A true friend will always be there for you, and will help you through the worst of your troubles.
Rainbow Dash, being a particularly true friend and all-around proactive pony, took this philosophy one step further. She often earned the title of Element of Loyalty, and nothing could stop her from coming to the side of her friends’ in their time of need.
Not even them specifically asking her to stop making things worse, or, in at least one case, to put that down before it detonates.
“Listen up, everypony!” she shouted, her slowly beating wings carrying her through the library. Sparkle had left the tower early that morning, muttering something about looking for a book in the main castle library. Twilight had stayed longer, but at an insistent suggestion from Rainbow was off trotting a few laps around the castle grounds. Without them, the tower was occupied only by the Elements of Harmony and Spike, and Rainbow Dash soon had their attention. “Gather ‘round, we need to talk!”
“Uh oh!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, bouncing up the stairs after Rainbow Dash as the others congregated in the library’s middle floor. Rarity and Applejack came down from the upper loft, while Fluttershy looked up from the couch on which she rested. “That never means anything good! Are you breaking up with us?”
“What?” Rainbow Dash asked, turning a puzzled look on Pinkie Pie. “No. I’ve been thinking!”
“Oh no, not again,” Fluttershy said, shrinking back against the pillows. “The doctor said my leg still hasn’t fully healed since last time.”
“That would have worked if you hadn’t flinched!” Rainbow insisted, throwing up her forehooves. The ponies around her didn’t respond, though Rarity and Applejack did exchange a dubious glance, and after a moment, Rainbow Dash sighed. “Okay, look. Operation ‘Get Twilight and Sparkle to be Friends and Then Go Have Ice Cream’ isn’t working out. We need to change tactics.”
“I grant there have been some setbacks,” Rarity admitted, though her tone was reserved. “But overall, they’re still making progress.”
“Setbacks? Try mega freaking disasters!” Rainbow Dash insisted, circling the room with a tense energy, her wings steadily beating. Her gaze cycled through all the ponies present, her words directed to the room as a whole. “I don’t think they are ‘making progress.’ They’re trying, but that’s not the same thing as actually getting better.”
“Ah get what yer sayin’, Rainbow, but Ah don’t know if there’s much more we can do. This is a personal matter, between the two of ’em,” Applejack said, with a firm tap of her hoof to the floor. “We can be there for ’em and make sure they know they have friends, but they need to sort this out in their own time.”
“So then we’re just going to sit here and pretend none of us noticed that Sparkle was crying last night?” Rainbow Dash asked, and only silence answered her. “Is that what we’re going to do?” she demanded, voice rising. Still, none of the ponies in the room answered her. Pinkie Pie turned to stare at the floor, Fluttershy looking away, as Rarity and Applejack just looked uncertain. “Fine, forget you then! I’ll do it myself,” she snapped, turning to float towards the exit.
“Wait!” a rough voice called out. Rainbow Dash and the others turned to look at Spike. He hesitated for a moment under the weight of their collective stares, but finally muttered, “I want to hear what Rainbow Dash has to say.”
“Yeah,” Pinkie Pie added, scratching the back of her head with a hoof. “I mean, things did get a little... super-duper-awkward and weird last night. With the puffy eyes and all of us not saying anything and me wondering if I was the only pony who noticed and Twilight looking super guilty but not saying anything either and—”
Applejack’s hoof roughly interrupted Pinkie, firmly covering her mouth as Applejack let out a flat, “We’re gettin’ the gist.” Applejack then turned back to Rainbow Dash, giving a reluctant little nod. “Go ahead.”
Rainbow Dash paused for a moment before letting out a “So!” and floating back towards the others, her face showing not a trace of her earlier hesitation. “Think about it. Twilight and Sparkle haven’t exactly been PFFs from moment they uh... you know, split up. But when were the two times they actually seemed to be getting along?”
“After the fight in the library. When they were recovering in the Boutique,” Rarity supplied. “Although, I think that might have been motivated by guilt more than—”
“Guilt shmilt.” Rainbow Dash waved away Rarity’s concerns with a hoof. “They both sounded like the old, beat-Nightmare-Moon, save-the-day Twilight just then. That’s a big improvement over all this drama. Now, what was the other time?”
“At the party, that first night,” Fluttershy said, her voice quiet, but firm. “Twilight looked so happy, and Sparkle was happy for her.”
“Right! And what can we conclude from this?” Rainbow Dash asked, turning in the air and making a wide, sweeping gesture to take in the whole of the room.
