Year I: A Sunset For Christmas - Act I: Laughter; The Day After
Sunbeams brushed Sunset's face and a tired growl left her throat. She turned to the side and pulled her blanket with her. Just a little more... Something felt strange, but Sunset didn't feel like thinking about it, maybe in ten minutes when she was more awake. But the genie was out of the bottle, the feeling that something was wrong was working its way inexorably up inside her. Her mind tried to transport itself back to her dream, but there was nothing there and the sun shone incessantly on her eyelids, she might as well have been listening to an annoying song on the radio.
Sunset slowly opened her eyes. This wasn't her room, this was ... Suddenly the scales fell from Sunset's eyes and she opened them. Pinkie's party! Christmas! She had fallen asleep on the couch. As if the last day had only been a fleeting dream, it now suddenly caught up with her. She had set things in motion yesterday that she couldn't take back. Sunset's heart was beating wildly and sweat began to bead from her forehead. The events of yesterday were rushing through her head, everything felt so surreal and if it did for her, it certainly did for everyone else. Her thoughts reached the point where she had seen Scootaloo at the party, how she had made friends, how she had climbed onto Sunset's shoulder.
A warm tingle spread through her heart and her panic vanished, replaced by a satisfied smile. Everything was fine, Sunset confirmed to herself before looking around the room, well almost everything. She was still in Pinkie's house, and that was after she had revealed to her and the entire party that she was the one who had broken up their most intimate friendship. She should at least have the decency to go home.
Well, that was actually what she had intended to do, but Rainbow had stopped her. Another smile spread across Sunset's face. Rainbow had stopped her. They had danced all evening and hadn't made a cross face, which was more than Sunset could have hoped for. But nothing was further from her mind than to strain the good will of the others on her own initiative, especially not Pinkie's. Pinkie was the only one who had believed in her, Sunset didn't know how to deal with it when Pinkie found her on the couch, her eyes full of disappointment. Gingerly Sunset got up from the couch, the house was quiet as a mouse, so she had a good chance of simply disappearing through the front door. Sunset was about to do just that when the voice in the back of her head spoke up. The living room looked like a battlefield, and the kitchen and bathroom were certainly no different. Leaving the house now would be the easy way out. But that wasn't the right way, Sunset knew even if it was going to be awkward, she had slept on Pinkie's couch, she had eaten Pinkie's food, she had made Pinkie's high school life a den, the least she could do was help her clean it up.
Running away was not an option anyway, as unpleasant as it would be, there would be a lot of unpleasant situations coming Sunset's way from now on and she would endure them all! What weighed heavily in Sunset's chest was that Pinkie was the last person she wanted to see giving her the ‘How could you?’ look. Everyone had the right to give her that look and Sunset would accept it wholeheartedly, but Pinkie was the only one who saw anything good in her. Sunset didn't deserve it, but she still wished she didn't disappoint at least one person.
Sunset got up from the couch and moved towards the kitchen, her head aching a little and only now did she realise how thirsty she was. On the way, she collected some of the party cups and put them into each other. Surprisingly many of them were still full. As expected, the kitchen looked a mess, with cups, plates and loads of leftovers everywhere. A fresh glass or mug for a start. Sunset looked in the cupboards, opening almost every one before she found the compartment with the glasses and poured herself some water. Aaaahhhh that felt good! There! Where are the bin liners? A few cupboards down and Sunset had spread out a large bin bag and started to work her way through the party leftovers.
The work didn't appeal to her at all and yet the happy feeling in her chest that she had been carrying since yesterday remained. The thought of doing something for another person, especially Pinkie, filled her with joy. How could it be that Sunset had never felt this way before?
She knew the answer perfectly well, it had never occurred to her that doing something for another person for nothing in return was of any use. Even now when she felt it, as she selflessly cleaned up the mess, it felt strange to Sunset, but in a good way. In a way that Sunset wanted to feel more often, and not just because she felt obligated to, but because it felt good!
