The rest of the spring semester flew by much the same as any other good thing in life. Sunset Shimmer bid farewell to her sophomore year at CSGU and welcomed the coming summer: three whole months of reviewing her notes, lounging in the sun, and hanging out with Coppertone.

Doppler picked up a co-op position in Vanhoover and wasn’t going to be back until late August. Which was unfortunate, since Sunset had been looking forward to sharing with him all the heaps of fun summer had in store.

They went steady maybe a month after that first wonderful friendship-assignment-turned-date? She wasn’t sure how it worked. The whole dating thing was still a little foreign to her. And no, she hadn’t “fucked his brains out” yet, as Copper so delicately put it. She did, however, consent to nose nuzzles when nopony was looking.

But today was no day for nuzzles. Today was the first official day of summer, and as everypony knew, the first day of the Summer Sun Celebration: a week-long festival of carnival rides, cotton candy, and everything else Sunset loved about the summer months.

The only thing that could make it more special was spending it with Copper and her family. The way Copper described them, her little sisters sounded absolutely adorable!

Sunset rocked back and forth on her hooves, staring at the front door of Copper’s house. It was still dark outside, since Celestia hadn’t yet raised the sun to begin the festivities, but the pre-dawn pinks and oranges spray-painted across the sky already set the mood for the day, the sun just as anxious as her to begin the fun.

Copper’s house was a pretty little thing, all well-trimmed flower pots and clean woodwork. They even had a white picket fence around the front lawn.

The door opened, and out poked a burly but smiling stallion that could only be Copper’s dad. He had a cropped mane like a military pony, greying on the sides, and an impressive but well-groomed beard. His icy blue eyes scanned her face much the way he probably scanned all those research reports Copper always talked about.

His horn showed signs of overuse, like how wood grain sometimes cracked when it dried out. Apparently that’s what happened when you were the Lead Catalytic Engineer in the castle’s research department.

“If you’re not Sunset Shimmer,” he said, “I’ll eat an arcanite crystal.” He let out a laugh deeper than a frat house booze trough that rumbled through Sunset’s bones, and he stuck out his hoof. “String Theory. Call me String.”

Sunset smiled and took his hoof. Hopefully he was just kidding about the arcanite crystal… Arcanite was a magic inhibitor known for its use as a “unicorn poison” in olden pony times, nowadays used in experimental containment protocol. Not the kind of thing ponies should be popping like candy.

“Hi,” she said. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Same.” He jerked his head over his shoulder and stepped back. “Come on in.”

Sunset followed him through the foyer. It was one of those grandma sorts of houses, decorated to the gills in pictures, doilies, dark wood paneling, and fancy brass fixtures. Sunset smirked, wondering if their couch was covered in plastic.

Portraits of Copper and her sisters hung along the foyer hallway, at various grade-school milestones. Even some from Copper’s modeling days through high school.

“Copper,” String shouted up the foyer staircase. “Your friend’s here.”

“Coming!” Copper called back, muffled. Probably in the bathroom fussing over her mane.

String led Sunset to the living room, where thankfully the couch wasn’t covered in plastic. That same cozy atmosphere of doilies and nice upholstery greeted her as warmly as a campfire on a cool summer night. It could have used some more lighting, but that was to be expected with homes in Canterlot’s Lingerlight District. Older houses had that darker aesthetic.

Copper’s mom had an obsession with collecting ceramic elephants, it seemed. They cluttered every horizontal surface as if on parade.

“Go ahead and make yourself comfortable,” String said. “I’m sure she’ll be down in a few hours.” He laughed to himself and headed for the kitchen, where a homely sort of chaos stared back at Sunset through a bar window. Homely, meaning cluttered but still much cleaner than her kitchenette back at the university.

Sunset took a seat on the couch and propped herself up on a blue crocheted pillow. It had a snowflake-like pattern to it, and although a bit of the stuffing poked out of the middle, it was darn comfy.

