Featherfall

by I-A-M

Rating: mature
Tags: Sex, Gilda, Sunset Shimmer, Profanity, Violence, Slice of Life, Drama, Romance, Equestria Girls
Length: 416217

A bored delinquent and an exiled prodigy. When a MyStable profile called Anon-A-Miss sabotages all of Sunset's hard work and leaves her friendless except for a chance encounter, will she come back from it?

A bored delinquent and an exiled prodigy. When a MyStable profile called Anon-A-Miss sabotages all of Sunset's hard work and leaves her friendless Sunset finds herself exiled not just from Equestria, but from all of her social circles as well. Finding herself in the less walked corners of the school, she has a chance encounter with Gilda Grimfeather.

Rather than suffering under the imposing girl, Sunset and Gilda find themselves striking up an unusual friendship and more. Both outcasts, this is their story.

This might be one of the most shameless crack ships I've ever indulged in but here we are.

Cover art is by Rhealm.
Now Has A TvTropes Page!
EDIT: Featured! On 6/29/2018!
EDIT: 300 likes on 11/29/2018!

Published 2018-06-28 20:00:06 UTC
Last updated 2019-06-23 19:18:27 UTC

2. What I Got

Author's Note

In thanks for getting Featherfall featured on pretty much day one I figured I'd punish you all with an early chapter. You'll see what I mean.

2. What I Got

~Three Days Later, December 13th~

Sunset Shimmer stood in front of Principal Celestia’s desk as the older woman looked on with a certain kind of disappointment in her eyes that struck at Sunset. She knew, intellectually, that this Celestia was not the immortal ruler that had formed the basis for the entirety of her formative years, but Sunset couldn’t help but equate the two to a certain extent. No matter what she did, it was the same voice, the same eyes…

“I understand you’ve been spending a lot of time with Miss Grimfeather, Sunset,” Celestia said finally, snapping Sunset out of her daze. “Is everything… alright?”

Sunset could only shrug. “I mean, aside from the entire school blaming me for something I didn’t do, all of my supposed friends dumping me in the middle of the hall in front of Cel-uh-God and everyone, and having to scrub slurs off of my locker on a bi-daily basis? Pretty good.”

Leaning back in her chair, Celestia let out a sigh and nodded along. “I know and, if it matters, I don’t think you’re guilty.” Sunset began to speak up but Principal Celestia waved a hand and spoke over her. “But! Without proof one way or the other I cannot act. You have to admit, Sunset, your prior reputation supports the circumstantial evidence. To any outside party this looks like the student body responding to a bully.”

“It’s a witch hunt is what it is!” Sunset bit out, to which Celestia just gave a short nod. “I can barely step foot in this school without getting something… viscous, thrown at me.” Sunset shuddered at the memory.

“I’m aware, and I’m trying to find a way around the matter, but it’s not that easy. With that said, I would also like to bring up the smell of cigarette smoke hanging about your person today?” Celestia retorted.

Sunset blushed and looked away. “Yeah, well, I hang out with Gilda and she smokes like a chimney, so what do you expect?”

“And yourself?” Celestia inquired with a raised eyebrow. “You’re a bright girl, Sunset, and once all of this blows past I don’t want you picking up any bad habits from unsavory characters.”

Without warning Sunset slammed her palm down on Principal Celestia’s desk, who nearly leapt away from the suddenly furious young girl. “Don’t. Talk. About. Gilda. Like. That. She’s the only one who’s stood by me during this. She’s the only thing keeping me sane right now, okay? She’s… she’s literally my only friend.”

Celestia’s eyes softened and she nodded with a sigh. “I’m sorry, you’re right. Gilda has a very poor reputation that is fairly earned but her actions this past week have been, well, exemplary by her standards I suppose. I can only hope your better nature is rubbing off on her.”

“I think we’re sort of just… picking up each others habits a little,” Sunset answers, pulling back. “That’s what happens when you’re friends, I guess. And, uh, sorry about the desk slamming thing… I’m pretty stressed out lately.”

“Entirely understandable, my dear,” Principal Celestia responded with a gracious smile. “I genuinely wish I could step in and stop this but my actual authority is extremely limited in this situation.”

“Yeah, I know,” Sunset answered with a frown. “I’ll… I’ll be fine until this blows over, I’ve got Gilda, I’m keeping my grades up. Christmas is gonna be a little lonely, but…”

Celestia’s face fell at the mention of the holidays, she hadn’t thought of that. Spending Christmas alone was a miserable thought. A brainwave hit Celestia a moment later and she smiled. “Sunset, how would you feel about spending Christmas with my sister and I? It’s a small affair normally but I’d love to have you.”

Sunset, rather than being excited, looked concerned. “Uhm, sure but…”

“Although, I do understand if spending Christmas with your Principal is too… weird.” Celestia said, feeling a little disappointed.

“Oh, n-no!” Sunset answered, her eyes widening, “it’s not that it’s just… Gilda and I were gonna hang out… I don’t suppose she could come too?”

Celestia frowned, but didn’t immediately say ‘no’ as was her instinct. Perhaps she had been being overly critical of Gilda. It was certainly true that the girl had a temper and a serious disregard for authority, as well as a complete lack of concern for showing up to class. The first, and only, time Celestia had looked into her truancy, though, the truth had come out. Gilda was orphaned and emancipated, meaning she was in charge of herself, technically. While officially still a ward of the state, Gilda’s social worker was an overworked and stressed out functionary that had promised to look into Gilda’s truancy but cited her otherwise good record.

As a career educator, Celestia was perfectly able to read between the lines and what the man had really been saying was: ‘this is one of my less problematic cases, leave it alone.’ Knowing she wouldn’t get any further, Celestia was left trying to do her best to wrangle the fiery and rebellious young woman. Perhaps she had been being too harsh in her judgments, though. If Sunset had been given a second chance, Gilda deserved one too.

“If she’s willing to behave then I don’t see any issue with that,” Celestia finally answered, earning an incredulous stare from Sunset.

“R-really?” Sunset asked, shocked. “O-okay, alright, yeah. I’ll float the idea and if she’s cool with it… uhm, yeah. Thanks, Prince-Principal Celestia.”

“Not a problem, Sunset,” Celestia responded.

Sunset left the room in a significantly better mood than had gone in with. The past week and a half had been… rough. To say the least. Sunset had been spending as little time as possible inside the actual school building and as much time as possible with Gilda, both in and out of school. Anon-A-Miss was ruthless and all the flak fell solely on Sunset’s shoulders; there were shouting matches practically every lunch period, sometimes even fistfights. Sunset tried to avoid anywhere with large groups of people, since her presence seemed to act as a catalyst for a lot of bad blood boiling over. Gilda showed her some routes around the school that bypassed most of the high-traffic areas. Probably used by the smokers among the students given the smell, but they kept her on time to the majority of her classes.

More and more, Sunset was beginning to wonder if this mess would ever blow over. Realistically she knew it eventually had to end but… would CHS ever really be the same? It was this train of thought that was rudely interrupted by a rough shove to the shoulder, knocking Sunset back to reality.

“Heya, Sunset Shitter, howsit going,” the nasal voice of Rover, the leader of the Diamond Dogs, grated over Sunset’s ears drawing out a scowl. “You got some ‘splaining to do.” Spot and Fido moved around to flank her in the hallway and Sunset grimaced as she realised it was empty, and far enough away from the office that the sound of a fight wouldn’t necessarily travel.

“Oh yeah?” Sunset answered, backing up slightly from the trio. “Why’s that?”

Fido leaned in and growled. “You got us in a heap’a trouble, Anon-A-Miss. Something about us cheatin’ on tests. We’re getting held back a grade.”

“First of all,” Sunset grumbled, “I’m not Anon-A-Miss. Second, have you three considered just, y’know, studying?”

The Diamond Dogs laughed, a deeply unpleasant, wet sound. “You oughta think harder about what you say, Shitter,” Rover hissed. “You never know what might… set someone off, y’know? Can’t be held accountable fer our actions and all that.”

The sound of metal bits grinding against one another pulled a smile onto Sunset’s face as a set of deadly-sharp claws looped around Rover to press against his windpipe. “Hey boys, how’s the weather down there?” Gilda chuckled, staring down at the now-frozen-in-place teen. “Heard ya been talkin’ shit, Rover. Pretty sure there’s a shit-talkin’ tax in place around here. About five bucks per offense.”

Shivering, the three teens turned to face the bigger, more imposing girl. The fur of her bomber jacket was flared out to frame her wide, violent grin. After a moment of panicked staring, Rover reached into his pocket and pulled out a five dollar bill, handing it over to Gilda who snatched it up with a nasty smile.

Pushing past the three, Sunset scowled at the taller girl. “Gilda! What did we talk about literally yesterday?”

“Hey, these shitstains were shaking you down,” Gilda grumbled. “I think payback is fair in this case.”

Sunset didn’t answer, instead holding out her hand and narrowing her eyes at Gilda who lasted all of about ten seconds under the redhead's glare before huffing in irritation and passing back the five dollar bill. Turning to Rover, she handed the bill back to him. “Here, now scram.”

Taking her at her word, the Diamond Dogs lit off down the hall. Gilda scowled after them. “Not even a thanks, I hate those grimy little fuckos.”

“You’re not making them any more bearable by stealing from them, Gil,” Sunset admonished, softening the words by taking Gilda’s hand. Sunset had learned over the days that the two of them had spent hanging out, that Gilda might talk a tough game but that she was surprisingly susceptible to physical touch. “Seriously, I’m fine. You don’t have to go all ‘big mama bear’ over everything.”

Sheathing her ‘talons’, Gilda gave Sunset’s hand a little squeeze before letting go. “Yeah well, the way the school treats you just be glad I haven’t torn the whole damn thing down, y’know?”

Sunset smiled, for all that she missed her, now ex-, friends, she had to admit there was a certain visceral joy that came from the straightforward and absolute nature of Gilda’s friendship. She either didn’t care at all or had all the care in the world for you. Either she wouldn’t piss on you if you were on fire, or she’d set the world on fire for you. Gilda wasn’t really a ‘happy-medium’ sort of gal.

“By the way, I spoke to the Principal, and she wants us to come over to celebrate Christmas with her and her sister,” Sunset said, figuring it would be best to just get that out of the way immediately.

“And… we’re both invited?” Gilda asked, her tone dripping with disbelief.

“Mhm, I told her I was spending Christmas with you regardless, so…” Sunset reached up and bopped Gilda’s nose with her finger. “No worries, we’ll be hanging out either way. So what’dya say, Gil?”

“Eh… okay,” Gilda said a little reluctantly, her formerly clawed left hand going to the back of her head, rubbing the shaved part. “I mean, spending Christmas with your Principal is kinda lame, but it seems like it’s important to you, so… sure.”

Sunset’s smile could’ve lit up the dark side of the moon if Gilda was any judge, and the expression quickly spread to Gilda herself as Sunset practically tackled Gilda in a hug. Naturally, it didn’t even move the bigger girl who wrapped her arms around Sunset in return.

“Thank, Gil,” Sunset said, resting her head at the same spot she always did, just at the crook of GIlda’s left shoulder. “You’re the best.”

“No sweat, Sunflower,” Gilda retorted with a grin. When Sunset didn’t let go though, Gilda furrowed her brow. Then she realised she could feel wetness on her shoulder. Sunset was crying. “You, uh, you alright there, Sunny?”

Sunset just nodded, sniffled for a moment before her shoulder shook with a small sob. “Yeah, I’m… uh… I’m kinda having a little breakdown here… sorry, gimme a sec.”

“N-no problem, Sunshine,” Gilda answered, pushing down the panic that was cropping up. “Take as long as ya need.”

They stood there in the empty hall for several minutes while Sunset silently cried herself out. Finally, she pulled away, drying her eyes on her sleeves. “S-sorry about that, Gil, that uh… came outta nowhere, huh?”

“Yeah, it kinda… kinda did,” Gilda agreed before shrugging, burying her hands in her pockets, and giving Sunset a wry, lopsided grin, “no big, though, you okay?”

Sunset nodded, then took a deep breath. “Mind if we go around back and talk? It’s my free period anyway, I just wanna grab my guitar from my locker.”

“Sure, always got time for you, Sunflower,” Gilda cracked, before reaching out and flicking a hanging strand of hair out of Sunset’s eyes. “Seeya in five.”

Roaming down the hall, Sunset mulled over the realisation she’d had while she was hugging Gilda. It was… terrifying, and a little terrible of her. Still, the more she thought about it the more she knew it was absolutely true. There was no sense worrying about it, she couldn’t turn back time (at least not safely) but the notion that she felt this way still frightened her a little. She was so wrapped up in her own thoughts she didn’t notice the eyes watching her as she retrieved her guitar and headed out to the back corner of the gym.

Sunset strummed her guitar, singing around the cigarette in her mouth from where she sat on one of the errant junk piles behind the gym as snow fell just past the awning. Gilda leaned against the wall next to her, arms wrapped around herself and smoking her own cigarette, smiling as she listened to Sunset perform. She sang softly playing into the next line but letting her voice trail off. The music flowed from her guitar but her expression turned thoughtful.

“You okay, Sunflower?” Gilda asked as Sunset picked out the complex chords of the song. “Didja wanna talk about earlier? S’cool if not.”

“No, I do…” Sunset answered after a few seconds. “I just… don’t really know what to think about what it says about me.”

“Hey, everyone breaks down, yeah?” Gilda shrugged, taking another drag. “You’ve had a rough couple weeks. Don’t sweat it.”

“It’s not that, Gil,” Sunset said softly as she ran her thumb along the string, teasing out another chord. “I’m glad it happened.”

Gilda took a drag, her face contorting a few times as she tried to process that. “You’re glad you broke down? I mean, I guess… gotta let it out. I just break stuff when I’m mad so I guess your way is, uh, healthier?”

Sunset shook her head, her fingers flickering over the fretboard as she poured her emotions into her music. “No, I mean everything. Anon-A-Miss, and all that. I’m happy it happened.”

Blowing out a thick stream of smoke, Gilda pulled the cigarette out and eyed it for a moment before turning to Sunset. “Yeah, uh, Sunny? You’re gonna have to lay that one out a little more for me,” she said before pointing to her head. “Thick skull, remember? How exactly is having your life ruined… making you happy?”

Instead of answering Sunset just smiled and transitioned smoothly into another song, this one faster and upbeat, and when Sunset sang there was suddenly more life and happiness in her voice than Gilda had heard all week, her fingers and hands swapping easily between strumming the strings and beating against the well of guitar for impromptu percussion.

Gilda couldn’t help but laugh as Sunset shook her shoulders, dancing in place as she picked out the song in quick, bohemian thrums of harmony.

“So here ya’ll are!” The jovial, pleasant tune cut off with a harsh, twang as Applejack came around the corner, her heavy farm boots crunching through the snow. “Guess it’s true, huh Sunset? Hanging out with Gilda? Birds of a feather’n all that Ah guess.”

Sunset glared up at her former friends. “I’ll take that as a compliment, Applejack. What do you want?”

“Jes figured ah’d come out and confirm the rumor fer m’self,” Applejack replied grimly.

“Oh, really?” Sunset answered caustically, drawing a raised eyebrow from Gilda. “Guess jumping to conclusions isn’t just reserved for anything having to do with me, then. Don’t I feel special.”

Applejack face reddened and she thrust a finger in Sunset’s face. “Those pictures came from yer phone, those secrets came from you. You’re the only one that could’a done it. Don’t blame me for callin’ the sky blue.”

“Yeah, well,” Sunset turned away and struck a harsh, bass chord on her guitar. “Thank for checking in, good talk, let’s do lunch next never.”

For a second it looked to Gilda like Applejack was about to blow a gasket but then she calmed down and just looked… worn out. Exhausted was a better word, really. “Sunset… just… stop okay? None of us like seein’ the school like this. I know ya’ll can’t, ‘specially how the rest of the students been on ya.”

“And what would you know’a that?!” Gilda barked, losing her temper slightly as she stalked forward to glare at the elder Apple sister. The farmer stood eye to eye with the unruly delinquent but Gilda didn’t care. “You haven’t been the one seein’ all the shit being thrown at her, you’ve been avoiding her like fuckin’ plague! Just like everyone else who might’ve given a shit.”

A light touch came to rest on Gilda’s palm, where her hands were hanging at her sides. She looked down to see Sunset looking up at her with a sad smile, her fingers resting gently in Gilda’s palm. “That’s enough Gilda, thanks but just… let it go.” Turning to face her former friend, Sunset just shook her head. “Go away Applejack, I’m sorry it ended like this but I’m done trying to convince you I’m innocent. It’s not worth it anymore… tell the rest of the girls the same. Tell them I’m done.”

Applejack worked her jaw for a second and after a moment a spark lit behind her eyes. Sunset saw her face fall and a stricken look cross her features. “It… it really ain’t you… is it?”

Sunset’s expression hardened. “What does it matter anymore, Jackie?”

Before Applejack could respond, Gilda interposed herself between the two girls and gave the stunned farmgirl a light shove in the shoulder, backing her up a step. “Times up, Hoedown, now get lost. Tell the rest of the Rainbrats to stay clear, too. This is our spot, we don’t need you five stinkin’ up the place. Dunno‘bout Sunflower here, but personally I can’t stand the reek’a hypocrisy.”

There were tears in her eyes, but Applejack just nodded. “Y-yeah, we’ll do that.” Pulling her stetson down over her face, the blonde turned away and sprinted from the gym, not fast enough to stop Sunset from hearing the first sob of many.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Gilda turned to Sunset. “Hey Sunshine, you o-oof!” Sunset tackled Gilda for the second time that day and let out a loud, harsh, wracking cry as she buried her face in the taller girls chest. “S’okay Sunny, do whatcha gotta…” Gilda said in as soft and gentle a voice as her natural rasp could manage.

Sunset Shimmer cried her eyes out in loud, body-shaking cries. Not sobs, but full on wails of grief that were only muffled by dint of Gilda holding Sunset as tightly as she could while the smaller girl let the weeks of sorrow, stress, and anger flow out of her. The depth of her pain was so strong that Gilda felt tears leaking out of her own eyes, it felt like Sunset was hurt so badly that it was spreading to Gilda.

‘Fine, let it, I’ll take as much as she’ll give, she deserves a little peace,’ Gilda thought as she held Sunset close.

Finally, after what felt like hours, Sunset’s sobs drained away and she slowly went slack, Gilda lowered herself down until they were both sitting on the ground, leaning against a pile of junk. More accurately, Gilda was resting against the junk while Sunset was curled up in Gilda’s arms letting out long shaky breaths.

“Gilda?” Sunset said finally, her voice raw and cracked from crying.

“What’s up Sunflower?”

Leaning her head against Gilda’s shoulder, Sunset inhaled what was quickly becoming the familiar scent of leather and cigarette smoke. “Y’know when I said I was glad that Anon-A-Miss happened?”

“Change your mind?”

“Nope,” Sunset answered wearily. “Just… in the hall I realised something.”

“Yeah? What’s that Sunshine?”

“If Anon-A-Miss hadn’t happened, we never would’ve talked, or really met,” as Sunset said the words, she felt Gilda’s grip on her tighten ever-so-slightly. “So yeah, I’m glad it happened. Because now that you’re my friend, I don’t think I can imagine going on without you. That’s what made me break down in the hall. I just had a stray thought, y’know? Like: ‘oh hey, funny thought: if this hadn’t happened we never woulda met’, kinda thing? Except… except then I actually had the thought and it wasn’t… it wasn’t funny at all.” A few more tears leaked out as Sunset curled against Gilda. “In fact, it was so unfunny that I had an emotional breakdown at the thought of never having been friends with you.”

“Yeah, I guess…” Gilda choked on her words as she bit back her emotions. “I guess I never thought about it like that. Guess it did happen that way, huh? If it weren’t for all that shit, you’da been in the cafeteria with the Rainbrats every lunch period til we graduated. No reason to slum it out here and-”

Gilda’s words were cut off by Sunset’s hand coming up to rest on her cheek. “D-don’t… just stop, please. I don’t wanna think about that. We’re here, we’re friends, we’re… together, alright? Nothing can change that, so… it’s just like we promised, right?” Sunset looked up at Gilda, her aquamarine eyes glittered with tears. “We’re never gonna get rid of each other, ‘cause neither of us are quitters.”

The taller girl pulled Sunset a little closer. “Yeah, okay… sorry. I guess I don’t like the thought of not havin’ you ‘round any more than you do, Sunflower.”

“Thanks, Gil,” Sunset said in a choked voice, “I just… really need you right now. I’m not feeling so great.”

Gilda just nodded, not daring to move. “Sure thing, Sunshine… you wanna stay the night again? Start our winter break thing a little early?”

“Mhm, that sounds nice,” Sunset answered, “I’ve been… having a lot more nightmares lately so, uhm, do you think we could…”

“Suplex,” Gilda warned. “Into next week.”

Sunset laughed. “Right, same terms, but uh…”

Gilda rolled her eyes but nodded. “Y-yeah, it’s cool. You need to grab anything from your place before we head to mine?”

“Yeah, my place is down near the docks so it’s a walk, but I’ll be up at your place around six or seven. I’ll probably still steal a shirt to sleep in for tonight, though,” Sunset snarked, before lifting up onto her tiptoes and planting a warm kiss on Gilda’s cheek. “You’re the best, Gil.”

Sunset picked up her guitar and bag and took off towards the main building, turning on her heel to smile back at Gilda again before turning back around, jogging through the snow. Gilda was left watching around the corner, her fingers lifted up to touch the spot on her cheek where Sunset had kissed. Her lips had been so warm and Gilda’s brain was still trying to reboot. When it finally did, Gilda’s only thought was; ‘fuckin’ mood swings, dude. Shit.’

~After School~

Applejack sat forlornly in front of the Wondercolt statue, knees tucked to her chest and staring at the flat, marbled surface that she knew held a portal to a magical realm as the snow fell slowly around her. She wondered if Twilight was watching her too from the other side, she didn’t know if it was like one of those fancy one-way mirrors on t.v. crime dramas. It certainly felt like it though. Twilight had to know what had happened, there was no way Sunset hadn’t contacted their mutual friend from across the universe.

After leaving Gilda and Sunset she’d considered returning to the lunchroom but couldn’t find it in her to go back. There were too many thoughts in her head and she knew the girls would want an explanation. She wasn’t ready to give it, though. Not yet. She’d sent a text relaying Sunset’s words to them and ever since then, her phone had been blowing up with texts. Enough that Applejack had silenced the vibrating notification function. She’d told the girls she was fine and needed some time, then essentially went dark and walked around the edge of the school grounds. Normally she wasn’t one for skipping but today wasn’t a normal day.

The bell had rung several minutes ago, noting the end of the school day, and Applejack knew she’d have to talk to the girls soon. They’d go to the band room, see it was empty, then come out here and find her moping in front of the statue.

“Applejack?” the familiar voice of the youngest Apple sibling spoke up from behind the elder, and Applejack turned her head, giving Applebloom a sad smile. “Y-ya’ll okay? Ah didn’t see ya in the halls since lunch ended.”

Applejack turned back to stare at the statue again and shook her head. “Reckon I could be doin’ better, Sugarcube. Pretty sure the girls’n I messed up real bad.”

The younger girl walked up to Applejack’s side and sat down. “What’dya mean?”

There was no answer for a few minutes, then Applejack took a deep breath and looked over at Applebloom. “Ya’ll know this whole Anon-A-Miss mess is gettin’ pretty bad, right? Fights’n such happenin’ all o’er the place, friends ain’t bein’ friends no more. All gettin’ pretty ugly. And everyone pretty much blamed Sunset right away, includin’ me’n the girls.”

Applebloom felt a cold weight grow in her gut. “W-well, yeah, but it has’ta be her, right? That’s what you said! All the pictures and stuff came from her phone!”

“Yeah, well-” Applejack started before a high, cultured voice called out from over the crowds that were beginning to spill from the school.

“Applejack, darling, there you are!” Rarity trotted out of the crowd wearing thick woolen purple mittens and matching earmuffs over a long white coat, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash in tow clad in their own cold weather clothes. “Wherever have you been?! We were worried sick!”

“Yeah,” Rainbow said, walking up, sweeping the snow clear with her boot, and plopping down on the other side of Applejack. “You we’re gonna go see if that rumour about Sunset and Gilda was true right? What gives? Whatcha see?”

Fluttershy and Pinkie joined the others sitting, while Rarity leaned against the marble statue, not wanting to get stains from the snow and dirt on her outfit.

It took a few moments before Applejack finally spoke, but… “Girls, Ah don’t think Sunset is Anon-A-Miss.”

Whatever the girls were expecting Applejack to say, it wasn’t that. Silence reigned for almost a full thirty seconds before all five girls including Applebloom starting talking and shouting over one another. It was a mess of incoherent noise that Applejack only tolerated for a minute or two.

“All ya’ll CAN IT!” Applejack thundered, silencing the five girls and drawing more than a few gazes from the crowd moving around them. “Jus’... jus’ can it, girls. Ah don’t care if’n ya agree with me, but Ah’ll swear on my parents grave that Ah saw it in her eyes when she gave up on us. Sunset ain’t that swindlin’, lyin’, secret-spreadin’ varmint Anon-A-Miss.”

“Forgive me, Applejack but…” Rarity leaned down, setting a mittened hand on Applejack’s shoulder. “...Please understand, work with us here, darling. Why would you say that after all this time? What changed your mind?”

Applejack shook her head. “Dunno that Ah can rightly say what ‘xactly it was, Rares. Just that when she looked at me like she did; told me to ‘go away’ and that she was ‘sorry it ended like this’... Ah felt somethin’ snap. Like an old shoestring tryin’ to hold t’gether a cord’a firewood. Ah think it was our bond. Our… our friendship. Ah think Ah felt it break. An’ Ah thought… if that’s what it felt like, then that meant… it meant Sunset hadn’t ever betrayed us. We betrayed her.”

“Oh… no,” Pinkie finally spoke up, her hair flat and eyes full of tears. “I-I called her horrible things. I called her a secret-stealer! If she didn’t do anything then…”

Fluttershy just stared at the ground with an empty look in her eyes. “I yelled at her… I told her she wasn’t our friend… w-what…”

“H-hey!” Rainbow put in, looking worried. “W-we don’t know that’s actually the case, right? I mean, we don’t have any evidence that she’s innocent of it at all, just Applejack’s gut feeling, right?”

“An’ we abandoned her on a lot less, Sugarcube,” Applejack shot back with a grimace. “Phones can be stolen an’ put back. An’ even if we had good reason when this whole mess started Ah can’t rightly figure where Sunset possibly could’a gotten half these other secrets that’ve come out since she’s been spendin’ all’er time with that Gilda. No’ffense ta yer old friend, Dash, but Gilda ain’t exactly hard ta miss so I reckon she ain’t sneakin’ about.”

“Ugh, Gilda,” Dash remarked, screwing up her face in a grimace, “it’s really weird that Sunset is hanging with G now. She’s a bully but she used to be so cool.”

“Dunno, Dash,” Applejack replied, shaking her head. “Gilda was real protective of Sunset. Ah’m no slouch but Gilda could toss me like a river rock. Sunset wouldn’t let’er though, so instead Gilda just told me ta listen to Sunset an’ go.”

Rainbow crooked an eyebrow. “Seriously? Gilda listened to someone other than herself? No friggin’ way… wonder how Sunset managed that…”

“Not to break in, darlings,” Rarity interjected with a sad tone. “But I have to ask… if Sunset isn’t guilty then what do we do now? We have to atone somehow.”

“First thing’s first…” Pinkie put in, her voice uncharacteristically serious and her face furrowed into a scowl. “We find out who framed Sunset… we gotta find Anon-A-Miss.”

None of the girls had seen Applebloom scoot away from the group and run off during the conversation. She’d heard all she needed to hear when Applejack had spoken about Anon-A-Miss in that low, deadly tone of hers. Applebloom had been feeling uncomfortable with all the strife they’d been causing lately anyway, doubly so because the whole matter had been her idea, now though… now she definitely knew it had gone too far.

She needed to talk to Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. This had to stop.

~That Evening~

“I’m ho~ome,” Sunset said tiredly with an arid smile as she shouldered open the heavy door to the abandoned warehouse she called home.

Her ‘home’ was at the top of a rickety set of metal stairs on the top floor of an old warehouse, and lately she’d had to be more and more careful about ascending the stairs. They were really creaking lately and there was enough give to the stairs and rails now that Sunset would’ve been surprised if they were being held together by more than four or five solid rivets. Still, it was home, and so far as Sunset knew it hadn’t been used in close to ten years. The office had been a fortunate find back when she’d first come to this world. Relatively insulated with a small, battery-powered space heater tucked away in the corner that she had been able to repair using some manuals from the local library.

The office itself was a tiny, single room. By some great fortune, or more likely by clerical oversight, the office and warehouse were still connected to the utilities. No electricity but the water was running meaning she had a bathroom and a sink. No shower though, but fortunately the school had showers she was able to sneak into every morning.

The entrance and staircase leading to it were in an alley that had no real traffic, and the big steel door leading into the office had a sign bolted to it reading ‘Condemned’ which Sunset had fabricated not long after adopting the place as her own. It was a little bit of security theater that served to keep even the most dedicated riff-raff at bay. Even squatters wouldn’t sleep in a building that might collapse on them in the night when there were plenty of other far more habitable places to tuck away at night.

Setting her schoolbooks down and grabbing her duffel bag from under her desk, Sunset scanned the small room trying to decide what to take. There wasn’t a lot, to be honest. Two old mattresses with questionable stains on them that she’d harvested from a curb one day were covered in a cheap sleeping bag, while another sturdier and more comfortable sleep bag was unrolled and airing out on top of it. The rickety desk had her Journal and papers on it, she tucked those into the bag along with her schoolwork. She’d take her backpack and bag both, Sunset knew for a fact that they both had homework over winter break and she wanted to try and convince Gilda to let Sunset tutor her a little and catch her up on classwork. Pencils and pens went in with a sweep of Sunset’s arm.

On a whim, Sunset also took the bracelet that was sitting in a drawer. It was her last keepsake from Equestria. From her true home. Here, in this world, it probably had staggering value. It was thin but solid gold chased with burnished brass and studded with rubies, opals, and topaz crafted by the Royal Jeweler. It was the last gift that Princess Celestia had ever given her and Sunset didn’t want to take even the minuscule risk that someone would steal it while she was away for the winter break. Opening her duffel bag, she pried open the small secret pocket she’d sewn into it for carrying valuables, and pushed the bracelet in.

Sunset shivered as a cold, biting wind blew hard outside. Even through the insulated walls, she could feel it. ‘Maybe it’s time I find a new place, this one is falling apart’, Sunset thought, glancing sadly around the small room that had been her home for over three years.

Sunset counted herself lucky that Gilda had invited her to stay over for winter break. A warm place to stay during the worst weeks of winter would be a massive improvement, the last couple years had sucked massively. Plus, maybe Gilda would finally ask what Sunset had been waiting for her to ask for almost a week. If she didn’t then Sunset would.

A week in, maybe sooner.

Smiling, Sunset wrapped her arms around herself and giggled as her heart started racing at the thought of the dark-skinned, rebellious girl that had stuck by her, giving her some of the best moments in her life during some of the worst weeks of it. Just thinking about Gilda gave Sunset butterflies and made her smile. Yeah, even if Gilda didn’t ask… that girl was surprisingly shy about emotional stuff… then Sunset would ask. No doubt.

It took several more minutes to gather the few other things she wanted, the few decent changes of clothing she had being foremost among them. Sunset had genuinely considered getting rid of one of them… it had been made for her by Rarity to celebrate their defeat of the Sirens and before all this it had once been one of Sunset’s most cherished possessions. Now, though, it only brought back bad memories. Still, Sunset reassured herself as she packed it away too, beggars could not be choosers. She wasn’t so flush with cash and good clothes that she could afford to toss a perfectly good outfit.

Walking to the door, Sunset stopped to glance back at the office with a small smile. ‘Yeah, come this spring I’m gonna start looking. If I’m staying here Gilda will eventually figure it out. That’s not a convo I’m looking forward to.’ Turning her back on the room, she walked out the door and shouldered it shut, shivering in the sudden, icy cold.

Carefully, Sunset made her way down the fragile staircase and onto the landing before stepping into the filthy, snow-caked alleyway. Adjusting the strap on the duffel bag around the weight of her backpack, Sunset let out a tired breath. Maybe she should’ve just told Gilda what was up and asked for her help hauling all this crap. Sunset knew Gilda would’ve done it in a heartbeat, but only after chewing her out over her living situation.

Sunset turned to the exit of the alley, but before she took her first step she stopped, her eyes widening. ‘On the other hoof maybe I should have brought Gilda along…’ Three figures stood block the exit, each one wearing nasty smiles on their faces, the sound of knuckles cracking in the empty quiet of the snowy evening seemed improbably loud. ‘Shit… this gonna hurt, huh?’

“Hey Sunset Shitter,” Rover said, his unpleasant lisp twisting his words. “Let’s finish that conversation we was havin’ in the hall. This time your butch girlfriend ain’t here to interrupt us.”

Dropping her duffel, she kicked it to the side.

~At Ponyville Commons~

Gilda rubbed the sweat from her forehead with her bare arm as she finished sweeping the hall and living room. As soon as school was out Gilda had raced home after saying goodbye to Sunset who had asked her to take her guitar with her so she didn’t have to tote it back home. Since then, Gilda had been furiously cleaning her place until it sparkled. The bathroom actually looked better than when she had moved in, although that wasn’t a particularly high bar.

Still, she was feeling more motivated than she had in months. Years maybe. Being around Sunset was… energizing. Everything seemed brighter, sharper, and more clear. Sounds were richer, even the feel of the wind around her was just… more. The thought made Gilda smile widely. No one was here, so she turned on her music. Low, so that the neighbors wouldn’t hear it. She knew Sunset wouldn’t judge her for her musical taste but still… it was embarrassing. No two ways about it.

Gathering up the bottles and jugs of cleaner she’d been using, Gilda walked back into the bathroom and stuffed them back under the sink in no particular order. Standing up she caught sight of herself in the mirror and grimaced. ‘Damn, I should shower before Sunny gets here, I’m a mess.’

Walking back out and tossing the broom against the wall by the kitchenette, Gilda chuckled to herself. She wasn’t sure how she’d changed this much in the short time she’d been hanging out with Sunset, but she sure did. TIme was she didn’t give a shit how she looked, showers happened when they happened. Grabbing some spare clothes from her dresser, Gilda returned to bathroom and started running the shower, cranking the heat way up before starting to peel out of her sweat and scum-stained clothes.

Climbing into the shower, she doled out a generous glob of bodywash and went to work. It was cheap and came in a red container, and smelt vaguely of pine or something, as she was scrubbing Gilda couldn’t help thinking. ‘I wonder if Sunshine likes other scents… I should ask her. After all we’re gonna be…’ Gilda flushed bright red before pushing the thought back. ‘Down girl, we’re gonna talk to her tonight. Gilda Grimfeather doesn’t back down, ever.’

Gilda was halfway through shampooing her hair when a knock came at her door. Quickly rinsing out the suds, she leaned out of the shower and looked at her phone. Five oh two. Sunset was early. Smiling, Gilda got out of the shower and briefly considered opening the door covered only in a towel just to see the expression of Sunset’s face. ‘Hah, funny as that would be there’s no fuckin’ way I’m opening the door to that kinda cold in my goddamn birthday suit.’ Quickly toweling herself off, Gilda grabbed her clothes and pulled them on. The knock came again, this time louder, harder and more frantic.

Gilda scowled. “Keep your panties on, Sunshine, jeez, lemme get a fuckin’ shirt on will ya?”

The knocking became more insistent. Gilda growled and stomped out of the bathroom, now clad in a sweater and loose jeans. That didn’t sound like Sunset, she’d have stopped or at least said something, grabbing her brass knuckles from the side table by the couch she fitted them and pulled the door open, her fist curled and ready to gut check an intruder. To Gilda’s surprise it was Hoops standing on the other side of the door, shuffling his feet and looking extremely nervous.

“Hoops, what the fuck do you want?” Gilda asked, confused, but relaxing her grip on the weapon in her right hand. “I’m kinda busy.”

“Y-yeah…” Hoops stammered for a moment, glancing around like he was afraid of being seen. “L-look, G, uhm… can we talk for a sec? We, uh, we really need to talk. Inside.”

Grimacing, Gilda let out a long sigh and stepped to the side. “Shit, what’d you fuckheads get up to this time? Get in but make it quick, I got plans tonight.”

Hoops ducked into Gilda’s flat, kicking the snow and dirt free from his treads as he slipped in, his hands tucked in his pockets. As the door shut, Hoops looked up at Gilda. “Hey, G, d’you uh… d’you happen to know where Sunset, heh, y’know, sets?”

The hairs on the back of Gilda’s neck stood up at the mention of the redhead. “No, and you better measure yer next words real good, Hoops, or we’re gonna start havin’ a real different conversation pretty quick here.” Gilda’s left hand contorted, cracking her knuckles and making Hoops flinch.

“Okay, okay! Be cool, G, it ain’t like that, I just…” Hoops backed up a few steps, frowning. “Score was, uh, pretty sore about what happened at the skate park, G. He’s been bitchin’ about it all week. I figured it was all hot air, then, uh… then he told me he was gonna get even with ya. Told me how, too.”

Gilda cackled at that. “Score? Get even with me? He’d have to run me over with a buick to stop me from fuckin’ killin’ him first! That little weasel couldn’t land a single punch… on… me…” Her words trailed off and the wind went out of her as Gilda realised the importance of Hoop’s earlier question, and she went pale. “He’s… Hoops… Score isn’t comin’ after me… is he?”

Hoops grimaced and shook his head. “He talked to the double-D’s, found out they had a grudge against Sunset too. Guess he figured they’d rough her up so he told’em where she crashes. Surprise’d ya don’t know, what with how yer tight with’er.”

“How the fuck does Score know where Sunny lives?!” Gilda hissed, as she grabbed her boots and started pulling them on. “Why does it fuckin’ matter?!”

“Well… we followed her home one time back before the Fall Formal, y’know? Thought we’d get some dirt on her,” Hoops explained, nervously tapping his foot as Gilda got her coat from the hook and grabbed her talons. “It uh, didn’t go so well. We found her place, but she found us. Blackmailed us with some of the stuff we’ve done… graffiti, taggin’, shoplifting… woulda gotten us expelled probably… never brought it up again. Live’n let live, y’know. She left us alone after that.”

Standing up, Gilda, reached her left hand around and slid it into the oiled leather straps of her talon before bringing it up and pulling it tight. “Where… Hoops. Tell me where Sunset Shimmer’s flat is.”

Hoops swallowed dryly and shook his head. “ Not a flat… it’s by the docks, Warehouse Forty-One. Sunset… she’s homeless, G.”

Gilda felt like she was going to throw up, her heart clenched in her chest and her stomach twisted in on itself. ‘Homeless? N-no way… that’s… that’s stupid, how could she be… oh fuck me.’ She remembered how all of Sunset’s clothes looked kind of ratty and worn out. How she was so grateful when she was given a place to stay during the storm. ‘And I let her fuckin’ go back to that? It wasn’t much better the days after the storm. And now she’s… FUCK!’

Turning on her heel, Gilda pulled the door open and shoved Hoops outside before stepping out herself and slamming the door, barely remembering to jam her key in the lock and twist it to make sure she didn’t get robbed. Just as she was about to take off, though, Gilda turned back to Hoops who was starting to turn away, looking miserable. Before he got out of reach, Gilda grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him into a hug. ‘Shit, Sunny’s rubbing off on me, I guess.’

“Thank’s Hoops, I owe you way more than I can say with this one,” Gilda muttered, before letting him go. “You ever need anything, lemme know.”

Hoops stood poleaxed as Gilda tore off down the street toward the docks. Gilda, the Gilda Grimfeather, had just given him a hug. Shaking it off he yelled after her. “You owe me nothin’ G! We owed Sunset! We’re square you hear me!? We’re square!”

She was out of sight a minute later. Hoops really hoped that they were square or else Score was gonna get got and nobody was ever gonna find his body. You mess with Gilda and that was one-way ticket to the beating of the century, so Hoops had absolutely zero desire to figure out what kind of hell would come down on whoever messed with Gilda’s friggin’ girlfriend.

Down the street, Gilda was beating feet against pavement, making sure she didn’t slip on the sleet and snow as the flurries started coming down stronger. It was getting colder and now with the knowledge that Sunset, her Sunset, was homeless, the cold felt like it was biting all the harder. She wished her ride wasn’t tarped for the season, but there was no way she was riding in this kind of weather anyway even if it wasn’t. Still, it sucked to have to run all the way to the warehouses. Gilda could still hardly believe that Sunset had been homeless this whole time. I mean, she got it, she understood. Sunset was proud and fiery and fantastic and beautiful. Gilda clenched her eyes against the snowfall and the oncoming tears, stuffing the latter back for later. Yeah, of course Sunset would never admit to being homeless. She could take care of herself. Still, Gilda would be damned if Sunset was going back to that place. Sunny was living with her from now on, she just didn’t know it yet, Gilda decided.

It took almost twenty minutes of full bore sprinting that left Gilda less winded than she had expected before she got to the warehouses. “Forty-one, forty-one…” Gilda muttered, scanning the different bulky, nondescript buildings. “Where the fuck is warehouse forty-one… it’s gotta be-”

A thundering crash of metal, deafening in its intensity tore through the air. Something about it put a spear of pain and terror through Gilda’s heart as she spun around, scanning for the source of the sound. “There!” She hissed, seeing dust clouds rising from an alleyway.

Gilda was almost at it when the three Diamond Dogs came tearing ass out of the alley looking pale and spooked. They got a bare glimpse of Gilda and immediately tore off in the opposite direction.

“Get back here you shithead MUTTS!” Gilda screamed as she chased after them.

Her pursuit came to a screeching halt as she passed the alley. It looked like a staircase had collapsed, there were sections of the wall that had bits of concrete hanging from it and spars of torn metal. The remains of the stairs lay in an accordioned mess in the middle of the alley. That wasn’t what froze Gilda’s heart. Underneath the mass of metal was a flash of familiar red and gold hair. For a second, Gilda stood still, her brain trying to gear up for what it was seeing.

“S-Sunny?” Gilda whispered, mostly to herself. “O-oh, oh no, OH FUCK!”

Gilda sprinted to the collapsed stairs and began clearing away the snow and detritus. Sunset was buried under the girders. “C’mon Sunshine, c’mon wake up, wake up, wake up!” Gilda cried as she pulled away the pieces she could lift.

Finally, she got a good look at the collapse and felt her heart breaking. It was a mess. Sunset was under two or three massive, bent struts of metal, and she could see stains of red on the snow that were definitely not rust or dirt. Lacing her fingers and cracking her knuckles, Gilda let out a sharp breath.

“Okay G, you got this,” Gilda muttered to herself, trying not to panic. She stepped forward gripping the underside of the main body of the bars. “Alright… c’mon, you’re a huge bitch, it’s time to put that muscle to work.”

With a heave, Gilda lifted and the metal groaned languorously. Putting her whole body into it barely inched it upwards. Sunset let out a pained groan as the metal shifted, though. The sound from Sunset sent a jolt of strength through Gilda, it felt like her senses were sharper than ever. ‘Hang in there, Sunshine, I gotcha,’ Gilda swore as she lifted. ‘Is it just me or is this thing getting lighter?’

It didn’t matter, all that mattered was getting this piece of corrugated shit off of Sunny and getting the redhead to the hospital. Gripping harder, she heard the metal groan again as she lifted it up further, enough that it was fully off of Sunset. Throwing her shoulder into the mass, Gilda shoved it backwards and let it drop behind Sunset’s splayed out feet. Rushing forward, Gilda knelt by Sunset and carefully gathered the girl into her arms. She was so light, she was bleeding badly too, the stairs had landed right on top of her, it was a miracle they hadn’t split her head open. From the look of things she had tried to dive out from under the stairs and only made it partway.

“G-Gilda?” Sunset’s voice came out cracked and washed out.

Carefully, Gilda took off her jacket and threw it over Sunset, pulling her close and cradling her. “Yeah, hey, hey Sunflower, I’m here,” Gilda said softly, trying to smile through her breaking heart. “I’m right here, how ya feelin’?”

Sunset coughed and a splatter of blood flecked her lips. “N-not so good, Gil. Can't feel my legs… that’s pretty bad right? Pretty sure I hit my head real hard too, I’m seeing things.”

Gilda felt her heart clench as she stood up, bearing the whole of Sunset’s weight and doing her best not to jostle the smaller girl. “O-oh, yeah? See anything cool?”

“Yeah, I know you’re like an angel, but I’m pretty sure you don’t really have wings, so…” Sunset chuckled weakly, nestling her head into Gilda’s shoulder.

“Y-yeah… that’d be si-” Gilda said feeling sick as she turned her head to see where Sunset was looking.

Gilda’s mouth dropped open.

A pair of massive, brown, feathered wings limned in dark grey light were flared out behind her extending from her shoulder blades. Feeling a twitch build in her eye, Gilda flexed her shoulder experimentally. The wing flapped.

“Gilda?” Sunset said softly, narrowing her eyes. “Are… are those… real?” Sunset’s glanced down and gasped. “Gilda you have a tail.” Craning her head back, Gilda saw that she did indeed have what looked like a lion-like tail extending from the base of her spine. It flicked lazily back and forth like the real thing. “G-Gilda… I think… d-did you just Pony Up?”

“Y’know what,” Gilda said after a second of working her jaw. “I’m gonna pack that shit in for another day. We gotta lotta shit to talk about, Sunflower, but right now I gotta get you to the hospital so let’s uh… let’s see what these babies can do.”

Kneeling down, Gilda coiled the muscles in her legs and let the muscles in her back take over. For so long she’d longed for the sky, it was her hidden secret, her one burning desire. The feeling of flight. She’d even decided to go into the airforce one day just to get a taste of riding the winds. Gilda let that guide her, extending her wings to their fullest and pulling Sunset close.

“Alright babe, hold on tight,” Gilda muttered, “I have no idea what’s goin’ on here, but I’m gettin’ you to the hospital yesterday.”

Gilda flapped her new wings hard, sending a thundering crack of force down as she leapt up, rocketing into the sky. She got a brief glimpse of the concrete under her cracking under the strain of her lift-off. In seconds she’d shot past the roofs of the warehouse. In moments she was nearly a mile above the city, and the wind roared around her as she tore off into the storm. It was cold, terribly cold, but a quick scan of Canterlot picked out the red lights of the hospital and the helpful ‘H’ for the medivac landing.

“Gotcha, hang on, babe,” Gilda said again as she re-angled her wings and lit off towards the hospital. “Shit, right, landing.” Gilda swore as she came in fast, too fast, at the emergency services entrance.

Flaring her wings out of reflex as she leaned backwards Gilda felt herself slow, but not by quite enough. Gilda hit the ground hard, boots first and she felt the asphalt give against the force of her landing. Gilda bit back a scream as pain shot through her body. Her punishing impact had fractured something she was sure, but it didn’t matter.

“Sunny? Sunshine?” Gilda looked down. Sunset’s eyes were closed and her breathing was shallow. She felt something wet on her arms. Sunset was bleeding all over her. “Oh, shit, shit, shit…”

Ignoring the bite of pain in her legs, Gilda took off towards the entrance, feeling the weight of the wings falling away. A glance back told her they were gone, probably for the best or she would have had some serious explaining to do. On the other hand she hoped it didn’t have anything to do with Sunset passing out… As she got to the entrance, Gilda caught a glimpse of her eyes in the automatic glass doors before they slid open. Two burning gold orbs with flint-black pits stared back at her.

Hawk's eyes. ‘no wonder it was so easy to spot the hospital,’ The thought filtered through Gilda's mind as the doors opened and she tore in.

“Help!” Gilda cried out cradling Sunset as gently as possible even though she was staggering as her legs started to give out. Looking down, Gilda saw blood staining her jeans. She wasn’t sure whose blood it was. “Help me! Please, somebody help!”

A doctor came out of one of the halls with a concerned look on his face, a face that turned pale when he saw Gilda kneeling in the waiting room cradling a bloodsoaked redhead. He turned and immediately began calling for more, soon orderlies and nurses had streamed out and Sunset was lifted onto a gurney. Gilda feebly tried to follow but fell over as her legs gave out completely

One of the nurses caught her, and lifted her up to one of the chairs. “P-please, let me go with her!” Gilda reached out a gripped the nurse’s scrubs. “Please… I’m all she’s got.”

“I’m sorry dear, we can’t,” the nurse said softly, laying a hand on Gilda’s shoulder. “The doctors need room to operate.”

“S-She said she can’t feel her legs,” Gilda felt tears falling down her face, warming her frozen cheeks. “Ya gotta do somethin’ for her, please…”

Gilda had never begged for anything in her life, but if it was for Sunset she’d go on hands and knees in front of whoever she needed to. The nurse just looked on a little sadly. “Miss, I’m sorry, but you’ll have to be patient, the doctors are doing all they can. Now, I’ll be right back to ask a few questions, then a police officer will be here in a couple of moments to speak with you. They need to know what happened.”

Nodding, Gilda just wrapped her arms around herself and leaned back into the chair, doing her best not to lose it. After a moment the nurse came back with a blanket and draped it over Gilda’s shoulders. “Sorry dear, I’m Kindheart, I just need a few things… the patient, what’s her name?”

“S-Sunset Shimmer,” Gilda answered, pulling the blanket close.

Kindheart noted it down. “Place of residence?”

Gilda felt her heart hitch. “She, uh, she kinda got kicked out of her house,” Gilda said, scraping her brain for something that sounded believable. “She’s… crashin’ with me. Uhm, three-one-one-nine, northeast Sable Street, flat fourteen. We go t’Canterlot High together.”

Kindheart nodded thoughtfully, then smiled at Gilda. It was a warm, genuine thing that felt unusual to the rough and tumble girl. “Okay, I’ll contact the school tomorrow and I’m sure I can get most of the other relevant information there. You’re an incredible young woman, you know, getting her here like that. You certainly saved her life.”

Gilda felt her throat close up at the thought of losing Sunset, so she just nodded. After a moment of swallowing she said, “h-hey, can I stay here tonight…? I don’t wanna leave her alone. As soon as she’s in a regular room I wanna be there, savvy?”

“Well, I suppose you could use a room here until then… we’re not full up,” Kindheart said, tapping her pen to her chin. “Actually we should probably get you looked at too, the way you collapsed like that, you look positively hypothermic, dear.”

“Ahem,” a gruff voice cleared its throat from nearby, Gilda and Kindheart both looked up to see a young policeman with azure blue hair standing by. “Sorry to interrupt, Miss-?”

“Uh, G-Gilda, Gilda Grimfeather,” Gilda said, feeling her chest go tight. She did not like talking to cops. “Whadya need?”

“I’ll go see about that room and checkup, dear,” Kindheart patted Gilda’s shoulder reassuringly before bustling off.

“I’m Officer Shining Armor,” the man said, giving Gilda a disarming smile. “Sorry, I know it’s been a rough night, but I need to get your statement. What exactly happened?”

Gilda took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay well… guess it started at the skate park near Saddle and Mane…”

The story took longer than Gilda liked, but the officer was attentive, asked only a few questions and was otherwise a nice enough guy. “I managed to get the metal off of her, but she was bleedin’, so I got her here as fast as I could.”

“Who drove you?” Officer Armor asked, as he jotted down a few more notes.

Gilda swallowed. “Uh, no one, I got her here myself.”

“Try again, Miss Grimfeather,” Officer Armor shot back. “Pretty sure we both know that the warehouses are damn near ten miles from here, and if your timeline is right that means you got from there to here in about… four minutes. Which I’m pretty sure is impossible in a couple different ways. I’m willing to look past the time not lining up right, what happened was traumatic, but there’s no way you got here on your own power. I’m not asking you to snitch, I just need to know who was involved.”

Gilda slumped in her seat and drove the heels of her palms against her eyes, rubbing away the exhaustion that had settled over her in the aftermath of the adrenaline crash. “Look, Officer, I get it, but… I don’t know how to explain what happened. I got here by myself. There was no driver, I swear ta god.”

Shining Armor squeezed the bridge of his nose between his fingers and let out a sigh. “Look, Miss Grimfeather, what we’ve got here is at the very least a case of aggravated assault of a minor, so I have to pursue that. I’ve got a sister Sunset’s age so I wouldn’t weep over an attempted murder charge either. But if you don’t tell me what really happened then I will have no choice to treat that as obstruction of justice.”

Rocking back into her seat, Gilda stared in disbelief at the Officer. A few moments passed and finally she answered. “Fine, you wanna know what happened? I grew wings and flew us both here.”

The police officer scowled. “Miss Grimfeather, I’m really not in the mood for-”

“Check the cameras!” Gilda shouted, earning a shush from Kindheart who was at the desk. Flinching, Gilda waved an apology to the pleasant nurse before turning back to Officer Armor. “Look, just… check’em. I know for a fact the emergency entrance has security cams, savvy? Just… don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Shining Armor pursed his lips and grumbled but got up and went to the nurse. Gilda had a point and if she wasn’t going to tell the truth he might be able to pull a license number or something. Anything to fill in the box that would mean he wouldn’t have to cuff the girl who had just saved someone’s life.

Gilda waited in her seat for several minutes, rocking back and forth and unable to get her mind off of Sunset. She was alive, at least, but what would happen to her now? Seriously, there was so little she could do it wasn’t even funny. Maybe… Maybe she’d have to call up some of her buddies from Las Pegasus. If Sunset couldn’t live legit here in Canterlot then neither would Gilda, and they’d need somewhere to go. She’d left the Brujah on good terms, her old boss even promised her work when or if she ever came back… Sunset was smart, she was sure that crazy witch could find her some work too.

“Miss Grimfeather?”

Shining Armor’s voice broke Gilda out of her musing and she looked up to see the officer had peculiar expression on his face. “Y-yeah?”

“I’m… not going to even try and parse out what I just saw back there,” Armor said in a stunned voice. “My report is going to read that an unknown good samaritan gave you a ride. You never got his name and you’ve never seen him before, got it? Because if I write down that a critically injured patient was flown to a hospital by an angel I’m going to be sectioned.”

“Heh, yeah, sorry,” Gilda rubbed the back of her head, chuckling. “If it helps, I’m kinda with you on that. I got no clue what happened. All I know is that girl I brought in… she’s something special.”

“I’ll take your word on that,” Armor said wearily. “Now, if you don’t mind I’m gonna go file this… whatever this is… and then drink to forget. Have a good night, Miss Grimfeather, and I hope your girl makes it through this okay.”

Gilda flushed, but nodded. “S-sure, thanks for bein’ cool about all this.”

Officer Armor sketched a playful salute and then left, occasionally staring down at his notepad and grumbling. Nurse Kindheart came up a moment later and set a hand on Gilda’s shoulder. “Dear, we’ve got a room ready and Doctor Tourniquet is going to look you over. You’ll probably have to get out of those jeans, too. They’re not exactly sanitary.”

Glancing down at her pants, Gilda grimaced. She’d forgotten she was stained with blood. She looked like she’d just escaped one of her favorite slasher villains. Nodding, Gilda followed Kindheart out of the waiting room and down one of the halls to an adjoining examination room. Kindheart left Gilda with a long hospital gown that nonetheless barely went to the tall girl’s knees, and left her to get changed. Peeling out of her stained clothes, Gilda prayed she could recover most of it. She’d just ask for it back, it wasn’t that hard to get bloodstains out of clothing. Tossing them to the side, Gilda pulled on the ill-fitting gown and sat on the table. It was drafty and annoying but with her pants off Gilda winced as she saw the damage she had done to her legs.

There were fine splits in the flesh that were bleeding slowly but freely and everything south of her waist hurt like a bitch. It was a chore not to try and scratch at the wounds but GIlda knew from experience that’d just make them worse. Instead she sat on the table and impatiently tapped her foot, willing the doctor to get her faster even though she knew that Sunset wouldn’t be out of wherever they had her anytime soon and if she was… that was probably bad news, not good.

“Miss Grimfeather?” An older man, forties maybe, stepped into the room. He had a tired but pleasant enough smile. “I understand you were involved in some trouble tonight is that correct?”

Gilda scoff. “Yeah, not really. I got there way too late…” Scowling, Gilda did her best not to drive her fist into the table. She wanted to hit something. She really, really did. But that wouldn’t help anyone. “Sunny was the one who got the worst.”

“Hm, I see, well I’m sure the nurse mentioned but for the sake of introductions, my name is Doctor Tourniquet,” he held out his hand and Gilda shook it, for lack of anything else to do. “Now, let’s see where we’re at here…”

Crouching down slightly, he pulled on a pair of clear gloves and gently lifted one of Gilda’s legs. His eyes narrowed as he examined the damage, and Gilda winced as he poked and prodded a few different spots before moving to her other leg and repeating the awkward process. Finally he stood up, removed his gloves, and tossed them into a waste bin marked with a hazard symbol.

“Well, Miss Grimfeather,” the doctor began with a wry look on his face. “Those are some very odd wounds you’ve managed to incur. I’d say they looked self inflicted but they’re not. They’re almost like pressure wounds. Fortunately the damage is superficial, I’m only concerned about infection at the wound site. The bones in your legs are strained, but not fractured or broken, but you’ve managed mild sprains on both ankles and pulled practically every muscle in your legs.”

“Heh, so not as bad as I was expecting,” Gilda replied wearily as she looked down at her legs. “I’ll back to normal in a few days then, right?”

Doctor Tourniquet crossed his arms and shrugged, a long-suffering smile on his face as he nodded. “Most likely, yes. Such is the recovery rate of the very young, I suppose. Still, We’re going to apply some antibiotic gel to your legs and bandage them. I’d like you to stay overnight just so we can check the damage in the morning. Any serious infection will have presented itself by then, if all looks well you’ll be discharged with instructions. Do try to move your legs as little as possible until tomorrow so as not to strain or stretch the wounds or dislodge the bandages, alright?”

“Y-yeah, I’ll try,” Gilda answered. “Say, Doc, d-do you know how the girl I came in here with is doing? I, uh, I’m kinda freakin’ out here.”

Doctor Tourniquet shook his head. “I’m afraid not, but I’ll go see what I can see. Until then, Nurse Kindheart will help get you situated and apply the gel and bandages.”

He left moments later, quickly followed by Kindheart bustling in with a wheelchair and helping Gilda into it, much to the taller girl’s consternation. Once she was in her room, the process of applying the gel to the entirety of her legs followed by a comprehensive bandaging was both long-winded and humiliating and left Gilda relatively grumpy on top of being worried sick over Sunset’s condition. She spent the next couple of hours staring at the t.v. which was playing some watered down police procedural that was badly over dramatized. Gilda barely saw any of it though. She couldn’t relax. She wanted to pace but she knew her legs wouldn’t support her for more than a few minutes.

‘Shit, this is my fault,’ the thought was passing through her brain for the fortieth time and none of the sting had left it. ‘I’m the one who pissed off Score. I’m the one who got Sunny wrapped up in this. If I’d just kept my fuckin’ temper she’d be fine. Why am I such a stupid goddamn failure?’

A knock on the edge of her door snapped her attention up and Kindheart poked her head in. “Miss, I had a quick question… do you mind?” Gilda just shrugged and waved her in. Kindheart walked in and settled down in the chair by Gilda’s bed. “If I may ask, and feel free not to answer, but… what’s your relationship with the girl you brought in? I just need to know for privacy reasons.”

Gilda swallowed and for a moment she was lost for words. If she said ‘friend’ then they probably wouldn’t tell her much, then again she didn’t want to lie. But… was it a lie? Really? Gilda wasn’t an idiot. She was laughably bad at hiding how she felt about Sunset. The redhead was an order of magnitude smarter than her, there was no way she hadn’t noticed. And then there was what she’d said the night they’d spent watching movies, the night Sunset had fallen asleep in Gilda’s arms.

‘However long it takes.’

Closing her eyes, Gilda let out a breath. “She’s my girlfriend. I… I’d appreciate that bein’... y’know…”

Kindheart smiled. “Not a word, dearie. Besides, you’ve just won me a bet, two other nurses said you were friends but I knew. Seven years ago I broke my leg in a bad fall, and the car was in the shop, so my husband carried me all the way here and I swear he had the same look on his face that you had on yours. The kind of look you have when the person you love most is in danger.”

Gilda blushed furiously, and Kindheart chuckled. “Sorry dear, I’ll stop prodding. Here, this has been going off for almost an hour and a half. Seems some of her other friends are worried.”

Kindheart sat Sunset’s phone on the bedside table and stood up. “Miss Shimmer is still in surgery but I’ll let you know the moment she’s out. It’ll be our secret.”

Smiling gratefully, Gilda nodded before picking up the phone. As soon as Nurse Kindheart had left, though, she scowled. Sunset didn’t have any other friends, but Gilda had an idea as to who might’ve been messaging her. Poking the button on the phone, the password screen came up and Gilda groaned. It was a five letter password. Laying back in the bed, GIlda held up the phone.

“Huh, okay G, let’s see…” Gilda punched in a code. “Magic? Nope… damn. Uh… Frien- nope, too many letters… Ugh, it’s probably just a random set of letters.”

Rolling over onto her side, Gilda poked the hint button even knowing it’d probably be pointless. Only an idiot actually used that function. Hers just read ‘fuck off’ when you touched it. Sunset’s wasn’t much better.

“That’s not helpful,” Gilda grumbled. “What’s ‘If I forgot, then I broke my promise’ supposed to…” Her golden eyes widened as she sat bolt upright in the bed. “N-no way… Sunshine… you didn’t.”

Sitting up, Gilda stared down at the screen and opened up the password again. Her fingers shaking a little, she punched in ‘G-I-L-D-A’. The password screen closed, opening Sunset’s home screen, and Gilda swallowed back a choked cry. “Sunflower you stupid… sweet… fuckin’ terrible password-making… ugh. Anybody’d fuckin’ guess that shit.”

Gilda prodded the message button. It’d been blowing up; there were over a hundred missed texts and a dozen missed calls. All from the Rainbrats. They were looking for her, apparently they’d come to the conclusion that they were wrong, or something. She skipped through most of them but they had definitely changed their tune. All of them were texting apologies and begging to talk to Sunset.

“Huh, too little too late, shitheads,” Gilda growled. Scrolling up she scowled, narrowing her eyes as she got past the new messages into the old ones. The ones from when Sunset was still being accused of being Anon-A-Miss. Gilda felt her fury building with every single text as she tried to read through them with some difficulty.

Dashie: //she-demon! You really didn’t change at all!//

Rarity: //I regret ever accepting a thing you had to say, Sunset, you should be ashamed of yourself. Never come to my boutique ever again!//

Jackie: //Yer a damn varmint, Sunset, and if ya don’t cut it out me an Mac are gonna come have a talk with ya.//

Closing out of the messenger before she crushed the phone in her increasingly tightening grip, Gilda set the phone down. Sunset hadn’t mentioned any of those texts and some of them were as new as two days ago. Gilda… on a deeper level… understood why Sunset hadn’t said anything of course. If she had then Gilda probably would have done something violent, stupid, or (most likely) both. They both knew Gilda had the worse temper between the two of them.

Threats and worse were hurled at Sunset every day and Gilda had watched the beautiful, intelligent, and patient girl she’d fallen head over heels for weather every single shot. Gilda had protected her where she could but it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough.

Another knock interrupted Gilda’s thoughts and she looked up to see Kindheart looking in on her again. “Gilda de- oh no, what’s wrong dearie?!” the nurse moved in and sat at the edge of Gilda’s bed and pulled out a tissue, holding it out.

Gilda blinked in confusion at the offer before realising her face was wet. Had… she been crying? Taking the tissue she rubbed at her face and it came away soaked. She’d been crying… a lot. After a moment of drying her face, she looked up at Kindheart and felt her heart sink at the look on the nurse’s face.

“I’ve got good and bad news, dear,” Kindheart said slowly, reaching out and resting her hand on Gilda’s. “Your Miss is out of surgery but not out of the woods. She lost a lot of blood and there were complications. The doctor says her prognosis is good if she makes it through the night but… that’s not a guarantee that she will.”

She was choking. Gilda felt like her whole body was seizing up and at the same time her world was falling away from her. Sunset was… no. No, no, no. Not a chance. Sunset couldn’t just die like that. Not…

“Doctor Tourniquet took over her observation,” Kindheart continued, “since he treated you. He’s a good man, and he gave you permission to see her, if you’d like. Since… well…”

“Don’t,” Gilda choked out, “please don’t say it. I-I… I can’t lose her. She’s my whole world.” She’d never said it before, or even thought it, but the moment the words came out of her mouth Gilda knew they were true. What else did she have? A shitty flat in a shitty part of town, a beat up ride, bad grades, no family or real friends. What did she have except Sunset?

Kindheart nodded. “I’ll help you along then,” she went out to the hall, pulled in the wheelchair, and helped Gilda into it. The tall, powerful, and normally confident girl could feel her whole body shaking. She was staring down at Sunset’s phone as Kindheart wheeled her down the halls towards the ICU

As they approached the Intensive Care Unit, Gilda said: “S-stop, sorry, I need to… to call someone real quick. Is that okay?” She looked up at Kindheart who just smiled down at her and nodded. “C-cool, I’ll be ready in like, half an hour?”

Kindheart wheeled Gilda to to the side next to a bank of chairs. Gilda patted herself down for her phone for a moment before realising she’d left it in her jacket in the room. “Shit… I…” Gilda’s eyes settled on Sunset’s phone and she just sighed. She didn’t have any of their numbers anyway.

Picking up the phone and punching in the password, Gilda brought up the contacts. She knew there was at least one person who definitely believed Sunset wasn’t Anon-A-Miss, even if it was way too late. All the others might be tricks or worse, but…

Gilda hovered her thumb over the contact named ‘Jackie’. Should she? Why? None of the Rainbrats were willing to give her the time of day. They didn’t deserve to say… to have the chance to… Tears began trailing down Gilda’s face again, warm and bitter. No, Sunset would want it like this. She’d forgive. Even if Gilda didn’t, it wasn’t about her right now. It was about Sunset. Gilda thumbed the ‘Call’ button, and it rang for only a second before the call connected.

//SUNSET?! That you Sugarcube?//

“N-no….” Gilda answered wearily. “It’s uh… it’s Gilda. L-listen…” she hated how choked up she sounded. Her voice was wet with tears and pain. “Y-you got half an hour to get down to Canterlot General Hospital, the ICU. That’s it. Got it? Half an hour. Just you and no one else. If I see another Rainbrat with ya I’ll tell security to throw all of you out. Okay?”

//G-gilda why… what-//

“She’s dying,” Gilda spat. “Now get here or don’t. Alone!” Pulling the phone away Gilda hung up and turned it off. She’d wait half an hour. No less. And then she was gonna see Sunset.

Twenty minutes later the blonde, stetson’d teen appeared at the end of the hallway looking frantic. Spotting Gilda at the end of the hall, Applejack sprinted down, only to be admonished by a passing nurse. Slowing to a quick trot, she stopped next to Gilda and stared down at the normally fierce, white-haired girl.

Before Applejack could say anything, Gilda spoke, her eyes unfocused and staring at the door to the ICU. “The Diamond Dogs attacked her over that Anon-A-Miss bullshit. There was an accident… some… some real heavy stuff collapsed on her. I got there in time to pull her out and get her here but, uh… turns out I might not’ve been in time ‘cause the Nurse said Sunset might not make the night, savvy?” Applejack’s hands had gone up to her mouth and there was a look of horror in her eyes. “So uh… the Nurse… she said I could go and uh…” Gilda’s throat locked up and her vision blurred as she tried to say the words. Finally she managed to choke them out. “She said I could s-say… g-good-bye… y’know, just in c-case. And, uh… Sunshine… she’s a softie. So, I f-figured… even after all the shit you assholes put her through, she’d want at least one’f ya to be there too.”

“T-that’s… that ain’t… that can’t be true,” Applejack choked out, tears sliding down her cheeks. “Y-yer tellin’ me that, past that door,” she pointed at the ICU, “S-Sunset is… she’s layin’ in there and she’s… she’s gonna…”

“Don’t,” Gilda spat out, fixing Applejack with a furious, burning glare. “Don’t say it. She’s a better fighter than any of you shitheads, okay? But… but I know’er, she’d want this much at least. Just in case. So we’re gonna go in there and then we’re gonna leave, and then you and your stupid band are never gonna speak to her ever again, savvy?”

Kindheart came up moments later, she saw the state of distress the two girls were in and knew there must be some kind of baggage between them, but she’d seen this scene far too many times. She didn’t interject, she just moved around Gilda and began pushing her towards the ICU. Gilda gestured for Applejack to follow, and thankfully Kindheart didn’t question the matter. Applejack walked silently beside them, pale and sick-looking as they walked past the beds finally stopping at one that had the curtains drawn.

“I can only give you fifteen minutes or so, dearies,” Kindheart said softly. “We can’t risk getting in the way of the doctors in case something happens.”

Gilda just nodded numbly and rolled herself up to the curtain and pulled it aside. It was like ripping off a bandage. Best to get it done with and not waste any time. What she saw past the curtain almost killed her. Sunset was laying on the bed, an oxygen mask and tube over her face, IV’s dripping medication into her veins, the EKG machine beeping out a metronome that seemed too uneven to be healthy. Her red hair was sweat-stained and bundled in a halo around her head and her eyes were clenched closed.

As Gilda rolled closer, Kindheart cleared her throat. “Try not to jostle her, the doctors said she’s very tense right now and it’s not helping her condition.”

Gilda let out a choked cry. “Of course she is ya idiots,” she said as hot tears started falling freely down her face. “She gets night terrors if she doesn’t have someone next t’her, okay? She barely sleeps ‘cause’ve it. Watch.” Reaching out against Kindhearts words, Gilda stroked Sunset’s face, petting her hair and scalp softly as she pulled herself closer and laid her forehead against Sunset’s arm.

Almost immediately, Sunset seemed to relax, her breathing became more steady. The EKG evened out a little more as well, settling into a far healthier rate. Her eyes wide, Kindheart watched for a moment before rapidly moving away and heading down the hall.

Applejack walked to the other side of Sunset across from Gilda, she tried several times to say something, anything, but nothing seemed worth giving a voice to. What could she do? Apologise? Sunset wouldn’t hear it and it would only be for Applejack’s own benefit. She didn’t even feel worthy of touching Sunset at that point. No, she’d rather live with the-

“Say it,” Gilda muttered, she’d looked up from Sunset and fixed Applejack with another glare. “Even if she can’t hear it, I can, so say it. Sunshine deserves that much.”

After a moment of staring, Applejack nodded and turned to the unconscious girl. “A-ah’m so sorry, Sugarcube. Ah can’t ever say it enough. Ah could say it the rest’a mah damn life and it’d never be enough ta make up fer leavin’ ya alone. Ah’m an awful friend, and an awful person. Ah don’t think ah’ll ever fergive mahself fer that. But Ah’ll… Ah’ll try’n be better fer it. Just like ya always did. Ah know ya never fergave yerself fer how ya treated us all back then… Ah know ya always beat yerself up fer it. But ya tried to be better anyway, an’ Ah fergot that… all cuz’a mah own fool temper. Ah love ya, Sugarcube, we all do. We messed up bad, an’ we understand if ya never wanna hear from us again, but we love ya.” Choking back a wave of tears, Applejack reached out and brushed a strand of red hair from Sunset’s face. “A-an’ just in case this all goes south, g-good-bye Sunset… you’re the best’ve us. All’o us.”

Applejack wrapped her arms around herself as she walked around to the Gilda’s side. “G-Gilda, we ain’t had the best relationship, but Ah can never thank ya’ll enough fer what ya done here, fer her and fer me. Whatever happens, yer always, always welcome at the Apple family farm. Whatever ya need, whenever ya need it. Even if ya hate me, Ah’ll welcome ya with open arms.”

Gilda bit back an acidic response. She was not going to start a fight here. Now. With Sunset on a hospital bed. “Whatever,” Gilda answered bitterly, “you wanna do me a favor? Punch Rainbow Crash for me when you see’er next. She called Sunset ‘she-demon’ in a text. Sunshine’s real sensitive about that, and if I take a swing at that pastel loser I figure I won’t stop ‘til the cops pull me off her. Now beat it.”

Scowling at Gilda’s report of Rainbow’s words, Applejack nods. “Sure thing, sugar. Is it okay if… can ya let me know if she… if she makes it through okay?”

Did it make her a terrible person that Gilda wanted to tell Applejack she could just spend the rest of her life wondering? Probably. Sunset would never, ever have stood for that one though, so Gilda just nodded. “Don’t expect a fuckin’ text block. It’ll be two or three words. One way or the other.”

The apple farmer just nodded. That was honestly more than she expected. As she walked away, Applejack stopped and turned back to Gilda. “If… when she wakes up. Tell’er we figured out who Anon-A-Miss is, an’ we put a stop to’em… tell’er it was mah sister and her fool friends, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.”

Gilda’s eyes widened at that. “Yer fuckin’ with me.”

Applejack shook her head sadly. “Nope, wish’a was, darlin’. Mah own kin started this whole mess and Ah plan to tell’er exactly where it lead. If it helps, Ah ain’t never gonna let Applebloom live this down.”

Narrowing her eyes, Gilda brought her hand up to the bridge of her nose and squeezed. A moment later her voice came out in a low, deadly, emotionless tone. “You’d better not… and if your idiot sister got my… my Sunshine killed, then you better fuckin’ move her and her little shithead posse to another fuckin’ city.” Raising her eyes, Applejack flinched at the black and gold fury in Gilda’s gaze “That’s the only warning you’re getting, Jackie. Because if I lose Sunny, I won’t give a shit about jail.”

She wanted to respond. Applejack really did. To bite back about threatening her family. She couldn’t though. Looking at Sunset and knowing her sister had been even partially responsible was sickening. Seeing the fury and pain in Gilda’s face she knew the girl wasn’t joking. Applejack knew for a fact that if she ever lost someone like that and knew who was responsible… she didn’t want to admit it but she’d probably be making the same threat as Gilda. Instead of answering or saying anything at all, Applejack just nodded solemnly and left.

Gilda spent the rest of the time just… holding on. Stroking Sunset’s hair, holding her hand, bring the pale, weak fingers up to press her lips against them. There were a million things she wanted to say and not one of them mattered anymore except the one thing that it might be too late to voice.

“Miss Grimfeather?”

Looking up, Gilda realised that Doctor Tourniquet and Nurse Kindheart were standing at the foot of Sunset’s bed. Both of them were looking over the charts hung at from the bar at the end.

“You see, Doctor?” Kindheart said quietly, “the difference is-”

“A marked improvement, yes,” Doctor Tourniquet. Looking back up to Gilda, Tourniquet smiled. “Miss, this is a bit unusual but there is precedence, how would you feel about staying by Miss Shimmer’s side tonight?”

Gilda worked her jaw for a moment before nodding dumbly. A second later she asked. “W-why? The Nurse said I’d hafta leave.”

Doctor Tourniquet shrugged. “It’s still a subject of debate among medical professionals, but there is quite a body of evidence that suggests the presence of a loved one can significantly soothe even unconscious or comatose patients. Normally it’s not particularly meaningful in the short term, but Nurse Kindheart mentioned you saying something about night terrors?”

Nodding, Gilda reached out and stroked Sunset’s hair again. “Y-yeah, i-if I’m not next to her she gets’em. Thrashing around, crying in her sleep’n stuff. It’s pretty bad. She calms down when I, uh…” Gilda blushed but fought through it and continued. “When I hold her. So long as I’m holding her she… I guess she feels safe.”

“I see,” the Doctor said with a relieved smile. “Excellent, I would like you to stay here then. Her abnormal stress reaction was affecting the medication’s efficacy but I have a feeling that if that settles down then that might push her over the edge to stability. We still have to monitor for potential internal bleeding but the surgeon assured me there was little likelihood of that.”

Gilda was nodding the entire way through the Doctor’s explanation. “I’ll do it. Just… whatever it takes. I wanna be here anyway,” Gilda said, feeling a flicker of hope as she held onto Sunset’s hand.

Doctor Tourniquet smiled. “Good, I’ll make the arrangements. There are further complications but nothing life-threatening. I can’t go over them with you, unfortunately, due to confidentiality, but when Miss Shimmer wakes up I’m sure she won’t object to you being present when I speak with her. Now, let’s get you some blankets and a pillow.”

It didn’t take long, and soon the staff had a small bundle taken to the ICU bed where Gilda was waiting with Sunset. The Doctors and Nurses who passed by couldn’t help but smile at the sheer devotion shown by the white-haired girl. Despite looking like a delinquent she dutifully stayed by the young redhead’s side all through the night; holding her hand, stroking her hair, and whispering softly to her.

~An hour later at Sugarcube Corner~

Sugarcube Corner Cafe was surprisingly quiet, given that there were quite a few customers. None of them seemed particularly conversational, though. One section of tables near the back was taken up by four older teens, with three younger girls sitting across from them. The rest of the cafe kept a distance from them, there was a pall hanging over them ever since one of their number had sprinted out of the cafe with a haunted look on her face.

Since she’d left, the girls had texted Applejack multiple times each, wondering what was wrong. All they knew was that Sunset had apparently called and said a few sentences and then Applejack had torn out of the cafe like she’d been told her house was on fire. There’d been a few half-hearted attempts at conversation, mostly by Rarity and Pinkie Pie, but Applejack had told them all to stay put until she got back so that’s what they had done.

It was barely an hour later that Applejack returned, her features grim, and took her seat back. Taking off her hat, she stared at it for a minute, scowling, before clenching her eyes shut, hurling it to the floor, and slumping over onto the table to start quietly crying.

The other seven girls just stared at her as she wept into her arms. Fluttershy moved to comfort her, followed quickly by Rarity. It took almost twenty minutes for Applejack to pull herself together enough to speak.

“Girls… Ah got some real bad news,” Applejack began. “But ‘afore that, Rarity, Rainbow, ya’ll might wanna make arrangements fer Sweetie and Scoots to stay outta town fer awhile, Ah called the Oranges on mah way over.”

The three youngest girls looked shocked. “W-why wouldja do that, AJ?” Applebloom asked, teary-eyed. “Ah… Ah apologised! We all did! Y’all’re… sendin’ us away?” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo looked at their respective sisters with pleading eyes.

“Ayup, if’n things go real bad, tha’s the plan.” Applejack said grimly. “Ah just got back from the Hospital. Sunset got jumped by the Diamond Dogs and got hurt real bad. She’s laid up an’... an’ the doctors ain’t too sure she’s gonna make it through the night.”

All of the girls stared on, shell-shocked by the news that Applejack had just delivered. “An’ furthermore, Gilda had the presence’a mind and courtesy to let me go an’... an’ say mah, our, g’bye’s in case the worst happened.”

“No…” Fluttershy whispered, her eyes wide. Rainbow Dash just stared, and Pinkie Pie almost visibly deflated.

“As’ta why Ah’m tellin’ ya’ll to arrange things,” Applejack continued, steepling her fingers in front her face. “Gilda warned me off that if’n Sunset… if she didn’t make it… that she’d gladly go t’prison on account’a makin’ sure the one’s that ‘got her Sunshine killed’ got what was comin’ to’em. Ah told’er I Ah appreciated the warnin’.”

“B-but…” Sweetie Belle looked up at the five older girls. “That… that means we’d all get split up and…”

Rarity let out a long, trembling sigh as she mastered herself. “To be honest Sweetie Belle, I’ve already been speaking to our parents about it. I didn’t know how dire things had become, and I will never forgive myself for my own part in this, but given how many people you three have hurt, I was worried that retribution may fall on your heads if you stay at CHS.”

“Honestly, Ah was countin’ on it,” Applejack replied. “Teach ya’ll a lesson ‘bout the wages’a bullyin’ and what happens when ya hurt other folks,” she said before turning to Rainbow Dash. “Speakin’a which.”

No one was prepared for the hard, brutal punch that Applejack landed directly across Rainbow Dash’s jaw. The strong farmer laid out the sporty girl, knocking her from her seat at the table directly to the floor drawing shocked gasps from all around the cafe.

“That was from Gilda and Sunset, Dashie,” Applejack said darkly, shaking the stinging numbness from her knuckles. “Ah made mah own threats ta Sunset that Ah ain’t never gonna live down, but callin’ her ‘She-Demon’? Really? Tha’s goin’ a step’n twelve too far, Sugarcube.”

Pinkie and Fluttershy were at Rainbow’s side in moments, but the young soccer captain just waved them off, rubbing her jaw that now made an audible clicking noise. Rainbow grabbed a napkin and spat blood into it before turning to Applejack with downcast eyes. “Yeah… yeah it was…” she muttered, “and uh, I deserved that… so thanks.”

“Always happy ta knock your head back on straight, Sugarcube,” Applejack said with a tired smile before pulling Rainbow into a hug. “Ah’m sorry Ah hurt ya, Dashie. Ah love ya, you know that.”

Rainbow Dash held on to Applejack tightly for a moment before she started shaking and a soft, raspy sobbing started coming from the brash young athlete. That set off a chain reaction from the other girls, and tears fell in earnest. All they could do now was wait for news from Gilda. Good or bad, their lives would never quite be the same again.

3. Should I Stay Or Should I Go

~Next Morning At Canterlot General, December 14th~

Stable.

Gilda had been woken up at ten in the morning after only a couple of hours of fitful sleep by one of the nurses to inform her that Doctor Tourniquet had pronounced Sunset Shimmer stable and ready to be moved out of the ICU. Her recovery had been almost miraculously quick once her stress had leveled out. Gilda had been almost delirious with a combination of exhaustion and relief as Kindheart, who had refused to leave even after her shift to ensure that Sunset was properly seen to, wheeled Gilda in just behind Sunset as she was being moved to a regular room.

Gilda had refused to go back to her own room. She was determined to be right by Sunset’s side the moment the girl woke up. The nurses and orderlies had somewhat adopted the couple, checking in on them as the events wound down to a happy(ish) ending. At least from their perspective. Kindheart had ensured that Gilda’s things were moved into Sunset’s room, though she’d confiscated Gilda’s ‘talons’. She did promise to return them upon discharge.

Settling in beside Sunset’s new bed, Gilda was still in her wheelchair, but feeling a bit better. Sunset’s breathing was steady and strong, and every so often Gilda reached out and touched Sunset’s cheek. It was warm and soft. She just liked reminding herself that the girl that had, alarmingly quickly, become such a central part of her world was alright. Leaning in, she brushed her lips against Sunset’s cheek.

“I love you Sunset Shimmer,” Gilda whispered as she pulled back, crossed her arms on the bed and laid her head down on them. “You’re never gettin’ rid of me now, Sunflower.”

Grabbing her own phone, Gilda pulled out her earbuds and popped them in, starting up some music and settled in. The vocals always helped her sleep, and she was exhausted. The easy-going voice lulled Gilda to sleep, her hand resting on Sunset’s.

The sun was streaming in through the window as Sunset slowly stirred awake. Everything felt a little foggy but, given that she was waking up at all, she judged that to be par for the course. There was a faint, warm pressure on her right hand though, and when she glanced down she felt her heart swell.

Gilda was snoozing away, her head on her arms, one of her hands was reached out and closed around Sunset’s. It was, quite possibly, the sweetest thing Sunset had ever seen. Sunset narrowed her eyes at Gilda’s condition though, she looked exhausted, bags under her eye, and bandages all over her legs. She was listening to something too, pale grey earbuds were in her ears and there was a soft tune emitting from them. It was… familiar.

Smiling, Sunset reached out on a whim, curious what the tough girl listened to when she was relaxing, and plucked the earbud from Gilda’s left ear and brought it up to her own. Gilda shifted in her sleep at the sudden movement, and turned her head, her eyes widening when she saw Sunset was awake. And then widened more when she saw Sunset was listening to her music.

Sunset’s wide smile turned into a chuckle then a laugh, then a dry cough as she choked out. “I-Is that John Denver?”

Gilda’s face went red and stammered for a few seconds. “Y-you… I… Shut up!” Then made a grab for the earbud. Sunset’s coughing didn’t subside, though and Gilda felt a stab of worry as she glanced around. Seeing a sink with some paper cups sticking out of a dispenser, Gilda lifted herself from her wheelchair and hobbled over to fill one of them. Hobbling back, Gilda sat down on the bed by Sunset’s side, pulled the redhead into her arms, and passed her the cup. Sunset drank it down greedily, gasping for breath as soon as she pulled the cup from her lips.

Leaning back, Sunset sighed as Gilda cradled her. The bigger girl had buried her face in Sunset’s neck and let out a deep breath. “T-thank god, Sunset… I’m… I was so scared you were gonna go’way,” Gilda mumbled from Sunset’s shoulder.

Sunset brought her hand up to stroke Gilda’s short hair and warm cheek. “I’m not going anywhere, Gil,” her voice was a little raspy and weak from disuse, but it was steady. “I promise.”

“Good, because you’re also movin’ in with me,” Gilda said sternly as she lifted her face from Sunset to glare at the smaller girl who shrunk away slightly. “I can’t fuckin’ believe you were livin’ in a goddamn warehouse this whole time, Sunflower.”

Her eyes downcast, Sunset just nodded. “I know… I was… I was gonna tell you this week, during winter break.” Sunset smiled a little wanly and shrugged. “Never really got a chance to though, huh?”

“A-and…” Gilda started, but her words caught in her throat. ‘Nope, c’mon G, you waited too long already you’re not waiting a second longer.’ Sunset looked up at her curiously. “I-I, uh… I mean…” Gilda swallowed nervously, before finally muttering quietly, with her eyes cast to the side and a brilliant blush on her face: “Ya wanna be my girlfriend?”

Sunset’s eyes went wide for a moment. Then she just nodded dumbly and turned to wrap her arms around Gilda’s neck, lacing her fingers into Gilda’s short, shorn white hair, and pulled herself up to kiss her proud, brash, beautiful new girlfriend on the lips. Gilda grinned enormously and pulled Sunset into another, deeper kiss.

After a moment Sunset pulled away, and then frowned, then her eyes widened in panic. Gilda’s expression turned to one of concern, but as she was about to ask what was wrong, a nurse poked his head in and smiled. “Oh good, I’ll let the Doctor know you’re awake Miss Shimmer. Tourniquet just got back in for the afternoon!”

“Sunshine, what’s wrong?” Gilda asked softly, bringing her hand up to wipe the growing tears from Sunset’s eyes. “Sunny?”

“G-Gilda?” Sunset’s voice was small and broken. “Gilda I… I still can’t feel my legs. I-I can kinda move my waist… but everything thigh down is just… gone.”

“I’m afraid that’s certainly possible, Miss Shimmer,” the now-familiar voice of Doctor Tourniquet said from the doorway. He looked worn and tired, but as friendly as ever. “As a point of dotting ‘T’s and crossing ‘I’s as it were,” he said with a smile, “I have to ask, are you alright with my discussing your condition in front of Miss Grimfeather?”

Gilda tightened her grip around Sunset as Doctor Tourniquet spoke, and one hand move down to loop around and captured Sunset’s own hand. Giving Gilda’s hand a strong squeeze, Sunset nodded. “Y-yeah, that’s okay, please… w-what’s wrong?”

Doctor Tourniquet took a breath as he pulled a chair from the side table and sat down. “I’m afraid the prognosis is not good. The accident fractured multiple vertebrae in your lumbar and thoracic area, L4, L3, and T12 being the worst off,” he listed as he thumbed through the papers on his clipboard. “The fractures also left splinters of bone in your disks; surgery removed most of them but a few are too near clusters of nerves to risk touching, so I’m afraid the current damage is more or less permanent.”

Sunset stared, wide-eyed and silent as the Doctor spoke, but Gilda could feel her shaking, her hand was gripping Gilda’s so hard she could feel the prick of Sunset’s fingernails. Leaning down, Gilda put a small kiss on Sunset’s cheek, snapping her out of her daze. She stared up at Gilda with terror in her eyes.

Nonetheless, Doctor Tourniquet continued. “It is possible, once the swelling has gone down and your body has repaired the damage to the other, less seriously injured, vertebrae, that you may regain some limited functionality. But, I’m afraid it is my professional, medical opinion that you will likely never walk again unassisted. I’m so sorry, Miss Shimmer, I do wish I had better news.”

The room was silent for several moments as Sunset slowly absorbed the terrible news she’d just been given. Doctor Tourniquet waited, knowing that it would take some time for her to get her voice back. Eventually though, it was Gilda who spoke up first.

“So what?”

Sunset and Doctor Tourniquet both looked up at Gilda in surprise at her tone.

“G-Gilda,” Sunset said, her was voice choked and dry. “I-I’m… I’m a cripple. For good. What do you mean ‘so what’?”

“I mean, ‘so what’,” Gilda answered, looking down at Sunset, her gaze softening. “Sunshine, we both know ya’ain’t like me. I’ve got my big-ass body and not much else going for me. You, on the other hand’re smarter than any two dozen of those schlubs at CHS put together. You don’t need legs to kick ass, babe, you’ve already got that on lock. Besides, so ya can’t move around as well? No big deal, you’ve got me for that.”

“B-but why would you-”

Gilda silenced Sunset with a kiss before pulling away and angrily saying, “I’m gonna pretend y’weren’t about to say what I’m pretty sure you were ‘bout to say. We promised, remember?”

“Y-yeah but,” Sunset goldfished for a second before hanging her head. “I’m… I’m not worth it.”

To her credit, Gilda didn’t even get mad. She just stared down at Sunset who had her head hung down and buried in Gilda’s chest. Gilda brought her hand up and started slowly stroking her fingers through Sunset’s hair. “Sunflower, Sunshine, light’a my life?”

Sunset sniffled into Gilda’s gowned chest for a moment before muttering a muffled, “yeah?”

“Last night, I flew,” Gilda said softly. “I’ve dreamed a’that since I was little. Now, if yer gonna try’n tell me that the girl who gave me that isn’t worth it, I’m gonna have to respectfully disagree.”

With her girlfriend gently stroking her hair, Sunset nodded, curling further into Gilda’s arms. “Gilda?”

“Mhm?” Gilda grunted as Doctor Tourniquet quietly stood and excused himself.

After a couple moments of quiet, Sunset looked up from Gilda’s chest and smiled. “I love you.”

Gilda’s eyes went wide and her face went red. “Ah geez, Sunshine, ya can’t just go an’- fuck, I… fuckit, I love you too!” Trying to be as gentle as possible given her girlfriend’s condition, Gilda hugged Sunset as tight as she could, burying her face into Sunset’s shoulder as tears of joy leaked from her eyes.

~In the Hall~

Outside, Doctor Tourniquet had closed the door and was facing the two women standing by Sunset’s room. One was pale with hair the color of the dawn who was leaning against the wall, her hands covering her eyes as tears fell down her cheeks. The other was dark as night and had a comforting hand on her sister’s shoulder.

“Celestia,” Doctor Tourniquet spoke up, his voice soft as he interrupted the older woman’s quiet tears. “Celestia, please, none of this is your fault.”

“I beg to differ, Tourni’,” Celestia answered bitterly, “I was the one who failed to quell this ‘Anon-A-Miss’ business before it resulted in serious physical injury. I also failed to realise one of my best-performing students was living in a damn warehouse. I also seriously misjudged the young woman who rescued her, and just happily volunteered to be her caretaker, as being a delinquent. I think I can categorically say I’ve failed as an educator today, at the very least.”

“Sister,” Luna placed a hand on Celestia’s arm, “you could not have known things would get this bad, and your hands were legally tied either way. I would also like to point out that, even now that she has turned over a new leaf, Sunset is quite talented at deception, if she doesn’t want someone to know something it will not be known unless matters force her hand. As for Miss Grimfeather, Gilda’s constant apathy and laissez-faire attitude towards the general concept of rules is her own fault, not yours.”

Tourniquet put a hand on his old friend's other shoulder. “Your sister is quite right, Celly. And even if you were at fault, which I do not believe, then I would say that the Celestia Sonen whom I both know and admire would not let this break her but instead use it to push forward. You have always done so, even in the darkest times and these times are hardly like those.”

Celestia nodded wearily, wiping her cheeks dry. “You’re right, both of you, still… I think I’m at least within my rights to say: I’m getting too old for this shit.”

“You’re only thirty-nine, Sister,” Luna deadpanned, crossing her arms. “You’re not even in cougar territory yet.”

Letting out a sigh, Celestia just waved her friend and sister off. “I’m just going to let that one go. Tourniquet, have you spoken to Chryssi about that paperwork ‘transfer’? I need to ensure all of Sunset’s identifying papers are in the system to get her what care she’ll need.”

Tourniquet sighed as he gestured for them to follow him to into a nearby empty room which he closed and locked before turning back to the sisters. “Yes, I have, though I’d like to point out that you well know how much I hate dealing with your ex, Celly. Chrys is brilliant, true, but there’s no denying that she’s a complete sociopath.”

“She’s much better now,” Celestia retorted. “We’ve reconciled our differences and we’re definitely better as friends. Besides, her technical expertise is a necessity. We’re basically fashioning a person from whole cloth as far as the system is concerned.”

Luna chuckled, patting her sister’s shoulder. “Ooh, ‘the system’, ah, but that brings back memories. You do have the worst taste in women, Sister dear.”

“Look who’s talking,” Celestia sneered back playfully. “Or do you think I’m unaware of your lurid affair with the Mayor?”

Luna turned red and looked away. “It’s hardly an affair, Mayor Sombra isn’t married. It’s simply a matter of keeping our privacy is all.”

“Juicy gossip aside,” Tourniquet waved his hand to get the attention of the two sisters. “Chryssi made no secret that it would take a matter of months to get everything situated. The blind leviathan of bureaucracy is slow which is in our favor to some extent, but it also means nothing can be done regarding Sunset’s situation until the process is complete.”

“Let us hope then,” Celestia said determinedly, “that Miss Grimfeather is as devoted to Sunset as she appears.”

Luna laughed quietly at that. “Sister, I think that is the least of our problems. While you’ve been cooped up in your office I’ve been more than watchful. Gilda hovers over that girl like a mother hen over her chick. I’m more concerned about Sunset’s mental well-being, she isn’t just academically gifted, she was a fantastic athlete. Losing that much of one’s ability all at once will be… jarring.”

“And we’ll be unable to process a referral to a physical therapist or psychiatrist until after at least the medical paperwork pushes through,” Tourniquet remarked grimly.

“Furthermore,” Celestia cut in, “the matter with Anon-A-Miss, though resolved as of this morning as to the identity, has still effectively cut off Sunset from the entirety of the student body in terms of a social support structure.”

“Sister, I’m certain the students will be contrite,” Luna said with a concerned frown. “They will no doubt be eager to make up for their behaviour, don’t you think?”

“Oh, of that I have no doubt,” Celestia replied scathingly. “The problem is that Sunset Shimmer was just abandoned by everyone she trusted. After the Fall Formal, she was a bit of a shrinking violet, even with her ‘friends’ there to help her. But now I shudder to think what kind of trust issues she’ll develop in the wake of this gross betrayal. I can’t even advise her to forgive their actions in good conscience. The students were so quick to pin the blame on her that it… concerns me.”

“I suppose you have a good point, Sister,” Luna remarked with a sigh. “I, too, am… disappointed in the student body. I’m certainly sympathetic to their outrage at having their ‘dirty laundry’ aired for all to see, but that does not excuse the state of affairs to which this matter descended.”

“Either way, my dears,” Doctor Tourniquet interjected, “I’m afraid this will be a very difficult Christmas for Miss Shimmer. Let us hope her devoted lady is up to the task of keeping her sane.”

Luna and Celestia both raised their eyebrows at that.

“You’re… unaware?” Tourniquet asked, a little surprised. “Why, Miss Grimfeather nearly fractured her legs getting Sunset here in time for treatment and, from there, refused to leave her side, staying next to her or sleeping in a wheelchair at Miss Shimmer’s bedside for the past eighteen hours or so, solely so that Sunset wouldn’t wake up alone. I’ve hardly seen such clear and genuine devotion in my life. That and the fact that I left just as they were professing their love for one another leads me to believe that those two are, as they say, queer as a thirty-leaf clover.”

“I don’t think anyone says that Tourni’,” Luna grumbled as Celestia smirked at Luna, snapping her finger and holding her hand out in a ‘gimme’ gesture to her sister. Luna cursed and grabbed her purse. “Ugh, harridan and harlotry. We are living in godless times!” She cried out as she pulled out a twenty and slapped it into Celestia’s hand.

“I win again, Lulu,” Celestia crowed, “I told you, my sense is infallible.”

“Blast it all, and I thought I had this one, too,” Luna griped. “She even dated Flash Sentry.”

“Sentry is a very nice boy,” Celestia remarked, “that said, he was such a beard that Sunset could have passed for Father Christmas.”

“First my nurses, now my oldest friends,” Tourniquet lamented as he turned away from the friendly bickering of the Sonen sisters, and unlocked the room. “Hopefully that poor girl gets a taste more sanity this holiday season than I do.”

~In Sunset’s Hospital Room~

Sunset had been quiet ever since telling Gilda how she felt. She knew she should probably say more but to be honest she couldn’t think of what else to say. Gilda had run herself ragged saving Sunset’s life. She owed her actual life to someone. That was a new feeling. Sure, she owed Twilight a great deal for sparing her and forgiving her admittedly… poor choices. But to owe her life to someone else? Gilda was, at the moment, gently snoozing away sitting up in the hospital bed with Sunset laying down, her head in Gilda’s lap and her mind racing.

She had always been wholly independent. Not necessarily comfortably so, but effective at the very least. Sunset’s survival, and general success, in a literally alien world with few resources, was a testament to her capability. With that said… it was a difficult pill to swallow; the idea that if Gilda hadn’t been as conscientious as she was, that Sunset would have bled out (at best) or frozen to death ingloriously pinned under a bunch of rusty metal. She still didn’t know how Gilda had known where she lived.

Rolling on her back, Sunset scowled as her legs tangled unresponsively in the covers. ‘This is gonna take some getting used to,’ Sunset thought, but turned her mind to more pleasant matters as she looked up at the girl who had just asked Sunset to be their girlfriend. Sunset couldn’t help smiling. Gilda was beautiful. Her stark white hair and dark skin made for a lovely contrast. One that Sunset felt like she could get lost in for days.

As Sunset was staring dreamily up at Gilda, the taller girls eyes fluttered open and she let out a mighty yawn, stretching her long muscular limbs to the tune of several cracks. “S-sorry, Sunshine. Did I fall asleep?”

“Only for a little while,” Sunset answered with a small smirk. “You’re cute when you sleep,” she said before wincing a little. “Sorry if that came out creepy.”

Gilda shrugged. “If you’re close enough t’watch me sleep, Sunflower, then you’re right where I want you to be. Can’t complain about that.”

Sunset blushed and buried her face in her hands. Gilda scooted down so she was laying next to Sunset properly and went about fixing the covers around Sunset’s legs before taking her place next the now much-quieter redhead and wrapped her arms around her.

“You okay, Sunshine?” Gilda asked quietly, enjoying the proximity and warmth of her girlfriend.

Sunset put her hand in Gilda’s and squeezed. “Not really, I keep trying to think about other things, except then I’ll try to do something simple and I can’t because my stupid legs don’t move.” Sunset’s voice came out bitter and a little angry. Gilda couldn’t blame her for that.

“Yeah… I… I’m sorry,” Gilda murmured against Sunset's neck. “I tried to get there as fast as I could but…”

Turning as well as she could, rolling to face Gilda, Sunset scowled and brought her hands up to cradle Gilda’s face and meet her gaze. “You saved my life, Gilda Grimfeather. I… I’d be dead. If it weren’t for you I would be dead. Do you understand that? Are you following me, here? I. Would. Be. Dead.” Tears had started falling down Sunset’s face as she wrapped her arms around Gilda and hugged her. “You’re my whole world, Gilda. Especially now. I’m… I’m angry and I’m frustrated and I’m going to be really difficult, I know myself. I’m used to doing everything myself and that’s… that’s literally impossible now.”

“Y-ya don’t have to though,” Gilda said softly, returning the embrace. “You’ve got me, I can do whatever y’need.”

Sunset gave a dry chuckle. “That’s sweet, babe, but you’re missing the point.” She pulled away and looked Gilda in the eyes. “I want to do things on my own. I want to be able to take care of myself. It’s not that I think I won’t be taken care of… I trust you with my life and… with my everything. It’s the fact that me taking care of myself? It’s not even an option anymore.”

“Yeah, I can get that,” Gilda admitted, sighing. “What’dya want me to do though? I’m not good at this, I don’t even know what I’m doing, babe. I’m… I’m scared. I’m scared I’m gonna fuck up and hurt you, or mess up and make something worse… I dunno.” Gilda buried her face in Sunset’s hair, as she was wont to every time she got flustered.

“I don’t know either,” Sunset said quietly, snuggling closer to Gilda and breathing in her calming scent. “I really don’t… I didn’t have a plan for something like this.”

Gilda scoffed. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure nobody plans for something like this. I sure as fuck didn’t plan for my parents to die and to be left alone, just kinda had to roll with it. Figure I’ll do the same thing here, except neither of us are alone now so… silver lining, yeah?”

“Yeah…” Sunset curled in on herself a little, and Gilda let out a sigh.

“Look, Sunshine, I’m not gonna lie,” Gilda said, gently stroking her hair. “This is pretty much the nightmare, right here, for most folks. But you’n me? We’ve had our nightmares already. We’re better than them, y’know? They’ve already happened and everything else is just ‘same shit, different day’. The next while, here? Next few months, maybe years? They’re gonna be rough, sure, but we’re gonna beat’em. Not a doubt in my fuckin’ mind. I lived through some horrible shit and so have you, and we did that alone. Together? We’ve got this. We did it once and it didn’t break us, the fuck you think it’s gonna do now that we’re together?”

Sunset was silent for several moments as she absorbed what Gilda had just said. The implications especially. There was so much of her that wanted to tell Gilda to just go. To leave her here and stop thinking about her and just… make it easier on herself. Even if it broke both their hearts she wanted it. And she didn’t. It was infuriating. Sunset Shimmer was always sure. Always certain. Always knew exactly what she wanted and how to get it. Except now…

“Gilda? Can you do me a favor?” Sunset asked softly.

“Anything,” Gilda answered

Closing her eyes and burying her face in the crook of Gilda’s shoulder, Sunset sobbed out. “Right now, while you’re here with me, and holding me, and I’m feeling halfway sane, can I ask you to promise that you’ll never let me push you away? I’ll try… I know me. I’ll try to make it ‘easier’ on you but… please don’t let me do it. I’ll do it because I hate myself so much, all the time.” Gilda felt her heart breaking with every other word, but she didn’t want to interrupt Sunset who clearly needed to get this out of her. “But you… you said you loved me. You said ‘a few months or years’ like it was just a given that you’d never let me go. And I need that. I need someone who won’t ever drop me, or get rid of me because I’m… I’m inconvenient. I’ve never, in my life, had that… so please, please never let me push you away.”

“C’mon, Sunshine,” Gilda replied, her voice thick with emotion. “Y’should know by now you don’t even hafta ask. I sure as fuck ain’t planning on losing you anytime soon. I’d do anything for you, Sunshine, so yeah, I promise.”

Gilda held onto Sunset as she shivered, alternating between crying and dozing, then waking up, trying to do something with her legs, getting frustrated, and then crying again. Through it all, Gilda did the only thing she knew how to: she held on. She was Sunset’s rock throughout one of the worst days of her life and every time she felt like she was starting to lose it Sunset would just reach out and Gilda would be there to hold on to. It was later in the evening when a knock came on the door, and Gilda answered.

“C’mon in,” she said a little groggily. The two teens had essentially spent the entire day sleeping, or having an emotional breakdown or three, and Gilda hadn’t slept barely at all the night before.

Officer Shining Armor poked his head in and smiled at the sight of Sunset resting peacefully in Gilda’s arms. “Evening, Miss Grimfeather,” Shining Armor said softly as he walked in. He had a ratty duffel bag and a backpack slung over his shoulder. “During the scene investigation down at the warehouse, we found these. I suspect they belong to Miss Shimmer so I had them release it once the boys in evidence cleared them.”

Sitting the bag down by the bed as carefully as he was able, Shining Armor sat down. “Sorry, been a long day. Do you mind?”

“Nah, take a load off,” Gilda answered softly. “Try not to wake up Sunflower here, though, she’s had a helluva day, savvy?”

“I’ll do my best,” Armor answered, keeping his voice low. “So this is the girl you flew for, huh?”

Gilda blushed. “Y-yeah, I guess so, thanks for covering my ass back there, by the way. I owe you one if you ever need it.”

Officer Armor just shrugged. “Not like anyone would believe me anyway. Hell, I barely believed it and I watched it on video.”

“Fair enough,” Gilda shot back with a wry grin. “Still coulda made our lives a lot tougher than y’did, so I still owe ya one.”

Shining Armor answered with his own grin as he leaned back in the chair and watched the sunset outside the window. Gilda turned her own gaze to the horizon and they watched as the sky went from a brilliant, fiery orange, to lavender, then dark purple as the night settled in. Eventually, Shining Armor looked back over to the pair; Gilda was still laying on her side, her arms curled protectively around Sunset who was sleeping the sleep of the totally exhausted.

“If you don’t mind, I’ll probably mention this one to my wife,” Armor remarked in a quiet voice. “She’s a diehard romantic and I’m pretty sure this story’ll make her entire month.”

Gilda smirked. “Go for it, I couldn’t care less. I’ll probably never meet her anyway, so why not?”

“Thanks,” Shining Armor stood up and stretched, yawning slightly. “Well, better get back to it, I just wanted to let you know the investigation is done. The school was very helpful in locating the ‘Diamond Dogs’ and your statement will definitely help matters. I understand the Principal has already seen to their expulsion.”

Gilda grimaced. “Cool, I’ll still probably smear them across the pavement if I ever see them again.”

“Yeah… as an officer of the law, I’m gonna pretend I didn’t hear that,” Armor said wryly. “But as a private citizen who is very much in love, I understand it. Still, given how much that girl there relies on you, I’d recommend you stay on the right side of the law. If for no other reason than for her sake.”

Frowning, Gilda looked down at Sunset with a pensive expression. “Yeah… I guess so, huh? Hadn’t really thought of that. Gilda Grimfeather, goin’ legit.”

“Just figured I’d mention,” Shining Armor remarked. “It’s not just you anymore.”

Gilda just nodded, still staring down at Sunset’s sleeping features. It was a little terrifying how important this redheaded fireball had become to her in so short of a time. Important enough to make sure she stayed exactly on the side of the law she needed to. She couldn’t risk herself if that meant leaving Sunset alone. Shining Armor grabbed his officer cap and settled it on his head, gave Gilda a short nod, and left. As the moments ticked by, it occurred to Gilda that she’d forgotten to do something important.

“Right, I should probably let those assholes know Sunny made it,” Gilda muttered. “Hm… guess I should talk to Sunset first though.”

At first, Gilda was about to poke Sunset awake, but a moment later had a much better idea. Shifting the blankets around, Gilda rolled over so she was poised over Sunset, one hand on either side of the sleeping girl. Leaning down Gilda kissed Sunset softly until she felt the redhead begin to stir, then smile against her lips, then start to kiss back.

“Hey pretty lady,” Gilda said softly as she pulled back. Sunset grinned widely up at Gilda, eyes lidded.

“Hey,” Sunset answered in a soft, shy voice.

Slowly, Gilda lowered herself down to her elbows, so only the slightest amount of her weight was on Sunset, who had brought her arms to Gilda’s sides, to trace her fingers along the larger girl’s muscular torso, trailing along her breasts, and up to her neck. Gilda brought herself down to touch her forehead against Sunset’s, brushing their noses together playfully and giving her quick, mischievous kisses before lowering herself further to Sunset’s neck and giving her a quick nip.

‘Ooh, that was a nice sound,’ Gilda thought as Sunset let out a soft moan. ‘I’m gonna remember that spot.’

Bringing herself back up she stared down into Sunset’s eyes. There was so much light there, it was blinding. Gilda loved it more than she could say. She needed to go to English class more often if she was gonna be with Sunset.

Sunset’s hands trailed up to Gilda’s back, tracing along the broad shoulders as she returned Gilda’s surprisingly soft, gentle kisses; every so often she would dig her fingers in just a little, dragging her nails along Gilda’s back and relishing the heat that grew in the young woman’s eyes.

“Mmm… don’t start something ya aren’t gonna finish, babe,” Gilda growled out, with a predatory grin on her face.

“You started it,” Sunset retorted with a smile, bringing her hands up to her favorite place to grip in Gilda’s short hair and leveraging herself up to kiss her girlfriend.

Gilda smiled through the kiss, wrapping her arms around Sunset, one around her back and one trailing down to her waist and rolling over, drawing out a startled ‘eep’ from the smaller girl as Gilda pulled Sunset on top of her. Gilda let her hands trail up and down Sunset’s body, savoring the redhead's delighted hum as Gilda let her fingers touch and trace Sunny’s lithe, athletic form. One hand came to rest directly on Sunset’s rear and gave it a hearty squeeze. Gilda laughed as Sunset's eyes went wide and her cheeks flushed a furious red.

“Hey, toots,” Gilda joked, grinning widely.

“I should slap you,” Sunset warned, her eyebrow crooked up towards her hairline.

Gilda shrugged. “Probably should, but you won’t.”

Sunset growled softly in her throat, but eventually just rolled her eyes and settled down to lay on top of Gilda, resting her head on her favorite spot on Gilda’s left shoulder. “Nah, too much effort. I’m still tired.”

“Y’keep letting me get away with shit like that and I’ll just get worse,” Gilda warned with a smile.

“Yeah well…” Sunset’s cheeks managed to get redder as she mumbled something that Gilda didn’t quite catch.

“What was that?”

Sunset buried her face against Gilda’s neck. “I said ‘I like it ‘cause it makes me feel sexy,’ okay?”

“Heh, like you need any help feeling sexy, Sunflower?” Gilda snarked, planting a kiss on Sunset’s bare shoulder and getting a delighted shiver in response.

“I certainly feel less sexy when I can’t move my legs…” Sunset said a little somberly.

Gilda frowned at her words, leaning back and bringing her hand up to guide Sunset’s face around so they were eye to eye. “Sunshine, I ain’t gonna argue with you on this one. You’re sexy as hell and if I have to spend the rest of my fuckin’ life convincin’ you of that I will do exactly that, savvy?”

Sunset goldfished for a moment before dropping her face back down to Gilda’s chest. “How do you do that?” She asked, her voice muffled. “Why do you do that?”

“What?”

“Talk like that,” Sunset answered without lifting her head. “Talking about spending years together. Or spending your life doing something for me…”

“Should I not?” Gilda asked, “I love you, Sunshine. I love you so much it hurts sometimes, so why shouldn’t I? I’m not really a complicated gal. I say what I mean and I mean what I say.”

Bracing her elbows on Gilda’s shoulders, Sunset lifted herself up so she was looking down at her girlfriend. “Yeah, I guess that’s true, huh?” she said with a small smile, before leaning down and kissing Gilda. “You’re the best, Gil. How did I get so lucky?”

“Probably the same way I did,” Gilda answered blithely. “Anyway, I actually woke ya up for a reason… y’know, other than just kissing you. That was mostly me just gettin’ distracted with how stupid pretty you are.”

Sunset swatted at Gilda’s cheek before kissing her again. “Stop it, charmer. I’ll never stop blushing at this rate. So what was the reason?”

Letting out a breath, Gilda reached for Sunset’s phone. “When you were out, y’know, the nurse and doctors told me… they told me they weren’t sure you’d make it through the night, savvy? And… and they let me come into the ICU to, uh, ta say goodbye… just in case.”

Sunset’s hand flew up to her mouth, and tears came to her eyes. “O-oh, Gilda… I’m… I’m so sorry. I didn’t… no one told me-”

Gilda waved her hand dismissively. “It’s past’n done. You came out of it okay, turned out you were just crazy stressed out ‘cause’ve those stupid night terrors y’get, ya? And when I came in and put my hand on ya, you calmed right down. Doc Tourniquet said it pushed you into bein’ stable.”

“Gilda…” Sunset was on the verge of crying again, and Gilda brought her hand up to wipe away the tears.

“It’s fine, Sunflower,” Gilda said softly. “You’re fine, I’m fine. Everything turned out… well… not okay, but as good as it was gonna. So, the point is… I mighta gotten into yer phone… you really oughta change that password by the way. Nearly cried in my fuckin’ room when I guessed it…”

Sunset chuckled. “Why? I mean, why did you get into my phone? I’m keeping the password.”

Gilda rolled her eyes. “I, uh, I mighta called Applejack and asked her to come to the ICU…” That one drew a genuine look of anger from Sunset that made Gilda flinch. “H-hear me out, Sunshine-”

“Don’t you ‘Sunshine’ me, Gilda,” Sunset growled, slapping her palm on Gilda’s chest. “You know exactly how I feel about them. How could you do something that!”

“Because you were dying, baby!” Gilda choked out, her arms going up to grip Sunset’s shoulders. “You were on your literal deathbed. I… I know you’re mad but… I know you! I don’t give a damn if you forgive’m, but I know for damn sure you’d at least give’m the chance to say good-bye.”

Sunset glared down at at Gilda furiously for several seconds before slapping both palms against the larger girl’s chest again, burying her head against Gilda’s shoulder and letting out a muffled scream. Gilda wrapped her arms around Sunset. She was shaking, badly, and Gilda felt like crying. Even though she knew she’d done the right thing it didn’t change the fact that she’d hurt Sunset by doing it.

“I’m sorry…” Gilda said softly, “I’d do it again, though. It was the right thing t’do. I know you’da done it too.”

There was no response for a long while until finally, Sunset lifted herself back up. Her eyes were a little red but she didn’t look mad anymore. “No, I know… you’re right. I would’ve. I don’t know if I can ever forgive them for abandoning me but… I’m not a completely heartless bitch. I wouldn’t want them to hate themselves over my… yeah. Thanks, Gil… and I’m sorry for hitting you. I got… really worked up.”

Gilda smiled. “Eh, c’mon babe, no offense but you’re not exactly MMA material. Especially not at the moment. I didn’t even feel it.”

Smiling, Sunset leaned down to kiss the spots she’d slapped. “I know… it was still wrong of me though, even if you did technically break into my phone and call my ex-friends. Forgive me?”

“Yeah, of course,” Gilda said, running a hand through Sunset’s hair as the girl smiled down at her. “So… uh, yeah, anyway I promised I’d at least tell them if you made it and I, uh… kinda forgot to do that. So I figure we should probably let’m know. Told’em not to expect a novel or anythin’. Two’re three words at most.”

“Hmm…” Sunset grinned mischievously. “I think I’ve got the perfect idea, actually. Babe, grab my phone will ya?”

~Sugarcube Corner~

Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash had just had what was probably the most miserable day of school in their entire lives. Every waking moment they’d spent wondering if the next text they would get, either from Gilda in Applejack’s case, or from Applejack in the case of the rest of them, was going to be about Sunset Shimmer having passed away in the hospital.

Gilda had warned Applejack to stay away, and that warning had been passed on. They’d been informed in no uncertain terms that if they came they would be turned back. So they waited and waited. After school, the five of them gathered somberly at Sugarcube Corner to wait some more, only in the presence of slightly more chocolate and ice cream, although none of them, not even the normally limitless Pinkie, had any kind of appetite. So they waited.

Until six’o eight in the evening when Applejack received a text, the notification told her it was from Sunset Shimmer. Or at least, it was from her phone. The five girls gathered round, their hearts stony and cold. All of them simultaneously dreading and chomping at the bit to see what the final news was. Applejack slid the message open to reveal not just the promised three-word message, but a picture too.

An exhausted looking Sunset Shimmer was laying happily in Gilda’s arms on a hospital bed wearing a tired but wide smile, one arm around the larger girls neck and shoulders, with the other throwing up a ‘V’. Gilda, on the other hand, was wrapped around Sunset and kissing her cheek, with her right hand held out, presumably holding the phone up, in a perfect selfie angle.

The message was three simple words.

“I LIVED BITCHES”

~Three Days Later, December 17th~

Gilda half-stumbled into her flat, throwing Sunset’s duffel bag onto the futon as she collapsed into her easy chair and let out a sigh of relief to be surrounded by familiar sights, sounds, and smells instead whatever the fuck the Hospital was supposed to look, sound, and smell like. Depression and feces, if her stay was any indication. She still felt bad about leaving Sunny there alone but she’d been discharged yesterday and had yet to leave and Sunset had made a good point that she really did need to take some time to recharge.

Resisting the constant urge to scratch her legs, Gilda took a breath and stared up at the ceiling. Sunset would be getting discharged tonight and be free to go. There had been no complications from the surgery. There hadn’t been any signs of infection either. Now that the swelling had begun to recede, Doctor Tourniquet had been pleased to note that Sunset would be able to leave the hospital just in time for CHS’s winter break to begin.

Which, of course, meant that Gilda was going to have to consider how everything would work once Sunset was staying with her.

Her caseworker, Sticky Note, wouldn’t give a shit. He never did. Not that he wasn’t a nice enough guy, he just didn’t have enough time to care. So long as Gilda toed the line and kept her nose clean for the most part then Note would essentially leave her to her own devices. She’d just tell him she had a girlfriend living with her now. He’d keep a slightly sharper eye on her for a month and once he confirmed things weren’t spiraling down, he’d go back to his routine of social triage.

No, what Gilda really was concerned about was the day to day stuff. The place wasn’t all that big. She could definitely move some shit around to make it a little more accessible, but that only went so far. The bathroom was the real issue. The door swung out and it was too close to the wall to be particularly friendly to someone opening from a sitting position. Gilda eyed the bathroom for several moments as her mind cranked through the approaches. The inside wasn’t too bad. There was enough room to go from wheelchair to toilet and back. The shower though…

Gilda grimaced. She had an idea, but she needed money to make it work. Not a lot but… Pulling out her phone, Gilda thumbed open her contacts and made a call.

//Yo, G, qué onda?//

“Hey, Crankshaft, you’n Gear in the shop today?” Gilda asked, tapping her fingers on the arm of her easy chair.

//Sure are, everything cool? Y’sound cranky.//

“It’s been a rough couple of days,” Gilda replied. “Anyways, if ya got time I needed to talk to you’n your brother.”

//Guess we can swing it if ya don’t mind helpin’ out with a few oil changes.//

Gilda chuckled. “Not f’free I won’t, otherwise, sure.”

//Course, a’course, a’right, seeya soon, chica.//

Gilda hung up and put her phone back in her pocket. Today was gonna be a different sort of day. Walking into the bathroom she took a quick shower and changed. It felt so much better than the ones in the hospital. Pulling on a fresh pair of jeans, a couple layers of loose and ratty shirts she didn’t mind getting dirty, and throwing on her bomber jacket, Gilda left. The walk to Ponyville Auto Repair wasn’t long, just a couple of blocks, but it was still freezing. Gilda was shivering as she pushed the door open, the off-tone bell at the corner of the door gave a tinny ring as she stepped into the shops front area.

The man sitting at the counter was a short, stocky fellow with mocha-colored skin, a full head of braided black hair and an easy-going smile on his face. Crankshaft was the more genial of the two brothers who ran the shop, so he mostly manned the counter despite being nearly as adept in the garage as his brother, Gear Shift was a petrolhead par excellence but had the social skills of a brick made of awkward silences.

“Crank, howsit hangin’?” Gilda greeted the man with a wave.

“Gilda!” Crankshaft sat up and opened his arms wide, his face split in a wide smile. “Good t’see you, chica, heard you got laid up?”

“Long story, Crank,” Gilda replied, shaking her head. “Look, I’m here ‘cause I need a favor.”

Crankshaft crooked an eyebrow up. “Si? That’d be a new one. Gilda la Grifa needs a favor? I’ll hear it, but we got some work t’do before we get to it.”

Gilda nodded and followed Crankshaft into the back, he tossed her one of their larger jumpsuits and she hung her coat from the rack and pulled the suit on. It was the one she usually used when she worked under the table for the brothers. Gilda practically built her own ride from scratch and when she showed it off to the pair, Crankshaft had told her to come by if she ever needed some extra scratch. They were always a little short-handed and there weren’t many skilled mechanics in the Ponyville area. Gilda was self-taught but had enough of a knack for it that she made most of her extra money helping out the brothers in their auto garage.

The afternoon went quickly, and if Gilda was being honest it felt good. Getting under the old beaters the brothers were usually called upon to bring back to life, getting stained with oil, just… working. It felt good. It only reinforced her decision to ask the guys for that favor. Besides, if she was gonna make this thing with Sunset work she’d need to start kicking her own ass into gear.

Pulling out from under the last car, a beat up old Mustang that had definitely seen better years, Gilda stood up and wiped her hands down on her jumpsuit before going to the large sink, grabbing a handful of the cheap soap dust that the brother’s used, and turning the water on to clean herself off. Shaking the hot water off, she walked into the back room where Gear Shift and Crankshaft were sitting, chatting away in their native language. As soon as Gilda took a seat, they stopped and Crank turned to her.

“So, Gilda,” Crank started, “what’s this favor you need, eh? You’re not really the favor-asking type.”

“Y-yeah… look, guys,” Gilda rubbed the back of her head, trying to find the place to start. “Basically, I’ve gotten in deep with this… this girl, savvy?” Gearshift raised an eyebrow, and Crankshaft grinned, but Gilda cut him off before he could crack a joke. “Not a word, look… I’m gonna be honest, I-I know we ain’t friends or anything but… I need a job. Like a legit job, and ya both know I can do this work. I know it’s askin’ a lot, but I wanna give this girl the world and… and I’m basically startin’ at nothing.”

The two brothers eyed each other for a moment, Gear Shift gave a silent shrug and Crankshaft smiled. “The hell you mean we ain’t friends, chica?” Crankshaft shot back, “dunno ‘bout you, but I think we’ve been amigos for awhile. You need a job, Grifa? You got a job. Besides, we been gettin’ behind on our bigger orders. Winter’s rough on a small place like this, ‘specially with the carcachas people drive ‘round this part’a town. Hell, I was gonna hire you on anyway once you were outta high school. Do you know how hard it is to find someone who knows their way around an old-school engine ‘round this town?”

Gilda was not gonna cry in front these guys, still, she definitely grinned widely and reached out to grip Crankshaft’s hand and gave it a firm shake. “Thanks, guys, I needed this. I got a lot of shit coming up.”

“De nada,” Crankshaft answered as he stepped away. “We got some paperwork to do then, yeah? Should be easy, let’s go get it done. We can start you f’real in a couple’a days, sound good? Til then, here’s the sixty for the work today, thanks for the assist amiga,”

“Sounds like a plan,” Gilda said as she took the money. “I gotta run though, got a lot more work to do today.”

“Sure, sure,” Crankshaft replied. “Bring your cariña around to say hi sometime, yeah? I wanna meet the girl that made an honest woman outta you.”

“I will,” Gilda promised, too excited to be embarrassed. “Thanks again, guys.”

Gilda’s mind buzzed with plans as she raced out of the auto repair shop and down the street towards the hardware store. She had a lot to do before Sunset came home.

~Canterlot General Hosptial; Sunset’s Room~

Sunset Shimmer stared out of her window and towards the horizon. She’d been in that same room for a maddening amount of time, and it was beginning to wear on her. The nurses particularly looked down on her occasionally slipping into her wheelchair and going rollabout, but she couldn’t just sit still.

She looked over at her nightstand that held her journal. It was beautiful: a hardbound tome embossed with her cutie mark from so long ago. The divided sun. It was a mark so similar to Princess Celestia’s that everyone around her assumed she was destined for greatness. When she was taken in as the Princess’s personal student it seemed as though those assumptions had been justified.

But everything went so very wrong.

‘You couldn’t just be content, could you?’ Sunset thought glumly. ‘Couldn’t just be happy that you were the most talented unicorn in the land and sat at the right hoof of the Princess, could you? Sunset Shimmer always has to have more.’

Reaching out, she ran her hand along the familiar binding. She had been writing in it for most of the day since Gilda had left. She knew what was coming. ‘You pretty much ruin everything you touch, don’t you, Shimmer? Get your dream role as a student to Celestia? Ruined it. Make a life on another planet? Ruined that. Finally found some friends? Ruined because you were a rancid bitch for three years. Now you’ve got Gilda. Wonder how long it’ll take you to ruin that?’

Sunset pulled the journal to her chest and hugged it, trying to fight back the tears. ‘I can do this. I can be better. I can do better,’ she repeated the thoughts over and over but it hardly drowned out the noise from the part of her brain that liked seeing her miserable. The part of her brain that knew she deserved it. ‘I can be happy. I d-deserve to be happy. Gilda said I make her happy so… so…’

“Miss Shimmer?”

Snapping out of her internal recriminations, Sunset looked up at the door where Nurse Kindheart was looking in. She saw the compassion in the older woman’s eyes. Not pity, but sympathy. “Miss Shimmer, dear, you’ve got a visitor. Do you know a ‘Twilight Sparkle’?”

Quickly wiping the tears from her eyes, Sunset nodded. “Yeah, you can let her in, thank you.”

Kindheart vanished from the doorway only to quickly be replaced by the familiar sight of the young woman who had rescued her from the darkness of her own ambition. On this side of the mirror, the lavender beauty with the kind and humble smile was a simple high school student, a bit awkward but with a radiant personality. On the other side, however, she was Her Serene Highness, Princess Twilight Starla Sparkle; Princess of Friendship, Archmaga of Canterlot, and the first Alicorn Ascendant in over a thousand years.

Not a bit of that pomp and circumstance was evident in Twilight’s face as she rushed to her friend’s bedside and wrapped her arms around Sunset, pulling her into a hug.

“H-Hey Sparkle, how’s Equestria?” Sunset asked as she returned the hug, trying her best to keep the pain out of her voice.

Twilight pulled away, a sad smile on her face. “Good, we have our troubles, of course. I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you, but the more recent messages you sent… I had hoped things were improving.” Twilight’s face fell, and her features darkened. “Guess I was wrong again.”

Sunset reached out and rested her hand over Twilight’s. “You couldn’t have known. It was a freak accident that did the actual damage, y’know. No one could have predicted that.”

Sighing, Twilight sat down at the bedside and leaned back in the chair as she turned her hand to hold Sunset’s. “I know, I know. I still… feel responsible, though. I still think none of this would’ve happened if… if the girls hadn’t just left you.”

“I wouldn’t change a thing about what happened, Twilight,” Sunset said firmly, before grimacing and then amending, “I mean, y’know, other than the cripple thing. I’d definitely change that. But the rest of it? Not a chance. Not if it meant losing…”

“Gilda,” Twilight smiled warmly this time. “It’s a little hard to believe if I’m being honest. I mean, don’t get me wrong, she’s clearly different here, but in Equestria she’s… well, it doesn’t matter. I’m happy for you, I really am.”

“Thanks,” Sunset replied, a light blush on her cheeks. “And, I dunno, maybe you should give that Gilda another shot. This one was pretty rough around the edges but… I’ve never met anyone in this world as caring, honest, straightforward, and… wonderful. Who knows, maybe somepony is missing out.”

Twilight nodded. “I’ll take that into consideration, maybe you’re right. Maybe I just haven’t been approaching from the right angle. I can’t force someone to accept friendship, that’s sort of the opposite of how interpersonal bonds work.”

“So is this just a social visit? Or well-wishing?” Sunset asked, pulling her hand back and straightening her posture in bed. Her slouch was getting pretty bad after not being able to move around on her own very much. “Too bad magic is so unreliable here or I’d see if you could work a healing spell.”

“From what you told me,” Twilight said firmly. “Even if I could work a healing spell here I wouldn’t. Considering the bone fragments issue I’d say thaumaturgical healing would probably cause more damage.”

“It was a joke, Twi’,” Sunset said wryly. “I know my condition isn’t curable, by magic or science. For whatever else comes… I’m stuck like this.”

“Yeah…” Twilight trailed off, turning her gaze out to the window. “Hey Sunset? How would you like to come home?”

Sunset froze. There were a lot of things she was expecting to hear Twilight say but that was not among them. Home? Equestria? She was an exile. Not imprisoned but neither welcome back in her homeland. Her home dimension, even. Sure she probably could have fled to the Minotaur Khanate, the Griffon Aeries, or even the Zebrican Tribal Confederation. A unicorn of her skill and power would be welcome in almost any court. But Sunset could still feel it, the beautiful forests and wide, open plains of Equestria, the soft green grass under her hooves. The wind in her mane that still smelled of sweet fruits and clean, high mountains. She would never be truly happy anywhere else in that world but Equestria.

“B-But, my exile,” Sunset’s said weakly.

Twilight just shook her head, smiling. “Celestia rescinded the order the same day I informed her of your condition. She even convened a special court hearing for it. As of this morning, the unicorn known as Sunset Shimmer is no longer Excommunicatus Equestris, and is welcome to return to her homeland at her discretion and leisure.”

“I… I…” Sunset tried to form a response, to say she would but… Sunset let out a breath. No, this was easier than she was making it out to be. She knew her decision already. “Sorry Sparkle, I’d love to visit sometime but I can’t… no, I won’t leave Gilda, She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Thank you for the offer, though.” Then Sunset smiled a little wanly. “Besides, I don’t think being a crippled unicorn would be all that much better. Sure, I’d have magic back, but here I’ve got the internet, so…” Instead of laughing, Twilight looked… unsettled. “Twi’? You okay?”

“Sunset, have you read: A Treatise on Empyreal Matter by Bright Eye?” Twilight asked suddenly.

Sunset scoffed. “C’mon, Sparkle, Empyreal Matter is like, one of the cornerstones of the Conjuring discipline. I’m a pyrothurge, of course I’ve read it. I did a dissertation on it for fun.”

“You remember the Unsummoner’s Template Conjecture then, right?” Twilight pressed.

Furrowing her brow, Sunset nodded. “Yeah, the postulate stated that summoned matter doesn’t simply fade but undergoes a process called ‘unsummoning’ in which the summoned matter retains a state-based nature, remaining cogent in a template form. It’s why summoners tend to summon similar looking creatures or in my case why my fire usually has the same general cosmetic appearance. You don’t rebuild your summoning everytime you cast, you just draw it out from a prior… template…” Sunset trailed off as her mind started to connect the dots on what Twilight was getting at. “N-no way… you’re not… Twilight, please say you’re fucking with me, right?”

Twilight flinched at the curse but shook her head. “Why do you think we appear in this world in human form? Why are we not suddenly bombarded by illness and disease since our newly formed bodies should lack any of the micro-scale adaptation built up over a lifetime of exposure to the atmosphere? Why can we speak and read the local language and dialect?”

“Because…” Sunset worked her jaw for a moment as her researcher's mind caught up. “Because the Mirror is constantly updating its base Template from the school. Teenagers are a microcosm of societal and physical growth. That means… when I came here I didn’t just pass through a portal, did I?”

“No, your form as a unicorn was ‘unsummoned’,” Twilight said softly, setting her hand Sunset’s arm. “It’s been phased out and stored as a Template… for now. Eventually, the Template will be cleared once you’re too old to effectively be matched to it, of course. Then a new one would be constructed based off of your current form in this world just as your form for this world was generated off of your unicorn form. But… for now, I believe since you’re still a teen you’ll be able to reclaim your prior state, I can’t promise for how much longer, though.”

“I… I see,” Sunset said hollowly, “that’s uh… Twi’ are you sure?”

Twilight nodded. “I’ve tested my theory extensively. The matter that enters the portal is not the same as the matter that leaves the portal.”

Nodding, Sunset let out an empty chuckle. “So technically I’m… not even Sunset Shimmer?”

“I guess?” Twilight said with a shrug. “But given that cell division does the same thing multiple times over a given lifespan I wouldn’t see why it should be an issue.”

“Heh, fair enough, Sparkle,” Shimmer replied.

She felt… distant. Everything seemed so far away except for what Twilight had just told her. She could go back to how she used to be. Hooves, mane, and all. Sunset Shimmer could return to being whole and able and powerful. All it meant was… giving up her entire life here in the human world.

Giving up Gilda.

“Twilight?”

The alicorn princess-turned human cocked her head to the side. “Did you decide? There’s no immediate hurry, but I’d definitely figure it out soon just to be safe.”

“No, I know,” Sunset answered, “but… do you think it’ll last through the end of Winter Break? Just, y’know, a couple of weeks? This is a pretty big decision.”

“I can’t make any promises,” Twilight replied morosely, “you know that.”

Sunset nodded. “Still, I’ll decide at the end of the break, before I go back to CHS. Before everything picks up again. I want to… to stay here for a little while longer.”

Twilight gave her friend a thin smile. “If you’re sure, just send me a message through the Journal, whatever you decide, alright? And if it matters, Princess Celestia has missed you terribly, she never wanted this.”

Tears leaped to Sunset’s eyes and she let out a choked cry. “Neither did I, Twilight. Tell her… tell her I miss her too, and that I love her, okay?”

“I will,” Twilight replied, “but I expect you to eventually tell her that yourself one day, she deserves that, and you deserve to be able to say it.”

Sunset hung her head but gave a short nod as Twilight leaned in and hugged her friend, and Sunset returned the embrace. They remained that way for a good while, former exile and former student until eventually, Twilight pulled away. With nothing left to say, Twilight gave Sunset’s hand a friendly squeeze before standing up and bowing herself out of the room. Sunset had a lot to think about, and less time than she would like to think about it in.

If she told Gilda… what would her girlfriend say? Would she tell Sunset to go through the portal? Probably, Gilda was that type of person. She wanted to best for Sunset. Right? Except… what did that even mean? Sunset was at least relatively certain that Gilda was what was best for her. Leaning back in her bed, Sunset groaned. This was not what she had signed up for. Prodigy or no, a test with no right answer just wasn’t fair. Then again whatever was fair? Her life had thus far been a practical study in ‘unfair’.

“Why can’t things ever be easy?” Sunset muttered to herself. “Even if it just means being a cripple who’s stuck in one place all the time, at least that decision is made for me. No input required from the dumb horse.”

The night was falling quickly, it was winter and the days were shorter than ever. Soon the only lights in Sunset’s room were from the moon- and starlight streaming in through the window. Through the remainder of the day and into the night Sunset had made absolutely no progress on the conundrum Twilight had given her.

Go home? Or stay here?

Sunset stared out the window from her bed, watching the storm blow itself out, feeling the turbulence being neatly mirrored in her own mind.

“You awake, Sunshine?” a raspy voice asked from the doorway, startling Sunset into sitting up as Gilda stepped into the room. “Hey Sunflower, when I saw the lights off I thought y'might be asleep, glad ya weren't, you okay?”

“Uh, yeah,” Sunset answered a little uneasily, glancing at the clock she saw it was almost nine at night. “I’ve been going out of my mind in here, to be honest. Not that I’m complaining, but what are you doing here so late?”

Gilda smirked. “I need a reason to come visit the most beautiful girl in the world?”

‘Oh Gilda,’ Sunset felt the pang in her heart. The easy way Gilda just complimented her and moved on, the pure, bald-faced honesty was something Sunset hadn't realized she needed right then. Gilda was wearing a fitted tanktop and worn jeans, and her bomber jacket was slung over her shoulder, with her other hand gripping the strap of Sunset’s duffel bag. Despite the weather, she didn’t look cold, in fact, Gilda looked a little too warm if anything. Feeling a little better now that she was nearby, however, Sunset reached her arms up and gestured for Gilda to come closer.

“Nope, just thought you’d be asleep by now,” Sunset replied. “Now c’mere and kiss me, I missed you.” Gilda happily obliged and swept Sunset into her arms, careful to mind the position of her legs so she didn’t twist them, and kissed her softly. Pulling away, Sunset grimaced, “baby, you’re all sweaty and you smell like sawdust and oil, what the hell’ve you been doing all day?”

Giving her girlfriend an apologetic smile, Gilda laughed. “Sorry ‘bout that Sunshine, I gotta surprise for you back home. Also, I uh, mighta got a job.”

Sunset stared incredulously at Gilda for a moment before shaking herself back to reality. “Wait… what? You… a job? Is this because-”

Gilda held up a hand, forestalling Sunset’s incoming tirade. “Okay, hold it, lemme go back. Honestly, I sorta already had a job. This might be a shock but an emancipated high school orphan doesn’t have a lotta spare scratch kickin’ around. I pick up some under the table stuff at an auto shop near my place. I like workin’ on cars’n bikes and stuff. And I’m good at it. So when I asked to go legit with’em they had no problem. Turns out they were gonna give me the job once I got outta high school anyway, and I’da taken it too, now I just got it a little earlier, that’s all.”

That… made Sunset feel a little better. When Gilda put it that way it made sense, there was no way Gilda could afford anything if she didn’t have some kind of income. Sunset had just sort of… silently worried it had come from less-than-legal means. Technically she hasn't been wrong; under the table work was a legal grey area at best, but way better than Sunset’s more worrisome thoughts had been.

“Still… you got it because of me, didn’t you?” Sunset asked a bit sadly. “Because I’m…” she trailed off, clenching her eyes. A pair of warm hands came up to cradle her cheeks and she opened her eyes again to look up into Gilda’s golden orbs.

“I’da probably asked for the job early anyway, Sunshine,” Gilda said with a wry smile. “See I… I’da felt bad not bein’ able to take you on dates and stuff. I’ve never really done this sorta thing before but, uh, turns out I’m kinda old fashioned that way. So, yeah, yer gonna hafta let me take you to dinner and movies and stuff ‘cause I’m pretty sure my entire idea of dating comes from old movies.”

Sunset smiled, bringing her hand up to trace her fingers along the back of Gilda’s. “How do you do that?” she asked softly, “just… make me feel better every time I’m about to fall apart? You say exactly what I need to hear.”

“Dunno, babe,” Gilda answered, leaning in to kiss Sunset on the forehead. “Wish I had somethin’ elegant t’say but I’m pretty much just wingin’ it here.”

“Pun intended?” Sunset asked with a quirked eyebrow. Gilda blinked in confusion for a moment before catching up and slapping her palm to her face. “Guess not, but that kinda makes it better though,” Sunset said with a chuckle. “So are you staying the night here again? I’m sure the nurses won’t care.”

“Nah,” Gilda responded. “I’m here to bring you home, Sunshine. I talked to the night nurse and they said you could be discharged now if you wanted, there’s even a service to drive you over to my place.”

Sunset stared for a moment before breaking out into a wide smile. “I can get out of this place finally?!”

“Sure can, Sunny,” Gilda replied with a grin. “I got a surprise for ya when we get back to my place too. I think you’re gonna like it, Sunflower.”

“Gil, if you keep doing shit for me I’m gonna develop a complex,” Sunset complained playfully. “But… thank you, I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Gilda kneeled down to kiss Sunset before dropping the duffel bag. “I left a wheelchair out in the hall, let’s getcha dressed. It’s cold as a witch’s tit out there.”

What proceeded was a little irritating for Sunset. Gilda, to her credit, had brought the easiest thing for Sunset to put on given the circumstances, a teal sundress that hung from her shoulders and trailed down a little past her knees. Given that it wasn’t particularly warm, Gilda had also brought the two spare blankets and one of her bigger, warmer winter jackets to bundle Sunset up in.

That wasn’t the irritating part.

The irritating part was the underwear. Neither of them had particularly counted on how embarrassing and difficult it would be for a girl without the ability to move her legs. Sunset ended up shooing Gilda out of the room so she could go about awkwardly dressing which involved a great deal of colorful and unusual (to Gilda) phrases. By the time Gilda got back into the room, Sunset was dressed and sitting in the wheelchair that had been brought in to transport her, and looking silently grumpy. Her mood persisted through much of being rolled through the hospital’s halls, although Gilda did have one specific question on her mind that she gave a voice to.

“So did… did you swear by our Principal’s beard?” Gilda asked in confusion.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Sunset answered evenly.

Gilda furrowed her brow. “It just seems a little-”

“I don’t want to talk about.” Sunset hissed through clenched teeth, turning her head just enough to give Gilda the evil eye.

“Okay! Okay!” Gilda held up a hand in surrender and returned to silently pushing Sunset towards the exit.

The quiet lasted up until Sunset sighed and reached her hand over her shoulder to rest it on Gilda’s wrist. “Sorry, I snapped at you,” Sunset said softly. “I’m kind of a bitch when I’m cranky, and I have a feeling I’m gonna be cranky a lot for a while so… y’know, feel free to call me on it.”

“No skin off my back, Sunshine,” Gilda replied in an easy tone but, rather than relaxing, Sunset tightened her grip on Gilda. “Sunny?”

“Gilda, I need you to call me on it,” Sunset said after a moment. “Please, otherwise every time I do it I’ll eventually realise I did it. Then, I’ll feel like a bitch, and I’ll feel like even more of a waste of time, because ‘why would you bother with someone who snaps at you all the time?’ and… and…” Sunset brought the heels of her hands up to her eyes and rubbed at them. “Shit, I’m crying again, goddammit!”

Locking the chair in place, Gilda swept around to the front and wrapped her arms around Sunset who grabbed onto her like a drowning woman. “Okay, I will, I promise,” Gilda said.

“I hate this, Gil,” Sunset sobbed, “I hate this so much. I hate that I can’t move my legs, I hate that my friends left me alone, I hate that no one at CHS ever really forgave me! Everyone just smiled to my face while they waited for me to fuck up again! I hate all of it! If it weren’t for you I don’t even know where I’d be!” Sunset pounded her fists into Gilda’s shoulders as she cried. “I hate it. If I never had a chance after the Formal then why couldn’t they have just left me in that stupid crater to die!”

Gilda’s whole body went rigid as Sunset sobbed. Slowly, Gilda pulled away from Sunset and brought her hand up to the redhead’s chin and forced their eyes to meet. There was anger in Gilda’s gaze. Real, iron fury that made Sunset cower back for a moment, stunning her out of her rant.

“Don’t,” Gilda breathed out, “ever, ever say that again, okay?” Her own tears started to run quietly down her dark cheeks. “Don’t you ever say you wish you’d died. Not t’me. Because if you had I’da missed this. All’a this. You think I regret a single goddamn thing about us? I still have nightmare’s ‘bout seein’ you under those fuckin’ stairs, Sunflower but I wouldn't even trade away those if it meant not bein’ with you. I hate what those assholes did but you’re better than that. You’re better than them, okay?”

Sunset whimpered a little but nodded. “I just… I can’t help it. I keep thinking this stuff and it clogs up my brain. All day I just sat in bed hating myself and telling myself I was worthless and I couldn’t shut my brain up!”

Gilda relaxed, her hands going to Sunset’s back and stroking her fingers up and down. “What can I do, Sunshine?” Gilda asked softly. “I wanna help but… I’m not smart, babe. I dunno what to do. I can’t… I can’t lose you, okay?” Leaning in, Gilda pressed her forehead to Sunset’s. “Maybe it’s stupid, but I’m pretty boring honestly. Like, my whole life has just been kickin’ around, stayin’ alive, and not givin’ a shit. Being with you has been pretty much the best of it so far. Before I met you my plan was basically to get the hell out school, get a job, and then smoke myself to an early grave.”

“Yeah but… you shouldn’t have to take care of me,” Sunset replied. “If I can’t do anything then what good am I?”

Rather than answer Sunset, Gilda kissed her. Not a hard, fast, passionate kiss, or a teasing, romantic kiss. It was warm, slow, and honey-sweet. Tracing fingers up her pale neck, running her thumb gently along Sunsets jaw, and repeating the motion slowly as their lips sealed softly against one another. Gilda tried to show Sunset, in all the ways she didn't have the words to tell, just how much she loved the girl.

After what felt like an hour they parted, both panting to get their breath back as Gilda grinned. “I’m gonna get to do that basically whenever I want, right?”

Sunset smiled a little shyly, flushed but looking happier, and nodded.

“Well I’m sure as fuck not complaining, then,” Gilda continued. “Besides, I wasn’t jokin’ before, you’re way fuckin’ smarter than me, Sunshine. You’ll figure out somethin’ to do, and if I can help just tell me, yeah?”

“Okay,” Sunset answered, taking a deep breath and rubbing at her eyes. “Sorry, again. I keep doing that. I guess serious trauma and almost dying really takes it out of a girl, huh?”

“Yeah, you really can’t catch a break can ya, Sunshine?” Gilda remarked blithely.

“I caught you,” Sunset replied with a cocky smile.

“Heh, yeah,” Gilda agreed, giving Sunset another, quicker, kiss. “I guess ya did.”

Getting back behind Sunset’s wheelchair, Gilda quickened their pace, getting down to the lobby before handing Sunset the thick coat to put on while Gilda threw the two sets of covers over her and tucked them in. The transport van had already lowered its ramp by the time the pair got out into the cold. Gilda pushed Sunset up and into the van, then quickly hopped in and sat on the bench beside her, belting herself in, and then reaching out to hold Sunset’s hand. The drive was slow, the snow was coming down almost as hard as it had the first night they’d spent together; binge-watching horror movies and cuddling on the couch. The night that Sunset had realised just how kind Gilda really was deep down.

They didn’t talk during the ride, Sunset was happy just to enjoy Gilda being nearby again. It had been a long day, especially considering Twilight’s offer. That was a little annoyance that was currently curled up in the back of her head. The thing was, if Twilight was going to ask her right now, at this moment, she’d say ‘no’ in a heartbeat. Right now the idea of being without Gilda, even if she did have a working body and magic, was so painful she couldn’t even consider it.

She needed time to be objective.

Besides, she wanted to enjoy her Christmas inasmuch as she could. Especially since she would be spending it with Gilda.

~Ponyville Commons~

As the van pulled alongside the Ponyville Commons, Gilda flagged the driver to stop. “That’s close enough, boss, the parking lot’sa hot mess, you can let me’n Sunflower out right here. Thanks for the ride.”

They opened the back and lowered out the ramp, and Gilda got out behind Sunset to pull her free of the confined space. It felt good to be in the open air again even if it was freezing. Sunset had been starting to get a little panicky if she was being honest. There was very little wiggle room in the back of the van and if Gilda hadn’t been there holding her hand the whole ride she might’ve lost it.

‘Wonder if I managed to develop claustrophobia on top of all my other issues,’ Sunset considered in annoyance. ‘That would just figure, wouldn’t it? Given that I was almost crushed to death, though, I can’t say I’d be surprised.’

Gilda pushed Sunset through the parking lot which was quickly becoming a snowed-in mess. Sunset didn’t mind though, it meant they could probably spend the next day on the couch watching movies and talking again. She was badly in need of a little bit of normal. When they reached Gilda’s door, though, she stopped and came around with a wide grin.

“Okay, so, I’ve got… kind of a surprise for ya, Sunflower,” Gilda said.

Sunset smiled questioningly. “Okay? You look nervous, is everything alright, Gil?”

“Yeah…” Gilda said awkwardly, “I just… want you to know how much I love you, okay?”

“Babe,” Sunset said as she rolled her eyes and laughed. “Look where we are, look where I am,” she gestured to Gilda’s place and to her wheelchair. “Do you really think I don’t know at least by this point how much you love me?”

Gilda chuckled nervously, “Uh, yeah, no I know… but, this is… I wanted to do this for you. Since you’re gonna be livin’ here and all.”

Sunset’s eyes narrowed a little. “Do what?” Reaching down for the lever lock on her wheels, Sunset rolled herself towards Gilda’s door. “Gil, what did you do?” She pushed past Gilda, using her chair as one part battering ram to two parts transport and turned the knob of the door, pushing it open.

Grunting in annoyance as she rolled herself over the lip of the doorway, Sunset rolled in and what she saw made her jaw drop. Gilda’s place was not generally the cleanest in the world, nor the best organized. The furniture had, by general assumption, been stuck wherever was most convenient when it was brought into the flat and then left there. That was how Sunset had left the flat last time she’d been here.

Now, though, the floor had been mopped and swept enough so that it looked like even the bottommost layer of grime had been scrubbed away. A new(ish) rug had been added to the floor ensuring that most of the small living space had traction for her. The biggest change was the decor, though. The smell of sawdust pervaded the small home almost as much as the cigarette smoke did and the source was clear. The couch-style futon… wasn’t really a couch anymore. It was full in bed position but the futon mattress had been replaced with a real one. The legs had been sawed down, lowered to a height that Sunset could easily move to from her wheelchair and then back. It had also been aligned more evenly with the corners of the flat, and a metal handle had been screwed into the side of the wall near the bed for her to grip.

The t.v was still perched atop the dresser which was directly across from the bed, and Gilda’s chair was set closer to the kitchen. Sunset was so stunned at the change, she barely registered Gilda taking a hold of her wheelchair’s handles and pushing her the rest of the way in.

“So… what’dya think, Sunshine?” Gilda asked as she came around from behind the chair to stand in the middle of her reorganised flat. “I spent the morning and some’a the day doin’ some work at the autoshop, and pretty much the rest of the day until I headed over to see you doin’ all this.” She gestured around the place. “It’s not much, but I think it’ll be a lot easier for ya.”

“Y-y-you…” Sunset worked her jaw for several moments. “You completely… you… the handle and… the bed… you…”

“Uh, babe?” Gilda said a little nervously. “You, uh… you alright there?”

Sunset reached down to the small bag of her personal effects she’d had in the hospital during her stay and touched the firm binding of the journal. ‘Oh Twilight, what do I say to this? How do I… how did I ever consider leaving this beautiful, amazing…’

Wiping a few tears from her eyes, Sunset nodded. “Yeah, I’m fantastic, I just… I can’t believe you did all this. For me.”

Gilda laughed a little as she closed the door against the cold and locked it before hanging up her coat. “C’mon, Sunshine. What’s that’s supposed to mean?”

“Huh?” Sunset looked up at her in confusion.

“I mean, what’dya mean ‘you can’t believe it’?” Gilda asked as she pushed Sunset towards the bed and started dismantling the little fort of covers that made up Sunset’s lower body and throwing them over the bed. “Can’t you tell by now?”

The redhaired once-and-former exile stared around at the little flat, then back up to her beautiful girlfriend, with her smooth dark skin and moonlight hair, at that cocked grin and those entrancing golden eyes, and she smiled.

“No, you’re right,” Sunset said finally, holding out her arms so Gilda could pick her up and gently move her over to the bed. Once she was seated, though, she didn’t let go and just stared into Gilda’s eyes, grinning widely. “I was being silly, of course I can tell. It’s going to take a little while for me to really believe it, but… right now? Yeah, I can tell.”

Gilda moved in and kissed Sunset, warm and soft just like it had been in the hallways of Canterlot General. “Good, because I’m never gonna stop doin’ shit for ya Sunshine, so you’re gonna hafta get used to it.”

“I will one day,” Sunset said, her heart aching. Gilda was so damn sure that they’d be together. That nothing would drive them apart. “Bear with me until then, alright?”

“Always, Sunflower,” Gilda said, her raspy voice softening. “Now I’m gonna take a shower then we can watch part two of Halloween, Mikey get’sa way better kill count in this one.” She smirked as she peeled her shirt off and tossed it at the hamper in the corner, giving Sunset a lewd wink over her bare shoulder as she sashayed into the bathroom.

Sunset shook her head and laughed as she swung her legs up onto the bed and started to undress. “You’re a hopeless romantic, Gilda Grimfeather!” Sunset called out from where she was snuggling into the bed.

“You love me anyway, Sunshine,” Gilda called from the bathroom as the shower sputtered to life.

Fluffing one of the pillows and settling in to wait for her girlfriend to return from her shower with, most likely, some delicious popcorn, Sunset felt her grin widen as she hugged one of Gilda’s other pillows to her bare chest. “I do, Gilda,” Sunset whispered quietly, “I really, really do.”

4. Give Me Your Heart, Make It Real

~The Next Morning, December 18th~

The morning sun streamed through the windows of Gilda’s flat, barely broken up by the poorly maintained blinds that hung from them. Sunset Shimmer groaned as the sun struck that perfect angle where it lanced into her eyes like a blinding spear of pain. If she were still in Equestria she would suspect the Princess of adjusting the angle just enough to wake her former student up.

She would have too.

Celestia was that kind of immortal ruler.

The bored kind.

Here, though, it was just good old natural lighting. The morning air was freezing and the small bits of Sunset’s shoulders that were loose from the blankets were informing her in no uncertain terms what kind of icy hellscape getting up from bed right now would introduce her to. For a moment she vacillated between getting up quickly enough to get over to the window, adjust the blinds and bury herself back in the covers and the rumpled sleep sweater that she’d stolen from Gilda, and just trying to find a place where the light didn’t burn her precious eyeballs.

Then she tried to move her legs and remembered.

‘Right, doing things quickly isn’t really my thing anymore.’ Sunset thought a little bitterly to herself. ‘Fuck.’

Part of her wanted to wallow in it. To spend the next hours of wakefulness thinking about all the things she couldn’t do anymore which was pretty much all the stuff she used to enjoy. No more morning jogs, no more any kind of sport pretty much, no more taking walks. Every thought slipped through her mind like a sieve leaving behind yet more residue that was weighing her down.

Then Gilda rolled over in her sleep. Her long, muscular arm draped over Sunset’s torso and the moment they came into contact Gilda sleepily curled her arm around her girlfriend and pulled her in, holding her like a body pillow and snuggling against Sunset while muttering unintelligibly.

A small smile traced over Sunset’s lips as she turned and inhaled Gilda’s familiar, calming scent. “Dammit, Gil,” she whispered under her breath. “Even while you’re asleep you won’t let me wallow in my depressive funk.” ‘On the other hand she’s blocking the sun now…’

Sunset spent the next few minutes just… watching. Taking in the beautiful girl holding her close. Freeing her arm, she adjusted the blankets a little the cover both of them again and settled in. Gilda always talked about the way she looked so… negatively. Sunset never got the impression that Gilda disliked the way she looked, per se, but Gilda was always adamant about how she was just ‘too big’, or ‘bulky’, or her favorite term: ‘a huge bitch’. On the contrary, Gilda was proud of her physique and she deserved to be, but she also seemed to think it made her… less attractive.

Gilda had fallen asleep in a loose, ratty tanktop leaving her soft, dark arms free. Sighing, Sunset reached up and traced a finger along Gilda’s arm; running her fingers over the bicep, around to her triceps, and savoring the firm feeling of her shoulders. Gilda was, at least to Sunset’s eyes, very attractive. Gorgeous, even. Mouth-watering was another term but she definitely wasn’t going to say that one out loud or her face would probably burst into flames.

Instead, Sunset just moved a little closer and nestled into Gilda’s arms. Right now, right here, it was morning and nothing else mattered but staying warm.

“Mm, g’mornin’, Sunflower,” Gilda murmured drowsily, shifting in the bed to better accommodate Sunset’s presence, eventually settling on moving up slightly and resting her chin just above Sunset’s head on the pillow. “Y’sleep alright?”

“Yeah,” Sunset answered contentedly, “I always do when I’m with you.”

Gilda blushed but only pulled Sunset closer. “Tryin’ t’charm me, Sunny? Pretty sure y’already got that down pat. The trick now is gettin’ ridda’ me.”

“Like I’d ever actually want that,” Sunset answered. “I love you way too much, Gil. Like… a scary amount.” She’d meant it to come out as a joke but it ended up sounding… literal, and Sunset flinched. “Wow, sorry… that sounded really creepy.”

“Hey, Sunshine?” Gilda said, pulling herself up to a sitting position, leaning against the wall that made up the head of the bed. “C’mere,” she gestured for Sunset to join her.

“Uh, Gil?” Sunset deadpanned before lifting herself up onto her elbows and blithely gesturing towards her lower half.

“Oh, uh…” Gilda’s cheeks reddened and she leaned in to loop one of Sunset’s arms around her shoulders and pulled her up to sit alongside her. “Sorry, babe. I’m such an idiot, I’ll uh, I’ll… ugh point is… lemme ask ya a question, okay Sunshine?” Sunset nodded, meeting Gilda’s golden eyes evenly. “So, given whatcha know ‘bout me’n how I live, right? How many people d’ya think love me?”

Sunset scowled immediately and opened her mouth to admonish Gilda almost reflexively… except she couldn’t. Her face fell as she tried to find a counter to Gil’s question. An answer that didn’t sound, well, horrible.

“C’mon Sunshine, ain’t a hard question, I’m Gilda the Griffon. That’s not exactly a flattering nickname,” she continued with a dry smirk before starting counting off on one hand, “Les’see, I live alone, my folks are dead, my teachers resent me even when I do show up, so yeah. How many people actually love Gilda Grimfeather?”

“I do…” Sunset said finally. “I love you.”

Gilda smiled a warm, genuine smile, looking down Sunset as she wrapped an arm around her waist and rested a hand on her thigh. “Yeah ya do, and lemme tell ya Sunflower, if you’re the only one in my whole life who, y’know, ever loves me, then that’ll be enough for me.”

“Oh, Gil…” Sunset sobs softly before burying her face in Gilda’s shoulder. “Don’t talk like that. You’re amazing. You’re… so good. You’re loyal and honest, you’re generous and kind, and you can always make me laugh.” Looking up at Gilda, Sunset takes a hard grip on the larger girl’s tanktop. “So don’t… don’t act like no one can love you. You’re incredible! I love you! Right now, my whole life is pretty much a dumpster fire okay? You? You’re the one who makes it worth living. You’re the whole reason I’m still here, okay? I love you so goddamn much!”

By the end Sunset is practically shaking a bewildered and stunned Gilda, glaring through watery eyes. Finally, though, Sunset calmed down and just rested her forehead against Gilda’s shoulder, taking in shaky breaths.

“Gilda, you deserve all the love in the world,” Sunset said softly. “But even if you are right? Even if all you’re going to get is mine? Then you’re getting all of it, Okay?”

Grinning, Gilda brought a hand up and rubbed away the streaks of tears from Sunset’s face. “Sure thing, Sunshine. I’ll take that deal any day of the week, month, or year. Your love is all I’ll ever need.”

Grinning ear to ear, Sunset pulled herself up and kissed Gilda, wrapping both arms around her neck and getting as close as she could. She wanted to feel as much as possible and, apparently, Gilda agreed as the larger girl’s hand wandered down to settle on Sunset’s rear end.

Pulling away with a wry smirk, Sunset grinned smokily at Gilda who returned the look. “You gonna move your hand?”

“Nope.”

Sunset’s grin widened. “Good.”

Giving her girl a good squeeze, eliciting a satisfying squeak of surprise, Gilda pulled Sunset all the way into her lap, wrapping them both in the blanket. “So, seriously, what’re we doin’ today?”

Wiggling her hips happily, Sunset smiled and rested her head on Gilda’s shoulder. “Dunno, the mall, maybe? I… I kinda wanna get out, y’know? I’ve been cooped up for days, I know it’ll be weird getting around in my wheelchair so… I’d rather get used to it now, y’know?”

There was no reason to ask if Sunset was sure. Gilda had it figured even before she fell in love with the girl that if Sunset said something then she was pretty much already as sure as she was gonna get. The real issue was getting Sunset not to do something she’d decided to do, Gilda reflected a little morosely as she recalled her previously homeless living situation. That girl had a serious problem asking for help.

“Okay,” Gilda said, planting a soft kiss on Sunset’s cheek and getting a heart-warming laugh in return. “The mall should be opening soon, s’gonna be swamped though, y’know. First real day’a vaca-y.”

“I know,” Sunset answered, her face falling a little. “If I’m gonna get used to it though, I’m just gonna get it done. Once they see me rolling around like that in the mall, they won’t give me too much shit in the hallways… I hope.”

“Pfft, yeah,’ Gilda retorted a little sullenly. “The hope and the dream, ‘ey Sunshine?”

Sunset just shook her head before pulling herself free of Gilda and reaching out to grip the handle, hissing a bit as the cold metal chilled her warm skin, and heaving herself from the bed to her chair, unlatching it as she turned toward the bathroom. “Other po-people will do what they’ll do, Gil, we both know that.”

“Yeah, but-”

“But for me?” Sunset asked no one in particular, but smiling widely. “I’ve already got the hope and the dream, I woke up next to her this morning.”

Gilda didn’t really have a response to that. She just stuttered and blushed as Sunset wheeled herself into the bathroom and shut the door.

“Dammit Sunflower,” Gilda muttered. “Always gotta have the last word.”

“And grab my guitar, will you babe?” Sunset shouted from the bathroom. “I need new strings!”

Fortunately, the Mall was a bus hub, making it one of the easiest places in the city of Canterlot to get to at any given time regardless of your motive abilities. All buses in the area passed through the central station adjoining the Mall, and the Ponyville Commons had plenty of stops. Getting Sunset’s chair loaded onto one of the two disabled seats wasn’t particularly easy but Gilda patiently worked through it.

“Don’t worry babe,” Gilda laughed as she pushed a sullen Sunset into place. “It’ll get easier with practice, first time for everything, yeah?”

Sunset sighed and nodded. “I know, but it’s still… annoying, y’know? I’m in everybody’s way.”

“They can suck it up, buttercup,” Gilda remarked wryly drawing a few glares from the rest of the passengers. “Hey, what’re you lot lookin’ at?”

Gilda scowled at the rest of the bus patrons for a moment before returning to fixing up the belts that secured Sunset’s seat in place and then taking the spot beside her. There was a slight kick of acceleration as the bus took off towards its destination, it was a forty-five-minute ride thanks to the circuitous route, but it was better than walking in the freezing cold. Doubly so because the sidewalks weren’t exactly wheelchair-friendly thanks to the snowfall.

“I hate this,” Sunset groused, running her hands nervously over her guitar case.

Gilda reached over and took one of her hands, giving it a soft squeeze. “Hate what? The bus ride? We can get off early if ya want. Walk the rest of the way.”

Sunset shook her head. “No, I hate being an inconvenience. I’ve had to adjust to… to a lot of changes in my life. My legs burdening me is… well, not fine but I can deal. It’s how much it just… messes with other people. I just slow people down.”

