//------------------------------// // Chapter 45: Winter Break // Story: The Other Journal // by Ganondorf8 //------------------------------// Day: Monday Weather: Snow Time: 8:00am We managed to salvage the fashion show, despite it being delayed twice. Trixie proved to be immensely helpful. Not only did she help us sell more tickets than we originally expected, she even got to put on a magic show under my recommendation as the opening act. I still felt nervous, however. I felt something was going to go wrong, but those fears quickly disappeared when my friends and I performed on stage after the show. I even got to showcase a brand new dress Rarity made just for me. I had hoped things would get better again, but they soured when Pinkie brought up the upcoming winter break. Unlike my friends, I wasn't looking forward to the occasion. It meant having to spend another holiday on my own, something I had long gotten used to. Applejack knew something was wrong, and convinced me to share my feelings. My friends have put their own plans on hold in order to make me feel better, but five slumber parties? The Other Journal By Ganondorf8 January 21, 2016 Chapter 45: Winter Break. " I blame MyStable for causing me to feel so much misery." I said. " I've heard of that name before, but I never really paid much attention to it." Twilight said. " You've never used MyStable!? I thought you would have used it constantly in order to let your friends know what you were up to. Almost everyone I know has used it for that exact purpose." I said. It dawned on me that my choice of words was poor. I had forgotten that the only friend Twilight ever had before becoming friends with all of us was her dog Spike. At the same time, Twilight was very smart for not wanting to use something like MyStable. People use it to post just about anything that happens to be on their minds, and never think about any possible consequences that could occur. Unfortunately, one such consequence involved secrets of other students being passed around, causing nothing but chaos. I had an account on the site myself, but I rarely used it other than to let people know that I was still alive. You'd think that whoever created MyStable had the decency to prevent users from spreading secrets. I'm certain the creators hadn't intended it for that purpose and people took advantage of it. " Twilight... I'm sorry if I said something insensitive. I should have known you'd never use MyStable because of, well, you know." I said. " It's alright Sunset. I've heard all kinds of stories about MyStable back when I attended Crystal Prep." Twilight said. " Really? Crystal Prep allowed the use of MyStable?" " Not exactly. Principal Cinch forbade anyone from using it on school grounds. She didn't want the integrity of her students to be tarnished by a website that wastes away one's life when they could be using that time to study. That's what she's always said about it. I never saw. From what I heard from those who had accounts, they often said it was better than talking to people in person because of the anonymity behind it. Some even said nasty things about Principal Cinch." Twilight answered. " Students talked about her behind her back?" I asked. " They showed her respect on school grounds, but it didn't translate to the online world. The reason I know about it is because students always talked about it on the bus, during free periods, and outside the building. They'd never mention anything during class unless they wanted Principal Cinch to come bearing down on them." Twilight answered. I never knew that the Crystal Prep students really felt that way about their principal. I was always under the assumption that they thought of her as the greatest thing out there. Their opinions of her might become more vocal in the months to come. After all, they discovered what kind of person she really was during the Friendship Games. " Does CHS have a similar policy with regards to the use of MyStable on school grounds?" Twilight asked. " There is one but it doesn't really get enforced all that much. The teachers just see it as one of those online fads for their students to express themselves. If they had known what happened when secrets started to become public, they would have banned MyStable from school grounds instantly. Not only that, they would have gone with disciplinary action had the problem persisted with students not adhering to the rules." I answered. " Do you use MyStable?" Twilight asked. " I have an account, but I rarely use it. If my friends on the site were lucky enough, I'd post maybe one thing every month or two." I answered. " I'm curious as to how many friends you have on there." " About 1,600." " That's pretty impressive." " Nothing compared to Pinkie Pie." " How many does she have?" " The last time I checked, it was around 75,000." I answered. Twilight was taking a sip of cider when I said that, and she spat it out of her mouth onto the floor in response. She coughed before cleaning up the cider with a piece of tissue she had taken from her backpack. My own response to how many friends Pinkie had on MyStable was simply shrugging it