Twilight waited outside the nurse's office while Nurse Magicaid tended to Starlight. On the outside, she looked completely content, almost bored with the lack of action within her vicinity. But on the inside, the gears were turning in her analytical mind as she processed and followed the many strings attached to the recent events that kept themselves stuck in replay in her head. Her brow furrowed as the same stack of questions ran a muck around her head.
Why is Starlight so timid? Her frightened vibe is always telling me that something is wrong. Should I be worried?
She was so lost in her thoughts that a certain orange tinted filly never caught her attention until she was right in Twilight's face.
"YOU!" Twilight was snapped out of her thoughts as she looked up to address the burning turquoise eyes in front of her.
"Can I help you?" She asked coolly. The angry face in front of her contorted even further at her response.
"Don't play games with me, Sparkle! First you take my talent, now you take my friend! What the heck! I'd outta-"
"Sunset, that's enough!" Twilight yelled out in rage as she moved forward, moving the unicorn further away from her. "How dare you accuse me of stealing your friend! Last time I checked, you've only known Starlight for half a day, been her friend for even shorter!" She went on a tirade, advancing with each word that traveled through her mouth. "Besides, I wasn't even trying to steal her away from you in the first place! I was just playing the role of an innocent bystander! I couldn't just stand there watching her get hurt! I had to step in and do something!"
"That's exactly what I'd expect from a goody-fourshoes like you!" As the two continued shouting at each other, neither pony noticed the steadily increasing amount of noise they were making; stamping their hooves against the tile floor and shouting to the heavens. They made so such a commotion that neither filly payed attention to the sound of hoofsteps making their way towards them, stopping in front of the pair and waiting. After a few seconds, Twilight notices the presence of the third pony, poking Sunset in the chest as she did so. Sunset, infuriated that Twilight wished to go physical, was about to strike when she too noticed this pony's presence. She lowered her hoof and stood in innocent attention beside Twilight, trying her best to paint herself in the best possible light. She soon noticed that, unfortunately, her innocence tactics were not working. Nurse Magicaid cleared her throat and spoke in a cold, crisp voice.
"Once you two are finished fighting, Ms.Glimmer requests your presence at her bedside. And I believe that afterwards a visit with the headmaster is in order." Twilight and Sunset looked at each other and gulped. Being sent to the headmaster's office was one of the worst punishments they could earn in the school. Their looks of terror morphed back into cold glares as the two followed the older mare into the infirmary, keeping steady eye contact with each other. A stony silence settled in between the pair until it was finally cut by the nurse. "Miss Glimmer, your friends have arrived." Sunset and Twilight both snapped their heads up in the direction of the bed that held their friend. Starlight was looking a little worse for wear. She was bandaged up in multiple places around her dirt covered body, and one of her pigtail ribbons was missing, leaving half of her face shadowed by locks of green striped purple hair.
"STARLIGHT!" They both shout, running to her bedside. Both fillies begin to talk a mile a minute, making wild gestures with their hooves as they spoke. Starlight made repeated attempts to silence them, failing each time. It wasn't until she cried out for her friends to stop that they ceased their rambling immediately, staring at her with wide eyes. Sunset was the first to speak.
"Star, what's wrong?" This became the final straw for Starlight. She looked down at her hooves and spoke, voice frightfully low.
"What's wrong?" Her head snapped back up, staring angrily at the two with tear filled eyes. "WHAT'S WRONG?" The two unicorns flinched at their friend's furious tone. "I'll tell you what's wrong! Look at you! you're both babbling away and don't even give me a chance to speak! Oh, and don't think I didn't hear your little fight out in the hall!" Her expression softened, her voice lowered. "It's just, you two are separated by something that happened a long time ago. I feel I've brought it back just by being here. So, either you two can learn to get along, or-or I refuse to be your friend!" Twilight and Sunset looked at Starlight, then at each other, minds racing on what to do. Twilight was the first of the two to speak.
"They weren't cheering for me in the hall, you know." Sunset looked up at the purple unicorn in disbelief.
"Oh yeah? If it wasn't for you then who was it for, then?"
"It was for my big brother, Shining Armor. He was performing some magic displays as a confidence boost for me." She paused before continuing. "And you know that my "big upstaging" back in magic kindergarten was lifting a feather off of a desk, right?" Sunset looked bitterly at the ground before everything connected in her mind. She facehoofed. How stupid she's been all this time, holding a grudge over such a little thing for this long! A small smile formed on Sunset's lips.
"I've been a big idiot all this time, haven't I?" Twilight giggled.
"Only a little." Twilight offered a hoof to Sunset, who looked up at her. "Friends?" Sunset sighed with a smile.
"Fine. Friends." She took the hoof, ending up pulled into a hug by Twilight. Starlight looked at them, beaming. The two separated after a few seconds, brushing themselves off. The two looked back at Starlight with looks of remorse upon their faces.
"We're so sorry that you've ended up in this, Starlight." Twilight said.
"Yeah, we really shoulda been paying attention to your feelings." Sunset continued. Starlight smiled.
"Apology accepted." The trio avoided eye contact in silence for a few minutes until Sunset spoke again.
"So," Sunset began, "Is that friendship deal still on?" Starlight's smile grew wider.
"You bet it is." She moved to the front of the bed and pulled Sunset and Twilight into a hug, which the pair gladly accepted.