There for a Friend
Sunset rolled in her bed and stared up at the ceiling. Strands of hair partially obscured her vision but she did nothing to clear them away. She simply lay stretched out and stared at the blank white ceiling above.
After a few minutes of simply lying in bed, she finally rolled over and sat on the edge of her bed, staring at her closet in front of her. She looked around and saw her covers a complete mess but all else fairly normal. Her shoes in her closet were knocked over by her boots that lay on top of the pairs of footwear and she could see a pair of light marks on the wall from where she had thrown her boots. On the floor in front of her were the clothes she had worn the day before.
She looked to her right at the nightstand and the book that sat upon it. The brown rimmed, white covered book sat almost undisturbed amidst the signs of chaos. She took a second look at her bed, closet, and floor, wondering what had prompted her to throw such a tantrum. But a second look at the book on her nightstand brought back the memories of the world of imagination, Winnie-the-Pooh, and her final parting with the dream.
Feeling tears begin to build up at the thought of her emotional parting, she quickly looked away from the book and left her room for the bathroom. Before leaving the bathroom, she took a moment to look herself over in the mirror. Her pajamas had numerous creases from their former chaotic state, having been righted after relieving herself, and her hair appeared to have been through a hurricane. Her face was the worst of it all. Her eyes were red and blood shot and her cheeks were red from rubbing. Seeing her state, she recalled the emotional turmoil and the conflicting emotions that plagued her following her leaving the dream world.
She did nothing more to attempt to fix herself and simply returned to her room. She kept her sight from the nightstand, not wanting to dredge up the painful memories, and went about preparing for the day. At least, to the extent that her motivation allowed.
She tossed the clothes from the previous day into her clothes hamper and replaced her pajamas with a simple t-shirt and a pair of lounge pants. Her pajamas were simply tossed onto the pillow, which appeared to have been used as a punching bag, and she left her bed as is. She stood for a moment in the center of the room, staring at the floor and her bare feet and wondering what to do.
Hardly any time had passed when a thump came from her window. She turned to the window, curious and confused, and tried to process what had just happened. Another thump came a few seconds later which prompted her to investigate. As she reached the window, she jumped as something slammed into her window and produced another thump. She fumbled a second to open the window and was met with something fairly soft hitting her in the face.
Sunset managed to catch whatever it was that hit her and found herself holding a small grey colored sack that felt like it held small beads inside. Half expecting to get hit again, she was surprised when a voice called to her. Pinkie Pie’s voice.
“Hey Sunset!”
Sunset looked down, still holding the odd sack. “Pinkie? What…What are you doing here?”
Pinkie took in a massive breath and began a long explanation. “Well, I had some free time and wanted to see how you were doing since you sounded so bummed when you called the other day so I decided to come see you and then I got this idea to get your attention with the cliché of throwing rocks at your friend’s window but I didn’t want to break your window so I decided to throw something different and so I grabbed some bean bags that were shaped like rocks because I thought that would be funny and would fit the cliché without hurting your window but I’m sorry I hit you,” she gave a massive gasp and continued her talking without hardly any hint of having paused, “but here I am so, HI!”
Of course only Pinkie could pull off talking so much in one breath. Despite that, Sunset felt a smile form at the gesture of a friend coming to see her. She could use the company and the comfort.
“I’ll be right down,” Sunset said, giving the bean bag a short toss back down before closing the window.
She quickly left her room, still avoiding the book on her nightstand, and went to the door. But confusion returned the moment she opened the door when she saw not just Pinkie but all of her friends waiting for her. The six friends stared at each other for a second in equal confusion. The others likely confused at Sunset’s chaotic hair and lazy attire.
“I brought our friends!” Pinkie exclaimed, seemingly unaffected by the air of confusion that surrounded the others.
Following Pinkie’s outburst, Rarity was the first to say or do anything. “Sunset, darling, what happened to your hair? And why are you wearing such drab attire on such a lovely summer day? And your poor face.”
“Are you feeling alright, sugar cube?” Applejack asked.
“Well…I...” Sunset tried to speak but was instantly interrupted by Rarity.
“Ah, ah, ah. Not a word darling until we fix you up proper.”
No one was given a chance to speak or object as Rarity forced her way in and forced Sunset upstairs, quickly closing the two inside Sunset’s room and leaving the others alone. For the next hour or so, Rarity helped Sunset straighten her room and herself. She picked out new clothes, complaining about Sunset’s taste in style, then pushed her into the bathroom to tidy up her hair and face.
Through the ordeal Rarity explained that Pinkie had called them all together to try to cheer Sunset up when they had found some free time. She had mentioned how Sunset felt down when she called and Pinkie wanted everyone to get together at least for a little bit, given how much time they had spent together near the end of the school year. For Rarity, her parents were taking their usual long time to prepare for their trip so she was able to make time to visit.
It was about two hours later, due mostly to Sunset’s reluctance and general mood, when the two returned to the others who had made their way to the living room and settled in. With the six friends gathered again, the other five gave Sunset a respectful moment to compose herself. The whole time, Sunset simply fidgeted in awkward silence, bothered by the chosen outfit and the reason for her down mood.
Rainbow finally spoke up when the silence went on longer than she could take. “So what gives girl? What’s got you so out of it?”
“Now Rainbow,” piped up Fluttershy, as soft but as gentle as ever. “Sunset is clearly distraught and we ought to let her tell us in her own time.”