off. Pinkie had this uncanny ability to make friends with just about anyone she comes into contact with. How could anyone resist the kind of charm she had? She didn't have just friends at CHS and throughout Canterlot. She had them all over the world. " How can anyone have that many?" Twilight asked. " She's just being Pinkie Pie." " Oh." " Anyway, we should continue because we got distracted. MyStable would be the catalyst that drove the entire school to turn on me. Someone had been posting students' secrets, which became known in a matter of hours. People blamed me because the one responsible had a user profile icon that bore a striking resemblance to me. Of course, this had been intentional. Their aim was to make me look bad out of jealously. To be honest, I always felt someone still had a grudge against me despite Trixie and I finally becoming friends. If I had stuck with those feelings, I could have prevented so much emotional damage from happening." I said. " Who was responsible?" Twilight asked. " You'll find out when we get to the end." I answered. Twilight, in response, folded her arms and started to pout, but this time I wasn't going to cave in. I had a reason why I couldn't tell her straight away. " I know you're thinking that I should tell you straight away, but you've acted rather irrational whenever you learn about someone who had given me a hard time. You've got a lot of passion, Twilight, but you need to show some restraint." She turned her head away from me in a huff, but when I placed my hand onto her arm, she turned back the other way and slowly nodded her head. " I suppose I should start at the beginning of that week. The winter break was several days away, and everyone at CHS were getting excited about it. You would, too, if it meant spending two weeks off from school and getting to do whatever you wanted." " All I ever did was study." Twilight said. " So did I, but that year would be different, because our friends would learn about how lonely I got during the holidays. I'll let you know right now, Twilight, before you decide to throw a hissy fit, but I would reveal some aspects of my past to Applejack. I sensed that she knew something was wrong with me, and she would confront me on it when I tried to change the subject." I said. During the next two weeks, the students of CHS continued going about their regular routines, going to class, hanging out with friends, studying, and enjoying extracurricular activities after school. Things had gotten pretty peaceful, something everyone truly appreciated. There had been no magical problems coming from Equestria in an attempt to take over the world. There were no big events planned until the Spring Fling next year, which would be followed by the Friendship Games. Everything was just going along smoothly, yet I felt like a nervous wreck. No, I wasn't struggling with trying to figure out the magic problem. I had made advances in my research, although I wish that I could have had more data to work with. The magic used by my friends and me only came up every now and again through the playing of our instruments, but it wasn't enough to come up with a definitive answer. I suppose I've got these next two weeks on my own to find additional clues. It had been snowing heavily for the last couple of days, and despite how much had fallen, Canterlot High remained open. I had mixed feelings about snow. It was certainly majestic, and how it covered everything in a white blanket never ceased to amaze me. However, I didn't like how cold it would get. I'm someone who preferred to stay in a nice warm place until things improved outside. I did feel bad about the students who had no choice but to brave through the deep snow in addition to the freezing temperatures. I suppose living in the school library did have some perks, yet I couldn't stay there until the snow melted. I had no intention of becoming a hermit. While my mind wanted me to continue on with my research, my heart wanted me to go outside in order to see the beauty of winter. Grabbing my scarf--the only winter clothing I had--I left the library and began heading towards the school entrance. Along the way, I could see the faces of students as they entered through the main entrance, their boots caked with snow, their expressions unpleasant. People loved playing with snow and would make snowmen and snow angels, but had disdain for it when it came to walking through it. They may be unhappy about the snow right now, but that would soon change once everyone left for winter break. While everyone else had something exciting which would keep them busy until the new year, I didn't have that kind of luxury. This was the reason behind my nervousness. I wasn't looking forward to the winter break. I've always spent this time of the year on my own, both in this world and in Equestria. While I've long since gotten used to it, there have been times where I did feel lonely. It was the one punishment I've never managed to overcome. I might have friends now and have changed for the better, this unfortunate tradition of mine still persisted. Would things finally change for me? It was doubtful. I