Sunset had probably been working longer than she realised, as the house was still cluttered, but at some point, a voice rang out to her from the stairs: ‘Sunset?’ Pinkie stood in her pajamas at the bottom of the stairs, rubbing her eyes tiredly.
Sunset's heart stopped in her chest. She knew the moment would come if she stayed and cleaned up, but it still took her by surprise.
„Hey Pinkie.“, she said.
Pinkie stepped closer to her: „What are you doing?“
Sunset looked at the bag in her hand and then at the rubbish in her other hand: “I'll clean up!”
Wow, she didn't even feel the urge to make a stupid comment.
“Have you had any breakfast at all?”, Pinkie asked, her eyes already half-turned to the kitchen.
“Please what?”, asked Sunset, puzzled.
“Aren't you hungry? And what about a nice hot chocolate in the morning?”, Pinkie's voice sounded genuinely horrified and her eyes scrutinised Sunset sceptically.
“I... er... no.”, Sunset stammered.
Although Pinkie was already mentally in the kitchen, she turned to Sunset and grabbed her by the hand.
“The two of us are going to prepare a proper Christmas breakfast! Uuuuhhhh Maud will love it!“, giggled Pinkie.
Sunset didn't have time to say anything back as Pinkie was already pulling her into the kitchen.
“Hhhmmm let's see, eggs, sugar uuuuhhhh a bit of bacon...”, Pinkie hurried from one corner of the kitchen to the other, gathering various ingredients and utensils while Sunset stood there perplexed. Did Pinkie accept her presence just like that? Sunset knew she should just be happy to stay, but deep down Sunset just couldn't bear it.
‘Erm Pinkie...’ Sunset began.
Pinkie was still whirling around mumbling a few things to herself but seemed to have heard them: “Yes Sunset?”
Pinkie continued unperturbed with her work.
“I ... I don't want to be a burden to you!”, Sunset finally said. Sensing Pinkie's answer, she added, “I know you'd never kick me out, but I really just want to help you tidy up and then leave. I'm already very uncomfortable that I spent the night at your place.“
Sunset stood there like a little schoolgirl; two days ago, this would have been unthinkable. Pinkie had finally turned towards her, one eyebrow raised higher than Sunset had ever seen it before.
“Oh silly, you're not a burden to anyone! The more of us together on Christmas morning, the better! Besides, cooking together is much more fun than cooking alone!”, Pinkie held out a bowl to her and grinned at her.
Tears welled up in Sunset's eyes. This smile, this warmth, Sunset didn't deserve it.
“Hey!”, Pinkie had taken a step closer to her and given her a gentle but firm hug, “You did a wonderful thing yesterday!”
Sunste sobbed, she wasn't used to so much vulnerability: “I...”, Sunset couldn't get any further, the words stuck in her throat, but she didn't have to say any more. Pinkie's embrace had tightened and gave Sunset a feeling of safety and security. When Sunset's tears had slowly subsided, she whispered: “Thank you, Pinkie!”
Pinkie stroked her back gently: „Thank you Sunset!”
The smile on Pinkie's face left no doubt that she was serious, although Sunset didn't understand why. Sunset couldn't help but smile too, how she wished she and Pinkie could be friends.
“Hey.”, Sunset said, wiping the last tears from her face, “How about a nice Kaiserschmarrn, bacon and bread plate now?”
A mischievous grin formed on Pinkie's face: “Haven't you forgotten something?”
Sunset's eyes darted nervously around the kitchen, wasn't that exactly what Pinkie had been babbling about and what all the ingredients were for? Before Sunset could even utter an embarrassed reply, confetti was already flying around her and Pinkie was excitedly jumping back and forth in front of her holding a cake tin in front of her.
“Christmas cupcakes!!!!”, she shouted, beaming with joy.