“Hate to admit it,” said Applejack, “but Rainbow is only saying what we’re all thinking. What’s wrong sugar cube?”
“Were you just super-duper lonely?” Pinkie said as she jumped over and sat down next to Sunset, giving a massive hug. “You sounded super-duper lonely when you called the other day. It’s no fun being alone.”
“Darling you should have said something if that’s it.” Rarity reached out and took Sunset’s hands to help comfort her further. “I’m sure one of us could have found some time to spend a day with you.”
Sunset smiled a bit at the gestures of kindness but then let the smile slip away and she looked down, watching and feeling Pinkie’s hug and Rarity’s grip loosen. “It’s not that. Well...Not entirely.”
Sunset went silent again as she struggled to figure out how to explain everything. Loneliness certainly would have made her feel pretty down but she doubted it would be enough to make her feel as she did now. To feel, horrible. But how did she explain about Pooh and the world of imagination? But one thing did come to mind.
“Hey guys?”
“What’s up?”
“What is it, darling?”
“What is it?”
“Whatcha need?”
“What’s on your mind, sugar cube?”
“Are you my friends?”
Her friends were silent. Each probably questioning why their friend would ask such a question. Sunset could not look up. Instead she stared down at her lap, hands clenched tightly together. And for Sunset, she asked the same thing of herself. Was she their friend?
A hand reached out and quickly took hold of hers. Rainbow’s hand. “Don’t talk crazy now. Of course we’re your friends.”
“Darling, it seems rather petty to question our friendship when we all got a little busy. We can’t always be together to-”
“That’s not why I asked!”
The room was drowned in silence, save for the occasional snivel from Sunset. While the others looked on, she buried her face in her hands. Once again, she had said something that had hurt a friend, now five in this case, and it had only hurt her just as much if not more.
“I’m sorry,” she finally managed amid sobs. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” She repeated her apology amid her sobbing and placed her head between her knees. “I’m sorry.”
The others quickly moved to comfort Sunset as she continued to repeat her apology. Everything that was happening made as much sense as when she had left Pooh for the second time. She thought she understood friendship, thought she knew how to be a friend. But in reality, she did not know anything at all.
But how was she supposed to feel right now? She was hurt, sad, confused, angry, even scared. So many emotions that clashed together and made her feel worse. How was she supposed to feel? What was she supposed to do?
As she continued to repeat her apology, she wondered exactly who she was apologizing to. Her friends who she had just yelled at? Pooh whose world she had shattered? Herself for lying about understanding concepts that she knew nothing about? All at once or no one in particular?
But all of her emotions, all of her questions, seemed to wash away at the feel of the others gathered around her. Their group hug warmed her. Each emotion seemed to be replaced with joy. Each question seemed irrelevant.
Finally, she raised her head, her face still wet with tears. She brushed her eyes enough to see and saw the others smiling. Why? What made them seem to go out of their way to be there for her, comfort her? What reason did they have to show any affection towards her? There was no way they knew, much less understood, what was going on with her. And yet, there they were, ready to help however they could. Even if it was something small and simple that they could do.
As she looked over each face, nothing mattered. Much like she felt when they had accepted her despite her actions to attempt her takeover of Equestria. They simply pushed everything aside and welcomed her with open arms even though she did not deserve it. But what drove it?
Pooh had done the same thing. No matter what she said or did, he had stayed by her side. He had not forgotten her when she was forced to leave during her first parting. He had comforted her when she had started to feel bad. He seemed to have gone out of his way to ensure he was there for her, whatever she needed.
“Listen, sugar cube, no matter what’s going on, you can be sure we’ll be there for you.”
The others smiled and nodded in agreement. Each smile warmed Sunset’s heart and set her mind at ease. Her fear was washed away and all of her pain was gone.
Was this friendship? Was this what it meant to be a friend? It was hard to define exactly what it was but Sunset felt like she understood more now than before. Each of her friends cared for her. They seemed to feel her pain as though it was their own and suffered at the sight of her suffering. Without thought for themselves, they had offered to share her pain and fears with her, to ease her burden.
The tears that flowed down Sunset’s cheeks now felt cool and soothing. Tears of joy rather than those of pain or fear. With a silent request, they gathered for another hug.
“Thank you,” Sunset said softly.
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Are we still going to see more of Pooh and friends?
I hope this isn't over yet we still need to find kanga Roo owl Tigger
And they need to find Christopher Robin or at least that world's version of him
6897686 Yes we will get to see all of them.
6897701 I'll be getting to the rest soon enough. I'm not ready to end it just yet.
Oh Sunset... You suffered so much...
6897748 Don't worry. Things will start to look up for her.
Awwww...so sad. What a nice heartwarming chapter.
6898067 Thanks.
6898078
d.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1386623194ra/7407741.gif
It really sad that no one notice this story. just like... Rufus. Oh god
P.S. Thank you Author for bring my old back childhood
6898622 Thanks for that. Don't worry, It's not over yet. I'm glad your enjoying it.
Beautiful
6899006
Did I not do that well on this one?
6899008 I don't know how those ? Got there, but I edited them out.
This was a beautiful chapter.
6899632 Okay. Thanks then. Glad I'm still doing well.
This story should be in the featured section. I don't care what anyone says.
6941030 It's been featured a few times now, but it never stays there long.
6941398
Oh, well congrats then.
6944936 Thanks.
WHY CAN'T I STOP CRYING?!
And Sunset is healing. Slowly, but healing.