Twilight Sparkle stood at her balcony, overlooking the edge of Ponyville. And as the seconds rolled by, she nodded absentmindedly at whatever her guard stated. Behind her, silent and shrouded footsteps approached. Without turning back, she greeted her friend and polished her trick sword.

"Hello, Lilith. How've you been?" The princess said, her tone more blank than questioning.

"... How did you- nevermind. You missed the funeral. Weren't you free?"

Twilight dropped her rag, unable to catch it before it completely submerged in ice water. A moment of silence passed her agape maw, reciting all the words missing entailed. She'd missed a lot in the past week. But that was something to burn into her psyche. Lilith held her from behind and kissed their neck, rubbing gently along her plush, lavender coat. Her receptive ribs made her hindlegs fold together at the knee, prompting her to cover between them with her tail. Everyone's favorite princess kissed her lips and kept their eyes heavy.

"I... I didn't know. It was just... I was just so busy- I don't know what happened. I've never taken care of a town before. I've used work delegation efficiently and the paperwork goes to secretaries most times, but I'm just- just swamped with work. You don't understand how exhausting it is to teleport from here to there everyday handling all the security in Ponyville." Twilight hushed, gritting her teeth softly as her tail was pulled.

"You're not a superhero, Twilight... You're an angel, but you're not a cartoon character. Now, come on. Relax a little. I'm sure Ponyville won't fall apart in one day."

Feeling her rump rubbed against made her breathe harder, till she grinned fondly when Lilith finished humping against her. They walked outside as equals and faced the world with flaws on every side. Twilight wouldn't last as herself. And Lilith wouldn't live forever. So the two decided on hopping bars and paying for some gyros as they walked/trotted. How long had it been since they personally interacted. A month was enough to go crazy over. More turned the heart numb. Silence reigned over the estranged pair, only widening the trench between them with whistling wind.

Twilight cleared her throat and dipped her brow, unsure of what to say or what to do. Time took away everything. Sometimes, it took away feelings. Other times, it took away futures. In their case, it took away impatience and confidence. Now, every move was a calculated step toward minimal damage.

"So... You like to do that human punching thing?" Asked the princess, shuffling her hooves about on the dirt road.

"Y... yeah. Yeah, I do. It's a savage science, boxing. I'm surprised I can do it so well, though. Guess it's easier to me than something like taekwondo or muay thai. Not that you know what those are. Something's wrong with my body, though. I feel like... my hands are heavier than usual. Strange, right?" Lilith hushed, pulling out some cancer as they neared Bug and Chug, the nearest pub that side of the Everfree.

That, she knew how to work with. Medical sciences were an amazing thing: like magic but for the body and not manipulating the world around the caster. Twilight replied in a split second, her mind thoroughly exercised in several layers of general biology.

"I'd say you hitting that sandbag so much creates microfractures in your knuckles. And when they heal, they strengthen your bones, forming more and more layers till they're heavy and dense." Twilight responded, trotting past the self-returning doors.

Lilith followed, her footsteps a dull silence beneath the bar chatter. She'd stop a moment short, staring blankly at how intriguing the entrance was. Both were knobless and wobbled into place after somepony walked through them. She found it especially disarming since the idea of animate, inanimate objects held a special place in her heart. The curious, but loyal girl chased after her friend to catch up. Before long, the subtle jog she started came to a choppy, disjointed halt.

Twilight slid against the floorboards toward her feet. She spotted a stallion cracking his hooves, his right and left forehoof layered in some sort of hydraulic, steam-pressurized horseshoe gauntlets. The remnants of red wine magic sparked and buzzed along his weapons. Lilith looked closer and realized he'd broken through her barrier. She shrugged and picked up a pool cue, thwacking the side of his head. He wobbled and nearly doubled over, scrambling to focus his wide, shocked eyes. It surprised her just as much. The incubus remembered her boxing wraps were still on, being far too tired to remove them before.

Lilith took a pivot step and slammed it into his other temple, coming from a downward, diagonal angle. It bent and splintered her weapon, morphing the steel rod running through the middle. Twilight's adversary stumbled toward the pool table, clinging desperately to whatever he could grab.

"You hurt Twilight. You think you can run away from that?" Lilith murmured, holding it over her head.

A pink, dark reddish aura surrounded the weapon. She took a small breath and pushed it out in a loud, growling shout. The pool cue curled into itself over his skull, knocking the brute unconscious. Great. Perfect. She survived doing something ridiculously stupid and defended Twilight's honor. It was only moments after that Lilith dropped her weapon and asked why the fuck it was glowing.

Twilight Sparkle stumbled to her feet and wiped her bloody muzzle on her foreleg.

"Incubi... absorb life-force o-or magic to grow stronger. I didn't think it would take effect. But you're stronger now. All that fooling around paid off, ha."

Before she could stand, she fell into Lilith and left the doll baffled.

Author's Note

"... How did you- nevermind. You missed the funeral. Weren't you free?"

I wouldn't have missed anything if I knew you'd make me wet later.