A faucet leaked in an undisclosed bathroom, dripping against the porcelain and down the drain. Muffled footsteps could be heard increasing in volume until the door swung open and Sunset Shimmer stumbled as she was shoved inside. Aria Blaze came in behind her and locked the door. Sunset collected herself and shot a glare at Aria.

“What are you doing?”

Aria paced towards Sunset. “We need to talk.”

“No, Aria, I have to—”

Sunset’s heart skipped a beat as Aria reached into her vest and brandished a butterfly knife, eyes wide open.

“No, Sunset,we need to talk now.”

The stench of stale urine permeated Sunset’s nostrils as her and Aria faced off. She took a deep breath.

“Alright, Aria. What do you want to talk about?”

Aria stared down Sunset unflinchingly as she clenched her teeth rhythmically. “Why?”

“Why… what?”

Aria narrowed her gaze. “Why did you stop us?”

“Really?” Sunset snorted. “You were spreading hatred and mind-controlled the entire student body!”

“Did you ever think,” Aria asked as she opened and closed the knife with flicks of her wrists, “that there was a reason?”

“Yeah. You wanted power!” Sunset shouted, her voice echoing against the walls of the bathroom.

Aria leaned against the wall and scoffed, a sheen of sweat covering her face. “Power for its own sake is useless. We—or at least I—had a higher purpose in mind.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow as she approached Aria but was quickly stopped by Aria pointing the knife at her. “What purpose does spreading hatred serve?”

“You tell me. Hatred may have been the flag we flew, but they’re the ones who made it soar.”

“You know, they’re not all bad—”

“Fuck you!” Aria steeled her stance as she glared at Sunset, her arm outstretched and her chest heaving in and out. “You haven’t been what I’ve been through!”

Sunset stared at Aria. “Are you crying—”

“Shut up!” Aria blinked, removing the glisten from her eyes. “I–I just wanted to make a better world. One without conflict, without misunderstanding, without—”

“Without free will.”

Aria grunted. “They don’t deserve it.”

Sunset studied Aria, specifically her outstretched arm pointing the knife at Sunset’s throat. “Are those… have you been cutting yourself?”

Aria retracted her arm and held it close to her body. “None of your damned business.” She looked down. “It was beautiful… for one moment I saw it. On that stage, after I had absorbed all of that magic, I saw what I was to be—and that was the end of war.”

Sunset approached Aria. “Aria, why are you cutting your—”

“Yes, I foresaw that under my guidance that humanity could be more than it was. It would be united under a single purpose, regardless of lines drawn on a map of cultural differences. I would have irrevocably altered the social paradigm under one rule. My rule.”

“Aria,” Sunset said as she placed her hand on Aria’s shoulder, “why are you cutting yourself?”

Aria looked up and moved the knife to millimeters from Sunset’s throat as she grabbed the side of Sunset’s head, the hand holding the knife shaking erratically. “It’s because of you!”

“M-me?” Sunset asked as she took shallow breaths.

Aria steeled her gaze and snarled. “Yes. You and your friends! When you destroyed our gems, you didn’t just break jewelry; you destroyed an integral part of who we were.” Aria blinked as tears escaped her eyes. “Adagio’s been oscillating between wanting to kill herself and you, Sonata’s all over the place…” Aria bit her lip. “And I…”

Sunset inhaled. “...yes?”

Aria released her grip on Sunset and pulled the knife away from her neck. “I… I can’t… I can’t feel anything.”

Sunset frowned. “Alright, take a deep breath and tell me what’s going on.”

Aria threw the knife to the ground, it rattling on the floor. “Fuck you!”

“Hey, cool it!” Sunset glared at Aria. “You’re the one who wanted to talk!”

“You don’t understand!” Aria paced around the bathroom. “It’s not like that! Everything I used to enjoy doing… it’s lost its luster.” Aria took long, ragged breaths. “I feel like a robot going through the motions of being alive.” She walked up to Sunset and presented her scars to her. “This is the only way I can feel anything anymore.” Aria looked Sunset in the eyes. “You did this to me.”

Sunset exhaled through her teeth. “I didn’t do anything to you.”

“No!” Aria grabbed Sunset’s neck. “This is all on you!” Aria’s eyes shined. “You destroyed us!” Aria throttled Sunset.

Sunset pulled Aria’s hand off of her neck and looked at her. “Just calm down!” Sunset pursed her lips. “It sounds like you’re going through withdrawal.”

“What?” Aria asked with a sneer.

“Magic withdrawal,” Sunset said as she let go of Aria’s wrist, “it often comes after magic intoxication.” Sunset smirked. “I should know.”

Aria sucked her teeth and stared at Aria. “W-what do you mean?”

Sunset sighed. “Aria, drawing out massive pools of dark magic comes with consequences—”

“The only thing dark about the magic was the extraction method. I was going to use it for a pure purpose.” Aria clenched her fist.

Sunset hummed. “Magic is as magic does, and judging by the reaction, your intentions were anything but.”

Aria squeezed her eyes shut. “I wanted to uplift humanity.”

Sunset walked behind Aria and placed a hand on her shoulder. “And I wanted to rule Equestria. We’re not that different.”

“Yes, we are,”

Sunset shook her head. “I don’t think you understand what I’m getting at. Look at me, Aria.” Aria turned around and looked into Sunset’s eyes. “I thought that me ruling Equestria was the best idea ever and that everyone who disagreed with me should go to Tartarus.”

“That’s the thing,” Aria said, “me ruling humanity would be the best idea.”

Sunset pinched the bridge of her nose. “See, that’s the thing. You may think that, but getting everyone to agree with you would be the hard part.”