“Oh oh!” Pinkie Pie said, raising her hoof and sitting up sharply. “That Carousel Boutique has some sort of super magical lavender unicorn agreeability field and so we need to lock the two of them in Rarity’s basement until they hug?”
“Yeah...” Rainbow Dash drew out the word, a silence hanging in its wake. “Or that they get along when they think the other is in trouble.”
“Oh, that was going to be my second guess!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, a smile on her face.
“So the two of ’em pull together when there’s trouble,” Applejack said, shaking her head at Rainbow Dash. “They’d do that for anypony. What’s your point?”
“That is my point!” Rainbow Dash shot back, with a roll of her eyes. “Look, AJ, you like Rarity, right? You’d do anything to help her, risk life and limb if she was in trouble?”
“Course I would!” Applejack shot back, her tone brusque. “What are you—”
“Well, remember that sleepover at the library? How would you feel if you and Rarity had to be locked in a very small bedroom together all night long?” Rainbow Dash demanded, zipping up towards Applejack with two quick wingbeats. “Worse, locked in a small bedroom with nothing to talk about because everything else you could talk about you both already know.”
For a moment, nopony spoke, a silence hanging in the air. “Well... uh...” Applejack managed, fumbling for words, as she and Rarity exchanged stiff, awkward glances.
“You’d be ready to kill each other by morning, of course!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, her voice rising. Her expression soon turned puzzled however, as every other pony in the room visibly relaxed, Rarity letting out a relieved sigh. “What’s wrong with all of you?”
“Oh, nothing!” Pinkie Pie giggled. “So, how many beds does this little bedroom have?” she asked, earning a sour glare from Rarity and a confused glance from Spike.
“I don’t know! Does it matter?” Rainbow Dash asked, raising her hoof to her face and letting out a frustrated growl. “The point is that even the best of friends can get too much of each other, and we’ve just about chained Twilight and Sparkle together at the hoof and told them to get used to it. Worse, with how ‘supportive’ we’re all being, we’re basically just staring at them and telling them they can hug whenever they’re ready. It’s no wonder they’re going crazy.”
“I hate to admit it,” Rarity muttered, and then paused a moment to purse her lips, “But I think Rainbow Dash might be right. Put that way, it does seem possible that our attempts to help them might have only exacerbated the problem.”
“Exactly!” Rainbow Dash nodded. “So, all we have to do to fix it is put one of them in mortal danger and let the other save her! Now, the hard part is going to be getting the shark tank assembled without anypony—”
“Y’had one good thought today, RD. Quit while you’re ahead,” Applejack grumbled, and she and Rainbow Dash each took a moment to exchange a hard stare. The other ponies in the room took little notice however, each lost in thought.
“No...” Rarity murmured, drawing the word out. “I think Rainbow Dash might be right there, too. Not about the shark tank, obviously, but... something external. Something that impacts both of them that isn’t caused by either of them.”
“Something that they have to work on together, but that will make them think about something other than each other,” Fluttershy added, and Rarity nodded her head in turn.
“Yeah, but it’ll have to be something tricky. Something...” Spike said, tapping his chin with a claw. “Clever.”
“Okay, Sparkle.” Twilight let out a breath. “We need to talk.”
Sparkle said nothing.
“I’ve been... going through some stuff,” Twilight began, awkwardly scratching the back of her head with a hoof. “And I thought about it this morning, and realized that that means you’re probably going through some stuff too. I mean, of course you are, but... you know. Particularly after what happened on the rooftop. I just thought we should, you know. Talk it out?”
Sparkle said nothing.
“Right, well, I talked with Princess Luna, and she said that... well.” Twilight had to pause for a moment, taking a second to collect herself. “Maybe it’s not exactly normal to fantasize about having total magical dominion over the world, but pretending nothing happened won’t make the problem go away. She said that ‘such things fester in darkness,’ and given her history, it’s a pretty obvious metaphor—particularly given how much we’ve been keeping this all to ourselves. She’s really worried about us and... well, we should get it out there.” She drew in a breath, bracing herself for what she was about to say.
“Last night, I know I hurt your feelings when I asked why you weren't coming, but the truth is, Mom understood. I was the one who wanted you to come, because I was afraid to face Mom and Dad and Shining,” Twilight looked down at the ground, scraping her hoof over the grass. “I just... I don’t feel like their daughter, sometimes. I guess that’s why you didn’t come. I still wish you had, but, I understand better now.”
