The Little Curiosities

by Comma Typer

Yule Time to Shine

Sunset and Twilight step out of the redhead’s row house draped with glaring festive lights as music blasted from inside. Thick hats on their heads and scarves around their necks, the two mares trot outside on the sidewalk’s thin blanket of snow; around them, the noise of others’ Yule Time parties rage on from other houses and other blocks.

“…and I really can’t imagine what happened with all eight Pie siblings from both worlds at the rock farm,” Sunset goes on in a semblance of staying casual.

The frown on Twilight’s muzzle breaks all pretense.

A sigh from Sunset as they amble onward, away from the house aimlessly. “What’s got you, Twi?”

At that, Twilight breathes out cold white winter air. “Well, it’s Yule Time.”

“Yes, it’s Yule Time. And…?”

Another sharp breath, then a lowering of her head as her ears falter. “And after Yule Time, we get New Year’s.”

“That’s true…”

“And after New Year’s, spring comes up. And you know what happened back in spring?”

“Alright, where’re you going with this?”

Twilight stops in place and stares at her. “The Change.”

It’s Sunset’s ears to falter now. “Oh. Wow… though to be fair, time flies when you’re busy with helping everypony with their pony things. And a vlog on top of that. And the Rainbooms. And correspondence and collaboration with Princess Twilight and her crew. And also my part-time job at The Sushi Shindig.”

“Yeah, I know,” and Twi sits down on the freezing sidewalk. “It’s just… I knew back then on that fateful Monday that it’d be irreversible. But I never truly knew the gravity of that irreversibility. Until now.”

Sunset sits down with her, hoof on her friend’s withers. “Look, Twi, we’ve talked about this before. Remember that it’s not just your fault, and even if it was… you did not have any evil intentions.”

“But I still should’ve listened to you and not just barged into Equestria like a fanfilly. I should’ve been cautious about Midnight Sparkle from the very start.”

“Well, it’s not like you could anticipate every conceivable possibility.”

“Sunset, you’re talking to me, the science mastermind of Crystal Prep and now Canterlot High! If anything, I should’ve mapped it out, gone to counseling sessions about my literal inner demon, and charted my progress on keeping her down with a productivity app on my phone, but no, I was so blinded by my curiosity of all things magic that I dove in without thinking about her, and…”

A cold breeze falls upon them. A chill up their spine, to shiver.

“And now it’s Yule Time. It’s been three quarters of a year in, and I’ve never really noticed how much time’s passed, but now… now I have an inkling of how big this change really is. It’ll get to the new year and then it’ll have its one-year anniversary and then we’ll graduate and go to college or get jobs or both and then we’ll travel the world and some of us will settle down with the best men—no, the best stallions—we could ever ask for and then we’ll have foals who have no idea what being a human really means… and if I live out my average life expectancy, not even a quarter of my life will’ve been human! And it’s not just me, but my friends, my classmates, and it’s all—“

Yellow hooves on her withers, Sunset’s face covering much of her vision. “Breath, Twilight! You’re hyperventilating again! Just breathe.”

And Twilight sucks in a huge gulp of breath. And breathes out. Breathes in, breathes out, taking in the snowy air to cleanse her lungs and clean her soul.

She shakes her weary head. “I’m… I’m sorry if I keep on being like this. So many times… face-to-face, text, calls—I wake up every day, and when I see I’m still a pony and everyone else is still a magical creature, I see my fingerprint on it all…”

Sunset nods, pulling in close for a half-hug. “It’s okay, Twi. I mean, that’s what friends are for, right?”

“But wouldn’t you want me to at least stop… repeating the same things?”

“You’re repeating them less often, so it’s progress,” Sunset says. “I know it’s not easy, feeling like you’ve caused all of this, but look at what’s happened. Aside from a few fires and some blackouts, there was no major damage across the world. I was surprised at how everyone adapted fast and got by well. But it’s a little logical: they don’t have time to ponder about the human past or what they’ve lost. They’ve still got families and friends and school and jobs and companies to get to the next day, hands or hooves.”

A sigh from Sunset. “Life’s messy like that. There’s no clear happy or sad ending because there’s always tomorrow with its own problems. Now, Midnight Sparkle’s gone, the world’s getting on, and yes, this’ll be a long rest-of-our-lives as ponies, but we’ll take it one step at a time, no?”

Twi nods, a smile creeping back onto her face, but it’s stopped—“But what if there’re reatures out there who’ll still blame me? That I should be punished or something?”

“Ever heard of this tiny thing called mercy? Plus, you know it’s not just your fault. I and Princess Twilight should’ve done more research on the portal and on the effects of Equestrian magic in this world. Leaving the portal around without serious monitoring, coupled with reports of magic leaking even as far back as what happened in Camp Everfree… we shouldn’t have neglected that. But the headaches from trying to fix this whole mess is enough of a punishment. Besides—“

“Our past is not today?”

Sunset bumps her best friend’s hoof, glad to have Twilight back in a festive mood. “Now that’s more like it!” and she stands up with Twi, pulling her back up onto her four hooves. “It’s almost midnight. Let’s get back before Pinkie opens up all our gifts, huh?”

“Race ya’ there?” and Twilight stretches her legs and cracks her neck, raring to beat her companion to the metaphorical finish line.

“To get your mind off the sad stuff? Oh,” and Sunset smirks, hopping in place and getting her muscles warmed up against the chill. “I’m the three-time champion of my pony school’s triathlon. You sure about that?”

“Your past is not today!” and Twilight gallops off ahead of her.

With enough pun-fueled rage for Sunset to burn the whole city with: “Twilight Sparkle!”

Comments

[Ninjadeadbeard]

Well, that was an emotional way to ring in the New Year. Glad to see Twi is taking it... uh, better than she used to!

Happy New Year! Ponies still going strong!

[Venerable Ro]

“I’m the three-time champion of my pony school’s triathlon. You sure about that?”

“Your past is not today!” and Twilight gallops off ahead of her.

Hah, Twilight Snarkle rides again!

[FanOfMostEverything]

Lovely stuff. Though "I see my fingerprint on it all…" is an especially painful way of expressing the matter given the obsolete idiom...

Still, this world has a bright if rather unusual future.

[redandready45]

Good new year's chapter.

Sci-Twi being forced to accept the changes she brought to her world were real was sad to read.

Hopefully, she comes to terms with her actions.