“Ha ... Ha ... Hahahahaha!”, Sunset started laughing from the bottom of her heart and Pinkie started laughing with her. The two of them baked for the morning and prepared a hearty, sweet Christmas breakfast. Sunset couldn't say when she had ever felt like this. Of course she'd had fun yesterday at Rainbow's, at the party prep, at the party itself, but this was different. It didn't feel like it was primarily the spirit of Christmas that was causing Pinkie to have a good time with Sunset, no, it felt more like they were just having fun together.
As soon as they had finished, Pinkie gathered her whole family to sit down at the dinner table. Somepony would have thought after everything that had happened to Sunset over the last few days that seeing Pinkie's family wouldn't upset her so much. If Sunset didn't see it with her own eyes, she wouldn't believe it. Pinkie was the black sheep in her family, or rather the colourful sheep.
Her parents and siblings were as expressionless as a stone, it was hard for Sunset not to vent her confusion, but somehow it felt nice to be together at the breakfast table. It was different from yesterday at the Dash's, Sunset somehow felt like she belonged more. Maybe it was because she had prepared the food herself, or that it wasn't Christmas morning anymore, or that no one at the table was looking at her with those doubtful eyes. They were all nice in their own way, although unlike Pinkie, they weren't particularly talkative.
But even when Pinkie played the solo entertainer in the morning, it was heart-warming to see her family rejoicing with Pinkie and supporting her.
“And Sunset, what are your plans for today?”, Igneous Pinkies dad asked her at the end of breakfast.
Sunset had to resist the urge to grab the back of her head in embarrassment, the truth wasn't an option, but she didn't want to lie too much either. She knew that the Pie's would take it easy and spend time together playing games and watching films. This was probably true of many families, so it was best if she jumped on the bandwagon.
“Boxing Day isn't a big deal at our house and I'm still pretty exhausted from yesterday, I think I'm just going to spend most of it in my room”, Sunset tried to sound as normal as possible, the fact that she was inwardly praising herself for not lying probably helped a little.
“If you like, we can take you home”, Igneous offered her. But before Sunset could say anything back, Pinkie's excited voice sounded to her right.
“Oooooor ... Sunset stays here with us and we all spend the day together!”, judging by the joyful grin on Pinkie's face, this was definitely not an invitation out of pity. Sunset looked nervously at the faces of the other members of the Pie family. Of course Sunset would love to stay here, but the last thing she wanted to do was impose and intrude on the Pies' Christmas celebrations. Breakfast was one thing, but spending the whole day together?!
“So?”, it was Limestone's slightly annoyed voice that made Sunset realise that all eyes were on her. They let her decide? The whole family was cool with it?
“Er...”, Sunset started on the wrong foot, “So... If it's really okay with you... I don't want to...” Sunset didn't get any further with her stammering, as Pinkie had already fallen around her neck.
“Yippie!!!! Uh we're gonna have so much fun together! Just wait until mum makes her famous stone stew!”
Stone stew? With all the joy that Pinkie exuded, a grin inevitably formed on Sunset's face and she began to rejoice along with Pinkie.
Being the good guest that Sunset wanted to be, she helped clear the table and lend a hand whenever there was something to be done. Fortunately, Pinkie was always by her side.
It was a truly magical day, after breakfast they got dressed and headed out towards the Everfree Forest where, to Sunset's amazement, there was an old quarry. As strange as it was to see Pinkie's whole family enjoying a pile of rocks, especially Maud, it was also soothing. Sunset even enjoyed looking at some of the stones together with Pinkie. When Limestone gave her one of her hammers, Sunset really enjoyed smashing all kinds of rocks. There was even something warming about Maud constantly giving facts about the rocks. Two days ago, this would have been her nightmare.
