With a somewhat stable, always-open bridge to the world of Canterlot High established in her basement, Twilight Sparkle had found herself spending increasingly more time in the humans' world. A great deal of it was for scientific purposes, trying to establish key character differences between her friends in each universe, or learning how to write with fingers and hands. Some of it was purely social – after all, she was one of the lead singers for the Rainbooms, who were somewhat of a hit in their small town.
Some of it, though, was recreational. It still felt a little silly to say it this way, but, believe it or not, Twilight Sparkle had managed to get herself a girlfriend. Twilight awoke late on the Saturday morning, sun peeking through the blinds and into her bed. Well, not technically her bed, but close enough. A familiar yet still alien hand rested gently on her chest, fingers curled just enough to slightly tug on the fabric of her pajamas with each breath. Another body was pressed against her own, gently expanding against and withdrawing from her as the other girl breathed. The upper part of Twilight’s right arm was trapped beneath the mare – err, girl’s head, but then again perhaps ‘trapped’ wasn’t the appropriate word. It was comfortable, and she could still move her forearm freely. Taking advantage of this, the purple girl reached up and gently stroked her fingers through her girlfriend’s two-colored ma- hair. Twilight felt silly – she’d spent nearly half her time here in the past month or so, but she still managed to continually use the wrong terminology. Worse, it was spreading, and instead of gradually getting better at using the right words in the human world, slowly she was starting to use the wrong words in Equestria as well. It didn’t matter though, Twilight was happy. Happier than she had been in quite a while, to be honest – the only time she could remember being anywhere near this, just… content with life was just after she’d met her best friends in the world in Equestria. Twilight brought up her left hand and placed it gently over Sunset’s own.
The hand on Twilight’s chest twitched, and Sunset Shimmer groaned as the morning’s first waking thoughts breached her consciousness. Warmth, softness, comfort, affection bordering even on love, all these things and more entered her mind as she began to stir. Her girlfriend seemed to be already awake, given the fingers gently stroking through her hair, but she didn’t seem to mind being pinned beneath the yellow teen. Which was good, because Sunset didn’t want to get up. That said, this was the human world, and she did have a job here to pay for living expenses, and she did have to go in today. It wasn’t so bad though; she worked at the local animal shelter, and her job often boiled down to getting paid to play with puppies. It also gave her a lot of time to spend with Fluttershy, who Sunset had felt a particular need to repair burned bridges with. She opened her eyes slowly, wary of the sun, taking in her surroundings – as per her expectations, she was in her bed, one arm between her and her girlfriend, the other resting gently on the purple sometimes-Alicorn’s chest. She smiled, unbelievably happy that Twilight and her friends had been so willing to just… give her a second chance, a second chance she really didn’t deserve and that Twilight really had no reason to give her. Doubly so when after the defeat of the Sirens, Twilight had come to her, blushing, explaining her gratitude for Sunset’s help with the disaster. A little prodding later and Twilight’s crush had come to light, and soon a surprisingly tender relationship began.
Twilight had closed her eyes again, quietly lying in the bed as she idly toyed with Sunset’s hair, waiting for the slightly older girl to properly wake up. She felt the weight of her girlfriend shift next to her, the hand on her chest pressing down slightly for a moment as she sat up. The yellow girl smiled down, before bending over and placing a quick peck on Twilight’s lips, before (unceremoniously) sliding out of the bed and stumbling towards the bathroom, not bothering to close the door behind her. Twilight heard the water come on, the soft hissing of the water against the fiberglass floor of the shower, and smiled at the yelp as Sunset stepped in before it was warm. Sunset had work today, that’s right. Twilight stretched her arms up above her head, arching her back as she stretched her whole body. She’d been in the human world for four days now, she was due back in Equestria to report to the Princess on the progress of the search for the Sirens, as well as that of Sunset Shimmer’s… remedial friendship lessons, as Celestia had referred to them. Twilight was also to report on any scientific breakthroughs she may have been able to bring back to aid in the technological development of Equestria – the development and widespread use of Low Magic had replaced the need for much of the technology used in the human world, but occasionally Twilight found some new knick-knack or contraption to bring back. The Rubik’s Cube had been a smashing success, for example.
