/x/x/x/

Dear Princess Twilight,

Turns out you were absolutely right about joining the yearbook committee! While it is a bit lonely in the classroom itself, I’ve been able to foster so many positive relationships with the same student body I used to keep locked down with an iron fist. There are still a few people who I still don't really get along with (certain Great and Powerful people come to mind), but I’m making a lot of progress.

Speaking of progress, I’m curious as to know how things are going with re-establishing trade routes with the dragons. When I was still living at home we were barely on speaking terms with them after what happened with Thunder Fang the seventh. But then again I could just ask you in person... which very well may have to happen very soon.

I've been concerned for this side’s Twilight. She’s been acting strange for a while now, and I fear that Midnight has returned. She’s lying about having menstrual cramps even though you and I both know that can't be the case, struggling with a guilt complex about physical attraction, and worst of all her grades are slipping in psych and who knows what other classes! I don't mean to pry and hover because I’m not her mother, but... I’m really worried about her.

I was hoping to know if we were able to come over to Equestria at some point soon. Surely a simple magic decontamination field can take care of the Midnight issue. I miss you and Starlight anyway so it wouldn't exactly be a lie to say that's the reason, right? And Twi definitely deserves to have a night out with friends. She hasn't hung out with any of us unless we ask her a favor, and even then she goes home before the end, using Spike as an excuse even though he can take care of himself! It just makes my heart hurt to see her so lonely.

I know you're probably busy, so I won't obsess over this for much longer. But whenever you have a bit of free time, setting up a girls’ night out might do all of us some good. I also kind of need to talk to you about that thing I can’t talk about through the book, so please just let me know when you can.

Your friend, Sunset Shimmer.

P.S. Also, how is Princess Celestia?

“Oh no...”

“What's up?” Asked a kite-flying unicorn. “Demons in the human world again?”

“...possibly.”

Starlight Glimmer turned her head from the windborne fabric to the princess of Friendship sitting on the park bench next to her. The alicorn bore a worried frown as she furiously scribbled an inked quill in the book.

“Seriously?” Starlight asked. “I swear, I thought things were bad here when it comes to evil monsters. I should know, I was one of them... is it a we-have-to-go-right-now emergency?”

Twilight Sparkle nodded. “Just a concern, nothing more,” she assuaged, before continuing. “The other me might be dealing with Midnight again.”

“Oh boy, that can't be good.”

“Hopefully it's nothing. We just have to run a quick magidecon and worst comes to worst we have the Elements.” Twilight signed the last of her reply with a flourish. “Sunburst told you how to lightningrod properly, right?”

“Yup.” Starlight returned her focus on the aerial activity. “Just let me know if and when you need me.”

“Would tonight work?”

The unicorn nodded. “I don't have anything going on. What would be the plan? Who's coming?”

Twilight stepped off of the bench and cracked her neck. “Well, Sunset is bringing Twilight, Applejack and Pinkie get off work soon, Fluttershy just has tea with Discord this afternoon, Rainbow’s only reading today, Rarity just finished some big orders, Ember doesn't really need to go back home until tomorrow, and I’m sure Trixie and Maud don't have many plans today.” She slid a sly look to her protege. “You know what that means?”

“... Mares night out?”

“Mares night out.”

Starlight grinned. “I’ll buy cupcakes... a baker’s dozen.”

/x/x/x/

Dear Sunset Shimmer,

See, what did I tell you? Princess Cadance knows popularity, whether you're a pony, a human, or any other creature. And don't worry, Trixie may be a bit brash and abrasive, but she is pretty nice once you get on her good side.

Ember has been very cooperative with me and Spike! As you know, when the mantle of Dragon Lord passed from Thunder Fang VII to Torch, Princess Celestia attempted to reach out to them, but unfortunately things didn't go well. That whole incident is where the Dreadstone terrorists came from, after all. I'll have to talk to you about that, actually, considering recent events.

That's unfortunate to hear... you know more than I do the horrors of magical corruption. And while it is a bit disconcerting that she’s lying about that, I really don't blame her. I know I’ve had to lie about estrous before. And while that does sound a bit worrying, psychology is only a soft science, after all. But you don't have to worry; concern is normal in that kind of situation, and nopony is going to judge you.

You can absolutely come over! You know you're always welcome in Ponyville. Magidecon is very simple, and of course we miss you too. A mares night out is a great idea, especially if she's been isolating herself like that. And if what you need to talk about is what I think you need to talk about, then by all means come. If you wanted to tonight then that would work out well, I think. So please do come, I’m having Sunset withdrawal!