After wandering around extensively they returned to Pinkie's house where they played something called ‘Viking Chess’, it seemed a bit strange with all the rocks set up, but if there was one thing Sunset had trouble putting down, it was her ambition. She had the rules explained to her at length and tried out a few throws, much to Limestone's chagrin and Pinkie's amusement. It was a hard-fought game and Sunset proudly played her part in making the opposing team sweat. However, whatever advantage they gained Limestones effortlessly equalised it on the opposing team, Sunset swore she wasn't human in this game. In the end, she had to admit defeat and Sunset's temper got the better of her. Her anger was short-lived though, gleefully Pinkie jumped her from the side, “Whoa Sunset that was amazing! And you've really never played before? Normally only I make Limestone sweat like that.”
Sunset grabbed the back of her head, embarrassed: “Well, we still lost.“
Sunset laughed sheepishly, but inwardly she was beaming. It was nice to be encouraged even though she had lost. Even Limestone didn't rub her nose in her victory.
„Yes, it was nice to have someone who could stand its ground and fight back. You're welcome to come back next year.“
Sunset grinned: “I'll gladly accept the offer, but don't be angry if you lose.”
Limestone laughed: „Yes, exactly!“
They went into the house and Sunset helped Cloudy and Marble cook while the rest prepared more games. Pinkie's family was surprised that none of the games meant anything to her. Sunset could only look embarrassed and utter the fleeting half-truth that her family wasn't that keen on games. A more than questionable statement, as the Pie family must have thought, considering how enthusiastic Sunset was about every game.
The first thing they did before dinner was to play what appeared to be a classic game that Sunset had only heard of, charades. Supposedly in a slightly different variation. The family was again divided into two teams like in Viking chess. Much to Sunset's satisfaction, they kept their teams for a rematch, so Sunset stayed in one team with Pinkie, Maud and Cloudy, their opponents were Igneous, Marble and of course Limestone. Everyone first thought of 4 terms to throw into a hat, it didn't matter what they were, ideally it was something that only the people in the team knew, something that Sunset found difficult to shine with. So she tried to aim for things that the opposing team might have difficulty with. The game was then divided into three rounds in which the terms were played through, explaining, drawing and pantomime. The teams took turns, with each player going through as many terms as their time allowed. In the first round, players were allowed to guess as many words as they could, only in the following rounds were they limited to one guess per player if it was one of the known terms. In the first round, Sunset learnt to understand the word humility in a new way. It seemed that Pinkie and Maud in particular, as well as Marble and Limestones, were playing a game of their own against each other with the words they had chosen. An absurd amount of it revolved around stones or puns with them. As soon as one of them began to describe something, it started to become cryptic, as if the siblings were beginning to speak a language of their own. Even though Igneous and Cloudy only joined in to a limited extent, they understood more than Sunset did. But if there was one thing Sunset was, it was a fighter. She listened attentively, memorising the terms as they were explained and what they were about so that she could claim her share of victory in the next round. In fact, this was working quite well, even if Sunset's drawings were not always quite accurate and she didn't seem to have quite found the connection to her team members yet. So Sunset changed her strategy a little at the end, which was to focus entirely on Maud. Sunset didn't understand how she and Pinkie communicated with each other, but she understood how Maud understood things and that helped her to play. Sunset's finest hour came in the last round in particular, scoring almost all the points she could in her rounds, giving her team the decisive lead towards the end. When they scored the winning point, Sunset burst out as if she had never won a game before. Her joy gave way to a brief moment of discomfort, which was immediately interrupted when her team joined in the cheers, especially Pinkie. Limestone rolled her eyes a little, but also offered her heartfelt congratulations.
After the game, it was time for dinner and Sunset helped set the table and prepare the meal. The table was generously laid and several courses were prepared, the first of which was the much-praised stone soup. To Sunset's amazement, it really did contain stones, very large ones, which were added to the top and gave the soup its flavour. Sunset wasn't sure whether she liked it or not, on the one hand it was something quite unique, strong, spicy and on the other hand there was this bland, rocky flavour. It was a wonder, Sunset thought to herself, that Pinkie's body didn't reject the soup as much sweetness as she usually consumed. But Pinkie almost devoured most of the soup. A smile flitted across Sunset's face. The rest of the food was also strange and delicious at the same time. Everything was very special and strongly flavoured and at the same time very simple in its presentation and arrangement. And everything really had something to do with stones; if Sunset had known this earlier, she would certainly have been able to capitalise on it. But now, now it just fascinated her.