A grey filly probably around fourteen wandered into the room. She had a snowy mane that fell about her shoulders in loose curls, and her eyes had that cold steel to them like String’s. She wore a purple slouchie despite the warm weather scheduled, and had a good four piercings in her left ear.

She had a silver flute for a cutie mark. That made her Whistle Wind, then. An up-and-coming “bad girl,” as Copper put it. “Did her proud,” even. Whistle sat down next to Sunset without so much as a hello, absorbed in a puzzle cube she twisted and snapped about in her magic, a cold blue that reminded Sunset of a frozen lake.

Sunset half raised a hoof, switched them, then looked around. She took a breath to break the ice.

“Whistle,” String called from the kitchen. The fridge opened, and the sound of clinking glass drifted into the living room. “Say hello to our guest.”

Whistle blinked and set down her puzzle cube between her hooves. She looked at Sunset with wide eyes, and she flicked an ear, just now noticing her.

“Hi,” she said.

“Hi,” Sunset said. “I’m Sunset—”

“Shimmer, yeah. Copper’s friend.” She looked Sunset up and down, then went back to her puzzle cube. “She talks about you a lot.”

“Copper talks about everypony a lot.”

Whistle snorted. “Uh-huh.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow at her. What was that supposed to mean?

“You like beer?” String said, standing in the doorway between the living room and kitchen. He frowned at the bottles in his magic—frozen-lake blue, same as Whistle’s—then at her. “You old enough for beer?”

Sunset grimaced. “I, uh, no… But even if I was, I don’t drink. Thanks, though.”

“I’ll take a beer,” Whistle said, eyes still locked on the puzzle cube.

“Like hell you will,” String replied, earning a smirk from Whistle. That smirk must run in the family. He popped the cap off a bottle and took a swig.

“Hey!” came Copper’s voice from the foyer hallway. She strode in and plopped down beside Sunset, opposite Whistle. She wore the prettiest little red hair clip to keep her bangs out of her eyes, and her mane in a French braid that draped over her shoulder. Her confident smile brought some much-needed sunshine into the room. “How’s it goin’?”

String frowned at Copper, then at the bottle he just opened. “Well, I’m not letting you go to waste…” he mumbled and took a deep swig.

“I’ll take that other one,” Copper said to String before Sunset could reply, pulling the second bottle out of his aura.

He yanked it back. “No you won’t. We were waiting on you.”

She stuck her tongue out at him. Back to Sunset: “So yeah, how’s it goin’?”

Sunset smiled. “Pretty good. Just kinda been hyping myself up for this for a while now, so I’m excited for it to finally be here.”

“Oh, we’ll make sure we get our fun in, don’t you worry.” She elbowed Sunset in the shoulder and winked.

Whistle snorted again.

A tan-colored filly who couldn’t have been older than seven poked her head out from the hallway door. That had to be Lily Rose. Oh, she was just the cutest thing. She wore her blonde mane flat on either side of her face, trimmed in neat, straight lines. She gasped when her eyes landed on Sunset, and she dashed over.

“You’re pretty!” Lily said, looking up at her with the brightest green eyes Sunset had ever seen—brighter than Copper’s even, and that was saying something.

Sunset laughed, blushing. “Well, hello to you, too. Are you Lily?”

“Uh-huh.” Her eyes shone like she was staring at her most favorite thing in the world. She glanced at Copper and giggled before looking back at Sunset.

“Lily,” String said. “Leave her alone.”

“But I wanna talk to Sissy’s friend.” She snapped back to Sunset. “Do you like bugs?”

Bugs? Um… That was a resounding no. They weren’t bad, nor did she have a gut fainting reaction to them the way some ponies did—she glanced at Copper—but she once had a bad run-in with a giant star spider as a filly and hadn’t been partial to creepy crawlies since.

“Of course!” Sunset said. “They’re all sorts of fun.” She put on the best fake smile she could, which was actually pretty easy with all of Lily’s contagious excitement.