Sparkle said nothing.
“Everything is just so strange now. There’s this layer of tension under everything, coloring every conversation, every moment with our friends. Sometimes I wonder if the spell really copied us or just split us in half, and that’s why I feel so incomplete. I can’t think, I can’t study, I can’t sleep...” For a time, she said nothing, her ears folded back tight against her head. “I keep thinking about the library, and how I... how I nearly... I’m so sorry.” Her voice became choked, her throat tight as she struggled to force out the words.
“I guess I should say that I’d give anything to take it all back—that if I could wave my hoof and put everything back the way it was, I would. But it’s not true,” she said, pausing a moment to sniffle. “Maybe that’s wrong of me, but even with everything that’s happened, I’m glad I exist. I’m glad you made me and I want to live. I think it’s selfish, when I know my being here hurts you, and I might not even get the chance anyway, but I want to try.” She reached up to rub at her eyes, sitting up straight, forcing her voice to clear. “I do wish I could take back the library though. And every moment leading up to it. The awkwardness, the silences, I wish I’d been honest with you from the start.”
“Heh...” Twilight paused to collect herself, giving a slight shake of her head. “And... I don’t suppose it matters at this point, with everything else I’ve done, but I do forgive you for trying to kill me in the library that first day. It was horrible but... you didn’t know.”
Sparkle said nothing.
Twilight smiled for a moment, then started to chuckle, a quiet little laugh escaping her. “Hey, Sparkle, lookin’ good this morning. Those bangs really work for you.”
Sparkle said nothing.
“Hey, Sparkle!” Twilight said, smiling wider as a little giggle escaped her. “I just thought you should know, I’ve been a changeling all along. First, I’ll steal your friends’ love, then your legs! Mine have all these weird holes.”
Sparkle said nothing.
“Oh, oh. Hey, Sparkle. I fixed everything!” Twilight said, twitching a hoof twice to signal Sparkle forward, dropping her voice to a whisper. “Cadence is going to use her magic to make us love each other! Of course, that’s not exactly platonic love, but I see that as a small price to pay to get our lives back in order.”
Twilight laughed, but after only a few moments, the laugh started to sound hollow and weak, and it trailed away into silence. She looked down to the earth, her ears folding back as she scuffed the ground in front of her. Sparkle, meanwhile, said nothing.
Because Sparkle was a bush.
She was in the center of the hedge maze, in the clearing where Discord had once tempted Rainbow Dash with the offer of her wings. There, to commemorate the Elements’ victory, Celestia had had raised six topiary sculptures, each depicting one of the bearers. It was to one of those sculptures in particular that Twilight spoke, and before which she now hung her head.
“I guess that wasn’t really that funny,” Twilight murmured, and when she stopped speaking, it was like she was alone in the world. The hedge maze around her perfectly muffled the sounds of Canterlot and the castle, and when she lifted her ears, there was only her own breathing and the rustle of the wind in the grass.
“Okay, Sparkle, we need to talk,” Twilight said, only to frown and sharply shake her head. “No, that’s wrong. Um... Sparkle, can we talk? Sparkle, got a moment? Sparkle, there are some things I think we need to say.” She let out a sharp breath. “Sparkle, I know you think we’re—you’re—a bad pony, but I talked it out with Luna. I know, you think she can’t possibly understand. Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of ponies? But, Luna knows! And she wants to help us because... because that kind of got away from me there.”
Twilight listened to the wind for a while.
“It’s just... do you ever feel like you’ve lost control?” she asked the sculpture, looking up at its lifeless eyes. “Like you’re something less than you were? Than you should be? I was never weak. I stood up to Nightmare Moon, to Discord. I was always in control, and with my friends, I knew I could overcome anything. But now I feel so helpless. In the library, I wasn’t in control—I couldn't stop myself. I was just so mad. And now...” She shut her eyes, sniffling faintly.
“I’m supposed to be the pony who stood up to the greatest villains in Equestria, and I can’t even say this to your face.” Twilight sunk to the ground in front of the hedge sculpture, laying her chin against the grass and shutting her eyes.
“Princess Luna says that we don’t have to mean any harm to hurt those around us, we just have to want other things more than for our friends to be happy,” she whispered, her forelegs under her head as she rested there. It was a bright morning, but the wind was chill, and she tucked her tail in tight around her. “I think that’s why we can be the Element of Magic, even though there is... darkness... in our hearts. It’s not that we mean anypony harm, but sometimes, we let things we want take priority over our friends. Maybe that’s the lesson Celestia needs us to learn.”