Your friend,
Twilight Sparkle

P.S. She is well as always. She's started writing in a little different style recently but maybe she’s just a bit stressed about the honeycomb opal heist? But as I always say, you really should just ask her yourself. You never know when the opportunity will elude you forever...

“Sorry Twilight, but I can’t do that...” Sunset muttered as she closed the book, the smile that had built up over the course of the letter being suddenly dashed into the shameful frown she wore upon reading the post script. “Not yet.”

If given a choice between wrestling a ravenous hydra with her limbs tied together, or attempting to reconcile with her old teacher, she was more than willing to feed the beast. When last they spoke, things did not exactly go the way the Princess had planned.

For her pride and avarice, Celestia had removed Sunset from the position of her star pupil, banned her from the castle, and escorted off the premises. Along the way she had assaulted the guards and entered the forbidden mirror that lead her to this world. While she didn't regret meeting her human friends a single bit, she did regret betraying her teacher whom she loved and admired, even if at the time she didn't realize it.

Sunset turned her thoughts from the unpleasant subject. There would be plenty of time to beg for forgiveness from an immortal being. Celestia was not going anywhere any time soon. Besides, there were more important things to worry about right now than to make up with what was basically her principal. Ironic considering the Celestia of this world.

No, Sunset’s biggest concern at the moment was the safety and well-being of Twilight. Their next period together was their final block, calculus. All that stood between her and inviting Twilight to a good time with her interdimensional friends was language arts... which was totally fine because she shared the class with Fluttershy, but for no other reason because gOD was the book they were reading terrible.

‘Withering Widths’, a story of a weird incestuous love pentagon between orphan brat, female love interest, jealous boyfriend slash brother, female love interest number two, and jealous boyfriend slash brother number two, featuring vengeance, corporate greed, revenge fucking, angst, and, oh yeah, the ostentatious reek of literary pretentiousness.

The criticism brought a sharp stabbing pang of guilt to her stomach as she remembered Twilight was a rather big fan of the book. She made a mental note to keep her complaints quiet while around the girl. She was nearly as sensitive as Fluttershy herself when it came to her favorite books, music, movies, and pretty much anything. It wouldn't do to upset her any more than she already seemed to be recently.

Sunset pondered how to proceed with her plan to get Twilight out of this funk if there wasn't an issue with Midnight after all. That was only one small thing that might explain a few other things, however it was foolish to assume it was the only explanation. Besides, purging the hypothetical demon to remove the fear of being touched and the need to hide the secrets of her body and the attraction based guilt didn't make any sense.

She had no problem with gay people or ponies. While Sunset wasn’t exactly homosexual, as she did have a thing for stallions [thus why having sex with Flash wasn't so bad as a penis is a penis], she did also have a thing for mares [thus that one time she and Starlight got more than a little frisky]. Just not really human women. No offense to them, their bodies were just... weird.

After discovering the term ‘body dysphoria’ during the course of her own independent studies in psychology, Sunset had realized that was why she always felt strange inside her body. It wasn't right. She was a pony, and being forced to exist in this bipedal primate form was just pure hell. She would have gone to Twilight about it but that may have been a huge breach of several unspoken social rules in a society of mandatory clothing. Pinkie also had a few qualms about the way she looked, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were freaking sculpted goddesses, and Fluttershy was the one in need of support herself at the time.

That left Rarity, the only one Sunset thought would be able to help with the problem. Her first advice was to attempt to become more comfortable in her own skin, and when that didn't exactly work, exhibitionism was the next suggestion. At first Sunset loathed the thought. She understood the concept of sluttiness well enough and wanted to avoid another scarlet letter. Despite Rarity’s attempts to explain that the human body was a perfectly natural thing and that anybody who had a problem with it was a giant pride who wasn't worth worrying about, the idea still filled Sunset with anxiety.

Still, the idea also somewhat intrigued her. Sunset had left Equestria before she had fully matured as a mare and so never had the experience of looking and feeling sexy in any capacity. Not that her mind was on that in the first place, as world domination was a much more lofty and noble pursuit at the time. So after some time had passed she had talked to Rarity again and expressed a desire to do so.

The plan was simple. Make an anonymous blog on the internet, take nude, lewd, or otherwise suggestive photos of herself, post the photos, get positive feedback on her body, obtain self esteem with zero negative consequences, feel better about being in her own skin. There really wasn't much in the way of things potentially blowing up in their faces.