Copper shot Sunset a barely restrained grin. She could smell a lie from a mile away, Sunset knew, but just seeing Lily beam like that was worth any Copper-centric consequence.

“What?” Sunset said. She ribbed Copper.

Copper ribbed her back. “You’re such a little shit, you know that?”

“Copper,” String said around the mouth of his beer bottle. “No swearing in front of your sisters.”

Whistle laughed without looking away from her puzzle cube. “Yeah, Copper, stop fuckin’ swearing.”

“Whistle!” String shouted.

Copper slapped Whistle’s puzzle cube out of her magic with a rolled-up magazine from the coffee table. “You’re not allowed to swear either, you little cocksleeve.”

“Cop—”

“What’s a cocksleeve?” Lily asked.

String put his face in his hoof and sighed.

Sunset laughed. Yep. This was definitely Copper’s family.

String gave Copper one last warning glance before sighing again. He levitated his empty beer bottle into the kitchen. “Well anyway, the gang’s all here. Mom’s busy at the office, so it’s just the five of us today.”

“Mom’s always busy at the office,” Whistle said. She got her puzzle cube to have one side all green and let out a groan.

Copper idly swatted at her puzzle cube with the magazine. “Yeah, ’cause somepony couldn’t make honors and get that scholarship she was supposed to.”

“Fuck off,” Whistle said, moving her cube away from the offending magazine. She swung at it with her hoof. “You’re the one doing fuck-all with your mane bullshit.”

“Will you two stop fighting for one second?” String said. “And if you swear one more time, I’m gonna zip-tie your mouth shut for the day.”

“She started it!” Whistle pointed at Copper.

String stepped forward with the classic Dad Stare that Sunset had learned to shrink away from as a filly. He spoke quietly but intensely: “We have a guest.”

Coppertone blew a raspberry and waved him off before tossing a hoof over Sunset’s shoulder and yanking her into a hug. “Please, Dad. Sunset’s family. If she can handle me, she can handle anything you guys throw at her.”

Sunset gave them an embarrassed smile. It was true though. Copper definitely was the instigator of the family.

“He’s all bark and no bite,” Copper whispered. “If you couldn’t tell.”

“Maybe,” Sunset whispered back. “But I’m not one for poking the bear.”

String grabbed his keys off a hook by the hallway door. “At any rate, we should get going. Come on. Don’t want to miss out on a decent spot this year.”

“We’re probly too late for that after how long Copper took,” Whistle said, setting her puzzle cube on the table and following him out. She threw a smirk at Copper over her shoulder. “You’d think she was getting ready for a date or something.”

“Oh, shut up, you,” Copper said. She waggled the magazine at Whistle before tossing it back on the coffee table. She smiled at Sunset. “One big, happy family, right?”

“One big, happy family,” Sunset said.

They headed out the door, Copper on Sunset’s left, Lily on her right.

“I found a beetle the size of my hoof yesterday,” Lily said. She stuck her hoof in Sunset’s face as if trying to show just how big it was. “You should have seen it!”

Sunset scrunched her nose, but forced out a smile. “That’s… cool.”

“Hey, can I ride on your back?”

“Lily,” String said. “Leave Sunset alone.”

“But Daaaddy…”

• • •

“There it is!” Lily said, gleefully hopping up and down on Sunset’s back. She pointed at the large Summer Sun Celebration banner up ahead.

Streamers and balloons strung together lamppost after lamppost, and the sound of laughter already reached across the final street separating them from Sunrise Field, the main greenspace for the festival.

Lily all but bounded off Sunset’s back and took off. “Come on!” she called over her shoulder.

“Lily, slow down!” String called. He started after her, but Copper put a hoof on his chest.

“We’ll get her,” she said, then turned to Sunset, grinning. “Come on, before he spoils the fun.”

She took off, and Sunset had no other choice. They passed beneath the welcome banner, and though there was no true boundary, it felt like they had crossed a threshold into a new world of laughter, the smell of fresh-cut grass, and all the carnival fare a pony could ask for.

