It was a sunny afternoon outside of CHS, a slight breeze making it a very pleasant day to be out and about. The start of the school year was just a week away, so many students took this as one of their last opportunities to enjoy their summer vacation. Except for the two who were currently sitting outside the courtyard's centerpiece.
"It's definitely radiating a lot more energy," Twilight concluded, carrying the same device she had used to read the portal's energy outputs before the Friendship Games. "Though I can't understand why. The structure is still relatively sound, so there aren't any leaks. Maybe it's just because of having the portal open all the time?"
"I don't think so," Sunset replied, observing the horse sculpture that sat atop the pedestal. It wasn't long after camp that they found the massive crack on top of the statue's base, and with Princess Twilight's help managed to seal it up. Sunset was still concerned that perhaps they hadn't gotten all of it, but after checking for what she assumed was the thirtieth time, she decided that there was more likely something else at play. "I wish we could ask Princess Twilight, but her knowledge of trans-dimensional gateways is as limited as ours, and all things considered it's unlikely she'll have any reading material on the subject."
"So what you're saying is we came all the way out here for nothing?"
Sunset ran her hand down the side of the statue. "We came here to collect data. Any information we gather could be analyzed and give us a better idea of what we're dealing with."
Twilight brought out her laptop, sorting through any of the data they had already gathered. All she could conclude from it was that the energy exuded from the portal was constantly climbing. They still didn't have a definitive answer as to why Sunset was the only one feeling any adverse effects from it. "What if the problem isn't on our end?"
"Twilight's been keeping an eye on the mirror, just as we have been. She told me she had an idea, but hasn't relayed to me what exactly it is, so unless we figure out something first, we're essentially just waiting on her to do whatever she's doing." Sunset sighed as she rested against the statue's frame. "This is so much more difficult than I thought..."
Twilight brought her hand up to Sunset's shoulder. "Relax, we'll figure out something. Right now let's focus on questions we can actually answer. For example, why does it affect just you?"
Sunset ran her hand through her hair, brushing away a few errant strands that were in her face. "I don't know, Twilight. The best I could come up with is because I'm the only one actually from Equestria, but I never had any powers like this back home, nor did I have any potential for them."
"It's the most reasonable we've got. Maybe when you decide to return for a visit, we can figure out if you would've actually had similar abilities."
Sunset chuckled softly. "I don't know if you remember, Twily, but I'm not exactly too keen to go back anytime soon."
Twilight blushed at the usage of her nickname. It was rather odd. She never had any problem when her parents or her brother used it, but hearing it from Sunset felt weird to her. The good kind of weird, though. "I'm sure you'd like to go back there eventually." Twilight slightly hesitated before asking her next question: "Don't you have family back home?"
Sunset's gaze lowered, her eyes now fixated on the ground beneath her. It had been so long since she even thought of her family. They must be worried sick...
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry anymore."
"It's fine," Sunset reassured her. "Yes, I did have family. My mother, my older brother and my younger sister. They were so happy when I was accepted into Celestia's school, but my thirst for knowledge and workload kept me from staying in touch. Then..." Sunset bit her lower lip before continuing, "well, you know the rest."
Sunset let the silence hang in the air for a few moments before she spoke again. "Maybe I should go back and pay them a visit, at least to explain a little bit. I wish I could tell them of everything that's happened, but I doubt telling them about the portal is a wise idea."
"I think its a wonderful idea," Twilight replied. "To visit them, I mean, not telling them about the portal. I'm sure they'd love to see you again and hear of all the good you've done here." Twilight put down her spectrometer. "Maybe you could reconcile with Princess Celestia while you're there?"
"Woah there, one step at a time, Twily." Sunset rubbed the top of Twilight's head, earning her a playful punch in the shoulder. "I still don't think I'm ready to face her after all that I said and did."
After some more data gathering, they retrieved all of their belongings and brought them under a nearby tree. Sunset sat and laid her back against the trunk, Twilight following suit right next to her, laying her own head on Sunset's shoulder.
"Hard to believe it's going to be senior year." Twilight remarked. "What do you think everybody's going to do afterward?"
