Tales of Canterlot
#15-A Friend in Need
It had been a week since Sunset and her friends destroyed the Memory Stone and stopped Wallflower with her plans and thankfully accepted their friendship. As great as it was that all the memories were released from the stone Sunset Shimmer hadn't been doing well at all.
She started getting quieter and quieter, even more than Fluttershy, and was feeling more down and sad, almost like she was depressed that had started to worry her friends, especially her best friend Twilight Sparkle. She had been worrying a lot after the stone was destroyed and how Sunset was behaving around their friends. Something that was starting to bother her was how Sunset acted when she arrived at school the previous week.
When arriving at school on that morning Sunset was wearing her old, tattered, and long leather jacket she used to wear back when she was still a bully. And every time a bit of her arm was exposed she'd pull the sleeves back down to block them from anyone seeing what was underneath it. This was something that Twilight was thinking was very suspicious of Sunset.
Twilight knew she needed to find out what Sunset was hiding from them before Sunset would do something that would terrify her and their friends for life!
It was Thursday night around 5:30 p.m. Sunset had just gotten home to her apartment 2 hours prior after a hard day of school. After doing some homework she layed back on her couch sighing to herself over how worried she's made her friends feel the last week. Ever since the Memory Stone was destroyed Sunset had been feeling sad, a bit depressed, and lonely when she came home to her apartment, despite she had her pet Ray for company. She even started to do something she hadn't done since after the events of the Fall Formal. Cutting her skin open on her arms to feel pain with a small razor blade she had.
She stopped doing it twice in the past, first after the Battle of the Bands and then again after the Anon-A-Miss Incident which had reopened the wounds Sunset had when being alone again making her feel like no one ever wants or care for her.
As Sunset moved around a bit on her couch staring at her blank television she thought back to how she felt when she found out her memories were erased.
She was heartbroken, and even though the Memory Stone was destroyed a week ago and her friends remembered her, it was all she could think about the last week that she still didn't talk to anyone about, including her friends.
Since the night the stone was destroyed and the memories were set free Sunset had been having nightmares nonstop, mainly over her being alone and that she wasn't able to stop Wallflower in time and to get her friends' memories back. And every time she woke up she was sweatings, panting, crying, or even in tears over the horrifying nightmare she had.
Finally, after suffering several nights with these nightmares and having gotten a little too much sleep Sunset had had enough of this! She wanted to tell her friends about the nightmares she's been having, but she wasn't sure if she didn't want to go to them every single time something wrong was happening to her, even though they cared about her so much, but she could no longer take it as she didn't want to put extra weight on their shoulders with her problems. She was gonna end this once and for all. But she wanted to do one last thing before she ended it.
Spend one last time with her best friend Twilight Sparkle.
Sunset then grabbed her phone sitting on the coffee table before sitting at her desk and typing and sending her message to Twilight.
Hey um Twilight. Are you free tonight by any chance?
…
Yes I am Sunset. Something up?
Yes. Yeah um you see, is it alright if you come and spend the night with me? Please? I've been feeling a bit lonely lately here at my apartment, even with Ray. Look if you can't, that's fine. I just want to be with you right now that's all.
...
Of course Sunset. I have been meaning to talk to you a bit lately about how you've been acting around me and our friends. It's been worrying me.
Thank you Twilight. It means a lot.
No problem Sunset. When should I arrive?
Is around 8 fine? I kinda do want to have some dinner first and then perhaps take a quick shower.
Sounds good I'll see you soon.
About 2 and a half hours later Twilight was on her way to Sunset's apartment with her backpack on her shoulder with her pajamas, a pair of slippers, her blue jacket, a light pink hairband, her phone in her pocket, her wallet, and a gift she'd been wanting to give to Sunset for a while she made for her all inside her backpack.
Twilight knew something was up from the start, since Sunset doesn't ever ask anyone this late at night to come over, nor has ever done it in the past. She still recalled how weird Sunset was acting the previous week just thinking about it.
Flashback
"Hey, girls sorry I'm late. I must have forgotten to set my alarm last night."
"No worries Sunset you're not late" Twilight replied, giving Sunset a warm smile.
"We got another 10 minutes until classes start. So we thought we'd wait here for you Sugarcube" Applejack added.
"Um, Sunset darling. Is there a reason you're wearing your old leather jacket lately instead of your vest? It's just been bothering me and it doesn't really match your outfit at all" Rarity queried looking at Sunset wearing her orange shirt with cutie mark on it, purple skirt, and old leather jacket she wore during the days she was her old self.
