And Not Much Happens at All...
Day 1.
Paradise, or at least as close to it as you could get in Equestria. The area itself was surrounded by a dense ring of trees. Long strands of glowing beads that dazzled in all colours dangled from every single branch to form a glistening curtain around the enclosure. A magical dome, purple in hue, lay just beyond the curtain until curving up over the entire sanctuary. From the inside, it gave the sky a pink tone, keeping with the soft colour scheme that ran through the scene. The clearing itself was dominated primarily by a crystal clear river; all manner of water-loving flowers lined the banks. At the head of the river lay a gentle waterfall that made only the quietest of soothing sounds.
In the northern section, an area for preparing and eating food had been formed out of magically shaped trees. Next to that in the east, a canopy of naturally woven leaves covered the array of large, soft cushions that formed one large spread of red and pink fabric. To the south of both lay the mud hot spring, the temperature of which was controlled by more magic to ensure optimal comfort. The entire set up was designed for the sole purpose of providing maximum comfort and relaxation, without detracting from the natural essence that gave the sanctuary its unique charm.
The portal at the far south bloomed into life, quite literally. Purple flowers opened to soak up the magical energy pouring from the pink surface of raw magic. A gold slipper emerged from the portal. It rolled to a stop roughly a metre out onto the thick grass. Bags of all shapes and sizes began to follow, their exits becoming increasingly fast and airborne. Several moments passed during which nothing passed through the portal, until a bedraggled Twilight Sparkle stumbled through in a huff. Dozens of bags weighed heavily on her sides, keeping her wings pinned very tightly to her body. Most of her mane had fallen down in front of her face, to the point that she tripped over a bottle of hoof polish, and landed face first into the luscious green surface below.
“I swear, Rarity is never going to do the packing for my vacations. Ever. I’ll exile her for all eternity to the stars if it comes to that!” The explosion of magic from her horn hurled all of the items she had brought with her across the sanctuary, amplifying the look of pure fury that she bore for a few moments. Every single object that came into contact with the dome were possessed by pink magic until they settled into a wonderfully organized arrangement near the cushions. Those that had landed on the ground soon followed after. Just the sight alone was enough to calm her moment of frustration. “Celestia wasn’t kidding; this place really is focused entirely on eliminating any source of stress, including messiness.” With her luggage out of sight on the other side of the sanctuary, she had a moment to sit down and take in the scene. Even the air itself buzzed with magic, draining away the stiffness and tiredness from her body. It was an odd feeling; she could literally feel every single muscle in her body release tension as the magic soaked in deeper. With each inhale, the immersive feeling spread. With each exhale, her chest softened further.
She stood there for several minutes afterwards to let the magic settle before beginning her self-tour of the sanctuary. “Alright. River, check.” With a quick sniff of the flowers, she brought her clipboard and pen into existence. A list of the features Princess Celestia had specified about the sanctuary glowed in bright gold letters as she looked over each of them. With the pen, she marked off the river. “Waterfall, check.” Near her sleeping area, the water continued to flow from a spring just inside the curtain. On the other side of the river, a constant downpour of water droplets from four tall trees flowed away to the south. “Natural shower, check.”
The three main attractions remained. Food that quite literally came from the trees she would be preparing food at, possibly the most comfortable place to sleep possible, and of course the mud spa. She dipped one hoof into the deliciously warm liquid. Bubbles swirled around her hoof, making barely a splash as they reached the surface. When she removed her hoof, only a thin layer of mud remained. That was easily returned to the pool with her magic. “Mud spa, check.” The food area looked in peak condition, and she had eaten before entering the portal anyway. The last item remaining was her favourite in this case, a place to sleep. For a moment, she looked around in the odd chance she wasn’t alone. Assured of that, she fell back into the sea of cushions. “One very comfortable sea of cushions, check!”
A couple of suitcases hovered over, the ones she actually intended to open during her stay. The first contained several of her favourite books, while a few more contained materials for writing. “Enough books and writing materials to keep me occupied while I sit back and relax; check. I’d say that’s everything!” With a grin of satisfaction, she let herself sink further into the cushions. The suitcases rested down near the large table for the next day. Overhead, she watched as the brightly tinted sky began to change in colour. Night wasn’t too far away at that point, mostly because of Rarity’s packing and the last minute list of things for Spike to work on while she was away. At last, she had a chance to stretch out her hooves and wings, to simply lie there and exist while magic tended to her every need. “A week. Just long enough to enjoy it, without getting sick of it. Everything is just as it should be. Perfect!”
