Twilight yawned and rose and stretched as she woke up. Yesterday, she had repaired her friendship with the last of her old Canterlot friends—excluding Lyra, who now lived in Ponyville—and the events of the day had drained her physically, emotionally, and magically. The Haycartes method was only a moderately complex spell, but teaching it to another bookworm was an entirely different story.
When Twilight finally made it home, she was relieved to not be met at the front door by a mountain of books .
With sleep-ladened eyes, Twilight looked outside the window, expecting to see the sun shining overhead, but was surprised to find that the sun still wasn’t out. There was a small amount of light on the horizon, but the moon and stars were still out. She blankly stared at the night sky for a moment or two before glancing at her alarm clock. To her surprise, the clock read a quarter to six.
"What in Equestria?" she said in confusion. No matter hard she looked at her clock, it still said the same time... until the minute hand moved, of course. "I’m certain that I set my alarm for seven. There's no way I can function this early after yesterday's activities," she grumbled.
As if this couldn’t get any stranger, Twilight finally realized that the alarm clock wasn’t even ringing. She scratched the underside of her chin with a hoof. "But if my alarm didn't wake me up, what did?" she wondered aloud.
It was then that her ears perked up at the sound of muffled buzzing. Twilight turned to the source and noticed a magenta glow in a book-ladened corner of the room. She quickly hopped off her bed and used her magic to fling books aside until she found she was looking for.
It was a simple brown, hardcover book. The only distinguishing feature was a yellow and red on the front cover. “Why would Sunset Shimmer contact me now of all times? Couldn’t it have waited until morning?" Twilight decided to answer her questions by opening the book to its latest entry.
Dear Princess Twilight,
It’s me, Sunset Shimmer! Well, you probably already guessed that since I’m using my book to contact you, but I already introduced myself and it’s not like I can erase what I’ve already written.
So… how’s it going in Ponyville? Having fun with all of your friends? Anything special going on?
Okay, I probably woke you up by writing to you at this hour, so I might as well tell you why. You see, yesterday was a human holiday called the Fourth of July. Don’t ask me why they named the holiday after the date it’s on. It’s a human thing. Anyway, that’s the day the people of the country I live in celebrate their independence from another country over two centuries ago. People across the country celebrate by having cook-outs (with lots of meat) and fireworks that comes from explosive powder instead of magic. Can you believe what these humans have come up with?
Yeah... I got a little sidetracked. Back to the point. I spent most of the day celebrating with the girls and their families. Even now we're sleeping over at Pinkie’s, though I’m hoping I don’t run into Maud the same way as last time. No offense to Pinkie, but that sister of hers gives me the willies!
So much for getting back on track. I might as well stop dancing around the issue and just get it over with. It's been awesome hanging with the girls today, and I can’t stop thinking how they’re the nicest (and only) friends I’ve ever had. But… (I might as well say it already) I feel like I don’t deserve it. I know, I know, I should’ve been over this a long time ago. It’s just that last year I spent this holiday with Flash (sorry, sore subject) and I was—to put it frankly—a jerk. Not only to him, but to everyone around me.
Now I’m spending this time with friends, but I’m feeling a little inadequate/undeserving/Ithinkyougetthepoint. I’ve been trying to put my past behind me, but today these memories have been welling up and I can’t seem to stop them...
Well, that’s the reason I decided to write to you. Do you have any advice for me?
Your faithful student,
Sunset Shimmer
Twilight blinked. This was not because she was still fighting of sleep, but because she was wondering how to help Sunset with her problem. After all, Twilight never had destroyed others' friendships or dedicated her life to making other miserable. The worst she had done was abandon her old friends. Their experiences were incomparable.
“That’s it!” Twilight exclaimed in realization. Taking a quill from her collection of writing equipment, she began to write out her response.
Dear Sunset Shimmer,
While I still don’t think I have enough experience to be considered your teacher quite yet, I do believe I can give you some words of advice.
I have a funny story for you. Last night I came back from Canterlot after visiting some of my old friends who I (shamefully) abandoned when I moved to Ponyville. In the few days I spent there I realized that the majority of my old friends didn’t mind that I had moved on from them because they were used to me forgetting I even had friends. I didn’t even recognize any of them when they had visited Ponyville during the past year or so. In fact, one of them had moved to Ponyville and I didn’t even recognize her.
If that wasn’t bad enough, one of my old friends actually had taken my sudden move to heart. You see, she and I were the closest to besties that two studious bookworms could be. The day I left for Ponyville, I not only left her and my other friends behind, but I also skipped her party without any warning or explanation.
I never thought much of it at the time, but when I finally went to visit her I realized how much my thoughtless actions had wounded her. She, just like me, was a bit of an introvert. That party had been the first time she had opened herself up to others, and I, her closest friend, had abandoned her. It took me three days of trying to reach her before she finally forgave me for what I did.
By now, you’re probably wondering how this story can help you with your own problem. Technically, it can’t. I just wanted to give you something to simmer on so you would stop wallowing in guilt. If it helps, keep in mind that even I have made mistakes, and I’ve tried and failed at making up for them in one day. You’ve already made the steps to make up for your actions. Your guilt for your actions probably will never go away completely, but over time I believe the pain will slowly go away. Don’t dwell on the past, just focus on the present.
Your friend,
Twilight Sparkle.
Twilight sighed as she signed her name. A few minutes later a response came in.
Thanks, Twilight.
Anytime, Sunset.
Sorry for waking you by the way. That wasn’t very considerate of me was it?
Don’t worry about it, I’ll just hit the hay and sleep in. Good night, Sunset Shimmer.
Good night, Twilight Sparkle.
Twilight yawned and slunk back under the covers as the sun rose over the horizon.
Author's Note
A simple Slice of Life story featuring Sunset and Twilight. I never really thought I could write a decent story featuring these two, but since I wanted to write a story for my good friend, I decided to jump out of my comfort zone. Happy Birthday, Christianwriter15!
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