"Also summer starts in 2 weeks by the way. So wouldn't you'd not want to wear that?" Questioned Rainbow Dash.
"I uh wanted to just wear it since why not? I can do what I want, even if this jacket might be showing its age" Sunset replied with a fake smile.
"Sunset are you ok? You've been very quiet lately. Even more than me" asked Fluttershy, a look of quiet concern on her face.
"Want a cupcake? Makes me feel better" as Pinkie Pie grabbed one out of her hair which Sunset denied before she ate it in 1 bite.
"Girls I'm fine. Just trying to wake myself up still. Hehe." Sunset replied with a fake giggle.
"Well if you need to talk to anyone of us I'm here for you Sunset. I won't mind" Twilight assured, placing a hand on Sunset's shoulder as Sunset smiled back.
Present day
"I hope Sunset is alright. She's been like this since we stopped Wallflower Blush and destroyed the Memory Stone" Twilight lamented with a sigh. "I hope whatever she's going through I'll be able to help her, because I do lover Sunset a lot."
Twilight soon arrived at Sunset's apartment as the last of the daylight had vanished with only the street lights to guide her way. She looked at her phone to see the time. 8:07 p.m. She then knocked and waited a few seconds before Sunset opened up the door.
"Hey, Twilight. Thank you for coming on such short notice." Sunset said after opening the door and hugging her friend.
"No problem Sunset. I brought what I needed before leaving so I'm good to go" Twilight replied with a smile after finishing their hug.
After Sunset let her inside they sat down together on the couch while Twilight removed her hairpin to let her hair down before putting on her hairband. Twilight enjoys having her hair in a ponytail a lot but she often prefers to have her hair down and loose when she's not at school or just when she wants to. And to not get mixed up with her counterpart which many people and students at CHS still do, but she's gotten used to it.
A few minutes soon went by and Sunset still hadn't spoken 1 bit, so Twilight decided to break the silence to cheer her friend up.
"Sunset are you ok? You haven't been the same since the Memory Stone was destroyed last week. Is something wrong or possibly bothering you?" Twilight asked as she places her right hand on Sunset's shoulder.
"Um, no Twilight everything is fine. Perfectly fine. I've just been staying up late a lot playing video games, that's all" Sunset assured.
Twilight could tell something was up and she needed answers now.
"Sunset if something is on your mind you can tell me and the girls. We're not under a spell anymore, we'll listen to you and we care about you a lot."
...
"Look, maybe it's best we head to bed early since you haven't been sleeping well ok?"
Sunset knew that might be the right choice as her plan was going exactly as planned.
"Ok Twilight. If you say so" Sunset replied, feeling defeated.
"Good. Now I'm gonna go and get changed. Why don't you do as well alright?" Twilight said, getting up and heading to the bathroom with her backpack in her hand.
"Ok" Sunset replied, heading to her bedroom to get changed as well.
Soon both girls were in their pajamas as they got under the covers in Sunset's bed.
Twilight set her backpack with her clothes, geode, and other stuff inside next to the nightstand before going under the covers in Sunset's bed.
"You haven't by any chance had any nightmares lately Sunset? Something tells me that you have" Twilight asked, a look of concern on her face as Twilight turned to face her.
"Twilight I've been fine. I've just been having trouble trying to sleep and I don't know how to fall asleep some nights. I've mainly been taking sleeping pills or warm glasses of milk to help me feel tired which works, 80% of the time" Sunset replied.
"Whenever I had trouble sleeping when I was younger my mom would sing me this song. Would it help if I do that?" Twilight queries.
"I guess it's worth a try" Sunset replied.
"Ok then," Twilight said with a nod.
Twilight then sang the song her mother sang to her as a child whenever she had trouble sleeping. Luckily it seemed to be working as after a few minutes went by Sunset was soon fast asleep.
"Goodnight, Sunset, sleep tight." Twilight then removed her glasses and put them on the nightstand next to her as she turned off the light on the nightstand. Seconds later, she fell asleep next to her friend placing her left arm on her friend's shoulder.
An hour later Twilight was fast asleep in Sunset's bed as she snored quietly next to Sunset who was sleeping quietly as well. But Sunset wasn't asleep at all.
She faked being asleep so Twilight would fall for it and she did.
Soon Sunset got out of her bed and placed a note next to Twilight knowing that there was no turning back now.
"I'm sorry Twilight, but I don't deserve to be your friend after all I've done to you and our friends. Especially how I acted to you at the Friendship Games. There's nothing that can fix this. I'm sorry."