mean, I've been alone for the holidays as long as I could remember. My attitude prevented ponies and people from wanting to associate with me during this time. Stepping outside, I could see that the snow was still falling, and students were making their way to the building. Upon stepping onto the snow, it made a crunching sound beneath my feet. I had no complaints about it. In fact, I loved it; I would often jump about like I were a filly again. I'd only do that in private, though. Someone my age would be pretty embarrassed if her close friends had seen her prance about like that. Speaking of my friends, Applejack was walking towards me. She was wearing her winter coat and appeared to be wanting to get inside as quick as possible. While I was happy to see her, I wished that it could have been someone else. I wasn't angry with Applejack or anything, but rather, I had this feeling she would be grilling me about my sudden departure when we were talking about winter break plans a couple of weeks ago. She had looked at me with squinted eyes. It's not that I didn't want to leave them to talk about their plans. I actually needed to conduct more research into the magic problem. But in truth, I didn't want any of them to know that the holidays were the worst time of the year for me. Applejack finally noticed me standing in the road after having walked towards her, and she waved in return before walking faster in order to reach me. I knew I wasn't going to be able to hide the truth for much longer. Applejack had a way to get people to tell the truth. At times, it was convenient, but at others times, it was nothing short of bothersome. " Hi, Sunset!" " Oh, hi, Applejack." " Reckon I'm surprised to see you standing out here in the cold. I thought you would have wanted to stay inside where it's nice and warm. You do live in the school library, so you can easily ride out this here snowstorm without having to worry about trudging through the snow. I still find it weird that y'all live in the library, but who am I to judge someone on where they live." Applejack said. " I wanted to come out here and see the majestic beauty of winter. Oh, and to continue with my research on the magic problem." I said. " Y'all are gonna be workin' on that during the holidays?" " It really needs to be taken care of. Equestrian magic can be very dangerous, especially if it roams free without restraint." I answered. " Don't overexert yourself none." " I'm not going to." " Still, I feel bad that you're doing somethin' like that during such a wondrous time." Applejack said. No one else was capable of solving the problem! I was the only official authority on magic this world had, so it fell onto me to solve the problem. I had to for a more personal reason, as well. If not for me, magic wouldn't even be here. This world would have gone on like it always had. So, I felt responsible for keeping magic under control as a magic investigator. I could have asked Princess Twilight for help, but I suspected she had more pressing matters to attend to. Namely, celebrating Hearth's Warming Day in Equestria. It occurred at roughly the same time as this world's equivalent: Christmas. " It's something I'm dedicated towards." I said. " Nothin' wrong with that." " My head wanted me to do some more research, but my heart wanted me to come out here and look at it all." " Your heart was the wiser choice." " I suppose so." " You know, I love winter." " Really? You're one of the few people I know who actually appreciates this weather. Most people around here have complained about it because of how cold it gets and how it's so difficult to navigate through." I said. " Naw! I love it for different reasons. Hot cocoa, the smell of new snow, buildin' a fire in the fireplace... But my favourite part is just bein' home for the holidays with all of my family. It doesn't get any better than that. While I can't say anything about how our friends feel about it, I'm sure they would say somethin' similar." Applejack said. My heart shrank in response to her words. I had hoped the conversation wouldn't have steered towards spending time with loved ones during the holidays. I knew immediately that I was going to be explaining myself to Applejack, and I wasn't going to enjoy it one bit. I wanted to bury my head in the snow and keep it there until the snow melted in the spring. Fluttershy wasn't the only one who would learn about my past. Applejack was going to find out, and I had no way of getting myself out of this mess. " Ain't it the best?" Applejack asked. " Um, yeah, it really is." I answered. " Sunset? Is something botherin' you?" " Why would there be?" " You turned away from me when I mentioned the holidays." Applejack answered. I knew it! Her narrow-eyed expression from two weeks ago! She did suspect that something was off about me. I closed my eyes tightly and gritted my teeth before clenching my hands into fists, awaiting the inevitable inquisition. For a few moments, I just stood there waiting, but Applejack neither said nor did anything. What was she waiting for? I opened my eyes slowly, and I could see her, arms folded across her