“I’ve been kinda wondering why you’ve been so, y’know, laid-back about dealing with this whole thing,” Gilda said, gesturing to Sunset’s wheelchair. “I’d be freakin’ out. What kinda ‘changes’ even come close to bein’ a match for your legs?”

‘Losing my magic,’ Sunset thought dourly. “That’s… that’s a really long conversation, actually, but we can talk about it when we get home tonight, okay? It’s something I should tell you about anyway since we’re, y’know…”

“Desperately in love?” Gilda interjected with a grin, evoking a heated blush from Sunset.

“Wow, subtle much?” Sunset countered, laughing a little. “But, uh… yeah, basically. It just isn’t something that comes up in casual conversation much for reasons that’ll become pretty obvious. And… it’s also something I don’t like talking about.”

“Y’don’t have to,” Gilda said, rubbing the back of Sunset’s hand. “I’m good just bein’ with you. We all got a past and if leavin’ it buried is your thing it’s no skin off’a my back, savvy?”

Sunset leaned over to rest her head against Gilda’s shoulder. “No, it’s not that. I can talk about it. I want to talk about it… with you I mean. You deserve to know me, if you’re going to be doing this much for me I want you to know who I am.”

“We’re eighteen, babe. I’m pretty sure we’re still in the middle of figuring out who we are for ourselves.” Gilda replied, with a laugh as she reached up and stroked Sunset’s cheek, earning an appreciative hum from the redhead. “But if ya wanna talk, I’ll always listen to ya.”

“I know,” Sunset answered, “and I love you for it.”

The rest of the bus ride passed in relative silence, patrons boarding and leaving for the next half hour until finally, the bright, shining mall came into view on the horizon. It was a massive edifice to consumerism, more so than most shopping centers. Its name was not hyperbole; the Crystal Emporium had massive crystalline windows and towering sheets of reflective glass that caught the light of the snowy day and sent shimmering rainbows all over the freshly fallen snow from the night before. When it parked, Gilda reached down to undo the belts as Sunset snapped the brake latch on the wheels up.

“Good news,” Gilda said, looking over Sunset’s shoulder and out the bus window. “They must’ve salted the sidewalks, totally clear of snow.”

“Pretty sure that’s a safety regulation, thing, hon,” Sunset replied, following Gilda’s gaze.

“Whatever, still convenient,” Gilda snarked back.

The two girls disembarked, Sunset’s guitar hanging from the back of her wheelchair, and made their way down towards the main east entrance of the mall that led into one of the larger department stores. It was a cold day, but Sunset was bundled up, as usual, an orange beanie on her head and a thick jacket, one of Gilda’s spares, on while Gilda was wearing a thick sweater, red scarf, and her usual bomber jacket and jeans.

“I always kinda wondered what was up with your jacket, Gil,” Sunset said as Gilda wheeled her towards the entrance. “You always wear it.”

“It was my dad’s,” Gilda said, her voice uncharacteristically quiet. “The only real solid thing I got left’a my parents. He was a pilot in the Air Force and he was pretty much my hero. Right up til he died I thought he was invincible.”

“God, Gil, I… I’m so sorry I-” Sunset worked her jaw for a second but Gilda just chuckled dryly and gave Sunset’s shoulder a squeeze.

“Don’t sweat it, Sunshine,” Gilda said, her voice getting back some of its usual bravado. “You didn’t know, s’not that big’a deal anyway. You had a question, I gave you an answer. If I didn’t wanna answer it I wouldn’t’ve, savvy?”

Sunset nodded, then looked back and over her shoulder up at Gilda. “Yeah, still, I guess it’s just one of those things I’ll never really connect with y’know? I never had anyone to ‘lose’ in the parental department. It was just me for the longest time.”

Fishing around in her pocket, Gilda pulled out her pack of cigarettes and tapped a couple out, passing one down to Sunset who took it gratefully along with the proffered match.

Lighting it, Sunset took a long drag before letting out a satisfied breath of smoke. “Ugh, Elysium’s tits, that hit the spot, thanks, babe.”

“You and your fuckin’ swears, Sunflower,” Gilda laughed. “Someday you gotta tell me how you come up with that shit.”

“Tonight,” Sunset promised with a smile.

They stopped just outside the main entrance to finish their cigarettes, watching as the people walked by. A few of them Sunset recognized from school but none of them seemed to recognize her in return. Fair enough, she wasn’t looking normal and her most noticeable feature, her red and gold hair, was bundled up in her jacket and beanie. Maybe that was for the best though, she wasn’t sure how comfortable she would be getting noticed.

“You alright, babe?” Gilda asked, looking down as she flicked the butt of her cigarette into the ashtray on top of a nearby trash can. “You look kinda jittery.”

“Just nerves, y’know?” Sunset answered uneasily. “It’s… weird, being out in this thing. I know I said I needed to do it, and I do, but it doesn’t stop it from feeling weird.”

Gilda shrugged. “Yeah, fair enough, but either way ya still got me, and we can leave whenever ya want, savvy?”

“Heh, ‘savvy’,” Sunset replied, blowing a smoky kiss towards Gilda.

Once their cigarettes were finished the two entered the mall, weaving through the stacks of outfits, purses, makeup and other decor items that Rarity probably would’ve found endlessly fascinating. The thought brought a pang of sadness to Sunset’s heart but it wasn’t as painful as she had expected it to be. The wound was healing, with time and with love.

‘Especially that last one,’ Sunset thought warmly, stealing a glance at Gilda who was pushing her through the aisles with a bored, glazed look in her eyes. ‘Guess she’s not a closet fashionista then, not that I’m surprised.’

When they finally made it into the mall proper Sunset had to admit she was impressed. She rarely went to the Emporium, maybe once or twice during her entire tenure on this world, and only for a very specific reason. Now, though, she had no real purpose but to wander about and in doing so she had the opportunity to appreciate not only the size of the multi-level mall but the size of the crowds.

Sunset swallowed hard as her nerves reared up again. “M-maybe this wasn’t such a hot idea, Gil…”

“I know it’s tough right now, babe,” Gilda said soothingly. “But give it an hour, okay? If you’re still on nails after that then we’ll am’scray, deal?”

Taking a shaky breath, Sunset nodded. “Deal.”

The two made their way through the crowds, Gilda did her best to stick to the sides and avoid the middle of the thoroughfares that had thick crowds moving through them pretty much constantly. Sunset did her best to banish her nerves; drumming her fingers, humming along to the mindless tunes played over the mall p.a. system, and generally just distracting herself. One of the few things that did well to distract her was the non-generic music. Every so often, between shops or at corners of the mall, someone would be leaning against the wall, sitting on a stool, or just on a mat on the ground and playing an instrument. There was something… lively about it. They stayed a few times but always moved on and the nerves came back.

“Mind if we hit the food court, Sunshine?” Gilda asked, looking down. “It’ll be crowded but I’m starvin’.”

“I think that’ll be fine,” Sunset answered. “People sitting and eating isn’t a big deal, no one’s looking at me, after all. People go to food courts to stuff their faces.”

Gilda laughed, leaning down to kiss Sunset on the cheek. “Fair point, alright, let’s go get something deep fried and greasy.”

“My hero,” Sunset replied dryly.

Malls were, by their nature, places of convenience. All things that might be generally wanted or needed by the immediate populace collected in a single place under a single roof for easy perusal. That being said there was a certain matter prevalent in multi-level malls. One that was especially irritating for Sunset.

Stairs.

“Goddammit, I’m like a fucking Dalek over here,” Sunset groused, glaring at the spiraling stairs as she and Gilda waited in line ten people deep. “What kind of electrical socket-licking architectural dropout thought three lifts were enough to service an entire three-level mall?!”

Gilda was cackling, leaning hard on Sunset’s wheelchair as her girlfriend vented her frustrations about the lift situation. It was almost fifteen minutes of unstoppable vitriol from the redheaded spitfire before they finally got onto the lift and started up. By that point, most of the line was laughing along with them.

“Baby?” Gilda said between chuckles as the numbers ticked up on the lift. “Never change, okay? That was hilarious.”

“I wasn’t trying to be funny,” Sunset scrunched her face up but failed to keep her anger with her girlfriend absentmindedly stroking her fingers up and down Sunset’s cheek and neck. Blowing out a breath, Sunset leaned into Gilda’s touch. “So what’re you hungry for?”

“Dunno,” Gilda replied. “You know me, Sunshine, not a real picky gal.”

The corners of the upper level nearest the food court were given over to nicer sit-down style restaurants. A Marexican place, an upscale bistro, and a cozy Neighpon Sushi restaurant were some of the nicer ones. In the adjoining plaza were the more fast food style locales. A variety of food types from around the globe were up on offer but most of them had especially long lines.

“Damn, the way this is lookin’ we’d probably get our food faster at one of the sit-downs,” Gilda grumbled. “But those places are kinda spendy…”

Sunset reached up and touched Gilda’s hand. “Hey, we can swing it. I was homeless, not penniless. The reason I lived in that place was that I was frugal. I had to make the money I had last, but now… well, I’ve got some money laying around. Not a lot but if we’re going to be together then it’s both of ours.”

Gilda shuffled her feet a little. “W-well, yeah but…”

“Sunset Shimmer, as I live and breathe,” a familiar, haughty voice said from behind the two teens.

Eyes widening in recognition, Sunset took control of her chair and wheeled around to stare at the terribly familiar face that went along with the voice. She looked just like Sunset remembered her: long legs and wide hips, a full, seductive smile, and sharp, intelligent eyes. All backed with the most enormous poof of orange hair.

“A-Adagio Dazzle?” Sunset stammered, staring at the former Siren. “What… why…”

Stepping up to glare down at the confidently smirking Equestrian exile, Gilda reached out to take a hold of Sunset’s hand, never taking her eyes off of Adagio.

“Oh relax, Shimmy,” Adagio laughed before gesturing to herself. She was wearing a tailored waitress uniform that had the simple insignia of Koi Sushi on it. “I’m a law-abiding citizen now, we Sirens had to find something to do with our lives once you stripped our magic from us.”

That was true, it’s not like they could get up to any kind of trouble except the normal non-magical kind without their pendants. That didn’t mean Sunset trusted them, they were devious and predatory creatures from another dimension so a certain amount of caution felt warranted.

“Yeah well, forgive me if I don’t immediately trust every word that comes out of your mouth,” Sunset replied, narrowing her eyes at Adagio. “You caused a lot of trouble for a lot of people back at CHS.”

Adagio didn’t respond, instead all expression seemed to leave her face as she eyed Sunset up and down for almost a full minute to the point that Sunset was getting a little uncomfortable with the naked scrutiny. Gilda flagged her hand in front of Adagio’s face, earning an annoyed glance from the Siren.

“Hey,” Gilda barked, “what’s with the eyeballin’ huh? Don’t you have something better to do, puffball?”

“No, not really,” Adagio said softly before turning around and leaning back towards the shop. “Ms. Koi? I’m off shift, but I’m going to be having lunch with some friends here, is that alright?”

Sunset stared at the sudden change in Adagio’s demeanor and voice. She went from her usual contemptuous tone to sounding almost like a normal girl. Albeit one with a huge ego, just not an ego that could consume an entire continent in its hubris. A short Neighponese woman came out from behind the counter with a serving tray and smiled.

“Of course, Adagio, there’s a table in the corner,” she pointed off to the side. “I’ll have Maki start your usual.”

“You’re a gem, Koi,” Adagio responded with a grin, then gestured for Gilda and Sunset to follow her as she stepped back towards the restaurant. “Well? Come on, I’m not going to bite. I just wanted to talk for a moment, Shimmy. Your guard dog can come too if it makes you feel better.”

“Gilda is my girlfriend,” Sunset snarled with sudden, fierce heat. Enough to make both Adagio and Gilda start.

Adagio stared in surprise at Sunset for a few seconds before making an odd motion. She touched the tips of her fingers to her throat, lips, and forehead in a quick tapping motion, then held her hand out, palm up, for a moment before making a quick bob of her head.

“My apologies,” Adagio said softly. “Sunset Shimmer, I would be honored if you and your consort would please join me for a meal?”

Gilda and Sunset both blushed slightly at the sudden heavy formality, and deference, Adagio showed them. It seemed entirely… uncharacteristic of the normally imperious Siren leader.

“Uh… apology accepted,” Sunset said slowly before rolling forward. “I… accept the generosity of your invitation, and the kindness of your hospitality, Adagio Dazzle.”

It was a formal Equestrian acceptance of an offer, one that Sunset hadn’t used since she left Celestia’s tutelage, but it had a clear enough wording, at least politically, that it placed on the onus of the guest’s safety in the hands of the one offering the hospitality. If Adagio was going to play the court game, Sunset would play it better. Even if she was a little rusty after so many years in the human world.

Following close behind Sunset, Gilda tapped her girlfriend on her shoulder and gave her a questioning look. Sunset just shook her head and nodded for them to follow the bobbing orange puff of hair that was weaving between the tables. Shrugging Gilda took hold of the handles on Sunset’s chair and steered her towards the table that Koi had pointed out. It was a small booth near the back corner, the whole restaurant had a warm illumination reminiscent of candlelight suffusing it and it was oriented in such a way as to block out the majority of the sound from the busy mall outside.

Gilda parked Sunset at the head of the table and took a seat across from Adagio, reaching out to grip Sunset’s hand while glaring sullenly at the suddenly quiet Siren.

“So what’s your game here, huh?” Gilda asked directly, fixing her golden gaze on Adagio. Instead of answering, Adagio simply flicked her eyes between Sunset, Gilda, and the wheelchair until Koi appeared to take their order.

“Can we get my and my sisters' usual spread, Ms. Koi?” Adagio asked with something like actual kindness in her voice. “And a starter of calamari.”

“Of course, dear,” Koi responded before turning to Sunset and Gilda. “Drinks?”

“Hot tea,” Sunset responded.

Gilda took her eyes off of Adagio finally to respond. “Water for me, thanks.”

Koi noted down their orders and then walked away. Adagio turned back to the two teens and smiled. “She’s a very kind woman. This shop was on the verge of going under until an anonymous investor suddenly provided an influx of cash that propped it back up with a few stipulations on business management and maintenance.”

Sunset blinked in confusion. “Y-you mean, you… why?”

“Because it’s my favorite restaurant in this sea-forsaken town,” Adagio responded. “And because Koi is an absolute love and a genius sushi chef. She just has no clue how to manage money well on a business scale.”

“Where did you even get that kind of money?” Gilda asked, glaring at her ‘host’.

Adagio just laughed. “My sisters and I have been on this planet for close to a millennium, my dear. We’re old hands at this sort of thing. True, we can’t just get money now by simply ‘asking’ for it, but we don’t really need to at this stage,” she just gestured to the restaurant around the three of them as proof. “Sonata might be a complete ditz in the real world but put her in front of a spreadsheet and she’ll crank out a fifteen-year investment plan with a guaranteed seventy per cent return.”

“So… what, you’re just normal people now?” Sunset asked, leaning forward in her chair. “But if you’re so rich why would you even work here?”

Adagio just shrugged. “What else am I going to do? I get bored rather easily and this seems like a perfectly good way to pass the time while keeping a weather eye on my investment from the ground floor, as it were.”

“Gotta say, I’m a lot more curious ‘bout why you’re all buddy-buddy with us,” Gilda cut in. “Given what Sunshine here did during the Battle of the Bands.”

“Yes, well,” Adagio just waved her hand as if dismissing it. “What’s done is done. Among Sirens, if one’s voice is outsung by another, then that’s that. Our voices were our weapons in both debate and destruction. In fact, in my culture one was kin to the other. You played the game of my people and beat my sister’s and I at it fairly. I can’t pretend I’m not a little… sore about that, but that is a matter of personal pride, nothing more,” Adagio ran her fingers over the spot on her throat where her old gem used to rest as she spoke. “Bowing out gracefully is how we ought to respond. Besides… it doesn’t seem to have worked out so well for you either, Shimmy dear.”

They were interrupted by the arrival of their drinks and the fried calamari which was placed between them. Sunset took a sip of her tea and hummed in delight as the warmth filled her. Adagio popped one of the fried tentacles into her mouth and bit down with a sharp crunch as Gilda glared at the odd platter with distaste.

“I guess… that makes a certain kind of sense,” Sunset answered as she set down her tea. “I guess my next question is why you approached us at all? Wouldn’t it have made more sense to just let us pass by?”

Adagio responded with a Cheshire grin. “You misunderstand, Shimmy. Just because I’m willing to bow out doesn’t mean I’m not me. I followed that hilarious Anon-A-Miss matter at Canterlot High, it was a delightful catastrophe. I approached you fully intending to spend a few minutes relentlessly mocking you over losing all of your friends and your entire reputation in the span of a week.”

That elicited a threatening growl from Gilda, and a frown from Sunset, while Adagio just laughed. “What? I accepted my defeat, that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy a little petty, vengeful vindication over the one who defeated me.”

“So why treat us to lunch?” Gilda snarled. “To make fun of Sunflower here? Or me? Don’t think I won’t flip a table, puffball.”

Adagio held up both hands in placation. “I’d appreciate a modicum of restraint in here, please. And no… I treated you because when I saw you, in that chair, my desire to mock you suddenly felt… significantly less amusing. I realised that you saved an entire school and in return, you were left forsaken and broken by those who owed you their lives.” Sunset began to speak but Adagio cut her off immediately. “Do not mistake this for pity, because it’s not. It’s… empathy. Empathy for a fellow warrior who has lost something fundamental to them.”

Neither Gilda nor Sunset knew precisely how to respond to that. Adagio’s words had the ring of honest truth to them. Fortunately, they were saved from the awkward silence by the arrival of their food. Four platters of fine sushi rolls were set alongside the calamari that Adagio had been picking at. Sunset reached out and plucked a piece for herself and popped in her mouth, biting down and starting in surprise at the flavor.

“It’s… it’s almost like popcorn,” Sunset said as she swallowed the calamari. “That’s delicious.”

Adagio grinned widely. “My sisters hate it, but it’s my absolute favorite. It’s good to meet a woman after my own heart, Shimmy dear. Try the rolls though, they’re even better. Far more filling too.”

She wasn’t wrong. Sunset and Gilda both dove in with gusto as they began slowly working through the rolls. It was a strange experience for the two of them; unlike most western dining traditions, the platters weren’t designed to be eaten by one person alone. Rather each person would take what they wished from every platter with respect for how much they were eating and how much others had eaten as well. It was a practice of conscientiousness for the two of them but at the same time, it felt more like a meal with friends. Sharing food had a certain primal bonding quality to it.

Finally, the meal came to an end. Adagio ordered another round of hot tea, even one for Gilda who, after trying some of Sunset’s, found she actually kind of liked it.

“Still a coke and jack kinda gal,” Gilda assured her two tablemates with a grin. “But that hot leaf juice ain’t half bad.”

“I’ll bear that in mind,” Adagio replied sardonically.

“So you’re here,” Sunset interjected, any hostility having left her voice over the course of the meal. “What are Sonata and Aria doing?”

“Well,” Adagio replied as she took the check and laid a plastic card over it before handing it back to Koi. “Sonata, I mentioned, is best suited in front of a data set. She’s the ‘account manager’ for this little business technically. As well as about a dozen others. This shop looks to make a tidy profit next fiscal year thanks to my dear sister’s talents. Her dire hunger for tacos notwithstanding, I do love her.”

“And the purple fighty one?” Gilda asked. “I kinda liked her.”

Adagio shrugged. “She started binge-watching those MMA fights a year back. Once we settled down from our defeat and started deciding what to do with ourselves, Aria opted to take the opportunity to take up the sport; gladiatorial bloodsports always did catch my more combative sister’s eye.”

“Oh yeah?” Sunset asked with a laugh. “How’s that going for her?”

“She’s four for four in the local circuit with a shot at the regional title next month,” Adagio answered with a smirk. “It turns out all that time learning Pankration and Pencak Silat are serving her well, even if both of her tutors expelled her halfway through for her over-enthusiastic application of the styles to other students bodies.”

“And how about you?” Adagio asked softly, her eyes falling on Sunset. “What’s next for the great ‘Sunset Shimmer’, hm?”

Sunset opened her mouth to respond but nothing came out. What was next? Going back to school? Back to CHS? To all the people who had abandoned her? She was a Junior so, best case scenario, she had to spend the rest of Junior year with them and Senior year as well. Unless she wanted to transfer. Crystal Prep was nearby, within bus distance anyway, but it was a private school. Unless she got a load of scholarships she’d never get in. She might manage it, but was it worth it to even try? Or she could drop out but that was just running away and if she was being honest with herself… she was tired of running.

But what about going home?

Back to Equestria?

Was that running away from, or running to something?

She wanted to make up with Princess Celestia. Sunset had wanted to do that practically since the moment she first stepped into the human world. Her foalish pride had gotten her in deeper than she ever meant to, though. Now she had a chance, not only to get her full body control back: magic and all, but to mend the bridges that she had burnt between her old mentor and herself.

“I don’t know, honestly,” Sunset finally said. “I’ll be honest… I’m pretty lost right now. I don’t have anyone but Gilda anymore.” Smiling, Sunset reached out and put her hand on Gilda’s arm. “She’s my whole world now, I wouldn’t even have a home if not for her. But I’m really not sure what to do with myself.”

“Hey, we’ll figure it out, Sunshine,” Gilda said with her usual self-assured and cocky grin. “You’ve got the brains and skill to rip this whole world a new one.”

Adagio laughed, a bright, and surprisingly pleasant sound from the acerbic, young-looking woman. “You know, Gilda, you’re not wrong,” she said finally before turning back to Sunset. “If you’d like some advice from someone who’s an old hand at coming back from downswings, take a little time to figure out where you landed.”

“What does that even mean?” Sunset asked grimly. “Look at me,” she said, gesturing downward. “I didn’t ‘land’ I face-planted. All I’ve got is a face full of dirt.”

“I think you’re too pessimistic,” Adagio retorted. “Your lover is right, you’ve got plenty of skills and from what I’ve heard your mind has always been your greatest asset anyway.”

The word ‘lover’ put a bright blush on both Gilda and Sunset’s faces. “Damn, puffball, say it a little louder next time, will ya?” Gilda replied sullenly, trying to rub the red off her cheeks.

Adagio just laughed. “Oh, you two are precious. At any rate, my advice is this: Sunset, take some time to relax, decompress, do something you enjoy for a bit. Let the rest of the world turn as it may until you’ve situated yourself. It’s always worked for my sisters and me, I expect it will be just as effective for you. You’re still young, take advantage of that.”

“Hey Adagio,” Sunset said abruptly, “can I ask you something?” One red eyebrow lifted in question on Adagio’s face but she gave a silent nod of assent. Sunset fiddled with her tea for a moment before asking, “so you seemed a lot more… mellow, than you did at the Battle.”

“Mm, that’s a very politic way of saying ‘less of a bitch’, Shimmy,” Adagio answered with a grin. “But you’re right, I’ll answer with this: have you ever heard the saying ‘you are what you eat’?”

“Yeah,” Sunset answered curiously, “but you three fed off of magic, right?”

Adagio shook her head. “No, we absorbed negative emotions through the medium of magic. Your little friendship cannon ended our magic but also broke our curse; the need to devour negative emotions. Turns out when you’re not saturating yourself in small-minded pettiness and cruelty all the time, your outlook tends to brighten somewhat.”

“So your feeding habits were affecting your moods?” Sunset clarified, leaning in.

Nodding, Adagio took another sip of her tea. “In a sense, it was more general demeanors. As we devoured the vindictive cruelties and argumentative pettiness of our prey… it turned us petty, vindictive, and argumentative. To be honest, I want to thank you on that count. It’s been a long time since my sisters and I have felt… good.”

“You’re welcome,” Sunset replied, “and for whatever it’s worth, I’m sorry it had to come at the expense of your magic. I know how that feels.”

Adagio stared at Sunset in surprise for a moment before shaking her head and smiling. “You know, I didn’t realise how much I wanted to hear that until you said it. I… accept your apology, Sunset.”

“Sunshine takes you by surprise a lot,” Gilda cut in with a grin, taking another drink of her tea. “Pretty sure ‘unexpected’ is just part of her schtick.”

“That… is probably far from wrong,” Adagio agreed. “At any rate, I should get home to my sisters, we’re going to be spending a lot more time together as sisters should.” Standing up, Adagio sidled out from the booth and held out a hand to Sunset. “Thank you, Shimmer, for talking, come by after you’ve had some time to stick your landing, alright? I’m curious to see how this turns out.”

“I think I can do that, Adagio,” Sunset took the hand of her former enemy and shook.

Adagio smiled warmly. “Call me ‘Dagi, it’s… what my friends call me now that I actually have friends. Another thing I find myself unexpectedly and suddenly thankful for.”

“Adagio Dazzle has friends now,” Sunset said with a chuckle. “Twilight would be absolutely thrilled, you know.”

Waving a hand and scoffing, Adagio shook her head. “Ugh, don’t remind me. I would hate to admit that that purple pony princess was right about anything. Still, stop by again sometime, as odd as this is to admit, I’d like it if we could be… friends.”

“I will, ‘Dagi,” Sunset promised. “Thanks for treating us.”

“Of course, I invited you,” Adagio shot back. “Let me walk you out.”

Gilda and Sunset moved through the restaurant, weaving their way around the patrons with Adagio ahead of them. A few of them greeted her familiarly and Sunset was pleased to see her return the greeting just as kindly. It seemed Adagio did indeed have a renewed outlook on life and now that she considered it, Sunset wasn’t too surprised. Dark magic had all kinds of unpleasant side effects; not the least of which was magnifying the worst aspects of the user’s character. The merely petty became spiteful, the bellicose became violent, the wary became paranoid. It was a known risk of the art and one of the many reasons dark magic was a proscribed art.

When they reached the entrance, Adagio reached out and placed a hand on Gilda’s arm. “Gilda, may I speak with you privately for a moment?”

Gilda looked down at Sunset who just smiled. “Go ahead, I’m not going anywhere, babe.”

Nodding, Gilda turned to Adagio. “Yeah, sure, but… make it quick, savvy?”

Adagio gave a brief nod then walked around the corner of the shop away from the streams of people filtering in, out, and around the restaurant. Once they were situated, the former Siren fixed Gilda with a curious look.

“Gilda, I know this is prying but… how is she? Really, I mean,” Adagio asked, her eyes held a surprising amount of concern.

Sighing, Gilda rubbed the back of her head, for a moment she considered just blowing Adagio off but… “Honestly? I have no fuckin’ clue,” Gilda admitted a little angrily. “She’s like… got this wall around’er, y’know. It’s like nothing phases her til she just loses her shit completely then I gotta pick up the pieces. It’s… she’s havin’ a rough time of it, but I’ve really got no idea where her head actually is.”

“I was afraid of that,” Adagio said softly. “Sunset Shimmer strikes me as a very singular sort of girl, but no one is invincible. If people keep breaking her down eventually there will be nothing left. I personally would find that a horrendous waste of potential. I’m sure you feel much more strongly about it.”

“Y’damn right,” Gilda replied aridly. “I just… I’m doin’ all I can and I barely feel like I’m makin’ a dent, y’know? Shit, why do you even care?”

Adagio sighed and smiled wanly. “I care because when you’re an immortal, you quickly discover that the closest thing to a friend you might ever have is an enemy because they’re the only ones who took the time to get to know you. I want more than that, for myself and my sisters.”

Gilda just shook her head. “Sorry, all this magic shit and immortal stuff are way over my head, puffball. I’m a step above a dropout and not by much, so…”

“You still showed greater cunning and forethought than the other students,” Adagio countered. “I think you’re much more cunning than you let on.” Grinning and stepping up closer, Adagio patted Gilda’s cheek. “That’s high praise coming from a centuries-old manipulator, too.”

Brushing Adagio’s hand off, Gilda stepped back and scowled. “I still don’t trust ya, puff, y’know?”

“I’m aware,” Adagio replied, with a smug look. “As I said, you’re smarter than you let on. I’m not your enemy anymore though, nor am I Shimmy’s. So do me a favor and… just keep an eye on her.”

“I don’t need you t’tell me that,” Gilda groused. “That it?”

“It is, thank you for hearing me out,” Adagio replied. “I understand your distrust, but I am trying to help, alright?”

Gilda sighed and nodded. “Savvy, yeah. I’ll keep an open mind on that one.”

“That’s all I ask,” Adagio assured Gilda. “Now go see to your love, she seems much better with you.”

As Adagio turned to leave the plaza and head down the stairs, Gilda watched her strut away and grimaced. Turning on her own heel to head back to Sunset’s side, she could only think to herself, ‘yeah, here’s hopin’, puffball.’

Sunset was sitting near the entrance to the restaurant nervously drumming her fingers, humming, and counting up by prime numbers while Gilda was talking. Her nerves were eating at her and Gilda could see it on Sunset’s face as she came back. Adagio was right, she was kind of a mess.

Well, that was fine with Gilda. Mess or no, Sunset was her girl.

The ride back to Gilda’s flat was uneventful and quiet. They hadn’t stayed at the mall much longer after leaving Koi Sushi; Sunset had been getting more and antsier as the minutes ticked by and it was even starting to effect Gilda. She’d been getting worried about her girlfriend, it seemed like every moment Sunset was out in the mall she got more and more agitated.

“You okay, babe?” Gilda asked softly as the bus rumbled beneath them. Sunset’s only answer was to shake her head emphatically. “Wanna curl up in a ball’n watch bad horror movies when we get home?”

Finally, a small smile appeared on Sunset’s lips and she gave a tiny but perceptible nod.

“Cool,” Gilda reached out to run her fingers through Sunset’s hair, slowly stroking her head. “We still gonna talk tonight?”

Another nod.

“Aight, just…” Gilda trailed off for a moment, then turned to Sunset, bring her hand around to Sunset’s chin and guiding her up into a warm, soft kiss. “I’m always here for ya, Sunshine, okay? I love you.”

“I know,” Sunset whispered against Gilda’s lips. “I love you too, today was just… a little too much, y’know? I think… I think I might’ve tried to do too much too fast.”

“S’cool, Sunflower,” Gilda murmured. “Maybe shoulda started smaller than the biggest mall in the area, huh?”

Sunset nodded, taking a deep breath and leaned back. “I thought I would be fine. I’m… I’m not. At all. The whole time it felt like I was going to throw up. I just wanted to run, ugh, roll away. It felt like everyone was looking at me, and at the same time like no one even saw me. Just this stupid chair.”

“Things’re different now, babe,” Gilda said, leaning forward and bracing her elbows on her knees. “Wish I had some kinda transcendent bullshit one-liner to fix ya but I don’t. Gotta take it a step at a time.”

The bus rumbled over a pothole and Gilda glanced up at the passing neighborhood, then reached up and pulled the line ordering a stop. The Ponyville Commons drifted by lazily outside the windows, and Sunset leaned her face against the snow-dappled pane of glass, staring out at the old streets and worn shops. For a brief moment, Sunset let herself wallow. Things weren’t as bad as they could be and yet somehow that sentiment was cold comfort. Every aspect of life was starting to become a frustration; from getting up in the morning to use the bathroom, to showering, to just… getting around.

Everything was too much effort.

This coming from the girl who managed to break the transdimensional barrier and set up an, admittedly poorly conceived, coup d'etat using an ancient magical artifact over the course of several years of exile.

Now just getting out of bed was a chore Sunset was beginning to question the worthiness of. To say nothing about interacting with people. The idea of having to explain to every other sun-damned person and their dog about how she ended up in this infernal wheeled reminder of her disability made her want to bury herself in the bed and never come out. Even if she didn’t voice it, Sunset knew that Gilda was the only reason she even got out of bed today at all. Everything outside the little flat was just too loud, or too far, or too hard.

Everything was just… too much.

“So tomorrow,” Gilda started, reaching out to take Sunset’s hand. “I got my first day’a work at the auto shop.”

“Mhm…” Sunset felt the bus hitch slightly as the breaks engaged, slowing it down as they approached the bus stop by Gilda’s flat.

“Ya wanna come with?”

Sunset looked up at Gilda in confusion. “Why?”

Gilda just shrugged. “Well, I kinda promised the guys who hired me I’d eventually introduce’m to the girl who ‘made an honest woman outta me’.”

Her jaw hung open for a moment as Sunset processed that, and then she started laughing uproariously. Gilda covered her quickly reddening face as she got up and started the process of unbelting Sunset’s wheelchair which was not made easier by its occupant’s barely restrained fit of giggles. Sunset was still cackling as Gilda rolled her off the bus ramp and onto the sidewalk.

“Gilda Grimfeather, you’ve only ever been an honest woman,” Sunset said warmly as the flat door came into view. “I’m pretty sure it’s one of the reasons I fell in love with you as hard as I did.”

Reaching into her pocket, Gilda retrieved the key and slotted it in. “Yeah, well, I wasn’t always… used to run with a pretty ‘hood gang back in Las Pegasus. Foster kids pretty much get ignored wherever they go so, y’know, gotta find friends somewhere.”

“Sounds like an exciting story,” Sunset responded wryly.

“Someday, maybe,” Gilda replied, her face turning a little stony. “Sorry babe, there’s a reason I ain’t there instead’a here, savvy?”

“Oh… okay,” Sunset’s voice fell and Gilda felt a pang in her heart at the tone.

“H-hey,” Gilda kicked the door open and pushed Sunset in, shutting out the cold and coming around the kneel in front of her chair. “It ain’t like that, babe. I promise, I just… it’s hard, okay? I… a friend’a mine… she died. I don’t really know how to talk about it is all.”

“Oh my god,” Sunset gasped. “W-what… how?”

“That’s a long story, babe,” Gilda replied grimly, “but I’ll tell ya eventually, promise. I just… wanna think on it a bit. It’s kinda hard to figure out how ta say it, y’know? You gotta way with words, I’m kinda… rough with’m.”

Sunset leaned forward and kissed Gilda gently. “If it makes you feel any better, you always have the right words for me when I’m feeling down.”

Grinning, Gilda stepped back as Sunset wheeled herself the rest of the way into the flat. The moment the door had closed on the outside Sunset felt like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. In here, she was safe. Intellectually she knew that was the start of a complex, one she didn’t want to get a hold of her, but at the same time her emotions were a mess and she couldn’t deny the visceral comfort of being in ‘her’ space rather than the outside. Out there was everything that had isolated and tormented her. In here were the familiar sights and sounds of everything she loved, everything that brought her comfort.

“So ya never answered,” Gilda asked as she hung up her jacket. “I’d… I’d like it if ya come along. It’s not far and it’s pretty quiet. If ya ain’t feelin’ it I can always walk ya home.”

At first, Sunset wanted to say no, she really did. Except… she knew that instinct was wrong. It felt wrong. It felt like running away and running away always felt wrong to Sunset Shimmer. It felt wrong when she ran from Celestia through the mirror, it felt wrong now. Except now she wasn’t drunk on anger and self-righteous confidence.

Sunset Shimmer didn’t run away.

She did, however, learn to take things slowly when called for.

“Yeah, okay, for a little while at least,” Sunset agreed. “I… I think it’ll be a better first step than diving headfirst into the mall. In retrospect that wasn’t very well thought out.”

“Yeah, but ya’ve always been ambitious, Sunshine,” Gilda said as she walked into the little kitchenette and starting warming up some stew. “Can’t say I’m surprised.”

“D-do you think they’ll mind if I bring my guitar?” Sunset asked, eyeing her instrument. “Playing a little music might help keep me distracted from being outside.”

Gilda nodded. “I’m sure it’ll be fine, I’ll shoot Crankshaft a text and ask’m though.”

Sunset wheeled over to the bed and leaned in to take a grip on the handle, lifting and swinging herself from the chair to the mattress before pulling her legs up with her. Reaching down to the side of the bed, she grabbed her duffel bag and began rooting through it, eventually finding the items she was looking for. The first was her Journal. Her one link to Equestria aside from the portal. The other was the bracelet which she had been beyond relieved to discover was still intact and safe in the hidden pocket. Gilda came around to the bed a few moments later with stew and took her place beside Sunset. They ate in comfortable silence, Sunset leaning against her girlfriend, occasionally turning her head to nuzzle Gilda’s arm.

Once the food was finished and the bowls were set aside, Sunset laid the two objects on the bed. She saw Gilda’s eyes widen at the sight of the bracelet.

“It was the last gift I ever received,” Sunset said softly. “But this,” she laid her hand on the Journal, “was by far the more important one.”

“Okay,” Gilda leaned back and stared at the book. “What is it? Diary?”

“More like a smartphone, actually,” Sunset said with a small laugh. “It’s magic.”

Gilda groaned. “Right, the wings and stuff. What’s up with that?”

That was the real question. Sunset let out a sigh and tried to figure out how to start. How do you explain magic without sounding crazy? How do you explain that you’re actually a brightly colored unicorn sorceress from another dimension without sounding significantly worse? Maybe… Sunset picked up her Journal and ran a hand over the cover.

“Maybe I should start at the very beginning,” Sunset said; taking a deep breath she closed her eyes and called up the old words of one of the first stories she ever learned. “Bear with me on this one, Gil, it’s a little long and a little silly, but it’s how I learned it, okay?”

“Uh, sure, Sunflower,” Gilda said with a chuckle.

“Okay…” opening her eyes, Sunset stared off into the distance. “Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together and created harmony for all the land…”

“...and in the end, I was struck down by the magic of the elements I had tried to steal for myself. I learned the hard way that no one person can command the magic of friendship like that, it led me to those five girls and then… eventually to you, Gil.”

It was dark outside the window by the time everything was done with and Sunset had finished her story. Gilda hadn’t interrupted or spoken the entire time. Choosing instead just to listen to her girlfriend tell her tale. Unbelievable as it was, Gilda couldn’t really deny it. She had flown so… a certain suspension of disbelief was in order.

“The short of it now,” Sunset continued, “is that magic is here to stay, I think. Ever since I woke the Element of Magic in this world, things have been a little… weird. The fact that you suddenly developed the ability to sprout wings attests to that.”

Gilda nodded. “I guess it’s tough to argue with that. Gonna say it again, babe, I am not smart enough for this shit. But if you say that’s what happened, then I believe ya. Still… you were a, uh… a horse?”

“No,” Sunset answered a little uneasily. “I was born a unicorn pony. There’s pretty much zero relation between my original species and the equines of this world. Aside from the total lack of sentience, magic, and the like. Plus, the phenotypic appearance is, at best, passing. We’re hooved quadrupeds with a coat and a mane, the same could be said about any number of species.”

“Still… kinda weird for me to think about, y’know,” Gilda admitted.

Sunset bit her lip and fidgeted as she looked down at her hands, she realised she was shaking. “I-is it… t-too weird?”

Gilda blinked in confusion before the lightbulb clicks on in her head and she immediately reached out and grabbed Sunset’s shaking hands. “N-no! It’s not… I didn’t mean it like that, babe, I swear!”

Without letting Sunset respond, Gilda pulled her close and kissed her fiercely. Sunset shuddered in her girlfriend's arms as she wrapped herself around Gilda as much as possible while trying not to cry in relief. Gilda trailed her fingers down Sunset’s back and sides as they kissed again and again, she didn’t know how to say it in a way that would sound right so, as usual, all Gilda could think to do was show Sunset how she felt.

Finally pulling away, both panting and flushed, the taller girl drew Sunset closer and hugged her, burying her face in Sunset’s red hair. “I love you, Sunflower. I will always love you, savvy? I don’t give a damn who or what you were before all’a this, so don’t ever think I’ll stop lovin’ you for something that happened before we met, yeah?”

Sunset nodded silently against Gilda’s chest and after a moment, the tears came out in full. It was like a dam broke and all Sunset could do was grip onto Gilda as the sobs came out in wracking heaves. Even leading up to the conversation Sunset hadn’t realised how terrified she’d been to tell Gilda the truth about her origins. How scared she had been that being in a relationship, being in love, with an actual alien regardless of how human she looked, would have been too much of a strain. For Gilda’s part, she did what she always did. She held Sunset close, petting her hair, and kissing her softly on top of her head and rocking her back and forth as she cried.

“I love you,” Sunset finally sobbed out, “I love you so much, Gil, I really, really do… I promise I do.”

Gilda felt tears sting her own eyes as she pulled her arms tighter around Sunset. “I know you do, Sunshine, I never doubted it for a second.”

“I was so scared,” Sunset cried. “I was so scared you’d be afraid of me, or… or you’d be disgusted… or something. I was so scared that you’d leave me!”

“Ah, babe…” Gilda brought her hand up to brush the tears from Sunset’s face, trailing her thumb across her girlfriend's lips, she looked Sunset in the eyes. “Never, y’hear me? I’m never gonna leave you, or be afraid of you, or anything like that, savvy?”

Sniffling a little, Sunset nodded and buried her head in GIlda’s chest again, taking slow, deep breaths. Gilda’s scent was calming. Familiar. The scent of leather and cigarette smoke, to Sunset, now meant warmth, and safety, and love.

Pulling back, Sunset reached for the Journal and thumbed through it for a few minutes before stopping on a particular page.

“I use this Journal to talk to Princess Twilight,” Sunset said softly, her voice a little cracked from crying. “It delivers whatever I write in it to its twin on her side of the mirror, and vice versa.”

“Huh,” Gilda picked up the Journal and examined it. “That’s… actually pretty cool. Talkin’ between dimensions? That’s like, sci-fi stuff right there, Sunshine.”

“Read it,” Sunset said, pointing to the entry she’d opened to. “All of it, straight to the last page I’ve written on. I want you to see something.”

Gilda looked down at it then back up at Sunset. “Uh, y’sure? This is your Journal, right?”

“Gilda, I just admitted to you I was born a fancy talking magic pony,” Sunset deadpanned. “I’m not gonna quibble over you reading part of my journal that I am expressly telling you to read.”

Sighing, and still feeling a little awkward reading her girlfriend’s journal, Gilda looked down at the page and began to read the first entry.

Dear Twilight,

I’m not really sure how to say this.

They left me. All of them. That thing with Anon-A-Miss I mentioned in my last entry? It got really bad. Pictures from our slumber party got posted. Pictures from my phone. They think it was me. All five of them think it was me. They just left me crying on the floor.

What do I do?

I’m scared Twilight. I’m all alone now.

Your Very Frightened Friend,

Sunset Shimmer

Gilda grit her teeth in anger. She’d almost forgotten how bad it had been. Those weeks ago when they’d left Sunset in the middle of the hall sobbing. Even back then it had made her feel sick to her stomach. Now she knew it was because, even then, she had feelings for Sunset.

The fiery, confident, and beautiful girl was hard not to crush on.

But even then it filled her throat with bile. Gilda turned the page to the next entry trying to not think about the bullshit the Rainbrats had put her girl through.

Dear Twilight,

I… I met someone new. A new friend I mean. I’m kinda surprised but I have to admit it feels good. I don’t think I’ve ever made a friend by myself before. It’s really hard to trust but… with her it’s easy.

I know my last message was pretty… bad. It’s still bad.

The girls won’t talk to me, the whole school hates me. Today I scrubbed graffiti off of my locker that read: ‘she-demon’. I couldn’t stop crying while I did it.

No one stopped to help. One person shot a spitball at my head while I was scrubbing. Sorry… I’m rambling.

I think you’d like her though, she’s got a bad reputation here at school but I can relate to that, her name is Gilda Grimfeather.

Also… she’s got dark skin and this beautiful white hair. She’s just... like, stupid-pretty.

Your Flustered Friend,

Sunset Shimmer

Between the spitballs, the graffiti, and the compliments… Gilda wasn’t sure if she wanted to hit something or blush. She knew things were bad for Sunset but she hadn’t realised just how bad they had gotten. Even when she had tried to protect her there was only so much she could do.

The urge to burn that whole stupid school down was getting stronger. Gilda turned the next page to try and distract herself.

Dear Twilight,

Gilda and I got into a fight. It was… pretty bad. She got angry at another student for taking a shot at me over Anon-A-Miss and was about to beat him up. I stopped her and then she got mad at me over it. We started yelling and… and she said something really hurtful.

I yelled at her. I called her a bitch. And then I tried to walk away.

I’m so, so glad she didn’t let me. She grabbed me from behind and just heaved me up. I was literally kicking and screaming and she was just shaking and apologising over and over. It was a big mess. Then she set me down and she looked like she was about to cry. Gilda is… she’s like a rock. She’s unbreakable. She’s…

Twilight, I’ve never felt so bad about almost anything in my life. She looked like she was in so much pain… Celestia, I felt like such a horrible person. But… we talked it out.

I was so scared she was going to stop being my friend that I almost abandoned her just like… just like they did to me. Just so I didn’t have to be the one being abandoned again.

But then she made me a promise. Gilda promised that so long as I never gave up on her, that she would never, ever give up on me.

Twilight… you know how stubborn I am about giving up at literally anything.

I think Gilda and I are gonna be together forever.

Friends. I mean we’ll be friends forever.

Why is it so hot in here all of a sudden.

Your Overheating Friend,

Sunset Shimmer

That had been a rough day. Gilda wiped a tear from her eye as she remembered their spat in the skate park. She’d said some pretty horrible shit to Sunset. That was by and far not her proudest moment. But then they’d made that promise. One that Gilda held on to as the most important oath she’d ever made to anyone.

Sunset was the most important person in Gilda’s life, that was a fact. Turning the page, Gilda kept reading on to the next entry.

Dear Twilight,

Uhm… we sorta slept together?

Not like that! I mean like, she slept next to me. Gilda. I mean.

Wow. It’s really hot in here.

I slept over at her place, and I… kinda had some really bad and really loud nightmares. Gilda called them ‘night terrors’, apparently they’re a psychological disorder over here that can be brought on by traumatic events. I guess both morphing into a demoness and getting abandoned by all of your friends qualifies.

But yeah… so I woke her up by accident and I thought she’d be mad. Instead, she got into bed next to me and held me so I wouldn’t have any more nightmares. I fell asleep right away and it was the best sleep I’ve had in forever.

I’m pretty sure I’m in love.

Help?

Your Useless Lesbian Friend,

Sunset Shimmer

Gilda was blushing furiously at this point, half-covering her face as she read through the entry. She knew that was basically where it all started, the feelings were there for a while but that’s where their relationship essentially became inevitable. It seemed like both of them had pretty much resolved to move their friendship into something more.

‘Best decision of my fuckin’ life, that was’, Gilda thought cheerfully as she turned the page. Her face fell as she read the next entry though.

Dear Twilight,

I almost died last night. I almost wish I had. I’m crippled now, the doctor said the damage to my spine was so severe I’d never walk again. Something about bone fragments in my spinal disks, I don’t even know what I would have done if Gilda hadn’t been there holding me the whole time.

It all kind of fuzzed out for me.

But… but Gilda asked me to be her girlfriend. I told her I loved her, Twilight, and she said it back to me too. She said she loves me. She loves me, Twilight!

I literally have no idea what to feel right now. My legs don’t work. I’m a cripple who can’t even walk to the bathroom. But… but Gilda loves me!

She said I’m the girl she flew for. She called me the light of her life!

Gilda loves me, Twilight! I love her so goddamn much!

I’m gonna go throw up and then cry until I pass out now.

Your Overwhelmed Friend,

Sunset Shimmer

Gilda reached out and pulled Sunset close, nuzzling the top of her head. She hadn’t realised exactly how destructive that day had been. Feelings weren’t really Gilda’s specialty but even she could tell that was some serious emotional whiplash happening there.

“Hey, babe?” Gilda said, drawing a look from Sunset. “I love you more than anything else in the world.”

Sunset opened her mouth in surprise, then blushed, then smiled. “I… I love you too, Gil, so, so much.”

Satisfied, Gilda went back to reading.

Dear Twilight,

We’re living together now. Gilda modified parts of her flat so I could get around easier. Like, she screwed in handles near the bed and the toilet so I could move between them and my chair more easily. She laid down rugs so my wheelchair had more traction. She even sawed down the legs of her bed and replaced the mattress.

I don’t deserve her. She’s perfect, Twilight. I love her so much.

I thought about what you said, I’ve been thinking about it a lot actually. I’m still going to wait to give my answer but I’m pretty sure at this point I know what it will be.

Tell Princess Celestia I miss her, give her my love. I will visit eventually, I promise. Right now though… I don’t want to be away from Gilda. Right now I’m sitting in the bed we share, writing this while she’s in the shower, and I can’t imagine being without her.

I’ve got it bad, Twilight.

Your Happily In Love Friend,

Sunset Shimmer

Gilda sat the book down and looked over at Sunset. She wasn’t really sure what to say. Sunset’s side of things were pretty unambiguously laid bare in the Journal. Gilda didn’t have anything even remotely similar. She had a tendency to wear her heart on her sleeve protected by a firm left hook. Clear for all to see but also clearly not vulnerable. Sunset had always left her guessing though, to a certain extent.

“Why?” Gilda asked finally. “Why did you want me to read this, babe?”

Sunset just smiled shyly. “So you would know that, during one of the darkest times in my life, you were my sole light. You still are, right now. I wanted you to see what you meant to me even before.” Wrapping her arms around Gilda, Sunset snuggled into her girlfriend’s side. “I wanted you to know how you made me feel. I… I just want to show you in as many ways as I can how much I love you. Because you deserve to know how much you’re loved, Gilda.”

Gilda planted a warm kiss on Sunset’s lips. “Babe, I know how much ya love me, okay?”

Taking a breath and laying down on the bed, propped up on her elbow, Sunset just shook her head. “Gilda, you asked me earlier, ‘who loves Gilda Grimfeather’ right? Well, I do, and I’m gonna spend a good, long time showing you that. You do so much for me, I wanted you to see it from my eyes for a change, that’s all, ‘savvy’?”

Chuckling at Sunset’s playful wording, Gilda nodded. “Yeah, fine, savvy. I saw it, and I loved it. So… thanks, Sunshine.”

“Anytime, babe,” Sunset responded cheekily before rolling over and grabbing the handle to lift herself to her chair. “Now go grab something awful and bloody while I’m in the bathroom, I need some carnage after all this mushy goop.”

Gilda grinned toothily as Sunset rolled away. She kicked the covers off and stretched, feeling the blood-flow start up again in her legs after sitting for so long. As she got up though, the Journal hummed and glowed from where it lay open on the bed. Writing started to appear on the last page. Twilight Sparkle’s writing. She’d mostly skipped over Twilight’s responses. They were mostly just acknowledging Sunset’s messages and cheering her on. It was nice to know she had Sunset’s friend’s approval.

This one was different though.

Dear Sunset,

Sorry it took me a while to write back. I was doing some research and I feel you should know something. My studies have lead me to believe that Starswhirl keyed the portal to reset at the Winter Solstice, the 21st of December in that world I believe. Specifically, it resets on the years that it opens. Likely it does a full scan on both sides, updates its templates, and then goes dormant for another two and a half years.

Unfortunately, that likely means that, since this year is the year it opened, there is a very good chance your template will get cleared as you’ve been gone for almost five years.

The odds of your original template surviving a second transition are very low. If you want to come back and have full functionality of your legs again, it will have to be before midnight on the 21st. I’m sorry I don’t have better news, but I had to make sure you knew everything.

Your Friend Always,

H.S.H, Twilight Sparkle, Ph.D.

Gilda felt her gut hollow out at the words she’d just read.

Sunset could have her legs back? But only if… only if she left the human world behind. Only if she left Gilda behind. Gilda shut the Journal, and set it off to the side where it continued to glow and buzz. Her mouth felt dry as she considered what that really meant. Sunset could be whole again. Not just her legs but her magic.

Now Gilda understood why it seemed so easy for Sunset to transition to life without using her legs. It wasn’t without emotional blowback but functionally she adapted way faster than Gilda had expected.

After all, what’s losing your legs to losing access to something like magic?

Taking a deep breath, Gilda pushed away everything else in her head. ‘It doesn’t matter what I want. It matters what Sunflower wants.’

“Hey, Sunshine!” Gilda called out, feeling proud of how little her voice cracked. “Y’got a message from the Princess.”

“Oh yeah?” Sunset called out. “Wanna read it out t’me?”

Gilda swallowed hard and closed her eyes. “No, babe… no, I really don’t.”

The silence that followed was deafening, and it stretched out to feel like hours, broken only by the running water of the faucet. The door to the bathroom opened and Sunset wheeled herself out, glancing between Gilda and the Journal where it sat beside her, determinedly buzzing. Sunset dried her hands and rolled over to the bed to pick up the book and flip it open. Her eyes flicked back and forth as she scanned the lines that Twilight had written.

“You saw it?” Sunset asked without looking up.

Gilda nodded. “Yeah, sorry, the book was open to the page when the Princess started writing. Didn’t think about it, just sorta read along.”

Sunset closed the book and set it down. The buzzing had stopped as she finished reading whatever else Twilight had written. Running her hand over the cover, feeling the familiar grooves of the divided sun embossment, Sunset looked up at Gilda.

“What do you think I should do?”

“S’not my decision, Sunshine,” Gilda answered evenly. “Y’get your legs back and all your magic.”

“Yeah, you’re not wrong,” Sunset agreed.

Gilda took a breath, wringing her fingers together. “But… if ya come back you’ll be back t’bein’...”

“Crippled,” it was the answer Gilda knew she would get. It couldn’t be that easy, obviously. Sunset set the book back in her bag. “Yeah, it’s a ‘one-or-the-other’ sort of deal, in terms of my legs and magic.”

“Figured as much,” Gilda responded quietly.

What else could she say? Gilda wanted Sunset to be happy. That was all Gilda ever wanted lately. It seemed like every waking moment was colored by asking herself what else she could do to make Sunset happy. It wasn’t even something she felt obliged to do. Seeing Sunset smile? Seeing her face light up whenever she was happy? That’s what Gilda wanted. It was all she wanted.

Tears started to trickle down Gilda’s cheeks. “All I want is for ya t’be happy, Sunshine,” Gilda sobbed out. “I just want ya t’smile.”

A soft, warm hand drifted over Gilda’s face, wiping away the tears. She looked over to Sunset who’s staring up at Gilda with a bright smile on her face. “I am,” Sunset said gently, “and I’m not leaving. I’m not going anywhere.”

“B-but, your legs-” Gilda starts, but Sunset put a finger over her lips.

“Gilda, if it means leaving you, then I don’t need magic or my legs,” Sunset said evenly. “I gave up magic once because I was selfish and stupid. This time, I’m giving it up because I’m in love. I think that’s a much better reason, don’t you?”

“But… babe,” reaching out, Gilda, wrapped her arms around Sunset and pulled her girlfriend into her lap. “I want you to be better, to get better.”

Sunset leaned up and kissed Gilda, a small peck on the lips, and smiled. “I will get better. I’ll just do it from there,” she pointed at the wheelchair, “and from here,” she gestured at where she sat.

For a moment, Gilda just marveled at the insane strength that Sunset showed her. The iron will that had put an entire school under her thumb in less than a year was fully on display. Sunset wasn’t just giving up her chance for now. She was giving it up forever. Gilda wasn’t even sure if she had that kind of strength.

“Why are you so… okay with this?” Gilda asked in a cracked voice.

Sunset just shook her head. “I’m… I’m really not to be honest. This whole thing with the portal and Princess Twilight’s offer… It was really messing with me. Except… I keep coming back to the same thought whenever I would think about leaving.”

“Yeah?”

“The thought was… that I would never really be happy over there,” Sunset admitted, coiling a finger through her hair as she spoke. “I’ve never, in my entire life, been as happy as I am when I’m with you, Gil. On either world. Going through the portal now? It feels the same as when I ran through the first time: like I was running away from something. I’m never going to run away from you.”

Gilda tried.

She really, really tried.

She failed.

Sniffling, Gilda, wiped at her eyes and cheeks with the back of her hand and gestured to the wheelchair. “Well, I mean, yeah…”

Sunset stared wide-eyed at Gilda for several seconds, her jaw dropped and her left eye developing an alarming twitch.

“REALLY?!”

Gilda nearly leaped off of the bed at Sunset’s shout, dumping her onto her back on the bed as the redhead whipped her hand down and ripped the journal out of her bag to swing it through the space where Gilda was sitting. “GILDA GRIMFEATHER GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE!”

Suddenly glad, for a completely different reason than her initial intent, that she’d laid down extra rugs for traction, Gilda ducked a flurry of pens from Sunset’s backpack, and then the backpack itself as she slid, cackling, into the bathroom and slammed the door shut just in time for something heavy to impact it.

“FUCK ME FOR TRYING TO HAVE A MOMENT!” Came the muffled shout from the living room.

“I’m sorry baby!” Gilda shouted from where she was braced against the bathroom door.

“YOU’RE GONNA BE SORRY!”

Gilda tried desperately to stop laughing but she couldn’t, she knew it was just aggravating the irate fireball in her living room. “I couldn’t help it!”

“WHEN YOU GET OUT HERE I’M GONNA TIE YOU TO MY WHEELCHAIR AND ROAD HAUL YOU DOWN THE STREET!”

“I love you!” Gilda shouted between choking laughter.

“I LOVE YOU TOO!”

The silence that fell after the last shouted words was a lot more comfortable than the last one as Gilda sat on the floor of the bathroom, leaning against the door, slowly letting the final fits of laughter fade away. Eventually, a small knock came at the bathroom door. Bracing herself, Gilda stood up and opened it to find a flushed and annoyed Sunset Shimmer on the other side, sitting in her wheelchair.

“You’re an ass, Gilda Grimfeather,” Sunset said with a dry scowl on her face. Trying her damndest not to start laughing again, Gilda just nodded.

With a sigh, Sunset gripped her wheels and turned the chair, rolling back to the bed, stopping at the edge and looking over her shoulder and smiling softly at her girlfriend and nodding for her to follow. Gilda was leaning against the threshold of the bathroom door, arms crossed and watching Sunset with a smile. After a moment she stood and walked over to the bedside. Sunset held her arms up, playfully reaching for Gilda who leaned down to pick her up, lifting her like a princess.

Sidling onto the bed, Gilda set Sunset back down on her lap and then reached down for the remote that was on the floor by her side of the bed. Sunset took the opportunity to swat at Gilda’s ear as she leaned down drawing a squawk of alarm from the taller girl.

“That was for ruining my moment,” Sunset said testily. “I still can’t believe you cracked a joke at a time like that.”

Gilda chuckled, rubbing her ear. “Yeah, sorry, I’ve got a shitty sense’a humor, Sunflower.”

“Shitty timing, babe,” Sunset clarified. “I’ll admit it was pretty funny.”

Thumbing the power button, Gilda fired up the t.v. and hit the play button while Sunset went to work pulling the covers around them in a warm, comfortable cocoon of blankets.

“Hey, Gil?” Sunset said as the movie started.

“Mhm?”

Shuffling herself into a better position to look up at her girlfriend, Sunset smiled. “I wanna go to the portal site on the 21st, at midnight. We can watch the portal reset. I think it’s a good way to bid farewell to the old Sunset Shimmer.”

Gilda nodded. “Yeah… yeah, that sounds good.”

Feeling much better, Sunset settled down into Gilda’s arms and watched as the first scene of the movie unfolded.

A sun-beaten middle eastern market with people of all shapes and sizes moving about as the camera panned into a dusty cafe. A tanned man in a sweat-stained shirt sits down at a table with a swarthy, secretive looking fellow who smiles unpleasantly at him.

//What is your pleasure, sir?//

~The Next Day, December 19th~

The bell of the auto shop jingled in its usual off-tone manner as Gilda pushed the door open for Sunset, who wheeled herself in. Both of them stopped just inside, Gilda to kick the snow off of her boots and Sunset to at least make the attempt to not track in muck and sleet from the wheels of her chair.

Crankshaft looked up from the front counter and grinned widely at the two girls before coming around to the lobby and opening his arms wide.

“Grifa! Ibuenas!” Crankshaft wrapped his thick, heavyset arms around Gilda and gave her a strong hug that left Sunset chuckling and Gilda rubbing her arms. “This your cariña, yeah?”

Sunset rolled up and held out a hand. “Sunset Shimmer, it’s nice to meet you.”

“So you’re the one who tamed the Griffon, ey, Chica?” Crankshaft said with a laugh, taking her hand gently and shaking it. “Never thought I’d see it, Gilda’s always been a loner, even in th’old Kings, yeah?”

Gilda cut a hand across her throat with a glare at Crankshaft, who flinched. “Ah, anyway, you play that, Chica?” He pointed at Sunset’s guitar in a rather obvious deflection of the conversation.

For a moment Sunset wanted to pursue the topic, she wanted to know whatever it was that Gilda was keeping to herself, but she let it go. It wasn’t the time or the place, and she knew it. Not on Gilda’s first day at her new job.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” Sunset answered, pulling the guitar case off the back of her chair and setting it in her lap. “Ah, shit,” Sunset scowled as she remembered. “I didn’t get any strings at the mall when we were there.”

Gilda patted Sunset’s shoulder. “You were kinda on edge, babe. We can go pick’em up another time. Or I’ll just grab’em, for ya if ya aren’t feelin’ up to it, yeah?”

“It’s cool,” Sunset shrugged as she snapped the clasps to the case open and pulled out her guitar. “D’ya mind if I play a little?” She asked Crankshaft as he admired the guitar body. “It helps me relax… I’m kinda nervous in public lately.”

“No hay bronca, Chica,” Crankshaft laughed. “So long as you play something I like now’n again, yeah?”

Sunset grinned. “Sure thing, hopefully I know it.”

Crankshaft pointed out a comfortable corner of the lobby for Sunset to park herself without getting too stuck in one place. It was right by a small bank of chairs, close to vent that blew out a slightly unsteady stream of warm air. In the meantime, Gilda went in the back and got into a jumpsuit, a slightly better fitted one than she was used to. The brothers had opted to have the one she normally wore be refitted slightly. Despite being a teenager and a girl, Gilda had an impressively large frame.

The day passed slowly, and less strenuously than Sunset expected. There was a steady trickle of customers that trailed in and out of the lobby. Sunset sat in the corner and played a few tunes, never singing but just losing herself in the music. Occasionally customers would stop to watch and listen.

“Hey, Chica,” Crankshaft said, partway through the afternoon. Sunset glanced up with a questioning look. “You know Santana?”

Sunset smirked. “Do I know Santana? Please, who do you think I am?”

Cracking her knuckles and stretching her fingers, started beating out a Latin beat against the wood of her guitar, strumming a smoky, sultry tone on the strings.

The moment Sunset began to sing the few customers in the lobby turned to her in obvious interest, one older marexican man grinned and sat down near Sunset, beating his calloused hands to the rhythm against the chair he was sitting on. Sunset's voice was smoky, husky, and low, curling around the words lazily as her fingers danced across the complex chords of the song. It was a voice that chilled and warmed the room in equal measure, leaving a smile on the faces of everyone present; even Gearshift stuck his head out of the service window to investigate the source of the music.

Gilda emerged from the back a moment later, wiping her oil-stained hands down with an only slightly less filthy looking rag and stared at Sunset only to immediately start backing away into the garage as Sunset fixed her stained and sweaty girlfriend with a sensuous look, but Crankshaft grabbed her arm and pulled her back into the lobby. Gearshift and Crankshaft grinned to each other in a silent moment of fraternal planning before giving Gilda a hard shove towards Sunset, followed by a wolf-whistle from both of them.

Sunset’s music suddenly kicked up, her fingers dancing along the fretboard like lightning and a warm glow suffused her entire body, and just as her music reached a fever pitch-

TWANG.

Everyone in the lobby cringed at the sound of the string snapping as Sunset struck the last chord of the chorus. “Dammit,” Sunset swore, shaking out her hand that had a thin red mark on it. “Didn’t break the skin but damn that stung. That’ll teach me to play fuckin’ Santana on old strings.”

“Probably for the best, Sunshine,” Gilda remarked as she knelt down and took Sunset’s welted hand in her own, brushing her lips over the mark. “Ya had your ears out.” Gilda tapped the top of Sunset’s head.

Sunset’s eyes widened, and she blushed. “Oh, yeah. I actually forgot that happens, heh…”

Gilda raised an eyebrow. “Ya forgot that y’turn into a magic pony princess when y’get deep enough into your music groove?”

“Y-yeah…” Sunset trailed her fingers over her guitar. “See it… it used to only happen when all of… of us played, y’know?”

Sighing, Gilda leaned in and kissed Sunset softly. “Right, sorry babe.”

“It’s okay, Gil,” Sunset set her guitar down in its case. “Guess that means I gotta replace those strings, though.”

“We can go day after tomorrow,” Gilda said, standing and brushing off her jumpsuit. “Got the day off, then fuck around til ya wanna go to the… the Statue.”

Taking a deep breath, Gilda scanned the room, where the patrons of the shop were starting to drift out and away now that the music show was over. An idea lit in Sunset's mind. It was… risky… and probably pushing herself too far, but that was sort of her M.O. as a person. She wouldn’t be Sunset Shimmer if she didn’t push the envelope one too many times just a little too hard.

“Nah, I got this,” Sunset answered to a surprised Gilda. “I’ll go tomorrow, I’ll take the bus. Don’t sweat it too much, I’ve got an idea.”

Gilda crossed her arms and frowned, but nodded. She knew better than to argue the point. At least for now.

“Yeah, a’right, Sunflower,” Gilda agreed. “But call me later, okay? I’m gonna worry all day otherwise, savvy?”

Sunset took Gilda’s hand in hers and squeezed. “Savvy.”

5. Can't Lose What Was Never Mine

~The Next Day, December 20th~

Gilda had left for work ten minutes ago and Sunset was still sitting in bed, fiddling with her guitar and considering if maybe her resolve yesterday to go to the mall alone might have been just a tiny bit misplaced. It was a lot easier to feel brave when Gilda was right next to her, she hadn’t been much more than ten feet from her girlfriend since she got home from the hospital and now she was going to the Crystal Emporium.

Alone.

Yeah, that was the big part.

Plus she had to shower.

On the list of things Sunset had quickly come to hate about being crippled, bathing had rapidly ascended near to the top of the list. Whenever you watch one of those t.v. shows or movies and the main character is rolling around in a wheelchair they always emphasize the hero’s inability to thwart evil or something asinine like that.

No one ever brings up how goddamn hard it is to take a stupid shower when your stupid legs don’t work so you have to sit on a stupid stool and scrub one stupid limb at a time while trying to keep upright while the stupid shower head sprays you in your stupid face except you can’t reach it because you’re on the stupid stool and you can’t-

Sunset slapped her cheeks a few times, trying to break through the mass of intrusive thoughts that were rolling through her brain like an unwanted four hundred pound cheese-wheel.

‘The point being that the whole matter is damp and humiliating,’ Sunset thought sullenly as she stared at the door to the bathroom as though it were at fault. ‘But nothing is going to get done by sitting here and feeling sorry for yourself, Shimmer.’

Gripping the cold metal handle by the bed, Sunset heaved herself from the mattress to her chair. A movement that was becoming almost mechanical in its familiarity. It was weird how quickly one could get used to something so obtrusive. The showering matter notwithstanding. Sunset was sure it was going to get easier with time, but she was positive she’d never really get used to it.

Maybe next time she could convince Gilda to help her.

Sunset’s face went red at the thought and took a deep breath. ‘Down girl, Gilda’s at work. And we’ve got the dumb and annoying chore of crippled hygiene to see to. Goodie gumdrops.’

Situating herself into her wheelchair, Sunset unlatched the brake and rolled over towards the bathroom, pulling the door open and wheeling herself in to park near the stall. It was a standing shower, so it wasn’t the most convenient thing for a girl who wasn’t able to stand, but fortunately, she was small enough to sit in the corner and be able to wash with relative ease, if not comfort.

Her towel sat off to the side, hanging from a bar that was lowered from its prior height. The quickly spackled wall above it betrayed its former position, but sometime during Gilda’s renovations she’d managed to bring it down to a more manageable place. Sunset smiled as she ran her hand over the soft fabric. It was a simple, orange towel, faded with use, but just thinking about the amount of time and sweat that Gilda poured into making sure Sunset could reach it made her choke up a little.

“I really don’t deserve you, babe,” Sunset muttered softly as she opened the shower door and leaned in to crank the knobs to her preferred temperature.

Closing the door while the spray reached the right heat, Sunset began the laborious process of removing her clothes. The sweater and bra were the easy part. The pajama pants and panties? Yeah… not so much. It was an awkward sort of movement but one that Sunset had start practicing out of necessity.

Latching the brake so she didn’t go rolling in a random direction this time (the first time she hadn’t had been extremely embarrassing) Sunset braced her elbows on the armrests of the wheelchair and lifted herself slightly, looping her thumbs down to grip the elastic bands of her clothes then started the irritating (and somewhat humiliating) process of scooting her trousers and underwear down with small hopping motions of her upper body, every hop bringing her arms further down and carrying her remaining clothing with them.

Letting out a sigh as she finally finished the annoying and time-consuming action that would let her actually shower without ruining her clothes. Grimacing as she tossed her clothes to the side, Sunset unlatched her brake and rolled to the side of the shower. Pulling the door open she eyed the stool in the corner.

She hated this part.

Closing her eyes and taking a breath, Sunset braced for the sudden spray as she gripped the handle inside the shower and swung inwards. The hot water splashed across her face and down her front as she landed on the stool a little off-kilter. It wobbled under her sudden weight and Sunset let out a sharp ‘yeep!’ as it rocked back and forth. Sunset shot both hands out and braced herself against the walls, suddenly thankful that the stall was so small.

Sputtering through the spray of water, Sunset ran her hands through her red and gold locks, wiping away at her face to clear her eyes as she leaned back and out of the spray. For a moment she just let the water hit her, reveling in the warm, steamy heat.

“Alright, Sunset,” she mumbled through a mouthful of water, “time to get clean.”

Grabbing a small hand towel and lathering some soap onto it, Sunset began the onerous task of cleaning. Arms and upper body were easy enough, the back was a pain though. Not being able to move around freely was rough. The stall was too small for her to stretch comfortably and most of the time she spent scuffing and bumping her arms and elbows against the walls, wincing as she tried to reach everywhere. Then came the really hard part.

Her legs.

Leaning back so she was braced against the wall, Sunset lifted one of the useless appendages up, crossed it over her other knee, and started scrubbing. It was hard. She couldn’t feel most of it so she had to be careful not to scrub too strongly or she’d hurt herself. If she did, she might not even notice until it got infected or something.

As Sunset scrubbed away, tears started to track down her cheeks. Tears of annoyance and frustration. It was stupid. This whole thing was stupid. Crying over having to clean yourself was really stupid. Then her hand slipped, the little towel she’d been using fell from her fingers to the floor of the stall. For a moment, Sunset just stared at it.

It might as well be through the portal in Equestria.

“Fuck!” Sunset shouted, and leaned down, reaching for the towel while gripping the edge of the stool to keep from toppling over.

Without being able to brace herself with her legs she couldn’t lean all the way over without taking the risk of sending herself ass over teakettle and bashing her head on the shower floor or wall. It was just out of reach, though. It had landed in the corner just furthest from her and sat, mockingly, in a bunched up soggy mess.

Sunset glared at it, stretching her fingers out, but pulling back the moment she felt the stool wobble underneath her again.

“Fuck DAMMIT!” Sunset screamed and tears were spilling down her face as she leaned back against the wall, breathing hard as she sobbed under the lukewarm shower. “I fucking hate this,” she muttered bitterly, spitting out water onto the wall.

Reaching out she grabbed the soap and pulled the leg she’d been scrubbing roughly, a bit too roughly, back up and started in on the process with just the bar. She’d apologise later for using too much. Tears mixed with the suds as she rubbed and she winced as she saw the raw red skin she was leaving behind. Turning her leg to and fro, she cleaned where she could reach before swapping to the other leg and repeating the process.

“I hate this,” she muttered as she scoured her skin. “I hate this, I hate this, I hate this, I hate this, I HATE THIS!” her last words came out in a frustrated screech.

Gripping the soap too hard, it spat out of her hand and slapped her across the face, leaving a trail of stinging suds across her eyes and the taste of soap in her mouth. Sunset screamed angrily, grabbing at the soap and hurling it at the stall wall. She moved to fast and too hard, her motions were too wild. The already unsteady stool wobbled again, except she was off balance. Without her legs, Sunset had no way to regain that balance.

The stool went out from under her.

With a shriek of panic, Sunset fell and slammed her head against the stall door that mercifully gave way, absorbing a little of the impact. Sunset caught herself on the cheap linoleum tile floor of the bathroom but winced. She’d landed hard on her wrist and it left a stinging pain all up her arm.

Cooling water pooled around her lower half that was sprawled haphazardly inside the shower stall, while her upper half was freezing, hanging naked outside of the semi-warm mists of the shower itself. Red and gold hair hung lank and sodden around Sunset’s face as she stared down at the floor.

“D-dammit…” Sunset sobbed the word out as she laid down on the floor, too tired and worn to bother getting up. The cold metal partition that divided the stall floor from the bathroom floor and rug bit in her hips but she didn’t care. It was too much effort to care. “I… I hate this… I hate everything.”

The shower water was turning cold as it sprayed her lower half. She could barely even tell but for the lapping water hitting her upper thighs as it drained. Sunset couldn’t do anything about that. The knobs were too far and too high.

Sunset cried, quietly curling up alone on the rug in the cold winter air insomuch as she could. Wrapping her arms around herself, Sunset whimpered and sobbed, shaking from a combination of cold and grief. She cried like a child.

She wanted Gilda.

Sunset just wanted Gilda to come in and hold her and tell her everything would be okay. She wanted Gilda to pick her up and carry her to the bed. To curl up next to her and warm her up and kiss her and make the rest of the world not matter anymore. She wanted the world to just be her and Gilda and bad horror movies and popcorn and nothing else. She just… cried. Every so often crying out Gilda’s name, knowing full well she was the only one in the little flat they shared.

Her name wasn’t enough, but it was something.

“Gilda…” Sunset cried almost inaudibly from the floor. It was a strong name, it was a name that felt strong. It was just enough to make her feel… a little stronger.

Taking a breath, Sunset braced her arms on either side of her and pushed up, levering herself above the rug. Her wheelchair, her mobile prison, was right next to her. Sunset grabbed the armrest and pulled herself the rest of the way out of the shower so she was sitting on the rug. Grabbing the towel that hung from the lowered bar, Sunset sniffled as she began slowly drying herself off, stopping occasionally to wipe away the tears that trailed down. Pulling her legs up, she dried them, trying to be as gentle as possible and wincing at the marks the fall had left. Those were definitely going to bruise, she’d have to keep an eye on them.

Finally dry, Sunset grabbed her clothes from where she’d set them on the counter by the sink and started pulling them on. Panties and bra, one went on with far more grace than the other, then her leggings, a nice warm woolen pair, the teal dress she’d worn out of the hospital and a sweater over that. It took more time than Sunset was comfortable with and more than a few colorful Equestrian curses, but she was eventually dressed.

Taking a grip on her wheelchair, Sunset heaved herself up and sat down, re-adjusting her legs so they fell comfortably down to the footrests. Unlatching the break, Sunset rolled over to the shower and cranked both the knobs down, finally ending the stream of now-frigid water.

That had probably been one of the most miserable showers in the history of indoor plumbing, Sunset decided, sighing heavily as she leaned her head to the side and started drying her hair, scrubbing at her sodden locks carefully. It was one of her very few points of vanity. Even as a unicorn she’d taken very scrupulous care of her mane and as a human she’d done the same for her hair. Even given her living situation one of her few personal luxuries she’d permitted herself was her shampoo and conditioner. That had become more difficult lately with her injury, she would take a shower tomorrow and just focus on her hair.

Shaking the last few drops of moisture free, Sunset gave her hair one more careful once-over with the towel before deeming herself at least worthy of the outside world and rolled out of the bathroom. It was frigid pretty much everywhere these days and Sunset immediately shivered and rolled over to the dresser. Gilda had cleared out two of the topmost drawers, moving their contents to a lower one, to make room for Sunset’s meager stash of belongings.

Opening up the drawer, Sunset pulled out a pair of thick socks and went through the process of fixing them onto her feet. Not as annoying as putting on any kind of pants, but definitely still more work than it ought to be.

Sunset’s stomach gurgled. Right, she hadn’t eaten yet. Turning to the kitchen she weighed her options. Go through the trouble of trying to make herself breakfast despite knowing exactly how long it would take? Was it worth it? Her stomach was making a convincing case on the matter given the forty-five minute ride to the mall.

Cereal. Cereal was easy enough. A small bowl of cereal wouldn’t be too bad. Sunset rolled into the kitchen and grabbed the bag of cereal from where it sat on the counter. The milk from the fridge came next and then…

“Oh… yeah,” Sunset said a little defeated. She looked up at the cupboard where the bowls were. “Right, they’re on the second shelf so…”

Out of her reach.

After the fiasco in the shower, she wasn’t going to risk breaking any of Gilda’s dishes. Instead, she grabbed a dirty glass from the sink and rinsed it, filled it halfway with milk, put the gallon back, and popped open the bag.

Sunset’s breakfast was several crossly devoured handfuls of dry chocolate cereal washed down with a few gulps of milk.

“Well that was fucking humiliating,” Sunset groused angrily, staring at her choco-dust covered hand as if it were to blame. “I can’t even make myself breakfast like a normal goddamn human being or a pony.”

Putting the cereal back and tying it closed, she deposited the newly re-dirtied glass in the sink. Maybe she’d do the dishes later before Gilda got home. That’d be nice, right?

Or maybe she’d just collapse in a ball of tears and self-loathing on Gilda’s side of the bed and try to pretend she wasn’t having her gut eaten away by crippling anxiety, fear, and loneliness.

Yeah, that sounded a lot more likely, if she was being honest.

Washing her hands, Sunset rolled over to the hook where the jackets were, she grabbed her jacket and pulled it on then threw Gilda’s scarlet scarf around her neck. Gilda had gone without it today, not wanting to risk it getting any stains and Sunset hoped her girlfriend would forgive her for taking it to the mall. It smelled like Gilda, it smelled like… safe. Taking a deep breath, she rolled over to the bed and grabbed one of the older, ratty blankets and tucked it around her legs. Sunset secured her guitar case to the back of her chair, the guitar inside, and went to the door. An orange beanie was the last article to go on, pulled snugly over her ears and masking her red-gold hair.

Checking the time on her phone, Sunset choked on her breath and smiled at the messages that were waiting for her on the screen.

//I love ya Sunshine// //Be safe and call me.//

The text sent a shiver of warmth through Sunset’s body and down to her heart. Flicking the text box open she replied.

//I love you too. So so much. Getting to the bus now, call you soon.//

Reaching into the breast pocket of her jacket, Sunset drew out one of the cigarettes she’d gotten from Gilda before she left for work and put to her lips, then took out the matchbox she’d bogarted from the flat and lit it. She smiled around the little puffs of smoke as she rolled up to the bus stop and took her place there next to a couple of students.

“You know that’s gonna kill you right?” One of them said, a girl with bright blue hair and a pink complexion. She was dressed in a white parka that looked quite warm. “The cigarette I mean. They’re awful for you.”

“Hon, I’m pretty sure she knows…” The young man with slate gray skin and fuschia hair at her side said in a pleasantly strong voice, nudging his companion as he did so.

Sunset took another, longer drag on the cigarette without responding, looking square at the girl for a few moments before breathing the cloud of smoke out the side of her mouth away from them. No need to be rude after all.

“Seriously,” the girl continued. “You’re like, what? Sixteen? That’s illegal.”

“Maybe I’ve just got a young-looking face,” Sunset finally said in an irked tone. “Or maybe it’s none of your business.”

The girl scowled. “Hey, I’m just trying to help. That shit’s gonna kill you.”

“That’s the dream,” Sunset countered with a bitter grin as she took another drag. “Unless ya wanna switch places,” she continued, patting her wheelchair, “otherwise I think I’m happy with shortening my life span as much as possible, savvy?”

The last word slipped out without hesitation and Sunset had to suppress a chuckle when she realised what she’d said. Gilda was rubbing off on her a lot more than she thought. Even her mannerisms were slipping through. The two older kids just grimaced at her dry, nihilistic tone, and turned away.

Good. Did they think she didn’t know that smoking was a bad habit? It was a terrible habit. It was also one of the few ways she could destress when she was out in public without Gilda. Normally, her girlfriend kept her centered, it didn’t stop Sunset from stressing out or panicking but it kept her off of the ragged edge of an outright panic attack.

Gilda wasn’t here though.

Sunset was alone and that meant she was smoking and anyone else could suck her dock if they had something to say about it. She wasn’t planning on blowing it in anyone’s face so long as they stayed out of hers. She wouldn’t smoke indoors and she’d keep it to herself. Sunset didn’t understand why other people couldn’t just afford her the same goddamn courtesy.

The bus arrived slightly late and parked. The driver grimaced at the sight of her wheelchair but lowered the ramp and dock for her to board. It would slow him down, she knew, but it didn’t mean he had to be rude about it. It’s not like she was sitting in this stupid contraption just to annoy him.

That’s pretty much how Sunset was getting used to being treated by almost everyone except Gilda. As an inconvenience that was tolerated, less as a person.

Rolling sullenly onto the loading ramp, Sunset put out the cigarette on the metal corner of her chair carefully since there was half left, and tucked the remains behind her ear as she tried to remember where all the loops and clasps went on her wheelchair. She was smart, she knew that. She had never had an issue memorising anything. Time to put that skill to use. Calling back in her mind the image of Gilda moving her hands around her chair, slow but sure and confident just like she did everything.

This one here. That clips there. This one goes over and under there.

Click. Click. Clickety-clack.

The ramp had hardly finished docking fully with the bus by the time Sunset finished. Grinning down at her quick work, she felt a little surge of accomplishment.

“You’re pretty good at that,” the voice of the guy who was with the health-nut girl. “Practice?”

He’d been nothing but civil, so Sunset saw no reason to afford him the same. She gave him a small smile and nodded. “Yeah, something like that. Still a pain, though.”

“Yeah, I can’t imagine,” he responded, shaking his head. “Sorry, I’m Helden, Helden Tenor, I’m a music student at Crystal Prep Academy.”

Sunset held out her hand. “Sunset Shimmer, pleased to meet you Helden.”

Helden took her hand and shook it, before turning to the girl. “And this is my girlfriend, Penny.”

Penny gave a short huff but nodded and cautiously held out her hand. “Pennyroyal Tea, thank you, and I’m sorry I came off so strong at the bus stop… I have strong feelings about smoking and drug use.”

“I getcha,” Sunset answered, a little mollified by her apology. “It’s cool, but I can’t get pain medication, or any psychiatric help or anything. Paperwork stuff, so this is all I’ve got.”

“Wow, that’s… really shitty,” Penny said with a wince. “What happened?”

“Babe, c’mon,” Helden flicked her across the ear, drawing a small laugh from Sunset and a flinch from Penny. “That’s really friggin’ rude.”

Penny rubbed her ear but nodded. “Right, sorry, that was outta line.”

“Nah, it’s alright,” Sunset replied, waving it off. “Long story short, some really heavy stuff fell on me and broke my back, now I’m in a chair for the rest of my life.”

“Geez, that’s pretty awful,” Helden said, looking concerned.

Sunset could only shrug. What was she supposed to say? Yeah, no shit it was awful, her fuckin’ legs didn’t work of course it was pretty fuckin’ awful you numbskull son of a- Closing her eyes, Sunset pushed away the angry thoughts. He was just trying to be nice.

“So, you two are actually a lot nicer than I expected from Crystal Prep students,” Sunset said making as unsubtle as possible of a change in topic. Unsurprisingly, though, the two actually looked relieved. Still, she winced at the backhanded compliment she just gave. “No offense.”

“None taken,” Helden laughed. “Crystal Preppers aren’t exactly the friendliest bunch, at least, the ones at the top. Those are the ones most schools are familiar with since the current Principal is pretty gung-ho about appearances. Us middle of the pack-ers are a lot more mellow.”

“So what do you two study, exactly, up at Crystal Prep?” Sunset asked.

“Classical music major, specialising in operatic musical theory and practice,” Helden said with a grin. “I’ve always loved the powerful vocals of opera music.”

Penny smirked. “Yeah, that’s kinda archaic for me, though. I’m a Modern Music major; grunge, punk, rock and roll, and all that. I’m kind of a music nerd all around.”

“Huh, guess we have something in common after all,” Sunset pointed a thumb back at her guitar. “Used to play in a band, I still play plenty on my own though. I’m headed to the mall because I snapped a string playing Santana.”

“No shit?!” Suddenly Penny had swapped places with her boyfriend who yelped as he was displaced and she was leaning in way to close for Sunset’s comfort. “What other music do you play?!”

“U-uh… S-Sublime? Chili Peppers? A lotta stuff I guess?” Sunset wished fervently she could roll backward but there was nowhere on the bus for her wheelchair to go. “I, uh, really like the more relaxed guitar stuff, y’know? Less rock’n’roll and more alt-rock I guess? Some weird alternative stuff too, maybe?”

Fortunately, a grey hand settled on the overly-enthusiastic girl’s shoulder and pulled her back to her seat. “Sorry about that,” Helden said as he pushed Penny back down. “She gets really worked up over her major.”

“I-its okay,” Sunset said a little shakily, her voice broke more than she would’ve liked. “I’m just… don’t like people getting that close to me, it’s… I just don’t like it.”

Penny swallowed hard and nodded, a little red-faced. “I’m really sorry about that, Sunset. Helden’s right, I get way too excited and it’s stupid.”

“No it’s not!” Sunset said a little strongly, enough to make them both hop a little. “It’s not stupid to get excited over stuff you like! That’s good!” Scowling, Sunset crossed her arms and looked down at her legs. “Don’t apologise for getting excited, how else is this shit-hole world supposed to be bearable if you can’t get excited over the good stuff?”

In part, Sunset hated how melancholy she got whenever Gilda wasn’t around. It was like everything else was just a little bit, or maybe a lot, darker. It was harder to see the good, easier to see the bad. It was just… worse. She knew it wasn’t healthy. Intellectually Sunset knew that she was getting too dependent on her girlfriend. It wouldn’t be good for her or for Gilda if things kept going like this.

That was one of the reasons Sunset had decided to go to the mall on her own. To prove to herself, and a little bit to Gilda, that she was able to. That she could function without being in arms reach of her girlfriend. Gilda should be a comfort to her, she shouldn’t be the sole reason Sunset had any energy or ability to function at all. That wasn’t a relationship that was mental sickness.

“Yeah, I guess…” Penny said softly, “I think that’s a better way to look at it. My family doesn’t really like my major or my interests so I don’t have many people to talk about it with.”

Helden wrapped an arm around Penny and pulled her close to him. “Yeah, apparently they were thrilled when we started dating because they thought I would ‘put her back on the track of proper ideas’ which I thought was pretty fucked up.”

“Ugh, yeah, that’s kinda gross,” Sunset laughed, shaking her head. “Glad I don’t hafta deal with stuff like that.”

“Supportive parents?” Penny asked cheekily.

Her face fell when she saw the look on Sunset’s face as the red-haired girl shook her head. “Nope, more like ‘no parents’.”

“Wow,” Penny said in a dumbfounded voice. “You’ve had a pretty crap life.”

Sunset just stared for a moment at Penny, her look of incredulity matched by an equal look of horror on Helden’s face. The tension broke when Sunset suddenly started cracking up. Her laughter went from a chuckle to full, knee-slapping shouts of hilarity. After a few minutes of mastering herself, Sunset wiped the tears from her eyes and just nodded.

“Well, you’re not fuckin’ wrong there, Penny,” Sunset cracked as she took a breath and leaned back in her chair. “Not wrong at all.”

WIth the strain bled away, Helden and Penny both relaxed and the rest of the bus ride was spent in comfortable and less incendiary conversation. Music featuring foremost as the two girls compared their library of favorite songs and artists, while Helden chimed in occasionally, concerning influences that classical musicians and composers have had on even the most modern musical genres.

The bus parked at the hub at the Crystal Emporium Mall and Sunset went about the process of unfastening herself and her chair. As she was unloaded from the bus, she was surprised to see Helden and Pennyroyal waiting for her.

“Hey, Sunset?” Penny walked up and smiled a little shyly. “Do, uh, do you wanna exchange numbers? I’d really love having another friend to talk music with outside the classroom, y’know?”

Sunset smiled as she pulled out her phone. “Yeah, actually, I’d… I’d like that too.”

Penny’s face brightened up at her response and she eagerly exchanged their phones, punching in her number to Sunset’s while Sunset returned the favor on Penny’s. Helden held his own phone out and smiled and Sunset repeated the process. It was a little overwhelming but… it felt good.

She was making friends. Her own friends. She wasn’t a charity case, she wasn’t just being ‘looked after’ because a Princess gave an order. No, Sunset was making friends the old fashioned way.

“You gonna be in the mall for awhile?” Penny asked as she tucked her phone away and passed Sunset’s back. “We’re meeting some friends but I don’t think we’re doing anything after.”

Sunset shrugged. “Maybe, I’m just here to pick up some new guitar strings, maybe play a little in one of the halls.”

“Really?” Helden’s interest was piqued. “Let us know if you’re gonna play for sure, I’d be down to hear it if you don’t mind our friends tagging along.”

“It’s a public place,” Sunset responded a little nervously. Of course, it was fine, she’d be playing for a bunch of strangers after all. Might not be a bad idea to have a few people who already liked her be in the crowd too. “I’ll let you guys know.”

They parted ways as Sunset rolled across the cold, salted concrete and asphalt to the entrance that she and Gilda had gone in the other day, stopping where they had before to finish her cigarette, relighting it with a new match and settling in to relax a little. That bus ride had taken more out of her than she cared to admit. Pennyroyal and Helden were nice, really nice, once she got past Penny’s overly enthusiastic approach to basically everything.

It had been exhausting though.

Sunset felt a twinge on her lip and pulled the butt of the cigarette out of her mouth before it burnt her. That’s right, it was a halfie, Sunset tossed it into the ashtray nearby and fished out another one, lit it, and went back to her thoughts.

It really was a good feeling… making her own friends. ‘Maybe that’s why my friendship with the girls fell apart so easily,’ Sunset mused, blowing out a thin stream of smoke. ‘At the end of the day, we’d never really made friends with each other. They just… adopted me because they were obligated to. Then when a problem really arose they circled the wagons, protected their own, and… and I didn’t make the cut.’

“Fluttershy was right, in the end,” Sunset muttered mournfully. “I really wasn’t their friend.”

“I’ll never understand why people smoke, darling,” a familiar voice rang out from part of the crowd entering the mall, and Sunset felt her blood run cold. “It ruins your lungs, destroys your complexion, and gives you that ghastly smoker’s rasp.”

Trying to simultaneously duck her head down while still scanning the crowd, she spotted her. Rarity walking alongside Fluttershy. Rarity gave Sunset a once-over and grimaced, turning back to Fluttershy. Rarity hadn’t recognized her, at least. That was stress that Sunset did not have the energy for today.

“Oh, uhm, I’m sure they have a good reason,” Fluttershy responded as they slowly approached the entrance doors. “You never really know, right?”

“I can’t fathom the reason, darling,” Rarity shook her head dramatically. “Really though, I know you’re trying to be nice but I just don’t understand why someone would sacrifice their health for that particular ‘cool’ image. It’s out of vogue anyway.”

“I-it’s not always about image,” Fluttershy countered. “It-”

Sunset lost the rest of the conversation as they entered the mall. Just as well she was gritting her teeth hard, almost biting through her cigarette. She tried to contain her temper but it was just not her day today.

“FUCK YOU TOO, YA MARSHMALLOW!” Sunset shouted at the closed door, drawing odd looks from the patrons entering and exiting the mall.

Unlatching her brake, Sunset turned and rolled away from the entrance. She’d go in a different way. It wasn’t worth it to go in that entrance and risk rolling into all five of those… people. She didn’t have the energy and she certainly didn’t have the patience or fucks needed to withstand them. Instead, she rolled towards one of the further entrances, the distance would give her time to cool down anyway.

And maybe smoke another cigarette.

Sunset decided she would definitely have to do something to afford her own at the rate she was going.

“I-it’s not always about image,” Fluttershy said, shaking her head at Rarity’s generalisations. “It could be a lot more complicated than that.”

“FUCK YOU TOO, YA MARSHMALLOW!”

Rarity and Fluttershy froze in place at the voice that had shouted at them from outside as the door shut. It was familiar. Terribly familiar.

“Fluttershy, darling,” Rarity began in a high, slightly panicked voice. “Am I imagining things or did that sound like-”

“Sunset,” the word tumbled out of Fluttershy’s mouth like a prayer.

Like lightning, the soft-spoken girl turned on her heel and tried to push her way back out the door. It took several more moments than she was comfortable with but for once she didn’t give a damn about the people she was pushing out of the way. She just bulldozed through them. Rarity was hot on her heels as Fluttershy staggered back out into the frigid winter air.

“She was sitting over there, wasn’t she?” Rarity pointed to a spot near a bin. The remains of a cigarette were sitting cold in the tray. “So where…”

“She must’ve left…” Fluttershy said sadly. “Sunset probably heard us talking.”

Rarity scowled, her hands tightened into fists hard enough that she felt the prick of her fingernails nearly drawing blood. “Heard me talking, you mean, my dear. You don’t have to sugarcoat it. I really am the worst sort of callous bitch, aren’t I darling?”

“You’re not, Rarity,” Fluttershy walked up to her friend and took Rarity’s pale white hands in her own. “You speak thoughtlessly sometimes and, yes, you should work on that, but that doesn’t make you a callous bitch.”

“Does abandoning her when she needed us most make me a bitch?”Rarity asked, a few tears streaking down her face and distorting her mascara.

Fluttershy let out a sigh and wrapped Rarity in a hug. “I’m pretty sure we were all being a bitch that day. You weren’t the one who told her she wasn’t our friend though, remember?”

Returning the hug, Rarity sobbed softly. “Fluttershy you can’t keep destroying yourself over that. You were hurt, and before Sunset became our friend she treated you the worst of all. You had every right to-”

“No,” it was only one word but Fluttershy spoke it with the force of iron that silenced whatever Rarity had been about to say. “I had no right to treat her like that. I told Sunset that I had forgiven her, and she was doing her very best to make up for her mistakes. So I had no right at all to say what I did.”

They stood there in the snow and winter wind, breathing out the sorrow that still wasn’t healing properly. “I suppose you’re right,” Rarity finally agreed. “None of us had a right to say what was said to Sunset that day after claiming to have forgiven her.”

“Let’s go in,” Fluttershy said, “maybe we’ll see her in the mall. Besides, we promised to meet the girls.”

Rarity nodded. “I’ll need to freshen up, I think, although… Fluttershy can you humor me for a moment and answer me a silly question?”

“Of course.”

“That girl, if she really was Sunset… what was she sitting on?” Rarity asked, looking back at where they’d seen her when they first approached the mall.

There was no bench nor seats of any kind, but Sunset had certainly been seated. Something about it tickled at the back of Rarity’s mind. She’d only glanced at the seated person smoking by the bin, she hadn’t really stopped to look at them. She hadn’t even realised the person was a girl.

“I… I don’t know,” Fluttershy answered a little apprehensively. “I didn’t really look at her closely.”

“Neither did I, darling,” Rarity said softly, feeling a stone settling in her gut. “I really should open my eyes a little more often, my dear.”

They turned and reentered the mall, both feeling a little uneasy at what had just occurred. Either way though, they had a date to keep. All five of them were meeting up at the mall to spend some time together. The last few days of school had been particularly rough for everyone involved and all of them agreed with Pinkie when she had proposed a mall hangout. Rarity vacillated between telling the girls about their possible near-encounter with Sunset, and Sunset’s possible presence in the mall, and not. After all, Applejack had passed on Gilda’s warning.

Leave Sunset alone.

A very straightforward instruction. Leave her alone and don’t speak to her ever again. Applejack had agreed to it at the moment, but Rarity had protested. Loudly. It had caused a bit of an argument in the cafeteria at CHS. Rarity had accused Applejack of speaking for all of them when she didn’t have the right. Just because she’d had the opportunity to apologise to Sunset, even if Sunset hadn’t been conscious at the time, didn’t mean the rest of them didn’t want to as well.

Applejack had been adamant about it, though. After what they’d done to Sunset she’d insisted that they didn’t have the right to demand anything of her. They ‘sure as shootin’ didn’t have the right to ask’er fergiveness’ as the country girl had put it. Admittedly, Rarity hadn’t been able to come up with a viable counterargument to that point, which irked her and that had left both them in a bad mood.

Now, though, she felt the urge to apologise.

Fluttershy and Rarity moved through the crowded mall with a little difficulty, before making it up to the food court where Pinkie was jealously guarding a table with five seats and Rainbow Dash was helping. Applejack seemingly materialised out of the crowd at the other end of the food court and spotted them as well.

The stout country girl frowned when she saw Rarity and they reached the table about the same moment, Applejack took off her hat and started to speak when Rarity cut her off by stepping close to Applejack and wrapping her arms around her in an unabashed hug.

“I’m sorry, Applejack,” Rarity sniffled, her face buried against Applejack’s thick plaid button-up and her voice muffled. “I’m so sorry I yelled at you in the cafeteria and I’m so sorry we fought, darling. I don’t want to fight with my friends anymore.”

Applejack opened and closed her mouth several times before dropping her hat and pulling Rarity even closer. “Aw… Sugarcube ah ain’t… dammit… ah ain’t mad at’cha, ah promise,” the words came out as a sob, and Applejack hid her face in Rarity’s violet locks, clenching her eyes shut as tears threatened to spill. “Ah was gonna apologise to ya’ll. Ah’m done with fightin’ with mah friends too, ah love all ya’ll and ah ain’t ever gonna make that mistake again.”

The other three girls closed in around them and hugged, Pinkie was practically vibrating with relief and happiness while Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash leaned against one another.

With the tension broken, the girls pulled together. There were Christmas gifts to get and fun to be had. Through it all, though, Rarity and Fluttershy were a little quieter, a little more subdued. A part of them, even though they didn’t realise it, was scanning the crowds for a familiar cascade of red and gold hair, a studded leather jacket, or the sound of a certain voice.

By the time a couple of hours had passed they had ended up back in the food court, each with their favorites in front of them as they chatted. After a few moments of conversation, Rainbow broke in.

“Hey, Flutters, you okay?” She asked, her usually raspy voice low with concern. “You’ve been, like, even quieter than usual.”

Applejack leaned in and nodded. “Yeah, come ta think’ve it, you’ve been pretty quiet too Rares. Ah mean, Fluttershy ah get, but uh… no offense here but ya’ll ain’t usually this quiet at the mall.”

Fluttershy and Rarity shared a glance that didn’t go unnoticed by the rest of the group. “Come on guys, what’s up?” Pinkie asked, leaning in next to Applejack. “I… I thought we were okie dokie again!”

“It’s not that, Pinkie, dear,” Rarity replied, shooting another look at Fluttershy who just sighed and nodded. “It’s… well, we had a bit of an encounter outside the mall. Well, not really, more an almost-encounter. Mind you, we didn’t actually see anything but-”

Rainbow Dash just gestured with her hand for her to continue and Rarity cleared her throat with a delicate cough. “A-as I was saying, when Fluttershy and I arrived at the mall, the east entrance you know, we saw someone smoking by the bin and… I may have been a bit too, ah, conspicuous with my criticisms of smoking.”

“Rares… ya’ll gotta put a lid on that motor-mouth’a yours or one day it’s gonna write a check yer ass can’t cash,” Applejack noted dryly, earning a dirty look from Rarity and a guffaw from Rainbow Dash.

Fluttershy put a hand on Rarity’s arm. “The thing is, they yelled at her as we got into the mall. They called her a marshmallow.”

Four of them winced as Rainbow Dash cracked up loudly, laughing her ass off next to the table while Fluttershy’s grip on her prismatic friend’s shoulder kept the athletic girl from toppling over.

“Oh man, that’s friggin’ hilarious,” Rainbow said as she finally mastered herself, then her mirth turned into confusion. “Wait… marshmallow? Nobody calls you that except us.”

Rarity’s scowl turned into a sad expression. “That’s not true, darling, remember? There’s one other person that’s called me that before.”

Three pairs of eyes go wide at the table.

“No way,” Pinkie whispered. “S-Sunny is here? At the mall?! RIGHT NOW?!” Every other word brought Pinkie forward until she was practically crawling onto the table. “We gotta find her!”

“No,” Applejack’s voice cut in like a blade. “No, we don’t.” Her words brought the mood of the table back down, and Applejack sighed heavily. “Look, ah know ya’ll don’t necessarily agree with me, but ah made Gilda a promise. She promised she’d look after Sunset, ah promised we’d stay outta the way of it all. We’ve done enough harm, we don’t need to give’er more grief.”

“But… but…” Pinkie looked devastated and Applejack reached over and pulled her into a hug. “I just wanna make her smile again… I miss her smile.”

“Yeah, Pinkie,” Applejack agreed. “Ah miss it too.”

Their meal was finished in relative silence, and when they got up they milled about aimlessly for a bit, trying to find something to distract them from the thought of the girl they’d abandoned. They ended up in one of the further corners of the mall heading towards the arcades when Rainbow perked up.

“Hey, you girls hear that?” Rainbow said, scanning around.

Rarity strained her ears and picked out the sounds a steady beat and an almost discordant plucking of strings in a melancholic harmony. “What… oh, it’s probably one of the buskers, what about it, darling?”

“I dunno, it’s sounds… different,” Rainbow started drifting towards the music and the other four trailed behind her.

The approached the small crowd that had gathered around the music, it was much larger than the usual. They were all gathered around a small corner where someone was beating out a complicated, hand-made percussion against wood complemented by the thrum of new strings

The sound was a rich, thundering beat matched with harsh strings and that was when the voice broke in. It was harsh, grating, throaty, and familiar. The voice sang out, rich with emotion. With pain and loneliness. The song was as beautiful as it was grating and painful. Sunset’s voice cracked and broke through the words but it somehow only added to the nature of the song. Every word felt like it was spat out bitterly… angrily.

Rainbow Dash felt her throat clench, Fluttershy and Rarity’s hands both flew up to their mouths, while Pinkie let out a soft whimper that was drowned out by the music. Applejack just stared, her face hardened and her eyes wide. Sunset was sitting at the corner, beating out the song almost violently, as she sang her heart out in her wheelchair.

"I-Is that..." Rainbow trailed off as she stared at the wheelchair. "That... that's temporary, right, AJ?" Rainbow whispered, turning to the farmgirl who had pulled her hat down over her eyes. "A-AJ? C-C'mon..."

"Ah don't know ah can rightly say, sugarcube," Applejack said in a choked voice. "But she was looked damn near dead when I saw'er at the hospital so..."

"Oh God, no," Fluttershy muttered, her voice a pale whisper that put even her normally soft tones to shame.

Every stanza of the song she was singing was a hammer blow that Sunset laid into her own pain as she beat the fire into word and song, and the girls felt every single blow. Sunset didn’t open her eyes throughout the song, singing each verse with her eyes closed and muscles clenched. At times her voice towered to shouts that were melodic and brutal, they sounded like they were tearing their way out of her throat, only to trail down to a deep, harmonic drawl. Sunset’s hair hung lank and heavy with sweat over her face, trailing above her fret-board as she played almost feverishly. There was something manic in her that was clawing its way out with every word and there wasn’t a single member of the slowly growing audience that wasn’t watching in rapt fascination. She sang out the chorus again, her voice just daring the world to come at her, swearing to die standing and be buried the same way.

Suddenly, as the last words of the chorus faded out, her playing slowed and trailed into chord rich with melancholy.

The song struck to the heart of all five girls who watched from the middle of the crowd and Rarity felt her mascara running again, she reached out for someone, anyone, and found Applejack’s hand and gripped it hard. Turning away from Sunset, Rarity buried her face in Applejack’s arm. “I’m sorry darling, I’m a coward but I can’t watch her anymore.”

“Ssh, s’okay, sugarcube, ah gotcha,” Applejack said softly, pulling Rarity close and rocking her gently as Sunset trailed back into the chorus, her voice low and calm as if the violence and brutality of the song had taken something fundamental out of her.

Sunset beat out the final rhythms of percussion with care and precision against the well of her guitar, her eyes softly opening and tears streaming out of them to mix with the sweat of her hair and skin. She continued to pluck away at the strings for another minute or so, as the five girls pulled away from the crowd before she could spot them. There wasn’t a dry eye among any of the five of them, and Rarity still clung desperately to Applejack. She looked as if she would fall over at any time. Pinkie’s hair hung straight and washed out, and Rainbow had an arm around her, pulling the sniffling girl close and giving what comfort she was able while trying not to cry herself.

Fluttershy looked either the best or the worst depending on how well the person looking knew her. On the surface, she seemed calm, but Rainbow could see it wasn’t calm at all. It was shock. Fluttershy was walking like she was in a daze.

Surprisingly, she was also the first one to speak. “I… I’m sorry, I have to go!” Fluttershy turned on her heel and sprinted away from the rest of the five, Rainbow made to chase but Applejack stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

“Let’r go, Dashie,” Applejack said softly, “she’ll talk when she’s ready, a’right? We can follow in a bit, but we gotta give’r a little space for a mo’, okay?”

“Y-yeah…” Rainbow dropped her hand that was still extended in the direction of her fleeing friend. “Yeah, I know… dammit…”

Sunset rolled out of the mall, taking a gulp of water from the bottle she’d picked up on her way out. Her voice was raw and cracked from the song she’d just sang and her soul felt just about as sore. That one always got her, especially after the Anon-A-Miss fiasco. She loved it but… it was so emotional. It was tied to so many emotions that she didn’t necessarily know how to feel.

Helden and Penny had come to watch her play through a few songs, cheering and clapping as she performed. Their friends had been nice, a little critical but her music had shut them right the hell up. That had genuinely made Sunset smile, it was a little vindictive but she’d take what she could get. More importantly, she’d actually made money today! She’d laid her guitar case in front of her mostly out of convenience, there wasn’t really anywhere else for her to put it that she could easily access it given her legs. When she’d finished she’d found a tidy number of coins and bills had been tossed into the case by passersby and listeners.

It was getting past two in the afternoon and Gilda would be off her shift in a couple of hours. If she could make even a little money busking it would be helpful and she was looking forward to talking to Gilda about it.

Before that though… Sunset wheeled herself to a tucked away corner, a small wall of hedges that crisscrossed each other, and polished off her water, coughing a little as she swallowed before pulling out a cigarette and lighting it.

“S-sorry, but can I bum a light?” A soft familiar voice asked from the other corner of the hedge adjacent to Sunset.

Fluttershy. It was Fluttershy’s voice.

Not wanting to get into a conversation or draw attention, Sunset scrabbled for her matches and tossed them over as she pulled her beanie lower, making sure her hair was fully tucked away and her coat was properly fluffed up to conceal as much of her as possible.

Fluttershy picked up the box and pulled out a match, sticking a cigarette in her own mouth and lighting it before tossing the matchbox back. “Thanks… I didn’t think I’d have one today since I’m with my friends and… and they don’t know… so I didn’t bring my lighter… so thanks.”

Sunset gave a noncommittal grunt of assent and went back to smoking. This was by far the most stressful cigarette she’d ever had. Still, she had to say, of all the girls she never pegged Fluttershy as being a smoker.

A soft sob sounded from around the corner, drawing Sunset’s eye. She risked turning her head just slightly. Fluttershy was curled up on the raised brick ridge dividing the hedge from the sidewalk her knees tucked up and her face buried in them, her waterfall of pink hair draped over her head and legs. One hand was held out, the cigarette hanging lazily from her fingers.

As she lifted her head, Sunset saw the tears tracking down Fluttershy’s cheeks. Her shaking hand brought the cigarette to her lips and she took a drag, let out an equally shaky breath, and then buried her face again and lets out another sob.

“M’sorry, ignore me,” Fluttershy said in a muffled voice. “I just saw an old friend of mine who was really badly hurt. She hates me too and it’s all my fault, I’m one of the ones that hurt her the worst. I’m… I’m not dealing with it too well so… sorry if I’m ruining anything.”

Sunset felt a pang of hurt and panic in her heart. They’d seen her playing. They knew she was at the mall. It was definitely time to leave.

“S’okay,” Sunset replied in a gruff, cracked voice that took little effort. Her voice was pretty shot after that song anyway.

“She’s in a wheelchair now, I guess,” Fluttershy continued, as she raised her head and took another drag, tears dropping onto her knees. “I didn’t know it was that bad. I knew she got hurt but… but I thought she got better.”

What could she say? What was Sunset supposed to say? Sometimes people don’t get better. Sometimes when bad shit happens it happens permanently. Sometimes shit has consequences and you just have to suck it up and live with it. But really, what was she supposed to say.

“S-sorry if I’m rambling,” Fluttershy whimpered. “I was having a good day until… I keep thinking back to the terrible things I said to her. I was hurt and angry but… I didn’t mean it… I swear I didn’t.”

Did it even matter if she meant it? Fluttershy had said it. That’s what was important. Sunset grimaced, taking another drag. ‘You’re not our friend’ Sunset could still hear the stinging voice in her ears, ‘you never were!’

They were words that Sunset still heard in her nightmares, what few that got through the warm embrace she enjoyed every night, thankfully. She still heard them, echoing around in her head. Especially those last three.

You never were.

‘Then what was I, Fluttershy?’ Sunset thought bitterly as she blew out another stream of smoke. ‘What even was I if I was never your friend?’

“I’m sorry,” Fluttershy choked the words out. “I’m so sorry…”

Sunset bit her lip. Not yet… maybe one day she’d be ready but… not yet. It was in her to talk to them, to any of them, yet. Especially not Fluttershy. Sunset tasted blood. She’d bitten straight through, hissing in pain, she put her cigarette out on the metal bar of her wheelchair, swept up the matchbox from the ridge where had been sitting and tucked them away before unlatching her brake and leaving.

‘Sorry, Fluttershy,’ Sunset thought morosely. ‘But I can’t forgive you yet, I can't forgive any of you yet… I can barely go outside without panicking. I feel like I can’t trust anyone but Gilda… I can’t… I just can’t.’

Sunset felt tears trail down her own face as Fluttershy sobbed behind her. She went the long way around to the bus hub, rolling as fast as she dared without risking tipping herself over or going out of control.

She wanted to go home. She really, really wanted to go home.

She wanted Gilda.

Today was enough. It would have to be enough. One step at a time, Sunny, one step at a time. You can’t teleport before you can blink. She would keep working on it. Sunset knew she still needed Gilda to stay stable, to stay grounded. That was okay if it just for a little while. Just for now. She would have to be her own woman again one day but…

Not today.

Today she was going home to Gilda because she couldn’t do it on her own yet.

So… just for now.

~Ponyville Auto Garage~

Gilda pulled herself out from under the engine block of an old pickup that’d been brought in with a snapped belt and a bad alternator. A rough patch up, for sure, not much she could do about the latter, but the belt was an easy fix. Gearshift was working on the Alternator, he apparently had a knack for getting the old ones running again against all odds.

It was a good thing too, fixing it meant the difference of about a couple hundred bucks for the client. Most everyone in the Commons knew that the brothers at the Ponyville Auto Repair were borderline miracle workers when it came to resurrecting old beaters, and Gilda was looking forward to picking up some of the secrets of their craft.

There was nothing small-scale left to do until tomorrow, so Gilda wiped herself down and stood up from the vehicle, giving Gearshift a thumbs up as she stretched her cramped limbs and headed over to the washbasin. It was tough work, fitting someone as big as her under a vehicle, and it was far from graceful, but Gilda had the muscle to get the old school cars growling again. It was a lot of gripping and turning, and good old-fashioned elbow grease, but she had that in spades.

“Ey, Grifa, you off?” Crank Shaft came around the corner into the garage, wearing his usual wide smile.

Gilda returned the grin and nodded. “Yeah, Crank, not much to do until we can reinstall the alternator in that piece’a shit I just crawled out of.”

“Goin’ back home to ya cariña, yeah?”

Instead of blushing as she had been lately, Gilda’s smiled turned warmer and lighter. “Yeah, I am, sappy shit, innit Crank?”

The older mechanic shook his head, walking up to pat Gilda on the back. “Nah, it ain’t sappy, chica. You got somethin’ worth fightin’ for now. Me’n Gear knew that’s all it’d take to get ya movin’, you’ve got la fuega, la pasión.”

“I do, huh?” Gilda answered with a wry grin, drying her hands off on the towel as she walked into the small adjoining room to change out of her jumpsuit. “What the hell’s my ‘la pasión’ supposed t’be?”

She shut the door in Crank’s face, and he chuckled, leaning his back against it as Gilda changed on the other side. He pondered for a few minutes before nodding to himself.

“You ever get that feelin’, Grifa?” Crank started. “That feelin’ like you got something you gotta to do today? Can’t do it tomorrow, tomorrow’s too late, and ‘sides, ya gotta do the same thing tomorrow anyway. It doesn’t burn, it’s…”

“Warm,” Gilda said softly from the other side of the door, she was leaning against the locker, halfway through pulling on her shirt and belting her pants. “Feels warm… but… s’like it could go out so easily.”

Crankshaft nodded. “Si, yeah, so y’gotta keep the fire goin’. So long as the fire’s goin’ it’ll keep ya warm no matter how hard’n cold the nights get, yeah? Cuz you got la pasión and it’s the reason ya got any reason at all t’do anythin’ and everythin’, ya feel?.”

Gilda finished pulling on her shirt, giving her belt a good tug to make sure it was secure, then threw on her jacket. Pulling her phone out of her pocket she looked down at the picture she’d saved. A picture she looked at a lot lately. Anytime she had a free second, actually. Gilda had sent herself a copy when she’d sent it out to the person she’d promised it to.

It was a picture of a certain beautiful redhead, tired and worn out-looking, lying in Gilda’s arms with an exhausted smile in a hospital bed, Gilda was kissing her cheek and smiling too. They were both so tired. She could still feel the itching pain of the bandages that had been on her legs, they still hurt even now, if she was being honest. They hadn’t fully healed, or the damage had left her legs weaker. Either way, it didn’t matter.

In the picture, they were both smiling. Happy and tired, because they’d survived.

It hurt.

Warm tears tracked their way down Gilda’s cheeks as she stared at Sunset’s smiling face in the picture. She wasn’t even sad or happy, or… anything specific. If there was a feeling to feel at all Gilda could only say that it hurt. It hurt, it felt good and bad at the same time; like her heart was swelling and cracking under the strain. It felt fucking terrible. It was shit and all she could do was… feel it. Yet, looking down at that picture, Gilda knew without a question that she’d work herself to the bone for that smile. She’d wake up every morning with the sun and go to work and then work til the sun was gone again and then do it again the next day. And the next, and the next, and the next. The thought of it was exhausting and terrifying… and incredible and energizing.

And Gilda loved it.

She loved Sunset so much.

“Yeah,” Gilda finally said after several moments of silence, tucking her phone away and adjusting her bomber jacket. “Yeah, I feel it, Crank.”

Wiping the tears from her eyes, Gilda took a breath and shut the locker. Crankshaft greeted her with an easy smile as she came out of the locker, slapping a hand on her shoulder.

“Alright, Grifa,” Crank said, jerking a thumb towards the exit. “Get back to your cariña, G, and give’r our love, yeah?”

Gilda nodded. “Yeah, will do, Crank, thanks.”

The winters of Canterlot were bitterly cold, as always, and as Gilda wandered out into the streets that led back to her and Sunset’s flat she marveled at how her girlfriend could’ve survived even one of them homeless, much less however many she actually had to suffer through. It was a harsh truth that the homeless either found shelter or… well, they didn’t last long. Canterlot winters were brutal even if you had a roof over your head.

The snow crunched under her feet, her steel-toed tread biting into the sleet and ice-slick surface of the sidewalk. Flurries of snow fell around her, disappearing as easily into Gilda’s stark white hair as they did into the snowdrifts around her.

Today had been the second day of Gilda’s first real job. Well, her first real, legitimate and tax-paying job, anyway.

“Look ma’, I’m a real girl now,” Gilda muttered to herself softly.

As the parking lot of her flat came into sight, Gilda couldn’t help a smile crawling over her face. Sunset was home, she’d gotten a text not long ago. She had spent the entire day thinking about Sunset, wondering how she was doing, how the trip to the mall had gone.

She was worried, though.

Worried that Sunset had bitten off more than she could chew again. She did that a lot, as Gilda was coming to find out. Swinging for the fences was kind of her thing, even if it meant dislocating her shoulder in the process. Gilda wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

On the one hand, it terrified her. On the other… Gilda loved it.

No matter what life threw at Sunset, the girl remained fearless, driven, and absolutely unbroken. Hurt, sometimes, sure… but never broken. At least, not while Gilda had anything to say about it.

Fitting the key into the lock, Gilda turned the latch and stepped into the room, it was dark, and the blinds were drawn tight against the glare of the early afternoon sun on the snowy sidewalks. There was a lump in the bed, buried in the covers on the side Gilda normally slept on, and Sunset’s wheelchair was parked by the bed.

‘Huh, maybe she’s takin’ a nap?’ Gilda thought as she silently took her jacket off and hung it from the rack by the door as quietly as possible.

As she was setting her key ring on the small kitchen table, Gilda noticed a pile of mismatched bills and change. Eyeing it curiously, she sifted through it, it definitely wasn’t hers. Was it… ‘Shit, there're almost fifty bucks in here.’

“Gilda?” Sunset’s soft, cracked voice instantly snapped Gilda’s attention to the bed as Sunset unburied herself from the pile of covers. She was hugging a pillow, Gilda’s pillow, and her hair was a rats nest. Her eyes were puffy and red, and her cheeks were tracked with dried tears.

Gilda was at her side in the space of a breath, kicking her boots off and half-falling onto the bed, as she reached out and pulled Sunset into her warm, if sweaty, embrace.

“H-hey, babe,” Gilda said as Sunset silently buried her face in Gilda’s shoulder a curled around her. “What’s wrong? You don’t look so good.”

Sunset just nodded wordlessly and continued to take deep, heavy breaths her arms gripped around Gilda’s torso tightly so tightly that her fingertips were digging into Gilda’s shoulders. Not knowing what else to say, Gilda just held Sunset and waited. Sunset would talk, she always did, but right now Gilda got the feeling she just needed to be held.

Moving a little closer in, onto the bed and alongside Sunset, Gilda slowly started petting her hair. They were gentle, easy motions, made familiar by consistent practice. ‘S’funny’, Gilda thought, ‘I think I’m almost getting good at this.’

It was as hard to see Sunset vulnerable and hurting now as it had been that day in the CHS hallways when she’d been reduced to a crying mess by her locker. Gilda had felt sick to her stomach. She’d felt like someone had just gut-checked her and she didn’t know why. It felt the same way now except this time Gilda knew exactly where those feelings were coming from.

Gilda loved Sunset Shimmer. She’d been crushing on her for… probably a year or two. Without realising it, of course. It was always ‘respect’ or ‘admiration’ or something else. Some other word.

Now, though? Now Gilda had Sunset in her arms, holding her up as the fiery redhead tried, day-by-day, to put herself back together. This time seemed especially bad because Sunset laid silently in Gilda’s arms for what felt like an hour before finally speaking up.

“I ran into the girls at the mall today,” Sunset said, in a voice that was raw with tears, and Gilda’s entire body tensed.

Snarling, Gilda let out a shaky breath as she tried to keep a rein on her temper. “Dammit, I told the Rainbrats not t’bother ya, Sunshine. I’ll hafta have a talk with-”

Sunset shook her head. “S-sorry, I didn’t mean I… I talked to them or anything. I didn’t even see most of them. But I know they were there. They must’ve seen me busking near the Arcades.”

“Busking? That where the cash came from?” Gilda asked, relaxing a little as Sunset reassured her. “And if ya didn’t se’m what’d ya mean ya ran into’m?”

Pulling away from Gilda a little so that she was sitting in the larger girl’s lap and leaning on her shoulder, Sunset, nuzzled against Gilda’s warmth, relishing the closeness and the feeling of safety Gilda exuded. Tilting her head up, Sunset stared up at Gilda who blushed slightly at the sudden intimate stare but smiled. Sunset returned the smile and tilted her head up a little more.

‘’Right, that’s what she wants’ Gilda thought, with a grin. Answering Sunset’s silent request, Gilda leaned down and kissed her softly, and she felt Sunset melt a little more in her arms. Pulling back, Sunset settled back down and reclined against Gilda.

“After I played, I went outside to smoke near one of the hedges… I’d just lit my cigarette when Fluttershy came out and sat right around the corner from me,” Sunset explained, after a moment of consideration. “She knew I was there, and asked me for a light, I… think she knew it was me. She never looked at me directly, or addressed me by name or anything… but I’m positive she knew.”

“Sorry, Sunflower,” Gilda said, wrapping her arms around Sunset’s midriff. “I shoulda gone with ya, or asked ya ta wait or…”

Sunset shook her head. “That’s not it… Fluttershy is the one person… she’s the only one I think had every right to drop me like she did.”

A growl grew in Gilda’s throat. “Hey, nobody, no-how, had any fuckin’ right to drop ya like they did, Sunshine!” Gilda said, her voice rising in agitation. Sunset didn’t rise to it, instead she brought up a hand to stroke under Gilda’s jaw and bring her back down. “S-sorry, I just… why th’fuck’d you say she had a right ta do that?”

“Because I treated her worse than anyone in that school, Gil,” Sunset said, her voice cracking a little. “Because it was easy, and because I was bitch.”

Letting out a cracked sob, Sunset dug her heels into her eyes again, trying to push away the tears Gilda started to reply but Sunset cut her off. “Sunset Shimmer having a bad day? Kick around Fluttershy. Flash getting on my nerves? Bully Fluttershy. Didn’t get my way in class? Hey, there’s always fucking with Fluttershy!”

Gilda didn’t really know what to say to that. Fluttershy was kind of a doormat, it was true. The only reason Gilda had never gone after her was that Fluttershy never had anything that Gilda had wanted. Fluttershy had always gotten on Gilda’s nerves with how soft-spoken and demure and just… weak, she’d always seemed. It’d been easy to not only ignore the quiet girl, but to forget she was even there. Sunset though… back in her good old bad days Sunset had despised weakness.

“I barely gave her any peace,” Sunset continued, morosely. “I slapped her around, I stole her school supplies, her backpack, and her lunch money. I was so fucking horrible to her. I hated her for being such a goddamn weakling, I wanted her to fight back, to say something, do something, but… but… she wouldn’t stand up to me.”

“You liked’er, huh?” Gilda responded in a soft tone, and she felt Sunset freeze in her arms like she was suddenly tensed from her neck down. Sunset’s breathing starting getting ragged and a clench of fear gripped Gilda’s heart. “S-sunny?”

“What did you say?” Sunset asked in a deathly quiet voice, her eyes drifting up to meet Gilda’s golden orbs and Gilda felt like she was standing on the edge of a precipice.

Swallowing hard, she took the leap. “I… I said… you liked’er. Fluttershy. You liked’er. Like, I liked you for a long time. You wanted’er to push back, to show some spine.”

Sunset worked her jaw wordlessly for a moment before responding. “W-what kind of horrific bitch torments the girl she likes? That’s… that’s fucking insane.”

“Nah, that’s high school,” Gilda said somberly. “We’re fucked up, Sunshine, you’n me both; we’ve lost a lot, we got hurt a lot, we fucked up a lot. It’s kinda part’a us now, savvy? My old boss pointed it out ta me early, so I just… gave up on people. Figured if I couldn’t be around people like a normal person I’d just be me. Chase everyone away and no one gets hurt, savvy?”

“But I didn’t… I wouldn’t…” Sunset started and stopped, trying to work through her feelings. “I… Fluttershy was just… an easy target.”

“C’mon Sunflower, she wasn’t the only one,” Gilda retorted, jabbing another prod into Sunset’s argument all while hating herself for prying open the old wound. Gilda could feel it though, Sunset needed to face this. “Plenty’a fuckin’ weak-ass wallflowers in high school. So why’d ya pick Flutters?”

“I…” Why had she picked on Fluttershy? She’d already torn the little friend group apart. After the ‘Silent Auction’ debacle, the deed was done. Sunset could have just left well enough alone and turned her energy and attention elsewhere. In fact, it would’ve made way more sense for her to do exactly that, rather than risk Fluttershy reporting her bullying to the staff.

Instead though…

“Oh… fuck…” Sunset sobbed out, burying her face in her hands.

Sunset remembered thinking certain thoughts that stood out only now that she was reflecting on them. She remembered thinking a lot of things about Fluttershy. Things that were frustrating and made Sunset unreasonably angry. Like how Fluttershy was… everything Sunset wasn’t. How she was everything Sunset couldn’t be. Things like how Fluttershy was kind and gentle. Beautiful inside and out. It wasn’t fair that she got to be that nice and that pretty and that cute and that… wonderful. There was nothing wrong with her except… except that she was weak.

She was weak and soft. So… goddamn soft.

“I’m fucking sick,” Sunset choked the words out, curling her arms around herself. “I’m a fucking monster. How the fuck did anyone ever forgive me of anything?”

There wasn’t an answer Gilda could give to that. She didn’t know, she was never a target of Sunset’s reign of terror. She was probably one of the ones who stood apart from it, in fact.

“How can… anyone love something like me?” Sunset croaked.

She was starting to pull away and Gilda scowled, she tried to pull back but Sunset swatted at her arm and continued trying to get away, this time more forcefully.

“H-hey, what gives?” Gilda scowled, as Sunset rolled away from her, curling in on herself. “C’mon, Sunshine, the fuck ya doin'?”

“I don’t deserve you,” Sunset muttered, her face turned away from Gilda. “Just… I don’t. I can’t,” Gilda felt a jab to her heart at those words. She wasn’t saying… “Not after everything I did, to the girls, to Fluttershy. I ruined so much of their time in high school. I almost destroyed their friendships completely and I don’t think it really hit me til right now. I deserve to be left in the cold; broken and alone.”

“W-what?”

Gilda got off the bed, staring down at Sunset and feeling a cold sweat go down her back. This was not going the way she’d wanted it to. She’d wanted Sunset to face her problems. To face her past. Not… not this.

“ I just… I’m sorry, Gilda, but I should leave,” Sunset started to get up, her eyes emotionless and distant. “I’m sorry I wasted so much of your time, but I don’t belong here, I don’t deserve any of this, I certainly don’t deserve you. I deserved what I got in that alley and what the girls did in the hall and that’s… that’s the end of it.” Sunset started to reach for the handle that would pull her onto her wheelchair.

“Woah, no way,” Gilda grabbed the wheelchair, not bothering to unlatch the brakes she lifted the entire thing up and away from the bed, drawing a furious look from Sunset.

:”Gilda, give me back my fucking chair,” her words were harsh and choked and angry, they were thick with unspent tears. “I’m leaving. I’m… not going to let myself just get away with the bullshit I pulled for three fucking years.”

‘Shit! Shit shit shit shit,’ Gilda’s brain was grinding its gears. She couldn’t just… grab Sunset and stop her. That was… could she? ‘FUCK!’

“Gilda, I swear to Celestia, if you don’t give me my fucking chair back…” Sunset crawled across the bed, dragging her useless legs. “You know what? Fuck it! I’ll just crawl into the fucking snow then!” Stepping forward, Gilda reached out but Sunset took a swipe at her hand. “Don’t fucking touch me!”

Her shout was like a knife to Gilda’s gut and she staggered back. So… so this was it? Just let her go? Go where? Back to Equestria? Never see her again? Sunset was asking Gilda to just… leave her to whatever? Sunset reached the edge of the bed, pulling her legs free of the tangle of covers, angrily pulling each leg loose and setting them dangling over the bed. Taking another blind swipe with her arm to keep Gilda away.

Tears started to track down Gilda’s cheeks as she stepped back and away from Sunset. Her hand to came to rest on the backrest of the wheelchair she’d taken from Sunset’s reach. She was about to push it closer, she didn’t want Sunset going through with her promise to crawl out into the snow. But… but…

‘Gilda? Can you do me a favor?’

“Sunshine,” Gilda’s voice came out broken, her tone made the look of anger on Sunset’s features soften, “please… please don’t go away.”

‘Right now, while you’re here with me, and holding me, and I’m feeling halfway sane, can I ask you to promise that you’ll never let me push you away?’

“I know everything is shit right now,” Gilda croaked out, her raspy voice thickening with fear and sorrow. “But please, please don’t leave me,” stepping forward, carefully, slowly, Gilda got to her knees so she could look Sunset dead in the eyes. “I ain’t fuckin’ around here, you’re my whole goddamn world right now, okay? I… know that’s fuckin’ dramatic, but, around you I feel like I’m finally breathin’, I’m not just waitin’ for something to happen, savvy?”

Reaching out, Gilda took hold of Sunset’s hands. For a moment, she thought Sunset would pull away again and, briefly, Sunset considered it, but in the end, she let it happen. Let Gilda’s wide, warm hands envelop her own.

“S-so, look, I’m pretty bad at this emotional shit, okay?” Gilda continued, trying to keep a leash on her tears and failing badly. “But I love you more than anything in the world. I spent all day today thinkin’ about sappy shit like how pretty you are, and how much I was lookin’ forward t’comin’ home and seein’ you and, fuck, just talkin’ to you, and hearin’ you talk to me. It’s all I was thinkin’ about, okay?”

Sunset swallowed hard and opened her mouth to respond, but she couldn’t find any words. So instead she just closed her mouth and nodded. Letting out a slow breath, Gilda, reached up and stroked Sunset’s cheek, and Sunset leaned slightly into Gilda’s touch.

“Yeah, what you used to do was pretty fucked up,” Gilda said. “No joke, it was pretty shit, savvy? I admired your gung-ho take-no-prisoners attitude because I was kind of a shithead too. But you asked me to never let you go, you asked me t’never letcha push me away. And you promised me that you’d never give up on me so long as I never gave up on you.”

Looping her hand around to the back of Sunset’s head, Gilda let her fingers tangle into Sunset’s red and gold hair as she drew her down into a fiery, passionate kiss. It tasted warm and salty with spent tears, and for the first breath, Sunset froze, unsure if she was still pulling away or moving forward. She felt lost and confused. She felt hurt and sick and terrified. She felt…

Loved.

Sunset kissed back, opening her mouth slightly, meeting the curve of Gilda’s lips and pressing hungrily into her girlfriend's inviting arms. Tears kept falling, from both of them. Tears of pain, and sorrow, and relief. Sunset trailed her hands everywhere she could reach, desperately trying to remind herself that Gilda was here and real and holding her and in love with her. Gilda held herself as solidly as she could, letting Sunset cling to her and kiss her and touch her. To be as close as Sunset needed her to be. To be as close to Sunset at that moment that she needed to be.

“See?” Gilda said, breathlessly as she pulled away, staring into Sunset’s beautiful, mesmerising eyes. “I ain’t givin’ up on you, Sunshine, so… what’s it gonna be? You gonna wuss out on our promise? On me?”

Biting her lip and letting out a strangled whimper, Sunset shook her head.

“No,” Sunset said in a small, choked voice. “I’m not… I’m sorry, Gil. I’m so, so sorry. I didn’t mean any of it. I swear I didn’t mean it. I can’t leave you… I… I hate myself so much but, I love you so much more.”

Now it was Gilda’s turn to let out a sob, this one of relief as she darted in and wrapped Sunset in a crushing hug. “Thank god, fuckin’... shit I thought… It’s okay, babe, I know. I know you didn’t, but I was so fuckin’ scared.”

“I’m sorry,” Sunset repeated, burying her face in Gilda’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry, thank you… I don’t want to leave. I don’t ever want to leave you, Gil. You’re the best part of me right now, thank you for keeping your promise. I… I can’t promise I won’t fuck up and fall apart again but…”

“Ssh,” Gilda hushed Sunset softly, pulling herself and her girlfriend into bed and laying down, curling her larger body around Sunset protectively. “It doesn’t matter, I don’t fuckin’ care. I’ll fight tooth and nail each and every time to keep you, Sunflower. I swear’ta god, I won’t let you go, okay? However long it takes, even if it takes forever, I don’t care. You’re worth it.”

Sunset nodded, clinging hard and letting out a few wracked sobs. “Thank you,” she whispered, taking several deep shuddering breaths. “Thank you…”

She didn’t know if she believed Gilda but… Sunset believed that Gilda believed it. That would have to be enough for that. That Gilda thought she was worth it.

6. Guided By A Beating Heart

~The Next Day, December 21st, The Winter Solstice~

Snow fell in light flurries over the city of Canterlot; a far cry from the intermittent storms that swept in large banks of snow to cover the streets and sidewalks. The temperature was still bitterly cold, though, as befitted the shortest day of the year. The snow plows were pulling double duty that year, the snowfall was set to break a record if it kept rolling in at the rate it had been, and the weather reports suggested it was fixing to do exactly that.

One more reason Sunset had to be thankful to Gilda. One among a small army of reasons, she thought as she stared out the window of their little flat.

Gilda was humming softly, if a bit atonally, from the bathroom. Crankshaft had called early in the morning to let them know the shop wasn’t going to be open barring an emergency, so Gilda was free to spend the day with her girlfriend. As much as Gilda had been looking forward to working, and as much as she loved her job, the news had still left her in an extremely good mood. When she’d put her phone down she had immediately turned to inform Sunset.

Sunset blushed brightly as she recalled how they’d then spent the next hour or so cuddling and kissing.

That was all.

Gilda wasn’t pushy, in fact, she hadn’t even mentioned… that, in all the time they’d been together. Sunset blushed harder and turned over to bury her face in her pillow.

“You’re a grown-ass woman, or close to,” Sunset mumbled into the lumpy fabric. “You are in fact allowed to say the word: ‘sex’.”

“Hey babe, you hungry?” Gilda called as she exited the bathroom, eliciting a startled yeep from Sunset.

Turning over in bed with some effort, most of which involved manually turning her legs, Sunset took several deep breaths, trying to pat away the blush on her cheeks and wondering if Gilda had heard her.

Looking up at her girlfriend who was standing framed by the open bathroom door and the light spilling out into the dark living room, Sunset was struck again by just how pretty Gilda was. She wasn’t dressed up or anything. Plain grey baggy sweats and a black t-shirt with the different iconic weapons of her favorite horror movie slashers on a four-by-four grid that her broad shoulders strained at just enough to show their definition. She had a small smile on her face, content and easy-going like Gilda always seemed to be, and her bright white hair hung damp over her brow from where she’d tamed her bed-head with tap water.

And her eyes.

Sunset smiled widely, I could get lost in those gold eyes forever…

“Yo, Earth to Sunshine,” Gilda said, waving a towel from the bathroom at Sunset who blushed and chuckled.

“Sorry babe, still kinda sleepy,” Sunset said, it wasn’t necessarily untrue. “Yeah, breakfast sounds great. Whatever you’re having.”

“One bowl of cereal with marshmallow bits comin’ up, babe,” Gilda said with a laugh as she went to the kitchen.

Sunset laughed along with her as she passed. “Marshmallow bits? Really? What are you, eight?!”

“What can I say? I’ve got an inner child that really fuckin’ likes marshmallow,” Gilda shot back, unashamedly.

Another thing Sunset would never cease to admire about Gilda was how… just… Gilda, she was. Gilda was Gilda. It seemed like such a simple concept but how many people could really say that they’re exactly who they say they are? Gilda owned every part of herself; the good, the bad, the ugly, the silly… all of it. You could never really accuse Gilda of being something because she would just agree, if you were right, or knock you over if you were wrong. One other thing Sunset had learned in their relationship was that Gilda took an unusual amount of umbrage to being misunderstood.

A bowl of cold cereal appeared under Sunset’s nose without warning and she backed up a little before shaking her head and smiling. “Sorry about that, I’m all kinds of lost in my own head this morning.”

Gilda grinned down at Sunset and shrugged. “S’cool, babe. You do a lot more thinking than I do, savvy?”

Shaking her head, Sunset scooted over a little to make room for Gilda. “I wish you wouldn’t do that.”

“What?”

“Put yourself down like that,” Sunset said a little sadly. “You talk about yourself like you think you’re stupid.”

Shrugging again, Gilda took a bite of her cereal and leaned against the headboard. “Well,” she said, messily around a mouthful of marshmallow bits, “I kinda am. Stupid-ish, I mean, savvy? You haven’t seen my grades, Sunflower, I’ve got a skull like bedrock for better and worse.” Gilda tapped her temple with a finger and grinned before swallowing and taking another bite.

“First, baby, gross,” Sunset said, grimacing. “Swallow your food, please and thanks. Second’ve all, you’re not stupid. Third of all,” Sunset scowled suspiciously at her bowl, “did you pick out all my fucking marshmallows and put them in your bowl?”

Gilda blinked owlishly for a moment before slowly moving her bowl slightly further from Sunset’s eyes. “Uh, pass?”

Scowling at Gilda, Sunset held out her bowl. “Gimme. You’re a fucking savage, Gilda Grimfeather, but I’m not eating this if I don’t at least get some of the good parts.”

Chuckling softly, Gilda went to work evening out the ratios of their respective bowls with her spoon. Sunset hadn’t closely examined her meal beforehand, but upon looking she’d realised that, sure enough, Gilda had given her an entire bowl of the wheaty bits.

“I can’t believe you foisted all of the crappy wheaty floaters onto your beloved girlfriend!” Sunset whined, taking a bite of equal parts marshmallow and soggy wheat before giving her lip a good quiver and pushing out a few crocodile tears. “I t-thought you loved me!”

Gilda worked her jaw soundlessly for a few seconds, trying and failing to find a response. Apparently tears make her brain seize up, Sunset thought with an internal smile, good thing I’m not evil anymore or I’d definitely use that.

“A-aw c’mon babe, I didn’t…” Gilda stammered, looking down at her bowl and then at Sunset’s. “I-it was a joke! I swear!”

Suddenly turning off the waterworks, Sunset took another bite of her cereal while giving her girlfriend a slow Cheshire grin. Gilda returned the look with a sullen glare and went back to her own bowl.

“Not fair, Sunshine,” Gilda groused, taking a bite then swallowing and pointing her spoon at Sunset. “You know how I get when you’re upset, fakin’ it ain’t fair.”

Sunset rolled her eyes, laughing a little as she nodded. “I know, I’m sorry, I can’t help it sometimes. Just because I’m ‘reformed’ doesn’t mean I’m not still kind of an imp. Plus you’re cute when I tease you.”

Blushing, Gilda sighed before polishing off the rest of her breakfast and setting the bowl down by the side of the bed and gesturing for Sunset to come closer. Sunset happily obliged, scooting over until she was ensconced in her girlfriend’s embrace.

This is the life, Sunset thought merrily, as she munched on marshmallow bits. Getting head pets from my adorable girlfriend while sitting in her lap, cuddled up while it’s cold outside.

“I meant what I said before, you know,” Sunset said suddenly, leaning her head back and resting against Gilda’s chest. Looking up at her with a concerned gaze. “You’re not stupid, and I hate it when you talk like you are.”

“All evidence says I am, Sunflower,” Gilda shot back with a wry grin. “I can’t pass most of my classes for jack, even when I do try. I can barely crack a textbook without gettin’ a headache. S’no big deal, though, some people’re smarter’n others, and I can still do shit, savvy?”

“Except you’re better than that!” Sunset said fiercely, bringing a hand up to stroke Gilda’s cheek. “You saw the real me past the Anon-A-Miss bullshit before anyone else, it didn’t even occur to you that it might be me, you just… knew. Plus, your talon? C’mon babe, as much as I find the whole ‘carrying around a potentially lethal weapon in your back pocket’ kinda sus, you built that! Without instructions or anything!”

Gilda just shrugged. “I’ve got a knack for working with my hands,” she responded, glancing over to the polished metal sitting on the drawers by her coat rack. “Besides, instructions don’t do a thing f’me anyway, it’s all gibberish. The only thing that hasn’t given me a headache reading it is your Journal.”

Sunset blinked in confusion for a moment, then it was like a light went on in her head. “H-hey babe? Can you grab my backpack?”

Crooking an eyebrow, Gilda glanced over at the bag near the bed and shrugged. “Sure,” she leaned down, reaching over with her long, broad arms, and snatched it up, before handing it to Sunset. “Why?”

“Hold on a sec,” Sunset said as she rifled through her bag and finally pulled out her World History book. “Here,” she flipped to a random page and pointed to the opening paragraph. “Read this.”

Gilda rolled her eyes and groaned. “C’mon babe, I’m not in the mood to suck down painkillers at ten in the morning, do I hafta?”

“Just… just humor me, okay?” Sunset pleaded.

Letting out another groan, Gilda looked down at the paragraph and started reading out loud. “C-cetrun peridos fo s-sumrerinian- fuck! I’m not doin' this, okay? Way too goddamn early!” Gilda shouted, shoving the book back at Sunset.

Rather than look hurt, Sunset just stared down at the paragraph and then back up at Gilda. “Certain periods of Sumerian history indicate that their pantheons and faiths were quite different from others in that their gods were considered to bodily inhabit their idols. This lead to a unique viewpoint on settlement of cities which was unusual at the time.”

Gilda glared at Sunset. “See? You’re way fuckin’ smarter than me! I can’t even read it right! I’m pretty much fuckin’ illiterate!”

“You read my Journal just fine,” Sunset responded uneasily. “My Journal that has a Universal Tongues enchantment on it so that anyone whom I want to be able to read it is able to regardless of language, and anyone snooping in it will just see a word scramble.”

“So your Journal lets me read?” Gilda asked, a little surprised, “even if I can’t?”

Sunset shook her head. “No, you still have to be able to read. Like, the spell still needs you to possess an understanding of syntax and grammatical structure to be able to read it. It’s essentially a low-grade psychic scan that reads your surface thoughts and translates the letters into a language you can understand, but if you were actually illiterate then it would just fizzle.”

“Okay, so…” Gilda said, waving her hand. “That means what?”

“Uh, well… for one you’re not illiterate, or stupid, okay?” Sunset said, ticking off on her fingers. “Two, you understand language just fine but you still can’t ‘read’ normal books, yet you can read short stuff, like texts. And three, my linguistic bypass spell reads your language capacity as perfectly adequate. So what that means is that, uh…”

“Well? Spit it out, Sunshine,” Gilda prompted, “you got an explanation for my idiot brain then go for it.”

“Gilda,” Sunset started, wringing her hands a little as she mentally pawed around for a way to put it before settling on the direct approach. “I’m, uh… I’m pretty sure you’re dyslexic.”

“Dys-whatsit?” Gilda responded dryly.

Sunset sighed. “Look, I’m not a doctor, but I read up on a lot of medical stuff while I was stranded on this world, okay? I had no idea what the human body could do or what it was susceptible to, or even what getting sick would look like, so I did what I always did and I studied.”

Gilda just nodded along, not pushing and just listening. Sunset leaned up and kissed her girlfriend on the jaw, easing some of the tension away from Gilda as Sunset relaxed against her.

“So… remember, not a doctor or anything…” Sunset began, “but… dyslexia is basically your brain scrambling up the words you see. It’s not as simple as mixing up two words either; you can end up mixing whole sentences or scrambling up an entire word’s worth of letters. It’s not always the same I guess, and there’s not really a hard and fast diagnosis for it apparently.”

Leaning her head against Gilda’s shoulder she leaned up to give her girlfriend a reassuring peck on the cheek. “Plus, the more words in one place the more likely your brain will mix them up, so you can translate a one sentence text, or little internet-size bites of info, right?” Sunset asked and Gilda shrugged but nodded, it was definitely less effort than a book. “But then an equally short sentence in a book will get jumbled much worse because of the surrounding words since your eyes still see them.”

The whole time during Sunset’s explanation, Gilda just listened. Everything her girlfriend was saying sounded awfully familiar. All Gilda’s life she’d looked at signs and book titles and assignments and it felt like they were in an alien language. Then the whole accident with her parents had happened and everything got turned upside down. Gilda skipped school because she never learned anything, it felt like a waste of time, she didn’t do the assignments because she couldn’t parse them out and ended up just trashing them and hauling off somewhere else.

She had always been in trouble with doing any kind of schoolwork and barely managed above-failing grades in her classes, except for hands-on classes like shop and even home-ec. Gilda could do all of that because she’d taught herself to, and she’d taught herself because it was one of the ways she’d learned to be okay with being ‘stupid’, as she’d always figured she was.

“S-so…” Gilda started, feeling a rock settle into her chest as she looked down at the textbook. “This whole time I’ve just been… what? Sick?”

Sunset shook her head. “No, it’s… just a disorder I think… I don’t even know if there’s a cure or if it’s just a thing with the human brain. Haven’t you ever, y’know… talked to anyone about having trouble with the classwork and material?”

Rolling her eyes, Gilda scoff. “C’mon Sunshine, you know me better than that, and you know the fuckin’ school better than that,” she said, waving her hand dismissively. “I suck at asking for help too, and the teachers all think I’m just a lazy fuckup who doesn’t give a shit about class. Not like they’re totally wrong about that.”

“Babe!” Sunset did her best to turn around on Gilda’s lap. “You’re not a fuckup and you’re sure as fuck not lazy! Look at this place!” Sunset gestured around to the room they were in. “You made your whole fucking flat accessible for me in what… a day?! After getting a job! Lazy fuckup is pretty much the last way I’d describe you!”

“Not like the teachers give a shit…” Gilda retorted sullenly.

“They might if you talked about it!” Sunset pleaded. “C’mon, babe… I love you. I love you so, so much, but you have to talk to people sometimes. I… I’m not saying it’s your fault or anything… I promise,” Sunset said, bringing a hand up and stroke Gilda’s cheek. “They’re teachers, they should’ve noticed something was wrong, it’s not your responsibility to know this stuff, but if you are dyslexic then we should talk to Principal Celestia about it when we see her at Christmas, okay?”

Gilda stared down at Sunset, who could see the consternation in her girlfriend’s eyes. There was conflict and Sunset could see how close Gilda was to saying no, or denying it outright, or brushing it off. All of that chaos flickered past her eyes in a few seconds until Gilda looked away and laid back against the headboard of the bed.

“I… I dunno, Sunshine,” Gilda said, her voice uncharacteristically soft. “What’s it matter if I am? What’s it even matter if ya can’t fix it? It’s just complaining about something ya can’t do a thing about, savvy?”

Sunset grimaced and pulled herself up closer to Gilda. “That’s not true, Gil,” she said, laying her head on Gilda’s shoulder. “I’m sure there are resources, or something, for it. Or at the very least Principal Celestia can try and figure something out for your schoolwork.”

“I don’t want special fuckin’ treatment, Sunny,” Gilda replied heatedly, scowling, and her hands closed into fists as she spoke. “If I don’t learn the shit then I don’t pass, even if my fuckin’ brain is knee-capping me! If I don’t learn it then I’m still stupid!”

“Stop that!” Sunset pleaded, her voice cracking as she pulled away from Gilda, bracing her hands on Gilda’s shoulders to lever herself up and stare the bigger girl in the eyes. “You’re not stupid! You’re not! So please stop saying you are! I love you, Gil, and I’m not going to let you sabotage yourself when you have a chance to make things better!”

“I’m fine how I am!” Gilda shot back, rising slightly and waving her hand emphatically. “I’ve done just fine! I’ve got a job, a roof over my head, food on the table! I don’t need any special treatment just ‘cause my brain is apparently fucked!”

Sunset toppled over and down onto the bed as Gilda moved, deflating and cringing away as Gilda was suddenly towering over her. Gilda instantly felt a pang of regret cut through to her heart at the tears that were starting to stream slowly down Sunset’s cheeks as she curled up like she was wilting.

“Ah… shit, Sunshine, I… I’m sorry I yelled… I didn't mean t’scare ya,” Gilda said softly, feeling the anger dying as she reached out and wrapped her arms around Sunset and pulled her close once more. “This thing… it’s not that bigga’ deal, savvy? I just don’t care what people think’a me is all.”

“But I do,” Sunset whispered quietly, “I care that people think you’re just a thug when you’re so, so much more. I care that people don’t know how good you are, and that people treat you like a delinquent when you’re actually smart and clever and… I just…” Sunset let out a strangled sob, and wrapped her own arms around Gilda, hugging her tightly. “I just want people to know how amazing you really are, Gil.”

“I don’t need anyone to, though,” Gilda responded quietly, running her hands up and down Sunset’s back in calming waves. “All I need is you, babe.”

“And you’ve got me,” Sunset answers quietly, “now and always, okay?”

Gilda felt the lump in her throat grow as she buried her face in Sunset’s soft, messy hair as she nodded. The two stayed that way for almost an hour before Sunset finally moved, lifting her head to kiss Gilda softly on the lips. Gilda returned the affection passionately, tasting the curve of Sunset’s mouth as she pulled the redhead closer and tighter. Sunset let out a soft moan as she pressed against Gilda, running her hands up Gilda’s side and under her shirt to touch the soft dark skin underneath. Sunset trailed her fingers over Gilda’s abs, tracing the line of her navel and then up to…

Sunset blushed furiously as she realised Gilda wasn’t wearing a bra, and Gilda pulled away with a bawdy grin. “Goin’ somewhere, Sunflower?”

“U-Uhm…” Sunset stammered around her words, the normally quick-witted girl finding herself badly tongue-tied. “M-maybe?”

A hand came up to cover Sunset’s under Gilda’s shirt just as she was about to pull it away, and Gilda leaned in to trail kisses along Sunset’s neck as she whispered into her ear. “Well, y’know they say the best part’a arguin’ as a couple is makin’ up afterward, right?”

“Uhhhhh…” Sunset’s brain flatlined for a solid ten seconds before rebooting hard. Without warning, Sunset jerked away in a panic, leaving Gilda blinking owlishly and looking surprised.

“S-Sunset?” Gilda sounded scared, her eyes were wide and a look of frozen terror was on her face as she reached out and Sunset felt a pang of horrible guilt. “Did I… I…”

Gilda had called her ‘Sunset’. Not Sunflower, or Sunshine, or Sunny… but Sunset. She’d only done that once before, at the skate park when she’d said something horrible and borderline unforgivable.

‘Oh god she thinks she…’ Sunset thought in a panic. “N-No!” Sunset nearly shouted. “It’s not- I mean, it wasn’t you or anything I just…”

Hanging her arms down and letting out a slow breath to gather her thoughts, Sunset pulled herself back into Gilda’s arms. Gilda was slow to move around her though, and Sunset felt another pang of sadness. “I didn’t mean to… I mean, I want to, y’know? B-but I…”

“Ya don’t gotta do anything, Sunshine,” Gilda said softly, wrapping her arms around Sunset and petting her hair gently. “I’m sorry I… I just… got caught up and I-”

“N-no!” Sunset asserted, pulling away a little to look up at Gilda. “It’s not your fault I… I just…” Grimacing, Sunset cursed softly under her breath. “I just tried to move too fast again, like with the mall… savvy?”

Gilda chuckled nervously in relief. “Yeah, savvy.”

“A-and… you’re not mad at me, right?” Sunset asked in a small voice as she looked down and away from Gilda. “B-because I pushed you away? Or because I… I didn’t-”

Sunset didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence before Gilda let out a sound that was almost like a snarl, drawing Sunset’s eyes up to see a look of near-fury on Gilda’s face. “Sunny if I ever get mad atcha fer sayin’ ‘no’ to that, then you got my permission to kick me to the fuckin’ curb, you hear me?”

The vitriol, the pure bile in Gilda’s voice, was a near-palpable force that set Sunset back a few inches, but she nodded. “Y-yeah, I hear you, Gil…”

The fire drained out of Gilda slowly and she grimaced, sighing and shaking her head. “Shit, sorry Sunshine, I… I got real strong feelin’s on that shit, y’know?”

“Better than to not have strong feelings about it, I guess,” Sunset replied with a small smile, and Gilda just chuckled. “Fuck, this has been a really stressful morning.”

“Yeah…” Gilda replied, shaking her head again. “Feels like my temper is just all over the place, wanna go out? There’s a little coffee place near the auto garage we can hit up, Cuppa’s is never fuckin’ closed.”

Nodding, Sunset stretched her arms, relishing the cracks and pops of her joints as she did so, then leaned in and kissed Gilda on the nose. “Sounds good to me, babe.”

~Ponyville Commons~

The snow wasn’t as thick on the ground as it had been the day before and the sidewalks were mostly clear as Gilda pushed Sunset along the cement walkway. The wind blew, but only gently, enough to stir the air but not enough to bite. There were a few people out, mostly teens out enjoying the freedom of winter break, sitting around and talking, starting impromptu snowball fights, and walking around town.

Gilda had put on her usual look, her scarlet scarf and bomber jacket, jeans, and steel-toed leather boots. Sunset had her hair tucked away in her beanie, bundled up in sweaters and her legs covered by old blankets that she periodically swept the snow away from with one hand while the other hand rested perpetually over Gilda’s where it was pushing her along. They didn’t talk but they didn’t need to, the silence was comfortable and they were content to enjoy each others company on one of the few quiet days in the Commons. Usually, the little inner city area was filled with the noise of cars and shouts and people but today everything was muted by the snow.

It was a rare day of audible peace.

The cafe Gilda took Sunset to was a little corner shop called ‘Cuppa’, there were only six tables, none of them alike, and likewise the chairs were all mismatched as well, although they all looked comfortable. Pushing Sunset into the cafe, Gilda carefully edged the door closed with her foot.

Sunset took a deep breath as soon as they were in and smiled, it was warm and everything smelled like coffee and chocolate and baked goods. Behind the counter was a tall, dark-skinned woman with her hair pulled back in colorfully beaded plaits. A much older-looking woman who had a very familial resemblance to the girl at the counter worked the brewing station and espressos with a practiced hand.

Stepping around Sunset, Gilda walked up to an empty table near a window and pulled away a chair, tucking it off to the side by another table.

“Thanks, babe,” Sunset said, smiling softly up at Gilda as she wheeled herself into the now vacant spot before pulling out her wallet and a few bills. “Can you grab me a coffee?”

Gilda took the bills and nodded. “Black?”

“Only ever,” Sunset replied with a grin before turning back to the table, pulling off her mittens and pocketing them before settling in to watch the light snowfall and the people drifting past.

Every so often, Sunset would see a student from CHS walk by, Bulk Biceps was out with Roseluck, the girl he’d been crushing on since ninth grade, and then there was Tree Hugger, passing out flyers for her latest ecological cause in spite of, or maybe because of, her uncle being an oil magnate. Lightning Dust, who nursed the biggest and most hilarious hate-crush on Rainbow Dash that Sunset had ever seen, strolled by most likely on an errand for her grandmother whom she lived with.

All of those secrets and so many more, some of which had come out during the events of Anon-A-Miss, were ones Sunset had gathered over her tenure as Head Bitch of Canterlot High. She remembered using Bulk’s crush on Roseluck as leverage to get him to look the other way when he caught her entering the school before hours one day. She’d blackmailed Tree hugger over her family lineage after she stood up to Sunset once in the cafeteria.

She’d left Lightning Dust alone, though. For a couple of reasons, but mostly because Lightning never had anything Sunset wanted, much like how she’d acted with Gilda. Mutual avoidance had served her well there, and besides…

“Penny fer ya thoughts, Sunshine?”

Sunset blinked in confusion before realising Gilda was seated directly across from her. She’d gotten so lost in her own head she’d completely missed her girlfriend’s return. Glancing down she saw her coffee had been placed directly under her nose.

“Sorry, Gil,” Sunset said reaching out to wrap her cold hands around the hot, bitter beverage. “Just… remembering how I used to be, and appreciating how far I’ve come as a person, y’know?”

“Heh, yeah, I feel ya,” Gilda replied, taking a sip of her coffee. “If someone’d told me a month ago that today I’d be on a date, sitting across from the smartest, prettiest girl in school that I live with, and have a legit job, I’da smacked’em for lying, savvy?”

Sunset blushed furiously and shook her head. “Dammit, Gil,” she said, unable to keep a smile off of her face. “You’re really pretty too, y’know?”

Now it was Gilda’s turn to blush. “C’mon babe, I’m a lotta things, but pretty ain’t one of’em,” she countered, gesturing to herself. “I mean, look at me. I look like I bench press chainsaws fer a living.”

“Honestly, babe?” Sunset retorted, taking a sip of her own drink and relishing the rich, bitter warmth. “I really think it’s more because you’re constantly threatening people than how you look, I mean… you can be pretty overbearing to people you don’t like.”

Gilda just shrugged and nodded with a mischievous grin. “Eh, could be that too, but I’m fine with that one either way. I don’t like bein’ round too many people. I get antsy and if they gotta reason t’stay away from me then all the better.”

Sunset just smiled at Gilda and reached out a hand to reach for Gilda who laced her fingers between Sunset’s. “I know I can’t make you change, babe, but… imagine if I had stayed away too.”

Silence descended on the table as Gilda sat back in her chair, her face turning pensive as she considered Sunset’s words. What if Sunset had stayed away? What if they’d never met? Sure, if Anon-A-Miss hadn’t happened then that’s exactly the path that their lives would’ve taken. It was like Sunset had said the day she was hurt: if it weren’t for Anon-A-Miss they would never have met.

Gilda gave Sunset a dry grin as she nodded. “Guess there’s a downside t’bein’ the type’a person people don’t want to meet, ‘ey Sunflower?”

“Yeah, kinda my point, babe,” Sunset answered wryly as she sipped her coffee. “But… at the same time, I’m not too upset about it.”

Gilda cocked her head to the side, raising an eyebrow as she did. “Really? I figured ya’d be all about meetin’ new people and makin’ new friends.”

“I am but…” Sunset blushed as she looked down into the swirling dark brew and away from Gilda; her next words came out as a mumble.

“What was that?” Gilda leaned with a smirk on her face, fairly certain she knew exactly what Sunset had just said.

Sunset rolled her eyes and blew a raspberry at Gilda. “I said ‘but then I’d have to share you…’ okay? I’m just being selfish.”

A small cough behind Sunset drew the attention of the two girls from each other, and Sunset turned around and looked up reflexively. Two other girls were standing just behind her, both CHS students that Sunset easily recognized and fortunately two of the ones who had largely left her alone during the reign of Anon-A-Miss.

“O-Octavia?” Sunset’s said in surprise, staring up at the gray-skinned, dark-haired girl and the quiet but excitable DJ behind her. “Vinyl?”

Daughter of Legato and Soprana Melody, Octavia was easily one of the wealthiest girls in school. Sunset had been genuinely surprised she wasn’t going to Crystal Prep, actually, since her family could definitely afford it. Most would be surprised to find her in a place like the Commons, dressed in her expensive gray winter coat, top end pink earmuffs over her perfectly straight and meticulously combed black hair and a thick woolen scarf.

Vinyl Scratch, on the other hand, looked to be precisely where she belonged and, so, couldn’t have been more different; a mute who lived with her single mother, Vinyl was the other side of Octavia’s coin; where the former was a classical music prodigy, Vinyl had hundreds of thousands of subscribers on Haytube for her electronic music. The difference in their social classes showed, with Vinyl wearing her borderline ridiculous shades and a simple off-the-rack white winter coat with both shoulders emblazoned with Vinyl’s iconic bridged eighth notes turned in reverse. The same symbol that served as her profile picture on Haytube, along with what looked like two pairs of jeans pulled over each other.

As for the reason Sunset was unsurprised to see them here? It was because she happened to know that the two of them had been secretly dating since sophomore year; a fact that Sunset had studiously ensured remained buried the moment she discovered it.

“So it is you,” Octavia said, her voice tinged with sadness. “I… I almost didn’t believe my eyes when we came in. I was quite certain you must be some other girl.”

“Cool, didja want somethin’?” Gilda replied before Sunset could say anything, fixing the two with her golden glare. Octavia took a reflexive step back but Vinyl brought a hand up to stop her from backpedaling.

Sunset turned and shot a look at Gilda. “Gil, ease up, they were some of the few people who didn’t torment me during that whole Anon-A-Miss thing.”

Gilda kept her glare up for a few seconds longer before leaning back and nodding. “Yeah, savvy,” she said to Sunset before looking up at Octavia and Vinyl. “Sorry ‘bout that.”

Still looking concerned, Octavia glanced back at Vinyl who made several quick motions with her hands. Octavia smiled and responded in kind before turning back to Sunset. “Uhm, Sunset… I wanted to… to apologise for everything that happened at school. For the matter with Anon-A-Miss and how badly you were treated.”

“Why? You didn’t do anything wrong,” Sunset answered with a tired grin, turning her wheelchair a little so she could see the two girls without craning her neck. “And it’s not like you could’ve stopped it anyway.” Vinyl made a few sharp motions at Octavia who nodded and turned back, she began to say something but Sunset cut her off. “It wasn’t your responsibility to stand up for me, Vinyl, or yours Octavia,” she said, taking everyone at the table by surprise.

Vinyl turned to Sunset in shock, then pointed to Sunset, lifted her hand to touch her forehead below her eye, wheeled both index fingers in front of her and then spread both index fingers and thumbs, touched them, then walked them apart.

“Mhm,” Sunset replied, nodding, “a little, I practiced it along with about four other languages when I came here. I’ve always had a knack for memorizing things.”

“That’s an understatement, my dear,” Octavia replied in a voice of arid humor, “the ‘knack’ part, I mean. Take it from someone else that people call a prodigy; you’re a genius.”

Sunset shrugged. “Yeah well, my ‘Genius’ didn’t get me out of the way of a collapsing stairwell so it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.”

Octavia and Vinyl both winced hard at that, both reaching for the others hand at the same time. “Is it permanent?” Octavia asked quietly, looking down at the wheelchair, and Sunset nodded. “Oh god… Sunset, I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Sunset replied a little bitterly. “I’ve had enough pity for two lifetimes.”

“C’mon Sunshine, they’re just tryin’ t’be nice,” Gilda admonished, drawing her own set of surprised looks. “What? I’m just takin y’advice, Sunflower,” Gilda said, smirking at Sunset who rolled her eyes.

“Fine, you’re right,” Sunset admitted turning back to Vinyl and Octavia. “Well, for whatever it’s worth I don’t blame you for steering clear of me,” scoffing, Sunset’s tone turned a little bitter, “guess no one had any reason to think I wasn’t guilty, right?”

