Twilight stared at the cup of hot chocolate in front of her. Steam gently rose from it, forming random shapes in the air as it ascended.
Sitting across from her, a pink earth mare sat immobile on a chair inside of Sugarcube Corner, looking down at the floor.
The air around them was tense, and hung heavy with unspoken words. The sunbeams filtered through the curtains of the shop, and bathed the room with its orange glow. Twilight felt almost as if time itself had stopped, illusion broken only by the sound of the clock on the wall ticking the seconds away.
“I wish you had said something, Pinkie,” Twilight said, breaking the silence, “back then, I mean.”
Twilight’s gaze remained fixed on the cup of hot chocolate, not daring to look at the pink mare in front of her.
“If you had told me that something was wrong, I could have tried to solve it. I mean, we could have tried to solve it,” Twilight said, as she raised a hoof and rested it on top of the table, next to the cup.
“We could have sought help, professional help, from ponies who know how to deal with these kind of situations,” Twilight stopped to bite her quivering lip. Her hoof moved closer to the cup, and was now gently caressing its side.
“Maybe things could have returned to the way they were before,” Twilight mused, her eyes still fixated on the cup.
Her grip on the cup tightened, but she didn’t try to rise it, she contented herself with feeling the warmth of the chocolate through the cup.
“But that wouldn’t have worked, right?” Twilight said, finally looking up.
Pinkie Pie sat in front of her, both of her front hooves resting on the edge of the table. Her arms were hanging limply from her sagged shoulders; her visage was crestfallen, with an odd mix between deep sadness and resignation on her; her mane, while still curly and bright, lacked that volume that made everypony think of cotton candy; and the moist surface of her eyes, her deep blue eyes, glistened under the light of the sun. Overall, her look was radically different from the usual bouncy and cheery aura the party pony emanated.
“It wouldn’t have made any difference, would it have?” Twilight whispered as she stared at the mare across from her, “once it happens, things can never go back to the way they were.”
Twilight’s eyes scanned the mare, looking for any signs of acknowledgment on her part, only to find none. She bit her lip again and stared down at the cup, almost as if she was trying to blame the steam coming from it for the stinging sensation on her eyes.
“I—” Twilight started but stopped abruptly due to the lump on her throat
“I just wish you had… you had s-said something,” Twilight said, choking up, “right now t-too, I… I just wish you would say s-something t-to me-ee…”
That opened the floodgates, and tears began to flow freely from her eyes
Twilight sat on that wooden chair of Sugarcube Corner, crying her heart out, while Pinkie Pie looked at her from the other end of the table.
“Why, Pinkie?” Twilight whispered.
“Twilight, dear, are you alright?” Mrs. Cake said, leaning towards Twilight. The unicorn had been so engrossed in what she had been saying that she didn’t realise the sound of her sobs would draw the attention of the mare behind the counter.
“Ah, y-yes Mrs. Cake, I’m alright,” Twilight said, rubbing her eyes.
Mrs. Cake stared at Pinkie’s direction before looking back to Twilight, “Alright, dear. But… call me if you need anything, will you?”
Twilight nodded a couple of times before taking a deep breath and replying to the mare, “Sure, Mrs. Cake.”
Twilight gave Mrs. Cake a smile, a smile that wasn’t like the ones she used to smile, a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.
Mrs. Cake didn’t make any comment on that. Instead, she just returned Twilight’s smile and turned around, “Just let me know if you need anything,” she said as she trotted towards the kitchen, and as she left, silence took over once again.
Twilight raised her other hoof, and tentatively stretched it towards Pinkie Pie, but once the pink pony saw what she was doing, the unicorn withdrew her hoof immediately.
“Sorry,” she said, as she grabbed the cup of hot chocolate with both of her hooves, and remained silent as she took a small sip from it.
“You know…” Twilight said, still holding the cup in front of her muzzle, “Rarity had started making wedding plans behind our backs.”
Pinkie Pie blinked a couple of times, and looked down.
“Don’t think much of it, that’s how Rarity is, I mean, she’s always been so passionate about romance,” Twilight said, letting out a sad laugh. She averted her eyes and looked through the window at the sun, making its way down the sky, towards the horizon.
“Is… is it wrong… that I considered it?” Twilight said, her voice barely above a whisper. She didn’t move, nor did she try to look in Pinkie’s direction. She didn’t want to see her reaction. She simply stayed still, looking through the window.
“It’s just that…” she trailed off.
After a couple of seconds, she sighed and raised the cup of warm chocolate to her lips, and took a big gulp.
“We were so happy, Pinkie,” Twilight said, still not looking at the mare in front of her, “what happened?”
Twilight set down the cup on the plate and looked straight at Pinkie Pie, in spite of the tears that ran down her cheeks, matting her fur.
“Was… was it my fault?” Twilight said with exasperation, “was it something I said, was it something I did?”
Pinkie Pie closed her eyes.
“Did I love you too much?” Twilight whispered to the empty seat in front of her.
“Come on, look at me, it’s been six months and I’m still crying like it had been yesterday,” Twilight said while giving a shrug to the empty room.
“Why did it have to be like this?” Twilight said as she hugged herself.
Her chocolate wasn’t hot anymore.
“I keep coming to Sugarcube Corner,” Twilight said as she pushed the cup of now cold chocolate towards the center of the table, “every Saturday morning, just like I used to.”
“I wonder if a part of me still hopes that you’ll come bouncing down the stairs to greet me with a hug whenever I come through the door, even though I know that can’t happen,” Twilight said.
“Princess Celestia said that time would help the pain go away,” Twilight said as she dug into her saddlebags, looking for something.
“And you know, it has helped a little bit,” she continued as she took out some golden coins and set them over the table, “although that doesn’t mean I miss you any less.”
She stepped from the chair and walked towards the other side of the table. She looked at the empty chair and she couldn’t help but think back to all the laughs, the parties, the cakes, the songs, the adventures, the hugs, the kisses, and the pony with whom she had shared so much.
“I love you Pinkie Pie. I loved you and I always will.” Twilight said at the empty space above the chair before turning around and trotting towards the exit of Sugarcube Corner.
“See you next Saturday,” Twilight whispered as she closed the door behind her.