chest, her eyes narrowed like before, with a look that could pierce one's heart from a mile away. " Alright Sunset! Something's goin' on with you, so you oughta come clean and tell me what's wrong. There's no point in hidin'; you know that I can get anyone to tell the truth." " Okay. You win." I said. " So what's been eatin' you?" " All that talk about spending the holidays with your family. You, our friends, pretty much everyone at CHS! When you girls began talking about it, I had to get away because of how it made me feel. You see, I don't understand what the appeal is for the holidays. I... I haven't been home for the holidays in a... long time." I answered. " What!? Why not?" " I was never really that close to my family, unlike you and our other friends. When I was growing up, I wanted to prove to them that I was the best unicorn. I knew I had potential, and constantly strove to get their attention. Unfortunately, they never took much notice. Instead, they fawned over my siblings. It crushed my heart to know that my efforts had been in vain. Since then, I rarely thought about my family, as it brings back so much pain." I answered. What I had just said was similar to what I said to Fluttershy, yet I chose not to go into as much detail. It was always difficult for me to talk about my past. There were many memories I preferred to have buried under several slabs of concrete for all eternity. " I'm sorry ta hear that." Applejack said. " It was a long time ago." " Let me change the subject. Did they have the same holidays back in Equestria?" " I wouldn't say they were exactly the same, but yeah. Everypony--everybody gets together with their families in the winter. They celebrate Hearth's Warming Day by having a traditional dinner, making special figures, and the family's youngest raising a special flag. There are a few more things, but I don't remember them off the top of my head. The only reason I'm able to remember what I do know is because Princess Celestia made sure to drill the legends and customs of Hearth's Warming Day into my head." I answered. We were both getting cold by that point, so we decided to go inside and continue our conversation. Upon walking into the building, I walked down a hallway with Applejack walking beside me until we reached our lockers. It was a coincidence that our lockers were right next to one another. " This Princess Celestia... Was she like a mother to you?" Applejack asked. " Kind of. She took me under her wing and taught me everything I needed to know to eventually become a princess myself. She saw that I had great potential, but also saw that I had darkness inside of my heart, the result of my upbringing. As you and the others already know, I fell from her good graces by demanding to be made a princess. It was the greatest mistake of my entire life. Not a day goes by that I wish things had turned out differently. Anyway, before coming here, I wanted to be close with Her Highness, but I knew that could never be. She was the ruler of Equestria, an alicorn whose purpose was to guide her subjects through their lives. I was just her protégé and nothing more. And the first few years of living in this world... Well, I wasn't close to anyone." I answered. " Was it because of how you treated everyone?" Applejack asked. " 'Fraid so. I mean, I couldn't blame anyone for not wanting to hang out with me. I did sabotage friendships and manipulate people to become the ruler of this school. It didn't matter who ended up getting crushed underneath my heel. In my eyes, the only one who was important was me. Because of my attitude, I ended up spending every holiday on my own. I would get used to it over time." I answered. I struggled to get my backpack into my locker and got really frustrated. Applejack offered to help, but I politely refused her offer. I could get it in there on my own by just giving it one more push. Eventually, I managed to get it in there. I had to remind myself to either clean out my locker or arrange some things to give myself more room. I then took off my scarf and placed it into my locker with ease before closing it up with a loud clank. " So let me get this straight! You've been alone on the holidays... for all that time?" Applejack asked. " Yep." " That... That's awful!" " Again, I'm used to it. I've been doing it through my life in Equestria and here." " Wouldn't y'all like to change that?" " I suppose that would be nice." " Then go for it!" " I'm not sure if I can, Applejack. It's been far too many years, and the loving embrace of the holidays just never reached my heart. I always spent my free time studying; there was nothing else I could do. In the case of this holiday, I'm likely to spend it working on the magic problem." I said. " Sunset..." " I'm not going to lie to you, though. Deep down, I would love to spend at least one holiday with family and friends, but again, it's been far too long. Besides, you and the others have got your own holiday plans to worry about. No need to be concerned about me. I've got you guys, now. If you ever feel the need to drop by and pay me a visit, I'll be here in the school doing my thing. Principal