*
Day 2.
The sleep she had enjoyed that night was unlike any other. Without the need for a blanket in the sanctuary, her wings had been no bother at all. More than once back home in Ponyville, she had opted for sleeping out on a branch simply to let the appendages with a mind of their own do what they wished. When she woke, it felt like her entire body had been relieved of all its burdens. Before moving to the nearby area for breakfast, she spent the next half hour performing some stretches that Rainbow Dash had recommended. Elsewhere, she loathed the idea of bending her hooves back, folding her wings in and out in rhythm, and the push-ups in particular. In the sanctuary, she could truly experience the benefits of stretching, without feeling tired, or wanting to give up just a mere few minutes in.
Breakfast only made it better, fresh fruit literally dropped right onto the wooden benches for her to prepare with her own magic. Every single bite brought an overwhelming rush of rich juices that caused all sorts of sensations in her mouth. Strong tangs of orange, both rich with sweetness, and bursting with mouth-watering sourness of the appealing kind. Apples that gushed juices of such pure goodness into her mouth. She felt ashamed about admitting to herself that not even Applejack’s best harvests could compare. The strawberries in particular filled her with a vibrant buzz as her mouth was filled with bitter sweetness that had no match.
Papers, quills, and inkpots rushed to the open table around her meal. Immediately, she began scribbling out letters and pages of a story she had been working on. Many times, there were at least three different quills writing at once, at one point she managed to maintain six with her magic for a good few minutes. Hours began to pass, and the energy rush brought on by breakfast began to settle down again. Already, she could see tomatoes and lettuce growing from the trees around her, preparing for lunch. Several pages of written text surrounded her at that moment, all waiting for the right time to be organized. “Later, I think I’ve earned time to relax.” It was a pretty good result, considering that she wasn’t in her usual place of work. And her mistake count was surprisingly low considering just how much multitasking had been going. In the end, a productive use of her time.
She removed herself from the seat at the table, making her way towards the mud spa. It bubbled away quietly as she made a few minor adjustments with the magical will of her horn. The number of bubbles increased, and a little more steam rose up off the surface. As she leaned in to get a closer look, a particularly large bubble popped, leaving a small splash of mud on her nose. It brought on a giggle as she wiped it off. “A hot tub with personality, nice. I can’t wait to try out the magical wing and back massager.” The thought alone caused a ruffle of her feathers in nervous anticipation, mirrored on her face as she smiled giddily. She took a step towards the creamy brown liquid when something caused her to hesitate. In the middle of the spa, she could just barely see a glowing spot. Within seconds, it grew larger and larger, until over half the pool was glowing in some sort of weird magic. “Uh oh, maybe I turned it up a little too much.” The smile that had been plastered across her face gave way to concern. She took a good step back as her nervousness vastly overwhelmed curiosity.
Different bubbles began to appear in the centre of the glowing circle. They were larger, and didn’t appear in a constant stream. Her breathing became more laboured as her hoof rose up as a defensive reflex. “Celestia didn’t mention about there being a portal in the hot tub! What if it’s some sort of time warp? Am I going to meet myself from the future again?” Admittedly, that experience had turned out to be the result of a silly mistake. But it did little to relieve her pounding chest, filled with growing fear. As if mimicking her growing anxiety, the rate and intensity at which the disturbance grew increased with each breath drawn by her. It reached a point where Twilight felt like running away to relight the portal. Celestia had made assurances that the sanctuary was so rich in good magic that nothing evil could use their powers inside it. For some reason however, Twilight could only wonder if that was an unproven theory, or fact.
