President Pinkie Pie’s Prodigious Prestidigitation Party!

It made its shallow bed between the grooves of her left forearm’s tendons. The brave prodigy licked salt from her lips as she worked up the courage to drag it along the grain. Having forgotten to breathe, Sunset deeply inhaled the mucus draining from the back of her throat, launching much of her upper body forward with a sudden sharp cough. Her chest thrusting into the hilt, the blade unexpectedly followed point-first through the muscle, much deeper than she had anticipated. Shock provided a brief, motionless moment to process the mistake.

The panic set in.

She kept as still as possible, slowly reaching for her phone with her trembling right hand.

9… Waste of time. Embarrassing. They deserve help.

The shadows swayed as her foot’s tremors rattled the desk lamp.

Okay. Contacts. Twilight.

She selected the wrong entry twice before her finger landed on the correct one.

Okay. Okay. It’s okay. Stupid. Embarrassing. Okay… Okay… Call.

“…”

“Hey Sunset, I noticed you left early. Is everything okay?”

Her volume frequently ebbed and flowed as the phone moved back and forth from her face. “I I I I I I I need your h… help.”

Twilight’s vision faded through her large glasses as she focused on clearly understanding her friend’s stuttered words. “Are you at home? What happened?”

“I don’t… I don’t know…”

“You’re home, right?” Worried sick, she almost tripped on a familiar broken sidewalk in the dim lighting.

“Yeah. Hurry. Please.”

“I’ll be there in a few minutes.” Already halfway to her house on a gut feeling, she picked up the pace.

“Can you tell me what happened?”

“It was an acc-- It was... an accident. I hurt myself.”

“You hurt yourself? Where?”

“My desk. Upstairs.”

“Where on you body?”

“Oh. Sorry. Arm. My arm.” Idiot, you fucking idiot, you fucking idiot you fucking--

“Okay. Just take some slow, deep breaths for me. Is it broken?”

“Not broken. I’m scared.”

“Is it bleeding?”

“Yeah. A lot of blood.” Oh my god. Oh my god.

“Okay. I’m almost there. Can you tell me how you hurt yourself?”

“It’s a kni--” as the waterworks continued. “A knife. It was an accident. I’m sor- sorry.”

“Okay I’m almost there. You have nothing to be sorry for. Just hold tight. Slow deep breaths. Can you unlock the door for me?”

Sunset caught a purple glimpse of motion outside of her tunnel vision. She set the phone down and pushed herself out of the chair. She carefully stumbled her way downstairs, her legs close to collapsing from even the soft impact of her gentle footsteps. Twilight ran across the street in time to hear the lock click open. Her heart dropped upon witnessing the pocket knife’s balancing act through her forearm. She dashed inside and gently closed the door behind her. She put her hand on Sunset’s back and guided her through the house to sit her down at the kitchen table while frantically muttering words of confidence. She sprinted to the bathroom and came back with her first aid kit.

“Do you… know any healing… spells?”

“I haven’t gotten that far yet, but I know first aid. Do you know any?”

“I’ve never… never needed… it.”

“Okay, then I’m going to take you to the doctor, okay?” she said as she nodded with encouragement. The blood seemed to ooze out faster as a response.

“No, not that.”

“Why not?”

“I’ll tell you later. I’m sorry.”

One of Twilight’s eyebrows lifted in puzzlement, followed by a furrowing of concern. “O...kay…?” She rolled a clean hand towel and put it up to her friend’s mouth. “Bite on this.” Sunset’s wide eyes were aimed at nothing important off to the side, and she didn’t seem to acknowledge her request. “Can you bite down on this for me?” Sunset snapped back to reality and locked her dry teeth into the padding.

Twilight placed her body in front of Sunset’s empty gaze. Red paper towels made their way off to the side. “Are you excited to see the Daring Do movie next week?” Sunset let out a muffled grunt either from the pain of the knife retreating, or as a polite response to the question she was half-listening to. “Remember when we got to solve a whole mystery on set? I can’t believe that whole thing started over some missing candy bars!” Sunset’s right hand fought for control over her mouth’s towel. Twilight rambled about her passion for Daring Do while Sunset pictured each jarring step of the agonizing process.

Twilight lifted her body to reveal the gauze wrapped around her forearm.

Sunset removed the towel. “Am I going to be okay?”

“That depends. Was the knife sterile?”

“Yeah. Alcohol.” Realizing the implications of her response, she averted eye contact.

Twilight released a sympathetic sigh as her suspicions were all but confirmed. “What else has it been used for?”

She took a deep breath. “Anytime I need it. Packages. Camping. Whatever else.”

She filled up a glass of water for her friend. “Here, drink plenty of water. I’m going to make you something to eat. How about you go lay down in bed for the meantime?”

Sunset paused. “I’d rather wait here with you.”

“Sure, if that makes you comfortable. I’m still afraid that it’ll get infected, so first thing in the morning I’m taking you to the hospital, okay?”

She took a moment to decide if she would accept the non-negotiable offer. “I’ll be fine.”

“Sunset, please. Why are you refusing?” Sunset stared at the floor with her head shamefully hanging forward as though this was a rhetorical question. “Please tell me.”

She struggled for a moment to get a full word out. “It’s my fault. I don’t deserve it--” Her voice broke once again into a bawl. Twilight swooped to embrace her.

“Of course you do. What’s making you say that? What happened at the party?” Twilight felt Sunset’s head rubbing against her own as she silently communicated “no”. “It’s okay. Whenever you’re ready. Whatever you need.

“I’m here for you.”