.

Slowly but surely, the sharp stares from the other students softened. That didn’t mean they smiled at me as I passed them by—the discomfort my presence caused was still immediately palpable most of the time—but I didn’t get shoved anymore, and all things considered, that was enough of a reason to be happy.

After that sleepover, things between me and Rainbow Dash still felt uncertain, but the well of tension had dried up. Considering how awkwardly our reconciliation had gone, I wasn’t exactly holding out on us becoming best buds.

But she found ways to surprise me.

At lunch, she made an effort not to talk over me, and the times in which she did, she’d stop and tell me to go ahead. And after lunch, she’d be there waiting for me at the door of the cafeteria before heading back to class. Granted, our classes were right next to each other, so she was headed that direction anyway, but that was something I never expected her to do.

I couldn’t tell what her angle was anymore. That might seem like a bad thing, but I preferred it that way. Since our confrontation in the bathroom, I’d fully convinced myself she was doing this just so Fluttershy wouldn’t be mad at her anymore. Maybe that was still the case, but how often she went out of her way for me made it hard to say.

But it was like Skates had said: as long as we got along, what did her motivation really matter? If things stay cool between us, then eventually, she’ll find more reasons for us to keep being friends.

And so would I.

Still, this wasn’t where I expected our conflict to go. I always imagined it ending in one of two ways: we settle our differences entirely and become best friends, or (more likely) I’d be ejected from the group because we couldn’t stand being around each other anymore. Somehow, we’d landed vaguely in the middle of that. Even if that exceeded my expectations, something about it still felt kind of unsatisfying. I guess a combination of the girls’ reuniting as friends and Princess Twilight’s rousing speech about the power and magic of friendship had given me too much of an idealistic vision of what our future could be.

But hey, at least I won't be a complete social pariah at the Musical Showcase coming up soon. That counts for something, doesn't it?