Once the magical disturbance had reached its peak, a form emerged from it. As it grew taller, the mud began to thin out to show more of its true shape. By her estimate, it was roughly a pony and a half tall in height, if it was standing on the bottom of the spa itself. More mud continued to slide back until the spa, until Twilight began to recognize certain features that ponies definitely didn’t possess. “A human? But I thought...” The ‘human’ finally began moving, reaching arms up to wipe mud off its face. Twilight rubbed her own eyes as if to clear them of what could only be an illusion. It didn’t make the figure in the spa go away. In fact, it only made it easier to make eye contact with the pair of cyan eyes that stared back from the muddy form.
“Twilight Sparkle?” The voice caused Twilight to shudder right down to her hooves. It was too familiar, too clear to be mistaken for another. With one sweep of her magic, Twilight removed all of the mud clinging to the human above the spa. For a moment, she stood there staring at the human in front of her, completely naked to the waist where the mud concealed her lower half. Once the human realized that she had no clothing on at all, her arms immediately moved to cover her upper chest. The mood between herself and Twilight was wrought in sheer awkwardness. Her cheeks flushed to the same colour as the crimson streaks of her hair. Both began to breathe heavily as the shock of what had just happened wore off, giving way to embarrassment for both Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle.
The latter was first to recover, her face twitching as her brain struggled to make sense of what had just happened. Once her mind had settled into a more stable state, her mood changed to that of an interrogator. For the moment, Sunset’s arrival had to be treated as highly suspicious. “What are you doing in my spa? And why aren’t you a pony?” She began to regret using that tone of voice almost immediately as Sunset began to cry. Perhaps she had taken her defeat back in the other world a lot harder than intended. Eventually, it occurred to Twilight that Sunset would probably want to be anywhere but the spa, and in something warmer. “Sorry, hold on.” With her magic, she put out a request for a towel. The sanctuary was quick to provide a nice white one, bringing it right to her hooves. Twilight averted her eyes as she offered it to Sunset, who eventually stepped out of the spa to wrap herself up.
In just a short minute, a soothing bowl of fruit that had been left over was placed in front of Sunset by Twilight at the table. She sat there, staring in silence at the bowl before a delicate hand reached out to take the first piece. A small grape met her trembling lips, squeezing out of shape ever so slightly as she bit down. It was an odd reminder for Twilight about just how differently humans ate their food. But she held back on asking questions for the time being, waiting until Sunset was ready to speak for herself. “I honestly don’t know how I got here. The portal is still closed, and there’s no magic back in the human world for me to use to open another, if that’s even possible. I’m completely lost as to how I got here.” Each time Sunset picked up a piece of fruit, Twilight could see just how much her hands were shaking. It wasn’t the Sunset Shimmer she had left behind at all, even after her crushing defeat. And coming back to Equestria would be an overwhelming experience for anybody who hadn’t been there before. Worse still for one who had originated from the magical land.
While Sunset ate, Twilight organized her papers that had been scattered over the table. “Well, I’ll be honest with you; I don’t have a clue on how to get you back. But then again, you know more about the portal than anypony else. And I’d be glad to help you work out how to get back, if you want to go back that is.” A grape dropped from the pinching grip. Tears began to roll down Sunset’s face. “Sorry. I just assumed that you wouldn’t want to stay here, because of what happened before. We can talk later if you’d prefer.” Twilight thought about offering physical comfort for a moment. But something about putting a hoof around Sunset’s shoulders seemed just a tad unusual, for both of them.
It took a while for Sunset to calm down. For most of that time, Twilight continued to sit there, avoiding saying anything else that could potentially upset her. Experience with ponies suffering from a traumatic event had taught her as much. When Sunset finally exhaled in such a way that suggested she was ready to talk, Twilight kept her full attention focused. “It’s alright. To be honest, I’m glad I’m here. Things back there haven’t been going so well.” The tone of honesty in her voice was more than enough confirmation for Twilight. Catching a glimpse of the next shuddering breath that came from Sunset’s lips encouraged Twilight to move around to her side. Her usually warm composure had a colder overtone to it. Something profound had changed her, before her return to Equestria.
“Well, for starters, nopony is going to force you to go back. Not Celestia... and not me. It’s your choice without question.” The towel covering Sunset began to slip. Twilight fixed with her magic on impulse. To her relief, it didn’t bother the girl beside her in the slightest. “On that note, I don’t have any human clothing. And I’m not Rarity; otherwise I could probably make something decent out of that towel.” It was a slight challenge to avoid the topic of how she was supposed to cover herself. Admittedly, clothing in Equestria didn’t have anywhere near the same level of use as it did elsewhere, but Equestria didn’t normally have humans walking about.