Lily was already past the cotton candy stand a dozen meters ahead, and Copper made little effort to actually catch up. Knowing her, she wanted the extra distance between them and String to “get lost” and enjoy the pre-festival on her own terms. Not really Sunset’s style, but there was time for hanging out with Copper’s family later. Besides, this meant more time specifically with Lily.

They caught up with her at a seashell booth, whose glass display case boasted an array of necklaces and bracelets made of shells and bits of whittled driftwood. Lily leaned against it with her forehooves, face pressed against the glass.

Everything was technically closed until Celestia raised the sun to begin the festivities, but that didn’t stop her from scoring a free seashell necklace from the mare at the stand. One smile, and she melted the hearts of everypony around her.

At this rate, she’d be worse than Copper when she grew up.

They let her run adorably rampant about the main thoroughfare for a while. Lily made friends with no less than four foals, a dozen grown-ups, and an old stallion that Sunset was pretty sure used to be the superintendent for CSGU’s elementary grades.

Copper eventually decided that was enough limelight for one little filly, and they headed for the Dais of the Summer Sun.

“There you three are.” String pushed through the crowd, Whistle in tow, chewing what looked like bubblegum. “You need to stop running off on your own, Lily.”

“Sorry, Daddy.”

“How long ’til sunrise?” Whistle asked. She blew a bubble, and the snap! turned a number of heads around them.

“Where’d you get the bubblegum?” Copper asked. “Everything’s closed ’til the sun comes up.”

“Up your butt and around the corner. When’s sunrise? I want caramel corn.”

“Why, you gonna get that from up my butt, too?” Copper wiggled her flank at Whistle.

“Whistle, stop egging your sister on,” String said. “Copper, stop acting like a foal.”

Copper raised an eyebrow at him. “But I like acting like a foal. Life’s more fun that way.”

String grumbled, looking away and shaking his head.

Sunset giggled. She had a feeling his greying mane wasn’t from his years in the lab.

“Psst.” Lily tugged on Sunset’s mane.

Sunset leaned down so Lily could whisper in her ear.

“So what is a cocksleeve?”

Sunset went red in the cheeks. “Uh…”

String sighed. “Damn it, Copper, if she says that word one more time, I’m going to hang you by your tail from the weather vane.”

“Hey, don’t threaten me with a good time.”

He scowled at her. “I’m serious. You’ve been way out of line these last few weeks.”

“Tell that to Whistle! She’s the one who won’t stop getting on my nerves.”

Snap! went Whistle’s bubblegum. She sidled up beside Copper and chewed it loudly in her ear.

“Getting on what now?” Whistle asked.

“I’m gonna stick that in your mane if you don’t get it out of my face.”

“What’s the matter?” Whistle said, smirking. “I thought you liked sticky stuff in your face.”

Much to Whistle’s surprise, a frosty-blue aura wrapped around her from head to hoof, and String dragged her aside. He looked ready to live up to that threat about the weather vane.

Copper stuck her tongue out at Whistle and turned back toward the dais.

“But seriously,” Lily whispered to Sunset. “What is a cocksleeve?”

Sunset grimaced. “Uhh, why don’t you tell me about your favorite bugs instead?”

The smile on Lily’s face had Sunset practically expecting a dissertation, but a series of shadows flickered overhead to draw everypony’s attention toward the pre-dawn sky.

A column of pegasus Royal Guards circled above like vultures, and one by one they landed according to some grand design Sunset could only guess at. They formed a line separating the masses from a velvet runway leading from the nearby castle courtyard.

The crowd began cheering before anypony could see Celestia, but the moment she appeared, the cheer boiled into an excited roar.

And damn, was she a sight.