Vinyl made a couple quick sweeps of her hand that made Sunset start in surprise, and Octavia nodded as well. “Vinyl’s right, we knew it wasn’t you… or rather, neither of us believed for a moment that it was you.”

Sunset stared in shock while Gilda’s face twisted into a snarl. “And you just watched’er get pummeled every goddamn day?” She hissed out, causing both Vinyl and Octavia to flinch back. “Never mind, I take it all back, be as nasty as y’want Sunshine.”

And she wanted to. A part of Sunset very deeply wanted to do exactly that, but instead, she asked a more pressing question on her mind. “How could you have possibly have known I was innocent?”

Octavia and Vinyl shared a quick glance, and Vinyl nodded. Taking a deep breath Octavia turned back to Sunset. “How long have you known about us… being together, Sunset?” She asked in a soft voice, reaching out to take Vinyl’s hand.

Sunset eyed the two girls carefully, then shrugged and gestured to the table. “Sit down, no sense taking up space.” Once the girls were seated across from one another between Gilda and Sunset, the redhead settled back into her chair. “I’ve known since the beginning, since your first kiss, actually. And if you need proof I’ll tell you it was on the docks at approximately eleven at night, give or take a few minutes, it was a hunter’s moon which was particularly beautiful.”

Vinyl, Octavia, and Gilda alike stared at Sunset, who met each of their gazes evenly, but when none of them interrupted she continued. “I saw you about to throw your cello into the river, and Vinyl stopped you. You yelled at her, some pretty colorful phrases, actually, for such a posh girl.”

Octavia blushed furiously and Vinyl started shaking with silent laughter, clapping a hand on her girlfriends back before making a couple of hand signs to Sunset who blushed too. “Really, Vinyl?” Sunset asked incredulously. “TMI, I do not need to know where else her language gets that way.”

“Vincenza Scratch I will break your fingers,” Octavia hissed in a deadly voice before taking another deep breath, smoothing out the non-existent wrinkles in her skirt, and turning back to Sunset. “At any rate we, that is Vinyl and I, suspected you knew of our relationship, although we didn’t realise it had been for so long.”

“Yeah well,” Sunset shrugged. “If I’m honest you basically had your little lovers tiff right outside of my bedroom… so it was kind of hard to miss.”

“Beg pardon?” Octavia asked in a choked voice.

“I was living in the abandoned office of warehouse forty-one at the time,” Sunset admitted a little sheepishly. “Not living there anymore, mind you, but… yeah, it was right by the dock entrance where you two argued and then devolved into furious makeouts, or at least that’s what it looked like from my perspective.”

Octavia and Vinyl shared a flushed glance, and Vinyl turned to Gilda and made a few signs to which Gilda just shook her head. “Hey, don’t look at me Blue, I can barely speak English.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Octavia asked, looking horrified at the revelation. “Being homeless in Canterlot? That’s… that’s awful!”

“It wasn’t any worse than how I grew up,” Sunset responded in a neutral voice. “As for the why of it? Pride, obviously, plus I’m literally an illegal alien, so…”

“Right,” Octavia said grimacing. “So… I suppose that answers the how of it, but…”

Vinyl interrupted with a flurry of signs directed towards Sunset who held up her hands in mock surrender. “W-woah, slow down. I’m… familiar, proficient maybe. I’m not what I’d call fluent though.”

Octavia laughed and nodded. “For the sake of Gilda I’ll translate, then. There were several instances where we were certain we’d been found out except the students would always, without fail, find something else to talk about other than whatever compromising position we’d been seen in.” Octavia leaned forward a little, eyeing Sunset carefully. “At first we chalked it up to good fortune but… it kept happening. And there were a few instances that were particularly suspicious, which was when we started to suspect…”

“Suspect that I was rumour-mongering in your favor? Covering your trail?” Sunset filled in, meeting Octavia’s sharp gaze. “You’re right, I was doing exactly that.”

Octavia pulled back in surprise, not expecting the bald-faced admission, and even Gilda looked shocked. “Wow, Sunshine, that’s… kinda off from how I remember ya from back then,” Gilda said, sitting back in her chair and taking a sip of her coffee. “Why the hell’d ya do something like that?”

“I must admit that Vinyl and I had the very same question,” Octavia pressed, leaning in again. “Please, Sunset, why did you protect us?”

Sunset just cocked her head to the side, smiling. “Really? You haven’t figured it out yet?” She asked, smiling playfully, before reaching out lacing fingers around Gilda’s. “It’s because this world is a lot less accepting than the one I knew, and even at my worst I would never go that low. Outing someone like that? I'm a lot of things, Miss Melody, but I'm not a hypocrite.”

Octavia and Vinyl glanced between Gilda and Sunset several times before Octavia finally managed to work around the knot in her tongue. “W-wait, you and… and Gilda are… are-?”

“Mhm, and very happily so,” Sunset filled in with a smile. “She’s saved my life in more ways than one.”

Vinyl cleared her throat softly and lifted her fingers to her lips then extended her arm down with her hand out to Sunset who smiled.

“You’re welcome,” Sunset answered softly. “And thank you, for all your help during the Battle of the Bands. We never would’ve come through it if it weren’t for your gear setup.”

“A-At any rate, that should explain why we didn’t believe you were Anon-A-Miss, I think,” Octavia continued. “After all, someone who would do something like that for us… it showed you were more than just a small-minded and petty bully, which is all those three girls ever were, apparently.”

Sunset faced paled and her voice died in her throat as Octavia’s last, rancorous words came out. She worked her jaw for several moments before she finally found her voice again and when she did it was a low, ghostly thing. “W-wait… you know who Anon-A-Miss is?”

Octavia and Vinyl looked at Sunset in shock as she asked the question and Gilda groaned, planting a palm on her face. “You… you don’t know?” Octavia asked in a hushed whisper. “It was three young girls, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, apparently. They confessed to their sisters who then informed the staff, Principal Celestia made them admit their actions to the school during an assembly on the last day of- Oh… of course, you were in hospital that day weren’t you?”

“Shit,” Gilda swore, burying her face in her arms. “I knew I fuckin’ forgot somethin’…”

All three girls turned with an almost audible ratcheting sound to stare at Gilda who was looking in any direction but Sunset’s.

“Gilda,” Sunset said in a very soft, very calm voice. “Have you known this whole time?”

“Uhhh…” Gilda glanced up at Sunset only to freeze at the glacial expression in her eyes. “W-well… y-yeah… when I called Appleja-” A slight narrowing of Sunset’s eyes at the sound of that name stuck the last syllable in Gilda’s throat. “Uh… yeah, she told me what happened,” sinking low into her chair, Gilda gripped the armrests hard enough to make them creak. “I… I know I fucked up again, Sunset, I… I just forgot.”

Hearing her name, her real name, pass Gilda’s lips for the second time that day Sunset grimaced and did her level best to pull back on the reins of her temper. As much as they joked that Gilda had the worse temper between them the opposite was really true. Gilda’s temper was near to the surface and, admittedly, explosive and unpredictable, but Sunset’s? Sunset Shimmer’s temper was downright volcanic; her anger didn’t just damage things, it annihilated them.

“Girls, can you give Gilda and I the table, please?” Sunset asked, her voice having lost some of its lethal edge, and Vinyl and Octavia nodded, being equally fine with not getting caught in the middle. “We need to talk.”

“Sure, but could I ask you to give me your number?” Octavia passed her phone to Sunset as she stood, and Sunset looked up at Octavia curiously for a moment before nodding and taking it. “I’d very much like to keep in touch, Sunset, as friends.”

“Friends with Sunset Shimmer, huh?” Sunset said wryly as she punched her number into the contacts. “Sure you can handle that?” she asked as she handed the phone back.

Vinyl stood and signed slowly so Sunset could keep up, passing her right hand between her shoulders then pointed both index fingers out and tapped them together, wrapping them around each other when they met, then raised her right hand as a fist with her thumb out and against her right temple and her pinky extended and moving it outward. Then she repeated the hand to shoulders motion before bringing her hand up to her face and jerking it outward with her palm out while she shook her head and shrugged.

Sunset felt her heart clench as she translated the motions while Octavia nodded emphatically along with each of Vinyl’s movements.

We’ve been friends for a long time, we just didn’t know it.

“I’ll give Vinyl your number too,” Octavia promised as she extricated herself from the table. “She’s much more talkative over text.” As she shuffled past Sunset towards the small lobby, Octavia leaned down towards Sunset and whispered, “don’t be too hard on her, I don’t think she meant any harm.”

“I know,” Sunset muttered back, and Octavia gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder as they left.

Silence fell over the table between the two girls as Sunset wheeled herself back straight with the table and stared across it at Gilda who had dejectedly buried her face in her arms. Sunset tried to say something, anything really, but every time she began she forcibly stopped herself.

She was angry and talking while she was angry always went poorly. Sunset knew her own feelings well enough to tell that much. Was she angry with Gilda? A bit… certainly. Though more angry in general, really. Angry at nothing, even. Just…

Angry.

“Did you keep it from me on purpose, Gil?” Sunset asked finally, abandoning any attempt at a preamble. It would just sound like pointless dithering anyway. “To protect me? Or so I just wouldn’t have to deal with it?”

Gilda shook her head silently.

Sunset narrowed her eyes, trying and admittedly failing to keep her emotions off of her face. And out of her voice too, since her next words came out with a hiss that made Gilda flinch. “Then why didn’t you tell me?”

“I forgot,” Gilda answered quietly, her voice impressively subdued for such an imposing figure though partially because she didn’t look up from her arms. “That’s all it was, Sunshine, I promise… I just forgot. I got all caught up in takin’ care of ya and tryin’ to make sure I wasn’t fucking up that I just… went’n fucked up anyway.”

“You forgot to tell me that the person- or people, I guess -who tried to ruin my life, confessed?” Sunset asked in naked disbelief. “You forgot to tell me that they also happened to be the little sisters of my ex-best friends?”

Gilda shuddered and then lifted her face up from her arms, and Sunset felt her anger start to melt away. There was something in her eyes that was distinctly not-Gilda. A fear, a wavering insecurity that looked entirely out of place on the brazen girl’s features.

“What d’ya want me to say, Sunshine?” Gilda mumbled, her eyes still failing to meet Sunset’s. “Ya hate it when I call myself stupid, but… gotta say I feel pretty fuckin’ stupid.”

“I… understand how it happened, Gil,” Sunset said, speaking slowly enough to choose her words carefully lest something with more vitriol than she intended to slip out. “Making mistakes isn’t the same as being stupid, either… but…”

“Y’still mad, right?” Gilda filled in, and Sunset nodded her silent agreement. “Not surprised, I guess. I fucked up pretty big here… I really did mean t’tell ya, I swear but… with everything that happened, and then us living together, and me gettin’ a job it all just… kinda slipped away.” Gilda let out a slow breath and sat up, finally bringing herself to look at Sunset who was trying not to glare. “L-look… none’a that’s an excuse. I screwed up… and I’m really fuckin’ sorry, Sunflower, I promise.”

Sunset leaned back in her chair and groaned in annoyance. “Gil, look, I know it’s pointless to be mad at you, okay? And I believe you when you say you didn’t do it on purpose because, no offense babe, you can’t lie for shit.” Gilda chuckled a little nervously in response but froze as Sunset held up a hand, her face still twisted in irritation. “But… you’re right, you fucked up pretty bad here. I’m… gonna forgive you, okay? I just need to cool off for a while, savvy?”

Gilda looked down dejectedly but nodded. On the one hand, she was borderline ecstatic that Sunset wasn’t going to stay mad at her but… at the same time, she felt like it pretty much ruined the day for both of them. As Gilda started to get up to leave the coffee shop, a thought hit her and she looked back at Sunset.

“H-hey, Sunshine?” Gilda started, drawing a tired look from Sunset. “Not tryin’ to deflect or anything, just curious. Remember when I got into yer phone, yeah? I know those fuckabouts sent you a ton’a messages about everything, I didn’t read’em cuz… well, yeah… got some issues with that… plus, y’know… didn’t wanna intrude, but they didn’t mention who it was either?”

“Oh, yeah, I guess…” Sunset trailed off as she looked down at her phone. “I guess they probably did… but I never read them. When I saw the messages and texts and… ugh, I just… got angry and deleted them all,” Sunset confessed in irritation. “I didn’t read a single one, I wasn’t even thinking, I just know that the thought of reading their ‘condolences’ made me so stupidly angry that… yeah, I just couldn’t.”

Gilda nodded, she couldn’t really fault Sunset for that. Besides, it didn’t matter if she could have learned about the Crusader’s actions another way, the point of the matter was that Gilda knew and hadn’t told her; the why or how it could have been avoided was irrelevant… what happened had happened. Stuffing her hands in her pockets, Gilda started to walk away, her shoulders slumped. She hated feeling like she’d failed and right now she had pretty blatantly screwed up.

She barely got a step away, though, when she felt a tug on the back of her jacket, and Gilda turned to see Sunset staring down at the table but with her fingers clenching hard on the corner of Gilda’s bomber jacket.

“I… I didn’t say I wanted you to leave,” Sunset said quietly without looking up. “I know it’s… not really reasonable, but I’m not feeling very reasonable right now, okay? I’m mad at you, but I’m not… I’m…” Sunset clenched her eyes shut, and Gilda bit her lip as she saw a few tears leak out and down Sunset’s cheeks. “I’m really messed up right now okay? And I don’t really know what to feel, but I know I want you to stay.”

Gilda nodded silently and pulled out the chair next to Sunset and sat down, tentatively reaching an arm out to wrap around her girlfriend’s shoulders. Sunset unceremoniously tipped to the side to lay her head on Gilda’s shoulder, turning her face to bury it in the faux fur around the collar. After a moment, Sunset started to shake and let out a quiet, muffled sob as her arm came up to wrap around Gilda’s chest. Sunset pulled and gripped onto Gilda almost painfully tight as she let out soft, wracking cries that Gilda only heard because of her proximity.

“Tonight’s the night, Gil,” Sunset said in a quiet, raw voice from Gilda’s shoulder as her tears subsided. “The portal resets tonight and after that…”

“Yeah, I know,” Gilda answered, not sure what else to say. Magic was so far out of her wheelhouse it had a restraining order. “Second thoughts?”

Sunset shook her head against the fringe of Gilda’s jacket. “Never, I… I can’t leave you. I won’t… I love you.”

Gilda tightened her grip on Sunset’s shoulders and leaned over to bury her face in Sunset’s hair. “I love you too, Sunshine.”

“I’m scared, Gil,” Sunset chokes out weakly. “I’m really, really scared.”

“Of stayin’ here?” Gilda asked quietly. “Bein’ stuck in the chair?”

Sunset shook her head again. “No, I’m scared that, when we get there when the portal is right there in front of me? I’m scared that I’ll lose my nerve and go through it, I’m scared that I’ll give up… that I’ll give you up, because I know I’ll regret it.”

“I trust you, Sunflower, savvy? I know you, you’ll stay if that’s whatcha really want,” Gilda said, gently petting Sunset’s hair. “Which means, you’n me? We’re stuck with each other, for better or worse, y’know?”

Sunset chuckled quietly before glancing up, a mischievous look on her face that was spoiled only a little by the dried tears on her cheeks. “Til death do us part?”

GIlda’s jaw dropped open as her brain caught up to the implications of what she’d just said and how Sunset had responded. “Uh… I mean… I, uh…”

Sunset burst out laughing, she could practically smell the smoke rising from Gilda’s brain as it fritzed out. Bringing her hands up to Gilda’s cheeks, she pulled the dumbfounded girl into a lingering kiss which seemed to reset her brain back to default. The anger Sunset had been feeling a moment ago was, well, not gone, but… it was distant, very distant.

Obscured just slightly by the equal parts absurd and charming mental image of Gilda in a white dress.

“Dammit, Sunshine, you’re gonna kill me one’a these days sayin’ shit like that,” Gilda grumbled, leaning in to kiss Sunset’s forehead. “I swear my brain fell outta my ears when ya said that.”

“Sorry not sorry,” Sunset replied with a smirk. “And in my defense, you were wide open for that one, Gil.”

Sunset curled into Gilda’s embrace as the two girls finished their coffee, the soft, brassy sounds of the jazz soundtrack playing in the background of the cafe giving a calm vibe to the little shop.

Deep down, Sunset was still afraid of the coming night. Of watching the portal reset itself. Everything felt further away, though, when Gilda was nearby as she draped an arm over Sunset’s shoulders and let her long, dark fingers, trace the curve of her arm idly. The soft, playful touches that Gilda probably didn’t even realise she was doing brought an immeasurable kind of calm to Sunset.

“Hey, Gil?” Sunset said suddenly, looking up at Gilda who was taking a sip of her coffee. Gilda glanced down at Sunset, raising an eyebrow in silent response and Sunset smiled softly. “I love you.”

Gilda chuckled, lowering her coffee and bringing her hand that was draped down Sunset’s side up to brush her cheek. “Heh, I love you too, Sunshine.”

~Winter Solstice Evening~

The temperature had dropped from merely uncomfortably cold to bitterly freezing by the time the evening rolled around. Gilda and Sunset had returned to the flat after they left Cuppa’s and spent the day watching movies, curled up on the bed and vegetating to the best of their ability. Chatting about how stupid the protagonists of whatever slasher movie they were watching were being. Narrating the Slasher’s inner monologues and assigning the more silent ones hilarious motives which ended with the Halloween Killer being driven solely by his hatred of bare breasts and Jason being an exceptionally aggressive D.A.R.E advocate.

Anything to keep Sunset’s mind off of what would be happening at midnight.

As the credits rolled on the last movie of the evening, Sunset glanced at the alarm clock by the bed and grimaced. “It’s seven forty-five, babe…” she said quietly, looking up at Gilda who glanced over and nodded. “I guess… we should get ready to go.”

Gilda and Sunset were curled up under the blankets with all of the pillows piled together to prop them up so they could watch the tv at the end of the room comfortably. Gilda looked over at the clock too and nodded, but didn’t make any effort to move. To be fair, neither did Sunset. Instead, the two girls settled deeper into the blankets, with Sunset tightening her grip on Gilda’s arm that was wrapped protectively around her.

“Last bus is at nine,” Gilda said nonchalantly, stroking Sunset’s arm where her hand rested. “Sure y’gonna be okay to take the long way back home?”

Sunset didn’t answer right away. It was the longest night of the year and, of course, the coldest. The trip home would definitely be uncomfortable, but…

“Trying to give me a reason to not go, Gil?” Sunset asked with a dry smirk as she stared up at Gilda who just shrugged. The smirk faded as Sunset shivered. “Y’know… a part of me wants to do exactly that, stay I mean… the portal will reset whether or not I’m there, after all.”

“Yeah, it will,” Gilda said simply, looking down at Sunset. “D’ya need to see it happen? I mean, d’ya really need to?”

For a few moments, Sunset stayed quiet, her face turning pensive as she considered the question. Did she? Did she really need to see the portal transition?

“No,” Sunset finally said, “it’s not that I need to see it reset.”

“Sensin’ a ‘but’ in there, Sunshine,” Gilda asked, smiling cheekily down at Sunset who returned the grin and nodded.

“Yeah, y’know me, Gil, I can’t ever just do it the easy way,” Sunset retorted. “I need to be there because… I need to know I can watch it close. It’s that I need to be able to say goodbye to the old me.”

“Y’need closure?” Gilda asked, half to herself, and Sunset nodded. “Huh, yeah, savvy, I get that.”

“Thanks, Gil,” Sunset said, leaning up to brush her lips against Gilda’s who leaned into the gentle kiss. “I really, really love you, y’know that?”

Gilda just nodded. “Yeah, ‘course I do, Sunflower,” she replied with that crooked cocksure smile that still sent flickers of fire through her heart. “Now let’s getcha bundled up, I’m gonna set some coffee to brew, too. Figure we’ll need somethin’ hot if we’re gonna be out that cold.”

The process of dressing had become a lot less laborious for Sunset over the week since her injury. It was funny how quickly something so objectively jarring could become almost… boring. The frustration of getting dressed had originally been irritating enough to reduce her to tears, if only thanks to her fragile emotional state, but now it was just a mild annoyance. Sunset did her little dance in place on her wheelchair to get her winter trousers on, without Gilda’s help this time surprisingly and was in the midst of tucking some of the older covers around her waist and thighs to keep herself warm when Gilda emerged from the kitchen holding a couple of thermoses.

“Gettin’ good at that, Sunshine,” Gilda remarked as she tossed one thermos to Sunset who snapped a hand up to snatch it out of the air. “We gotta getcha a warmer jacket, though.”

Sunset grimaced and nodded. “Yeah, I miss my old black leather jacket, I wasn’t much warmer but I’m pretty sure they had to cut me out of it at the hospital.”

“Yeah,” Gilda said slowly, “they did… blood ruined everything else… speakin’a which?”

“Mm, yeah, the wounds still itch every now and again,” Sunset said, trailed a hand over her back. “And they’ll definitely scar, but I heal fast.”

“No joke, Sunshine,” Gilda remarked, raising an eyebrow. “Most people’d be out for the count for a lot longer than a few days, even with hospital care.”

Sunset shrugged. “I’ve always healed fast here, I’m pretty sure it’s something to do with having magic. I can’t cast spells but I’m still carrying Equestrian magic inside me.”

Popping the top of the thermos to take a sip, Gilda screwed it back on and wiped her mouth before speaking. “So you got like… regeneration?”

Laughing, Sunset shook her head. “Technically everyone regenerates, it’s how scars are formed, but no, I’m not a superhero, I’m just… healthier, I guess” Sunset explained, waving a hand. “I don’t really get sick, cuts knit a little faster, scars form a bit quicker; I’m pretty sure it’s just my body automatically drawing from my magical reserves as an automatic function.

“Is it… dangerous?” Gilda asked, as she pulled on her jacket and threw her scarf on. “I mean, like, what happens when you don’t have any more magic?”

Sunset stared at Gilda, the wheels suddenly turning in a direction they’d never gone before. “I… I don’t know if that’s possible, Gil,” Sunset said after a moment, but she sounded a little unsure of it herself. “It’s basic pony biology, we’re born with a wellspring of mana, it refills itself. A unicorn can overcast and even suffer severe burnout, even death in a few rare cases, but that’s from active use of magic. I can’t cast here, remember?”

“Where does it refill from?” Gilda asked as she shoved her own thermos in her pocket. “Gotta come from somewhere right? Pretty sure I remember that much from Harshwhinny’s class.”

“Well, it…” Sunset began… then stopped. Her mind turned the question over and over as it parsed out the question. “It comes from the ambient magical field of the world,” Sunset answered finally, sounding concerned. “But Earth has such a weak field… so weak a spell matrix can’t even be formed… sorry Gil, I don’t really have an answer right now but… you’re right, I hadn’t thought about it. I’ll talk to Twilight and see if we can put something together, okay?”

“Sure, I’m just…” Gilda shrugged, wrapping her arms around herself as she grimaced. “Never dated a girl with magic before, and I just wanna know you’re gonna be okay, savvy?”

“You had a good question, one I can’t actually answer,” Sunset admitted, reaching out to grab Gilda’s hand and give it a comforting squeeze. “You’d make a half-decent mage with that kind of mind, y’know? I have professors back in Equestria who can’t even claim to do what you just managed; stumping me on a question about theoretical arcana.”

“Pretty sure that was an accident, Sunshine,” Gilda remarked. “Anyways, we should go. Don’t wanna miss the last bus.”

Sunset nodded, settling in her chair and pulled the thick coat Gilda had been lending her tighter around herself to brace against the oncoming cold. Sunset had always been a summer filly, and that held true on Earth as much as it ever had on Equestria, so she knew the night was gonna suck in more than one way.

She was right.

CHS was a lot closer to the inner city of Canterlot than, say, Crystal Prep, at least. It was certainly walking distance, no more than a half hour to forty-five minutes. The bus ride was a little longer thanks to the route but at least the heater was on, it allowed Gilda and Sunset to travel in relative comfort given how late it was. With how bitterly cold it already was just going from their flat to the bus stop and the ten-minute wait, sipping on hot coffee from Gilda’s wisely packed thermos. Sunset found herself dreading even the short trip home.

“Heh,” Sunset chuckled softly as the bus rumbled along the icy roads, drawing a curious look from Gilda.

“What’s up, Sunshine?” Gilda asked, leaning closer as she rubbed warmth into her hands through her gloves.

Sunset just smiled as she leaned over and kissed Gilda on the cheek. “I was just thinking about how much the trip home is gonna suck.”

“And that made ya laugh?” Gilda asked, smiling incredulously.

“No,” Sunset replied. “I laughed because I’m already thinking of the flat as my home. It took me almost a year to start thinking of that space up in the warehouse as my ‘home’. I’ve lived with you for, what, a week?”

“Just about, yeah,” Gilda answered, reaching out to take Sunset’s hand and lace their fingers together. “Feels like ages, though.”

“Yeah, it does,” Sunset said, squeezing Gilda’s hand. “Feels like we’ve been together forever.”

“That’s the plan, Sunshine,” Gilda remarked glibly, returning the squeeze and put her other arm behind her head, leaning back into the bus seat and closing her eyes to relax as the bus rattled around her.

Sunset just stared, her eyes wide in a mixture of shock and wonder at Gilda’s easy words. ‘That’s the plan, Sunshine,’ she had said.

Together forever was the plan.

Sunset had to bite down slightly on her lip to keep the sob that was building up in the back of her throat from getting out. By now Sunset figured she would be used to Gilda’s casual, off-handed, and borderline accidental declarations of love and affection. Now, though, Sunset thought she might never get used to them at all. Every time she thought she’d heard it all, Gilda would say something else that would just knock her for a loop in the best possible way.

Turning away from Gilda, Sunset smiled broadly as she stroked her thumb along Gilda’s where their hands met and interwove. She didn’t quite keep all the happy tears from her face but it was enough that no one but she noticed them.

Wiping them away with the cuff of her jacket, Sunset turned back to Gilda and gave a weak chuckle. “Yeah, I like that plan,” she said, lifting Gilda’s hand to her lips and kissing it softly. “That sounds like a good plan.”

The rest of the ride was quiet. Gilda and Sunset were the only passengers and neither of them had much to say. Sunset found herself brooding on the portal and the consequences of staying where she was. Staying on Earth through the transition meant never being able to go back to having a functioning spine, but leaving would be meaningless unless she stayed in Equestria long enough for a new set of transitions to erase her crippled human template which meant, likely, a minimum of sixty moons, maybe more depending on the stipulations of the spell.

Being apart from Gilda for upwards of half a decade was something Sunset wasn’t sure she would be able to endure. It felt a little absurd just how right Princess Celestia had ended up being.

Sunset had cut herself off from other people because she’d believed they weren’t worth her time or energy. Not so long ago she hadn’t even been willing to sacrifice a single hour of her day for the sake of anything that didn’t further her ambitions.

Now she was planning to, in an uncomfortably near-literal sense, sacrifice her entire world for someone else.

Her magic. Her home. Everything she’d left behind because of her pride, she could get back in an instant. Just… go through the portal and it would all be waiting for her.

Her power, her prestige, her magic.

Sunset let the thoughts flow through her and over her and around her and as the bus came to a rumbling stop outside the school Sunset found herself smiling.

“Ready to go, Sunflower?” Gilda asked, moving to kneel and unbuckle Sunset’s wheelchair from the bus.

The thought of leaving it all behind felt… less impactful that Sunset had thought it would. She’d thought it would be like tearing off an arm but instead, it felt… fine. Glancing down at Gilda who looked up at her with that cocked smile and a raised eyebrow, waiting for her answer, Sunset was pretty sure why that was.

That’s the plan, Sunshine.

“Yeah, let’s go,” Sunset replied finally, unlatching the brake lever of her chair.

The street lights surrounding CHS glowed with gentle illuminations around the sidewalk, and the lights filtered through the snow and rime that faintly coated each glass globe. It was half-past ten when Gilda and Sunset finally stopped in front of the Wondercolt statue, it’s smooth marble panes reflecting the dim nighttime lights over the plains of snow around the school.

Sunset rolled up to the statue and stared at it, feeling that familiar pang of nostalgia and homesickness as she approached what she knew was the portal to a place she’d left behind in an act of anger and pride.

“You okay, Sunshine?” Gilda asked quietly as she set a hand on Sunset’s shoulder.

Sunset glanced up at the girl who had so quickly become the central focus of her world. Gilda Grimfeather; bully and thug, class delinquent… best friend and girlfriend.

Smiling, Sunset nodded. “I think I will be.”

Reaching into her pocket, Sunset drew out a cigarette and tucked it between her lips. Gilda was lighting her own as she did and, a moment later, knelt to press the tip of her lit cig playfully against Sunset's unlit one. Sunset smiled around the paper tube as she took a few breaths to light it.

Pulling the cigarette free she reached up to take Gilda’s hand. “Thanks Gil, for coming out here with me…”

“Where else would I be, Sunflower?” Gilda asked, smirking around her smoke, squeezing Sunset’s hand before bringing it up to tuck the smoke between her fingers.

“Anywhere else,” Sunset answered, her voice taking on a serious note drawing a confused look from Gilda. Chuckling dryly, Sunset shook her head. “You could literally be anywhere else, doing anything else… instead you’re taking care of me. Do you really not see it?”

“See what, Sunshine?” Gilda asked, pulling her smoke out and flicking some of the ash into the snow. “I wouldn’t be anywhere but right here, savvy? You’re literally the most important thing in my whole goddamn life.”

“We’re still young, babe…” Sunset said her voice taking a melancholic turn as she turned to look back at the statue. “We haven’t even been together for that long… I know it feels like forever but…”

“The fuck does that matter?” Gilda cut Sunset off, her voice tightening with annoyance as she gestured with the cigarette in her hand, making the embers and ash dance in the light snowfall. “Who cares how long it’s been? We’re together, savvy? Ain’t like there’s some arbitrary fuckin’ goalpost I gotta run through before I figure out who I wanna spend my life-”

Gilda cut herself off like a snapped string, snapping her jaw shut and staring straight forward for a full minute before flicking her eyes back to Sunset who was staring up at Gilda with her jaw slightly open, the cigarette hanging comically from her lips. The words had just… fallen out. Not for the first time, Gilda cursed her total inability to think about what she was saying before she said it. Gilda turned away from Sunset, lifting a shaking hand to her mouth to put the cigarette back between her lips before something else incomprehensibly stupid fell out.

“G-Gilda?” Sunset said her girlfriend’s name quietly.

“Y-yeah?” Gilda answered a little weakly, looking back at Sunset whose face had lost its shock and turned to a calming smile.

“C’mere,” Sunset gestured for Gilda to come down to her level.

Embarrassed and blushing furiously, Gilda sidled around in front of the statue and knelt in front of Sunset who was still smiling. Pulling the cigarette from her lips, Sunset tucked it behind her ear, then reached out and put both hands on Gilda’s cheeks, tracing the lines of her face with her fingers, brushing the snow from her hair where it had disappeared into the pale white strands, and stared into the bright, gorgeous gold orbs that had always held her entranced. Gilda smiled shyly, bringing a hand up to cover Sunset’s.

“S-Sorry…” Gilda said softly, lowering her eyes as she leaned into Sunset’s touch. “I get caught up’n then don’t think before I say shit.”

“Don’t be,” Sunset replied warmly, looping her arms around Gilda and pulling her close so their foreheads touched together. “I love it when you say stuff like that, y’know? The fact that you just say the first thing that comes to your mind means that I never have to wonder what you really think, savvy?”

“Heh, still sounds weird comin’ outta y’mouth, Sunshine,” Gilda remarked with a chuckle. “But yeah, ‘savvy’.”

Sighing, Sunset leaned back in her chair and gave Gilda a playful poke on the nose. Gilda stood back up, brushing the snow from her knees as she walked back to Sunset’s side. A part of her lamented that she hadn’t brought a folding chair or something, but it wasn’t that big of a deal. She’d stood still for longer, albeit maybe not in this kind of cold, but it was tolerable.

Plus, the company was fantastic.

There was just one last thing niggling at the edges of Gilda’s mind. Something she’d been afraid to bring up for more than one reason. Still…

“So, y’sure about this, Sunshine?” Gilda asked, staring at the glassy surface of the statue. The place where, according to Sunset, a portal to a dimension of colorful magical ponies lay. “Stuck like y’are forever?”

“The only other option is staying on that side for long enough that my crippled ‘template’ fades away,” Sunset said in a sad voice. “That could take a very long time, two transitions is about five years here, and I don’t know how the time period is determined, so it might take longer because I’m older and my body is changing less.”

“Couldn’t just come back’n visit?” Gilda asked, even knowing that seeing Sunset that seldom after having gotten used to seeing her and being around her every day would be gut-wrenching.

“Not if I wanted to be absolutely sure the template cleared," Sunset answered grimly. "We still don't know the full measure of how the portal works... but let's say I could, right? Hypothetically, let's say I could visit... would I?"

Gilda turned to look down at Sunset as she asked the question that she didn’t want to. “Why wouldn'tcha?”

“Because I’m not sure I'd be able to give everything up again, Gil, even for a little while,” Sunset answered evenly. “I’m a coward, Gilda… I have a really bad history of taking the easy way. I… I like to think of myself as a bad-ass, do-whatever-it-takes kind of girl, but… the truth is that my past tells a different story.”

Reaching into her bag, Sunset pulled out the Journal and ran her hand over the cover as she was wont to do anytime she was thinking too hard about her homeland. It helped dull the pain of the homesickness, touching something that was from that place and that served as a very real connection to it.

“I wanted to become an Alicorn, and I tried to cajole and threaten to get it,” Sunset said grimly, scowling down at the book as if it were a mirror of her old self. “When I didn’t get my way I ran through the portal thinking I could just take it. When that didn’t work, rather than admit my mistake I made an entire school miserable for years so I could steal the power in yet another way.”

“That ain’t who you are anymore, Sunflower,” Gilda said fervently, scowling down at Sunset who was staring at the portal with a distant gaze.

“I… want to think that too, Gil,” Sunset responded in a small voice. “But… I’m really, really scared that that’s not true. I’m scared that I’m still that weak-willed filly who takes the easy way out.”

“What does that even have to do with you goin’ back, though?” Gilda asked.

Sunset took a deep drag of her cigarette as she considered Gilda’s question and how to answer it. Pulling the lit smoke out of her mouth she stared into the ember for a few moments, and a part of her couldn't help but remember what it was like. Fire at her horntip, the power of a born pyrothurge; once upon a time, she could’ve summoned a fire hot enough to melt cold mountain bedrock.

Finally, Sunset pointed to the portal, her cigarette still hanging from her fingers and dripping hot ash onto the snow. “If I go through that portal right now? I… I don’t know if I’ll come back at all.” Sunset said, feeling her throat tighten up as she admitted, out loud, what she hadn't wanted to say.

“Even if I’m here waitin’ for ya?” Gilda asked, sounding hurt.

The tone of her voice cut Sunset to the core, but she nodded. “I’m scared, Gil… I’m scared that I’ll justify not leaving. That I’ll just… take the easy way out again.”

Taking a deep breath, Sunset looked up at Gilda, pushing away all of the intrusive thoughts that were urging her to run away, and gave her girlfriend a smile.

“Gilda, I like who I am, now,” Sunset said in a much stronger voice. “And you were right, that day at the hospital, I don’t need my legs to be amazing.” Gilda grinned at the growing strength in Sunset’s voice and the brightness of her expression. She was starting to look like Gilda remembered.

“I’m not going back, and not just because I’m scared, but because… I don’t need to.” Sunset continued. “Yes, I’m afraid that if I go back now I’ll fall backwards into my worst habit, and I’d rather give up my legs forever than risk losing you like that.”

“But…” Gilda prompted, feeling like there was more than what Sunset was saying. Sunset just shook her head and smiled.

“But more than that I want to prove to myself that I’ll never go back to being that person ever again,” Sunset said in a resolute voice. “This is a crossroads for me… either I go through and prove that I’m still the filly who takes the easy way out, or I stay here, watch the transition pass, and know for a fact that I’m different… maybe it’s childish but… I need to know, Gil.”

“Guess that’s fair,” Gilda said finally, then considered her next words very carefully. She wanted to say them and she didn't, at the same time. In the end, though, just like Sunset, Gilda had to know. “So, that still true even if I go with you?”

Silence crashed around the two of them as Sunset turned to stare up at Gilda, her heart hammering in her chest. Gilda didn’t turn, she just continued staring at the portal with half-lidded eyes, her mostly spent cigarette hanging from lips and smoldering in the icy winter air.

“You…” Sunset began, trying to find the words and feeling like she was failing badly. “But… Gilda everything you… this world is…”

Gilda’s eyes flicked to the side to fix Sunset with her golden gaze. “I’d give up my world for you, Sunshine,” she said quietly, pulling her cigarette free and shaking the ash from the tip before crushing it in her hand and pocketing the remains and turning her head to face Sunset. “I know you Sunny, and I know you'd never fuckin' ask, so I'll say it now: I’d give it all up, my world n'my whole life here if it meant stayin’ with you.”

Sunset stared, tears starting to track down her cheeks only to freeze to rime. Her breath came in short, ragged heaves. “Oh, Gilda…” Sunset sobbed out, “What did I do to deserve you? Because it wasn’t nearly enough.”

“Y’think I ain’t serious, Sunshine?” Gilda shot back, then pointed at the portal, “I’ll go through right now if it means makin’ you happy.”

"And then what?" Sunset cried out, high-strung and pensive. "We leave everything behind? Our home... our new friends, my new friends? Crankshaft, Gearshift, Octavia, Vinyl... I met two others on the bus to the mall, too, Helden and Penny... and what about all the people that tried to help me? What about Principal Celestia? Or Vice Principal Luna? Do we just shoot'em a quick text: 'smell ya five years later', then dip out?"

"But your legs, babe..." Gilda started but Sunset just shook her head.

"Tartarus take my legs, Gil," Sunset cut in, a new intensity lighting itself in her eyes. "What about Anon-A-Miss? What about Score and the Dogs? Yeah, the Dogs made damn sure I knew who put them onto me! And what about the Rainbooms?" Gilda snarled at the names Sunset listed off but Sunset didn't stop there. "I'm so sick of just running away from it all! I'm sick and tired of leaving everything behind! I want to finish and close the last chapter for once in my goddamn life, not just set the fucking book on fire and pitch it into a dumpster because I didn't like where it was heading! I'll do it even if it costs me my stupid, fucking legs!"

For the first time that night Sunset turned away from the portal to face Gilda, breathing hard and wiping away tears as she reached out for Gilda again. Gilda knelt back down into the snow, lowering her towering frame so Sunset could loop her fingers into Gilda’s short white hair and pull her into a sudden kiss. Gilda smiled, pleasantly surprised and not complaining in the slightest. Sunset’s passion was met in equal strength by Gilda’s as the taller girl savored the perfectly soft curve of Sunset’s mouth and the delicious warmth of her cheeks and neck as Gilda trailed her fingers down Sunset’s body to her waist where Gilda gripped her.

Pulling away, Sunset smiled deliriously up at Gilda. “Gilda, you’re my whole goddamn world, you know that?” Sunset said in a breathless voice. “And I won’t let you keep giving things up for me… we’re partners now, it has to be equal. I’m not dragging you into my world so I can have my legs back only to stick you with whatever’s on that side."

"You know I'd do it, though, right Sunshine?" Gilda said, staring into Sunset's eyes and running a thumb along her cheek to wipe away an errant tear. "Y'know I'd do anythin' for you, savvy?"

"I know..." Sunset promised. "But this time I'm making my choice to stay. I need to see this through, I need to face the girls one day too, I have to, for my sake." Sunset held up a hand,, silencing Gilda as she started to protest. "Maybe not to forgive them but... I need to do it, and if I go through that portal, especially if I have you, I'm pretty sure I'll never come back here because it'd be too easy to justify sticking to Equestria."

“So that’s that, then?” Gilda said finally as Sunset ran out of steam. “Last chance, Sunflower, we're stayin’ here?” She asked, leaning in to plant another quick kiss on Sunset’s lips and just as quickly retreating before she could respond, drawing out a wry chuckle.

“Yeah,” Sunset replied, after a moment. “Other people might disagree, or would decide differently, and who knows? Maybe I'll regret it one day too, but who I am tonight truly believes that having the chance for closure is even more important than walking again." Sunset looked up, meeting with a fire Gilda hadn't seen in a while. "I want to be able to look at myself in the mirror proudly for once, Gil... so I'm staying, that's my decision.”

“I figured as much.”

The third voice caught both girls off guard, eliciting alarmed squawks from both of them as they turned to see Twilight Sparkle standing at the mouth of the portal with a smirk on her face.

“You two are really cute, by the way,” Twilight said with a laugh, causing Sunset and Gilda to blush. “Anyway, I kind of thought you’d be here tonight, so I’ve been doing routine scans every now and again. Guess I’ve got my answer as to what you’ve decided, huh?”

“Mhm, yeah, I’m staying, Twi’,” Sunset confirmed, “I have a life here, a real one, one that I made for myself. I’ve paid out a lot of blood, sweat, and way more tears than I probably had to in order to get it but…” Sunset glanced up at Gilda and took her hand in a strong grip. “It was worth every drop.”

“I can’t say I’m surprised,” Twilight replied, shrugging. “I’m a little disappointed though, I was going to offer for you to stay with me. You’d be surprised how hard it is to find someone who can keep with me when it comes to magic.”

“No I wouldn’t,” Sunset shot back. “I had the same problem, it’s why I turned into such an insufferable bitch.”

Twilight cracked up, her laugh was an attractive, bubbly sound that was honestly very pretty. “Okay, that’s fair,” she replied after a minute, “and I won’t argue, but I will come visit every so often, too.”

“Y’welcome to swing by anytime, Sparks,” Gilda said, “thanks f’bein’ cool about all this.”

“You saved her life, Gilda,” Twilight said evenly. “Sunset Shimmer is one of my best friends, you have no idea how much I owe you.”

“Y’don’t owe me a thing, Princess,” Gilda replied. “S’not like I’da just let her go like that, savvy?”

Twilight’s expression was indecipherable, there was something intense about it, something almost imperious. For a moment, Gilda had a very real sense of what being in the presence of royalty was like for the first time. It was… palpable. After a moment, though, the pressure faded and Twilight smiled.

“I do, Gilda,” Twilight said, her tone brooking no argument. “And I’m not the only one, either, I told Celestia what happened, remember?”

Sunset grimaced. “Yeah, right, that was the one sticking point for me, I really do want to apologise to her one day, y’know? Still… tell her I miss her, okay Twi’?”

The only response Sunset received at first was a stare that eventually faded into a sad smile.

“No, I won’t,” Twilight said softly, before turning on her heel and walking back through the portal.

Sunset stared at the emptiness left behind by Twilight. At first, she felt a little offended: what was that supposed to mean? ‘No’? Why ‘No’? That didn’t fit Twilight at all, she had seemed perfectly fine with delivering her love to the Princess before this.

Her confusion lasted right up until the portal started crackling and spitting sparks. A pulse shot out from the surface of it, a force of magic that felt warm to the touch, like the breeze on an intense summer day at noon.

“What the hell’s goin’ on, Sunshine?” Gilda asked, with panic writ large on her face as the surface of the portal kept pulsing and crackling like it was about to burst.

It took all of five seconds for Sunset’s mind to put together what was happening.

“No, no, no, no, no,” the words came out in a babbling stream as Sunset scrabbled for the brake lever on her wheelchair, looking around wildly for somewhere, anywhere to go. “Gilda we’ve gotta-!”

The portal emitted a sound like splitting glass and both girls snapped their heads up to look at it.

Emerging from the glassy surface now shining with power was a hand, delicate and pale with long, perfect fingers, they flexed and gripped as if accustoming themselves to their sensations. Warmth poured down from the open portal as more and more of the figure emerged. A head with long, flowing hair that shone and drifted like an aurora kept in place by a jeweled tiara.

She was tall, impossibly tall, easily seven feet and every inch emerged from the portal with what looked like a great effort. Gilda looked down at Sunset who was still murmuring the word ‘no’ over and over to herself as she stared, tears streaming down her cheeks as she sat transfixed by the sight.

Finally the last of the figure pulled free of the confines of the portal with the sound of a cracking whip. The motion carried with it a tidal wave of heat, like the warmth of summer. In an instant the night erupted into noon-time daylight, the snow melted with a snap of pressure and the sky above them carved open to reveal the glory of an aurora borealis stretching across all of Canterlot, the sheer force of the magical presence that had entered the world rocked the constellations in the skies as Princess Celestia, Diarch of Equestria stepped free of the portal. She wore a long, flowing white robe tied in a vaguely Roman style. Her feet were bare, and where they touched the dirt ground the dead grass rose to life. Around her head was a corona of light that illuminated the whole world like it was daytime, and her eyes shone with all the colors of the rainbow.

Sunset’s words had devolved to incoherent blubbering as she wept openly, staring up at Celestia before clenching her eyes shut. Gilda’s legs went out from under her as the sheer force of the being in front of her slammed into her. This wasn’t just a royal, like Twilight, this was… so much more. This was a goddess.

The Sun had come to Earth.

Celestia smiled down at Sunset in an expression that spoke of infinite grief and joy in equal measure as she took in her former student’s broken body.

“Oh, Sunset…” Celestia said softly, her voice rich with emotion. “My beloved student…”

Sunset let out a body-wracking sob and suddenly all of the words she’d wanted to say spilled out of her. “Mom! I’m so sorry!” she cried out, tears streaming down her face. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean any of the things I said when I left! I love you so much! I never hated you even for a minute!”

Celestia sobbed, nearly falling forward to wrap the filly she’d taken in from an orphanage, that she’d raised to become one of the most powerful unicorns in the land, that she’d loved like the daughter she’d never had, in a tight embrace.

“My baby,” Celestia wept, “my beautiful, brave, wonderful filly, I missed you so much!”

“I missed you, too!” Sunset sobbed into Celestia’s shoulder. “I wanted to come back, momma! I wanted to, I promise! I was so stupid and I’m so, so sorry!”

“No,” Celestia said, shaking as she stroked Sunset’s hair and kissed her cheeks and head. “You’re not to blame, I wasn’t just your teacher I was supposed to be your mother too, and I failed. I should’ve seen you drifting away, just like Luna, and I missed it again. I was the one who failed you, my beloved student and I’m so sorry for that, you deserved so much better.”

Sunset swallowed thickly and shook her head, not willing to argue with her mentor and mother figure. “Well, I found it, mom,” Sunset replied, reaching out to grab her shell-shocked girlfriend’s hand. “I found the best thing in the whole wide world.”

Celestia turned her divine gaze on Gilda who sat poleaxed as Sunset’s adoptive mother’s prismatic eyes fixed onto her. After a moment though, she smiled. “I understand you saved my daughter’s life, Gilda Grimfeather.”

Gilda just nodded dumbly, not trusting her tongue to form anything as coherent as a word or phrase.

“I see,” Celestia reached out a hand to touch Gilda’s cheek and instantly Gilda began to shake. The warmth of her touch, the kindness, the love… for a brief, brief moment, Gilda remembered her mother, and tears trickled down her cheeks. “Don’t cry, child,” Celestia said softly, brushing a tear away with her thumb. “You are so very brave, and I will never be able to repay you for what you’ve done for my Sunset.”

“Gilda’s made me happier than I think I’ve ever been,” Sunset said softly, “I love her so much.”

“I love you too, Sunshine,” Gilda sobbed out, turned her eyes to look at Sunset and blinking away tears before turning to look at Celestia and utter her first words to the goddess. “I love y’daughter like nothin’ else in the world, ma’am, uh… y’majesty, I… I’d give everything for’er, savvy? I never ever wanna lose her.”

Celestia nodded and then leaned forward and brushed her lips against Gilda’s forehead and Gilda felt a wash of peace flush through her body.

“I proclaim thee, Gilda Grimfeather, Knight Protector to mine adopted daughter, Sunset Shimmer,” Celestia said in a formal tone. “Dost thou swear now, in the light of the Unconquered Sun that thou shalt always protect her, stand beside her, and shield her?”

Gilda nodded. “Y-yeah, I swear I will.”

Celestia grinned widely and a little mischievously. “Good, I’m happy to hear it, also it’s ‘Your Highness’, ‘Majesty’ is the honorific for a King or Queen.” Turning back to Sunset who was staring at her adoptive mother with naked disbelief, and Celestia smiled. “I can’t stay, this world is not for a being like me, and I risk a great deal stepping through even for a moment. But come visit me soon, my beloved student.”

“I c-cannot b-believe you did that,” Sunset stammered. “Y-you can’t just-!”

“I’m a Princess,” Celestia replied with a smirk, “I can do whatever I want, the trick is knowing to only do it when it will be for the best.”

Standing up, Celestia brushed one hand through Sunset’s hair and the other hand through Gilda’s. “I trust that you two will be absolutely, impossibly fantastic,” she said, “and I look forward to hearing all about it.”

Shaking her head and laughing a little wearily, Sunset nodded. “We will, mom, I promise. And I’ll definitely come visit soon, okay?”

“See that you do,” Celestia replied. “And bring Gilda with you, I rather like her.”

“Uh…” Gilda said intelligently.

“Looks like I won’t be going anywhere without her, mom,” Sunset said pointedly, drawing an all-too-innocent look from Celestia. “But… thank you, and… I love you.”

Celestia smiled warmly, leaning down for one last hug that she quickly roped Gilda into as well with her wide arms, and squeezed the two of them tight.

“I love you too, Sunset,” Celestia said before turning to Gilda, “and you have my love as well, Miss Grimfeather, for how could I have anything else for the one who gave me my child back?”

“I… uh…” Gilda sputtered before weakly saying, “thanks?”

Celestia chuckled and turned waving good-bye to Sunset and Gilda before passing back through the portal. Gilda and Sunset stared for a good long while after as the cold air of winter seeped back in.

The silence lasted for another half hour and finally the clock struck midnight, and the bell tolled long and loud from the clock on the school. The transition, assuming Twilight Sparkle's notes were correct, had passed. Somehow it felt anticlimactic. Some small part of Sunset had been expecting there to be more to it, a flash of light, a beam of power to signify the occasion.

Instead, it was just… quiet.

“Hey, Sunflower?” Gilda said quietly, drawing a faint hum by way of reply from Sunset. “Your mom is friggin’ terrifying.”

Sunset chuckled and nodded. “Yeah, but she’s pretty much the best, too.”

“Can’t argue with that, Sunshine,” Gilda responded with a laugh. “I guess I’m just lucky she likes me.”

Grimacing, Sunset scoffed and smacked the lever on her wheelchair, turning back towards the direction of home. “Oh believe me she loves you.”

“How d’ya know?” Gilda asked, taking up her usual position behind Sunset, pushing her along. “Was it that weird knight thing she did?”

Sunset didn’t answer for several minutes as they walked along, and Gilda was familiar enough by now just to let Sunset think. Finally, as they were passing into the Commons area of downtown about a half-hour walk from the flat, Sunset spoke up.

“Gilda, she named you my ‘knight protector’ right?” Sunset started, glancing straight at Gilda who nodded. “So… in Equestrian society… being named a lady’s Knight Protector is basically… uhm…”

“What? I ain’t much of a history buff and I don’t know shit about your world, Sunshine,” Gilda said. “Wanna fill me in?” Sunset buried her burning face in her hands, drawing a confused look from Gilda. “Sunny?”

“She basically…” Sunset started before devolving into mumbles.

“Sunshine?”

“She basically acknowledged you as my ‘intended’!” Sunset finally spat out.

Gilda cocked her head to the side in confusion. “Intended ‘what’?”

“Ugh!” Sunset groaned, then hung her head, raised her right hand, wiggling her ring finger, as she pointed at it with her left. “Like… that.”

The gears finally clicked into place in Gilda’s brain and the blood suddenly rushed her face. “W-wait like… she… you mean your mom just… like we’re…?!”

“Uh, yeah, she’s one of the rulers of Equestria,” Sunset said with a dry chuckle. “So, by Equestrian Noble Law we’re technically engaged now, I cannot believe her.”

Gilda continued to push Sunset along, lost in thought to the point that she barely registered the fact that they’d nearly reached home before she finally came out of her trance. “Hey Sunshine, are you okay with that?”

“Huh?” Sunset responded, “you mean the whole ‘knight protector’ thing?”

“The ‘bein’ engaged’ thing,” Gilda clarified, causing a new rush of blood to Sunset’s face. After a few seconds, though, she nodded, and Gilda smiled. “Yeah… me too.”

As they came to a stop outside the door to the flat, while Gilda was fishing around for the key, Sunset came to a decision. Gilda fit the key to the lock and turned it, unlatching the deadbolt, but as she went to open the door, Sunset intercepted her hand and gripped it.

“What’s up, Sunshine?” Gilda asked, concerned as Sunset stared down at her feet, her cheeks blazing. “You okay?”

Sunset nodded silently, chewing her lip for a moment before finally looking up at Gilda. “G-Gilda… will you be with me tonight?”

Gilda raised an eyebrow at the question. “Uh, Sunny? We share a bed, where else would I be?”

Grumbling, Sunset pursed her lips in a pout. “That’s… not what I meant.”

“Then what did you-?” Gilda clammed up as she realised what Sunset was asking. “S-sunny? You sure? I mean… ya don’t have to-”

“I want to,” Sunset said, her cheeks still red, a feature neatly mirrored on Gilda’s face. “I want to be with you too…”

“Well, uh,” Gilda chuckled nervously as she turned the doorknob. “Like I said before, babe, you’re sexy as hell… you don’t gotta ask me twice.”

Sunset laughed, wrapping her arms around herself as Gilda pushed her in and feeling a warmth in her chest as she did. The portal had closed for Sunset Shimmer the Unicorn prodigy; she was gone forever. Now she was just Sunset Shimmer, a girl in love, and for once in her life, Sunset couldn’t think of a single thing she wanted more.

Author's Note

Yes, you degenerates, there is an incoming sex scene next. I'm not gonna fade-to-black this one, Sunny deserves some good lovin'.

It'll be its own chapter, though, so those who don't want to read it can skip it as it's not strictly necessary to the plot.

7. Hooked On Your Love (Rated M)

Author's Note

Alright you degenerates, here's your sex scene finally. Can't say I haven't slow burned this about as long as I could without it turning into a bad anime trope.

In case you missed it in an earlier chapter, they are both eighteen. Furthermore, this part isn't just gratuitous sex, but it's also not strictly necessary to the plot so if you want to skip it that's perfectly fine.

7. Hooked On Your Love (Rated M)

~Ponyville Commons, December 22nd, Past Midnight~

Sunset sat on the edge of the bed, nerves jangling as she waited for Gilda to throw their stuff back in the closet.

Gilda had hung up their jackets to dry on the coat stand and was putting away the blankets after Sunset had rolled over to the bed and pulled herself free of the little nest of blankets that she’d swaddled her lower half in.

Panic immediately swept into her mind. ‘What was I thinking?!’ Sunset's thoughts erupted into dread. ‘I can barely bathe myself! My friggin’ legs don’t work! How am I supposed to be sexy when I’m basically half a person?!’

Sunset glanced to the side and watched Gilda moving down the short hall to the closet. Sunset knew she could say the word and call it off, right here and now. Gilda wouldn’t think any less of her. There was no consequence.

Except…

Taking a deep breath, Sunset bit her lip slightly as she thought about having Gilda all to herself like that. Her hands roaming the smooth, defined lines of her arms and shoulders, tasting the grooves of her neck and back and other, more delicious spots.

Yeah… She really wanted this.

A part of Sunset said she needed it.

A tiny nip at the sensitive skin of her neck made Sunset give out a yip that turned into a slow moan of arousal as a pair of strong hands swept around her midriff then trailed up to cup her breasts. Sunset melted into the feeling of Gilda’s lips making a trail of kisses and gentle love bites down from the base of her jaw to her collarbone.

“Hey there, beautiful,” Gilda’s voice was husky with desire as she massaged Sunset through the thin cotton t-shirt she’d had on under her sweater. “Can’t lie, Sunshine… been waitin’ a while for this…”

Sunset’s only response was another wordless moan as she leaned back into Gilda. Closing her eyes she let the sensation of Gilda’s strength overwhelm her. Her breath came in deeper gasps and pants, and she felt her whole body heat up. Her silent pleas for air were met by Gilda’s lips sealing over hers, and Sunset immediately dove in, entwining their tongues together.

Bringing her hands up to grip Gilda by her hair and scraping her fingers down the nape of Gilda’s neck, Sunset drew out a growl of savage beauty from somewhere in Gilda’s chest.

Something about the depth of it, the thrum of that growl, sent a shiver of lust and anticipation down Sunset’s spine as Gilda finally pulled away. Sunset stared straight up into the fiery gold of Gilda’s eyes, and there was something beautiful there, and something that in turn told Sunset she was the most beautiful thing in the world and no one was allowed to argue.

That and Gilda looked positively ravenous. Good thing Sunset had absolutely no issue being the next thing on the menu.

Crossing her arms around herself, Gilda roughly pulled her shirt off and tossed it to the side, Sunset felt her breath hitch in her throat and she pushed herself further on the bed near the middle, trying to get a full view of the glory being put on display for her.

Sunset knew she wasn’t exactly small, but Gilda’s baggy clothing and jacket hid much of her generous bust which was supported very well by her powerful back. She had to be at least triple D’s and they looked deliciously firm. Almost on reflex, Sunset reached out to touch her but Gilda intercepted her hand with a mischievous grin.

“Impatient, Sunshine?” Gilda growled teasingly, her lips curling back to show her teeth.

Sunset whimpered her assent as Gilda unbuckled her jeans, throwing the leather belt to the foot of the bed, before unsnapping them and dropping them to pool around her feet before she kicked them away.

Sunset licked her lips, suddenly finding her whole mouth parched. She’d mentally described Gilda as ‘mouth-watering’ once and that was proving to be a sore understatement.

She had seen Gilda in various states of undress before, it just happened when you lived together and slept in the same bed. But seeing her undress like this was something entirely different. The motion of Gilda’s limbs was sharp like she was just as impatient to get her hands on Sunset as Sunset was to touch her and it translated over to a complete disregard for what she was wearing.

Unsnapping her bra, Gilda let it fall to the ground and Sunset felt her whole body clench up as Gilda stalked towards her, flicking one hand lazily up to snap the light off so only the dim starlight of the outside reflecting off of the snow gave any illumination.

‘She’s… so beautiful,’ the thought stole through Sunset’s mind as Gilda came to a stop, towering over Sunset and staring down at her. The way the light played off of her dark skin, reflected off of her hair and lit her almost avian eyes made Sunset’s heart beat all the quicker. ‘How can anyone not look at her and just… drool.’

Gilda’s lips curled up slowly into a smile that was equal parts predatory and erotic, as if she could read Sunset’s thoughts.

“I’m gonna eat you up, Sunflower,” Gilda said softly, trailing her tongue over her canines. “And you’re gonna love every second of it, savvy?”

Sunset nodded dumbly along as Gilda lowered herself down, bracing her hands against the bed and crawling forward slowly. Sunset found herself leaning back further and further as Gilda got closer and closer until she was on top of Sunset, staring down at her from mere inches away.

Suddenly, Gilda swept back downwards, momentarily vanishing from view. Sunset didn’t have more than a split second to wonder why before she felt Gilda’s lips on her navel. Sunset gasped as Gilda nipped and kissed at the sensitive skin as she slowly made her way back up, pushing Sunset’s shirt out of the way until it was up and over her breasts.

Sunset started to move to her arms to take off the troublesome article of clothing but Gilda’s hands swept up to pins her wrists to the bed.

“B-babe?” Sunset started, smiling nervously. “What’re you doin’?”

“Whatever I want,” Gilda replied in a darkly intense voice. “You ever want me to slow down, or stop, just say the word, Sunflower, savvy?” Sunset nodded but before she could speak Gilda kept going. “Good, ‘cause til then you’re mine.”

Gilda lunged forward, closing her teeth around the middle clasp of Sunset’s bra and tugged it down, freeing her breasts with a delicious bounce. Sunset barely had time to gasp at the cold air before Gilda dragged her tongue over one nipple, sending a shiver all through Sunset’s body and dragging a loud moan out of her.

“Mm, you’re gonna be makin’ that sound all. Fuckin’. Night.” Gilda promised.

Sunset’s breath came in harsh pants as she nodded. “Please…”

Fixing her mouth over Sunset’s breast, Gilda worked her tongue in tight circles, every so often biting softly, as her hands trailed down to pull Sunset’s tee the rest of the way off. Switching targets to her other nipple, Gilda gave the same attention to it as she brought her hands down to start pulling at the waist of Sunset’s leggings.

Sunset found herself marveling at how quickly Gilda moved, and equally appreciative of how much bigger Gilda was. It meant she could reach every part of Sunset from right where she was and that suited Sunset just fine. Gilda had managed to work Sunset’s leggings down around her knees as Sunset brought her hands up to drag through Gilda’s hair as she licked, sucked, and nipped at Sunset’s chest.

“Gilda…” Sunset muttered in a daze, “I love you so much…”

Pulling free of Sunset’s grip, Gilda grinned and rose up to tower over Sunset again, she reached down to stroke Sunset’s face gently before getting off the bed and pulling Sunset’s leggings the rest of the way off. Sunset barely had time to complain about the loss of her girlfriend’s weight pressing down on her, something she had no clue she liked until that moment before Gilda scooped her up and crawled onto the bed and deposited Sunset into her lap.

“You’re like a fuckin’ drug, Sunshine,” Gilda muttered, her eyes half-lidded as she reached a hand up to Sunset’s jaw and pulled it gently to the side, exposing her neck so Gilda could lean in and trail her tongue along it. “I can’t get enough’a the way you taste…”

“You can taste me all you want,” Sunset whispered. “Whatever you want… wherever you want… just don’t stop touching me.”

Sunset wrapped her arms around Gilda to dig her nails into Gilda’s back. Gilda’s whole body shook as she growled, breathing deep against Sunset’s neck. Then she snapped her jaw fully open and clamped it around Sunset’s neck, her canines pressing against the soft flesh there.

Moaning, Sunset dragged her nails down Gilda’s back, leaving behind red lines of pleasure before pulling away to unclasp her bra and send it flying across the room.

Gilda’s fingers trailed down Sunset’s sides, stopping at her hips and then curling around to grip her ass. Sunset arched her back as Gilda dug her fingers in, letting out a shuddering breath as pressed herself against Gilda.

“Mm, fuck I love how you move, babe…” Gilda murmured, pressing her lips against Sunset’s neck and kissing down to her chest. “Gonna make you squirm all fuckin’ night, savvy?”

Sunset nodded, dizzy with pleasure as Gilda slid her hands down Sunset’s ass to her thighs, then dragged her fingers over the soaked fabric of Sunset's panties, pressing inward.

Suddenly, Sunset jerked, her hands clamped hard onto Gilda as her eyes snapped wide and she shuddered in Gilda’s firm grip as her whole body went taut as a wire. Just as quickly, Sunset went slack, draping herself over Gilda who cradled her and blinked in confusion for a moment before it hit her.

“S-Sunny? Did you just-?” Gilda started as a Sunset pulled away, blushing furiously.

Licking her lips and catching her breath, Sunset dropped her gaze but nodded.

“I-it’s been awhile, okay?” Sunset said, her voice quiet. “I… I haven’t even, y’know… touched myself since the… yeah…”

“So… you’re real sensitive, huh?” Gilda said slowly, and Sunset gave another nod.

After a moment of silence Sunset looked up at Gilda to see why she had gone quiet. Her eyes widened at the lustful grin Gilda was giving her.

Licking her lips, Gilda said a single word that sent an intoxicating chill down Sunset’s spine.

“Good.”

Bringing Sunset around, Gilda laid her down on her bed, her head resting on the pillows. Sliding down Sunset’s soft, athletic form, Gilda kissed every inch as she spread Sunset’s legs gently apart to reveal the soaked mess of her panties covering the prize Gilda really had her eyes on.

Gripping an edge of the panties with her teeth Gilda dragged the panties away, exposing Sunset's dripping pussy. It was beautiful, slightly puffy with arousal and soaked with pleasure.

“Ready?” Gilda asked softly, flicking her eyes up to Sunset whose face was beet red, which she was covering with her hands. One eye peeked through her fingers and she gave Gilda a small nod.

Without a moment of hesitation, Gilda dove in and dragged her tongue up Sunset’s dripping slit. Sunset arched her back again, electric pleasure firing up her body as Gilda stopped on her little button to fix her lips around it. Sunset’s moan practically rattled the walls and Gilda briefly wondered what their neighbors thought before deciding they could fuck themselves if they had an issue.

Repeatedly, Gilda licked up and down, lapping up the nectar Sunset was freely giving as Sunset jerked and thrashed in Gilda’s grip. Her arms were locked around Sunset’s thighs, keeping them spread and giving Gilda full access to Sunset’s sensitive cunt for as long as she gave it. The instant she tasted Sunset, Gilda knew she'd never be able to get enough of her. It was addictive, and Gilda couldn't help but dive deeper and deeper.

Through the tempest of sensation, a single thought flicked through Sunset’s mind. ‘Wow, Gilda has a really long tongue.’

Beyond that, Sunset could barely keep her mind in one place. Every touch from Gilda sent fireworks through her brain as her girlfriend ate her out with a starving hunger. She could hardly tell where one orgasm ended and another began as she rode an endless wave of lightning that left her sweaty and spent on the sheets only to relentlessly strike her again and again. A part of her wanted to beg Gilda for a moment to breathe, but… the rest of her?

Sunset coiled her fingers into Gilda’s hair. “F-fuck, don’t stop… please don’t stop…” Sunset begged, shaking as she pushed Gilda harder against herself. “Fucking wreck me!”

Gilda could feel a fire rising in her own body as Sunset’s demand lit something primal within her. She wanted release too but right now, even if Sunset offered, she wasn’t sure she’d want to stop.

Sunset just tasted so damn good.

Gilda licked up, dragging her tongue slowly and harshly against Sunset’s clit again as Sunset toyed with Gilda’s short white hair. Gilda savored the sweet tingle that Sunset’s flavor left on her lips as she slowed her roll gradually, letting Sunset come down from her orgasmic high and just breathe again for a second. Gilda softly kissed and caressed the sensitive areas around Sunset’s nethers before looking up at her lover who was sprawled out and panting in front of her.

“Sunny, look at me,” Gilda said, her voice deep and husky.

Sunset obeyed, breathing hard as she looked down her own body to see Gilda staring at her with those entrancing golden eyes. Eyes that never wavered as Gilda slowly lowered herself back to Sunset’s lower lips and slid her tongue in deep, brushing Sunset’s clit with her lips.

“Oh fuck!” Sunset cried out as her eyes went wide and her whole body started to shake.

A wracking orgasm crashed through Sunset, her biggest one of the night. Something about that sight, about Gilda lovingly and devotedly servicing her like that didn’t just tip her over the edge, it sent her careening over a cliff.

It felt like it lasted for an hour even though, realistically, she knew it couldn’t have, and when Sunset finally came back down to earth her breath was coming in deep, desperate heaves. Every inch of her aside from the obvious tingled, and she barely registered the bed shifting as Gilda crawled up over her and wrapped herself around Sunset, guiding Sunset's face to the side to kiss her gently. Sunset could taste the faint tang of her own flavor in Gilda’s lips, but could not be bothered to care. All Sunset cared about was that Gilda kept touching her and kissing her.

Pulling away slowly, Gilda smiled at the slight moue of displeasure that traced over Sunset’s lips. “Ready, Sunshine?” Gilda asked in a low, eager voice.

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “F-for what?”

“For my turn,” Gilda answered as she leaned on to kiss Sunset again.

Sunset tensed, glancing away from Gilda as she felt her heart clench in shame. “B-but… I can’t… I can’t move like you, I can’t be… on my knees or…”

Gilda’s hand came to rest on Sunset’s cheek, her thumb tracing lightly over Sunset’s lips for a moment, silencing her before slipping the digit into Sunset’s mouth. Sunset blushed but ran her tongue over Gilda’s thumb as the taller girl fixed her with that predatory look that sent pleasant tingles of delight through her stomach among other places.

“I don’t need you to move one, single, inch, Sunshine,” Gilda said huskily, pulling her hand away. “In fact, I’d rather ya didn’t.”

Before Sunset could ask why, Gilda stood and unceremoniously pulled her own panties off, stunning Sunset into silence as she tossed the stained article away. Crawling back on top of Sunset, Gilda grinned again and lowered herself to kiss Sunset, a quick, passionate locking of lips that lasted just long enough before she pulled away and continued to move up.

For a moment, Sunset was confused as Gilda moved past her. Then her mind put the pieces together and her face turned beet red as Gilda came to a stop, her dripping sex positioned perfectly over Sunset’s face.

Sunset breathed hard, licking her lips as she stared up at the sight before her, Gilda smiled lazily down at her, reaching out to stroke Sunset’s hair. “I figured this’d work just fine,” Gilda said with a borderline vulgar grin. “Got any complaints?”

Not trusting her voice, Sunset just shook her head emphatically in the negative. She had absolutely zero complaints about what was about to happen.

“Good girl,” Gilda purred, before lowering herself down, supporting the majority of her weight on her muscular legs and letting out a low moan as Sunset’s lips came in contact with her dripping wet pussy. “Now lick me…”

Sunset did exactly that: lashing out with her tongue to lap at Gilda as her hands came up to grip the gorgeous set of hips that had settled on her face. Sunset’s heart thundered in her chest at the position she found herself in. She moaned loudly as Gilda’s hand went from petting to gripping a fistful of Sunset’s red and gold hair.

Gilda’s hips bucked reflexively against Sunset’s face who was expertly using her tongue to send jolts of pure ecstasy up Gilda’s spine, making her pant heavily as she did her best not to press too hard against the source of that deafening pleasure.

Delicious fluids dripped across Sunset’s lips, over her tongue, and down her face as Gilda rode her just roughly enough for it be intoxicating. The feeling of Gilda’s weight pressing down on her, being in the perfect position to give her gorgeous girlfriend this kind of pleasure… her scent was thick and overwhelming but far from unpleasant; it was making her feel drunk. Every passing moment was a moment that Sunset wanted to scratch back. She hated every slipping second because she wanted this to last forever.

Without thinking about it, one of Sunset’s hands had stopped groping and squeezing Gilda’s hips, thighs, and ass, and was diving between her own legs. The whole time her tongue worked at Gilda’s folds, kissing, nibbling, and sucking. Suddenly Gilda’s grip on her hair tightened as she ground herself against Sunset’s lips, letting out a cry that was a lot higher than Sunset expected.

It was a long, high, almost musical cry of pleasure.

It was the voice of an angel.

Liquid splashed over Sunset’s lips and she worked diligently to catch every drop, begrudged each one she missed. Sunset’s body rocked as she hit her own orgasm moments later just as Gilda’s body went slack, rolling off of Sunset to collapse on the bed beside her.

Both girls panted heavily, their bodies slick with sweat as the air cooled around them, their lovemaking having done wonders for the normally cold evening. Gilda reached out, lacing her fingers between Sunset’s and gripping hard as Sunset squeezed back.

“H-holy shit, baby,” Sunset gasped after a minute of catching her breath. “That… that was a hell of a first time.”

Gilda glanced over, one eyebrow raised, then chuckled. “Yeah… for uh… both of us.”

Rolling onto her side, pulling legs along to keep from torquing her back, Sunset curled around Gilda and smiled. “First time? You definitely seemed to know what you were doing…”

“Speak f’yourself, babe,” Gilda retorted as she grabbed the covers and yanked them up and over the two of them before pulling Sunset closer. “I could barely hold on there at the end… your mouth felt fuckin’ amazing.”

Sunset blushed. “Well, uh… not gonna lie… I’m pretty good at putting theory into practice, and you basically fulfilled a fantasy back there that I’d put a lot of, uh… theory into.”

“Since we’re bein’ honest,” Gilda said, laughing a little as she stroked Sunset’s hair soothingly. “I was uh, pretty much making it up as I went… s’why I kept sayin’ you could tell me t’stop, yknow? Didn’t wanna go too far, savvy?”

“I love you, Gil,” Sunset said softly as she leaned in to kiss her girlfriend. “And I trust you with more than just my life, okay?”

“I… yeah, I know,” Gilda replied, burying her face against Sunset’s messy red and gold locks. “I just love you so much, baby…”

Without warning, Gilda curled up against Sunset and her body began to shake slightly. A worried Sunset brought her hands up to cradle Gilda’s face, whose eyes were clenched shut. Tears were threatening to spill over her cheeks and Sunset felt her chest tighten.

“Baby? Baby, what’s wrong?” Sunset pleaded, feeling a pang of worry. “C'mon babe, talk to me…”

“M’sorry…” Gilda mumbled, her voice thick and choked. “I just.. I can’t… I can’t ever lose you, y’know?” The tall, imposing, thuggish beauty that Sunset fell in love with sobbed quietly as Sunset held on to her. “I just love you so fuckin’ much, and I don’t know what I’d ever do if ya weren’t here one day, savvy?”

Sunset felt tears threaten to overcome her too as she clutched Gilda. “I know, Gil,” she choked out, “but I swear I’m not going anywhere, okay?”

Gilda just nodded silently as she regained control of herself. Her whole body felt a little lighter after that, like a weight had fallen away along with the tears. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had anyone so close to her that she could feel… safe. Gilda felt safe with Sunset, though. Safe enough to cry, to admit her fears, her weaknesses…

Taking a deep breath, filling herself with the scent of her girlfriend, Gilda smiled widely as Sunset snuggled into her arms.

“I love you, Sunset Shimmer,” Gilda whispered softly, kissing the top of Sunset’s head. “Always will…”

“Love you too, Gilda Grimfeather,” Sunset mumbled, nestling against Gilda’s neck and kissing it gently. “Forever.”

For such a cold winter’s night on the longest night of the year, Sunset and Gilda both could honestly say that they’d never felt warmer.

8. Falling Leaves Of Red & Gold

~Ponyville Commons, December 22nd, Morning~

The sheets were a tangled, sweaty mess that had mostly been kicked to the bottom of the bed by the time Gilda woke up. Not terribly surprising given what the two of them had gotten up to last night. Sunset was still curled up in Gilda’s arms, her breathing slow and steady with slumber. Smiling, Gilda pulled the covers closer around them and brushed her lips against Sunset’s forehead.

Gilda couldn’t think of anything in her entire life that made her as happy as she was right at that moment. The air was still freezing cold, nothing was going to solve the problem of thin walls and crap insulation, but Gilda was exactly as warm as she needed to be.

A subdued buzzing sound interrupted Gilda’s flow of happy thoughts. With one hand trapped under her girlfriend, Gilda flailed as gently as possible for her phone which was laying plugged in on the floor on her side of the bed. It took some awkward stretching but after a moment Gilda got a grip on the plug wire and lifted it like a fishing line. Crankshaft was calling her at eight in the morning, which meant…

“Ugh,” Gilda groaned quietly as she thumbed the green call button. “Yo, Crank, ‘sup?”

//Grifa! Ibuenas!//

Crankshaft’s cheery voice grated on Gilda who was already fishing for her underwear before remembering she’d thrown them across the room last night. In her defense it had seemed like a good idea at the time.

//We got a job, some folks got a dead carcacha, big farm truck, you free?//

Gilda sighed. She was still exhausted, and her girlfriend was very naked, so she toyed with the idea of saying no but…

“Yeah, I’m free, gimme a few to get decent, savvy? I’ll be there in a half hour or so.”

//Gracias, Grifa, give our love to ya cariña, yeah?//

“Yeah, yeah, will do, Crank,” Gilda responded before hanging up and tossing her phone back on the bed. “Shit, well, so much for laying around all day.”

“Gotta work?”

Gilda glanced down at Sunset who was looking up at her with those beautiful teal eyes and smiling. Her hair was a messy red halo of curls that gave her a kind of after-sex bedhead look that Gilda found very tempting. Part of that attraction may have been just because Gilda had been intimately involved in getting Sunset’s hair looking like that, though.

“Yeah, some old beater died in the snow, I guess,” Gilda answered pulling her arm out from under Sunset a little reluctantly. “Gotta go bring the piece’a junk back ta life, savvy?”

“Heh, savvy,” Sunset replied, still smiling. “I think I’ll go busk at the mall again if that’s okay.”

Gilda grimaced a little but nodded. “Ya don’t need my permission, Sunshine,” she said, turning her frown into an only slightly pained smile, “just… y’know, be careful.”

“Yeah, I will,” Sunset said as she reached out and stroked Gilda’s back, chuckling a little as she traced the red lines she’d left there from the night before. Gilda hissed softly at her touch, and Sunset frowned. “I didn’t hurt you did I?”

Gilda just laughed and shook her head. “Ah… no, ya didn’t,” Gilda answered, blushing lightly as she got up and grabbed a shirt. “That was a, uh… different sorta sound. The kinda sound that’d lead to a few more’a those scratches if I didn’t have’ta work, savvy?”

Blushing, Sunset nodded. “O-oh, well uh… I definitely wouldn’t complain about an encore of last night…”

“Mm, don’t tempt me t’skip work, Sunflower,” Gilda growled as she pulled undergarments on. “It’ll look bad if I show up that late.”

Sitting up, Sunset stretched, humming delightedly at the short chorus of pops. She felt several different kinds of relaxed, and her only real complaint this morning was that Gilda wasn’t sticking around to cuddle with her for an hour or ten, among other potential activities. For the life of her, Sunset could not remember why she’d been so hesitant to be with Gilda like that beyond… well, just general trust issues, really. Just because she’d never had sex before then didn’t mean she was averse to it.

“It does not do to dwell,” Sunset mumbled under her breath, repeating a favorite phrase of her adoptive mother and former teacher.

Excellent advice against dwelling on the bad over the good and holding grudges that Sunset hadn’t taken to heart until recently.

Instead Sunset just watched Gilda getting ready for the day, an enticing and enjoyable experience all on its own. Watching the way her muscles rolled as she moved, the definition of her arms, back, and legs… the tensing of her neck and every part of her beautiful body. Sunset licked her lips as Gilda walked into the bathroom for a quick rinse which mostly involved cranking the hot water on, jumping in and scrubbing for half a minute while swearing viciously, and then stepping out to dry herself off.

Gilda stepped out of the shower half-clothed, her jeans on but unbuckled and bare-chested as she toweled her hair off. “I think I need a haircut, Sunshine,” Gilda mused, scratching at her pale hair. “Gettin’ kinda shaggy.”

“I think you’d look good with longer hair,” Sunset replied, smiling. “But it’d probably be a pain working under a car like that, I get it.”

“I can grow it out for a bit,” Gilda replied, grinning. “Maybe it’ll be sexy.”

Sunset batted her eyelids at Gilda and smiled. “Like you need any help with that, babe.”

Gilda stuck her tongue out at Sunset as she grabbed the rest of her outfit, pulling on a shirt, then throwing a sweater over it all before sitting onto the bed to pull on her socks and boots. As she sat down, Sunset leaned over and draped herself across Gilda’s back, nuzzling into her neck.

“Dammit, Sunshine,” Gilda growled playfully, glancing back and receiving a kiss on her nose for her trouble. “I already don’t wanna leave, babe, doin’ that ain’t fuckin’ fair.”

Before Gilda could pull away though, Sunset caught her girlfriend and pulled her into a deeper kiss, locking lips and cradling her head, running her fingers through Gilda’s hair. Gilda obliged eagerly, slipping her arms around Sunset’s bare midriff and pulling her close, trailing her fingers up Sunset’s body and earning a delighted shiver in response.

Finally freeing herself, Gilda pulled Sunset into a gentle embrace and inhaled deeply. There was something about Sunset’s scent, a faint aroma of lilacs and cherries that Gilda was pretty sure had nothing to do with her shampoo or bodywash, that put a flutter in Gilda’s heart and yet still managed to calm her down.

“I love ya, Sunflower,” Gilda whispered, kissing Sunset’s cheek as she pulled away. “And tonight you’re gonna get it for rilin’ me up like that before work, savvy?”

Sunset grinned smokily at the promise and licked her lips. “Looking forward to it, babe, now go have a good day at work and try not to get too distracted by thoughts of me naked.”

Gilda’s face contorted through several different variations of frustration before settling on defeated annoyance and nodded, laughing dryly. “I thought y’weren’t supposed to be evil anymore, Sunny, sheesh…”

Giving Sunset one more kiss goodbye, Gilda threw on her jacket and left the flat, locking up before turning to walk the short distance to the auto garage. It was freezing, worse than last night if that were even possible, and the telltale crunching Gilda’s boots were making on the ground told her that it had very briefly sleeted. The roads were probably dangerous and the lack of cars on even the slow inner city streets of the Commons were testament to how many people agreed with Gilda’s assessment.

“Some poor shit managed to fuck up their ride anyway, though,” Gilda muttered to herself as she glanced around.

There were a few people out and about but not many. It was while she was looking around, people watching in a way she never had before meeting Sunset Shimmer, that she accidentally nearly walked right over someone.

“Eep!”

Gilda lunged out, only getting a quick glance of a dark haired figure toppling over before reflex kicked in and she caught the girl she’d run into. Gilda stared down at the alarmed face of Octavia Melody who was tipped over at a neat forty-five degree angle being cradled in Gilda’s arms.

Reddening, Gilda pulled Octavia back to her feet and grinned sheepishly. “Sorry ‘bout that, guess I should watch where I’m walkin’, huh?”

“Uhm, yes,” Octavia agreed, chuckling nervously. “Ah… my apologies too, I was distracted answering a text from Vinyl… I’m usually much more conscientious but she always does know how to distract me.”

“Heh, tell me about it,” Gilda laughed, bringing a hand up to brush some of accumulating snow from her head. “Sunshine’s got my fuckin’ number, too, no joke.”

Octavia’s smile became noticeable warmer at the mention of Sunset. “How is she? She seemed… troubled when we spoke at Cuppa’s.”

“Y-yeah,” Gilda agreed, shrugging and glancing off to the side as she thought about how to answer that question. “Better, I guess? I’m pretty shit at figuring people out, though, savvy?” Gilda admitted, smiling a little wanly at Octavia. “Sunset’s got a lotta practice at keepin’ everything bottled up too, so… what the hell do I know?”

“Whatever the case, I think you’ve been good for her,” Octavia said, reaching out to put a hand on Gilda’s shoulder. “And I daresay she’s been very good for you. Time was I’d have been absolutely terrified to have even entered your proximity but…” Octavia glanced up and down Gilda, getting a raised eyebrow in response. “Well, let’s just say I can see why she finds you so fetching now, is all.”

Gilda blushed and shrugged. “I wouldn’t fuckin’ know, Cello, you’re the fancy one here not me.”

Octavia laughed; a merry, bell-chime sound that was very pretty, even to Gilda. “Cello? Really?”

“S-sorry,” Gilda apologised, waving her hand dismissively. “Nicknames stick in my idiot brain better than regular names. Besides, s’what you play, right?”

“Yes, it is, though I’m surprised you know it,” Octavia admitted a little sheepishly, “Sunset did mention it though, didn’t she?”

“I knew before,” Gilda replied with a shrug, “I was a military brat, my mom’n dad used to drag me to those boring-ass orchestras and stuff, and my mom would explain what all the different instruments were.”

“They sound like lovely people,” Octavia said brightly, “I’d love to meet them some day.”

Gilda gave a short, barren laugh. “Yeah, no ya wouldn’t, but if ya ever wanna get close you can swing by Beaucheval north of town.”

Octavia furrowed her brow for a moment, then her eyes widened in horror. “B-but, isn’t Beaucheval a military-”

“Cemetery, yeah,” Gilda replied. “Car crash, happened years ago s’don’t sweat it too much, Cello, I already came t’grips with all that shit, savvy?”

For several moments, Octavia worked her jaw trying to find words to convey… something, anything meaningful, but of all the things she imagined being behind those stark, golden eyes, that kind of tragedy wasn’t even in the same zip code. After a while, though, she found the only word that made even a glimmer of sense.

“H-how?”

Gilda raised an eyebrow at the question and shrugged again. Lifting a cigarette to her lips and lighting it, Gilda took a long drag before answering.

“Because it was that or die, savvy? Fight or die, breathe or die, run or die, live or die…” Gilda’s mind trailed back to thoughts of Sunset, “love or die.”

Tapping some of the ash out onto the snow, Gilda fixed eyes that were suddenly far more weary-looking than any girl her age should own into Octavia.

“S’not a complicated thing, y’know?” Gilda said, sighing out a breath of smoke. “In the end we all got ghosts followin’ us around, savvy? I just made peace with mine when I was a kid. ‘Sides, my parents raised a fighter, so givin’ up ain’t really my style.”

Octavia stared quietly for a while before nodding. “I find myself in the awkward position of having to apologise to you again, Gilda.”

“Huh? Why’s that?” Gilda asked, taking another short drag from her cigarette and blowing it out the side of her mouth.

“Because I only ever judged you as a delinquent and a hoodlum,” Octavia said, her face reddening with shame. “I judged you harshly and unfairly, and I’m… very sorry. I suppose I’ve learned a rather valuable lesson.”

“Books n’covers, eh?” Gilda remarked, “well, consider y’self forgiven, not like I made it hard to hit that fuckin’ conclusion, right? Anyway, good talkin’ to ya but I gotta get t’work, my boss is waitin’ on me to help kick an old beater back to life, savvy?”

Octavia nodded, smiling. “It was an enlightening conversation, Gilda, and I’m proud to call you my friend. I’ll talk to Sunset later and see how she’s doing for myself, if that’s okay?”

Gilda shrugged. “Don’t need’ta ask me, she’s ‘er own woman, Tavi. You can probably find’er at the mall somewhere buskin’ later on in the day though, savvy?”

“I’ll do that then,” Octavia replied, “have a good day at work.”

Gilda waved as she walked past Octavia and down the street. A part of her knew that the encounter was strange, at least strange for her. Time was she wouldn’t have given that girl a second thought. She’d have run her over and laughed as the scared girl scrambled away babbling apologies. Octavia was right, Sunset really had changed her. Something about having to be so gentle with Sunset all the time had just… made her rein herself in after a while. Gilda was so worried about hurting Sunset that she paid more attention to her strength than she ever used to.

“Shit, who’da thought I’d end up fallin’ in love with a good influence?” Gilda mumbled under her breath, her cheeks reddening a little as she smiled.

As she turned the corner Gilda saw the main garage was already open and ducked into it, waving at Crankshaft as she did.

“Buenos dias, Grifa,” Crank said a little more quietly when he saw the bags under Gilda’s eyes. He sipped his coffee as he handed a styrofoam cup full of the same to Gilda who took it thankfully. “Lo siento mi amiga, I know it’s early but this one’s bad. Driver spun out and hit a tree, qué lío.”

“Everyone, okay?” Gilda asked, leaning against the wall and taking a drink.

Crank nodded. “Si, they’re fine, they weren’t goin’ too fast. Truck’s a mess though, Gear’s towin’ it here now. Driver’s gettin’ a ride with a friend behind’em.”

“Savvy,” Gilda muttered draining the coffee and going back to grab more.

As she was filling her cup she heard the tow truck pull into the lot in front of the garage and another car park nearer to the lobby. Gilda walked into the back to pull on her jumpsuit, draining the cup as she did. When she came back out though, a voice hit her ears like a load of bricks.

“Wooee, thanks fer the pickup Crank, ya’ll’re lifesavers,” Applejack’s voice sent a bolt of red across Gilda’s vision.

The voice that followed it didn’t help. “You shouldn’t have been out driving in that weather in the first place, darling,” came Rarity’s more cultured tones. “Really, I don’t know what you were thinking.”

Before she could rein in her temper Gilda lashed a fist out and slammed it against the wall by the lockers, rattling them and half the garage. The talking cut off instantly and Gilda heard Crankshaft’s chair squeak as he got up from the desk and headed back.

“What’n tarnation was that?” Applejack asked from the lobby, but no answer was forthcoming.

Crankshaft came around the corner and peeked into the locker room where Gilda was sitting on the small bench, her face buried in her hands and the knuckles on her left hand bleeding. “Grifa? Estas bien, amiga?”

He sounded genuinely worried, so Gilda grit her teeth and nodded. “Y-yeah, Crank, I’m good, just… sorry.”

“Bullshit, Grifa,” Crankshaft said dryly, “You ain’t any flavor’a good, so talk.”

Gilda breathed out slowly, trying to cool her temper and only partially succeeding. She didn’t want to talk. She wanted to go into the lobby and throw fists until she felt better. Except… Crank and Gear had been like family to her since she got here, even if she never realised it until recently… she couldn’t do that to them.

“Those two girls…” Gilda started, and Crankshaft instantly scowled.

“They do something to ya, Grifa?” Crank said, glancing back at the lobby. “Gear works on the Apple’s trucks now’n then, but I can tell’em to go somewhere else.”

Gilda shook her head emphatically. “Fuck no, I’m not costing you guys business, savvy? And it wasn’t me… they’re some of Sunshine’s ex-friends, ones who dumped her ass when she got framed for that shitshow at the high school.”

If Crankshaft looked annoyed before, now he looked furious. “No me jodas!? They dropped ya cariña?”

“Yeah, fuckin’ broke her heart, too, Crank,” Gilda said, her voice thick and choked. “I… Sunflower wants me to be nicer and… and she always holds me back, but I fuckin’ hate’m Crank. I can’t help it I just… I hate’m.”

“Si, no hay bronca, Grifa,” Crankshaft replied, “I’ll kick’em out and tell Gear t’take the truck up to the shop on thirty-first, yeah?”

“No!” Gilda stood suddenly, grimacing. “I toldja I’m not losin’ you guys business, we’re doin’ this fuckin’ job and I’ll suck it up, savvy? ‘Sides… gotta get used to’em eventually, I can’t just knock’em out every day at school.”

Crankshaft didn’t look happy, but he nodded. “Si, you got it Grifa, but if you want me to kick’em to the curb, I will. That girl’a yours es un cielo, and anyone who messes with her or you can take their money somewhere else.”

“T-thanks, Crank,” Gilda said, wiping at her eyes as she washed up her knuckles, hissing at the soap hitting the abraded skin before grabbing some bandages from the locker and wrapping them up. “You’re the best, y’know?”

“Si, lo sé,” Crankshaft replied with a grin before stepping out. “Alright, Grifa if we gonna do this let’s do this,” he called back as he shut the door.

Crankshaft came back out into the lobby and Gilda heard him through the walls as he started talking, his tones more noticeably clipped with irritation. “Look, señorita,” Crankshaft began, “I’ll be honest, I’d rather kick ya outta here, but I won’t.”

“W-what?” Applejack’s voice cut through in shock. “B-but we ain’t never been nothin’ but good customers, Crank! Why’d ya even think’a doin’ somethin’ like that?”

“I have to agree,” Rarity joined in. “Making threats is no way to run a business of any kind!”

“Ain’t makin’ threats,” Crank replied, “I just don’t like people like you, that’s all.”

“B-but-!”

“Stop givin’em shit, Crank,” Gilda said finally stepping out of the garage and into the lobby with irritation painted across her features. “I said I don’t care, so let’s just leave it the fuck alone and get to fuckin’ work, savvy?”

Rarity and Applejack both paled as their eyes met Gilda’s, Applejack especially. The farmgirl was clad in a heavy brown snow jacket, snow pants and galoshes, while Rarity was dressed to the nines in winter fashion in a calf-length, long-sleeved coat and matching mittens. Both of them noticed the jumpsuit and Gilda’s infamous sobriquet stitched onto the corner.

“Grifa,” Rarity’s accent mangled the word a little as she shook her head and smiled a little despondently. “Of course, Griffon, as in Gilda the Griffon. I suppose that explains the suddenly chilly reception.”

Shrugging, Crankshaft turned back towards Gilda. “I’m gonna get the truck over the pit, Grifa, you finish the ring-up.”

“Yeah, no problem, Crank,” Gilda replied as she moved around the desk and dropped into the seat.

Fortunately, the register consisted mostly of just a ten-key and a till, Gilda knew where the numbers were supposed to be on the machine so she could just hit the pattern without her stupid brain mixing the numbers on the buttons up. The only problem was…

Glancing down at the paperwork, Gilda scowled as she parsed the numbers. She knew just about how much it would cost, so she hoped she wouldn’t screw up the price too bad. Scanning the bottom line, Gilda moved her mouth silently as she tried reading one number at a time to make sure she didn’t mismatch the values.

“A-are you alright, Miss Grimfeather?” Rarity asked a little unsteadily. “You look-”

“I’m tired and I’m trying to read this fuckin’ thing, a’right?” Gilda bit out, cutting her off. “You bein’ here is bad enough without this headache.”

Rarity and Applejack share a glance before the pale girl spoke up again. “U-uhm, are you, ah… do you have trouble reading? I understand literacy is-”

You’re not illiterate, or stupid, okay?

“I ain’t fuckin’ illiterate!” Gilda snarled as she slammed her fist onto the desk, making the two of them jump back. Part of her knew she was saying it for herself, as much as for them. “I… I’m… Sunshine says I’m dyslexic, or somethin’, words are just a fuckin’ scramble f’me. So lay off, or I’ll tell Crank I changed my mind about workin’ on the truck, savvy?”

Silence fell heavily over the lobby as Gilda finished punching in the number and hit the green button that would print out the quote sheet. She leaned back and glanced through the window that looked out over the garage and watched Crank and Gear bringing the truck in. It wasn’t in the worst shape, mostly bodywork. It was an old truck but that meant it was sturdy, she’d be surprised if there was much real internal damage.

Grabbing the printed sheet, she tore it free and handed it over. “Figure it’ll be done by tonight at the latest, probably this afternoon though, savvy?”

“Y-yeah,” Applejack replied, taking the quote and glancing it over, a little surprised they were still charging her the same rate. “Hey… Gilda, uhm… thanks, y’know? Ya’ll coulda kicked me outta here and my family woulda been in a bind since most places are a lot more expensive, so… thanks.”

Gilda leaned back in the chair and glared at Applejack. “You wanna thank someone, Hoedown? Thank the girl you left cryin’ the hallway, savvy? Because she’s the reason I’m not kickin’ you out.”

“Believe me, darling,” Rarity said, keeping herself together impressively at that jab. “There are very few things we want more than to speak with Sunset… about a number of matters.”

“Ah kept mah word, Gilda,” Applejack said, tucking the paper away in her pocket. “We’ll leave’r alone, just like ya asked, okay?”

“C-can you tell us how she is, though, at least?” Rarity asked, her voice pleading as she stepped past Applejack, “Please, we’re all worried, I know we don’t have any right to ask or seek her out but… please.”

Gilda wanted to tell them to fuck off, she really, really did. She hadn’t been exaggerating to Crankshaft when she said she hated them. Just looking at them made her want to take a swing, but every time she considered it a part of her saw the look that would be on Sunset’s face when she found out.

“She’s better,” Gilda finally answered, staring blankly ahead. “Still pretty fucked up, though. Cries a lot, gets mad, and we get inta fights about it sometimes but she always calms down. You guys did a fuckin’ number on her, savvy?”

“I… I see,” Rarity replied after a moment. “Excuse me…” she turned on her heel and walked quickly out of the lobby and into the snow.

Applejack grimaced, nodding at Gilda. “Yeah, can’t say Ah blame’r, so… gotta ask too, the wheelchair?”

“Permanent,” Gilda said sharply, and Applejack winced, she’d all but known what the answer would be but hearing it out loud stung. “Not your fault, though, strictly speakin’. That said, accident or not, I’m still gonna fuck up the Diamond Dogs if they ever show their faces to me again.”

“Can’t say Ah blame ya on that,” Applejack replied grimly. “Ya’ll need an extra hand if it comes down to it, lemme know.”

Turning towards the door, Applejack started to leave but stopped as her hand came to rest on the handle. “Hey Gilda, didn’t have a chance t’ask back at the hospital but, you’n Sunset… are ya’ll-?”

“Not that it’s any’a yer fuckin’ business, Hoedown, but… yeah, we’re together,” Gilda answered evenly. “She’s my whole goddamn world, savvy? And I’ll put anything that threatens her in the fuckin’ ground.”

Applejack met Gilda’s gaze and nodded. “Yeah, honestly, Ah…” she let out a slow breath and looked out the glass pane door at Rarity who was carefully wiping at her eyes with a kerchief. “Ah think ah’m startin’ t’figure out ‘xactly how ya feel.”

Gilda glanced out the door, then back to Applejack, then back to Rarity. “Huh, well, I can’t say shit, I’m a friggin’ thug and I managed to get with the prettiest girl in the goddamn school.”

“We ain’t exactly an item, Gilda,” Applejack said, shifting uncomfortably.

“Not interested?” Gilda asked, smirking. “Shit luck, then.”

Applejack shook her head. “Nah, well, maybe… haven’t asked.”

Furrowing her brow, Gilda snorted and waved a hand. “Well, why the hell not?”

“Maybe ‘cause Ah ain’t like you, Gilda!” Applejack snarled back. “Maybe Ah ain’t brave enough t’risk a ‘no’ to mah face, or take the risk’a ruinin’ another friendship! Why the hell d’ya’ll even care anyhow?!”

Gilda crossed her arms and scowled. Why did she care? Admittedly, of all the girls, she probably hated Applejack the least. The stout farmgirl had been the first to own up to her mistakes, she’d been honest, apologetic, and kept to her word even when it was clear she wanted to talk to Sunset as bad as, if not worse, than any of the others. Gilda didn’t like Applejack, necessarily, there was too much bad blood between Sunset and the Rainbooms for that, but she… respected her.

“Dunno, Hoedown,” Gilda said finally, “I guess I don’t really care, but if you want some advice? Go tell’er how ya fuckin’ feel already. I figure if you’n her are better friends t’each other than ya were to Sunshine she’ll either take ya up on it or let ya down easy, savvy? That is, unless you wanna go to y’grave with another regret.”

Applejack stared at Gilda for several seconds with wide eyes, but eventually nodded silently and turned to leave. Gilda just shook her head as she watched Applejack exit the lobby, and turned to go through the back door into the garage.

‘Sunny really is gettin’ to me,’ Gilda mused as she grabbed a red toolbox from the shelf and walked towards the beat up Apple family truck. ‘Now I’m givin’ fuckin’ relationship advice…’

Applejack walked out of the Ponyville auto garage lobby feeling… nervous. Extremely nervous. Of all the people to give her the pep talk she had apparently needed, Gilda hadn’t been anywhere near the top of the list, but Applejack had to admit that the girl she had originally considered little more than a bully and a thug was turning out to have a lot more to her than she had thought.

Rarity was standing by the curb. She had removed her gloves and tucked them away and begun gently dabbing at her eyes to avoid smearing her mascara.

“I’m sorry about leaving you like that, darling,” she began, her voice steady, but Applejack could see the effort she was putting in to keep it that way. “I suppose I could be handling all of this better than I am, but… I’m not quite sure how.”

“Yeah well, we all probably coulda handled a lotta things better than we did, sugarcube,” Applejack replied somberly. “If it’s worth anythin’, Ah don’t think ya’ll’re takin’ it any worse’n any’a the other gals.”

“You’re too kind, really,” Rarity said softly, her eyes tilted to stare at the gathering snow as they began walking back to her car. “I’m certainly well behind you in terms of handling things, at least. It’s a bit humiliating since I pride myself on keeping a stiff upper lip, but… this business with Sunset hits too close to home for me.”

Applejack just nodded as they reached the small vehicle and stepped forward, pulling Rarity into a hug that the prim and proper girl readily returned. “Ah know, sugarcube, and the best we gotta go on right know is knowin’ she’s bein’ taken care of, and that she’s gettin’ better.”

“But I want to help her,” Rarity pleaded in a slightly muffled voice, with her face buried against Applejack’s collar. “I want to be a part of it, I want to make things right!”

“And if Sunset gives us the opportunity then believe me, Ah’ll be the first in line at that rodeo,” Applejack promised. “And Ah’ll save ya’ll a spot right with me, but it’s gotta be her choice. Forcin’ the matter ain’t gonna give us nothin’ but grief, y’hear?”

Rarity nodded silently against Applejack’s chest and let out a soft sob. “I just… I can barely sleep, I’ve got no appetite, and I just feel so horrible, so awful, all the time. I can’t even look at my little sister without…”

“Yeah, Ah know,” Appeljack replied quietly. “Everytime Ah look at Applebloom all Ah can see is Sunset, sittin’ in the middle’a the hall and sobbin’ her dang heart out. Ah can’t even look at mah own kin without feelin’ a powerful rage.” Applejack grit her teeth so hard that Rarity looked up in alarm.

The normally unflappable farmer was clenching her eyes shut as tears leaked from the corners, her face was twisted in pain, agony even, and slowly, her whole body started to shake.

“Ah… ah wanna blame’r for everythin’ that happened!” Applejack sobbed raggedly. “Fer ruinin’ the school, fer destroyin’ mah friendship with Sunset… Ah just… Ah don’t wanna hate mah family, Rares, I don’t wanna hate mah baby sister…”

Applejack cried out wordlessly as she buried her face against Rarity’s royal purple locks and broke down. Her cries were quiet, muffled, almost choked as if some fundamental part of Applejack was violently resisting her, trying to keep the enormous sorrow and anger that had built up over the weeks contained in its narrow-necked bottle.

“Oh… darling, why didn’t you say anything?” Rarity pleaded, as she gripped Applejack tightly. “You shouldn’t have to face this alone, we’re all here for you! You’ve been our rock through all of this, even… even when I was shouting at you and… oh, Jackie, I’m so sorry!”

“S’not your fault, Rares,” Applejack replied, her voice broken and barely coherent through the thick, sobbing cries. “Ah made mah choice an’ Ah knew ya’ll’d hate it, but it’s what had ta happen… Ah knew what Ah was buyin’ into when Ah made that deal with Gilda, sugarcube.”

“But it shouldn’t have happened!” Rarity retorted almost angrily. “You did the right thing, Applejack. If I haven’t said it yet then I’ll swallow my pride and say it now: I was wrong, and you were right! I had no right to get angry and take my frustrations out on you! Okay?”

Applejack’s sniffles became a little more controlled as she nodded, still resting her head against Rarity’s as she came to grips with herself again. The farmgirl’s emotions were like a summer storm trapped in a bottle, powerful and raging and appearing seemingly from nowhere the moment the smallest crack appears.

Doing her best to put on a brave face, Rarity glanced up at Applejack, staring into those gorgeous, candy-apple green eyes that were glistening brightly with tears. Guileless, honest, and beautiful, those were all words that had always described Applejack in Rarity’s mind. There was something about the eldest Apple daughter’s untamed nature, her simple and efficient no-nonsense approach to life and all of its trials that Rarity found herself in desperate envy of.

No matter what happened, Applejack would always remain true and honest to herself, even in the worst of situations. Something Rarity couldn’t honestly say about her own self.

Rarity was so lost in thought, in fact, that she was caught completely off guard when Applejack leaned in and pressed her lips against Rarity’s in a kind of gentle, whisper-soft kiss that Rarity hadn’t suspected Applejack was even capable of.

Colors exploded behind her eyes as Rarity reflexively leaned into the kiss, letting her body melt against Applejack’s in a way that felt so natural and so right. Rarity loved every second of it. She loved the way Applejack gently held her, one hand on her hip and the other at the small of her back. She loved the faint flavor of sour apples she tasted on Applejack’s lips.

It was everything she’d ever imagined.

As the two girls pulled away from each other, Applejack blushed furiously and pulled her hat down over her eyes. “A-Ah dangit, Ah’m powerful sorry ‘bout that, sugarcube,” Applejack mumbled, looking away. “Ah just… Ah was lookin’ atcha and… ya’ll’re just so dang pretty and…-”

Rarity stopped Applejack’s cascade of apologies with a single pale finger on her sun-kissed lips.

“Jacqueline Apple, don’t you dare apologise for that kiss,” Rarity said in an even and completely iron-clad tone. “Because I’ve been waiting for you to do that since our Sophomore year.”

Applejack blinked in stunned silence as Rarity kept her fiery blue gaze fixed firmly on Applejack’s eyes. There was no controlling the blooming blush on her cheeks, but that was another matter. “W-Wut?”

Sighing, Rarity blushed harder and finally broke the staring contest. “Are you really going to make me say it, darling?” Rarity huffed. “I… I’ve had feelings for you for some time now, alright?”

“R-really? Me?” Applejack asked, pointing to herself and staring in disbelief. “B-but… Ah’m just… Ah’m… why?!”

Rarity shuffled her feet slightly in embarrassment. “W-well, entirely aside from your adorable accent and the admittedly shallow thing I have for cowboys, er, cowgirls I suppose… you’re also one of my best friends Applejack,” Rarity leaned up to lightly kiss Applejack, forestalling any protests. “But more than that, you’re… stable. My whole world is chaos, darling, good and bad. Such is the life of an artist, after all, being at the mercy of our muses who are generally fickle and possessed of very short attention spans.”

“Well, Ah ain’t gonna lie,” Applejack replied, chuckling slightly. “Ya’ll can get pretty crazy when yer in one’a yer creative-type moods.”

“Exactly!” Rarity exclaimed, leaning forward and pressing herself against Applejack. “And I… I get swept up so easily that sometimes I wish… I wish I had someone who could keep me grounded, darling. My art lets me fly but I have to land eventually.” Nestling herself against Applejack, Rarity let out a soft sigh. “And you’re always right where I left you, always ready to listen, to give advice, to keep my head on straight… Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Rainbow? Bless them but they’re hardly the most stable of our friends, am I wrong?”

“Uh, yeah that’s fair enough,” Applejack answered, bringing her hands up and around Rarity.

Rarity giggled softly and nodded. “It’s why I never confided my feelings to them, I knew they’d get far too excited and the jig would be up, as they say. In fact, the only person I ever told was-”

Silence descended like a hammer as Rarity froze stiff in Applejack’s arms, all warmth from her previous mood had fled like a coldsnap. Applejack frowned and hugged Rarity tighter as she started to shake silently.

“Rares? What’s wrong, sugarcube?” Applejack asked, feeling a chill of worry climb up her neck. “Ya’ll alright?”

Rarity shook her head violently, scattering her perfectly coiffed curls.

“W-well, ya’ll wanna talk about it?”

Another shake of her head. Applejack sighed, she knew Rarity well enough to know when she was in a bad state of mind and this was bad. Carefully she guided Rarity around to put her in the passenger's seat of her little hatchback. Applejack got into the driver’s seat, scooted over near the middle, and put her arm around Rarity’s shoulder.

Several minutes passed before Rarity spoke again and when she did, it was a whisper. “I… I should have known all along that Sunset wasn’t Anon-A-Miss…”

“We all shoulda known, sugarcube,” Applejack replied grimly. “Pretty sure we all agree on that much.”

Rarity shook her head. “No, you misunderstand, I should have known. Not suspected, or sided with her, I mean I should have known. I… I all but had proof of it.”

Applejack furrowed her brow. “How’dya figure that, Rares?”

“I never told Sweetie Belle about my feelings for you,” Rarity began. “It wasn’t that I didn’t trust her, though I now realise I shouldn’t… but simply because she spent so much time with Apple Bloom and I didn’t want to burden her with keeping a secret from her friend. And besides, it wasn’t her business anyway.”

“Yeah, alright,” Applejack agreed, nodding and waiting for the other shoe to drop. “So Sweetie Belle didn’t know, which is why yer feelin’s bout me never got aired out along with everyone else's dirty laundry, but why-?”

“Because the one person I did tell was Sunset Shimmer,” Rarity said, her voice ragged and harsh. “Sunset and I have a lot in common in that we can both be incorrigible gossips, but know quite well how to keep secrets, darling. Her poker face is probably better than mine and I think a part of me was hoping for some support from her in, ah, catching you, as it were.”

“T-then if she knew how ya’ll felt…” Applejack started, finally catching onto Rarity’s train of thought. “If she really was Anon-A-Miss, then…”

“Then why wouldn’t she have published my secret?” Rarity ask rhetorically. “Anon-A-Miss had published far worse by the end, so there was no reason for that not to be published too unless… unless Anon-A-Miss didn’t know.”

“Right,” Applejack said, in a hollow voice. “Sunset knew ‘cause ya’ll told’er, so… damn it… Ah see whatcha mean.”

Rarity nodded. “Had I taken a moment to think, just a single moment where I wasn’t wrapped in self-righteous anger, I would have realised that the one secret that only Sunset knew was the one secret that had never been aired out,” she said softly. “I… may have still had my initial reaction but it should have tipped me off, at least, but I was just so… so angry that I wasn’t thinking.”

“Yeah,” Applejack nodded, leaning her cheek against Rarity’s soft, purple hair. “None’a us were thinkin’ straight, ah reckon. Not that that’s an excuse.”

“It’s not,” Rarity agreed. “But apparently I’m far guiltier than the rest of you girls regarding Sunset’s suffering.”

“T’ain’t like that, sugarcube,” Applejack said sternly, and Rarity began to protest but Applejack silenced her with a quick peck on the lips. “Don’t argue, just listen, alright? It don’t matter if ya’ll had more’re less reason than the rest’a us, ‘cause it ain’t no slidin’ scale’a guilt! Fact is: not a one of us shoulda abandoned Sunset like we did. Reason ain’t got nothin’ to do with it, y’hear? Whether or not y’knew a thing don’t make a lick’a difference, Rares, ‘cause none of us shoulda done it in the first place!”

Rarity just stared, hiccuping slightly and sniffling as she nodded. Applejack took a deep breath and pulled Rarity close, running her fingers through the prim girl’s now-messy purple locks.

“Ah get it, Rares,” Appejack said softly, all the fervor from her voice gone. “Believe me, whatever yer feelin’ ain’t got nothin’ on bein’ the supposed ‘Element’a Honesty’ who can’t even tell when’er own sister is lyin’ t’her face. We all got lotsa reasons why we shoulda known better, so don’t go beatin’ yerself up over havin’ an extra one. Just another drop in the bucket, y’hear?”

Nodding, Rarity let out a shuddering breath and gripped tightly to Applejack. After a moment, she looked up, leaned in, and pressed her lips firmly to the farmgirl’s, looping her hands up to tangle her fingers into Applejack's loose, messy, blonde hair.

Pulling away, Rarity grinned up at Applejack and traced a finger down her chest. “Did I mention one of the things I admired about you was that you keep me grounded, darling?”

“Mighta done, yeah,” Applejack replied with a laugh.

“So… what do we do, darling?” Rarity asked somberly.

Applejack shrugged. “Dunno, sugarcube… Ah made a promise and Ah ain’t fixin’ to break it, but it don’t sit right with me just waitin’ for the world to turn the right way and drop the answer in our laps.”

“I must say, I agree,” Rarity replied, then pulled out her phone and opened up a group chat. “Let’s get the girls together, maybe it’s time we really put that ‘friendship’ matter to work and see if we can’t at least make up some of the debt we’ve brought down on ourselves.”

~Crystal Emporium Mall, December 22nd, Afternoon~

Sunset Shimmer rolled down the walkway towards the Emporium’s largest entrance, her guitar strapped to the back of her wheelchair. It was closing in on noon and she was getting hungry. Fortunately, Sunset still had some of the money left over from when she was busking a few days back. Intellectually, she knew she should save it. She only had a few hundred dollars in her account, and even though government assistance meant her and Gilda’s flat was essentially paid for, it didn’t mean they wouldn’t have bills.

Plus, until they had some kind of paperwork proving otherwise, Sunset couldn’t even get a job, much less get on a lease. She had to help contribute somehow, and if busking was how then…

“Maybe I can start offering tutoring or something,” Sunset mused quietly. “It’s not the worst idea I’ve ever had…”

‘No, that would have to go to the: Jam A Legendary Magical Crown On My Head plan.’ Sunset thought wryly as she rolled up herself to the side and took up a spot near the hedge and hit her brake lever. ‘For someone who makes pretty decent plans most of the time, that was a pretty bad one.’

Sunset was startled out of her thoughts by the buzzing of her phone. Pulling it out she swept through the password screen, smiling almost reflexively as she put in her girlfriend’s name. Sunset was half expecting to see that Gilda had messaged her, so she was a bit surprised to see the name on the contact was Penny.

Penny: //You gon be at the mall today at all?//

Grinning, Sunset tapped out her answer. Trying not to feel too giddy at having been messaged by her new friend.

Sunset: //Already am, slowpoke, probably be busking near the food court if there’s a good spot open.//

Penny: //Sweet! Helden’s busy and I’m super bored, save me a spot!//

A spot? It’s not like Sunset could control the size of the crowd. Shaking her head and smiling, Sunset just typed her reply.

Sunset: //I’ll do my best, see ya soon Penny.//

Penny: //Yeet//

Chuckling, Sunset tucked her phone back in her pocket and pulled out a cigarette. Lighting it, Sunset tucked it between her lips and took a deep breath, feeling her whole body relax a little at the comforting flavor and heat of the smoke. For a moment, Sunset let her mind drift to nowhere in particular.

Ever since last night the world had felt… disconnected. Ever since she let the transition take her legs away forever. It wasn’t something that necessarily bothered her; maybe it was just the nearness of the event, maybe she just didn’t have the perspective to regret her decision yet, but Sunset liked to think it was because it was the right thing to do. She had meant every word she said to Gilda that night, too. She didn’t want to leave all her unfinished business on this world to just… be. To moulder and rot.

Sunset wanted to resolve it, even though she knew it would be hard.

Still, she had no clue where to start. The thought of talking to the girls, the Rainbooms, left Sunset’s gut doing backflips, the Diamond Dogs had already been expelled, and then there was Hoops, Score and Dumbbell, only one of which she had a grudge against. According to Gilda, she had Hoops to thank for Gilda finding her, so Sunset made a mental note to thank him personally when school started again.

Other than that, she was back to drifting. Sunset took another drag as she considered where she was; like Adagio said, she needed time to stick her landing.

“Legs notwithstanding, or even regular standing,” Sunset mumbled, chuckling to herself at her awful joke, “I’m really not doing too badly… got a place to live, a wonderful girlfriend, some good friends… all-in-all, it could be a lot worse.”

The question now was… where did she go from here?

“What’s next for Sunset Shimmer?” Sunset asked softly and, as she did, a thought struck her. “Why not talk to a friend about it?”

Putting out the cigarette, Sunset knocked her brake back to the off position and started rolling into the mall. It was busy, as usual for the holiday season. Packs of people roved around, talking and gawking as they window shopped for gifts. A part of Sunset felt a faint pang of nostalgia and sorrow; she had been looking forward to doing exactly that activity with the girls, they’d even made plans to, before the mess with Anon-A-Miss.

Sunset still didn’t regret what happened; if it hadn’t, she wouldn’t be with the girl she loved, but it still hurt. There was a space in her heart that the Rainbooms had occupied, a place for Pinkie’s parties, pranks, and jokes that always cheered her up. A place for the impromptu competitions she and Rainbow would get into, from soccer to who could put away the most Lo Mein noodles. The place for the honest and straightforward conversations she would have with Applejack, and the witty, urbane ones shared with Rarity. A place for the quiet, peaceful moments with Fluttershy.

Those empty spaces still ached terribly, but if Twilight had imparted anything to her it was that true friends were always there for you. Gilda would always be there for her, Sunset knew that like she knew the sun would rise. Gilda wasn’t just her girlfriend, or her lover, Gilda was Sunset’s best friend too.

“Probably why mom wants me to marry her,” Sunset mumbled, her cheeks reddening furiously at the thought. “Stupid Princess authority, mom could’ve at least warned Gilda.”

There was another thing, if Anon-A-Miss had never happened then Sunset would never have been forced into a meeting with her adoptive mother. She probably would have just kept making excuses to stay in the human world, surrounded by her ‘friends’ while avoiding the painful, heart-wrenching confrontation she knew she would eventually have to have with Princess Celestia.

Even knowing the Princess had never blamed her, that she had forgiven Sunset, and having a constantly open portal to speak to her at any time, Sunset knew she wouldn’t have. Not easily, and certainly not without a lot tears and heartache. It would have taken a lot of pushing and probably a lot more time.

Further proof that she had made the correct decision, Sunset knew she would’ve done exactly the same thing if she’d skipped over to Equestria, regarding the unresolved mess with Anon-A-Miss.

Now, though? Sunset had shed her tears, told her mother that she loved her, and been held in her mother’s arms for the first time in years while she cried her eyes out and apologised for everything. Now Sunset had finally unburdened herself of the weight she’d been carrying around. Not that she didn’t still have issues with her mom, but that was nothing a few years (or decades) of therapy couldn’t help with.

Yet another reason Sunset knew she needed to start existing officially.

Rolling to near the central axis of the mall, Sunset began the long and frustrating wait for the lift. As per usual, there were about a dozen people in line. She still wanted to run over whoever it was that designed this place for accessibility.

“I cannot fathom the sort of being,” Sunset mused aloud in dry irritation, “that could possibly have looked at this mall and said to themselves: yes, I meant to do that.”

“I’ve said the exact same thing about the human race for centuries, Red,” came a caustic voice from behind Sunset.

Turning her head, Sunset stared up at a face that was both familiar and not. Aria Blaze, the middle sister of the Sirens, stood just behind Sunset’s chair staring down at her. She had changed greatly since Sunset had seen Aria last; she’d put on muscle, and was lean, wiry, and compact. Aria’s hair was cut to a short bob tapering to a widows peak at her forehead, but the cynical smirk that always seemed to exist in her eyes even when it wasn’t on her face was still the same. She wore a black muscle shirt with a black leather jacket and heavy cargo pants. On her feet were a pair of knee-high shit-kickers with far too many buckles and spikes to be reasonable.

“Y’know, when ‘Dagi told me the state you were in I barely believed it,” Aria continued, moving up to grab the handles of Sunset’s chair and pushed her forward through the line. A few protested but were silenced by a single wicked glare from the girl. Sunset herself was too stunned to bother. “Here you are though, in all your stumpy glory.”

“I don’t exactly need you to remind me of that,” Sunset bit out after a moment as they stopped at the front of the line with a number of heated glares following them, mostly pinned to Aria’s back. “Pretty sure I’ve got all the reminder I’ll ever need.”

“Gotta say, Red, I’m disappointed,” Aria said, still talking as if Sunset hadn’t spoken. “The one who handed us our first real defeat since Starswirl of the Bells got owned by a bunch of numpty nobodies?”

“I didn’t get ‘owned’,” Sunset retorted as the lift door opened and a flood of people left. “The fight… got out of hand. One of the Dogs slammed into the staircase attached to the warehouse I was living in too hard, jostled the last few supports loose and… turns out a few hundred pounds of steel girders don’t play well with squishy human bodies.”

“Living in a warehouse?” Aria asked, her voice suddenly losing a great deal of its acidic tone. She pushed Sunset into the cab of the lift, there wasn’t room for anyone else. “Really? Even with all your pastel loser friends?”

Sunset nodded, she was done being too proud, and certainly done being ashamed. “Yeah, because I didn’t have my magic trapped in a little red gem to give me all the comforts and money I could want,” whatever acid had left Aria’s tone had found a new home in Sunset’s voice. “I was back to being little orphan Sunset on the streets of Canterlot, scraping and stealing to survive; sleeping in dark places, or high places, and always cold, disgusting places.”

“No shelters?” Aria asked softly as the lift slowly rose up to the third floor.

“They were full, most of the time anyway,” Sunset replied. “End of the day, there were just too many of us. At least I usually had one meal a day, but… it was up to me to keep myself safe.”

Aria was quiet as the door let out a cheery ding and opened, the crowd in front of the lift parted enough for Aria to push Sunset out and onto the tiles of the mall walkway.

“Did you?” Aria finally asked.

Sunset raised an eyebrow as she looked up at Aria. “Did I what?”

“Keep yourself safe?”

Sunset was silent for several minutes as she stared out over the sea of people. “Most of the time, yeah,” she answered, finally. “I have a scar on my arm from where I was stabbed, I have a chipped tooth from where I fell fifteen feet and landed badly while I was running away from some muggers.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad,” Aria replied, “but I figure there’s more.”

Silence stretched out for what felt like days as Sunset stared down at her hands as her memory carefully crept back to that place in the dark where she put all of things she wanted to forget about. A numbness slid into her soul that Sunset didn’t like at all, it was cold and ugly and slimy.

Closing her eyes, Sunset scowled. “I have a stain on my hands I can’t ever seem to get rid of, and that’s all I’ll say about that.”

Aria eye’d Sunset for a minute before nodding. “Fair enough, Red.”

“Not going to tell me to talk about it?” Sunset asked skeptically.

“Nope, not really my business, figure it’ll air itself out eventually,” Aria replied with a sneer as she pushed Sunset towards Koi Sushi.

“Do I get a say in going in there?” Sunset asked in a tone of bored annoyance, not willing to admit she was heading exactly there in the first place before Aria had hijacked her wheelchair.

“Not really,” Aria answered.

The little restaurant was bustling with the lunchtime crowd, and servers were bobbing in between the tables expertly with platters of sushi or plates of appetizers. They moved quickly out of the way as Sunset was wheeled in and most of them greeted Aria by name. To Sunset’s surprise, Aria responded in kind, her normally bellicose features softening as she spoke easily with the wait staff.

They made their way back to the table Sunset, Gilda, and Adagio had sat at last time; Sunset suspected it was their usual table. Considering its position away from the majority of the crowds and tucked away from easy view, Sunset couldn’t deny she preferred it. Sitting at the table was Adagio, who was dressed in normal clothes, rather than her waitress apron and skirt. Her enormous poof of hair was tied back with a pretty bow, and she was wearing a festive red sweater that read: Ho, Ho, Leave me Alone, in curling gold letters.

“Nice shirt,” Sunset said, chuckling as Aria pushed her to the table. Adagio raised an eyebrow at Sunset and then up at Aria who gave a smirk in response.

“An early christmas gift from Sonata,” Adagio said after a moment. “Normally I abhor sweaters but something about this one actually appealed to me.”

“Gee, I wonder why that is,” Aria deadpanned back as she took her own seat.

Sunset laughed quietly as the two sisters bantered back and forth. Back during the events of the Battle of the Bands, Sunset had witnessed their exchanges but always as simple bickering. They sniped and undermined each other, with only Adagio’s force of personality and sharp tongue keeping the other two in check. Now, though, there was an ease to them, something in their relaxed posture, the set of their shoulders, that made them almost seem like different people.

“So, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company, Shimmer?” Adagio asked, turning away from Aria. “Sonata is currently passed out at home after binging through two straight seasons of some t.v. Show or other, so it will just be us.”

“I… guess I just wanted to talk to a friend,” Sunset said, smiling softly at Adagio who wore a look of surprise that quickly morphed to a more gentle one. “A lot has happened since we talked, even though it hasn’t been all that long.”

“Four days is hardly a great distance of time,” Adagio remarked in agreement, “but I’m glad to hear you’ve made some progress already, want to fill me in?”

“Sure, so… I guess it all really started a few days after I was injured,” Sunset began. “Twilight told me about a, uh, quirk of the portal when she came to visit me in my hospital room…”

As Sunset finished catching up her two former enemies on her life, both Aria and Adagio stared at her in shock. The silence stretched out to the point that Sunset was left chuckling uneasily and waved a hand in front of the two of them.

“Uh, Earth to the Siren sisters, you two okay in there?” Sunset asked with a nervous laugh.

Adagio shook her head slowly in disbelief. “Wait, so… you’re telling me that… you willingly gave up the opportunity to have both your legs and your magic back? Forever?”

“Well, yes and no,” Sunset replied, grimacing. “My magic is still a thing if I go back through the portal, nothing can take that away.”

“But your legs,” Aria insisted, “you could’ve just… had them back!”

“And left everything else behind!” Sunset countered. “I already went over this with Gilda, savvy? I have friends here! I have a life! It’s not… not great, but it’s mine! If I have to sacrifice… this,” Sunset gestured to her legs, “to not live the rest of my life wondering ‘what if’ and knowing I left every friend I ever made in the human world behind, I’ll do it! I’m… I’m tired of regretting things and I’m sick to death of running away!”

Aria and Adagio sat back, looking thoughtful and not a little shell-shocked by Sunset’s decision. Even the normally unflappable Adagio looked like she was set back on her heels at the idea of Sunset’s choice. Taking a small chance, Sunset reached out and grasped Adagio’s hand, drawing a startled jerk of surprise from the girl.

“I’ve finally started to make friends for myself, ‘Dagi,” Sunset said, “and you’re one of them. I didn’t want to leave Gilda, but even if she came with me I’d be leaving everything else and everyone else behind.” Letting out a shaky breath, Sunset braced herself. “I want to be your friend ‘Dagi, and yours too Aria,” Sunset continued. “I want to sit down, eat sushi, talk and laugh and bullshit around for a long time with you… I want people who will understand me, not just tolerate me.”

“Ari’,” Aria said quietly, drawing a look from both Adagio and Sunset. “Call me Ari’, it’s what ‘Nata and ‘Dagi call me.”

Sunset grinned wide and for the first time since she woke up that morning felt like her world was starting to orient itself. “Ari’, I like it, it’s kinda cute.”

Aria smirked as she mock-punched Sunset in the shoulder. “Better than Valkyrie, it’s what my manager decided my ‘stage name’ should be in the ring.”

“Seems kinda edgelord-y,” Sunset remarked with a grin.

“It wasn’t my idea, Red,” Aria shot back with a smirk. “Believe me I bitched from here to Elysium about it after the first round but there was nothing doin’, my manager says it’s Valkyrie or nothing.”

Sunset laughed, it was both comforting and nostalgic to hear familiar oaths and curses from her home. It reminded her she wasn’t completely alone, even as an Equestrian.

“I’m shocked you actually let it go, Ari’,” Sunset responded. “Figured you’d have just kept ranting until you lost your temper and punched him.”

Aria’s cheeks reddened, much to Sunset’s surprise. “He’s a weedy kinda guy, one punch from me and he’d be in the hospital.”

Adagio leaned over to Sunset wearing a villainous smirk. “My dear sister always did have a thing for boys she could push around and bully, especially if they’re smaller than her,” she said in an easily audible stage whisper.

“Hey!” Aria barked, her face going beet red. “Don’t give me that! Your reputation is way worse than mine!”

“Worse?” Adagio asked, grinning toothily, “or better?”

There was a loud thump as Aria’s forehead hit the table and she groaned loudly in defeat. Sunset was shaking with silent laughter, her hand covering her mouth as Adagio relentlessly needled her sister.

Food arrived a few moments later, and the three girls spent lunch split between eating and chatting aimlessly about nothing in particular, and for the first time in a long time Sunset felt truly at ease. It wasn’t the drunken delirium of happy endorphins that she got from Gilda, nor was it the high-strung stress of just being out and about. It was just… normal. For the first time since the accident Sunset was starting to feel normal again. As she popped a salmon roll into her mouth and hummed in delight at the flavor, it occurred to Sunset that even when she’d been with the girls before the whole mess with Anon-A-Miss, she had never felt this… at home.

It had always felt like there was a small but noticeable division between her and the Rainbooms. Something that told Sunset she was invited but not quite welcome.

Almost, but… not quite.

Maybe it was the slight delay in the banter every time Sunset spoke, or the sense that Sunset’s preferences came through as an afterthought rather than an initial consideration like all the others, like she was always right on the edge of being forgotten about.

Whatever it was, it didn’t exist here. Here, with Aria and Adagio, in the little sushi parlour on the third floor of the Crystal Emporium, Sunset felt like she was a part of something.

“Are you two sticking around for awhile?” Sunset asked as she sipped at the bitter and refreshing oolong tea she’d ordered. Adagio was nursing a hot green tea while Aria was drinking a surprisingly light herbal white tea. “I’m going to be busking this afternoon,” Sunset patted her guitar.

“Was plannin’ on just heading home after this, but I wouldn’t mind watching a free performance, Red,” Aria responded, “How ‘bout it ‘Dagi?”

“Considering the last time we heard you perform you were knocking us on our literal and metaphysical flanks?” Adagio said dryly, drawing a nervous chuckle from Sunset. “Sure, I think I’d like to actually have a chance to enjoy your music.”

The arcades, where Sunset had played for the first time, was honestly her favorite part of the mall. It was a place where the efforts at beautification of the space had been put on full display. Long, intersecting hallways with high arches decorated with plaster ivy led into wide, open lounging areas surrounded by shops. They were a favorite place of buskers and attracted sizable crowds even during the later hours of the evening. The small shops and in-mall cafes did brisk business at almost all times of day and the bohemian environment was one that Sunset relished.

After leaving Koi’s little sushi parlour, Aria was kind enough to continue to push her along as they moved through the galleries and chatted. Adagio proved as urbane a conversation companion as Sunset expected for such an old soul, and Aria was equally as learned, to Sunset’s surprise.

“So you really helped build Spitfires during the second world war?” Sunset asked in surprise, and Aria nodded with a grin.

“Ayep, worked in the first factory back in thirty-six,” Aria replied.

“We were in between riots, as it were,” Adagio remarked. “You might be surprised to learn that wars tend to be lean times for Sirens.”

“No, it makes sense,” Sunset replied. “You’re essentially stealth predators and a side-effect of your feeding riles people up, but if people are already riled up it’s like setting a match to a powder keg with a fuse that’s too short.”

Adagio chuckled and nodded. “Mm, I should’ve expected you to be able to parse that out without help, and yes you’re exactly right. Two world wars in the space of a half century left us starving, we couldn’t risk taking too much without taking enormous risks; we’re ageless, not invincible, after all.”

“Well, you made it through,” Sunset said, reaching out to smack Adagio lightly in the arm. “Thank the Quill for that, at least.”

“Pretty sure you’re the only one thanking anything that we survived,” Aria said with an arid lilt to her voice as she pushed Sunset towards a nice open spot near a corner. “Here good?”

“Perfect,” Sunset replied as she pulled her guitar free. “Thank’s, Ari’.”

“No sweat, Red,” Aria said as she walked around and examined the galleries. “Not bad, they basically butchered Classical architecture, but no worse than Gotthard with that weird ‘neoclassical’ thing he was always on about.”

Sunset laughed as Aria started in on a rant about people who were probably a long dead since Sunset recognized a few of the names from her art and history classes at CHS. She was also relatively certain those none of those venerable figures imagined that their most accurate remembrancer would be a salty Siren roasting them centuries later.

Pulling out her phone, Sunset sent a message to Penny letting the feisty music major know that she had ended up at the arcades and approximately where she’d been parked. As she was tucking her phone back in her jacket, Sunset realised she could hear a very particular kind of music filling the air. Usually the arcades were a semi-chaotic cavalcade of music and performance, but currently there was one powerful strain filling the area.

Scanning around for the source, Sunset’s eyes widened as she spied a familiar grey-skinned girl playing near the opposite corner, seated on one of the cushioned chairs and pulling the bow of her cello across the strings and teasing out beautiful chords and harmonies. For several moments, Sunset just watched and listened alongside Adagio and Aria.

It was entrancing. From here there was no doubt in Sunset’s mind that Octavia was a true prodigy of the musical arts. Her body was relaxed, her eyes closed, and her shoulders swayed as if the music moved through her as much as it did the air. Sunset loved music, but even from here she could see the distance between her and Octavia.

In the moments when she was playing, Octavia was the music.

As soon as the final strains trailed off, Sunset was the first to start clapping and her applause was quickly picked up by the rest of the audience, including the two Sirens at her side. Octavia stood and took a few quick bows, and in the midst of her final one she spied Sunset. Her smile rose and fell as quickly as the wind when Octavia saw Sunset’s companions, however.

Sunset gestured for Octavia to come over and, uneasily, she did. “That was beautiful, ‘Tavi,” Sunset said with a wide grin. “Brahm’s Number One, right? I always loved the power in that piece.”

“Yes, it’s one of my favorites,” Octavia replied, still side-eyeing Adagio and Aria who were smirking at her. “Although I particularly favor the parts were the tones become more gentle, it’s far too easy to overshadow them but they’re quite beautiful in their own way.”

“Agreed,” Sunset said, “but I figure you’re probably more concerned with my choice of company, huh?”

“Ah, I wouldn’t want to be rude but…” Octavia trailed off, turning to regard the Sirens fully. “I… assume all is forgiven in one manner or other given that you’re all traveling about together?”

Sunset nodded. “We’re friends, and yeah, all’s forgiven, though-”

“We fully understand if you withhold your own forgiveness, Miss Melody,” Adagio broke in, stepping forward. “Sunset’s feelings towards us notwithstanding, we understand, truly.”

“Yeah, you do you, Greyscale,” Aria replied with a tired smile.

Octavia stared at the pair for several moments, her face didn’t shift an inch but eventually she just nodded. “No, I forgave Sunset for her transgressions, and frankly speaking you didn’t do any lasting harm. So… I’d like to start over if that’s alright?”

Adagio and Aria smiled at each other for a moment before turning back to Octavia and nodding. “We’d be honored,” Adagio replied.

“So, the great Octavia Melody, busking in the mall?” Sunset said as the tension fled. “Kinda out of your element, isn’t it?”

“Hardly,” Octavia replied with a smirk. “My music is for any who will listen and music, when writ upon the air with passion, can be loved by plebeian and bourgeoisie alike,” she exclaimed, dramatically flourishing with her bow.

“Oh I like her,” Aria remarked with a wide grin.

“Sunset!”

A familiar voice took Sunset’s attention and she turned to see Penny waving at her from the other end of the arcade, a large guitar case slung over her shoulder. Sunset waved back enthusiastically and Penny skipped through the crowds toward her, doing her best to avoid jostling anyone with her instrument as she did so.

“Hey, girl!” Penny came to a stop that was half slide, partially dragged forward by the weight of her case. Shaking her blue locks from her face, Penny glanced around. “Gonna introduce me?”

Sunset laughed and nodded. “Girls, this is Pennyroyal Tea, or just Penny… Penny, I’d like you to meet Octavia Melody, Adagio Dazzle, and Aria Blaze.”

“I’m sensing a theme,” Penny remarked dryly. “Music students?”

Adagio and Aria started cackling but Octavia just nodded.

“Cool, me too,” Penny said, “modern music at Crystal Prep.”

“Ooh, a Shadowbolt,” Octavia remarked with a playful grin. “Sure you’re not too good for us Colts?”

“Ugh, I know our rep, okay?” Penny grumbled. “Believe me it was not my choice, okay? The principal is real hardass about academic achievement.”

“I’m only joking, dear,” Octavia said, smiling apologetically. “I trust that if you’re friends with Sunset then you’ve got your head on straight.”

“So we gonna play or what?!” Penny said excitedly, looking down at Sunset who just raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“Uh, was… that the plan?” Sunset asked. “Did we have a plan?”

“Oh, uh,” Penny shuffled about nervously. “Y-yeah, I was kinda hoping we could, y’know? You said you were gonna play so I was kinda hoping to play backup, I brought my bass, even!”

Pulling her case around to the front and lowering it carefully to the ground Penny popped it open to show a long-necked acoustic bass guitar with a mahogany finish. The hopeful look on Penny’s face precluded any decision other than playing together, Sunset decided.

“Lovely,” Octavia said admiring the instrument, “I don’t suppose you’d mind a third?”

“Isn’t that kinda slumming it, ‘Tavi?” Sunset snarked, getting a tongue stuck out at her in response as Octavia grabbed a seat nearby and pulled it closer. “Alright, guess we’re an ensemble now.”

“More like a jam sesh, Red,” Aria remarked as she backed up to an appropriate audience distance. “Reminds me of New Chevalean during the twenties.”

“That’s a good thought,” Octavia broke in, settling her cello between her legs as Sunset and Penny strapped their own instruments into place.

“What is?” Sunset asked as she found a good grip on her guitar. “The twenties?”

“No, Jazz!” Penny exclaimed, and Octavia snapped a finger, pointing at Penny.

“Just so!” Octavia said with a grin, drawing surprised looks from Adagio, Aria, and Sunset alike. “What? Jazz is practically the foundation of modern music and the first major evolution of the musical arts in hundreds of years! I can play jazz!”

“Except we’ve never played together and jazz is basically starting on hard mode and taking a dead sprint to expert,” Sunset said with a laugh. “But hey, why not!?”

“Nah, we got this,” Penny said with a grin. “Autumn Leaves!”

“Perfect,” Octavia agreed. “A bit traditional but like Sunset said, we’re new to one another’s styles, everyone knows that one though.”

“Okay, okay, fine,” Sunset replied, strumming her guitar to warm up both her strings and her fingers. “Penny? Tempo?”

Penny started plucking at her strings, finding a groove, and after a few seconds snapped her fingers in a rhythm. “One… two… one, two, one…”

With a fluid grace, Octavia’s bow descended on her strings and began pulling out a gentle tune as Penny plucked out a smooth bassline. Sunset listened for just a moment longer before adding her own lighter, higher notes to the easy-going tune.

The effect was almost instantaneous.

Crowds began gathering as the girls united their musical talents, practiced fingers plucked out the jazz standard with a combination of unity and purpose fused with the clear individualism of each of the girls. One moment Octavia would be taking center, with Sunset and Penny following her lead as she leveraged the power of her cello to carry the strength of the music, then Octavia would be backing off, letting her cello provide a rock solid melodic foundation for an improvised bass solo of deep, sonorous strings. Then they would both trail back, setting their powerful chords together to give Sunset’s guitar a beautiful background to play against, highlighting the beauty and complexity of the piece.

Their music was slow and every tone and string melted into one another capturing the senses of their audience. None of them were expecting the final additions to the ensemble though as a voice rose, back by a low, vocal harmony.

Adagio’s voice was low and soft, a gentle caress of liquid gold drifting through the air and though surprised, none of the girls stuttered or faltered in their playing. All three of them instantly fell back into supporting rolls as Aria harmonized with her elder sister, taking up her familiar position. Sunset played into the powerful vocals Adagio was providing, barely keeping her mind on focus as the beautiful and entrancing voice rippled through her. She was so distracted by the song that she almost missed the tears falling down both of the Sirens’ cheeks.

Adagio was incomparable, she had the voice of a virtuoso; her tone, pitch, and range… it was all perfect.

By this time there was no missing the effect the song was having on both audience and performers. Octavia was in a near trance, Penny was swaying as she rode the bass waves of her guitar, and the audience was enraptured in a mist of melancholy of nostalgia.

As Adagio trailed into the finale of the song, her voice tapered out and Sunset heard the delicate crack of her voice at the end of it. Sunset’s eyes widened at the speck of blood at lit upon Adagio’s lips, which was quickly swept away by a single judicious finger, but one glance behind her told Adagio she hadn’t done so fast enough.

The three instrumentalists played themselves out to uproaring applause from the audience, some of the older patrons had tears in their eyes, and even the younger ones look like they’d suddenly discovered a new passion in life.

As the music faded, the players slumped slightly, sweat beading on their brows and their breath caught in their throats as they realised the crowd had swelled to well over a hundred, all crammed into the small gallery.

“That… I’ve never played like that, before,” Octavia said in wonder. “I’ve always been a soloist, now I’m wondering if I ought not change that habit now.”

“Yeah,” Sunset said, looking up at Adagio and Aria who were leaning against one another. “That was… something else.”

“It was friggin’ spectacular is what it was!” Penny exclaimed, shaking the numbness from her hands. “That’s exactly the kind of thing I’ve literally always wanted to do with my life! We need to do this again!”

Calls of encore from the audience were politely waved away by the two Sirens and Sunset, though. Sunset set her guitar to the side and rolled up to Adagio who was rolling her neck and shoulders.

“Hey, ‘Dagi,” Sunset said. “I thought you girls couldn’t sing anymore.”

Aria and Adagio glanced at one another, grimacing. “She was gonna figure it out, ‘Dagi, it ain’t like its a big deal.”

Adagio sighed and spoke, her voice noticeably softer. “We can sing, we just can’t use magic, and sing. What you heard at the end of the Battle was us trying and failing to harmonize with our gems, not with each other.”

“So… you can still sing?” Sunset asked and Adagio grimaced again.

“Yes… and no,” Adagio answered after a moment. “Our vocal chords were damaged during the battle and singing even a low, comparatively simple song like ‘Leaves’ strains them.”

“So why did you?!” Sunset demanded before lowering her voice, “I saw the blood, ‘Dagi, I don’t want you shredding your voice for no reason.”

“It wasn’t for no reason,” Aria replied in Adagio’s stead. “Look, Red, it’s… personal, okay? But… that song means something to my sister, alright?”

Sunset stared up at Aria for a moment before eventually nodding. “Okay… alright, sorry, yeah, savvy, I get it. Just… don’t hurt yourself, okay?”

“I promise, I’ll behave from now on,” Adagio replied with a smirk that slowly faded. “Just… understand that I’ve lived a very long and very strange life, but in that life I’ve only truly loved once. We lived in a forest, we saw many wonderful Autumns together, so that song just… reminded me of him, is all.”

“Maybe one day you’ll tell me about him,” Sunset said with a smile.

Adagio smiled back sadly. “One day, maybe, but for now the pain is still too near… even after all these centuries. But one day, I’m sure.”

“Let’s go ‘Dagi,” Aria said, settling an arm over her sister’s shoulder. “Sonata will probably be up and about soon and if we don’t want tacos for dinner again then we should probably nip that in the bud.”

“Agreed,” Adagio said with a soft chuckle. “It was lovely meeting you all, and Sunset, here…” she handed Sunset a folded piece of paper. “Our numbers, send us a text soon, alright?”

“Keep in touch, Red,” Aria said, waving as the two walked away. “I’ll nab you and Gilda some tickets to my next bout.”

“I’m sure she’d love that,” Sunset replied.

“As much as she’d love knowing your picking up her favorite word?” Adagio shot back over her shoulder before waving a goodbye of her own and strutting away.

‘Her favorite… oh,’ Sunset realised she’d been using the same word Gilda always used all day. ‘Savvy, ugh, guess we’re really picking up each others habits, yay friendship…’

“Well, it was absolutely lovely playing alongside you two, but I should head home as well,” Octavia said, grabbing her things and picking up her cello to set down in her case. She stopped when she noticed it had something in it though. “Oh, apparently we made some kind of income.”

“Huh, oh, yeah, guess so,” Penny looked down and sure enough in both her and Sunset’s guitar cases were a collection of bills and coins.

Octavia knelt down and tallied up her bills then split them to Penny and Sunset. “Here, have them then, I’d love to meet up and do this again sometime.”

“W-wait, Octavia this is almost forty bucks!” Sunset exclaimed, pushing the wad of bills back at her. “Y-you can’t just-”

“I can and I did,” Octavia replied in a steely voice. “Don’t pretend like we’re not different, Sunset. I know that I have an easy life financially, and that I… I don’t want for anything. Well, anything material… I’m very fortunate and I know that… so please, take the share, for my sake if nothing else. It will mean more to me knowing that it’s in your hands rather than my wallet.”

Sunset stared up at Octavia and considered contesting the matter further, but finally nodded. “Y-yeah, okay… thanks.”

“You’re a real character, Melody,” Penny said, smiling softly. “Not a lotta people would just do that.”

“Then it’s a good thing I’m a very singular sort of individual isn’t it, Miss Tea?” Octavia responded with a wry grin.

“Definitely that,” Penny agreed, “we should hang sometime, jam out, you got some mad cello skills, girl!”

“And your bass skills are superb,” Octavia replied. “It was an absolute joy meeting you.”

Octavia held out a hand but Penny was having none of that as she swept Octavia up in a crushing hug. Sunset chuckled as she watched the two of them, feeling a slight sense of pride at having brought the two together. It reminded her of the chance meeting she’d had with Gilda. But for the single event of Anon-A-Miss, their paths would never have crossed, and but for this event, Octavia and Penny would never have become friends.

As the three friends parted ways, Sunset wondered if this was what Twilight felt as Princess of Friendship, the idea of bringing people together in harmony, uniting them with commonalities rather than dividing them with grudges and differences like Sunset had done before the Fall Formal.

Sunset decided she liked this way much better.

~Auto Garage, December 22nd, Evening~

“You sure you okay, Grifa?” Crankshaft asked as he pulled out from underneath the farm truck and grabbed an oil rag to wipe down his hands.

“For the millionth fuckin’ time, Crank, I’m fine,” Gilda answered as she wiped the sweat from her brow and tossed the hammer she’d been using to beat out some of the worse dings in the bodywork to the nearby table. “That shit is personal, savvy? This is business, I got taught real early not to mix the two.”

“Heh, yeah, my cousin is a real charmer like that, ‘ey?” Crankshaft replied with a grin. “Batshit crazy, though.”

“Yeah, no shit,” Gilda replied, shaking her head as she walked over to the wash basin. “So look, this is a job, savvy? Just ‘cause I don’t like’m isn’t a reason not t’take their money.”

Crankshaft just shook his head. “That ain’t what it’s about, Grifa, I don’t like folks who abandon their kin, y’feel?”

“Still bad business, Crank,” Gilda replied with a grimace and Crankshaft scowled. “Bad business is bad business.”

“Bad business is bad business?” Crankshaft shot back, his expression darkening. “That don’t sound like you talkin’, Grifa, that don’t even sound like mi prima, that load’a mierda sound like ol’ Jefe Storm.”

Gilda turned with a vicious snarl, her hand landing on the first thing in reach, the hammer she’d cast away a few moments ago. For a moment all she saw was red, but in that same moment she saw a flash of something else: Sunset’s face. Gilda’s breath came in deep, heavy draws as she shakily opened her hand, one finger at a time, to let the hammer drop to the floor with a loud clatter. She’d managed to stop half a foot from Crankshaft. The old her would’ve landed the blow, easy.

“No nada mal, Grifa,” Crankshaft said with a wry grin, unmoved from where he was standing and seemingly unperturbed by the fact that he almost had his face beaten in. “A year ago you’da really hit me.”

“Fuck that, a month ago I’da really hit ya, Crank,” Gilda snarled, turning and sweeping up the hammer to pitch it back onto the table. “The shit were you thinkin’? You fuckin’ know exactly how I feel about that asshole.”

“Si, and it ain’t healthy, you’re free of’im, that crazy coño is in Federal prison,” Crankshaft remarked.

“And Grizelda’s still dead!” Gilda roared, whirling on Crankshaft, her whole body tensed as she towered over him, fury twisting her face, and for the first time Crankshaft flinched. Not in fear, but in grief.

“Si… lo siento mucho, mija,” Crankshaft said softly. “But you gotta start livin’ again, Grifa. You can’t let’m keep you in his shadow like this.”

“That old me is always gonna be in that shadow, Crank,” Gilda spat as she turned away to finish wiping down her hands. “I’m livin’ in the shadow of a lotta fuckin’ graves for a fuckin’ eighteen year old, and if that psychopath was out and free I’d happily live under the shadow of one more for what he did to her.”

“Look… Grifa, I know you’re in a better place now,” Crankshaft said, walking over and laying a wide, warm hand on Gilda’s shoulder. “Ya can’t keep ‘Zelda’s death bottled up in ya heart like this, gotta talk about it.”

“What’s there to even talk about, Crank?” Gilda answered, drying her hands off and tossing the towel in the laundry bin. “Storm made sure I’d never even find her body. Can’t even fuckin’... shit! Just… I can’t, okay?”

“Si, but what about ya cariña?” Crankshaft said, following her into the back and earning a loud groan from Gilda. “Look, I ain’t pushin’ you to do nothin’ you don’t wanna, but you know she’s gotta know about this sooner’er later, yeah?”

“Ugh, yeah, I know…” Gilda replied, stopping in front of the locker room door and dropping her head against it with a dull thud. “Just… gimme some time, okay?”

“Toldja I ain’t gonna make you do a thing, Grifa,” Crankshaft replied.

Gilda ripped the door to the locker open and slammed it shut, swearing viciously as she pulled her jumpsuit off and threw it into the locker, not even bothering to hang it up. Sitting down on the bench, Gilda buried her face in her hands. This had not been a good day, in fact it had been an objectively shitty one.

Reaching into the locker, Gilda drew out her jacket and pulled free the gauntlet hanging from the backstrap. Gently setting down the article of clothing, Gilda lifted the gauntlet and ran her fingers over the crudely beaten plates of steel. Most of it had been salvaged from an engine block out of an ancient pickup truck. The straps were stripped from the few good parts of a thick leather welders apron that had seen too much use and was falling apart.

“I swore I’d take his throat out with these claws, Zee,” Gilda whispered, staring dully into the faded metal plates. “But… now what am I supposed t’do? I got Sunny… I… I got a life…”

Tears trickled down Gilda’s cheeks. For the first time in a long time, Gilda felt conflicted. Everything in her life was simple, straightforward, and clear. She knew who she was, and she knew what she had to do to get what she wanted, except now… Everything was confusing.

“My whole world fuckin’ stopped when you died,” Gilda said quietly to no one as she gripped the metal claw hard. “And now… Sunshine just… started it up again. Dunno how; she just slipped past everything and… suddenly I’m breathing again.”

Gilda’s whole world had been defined by waiting, and not for anything in particular, just waiting for nothing. Waiting for the end. Storm would die in prison and his secrets, including everything he knew about her, would die with him. He was that kind of bastard.

“Guess it’s moot, huh, Zee?” Gilda mumbled, putting her talons away. “He’s in jail, the Kings are gone, it’s all Brujah now… maybe… maybe it’s time, huh?” Pressing her face into the hard-edged palm of the gauntlet, Gilda’s shoulder shook with grief as she sobbed. “I just… I wish I coulda found ya.”

She hadn’t been lying to Sunset, last night, when the redhead had talked about closure. Gilda got it… she really, really did.

A knock at the door interrupted Gilda’s thoughts, making her look up, coughing away her tears as she wiped at her eyes and stashed her talon back on its belt. “Yeah? Got somethin’ else, Crank?”

“Just…” Crankshaft trailed off for a moment before sighing. “Look, Grifa, I just want ya to be happy, so… por favor, just… talk to someone, okay? Don’t hafta be me, don’t even hafta be ya cariña, just… somebody.”

Strapping on her boots and belt before pulling on her jacket, Gilda let out a slow, heavy breath. “I can’t make any promises, Crank,” Gilda said softly as she opened the door. “But… y’right about one thing, I’m in a better place, savvy? So… I’ll try.”

“You know ‘Zelda’d want ya t’be happy, Si?” Crankshaft said, his mouth tipping up in a sad smile. “That girl was nothin’ but joy.”

“Yeah well… don’t really matter what she wants anymore, Crank,” Gilda replied in a dull voice. “Dead kids don’t get a say.”

“But you’re still breathin’, Grifa,” Crankshaft admonished. “You gotta remember the dead, sure, but you can’t fight for’em. Like you said, it don’t really matter to them no more.”

“It matters to me,” Gilda replied grimly before letting out a shaky breath and shaking her head. “Look, Crank… thanks, for caring. I just… I gotta figure this out on my own f’now, savvy?”

“Yeah,” Crankshaft nodded, “Get on home, Grifa, we’re closed up next few days til past Christmas, unless somethin’ crazy happens, so relax, take some time, enjoy y’self.”

Smiling slightly, Gilda shoved her hands into her jacket pockets as she nodded. “I’ll try, it’s the best I can promise, okay?”

“Fine by me, Grifa.”

The walk home was freezing. The solstice may have passed but the nights were still coming early and would for a good while. Gilda pulled her jacket closer around herself as the wind picked up, blowing flurries of snow into her face as she trudged through the ice.

Gilda’s phone buzzed in her pocket and when she pulled it out she smiled as she saw Sunset’s name on the message notification.

Sunshine: //Hey babe, on the bus home now, see you soon! I missed you and I love you!//

Gilda: //Headin home too, I’ll be there when ya get home babe. I love you too, so fuckin much.//

Putting her phone away, Gilda felt a warmth in her chest push the cold back. Sunset always did that to her. As she approached her flat, Gilda let her left hand stray down to her gauntlet as she opened the door.

‘Maybe Crank’s right… maybe I gotta talk about’er,’ Gilda thought as she pushed the door open and stepped into the dark, unlit room.

It only occurred to Gilda as she stepped into the flat that it ought to have been locked.

A whisper disturbed the air and the slight, feather-faint hiss of steel scraping leather was the only warning Gilda got that something was terribly wrong.

Author's Note

I'm not sorry

9. All Is Calm, All Is Bright

~Ponyville Commons, December 22nd, Evening~

The faint hiss of steel was all it took to bring Gilda’s reflexes, honed in a hundred back-alley scraps on the brutal, gang-controlled streets of Las Pegasus, roaring back. She dropped to the ground as a long and wickedly curved knife sliced through the air.

Once and twice. Back and forth. A throat-cutter’s strike.

Gilda swore as she ripped her gauntlet free and jammed into onto her hand, pulling the leather straps taut as she backpedaled towards the kitchenette. A shadow moved near the t.v. set, peeling away, enormous and broad, the figure lunged forward again, blade out and ready to cut.

The dark shape dove in, arching the knife in a wide, outside slash. Gilda smirked as she read the motion. The wide stroke was meant to force her to backpedal again and hit the wall. Without room to maneuver she’d be diced in seconds.

Good thing backing up wasn’t in the plan. Gilda lunged forward to meet the slash, catching the blade on the curved plates of her gauntlet and spoiling the strike. Gilda rocked back with the sheer muscle that was behind the blow but the figure swore in an accented voice as the knife went clattering away.

Rolling with the motion, Gilda swung her right arm up in a wild, uncontrolled haymaker. Her assailant was off balance but brought their arm up to catch the strike on the meat of their shoulder, absorbing the weight of the blow.

Twisting to absorb the momentum of the backblow, Gilda planted her feet and locked her steel-clad fingers in place, striking straight forward with the deadly, razor points of her claws aiming for the soft meat beneath her attackers sternum.

One hit, a lot of blood, and no more threat. That’s what Gilda’s brain told her.

Except the shadow moved like lightning, melting out of the way of Gilda’s strike, catching the dark-skinned girl by her armored wrist, and twisting it so hard Gilda nearly spun in place. One minute she was charging, the next the room was spinning around her and she was on the ground. Before she could even start to rise, a heavy boot landed on her back and drove Gilda’s face down into the floor rug.

“Your CQC es todavía basura, Grifa,” a familiar, accented female voice said as the hand release Gilda’s aching wrist. “But I give you credit for knocking my knife away, bravo.”

“FUCK!” Gilda thrashed under her assailant's boot but the force keeping her pinned was like a steel i-beam on her back. “You tried to shank me, you crazy witch!”

“Tranquila, Grifa, you still got that temper’a yours, I see,” the voice said with a laugh. “I was just givin’ ya a Las Pegasus ‘hola’, figured you’da gotten soft but I swear yer faster than ever.”

A gloved hand swept down past Gilda’s vision to snatch up the curved and notched knife from the ground. Gilda jerked in place, trying to lash out at the hand with her talon, but a booted foot intercepted the strike with a swift kick. The moment the pressure was off of her back, Gilda spun around, but not quickly enough as the boot took its place again, this time jamming itself down on her left shoulder. Gilda let out a harsh bark of pain as the ridged treads bit deep.

Gilda’s golden eyes glared fire up at the figure towering over her. The witch was just like Gilda remembered her; huge, broad, muscular, and impossibly strong. The students at CHS may have thought Gilda was bulky but the leader of the Brujah was truly Amazonian.

Her burning eyes were the blue of a cold moon with her right eye marked by a brutal scar dipping down from the edge of her right eyelid to the corner of her mouth, giving her a permanent sneer. The entire right side of her face was covered in an intricate sugar skull tattoo that presented a terrifying visage to her enemies.

A thick black flak jacket covered her chest, revealing bare arms even in the cold of a Canterlot winter that were sleeved with tattoos, the curved and geometric symbology of the Brujah told anyone who could read them exactly who and what this woman was. Her trousers were dull black military surplus lined with pockets, and a heavy revolver hung from her hip.

Her most notable feature, though, was the red mohawk.

“Tempest,” Gilda snarled the name venomously. “I thought I toldja to stay the fuck away from me until I was ready t’talk t’you again.”

“Got tired’a waitin’, Grifa,” Tempest replied with a crooked smile and her voice turned simpering. “I missed mi preciosa carnala.”

“Bullshit, Fizz,” Gilda spat, drawing a scowl from the towering woman above her.

Tempest’s grip tightened on the bone handle of her knife as her other hand swept the revolver from her belt ripping it free of its holster, thumbing down the safety, and aiming the barrel directly at Gilda’s face.

“Don’t… call me that,” Tempest said in a cold, deadly voice. “My old name is dead to me, just like the ones who gave it.”

Gold eyes met furious blue ones as the two women stared daggers at each other. The air in the room was thick with murderous intent as the silence settled in with an almost palpable weight.

A weight that was disrupted as the door was quietly opened.

“Gilda? I’m ho-” Sunset pushed the door open, flicked on the lights, and started to roll in but her words and momentum died instantly at the sight that awaited her.

Sunset sat, poleaxed, as she stared at the towering woman pointing a frankly absurdly huge gun at her girlfriend. Her mouth worked soundlessly as she tried to take in what she was looking at.

“G-Gilda?” Sunset’s eyes, wide with horror, traced up to stare at the figure that had her girlfriend pinned to the ground and threatened with a loud and messy death.

Tempest scowled, twitching her gun up to catch Sunset in its iron-sights. “Who the fuck are you?”

Threatening Gilda was one thing. That was something Gilda was used to. Getting threatened with death almost felt normal, actually, and it certainly wasn’t the first time she’d stared down the barrel of a gun. In fact, it wasn’t even the first time that it had been that specific gun, either.

But threatening Sunset?

A sound like thunder was heard throughout the commons and anyone near the complex would have seen a flash of light like a transformer blowing and, in point of fact, that’s exactly what people would report the next morning.

Inside the flat, though, was a different story.

The revolver fell to the ground in five neatly sliced pieces as Tempest was heaved bodily from her feet and into the air. Gilda stood tall, burning with power as her wings stretched wide, reaching from one wall of the small flat to the other; her right hand gripped Tempest by the throat while her left twitched with barely restrained violence.

Tempest had hardly seen Gilda move. One moment she was threatening the crippled girl, an admittedly asshole-ish move even her own books but it had more been by reflex than anything, and the next moment there was a flash of light, a scream of rending metal as a set of claws passed through her revolver like butter, and a hand going around her throat. Tempest stared down, feeling the unfamiliar sting of fear as gold light dripped like tears from Gilda’s eyes and a pair of enormous, feathered brown wings attached to her back flared aggressively. Furthermore, where once Gilda’s ‘talon’ had only covered her hand down a few inches past her wrist and looked like the patchwork metal kludge-job that it was, now it gleamed like polished armor and stretched to her elbow.

Curiously, there was something else. A symbol emblazoned on the back of Gilda’s hand. One of a winged spear thrust downward, the wings curling protectively around a split sun.

“Qué mierda?!” Tempest croaked as she scrabbled at the grip that was suddenly implacable and unbreakable and slowly crushing the air from her throat.

“You threaten me? Fine,” Gilda hissed, rage pouring off of her like fire. “But nobody… NOBODY, threatens my Sunshine.”

Tempest tried to speak, to apologize. But all she could get out was a dull crackle as Gilda started to squeeze. Lacking any other option, Tempest swung her knife, only to have it caught by Gilda’s talon gripping the edge and ripped roughly from her hand to be thrown to the floor.

“Tempest!” A lilting, melodic voice cried out from the doorway, and Gilda snapped her head to the side to glare at whoever had called out.

Sunset looked up and around and, standing behind her with her hands braced against the doorway and a terrified look on her face was a beautiful young woman wearing a thick jacket and fitted jeans. Her skin was a faded, smoky gray, and her hair was verdant green done up in a messy bun.

“P-please! Let’er go, sugah, ah swear she didn’t mean t’threathen ya jeina, ‘kay?” Her words were a strange, stitched up mess of lilting southern drawl and Las Pegasus cholo slang. The combination of her upbringing and lifestyle clashing together. “C’mon Gilda, y’all ain’t gonna kill’er, are ya?”

Silence fell over the flat as Gilda very strongly considered doing exactly that. Tempest had pointed a gun, a loaded, safety-off, gun, at Sunset. Gilda didn’t give a shit if Tempest hadn’t meant it, it had still happened.

“Gilda, please drop her,” Sunset’s voice cut through Gilda’s thoughts like a blade as she rolled up closer to her girlfriend and set a hand on Gilda’s arm. “It’s okay… I’m okay… you can let her go.”

Tearing her eyes away from Tempest and the new girl, Gilda looked down at Sunset who was smiling up at her. The fire and fury in her heart started to fade as Sunset leaned in to wrap her arms around Gilda’s waist and awkwardly hug her. Letting out a shuddering breath, Gilda nodded and opened her hand, dropping Tempest roughly to the ground.

“Didn’t say I had to put’er down, easy, Sunflower,” Gilda said with a twisted grin.

Sunset returned the smile and shrugged. “She was beating you up and pointed a gun at me, I’m not gonna say a thing.”

“Temp!” The girl dashed to Tempest’s side, getting an arm under the larger woman’s shoulder and helping her up as Tempest massaged her throat.

“Dios mio, Grifa,” Tempest gasped in a raspy voice, a bruise already starting to form around her neck in the form of a handprint. “Guess I’m way outta the loop, ‘cause I don’t remember you bein’ able t’do that, when we ran together.”

“Yeah, a lotta shit has changed,” Gilda said as the glow around her began to diminish. After a few moments it faded completely, her wings were little more than a glimmer and her eyes had returned to their normal, if intense, gold. “Now get the fuck outta my house.”

The green-haired girl grimaced as Tempest leaned against her. “You okay, sha?”

“Y-yeah, fine,” Tempest replied with a cough.

“Good,” she said coldly as she pulled away, dropping Tempest onto her ass as she swept her hand down and pulled her right shoe off in what looked like a very practiced motion. “What da fuck were y’all thinkin’!?” she yelled, swinging the shoe and smacking Tempest across the back of her head.

“OW!” Tempest curled up, holding her arms up as the smaller girl smacked her upside the head again.

