Teacher's Pet
Dear Princess Twilight,
Sunset paused, the pen in her hand. 'Princess Twilight' It sounded so formal. Did friends have to call each other by titles? Or did friendship mean that you respected the differences in position that existed between you, and acquiesced to them? And why was it that after a thousand years Equestria had never had a queen, anyway? After all, this world had queens, and-
Just stay focused.
Right. Focus, Sunset told herself. Taking out time to write letters was risky enough due to homework, and it was a shame that the book couldn't accept email as a form of communication. These messages had to be written by hand. And as she chewed on her pen's butt before she started writing again, Sunset resolved that no matter what she said, she'd keep her words honest.
I'm glad to hear that you have a new student, and-
And she scribbled over those words. Not even one sentence into this letter, and she couldn't even keep up to her 'keep it honest' mantra. A large letter with a generous amount of ink, she could handle, or maybe she could keep her friend entertained with jokes. But being honest was beyond herself right now.
"Hi Sunset."
She closed the book on instinct. "Hi Twilight."
"Writing to the other Twilight?"
"Eh, sort of," Sunset said. She looked around the school library as if she'd never seen it before. "Lot of books here."
"Yeah."
"Still studying?"
"Yep."
"Maths?"
"Science."
"Nice."
Deep inside her head, Sunset's mind was screaming at her. Bad enough that she couldn't even write a letter properly, now she couldn't even maintain a conversation. In her defence, this world's Twilight wasn't that good at it either – they were close enough that she could at least sit in the desk beside her, yet not so close that they could have a conversation outside Canterlot High's subject matter. And not nearly close enough to discuss Equestria without using terms like "the other world" or "the other Twilight." Even if "Twilight" was the only word Sunset needed to address this world's version of Twilight Sparkle (and on good days, maybe even "Twi" would suffice), there was still that mental hurdle to get over. The concept that this was the "other" Twilight Sparkle, instead of Twilight Sparkle in her own right. An imitation of her friend from Equestria rather than a bona fide equal. And deep down, the fear and curiosity that made her ask about this world's Sunset Shimmer. Whether she had ever made the same mistakes she had, and if so, what this meant for this world. Literal monsters existed in her homeworld. History lessons had shown that monsters could arise among the people of this world quite easily.
So she kept reading. Twilight with science, hers with English. Macbeth, to be specific. Not her favourite work, and it didn't help that the notion of life being a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury and amounting to nothing, had entered uncanny valley territory. Or maybe it was that Macbeth was in his current predicament through betraying his friends, and that everyone around him was turning their back on the usurper king.
"Say, Twi…" Sunset began.
"Hmm?" Twilight looked over, her eyes behind her glasses.
"Um…" Sunset sighed, closing her study guide. This wasn't the time for honesty, but she was damned if she was going to frame the issue in the context of literature. "Do you…think about Equestria much?"
"What, a parallel universe inhabited by sapient equines that practice magic and have a civilization despite the lack of opposable digits?"
Sunset nodded.
"Well, sure. I mean, if one parallel universe exists, then this could well validate the multiverse theory. Not just in the concept of there being universes that stem from everyday choices, but ones that operate on entirely different types of physics, and-"
"So, yeah," Sunset interrupted. This Twilight wasn't too interested, and at the end of the day, she couldn't blame her. Equestria wasn't her home, after all. "About those alternate universes. Those alternate yous."
"Yeah?"
"Say there was a person like you, but not really a parallel version of you," Sunset began. "Say she has a similar background, a similar name, and she gets all cosy with a friend of yours in that universe. And-"
"Sunset, is there trouble back home?"
"I…" Sunset cursed silently. Damn it, how could this Twilight be so smart, and yet so dense at the same time? Of course she was talking about home. If she realized that, didn't she have enough sense to at least pretend that she didn't? That Sunset Shimmer was using an analogy because she didn't want to speak in literal terms.
"You okay Sunset?"
She sighed again. Analogies, metaphors, similes. This was starting to feel like an English lesson all over again. Or Drama class – Pinkie liked that subject for some reason.
"Fine, yes, I'm talking about home," Sunset said. "Twilight's got a new student – Starlight Glimmer."
"Ooh, really?" Twilight asked. "That almost sounds like your name!"
Nah, really? "Well, yeah. I mean, similar stuff happened – screw up in childhood one day, leading an army of followers the next, learn the error of your ways after a magical showdown, end up learning from the person that helped you out…"
"So like me."
"Yeah, just like…wait, what?"
Sunset knew she couldn't have heard that right. Surely, surely even this world's Twilight Sparke could appreciate what situation Sunset found herself in. The feeling that she'd been upstaged. The feeling that after everything she'd done to redeem herself since her confrontation with her world's Twilight Sparkle now amounted to nothing, because her…replacement had popped out of nowhere in Equestria, and was being taught about the 'magic of friendship.' Surely, surely she had to understand how that felt.
"I mean, I stuffed up," this world's Twilight said. "You helped. You're still helping. I mean, y'know, helping me fit in, helping me make friends…"
"You…" Sunset trailed off. That was true. She'd never take sole credit for that – her other friends had done just as much to help Twilight fit in as everyone else. But being thanked for it felt…wrong, somehow. She'd been learning from her world's Twilight Sparkle. When did she suddenly become the teacher?
"Y'know, you should write to your Twilight about it," the human version of the princess said.
"Why?"
"Sunset, do you really think Twilight's replaced you?" Sunset didn't answer, so this Twilight continued. "She's helping someone who needs help in the first place. Do you think she doesn't think that you can't be a good teacher now too?"
"I…" Sunset didn't answer. Partly because she'd never considered the question. The idea of her becoming a teacher. Not a true teacher like the ones in the school of course, but someone who could help. Someone to provide support. And, as she reflected on this Twilight's words, have support given in turn.
"Guess I didn't." She opened Macbeth again. "Thanks, Twi."
"No prob."
And so study continued. Yet another lesson ended.
And writing that letter didn't seem so bad now.
A/N
Admittedly this is one of the "express my thoughts through a oneshot" piece, namely on the question of Starlight Glimmer vs. Sunset Shimmer, or whether that dichotomy needs to exist. And to be honest...it kind of does in my mind, regardless of what the piece itself says. What sucks for me is that it seems that for the forseeable future, Sunset is confined to the Equestria Girls sub-series, and that Starlight Glimmer feels like Sunset 2.0 in numerous ways, given their personality traits, relationship with Twilight, etc. How prolific a character Starlight will be remains to be seen, but right now, she's more associated with the Mane 6 than Sunset has a chance to be.
On the other hand, from what I've heard/seen, Sunset's arc has more or less come full circle in EQG, and I've heard it argued that she's to the EQG group as to what Twilight is to the Mane 6, as in, the de facto main character/leader. Likewise, eating my own words, I commented awhile back that by the end of season 5, the next, possible only remaining character arc for Twilight is to start giving out friendship lessons ala season 1 (only with Twilight being the teacher rather than the student), and for better or worse, Starlight makes sense as a character to receive them. And I also said that while Twilight has been the surface protagonist of the first two EQG films, the three so far have in fact always been Sunset's story, that she's been the 'sleeper protagonist' so...yeah.
Anyway, ramble over. At the least, I can commend the show for the fact that upon entering season 6, it's still forwarding characterization (e.g. the CMC helping other blank flanks after receiving their marks), so credit where credit is due.