The sun waiting just below the horizon partially silhouetted her in a way that darkened the white of her coat but amplified the blues, pinks, and greens of her mane like light shining through a waterfall. She had her wings out, and like her mane the sun rimmed her feather tips in gold to evoke an otherworldly sense of awe. She surveyed the crowd, and the tiny smile on her lips sent shivers down Sunset’s spine.

Despite how relatively casual their relationship was, moments like this reminded Sunset that this mare walking toward the dais—this graceful, beautiful, powerful pony she knew as a mentor and role model—was Princess Celestia.

Lily tugged at Sunset’s mane again. “You’re the princess’s special student, right? Can we go see her?”

Go see Celestia? Right now? “Um, I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.”

Lily’s face drooped like a puppy told to go lie down. Oh, that face. How could she say no to that face?

“Okay, fine. But after the ceremony.”

If Lily’s face was impossible to say no to before, no word existed to describe it now. She practically vibrated with excitement.

Celestia took the final steps up to the dais, surrounded on three sides by the awaiting crowd. She swept her smile left to right, followed by her hoof.

Everypony went silent, save the murmurs of those too anxious for the coming festivities. Lily grabbed hold of Sunset’s leg and shook it. She had to stop being so adorable, or Sunset might just fall to pieces.

“Welcome, everypony, to this year’s Summer Sun Celebration.” Celestia’s voice boomed as if shouting into a megaphone, but somehow sounded just as natural and gentle as if speaking face-to-face. “I am delighted to be here with you all. I see many familiar faces, and many new ones as well.

“It is my duty and honor to remind everypony on this wonderful celebration, the first day of summer and the longest day of the year, that we all share in the bounty of our nation. Let us all take a moment to look to one another beside us and thank them for all they have done in making Equestria the prosperous land that it is.” She paused to allow everypony that opportunity.

Lily shook Sunset’s leg again. She wore the biggest smile and oh gosh was she too cute.

Copper, likewise, cuffed Sunset in the shoulder. She wore her trademark smile, the one that made Sunset feel all warm and happy inside.

“Now,” Celestia said. “Without further ado, let us welcome the sun and give thanks through song and celebration to the years behind us and the years ahead.”

And with that final announcement, she beat her wings to take flight. On cue, the sun leapt into the sky behind her to envelop her in its blinding light and bathe the crowd in her radiance.

The display was met with a thunderous stamping of hooves.

“Can we go now?” Lily said, hopping up and down.

Well, the official ceremony had ended, and Celestia was heading for the castle. Now probably was the best time. Just a quick “hi” and then back to the fun.

“Yeah, let’s go.”

She escorted Lily through the crowd, keeping one eye on her and the other on Celestia. Given Lily’s track record, she half expected her to take off and tackle Celestia’s legs in a hug.

The guards spotted them coming well before she got close, and they already formed up to stop them.

Luckily, Stone Wall was among Celestia’s escort detail and intervened before they caused a scene. He let them through with a smile.

“Sunset,” came Celestia’s voice. “It’s wonderful to see you. Niece of yours?” She nodded at Lily.

Sunset smiled. “Actually, this is Copper’s little sister, Lily Rose.”

Lily stopped moving the moment Sunset said her name. The way her eyes got all big and her jaw practically fell to the ground almost made Sunset laugh.

“Hello there, little one,” Celestia said, stooping down to meet Lily’s gaze. “Are you enjoying your Summer Sun Celebration?”

Lily was too awestruck to say anything. It was like looking back in time to when Sunset first met Celestia.

“You’re allowed to talk to her, Lily,” Sunset said and nudged her forward.

Lily hardly seemed to notice. She still hadn’t blinked since first laying eyes on Celestia. The light shimmered in her eyes as if she were seeing for the first time.

“Lily, what are you doing?” String pushed his way through the crowd, bowed to Celestia, and scooped up Lily in his magic. “I am so sorry, Your Highness. Sometimes I think her special talent is sneaking off when I’m not looking.”

Celestia laughed. “It’s quite alright… String Theory, was it? You work in research, correct?”