Sunset trusted Rarity with the photographs. She had been fully nude around Rarity before, mostly for education in human female clothing purposes. Rarity was a seamstress and was desensitized to nudity anyway, so that didn't fell Sunset with any dread or trepidation. In fact, Rarity had been the camera for many of the photographs. The girl had an eye for detail and cinematography unparalleled by any other, except maybe for Photo Finish.

The photographs turned out nicely (according to Rarity, as Sunset herself had no frame of reference for anybody who wasn't a horse). Rarity had uploaded them and set tags and did a few other basic things that caused the pictures to have at least some attention paid to them. Nothing but love and admiration of her body had poured in. When Rarity showed some of the comments to her, Sunset cried... though she would never admit it.

It didn't magically cure the hatred of living in a body that wasn't hers. It didn't instantly wash away all of the bad feelings and the occasional sleepless nights lost over wishing more than anything to have her pony body back. She still sometimes snuck off to the mirror in the middle of the night and got found by Princess Twilight in the morning sprawled out on the castle floor snoozing peacefully. But it did help a little bit with being more accepting of her situation.

That is, until Twilight may have discovered the blog.

There was always a failsafe in place in case someone from the school found it. Blaming it on the other Sunset wherever she may be was certainly a part of it, as was deleting everything. Unfortunately it seemed like now was the time for it. Everything was on a hidden encrypted flash drive courtesy of Twilight herself (irony drenched much of Sunset’s life, it seemed) so it wouldn't have been lost forever, and the memories of all the wonderful and supportive comments would never be gone, but... as of this afternoon they would no longer be available online for all to see. It was bittersweet but necessary. She was much more comfortable with her body nowadays anyway.

“...are you even listening to me?”

Sunset jolted out of her thoughts. After a quick glance to the clock to reveal she had been spacing out for much of the period and looking at a blank computer screen, she returned a sheepish grin to the... complete stranger sitting next to her.

“Ugh, of course,” the girl with a palette comprised entirely of different shades of green said with a facepalm. “I should've asked earlier before talking for so long. This is embarrassing...” she began rifling through her bag. Also green.

“I'm sorry,” Sunset responded. “My mind was just elsewhere. Who, uh-” the mystery girl pulled a strange rock out of her bag, leading Sunset to change her question from ‘who the heck are you’ to “What the heck is that?”

The girl shrugged. “Nothing you'll remember. Sorry for being awkward and also for this.”

Sunset was about to question what this meant when the rock began glowing and-

The bell rang, and Sunset jolted out of her thoughts. After a quick glance to the clock to reveal she had been spacing out for the entire period and looking at a blank computer screen, she glanced around the empty room. Luckily nobody had been present and she sheepishly grinned at herself. Tomorrow she would do twice as much work to make up for doing nothing today.

She gathered up her items, her supplies and the journal, and stuffed them all in her bag. She rolled her shoulders and began the slog towards the second worst class of the day, topped only by history. Pausing only for a second to shake the feeling that she was forgetting something, Sunset turned off the lights and entered the hallway.

It was probably nothing.

/x/x/x/

Twilight left the English room in a huff. What did it matter that she was a few minutes late to read a book she had practically memorized by now??? Besides that fact, regardless of the fact that it was a total lie, she was having cripplingly horrible menstrual cramps. This really wasn't turning out to be a good day, or week, and it was only Tuesday.

“Twi, wait up!” Rainbow Dash called, jogging to catch up. Twilight paused for a moment to catch her breath and to let her friend come over. The pair shared this and their next class, history; unfortunately they didn't sit together in english, partly due to the combined fact that Twilight had already read pretty much every single book in the curriculum, with Rainbow’s tendency to just rely on plot summaries and goof off the entire period, and the fact that they had the same language teacher back when they dated, it all added up to being seated on literal complete opposite ends of the room.

“Sorry,” Twilight simply offered. “Today everything's just getting me upset.”

“I feel you,” Rainbow replied, falling in step as the pair headed off down the hallway. “I get punchy on my monthly too. Especially when teachers are on my ass. That was super uncalled for, by the way; you've read this book probably a hundred times since you first came here.”

Twilight nodded. “I'm not even writing the essay next week, I’m just putting the one I wrote three years ago for fun onto a flash drive and setting that on her desk.”

