Fairytale

Once upon a time, Twilight Sparkle saw no future for herself.

All those years ago, and yet not so long ago, there had been nothing to look forward to, nothing to encourage her. Just the grind of each day as she looked for meek, minor distractions that could keep her mind from contemplating the monotony of her existence for too long. It didn’t matter that these distractions crossed from the realm of science into mysteries and magic, that their implications could reshape the fabric of known existence – distractions were what they were, little things she could do to stave off the realization that the prospect of true happiness in her life was draining away to nothing.

Under the heel of a domineering schoolmaster, a ghoulishly individualistic campus culture, and a family life broken apart by faraway colleges and evening work schedules, a void had opened up inside Twilight Sparkle, draining her from the inside out.

And then, all of a sudden, everything changed. First for the worse – when she reached the ultimate breaking point, allowing a monster to form in her body and tear a hole in reality – and then for the better, when she was rescued, saved from herself, by six girls, and one in particular. She didn’t know her, and yet she did. She saw the hole in her that no one else had bothered to look for, and found a way to close it, to make her whole. And when the monster tried to come back, she and her friends taught her to chase it away for good.

Together, the group showed her the magic, in more forms than one, of that concept she’d long lost hope of achieving for herself – friendship. For that, Twilight owed them her gratitude forever.

But in that one particular girl, Twilight discovered something more.

In that girl, Twilight found her future.

Once upon a time, Sunset Shimmer thought relationships were a joke.

From one world to another, Sunset believed that to have others in her life was to put useful focus where it was simply not needed. To devalue oneself by placing herself on equal footing with another, to waste time trying to rectify their own hopeless ignorance, to have to divide credit for achievements. She might tolerate someone willing to place themselves beneath her, though only if they could be made to serve a function. The rest were hindrances, distractions, and she dealt with them in any way she saw fit.

Until the dark day where she finally, truly understood how much she had broken her own soul, and filled the cracks with a monster.

The road to change was long and hard, with no shortage of impediments, most of which she’d put there herself. But Sunset persevered, until the day where she could prove both to herself and others that she wanted it. That she wasn’t simply accepting a punishment, that she wasn’t trying to fake her way through the process, that she understood that there was a magic in relationships that she’d long ignored, long neglected to nurture.

That Sunset had found Empathy.

And soon the day came where Sunset found that empathy was needed more than ever. The day she found a girl who was suffering, miserable, as friendless as she’d been, who’d let isolation make a monster out of her too. And so Sunset had reached out, taken her hand, and told her that no matter how bad things had gotten, the world hadn’t ended. That she could have hope and joy, that life could be more than distractions – and that she could show her how.

That relationships mattered.

And through that gesture of empathy, Sunset would soon find so much more.

Facing each other in their wedding gowns and looking into each other’s eyes, Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle saw their whole lives together in an instant.

The night Twilight had fallen, and Sunset saved her life in so many ways.

The day Sunset and her friends happily embraced Twilight as one of them.

The night Sunset first explained to Twilight who she was, and the darkness they shared.

The day Twilight fought off her demon as Sunset cheered her on.

The night the two of them had their first solo sleepover.

The day Twilight remembered who Sunset was, and resolved to never forget again.

The nights they’d spent thinking about each other, and not thinking hard enough about why.

The day Twilight discovered what being a pony like Sunset meant.

The night they’d gone to a dance together because neither had another partner, and were first asked if they were a couple, and neither of their answers were as certain as they’d have thought they would be.

The day they’d spent wondering if it was possible that they loved each other.

The night they decided to give the idea a chance.

The days they kept giving it a chance, until it stopped feeling like just a chance.

The night they spent celebrating when they realized they could go to college together.

The day they moved in with each other.

The nights they’d spent doing nothing together, that had felt more meaningful than anything they’d ever done.

The days they’d spent cursing classes, coursework, and employment for keeping them apart.

The day Sunset realized there was something she wanted to ask Twilight.

The night she’d asked, and Twilight had answered.

And every wonderful moment in between, and since, all the way to the day that had finally come, where they would say two words that would merely codify what they already knew, and yet at the same time, mean everything.

And in front of the adoring eyes of so many, among them five particularly ecstatic and teary-eyed bridesmaids, the two women said “I do.”

They brought their lips together, and with them, they bound two souls, two hearts, and two worlds.

One relationship to cherish.

One future to share.

And as they pulled back and the applause filled the chamber, one thing felt deeply certain to both of them.

They would live happily ever after.

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