After they had finished eating and tidied up, it was time for the next game, which was quieter so they could digest. They played this one alone and had to formulate an explanatory text for a question or term. One player always knew the right answer and didn't play. At the end, he read through all the answers and the players voted on which answer they thought was correct. Whoever voted the correct answer received a point and whose answer was taken also received a point. It was a game in which Sunset really excelled. Bending the truth creatively was in her blood, so to speak, and doing so in this game was a welcome outlet. Of course, it also helped that Sunset had remained inquisitive in this world and had acquired a lot of knowledge during her lonely nights. It was nice how the whole family could be happy and annoyed together. And despite all the ambition Sunset felt, she didn't care whether she won or lost. This must be what it felt like to have a family. Sunset was even happier when Pinkie won the game. She hugged Pinkie and lifted her from her chair, who immediately joined in the cheering: “Hui!!!!”
The end of the day was the Pie family's traditional Christmas movie, “The Chronicles of Narnia”, everyone murmured on the couch and armchairs in the living room, sipping warm drinks and snacking on desserts and sweet snacks. The movie spoke to Sunset on many levels, talking animals like back home, another world that you entered through a closet, a nasty witch whose fate reminded her again of what she would have expected, a family full of orphans defying all odds and of course, Maud's favorite part of the movie when you saw the garden with all the petrified creatures. Surprisingly, Pinkie was quite calm throughout the movie and cuddled up close to Sunset. Only occasionally did she slip out comments, which were mainly because Sunset didn't know the movie.
The day had been full of memorable moments for Sunset and although they had done a lot together, she felt like the day had gone by far too quickly. Of course, she declined Igneou's offer to take Sunset home, knowing full well that being thrown out near the school would raise questions. Sunset said a heartfelt goodbye before Pinkie walked her to the door.
“Thank you all so much! I really had a lot of fun today, Pinkie's really lucky to have you all!”, Sunset had to try hard not to shed a tear, the last thing she wanted was to make the Pies feel bad about saying goodbye.
“You're always welcome Sunset,” Cloudy hugged her.
“Yes, you are,” Igneous added, standing next to her.
Limestone also approached her, rolling her eyes, “You're cooler than Pinkie's other friends,” then she even gave her a tense hug.
“I think you're cool too,” Sunset replied with a grin.
Marble carefully stepped out from behind Limestone and breathed softly: “It was lovely with you.”
Last came Maud, who Sunset had surprisingly become most fond beside of Pinkie: “If your stone needs a friend to play with, Boulder seems to have taken a liking to him.”
Sunset laughed freely: “I'd love to come back to that!”
At the front door, it was time to say goodbye to the person who had made it all possible for her. For the first time, Sunset was at a loss for words. Pinkie had been nothing but kind and generous to her and Sunset had never been able to return anything. Could she really hope that Pinkie would want to be her friend?
“Pinkie...” Sunset began.
“Stop,” Pinkie interrupted her, ”Sunset, that was the best Christmas ever! It was so much fun with you! I hope we can do it again soon! Uh, uh, uh did you enjoy baking, we can make your favorite cake or ...”
Sunset had already fallen into Pinkie's arms. “Oh,” she exclaimed and returned her hug. Sunset wiped a few tears from her eyes and sniffled a little: “I'd love to spend more time with you Pinkie. You're the sweetest, warmest person I know. You even make me feel like you really like me.”
“Aaawwww.”, Pinkie screwed up her face, “And you make me feel like you really like me.”, Pinkie slowly approached her ear, ”Some people think me and my family are a bit weird.”