“Ah shit, that's next week?” Rainbow groaned. “I can't do next week, I’ve got too much going on! I've got basketball AND tennis on Friday, plus my shop project and studying for algebra. How am I gonna get everything done?”

Twilight gave her The Look.

Rainbow sighed. “Yeah yeah, I know, write a schedule and stick to it.” She offered puppydog eyes to her former tutor. “Mind helping a girl out?”

“Of course.” Twilight nodded. “I'm not doing anything after Pinkie’s party tonight. Oh, hi Sunset.”

“Ayy, what’s up Shimmy?” Rainbow greeted, offering a fist bump, which was returned.

“Hey guys,” Sunset greeted. “Heading to the torture room?”

Twilight exaggerated an eye roll as Rainbow laughed.

“No, we’re cutting class to go make out in the bathroom,” Twilight teased before her face darkened. “You know, like Harshwhinny accused us of two years ago. Bitch.”

“Uh oh, Twilight’s pissed,” Rainbow said, putting her hands up defensively. “Clear the area, let's cordon off the hallway.”

A smile returned to Twilight’s face as she bumped her friend with an elbow. “Wouldn't you be mad if Spitfire got on your ass about attendance at your soccer practice?”

“Spitfire’s cool, Twilight!” She defended. “Not like Hardass. She knows I've got stuff goin’ on, and personal issues, and she's not gonna bitch me out about it. Although...” a mischievous glint caught in her eye. “I wouldn't mind too much if she got on my ass, if you know what I mean.”

“RAINBOW!”

Sunset snickered from behind her hand as the intrepid lesbian dodged an embarrassed punch from the flustered one.

“I take it class didn't go well?” She asked. “Harshwhinny didn't give you too much trouble today, did she?”

“Hardass bitched at Twilight for being like ten minutes late,” Rainbow answered. “Said she was disrupting the class and delaying her own education by not reading the material on time.”

Sunset’s eyebrow raised. “Aren't you reading Withering Widths?”

“Yeah.” Twilight bluntly stated. “I was reading it in my free time when I had her as a teacher last time after I finished rereading the other books she had us read. Which I reminded her of. She... didn't like that.”

“She looked like a friggin’ tomato.”

“She told me to ‘stop abusing my natural intellect as an excuse to be lazy’ and that I was disrupting the class regardless.” Twilight rolled her eyes yet again. “So I told her she was the one disrupting it because I'm not the one who stopped reading it out loud when I walked in.”

A worried frown crossed Sunset’s face to match Rainbow’s grin as Twilight continued.

“Then she was all ‘I wouldn't have stopped if you were here the whole time’ so I was like ‘well I'm sorry I can't control the blood coming out of my vagina’,” Twilight paused to take a breath as Rainbow began guffawing, and she waited for it to die down. “She just sighed and told me to go sit down. Lucky I didn't get a detention but eh, it was worth it to see her scowling.”

Sunset nodded. “Cool, I’m glad I get to have her in a bad mood.” She flashed a fake smile. “And I just love reading for an angry Hardass.”

Twilight and Rainbow exchanged a nervous glance before lamely laughing as they rubbed the backs of their heads.

“Yeah, sorry,” Twilight muttered as a brief darkness flashed in her eyes. “I'm, uh... not in the best mood right now. As you guys can probably tell.”

Sunset’s lips pursed as Rainbow nodded.

“About that,” Sunset began. “So are you doing anything tonight?”

Rainbow turned to Twilight as she opened her mouth.

“Actually,” she replied. “Rainbow asked me if I could help her write out a schedule for next week. I said I would. Also, Pinkie’s party.”

Sunset turned to Rainbow. “Do you mind if I borrow her tonight and let you have her some other day?”

Rainbow shrugged. “I got three other days this week. What's goin’ on?”

“Yeah, got anything special planned?” Twilight asked.

Sunset nodded. “Yeah, I was talking to Princess Twilight in yearbook today, and she mentioned that she’s not busy tonight, and neither are the rest of the mares.” She spoke pointedly at Twilight. “She also mentioned that she and Starlight have been meaning to chat with you in person since it's been so long.”

Twilight pursed her lips as she remembered Sunset’s words in the bathroom. ‘I could see about taking our Twilight through the mirror under pretenses of hanging out with Starlight and her other self to get her out of this funk that she’s been in recently.’

“Hey, it’s fine,” Rainbow assuaged, nudging Twilight. “Yesterday you did stuff for Rarity, today you should have fun. We can hang out another time.”

Twilight sighed. “Are you sure?”