Sunset reached her hand out across the table, gently taking hold of Twilight’s hoof. “I think I’ll manage. I’m more than a little surprised that you’re willing to help me on such short notice.” A small smile formed on Twilight’s face. Compared to when she first arrived, Sunset’s mood was much calmer. Eventually their small contact was broken as the girl returned to eating. “So, what is this place? I don’t recall there being any source of magic powerful enough to tend to your every need. Maybe I skipped out on Celestia too soon.” Twilight’s smile grew into a grin as she resumed organizing the pile of papers. Now that the awkwardness had worn off, it was simply a matter of getting accustomed to Sunset’s change of personality.
The superior edge in her voice had vanished altogether. Now, there was no defining factor in how she spoke. It wasn’t quite lacking an important detail, and yet it didn’t sound complete either. Her overall reaction about returning to Equestria was even more puzzling. While she had mentioned being glad about the return, there was something more to it. In the midst of her pondering, a key question came to Twilight. “Can you use your magic? I know Zecora can without a horn, maybe the same applies to any living being with magic in their body?”
Sunset blinked. For just a moment, she had a genuinely blank expression on her face. “I’m... not sure. I’ve assumed that human forms don’t possess magic in themselves, they can only channel it from an object of power.” Her free hand lifted up to the point she could watch her fingers in close detail. In quick sessions, she made different movements and positions with her fingertips, trying to conjure up even the tiniest scrap of magic. But no such spark came. “Well, that settles it. I’m a unicorn without a horn in a human body, without even the most basic magic at my disposal. Unless...” Twilight didn’t need explanation about what Sunset was thinking of. She had displayed no sign of evil intent, and the sanctuary wouldn’t suppress her magic if there were any left. It could only mean that there wasn’t any magic left to begin with.
“I wish we could test in a different environment. But the portal doesn’t open for another four days; it’s just how the sanctuary runs itself.” Sunset’s hands covered her face as she leaned in with a sigh of despair. “At least it isn’t a two year wait.” Bright cyan eyes peered up over their pale covering. Twilight felt herself backing down upon realizing that innocent joke had struck a nerve. With a deep breath, she regained her composure and focused on Sunset’s practical needs. “Okay, there’s a shower across the river, and the sleeping area is just behind me. The food grows off the trees around us, and there’s a spring at the east that is perfectly safe to drink from.” It seemed to be enough to help Sunset get over the quip. “I’ll leave you to it while I search for anything you might be able to wear. Might as well try.”
Twilight left the human with only a towel to cover herself with at the table. The organized arrangement of cases and bags loomed in front of her as she approached. “I wish there was a spell to pull out anything that would be useful to a human in particular.” She knew what was contained in most of the bags and cases having watched Rarity pack them. Even then, searching through the remainder would be a long and tedious task.
Lunch had arrived by the time she finished. A white spa robe was draped over her back. “This is designed for ponies, but I think it should fit. Might be a bit high on the hips though.”
She turned her head in the opposite direction as Sunset got up to try it on. There was a generous silence, until she felt a light tap on her shoulder for her to turn around. As expected, the robe ended just below the hips when pulled to that length. What Twilight hadn’t counted on was that it didn’t quite overlap in the chest area. Twilight averted her eyes again, though this time Sunset didn’t seem bothered. “I can live with cleavage. It’s just you and me, and this is certainly better than a towel. It’s not like there’s much to see anyway.” The last line stung at Twilight’s mind. Self-doubt wasn’t ever a good thing. Hearing it from Sunset Shimmer only made it even worse to hear. It wasn’t her at all. For once, she actually missed the prideful tone in her voice.
*
Day 3.
That following night was one of the longest Twilight Sparkle had experienced in a long time. Sunset had great difficulty sleeping. While a bed of cushions was quite comfortable for a pony, it took a complicated arrangement of certain pieces to make sure that a human back was properly supported. And even then, she had to face the discomfort of sleeping in a tight robe, or nothing at all. When Twilight finally awoke at dawn, she was shocked at first to find that Sunset wasn’t there beside her.