“How. Dare. You!” She punctuated each word with a swing of her shoe. “Attackin’ Gilda? Threatenin’ a cripple?”

“Hey!” Sunset said indignantly. “I’m right here!”

“Sorry, sha,” the woman said, turning to Sunset with an apologetic grin and taking a brief break from wailing on Tempest with her footwear. Tossing her shoe to the ground, she turned and held out her arms to Gilda. “C’mon, ami, ya’ain’t got no beef wit’ me, nah?”

Gilda sighed heavily, grimacing, but shook her head. “Nah, we’re good, Summer…” Gilda stepped forward and embraced the green haired woman after a moment, then stepped away and turned back to Sunset. “This is Summer Wind, she’s… kinda like the closest thing I had to a mom after mine died.”

“Qui ça dit, sha,” Summer said with a smile, holding her hand out. Sunset took her hand a little warily and shook it. “Sorry ‘bout Tempest back ‘dere, she’a real couyon when she wanna be, which is most’a da time.”

“K-koo-yon?” Sunset asked with a small laugh.

“Ayeah, sha, ‘couyon’,” Summer said with a laugh. “E’eryone got a couyon in dey life, you know? Light’s’re on but nobody’s home? Wheel is turnin’ but dah hamster is dead?”

Sunset cracked up laughing, Summer’s own infectious demeanor having done its work. Even Gilda couldn’t help cracking a smile at the sound of her girlfriend’s laughter. As the fit of giggles subsided, Sunset rolled forward a little.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Summer,” Sunset said with a grin. “I’m Sunset Shimmer, and as you probably guessed, I’m Gilda’s girlfriend.”

“Ah kinda got dat, sha,” Summer said with a laugh. “Ah ain’t never seen Gilda get dat worked up ova’ nobody, leastwise not since-” The sound of grinding metal from Gilda’s clenching left fist shut Summer up instantly. “O-oh, yeah, sorry ‘bout dat, sha,” she said with a frown. “A-anyhow, Ah’m real sorry ‘bout all dat noise.”

Sunset nodded. “Yeah… not gonna lie, I almost didn’t stop her,” she said with a grimace. “Seriously, that wasn’t a fuckin’ peashooter she was aiming at me,” Sunset said gesturing to the pieces of the firearm that were scattered on the ground.

“Oh believe me, Ah know,” Summer said, grimacing. “An’ Ah’m real grateful y’all stepped in, merci beaucoup, sha. Ah ain’t lookin’ to widow young.”

Gilda’s eyes snapped up to Summer at that and then down to Tempest. “Wait, you guys finally hitched?”

Tempest chuckled, held up a gloved hand, and pulling the glove off revealed a gold band. Summer raised her own hand to show off a matching one. “Si, and I wanted ya t’be there, Grifa, but we aren’t exactly on speakin’ terms at the moment… or we weren’t.”

“Ain’t sure we are, yet,” Gilda retorted with a twisted scowl. “I sure as fuck ain’t forgivin’ ya yet, if I ever do.”

“y’all ain’t got no reason t’forgive, Grifa,” Summer said, stepping between Gilda and her wife and putting a hand on her shoulder. “But we still think’a you like family, sha, an’ we still love ya.”

“I ain’t comin’ back t’Las Pegasus, guys,” Gilda said with a glare. “Nothin’ doin’, savvy? I’m sick’a that town and everything it’s fuckin’ taken from me.”

“We wasn’t gonna ask, sha,” Summer said as she leaned down to grip Tempest’s hand and pull her up to her feet. “But we’ve been waitin’ on ya t’let us back in, or at least start talkin’ to us again.”

“Neither’a you ain’t got any right to ask me t’do a damn thing after that fuckup with the Kings,” Gilda snarled, then pointing a finger at Tempest. “That shitshow was the first and last fuckin’ straw, Temp.”

“Si, lo se, Grifa,” Tempest said with a frown. “But mi hermosa es right, we want you around, or at least…” For the first time, Sunset and Gilda saw a measure on uncertainty enter the tall, powerful woman’s appearance. “At least don’t let my sin destroy what you have with mi verano, por favor?”

Sunset reached out and gripped Gilda’s hand and Gilda looked down and smiled. “I don’t know what happened,” Sunset said softly, “and believe me, I’m the last person to talk about forgiving people,” that drew out a dry chuckle from Gilda. “But Summer hasn’t done anything right?”

“N-no…” Gilda said after a few moments. “But ya can’t get Summer without gettin’ that lump of muscle over there,” she pointed at Tempest who shrugged and nodded. “And… ugh, never mind, I don’t wanna talk about it.”

“I won’t push it, babe,” Sunset said, pulling on Gilda’s hand and drawing her down so that she was within kissing distance for the wheelchair-bound girl. “But when you need to talk? I want to listen, okay?”

“Yeah… and I… I will, I promise” Gilda said softly. “I love you, Sunshine.”

“I love you too, Gil,” Sunset replied warmly.

“Never thought I’d hear that,” Tempest said wryly. “Somebody tamed la Grifa?”

“I’m not that bad…” Gilda grumbled as she laced her fingers into Sunset’s who was laughing quietly. “So, you gonna tell me why you’re here? ‘Cause even I ain’t dumb enough to think it’s a fuckin’ coincidence or a friggin’ social visit, you guys want something, right?”

Tempest and Summer shared an uneasy glance. “Grifa, we did want to see you,” Tempest said, her voice softening from its boisterous volume. “But… si, we uh… I…”

Summer reached up and seized Tempest by her ear, jerking her downward with a grimace. “Oh f’the love a-, we need t’know where Ol’ Jefe’s last cache is, sha.”

“Then I guess you can both go fuck yourselves,” Gilda said, scowling. “I said I’d tell ya when ya came through for me, and ya never fuckin’ did, so that shit gets to rot where he left it, savvy?”

“It’s not like that, Grifa,” Tempest replied heatedly, rubbing her sore ear as she stepped forward. “I’m pretty sure I already found it, but… it was empty.”

“Bullshit,” Gilda spat. “With Zee gone, I’m Storm’s last chief runner, I’m the only one who knows the drops and the codes, and I’m the only one left with a key, savvy?” Tempest scowled as Gilda held up her keyring to emphasize, and Sunset couldn’t help wondering which one it was. “You have no idea the kinda shit Storm stuffed his caches with t’keep folks out.”

“You don’t have to tell us where it is, Grifa, but please,” Tempest said, grimacing. “I… I’ll tell you where I think it is, where we looked, and I need you to tell me if I’m right, deal?”

“Babe, I have no idea what you guys are talking about, but…” Sunset trailed off for a moment before leaning in and pressing her cheek to Gilda’s hand. “This sounds important, and I don’t think they’re trying to trick you, okay?”

A series of expressions danced across Gilda’s face, from frustration and anger to something like grief.

“I don’t buy it,” Gilda said after a moment. “But fine, you tell me where you think it’s at and I’ll give a yes’re a no. One guess, that’s it, savvy?”

Tempest grimaced then nodded solemnly to the terms. “Gracias, Grifa, I swear I ain’t pullin’ ya chain, okay?” Gilda gave her a sharp nod in return as Tempest takes a deep breath. “The last cache; was it ‘bout forty meters into the storm drain systems under the abandoned water treatment plant on forty-eighth and Rosa?”

The effect was instantaneous. Gilda snarled and cursed under her breath. “Yeah, that was it… shit, and you said it was empty?”

“Si, all cleared out, Grifa,” Tempest replied. “Someone got to it.”

“Bullshit, again,” Gilda shot back. “That place was a deathtrap unless you knew exactly where to step.”

“Oh we know, sha,” Summer said. “We took a gander, but whoever it was? They knew every trap and how’ta beat’em.”

“Then Storm talked,” Gilda remarked with a snarl. “That means he made a trade, wasn’t the fuzz or you’da heard about it on the news. So that means-”

“Someone talked ta Ol’ Jefe in prison,” Tempest said darkly. “And got’im ta tell his secrets…”

“Storm never did nobody nuthin’ f’nobody ‘less he was gettin’ paid, sha,” Summer put in, scowling. “Leastwise we know the old man’s up ta somethin’ now.”

“Alright, so is that everything?” Gilda broke in, her arms crossed as she glared at the two women and all good humor gone from her demeanor. “If it is then I’d like ta reiterate my statement’a ‘get the fuck outta my house’.”

“You ain’t even curious as’ta who got into Storm’s cache’n what they gonna do with it, Grifa?” Tempest asked, looking surprised. “After how long ya held onta that key?”

“I held onto it to remind you of what you did,” Gilda snarled. “If it’s gone it’s gone, and that’s it. Not my circus, not my monkeys, savvy?”

Both Tempest and Summer flinched as Gilda finished speaking, drawing a confused look from Sunset.

Brushing it off, she turned to Gilda. “Babe… they came all the way out here to-”

“I don’t give a fuck what they came out here t’do, Sunshine!” Gilda hissed, causing Sunset to flinch back. Gilda grimaced as she pulled her temper back in. “Shit, I’m… I’m sorry Sunflower, I know how ya feel about me raisin’ my voice and gettin’ pissed…”

Taking a calming breath, Sunset rolled forward and held a hand out to Gilda, who took it.

“I know, you’re trying though, that’s the important part,” Sunset said softly before turning to Tempest and Summer. “I think you should leave, I’m sorry, maybe another time, alright?”

Summer smiled sadly, but nodded. “Wit’ dah greetin’ mah wife gave ya Grifa, sha, Ah can’t say ah’m surprised,” she replied reaching out to grab Tempest by the ear again. “C’mon ya grand beede’, an’ Miss Shimmah?”

Sunset looked up at the sound of her name.

“Whatever y’all’re doin’ f’Gilda, keep doin’ it,” Summer said softly. “After all dat happened in Las Pegasus she deserves t’be happy, sha. We’ll leave y’all alone, now.”

“I’ll see you out,” Sunset said, turning to Gilda she gave her girlfriends hand a squeeze and brushed her lips against Gilda’s knuckles. “I’ll be right back, babe, okay?”

Gilda nodded. “Yeah, love you, Sunny…”

“I love you, too,” Sunset answered warmly.

Summer opened the door to the flat and towed a sheepish Tempest, who had been gathering up the fragments of her gun, out behind her with Sunset on their heels. Once outside, Sunset turned to close the door and fixed a steely gaze on the two women.

“I’m not going to pretend I know what’s going on, because I don’t,” Sunset began, her eyes narrowing. “I don’t know your history with Gilda but it’s clearly pretty fuckin’ painful, savvy?” Sunset held up a hand to forestall any explanation. “And I don’t want to know, not from you anyway. If Gilda wants to talk about it with me then she will, and I’m willing to wait.”

“Lo siento, señorita,” Tempest said in a quiet voice. “I… Gilda has always been alone since what happened in Las Pegasus, I never thought she would be with someone else, much less living with them.”

“Not an excuse,” Sunset deadpanned, earning a flinch and a nod from Tempest. “So, here’s what’s going to happen,” Summer and Tempest felt a weight settle into both of their chests at the iron-hard glare Sunset was giving them. “I’m going to go back in there and smooth things out with my girlfriend, you two are going to stay away for a while, and if… if Gil decides you’re worth her time after that shit you pulled we’ll see each other again.”

Letting out a slow breath, Sunset rolled forward and gestured for Tempest to come closer. The moment Tempest leaned down, Sunset grabbed her by the collar and dragged her down until they were nose-to-nose.

“And if you ever,” Sunset hissed, her eyes blazing, “ever, hurt or threaten my girlfriend ever again, I swear I will find you and I will burn you alive.” Sunset pulled her hand away from Tempest’s collar which was smoldering slightly. “Not all of my magic is gone, savvy?” Tempest nodded in alarm as she glanced at an equally shaken-looking Summer.

Sunset gave them a bright smile. “Good, and Merry Christmas,” she said, before turning on her axis and wheeling back to the door of the flat and going in.

Summer was the first to recover as she turned and patted out the embers on her wife’s collar. “Hoo lawd, dat girl given me da frissons, sha’ree,” Summer said as she grabbed Tempest by the shoulder and steered her away. “She a real terror when she angry.”

“No jodas,” Tempest said, pulling gingerly at her caller and wrinkling her nose at the smell of seared fabric before shaking her head and laughing. “If she’s in love with that girl then Gilda’s in some real deep mierda, mi alma.”

“Ayeah, beb, dat Sunset?” Summer replies with a chuckle. “She got some real joie. But t’handle Gilda? She gotta be like dat, yeah? Gilda’s in good hands, f’now.”

“Now what?” Tempest said, grimacing as she turned her thoughts to the issue with the cache. “I’m not letting Storm’s shit go without a fight,”

Summer nodded. “Ya know what we gotta do, sha,” she said softly, turned to wrap her arms around Tempest and lean against the bigger woman. “Gotta talk t’Ol’ Jefe, now.”

Grimacing, Tempest nodded. “Puta madre, I was afraid you’d say that.”

Back in the flat, Sunset wheeled herself forward to the bed where Gilda was sitting with her face buried in her hands as she took slow breaths in and out. As Sunset got closer she frowned as she noticed her girlfriend’s shoulders shaking slightly and quiet sobs issuing from under her hands.

“Oh… babe,” Sunset said softly, rolling forward and wrapping her arms around Gilda’s head and pulling her forward until she was pressed against Sunset’s shoulder.

Slowly, Gilda’s arms went around Sunset as she cried herself out, holding on tight as Sunset stroked her back and rested her cheek against Gilda’s. Gilda’s fingers curled in and out of Sunset’s hair as her sobs became wracking cries. It was an awful, rasping sound that Sunset had never heard before and the pain behind it sliced to her core. So much so that Sunset couldn’t help burying her face against Gilda’s shoulder and letting a few of her own tears fall.

“It’s okay, Gil,” Sunset whispered in a raw voice. “I’m here for you, I’ll always be here for you.”

Gilda just nodded wordlessly as her tears fell. It took several moments for Gilda to get a hold of herself and eventually pull away, wiping at her eyes with her sleeves and sniffling a little and leaning her elbows on her knees before looking away.

“S-sorry, ya had t’see that, Sunshine,” Gilda said in a choked voice with her eyes downcast. “I uh… I don’t get like that much but… sorry.”

Sunset just shook her head. “You never have to apologise like that, Gil,” she said, reaching out and stroking Gilda’s cheek. “I mean, c’mon, how many times have I cried myself out on your shoulder, huh?”

“I’m just… I’m supposed t’be stronger, savvy?” Gilda said, grimacing. “Not fuckin’ cryin’ my eyes out over some shitty old memories.”

“No one can be strong all the time, Gil,” Sunset said, running her thumb over Gilda’s cheek and wiping away a trail of tears. “I don’t want you to be faking it for my sake, savvy? I’m a big girl, I can be the shoulder that soaks up tears sometimes too, okay?”

Gilda nodded silently, her face twisting in grief as another fresh wave of tears crashed over her. Sunset bit back her own cry and gathered Gilda up in her arms, pulling her close again.

“Ssh, it’s okay,” Sunset whispered, brushing her lips over Gilda’s cheek. “I’m right here, it’s okay.”

Slowly, Gilda cried herself out, and in between sobs Sunset pulled off her jacket and tossed her scarf onto the coat-rack, pulled her boots off and grabbed the metal handle to swing into bed next to Gilda before getting undressed. The two of them laid in bed, warm bodies pressed against each other under the blankets as the winter snows fell, coating the world in a dusting of white powder.

After a few hours of laying in bed silently, holding one another and taking comfort in each other’s presence, Gilda finally spoke up.

“S-so… guess ya wanna know what all that shit was about, huh?” Gilda said, and Sunset could hear the fear in her girlfriend’s voice. “All’a what happened, n’shit?”

Sunset did.

She really, really did.

Except…

“Yeah, I do, but…” Sunset took a breath and pushed what she wanted to the side. “Not tonight… I trust you, Gilda Grimfeather. You’ll tell me eventually, just not tonight. Tonight, I just want you to hold me.”

Gilda felt the tension in her body release like a taut wire coming loose as Sunset let the subject go. Letting out another, happier sob, Gilda curled her arms around Sunset and buried her face in Sunset’s fiery red hair.

“Th’fuck did I do t’get this lucky, Sunflower?” Gilda whispered as she breathed deep, filling herself with Sunset’s calming scent. “I don’t deserve you.”

“You deserve the world, Gilda,” Sunset whispered back, smiling and kissing Gilda’s neck softly. “But you’ll just have to settle for me.”

“Between you’n the world, Sunshine?” Gilda said, hugging Sunset tight. “I’ll take you, every single fuckin’ time.”

~Whitetail Neighborhood, December 22nd, Evening~

Rainbow Dash was laying in bed and staring up at her ceiling. Her walls were plastered with posters of some of her favorite athletes; Spitfire, Soarin, Surprise… all the people she idolized. All sports superstars at the height of their careers, all perfect examples of physical fitness.

Ever since Rainbow had seen Sunset at the mall, sitting in a wheelchair, a part of her just hadn’t been able to relax.

Maybe it was just the idea of being crippled; the thought of losing her legs made Rainbow Dash shudder violently. Every part of her was tied up in sports, in competition… it was one of the things she had gotten along with Sunset best about.

They’d competed over everything and it was awesome. For the first time, Rainbow had someone who could keep up with her.

“And I went’n fucked it up,” Rainbow muttered, grimacing as she draped an arm over her face. “Now Sunset is…”

Rarity and Applejack had contacted the group earlier that day. Apparently, Gilda was working at an auto garage in the Commons and, according to Applejack, had confirmed that, yeah, the wheelchair thing was permanent. Rarity had wanted to get together to brainstorm ideas over how to make up for their betrayal to Sunset, but Rainbow couldn’t even come up with a reason why Sunset would ever forgive them.

Hell, if Rainbow was being honest with herself she wasn't even sure she had the courage to face Sunset at all, now.

“Screw it,” Rainbow mumbled as she stood up from her bed and walked out into the hall towards the living room to grab her coat.

“Honey? Where are you going?” Rainbow Blaze leaned out of the kitchen to fix his daughter with a stern look, his prismatic hair that he’d passed on to his daughter falling in a tumble over his periwinkle skin. “It’s dark out and freezing.”

“I’m just going down the road, dad,” Rainbow grumbled, pulling her coat over her shoulders and sitting down on the couch to get her boots on. “I just need to take a walk, okay?”

Heaving a sigh, Blaze nodded before asking, “is it about your friend?”

Rainbow Dash flinched. “I just... “ Rainbow choked up and clenched her eyes shut as she leaned back against the couch. “She’s… she got hurt really bad, daddy… she’s… she’s in a wheelchair.”

“Oh, hon.”

Pulling his cook’s apron off and tossing it to the side, Blaze pulled his daughter into a hug as he sat beside her. Rainbow always called him ‘dad’ or ‘pops’, but almost never ‘daddy’. Not unless she was scared and hurting.

“She’s never gonna walk again, daddy,” Rainbow sobbed, burying her face in her father’s chest. “She and I… Sunset was the only one who could beat me and… and she was like… one of my best friends and…”

“I’m so sorry, hon,” Blaze said softly, letting his daughter cry herself out on him. “That’s so terribly unfair…”

“And it’s my fault, dad!” Rainbow cried. “I abandoned her! I just… I fuckin’ left her on the floor crying!”

“Language!” Blaze retorted grimacing, but let it go as his daughter hiccuped and nodded. “And it is not your fault, Dashie, alright? Yes, you jumped to conclusions and made a serious mistake, but that’s part of life. Did you personally track her down and break her legs?”

Rainbow hiccuped again but shook her head.

“Did you tell someone else to?” Blaze asked, his voice calm and reasonable. “Or do anything to ensure your friend got hurt?”

“N-no…” Rainbow replied. “B-but I-!”

“You made a mistake, Dashie,” Blaze said firmly. “But a mistake isn’t unforgivable, it only becomes that if you never try and make up for it.”

“B-but what if she never gives me the chance?” Dash asked in a somber voice. “What if I screwed it up forever?”

Rainbow Blaze let out another sigh. “Then that will be her choice, alright?” He said, settling his hand on Rainbow Dash’s head. “Sometimes people choose not to forgive because it’s just not in them, Lord knows I know that well enough with what happened with your mom.”

“Mom was an idiot!” Rainbow bit out. “Just ‘cause you’re… y’know-”

“Rainbow Danger Dash, do not talk about your mother like that,” Blaze said, narrowing his eyes. “Whatever our relationship, I won’t have you tearing down your own mother, alright?”

“She… she tried to have me taken away from you, though,” Rainbow said darkly. “Just ‘cause you’re gay she thought you’d corrupt me or something. How can you forgive her?”

“Bisexual, is the term, Dash,” Blaze corrected gently. “And I haven’t forgiven her, nor do I plan to.”

“Then why-?!” Rainbow started, but her father shook his head.

“Just because I don’t have any plans on forgiving your mother for her actions doesn’t mean we can’t be civil,” Blaze said firmly. “I’m not going to raise a daughter to hate her mother, Dashie, I refuse to be that kind of person. I’m not asking you to forgive her, or even love her, but I do expect you to be civil and respectful.”

“Even if she isn’t?” Rainbow grumbled.

“Especially because she isn’t,” Blaze replied.

“Why?!”

Rainbow Blaze smiled dryly back at Rainbow. “Because who we are and how we treat others should be the best reflection of ourselves. Just because I won't tolerate her bigotry doesn't mean I want to raise you to hate her. People change, and maybe proving you can be a bigger and better person will make her take a good look at herself one day.” Tousling Dash’s hair, Blaze smiled down at his daughter. “Just like your kindness towards Sunset made her take a good look at who she was.”

“But… then I betrayed her,” Rainbow said grimly. “I said she was like family and then… I just abandoned her.”

“And you were wrong to do so,” Blaze reiterated, “but having met Miss Shimmer, and having seen how far she’s come from the bully she was, I think she’ll eventually find her way back around.”

“Yeah, I hope so,” Dash replied. “Weird thing, though, didja know she’s apparently dating Gilda now?”

Rainbow Blaze raised an eyebrow in surprise. “As in Grimfeather? Your old childhood friend?”

“Yeah,” Rainbow responded with a chuckle. “She was such a bitch after she got back from wherever she and her family moved to… but I guess she’s a lot nicer now that she’s with Sunset.”

“Y-yeah… moved to…” Blaze said uneasily.

“Dad?”

Rainbow Blaze sighed heavily, slumping back in the couch as he considered the ramifications of what he was about to do. He wasn’t going to lie to his daughter. Not again. Before he had been trying to protect her, but now? Now she was a young woman and she deserved to know. Back then he’d told his daughter that Gilda and her family had moved away because of the military, and Dashie had been devastated. Gilda had been her best friend and the fact that she hadn’t even said goodbye was awful but, like most things in childhood, the pain had faded quickly.

Now, though…

“Dashie… look…” Blaze began. “There’s… something I have to tell you about Gilda and… and her family.”

Rainbow Dash felt a pit of uncertainty grow in her stomach. “Dad? Is… what’s wrong?”

“Gilda… your friend… when she was little, right before she left,” Blaze sighed, closing his eyes and bracing for the blow to come. “She was… in a very bad car accident.”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open.

“W-what? Why didn’t you tell me?!” Shaking her head, Dash smiled nervously. “B-but she’s fine, right? Like, I see her all the time, she’s fine!”

Blaze nodded. “You’re right, but her parents… they died.”

The streets were mostly empty as Rainbow Dash walked down the road, idly kicking the frozen chunks of snow and ice that gathered alongside the curb. After her father had told her what really happened to Gilda it felt like her whole chest had hollowed out.

It certainly explained why Gilda was such a bitch when she got back.

Dead family? Then ending up shuffled around in the foster system?

Rainbow Dash had yelled and shouted at her father, calling him a liar, then cried and sobbed and apologised. She felt awful about a variety of things, not just Sunset anymore, and after promising her dad she’d be careful and come back soon, she took a walk. The cold air was bracing and cleared her head a little as she spotted the neon sign of the little gas mart at the corner.

“Can’t believe she was dealin’ with that all this time,” Rainbow mumbled as she fished around her pocket for her wallet. “No wonder she was such a tool when she got back, I can’t even friggin’ imagine what she must’a gone through.”

Rainbow opened the door to the mart and the little bell-tone jingled as she walked in. A tired-looked young man sat at the register and glanced up in vague acknowledgment of her existence before going back to staring at his phone. Rainbow wasn’t even a hundred percent sure she wanted anything, she certainly didn’t have an appetite at the moment, but it was better than sitting at home and being mad at literally everything.

“Yes, sister, I’ve got your vile cheesy snacks, and the drinks, I’ll be home soon,” a familiar voice says in an annoyed tone. “And don’t touch my pizza!”

A moment later, Luna turned the corner of one of the aisles; hanging from one arm was a basket crowded with cheese-dust covered chips of about five different varieties, and two tubes of cheez-whiz, while her other was gripping the neck of a large bottle of tequila and her cellphone was tucked between her shoulder and ear.

Rainbow Dash and Luna stared at one another silently for several moments as Luna slowly moved the tequila behind her and out of sight.

Shifting her shoulder so her phone dropped into the basket, Luna plastered on a smile. “R-Rainbow Dash! What are you doing out so late?”

“Uh… just takin’ a walk VP’,” Rainbow answered. “My night kinda took a nosedive.”

“Does it concern a certain Miss Shimmer?” Luna asked with a sad smile.

Dash gave a hollow chuckle. “Uh, I mean, in part yeah but…” screwing up her courage, Rainbow Dash looked up at the Vice Principal. “Hey, VP? C-can I ask you a question?”

“Well, technically I am off the clock as an instructor, but, certainly,” Luna said with a laugh.

“Gilda… y’know? Gilda Grimfeather?”

Luna nodded. “Oh believe me I’m very aware of the girl.”

“D-did you know that her parents died?”

“Ah… yes,” Luna answered after a moment’s hesitation. “I’m aware that they passed away when Gilda was very young but no more than that.”

Rainbow wrapped her arms around herself, scowling. “My dad lied to me when I was a kid… he said that Gilda and her parents moved away. Gilda was like, my best friend before that… I never knew.”

“Far be it from me to criticise parenting styles, given my own lack of offspring,” Luna replied aridly, “but your father has always struck me as a very kind sort of man, and I can’t imagine he had any ill intentions. If I’m being honest I have no idea what I would do if I were faced with that sort of awful choice.”

“I… I know,” Rainbow said, sighing. “I just… I get it, right? Like, I get it. I was like… eight, I don’t even know if I really knew what death was at that point. Like, my biggest concern was going downstairs in a cardboard box!”

“Ah, childhood,” Luna remarked.

“So… yeah, I guess just…” Rainbow blew out an angry breath and shoved her hands into her pockets. “Between finding out Gilda basically got her whole life nuked outta nowhere and, ugh, this crap with Sunset… I feel like a really shitty friend,” flinching, Rainbow grimaced. “Uh, sorry 'bout my language.”

Luna shrugged, “I told you, I’m off the clock, I don’t care.”

“Uh, oh, well, yeah,” Rainbow continued, slumping forward. “So, I’ve always been proud of being a good friend and sticking by people and apparently I’m actually really fuckin’ bad at that? Because the only times its mattered I… haven’t… so…”

Walking up to the register, Luna dropped several bills on the counter and paid for her assortment of booze and cheese before gathering it up and walking towards the door. Rainbow followed behind her, not really having anything else to do.

“We all face these sorts of things, you know?” Luna said after a moment as they stepped into the winter air. “Realising the image of who we were or want to be in our head is not who we are.”

“Yeah, I’m kinda figuring that one out,” Rainbow said in a dry tone. “Specifically that I’m actually a bitch, apparently.”

“You’re a teenager,” Luna remarked with a grin as she walked to her car and opened up the trunk to drop in her groceries. “As a former teenager I can confirm that: ‘mistakes have been made’ is the tagline of the teenage condition.”

Rainbow laughed, shaking her head as she smiled. “Y’know, you’re pretty cool, VP, I wish you weren’t so terrifying at school.”

“I’m in charge of student discipline,” Luna replied, planting a fist on her cocked hip. “My sister is supposed to be the approachable one, but she’s a bit of a stiff if I’m honest. At least until she’s got a few drinks in her.”

“I… both do and do not want to know,” Rainbow admitted with a laugh before frowning again. “So… as a cool adult? How… how are we supposed to make up for what we did to Sunset? I… we all want to but… how are we even supposed to face her?”

Luna shook her head. “I don’t know the answer to that, Miss Dash, I’m sorry, but take heart that she’s getting better. She’s even spending Christmas Eve and Morning with my sister and I, along with her girlfriend as I understand it.”

Rainbow smiled a little at that. “G-good, I’m glad at least that, y’know, she’s not gonna be alone or anything on Christmas. That would… seriously suck.”

“Indeed,” Luna agreed wryly, “but at least she has Gilda, that and a few other friends. My sister told me she saw Sunset and a few others along with, if you can believe it, the Sirens, performing at the arcades in the mall, here…”

Luna pulled out her phone and flicked over to her messages and scrolled up to the video her sister had sent her. Hitting play and holding it out, Rainbow’s eyes widened as she watched the small ensemble playing a lively jazz number and, sure enough, watching them from nearby were Adagio Dazzle and Aria Blaze. Rainbow recognized Octavia Melody from school playing her huge instrument alongside Sunset, but she didn’t recognize the other girl.

As a musician herself, couldn’t deny what she was seeing. Sunset had real chemistry with the girls, their music flowed easily through each other in a way even Rainbow and her friends’ lacked.

And that was before Adagio began to sing.

“Apparently,” Luna began, “as good as it sounds here, it was nothing compared to being there in person. I’m a bit jealous, honestly.”

“Yeah, sounds like it,” Rainbow said a little morosely. “We always kinda sidelined Sunset before the Battle… or, I did, I guess… for the band I mean… we never knew she was so good,” she trailed off before adding, “never asked either, though.”

“Perhaps that's the issue, then,” Luna said, leaning against her car, and Rainbow looked up at her hopefully. “In the end, you never really got to know the real Sunset Shimmer.”

Rainbow opened her mouth to protest but thought better of it and asked, “whad’ya mean?”

“I mean, Miss Dash,” Luna continued, “that for all that you tried to include her, you never got to know the person she was underneath. I imagine you all invited her to things you all liked doing, correct?”

“Y-yeah, but what's wrong with that?” Dash replied a little defensively.

“In and of itself? Nothing at all,” Luna answered. “But answer me this: did any of you ever ask her if she wanted to do anything? Or about her interests? Her passions? Hobbies?” Luna ticked off the items on her fingers. “Or did she only ever do the things that you all wanted to do?”

Rainbow opened and closed her mouth several times before looking downcast. “Why… why wouldn't she say anything?”

Luna frowned slightly and put her hands on Dash’s shoulders. “Because,” she said, “ Miss Shimmer suffers from deep feelings of guilt over her prior actions. Imagine you, as you are now, trying to ask Sunset for a favor… could you?”

The answer was painfully obvious. Rainbow couldn't even imagine asking Sunset to forgive her, much less ask her for any kind of favor. Dash shook her head and buried her face in her hands.

“Hey, VP?” Rainbow asked in a muffled voice as Luna tucked her hands back in her coat. “Why am I so stupid?”

“The first step on the road to wisdom is first understanding how little you know,” Luna quoted, smiling. “You're not ‘stupid’, Miss Dash, but I daresay that having the thought means you're on the right path.”

“Ugh, I friggin’ hope so,” Dash grumbled, before going silent and looking up at Luna with a more intense expression. “Hey, uh, VP? You said Sunset is spending Christmas with you this year right?”

“That is the plan, yes,” Luna confirm with a nod.

“Cool, uhm…” Rainbow Dash fidgeted for a moment before finding her courage. “Hey VP? Could… could you do me and the girls a big favor?”

~Ponyville Commons, December 24nd, Morning~

The day after the emotionally harrowing visit from Gilda’s old friends had been spent in the best way Sunset could think of; curled up in bed, only leaving it to tend to necessities, and watching movies. They’d powered through some of the most awful sequels which were made significantly more bearable by their running commentary and impromptu voiceovers.

Between that and spending almost the entirety of the day ensconced firmly in Gilda’s arms, Sunset could honestly say it was one of the best days she’d ever had on this world or Equestria.

Through it all, not a word was said about Tempest or Summer’s visit. Nothing about Gilda’s past was brought up, and no questions were asked about the person Gilda had referred to as ‘Zee’.

No matter how much Sunset wanted to know.

It was the first time Gilda had ever put a name to her ‘friend’ she’d mentioned that had died, but given the way Gilda spoke about her that night Sunset could only assume this Zee and that friend were one and the same. It was equally clear that Gilda blamed Tempest for Zee’s death at the hands of someone named Storm, too, and that neither Tempest nor Summer bothered to refute the idea. Rather, Tempest specifically seemed to blame herself at least as much as Gilda did.

Sunset knew she could probably figure it out if she tried, too. That was the tempting part. She had the skills, information gathering was one of her specialties; specifically digging up secrets. She had a few names, a location, a rough timeframe, and enough assorted details that a little effort and some serious research would probably turn over enough stones to give her a picture.

Except for her promise.

“Stupid ‘not being evil’ anymore,” Sunset mumbled as she rolled over in bed.

Gilda had gotten up a few minutes ago to go to the bathroom and Sunset was feeling restless. A part of it was the question hanging over her head about Gilda’s past but, if she was being honest, a bigger part of it was just that she had spent an entire day in bed and was now filled with nervous energy.

That and she was starting to suspect she was putting on weight.

Sunset scowled as she sat up and prodded her belly. She’d always been fit and toned, partially out of necessity, she didn’t exactly have a lot of groceries, but also because she took the same pride in her body as she did in her mind, and being wheelchair-bound didn’t exactly do her any favors in the exercise department.

“Maybe I should ask Gilda if she can install a pull-up bar or something…” Sunset murmured, sighing. “Maybe a gym membership? There’s gotta be an affordable one around here somewhere.”

She definitely had a slightly more pronounced bit of belly fat; it was faint but it had only been a little while since her accident. Sunset grimaced, if she was already putting on weight then she definitely needed to do something, she refused to let her accident take even more away from her than it already had.

Besides… she wanted to keep looking nice… for Gilda, if nothing else. Gilda deserved to keep having a cute, pretty girlfriend…

“You okay, Sunshine?” Gilda’s voice cut in drawing Sunset’s gaze up to see Gilda looking down at her with concern in her eyes, wiping her hands on a towel. “Ya look a little off.”

Sunset frowned and looked down at herself for a moment before looking back up at her girlfriend as a nasty and hilarious thought came to her.

“Hey, Gilda… am I getting fat?

The following silence was utterly deafening.

‘Oh shit,’ was Gilda’s primary thought as she stared down at Sunset, eyes widening as those last, terrible words left Sunset’s lips. Every gear in Gilda’s brain came to a hard, ass-grinding halt as she tried her utmost to figure out the right answer while Sunset stared up at her with a heartbreaking pout

‘Shit, Shit, Shit,” Gilda’s brain was not being helpful. ‘What’s the right answer… is there a right answer?! I’m pretty sure there’s not a fucking right answer here! I can’t say ‘a little’ right?! I mean… she’s a little softer than before but I kinda like it… shit if I say that she’ll call me a perv or something! Do I say no?! She’ll think I’m just tryin’ to make her feel better. SHIT!’

The chaos in Gilda’s brain lasted right up until Sunset’s lip quivered a little too much and a small snort of laughter escaped.

The dam cracked a second later and Sunset descended into a fit of uncontrollable giggles as she rolled onto the bed laughing. Gilda let out a slow breath of relief as she realised Sunset had just been fucking with her, like usual, then snapped her head back up with a glare.

“Okay, that’s it!” Gilda said, tossing the towel away and diving onto the bed.

It was a relatively well-known fact, at least among the Rainbooms and mostly thanks to Pinkie Pie, that Sunset wasn’t really ticklish.

It was a far less known fact that Gilda had found the one place just above the small of her back behind her ribs that Sunset very much was during a short break from watching movies that had led into other, more distracting, activities yesterday,

Shrieks of laughter and pleas for mercy filled the small flat as Gilda clambered onto the bed after her retreating girlfriend, picking her up and pulling her into her lap while viciously attacking her weak spot as she flailed uselessly against Gilda’s greater strength. After several minutes of brutal tickling, Gilda let her exhausted girlfriend slump over onto the bed.

“Y’know, Sunflower,” Gilda said with a smirk as she leaned against the wall at the head of the bed, “one day yer teasin’ is gonna get you in trouble.”

“Pretty sure… it already did…” Sunset panted, chuckling as she tried to get her breath back and fished around over the side of the bed for her clothes. “Can’t help it sometimes, my sense of humor sucks.”

Gilda laughed as she reached over and pulled Sunset away from the edge of the bed and back onto her lap, laughing a little more as she flailed adorably trying to grab her leggings.

“Gil, I’m not laying in bed naked for another whole day,” Sunset grumbled as Gilda pulled Sunset into her lap again, this time to hold rather than torment. “I need to do something.”

“Well, we’re goin’ t’the Principal’s place fer Christmas Eve n’stuff tonight, right?” Gilda said, wrapping her arms around Sunset’s waist and holding onto her. “So we gotta go eventually.”

“Right,” Sunset said quietly, “I’d almost forgotten, actually… Christmas with the alter-reality version of my adoptive mom and her sister.”

“You’re life is kinda nuts, huh babe?” Gilda said with a dry chuckle.

“Kinda is…”

Gilda pulled Sunset a little closer, letting her fingers trace lines along Sunset’s side and up her arms and reveling in the soft, comforting warmth of having the girl she loved right where Gilda wanted her, safe and warm in her arms. After a moment, Gilda frowned, though, and leaned back against the wall again as she tried to put words to her concerns.

“Hey… Sunshine?” Gilda asked finally, and Sunset tossed a questioning look over her shoulder at Gilda. “You really worried about gettin’, y’know… heavier, n’stuff?” Sunset’s expression soured instantly as she turned back around to scowl down at the bed. “Take that as a yes,” Gilda said softly.

“I… I know there’s nothing wrong, with being bigger,” Sunset said quietly. “Making fun of people's weight was something the old me did and it was incredibly shitty. But… but I’m just… kinda vain, I guess. I like how I look and… I wanna keep looking cute and small and… and nice.”

“Guess I can get that,” Gilda replied, “I’m pretty proud’a my guns, and it’d suck to get all flabby and stuff and lose’m, but y’know I don’t care, right?”

Sunset sniffled a little and nodded. “I… I know… in my heart, I mean, I know,” she answered. “But my head keeps saying I need to be pretty and cute or else… or else…”

Sunset hiccuped as she curled in on herself and Gilda felt a grip on her heart as she wrapped her arms around Sunset and drew her in closer to hold.

“I’m sorry, I know it’s not true, right?” Sunset sobbed quietly. “I know you wouldn’t leave me just for putting on some weight or some shitty reason like that, but it’s so hard to get past that crap in my brain.”

“Yeah, savvy” Gilda whispered, stroking Sunset’s hair. “Believe me I friggin’ know, but you’re right, I ain’t going nowhere, Sunshine, nothing doin’. If you wanna stay in shape we’ll figure somethin’ out. And if you get a little bigger, well, honestly? I uh… I kinda like softer girls… so…”

A finger settled over Gilda’s lips as Sunset gave her girlfriend an arid little smile. “Babe, quit while you’re ahead, okay? I… I know my head is just in a bad place, I know you won’t leave me… but I still want to stay in a shape that isn’t ‘pear’, alright? It’s just something I’m a little sensitive about, I guess.”

“Yeah…” Gilda said quietly before gathering Sunset up in a tighter hug and burying her face against the back of her girlfriend’s neck. “You know I love you n’matter what though, right? That ain’t gonna change, just like we promised, savvy? I ain’t ever givin’ up on you, Sunflower.”

The reminder of their promise made Sunset’s heart flutter a little. A promise made on a snowy day after their first big fight as friends. A promise to always, always be there for one another. The promise that became so much more as time passed.

“Yeah,” Sunset agreed, turning to kiss Gilda softly on the cheek. “I remember, and I’m not ever giving up on you, Gil, and I’m sorry I need you to remind me of it so often… it feels like I’m walking some kind of self-worth tightrope lately and every little thing pushes me one way or the other…”

“Never gotta be sorry about that, Sunflower,” Gilda said with a laugh. “I love remindin’ you that I love you because it keeps reminding me that the prettiest girl in the world loves me too.”

“Goddammit, Gil,” Sunset said, turning around to smile happily up at her. “You’re such a huge dork, you know that?”

“I’m a huge 'lotta things', babe,” Gilda said, smirking. “But I’m your huge dork, right?”

Sunset’s smile was radiant. “Yeah, damn right you are.”

Grinning as she swept her arms around Sunset and tipped her back slightly, earning a cute yip of surprise that was cut off as Gilda dipped Sunset down, arms holding her tightly, and kissed her gently, earning a soft hum of appreciation as Sunset’s arms went around Gilda as well.

Pulling away, Gilda grinned down at Sunset who was blushing furiously over her smile. “How is it that, even though I’m naked, sweaty, and I haven’t showered in like two days, you can still make me feel pretty, Gil?”

“Just that good I guess,” Gilda replied with a cocky, lopsided grin.

Smiling silently up at her girlfriend, Sunset let out a happy sigh. “Yeah you are,” she said softly as she pulled herself upright and hugged Gilda tight, pressing her cheek against Gilda’s as she breathed in her girl’s calming scent. “You’re my whole world, Gil, and I’m gonna love you forever.”

Gilda’s jaw dropped open slightly as her arms went up to Sunset’s back to support her. Forever… Gilda swallowed thickly as she nodded, burying her face against Sunset’s shoulder.

“Yeah, you’n me, babe,” Gilda mumbled softly, closing her eyes as she smiled, feeling a warmth build up in her chest. “Together forever.”

~oOo~

I’m flying.

Flying through a sky that’s trying to tear me from the heavens.

The winds are roaring in my ears and the clouds are as black as tar. All around the world is limned in a strange kind of half-light, though, as if my eyes are piercing the darkness on their own merit. The world around me is a thunderhead of truly epic proportion. I can’t even grasp the kind of storm this is… it stretches from horizon to horizon and even the wind stinks of ozone.

The storm is nigh on apocalyptic.

I pitch downward and twist wildly in the air as lightning lights up the world followed by the deafening detonation of thunder not even milliseconds behind it. Again I dip and dodge, and again the lightning crashes close enough for me to taste metal.

The storm is hunting me.

“GILDA!”

A voice, female, rasping and harsh with fury, screams the name of my love. I can’t see her though as the world wheels around me. I’m flying evasively, every pitch and yaw avoiding a stroke of thunder and lightning as my ears are filled with a strange, electrical whine.

“GILDA!”

The voice screams again, this time carried by thunder, and my world goes white.

~oOo~

“GILDA!” Sunset screams and thrashes as she throws the covers off of her, The world still white and wild and stinking of ozone as her breath came in great, heavy pants.

“Babe?” Gilda’s sleepy voice comes from beside Sunset as she slowly gets up from the bed. “Babe, what’s wrong?”

Sitting up and patting herself down as if she expected to find something on her body, Sunset gulped down air. Cold sweat clung to her as her eyes fixed on an empty point ahead of her.

“What was… did I…” Sunset gasped. “I… a dream?”

“More like one’a yer night terrors, babe,” Gilda said a little sadly. “Ya fell asleep a couple hours ago while we were layin’ in bed figurin’ out what t’do so I figured we’d take a nap…”

Sunset shook her head. “Not a night terror, or… not one of mine,” Sunset said, furrowing her brow. “My nightmares are always the same but… this time it was different. I was in a storm, flying around dodging lightning and… and someone was screaming your name, and… I think I got hit by a bolt or something.”

“Wow, that… sounds kinda cool and really shitty,” Gilda said with a laugh. “It was just a shitty nightmare, though, savvy? Y’fine,” Gilda reached out and pulled Sunset into a warm embrace, running her hands through Sunset’s sweat-matted hair. “Could probably use a shower, though.”

“Ugh, right?” Sunset groaned as she nuzzled into Gilda’s arms. “Dunno how you’re standing touching me when even I can tell how sweaty and gross I am.”

“Eh, I’ve held you when you were sweatier,” Gilda said nonchalantly, causing Sunset to blush furiously.

“Dammit, babe,” Sunset groaned.

Gilda chuckled, before reaching down and squeezing Sunset’s rear, earning a sharp ‘eep’. “Besides, I figure if we share the shower it won’t matter, right?”

“Uh… y-yeah,” Sunset stammered, her cheeks reddening. “I think I’m good with that.”

The shower was excellent though its usefulness was questionable given that the two girls quickly got distracted with much more entertaining things to do in shower. The result was another, shorter shower, after which Gilda carried her soggy girlfriend out as she toweled her hair dry.

“Hey Gil?” Sunset said as Gilda set her down on the bed and got to drying herself off.

“What’s up, Sunshine?”

“I think we should get something for Celestia and Luna,” Sunset said, “I know we don’t have much but they’re trying hard to be kind to me and show me I’m not forgotten about so…”

“Nah, I get it,” Gilda replied. “Y’right, ain’t good manners t’show up without somethin’ if someone invites ya over, what were you thinkin’?”

Sunset chuckled nervously at that. “W-well, uhm, see, I used to collect a lot of information on people, students and faculty. Y’know, in case I ever needed it, and I know for a fact there’s one thing both of the Sonen sisters would appreciate…”

“Heh, I forgot how sketchy ya used t’be, Sunflower,” Gilda said with a laugh. “So what’s the deal?”

“Uh, well, that’s the thing, I have no clue where to get it,” Sunset admitted, shrugging as she tossed the damp towel to the side and grabbed her bra. “But uh, I was thinking maybe you could call up Crankshaft and his brother and see if they could source it for me? I’d pay them back of course! I got some cash while I was busking last time.”

Gilda pulled her shirt over her head and cocked an eyebrow at Sunset. “Crank and Gear? Were they lookin’ for car parts?”

“Uh… no,” Sunset said, laughing, “just… can I see your phone real quick?”

Gilda grabbed her phone off the nightstand, unlocked it, and tossed it to Sunset who opened it up and copied down the number for Crankshaft, then dialed it into her own phone.

The phone rang a few times before it picked up.

//Bueno?//

“H-hi, Mister Crankshaft? It’s Sunset Shimmer,” Sunset said, feeling her chest tighten up. She never did like calling people, especially people she didn’t know.

//Sunset?! Ibuenas, mija! Qué onda? Everything good?//

“Heh, ‘sta bien,” Sunset responded with a laugh. Something about Crankshaft’s perpetual good nature always got her to smile. “I uh… I was hoping I could ask a favor.”

//Tis the season, ‘ey?// Crankshaft answered with a chuckle. //What you need, mi cielito?//

“Well, Gilda and I are going to spend Christmas with our Principals, and I kinda wanted to get them a gift…” Sunset began then trailed off and blushed. “But… it’s kinda… weird, and I was hoping you might know where I could get it?”

//No hay bronca, mija, if I don’t know it then I know someone who does,// Crankshaft replied with an audible grin.

“Cool,” Sunset said, “so… it’s like this…”

~Whitetail Neighborhood, December 24th, Evening~

The snow was falling hard as the bus dropped Gilda and Sunset off at the bus stop nearest to the Sonen sisters’ house which was a little less than a mile away. It was a more upscale part of the neighborhood and with the number of cars coming and going to different Christmas functions the roads and sidewalks were still relatively clear.

“I can’t believe that’s what you ended up getting them,” Gilda said, still laughing as she had been off and on since Crankshaft had dropped it off at the flat just before they left.

“I know my bribes, Gil,” Sunset said with a Cheshire grin. “Believe me, they’ll love it enough that they’ll overlook getting it as a gift from a student.”

“Right,” Gilda replied skeptically as she took up her position behind Sunset’s chair and started pushing. “If you get in trouble don’t say I didn’t warn ya, savvy?”

“Savvy, babe,” Sunset replied, smiling back up at Gilda.

It was a slow walk up to the two-story house the sisters’ shared, but one that was made easier by the thermoses of hot coffee that Gilda had brought, the same ones she’d taken with them the night they’d bid goodbye to Sunset’s past. Sunset sipped the piping hot liquid carefully as they came up to the house which was festively decorated with lights of all colors, a decorated tree out front as well as one that could be seen through the living room window.

There were also a surprising number of shapes moving around inside.

Gilda scowled slightly. “Didn’t you say the thing was just gonna be us’n them, Sunshine?”

Sunset nodded. “That’s what Principal Celestia said… she said it was a small thing normally, I wonder if they had family stop by?”

“Well, we were invited so… guess we’re goin’ in,” Gilda said, her mouth thinning out into a hard line. “You gonna be okay, babe?”

Letting out a calming breath, Sunset nodded. “Y-yeah… I’ll be fine, Gil, maybe we just won’t stay the whole night?”

“Gonna be kinda hard t’get back home without a ride, Sunny,” Gilda replied wryly as she continued to push Sunset up towards the door. “I’m sure they wouldn’t mind though, we ain’t that far away.”

“Yeah…” Sunset fiddled idly with the brightly wrapped package in her lap as she was pushed up to the front door and Gilda stepped around her to knock.

After a few moments they heard the sound of footsteps and a moment later the door was opened to reveal a festively clad Celestia, wearing a bright red sweater with green stitching across the chest that read: It’s Christmas, Bitch! On it, stunning both girls into silence. Over the silence, they could hear what sounded like a remixed version of three different Christmas carols set to a lively bassline.

“Sunset! Gilda!” Celestia exclaimed stepping forward to lean in and gingerly hug Sunset who returned the hug, before standing and smiling kindly at Gilda. “Hug? Or hand?”

“Uh… hug’s fine I guess,” Gilda answered with a dry chuckle. “Y’kinda get used to’em livin’ with Sunshine, here.”

Celestia nodded and laughed as she stepped in and hugged Gilda, too.

“Merry Christmas,” Sunset said cheerily, holding up a square box, wrapped in snowflake printed foil wrapping paper and topped with a bright red bow. “Thanks for having us.”

“Sunset, you didn’t have to get us anything,” Celestia said, shaking her head as she took the gift.

“I know,” Sunset said, “but I don’t really have anyone else but Gilda to get presents for so… yeah, besides, you invited us here for Christmas Eve and Christmas… so I wanted to.”

Celestia smiled as she held the present up to her ear and gently rattled it. “Hmm… glass, I think… I guess I shouldn’t be shaking it around then.”

Gilda and Sunset shared a quick glance before Sunset just nodded. “Sure.”

“Hm, that wasn’t suspicious at all,” Celestia said with a smirk, “well, come on in you two, everyone’s waiting on us and we’re letting the warm air out.”

“Uh, yeah, about that,” Sunset said as she rolled in with Gilda in tow. “I uh… I thought it was just going to be us four? I didn’t realise you’d have company.”

As they entered the small foyer, Celestia turned to smile warmly at her Sunset. “It was, but… well, I ended up speaking to a mutual friend after seeing you play a rather lively jazz improv with her daughter in the mall, and invited them to join us if they didn’t mind.”

“Oh!” Sunset smiled as she realised what Celestia was saying.

“A-and…” Celestia said with a slightly sheepish smile, “after that it… shall we say, got a bit out of hand…”

“SUNSET!”

Sunset turned her head sharply at the sound of the familiar voice as Penny came barreling out of the living room to wrap her friend in a hug, following behind her to peel her off was Helden. A moment later the music faded out and Octavia stepped into the hall followed by her own girlfriend, Vinyl with Luna just behind.

“Penny?! Helden! What are you two doing here?” Sunset cried out as she returned Penny’s embrace.

Helden stepped in a moment later to give her a hug of his own. “Well, the two of us had planned to spend Christmas Eve together anyway, so when Octavia called up Penny and asked if we could make it to this little soiree, we decided, ‘why not’?”

“I’m afraid I may have hijacked the party a bit,” Octavia said with an apologetic grin. “But, I know you had planned to spend Christmas with your friends and when Principal Celestia invited my parents and I, extending the same invitation to Vinyl, I asked if perhaps we could ensure that that plan still happened…”

The other shoe dropped a moment later as Sunset’s eyes widened. “W-wait… Octavia! Tonight is Christmas Eve! The Canterlot Philharmonic Orchestra is playing! I thought you went every year!”

“My, my, she really did keep excellent tabs on you, my dear.”

A distinguished older man stepped forward, He was wearing a suit that was probably worth more money than Gilda’s whole flat, and had short, grizzled black hair. Following him was a slender beauty with pale skin and flowing dark hair framing twinkling mulberry eyes. Sunset suddenly realised exactly what Octavia was going to look like when she got older and had the thought that Vinyl was a very lucky girl.

“And yes, you are correct,” Legato Melody said, as he held out a hand to Sunset who accepted it. “But when my daughter told me that her dear friend, who had been protecting her and Miss Scratch this past year and a half with what I understand to be some excellent political maneuvering, was in danger of spending Christmas nearly alone, I was happy to cancel plans to attend.”

“My daughter cares very much for you, Miss Shimmer,” Soprana said as she stepped past her husband. Sunset felt her heart skip a beat as she stared up at the woman. She knew Soprana was edging on forty but she barely looked older than her own daughter. Also… she was incredibly hot. “I understand you have a bit of a chequered past, but no matter what happened back then, know that you have a mother’s gratitude for your actions.”

“I don’t care about the Orchestra,” Octavia said firmly as she stepped between her parents. “I’ve seen it a dozen times and more, but I’ll only have this one chance to try and make the Christmas after your accident worth remembering fondly. Whatever I have to do to make that happen, I will.”

Sunset felt tears tracking down her cheeks as her smile threatened to split her face. Helden knelt in front of her and smiled as Sunset swept her eyes over the gathered group of friends that had taken her in.

“I know we haven’t known each other long,” Helden said, reaching out a hand to Penny. “But Penny literally hasn’t been able to stop talking about your jam session at the mall. So trust me when I say, whatever you feel about yourself? Everyone here thinks you’re pretty incredible.”

“He’s not wrong there, Sunshine,” Gilda put in, finally speaking up, and settling a hand on her shoulder. “Whoever ya were before all’a this? No one here cares, savvy? You’re our Sunset, and you’re my Sunshine.”

Vinyl made a few quick signs and Octavia nodded. “Agreed, we’re all here because of you in one way or another, although locationally the notion is literal,” she said dryly, gesturing at the house, “but I can say Vinyl and I would have had a much harder time at school if not for you, and I never would have made friends with Penny and Helden either.”

“Hey Sunny!” Penny crowded in and pressed her cheek against Sunset’s as she held up her phone facing the two of them. “Smile!”

A small click sounded from the phone and Penny handed it over to Sunset. On the screen was a girl with flame-red hair streaked with gold smiling radiantly, a few glistening tracks of tears on her cheeks, with her friend cheek-to-cheek with her.

“You’re probably one of my nicest friends, Sunset,” Penny said in a much more subdued voice. “I love my schoolmates but… in Crystal Prep it’s hard to have friends who aren’t also rivals, y’know? I never have to wonder about that with you.”

Vinyl slowly made her way between the crush of people and took Helden’s place in front of Sunset, kneeling down to Sunset’s level as she took off her shades to reveal brilliant red eyes. Perching the shades on top of her mop of electric blue hair, Vinyl slowly signed so Sunset could follow.

‘You were our friend before we ever really met, you showed us kindness when you had no reason to.’

“I was just trying to be decent,” Sunset said quietly. “I was a bitch, not a monster…”

Vinyl chuckled raspily, and shook her head. ‘Let us show you a little kindness back, it’s the least we can do.’

With that, Vinyl reached behind her toward Octavia who held out a wrapped gift box. “It was Vinyl’s idea… she thought you’d like it,” Octavia said with a soft smile aimed at her girlfriend.

“Go ahead, Sunset,” Luna said from the back. “We have a tradition to open up one gift each on Christmas Eve anyway, so I imagine my sister and I will be opening yours as well.”

Sunset stared down at the gift, feeling her heart hammering in her chest as tears flowed freely down her cheeks.

“This is my very first Christmas present…” Sunset whispered softly, running her hands over the smooth wrapping paper. “It’s… it’s almost a shame to open it.”

Unseen by Sunset, everyone but Gilda glanced at one another sadly. Gilda’s eyes were only for Sunset, though, who was smiling and crying at the same time as she stared down at the gift.

“Go ahead, Sunshine,” Gilda said, quietly, setting a hand on Sunset’s head and mussing her hair. “Presents are made t’be opened up, savvy?”

“Yeah…” Sunset replied, wiping at her face with her sleeves. “I guess you’re right.”

Tugging at the wrapping paper while doing her best not to actually rip it, Sunset peeled away the shiny paper and pulled out a white box made of thick, hard cardboard. Popping the lid off of it, she pushed the tissue paper out of the way and gasped. Reaching inside, she lifted out a beautiful pair of high-quality headphones covered in sweeping flame decals that would blend perfectly into her hair.

‘They’re noise canceling,’ Vinyl signed, smiling. ‘Sometimes, the world gets too loud. People talk too fast, and everything is way too much. Pop those on and the world disappears. Trust me, you’ll appreciate it once school starts up again.’

Sunset stared at the headset, tears falling silently down her cheeks as her hands started to shake so badly that the headset fell back into its box. I had barely landed before Sunset lunged forward and wrapped her arms around Vinyl with a loud sob and buried her face in Vinyl’s shoulder.

Vinyl pulled Sunset in close and patted her back as Sunset sobbed out her gratitude, Celestia and Luna leaned against each other, both wiping tears from their own eyes as Penny, Helden, and Octavia gathered around their friend and hugged her as she wept happily.

For the first time in her entire life, Sunset felt whole. Even if for just a few moments, even if just for tonight, Sunset felt like her heart wasn’t missing a single piece.

“Everyone, let’s get a photo!” Legato said with a happy smile, pulling his phone out.

“We’ve got the perfect place!” Celestia said nodding towards the living room. “Luna, go get the tripod, everyone else, let’s go into the den.”

Wiping her tears as the small crowd of people peeled off of her, Sunset looked up at Gilda, grinning ear to ear. Gilda smiled back down at her, feeling her own heart swelling as she pushed Sunset forward following the crowds.

The den was a long space with a wide window on the outside wall, opposite another long wall that had a comfortable looking couch set along it. A fireplace was set into the wall at the far end of the small den, between the couch and window, with a fire crackling merrily inside it. There was also what looked like a small turntable setup and a number of instrument cases lying against the wall by the couch which had probably been the source of the music they had heard.

Following Celestia’s directions, Gilda pushed Sunset in front of the fire and turned her around so she was facing straight down the length of the den, flanked on either side of her was Penny and Helden, while Gilda took up her usual spot behind her. Octavia and Vinyl sat down in front of Sunset’s chair. Celestia took up a spot beside Gilda’s right, while Legato and Soprana settled in on her left.

Luna came in a moment later with a tripod and an old-fashioned camera. “Forgive the archaic technology,” Luna said sardonically, holding up the chunky black camera. “But it’s another small tradition we haven’t indulged in for a long while since neither my sister nor I have children.”

Locking the camera into place, Luna hit a button before rushing over to Celestia’s side.

“Alright, everyone smile!” Celestia said, grinning as she rested a hand on Sunset’s shoulder.

The camera clicked a few times as it counted down before flashing. The photo would take time to develop, but in a few days, Sunset would be given a copy of a picture that would show Sunset surrounded by loved ones as she smiled on, holding her brand new headphones like they were priceless jewelry. Penny grinned cheekily with her fingers thrown up in a ‘V’, while Helden rested his cheek on her head with his arm over her shoulder. Octavia and Vinyl were holding hands, Vinyl looking at the camera and smiling but Octavia having been distracted just enough to be caught staring at her girlfriend in the flash. Gilda had her hands on Sunset’s shoulders wearing a cocky grin, with Sunset’s hands up and resting on Gilda’s. Soprana leaned gently against her husband, smiling beatifically, while Legato, like his daughter, was caught staring down at his wife lovingly. Celestia and Luna leaned against one another, arms over each other’s shoulders as they smiled from ear to ear.

For the first time, their house wasn’t just them.

For the first time, they had a house full of something like family.

Once the photo was taken, Celestia and Luna ushered all their guests into the dining room where they sat around the table at a sumptuous affair. Realising their small family plans had somewhat fallen through, Celestia and Luna had opted to go all out in preparing a small feast.

“Open my gift!” Sunset said as she was pushed to a spot at the table and Gilda took a seat next to her. “Trust me you’ll love it!”

Luna picked up the box and examined it, reading the tag that was written in Sunset’s neat calligraphy: To my teachers and friends, hope this keeps your holidays happy!

“Hmm…” Luna narrowed her eyes at the gift as she sat down at Celestia’s right. “I’m finding myself feeling suspicious.”

“Oh just open the box, Lulu,” Celestia chided her sister from the head of the table. “Here, I’ll take one end you take the other.”

Together the two sisters pulled the wrapping paper apart and started opening the box. Luna and Celestia both gasped as they stared down at what was inside.

Reaching inside, Celestia drew out a slightly dusty glass bottle full of what looked like liquid gold, and that read on the label: Cascahuín Añejo.

“Sunset you didn’t…” Celestia whispered while Luna stared on and licked her lips.

“Uh, well, I happen to know a couple of guys,” Sunset said with a wry grin.

“Sister… isn’t this what we had on our vacation?” Luna muttered, reaching out and taking the bottle, turning it over to read the profile. “Yes… yes, it is…”

“Under normal circumstances,” Celestia began while staring at the bottle. “I would have to seriously question how you acquired this… however…”

“I believe she’s afraid that, if she does, you won’t get her any more,” Luna snarked cheekily as she set the bottle down. “Well… I was intending to have a glass of wine with dinner but, circumstances as they are, I believe I’m going to make some mistakes instead.”

“Hear, hear!” Legato crowed cheerily, handing over his own glass and earning an elbow to his ribs from his wife.

Dinner was a spread of turkey, four different kinds of potatoes covered in cheese, and a pair of casseroles that seem to contain the majority of a pantry’s contents between the two of them. It was messy, a little loud, and full of laughter as the small group joked, toasted, and talked until the evening was well on its way to maturity.

Through it all, Sunset could hardly stop smiling. It was the most fun she’d had a very long time and the most welcome that she had felt in quite possibly her entire life. At the same time, though, Sunset couldn’t help noticing how quiet Gilda was. Her normally boisterous girlfriend was curiously subdued throughout the evening and as dinner ended and everyone moved to the den, Sunset held out a hand to stay Gilda as she got up.

“What’s up, Sunshine?” Gilda asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I… I was just…” Sunset stammered as she tried to find the right words. “Is… everything okay, Gil? You’re really quiet…”

Gilda watched the rest of the group filter out until they were alone in the dining room. Sighing, Gilda shrugged and sat back down in her chair.

“It’s stupid,” Gilda started, shaking her head. “All this… it just… kinda reminds me of my old ‘family’, back in Las Pegasus.”

“The gang?” Sunset asked incredulously.

Gilda nodded. “Y’gotta understand, Sunflower… it wasn’t just a gang, it was a family. Like, literally… I just… damn it I suck at this!” Gilda swore, scowling.

Sighing heavily, Gilda stared forward silently for several moments. Sunset reached out and took her hand but didn’t pressure her, or ask her anything. She just waited, smiling lovingly up at Gilda. Making a decision, Gilda reached deep inside herself to the part that locked everything up and loosened the lock a little.

Just a little.

“So.. y’remember how I said I got fostered right?” Gilda began slowly, and Sunset nodded. “Y’mighta thought I got fostered, then I ran off n’joined the gang, savvy? But it wasn’t… it wasn’t like that.”

“What was it like, then?” Sunset asked, grimacing. “They let you join the gang?”

Gilda chuckled dryly. “Nah, they didn’t let me join the gang, they were the gang. The foster system is a piece’a shit, Sunshine, no one noticed this asshole was fostering kids and then just recruiting them.” Sunset’s jaw dropped open and she stared dumbfounded as Gilda continued. “To the system, he was just this nice old guy who was giving rough and tumble kids another shot at a family, savvy? Wasn’t til a few years back during Tempest’s mutiny that he got revealed as a crime boss. Turned out he was taking in kids and then basically… what’s the word f’like… brainwashing?”

“In… Indoctrinating,” Sunset said, trying to work her brain around what Gilda was telling her. “He was using the foster system to recruit and indoctrinate kids into his gang and teach them to be loyal enforcers…”

“Yeah, that,” Gilda said waving a hand nonchalantly. “We were his ‘kids’, y’know? And he was our pops. And he acted like a dad, too, savvy? Like, he’d take us out to places, throw birthday parties, make sure we went t’school n’shit… make sure we had all our supplies and ate breakfast…”

“But…” Sunset prompted.

“But… he’d also teach us how to avoid the cops and other bangers,” Gilda said, scowling. “He’d teach us how to pick locks and fight dirty, how to run the alleys, and pickpocket, and shoplift. The older kids, like Tempest, were our Aunts and Uncles… Tempest was his favorite shitkicker, right? But I was his best runner, I could cross half a ‘hood in under five minutes.”

“Gilda… that’s…” Sunset shook her head as she tried desperately to grasp the kind of environment that would be but for the first time her brain just… couldn’t.

“And… every Christmas we’d have this big thing, right?” Gilda said, slumping back into her chair and covering her face with her hands. “And it’s like… all the kids’d be together, and we’d run around and play games and have this big dinner. Pops would be there dressed as Santa, with a bag’a presents and stuff…”

Sunset could hear the pain in Gilda’s voice as she continued, every word becoming a little more choked until her last word ended in a sob. After a moment she continued, her voice raspy and raw.

“And the runners’d, we were all kids, we’d all have this big race around the house, savvy?” Gilda said, her voice choking again as tears dripped from underneath her hands. Sunset could feel her heart breaking as she reached out and put a hand on Gilda’s leg. “We’d start out front and run in and go through the whole house until the very end, we’d end right where we began at the front door and there would be pops, big bag’a presents, red suit, and fake white beard, and the winner’d jump into his arms and he’d spin’em around… and I always won, because… I just wanted him t’be proud’a me… y’know?”

“Oh, Gilda…” Sunset said softly, rolling forward and wrapping her arms around her girlfriend and pulling her in to hold her as she sobbed.

“He was my pops, Sunshine,” Gilda cried, “We were his kids! He taught me everything I know! He’s the whole reason I am who I am! An’ he… he…”

A hand settled onto Gilda’s shoulder, and Gilda started in shock. Looking up from Sunset’s shoulder she saw Vinyl, and Octavia behind her. Gilda’s stomach tightened in a stone as she realised the entire house had heard her… seen her crying. Her breath started coming in short, sharp heaves that were cut off as Vinyl leaned in and joined Sunset in hugging Gilda. Shortly after, Octavia was there, pulling Gilda close, then Helden and Penny.

“You’re so much more than he made you,” Sunset whispered as she stroked Gilda’s hair in the midst of the group hug. “You’re incredible, Gilda Grimfeather.”

“I know you don’t know me or Helden very well,” Penny started, looking up at Gilda. “But I think you’re pretty awesome, okay? Like, super cool.”

Helden chuckled at that. “She’s been talking about how cool you are over text most of the night,” he said in a stage whisper. “I think she’s got kind of a girl-crush.”

Penny blushed furiously and swatted at her boyfriend who laughed. “You asshole! It’s not like that!” she squawked in protest. “B-besides… pretty sure Sunny’s got’er on lock…”

Gilda laughed a little brokenly at the display, as Octavia tightened her hug on Gilda for a moment. “Gilda… I can’t apologise enough for how I thought of you before all of this but… I’d like to say right now that you’re stronger than I could ever hope to be, to have come back from something like that.”

“Not sure I did,” Gilda said softly as everyone stepped away from her. “Not sure I’m not still that girl who just wanted her pops t’be proud’a her… I did… I did some fucked up things to people just ‘cause he ordered me to… y’know?”

“You don’t have to go any further…” Sunset said, taking Gilda’s hands. “It’s Christmas… so let’s make you some new and better Christmas memories, savvy?’

Sniffling a little, Gilda nodded. “Y-yeah… that sounds good, Sunflower… that sounds real good.”

In the northern part of the city of Canterlot were the Canterlot Heights, a collection of high class and very expensive neighborhoods that were close to Crystal Prep Academy and whose occupants made up most of its student population as well as alumni among the families that lived in the area. Each of the houses was lavishly decorated for the holidays, extravagantly one might even say.

There was hardly a lawn that wasn’t full of custom made topiaries decorated with Christmas lights, or had patterns of lights that blinked on and off to patterns and sometimes tunes of a well known Christmas carol or other.

One house in particular, which was a bit more tastefully decorated than most in that it wasn’t entirely crammed with over-the-top holiday decor to rival the Manehattan Lights Parade, was playing host to a small gathering of family. A young man and his fiancee were visiting his parents for the holidays, enjoying dinner and conversation. One particular family member made only the briefest and most perfunctory appearance at the dinner, however, before retreating to the garage which had been filled with a variety of laboratory equipment to sit down at her computer.

She loved her family, she really did… but the person she wanted to spend the holidays with wasn’t in the dining room, they were in a private chat. Or they would be, eventually.

Hopefully…

Wrapping herself in a cozy blanket and nursing a mug of hot chocolate, Twilight Sparkle sat down in front of her three-monitor setup and tabbed over to the chat. She was getting restless, though. It was almost midnight and there was no sign of her friend.

“C’mon…” Twilight mumbled despondently. “You promised…” Reaching for her keyboard she typed out a short message, hoping maybe her friend was there and just hadn’t spoken up yet.

//Labrat19: Hey, you awake?//

No response. Twilight sighed as she leaned back in her desk chair and took a sip of her chocolate. She hadn’t really expected there to be one. Her friend was usually the one to speak up first anyway.

The clock ticked the night down, and every passing flick of the minute hand made Twilight more and more hopeless that her friend would be online. Something must have happened, maybe something came up?

Sighing as the clock turned to midnight, Twilight wiped at a tear in her eyes. She’d really been looking forward to spending Christmas Eve with her friend but…

“Guess someone else forgot about me…” Twilight mumbled as she reached out to turn off her monitor, but her hand was halted by the small ding of a received message.

//Pawnee4: Merry Christmas, babe.//

Twilight’s heart leaped into her throat as she smiled wide at the message that was sent at exactly midnight.

//Labrat19: Hey jerk! You were there the whole time weren’t you!?//

//Pawnee4: Mmmmmmaaaaaayyybe… I just wanted to be sure I was the very first to wish you Merry Christmas!//

Blushing, Twilight felt her smile widen as she typed out her response.

//Labrat19: Stoooooop//

//Pawnee4: Not a chance, babe, you’re too cute to not tease.//

//Labrat19: You don’t even know what I look like, Pawnee.//

//Pawnee4: Doesn’t matter, you’re adorkable, so you’re cute.//

Twilight buried her furiously blushing face in her hands as she curled into her little blanket nest. Pawnee was always teasing her, ever since they’d met in an online game two years ago. Pawnee’s intellect had stunned Twilight, who rarely found someone who could challenge her in the academic square, but where Twilight was more of a hardline theorist, it quickly became obvious that Pawnee was far more interested in practical applications.

The Engineer to her Scientist, as Twilight liked to think of it.

//Pawnee4: So I got something for ya to look at, Lab//

//Labrat19: Oh yeah?//

//Pawnee4: Check it.//

A file download popped up on the chat line, and Twilight’s custom antivirus immediately did a preliminary scan of it and pronounced it clean. Not surprising, since Pawnee had always been as fastidious as Twilight herself about cybersecurity. Clicking on the file she downloaded it and popped it open.

It took several moments for Twilight to work out what she was looking at. The folder contained a set of images as well as several PDF’s and documents detailing an object, or more specifically a pair of objects.

In the pictures, a set of elbow length black gauntlets were laid into a velvet interior of what looked like some kind of strongbox. The back of the gauntlets' hands were inset with a black gem of some kind, and the metal wasn’t any color that Twilight could readily identify. Clicking open a few of the documents, Twilight scanned over spectrograph readings, composition analyses, and the like.

To Twilight’s eyes, they all agreed on one thing.

//Labrat19: This… this is impossible.//

//Pawnee4: Inorite?! It’s literally an impossible metal!//

//Labrat19: Maybe some kind of meteoric iron? Its electromagnetic profile is off the charts! I can’t even begin to fathom what this is made of!//

//Pawnee4: Cool, huh? Don’t say I never got ya nothin’, savvy? Merry Christmas, babe!//

//Labrat19: You got me a homework project!//

//Pawnee4: you love homework//

//Labrat19: I know! YOU’RE THE BEST PAWNEE!//

//Pawnee4: Nerd//

//Labrat19: you love me anyway//

Twilight hit enter before her brain even caught up to what she’d typed out. The moment she did her brain locked up as she stared, open-mouthed

“I… I said l-l-love…” Twilight stammered. “Crap! What if that sounded weird?! What if Pawnee thinks I’m coming onto them!?”

After a moment of heart-hammering silence, Pawnee responded.

//Pawnee4: Kinda do, Lab… I kinda do.//

Twilight’s breath caught in her throat as she stared at her friend’s response. “Pawnee… kinda loves me? A little bit?!” Twilight said, laughing nervously, splashing her hot chocolate as her hands shook. “I… oh crap, what do I say?!”

Reaching out for her keyboard, Twilight typed her response.

//Labrat19: really? You really mean that?//

//Pawnee4: I always mean that shit, Lab. You’re pretty much my best friend.//

Twilight blushed as she choked up a little.

//Labrat19: You’re my best friend too, Pawnee… wish we lived nearby, I’d… I’d really like to see you IRL… like a lot.//

//Pawnee4: Might do, Lab… you live in Canterlot right?//

Twilight stared for a moment before typing out a nervous response.

//Labrat19: Why would you say that?//

//Pawnee4: You talked about getting unusual wavelength readings and anomalous energy spikes from that project you were working on a couple months ago, remember? I got’em too with some of the aggregate programs I’m wired into. They were centered on Canterlot so I figured you must live nearby since your setup is local.//

Twilight bit her lip but nodded. That checked out, and then she cursed herself for not realising she was giving away her location. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Pawnee, she did, but Twilight prided herself on her security protocols and she’d still gone and screwed up without even realising it.

//Labrat19: Right… sorry, and… yeah, I do.//

//Pawnee4: Cool, I’ll be in town in a while, got some stuff to take care of with my pops. We should meet up, though.//

Blushing and feeling her heart race, Twilight smiled as she imagined meeting her friend in person for the first time. Playfully, she typed out her response.

//Labrat19: Sure you wanna hang out with a nerd?//

//Pawnee4: Dunno, but I’m pretty sure I wanna take one out on a date.//

Twilight choked on her hot chocolate, only barely turning her head so she didn’t spit out a mouthful of sticky sugar onto her computer screens. Pawnee was asking her out! Twilight’s entire face turned beet red as she shakily typed out an affirmative response. ‘I’m gonna be going on a date! My first date!’

//Labrat19: That sounds… that sounds really nice, Pawnee. I wanna do that too.//

//Pawnee4: Count on it, Lab, anyway, I gotta hop off, lemme know what you think of those readouts, I’m doing my own work on’em, hasta la bye bye babe!//

//Labrat19: that’s still not linguistically sound… and goodnight… and merry Christmas babe.//

Twilight typed out her own goodbye and smiled warmly. She’d long since stopped needling Pawnee about her completely linguistically flawed sign-off phrase, and now it was more of a in-joke than anything. curling up on her chair and giggling. She wasn’t tired, especially not now, so she opened the documents to take another look. These impossible gauntlets were gonna keep her up all night. Pawnee always got her the best presents.

10. Brighter Than The Moon

~oOo~

I’m flying.

The storm is hunting me again. The great, black, apocalyptic thunderhead that stretches across the skies roars in palpable rage, rattling my bones as I pitch through the high winds. The world spirals and rushes below me as everything turns white and thunder eclipses the sound of the howling winds.

“GILDA!”

That voice again, shrieking out her rage against my love. Another bolt of lightning splits the air and I’m twisting around, spinning to avoid the deadly arcs of power.

That’s when I see it.

The lightning is chasing me.

A bolt, spitting and sparking as it arcs through the air towards me, and I feel fear. It’s like ball lightning, or some other weird atmospheric anomaly, except it’s more than that. It twists and turns and course-corrects as I try to evade it. It’s catching up to me though…

I’m fast, impossibly fast, but nothing is faster than lightning.

“GILDA!”

The voice roars and my world goes white as the lightning and thunder crash around me.

~oOo~

~Whitetail Neighborhood, December 25th, Morning~

Sunset’s eyes snapped open and panic rocketed through her as her senses were filled with unfamiliar sights, sounds, and smells. These weren’t her covers, this wasn’t her bed, this wasn’t-

A pair of strong, dark arms slipped around Sunset purposefully, pulling her close, and that warmth… that strength was familiar.

“Ssh, s’okay, Sunshine, we’re fine,” Gilda whispered, pressing her lips to the crown of Sunset’s head. “We’re at the Principal’s place, remember? Their guest room? We crashed for the night?”

The panic began to subside, and Sunset realised as she started getting light-headed that she’d been hyperventilating. Seeking comfort, Sunset buried herself in her girlfriend’s embrace and took a deep breath, savoring the calming scent that was a part of Gilda’s presence; ash, leather, and a faint hint of engine oil. Looking around, she confirmed what Gilda had said. They were in a large, comfortable, if slightly stiff bed that had that faint scent of cleaner from going regularly unused.

After the night had worn on a bit, Legato and Soprana had gone home, taking their daughter and her girlfriend with them and having happily agreed to drop off Penny and Helden as well since they all lived in the Heights anyway. Gilda and Sunset had gone to bed in the guest room after a small amount of teasing from Luna about keeping everything PG, or at least to stuff a towel under the door to muffle the sounds. After being helped into bed by Gilda, Sunset had fallen asleep almost instantly after what had proven to be a very draining day.

“I love you…” Sunset whispered softly, as she wrapped her arms around Gilda and forced herself to relax, taking several deep breaths, in and out, to bring her rattled nerves back down to a baseline level of sanity.

Gilda nuzzled against Sunset and chuckled. “I love you too, Sunshine, you okay?”

“Mhm…” Sunset replied. “I had that dream again, the one about flying through the lightning storm? Only this time there was a lightning bolt chasing me…”

“Weird,” Gilda said, laughing slightly as she stroked her hand down Sunset’s back, earning a delighted shiver. “Thought you didn’t get night terrors when we were together, though?”

“I still have normal dreams and nightmares,” Sunset said, with a lopsided grin. “And I know you want to protect me all the time but sometimes the night terrors will show up anyway, but believe me, it’s loads better waking up in a panic and then having you to hold onto than not, babe.”

“I guess…” Gilda said quietly, her hands curling around Sunset as if trying to cover as much of her as possible, as if doing that could keep the bad dreams away. “I just… I wanna keep ya safe, Sunshine… I want you to be safe, n’happy, and all that sappy shit, savvy? I’d live my whole life happy if I could do that.”

Sunset felt a bone deep warmth fill her at Gilda’s words as she ran her hands up and down the dark, toned muscle of Gilda’s body.

“You make me feel safer and happier than anything else in the world, Gil,” Sunset said in a soft voice. “And besides… we’re gonna be together forever, right? Sappy shit included?”

“Yeah, damn right we are,” Gilda whispered. “And… and y’know what, Sunflower?”

Sunset chuckled at the slight crack of uncertainty in Gilda’s voice as she looked up but her laugh died in her throat at the intense look on her girlfriend’s face.

“W-what?”

“It… it might take me a while, savvy?” Gilda began, blushing heavily. “I know I’m dirt poor and shit, so it’ll take some time but… I promise I’ll do it.”

“Do what, babe?” Sunset asked, smiling gently.

“Get a ring,” Gilda said, her eyes still burning, and Sunset felt her breath catch in her throat. “I’m gonna get ya one, Sunshine, because…” Gilda swallowed dryly as she worked the words out of her throat. “...because I’m gonna marry you one day, savvy?”

Sunset worked her jaw for a moment, stunned, before speaking up again. “G-Gil… I know what my mom said… and I… but… but you don’t-”

“I’da done it anyway,” Gilda said, shaking her head. “Whatever y’mom said, it’s not important. I’m a Grimfeather, babe, we know what we want when we see it and I want you. Forever. So even if it takes a long time, I… I just wanted ya t’know now, I ain’t backin’ out of this. I’m gonna work my ass off til I can get you that ring, yeah? That’s the plan.”

“I… I know it’s stupid to ask but…” Sunset swallowed hard as she felt happy tears fall down her face. “A-are you sure? I mean… it’s not gonna be easy. Me with my legs and my issues and stuff? C’mon babe, I’m a mess, this… this is gonna be rough.”

“You are a mess, Sunshine,” Gilda agreed with a wry laugh, “but that just makes ya my mess, and I’ll fight tooth’n fuckin’ nail to keep it that way.”

Sunset let out a small, happy cry as she squeezed Gilda tight and buried herself back in Gilda’s arms. Gilda wrapped herself around Sunset, nuzzling her head as she pet the messy nest of red and gold that Sunset’s hair had become over the evening.

“A-anyways,” Gilda said, as she trailed her fingers idly along Sunset’s back. “Just… figured I’d tell ya ‘cause I know y’get anxiety’n stuff, savvy? About bein’ left behind, or left alone’n shit? I just… wanted ya to know.”

From where she was buried in Gilda’s arms, Sunset nodded emphatically, and Gilda could feel the gentle warmth of tears soaking into her shoulder.

Smiling, Gilda leaned down and kissed Sunset’s head. “Merry Christmas, babe, I love you.”

“Merry Christmas, Gil,” Sunset sobbed. “I love you, too!”

A loud knocking rattled the door, making both girls jump slightly as Luna’s voice interrupted their little moment. “Out of bed thou sluggards! Presents await!”

“It’s eight in the morning, Lulu, let them sleep in,” Celestia’s tired voice came from further down the hall. “I’m still not sure how you’re always so chipper in the mornings.”

“Pbbt,” the faint sound of a raspberry being blown elicited from behind their door. “I’m not chipper, you’re simply not a morning person, Celly, and besides what kind of teenager sleeps in on Christmas.”

Gilda pulled herself out of bed, retrieved her shirt and pants, and made her way over to the door to open it up, causing Luna to start in surprise as Gilda stared wryly out.

“The kind who haven’t had any Christmas presents t’speak of for a few years, VP,” Gilda said nonchalantly, earning a shamefaced look from her Vice Principal. “Christmas was just another, colder, day’a the year f’us, savvy?”

“Oh… r-right,” Luna said, looking torn and not a little embarrassed.

“Gilda, be nice,” Sunset admonished from inside the bedroom as she pulled on her own sweater, pants, and trousers while shivering in the cold morning air. “Sorry about that, Miss Luna.”

“Aunt Luna, please,” Luna said, grinning. “After all, orphans have to stick together, now, don’t we?”

Sunset and Gilda both stared through the doorway at Luna as Celestia came to join her sister, putting an arm over Luna’s shoulder.

“I did tell you our Christmases are usually just the two of us,” Celestia said with a quiet smile. “Our parents passed away when I was in college, and Luna was in high school. Of course, we were fortunate enough to have a grandmother to take us in at the time, but… she passed on some time ago, as well.”

“Since then it has just been big sister and I,” Luna said, leaning against Celestia. “We had some missteps, I had a very… difficult senior year.”

“She was a real nightmare,” Celestia said in an arid voice. “But we managed.”

“So, please understand,” Luna said, stepping into the room and putting her hands on Gilda’s shoulders. “If anyone here understands what you may be going through, it’s the two of us.”

“I…” Gilda stammered as she glanced back towards Sunset who looked equally surprised. “I, uh… thanks, I wouldn’ta guessed, y’know?”

“We can leave all of that for another day,” Celestia said, putting a hand on her sister’s shoulder and pulling her out into the hallway. “For now, there are presents to be opened and pancakes to be eaten, assuming everyone is hungry.”

Breakfast was, as promised, pancakes, along with a platter of scrambled eggs and hash browns that Sunset and Gilda dipped into eagerly as they sat around the kitchen table. Sunlight gleamed off of the snow that had fallen in the night and over the course of the morning, scattering rainbows across the windows of the home.

Sunset ate slowly, her thoughts drifting around what Gilda had confided in her and their friends last night.

Taken in and raised by a man who sounded to be equal parts gang boss and cult leader.

Taught to be useful and, more importantly, loyal through a combination of emotional and mental manipulation.

The very idea of this guy made Sunset’s blood boil.

“Sunshine?” Gilda’s voice cut through Sunset’s thoughts like a razor and she glanced up. “You okay? Y’starin’ at that slice’a pancake like y’tryin’ t’set it on fire.”

Sunset blinked and looked around the table to see Celestia and Luna staring at her with concern as well.

“Sorry about that,” Sunset said, grimacing. “I guess I’m still… just thinking about what you told me last night, Gil.”

Gilda frowned. “Oh, y-yeah… guess I kinda forgot, I’m not really use’ta talkin’ about my past like that with anyone, savvy?”

“I hope you don’t mind, but we couldn’t help but overhear as well,” Celestia said somberly. “There isn’t much distance between the dining room and the den.”

“N-nah… s’cool,” Gilda said, scowling. “I was the one talkin’ about it, and if I’m gonna talk out loud I can’t really complain if someone hears it.”

“Whenever you want to talk, babe, I’ll listen,” Sunset said, reaching over and setting her hand on Gilda’s who took it and gave it a squeeze.

“Yeah, I know,” Gilda replied, smiling.

Breakfast was finished and cleared away with Gilda’s help which surprised the sisters a little as they watched her carefully gather up the plates and set them in the sink to be washed without a word. Celestia kept weather eye on Gilda, not because she didn’t trust her, but because the rather thuggish looking girl was constantly surprising her. She wasn’t nearly as rough and tumble as Celestia had expected, given her appearance, and although she was willing to chalk up a portion of that to Sunset’s influence smoothing out some of Gilda’s rough edges, Celestia strongly suspected Gilda was simply much better behaved than her school demeanor suggested.

“Pr… Uhm… C-Celestia?” Sunset called quietly from the den, disrupting the older woman’s musings. “Can I talk to you for a moment?”

“Of course, Sunset,” Celestia replied, before turning back to her sister. “Lulu, help Miss Grimfeather finish cleaning up, please.”

“Sure, leave me with the dirty work,” Luna groused, as she set to scrubbing a syrupy plate, drawing a chuckle from Gilda.

“I cooked, you clean,” Celestia shot back as she left the kitchen and made her way over to the couch near the fireplace where Sunset was sitting. “Is everything okay, Sunset?”

“Mhm,” Sunset answered, staring forward and looking pensive. “M-, uh…”

“Aunt, is fine,” Celestia said, laughing a little. “As Luna said, we orphans should stick together.”

“Aunt Celestia…” Sunset said, before twisting up her face and chuckling. “Written’s Quill that’s weird, sorry… uhm, I wanted to talk to you… about Gilda.”

Celestia nodded, settling into the couch and gesturing for Sunset to continue.

“W-well… I was wondering,” Sunset began uneasily, “a-are there any… resources at school for kids with like… learning disabilities?”

Scowling a little, Celestia nodded. “Yes, of course there are, why do you ask?”

“It’s…. It’s just that, well…” Sunset mumbled. “See, G-Gilda is-”

“Sunflower…” Gilda’s voice, low and a little angry sounding cut through Sunset’s words and drawing a panicked look from Sunset, she was standing in the archway between the kitchen and the den, scowling with Luna behind her looking concerned. “Thought I toldja…”

“Gilda, what is Sunset talking about?” Celestia asked in a worried voice. “Why was she asking about learning disability resources?”

“I ain’t gotta answer any questions, savvy?” Gilda snarled. “I toldja I don’t want any special fuckin’ treatment, Sunshine!”

Sunset looked stricken as she rolled forward slightly. “Gilda, c’mon, please! Let us at least try to help, okay? Literally, it could not possibly hurt!”

“Y’can’t fix stupid, Sunny,” Gilda spat out. “I ain’t like m-... I just…” Gilda seemed to choke on her words for a moment before scowling bitterly. “I’m dumb, Sunset, that’s all there is to it.”

Celestia stood and walked over to Gilda, staring at her eye to eye with an even glare.

“Miss Grimfeather.”

Gilda swallowed thickly, stepping back instinctually at the force put off by Principal Celestia.

“Sit down.”

They shared the glare for several seconds before Gilda took another dry swallow and sat down, earning a small smile from Celestia.

“I am an educator, Gilda,” Celestia began, sitting down next to Gilda and putting a hand on her shoulder. “So if there’s something about how you learn that I need to know, and that I don’t know, then I need you to tell me.”

Frowning, Gilda stared down at the floor for a long minute before waving a hand at Sunset. Smiling in relief, Sunset looked up at Celestia.

“So… I’m not really qualified to make a diagnosis, obviously,” Sunset started, “but something came up while the two of us were talking a few days back and… well, I’m like, a strong ninety percent sure Gilda is dyslexic.”

Celestia’s eyes widened and she looked back at Gilda who was still scowling and staring at the ground. Suddenly a great many things about Gilda’s behaviour started to make sense. Her disregard for written assignments, her poor grades in more reading-heavy classes like English Lit and History but generally excellent grades in more hands-on classes like Shop and Home Ec.

“You’re… well, I won’t ask if you’re sure,” Celestia said, her mouth thinning to a hard line. “You’re a smart girl, Sunset, smarter than most your age… and the specific answer to your question from before is yes, we most certainly have resources for dyslexic students.”

“I thought so,” Sunset said, smiling a little sadly.

Luna furrowed her brow as she moved in front of Gilda and knelt down as so she could see Gilda’s face. “Why didn’t you say something, Miss Grimfeather? Why didn’t you tell anyone you were having so much trouble with the assignments?”

“A-Aunt Luna stop!” Sunset said, her voice tinged with anger as she rolled up to Luna’s side. “She feels bad enough about it already, and it’s not her fault for not knowing what dyslexia is! You know how Gilda was raised!”

Luna stepped back looking suitably admonished as Celestia put an arm around Gilda’s shoulders. “Sunset is right, you are not at fault and you are certainly not stupid, Gilda, and once school starts back up again I’ll personally see to it that you’re given what you need to succeed, alright?”

Gilda nodded silently, wiping away a few stray tears and Celestia, feeling a pang of maternal instinct not for the first time, wrapped her arms around Gilda fully and pulled her close, settling her chin on Gilda’s head and stroking her back. Celestia had always seen Gilda as a strong, angry young woman, so it surprised her quite a bit to hear a soft, broken sob issue from Gilda as the teen wrapped her arms around Celestia, returning the hug.

“It’s alright,” Celestia whispered softly, patting Gilda’s back as she cried. “You’re a brave and incredible young woman, Gilda. You have so much compassion, and I’m so sorry we haven’t been there for you, but know that from now on we will be. I promise you that.”

“My sister is correct,” Luna said softly, setting a hand on Gilda’s shoulder. “You’re always welcome in either of our offices or in our home, and if you ever need us we will be there. I’m sorry I made you feel as if it was your fault for not noticing, that was… very wrong of me. I am the teacher, it was my responsibility to have an eye on these things, not you.”

“E-Everyone always told me I was just stupid,” Gilda sobbed out finally, “I was always the dumb one, s-savvy? Like… I couldn’t read too good, and I’d get lost ‘cause I couldn’t tell what street I was on… and… I just…”

“Tell someone that they are something for long enough,” Luna began in a dark, almost angry voice, “and eventually they will come to believe it. But know that neither my sister nor I believe you are stupid, Gilda. Quite the opposite; to have excelled as well as you have while suffering from such a handicap and not even knowing it? That’s doubly impressive, to me.”

“You’re not stupid, Gilda,” Celestia said, her voice slightly muffled against Gilda’s soft white hair. “You’re clever and fantastic and so very good. I would have been proud to call you my daughter, and I am so proud to think of you as a part of my family.”

Sunset rolled up and joined the hug, putting her arms around Gilda’s waist and setting her head on Gilda’s shoulder.

“You’re the best, Gil,” Sunset said softly. “And I love you so much, I just want you to be happy, too, savvy?”

Gilda nodded silently as she pulled away and wiped her eyes. Luna sat down on Gilda’s other side and pulled Gilda into another hug.

“Never be ashamed for who you are, Gilda,” Luna said in a slightly raw voice. “Especially for something that isn’t your fault. I’m sorry for never seeing your strength.”

Taking a deep breath, Gilda pulled away and settled back into the couch, laughing a little dryly. “This is a pretty weird fuckin’ Christmas, huh, Sunshine?”

Luna clapped her hands together, grinning wide as she did. “Speaking of which! There are presents to be opened now!”

“You’re such a child, Lulu,” Celestia replied, smiling as she got up to retrieve a number of presents.

The present that was set in front of sunset shared the blaze of her hair while the ribbon was a gold band. Gilda’s gift was an oaky brown with a similar gold band to Sunset’s, and Luna’s was a deep midnight blue wrapped in silver ribbon. Luna passed Celestia a gift that was bright pinked wrapped in white ribbon.

“Go ahead, Sunset,” Luna said cheerily. “I picked your present out myself.”

Grinning, Sunset started gently unwrapping the paper, drawing a chuckling from Gilda. “Y’know you’re supposed t’rip the paper, right, Sunshine?”

“I know,” Sunset replied as she continued to carefully undo the tape and wrapped folds. “But… I never really got presents before this, except a few from my teacher, so… I just think it’s a shame is all.”

“Heh, whatever,” Gidla said, still laughing a little. “You do you, Sunflower.”

Tossing the wrapping paper aside, Sunset picked up the old, battered box that was underneath it all. It certainly didn’t look new or store-bought, but that hardly mattered. Popping the lid off, Sunset gasped softly as she stared at what was inside. Tearing up a little, Sunset drew out the black article of clothing.

A leather jacket.

It was an older style with flared lapels and a wide collar, metal studs pinned the epaulets to the shoulders and more spiked studs ran along the buckle that traced along the nipped waist. On the back was a stylized dragon’s eye underneath the word: NIGHTMARE, spelled in a font made to look like bloody gashes.

“It, ah… used to be mine,” Luna said with a dry chuckle. “But for obvious reasons, I never wear it anymore.”

“Tourni’ told us what happened to your jacket, Sunset,” Celestia said, smiling broadly at the expression of joy on Sunset’s face. “We thought we might do what we can to replace it.”

Hugging the jacket tightly to herself, Sunset beamed at her new ‘aunts’. “It’s perfect! I love it!”

“Guess it’s my turn,” Gilda said, holding up her present. As she did so, though, Celestia and Luna shared a glance.

“Gilda, before you open that…” Celestia began.

Luna sighed, and continued. “It’s… not precisely from us… we were actually a bit lost as to what to get you when, a few days ago, Twilight Sparkle appeared on our doorstep.”

Celestia nodded along. “She gave us that along with a letter from, well… the other me. Twilight wanted to be sure you knew it was addressed solely to you, but that the gift was, a bit, intended for both of you.”

Gilda stared uneasily down at the gift, still remembering the pure intensity of Sunset’s adoptive mother. It had been an experience unlike any other she could imagine and while it wasn’t strictly unpleasant… standing in the presence of so much power wasn’t something that Gilda was in a hurry to experience again. Swallowing dryly and looking to Sunset who just smiled and nodded to her to continue, Gilda began tearing open the paper.

Inside was a carved wooden box that was quite beautiful in its own way but, at the same time, a little unsettling. Something about it suggested it was made by other-than-human hands.

Or hooves.

Sliding the top of the box off, Gilda reached inside gingerly, half expecting something to bite her despite the notion being ridiculous, and her hand closed around a cold, grooved metal bar. Pulling the object out, Gilda examined it curiously. It was made from some kind of odd bluish metal and had strange curved marks on it. The piece she was holding specifically was curved just slightly, as if molded for a grip. Looking back inside, Gilda spotted a small envelope sitting at the bottom of the box.

“Can I see that?” Sunset asked, holding out her hand for the metal bar.

“Sure thing, Sunshine,” Gilda handed it over then reached into the box to pull out the letter. It was thick, faintly yellowed parchment the likes of which Gilda had only heard about. “Ugh… guess no one told her I don’t read so well,” Gilda grumbled as she unfolded the paper.

To her surprise, the moment she laid her eyes on the letters they glowed slightly and began shifting around until they were in a perfect configuration to read.

“Friggin’ magic,” Gilda mumbled as she began reading.

Dear Gilda,

A very Happy Hearth’s Warming to both you and my beloved daughter. I understand it has a different name over there but I hear the idea is similar. I’m sure my gift must be a bit baffling to you, but understand that it is only intended as a last resort. I’ve not lived this long and ruled for this many centuries without becoming a firm believer in being adequately prepared for all outcomes and, while my fervent hope is that it will not be needed, I’ve always operated on the ‘Condom Rule’ for these sorts of things.

‘Better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.’

In case you and my daughter are unaware, when we met a few days back I was surprised to discover traces of magic in you, and not weak ones. I feel you are bound for much greater things, Miss Grimfeather, but either way, my hope is that this gift will serve, if nothing else, as a sign of my trust in you. As my daughter’s Knight Protector it would be remiss of me not to ensure that you are, at the very least, properly equipped to protect my little Sun.

Give my love to Sunset and my sincere gratitude to my other self and her sister for delivering this gift to your hands.

Love Always,

H.R.H. Solara dia Nova Celestia, Unconquered Sun, Diarch of Equestria, Destroyer of Cakes, Damn It Luna Stop Messing With The Dictation Spell, etc…

Gilda set the odd letter down and looked over at Sunset who was staring in wonder at the small bar of metal in her hand, turning it over and over with a look of almost wistful nostalgia in her eyes.

“Babe?” Gilda said questioningly.

“This is Cloudsteel,” Sunset whispered. “Real Cloudsteel, not the half-baked, factory-made knock-off that floods Cloudsdale and Las Pegasus steel markets today, but real, honest-to-Quill, forged in an active thunderstorm, Cloudsteel.”

Rolling closer to Gilda she thrust it almost into her face and pointed at the scratches.

“Do you see those?” Sunset asked, grinning ear-to-ear. “That’s pre-unification Pegasopolin Cuneiform! Gilda, this thing? It’s older than Equestria! And these marks here?” Sunset pointed out some small chipping near one end of the bar. “See the notches and marks along the edge? Battle damage! It would’ve taken an artifact, like the Kingmaker Blade of the old Unicornian ethnarchs, to damage something like this!”

“So… it’s like, a weapon?” Gilda asked staring at the short bar. “Seems kinda small, Sunshine.”

“It’s a magical artifact, Gil,” Sunset replied in a wry tone. “I’m pretty sure there’s more to it than just this.”

“I can’t say I’m incredibly pleased by the idea of yet another magical artifact floating around my hometown,” Celestia said, eyeing the small bar carefully. “But I trust that I… heavens that’s strange to say… had a good reason and wouldn’t put others in danger recklessly.”

Taking the smooth bar of metal of Sunset’s hand, Gilda lifted it, feeling the faint static charge crawling over her hand where it touched her flesh. More than that though, there was something else bound into the metal. Something more than just magic and lightning.

“Gilda?” Sunset’s voice came to her as if from a great distance. “Are you okay?”

Gripping it hard, Gilda closed her eyes. She could feel the magic that had been beaten into the metal. It pounded in her ears like a thundering of a hammer. Behind her eyes she felt a burning. Like light building up inside her with physical force.

The clangor of hammer on metal sounded loud in Gilda’s ears. The metal stink of ozone and rain filled her mouth. She could feel the raindrops, driven by powerful winds, beating against her skin, dampening her hair and plastering it to her scalp. Lightning flashed behind her eyes again as the beat of metal sounded again.

Lightning and thunder was crashing around her. Pins and needles crawled up her fingers and along her arm.

And through it all, Gilda could feel it.

More than lightning, there was magic.

More than power, there was purpose… this tool had no meaning but in the hands of one who would use it in the name of something greater. Someone greater.

This wasn’t just a simple bar of metal or ancient ingot of alien steel.

It was the weapon of a defender.

A tool of…

Of…

Loyalty.

The sound of thunder echoed through the small den causing Celestia, Luna, and Sunset to rear back as Gilda’s eyes snapped open. Lightning danced from her pupils as the simple bar of metal rattled and then split and folded open until it became a spear nearly as tall as Gilda herself.

“No way…” Sunset whispered, staring in awe at the shining blue steel that sparked with magical energy. “That’s the Huracán; the spear of office wielded by the Pegasopolan Warmaster, it’s where Commander Hurricane got his name!”

“Clearly your other self does not pull half measures when it comes to protecting her daughter,” Luna muttered, also staring at the sparking magical artifact in her living room.

Celestia swallowed hard and nodded. “Y-yes… clearly.”

A moment later, Gilda sagged and the spear snapped back into its more compact configuration. Her skin was pallid and washed out and she panted as if she had just run a marathon. Sweat clung to Gilda’s skin as she stared down at the artifact.

“Geez, Sunshine, what the hell?” Gilda gasped, wiping at her brow. “I feel like I just sprinted from the Commons to the Heights.”

“It’s because you’ve got very little magic,” Sunset said, picking the Huracán out of Gilda’s hand. “Artifacts like these can’t just be picked up and used, babe. They tax you, they cost you some of your own magic. The stronger the artifact, the greater the cost. Remember what happened to me when I jammed Princess Twilight’s crown on my head?”

“I’m uh… I’m not gonna go all…” Gilda asked uneasily, and Sunset laughed and shook her head.

“No, babe, you’re not gonna go all demon-Gil, or something,” Sunset replied, still giggling a little at the look on Gilda’s face. “Worst case scenario? You overdraw from your wellspring and pass out; these types of artifacts usually have some kind of fail-safe, which I’m pretty sure we just witnessed. Notice how it turned off on its own?”

“What does that mean, precisely?” Celestia asked, leaning in to look at the innocuous metal bar that was apparently some kind of ancient magical weapon.

Sunset pursed her lips for a moment as she gathered her thoughts. Magic didn’t really have a good analogue on this side of the portal, especially not something on the scale of power as, say, the Huracán.

“Think of it like… a circuit, savvy?” Sunset began. “An artifact isn’t usually intelligent, and it can never use itself, it needs a user. When a user properly aligns themselves with the artifact it completes the circuit and turns it on.”

“I believe we’re following thus far,” Luna said as she eyed the artifact. “So… in this analogy magic is electricity? Or is the wielder the battery?”

“Uhm, not exactly,” Sunset said with a grimace. “It’s not a perfect analogy, either. The artifact has all the power it needs, but it lacks a… hm… a catalyst, I guess? Our magic catalyzes a reaction in the artifact and activates it.” Holding up the haft of the weapon, Sunset pointed to it. “When this thing goes online, like most artifacts, its power runs through you and yours goes through it, that means you’re a lot more powerful than normal, right? But there’s a catch…”

Celestia snapped her fingers as a light clicked on behind her eyes. “It’s like running a high power current through poorly insulated wires, if your not prepared, isn’t it?”

“Exactly,” Sunset said with a nod. “Most artifacts have a failsafe that acts like a breaker, but not all of them. The Elements of Harmony, for instance, don’t because they are actually semi-sentient.”

“But this one?” Luna gestured to the Huracán.

“Powerful, but not sentient,” Sunset confirmed. “Though I’m sure it has strict criteria for who can use it, clearly Gilda passed muster.”

“But it’s not dangerous to Gilda?” Luna asked with concern.

Sunset’s mouth hardened to a thin line. “I… I don’t think so, I can’t imagine mom would hoof over something that would hurt- Gilda why are you laughing?”

Shaking slightly in her seat, Gilda was trying very hard not to smile as she shook silently with laughter that only grew as her girlfriend glared at her.

“S-Sorry babe… but… you said ‘hoof’...” Gilda choked out around her laughter, and Sunset’s face reddened slightly.

“S-shut up! I was born a unicorn pony, okay? Cut me some slack!” Sunset grumbled. “Anyway… I think it should be fine, we just need Gilda to practice with the spear. Maybe find somewhere out of the way where she can train? Her meridians are stunted and weak right now, but with magic flowing into the world and an artifact in her hands that will probably change quickly.”

“I trust you’ll use your new power wisely, Gilda?” Celestia asked, looking at Gilda with a wry grin.

“Y-Yeah,” Gilda agreed, nodding. “I’m supposed to use it only as a last resort, and only t’protect Sunshine, so… yeah.”

“Well, at the very least,” Luna put in, settling a hand on Sunset’s shoulder. “I think we can trust you fully when it comes to protecting Sunset.”

“Agreed,” Celestia chimed in. “Now before we go on, Sunset, we do have something else for you but…” Her voice fell slightly as Celestia’s face became pensive. “Understand that I have no expectation of what you will do with it.”

“With what?” Sunset asked quietly.

Walking over to the Christmas tree, Celestia knelt down and retrieved a large parcel from underneath wrapped in blue speckled paper and bearing a large tag with Sunset’s name on it. Sunset’s eyes widened as she realised that, while the tag was addressed to her it was not in either Celestia nor Luna’s handwriting.

It was a curving, graceful calligraphy that Sunset was perfectly familiar with. After all, Rarity did love to give gifts.

“I-is that…” Sunset almost hissed, wheeling herself back and away from the gift like it was a venomous snake. “I don’t want it, Pr-... Aunt Celestia… I don’t, you can keep it, or toss it, or whatever.”

“Babe? What’s up?” Gilda asked, looking concerned.

“That gift is from them,” Sunset growled.

Gilda’s face clouded over with anger as she wheeled on Celestia and Luna and a snapping sound split the air as Huracán’s haft leapt from Sunset’s hand to Gilda’s.

“Seriously? You know how Sunflower fuckin’ feels about those losers!”

“Gilda…” Sunset’s voice was calmer, or more… calming.

Gilda glanced back at Sunset who nodded down at Gilda’s hand. Looking down, Gilda’s eyes widened. The haft of Huracán was gripped tight in her fist, a faint glow suffusing the air around it.

“You’ve got to keep your temper in check, babe, savvy?” Sunset chided gently.

Letting out a slow breath, Gilda passed the weapon back to Sunset and sat down. “Still pissed off, Sunshine…”

“We know,” Celestia said softly, setting the package down. “That’s why I said, you can do with it what you will, but the girls seem very sincere in their want to apologise.”

“That doesn’t mean you have to accept it, though,” Luna said, walking up to Sunset and kneeling in front of her. “But… I do think you should give them a chance to show you how they feel, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but if you want some advice? Take the gift as it was intended, with good will, and if you find your heart is in a place where it might be able to forgive, open it. Who knows? It might allow the wound to heal more cleanly than it might have without.”

Sunset glanced at Gilda who shrugged. “Don’t look at me Sunshine, remember what I promised ya this morning? I’m in this for the long haul, so whatever you wanna do I’ll be right there with ya.”

Feeling a lightness grow in her heart as she remembered Gilda’s new promise, a promise for a ring, Sunset couldn’t help but smile. Maybe it was that, maybe it was because it was Christmas, but a part of Sunset was feeling a little more generous than usual.

“Fine,” Sunset said finally, “I’ll take it but I’m not opening it, not today anyway. I don’t wanna spend today thinking about them, savvy?” Luna, Gilda, and Celestia all nodded. “Today… today I want to spend with my family.”

“Sounds solid t’me, Sunflower,” Gilda said, leaning in and kissing Sunset’s cheek. “Let’s get to it then.”

~San Tornado State Penitentiary, Las Pegasus, December 29th, Morning~

“Ah don’t like this, sha,” Summer said as she sat in the passenger seat beside Tempest who was leaning against the steering wheel and scowling as well. “Ol’ Jefe gonna know somethin’ up as soon as I walk in ‘dere.”

“He already knows, mi verano,” Tempest grumbled. “That puta knew we would find the empty cache eventually, and he knew we would come and ask him about it.”

Even in winter, the dull heat of the region permeated everything. Las Pegasus was not a place where the chill of winter ever found a solid grip. Certain cloudy days would invite a chill breeze, but even in the depth of winter the sun would shine and heat would be the order of the day.

Despite that, Tempest was wearing a long-sleeve jacket to hide her tattoos, they were too close to the Penitentiary for her to want to risk her marks being seen by officers of the law. Most of them knew damn well what the marks of the Brujah were and even though her gang was one of the less violent and more orderly ones, they were still a gang. Likewise, Tempests mohawk was down and covering much of the right side of her face to conceal her sugar skull tattoo.

“Trust me, mi vida, I would go in there myself and talk to him if I could,” Tempest growled. “But I would never make it past the first checkpoint.”

“That’s what you get for inkin’ y’self up like that, sha,” Summer chided playfully. “Not that I don’t like it, but it’s a fair bit’a conspicuous.”

Tempest buried her face in her arms as she let out a slow breath before swearing and slamming her palm against the steering wheel. “Me cago! Ese pinche gringo! I shoulda ripped his tongue out through his asshole instead’a lettin’ the feds take him in after what he did ta Zee.”

“It wasn’t ya fault, sha,” Summer said softly, leaning over and putting a hand on Tempest’s cheek, guiding her face over for a kiss.

Summer’s full lips curved gently over Tempest’s hard, thin ones, but there was no lack of passion from the young Marexican woman as she looped her arms around Summer’s midriff and pulled her closer.

“You’re the only one who thinks so, mi vida,” Tempest said sadly as she pulled away. “Mi carnala blames me and hates me, and the other runners are disappointed in me too, even now all these years later that failure hangs over my head.”

“It was never gon’ be a bloodless victory, sha,” Summer insisted. “Ya’ll knew that, ya just hoped f’better… but that slimy bibitte weren’t gon’ let go’a his power without a last swing, y’know?”

“Si, lo se,” Tempest grumbled. “Alright, let’s get it over with, go talk to’m.”

“You know he’ll want somethin’, right sha?” Summer said dolefully. “He ain’t never done nothin’ f’free.” Tempest just nodded silently. “A’right, you sit tight, sha, and I’ll be right back.”

Summer hopped out of her wife’s cherry red Bel Air, pattng it on the hood with a grin, before waving at Tempest and trotting down the road to the public entrance of San Tornado. The towering concrete edifice housed over three thousand inmates, well beyond capacity, and it was infamous as a brutal place to be incarcerated. A small part of Summer had hoped that Storm would get what was coming to him in those bloodstained walls, but after a year with no word beyond that he was still breathing she had given up on an easy shanking giving him the end she thought he deserved.

Giving her name, a fake one of course but with excellent forgeries backing it up, Summer walked in through the multiple checkpoints. She carried nothing but a wallet, empty of everything but ID since the security had a rep for theft from visitors, and a few worthless bracelets that she left with security before being escorted to a wall of half-cubbies, each with a chair, a two-way phone, and thick plate glass separating visitor from visitee.

Taking a seat, Summer tapped her finger impatiently on the small counter while she waited. Several minutes passed, then several more, and Summer grimaced as she started to become agitated. It didn’t normally take this long to collect a prisoner who had a visitor. Especially not since she had made the appointment ahead of time.

Finally, after almost twenty minutes a young man approached her. “Sorry ma’am, your, uhm, father-in-law? He declined to see you.”

Summer’s eyes narrowed at that. Storm never passed up a chance to gloat or act as if he had gotten one over on someone. He had to have known that one of them would come talk to him, too.

“Did… did he give’ya anythin’?” Summer asked hesitantly, knowing what the answer had to be.

The guard nodded. “He did, here…”

Reaching into his pocket, he fished out a small, folded piece of paper and passed it over to Summer who took it and pocketed it.

“Merci, officer,” Summer said as she stood up. “Guess I’ll hopalong ‘den, thanks again.”

Summer barely got out of the stifling confines of the prison before she started swearing viciously. Pulling out the paper she unfolded it and angrily scanned the page, her eyes widening as she reached the end. Feeling a dull chill in her gut, she went from a stomping stride to a sprint to get back to Tempest.

Rounding the corner, she saw Tempest’s eyes widen as Summer slid into the car, but before Tempest could ask what was wrong, she had the piece of paper shoved into her hands.

“Read dat, sha,” Summer muttered angrily.

Holding up the paper, Tempest scanned it.

Hey Kiddo,

Congratulations on getting hitched! Heard about it through the grapevine and it couldn’t have happened to a nicer pair of mutinous traitors. With that in mind I don’t really think I want to talk to you. It’s just not my style, you know? Nothing personal, just gotta stay on brand.

That said, I will definitely talk to my favorite daughter. Bring her with next time and we’ll see what we can see, savvy?

Ciao,

Storm

Tempest scowled. “That pinche coño knows damn well I can’t step foot in San Tornado,” she spat. “How’s he expect me t-”

“He ain’t talkin’ bout you, sha,” Summer said angrily. “Think about it, Temp. Ol’ Jefe got one more ‘favorite’ daughter out there, right? One who can walk inta San Tornado without a problem.”

Eyes widening in fury, Tempest crumpled the message in her fist. “Puta madre, how the fuck…”

“Sorry, sha,” Summer said in a sad voice. “Looks like we gotta ask Grifa for another favor.”

~Ponyville Commons, December 31st, Afternoon~

Gilda and Sunset spent the majority of winter break after Christmas relaxing. The constant stress of everything that had happened had left Sunset exhausted and even Gilda was feeling the wear and tear on her mind. Both girls had silently agreed to just set Huracán to the side for the time being. There would be a time to train with it but for now the girls had been looking forward to a break from the stress of their lives.

Sunset found herself reflecting, as she sat in bed more staring at her library book than reading it, on how chaotic her life really had become for being so young. Anon-A-Miss aside, her world had become insanely wild and she wasn’t sure how she felt about it.

Gilda was out grocery shopping and for once Sunset hadn’t felt like going with. She was tired, if she were being honest. The whole world exhausted her and it made her leery about what it would be like when she had to go back to interacting with it on a day-to-day basis once school started up again. Unconsciously, Sunset reached out and laid her hand on the smooth plastic of the headset Vinyl had given her for Christmas. She had music on her phone, and the universal jack for the headphones fit it… but was shutting the world out the right choice?

A part of it was the dreams. She’d been having the same dream on and off since Christmas Eve. Flying through the thunderstorm only to get blown out of the sky. It was starting to become genuinely unsettling and she had already written to Twilight about it. Her friend had promised to get back to her but didn’t have anything for her at that moment, so Sunset was left just… waiting.

Between that and day-to-day stresses the world was just so… tiring. Yet despite that, Sunset still wanted to run towards the next objective, sprint to her next milestone in life, whatever that may be; graduation or even marriage.

Sunset blushed again as she often did when remembering Gilda’s promise to her. For such a rough-looking girl, she was wonderfully sensitive to Sunset’s needs. Gilda wanted Sunset to know that she would never be left alone, Gilda knew well enough how bad her anxiety over getting abandoned could become.

Promising to marry her, though?

It was exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. Part of Sunset wasn’t sure she was ready for that kind of commitment but the rest of her… craved it. She wanted something real. Marriage wasn’t for everyone, and there was a time she had scoffed at it. With her whole life having been lived in one form of transience or another, though; either as an orphan destined to be adopted or eventually turned out for being too old, to being a student destined to graduate or fail, to… being a friend. Destined to be abandoned, it would seem.

Now though… what Gilda promised her wasn’t an either-or.

Closing her book, Sunset beamed silently to herself as she hugged the book to her chest.

She was destined to be a wife to an incredible, wonderful woman.

“Guess it just goes to show,” Sunset muttered quietly to herself, “sometimes you never really know what you’ll want until you see it.”

Sunset often told Gilda that she was her world, and Gilda returned the affection, but… at the same time Sunset wasn’t certain how much Gilda truly understood how real that sentiment was for her.

Truth was, it scared Sunset. The idea that when she closed her eyes she honestly couldn’t imagine being without Gilda. Without the tall, dark, smirking girl, it felt like Sunset’s entire world just… crumbled. For someone who had, for so long, defined her entire world by reflecting it off of herself, the idea that her world now depended on someone else was genuinely terrifying.

“I wonder how much of that is the control freak in me talking…” Sunset mused in annoyance to herself. She gave Twilight a lot of crap for being neurotic but Sunset knew damn well she wasn’t much better.

The lock on the door unsnapped and Sunset felt a smile trace up her face reflexively. Gilda pushed the door open carrying a couple of large paper bags, slightly damp from the snow, into the flat before kicking the door closed behind her.

“Hey, Sunshine,” Gilda greeted her girlfriend with a smile. “What’s kickin’.”

“Not me,” Sunset answered wryly, getting a roll of the eyes from Gilda. “Meant to ask this morning but did you wanna do anything? Since it’s New Year’s Eve and all?”

“Didn’t really have any plans,” Gilda said, shrugging as she dropped the bags on the table and started putting the groceries away. “Figured we’d stay in or somethin’, savvy? ‘Less you had somewhere t’be?”

Sunset considered what she was about to propose, it wasn’t the best idea but it was definitely something Sunset wanted to do. Partially because it was a little tradition she’d become used to and partially because, honestly, she wanted to share it with Gilda. After a moment of thought, Sunset nodded.

“Y-yeah, I actually kinda do,” Sunset said with a smile. “I wanna go back down to the docks tonight.”

Gilda raised an eyebrow at that. “Mind me askin’ why?”

“Mm, well…” Sunset leaned back against the wall as she set her book aside. “See, you know the big fireworks show that happens on the north end of the pier off the boardwalk?”

“Up in the super ritzy part’a town?” Gilda asked, and Sunset nodded. “Yeah, I know of it, ain’t ever seen it ‘cause, y’know, poor.”

“I’ve watched it every year,” Sunset said with a smirk. “See, turns out you can see it pretty well from the rooftops of the warehouses.”

Gilda’s face fell as Sunset spoke and she stood up, rubbing the back of her neck uneasily. “I mean, sure… but… Sunshine… y’legs.”

Sunset crooked an eyebrow up at Gilda’s words. “C’mon, Gil, I’m a literal genius, you don’t think I haven’t thought of that?”

“W-well, nah, but,” Gilda stammered, earning a smile from Sunset. “I just… if… if ya wanna, sure, no problem, Sunshine. When does it start?”

“Midnight, obviously,” Sunset replied. “So we’ve got some time, it’s only about four, but we’ll have to hoof it, the buses don’t run that late, savvy?”

“Hoof it,” Gilda repeated, chuckling and getting a scowl from Sunset.

“Oh come on! That’s actually a phrase here!” Sunset shouted, throwing her arms into the air. “Not fair!”

“S-Sorry, Sunflower, s’just funny ‘cause y’know, pony,” Gilda said laughing a little as she finished putting the groceries away. “Alright so… fireworks by the dock, sounds good.”

“Good,” Sunset said before giving her girlfriend a sultry look. “Now c’mere and kiss me, Gil.”

Gilda grinned widely back at Sunset and doffed her bomber jacket. “Don’t have’ta tell me twice, Sunshine.”

Whenever Gilda was feeling in the mood, she did something that Sunset found very appealing.

She would stalk.

Sunset was pretty sure Gilda didn’t even know she did it despite the fact that she was doing it right at that very moment. Heel to toe, one foot in front of the other, slowly advancing with her eyes fixed directly on Sunset. Golden eyes, the eyes of a raptor, the eyes of a hawk… the eyes of a predator.

Maybe it was a holdover from being born and raised a pony, a herbivorous prey species by nature, but the idea of being stalked; the idea that at any moment she could be pounced on and have teeth fixed around her neck, made Sunset’s heart race.

Because it was Gilda.

It would always be Gilda.

And those sharp, entrancing eyes of burnished gold were only for Sunset.

Gilda towered over her, making Sunset feel small and vulnerable. There was nowhere she could go. Nowhere she could run. And nowhere in the world that she would rather be.

Lowering herself down, Gilda brought one hand up to Sunset’s neck as their lips met while the other went around her bare back and traced down her spine to her waist. Sunset shivered as Gilda pressed her thumb softly against Sunset’s throat and trailed it down to the soft flesh of her neck. Sunset reached up and tangled her fingers into Gilda’s hair, feeling the soft, shaggy locks and shivering again as Gilda nipped at her lip and licked softly, darting her tongue in teasingly before pulling away.

Sunset let out a soft gasp as she and Gilda finally parted, then smiled.

“Good girl,” Sunset whispered. “Now do it again.”

~Ponyville Commons, December 31st, Evening~

“C’mon, Gil, can’t we go any faster?” Sunset complained as Gilda pushed her towards the warehouse district. “We’re going at half the speed of smell, here!”

“Hey,” Gilda countered with a laugh. “It ain’t my fault we’re running late, Sunshine. You were the one who decided to keep goin’.”

Sunset blushed heavily before glaring at Gilda. “H-Hey, sometimes I get caught up, okay? Not my fault I’ve got such a stupid-pretty girlfriend.”

“Considerin’ how hard I fell in love with you, babe? I’m gonna say it’s a little bit your fault, savvy?” Gilda laughed as they rolled through evening air.

The streets were mostly clear, the snows had abated somewhat and combined with the efforts of the city council much of the main streets and sidewalks of the city had been kept open and free of sleet. There were a lot of people out at first, and Sunset and Gilda moved quietly among them. Sunset occasionally pulled her beanie down further over her head to hide herself, more out of reflex than intention, or so it seemed to Gilda. Sunset’s suddenly timid reflexes hurt Gilda’s heart a bit, especially knowing how strong she really was.

The closer they got to the warehouse district the thinner the crowds became until there was only the two of them. Sunset would have felt uneasy about being out in the middle of the night like this, except Gilda was by her side. All romantic and lovey-dovey bullshit aside, Gilda had no mercy for people who threatened either her or Sunset. There was no two ways about it.

“Hey Gilda?” Sunset said softly as the sounds of the city night fell loosely around them. “Can I ask you a question?”

Gilda looked down curiously at Sunset but nodded. “Sure thing, Sunshine.”

“Why… why did you fall in love with me?” Sunset asked in a quiet voice.

For several minutes Gilda was quiet. It didn’t bother Sunset, she knew she’d asked a strange question that, at the very least, warranted a little bit of thought before blurting out an answer. In that moment the only sound in the world was the distant sound of car engines, the faint rumble of a city that never quite fell into full rest, and the dull crunch of slush under Sunset’s wheels.

“I think…” Gilda began after a moment, “that… I was sorta always a little in love with you, savvy?”

Sunset felt her cheeks warm at the notion. “What do you mean?”

“Like, when you first came to Canterlot High, you were this fireball’a crazy, right?” Gilda said, chuckling a little. “Like, no one could tell you no and you went from new girl to Queen B in what felt like ten seconds flat.”

“And… that made you fall in love with me?” Sunset asked wryly, glancing up at GIlda.

“Nah… it was…” Gilda grimaced before taking a slow breath. “The first time I saw ya it was… right after school let out, couple years back, savvy?”

“Freshman year, right?” Sunset asked.

“Mm, yeah, I was on the roof’a the school, y’know how I like bein’ high up,” Gilda replied, and Sunset nodded with a laugh. “And I was watchin’ everyone go home and… I see this girl right? Red and gold hair with a cocky smirk like she’s the biggest fish in the pond and doesn’t give a shit who knows it.”

“Gee, I wonder who that was,” Sunset said, rolling her eyes.

“And I’m sittin’ there, right?” Gilda continued. “And I see this guy come up and slap your ass.”

Sunset blushed, suddenly remembering the moment. “Oh, right, that Junior… can’t even remember his name but he’d been hitting on me all week. Couldn’t take no for a fuckin’ answer.”

“Yeah, and see, it was weird,” Gilda said, “because the moment he touched you I wanted to rip his hand off.”

“Aww,” Sunset cooed, “even when I was a rancid bitch you liked me!”

“Eh, turns out I didn’t need’ta bother, savvy?” Gilda said with a smirk. “Y’know, ‘cause he barely got a step away before you grabbed him, punched him in the gut, knee’d him in the nards, and then headbutt him and dropped him to the ground.”

“O-oh… right,” Sunset said a little uneasily, laughing as she remembered the incident. “I got in big trouble for that. I was lucky people mentioned him slapping my ass first… they were more concerned with me pressing sexual assault charges after that.”

“Heh, yeah,” Gilda laughed. “Then you kicked him a few times for good measure, and I’m pretty sure you spat on him before walking away.”

“Uh… yeah,” Sunset confirmed, burying her face in her hands. “Wow, I was such a horrific bitch back then, huh?”

“Whatever, that guy was a tool,” Gilda retorted. “Anyways, yeah, I just remember watching you fuckin’ throw hands at this guy and thinkin’ to myself, ‘damn, that’s kinda hot’.”

“Are you fucking serious?” Sunset asked, mildly horrified. “Your first sight of me was beating the snot out of some asshole and that was your first thought?”

Gilda shrugged and nodded.

“Yeah, I watched this walnut-fucking goober get his face smashed in by a girl half his size and I guess the back end’a my brain went, ‘yep, savvy, that’s her, that’s the girl we’re gonna marry’,” Gilda snarked. “Pretty sure I got the vapors right around when you were kickin’ him in the stomach while he was down.”

Sunset groaned, retreating back into her hands. “Well, I don’t know what I expected…”

“Yeah, dunno if you were hopin’ for somethin’ more romantic, Sunshine,” Gilda said, laughing a little as she turned the corner towards the piers. “But you’re kinda barkin’ up the wrong tree, savvy?”

“I’m kinda getting that feeling, too, babe,” Sunset remarked, rolling her eyes as she leaned back in her chair and looked up at Gilda. “We’re pretty fucked up, aren’t we?”

“Only the finest’a fuckups for you, Sunflower,” Gilda answered with a cocked grin.

Sunset couldn’t help it, she started laughing. Not small chortles or giggle but full bore, knee-slapping laughter. Nothing about their relationship had been normal so Sunset couldn’t convince herself to be surprised that even its most raw beginnings would have been any different. Walking along behind her, pushing her chair, Gilda smiled. Her girl was practically howling with laughter and the sound of her happiness filled Gilda’s heart in a way she hadn’t thought was possible.

After a few minutes, Sunset got a hold of herself. Wiping the tears of joy from her eyes she gestured vaguely off to the side.

“Over there is fine, that warehouse has a pretty solid roof,” Sunset said, pointing to a small, two-story shipping warehouse.

Gilda examined it, her eyes trailing up and down it for a moment as they got closer and she parked Sunset in the alley along the building’s east wall.

“Sunny, there ain’t no way we’re gettin’ in there,” Gilda said, waving her hand at the building. “And there’s no way up the fire escape from here without gettin’ real creative.”

“We don’t need to,” Sunset said with a cryptic grin. “Because you’re going to fly me up.”

Gilda’s eyes widened at Sunset’s words. “Sunny are you fuckin’ nuts?” Gilda asked as she wheeled around to face her girlfriend. “The whole two fuckin’ times I’ve actually changed-”

“-Ponied up.”

“-whatever, was completely fuckin’ involuntary, savvy?!” Gilda finished. “I literally couldn’t fuckin’ tell ya how I did it!”

Sunset wheeled up to Gilda and held out her hands to grasp Gilda’s.

“Gil, please listen,” Sunset said, her mischievous expression falling away. “Magic is no joke, it’s dangerous, and like any kind of power it can go really, really wrong. You’ve seen it happen to me… and I never, ever want something like that to happen to you.”

“I… I know, Sunshine, but…” Gilda stammered, looking around nervously. “I ain’t some superhero, though. I have no idea what I’m fuckin’ doing! I barely got you to the hospital by crashing into the asphalt the first time it happened, and the second time I almost killed Tempest, savvy?”

“I know,” Sunset insisted. “Trust me I know, why do you think I’m asking you to do this? I want you to be able to control it! If you never learn? If you’re too afraid to learn? Then believe me when I say that eventually this power will control you, Gil.”

Gilda flinched at the force in Sunset’s tone. The redhead was deadly serious, Gilda could tell, and she couldn’t exactly tell Sunset she was wrong given that Gilda knew precisely jack with a side of shit about magic.

“But…”

“No buts,” Sunset said, glaring at Gilda. “I’m sorry… I know it’s terrifying, believe me… I’m a pyrothurge, babe, that’s like, one of the the most dangerous disciplines. Half of history’s great masters ended by blowing themselves up!” Gilda grimaced as she imagined the outcome of that but nodded. “So look,” Sunset continued, “this power isn’t going away, okay? It’s here to stay, so you need to learn to control it.”

“What if… what if I hurt ya, though?” Gilda asked in a very small voice. “What if I go outta control or my powers go wild? W-what if-”

Sunset silenced her girlfriend a squeeze of her hands. “You won’t.”

“How do you know?!” Gilda cried out, grimacing as she felt the unfamiliar and unwelcome nausea of terror in her gut. “How can ya fuckin’ know, Sunny?”

“I… I don’t,” Sunset answered after a moment. “But I trust you, Gilda Grimfeather. I trust you with more than my life… if we’re going to be…” Sunset blushed furiously as she worked the words out of her mouth, “...be married one day, that means I’m trusting you with my whole future, too.”

Gilda knelt down in the slush in front of Sunset, gripping her hands tightly as she fought back the feelings of anger that always accompanied her reaction to fear. There was no one to be angry at but herself or Sunset and that wasn’t an option, and besides she knew she was being irrational but… still.

“Do… d’ya know what my worst fuckin’ fear is, Sunflower?” Gilda asked in a low, slightly raw voice, and Sunset shook her head. “It’s hurtin’ you… it’s… it’s the idea that one day I’m gonna be like my pops and just… hurt people, but if I ever really hurt you, Sunshine? I think it’d fuckin’ kill me.”

Sunset wiped a few tears from her face as she brushed a hand over Gilda’s cheek. “I hate to break it to you, Gil, but one day… you will.”

Gilda’s eyes widened, part in fury and part in fear, but Sunset held a hand up to forestall the incoming tirade of denial.

“It’s life, okay?” Sunset started, leaning in to press her forehead to Gilda’s. “Friends, loved ones, family? We all hurt each other, sometimes really badly, that’s part of life. What my mom taught me, though, is that most of the time, like a strong ninety percent, it’s just an accident.” Sunset brought her other hand up to Gilda’s cheek and drew her in for a soft kiss. As they parted, Sunset smiled. “I’ll probably hurt you too, and I hate the idea of it, but… it’ll probably happen. All I can do is trust and hope that when it happens, you’ll forgive me.”

“But… Sunshine, I just… I don’t wanna ever hurt you, babe,” Gilda said in a choked voice. “I never want ya to be afraid’a me or think I ain’t gonna spend my whole life makin’ you happy or… anythin’ okay?”

“Life is a mess, Gil,” Sunset replied. “No one can know what will happen or how they’ll act in the moment but… but I never, ever want to leave you. I trust you, Gilda… the question is that when it happens… will you trust me?”

Gilda’s eyes widened at the question. There it was… if a mistake was inevitable, did Gilda have it in her trust someone else to forgive her? Gilda closed her eyes and tried her best to pushed everything to the side. All the fear, and the pain and doubt. All the things that had defined her life from when her parents died until the day she first held Sunset in her arms.

Reaching forward, Gilda wrapped Sunset in a gentle embrace, burying her face in Sunset’s shoulder and breathed deeply. Would she trust Sunset?

Of course she would.

Gilda trusted Sunset with her life. No, with more than her life. She trusted Sunset with something that she hadn’t trusted anyone with since she left the Kings. Something far more powerful and more precious and more important than her life. Gilda would do whatever it took to keep Sunset happy and to keep her safe, she trusted Sunset with…

Sunset returned the hug, and chuckled a little. “Well, I don’t know what you were thinking off, babe, but it must’ve been pretty important.”

Opening her eyes, Gilda felt a half-familiar weight on her back. Looking behind her, she stared at the wide, brown feathered wings that stretched wide from her back. Grinning wildly, Gilda swept Sunset up out of the chair and into her arms.

Bending at the knees, Gilda smirked. “Brace y’self, babe.”

Sunset giggled as she held on tight to Gilda. A moment later Gilda’s wings surged, sending the snow, slush, and wheelchair toppling over as the two girls rocketed into the sky.

“Oops, overshot,” Gilda chuckled as she angled herself back down. This time she was careful to flap her wings slowly, letting her lift die down as she lowered the two of them to the roof. “There… hey, that… that wasn’t so hard.”

Sitting down and gathering Sunset into her lap, the two girls stared up at the sky as all around the city the clocks began counting down to midnight.

“What were you thinking of?” Sunset asked as she settled into Gilda’s lap. “C’mon! I wanna know!”

Gilda smiled warmly. “I… I was thinkin’a you,” she answered, “not like, in general, ‘cause that’s sorta always a thing, y’know? It was more like… like I haven’t thought of anyone since… since Zee died.”

“What do you mean?” Sunset asked.

“When I was with the gang, I did everything I was asked,” Gilda said, her eyes clouding. “When pops asked me to do something he knew it was as good as done. No matter how many heads needed bustin’ or miles needed t’be ran. Everyone else was good at shit, right? They were fast or strong or smarter but me? Y'know what Pops said was the thing that made me special? What made me his favorite?”

“That you were loyal,” Sunset said, her eyes widening and jaw dropping.

Gilda smiled wide, her white teeth stark against her skin and in the dark night. “Yeah… I owned that shit, there was no one, no how, in that shitty gang that was more loyal than me.”

“No way…” Sunset whispered so low that even Gilda couldn’t hear and feeling a faint itch in the back of her mind. “It couldn’t be…”

Holding up her hands, Gilda grinned. “But you? I’d die f’you Sunset Shimmer, I’d do whatever it took, whenever and wherever, savvy? This world ain’t nothin’ t’me, got it? I’d burn it all if I had to, ‘cause nothing gets in the way of me and my heart.”

As Gilda spoke, sparks began to dance and fly, and both of their eyes widened. Rime grew over Gilda’s fingers but it didn’t feel cold. Flexing her fingers, faint wisps of gray floated around her hands causing Sunset to stare.

“Incredible… that's Stormcasting,” Sunset muttered. “I wonder if you’d be a Pegasus on the other side of the mirror.”

“What’s that?” Gilda asked, her eyebrow crooking upward.

Sunset gestured a little vaguely. “It’s… native magic, only a few flying races have it; mostly Pegasi. It means you can shape clouds, make storms, even touch lightning. Mom must have sensed your attunement to the art, that’s why she gave you Huracán!”

“What about, like, ice?” Gilda asked.

Before Sunset could answer with more than an affirmative nod, midnight chimed from the clocktower in upper Canterlot. From the rooftop, through the clear skies and open winter air, the sound carried thunderously. Gilda grinned wildly as an incredibly stupid and perfect idea popped up in her head, and she swept up her girlfriend and kissed her hard, passion and fire shooting through her heart as she pressed her lips against Sunset’s who squeaked in surprise but wrapped her arms around Gilda.

Pulling free, Gilda’s grin was even more madcap than before. “Wait here, baby!”

Carefully picking Sunset up and setting her down beside where she’d been sitting, Gilda stood, dusting herself off and smiling down at Sunset’s confused expression.

“Be right back!”

Turning on her heel, Gilda sprinted at the edge of the roof and leapt off and Sunset nearly choked on her tongue as she screamed. A moment later a figure rocketed up into the sky with a half-feral woop of elation.

Seconds later the sky exploded in color as fireworks detonated throughout the horizon. Sunset's eyes widened as she watched her girlfriend wing through the sky, spiraling around and around, clouds and ice particles forming in the center of the space Gilda was circling until finally the winged girl stopped and held out her hands. Sunset could make out her figure from the roof, she could see the lightning and pure magic dancing between Gilda’s hands as the small twister of ice and cloud tightened to a sphere between her fingers.

Up in the sky, Gilda was sweating in spite of the frosty temperatures. Her wings pumped hard to keep her aloft as she concentrated. “C’mon… c’mon… just this once! This one fuckin’ time!”

Sparks of lightning and something more pure flickered between Gilda’s open palms. Ice crystals condensed and Gilda fixed an image tightly in her mind’s eye as the wind howled around her and the sky burst in a kaleidoscope of rainbow patterns and furious color.

Then it happened. Something connected between Gilda’s mind and some other, more ephemeral part of her. A snap of displacement echoed through the air and a small object fell into Gilda’s hand.

Panting, Gilda looked down and grinned wildly again.

“FUCK YEAH!” Gilda wooped as she wheeled about in the air. “Harry Potter can eat my ass!”

Flapping upwards, Gilda shot forward and then pitched down, flaring her wings once she got to the edge of the roof. Gilda stuck her landing this time, boots hitting the roof firmly, and as soon as her feet were under her she ran to Sunset, only to drop to her knees in front of her girlfriend.

“Gilda, what the fuck was that?!” Sunset demanded. “I know I said for you to learn to control your powers but please, for Celestia’s sake, be careful.”

“Sorry babe,” Gilda said, still grinning. “But I had to see if I could do it!”

“Do what?”

“I… I know it’s ice,” Gilda said, shakily, “so… so it won’t last, savvy? But… for tonight? For now?” Opening her hand she held her palm outstretched to Sunset.

Sitting in the middle of her palm was a perfect shining ring of blue ice adorned with wings engraved along the edges. On the inside of the ring were engraved the words: ‘My Sunset, My Sunrise, My Everything’

Sunset clapped her hands over her mouth as she stared down at it for a moment as fireworks crashed above them.

“Happy New Year, Sunshine,” Gilda said with teary eyes. “Maybe it’s stupid, and sudden, and too soon, and maybe we’re too young and all that other shit people tell other people but fuck’em right? What part of our lives has ever been fuckin’ normal?”

Reaching out with her other hand, Gilda lifted Sunset’s right hand and gently took her ring finger.

“I ain’t in the business of waitin’ for anythin’ if I can have it right now, savvy? ‘Cause who knows what’ll happen tomorrow? Who knows what’s round the next corner? So wha’dya say, Sunflower?” Gilda choked out. “Make me the happiest girl in the world?”

Completely unable to speak, Sunset nodded furiously, tears of joy streaming down her face as Gilda slipped the ring onto Sunset’s finger. Sunset gasped as it sparkled in the flashing lights from above them.

“It’s… it’s so cold,” Sunset mumbled finally.

“Y-yeah…” Gilda chuckled. “Sorry ‘bout that, babe.”

Sunset shook her head and stared up at Gilda with bright, gleaming eyes as she shoved her left hand in her pocket and pulled free a golden, jeweled bracelet. Taking Gilda’s right hand, she fitted it around Gilda’s wrist.

“There,” Sunset said softly. “That won’t melt, and… and even though other people won’t know what it means… no one else needs to know, right? But I’ll know what it means… and so will you.”

“Yeah, everyone else’ll have a fuckin’ opinion,” Gilda said, nodding shakily, staring at the beautiful piece of jewelry that Sunset had just put on her. “This is f’us, Sunshine. We’re gonna make this crazy thing work no matter what, savvy?”

“Our promise… I like that,” Sunset agreed, her face split by a rapturous smile, “now stop talking and kiss me.”

Under the stars, in the cold winter air and wrapped in the warmth of feathers and falling snow, Gilda and Sunset kissed. The air crackled and snapped with fireworks that were echoed by a distant, oncoming storm, but in that moment there was nothing else in the world but them.

Author's Note

Kiss me like you miss me, Red

12. I'm Just A Little Impaired

~Canterlot Heights, January 4th, Late Morning~

“Hey, ‘Dagi, your phone is doing the ding thing!”

Adagio Dazzle stared blankly at the far wall of the living room as she contemplated how much she really loved her little sister who was shouting at her from the upstairs office.

“Daaaaaagi~!”

“A moment of peace and quiet on my day off to finish my tea is all I ask,” Adagio muttered quietly, taking a sip of her warm oolong. “Is that really so hard?”

“Daaaaaaaaaaaagi~!”

“Suck a riptide, ‘Nata! I’m drinking my tea!” Adagio yelled. “Can’t you just bring it down here!?”

Silence reigned for a few, glorious moments and Adagio sighed as she settled back down in her favorite chair and took another sip. For being a near-immortal with, quite literally, all the time in the world, Adagio never did idle very well. There was always a plan to be executed or a goal to be accomplished. Places to go, people to see, riots to incite; that sort of thing.

A girl needs a hobby after all.

With that said, the rare moments where the world was quiet and she had nothing to do but relax were precious to Adagio. She enjoyed the few times she could find herself without anything to do and, more rarely, without any major drive to find something to do that always left her feeling restless if she ignored it. Peace was a rare thing to-

“DAAAAAAAGI~!”

“By Nodens Grace, sister or not, I will tie your ponytail to the ceiling fan if you don’t let me finish zenning out down here!” Adagio shouted up the stairs.

“But it’s Sunny!”

Adagio’s teacup clattered onto its porcelain saucer with rather less grace than Adagio usually gave it as she leapt up from her seat and scampered up the stairs. She took the steps two at a time as she ran to the small office that she shared with Sonata for their little joint ventures. There were two desks with full computer rigs set kitty-corner to one another in the middle of the room and a hammock strung between two of the walls at the east end of the room for when Aria wanted to spend time with them.

Coming to a skidding stop at the door Adagio stood, straightened her skirt, and walked calmly in to pick up her phone and thumbed open the text messages.

She became increasingly more upset as she read.

//Sunnylove: dagi? Do you have a sec? I’d really like someone to talk to right now.//

//Sunnylove: I fainted at school, or… I guess I had a panic attack and I ended up in the nurse's office. Gilda is in class and I’m really scared. Sorry if I’m bothering you.//

//Sunnylove: sorry, you must be busy, I’ll stop bothering you.//

Adagio had barely finished reading the message before hitting the Home button and sitting down on her office chair to begin pulling on her shoes.

“Hey, ‘Dagi, what’s wrong?” Sonata asked, peeking around her computer screen. “Your hair is doing that extra poofy thing it does when you’re angry.”

“My coiffure’s state of agitation is a non-issue, sister dear,” Adagio answered through a clenched jaw. “Sunset had a panic attack at school severe enough that she fainted and ended up in the nurses, so I’m going over there.”

“Wow, that sounds pretty bad,” Sonata replied nonchalantly. “Mind if I come? I’ve been cooped up in the house like, aaaaaa~ll day!”

Adagio looked up from her laced boots and stared evenly at her sister. “Really? ‘Nata, you haven’t left the house in over a week because you discovered that anime streaming site, remember?”

Sonata blinked and then shrugged. “I mean yeah, but I’m not wrong, I haven’t left the house all day.”

Dragging her hand down her face, Adagio nodded; acquiescing to the point that, yes, Sonata had indeed not left the house that day, regardless of how badly misleading that statement was.

“Can you be ready in three minutes?” Adagio asked flatly, to which Sonata nodded. “Fine, then meet me by the door.”

“Woohoo!” Sonata cheered as she hopped up from her desk.

A mistake as it turned out, since she hadn’t moved from there in some time and the blood flow had mostly cut off. Sonata tripped within seconds of standing, staggered and pitched forward with a yelp of surprise.

A sound that was neatly mirrored by Adagio as she lunged forward to catch her sister.

“Sonata!” Adagio cried out admonishingly as she cradled her younger sister. “Be more careful! ‘Near-ageless’ isn’t ‘invincible’! You can’t just stumble around, bash your head in, and then heal like before!”

“Uh, heh, sorry ‘Dagi,” Sonata said sheepishly as she wiggled her legs to get some of the feeling back in them.

“Don’t be sorry, be careful,” Adagio said softly as she lifted her sister back to her feet. “I don’t know what I’d do if I lost one of you, it’s bad enough that Aria is a professional fighter now, I don’t need you braining yourself on your own desk.” Sighing, Adagio shook her head. “I swear, the moment I look away you’ve managed to cobble together another disaster… you may be my baby sister but you’re nearly twelve hundred years old!”

Through the whole of Adagio’s chastising, Sonata kept smiling until finally Adagio said: “WHAT?!”

“Nothing,” Sonata answered. “Just… I missed you, a lot.”

“We’ve been stuck with each other for the past thousand years barring that ill-plotted diversion a few centuries back,” Adagio said dryly. “I’m not sure I know what you mean.”

“Uh-uh, I mean I missed you,” Sonata darted a finger out and poked Adagio’s nose. “You acting like you. Like how you used to be when you were raising Aria and I after mom and dad died. I missed the you that cared about me.”

Adagio’s face fell slightly but she nodded nonetheless.

“I missed me too,” Adagio responded quietly, reaching out and ruffling Sonata’s hair. “But we’re back now, so go get your shoes on, dunce.”

Sonata giggled and hopped back to her feet, wobbling a little before dashing out of the office and leaving an exasperated Adagio behind her. Leaving the small office, Adagio followed her sister down, tracing her hand along the carved wooden rail of the stairs as she did.

It had been a wise investment, all those years ago, as most of Sonata’s investments were. A few houses here and there in specific locations, purchased centuries ago, maintained via a complex series of trust funds and phony inheritances, and passed down through the ‘family’ over the years. This house was certainly one of Adagio’s favorites, though. The square colonial styling, the smell of woodsmoke, coffee, and tea that permeated the walls… it was nostalgic and calming.

Adagio pulled out her phone and shot a quick text to Sunset as she reached the landing where Sonata was seated and pulling on her boots, before pulling on a bright pink sweater and dusting off her long jeans,

//Adagio: I’m on my way, love, don’t worry. And do let the locals know the big bad sirens will be paying a visit and that they come in peace.//

“Y’know, ‘Dagi, you’ve been different since you made friends with Sunny,” Sonata remarked as Adagio pushed the door opened, hissing at the chill in the air but relishing the scent of fresh snow nonetheless.

“Mm, is that so?” Adagio answered, only half listening as she pulled the key fob from her pocket and unlocked her car. “How so?”

“Dunno, just different,” Sonata replied. “Like, it’s almost like you’re treating her like she's one of us.”

Adagio’s hand froze on the handle of the car door at Sonata’s words.

Sonata continued unperturbed, though, as she walked around to the passenger side. “Y’know, like, you’re always fussing about her, like, ‘Sunset should do this…’ or ‘Sunset should really stop being so that…’ y’know? Like how you are when Aria and I do something stupid!”

Opening the door to the car and settling into the seat, Adagio stared forward for several moments before nodding.

“I… suppose I am,” Adagio agreed, “treating her like that, I mean… I wonder if it’s because she is a bit like us. Alien; a stranger in a strange land.”

“Maybe,” Sonata replied. “Maybe you just like being her friend and want her to be happy?”

Adagio chuckled dryly as she started the car and pulled out of the driveway.

“Adagio Dazzle? Scourge of the West Seas?” Adagio snarked, “The Ruinbringer and Harbinger of Strife wants someone else to be happy? Perish the thought.”

“Awww, maaaaa~n, now I really miss our old nicknames,” Sonata groaned, slumping against the window dramatically. “Aria had the best one; Ravager of Tides, now that’s a cool title.”

“I thought yours was perfectly good,” Adagio said, reaching over to pat Sonata’s head. “Voice of Pandaemonium is very dramatic.”

“It’s so long though,” Sonata complained. “And it doesn’t really roll of the tongue, I still think you got all the really good ones.”

“Perks of being the leader, sister mine,” Adagio replied with a grin.

The drive to Canterlot High School wasn’t a long one; their house wasn’t too deep in the hills that made up much of the north border of Canterlot. Finding parking was a nightmare of its own but they made good time, and it was barely eleven in the morning before they were walking up to the front doors of the high school.

And they weren’t alone.

“Adagio Dazzle and Sonata Dusk,” Principal Celestia said firmly as she stepped out of the doors to confront them on the steps. “By all rights I shouldn’t let you in.”

Adagio opened her mouth to snap back but a small part of her pulled the reins on that impulse. Technically, Celestia was right, there was no reason to let them in, and she certainly had the authority to deny them access. They weren’t students and were known troublemakers, so she would be well within her rights to deny them visitor passes and if they tried to get in anyway she could just have them escorted out.

Worst case scenario she called the police.

Letting out a slow breath, Adagio nodded. “You’re right, by all rights you shouldn’t, but we’re not here for us, we’re here because our friend is scared and asked us to come.”

Celestia’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Huh, so what Sunset said was true, then… well, I can’t very well argue that point, can I? Behave yourselves and we won’t have a problem, alright girls?”

“Aw, no problem at all!” Sonata chirped, skipping past. “We’ll be quiet as a tomb made for church mice!”

“Uh… good?” Celestia responded, not really certain how to feel about that simile.

“Try not to think too hard about it,” Adagio said with a wan smile as she walked past Celestia on her sister’s heels, “after a few hundred years you learn to just smile and nod.”

“Adagio, wait,” Celestia called after the siren who stopped in her tracks and looked over her shoulder at the Principal.

“Yes?”

Celestia walked up to Adagio, sighing and shaking her head. “Sunset… she’s not in a good place right now, I spoke to her less than an hour ago and she’s… not well. Fragile would be putting it delicately, I think.”

“I got that impression from her texts, yes,” Adagio agreed with a doleful nod. “What’s your point?”

“Just… don’t push her do anything rash, alright?” Celestia pleaded. “She’s vulnerable and what she needs is a friend.”

Adagio grinned and shrugged. “My days of manipulating people for funsies are over, Miss Sonen.” she said as she turned on her heel and started making her way into the school. Glancing back over her shoulder Adagio replied, “I wasn’t planning on doing anything but what I usually do for her now.”

“And what’s that?” Celestia asked, her brow furrowing as she followed.

“Giving her some honest advice.”

Sunset was in the midst of a smaller panic attack when the doors to the nurse's room opened to admit the two siren sisters, her one-time foes turned friendly.

“A-Adagio?!” Sunset stared as the fellow redhead sauntered in.

Maybe it had something to do with being an ages-old siren, but Adagio never just ‘walked’.

“Morning, Shimmy,” Adagio said with a soft smile as she approached Sunset and sat down on the edge of the bed.

Without warning, Adagio leaned in and gathered Sunset up in her arms and hugged her. For a moment, Sunset froze, then she relaxed and leaned into the embrace, resting her head against Adagio’s shoulder.

“How ya doin’, Sunny?” Sonata asked from the side in a much quieter voice than normal. “You don’t look so great.”

“I’m, uh… I’m okay,” Sunset said, pulling away a little only to wither a little under Adagio’s sudden glare.

“Don’t lie to me, Shimmer,” Adagio said crossly. “You’re clearly not okay, and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t pretend.”

Sunset sagged a little but nodded.

“Pretty obvious, huh?”

Rolling her eyes, Adagio nodded. “You passed out and now you’re in the nurse’s room, Sunny, so yes, I’d call that fairly obvious.”

“Pre~tty sure passing out is bad, Sun-bun,” Sonata chirped from the side.

“Heh, yeah, worst day in a while actually,” Sunset admitted, running her hand over her arm sheepishly. “And humiliating… but uhm, it’s good to see you again, Sonata.”

“Call me ‘Nata!” Sonata replied, leaning in to give Sunset a quick hug. “Besides, Adagio already basically adopted you so you’re pretty much one of us now.”

Adagio turned red, sputtering as Sonata giggled.

“I feel like I’m missing something…” Sunset said, raising an eyebrow.

“Adagio’ll never admit it, but she only gets all fussy over family,” Sonata confided, leaning in to loudly stage whisper in Sunset’s ear. “It’s why we call her Momdagio, so if she ‘mom’s’ you it’s because she thinks of you as family.”

The silence was deafening as Sonata leaned away. Sunset stared at the two of them with an almost haunted look in her eyes and Adagio glanced worriedly at her sister before turning back to Sunset.

“Are you… alright, Sunset?” Adagio asked, noting that her friend’s hands were shaking almost violently. Acting on instinct, Adagio reached out and set one hand gently over Sunset’s. “Sunny? What’s wrong?”

Sunset took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to bleed away some of the tension that gripped her body like a vise.

“I… I’m sorry, I… apparently that’s not a word I’m super okay with,” Sunset said softly. “The… the last people who called me family literally dropped me like hot shit like, two days later and cut me out of their lives. The one before that effectively threw me out of my home, even if she didn’t quite intend it that way.”

“Wow,” Sonata said, one eyebrow raised in disbelief. “That sucks ass.”

“You’re the soul of tact, ‘Nata,” Adagio deadpanned before turning back to Sunset. “Whatever happened, you know we wouldn’t do that…” Adagio said soothingly, looping her hand into Sunset’s. “Trust me if we were the type to drop someone we considered family we would not have been able to endure a millennium of one another’s company.”

Sunset nodded silently for a moment before responding. “Y-yeah, in my head, I guess I know that. I mean, The three of you stuck together even though it looked like you hated each other… but…” Taking another breath, Sunset squeezed Adagio’s hand to reassure herself. “But I guess, to me, family just means someone who will eventually get rid of you.”

Sonata blew a raspberry as she hopped onto Sunset’s bed, carefully avoiding her legs as she pulled Sunset into a strong hug.

“No way!” Sonata huffed. “If ‘Dagi says you’re family now then you’re family, Sunny! And we’ll do pretty much anything for our family.”

“We’ve crossed oceans for one another,” Adagio said softly, “gone mad for one another, become sane for one another, we’ve… endured Tartarus to stay together. That, I think, is what family should be.” Joining the hug, Adagio leaned her forehead against Sunset’s and smiled. “Family is supposed to be the people you can always trust, the ones who will always have their arms open for you, Sunny. I know that’s not always what they are in reality but… it’s what we are, I promise.”

Feeling her body start to relax in the embrace of the two sirens, of her new ‘family’, Sunset nodded, wrapping her arms around the both of them.

“Dunno why,” Sunset mumbled, “but I believe you.”

~Canterlot High School, January 4th, Afternoon~

Gilda lashed out a foot at a bin as she walked the long way round the outside of the school to the nurse’s office. She was still too pissed off and she didn’t want to stress out Sunset any more than she already was. Gilda knew she needed time to cool her jets but for some reason it just wasn’t happening. Every time she felt like she might be calming down she felt Dash’s lips against hers again, the sensation burned like acid and made her sick.

She knew she hadn’t cheated on Sunset. Gilda knew that… but at the same time Rainbow had taken something from her that she hadn’t wanted to give.

A kiss.

Just a kiss, right?

Gilda clenched her eyes shut as she swore and punched the wall, flinching as pain shot through her fist.

Except it wasn’t ‘just a kiss’. It would never be ‘just a kiss’. Sunset was the only one Gilda had ever wanted to kiss. The only one whose lips she ever wanted to feel on hers. The fact that someone had taken that away from her made her want to just start punching everything in sight until there was nothing left to punch.

Which brought her back around to why she hadn’t gone straight to the nurse’s office like she wanted to.

“Gilda?”

Gilda looked up to see Octavia looking at her with concern and Vinyl standing just behind her.

“Oh, uh, hey ‘Tavi, hey Blue,” Gilda said in a strained voice. “What’s up?”

Octavia glanced around at the knocked over bins and at Gilda’s bloody knuckles before looking back up at Gilda.

“Well,” Octavia began, looping her hands back behind her back as she walked forward. “You’re quite loud and currently terrifying the living daylights out of the student body, Gilda, so by all accounts I think I should be asking you that.”

Vinyl flashed a string of signs at her girlfriend and chuckled silently.

“Yes, well, that too,” Octavia responded before turning back to Gilda. “Sorry, we should also be asking why you’re here and not at Sunset’s side since you were called to the nurse’s office.”

“Uh, yeah…” Gilda replied, leaning against the wall school. “If y’couldn’t tell I ain’t in the best mood and… I don’t wanna scare Sunshine, y’know?”

Raising an eyebrow, Vinyl made another string of signs.

“Vinyl, rude!” Octavia snapped, smacking one of Vinyl’s hands lightly.

“What was that?” Gilda asked.

Octavia laughed a little nervously. “Oh, ah, she said someone must have really, ah… done a series of unmentionable things to your cereal if you’re in a bad enough mood to stay away from Sunset.”

Gilda was silent as she leaned against the wall, staring down at the concrete ground with a distant gaze as she tried to come up with an explanation.

“Gilda… what’s wrong?” Octavia asked, her voice taking on a more worried tone as she stepped closer and put a hand on the larger girl’s shoulder. “Please, talk to us.”

Vinyl signed several times to Gilda who just raised an eyebrow, but Octavia laughed.

“Sorry, she said: ‘best part of being mute is that you’re a great listener’,” Octavia translated. “And uh… ‘the worst part is when other people won’t shut up about themselves’, end quote.”

Gilda laughed a little at that and nodded. “Y-yeah, fair enough, Blue.”

“So…?” Octavia prompted.

Slowly breathing out, Gilda closed her eyes and nodded.

“Rainbow Dash… she kissed me.”

Vinyl and Octavia stared, shocked, at what Gilda had said. Octavia was the first to recover, working her jaw several times before finally getting the words out.

“What the f-”

“-UCK WERE YOU THINKIN’?!” Applejack practically roared, gripping Rainbow by the scruff of her neck and holding her up against the wall of the school.

After they had finally gotten her calmed down, Rarity and Applejack had listened intently as Rainbow Dash laid out everything that had happened between her and Gilda, both as kids, and how her father had lied about Gilda’s past, and how Gilda had conned Rainbow into abandoning her. When she got to the present day was when things began to deteriorate and around the kiss was when Applejack truly lost her temper. Even Rarity looked livid, in as much as the more austere and urbane girl could.

“I wasn’t okay?!” Rainbow cried, kicking her legs uselessly as the far taller and more muscular farmgirl stared furiously up at her. “I wasn’t thinking! I just… I just did it! I know it was stupid!”

“That is perhaps the biggest understatement of the year,” Rarity hissed, as she patted Applejack’s shoulder, silently instructing her girlfriend to let Rainbow down. “And I’m not saying that just because it’s the new year. You do realise we’re trying to get back into Sunset’s good graces right?”

“Y-yeah?” Dash said, as she dropped to her feet and started massaging her throat. “B-but… oh.”

Rarity’s eye twitched. “Ahem… ‘oh’?” Rarity repeated disbelievingly. “You just, as they say, macked on Sunset’s girlfriend and your response is ‘oh’?”

“Uhhh…” Rainbow could practically feel her brain spitting smoke as she withered under the glares of her two friends.

Rarity in particular was getting that crazy look in her eyes as she stared unblinking at Rainbow as if trying to find a way to disbelieve the sheer stupidity she had just heard out of existence by force of will.

“Basically, sugarcube, we’re probably now back t’square, like, negative fifty,” Applejack grumbled. “We were makin’ some progress and now Gilda’s gonna go n’tell Sunset what happened,” Applejack raised a hand, forestalling any argument from Rainbow, “and she will ‘cause Gilda’s an honest sorta gal, trust me… and then Sunset’s gonna know you tried t’steal Gilda from’er.”

“I… I didn’t, though!” Rainbow pleaded. “I swear I just… it was like, I wanted it to be a different way but I didn’t mean I was trying to steal her girlfriend! I was just upset and… and…”

“Rainbow I want you to very carefully consider things from Sunset’s perspective,” Rarity said, breathing out slowly to calm down as she put her hands on Dash’s shoulders. “She has very, very little in this world right now. Gilda is her strongest emotional anchor and whatever it was you meant to do, the fact is that you just threatened that.”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes went wide as the full impact of Rarity’s words settled in.

“D’ya’ll get it now?” Applejack said sternly. “We already got’a slew’a things t’apologise to Sunset for and Ah was startin’ t’hope that maybe sometime soon we’d have the chance t’do that.”

“I… I didn’t mean to,” Rainbow said in a quiet, slightly broken voice. “I swear I didn’t I just…”

“Wasn’t thinkin’, yeah,” Applejack finished, “Trust me, Ah got that, and Ah get that ya’ll didn’t mean anythin’ by it but the fact is ya’ll still did it and frankly I ain’t really sure how Ah’m gonna smooth that out… Sunset barely talks t’me, she sure as shootin’ don’t talk t’anyone else, and Ah’m pretty sure she only talks t’me ‘cause Gilda put in a good word.”

“Speaking of which, we really should thank her for that,” Rarity said offhandedly, nudging Applejack. “For that and, ah, a few other things…”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow, glancing between her two friends. Rarity was looking at Applejack smugly while the latter was blushing brightly and trying to hide something under a grimace.

“Woah… wait,” Rainbow muttered before a wide grin broke out on her face, “You two… are you-?”

Rarity smiled rather like a cat that had caught its canary before leaning up and planting a kiss on Applejack’s lips.

“Mhm, finally did,” Rarity said with a self-satisfied smirk. “And, if you can believe it, Gilda was the reason it happened.”

Staring in disbelief, Rainbow just shook her head. “Okay, I’m gonna need to hear about that sometime, but right now we gotta figure out how to unfuck what I just fucked up.”

“As bluntly as that was put, yes,” Rarity agreed, grimacing. “Let’s get the girls together, then, I presume we probably should try to ‘unfuck’ this as soon as humanly possible.”

“Rainbow, Ah gotta ask somethin’ though,” Applejack started, walking up to Rainbow and looking down at her. “What would you’a done if Gilda had actually gone through with ya’ll kissin’ her? LIke, what if she’d felt the same way?”

“Whad’ya mean?” Rainbow asked, her face contorting ni confusion. “She didn’t.”

“Ah know that what ah’m sayin’ is ‘what if’, right?” Applejack pointed a finger at Rainbow, right between her eyes. “Ya’ll’re childhood friends, were pretty dang close, and she was real protective of ya, still is s’matter’a fact. So it ain’t that far off t’think it mighta happened.”

“But it didn’t,” Rainbow insisted.

“We know, darling,” Rarity said sadly. “What Applejack is saying is, on the wild, off-chance it had happened… what do you think would have happened to Sunset?”

Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to respond before the weight of the question hit her and she closed her mouth.

“Yeah,” Applejack said darkly, “Ah reckon ya’ll should think on that for a bit ‘cause Ah’ll tell ya what, Ah’m pretty sure it woulda destroyed her.”

“We can only pray that Sunset doesn’t take this personally, darling,” Rarity said softly, looping her arm around Applejacks and pulling herself closer to the taller girl.

“What a phenomenal bitch,” Octavia croaked in disbelief, staring straight forward as Gilda finished telling her what happened. “Of all the awful, idiotic, thoughtless and utterly brainless things to do, I should think even Rainbow Dash would have had enough sense than to try something like that!”