Sunset laughed, which sounded very funny through the sniffling, “Just a few days ago I was the leader of these people and believe me Pinkie, they don't know what they're talking about!”
Pinkie smiled at her, touched, before Sunset pulled out her cell phone.
“If you don't mind, I'll give you my number. You can call me at any time of the day or night. If you need help with anything, you can rely on me.”
“Aaaaawww.” Pinkie replied, typing her number into Sunset's cell phone, “You can call me anytime too, but...” she laughed sheepishly, ”I'm a pretty heavy sleeper.”
Sunset laughed along: “All your energy has to come from somewhere.”
“Before it gets weird later,” Sunset began sheepishly, ”I know you're probably having a big New Year's Eve party, please don't feel obliged to invite me, I imagine unlike at Christmas my mere presence is already spoiling the mood. Nevertheless, it would be a great pleasure to help you with the preparations. And yes Pinkie, I'm aware that you'll invite me anyway, so I hope you'll understand if I don't come.” Sunset grimaced, she really hoped Pinkie understood, but she just stood there with a big grin.
“Of course,” Pinkie winked at her.
Sunset rolled her eyes with a laugh.
“I love you Pinkie!”, “I love you too Sunset!”, both girls hugged each other.
Then Sunset made her way home, the streets were empty and most of the houses had only a warm residual light. Although the wind was icy against her, Sunset had never been warmer. In that moment she was more aware than ever that she would keep her promise, she wanted to carry that feeling inside her all year long and honor the spirit of Christmas.
With a broad grin on her face, she unlocked the basement to the school and walked through it to her cozy room. Only now did Sunset realize how tired she was. She turned on her lamp, switched on the kettle and took off her clothes to change into her pajamas. Sunset grabbed her toothbrush and began to brush her teeth. In the middle of this, she saw her cell phone light up and a message popped up. She looked curiously and a smile appeared on her frothing face.
Pinkie had written to her: “Hi Sunset, did you get home safely? XOXO Pinkie”
“Aaaawww,” Sunset began typing her response directly, her toothbrush hanging crookedly in her mouth.
“I arrived home safe and sound and have already slipped into my pajamas. I know I've said it many times, but thank you so much for everything Pinkie! You are the best!“
Sunset had just finished when the next message flashed up, “It takes two to make a good party! I hope you have the very bestest dreams!”
Sunset laughed, “I hope you have a wonderful night too Pinkie! Thank you!“
She took the heated water and poured it into a hot water bottle, which she used to snuggle up under her numerous blankets. Sunset could feel the tiredness rising in her, but before she closed her eyes she had something to do.
She grabbed her diary and pulled out a pen:
“Dear Princess Celestia,
I'm sorry that I've only just got round to writing to you again, but I've had a really wonderful day today! I don't even know where to start telling you about it.
There's this girl Pinkie Pie, you can't imagine how annoying I've found her for the last two years, always in such a good mood, no matter what I've tried she just kept bothering me and inviting me to her stupid parties.
Well, what can I say, she's the best person I know and has the biggest heart in the whole world. She was honestly happy to have me around, hell not even I would have been happy to have me around. Even after I confessed to ruining her best friendships yesterday, she still treated me like her friend.
I know I don't deserve that, but part of me wishes Pinkie and I could be friends. You were right Celestia it feels nice to make someone else smile, to laugh together, to do something good out of selfless motives. I've broken so much over the last few years, I don't even know if I can fix it, but I really want to keep that feeling in my heart. For the first time in my life, I like the person looking back at me in the mirror." A few tears fell onto the pages of Sunset's diary. “I'm sorry for crying to you. I've done bad things to you too, the fact that you're willing to write to me at all means a lot to me. If there is anything I can do for you let me know, not that I can do much in another world, but oh well. I hope you had a nice Hearth’s Warming Eve party, no one deserves it more than you!”
With that, Sunset closed her diary and put it to one side. Tomorrow was a new day and she was looking forward to it like crazy.