A short moment of panic overwhelmed her, until her eyes moved across the sanctuary. Under the leaves of the trees that produced endless water stood the pale figure. Vibrant streams of red and gold poured from her head. Twilight didn't let her eyes wander lower. She hadn’t thought to check at the time, but it was highly unlikely that humans had cutie marks in that particular area like ponies. But they did appear on their clothes... She overcame her shyness, approaching Sunset as water continued to cascade over her form. “I'm sorry. About last night that is. I assumed Rarity had packed some sort of blanket on top of everything else.” Sunset looked over her shoulder. The strands of red hair stuck to her face looked scarily like blood for a moment. It was more the fact that the thought had occurred to Twilight at all that caused chills to run through her body.
“It's alright. I've learned to accept what I've got in the past six months.” Twilight took a deep breath before joining Sunset in the downpour. The experience was odd to say the least. Confirming what she had guessed before, Twilight stood at around the height of Sunset’s upper chest. Counting the horn, that extended up to her collarbone. Somewhere in that trail of thought, her eyes had wandered into that area. Before she could look away again though, Sunset began to speak again. “We're both mature adults, right?” The question caused Twilight’s heart to begin beating heavily. “You'd understand some of the things I've been through since you left better than anypony here in Equestria.” The thumping in her chest slowed again. While it didn’t do much to quell the overwhelming nervousness that had overtaken her for a moment, it did come as a relief that Sunset wasn’t thinking of the same thing as Twilight had been. “Or we can just stand here, while you stare at my breasts. I’m still trying to work out whether it’s just idle curiosity... or something else.”
It forced Twilight to turn away at last. In this case, it was in fact curiosity, but the situation had become far too awkward to explain away. Of course, looking away prevented her from seeing the small smile forming on Sunset's lips. Such a smile had been painfully absent from her face ever since she first arrived. Twilight’s first intention when turning back around had been to try and apologize as best she could for her behaviour. Instead, she bit down on her tongue before the words came. Her wandering eyes had given a rather odd reason for Sunset to smile, but it was a reason nonetheless. Eventually, the right words came to her at last “I was just trying to think of why you weren’t changed back into a pony. I didn’t mean to stare.”
Sunset departed the downpour before awkwardness settled in. At the very least, it gave a small amount of reassurance to Twilight that she had not been offensive in any way. By the time she left the downpour and dried herself off with a spell, Sunset had already done the same with a towel, and had put her robe back on. Both sat down at the table in unplanned cohesion. “So, I don’t suppose those trees produce milk and cereal? No offence, but eating the same food for breakfast loses its appeal after a few days. And who knows what magical food could be doing to me.” Twilight’s mind wasn’t on breakfast. An array of papers spread out in front of her, soon accompanied by the setting of a inkpot and quill. “Doesn’t being a princess pay well enough so that you don’t have to do the accounting yourself?” Sunset took a better look at the subject material. “Ah, editing fiction for a friend then. That’s more like it. To be fair though, you did like books a little more than what people consider normal.”
She stepped away soon after to tend to her vibrant hair. At the moment she idly desired for a brush, one flew over from the bag area right into her hand. Twilight’s cutie mark was printed on the back. “Hmm, that’s one way to label it.” The first brush was effortless. It was a glorious feeling, given that it was simply the brushing of hair. Not a single tangle or tug brought spikes of pain to her scalp. In fact, the brush seemed to be actually rejuvenating her hair with every stroke. With the last stroke, it felt as if there was nothing at all on her head. Ribbons of red and gold that gleamed with the same warmth as their namesake. A thought occurred to Sunset with that, prompting her to return to Twilight. “Do you think Celestia will want to see me? I didn’t leave on the best of terms with her, and she’s probably the only one who can give me back my magic.”
Twilight ceased her work for a moment to think. It was a delicate subject, considering how easily it could stray into the incident surrounding their first meeting. “She was pretty concerned about you when I got back; in fact I think she was a bit upset that I left you behind. So I’d definitely say that she would want to see you, as soon as we get back in fact.” She deliberately avoided commenting on Sunset’s speculation to give herself time to think about it. It was an interesting subject, the possibility that her lack of magic was something that could be fixed like any other ailment. “I don’t think it could possibly hurt to try. But to be honest, I think it would probably work out better if we focused on turning you back into a unicorn. Equestrian architecture isn’t exactly designed for people. You’d have to stay at the palace to avoid bumping your head all the time.”