String flustered. “I, uh… yes! Yes, I do, Your Highness. Lead Catalytic Engineer, going on thirty years.”

“I remember when Blue Shift first hired you,” Celestia said. “You should have heard how proud he was to have another Manehattanite working with him.”

String blinked, and his voice went soft. “Wow, Blue Shift… That’s a name I haven’t heard in… ten? Twelve years?”

“He was a dear friend of mine,” Celestia said, “and I’m glad to see you carry on his legacy. I know he would be proud of you.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

Sunset stepped forward, eager to get her own few words in with Celestia. “That was a great speech, Princess.”

“Thank you, Sunset. I’m glad to see you here enjoying it with friends.”

Sunset shrugged. “They seem to know how to have fun. I’ll keep them around, I guess.”

Celestia chuckled. “They seem to be rubbing off on you as well. How is your coltfriend Doppler doing?”

“Coltfriend?” Lily snapped out of her Celestia-induced trance and looked up at Sunset.

Sunset smiled back. She brushed Lily’s mane and pulled her head into her chest. “Yeah.” To Celestia: “Pretty good, actually. He’s in Vanhoover on a co-op, though, so he won’t be back until August.”

“Three months is some time for a new couple to spend apart,” Celestia said. “I hope you won’t let the distance get between you.”

Sunset shrugged. “Eh, we write to each other at least once a week, so it’s not the worst thing in the world. It kind of sucks, but we’ll be fine.”

Lilly tugged on Sunset’s mane, a little harder than she needed to. “Well… well that’s okay, because you can play with Sissy instead!”

As if on cue, there was an argument over by the guards. They were hassling Copper, who it seemed had come up to join the group.

“It’s alright, Stone,” Sunset said. “She’s with us.”

He did a double take between them. “Oh, is this your Copper friend? Well heck, just say so.”

One of the other guards rolled his eyes. “Oh, sure, let’s just let ’em all through. Why are we even here?”

An excited-looking mare stepped up from the crowd. The guard’s scowl put her back a few paces.

Sunset gestured at Copper. “Princess, this is my best friend, Coppertone.”

Celestia gave her that trademark smile. “Ah, so you’re the mare I’ve heard so much about. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Copper didn’t reply immediately. She had that momentary lapse in thought everypony did when first meeting Celestia. Though, her ears fell back briefly, meaning she had passed that point and was now somewhere in the middle of figuring out what to say.

Was she nervous? Oh, she was so never going to hear the end of this.

“I hear you’re quite the mischief-maker,” Celestia said, not missing a beat.

It was fun watching her fill in the gaps of conversation other ponies left in her wake, now that Sunset knew where to look. It said a lot about just how accustomed to it Celestia was.

Copper blinked, and it looked like the hamster in her head had gotten back on its wheel. She smiled that easy smile of hers.

“I roll with the best of ’em, Your Highness.”

“I’m sure you have many stories to tell.”

“Oh, I could fill an entire afternoon with all the hijinks we’ve gotten into.” She threw a hoof over Sunset’s shoulder and yanked her in.

“Copper,” Sunset said.

“I would love to hear them someday,” Celestia said. “I do enjoy spending time with my subjects when I have the time.”

Wait, what?

“I’d be down for that,” Copper said.

Whoa, slow down a minute. Were they making lunch plans? After like, two seconds of conversation?

“Spontaneity is the mother of frivolity.” Celestia laughed and spread her wings. “I could shift a few things around. Would tomorrow at noon work for you?”

“Am I even allowed to say no?”

Celestia chuckled. “Of course you are, my little pony. I would never force somepony to do something they were uncomfortable with.”

Sunset gawked at them. “Well what if I’m uncom—”

“Then yeah, definitely.”

Celestia hmmed. “I look forward to seeing you then.” To String: “Next time you see him, say hello to Spark Plug for me, would you?”

“Of course.” String bowed.

Sunset watched Celestia leave in disbelief. “Did… you just make lunch plans with Celestia… to tell her embarrassing stories about me?”

