The Friendship We Broke

[Intro] [Clean guitar, sparse piano] [Verse 1] Ponyville gets strange at sunset when nopony's making plans. I walked past Sugarcube Corner. Didn't see balloons or friends. Lights were on behind the windows. Somepony turned the sign around. I almost knocked. I don't know why I couldn't make my hoof come down. Carousel was dark and quiet. Curtains drawn across the glass. Funny how a place can look the same and still feel like the past. I kept walking. Didn't have anywhere to go. [Pre-Chorus] We saved this town so many times. Never thought we'd be the thing that broke. [Chorus] Look at the friendship we broke. Look at the space that we made. Six ponies trying so hard to be free, we forgot why we stayed. There wasn't one final goodbye. No villain. No smoke. Just six friends who stopped reaching and the friendship we broke. [Verse 2] I could see Rainbow's place above me. Didn't call her name this time. She'd probably say she needed space. Maybe she'd be right. Fluttershy's path had gone untouched. No hoofprints by the gate. I remembered when she'd whisper, "Sorry, Twilight, am I late?" Now I wonder if we ever noticed how often she apologized. Or how Pinkie kept us laughing when she wasn't doing fine. Maybe Will didn't make those wounds. Maybe Will just made us look. And maybe we hated what we saw so much we blamed the hoof that shook us. [Pre-Chorus] There were cracks before the fault line. I know that much is true. But knowing why a thing fell apart doesn't tell me what to do. [Chorus] Look at the friendship we broke. Look at the space that we made. Six ponies trying so hard to be free, we forgot why we stayed. There wasn't one final goodbye. No villain. No smoke. Just six friends who stopped reaching and the friendship we broke. [Verse 3] I ended up at Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack was in the field. Saw me standing by the fence. She looked away. So did I. I wanted to say I missed her. Wanted to say I was wrong. Instead we stood a hundred feet apart until the daylight was gone. On the walk back to the castle, I remembered Canterlot. "With or without you." That's what I told Celestia. I'd almost forgot. Funny. I was so busy proving she had lied about the past, I never stopped to ask if I was running toward the truth or just running from her answer. [Bridge] [Piano and quiet vocal] I was the Princess of Friendship. What does that mean tonight? An empty castle? Five empty chairs? Another argument I couldn't make right? Maybe friendship isn't something you can fix because you know how. Maybe sometimes all you get to say is— "I miss you. And I need you now." [Melodic Guitar Solo] [Final Chorus] Look at the friendship we broke. Look at the distance we made. Six ponies fighting to keep who we are, afraid of what friendship might take. But I don't want the old us back if the old us carried those scars. I just want another chance to learn who we really are. No perfect ending. No easy road. No promise we won't lose hope. Just one hoof reaching through the distance toward the friendship we broke. [Outro] [Clean guitar, sparse piano] Six stars burning... I remember that song. I tried to hum the rest tonight. Couldn't get past the sixth note.