Sunset took her seat across from Twilight. Her hands cupped together as she bit down on her lip. Once again, Twilight questioned her judgement on where the line of ‘sensitive matters’ lay. “As I said before, things didn’t go so well for me after you left.” Twilight pushed her work to the side. It was both rude to let herself be distracted by it, and it gave her room to offer comfort to Sunset. “The first month was alright. Everyone settled back down, the girls helped me learn how to approach others in a far more friendly manner. For a while at least.” Her next breath was deeper than a normal, passive breath. Very deliberate, an attempt to keep calm. “People just began to drift away. I was doing my best to try and make up for what I had done, but they just stopped caring. Last month, even the girls stopped saying hello whenever I arrived.”
Twilight’s head sank. She had only known the girls for a few days, and she had little reason to doubt Sunset Shimmer’s word. Equestria was a lot different to the human world, and there was a good chance that humans simply didn’t hold friendship in the high standard that ponies did. “I’m sorry to hear that, I genuinely thought that leaving you there was for the best. It’s been ten or so years since you left for that world. That’s a long time to just leave behind everything you know, and to come back to a world which has changed so much.” Her face grew cold, as the full effect of her decision was made known to her. By some strange fate, she had been given the chance to understand the mistake she had made, and the ability to undo it. A pair of hands took hold of her hooves. When she looked up, cyan eyes stared back at her purple irises. This was her chance to make things right. “I assure you that things will be different here, Sunset. Nopony is going to forget you. Nopony is going to forget that you just have a hard time understanding friendship. I’ll help you in any way I possibly can, you have my promise.”
*
Day 4.
It was around noon the next day that Twilight hit a bump in her writing efforts. In this case, editing some of Rainbow Dash’s attempts at writing. “It’s ‘you’re’, not ‘your’. And why doesn’t she get the difference between which and then?” She leaned back to exhale in frustration. Editing for a friend was quickly becoming one of her worst ideas yet. The fact that Rainbow Dash wasn't exactly the best writer didn’t help that at all. “I feel like my eyes are going to catch fire at this rate. How can anypony possibly write a fifty thousand word story successfully, and still have the grammar of an eight year old filly?” Sunset’s hand slid onto her shoulder from behind. Instinctively, her hoof moved up to hold it. Normally she would have avoided such actions for fear of suggesting something. But they were alone; there was no need to keep up appearances around each other.
Sunset picked up the piece that had caused the outburst, reading it over casually. “She makes a decent attempt. Maybe with some practise, and tutelage from you, she could end up writing a brilliant autobiography.” Twilight giggled. It wasn’t hard to see that the ‘novel’ in front of her was really just the life story of Rainbow Dash. But it showed promise, and it was definitely a lot safer than some of her other hobbies. Her pondering was interrupted as Sunset sat down right beside her, to the point that they were in physical contact. “It’s funny; you brought all this because you wanted something to do while you weren’t asleep or resting. Why not take a break; you’ve got me for conversation now, right?”
Twilight glanced at Sunset. There wasn’t really anything between them, one just happened to be a powerful pony princess. And the other was a human who, had things happened differently, would have been a pony princess too. “Alright, I’ll finish this page, and then we can hang out in the mud spa.” Sunset’s head leaned into her neck softly. As red and gold mixed with shades of purple, it created a range of colours that resembled a picturesque dawn. The moment only lasted a few seconds before Twilight gently eased Sunset’s head off. “Sorry, my neck hurts from all this editing. And I’m still a bit uncomfortable about getting ‘close’, like that.”
Sunset withdrew herself from Twilight’s side as prompted. “No problem. But promise me that you won’t be too long.” She had removed her robe and slipped into the mud spa by the time Twilight finally finished. For a while, she merely watched as Twilight looked back at her. “It feels odd. I don’t quite remember the bubbles being here when I arrived.” Her hair dangled out over the edge of the spa as she slid further down into the mud, letting it reach her shoulders. The bubble streams adjusted to flow around her body in the most comfortable way possible. “Much better. And this is all free? There’s no lasting impact on Equestria’s magic by enjoying these simple little things by any chance?”