“Positive. If I had a chance to hang out with the other me, I’d grab it with both hands.”

Sunset leaned in. “Is that all you’d grab with both hands?”

Rainbow burst out laughing. “NO!” She cried, catching her breath. “I like human chicks only. No offense.”

“None taken.”

“Well... if you're sure it's fine,” Twilight interjected. “Then I guess it would be cool to go see Equestria tonight. My parents are home so I don't have to be. Would I need anything from home?”

Sunset shook her head. “The only things that go through the portal are things that came with you in the first place, or any magic items. Basically all that’s gonna come through is two ponies, my journal, and our geodes.”

Twilight slowly nodded. “That sounds like fun... I’ll look forward to it.”

“Great!” Sunset exclaimed. “I'll let Twilight know. We can talk more after the party?”

“Sounds like a plan,” Twilight said with a fake but convincing smile, hiding the fear in her voice. “I'm looking forward to it.”

Suddenly the bell rang, and several clouds of dust replaced many of the students in the hallway.

“Hey, I’ll talk to you guys later,” Sunset said, eyes glancing down for a moment. “I probably shouldn't be late, especially not today.”

Rainbow nodded and put a hand up. “Later.”

Twilight merely nodded before the teenagers all parted ways and headed to their respective classrooms.

“Hey, Twi...” Rainbow muttered.

“Hm?” She asked, clenching her hand and willing her pulse to slow down.

“Not trying to be a dick or anything, but uh...” she clenched her own hand in response.

Twilight looked down at their intertwined hands before she snapped her own away and began to blush. “Sorry!” she exclaimed. “I didn't even notice, I didn't mean to, I-”

“I'm not upset,” Rainbow said, placing her now freed hand on Twilight’s shoulder. “You actually haven't really broken my sappy pda rule at all since I told you about it.”

“I know, but...” Twilight wrung her hands together and continued to avoid Rainbow’s gaze. “I should still be better about this. You said that it was just an emergency thing to grab your hand or call you or hug you or whatever, and I need to respect that.”

“Dude, I’m not mad, I’m worried.” Rainbow leaned down so that she was at least in peripheral vision. “You tensed up as soon as Sunset told you about going through the mirror, and you still look really uncomfy. It's like you're scared of Equestria or something...”

Twilight locked eyes for only a moment before pulling away. “I'm just... nervous about how I’ll look as a pony.”

Rainbow blinked a few times before bursting out laughing.

Twilight neutrally glared at a nearby locker. On one hand she was thankful that the lie worked but on the other hand she was actually a little upset that Rainbow found humor in the becoming a pony situation because from what she knew about equine biology it was more than a bit concerning.

“Okay, sorry, that was just...” Rainbow wiped her eyes. “Okay, I’m good. Sorry I laughed. I'm just relieved, I thought you were dying or something.” She didn't notice Twilight’s wince.

“No, not dying... just being dumb.”

“It's not dumb.” Rainbow flashed the same friendly smile she did on their first date so long ago. “Your body turning into a completely different animal... not gonna lie, when I was little one of my biggest fears was turning into a werewolf like one of those shitty b-movies. It's freaky. But Sunset did it and she's fine. You will be too.”

Twilight only experienced a small comfort at this. She was still terrified of Sunset finding Midnight and then killing her. Exploding was a lot worse than just basic body horror. Her body had changed enough already that it wasn't big deal. But being murdered by a bunch of unicorns and rainbow magic wasn't exactly high on her bucket list.

“...okay.”

Rainbow hugged Twilight and held her close. “You know I don't really do intimacy, or phone calls, or anything except when there's a big problem. Like, Fluttershy’s panic attacks levels of problem. But...” she squeezed for a moment. “I know this is a thing for you so I don't mind, so don't beat yourself up over this.”

“Okay.”

“Just don't expect it all the time.”

Twilight giggled before pulling away and brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “I won't... but thanks.”

“Not a problem at all,” Rainbow affirmed. “Now come on, let's get to class. Don't wanna be late.” And with that she turned on her heel and walked quickly down the hallway.

“Oh, Twilight-”

“Fuck you,” she spit at Midnight before focusing on the next step.

So tonight was the night Sunset had picked for purging Midnight. There weren't many hours left in the day. She made a mental note to text her family and tell them that she loved them before she went through the portal since she wouldn't really have a chance to afterwards.