Copper leaned against Sunset, faux-swooning. “It’s a date with destiny.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“What don’t you believe?” She ribbed Sunset. “That I just scored a lunch date with the princess, or that I just scored a lunch date with the princess and get to tell her all sorts of embarrassing things about you?”

“Yes, that! All of it!”

“Don’t you worry.” She waggled her eyebrows at Sunset. “I’ll make sure to tell her how loud you scream when you’re on Doppler’s—”

Sunset zipped Copper’s mouth shut with a Silencing Spell and turned away, grumbling. “Why did I even agree to come here with you?”

Copper lit her horn and undid the spell to blow a raspberry at Sunset. “Because we’re literally two halves of the same pony and you still don’t realize it.” Sunset rolled her eyes. She didn’t need to look to see that remarkably unflattering smirk plastered on Copper’s face.

“Yeah, you’re the messed-up half,” Sunset grumbled.

Whistle shoved her way through the gathering of ponies and cuffed String on the shoulder. “Great. Princess meeting over. Can we go get caramel corn now?”

“I want another seashell necklace,” Lily said.

“Another one?” Copper hefted the centerpiece shell hanging around Lily’s neck. “But this one’s so pretty.”

“I wanna give it to Mommy since she couldn’t come today.”

Yeah, Sunset was going to fall to pieces if this kid kept being too cute. “I think we can manage that.”

“Come on,” Whistle said, cycling her hoof in the universal “hurry up” motion. “They’re gonna run out of caramel corn like they did last year if you guys don’t stop talking and start moving.”

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll get you your stupid caramel corn,” Copper said. “Just can’t get enough of that salty sweetness in your mouth, can you?”

String glared at Copper. “One more thing like that out of you and you’re going home. You hear me? You too, Whistle.”

“What’s wrong with caramel corn?” Lily asked.

“Nothing,” Whistle said before String could turn a scowl to either her or Copper. “Dad just can’t hang. I learn from the best, by the way,” she added, side-eyeing Copper as if their conversation had never been interrupted. She tail-flicked her on the flank to punctuate that sentiment.

“Hey,” Copper said. “You’re not allowed to do that. That’s mine and Sunset’s thing. Isn’t that right, Sunset?” She tail-flicked Sunset on the flank.

Sunset yelped, to Whistle and Copper’s amusement. She rubbed her flank. “You two laugh it up. I’ll get you back.”

Copper made that sarcastic “o” face that used to boil Sunset’s blood when they first met. “Oh, listen to you. Still rubbing off on you, am I?”

“More than you think.” Sunset flicked her tail at Copper. If it could really be called a flick. More like a sad wave, a respectful brush with the tip of her tail.

Copper snorted. “You will learn in due time, young grasshopper.”

“Oh, shut up.”

• • •

The rest of the festival went about how Sunset expected. Lily got a dozen seashell necklaces, Whistle didn’t get her caramel corn, and Sunset and Copper practically collapsed through the front door after all that running around keeping up with Lily. String thankfully didn’t have to live up to any of his threats, and Copper and Whistle didn’t make her the butt of any more jokes.

Sunset never did get them back for the tail flick, though.

That evening, she and Copper lay in Copper’s bed, staring at the ceiling. The fan contributed its fair share to the lazy silence as the final rays of sunlight filtered through the blinds.

“Hey, Copper?” Sunset said.

“Yeah?”

“Why do we always end up lying next to each other at the end of the day like this?”

“Because I learn from the best.”

Sunset snorted. “I’m supposed to say you’re the worst before you can say that.”

“Okay, well now I learn from the best.” She elbowed Sunset in the shoulder.

Sunset laughed. “You’re such a dork, Copper.”

“I’m the dork?” She put a hoof to her heart in feigned insult. “You’re calling me the dork? You’re the dork here, Sunnybuns. Also, it’s ’cause I know you totally wanna have a slumber party with Lily, but she’d never go to sleep if we did that.”