There was a ruffle of feathers as Twilight shook her wings free of loose feathers. “I still haven’t gotten used to them, can you believe it? And not even Celestia has provided me with a book on wing maintenance. Apparently it’s just something you have to learn through experience.” Upon reaching the edge of the spa, she bit down on her lip. Sunset looked unusually pleased to see her. In fact, she had been keeping very close to her that whole day, always with a supposedly innocent smile on her face. Creepy aside, it wasn’t like her at all. “Look, Sunset. Promise me in return that you’re not going to do anything... inappropriate. I hate to say it, but you’ve been unusually nice today. Is there something I should know about?”
Sunset reached out from the mud spa towards her. As Twilight stepped up, her hoof slipped on the edge. The resulting fall brought her close to hitting Sunset in the face with her horn. While she struggled to pull herself into the other side of the spa, there was a long period of laughter from opposite her. “Twilight, you really are too wound up. I wish I could help the fact that my being here is intruding on your vacation, but can you at least try to enjoy it anyway? How often can you say that a girl from another world just fell into your arms?” Twilight took a deep breath and let herself settle down into the soothing mud. The spa was large enough so that Sunset’s feet didn’t reach Twilight’s hooves, but she still had apprehensions. The fact that Sunset had dodged her question only added to her suspicions.
Not a minute after closing her eyes to relax, she found Sunset sitting beside her yet again. “Alright, I’m sorry I didn’t consider the fact that you’ve had very little social contact for the past month at least. Just respect my personal boundaries for now, okay?” She shivered as the distance between them was closed. Nothing wrong with sitting this close, side by side at least. This time when the inferno of hair rested against her, she moved her left hoof around Sunset’s shoulders to provide a little extra comfort. “You’re right. It does feel more relaxing, now that I have somebody to share it with.” As much as she tried, she couldn’t help putting emphasis on ‘body’. It wasn’t Flash Sentry sitting beside her, like everypony else would have assumed.
*
Day 5.
Late afternoon. Through the pink of the dome, the first hours of sunset began to set in. In the river stood a solitary girl, watching the sky that gave her namesake. After a few moments of silence, she let herself collapse into the flowing river until she was completely submerged. A good minute passed, during which the surface of the river returned to its normal state. There was no sound, no movement. At least until a purple alicorn splashed wildly into the water, dragging the girl from the water in desperation with her bare hooves “Sunset! What happened?” Sunset rolled over to cough out the small amount of water she had swallowed before Twilight had dragged her out. The tangle of red and gold concealed the flow of tears.
A towel wrapped around her body, soon followed by a pair of hooves. In a dizzy blur of motion, Sunset found herself at the table. “I...” The words caught in her mouth. Twilight hadn’t been in the human world long enough to understand some of the concepts it didn’t share with Equestria. She wouldn’t understand what had driven her to lie in the river, refusing to surface. Futile as it was, Sunset withdrew into hiding behind her locks of hair, only to have them parted by purple magic. No escape from the inquisition she was fearing. There was an explanation to be given, one that she had only remembered mere minutes ago. One she couldn’t bear to burden Twilight with.
“Sunset... just why? Anybody who wants to relax in a river doesn’t do it face down. If this is because of last night...” She bit down on her lip. At one point during the night, she had heard crying, but didn’t bother to inquire. And Sunset had seemed fine that morning, if not a little distant. First, she was eager for attention, and then she stops just like that... “This isn’t about last night, is it? This is just part of a bigger problem.” Sunset’s eyes latched onto hers. Twilight’s face grew cold as she saw every single bit of emotion contained behind them. A lonely girl, who had nothing left to live for. “Is this how you arrived here, in Equestria? You tried to kill yourself?” It seemed to fit. The initial depression, then the euphoria as the magic of the sanctuary first entered her body. But as her tolerance for Equestrian magic returned, the underlying problem was free to resurface.