“What am I even gonna tell Sunshine, huh?!” Gilda asked, running her hands nervously through her hair. “How am I gonna tell’er someone else kissed me?!”

Octavia moved around to face Gilda directly, reaching up to put her hands on Gilda’s cheeks and lift her face so they were staring at one another.

“You know she won’t think less of you, right?” Octavia asked in a stony voice. “Rainbow surprised you, you pushed her away and that was the end of it.”

“I know!” Gilda cried. “I… I know, but just knowin’ they tried t’take something else from’er?! The Rainbooms?! C’mon, Cello, what if she pops again?!”

“I heard she fainted, yes,” Octavia said sadly, turning to Vinyl who nodded and signed a few times. “Right, yes, and now she’s waiting for you in the nurse’s office and I suspect you’re rather late.”

“I… yeah, savvy,” Gilda agreed. “But what do I do?”

“Be there for her,” Octavia replied. “Yes, I imagine when you tell her she will be hurt, so just be there. Give her whatever she needs in that moment, because I guarantee she’ll need you.”

Vinyl tapped on Octavia’s shoulder and made a few quick signs at her.

“Oh, certainly, love,” Octavia said before turning back to Gilda. “Sorry, Vinyl wanted to say something, I’ll translate.”

Vinyl started signing, Octavia watching closely for a second before starting speaking.

“You can’t avoid her, Gilda,” Vinyl signed, “and you can’t treat her like a glass doll either. You’re not doing her a kindness by treating her like she’ll collapse in a light breeze.” Vinyl cracked her knuckles and gestured towards the nurse’s office before going back to signing. “You’ve got to trust her to get through it, and if she needs help you need to be there to help her, it’s as simple as that.”

“Dunno, Blue,” Gilda said, shoving her hands in her pockets. “I just… the last thing I wanna do is hurt’er y’know?”

Vinyl smiled before signing, Octavia’s translation catching up a breath later. “Hurt happens, what really matters is whether or not you’re willing to be there afterwards to clean up.”

“Believe me, she would know,” Octavia said, nodding to Vinyl. “I may look put together but to be honest when I fall apart it’s equally impressive.”

Vinyl tapped Octavia again to get her attention before starting signing again.

“We all fall apart sometimes, it’s life,” Vinyl continued. “It’s not a matter of holding it in, it’s a matter of who’s there to hold us up when it all comes out. We can’t live our lives alone, we’re not made for it no matter what some people think.” Quickly glancing round to make sure they were alone, Vinyl leaned in to sneak a kiss from Octavia, getting a high pitched squeak of surprise in response. “I think that’s the point of love,” Vinyl signed, Octavia only barely recovering from the little sneak attack to catch up, “family love, friendly love, or our kind of love… sometimes it’s about both of us being so exhausted that the only thing holding us up in the rain is one another.”

“Vinyl is right, Gilda,” Octavia said softly, taking her hand. “Sunset needs someone to be there for her, yes, but specifically she needs you. So I recommend you stop dilly-dallying and go talk things through with your girl.”

“Yeah, y’right,” Gilda agreed, laughing a little. “Heh, who knew havin’ real friends’d actually be kinda nice?”

“Friends hold us up as much as anything else, I think,” Octavia replied.

Waving off Octavia and Vinyl, Gilda stretched, cracked her knuckles and took off sprinting towards the nurse’s office. It wasn’t far, she’d been dawdling but only because she’d been trying to delay the inevitable. Vinyl was right, there was no getting around what had to be done and even though it would probably hurt Sunset, Gilda had to be there for her. She’d weather the storm just like she always did and Sunset would come out of it just fine.

Gilda intended to make sure of it.

Stopping at the door to the office, Gilda swallowed hard and opened it up to walk inside. She was greeted by the sounds of conversation and light laughter, surprisingly.

“Sunshine?” Gilda called out as she walked into the room.

A part of her was concerned, Sunset hadn’t seemed like she was up for visitors, but the moment she laid eyes on Adagio who was sitting on the bed beside Sunset with her arm around the girl, Gilda relaxed. More surprising was Sonata Dusk who was sitting at the far end of the bed and smiling.

Sunset’s eyes lit up like stars the moment Gilda walked into the room, and she practically surged out of Adagio’s grip to extend her arms out to Gilda.

“Gil!” Sunset cried, and Gilda laughed as she leaned in to wrap her arms around Sunset. “I missed you…” Sunset whispered softly as she nestled into Gilda’s embrace.

“Heh, hey there pretty lady,” Gilda said playfully, nuzzling against Sunset’s cheek and not so subtly relishing the feeling of being back in proximity to Sunset just as much as she was. “But, yeah… sorry it took me a bit, I was kinda in the middle’a somethin’.”

“Something so important you delayed returning to your beloved’s side?” Adagio asked wryly. “I can’t even imagine.”

Gilda’s face fell and Adagio’s eyes narrowed instantly in concern.

“Y-Yeah, it was… a thing…” Gilda said uneasily.

“I see,” Adagio replied.

“Uh, you two mind, uh… givin’ us a few minutes?” Gilda asked after a moment of uncomfortable silence. “I got something I need t’talk t’Sunshine here about.”

Sunset looked up at Gilda a touch nervously but nodded to Adagio and Sonata.

“Alright, we’ll be just outside though,” Adagio promised. “I hardly think Principal Celestia would approve of us reprobates wandering her hallowed halls of learning.”

The two siren sisters left the small, cot-filled room, leaving Gilda sitting on the edge of the bed next to a worried-looking Sunset.

“Babe?” Sunset asked softly, shifting a little closer. “What’s wrong?”

Gilda stared down at the ground, trying to work her brain around how she was going to say what she knew she needed to say. In her mind’s eye she could see the look on Sunset’s face. The hurt and the pain, and it choked the words to death in her throat. Gilda shut her eyes, trying to screw up the courage but finding nothing, how could she-?

A pair of soft, gentle hands settled onto Gilda’s cheeks, and she turned to see Sunset staring up at her with a small smile.

“Don’t hold back, Gil,” Sunset said quietly. “Whatever you’re going to say is going to hurt, isn’t it?”

Gilda nodded.

“You don’t need to shelter me, babe,” Sunset said. “I know I seem fragile, and I know I still fall apart and I know that you want more than anything in the world to protect me.” Leaning up, Sunset kissed Gilda, smiling into her lips as Gilda wrapped her arms around Sunset. As she pulled away, Sunset reached up and flicked a stray hair from Gilda’s eyes. “I know because I want to do the same thing for you, so talk to me, okay? No gentle words, just tell me.”

“I talked t’Rainbow Dash a bit ago,” Gilda began, leaning into Sunset and taking comfort from her. “She wanted t’talk about us, y’know, her n’me, and how we used t’be friends. Guess her dad lied t’her about what happened to my folks, savvy? She didn’t know what happened.”

“That’s awful,” Sunset said, furrowing her brow. “I mean, I guess I see where her dad was coming from but-”

“That’s not it,” Gilda said darkly. “We started talking, and it was… good, y’know? Like we were almost gettin’ to be friends again, except…”

“What?” Sunset asked, “what happened?”

“She kissed me, Sunny,” Gilda admitted, grimacing as Sunset stared, poleaxed at Gilda’s words. “We were just… talkin’, then outta nowhere she goes up and just plants one on me and I snap. I pushed her away and socked her ‘tween the eyes and… and it doesn’t even fuckin’ matter ‘cause it’s like I can still feel her lips and I hate it!”

Sunset worked her jaw soundlessly for a moment as the full weight of what Gilda said leveled onto her.

Then her vision went red with a blinding fury.

“SHE WHAT?!” Sunset screamed, shocking Gilda into standing from the bed. “How… She…” The sound of sizzling and creaking, warping metal filled the air. “She tried to… that fucking wh-”

“Sunset stop!” Gilda shouted, holding out her hands with a look of fear on her face that snapped Sunset back to reality.

Something else snapped too, the shriek of ripping metal sounded from either side of Sunset. Looking down Sunset lifted her hands to find she was holding two bars of metal, warped, twisted, and glowing red with the shape of her handprint. Her hands were shaking and, with some effort, Sunset relaxed her fingers and they pried free of the metal. Glancing to the side, Sunset saw that she’d torn the simple metal railing from the side of the medical cot.

Shaking, Sunset threw the metal bars away from her, sending them clattering across the floor as Adagio and Sonata came rushing back into the room. They glanced down worriedly at the smoking metal where it lay discarded on the linoleum tiles.

“Sunny?” Sonata asked, her eyes filled with concern.

Lifting her hands, Sunset’s eyes twitched as tiny flares of flame, snapped in and out of existence from her fingers and palm.

“S-stop,” Sunset mumbled, shaking her hands as if they had some unpleasant insect on them. “Stop! Stop! STOP IT!”

With every word Sunset became more frantic, shaking her hands violently as flame and embers dripped from them onto the covers, wherever they touched they danced and spread and Gilda swore viciously as she dashed forward and started patting out the small flames before they grew any bigger.

“G-Gilda, help me!” Sunset begged, eyes glowing as they went wide in terror as she held up her hands. Flames spat and sparked, and her body was glowing, Gilda could see her veins alight with magical energy. “Please!”

Snapping beams and bars of molten light twisted and twined through Sunset’s hair and around her body giving her an otherworldly look. Wherever the light touched, heat seared fabric and warped metal. The heat was so intense it cut like a blade through whatever it touched.

“Get away from her, quickly!” Adagio cried, grabbing at Gilda’s shoulder. “She’s flaring, there’s nothing you can do!”

Gilda staggered back as Sonata and Adagio both seized onto her shoulders as an arc of magical energy snapped near her. Sweat broke out on Gilda’s face and arms as a torrent of fiery heat slammed over her, nearly knocking the wind from her lungs. Wincing against the intense light, Gilda stared as Sunset curled in on herself, the cot smoldering and burning, the metal frame wilting as the metal rapidly heated.

“Bullshit!” Gilda snapped.

Acting on instinct, Gilda did the same thing she always did when Sunset was having a panic attack; she lunged forward, her eyes traced the three dimensional arcs and coils of power and even as her eyes burned for her to blink or close them, she found something there.

A pattern.

Diving through, GIlda wrapped Sunset in a tight embrace, pulling her close, pressing Sunset’s face to her shoulder and tangling her fingers into Sunset’s hair to calmly start petting her head, even as she could feel the intense, monstrous heat that was bleeding from her body.

“Ssh,” Gilda whispered. “S’okay, Sunshine… it’s okay, I gotcha…”

Sunset shook violently, her hands held wide out from Gilda who was hugging her tightly.

“It’s okay,” Gilda repeated, “it’s okay… you’re gonna be fine, baby, I got you, savvy? I ain’t ever lettin’ you go, Sunshine.”

The heat began to die down as Sunset’s emotional state leveled out. Sunset’s breath came in deep, gulping heaves as she buried her face against Gilda’s shoulder.

“That was incredibly dangerous, Gilda,” Adagio’s voice came from behind Gilda and Sunset. “Do you understand that you just dove between arcs of plasma? They were only barely contained within thaumatic fields; if they had touched you that would have been it. The shock likely would have killed you.”

“Well what did you expect me to do?!” Gilda hissed, pulling Sunset tightly against her, and casting a dark glare over her shoulder. “My Sunshine was begging for my help, I wasn’t just gonna sit back.”

“You ought to have,” Sonata replied. “That was a flare, they end on their on… usually.”

“Yeah well, I wasn’t gonna take the risk, savvy?” Gilda snapped before turning back to Sunset who was curled up in Gilda’s arms. “H-Hey, Sunflower, how ya doin’?”

Sunset was panting, her face was pale and her eyes were distant and glazed. After a few moments she seemed to snap back to reality and looked around the room, wincing at the damage.

“I… I flared…” Sunset mumbled. “I haven’t flared since I was four years old…”

“Someone wanna enlighten the dumb monkey?” Gilda asked in a dry voice.

“Basically, they’re like magical growing pains,” Sonata said with a grin.

Adagio put a hand on Sonata’s head and pushed her out of the way, pinching the bridge of her nose between her fingers. “Sunset, you should probably explain it, I’m going to go speak to your Principal about the damages.”

Seizing Sonata by the ear, Adagio strode out of the room dragging her protesting sister as Sunset and Gilda watched on.

“Damn, that girl has some swing in her backdoor,” Gilda remarked.

“Tell me about it,” Sunset agreed before shaking her head and grimacing at the damage she’d inflicted. “A-anyway… Sonata wasn’t exactly wrong but… flares are more than just growing pains, although I guess it could be different for sirens.”

Gilda tightened her grip on Sunset ever so slightly and buried her face in Sunset’s hair, shuddering as she breathed in her girlfriend’s scent and gently stroked her back.

“I’m okay, Gil,” Sunset said softly. “You got to me, I’m fine…” Gilda nodded silently but didn’t move, and after a moment Sunset felt a faint wetness in her hair.

Gilda was crying.

“Oh… babe,” Sunset pulled away, reached her hands up to Gilda’s face, and drew her down so Sunset was cradling GIlda’s head. “Ssh, it’s okay, I’m fine, I promise I’m just fine.”

“What happened?” Gilda sobbed. “You looked like you were dyin’, babe, like you were burning alive!”

“I know,” Sunset replied in a quiet voice. “I’m sorry, it’s… it’s because of my magic. What you saw is called a thaumic flare, it’s something that happens in particularly powerful unicorn foals and, rarely, in adults during… times of great stress.”

Pulling away from Sunset, Gilda wiped at her eyes and stared down at Sunset in concern. “I-is it gonna happen again?”

Sunset shrugged. “I… I don’t know, Gil, it shouldn’t have happened at all,” she replied, looking worried. “Maybe? I really don’t know… magic isn’t even supposed to be in this world.”

“Hey Sunshine, that thing ya said on New Years Eve?” Gilda started. “About your magic, like, how most of the ones who use your magic… they blow themselves up?”

“Oh, yeah,” Sunset said, wincing a little a slightly regretting admitting that out loud. In her defense she hadn’t imagined it would ever be relevant. “Y-yeah, when Pyrothurges experience a flare the results can be, uh… explosive.”

Breathing out slowly, Gilda nodded before silently stepping away from the ruined cot she and Sunset had been sharing. Gesturing for Sunset to raise her arms a little, Gilda leaned in and lifted Sunset out of the wreck and carried her over to her wheelchair which had mercifully escaped the blaze, having been moved away to make room for the sirens. Settling Sunset into the chair, Gilda turned and grimaced at the scorched remains of the blankets that had originally been covering Sunset’s legs.

“Fuck it, I’ll bring it back later,” Gilda grumbled and grabbed a blanket off one of the cots and threw it over Sunset’s lower half. “C’mon, babe, we’re outta here.”

Sunset nodded, a part of her wanted to argue that it felt like she was just running away again but given everything that had happened the last thing she felt was safe. She didn’t feel safe for herself or for other people to be around, no one but Gilda and even then… well, it’s not like Gilda was going to leave anyway.

“Yeah,” Sunset said finally, her face falling as she leaned back into her wheelchair and wrapped her arms around herself. “Yeah… that’s probably a good idea.”

Sighing, Gilda rolled Sunset towards the door, only stopping to retrieve her things from the small cart by the nurse’s office.

“I know you were hopin’ it’d go different, babe,” Gilda said quietly as she helped Sunset get into her jacket and put on her socks and shoes. “Dunno why, since this school’s apparently populated by, like, a hundred morons for every decent one.”

Sunset laughed a little and Gilda smiled. “Heh, glad I can still make ya laugh.”

“You can always make me laugh, Gil,” Sunset replied, tucking her scarf around her neck and pulling her beanie on. “I just… I don’t want to be chased out again, I want to be able to stand up for myself again,” she said, before glaring down at her legs and grimacing. “Figuratively speaking, I mean.”

“I wasn’t gonna say it,” Gilda said entirely unconvincingly. “But f’real, babe, this is the mall all over again, we gotta take it slow, a’right?”

Scowling, Sunset grumbled a little but nodded. “I just hate feeling… weak. I shouldn’t be this affected by this stuff, Gil. I shouldn’t be falling apart left and right! I’m better than that, I’m stronger than that.”

Gilda sighed as she started pushing Sunset out of the nurse’s room, stopping only to pass a piece of paper and pen to Sunset so she could pen a note for Nurse Manners about what happened, although Adagio probably was seeing to that.

“Y’lost yer legs, Sunshine,” Gilda said in a steel-hard voice that made Sunset flinch. “Dunno if ya realise it but that was only like, a month ago. Most people wouldn’t even be goin’ outside yet, and you’re tryin’ to live your life again already.”

“I… I don’t want to let this change who I am, Gil,” Sunset said softly.

“It’s gonna,” Gilda replied, dryly. “C’mon, babe, let’s be real here, this ain’t small potatoes, this kinda shit is gonna change you but it don’t have to be a bad thing.”

“It is if it keeps me hiding indoors like a coward for the rest of my life,” Sunset retorted, feeling a flash of anger and annoyance.

“Yeah, like anything could really do that,” Gilda scoffed. “Look at you, Sunshine, y’ain’t the type t’just take shit lyin’ down, and you’re not gonna end up a shut in. Pretty sure if that were even possible it’d’ve happened by now.”

“Maybe I’m just overly sensitive about it… I never did sit still very well,” Sunset admitted, sighing again. “Ugh, I hate just sitting on my duff all day, though!”

“Then we’ll do somethin’ else,” Gilda said smiling as they turned a corner. “Y’said you were worryin’ about gettin’ heavier, yeah? So let’s get you workin’ out or somethin’.”

Sunset smiled at that and nodded. “Yeah… yeah I like the sound of tha-”

“Hey, Anon-A-Bitch!”

Sunset’s eyes snapped wide at the sound of the voice from down the hall and Gilda flinched as the temperature around her leapt up twenty degrees as Sunset swiveled her head around looking for the source of the voice. Gilda set a hand on Sunset’s shoulder, massaging it loosely trying to keep her calm. After a moment, Sunset let out a breath and looked up at Gilda with worry in her eyes.

“You heard that right?” Sunset asked, “I’m not going crazy?”

“Nah, I heard it, babe,” Gilda snarled as she looked around.

A crash of something hitting the lockers sounded from around another corner drew both Gilda and Sunset’s attention. Sunset pulled her gloves tight and gripped her wheels, pulling herself out of Gilda’s hands as she rolled down the hall and jerked hard around the corner.

Lightning Dust stood over Apple Bloom who was knocked to the ground and cradling her side. In front of her were a plethora of scattered school-books and supplies. Misty Fly stood off to the side glaring down at Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo who were staring down worriedly at their friend.

“Hope you didn’t think that little apology you gave in assembly last year was gonna get you out of trouble,” Lightning Dust snarled as she planted her foot on Apple Bloom’s back and pushed her down.

Apple Bloom gave out a muffled cry of pain as she dropped and Sunset felt her jaw clench as she realised that Lightning Dust was still wearing her spiked soccer cleats.

Misty shot a nasty grin down at Apple Bloom. The moment her eyes were off of Sweetie Belle though, Sweetie darted forward and drove her shoulder into Lightning Dust sending her stumbling back with a muttered curse.

“Get off of her!” Sweetie shouted, her hands clenched into shaking fists as she did her best to glare at Lightning Dust.

Scootaloo tried to join her friend but Misty knocked her back with a shove as Lightning advanced on Sweetie with a twisted, ugly grimace on her face.

“You want a turn you little priss?” Lightning said in a low voice. “Fine, I guess we can do that now.”

Lightning Dust was easily as competitive as Rainbow Dash, Sunset knew that along with just about everyone else in the school. Lesser known fact of the teal-skinned girl was her wicked temper and penchant for low blows. That said, the whole reason the unpleasant girl was on the soccer team at all was simple: she was very good at what she did.

All of that skill at soccer meant that Sweetie Belle never even saw Lightning’s foot as she snapped a kick out directly into Sweetie’s gut, dropping her to the ground as the freshman girl dry heaved on the ground, curling into the fetal position around her bruised stomach.

“Sweetie!” Scootaloo tried to dive past Misty but got a fist to her face for her trouble, sending her staggering back again but this time with a bloody nose to show for it.

“W-we said we were sorry,” Apple Bloom coughed as she tried to get up from the floor. “Ah don’t know what else we can do, Dust!”

Lightning shot Apple Bloom that unpleasant smirk of hers and cracked her knuckles. “Well, considering you spent about a month making the school your emotional punching bag, I figure you might as well return the favor, only, y’know… physically.”

“Sticks and stones,” Misty jeered as she circled and slapped Scootaloo across the back of her head.

“Lightning, Misty! Get away from them,” Sunset shouted, having heard more than enough as she rolled forward.

The two girls stared up as Sunset approached them in her wheelchair, her eyes burning with anger. Literally, her eyes were almost lit from behind.

“Cool it, Sunshine,” Gilda muttered from the corner of her mouth quietly as she walked alongside Sunset. “Y’gonna set the fuckin’ school on fire at this rate.”

“I know, I’m trying,” Sunset said softly before turning her full attention back to Lightning and Misty.

“H-Hey there Shimmer,” Lightning stammered, stepping back and away from the three girls and dragging Misty with her. “Look, about last year, I’m like, super sorry about that, but uh, hey! I softened’em up for ya if you wanna take a couple swings!”

Lightning Dust gestured to the bruised and bloodied ‘Crusaders’ who were staring terrified up at Sunset and Gilda.

Gilda felt her heart nearly seize up as she stared down at the three girls. She could feel fury pounding in her ears and red tinged her vision as she thought about all the pain and ruin that the three had purposefully visited on Sunset. Gilda had no clue why they did but it didn’t matter to her, there was no reason on the planet good enough to justify the shit they pulled and only knowing how Sunset would look at her kept Gilda from visiting the beating of a lifetime on them.

Sunset stared impassively down at the terrified girls before flicking her eyes up to Lightning and Misty.

“Get the fuck out of my sight,” Sunset said in a voice like a knife being unsheathed. “And if I see or even hear that you hurt them again I will personally set your ass on fire and just in case you think I’m being figurative,” Sunset lifted her hand and lit a searing white flame in her palm, “I’m not.”

The color drained from both Misty and Lightning’s faces as they nodded dumbly before backing away and then turning and sprinting in the opposite direction from Sunset. Gilda stared down at Sunset in surprise as the redhead let out a calming breath and closed her eyes. As the air left Sunset’s lungs, Gilda saw the flame in her palm diminish and fade to nothingness.

“S-Sunset…?” Apple Bloom’s voice was soft and tremulous as Sunset opened her eyes to look down at the youngest child of the Apple Family who was slowly rising to her feet.

Sunset scanned their faces dispassionately. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to be feeling but right now all she felt was a combination of rising irritation and vague pity.

The Crusaders on the other hand looked mortified.

Admittedly, Sunset couldn’t say she was surprised that they were staring at her wheelchair, but it didn’t really make it any less annoying. After a moment of silence Sunset spread her arms and gestured down at herself.

“Well, go ahead, take a good look, girls,” Sunset said in a grim voice. “Did you get what you wanted from me? I have no fucking clue what your reasoning was behind this whole goddamn clown fiesta but I hope you at least hit your goal.”

Gilda stared down at Sunset, blinking in surprise at the venom in Sunset’s voice.

“What’s wrong? Nothing to post?” Sunset snapped, feeling her temper rise but ignoring it as Apple Bloom, Sweetie, and Scootaloo flinched and stared down at the ground.

“Look at me,” Sunset said softly.

None of the three could, their eyes remaining fixed on the tile floor of the school as the temperature slowly rose around them. Sunset’s fists were clenched hard and she winced as she felt her fingernails bite deeply enough into her palms to draw trickle of blood that hissed on contact with the air around her.

“Look… at… me,” Sunset repeated slowly.

“NOW!”

Sunset’s voice rattled the lockers and all three girls opened their eyes, staring at Sunset in terror as she glared at them.

“You three ruined me,” Sunset hissed. “Because of you I had to choose between a broken body and being separated from my-... from Gilda and all of my real friends for literal years or decades.”

“We… we didn’t-” Sweetie sobbed as she recoiled from the fury in Sunset’s voice. “It was a mistake, Sunset… we were just…”

“You really gonna try’n explain y’selves?” Gilda asked in a low, angry voice. “Lemme give ya some advice… don’t. ‘Cause this shit ain’t ever gonna be fixed.”

“I’ve lost everything so many times,” Sunset said, tears falling and hissing away as she rolled forward towards them. “And I get it, all that loss? I did that to myself. But I was finally trying to be good! I had finally, finally learned my lesson!” Her voice had risen until she was shouting and the girls were staggering back with tears in their eyes. “Is this what your world teaches?! Hurt them until they learn their lesson then keep hurting them until they learn that it doesn’t matter?!”

“We’re sorry,” Apple Bloom sobbed quietly. “We didn’t mean to… we… we didn’t think-”

“NO SHIT!” Sunset shrieked, her voice cracking. “I can’t even fathom someone doing what you three did on purpose without being completely evil.” The wind seemed to go out of Sunset at those words as she leaned back in her chair. “Even when I was in charge here I never isolated people… I always made sure people had some kind of social circle because… because I knew how bad being completely alone felt.”

Sunset looked around the school with tired eyes, looking over the walls, floors, and banks of lockers when a cool sensation sent a welcome shock of relief over her face and she glanced down to see Gilda softly caressing her cheek. Sunset smiled, turning just enough to brush her lips over Gilda’s fingers. Turning back to the Crusaders, Sunset stared angrily at them.

“Congratulations girls,” Sunset said softly. “You did something even I didn’t think was possible; you managed to be worse than me in pretty much every way.” Sighing Sunset raised a hand to the bridge of her nose and pinched it, feeling an oncoming headache. “I literally cannot imagine what your plan was except to ruin my life, so if that was the goal, well…”

The words, ‘you did it’ were on her tongue but they never made it past her lips as Sunset felt Gilda stroke her fingers idly through Sunset’s messy tangle of red and gold hair.

Gilda was standing and impassively staring at the three girls, as Sunset gave them a verbal lashing with a stony expression. As Sunset’s silence stretched on, Gilda glanced down at her, and a smile tugged softly at the edges of her mouth as she looked down at the redhead. Sunset’s eyes widened a little as she saw the warmth in Gilda’s eyes, something infinitely bright and beautiful shone behind those gorgeous golden orbs. Sunset knew Gilda was mad, she was angry on Sunset’s behalf, she had to be… but in that moment the anger was gone; there wasn’t even a hint of the fury that she knew was deep in Gilda’s heart.

There was just warmth; Gilda looked down at Sunset and even though Sunset knew Gilda must be so angry at the Crusaders for everything they’d done… she was smiling for Sunset.

The dull, aching ember in Sunset’s chest flickered as it cooled, and Sunset turned back to the Crusaders with a calmer expression.

“Well… you failed.”

All three Crusaders looked up at Sunset in surprise as she stared down the hall at them, gripping the armrest of her chair hard but without the rage that had come upon her earlier in the nurse’s room.

“You tried to destroy me, even if it was by accident,” Sunset continued, “but I guess at least you can take a little comfort in the fact that you managed to screw even that part up.”

Scootaloo stepped past Sweetie and Apple Bloom and stopped a few feet from Sunset, looking pale and upset, swallowing dryly she looked down at Sunset’s wheelchair for a moment before looking back up to the redhead who was glaring at her.

“Wanna take a picture?” Sunset asked caustically.

“This is our fault?” Scootaloo asked hollowly. “We… we did this to you?”

Sunset shrugged. “Pretty much, I mean, I can definitely say if it weren’t for Anon-A-Miss I’d still have my legs, but…” A grim smile etched a line across Sunset’s face. Even Gilda raised an eyebrow at the ugly expression on Sunset’s face. “Silver lining, though; if it weren’t for Anon-A-Miss I’d also still be friends with those liars you call sisters so, yeah, and I’d have never met my…” Sunset trailed off for a moment.

Sighing, Sunset looked up at Gilda and smiled again, but this time there was only love in it.

“Hey Gil?” Sunset said softly, drawing Gilda’s gaze. “I love you.”

Gilda chuckled and shrugged. “Helluva time f’that, Sunshine, but I love you too.”

Turning back, Sunset fixed Scootaloo and the others with a wholly different expression as the three girls were glancing between Gilda and Sunset in surprise.

“All dressing down aside, I think the last thing I have to say to the three of you is this,” Sunset said softly and the three Crusaders braced themselves.

“Thank you.”

“Beg pardon?” Apple Bloom asked in shock.

“I said ‘thank you’,” Sunset repeated, rolling forward to stop in front of Apple Bloom. Reaching out, she put a hand on Apple Bloom’s head and let out a dry laugh. “Because in the end I also only met Gilda because of Anon-A-Miss so… I figure all things being fair I should thank you for the one good thing you three managed to make out of this whole mess.”

Apple Bloom screwed up her face in confusion, looking up at Sunset’s hand as she pulled it away. Her eyes widened as she saw the slight glint of light play off of the little metal loop on Sunset’s finger.

“Is that-?!” Apple Bloom started but Sunset’s finger pressed to her lips, shushing her.

“Not a word,” Sunset said in a dry voice before pulling her hand back and turning to Gilda. “C’mon babe, let’s go home.”

Gilda nodded and took a hold of Sunset’s wheelchair handles and started pushing her towards the exit on the other side of the hall. Before they got too far, a small voice stopped them in their tracks.

“Sunset?” Sweetie stepped between her friends to stop in front of Gilda and Sunset who turned, eyebrow raised to fix Sunset with a pointed look.

There were a thousand and one things that Sweetie wanted to say to Sunset; she wanted to apologise, she wanted to beg for forgiveness, she wanted to plead with Sunset not to punish their sisters for the mistakes of her and her friends. Every single word turned to ash in her mouth, though as she heard them play out in her head. In the end, they all sounded selfish and hollow and empty.

Finally, Sweetie took a step closer and held out her small, pale hand towards Sunset.

“Thanks for helping us, and good luck.”

Sunset blinked in surprise, but smiled faintly and nodded. “Yeah, I guess that’s all we really have to say to each other anymore, huh?” Reaching out, Sunset took Sweetie’s hand and shook it. “Good luck to you too, Miss Belle.”

Nodding, Sweetie turned back to her friends. “C’mon girls, let’s go.”

“Weird chick,” Gilda said dryly as they parted ways. “Hate to say it but I kinda like’er, that girl’s got some brass balls on’er.”

“Heh, kinda,” Sunset agreed. “Hopefully they learned something, I have to admit, I can’t really stay mad at them.”

“Because of us?” Gilda said, more than asked.

“Yeah…” Sunset replied. “Whatever they meant to do, I can say with total honesty, if it weren’t for them I’d never have really met you. So in a weird, ass-backwards way… it’s all thanks to them I’m getting married one day.”

“I swear t’god, Sunshine, if you make those little shits your bridesmaids I will throw the altar at them,” Gilda groused.

Sunset burst out laughing as Gilda pushed her through the side doors and into the sun and chilly wind. “Tirek’s balls, no, not even a chance!” Sunset replied. “Besides, you’re gonna be the one wearing the dress.”

“Wait, what?”

~Whitetail Woods, January 6th, Afternoon~

Gilda struck the ground hard, panting as her vision doubled. Wobbling slightly on her feet, she almost got her balance before another wave of vertigo struck her and she toppled backwards onto her ass.

“Ugh, what am I even supposed t’do with this fuckin’ thing, Sunflower?” Gilda groaned from the ground, turning her head to glare at the crackling spear in her right hand. “I can barely use it for more than a couple minutes before I get the mother of all hangovers.”

Sunset laughed softly as she rolled over the grass towards Gilda. “I know it’s asking a lot, Gil, but you’re going to have to be patient… you’re basically working a muscle you didn’t even know you had right now, so it’s going to take time.”

“You’re one t’talk, Sunshine,” Gilda shot back playfully. “Miss ‘I can do another pushup-oh crap!’, which was fuckin’ hilarious by the way.”

“Watching your girlfriend faceplant into a rubber yoga mat shouldn’t be hilarious,” Sunset replied in annoyance. “And how is it my arms are already weak noodles!? It’s not fair!”

“Shock’ll do that, I guess,” Gilda answered as she sat up, massaging her temple with her free hand. “Doc Tourniquet said y’gotta be careful gettin’ y’body back up t’speed, Sunflower.”

“I know, I know,” Sunset grumbled. “Anyway, we’re here to help you.”

Gilda blew a raspberry as she glared down at the Huracán. “Yeah, I’m gettin’ real fuckin’ tired of fallin’ over every time I swing this thing.”

“I’m honestly kinda surprised you can use it at all,” Sunset said. “At least without passing out.”

“Wha’dya mean?” Gilda asked raising an eyebrow.

“Hmm, well, think of it like this,” Sunset started. “At least in Equestria, we have an understanding of magic as, essentially a science; the Arcane Sciences specifically. I’m not exactly sure that it works the same way here but…”

“Yeah, yeah, can ya maybe dumb it down for one who evolved from a monkey?” Gilda said, gesturing for Sunset to continue.

“Right, okay, so you understand cars, right?” Sunset began, and Gilda perked up and nodded. “Well, everypony in Equestria has what’s called an Arcanum Fundamentus, it’s basically like an engine, savvy?”

“Okay, what kinda engine?” Gilda asked, sitting up straighter as she listened.

“Well that’s the thing,” Sunset replied. “Not everyone is born equal, different ponies have different ‘engines’; take Princess Twilight, right? She’s a one in a billion, rarer than rare, her ‘engine’ is impossibly strong.” Sighing in playful irritation, Sunset shrugged. “I hate to admit it but horn-to-horn, Twilight could bat me around like a rag doll.”

“So she’s like, some kinda experimental engine?” Gilda asked, “like a sixteen cylinder monster?”

“Sure, let’s go with that,” Sunset said, nodding. “Me on the other hoof? I’m- stop laughing or I’m setting you on fire!” Sunset snapped, and Gilda chuckled and nodded for her to continue. “I’m well above average but not unheard of, like a V-Twelve. I’m definitely a powerhouse, but you kinda have to be to be any kind of pyrothurge.”

“And me?” Gilda asked.

Sunset shrugged. “Couldn’t say yet… I mean, if I had to guess I’d say you’re at least in the same neighborhood as me? Probably not quite as strong, but we won’t know for sure until you’ve worked your magic muscle for a while but…” Sunset gestured at the Huracán, “you’d pretty much have to be at least the magic equivalent of a V-Ten to even activate that thing without passing out. It takes a certain amount of raw power just to turn it on. Either that or your ‘engine’ is insanely efficient.”

“Cool, so I’m either a muscle car, or a four stroke diesel,” Gilda replied with a laugh. “Either way it’s nice to know I’ve got a lot of grunt to get behind.”

“You’re going to need it if you’re ever going to master the Huracán,” Sunset said with a grimace as she turned around and rolled over to the edge of a marked out circle that Gilda had been training in. “I’ve had to recarve the containment runes four times since we started this morning, the Huracán keeps burning them out.”

“Speakin’a which,” Gilda said, glancing over at the edge and wrinkling her nose at the scent of smoke.

“Yup,” Sunset said dryly, glaring down at the scorched grass. “Burnt out again.”

“What are they even for?”

Sunset rubbed tiredly at her face as she reached down from her seat and picked up the heavy stone bearing a blackened sigil and waved her hand. A faint, amber glow suffused the stone and the ash peeled off of it like dust in the wind. Pulling out a small hammer and chisel, Sunset went to work correcting the little imperfections that had been burnt into the rock as she considered how to answer Gilda's question.

It was strange, using magic as a human. Ever since she had flared in the nurse's office, Sunset realised she'd essentially cracked open the floodgates of her magic. Before she'd been able to manage small bursts of heat and mostly directionless flame. Now it was almost like she was back to normal. Not quite as powerful, and certain laws of magic didn't quite translate in this world like they did in Equestria, but Sunset didn't care.

She had her magic back. Maybe in a strange form, and she had to relearn some of the basics, but it was better than nothing. The only thing that concerned her was that her ability to use magic suggested that this world's ambient field was growing strong enough to support complex spell matrices.

“Magic is like any other kind of energy, it radiates and can cause serious problems in large quantities,” Sunset answered finally as she carefully chipped at the stone. “Powerful enough magical discharges can result in permanent thaumic scarring to the ambient magical profile of the region.”

“I literally have no idea whatcha just said past that first sentence,” Gilda admitted. “Is it like nuclear shit?”

“Mm, sort of, but only in the sense that any other energy is,” Sunset clarified. “Let me give you an example… in my world there’s a place called the Badlands,” Sunset set the stone down back in place, and rolled to the next stone in line to repeat the process. “No one exactly knows what happened, but legends say it was once a lush and beautiful valley home to thousands of ponies. The only story is an ancient fairy tale…”

“Well, I ain’t goin’ anywhere, savvy?” Gilda said with a laugh from the ground, gesturing for Sunset to go on. “Let’s hear it.”

“Okay… well, don’t laugh, okay?” Sunset said, moving along the circle to repair the sigils. “So, they say that the Vale of Dreams was protected by a Goddess who wielded the power of light, and one day the skies grew dark with storms that laughed and cast the pegasi from their clouds as the shadows of Tambelon fell once more across the good earth of the Vale; caught unprepared and desperate to protect her little ponies, the Goddess sundered her light. In that release of power the Goddess vanished and the valley was reduced to ashes, it was after that event that the Pony Tribes split into the Earth Pony Republic, the Pegasopolon Imperium, and the Unicorn Kingdom.”

“The valley was just… destroyed?” Gilda asked, wincing a little.

Sunset nodded. “Yeah… and even today the place is a magic-blitzed, sunscorched wasteland. Literally nothing grows there anymore because of the magical radiation that seeped into the ground.”

“Well shit,” Gilda said, grimacing as she sat up and stared at Huracán uneasily. “And this thing is like that?”

“Oh, no,” Sunset replied with a laugh as she set down the last stone. “No, the Huracán is a powerful artifact, but nothing on the scale as the legendary Power of Light. Besides, I don’t think either of us have the ability to break it.”

“Damn,” Gilda swore, standing on shaky legs, “f’being pretty ponies y’magic is fuckin’ terrifyin’, babe.”

“No more so than your peoples’ nuclear bomb,” Sunset said with a wan smile. “I think every culture has their dirty secrets, y’know?”

“Eh, fair enough,” Gilda replied. “Alright, let’s give this another go.”

Planting her feet and closing her eyes, Gilda extended her arms and took a deep breath. The air burned with the acrid taste of ozone as electricity crackled off of Gilda’s body, snapping and striking the ground, hissing wherever it touched. Sunset rolled herself backwards a few feet out of the circle and watched as her girlfriend rose a few inches into the air, her body limned in drifting motes of gray light.

A second later a snap of pressure split the air and Gilda’s beautiful, brown wings stretched out and Sunset couldn’t help but smile. From where she sat, Gilda looked angelic; her face was lined with the tension of concentration as she struggled to maintain control of her growing magical might. A combination of sorcerous power and physical lift brought Gilda higher into the air and the frequency of snaps and bolts of electrical surges scorched the grass below her where the snow had long ago melted from exposure to Sunset and Gilda’s experiments.

“You’re doing great, Gil!” Sunset shouted over the wind and crackle of lightning. “Now try and attune to the Huracán and be careful!”

Gilda opened her eyes and nodded, and Sunset felt her heart catch as she saw white light spilling from Gilda’s eyes, her golden pupils shining with a molten, burning light.

Twirling Huracán like a parade baton, Gilda smirked and shot upward into the sky, carving a trail of lightning behind her as thunder boomed around her.

“Damn it, babe,” Sunset muttered to herself as she watched Gilda shoot off into the sky. “I said ‘be careful’ not ‘fuck with the local meteorological community’...”

Bracing herself, Sunset felt the hairs on her arms and the back of her neck start to rise and the edges of her red locks start to frizz. The metal bars of her wheelchair armrest bit at her fingers with tiny snaps of static just like every other time Gilda had done this.

“Come on, babe,” Sunset quietly cheered. “You can do it.”

The small form in the sky wheeled, one hand gripping a bright and glittering bar of light that Sunset knew was the Huracán. Her eyes widened as the skies around Gilda darkened faintly. That had never happened before and Sunset felt a small surge of panic, silently she wove through a small number of safety spells… Blue Jay’s Banishing Stroke to discharge ambient lightning, Cloud Weaver’s Spellform Syncopation to interrupt a feedback loop, along with a couple of others.

It was as the bolts began arcing out further than ever that Sunset spied flares of bright crimson light emanating from around Gilda's left hand.

“Wait… is that…” Sunset muttered, narrowing her eyes. “Oh shit.”

Spreading her palms, Sunset began curling her fingers through a series of complex symbols as she called up the arcane equations of the spell she was accessing. There was a strong chance that what Gilda was doing would blow right through the other countermeasures she had prepared.

Up in the sky, Gilda felt better than she ever had. Power surged through her as her grip tightened on the Huracán and she aimed down at the middle of the marked out circle.

Hiking her grip up on the haft and cocking her arm fully back, Gilda smirked.

“Suck it, Thor!” Gilda roared as she let the Huracán fly from her hand.

The Huracán leapt from Gilda’s grip with a thunderous report, splitting the sky with the sound of an ocean storm and a force that sent even Gilda rolling backwards in the sky.

“Woah! Shit!” Gilda swore as she wheeled and flapped to regain her balance. “What the hell?!”

The ground quaked as the Huracán struck it with the force of a divine hammer, splitting the earth with its detonation of electrical energy that was barely contained by the binding circle Sunset had built, and even Gilda with her unpracticed eye could tell the circle was straining. Panic shot through her as she realised Sunset was right at the edge and if the circle failed…

“Shit! Sunshine, get outta there!” Gilda screamed, even knowing her voice would be stolen by the wind and thunder.

Sunset heard nothing as she divorced her mind from the panic of the situation, falling into a casting trance and racing to complete the complicated spell before her sigils failed. The rocks were glowing a bright, dangerous orange and the grass around them was catching fire as they absorbed far past their capacity of magical discharge. Just as they began to melt and the sigils distort to nothingness, Sunset completed her casting.

“MORDANT CANE’S DISJUNCTION!”

There was a pulse of something that Gilda could only describe as silence, as Sunset snapped her palms outward towards the coiling pillar of electricity that was erupting from the Huracán and ripping the ground up around it. Wherever the pulse touched, all magic went still.

Lightning died, the molten stones cooled instantly to hard rock, the Huracán rattled violently before snapping back into its compact form and dropping onto the ground…

And Gilda’s wings vanished.

“Uh oh,” Gilda chirped as she immediately dropped like a stone out of the sky, flailing as she tried and failed to call up her magic.

It was like whatever she reached for before was just… gone. Or the distance between her and it was so vast she just couldn’t reach it anymore.

“Oh, right, crap!” Sunset swore as she rolled into the circle to where Gilda was falling.

Spitting out a single syllable and snapping her fingers upwards, a single pulse of clean-smelling air shot up like an arrow from her hand and cushioned around Gilda’s form, slowing her descent considerably. Gilda wheeled her arms awkwardly as she floated downwards towards Sunset who positioned herself underneath the very slowly falling Gilda until the taller girl landed directly in Sunset’s lap, her legs hanging awkwardly over the wheelchair’s armrest as Sunset cradled her girlfriend.

“Sorry about that, Gil,” Sunset said, a little red-faced. “Disjunction is sort of like the ‘nuclear option’ equivalent of countermagic. Fortunately, with how much you fly lately, I always have that other little failsafe ready to cast.”

“Ugh, th’fuck was that?” Gilda asked as she shook her head and started to sit up. “Felt like I was suddenly fallin’ through dry jello.”

“It’s a pretty basic backup most Unicorns have ready in case a cloudwalking or flight spell goes awry or we can’t reach a safe landing point before the duration ends,” Sunset explained. “Ever since New Years I’ve made sure I have it ready to cast at a moment’s notice… I want to be sure I can always catch you.”

“Heh, can’t complain ‘bout that, savvy?” Gilda said as she hopped up to her feet. “It got a fancy name too?”

“Just a simple one…it's called Featherfall,” Sunset replied sardonically. “I figure since you’re always around to catch me, like my own personal spell in a leather jacket, I should return the favor.”

“Right? I make magic look good,” Gilda boasted, tucking her thumbs behind the lapels of her bomber jacket.

A loud applause from the sidelines drew the attention of both girls, who turned to see three familiar figures standing on the edge of the woods, clapping. Sonata was sitting cross-legged on snowy ground in a parka while both Aria and Adagio had more sensible winter coats on, all three were smiling.

“Nice display there, ladies,” Aria said as she broke off from her sisters to approach Sunset and Gilda who sat up from Sunset’s chair and brushed herself off. “I think there might be some half-deaf nonagenarians in Vanhoover who didn’t hear it, though.”

Sonata kipped up with surprising alacrity and joined her older sister while Adagio sauntered up calmly behind them.

“Yup! That was really neat!” Sonata cheered as she dodged around Aria and circled Gilda. “Where’d your shiny spear go?”

“Oh, yeah,” Gilda held out her hand towards the crater in the middle of the binding circle. A faint rattle of metal sounded and the compacted hilt flew from where it had been buried to land squarely in Gilda’s palm.

Adagio raised an eyebrow at that and whistled. “You have fairly decent control over that for a mere neophyte.”

“Y’mom’s a neophyte,” Gilda replied with a smirk, earning a groan from Sunset.

“Really, Gil? ‘Your Mom’ jokes are dead, let them rest in peace,” Sunset admonished before rolling up to the sirens. “Thanks for coming out you three, I wasn’t really sure who else to call.”

“Well, there really isn’t anyone else unless old bell-head banished any other spell-weaving immortals to this rock,” Adagio answered.

“Yeah, and between the three of us ‘Dagi is the only real sorceress,” Aria said. “I was a Myrmidon back before we went AWOL.”

“And I was a mathomancer!” Sonata added in from the side.

Slapping her palm to her face, Adagio groaned. “That’s not a word, nor is it a mystic art, ‘Nata… you’re a disgrace to the most famous discipline of our people.”

Sonata blew a raspberry at her sister as Sunset’s eyes widened.

“Wait, wait matho- no… you were a Geometer?” Sunset blurted out. “Are you serious?! That’s impossible! Starswirl the Bearded was the one who introduced Geomantic Arcana in his seminal work: Dialogues on the Sciences of Magic.”

“Hah! More like stole it from our ruined civilization,” Adagio countered. “How do you think we cast harmonic magic? Music is just math, my dear, and that old codger just looted the corpse of our sunken kingdom for our knowledge of it, guess someone needs to learn to cite their sources.”

“In all fairness, it’s not like they were using it anymore,” Aria added with a dry smirk. “Besides, what did they ever do with it except blow the whole island to the bottom of the Coltlantian Sea?”

“Build the most advanced civilization in the world that lasted for over two millennia, maybe?” Adagio countered.

“And then they blew themselves to the bottom of the Coltlantian Sea!” Sonata put in cheerily.

“We only survived because we were functionally immortal,” Aria added. “And we were only that because of the gems that ‘Nata built and ‘Dagi enchanted. I’m basically the dumb muscle of the group.”

Adagio frowned and walked up to Aria, putting an arm around her sister’s shoulder. “That’s not true, Ari’, you’re our sister, and it’s not even like your magic is really all that weaker than ours.”

“I’m a Hyperkineticist, ‘Dagi, or I was,” Aria said blithely. “My magic literally just translated into punching things harder and faster than everyfish else just like every other Myrmidon in the Royal Guard.”

“But your position let you warn us about what the Empress was about to do,” Adagio reminded her sister. “If it weren’t for you all of our magic would have meant nothing. We would have been buried with the rest of our people.”

“Dunno if I can pronounce all’a that,” Gilda cut in as she walked up to Aria, “But I wouldn’t mind hittin’ shit harder and faster. I mean, have ya seen me?” Gilda gestured down to herself. “That’s basically all I do, and I’m pretty fuckin’ sure I ain’t cut out to do Sunshine’s kind’a magic.”

“Most likely not,” Adagio agreed before turning back to Sunset. “You cast much like I do, you’re what we would have called a Universalist; a practitioner of many schools of magic.”

“I’m technically a Pyrothurge,” Sunset corrected her friend. “But yeah, I have dual Major Principals in Pyrokinetic Conjuration and Advanced Arcane Theory, as well as Minor Principals in Advanced Spellcraft, High Countermagic, Pyrokinetic Evocation, Advanced Sigilic Arts, and Home Economics.”

“Home Ec?” Gilda asked with a laugh, and Sunset frowned.

“I liked cooking, okay?” Sunset grumbled.

“That’s an impressive laundry list of accomplishments, Sunny,” Adagio admitted. “You’re probably on the same level as me, then, sans about a thousand years of experience, of course.”

“That’s why I asked you here, actually,” Sunset said, leaning back in her chair as she steepled her fingers. “I wanted to know if any of you were getting your magic back.”

The sirens glanced at each other, frowning before looking back to Sunset and shaking their heads solemnly.

“We tied our magic up in our gems,” Adagio explained. “It was a necessary sacrifice to achieve our spell of eternal youth. The advanced matrices of the gems let us store and amplify the power along very specific arcane patterns.”

“Yeah…” Sonata said in a slightly sad voice. “I couldn’t figure out how to transfer our magic to the gems without burning out our meridians, I might’ve been able to if I had more time but…” Sonata sniffled a little and Aria pulled her little sister into a hug.

“We’ve toldja, ‘Nata,” Aria said softly. “You did great, you did the best you could… wasn’t your fault the Empress and her stupid coven accidentally blew up the island.”

Adagio nodded along with her sister. “Yes, so… even if we were regaining a semblance of our magic we would never know since we lack the physical means to channel it.”

“I see, I thought that might be the case, actually,” Sunset admitted. “I’d never seen gems like yours before; I couldn’t fathom how they worked until I gave it some thought. Plus, I would have thought you would have regained your magic long before I did since you were saturated in it but…”

“It’s no one’s fault,” Adagio said with a dry smile. “After all, we had a good run, and our ambient magic will keep us around for at least another few centuries before we start aging again, probably a lot more given how much power we extracted before the Rainbooms broke our gems.”

Sunset slipped her hand into her pocket, feeling the soft bag that lay within. A part of her was worried… when she’d made her proposition to Twilight she’d half expected the Princess to vehemently say no, but instead… Twilight had told Sunset that she trusted the former Unicorn, and would do it if she asked. Sunset might have been a powerful caster with a massive repertoire of spells, but Twilight was a true Geometer, in addition to being a fearsome sorceress. Only Princess Twilight had the know-how to do what Sunset had asked.

And she had.

The question was… did she really want to go through with it and take the risk? Gilda was all for it of course, things were decidedly simple for her which Sunset envied a little. The Sirens had been good to Sunset and to Gilda alike, there was no doubt in Gilda’s mind like there was in Sunset’s.

“C’mon, Sunshine,” Gilda said quietly from Sunset’s side. “Just say it.”

“Yeah…” Sunset answered. “Hey… ‘Dagi?”

“Mhm?” Adagio replied, raising an eyebrow.

“Do you trust me?”

Adagio raised an eyebrow, and shrugged. “If I’m being honest… yes, I do. I’m not really sure why, maybe because you’ve walked a mile in my shoes, and I in yours, and maybe because I feel like I owe you… but yes, I do trust you, Sunset.”

“Same here, Red,” Aria put in with a smirk. “You aren’t really that complicated. You’re a good gal with a short temper and a lot of power. Believe me, I get that.”

“I think you’re awesome!” Sonata cheered.

Sunset felt a small stone of guilt settle into her chest as she heard their words. They weren’t saying them to earn brownie points or kiss up to her, Sunset had nothing to offer them as far as they knew. They had wealth, a good home, and satisfying work. There was no reason for them to be kind to her but… they were.

No, that’s not true… they had all the reason in the world because they were her friends.

“I… I never got you three Christmas presents, did I?” Sunset started, smiling softly.

Aria crooked an eyebrow and grinned. “Dunno if you’ve seen our place, Shimmer, but I’m pretty sure we don’t need anything, no offense.”

“The thought is sweet, though,” Adagio added.

“Y’gonna do it or what?” Gilda asked with a dry laugh, drawing a look of confusion from the Sirens.

“I know, I know,” Sunset said. “Look… they’re not as good as your old ones, and they’re probably a lot more fragile but…” Sunset drew out the small sack and pulled the drawstring on it, tipping out its contents into her hands.

Sitting in Sunset’s palm were three beautiful, multifaceted, sea-green gemstones that glittered in the winter sunlight.

“Here, I asked Twilight to fabricate these for you,” Sunset held them up. “They’re pure, don’t worry, and they can’t amplify negative emotions. They’re just foci, really, but-”

Sunset’s words were interrupted by a loud sob coming from, of all people, Adagio, who was staring down at the shining gems with her hands over her mouth. Both of her sisters were staring as well, stunned into silence at what was in front of them.

Shakily, Adagio walked forward, pulling her gloves off as she did, and reached out to pluck one of the gems from Sunset’s hand. Swallowing hard, Adagio pulled a small black ribbon from her inner pocket, a few red fragments still hung from the centerpiece. Sniffling, Adagio shook the fragments off and fixed the new gem in place where her old one had lain before wrapping it around her neck and tying it off.

“H-Hey… ‘Dagi…” Aria said in whisper-soft voice. “D-does it… does it work?”

Closing her eyes, Adagio held out her hands and sung out a soft, trilling tune, and the gem glowed faintly in conjunction with Adagio’s voice. It was weak at first, but a faint green light flickered to life between her palms, faintly and then stronger until it shone like a small star.

Opening her eyes, Adagio stared at the simple magilight like it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

“Yes, Ari’,” Adagio choked out around happy tears. “Yes, it works.”

Sonata let out a wooping cheer as she dove forward to snatch up her own gem followed quickly on her heels by Aria. Both of them pulled out their shattered gems hanging from their old ribbons and fixed the gems in place before tying each other’s off.

Wiping at her eyes, Adagio turned and smiled faintly at Gilda. “You’re very lucky you found her first, Gilda,” Adagio said dryly, “or else nothing would stop me from making that girl there my mate for life.”

“Try it and I’ll shove that gem right up y’Mareianas Trench,” Gilda replied with a smirk.

“Don’t threaten me with a good time,” Adagio shot back.

“Well, that answers the question as to whether or not your ability to use magic is back,” Sunset said. “Even without your artifact-grade gems, you can still channel, which leads us to the next and most unpleasant part of this little experiment.”

“Wha’dya mean?” Gilda asked, kneeling down to Sunset’s level.

Sunset grimaced as she pinched the bridge of her nose. “We have to know how magic is flowing, you’ve got it, I’ve got it, and the sirens have it… now I need to test a theory which means… ugh… we have to talk to my ex-best friends.”

~Canterlots Heights, January 9th, Mid-Morning~

Twilight Sparkle stared at her computer with slightly glazed eyes, a pencil tucked between her lips as she chewed on the eraser while redoing the calculations that were scrolling past her in her head. She’d done it a thousand times and they just didn’t add up; it was absolutely infuriating. No amount of energy cycles, frequencies, or pulses put through the digital model of the gauntlets elicited a reaction.

The gauntlets had reacted very faintly when whatever had happened five days ago had occurred, but since then there’d been nothing. No detectable power spikes, no strange surges of that odd radiation.

Nothing.

And worse… Pawnee had gone silent.

Ever since a few hours after the major surge they had detected at the beginning of the week, Pawnee had been offline. No messages, no responses, nothing… just silence. Twilight was getting worried and… if she was being honest… a little upset. Pawnee had never just abandoned her like this. They’d been talking practically every day for over a year. Pawnee was her best friend and now they were just… gone.

Sighing, Twilight leaned back in her chair and curled up on it, tucking her knees up to her face.

“This is stupid, Twilight,” she muttered to herself. “Pawnee probably just had something come up… you don’t need to get upset over it.”

Talking to herself didn’t help, but she pretended it did. Not talking to Pawnee for so long had left a hollow ache in Twilight’s heart.

“Crushes aren’t suppose to hurt this bad, are they?” Twilight asked nobody in particular. “They supposed to make you happy…”

Ding.

Twilight’s eyes went wide at the sound of a message notification from her chat server. The one that only she and Pawnee shared. Scrabbling over to her desk, Twilight opened the server and clicked the new message tab open.

//Pawnee4: hey babe, where you wanna go on our first date?//

Twilight’s eye went from wide and hopeful to twitching.

//Labrat19: REALLY?! YOU VANISH FOR A WEEK AND THAT’S THE FIRST QUESTION YOU ASK?!//

//Pawnee4: Aw, hey, look, I’m real sorry about that, sav? I wasn’t around my setup for a while and my connection wasn’t secure, you know how it is...//

Pursing her lips and scowling, Twilight dropped back into her chair and crossed her arms. Breathing out slowly, Twilight felt a small smile tug its way back onto her face.

Pawnee was back, and that was all that mattered.

//Labrat19: Yeah… okay, I forgive you.//

//Pawnee4: Love you, you messy bitch. So ya didn’t answer my question, where ya wanna go?//

Rolling her eyes as she glared up at her messy bun of hair, then down at her stained labcoat. Twilight laughed a little and typed out her response.

//Labrat19: I’ve never been on a date before… but, I guess the Crystal Emporium Mall? It’s got pretty much got everything.//

//Pawnee4: Cor, meet you there in a half-hour!//

Twilight chuckled as she read Pawnee’s response.

Then she reread it.

“WHAT?!”

Author's Note

Day early chapter since there was nothing last week. Can you catch all the references? Also, show some love for the sirens, I love those girls.

So... who wants to meet Pawnee?

13. Where There Is Desire

~Beaucheval Cemetery, January 9th, Mid-Morning~

Gilda sighed as she walked the familiar stone path upwards towards the north end of the Cemetery. Gilda had told Sunset she was leaving to take care of something though she hadn’t said what, and thankfully Sunset hadn’t asked.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want Sunset to know what she was doing… she just didn’t know how to talk about it.

“Really got t'get better at that shit,” Gilda mused quietly as she ascended a set of steps.

It had been a year or so since she’d come up to visit her parents’ graves. Unlike some people Gilda didn’t feel the need to visit every year or on any particular anniversary. Honestly, a part of it was simply that the place made her uncomfortable; being surrounded by so much death all in one place wasn’t much to Gilda’s liking.

Today was different, though. Gilda had been thinking about visiting for a while, ever since New Years in fact, and this morning the feeling had been particularly strong. Like something had called her there.

Sighing again, Gilda slowed her walk as her eyes passed over the grim scenery. The rolling hills of Beauchavel were dotted with perfectly lined slabs of gray stone. Each one a mother, father, daughter, son, or any number of other things.

Each one either a soldier, or family to one.

The skies were a pale gray, overcast blanket of clouds that only vaguely threatened to snow. Something about the place always tasted different to Gilda, the air was stale and static, as if the world didn’t quite move at the same pace within the walls of the Beaucheval Military Cemetery as it did outside.

Maybe it didn’t.

Gilda walked past row upon row of gravestones, some looked to have been recently visited; flowers or other small offerings left by the stones that would eventually be cleaned up by the custodians once they had wilted. Gilda hadn’t brought anything, her mother had been allergic to flowers and her father had never really been a ‘nature’ kind of guy, so it didn’t quite feel right.

Stopping at the familiar row, Gilda looked down it towards where she knew her parents were resting and her eyes narrowed as she spied something.

“The hell?” Gilda mumbled as she walked down the row, feeling a faint burn of unease in her chest. “Someone must’a mixed up their stones,” Gilda muttered as she stopped in front of her parent’s graves.

Laying before the two gravestones was a bouquet of fresh flowers. Very fresh flowers, in fact.

“Nah, probably one’a dad’s old air force buddies,” Gilda muttered, smiling a little wanly as she remembered her teacher. “Bet it was Mister Cranky, actually… who knew dad had a bunch’a friends?”

Of course, it seemed obvious in retrospect. Gilda didn’t have a lot of friends but her father had always been a likeable person; she remembered, vaguely, all the people who knew him by name, who would greet him and her mother when they were out. The fact that she had never given it any thought until Cranky had talked to her about his own friendship with her father made Gilda feel a little stupid.

“Not stupid,” Gilda quietly chided herself. “I ain’t stupid.”

Kneeling at the graves, Gilda reached out and traced her fingers along the cold stone. Everything felt so different now that she was with Sunset. Now that her life had begun moving again after years of inertia.

“Hey ma,” Gilda said softly, pressing her palm to the smooth marble headstone that read simply: Drusella Grimfeather. “It’s… been awhile, I know,” reaching over Gilda pressed her palm to her father’s grave. “Hey dad, turns out one’a your old buddies is my math teacher, funny ain’t it? Never knew til a few days ago.”

A part of Gilda waited for a response she knew would never come. It never did, and it was one of the reasons that she avoided coming to visit. Intellectually she knew her parents were gone, but when she was near their graves it felt… less real somehow. Like they were so close and maybe, just maybe if she listened hard enough she would hear their voices one more time.

She never did.

“So… I know it’s gonna sound nuts but… I’m engaged,” Gilda said, settling down on the soft grass in front of the gravestones. “Got myself a crazy pretty girlfriend, her name’s Sunset Shimmer, she’s crazy smart too, just like… well, yeah… a-anyways… wish you guys coulda met her, she’s kinda crazy in general.”

Sighing, Gilda crossed her legs and leaned forward, staring at the headstones and feeling an emptiness in her chest, the same emptiness that she’d felt for so long… ever since Zee died.

“I… I know I’m a fuckup,” Gilda said quietly. “I can’t seem t’get much right, but… I think I can get this right, savvy? Like, I know she’s too good f’me but… I love her so much, I think… I think it’s like how you two were y’know?” Gilda clenched her eyes shut, feeling the faint burn of tears build up.

After a moment she just swore angrily and let them flow.

“Dunno what I’d ever do if I ever lost’er like I did you, ma, or you dad…” Gilda sobbed, hanging her head low as tears dripped from her cheeks to stain her jeans. Above Gilda, snow began to slowly drift down. “If I got left alone again I… I dunno if I’d live through it and I’m fuckin’ terrified’a that.”

Never in her whole life had Gilda consciously wished her parents were by her side to comfort her more than in that moment, as the whole world felt like it was buckling around her.

“If she ever went like you two did? Or Zee?” Gilda choked out, wiping at her cheeks with her sleeve. “It’d fuckin’ kill me, ma… sometimes… sometimes I think y’lucky that ya both went at the same time, y’know? I think’a what it woulda been like if only one’a you’d gone and… then I think’a Sunshine and… fuck!”

For several moments, Gilda just hung her head and wept, letting her sorrow and her grief well up and bubble out of her. A soft ding from her pocket interrupted Gilda’s mood, and she pulled out her phone.

//Sunshine: Hey Gil, I love you, I’ll be busking at the mall again but come home soon so you can kiss me, k?//

Gilda choked on a sob as she gripped the phone tight and then dropped it from her shaking hand.

“Swear t’God she always fuckin’ knows when I’m feelin’ like shit,” Gilda muttered as she rubbed at her face and sighed, drying her tears with her bare hands. “A-Anyways, yeah… I asked her t’marry me on New Years… we were on this rooftop, watchin’ that ritzy fireworks show ‘cross the bay and… and she said yes.”

Picking up her phone again Gilda texted Sunset back.

//Gilda: rabid fuckin’ wolves couldn’t stop me, Sunflower, I love you too//

Tucking her phone away, Gilda looked back up at her parent’s headstones and smiled. “I did good mom, dad… I think I did real good…” Sighing, Gilda laid back and stared up at the snowy skies. “I found my one’n only, and I’m gonna make sure I can give’er the world… got me a job, a place t’live, good friends… heh…” Sitting up, Gilda looked over at her mother’s headstone. “Look ma, I’m a real girl now.”

Looking down at the bouquet that was still lying between the graves, Gilda smiled.

“Wonder who left ya here,” Gilda asked quietly as she reached out and picked them up.

Holding them up, Gilda’s eyes narrowed as she examined them. They were a strange, and almost visually loud array of flowers. Orange lilies, a weird cream-white and clustered flower with green leaves, and yellow carnations, which she only recognized because the school sold carnations every year.

Only they always sold red ones, not yellow.

Taking out her phone, Gilda took a picture of the bouquet. It was a pretty weird mix of colors and a part of Gilda wondered if Sunset would be able to parse any meaning from it.

“Probably just overthinkin’ shit,” Gilda muttered as she set the bouquet back down.

“Wish ya could see me now, ma,” Gilda said softly as she settled back down on the grass, brushing away the snow that was collecting on her shoulders. “Swear t’God y’wouldn’t recognize me since the last time I was by.”

Letting out another shaky breath, Gilda thought back a few days, where Sunset, the sirens, and herself were talking about what to do and among them the revelation that Sunset had dumped on her, or at least… her suspicion of it. Reaching around behind her, Gilda retrieved her gauntlet and held it up in front of her, tracing what she had thought was just faint scarring on the back of the hand. It wasn’t just damage, though, it was an outline of a very specific shape that Gilda could make out if she examined it.

A spear and a split sun enclosed by a pair of feathered wings.

“I’m magic now,” Gilda said softly. “Or, somethin’ like it, I guess. I know that sounds crazy… feels crazy t’me too. Feel like my whole world is spinnin’ and I got no clue where I’m gonna land.” Locking the gauntlet back in place around her back, Gilda stared at the headstones, mentally scratching for an answer. “It doesn’t feel real… but I know it is, y’know? My girl, she’s not from around here… she’s magic too, born that way though, savvy?”

Gilda stopped to laugh a little as she tried to imagine what her very practical father would have said. It probably would’ve left him in conniptions for a week. Her mom was a lot more open-minded, a little new age-y, and definitely more spiritual.

“Dunno if it really matters to me but… it matters t’Sunshine, y’know?” Gilda said after a few moments. “She was born magic, like I said… gettin’ it back is a pretty big deal for her. Me, though… dunno, bein’ honest… it kinda scares me… a lot.” dragging her hands down her face, Gilda let out a slow breath. “I ain’t got the best handle on my temper, and that’s when I’m just throwin’ hands, y’know? Now I gotta wonder if the next time I lose it I’m gonna throw fuckin’ lightning bolts.”

Gilda waited, silently pleading for an answer from the cold stones and knowing there was none forthcoming; only the quiet stillness of the cemetery and the faint drifting tickle of snow on the wind brushing by her.

“I miss you guys,” Gilda said, her voice cracking slightly. “I wish you were still around, I wish I coulda been normal…” Gilda’s voice cracked into a quiet sob. “I hate bein’ angry all the time… I hate bein’ on a hair fuckin’ trigger with my goddamn temper, I hate feelin’ like a fuckin’ monster everytime I start t’get pissed off…”

Sobbing violently, Gilda buried her face in her hands completely as she cried, fear and grief biting hard into her heart as she tried to get control of herself and failed. Several minutes passed before the tears subsided and Gilda looked up at the headstones again with reddened eyes.

“Sorry… guess none’a this matters t’you anymore,” Gilda said softly. “After all, y’dead, what d’you care anymore?” Standing up Gilda rubbed at her eyes with her sleeve and took a deep breath. “I’m gonna be the best I can be f’Sunshine, though… I’ll keep my head on straight and… dunno, hope for the best, savvy?”

Sighing, Gilda knelt slightly to put a hand on each headstone.

“Miss you guys, and I love you,” Gilda said softly. “I know you two were trusting me last time and I fucked it up, but I won’t fuck up this time… I promise.”

Standing tall, Gilda pulled her phone out and started walking towards the exit, thumbing her way past her meager list of contacts until she found the one she wanted. Gilda had very few friends to ask the questions she wanted to ask, and in fairness she had never needed to ask this specific question before.

Thumbing the call button, Gilda held the phone up to her ear as she took the steps down to the lower rise two at a time.

//Morning Gilda! How’re you doing, love?//

“Hey ‘Tavi, I uh… I need some help,” Gilda said hesitantly.

//Is everything alright?//

“Y-yeah!” Gilda assured her. “Everything’s fine! Just… I wanted to take Sunshine on a date tonight… surprise her, y’know? And uh, I don’t really got anything too nice t’wear, savvy?”

//Oh my god, this is going to be fun, come over immediately.//

Sighing, Gilda got the distinct feeling she was about to regret her decision, but nodded nonetheless. “Fuckit, why’s it feel like I'm gonna regret this… ugh, I’ll be over in a bit.”

~Canterlots Heights, January 9th, Mid-Morning~

Quiet was the usual order of the morning; as an editor for such august personages as A.K. Yearling, Twilight Velvet spent the lion’s share of her time on her laptop in her office or in the living room, while Night Light, her husband, was a computer programmer who wrote medical software for Canterlot General. Their son had moved into an apartment with his fiancee, now wife, and their daughter was a recluse who spent all of her time in her garage laboratory.

At around eleven in the morning it became ear-splittingly obvious that it would not be a usual one.

“MOM, DAD, I NEED A RIDE TO THE MALL!” Twilight shrieked as she tore out of the garage at high speed, racing for her room as she was acutely aware she hadn’t showered in about two days.

“What?” Twilight Velvet poked her head out of her office, brushing her white and purple two-tone hair from her eyes as Twilight bolted past and slammed the door to her room. Following her frantic daughter, Velvet knocked on Twilight’s door. “Twilight, honey, what’s wrong? Did one of your computer’s catch fire again?”

“No, mom! And that only happened twice!” Twilight shouted from inside her room before ripping the door open, half dressed with a semi-random assortment of clothes slung over her shoulder. “I need to take a shower!”

Speeding past her mother, Twilight dove into the bathroom and immediately Velvet heard the hot water start running.

Twilight Velvet had what she thought to be a relatively decent amount of experience raising children. True, she only had two, but she and her husband had raised a fine young son who had entered the field of law enforcement straight out of high school with plans to get his bachelors and eventually make detective. Likewise he was already married to a lovely woman.

Velvet’s namesake daughter had been an exceptionally different sort of experience, however.

To say that Twilight Sparkle was ‘intelligent’ was a dramatic understatement. Twilight Sparkle was more than just a prodigy however, she was a savant. There was almost no discipline of the sciences that Twilight had any difficulty picking up; whether it was learning programming from her father, mathematics and physics from her professors, or even the violin from a tutor who stuck around only long enough to realise he had very little to teach a seven year old girl who learned to read sheet music in under a week and then performed a passable Nocturne in C Sharp Minor within a month and a half of instruction.

However, Twilight’s social skills were… for lack of a better term, lacking. Insofar as Velvet knew, Twilight had no friends. Even her multiplayer online games which her husband Night Light had gotten the idea to get her into, seemingly failed to spur any major social interaction.

Or so she had thought.

“Süsse, did I just hear that correctly?” Night Light stepped out of the office behind Velvet, scratching his head. “Did our daughter just proclaim a need for personal hygiene out loud?”

“You did, dear,” Velvet answered before walking up to the bathroom door and knocking on it. “Twilight, honey, you’re going to have to give me a better reason if I’m going to drop everything to take you to the mall! I’m in the middle of editing a chapter and you know how Miss Yearling gets about her deadlines and-”

“I HAVE A DATE!” Twilight screamed from inside the shower, followed by the sound of vigorous scrubbing.

Velvet and Night Light stared at the door before sharing an incredulous glance and cleaning out their ears.

“Honey are you… are you serious?” Velvet shouted from the hallway.

“DO I SOUND NOT SERIOUS TO YOU?!”

“I think our prayers have been answered, meine Liebe,” Night Light whispered into his wife’s ear as he pulled her off to the side. “We’ve been hoping our daughter would open up and she’s finally going out on her own!”

“But we don’t even know who she’s meeting!” Velvet countered in a slightly panicked voice. “She’s never even shown interest in anyone!”

“She’s just going to the mall,” Night Light chided. “It’s a very public place and our daughter knows how to stay safe, remember she gave us a three hour long presentation on it two years ago.”

“I do recall,” Velvet replied dryly, “believe me it was harrowing… when I had children I was under the impression that they were supposed to be mortified of talks with me.”

“Well, our little Spark has never been what you call the ‘usual child’, meine Liebe,” Night Light reminded his wife with a laugh. “Give me a moment, Bitte.”

Night Light walked up to the bathroom door and rapped his knuckles on it a few times. “Wenigfunke, if you need a ride to the mall I would be happy to assist.”

“THANK YOU!” Twilight screamed from inside the bathroom as the water shut off.

Night Light chuckled and shook his head as he retreated back to the office to get his shoes, car keys, and other sundry items he’d need to take his daughter to the mall.

For cutting such a stern, straight laced figure, Night Light was a surprisingly jovial soul. Tall, narrow of body and face, with high, sharp cheekbones and bright amber eyes; his appearance suggested an exceptionally stern demeanor.

A suggestion that was almost immediately dispelled the moment he opened his mouth to say literally anything.

“Nighty, what if something goes wrong?” Velvet said in a worried tone as she followed him into the office. “What if this person is lying to her, what if they’re playing with her heart?”

“Then she will learn the same lesson every person in the world who finds the courage to put their heart in someone else’s hands eventually learns,” Night Light replied with a melancholic smile as he sat in his office chair and started pulling on his shoes. “Our little Spark is beautiful and brave and incredible, and perhaps she will be hurt, but that’s life, ja? Or perhaps she will find something incredible. Or maybe both! And what kind of parents would we be to deny her that opportunity?

“I… I know you’re right, Nighty,” Velvet said softly, heaving a sigh of her own as she leaned out of the office to see the bathroom door clatter open and a half-dressed Twilight sprint to her room in a panic. “She’s just… she’s my baby girl, and…”

Standing, Night Light pulled his wife into his arms, kissing her forehead softly.

“It is our prerogative as parents to worry,” Night said quietly. “But it is also our duty to prepare them for the rest of their lives. Life, love, pain… it’s all a beautiful, terrible whole, meine Liebe. We can’t teach them of one and ignore the other because it is distasteful…”

“Twilight doesn’t know anything about, well, people, Nighty,” Velvet insisted. “I know that sounds awful, but honestly, she’s completely unprepared!”

Night Light shrugged as he pulled his crisp, midnight blue jacket from the coat rack and pulled it on. “So were we all at that age, we just didn’t know it.”

“Ugh, I know, I know, I’m being unreasonable,” Velvet groaned as crashing sounds emitted from Twilight’s bedroom.

“You’re not,” Night Light insisted. “You’re just being her mother. Now, please go to our daughter and ensure she is dressed in something that will not blind her date, all joking aside she has the fashion sense of a blind and noseless raccoon.”

“That makes no sense, dear,” Velvet said, laughing as she patted his chest and leaned up to peck him on the lips. “But you’re not wrong.”

Twilight Velvet walked out into the hallway of her home and down to her daughter’s room from which a disturbing amount of noise was issuing. Furrowing her brow, Velvet tried not to imagine the slow motion train wreck she was about to walk into as she knocked on the door.

“WHAT?!” Twilight screamed from inside her room, followed by a loud clattering and yelp of panic.

“Twilight, sweetie, control your volume please,” Velvet admonished. “I’m coming in and we’re going to get you dressed properly, because from out here it sounds more like you’re reenacting the Blitz of Brayton with an army of purse-wielding spinsters.”

“I just want to look good and I don’t think it’s working!” Twilight shouted tearfully, her voice barely muffled by the door. A moment later it cracked open and a flushed and panicked Twilight peeked out. “Help?”

Velvet nodded, smiling as she pushed the door open and walked in to a tempest of scattered clothing. Grimacing, she turned to regard her daughter and winced.

“Oh dear,” Velvet muttered weakly.

Twilight Velvet loved her daughter dearly, but they had checked her four times for color-blindness for a very good reason. As it turned out her eyes were fine, aside from being somewhat nearsighted, she simply had no talent for coordinating colors.

Or fabrics.

Or anything else that would suggest something pleasing to the eye.

In short, Twilight Sparkle’s very unique sense of aesthetics had resulted in the unfortunate pairing of a pair of loose denim jorts (where she got them Velvet had no idea), a pastel yellow sweater, and black knee socks.

“R~ight…” Velvet said quietly before shuffling her daughter into the middle of the room and disappearing into her small walking closet. “Let’s go for something a little less… bad.”

“I’m not good at this,” Twilight moaned, dropping onto the ground and glaring at the mess on the floor as she ran her fingers through her damp hair. “I hate it when I’m not good at stuff! Matching colors isn’t hard, I shouldn’t be this crap at it!”

“Language,” Velvet admonished as she emerged with a pleated, knee-length skirt with an argyle pattern and few layers for the top consisting of white silk blouse, and a fitted black blazer. “Here, try these on for size, sweetie, assuming you’re not going to be traipsing about outside I don’t imagine you’ll need many layers, but keep the socks, they’re cute.”

Twilight nodded as she got up and undressed, pulling on her mother’s choices of clothing and setting her glasses in place before turning to face herself in the mirror. Twilight’s eyes widened as she stared at the girl that stood in front of her; she barely recognized herself,

“I… I like the skirt,” Twilight said shyly, running her hands over the soft fabric. “I didn’t even know I could look…”

“Good?”

“Pretty,” Twilight said, turning to smile at her mother.

“Hasn’t this boy ever told you how pretty you are, sweetie?” Velvet asked, concern coloring her voice. “Seems like an awful oversight.”

“Oh, well… uhm,” Twilight shuffled her feet nervously as she tried to find the words. “S-see, I’ve never actually met them in person… we’ve been friends for a few years, but only online and uhm…” Twilight swallowed. “I… she’s a girl, we were raid partners in that game you got me and talked a lot in voice chat… like… a lot.”

“Oh!” Velvet said softly, before letting her face fall to a gentle smile. “Darling… you know that no matter what, we love you, right?” she asked, placing a hand on her daughter’s shoulder. “Whoever you like or love, all your father and I have ever wanted is for you to be happy.”

“She’s smart, mom,” Twilight said bashfully, her finger trailing up to tug on a loose lock of hair that always fell in front of her face. “Like, really smart… I think she might be smarter than me.”

Velvet’s eyebrow scooted upwards at that admission. Twilight wasn’t what one would call humble about her intelligence; not that she was cocky or a braggart, but Twilight Sparkle simply didn’t know how to not be smart. She made people both feel and look stupid in casual conversation because saying something that was incorrect meant that it had to be corrected.

For her to consider someone else to be smarter?

“I… I really like her, mom,” Twilight admitted, blushing furiously. “She’s so smart! She codes mods for our games, she got her general ed degree when she was twelve, she has the cutest Braytish accent too… oh, and she’s funny!”

Velvet couldn’t help but smile as her daughter went on and on about the girl; in truth she had never in her life seen Twilight as animated as she was right then.

“Oh? Learn any good jokes?” Velvet asked as she started picking up from the hurricane of fabric that had torn through.

“Only the best!” Twilight cheered. “She told me one that had me in stitches for days!”

“Well let’s hear it,” Velvet replied with a chuckle.

Twilight snorted in laughter as she remembered the joke, taking a moment to breathe so she didn’t laugh her way through it.

“Alright, here goes,” Twilight said with a grin. “-and the bartender says, ‘Sorry, we don’t serve particles that move faster than the speed of light’!”

Velvet raised an eyebrow, trying to find the punchline, and just as she opened her mouth to ask…

“So a tachyon walks into a bar-!” Twilight finished with a wide grin, and then doubled over laughing so hard that tears appeared at the corners of her eyes.

Sighing, Velvet just nodded and smiled back. “Well, she’s definitely the girl for you, sweetie.”

After several moments of trying to catch her breath, Twilight blushed furiously as she sat down on her bed, still nervously playing with her hair.

“I’ve… I’ve never felt like this about anyone, mom,” Twilight admitted, still unable to keep the smile off of her face. “Every time I think about her my mood jumps, it’s like just acknowledging her existence is one big hit of dopamine out of nowhere and suddenly I can’t stop smiling.”

“It’s called a crush, honey,” Velvet said wistfully from the closet as she was putting the clothes away. “Believe me I felt the same way about your father.”

“Same as I felt for your mother, meine Wenigfunke,” Night Light said from the doorway as he opened it. “Romance is truly a wonderful thing, and it’s one of the things that makes this world so very bright!”

“But, remember to keep your head on straight, sweetie,” Velvet said in a soft voice, walking over to take a seat by her daughter. “When you’re young, everything is so bright and big, and it’s easy to get lost when you’re crushing on someone.”

“I trust her, mom,” Twilight insisted. “S-She’s… I know she’s my only friend, really… but she’s my best friend. I’ve never known anyone I could talk to like Pawnee.”

“Pawnee? That’s an odd name,” Velvet said before catching herself. “O-oh, not that it’s bad or anything…”

“No, it’s not her name, well, not her real name,” Twilight corrected, her cheeks flushing red in embarrassment. “It’s her screen name, sorry, it’s an online thing. When you talk through text and you see the same name over and over again you just think of that as ‘their name’, y’know?”

“I suppose that makes sense,” Night Light agreed. “So what is her name?”

“I… Uh… I… don’t know…” Twilight admitted, her cheeks coloring further as her parents stared. “L-Look, it’s not that weird, okay? It’s a cybersecurity thing! She doesn’t know my name either, I mean… I’m sure she would’ve told me if I asked but I’ve always just known her as ‘Pawnee’ just like she knows me as ‘Labrat’!”

“Well, I suppose I can’t blame you for keeping to the online security measures that I taught you,” Night Light said in a dry voice. “And it’s good to know you’re careful when you’re online.”

“Sweetie…” Velvet began in a careful voice. “Do you even know what she looks like?”

Twilight ducked her head slightly and blushed again.

“N-no…” Twilight said quietly. “B-but I know how to find her! She’s going to be at the Crystal Emporium and she sent me coordinates, she should be right by the hedges near the east entrance, there won’t be many people so I’m sure I’ll know her!”

Sighing, Velvet just nodded. “Alright well, I can’t say I understand how kids do dates these days and all of this online socialising goes a bit over my head… but I trust you’ve got some kind of system just like we did when we were your age.”

“Do be careful though, dear,” Night Light said, patting his daughter’s head. “Now, I suppose we should probably get going or else your lady will be kept waiting, and we can’t have that!”

Twilight nodded emphatically, hopping up to her feet from her bedside. “Thanks so much mom!” Twilight said, leaning down to hug Velvet before moving to her father’s side. “I’ll let you know how it goes, okay?”

“Please do,” Velvet said as she stood and walked her daughter and husband down the hall and out to the car. “And… I know this is probably just me being a worrywart, but don’t leave the mall, alright? Just for today, so I know where you are?”

Twilight shuffled her feet a little, she and Pawnee hadn’t actually agreed on what they were going to want to do on their date, they’d only really agreed to meet up at the mall and as far as Twilight knew they were making it up from there. Normally having a total lack of an itinerary would have put Twilight into a state of semi-panic, but at the moment she was too enamoured of the idea of seeing Pawnee in person to let it get to her. Still, Twilight wasn’t certain Pawnee would want to stay at the mall.

“I’ll… I’ll try,” Twilight said, not wanting to lie. “But we only really agreed to meet at the mall, and I really want to have a good time with Pawnee, mom.”

“Just try to keep to public places and let us know where you’re going if you do leave the mall,” Night Light put in, “I think that much is fair, ja?”

Velvet looked like she was about to argue the point but Night Light reached out to give her hand a squeeze, and shot her a pleading look; one that said ‘please let our daughter have this’.

“Fine,” Velvet said, throwing her hands in the air. “But I reserve the right to say I told you so if things go poorly.”

“Thank you!” Twilight cheered, dashing up and hugging her mother tightly, earning a playfully weary laugh from Velvet before Twilight ran back and excitedly hopped in the passenger side of their little family sedan.

~Crystal Emporium Mall, January 9th, Early Afternoon~

Waving goodbye to her father, Twilight wrapped her arms around herself as she walked towards the mall. She’d been dropped off right near the east entrance but coordinates weren’t exact, all Twilight had was a general area. Twilight couldn’t help but laugh a little as she imagined this as one of her and Pawnee’s in-game fetch quests.

“Quest Log: Find Girlfriend, zero out of one,” Twilight said to herself with a small laugh.

The sight of the sheer number of people moving around the mall gave Twilight severe pause, though, as she approached. There were hundreds of people just going in and out of the mall, walking around it, talking, and other random sundry things that planted a seed of panic deep in Twilight’s chest as she pulled her blazer tighter around herself. Idly messing with her bun of hair to make sure it was straight, even though she knew it was, Twilight made her way to the east entrance.

The number of times she’d actually gone to the mall on her own were a fantastically terrible zero, and even with her parents it was a terribly small number. Twilight had always taken any opportunity to stay home, and the only real times she had gone to the mall willingly was to pick up some piece of electronics; a task that hadn’t needed to happen in a long while since the school had started supporting her efforts.

As it was, Twilight barely knew where anything was beyond which doors went where and which big department stores were still open mostly because their names were emblazoned in large print on the outer walls.

“Okay… now where are you?” Twilight mumbled softly, looking around as she rounded the corner towards the east part of the wall. “Maybe… eep!”

Several people stood near the hedges, sitting or in some cases leaning on the low wall that surrounded the hedges, smoking. The smell of cigarette smoke hung around the entire side of the mall and wind blowing the wisps of smoke towards Twilight didn’t help.

Grimacing, Twilight kept her head down. None of the people looked particularly pleasant to talk to; there was a youngish looking man with dark skin in a worn brown jacket with tattoos along his chin talking to a short, equally tattooed girl of eastern descent with long black hair and a sardonic expression, a white-haired woman in a brown leather duster with her back to Twilight, a tall, thickly built and boorish looking man with short, curly blonde hair, an unpleasant smile, and cap on backwards, among a few others that Twilight stopped trying to identify.

“Just ignore them, Twi,” Twilight said to herself, “keep your head down and walk past and they’ll ignore you too.”

Staring down at the pavement, Twilight walked forward as she pulled her blazer tighter around herself.

“Don’t make eye contact, keep your head down, don’t make eye contact, keep your head down,” Twilight repeated the words like a mantra as she pushed the rest of the world out of her perception and focused on moving past the group.

Sadly, the world is physical and lack of perception does not mean lack of collision.

“Oof! Fuckin’ ‘ell, watch it!” a high, and vaguely familiar, accented voice snarled.

Twilight staggered back in terror as the woman in the duster whirled on her. With her head down Twilight hadn’t seen her turn and move slightly, putting her directly in Twilight’s path. Twilight only had a moment to realise it wasn’t a woman but a girl around her own age before the girl’s gaze nailed her in place with what felt like spine-locking levels of fear and through it all only a single thought flickered through Twilight’s mind.

Her eyes are gold.

Neither Twilight nor the girl were particularly tall, she had maybe four or five inches over Twilight’s paltry five and one, but something in her presence seemed to press down on Twilight like a physical force. Never before in her life had Twilight believed in the concept of an ‘aura’ as strongly as she did right then.

The girl had her lips curled in an unpleasant snarl and her otherwise pretty face was marred by the twisted and angry expression. She wore a black ball cap emblazoned with a five-petaled white rose on the front, her head was shaven all along the sides and back and her long, snow-white hair was worn in a wild sidecut that obscured the left half of her face and contrasted harshly against her dark skin. Aside from her expression, though, she was beautiful; with high cheekbones, sharp and gleaming gold eyes, and full lips. Tattoos traced from her neck up to her chin, terminating in an inked cigarette aligned with her lower jaw on the right side that neatly matched the real one in her hand.

On her feet were thick black foundry boots, slightly obscured by the cuffs of her worn jeans, and she was wearing a white button down shirt and black vest whose professional look was badly warped by the motley array of ceramic pins on it, and the loose hanging silver and black checkerboard necktie she wore.

Everything about her screamed ‘thug’; from the three steel lip studs to the network of fine scars on her hands. Twilight backed away carefully, stammering incoherently as she did.

“You deaf, or somethin’?” She asked, advancing on Twilight as she flicked ash from the tip of her cigarette. “Or you just the kinda posh brat what walks ‘round blind and stupid all the time?”

She stopped directly in front of Twilight, staring down at her face to face.

“Hey, I’m pretty sure it was an accident,” the young man started to say as he began walking over to the pair.

Twilight heard a sharp snap, and her eyes widened as the girl pulled a gleaming steel butterfly knife from her pocket and pointed it at the young man without turning away from Twilight.

“An’ I’m pretty sure I didn’t ask y’fuckin’ opinion on the matter, ya wazzock,” the girl snarled. “So ‘ow bout you fuck off, savvy?”

The young man just raised his hands and nodded, looking spooked as he retreated back to his friend’s side, and the girl snapped the blade back down and tucked it away.

“I’m s-sorry, p-please don’t hurt me,” Twilight squeaked, holding her hands up and clenching her eyes shut, all while praying that she didn’t just break down and start blubbering. That would be an awful way to go, “I s-swear it was an accident.”

“Eh?” the girl’s voice drifted from anger to confusion. “Say that again.”

Twilight opened her eyes slightly to see the nasty expression on the girls face gone, replaced with a softer one. “Uhm… I’m sorry?”

Cocking her head to the side slightly, the girl seemed to examine Twilight critically for a few moments before leaning in very close. Close enough that Twilight could smell the cigarette smoke on her breath. Still, she didn’t dare move for fear of angering the volatile girl further.

Not that it would have mattered.

“Labrat? That you, pet?”

Twilight’s eyes widened in shock at the girls words. The girl was leaning back now, smiling as she tucked her cigarette back in between her lips.

Swallowing thickly, Twilight licked her lip. “P-Pawnee?”

“Hah!” The girl barked as she snapped her arms out and spat her cigarette to the ground. “Just right! Giz uz a hug, our lass!”

“Pawnee!”

All fear forgotten, Twilight surged forward, launching herself into her friend’s embrace as Pawnee wrapped her arms around Twilight and hugged her tight, and Twilight was a little surprised at the sheer strength in Pawnee’s arms as she was lifted from her feet and spun around. Twilight laughed lightly as Pawnee lowered her back to the ground.

“Damn, but I was right,” Pawnee said with a laugh, her hands settling lightly on Twilight’s hips, drawing a small blush from the shorter girl. “You are adorkable, Lab.”

“You wouldn’t be saying that if you saw the first draft of my outfit today…” Twilight replied nervously. “It was awful, apparently… I can’t really tell.”

“Colorblind?” Pawnee asked playfully.

Twilight’s face turned down in a delicate moue. “Everyone always asks that…”

“Fashion-blind then, we’ll call it,” Pawnee said, grinning cockily as she brought up a hand to trace her slim fingers across Twilight’s face, sending a delighted shiver through the girl before gesturing down to herself. “So, how about me then? Disappointed?”

“N-No!” Twilight practically yelled. “I… I mean, you’re… uhm…”

Twilight’s final reply came out in an undecipherable mumble, prompting Pawnee to lean in with an impish grin. “Wot’s that? C’mon, give us your honest, pet.”

Swallowing her panic, Twilight finally spoke up. “Y-You’re really pretty.”

Leaning back, Pawnee grinned widely. “Been called a lotta things, pet, but pretty’s ‘ardly one of’em, look’et me,” she gestured down at herself. “Got tits like a washboard and an arse like Haylor Swift back ‘ere. Could practically pass for a boy,” as she said that last part she wiggled her eyebrows at Twilight. “Unless you’re into that sorta thing, eh?”

“W-what? I…” Twilight stammered as she backpedaled, blushing furiously. “No! I’m being honest, you’re really, really pretty! I.. I…”

Pawnee laughed uproariously as Twilight sputtered helplessly. “Ah’m jus’ fuckin’ with ye, pet!” Pawnee said after a moment. “I know I cut a bit’uv an androgynous figure, though. But I got all th’brains in the family t’make up for it.”

“Not fair, Pawnee,” Twilight grumbled as Pawnee slung an arm over her shoulder. “You’re not supposed to tease me on our date.”

“Love, if I ain’t teasin’ you then that’s when you should really worry ‘bout us, savvy?” Pawnee shot back with a smile, pulling Twilight into a sideways hug. “Besides, I torture all my friends, s’how I show love, and we’re more’n jus’ friends, oreyt?”

“I… I think so,” Twilight said quietly, feeling her cheeks warm as she leaned against Pawnee. “I’d definitely like to be.”

“Well, let’s get on wit’ it then, pet!” Pawnee crowed as she pulled Twilight along towards one of the entrances. “Now show us around a’bit, our lass, Ah missed breakfast an’ I been smellin’ food since I got’ere, so how ‘bout we get some dinner and call it a date! My treat.”

“Uhm, it’s not even noon,” Twilight said as she was towed along. “You mean lunch?”

“Lunch is f’posh folks,” Pawnee replied with a smirk. “We got Breakfast, Dinner, n’Tea, that’s how it works, savvy?”

“What happened to lunch?” Twilight asked as they made their way into the warmer confines of the mall.

Pawnee shrugged and chuckled. “Reckon the posh folks ate it, innit? That’s as it is, s’let’s get some dinner.”

The mall was bustling, as usual, with the post Christmas crowd milling about returning unwanted gifts or spending the money given from relatives they likely barely spoke to outside of that one lone time of year. Twilight walked alongside Pawnee, practically hiding under her duster as she tried her best not to be seen. Through it all, Pawnee hadn’t taken her arm from around Twilight’s shoulders, keeping her tucked in close.

Although unused to the sudden overflowing physical affection Pawnee was showing, Twilight had a hard time complaining. Leaning in, Twilight buried her face against Pawnee’s narrow chest and let out a small, happy sigh.

“Did you know that a hug that lasts twenty seconds or more releases oxytocin into the brain?” Twilight said in a soft voice. “The love chemical, that’s what neurologists nicknamed it, it’s that fuzzy happy sensation you get when you’re being held.”

“Yeah, s’bullshit’s what that is, pet,” Pawnee answered, drawing an annoyed look from Twilight.

“It’s empirical,” Twilight retorted, “not b-bullshit.”

“Sure it is,” Pawnee replied with a smirk. “You ever feel like gettin’ hugged on by some rando in the street?”

Twilight’s face contorted in disgust. “No!”

“Cor, me neither, ‘cept if it’s all chemicals why’s it fuckin’ matter, eh?” Pawnee said, grinning down at Twilight. “See, way I figure it, yeah it’s a chemical, sure, but if it ain’t a situation what’s reproducible on a general population scale, say, top’o the bell curve as a sample size on a multicultural demographic t’control f’cultural more, then we gotta be missin’ somethin’, oreyt?”

“They’ve done studies with people hugging strangers and found the reaction was the same though!” Twilight argued.

Pawnee shook her head, sending her pale hair skating over her eyes. “Well that ain’t really a logical comparison, pet. Those folks’re goin’ into it knowin’ the stakes, but if ye go out with nothing but a slab’a paper, pen, and a lab coat and ask two perfect fuckin’ strangers t’hug what’ll ya think’ll happen?”

“ Well, I-”

“Even if ye explain the experiment,” Pawnee continued over Twilight’s protest, “even if ye tell’em the facts, more like’n not they’ll fuck right off, and well they should.”

Sighing, Twilight shrugged. “So what do you think it is?”

“Oxytocin? It’s a fuckin’ chemical, pet,” Pawnee replied with a cackle. “But ye ain’t askin’ about oxy-fuckin-tocin, are ye?”

“W-what do you mean?” Twilight felt the heat rise in her cheeks as Pawnee grinned down at her in an almost predatory fashion.

“S’obvious, savvy?” Pawnee said, “you’re askin’ if I feel as warm’n fuzzy when I’m holdin’ onto ye as you do, tha’reyt?”

Twilight choked on her own spit. Coughing and hacking in the middle of the mall thoroughfare, to clear her airway, Twilight was keenly aware of all the eyes on her, but the mortification of that was slightly overshadowed by a nearer embarrassment from Pawnee laughing her non-existent ass off.

“That… that wasn’t fair,” Twilight said in a cracked voice as she regained her breath, “I… I wasn’t… I mean…”

“C’mon, pet,” Pawnee jeered, poking Twilight lightly in the side, “we’ve been banterin’ on’n off for two years, savvy? You really think I can’t tell when you’re askin’ me a question all sideways?”

“I… I didn’t know how to…” Twilight replied in a soft voice. “I’m sorry…”

Pawnee’s face fell slightly for the first time since she’d started talking to Twilight and after a moment she reached out and set a single, slender finger under Twilight’s chin to bring their gazes to meet. Twilight flinched slightly as Pawnee’s intense golden eyes met hers, but she didn’t look away.

“Hey now, c’mon Lab… was only kiddin’, and besides, s’not fair f’ya t’get all teary when I ain’t even given ya an answer,” Pawnee said, lowering her boisterous volume to something almost gentle.

As gently as possible, Pawnee pulled Twilight out of the middle of the thoroughfare and off to the side and into the shadow of a pillar that supported the upper level.

“An answer?” Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.

“The warm fuzzies, yeah?” Pawnee said, bringing her hand up to rest it lightly on Twilight’s cheek. “Didn’t say I didn’t get’em, did I?”

“N-no…” Twilight answered shyly, her cheeks regaining their blush as she looked down at the floor, shuffling her feet nervously. “I… I guess you didn’t.”

“Just right I didn’t,” Pawnee said with a grin, bringing her hands down to settle on Twilight’s hips again and thoroughly enjoying the beet red color of Twilight’s face as she did so. “Would’a made me a liar if I did, an’ my pops didn’t raise no liar, least not with me he didn’t.”

Letting out a nervous, high pitched, and slightly awkward giggle, Twilight nodded, covering her face as she tried desperately to banish the flaming red blush and failing terribly.

“Hey now,” Pawnee said in mock protest, “don’t go coverin’ up like that,” she pulled Twilight’s hands from her face and gently pushed her glasses back into place. “I like lookin’atcha.”

“Mm… uhm… I, uh, I like looking at you, too?” Twilight replied, her voice cracking a little as she tried to keep her eyes on Pawnee but couldn’t help letting them dart around as Pawnee’s intense stare frayed her nerves.

Pawnee’s finger on her chin guided Twilight’s face back in line with Pawnee’s who was smirking down at her. “Oh yeah? Know what I think you’ll like more than lookin’ at me, pet?”

Twilight felt the blood rocket to her face, among other places, as she swallowed thickly. “W-what?”

Silently, Pawnee took Twilight’s arms and set them around her neck, then brought her left hand down to the small of Twilight’s back while her right hand trailed up Twilight’s spine to tangle into her hair.

“Kissing me,” Pawnee said in a soft, husky voice.

Twilight’s eyes were wide as saucers by this point as Pawnee leaned in until their noses were nearly touching.

“Do ye wanna kiss me, pet?” Pawnee asked, and Twilight knew she wouldn’t have been able to look away from Pawnee even if she had wanted to.

There was something behind those eyes, those burning gold eyes. Hunger, fire, passion… two bands of molten gold wrapped around cores of flint-knapped iron held Twilight transfixed. Slowly, Twilight licked her lips and nodded.

“Tha’s our lass,” Pawnee said softly, before leaning in.

Pawnee took the lead, pressing the full curve of her lips against Twilight’s who froze rigidly against the sudden warmth of the kiss. Trailing her fingers down Twilight’s neck, Twilight shuddered and relaxed against the taller girl whose practiced hands pulled her close, fitting Twilight snugly against her.

Twilight clung to Pawnee almost by reflex, pulling herself up to meet Pawnee’s kiss with a sudden hunger and fervor that surprised both of them. For Twilight, it was like a fire had suddenly been lit in her chest and it was spreading throughout her body with abandon. She clung to Pawnee with desperate strength, and moaned softly against the silver-haired girl’s lips.

Pawnee couldn’t help but smile at the sudden passion. Sliding her hand under the fabric of her blazer and blouse, she felt Twilight shudder as fingers came in contact with the soft, bare skin of her back.

The kiss could have lasted hours or moments, but Twilight wasn’t counting. Finally, though, she had to surface for air as she pulled reluctantly away from Pawnee; both of their faces flushed, eyes lidded, and lips red as they both panted.

“Wow,” Twilight mumbled as she leaned against Pawnee’s chest. “That was, uh… really nice.”

“Never been kissed before, pet?” Pawnee asked in a quiet voice, looking down at Twilight. “Wouldn’t ‘ardly know it from that display, savvy?”

Twilight licked her lips and giggled. “It’s crazy… we’ve only just met in person but…” Twilight leaned up and pressed her lips to Pawnee’s again, and the same fire and hunger lit brightly in her chest before she pulled away. “When I kiss you… it’s like I’ve been underwater all this time and suddenly I’m out and breathing!”

A knuckle touched gently against the underside of Twilight’s chin and lifted her face up a few inches to align with Pawnee’s grinning expression.

“S’not so bad, eh?” Pawnee said with a smirk. “Love’s all about goin’ mad f’the right sorta person, innit? So what say we go mad together then, Lab?”

“Wow,” A caustic voice from the side broke through the moment. “Apparently I have to stop calling you Twilight Dorkle, and start calling you Twilight Dykle.”

Pawnee’s head turned at a glacial pace to the side and glared at the three girls looking at them as Twilight squeaked in horror and began trying to burrow into Pawnee’s coat. The one who had spoken brushed a strand of mulberry hair from her face; her skin was a faint shade of turquoise with a vaguely acidic smirk on her face spoiling her otherwise pleasant features. The girl to her left had silver hair in pigtails and bluish gray skin, and wore the same bored, taciturn expression she always did whether she was answering questions or tearing someone down. The third wore her hair, that was a varying riot of greens, down her waist, and the expression on her face was slightly distant as her head bobbed to the music in her headset.

“S-Sunny? Lemon? Sugarcoat?” Twilight stammered, staring red-faced at the three girls from her school. “W-w-w-what are you doing here?”

“It’s Saturday,” Sugarcoat said dryly. “Where else would we be in this miserable town?”

Lemon Zest pulled her headset off of one ear, blowing a bubblegum bubble as she stared at Pawnee and Twilight. “Wow, I gotta say, gay as a pride parade or not I did not peg Twilight Sparkle as someone who’d get some before you did Sunny.”

“Shut up, Lemon,” Sunny Flare said with a grimace before advancing on the pair of girls and leaning past Pawnee to stare at Twilight with a nasty smirk. “Hey Twilight, just curious, you done with that assignment of mine yet?”

“I… I’m not… I’ve been b-busy,” Twilight stuttered, retreating further.

“We can see that,” Sugarcoat replied, gesturing to Pawnee whose eyes were settling on Sunny with a most unpleasant gleam in them.

“Twilight Dorkle, gettin’ some action,” Lemon sang mockingly. “Well, her girlfriend is pretty butch so I guess it fits.”

Pawnee narrowed her eyes, but rather than lash out, turned and looped her arm around Twilight and walked around the other side of the pillar, dragging the stammering girl with her. Sunny scowled as she was dismissed and stomped after them.

“Hey! Don’t you walk a-”

As soon as she was behind the pillar a dark hand struck out, seizing her by her collar and dragging her forward as Pawnee snapped her head down to impact Sunny’s face with a sickening crunch. Sunny yelped as she was released only to be seized by the side her face and pressed hard against the pillar. She was about to cry out when the feeling of something cold, sharp, and metallic pressed against her cheek.

Sunny Flare’s eyes flicked down to see her terror neatly reflected in the polished steel of a thin blade.

“Listen up, hen, and listen well,” Pawnee hissed from inches away behind Sunny. “Ye eva’ threaten, piss off, intimidate, or otherwise look askance at our lass again, you’ll get such a brayin’ they’ll hafta I.D. ye by whatever I leave’a yer fuckin’ teeth, savvy?”

Pulling away, Pawnee let up the pressure on Sunny, letting the girl slump to the ground shaking as she raised a hand up to her face to feel where the blade had been pressed only to hiss in pain as her fingers came away with a touch of red.

“Ah recommend ye tell others ye tripped into a doorknob, hen,” Pawnee said from above Sunny, who looked up and flinched at the cold murder in Pawnee’s eyes. “Wouldn’t want t’have any unpleasant conversations down the line on account’a loose lips, oreyt?”

Turning to regard Sunny’s friends with a wide and deeply unpleasant grin, Pawnee gestured wide with her arms.

“Tha’s that, then,” Pawnee said with a smile, draping her arm over Twilight again. “Now we’re all friends, oreyt? I like ‘avin’ friends, don’t you lot?”

Sugarcoat and Lemon nodded emphatically.

“Arh cocka, then we’ll be goin’,” Pawnee pulled Twilight close, patting Sunny’s head with her other hand as she walked past making the shaking girl flinch. “So, ‘ow bout that dinner then, pet?”

Twilight nodded silently as she walked alongside Pawnee, casting a glance over her shoulder at Sunny who was still sitting on the ground staring blankly ahead, her nose bent slightly and blood down her lips and front.

A few minutes of walking later, Twilight couldn’t help herself. “P-Pawnee? Did you have to do that?”

Instead of answering, Pawnee shrugged. “How long they been doin’ that, pet?”

Twilight hung her head at Pawnee’s question considering how to answer it without sounding like a complete wimp before coming to the conclusion that that outcome probably wasn’t possible.

“A couple of years,” Twilight admitted in a quiet voice. “Sunny Flare is the Principal’s daughter so… she can pretty much do what she wants.”

“And tha’s why I did it, pet,” Pawnee said in a low voice. “Some folks know where th’line is, other folks gotta get their ‘eads shoved up against it at knifepoint t’learn, oreyt?”

“But you hurt her,” Twilight protested, “badly.”

“An’ she’s been ‘urtin’ ye f’bout as long as we’ve been friends, tha’reyt?” Pawnee asked rhetorically, though Twilight nodded anyway. “Didja want me t’just ignore that shit she was talkin’ ‘bout ye?”

“We could’ve just walked away,” Twilight replied evenly. “Just ignored her.”

“That what you do?” Pawnee asked, and Twilight nodded. “Cor, so how’s that homework assignment o’hers comin’ along then?”

Twilight flinched at the jab, and they walked in silence for a few minutes ascending the stairs until they reached the upper level where the food court sprawled out before them.

“That… that was mean,” Twilight said finally.

“Yeah, an’ so’s she, but ye ain’t gonna fix nothin’ if ye just ignore it, love,” Pawnee said with a smirk. “So don’t ask me not t’defend ye, pet, because if some hen wif more brass na brains comes along peckin’ at ye I’ll pluckin’ her naked and toss’er over the fence, savvy?”

“I don’t want you to hurt people for me, Pawnee,” Twilight insisted.

“Tha’s not really a factor, pet,” Pawnee replied. “Pain’s the only language some’a these nob’eads can fuckin’ understand, and besides,” Pawnee turned and stroke Twilights cheek as she grinned down at the shorter girl, “you really gonna ask me not to defend the girl ah’m in love with?”

Twilight blushed furiously at Pawnee’s words, starting to protest before being silenced by Pawnee’s soft lips. Whatever argument Twilight had dissolved into gooey warmth as she leaned in to Pawnee’s embrace.

Pulling away, Twilight licked her lips and leaned against Pawnee again as they began walking into the food court proper. “I… I guess you’re right, it’s not fair to ask you to just ignore it… but I don’t want you to hurt people.”

“Rather ‘urt people than watch people ‘urt you, pet,” Pawnee said simply. “Can’t convince me otherwise on that’n.”

“Why?” Twilight asked quietly. “Why am I worth hurting other people?”

“Because I’m mad f’you, remember?” Pawnee said, grinning down at Twilight and pulling her into a line for thai food. “Fuckin’ barmy, off my rocker, crazy as ‘ell, ‘owever you wanna say it.”

“Is that… good?” Twilight asked quietly.

“Feels good t’me,” Pawnee replied easily before turning to Twilight. “I’m in love w’you, Lab, Twilight, whatever you wanna be called, an’ I think it’s good, savvy?”

“Twilight is fine…” Twilight said in a soft voice. “It’s not… not how I was hoping to introduce myself, though.”

“I think you introduced y’self just fine when we was leanin’ against that pillar havin’ a snog,” Pawnee said with a laugh as they reached the front register and made their order.

Pawnee ordered and paid for the both of them as Twilight was busy sputtering in embarrassment. Taking their food, the two girls walked to an empty table and settled down. Twilight picked nervously at her pad thai while Pawnee messily devoured the large combo plate she’d ordered.

“You’re good with those,” Twilight said after a moment, nodding to Pawnee’s chopsticks. “I never learned how to use them.”

“Me pops taught me,” Pawnee said after swallowing, wiping her mouth with a napkin. “S’not all that hard, I’ll teach ye sometime, pet.”

They ate in relative silence, with Pawnee enjoying spending much of the meal distracting Twilight by playing footsy underneath the table with her, leaving her constantly red-faced as she tried to eat her lunch. Dumping the remains in the bin, they started walking through the mall again, scanning the shops and chatting.

“So you used to live in Las Pegasus?” Twilight asked, “I’d never have known from your accent.”

“Yeah well, me pops was from Brayton, northeasterly, just aside from Steelton, savvy?” Pawnee explained. “Raised by’im and picked it up, like ye do, then I went t’live with some relatives up there about four years back, spend enough time surrounded by the local slang and it tends t’stick.”

“Guess that makes sense,” Twilight admitted as they passed into the arcades. “So, I guess you must’ve been fifteen or sixteen when you moved?”

Pawnee raised an eyebrow. “Uh, pet? How old d’ya think I am, outta professional curiosity?”

“T-twenty? Maybe nineteen?” Twilight answered hesitantly. “Am I wrong?”

“Bit off, our lass,” Pawnee said with a laugh. “I’m sixteen.”

Twilight’s jaw dropped and she froze in place. “W-wait, you’re younger than me?”

“Guess I am,” Pawnee replied with a smirk. “Y’what? Seventeen? Eighteen?”

“Seventeen,” Twilight answered in a dull voice. “M-my mom didn’t want me to skip a grade, she was afraid I’d get bullied for being younger.”

“Hah! Fat lotta good that did,” Pawnee’s voice was a harsh, barking laugh as she clapped Twilight on the back. “Ah well, y’got me now, pet. Guaran-fuckin’-tee no one’ll bully ye now.”

“I don’t want you to hurt people, Pawnee!” Twilight reiterated as they walked along. “Seriously!”

“I got other methods, love,” Pawnee replied. “Y’know what they say, ‘sticks and stones may break my bones, but identity theft leaves lasting financial ruin, oreyt?”

“Not funny!” Twilight replied, laughing in spite of her protest as she smacked Pawnee on the side of the arm. Sighing happily, Twilight nestled deeper into Pawnee’s embrace as they walked. “Thank you… I guess I never said it but, thank you for standing up for me, even if I don’t like how you did it… no one’s ever done that for me before.”

“I’ll allus stick up for you, pet,” Pawnee remarked. “Never doubt that’n for a second.”

They continued their walk, Pawnee holding Twilight tight and feeling an unfamiliar warmth in her chest at Twilight’s touch. It was strange, to be so close to someone after so long. As much as Pawnee wanted to obey her natural suspicions and trustless instincts, there was something so painfully naive and guileless about Twilight that she just… couldn’t.

Well, not as it matters, Pawnee thought vaguely as music began drifting past them from one of the small communal areas of the arcades. We need’er whether I like it as not, so I may as well like it. ‘Sides, s’not so bad goin’ mad once in a while, innit?

“You hear that?” Twilight asked suddenly, perking up from Pawnee’s side. “Someone’s playing music.”

“S’called buskin’, pet,” Pawnee said with a grin. “Got’em in big cities and the like, poor folks’ll busk f’money, or sometimes just folks what like music’ll play on a corner for love, savvy?”

“Even after all this time talking to you I can barely understand what you’re saying sometimes,” Twilight said with a laugh. “But yeah, I guess I get it, let’s go listen!”

Pawnee rolled her eyes but went along with Twilight’s suggestion. It was a little too twangy and poppy sounding for her taste but there was no harm in swinging by. A crowd had gathered around one of the arcades and near a corner they spied the players. One was a girl with flaming red hair streaked with gold who sat in a wheelchair, her guitar case was laid out in front of her and her fingers fairly danced across the strings. Another girl stood behind her with pink hair tied back in a ponytail and a wide grin on her pale blue face as she picked out the beat on a bass guitar.

“They’re not ‘alf-bad, I guess,” Pawnee said, knowing it was a bit of an understatement. The song wasn’t to her liking but the skill on display was undeniable.

The two girls would dance between one another’s music, shifting as easily as breathing between a thrumming bass solo that rumbled through the hearts of the audience, only to sidle back to let the guitar flow into a lighter melody.

“They’re so good,” Twilight said quietly, not wanting to disturb the music. “I wonder if they’re in a band together or something?”

“More like as not, pet,” Pawnee replied, “look at’em, they play like professionals, got that feelin’ where they know ‘xactly how t’other’ll play n’matter what they do.”

Twilight nodded, bobbing her head to the beat of the song with a smile. The tune trailed off eventually and as the two girls turned to leave, Pawnee’s eye caught the red-head’s eye. Pawnee furrowed her brow in concern as the wheelchair bound girl’s eyes widened in what looked like delight, and for a moment she looked as if she was about to say something before the expression turned to shock.

“S’queer az’folk, as me pop says,” Pawnee muttered as she turned her back on the crowd to walk with Twilight.

As they made their way out of the arcades, Twilight laughed softly and turned to look up at Pawnee. “Hey, I just realised something.”

“Aye, wha’zat, our lass?” Pawnee asked with a smirk.

“Well, thanks to those girls you know my real name, but I never asked you for yours,” Twilight said with a smile.

“Huh, ‘appen ye didn’t, tha’s fair’nuff,” Pawnee replied.

Turning around to face Twilight, Pawnee set her hands on Twilight’s shoulders and smiled. “Alright then, since we chuffed up the order’a things, let’s do it properly, what say?”

Twilight giggled and nodded, stepping back to hold out a hand. “Sure… so, hi… uhm, my name is Twilight Sparkle.”

Taking Twilight’s hand in a firm grip, Pawnee smiled and doffed her cap, letting her white hair fall freely.

“Good t’meetcha, the name’s Grizelda King… call me Zee.”

~Ponyville Commons, January 9th, Mid-Afternoon~

Sunset bid Penny farewell as she left the bus, waving as it pulled away from the Commons station. Pulling her phone out, she sent Gilda a quick text letting her know she was home before pulling her gloves on tight and gripping her wheels and rolling towards the flat. Fortunately the snowfall had been incredibly sparse for the past week, and by the time the weekend had rolled around the roads were entirely clear along with the sidewalks. Only the damnably persistent, and disgusting, globs of parking lot snow remained, black and taunting in their clumps.

Flexing her arms a little, Sunset admired the results of working up a sweat every morning doing basic workouts; simple stretches and crunches to start with mostly. Gilda had eventually shown Sunset something called ‘decline pushups’ where she could partially crawl off of the bed until her legs were just barely supported by the bed itself and then do push ups from there.

Sunset smirked as she wondered why she hadn’t thought of it before. In that form, the push ups were actually harder to lift up because gravity was pulling on more of her weight. It was simple physics, which Gilda hadn’t really grasped at first, she just knew it was a good way to work out because her father had done it. Sure enough, between constantly moving herself on wheels and the workouts, Sunset had begun to see a little bit of muscle definition happening around her arms and shoulders.

“One step at a time,” Sunset murmured to herself as she pulled her key from her pocket and unlocked the door to the flat.

The phrase had started to become her mantra ever since she stopped going to school. She’d spoken to Principal Celestia on a few occasions, mostly to sign a few papers that permitted an extended medical leave of absence, for which Doctor Tourniquet had been more than happy to provide the note. Gilda went half days, she had gotten a similar note of permission to act as Sunset’s caretaker, which irked Sunset a little bit despite knowing that it was necessary.

The fact was there were certain things she just couldn’t do, and Gilda couldn’t afford to quit her job at the garage to help her during those hours.

All in all it meant that she had been seeing quite a lot less of Gilda than she liked, which would be all of the time if she had her way but that wasn’t really fair to anyone.

True, she had Adagio, Aria, and Sonata, though she only really regularly spoke to Adagio at length. Aria was busy punching people for a living as she called it, and Sonata was a dear but she was also very much a homebody. There was Penny and Helden, although Helden apparently had a very rigorous schedule to keep for his operatic performances, so Penny and Sunset ended up spending a lot of their free time chatting or hanging out. Vinyl had been making a point to stop by on her way to school, occasionally with Octavia in tow, to say hi since she apparently didn’t live very far from their flat, she was just very consistently busy creating new music.

Sunset understood that entirely, Vinyl’s passion was her life. The fact that she was taking time out of that to come check in on Sunset, to make sure she was doing alright and had everything she needed spoke volumes of her depth of compassion and kindness.

“I’m home,” Sunset said softly, knowing there wouldn’t be anyone to answer.

It still felt nice to say it in an unironic fashion, though, as opposed to how she had spoken as she entered her old warehouse office home.

Doffing her orange beanie and jacket, she hung them up on the little coat rack she shared with Gilda before rolling over to the bed. Gripping the handle by the headboard, Sunset made the mechanical motion to swing herself onto the mattress in a way that was starting to become muscle memory and began the laborious process of removing her shoes, socks, and pants.

Never before had she hated pants as much as after she lost the use of her legs.

Running her hands through her hair, Sunset briefly considered cutting it a little shorter. Long hair was such a hassle and hassles had recently doubled in her life since the accident.

“How much is this stupid accident going to take from me,” Sunset stated more than asked as she reached for her brush and began a hundred strokes.

The boredom was starting to get to her, there was only so much she could do in a day without school. She couldn’t get work easily, what with her sparse paperwork and disability.

“Equal opportunity employers, my dock,” Sunset mumbled in annoyance.

Her irritation quickly turned on its head as her phone let out a soft ding, Gilda had messaged her back.

//Gilda: Uh, hey Sunshine? You got anything like… snazzy t’wear?//

//Sunset: not really, why?//

//Gilda: Well… I’m kinda over at Tavi’s place because of… reasons. And I just wanted to know?//

Sunset scrunched up her face in confusion. Over at Octavia’s? In the Heights? Gilda avoided that place like the plague.

//Sunset: o...kay? Give her my love. Is me not having something fancy a problem?//

//Gilda: it's no prob, I’ll be home in a few hours okay babe?//

//Sunset: Counting the minutes, I love you.//

“Like I have anything else to do,” Sunset said, smirking quietly Gilda replied. Looking down at the response, Sunset felt her heart kick up a notch and butterflies take flight in her stomach.

//Gilda: I love you too, always, y’know? I love you more than anything in the world, Sunflower.//

“Gilda you silly romantic,” Sunset said softly, wiping at her eyes.

Setting the phone down Sunset leaned back and groaned. There was really nothing to do at the moment, and she really didn’t idle all that well. After a moment of musing, Sunset found herself looking over at the parcel that was leaning against the wall. It was right where she had left it when she and Gilda had gotten back from spending Christmas with the Sonen sisters, their honorary ‘aunts’ as they liked to be called,

Slapping her palms against her face, Sunset let out a sharp breath. “Fuck it, nothing’s going to change if I don’t do something… what’s the worst that can happen?”

Reaching past the nightstand, Sunset grabbed the parcel and pulled it into her lap. Running her hands over the blue speckled wrapped paper, Sunset felt her heart hitch as she considered everything this gift represented.

All of the broken promises, the soured memories, the glares and hateful stares and venomous words thrown in her direction by her old ‘friends’.

Gritting her teeth, Sunset tore the wrapping paper off and threw it to the ground. The scent of leather binding drifted up to fill her nostrils and Sunset scowled as she pulled the object free of where it had been resting for the past week and a half.

“A photo album,” Sunset muttered dryly. “I wonder what the chances are I won’t just roll this out back and have a smoke while I burn it.”

Running her hands over the surface, Sunset clenched her eyes shut, feeling the weight of tears building up. The stitching was hand-done, only Rarity had that kind of skill. Plus, the leather wasn’t some simple store bought cut of hide, it was soft and had that real feel to it… Applejack, no doubt. Sunset knew her family went hunting in the Fall.

Opening her eyes again Sunset traced the delicate engraving that was done along the surface showing a familiar set of symbols. Along the edges were a diamond, a butterfly, a stylized lightning bolt, a trio of balloons, and an apple. All of which were surrounding a symbol that Sunset had to do a double take to recognize.

A divided sun backed by feathered wings that seemed to be in the process of gently enfolding it.

The wings were familiar, and they would be... after all, they were the wings of the Air Force. They were the same wings that adorned the back shoulders of Gilda’s bomber jacket that she wore everywhere.

Swallowing thickly, Sunset felt a surge of emotions grip her by the throat. The cover practically said it all. Gilda was closest of all of them to her now, and that would never change but the symbolism was even more telling.

It was almost like the wings were shielding the sun from the other symbols. The same way Gilda had protected her as best she could during those awful weeks when Anon-A-Miss had been systematically destroying her life.

The message was clear: “We’re so sorry we hurt you, and we’re so glad you’ve found happiness.”

“Okay, let’s see what you idiots really have to say,” Sunset said in a raw voice.

Swallowing hard, she fitted her fingers under the cover and took a deep breath.

“Come on you coward,” Sunset muttered angrily to herself. “It’s a stupid book… just open it!”

Practically biting her lip, Sunset flipped the front cover open. On the other side was soft, high quality sepia stationary with a dedication written in Rarity’s gorgeous calligraphy.

For Sunset,

you are so much more

than the memories that

we so carelessly destroyed.

With this, we all hope that you will

fill it with new memories of true

happiness and love.

Shaking, Sunset turned the page to find two full pages of the stationary filled end to end with names all crammed in together. Hundreds and hundreds of names, the name of every student at Canterlot High was written in pencil, marker, pen, colored pencil, and even crayon in one spot.

At the very top we’re five familiar names: Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity.

Turning the page, Sunset sniffled; tears fell from her cheeks as she stared at the empty page, lovingly crafted with empty inserts for photographs and a little spot below each for a note or title.

Warm tears streaked her face, and Sunset couldn’t find the strength to wipe them dry. Her hands turned the pages automatically, knowing that each page would be just as empty as the last until finally she reached the back cover.

Sunset worked her jaw several times before finding her voice as she spoke the words that were etched into the leather.

“May each and every memory contained within these pages be one of honest laughter, kind loyalty, and generous love,” Sunset choked out through tears.

Shutting the album closed, Sunset clutched it to her chest as she shook until finally she opened her mouth and let out a sobbing, tearful wail of grief.

Tears fell like summer rain onto her legs as Sunset leaned in and clutched the album, bereft of all but hope, and she sobbed as she grieved for every friendship she’d lost. She grieved for the conversation and wit she loved sharing with Rarity, she grieved for the warm fall weekends she spent on Sweet Apple Acres hauling apples, for all of the little parties Pinkie had thrown and laughter they’d shared. Sunset grieved for the scent of the soccer fields that she ripped up alongside Rainbow Dash, and for the gentle hands of Fluttershy that patched them up every time they overextended themselves to the tune of scraped knees and elbows.

Sunset Shimmer curled up on the bed she shared with the girl she loved most in all the world, clutched the empty album, and, for the first time since her world crumbled, permitted herself the small luxury of grieving for the people she once loved.

~oOo~

I’m falling.

Thunder and lightning crash through the sky as electric pain runs rampant through my body. The wind tears at my limbs and whips my clothes around my body and all about me is the sound of coursing lightning, it sparks and snaps like the bite of an angry dog nipping at my heels as I flee.

I’m falling.

All I can smell is smoke and ash and the unpleasant, acrid tang of ozone. The world is spiraling madly around me as I fall through the air and my body barely obeys my commands. It feels as though bands of iron are wrapped tight around me, and my limbs rebel everytime I try to move them even a little.

I look down and the ground is rushing to meet me and as the earth careens towards me I hear laughter, unpleasant and wicked, split the air. It’s as if the storm itself is cackling at my pain.

I look up and away from the ground as it approaches inexorably, and I see it, the lightning bolt that always chases me. I see a flash of something else within the light.

I see-

Sunny? Sunny wa-

~oOo~

“-ke up!”

Sunset snapped awake, blinking away the salt crust of spent tears from her eyes as she gasped for breath; remnant wraiths of the nightmare still hovering at the edges of her vision. Chest heaving, Sunset gulped down air as if she’d been drowning, and a moment later the familiar scent of leather and engine oil accompanied by the comforting strength of Gilda’s arms went around her, pulling her close.

“Hey, you alright Sunshine?” Gilda asked softly, her hands going up to gently stroke Sunset’s back as her girlfriend nuzzled against her. “I came back and y’were fuckin’ thrashin’ around; night terrors again?”

“Dunno,” Sunset answered truthfully. “I think it was that dream again except… it was different… further along maybe? I can barely remember… I remember falling, and the lightning chasing me was laughing.”

“Weird ass dream, babe,” Gilda said with a dry chuckle as she pulled away slightly, only to lean in and press her lips to Sunset’s.

Sunset gave a soft hum of delight as she leaned into the kiss, bringing her hands up to loop around Gilda’s neck and tangle into her soft hair. Gilda’s hands traced little lines of pleasure down Sunset’s sides until they came to rest on her hips and pulled her a little closer.

Pulling away, Gilda grinned, flashing those slightly-too-sharp teeth that Sunset loved. “Hey there pretty lady.”

“Hey there your… self?” Sunset said with a smile that trailed off into confusion as her sleep-addled brain finally registered what Gilda was wearing.

It was a full three piece tuxedo with a long coat jacket that trailed down past her thighs, a clean button down white shirt that looked reasonably starched, silver vest, and a smart black bowtie. On her feet were neat black dress shoes, polished to a shine.

Sunset felt her jaw drop open slightly as she tried to reconcile the Gilda that was kneeling in front of her with the Gilda she lived with; the perennial slob whose idea of a nice outfit was jeans and a sweater that had seen a recent wash.

“So uh… how do I look?” Gilda asked sheepishly, standing up to her full height.

The coat jacket fell to her knees, and hugged her generous figure nicely, and the pale cream shirt contrasted perfectly with her dark skin. All in all, Sunset was busy trying to find a word that was classy enough to strike the right chord but all her brain kept giving her was-

“Tasty.”

Gilda blinked in surprise, and Sunset clapped a hand over her mouth.

“I swear I didn’t mean to say that out loud,” Sunset said, her voice muffled behind her hand.

Snorting, Gilda bent over double as laughter struck her like a hammerblow, and Sunset’s face slowly turned redder with embarrassment as the minutes passed and Gilda’s mirth failed to subside.

“Okay, yes I get it,” Sunset grumbled. “The useless lesbian over here would like an explanation now, please and thanks.”

Taking several deep breaths, Gilda stood up and ran her hands through her hair, pulling it back to a rakish, ruffled look.

“Well, I wanted t’take ya on a proper date, so I figured I’d go all out tonight, savvy?” Gilda explained as she turned to picked up a bundle that had been laid out on the table. “See, friend’a Crank’s is a line cook down at Gustave’s and got us a table so-”

“Gustave’s?!” Sunset practically shouted. “That place is crazy expensive, though!”

Gilda just smiled softly. “Yeah and? The fuck else am I gonna spend money on but you, Sunshine? Dunno if y’noticed, but I ain’t exactly… uh…”

“Materialistic?”

“That’s the word,” Gilda chimed before blushing and giving a nervous chuckle, “but yeah… turns out auto-work pays okay, and my first paycheck cleared so… yeah, I uh… y’wanna go out with me t’night, babe?”

“I… Gilda… you asked me to marry you and you’re getting more flustered asking me out on a date,” Sunset replied with a laugh. “Yes, yes I will go out with you; I say to my fiancee who asked me to marry her with a ring of magic ice under a fireworks display.”

“Hey… I was caught up in the moment, a’right?” Gilda replied sullenly, kicking at nothing in particular. “I was runnin’ on adrenaline, it’s a lot harder to ask this shit when it’s all normal and you’re still all stupid-pretty, savvy?”

“Gilda, honey… my love, look at me,” Sunset began, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she gestured at herself. “I cried myself to sleep, my hair is a hot mess, my cold sweat nightmare left me vaguely sticky everywhere, and I think I forgot to brush my teeth this morning. ‘Pretty’ I am not.”

“Bullshit,” Gilda shot back with a smile. “Y’always pretty, Sunshine. Y’just get prettier when ya try, y’know? S’like how car engines gotta idle at a certain rev count to keep runnin’, you idle at ‘stupid-pretty’ and just go up from there.”

Sunset opened her mouth to argue but no words came to her, and after a moment she shook her head and sighed. “That’s not fair, y’know? Saying stuff like that to me,” Sunset raised her arms up towards Gilda. “I’m already in love with you, Gil… I already promised to marry you… you don’t have to keep charming me.”

Wrapping her arms around Sunset, Gilda lifted the lighter girl up and into her embrace; holding her in a princess carry as she walked Sunset to the bathroom to wash up.

“Where’s the fun in stoppin’, huh?” Gilda said, looking warmly down at the smiling redhead in her arms. “I’m still gonna be tellin’ you how sexy you are when we’re old’n gray, Sunshine.”

Sunset leaned her head against Gilda’s shoulder and let out a heartfelt and happy sigh.

“Y’know what, Gil?” Sunset asked quietly, drawing a quizzical look from her girlfriend. “I really believe you.”

Smiling, Gilda set Sunset down on the seat lid of the toilet and reached in to pull the stool closer to Sunset before turning on the shower.

“We got a couple hours, Sunflower,” Gilda said as she pulled her arm out, shaking a few stray droplets from her arm. “I’ll go get y’dress.”

“Dress?” Sunset asked in a slightly bewildered voice. “And speaking of that, where the hell did you get a tux?”

“Borrowed it from Mister Melody, had t’swap out one’a Missus Melody’s tops though, on account’a th’girls,” Gilda replied with a bark of a laugh from the living room. “And Tavi gave ya one’a her dresses; said she never wears most of’em and I believe’r, ya shoulda seen the size’a her closet, Sunny.”

“Octavia…” Sunset mumbled, sighing and smiling a little. “You’re too much…”

“She said every girl oughta have a nice dress,” Gilda continued as she walked back in with a wrapped bundle. “Dunno if I agree, I think I cut a pretty good figure in a tux, savvy?”

“Gil? ‘good’ is an understatement,” Sunset replied with a smoky grin. “Because right now the only thing I’m thinking that tux would look better on would be the ground.”

Gilda's cheeks warmed to a red blush and she chuckled nervously. “Wow, uh… maybe I oughta get dressed t’the nines more often, huh?”

“Mhm,” Sunset replied, nodding as she started peeling off layers and throwing them to the side. “So how’re we getting to Gustave’s?”

Closing the bathroom door, Gilda leaned against the sink counter as she shamelessly watched her girlfriend undress and get into the shower.

“The roads are clearer now,” Gilda answered, “figured I’d untarp my ride and take’er for a spin, savvy?”

Sunset sighed in relief as the hot water cascaded over her, washing away the stain of sweat from her hair and skin. “I kept meaning to ask, but what is your ride?”

“My pride’n joy, Sunshine,” Gilda replied. “An old eighty-nine Harley softail, nice and comfy… plenty’a faster hogs on the road, but this one is mine.”

“Why am I not surprised you have a motorcycle?” Sunset said with a small laugh from the shower. “You’re the bad girl stereotype to a ‘T’, Gilda Grimfeather.”

“An’ don’t you f’get it, Sunflower,” Gilda shot back, standing up from where she seated herself. “Anyways, I’m gonna get my road leathers on, I’ll bring y’chair ‘round, savvy?”

“Sounds good…” Sunset said. “And Gil?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you… for always loving me,” Sunset said quietly, her cheeks turning a little red. “I know it’s not easy all the time, and I know I’m a hassle, but… I love you so much, and you make me so happy, so… thank you.”

“S’not even gotta be said, Sunshine,” Gilda replied, tugging her coat jacket straighter. “And easy or not, I know how I’m spendin’ the rest’a my life and it looks real pretty from where I’m standin’.”

“You’re only saying that because I’m naked,” Sunset remarked blithely, a laugh hiding behind her arid tone.

Gilda laughed loudly as her only response before walking out of the bathroom. True to her word, by the time Sunset emerged clean and refreshed from her shower, her chair was sitting at the ready for her along with a clean towel. Drying herself off and pulling on her undergarments, Sunset went to work slowly drying her hair, then combing it back to a glossy sheen before reaching for the mysterious dress that Octavia had been so generous with.

“I’m probably gonna need some help getting this on!” Sunset called from the bathroom.

Pulling apart the soft wrapping paper, Sunset pulled the dress free and gasped softly as it tumbled into her arms. It was a daring, shoulderless number that bore a gorgeous shade of purple which trailed to black near the bottom that would certainly have complimented Octavia’s eyes and hair nicely, but even Sunset could see why the musician gave it up to her. The color was just the right shade to match the dusk sky, and Sunset’s fiery red hair would bring a whole new flare to it.

Gilda opened the door and leaned in, looking down at Sunset and smiled. “Sure thing, babe, here lemme have it.”

Taking the dress, Sunset watched as Gilda’s long, dark fingers dexterously shook out the dress until it fell straight before rolling it up slightly and nodding for Sunset to raise her arms. Sunset obliged, and Gilda slipped the dress over her arms and down until the contours of the dress hugged to Sunset’s form. Her strapless bra left her amber shoulders free as Gilda stepped around to pull the dress straight until it fell in a lavender waterfall down over Sunset’s legs.

Standing, Gilda took a moment; her breath catching in her throat as Sunset smiled up at her radiantly.

“So?” Sunset gestured to herself. “How do I look, Gil?”

Swallowing hard, Gilda returned the smile, feeling a faint grip in her chest as she looked down at Sunset. The soft, beautiful features of the face Gilda had come to know almost as well as her own framed by that gorgeous scarlet and gold cascade of hair, her graceful amber shoulders that showed just the slightest definition, proof of her hard work. Sunset’s slender figure that lit a flame in Gilda’s heart, but so much more than that…

Her smile.

Gilda grinned as she reached out, caressing Sunset’s cheek and trailing her thumb over Sunset’s lips who playfully kissed the digit as it passed; Gilda knew the truth now more than ever:

She would do anything for that smile.

“Prettiest girl in the world, Sunshine,” Gilda said softly. She’d said it before and she planned to spend the rest of her life saying it if she had her way.

Moving Sunset out of the bathroom, finished pulling on her riding jacket and pads, trying to be careful not to scuff up Mister Melody’s suit too much. Of course, if she got in an accident without the leathers there’d be a load more damage. As she did, Gilda spied the album on the bed that she overlooked while comforting Sunset.

“So… guess ya opened the gift, huh?” Gilda said after a minute, and Sunset stopped, frozen in indecision before she silently nodded. “Know what ya gonna do with it?”

“Not really,” Sunset said quietly, sighing as she leaned back into her chair. “When I saw it I half-expected it to be full of pictures of the six of us, happy memories, reminders of why I should go back to being their friend… y’know?”

“Yeah? What’s in it?” Gilda asked, admitting to herself that she had thought the same thing.

“Nothing,” Sunset answered. “It’s empty, except for some signatures and a dedication that hopes I’ll fill it with new memories; better ones…”

Gilda grimaced as she turned back to the bed and lifted the album, flipping it open to look over it. Sure enough, it was empty save for what Sunset had said.

‘I think it would’ve been easier if it had just been a shallow attempt to tug my heartstrings back in their direction,” Sunset admitted. “I could’ve just set the stupid thing on fire and been done with it.”

“Could still do,” Gilda replied with a wry grin.

Shrugging, Sunset sighed heavily. “That’s the thing… I don’t want to.”

Gilda looked down at the album again, even she had to admit it was beautifully made. There was a lot of love put into the gift she was holding and, as much as she hated to admit it, a part of Gilda agreed with Sunset.

“What does it mean if I think they really learned their lesson?” Sunset asked quietly. “Does it mean I forgive them?”

Heaving her own sigh, Gilda shut the album and set it down. “Couldn’t tell ya, Sunflower… that’s the thing; end’a the day there’s no one that can tell ya how t’feel about’em except you, savvy?”

“Is it selfish to wish there was just an easy answer?” Sunset replied with a small, arid smile.

“There is,” Gilda said, “cut’em outta your life, throw away all their shit and baggage, never think about’em again, and move on. That’s the easy way ‘cause it’s basically just, y’know, not thinking about it. Believe me, I got a lotta practice in that shit.”

“I don’t know if that is what I want, though!” Sunset protested as Gilda walked over to the table and hefted a second heavy riding jacket. Rolling past her, Sunset picked up the album and opened it. “I want… ugh, I don’t know what I want and that’s so annoying!”

“Set it off t’the side then, ain't like there's a time limit,” Gilda said, nodding to the album “we’ll figure it out later, savvy?”

Taking a deep breath, Sunset nodded. “Yeah, that… that sounds like a good idea, actually,” Sunset replied, tucking the album away. “Hey… Gilda?”

“What’s up, Sunshine?”

“Thank you… for dealing with me when I’m like this,” Sunset said, blushing a little. “When I’m difficult, or wishy-washy, or just a big mess, so just… thanks.”

Walking over to Sunset, Gilda passed the riding jacket to her before kneeling down and taking Sunset’s right hand in hers. Carefully, she ran her fingers along Sunset’s palm, tracing the soft lines, up to the delicate fingers, stopping only to circle the little copper band. Lifting Sunset’s hand to her lips, Gilda kissed the knuckles softly.

“Babe, I’ll say it as many times as I gotta,” Gilda started, smiling up at Sunset who was looking down at her with shining eyes. “I’m gonna marry you, savvy? Dealin’ with ya when you’re a mess? That’s fine by me… ain’t always easy, ain’t meant t’be, y’know? But I wouldn’t trade a second of it f’the world.”

Sunset sniffled a little, wiping at her eyes before the tears that were threatening to spill over made good.

“Why couldn’t I have met you earlier, Gil?” Sunset said, more than asked, in a soft voice. “Why couldn’t you have been the first person I met stepping out of that portal? I know we’ve got our whole lives ahead of us, that we’re young and all that, but… why does it feel like it’s still not enough?”

“Babe?” Gilda said in a querying tone, as she reached up and cradled Sunset’s face gently. “A thousand fuckin’ years wouldn’t be enough time with you f’me, savvy?”

Leaning in, Gilda pressed her lips to Sunset’s, savoring the softness, the nearness, and the familiar scent of cherry and lilacs that always seemed to settle around Sunset. Sunset, for her part, leaned in as well, wrapping her arms around Gilda’s neck and pulling her close, shivering in delight as she felt Gilda’s hands run through her hair, careful not to tangle it.

Pulling away, Sunset wiped at her eyes again.

“I’m so glad I came through that portal, Gil,” Sunset said, her voice thick but happy. “I’m so glad I got in that fight with Princess Celestia… I’m so glad I didn’t become an Alicorn like her.”

Gilda blinked in surprise at that. “Why d’ya say that?”

“Because they’re facets of reality! Sun, Moon, Magic… they’re immortal, Gil,” Sunset said tearily. “And I want to grow old with you… not… not…”

“Outlive me?”

Unable to say it for herself, Sunset just nodded silently. On the list of things to not think about for Sunset Shimmer, that was definitely near if not at the top.

“Well, guess we gotta take what we got, huh?” Gilda said after a moment of silence. “May not be a thousand years like I want, but I ain’t gonna get greedy.”

“If I was still an evil megalomaniac I’d be plotting how to steal the world’s magic to make us immortal right now,” Sunset said with a teary laugh.

“Y’mean you’re not?” Gilda asked sharing the laugh as she stood up and started helping Sunset put the jacket on.

“Eh… maybe a little,” Sunset replied, her smirk starting to gain strength. “I mean… I’m pretty sure necromancy isn’t technically outlawed on this side of the portal.”

“Gotta be honest, not sure how I feel about bein’ a zombie, babe,” Gilda said.

Sunset scoffed. “Please, zombies are so last century; I’m pretty sure I could rebuild the Shadow King’s ‘Undying Knighthood’ ritual,” she said with a grin. “How d’ya feel about being a deathless juggernaut?”

“Depends on if I’m gonna be serving a sexy evil overlord for all of eternity,” Gilda replied.

Pulling the slightly-too-big jacket more firmly onto her shoulders, Sunset shot Gilda a grin. “Well, obviously, the only problem is that I look awful in all black; I’m more of an Autumnal complexion, and you just can’t be an evil overlord wearing warm earthy tones, y’know?”

“Well shit, suppose that settles it,” Gilda laughed. “Guess we gotta stay human.”

“Shame, that,” Sunset said, sharing her girlfriend’s laugh.

The tension faded with both girls smiling, Gilda grabbed a pair of helmets from the closet and set one in Sunset’s lap, tucking the other under her arm before pushing the flat door open and pushing Sunset outside before turning and locking up. Walking around the edge of the parking lot towards the small rental garages, Sunset following just behind, Gilda pulled her keyring out and unlocked one of them, raising the garage door to show a lumpen, tarped shape within.

Reaching up, Gilda pulled the small cord that flicked on the faded light inside the garage before taking a strong grip on the tarp and pulling it off. Sunset felt her breath catch at what lay underneath.

It was a sleek black-and-chrome beast with a snarling griffon painted onto the fuel tank. The handlebars were raised slightly higher than Sunset was used to seeing, and the seat had a raised passenger seat with a cushioned backrest behind it. Every inch of it shone with care and polish, save for a bit of dust from having been tarped for the season, and Sunset could see the love and care that Gilda put into maintaining it.

“So wha’dya think?” Gilda asked, smiling down at Sunset who grinned back up at her.

“It looks awesome,” Sunset replied, “But uh, how’re we taking my wheelchair?”

“Gonna lash it to the back,” Gilda said, pointing towards the rear of the passenger seat before walking in and grabbing a few cords from the shelf beside the motorcycle. “It’ll be a little awkward, since it ain’t made f’nothin’ that big, but I’ll just go a little slower, savvy? ‘Sides, Harley’s ain’t that fast t’begin with.”

Sunset shrugged. “So long as it’s safe, I’ll take your word for it.”

Gilda lifted Sunset from her wheelchair and set her on the passenger seat, carefully helping her into position so she didn’t tip over, before collapsing the wheelchair and securing it to the back. Sunset watched Gilda as she went about the small job, her quick, steady hands easily finding the places to tie the chair down. Sunset always did like watching Gilda work; In those moments there was no hint of the insecurity over her intelligence that Gilda so often showed, just confidence and surety.

Carefully moving about the motorcycle, Gilda checked every part of it for any kind of wear or damage that might have happened over the season. Apparently satisfied that all was well, Gilda slowly rolled the motorcycle out with Sunset seated on it while smiling at her girlfriend, before she mounted the cycle and turned the ignition.

Sunset nearly leapt from her seat as the motorcycle roared to life.

Being near a motorcycle, or seeing them on the road or drive past her was one thing. Sitting on top of one when it abruptly came to life was a completely different experience.

“Helmet on, babe!” Gilda shouted over the roar before fitting her own helmet. Nodding, Sunset pulled the helmet on as well before leaning in and wrapping her arms around Gilda’s middle.

Grinning wildly, Gilda gave the cycle some gas and Sunset felt her heart leap slightly as they accelerated. Riding in a car and riding on a motorcycle, Sunset decided, had absolutely nothing to do with each other. In a car there was a degree of separation from the world you were driving through, but on a motorcycle there was nothing between you and the wind and the roar of the engine.

Rolling out of the parking lot, Gilda hit the road, settled back, and opened up the throttle. As the buildings and city lights began idly drifting past with all the sounds of the world masked by the rumble of the engine and howl of the wind whipping by, Sunset closed her eyes and took a breath, tightening her grip on Gilda’s middle as a smile traced over her face.

Sunset’s heart was beating so loudly in her ears, and her only regret was that she couldn’t kiss Gilda right there. At least, not without getting them into a serious accident. Something about seeing the world from the back of a motorcycle, even if she wasn’t the one driving, made everything seem different, brighter… So much of her life lately had been lived in slow motion because of her disability that moving so fast while constrained by so little was… freeing.

The ride was over too soon, in Sunset’s opinion, as Gustave’s appeared to their right and Gilda pulled into the lot and found a space to park.

“I still can’t believe you got a table here,” Sunset said as she pulled the helmet off, pulling a small comb to fix her hair as she did so. “It’s supposed to be a week’s wait at minimum.”

“Well, y’know what they say, Sunshine,” Gilda said, doffing her own helmet. “Pays t’have friends in low places, savvy?”

It was the work of a moment to set up Sunset’s wheelchair before Gilda turned to pick up her girlfriend and lower her into the seat. Gilda pulled off her leathers, smoothing out her tuxedo as she did, and stowed them in side-pouch of the chair before getting behind to start pushing Sunset torwards the entrance.

“Come to think of it,” Sunset mused, a wry smile appearing on her face. “Have we ever actually gone on a date?”

“Uh… I mean, we went t’Cuppa’s that one time,” Gilda said a little nervously. “And uh, well, c’mon, a date doesn’t hafta be goin’ out right? We watched movies’n shit t’gether, I figure that counts.”

“I guess so,” Sunset said with a laugh. “Still kind of weird to think we’ve been dating for so long and this is our first real ‘date’ date.”

“Y-yeah… sorry,” Gilda said, her voice falling a little.

Sunset frowned, reaching her hand up to hold GIlda’s where it was gripping the handle of her chair. “Hey, I… I didn’t mean it like that, savvy?”

“Yeah, savvy,” Gilda said, still sounding a little morose. “Guess I just… I wanna give ya all the romance’n shit in the world, y’know? I wanna be… worth it.”

Grimacing, Sunset reached down and threw the brake on her chair, bringing her and Gilda to a sudden, ratcheting stop as Gilda staggered at the resistance. Turning her head, Sunset scowled up at Gilda.

“Gilda Grimfeather, you listen to me,” Sunset said, her voice full of fire. “You’ve given me the world. You didn’t just save my life, you let me start living one… you didn’t just give me a place to live, you gave me a home.”

Pulling back the brake, Sunset gripped her wheels and turned to face Gilda.

“Because of you, I… I feel more loved than I’ve ever felt in my life,” Sunset stated, her voice brooking no argument. “Even after I was adopted I was still the student of the Princess, and she kept the distance that propriety required… I’ve never had someone love me as plainly, as blatantly, and as honestly as you do, okay?”

“How could I not love ya, Sunshine?” Gilda asked softly, reaching out to run the backs of her fingers over Sunset’s cheek. “I’d swear t’whatever god ya wanted me to that lovin’ you is easier than breathin’ for me.”

“I know,” Sunset whispered softly, leaning into Gilda’s touch. “It probably seems silly but… being able to say ‘I know’ like that? And really mean it? That’s a little bit of a miracle.”

“Magic’a friendship?” Gilda asked with a small smirk.

“Or something like it,” Sunset replied. “Now let’s eat, I’m starving.”

Gilda grinned, nodding as she took the handles to Sunset’s chair again and pushed her towards the entrance.

It was warm inside and there was a vague scent of firewood and pinesmoke in the air. Gustave’s was renown in Canterlot for being a place of both class and welcome; not the most expensive restaurant in the city, but it was certainly on the higher end of things. Not quite Restaurant Row material, or so many food critics said, but even the most rigid of them admitted the food was well made and the atmosphere was one that inspired comfort.

The Maître D', an older man with salt-and-pepper hair and a chartreuse complexion, led them to their assigned table, a small booth in the corner with what appeared to be a nook carved out of it. It only took Sunset a moment to realise that it had been specially designed with someone wheelchair-bound in mind.

Fitting herself in, Sunset gratefully accepted the short menu and glanced at it, feeling a slight hitch in her throat as she realised the prices weren’t listed.

That generally only meant one thing.

“Gilda… are you sure about this?” Sunset asked nervously, licking her lips as she tried not to think about how much money this single meal was going to cost.

Gilda chuckled a little nervously. “Pretty sure… or at least I hope so since I kinda already paid for everything…”

Sunset’s eyes widened at Gilda’s admission. “W-what?!”

“Hey, c’mon,” Gilda said soothingly, setting her own menu down. “I, uh… it was the only way I could get the table at that short’a notice, savvy? ‘Sides, not like we ain’t gonna eat the food, y’know?”

Sunset slumped slightly in her seat, looking down at her menu. “Do… do I even want to know…?”

“Uh… no,” Gilda replied, a sheepish grin on her face.

“Ugh… fine,” Sunset sighed as she picked up her menu and examined it. “I’m going to pay you back for tonight somehow… okay?”

“S’long as you keep plannin’ on marryin’ me, Sunshine, I don’t think I need anythin’ else,” Gilda replied with a chuckle.

“That’s the plan, babe,” Sunset said, co-opting yet another of Gilda’s favorite lines. “So… any idea what you’re gonna get? There’s only like five choices so…”

“Uhm… n-not yet…” Gilda replied uneasily.

Sunset felt a pang of worry and, on a hunch, turned back to her menu. Her eyes narrowed as she examined it; the print was small and done in delicate, smooth-lined cursive. The few selections were spaced widely and, like most higher class restaurants, had no pictures.

“Gilda?” Sunset asked softly, peeking past her menu to see Gilda, who was glaring at the menu and visibly making an effort not to clench her hands into fists.

Reaching out, Sunset set a hand over Gilda’s, prompting the taller girl to glance up suddenly at Sunset before turning her face away with an embarrassed flush crossing her cheeks. Without waiting, Sunset put a hand on the raised top of Gilda’s menu and lowered it to the table.

“It’s okay, remember?” Sunset said, smiling gently as she took Gilda’s hand, locking their fingers together.

“I… I know,” Gilda said in a subdued voice.

“I want to hear you say it…” Sunset said, a touch of iron entering her voice.

Taking a deep breath, Gilda clenched her eyes shut and nodded.

“I… I ain’t stupid.”

Sunset smiled radiantly. “No, you’re not,” Sunset affirmed before picking up her menu. “So… how do you feel about pot roast?”

“Uh… not really feelin’ red meat, y’know?” Gilda replied. “Heh, I eat a lotta beef stew.”

“Yeah, fair enough,” Sunset remarked with a small chuckle. “Fish?”

That got Gilda’s attention. “There’s seafood on there?” Reflexively, she glanced down at her own menu before scowling and pushing it away and looked back up at Sunset, licking her lips. “Is there, uh… any shellfish? Like crab or somethin’?”

Scanning the menu, Sunset’s eyes lit up.

“How do you feel about lobster?”

Sunset sipped at her ice tea as she pushed her emptied plate away from her. She still didn’t know how much the meal had cost but she had a sneaking suspicion it was even more than she had initially feared with how good that salmon was. Gilda had a look of total satisfaction on her face as she sat in front of a plate that was covered in the gruesome remains of a whole boiled lobster. Sunset had actually been surprised to see how quickly and easily Gilda cracked the shell, it was like she knew exactly where to hit it to break off the biggest bit of the exoskeleton, and Sunset’s mind was suddenly filled with the image of an avian raptor dropping its prey on a rock to crack the shell.

Without warning, a loud slap filled the air as Sunset’s palm met her face, drawing a look of alarm from a few other tables and one of confusion from Gilda.

“Uh… you okay there, Sunflower?” Gilda asked, leaning forward.

“I’m an idiot,” Sunset said dryly, dragging her hand down her face. “I can’t believe I thought you might be a pegasus on the other side of the portal, I must be fucking blind, as well as crippled.”

“W-what?” Gilda asked, chuckling a little. “Why a pegasus?”

“Your stormcasting,” Sunset explained, laughing slightly. “It’s a common pegasus pony talent… the number of pegasi with weather-related cutie marks of some kind make up a little over sixty percent of the population of most pegasi dominant settlements, so I just assumed.”

“Okay… but I ain’t one?” Gilda asked. “Then what am I? On the other side’a the portal I mean?”

“Well, let’s go over the facts,” Sunset replied with a dry chuckle before starting to tick her fingers in a count off, “you’ve got golden eyes, you love seafood, specifically shellfish, you’re aggressive, plus there’s your name.”

“Huh?”

“Gilda the Griffon,” Sunset said dryly. “You’re a griffon, because no shit of course you are…”

“Wait,” Gilda said with a laugh. “Y’tellin’ me there’s griffons over there? Like, bird-cats?”

“And dragons, and hydras, and sea serpents…” Sunset replied. “Lots of creatures humans consider to be mythical. Ugh… still can’t believe it took me this long, even if you didn’t have the name, I should’ve known by how you treat me.”

Gilda’s brow furrowed at that. “What’s that suppose’ta mean, Sunshine? I treat ya good, right?”

“Oh! Yes!” Sunset said, reaching out to grab both of Gilda’s hands. “You do, I didn’t mean it like that I just… Griffons… their uhm, mating habits? Griffons pair off young, and not just that… they mate for life.”

A blush crossed Gilda’s features as Sunset smiled.

“With how protective you are of me, and how worked up you get any time you feel like I’m in any kind of danger?” Sunset pulled one of Gilda’s hands over to her lips to press a soft kiss to her knuckles. “It’s just a little embarrassing that I didn’t realise it sooner, y’know? Some genius I am.”

“Eh, truth is? I never liked that name, savvy?” Gilda said, leaning against the cushioned back of the booth. “My pops gave me the nickname and it stuck, got around t’all of his associates, even Crank’n Gear. He said it was supposed t’make me sound dangerous.”

“Ended up prophetic, huh?” Sunset said, settling back into her chair. “Funny how fate works like that.”

Gilda[‘s face fell as she nodded. “Yeah… funny.”

Feeling the mood tilt downward, Sunset fished for something else to say.

“S-so… do you mind if I ask where you went this morning?”

Gilda’s visage darkened further and Sunset felt her heart sink. Clearly that was the wrong question. Her mind raced as she sought anything that would help her dislodge the foot she was managing to firmly plant down her own throat.

“I went t’visit my folks,” Gilda said after a minute, her voice quiet. “Guess there ain’t any reason t’keep it secret it’s just… hard t’talk about, savvy?”

“O-oh… a cemetery?” Sunset asked, flinching as the words left her mouth. Of course it was a cemetery, where else would she have been? She thought in annoyance.

“Yeah,” Gilda replied, ignoring the awkward gaffe, she knew Sunset didn’t mean anything by it. It was the whole reason she hadn’t wanted to mention it. “Beaucheval, up north’a Canterlot… I guess… I’ve changed a lot since I last visited’em, y’know?”

“We both have,” Sunset said, tangling her fingers with Gilda’s, gently tracing the lines of Gilda’s palms with her fingers. “For the better, I think, don’t you?”

Gilda nodded. “Guess I just wish my ma could see, my dad too, y’know? You’da liked’em, and they’da loved you…”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Sunset replied.

After a moment, Gilda’s brow furrowed, and Sunset crooked an eyebrow in confusion as Gilda started digging through her pockets before pulling out her phone, thumbed it open, and started sweeping her finger over the touchscreen. Not wanting to interrupt whatever it was that had distracted Gilda, Sunset sat for a moment before Gilda finally seemed to find what she was looking for.

“Hey, Sunshine?” Gilda said. “When I was up there I found a weird bouquet someone’d left at my folks’ graves, didn’t look like any one I’d ever seen before, see?”

Turning the phone, she showed Sunset the odd bouquet.

“Those’re lilies right? The orange ones?” Gilda asked, pointing them out. “And I know the yellow ones are carnations… what’s up with the white ones?”

“Meadowsweet…” Sunset said, feeling a shallow burn in her heart. “You said someone left these on your parents’ graves?”

“Y-yeah?” Gilda replied, lowering her phone at the sound of anger in Sunset’s voice. “What’s up, Sunshine?”

“Gil, do you… do you know anything about the language of flowers?” Sunset asked, grimacing a little. “Like, what different flowers mean or represent?”

Gilda raised an eyebrow in response. “Uh… wha’dyou think, Sunflower?”

Sunset chuckled dryly. “Fair enough… so, uh… Yellow Carnations, Meadowsweet, and Orange Lilies… wow.”

“What is it?” Gilda asked, scowling. “You gonna spill?”

“Well, if I remember right, and I usually do,” Sunset said, before pointing at the Carnations. “The yellow ones mean disappointment, the meadowsweet means uselessness or useless, and the orange lilies… those mean hatred.”

Gilda blinked in shock before turning the phone back to her and examining the bouquet closely. “What the fuck?”

“Couldn’t tell ya,” Sunset said, “But that’s a pretty strongly worded message, for certain definitions of the word. None of those flowers are traditional bouquet material either, so I can’t imagine anyone putting that together on accident.”

“Fuckin’ weird, ” Gilda hissed, scowling at her phone before tucking it away and grabbing her water glass to take a drink.

Sunset chuckled. “Oh, speaking of weird, I don’t suppose you have a twin sister wandering around town?”

The sound of shattering glass filled the small corner of the restaurant.

Sunset’s eyes went wide as Gilda gripped the splintered glass in her hand. Fragments of the shattered vessel and pieces of ice fell onto her side of the table as Gilda’s eyes gave Sunset a look of harrowed shock. Whatever Sunset had been expecting from Gilda, that wasn’t it, and she stuttered as she tried to ask Gilda what had happened and why she’d reacted that way. Gilda beat her to the punch, though.

“S-Sunset… why would you ask me that?” Gilda asked in a hollow voice, setting the glass down, completely ignoring the blood trickling from the scratches on her hand.

“I… I… just…” Sunset stammered, “Gilda your hand!”

“Fuck my hand,” Gilda hissed, her voice low and deadly. “Why the fuck did you ask me that?”

“It was nothing! It was a joke!” Sunset said, scrabbling for a clean napkin and grabbing for Gilda’s hand.

Gilda pulled her hand away with a snarl. “Well it wasn’t fucking funny, Shimmer!”

Sunset rocked back in her chair like she’d been cut.

Never, in all the time they’d known each other, had Gilda ever spoken to her with that kind of venom. It was like getting a scorching hot brand to the heart.

“G-Gilda? What did I do?” Sunset asked, tears starting to fill her eyes. “P-please talk to me.”

By this point everyone within earshot was doing their level best to appear as if they weren’t listening to what sounded like a relationship meltdown of epic proportions. A waiter came by and his eyes shot wide at the state of Gilda’s hand and he stammered apologies as he dropped several clean napkins and raced off to find the Maître D'.

“I’ll talk when you tell me why you asked me that fuckin’ question?” Gilda said, her voice harsh. “Why the fuck’d you ask that?”

“Because I saw a girl who looked like you!” Sunset said in a choked voice. “That was it! I swear! It was just weird, okay? I got finished with playing a song with Penny at the mall and looked up and could’ve sworn I saw you!”

Gilda felt her heart drop from her throat to her gut at Sunset’s words.

“Not fuckin’ possible,” Gilda whispered. “What did she look like?”

“Like you!” Sunset gestured to Gilda.

Gilda pounded the table in anger. “Not what I fuckin’ meant.”

“White hair, gold eyes, dark skin,” Sunset listed off. “What do you want from me? She was skinny, and she wore a black ballcap with a-”

“-white rose on it…” Gilda finished, her voice a whisper and her eyes wide and haunted.

Sunset started as Gilda finished her sentence. “Y-yeah… and a tattoo on her chin of-”

“-a smoking cigarette?” Gilda asked, and Sunset could almost hear her pleading for her to say no.

Sunset couldn’t lie to Gilda, though.

“Yeah…” Sunset replied softly. “Gilda? Who is she?”

Gilda didn’t answer, she just stood before carefully pulling her wallet from her pocket and tossing a few bills on the table for the waiter before walking in a daze towards the exit.

Staring down at her hand, Gilda picked at the glass shards idly, gathering them in her hand as she made her way towards the exit. Sunset glanced around worriedly before reaching down and wrenching the brake off and turning to pursue Gilda as best she could but her progress was slow as she maneuvered around the tables and worried-looking wait staff.

“Miss, are you alright?”

Sunset turned to look at the genuinely concerned features of the Maître D' who was walking towards her. He waved a hand, clearing the wait staff from her path with the simple motion.

“I… I don’t know,” Sunset answered tearfully.

Author's Note

Wow, what a ride up til this point, huh? So as far as I know, no one guessed Pawnee's true identity, although I'm a little surprised because I'd actually been worrying that I was being too overt about it.

My girlfriend who prereads for me informed me this was not the case. That not even she guess it, so who knows?

For those of you who might feel it's contrived, all I can do is beg your patience; just like with Sunset and the Portal I promise that all will be revealed in time. Trust me that there is a very good reason for Pawnee's identity and why she is doing what she's doing. For those who might be disappointed about Pawnee's identity, I'd like to note that I dug deep for this. Her character is actually a scrapped design that never made it into the show, Lauren Faust even went so far as to do concept art of her, which led to me finding a piece of fanart someone did and having this idea.

Anyway, hope you all enjoy this long chapter (even by my standards this one was kind of a monster.)

14. Not Broken Just Bent

~Canterlot City, January 9th, Evening~

“Gilda?!” Sunset called as she emerged from Gustave’s, rolling between the square masonry pillars that flanked the entrance. “Gilda where-?”

“I’m here, Sunshine,” Gilda’s voice came from lower to the ground from the other side of the leftmost pillar.

Feeling the panic that had been welling up in her chest fall lower, Sunset turned and wheeled herself around to see a miserable-looking Gilda staring down at the pavement, a cigarette sticking out from between her lips as she stared down at her bleeding hand.

Whatever words were in Sunset’s mind before she saw Gilda vanished as she examined the harrowed look on her girlfriend’s face.

“Sorry I got worked up in there,” Gilda said, her voice almost toneless in a manner that left chills down Sunset’s spine.

Swallowing thickly, Sunset held her hands out. “Gilda… let me see your hand.”

Gilda flinched but curled her hand in closer to her. Sunset didn’t know why that was what finally snapped her own temper off, but the fear all vanished in a sudden flood of fire.

“Tch, fine!” Sunset snapped.

Moving forward until her wheels were nearly touching Gilda’s legs, she slapped the brake on her wheel down hard, drawing a confused look from Gilda.

“What’re you- HEY!” Gilda squawked in shock as Sunset lifted herself bodily from her wheelchair and all but threw herself at Gilda. “Sunshine!”