A weak ghost of a smile brushed Twilight’s face for a moment, though there was no humor in it. “I mean, in a way, this is all oddly selfish, isn’t it? It’s about me, me, me. Even when it’s about you. I haven’t even thought about what it’s doing to our friends, to Shining... well, I have thought about that, actually. I could have thought about it more though.”
The wind whistled around Twilight, her mane whipping about her. She tightened herself against the sudden gust, tucking her legs in tight against her barrel as Canterlot’s winds lashed through the garden. Above her, Sparkle swayed slightly, her leaves and branches rustling with the motion.
“I’m so forgiving with other ponies. Rarity can be greedy, Pinkie Pie can be weak, Rainbow Dash can be hotheaded, Applejack can be stubborn, Fluttershy can be manipulative. None of that matters to me though. When I’m around them, all I can see is their good qualities.” Twilight cracked an eye open, looking up at Sparkle. “But when I’m around you, all I can see is your flaws. You’re arrogant, you’re snobby, you’re cold, you’re overprivileged and terrifyingly powerful and totally unaware of any of those things. You don’t stop for a second to think about what your place really is in the world.” Her words were accusative, but her voice was quiet.
“I don’t love you, Sparkle. I don’t even like you, and I’m so sick of having to pretend I do just because everypony expects us to get along. I hate you, and I hate their expectations, and I just want to shout that I’ll like you when you stop being such an awful pony.” Twilight’s voice shook as she spoke, and she squeezed her eyes tightly shut, burying her muzzle in the grass. “You’re judgemental too, did I mention that?” she asked, sniffling quietly. “Always nitpicking my flaws.” She laughed for a moment, but there was no humor in the sound, closer to a stifled whimper.
“I guess what I’m saying is: I don’t like you, but I know I’m going to have to learn to like you.” She drew a resolute breath and let it out firmly. “So, you want to hang out some time?” she asked, keeping her voice firm and decisive.
“So, you want to spend some time in the library together?”
“So, you want to try sharing our bedroom tonight? Our real bedroom.”
“So, want to sing? I’ve got this great one in my head about not being prepared for this.”
“So, want to just sit there and talk to a bush because you’re too much of a wimp to say anything to a real pony?” she finally asked, letting out a quiet sigh and lifting her head. “Yeah, that sounds good to me, Twilight.”
“Maybe I’ll just ask her if she wants to get lunch or something and go from there. Work my way up.” Slowly, Twilight rose from where she sat, unfolding one leg at a time and then rising to all four hooves. She stretched out her legs, twisted her spine, and when she felt a satisfying pop, she slumped, letting her breath out in one massive sigh.
Moving at a slow walk, Twilight made her way out of the clearing, through the hedge maze, and back into the Canterlot statue garden. She walked past the petrified forms of Equestria’s greatest heroes, scholars, and villains, heading towards the palace’s main library. Her path would have seemed strange to most, but she knew the palace better than the average pony. Canterlot Castle had been many things over its many centuries—a mining outpost, a wizard’s tower, a fortress, a ruin, a seat of absolute power, and now, a center of quiet administration. It was filled with secret tunnels, hidden enchantments, rooms that had been bricked up and forgotten, caches of knowledge and supplies that had passed out of memory. It was rumored that only the Princess knew every room in the castle, but Twilight knew that wasn’t true.
After all, once or twice, she had managed to hide from the Princess in those spaces, in the rooms she had discovered as a foal—in the places that only Twilight Sparkle knew.
Across the garden, up the side stairs to the library, down the hall to the Blueblood Foyer, up the servants’ stairs hidden behind the curtain and down the main stairwell. That brought her back to the library side entrance, but now there was a hallway that wasn’t there before, that led to a mezzanine nopony else could see. There above the library’s main floor was a space full of tables and books, dusty cups of coffee and glasses abandoned by students centuries ago. Twilight was not the first to discover this secret space, though she was the only living pony who knew of it, and it was always littered with the detritus of those that had come before. She had never dared clean this space—throwing away the trash here would have been like throwing away the relics in a museum. There were parts of it she could use though, most particularly one study room, that had been empty when she found it: a little space with a window and a place in the sun.
When she drew close, she heard a voice. Her voice.