“As true as that might be, that has nothing to do with it. Besides, you say that like we ever go to sleep when we have a sleepover.”

Copper blew a raspberry. “Sunset, please. The second I start stroking your mane, you’re out like a sorority mare after a keg stand.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Sunset ran her hooftip along an errant curl of her mane splayed out in front of her. “I like having my mane stroked. It’s comforting.”

Copper’s smirk relaxed into a gentle smile. “I’ve noticed. And I can’t say that I—”

The door cracked open, and in poked a pair of bright-green eyes.

“Lily,” Copper whispered, “go back to bed.”

Like any adorable little sister, Lily did the exact opposite. She scampered into Copper’s room, dragging in by her mouth a purple-and-orange dinosaur blanket made of tasseled felt. She hopped onto the bed and curled up between them.

“But I wanna have a sleepover with you guys too,” she said.

“Lily…” Copper huffed. “Alright, fine. But if Mom gets mad, it’s your fault.”

“Hee!” Lily snuggled into Sunset’s hooves and smiled up at her.

It was a good thing the day was over, because now Sunset was officially falling to pieces over this filly. She brushed Lily’s mane out of her eyes and wrapped herself around her new snuggle buddy.

Lily used the same coconut shampoo as Copper, Sunset noticed. Was there anything these two didn’t share?

“Hey now,” Copper said. She rolled onto her belly and pointed an accusing hoof at Sunset and Lily. “No matter how much you might like her, she’s mine.”

Sunset grinned. “Who are you talking to?”

“Both of you.” She jabbed Sunset in the shoulder.

Sunset jabbed her back in the chest, laughing. “You’re the worst.”

“Ha! I learn from the best.”

And there it was. Sunset giggled. Oh, Copper… don’t ever change.

“Goodnight, you two,” Sunset said, rolling onto her back and closing her eyes.

“You’re passing out already?” Copper asked. “You, the one who literally just said that we never go to bed when we have sleepovers.”

“We did a lot of running around today,” Sunset said. “I’m beat.”

A momentary silence passed where Sunset knew Copper was making—as Copper herself called it—her “bitch, please” face.

“You’re not allowed to fall asleep yet,” she said. “Don’t make me get a marker and draw dicks on your face.”

“You do that and I will legitimately kill you.”

“Love you too, Sunnybuns.”

Sunset snorted. She nuzzled into Lily’s mane and smiled as her unofficial teddy bear giggled and squirmed in her hooves. She closed her eyes and sighed.

Copper and her family really were the best thing in the world. The thought carried her aloft on the blurry, indistinct middle ground between wakefulness and sleep.

Sunset remembered twisting and tumbling through that hazy thoughtless space for an impossible-to-determine span of seconds to hours before the trappings of consciousness gently tugged her down toward an invisible floor and the vague understanding of this liminal space.

It had been a long while since she last had a lucid dream.

But this was different. Usually, lucid dreams were just as incongruent and nonsensical as regular dreams in every way but her level of awareness, but this was just… nothing—white emptiness as far as the eye could see.

She stood up to wander the void when that sixth sense got the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. She turned, but there was nothing behind her.

There it was again, to her right. Something, some… presence tickled her ear and had her twisting about to see what it was that sent pins and needles up and down her spine.

The animalistic part of her brain told her to run in whatever direction “away” might be, but the logical part reminded her this was just a dream, and that the mosquito-kiss tickling her ear was little more than her imagination.

But that imagination gained direction, and this time when she turned her head, she saw a trail of smoke snaking along the ground. As it drew near, that ever-persistent mosquito-kiss changed tune, and Sunset could hear the beginnings of a voice amidst the hum. Gentle, sweet, feminine.

“Greetings, Sunset Shimmer. It is so wonderful to finally meet you.”

Author's Note

Onward and Upward!

This story has undergone changes. Some comments may no longer make sense or be relevant.