If Midnight was right, and the lightningrod effect was the intended angle to kill both of them, Sunset might not waste any time. Princess Twilight had a world to protect from evil magic, so she wouldn't either. Starlight was a wild card but she clearly idolized both Sunset and Twilight. Tempest sounded really scary, and Star Swirl the Bearded was allegedly the most powerful unicorn in Equestria. All of them had the means, will, and stakes necessary to destroy any threats to the world.

Twilight sighed before following Rainbow. She decided to put up a brave face for her friends and have a really nice time in the afternoon before she went through the mirror. With the day now effectively ruined, she didn’t particularly feel much need to care about paying attention to class. There were more important things to think about, like how best to enjoy her last few hours alive.

She had caught up to Rainbow and the two walked together in silence, making it inside the history room moments before the bell rang. Rainbow held up her hand for a high five, which was returned as they took their seats.

They were assigned questions from the next chapter before the teacher fell asleep.

“So, Twilight...”

“I’m not giving you the answers.”

“I’m not gonna ask you for the answers... yet.”

“Then what’s up?”

“...whose nudes did you see?”

*smack*

/x/x/x/

“I’m telling you, Night, this is blood. Pizza sauce doesn’t congeal like this!”

“Vel...” Night Light sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Maybe she nicked her finger with it.”

“If she cut her finger she’d have worn a Bandaid!” Twilight Velvet slammed the utensil back into the sink. “There’s a scar on her throat, there’s blood on the cutter. What do you think that means?”

“WHAT THE FUCK IS IT SUPPOSED TO MEAN, VEL?” He screamed.

“Stop shouting at me.”

“...I’m sorry.” Night stepped over and pulled his wife into an embrace as he began gently rubbing her back. “But I don’t want to think about our little girl hurting herself.”

“Neither do I!” Velvet volleyed. “But if she is, we need to help her. Haven’t you noticed she doesn’t wear short sleeves anymore?”

“Baby, please, it’s cold outside right now. Surely you don’t think she’s slashing her wrists too?”

“I don’t know, but she’s been going through razors so quickly.”

“She has a lot to shave, you know this.”

“Still!” Velvet pulled away and jerked open the dishwasher. “Haven’t you read all of those pamphlets she gave us when she was trying to tell us about this whole... thing?”

“I did, yes...” He rested a hand on her shoulder. “But don’t you think she’d have come to us by now if there was really a problem?”

“We’re not even here often enough for her to come to us for anything...”

“Babe, we have to work.” He motioned around the kitchen. “We have to pay for this house, for her education, for her medications. For a car if she ever gets a job. For the dog!”

“I know that!” She snapped. “But do we really need a thousand dollar television we never watch, a fifty thousand dollar car we never drive, and a six hundred thousand dollar house we never live in?”

Night sighed. “What do you suggest?” He asked. “One of us quits our job and we move somewhere else? Filthy is a bloodthirsty villain, this was the cheapest one in the area. And you know how Neighsay is with tuition. If we don’t do this she’s gonna be in debt up to her eyeballs. And what about that surgery?”

“I know! You’re right. We can’t change anything...” Velvet started unloading the clean dishes. “But what if I’m right?”

Night stepped in behind her and took the basket of silverware, and started putting them away into their respective drawers. “Then we get her to go to another therapist. If she needs support for that, I’ll use some of my vacation days. And I can talk to her soon...” He turned to her suddenly. “Why don’t we invite Shining and Cadey for dinner tomorrow?”

Velvet stopped in her tracks. “That might help her.”

He nodded. “If something’s the matter, the girls will talk. They’ve always been so close. You remember how much happier she was when we hired Cadey as a babysitter.”

She put the stack of plates away where it belonged. “I miss our happy little girl...”

Night deposited the basket back. “I do too. But now she’s our happy growing woman. Maybe she nicked herself shaving, maybe she slipped and fell, maybe Spike got a bit rowdy. She probably didn’t even know that it was there, because it obviously didn’t hurt. And that wasn’t a cry for help, because she’s always direct with us when it comes to her health. Remember when she told us about autism?”

“Of course I remember the twenty-page essay she made when she was nine years old.”

“That, and her depression and anxiety, and all of the side effects when she started taking those medications. She’s a scientist, obviously she’s going to trust psychiatry.” Night slipped his arms around her midsection and put his lips on her ear. “She’s going to be fine. She’s a smart girl.”

Velvet melted into his embrace, before turning around and putting her forehead against his. “I’m just worried about her... I’m her mother, aren’t I allowed to worry?”

