Nix: Identity

CHAPTER FIVE: REMEMBERING ELSEWHERE

The fiery red-and-yellow haired girl gazed at the picture on her desk. It was taken a little over a year ago, back when an old friend and a new one had emerged from a portal connecting worlds. She smiled as she found herself remembering that time.

She stood up and slung her backpack over her shoulder, giving the picture one last glance. Had it really been that long? Over a year later, and she still found herself reminiscing about it.

“Sunset?” A pink-haired girl stuck her head into the room. “Oh, there you are!” She walked in. “What are you doing?”

Sunset Shimmer shook her head. “Nothing much, Pinkie; just reminiscing.”

“Reminiscing about what?” Pinkie Pie asked.

Sunset pointed to the picture on her desk. Pinkie walked over and looked at it, and a smile emerged from her. “I don’t blame you! Those were fun times!”

Sunset nodded, also smiling. “Do you think we’ll ever see them again?”

“Well, Twilight, maybe,” Pinkie said, but then her face fell. “But, as for Jared...I don’t know.”

Sunset’s smile vanished, but she nodded. “Yeah. He did say it was unlikely…”

Pinkie shrugged. “Oh well. What can you do? He’s probably busy anyway, doing some Guardian stuff.” She walked out, leaving Sunset with her thoughts.

“Yeah, I guess so,” she said, still a bit sad. She shook herself; she understood that Jared had responsibilities to bear, so she shouldn’t feel so neglected.

Then again, it had been a while since she had last heard from him. So maybe her feelings of neglect could be justified.

Indeed, it had been a while since anyone had heard from the Guardian. Twilight hadn’t mentioned anything to her about Jared returning, so it could be assumed that he hadn’t contacted the princess either.

Sunset let out a sigh. She really did miss him, even after knowing he couldn’t feel the same way about her as she did about him…

What can you do? she thought. It’s the way it is, I guess.

“Sunset? Are you comin’ or whut?” a Southern accented girl called.

“Coming, Applejack!” Sunset said. After a moment’s hesitation, she grabbed the picture off of her desk and slid it into her backpack. She quickly exited her room and traveled downstairs where the rest of her friends were waiting.

“What took you so long?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Just...thinking about old friends,” Sunset replied.

Fluttershy and Applejack nodded understandingly. Rarity placed a reassuring hand on Sunset’s arm. “We’ll see them again someday,” she said, smiling.

“Maybe,” Sunset replied, returning the smile. “But for now, let’s just focus on getting to school.”

After the events with the sirens from Equestria, Sunset’s reputation around Canterlot High had drastically changed. Soon after the battle her acceptance skyrocketed, and soon she found herself in an even larger group of friends that she had never thought would have been possible.

What was it that Jared had said? she thought as she and the girls entered the lunch room much later. “Don’t let your past define your present, my dear Sunset Shimmer.”

She smiled. That philosophy helped her overcome her discomforts and disillusionments, even after Twilight and Jared had gone. Even across universes, he continues to help others out.

She sat down with her friends and they started talking about their day so far. Pinkie made a reference to Twilight and Jared in one of her stories which inadvertently changed the topic to their last meeting.

“Do you girls remember the first time we saw Jared?” Fluttershy asked.

“Of course!” Applejack laughed. “I gotta say, I was mighty confused about him. I thought he and Twilight had a thing!”

“It was most impressive when he deduced all that about us and the principals!” added Rarity. “I had no idea any one person could figure so much out in minutes of meeting someone!”

“Well, he did say he trained under Sherlock Holmes for a bit,” said Sunset, smiling as she remembered.

“Oh! Oh! The milk carton! Remember the milk carton?!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“Do Ah ever! That was amazing how he deflected that!” Applejack replied enthusiastically.

“That Truth or Dare game was pretty memorable,” said Fluttershy.

Rainbow laughed. “Oh, man, Twilight’s face was hilarious!”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “It was also funny how he made you confess your crush that you can’t remember.”

Rainbow made an odd face. “Yeah, that was kind of awkward.”

“How about the way he revealed who he was?” Rarity continued. “That was amazing!”

“Well, of course!” Rainbow snorted. “Who else raises a wine bottle in the air, opens a portal to another universe, and runs around at Mach 3?”

“With you being dragged behind, remember?” Sunset added.

The topic fast forwarded to after the sleepover:

“He had the voice of an angel,” Rarity said dreamily. “So soothing and gentle when he sang at the piano.”

“His reaction to seeing us, though, was priceless!” Rainbow said.

“Ah swear his head might’ve popped off from sheer embarrassment!” said Applejack.

They all shared a laugh, and gradually the conversation became a walk down memory lane for them. A new memory appeared before them with each word uttered, and it filled their hearts with a feeling of happiness.

For the moment, Sunset forgot about the lingering depression that befell her as she took a trip down happier times. A ray of sunlight emanated in her heart as she remembered.