Aria snorted. “That’s funny. I thought it was the easy part.”

“Everyone who hears you may have been under your spell,” Sunset said, “but what about people who don’t hear you?”

Aria raised an eyebrow. “...what do you mean?”

“Really?” Sunset chuckled. “The only reason we defeated you was because someone was wearing headphones. They don’t need to be within hearing range to stop you.”

“But why would they do that?” Aria clenched her teeth. “Surely they’d—”

“Stop.” Sunset shook her head and grasped Aria’s shoulder. “Are you seriously suggesting that people would willingly submit to you?”

Aria shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe—”

“Would you submit to you?”

“Um…” Aria looked away.

“Aria, you’re sick. You need help.”

Aria sighed. “Fine.” Aria shrugged off Sunset’s hand and paced around the bathroom. “Let’s say you’re right. Let’s say that I’m suffering withdrawal from magical intoxication.” Aria stopped and faced Sunset. “That still doesn’t change the fact that you and your friends ripped out our siren magic. When will you answer for that?”

“Aria, I used to be the most powerful unicorn in Equestria. Now I have to use my body to lift things.” Sunset walked to Aria. “How do you think I feel?”

Aria hugged herself. “I… I didn’t know that.”

“You should have seen it,” Sunset said, “I could make massive trees sprout from nothing. I could teleport circles around you. I could even spit gouts of flame from my horn the likes of which you’ve never seen.”

“That… sounds amazing,” Aria said as she shivered. “Why don’t you go back, then?”

Sunset smiled. “Because I’ve discovered a far greater magic here than I ever had in Equestria.”

“I don’t understand.” Aria looked at Sunset. “What magic could possibly be greater than that?”

Sunset took a deep breath as she placed her arms behind her. “Friendship.”

Aria stared blankly at Sunset. “...you have got to be shitting me.”

“How do you think I got through my own bout of magical withdrawal?” Sunset asked as she gave a sidelong glance to Aria. “When the element of Magic’s power was ripped from my body, I was a complete mess. I would forget things I had said not a minute before, misplace everything… at some points it felt like the inside of my skin was lined with barbed wire.”

Aria nodded, hugging herself tighter. “Yeah, I know that feeling.” Aria glanced at Sunset. “So… you’re saying this ‘friendship magic’ could alleviate my symptoms? Where can I get some?”

“Oh, wow,” Sunset said as she chortled, “you’re really sick, aren’t you?”

“You said as much yourself,” Aria said as she glared at Sunset. “So, where can I get some?”

“You don’t just… you don’t—” Sunset broke out into laughter.

Aria sharply inhaled and grimaced. “What the fuck, it was just a question!”

“It’s just—” Sunset slowly collected herself, her fits of laughter dying out ”—it’s just I’ve never heard it worded like that before, where do I get friendship magic?” Sunset wiped a tear from her eye. “You can’t just get some ‘friendship magic’ like it’s sugar. You have to make friends.”

Aria looked down. “...I don’t have any of those, nor do I know where to get any.”

“I’ll be your friend,” Sunset said.

Aria’s gaze snapped to Sunset. “I just threatened you with a knife. Why would you want to be friends with me?”

Sunset walked to Aria and hugged her tightly. “Because it’s when we’re at our weakest that we need friendship the most.”

“W-what are you doing?” Aria said as her lower lip quivered.

“Aria, the friends I have now—the ones I gave up my unicorn magic for—experienced the pleasure of my trying to fricassee them before they extended their hands in friendship. A butterfly knife is small potatoes compared to that.” Sunset released Aria and sighed. “How did that feel?” Sunset asked.

“It,” Aria said as she sniffed, “it felt… different.”

Sunset grinned. “A good kind of different?”

Aria nodded.

“Alright,” Sunset said, “”that’s good. You have to promise me one thing, though.”

“What?” Aria growled.

“You have to stop hurting yourself.”

Aria’s eyes popped open. “No way! That’s the only way I can feel at all!”

Sunset squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them. “Aria, what you’re feeling is just a temporary symptom. Those scars are forever—not to mention you might accidentally hit an artery.” Sunset looked at Aria. “We wouldn’t want that, would we?”

“...I guess not,” Aria said. A grin then set itself upon her face. “You know something?”

“What?”

“You’re the first person who’s ever cared about my well-being, Sunset.”

Sunset nodded. “And how does that make you feel?”

“It feels… warm.” Aria sighed.

“And that,” Sunset said, “is the magic of friendship.”

Aria blinked and hugged herself.“It’s a kind of magic I could get used to experiencing. It’s certainly miles apart from being kept around for what use you serve or as for a verbal punching bag to be shat upon.”

“We’ll have to see if we can get you out of that toxic environment, then.” Sunset shuddered. “That doesn’t sound conducive to anything.”

“It really isn’t.” Aria shivered. “Sometimes I’m more afraid to go home than to go to school where everyone stares at me.”

Sunset hummed. "Sounds tough. That’s an issue for another day, though. Now, what do you say we get out of this bathroom and go out for coffee? My treat.” Sunset smiled.

Aria nodded. “That sounds nice.”

Sunset moved to the bathroom door, unlocked it, and opened it. She was greeted by a welcome draft of air, which she inhaled deeply. Sunset held open the door and motioned towards Aria. “You ready?”

Aria sighed as she came to the threshold and looked at Sunset. "You better be right about this friendship thing."

"I'd stake my life on it."

Aria nodded as she left the bathroom, Sunset exiting soon after and closing the door behind her. The sounds of muffled footsteps softened as the sound of a leaky faucet ricocheted against the bathroom walls.