“—Rarity can be greedy, Pinkie Pie can be weak, Rainbow Dash can be hotheaded, Applejack can be stubborn, Fluttershy can be manipulative. None of that matters to me though. When I’m around them, all I can see is their good qualities,” Sparkle murmured, sitting on the floor of the study room and facing a ragged purple plushie she had found somewhere amongst the mezzanine. There was no telling how old it was, and its legs were about ready to fall off, but it was purple, and it was a unicorn, so it would have to do. “But when I’m around you, all I can see is your flaws. You’re arrogant, you’re snobby, you’re overprivileged and terrifyingly powerful, and worse than that, you’re cold. You’re so cold.” Her words were accusative, but her voice was quiet.
Twilight was left at a loss, her mouth falling open as she looked into the study room. Sparkle’s back was to the door, and she hadn’t seen Twilight yet, hadn’t heard her approach.
“I don’t love you, Twilight. I don’t even like you, and I’m so sick of having to pretend I do just because everypony expects us to get along. I hate you, and I hate their expectations, and I just want to shout that I’ll like you when you stop being such an awful pony.” Sparkle’s voice shook as she spoke, and she squeezed her eyes tightly shut, burying her muzzle in her folded forelegs. “But I can’t say that, because when they look at me, all they see is you. They’re frightened of me because of what they see in your eyes, they judge me for the things you said, they try to laugh and joke with me about things I never did.” For a moment, Sparkle said nothing.
“So, I’m leaving. You win,” she finished, with a heavy sigh. After a moment, she shook her head, and tried again.
“So, I’m leaving. This is what’s best for both of us.”
“So, I’m leaving. There’s nothing left for me here.”
“So, I’m leaving. We can say I died or something so that ponies won’t worry.”
“So, I’m leaving. This is what’s best for our friends and family.”
“So, I’m leaving. It’s clear they love you more and—”
“Stop,” Twilight burst out. Sparkle tried to leap to her hooves, her shock so great that she tripped over her own legs and went tumbling to the side. “Just—just stop!” Twilight shouted, her voice rising, her chest tight. Sparkle scrambled away from her, finally making it to her hooves and backing into the room’s far corner. “Just...” Twilight drew a shaking breath, her barrel trembling.
For a moment, neither of them said anything. Sparkle was pressed far into her corner, shrinking back as though from a dangerous predator. Twilight stood in the door, staring her down, her gaze intense and focused. It was the same expression she had used so many times recently—a face of sharp intent, made for shouting, made for sharp declarations—but when she spoke, her voice was quiet, and it shook like a shivering foal. “Where will you go?”
“I don’t know,” Sparkle answered, slowly unfolding herself from the corner, though her gaze never wavered from Twilight. “Away from here. North, maybe? Or into the Griffon kingdoms. There are some ponies who live there.”
“Well that’s stupid!” Twilight shouted, Sparkle flinching back from her yelling. “All your friends are here! Your family is here! Everything you’ve ever known is here and you just want to run off to the other side of the world!?”
“Yes!” Sparkle screamed the word at Twilight, her voice cracking, run ragged.
For a while, Twilight didn’t have anything to say to that. The two ponies just watched each other from across the little room. There wasn’t much to the study: a door, a window, a desk, some old books. A mat and a blanket they used to lie on.
“Okay.” Twilight finally managed to speak, forcing her breaths to come evenly.
“Okay,” Sparkle answered. “Good.”
“Why...” Twilight said, and it took her a few seconds to decide what she wanted to follow it with, “Why were you practicing talking to me? Shouldn't you tell the others, or Mom, or—”
“They’d only tell me to stay. Or try to stop me from leaving,” Sparkle insisted, shaking her head. “I don’t want to go through that. I just want this all to be over.”
“Okay,” Twilight nodded. After a moment, she made her way inside the room, sitting down on the little mat in the corner and folding her legs under her. “I... what do you want me to tell them? About why you left?”
“I don’t know. Make something up,” Sparkle said, her gaze somewhere around the base of Twilight’s neck. “They’re your friends now. It doesn't matter to me.”
“You know they’ll chase you down to the ends of the earth, right?” Twilight asked, her own stare sinking to the floor. “Shining and all the others. Dash will drag you back to Equestria over her shoulder if you make her.”
“So tell them I’m dead. It’s better that way!” Sparkle shouted, her words cutting off abruptly with a quiet, choking sound. “They love you more.”