"Hard to say, I don't know how many of our friends could afford college, or would want to for that matter." Sunset's mind immediately pictured a disgusted Rainbow Dash, appalled at the suggestion of more school. Then she started to think about what she was going to do after Canterlot High. She didn't really have a passion she was working towards here, and her main purpose wasn't a skill that could be lent to the general public. "What are you going to do?"
"I was thinking about going to university to get a degree in various scientific fields and becoming a world-renowned researcher."
"Dreaming big much?" Sunset gave her girlfriend a kiss on the forehead. "Just don't expect it to happen right away. You'd have to discover something pretty big to get that kind of status." Sunset turned to look at a few birds gathering in their nest nearby. "And anything from Equestria doesn't count," she added, silencing her girlfriend as she had attempted to interject.
"You're no fun," Twilight pouted, turning her face away from Sunset while she crossed her arms.
"Hey, if it makes you feel any better, I'll probably be with you every step of the way."
Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Probably? What does that mean?"
"Well, I don't really have anything else I'm aspiring towards here, and even if I do reconnect with everybody back home, I'm not really sure I'd have a place there, either. So for right now, my place is by your side, wherever that takes us."
Twilight held back a small sob. "Now you're just trying to make me cry."
"Who, me??" Sunset said incredulously. "Why would I ever do something so horrible to you?" A smirk formed on her face.
"Shut up!" Twilight shouted, a round of giggles escaping from the two girls. They sat there for a good ten minutes before either spoke up again.
Twilight decided to break the silence this time. "When do you wanna go visit?"
"I'll figure out when I've got some free time."
Twilight turned towards Sunset. "Now hang on, that almost sounds like you're planning on going without me."
Sunset responded by turning her own head. "Is there a problem with that?"
"Yes, actually, there is. You are not going back to Equestria by yourself."
"And why not?"
"Because I am going with you."
"What if I don't let you?"
"What could you do to stop me?" Twilight smiled, believing she had won the argument with that.
Her belief was correct, as Sunset couldn't think of any way to keep Twilight distracted long enough to get through the portal and remove the book from its housing on the other side. She did, however, make a rather futile attempt to still refute. "I could just not tell you when I'm going."
"Then I'll watch you like a hawk. I have ways to track your GPS. I could set an alarm to go off at night if you're within a certain distance to the portal." Twilight giggled internally, remembering how she used a similar method to trick her brother into thinking she was psychic.
Sunset simply sat there, a wide-eyed look plastered on her face. "Sometimes I hate that you're so smart."
"Love ya too." Twilight stuck her tongue out at Sunset.
"Darn it, don't do that! It's too cute."
Twilight giggled before returning to the previous question. "So when do you wanna go?"
Sunset sighed before pondering. She had spent so long away from her family, it was hard to imagine just showing up out of the blue for a visit. She had no idea how much of what happened they were aware of. Maybe they still believed she was a student of Celestia's, any of her accomplishments just swept under the rug by Princess Twilight's accolades. It was unlikely, sure, but what would Celestia tell them? Any small piece of information would only pave the way for more questions, so they likely either knew nothing or knew it all. If it was the former, she'd have a lot of explaining to do.
Still, it would be nice to reconnect with her family again. Even if she had no purpose back home, she could at least have a place to get back on her hooves should she ever decide to permanently return. Her family deserved to know the truth anyway, however much Sunset was willing to provide.
"How about this weekend?" she finally suggested.
"Oh, I don't know, I think my schedule might be full this weekend," Twilight replied sarcastically.
"That's fine, I can go by myself."
"You aren't getting rid of me that easily, Sunset. This weekend sounds perfect." Twilight stood to gather their things. "And I have a surprise for you when we get there."
Sunset moved to help her. "Really? What is it?"
"I can't tell you, that'd ruin the surprise."
Sunset softly chuckled. "You sound just like Pinkie."
Twilight smiled back at Sunset as they were leaving Canterlot High. "What? That's ridiculous! I sound nothing like her!" she said, putting on her best Pinkie impression.
She didn't even have to look back to know she had Sunset rolling on the sidewalk.
Author's Note
Just a short little interlude chapter to set up some future events, as well as provide what I hope are some cute interactions between Twilight and Sunset.