Lunging forward, Gilda grabbed Sunset out of the air, her cigarette falling from her lips as she staggered to her feet. Sunset’s arms went around her neck but instead of the normally soft look on her face Gilda looked down to see two flinty shards of blue ice staring up at her.

“Sit down,” Sunset commanded, and Gilda just nodded, swallowing hard as she obeyed, settling Sunset into her lap. “Good, now give me your hand, Gil,” Sunset said, as she reached to the small undercarriage section of her wheelchair to draw out a simple first aid kit.

Gilda pulled her bloodied hand up and set it in Sunset’s lap. Sunset, for her part was muttering angrily to herself as she pulled out gauze, antibiotic spray, smaller bandages, and a butterfly clip.

“You won’t bring your hand to Sunset,” Sunset grumbled as she carefully cleaned the cuts on Gilda’s hand, “gotta bring Sunset to your hand…”

Flinching as the antibiotic spray burned at the small cuts, Gilda silently watched as Sunset worked; carefully bandaging her fingers where they had received shallow cuts, and carefully tying up the slightly deeper gash on her palm. Neither spoke, Sunset simply worked with gentle touches until she finally clipped the gauze secure.

“There,” Sunset said quietly. “We need to keep an eye on that bigger cut though… I don’t think it needs stitches but it was deeper than the others.”

“Yeah… probably a good idea,” Gilda said in a soft voice as she lowered her hand.

An uneasy silence stretched between the two girls, putting a distance between them belied by their physical closeness and for the first time in perhaps their entire relationship Sunset felt apart from Gilda. Taking a calming breath, Sunset leaned in and settled her head on Gilda’s shoulder.

“I told you I wouldn’t press,” Sunset whispered quietly. “I promised I would let you tell me in your own time about everything that happened…” Gilda gave no verbal response, but Sunset felt her nod ever-so-slightly. “I won’t break my promise.”

Gilda sighed, tightening her grip around Sunset gently and turning her head to nuzzle against Sunset’s cheek.

“Y’too good t’me, Sunshine,” Gilda said quietly.

“I don’t break promises, Gil,” Sunset repeated, still buried in her girlfriend’s embrace. “That’s why I’m not giving up on you either, just like… like you’re not giving up on me right? Not… not walking out on me?”

Gilda's grip tightened further and she clenched in her teeth in anger, although this time it was directed wholly at herself. She’d walked out on Sunset, not intentionally, but she’d done it. She’d gotten angry, lashed out, then abandoned Sunset at their table with barely a word.

“Never,” Gilda said, through clenched teeth. “I ain’t ever leavin’ you, Sunshine, not like that. I’m sorry… I’m just… a fuckin’ mess right now, okay?”

“Why?” Sunset’s voice had broken open into a harsh sob. “What did I do?”

“Y’didn’t do nothin’, babe,” Gilda replied pulling away to look down at Sunset’s teary eyes before bringing her hand up to wipe away the tears. “I swear it wasn’t you, savvy? It’s just… that girl… y’couldn’t’ve seen’er, not like that. It ain’t possible.”

“Why?” Sunset asked again, pleading for some kind of answer.

Gilda let out a slow, harsh breath. “Because she’s dead, Sunflower. That girl you described? I got’er killed four years ago ‘cause I trusted the wrong fuckin’ people, savvy? She’s supposed t’be dead.”

“I’m not lying, Gil,” Sunset insisted. “I know what I saw.”

“Yeah, I believe you,” Gilda replied in a hollow voice. “S’why I’m so fucked up right now, savvy? If she’s alive… then why… why did she…?”

“Then why did she let you think she wasn’t?” Sunset asked, more to herself than anything. “What… sorry… I’m sorry, I promised I wouldn’t ask.”

“Shouldn’t’ve had to promise,” Gilda replied, before leaning in and kissing Sunset gently. “I shoulda just come clean… I’m just… ashamed.”

“Do you want to go home?” Sunset asked. “Talk about it?”

Gilda shook her head, then raised it to look out over the horizon. “Nah, not home… ain’t gonna do this where we sleep, Sunshine… ‘Sides, there’s a better place to do it. One I shoulda been honest about… y’mind takin’ a long ride with me, Sunflower?”

Sunset smiled and nodded. “I’d go anywhere with you, Gil, you know that.”

“Yeah… guess I do,” Gilda said with a small smile.

Having apologised to the Maitre D’ and been assured that all was well, Gilda finished setting Sunset back up on the motorcycle and getting her road leathers on before lashing the wheelchair to the back. Starting the engine, Gilda turned to look back at Sunset, giving her an uneasy, almost apologetic smile, before turning onto the road and opening up the throttle.

The drive was long, as Gilda had promised it would be, they were driving for almost forty minutes before eventually leaving the city limits and getting onto a stretch of open highway heading south. The wind was cold and bitter, but Sunset could hardly complain. Sunset had wanted desperately to know the truth for so long now that she was willing to endure almost anything to get at it. Moreover, she needed to know what happened with Gilda, what happened in her past that left her the angry, violent, and yet paradoxically caring and dutiful young woman she was today.

After another twenty minutes of riding, Gilda turned them onto a small stretch of dirt road leading towards what looked like a cliff overlooking the ocean of greenery that made up the Everfree Forest. The forest spanned for hundreds of miles, and not even veteran foresters truly knew the whole of its depths. It was odd to think of a place that was considered ‘unexplored’ in this day and age but the Everfree forest was never fully mapped and, eventually, became so dark and inhospitable that at a certain point everyone just gave up and left the deepest and darkest regions mostly unplumbed.

Coming up near the cliff, Gilda stopped, dismounting and pulling Sunset’s wheelchair free of its straps and setting it up before scooping up Sunset in her arms and setting her down on the seat of the chair.

“Where are we?” Sunset asked, shivering as she pulled her riding leathers closer around her.

“Middle’a nowhere,” Gilda replied, looking out over the treetops before pointing to the edge of the cliff where the headlight of her motorcycle was illuminating. “That’s what were here for, though.”

Sunset strained her eyes, looking where Gilda was pointing and spying nothing but a rock sticking out of the ground.

“It’s too dark, what am I supposed to be looking for?” Sunset asked, raising an eyebrow.

Gilda just shook her head and got behind Sunset, pushing her chair forward slowly as she started talking.

“The girl y’saw… that’s Grizelda, Zee, I mean…” Gilda said finally. “I told ya she was my friend, but thing is… that wasn’t really true, savvy? I mean she was… my friend, I mean, but she was more than that.”

Sunset pushed away her wonder at how the girl whose death Gilda had been tormenting herself over for years was in fact alive and well, and just asked a simpler question.

“Girlfriend?”

Gilda coughed and hacked for a moment in shock, shaking her head with a bitter laugh. “Fuck no… she’da fuckin’ socked ya for that, too… nah, couldn’t ya tell by lookin’ at her?”

Gilda stopped Sunset in front of the rock and from this distance, Sunset could finally see what Gilda had been pointing at. There was writing on the stone, crudely scored into the rock with deep, once-ragged gouges worn smooth by the wind and elements.

Well, not exactly writing. Just a name, first and last.

Grizelda Grimfeather

“Your sister…?” Sunset whispered in shock.

“Yeah,” Gilda replied. “Orphaned along with me when mom and dad died… she was only five or six, I guess.”

“How come Rainbow never mentioned her?” Sunset asked.

“Don’t think she even knewI had a sister, honestly,” Gilda replied, stepping closer to the stone marker and kneeling down to run a hand over the face of it. “Don’t think I ever talked about’er since we were like, fuckin’ eight.”

“She was your friend, though,” Sunset insisted. “She had to’ve known!”

“Didja know Fluttershy has an older brother?” Gilda asked.

Sunset’s jaw dropped open at that. After a few moments of fishing for a response, Sunset finally just said. “W-what?”

“He’s a real loser, too,” Gilda said. “Name’s Zephyr, I think, and even back then I could tell he was fuckin’ worthless; sat around and complained, played video games, didn’t do nothin’ useful.”

“I… I didn’t know,” Sunset finally said, and Gilda shrugged.

“Not everyone’s all about family this, and family that, like Hoedown, savvy?” Gilda said.

“I guess that’s fair,” Sunset replied, leaning back in her chair and looking down at the makeshift gravestone. “So you just… had this secret sister all along?”

“Weren’t a secret,” Gilda said, “Pretty sure Fluttershy knew about Zee, her parents were vets and we had a couple cats, Shy and Zee were about as quiet as each other back then so I think Fluttershy looked after Zee a bit whenever we brought’em in for a checkup.”

“Fluttershy always was good with children…” Sunset said with a faint smile. “Now I guess I see why you never talked about Zee, though. She wasn’t just a friend, she was family and…”

“And I always thought I got’er killed,” Gilda hissed. “My baby sister, my only fuckin’ family left in the world, and she let me think that I got’er killed.”

Sunset let out a breath, finally seeing why Gilda had brought her out here. This was where she needed to be to tell the story.

“What happened in Las Pegasus, Gil?”

Gilda sighed. “It was bad… the last year or so it got real bad, dunno why but Pops changed somewhere along the way… he was always a cruel bastard, savvy? But… that last year something was, I dunno… different.”

The gang was called the Storm Kings, because it was run by, yeah… Storm… King… look, I’m not sayin’ he ain’t a narcissistic dick, because he is; I’m just sayin’. Maybe one day I’ll write a fuckin’ life story but not tonight, short of it is this: the foster system wanted to split Zee’n me up, and Storm offered to take us both in, so no one looked too hard at it.

Truth is, life wasn’t so bad… we weren’t rich but it wasn’t like we were eatin’ outta the bin, savvy? Toldja before, Pops always made sure we went t’school, made sure we got three squares a day, had a bed and a roof, and all that jazz, right? Taught us a lot of shady shit too, and that’s… that’s where things get pretty messed up.

It’s not your fault, Gil… you couldn’t have known what kind of man he was. He treated you like you wanted to be treated, he was responsible and-

I know… I… I know, Sunshine.

A-anyways, I didn’t realise it until pretty recently, but even from the start we were bein’ trained. I was strong, fast, and most importantly… angry. Pops? He knew how to harness that fuckin’ anger, savvy? He taught me to run, jump, and move through the city like I was on wings. The alleys and streets? The barrios? The projects? They were my playground. I could cross ten buildings in as many minutes; windows, balconies, bare walls… name it and I can cross it.

That… sounds kind of fun actually.

Shit, right… y’legs… sorry, Sunshine.

It’s okay, keep going.

Right, so… things were rough but I can’t complain too much ‘bout how I grew up. Other than, y’know, growin’ up with gang members for family, I guess. Even then… they’re good folks, just poor, savvy? Most’a us barely had enough to survive, stayin’ in the Kings was the only thing that kept some’a them above water. And they had kids, right? Families, too… back then I was just a brat who only cared about my sister and I, but even I saw folks struggle. They never had nice clothes, and sometimes they’d come by f’dinner ‘cause they didn’t have nothin’a their own, and Pops… Pops’d feed’em, no questions, he’d just sit’em right at the table like they was family…

People aren’t ever a hundred percent bad… that’s the worst part sometimes, when so much of them is bad but then they do something like that and…

Yeah, I always looked up to my Pops for that shit, y’know? He taught me that if someone comes t’ya door hungry, you feed’em. They’re cold? Give’m a shirt. Tired? Let’m sleep on the couch. He taught me that the only ones lookin’ out for us down in the gutters was each other, and no one else gave a shit, savvy? Pops? He was my fuckin’ hero, man… right up until he killed my sister.

...what happened?

A year before Tempest pulled’er mutiny, Pops got his hands on something. Never figured out what it was but… it changed him. Suddenly it’s like he went crazy, takin’ huge risks, hittin’ targets that weren’t worth nothin’. S’like he was lookin’ f’somethin’ but he wouldn’t tell anyone what. Everyone followed his lead though, everyone respected the shit outta him, y’know? All I know is that right before he lost his marbles, I made a delivery… see, I toldja I was a runner. That means I ran shit between depots and caches. Those depots were why we never ran outta food or supplies. Pops was like one’a those fuckin’ doomsday preppers or anti-government types with a garage full’a MRE’s. Except Pops actually did have to worry about the fuzz knockin’ down his door.

Right, because, y’know… ganglord.

Savvy. So Pops played it smart, he didn’t tell no one where every depot and cache was, in case someone flipped, right? Not even Tempest knew where all’a them were, and she was his top enforcer.

No one except…

Yeah… no one except me and Zee. I knew because I was his most trusted runner. There’s always one runner who has to know the whole map, savvy? And that was me. I could check up on every single depot in one night if I had to.

And Zee? Why did she know? Wasn’t she like… ten?

Uh, yeah… eleven I think when I did the delivery at that point but uh… look, Sunshine? Don’t take this the wrong way but… Zee? My little sis? She’d make you look stupid.

Beg pardon?

My sister, she was… different. Not just like, a genius, savvy? She was crazy smart, like… scary smart. Even as a kid. She was talking in full sentences when most kids are still stuttering, she was reading by four or five, by the time Pops took us in she knew two languages, she was like, six. By the time things went to shit years later she knew seven. She could program computers, hack wireless networks… Zee knew where the depots were because she wrote all the computer shit, the code, for the security systems. Zee scared a lotta folks, even though she was just a kid, right? But like any kid she liked playin’ games and was real upbeat. I could barely keep up with’er… Pops was her favorite though, he was crazy smart too… not like her, mind, but… smart enough. The two of’em, they’d sit down and play board games and shit for hours. It was Zee’s favorite thing in the world: playin’ games with her Pops.

Then he changed.

I made a delivery, dropped off this big heavy package, right? Dunno what it was, never asked, wasn’t supposed to know so I didn’t. Just a big metal case that I put in this titanium locker with an e-lock, right next to another one that looked just like it. Closed up the locker, and left… and then everything fuckin’ started fallin’ apart.

That next year… we lost folks… people died, Sunshine. It’s like all of a sudden Pops was on a warpath. He’d pick fights with other gangs over turf we didn’t even fuckin’ want. Then he’d just… drop it. He’d kidnap folks that seemed like, totally fuckin’ unrelated to anything and he’d… a-anyways. It was bad, bad enough that even Tempest stopped standing for it. She’n Summer, they rallied up the rest of the Kings and made a plan. They’d flip Pops to the fuzz, abandon the old King’s stomping ground, set up in some of the new turf Pops had let slide, and that’d be that.

So why did they need you?

Because I knew all the passcodes, all the fallbacks, and all the depots, savvy? They couldn’t risk him retreatin’ to some outta the way cache only he and I knew about. Tempest didn’t trust Zee, thought she was too young, too close t’Pops, and too smart for her own good. Thing is… I think Tempest f’got how smart Pops is, savvy? He cottoned t’their plan, I think… didn’t know details but figured somethin’ was up.

The night it all went down, Pops called me inta the den and said t’me… he said he’d sent Zee off somewhere t’keep her safe. Said he thought some folks in the gang were planning somethin’ bad. He told me to keep my eyes out, tell him if there was any weird shit. Said I had t’tell him ‘cause if I didn’t… if he didn’t know what was gonna happen? Then he wouldn’t be able to keep Zee safe for me. Then he took me and a couple of other loyal guns to one of his depots, one only me and him knew about, and set up.

Written’s Quill… he was… he was threatening you with your sister?

Yeah, and the funny thing? I think I’d been on the fence til right then, savvy? I wanted t’stay loyal t’Pops even though I knew he was doin’ bad stuff like gettin’ folks hurt f’no reason… but then he threatened Zee and that’s when I knew he was fuckin’ batshit. I told him I’d do what he said, then I left and ran over to Tempest and Summer’s place… I begged’em to save Zee. I didn’t know where Pops had taken her but I needed Tempest and Summer to promise me they’d save my baby sister. I promised I’d tell her where Pop’s last, biggest cache was if she could just save Zee.

They promised they’d save her… said they were sure they knew where he’d taken her. There was a place that Pops kept people we took, y’know? Tempest knew it ‘cause she guarded it. So I told’em where Pops was hiding. They came in fuckin’ force. Like, fifty bangers, all Kings who had lost folks ‘cause’a Pop’s goin’ crazy, and they barged in. Didn’t fire no shots, the ‘loyal’ guns gave up right there, they didn’t wanna die. Didn’t wanna shoot their friends either. Through it all, pops just sat in his easy chair in the middle of the room… smiling.

Before Tempest could say anything, before I could… he looked at me and shook his head like he was disappointed. Told me… told me he didn’t wanna have to do it, but he’d made a promise and not keepin’ his word? Well… that was just bad business.

Then he threw something at my feet. It was a medal… one’a our dad’s that Zee had always kept… pretty much the only thing’a her real dad’s she even had. It was bloody, and looked like it’d been ripped off’a somethin’.

He told Tempest, ‘good job’, and then asked’er if it was worth it. Can’t really remember what happened next. I was just sitting there, holding that bloody medal, staring at it and thinkin’... I fucked up. My little sister… my baby sister… she was dead.

And it was all my fault.

“Gil… it wasn’t your fault,” Sunset said softly, pulling her closer and letting Gilda lean her head against Sunset’s shoulder. “You tried to do the right thing… you were just a kid.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Gilda said quietly, her arms looped around Sunset and held onto her. “I was supposed to look out for her, for Zee… I was her big sister, she was my responsibility after our parents went, savvy?”

“No one that young should have that kind of responsibility…” Sunset replied, half to herself. “Guess now I know why you seem so mature for your age… y’know?”

“Heh, ‘mature’ ain’t a word that I ever expected to hear used on me,” Gilda said with a dry laugh as she stood up and turned back to the gravemarker. “Guess this ain’t really necessary anymore, huh? If she’s really alive…”

“I can only tell you what I saw, Gil,” Sunset said quietly. “I… I don’t even know if it was her, I just saw someone who looked like you and-”

“White rose,” Gida said, her voice low and even. “You saw a cap with a white rose on it, yeah?

“Y-yeah? What does that mean?” Sunset asked.

“Pops was from the Braytish isles, savvy? Old school and real proud’a his heritage,” Gilda explained. “Had that white rose on a lotta shit, y’know? Hats, shirts, a flask, even had a big banner in the den… couldn’t walk in the fuckin’ place without seein’ it, and every time he got in his cups he’d start gettin’ rowdy, yellin ‘White rose!, white rose!’ and shit, and then Zee’d start yellin’ it with him and they’d work each other up and… shit!.”

Gilda clenched her eyes shut as the memories flooded her mind. Memories of warm summer nights and family dinners, of her and Zee and her Pops… A pair of soft, gentle hands interrupted the flow of painful memories, though, as Sunset reached out and gently stroked Gilda’s cheek.

Taking a deep breath, Gilda knelt, leaned in, and kissed Sunset, letting the old painful memories be washed away by the familiar touch of her love, the scent of cherries and lilacs, and the bone-deep warmth that brought peace to the heart of the troubled young woman.

Pulling away reluctantly, Gilda leaned in and let her head rest gently against Sunset's chest, savoring the scent and the sound of her heartbeat.

“The tattoo, too,” Gilda said after a moment. “Pops smoked like a chimney, and I picked it up from him… Zee wanted to but Pops said she was too young, Zee said she’d do it anyway, and she would’ve so Pops made’r a deal. Said she could get a tattoo instead.”

“How old was she?” Sunset asked, slightly horrified.

“Heh… nine, but we had like, four tattoo parlors on our protection roll, so… yeah, didn’t fuckin’ matter,” Gilda replied with an arid laugh. “Got a tattoo of a cigarette so she could pretend she was smokin’ with us, I thought it was fuckin’ hilarious at the time.”

“So if it is her then…” Sunset finally said, looking past Gilda and over to the gravemarker. “What does that mean?”

“Means Pops had a plan,” Gilda said darkly, standing up and cracking her knuckles. “He fucked us all over, then lied, faked my sister’s death, and since then? Who fuckin’ knows what. Been locked up in San Tornado ever since we flipped him.”

“Does that mean…”

“Yeah,” Gilda sighed, pulling her phone out and glaring down at the contacts index. “Gimme a sec, savvy?”

Thumbing the call button, Gilda walked a few steps away from Sunset and brought the phone up to her ear. After a few rings the line connected and a bewildered voice came over the other side.

//Grifa?// Tempest’s voice came through sounding like she’d just woken up.

“Hey Tempest,” Gilda said. “I need’a favor.”

//Mierda… seriously? Uh, funny story, I need a favor from you, too… wasn’t sure how t’ask. The hell happened that got you callin’ me, Grifa?//

Sighing heavily, Gilda brought a hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose. “Look, I’ll explain later, just… I need to talk to him… to my Pops, whatever favor y’need… if you can make this happen I’ll do it, savvy?”

//The fuck? Seriously? Uh… funnier story then… that’s kinda the favor I need. Jefe wouldn’t talk to Summer, said he’d only talk to his ‘favorite daughter’.// Tempest replied, sounding confused. //C’mon, Grifa, gotta tell me why you wanna talk to that pinche coño after what he did.//

Gilda growled somewhere deep in her chest. “Fine, y’wanna know? Zee is alive, Temp, Pops lied t’us, faked her death… and she’s in Canterlot.”

The line was dead silent for almost a full minute before a haunted whisper came out of the speaker.

//No me jodas… Zee… she’s alive? How?!//

“That’s what I fuckin’ said, and I have no fuckin’ clue,” Gilda replied with a grimace. “I’m headin’ down to Las Pegasus tomorrow, savvy? I need you t’wire me some cash for gas and supplies’n shit, Crank’n Gear’ll give me the time off once I tell’em the sitch, I know it.”

//No hay bronca, Grifa… got a few birthdays and Christmases t’make up for anyway,// Tempest said grimly. //It’ll be in your account by morning.//

“Cool, and… Temp… give Summer my love, yeah?” Gilda said, her voice a little softer. “I’ll swing by’n see you guys, maybe.”

//Will do, Grifa… have a safe ride.//

“Yeah, see ya,” Gilda pulled the phone away and killed the connection.

“You know I’m coming with, right?” Sunset said in a quiet voice.

Gilda sighed, but nodded. “Yeah… yeah I know.”

Sunset rolled up beside Gilda and took her hand, gripping it tight and interlocking their fingers. “Would you rather I stayed?”

“Part’a me wants t’say ‘yeah’,” Gilda replied. “But the rest’a me knows I ain’t got it in me to look my Pops in the eye without you… ‘Sides… It’s a long ride… is it stupid that I don’t… I don’t wanna be away from ya that long?”

“I was thinking the same thing, Gil,” Sunset said with a warm smile. “We’re partners… we face the world together, remember? You and me.”

“Yeah… you’n me,” Gilda repeated. “Okay, let’s do it then… one last thing ‘fore we leave, though.”

Sunset looked on quizzically as Gilda walked over to the grave marker and starting digging at the dirt in front of the stone.after a few moments, Gilda stood with a small black wooden box in her hand. Walking back over to Sunset, Gilda pried the box open and pulled out a worn-looking medal and cradled it carefully in her hand.

“Zee’s gonna have a lotta explainin’ t’do when I catch up t’her, savvy?” Gilda said in a low voice.

“Yeah, agreed,” Sunset said, “now let’s go home… we’ve got a lot of packing to do.”

~Ponyville Commons, January 10th, Early Morning~

Gilda’s flat was an unusual bustle of activity for being five in the morning. Fortunately, the skies had remained clear save for a few light flurries, but nothing that stuck, and the roads were completely open. Gilda was moving around the flat quickly, her large, thick saddlebags set on the table and slowly being packed up. She had already left a message for her social worker that she was leaving town to visit friends in Las Pegasus, and another message for the Sonen sisters to just call her or Sunset but that neither of them would be in town for a week, or two at the outside.

For Sunset’s part, she was doing her daily exercises, hands set firmly on the ground and legs propped up on the bed as she did her push-ups.

“So where are we staying when we get to Las Pegasus,” Sunset asked, slightly short of breath from her exertions.

Gilda walked past tossing a couple necessities into one of the saddlebags. “Dunno yet, probably just a motel or somethin’ I guess. Dunno if anyone’s got a guest room, savvy? Poor as shit, remember?”

“Yeah… what about Tempest and Summer?” Sunset asked, bracing herself for the incoming outburst.

It never came, Gilda just slowed down slightly, looking thoughtful as she tucked some toiletries into another one of the bags.

“Yeah… maybe,” Gilda said finally.

Sunset’s eyes widened slightly in surprise. “Really? I… was kinda expecting you to blow up a little when I said that.”

Gilda frowned, wrapping her arms around herself as she sat down in one of the kitchen chairs. After a few moments of silence she looked over at Sunset, who felt her heart hitch at the pain that was etched onto Gilda’s face.

“Is that… am I really that bad?” Gilda asked quietly. “Like… so bad y’think I’d just… pop and yell at ya?”

Sunset paused in her pushups for a moment before sighing and levering herself back up onto the bed and stretching her sore arms for a moment as she considered her answer carefully.

“A little?” Sunset finally said, looking down at her hands as she fidgeted with her fingers. “You’ve done it before… y’know? I’ll say something or… do something, and you’ll lose your temper. You… usually catch yourself, either before or after, and you always apologise but… yeah.”

“Guess I’m more like Pops than I thought, huh?” Gilda said in a hollow voice. “He had a wicked bad temper too… never hit us, or even take a swing or nothin’ but… he’d yell, a lot sometimes.”

“He raised you,” Sunset said, looking up at Gilda with sympathy in her eyes as she held out a hand for her girlfriend. “Even if we don’t want to we can’t help but learn how our parents deal with other people.”

Gilda reached out and settled her hand in Sunset’s taking a little comfort from the touch. “Guess that’s true, huh? Wish I hadn’t picked up his ‘yell til they shut up’ tactic, though.”

“Yeah, me too, but… it’s not the worst,” Sunset said glumly as she gripped Gilda’s hand. “Even though my mom is… is great and all, I learned a lot about manipulating people by watching her in court. Tartarus, she’d even manipulate me, not on purpose I don’t think… and not to be mean just… it was a habit I think. She comes at everything sideways because, at the end of the day, she’s a politician.”

“Our parents really fucked us up, huh, Sunshine?” Gilda said with a dry laugh.

“Eh, I like to think we’re responsible for a lot of our own fuckups, babe,” Sunset replied, laughing along with Gilda before pulling her hand back and taking a grip on the handle by the bed to swing onto her chair. “You get the good and the bad of whoever raised you, savvy? Can’t have just one… sucks right?”

“Just right,” Gilda replied, stretching out her own stiff limbs and coaxing the bloodflow back into them. She hated getting up early. “But… I’m gonna get better, savvy?”

“Huh?” Sunset looked up at Gilda in confusion as Gilda got her feet and walked over to kneel by Sunset’s chair.

“Better, y’know?” Gilda repeated. “My temper, my anger… I’m gonna get better ‘bout it… you deserve the best, Sunshine, and I’m gonna make sure you and… and…” Gilda choked a little trying to say the words she was looking for but her tongue ended up in a what felt like a pretzel.

“And?” Sunset asked, reaching out and stroking Gilda’s cheek.

“And… and any kids we have…” Gilda said, finally biting the bullet, causing Sunset’s eyes to widen in shock. “I’m gonna make sure none’a you ever gotta be afraid’a me like I was with my Pops sometimes…”

For a time, Sunset just goldfished, staring at Gilda like she’d grown a second head before finally stammering out; “k-k-kids?!”

Gilda blushed furiously but didn’t look away.

“Y-yeah… I mean,” Gilda swallowed heavy, but took Sunset’s hand in hers. “I… I get if ya don’t want kids or nothin’ but… I dunno, I like kids… always kinda wanted one’r two, y’know? Maybe adopt? Lotsa kids like you’n me out there, savvy?”

“Maybe we put this conversation on the backburner for now, okay?” Sunset said, a little nervously. “It’s… it’s not that I’m opposed or anything just…”

Gilda reached up and ran the tips of her fingers along Sunset’s cheek, tracing her thumb over her lips, all while smiling warmly up at the girl who had so quickly become her whole life.

“No rush, Sunshine,” Gilda replied in a soft voice. “Just a random passin’ thought, y’know? One way or another, you’n me are gonna be together forever.”

Sunset let out a deep breath and nodded, leaning into the gentle touch of Gilda’s fingers. Time and time again, Sunset was silently amazed at how gentle Gilda really was at her heart. Her broad shoulders, sharp features, and bellicose attitude all spoke of someone who was more brute than belle, but Gilda… Gilda was so tender when she was with Sunset. There was a kind of careful grace to every one of Gilda’s movements that made Sunset feel so… safe.

Nodding, Sunset smiled widely before leaning in to kiss Gilda, tangling her hands in Gilda’s hair like she loved to do.

“I love you, Gilda Grimfeather,” Sunset said softly as she pulled away, staring up into Gilda’s gorgeous golden eyes.

“Love you too, Sunshine,” Gilda replied, kissing her nose playfully. “Always.”

Sunset nuzzled against Gilda’s cheek, pecking a kiss on it before leaning back to roll past her to the bathroom to take a shower before they left.

“So why the sudden thought about kids?” Sunset called as she started the water running and rustled about, positioning herself for her swing into the shower.

Gilda started arranging things into the saddlebags for both space and easy access as she considered the answer to Sunset’s question. She’d always sort of wanted kids, if she was being honest, but what brought it out into the open?

“Guess just… all this shit that’s happenin’, y’know?” Gilda replied. “Visiting my parents graves… thinkin’ about how I was raised, how Zee was raised… about how messed up this world really is for kids, savvy? Someone’s gotta step up.”

“Huh,” Sunset replied, smiling slightly and chuckling. “So basically you’re feeling ‘paternal’, I think is how it goes.”

“Not ‘maternal’?” Gilda replied with a laugh.

“Nah, you’re a ‘dad’ if I ever saw one,” Sunset said as she swung into the shower, sputtering as the water got into her eyes and mouth. After clearing them out, she started scrubbing. “I mean… I know the whole ‘both of us are ladies’ thing kinda makes the mom and dad dynamic moot but… I dunno, a lady can feel paternal right? Nothing wrong with that.”

“Guess not,” Gilda replied. “Well, we’ll figure our shit out, right Sunflower? Got all the time in the world.”

“Heh, yeah we will…” Sunset replied, half to herself.

By the time Sunset was out and getting dressed, putting on a few layers to protect from the bitter cold and sorely missing her nice warm coat of fur, Gilda had finished packing the bags and gone out to start the cycle and bring it up to the door. Sunset rolled over to the bed and pulled out the photo album that she’d set to the side and set it on her lap.

Dozens of thoughts were scrabbling for purchase in Sunset’s mind, but foremost was… longing. For however bad her ex-friends had hurt her… she missed them terribly. The only real sticking point, if she was honest, was…

Sunset traced a finger over the stylized lightning bolt.

Rainbow Dash… “Why do you have to be so goddamn stupid, RD?” Sunset whispered softly. “Why do you have to keep fucking up?”

A part of Sunset, a large part if she was being honest, wanted to make up with them. With her old friends. To try again, maybe from a different angle this time, one where they were equals, not five friends and a charity case, but every time she had the thought an image burnt itself into her brain and refused to leave for a long while.

An image of Rainbow Dash kissing Gilda.

Even now, thinking about it from a distance, Sunset felt a searing anger building in her chest. A fire that refused to go out. If that was enough to put her in the mood to set something ablaze… what would happen when she inevitably came face to face with Rainbow herself?

Thoughts of her flare in Nurse Manners’ office came unbidden, and Sunset pushed them down.

“Enough is enough,” Sunset whispered to herself as she pulled out her phone.

Slowly, Sunset typed out a message to a new group chat.it took her the better part of ten minutes despite not being very long. After a tenth read-through, Sunset heard the tell-tale rumble of Gilda’s motorcycle outside. Taking a deep breath, Sunset hit ‘Send’.

//To: Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, & Fluttershy//

//Hey girls… I opened the present finally… and I do want to talk, it won’t be for a while though. Gilda and I are going out of town for a week or two, she has some business to take care of in Las Pegasus. When we get back though, yeah… maybe we can get coffee.

That said… you’ve probably noticed there’s a name missing from this chat. I figure you probably know why that is. I don’t want to see her after what she pulled with Gilda… not for a while. If that’s not doable then… I dunno, I guess we’ll see. Sorry if this feels like an ultimatum, or like I’m making you choose, I really don’t mean to be like that, but… I just don’t feel like I can control myself around her right now, and that wouldn’t be good for anyone.

Ugh… I promised myself I wouldn’t say this because I didn’t want to get your hopes up, this whole thing is a mess, but I’m going to anyway…

I miss you girls.

Gonna be on the road for a while, so I probably won’t see any responses for a bit… talk to you all later.//

“Ready to go, babe?” Gilda asked as she stepped in, resplendent in black leather. “Bike’s all warmed up.”

Sunset turned, tucking her phone away and carefully setting the album on the bed by the pillow.

“Yeah… I’m ready,” Sunset said.

“Time to go talk to my shit-head gang boss foster dad in prison then, I guess…” Gilda said with a grimace.

Sunset took Gilda’s hand, giving it a firm squeeze, as she smiled up at her. “How about, ‘time to take our first road trip as girlfriends’ instead?”

Gilda blushed but grinned widely. “Hadn’t thought’a it like that, but… yeah, that kinda makes it sound better.”

“Cool,” Sunset said, following Gilda out of the apartment and turning to lock it behind them. “Let’s hit the road, babe.”

~Whitetail Neighborhood, January 10th, Morning~

Whitetail was, in a word, suburbia. A sprawling pastel neighborhood of green grass, white fences, and houses that almost looked the same but weren’t quite identical. Anyone who had enough money to get out of the Commons lived in Whitetail, whereas anyone who had enough money to get out of Whitetail generally either moved to Manehattan or lived in the Heights.

After their first date at the mall went so well, Zee had invited Twilight over to start work on their little joint project in person for the first time. That was when Twilight discovered that Zee lived in Whitetail. When Twilight had asked if she was staying with family or friends Zee had just laughed and told her no, she’d just bought a damn house.

Twilight’s eyes had widened at that.

She couldn’t deny that something about Zee made Twilight a little uneasy. She was far too comfortable with violence and had a disturbingly laissez-faire attitude towards bending the law. In fact, almost everything about Zee, from her tattoos to her personality quirks (a term that even Twilight thought was generously avoiding the word ‘flaw’) seemed to suggest to Twilight that Zee was precisely the type of person that she would normally avoid.

And yet…

Twilight found herself standing in front of a small, one story home, its walls painted a kind of stormy green-grey, and knocking on the door at just past nine in the morning. She had told her parents the truth; that she and Zee had been working on a long term project for the past few weeks and now that she was in town they both wanted to put their heads together. Her mother and father had been positively thrilled to hear Twilight had found a kindred spirit and quickly agreed.

Twilight had not told them about the incident with the Crystal Prep girls, however.

“I’m not lying…” Twilight mumbled to herself as she stood in front of the door, rocking back and forth nervously on her heels. “Mom and dad didn’t know they were bullying me, and they don’t need to know this either… besides… Zee was just protecting me.”

There was no answer for a good four minutes, and Twilight started to become concerned. Feeling a slight surge of panic, Twilight knocked harder and louder on the door, before calling out for Zee.

A loud crash and a vicious string of mostly unintelligible swearing suddenly spilled out from somewhere in the house, and Twilight stepped back from the door in surprise. A moment later the door opened to reveal a disheveled Zee, her hair hanging haphazardly over her face.

“T’fuck are you doin’ even awake at this ungodly fuckin’ hour, pet?” Zee asked as she stared blearily at Twilight.

For her part, Twilight was on the fence between mortification and hyperventilation. Zee, as it happened, apparently slept in the nude, and had not bothered to address that fact before opening the door. Twilight’s face turned a brilliant scarlet as she stammered and verbally grappled for some kind of response before whirling around, completely unable to focus while looking at Zee.

“S-S-Sorry, Zee!” Twilight stammered, closing her eyes and desperately trying to banish the image of Zee’s incredibly naked body from her brain and failing miserably. “U-uhm, I can go and come back later if you want!”

“Huh?” Zee looked down at herself and scoffed. “Arh, reyt, sorry ‘bout that, pet… didn’t mean t’flash th’goods like that, c’mon in.”

Zee turned and walked back into the house, and Twilight gave her a good five count before turning back around to follow, mostly because she didn’t trust herself to do anything but stare at Zee’s rear end if she was still there when Twilight turned.

Fortunately, (or unfortunately, Twilight’s brain suggested) she wasn’t, and Twilight stepped into a small empty hall that extended into a small and rather uniquely furnished living room. In lieu of the normal accoutrement of a den; couch, easy chairs, and television set, there was a massive electronics setup consisting of multiple computer rigs wired together. There was a couch pressed to the far wall but it was little more than a mess of blankets and pillows scattered around and over it like a downy explosion. Boxes were strewn haphazardly around the house, mostly still sealed with packing tape, and were marked with numbers in black marker. Twilight assumed the numbers must correspond to some kind of organizational system that Zee had.

“Giz uz a tick, our lass,” Zee called from somewhere in the house. “Kitchen’s set up so start us a brew, savvy?”

“Oh, s-sure!” Twilight called out in reply, before poking around a few corners, spotting the kitchen quickly.

It was small and a little cramped, clearly not designed for more than one or two people to be in at a time. There was a larger dining area past it but that section of the house had apparently been given over entirely to storing more boxes. A steel kettle was sitting on one of the back-burners of the stove, it sloshed slightly as Twilight picked it up.

“Okay, Twi, you can do this,” Twilight muttered, walking over to the sink, dumping it out and refilling it with fresh water from the tap. “It’s just tea, right? How hard can it be to make tea?”

Fortunately she didn’t have to find out since the water had only just finished boiling as Zee walked out from down the hallway to the left of the entrance and into the kitchen. Twilight felt her face redden again as she realised Zee had opted to be wearing nothing more than a pair of boxers and loose tanktop, although her hair was once more combed into a tidy sidecut, the shoulder-length white locks back to half-covering the left side of her face.

It was then that Twilight really registered what Zee looked like without all her layers. Her arms were sleeved with intricate linework tattoos starting at just below her wrists and stretching up her arms to her chest, back, and shoulders. If Twilight were to describe them in a single word she realised, albeit grudgingly, that she would probably have to use the word: ‘arcane’. All along her arms were curving circles and geometric symbols that referenced topics like hermetic alchemy and obscure occultism. Some of the symbols were vaguely unsettling to even look at for too long.

“See anythin’ y’like, pet?” Zee asked with a shameless smirk, and Twilight flushed as she realised she’d been caught staring, though not for the reason Zee was suggesting. “I’d say take’a picture but f’you I think I’d lose the top first.”

Twilight’s tongue tied itself in a knot for a moment at the thought of what Zee was offering. Her cheeks burned with an almost physical fire until she finally shook her head free of the images that were decidedly derailing her train of thought.

“Zee it’s freezing, how are you wearing that?” Twilight asked, once she regained her voice and sitting on a stool by the kitchen counter.

“S’not that cold, pet,” Zee replied, pouring the water into a pair of mugs, each with a small apparatus over it. “S’nothin’ like livin’ near the Channel come winter, savvy?”

“Is it really that cold up there?” Twilight asked, smiling slightly as Zee set one of the mugs in front of her.

“Let it steep, our lass,” Zee said, leaning against the counter across from Twilight. “An’ yeah, s’damn cold is what it is… some years half the channel’d freeze, snow’d fall so’s it’d cover all the cars and block off all the roads, too, savvy?”

“Wow… I can barely even imagine that…” Twilight admitted. “I mean, I guess I know intellectually what kind of snowfall areas that are further north get but… it’s one of those things, y’know?”

“Arh cocka, s’not that big’a deal, pet,” Zee said, pulling the apparatus from both of heir mugs and tossing them into the sink a few feet away. “Cream? Sugar?”

“Uhm, both please…” Twilight said with a laugh, and Zee chuckled.

“Can’t say I’m surprised, pet,” Zee said, smiling and setting a small bowl with sugar and a tiny ceramic pitcher full of rich cream. “Figured ya for a posh sort, I like me tea proper black, color’a me soul, pet.”

“Oh c’mon, you’re not that bad,” Twilight said, grinning. “You protected me back at the mall, in fact, you’re really sweet to me in general, actually.”

“Aye, an’ trust me tha’s th’exception, not the rule, oreyt?” Zee replied, blowing lightly over her tea before taking a sip. “You’re a bit’uv a riddle… s’like y’just slipped past everythin’ and now you’re all I can think about.”

Twilight stared at Zee wordless for a moment, stunned into silence at the baldfaced admission. Finally, Twilight just gave a pained smile that was half grimace as she took a sip of her own tea, choking slightly at the sudden bitter taste as she realised she’d forgotten to add the cream and sugar.

Swallowing the sip, Twilight looked up a little sorrowfully. “I wish I were like you, Zee…”

Zee scoffed. “Th’fuck you’d ever want somethin’ like that, our lass? Look at me, I’m inked t’fuck n’back, and don’t tell me y’think I do everythin’, or anythin’ really, above board, yeah? Those computers ain’t f’runnin’ the latest games on Ultra, and that black hat ain’t f’looks, savvy?”

Twilight stared down into the darkly swirling brew as Zee laid out her cards. A part of her knew exactly what Zee was saying but the rest of her was violently denying it.

“S-so what?” Twilight asked with an almost painfully nervous chuckle. “S-security stuff? Cybersecurity? That kinda thing?”

The easy smile faded from Zee’s face as she took a long sip from her tea, draining her mug before setting it to the side and grabbing the pack of cigarettes from the counter and pulling out a metal lighter with it. Shaking one free, Zee pulled a pale tube from the package and lit it.

Taking a long draw, Zee breathed out a plume of grey smoke. “I’ve lied t’lots of folks, pet… and I mean lots. But… I just can’t fuckin’ lie t’you.”

“Why not?” Twilight asked softly. Twilight couldn’t say it, didn’t want to say it. How could she just ask: Why can’t you just lie to me. Why can’t you make this easy?

“Can’t rightly say, our lass…” Zee replied. “Don’t think I ain’t thought about it neither… end’a th’day, though, decided I couldn’t do it, didn’t wanna do it, and I’ve never been much good at doin’ things I don’t wanna do, savvy?” Zee shook a bit of ash into the ashtray on the counter. “Ain’t gonna sugarcoat it, our lass, I’ve stolen more money than even your precious parents’d make in a year, savvy? Black hat t’the end.”

Twilight nodded, glancing at the sugar and cream before turning away and taking a sip of the plain, black tea and grimacing at the bitterness again.

“You’re… joking, right?” Twilight asked, her voice incredibly quiet. Zee didn’t respond which was almost worse than anything else. “You’re… you’re not? You’re a c-criminal?”

Zee nodded. “Arh cocka, helluva hacker, black hat all th’way, like I said.” Taking another drag, she gave Twilight a dry grin. “Once shaved a fiver off every fuckin’ account in the Bank of Brayton. Split’n bounced the cash flow through almost a thousand different dummy accounts across the world that deleted themselves after a preset time before dumping a third of the takings into four hundred random accounts around the world… some lucky bumfucks got the biggest payday’a their lives and I got the rest.” Zee laughed, spitting into the sink as she grinned. “Some ‘ackers try’n cover their tracks. I threw a fuckin’ banger on top of the trail.”

Twilight felt her heart clench as Zee casually admitted to one of the biggest cybercrimes in the last ten years. She’d heard of the ‘heist’, of course; it had supposedly been the work of a crime syndicate with some media outlets and intelligence agencies suggesting involvement by a foreign government seeking to test strategies for destabilizing Brayton’s economy. Overall the loss hadn’t been large, but it had been, in the short vernacular, humiliating.

“Was raised in a gang, too,” Zee continued, and Twilight felt ice sluice through her veins. “The Storm Kings, outta Las Pegasus… wrote their security software when I was nine, upgraded it when I was ten. Taught me how’ta run, how’ta avoid th’fuzz, finer points of runnin’ a criminal business.”

“Why are you telling me all this?” Twilight asked, her voice a shadow of a plea. As if she were begging Zee to take it all back, “Why are you telling me you’re… you’re a…”

“Think it’s ‘cause I love you, Lab, really fuckin’ do…” Zee said softly, using Twilight’s private chat name and staring past her cigarette at Twilight, the burning ember smoldering between them. “And s’like me Pops allus said; can’t start love on a lie, savvy?”

“What if I turn you in?” Twilight said, her heart pounding. She felt like a stone had been brutally shoved into her ribcage right between her lungs. “What if I betray you?”

Zee shrugged, but Twilight could see a flash of pain, despair almost, behind her eyes. “Guess it’d break m’heart, savvy? But… rather that than makin’ ya fall in love wif a lie, oreyt?” Zee replied with an nervous crack in her voice as she tried, and failed to smile at Twilight. “Just… promise you’ll giz uz a last kiss before y’do it, our lass.”

Twilight stared across the counter at Zee and for a moment she saw something other than the wild, ever-smirking, and perpetually flirtatious vixen she’d met at the mall. There was none of the confidence, none of the surety Twilight had grown used to hearing in the lilt of Zee’s voice and seeing in the set of her shoulders. In the two years she’d known Zee, even just as Pawnee, she had always had a plan. A strategy for optimising a course of action. A way of ensuring the result she wanted with ninety-nine point nine percent odds of success.

It only took Twilight a second to understand why.

Maybe for the first time since Twilight had met her, she realised that Zee didn’t know what was going to happen. She didn’t have a plan, she wasn’t strategising. She was laying her heart out, handing Twilight a knife, and just… waiting.

“I really do wish I was like you,” Twilight said, repeating her notion from a few moments ago as she stared down at her darkened reflection in the cooling tea.

Zee stared unsteadily at Twilight, taking a drag from her cigarette and before taking the tube from her lips and clutching it between shaking fingers. Licking her lips and breathing hard, Zee put out the cigarette on the ashtray. Dropping her eyes down to the tile floor, Zee swallowed hard and wrapped her arms around herself.

“W-why?” Zee had to bite her tongue to get the words out, she hated how small her voice sounded.

Twilight shrugged. “Because you’re brave, you’re… crazy… but you’re brave.”

“Heh… yeah,” Zee said grimacing slightly. “Mad as a hatta’, like they say.”

Taking a deep breath, and then coughing and hacking a bit as she inhaled cigarette smoke, Twilight got up from her stool and walked around to stand in front of Zee.

Do it… Twilight thought furiously to herself. Zee just ripped her heart out for you, don’t lose your spine now, just DO IT.

Twilight reached up with one hand and swept her hands into Zee’s lopsided white hair, tangling her fingers into the soft, delicate strands. Steeling herself, Twilight raised her gaze to meet Zee’s eyes. Those brilliant, brazen eyes that Twilight had imagined were flint and firebrand gold were softer now. There was something warm behind them that drew out a small smile from Twilight.

Zee was breathing hard, she was… scared. Terrified really, and she hated it. A part of her was choking, it was like she was dying. Her fingers were tingling and shaking as she tried to keep the panic at bay. A tremor ran through her body as Twilight looked up at her with those stupid beautiful eyes, violet… they were violet and she loved them.

“I… I think I love you, too, Zee,” Twilight said, her voice slightly choked. “But… I want you to stop doing this… hacking, black hat work, all of this… if you and me are… are gonna be an ‘us’, then… you have to stop.”

Turning sharply on her heel, away from Twilight, Zee reached out and snatched up a leather wrapped flask and took a long swig, gritting her teeth as she felt her throat burn.

Zee swallowed, tears forming at the edges of her eyes. “I… I’d do it, y’know? F’you, our lass? I’d give it all up, I swear. But I can’t do it… not yet, I got a last promise I need t’keep.” Slamming the flask down, Zee turned to see the heart-wrenching look on Twilight’s face. “Swore I’d finish it, savvy? But… after? Yeah… I’ll give it up, if you’ll wait, but I… figure y’don’t wanna wait on a fuckin’ reprobate.”

“And what happens if it goes south, huh?” Twilight asked, not willing to abandon the firm ground her courage had finally found to stand on. “What happens if you get caught? I’m not stupid, Zee, you know that. Those gauntlets have something to do with your plan, and it’s got something to do with being here. You’re taking a huge risk, aren’t you?”

Grimacing, Zee nodded silently.

“And then what?” Twilight demanded, her voice rising and cracking slightly. “And then you’re in jail! That’s what! Then my girlfriend’s in jail and I’m left wondering if you’ll ever come out! And if you do, what even will you be like?!”

“Yeah… guess… guess it was stupid, huh?” Zee said, hands curling into fists at her sides as she clenched her eyes shut against the oncoming tears, before gesturing towards the den. “S-suppose y’wanna go, then, y’know the fuckin’ door, pet.”

“Can’t you just stop?!” Twilight pressed. “What kind of promise is it that you’re risking going to jail for basically ever?”

“It’s to me Pops!” Zee snarled, shouting as she advanced on Twilight who started backing away. “You wanna know, our lass? It’s ‘cause me Pops got the fuckin’ shaft from people who‘e called family, people he raised, folks he fuckin’ looked after f’years, who put’im in prison f’life, an’ I ain’t gonna let my fuckin’ dad ROT IN A CELL FOR THE REST’A HIS LIFE, SAVVY?!”

Twilight had fallen to the ground, shaking as Zee stood over her, breathing hard, red in the face. A face that was twisted into an ugly snarl of rage. A moment later the storm over her features passed and Zee let the flask she’d had a deathgrip on clatter to the ground, sloshing slightly inside the metal well.

Slowly, Zee dropped to her knees as tears started to stream down her cheeks and she stared at the floor.

“M’sorry…” Zee said in a choked voice. “Shouldn’ta yelled… didn’t mean t’scare ya like tha’...” she sniffled, wrapping her arms around herself. “Y’should go… I never should’a come’ere, m’sorry I ruined everythin’... I allus do.”

Twilight scrambled to her feet, her breath coming in short, rapid spikes as she sidled around the crying girl on the floor and started making her way towards the far end of the kitchen. She barely made it more than a few feet before a wracking sob came from behind her, throwing a sharp lance of pain into her heart. Twilight’s head was at war with itself, and with her heart.

She’s doing it for her father.

She’s committing a crime!

For her father.

She’s a criminal!

And if it was your father?

Twilight stopped at the threshold of the kitchen as that thought speared straight through her mind and nailed up against her heart. Thoughts about her own father invaded Twilight’s mind; his smile, his advice, all of the times he would indulge her little eccentricities, how she was always the calming influence, the level head between her and her mother, and, above all, his unconditional love.

What would I do if it were my father?

“I’d do anything,” Twilight whispered to herself so softly that no one else heard her.

Turning to look behind her, Twilight felt her heart wrench as she saw Zee kneeling on the ground, arms still wrapped around herself, head hung down and hair askew, as she shook with quiet sobs. Her cries were bitter and hard, as if there was a vice around her throat trying to keep them in.

Twilight felt something snap inside of her, whether it was something breaking or something snapping into place she wasn’t sure, but she felt it. She felt the decision being made.

The tiles had never felt so cold to Zee as she knelt on them, her whole body burning with a combination of rage, shame, and grief. Twilight had done exactly what all of Zee’s nightmares had told her she would do. Zee had bared her ugly, broken soul, and Twilight had rejected it. Just like everyone else always did. Just like her sister had when she’d left her to-

The scent of lavender filled the air around Zee suddenly, and she felt warm hands on her cheeks, wiping away her tears and cradling her face. Looking up, Zee’s gaze was met with a pair of lovely violet eyes staring at her above a small shy, but comforting, smile.

“Am I dreamin’?” Zee asked softly. “You really ‘ere, our lass?”

“Yeah,” Twilight replied with a small laugh, “want proof?”

Before Zee could ask what Twilight meant, the shy, nerdy girl leaned in and pressed her lips to Zee’s.

Letting out a choked, happy sob, Zee lunged in, wrapping her arms around Twilight and pulling her close, kissing back with hard, fiery passion. Separating only to laugh, and gasp, and cry a little more as she kissed Twilight’s cheeks, lips, neck, forehead, and anywhere the giggling girl would let her reach.

A few minutes later, they were sprawled on the tile floor, Twilight wrapped up in Zee’s arms who seemed dead-set on never letting her go.

“So… you’ll wait f’me, then, pet?” Zee asked softly. “Til I get this business with me Pops all sorted?”

“No, I won’t,” Twilight said firmly.

Zee felt a stab of ice in her heart at Twilight’s words. “W-what? B-but y’just… y’said…”

“I’ve been crushing on you for more than a year, Zee” Twilight said after a moment, her eyes almost burning. “I’ve had all kinds of fantasies about what you’d be like when we met and somehow, when we finally did meet, it turns out you’re more incredible than I imagined. Genius or not, I’m pretty sure I’m idiot-levels of in love with you at this point. So no, I’m not going to wait, Zee, I’m going to help you.”

Silence stretched between them as Zee stared at Twilight in shock.

“Tha’s fuckin’ bonkers, our lass,” Zee mumbled. “Fuckin’ mad.”

“Maybe I went mad for you,” Twilight said with a slightly cocky smile. “Maybe I’m tired of being scared all the time, Maybe I’m sick of being the coward who gets picked on all the time.” Twilight grimaced, remembering the years of abuse Sunny Flare and her ‘friends’ had levied on her. “So I’m not running away this time, I’m not going to do the ‘smart’ thing. I’m gonna be stupid for once and just… love you, okay?”

“Lovin’ me is stupid, huh?” Zee said with a small laugh.

“Fucking barmy,” Twilight answered playfully, smiling up at Zee.

Zee laughed, a light, airy little sound, as she buried her face in Twilight’s hair. “You really don’t go halfsies, do ye, pet? We’re gonna be breakin’ a lot of laws, savvy? This could… it could ruin y’life.”

Twilight curled in to Zee’s arms, tightening her grip as she did. “Do you know what would really ruin my life, Zee? Losing the one person I’ve ever made friends with in that entire life.” Twilight looked up at Zee with a light in her eyes that made Zee’s breath catch in her throat. “Losing the one person that I actually relate to, who I can talk to about anything, and who knows all my little secrets and stupid neuroses, and who says she loves me anyway? That would ruin my life.”

Sitting up, Twilight straightened her glasses and glared down at Zee. “I can’t stop you from trying to help your dad, okay? If… If it was my dad I’d probably be doing the same thing so I’d be a huge hypocrite if I tried.” Sighing, Twilight reached out and took Zee’s hand. “But I’m not going to risk losing you, and I figure that with two geniuses working on this the odds of a successful outcome increase exponentially.”

Zee’s face lit up and she bounced up to a sitting position and pulled Twilight into her arms. “Fuckin’ hell, you’re crazier than I am, pet!”

Twilight laughed a little, but it faded a moment later as she looked up at Zee. “But… but after that? We’re done, right? No more… I help you with this and then, it’s you and me on the straight and narrow, okay?”

“Straight’n narrow?” Zee laughed. “Ain’t nuffink straight ‘bout th’neither of us, pet.”

“I’m serious!” Twilight said, smacking Zee lightly on the chest. “After this it’s over, promise me.”

Zee stared down at Twilight for several moments before smiling softly and nodding. “Aye, I’ll cop t’that, then. This’ll be the last of it, our lass. You help me get to m’Pops, and I’ll go downright fuckin’ domestic.”

Twilight let out a high-pitched squeal of delight as she hopped up and into Zee’s lap, straddling Zee as she wrapped her arms around Zee’s neck and kissed her. Zee grinned against Twilight’s kiss, wrapping her arms around Twilight’s waist and pulling her closer before trailing her hands up to tangle into Twilight’s hair, pulling out the hairband keeping her bun in place and letting the lavender waterfall cascade down. Twilight hummed happily as Zee tugged and pulled at her hair, kissed at her neck and trailed her delicate fingers down Twilight’s sides.

After a moment, Zee wrapped one arm around Twilight’s waist and back, while the other went under her, and lifted up. Twilight squeaked in momentary panic, locking her legs around Zee’s waist as Zee hefted Twilight up. For a moment, Twilight’s eyes widened at the definition of muscle lining Zee’s lithe, tattooed arms. If Twilight was being totally honest, she knew she was a little out of shape. She very rarely did any kind of physical exercise and only her fastidious diet kept weight off of her.

That was clearly not the case for Zee, who was lean, narrow, and built like a sprinter with the muscle to match.

Without preamble, Zee carried Twilight into the living room and dropped her onto the cover-laden couch before crawling onto it and over Twilight.

“So… seem t’remember y’callin’ me y’girlfriend, aye?” Zee asked, a playful smirk on her face.

Twilight’s face went beet-red as she stared up at Zee, licking her lips and nodding.

“Mm… good…” Zee hummed, leaning down. “I’m running a buncha updates on me rig, so… we got some time before we can get t’work, pet.”

“O-oh yeah?” Twilight gasped as Zee nipped at her neck. “G-got any ideas as to how to spend that time?”

“Arh cocka, got’a few,” Zee replied, smirking.

It was nearly three in the afternoon when Twilight woke back up. It was warm, but perfectly so… that kind of warmth that beckons you inexorably back to bed and Twilight was happy to heed the siren call it was singing. She wrinkled her nose slightly and laughed a little at the scent in the air as she turned to bury herself back in Zee’s embrace, sweaty though it was, and pulled one of the mismatched comforters over their shoulders as Zee snoozed away, her dark, tattooed arms wrapped securely around Twilight.

Twilight couldn’t keep the massive, dopey grin off of her face. Her whole body tingled as she snuggled against her new girlfriend.

Waiting for the third date really is overrated, Twilight mused happily as she contented herself listening to Zee’s heartbeat and breath.

Idly, Twilight traced her fingers over the tattoos she had just spent the last few hours getting to know intimately well. Staring at them now she recognized many of them. Symbols of the seven metals were tattooed down her back, the three heavenly substances were inked across her collarbone. Over her right arm was a sleeve that depicted the alchemical symbols of the sun, stars, and what Twilight loosely identified as a complex set of symbols surrounding the phosphorus symbol, meaning ‘spirit’ or in some case ‘heavens’."

“The science of the divine,” Twilight muttered as she stared at the beautiful work done on her lover’s body.

The scientist and the romantic in Twilight delighted at the gorgeous linework, done according to the golden mean. Whoever Zee had paid to do her linework and design clearly had the hands of a surgeon, and a good one at that. Each line was perfectly executed, intersecting at every proper point.

Zee’s mantle of tattoos around her shoulders, collar, and neck also contained an intricate line of text, woven perfectly into the linework and symbology. Twilight only had to read the first few words to know what it said, it was a well known aphorism.

“Quod est inferius est sicut quod est superius. Et quod est superius est sicut quod est inferius, ad perpetranda miracula rei unius,” Twilight recited. “As it is below, so it is to be above, and as above, so below, to accomplish the one great miracle.”

“Aye, that’s as it is,” Zee muttered, startling Twilight who looked up to see Zee staring down at her. “Tha’s m’Pops dream, savvy? Mine too… the one great miracle.”

Twilight blinked in confusion before laughing a little. “B-babe, that’s all myth and superstition, remember? Alchemy was just poor man’s chemistry, crazy old men drinking mercury in towers and exposing themselves to noxious fumes trying to become immortal.”

“That’s most of it, yeah,” Zee said, stretching her slender limbs to the tune of a few cracks and pops before curling up again around Twilight and pulling the covers over them again. “Strong ninety-five percent, even… but that last bit? Those last few mad-as-fuck five percent? A few of them figured out a couple things.”

“Like what?” Twilight asked, hanging on Zee’s words. She would normally be a lot more skeptical but her study of the gauntlets thus far defied most scientific measure.

“Later, first giz uz another kiss, our lass.” Zee said with a grin, moving to to press her lips to Twilight, weaving her fingers into Twilight’s long silken hair.

Twilight was all too happy to comply, setting the question aside as she pressed closer to her girlfriend, savoring their shared warmth in the cold winter day. As they pulled away, Zee looked thoughtful as she idly stroked her fingers down Twilight’s back, earning a few delighted shivers as Twilight rested against Zee’s chest.

“You… you really sure ‘bout this, pet?” Zee said finally, a faint quaver entering her voice. “Y’know, ‘bout me… us… why would ya risk throwin’ y’whole fuckin’ life away f’me, ey?”

Twilight sighed, wrapping her arms around Zee’s middle and pulling herself close as she considered the answer.

“I’ve… never had friends before…” Twilight began, “I always wondered what the big deal was, why it should matter, you know? Social obligations eat up time that could be spent on experimentation and advancing human knowledge.”

“Uh… y’kinda goin’ th’other way on this’n, pet,” Zee replied with a chuckle. “Didn’t ask f’reasons f’ya to drop my arse on the pavement.”

“Well let me finish!’ Twilight protested with a playful pout. “A-Anyways… there was always sort of… one exception when it came to how I thought about friends.”

“Friends wif benefits?” Zee teased, nipping at Twilight’s neck.

Twilight giggled, and slapped at Zee’s shoulder. “No, you horndog, I always kind of wanted… y’know, that friend.”

“That friend?” Zee repeated, raising an eyebrow at Twilight.

“Yeah, you know… that friend?” Twilight said. “The one you’d do anything for, the one who’d do anything for you? The uhm, for lack of a better phrase, one you’d bury a body for?”

Zee stared slightly wide-eyed as Twilight chuckled nervously.

“Please don’t ask me to bury a body, though,” Twilight pleaded with a small laugh. “I’d really rather not… but, uhm… yeah, even when I was younger I kind of wanted that friend, just one… and… and then, two years ago, I met you.”

“Aw… pet, tha’s… y’can’t jus’...” Zee stumbled over her words as she pulled Twilight closer, burying her face in Twilight’s hair again.

“You alright?” Twilight asked, running her hands down Zee’s slender sides, savoring the soft yet firm feeling of her body.

“Mhm…” Zee replied before taking a breath. “Y’smell like sex’n lavender… nice.”

Twilight let out a snort of laughter. “You’re a pig, Zee.”

“Meh.”

“So are you going to reveal the secret truth of alchemy and whatever strange shadow world I’ve been blind to all this time, or what?” Twilight teased, leaning up to brush her lips over Zee’s.

Before Zee could answer, the sound of a phone ringing trilled from somewhere on the floor. Zee groaned at the noise, but shuffled around and rolled off of the couch with a dull thump and an muffled ‘ow’. Twilight giggled as the comforter-covered lump on the floor fished around for her phone. Presumably she found it too, because after a moment there was a clicking sound and Twilight heard Zee answer.

In Yakistani.

The conversation was muffled but Twilight could hear Zee getting more and more agitated as the conversation progressed. Her accent was perfect, and the way she spoke Twilight would have sworn up and down that she was a native speaker if she hadn't known her beforehand.

Twilight flinched as Zee’s voice raised until she was shouting, throwing the cover off and standing, hip cocked as she pulled the phone from her ear til it was right in front of her face.

“Listen, fucko, bein’ halfway cross t’fuckin’ world ain’t gonna save ye,” Zee hissed, her voice sharp and deadly. “You get me my slagging money or I’ll dump a terabyte’a evidence ‘bout you’n your boys right into that greasy old stain you call a dictator’s lap… savvy?”

Zee practically punched the end call button before letting out a inchoate scream of rage and pitching the phone across the room to shatter against the wall.

“Fuckin’ ‘ellfire, those worthless sods ain’t got a single functionin’ brain twixt th’lot of’em,” Zee scowled at the destroyed remains of the phone for a moment, breathing hard as she calmed down before turning back to Twilight.

“Z-Zee?” Twilight’s voice was small and subdued; she’d curled up away from Zee who was still clenching her fists tight and grimacing. “What… what was that?”

Visibly forcing herself to relax, Zee just shrugged. “Ey, it was nothin’, our lass… just remindin’ some folks what ‘appens when y’don’t keep up y’end of the bargain, savvy?” Walking over to Twilight, Zee sat down and held her arms out. “C’mon, pet, don’t be like tha’... giz uz a hug.”

Twilight nodded, a small bit of her smile returning as she scooted over and came to rest in Zee’s arms.

“Can’t let folks like tha’ walk over ye, pet,” Zee said as she leaned down to nuzzle against Twilight’s hair. “Can’t let’m think I’m some jumped up sprog with a good net connection, yeah? S’bad business is what that is, and bad business is bad business.”

Twilight nodded, curling up into Zee’s arms. She didn’t want to say what was on her mind. That when Zee was yelling it made her nearly freeze up. Hearing her roar and rage like she did, and how it seemed to happen at the drop of a hat, left Twilight feeling uneasy. Zee had a powerful temper, and one that was belied by her slight figure and overall pleasant demeanor.

“Ah, damn near f’got, pet, but I got somethin’ t’show ye,” Zee said suddenly, snatching up a shirt that was lying on the ground and pulling it on along with a pair of boxers and then dashing off down the hall. “Jus’ wait ‘ere!”

Sitting up and shaking off the cloy of slumber, Twilight glanced around. Her shirt had ended up somewhere on the other side of the room somehow, her skirt was nowhere to be seen and the thick winter leggings she’d been wearing under it were probably sandwiched somewhere in the cushions of the couch. Of her original outfit all she could actually find in reach were her socks which, while helpful, did not an outfit make.

She pulled them on anyway.

“Ugh… I’ll find them later, I guess…” Twilight groaned before fishing around for some of Zee’s clothes that were scattered around.

Normally the idea of wearing someone else’s clothes would’ve done more than give Twilight the heebie jeebies, it might’ve sent her into a full on panic; but with Zee? Twilight chuckled as she found a large grey sweater with a white rose on it in a half-open box and pulled it out from under a few other articles of clothing.

“Considering what we just got up to…” Twilight mused as she held up the sweater and examined it, “I’m pretty sure wearing Zee’s slightly used clothes is a step up on the cleanliness scale.”

Shaking it out, Twilight pulled the sweater on, pulling it down until it fit her. It clearly didn’t originally belong to Zee because it was far too large, The neck hung partially off of one shoulder and her fingers barely poked out of the arm holes. It hung past her waist, preserving a modicum of her modesty which Twilight found herself considerably less concerned by than she normally would have.

“I wonder if this is what they mean by ‘afterglow’?” Twilight wondered quietly as she reached up and around the back of her head to pull her long, now messy, hair free of the sweater and let it fall down her back.

“Alright pet, feast yer eyes on-... uh… oh…” Zee trailed off as she reentered the den carrying a large metal case and stared blankly at Twilight.

“Zee? Everything okay?” Twilight asked, glancing over and smiling.

Zee worked her jaw several times as she fought for some kind of word or phrase. Zee could feel the heat in her cheeks rising as she stared at Twilight, long messy hair cascading down and over one bare shoulder as she fiddled with the hem of the sweater and brushed slightly at a small stain that had, truthfully, been there for years and wasn’t coming out anytime soon.

Over the past two days, Zee had seen Twilight dolled up, she’d seen her panicky, she’d seen her flushed, she’d even seen her naked.

Seeing Twilight standing in the living room wearing likely nothing but that too-big sweater and socks, and smiling like the most innocent thing in the world, though?

Zee swallowed hard; if it hadn’t been clear to her before, it was certainly clear now… she had it bad.

“You uh… y’really wear that sweater better’n me, our lass,” Zee choked out, finally.

“Oh, yeah,” Twilight said sheepishly, looking down at herself. “It was kind of all I could find.”

Setting the metal case down, Zee walked over and wrapped her arms around Twilight, scooping her in closer as she squeaked in a combination of surprise and delight. Zee leaned in and kissed Twilight gently, letting her fingers rise to play with the soft, disheveled strands of her hair. Twilight giggled, laughing as she kissed Zee back, and let her own hands roam up Zee’s tattooed back and trail fingers over her shoulders.

“S’fuckin’ infuriatin’, y’know?” Zee said with a laugh.

Twilight raised a single eyebrow, looking a little concerned. “What is?”

“S’like y’don’t even know how good ye look, savvy?” Zee replied, leaning in to nip at Twilight’s ear. “S’not fair, wearin’ that’n nowt else right where I can see it, pet.”

“O-oh… r-really?” Twilight blushed furiously, but smiled equally widely and after a moment let the part of her that was more daring, the part that only really woke up around Zee, come out a little with her next words. “S-should I take it off then?”

A low growl issued from Zee’s throat as Twilight stared up at her coyly. “Aw, lass, now tha’s just cruel.”

Twilight laughed a little as she leaned up to kiss Zee right on the cigarette tattoo on her jaw. “So what’s in the box?”

Grumbling, Zee stepped away, suddenly significantly more bothered than she’d been a moment ago.

“I’m really gonna give to ye later, pet,” Zee griped as she pulled away from Twilight and knelt down where she’d dropped the metal case and set it on it’s side to begin working at the multiple locks on it.

Twilight knelt behind her, draping head and arms playfully over Zee’s shoulders as she worked, and leaned in next to Zee’s ear.

“Promise?”

She shivered as her brain derailed violently.

“Ye fuckin’ bonkers, pet,” Zee muttered as she finally flipped the last few locks open. “Fuckin’ mad.”

“It’s your fault,” Twilight replied with a small laugh. “Corrupting me and all that, I was a perfectly good girl before I met you.”

“Hah,” Zee practically barked the laugh out. “Pretty sure you’ve allus been mad, our lass… just needed an excuse t’let y’flag fly.”

“Or maybe you’re just a really bad influence and I’m just ruined forever now,” Twilight replied, dramatically throwing a hand over her forehead before laughing and nuzzling against Zee’s cheek.

“Oh I’ll ruin ye,” Zee snarked back turning to mockingly glare at Twilight who was still smiling innocently at her. “Fuckin’ wreck ye’s what I’ll do, our lass.”

Twilight just smiled and mouthed ‘promise?’ silently.

Zee slapped her palm to her face as she dropped down to sit cross-legged on the floor. “Ugh… t’fuck’ve I got m’self into… I’m supposed t’be the one teasin’ you. Y’gonna drive me fuckin’ bonkers, pet.”

“I think the phrase is: ‘turnabout is fair play’,” Twilight replied, chuckling as she pecked a kiss onto Zee’s lips. “Besides, after two years of being teased by you I’m owed a little teasing back, I think.”

“A’right, fair’s fair, I guess,” Zee conceded. “Now, will ye stop fuckin’ distractin’ me libido and look at this?”

Twilight laughed but nodded as she scooted over to sit beside Zee as she flipped the case open. Twilight gasped as she stared at the contents; within the case were a pair of objects that, up until then, she had only seen pictures of and it was abundantly clear from a single glance that those pictures did not do the true objects justice.

Inside the case were a set of gauntlets, armored in such a way so as Twilight could tell they would reach all the way to the elbow joint of whoever wore them. The metal that had looked abnormally reflective in the pictures, was in fact almost unearthly so. Light played off of the metal strangely, and in such a way that Twilight honestly couldn’t say what color they really were.

And all around them Twilight could smell and taste the faint, acrid tang of ozone.

“So, pet?” Zee said with a grin. “Ready t’get t’work?”

The scientist in Twilight quickly replaced the playful vixen as she stared down at the gauntlets and her smile widened as she reached out and ran a finger over the smooth, almost glittering metal plates.

“Hell yes,” Twilight replied, and Zee felt a shiver go up her spine again, this time at the grin on Twilight’s face.

Fuckin’ mad, she is, Zee thought.

And she couldn’t stop smiling because of it.

Author's Note

The rest of Pawnee's identity is finally revealed. I've been slow burning that part too, although I did hint a bit at it with not only her appearance but also with these lines from Chapter 11.

One thing scratched just at the edge of Fluttershy’s mind, though.

“Rainbow?”

Dash looked back behind her as they made their way into the halls of CHS. “What’s up ‘Shy?”

“Whatever happened to-”

and

As Gilda turned to leave again Cranky called out. “Gilda, if it ain’t a question you wanna answer ya don’t have to but… can I ask something else?”

Gilda turned, a coldness in her gut telling her that she knew what the question was going to be.

So did everyone guess that part? Or was that yet another twist?

15. Watch Me Burn

~South Central Las Pegasus, January 13th, Mid-Morning~

Smog hung heavy over the sprawling metropolis of Las Pegasus. The sheer size of the city was almost mind-boggling to see in its entirety from the hilltop that Gilda had pulled over on. Sunset wrinkled her nose at the intense smell that seemed to waft through the air around the city, and Gilda chuckled a little as she pulled her helmet off and took a deep breath.

“Ah, breath it in, Sunshine, that’s some primo Las Pegasus air,” Gilda said with a wide grin that turned arid quickly as Sunset glowered at her. “No seriously, breath it in, ‘cause it only gets worse from here.”

“How do people live here?” Sunset grumbled. “It tastes like even the air is trying to kill you.”

“Basically is,” Gilda replied as she leaned and shifted around on the seat of her motorcycle, getting a little more blood flow to her legs after the long ride. “We’re headin’ down there,” Gilda pointed to the southern end of the city. "South Central, real shithole, but it was home for most’a my life that I can remember.”

“Bad crime rate?” Sunset asked wryly.

Gilda laughed. “Hah, more like bad ‘anything but crime’ rate.”

“Is it safe?” Sunset asked quietly leaning against Gilda’s back and looking down at the darkened area of town she was pointing at. “Or, I guess that’s a stupid question, huh?”

“Safe f’us, Sunflower,” Gilda replied. “Tempest’ll’ve put out the word t’keep an eye out f’me, plus most’a the runners probably remember me, too, the old guard anyway. Guess some’ve them might’a croaked by now, or got caught.”

“That’s pretty cold, Gil,” Sunset said, frowning. “Weren’t they your friends?”

“Co-workers,” Gilda corrected. “Guess a few of’em were friendly enough, though. Tarot, Dandy, Bar Hop, Thorn… all runners, we were pretty tight I guess, they were good folks f’the most part, hopefully they’re still around.”

“Will they help us?”

Gilda nodded solemnly. “Zee was everyone’s little sister, savvy? She was the youngest and, scary smart or not, everyone treated her like family. Losin’ her was… everyone felt it, y’know? They’ll help us figure this shit out, Sunshine.”

“Never had any family like that, so…” Sunset replied, sighing, “point is, I just want to get this done with. I’m not looking forward to spending a week or more surrounded by gangbangers.”

A silence stretched out for a few moments, drawing a look of concern from Sunset. Gilda was staring down at the visor of her helmet, fiddling with it and looking suddenly pensive and nervous.

“Gil?” Sunset said softly. “You okay?”

Gilda didn’t answer for several moments. Setting her helmet in her lap, Gilda ran her thumb over the engraved lines on the side of the black helmet, and Sunset could practically hear her mind grinding away like it did when she was uncertain. Finally, after long enough for Sunset’s concern to upgrade to actual worry, Gilda spoke.

“E-eight to fourteen…”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“I said… eight t’fourteen, Sunshine,” Gilda repeated, her voice a little unsteady.

“What does that-”

“It’s how long I was raised as one’a those ‘gangbangers’ y’talkin’ about,” Gilda said bitterly. “The ones y’don’t wanna be surrounded by… or didja f’get that y’talkin’ about me too when ya said that?”

Sunset opened her mouth to argue when the full measure of what Gilda was saying hit her. Gilda was a gangbanger, still was in some regards. Sunset’s mind replayed the words she’d just spoken and she winced at how they sounded.

Closing her eyes, Sunset took a breath and wrapped her arms around Gilda’s waist again, leaning in and pressing her face to Gilda’s back.

“You’re right, that was a really shitty thing of me to say,” Sunset said quietly. “I should never have said it… I’m sorry.”

Sunset felt Gilda relax through her riding leathers, and she nodded silently.

“Yeah… s’okay,” Gilda replied sullenly. “I know y’didn’t mean it like that but… still hurts t’get looked down on like that, savvy? T’get looked at like yer the scum’a the earth?”

Nodding silently, Sunset tightened her grip around Gilda. “Yeah… I know, I’m still kind of a prissy bitch sometimes but I oughta remember that, adopted or no, I’m still an orphan, I really should know better.”

“Yeah, y’should,” Gilda agreed, and Sunset flinched at the steel in her voice, but relaxed as Gilda sighed heavily. “Sorry… I just… they’re good folks, y’know? Mostly, I mean… When y’poor sometimes y’gotta do shit y’ain’t proud of t’stay alive. Way I see it, there ain’t no shame in workin’ a corner or hustlin’ a few bills if the only other option is lettin’ you or y’family starve, savvy?”

“Savvy,” Sunset replied, letting her head fall against Gilda’s back. “You’re right, and… thank you… for calling me on that. I needed that.”

Gilda turned to look over her shoulder and smile at Sunset. “Anytime, Sunshine, y’ready t’go?”

“Yeah, let’s go,” Sunset said with a grin.

Fitting their respective helmets, Gilda opened up the throttle and headed into the city proper. Soon, the grimy suburban environment gave way to a significantly more grimy urban one. Cars drove around with only a vague respect for the lines on the roads, and there was always the omnipresent sound of car horns either nearby or in the distance.

Sunset was also fairly certain that she hadn’t seen a single wall or alley that wasn’t marked by graffiti, although she didn’t mind that stuff so much; some of it was genuinely beautiful artwork that brought a jarring splash of color to the otherwise gray, concrete world of Las Pegasus.

Las Pegasus wasn’t like any city in the human world that Sunset had ever been to, but it definitely reminded her of the Wards in Canterlot, her Canterlot, where she’d grown up before she’d been singled out by Princess Celestia. Everywhere she looked there was garbage, broken windows, poorly kept shop fronts, and all manner of people of all color and shape eyeing the world around them with an almost animal wariness. Even at a glance, Sunset could see the cunning that had been honed in a world where danger was very clearly around every corner and the only sane approach to that world was to either be faster or be more dangerous.

After twenty minutes of drifting through the urban desolace of South Central, Gilda took a turn onto a worn road heading east. On the corner was a large apartment complex in only slightly less of a state of disrepair than the rest of the area had been, and beyond it was a long stretch of road terminating in a dead end with cramped houses of various shapes and sizes lining the road on either side.

Sunset couldn’t help but compare it to the vaguely cookie cutter aesthetic of Whitetail; it was almost the total opposite. The same basic idea was present but it was executed in a completely different hand. Every single house was slightly ramshackle and not a single one could possibly be confused for another. Some houses had two stories where others had basements, some were tall and thin, others were squat and flat.

And there were people everywhere.

Kids in hand-me-downs played soccer in the streets while teens hung out by the porches and corners talking or smoking. Older folks sat in chairs in the lawns or watched from windows, chatting with people outside.

The moment Gilda turned onto the street properly, though, the whole atmosphere changed. There was an easygoing vibe to the whole neighborhood that was suddenly submerged under a vague pall of threat. Even the kids eyed Sunset and Gilda cautiously and, after a few minutes of driving slowly through the street, a older teen, probably a year past the two of them walked up. There was a pistol displayed clearly, tucked into his jeans, he wore a cut-off tee and vest and his mocha arms were tattooed up and down with symbols that had an oddly wicca vibe to them, Sunset thought.

“You got business here, esé?” He asked, his voice was calm but Sunset could hear the unspoken ‘if not then get out’ behind it.

Gilda scoffed under her helmet as she leaned back and turned to face the young man. Sunset could practically feel her grinning.

“Damn, Hop, your dumb ass is still alive?” Gilda said, her voice muffled under the helmet. “I’da bet cash money you’da got caught after tryin t’run up a wall or somethin’ else stupid, savvy?”

The young man’s eyes widened as Gilda reached up and pulled her helmet off, shaking her shaggy white hair loose.

“Grifa?!” the guy Gilda had called Hop spoke with an awe-struck tone. “Hah! Que milagro! Y’still kickin’? Get in’ere!”

Hop moved in and wrapped his arms around Gilda in a tight hug who looked vaguely surprised at the sudden display of affection, but recovered quickly, chuckling as she hugged Hop back. Sunset smiled as she pulled her own helmet off and tucked it under her arm, and a moment later Hop turned to Sunset.

“Damn, is this y’girl, Grifa?” Hop asked, unashamedly looking Sunset up and down as Sunset gave him a dark smirk. “You lose a bet or somethin’ senorita? ‘Cause you way outta Gil’s league.”

Sunset laughed. “Nope, she saved my life.”

Hop’s eyes shot up to his hairline. “No jodás? Guess that’s one way t’score it, ‘ey, Grifa?”

“Y’better not be talkin’ about m’jeina like she’s a piece’a meat, Hop,” Gilda growled with a grim smile as she cracked her knuckles. “Or we’re gonna be havin’ a real tough talk ‘bout how t’go about respectin’ a lady, ‘cause Sunshine here? She’s a fuckin’ lady.”

Hop stepped away, holding his hands up in mock surrender as he laughed.

“So you gonna introduce us or what, babe?” Sunset asked, swatting lightly at Gil’s shoulder.

“R-Right, meet Bar Hop, he was one of the top runners along with me back in the Kings,” Gilda gestured to the young man. “Bar Hop, this here’s the light’a my fuckin’ life, Sunset Shimmer.”

Sunset blushed and nudged Gilda with her elbow. “Ba~be, seriously?”

“Hey, shame is f’folks who ain’t found the love’a their life, savvy?” Gilda shot back with a grin before turning back to Hop. “Tempest’re Summer around?”

“Down the road, Grifa,” Hop replied, thumbing towards the dead end. “They told us t’expect ya but damn, you’ve fuckin’ changed.”

“F’the better, no doubt,” Gilda replied. “How’s the old crew? Tarot?”

“Doin’ a nickel in San Tornado,” Hop said with a grimace. “Same with Thorn, both got caught holdin’.”

“Shit,” Gilda leaned back, scowling as she nodded. “Dandy?”

Bar Hop winced and drew a line across his neck. “Fought over turf a year or so ago, took two t’the chest.”

Gilda’s eyes widened. “Fuck, seriously?”

“Si, outta nowhere too, Tempest took it hard,” Hop said solemnly. “Anyway, Tempest wanted t’see ya as soon as you were in town, Grifa, go on up, ahora.”

“Yeah… and thanks for the update, Hop,” Gilda said as she leaned back in the cycle’s seat again. “I owe you a drink.”

“No hay bronca, Grifa,” Hop said with a grin. “But I’ll take the drink anyway.”

“Beer’s on me, then,” Gilda said, reaching out and catching Hop’s hand, locking their thumbs together and gripping. “The old King is dead.”

“Long live the Kings,” Hop replied.

Letting go, Gilda turned and opened the throttle up on the motorcycle, coasting down the road towards the far end where Hops had indicated. As she did, Sunset tapped Gilda on the shoulder.

“What was that?” Sunset asked curiously. “That thing you said to each other?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah,” Gilda smiled wanly. “S’how we knew each other, back in the day, savvy? Call’n response? It was also sorta our battlecry.”

“Long live the Kings?” Sunset repeated.

“Yeah,” Gilda replied a little sadly. “Not a lot’ve us left, I guess, the old Kings… the old guard. Most’ve probably left, a few’ve started again as Brujah under Tempest, but… us runners? We were kind’ve our own thing, even in the Kings.”

“Like a separate order?” Sunset asked, leaning against Gilda a little. “Seems like you were pretty well respected.”

Gilda nodded. “I was the most trusted runner ‘cause I was the best. Never got caught, never lost a package, and never, ever stopped running til I hit my target.”

“A meritocracy then?” Sunset said with a small laugh.

“Eh, that’s most gangs,” Gilda replied. “That’n nepotism, savvy? Y’promote who ya trust, and ya trust folks who’re good at what they do, and family.”

“Way to take the mystery out of it, Gil,” Sunset replied, chuckling. “I’ll never be able to watch any of those crappy romanticised gangster films the same way ever again.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Gilda groaned. “I hate those fuckin’ things.”

Sunset couldn’t help but appreciate the image of an actual member of a real life gang watching a movie or a t.v. show about those types of gangs. She imagined it would be a lot like watching episodes of Horse with an actual doctor; just an endless stream of vitriol and corrections as every episode delivered more and more inaccuracies about the profession.

Except in this case the profession involved significantly more gunshots, violence, and brutal criminal activity.

The two story house at the end of the corner was one that Sunset could hardly imagine belonging to a hardened gangster. It was neither ostentatious, nor was it particularly well guarded. There were multiple windows, and a nice, cleanly kept yard with a small garden of flowers surrounding the front porch. The house was painted a faded grey, though it had clearly been some time since it had seen a fresh coat, and the wide, open porch had several easy chairs set out under the awning.

What Sunset didn’t see, however, were guns. There were no armed guards, no hardened criminals hanging out by the sidewalks. There were no threats… nothing, just a normal house with the sort of wear and tear and attempted upkeep one might expect of a family with a lot of love but maybe a little less money than they’d like. Enough to keep everything clean but not enough to keep it looking like new. The worn and warm look of a house that had seen a life.

“Reminds me’a Pops old place,” Gilda said quietly as she parked at the curb. “Nice’n homey.”

“Not to stereotype, babe, but uh… drive by shootings… they’re a thing right?” Sunset asked uneasily as she reached back to help unstrap her chair from the rear of the motorcycle. “Aren’t they worried about how open it is?”

Gilda chuckled. “That’s kinda the point babe,” she answered as she stood up. “Ask that question again, then look at the house.”

Sunset furrowed her brow for a moment, looking back at the house as she did. After a moment she nodded. “Ah… I get it now.”

“Ayep, I mean… that's most of the point,” Gilda replied as she set up the chair next to Sunset. “Part’a the point is just t’have a nice house, savvy? But the rest’ve it? Yeah, it’s a big-ass middle finger to rival gangs sayin’; ‘hey you, fuck you, I ain’t afraid’a you!’, y’know?”

“Telling the whole world you’re not afraid just by owning a house,” Sunset said with a grin. “I like it, it’s not exactly subtle but I like it.”

“Yeah, ‘bangers ain’t exactly known for subtlety, Sunshine,” Gilda said with a dry chuckle.

Gilda wrapped her arms gingerly around Sunset, lifting her up off of the back seat of the cycle and lowering her into the wheelchair. Sunset shifted a little, getting comfortable in it again after the long ride. She’d spent more time on the cycle than in her chair over the last few days and while she couldn’t complain necessarily, there was a certain level of appreciation she now had for not having to deal with her butt vibrating for hours at a time.

Pushing Sunset forward, Gilda glanced up at the house and grimaced. She wasn’t looking forward to the conversation that was coming but she knew it had to happen. She’d held a grudge for so long, and it was hard to accept that it had, essentially, been for nothing. She knew there was no way she could’ve known it was for nothing, Gilda knew that but…

“Startin’ t’get why y’don’t wanna hold a grudge, Sunflower,” Gilda said softly as they approached the porch. “Feels pretty fuckin’ stupid when it turns out it like this, savvy?”

“Not your fault, Gil,” Sunset said, looking over her shoulder. “It really wasn’t your fault, okay? You were tricked, everyone was, and you had every reason to think your sister was dead… anyone would hold a grudge over something like that.”

“Yeah… maybe,” Gilda replied. “Still don’t feel any smarter, though.”

Navigating Sunset onto the porch wasn’t precisely easy, but Gilda had enough muscle to get the chair up the couple of porch steps. Sunset glanced around as she wheeled herself up to the front door beside Gilda, and everywhere she looked she saw signs of life. An ashtray with a few cigarettes on an end table someone had brought out to the porch. A couple of empty beer bottles sitting by the foot of a chair. A couple of toys, simple chipped metal cars and trucks that might belong to a small child.

“This really is just a home, isn’t it?” Sunset said quietly, looking up at Gilda.

Gilda nodded silently, then raised a fist to knock sharply on the door. They weren’t waiting more than a few minutes before the sound of footsteps echoed from within, and a moment later the door opened to reveal the smiling face of Summer Wind as she met Gilda’s eyes.

Her hair was down, rather than up in the bun she had worn when Sunset and Gilda had last seen Summer. It was a tumbledown mess of frizzy curls that framed her heart-shaped face nicely.

“Hey there, sha,” Summer opened her arms to Gilda who wore an expression that was half grimace and half smile.

She didn’t hesitate though, Gilda walked forward, stepping into Summer’s embrace and burying her face in Summer’s shoulder. Summer wrapped her arms around Gilda and hugged her tightly as Gilda let out a shuddering breath.

“H-Hey, Summer,” Gilda said quietly. “S’good t’see ya again.”

“Good t’see you too, sha,” Summer replied softly. “And ya jeina, how you doin’, sha’ree? You look good.”

“I have it on good authority that I always look good,” Sunset remarked with a grin, and Gilda laughed a little as she pulled out of Summer’s embrace.

“Ain’t wrong there, Sunshine,” Gilda replied. “Temp around?”

Summer nodded. “Ayeah, sha, she waitin’ on ya in da front room if ya wanna talk. Ah know she’s been itchin’ t’talk t’ya’ll, too, since ya dropped that bombshell on us a few days back.”

“Yeah, guess I owe’r an explanation,” Gilda agreed. “Sunflower here’s the one who saw’er though, so…”

“C’mon in, ya’ll,” Summer waved them in to follow her as she walked into the front room.

It was as warm-feeling on the inside as it was normal on the outside. Everywhere she looked all Sunset saw was a normal house. Pictures hung from the walls, pictures of seemingly random people mostly, which seemed odd. Mostly younger too, all smiling toothy grins at the camera. It only took Sunset a moment to realise who it was she was looking at, though.

“They’re all Kings, aren’t they?” Sunset said, more than asked.

“Si,” a familiar voice answered from down the hall, and a moment later Tempest stepped out from a doorway to fix Sunset with a look. “All Kings, mostly dead or in prison now.”

Tempest looked a far cry from the brutal figure she’d cut the first time Sunset laid eyes on her. She was wearing a loose tee stained with what looked like grease and old paint, and she wore baggy black track pants. Ink seemed to cover most of her body where her skin was exposed, and her hair hung in a loose veil over the tattooed side of her face.

“The walls of a home are a place for pictures of family,” Tempest said quietly as she walked up to Gilda and Sunset’s sides, looking at neither of them, and instead staring at the images on the wall. “Family and friends… it’s the only thing that means anything when you live this life, right, Grifa?”

Gilda nodded. “Yeah… hate it when somethin’ pops taught me turns out t’be right, though…”

“That pinche gringo was a piece’a work, Grifa, no doubt,” Tempest said. “But he wasn’t stupid, y’know? Guess that’s why we’re in this mess.”

“And that’s why we’re here,” Gilda said determinedly. “We gotta talk t’pops, savvy? I gotta talk to pops. I gotta know why he hid Zee, why he lied t’me… t’all of us.”

“Yeah… I’d like t’know the same thing, Grifa, believe me,” Tempest replied. “But it ain’t that easy… gotta make some calls, make some deals… Ol’ Jefe, he ain’t easy t’talk to.”

“Tell them who’s here then,” Gilda replied with a snarl.

“You think that’ll matta’, sha?” Summer asked, raising an eyebrow. “Da cops don’t give a damn ‘bout no family, hon.”

“S’not about them,” Gilda replied, giving Summer an even look. “Why y’think pops ain’t been shanked? He fucked over a lotta folks, folks who got friends’n family in San Tornado… that old fuck oughta been dead within’a month.”

Summer and Tempest shared an uneasy look, but Sunset just groaned as she caught up to what Gilda was saying.

“He’s got connections to the guards,” Sunset said quietly. “Blackmail, bribery… right?” Suddenly Sunset's eyes snapped wide. “Shit, of course! I get it now!”

This time all three of the women looked quizzically at Sunset who stared at them curiously.

“R-really? You guys don’t see it?” Sunset asked.

“Not all’a us’re geniuses, babe,” Gilda replied. “Wanna let us in on whatever ya got?”

Sighing, Sunset closed her eyes, gathering her thoughts as she followed the trail of breadcrumbs her instincts and sense for planning had always left her. Something had been niggling at the back of her mind ever since Gilda had told her how she’d been tricked by her foster father. The nature of it seemed backwards, or off somehow. It seemed either needlessly convoluted or just plain spiteful.

Except… what if it wasn’t?

Opening her eyes, Sunset nodded. “Right, so… Storm… he lied about your sister being dead, right? Why would he do that?”

Gilda, Tempest, and Summer glanced between one another and each of them shook their heads.

“Because he needed her to fall off the radar,” Sunset answered insistently. “He needed to be absolutely sure you wouldn’t look for Zee. Do you get it? Do you get why that’s important?” Sunset was met with blank stares and she groaned, throwing her hands into the air as she did. “Why wouldn’t he just fake his own death to escape custody? Why wouldn’t he run? If he was ready with the ploy for Zee’s fake death that means he knew Gilda would betray him all along so why not run?!”

A light seemed to flick on over all three of the other womens’ heads. Lines began connecting, ideas that hadn’t been in the same zipcode were suddenly in reach.

“Mierde,” Tempest swore. “It’s because he needed Zee more than he needed to be free… he’s been playing a long con this whole time…

Summer spat out a Prench curse. “Not jus’ that, sha, he didn't jus’ need Zee t’be free, that old crow needed t'be damn sure she’d be on his side.”

Gilda clenched her hands into fists and swore as she began pacing back and forth like a caged animal. “Shit! How the hell did… why would he fuckin’ do somethin’ like that? What could possibly mean that fuckin’ much that he’d throw himself inta prison?”

“Prison didn't scare him, he knew it didn’t matter,” Sunset answered. “He has connections to the prison guards, maybe even the warden. It’s the only explanation I can think of as to why someone who made that many enemies lasted that long in a cage with them.”

“But why?!” Gilda asked, her voice twisting into a snarl. “None’a that answers the fuckin’ why of it!”

“I… I don’t know,” Sunset admitted. “All I can tell you is that everything that’s happened up til now with your sister… I’d be willing to bet that it happened on purpose.” Rolling over to Gilda’s side, Sunset took her hands, twining their fingers together. “You’re right, though, at least I think you are… I think we’ll be able to talk to Storm right away… I’ll be willing to bet there will suddenly be an opening immediately in fact.”

“Yeah… bet you’re fuckin’ right,” Gilda replied before turning to Tempest and Summer. “Make the call, Summer… we’ll go in tomorrow.”

Tempest guided Gilda and Sunset into the living room while Summer went into the kitchen to make the call to San Tornado. Like the rest of the house, the living room was startlingly normal-looking. It had two couches, one on each wall, and an easy chair in the corner. There was a coffee table that had been polished at one point but now bore the tell-tale stains and slight burn marks of use. The whole room smelled vaguely of warm food and cigarette smoke which was being contributed to by, no doubt, the ashtray on the coffee table.

Gilda slumped onto one of the couches and started digging through her pockets for her cigarette pack only for a small paper tube to appear under her nose as Tempest handed one of hers to Gilda.

For a moment, Gilda stared at the cigarette almost accusingly… but eventually shrugged, and took it. Tempest passed one to Sunset and offered her lighter, which Gilda turned down as she fished out her matches.

“Still lightin’em like that, ey?” Tempest asked, turning and sitting on the opposite couch as Gilda struck the match and held it under her cigarette, and then under Sunset’s who was looking at Gilda questioningly. “Old school, with matches, I mean.”

“Can’t help it,” Gilda answered as she blew out a plume of smoke. “Usin’ lighters makes the whole stick taste like fuckin’ butane. Leaves a shit taste in the back’a my mouth, savvy?”

Tempest’s face fell as Gilda explained, but she nodded. “Si, lo se, I remember… so… Grifa, bout us?”

Gilda took a long drag on her cigarette before blowing the smoke out and grimacing. “Fuck, I dunno, Temp… even knowin’ she’s alive… y’still couldn’t protect’er like ya promised, y’know?”

“I know,” Tempest said quietly. “I tried… sent a buncha my best out t’where I thought she’d be at the same time we went after Storm that night, y’know?” Tempest shook her head. “Afterwards… they all said the place looked abandoned, nothin’ doin…”

Sunset took a drag on her own cigarette as she leaned to the side and rested her hand on Gilda’s arm. “Gil… my bet is that Zee was long gone by then… if Storm already knew you’d betray him then she was probably gone even before he threatened you with her safety.”

Grimacing, Gilda nodded. “Yeah… fuckin… I know, y’know?” Angrily blowing out another plume of smoke, Gilda brought her hand up to grip Sunset’s. “I fuckin’ know she was gone, okay? I know it was fuckin’ hopeless, now, but…”

“Family is family, si?” Tempest said. “Don’t matter how it happens, some things ya don’t just get over.”

“Yeah,” Gilda replied in a tired voice. “S’like that.”

“But that’s wrong!” Sunset said suddenly, bringing both Tempest and Gilda’s eyes up to meet hers as she pounded her fist on her armrest.

“Look, I know I’m probably the worst person to talk about forgiving people but, damn it this is different! The only one who’s at fault here is Storm!” Sunset snapped, pointing in the vague direction of the prison. “And look at you both!” she gestured sharply to Gilda and Tempest. “You’re both just sitting here wallowing in blame because you’re a bunch of machismo addled idiots who think letting go of shit is weak and all the while all you’re doing is letting that piece of shit win!”

Tempest and Gilda both shrunk back under the heat of Sunset’s tirade as Sunset rolled up so she could look both of them in the eyes and both of them found themselves glancing elsewhere.

“Don’t just sit there like a pair of lumps,” Sunset snapped, putting out her cigarette on the metal brace of her armrest. “Gilda Grimfeather, you look at me right now!” Gilda flinched but obeyed as she met her fiery girlfriend’s gaze. “Do you really think that holding on to the grudge you have against Tempest for failing at something she literally could never have possibly succeeded at is helping anything?”

“I… I don’t-” Gilda stammered, but Sunset wasn’t finished.

“No, you listen to me,” Sunset rolled forward until she was staring straight at Gilda. “Right now we have no idea what Storm is planning, but we know it involves your sister. His whole plan has been predicated on keeping her and you apart, and ideally keeping you isolated, savvy?!”

Tempest and Gilda both flinched but nodded.

“He’s like any other abusive asshole, then,” Sunset continued. “So long as you’re holding grudges and cutting yourself off from people who can help you, you’re giving him cards to play against you, alright?” Sunset sighed, her shoulders sagging as some of the fire went out of her, and she took Gilda’s hand in both of hers. “Look… babe, I love you so much… and I get holding grudges, you know that I do… but this isn’t reasonable… Storm played all of you from the start, and by holding onto this grudge all that’s happening is that you’re doing his work for him.”

Gilda frowned as she gripped Sunset’s hands, leaning in to rest her forehead against their clasped fingers.

“Please… Gilda,” Sunset pleaded. “I know… I know how much I’m asking of you right now but… please…”

Sunset was right. Gilda knew that Sunset was right. In her head and in her heart Gilda knew she was just getting played by Storm again. He always knew exactly what buttons to push, how to point and direct her anger. Hadn’t she even told that to Sunset in almost those exact words?

Storm knew exactly how to harness Gilda’s anger. From the very beginning he knew that she’d blame Tempest for everything, Storm knew that Gilda would take out her anger on the people who loved her because…

Because that’s exactly what he’d taught her to do.

Tears trickled down Gilda’s cheeks and she let out a wracked sob. Her grip tightened on Sunset’s hand and Sunset pulled Gilda in and wrapped her arms around the girl who was suddenly feeling so very frail.

“I’m sorry…” Gilda whispered between her tears.

Tempest looked up, startled at the words as Gilda turned, her eyes red and tears streaking her cheeks.

“Temp… m’sorry…” Gilda mumbled, her shoulders shaking.

Whatever Tempest had been expecting from the day, this was not on that list, and suddenly the amazonian gangster was shaking too. Her eyes clouded as she put out her cigarette roughly on the ashtray and walked over to sit next to Gilda.

Sunset pulled away, giving Gilda’s hand a last squeeze and giving her an encouraging nod as she did so.

Shaking, Gilda turned shamefaced to Tempest and let out another sob. “I… fuckin’... I just… I’m s-sor-”

Her broken, stammered apology was cut off as Tempest suddenly enveloped Gilda in a tight hug, pulling her close and burying her face in Gilda’s pale hair as the huge woman let out a cracked cry of her own. Gilda’s cry was muffled by Tempest’s larger frame but she wrapped her arms around the muscular woman nonetheless.

“Y’don’t gotta apologise, Grifa,” Tempest said softly, stroking Gilda’s hair. “I don’t give a shit about that, si? All I care about is that I got mi carnala back… I got my family back!”

Gilda nodded silently, her fingers tightening to grip the loose fabric of Tempest’s top as she relaxed into her older ‘sister’s arms.

Sunset smiled warmly, feeling that same surge of something inside her heart. The same feeling she’d had when she saw Octavia and Penny making friends. The feeling that she’d done something truly good. She started slightly as a hand came to rest on her shoulder, and Sunset looked up to see a teary-eyed Summer Wind looking down at her.

“Y’worked a little miracle right there, sha’ree,” Summer said quietly, not wanting to interrupt Tempest and Gilda’s reconciliation. “Gettin’ those two grande beede t’pull they head outta they asses and talk it out? Hoo lawd, I ain’t ever think I’d see the day.”

“They just needed a push,” Sunset replied, smiling back up at Summer. “They wanted to forgive each other, Gilda wanted to forgive Tempest, I could feel it.”

“Ain’t that easy, sha,” Summer said, shaking her head. “At least… ain’t normally that easy.”

Sunset shrugged, glancing at Gilda who was looking as if a weight had been pulled off of her. “Maybe that’s just what everyone wants to think but… I think all it really took was Gilda knowing that it was okay…” Grimacing, Sunset looked back up at Summer. “All her life she and Tempest were taught that forgiveness was weakness… that it was bad business. Having someone tell her otherwise at the right time… it might mean more than you’d think.”

“Maybe y’right, suga’,” Summer replied. “But y’know what ah’m thinkin’?” she asked, looking down at Sunset who gave her a questioning look. “Ah’m thinkin’ ya’ll ain’t givin’ y’self enough credit, ah’m thinkin’ not just anyone could’a looked those two hardheaded couyon in da eye and spat out th’truth, y’see?”

Blushing a little, Sunset leaned back in her chair and chuckled. “Uhm, maybe… I guess? I have a lot of practice lately with handling Gilda…”

“Mhm, bet you do, sha,” Summer said teasingly, earning a much brighter blush from Sunset.

“S-So… the meeting?” Sunset asked, her good humoring tapering off as she voiced the question.

Summer nodded. “Ayeah… s’like ya’ll said… suddenly we got a meetin’ with Ol’ Jefe Storm, no fuss, no muss.”

“I can’t say I’m surprised,” Sunset said quietly. “My guess is that Storm wants to gauge where Gilda’s at now, he wants to make sure he’s still in control.”

“Then he’s in for a big surprise,” Summer hissed in a low voice.

Sunset just nodded as Summer spoke, she didn’t want Gilda to have to go through with the pain of the meeting, she knew it would hurt and she knew it would be difficult… but she also knew that Gilda needed to do it.

Something was changing in Canterlot, and Sunset had a sneaking feeling that whoever Storm was, he was right in the middle of it.

~San Tornado Penitentiary, January 14th, Morning~

The monolithic penitentiary loomed in front of Sunset and Gilda as they entered through the first of what appeared to be several checkpoints. Gilda had, grudgingly, left her talon with Tempest and Summer, in part because it would certainly be confiscated and partially because Gilda didn’t trust herself not to attack her foster father with it on the slim-to-nonexistent chance that it did make it through.

Gilda was at war with herself with every step she took through the halls of the penitentiary. Every impact of her boots against the cold concrete sent a ripple of emotions up her spine, rattling her heart in its cage.

What do I say… what do I even do? The intrusive thoughts drowned out the rest of the world around Gilda as she was guided through the prison towards the small meeting area.

Surprisingly, they weren’t taken to the higher security meeting place; with its dividers, glass barriers, and unpleasant plastic phones. They were lead to the minimum security section, a small area that had the look of a cafeteria to it. A small, but open room with a few tables and chairs scattered around.

Somehow, that made things worse. Gilda felt her heart clench at the thought that in less than an hour she’d be standing face to face with him again. There would be nothing between them but air and bad blood.

“It’s okay, you can do this,” Sunset’s voice cut through Gilda’s thoughts like a blade as she took Gilda’s hand, giving it a light squeeze.

Gilda looked down at Sunset, who was smiling up at her as she laced their fingers together. There was every ounce of silent support that Gilda needed in those eyes. That, and maybe more, she thought as Gilda realised she was taking ragged, gulping breaths. She felt light-headed as she consciously slowed her breathing, taking several slow, deep breaths to calm herself down.

“Dunno if I can do this, Sunshine,” Gilda all but whispered as they entered the small room and were directed to a table near the center. “I… I wanted to but… fuck, feels like my fuckin’ brain is meltin’ out my ears.”

“You’re going to be alright, Gil,” Sunset said quietly, reaching out to pull a chair from the table and gesturing at it. “Sit, take a breath… I’m not going anywhere, okay?”

“Heh… yeah,” Gilda nodded, chuckling dryly. “Guess I was right though… no way I was gonna be able t’do this alone, savvy?”

Sunset nodded. “No shame in that, babe, I felt the same way about the portal.”

“Yeah… just…” Gilda slumped in the chair and grimaced. “Just… can ya do me a favor?” Gilda asked, and Sunset gave her a questioning look. “When pops starts talkin’... try not t’listen to hard, okay?”

“What do you mean?” Sunset asked, her brow furrowing in concern. “Why wouldn’t I listen?”

“Because pops is… he’s real persuasive, savvy?” Gilda warned, her mouth twisting in distaste. “S’like… when he gets talkin’ ya wanna listen, and then he gets worked up and ya get worked up right along with’em… he’s… he’s a hard guy t’say no to.”

“Sounds like a slimeball,” Sunset replied with a smirk.

Gilda didn’t laugh, though, nor did she smile. She just shook her head.

“Yeah… everyone says that at first,” Gilda replied darkly.

Sunset narrowed her eyes at that remark and started to retort sharply before catching herself. Gilda wouldn’t have said that if she didn’t really believe it and if she believed it then… Sunset had to trust that there was a good reason for that. She knew that Gilda knew how intelligent Sunset was and if Gilda was still concerned then…

“I’ll be careful,” Sunset said, finally, “he sounds dangerous.”

“Ya got no idea, Sunflower,” Gilda remarked in an arid voice. “Pops is the kinda guy who’ll be your best friend, y’surrogate dad, y’teacher… y’dealer… whatever he needs to be to get inside your head, savvy? And he can do it all, too…” Grimacing, Gilda sat up straight, fidgeting with the edge of her coat.

“One minute he’s a chef, then he’s a petrolhead, then he’s a philosopher, y’know?” Gilda said, her face twisting into fear and disgust. “S’like he gets a feel f’who he needs to be the moment ya start talkin’, and suddenly he’s the expert that y’wanna impress… dunno if I’m sayin’ it right but… just… be careful.”

“I will,” Sunset said quietly. “I promise.”

Gilda smiled as she reached out and took Sunset’s hand, squeezing it slightly before putting her arms around Sunset and pulling her closer.

“I love you, Sunshine…” Gilda muttered as she leaned against Sunset, nuzzling against the top of her head and breathing in the calming scent of lilacs and cherries. “I’ll always love you, savvy?”

“Heh… savvy,” Sunset replied with a smile. “Hey… Gilda, while we’re waiting can I ask you a question?”

Gilda leaned back and smiled down at Sunset. “Sure, I mean... Y’don’t gotta ask like that, y’know, babe? You can just ask.”

“I… I know,” Sunset said with a slightly nervous laugh. “I just… a-anyways, I was wondering about something… every time you talk I see Tempest and Summer flinch… like you said something weird or bad, why is that?”

“Huh?” Gilda raised an eyebrow and cocking her head to the side in confusion. “What’dya mean?”

“You mean you never noticed?” Sunset asked in surprise. “I noticed it the first time we met, you’d talk and they’d flinch, it’s always the same thing too, it’s whenever you-”

“Ey up, sprog.”

A chill jolted down Sunset’s spine at the deep, sonorous voice that spoke suddenly from the far side of the room, and Gilda jerked like she’d been stabbed. Gilda’s hands clenched into tight fists as they both turned their heads to see a figure walking lazily towards them.

He was long limbed and wolf-lean in his clean-looking blue prisoner’s uniform, with his arms swinging easily at his sides. His long, wiry white hair was tied back in a braid that trailed to his mid-back and terminated at a widows peak on his prominent forehead. A pair of large, bushy eyebrows accentuated the long, sharp features of his weather-tanned face, and a short, wispy white beard tapered off his chin,

Tattoos of realistic lightning bolts, like sharp, angular veins, crawled down his arms from his shoulders, and at his brow was tattooed a black, jagged crown.

There wasn’t even a question as to who Sunset was looking at, she didn’t need to see the look of frozen, absolute panic on Gilda’s face either. The set of his shoulders, the look of absolute confidence in eyes that made Sunset think of something like shards of frozen opal.

“Storm King,” Sunset muttered softly, and King’s mouth twitched upward slightly at the sound of his name.

“Arh cocka, seems I’ve got me birthday comin’ early,” Storm said, a laugh hiding behind every word as he grinned, approached the table, and leaned on the back of the chair. “Got me favorite daughter ‘ere, and a lovely young thing with’er.”

“I’m surprised they don’t have you shackled,” Sunset said in a low voice. “Where’s the guard that’s supposed to be with you?”

“Giz uz a tick wif our bairn afore the twenty questions, hen,” Storm said, waving his hand dismissively as he dropped into the chair and started tapping his fingers rhythmically against the table, each finger coming down with a distinct ringing thump.

Gilda stared, frozen in place as the man who practically raised her stared across the empty metal table at her. Sunset felt a chill make its way down her spine as Storm glanced between the two of them.

“Y’look well, Gilda,” Storm said, his previous sneer vanished, and a warm fatherly smile replacing it. “Ah’ve missed ye.”

Sunset squeezed Gilda’s hand, but the taller girl was completely frozen, and at the same time she was pressed hard against the back of the chair, as if she were trying to retreat from him. Sunset scowled at how Gilda’s chest juddered with sharp breaths; she was panicking, and badly.

“Now then, sit oop straight, aye?” Storm gestured at Gilda who, to Sunset’s shock, suddenly sat ramrod straight. “There’s a good lass… can’t expect t’keep a tidy lass like that’n if y’can’t e’en sit up properly, savvy?”

Sunset’s eyes widened at the sound of the familiar word. Of course, it would make perfect sense, wouldn’t it? It was such an odd, anachronistic word: 'savvy'. It didn’t really belong in the lexicon of a normal high school girl, not that Gilda was strictly ‘normal’ but… Sunset grit her teeth as she suddenly understood why Summer and Tempest seemed to flinch every time Gilda spoke. It must have been hard to hear Storm’s voice coming out of the mouth of a girl they both considered family.

“F-Fuck you,” Gilda finally spat out, letting go of Sunset’s hand to slam her fists into the table with a rattling crash.

The moment Storm King, her ‘pops’, had stepped into the room it was like time had stopped for Gilda. Her brain and body both froze up as she stared at the man who had taught and raised her for so much of her life. His voice, familiar and warm, weaseled into her mind the way it always did. Gilda wanted it to be different, to feel different. She wanted to hate Storm but, looking at him… it was so much easier to hate him from a distance. It was one thing to swear she’d kill him over and over in the safety of her flat, but now… face to face?

It wasn’t so easy.

“I don’t gotta listen to a word y’say anymore, got it pops?” Gilda said, forcing strength into her as she leaned forward, glaring at Storm who kept smiling through Gilda’s anger. “Not after the shit you pulled, not after Zee.”

Storm’s face fell at the mention of Gilda’s sister.

“So it’s true… y’really bought it, eh?” Storm said softly. “Y’really thought I killed her.”

Gilda froze and Sunset felt her heart clench at his words.

“Y’really thought I’d do it, ey?” Storm’s voice was filled with sorrow and hurt as his fingers beat their rhythmic tattoo onto the table. “I’ll ‘appen I wasn’t th’best father ‘round, Gilda, but I never laid ‘ands on ye, never hurt ye, never ‘urt Zee, an’ I damn well never would, savvy?”

“You… you said-” Gilda choked out.

“Said what I ‘ad to t’keep a mutinous traitor from comin’ arter m’daughter,” Storm finished, his eyes meeting Sunset and Gilda’s evenly. “Was gonna send you right ‘long with’er, sprog… but…”

Storm sighed, running his free hand through his bound hair in a motion that made Sunset’s skin crawl at how similar it was to what Gilda did every time she was thinking or unsure or herself. It was so goddamn similar that Sunset could definitely see precisely why Gilda made Tempest and Summer flinch on occasion.

For all that she hated Storm, Gilda had still managed to copy his mannerisms and speech pattern, even if she never did pick up his accent which sounded thickly Braytish if Sunset was any judge.

Gilda was silent, she tried to think of something to say, an argument… anything to keep her feet on the ground but the sadness in Storm’s eyes, the look on his face… had she really been the one who was mistaken? It was a ploy… sure, but did she misread what the ploy was.

“I never hurt m’little girl, sprog,” Storm swore, his fingers never ceasing their beat. “Not once… and I went t’prison afore even hintin’ that I’d gone’n put’er somewhere safe so’s t’let m’traitor daughter an’ her swamp witch wife believe there weren’t nuffink t’look for but… but I thought that you might…”

“You… you’re lying…” Gilda bit out angrily. “You threw a bloodstained medal t’me you bastard! Zee’s medal! Our dad’s medal!”

“I’m you’re pops, sprog,” Storm said a little bitterly. “Jus’ ‘oo d’ya think fed you? Clothed ye? Put ye in school and made sure ye learned ‘ow t’survive? I am y’dad! And you owe me everything!”

Gilda flinched back, and Sunset could feel tremors shuddering through her girlfriend’s body. She turned to glare at Storm, to say something to him, but the pain on his face stopped her. What little conversation there had been died between them as the room was filled with nothing but the beat of Storm’s fingers on the table.

“You’re a monster,” Sunset said quietly. “Believe me, I would know… I know monsters.”

“Oh aye?” Storm asked with a small, tired grin. “An’ ‘ows that?”

“I was one,” Sunset replied, narrowing her eyes.

Storm met Sunset’s gaze for several moments, and Sunset grit her teeth as she forced herself not to look away. For all of Gilda’s warnings, the sheer force of Storm’s presence almost reminded Sunset of her mother. The feeling of being smaller, weaker, and in the presence of something greater that was pushing down on her. Not to the degree of standing in the presence of a literal goddess, of course, but the fact that a mere mortal man could make her feel like that rattled Sunset badly.

Finally, Storm chuckled.

“Ye’ve got bawls, lass,” Storm said after several moments of silence. “Tha’s good, Gilda needs a firm ‘and. Sure ye’ve got a touch’a the monster in ye.” Sighing quietly, Storm leaned back in his chair. “Ain’t lyin’ though, I’d ‘oped that Gilda woulda seen through m’lie to the rest’a that traitorous bunch’a slashers an’ known I’da never, never ‘armed an ‘air on ‘Zelda’s ‘ead.”

“So it’s my fault?!” Gilda spat. “My fault you fuckin’ lied t’me?! My fault you went t’prison?! It’s my fault I spent the last four years thinkin’ I’d killed my baby sister?!”

“What can I say, sprog?” Storm asked, looking a little weary. “You betrayed me, right ‘long with all t’others… I’d ‘oped ye’d see the truth, but… Ah see y’never really trusted y’pops.”

“BULLSHIT!” Gilda roared, standing sharply and knocking the chair she was sitting at to the ground. “I loved you! You were my goddamn hero! Then… all those folks! Our fuckin’ family! You lost yer fuckin’ mind, Pops! Goin’ around and pickin’ fights with every other goddamn gang in spitting distance, starting wars, gettin’ people killed!” Gilda’s breaths were coming in short, sharp gasps as she yelled at Storm. “You ripped my whole fuckin’ world apart when you took Zee away from me, savvy?! I hate you!”

Storm let Gilda’s tirade wash over him unflinching, as he tap-tap-tapped his fingers. “Ye think I didn’t feel every single one’a them deaths? Eh? I knew I ‘ad t’stir the hornet’s nest t’find wot I needed an’ all ye’ad t’do was trust me, but ye couldn’t do it.”

“How was I supposed’ta fuckin’ trust you when you wouldn’t tell us nothing?!” Gilda yelled back. “You kept everything so fuckin’ close t’the vest that it looked like ye’d gone off yer fuckin’ rocker!”

Sunset stared as Gilda started slipping into a shadow of Storm’s speech, her words slurring together slightly as the traces and vestiges of the accent belonging to the man who raised her starting making themselves known.

"Don’t ye talk t’me like that, sprog,” Storm’s voice took on a low, dark tone and Sunset’s eyes widened at the way Gilda wilted back from him.

Silence fell between them as Gilda righted the chair and sat back down in it, reaching out for Sunset to grab her hand gain. Sunset grimaced at the feeling of her love’s shaking fingers.

Letting out a slow breath, Storm looked up at Gilda then at Sunset before fixing his gaze back on his ‘daughter’.

“Gilda, it’s nowt t’me that ye lost faith,” Storm said quietly. “Ye’ll allus be m’little girl, aye? Ye’ll allus be my daughter… so what’s all ‘appened ‘tween us, it don’t matter oreyt? Ah forgive ye, if ye’ll f’give me?”

Gilda felt her chest wrench in place as Storm spoke. A part of her, a large part, wanted to take him up on what he’d offered.

Wasn’t it true, what he’d said? He’d never really hurt Zee, he’d never hurt her either. Sure, he’d done awful things, but… if he had a reason? Didn’t she owe him at least a chance to explain himself? The drumming of Storm’s fingers on the table seemed to drown out the rest of the world as she stared at him. Her Pops, her hero… he’d taught her so much… so much of how to be a good person and a bad one, but… wasn’t it his lessons that brought her Sunset? Extend a hand, feed the hungry, clothe them, and give them a roof? Wasn’t he the reason why all of this had happened, in the end, both good and the bad? What if the bad really had just been… misunderstanding?

Gilda stared down at Storm’s other hand as he extended it to Gilda.

“C’mon then… giz uz ye hand,” Storm said with a smile. “We’ve got bad blood twixt us, no lie, but we’re family… family allus sticks close, savvy?”

There was a chill in Sunset’s heart as watched Storm reach out to Gilda, and everything in Sunset’s mind was screaming that something was wrong. Something was going terribly, terribly wrong. They were supposed to get Storm talking. They were supposed to find out why he had sent Zee away, why he had driven a wedge in the Kings, and why he had let himself go to prison. Everything that Tempest, Gilda, and Summer had told her about Storm made him sound utterly mercenary, a man who was without a truly generous bone in his body; that everything he did was for a purpose, never just to help.

It contended badly with the image Gilda had given her, though. The image of a man who was much like Gilda herself, cruel but kind, an honest liar, and a generous miser. A man who drew a line in the sand and gave not a single shit about the people on the other side of it and yet…

He had killed people, gotten people killed, manipulated and torn apart his own family for… what?

Every one of Sunset’s thoughts came to her through what felt like a haze of smog, whenever she tried to concentrate on those things the topics just… slipped away. All of it drowned out by that infernal drumming.

“Pops I…” Gilda started, and Sunset could see the tears start to form in Gilda’s eyes.

Something was wrong, terribly wrong. The anger was gone, the hate… under any normal circumstance Sunset would be thrilled to see Gilda without an expression of fury painting her face. Rage was pain, it hurt everything around it, and seeing Gilda controlled by her anger hurt Sunset as much as she knew it hurt Gilda. But today was different… Gilda knew better. She knew that Storm was a manipulative bastard, hell she was one of the ones who had warned Sunset. She knew that no single moment or set of honeyed words should ever be enough to douse the flames of hate that Storm had stoked in Gilda’s heart.

So why was Gilda letting Storm get into her head? Sunset clenched her eyes as she tried to wrack her brains but she could hardly think. Her mind was full of that… that…

Sunset’s eyes shot open.

“STOP!” Sunset slammed her hands on the table.

Currents of magic spilled out from Sunset, disrupting the flow of the aether around them, and suddenly Sunset’s mind was clear while Storm jerked his hand away from the table as if he’d been shocked. The air around the three of them was suffused with the bracing scent of sea salt and ocean wind as the spell dissipated the ambient magical energies into nothingness.

Sunset stared at Storm, a cold fist of ice having formed in her gut as she reached out for Gilda, missing twice before grabbing onto the hem of the stunned girl’s bomber jacket.

“Gil… Gilda get me out of here,” Sunset stammered, her eyes never leaving Storm’s own gaze as he stared in blatant disbelief at Sunset for a few moments before a look of wild, borderline insane joy started to light up on his face. “Gil, NOW!”

Swallowing hard, Gilda turned scooped up Sunset with one arm and grabbed the wheelchair with her free hand and turned to sprint out of the room. She didn’t quite get out before Storm began laughing. While Gilda had her back turned to the man, Sunset could see him easily over Gilda’s shoulder. He had his head thrown back, leaning back in his chair as he cackled and laughed wildly as he stood and stared at Sunset, pointing a single finger at her.

“Found ye!” Storm crowed before throwing his head back and laughing again as the two girls fled from the small room.

+=======+

Gilda ran with Sunset and her wheelchair in tow. She felt sick to her stomach but she couldn’t quite put a finger on why.

“What the fuck was that, Sunny?!” Gilda gasped as they made their way out.

Sunset looked pale and drawn as she curled into Gilda’s arms, wrapping her arms around Gilda’s neck and pulling herself closer as Gilda moved through the exit. They were stopped briefly by the guards to get their personal effects back, the few they’d brought with them, but were left mostly unmolested.

All through the process of leaving, Sunset didn’t answer but Gilda felt… awful. She felt hollowed out and everything around her felt cold. Even with Sunset’s proximity, usually enough to light a blaze in her heart that would warm her to the bone, Gilda couldn’t seem to shake the unearthly chill biting into her. It was like it went deeper than just flesh, and that thought sent another chill through Gilda. It was like she felt it in her soul.

The warm, sharp, winter air of Las Pegasus slapped Gilda in the face as the two girls left the confines of San Tornado and Gilda had absolutely no desire to go back. Gilda took several deep breaths as she stopped at the curb outside the prison and dropped onto her ass with Sunset pulled into her lap. She wrapped herself around Sunset as if the smaller girl were the only thing keeping her in one piece.

“Gilda.”

“What the fuck…” Gilda stammered as she pulled Sunset close with one hand and covered her face with her other. “What the fuck… what… what the…”

“Gilda!”

“I was about t’forgive ‘im…” Gilda croaked out. “I could feel it, right on the tip of my tongue I was gonna just… I was-”

“Gilda you’re hurting me!” Sunset cried, and Gilda jerked as she pulled away.

Sunset winced as she rubbed at her side were Gilda had fixed a deathgrip on, taking a few deep breaths. An icy feeling of a completely different stripe sluiced down Gilda’s spine as she saw the Sunset in pain.

“Ah… shit, Sunshine, I-” Gilda stared, suddenly distracted from whatever it was her foster father had done. “Fuck, I’m… I’m sorry babe I didn’t-”

Sunset’s finger met Gilda’s lips, followed quickly by her own lips as Sunset pulled Gilda down in a kiss. Gilda felt her brain resetting as she wrapped arms around Sunset, the familiar scent of lilacs and cherries filling her nose and the soft feeling of Sunset’s warmth under her fingers dragging her scattered mind back to reality.

They pulled apart as Gilda took a deep breath, leaning her head against Sunset’s shoulder.

“It’s okay… it’s okay,” Sunset repeated softly, rubbing her hand in circles across Gilda’s back, lightly kissing the top of her head as Gilda shook in Sunset’s arms.

“What the hell happened, babe?” Gilda pleaded, her hands clenching and unclenching as the memory of the last ten or fifteen minutes blurred together in her mind. “S’like all of a sudden I was a kid again… like he was my pops and I just… I wanted to…”

“Let’s get home, Gil,” Sunset said quietly. “I’ll… I’ll try to explain once we’re alone, okay? I promise.”

Gilda nodded and stood carefully, Sunset clinging to her as she set up the wheelchair and slowly lowered Sunset into it. The walk back to the motorcycle and subsequent ride back to Tempest and Summer’s place where they had been put up in a guest room on the second floor was relatively quiet; Gilda felt almost as badly shaken as the night Sunset had nearly died, and Sunset’s prevailing silence on the matter of her foster father and whatever he had done wasn’t helping.

Every inch of Gilda screamed for her to press Sunset for answers as they pulled into the driveway of the small South Central homestead. She had to know, she needed to know what Storm had done but…

‘Sunshine’ll tell me… she promised,’ Gilda thought, pushing down the panic that was starting to eat at her gut. Sunset had promised her answers and Gilda trusted Sunset with her life.

“Don’t ask,” Gilda said, immediately upon entering the household as Tempest opened the door for them and began to open her mouth. “Somethin’ fuckin’ shady happened, a’right? I… I dunno what it was but…”

“Tranquila, Grifa, I won’t ask if ya don’t want me to,” Tempest said in a subdued voice that barely fit the amazonian gang leader. “But… we gotta know, si? So…”

“We’ll tell you tomorrow, okay?” Sunset said as she followed Gilda in, her eyes flinty as she rolled past Tempest towards the stairs. “Gilda and I have to talk first… I know we’re imposing but…”

“De nada, cielito,” Tempest said with a laugh, waving her hand. “You’n Grifa’ll always have a bed with us here, okay? No hay bronco, I’m just sorry my guest room’s on the second floor.”

“I’ll live,” Sunset replied with a dry grimace as she rolled up to the staircase and waited for Gilda to help her up, muttering about Daleks again.

Gilda lifted Sunset from her seat and tucked the chair under her arm once Tempest had finished collapsing it and carried both girl and chair upstairs. The room they shared was a small one, not quite as well kept as the guest room in the Sonen sisters’ house but certainly more lived in. The guest room they had been given in Whitetail over Christmas had the look of a true room for guests, while the one that Tempest and Summer offered, well, it looked more like a room someone lived in for a long while before moving out. The bed was a clean, if slightly lumpy, queen-sized with a knitted comforter and mismatched pillows. The dresser that Gilda and Sunset had filled with their few belongings that they had brought from Canterlot had all the telltale dings and scars of a piece of furniture that had survived someone’s younger years.

Gilda set Sunset down on the bed before leaning the chair against the wall and sitting down on the bed beside her girlfriend. The world around her felt like it was moving too slowly as she let out a long sigh and buried her face in her hands.

“Gilda? How are you doing?” Sunset asked quietly, leaning her head against Gilda’s shoulder as she did.

Gilda shrugged silently before answering. “Dunno babe… I’m kinda fucked up right now if’m honest. Feels like somethin’ got in my head and scrambled everything up, savvy?”

Sunset winced. A part of her wished she could mentally scrub that word right out of her vocabulary after hearing the casual way that Storm used it. She knew it was unfair to Gilda and unreasonable on her part, but she hated having even something as petty as a shared verbal mannerism in common with that man.

“I’m not surprised, actually,” Sunset replied after a moment. “Considering what he was doing.”

“What was that?”

Grimacing, Sunset mentally searched for the words, before sighing and shaking her head. She was overcomplicating it like usual. Taking a lesson from Gilda, she stuck to the simple side.

“It wasn’t… really much more than a parlour trick, honestly,” Sunset began. “A nasty one, sure but… it was simple… so simple I missed it when he started.”

Gilda furrowed her brow as she looked up from her hands to peer over at Sunset. “Wha’dya mean?”

Reaching over towards the small nightstand by their bed, Sunset began tapping her fingers. “Tap-tap-tap… tap-tap-tap… a basic rhythm that occupies the attention, right? A con-man’s trick.”

“Yeah, everyone knows that one,” Gilda replied. “Make’m look at y’right hand while y’left is filchin’ their wallet… ain’t a pickpocket in the city who don’t know that trick.”

“Right, except…” Sunset grimaced and sighed. “You felt it right? Like a fog in your head? It’s like all of a sudden-”

“Like y’couldn’t even think straight,” Gilda finished in a soft voice, her gaze fixed on the wall straight ahead of her. “Like the moment he started talkin’ I was right back to bein’ a little girl and just…”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Sunset said softly. “I promise you, it wasn’t… he wasn’t just getting in your head.”

Gilda shot a worried look at Sunset. “Th’fuck happened, Sunflower? C’mon… I… y’can’t just-”

“Magic,” Sunset said in a dark voice. “That’s what happened.”

Silence descended on the small room as Gilda stared in disbelief at Sunset. Before she could voice any question of her own, though, Sunset continued.

“Simple magic… foalish, really,” Sunset said quietly. “Like I said, a parlour trick, but it was one I wasn’t expecting… one I missed… just simple mind magic; create a stimulus and then attach a magical signature to it that makes anyone who hears it distractible and… more open to suggestion.” Sunset rubbed her hands together, feeling a chill up her spine. “He used magic, Gil… not sleight of hand or misdirection… Storm King used real magic.”

“That ain’t… that’s not fuckin’ possible, babe,” Gilda replied in a hollow voice. “He was my pops, Sunshine, I’d know if he coulda used magic, savvy? He ain’t-”

“This isn’t a discussion, Gil!” Sunset snapped. “He used magic! I’m not guessing here, I’m not speculating! Storm King used actual, for real, magic!”

Gilda pulled back from Sunset who was seething furiously in her lap. Sunset shoved herself off of Gilda and onto the bed as she started angrily pulling the sweater she’d been wearing off.

“Of course it’s magic, fucking of course!” Sunset snarled in a muffled tone as the sweater passed her head. “Because my life can’t just settle down for a second, can it?! Every god damn good thing that happens in my life has to come with a heaping side helping of stupid magic!”

Wrapping the sweater in a ball, Sunset hurled it angrily at the wall where it bounced off.

“H-Hey, c’mon Sunflower, what are y-” Gilda started before being verbally overrun by her girlfriend’s continuing rant.

“Why did I ever want magic in the first place?” Sunset spat as she pushed herself back onto the bed and pounded her fist impotently against it. The plush softness of the covers only made her angrier. “I wanted power and I went for magic but really?! When has magic ever, ever brought me anything but fucking misery?! Pursuing magic ruined my relationship with my mom! It turned me into a raging high school bitch! Then when I finally got it all it did was turn me into a literal demon!”

“Sunshine calm down!” Gilda tried to wrap her arms around Sunset but the smaller girl threw her off with surprising strength.

“No! Don’t ‘Sunshine’ me!” Sunset snapped. “I’m sick of this! I’m sick of constantly running into stupid magical problems that ruin my life! I thought things were going to get better but no! Starswirl the Bungler used a world full of perfectly good people as a null-magic dumping ground for stuff he didn’t want to deal with and look where it… got… us…”

“Sunflower…?” Gilda leaned in as the wind seemed to go out of Sunset’s rage for a moment. Encouraged by, at least, the lack of an angry response, Gilda wrapped her arms around Sunset and pulled her close. “C’mon, talk t’me.”

Sunset was silent for several moments as she leaned against Gilda, wrapping her own arms around the larger girl’s middle and nuzzling against her. Sighing, Gilda settled on waiting, Sunset would talk when she was ready, she always did. In the meantime, Gilda did as she always did; she waited, gently petting Sunset’s hair as the smaller girl took deep breaths to try and calm down.

“Sorry,” Sunset said finally. “I kinda lost it there for a second.”

“Yeah, a little,” Gilda replied with a small chuckle. “Y’ready t’talk?”

After a moment, Sunset nodded. “Back in the prison, I used a kind of quick and dirty version of Blue Jay’s Banishing Stroke, a sort of wide-range counterspell. Most basic spellforms would’ve resisted it but Storm’s magic relied more on us not noticing than anything else, I think.”

“Guess that’s how y’knew?” Gilda asked.

“Mm, yeah… I only even suspected because Princess Cel… Mom, she taught me how to recognise basic mental manipulation spells, sort of a prerequisite if you’re gonna spend any amount of time in a high court,” Sunset explained quietly. “I just… I must be really rusty, though… I didn’t even notice the signs.”

“Hey, don’t start that, Sunshine,” Gilda said a little sharply, drawing a look of surprise from Sunset.

“W-What?” Sunset asked, her face screwed up in a confused expression.

“That stupid thing you do where you beat y’self up,” Gilda replied, visibly restraining herself from snapping. “Every fuckin’ time y’feel like you did somethin’ wrong you start beatin’ on y’self. Don’t think I don’t fuckin’ notice, savvy?”

“But I should’ve-!”

“No!” Gilda cut Sunset off. “I always fuckin’ ignore it but that ain’t doin’ you any fuckin’ good, Sunflower, so I ain’t ignorin’ it this time! You didn’t do anythin’ wrong, a’right?” Gilda took a deep breath before continuing, leaning down to press her forehead softly against Sunset’s. “You couldn’ta known. Period, full stop… there was no goddamn reason f’you to even fuckin’ consider that my Pops could use any kinda magic, savvy? So stop beatin’ y’self up for somethin’ you couldn’t’ve fuckin’ known!”

Sunset stared up at Gilda in shock for a few moments before sagging slightly and nodding as she curled up against her girlfriend.

“Look… m’sorry if I got worked up, y’know?” Gilda said in a much softer voice. “I know I ain’t got the best voice f’this kinda shit but… it hurts y’know? Seein’ ya beat y’self up all the time? I hate it…”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for you to take it like that…” Sunset said quietly. “I think I’m just so used to blaming myself that it’s just a kneejerk reflex.”

Gilda snorted and nodded in agreement. “Yeah, just right… well I’ll tell ya what, Sunshine, if I ain’t allowed t’call myself stupid then you ain’t allowed to beat y’self up for stupid shit anymore, savvy?”

The redhead that was curled comfortably in Gilda’s arms chuckled a little but nodded.

“Okay, so how do I tell if it’s stupid?” Sunset asked in a sardonic voice. “That’s kinda the point of being a fuckup, right?”

“Guess I’ll just have t’be the judge’a that, huh?” Gilda replied. “You stop me from callin’ m’self stupid, and I’ll stop you from always beatin’ on y’self.”

Taking a deep breath, Sunset leaned against Gilda and sighed. She wanted to say so many things but, at the same time, wasn’t sure she needed to. Her whole chest felt warm and the feeling seeped down from her heart to the tips of her fingers. She was certain her toes would’ve been tingling with the feeling too if she could feel them.

“Sounds like a promise,” Sunset finally said, smiling up at Gilda.

“A promise?” Gilda said with a grin. “Yeah… guess it is. We make a lotta those, huh, Sunflower?”

Sunset nodded before leaning up to peck Gilda quickly on the lips. “Yup, good thing we’ll never break them, huh?”

“Not a fuckin’ chance, Sunshine,” Gilda replied, then scowled slightly. “Okay so… back t’the problem then, yeah? So… Pops has magic… what the fuck do we do about that?”

Sunset shook her head. “Not much we can do, babe… he’s in prison for life, remember? And it’s not like he’s some spell-slinging archmagus…” Sunset did her best not to think about what a man like Storm would do with that kind of power. “He’s a con man who knows a mental misdirection cantrip.”

“Yeah, but there’s no way that’s all there is to it, y’know?” Gilda replied, concern coloring her voice. “I ain’t lettin’ that shit go, savvy? Pops was hard enough t’ignore when he didn’t have magic!”

“I’m more concerned about what your sister is up to, Gil,” Sunset admitted a little grimly. “Look, the fact is that Storm is relying on her to do something… don’t quote me on this but I get the feeling that if Storm could get out of jail with magic then he would.” Flopping backwards against the bed, Sunset sighed and rubbed at her face. “Look, I know he’s your… foster dad, or whatever, but I know creeps, okay? I was one… I really think he’s there because he has to be, not because he wants to be. It’s part of the plan but unless I really miss my mark then it wasn’t ‘Plan A’, y’know?”

“Ugh, yeah, no, I getcha,” Gilda agreed grudgingly. “I just fuckin’ hate t’think about Zee hoppin’ everytime that asshole says ‘frog’, y’know?”

“She’s lived practically her whole life as his daughter, Gil,” Sunset said in a soft voice. “Think about that… so far as she knows he’s never betrayed her, always looked out for her, made sure she had everything she needed, and even, from her perspective, went to jail to protect her… how far would you go for someone like that?”

“He’s a liar, Sunshine…” Gilda said, her voice tight with fury. “And I’m gonna get my baby sister back from that fucko, savvy?”

“I know, and I promise we will, but we’re gonna have to speed up our own timetable to do it,” Sunset said.

“Wha’dya mean?” Gilda asked, her brow furrowing in concern.

Sunset sighed a little angrily. “It means we’re going to have to talk to the Rainbooms, first of all… they’re the only ones other than the Sirens who were in touch with magic, plus I still need to confirm that little theory of mine.”

“Okay…” Gilda said, grimacing slightly. “Thing is… what about, y’know…”

Sunset clapped her hands over her face again and groaned. “Fucking… Rainbow Dash…”

‘Why,’ Sunset thought angrily as she stared up at the dim, fluorescent light in the center of their ceiling. ‘Why couldn’t you have just waited… why couldn’t you have made this easy? Why did you have to be… you.’

“I don’t know, Gil,” Sunset said in a dull voice as she let her arms drop to her sides. “I really don’t know.”

~Canterlot High School, January 14th, Afternoon~

Rainbow Dash hammered the soccer ball across the field with far more force than was strictly necessary, scowling as it ricocheted off of the goal post. For the past few days Dash had found herself on the field during lunchtime for a very specific reason. Her friends hadn’t cut her out of their group, they hadn’t even been unkind about anything in particular.

That didn’t stop Rainbow from endlessly hearing Applejack’s words as they dropped their bombshell on her the morning of the tenth.

Dashie, look, it ain’t like we’re choosin’ sides, but Sunset weren’t exactly subtle ‘bout how she’s feelin aboutcha right now, Applejack had said when they met up in front of the school that morning. She’s… Sunset’s outta town but… don’t lose hope a’right, sugarcube? We’ll try an’ talk t’her about everything once she gets back.

Try and talk…

Dash grimaced as she danced around the soccer ball, letting it rolled across the ground, dribbling it between her feet, kicking it up to juggle it on her knees, before dropping it to the ground and lancing another kick out to send the ball firing at the nearby goal.

The sound of the ball impacting the post rang out again, and Rainbow Dash swore angrily, spitting on the ground.

She was angry, Rainbow Dash knew that, she just didn’t know what or who she was supposed to be angry at.

Her friends for hedging her out from their possible upcoming reconciliation with Sunset? Should she be angry at Sunset for forcing the issue?

Dash dropped to ground, cross-legged, and clenched her eyes shut, driving the heels of her palms against them as she let out a slow, pained groan of frustration.

She couldn’t be mad at Sunset… not now, not after everything. Not after Rainbow had abandoned her in the halls, not after she’d kissed Gilda. Dash knew that Sunset had every reason in the world to keep her at arm’s length but…

“Why do I have to be so goddamn stupid?” Rainbow muttered as she flopped backwards on the ground and stared angrily up at the sky. “All I had to do was just… wait. I just had to wait and then she’d’ve opened the stupid present and everything woulda been awesome again.”

Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and frowned as the image of Gilda’s betrayed, furious face flashed across the darkness behind her eyelids. The look of utter and total disgust as she’d done what she promised and cracked her knuckles right between Rainbow’s eyes.

Of all the ways that Rainbow had thought she might get turned down on her first crush that was probably the worst.

“Guess I deserved it,” Rainbow said quietly opening her eyes and staring sullenly up at the gray, overcast sky. “Didn’t have to do anything but wait and I couldn’t even do that right…”

The soccer ball rolled idly up to her, knocking gently against Rainbow Dash’s head and drawing a confused look from the sulking cyan girl.

“Hey, gonna lay there all day or what?”

Rainbow Dash sat up and grimaced at the girl who was standing a few feet away. She’d apparently been so caught up feeling sorry for herself that she hadn’t even heard Lightning Dust approach.

“You look like crap,” Dust said with a small, cocky smile.

“Yeah?” Rainbow sneered back. “Well I feel like shit so I guess I look better than I feel, huh?”

Lightning Dust’s expression twisted into one of distaste. “Wow, guess all the awesome must’ve leaked out of your ears when Gilda knocked your head in, huh?”

Snarling, Rainbow Dash bolted to her feet and got in Lightning Dust’s face. “What the fuck did you say?”

Eyes widening, Lightning Dust stepped back and held up her hands in a placating manner.

“Woah, woah, cool it,” Lightning said as she backpedaled. “I was on my way to the sports shed to grab my stuff when I saw her clock you, okay? That’s it, don’t even know why she did it, alright? I was gonna come see if you were okay but then your friends all came rushing out and… dunno… didn’t seem like the right time.”

Rainbow Dash relaxed slightly, but the angry expression didn’t soften much on her features.

“Yeah well… doesn’t matter, alright?” Rainbow said grimly, turning back to sullenly kick at the soccer ball on the ground nearby. “I fucked up again, and now Sunset’s definitely never gonna forgive me.”

“Really?” Lightning asked in disbelief. “Considering she seemed fine with the little shithead brats that ruined her life, I think you’ve probably got decent odds.”

“What?!” Rainbow whirled on Lightning Dust who stepped back again at the sudden shift in Rainbow’s demeanor.

“Y-you didn’t know?” Lightning asked in disbelief. “I was, uh… well, guess maybe I got a little carried away when I ran across those brats in the hallway with Misty and uh… a-anyways, Sunset threatened to fuckin’ set me on fire if I ever threatened them again.”

Rainbow’s eyes widened at that. A part of her wanted to rail on Lightning for threatening or even hurting Scootaloo, the freshman had been her biggest fan and the closest thing to a sister she’d ever had for the longest time. Right up until Scootaloo and her friends admitted to having engaged in a campaign of cyberbullying against Sunset Shimmer and caught the entire school in the crossfire for one of the dumbest reasons even Rainbow had ever heard.

Jealousy and spite. That was how Rarity had put it when the girls had confessed. The three younger girls had tried to isolate and drive away Sunset because they were jealous of how much time their respective sisters were spending with the reformed redhead and angry at how she had seemed to have gotten away with everything she had done since she had first arrived at Canterlot High.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack had been livid, while Pinkie and Fluttershy had just been horrified to realise what they had done to Sunset.

Rarity had been the only one to keep her head on straight. She’d explained to the girls that Sunset had learned her lesson, and that she was… she was their friend. At least, Rarity hoped she still was… that was a distant hope, they all knew.

The words Rarity had said to the girls were still echoing in Rainbow’s ears.

If we hold a grudge forever, then what’s the point of punishing Sunset? And who gets to decide it’s over? If she learned her lesson and we keep hurting her after the fact then that just makes us monsters. Ones that are, I think, worse than she ever was.

A very subtle way of pointing out how badly the girls themselves had acted. Rainbow had to admit, at first she was stunned that Rarity could even talk to the girls without screaming at them but that barb she’d thrown at them, tossing a mirror in their direction and making them see a monster worse than Sunset had been? That was where Rarity’s anger had come out.

After a moment, Rarity’s words caught up with Rainbow again as she looked over at Lightning Dust and grimaced.

Without a word, Rainbow cocked her arm back and lanced forward to crack her fist against Lightning Dust’s face, sending the amber-haired girl staggering backward with a squawk of shock, pain, and alarm.

“Those idiots learned their lesson, Dust,” Rainbow said with an angry snarl. “Sunset was right… if you keep knocking on them we’re all gonna have words, okay?”

Lightning Dust stared up at Rainbow in shock as she rubbed at her cheek, a bruise quickly forming, and Rainbow Dash’s face fell as a stone of shame sunk into her gut. Walking up to Lightning, who looked close to tears, Rainbow knelt down, causing the girl to flinch away as she offered a hand.

“H-Hey… I’m… I’m sorry, okay?” Rainbow said quietly. “I’m… fuckin’ pissed at everything right now and I got really angry and… that was… I gotta stop that.”

Staring at the hand suspiciously for a moment, Lightning eventually reached out and grasped it, and Rainbow stood, pulling Lightning to her feet as she did. Lightning did her best to hold on to Rainbow’s handd as long as she could, a few seconds of contact longer than maybe she needed under the guise of getting her feet under her, before letting go.

“Y’need an ice pack or something?” Rainbow asked with a small, apologetic smile.

Lightning Dust shrugged and laughed, wincing slightly as her smile stretched at the bruise on her face. “N-nah, I’m good… you got a helluva right hook, Crash.”

Rainbow blew a raspberry at Lightning’s use of her childhood nickname.

“Look… don’t let Shimmer get ya down, okay?” Lightning said, clapping a hand on Rainbow’s shoulder. “You’re, like… awesome, okay? A-at least, I think so.”

The sentiment put Rainbow back on her heels for a moment.

“Seriously?” Rainbow asked, raising an eyebrow. “You’re like… my biggest rival, I don’t think you’ve said one nice thing about me since we met.”

Lightning Dust blushed slightly and grimaced. “Uh, y-yeah… well, y’know.. We always competed for the same positions and stuff so… what was I supposed t’do?” Looking back up at Rainbow, Lightning Dust screwed up her courage and dug out what was eating at her. “I… think you’re pretty… awesome, I mean, p-pretty awesome! You always keep me on my toes, like every day at practice and stuff? We’re the best players on the team and everyone knows it. It’s ‘cause we’re always fighting each other to be the best, right?”

“Aren’t rivals supposed to be enemies, though?” Rainbow asked with that sardonic smile of hers that sent a jolt of fluttering light through Lightning’s stomach.

“W-what?” Lightning laughed nervously, shaking her head. “Na~h, why the hell would we have to be enemies? We just gotta keep butting heads and I’m pretty sure we’d be doing that even if we were best friends.”

Lightning’s words struck a chord in Rainbow’s heart as she thought about Applejack and Sunset, both of whom she regularly got into competitions with, friendly, sure, but no less heated. Even after the fact, regardless of a clear winner, they would argue and bicker and needle each other for hours over who won and why, but always in good fun.

Always with a smile on their faces.

A smile that Rainbow suddenly felt like she would never see on Sunset’s face again. At least… not directed at her.

“Yeah…” Rainbow said, after a moment. “Guess… guess you’re right, huh?”

Lightning Dust frowned at the sudden shift in Rainbow’s mood, and she walked up, setting a hand on Rainbow’s shoulder. “H-hey, you okay?”

Rainbow grimaced, clenching her fists as she stared down at the ground.

“I’m… y-yeah… I…” the words felt like gravel in Rainbow’s throat, and finally she couldn’t take it anymore.

A choked sob left her throat as Rainbow Dash shook her head.

“N-no… I’m not…” Dash said quietly.

Lightning hadn’t been expecting the sudden, bald-faced admission, and felt her automatic, cocky response die behind her lips. Rainbow stood there, arms wrapped around herself and shuffling awkwardly, as she glared down at her own feet.

After a moment, Rainbow spoke again.

“I lost my friend because I believed something stupid,” Rainbow started, her mouth twisting into a scowl. “Then I fucked up again because I did something even dumber.”

Lightning bit her lip to keep her face straight as Rainbow reprimanded herself. She didn’t want to give away that she had seen a lot more than the punch Gilda had thrown. Lightning had seen Rainbow kiss Gilda, not a friendly kiss, or even a chaste one, but full on the lips. It had nearly made Lightning scream in rage to see it, but… then Gilda had rejected Rainbow.

Brutally.

It irked Lightning to see Rainbow get punched like that, even as she felt her heart leap to see Rainbow be rejected (not that she would ever admit that to Rainbow Dash) but even Lightning could see why it happened. Gilda and Sunset were stupid for each other, anyone with working eyes could’ve seen it. Even before the accident Sunset used to hang all over Gilda like a lovestruck schoolgirl which, technically, she was.

Still, even seeing Rainbow in such a terrible state as Gilda had left her that day, Lightning had felt lighter than she had in months in that moment. In one fell swoop she’d confirmed that Rainbow batted for her team, or at least was open to the idea, and that she was definitely single. Possible homewrecker tendencies aside, Lightning reasoned she could deal with that.

Easy girl, Lightning thought to herself. One step at a time.

Stepping a little closer, Lightning wrapped her arms around Rainbow and pulled her into a hug. Rainbow shivered slightly, going rigid, and for a moment Lightning was afraid she’d moved too quickly, too suddenly, but then she felt Rainbow’s arms go around her and return the embrace as Rainbow let her head fall onto Lightning’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell a soul,” Lightning said quietly as she patted Rainbow’s back. “Us tough girls gotta watch out for each other, right?”

Rainbow Dash nodded sullenly into Lightning’s shoulder as she took a few deep breaths to calm herself.

For Lightning’s part, she was just happy things were working out in her favor. Who knew having most of her dirty laundry aired out could end up working out in her favor?

Stepping back, Lightning smiled at Rainbow and clapped her hand against Rainbow’s shoulder again.

“Hey, c’mon, don’t look so down, okay?” Lightning said with a smirk. “Even if all your other friends drop you I’m pretty sure you and me will still be bickering and butting heads til the heat death of the universe.”

For the first time in a while, Rainbow Dash laughed and nodded. “Heh, yeah… I guess so, huh?” Wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand, she held out her fist to Lightning. “With enemies like us, who needs friends, right?”

“Best enemies forever?” Lightning asked with a small laugh. “I can get behind that,” she replied as she knocked her knuckles against Rainbow’s hand. “So… let’s get down to kicking your ass on the field, looks like you could use some practice if those crap kicks were anything to go by.”

Rainbow tightened her grip on Lightning’s hand, making the sporty girl flinch as Rainbow chuckled. “Hey, I was distracted, but when you and I are competing my eye is always, always on you.”

Lightning knew what Rainbow meant, but it still made her heart leap into her throat a little, so she just nodded. She didn’t say anything, certainly not the word that leapt to her mouth the moment Rainbow said those words; instead Lightning forcing a chuckled.

“Ga~y.”

Rainbow Dash flushed and swatted at Lightning Dust before sprinting past her, the ball dribbling between her feet with a crowing laugh of victory. Lightning let out a snarling laugh, quickly following behind and taking up the place she’d been in since the two of them had first sparked their rivalry: chasing Rainbow Dash.

Author's Note

IT'S BACK!

Also I want to note that I base Storm King a little more off of the comics/short novels version of the character; he's a lot more serious and sinister there than he is in the movie. You really get the feeling he has more of a plan in those stories rather than the slightly haphazard character from the film. Not that I didn't love the character, but he was definitely a cartoon villain :twilightsmile:

16. Rebel Just For Kicks

Author's Note

CW: some violence/abuse in the second half.
Read this blog post for more if you want some context before diving in.

16. Rebel Just For Kicks

~South Central Las Pegasus, January 16th, Early Morning~

As ready as Sunset had been to leave immediately for Canterlot to try and start dealing with whatever perceived threat that Storm had been engineering from a distance, the truth was that beyond the relatively quick check ins she needed to do with both her new friends and her ex-friends, she didn’t have a lot to go off of. Tempest and Summer had convinced her to hold off on leaving for a few days to spend some time in Las Pegasus while they reached out to their own small network of contacts in the hopes of turning up something a little more concrete to work off of.

It had taken a great deal of convincing and, surprisingly, a lot of it ended up coming from Gilda who, while anxious, trusted her old crew to turn up some leads.

That and Sunset suspected that Gilda wanted to have a chance to spend some more time with the woman she had ostracised for so long. Tempest and Gilda had spent almost the entirety of the day after Sunset and Gilda had met with Storm sitting around in the living room and talking. Sunset had drifted in and out of it, spending much of it lying on the couch with her head in Gilda’s lap listening to the two of them reminisce.

Their adventures in their youth had been… strange to listen to. Sunset could hear the laughter behind both Tempest and Gilda’s voices as they spoke about surprisingly terrible sounding things: running from police, fights with other gangbangers, even shootouts, though that last one had more been in Tempest’s library of odd tales rather than Gilda’s.

On that note, Sunset learned that the human body could be shot a surprising number of times in an equally surprising number of places without dying. She never would have believed that Tempest still had a bullet lodged in her skull if she hadn’t seen the lump for herself, which had really made her skin crawl.

Gilda had just laughed it off as part of ‘the life’.

Sunset remembered Tempest admiring how Gilda’s skin was mostly unblemished; not because she hadn’t been in danger, but because Gilda had always been too fast to catch and too quick to shoot.

Apparently Gilda’s speed and reaction time had been well known enough among the South Central ‘bangers that, whenever they saw a flash of silver, they’d say it was the ‘griffon flying by’.

If Sunset was being honest with herself… she wasn’t sure if she was terrified by proxy at how close to death Gilda had probably come in those years, or just happy she survived it.

That was why she was so lost in thought, lying in bed beside her snoozing girlfriend who was lying shirtless on her stomach, snoring softly and curled up against a pillow on the bed they were sharing in Tempest and Summer’s home.

Sunset stared at the smooth, dark skin of Gilda’s back, slowly reaching over to trace a pale amber finger down Gilda’s spine as she lost herself in thought.

‘How much of you am I missing, Gil?’ Sunset thought to herself as she sighed quietly, not wanting to disturb the slumbering beauty beside her.

Gilda and Tempest had been up til the wee hours talking and chatting, drinking and smoking the whole while. Sunset had been shocked at how many people had come in and out of the house over the course of the evening. All shapes, sizes, colors, and ages of folks had walked in just to stop by and say hi, most hadn’t even been aware that Gilda was in town much less that she and Sunset were staying with Tempest. At one point she recalled an older marexican woman coming in, leaving, then returning with an entire platter of fresh tamales.

It had easily been some of the best food Sunset had ever had, and she was counting her time in Equestria when she’d had access to the palace kitchens.

The warmth, the laughter… it all jarred with the images she had in her head of people who willingly engaged in a life of crime. Even as an orphan she had still been raised in the heart of Canterlot where crime was practically non-existent and vilified to the extreme. Once she had crossed over and gone ‘bad’ she still had never gone as far as to use physical violence on someone beyond shoving a nerd in a locker now and then. Something about the notion of truly hurting someone else was abhorrent to her sensibilities.

Knowing that she was surrounded by people who, very likely, had blood on their hands in numbers that cracked the double digits did not play well with those same sensibilities.

And yet…

“I still fell in love with you…” Sunset whispered, gently caressing Gilda’s back and feeling that familiar warmth in her heart as she did so. “I feel in love with a girl who…”

A chilling thought flickered through Sunset’s mind unbidden.

‘I wonder if Gilda ever killed anyone?’ Sunset bit her lip as the thought passed through her head and stuck fast like a leech. ‘Would it matter? Would it… make a difference? Would it change… us?’

A huge part of Sunset wanted to scream ‘yes’ but, the rest of her… ‘What does it mean if it does make a difference?’

“Why can’t my life ever be simple?” Sunset lamented quietly. “I can’t ever have the easy way in or out of anything, huh?”

‘And why would I want it that way?’ Sunset thought, a little more fiercely. ‘If I hadn’t had all of this crap happen to me then I’d never have met Gilda… there’s no way I’d give her up for any amount of ‘ease’ in my life.’

Gilda let out a cute snort and rolled over, flopping an arm over Sunset’s side and, as usual, curling around Sunset the instant Gilda came into contact with her. Sunset suppressed a giggle as Gilda sleepily cocooned herself around her girlfriend, burying her face in Sunset’s hair as she held the redhead tightly.

“You’re adorable,” Sunset said quietly, unable to keep from grinning like an idiot. “And I love you so much…”

Sunset closed her eyes and let her mind wander nowhere in particular as she let her slumbering girlfriend snooze.

At least, she did right up until Gilda started contentedly chewing on Sunset’s hair.

“Oh hell no,” Sunset groused as she peeled herself out of Gilda’s grip, reclaiming the now slightly soggy lock of hair Gilda had claimed. “That’s disgusting, baby,” Sunset said to the blissfully unaware Gilda.

Gilda responded by snorting again, rolling back over, grabbing a pillow that she resolutely began chewing on the corner of, and muttering something incoherent about ‘real ass bitches’.

Sunset clapped a hand over her mouth as she snorted out a laugh.

“Ugh… you’re lucky you’re so cute when you’re asleep or I’d flick your nose for trying to eat my hair.” Sunset said after a moment before reaching out and running a hand through Gilda’s hair. “Heh, you really are getting kinda shaggy…”

Sidling to the edge of the bed, Sunset reached out and pulled her chair closer, grabbing the clothes she tossed onto the seat of it. Getting dressed was a chore that Sunset never looked forward to, but it was certainly something she had come to terms with. It wasn’t as easy as it used to be and it never would be, but the way she was now was the new normal for her and, with Gilda’s help and support, she’d mostly gotten used to it.

It was early enough in the morning that the rest of the household, which consisted entirely of Tempest and Summer, were still asleep, but Sunset had always had a janky sleep schedule. Not wanting to go back to sleep, Sunset rolled towards the bathroom and got into the shower. Gilda had grabbed a plastic stool from somewhere to serve temporarily as a seat, though Tempest had promised to find something more permanent, probably hoping they’d come visit more often. Either way it was nice, the shower was bigger than Gilda’s so she had significantly less trouble than normal.

The warm water cascaded over Sunset’s face and shoulders as she hummed contentedly. Songs tumbled like droplets from her lips as she drifted from one musician to the next, though she consciously avoided anything she and the Rainbooms had played.

“What am I going to do?” Sunset mumbled, spitting out a mouthful of water as she did. “Do I even want to forgive them?”

Going through the process of scrubbing herself down, Sunset mused on the subject. Surprisingly, she found herself feeling a lot less vitriolic towards her ex-friends than she once did, Rainbow Dash notwithstanding.

The betrayal stung, sure, and Sunset considered the fact that it might always sting. Trust, once broken, was exceedingly hard to mend… she knew that one personally.

“Maybe I should give them a second chance…” Sunset said softly to herself as she cranked the water off and grabbed the towel that she set nearby on the counter. “I got one… even if it turned out to be a bit half-assed, it still gave me the chance to turn myself around… maybe…”

Sunset buried her face in the towel and groaned loudly. Gilda had been right, it would be a shitload easier to just cut ties with them. Ignore them forever, forget they ever existed, and just move on with her life. Live and let live… she didn’t have to hold a grudge but that didn’t mean she had to ever interact with them again, right? It would be easy to just… not do it.

“But isn’t that why I stayed?” Sunset grumbled, toweling herself dry before pulling on her underwear. “I stayed here because I didn’t want to have the easy excuse of transdimensional distance that would let me ignore all of this shit and here I am still trying to find fucking excuses…” Sunset grimaced as she pulled on her leggings and sweater. “Written’s Quill… it’s a good thing I stuck around, I apparently haven’t changed at fucking all when it comes to not wanting to do hard stuff.”

Settling into her chair, Sunset rolled out into the hallway towards the stairs, grumbling slightly as she stopped in front of them.

“Alright… time to give this a shot…” Sunset said quietly, cracking her knuckles and flexing her fingers. “Casting with hands is so weird… horns are much more efficient.”

Taking a deep breath, Sunset stretched out her arms and closed her eyes, concentrating on the flow of magic within her. It had been easier to access since her flare but there was still some distance. She certainly wasn’t up to par with what she used to be able to do back before she turned human.

Still, she had her magic… she’d been leery about using it on herself, though mostly because Sunset knew that it functioned differently in the human world than it did in Equestria.

Evening out her breathing, Sunset curled her fingers, feeling out the flows of magical energy around her and twisting them around her.

Sweat began to bead on her forehead as she dredged more and more magic from the air around her. Canterlot had a much stronger ambient magical field thanks to the bleedover effects from the portal and all of the magical shenanigans she and the girls had gotten up to.

Las Pegasus had no such benefit, so pulling in any kind of power from the area was like trying to squeeze water out of a rock.

“C’mon… c’mon…” Sunset groaned, before feeling a slight shift below her.

The wheels of her chair moved, driven by a telekinetic cushion she was creating on the wheels themselves, driving her forward towards the stairs. The moment of truth came a moment later as she tipped off the lip of the first step on the stairs, but rather than tilt all the way down to a disastrous fall, her chair stabilised on the artificial ramp she was creating using her telekinesis.

“Oh come on,” Sunset spat as her body started to shake from the metaphysical exhaustion. “You’re the best sorceress in a century, Shimmer, you can get yourself down a flight of fucking stairs!”

Her wheels turned slowly, buoyed by the kinetic cushion as she rolled past the halfway point. The dark part of her brain chuckled as she noted that at least if she fucked up now she probably wouldn’t fall far enough to break her neck. It wasn’t the fear of injury that was driving her though, it was mostly just anger and frustration. Sunset was sick to death of stopping at stairs and if she could manage going down just a single… stupid… flight…

“Got it!” Sunset let out a gasping breath as her chair thumped to the floor, free of her telekinetic control. “That was a lot harder than I was hoping it would be…”

There had been a reason she had used the old, and mostly out of style, method of runecrafting to serve as a containment barrier for her and Gilda’s practices. Imbuing magical energy into a stable object and letting it charge up like a battery was easy enough, same with spells that only required sudden bursts of energy, since she could supply that from her own wellspring.

But continuous spells? Anything that required a constant flow of magic was almost instantly a non-starter, Sunset had discovered. The ambient magical field of the world was getting stronger but it just wasn’t enough to keep any kind of complex spell matrix stable. In fact it was barely strong enough to maintain a basic telekinetic matrix. Runes served because they had a physical anchor, the rune was the matrix and so long as it remained whole and unbroken the spell would function.

Not everything could be runecast though. Telekinesis required constant micromanagement of power flow and output, direction, and a dozen other minute things that a rune simply lacked the complexity for. Sunset considered it a bit of an irony that the most basic spell that literally any unicorn in Equestria could use was almost completely out of reach for her on earth, but she could totally build a fully functional magical containment cell if she needed to.

“I barely managed to maneuver myself in a straight line,” Sunset grumbled as she rolled towards the door. “I used to be able to make boulders do backflips.”

Opening up the door, Sunset rolled out into the cool morning air of Las Pegasus. True to form it still had the telltale stink of smog that seemed to cloud everything around the area. A kind of metal, chemical smell that made the former unicorn’s nose itch. Even Detrot wasn’t as bad as this and it was the industrial heart of Equestria.

It made Sunset really leery about ever visiting this world’s version of the city.

“Yo! Que onda, chica?”

Sunset turned to see Bar Hop waving from the street, a messenger bag slung over his shoulder.