Celestia said that I'll still have access while everyone else is away. Her only condition was that I could only enter the library and no other room until everyone gets back in the new year." I said. " Does Principal Celestia know you're spending the holidays on your own?" Applejack asked. " She did show some concern, but I told her that I'd be here for the duration." " Alone in a school... Doesn't sound right." " I know, but it's not like I can live elsewhere." " Why not?" " I'm basically an alien from another world. While I may have been able to register successfully at CHS, I'm pretty much living in this world under the radar. I've no records that can help me prove who I really am! Besides, if people beyond this school discovered that I'm a magical, talking pony, I could be taken away to some kind of research facility." I answered. That might have been a bit of stretch, there. I looked towards Applejack again. She had since removed her Stetson hat, and was holding it in her hands while looking at me in shock. If there was some kind of consolation here, it would be that no one else had paid any attention to my rambling. I didn't want to embarrass myself again. I've had enough of those kinds of experiences already. " Uh, I don't know what to say about that." Applejack said. " Sorry. I didn't mean to say something so stupid!" " How do you figure that?" " I've spent too much time watching those corny B-list movies Rainbow Dash has in her collection." " Y'all still view yourself as an alien?" " I'm the same as everyone else... apart from the fact that I was once a pony." " But, you are tellin' me the truth about not being able to live anywhere else, right?" " I am. I'm not bothered about my current lot in life, though. Living in the school library does give me some perks, like having access to all those books, a roof over my head, the computer lab, and a place that I'm familiar with. I don't get to explore much of Canterlot, but I'm willing to expand on my horizons next year." I answered. Applejack then gave me a powerful hug, which did cause me to experience a quick bout of breathing trouble. I knew she was passionate about her friends, but she was overdoing it a little. She most likely felt upset about how my living conditions and general attitude left me at a disadvantage to everyone else. I couldn't think of any other explanation behind her actions, so I decided to stick with that. " Like I said, Applejack, I've got you guys now, so it's not like I'm actually alone for the holidays in that sense." I said. " No, I suppose not." Applejack said. " I need to get going, so I guess I'll see you later." " Sure, Sunset..." Applejack said. I then turned around and walked off down the hallway, leaving Applejack to do her own thing. I didn't notice her taking out her cellphone; I was too busy looking up at the ceiling out of sheer embarrassment. How could a conversation about the holidays have gone so badly? It went from talking about that to talking about my current living arrangements. Was it really a big deal for me to be living at the library? Granted, no one in my current position would have done that. Everyone I knew either lived on their own, with other students, or at home with their parents. When Principal Celestia allocated a small, unused section of the library to me, I accepted it because there was nowhere else for me to go. I could have tried to apply for an apartment, but that would have required some income and official records. I had neither of these. There had been times where my fellow students often asked me where I go after the sun goes down. My responses were nothing more than lies and it was difficult to come up with new ones. I could never tell them where I really went. I'd never hear the end of it! Princess Twilight was able to get away with it, as she only stayed in this world for a few days at a time. I've been living in the library now for the past two months. I started to feel miserable again, all because of telling Applejack the truth about what the holidays meant to me. Why did she have to make me tell her the truth about my past? There was nothing that could be done about it now. I've told her so all I can do is keep on going and hope my friends don't try to cheer me up at the expense of their own plans. I should have just stayed in bed, or better yet, not have went outside in the first place. " That explains why you live here." Twilight said. " We already established that some time ago, but yeah, that is pretty much the reason why the library is my home." I said. " While I'll give Applejack credit for having you open up about your opinion of the holidays, I wish she didn't force it upon you like that." Twilight said. I couldn't agree more. While her intentions were noble, Applejack shouldn't have pressured me into talking about my past. While I've been comfortable talking about my past with Twilight, it's because she and I had a close connection. I don't share such a connection with my other friends. I guess it was because I was afraid that they wouldn't understand me. Rather than talk to them about my past, I instead closed myself off to them