“That’s not—”
“Don’t tell me it isn’t true!” Sparkle roared, lifting her gaze to glare at Twilight. “You’re horrible, but all they can see is what’s good in you and what’s wrong with me! Don’t tell me it’s not true!” She screamed, so loud that her voice shook with the strain.
“Okay,” Twilight said, swallowing even though her mouth tasted like dust. “Okay. I won't tell you it’s not true,” she said, nodding. “But I’m not telling them you’re dead either. So just... sit with me and let’s work what I’m going to say?”
Sparkle looked up at Twilight, narrowing her eyes. She took a step across the room, then froze, watching the other unicorn with a close, attentive stare. Like an animal being coaxed out of its cage, she made her way across the room one nervous step at a time, finally settling down next to Twilight on the warm mat.
For several minutes, neither of them said anything. More than once, one of them opened their mouth to speak, but then shut it without a sound, looking down and away from the other.
“Do you really have to leave Equestria? Couldn’t you just move to a different town or something?” Twilight finally asked, though she couldn't look at Sparkle’s face. “I mean, you could visit Mom and Dad then. And Shining. And I could just leave Ponyville for a while whenever you felt like coming back.”
“You’d just step out,” Sparkle said, a bitter twist in her words. “‘Hey everypony, I’m going camping for a few days. There’s going to be this other pony here while I’m away though. Humor her, would you?’”
“I-I didn’t...” Twilight said, searching for words that wouldn't come, a hot blush rising into her face. “I didn’t mean it that way.”
“Then how did you mean it?” Sparkle demanded, and into that long, judgemental silence, Twilight could say nothing. She just folded her ears back, looking at the floor as Sparkle snorted. “Why are you even saying this anyway? You want me to leave.”
“No I—” Twilight said reflexively, but she caught herself, and the words lodged in her throat. “I mean... I mean yes. I do want you to leave, but... but I want to be fair to you more. You leaving would make me feel good, but, only in the sense that lashing out at somepony when you’re angry feels good. It feels like what you want, but it just leaves you sick inside. I’ve done that before,” Twilight said, shutting her eyes tight. “I don’t want to do it again.”
“Your regrets don’t undo what happened!” Sparkle yelled, almost bellowing into Twilight’s ear, her eyes fixed forward in a glare, ears up and sharp. “I’m so glad that you’ve had this revelation, but it doesn't fix anything!”
“I know,” Twilight said, her voice barely a whisper. She pressed her hooves together on the mat for lack of knowing what else to do, nervously twiddling them together.
“You feeling bad that you ruined my life doesn't put it back in order!” Sparkle roared, but now her voice was coming in starts, her eyes glistening. “It doesn't change the way my friends look at me now!”
“I know,” Twilight said.
Then, Sparkle started to cry.
She forced herself to sit up straight, to keep her face composed, but she couldn't stop the tears. They ran down her face in little rivers, dropping to the mat below her and leaving damp marks in their wake. She tried to hold her head still, but it shook faintly with every stifled sound, her barrel trembling with the little puffs and gasps of breath that she could not conceal. Twilight reached a leg out to her.
“Don’t touch me!” Sparkle snapped, and Twilight folded her leg back.
“Sorry,” she murmured.
“I know you’re sorry!” Sparkle said, forcing the words out around the choked noises in her throat. “You’re always sorry and look so hurt and sad I can’t just be mad at you and so somehow it’s never your fault!”
“I know,” Twilight answered. After a moment, she reached across the room with her magic, levitating a cloth off the table. It was a cloth that they both remembered using to clean their quills, and it was covered in old ink stains. A quick spell corrected that though, leaving it clear and bright, and Twilight levitated it up towards Sparkle. “Here.”
Sparkle took it, rubbing at her eyes with a weak “Thank you.” After a moment, she folded the cloth over her face and blew her nose.
“I could go, you know,” Twilight offered. “If one of us has to, you’re the original. You should get to stay.”
“I don’t want to stay,” Sparkle said, shaking her head sharply. “I don’t want to have to listen to them all planning to rescue you, wishing you were still there, Rainbow Dash looking so sad that I’m not around when I’m standing right in front of her.”
“I never thought of it that—”
“Of course you didn’t,” Sparkle said, her words cutting and caustic.
“No, I was a bit busy worrying about the fact that I’m probably dying! I’m so sorry that distracted me!” Twilight shouted, the words flying forth from her before she had a chance to restrain herself.
