Songs of Innocence

Chapter 60: Electric Feel

Part one: Ragnarok

Fluttershy's cottage, many moons later

The sun began to set, coinciding with Fluttershy as she began to wrap up the story. "This was the end of Sun. There was no running away from all of this. She had turned against us, succumbing to the allure of despair for what would end up being the last time. It was the pinnacle of immaturity - a climax of pathetic proportions. All hope for her was lost. She could never find an exit from the labyrinth of life, and when it proved too much, she simply... stopped. It was spine-chilling, seeing her body no longer be her own, forced to sow the seeds of destruction that would spell doom for us all. Gone was the mare I and so many others knew and cared for. I would never see her again."

The immense sadness she felt portrayed itself through her words rather than her face, which was absent of any tears when they should have been pouring out from her somber eyes. She addressed it quickly, knowing that the filly was likely asking why she wasn't crying, talking about Sun dying. She continued, "But there's a reason I'm telling you all this, and that's that there's always something you can learn from Sun's missteps... and also the times she actually doesn't mess up."

She flipped through a few pages of the old book, and stopped on one with an even older letter, containing notably small hoofwriting, and it was clear that it was that small because whoever wrote it had a lot to say. Fluttershy put on some reading glasses before reading the letter aloud.

"Dear Princess Twilight,

I know I don't usually write about things I learned about friendship, but I thought I should do it this time. I can't thank you enough for what you've taught me, and even though it took a while for me to realize what exactly you meant, I've come to realize that friendship is the most important thing there is. I've actually made a new friend... Well, maybe she's a bit more than a friend. No, it's not Fluttershy, as much as I still kinda wish she was... but both you and me know that the pony I'm talking about is equally as weird as her. But I digress. What I learned was that even when you're lost in the dark, and there's no light to give you hope... there actually still is hope; you just need to find it inside of yourself. I did, and once I remembered that it was actually you who taught me that, I knew that it was a lesson I should hang onto forever. That's how good of a teacher you are! I just wish I knew you for longer. By the way, I'm dead. Don't ask.

I wish you well,
Sun."

On the streets of Manehatten, many moons ago

Sun sat down at a table on the patio of a cafe. It was a mildly cloudy, but sunny day. The cafe stood one crosswalk away from a beach where the drab waves moved monotonously. Awaiting the arrival of her... friend, Manta Shutter, Sun examined her surroundings in hopes to find something interesting to keep her mind occupied with. But the most interesting thing she could find was that the cafe's cozy interior, built with old but polished dark oak, reminded her of something out of an old detective novel... or a story about a devil summoner, for some reason.

But her mind came back to the thought of Manta as soon as she heard a feminine, thick Prench accented voice speak out to her. It was the kind of voice that could switch between playful and seductive at a moment's notice, and as a mare with such a prominent accent, her speech was ridden with unintentional emphases on "ee"s, and almost any use of an "s" was replaced with a "z".

"There you are, Sun. You didn't miss me too much, did you?" Manta greeted, taking a seat opposite to her at the table. She was the same beautiful pegasus mare that Sun remembered her to be. Her coat and mane was a kyanite-esque mix of blue and white highlights. She leaned in, beginning to glare at Sun as she narrowed her eyes behind her amber-tinted mirrored sunglasses, her expression twisting into one that showed she was suddenly suspicious of Sun. "You weren't cheating on me, were you?!"