and hid within a cocoon. They had succeeded to some degree, but I just couldn't bring myself to talk about it. Because of that, I shouldn't be so hard on Applejack or the others. She only wanted to help me, and I pushed her away. " How did you know Applejack had taken out her cellphone? You left before she did that." Twilight said. " Pinkie Pie told me about it." I answered. " She would also tell me what our friends had decided to do." " What do you mean?" " After I left Applejack, she sent the others a text message to tell them to meet her in the library. Under no circumstances was I to know about it. Now, before you start throwing a hissy fit about how they left me out, let me explain. They had intended on leaving me out of their meeting because the meeting was about me and what could be done to make me feel better about the holidays." I answered. " They were willing to give up their plans for you?" Twilight asked. " Yes." " Such thoughtful friends." " It was too good to be true." " What do you mean?" " Looking back on it now, I should have refused their request. If I had, none of the problems that revolved around me would have happened." I answered. Of course, I can't see the future, so I had no idea what was going to happen. While my friends only had my best interests at heart, I walked right into a trap that resulted in my reputation, friendships, and very existence being destroyed. The signs were there that something was going on, but none of us paid any attention to it. If anyone should have noticed a problem, it would have been me. " Our friends wanted me to be happy, but they would be making others feel unhappy." " Who was unhappy?" Twilight asked. I stayed quiet, knowing full well that she would be upset about it, but I had to keep their identities a secret until we had gotten to the end. I didn't want them to suffer the consequences because I just happened to be around. Once Twilight concluded that I wasn't answering her question, she sighed before shrugging her shoulders and taking a sip of cider to clear her mind. " Alright! There's no point in trying to get you to tell me." " Sorry." " It's alright. I'm sure you have a valid reason, and I have to respect that decision." " Anyway, our friends had decided to host a slumber party, or rather, five slumber parties." " Five!? Why would they need that many?" " One for each of them." " Oh." " After the fifth and final slumber party, we were all to go to Sweet Apple Acres in order to celebrate Christmas together. It sounded like a perfect plan... even if Pinkie had her goofy grin while explaining their plans to me. Sometimes, I feel like she is going to do something sadistic. No one smiles like that unless they were either nervous or planning to do something sinister." I said. " Pinkie Pie explained things to you?" Twilight asked. " She wanted to be the first to host a slumber party for me, and no one was going to deny her that right." I answered. The rest of the morning passed by without incident, and it left me wondering if something was up with my friends. They had been avoiding me, and whenever I tried talking to one of them, they just ignored me. Had my conversation with Applejack really been that problematic? Could I have jeopardized my friendships all because of what the holidays truly felt like to me? Nah. I shouldn't let such thoughts cloud my judgment. I knew my friends better than that. Still, they must be avoiding me for a good reason. Besides, I had more important things on my mind, with the most obvious being the magic problem. The Rainbooms' performance after the fashion show had become the latest incident where we ponied up and unleashed magic, which didn't cause any damage. I had been spending some of my free time in the gym trying to find any magical residue. I did have to deal with the ire of students who were having gym class whenever I needed to conduct my research. I did learn something important about the magic. Unlike in Equestria, where it existed indefinitely, it only lasted a short period of time in this world. After that, it just faded away. Why does it do that? I must know before I can continue any further. Lunch time came around, and I was still miserable about how my friends were acting. Try as I could, I just couldn't get them out of my mind. Maybe they were ignoring me so that they wouldn't upset me over their holiday plans. I suppose that was somewhat credible, yet why not tell it to my face? I've been through a lot worse than being made upset over a pointless holiday. No... I shouldn't think about it like that. This time of year means a whole lot to them, so I have no right to tell them otherwise. I walked over to my locker slowly, and upon opening it, I just stared longingly at the empty space at the back. Why did the holidays have such a negative effect on me? I already knew the answer, yet I always kept on asking that same question every time. After staring for a few minutes, I finally closed the door to my locker and discovered that Pinkie Pie was standing right behind it. Her face had that goofy expression she was known for whenever she was really excited about something. But, sometimes