Her fists trembled in her lap as she felt her fingers become slick with sweat, her nerves battering at her control as she heard the oncoming footfalls of her heart’s desire draw ever closer, humming a tune she could only surmise Twilight was making up on the spot.

The girl’s voice was angelic despite the menagerie of notes she employed in her wistfulness and it only served to torture Sunset Shimmer further.

It was as if she was doing it on purpose.

As Twilight returned carefully holding a mug, she paused in the doorway as she noted Sunset Shimmer sitting bolt upright on the edge of the bed, coiled like a spring ready to launch into the air at the slightest trigger.

“Are you okay, Sunset?” Twilight inquired, taking slow and steady steps into the bedroom, being sure not to spill a drop of the contents of the mug onto the carpet. “You look really tense… not to mention pale. Maybe we should go see a doctor or something?”

“N-no, that’s fine.” Sunset Shimmer tried to relax herself, but found her body completely unresponsive to her attempts, remaining ramrod straight and perfectly still. “I’m not that bad, honestly.”

Approaching Sunset’s side, Twilight sat right next to the girl, offering over the contents of the steaming hot mug towards her. Her deepening concern was clearly written across her face. “Sunset…”

Taking the mug, Sunset Shimmer nursed it between her palms and lifted the strange, amber looking liquid towards her nose, sniffing the evident pungency. “Is that ginger and cinnamon?”

Twilight nodded, beaming a touch. “It’s a remedy that Zecora taught me to get rid of a particularly nasty fever and cough Spike got last month. It worked really well and, to be honest, it does wonders for sore throats too. It’s ginger, honey, lemon, tea leaves, fennel seeds and cinnamon carefully brewed with all of my love.”

Sunset spluttered as she choked on a sip of the concoction, causing Twilight to quickly lean close and pat the center of her back.

“Sunset! Are you okay? Did it go down the wrong way? You should be more careful and sip it a bit more slowly.”

“A-all of your love?” Sunset stammered, her face bright red both from the blush and the coughing fits that wracked her body. “W-what do you mean by that?”

Twilight nodded slowly. “It was a little something Zecora said to me, that’s all. A little bit of love while making it apparently goes a really long way… I think she just said that part to make her sentence rhyme.”

“Oh… right…” Sunset Shimmer wiped her lips, inclining her head away so she could close her eyes, steady her breathing, and most of all, calm her thunderous heart that had almost lept right out of her throat. “Of course.”

“Listen, Sunset, I don’t know what it is, but you have been acting really strange since I got here.” Twilight Sparkle placed a hand upon her friend’s shoulder to catch the girl’s attention, but frowned as she felt Sunset’s body quiver under the contact, still refusing to look at her properly.

Staring at Sunset’s cheek, Twilight felt her lips curl into a frown, a saddened expression growing in her eyes that threatened to swell tears into the corners. “Did I do something wrong? Have I done something to upset you, or—”

“No! No never! It’s…” Sunset’s sudden outburst caused Twilight to jump on the spot. “It’s not you, it’s just something else…”

“Please tell me,” Twilight’s hand drifted down Sunset’s arm to cover and gently squeeze Sunset’s hands around the mug, “what’s really the matter? You didn’t just write in the book the way you did without a valid reason.”

“I-I can’t.” Sunset whispered, her eyes ashamedly glancing towards Twilight’s face.

“Why,” Twilight pursued, “why can’t you tell me?”

It pained Sunset to see such a somber expression upon that face, but it saddened her even more to know that she herself was the cause behind it all.

Sunset Shimmer chose not to answer. Instead, she sipped at the mug’s contents, her gaze drifting towards the hand that covered her own.

Twilight’s touch was as gentle as her personality. It was soft, warm and inviting. It was a hand Sunset longed to hold in her own and to claim between her lips with little kisses to the tip of each and every digit it.

Heaving a sigh through her nose, Sunset replied in a mutter. “It’s me.”