Sunset then went to the bathroom and stripped out her pajamas as she got changed into a tank top and pair of shorts as she prepared to end it all. But before she did she took her small razor blade and put a few new cuts into her arms. Sunset had gotten used to the feeling since she did it a lot after the Fall Formal. She had since stopped doing it when her friends started to spend more time with her as she truly felt cared for during the events of the Battle of the Bands while trying to stop the Sirens. But when Anon-A-Miss hit she did it again since she couldn't take it anymore and decided to do it again when her friends thought she was Anon-A-Miss when she really wasn't. Of course, things went back to normal after they found out who Anon-A-Miss was, which were the Crusaders or Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo but Sunset didn't fully get cured after it ended.
Of course, Sunset thought she won't have to worry about this happening again until it happened when she least expected it the day she thought was gonna be fun at the beach with her friends a week prior in their new swimsuits but it wasn't sadly thanks to Wallflower Blush.
When she was finished cutting herself she placed the razor blade on the counter with fresh blood on it dripping. Sunset then made her way up to the roof of her apartment to do what she must as she closed and opened the door as quietly as she could.
Twilight shifted in her sleep when she awoke to hear the sounds of footsteps. She then noticed Sunset was missing but a note was next to her where Sunset once was. She gasped when she saw Sunset was gone and the note that was sitting next to her. She then turned on the light and grabbed her glasses from the nightstand as she began reading the note.
Dear Twilight. If you're reading this then I'm dead. I can't stop dreaming about losing you and our friends since the Memory Stone Incident last week. I haven't slept well since before this all started a week ago. I can't seem to figure out how to move on from this and I can't think of anything else to do but end it all. I'm sorry. Sunset Shimmer.
"I was right. Sunset was hiding something all along! That noise must have been her footsteps I heard, and she must be on the roof. I need to stop her right now before she does what I think she's going to do!" Twilight then jumped out of the bed, grabbed her jacket and slippers then ran to the roof at a pace that would make Rainbow Dash proud to stop Sunset from what she was about to do.
Sunset was on the roof of her apartment building as she looked at her surroundings she's seen since coming to this world years ago.
She loved it, but after suffering being alone after the two horrible incidents she just couldn't take it anymore. She had enough.
"Princess Celestia, Princess Twilight, girls. I'm sorry for everything I've done. I don't deserve your forgiveness. I don't deserve to be forgiven at all. All I am is a waste of time to you all. I will always be alone, no matter what happens. Goodbye, everyone. And I'm sorry for everything I've done."
Just as Sunset was about to take a step and end it all she heard the sound of a door slamming.
"Sunset stop!"
Twilight had found out what Sunset was about to do and she knew she needed to reason with her before it was too late.
"Go away Twilight. Please just go" Sunset said, with tears in her eyes.
"Sunset what you're doing is crazy. You can't do this. What will everyone think when they learn-"
"What's the point? I've been ignored twice by the friends I thought cared for me. First the Anon-A-Miss Incident and then the Memory Stone Incident. I simply just can't take it anymore." A few tears fell down her face onto the ground below.
"Sunset you know I won't let you do this. None of us will. Just please take my hand and we can talk this over, please. You have friends who care for you now. I've cared about you ever since we first met at the Friendship Games when you saved me!" Twilight herself was starting to cry as well.
...
"Sunset the stone is destroyed. We don't hate you. We got over what you did as a bully. We all know we won't leave you hanging, but I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong please just tell me I want to help you!"
Twilight then ran towards her til she was just 3 feet away from Sunset.
"If we talk about this it'll help. There's always a way to fix things" Twilight said in desperation as she let her hand out for Sunset.
"I'm sorry Twilight but I don't know what else to do. I've ruined all your lives because of what I've done and now I think it's best I leave. Goodbye Twilight."
"Sunset no!"
Sunset then turned around as she stepped backward off the roof and slowly began to fall.
But Twilight didn't want her to do this or lose her and a second later, she grabbed her friend sweating hard and not letting her go for dear life!
"Twilight please just let go. I don't deserve anything, after all, I've done" Sunset said in a voice that lacked much emotion.
"Sunset, that's not true. Sure you were a bully once and you did bad things. But that's all in the past. You have friends who care so much about you and they wouldn't want to lose you. Including me!"
"Yo-you do?"
"Yes, Sunset. You've helped me so much since we met and this is why I care for you so much."
"Twilight."
Twilight then pulled Sunset back up and soon was on solid ground once again.
Twilight then removed her jacket as she wrapped it around Sunset who was confused why she did that for her.
Sunset then looked up at her best friend as she wiped away a tear off her face.