I thought it was really creepy how her smile could be so big. Usually, I would have freaked out over seeing her standing there out of the blue, but my mind was too preoccupied to have made an appropriate reaction. I knew she wanted to speak to me. It was obvious. Hopefully, it would be a pleasant conversation. " Eeeee!" Pinkie Pie squealed. " Um, can I help you, Pinkie?" I asked. " Maybe." " Ugh! I don't have time for your games right now, Pinkie." " No, but you will, starting tonight." " What's that supposed to mean?" " Me and the others have been talking about what you said to Applejack." Pinkie Pie answered. I suspected Applejack had told the others what I said to her. I couldn't blame her, though, as she was worried about my well-being. Judging from Pinkie's expression, she must have been okay with what they discussed, but I had no way of knowing how the others felt. If I had said what I did to some other student, they probably wouldn't have taken it very well. In fact, I could guarantee my friendship with them would end. Pinkie obviously had no intention of leaving me alone, so I decided to humour her and perhaps learn more about what they had talked about. " Okay, and what did you conclude?" I asked. " We want to spend the holidays with you!" " Are you sure about that?" " Yep!" " But, you've all had plans that you've been talking about non-stop for weeks! Why would you want to throw those away just to make me feel better. If anything, doing that would make me feel even worse than I already do." I said. " Sunset, you don't know us as well as you might think. We all knew that doing this would mean sacrificing our own plans, but the holidays wouldn't be any fun if you weren't able to share the experience with your closest friends. Heck, none of us were even planning on leaving Canterlot anyway, so it's not like our plans have been completely derailed because of you. No one should have to spend the holidays by themselves, and the same goes for you." Pinkie Pie said. " Do you really want to include me?" " Well, duh!" " I... I don't know what to say." " I'm sure you'll come up with something once we get things underway." Pinkie Pie said. Wow... my friends were willing to give up their own plans just so that I wouldn't feel left out because of my past experiences. I didn't deserve to have such good friends. They would give up the very clothes on their backs for me! I tried to cry because of how happy Pinkie's words had made me, but no tears trickled down my face. I then blushed out of embarrassment, but Pinkie didn't seem to mind. Deep down, she knew that I wanted to cry. At the very least, I gave her a hug, acknowledging that I was grateful. " There you go!" she said. " All you needed was some holiday cheer to put you in a good mood." " Thanks, Pinkie. So, how do you plan on spending the holidays with me?" I asked. " Slumber parties!" " Of course." " I'm serious, Sunset, and you know how serious I can be about parties. We're each going to be hosting a slumber party at our own houses. That's five slumber parties, one for each of your friends. We would've had a sixth slumber party at your place, but I don't think Principal Celestia would appreciate that." I agree, there. Since CHS was public property, having a slumber party in the library would be impossible. It wasn't illegal or anything, but rather, if we caused any damage, Principal Celestia would be blamed for it. She was responsible for keeping her students under control. I'd feel awful if she were to lose her job all because of a slumber party. It was for the best then that we don't have one at my place. That's when I finally caught onto something that Pinkie said. "After the fifth and final party, we're all going down to Sweet Apple Acres to spend the holidays together. The Apple family home has more than enough room for all of us. Since parties are my thing, I decided that the first slumber party will be at my house." Pinkie Pie said. " Did you just say... five slumber parties?" I asked. " Yep!" " I hope you girls planned this carefully." " We did." " In that case, I suppose I should bring over the essentials tonight." " I just knew you would accept!" " How could I refuse my friends?" " Exactly!" " Um, do your parents know about this sudden change in plans?" " I already left them a message." " Okay, then. I guess that wraps up everything." I said. Pinkie didn't seem to agree with me, for she began jumping up and down in an effort to let me know that she had something else she wanted to say. I admired her boundless energy, but sometimes I felt like she should tone it down for her own sake. Students have been known to stare at her while giggling under their breath. No doubt Pinkie ignores such things, blissfully in her own world, yet perhaps it's something she might want to change in the new year. You know, one of those New Year's Resolutions humans are known to making just after the holidays end. Pinkie's jumping antics finally got under my skin, so I grabbed her shoulders to stop her from continuing. " Okay! I can tell you want to say something, but there's no need to jump about like a lunatic!" " What