“I’d be worried if you weren’t worried about everything...”

“Oh, shut up,” she chuckled, placing her lips on his own for a moment. “Are you sure she’ll be fine?”

“I’m absolutely positive,” he affirmed, slipping his hands down to undo the tie of her robe. “She’s going to be okay, she’ll graduate as valedictorian, she’ll be top of the class at university, and then she’ll cure cancer or something.” With the fabric opening slightly, Night slid it off of her shoulders. “And then when we’re old and gray she’ll have beautiful children who visit us and let us spoil them with candy and non-educational TV.”

“That sounds like a wonderful plan,” Velvet murmured as she took her turn to remove her husband’s clothing. With his shirt off and tossed haphazardly towards the dining room, they began kissing again. “Grandchildren would be wonderful.”

“Only because you know she’ll name her first daughter after you.” Night teased as he lifted her by the thighs and placed her on the counter.

“Don’t forget that it’s your turn to clean this.”

He shrugged as he removed his pants. “I don’t mind that at all,” he said as he got down on his knees. “But I don’t plan on letting anything hit the surface.”

Across the room, Spike turned the corner and then upon witnessing what was happening, he slowly backed up and turned around to pad off in the other direction. Oh sure, THEY could put their tongues on each other’s genitals for FUN, but when HE does it for CLEANING that’s a ‘No no, bad dog!’ and a swat with a rolled up newspaper. Humans are weird.

/x/x/x/

Rarity scrolled through her phone in the bathroom. She had just used it for its intended purpose during lunch, so this was cutting class, pure and simple. Granted, it was choir and their spring concert was months away so they were merely watching a movie she had seen a dozen times before in the exact same class, so it was fully justified.

Marismeno was going to leave the abbey and babysit the rich spoiled brats and fall in love with the father and then they were going to use the power of music and love to escape the fascist Coldbloods of Griffonstone whether Rarity was present to watch it or not. No, there were much more important tasks to take care of at the moment.

Like deleting photographs.

Though she much regretted burying evidence of natural beauty, it was for the best. Sunset was afraid of losing one of her best friends due to potential judgment over nude photographs, and it was Rarity’s obligation to indulge her request. That didn’t mean her finger didn’t hesitate every step of the deletion process. However, through mind over matter, each individual post faded into nothingness, never to be seen again.

Goodbye, bedroom eyes. So long, deep red lingerie. Sayonara, striptease. Au revoir, underwear. Ciao, collarbones.

Rarity especially regretted deleting the next one, as aesthetically it was a favorite of hers. However, with a deep sigh, she ignored the devil on her shoulder telling her to save it to her phone first because that would have been dishonest, disloyal, unkind, and just plain wrong. The angel on the other side nodded sagely, and then the devil made rude hand gestures to both of them.

Once the final step was completed, Rarity couldn’t help but sigh. All of the positive comments on the photographs really brought Sunset’s mood up from the pits they were in when she’d approached her with the problem. Of course Rarity was a bit carnally excited over being asked to help with body positivity for a fireball such as Sunset, but that was massively overshadowed by the vicarious joy she experienced upon seeing the former pony come to better terms with her body, nude and otherwise.

Besides, Rarity had an image to uphold. She didn’t have any problems with gay people. Heck, two of her best friends were lesbians, another had been with girls before, and yet another used to identify as queer. Many of her clients were gay men and crossdressers, and she had even had several transgender clients of multiple varying genders all across the spectrum. She even lived with a genderqueer bisexual!

No, the problem wasn’t any prejudices of her own account. It was a matter of her parents.

They were not fond of L, G, B, T, Q, A, I, or any letters of the alphabet in that regard. Sure, they didn’t actively speak out against the proverbial rainbow, and they tolerated the existence of the people of these demographics, so long as their own flesh and blood were strictly heterosexual ‘as the Creator intended’. The thought had made Rarity’s stomach turn before she even knew that she herself was bisexual. And that was why she hid it from everybody.

If anybody knew, there was a chance that word could spread to her parents. That could NOT happen. They would surely bar her from ever being able to see her sister again, let alone the fact she would lose her car, her home, and her education, the very ability to allow her to see her friends. She loved them too dearly to ever be apart from them.

That was why she couldn’t tell anybody that her sexual proclivities were of a sapphic nature. That was why she could only ever support Twilight and Rainbow Dash and the others from a distance. That was shy she had to pretend like there was no reason whatsoever why she should have any inhibitions with helping her friends with things that involved them being open, vulnerable, and occasionally nude around her. Making dresses, suggesting clothes, taking photographs, supporting through body positivity...

