A Ray of Sunlight

Making Connections

When twilight got home she had the house to herself. Her dad wouldn't be home until six o'clock and her mom was at the book club she joined. Twilight went straight to her room to more fully absorb the day she had. She couldn't help but smile when she remembered her lunch hour and meeting Sunset Shimmer. She felt something hop up on her bed and walk over to where she was laying on her back. Before she could stop it, she was assaulted by wet slobbery puppy kisses.
     "Spike no!" She said while laughing, but the pup was undeterred and would follow her as she tried to roll away. "No more kisses, your breath is stinky!"
     She was finally able to get her hands around the small beagle and lift him above her. The dog stared at her before trying to wriggle free. She put him down on the bed and he bounded out of the room only to return moments later with one of his toys.
     "Alright you stinker," she said grabbing the toy and tugging on it. "But you're gonna listen to me talk about my day. It went really well Spike, I was able to find all my classes, I met some new people. I even made my first friend at my new school. Her name's Sunset Shimmer."
     Something in Twilight's voice made Spike cock his head to one side when she said the name.
     "She's really nice," Twilight continued. "We ate lunch together and really hit it off. Talking to her came so naturally, and here I was worried about making friends. Her hair is really pretty too, it's red and blonde, and her eyes, her eyes are this beautiful shade of blue..."
     Spike got the toy from Twilight as her voice trailed off. He shook his head, causing the toy to flap around. Spikes muffled bark snapped her back to the present. She lay on her stomach and reached for the toy.
     "Spike, do you think it's too soon to send a friend request on Facebook?" The dog stared at her before tugging on the toy again. "I know I'm probably overthinking it, but we just barely met today, what if I send it and she didn't actually think we hit it off as well as I think we did. Then she won't want to hang out at lunch anymore and I'll have to eat alone."
     Spike just continued to tug on the toy, unaware of what Twilight was stressing over, content to just be playing.
     "You're lucky, you know that? You don't have to worry about things like this." After a pause she spoke again. "I've made up my mind, I'm just going to do it."
     She released the toy and dug her phone out of her pocket. She looked up Sunset Shimmer's name on the app and sent the friend request.
     I can't believe I just did that. Twilight thought.  I should have waited. I messed things up because I was too eager to make friends.

     Across town in a one bedroom hotel suite, Sunset Shimmer's phone pinged drawing her attention away from the show she was watching. She stood up and unplugged it from its charging cord, going to the cupboard to grab an opened bag of chips before returning to her spot on the couch. She smiled when she read the notification on her phone.
     You received a friend request from Twilight Sparkle.
     She accepted the request and used the messenger app to send her new friend a message.

     "I don't want to eat alone for a whole semes-" Her words were cut short by the alert tone from her phone. Her eyes widened when she saw that she had a message from Sunset Shimmer. "Yes! She accepted my friend request and sent me a message! Alright Twilight, be cool, see what she has to say and respond in kind." She opened the messenger app.
     "Hey Twilight."  The message simply read
     "Hey Sunset." She responded
     "Thanks for sending me a friend request."
     "No problem, to tell you the truth... I was kinda nervous to send it"
     "Really? Why?"
     "This is going to sound so stupid... I thought it might be too soon since we just met today."
     "Haha you're too funny Twilight. By the way, thanks for sitting with me at lunch today."
     "You're welcome! I was happy to!"
     "So tell me some more about yourself, which school did you go to before?"
     "Crystal Prep."
     "Ooh miss smarty pants ;)"
     The two girls messaged back and forth for a couple hours. Twilight hardly noticed when her mom got home. They talked about Twilight's love of science, Sunset's musical interests and how she wants to write her own music. Sunset even offered to educate Twilight in good music when she mentioned that she doesn't really listen to much music. They talked about their schedules and found out they have another class together on their B-day. Twilight soon heard her mom calling her from downstairs.
     "Well, I've got to go, my mom is calling me to help with dinner." Twilight typed
     "Alright, well it was great to chat with you, I guess I'll see you tomorrow."
     "Definitely! Goodnight Sunset."
     "Goodnight Twilight :)"
     Twilight went quickly down the stairs to the kitchen where her mom was washing some potatoes to make french fries for dinner. Twilight's mom, Velvet, was a fairly accomplished author of young adult fiction. She loved her family above anything else. She attended church fairly regularly, but didn't force her family to go, except on special occasions.
     Twilight washed her hands and set about cutting vegetables for the burger toppings. Velvet noticed the smile on her daughter's face.
     "I take it you had a good day at school?" She said.
     "Oh, yeah I guess you could say that. I met some girls in a couple of my classes, and I think I already made a friend."
     "Oh, sweetheart I'm so glad to hear that!" Her mom exclaimed. "I know you were worried about meeting new people, so I'm glad it went well."
     "Me too. So, how was your book club tonight?" Twilight asked.
     "It was good. I wish that we could read something that wasn't a Christian fiction book. The last two have been Christian Fiction. That's not to say I don't enjoy them, but they have to know there's other good stories out there."
     "Don't they take turns choosing the next book?" Twilight asked. "Why haven't you suggested any of your favorites?"
     "I'm still the new one and I guess I just haven't felt like I've earned the right to yet. Don't want to ruffle any feathers" She explained. "I'm hoping Midnight will choose something good."
     "Well, when you feel ready, I'm sure you'll pick a good one."
     Mother and daughter prepared dinner together, waiting for Twilight's dad to get home. Twilight told her mom about her first day of school at Canterlot High, about the rainbow haired girl that helped her find her locker and the girl with the southern accent. Twilight got very talkative when it came to Sunset Shimmer, which brought a big smile to her mother's face. She was so happy to see her little girl thriving in her new school.
     The front door opened. "Hello family! Where are my two favorite ladies?"
     "We're in here dad!" Twilight called.
     Mr. Sparkle gave his wife a kiss. "Dinner smells delicious! How was your first day kiddo?"
     "It was really great! I'll tell you all about it after dinner is on the table."
     The three of them set the table and after blessing the food, dug in. Twilight recounted her day one more time for her father.
      "Well, looks like I better track down that book." Her dad said with a smile
     "Book? What book?" Mrs. Sparkle asked.
     "I was freaking out before school today" Twilight explained. "and Dad made a deal with me that he'd buy me the new 'Daring Do' book after I had a conversation with three people, but I think I only had two conversations."
     "Yes, but it sounds like you made yourself an honest to goodness friend today." Her dad retorted. "I'd say that counts as at least two."
     Twilight smiled. "Thanks dad."
     They finished dinner, Twilight helped with the dishes and went to her room. She read until she fell asleep, looking forward to her next day of school.