can I say? It's who I am!" Pinkie Pie said. She completely ignored the fact that I just insulted her. It wasn't surprising, as she often did that without realizing it. " Anyway, what do you want to say?" I asked. " Will Princess Twilight be coming over to spend the holidays with us? I know there's more than enough room at my place for her." Pinkie Pie answered. " I don't think she will." " Why not?" " Her Highness has her own family and friends to celebrate the holidays with in Equestria. In addition, she probably has some royal duties to take care of. Being a princess doesn't mean she just sits around and does nothing all day." I answered. " That's too bad." Pinkie Pie said. " Maybe next year." " Or, we could go to Equestria!" " I'm not sure that would be a good idea. There are versions of you and the others who live in Equestria, and I don't think they would be able to accept alternate versions of themselves suddenly popping out of the portal. The same can be said if the opposite were true. It's a fine thought, Pinkie, but now isn't the proper time. Perhaps in a few years, it would be possible for all of us to get together." I said. " Fair enough." Pinkie Pie said. " So, what time do you want me over?" " Sometime around 6:00pm will be just fine." " Got it!" " Okay! See you later!" Pinkie Pie said. She then turned around and began to skip along while humming to herself. No matter how often she tended to annoy me with her antics, I just couldn't stay mad at her. She was just being herself and beating to her own drum. I was surprised that she inquired about Princess Twilight, though. Opening the door to my locker and grabbing the magic journal, I opened it up to the last entry I wrote down. I thought about sending a message to Her Highness, but decided against it. She was probably too busy dealing with her new lodgings to respond back. I still couldn't believe that she lost her original home, all because of some kind of demonic centaur. I couldn't relate to her, because I've never had a proper home of my own--excluding the section of the library allocated to me. When she told us that she had her own castle, everyone else was shocked, but not me. It was expected that she would get her own castle. After all, she was a princess in Equestria, and since when do princesses live inside hollowed-out trees? Putting the journal back into my locker and closing the door, I pressed my hand up against it, followed by my forehead. Was I doing the right thing by agreeing to go to these slumber parties? While I appreciated my friends wanting to include me, they did so at the cost of their own plans, and that just didn't settle well with me. I could have refused politely, but I couldn't bring myself to do so. If only I hadn't encountered Applejack earlier this morning. I could have avoided all this grief and continued with my tradition of spending the holidays alone. Well, there was nothing else that could be done about it now. I had agreed with their idea, so I had to go through with it. Who knows? I might enjoy the experience and spending time with my friends. " Pinkie wanted to know about Princess Twilight's holiday plans?" Twilight asked. " She was our friend too, and Pinkie figured she could come through the portal and spend the holidays with us. While that would have been nice, Her Highness couldn't just leave her friends in Equestria for us. That wouldn't have been fair to either her or them. Besides, Her Highness wouldn't know the first thing about how to celebrate the holidays here. I've lived here long enough to understand most of the traditions used, but she might confuse them with those used for Hearth's Warming Day." I answered. " Did you at least talk with Her Highness?" Twilight asked. " I would send her three message during the holidays." I answered. Twilight noticed that my expression turned glum and she placed her hand on my shoulder. I smiled back in response before continuing. " The first two I sent were positive, but the third one was sent after everything came crashing down." Tears then started to trickle down my face, and Twilight quickly wiped them off. " Thanks for that, Twilight. I'd show you what I wrote to Her Highness, but I'll be covering those messages anyway, so we'll focus on what happened during that first party." I then turned the page and blushed before turning away in embarrassment. On the page was a crude drawing of a cartoon pig's head. It looked confused. Twilight scratched her head initially but quickly noticed my reaction. " I remember what happened when this picture got spread around school. Applejack did her best to shrug off the teasing, but she got overwhelmed by all the comments." " What's the significance behind the drawing?" Twilight asked. " You sure you want to know?" " Of course." " Alright, but you're going to be shocked when I tell you the meaning." " I can handle anything you throw at me." " The drawing relates to a nickname that Applejack was called by her Granny Smith. It was meant to be one of endearment, but it ended up embarrassing her when others got word of it." I said. " What was the nickname?" Twilight asked. " Piggly-Wiggly."