"Why, Twilight. Why did you save me?" Sunset said, tears starting to fall more freely.
"Sunset please, I just want you to explain to me what's been going on. You've been hiding stuff from us since we destroyed the stone." Twilight then looked down at Sunset's arms and was shocked when she saw scar marks on her friend's arm, causing her to gasp in surprise. "Sunset, what happened to your arms? Have you been hurting yourself?!"
Sunset's arms were still bleeding a bit as Twilight let go of her.
"I'm sorry Twilight. I'm so sorry" Sunset said, the tears staining her cheeks.
"Come on let's go inside its getting chilly out here. And then you please can explain it to me why you did this?"
"Of course" Sunset replied as Twilight helped her back inside her apartment.
Once inside they went straight to Sunset's bathroom where Twilight let Sunset sit down on the floor as she needed to find Sunset's emergency kit so she can clean off and bandage her up.
"Sit tight. I need to clean you up and get you bandaged up, those cuts look really bad and need attention pronto."
As Twilight searched for the emergency kit Sunset stayed quiet as a mouse as she was sure Twilight was very upset at what just happened and how she almost committed suicide in front of her best friend.
While searching the bathroom cabinets Twilight found the razor blade Sunset used earlier. The moment she picked it up she was speechless when she realized that Sunset had been hurting herself with it. Especially since it was covered with the fresh blood from earlier that was still on the blade.
"Sunset. How long have you been doing this?"
…
"HOW LONG?!"
"I've been doing this again since the night after the stone was destroyed."
Twilight didn't know what to say for a minute until she had forgotten what she was doing in the first place.
After finding the emergency kit she sat down in front of Sunset to treat her injuries.
"Sunset can you please remove the jacket, your shirt, and bra so I can help you. Please, you're hurt. I'm not just gonna ignore this especially with these scar marks on your arms. I'm not gonna ignore a friend of mine who needs help."
Sunset didn't feel like arguing with Twilight as she removed the jacket, her shirt, and then her bra. As she did, more scars were shown on her body. Twilight was surprised her friend had been hiding this from her and constantly hurting herself and knew right away she needed to help her.
After a few minutes went by as Twilight cleaned up the dried-up blood Sunset spoke to her friend.
"Twilight, why are you doing this? Why are you helping me?"
"Because I care about you Sunset. You're my friend. You've helped me during tough times I was in and now it's time I help you. I may have forgotten you when I was affected by the stone, but I still care about you a lot."
Twilight then came towards Sunset and hugs her crying friend.
"Even after what I caused to happen to you?"
"Yes. Now come on let's get you changed and back to bed" replied Twilight as she grabbed Sunset's pajamas and helped her get changed, and making sure to be careful with the bandages.
After Sunset was changed back into her pajamas, cleaned of any more dry blood, and bandaged up the two friends went back to bed. The time was now 10:03 p.m. as Sunset sat next to Twilight in the bed still wearing the blue jacket that Twilight gave her permission to wear again as they went under the covers.
"Sunset you ok?"
"No Twilight. I'm not" Sunset said as a few tears went down her face.
Twilight then turned to face her and she put her left hand on her friend's shoulder.
"Talk to me. What's been bothering you?"
"Ever since the stone was destroyed I've been having nonstop nightmares that I couldn't stop Wallflower in time, and my memories of you and the girls were gone forever," Sunset said as she started with a sniff. "Every time I woke up I'd be sweating, panting, be in tears, or crying. I feel like that no matter what I do, I always end up being cast aside. From the Anon-A-Miss Incident to the Memory Stone. Ever since then, I have felt nothing but betrayal from those I care deeply about. I never told anyone about this because I didn't want to be alone again. And when you girls forgot me the day when we were gonna have fun at the beach and have our group photo, I-I-I"
Twilight then pulled her up to her chest as Sunset started to cry on her shoulder.
"It's ok Sunset. Let it out. Let it all out."
Sunset didn't want to at first but she couldn't hold it in as she let out the flood of tears.
"It's ok Sunset. It's ok I've got you" Twilight began to stroke her hair as Sunset finished off her crying.
After the tears were all gone and Sunset started to hiccup Twilight knew she needed to talk to Sunset about this.
"Sunset. I know you've had a troubled past but you got friends who care for you now, and perhaps they're your family now too. We wouldn't mind if you explain it to us. We understand what you've been through. We'll help you any way we can. We care a lot about you."
"I know. But it's a hard thing for me to do."
Twilight soon realized Sunset needed to hear this feeling she didn't want to share at first but figured it would really help at a time like this.