“So die already! Disappear, see if I care!”
“Maybe I will!” Twilight insisted, stomping her hoof against the stone.
“Fine!” Sparkle yelled.
“Fine!” Twilight yelled back.
And then, for a while, they had nothing to say—looking into each other’s eyes, their breath coming short and quick.
“You can’t leave Equestria,” Twilight finally spoke. “If I vanish, the others wouldn't be able to use the Elements of Harmony.”
“That’s not my problem, Twilight!” Sparkle shot back, defensive and quick—but her words were hollow.
“You’re not going to abandon your duty to all of Equestria just because you’re angry with me,” Twilight insisted, watching Sparkle closely. After a moment, Sparkle’s gaze dropped to the floor.
“No. I guess I’m not.” Her shoulders slumped, the energy running from her tone. “I-I’d like to be alone right now, Twilight.”
“Sparkle, I—”
“I thought I was done with this, Twilight!” Sparkle yelled, her voice cracking. “And now you’ve ruined everything again and I’d like to be alone right now!”
For a moment, Twilight started to pull away, her legs tensing to carry her out the door. Then, she stopped, reversing course and reaching out to Sparkle, putting a leg around the other pony’s withers.
“Don’t touch me!” Sparkle snapped, her breaths coming quicker as Twilight slid in closer to her, turning to face her as she pulled the other pony into a hug. “Don’t touch me!”
“Sparkle, I—” Twilight said, her head resting against the other pony’s.
“Shut up!” Sparkle shouted, her hooves futily pounding against Twilight’s side. Her voice rose higher and higher until it was little more than an incoherent squeak. “I hate you! I hate you so much!” she yelled, every word punctuated with a blow to the other pony’s side.
“I know,” Twilight said, and Sparkle started to sob.
They stayed there for a long time, embraced together on the little mat. Sparkle sobbed until she had no more tears, and then just lay there, sniffling and shivering, her head tucked in against Twilight’s shoulder. Twilight held her in turn, never once letting go, and though she didn’t make a sound, her own eyes glistened in turn, a few silent tears landing on Sparkle’s neck.
Neither of them could have said exactly how much time passed before they spoke again, but when Sparkle lifted her head, the sun’s light had made its way from the mat to the desk. She and Twilight were in shadow now, lying beside each other, Twilight’s head resting against her shoulders, their legs wrapped around one another.
“We’ve been here for a while,” she said, her eyes following the path of the light.
“Yeah,” Twilight agreed. A moment later, she added, “Are you feeling any better?”
“No,” Sparkle answered, lowering her head back to Twilight’s shoulder. “You?”
“Not really,” Twilight said, a quiet hiss of breath escaping her. “Do you still want to leave?”
“I don’t know. Maybe,” she said, shifting her head faintly against Twilight’s shoulder. “I can’t imagine leaving Shining, Mom, Dad, my friends in Ponyville. I don’t want to go. But so much has happened, I don’t know how I can stay. Even if it all went back to normal today, I’ve… done things—said things I can’t take back. It would never be right again.”
“Sparkle, they’ll forgive you for that. You can’t be blamed for my ac—”
“Princess Celestia rejected me,” Sparkle whispered, silencing Twilight in a moment. “I told her I loved her, and she thought I was just using her against you. She pushed me away and I…” Though she had no more tears, it took her a moment to go on, her voice tight and strained. “I went to Discord for advice. I don’t know why. All he did was berate me and insult me, but I just needed to talk to someone without worrying what they’d think of me and I…” She had to stop for a moment, and Twilight could barely make out her next words, “I’m so ashamed.”
Twilight’s mouth opened without a sound, and she lifted her head upwards, looking down at Sparkle with wide eyes. “You went to Discord for advice?” she asked, and Sparkle nodded. “But… why? I would never—” Twilight said, only to fall silent halfway through her sentence. “I… what did he say?”
“Nothing I didn’t already know,” she answered, with a weak shake of her head. “That I’m the problem. That everypony is trying to make us get along, but that I’m just too stubborn and stupid and crazy. That I’m driving all my friends away. That all I have to do to fix things is get over it, but I can’t.”
“Why not?” Twilight asked, earning a sharp glare from Sparkle.
“Can you do it?” she demanded, giving Twilight a firm shove in the shoulder. “Can you look me in the eye and say that you’re over everything that’s happened? Honestly tell me you like me?”
