And A Certain Pony Is Just Right
Twilight had made a habit of taking the portal from Equestria to the other world. Whenever her friends in Equestria didn’t need her, she made a mental note to check on her friends here as well. Today, however, she noticed something different as she walked through the portal.
The ground was laden with fluffy, fresh snow. It marked the first time she ever set foot in the fluff as a person. Letting herself be taken by childish urges, she smiled and started frolicking in the snow.
“Ahaha!” she exclaimed. “I forgot how much fun it is to be in the snow.” She started traversing the campus with no real direction, her mind taking her to where she wanted to go. She eventually found herself in the massive soccer field belonging to the school. The many seats were now white with snow, making them near indistinguishable from a pile of snow.
Something caught her eyes, though. A lonely figure sitting on one of these seats. She approached it to find her friend sitting down in the falling snow. Her hair color and signature jacket gave her identity away.
“Sunset Shimmer?” asked Twilight. “What are you doing out here all alone? Where are the girls?”
“Ah, Twilight,” she replied. “It’s nice to see you here…”
“You dodged all of my questions,” Twilight observed. “What’s going on with you?”
“Oh you know, just dealing with a few people here and there.” She looked down at the perfectly carpeted snow. “I’m just feeling some backlash from a year ago. I know you’ve said down worry about it, but it’s weighing down on me pretty hard.”
“I see,” said Twilight trying to be comforting. “I suppose you don’t want to talk about it? That’s why you’re out here all alone.”
“Yeah.” They stood in silence for a while. A cold wind came by and pierced right through Twilight’s clothes. Sunset glanced over in concern. “You didn’t pack any warm clothes?”
“No, I didn’t think it’d be this cold,” she said hugging herself. “I guess that wasn’t so smart in hindsight, huh?” Sunset chuckled.
“I wouldn’t mind heading inside.” She jumped off the seats and next to Twilight. “I don’t want you to get sick.” They quickly retreated to the warm indoors. As soon as they entered the cafeteria, a large blast of heat melted the ice from their bones. Both Sunset and Twilight felt a shiver of relief.
“Thanks,” said Twilight. “Now, let’s talk.”
“Wait, I-” Twilight put her hand up over Sunset’s mouth.
“If there is one thing the Princess of Friendship knows, it’s how to be a friend.” Twilight smiled and started to walk through the empty cafeteria. “Now, what happened?”
“Fluttershy and I were walking through the halls, talking about our respective classes when I came across my locker. It was… vandalized to say the least.” They turned into the hallway. “I wanted to stay calm and be cool about it, but I found that difficult.”
“That’s preposterous,” said Twilight. “I’m sorry you had to go through any of that. Do you have any idea who it may be?”
“Does it really matter?” she said with a small laugh. “If the whole school is against you, what does the one or two people matter? They’ll always be someone willing to pick up where others left off.”
“You shouldn’t think like that, Sunset. You’re five, no, six best friends are here for you anytime.” She paused. “Have I ever told you about my magic kindergarten experiences?”
“Um, no, you haven’t,” she said. “What does magic kindergarten have to do with this?”
“Although it’s on a smaller scale, I had a similar problem.” Twilight took a deep breath and began. “I was afraid of being a failure. All my life, I’d set only the best of standards for myself; Nothing less would do. People would make fun of my lack of social skills and awkward demeanor. Nobody wanted to be around me.”
“Uh, Twi?” Sunset interrupted. “If this story get’s any better, I’d like to hear it soon.”
“Oh. Right,” she said. “Well, that all changed when I’d met Pinkie for the first time. I steadily found that by increasing the people I could trust, I was also steadily increasing my own enjoyment of life.”
“So what I should do is embrace my friends and everything will be fine?” Sunset asked. “Sounds a little sappy. I’m not exactly the kind of person to warm up to others.”
“I wanted nothing to do with my friends the first time I met them, either,” Twilight admitted. “I wanted them to leave me to my books. No one thought that the girls and I would become the Elements of Harmony.”
“I hear what you’re saying Twilight,” admitted Sunset. “But maybe that’s not for me. Maybe I’m just as bad as they all make me out to be. I mean, you guys took me in out of pity. If you guys can barely forgive me, what makes you think the rest of the school will be any different?” Twilight sighed.
“No, no,” said Twilight. They were in the lobby of the school now. “Out of pity? You’ve got it all wrong.”
“Oh yeah?” said Sunset. “How would you describe our relationship?”
“Sunset, you’ve been led off the path. You and I are more similar than we think. I could’ve been you in a heartbeat, and vice versa.” Sunset raised a brow. “I ran into the Magic of Friendship. A magic that has led me to meet every single one of our friends, Sunset. You just need to find that magic.”
“But it’s hard trying to deal with everyone putting you down!” she yelled. “How did you deal with it? It must’ve been torturous.”
“As long as you’ve got one person fighting for you, you may as well have an army,” Twilight said. “If I have to be that person, so be it.” Sunset went to retaliate but stopped. She took a breath and smiled.
“Thanks, Twilight. I don’t think anyone else could’ve delivered such a powerful speech.” Twilight blushed. “I’m… going to find the others. I promise by the time you return, I’ll have found the Magic of Friendship.”
“I hope so,” said Twilight with a smile. “I have to get back. Knowing Pinkie, there is probably some crisis going on that requires my immediate attention.”
“Go help them out for me,” she said. “Make sure you come back to visit soon.”
“Of course,” Twilight replied. “Bye, Sunset.”
“See you later.” Twilight walked through the front door and to the statue. Twilight’s breath was frozen, but the warmth inside her threatened to melt the very snow she stood on. She moved through the portal, much to Sunset’s sadness. She wouldn’t see her friend for another whole month. Sunset was fine though, because she'd realized one thing.
Sometimes, a sunset needs a spark.