Sunset Shimmer walked arguably the longest road in her life. She took this route home everyday after school to her apartment, but this time, she had honest regret for her actions. What happened? What did I become? She asked herself in her mind. She figured these questions would haunt her mind for the next few weeks. Despite her regret, she was not to keen on the idea of spending her entire weekend working on the school entrance. And she would have to work alone, thanks to Snips and Snails, two of the only people she thought she could honestly trust after what happened, bailing on her.
She finally made it home. Her apartment was tiny, with only two rooms; one for sleeping and living, and one bathroom. But given how much her job as a waitress paid her, she was lucky that she had the apartment, and couldn't complain. Sunset took off her boots and what remained of her jacket, and dropped right on her bed. She would need as much rest as she could get to fix the school as quick as possible. But whenever she would close her eyes, that, that THING would be right there, staring at her her, laughing. How could I let my ambition turn me into a monster? If only I cou- She was cut off by a knocking at her door. She got up to answer it, only to be greeted by five familiar faces. It was, them.
"Hey sugar-cube." said Applejack. "Ya mind lettin us in?"
Sunset slammed the door as fast as she could.
"Sunset! We just wanna talk!" said Rainbow Dash.
"Go away!" yelled Sunset.
"Please, if you could just give us five minutes of your time-" said Rarity.
"After what you did to me? Not in a million years!"
Sunset could hear their voices talking outside, but she couldn't make out what they were saying. She put her ear on the door to hear their conversation.
"Maybe we should just leave her alone. She clearly doesn't want us here." said Fluttershy.
"You heard what Twilight said. She asked us to look after Sunset and give her the diary." said Rainbow.
Twilight. Just the name wanted to make her bludgeon herself to death. But she managed to hear the part about the diary, peaking her curiosity.
She finally decided to open the door, much to the confusion of the girls.
"Come in." said Sunset regretfully.
The girls did such, and walked into the miniscule apartment. There was a long, awkward pause between the six girls, until Pinkie Pie broke it.
"So, your house is really tiny. It's like you don't even have a room for sleeping in." said Pinkie.
"Pinkie, please be quiet." said Rarity.
"Whoops, sorry."
The long, awkward pause continued. This time, Sunset broke it.
"What did you guys say about Twilight and a diary?" She asked.
"Oh, well. I guess you heard that huh?" said Rainbow.
"The truth is, Twilight asked us to do two things before she left." said Applejack.
"The first thing she asked us to do was look out for you while she's gone." said Fluttershy.
"That's right. I remember that part."
"The second thing she asked us to do was give you this." said Applejack, holding out a diary.
Sunset took the diary, and opened it to the first page. Inside was a message.
Dear Sunset Shimmer,
A while ago, my teacher Princess Celestia sent me to a town called Ponyville to make friends, something I thought was meaningless. But through countless adventures, I learned that having friends is one of the most magnificent things in life. Now, I hope you will learn the same lesson.
Enclosed in this diary are several blank pages. I would like you to write about your findings of friendship while in this world, and report them to me the next time our paths cross.
Signed, Twilight Sparkle.l
Reading this made Sunset furious.
"Really? She comes close to killing me with that crown, and then has the audacity to tell me to report on something as trivial as friendship?"
"Sunset, ah think Twilight is only tryin to-" said Applejack before Sunset cut her off.
"And she thinks that she can just assign my friends to me? Well, fat chance. I'm burning this diary the first chance I get."
"Now just hold on a second." said AJ. Sunset started to listen to her.
"Now, I don't personally know why Twilight decided to send this here diary to you. But, I reckon that she has a good reason to."
"Oh yeah? What?"
"Because she cares about you and your well being."
This made Sunset stop and think. No one ever really cared for me before. Maybe Twilight IS doing this for my well being.
Sunset felt a tear come down her face.
"Sunset, what's wrong?" asked Fluttershy.
She felt more tears stream down her face. "I have spent most of my time in this world tearing you five apart. Why do you want to be friends with me? Because Twilight said so?"
"Well, that maybe one reason." said Rarity.
"But the main reason is that we truly believe that you deserve a second chance." said Pinkie.
Sunset felt a warmth grow in her heart. She had never had a true friend before. But now, she was being given five.
Sunset smiled, and her friends smiled back at her. Pinkie jumped behind her and began to hug her. The other four girls ran in to hug Sunset as well. Sunset felt strange, she was not used to hugs. But she remained silent. She did not want to ruin the mood.
The Next Day
Sunset stood in front of the school.
"You know you guys don't have to do this, right?" she asked.
"We know we don't have to. We want to." said Rainbow.
The six girls began to fix up the school as Vice-Principal Luna watched. And, in no time, work that should have taken days to complete, was finished in mere hours.
"Looks like the school is finished girls. You can go home now." said Luna.
The girls left the school after that.
"Hey girls..." said Sunset "Thank you, for everything." The girls answered with another group hug, this time Sunset embracing her first real hug from friends.