Long-Distance

by Bicyclette

5. Niagara

Author's Note:

The world of Equestria Girls in this story is very much not supposed to be ours.

Wallflower crouched on the ground as she crept towards the edge. She felt silly doing it. Looking around her, she could see plenty of her fellow tourists just standing next to, or even leaning against the waist-high guardrails so they could get a better look. But gripping the journal to her side, she wasn’t taking any chances. She carefully set it down onto the ground, opened it, then pinned down its right-hand page with a knee for good measure.

She then took the instant camera Twilight gave her out of her bag, and looked at the scene through the viewfinder. An endless cascade of crisp, blue water extending all the way across and beyond the limits of her view, the white mists below like a cloud that had been brought to earth. She pressed the button, and a special sheet printed itself out of the machine with a whine. Pinching a corner with her fingers, she carefully slid out the photo from its place and pressed it down firmly onto the journal’s left-hand page. Peeling it back, she could see the image reveal itself. The journal glowed.

Seconds later, the right-hand page glowed underneath her knee. Putting the camera away, she sat back and lifted the journal with both hands to get a better look. It was a sight very similar to the horseshoe of waterfalls that was in front of her, except that there were two more layers of equally impressive waterfalls stacked above it and stretching above the limits of the photo. Not to mention the perfect picturesque clouds just hanging in the air and the brilliantly vibrant rainbows between them.

A dim glow appeared on the right-hand page, and Wallflower turned it to see Sunset’s message.

It’s so beautiful, isn’t it?

Wallflower poised her pen to write a quick “It is!”, but couldn’t bring herself to. She instead considered the scene in front of her. It looked just like the photographs she had seen on her phone before leaving out on this trip. Just like them. She tried to see the majesty of it. Tried to see something beyond just a lot of water falling in one particular spot on the Earth. She couldn’t.

I don’t know.

Wallflower looked at what she wrote and frowned in regret. She should have just written that reply.

Is there something on your mind?

There is, but nothing you haven’t heard before.

I want to hear it.

Wallflower sighed, feeling stupid. She got up from the ground and walked back from the edge to sit down on an open bench, laying the journal flat across her thighs.

I was thinking about the story you told me about where the name “Neighagra” comes from. So when I was at the visitor’s center I asked them about where “Niagara” came from. And you know what they said?

What did they say?

They didn’t know! They were confused why anyone would even ask. Isn’t that weird?

Names are weird sometimes, Wally. That doesn’t necessarily mean anything.

I know, but it’s not the only thing like that. Its like our world doesn’t have a history.

Wally, I know it’s been a few years at this point, but I remember taking History at Canterlot High.

I know! I sat right behind you in that class all sophomore year. Remember?

No, I don’t… You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?

Wallflower smiled. She could never resist that.

Nope! But I mean, I barely remember that class, and not just because I was trying not to stare at you the whole time. It was because it was just a list things that happened in the past that don’t affect us in any way. It’s not like history in your world.

What do you mean?

Things used to be so different in your past. Ponies used to be enemies with the other species like dragons and changelings. Ponies even used to be divided among themselves, with the tribes not trusting each other.

Those weren’t exactly good things, Wally.

Exactly! It’s why you have those Hearth’s Warming Eve tales, so all of you can learn why that’s wrong. It’s something that hangs over you. It’s uncomfortable. But humans don’t have anything like that. We don’t know where our names come from. There’s no “Old English” like there is an “Old Ponish”. We don’t even have any buildings more than a century old.

She turned the page back to gaze at Sunset’s photograph again. At how it looked so much more colorful and vibrant.

It’s so obvious when you think about it that it’s weird. It’s like we’re a shallow copy of your world. It’s even in some of our names. I mean, “Manhattan”? That’s just a human pun on “Manehattan”, right?

Wally, just because your world was created from our magic doesn’t mean it’s a shallow copy. It’s where I became who I am. Where I met our friends, where I met you. It never felt any less real or meaningful to me.

She looked back on the previous two lines. It all seemed so familiar, because it was. She looked up and around at the tourists passing by her, all smiles and selfies and excited conversation. She looked out at Niagara Falls again for a moment, before looking back down at the journal.

I’m sorry I’m like this, Sunset

What do you mean?

I’m supposed to be sharing this experience with you, but instead I’m sitting here, rambling so that I don’t have to admit that all I see is just a bunch of falling water. And instead of letting you enjoy it I’m just dragging you down.

You’re not dragging me down. You just want to talk to me more than marvel at a one-of-a-kind natural wonder. I should be flattered.

Wallflower smiled. She really did see the best in her.

You just see the world differently from most people. That’s one of the many things I love about you.

She fought the urge to doubt. To wonder how she could have possibly trapped this piece of the sun in her orbit. Shouldn’t she be past this by now? From having to ask?

It’s been five years, Sunset. It’s just going to keep being like this. Are you sure it’s enough?

Wallflower stared at the page until an orange dot appeared. It didn’t move. She pressed her pen to it. They held dots.

Wallflower closed her eyes and imagined pony Sunset in the other world, pressing her pen down on the same spot on her journal. She imagined the same sounds of the rushing water and the chattering tourists in her ears as well. She imagined that she was convincing herself, too, that it was enough.

She opened her eyes to see Sunset’s dot still on hers, though shaking a bit. Wallflower got the hint and lifted her pen. Sunset began to write.

I love you. This is enough, because you are enough. Reading your words is always the best part of my day. And no matter how many times I need to tell you that, I will. I will never get tired of it.

She fought the urge to apologize. Instead, she just wrote:

I love you, Sunset.

For good measure, she drew a heart around her name. An overlapping heart glowed in orange right after. She looked at them and smiled. She then looked back up out at the world around her, and sighed.

I think I just have to admit it, Sunset. I don’t like traveling.

It’s okay! You tried for me, and that means a lot.

Wallflower smiled. Sunset continued.

Besides, that’s the nice thing about us, isn’t it? I can do the traveling for the both of us. You can just stay home, as long as you look at the pictures I send and pretend they’re amazing. Deal?

Wallflower laughed.

Deal.