At any rate, Twilight followed her special friend out of the bed and trotted into the bathroom, and grabbed her toothbrush, squeezed some toothpaste onto it, and went to work. Twilight tended to wander around as she brushed her teeth, but today rather than her feet doing the wandering, she noticed her eyes begin to stray towards the reflection of Sunset’s obscured form. The sanded glass of the shower door didn’t let any intimate details through, but Sunset’s outline was still clearly visible, and Twilight couldn’t help but stare just a little. Okay, maybe a lot. Twilight had long since lost track of time when the shower shut off and the towel slung over the door disappeared inside. Quickly averting her eyes, Twilight spat the used toothpaste out and took a quick gulp of water to rinse out her mouth, and hurried out of the bathroom to let Sunset get dressed in privacy.
Figuring she could take a shower once she landed back in Equestria, Twilight gently slid off her pajamas and changed into a skirt and t-shirt she had borrowed from Sunset, a simple magenta top with Sunset’s cutie mark emblazoned on the chest. Twilight had yet to figure out why exactly cutie marks seemed to be transferred to clothing, but it seemed to have no effect on the transition between worlds, and any clothing one was wearing seemed to be ‘remembered’ in the magic of the portal, so it hardly seemed to matter. She scribbled a quick note and left it on the table by the bed, and walked down the hall and out the door.
Twilight yawned and smiled as she walked back into Sunset’s apartment. It was Ponyville, in Equestria. Nothing ever went according to plan, and she had been a fool to expect it to. That said, even by Equestrian standards, a rampaging Ursa Major – yes, an actual Major this time – was more than a bit of a hoofful, and she never had gotten that shower. Sunset wasn’t home yet, but a quick glance at the clock said she should be soon. Twilight shrugged and pulled the shirt off over her head and stepped out of her skirt as she walked into the bedroom, tossing them lazily in with the other dirty clothes in the hamper, grabbed her towel and some pajamas to change into when she got out, and strode into the bathroom. She spun the dial to turn on the shower, and sticking a hand under the stream, waited patiently for the water to warm up. Once it had, she stepped in, relishing the feeling of the warm water bouncing off her back and shoulders. One of the particular joys of her human form was fingers – magic did the trick for getting suitably clean just fine, if not better than, a bar of soap and her hands, but by Celestia, having fingers to wash her hair with felt fantastic.
Happy, relaxed, and clean, Twilight stepped out of her shower and toweled off, making a rushed, sloppy effort at brushing her hair before slipping into her pajamas. She hung her towel up on the rack, pausing for just a moment to fix it as it started to slip off, and then walked back into the bedroom. To her delight, Sunset was home, the fiery-haired girl laying on the bed, still fully clothed, facing away from Twilight. That was odd, Sunset even still had her boots on. Twilight started to ask what was wrong, but closed her mouth before she spoke when she saw Sunset’s body shuddering.
Twilight stepped as quietly as she could over to the bed. Sunset gasped when she felt more weight on the bed behind her, and looked over her shoulder quickly, surprise fading when she saw Twilight. Her eyes were a little puffy from crying, but she forced a small smile for her girlfriend. Twilight, for her part, just wrapped her arms around Sunset’s neck and held her close. Sure, she wanted to know what was wrong, but Twilight knew if it was anything terribly important, Sunset would tell her when she was ready. For now though, just comforting her girlfriend is what mattered most. Gently, ever so gently, Twilight leaned over and lay down next to Sunset, stroking the back of her partner’s head soothingly, waiting for the crying to stop. Eventually, Sunset fell asleep there in her girlfriend’s arms, and not long after, so did Twilight.
Sometime later in the night, Twilight woke up, and found the other occupant of her shared bed missing. A moment’s panic coursed through her before she realized the shower was on, and sure enough, a few minutes later, Sunset Shimmer walked back out of the bathroom, her still-damp hair half-clinging to her neck. Twilight sat up to ask her if everything was ok, but before she got any words out, Sunset Shimmer pulled her into a deep kiss, lips pressing together in a few moments of pure affection. When she finally drew away, Sunset merely nodded to Twilight and climbed back into bed, snuggling up against her girlfriend as tightly as she could, burying her face in the other girl’s purple neck and taking Twilight’s hand in her own. This time Twilight drifted back to sleep first, and there, listening to her lover’s heartbeat, Sunset Shimmer eventually did the same.