The Waves' Tropical Shimmer

I'd say Sunset Shimmer is probably the third best babysitter I've had.

Not that she's bad, really! She's been great! It's just... Well, Rarity always just sort of left me to my reading and made sure I got my meals on time, and sometimes asked about my story, which was nice and quiet. Pinkie Pie was a lot... louder, but when she decided to act out my stories it was always a lot of fun to watch, and then I'd get to read the story aloud to her when she eventually got too tired to pretend any more. That was really great. But Sunset Shimmer... I don't know. She's doing her best, I know that! It's just... I think she's too sad to really talk to me.

I guess that makes sense. I'm sad, too, and I find it hard to talk to anyone even when I'm not.

Still, Sunset really is trying her best. She waits for me to wake up every single day before she goes into the jungle to find us some breakfast. I know she'd like to get started earlier, but it means a lot to me that she waits just so I can see her when I wake up. The first morning after we slept here on the island, she went into the jungle while I was still asleep, and I woke up while she was gone. I started crying, because I thought I was alone, but then she came back and hugged me until I felt better. I felt like a baby, but I'm really glad she understands.

The stuff Sunset finds for food isn't always that good, like the roots and the leaves she says might not taste good but they're "nutri-shus". Still, she tries to make it better by cooking it on our fire, or adding stuff together, or even just talking about it like it's better than it is. She also tries to make sure I eat more than she does, even though I'm pretty sure she needs more food than I do, because she's bigger. Sometimes, Sunset finds something really tasty, like berries or nuts, and we usually save that for dinner, or try to make it last. I don't really understand why. If she found some berries, there must be more, right?

When Sunset goes into the jungle, I usually take the fishing pole that was in our boat, and fish from the beach while re-reading one of the books I brought. I haven't caught anything yet, but I'll keep trying. I bet fish would taste really good after all this time with mostly nuts and roots.

Oh right, our boat.

I guess it isn't really "ours". I asked Sunset if we were stealing it when we were taking it from the dock, and she didn't answer, so I'm pretty sure we did. For a while I was worried that that made us bad guys, but then I remembered that the pirate girls in my stories sometimes stole from people, but it was always bad people, so I figure Sunset must have known the person who owned this boat was a bad person. I'm pretty sure that's it, since Sunset's a good person. I've been around her long enough to know that.

Now that I think about it, I'm not really sure how long Sunset and I have been around each other, or how long we've been on this island. I lost track of what day it was before we even got here. The days on the ocean in the little fishing boat were really boring and hard to remember. It was just Sunset and me crammed onto a couple of seats with a motor at the back and a fishing pole on the floor, plus a small bag Sunset brought with her that had a little food and water in it, so there wasn't much to do except read, eat, and sleep.

Sleep... I haven't slept well in a while. We didn't bring any blankets with us, and our little shelters on the beach pretty much just keep the rain off our heads. Usually its pretty nice outside, but at night I sometimes get chilly enough that I wake up. Plus the sand is so itchy, all the time! The worst part of sleep, though, is that... I keep having nightmares. I want to tell Sunset about it, but I think she has them, too. I hear her crying at night sometimes, when I wake up from a nightmare. I want to make her feel better, but I don't know what I can do.

I hate my nightmares. I hate when they're about monsters coming out of the jungle or Sunset not being there or the island sinking into the ocean.

But most of all, I hate it when my nightmares are my memories. I had one of those just last night.

Suddenly someone was pounding on the front door. I jumped and almost dropped my tablet. Rarity went to the door cautiously, asking who it was.

"Rarity, it's me! Magic emergency! We need everyone!" called out a voice I hadn't heard before. Rarity pulled the door open, and I leaned over from my place in the living room to see a girl with bright red-and-yellow hair standing on my family's front step. She looked upset about something.

"Sunset! Oh, I'm terribly sorry, but I can't leave Lily here on her own! I'm responsible for her!"

The new girl looked at me from over Rarity's shoulder. Pinkie and Rarity had mentioned Sunset Shimmer before, but we'd never seen each other in person until then. Sunset had barely glanced at me before turning back to Rarity, though.

"She's old enough that she can be by herself for a little while. I promise we'll get you back as fast as we can, but we have to move now!"

Rarity grimaced and turned to look over her own shoulder at me. I guess I looked scared, because she shook her head, turning back to Sunset. "I can't, Sunset, truly! It isn't about Lily's age, it's about her comfort and my responsibility. She hates being left alone! I can't!"

"RARITY!" Sunset shouted, and I cowered on the couch. She composed herself quickly, though, and put her hands on Rarity's shoulders.

"This isn't a theme park in danger, or a camp held hostage, or a monster in a mall. This one is big. We're talking fate of the world in the balance! Please, do whatever you have to, but we can't do this without you!"

Rarity blinked, and then turned to face me. Before she could say anything, I jumped off the couch and ran over.

"Could I come with you?" I asked. Both of the older girls seemed surprised, so I kept talking before they could stop me, "Pinkie's told me a little bit about your magical adventures. I promise I won't get in the way! I'll stay as far back as you want! Just please don't leave me here by myself!"

Rarity turned to look at Sunset, who let out a groan.

"Fine, but you have to do what we say! This is going to get dangerous, kid, and I don't want you to get hurt." I nodded in answer.

My dream skipped over the part where Rarity summoned a giant diamond out of nowhere and we rode it over to a local high school. I wish I could dream about just that part. That was actually pretty fun.