“It’s you?”

“It’s… it’s just me.” Sunset cryptically reaffirmed with a nod, offering no further explanation as she stood up from the bed and made her way over to the window Twilight and entered from.

“I don’t understand… is this something to do with what you have done in the past, or…”

“It’s hard to explain, and really, Twilight,” Sunset placed the mug down upon the windowsill and turned back to face the still-seated girl, “it is fine. It will eventually go away, trust me. I’m just having some issues with how I am feeling about certain things in my life. Maybe I’m just being angsty for no reason, but I feel… as if something very important is missing.”

It’s you…

It’s you and you’re right here with me and yet I can’t bring myself to say it!

What’s wrong with me?

Get a grip already, she’s right here in front of you!

Sunset Shimmer shook her head to rid herself of those thoughts, forcing herself to smile with tired eyes. “You have anywhere to stay tonight?”

“I was going to stay at the library again but—”

“Well, why not stay here?” Sunset offered with a smile. “It’s far more comfortable sleeping in a bed than it is on a desk, right? I’ll sleep downstairs on the couch so you—”

“No, no, no I couldn’t intrude like that and besides, I think you’re coming down with something so you should stay in the bed and I’ll sleep on the couch.” Twilight stood up, brushing her skirt as if to rid it of dust.

“No, I insist. What kind of friend would I be if I let one of my best friends sleep on an uncomfortable couch?” Sunset beamed, crossing her arms in an attempt to appear resolute in the matter. “I won’t take no for an answer.”

After a moment of silence, Twilight placed a finger to her cheek. “Well I am not going to let you sleep on the couch in your current state, so why don’t we share it?”

“P-Pardon?” Sunset’s cheeks glowed as bright as tempered metal at the suggestion. She knew full-well what Twilight meant, but she had to confirm she was not just hearing things.

Twilight approached and, grabbing a hold of Sunset’s hands, she guided her over to the bed. “I’ll sleep on the left and you sleep on the right! How does that sound? That way no one needs to sleep on the couch and besides, it’s easily big enough for both of us.”

Sunset’s mouth opened to object to the idea, but she found herself nodding instead. “Ah… yeah, I suppose it does…” She laughed a little nervously. “But… I snore really loud… and I might wake you up… and I toss and turn...”

Twilight laughed. “It’ll be fine! Once I’m asleep it is very hard to wake me up when I know I have nothing important to do in the morning, so don’t worry! We’ll just treat this like any other sleep over, but with just the two of us instead.”

“Y-yeah,” Sunset’s smile faltered as a feeling of impending doom overtook her, “sounds great.”

And it did, despite her lacklustre response.

Sunset Shimmer no longer knew or understood where she stood in all of this.

At first, she wanted nothing more than to confess her feelings to Twilight and be done with the rejection early on. However, her courage immediately flew out of the window whenever she opened her mouth or Twilight spoke.

Twilight had a strange kind of power over her that she was powerless to resist. She knew without a doubt that Twilight’s innocent suggestion had already been translated in her mind as a potential opportunity to get even closer to the subject of her desire.

Swallowing hard, Sunset Shimmer glanced down at her own pink pajamas and then looked over Twilight’s uniform. “Um… I kind of only have one set of pajamas with me, though… you can’t exactly sleep in your uniform because it’ll get all creased.”

“That’s okay.” Twilight beamed. “I’ll just wear my underwear. We’re both mares and besides, we should be used to not wearing clothes anyway, right? I never really understood why humans get embarrassed about being naked. It’s just natural.”

Sunset Shimmer nodded meekly.

She had a point.

But something told Sunset she was not going to get any sleep tonight, knowing a half naked Twilight Sparkle would be laying right next to her.

Author's Note

Thanks everyone that is sticking around for the fic's continuation and putting up with the short chapters.

Something tells me I might need to stick the comedy tag on this story...

Like hate, flame, comment, whatever it is it is all good.