She felt sick.

That was why she was afraid when Twilight saw the lingerie on her phone. Why she panicked when she thought Twilight had seen the blog. If Twilight found out what she was hiding, that she was only pretending to be straight, she might be accused of perversion. Predation. Voyeurism. That wasn’t the case, as she truly did believe in desexualising female nudity, but would anyone believe her?

Twilight, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, especially Sunset. She could lose them forever. Rainbow and Applejack too, as their loyalty to their friends was unmatched, and they wouldn’t forgive betrayal of that caliber well. It would have been so much easier to just come out and tell them before they all became close enough to share nudes and let her custom-tailor outfits, but alas, that bridge was long burned by now. Not that she even could have told them without losing the rest of the things keeping her life together.

The constant ocean of nausea was somewhat quelled with self-justifications. To be fair, she had never said that she wasn’t sexually attracted to women. She had never said she was explicitly heterosexual. She had never behaved in an untoward manner or flirted or ever done or said anything to ever make even Fluttershy uncomfortable with expressing their bodies around her. But if she said she had never glanced around the locker room, or stared for a second too long at a bikini, or had a passing thought of one of Sunset’s photos while pleasuring herself, or didn’t long to design complementary wedding dresses for herself and her future wife... that would definitely have been an outright fabrication.

Rarity sighed as she scrolled through the rest of the blog. A part of her wanted to delete the whole thing. She wanted to just erase it all, throw the identity away, bury her gynesexual desires and fantasies so deep into her subconscious that they might as well have never existed, and just pretend to be mommy and daddy’s perfect little girl seeking a husband and nothing else. How she wanted to...

She did try it once, from the moment she realized she wanted to have sex with one of the girls at the chartered middle school she attended. However, the resulting depression left her almost paralyzed with guilt and self-doubt, unable to even get out of bed some days. Never again, she vowed. Unfortunately, no matter whether she chose to embrace or reject the identity, she still had to keep it hidden, no matter how terrible it made her feel to do so.

It was okay, though. She was a pillar which the others used to brace upon. Sunset, Twilight, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rainbow, even Applejack some days. If she had to suffer in silence and cry alone in the bathroom some days in order to be what her friends needed her to be, then so be it. It was worth it as long as they were happy.

Thus, her pride in Sunset’s joy. The bitterness and anger and fear dissipated once she saw the payoff. Her friends’ happiness.

Rarity dabbed away the tears that had formed before leaving the stall and analyzing herself in the mirror. Waterproof eyeliner and mascara was definitely worth the slight decline in quality if it meant she looked strong and confident and powerful even at her lowest points emotionally. Perfect.

The smile on her reflection looked so alien compared to the poisonous thoughts swimming through her head. Still, it was believable. With a resolute nod, she shouldered her purse and headed back to the choir room.

The darkness obscured many of her classmates snoozing, listening to music, and- making out in the corner? Wow, get it Amethyst! Anyway, Rarity settled in her seat next to Big Macintosh, who offered her a friendly, good-natured nod, and focused on the musical number she’d heard dozens of times in the past year alone.

“You are sixteen going on seventeen, fellows will fall in line... Eager young lads and rogues and cads will offer you food and wine~”

Rarity muttered along with the rest of the words. “Totally unprepared are you to face a world of men... Timid and shy and scared are you of things beyond your ken~”

She sighed. Hopefully things went well at Pinkie’s party. A pick-me-up was definitely necessary. Maybe she would actually eat a cupcake this time... Pinkie always ordered a baker’s dozen.

/x/x/x/

Author's Note

I'm setting up for a sequel series centered around Sunset Shimmer on an adventure in Equestria. There's a lot of musing in this chapter but it's necessary. The Forgotten Friendship easter eggs are more than just easter eggs. Twenty bucks go to whoever picks out the *other* Twilight reference (and whoever makes fun of me for her emo music taste owes me that much). I love Twidash friendshipping. Bet that's not the people y'all thought were gonna have sex. Have some feels and sad backstory. I also love The Sound of Music. I'm also noticing I use the same couple dozen tropes and phrases a lot. Oops.

Have a quick freebie, by the way. Literally wrote this in a couple hours broken up only by food. It's slightly longer, too. Enjoy!

Also, aaayyy 69 likes. Thanks guys ^.^