“Morning, Hop,” Sunset called back with a small smile.

Bar Hop was one of those who had gone the extra mile to try and make Sunset feel welcome. Sunset suspected a part of it was because he knew how uncomfortable she was around the rest of Gilda’s ‘family’. He acted as a bit of an ambassador, and Sunset did like him.

It was just that… little hang up she had.

“What are you doing up so early?” Sunset asked, rolling carefully down the steps of the porch and just accepting the bumps rather than risking giving herself a migraine to float down them.

“Eh, ain’t early, chica, it’s late,” Hop replied with a grin. “Can’t be early if ya ain’t been t’sleep yet.”

“Big project?” Sunset asked wryly.

Bar Hop shrugged. “Yeah, you could say that… just doin’ some taggin’ and it’s best t’get that shit done at night, y’know?”

“Tagging? You mean graffiti?” Sunset asked, rolling up to his side.

“Somethin’ like that,” Bar Hop replied, holding out his bag. Sunset could smell the chemical paints from a few feet away and when she looked in she saw it was filled to the brim with different cans of spray paint. “We tag our territory, then some greenhorns from another gang’ll tag over it to prove they hot shit, y’know? Then we gotta tag it all over again.”

“Sounds annoying,” Sunset replied with a chuckle.

Bar Hop shook his head. “More like a test, y’know? Real dangerous one, maybe, but it’s still sorta like a test. Like, ‘how far can y’push your luck before the other gang wises up’ right?”

“Sounds a little too benign,” Sunset retorted wryly.

“Eh… yeah,” Bar Hop rubbed the back of his head and chuckled. “Well, y’know… tag in the wrong part’a town… go too deep inta another gangs turf… yeah…. Definitely gonna get got, y’know?”

“Thought so…” Sunset replied, trailing off as she glanced up at the window of her and Gilda’s room.

Sunset shifted in surprise as a hand settled on her shoulder and she looked up at Bar Hop who was grinning down at her. “Hey, c’mon, chica… ain’t that bad… this life ain’t f’everyone… hell, this life ain’t f’anyone who wants t’live a long life, y’know? S’good that Gilda got outta it when she could.”

“Did she?” Sunset asked, directing her gaze up at Hop. “Did she get out? Because as far as I can tell nothing about this life has left her… she just, I dunno, got some distance on it by moving to Canterlot… and then it friggin’ followed her there!”

Bar Hop sighed, but nodded. “Yeah… truth is… once y’in this life it’s pretty hard to get outta it f’good, y’know? Always someone y’knew in the old days poppin’ up, I guess.” Sunset nodded, remembering Tempest’s sudden appearance. “But…” Bar Hop continued, “nice thing is that if you’re ever in that spot… y’got a family t’turn to, y’know? Y’always got someone willin’ t’take ya in.”

“Yeah… family…” Sunset said in a low voice. “Family is overrated.”

“Bullshit, cielito, even you don’t believe that,” Bar Hop scoffed, drawing a glare from Sunset.

“Excuse me?!” Sunset snapped. “Who the hell are you to tell me what I believe?”

Bar Hop chuckled, holding up his hands as he laughed. “Hey, don’t bite my head off, I’m just callin’ it like it is, chica. ‘Cause anyone who really thought family was overrated wouldn’t be tryin’ t’start one, y’know?”

Bar Hop looked pointedly down at Sunset’s right hand, specifically the finger where a little copper band gleamed in the early morning sunlight. Sunset blushed vividly as she clenched her fingers closed, her left hand coming up to fidget with the small band nervously.

“Ain’t ‘zactly keepin’ it secret,” Hop said with a small laugh. “Wouldn’t even need t’see the ring to see how ya feel ‘bout Gilda, though, y’know?”

“Yeah… I guess so,” Sunset said after a moment of silence. “Family… it’s a loaded word for me, is all, savvy?”

“Fair enough,” Hop replied. “So why ya havin’ such a problem with us, ‘eh? This ain’t about Gilda, right, this ‘bout us… you’n me and all the other Brujah. Is it ‘cause we’re bangers?”

Sunset grimaced at the direct question. Normally she preferred direct, it made reacting a lot simpler. In this case, though, it was… problematic. Was it just because they were bangers? The ‘criminal element’? Something that Sunset had tried to avoid falling into for a long time… something that she didn’t want to be a part of because it didn’t fit with the person she wanted to be.

A good person.

Except… ‘Gilda is the best person I’ve ever known,’ Sunset thought to herself, glancing back up at the window. ‘What kind of heinous bitch am I that I… devalue that? Just because of where she was raised… and where she grew up.’

“It’s like a blockage in my head,” Sunset said finally. “Like every time I try to get my head around the facts there’s that asshole part of me that kicks me in the teeth and says ‘but they’re criminals’ and shit like that. I hate it, and I know it’s wrong but…”

“Hey, I get it,” Hop said with a chuckle. “Ain’t no different from us, y’know? I look at you and it’s kinda hard t’see anything but a prissy princess, but… I dunno, I trust Gilda right? Like, I don’t think Gilda’d fall head over fuckin’ heels for someone who’d look down on’er.”

“So that’s it?” Sunset asked wryly. “Just ‘trust Gilda’?”

“Nah,” Hop answered, waving a hand dismissively. “If that’d work I figure ya wouldn’ta had the issue in the first place, y’know? Hey… I got an idea… I ain’t crashin’ yet, let’s go taggin’.”

Sunset’s jaw dropped open at the offer as Bar Hop started digging around the pack he was carrying and tossed her a few cans of paint. “C’mon chica, let’s getcha feet wet, maybe show ya ‘round.”

“Get my feet wet with what?” Sunset said with a slightly nervous laugh, looking down at the two cans of spray paint in her hands. “A little light vandalism?”

“Yup,” Hop replied with a shameless grin. “And ‘sides, ain’t really vandalism, y’know? I see it like a public service, y’know? Brighten up all that gray-ass concrete.”

Bar Hop gestured towards the city and around the neighborhood. It was true, Sunset mused, that without the riotous splashes of color from the graffiti that was on almost every surface she could spy, the area would be almost oppressively dull. Glancing one more time back up at the window where Gilda was snoozing, Sunset smiled.

‘Maybe it’s time I really take a step into Gilda’s world…’ Sunset thought, before turning back to Hop.

“Y’know… sure,” Sunset said with a laugh. “I always did like painting anyway.”

“That’s the spirit, cielito,” Hop crowed, backpedaling and gesturing for Sunset to follow him. “C’mon, let’s go paint the town!”

+======+

Gilda opened her eyes, the dull cloying warmth of the afternoon sun making the siren call of the bed all the louder. Yawning and closing her eyes to settle back into slumber, Gilda rolled over, blindly reaching for the other half of her world.

Her arms closed on nothing, and Gilda frowned. Opening her eyes again, Gilda scanned the room. It was empty of both redhead and wheelchair, as was the other side of the bed where Sunset had gone to sleep beside her the night before.

Morning before…

“Ugh… guess we did stay up pretty late,” Gilda grumbled as she peeled herself out of bed, sweat from the warm day covering her body.

Staring down at the empty space of the bed, Gilda felt a shiver run down her spine and pit open in her stomach. She didn’t like that… not one bit; waking up to an empty bed felt downright awful. A shudder ran through Gilda’s frame as she felt an alien sensation kick up inside her.

Fear.

“S-Sunshine?” Gilda called out, and Gilda hated the way her voice hitched.

There was no answer to her call. Feeling a touch of panic spark through her limbs like electricity Gilda got out of bed and dressed quickly, only paying close enough attention to ensure her clothes were the right way ‘round and she didn’t end up trying to put on a sweater instead of trousers.

“Hey, Sunny!” Gilda called stepping out of the room and looking around. Again, there was no sign of her. “Sunny!”

A bell rang in the distance, and Gilda scowled. It sounded odd, like an old church bell almost. Not that you’d be able to hear something like that over all the traffic and shouting that made up most of South Central…

Gilda’s eyes widened slightly as her ears perked up.

The traffic… the shouting…

It was gone.

There was just silence… Gilda felt a sliver of real fear fix hard in her heart as she looked around in a panic. There was no sound at all but her own footsteps, her own heartbeat that thundered in her ears.

“Sunshine!” Gilda yelled, her voice echoing strangely in the air around her as the bell tolled again, this time it was closer.

Gilda scrambled through the house, checking every room on the second floor only to be greeted by the same sight. Empty chairs, empty tables, empty beds. She stumbled down the stairs, looking around in a panic, the living room was empty, the kitchen was too. The oven was cold and there was only the faint buzzing of the fluorescent lights that needed changing to break the absolute silence. There was no one in the house, there was no sound outside, there was… nothing.

Limbs shaking, Gilda swallowed hard and called out again. “S-Sunflower? C’mon… where are you?”

Her voice was weak and quavered as Gilda moved through the empty hall to the front door. She felt like a child, Gilda shook as she reached for the door.

“You… y’promised you wouldn’t ever leave me,” Gilda sobbed softly, wiping at her eyes that had begun to leak tears, much to her frustration. “Where are-”

The door handle ripped out of Gilda’s hand, causing her to stagger back, a cry of shock on her lips as she fell to her ass on the ground. The door slammed open and Gilda’s eyes flew wide as she stared up at the towering figure of her foster father. Thunder and lightning cracked and boomed outside of the house as the air was suddenly filled with the smell of rain and stink of ozone.

Those ice-blue chips that were Storm’s eyes bored into Gilda as she shook violently under his gaze.

Something crackled and choked in his hands, and Gilda finally tore her eyes from Storm’s face to look down.

Sunset struggled in vain in his grip. Storm’s broad, heavy hand fastened firmly around her throat, choking the life out of her almost casually as his arms hung by his side. Sunset thrashed and a dry, dark chuckle escaped Storms lips as he stalked forward towards Gilda.

“Let her go!” Gilda voice's sounded cracked and weak.

“I’ll ‘appen I can manage that, sprog,” Storm said in a laughing tone, before throwing Sunset’s screaming form to Gilda’s feet.

Gilda scrambled to her knees to try and catch her, but Sunset clattered to the ground inches from Gilda’s hands, choking, battered, and with a bruised neck, her legs sprawled uselessly behind her. A wordless cry of grief escaped her lips as she moved to Sunset’s side.

“Ey up, sprog.”

Gilda glanced up in time to see the barrel of a gun pointed straight at her.

No, not at her. It was several inches too low… it was pointed at-

The gun barked and jerked, Gilda screamed, and in the distance a bell tolled.

+======+

“SUNSET!” Gilda shrieked, kicking and snapping her limbs before jerking to the side and falling roughly out of bed with a dull thump.

Tangled in the bedsheets, breathing hard, and staring up at the ceiling as she lay on her back, Gilda gasped for breath, shaking violently as the world came back into focus for her. Tears traced down Gilda’s cheeks to her lips and she tasted salt on her tongue. Her hand closed hard around the sheets before rising up to cover her face as she let out a harsh, wracking sob.

The door to their bedroom creaked open, but Gilda was far too gone to notice. She only realised she was no longer alone when a warm pair of arms wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her in to a close embrace.

“Hey now, sha,” Summer’s voice whispered lightly. “You a’right, Gil? C’mon… talk t’me.”

Gilda couldn’t speak, her whole body was shaking as she gripped Summer tightly and sobbed into her shoulder.

“Dem night terrors again, sha?” Summer asked softly. “Thought you was past’em, hon.”

Shaking her head silently, Gilda hugged Summer tight. “D-Dreamt’a Sunset… dyin’... it was so fuckin’ real… I felt’er… felt’er jerk when the gunshot hit’er… Pops… he was standin’ over us laughin’.”

“Oh darlin’,” Summer said softly. “S’okay… y’pops still rottin’ in jail right where he belongs, an’ ya jeina is jus’ fine, ah promise.”

At the mention of Sunset, Gilda looked up and around. A stab of panic shot through her as she failed to spy the tell-tale red flash of hair she was looking for. Her ragged nerves rattled as she staggered drunkenly out of Summer’s grip.

“Sunset!” Gilda cried, moving with stumbling footfalls only to be caught by another set of arms, muscular and strong.

“Tranquila!” Tempest said as she gripped Gilda by her shoulders. “Sunset is out with Bar Hop in town, she’s fine, we spoke less than an hour ago.”

Gilda took several gulping breaths, blinking away tears as she tried to push away the panic. For some reason it wouldn’t go away.

“She… she left?” Gilda asked. “W-why?”

Tempest crooked an eyebrow curiously. “Boredom? Call of nature? You’ve been asleep most of the day, Grifa, it’s almost three in the afternoon.”

“I…” Gilda looked out the window, relaxing a little, enough that Tempest let go of her. “I didn’t… fuck, what the hell’s wrong with me?”

Bringing a hand up to cover her face as she took several deep breaths. Ever since the two of them had spoken to Storm Gilda had barely left Sunset’s side. Now that Sunset had gone out it was like her brain wouldn’t calm down. Her nerves were rattling and her heart was thundering.

Tempest and Summer shared an uneasy look as Gilda stepped back and dropped onto the bed as she buried her face in her hands.

“H-Hey, sha…” Summer walked over and sat beside Gilda, putting an arm over her shoulder. “Since ya’ll came back from San Tornado ya’aint hardly let Sunset outta ya sight… maybe… maybe dey’s a reason f’that?”

Gilda shrugged Summer’s arm off of her shoulders and stood, forcing herself to calm down before looking back at Summer.

“Sunny’s a big girl,” Gilda shot back, scowling. “She don’t need me t’hold’er hand, savvy? If she wants to go out’n see the city a bit it ain’t a problem.”

Pushing past Summer and Tempest, grabbing a change of clothes she’d left on the top of the dresser as she did, Gilda stalked down the hall to the shower. Her whole body was slick with cold sweat and she wanted it off of her. It reminded her of the dream she had just had and… she wanted to feel clean.

Slamming the bathroom door shut, Gilda cranked the hot water on and tossed the clothes onto the counter before dropping to the floor, breathing hard as her limbs shook.

“What… what th’fuck is wrong with me?” Gilda gasped.

Her whole body was buzzing, pins and needles danced across her extremities such that she could hardly feel her own limbs and her vision was tunneling. No matter what she couldn’t get that last image out of her mind, the last sight she had before waking up.

Sunset lying still, bleeding out her last in Gilda’s lap, a bullet hole in the back of her skull, and Storm cackling over the both of them.

Gilda’s stomach heaved and she scrambled for the toilet, retching into it as her body violently rejected the image. Breathing hard, Gilda leaned against the rim of the toilet, her head braced against the cool porcelain as warm mist filled the bathroom. For a few minutes she stayed where she was, feeling a little better, but still rattled.

After she’d collected her nerves, Gilda stood and peeled off her sleep pants before stepping into the shower, hissing as the hot water scoured away the sweat that was plastered across her body. Normally a hot shower, even a short one, helped her relax, but Gilda’s brain wouldn’t stop buzzing like an insistent alarm, a reminder, and a constant tugging drive that all repeated the same thing.

Find Sunset.

“Fuck it,” Gilda snapped, scrubbing herself clean hastily before stepping out of the shower, shivering in the cooler air, before rapidly drying herself off and pulling on her jeans, sweater, and socks.

A moment later Gilda was out of the bathroom and down the stairs, her towel still draped over her damp, shaggy white hair as she stopped at the bottom step and started pulling on her socks with her boots following quickly.

“Hey! Where ya goin’, Grifa?” Tempest leaned over the railing on the second floor, looking down at Gilda. “Ya ain’t even eaten yet.”

“I’ll get somethin’ from a cart,” Gilda shouted. “I’m goin’ t’find Sunshine!”

Tempest grimaced. “C’mon Grifa, y’jeina’s just fine!”

“Do I sound like I fuckin’ care?” Gilda retorted angrily as she stood, knocking her heels against the floor to straighten out her boot. “I’ll call ya later!”

Tossing the towel aside, Gilda was out the door like a silver flash, the old motions of her running coming back to her quickly and easily. Skipping over the porch stairs and landing on the grass yard, knees bent and body angled forward, Gilda kicked off against the ground, keeping her momentum powering her straight.

Part of her considered taking her bike, but she had no idea precisely where in town Sunset was. That and she didn’t want to park in the town itself, that was like asking someone to steal her ride. It was safe in the ‘hood, but that rule pretty much ended with the street that Summer and Tempest lived on.

So instead Gilda hit the pavement like a hammer, her boots beating hard against the sidewalk as she sprinted towards town. Even after all the years she’d spent away, South Central hadn’t changed all that much. She knew the streets, alleys, and bends just as well today as she did four years ago. There were probably a few changes, but Gilda didn’t anticipate much. Nothing really got fixed in this godforsaken town, not unless some rich asshole was gonna profit off of it.

Gilda pulled her phone from her pocket as the neighborhood blurred past her, shooting a quick text to Bar Hop in the old shorthand code the King’s runners used to keep in contact; a quick request for location and status.

A moment later, Gilda’s phone gave a sharp ‘ding’ as Bar Hop replied. Scanning the scramble of letters, Gilda smiled; they weren’t far… right on the edge of Brujah territory and a place that used to be major King’s stomping ground. A place that both Gilda and Hop knew well enough that no one would get the drop on them. Taking a hard right down an alley, Gilda sprinted at the chain link fence at the end of the alley, kicking up and rebounding off of the wall, Gilda vaulted and rolled over the top of the fence, her body missing the teeth of the links by inches as she coiled her body to embrace the impact of her landing.

Hitting the ground and rotating to bleed out her downward force, Gilda turned and kicked off again, sprinting down the sideroad and towards the small back-alley that Bar Hop had reported as their location.

Throughout the run, Gilda could only focus on one thing; Sunset. Up until the point where she had taken off at a dead sprint out the door to find Sunset, Gilda’s whole body had been practically vibrating with nervous energy. Once she was on her way to where she knew Sunset was she suddenly felt right.

Or at least she felt better.

“What the fuck is wrong with me,” Gilda muttered again as she turned a corner, scanning the streets for tags or marks that would suggest she’d stepped onto the wrong sort of street. Spying a Brujah mark, she nodded to herself and continued on. “Why am I so fuckin’ nuts over this shit? Sunset is fine… she’s just fuckin’ fine…”

No matter how much she repeated it to herself it was like Gilda’s brain wouldn’t accept it. Nothing short of seeing Sunset in person, holding her close, drowning the fear in the scent of lilacs and cherries, would do.

Despite her anger at herself for what she knew was indulging a stupid, pointless action, Gilda couldn’t help but smile as she spotted the alley that Bar Hop and Sunset were supposedly occupying. As she approached she could hear the telltale sound of a spray can being unloaded in copious amounts. Before she could reach the mouth of the alley, though, Bar Hop stepped out, looking around for a moment before spotting Gilda and trotting up to her.

“Yo, Gil!” Hop waved Gilda down, grinning. “You okay girl?”

“Y-yeah,” Gilda gasped, suddenly realising how out of breath she was. She’d crossed multiple neighborhoods in the span of ten minutes, and Gilda only realised that her body was not used to that speed anymore as her vision doubled. “Woah, shit… I’m way outta fuckin’ shape.”

“Heh, been a minute, ‘ey Grifa?” Hop laughed, clapping Gilda on the back as she leaned on her knees and took deep breaths. “Still fast as shit, though… you run all the way from Temp’s place?”

“Yeah… where… where’s Sunshine?” Gilda asked, looking around and trying to keep her nerves from showing on her face.

Bar Hop silently cocked a thumb over his shoulder. “Oh man, you gotta see this shit, Grifa… I thought I was good but damn, y’wife is somethin’ else.”

Gilda blushed furiously as she stood, and swatted Bar Hop across the shoulder. “We ain’t married yet, y’fuck.”

“Heh, don’t matter t’us, Gil,” Bar Hop laughed as he turned to walk back to the alley, gesturing for Gilda to follow. “Everyone’s already callin’er y’wife, anyway. They way y’act ‘round’er? C’mon Gil, s’all over the ‘hood a’ready, y’feel?”

“Godammit,” Gilda spat sullenly. “Ain’t like it’s any’a their fuckin’ business, savvy?”

“C’mon, Gil,” Hop admonished, nudging his shoulder against hers. “We’re y’family… we just want ya t’be happy, and Sunset? Seems like she makes ya real happy… s’a good thing.”

“Ugh… yeah, I know,” Gilda groaned as she got to the mouth of the alley only to be stopped by Bar Hop. “Oy, if you’re stoppin’ me from seein’ my ‘wife’ y’gonna loose that hand, Hop.”

“Nah, nah, ain’t like that,” Hop laughed. “Just… y’know, don’t distact’er, she’s somethin’ else, like I said… look.”

Gilda took a few steps forward and followed Bar Hop’s finger as he pointed down the alley. Gilda’s eyes widened as she spotted what he was talking about. Halfway down the alley sat Sunset, a black ball cap on her head and a black bandana tied around her mouth and nose to protect her from the fumes of the cans.

Gilda’s eyes widened; if she hadn’t known who she was looking at she would’ve thought it was a member of the Brujah. Sunset’s fingers were stained slightly with various colors of paint, droplets splattered her shirt, bandana, and hat, and a cigarette hung, smoldering and half-forgotten, tucked behind her ear.

The work in front of Sunset was what really distracted Gilda though. It was as good as any veteran tagger’s work. A tree stretched out across the full gray wall, it’s branches curling and twisting. Hanging from the largest branches like odd fruit were symbols.

A musical clef with a shining orange gem superimposed over it.

A royal purple treble clef.

A set of mirrored and bridged eighth notes.

A fretboard backed by a stylized heart.

And at the trunk of the tree, done in much greater detail and size, was a symbol that Gilda recognised easily. The same one that had ended up etched onto the back of her gauntlets.

A downward-thrust spear, with wings stretched out from where the blade met the haft, arching upward along the length of the weapon to curl around a sun that had been divided in two halves, one red and one gold.

“Buen chido, ‘ey Grifa?” Hop said with a chuckle, nudging Gilda in the side as she stared slackjawed at the work of art in front of her.

“How th’fuck…” Gilda muttered.

“Toldja she was a natural,” Hop replied with a laugh.

Gilda just shook her head. “Nah, I ain’t surprised… my Sunshine’s pretty much good at everything, I mean literally how the fuck did she paint all the way up there?”

Bar Hop followed Gilda’s finger to where she pointed up to the higher parts of the tree, the tip of which was almost to the roof of the building she was painting on; over nine feet high.

“Ah. yeah…” Bar Hop chuckled a little uneasily. “Watchin’ that part was freaky as hell, man, you gotta let her show ya that one.” Without warning, Hop yawned massively, stretching his arms and rolling his shoulders. “A’right, well, since I figure ya’aint leavin’ anytime soon I’m gonna head home’n crash out, Gil, just make sure y’wife brings my paints back, nos vemos.”

“Chau,” Gilda muttered absently as Bar Hop clapped a hand on her back before taking off down the street.

Slowly, Gilda walked up to Sunset’s side as she was examining a part of the trees roots, occasionally spraying to fill in some part of it that Gilda couldn’t properly appreciate. She was standing to the side of Sunset for nearly five minutes before it occurred to Gilda that Sunset probably didn’t even know she was-

“Hand me the Tiffany Blue, Hop,” Sunset said absently, her voice muffled slightly by the bandana as she held out a hand and gestured without looking back.

Gilda chuckled, raising an eyebrow as she glanced down at the messenger bag at her feet. Fishing around for a moment, she pulled out two cans of blue paint that were slightly different shades. Hazarding a guess, Gilda held out one of the cans and set it in Sunset’s hand. She lifted it up and almost started spraying before stopping and scowling down at the can.

“That’s Argo, Hop,” Sunset grumbled before starting to turn. “I said Ti-”

“Yeah well, I can’t read that great, remember?” Gilda retorted, holding back a laugh as Sunset let out a strangled ‘eep’ of surprise before her face lit up an instant later.

“GIL!” Sunset cried out, pulling the bandana away and tossing the can back into the bag as she turned her chair around to roll over towards her girlfriend.

She needn’t have bothered, though. Gil surged forward and swept Sunset up in her arms, pulling her close and burying her face in Sunset’s shoulder before taking a deep breath. Sunset returned the embrace; a pang of worry shot through her, though, as she felt Gilda’s whole body release a massive amount of tension a moment later.

“Gil? Are you okay?” Sunset asked, pulling away slightly.

Gilda didn’t answer for several minutes, instead she just knelt, her head resting on Sunset’s shoulder and taking deep breaths.

She hadn’t properly realised it before but now that she was next to Sunset again, now that Gilda had Sunset in her arms, it was like her whole body had been on fire a moment ago and now she was back to normal. Her heart wasn’t slamming against her ribcage, her brain wasn’t buzzing and crackling, her hands weren’t tingling with pins and needles.

Everything was right again.

And everything was wrong.

“Somethin’s wrong with me, Sunshine,” Gilda muttered, pulling away as she spoke and dropping down to sit cross-legged on the filthy pavement. “Woke up today and… and I nearly had a fuckin’ heart attack when I couldn’t find ya.”

Sunset's eyes widened and Gilda could hear the desperate apology form on her lips. Before she could say anything, Gilda waved it away.

“Don’t say y’sorry, babe,” Gilda snapped, grimacing a little at how harshly her words had come out. “Shit… sorry, I just… look, babe, it ain’t your fault ya got bored and didn’t wanna wait for my lazy ass to crawl outta bed, savvy? Y’fine, a’right? You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Then what’s wrong?” Sunset asked, rolling a little closer so she could reach out and tangle her fingers into Gilda’s hair.

Gilda leaned into Sunset’s touch, closing her eyes and taking comfort in the feel of her girlfriend’s fingers trailing delicately along her temple and scalp.

“Dunno,” Gilda answered, eyes still closed. “Had a nightmare… real fuckin’ bad one… Pops tracked us down, he found ya… and he k-... k-...”

Gilda choked on the word, clenching her eyelids as the memory surged back into the forefront of her mind. Pulling away from Sunset, Gilda buried her face in her hands and shook, letting out a slow, painful breath.

“He made me watch…” Gilda said, her voice muffled. “He made me watch him hurt ya… and… fuck… it felt so fuckin’ real.”

Gilda’s only warning was a slight shifting from Sunset’s direction and quick ‘hup’ as Sunset heaved herself from her chair and landed squarely in Gilda’s lap, earning a startled shout of surprise. Before she could get any more out, though, Sunset wrapped her arms around Gilda’s neck and pulled herself up to press her lips to Gilda’s in a passionate kiss.

Sunset’s lips curved into a smile against Gilda’s as she felt Gilda melt into her, wrapping her arms gently around Sunset’s back and bringing a hand up to cradle her head.

After a few minutes, Gilda pulled away smiling and stood up, cradling Sunset in her arms.

“Hey there pretty lady,” Gilda said with a small chuckle in her voice.

Sunset grinned smugly up at Gilda, leaning in to give Gilda’s jawline a small peck. “Hey there…” Sunset replied.

“Sorry, I’m kinda wimping out on ya,” Gilda said quietly, walking over to Sunset’s chair and depositing her in it. “S’not like me…”

“I’ve told you before, Gil,” Sunset said, frowning slightly as she reached up and trailed her fingers across Gilda’s cheek, “you never, ever have to be ashamed of being ‘weak’ around me, remember? And for the record, it’s not weakness.”

“Then what is it?” Gilda grumbled, scowling sullenly. “I fuckin’ threw up ‘cause I was so messed up by that nightmare.”

“And that’s alright!” Sunset declared almost angrily. “You’re allowed to be scared, Gil! You’re afraid something might happen to me, right?” Sunset asked and Gilda gave a small nod. “Well good, because I’m scared too! I’m scared something will happen to you!”

Some of the wind went out of Sunset as she sagged slightly, staring down at the dirty concrete and frowning.

“Babe?” Gilda looked down at Sunset with concern, reaching out to tangle her fingers in Sunset’s red and gold locks.

“It’s just…”

Sunset considered just ignoring it, but pushed that notion away almost immediately. She’d spent too long ignoring how she felt about things and even longer not talking about it. Taking a deep breath, Sunset looked up at Gilda, fixing her gaze on Gilda’s bright golden eyes.

“Gilda… I should be the one you’re alright being weak around, y’know?” Sunset said softly. “Remember… remember our, uh, our first night ‘together’?”

Gilda blushed furiously and clammed up, but nodded.

“You told me you couldn’t lose me,” Sunset said quietly, fidgeting with her fingers, gripping and rubbing her hands together as she tried to work through her words. “You said you didn’t know what you’d ever do if I was ever just… not there one day, y’know?”

“Y-Yeah…” Gilda said in a subdued voice. “Every time I think’a you bein’ gone it… it fuckin’ kills me, Sunshine…”

“Well how do you think I feel?!” Sunset asked, tears starting to form in her eyes. “Your foster father is a psychopath and he basically raised your sister to hate you, so how do you think I feel about all of this ‘poking the hornet’s nest’ crap we’re doing?!”

“I know! A’right?! I know!” Gilda exclaimed, backing up and running her hands through her hair as she groaned with frustration. “I fuckin’ know it, Sunflower, but I can’t leave this alone, savvy? It’s my baby sister!”

“And I’m not asking you to,” Sunset responding, rolling forward and knocking a few cans of paint over. “I’m asking you to stop beating yourself up over the fact that you have normal feelings! Don’t you get it? That’s not you!”

“I’m me, Sunshine!” Gilda snapped, glaring at Sunset. “If it ain’t me then who is it?”

“Storm!”

Gilda flinched back at the single word that came out of Sunset’s mouth. Every inch of her brain wanted to clap back that it wasn’t Storm, that no part of her was Storm, but she knew that would be a lie. Even as Gilda started to refute it, she knew, but…

“Fuck…” Gilda swore, “why’s every fuckin’ thing about me gotta come back to that crazy asshole…”

“I’ts not everything,” Sunset said, rolling closer and taking Gilda’s hands. “Your love? That’s not Storm… that’s you. You and me? That happened because of you. You’re brave, kind, loyal… you’re incredible, Gilda, and I love you so much, but…” Sunset sighed, “I think I’m starting to see where some of your bad habits came from…”

Gilda nodded, wrapping her arms around herself and sighing. “I fuckin’ hate that… thinkin’ like some part’a me still… still listens to’im, y’know?”

“I know,” Sunset said, leaning back in her chair. “But it doesn’t make you less of a good person, it’s just… I dunno, something to get past, maybe?”

“Yeah, savvy,” Gilda agreed, stepping around Sunset’s chair to grab Bar Hop’s paints. “C’mon… we should head back.”

“Oh, wait, before we do I wanna show you something!” Sunset exclaimed, reaching out for the bag.

Gilda forked it over and Sunset dug around inside it until she pulled out a can of spray paint that was nearly teal. Pulling the bandana back up over her face, Sunset rolled towards the wall and gestured for Gilda to follow. Gilda obliged, stopping just behind Sunset as the redhead angled the can up.

Gilda scowled; she’d done her fair share of tagging and although she wasn’t particularly good at it even she knew you never fired the can upwards. All that ever did was give you a face full of paint… that was basic physics and Sunset had to know that.

So Gilda didn’t interfere. Sunset had to know what would happen so Gilda waited, watching closely.

Sure enough, just as Sunset's finger settled on the nozzle valve her left hand rose up adjacent to the can and moreover, it was limned in a faint, eldritch light. At the same moment that SUnset pressed down on the nozzle, she flicked her other hand and the cone of paint, rather than spraying outwards wildly, shot out in a focused line of paint. Sunset made several sharp movement as the paint emerged, and Gilda watched as the paint struck the wall perfectly to fill in the faint gaps and uneven parts she hadn’t even realised were there until Sunset fixed them.

“Well that’s one way t’use your magic, Sunflower,” Gilda said with a wry grin as Sunset pulled the bandana down from her face and grinned back up at Gilda. “Huh, who’da guess: Sunset Shimmer… tagger.”

“Eh… I was thinking more like… Graffiti Artist, y’know?” Sunset said with a laugh as she tucked away the last of the paints. “I’ll have to pick up some paints of my own now, though.”

“Gonna keep the hobby goin’?” Gilda asked, an eyebrow raised in surprise.

Sunset just shrugged and laughed a little. “Probably…” Sunset looked thoughtful for a moment before smiling more mischievously this time. “Say, Gil… the area around our flat is awfully gray, don’t you think?”

Gilda stared for several moments down at Sunset before bursting out laughing, shaking her head in disbelief as she held onto her ribs.

“Whatever you say, Sunshine,” Gilda said with a smile after getting her breath back. “Just don’t get arrested, savvy?”

“Haven’t caught me yet, babe,” Sunset shot back with a grin.

~Whitetail Neighborhood, January 21st, Afternoon~

“Shit!”

Electricity snapped and sparked off of the apparatus that Twilight and Zee had constructed several days ago that, theoretically, should have allowed them to analyse the gauntlets on a deeper level than before but had proven to be a spectacular, and expensive, failure. Twilight recoiled, glaring at her singed fingers as she staggered back, shaking her hand and sticking the burnt digits in her mouth.

“Damn it, that’s four hundred and twelve failed trials,” Twilight mumbled angrily around her finger, glaring at the pair of gauntlets that had been defying the efforts of both herself and Zee for over a week. “What are you?!”

Ever since she had started spending all of her free time with Zee, Twilight had expanded her vocabulary immensely, mostly in the form of curses and expletives both colorful and mundane. The work on the gauntlets had been a point of massive frustration, as every single angle of approach they took seemed to result in less than nothing, necessitating constant repairs to their equipment with almost nothing to show for it beyond discovering a new way that the belligerent old pieces of armored outerwear could electrocute them.

“C’mon, lass, y’talkin’ t’the metal again,” Zee said from her computer chair, chuckling a little as she spun around and leaned back so she was looking at Twilight upside-down. “Y’gonna burn y’self out at this rate, our lass…”

Twilight tensed, biting her lip to keep down her first response at Zee’s blithe commentary. It was a constant with the slender girl; Zee was a sardonic person by nature and her caustic humor bled over into almost everything. With that being said, over the almost two weeks that they’d been together Twilight could honestly say she had never been happier.

She had also never wanted to regularly strangle someone more.

“Well excuse me for wanting to finish up our life of crime as soon as possible!” Twilight snapped in annoyance, before turning back to the apparatus, grabbing the soldering iron she had begun keeping near it for spot repairs. “Unlike you, apparently!”

Zee narrowed her eyes at Twilight’s tone, spinning back around to face Twilight as she stood up from her chair, stalking over to where Twilight had turned her back to Zee.

Angled away as she was, Twilight missed the flash of green and black that sparked over Zee’s eyes, and the faint hint of dark mist that slipped out from beneath her eyelids as she scowled.

“‘Ey, don’t you fuckin’ talk t’me like that, pet,” Zee growled as she stomped up to Twilight who was ignoring her to work the machine. “Hey!’” Zee grabbed Twilight by the shoulder and spun her around. “I said don’t talk t’me like that!”

Twilight flinched back for a moment as Zee squared her shoulders and loomed purposefully over the shorter girl, her brow furrowed in anger and her eyes blazing. The moment of fear lasted only that, a moment, before Twilight pushed Zee back with a scowl.

“I’m trying to save your dad!” Twilight said, biting back the urge to yell. “So I’m sorry if I interrupted your important work of spinning around in a chair with your thumb up your a-”

SMACK

Twilight’s face jerked to the side as Zee’s hand crossed her cheek; an instant later black and green sparks snapped across Twilight's eyes as well as she stared off to the side in shock before slowly turning back to glare up at Zee.

The stunned expression on Twilight’s face lasted all of a second before…

SMACK

Zee stared down at Twilight with wide eyes, the small reddening spot on her cheek stinging from where Twilight had returned her slap. The furious, lavender-haired girl was meeting Zee’s gaze, looking indignantly up at her.

In an instant, all of the frustration that Zee had been pushing down at their lack of progress snapped up to the fore as she let out a wordless yell of rage, grabbing Twilight by the wrist and throwing her to the side of the living room.

Crashing to the floor, Twilight snarled and swept a hand down to grab a defunct hard drive they’d discarded days ago after an unfortunate electrical encounter had bricked it.

“Fuck you!” Twilight screamed.

She threw the heavy chunk of metal at Zee who let out a squawk of alarm, crossing her arms in front of her face as the angled metal struck her, the edge biting hard enough into her arm to draw blood and forcing her to stagger back. A hard impact to her stomach took the wind out of her as Twilight tackled Zee, ramming her head into Zee’s gut and sending them both tumbling to the ground.

“Fuckin’ slag!” Zee swore, grabbing Twilight by her hair and wrenching her to the side, tossing her to the ground at Zee’s side.

Letting out a scream of rage, Twilight grabbed another piece of useless equipment and swung it around as Zee scrambled to her feet only to get the clocked hard across the shoulder by the metal strut Twilight had seized on, dropping to the ground hard.

Twilight barely managed to get to her knees before Zee’s hand came up to grab her by the side of the head, dragging Twilight upward as Zee surged to her feet. Finally getting her feet under her, Zee threw her arm forward, sending Twilight lurching away, her feet unstable and her arms flailing for balance. Lunging forward, Zee grabbed Twilight by the collar of her lab coat and swung her around to throw her to the other side of the room, roaring with mindless fury.

Slamming hard into the floor, Twilight arched her back in pain as the breath left her lungs. She barely had a moment to breathe before Zee landed on her, straddling her with fists raised.

They never landed as Twilight’s hand found the plastic grip of the object she’d been flailing for in her pocket, pulled it free, and jammed it hard against Zee’s side as she pulled the trigger.

The taller girl spasmed violently as the taser went off, jerking and convulsing for a moment before Twilight pulled it away and threw it to the side. Suddenly bereft of any motor control, Zee slumped to the ground on top of Twilight, shaking violently.

Silence settled like a funeral pall over the trashed living room. Twilight took deep, ragged breaths as the last few jerks and spasms worked their way out of Zee’s muscles. Knowing what was coming, Twilight wrapped her arms around Zee as a dry, choking sob ripped its way out Zee’s throat.

“M’sorry… I’m sorry,” Zee cried, curling in on herself, nursing her aching side and shuddering as she tasted vomit and blood, feeling hot tears spill down her face. “Swear ah didn’t mean it lass... Swear I didn’t…”

Sighing, Twilight tightened her grip around Zee and pulled her closer, ignoring the stitches of pain in her back and sides from where she’d been tossed around, and her aching scalp from where Zee had grabbed her hair.

“I know… It’s okay,” Twilight whispered softly. “I pushed you again, I’m sorry I hurt you, too…”

Zee let out a wordless cry of grief as she buried her face in Twilight’s chest, grabbing onto her coat and gripping hard as she let out a sobbing wail.

“I shouldn’t have said that stuff about your dad,” Twilight said quietly. “I know how much you want to save him… I’m sorry, I’m just frustrated.”

Zee’s dark, slender hand rose up to cradle Twilight’s face gently, turning it ever-so-softly. Zee winced as she saw the red mark and let out another, quiet sob.

“Ah fuck… ah hurt ye again…”

“I deserved it,” Twilight said quietly. “What I said about you… it was awful, I…” Twilight sniffled, burying her own face in Zee’s hair, “I’m sorry Zee… I’m just so scared…”

“M-Me too,” Zee sobbed. “Y’shouldn’t be here, pet… by rights y’shouldn’t… I’ll ‘appen things started oreyt, but I don’t wanna hurt ye anymore.”

“Stop saying that!” Twilight demanded, pulling away and scowling down at Zee through a veil of tears. “I love you, Zee, and my parents always say that when you love someone you find a way to make it work, okay? Once we're out of this crazy, stupid situation and everything’s calmed down… things will change, alright? Things will get better, I promise.”

“B-but…” Zee took a shaky breath, pulling herself up along the floor until she was staring Twilight in the face. “Look at ye.. Ye’ve got bruises, pet… I gave’m to ye.”

“And you’ve got an electrical burn on your side…” Twilight said, leaning in to press her forehead against Zee’s. “And a cut on your arm, and a bruise on your shoulder, and a bruise on your face… if anything I’m worse.”

“Heh… yer scrappy’s what you are, our lass,” Zee said with a sad chuckle that turned into a grimace. “Ah fuck… what’re we even doin’...”

“Our best?” Twilight put in weakly. “C’mon Zee… we’ll… we’ll be fine, okay? You love me, right?”

“Fuckin’ o’course ah do, pet,” Zee nearly snapped, her eyes widening at the question before bringing her hands up to cradle Twilight’s cheeks. “Swear t’god I ain’t loved anybody like I love you, pet.”

“And I love you,” Twilight replied softly. “So we’ll make it work, right? We’ll find a way to make it work because that’s what you do when you love someone.”

Sniffling a little, Zee nodded and leaned in to press her lips to Twilight’s gently. The taste of salty tears mixed with the coppery tang of blood from where Zee had bit through her cheek when she’d been tased, all covered slightly by the taste of the cherry chapstick that Zee always wore.

“Ah don’t fuckin’ deserve ye, pet,” Zee said as she pulled back, wrapping her arms around Twilight further and pulling the shorter girl in to rest against her chest. “S’like no matter what I do ye won’t give up on me…”

“I won’t,” Twilight agreed. “I promise, Zee, I won’t ever give up on you, okay?”

Zee nodded, gently turning Twilight’s face to kiss the red mark on her cheek. “Still sorry, pet… shouldn’t lose m’temper like tha’.”

“Yeah, uhm, same here… I get frustrated pretty easily, I guess,” Twilight admitted. “These gauntlets are giving me a taste of something I’m finding I really don’t like…”

“What’s that, our lass?” Zee asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Failure,” Twilight grumbled. “No matter what I do I can’t seem to figure those lumps of metal out. I can’t even figure out how they were made!”

“Arh, cocka, s’like they just… popped into existence, savvy?” Zee groaned in annoyance, standing up and wincing at the sharp bite of pain in her side as she pulled Twilight to her feet alongside her. “Fuckin’ mad’s what it is,” Zee continued, turning back to glare at the gauntlets. “Say nowt’a what t’fuckin’ things are even made of.”

Sighing, Twilight stumbled over to the printer and pulled out the latest readout.

“Near as I can tell?” Twilight said dryly, flipping through the papers. “It’s got to be some kind of meteoric iron, right?”

“These things are fuckin’ thousands’a years old, pet,” Zee shot back. “Only things made’a stars back then were simple weapons, oreyt? Nowt as complicated as those things.”

Zee gestured at the gauntlets in frustration as she dropped onto the couch and pulled out a cigarette, lighting it before tossing the pack to Twilight who caught it with a grimace.

“I don’t smoke, Zee,” Twilight repeated for the tenth time. “These things will kill you.”

“Nah, them’s silk cuts, pet,” Zee replied. “Got less tar, oreyt? Better for ye.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow, her lips curling up slightly to a wry smile. “Pretty sure mother nature has made it eminently clear that dragging smoke into your lungs is bad for you, high tar content or no, babe.”

Tossing the pack back to Zee, Twilight turned back to the readout.

“Still, you’re right about one thing…” Twilight said with a frustrated groan. “Those gauntlets are articulated, they look like the product of late iron age technology, medieval even… but we have irrefutable proof that they’re thousands of years older than that.”

“An’ that’s ignorin’ the electromagnetic profile,” Zee said, pointing her lit cigarette at the offending gauntlets.

“Rrrrrgh,” Twilight planted the papers into her face as she groaned out her annoyance. “Don’t remind me… those things should be a puddle of molten metal! But not only are they solid, they’re cool to the touch! WHERE IS ALL THAT ENERGY GOING?!”

“An’ where’s it come from?” Zee said with a smirk. “Tha’s probably the more important bit, pet.”

Twilight stalked over to the gauntlets, her lab coat whipping around her as she pushed through the mess on the floor, and glared down at them. Nothing she had done had produced any verifiable results. If she didn’t know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the gauntlets did indeed possess an impossible energy field she would dismiss it as an error, but she and Zee had both separately confirmed with multiple tests and instruments that the field was there.

“A field this strong should be making everything around it go haywire,” Twilight said, tapping the gauntlets with the rolled up readout paper. “It’s like there’s a supercell trapped in them! Even if, somehow, the material the gauntlets are made of can impossibly withstand that kind of unbridled power it should still be fucking up everything around it all the time!”

“Arh, cocka,” Zee agreed. “But it ain’t… means we’re missin’ somethin’, savvy?”

“WHAT COULD WE POSSIBLY BE MISSING?!” Twilight shrieked, throwing the papers at the gauntlets. “We’ve explored every avenue! Short of bombarding it with high levels of gamma radiation or throwing it in the large fucking hadron collider I don’t think we’re missing anything!”

“We ain’t worn’em yet,” Zee said with a shrug, taking another drag of her cigarette.

Twilight’s brain came to an ass-grinding halt as Zee said the words, and she turned slowly, fixing Zee with a disbelieving stare. “You want to put on a pair of gauntlets that, by all scientific measurement, contains more than the sum total electrical output of the entire east coast?”

“Like ye said, we’ve got nowt else, pet,” Zee replied evenly. “What’s the worst tha-”

Twilight’s let out a loud, inchoate shout and lunged forward, clapping her hands over Zee’s mouth.

“Are you crazy?!” Twilight hissed. “Don’t say that out loud! NEVER SAY THAT OUT LOUD!”

Zee pushed Twilight away, chuckling. “C’mon love, ain’t like ye t’be superstitious… thee’reyt?”

“I’m fine!” Twilight snapped. “But forgive me if I’m a little superstitious over something that might as well be magic!”

“Hey, calm down, pet…” Zee tossed her cigarette onto the ashtray by the couch and slid her arms around Twilight’s waist to pull her close, earning a light swat from Twilight, although it was clear her heart wasn’t in it.

Encouraged, Zee leaned in and nipped at Twilight’s neck, who moaned softly.

“Babe… we’ve gotta work…” Twilight said, a small laugh hiding behind her protest as she didn’t even try to get out of Zee’s embrace.

“S’not my fault ye so hot when ye get fired up, our lass,” Zee whispered, trailing kisses up the side of Twilight’s neck to her earlobe. “Can’t help m’self, now, can I?”

Twilight shivered as she leaned back against Zee’s lips, letting out a soft sigh as Zee’s hands trailed around her waist and slipped under her shirt to trace lines against her bare midriff.

“Toldja I love ye, pet,” Zee said softly. “Now ‘ow ‘bout I show ye…”

Just as Twilight was about to agree to the distraction, her phone went off, playing a series of melodic dings and whistles that were an audible representation of the fibonacci sequence.

“Ignore it,” Zee said softly, letting her hand trail up Twilight stomach. “They can wait, yeah?”

“No… it’s probably my family…” Twilight sighed.

Then her eyes widened.

“Oh shit, my family!” Twilight pulled roughly out of Zee’s grip and dashed over to her phone to pick it up. “My brother and his wife were coming over to dinner tonight and I promised I’d be there!”

Thumbing ‘Answer’ button, Twilight held up the phone to her ear. “H-Hey mom!”

//Twilight, I know you’re spending a lot of time with your new girlfriend, but Shining and Cadence will be here in two hours and-//

“I know, I know!” Twilight said, grimacing, “I know I promised, and I’m heading back over right now, okay? I’ll get a ride from Zee!”

//Alright, well… actually, that might work out better, Twiley.//

Twilight furrowed her brow at that. “What do you mean?”

//Well, we haven’t even met your girlfriend, right? She should come over for dinner and meet the family.//

“M-Mom, I don’t know if-”

//I insist.//

Twilight pulled the phone away and grimaced again before glancing over at Zee. After a moment she sighed and put the phone back to her ear.

“O-Okay… I’ll ask her,” Twilight said in a quiet voice.

//Lovely, we’ll see you both in a bit, love you, dear.//

“Love you too, mom,” Twilight groaned before hanging up the phone.

“Thee’oreyt, love?” Zee asked, raising an eyebrow as she walked over to pull Twilight into a hug.

Twilight grumbled wordlessly before reaching up to wrap her arms around Zee’s shoulders and pull herself up into a kiss.

Zee smiled against Twilight’s lips, reaching up to let her fingers tangle through the lavender curls of Twilight’s hair and pulled the shorter girl more tightly against her before letting her hands trail down to settle on Twilight waist… and then lower, earning a delighted squeak from Twilight.

“Bad girl,” Twilight said, pulling away and scowling playfully. “No getting me riled up before I have to go do the least sexy thing in the world… family dinner.”

“Arh, should be ‘appy your family loves ye,” Zee replied with a wry grin as she walked over to the pile of clothes on the floor and began grabbing a few things that looked serviceable for driving her girlfriend back home. “An’ ‘sides, can’t be that bad.”

“I am happy, and I’m, uh, really glad you think so,” Twilight replied, smiling a little weakly. “Because.. Uhm… my mom sort of wants you to join us.”

Zee stopped in her tracks as she was pulling out her coat to stare back at Twilight. “W-what?”

“Uhm, my mom? She, and my dad, want to meet you,” Twilight said uneasily. “I mean… If you think about it, it was kind of inevitable right? Given how much time I spend with you?”

“Arh… love ah dunno if…” Zee grimaced as she looked down at herself.

Never before had she had cause to regret the way she looked. In truth, Zee liked how she looked, overall. She liked her tattoos and her hair, she even liked her scars. Now though… faced with the prospect of meeting Twilight’s family, her good and upstanding family?

“C’mon, pet, ‘ow y’think they’re gonna feel when ye bring by a fuckin’ reprobate!?” Zee said, her face contorting darkly as she started pulling her clothes on.

“Don’t say things like that!” Twilight said a little angrily as she stalked around to face Zee. “You’re not a ‘reprobate’, you’re my girlfriend, and you’re coming to dinner with me and if my family doesn’t like it well… well…”

“Well, what?!” Zee asked, pulling on jeans and her sweater before pulling her coat on. “They’re y’family, love.”

“Well f-fuck’em!” Twilight snapped, before clapping her hands over her mouth in shock at her own daring. Even Zee looked shocked at Twilight’s outburst.

“Babe… y’don’t mean that do ye?”

“I… I meant what I said!” Twilight said, stammering as she pulled her hands from her mouth with a grimace. “If they don’t like you then… they can go f-fuck themselves. I’m not losing you so you’re coming with me and that’s final!”

Zee stared at Twilight in wonder for several moments before chuckling weakly and nodding. “Arh, cocka… can’t rightly argue with tha’ can I?”

“No, you can’t,” Twilight replied with a weak smile. “But uhm… please, please don’t tell my family I said they could go, uhm… y’know…”

“Arh, nowt a word,” Zee replied with a laugh as she pulled on her ball cap. “But I figure ah might as well wow’em if ah’m goin’, oreyt?”

Twilight sagged a little and chuckled weakly. “You’re going to drive that car, aren’t you.”

“Fuck yeah,” Zee replied with a laugh.

+======+

The drive to the Heights was uneventful, as the roads were mostly clear. Twilight was leaned against Zee comfortably as the taller girl gripped and turned the wheel, her arms straining as she did.

“No power steering conversion?” Twilight asked from where she was resting on Zee’s shoulder.

“T’fuck’d I go’n ruin a classic with somethin’ like that, our lass?” Zee laughed as she turned the car up the winding hills of the Heights. “S’not like I ain’t need t’work out sometimes, anyway, arh? Better’n the gym, this is.”

“I guess it would have to be,” Twilight replied with a dry laugh. “That’s us up there, the dark blue house.”

“Y’sure about this, pet?” Zee asked again, pulling to the side of the house and glancing over at her girlfriend as she tipped her shades up. “Ah know families can be… contentious, but… don’t want t’cause any bad blood, savvy?”

“My family will love you, or they won’t,” Twilight said evenly. “Either way won’t change the fact that I will.”

Sighing, Zee nodded. She wasn’t going to argue the point any more. Twilight was a stone wall when it came to arguing with her and Zee recalled several of their late night online conversations over the years ending in shouting matches over one thing or another. They always apologised in the end, though.

Neither of them were particularly good at arguing, honestly, Twilight hated being wrong almost as much as Zee did, and both of them had tempers on them when it came down to it.

“Hows the makeup holdin’ up?” Zee asked as she turned to park her car in the driveway.

Twilight leaned up from where she’d been reclining against Zee and pulled down the mirror to examine her cheek. She gave it a careful prod and winced at the tender area around her cheek. They’d covered up their small bruises from their earlier scuffle with some foundation and makeup that Zee had brought with her. The rough-looking girl was surprisingly adept with it.

“Just because I don’t care how ah look don’t mean I don’t wanna look good sometimes, ‘specially for a tidy lass like ye, pet,” Zee had said before they had left.

“Looks fine,” Twilight said, grimacing slightly. “It should be good for tonight… hopefully the bruises go away before tomorrow morning… though I might be able to get away with just hunkering down in the garage.”

“We’ll figure it out, love,” Zee said with a smile, as she put the vehicle into park and hit the e-brake. “C’mon… s’time t’meet the family, yeah?”

Twilight shouldering her way out of the car. It was old and beautiful, but old meant creaky, so the doors just didn’t quite open right without some elbow grease, and stood up, admiring the smooth, black lines of the vehicle before looking back up at Zee.

“Yeah,” Twilight agreed. “And… I love you, Zee.”

“Heh, love you too, our lass,” Zee replied as she turned the car off and pocketed the keys.

The door to the house opened just as Zee was stepping out of the car with a small parcel tucked under her arm. Fixing her ball cap straighter on her head, Zee felt her heart hitch as she saw a woman step out who, if family resemblance was any indication, looked to be Twilight’s mother.

Also, if family resemblance held, it also meant that Twilight was going to get even hotter.

Twilight walked up and linked arms with Zee, guiding her towards the front door as Zee leaned over.

“Arh, love, y’mom’s bangin’,” Zee whispered.

Twilight stumbled and cough before shooting Zee a burning looked. “Fucking really?!” she hissed.

“Sorry, pet,” Zee said with a wry grin. “Calls’em like I sees’em, aye? Just means ye’ll be bangin’ too when ye’re older, though.”

Clapping a palm over her face as Twilight dragged Zee towards her mother, Twilight sighed heavily.

“Hey, mom,” Twilight called out as Velvet stepped forward and pulled Twilight into a hug.

“Hey sweetheart, sorry to break up your experiment,” Velvet said with a laugh. “But I feel like I haven’t seen you all week!”

“I know, I’m sorry,” Twilight replied as she pulled away, surreptitiously checking her makeup under the guise of straightening her glasses. “You know how I get when I’m in the middle of an experiment and Zee isn’t any better about it…”

“Ah, yes, the mysterious ‘Zee’,” Velvet said, turning to face Zee who was suddenly shuffling awkwardly under the gaze of Twilight’s mother. “So you’re the one that has my daughter out at all hours, hm?”

“Aye, tha’s me,” Zee answered, then cleared her throat and held out a hand. “Grizelda King… s’a pleasure t’meet ye.”

“And I’m Twilight Velvet,” Velvet replied, taking Zee’s hand firmly before gesturing over her shoulder with her thumb. “The goofus pulling faces in the window behind me is my husband, Night Light.”

Twilight glanced over to see her father with his face pressed up against the window doing exactly as her mother had said and immediately felt the blood rush to her face.

“DA~D!” Twilight groaned. “Not in front of my-!”

Her words were drowned out as Zee let out a harsh bark of laughter that turned into knee slapping guffaws as she cackled at the faces Night Light was making.

“Well, darn,” Velvet said dryly, before turning to Twilight. “Sweetie, I think you might be dating a female version of your father.”

“Ha! Tha’s fu-... uh, h-hilarious!” Zee choked as she tried to staple down her swearing. She had promised to keep her expletives to a minimum for the evening.

Twilight Velvet raised an eyebrow. “A valiant, if shaky, attempt, but I appreciate your effort at keeping your language toned down nonetheless.”

“A-Arh, cocka… out’n Steelton it’s a pretty, uh… slaggin’ about kinda place,” Zee said with a small laugh. “Recommend if’n ye ever visit t’just take up cursin’ while ye there.”

“I’ll bear that in mind,” Velvet replied dryly. “Now, let’s go, I do need some help setting things up and lord knows your father is useless for that, hon.”

“R-right, let’s go, babe,” Twilight said, taking Zee’s hand.

Zee couldn’t help but stop and admire the scale of the building she was walking into as she doffed her coat and hung it from the coatrack alongside Twilight’s jacket. It wasn’t exactly a mansion but it was definitely on the upper scale of lifestyle. Near as Zee could tell it was a two story building, painted dark blue, with a tapered colonial roof, and space for an attic and an attached garage. If the small windows near the base of the house were any indication then the home also had a sizable basement.

Moreover, the building wasn’t worn down or ill-cared for in the slightest. The paint job looked fresh, done at least within the last year give or take a few months. There were no cracked windows, no signs of significant age, and Zee strongly doubted this was a particularly new house.

There was no way Twilight’s mother and father could keep up a house like this themselves, which meant they hired out to do it... constantly.

“S’a real nice home y’got ‘ere, Mrs. Velvet,” Zee said softly, looking over the home. “Ain’t ever lived in a place like this, savvy?”

“I recall Twilight saying you were Braytish, correct?” Velvet asked as she led them into the enormous kitchen which was beautifully tiled, with a wide island in the middle. “You mentioned Steelton?”

Zee nodded. “A-Arh, s’a nice enough place, aye, but I grew up out in Las Pegasus… m’dad was from Steelton, an’... an’ he couldn’t take care’a me after a while so he sent t’live with his family.”

“Las Pegasus?” Night Light asked as he followed them in, still chuckling slightly from his little prank. “Lovely city, there’s so much to see.”

“Eh… guess if ye livin’ in the right place,” Zee replied with a wry laugh. “But uh, I grew up in South Central and s’a real, uh… rough’n tumble sorta neighborhood… m’dad did ‘is best f’me but…”

Night Light face fell slightly as he set a hand on Zee’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, that was thoughtless of me… you seem to be doing quite well for yourself, though.”

“She’s a cybersecurity expert,” Twilight chimed in. “She consults for firms all over the world, actually.”

The story of Zee’s ‘profession’ had been hammered out by the two girls while they were on the road. Twilight had reasoned that it wouldn’t be hard to hold up the story with her family since Zee possessed the full skill-set needed to be an extremely successful security professional. Her father could ask questions tha Zee could certainly answer, being a software engineer himself, and anything else Twilight hoped she could make up for on the fly.

“Really? Worldwide is quite a feat,” Night Light responded, looking genuinely impressed. “Where was your last job? Here?”

“Nah, worked wif a Yakistani company,” Zee replied with a chuckle. “Can’t say there was much ah could do f’em, though, I’d say it s’like they had a twelve year old write their security but I was writin’ better code when I was twelve.”

Night Light laughed, clapping Zee on the shoulder. “Well, Miss King, I think we will get along quite well,” he said with a wide grin. “You know, I grew up out in Germaneigh, I spent quite a bit of time in Brayton before immigrating here for work.”

Zee brightened up at the mention of his origins and immediately they began talking excitedly in German, and upon hearing his native tongue Night Light responded enthusiastically, moments later they were conversing rapidly as they towards the living room, Night Light apparently having decided to give Zee a full tour of the house.

“Well, she certainly seems to be fitting in,” Velvet said with a small laugh as she turned to continue working at the food in the kitchen.

The stove was lit and warm, and Twilight could see a casserole cooking inside it. There were cutting boards on the island that had the look of recent use and a scattering of various vegetables and roots.

“Start mashing the potatoes, will you sweetie?” Velvet said, gesture towards the large glass bowl of sliced and boiled potatoes. “I’ve still got to finish the egg salad.”

“Sure thing, mom,” Twilight replied, walking over and picking up the potato masher and getting to work.

After a few minutes of silence, Twilight glanced back to see her mother looking at her with a warm smile that made Twilight a little self-conscious.

“W-what’s wrong?” Twilight asked.

Velvet just shook her head. “Nothing at all, just… you know, a month ago I would have had to drag you out of your garage kicking and screaming to help me in the kitchen and now… here you are.”

“I wasn’t that bad,” Twilight protested, knowing full well she had been precisely that bad, if not worse. “I just… want to help.”

“I know,” Velvet replied, turning back to the egg salad. “I just feel like you’ve changed quite a lot very quickly… I suppose that’s just what happens when you’re growing up, hm?”

“And when you fall in love,” Twilight said quietly.

“What was that?” Velvet asked, turning around with an eyebrow raised.

“N-Nothing,” Twilight replied, smiling a little too widely. “Just… It’s mostly Zee that really changed me, you know? She’s like me but… better.”

Velvet narrowed her eyes at that before setting down the wooden spoon she’d been using to stir the salad and walking over to her daughter.

“Twilight Sparkle you look at me,” Velvet said in a sharp voice that caused Twilight to flinch as she turned slowly around to look up at her mother. “I won’t have you thinking like that! Aside from the fact that that is patently wrong, I highly doubt Grizelda would want you thinking you’re just a worse version of her either, do you understand?”

“B-But…” Twilight stammered, scowling a little and wrapping her arms around herself. “She’s… Zee is smarter than me, and… and unlike me she’s social and witty and… and funny… and…”

Sighing, Velvet stepped in and wrapped her arms around her daughter, feeling a faint pain in her heart as Twilight let out a small cry against her chest. Twilight had always struggled with an odd combination of superiority and inferiority complex. On the one hand she was so, so much smarter than most of the rest of her age group, and yet none of that intellect helped her make friends or keep her from starving socially, leaving her feeling, in a word, helpless.

Velvet had been thrilled to see that her daughter had finally made a strong connection with someone, that she had actually opened her heart to someone else.

But that complex didn’t just go away overnight, Velvet knew.

“If Grizelda cares about you as much as you seem to care about her,” Velvet said softly, petting her daughter’s hair as she hugged Twilight, “then I guarantee she wouldn’t want you to be thinking like that.”

“What if I can’t help it?” Twilight sobbed, her voice muffled by her mother’s vest.

“Then, if she’s really serious about your relationship,” Velvet replied, “she will try to help you get past it… that’s what you do when you care about someone, you try and make it work.”

Twilight chuckled softly as she pulled out of her mother’s embrace, lifting her glasses to wipe at her eyes.

“Y’know, I told Zee that just this afternoon,” Twilight said with a small smile.

“Oh?” Velvet said curiously. “What happened?”

Twilight felt her blood freeze as her mother asked. Why had she said that? She could have said nothing and everything would have been fine! All she had to do was keep her mouth shut and not immediately spill the beans about getting into a knock down drag out fight with her girlfriend in the middle of the living room.

“U-uh…” Twilight stammered, “i-it was…”

“We got in’a fight.”

Twilight spun around, her heart thundering as stared at Zee who was standing in the archway between the dining room and the kitchen. Twilight was choking as she tried to figure out what Zee’s game was, just telling her parents they’d been-

“What happened?” Velvet asked, her voice lowering and eyes narrowing.

“It was stupid,” Zee said quietly, shrugging. “Jus’ arguin’ over th’experiment; I wanted t’do it one way, Twi’ wanted it ‘nother and we got t’shoutin’... ‘appens sometimes when we disagree ‘bout stuff’n I allus feel like shite arterwards…”

Sighing, Zee leaned against the cabinet by the archway, and Twilight could see the shadow fall over Zee’s eyes again. On instinct she walked away from her mother and wrapped her arms around Zee, pulling her head down to rest against Twilight’s shoulder.

“We always bicker about science,” Twilight said softly, half to Zee and half to her mother, before turning to look directly at Velvet. “But Zee, I think, feels like we should never argue.”

A loud bark of laughter from behind both of the girl nearly made them leap as Night Light stepped into the kitchen.

“Never argue?” Night Light asked, still laughing a little. “Quatsch! Velvet and I used to argue all the time, fighting like cats I think is the term.”

“Dear, could you not ruin my daughter’s view of us,” Velvet shot back with a raised brow, as Twilight stared in disbelief.

“You two fought?” Twilight asked, her jaw hanging open slightly.

Night chuckled and nodded. “Oh yes, back in college, when we met, your mother had a tongue like a whip and was… very liberal with its usage, not even professors were immune to her scathing critique.”

“I was insufferable,” Velvet remarked, “I think, is what you mean.”

“Not at all,” Night Light retorted, moving in to wrap his arms around Velvet’s waist and twirl her around the kitchen, earning a high-pitched yelp of surprise from the woman. “I would suffer you for the rest of my life and, indeed, I do believe I made a promise to do precisely that!”

Velvet flushed, laughing nervously as she leaned against Night Light. “Y-yes… I suppose you did, didn’t you?”

“Indeed,” Night Light said with a chuckle. “So you see, girls, a fight is not the end of the world, or even of the relationship, it’s just something that happens, ja?”

“See? I told you,” Twilight replied, looking back at Zee who nodded a little weakly. “When you’re in love you do whatever it takes to make it work.”

The rest of the preparation for dinner went quickly, with the two Twilight’s moving easily around the kitchen together while Night Light entertained Zee. As it turned out, the two computer geeks had a great deal in common, and despite them slipping in and out of German, Twilight Sparkle could tell they were hitting it off famously, something that made her heart warm. She knew she was a daddy’s girl at heart; her father could get her to do almost anything if he asked. So seeing her girlfriend talk so animatedly with her father made things feel all the better.

It was just as the quartet were setting the table that Twilight’s ears perked up at the sound of a familiar vehicle coming to park in the driveway. Standing up, Twilight grinned as she heard the familiar sounds of her brother and his wife, her former babysitter and probably second-favorite non-family person in the world.

Cadence.

It took longer than Twilight expected for them to get in, but when they did Twilight raised her eyebrows at Cadence’s tone.

“I know you don’t care about cars, honey, but I swear that was an E-Type!” Cadence exclaimed excitedly. “It’s one of the most gorgeous classic cars in the world! How can you not recognise a Jaguar E-Type?!”

“Because I’m a nerd, not a petrolhead?” Shining said with a laugh as he hung his jacket and took Cadence’s to put next to his own.

“CADENCE!” Twilight launched herself out of the kitchen and into Cadence’s arms.

Cadence laughed brightly before pulling away and holding up her hands.

“Sunshine, Sunshine, Ladybug’s awake!” Twilight and Cadence spouted the words in perfect unison as they clapped their hands together in a familiar pattern. “Clap your hands and do a little shake!”

The pattern ended with both of them shaking their butts at each other, only for a loud laugh to be heard from the kitchen.

“Thought ye only shook it like tha’ f’me, pet,” Zee said with a chuckle as she walked out and wrapped her arms around Twilight’s waist the pulled her into a hug,

Twilight flushed scarlet. “Ba~be!”

A light snort of laughter came from Cadence as she stared at the two.

“Oh my god, you two are adorable,” Cadence laughed. “I love it! I’m so happy for you Twiley!”

“Hm…” Shining Armor fixed Zee with a scrutinising look that was almost a glare. Something at the corner of his mind was scraping at his memory. “Zee? What’s your full name?”

“Uhm… G-Grizelda King,” Zee replied uneasily. “S’Grizelda King…”

“You’re not from around here?” Shining inquired further, stepping closer and looking down at her.

“N-No,” Zee answered, withering a little under his inspection. “Flew in from Brayton almost two weeks past.”

“Shining!”

Zee was suddenly pulled back and a curtain of lavender hair appeared in front of her. “Stop with your questioning you’re scaring her!”

Twilight glared furiously up at her brother who stepped back under the sudden fire of his little sister’s expression. She had never, not once, looked at him the way she was now. Twilight adored her older brother, but now? Now she was looking at him like he was an enemy.

“I-... Twiley, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to,” Shining said sheepishly, glancing over at Cadence who was also glaring at him, though less angrily and more ‘what-the-fuckedly’. “I’m sorry… just the ‘cop instincts’ thing… I swear I’ve seen you before.”

“Well you haven’t,” Twilight said evenly. “Zee has lived in Brayton most of her life, alright? So… just…”

Cadence settled a hand on Twilight’s shoulder. “It’s alright, I’ll talk to him… c’mon you,” She directed the last part at Shining as she linked an arm in his and dragged him into the kitchen.

Suddenly alone, Zee sagged. “A cop? Y’fuckin’ wif me, pet… y’didn’t say ybrother’s a slaggin’ cop!” she hissed.

“I forgot,” Twilight said back, feeling her heart rate spike in panic. “I just… I don’t really think about it is all! He’s just my big brother Shiney, not ‘Officer Shining Armor’, to me!”

“It’s a pretty big fuckin’ deal, pet,” Zee replied, still shaking a little. “Ah fuckin’ hate cops. An’ given what were tryin’ta fuckin’ do…”

“I know!” Twilight cried, “I… I screwed up, I’m sorry, I-”

Zee pulled Twilight close and kissed the top of her head, rubbing her back and Letting Twilight breath against her girlfriend’s shoulder.

“Arh… s’okay, pet… didn’t mean t’get worked up,” Zee said in a quiet voice. “An’... thank ye, for… for standin’ up f’me back there… standin’ up t’family, that’s damn brave, our lass.”

“I couldn’t let him keep… keep talking to you like that,” Twilight said in a quiet voice. “I won’t let anyone talk to you like that.”

“Heh… s’not fair gettin all fiery n’sexy when ah can’t do nowt ‘bout it, pet,” Zee whispered against Twilight’s ear, who shuddered delightedly.

“Guess we’ll have to wait til we get home then, huh?” Twilight replied.

“We’re at your home, pet,” Zee said with a small laugh.

Twilight didn’t laugh, though, she just sighed as she buried herself against Zee’s chest and let herself melt into her girlfriend’s embrace.

“More and more… it feels like home is wherever you are, Zee,” Twilight finally said before sighing, and going up on her toes to kiss Zee gently. “You are my home.”

Zee flushed red but smiled radiantly.

“Ah, fuck… can’t just say shite like that, our lass,” Zee replied with a small chuckle. “But… aye, ah feel th’same, can’t e’en thinka home without thinkin’a you, pet.”

“And you never will,” Twilight replied, smiling against Zee’s lips as she gave her another peck. “Now, I think the worst is past, so let’s go eat.”

Zee nodded, and followed as Twilight walked past her only to stop and stare as Twilight sashayed her rear a little for Zee.

“Fuckin’ mad, ye are,” Zee muttered before following her into the kitchen.

17. When A Tornado Meets A Volcano - Part 1

Author's Note

As I was writing I realised two things: one, this is being released on halloween but has nothing to do with Halloween, so, sorry about that, and two: the actual chapter was already fixing to go over 25k+ words, so I split it into two for the finale of Arc II, so here you all are; part 1 of a two part episode!

17. When A Tornado Meets A Volcano - Part 1

~Whitetail Public Park, January 25th, Afternoon~

Adagio kicked her feet in boredom as she leaned back on the park bench she was sharing with Sonata while Aria paced back and forth, tap-tap-tapping away on her phone. Adagio watched her sister as she paced, her eyes fixed on the screen, darting back and forth as she muttered Coltlantian curses under her breath now and again.

Sonata was staring straight ahead, humming a tune that Adagio suspected she’d made up and smiling vacuously. It was a trick of course, Adagio knew, although she suspected it was an unintentional one. Whenever Sonata looked like she was simply spacing out, it simply meant she was lost in her own head which, Adagio knew for a fact, was a maddeningly complex place. The world in Sonata’s head was a place so vibrant that Adagio was slightly impressed that her youngest sister ever emerged from it.

Once, centuries ago, Adagio had asked her sister that very question in fact. ‘Why would she ever wake up if her dreams were so bright.’

‘Because they’re just dreams,’ had been Sonata’s answer before going back to staring vacuously over the edge of the ship’s prow they had been on at the time.

Despite the short, frank nature of the answer, it was one that Adagio found herself thinking on again and again. ‘They’re just dreams’ had a hidden depth to it, one that Adagio didn’t truly appreciate when she first heard the answer but over the decades and centuries she had found more and more meaning to it.

No matter how hard things became, they had to be faced, because the alternative was ‘just dreams’. It was, in point of fact, one of the reasons that Adagio found herself admiring Sunset. It was certainly the main reason she had begun considering the fiery redhead as a member of their little family. Aside from that fact that Sunset was another exiled Equestrian, well, formerly exiled anyway, and understood their trials and tribulations better than any human, it was also true that Sunset was, put simply, an admirable person.

Despite every hardship thrown her way, Sunset had displayed a drive, a force of personality, and a strength of character that Adagio wasn’t a hundred percent sure that she possessed, even with all of her immortal lifetime taken into account.

Sometimes all immortality meant was an eternity of stagnation, after all, and Adagio was beginning to suspect that she had become complacent over the years after seeing Sunset in action.

“Hell yeah!” Aria snapped, grinning at her phone screen. “Eat that, idiots.”

Adagio sighed, hanging her head. “Sister, I’m starting to think you’ve become addicted to that game.”

“Hey, you try having to sit in a locker room waiting for your bout to start for hours with nothing to do and see how long it takes you to find something,” Aria grumbled as she tapped through the menus. “Besides, I just unlocked The Feaster and these dumbasses don’t know how to combat his lateral attack angles, they just run right into my tentacles.”

“I legitimately have no idea what you’re talking about,” Adagio replied dryly before glancing around the park, “and where is everybody?”

“Well we did get here like, two hours early, ‘Dagi,” Sonata replied.

“Still… Sunset’s message made this sound urgent,” Adagio said, sighing as she glanced down at her neckline and lifting the small sea-green gem. “We owe her so very much, sisters…”

Aria lowered her phone and nodded, glancing down at her own gem.

“Yeah… she seemed pretty intense over the phone, too,” Aria noted, tracing her fingers over her gemstone. “Not that I blame her… a human with magic? Even weak magic? That’s pretty bad… humans are monsters.”

“I’m inclined to agree,” Adagio said softly. “We three have the excuse of being predators by nature, apex predators in fact… we hunt to survive; even here we couldn’t survive off of physical food alone… but humans? They could work together they just…”

“-don’t,” Sonata finished, scowling. “For some reason they just don’t. They don’t need to hunt each other, they’re a herd species, and they still spend most of their time killing each other.”

“Yeah well, I’m pretty sure we all decided they were created inherently stupid, right?” Aria said with a dry laugh. “I mean, look at the CHS students.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Adagio spat.

“Hey girls!”

The three former sirens looked up at the blue-haired girl who was walking down the cobbled park path towards them, waving and smiling widely. Just behind her were two other familiar faces, the dark-haired cellist and her DJ girlfriend were walking a few paces back and holding hands.

“Heh, well, maybe not all humans,” Aria said with a small grin. “Hey ladies, what’s shakin’?”

“You all got a message from Sunny, right?” Penny said, holding up her phone for emphasis.

“Mm, yes, although she was… unusually cryptic,” Adagio replied.

Vinyl flashed a few signs, and Octavia picked up the message a half-second later. “Did she ask you three to be here too?”

The sirens glanced at each other and nodded.

“Well, technically yes and no,” Adagio replied. “She said all three of us were welcome but that she specifically needed me.”

Nodding, Octavia and Vinyl joined Adagio and Sonata on the bench while Penny walked over to Aria, glancing down at her phone in interest. As they sat, Octavia smoothed her skirts and glanced over at Adagio who was staring off into the distance.

“You’re worried about her aren’t you?” Octavia said quietly, causing Adagio to look over with a raised eyebrow.

“And if I am?” Adagio answered. “She’s… important to me, although I can’t one hundred per cent say why…”

“Isn’t it just because she’s your friend?” Octavia replied with a small laugh. “I like to think we’re all friends.”

“We are!” Sonata chirped happily. “Or, at least… I hope we are!”

Vinyl nodded, signing as Octavia translated. “We haven’t known each other long, and we’ve even been enemies at one point but there’s something about Sunset that brings people together, you know?”

“I do know,” Adagio replied with a small grin. “I once told Gilda that being immortal means that the closest thing to a friend you might ever have is an enemy… I think, now, that sometimes the lines blur more than that.”

“I think the word you’re looking for is rival,” Aria called from where she was playing on her phone with Penny leaning over and watching excitedly.

“And I like to think my friendship with Sunny is a bit more complex than that,” Adagio retorted with playful annoyance. “Although you’re probably not wholly wrong, there’s certainly an element of rivalry to our relationship…” A sudden smattering of familiar voices cut through Adagio’s good mood as she spun around to glare down the park pathway. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

The five girls approaching were painfully familiar to the three sirens, and more so for Octavia and Vinyl as they shared classes with them. Applejack led the group with Rarity on her arm, Pinkie and Fluttershy walked just behind, chatting quietly, while Rainbow Dash walked slightly to the side of the others. Adagio’s eyes narrowed at that last bit… there was a small but noticeable divide, a fracture in the group that had defeated them and the eldest siren didn’t have to be a seer to guess why.

Before Adagio, or indeed any of the sirens, could get to their feet, Octavia was up and standing defiantly in front of the approaching Rainbooms.

“Pardon, but may I ask what you five are doing here?” Octavia asked, her voice dripping with venom. “I cannot possibly imagine that this is a coincidence.”

“I should think not,” Rarity replied, pulling away from Applejack and walking up to Octavia. “We were invited here by Sunset Shimmer, and if you don’t believe me, here…”

Rarity held out her unlocked phone to Octavia who glanced down at it suspiciously. “You are aware that I could just chuck that against the concrete out of spite.”

“I suppose you could, darling,” Rarity said in a slightly weary voice. “I can’t deny I might deserve it but… I don’t think you will, neither of us are that manner of spiteful, after all.”

“Hmph… fair enough,” Octavia replied before taking the phone and examining the text message that was left open.

Sure enough, the phone contact was Sunset Shimmer and the message was a slightly terse request for all of them, including Rainbow Dash, surprisingly, which the message made sure to specify, to meet at the park this afternoon. Even with the evidence right in front of her, Octavia couldn’t quite fathom why Sunset would ask all of them to be here. She had no illusions that Sunset was planning to forgive the girls after all…

“Why?” Octavia looked up at Rarity with narrowed eyes, glaring past her obsidian bangs. “Why would she invite you?”

“Your guess is as good as mine, darling,” Rarity replied with a weak smile.

“Honestly,” Applejack said as she stepped up beside Rarity. “We were sorta hopin’ ya’ll might know when we saw ya… not that I ain’t mighty grateful for the invite, but… I ain’t sure why.”

Adagio scoffed as she stood and walked up until she was toe to toe with Applejack. “You should be grateful, you wretched human. You owe that girl everything… we had you… even with your vaunted Princess of Friendship reinforcing your countersong, we had you, at least until Sunset lent her fire to your song.”

“Don’t ya’ll think Ah know that!?” Applejack spat, getting up in Adagio’s face. “We all know it,” Applejack gestured to the rest of the Rainbooms who looked down at the ground shamefacedly, all except Rainbow Dash who had never looked up. “It ain’t a secret that we screwed up, ya overgrown pufferfish!”

Raising an eyebrow and smirking as her sister looked on with dark expressions, but Adagio just chuckled. “Fish insults? Really? You’ll have to do better than that, blondie.”

“Please stop arguing,” Fluttershy said softly, stepping between the two. “We’re not here to start a fight, we’re here to apologise to Sunset.”

Vinyl stood alongside Fluttershy and moved her hands through her signs, and Octavia picked up the sentence a second later. “Fluttershy is right; Sunset wouldn’t want us picking fights with her old friends-”

“Ex-friends,” Aria interjected, earning a glare from Octavia and a flinch from most of the Rainbooms. “Sorry for interrupting…”

Vinyl shrugged and continued. “-if Sunset asked us all here on purpose then I doubt it was for a battle royale.”

Through all of it, Pinkie remained silent as she stared at the ground, her hair straight and the dark cloud hanging over her only rivaled by the one that followed Rainbow Dash around almost perpetually ever since the incident on the soccer field two weeks ago. Penny stared awkwardly at the group as the silence spread between them.

Whether or not there was a fight here, and Penny wasn't sure that whatever tentative peace that currently existed was guaranteed to last, she knew she stood apart from it all to a degree. It was obvious to anyone with working eyes just how much baggage existed between the girls. A baggage she didn't carry.

Taking a deep breath, Penny looked at the two girls that stood to the side of the new group.

The first girl had a drooping mane of pink hair that seemed dull and faded. Her blue eyes were unfocused and her expression spoke of real, genuine sadness

The other girl had a scruffy head of prismatic hair, with sharp, cerise eyes. Her brow was furrowed with something like anger or frustration, and she consistently stayed apart from the rest.

Making her decision, Penny walked between everyone and up to the pink-haired cloud of sadness that was the blue-eyed girl.

“Hi, I'm… my name is Pennyroyal Tea,” Penny said in a soft voice, holding out her hand. “But you can call me Penny.”

“I'm… I'm Pinkie,” Pinkie replied, trying to muster a small smile and only half-succeeding as she took Penny’s hand. “Are you one of Sunny’s new friends?”

“Yeah, we met at a bus stop, actually,” Penny said with a weak laugh, remembering her less-than-stellar first impression. “I was… kind of a bitch… I come off a little too strong sometimes.”

Pinkie laughed a little and nodded. “Me too, usually I'm really loud and friendly, but…”

“You look kinda scared,” Penny said carefully, but she needn't have bothered as Pinkie just nodded.

“We hurt Sunset… we hurt her really bad, see?” Pinkie said, her eyes narrowing as she scowled. “Because of it she… she lost everything. We promised to look after her and be her friend… we called her family and then…”

“So you’re scared of Sunset?” Penny asked.

Pinkie clammed up for a moment, looking stuck in place as she glanced around at her friends. Rarity grimaced and Applejack frowned. Rainbow still hadn’t looked up, but Fluttershy put a hand on Pinkie’s shoulder, giving her a comforting squeeze.

“I… Y-yeah,” Pinkie said after a moment. “I uh, guess I am… silly, huh?”

“Nah,” Penny replied, “if you’re anything like me you’re just scared she won’t want to be friends anymore, right?”

Pinkie nodded dolefully, wringing her hands as she frowned as she stared down at the ground. A pair of gentle, pink hands reached out to take hers, surprising her as she looked up at Penny who smiled broadly at her.

“Do… do you want to be friends?” Penny asked suddenly, startling Pinkie, and everyone else in both groups.

“W-what?” Pinkie stared, her jaw hanging open.

By this point all members of both groups were watching carefully as Penny smiled at Pinkie. Trying ignore the weight of the gazes on them, Penny took a deep breath and stood a little straighter.

“Look, I’m not a part of your school, so I don’t know what happened exactly,” Penny said, glancing back over her shoulder at the others and then shaking her head and looking back at Pinkie. “I… I wasn’t a part of that, okay? But you look really sorry, you look… okay, no offense, but you look awful.”

“Heh… yeah,” Pinkie agreed with a dry chuckle. “I feel pretty bad, too.”

“Right? That’s my point!” Penny turned to the others with a pleading look. “I’m not asking you guys to be best friends or anything but… we’re just kids… remember? I don’t want to go through the rest of my high school career with a blood feud.”

Adagio sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Penny, honey, I get it, but you weren’t there for the aftermath… you didn’t see how Sunset used to be, you didn’t-”

“You’re right, I didn’t!” Penny exclaimed, standing straight and staring at Adagio with an intense but unreadable expression. “And I think Sunset is incredible! Yeah, I get it, they hurt her and that pisses me off too but what am I supposed to do, hate them for the rest of our lives?”

“I…” Adagio stammered as she took a step back. “It’s not that simple!”

“Or maybe it is!” Penny followed forward, putting Adagio on her back heel and earning in impressed whistle from Aria. “You guys were all closer to this than me, okay? I get that, and maybe that’s good. Maybe you need someone who wasn’t that close to try and… I dunno…”

Vinyl flashed a sign and Octavio filled in: “Bridge the gap?”

“Y-Yeah…” Penny said softly before turning away from Adagio and looking back at the rest of the group, both of them. “I’ve spent so much of my life alone, you guys,” Penny raised a hand to rub the back of her head awkwardly, “like… Crystal Prep is a great school but… you don’t really make friends there, you make connections.”

“That sounds awful,” Pinkie said, frowning as she stepped out of the group and walked up to Penny. “Did… did you mean what you said though? Do you really want to be friends?”

Penny smiled and nodded. “I really do, I want to have lots of friends, and laugh and cry and do crazy stuff with them! I… I want a life of my own.”

Pinkie grinned, and not the weak, half-broken thing it had been before, but a full-fledged, ear-to-ear, Pinkie Pie Grin (patent pending).

With a cry of delight, Pinkie threw her arms around Penny, giggling as her hair poofed up into bright bouncy curls. Penny let out a high pitched shriek of laughter and surprise as they both toppled over into the grass, with Pinkie Pie giggling uncontrollably as she sat up.

“Oops! Sorry!” Pinkie chirped, standing and holding out a hand for Penny. “Toldja I come on a little strong…”

“Oof, no kidding,” Penny said with a laugh as she stood up, shook a few strands of blue hair from her eyes, and dusted herself off. “Still made a new friend, though!”

“Yupperooni!” Pinkie exclaimed happily.

Applejack turned from the two to look at Adagio, smiling hopefully.

“Not a chance,” Adagio said in an arid voice.

“Well, can’t blame me fer hopin’, can ya?” Applejack replied, her smile faltering. “But, who knows… maybe one day.”

A piercing whistle from the side stopped all conversation as the small crowd of girls startled and began looking for the source. It only took a moment to spot it, too; a red-haired, wheelchair-bound girl sat off to the side of the path with thick blankets covering her legs, her dark leather jacket closed against the chill, and her sharp cyan eyes were observing the exchange carefully.

Behind her, looming over her like a guardian, was the other girl that almost everyone knew to look for anytime they saw Sunset Shimmer. Gilda was lowering her hand from her lips from where she had whistled to get their attention and watching them as well, her gold eyes fixed on the Rainbooms, and Rainbow Dash in particular, who flinched away the moment she saw Gilda watching her.

“I’ll be honest,” Sunset said, wearing an even, neutral expression, “when I realised we were running late I thought I would show up to find an all-out brawl happening.”

“I daresay it might have been a near thing,” Rarity said weakly. “Although I do believe we have your friend Penny, as well as Pinkie, to thank for easing the tensions.”

“I saw,” Sunset agreed, as Gilda settled a hand on her shoulder. Looking back at her girlfriend, Sunset raised a questioning eyebrow.

“Be right back, Sunshine,” Gilda said after a moment.

Stepping past the girl who had, in many ways, become the most important part of her life, Gilda approached the Rainbooms with her hands in her pockets. The five of them tensed as the larger girl came to a stop in front of Rainbow Dash. Both girls stared each other down belligerently, Gilda’s expression was a combination of stern and impassive, while Rainbow’s was both defiant and pained.

“Gonna punch me again?” Rainbow asked, though not spitefully. Her tone even suggested she’d take it on the chin, as it were.

Gilda sighed. “Nah, ain’t gonna apologise f’the first one neither, though, savvy?”

Rainbow scoffed and nodded. “Yeah… I deserved it.”

“Just right, y’did,” Gilda snarled, unable to keep the heat from her voice as Rainbow flinched. “If you were gonna fake bein’ me y’coulda at least not half-assed it, Rainbutt,” Gilda jabbed a finger into Rainbow’s chest, causing her to back up. “Ya can’t just think about you all the fuckin’ time, savvy? Ain’t how it works! If there’s somethin’ out there that means more ‘ta you than you then you gotta be whatever it takes to keep that thing safe, a’right?”

“I know!” Rainbow shouted, suddenly seeming to come to life as her face contorted in pain. “I fucking know it, G! I know I fucked up, okay!?”

“Knowin’ it don’t mean a fuckin’ thing!” Gilda snapped. “You knew you fucked up when Sunshine split up you’n your friends the first time! You knew you fucked up when you fucked over Sunflower later, now you know you fucked up again!”

With every snap and remark, Rainbow wilted and backed up further and further as Gilda advanced. None of the others came to Rainbow’s aid, none of them wanted to get between her and Gilda. Moreover… Rainbow wasn’t sure she wanted them to stop Gilda at all.

‘I deserve this,’ Rainbow thought bitterly as Gilda towered over her. ‘I deserve all of this.’

Tears lingered at the edges of Rainbow’s eyes as she stared up defiantly at Gilda who just sighed and stepped back, taking a deep breath and shaking her head.

Suddenly Gilda’s hand moved… it moved fast. Rainbow Dash’s eyes were used to tracking lightning fast movement, she was a soccer player, it was a natural skill to develop. Her reactions moved faster than her conscious mind could process but it still wasn’t enough. Gilda’s hand was already past Rainbow’s arms that were rising to defend her face.

Rainbow squeaked in surprise as Gilda flicked Rainbow across the forehead.

“Just ‘cause y’know don’t mean y’ever gonna fuckin’ learn, huh, Rainbutt?” Gilda said in a low, tired voice, glaring at Rainbow with a kind of cold contempt that settled into Rainbow’s gut like a cold ball of iron. “S’always about you, huh? Even when I’m yellin’ y’fuckin’ ear off it’s always about you.”

A quiet weight settled between the two girls are Gilda stared down at Rainbow Dash who stared back at her teary-eyed.

“How ya expect t’be loyal if everything’s always about you, huh?” Gilda asked, her eyes narrowed with disgust. “Even this… me yellin’ at ya… I bet the only thing y’even thinkin’ about is how you deserve it.”

Rainbow’s jaw dropped and the stricken look on her face told Gilda everything she needed to know about the answer to her last guess. Her face twisting into a contemptuous snarl, Gilda spat onto the ground, swearing under her breath.

“Fuck, I was hopin’ you’da learned somethin’, but I guess it just ain’t in ya, huh?” Gilda said in a resigned voice.

“G… c’mon, I…” Rainbow started in a choked voice before glancing past Gilda to Sunset, hoping beyond hope to see something there. Some iota of sympathy, or forgiveness.

Sunset was looking determinedly to the side, away from her, from Gilda, and from everyone else. Her hands were curled into fists and, although distant, Rainbow could see she was shaking, and at the last moment she caught sight of Sunset’s hand darting up to wipe at her eyes with the stained rim of her jacket sleeve.

Rainbow only got a glimpse of the heart-wrenching sight before Gilda moved between the two of them and gave Rainbow a rough shove backward.

“Don’t even think about it, Rainbutt,” Gilda said in a deadly voice. “You even think’a comin’ near Sunshine without her say-so and I’ll shove my boot so far up your ass you’ll be tastin’ steel-toe for a week.”

“So… so that’s it?” Rainbow asked after a moment of working her jaw to find words that wouldn’t sound completely asinine. “What… what about-”

Rainbow never got the last word out as Gilda's hand shot out faster than Rainbow could react again, only this time it wasn’t to flick her forehead. This time Gilda’s hand went around Rainbow’s throat ending her sentence in a strangled gurgle.

“Swear t’god, Rainbow Dash if you say us in front of my Sunshine after the shit you pulled I will fucking end you,” Gilda snarled, her eyes blazing as she nearly bent Rainbow backward.

Rainbow Dash flailed for a moment, a few squeaks and shrill, inarticulate cries left her throat before several pairs of hands were suddenly on Gilda, pulling at her arms and trying to pry her off of Rainbow Dash with little success. A red mist of rage was covering Gilda’s vision as she stared down at Rainbow Dash, with all of her pent up fury suddenly rearing its ugly head.

“GILDA!”

Sunset’s voice split through the red mist like a cold knife as Gilda snapped out of her rage, letting her hand go slack as she did and allowing Rainbow to collapse to the ground hacking and coughing, massaging her bruised neck and taking harsh, ragged breaths as Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity crowded around her, with Pinkie looking on worriedly from the side.

Her hands hanging limply at her side, Gilda groaned, closing her eyes and taking several deep breaths.

“Fuck… I fuckin’ did it again, huh?” Gilda said angrily, turning back to Sunset who was looking at her with a sorrowful expression.

“Don’t be like him, Gil,” Sunset said softly. “You’re better than that.”

Gilda flinched and scowled, wrapping her arms around herself. “Sometimes I ain’t so sure, Sunshine, but… I’ll keep tryin’,” she replied.

“That’s all I’m asking,” Sunset replied, her expression warming to a small smile.

Turning to Rainbow Dash was still coughing on the ground, Gilda scowled.

“And us, Dash? We’re done,” Gilda said bitterly. “I ain’t got time f’you no more, savvy? We’re done.”

With that, Gilda turned on her heel and stalked back to Sunset and the moment she got to Sunset, Gilda did something that even the other girls hadn’t seen before, something that even surprised Sunset, if only that she was doing it in public.

She never showed this kind of weakness in public.

Gilda dropped to her knees like a puppet on cut strings, her knees striking the snowy ground hard as she took ragged, gasping breaths. Slowly, Gilda reached out and wrapped her arms around Sunset, pulling herself closer to bury her face in Sunset’s shoulder. Her grief was betrayed only by the slight movement of her shoulders as she shook, the tiny, quiet gasps of breath she made between her tears as they silently escaped down her cheeks.

“Ssh, it’s okay,” Sunset cooed softly, tangling her fingers into Gilda’s hair and stroking up and down, petting her softly as Gilda cried out her pain and anger. “I’m here… and I’m never, ever going to leave you.”

Gilda just nodded, her heart aching and her throat burning as it clenched with sorrow. Her chest felt like a vice and her whole body screamed at her to take her grief and turn it into anger, to take her anger and change it to rage, and then visit that rage on whatever was close, whatever was near.

But she couldn’t. She wouldn’t. Gilda refused to let it happen this time. She never wanted it to happen again at any time because… because the one whom she always wanted to be nearest to her was Sunset.

“I’m not the only one you broke, Rainbow Dash,” Sunset said in a quiet voice as she calmingly stroked the back of Gilda’s head, gently tracing her fingers up and down Gilda’s neck to bleed out the tension. “It took you all of one conversation to do this to her.”

Finally, after so long of avoiding looking at Rainbow Dash, Sunset fixed her eyes firmly on the girl with cyan skin and cerise eyes, the girl who had been party to one of her worst nightmares coming to life. The girl Sunset that thought she could have relied on above all others if or when everything went wrong.

Once upon a time.

“I’m not saying this to hurt you, or to twist the knife, savvy?” Sunset said in an even tone, but the anger on her face still lent venom to her words. “I’m saying it so you’ll know, for the rest of your life, just how little effort it takes to hurt someone once they let you in… I’m saying it in the hope that, maybe next time, you’ll be more careful.”

A pale hand settled onto Gilda’s shoulder as Vinyl knelt next to her, Gilda looked up just in time to see Vinyl tipping her shades up for the first time since Gilda had known her. Eyes the color of blood stared back at her, and Gilda’s eyes widened. For the first time in her life she was staring at a pair of eyes that were more intense than her own, and that was quite saying something.

Vinyl moved her hands slowly, allowing Sunset to translate for her, despite being a bit less proficient than Octavia.

“I know you probably feel bad for crying,” Vinyl signed. “But no one here… at least no one that matters, thinks you’re weak, and we never will.”

Gilda sniffled, wiping at her eyes as she leaned back, sitting on the snowy ground and taking several deep breaths for before looking up at Vinyl.

“I… yeah, I know, Blue” Gilda replied after a moment. “Just hard, y’know? Y’taught y’whole life not to show any weakness and…”

“Tears aren’t weakness anyway,” Vinyl signed.

“Vinyl is right, Gil,” Sunset said, “but… I need you now, we’ve still got work to do, you with me?”

Taking another deep breath, Gilda nodded and stood, shaking the snow off of her jeans and dusting herself off.

“Always, Sunflower,” Gilda said, smiling down at Sunset before turning to face the rest of the girls. “A’right, now that all that sappy shit is outta the way, Sunshine’s got some words f’ya.”

Sunset rolled forward, narrowing her eyes as she looked over her old friends. Each of them wilted back under the intensity of her glare before she finally let her gaze soften.

“Alright, us? We’re dealing with that some other time,” Sunset said, “right now I can’t afford to hold a grudge because we’ve run into a huge problem. An Equestrian problem.”

“What’s horsemanship have to do with anything?” Penny asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sunset blinked in confusion, then burst out laughing. “Oh wow, I can’t believe I forgot! You… you don’t know, do you?”

Penny raised an eyebrow, looking around at the crowd of girls who were all looking back at her, some in surprise and others with a semblance of pity.

“What do you mean?” Penny asked, feeling a pit of worry open in her stomach. “What do I not know?”

“Oh my,” Rarity lifted a hand to her mouth before turning to Sunset. “You didn’t tell her?”

“I didn’t think I had to!” Sunset snapped. “I didn’t plan on letting that part of my past come up ever again, but apparently that’s not a choice I get to make!”

“Can someone tell me what I’m missing!?” Penny demanded, staring at Sunset and Gilda. “Please? I don’t like being kept in the dark, okay?”

Taking a deep breath, Sunset nodded. “Alright, well, I’m going to need you to suspend some disbelief here for me, okay? Because believe me this is going to get a little… unbelieveable.”

“Uhm, alright,” Penny said hesitantly. “I trust you, Sunset.”

“You might come to regret that,” Sunset said with a dry chuckle. “Especially if I’m right about my suspicion.”

Turning to the Rainbooms, Sunset took a deep breath, bracing herself for the conversation.

“Alright, ladies, I have a question… a really important one,” Sunset said quietly, “and I need to know absolutely for sure, so please, have any of you ponied up since… since what happened with Anon-A-Miss?”

Applejack, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash all glanced between one another, silently sharing the question between them before coming to the conclusion they each knew in their hearts.

“No, we ain’t used our magic since what we did,” Applejack said softly. “Ah never really thought about it but… none of us really felt like playin’ together since what happened, y’know? Figured without ya’ll singin’ with us it’d just be a reminder.”

“I agree, darling,” Rarity joined in, stepping forward and grimacing. “I admit, I have missed playing but… the idea of playing music without you, Sunset, was… too painful to bear, at least for now.”

“Yeah, I just can’t feel the beat right now, y’know?” Pinkie agreed.

Fluttershy and Rainbow just nodded solemnly along with the others as Penny looked on in confusion.

“Uhm, someone wanna explain ‘Ponied Up’ to me?” Penny said with a nervous laugh. “It sounds… silly.”

Sunset laughed as she turned to Penny. “Sorry, it’s a pun, mostly because we couldn’t think of anything else when it first happened and the name just… stuck.”

“Fair enough, but what is it?” Penny asked.

Sunset sighed and gestured to Gilda.

“Show her.”

Gilda frowned but nodded. “A’right, well… everyone stand back,” Gilda said, gesturing at the small crowd. “This ain’t exactly quiet, savvy?”

Closing her eyes, Gilda mentally reached for the place in her mind that she had found held the power that Sunset had taught her to control, at least partially. It was a place filled with thoughts of Sunset, of the girl she loved more than life itself. Ever since the night she had proposed to Sunset, Gilda had found getting to that place in her mind becoming easier and easier.

A thunderclap rippled through the air as wide, feathered wings spread from Gilda’s back, lightning crackled in her eyes, and a faint gray glow limned her body.

“How… how’d ya do that?” Applejack asked, shock writ plain on her face as she approached Gilda who looked at her questioningly.

“Wha’dya mean?” Gilda asked in confusion. “Took some practice but I just, y’know… do it.”

“None’a us ever managed to pony up without all playin’ music together,” Applejack said before looking pensive and amending herself. “E-except the first time with the Princess, that is…”

Gilda shrugged. “Couldn’t tell ya, Hoedown, I just do what the lady says, savvy?”

“I think Gilda can pony up on her own because she managed it in a time of crisis,” Sunset said. “Also… well, I’ll get to the second part later… so Penny…?”

Penny was staring at Gilda who grinned sheepishly at her.

“What… what did I just see?” Penny asked, dumbfounded. “And… are those real? Am I on drugs?” Penny asked, glancing over at Sunset worriedly. “Are they at least good drugs?”

Sunset laughed a little weakly. “Uh, no… short of it is: I’m not from around here. I’m from the dimension next door, and I kind of… accidentally brought an energy force that is colloquially known as ‘magic’ with me when I turned into a supervillain last fall.”

Penny stared silently at Sunset for several moments before laughing. “Uh-huh… you… you expect me to believe an extra-dimensional being looks human? That would be a massive coincidence.”

“Oh, I don’t look human,” Sunset replied, waving her hand. “I’m actually an equine-like quadruped; mane, tail, hooves; the whole shebang…” Sunset waved her hand and conjured a small image made of sparkling motes of light in front of her, reveling in the more magic-rich environs of Canterlot, and displaying an illusion of her birth form. “The transition between dimensions forces anyone crossing the transdimensional boundary to assume a form suited to that dimension’s dominant sapient inhabitants.”

“Oh my god…” Penny gasped, staring down at the illusory image of Sunset’s pony form. “That’s… you’re…”

“Yeah, I know, it’s a lot to take in, huh?” Sunset said a little uneasily. “I understand if you want to take some time to digest this.”

“That’s you?” Penny asked, pointing at the pony-form image.

“Uhm, yes?” Sunset replied with a raised eyebrow.

Penny stared at it for a few seconds longer. “You’re fucking adorable.”

“Really?!” Sunset croaked. “I reveal the presence of multiple dimensions and literal magic, and your first comment is how cute my unicorn form is?!”

“Hey! Just because I’m punky doesn’t mean I didn’t want a pet unicorn as a little girl okay?!” Penny shouted, throwing her hands in the hair. “And I might also just be silently freaking out under all of this so don’t blame me for trying to get a grip on something here!”

Octavia set a hand on Penny’s shoulder, giving her a sympathetic look. “Dear, we understand how… unbelieveable all of this is, but it is very true, trust me… we’ve seen the effects of magic first hand more than once.”

“Was that a dig at my sisters and I?” Adagio called from the side as she strutted up to Penny. “Oh, yes, by the by, I’m also from that dimension, though I’m not pony by any means.”

“We’re Sirens,” Sonata chimed in, walking up next to Adagio. “Think like… huge sea-dragons! A mean old pony mage banished us to this dimension for stupid reasons.”

“We were causing mass war and strife on a continental scale, sister,” Adagio retorted, and then looked thoughtful for a moment, “though it did seem funny at the time.”

“It was funny,” Aria said, laughing from where she had perched herself on the back of the bench. “We just lost, which sucked, but hey, that’s life.”

“So wait, all those rumors and that weird Haytube video of the lightshow near CHS was…” Penny said, her eyes widening. “That Battle of the Bands thing was real?”

“Ayup, sure was,” Applejack said, walking over to Rarity and sliding her arm around the pale girl’s waist. “An’ them figures in the distance, playing on the hilltop? That was us… all’a us, Sunset included. She was the one who saved us in the end.”

“Holy crap,” Penny said breathlessly, “that’s awesome…”

Rainbow Dash chuckled dryly and nodded. “Yeah… it was.”

“To give a truncated explanation,” Sunset began, rolling forward so she was between all of the girls. “In my world, the five girls you see here represent a nearly all-powerful force called the Elements of Harmony; here, on this world, they took up that mantle and defeated a source of corrupt magic, me, when I foolishly brought the catalyst of the Elements, a crown that bore the Element of Magic, to this world.”

Sunset frowned as she remembered how selfish she had been at the time. It was a phenomenally risky plan that could have endangered an entire world, but all Sunset had cared about was proving herself… all she wanted was to come back to Equestria as a being worthy of ruling. To prove to her mother, to Princess Celestia, that she had been wrong to cast her out.

Ironically, Celestia already knew that, but Sunset had been so focused on revenge she had never once considered just going back and apologising… just talking to her adopted mother.

“I used the crown and proved unworthy of it,” Sunset explained. “But by activating it I dragged magic into this world… something I don’t think this world was ready for but, well, there’s no putting the oats back in the bag, so now I have to try and clean up as much as I can.”

“Them Elements were how we transformed,” Applejack explained, looking downcast. “But… Ah think Ah know what Sunset is headin’ for.”

“Yeah…” Sunset turned to the five girls and sighed. “I need you five to play… we can head to CHS if we need to, but I really need to confirm something.”

“Don’t bother,” Rainbow Dash grumbled, earning a glare from several of the girls. “What? You can all feel it, can’t you? We don’t have it anymore… I sure as hell can feel it and I’m pretty sure I know why!”

Rainbow Dash stood, wrapping her arms around herself and glaring over at Gilda momentarily before turning to Sunset.

“And you already know it, too, don’t you?” Rainbow hissed. “You already know what Gilda has…”

Sunset mouth tightened to a thin line, but nodded. “I… I think so… but-”

“Don’t bullshit, Shimmer,” Rainbow snapped. “You know it so just say it! Actually don’t, I will!” Turning to the rest of the girls, Rainbow swung her hand out, gesturing to Gilda. “We fucked up girls, and the Elements know it! That’s why it feels like we’re missing something, and don’t say you all don’t feel it too, we’ve all felt it! The Elements of Harmony… we lost them!”

Rarity turned to Sunset with a haunted look in her eyes. “Sunset… is that true?”

Sunset sighed, but nodded. “Yes… I think so.”

“Right?” Rainbow said bitterly before turning to Gilda. “So since I’m basically just a half-assed version of you, that means you got my old Element.”

Gilda looked down at her gauntlet, her talon, at the faint amber glow that suffused the symbol on the back of her hand.

“We’ll see,” Sunset replied tersely before turning to Gilda. “You said it yourself, though, Gil… there’s no one as loyal as you.”

“Wait… so if all’a them lost their Elements then…” Gilda started, staring over at the girls who were looking over at her and Sunset’s new friends with wide eyes.

“Wait, time out,” Adagio said, holding up her hands. “You say that they lost their Elements, and you’re suggesting those same Elements have chosen new bearers, correct?”

Sunset nodded.

“Then you’re missing one,” Adagio pointed out. “See? One, two,” she pointed to Gilda and Sunset, “three, four,” Octavia and Vinyl glanced at each other as Adagio ticked off her fingers towards them, “And Penny makes five, and the last time I checked there were six.”

“You’re… not wrong,” Sunset said with a small laugh. “But I’m not missing any of them, ‘Dagi.”

“Did one of them keep theirs?” Adagio asked, raising an eyebrow. “I’d be surprised if that were the case.”

“No, you’re just not counting everyone,” Sunset said, her smile becoming a little smug. “Let’s go down the list… and bear in mind that some these are educated guesses, but I’m pretty confident in them.”

Sunset rolled over to the group of girls who had been friends for the past few weeks, the girls who had shown themselves to be far truer than her old friends. Stopping in front of Octavia, Sunset reached out and took her friend’s hands.

“Octavia… you could be a lot of things with the amount of money your family has…” Sunset began with a wry smile, “and believe me, having spent as much time around wealthy nobles as I have, not many of those things are good.”

“Oh trust me, I’m aware,” Octavia replied with a frown and tightening her grip on Sunset’s hands. “My family has many connections I feel we could do without, but needs must…”

“And yet you never let that change you,” Sunset said firmly. “You never let your wealth blind you to your own privilege and status, or cause you to start seeing other people as beneath you like… like I did.”

“Sunset…” Octavia said softly.

“No, don’t deny it, I let my power, my ego, and my status turn me into just as much of a monster as that crown did,” Sunset said firmly. “But… the point is that you didn’t; you know in your heart how lucky you are, so when you see those who are less fortunate you extend a hand to them.”

“It’s the right thing to do,” Octavia said softly.

“Yeah, no kidding,” Sunset agreed, “but the fact that you know that is why you were chosen by Generosity.”

Every magi, neophyte to master, knows the power of words… the power of names. When a name is spoken the owner of that name feels it, even from a distance. There is a magic to it, a subtle but powerful magic called ‘recognition’, and the power of that recognition is equal to the power of the name’s owner.

And the power of an Element of Harmony is nearly endless.

The moment the word was spoken and the spark of recognition lit behind Octavia’s eyes, a soft purple glow suffused the dark-haired musician. Octavia gasped softly as a powerful but calming energy seemed to spread through her like warm liquid, leaving her skin tingling for a moment. It passed in seconds, and a gentle weight settled on Octavia’s chest.

Glancing down, Octavia’s eyes widened at the sight of a gleaming treble clef symbol wrought in gleaming amethyst.

“I knew it,” Sunset said with an assured grin. “And you, Vinyl…”

Turning her chair to face Octavia’s girlfriend, Sunset took Vinyl’s hands the same as she had taken Octavia’s. “I have to say… I regret not being friends with you a lot earlier… I feel like you would have been a voice of reason for me,” Sunset said before realising her choice of words and wincing. “Uh, pardon the wording there…”

Vinyl waved it off with a chuckle before signing. “You were kinda scary back then, but I wish I had been your friend, too.”

Sunset nodded. “You have something in you that the old me lacked badly… maybe it’s just a part of who you are, or maybe it’s because your disability gives you a unique perspective on what other people need,” Sunset pushed the neckline of her jacket out of the way to display the headphones. “You’re so thoughtful, and gentle… you could have let the unfairness of your differences make you hard and angry but you didn’t, you let it open your eyes to the suffering of others and you responded by reaching out to ease that suffering… that’s why I’m certain that you inherited Kindness.”

An almost electric-white glow crackled over Vinyl’s form the moment the final word left Sunset’s lips, and Vinyl lifted her shades in surprise, looking down to see a gleaming sapphire set of bridged eighth notes reversed and clasped to the front of Vinyl’s jacket.

“Two f’two, Sunshine,” Gilda said with a chuckle.

“Right, let’s keep it rolling,” Sunset said, turning and gesturing to Penny, whose eyes went wide.

“W-Wait… seriously?” Penny asked in disbelief as she walked numbly over to Sunset.

“Yeah, seriously,” Sunset said, taking Penny’s hands. “Pennyroyal Tea, you… are hilarious…”

“Uhm, thanks?” Penny said with a weak laugh.

“I mean it,” Sunset insisted. “It’s more than just being nice or being funny or… anything like that. You want to smile, you want people to smile. You want to be friends with people and you want other people to be friends.”

“And what’s wrong with that?” Penny demanded, frowning.

“Absolutely nothing,” Sunset replied, gripping Penny’s hands a little harder. “That’s the point though… you make friends so easily because your heart is so open and, I’ll be honest, given your relationship with your parents that’s kind of surprising.”

“Yeah well, I’m not going to let some old fuddies ruin my life,” Penny said, furrowing her brow. “My parents might want me to sit in the back and be the quiet, ‘seen-but-not-heard’ good girl, but I want to have a life.”

“Exactly,” Sunset confirmed. “Out of all of my new friends, you were the only one to look past the fighting and the bad blood and see that my… my old friends were just people.” At that, Sunset looked over at the Rainbooms with a pang of nostalgia and, for the first time in months, a feeling of warmth. “You didn’t see them as enemies, just people who had… had made a terrible mistake.”

Penny looked down at the ground between her and Sunset, nodding. “I hate seeing people hurting themselves,” Penny said softly. “I thought… maybe if I could reach out, then… maybe…”

“That’s my point,” Sunset said. “You reached out a hand of friendship when… when even I wouldn’t…” Sunset glanced over at Pinkie Pie and gave her a weak, fragile smile, but one that wasn’t forced at least. Pinkie grinned radiantly back at her, nodding knowingly.

Turning back to Penny, Sunset took a breath and gave a nod. “You brought someone’s smile back with the simple act of reaching past the darkness that sat between the two groups and offering friendship… you took pain and replaced it with joy, you took sadness… and replaced it with Laughter.”

A light shone in Penny’s eyes for a moment before spreading through her whole body. The sensation tickled and Penny couldn’t help but giggle as a smile worked its way onto her face. A flare of pinkish-blue light rose up from Penny’s chest to coalesce into a symbol on her chest worked in pale garnet: a heart bound into a fretboard.

“Woohoo!” Pinkie cheered and rushed over to tackle Penny with a hug. “That’s me! You got MINE! I’m SO, SO, SO~ HAPPY! THAT MEANS YOU’LL CARRY ME WITH YOU EVERYWHERE!”

Penny laughed as Pinkie cheered and giggled, hanging off of her and nuzzling her cheek with a broad, utterly genuine smile.

“You’re… you’re not upset?” Penny asked as Pinkie settled down onto her feet.

Pinkie shook her head, letting her wild pink curls swing uncontrolled. “Nope! I did a bad thing… it wasn’t your fault my Element left, it was mine… I’m just happy that it found a new home, that’s all. And I’m even happier that it found a home with my newest friend!”

Penny smiled, feeling tears trickle from her eyes. “Aw… Pinks…”

Wrapping her arms around Penny more gently this time, Pinkie patted Penny’s head. “Don’t worry, I know magic is scary sometimes, but it’s also amazing! And you have good friends, and you’ve got me! We’ll be besties, right?”

Penny nodded, burying her face in Pinkie’s shoulder. “Yeah, you’re the coolest, Pinkie.”

“Nah, that’s Rainbow Dash, even if she’s a silly-head sometimes,” Pinkie said with a laugh. “I’m just Pinkie Pie!”

Sunset felt a warmth fill her heart. Pinkie was always one of the best of them, the one who would look past so much and understand so much… she was also the one who was easiest to hurt, even if she never showed it. Seeing Pinkie so genuinely happy… Sunset couldn’t help but smile along with her as she turned and gestured to Gilda.

“Of course, the next one isn’t even a guess,” Sunset said as Gilda walked up to Sunset and knelt in front of her. “Gilda Grimfeather… oh… Written’s Quill, what do I even say?” Sunset leaned in to rest her forehead against Gilda’s for a moment before pulling away. “From the moment we became friends you’ve always been there for me,” she said softly, stroking Gilda’s cheek. “When we became girlfriends you turned your whole life upside down to make me happy… I felt so guilty about it for so long until I realised it was just how you showed your love.”

“Damn right,” Gilda replied easily. “Life ain’t a damn thing without’ya, Sunflower… s’no point in keepin’ somethin’ how it is if changin’ it’ll make you smile, savvy?”

“You’re such a sap, Gil,” Sunset said with a laugh. “And I love you so much… when I was crippled, you never left my side until I was stable… when I’m scared you’re always there to hold me…” she brought her hand up to rest on Gilda’s cheek, tracing the lines of Gilda’s face with her thumb. “And when you asked me to marry you I honestly couldn’t have been happier.”

A gasp rose from almost all of the girls, with only Adagio and Applejack looking unsurprised. Rarity looked absolutely over the moon, practically vibrating in place with her hands over her mouth and tears in her eyes as she finally noticed the tiny gleam of copper wire around Sunset’s finger.

“I think if there was an Element of Love you’d own it,” Sunset said with a laugh, “but as it is… I think it’s not unreasonable to say that maybe the highest form of love, in any shape, is real and true Loyalty.

The etched scarring on the back of Gilda’s talon glowed amber for a moment before turning to a fiery gold that spread and arced up Gilda’s body until it sheathed her entire form. The shine lasted for less than a moment before it faded, leaving behind an insignia of a winged spear, whose wings encircled a divided sun; the whole of the symbol shone like gold except for one half of the sun which was the scarlet of the evening sky.

A harsh snort came from behind Sunset and both her and Gilda turned to see Rainbow with her back to the rest of the group.

“C’mon Dashie,” Applejack said soothingly. “Ain’t like anythin’ was… stolen, or nuthin’ y’know? We lost it fair’n square, sugarcube.”

“Screw you, AJ,” Rainbow hissed, “guess you always were fine just being normal,” she spat before stomping away from the group, back towards the city.

Applejack flinched at the venom in Rainbow’s tone, and sighed before turning back to Sunset and Gilda with an apologetic look in her eyes.

“Mighty sorry ‘bout that, ya’ll,” Applejack said quietly. “Guess Ah don’t need t’tell ya that Rainbow gets real sore about things sometimes, takes it personal-like, but she’ll come around once she cools off.”

“AIn’t my problem,” Gilda said with a grimace.

“And my point still stands,” Adagio said from the side, looking over the small group. “You’re missing one Element, unless dear Applejack over there miraculously retained hers.”

“Nope,” Applejack replied with weak chuckle. “Dashie was right… Ah ain’t got it, don’t need no magic spell to tell me when Ah lost somethin’ like that, sugarcube.”

Sunset sighed as she watched Rainbow Dash’s form grow smaller and smaller in the distance. She knew Rainbow wasn’t going to take the notion of losing her Element to her old friend, especially not after said friend rejected her romantically… and Sunset was still sore about the fact that Rainbow even tried that. Still… she had been hoping Rainbow would step back gracefully, she wasn’t expecting her to react like Pinkie Pie had but…

Sunset had had enough enemies in her life.

“Head back in the game, Shimmer,” Sunset murmured as she turned away from the retreating sight of Rainbow Dash. “One more…”

“So now what?” Aria asked, raising an eyebrow. “Y’know where the last one is?”

“Oh… I’ve got a pretty good idea,” Sunset said with a small laugh. “It’s right here with the rest of them.”

The girls look around curiously, but Gilda just lightly swatted at Sunset’s ear. “C’mon babe, enough’a the cryptic bullshit, y’ain’t doin’ nothin’ but screwin’ with’em now.”

“I’m a mage, Gil,” Sunset retorted, sticking out her tongue. “Being cryptic and vague about powerful magical artifacts is part of the gig.” Gilda snorted with laughter as Sunset wheeled away from her towards the group. “But you’re right,” she said, glancing back at Gilda, “time to get this done…”

Rolling through the small crowd of girls, Sunset came to a stop in front of one particular one, drawing an odd look from everyone but Gilda.

Adagio looked down at her in confusion.

“What?”

Sunset smiled as she reached out and took Adagio’s hands, and the Siren blanched, her mouth dropping open for a moment as she tried to pull away. Aria stepped back with wide eyes and even Sonata raised her hands to her mouth in shock.

“No… you’re not- no!” Adagio stammered as she tried backing away, but Sunset held her fast.

“Believe me, I was as surprised as you when I realised it but…” Sunset laughed a little and shrugged. “When I thought about I couldn’t deny it.”

“I’m a Siren,” Adagio practically spat. “I hunt your kind, we all do! We’re apex predators-!”

“Were,” Sunset corrected her. “You were predators, and only out of a combination of necessity and corruption by dark magic.”

“But-”

“Adagio Dazzle, just because we started as enemies doesn’t mean a damn thing!” Sunset insisted, pulling the terrified-looking Siren towards her. “When I was confused and hurt and adrift, you looked me in the eye and told me what I needed to hear, not necessarily what I wanted but what I needed,” Sunset laced her fingers into Adagio’s and the curly-haired immortal reflexively gripped Sunset’s hands. “In all the time we’ve known each other you’ve always been straight with me, even with what you said the day we met at CHS, when you cornered me in the halls… at the time you may have only told me it to hurt me, but it only worked because it was true, right?”

“Not a thing in the world hurts more than the truth,” Adagio said softly.

“And yet you’ve never shied away from it,” Sunset said in a calmer voice. “You’re always there when I… when your family needs you, and you never disrespect me by sugarcoating your words. Do you know how rare it is for me to know I can always trust what someone will say to me, ‘Dagi?”

Sunset stared up at Adagio with a glimmer of pain, and hope, in her eyes, and Adagio felt something… a faint glow, a connection. One that had been there for a while but that she was only beginning to acknowledge.

After a moment, Adagio nodded.

“If I need help, I know I can go to any of my friends,” Sunset said as she smiled. “But if I want advice? If I’m feeling lost? I would come to you every time, because I know that if you think I need to hear something then I can bet my bottom bit I’ll hear it… so it’s no surprise that, Siren or not, you inherited Honesty.”

Adagio’s eyes widened as she felt a powerful feeling well up within her as a gem-like glow of amber and orange suffused her. A faint crackling sound could be heard from Adagio’s gem as it vibrated wildly, shaking in place on her neck with violent force before finally shattering with a loud, ringing bell-tone.

But the shards did not fall.

The shards of the gem floated in mid air, orbiting around a glowing light that seemed to be be attached to the link of Adagio’s choker. With a sound like windchimes, the shards floated back together in a new configuration.

A amethyst musical staff with a gleaming topaz superimposed over it now hung from her neck where the sea-green gemstone had been a moment ago.

“The Elements of Harmony don’t care who you are or were, ‘Dagi,” Sunset said as the light died down. “They care about your potential; they care about the people you can help now and in the future… so it’s not just me, alright?” Sunset took Adagio’s hands again and gave them a squeeze. “Now you’ve got an ancient magical artifact rooting for you, too.”

“How nice,” Adagio said weakly as she stared down at the gem with unease. “I’m still not… certain how I feel about this, Sunny.”

“I know, but you have us to back you up, ‘Dagi, okay?” Sunset said in a soft voice. “It’s not just you and your sisters anymore, now you’ve got all of us.”

“Kinda hard ta believe mah old Element is in the hands of Adagio Dazzle,” Applejack said in a heavy tone. “But Ah guess Ah can’t rightly complain, can I?”

Adagio grimaced but walked up to Applejack nonetheless.

“Look, Hayseed, we’re not friends, alright?” Adagio said in a tired voice, pinching the bridge of her nose. “But… fair is fair, I suppose… we didn’t endear ourselves to any of you, either. So maybe we can call ourselves… cordial acquaintances for now?”

Adagio held out a hand towards Applejack, to the surprise of everyone including Sunset.

“Uh, not that Ah’m opposed t’new friends’n all, but Ah gotta ask why,” Applejack replied, looking down at Adagio’s hand in suspicion.

“Because,” Adagio answered in a tone of irritation, “in this moment of weakness which I shall deny to my grave, I’m admitting that as the former holder of the Element which has, against all odds and reason chosen me, you may have some insight which I would be… mistaken not to avail myself of.”

“Well, that’s… fair enough Ah guess,” Applejack said after a moment, smiling wryly and she took Adagio’s hand and gave it a firm shake.

Rarity sighed as she watched Applejack and Adagio bury the hatchet, at least to an extent, and turned to Octavia. “Well, darling, I suppose bowing out gracefully is the thing to do in this instance, wouldn’t you say?”

“I suppose so,” Octavia replied in a chilly voice, only to be nudged in the side by Vinyl who pulled her shades down slightly to shoot Octavia a glare. “Ugh… very well…” Turning back to Rarity, Octavia held out a hand. “Miss Belle I can’t say I have any love for you or your friends… you all acted just as atrociously as the rest of the school during the Anon-A-Miss fiasco and… it was disappointing because up until that point I had looked up to you greatly.”

“I… I see,” Rarity said in a hitched voice, her eyes widening perceptibly before hesitantly reaching out to take Octavia’s hand. “I’m so sorry then… for disappointing you, Miss Melody, believe me you can’t be nearly as disappointed in me as I am in myself, though.”

Octavia nodded stiffly, before letting her shoulders sag as she grimaced. “I had… after the fall formal, found something to strive for in you, is all,” Octavia said quietly, gripping Rarity’s hand. “A generous soul, a truly noble spirit, maybe? I’m not sure… I know we’re barely more than children and perhaps it’s the romantic in me talking but… seeing you and your friends save so many people twice was… inspiring.”

“In the end we are just as flawed as anyone else,” Rarity said quietly, laying her other hand over Octavia’s. “But I see now why you in particular have been so cold to me, they do say one should never meet their heroes, I suppose… for whatever it’s worth… I’m so very sorry, not just to Sunset but to you.”

Shaking her head, Octavia gave Rarity a wan smile. “It’s a childish grudge, nothing more… I should be better than that, and I intend to be… I will hold your Element with honor, Rarity.”

“It’s not mine anymore, darling,” Rarity replied.

Vinyl looked silently over at Fluttershy who blinked owlishly at the mute girl before glancing down at the Element at Vinyl’s neck and then back up at the girl.

“Oh, don’t mind me,” Fluttershy said with a small laugh, waving her hands slightly. “Uhm… if I’m being honest I’m a little relieved that I don’t have it anymore… even if it was an awful way to lose it, having that kind of responsibility was very stressful, I think you’re much better suited to it than me.”

Vinyl signed a short sentence, nudging Octavia to translate. Octavia eyed Vinyl’s hands for a half-second before looking back up to Fluttershy.

“Are you sure?” Octavia translated. “No hard feelings?”

Fluttershy giggled lightly. “No, no hard feelings at all,” she replied. “Honestly I’d trade the Element away a hundred times if it meant being friends with Sunset again, besides… I don’t need a magical artifact to be kind, right?”

Vinyl smiled and nodded, opening her arms to Fluttershy who stepped forward and gave in to Vinyl’s hug.

“I’m very happy for you all,” Fluttershy said from Vinyl’s embrace. “I know it doesn’t mean a lot coming from me but… please be better to her than we were…”

Nodding again, Vinyl patted Fluttershy on the head as she stepped away, only to be quickly enveloped by Octavia’s arms from behind. Vinyl laughed silently and made a few quick, sharp signs are Octavia who harrumphed when she saw them.

“I did not get jealous,” Octavia muttered, her cheeks reddening before quietly adding, “just because Fluttershy is cuter than me…”

Vinyl shook her head emphatically, turning around in Octavia’s grip and pulling her shades off only to perch them on Octavia’s head and reach up to rest her pale hands on the grey cellist's cheeks, guiding her down to an insistent kiss. Octavia hummed in appreciation as she moved her arms slowly down to rest on Vinyl’s waist.

“Mm, so it seems the rumors are true, then,” Rarity said with a wry grin, drawing a caustic glare from Octavia and a shameless grin from Vinyl. “Oh don’t look at me like that, darling, after all…” Rarity leaned up to Applejack, taking the farmgirl’s chin in her hand and turning the blonde's face to press their lips together in a gentle kiss, “...I’m hardly one to judge, don’t you think?”

Octavia raised an eyebrow and shrugged before snuggling back into Vinyl’s embrace, earning a small cascade of laughter from the crowd.

Through it all, Sunset watched, her hand gripping Gilda’s, who was looking down at the redhead with concern.

“You alright, Sunshine?” Gilda asked quietly.

Sunset sighed as she leaned back in her chair. “Yeah… I think I’m just starting to realise how petty I’ve been being… you know?”

“Not really,” Gilda replied with a laugh. “Ain’t no one sayin’ ya gotta do one thing or another, Sunflower… you do you.”

“It’s just… seeing everyone like this…” Sunset gestured to the Rainbooms and to her new friends who had very cautiously begun breaking the ice. “And maybe most importantly… hearing Penny’s words… it just makes me think, I guess.”

“Wha’dya mean?” Gilda asked.

“Aside from Octavia, who kind of had her own reasons for holding a grudge,” Sunset began, wringing her hands nervously, “the only real reason anyone has been hesitant in making friends with the rest of the Rainbooms is because of me.”

“It ain’t weird t’take y’friends side in things, Sunny,” Gilda countered. “Look, those fuckos made their bed, savvy? They pissed off folks and now they gotta deal.”

“But what if I’m just making it worse?” Sunset asked weakly. “I want… I want to be someone that my mom, and Princess Twilight, can be proud of. I want to foster friendships not… to divide people up.” Scowling, Sunset gripped the arms of her wheelchair hard. “I’ve done that plenty in my life already…”

Sighing, Gilda turned and knelt in front of Sunset, reaching up to caress her cheeks and let her fingers trail playfully through Sunset’s red-and-gold hair.

“Whatever y’gonna do, Sunshine? I’ll always be right beside ya, savvy?” Gilda said with a calming smile. “Do what ya need to, a’right?”

Sunset brought her hand up to rest over where Gilda’s palm was cupping her cheek, and she smiled warmly.

“Thank you,” Sunset said in a voice so soft that Gilda could hardly hear it. “Gilda,” she said in a stronger voice as she sat up straighter, “grab the album, will you?”

To her credit, Gilda didn’t hesitate or question Sunset’s request for a moment. She stood and moved behind Sunset’s chair, kneeling to retrieve the wrapped, leather-bound folio from where it had been stashed in the undercarriage of the wheelchair. Settling the album on her lap, Sunset ran her hands over the cover, feeling the delicate embossing, and every bit of love and care that went into the crafting of it.

“Oh my,” Fluttershy’s soft voice broke through the light chatter as she spied what Sunset was holding in her hands, and nudged Applejack lightly. “Look!”

Applejack glanced over to Sunset and her eyes widened, she passed the silent message on to Rarity, then to Pinkie and the chatter died down almost as suddenly as it had begun. Even Sunset’s new friends were watching the redhead with a mixture of curiosity and caution.

“I suppose you’re wondering why I brought this?” Sunset said once the chatter had quieted. “To be honest, I wasn’t even sure myself why I made us late by going back for it…”

“So that’s why you took extra time,” Adagio said in a low voice. “May I ask what it is?”

“A photo album,” Applejack answered, “one me’n the girls made for Sunset as a Christmas present.”

“And I suppose it was filled with sappy reminders of your former friendship?” Adagio said caustically.

“Weren’t filled with nothin’,” Applejack replied. “Thought about it… ain’t gonna lie, we sure thought about it but…”

“In the end,” Rarity continued, “we felt it was more meaningful to tell Sunset how much she meant to us, even if it meant never speaking to her again.”

“It was just an empty album,” Pinkie said quietly. “And… and a hope that she’d find happiness and fill the album with it.”

“Huh,” Aria grunted in slight annoyance. “That’s… actually kinda nice.”

Sonata and Adagio both grudgingly nodded in agreement as Sunset rolled turned to face the rest of her former friends, album in hand.

Silenced stretched out between the five girls and their former friend who stared nervously up at them from her chair. Sunset’s fingers drummed against the leather binding as she considered her next words carefully.

“I don’t… hate you,” Sunset began haltingly. “I… I want to… but I know that's the ‘old me’ talking.”

“Honestly, darling,” Rarity said in a quiet voice from Applejack’s side, “I’m personally just thrilled to hear that first part.”

The rest of the girls nodded in agreement, but Sunset held up a hand to forestall any joyful upswelling before she had finished saying her piece.

“Let me finish,” Sunset said and the girls immediately quieted down. “I… I miss you all, I miss you all so much,” tears began trickling down Sunset’s cheek as she made the admission. “It hurts so much that can’t breathe sometimes…”

The pain on the faces of both Sunset and her ex-friends was palpable and Gilda, from where she stood behind Sunset, had to clench her fists and grit her teeth to keep from interjecting. She wanted to just pull Sunset away, take her back home, and tell the Rainbooms to get lost and never show their faces again.

But Sunset would never stand for that.

One of the main reasons Sunset had stayed in the human world was to face her demons; Gilda knew that… she knew that her Sunshine was stronger than anything this place could throw at her but still… she hated hearing that tone in Sunset’s voice.

She hated hearing the pain.

“I loved you all so much,” Sunset choked the words out, wrapping her arms around herself as the taste of salt touched her lips. “I was so alone for so long until you five showed up and took me in… and I was so happy being your friend.”

“Aw… sugarcube…”

“DON’T CALL ME THAT!” Sunset shouted, sending Applejack back a step in shock as Sunset shook in her chair, tears falling from her cheeks to stain the covers that lay over her legs.

It took the redhead several moments of slow, calming breaths, before she finally found it in herself to trust her own voice again.

“Everytime you call me that…” Sunset said, her voice reedy, as if she were out of breath, “all I can think of is all the time we spent together… you said I was like family to you! Do you know what family means to an orphan?!”

Everyone of them looked down, ashamed as they stared at the ground. Every one of them except Applejack who looked poleaxed. She stared at Sunset and saw the pain in her eyes, the tears as they stained her cheeks, and the heave of her chest as she gulped in ragged breaths.

After a few moments, Applejack stepped forward, pulling away from Rarity as she approached Sunset. Out of instinct, Gilda started to step between the two girls, but surprisingly it was Sunset who barred the way with an upraised hand. Applejack stopped in front of Sunset and sniffled, kneeling so she could look Sunset in the eye without looking down at her.

“Ah ain’t got no excuse, su-... Sunset,” Applejack said quietly. “After Ah lost mah folks Ah thought to mahself, that’s it… never again, Ah ain’t ever lettin’ no one Ah love go like that ever again and…”

Applejack hiccuped as tears fell from her eyes and she lowered her head as she took off her hat and held it close to her heart as she wept.

“Galdangit ah did it again,” Applejack sobbed. “Ah let ya go jus’ ‘cause Ah was scared and mad and Ah’m so, so sorry…” taking a few ragged breaths, Applejack looked up at SUnset. “Ah weren’t all alone like you, but Ah lost mah parents an’ when ya live yer whole life seein’ everyone else goin’ home to their momma’s and poppa’s and knowin’ you ain’t got nothin’ like them at home for you… Ah’m so… so damn sorry Sunset, ‘cause Ah should’a known… Ah should’a been there an’ Ah wasn’t!”

Applejack’s hat had fallen to the ground halfway through her rambling as she gripped the pale covers that kept Sunset’s legs warm in the chilly January air. As her words trailed off, Applejack just lowered her head and buried her face in the covers as her shoulder shook in silence.

After a moment, a hand settled on Applejack’s head, drawing her attention up to Sunset who looked down at her wearily.

“Look,” Sunset said simply as she held up the album. “All of you, come look.”

Cautiously, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Rarity approached and lowered themselves down next to Applejack as Sunset turned the album to face them and opened up the cover to reveal the first set of photos.

Three pictures sat ensconced on the page.

The first was of a redheaded girl with a deliriously happy smile staring up at the photo, her hand up in a ‘V’ as another girl, Gilda, hugged her from the side and kissed her cheek. She wore a hospital gown and she looked exhausted. Gilda looked ragged and worn thin, with small bags around her eyes and messy hair.

Beneath it were the words: ‘This Is The First Day Of My Life’

The second picture was of a group of people standing in front of a fireplace, with Gilda and Sunset right in the middle smiling, with one of Sunset’s hands up on Gilda’s where the dark-skinned girl rested at her shoulder, the other holding up a fiery-colored set of headphones, and Sunset’s grin stretched from ear to ear. Octavia and Vinyl were holding hands on Sunset’s right, while Penny and a young man they assumed to be her boyfriend where on the redhead’s left. At either shoulder were a pair of adults; the first was clearly Principal Celestia and her sister, Vice Principal Luna, while the other pair was unknown to the girls but a quick glance told them they could only be Octavia’s parents; the resemblance was simply too strong.

More than anything they looked like a family, and beneath that photograph was another set of words: ‘Everything Belongs Somewhere’

The final picture, like in the second, had Sunset and Gilda in the center, though Sunset lacked her chair. Instead Gilda held up Sunset in a princess carry, with Sunset’s arms wrapped around Gilda’s neck as she pulled herself in to kiss Gilda’s cheek with a radiant smile while Gilda blushed furiously, smiling all the while along with Sunset. To their left was an amazonian woman covered in tattoos and wearing a toothy grin, who towered over even Gilda, with dark orchid skin and a wild red mohawk. Her left arm was held up in an traditional flex while her other was lifting another, smaller woman with curly, messy green hair, grey skin, and an infectious smile who was practically sitting in the curve of the taller woman’s massive arm.

Sunset and the grey-skinned woman were both holding up their right hands, and in the flash of the camera a faint gleam could be seen on both of their fingers and beneath the picture were the words: ‘Happy Wives Mean Happy Lives’

“You wanted me to fill this album with happy memories,” Sunset said quietly as the girls looked up from the album with happy tears in their eyes. “And that’s what I’m doing but… I think… or maybe I hope… one day… maybe a long time from now… maybe one of these spots will… will have us in it, together again.”

“Nothing would make us happier,” Fluttershy said with a teary smile.

“I don’t know if I’m forgiving you,” Sunset admitted. “I don’t know if I can, but… but I’m open to maybe… trying again? Maybe that’s it… maybe I’ll look in my heart one day and realise I did forgive you but… I’m a mess right now girls, I… I really don’t know.”

“You don’t have to know, darling,” Rarity said, extending a hand to cover Sunset’s. “A chance is all we ask, and if that means starting from nothing well… we’ll start from nothing and figure it out from there.”

“Hey, maybe if I’m lucky we’ll be friends again by the time you and Gilda get married!” Pinkie cheered. “I’d love to plan your reception!”

“You’d really love Gilda’s side of the family, too,” Sunset said wryly, chuckling as she turned and looked up at Gilda. “But for now… yeah, how about we go for coffee tomorrow at Sugarcube Corner… all of us?”

Sunset looked around at her new friends and her old ones, there were a few grudging nods from the Siren side of the gallery but everyone agreed.

“Okay… I guess… let’s give this a try,” Sunset said quietly.

“Hate ta spoil the moment,” Applejack said in a low voice looking around at the other girls. “But… what should Ah tell Rainbow Dash?”

Sunset sighed.

“I don’t know but… I’m not sure I’m ready to try again with her yet,” Sunset admitted. “She… I don’t trust her.”

Applejack nodded. “Ah was afraid’a that… well, Ah’ll break the bad news to’er… she made’r bed so she’s gotta lay down in it.”

“Guess that means we’re tryin’ t’make friends, huh?” Gilda said suddenly, her gruff voice breaking through. “Don’t expect much from me early on.”

Giving the taller girl an arid smile, Applejack nodded. “Wouldn’t have it any other way, Gilda. The way Ah see it, you’ll be there t’watch us like a hawk’n keep us honest.”

For the first time in a while, Gilda grinned. “Y’damn right.”

18. When A Tornado Meets A Volcano - Part 2

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

19. From The Middle, To The Front, To The End

~Ponyville Commons, February 15th, Morning~

“I’ve been having a lot of dreams lately.”

The smell of coffee and baked goods filled the air as it always did in Cuppa’s. Sunset took a deep breath, the familiar, calming odors doing wonders for her nerves as she sipped at her black coffee and stared out the window and into the streets of the Commons. Watching the people go to and fro was one of her favorite things to do; seeing the little motes of life wander about on their daily business reminded her of how important the world was to more than just her. It was humbling… something that had taken Sunset a long time to learn to appreciate.

“What kind of dreams?” her companion asked curiously, sipping at her own coffee drink which was far creamier and sweeter than Sunset could stomach. “Bad ones?”

“The worst,” Sunset replied, furrowing her brow. “It’s like watching my worst fear play out every single night.”

“I’m going to take a shot in the dark and say… Gilda?”

Sunset chuckled wanly. “It must be pretty bad if even you can read me, Sparkle.”

Princess Twilight gave her friend an encouraging smile. “Well, you also aren’t afraid of much… but something happening to Gilda? I can imagine it’s a lot like if something happened to my BBBFF, you know? Where is she, by the way?”

“Working,” Sunset replied, still looking out at the street and realising with a slight pang of dark amusement that she was looking the general direction of the Ponyville Auto Garage. “I practically had to kick her out of the house, figuratively speaking, to get her to go, too… ever since that phone call a few nights back she’s been paranoid.”

The Princess nodded gravely. “Her foster father seems like exactly the type of villain to be wary of, especially since…”

“He knows magic,” Sunset filled in, and Twilight Sparkle gave another sharp nod.

“I can’t account for that either,” Twilight said quietly. “From what you’ve told me it sounds like he’s had access to it for some time, at least enough to be comfortable and practiced with it.” Twilight scratched her head in confusion for a few moments and grumbled wordlessly. “That doesn’t make any sense though, that kind of ease would take years to acquire but you only brought magic into this world last year.”

“It wasn’t the first time the portal was opened though,” Sunset pointed out. “Not counting me coming through five or so years back, the Sirens were banished here thousands of years ago, and honestly there’s no telling what else might’ve been dumped here, too.”

Princess Twilight sighed and took another sip of her drink, nodding along with Sunset’s breakdown of the events.

“Furthermore,” Twilight added. “We still never answered the real question… the one I should have thought to ask back when I first learned about the portal.”

“What do you mean? Sunset asked, lowering her coffee and meeting Twilight’s eyes as the purple princess looked up at her. “What question haven’t we asked?”

“Why here?” Twilight said softly. “Why here?”

“I don’t follow,” Sunset replied, setting her coffee on the table and waiting for Twilight to elaborate.

Twilight sighed. “I mean, why the human world?”

Sunset’s eyes widened slightly as she caught on to Twilight’s train of thought. It hadn’t occurred to her to ask the question either, but now that Twilight had said it Sunset felt like an idiot for not having realised it before.

“Of all the places in all the multiverse,” Twilight muttered. “Why did the portal connect here?”

“Well… there’s always random chance,” Sunset replied weakly, but the answer sounded hollow even to her. “But, I guess that’s pretty unlikely.”

“Agreed,” Twilight said in a grim voice. “I’ll do some research when I get back to Equestria, worse comes to worst I can always just ask Princess Celestia and see if she remembers anything.”

“Having a millennia-old ruler is pretty helpful,” Sunset agreed with a chuckle. “How, uhm… how is she?”

“Good,” Twilight replied. “She asks after you often, I’ve shared some of our correspondence, I hope that’s okay…”

“It’s fine,” Sunset insisted with a smile. “I want to come see her sometime soon, but there’s just… so much going on right now, you know?”

“I know,” Princess Twilight said softly. “Going back to your dreams then…”

“They’re awful,” Sunset said, her face falling as she took another sip of coffee. “And I only recently started remembering the finer details… it’s like, they’re getting more and more real, you know? Before I could barely remember them but now… Twilight, I haven’t slept in almost twenty four hours…”

“Sunset… that’s…” Twilight began, before trailing off.

Sunset sighed, grimacing as she took another swig of coffee. “When they started, right around Christmas, I couldn’t even really remember what they were about, but now I can’t get them out of my head.”

“Tell me about them,” Twilight said, reaching out to take Sunset’s hand and give it a comforting squeeze. “I’ll listen.”

Sunset took a deep breath and nodded. “The dreams differ a lot in the particulars but… they always start with a storm, a lightning storm, specifically.” It was painful to go back to those memories, but Sunset grit her teeth and cast her mind back all the same. “I’m flying, but… no, I’m fleeing, through the air I mean… I’m being chased by something that’s calling out Gilda’s name and… Written’s Quill, Twilight, the voice is so angry…”

“Are you sure it’s you the voice is chasing?” Twilight asked and Sunset sighed.

“I realised it the night the call came in,” Sunset said after a moment, “it’s not me, I think I’m seeing through Gilda’s eyes.”

“That’s worrying,” Twilight said grimly.

“You’re telling me,” Sunset agreed with a grimace. “Whatever is chasing Gilda hates her… seriously hates her, I mean, and… sometimes I dream that the thing catches her and then… I don’t know, there’s a crash of lightning and then I wake up.”

“That could be a lot of things,” Twilight said uneasily.

Sunset gave a hollow smile. “When you’re falling in your dream and you wake as you hit the ground, there’s only one thing that could have happened there, I’m pretty sure.”

The two girls were silent for several minutes as they sipped their coffee, watching the cold winds of winter’s tail end blow through the streets of Canterlot and the Commons as Princess Twilight considered the situation.

It had been shortly after the phone call from Tempest that Sunset had written to the Princess and asked her to cross over so that they could talk in person. Twilight had done so as quickly as possible, greatly concerned by the presence of Equestrian magic in the hands of someone that Sunset had described as a career criminal: something that meant a great deal more in the Human world than it did in Equestria.

The fact was that Equestria had benefited from over a thousand years of largely peaceful, stable, and benevolent rule, thanks to Princess Celestia. Her immortality, power, and great wisdom earned her the respect of the leaders of others nations, meaning even when things were at their worst it didn’t necessarily mean a diplomatic solution was off the table. Princess Celestia had done a great deal to ensure that Equestria had a cultural aversion to crime as a concept and social programs came at the issue from the direction of ‘if one eliminates the need to commit crime, then there will be less crime’.

Princess Celestia had ensured that Twilight had a thorough grounding in criminal theory during her lessons; crime is committed most often in times of desperation, therefore logic would indicate that eliminating those desperate situations would largely eliminate crime itself. That didn’t mean that there weren’t organized criminals and the like; Manehattan and Stalliongrad were infamous for them, but the regular petty crime and constant violence of the human world was simply non-existent in Equestria, something that Twilight blamed mostly on the human race’s total lack of organization. That did mean, however, that human criminals ended up being a singularly vicious breed of outlaw.

The idea of having one as dangerous as this ‘Storm King’ possessing even minor Equestrian magic was a serious cause for alarm.

That said; Sunset’s dreams were almost more alarming.

“Sunset, are you familiar with Oneiromancy?” Twilight asked as she set her nearly empty cup down.

“I know of it, but…” Sunset chuckled grimly, “divination was always my worst subject, you know? Go ahead, make a joke about my lack of foresight.”

Twilight gave a quiet laugh, but shook her head. “It’s alright, Divining the future is a talent that very few have, I’m pretty bad at it too and my special talent is magic itself.”

“Right, I’m much more comfortable with brute force spells, and that… is not Divination,” Sunset agreed. “So… oneiromancy… divination by dreaming?”

“Mhm,” Twilight answered, draining the last her coffee and grimacing slightly at the dregs. “It’s one of the few forms of magic that can’t be taught. Anyone can learn astromancy or cartomancy, even catoptromancy is teachable, but dreamers? Those are… rare.”

“Why?” Sunset asked, sipping her drink. “I never looked into it very closely.”

“Because it’s dangerous,” Twilight said quietly. “Being that close to the dreaming world, anyone with powerful magic has a chance to be a dreamer, but that realm is… maddening. For reference, King Sombra is a singularly powerful dreamer.”

“Oof,” Sunset grunted, wincing slightly at the comparison.

“Yeah… now the dream realm has a lot of names, but it’s always the same place,” Twilight continued. “As far as my studies suggest, there are two types of dreamers; present and non-present.”

“Meaning?” Sunset asked, raising an eyebrow.

Twilight sighed, and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’ll need to talk to Fluttershy, my Fluttershy, about this later, she… well, I’ll tell you that story later… point is, continuing the reference, Sombra is a ‘present’ dreamer, meaning he can enter the dream realm and, from there, influence the minds of sleepers; inducing nightmares, madness, and worse.”

Sunset’s eyes widened at that.

“Alternatively,” Twilight continued, “there are non-present dreamers, they’re commonly thought of like seers or oracles.”

“They dream of future events,” Sunset said, not a question but a statement, and Twilight nodded carefully.

“Not just future events,” Twilight responded. “Time and space are no obstacles, though, so they might see events in the far future, the distant past, or five minutes ago, or five minutes later…” Princess Twilight sighed as she leaned back in her chair, fiddling with her empty cup. “The only other mortal ‘non-present’ dreamer I know of is in an asylum in Canterlot.”

“That’s encouraging… and immortal?” Sunset asked, not liking her odds.

“Princess Luna, obviously,” Twilight replied with a dry smile. “She’s both, actually, making her the only known instance of a pony being capable of both present and non-present dreaming, but then, she’s an alicorn so she gets to cheat, I guess.”

“So I’m going crazy?” Sunset asked weakly, her grip tightening on her cup.

Twilight bit her lip, looking unsure for several moments as she considered her answer. “I… no, I don’t think so… dreaming is still magic, you know.”

“And this world’s magic is still weak,” Sunset said, feeling a creeping relief wash over her. “I never thought I’d be grateful for that.”

“But if you’re suddenly have flashes of dreams then that might be changing,” Princess Twilight warned.

Sunset shook her head. “How, though? That would require someone dragging in huge amounts of power from somewhere and then casting it out to be absorbed by the ambient field.”

Princess Twilight nodded, her mind working over the issue. “You’re right… and it’s recent, very recent, right?” Sunset nodded at that and Twilight frowned. “Alright, so, let’s rule out a magus manually dredging magic up and casting spells, what does that leave us with?”

“A natural source,” Sunset said, ticking one finger up, “like a breached leyline, or something.”

“But that would be obvious,” Twilight replied, waving a hand. “Leylines are entirely uncontrolled, like a geyser without an end. Have your dreams been regular?”

“No,” Sunset answered, sagging slightly. “I dreamt about the storm for the first time on Christmas Eve… and I barely remembered anything about it afterwards. Then I dreamt again on Christmas morning, but after that…” Sunset furrowed her brow as she tried to remember the dates and times, and resolving to start a dream journal after this conversation. “It was over a week until the next time. I think, and then another couple of weeks passed and I dreamt it clearer than ever… that was right before we got the call.”

“So not a natural Source,” Princess Twilight said quietly. “Not unless someone is actively using it, turning it on and off, and I doubt there’s anyone on this world with the knowledge, power, and will to do something like that.”

“Possible, though,” Sunset countered. “We’ll keep it on the backburner, but… I admit it is pretty unlikely.”

“Next?”

Narrowing her eyes, Sunset winced internally as she thought back to the Fall Formal. Letting out a sigh, Sunset looked back up at Twilight and ticked up another finger.

“An artifact,” Sunset said finally, “A powerful one.”

“Theoretically, possible,” Twilight replied, then shook her head a moment later, “No… probable, I’d say; an artifact with enough power packed into it could artificially encourage the strengthening of the ambient magical field in Canterlot.”

“Yeah, I mean, we should know, right?” Sunset said with a cocked grin, and Princess Twilight chuckled quietly. “And most artifacts don’t require much know-how to use them.”

“I don’t like this, but I can’t deny the notion,” Twilight agreed grudgingly. “The thought of more Equestrian artifacts drifting around this world doesn't sit well with me. I’ll do some digging and see if Starswirl left behind any notes regarding any dangerous objects he might have dumped here… we really do owe this world an apology, don’t we?”

“I can’t say I’m not partially responsible, though,” Sunset said in a soft voice. “I mean, seriously, any Equestrian artifact would probably just be a dud if I hadn’t jumpstarted this world’s field.”

Twilight reached and took Sunset’s hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “It’s still just a theory, Sunset,” she urged, “and even if it’s proven true, you couldn’t have known… plus, chances are if Starswirl did dump a dark artifact here, it probably claimed some lives before its internal reservoir dried up… I hate to think of it but my ‘hero’ might be a lot less heroic than I thought.”

“Starswirl sought to protect Equestria, above all,” Sunset said, squeezing Twilight’s hand back. “Believe me, I know what it’s like to be stuck between a bad choice and a worse one… I guess I just empathize.”

“It just feels like he gave up and made the darkness he was fighting someone else’s problem instead of solving it,” Twilight grumbled in irritation.

Sunset just smiled at that, taking Twilight’s hand in both of hers.

“That’s why you’re an alicorn and he’s not, though,” Sunset said insistently. “Think about it… you surpassed him a long time ago, Twi, your status as an alicorn is proof of that.”

Twilight didn’t respond, rather, she just looked down at her empty cup thoughtfully. Outside, the sounds of traffic and daily life spilled over; a car honk here and there, the soft clamor of people talking as they went about their business. Sunset gave Twilight’s hand a reassuring squeeze as she turned away to watch out the window, a part of her knowing that she was looking for a familiar flash of white hair, a glimpse of a brown jacket, or glint of a golden eye.

It had only been a few hours since Gilda had gone to work and Sunset already missed her so much it was like there was a hole in her heart. That was a regular occurrence too, anytime Gilda was gone Sunset had to find something to distract herself or the loneliness would start eating at her gut.

‘That’s definitely not healthy,’ Sunset mused to herself, but only idly. For now she was fine with it. For now… ‘My life has been miserable enough, it owes me this little bit of weakness.’

Sunset suppressed a chuckle as she wondered if it was possible to be mentally unhealthy in a healthy manner. Maybe… maybe just in the sense of not trying to rush things. Going too quickly was what got her into most of her problems in life, after all.

“What does it mean to surpass someone, I wonder?” Twilight mused quietly, drawing Sunset out of her mental wanderings.

Sunset shrugged. “Wouldn’t know,” she said with an arid smile, “I don’t think I’ll be surpassing anyone anytime soon, savvy?”

“I’m not sure how true that is,” Twilight muttered quietly, low enough to escape Sunset’s ears.

“What was that?”

Twilight just shook her head, laughing softly to herself. “Nothing, so if we’re assuming that one or more artifacts are the cause of your dreaming… what does that have to do with Gilda’s sister?”

“That’s where it all falls apart,” Sunset grumbled, hanging her head. “I have no clue…”

“Give it time,” Twilight said with a smile. “We’ll figure it out.”

“Every minute of time we give it is another minute that Storm has time to plot or worse,” Sunset said grimly, scowling as she glanced out the window again. “Every single second is… dangerous.”

Twilight frowned but didn’t deny it. Sunset wasn’t necessarily wrong about that, and it irked her that there was nothing she could do about it. For certain, if she knew for a fact that somepony like Chrysalis were out there plotting then Twilight knew she’d be the first in line to track them down, begrudging every second not spent on the hunt. Some ponies, and people, were just too dangerous to be left to their own devices.

At the same time though…

“Either way, there’s nothing we can do at this exact moment,” Twilight said, finally, giving Sunset’s hand another gentle squeeze. “I have a different question for you now though, not one I think you have an answer to but definitely… something to think on.”

“I’ll take any distraction I can at this point,” Sunset said with a grim smile. “Some days a girl just can’t get rid of a bomb, y’know?”

“Huh?” Twilight raised in eyebrow in confusion.

“Sorry, Gilda’s been making me watch old t.v. shows, go on,” Sunset said with a chuckle.

“Okay, well,” Twilight took a breath and looked pensive for a moment before nodding to herself. “You’ve managed to unite the Elements of Harmony on this world once more, which I never congratulated you for properly by the way so…”

Sunset waved her hand dismissively. “Don’t look at me, you and I both know the Elements want to find their bearers, I just sort of… nudged things along.”

“Don’t downplay your role,” Twilight said sternly. “You and I also both know… you better than most… that this is not Equestria, people here just… don’t seem to listen to their better sense most of time, there’s so much selfishness and fear that it’s suffocating sometimes.”

“Some people stand out though,” Sunset said softly. “Some of them… I think the fact that this world is so hard to find the goodness in makes those people who have it shine all the brighter.”

“Like Gilda?” Twilight said with a small teasing smile on her face.

Sunset blushed softly, but nodded. “Like Gilda,” she agreed, “and Vinyl, and Octavia, and Penny, and even the Sirens.”

“Adagio Dazzle: Element of Honesty,” Twilight muttered in disbelief. “I would never have imagined.”

“Weird, right?” Sunset asked with a laugh. “So what was your question?”

“Right, I got a little distracted,” Twilight said, taking a breath and settling back in her chair. “So we both know that the Elements here aren’t the Elements in Equestria, right? They’re a separate pair of powers since my friends still retain their connections.”

“Fair point,” Sunset conceded. “I hadn’t really given it much thought but yeah, I guess they’d have to be, huh?”

“Right,” Twilight said, “so they’re separate but the ancillary Elements; Generosity, Honesty, Laughter, Kindness, and Loyalty, are the same in both worlds.”

“They’re pretty generic attributes, Twi,” Sunset pointed out with a smile. “I can’t say I’m surprised.”

Twilight nodded in agreement. “Of course, neither am I, that wasn’t my point.”

“Okay…” Sunset replied, raising an eyebrow.

“What is specific, though, is the catalytic Element,” Twilight said firmly, “my Element… and yours.”

“The Element of Magic,” Sunset said in agreement, but Twilight just shook her head.

Then a light lit behind Sunset’s eyes, the idea that Twilight had been digging at suddenly reared up like a ten ton hippo in the redhead’s brain as she realised what her friend was suggesting. No… what her friend had realised and what had gone completely over Sunset’s head until this very moment. Sunset’s face fell as she tried to grapple with the realisation she had just had.

“I’m… not the Element of Magic,” Sunset said in a small whisper.

‘Obviously’, Sunset thought bitterly. ‘I’ve felt the Element of Magic before, I’ve felt its power.’

Twilight shook her head. “I don’t think this world has an Element of Magic, Sunny, it’s just… not magical.”

“Then…” Sunset felt her breath coming in short, sharp bursts as panic and unsurety stabbed through her heart.

Was she even a part of the Elements? Was everything she had been working towards based on a false premise and she was just some kind of glorified messenger, destined to find but never be a part of? Gilda was a part of the whole but if Sunset wasn’t then what did that mean? Did that mean they weren’t-

Twilight stood quickly, sidling around the table to wrap her arms around Sunset’s shoulders and pulled her into a hug.

“You are the catalyst Element, Sunset,” Twilight insisted, feeling a pang of worry in her heart. “But… if I’m right, then the sparking Element of this world isn’t magic.”

“Of course,” Sunset muttered. “I’ve said it so many times… this is a null-magic rock of a world.”

“But you are part of the Elements,” Twilight repeated, “trust me, like calls to like, I can tell, I can feel the Element of Magic reacting to you.”

“Are you sure it’s not just trying to get away from me after what I pulled last time?” Sunset asked bitterly, scowling down at the table.

Twilight sighed. “No, I promise that’s not it, really.”

A soft ding from Sunset’s pocket alerted her to a message, distracting the her from the momentary panic that was gripping her heart. Pulling her phone free she felt a smile trace across her lips as she saw Gilda’s name on the contact.

Gilda: //where u at?//

Tapping the message, Sunset opened up the reply screen and typed out her answer. //Cuppas with Twilight, everything okay?//

Gilda: //yeah//

Short and perfunctory, like most of Gilda’s texts. Sunset shook her head as she stowed her phone away. Gilda’s fear and paranoia over her foster father’s sudden freedom had her constantly looking over her shoulder and double-checking where Sunset was every other hour.

Ding. Sunset retrieved her phone again and glanced down.

Gilda: //I love you//

Sunset felt her heart skip, even after months those words still did that to her. //I love you too.//

“Everything alright?” Twilight asked from beside Sunset.

Nodding, Sunset set her phone down on the table and took a deep breath. Panicking wouldn’t do anyone any good, and Twilight was right, she was the catalyst Element, she knew it in her bones the same way her old friends knew that their Elements had left them. There was a glow inside her, a voice that whispered softly, almost unheard. Sunset could feel the presence of the Element, but if it wasn’t magic…

“What’s the catalyst for this world’s Elements, then?” Sunset muttered.

Twilight just shook her head as she walked back around to her chair and settled back into it. “I couldn’t say,” she replied wanly. “I wish I knew, it would be fascinating to study how another world’s guiding Elements are bound together, but you and I know full well that the magic of this world doesn’t correspond to the rules of our world perfectly.”

“No, I know,” Sunset grumbled. “It’s just one more thing to be unsure about.”

“Yeah… but don’t worry too much,” Twilight said, smiling encouragingly. “You don’t need to do this alone, you’ve got friends, you’ve got me… you’ve got Gilda.”

Sunset felt a flicker of warmth erupt in her heart and she smiled, nodding to Twilight.

“I feel like Gilda is the one who’s going to need help, though,” Sunset said wryly. “You should see her… she’s, uhm, kind of a mess lately, speaking of which…”

“Hm?” Twilight cocked her head to the side as Sunset lifted her phone to check the time.

Looking up, Sunset waved down the younger woman at the register. “Cuppa! Can I get a large triple shot mocha and a cheese danish?”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “I thought you took your coffee black.”

“I do,” Sunset said with a tired grin.

Fortunately the small cafe was quiet and several moments later the caffeine-packed beverage was out and in front of Sunset with a wink and smile from Cuppa as she took the few bills of payment, and who had long since gotten used to Sunset spending so much of her free time in the little shop. She had even played her music for the customers on several occasions, enough so that she was largely considered a regular feature of the cafe.

“So what’s the-” Twilight started before Sunset raised a finger for her to wait.

“Three… two… one…” Sunset ticked down, staring at her phone.

The door of the cafe opened a second later, the small bell jingling merrily, drawing Twilight’s eye. Gilda entered, shaking off some of the snow from her shoulders as she glanced around the shop. Even from her spot at the corner Twilight could see the faint air of worry and panic in Gilda’s body; from the tense set of her shoulders, to the darting of her eyes, to the way she seemed to glance over everything with a careful, almost animalistic wariness before her gaze settled on the pair of girls.

One girl in particular, really.

Gilda stepped quickly between the tables and a moment later her arms were around Sunset, kneeling and pulling her girlfriend close.

“Hey babe,” Sunset said with a laugh, wrapping her arms around Gilda. “On lunch?”

“Yeah,” Gilda said, her voice slightly muffled by Sunset’s jacket and hair as the taller girl took several calming breaths.

Lilacs and cherries; the scent always put Gilda’s nerves back to a calm state.

“Got your usual,” Sunset said, handing off the coffee and pastry as Gilda finally let go and took a seat between the two former unicorns. “How’s work?”

“Quiet,” Gilda replied as she scooted her seat closer to Sunset, and fitting an arm around her pulling her in close, nodding to Twilight as she did. “Hey Sparks.”

“Good morning, Gilda,” Twilight greeted warmly, smiling as she watched Sunset relax into her girlfriend’s embrace

Sunset sighed softly in relief as she let herself sink into the familiar scent of engine oil, leather, and smoke that hung around Gilda, nestling warmly against the fur fringe of Gilda’s jacket. Gilda was talking about the small jobs they’d been doing that day, the little things, and Sunset was listening, really… but for the moment she was perfectly fine just letting Gilda’s voice wash over her. Gilda was afraid for her, Sunset knew that, she knew that’s why she always left the shop during her lunch now, it was one of the reasons she had opted to meet Princess Twilight at Cuppa’s rather than at home. It was right in-between the two, and Gilda would get there more quickly.

They could spend more time together.

One day, Sunset knew, she would be able to truly relax somewhere other than Gilda’s arms, but today was not that day.

And that was okay.

~Ponyville Commons, February 15th, Late Morning~

Rainbow Dash yawned widely as the streaming sunlight woke her up. The bed was crazy soft and stupid warm, so she didn’t make any extra effort to move. A faint tickle of breath on the back of her neck distracted her though, and she grumbled quietly as she shifted in bed and turned around.

Lightning Dust’s sleeping face stared back at her, the turquoise-skinned girl’s arms looped firmly around Rainbow’s waist. Her short, amber hair fell in a messy tumult kept in check only by its own short length.

Eyes widening, Rainbow felt her breath hitch as she remembered. It was the weekend and she’d spent the night at Lightning’s place.

Originally, Rainbow had invited Lightning over to her place for the weekend, but Lightning lived with her grandmother and, although the older woman was relatively spry and healthy for her age, Lightning preferred not to spend the night elsewhere in case her grandma needed something in the night. A part of Rainbow had wanted to tease Lightning for being such a softie, but an oft unused part her psyche fired up before the words left her mouth. Instead, she thought about it… about the sacrifices that Lightning made, not spending time with friends and others her age to take care of her aging relative, being a caretaker as much as she was being taken care of, or more at times.