"Sunset, while we're on the topic of that, there's something important I must tell you."
A minute goes by before Sunset speaks up. "What is it Twilight?"
"I have feelings for you Sunset. Romantic ones."
"What? But how? You already have feelings for someone else? You should love Timber Spruce over me. What's so special about me over him?"
"Well yes Sunset I know, but we broke up not too long ago. I was gonna tell you and the girls but I forgot after the memory incident. But I do love you Sunset, I have since the Friendship Games."
"You're not just saying that to make me happy, are you?"
"It's the truth, Sunset. You helped me so much that I've gotten these feelings for you. And that is why I don't want to lose you. I love you very much."
Sunset soon blushed after hearing those words and soon some new tears formed as well.
"Well, I'm glad cause I've had feelings for you as well for some time now. I didn't want to tell you this at all since I didn't want to ruin your relationship with Timber because of these feelings."
"Well, you don't have to worry anymore Sunset. Timber and I didn't really have that much of a romantic relationship for each other anyway, and we are fine just being friends. Just please promise me this. Don't you ever try doing something like this ever again? Promise?"
"Ok, Twilight. I won't. I promise."
"And if you ever need to talk to someone over this I'll be here for you. I won't mind one bit. No matter what time of day it is or wherever we are. I love you very much." Twilight replied as she kissed Sunset on her forehead.
"Thank you, Twilight. Thank you. It's the best thing I've heard since all this happened."
Silence soon took over Sunset's apartment except for the sound of Ray's lamp flickering until Twilight spoke to her friend.
"Hey Sunset, I know it's late but there's something I brought I wanted to give you."
"Really? What is it?"
Twilight soon got out of bed and grabbed the gift from her backpack. She then turned the lights back on as she placed the gift in front of Sunset.
"Go on open it."
Sunset soon did so as she opened the gift. She was in tears the moment when she saw what was inside. It was a leather jacket just like the very one she wore when she first met Twilight, it was almost identical to the one she already had but this one had purple lining on a majority of it.
"Di-did you make this?" Sunset asked in awe.
"Yes. My mom helped me. It's a gift I wanted to give you to confess my love to you" Twilight replied, a slight blush on her face.
"You did this for me?" Sunset asked in disbelief.
"Of course Sunset. Now go and try it on."
Sunset soon removes Twilight's blue Jacket as she puts it on the jacket she made for her while Twilight decides to put on her blue jacket to stay warm.
"Well? Do you like it?"
"I love it Twilight. It's just like the same one I wore when I first met you. But even better." Sunset then proceeds to hug her friend.
Twilight blushed as she heard her happy friend.
"I-I don't know what to say."
"Just promise me you'll be more honest to me on anything that's on your mind alright?"
"Ok Twilight."
They soon looked at the clock that read 10:30 p.m.
"Come on. Let's get some sleep. It's late. We got a 3 day weekend coming up and I think you need someone to be with you. And that person is me Sunset."
"Thank you Twilight."
After snuggling back into the covers, Twilight turned the lights off and removed her glasses but as she started to fall asleep Sunset needed one more thing.
"Twilight?"
"Yes, Sunset?"
"Is it ok if I snuggle you? Please?"
"Of course. Come here."
Sunset came closer to Twilight as her face came close to her collarbone.
"If you ever need to do this I won't mind at all."
"Ok."
"Tomorrow let's go and have some fun. We could go to the beach, go clothes shopping, and maybe see a movie."
"I'd love that Twilight."
"I do as well Sunset."
The two girls soon knew what they both wanted to say right now after all this time.
"I love you Twilight."
"I love you Sunset."
They then looked at each other's eyes before going into a kiss.
They then kissed again, blushing afterward.
"My life belongs to you Sunset. Has and always will be. I don't ever want to give up on you."
"Neither will I Twilight. I want to stay with you until the end."
"Same here Sunset. Now come on it's time to get some rest."
After a few minutes of silence went by Sunset then spoke one last thing to her new girlfriend as she started to feel tired.
"I love you Twilight."
"I love you too Sunset." Twilight then kisses her on the top of her forehead.
"I'm glad to have you as my girlfriend."
"I am to Sun-"
Before Twilight realized Sunset had fallen fast asleep. Twilight soon smiled as she kissed her before adjusting the covers and turning off the lights.
"Sleep tight Sunset. I'll be here when you wake up. I'll always be here for you."
Twilight soon wipes away another tear away off of her face as she fell fast asleep as the two girls dreamt about their new future ahead of them sleeping silently together as Twilight had made her friend and now girlfriend very very happy and had made Sunset's problem disappear.