Instead, in my dream, we were suddenly outside the high school. I was hiding under the bleachers at the soccer field, and there were huge flashes of light coming from what I thought was all around me. There were huge booms and explosions and colors everywhere and I thought it would be cool but it was really scary. I shut my eyes and then there was a huge boom and someone screamed and then a horrible noise all around me that made my head hurt, and I opened my eyes for a moment but I couldn't see because I was surrounded by Rarity's diamonds. Then everything got quiet and I looked up and the bleachers were gone and so were Rarity's diamonds and Pinkie Pie was coming towards me but she wasn't moving right I think her leg was hurt and someone screamed again and there were more girls all crowded around something in the middle of the soccer field and it was white and wearing purple and I think it was Rarity but she wasn't moving and I don't know why she wasn't moving why wasn't she moving and then one girl looked over to where some of the flashes had come from and she disappeared and left a rainbow behind her and then there was more screaming and I shut my eyes and then someone picked me up and I was being carried and I think it was Pinkie because she smelled like cotton candy but then there was another boom and I screamed and I couldn't feel Pinkie or the ground or anything but wind and then I hit something and it hurt and then I woke up.

I hate nightmares. I hate remembering what happened. It all happened so fast, and it was so confusing and scary while it was happening. Why do I have to have nightmares that remind me of how confusing and scary it was?

I've been staring at the ocean and thinking for a long time now. The fishing pole hasn't moved, so I don't think there's any fish.

"Hey Lily." Sunset says from behind me. I didn't hear her coming, since the ocean makes noise and the sand is soft, but I'm not surprised.

"Hey." I answer, looking out at the waves. Sunset sits down next to me, staring out in the same direction I am. I look over at her. She looks tired and dirty. She always looks tired and dirty, now. I think I probably do, too.

The Sun is setting, and it's beautiful. I wish it wasn't. I don't want to be here. I don't want to think about my old babysitters. I want to be in my bed, in my house, with my parents, reading a story I've never read before. Everything feels wrong, and the beautiful Sun makes me angry inside.

Being angry makes me brave, so I finally ask Sunset the question I've wanted to ask since we first saw the island.

"Sunset, why did we come here?"

She looks at me for a moment. She doesn't look surprised that I waited so long to ask. Maybe she knows what I've been thinking.

"That's sort of a long story, Lily." she answers. She doesn't sound upset, or like she doesn't want to answer. She just sounds tired.

"I like long stories." I say. It's true. I was the first person in my class to read a whole chapter book by myself. Sunset looks back at the ocean.

"Okay. What did Pin-" Sunset makes a small choking noise, closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, then continues, "What do you know about my friends and our magic?"

I shrug. "Pinkie just said you girls have magic powers and you use them to help people, like superheroes. Then she proved it by making a cookie explode."

Sunset's face twists in a way that reminds me of a smile, but definitely isn't one.

"That's right. The thing is, the magic we have doesn't just come from inside of us. It's originally from a whole other world."

I'm staring at Sunset now. I love a good story.

"The world the magic is from is kind of like this one, but it's also very different. Almost everyone there can use magic in one form or another, and the magic itself is everywhere." Now Sunset is actually smiling, but it doesn't look like it quite fits, somehow.

"And get this: a lot of people in this other world are magical talking ponies."

I gasp. Horses are my third favorite thing, after pirates and dragons. Sunset's smile fits a little better, for a moment, but then it leaves her face entirely.

"There was a portal, a door, to that world in front of Canterlot High. That's the high school my friends and I went to, if you didn't know. But we also accidentally found a second door to the magic world, once. It was on this island."

"Really?!" I almost shout. I don't remember ever being so excited. "Are we going to go there?!"

Sunset looks mad now, and I wonder if I said something wrong.

"That was the plan, Lily, but there was something about the door that I didn't realize. Originally, the door in front of the school was only open some of the time, but... we changed that, and when we found the door on this island, I figured it must be open all the time, too, because what were the odds we would find it open when usually it's closed? Apparently, better than I thought! Because I dragged us both all the way out here, and the door isn't there! It's closed!"

Sunset stands up now, and I back away from her. I've never seen her mad like this before, and I'm scared.

"So now we're just stuck waiting here for who knows how long, until whatever Celestia-forsaken astral event lines up perfectly so that we can get through to Equestria! And why are we doing this? Why are we surviving on tree nuts and berries and whatever water can be scrounged up from the jungle floor?! BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO!"

I'm crying, and I try to keep it quiet, because I don't want Sunset to turn and start yelling at me, but I can't stop the sniff when my nose starts to run. Sunset turns to look at me, and I back away again. Suddenly, she doesn't look angry anymore. Now she looks like she might start crying, too.

"Lily, I- I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have snapped like that. I... I just... I can't-" Sunset does start crying, and falls down onto the sand. I don't think she even realizes she's on the ground. I'm still crying, but I can't take my eyes off her. She cries for a long time without saying anything, and eventually I work up the courage to move over to her. I hug her as best as I can.

When I cried, her holding me helped. I want to help her, too.

Sunset grabs me and holds me tight and it hurts a little bit but I don't say anything about it because I don't think that's what's important right now. She's still crying and I feel her tears getting my clothes wet and honestly she smells kind of bad but that's not important right now either. There's the sound of the waves on the beach beside us but that isn't important because Sunset's still crying and her sniffs and hiccups and sobs are the only sounds that matter to me, until she finally speaks again.

"It's- it's all my fault, Lily." Sunset says, "I brought the magic here. I unleashed it on your world. That monster got it... and it's all my fault! Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Twilight, Fluttershy- the whole city- died because of me! The whole world- because of me! I didn't- I'm so sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry..."

Died. It's a word reserved for some of the stories my mom bought me because I'm "a big girl now". I don't really understand it, but I know that it means a person is gone.

And they're never coming back.

I hold onto Sunset as hard as I can, and she holds me, too, and she keeps saying "sorry", and I keep holding her, and we're both crying.