And I didn’t even stop for a single moment to consider the signs... The hole that tore itself into Twilight’s mind brought with it an overwhelming sense of agonizing guilt. She had become so caught up in her own activities, not taking a single moment to pay attention to the silent suffering in front of her. “Sunset, why didn’t you tell me? I wouldn’t have judged you for it. I would have helped you work through it. And I certainly wouldn’t have pushed you away for wanting close company.” Her hooves wrapped tightly around Sunset’s bare shoulders. Water began to soak into her coat and mane, which didn’t bother her in the slightest. “It was irresponsible of me to leave you behind with nothing, without considering your wellbeing. Friendship is about looking out for each other, being there when a friend needs it most. And I failed you in that.” Her hold released enough to let her look at Sunset eye to eye. “Will you forgive me?”
Sunset looked back at her. In the midst of a turbulent firestorm of anger, depression and hopelessness, a spark of magic began to burn in her eyes. A spark that had dwindled after six months of neglect; brought to life by the inferno of powers her mind had never experienced before. The very same inferno that drove out darkness, brought order to chaos, and now showed the point of light in a sea of darkness to a unicorn in distress. “Y...” Her mouth had dried from taking in the full extent of Twilight’s speech. The swallow that followed seemed to roll throughout her entire body. When she opened her mouth again, determination to get the words out drove her on. “Yes... I forgive you.”
Neither could possibly have expected what happened next. From Twilight’s horn, a bright flow of magic poured out to envelop Sunset Shimmer in a sphere of purple. It carried her up a good metre into the air, the light growing in intensity with each moment. In a moment of panic, the alicorn reached up towards Sunset. Rather than getting a burned hoof, or being thrown across the sanctuary, pure bliss swept back through as she made contact with her projected magic. By the time she got back down onto the ground, the spectacle had begun to descend as well.
As the magic reached its peak, Sunset’s cutie mark appeared briefly in a bright burst of fiery colours, before dissipating altogether. In its place stood Sunset Shimmer herself, wearing a brilliant orange dress that looked like it was literally on fire. Perched on top of her head, a silver tiara bearing her cutie mark shone with the brilliance of the very object that it represented. Most importantly however, was the aura of green magic surrounding her hands. “Twilight... My entire body hurts.” Twilight moved forward just in time to catch Sunset as she collapsed towards her. The warmth that swept over the alicorn caused her to shuffle in surprise.
“Woah, you’re burning up. In the good way I guess.” She rested Sunset down on the bench. With her dress, it was slightly harder to make sure that she wouldn’t slip off. Both of them were still stunned by what had just happened as well, Twilight especially. “Sunset, can you use your magic now? Maybe accepting friendship into your heart reignited that part of you.” The ribbons of red and gold glittered as Sunset’s head slowly tilted to one side. Her eyes seemed to be struggling to focus on one particular object, rolling around in a bout of dizziness. Twilight narrowly saved the tiara from falling off. “Let’s not tell Rarity that my magic had something to do with your dress. I don’t think we’d ever hear the end of it otherwise.”
Sunset grabbed hold of her hooves tightly without warning. Just briefly, she looked like she was about to go into shock. Her grip released just as suddenly as it had formed. “Sorry, nervous reaction.” Her words were a little slurred. “Give me a moment...” The first attempt at standing was rather wobbly. After the first few seconds of disorientation, her balance returned. No longer at risk of falling, she clasped her hands together in concentration. The green aura surrounding them began to glow brighter than normal, quickly spreading out to envelop her dress.
With a much smaller flash of magic in comparison to before, her lavish outfit had been transformed into a simple magenta shirt and orange skirt. The trademark leather jacket was notably absent this time. Once a pair of modest boots covered her feet, she sat back down. “Better. I’ve gotten a bit used to the cooler temperatures, which is slightly ironic huh?” Twilight opened her mouth to answer when a sound behind her drew her attention away. The portal had conveniently reopened. Sunset too found her attention drawn to the sudden opening. “Well, I take it this means I’ll be seeing Celestia any time now.”
There was a shrug from Twilight. For the first time that day, she found herself smiling. Wings outstretched, a single hoof around Sunset’s warming shoulders, her posture was relaxed at long last. “Let’s give it a few minutes. The bags will go through by themselves after all. For now, let’s just enjoy this moment of friendship.”