“Well…” Twilight paused, her eyes traveling over Sparkle from forelock to fetlock. “No.”
“So why not?” Sparkle demanded, harsh and indignant.
“Because I just can’t stand your whining,” Twilight said, raising her voice as she glared right back at Sparkle. “You’re like a cross between a broken record and Rarity’s stupid cat! Screeching the same lines over and over—oh it’s too hard, oh my friends can’t stand me. You’re one of the Elements of Harmony and you’re sobbing like a foal who skinned her knee!”
“Oh, you’re right!” Sparkle yelled back, leaning in until she and Twilight were muzzle to muzzle. “I’m so sorry I let that all out! I should follow your lead and just bottle my emotions up until I explode!”
“At least I’m dealing with my problems!”
“Horseapples!” Sparkle held her ground, the two baring their teeth as they glowered into each other’s eyes. “You know what? That’s what I really hate about you! You’re so privileged. Did it even once occur to you that you’re doing better than me because Princess Luna and all the others are helping you while I’ve been stuck on my own? Did you once think of that?”
“Well maybe they’d help you more if you weren’t so arrogant you just assume you can fix everything on your own! Did you ever think about asking for help instead of just brooding?”
“Oh, that’s rich coming from Ms. I-won’t-tell-anyone-I-think-I’m-dying!”
“At least I don’t drag everypony else down when I have a problem!”
“You sure managed to drag our friends into it! You dragged Mom and Dad into it!”
“Oh please!” Twilight rolled her eyes. “Mom already knew you were a basket case. You’re eighteen and you still act like you’re twelve!”
“Well that stupid haircut makes you look like you’re six!”
“It is not stupid! We’d look fine if it weren’t for your fat ugly face!”
For a moment, the two of them considered that.
Sparkle was the first to crack a smile, a hesitant, disbelieving little expression.
“I wasn’t previously aware I had a ‘fat ugly face,’” she said, her tone hesitant, but brighter than it had been for some time. “While you’re pointing out my other flaws, is there any chance I also have cooties?”
“Shut up,” Twilight grumbled, one leg folding over the other, her cheeks turning a faint pink as she looked down at the floor.
“Well I think your butt is dumb,” Sparkle replied, that smile transforming into a full-blown grin, traces of a giggle escaping in the wake of her words.
“Shut up!” Twilight insisted, but she was starting to smile as well, that blush in her cheeks brightening. “I haven’t argued with anyone like that since we were foals. I couldn’t think of anything!” She tapped her hooves together, quickly glancing between Sparkle and the floor. “It wasn’t that childish.”
“It was super childish and also you smell,” Sparkle said, starting to laugh in earnest.
“No, you!” Twilight insisted, and then they were both laughing. They laughed so hard they could barely breathe, and soon they spilled over onto the mat, landing next to each other on the ratty old cloth. “And—“ Twilight managed around deep spasms of laugher, barely able to form the words. “Don’t get me started on your annoying personal habits.”
“I’ll file my horn at the table if I like!” Sparkle said, and soon all conversation was lost. There was nothing but laughter for minutes on end, and all the relief that came with it. Finally, with some effort, Sparkle managed to choke out, “This—” Laughter overtook her, and it was several more moments before she could finish. “This is all completely stupid, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. Yeah it is,” Twilight agreed, reaching up to rub her tears away as the laughter subsided. “I still hate you,” she said, though there was no anger in her tone.
“Well, I hate you too,” Sparkle insisted, with a trace of humor, though her tone soon grew quieter and more serious. “I don’t know. What are we going to do about this?”
“I don’t know,” Twilight said in turn. “Lunch?”
“I’m serious!”
“I’m serious too! I’m hungry,” Twilight said. “And that conversation is going to be long and unpleasant and, I don’t know, maybe not end well. I’d like to just… go relax. Have a day where everything is okay again.”
“With the others?” Sparkle asked, and Twilight nodded. “Okay, sure,” she agreed, sitting up as she finished. “Let’s go home.”
“—is I, the Queen of the Changelings! I have captured your beloved assistant Spike, and I compound my revenge by taking the form of your awesomest friend, Rainbow Dash! Now I will abscond with him to my profane and unhollowed, uh, unhallowed lair! Where you will never see him again! Forever! And there’s nothing you can do about it because no one pony can possibly defeat me! What? No, stop laughing! I’m a serious threat! Do not mock the changelings with your pony ways!”