A small ember of respect had always burned in Rainbow’s heart for Lightning, but always for her athletic ability and never-say-die attitude. Now, though, Rainbow could see a much greater depth to her, and she could feel the ember becoming a flame.

Rainbow had looked around their apartment when she had come in, and she knew Lightning had been a little embarrassed about it, even if she hadn’t said anything. It was small, with only two bedrooms, a small living room and a kitchen. Enough for the two, but only just… and it also meant that Rainbow had ended up sharing the room with her girlfriend. Something that Lightning hadn’t minded in the slightest but that Rainbow had felt a little ambivalent about.

In the end, though, Rainbow couldn’t deny that she slept much better next to Lightning.

Pushing back the wave of insecurity, Rainbow sidled a little closer to Lightning, letting her arms go around the sleeping girl as she nestled in.

Reacting to Rainbow’s warmth, Lightning curled inwards, her head settling into the lee of Rainbow’s neck as she let out a soft, consistent noise that seemed to start just at the base of her throat and made a gentle vibration in her chest. It was such an odd sound that it took Rainbow several seconds to recognise it.

Lightning Dust was purring.

Rainbow Dash held in a snort of laughter, terrified of waking Lightning up but also knowing she was never, ever going to let Lightning Dust live this down, not in a million years.

Flailing as gently as possible, Rainbow retrieved her phone from Lightning’s night stand and flicked it on, staring at the time. Eleven in the morning… well, she’d definitely slept in later but she did actually want to get up at some point. Opening up her messages, she responded to the ones from her dad that he’d sent earlier in the morning, mostly just wishing her good morning and checking on when she’d be home. Rainbow let him know she’d be back by the evening… probably. Her dad had been pretty understanding about her spending time with Lightning.

Blaze was, so far, the only one she’d even told about her and Lightning’s new relationship status. She was holding off on informing her mother for a variety of reasons, not the least of which because she would use the opportunity to claim she was right about Rainbow Blaze ‘corrupting’ their daughter.

Dash scowled at the thought; whatever her father said, she had no intention of letting that woman anywhere near her personal life. Especially not now that Lightning Dust was in it.

Sighing, Rainbow set her phone down on the pillow and stared at Lightning, who was still contentedly purring in Dash’s arms. A faint warmth filled Rainbow from her chest outwards and, entirely outside of her control, Rainbow could feel her mouth curling into a smile. Possessed of a nameless urge, Rainbow leaned in and brushed her lips against Lightning’s forehead and, knowing there was no one else to hear her, let out a small, girlish giggle.

Rainbow was happy. For the first time in months, she truly felt happy.

Ever since the mess with Sunset, Rainbow had been on what felt like the world’s most literal mood swing that only arched between angry and depressed. Either she was angry about herself, her choices, or a number of other equally anger-inducing factors, or she was depressed that she couldn’t do anything about it.

Now though… she was happy.

Which paradoxically made Rainbow feel bad.

A part of her couldn’t help but stare down at Lightning and wonder if she deserved to be happy. After all, wasn’t everything bad that had happened in the past few months her fault? Shared fault in the case of abandoning Sunset, sure, but she was definitely a part of it; and then there was the matter with Gilda which, even Rainbow knew, was entirely on her own shoulders and nobody else’s.

A stone of guilt settled into Dash’s gut as her thoughts drifted around to all of her failures in the past months; accusing Sunset, leaving her, trusting Scootaloo and the rest of the crusaders, kissing Gilda…

Rainbow sighed as she slowly and carefully extricated herself from her girlfriend’s grip, leaving the lightly snoring (purring) Lightning to curl up in the warm blankets.

Sitting up in bed, Rainbow shivered. She was wearing a pair of thin cotton shorts and a tee-shirt, the latter of which she’d borrowed from Lightning. Her jeans were around the room somewhere but, honestly, Lightning was at least as much of a slob as Rainbow herself and her room showed it. Rainbow Dash didn’t really feel like prospecting for her own trousers so she settled with grabbing one of Dust’s sweaters from the floor that seemed, via dutiful application of the sniff test, at least decently clean. Pulling the sweater over her head, Rainbow laughed a little to herself at the cliche of wearing her girlfriend’s clothes before rising to go forage for food and, hopefully, coffee.

There was only a small hallway that kept the apartment from being what amounted to one large room. Lightning’s room was just across from a linen closet and adjacent to the bathroom. A touch further down from that, just before the living room, was her grandmother, Dust Off’s, room.

Rainbow Dash tiptoed past Dust Off’s door, which was slightly cracked, and slipped around into the kitchen where an older model of coffeemaker sat on the countertop. A token amount of further nosing around turned up a bag of coffee grounds, a filter, and moments later a fresh pot was brewing.

Rainbow sat silently at the small table, lost in thought as the sounds and smells of brewing coffee filled the cool air of the kitchen. The faint sounds of traffic could be heard outside, a sort of background hum of liveliness that Rainbow found agreed with her more than the enforced quiet that the Whitetail Homeowner’s Association insisted on in her own neighborhood.

“Wonder if this is how Sunset always felt,” Rainbow mumbled quietly to herself. “Wondering if you’re good enough to just friggin… be happy.”

The coffeemaker beeped on the counter, alerting Rainbow to its newly filled status, and Dash stood up, still feeling melancholy tickling at the back of her thoughts as she poured herself a mug.

“Mind pouring me one too, hon?”

Rainbow jerked in surprise, only barely managing to not spill the piping hot coffee or drop the mug as she spun around. Standing in a fluffy gray bathrobe at the head of the hallway was an elderly woman who could only be Lightning's grandmother. It was uncanny how similar the two looked, the same shade of turquoise skin, and Rainbow imagined she could see hints of amber strands in the old woman’s iron-grey locks that were tied up in a severe bun. The relaxed smirk on Dust Off’s face, though, was the biggest giveaway though… something in the turn of her mouth made Dash immediately think of all the times Lightning had smirked cockily on the soccer field.

“Uh, y-yeah, no problem,” Rainbow stammered as she grabbed a second mug from the cupboard and set to filling it.

“Good girl,” Dust said with a dry chuckle as she moved slowly over to the table and settled down into the chair across from the one Rainbow had been sitting in. “No cream or sugar, mind you… blame it on too many years in the service.”

Rainbow nodded, bringing both mugs to the table and setting the one without any sugar in it in front of Dust Off. “So… you were in the army?”

“Hell no,” Dust Off said with a laugh before lifting the mug to take a sip and hum appreciatively at the bitter flavor. “Air Force.”

“That’s cool,” Rainbow said with a laugh, taking a drink of her own coffee. “So uhm… I’m Rainbow Dash, it’s uh… nice to meet ya.”

Rainbow extended her hand and Dust Off took it, gripping it with surprising strength for how thin her hand and arm was.

“Oh I know precisely who you are, missy,” Dust Off said with that familiar smirk. “My Lightning hasn’t been able to shut up about you for years.”

The old woman laughed at the goggle-eyed look Rainbow was giving her, a harsh, almost croaking sound as Dust Off slapped her knee. For several moments, Rainbow Dash just stared and worked her jaw noiselessly before finally settling on;

“Huh?”

“You think I’m a liar?” Dust Off asked, but her voice was playful. “First time you trounced her on the field in her Freshman year she came back in such a state, red-faced and swearing up a storm.”

Rainbow Dash snorted in amusement as she remembered the match. Each player had been told to make ten shots at the goal while the goalie defended; Lightning Dust had scored in nine shots, the next closest to her had only made six.

Except for Rainbow, who had sunk all ten.

It was a close one, no doubt, but Rainbow had absolutely been the clear victor, and she had lorded it over Lightning Dust and everyone else in her usual style of braggadocio. That event had been the beginning of their rivalry and every single match the soccer team had played, no matter who they were up against, had always only ever had two sides in both of their eyes: Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust.

“Oh yes, she was in an absolute rage,” Dust Off said with a cackle. “Talked about how she was going to beat you nonstop for weeks, then months… after a solid year of it was when I knew for sure.”

“Knew what?” Rainbow asked, raising an eyebrow as she took a sip.

Dust Off smiled. “Knew she was in love.”

The coffee went down the wrong pipe as Rainbow inhaled. The coffee mug, miraculously, didn’t spill over as it clattered to the table and Rainbow Dash hacked and choked on her beverage. Through it all Dust Off laughed, her harsh, croaking cackle filling the kitchen before getting up and moving behind Rainbow Dash.

“Teenagers don’t have crap for attention span, hon,” Dust Off said as she slapped Rainbow’s back with a good-natured chuckle. “I might be old but I still remember… my Lightning is no different, either, except where you’re concerned.”

Taking several gasping breaths, Rainbow finally got her voice back as she settled back into her chair. A few more breaths later, as Dust Off returned to her own seat, Rainbow looked up at the older woman.

“Don’t… don’t ya think ‘love’ is kind of a strong word?” Rainbow asked in a cracked voice. “I mean, I’m pretty sure she hated me for a long time.”

“Probably,” Dust Off agreed blithely. “Thing is… my Lightning’s a complicated gal, ain’t much difference between who she hates and who she loves, if that makes any sense.”

“Uhm, not really,” Rainbow admitted.

Dust Off shrugged and took a long drink. “That’s fair, let me put it this way then… what do you think hate and love are?”

Rainbow stared at the old woman for a few moments, trying to work out what answer she wanted, but her expression was unreadable. After a minute or so of awkward staring on Rainbow’s part she finally resigned herself and gave her answer; one she as relatively sure was wrong only because it felt too obvious

“Opposites?”

The old woman smirked. “You’d think that, wouldn’t you? They’re two sides of a coin, though. Hate and love are both passionate, blind, and fly in the face of all good sense and logic.”

“Three things that describe me lately,” Rainbow grumbled.

“Hah!” The old woman barked before taking another drink. “Well, figuring that out is a good first step, anyway…” Pushing her empty mug away the old woman took a deep breath, her eyes turning distant. “My Lightning… she talked about you for so long, always the next time she was going to one up you, or coming home in a rage because she’d failed to do just that… until, oh, about a month and a half ago.”

Rainbow thought back, counting backwards… “A month and a half ago would’ve been right when school started up again so… oh.”

The day Lightning had seen the tail end of what happened between her and Gilda.

“Something must’ve happened because I’ve never seen my granddaughter that quiet,” Dust Off laughed a little at that before continuing. “Something had changed, I knew… so now I’m getting to the crux of my little ramble, how do you feel about Lightning?”

Rainbow’s grip on her mug tightened. “You asking me if I… I love her?”

Dust Off shook her head. “Love takes time, hon, my Lightning had years of it t’fall for you, even if she is young. I don’t expect you to just suddenly trip and fall in love right away, that’s storybook nonsense.”

“Then what am I supposed to say?” Rainbow pleaded. “I’m not good at this stuff, okay? I’m really friggin’ bad at it actually, like, stupid-bad, y’know? I can’t even tell what I’m feeling half the time!”

“Doesn’t mean you don’t try,” Dust Off said firmly. “I’m not tryin’ to put you on the spot, Miss Dash, but I am trying to protect my granddaughter, you understand?”

“I really like her, okay?!” Rainbow almost shouted. “She’s… Lightning’s been on my heels since like, day one! I mean, literally day one of high school, that was soccer tryouts! She’s been there ever since and… I don’t…”

As the words tumbled out of her mouth Rainbow realised something. In all the time she had spent competing with Lightning Dust, she had never once imagined life without the brash, loud-mouthed rivalry the two of them shared. Every day at practice they bickered, every match they competed… and…

Tears slipped down Rainbow’s cheeks slowly as she stared into the swirling dark liquid in her mug.

“Y’know, ma’am…” Rainbow started, “I’m starting to realise I’m taking a lot of things for granted, y’know?”

“You’re a kid,” Dust Off said with a small laugh. “It’s part of bein’ a kid, you’re allowed to take things for granted, to live with a little peace and the expectation that things will always work out. Growing up is where ya learn that ain’t true.”

“I dunno if I love Lightning,” Rainbow said slowly, fidgeting with her mug, “but I’m pretty sure I don’t know what I would do with myself without her, especially now.” Taking a deep breath, Rainbow closed her eyes and tried to feel her way through the darkness of her mind. “Maybe I do… love her, I mean… like, I really, really care about her, though, y’know? When we’re together I feel happy, when we hold hands and… ugh,” Rainbow grimaced, “now I’m starting to sound like Rarity…”

“Well, sounds like you’re on the right track, at least,” Dust Off replied with an easier smile, “and that’s the best you can do sometimes, stayin’ on that track.”

“Yeah well, don’t expect too much,” Rainbow grumbled. “I’m pretty much the poster girl for screwing up lately.”

“Far be it from me to keep ya from makin’ mistakes,” Dust Off said, chuckling a little.

Rainbow grimaced. “I wish someone would.”

“That kinda thing comes easier from peers than us old fogeys,” Dust Off advised before glancing around and reaching towards the counter for the fruit bowl to grab an orange. “Speakin’ of which…”

Even from where she was sitting, Rainbow could tell by how little give the orange had to the old woman’s strong grip that it was underripe. Dust Off gave the orange a few squeezes as she eyed a point just over Rainbow’s shoulder and to her right.

Then she moved, fast as her granddaughter’s namesake and much faster than Rainbow expected a geriatric to be capable of. The orange whipped past Rainbow’s head, bounced off of the wall behind her and went ripping back past Dust Off and into the hallway where it impacted something with a sharp thud.

“OW!”

A familiar voice yelped from the hallway and Dust Off cackled. “Come out and stop snoopin’, Dusty, I taught ya better than that, or at least I thought I taught ya not to get caught that easy.”

“I… I wasn’t-” Lightning stammered as she stepped out of the hallway, rubbing her shoulder slightly and kicking the orange along the floor dejectedly like a tiny, malformed soccer ball.

Rainbow’s face burned as she watched Lightning sheepishly come into view. She wore a sweater, much like Rainbow, and had pulled on a pair of dark blue sweats to ward off the cold. Her normally flared hairdo still hung limp and haphazard from sleep, and there was embarrassment painted all over her face.

She had definitely been listening.

Dust Off leaned closer to Rainbow and spoke in a hissing stage whisper. “Don’t worry, she’s too hung up on you to think poorly of you for any reason, hon.”

“Gramma!” Dust pleaded, her cheeks coloring as Dust Off cackled.

“And if you ever piss her off,” Dust Off continued, “her favorite candy are those orange chocolate slices, and her favorite movie is Casablanca.”

Lightning Dust’s face was beet red by that point and Rainbow had all but forgotten her own embarrassment trying not to burst out laughing at how badly Lightning was living up to her badass persona that she put on at school. Seeing her here, just having woken up and being teased relentlessly by her own grandmother, Rainbow couldn’t help but think that Lightning was actually kind of… girly.

A loud snort escaped Rainbow as her attempts at containment finally failed, and Lightning Dust buried her face in her hands.

“I’m going to just… go back to my room and die now, okay?” Dust mumbled as she turned away.

Dust Off was already up and moving past her though, pushing her back towards the table as she chuckled. “Nonsense, go eat breakfast with your squeeze, hon, I’m gonna go to my room and watch that male stripper movie again.”

“Dead, I am dead,” Lightning groaned.

“Hah! Not before me, young lady!” Dust Off cackled on last time before going into her room and closing the door with an audible thunk.

Silence stretched out between the two remaining girls, with Rainbow biting her lip and trying desperately not to accidentally kill her new girlfriend with shame by bursting out laughing, and Lightning just standing dejectedly by the hallway trying to cease existing.

“Go ahead, get it outta your system,” Lightning said after a minute, waving her hand at Rainbow.

“PPPBBBBBHAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!”

Rainbow fell off of her chair as convulsions of laughter seized her, wrapping her arms around her chest and shaking so hard she couldn’t get to her feet. After another few seconds she was just spasming on the floor, unable to get any air into her to actually make the sound of laughter, instead just slowly turning red in the face as she tried not to die, while trying and failing to drag any air into her hilarity-abused lungs.

“If you die laughing at me,” Lightning began dryly, her eye developing a worrying twitch, “I swear I will die of shame just so I can follow you and kick your ass, Dash.”

Slowly, Rainbow’s chortles ran out of steam and she was left on the floor breathing heavily, sprawled out, and occasionally struck by a spasm of giggles

“Done?” Lightning asked, a note of imploring to her voice.

Nodding from the floor, Rainbow dash took one last steadying breath, and kipped up. “Yeah, I’m done, wow your grandma is friggin’ hilarious, dude.”

Rainbow had half-expected Lightning to get embarrassed again, but instead her features softened and she smiled. “Yeah, she’s pretty much the coolest.”

“It’s weird how much alike you two are,” Rainbow put in, sitting down at the table and leaning on it for support as she got her breath back. “Like, you’ve both got a lot of attitude.”

Lightning crooked an eyebrow up. “Hey kettle, I’m pot,” she said, holding out a hand, and Rainbow let out an arid chuckle.

“Right, uh, fair enough,” Rainbow replied, rubbing the back of her head. “So uh, stupid question, but I guess your grandma is cool with us bein’, y’know…”

Lightning blushed a little, but nodded. “Yeah, she basically knew I was gay before I did… when I came out in Sophomore year she just looked up from her newspaper, gave me the stink eye and said: ‘and you just figured that out?’.”

“Wow, savage,” Rainbow remarked. “Yeah, my dad was cool with it too, but uh, probably ‘cause he’s bi, himself.”

“That’s good,” Lightning replied awkwardly, before catching herself, “I mean, uh… like, not ‘good’ that your dad is bi, but like, that he doesn’t care… and stuff… I mean, it’s cool that he’s bi too, but…” Lightning clapped her hands over her face and took a breath. “Ugh, sorry, I’m… crazy nervous I guess, I’m just glad we don’t have to deal with shitty parents.”

Rainbow’s face fell and she leaned back in her chair. “Don’t relax yet, you haven’t met my shitlord mom.”

Lightning Dust winced. “Oof, you too?”

“Me too?” Rainbow asked, and Lightning shrugged. Rainbow took a breath, fiddling with her empty coffee mug for a minute before starting. “My mom… divorced my dad because he came out as bi… it wasn’t even like, he wanted to bang dudes in the middle of their marriage or anything, he just wanted my mom to know who he was, y’know? Because he loved her.”

“Wow, and she just…” Lightning trailed off. “That’s harsh.”

“Yeah, she freaked out, lost her shit, and went all ‘abomination against nature’ on him,” Rainbow said with a sneer. “Tried to get custody of me, too, because she claimed he would ‘corrupt’ me. Lucky the judge saw through that pile of crap. He still defends her too, which pisses me off.”

“Why?” Lightning asked, reaching out a hand tentatively, and putting it over Rainbow’s.

Rainbow Dash jerked in surprise and stared down at Lightning’s hand, for a moment she felt her breath catch. A moment later though, she let go her mug and their palms rest together, tangling her fingers with Lightnings all while fighting down a furious blush.

“I guess…” Rainbow continued, trying to ignore the burn in her cheeks, “I guess he wants me to have a good relationship with her one day, maybe make her a better person when she gets over herself but… I hate her, Dusty, I really, really hate her.”

“Y’know, I think your dad’s just being a selfish dick,” Lightning said with a frown.

“Hey!” Rainbow pulled her hand away, scowling at Lightning

Lightning Dust backed up in her chair, holding up her hands in surrender. “Woah, sorry… sorry, that was outta line, I just… I didn’t mean like, he was a bad person or anything just… I dunno, maybe because he still loves your mom he… thinks you can help her… or something?” Lightning let out a slow breath and shrugged, folding her elbows on the table and resting her head on her arms. “I dunno, I guess… I just feel like he’s putting it on you and that ain’t fair.”

Rainbow’s scowl diminished a little and, breathing deep, she reached out and took Lightning’s hand again, who smiled up at her shyly.

“M-Maybe,” Rainbow admitted. “Thing is… I don’t want a relationship with my mom… she’s miserable and angry, and she treats my dad like shit, and she’ll probably treat me the same way when she finds out about, y’know… us.”

“Then don’t,” Lightning said firmly, raising her head from the table. “There’s no law that says you have to give your mom the time of day, much less have any kind of relationship with her! It’s not your responsibility, just… fuck’em, you do you, and don’t let your dad tell you otherwise.”

“I guess,” Rainbow said with a grimace. “Friggin’, I don’t even know what I’m doing here, though! I… I’ve never had a girlfriend… or boyfriend… and I think I’m a pretty shitty just, like, regular friend, too.”

Lightning just shrugged. “Well, I mean, me neither, so… first time’s all around I guess, huh, Rainbabe?”

“At least you knew you were gay beforehand,” Rainbow said with a chuckle.

“Yeah, funny thing… wanna know how I knew?” Lightning asked, laughing a little dryly as Rainbow perked up.

“Y-Yeah, sure,” Rainbow replied, looking hopeful.

“Sunset fucking Shimmer,” Lightning answered aridly, and Rainbow’s expression dropped. “And not because I liked her butt, she did have a nice one though… but because I tried to pick a fight with her and she took me to fucking church.”

Rainbow blinked in surprise before leaning forward. “What happened?”

“Doesn’t really matter,” Lightning said with a laugh. “Long story short, she knew I was chasing you before I did… and uh, kinda threw it in my face…”

For a moment, Rainbow Dash just stared in disbelief before recalling back to the years she’d spent watching Sunset tear the school down, socially speaking, and rebuild it in her image. Back then she hadn’t really been able to appreciate how much work it must have been, but now it was terrifying. Sunset, once upon a time, really had been a serious terror.

“Damn, that’s low, though,” Rainbow said after a few minutes. “Threatening you with something like that.”

Lightning just shook her head. “Actually… funny thing, she never threatened me with it,” Lightning fidgeted a little and laughed nervously. “I was actually like, fuckin’ terrified that she would for the longest time but… she never did. She just used it to gut-punch me and y’know what? I’m kinda grateful.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah,” Lightning insisted. “Otherwise I wouldn’t’ve realised that I liked you… I thought I hated you, but she made me realise that I didn’t… I just liked you and, I guess… didn’t know how to deal, right?”

“I guess,” Rainbow said thoughtfully, sitting back in her chair. “Kind of a shitty way to do it though.”

“Funny thing too,” Lightning said with a smirk. “I figured she’d toss a slur my way or something… or like, make fun of me for being gay, but she didn’t… guess now we know why, huh?”

Rainbow nodded as Lightning got up. Grabbing a mug of her own, along with Rainbow’s from the table, Lightning set to filling herself a mug and refilling Dash’s. She was finished and about to turn back around when she felt a sudden warm pressure on her back as Rainbow’s arms went around her waist. Lightning Dust blushed madly as she felt Rainbow rest her chin on her shoulder.

“H-Hey,” Lightning stammered, unable to keep a smile from growing on her face.

“Hey,” Rainbow replied, her voice soft and a little unsteady.

“You okay, Rainbabe?” Dust asked.

Rainbow Dash nodded again, a little shakily, as Lightning picked up the mugs and turned, steering them towards the couch in the small living room rather than back to the table. It was a worn out thing, but comfortable and soft; the kind of couch that swallowed you up if you sat on it too long and had the tendency to lull unwary television watchers to sleep late at night. Lightning had lost count of the number of times she’d fallen asleep on the thing while watching t.v. or doing homework.

Setting the mugs down, Lightning sat on the couch and motioned for Rainbow to join her, which she did as she claimed her mug from the table and took a sip. Grabbing a nearby blanket, Lightning pulled it over the pair of them as she leaned against Rainbow Dash, with Rainbow fulfilling a long-held fantasy of Lightning’s as she slung an arm around the amber-haired girl and pulled her close.

Lightning let out a hum of perfect contentment as she took a sip of her coffee. This was the life… this was everything Lightning wanted, at least short term, and it was almost all she could do not to start giggling uncontrollably with how happy she was.

“So… toldja ‘bout my mom,” Rainbow said quietly. “Guess… yours wasn’t too great either, huh?”

Lightning Dust just shrugged, nestling closer to Rainbow Dash as she did. “Dunno… never really knew her… other than that she was a really shitty person.”

“What happened?”

“She had me pretty young,” Lightning said, “and no dad, so Gramma did a lot of the work, y’know? Then I guess mom got in with some bad folks, got into drugs… got so bad Gramma said she was gettin’ ready to fight her own daughter for me… said she was afraid she’d come home one day and find out my mom had sold me for drug money.”

Rainbow Dash’s jaw dropped open in raw shock as Lightning continued.

“Guess I was about two or three when mom just picked up and left,” Lightning took another drink of her coffee and leaned her head against Rainbow’s shoulder. “Gramma said she left a note, and me, that she stole some jewelry and the t.v., and just… hauled off. Far as I know we never heard from her again.”

For several moments, Rainbow just sat silently, unable to fully process what Lightning had told her, settling instead for pulling her former rival closer.

“That’s intensely fucked up, Dusty,” Rainbow finally said in a hollow voice.

Lightning Dust chuckled. “I guess so, I wouldn’t know… I don’t even remember what she looked like other than some old photos, all I know is what Gramma told me when I asked about my parents.”

“Shit, that old lady doesn’t hold back, huh?” Rainbow said with a dry laugh.

“Nope,” Lightning said, joining her girlfriend in laughter. “She really doesn’t… you’ll have to trust me on that one.”

The late morning faded into the early afternoon as the two girls slowly drained their mugs, but neither Rainbow nor Lightning Dust felt the slightest inclination to move from where they were. For Rainbow’s part, she still felt exhausted; not physically but emotionally, maybe even spiritually, and definitely mentally. Everything that had happened with Sunset and Gilda, with her friends… it weighed so heavily on Dash that sometimes it felt like she couldn’t even run. As for Lightning, she wanted this afternoon to last forever… it was everything she’d dreamt of for years, with Rainbow Dash as her girlfriend, cuddling on the couch, just… existing.

“Hey, Dusty?” Rainbow said, finally breaking the silence, and Lightning looked up at her questioningly. “So… how much didja hear, when me’n your grandma were talking?”

Lightning flushed. “Uh… most of it, honestly… I woke up right after you got up and, uh… I guess I was kinda hoping you’d come back to bed but then I heard talking from the kitchen and, well…”

“S’okay,” Rainbow assured her. “I’m not mad or anything I just… I told your gran that I didn’t know how I felt exactly and just… I kinda feel shitty about it.”

Lightning shook her head. “It’s okay… I mean, I get it, you don’t… hafta feel exactly the same way, y’know? I’m just happy you’re giving me a shot,” Rainbow felt Lightning tighten her grip around her waist as she continued, “and if it d-doesn’t work out then, h-hey, at least I t-tried, r-right?”

Towards the end, Lightning’s words started to falter and choke, and Rainbow saw the first glint of tears at the edges of Lightning’s eyes. Steeling herself, she grabbed both of their empty mugs and set them off to the side before settling her hand on Lightning’s cheek and pulling her in.

The sudden movement caught Lightning off-guard, and she squeaked in surprise as she suddenly found Rainbow’s lips pressed against hers. A moment later, Lightning melted against Rainbow, pulling herself closer until she was sitting in Rainbow’s lap as Rainbow trailed her fingers up and down Lightning’s back and sides.

It wasn’t that Rainbow had an issue with realising that she was gay, or at least that she was gay for Lightning; it was more that she had never really put any thought or time into the notion of her sexuality at all. It just seemed like something that happened to other people for the most part, so suddenly being in a relationship seemingly out of nowhere had put her on her heels, and when Rainbow Dash was put on her heels her first instinct was to take back the initiative.

To act.

So she kissed Lightning Dust, she lost herself in the faintly rainy, grassy scent that surrounded the girl, the smell of the soccer field. Rainbow guessed she probably smelled very similar given how much time the two of them spent on the practice turf. Rainbow let her fingers trailed along the firm, defined muscle of Lightning’s back and abdomen, and tasted her lips. For all of Rainbow’s reticence and insecurity, she couldn’t deny that holding Lightning like this, being with her like this, felt right.

Pulling away, Rainbow felt a small surge of satisfaction at the slightly drunken look on Lightning’s face.

“Okay, lemme get this out, alright?” Rainbow said softly, and Lightning just nodded, her features sobering. “So… I’m not so good with grey area’s and ambiguous crap, right? I wanna know where I stand and crap because it’s like, with grey areas it's like someone couldn’t decide what to do and now I’m left holding the bag, so I’m just gonna say it: Lightning Dust, you’re my girlfriend now, okay?”

Lightning blinked in surprise, her cheeks coloring at the sudden statement. “I… uhm, we… I wasn't before?”

Rainbow shrugged. “I mean, yeah but no one ever really… said it out loud, y’know? So I’m just saying it so it’s out there and stuff, okay? It’s just… the way my brain works.”

“Okay,” Lightning said, chuckling a little. “Girlfriends, like ones that kiss and stuff, I’m good with that, obviously.”

“Y-Yeah,” Rainbow agreed, her own cheeks reddening a little. “So, I’m not super good at feelings, and I say and do really dumb stuff sometimes, but… I want you to know, I’m gonna try to make this thing work, like, all the way.” Rainbow’s features took a much more serious cast. “I don’t really do things halfway, I don’t really think I can, y’know? Like, either I do it or I don’t, and this? I wanna do this, so I’m not gonna half-ass being your girlfriend, Dusty, period.”

Lightning felt like her heart was swelling, hearing every word that Rainbow was saying and knowing it was for her. The tears that started out as fearful, born of the terrible hunch that Rainbow was just humoring her, turned happy as they trickled down her cheeks, and Lightning Dust curled happily against Rainbow Dash.

“I… I’ll do my best, Dusty,” Rainbow whispered, burying her face against Lightning’s amber hair. “I’m tired of screwing up, I’m just… bad at stuff, but I wanna make this work, okay?”

“I know,” Lightning said with a happy sob. “I’m not screwing off anytime soon, alright? I’ve had to live with chasing you on the soccer team and pulling your ass out of the fire for three years, Rainbabe, I’m not going anywhere now that I finally caught you, okay?”

“Heh, yeah, okay,” Rainbow agreed.

Lightning sighed, feeling relaxation melt through her entire body. It was like all of her muscles were relaxing all at once as she just let Rainbow hold on to her. She was so comfortable that a part of her just wanted to fall back asleep, so she could be forgiven for the next words that tumbled out of her mouth without her brain checking them first.

“I love you…”

Rainbow froze, as did Lightning the moment her brain caught up with her mouth. Panic immediately surged through Lightning’s brain as she tried to figure out a way to not have said what she just said. Especially after eavesdropping and hearing from Rainbow that she wasn’t sure if she felt that same way. Now she would feel pressured and it was-

“I… love you too,” Rainbow said softly.

Now it was Lightning’s turn to freeze, not certain she had actually heard what Rainbow had said accurately.

“A-are you sure?” Lightning asked in a voice that sounded almost frail, it was one that Rainbow found she didn’t like, she much preferred Lightning being brash and loud.

Rainbow nodded. “Yeah, I mean… y’don’t have to be like, girlfriends or whatever, to love someone right? I’m pretty sure that like… whatever I’m feeling, it’s definitely some kind of love so… yeah, I love you.”

Lightning’s whole body went slack and she laughed quietly.

“Right, damn, okay, uhhh… whew,” Lightning mimed wiping sweat off of her forehead. “Ever feel like you just back-pedaled off a cliff only to find solid ground? Real come-to-jesus moment, that was.”

“Heh, yeah, I say stupid crap all the time,” Rainbow agreed. “Same reason too, so, uh, y’know, just in case I say something dumb? That’s why.”

“Fair’s fair, Rainbabe,” Lightning said with a laugh. “You put up with me, I’ll put up with you.”

“I’ll take that,” Rainbow held up a hand and Lightning reached up and gripped it for a moment before turning her hand to twine their fingers together.

“There, now it’s extra gay,” Lightning said with a laugh and Rainbow snorted, smirking as she leaned in and kissed Lightning quickly on the lips.

“Okay, so, probably a dumb question, right?” Rainbow started, “but I figure I oughta ask… what the hell is Casablanca?”

Lightning’s jaw dropped and her eye reacquired that twitch from earlier. “Oh… Rainbabe, guess it’s movie time, huh?”

~Crystal Preparatory Academy, February 17th, Morning~

Her name was Abacus Cinch, and she was the Principal of Crystal Preparatory Academy; of one of the most prestigious academic institutions in all of Canterlot outside of a four year university. Crystal Prep, as it was colloquially known, had seen almost every major influential figure of the modern city of Canterlot study within its walls from songstress and idol Sapphire Shores to the Mayor of Canterlot itself, Erebos Sombra, who was rumored to be up for senatorship next year.

The Academy had also hosted two particular figures of note if not notoriety; Twilight Velvet, an editor renowned within literary circles for her work on the Daring Do series, and Night Light, an extremely successful software engineer who, indeed, had written many educational programs still used by Crystal Prep Academy.

Both parents had performed extremely well in their years at the Academy according to the records which spanned the entire century and a half of the Academy’s existence, but neither them nor their son, Shining Armor, looked to possess even half of the raw intellect and talent displayed by their daughter: Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight Sparkle, who now stood across from Cinch, holding out a manila envelope to the Principal.

“Are you aware that your parents alerted me to a missing persons report regarding you, Miss Sparkle?” Principal Cinch asked with a raised eyebrow, not taking the envelope.

The shadows of her office hid much of the Principal’s meticulously kept appearance; her pale opal skin which contrasted with her dark, wine-colored hair.

“I suspected as much,” Twilight answered cooly, and Cinch felt her respect for the young girl go up a notch.

Not long ago all it would have taken was a cross word or a harsh enough glare in Twilight’s direction to send her scurrying, or at least cow her into submission. Now, though, she was enduring Cinch’s full gaze without a hint of concern.

“However, as of two days ago that’s no longer their concern,” Twilight continued. “I already contacted the Canterlot Police Precinct to forward them the same paperwork, the report is probably already closed.”

Another notch up, Cinch thought as she took the envelope finally and opened it, pulling a sheaf of papers free.

“I’ll peruse them fully when I have a moment,” Cinch assured Twilight as she flipped through the papers, “but do please summarise what it is I’m looking at, would you kindly?”

“Emancipation paperwork,” Twilight said simply, her voice betraying no emotion as she fiddled with the odd pendant hanging from her neck.

It was blocky and ugly, Cinch had the thought when Twilight had walked in, but then again the girl had never possessed anything resembling a fashion sense. Cinch thanked the heaven’s for the fashion stylings inherent in the Crystal Prep Academy uniform that Twilight was wearing… the idea of the girl being responsible for her own appearance on a day to day basis was appalling.

“You’ll find all of the signatures in order,” Twilight kept talking as Cinch made a show of paging through the papers. “It also has my new listed address on page seven of the paperwork, as well as photocopies of my birth certificate, social security card, and passport.”

“I see,” Cinch said simply, eyeing the pages as she passed them.

One thing had caught her eye, however. Something that Twilight Sparkle had neither addressed nor mentioned.

“I cannot help but notice,” Cinch said as she set the papers slowly onto her desk, “that these papers were filed less than a month ago and, to my knowledge, this process usually takes anywhere from four to six months, and that’s assuming all goes well.”

“You’re not wrong,” Twilight replied, not offering any further explanation.

Abacus Cinch smirked. She wasn’t sure what had changed about the girl, but she couldn’t deny that she approved. There was something almost… ruthless in her, now. Twilight was already at the top of her level grade-wise, and the only thing that was holding her back, at least in Cinch’s opinion, was her timid behaviour.

“Understand I’m simply asking as a… concerned educator of young minds,” Cinch said with a smile that might have been warm if it had touched her eyes. “Is everything alright at home?”

“My home is perfectly fine,” Twilight replied, her jaw clenching slightly. “And my home is where I decide it is, and as for the emancipation I just applied something you teach everyone here at Crystal Prep.”

“Oh?” Principal Cinched gave an intrigued chuckle. “And what’s that?”

“Proper motivation,” Twilight replied.

“Of course,” Cinch said with a small smile. “And I’m sure you’ll have considered the matter of tuition, I will have to prorate your prior tuition back to your parents now that they are no longer-”

“The cheque is in the envelope,” Twilight said tersely.

Cinch raised an eyebrow. The Twilight Sparkle she had known during her tenure at Crystal Prep would never have interrupted or cut off a teacher, much less a principal. Something had changed, and changed drastically. As if the paperwork that Twilight had just submitted weren’t proof enough of that, of course.

Without a word, Cinch reached further into the envelope and drew out a paper cheque, just as Twilight had promised. On it was the full tuition amount for the remainder of the year.

“Well, I suppose everything is in order then,” Cinch said, folding her arms neatly on her desk. “Was there anything else you needed, my dear?”

Twilight looked pensive for a moment before nodding. “The Friendship Games are this year, right? Against Canterlot High?”

“They are indeed,” Cinch confirmed, feeling a cool satisfaction bloom in her chest. “Why do you ask?”

“I was hoping to be part of the team that takes part,” Twilight said firmly. “My grades are the highest in the school, I want to… to prove what I’m capable of.”

Abacus Cinch grinned broadly. She had feared she would have to resort to darker methods to ensure Twilight’s cooperation in the Games. After all, she couldn’t have her star student failing to participate in one of the most widely watched events of the academic year.

“That can most certainly be arranged,” Cinch replied easily. “I’m sure the rest of the team will be thrilled at your inclusion.”

“I’m sure,” Twilight replied through clenched teeth.

“One last thing,” Cinch said, her voice turning quiet. “I understand you’ve had some rather poor experiences with my daughter, Sunny Flare, is that right?”

Twilight’s eyes narrowed but she kept the look of distaste off of her face at the sound of her bully’s name. “Nothing serious, Principal Cinch.”

“I’m happy to hear that,” Cinch said with an oily smile. “Especially since you two will be working closely together during the Games, she is in the top percentile, after all.”

“Of course,” Twilight replied tonelessly. “I look forward to working with her.”

Cinch smiled again, that viperous expression that Twilight loathed. “Good, you don’t know how happy I am to hear that.”

Giving a perfunctory nod, Twilight turned on her heel and walked out of the office, letting the door close behind her as she made her way towards the staircase leading down to the rest of the school. A large part of her had considered just dropping out and pursuing research into the artifacts. After all, she was heralding a brand new field of science, it wasn’t as though she could get a degree in it somewhere else.

Besides, Twilight had always worked best self-taught.

“Ladybug?”

Twilight froze as she made the second landing of the stairs, turning slowly to look back up the stairs the way she had come. Standing at the head of the stairs was a familiar, pink-haired figure wearing a look of absolute worry on her face that was warring with relief.

‘Rule Two: be friendly, but don’t be friends,’ the voice of Storm King echoed in Twilight’s mind. He’d taught her a lot since his release, and not just about artifacts.

Taking a deep breath, she turned fully and nodded to the woman who had been like an older sister to her for most of her life.

“Dean Cadenza,” Twilight said stiffly, in a voice that only barely acknowledged the woman’s presence. “I was just going back to classes, was there something you needed?”

‘There’s no need t’be unfriendly, no need t’be rude,’ Storm had said. ‘Makin’ friends is dangerous, though… friends want owt from ye; favors, special attention, n’too many friends means too much goin’ out.’

“Twilight,” Cadence said breathlessly. “We’ve been looking everywhere for you,” she descended the stairs slowly, almost unable to believe that Twilight was right in front of her. “Your parents are worried sick! You’re brother is going out of his mind! Where have you been?!”

“At home,” Twilight said, a part of her was struggling to keep her voice steady.

‘Be friendly, don’t be friends.’

“Home?!” Cadence said in disbelief. “I’ve been at your home almost every night trying to help your parents through-”

“That’s not my home,” Twilight said sharply. “Zee isn’t welcome there, so neither am I.”

“Zee has been hurting you!” Cadence cried, reaching out and grabbing for Twilight’s hands.

Twilight pulled back, glaring up at Cadence with a dark look in her eyes. Cadence blinked in confusion… for a moment she could have sworn that Twilight’s eyes were glowing.

“Zee is my whole world,” Twilight whispered harshly. “And that’s not new… she’s been there for me for years,” her whole body was shaking slightly as she pulled back from Cadence. “I’ve been bullied all my life! I never told Zee about any of it and yet she was always there for me! She always made me feel better, told me I was good enough, smart enough, p-pretty enough! She never put me down or expected me to be more! SO WHERE WERE YOU?!”

Tears had begun streaming down Twilight’s face as Cadence stared in shock at the younger girl’s outburst.

“I was never just enough for anyone!” Twilight spat. “I always had to be smarter! And better! I always had to ‘live up to my potential’! Well, here I am! Living up to my potential!”

By the end, Twilight was shouting at Cadence who was backing up and away from the young student. The girl she had looked at like family, who was now staring daggers at her with tears pouring down her cheeks and a vicious, snarling expression on her face.

“I’m going to live up to my potential,” Twilight muttered in a low voice, taking a deep breath as she stepped back from Cadence and wiped her eyes. “And I’m going to do it with the one person who always loved me for who I was, not who I could be.”

“Ladybug,” Cadence sobbed, “I am so sorry that you ever felt like we didn’t love you… I don’t even care how or why, because if it happened then it was our fault.” Cadence reached out again, tentatively and slowly as she tried to close the distance between her and Twilight, but Twilight just backed away.

“Please,” Cadence sobbed. “You can drop out, you can even stay with Zee, you can do whatever you want just… please… please-”

“You just don’t get it!” Twilight hissed furiously, and the venom in her tone put Cadence back a step. “You don’t get to tell me what I can do or who I can love, alright!? No one does!”

Cadence stared, wide eyed at Twilight’s face. Now she was sure of it… she wasn’t hallucinating or seeing things… Twilight’s eyes were almost literally burning. Her sclera were an ugly, almost radioactive green, and darkness drifted from the edges of her eyes like errant shadows.

And her eyes were glowing red.

“I’m going to be the greatest scientist in any world,” Twilight said, her lip curling up as her hand went to idly rest over the center of her pendant. “And Zee will be with me for every step… the rest of you can get out of the way.”

As Twilight turned and walked away from the shell-shocked Dean of Students, in the depths of her mind a bell was tolling thunderously; but rather than being deafening, distracting, or unpleasant, Twilight felt the sound clearing away all of the extraneous thoughts, leaving her clear-minded and focused. There was a source of energy, a source that dwarfed even Zee’s gauntlets, at Canterlot High School, and all she had to do was find it.

A task that would be all too easy as a member of the Friendship Games team, and especially easy since she already had a lead. A certain student that Storm knew specifically and unequivocally was in possession of the same power these artifacts contained, but seemingly without any object to serve as a lens or focus. A girl who was currently dating one Gilda Grimfeather, had red and gold hair, an amber complexion, and was wheelchair-bound.

That had narrowed it down easily and a quick hack of the schools systems had given them a name as well as an impressive academic record. If it had been from a school of any note Twilight might’ve been impressed, but as it was she knew the bar was set comparatively low at public schools.

“A natural channel,” Twilight muttered. “First thing’s first: find Sunset Shimmer.”

Back upstairs, Cadence had returned to her office adjacent to Principal Cinch’s and sat down at her desk. It was as though something had been emptied out of her and all it had left was a hole in her heart. Tears trickled down her face as Cadence picked up one of the framed photos on her desk. It showed a Cadence and Shining Armor, both much younger and in their senior year at Crystal Prep. At Cadence’s side was a small, toothily grinning Twilight, a gap in her teeth from one of her baby teeth having fallen out.

“Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake.” Teardrops fell over the photo as Cadence sniffled. “Clap your hands and d-do a… do a l-little…”

Cadence clenched her eyes shut as she set the photo down and grabbed her phone out of her pocket. Hitting the speed-dial, she held the phone up and a moment later Shining Armor’s voice came through on the other end.

//Cady? Is everything okay?// Shining asked in a worried tone.

“No, everything isn’t okay, Shiny,” Cadence said, tears robbing her voice of its usual melody. “I found her, Shiny… she’s here, your sister is here at school and… Shiny, there’s something wrong with her.”

Silence stretched out over the phone line as Shining Armor sat poleaxed at his desk at the Canterlot Precinct. Cadence could hear him tapping away at his computer for several moments before the sound of a hiss came over the phone.

//No…// Shining whispered, and Cadence could hear the horror in his voice. //No goddamn way.//

“Shining? What’s wrong?” Cadence begged, gripping the edge of the framed photo hard. “Shining?!”

//The missing person’s report on Twily was closed this morning,// Shining said in a hollow voice. //Attached to it is a note saying that Twilight herself had it closed on account of her being… being an emancipated minor.//

Cadence nearly dropped her cell phone as she felt her breath catch in her chest. “Shiny… something’s terribly wrong with her… I know you might not believe me when I tell you this but I saw something when I talked to her.”

//What did you see?// Shining asked, his voice taking on that careful, sterile tone of enforced calm. //Cady?//

“Her eyes were burning, Shiny,” Cadence said quietly. “There was this darkness and… this awful red light in her eyes… it was like… like she was possessed. I know it sounds crazy but I swear it’s true.”

//I believe you,// Shining replied softly. //I… I believe you, I promise.//

“Shiny?” Cadence felt a hollow shock at his blatant acceptance of her claim, a part of her thought he might just be humoring her but… no, Shining Armor wasn’t that kind of person. “Shining, are you okay?”

//Yeah, I’m… well, not fine but… yeah,// Shining replied in an uneven voice. //H-Hey, Cady… you remember that story I told you, back in December, those two girls?//

Cadence sniffled but laughed a little as she remembered it. Even if it had been an awful accident it had been a wonderfully romantic story.

“The lovebirds?” Cadence asked quietly. “The girl who carried her injured girlfriend to the ER on bleeding legs? Yeah, I remember.”

//There’s something else about that I didn't tell you… the same kind of… weird, but weirder,// Shining replied in a low voice.

“Weirder than glowing eyes?” Cadence asked incredulously.

“Massively,” Shining answered. “I’ll catch you up on it at home tonight… we’ll figure out what to do then, alright?”

“Alright, and Shining?”

//Yeah?//

“I love you,” Cadence said. “So much… I love you so, so much.”

//I love you too, Cady.//

Author's Note

Welcome to Act III
Alternate Title Chapter; Everyone Drinks Coffee

20. Push, To Keep The Dark From Coming

~Canterlot High School, February 17th, Afternoon~

The too-warm air was filled with the familiar stink of rubber and the sweat of teenagers, as well as the deafening sound of rubber balls and soles hitting the smooth, faux-wood planks of the gym floor.

Sunset had been permanently excused from most aspects of P.E. on account of her accident and the state it had left her in, at least until a doctor could clear her for a regimen of physical therapy, but she still had the class on her roster, and she could still participate in most of the warm up and warm down exercises with a little help.

Principal Celestia had offered to let her transfer into another class but, given the lateness of the year, she knew it wasn’t a very feasible option in terms of catching up with material. That and Celestia knew full well that Sunset would turn down the option anyway, not because she wanted an easy class, but because gym happened to be the one class she shared with Gilda.

“Get’em, babe!” Sunset shouted, punching the air as Gilda sprinted past her, dribbling a basketball.

Everyone in gym was wearing loose tee-shirts and shorts, a necessity because the gym heated up alarmingly quickly regardless of the season. The final months leading up to and throughout Summer were borderline unbearable inside the building itself, necessitating much of their curriculum happening out of doors.

Currently, the class was in the midst of its basketball segment, having done volleyball previously, and football before that.

Now, all things being equal, Sunset was hardly one to deny that a final aspect of gym she had enjoyed was the cute girls, but that had been old Sunset. New Sunset only had eyes for one cute girl, and that was the six foot and change, dark-skinned piledriver that was hammering her way through the other team’s defensive line; ducking, weaving, and dodging with surprising alacrity given her size.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash were both on the opposing team, although they were a lot less in sync than Sunset remembered, often getting in each other’s way or leaving the other open. Usually, the two girls were in line with each other, competitive but always good natured. A complete flip from the antagonistic rivalry Rainbow shared with Lightning Dust. Now, though, it was like the tables had completely turned on their head.

Rainbow and Lightning moved like they shared a mind; wherever one was, the other was in the perfect position to guard them. Of course, Sunset wasn’t terribly surprised at their teamwork… the two girls had been on the same soccer team, for years, but now it seemed like the last few kinks had been worked out and suddenly all those years of matching each other’s movements were bearing fruit.

Very little of that helped with stopping Gilda though, who was an engine of forward momentum and had a height advantage on the rest of the students, not counting Bulk Biceps whom everyone knew was too soft-hearted to put his all into any kind of competitive sport. Especially any form of contact sport.

He was fantastic with watercolors, though.

In the end, all it took was Applejack and Rainbow Dash tripping over each other once to give the opposing team the opening they needed. As Applejack stumbled and Rainbow hit the ground, Gilda blitzed past the rest of the line and a second later the crashing thud of the basketball slamming through the hoop and onto the ground echoed through the gym followed by a sharp whistle from Coach Iron Will marking the score.

“Woohoo!” Sunset cheered, raising her fists in the air as Gilda got high fives from the rest of the team.

Sunset had seen the change in Gilda ever since they’d come back from Las Pegasus, and in truth even before that. It was like every passing day smoothed away some of the rough edges her childhood had left her with.

Gilda had become more thoughtful, friendlier, and more open in the past months. A drastic change that Sunset mostly attributed to the fact that, in truth, nothing had changed. All of that kindness and strength had always been there in Gilda, diligently buried under over half a decade of emotional and mental manipulation and conditioning courtesy of one Storm King. Sunset even remembered Rainbow Dash remarking on it a few times; how Gilda had once been gentle and caring, always looking out for smaller kids… right up until her parents died and she was taken in by a monster dead-set on ruining her.

‘Well, he failed’ Sunset thought firmly as she smiled at Gilda who was working her way out of the small crowd of her team towards Sunset. ‘Gilda… she’s still herself.’

“Hey Sunshine, see that last dunk?” Gilda crowed, grinning widely. “No one gets the best’a me!”

“I definitely saw it, babe,” Sunset replied with a laugh. “You’re a real star athlete.”

Gilda smirked, giving an exaggerated flex of her arms as she did. It was supposed to be funny, but Sunset couldn't helping licking her lips a little at the display.

‘It’s not my fault Gilda looks really good in a tee-shirt and shorts, covered in sweat after a workout,’ Sunset thought to herself with a small smile. ‘Damn, I’m a lucky girl.’

“Earth t’Sunflower,” Gilda waved her hand in front of Sunset’s face.

Blinking away her thoughts, Sunset chuckled. “Sorry, I was picturing you naked.”

Gilda blushed furiously, and Octavia, who had been coming up behind her, red-faced and panting, snorted with laughter.

“Good lord, dear, you could be a little more subtle, couldn’t you?” Octavia said as she walked over and sat cross-legged next to Sunset’s chair. “You’re going to give everyone the wrong idea.”

“Or the right idea,” Sunset replied with a smirk.

“Y’know no one’s gonna try anything with me, yeah?” Gilda said with a laugh as she sat in front of Sunset. “Ain’t no one that fuckin’ stupid.”

“There’s at least one person,” Sunset replied in an arid voice.

An awkward silence fell between the girls that was thankfully broken as Applejack dragged herself up next to Gilda, panting and out of breath.

“Ain’t no one… your size… got any right… t’move that fast,” Applejack gasped.

“You should see her run on her old turf in Las Pegasus,” Sunset said, her smirk returning. “Light enough on her feet that you'd swear she was flying.”

“Hey, ain’t like I ain’t played before,” Gilda snarked, jerking a thumb back at the hoop. “Half the kids in Las Pegasus could try out for majors if they weren’t so fuckin’ poor, savvy? Used t’play every other day when I didn’t have runs t’make.”

“That explains us gettin’ our rear ends handed t’us,” Applejack grumbled good-naturedly.

Applejack had been the easiest to start getting along with again. She’d been the first to realise her mistake, the first to try and make amends, and even went against what Sunset knew the rest of the girls would want in order to try and protect Sunset’s privacy when she had been at her most vulnerable. It still hurt that the former bearer of the Element of Honesty hadn’t been able to tell that she had been telling the truth, but the Elements had levied their own punishment for that.

There was no reason to beat on them any more.

Besides, even Gilda grudgingly respected the farmgirl for her straightforward attitude as well as everything she had done following Sunset’s accident. The other girls? Well, Gilda had a harder time with them. Fluttershy and Rarity were constantly on eggshells around Gilda which irritated the normally laid back young woman, while Pinkie was painfully the opposite.

“Ah, ladies, are you seeing what I’m seeing?” Octavia piped up from beside Sunset.

Each of them looked to her and she subtly nodded towards the other end of the gym where most of the opposing team was. Rainbow Dash was sitting off to the side, favoring her left leg that looked bruised from her hard landing on the gym floor. Lightning was walking up holding a cold pack she had, probably, gotten from Coach Will, who kept a cooler full of the things off to the side for just such occasions.

Sunset braced herself to see Rainbow blow up at Lightning but…

“What the hell?” Sunset raised an eyebrow as Lightning knelt down and gingerly pulled Rainbow’s hand away from her bruised leg.

All of them could see Lightning talking, it was a low quiet voice that didn’t carry even with the acoustics of the gym, but the body language was clear. Rainbow put up a token resistance, but nothing serious, and no one who had ever seen her actually snap at someone bought it for a minute. A second later, Lightning had moved closer and settled the cold pack over Rainbow’s leg.

If her handling of Rainbow hadn’t clued Sunset in, then the lovestruck smile that Lightning Dust wore on her face would have.

“Holy crap,” Sunset mumbled. “I think Lightning finally caught Rainbow.”

“Pardon?” Applejack said, raising an eyebrow. “Ya’ll wanna clarify that a bit?”

Sunset nodded. “Yeah, Lightning’s been crushing on Rainbow Dash for literal years, like… her entire high school career basically.”

“Ah’ve known Rainbow most’a mah life, su-... Sunset,” Applejack replied. “She’n Lightning hate each other.”

“Trust me on this one,” Sunset said grimly. “I may not have used what I knew about Lightning as blackmail but… that doesn’t mean I didn’t throw it in her face to get her to back up.”

“Beg pardon?” Octavia said, looking shocked.

Sunset smiled wanly. “Don’t tell me you forgot what a huge bitch I used to be,” she said with a chuckle. “You really think someone like Lightning Dust just took that lying down?”

“Oh,” Octavia said softly. “No, I… I suppose that wouldn’t make sense.”

“Sophomore year, I caught her outside in the halls one day,” Sunset started, and her voice had a bitter note of regret to it. “She’d been talking a big game about how I couldn’t push her around, so I decided to teach her that I could.”

Applejack grimaced. “Kinda like how ya did with the Princess back when she first came ‘ere, huh?”

“Yeah,” Sunset said softly. “So I caught her out…”

+========+

Canterlot High School, Two Years Ago

+========+

Sunset Shimmer slammed her palm against the wall above Lightning’s right shoulder and loomed over her, glaring down with all the force that she had learned to project surviving the brutal political battlefield of the Canterlot Courts, and Sunset could see the icy sliver of fear that lurked behind the brash girl’s bright and defiant eyes.

“What’re ya gonna do, Shimmer?” Lightning taunted, “take a swing at me?”

The bravado was almost cute and Sunset smirked. The bite of Lightning’s sad attempt at bluster was spoiled somewhat by the way she only almost managed to hide the tremors in her limbs.

‘Cute, very cute,’ Sunset mused, ‘too bad I have to make an example of her.’

“I don’t need to take a swing at you, jockstrap,” Sunset said with a dry, acerbic chuckle. “You’re not a threat, you’re an annoyance.”

Lightning’s face twisted into a snarl. “Hey! You think I can’t stand up to you? Just because the rest of the school is spineless doesn’t mean-”

“I didn’t say that,” Sunset said in a sickly sweet tone, stepping forward and forcing Lightning back another step so she bumped into the wall as Sunset’s hand came up to rest on her cheek. “You can stand up to me all you want, dumbass… but think of this as a courtesy call: don’t bother, because it won’t matter.”

Sunset stepped back, leaving Lightning to sag slightly. In her mind Sunset was counting down; she hadn’t struck at Lightning’s mind or ego hard enough to deter her, not yet… but she needed a setup before she could take her shot. Fortunately, she could practically hear Lightning setting herself up, and the faint but harsh intake of breath behind Sunset confirmed it.

‘A~nd pull,’ Sunset thought as Lightning spoke.

“You’re underestimating me, Shimmer,” Lightning hissed. “I’ll be your worst goddamn enemy.”

Sunset sighed, a little overdramatically as she turned and gave Lightning a simpering smile. “Oh Lightning… look at me!” Sunset gestured to herself. “I have the best grades in the school, high marks in all of my athletics courses, and I practically have to beat the recruiters for CHS’s sports teams off with a stick at the beginning of every year… you’re not my enemy, you’re too far behind me for that,” Sunset could see the jab had struck home at the look of pain on Lightning’s face.

‘Now for the kill shot.’

“Just like you are with Rainbow Dash,” Sunset finished.

“W-Wha-” Lightning stammered, a red blush of something between fury and embarrassment creeping over her cheeks.

“You’ll never catch up to me, Dust,” Sunset said with a chuckle, crossing her arms and smirking. “Just like you’ll never catch up to Dash.”

Lightning Dust worked her jaw soundlessly, badly wrong-footed by the sudden jab and punch at a weak point even she hadn’t realised was there. Sunset continued to smirk as she advanced on Lightning again, who backed up only to find herself right back where she started: bumping into the wall behind her.

Sunset brought her hand up to cradle Lightning’s chin as she smiled viciously.

“I’m flattered by the attention, really,” Sunset said with a dark laugh. “And I’m sure Rainbow Dash is too, but why don’t you set your sights a little lower… hm? Maybe someone on your level,” Sunset said, pointing down at the floor before finally leaning in until she was right next to Lightning’s ear, “take it from me: Rainbow will never fall for you, Dusty, because neither of us settle for second place.”

‘Boom, headshot,’ Sunset thought with a faint burn of satisfaction in her chest as she turned her back on the shell-shocked girl and sauntered out of the hallway. ‘I doubt she’ll be a problem again.’

+========+

Present Day

+========+

Octavia and Applejack both stared wide-eyed at Sunset who was nervously fiddling with the fabric of her shorts.

“Y-Yeah, I was a real bitch, huh?” Sunset said after a few moments of awkward silence.

“Ain’t worse’n me, Sunshine,” Gilda said with a dry laugh, “remember?”

Sunset looked up at Gilda who was still smiling down at her with the same look on her face she always wore when she was looking at the red-haired girl. A steady mixture of love, admiration, and doting adoration that Sunset found never failed to warm her heart.

Gilda looked at Sunset like she was the most beautiful girl in the world.

“Heh, yeah,” Sunset agreed after a minute. “Bad bitches, the both of us, huh?”

“Just fuckin’ right,” Gilda said, smirking as she reached out and let her fingers tangle through Sunset’s hair, making that loose petting motion that always sent a shiver down Sunset’s spine. “We ain’t like that anymore though, savvy?”

Sunset nodded. “Savvy.”

“Y’know, Ah almost fergot how bad ya used t’be,” Applejack said with a dry laugh. “Funny… weren’t even all that long ago, ah guess.”

“People change, Applejack,” Octavia said, recovering her poise and grace. “We all change… believe me, I’ve done my utmost to leave behind a number of distasteful aspects of my own personality…”

“Weird t’think’a Rainbow bein’ all doe-eyed over anyone, though,” Applejack said with a laugh. “And of all folks…”

“Yeah… so Rainbutt and Lightbulb are a thing now, huh?” Gilda said quietly, drawing the attention of the others as Gilda looked over at the two girls.

Lightning was, at that point, fussing over Rainbow Dash with limited success. She was trying to get the brash girl to stay still while she tied down the pack but clearly Rainbow had other opinions on the matter. Rainbow looked like she was about to snap at Lightning when the amber-haired girl fixed Rainbow with a look straight in the eyes and said a single word.

The two girls were still for a moment before Rainbow went slack and nodded grudgingly.

“Huh,” Gilda grunted. “Wonder how she did that?”

“She said: ‘please’,” Octavia answered in a quiet voice. Seeing the looks from the others, Octavia shrugged. “When your girlfriend is mute, you learn to read lips.”

“I ain’t ever heard’a Rainbow listenin’ t’the magic word,” Applejack said dryly. “Lightnin’s gotta have’er wrapped ‘round her finger for that to’ve worked.”

“Yeah,” Gilda replied. “Well, shit… good for her.”

That drew another set of surprised looks from everyone else, including Sunset. Gilda glanced down at them and shrugged, but didn’t offer any further explanation, instead going to grab a towel from the rack by the wall and wipe the sweat from her arms, face, and hair.

Two sharp claps from the center of the gym got everyone looking towards the towering figure of Iron Will, with his fitted white shirt and crew cut, he looked a lot more intimidating than he actually was.

“Alright ladies, good hustle,” Iron Will shouted at his usual high volume. “Grimfeather, good shot on that last basket, you should give college basketball a try when you graduate!”

“Uh, sure thing coach,” Gilda replied with a chuckle.

“Class is over in five, so warm down, shower, and get dressed!” Iron Will shouted, his voice echoing around the entire room.

Most of the class had become inured to his maximum-volume speech style over the years. Either that or they’d gone partially deaf to compensate, Sunset wasn’t quite sure of which as she turned to wheel herself out with Gilda and Octavia flanking her, Applejack having gone back to rejoin the rest of the girls, specifically Rarity.

They reached the lockers quickly and, with a little help from Gilda, Sunset changed back into her normal outfit. None of the others questioned it by this point, and in fact a few of the girls had even been whispering about Gilda; about how much she had changed, how different she was from what they had thought, about her dedication. It was something that pleased Sunset to no end, that Gilda was finally being recognised as more than just a thug.

“Hey Gil,” Sunset said softly as they left the locker.

“Hm?” Gilda looked down at Sunset with a questioning glance. “Sup, Sunshine?”

“Wanna skip class?” Sunset asked, a smirk widening on her face. “We can go around the back and smoke.”

Gilda blinked, surprise evident on her face for a moment before she started chuckling, a low and pleasantly warm sound that always cheered Sunset to hear.

“Sunset Shimmer, skippin’ class,” Gilda said with a laugh. “Ain’t even got Anon-A-Miss t’cover for ya, I really did ruin you, huh?”

“Oh yes,” Sunset replied dramatically as she threw a hand over her forehead. “Utterly ruined, am I! An irredeemable delinquent!”

Gilda snorted and laughed at the display as she glanced around the halls, noting that it was mostly empty, before getting behind Sunset’s chair and steering her not towards class but towards the back exit of the gym.

It was still cold outside, but not as bitterly so as it had been in the past months. Warmer days were starting to creep up on Canterlot, and while the snow persisted here and there, as it always did in the cold city, much of it was giving way to green grass and a few of the trees had started to show the first signs of the encroaching Spring season.

Sunset took a deep breath of the chilly air as Gilda pushed her chair over the lip of the doorway and outside. Her wheels crunched across the still frigid dirt and slush of the small pathway that rounded the perimeter of the gymnasium. It had been months since she and Gilda had taken this short route that had once been a daily walk for them.

Months since her accident, months since her friends abandoned her, months since Anon-A-Miss.

And yet so much had changed.

Not the junk-pile behind the gym, though. That thing was still as vile and persistent as parking lot snow, though Sunset noted pleasantly that the cold air and light dusting of rime that covered it muted its usual pungent odor as Gilda parked her nearby.

Gilda held out a pair of matches as Sunset pulled a cigarette free from her pocket and tucked it between her lips. A snap of sulfur later and an ember was burning merrily at the other end of the tube. Sunset took a deep breath, letting a slow smile drift across her face as she relaxed and looked up at the sky. The smoke lingered in her mouth for a moment before it was blown out in a light gray plume as Sunset looked to the side and watched Gilda doing the same; her cigarette tucked between her ring and middle finger as it always was.

Something about the way she held it always seemed very… cool, to Sunset. Enough so that Sunset held hers the same way. Holding her cigarette between her index and middle finger like most people did always felt a little snooty to her, she wasn’t sure why.

“You’ve been smoking a lot more lately,” Sunset said finally, as she took another drag, breathing out as Gilda glanced down at her with a raised eyebrow. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed how many packs you’ve gone through… including a few of mine.”

Gilda winced. “Sorry ‘bout that, Sunflower, ran out last time… I’ll grab ya a pack’r two next time I hit the store, savvy?”

Sunset just shook her head and chuckled. “I don’t care about the smokes, Gil, I mean… c’mon, how many have I bummed off of you since even before we started dating?”

“Uh… didn’t really keep count,” Gilda replied with a chuckle. “Why’s it matter?”

“Because you smoke when you’re stressed out,” Sunset said softly, “and when you’re thinking deeply about something… and when you’re worried… and because it’s… it’s not good for you. The stress or the smoke, I mean.”

Gilda was silent for several moments as she blew out a soft plume of smoke.

“Guess I do, huh?” Gilda said finally. “But I figure I got a lot t’be worried about lately, Sunshine.”

“I know,” Sunset said quietly. “Or… I guess, I don’t know like you do… but I know you know and I trust you. I know you’re just worried for me.”

“Worried ‘bout a lot of things, Sunflower,” Gilda replied tersely. “My pops ain’t just bad news, he’s the fuckin’ worst news.”

“Yeah,” Sunset agreed, pulling her cigarette free and knocking some of the ashes onto the snowy ground. “And I don’t blame you at all for stressing over it, savvy?”

Gilda just nodded silently, taking another drag and exhaling as she stared up at the snowy, gray sky.

Despite what some people thought, and what Gilda herself professed, Sunset knew that Gilda thought deeply about quite a few matters. Mostly practical ones, true, but that didn’t make them any less noteworthy.

“He’s a real monster, y’know?” Gilda said after a moment

Sunset looked up at Gilda as she stared off into the distance. There was something unnameable in her eyes, something that made Sunset shiver in a manner that had nothing to do with how cold it was outside. Gilda dropped the cigarette and stamped it out before kicking the dreg into the junk pile and pulling another one free of her pack to fix it between her lips.

She didn’t light it though.

“Y’know… ol’ pops, he had a rule, right?” Gilda said after several moments of quiet. “Hell, that old bastard had a lotta rules, a few good ones, I guess, but he had some real fucked up ones, too, savvy?”

It was phrased like a question, but Sunset got the distinct feeling that Gilda wasn’t really expecting an answer. She nodded along anyway, if nothing else to show she was listening and following along.

“He had this one rule, one you stopped me from obeyin’ once,” Gilda said as she shifted around, drawing out two matches and striking them, lifting them to light the cigarette that was dangling from her lips. “He said t’me: ‘Gilda, whoever hits you, you hit’em ten times that hard’, right? And so I asked’im why, right? And y’know what he said?”

Sunset shook her head, and a part of her didn’t want to know.

“Ol’ pops said t’me, ‘you talk to enough folks and you’ll figure out that some folks learn slow, and some folks learn fast’, and that seemed right t’me, yeah?” Gilda said, pulling the cigarette free and glaring hatefully at the ember as her hand hand tightened into a fist around the smouldering tube. “But he wasn’t done, and he told me: ‘but all folks learn fast if ya hit’em hard enough’, and the funny thing is… that seemed right t’me too.”

“Score…” Sunset said, feeling a stony weight settle in her gut. “That afternoon at the skate park, when he made fun of you and you were going to…”

“Hurt’im,” Gilda said grimly. “I was gonna hurt’im real bad… he’d get better, it’d take time, yeah? But he’d get better… I wasn’t that much like my pops.”

“And it would have been wrong!” Sunset said, her voice rising in pitch as she turned to face Gilda.

Gilda stared into the distance wearing a look on her face that Sunset didn’t like one bit.

“You sure ‘bout that, Sunflower?”

Sunset blinked in surprise at the question. “W-What?”

“I think about that day a lot, y’know?” Gilda continued, glancing down to look at Sunset. “If I’da kept t’my rule, right? If I’d taught that little shit a lesson like I ought’ve, then he sure as fuck wouldn’t’ve been in any shape t’tell the Dogs ‘bout where you lived, savvy?”

“Gilda-”

“You’da never been in that accident, you’da never been hurt,” Gilda kept talking, strain showing on her face as she grit her teeth. “You’da never had t’fight f’your life on a fuckin’ operating table, you’da never had to worry about givin’ up your life on the other side’a that portal!”

Tears were slipping down Gilda's cheeks as she ranted, slamming her fist into the cold masonry wall behind her, making Sunset leap slightly in her chair.

“All I had t’do was be the good little soldier my pops taught me t’be, and I could’a kept you safe, Sunshine!” Gilda snapped, turning to stare down at Sunset who felt her heart almost stop at the look of torment that was twisting Gilda’s face. “I never told ya back then… ‘cause… ‘cause how could I tell ya about my pops? About me? About all the folks I hurt doin’ the shit he told me to do?”

“What do you mean?” Sunset said in a voice that was little more than a whisper.

“I told ya, Sunflower,” Gilda replied. “When my pops told me t’do somethin’, it got done; everything from pickin’ pockets, to taggin’, to breakin’ arms’n legs…” some of the pain and rage went out of Gilda at that, but it was replaced with a hollow smile and a weariness that was almost worse to Sunset’s eyes. “Heh… always was big f’my age, y’know? Bigger’n the other gangs’ runners… faster too, and I knew the city better. I’d really fuck up their newbies, savvy? All t’send a message from th’King.”

“Gilda please,” Sunset sobbed, her cigarette hung forgotten from her lips. “It wasn’t your fault!” she cried, “the crap your foster father made you do? That wasn’t your fault! My legs sure as hell weren’t your fault!”

“Except they fuckin’ were!” Gilda roared, and Sunset paled at the sound, except this time Gilda didn’t see it. Her temper was well and truly lost. “Don’t you fuckin’ get it, Sunshine!? I could’ve stopped it! I could’ve saved you! I could’a fuckin’ done it!”

Sunset was shaking, scrabbling for a grip on her wheels as she reflexively tried to back away.

“Do you know how it feels?!” Gilda snarled, advancing on Sunset, stomping through the detritus and stained snow. “Do you know how it feels t’know that fuckin’ monster was actually right?!”

Gilda’s voice echoed and left a brutal silence in its place, punctured only by the intermittent sounds of Sunset’s sobs. She had long since stopped trying to get away and was now pulling away, her face hidden behind her hair as Sunset clamped her hands over her ears, pulling the headphones she’d gotten for Christmas over her ears to try and blot out the sound of yelling. Gilda blinked as the red haze that had covered her vision faded and the deafening, pounding thunder in her ears died away. Her breath came in short gasps as she stared down at the hyperventilating mess that Sunset had become, and suddenly it was Gilda who was shaking as she lifted her hands to her mouth.

“Oh… fuck,” Gilda mumbled. “S-Sunshine, I’m… I’m so fuckin’ sorry.”

Sunset didn’t reply, still shaking and muttering unintelligibly under her breath. Gilda felt a creeping numbness in her body, as if it had betrayed her, but she knew that was a lie. Nothing had betrayed her, nothing had made her lose control, and nothing had made her yell at the love of her life. Gilda had just done the same thing she always did when she lost control; she got mad and she lashed out, and with the stress of Storm’s freedom weighing on her mind it had hit her with double the force.

And Sunset was paying for it.

Kneeling in the filthy snow, Gilda scooted closer to Sunset, unable to keep herself from hiccuping a sob out.

“S-Sunflower? H-Hey, I’m sorry,” Gilda said in the lowest, most gentle whisper possible. “I didn’t… I… I’m sorry…”

Slowly, painfully slowly, Sunset lowered her hands, pulling the headphones down a little as she stared at Gilda with wide eyes. Gilda felt like her heart was being carved out at the look of fear in them. It was everything she’d sworn she’d never wanted… that look of fear, that terror that Gilda had always had of her foster father. Storm’s temper was at least as bad as her own and he always took it out on everything but the kids.

Dishes, furniture, windows… whatever was nearby would feel the weight of his anger.

With uneasy, shuffling movements, Gilda shrugged her bomber jacket off and brought it around to wrap around Sunset who started slightly at the touch, only to settle down after a moment as the warm, heavy weight of the leather jacket settled onto her shoulders.

Once the jacket was fixed onto her, Gilda raised a hand up to cradle Sunset’s cheek, wiping her thumb under her eye to brush away the frosty tears that had accumulated there, hardened by the frigid winter air, and after a moment, Sunset turned slightly to brush her lips against Gilda’s palm.

“I’m sorry…” Gilda whispered again. She would say it as many times as she needed to, she would do whatever she needed to if it meant making it right.

“I know,” Sunset said in a cracked voice. “But… please… I… I know you know how I am about… about yelling, and shouting, and… and when people get angry like that… all I can think is that they’re about to start hurting me.”

Gilda nodded, she did know.

Ever since Anon-A-Miss it had been an issue. Sunset would get ambushed out of nowhere with people yelling at her, sometimes hitting her as well, and Gilda had seen her more than once with a bloody nose or a black eye back then, something that had never failed to make her blood boil. It was why Gilda had worked so hard to convince Sunset to skip classes as much as she herself did and, honestly, it was probably also the reason her argument worked.

Sagging, kneeling in the grime and snow, Gilda wrapped her arms around herself and nodded, tears trickling down her cheeks to drop and stain her jeans.

“I know,” Gilda said in a voice twisted by tears. “M’sorry, Sunshine… I didn’t… ah fuck, it doesn’t fuckin’ matter…”

The slight crunch of the snow underneath Sunset’s wheels heralded her moving a little closer to Gilda as she reached out and pulled the kneeling girl inward. Gilda let her, settling her head on Sunset’s lap as Sunset idly stroked Gilda’s hair.

“I forgive you,” Sunset said in a quiet voice after a few moments. “I… I’m pretty sure I’ll always forgive you, Gil.”

“That ain’t necessarily a good thing,” Gilda said in a muffled voice from where she was pressing her face against the blankets covering Sunset’s legs.

“No… I know,” Sunset replied. “But… I trust you, too… to know what it means to know that I’ll pretty much always forgive you… so I guess what I really mean is that I trust you to never take advantage of that, savvy?”

“What if I do?”

Sunset just shook her head. She honestly wasn’t sure… she didn’t think Gilda would ever take advantage of her trust like that. She couldn’t even imagine it. Gilda was so… good.

“Would you ever betray my trust on purpose?” Sunset asked quietly.

Gilda tensed before looking up from where she was kneeling, wiping away at the tears in her eyes angrily. “Not in a million fuckin’ years, Sunflower,” she hissed. “I swear t’God I’d never-”

“That’s why,” Sunset cut in. “That’s why I trust you… remember? I told you we’d hurt each other sometimes…”

“I never wanna hurt you, Sunshine,” Gilda sobbed. “It fuckin’ kills me when I- when I… just… screw up like this.”

Sunset could only shrug. “I screw up too,” she said, “we all do… but I want to be with you forever, Gil, so… I’m willing to live through a few screw ups if you are.”

Gilda blinked away the tears in her eyes and nodded as she stood, dusting off the grime and grit from her knees before leaning in.

Sunset had been expecting a kiss, but what she got was Gilda scooping her bodily up and out of her seat. Sunset let out a yelp of surprise as Gilda pulled her close and turned to sit down in Sunset’s chair with Sunset planted firmly crosswise in her lap, the blankets covering them both and Gilda’s jacket pulled warmly around Sunset’s shoulders.

Once she was over her surprise, Sunset sighed happily and settled into Gilda’s embrace, letting her head rest in the crook of Gilda’s shoulder, and for a moment she let the world melt away. There was nothing but Gilda’s incredibly warm embrace, the soft, leather-and-oil scent that saturated her jacket, and the crisp winter air.

“I’m scared, Sunshine,” Gilda whispered in a voice so quiet that Sunset almost thought she’d imagined it. “It’s… fuckin’ crazy how scared I am, f’real…”

“Why?” Sunset asked, looking up to stare at Gilda’s face.

The gray light of the dim, cloudy afternoon held a pleasing contrast to the profile of Gilda’s features as she stared outwards towards nothing. No, not nothing… towards Storm.

“Because ya don’t get it,” Gilda replied. “My pops… he’ll never swing at me… but he’ll take a sledgehammer to every single goddamn thing I care about if he wants to teach me a lesson.” Sunset felt Gilda tense as she spoke. “He’ll go after my friends… my home… my family… savvy? Because he always said: ‘proper fighters’ll keep their heads when you swing at’em, but nothing makes’em madder’n swinging at what they keep close’, and I’ve seen’im do it.”

“Gil, that’s…” Sunset felt her stomach twist at the casual way Storm must have approached hurting people.

‘Horrible?’ Sunset thought darkly, she knew it was, of course. Objectively she knew it was horrible, but… ‘Not long ago I wonder if I would have agreed with him, though.’

Sunset shivered violently at that thought, her stomach twisting at the notion that she was anything like the man who had taken a beautiful person like Gilda and broken her until she was exactly the way he wanted her.

Except… isn’t that exactly what she had done to the school? Taken every inconvenient friendship, every social group that didn’t conform to her needs, and violently tore it apart and stitched it into something more suitable? Even if she hadn’t gone as far, physically, as Storm King had during his tenure as leader of Gilda’s gang family hadn’t Sunset followed a strikingly similar set of rules?

“H-Hey, Gil?” Sunset said in a subdued voice. “I’m… I’m not like him right?”

Gilda looked down in confusion for a moment, and her eyes widened at the look of stark terror on Sunset’s face. “The fuck’re you talkin’ about, Sunshine?”

“Storm,” Sunset replied. “Am… am I like him? The way I was… I think I used to be just like him, writ small maybe, but… I’ve changed right?”

Sunset looked up at Gilda shaking. “I’m not like that anymore, right?”

Gilda felt her gut clench at the desperation in Sunset’s voice. “No, fuck no you ain’t like him,” Gilda insisted, setting her hands on Sunset’s cheeks and pulling her close until their foreheads were touching and she was staring into Sunset’s beautiful teal eyes. “Even if you were, even you used t’be like’im? Fuck that, you got better a’right? Just like I did, right? I ain’t who I was back then, and you ain’t either, savvy?”

Sunset nodded furiously, shaking in Gilda’s arms as she wrapped herself around the bigger girl and did her absolute best to push those thoughts, those comparisons, out of her mind.

“I’m uh, I’m gonna need you to tell me that a few times, okay?” Sunset said in a tiny voice. “Because… I don’t really believe it yet, I’m sorry.”

“S’okay, Sunflower,” Gilda replied. “I’ll tell ya as many times as ya need an’ then some, a’right?”

“Thank you,” Sunset sobbed quietly.

The rest of the day passed quickly, but none of the girls’ other friends failed to notice how subdued both Sunset and Gilda were after getting out of classes. Moreover, they stuck beside one another like with something akin to panic, as if they were afraid the other would disappear if they left each other's’ sight.

Octavia frowned, not certain how to bring up the matter without stepping on toes, and Vinyl was in a similar state.

“Some friend I am,” Octavia mumbled as she trotted down the front steps of the school towards the buses with Vinyl in tow. “I’m hardly any help at all, am I?”

Vinyl shrugged as Octavia glanced back at her. ‘It’s not like I’ve got any bright ideas,’ she signed back to the prim cellist.

Sighing, Octavia adjusted the strap on her cello where it had begun to dig into her shoulder and kept walking.

“With the best will in the world,” Octavia began, “there are days I truly wish I had Adagio’s complete lack of care for what others might think.”

Vinyl stopped as a thought occurred to her, and a moment later reached out and grabbed Octavia by the shoulder. Octavia turned to regard Vinyl with a raised eyebrow as the mute girl smiled and tapped a spot just below her collarbone. A slight, metal ringing sound could be heard where her fingernail impacted the covered necklace.

Octavia grinned widely. “I’m a fool,” she chuckled. “In fairness, though, I’m not used to having so many friends, am I?”

Pulling out her phone, she opened her contacts and sought out the name that, a month ago, she would never have imagined would have had a place in her ‘Favorite Contacts’ folder.

Adagio Dazzle, leader of the Sirens, defunct though they were as a singing group (mostly), had proven very quickly to be someone that Octavia found herself warming to. It wasn’t just her sense of style or highborn attitude, those were things she was used to seeing after moving in the same social circles as her parents.

No, it was Adagio’s wit; dry and caustic, with a tongue that was easily as barbed as Octavia’s own. It was the way she would talk about events hundreds of years in the past as if they were yesterday.

Octavia had lost an entire day at the Dazzling’s home in the Heights last weekend, which ironically lay not more than a twenty minute walk from her own house, just listening to Adagio talk about her time spent in the Speakeasy’s of Fillydelphia where she had sung for almost two years before moving on, and how the three of them had sung on the opening night of the Bolshoi in Stalliongrad.

It was the way that music was more than just an act or a sound, it was a way of life and reason for living. Vinyl saw music as a rollercoaster of progression; almost like a science and art combined, but for Octavia it was so much more alive, and she found that Adagio, of all people, shared that sentiment precisely.

//Hello, little cellist,// Adagio’s low, sultry voice never failed to make Octavia shiver a little. //How were classes?//

Octavia knew that Adagio didn’t mean anything serious by it, the Siren was naturally flirtatious and both she and Vinyl were well aware of it. There was something in her tone, in the lilt of her voice, in the natural huskiness and the slight way she carried the cadence of her sentence that made you feel special just because she was talking to you. It didn’t stop Octavia from blushing more often than not.

“Classes were just fine, Momdagio,” Octavia replied with a small laugh. “How was your day, dear?”

//Grueling,// Adagio groaned dramatically.

“You mean boring?” Octavia replied with a small laugh as she and Vinyl began to board the bus.

Adagio’s musical laughter rang across the line. //Same thing, my dear, I thrive on dynamism… I can’t abide boredom.//

“Something tells me we’ll be getting very little boredom in the next few weeks,” Octavia replied, her voice taking on a softer, more subdued tone.

All of the Element Bearers, as Sunset had called them, were informed immediately of the news that Storm King, a former ganglord and death-row inmate of San Tornado, had broken free several nights ago. More importantly to the lot of them was that Sunset and Gilda had personally witnessed his usage of true magic.

That, of course, had led to a much longer-winded explanation of why they had seen and spoken to someone like Storm. Octavia had heard snippets and pieces of Gilda’s past, but even she couldn’t have imagined that the tall, gruff girl had spent her formative years in a gang like the Kings.

Especially not after seeing how gentle she was with Sunset.

Gilda hadn’t gone into precise detail about what Storm was like, but it didn’t take a mind-reader to see the kind of damage he was capable of inflicting. Aside from the fact that he was on death row, which spoke volumes of how utterly dangerous he must be on its own, seeing first hand the effect he had on the normally fearless and belligerent girl that Octavia had gone to school with for years was a sobering first-hand experience in and of itself.

//Far from the worst I’ve seen, trust me,// Adagio assured Octavia in a calming voice. //Now I assume you were calling for a reason, not that I don’t appreciate hearing from you.//

“Is it awful of me?” Octavia asked quietly, curling up on the seat of the bus and lowering her voice so the rest of the students couldn’t hear, with only Vinyl close enough to make out what she was saying. “There’s something wrong with Sunset and Gilda, they’re… upset. And I’m lost on what to do about it, so…”

//Passing the buck, are we?// Adagio laughed from across town.

“Don’t say it like that,” Octavia grumbled. “I feel bad enough already that I can’t do anything myself. I really don’t know what to say.”

//I’ll find some time to talk to them,// Adagio promised, her mirth turning warmer as it usually did when it came to looking after the small group that had adopted her and her sisters and, in turn, been adopted by them. //I’ll see what I can see, I promise nothing, though… those two are stubborn.//

“Thank you,” Octavia said softly. “I truly appreciate it.”

Octavia could hear the smile in Adagio’s words as she replied.

//Of course, what are friends for?//

~Canterlot Heights, February 17th, Afternoon~

Adagio scowled as she hung up on Octavia, leaning back in her favorite chair and trying to relax as she considered the problem she’d just been handed.

If she were being honest with herself, Adagio couldn’t say she was surprised that Sunset and Gilda were on edge. Octavia seemed worried but the truth was that Adagio would have been surprised if those two hadn’t been worried or stressed. Over a millennium on this world had taught Adagio and her sisters in no uncertain terms how brutal the human race could be, especially the willfully wicked ones.

There were those who chose acts of evil because there were no other choices beyond death, and there were those who chose evil in spite of better choices laid before them. The latter among the human race almost always ended up being spectacularly dangerous examples of the breed, in Adagio’s experience.

It was why she had tasked her younger sister with pursuing whatever information she could find about the man called ‘Storm King’.

Adagio rose from where she had been reclined on her seat in the living room and made her way upstairs. The house was quiet, as it usually was when Aria wasn’t at home, and once upon a time Adagio had found that silence peaceful.

Now it was almost annoying.

A part of the elder siren actually wished she could hear the metronomic thumps of Aria beating on the hanging punching bag in the garage. The deep and steady beat of fist against fabric that was once a source of irritation was now a sound that brought her immeasurable comfort. It meant that Aria was home, that she was safe and sound, and that she was only a shout away if she needed something or if anyone else needed her.

More and more Adagio was finding that she rather liked the idea of having a noisy home, something that would have raised the hackles of her old self.

“Knock knock,” Adagio said playfully as she leaned on the threshold of the office she shared with Sonata. “Any luck?”

Sonata looked up from her computer and scowled, her ice-blue hair hanging unkempt around her face in a chaotic frame. Adagio reflected idly for a moment on how almost anything Sonata did could come off as endearing or cute, and how unfair it was that she seemed to be able to do so entirely by accident.

“Other than gigabytes of irrelevant police reports and forensic documents?” Sonata huffed. “Not really.”

“He was adopting children, though,” Adagio said, narrowing her eyes as she entered the room. “How could he have managed that without a paper trail?”

“He didn’t,” Sonata grumbled. “He just faked like, ninety-nine point nine percent of the information. Every single thing I try to turn up off of the foster documents leads to a dead end,” Adagio looked surprised as she could feel the anger coming off her normally placid sister in waves, “in some places all it would have taken was a phone call to figure out that this guy wasn’t on the level! And they were just giving him kids!”

Adagio's face fell. “This world is much crueler than the one we left, ‘Nata, you know that better than most.”

Sonata shuddered for a moment, tasting a faint tang of copper for a moment before nodding. “I know but… but they’re kids! And… people have gotten better, right, ‘Dagi? Humans? They’re getting better, right?”

“Slowly,” Adagio said softly. “But they’re short-lived, and very forgetful… and it’s always easier to forget than to learn.”

“It’s just…” Sonata trailed off for a moment, looking dismal, “...it’s like they didn’t even care where they were sending the kids, you know?”

Shrugging, Adagio settled into her own chair and sighed. “Maybe they didn’t,” she replied. “Maybe those children were just one more task in a long day of tasks… either way, if it’s a dead end it’s a dead end.”

“Children are never just a task,” Sonata mumbled angrily. “Fine, so the foster system is a bust in more ways than one,” she muttered the last few words under her breath, “so now what?”

“Now?” Adagio sighed. “Now we look at Gilda… or more specifically we look at her family…”

Sonata nodded and fished around for a file for several minutes before finally retrieving it and pulling the papers open. “Gilda Grimfeather, age eighteen, daughter of Grendel and Drusella Grimfeather, third generation immigrant, sister to Grizelda Grimfeather…”

“Grizelda,” Adagio repeated the name as she steepled her fingers and focused on a point in the distance, her mind wheeling through possibilities and ideas. “According to Gilda, her sister was supposedly killed by Storm in retribution for his subordinates’ betrayal, but she recently discovered that to be a lie.”

“Pre~tty smart,” Sonata sang, though her voice was almost metallic with bitterness. “No one looks for a dead girl, so she could keep doing whatever he wanted her to do.”

“Which was…?”

Sonata slumped. “I have no freaking idea.”

“Really?” Adagio raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Nothing?”

“Okay, so… remember when Gilda was telling us about her?” Sonata said with a nervous laugh. “She said that her sister was crazy, crazy smart?”

“I recall,” Adagio replied carefully.

Sonata let out a slow breath. “That… was an understatement.”

“How so?”

“Because trying to find information on this girl is like trying to find a specific piece of hay in a haystack that’s hidden in another, bigger haystack!” Sonata griped.

“That’s not the hardest thing you’ve done, though,” Adagio said hopefully, “what’s stopping you now?”

“What’s stopping me?!” Sonata asked, her voice becoming a little unhinged. “What’s stopping me is that whenever I actually manage to find the piece of hay it’s always BOOBY-TRAPPED!”

For a moment, Sonata seemed to collapse into her chair, all of the wind going out of her as she frowned and stared dejectedly at the three monitor setup of her rig. After a moment of silent staring Sonata let out an inchoate groan of frustration as she clapped her hands over her face.

“I’ve had to reformat my computer seven times in the last four days,” Sonata said with a hint of annoyance and wounded pride. “Every time I find something even tangentially related I also find a custom-written version of the Storm Worm virus, ironically… and each one is different so my firewall upgrades do nothing! NOTHING!”

“I… only followed about half of that,” Adagio admitted with a dry chuckle.

“Nevermind, just…” Sonata slumped against her desk, looking hopeless. “I haven’t found anything, other than confirmation that Gilda’s little sister is better at covering her tracks online than I am at uncovering them.”

Standing from her desk, Adagio stepped around the setup to set a hand on her younger sister’s shoulder.

“Don’t give up, ‘Nata,” Adagio said softly. “We were there when personal computers were invented, I know you can best this stripling, alright?”

Sonata groaned, her face still planted firmly on the desk. After a moment she gave a small nod and raised one hand in a half-hearted thumbs-up.

“Good,” Adagio said with a grin as she stepped back, hooking her fingers together and stretching, relishing the pops and her shoulders. “In the meantime, I think I’m going to go downtown and speak with Aria, maybe we’ve been looking at this the wrong way.”

“Huh?” Sonata looked up at Adagio with bright eyes. “What do you mean?”

“We may have been alive to see the creation of the computer,” Adagio said with a cheshire grin, “but we dealt in rumors and hearsay long before the internet was even a flicker of an idea in the collective unconscious of mankind.” Turning to head out, Adagio tossed a look over her shoulder at Sonata. “Sometimes, the old ways work best, dear sister.”

Striding quickly down the stairs, Adagio reached the lower landing and made her way out to the garage, grabbing her shoes and plush, purple parka as she did. Sidling into the driver’s seat of her car, she wrinkled her nose at the smell of sweat that pervaded the decently sized garage and left herself a mental note to get Aria to let some air in after she finished working out next time. Sliding the key in and turning it, Adagio grinned at the guttural growl made by her vehicle of choice: a cherry red, Alfalfa Romeo Spider. Not the most reliable vehicle on the road by any stretch, but the sound… the feel… even the simple curve of the bodywork gave her the shivers.

Reliability could occasionally, or frequently, take a backseat to aesthetics.

Adagio grinned as she got out of the driveway and began making her way through the twisting, sloped roads that crisscrossed through the neighborhood of the Heights like thin, anemic veins. It was a large area, though there were few houses. In Adagio’s experience it was the humans with the littlest need for it that took up the most space. Huge yards and enormous spans of acreage that could have potentially alleviated the suffering of hundreds, or more, if managed into housing, was instead kept for its viewing pleasure.

Which was all well and good up until some enterprising Prenchman invented the guillotine. Whatever her critics might say, Adagio staunchly held that that whole ‘revolution’ business had nothing to do with her and her sisters.

Sometimes humans just got mad; who knew mass starvation would be so unpopular?

Once out of the stiflingly narrow streets and avenues of the Heights and onto the freeway heading into the city proper Adagio really let the compact engine open up. The low, throaty growl of the one-point-seven litre engine hummed delightedly, and it reminded Adagio briefly of her old home, of the domesticated sharkwolves her people had kept as a combination of guards and companions.

Those fearsome beasts with their thick, sleek fur, not unlike this world’s otters, that covered thick hides of interlocking scales. The combination of dense fur and angled scale made the creatures damnably hard to kill with conventional weapons. Pikes and harpoons would more often than not turn badly on impact, spoiled by the angle of the scale or catching in its salt-soaked mat of fur.

And oh how they growled, their deep, basso thrum that vibrated the dark oceanic depths of Coltlantis. Like most sounds in the deeps you would feel it as much as hear it, tactile as much as it was audible, which was probably why the engines thrum reminded Adagio of it so much; especially when they were let out for a hunt.

A song played over the radio as Adagio passed by the towering office buildings and commercial department stores of Canterlot’s lively downtown district; a nostalgic, earthy tune that reminded Adagio of older days in Brayton, during the war especially, and the gangs of men who would sing in their low, groaning voices as they hauled and hammered, heaved and mined, all to fuel the great engine of conflict while simultaneously protecting their home.

It was something you noticed, being immortal, and Adagio had realised long ago: history had a tendency to repeat itself in the oddest ways. Not always in dramatic flourishes, but sometimes in the smaller, subtler things like the cadence of a tune or the precise shade or cut of a dress.

Adagio’s musings were cut short as she pulled off the freeway and into the gridlock, stop-and-go traffic of downtown in the afternoon. It took far too long, in Adagio’s opinion, but she eventually made her way to the parking garage nearest Aria’s gym where she spent most of her day.

Jackhammer’s was the name of the place, a simple and brutish name that suggested that one would find precisely what one expected inside. It was a squat, two-story building with a sizeable basement level; the first floor was a public gym, given over entirely to banks of treadmills, stationary cycles, free weights, benches, barbells, and multiple contraptions with complex arrangements of cables and pulleys.

Adagio walked past all of it as she entered the gym, waving at the twenty-something girl at the front desk as she headed towards the staircase leading to the second floor. The clerk, a college student from Hollow Shades named Night Willow waved back. Adagio, like the rest of her sisters, had a VIP pass that gave her access to any level of the gym at any time, renewed annually, courtesy of Aria, although she knew for a fact Sonata had never once used hers.

Briefly, Adagio added another mental note to consider offering Sonata’s pass to Sunset; the redhead would probably get far more use out of it than Sonata.

Going up the stairs to the second floor, Adagio couldn’t help the slight smile that tugged at the edges of her mouth as she heard the familiar thunder of fists striking a thickly padded punching bag.

The upper level of Jackhammer’s was for specialised training; it consisted mainly of blue, padded mats sectioned off from one another by thick cords of knotted rope. The areas that weren’t given over to practice rings were occupied by varieties of punching bags and other combat-training paraphernalia. The number of people training currently was low, and Adagio quickly spotted her quarry with a flash of purple hair near the east corner.

Aria moved like a whirlwind of calculated violence; every motion was liquid as she flowed from punch to elbow strike, only to twist and pivot with blinding speed, moving like a wheel to strike with the back of her other elbow and follow up with a final blow from the back of her hand. The continuous motion sent the punching bag swinging hard, and Aria ducked and wove around it as it barreled past her to and fro. She lashed out with her fists as it passed, one-two punches hammered into the lower middle of the bag that would’ve been devastating gut-blows to a human being.

Ever since Sunset and the Rainbooms had purged them of their dark magic, all three of them had been feeling better, and not just emotionally. They felt healthier, more energetic, more awake even. Adagio silently likened it to being suddenly lifted from the depths of addiction, and that wasn’t far from the truth, she knew.

Dark magic was as powerful as it was dangerous, and it eroded the body as much as the mind if used in excess. Their old forms had been built to handle it, obviously; Sirens had been utilizing their special brand of dark magic for millennia, but human body’s just weren’t built for it. Adagio suspected it was only the eternal youth spell in their gems that had kept them even moderately stable.

“Sister dear,” Adagio called from across the gym with a sarcastic lilt to her voice.

Aria stumbled in surprise, taking a light blow from the backswing of the punching bag across the dome and sending her to the ground with the weight of it.

“Shit!” Aria swore as she massaged the back of her head, and Adagio laughed as she approached, her mellifluous voice drawing the eyes of the few patrons in the room. “Can you fuckity-not do that while I’m in the middle of my routine, ‘Dagi?”

“And miss an opportunity?” Adagio asked with a light chuckle as she extended a hand to her sister. “Not on your life, sister.”

“Right, silly me,” Aria grumbled as she gripped Adagio’s hand and pulled herself up. “So what’s the deal? There a reason you’re all the way out here?”

Adagio shrugged. “I can’t just visit my beloved sister while she’s working?”

Aria grimaced at the perfect pout of Adagio’s lips. It was a look that could start wars. She would know, she’d seen it happen.

“You could,” Aria replied with a wry, cocked smile, “but we’ve literally been together for centuries and I can tell there’s something bugging you, ‘Dagi.”

One downside to having sisters, especially ones you’d been joined at the hip to for longer than the lifespan of whole civilizations, was that you couldn’t hide a single goddamn thing from them, Adagio mused.

“Fine, fair enough,” Adagio replied. “Sonata hasn’t had any luck tracking down Gilda’s mystery sister and I was hoping you might be able to go poking around your haunts and see if you can’t dig something up the old fashioned way.”

“Friends in low places?” Aria asked with a smirk. “I always did have more of those than you.”

“Not all of us can slum with the gutter rats, sister dearest,” Adagio sneered, but the venom that might have been evident in her face and tone a year ago was absent, replaced with playful mischief. “Besides, we’re working from almost nothing so I’ll take what I can get.”

“Fine, O’ Spymistress,” Aria replied, bowing dramatically. “I’ll kick some rat-holes and see what scurries out.”

“That’s all I ask, Ari’,” Adagio said in a much softer voice, before stepping in to embrace her sister.

Aria cringed and chuckled nervously. “Aw, c’mon ‘Dagi, I’m all sweaty.”

“You’re my sister, I don’t care,” Adagio said quietly as she pulled Aria close.

Sighing, Aria relaxed and returned the hug. “What’s gotten into you, ‘Dagi?”

Adagio shook her head. “I’m not sure, I’m just… scared, I think… worried.”

“The great Adagio Dazzle? Worried?” Aria asked with a laugh. “That’d be a first.”

Adagio didn’t respond, instead burying her face against Aria’s shoulder and tightening her grip. Aria blinked in surprise but accepted it and stood still as Adagio held onto her as if she would slip away at a moment’s notice.

“There’s something coming, Ari’,” Adagio whispered in a voice so low that Aria nearly missed it. “I can taste it, like a tropical monsoon, or a great thunderhead… it feels like I’m on a boat at sea and all the skies are growing dark…”

“We’ve weathered worse,” Aria replied easily.

Adagio shook her head. “That’s just it, I’m not sure we have… this time feels different and I can’t properly account for why that is. It feels almost… familiar.” Shuddering, Adagio squeezed Aria tightly for a moment before letting go and stepping back. “I can’t lose either of you, Ari’,” she said in a voice that betrayed more weakness than Aria could remember hearing in ages. “If I lost you… or ‘Nata? I don’t know if I’d live through something like that.”

Aria gave her sister a smile that was softer than usual, a tilt of her lips that crinkled around her eyes.

“We’ll be fine, ‘Dagi,” Aria replied. “You’re an Element of Harmony, now,” she prodded the gleaming gem at her sister’s throat. “If we ever get in trouble you’ll just fire the Friendship Cannon at it, right?”

“I’m not sure that’s how it works,” Adagio said with an uneasy laugh. “I’m not even sure it will work with a Siren in the midst of it all.”

“You’ll be fine, ‘Dagi,” Aria insisted. “And besides, it’s not like ‘Nata and I are helpless.”

“No… I know,” Adagio replied, wrapping her arms around herself. “But I can’t help it… I worry about you two… you’re all I’ve got.”

Aria grinned. “Not anymore, sis, we’re not alone anymore, remember?”

Adagio blinked, surprise catching her breath in her throat. Unconsciously, her eyes darted down to the pocket of her coat where her phone was. Memories of afternoons spent with Octavia and Vinyl, singing alongside Sunset and Penny, and her frank, honest talks with Gilda.

“Right…” Adagio said after a moment. “I suppose that will take some getting used to, but still… promise me you’ll be careful?”

“I’ll be careful,” Aria promised, her smirk never leaving her face. “I’ll see what I can dig up later, alright?”

Nodding, Adagio leaned in to peck her sister on the cheek, which Aria returned, before turning away to head back towards the exit. She had only made it halfway, though, before Aria called out for her.

“Oh, hey, wait!”

Adagio turned to see Aria running up to her, gripping a few slips of paper in her hand.

“Here,” Aria handed them off to Adagio who took them and held them up for inspection. “I promised Sunset and the others tickets to my next bout, it’s in a week so pass’em off for me, will ya?”

“I see,” Adagio said with a smirk, “I’ll do that, then, I was meaning to talk to them anyway, I’ll see you at home, Ari’.”

Aria just nodded, waving her off before returning to her place at the punching bag.

As Adagio went down the stairs the familiar beat of fists on fabric resumed. She truly hoped Aria would be careful like she promised. This man, this Storm King, was a practiced and capable criminal, one who had maintained a brutally efficient organisation for years, and Adagio had no illusions that he wasn’t likely sinking his claws into Canterlot’s underbelly already.

Adagio could only hope that when Aria kicked the rat-holes, all that emerged was rats.

~Ponyville Commons, February 17th, Late Night~

Sunset lay awake in bed, staring blankly into the corner of the apartment as Gilda breathed peacefully behind her. Gilda’s arms were wrapped comfortably around her, holding her tightly as she always did in the night. Sunset let her fingers trail over Gilda’s knuckles and fingers where her hands rested easy over her shoulders and waist. Every inch of Gilda was pressed up against Sunset, keeping her warmer than the blankets that covered them, and it was only here that Sunset felt truly relaxed.

Gilda had her face buried half into Sunset’s red and gold locks, and her breath occasionally tickled the smaller girl’s scalp as she slept. Reaching a hand up, Sunset slid her fingers through her hair to touch the small pin hidden amongst the colorful strands. It was a basic hairpin, one worked with a simple, decorative agate. One that no one would look twice at as more than a piece of cheap ornamentation.

Which was good, since that meant no one would see the rune that Sunset had carefully etched onto it.

A Slumbernot rune; nice and straightforward magic and one of the few examples of the runic arts that any student at any Equestrian University would be passingly familiar with.

Need to stay awake to cram for finals? Stayed up too late at that party? Slumbernot was a student's best friend and worst enemy depending on how much they used it.

Regardless of side-effect, if they could afford it most students and even most professors would have one on hand just in case. They only lasted a day or so before needing a recharge, which usually took hours of dedicated time from a unicorn or a few days to passively restore itself from the ambient field.

Or, if they were clever, they could make it continuous by working in a thaumic funnel that actively collected particles in the atmosphere, essentially recharging the Slumbernot rune as it depleted itself, creating a self-sustaining energy loop.

That neat trick had been what allowed Sunset to use one on herself continuously for almost three days.

She hadn’t told anyone, and only ever confessed to Twilight that she had slept very little. She couldn’t sleep though, because when she did… she dreamt.

Closing her eyes, Sunset tried to banish the mental images of lightning and the sound of thunder. She couldn’t do it… she couldn’t keep dreaming of Gilda like that… being chased, being caught… being…

Sunset tightened her grip around Gilda’s hands and nestled herself deeper into her girlfriend’s embrace, pulling the covers over them a little more before settling back into her facsimile of rest.

That was, of course, the issue with Slumbernot… it kept you awake, kept you alert… but it didn’t let you rest.

She knew the dangers of prolonged use; Slumbernot was perfectly benign in moderation but after enough time it would start having… side effects.

Sunset resolved to start in on cobbling together some runes to deal with those tomorrow.

Turning slightly, Sunset rotated in place until she was facing Gilda, her eyes tracing over the soft, delicate lines of the sleeping girl’s face.

Gilda was so beautiful.

Her sharp, aquiline nose along with her high cheekbones and defined jawline that were offset by the soft edges of her eyes and the fullness of her lips. Giving in to her instinct, Sunset leaned in slightly to brush her lips over Gilda’s and smiled. Gilda, still in the throes of sleep, smiled back, and Sunset imagined it was because she could feel Sunset even in her dreams.

“I love you,” Sunset whispered in a tiny voice. “I’ll always love you.”

Gilda mumbled wordlessly in response, and curled up slightly to accommodate for Sunset’s new position as GIlda’s hands trailed down, coming to rest on the small of her girlfriend’s back.

One hand anyway.

The other hand came to rest slightly lower.

“Even asleep you’re a dog,” Sunset muttered with a wry smirk as she felt Gilda give her rear a squeeze. “Written’s Quill, you really do like my butt.”

Sunset resisted the impulse to trail her hands up and down Gilda’s body; the soft, warm, dark skin that was firm with lean, athletic muscle, the combination of which Sunset found endlessly attractive.

“I don’t deserve you,” Sunset said, keeping her tone low as a faint tinge of sadness found its way into her voice. “You’re like a star and I’m… I don’t know… an ember? Your whole life people have been trying to snuff out your light and you just keep burning, but me?” Sunset sighed as she relaxed into the pillows. “I had ponies throwing themselves at me like kindling and all I did was… use them up.”

Fighting a sudden sensation of tears, Sunset curled against Gilda, praying her warmth would chase away the sudden stone of guilt that had settled into her gut.

“I don’t want to use you up, too,” Sunset whispered, her voice imperceptibly low. “I don’t want to hurt you…”

“Babe?”

Sunset quickly blinked away her tears and glanced up to see Gilda staring sleepily down at her.

“S-Sorry,” Sunset said softly. “I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“Wha’s wrong, Sunshine?” Gilda mumbled sleepily, bringing a hand up to gently stroke Sunset’s face.

Sunset shook her head. “Just a bad dream, that’s all.”

“Bullshit,” Gilda grumbled, shifting around so she could stare down at Sunset properly with narrowed eyes. “Think I can’t tell ya been cryin’, Sunflower? C’mon.”

“I guess it was too much to hope for,” Sunset replied wryly. “But really, it’s nothing… just… stress and bad dreams, okay?”

“Lemme chase’em away, then,” Gilda said softly.

Before Sunset could respond, Gilda had pulled her up and pressed her lips to Sunset’s. It wasn’t a soft, gentle kiss either, it was consuming and full of passion, and Sunset moaned softly against the sudden onslaught of affection. She melted into Gilda’s touch, shivering as her fingers played up and down Sunset’s sides and tangled into her hair.

A stab of worry lanced through Sunset’s heart as Gilda’s fingers neared the pin in her hair. Carefully, she shifted her weight to intercept Gilda’s hand, linking their fingers together as Sunset hoped Gilda wouldn’t think it was too strange.

She didn’t, and Sunset relaxed as Gilda gripped Sunset’s hand. Sunset smiled against Gilda’s lips and pressed closer, wrapping her arms around Gilda, relishing the solid feeling of her body as the much taller and much stronger girl touched, brushed, and coddled Sunset with infinite care.

Sunset was strong, she knew this. She had always taken pride in her strength, and not just the strength of her body which wasn’t bad, all things considered, but in her strength of will. Her ability to adapt and overcome was a point of pride to the red-haired former unicorn.

But in Gilda’s arms she felt weak. She felt glass-fragile and delicate.

A year ago she would have resented it.

Now she loved it.

She had told Gilda the same thing multiple times, and it was a lesson that had taken her a long time to internalise.

‘You need to be weak with someone, sometimes.’

The feeling that she could be at her lowest, at her worst, and at her most fragile, and that no matter what she would still be safe in Gilda’s hands was a feeling that Sunset cherished like no other. So when Gilda promised to chase away the nightmares, to kiss away the bad dreams and the tears?

Sunset knew she would do exactly that.

Gilda's kisses trailed down Sunset’s jaw to her neck, and Sunset let out a hiss of delight, arching her back as Gilda gripped her by the waist.

“Hey,” Sunset whispered softly.

Gilda’s eyes drifted up to meet Sunset’s bright, teal orbs. Gilda felt her breath catch in her throat and she finally, after months being in love with Sunset, realised what it was about Sunset’s eyes that mesmerised her so badly.

They were the same color as the clear open sky.

“Yeah, Sunshine?” Gilda asked as Sunset played with Gilda’s soft, pale white hair.

“Make love to me,” Sunset said in a quiet voice, a faint blush coloring her cheeks.

Sharing her girlfriend’s flushed features, Gilda grinned.

“Don’t have to tell me twice, Sunflower,” Gilda said as she licked her lips.

Sweat trailed down Sunset’s back as she lay on top of Gilda who was snoozing away underneath her, her arms wrapped protectively around Sunset. The sheets were in wild disarray and the less said about the comforter, wherever it had eventually ended up, the better.

Just as well, Sunset was far too warm anyway, and there was a deep, deep temptation in her to just… take the rune off. She could feel it in her bones, the slight ache of tension and weariness that would become a leaden weight in a few days as she continued her sleepless nights.

But she was so comfortable.

Sunset reached out and tugged the sheets over the two of them. Warm as it was they would definitely feel the chill in the morning, shared body heat or no. Wiggling to get comfortable, Sunset nestled herself against Gilda, a yawn escaping despite the rune’s best efforts.

‘Maybe… maybe it’ll be okay this time,’ Sunset thought to herself. ‘Maybe…’

Nervously, Sunset reached up and slid her fingers into the sweat-matted tangle her hair had become and found the small, agate-adorned pin. She gripped it between two fingers, feeling the breath catch in her throat as she mentally willed herself to take it off.

‘But what if it’s not… what if we see-’ Sunset grimaced and sighed.

Sunset released her grip on the pin and settled in against Gilda’s chest. Another time, later… she would sleep later. Tonight, though… tonight she couldn’t bear to go through that. After being with Gilda she couldn’t bear to see her die again in her dreams.

Not again.

‘I wonder if that mare in Canterlot Asylum really went insane from the weight of the magic,’ Sunset mused darkly, ‘or if her visions just drove her insane the old fashioned way.’

More and more Sunset was beginning to suspect it was the latter. That it wasn’t that the human or pony mind couldn’t withstand the power of the talent, but that it simply wasn’t equipped to know what was going to happen in advance like that. To know something awful, something unspeakable, would happen and that there was nothing that you or anyone else could do about it was a weight that no one should ever have to deal with.

The knowledge that what she was seeing would really happen, that there would be a storm and during the storm… Gilda would be chased, hunted, caught, and… killed. Sunset wanted to vomit… she wanted to scream and cry and rage, but she knew it wouldn’t do any good.

‘What the hell is the point of being able to see the future,’ Sunset thought angrily, ‘if I can’t do a goddamn thing about it?’

That point rankled more than almost anything else; the fact that Sunset could see it, she could feel every event and every moment as it happened.

There was no more dream-like stupor after she woke like there had been before Storm escaped. Now Sunset’s dreams were vivid, they were alive, and they seared themselves into her mind whether she wanted them to or not.

Sunset could still taste the ozone in the air, she could feel the ice-cold droplets of rain and the hammering force of the wind that drove them against her skin. She could feel the torrent and weight of the storm trying to rip her from the skies just like she could taste the blood in her mouth when it finally succeeded. Sunset could feel the muddy grit under her fingers and she tried to lift herself up, and she could hear the voice that taunted her, and always, always, there was a constant whine of an electrical current in the background.

Even now, in bed, safe and sound in Gilda’s arms, Sunset could see the images so clearly every time she closed her eyes and that, Sunset reasoned, was bad enough. She didn’t need to go adding the weight of more and more of those dreams to her shoulders.

Sighing, Sunset pulled herself up so her head was right next to Gilda’s on the pillow, and she felt warm tears mixing with the salty sweat on her cheeks. Looking over at Gilda, Sunset reached out and set her hand on the dark-skinned girl’s cheek, her heart breaking all over again at the memory of her dreams.

“Memento mori,” Sunset whispered, gritting her teeth angrily. “Remember that you too shall die.”

The words felt like poison in her gut, like acid in her mouth. No… that was stupid and unfair and it was not going to happen. No one was going to die, except maybe Storm. Sunset decided that, worse came to worse, she could live with herself if that happened.

But not her and not Gilda, never Gilda.

‘Not Penny, or Adagio, or Aria, or Sonata, or Octavia, or Vinyl, or even the Celestia-damned Rainbooms!’ Sunset thought bitterly. Not on her watch, not if she had anything to say about it. No one was going to die.

“I will save you, Gilda,” Sunset swore in a soft voice. “No matter what.”

Author's Note

Granting the time of year, this may be the last post of 2018. I'll be very busy in the upcoming weeks with work and family as I'm sure most of you will be, but I'll be writing all the while. That being said I can't make any promises, so this weeks' post might be it for a while until this settle again.

Either way, I hope everyone is enjoying the story as we climb the last ramp. Things will rise and fall, darken and lighten, but I hope you'll all be there when we come out of the tunnel in the end.

Cheers,

I-A-M :twilightsmile:

21. I Kissed A Girl With A Broken Jaw

Author's Note

Happy belated New Year! We're back :pinkiehappy:

Now to ruin everything.

21. I Kissed A Girl With A Broken Jaw

~Whitetail Neighborhood, February 19th, Afternoon~

Zee gripped the edges of the metal chair hard as sweat poured down her face and back, and her breath came in deep, ragged gasps. Tremors shook through her body as she stared blankly ahead, but thick leather straps around her wrists and biceps kept her arms pinned to the chair. Even so, pain occasionally wracked through her limbs as she swallowed hard to keep from throwing up. Her vision was blurred and unsettled, and everything in front of her swam in a nauseating soup of color as a strong, warm hand came to rest on her head.

“Easy there, sprog,” Storm’s voice said from what seemed like a great distance. “Yer lass is comin’, we’ll get ye right.”

“P-Pops…” Zee said in a harsh, cracking voice. “W-where… wot’s ‘appenin’?”

“The side effect, lass,” Storm replied, his voice still murky, “now try’n keep yer’ead on, aye?”

“Arh… c-cocka,” Zee slurred unsteadily.

She couldn’t remember how she’d gotten into the chair, Zee could barely remember what day it was. Or where she was. But she did remember-

“T-Twilight?” Zee said with a confused tone. “Where’s our lass?”

“She’s comin’,” Storm replied again, sweeping a clean cloth over Zee’s forehead and down her cheeks. “Don’t ye worry, sprog, she’ll be ‘ere in less’n a tick.”

“Aye,” Zee nodded drunkenly, swallowing hard again. “Need’er, Pops… I need’er, ain’t right without’er.”

Storm nodded, and the way his head bobbed in her delirious vision only made the twisting in her stomach worse. Breathing hard, Zee tipped her head back and closed her eyes. She felt feverish like she’d just gotten the worst sort of flu imaginable. It was gripping her insides in a vice, boiling her guts, and ranging her temperature from freezing to scorching every few seconds, or so it felt.

“Wha’s wrong wif me?” Zee mumbled again.

Any answer Storm might have given was disrupted by the sound of feet running down the staircase accompanied by a stream of vicious swearing. A moment later Twilight Sparkle entered the room, still in her school uniform, gasping for air and her face flushed from exertion.

“Got here… as fast… as I could,” Twilight gasped out before snatching up a water bottle from the table and downing it. “Okay… how is she?”

Storm finished sweeping the sweat from Zee’s forehead as he straightened and turned to Twilight.

As imposing as he looked in his blue prison outfit, his casual wear somehow made him more intimidating, not less. Storm wore an unassuming rough linen shirt in an old style with a small collar and a knotted cord at the placket instead of buttons, and thick, canvas trousers. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, displaying weather-tanned arms covered in lightning bolt tattoos, and his thick, wiry white hair was pulled back into a long ponytail.

Tossing the rag aside, Storm nodded towards Zee. “Looks like she’s ‘bout t’gip any moment, lass,” Storm said with a grimace. “These attacks… they're gettin’ worse, savvy? Lucky you’re here t’clean it up.”

“Yeah,” Twilight nodded as she carefully approached Zee, her heart aching at the state of her girlfriend.

Zee looked awful. Her hair hung lank and matted over her head, and her shirt was drenched with sweat. Every so often she would shudder as an electrical current ran through her, her muscles tensing and relaxing wildly. Zee’s face was pallid and she looked deathly ill, and the first time it had happened Twilight had been terrified.

Twilight gave Storm a grateful look as he stepped away and gestured for her to get on with her duty.

“I’m here, baby,” Twilight said softly as she knelt at Zee’s feet and looked up at her.

Zee tried to focus her vision, all she could see was a lavender blob in front of her, but she knew the voice well enough. Just the sound of it drove some of the feelings of sickness away.

“Zat you, our lass?” Zee asked in a weak voice. “Eyes ain’t workin’ right, pet.”

“It’s me,” Twilight assured her as she held up the scanner and started fiddling with it. “Don’t worry, though… I’ll fix you right up, okay?”

“Aye,” Zee said feebly. “Tha’s our lass… fix uz right up…”

“That’s right,” Twilight repeated, twisting the dial on the scanner. “Fix you right up, I just need you to try and relax.”

Closing her eyes, Twilight focused on the scanner and the bell inside and on the tolling, the omnipresent tolling, that was always in the back of her mind. A moment later, the scanner snapped open and a faintly green glow washed out from within and covered Zee in a sickly radiance. Tendrils of Twilight’s will seeped through the scanner and out to latch into Zee. her body was overloading with power… again. The gauntlets had very little in the way of throttle and, apparently, the downside of keeping them in their armband form meant that while they wouldn’t bleed a thunderstorm out everywhere, that energy did have to go somewhere.

That somewhere was directly into Zee.

Twilight grimaced as she felt the power surges cascading uncontrolled through Zee’s nervous system, disrupting her body’s natural homeostasis, causing muscle spasms and nausea. It was lucky she’d been nearby when Storm had called her… these attacks were becoming more frequent and if the energy output was allowed to build too high during any one event it would start destroying her muscles, including her heart.

The thought almost shattered Twilight’s focus, but she kept it sharp as she felt for the unstable coils of energy lashing through Zee’s body.

It only took a moment to find them, but seizing onto them was like trying to keep a grip on an eel. The power wasn’t made to be contained, it writhed and snapped like an angry viper in Twilight’s mental grasp.

Fortunately, Twilight had been getting better.

With an effort of will that Twilight often compared to taking an exceptionally deep breath, she clamped down on the untamed energy and began carefully dragging it out of Zee and into the apparatus. It was slow at first, the power was unwilling to let go of its host so easily and Twilight didn’t dare try and take it faster for fear of hurting Zee more.

Slowly, though, Zee began to relax as Twilight siphoned more and more power from her. Her breathing slowed and evened out, and the color began returning to her face.

Twilight knew she had to be careful, though… if she went too far she risked harming Zee by going the other direction and sapping her of too much energy, and Twilight didn’t want to know what that would result in.

The process took only moments and soon Twilight was able to snap the apparatus shut as Zee finally relaxed, looking healthy again, or at least on the way there. Twilight let out a relieved sigh as Storm set a hand on her shoulder.

“Can allus count on you, can’t I lass?” Storm said with a paternal smile. “We’d be nowt without ye.”

Twilight felt a faint warmth in her chest at the praise. “I just wish it wasn’t necessary… why is it even doing this?”

Storm grimaced. “Arh, can only guess, lass,” he said, shaking his head. “I’ll ‘appen it’s ‘cause they weren’t meant t’be left off like tha’. Gotta discharge every now’n then, aye?”

“Like a battery that’s constantly being charged,” Twilight said glancing back at the still-delirious Zee.

“Aye, tha’s as it is, lass,” Storm agreed. “By my studies, prior owners’ve the gauntlets used t’use’em on the regular, tha’s the point of’em arter all, savvy? I’ve seen nowt’a someone just… wearin’em.”

“But we can’t just have her wildly shoot lightning around town,” Twilight groaned. “That’s the opposite of keeping a low profile! Can’t she just take them off?”

Storm shook his head.

“Nah, lass, can’t do that now that they’re awake,” Storm said, scowling. “That’ll just mean there’s nowt t’control the outbursts, aye? One account tells’ve just tha’, an’ it resulted in a storm what wiped a small chain’ve islands off th’map.”

Twilight hung her head. “Then what do we do?”

“What we’ve been doin’, lass,” Storm said with an encouraging smile, turning to put both hands on her shoulders. “Yer a marvel, lass, y’really are. An’ I trust ye with m’bairn’s life… giz uz time… once we’ve got the gate open we’ll have all the power we need to get’er stable, aye?”

Sigh, Twilight nodded.

“Tha’s a good lass,” Storm said, pulling her into a hug before stepping away. “Now, as I recall, ye’ve got a date tonight… best get’er cleaned up.”

Storm patted Twilight on the head lightly before turning to Zee and kneeling. Holding up his hands, he twisted his fingers through a series of odd patterns that terminated in him snapping his fingers. A faint scent of clean wind and the sound of bell chimes echoed through the air, and Zee suddenly blinked like she’d just woken up.

Twilight watched, still fascinated by the easy way he wielded his power. Unlike Zee and herself, Storm seemed to possess the power outside of any trinket or object; when she had asked about it he had just laughed and said something non-committal about just ‘having enough practice’. His powers weren’t particularly spectacular or flashy but, in a way, Twilight envied that. She needed her bulky scanning apparatus to use magic, and Zee needed the gauntlets, and they could only do very particular things.

Storm King, on the other hand, had access to a small array of vastly differing abilities. The one he had used on Zee, the one he had just lifted the effect of, was something he called ‘Delirium’. Whoever he used it on was put into a confused and inattentive fugue state, and Storm had used it on Zee during most of her attacks in order to keep her from thrashing or lashing out. It didn’t really help the negative effects of the attack itself, but it always let Twilight get close enough to alleviate Zee’s episode without risking being struck by lightning for her efforts.

Twilight certainly appreciated that part.

“Pops?” Zee said, her words slurred slightly as she blinked away the after-effects that had put her under. After a moment, she glanced down to see her limbs strapped to the chair and noted the aches in her body. “Ah fuck… it ‘appened again, didn’t it?”

“Aye,” Storm replied. “But y’better now, thanks t’your lass there,” he nodded over at Twilight.

Zee smiled wearily over at Twilight who approached cautiously with a clean rag to begin mopping up the sweat on her face, neck, and shoulders.

“Arh, our lass allus takes care of us,” Zee said warmly, staring up into Twilight’s violet eyes. “Right, pet?”

“Always,” Twilight promised, setting the rag down and leaning in to press her forehead against Zee’s fevered brow for a moment.

Zee chuckled and darted in to steal a kiss, and Twilight giggled lightly before turning to undo the latches and buckles on the straps.

After Zee’s first episode some weeks ago, she and Storm had worked to modify the chair that Zee had initially built; it was sturdier and more stable, and the straps were insulated with vulcanized rubber to keep Zee’s outbursts from searing them off.

They’d learned that one the hard way during her second episode.

“Shower first,” Twilight said with a smile as she pulled helped Zee up, “then kisses.”

“Dunno if my feet’ll take me, lass,” Zee replied cheekily. “Might need ye in there with me.”

“Does it matter t’all that ye pops is standin’ right ‘ere, sprog?” Storm said in a wry voice. “Or were ye jus’ gonna ‘ave at it in front’a me?”

“Ye got th‘ole ‘ouse, Pops,” Zee replied with a cocked eyebrow. “Ain’t gotta be down ‘ere wif uz, do ye?”

“Shameless,” Storm remarked with a cackle. “Can’t say that ain’t my fault, though, an’ tha’s as it is, you go on about what ye doin’, lasses, I’ll be upstairs, savvy?”

“Thanks,” Twilight said warmly, and Storm favored her with another smile.

For all of his crimes and all of her preconcieved notions growing up that told her Storm should be a man to be terrified of, Twilight couldn’t help but warm to the older gentleman. He was polite, respectful, and doting on his daughter. He’d treated her with nothing but kindness over the weeks the three of them had spent together, and he was wonderfully clever to talk to. As Zee had said, he wasn’t as ‘smart’ as she or Zee, but he was, Twilight suspected, far more intelligent. His years of experience giving him perspective and knowledge that she and Zee simply lacked.

Moreover, there was never a single moment that Twilight could recall where she felt like Storm didn’t respect her.

For all the bad blood that had erupted between her and her family, she did love them, even if they didn’t understand how she felt. That being said, Twilight couldn’t deny that she’d spent her entire life feeling… patronized. Her mother and father, and especially her brother, were more likely to just smile and nod if she tried to explain any of her experiments before trying to find a means of politely excusing themselves.

Storm was different, though.

If he didn’t understand something then he asked, and if he didn’t understand something about that? He asked. He always listened to her, and Twilight never felt like he was just humoring her. Quite the opposite, she knew he was genuinely interested. Not since meeting Zee had Twilight found someone so… easy to talk to.

“And stay out of trouble!” Twilight called cheerfully, and the only response from Storm was a harsh, barking, ‘HAH!’ of laughter.

Twilight slid her right arm firmly around Zee’s waist and pulled Zee’s left arm over her shoulder to help her up. For all their joking, Zee was weak as a kitten after her episodes, though the weakness always faded quickly.

“Glad yer warmin’ to’im, pet,” Zee said quietly as they half stumbled towards the basement bathroom.

“He’s your dad,” Twilight replied in a soft voice. “I… I really want him to like me, even if… ugh, it’s so weird to think about him being a ganglord, you know?”

Zee shrugged. “End’a the day, ‘banger’s is just folks, pet,” she said as Twilight nudged the door to the bathroom open with her hip. “They ain’t monsters na demons, savvy? Jus’ folks… life ain’t fair t’us all, some folks gotta go ‘round the back to make ends meet.”

“I guess I never really thought about it,” Twilight admitted. “Crime and gangs and that sort of thing was all just… I don't know, t.v. and movie stuff until recently.”

“Til ye met me, y’mean,” Zee said with a sardonic grin. “S’alright, ‘less y’havin’ regrets ‘bout us.”

The words were spoken with nonchalance but Twilight could hear the insecurity and fear hidden behind Zee’s words. Leaning down to let Zee sit on the closed toilet, Twilight straightened and brushed her hands through Zee’s soft, white hair.

“Never,” Twilight said with an iron certainty that made even Zee blink a little. “I’ll never regret us, okay?”

“Hope ye sure’a that, pet,” Zee replied in a quiet voice. “I ain’t so sure ye won’t… if’m honest.”

Twilight frowned but didn’t argue the point any further. Zee had been like this since they’d opted to stay with Storm and see his plan through to the end: constantly unsure or second-guessing things. Twilight was sure, though… absolutely sure, that she wanted to be present for what was going to happen. She was standing on the event horizon of a new world, a new dimension, and a brand new, never-before-seen branch of science that would make the development of calculus look like child’s play.

Leaning against the bathroom counter as Zee got undressed and stepped into the shower, Twilight watched, smiling warmly as Zee scrubbed herself down.

Months ago she would have been mortified to be sharing the bathroom with anyone, but Twilight acknowledged that who she was today and who she was then probably wouldn’t even recognise one another. Two months ago she was a teenage girl thrilled at the possibility of meeting her online friend. Now she was… a sorcerer?

Twilight wrinkled her nose in distaste as the term came to her.

“Hey Zee, are we magical?” Twilight asked, furrowing her brow in concern.

“Are we wot?” Zee stuck her head out of the shower stall, her white hair plastered wildly across her head.

“Magical,” Twilight said, lifting up her scanner. “I can’t really say this is scientifically sound with any degree of confidence, y’know? I basically just jammed a mysterious bell into this thing and hoped for the best.”

“Why’s it matter, pet?” Zee asked as she returned to the shower, but leaned a little to the side to be able to keep talking and listening without water plugging the requisite holes. “S’not like there’s an authority on the matter, savvy?”

“No, I know,” Twilight replied, shuffling awkwardly. “I guess it just feels weird… you and Storm talk about this stuff like it’s all sorcery and it just… sits wrong with me.”

Zee didn’t reply for a few moments as the shower shut off and she grabbed a towel that was hanging from the wall. Coming around from the stall with one towel around her torso and another being used to pat down her hair, Zee slung an arm over Twilight and pulled her close.

Sighing happily, Twilight nestled against Zee’s shower-warm skin and closed her eyes, letting the humid air and the comfortable contact lull her into ease.

“Dunno what I can tell ye, love,” Zee replied. “S’all magic, basically, or at least that’s what it used t’be called, yeah? An’ who’s t’say it ain’t, hm?”

“No one, I guess,” Twilight replied. “I don’t even know why it bothers me, Zee… It just does.”

“I’ll ‘appen it ain’t ‘zactly ye bag, pet,” Zee admitted before turning to face Twilight with her familiar, cocky smile. “But ye’ll call it what ye like, aye? S’not magic, innit? If it ain’t magic, wot is it?”

Twilight blinked in surprise at the sudden question, but then looked thoughtful for several moments as she ran through what she knew of their work in her mind.

“It’s not strictly science, but that’s only because we don’t understand the science that this energy is based on,” Twilight said after a while. “But just because it’s not our science doesn’t mean it isn’t a science…”

“Aye, tha’s as it is,” Zee agreed. “We’re dealin’ wif arcana ‘ere, as me Pops puts it.”

“Arcana… Arcane… adjective: mysterious, secret, and understood only by a few,” Twilight said quietly, a small smile creeping onto her face. “The Arcane Sciences, then… not magic, just misunderstood.”

Zee chuckled. “An’ you’ll be the first t’understand it, aye?”

“No doubt,” Twilight replied firmly, her previously pensive expression replaced with a determined smile. “And it’s ‘we’, we’ll be the first to understand, Zee. You, me, and your dad, we’ll understand it all.”

“Them’s big plans, our lass,” Zee said. “First thing’s first, though… can’t do nowt til the games anyway… might as well, ‘ave some fun, innit? We got a date t’get to.”

“Right, sorry,” Twilight said with a small laugh. “Don’t want to keep them waiting…”

“Just right,” Zee replied. “Ain’t proper, izzit? An’ I’m not the ‘fashionably late’ type… or the ‘fashionably anything’ type, minding that.”

~Ponyville Commons, February 19th, Afternoon~

The flat was filled with the faint sounds of scratching. The lights were off for the most part, and the small kitchenette was illuminated mostly by the natural lighting filtering in through the windows.

Sunset wrinkled her nose as she sat at the kitchen table, hunched over her work. It wasn’t that she disliked winter, she actually quite liked it, even if her many years in the human world facing the bitter cold alone, for the most part, had spoiled it a bit for her. In point of fact, Sunset was starting to rediscover her love of the season after having spent many a cold day and night cuddled up under the covers with Gilda.

Her inability to sleep lately had meant she’d been awake to enjoy every second of it, which Sunset mentally logged as one of the few upsides to her reliance on the Slumbernot rune that was still tied into her hair.

With that said, Sunset wasn’t necessarily regretting the warming temperatures as it meant they’d be able to open up the windows properly and air the flat out a little bit. The small space was frankly starting to get a little musty if she were being honest.

Sighing, Sunset shook her head and focused herself back on her work. Her attention was drifting too often lately, and she knew why. The Slumbernot rune wasn’t perfect, and nothing could stop the mortal body, human or equine, from accruing exhaustion. At least, the rune alone couldn’t do it, but Sunset knew of a few other runes that could alleviate the symptoms and shore up her mental and physical state.

Blinking away the weight on her eyelids, Sunset gripped the small titanium needle in her hand and got back to scratching out the new rune she had been working on for hours. The needle had been a gift from Princess Twilight after Sunset had informed her friend about the usefulness of rune magic in the human world. It was a proper rune-scribing tool, one of a type used by the sigilic artists of the Canterlot College of the Arcane, and invaluable to Sunset in working magic reliably.

Sunset felt a small pang of guilt, though, at the use she was putting the gift to now. A lie by omission is still a lie, after all, and she knew she should probably confide her condition to someone.

Except there wasn’t a cure for her nightmares. If she told someone, especially Gilda or Twilight, then they would make her sleep, and the nightmares would be waiting for her.

She had already tried a Poppystone, a rune meant to encourage dreamless sleep, but it had failed spectacularly. Potions weren’t reliable on this side of the portal, and with the inconstant strength of the ambient field, even in Canterlot, any direct sleep spell would wear off far too quickly to prevent the visions from coming back.

Sunset had explored every feasible option before resorting to the Slumbernot. It wasn’t perfect, and it had its drawbacks, but it wasn’t forever. She just needed it until she could prevent whatever was coming, and her gut told her it wasn’t far off.

“Just a little longer,” Sunset muttered as she scratched away at the stone. “I just need a little more time.”

Fortunately, Gilda had work today, and it had given Sunset a few moments to herself to carve out the new rune after she had gotten out of classes.

Another pang of guilt.

She knew she shouldn’t be hiding this from Gilda but it would just make her worry.

Pursing her lips, Sunset blew lightly across the surface of the new gemstone and held it up to the streaming sunlight to examine it for any imperfections. Carefully, she trailed her eyes over the fine lines of the rune. She couldn’t risk a single error, the rune had to be perfect or it would falter. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but it would fail eventually and she couldn’t afford for this one to go inactive at an inopportune time.

After several moments of scrupulous examination, Sunset smiled faintly.

“Oh gods, but I could be bounded in a nutshell, and count myself a king of infinite space,” Sunset quoted with a wry chuckle, “were it not that I have bad dreams…”

The rune was finished.

A Solarus rune, essentially a magical solar panel. Once Sunset finished binding it to herself she could supplement some of her net loss from the Slumbernot rune with literal solar power. It wasn’t a perfect solution, but it would allow her to function with greater capability and extend the lifespan of her Slumbernot significantly.

“I know you just want me to take care of myself,” Sunset muttered, thinking of Gilda as she worked the small agate into another hairpin, “and I’m doing my best, but… sometimes we’ve just got bad choices.”

Fixing the rune into the clasp, Sunset carefully tucked the second pin in next to its twin, fixing it in place with a coil of red and gold hair. It would take time for it to attune to her inner wellspring, and yet longer to start refilling it, but no more than a day.

Another day of leaden arms and heavy eyelids.

“I’ve gone through worse,” Sunset chuckled dryly.

Sunset’s phone rang from where ti was lying, plugged in and charging on the bed. Gripping her wheels, Sunset turned and rolled over to the bedside. Her lips turned up in a grin as she saw the name: Celestia Sonen.

Thumbing the ‘answer’ button, she lifted the phone to her ear. “Hey Auntie, how’s things?”

//Things are good, Sunset,// Celestia replied with a laugh in her voice. //Better than good, actually, I have a surprise for you!//

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Oh yeah? Well, Gilda’s off in an hour, we can come down in a bit if you want.”

//Actually, if it’s alright with you two, we were going to meet you up at your flat,// Celestia replied. //Is that okay?//

“Oh! Uhm, sure,” Sunset answered. “It’s… a little small, but sure, I don’t think Gilda would care either, but I’ll shoot her a text.”

//You do that,// Celestia said warmly. //Either way, we’ll see you soon, dear.//

“See you soon, auntie,” Sunset said with a small smile before hanging up the call.

Sunset let out a sigh as she glanced around the messy flat. There were clothes strewn across the floor, the bed was a mess, and the dishes hadn’t been done in a couple of days. Not that it was that big of a deal… but it did strike Sunset as a little funny how big a mess just two people could make considering they weren’t even home all that often.

Gilda was at work, and Sunset had the distinct feeling she was throwing herself into it to try and distract herself. The taller girl was more comfortable around things she could build or repair than anything else, barring Sunset herself who could always calm Gilda down, and vice versa.

The mess just made her more tired though, and for a moment Sunset considered just taking the Slumbernot rune off and passing out rather than doing anything more that day. Surely whatever Celestia’s surprise was could wait til tomorrow… right?

“Sunset Shimmer doesn’t run away,” Sunset repeated to herself.

Shooting a quick text to Gilda, alerting her to the incoming company, Sunset went to work cleaning up. Flicking a tiny bolt of telekinetic force at the light switch, she turned on the lights and slowly began tidying up. It was a good opportunity to practice her telekinesis anyway.

Small pulses and bursts of force let her push the majority of the dirty clothes into a pile without having to bend and twist in her chair. Satisfied with the tidiness, Sunset turned to retrieve the plastic basket they collected their dirty laundry in and set it down by the pile.

Letting out a slow breath and focusing, Sunset pressed her lips into a hard line as she extended her hands and took a grip on the physical forces of the world around her.

“Alright, c’mon,” Sunset grumbled as she formed the telekinetic sheathe around the pile of dirty clothes. “You only need to go a few feet… c’mon.”

Sweat trickled down Sunset’s forehead. This was hard… much harder than it should be. She had lifted herself back in Las Pegasus and the ambient field there had been much weaker… so why-?

Sunset’s vision suddenly doubled and an ice-pick spear of pain lanced into her skull causing her to cry out. The laundry, which had been halfway up and over, half-fell into the laundry bin while the rest toppled back to the floor. Sunset clutched her head as the pain settled to a dull, fiery throb. Wiping at her mouth, Sunset noted that she could taste copper on her tongue as she pulled away and saw the streak of red on the side of her hand.

“Oh… that’s probably not good,” Sunset said softly.

A notion came back to her, a thought and a memory of Gilda asking her a question months ago.

‘What happens when you don’t have any more magic?’

“I wonder just how much of me is kept intact by magic?” Sunset mused, grimacing as she wiped her hand on her thigh. “And why does it feel like my life just keeps getting worse every time it feels like it’s about to get better?”

Sunset gripped the armrests of her wheelchair and scowled. “And when the hell did I get so whiny?”

Huffing angrily, Sunset rolled towards the pile of laundry and started scooping it, a few articles of clothing at a time, into the basket. She’d been doing everything by hand, ‘the earth pony way’ as her mom had always put it, for almost half a decade… broken back be-damned, she could still do the stupid laundry.

The last piece of clothing went sailing into the laundry basket and Sunset bent over to grab the laundry basket and heave it up into her lap. The twinge in her back kept her mindful that every bit of ergonomic advice said not to bend at the hips.

“Well, I can’t very well bend at the knees, now can I?” Sunset mumbled angrily as she rolled over to the coat rack and pulled on her jacket, gloves, and beanie before tucking the blankets around her legs more securely, grabbing the plastic baggy full of quarters from the kitchen counter, and rolling outside, around the corner and towards the communal laundry room for the flat.

The room was nearly halfway across the complex but it was, at least, a generously sized one with several banks of washers and dryers, meaning if there wasn’t one available, one rarely had to wait long. They even had small lockers for each flat that residents could keep detergent and such in so they didn’t have to tote boxes and jugs from room to room.

All in all, it could have been much worse, Sunset mused. A wry smile etched onto her face as she remembered how difficult it was to wash her own clothes back before she moved in with Gilda.

Sunset was nearly to the laundry room when the blue-red strobe of light of a police cruiser caught her eye. Glancing over she saw several police officers staring up at a wall, one of which was an older, portly man she’d seen multiple times in the area. ‘Rough Beat’, she thought his name was. The local cop for the area, if she had her guess right, and around him was his partner she seemed to recall being called Stopgap, and two other younger cops she didn’t recognise.

“Why are…” Sunset started to ask no one in particular before stopping, glancing around, and realising where she was. “Oh… heh, right…”

Sunset grinned sheepishly to herself as she pulled the jacket closer around her and resumed her journey to the laundry room

Or she tried.

“Excuse me!” A strong, pleasant voice called out. “Miss?”

Sunset sighed and debated the merits of engaging in a high-speed chase in her wheelchair. It would, at least, make for entertaining nightly news. The notion passed though, and Sunset gripped her wheels and rotated herself around to see a police officer with blue hair shot through with a shock of white approaching her.

He was young, not much older than Sunset by her own guess, maybe by four or five years, but there was something… tired about him. Something that looked more worn than his age would suggest.

“Can I help you, officer?” Sunset asked quietly, feeling a faint tension in her limbs as he neared her.

For all that she tried to stay on the right side of the law, growing up a street rat of Canterlot and an orphan meant she was always a little wary of cops.

“Just had a couple of questions, ma’am,” he replied, putting on a friendly smile. “I’m really sorry to stop you in the middle of this, though, so how about I help you out with your laundry, and we can talk for a second?”

Sunset glanced down at the rather large pile of laundry in her basket, then over at the laundry room, and sighed. ‘Well, he could just be grilling me instead of compromising… I guess I can meet him halfway.’

“Sure,” Sunset replied, before narrowing her eyes. “But the laundry room has cameras… and I’m a lot more dangerous than I look, in case you get any ideas.”

The officer looked properly stricken for a moment, and Sunset felt a small pang of guilt. He seemed nice enough and the way he reacted to her small threat assured her that he was exactly who he seemed.

Just a young man trying to do his job.

“I guess… that’s fair, huh?” He said quietly. “Here, let me-” Reaching out, the officer picked up the laundry basket and balanced it against his hip. “Where to?”

“The kinda squat, gray building over there,” Sunset pointed out their destination as she started moving easier, now free of the laundry basket. “And… thanks, sorry if I came off as a bitch.”

“Don’t be,” he replied as he walked beside her, “it’s smart… ladies have it rough, especially if someone… if someone thinks they can take advantage of you.”

Sunset eyed the young officer as she rolled alongside him. There was a pain to his voice that she could almost feel… one that was very near to him, like a fresh wound.

“I’m Officer Armor, by the way,” he said after a moment, “Shining Armor, if you want.”

“Sunset Shimmer,” Sunset said with a small smile. “Nice to meet you.”

As they reached the door to the laundry room, and Sunset drew out her key to unlock it, Shining Armor stopped and looked pensive for a moment. “Shimmer… I know that name.”

Turning the key and releasing the deadbolt, Sunset glanced over her shoulder. “It’s not exactly common, and I’m pretty sure I don’t know you.”

Officer Armor shook his head. “No, I mean I swear it’s crossed my desk.”

“Oh,” Sunset said, feeling a slight shiver go down her spine as she rolled into the laundry room, with Shining Armor following after her. “Weird.”

“I’ll think of it,” Armor said absently, waving his hand as he glanced around for an available washer. “This one fine?” He nodded down to one near the floor.

“Yeah,” Sunset replied as Shining Armor began shoveling armloads of clothes into the washer. “So what did you want to ask?”

“Just a couple of basic questions,” Armor said. “Rough and Stop have put in reports of increased incidents of vandalism lately, all in this area.”

“O-oh?” Sunset felt her mouth go dry suddenly. “I don’t really get out much, honestly… other than to school and the mall, y’know?”

“Yeah, I figured,” Shining said with a small laugh as he stood up, brushing the legs of his slacks as she shot her a charmingly cocked smile. “Uh, no offense.”

“None taken,” Sunset replied with a wry grin.

‘Good thing he seems like he’s actually nice,’ Sunset thought to herself as she retrieved the detergent and passed it over to him. ‘That smile is dangerously disarming.’

“But still, there’s been a lot of graffiti appearing on the walls lately,” Shining said as he tossed the detergent dust into the washer and shut it, then set the cycle and turning it on. “It’s only started happening in the past month, though, so it’s very recent, and I really just need to know if you’ve seen anything that might suggest who’s painting them around here.”

“Uh, ‘fraid not, like I said… I don’t get out much…” Sunset lied smoothly, “so what’s that mean, though?” Sunset asked, raising an eyebrow. “For us here at the complex, I mean.”

“Probably just that a graffiti artist moved in here or at least very close,” Armor said, taking a moment to stretch out before leaning against a bank of dryers. “My guess is they moved in within the last two months, probably less though… hobbyists and artists tend not to delay.”

“Don’t you mean criminals?” Sunset asked, keeping her voice carefully neutral.

To her surprise, Shining shrugged. “Honestly? Whoever is doing it is genuinely talented… I’ve seen the murals, hell, every cop at the station has. We’ve got a few on the walls and not just for evidence.” Sunset’s eyes widened at that. “And they’re not hurting anyone so, frankly, it’s not very high on our priorities.”

“Then why are you out here?” Sunset asked.

“This complex has a government contract,” Shining said, gesturing around to the place. “Low-income subsidies and state funding keep it running for the most part, and they’re required by law to report this stuff and get it cleaned up or they’ll risk losing their contract, tax exemptions, and funding.”

Sunset felt a hollow pit open up in her stomach. “O-oh… wow, I had no idea.”

“Yeah, it’s one of those rules,” Shining said with a chuckle waving his hand back and forth. “It’s really just to ensure that the apartment maintains a minimum level of safety and cleanliness, ‘broken windows’ and all that.”

“Sure… makes sense…” Sunset agreed in a softer voice.

“Hey, don’t worry too much,” Shining said, drawing a look from Sunset. He was looking down at her with a comforting smile. “It’s a minor infraction at this point, I doubt the city council will even bother with making the complex clean it up… it’s not gratuitous or offensive, so they’ll probably just get a slap on the wrist for letting it happen, no worries about losing your place.”

Sunset couldn’t help but feel guilty at how hard he was trying to comfort her given that it was her fault he was here in the first place. She resolved to keep her nightly painting excursions to the grounds surrounding the complex, rather than the complex itself.

“Y-Yeah… savvy,” Sunset said quietly. “Thanks.”

Shining Armor stared for a moment, blinking curiously, and Sunset raised an eyebrow questioningly at the sudden change in the atmosphere.

“Savvy…” Shining Armor muttered. Suddenly his eyes went wide and he snapped his fingers. “Shimmer! I knew I recognised that name! You were the one in that accident months ago near the docks! The one involving… ugh… what was her name?!”

Sunset backed up in surprise at the sudden outburst, her wheels squeaking against the linoleum tile floor. “Uhm… I…”

Her voice seemed to snap Shining back to reality, and he stared for a moment before grimacing to himself. “Ah… crap, sorry about that… it’s just that I’ve been trying to remember details about that case forever, I was the reporting officer at the hospital.”

“Oh,” Sunset relaxed a little, but still eyed him cautiously. “W-well, can’t you just look it up?”

Shining smiled wearily. “Sure, if I remembered the case number… or the names… but I just handed in the statements and the system is organised by ‘processing date’ not when the crime or accident actually took place so…”

“Aha, that sounds… dumb,” Sunset said with a small laugh. “Like, a really bad system, actually.”

“You’re not wrong,” Shining laughed along with her. “B-but, ugh… what was her name!?”

“Gilda?” Sunset ventured, and Shining snapped his fingers again.

“Grimfeather!” Shining practically shouted, clapping his hands together. “Gilda Grimfeather! That was it!”

Sunset reeled back at his abrupt enthusiasm and was suddenly wondering if she’d made a mistake in filling in the gap of his memory.

“And you’re the girl she flew for,” Shining said, his face practically beaming.

Sunset felt her heart hitch and for the second time that day her mouth went dry as a thick, weighty silence filled the room. Shining’s elated expression faded at the look of horror on Sunset’s face as she backed away from him, her hands shaking as she wheeled away and towards the door.

“Y-you’re… what are you-... that’s crazy!” Sunset laughed a little too loudly as she pulled back.

“Wait, I’m sorry I-!” Shining started Sunset flailed behind her for the door handle. “Please! Please wait! I didn’t mean to scare you! I need your help!”

Sunset stopped for a moment, pushing the panic back and taking a good look at the police officer in front of her. He was young, true, and tired-looked… exhausted really. There was a weight to his limbs that Sunset was all too familiar with.

But his eyes were the most telling.

His eyes were wide and desperate, and she could see him warring with himself between trying to get closer to her and pulling back for fear of chasing her away. He wasn’t lying, she didn’t need an Element of Harmony to tell her that. This man, this officer… everything about him seemed genuine, from his pleas to his desire not to frighten her.

For lack of a better term: he seemed like a good man.

“How did you know?” Sunset asked softly. “About… y’know…”

Shining Armor looked relieved as she pulled her hand from the handle and met his eyes. “About Miss Grimfeather flying? There was a glimpse of her, with wings, touching down in the ER lot at Canterlot General, I happened to see it moments after it happened or I would have thought it was some kind of video doctoring.”

“You were the one who took Gilda’s statement, I guess?”

“Mhm,” Armor nodded, chuckling softly. “It was a weird night, to say the least, and when I told my wife the story about you two, minus the wings, she practically went into diabetic shock, she’s a real romantic.”

“So… why were you trying to remember our case?” Sunset asked, almost afraid of the answer. “Did… did something happen?”

“You could say that,” Shining said in a strained voice; the frost in it sent a chill down Sunset’s spine. “When I spoke to Miss Grimfeather about the wings she talked about them like she was as freaked out as I was… and the way she talked made it seem like they weren’t even from her, but from you.” Shining sighed, rubbing the back of his head. “She said you were ‘special’.”

Sunset grimaced. “Special isn’t the word I’d use… cursed, maybe?”

“I’m starting to believe in that sort of thing, you know,” Shining said, his expression turning thin-lipped as he sighed. “When I saw Miss Grimfeather on that video it was one of those things… those unexplainable things that make the world seem huge but… incredible, I suppose.”

“My guess is that something changed?” Sunset asked quietly.

Shining didn’t respond at first, looking thoughtful as he leaned against the bank of mostly still dryers while the washing machine thumped and groaned away behind him and the cloying scent of detergents filled the air like a thick fog. If Sunset had to guess she would have said he looked… frightened; not in the manner of someone who wants to run away, but more like someone who knows what’s coming, who knows what they’re going to see, and knows just as firmly that they will not be able to avoid it.

“Miss Shimmer?” Shining’s voice was a soft, almost delicate thing. “I’m not going to pretend I know what I saw that night, and even after that I still don’t know if I believe what I saw, so I have to ask: Is magic… is it really real?”

“What do you want me to say, Officer Armor?” Sunset replied gently, “because I guarantee that there’s an answer that will make you feel better and one that won’t.”

“Which one is true?” Shining asked in a wry, weary voice.

Sunset’s grin was as arid as the Badlands of her home dimension. “The one that won’t, as is usually the case I find.”

“My little sister is involved, so I need to know… please,” Shining pleaded. “Please tell me.”

Sighing, Sunset ran her hands through her hair, grimacing as it tangled in the red and gold knots. ‘Memo to me: take a goddamn shower.’

“I have company on the way,” Sunset said after a moment, “so I can’t get into any hours-long deconstructions of the universe and our place in it, savvy?” Shining opened his mouth to protest but Sunset kept speaking through it. “But… if you want to come by tomorrow night… we can talk, okay?”

Shining’s face brightened. “Tomorrow night, I can do that… do you mind if I bring my wife? She’ll want to know and I… well, let’s be honest, I probably won’t be able to explain back to her whatever it is you explain to me.”

‘Gilda probably won’t be super happy but...’ Sunset mulled it over for a moment before shrugging. “Sure, go ahead, I’ll smooth things over with my girlfriend, it’s just… she doesn’t warm up to people easily.”

“Yourself not included?” Shining asked with a small laugh.

“Myself not included,” Sunset agreed with a smile, “but she’s gay as hell and I can pout with the best of’em, so that’s probably not a fair measure.”

“Fair enough,” Shining said, chuckling. “So… tomorrow night, we’ll be there.”

Sunset nodded. “We’re flat fourteen near the entrance lot, bring an open mind because, believe me, this is gonna get weird.”

“It already has,” Shining replied, his face falling. After a moment, though, he gave Sunset a small tip of his police cap. “Have a good rest of your day, then, Miss Shimmer.”

“Stay safe, Officer,” Sunset replied, wheeling out of the way of the door with a grin as she sketched a mock salute with her fingers.

Sunset’s smile faded as Officer Armor passed by her and left the laundry room. She couldn’t let him know how badly he had shaken her; the tail end of that conversation had left Sunset feeling like she was about to vomit. Someone knew about her and her magic… no, not just someone, a police officer. The very real possibility that had always lurked in the back of Sunset’s mind of being discovered by this world’s government agencies and then being dragged out of bed to some underground torture chamber in the night suddenly felt terribly close.

However ‘good’ the young man had seemed at first glance Sunset couldn’t let herself forget what his badge represented. He had doubtless sworn an oath to uphold the laws of this world, just like any Royal Guardspony of Canterlot would uphold theirs, and if he was ordered to take her then…

Sunset bit her lip as she banished the thoughts from her mind. He had come to her for a reason… his sister was wrapped up in some kind of magic and the only thing of any note happening in Canterlot magic-wise was the matter with Storm King which meant one of two things.

One: that Officer Armor’s sister was somehow related to the matter at hand.

Or two: there was a second, entirely separate magical catastrophe on the horizon.

“Ugh…” Sunset groaned, burying her face in her hands. “I hate to say this but I hope his sister is Storm-adjacent because I don’t think my heart can take another stupid magical mess right now.”

Either way, if he needed her help then that meant she was safe for now. In Sunset’s experience, the moral fiber of human beings proved to be very flexible so long as they wanted or needed something from you, and she intended to exploit that as far as she needed to if it meant keeping herself, and Gilda, safe.

Sunset’s hand drifted unconsciously up to the pair of pins in her hair.

She would do anything to keep Gilda safe.

After shooting a quick text to Gilda, updating her on the incoming company for that evening, Sunset turned and rolled out of the laundry room. The washers in their complex weren’t particularly quick and she still had a couple of hours before she would need to swap them out. Besides, Gilda would be back by then and they could make quick work of the matter together.

Sunset found herself blushing inexplicably, unable to ignore the warmth that blossomed in her heart at the simple notion of something as small as sharing little domestic chores with Gilda. Chatting while they swapped laundry, shopping for groceries together, tidying up their shared apartment…

Somehow it made the promises they’d made to one another feel more… substantial. It made them feel more real.

Tugging her jacket closer around her against the chill of the late winter air, Sunset fitted her key to the lock of the flat and let herself back in, humming in delight at the warmth that flooded out to greet her as she rushed in and turned to shut the door quickly. Sunset was, in a word, miserly when it came to warmth.

“Now what…” Sunset muttered to herself before a thought struck her.

Glancing over, Sunset hissed out an oath as she realised she’d left her rune-carving tools just laying out on the table. Thanking her lucky stars Gilda hadn’t come home early, Sunset rolled quickly over, stopping only to snap up her bag and heave it onto her lap as she rolled up to the edge of the table and began picking up after herself.

The carving needle and associated tools went into their places on a roll of fabric that had been part of Twilight’s gift to her; it was a simple roll of leather procured from a Griffon merchant, the hide was soft and pliable, and had been stitched and woven with traditional Griffon designs that, on this world, might have been confused for Coltic. There were small belts and straps that tied everything down, and once it was all in its place, Sunset rolled the whole bundle up, tied it off, and tossed it into the bag as she carefully cleaned the table of gem dust.

Just in time, as it happened, since Sunset had barely managed to toss her duffle bag under the table before the sound of the lock turning reached her ears and the door swung open, carrying a cold wind and the scent of smoke, engine oil, and sweat.

The scent of Gilda.

Even with the stress of her quick cleanup, Sunset couldn’t keep the smile off of her face as she turned, beaming as Gilda knocked the door shut with her heel and smiled back.

“Heya, Sunshine,” Gilda said with a smirk. “How’s the day been?”

“Nope,” Sunset replied, shaking her head and still smiling.

Gilda raised an eyebrow. “Nope?”

“Uh-uh,” Sunset confirmed. “That’s not what you do first.”

Grinning, Gilda tossed her jacket onto the coat rack. “Oh yeah? Well, what should I do first, huh?”

A delicate moue of disappointment curled over Sunset’s features as she glared up at Gilda from where she sat. Gilda grinned down at her for the whole minute that her willpower lasted before she swept forward and wrapped her arms around Sunset.

One arm went around her back and the other went under her as Sunset’s arms curled around Gilda’s neck and shoulders as the taller girl lifted Sunset up. Sunset let out a laugh as Gilda pulled her close, nuzzling her cheek and neck before finding Sunset’s lips with her own and pressing into a warm, insistent kiss.

Sunset found her hands tangling into her favorite grip of Gilda’s hair, letting out a gentle hum of delight as their tongues met and Sunset tasted the familiar spice that was Gilda, which combined with the overwhelmingly comforting scent and the feeling of Gilda’s hands on her to bring Sunset the feeling of peace that always eluded her anywhere else but in Gilda’s arms.

Gilda laughed as she pulled away, and her smile was radiant. Sunset felt her heart hitch and catch in her throat as she saw her favorite sight in the world, the way Gilda’s smile swept up from the curve of her full lips to the bright edges of her golden eyes.

To Sunset it was like they lit up the whole world.

She had about half a second to appreciate the sight before Gilda tossed her unceremoniously onto the bed, earning a strangled squawk of surprise from Sunset as she flailed around for another moment before Gilda joined her, tossing her sweater aside, leaving only her loose, slightly sweaty, white cotton tank-top on as she wrapped herself around Sunset, nuzzling and nipping at the redhead’s neck and shoulders as Sunset cackled, swatting at Gilda whose fingers had found the one infuriatingly ticklish spot on Sunset’s entire body.

“Sto~p!” Sunset cried, gasping for breath as Gilda combined her assault of tickling and kissing. “Gilda~!”

Obeying her girlfriend’s desperate pleas, Gilda levered herself up until she was straddling and looking down at Sunset, her arms like dark pillars on either side of Sunset’s head.

Sunset was practically chewing on the inside of her cheek to keep herself from losing her scrunchy grimace and just grinning idiotically up Gilda.

“Gonna smile for me, Sunflower?” Gilda asked smugly.

“N-No,” Sunset bit the words out, and Gilda’s self-satisfied grin only widened. “Shut up!”

“I didn’t say nothin’,” Gilda replied, biting her lower lip to keep from laughing.

“You were thinking it!” Sunset accused, a slight shake starting to reach her limbs as the effort of keeping her cool pressed down on her.

She would not be the first to lose it. She would not, she would not, she would not, she would-

A tiny snort escaped from Sunset, and Gilda’s eyes widened.

“Oh fuck it,” Sunset croaked before a full wave of laughter, complete with snorts and gasps of air broke from her.

Gilda pumped a fist as she cracked up laughing and flopped onto her side to wrap herself around Sunset who was laughing the silent laugh of the totally breathless. Gilda grinned widely, hugging Sunset close as Sunset wrapped her arms around Gilda, her fingers sliding under the soft cloth of Gilda’s shirt to trail along the definition of her back.

As the giggle-fit subsided, Sunset nestled deeper into Gilda's embrace, feeling the overwhelming warmth of Gilda’s presence fill her.

“I love you to the ends of the earth, Gil” Sunset mumbled, her face still buried against Gilda’s collar, and Gilda glanced down to see Sunset had closed her eyes and tightened her grip on Gilda’s waist. “To the ends of the earth and across the stars… okay?”

Smiling a little uncertainly at Sunset’s suddenly serious tone, Gilda brushed her lips against Sunset’s forehead. “Yeah, I ain’t ever gonna stop lovin’ you either, Sunshine… not in million years.”

“I know,” Sunset replied, her own smile widening as she realised she really meant it. “I just… I wanted to say it… even if it sounds dramatic and dumb I… I just love you so much.”

“If tellin’ me you love me is dramatic’n dumb, Sunflower,” Gilda replied with a chuckle, “then we can be dramatic’n dumb together, savvy?”

“So long as we’re together,” Sunset replied. “I’ll always be happy, Gil.”

“Yeah,” Gilda smiled softly down at Sunset. “Just like we promised, right?”

“Just like we promised,” Sunset agreed, smiling. “Together forever.”

A slow comfortable silence descended over the pair of them as Sunset’s breathing evened out to an easy, almost slumbering cadence. Gilda stroked up and down Sunset’s back in slow motions as she stared down at the most important piece of her entire world.

In the span of a second and without warning Gilda felt something like a vice tighten around her heart as that familiar terror sunk its jaws into her throat again out of nowhere: The fear of losing Sunset. The heart-aching fear of waking up one day and finding the other side of her bed empty of Sunset’s warmth was stabbed through Gilda like a shard of cold metal, fixed and lodged inside her somewhere and suddenly every movement and every breath was agony.

“You okay?” Sunset asked quietly, glancing up at Gilda.

Gilda opened her mouth to answer her. To reassure Sunset that she was fine, that it was nothing, that she was just… fine…

Her throat closed around her words. A grip like iron clasped hard and cruel in Gilda’s gut and it felt like every single one of her muscles was tensing at once, as if someone had fixed an electric current to her entire body. Her whole body began trembling, and Sunset’s eyes widened in horror as Gilda started to choke.

“Gil?!”

Intellectually, Gilda knew she wasn’t… she knew it. There was nothing in her throat, and nothing stopping her from breathing.

She couldn’t breathe.

Terror lit and spread like a fire in Gilda’s body as her vision swam, narrowing and tightening until it was like she was staring through a pinhole. What little air reached her lungs did so in short, staccato bursts.

“Ssh, it’s okay,” Sunset cooed, clambering up until she was holding Gilda’s head to her breast and gently stroking her cheek, “It’s okay… everything’s fine… you’re just fine…”

It wasn’t the words. Sunset could have been reciting the alphabet or quoting slasher flicks for all the words meant. No, it was her tone, Sunset’s calming tone seeped through the walls of panic that had ratcheted in around Gilda’s mind. It wasn’t immediate but as the minutes passed, ticking away as Sunset whispered meaningless calming words and gave gentle touches to remind Gilda of her presence, Gilda began to calm. Slowly, painfully slowly, Gilda began to regain control of her body.

Everything ached.

Everything was sore.

Gilda breathed slowly and heavily, panting as if she’d just finished running a mile uphill. Cold sweat soaked through her clothes as she braced herself against Sunset, taking in the scent of lilacs and cherries.

“Feeling better?” Sunset’s voice cut through the haze as Gilda shakily pushed herself up until she was sitting.

For a moment, Gilda just stared forward and breathed.

“W-What…” Gilda choked out before pressing her hands into her face. “What th’fuck was that?!”

“It was a panic attack,” Sunset replied, sidling over to lean against Gilda’s side. “I… I thought you were under attack at first, like someone was using magic but…”

“A… fuckin’ what?” Gilda stammered, pulling her hands away and staring down at the floor as her body tensed. “That’s a fuckin’ panic attack?!”

“Mhm,” Sunset nodded as she wrapped her arms around Gilda’s waist. “They’re pretty awful, huh? I still get them sometimes, too. And back when Anon-A-Miss was ruining my life and before I’d met you… Tartarus, even afterward for a long while… I’d get them every morning at just the thought of going to school and facing all that abuse for an entire day.” Sighing, Sunset leaned against Gilda. “It’s… it’s not inaccurate to say that the only reason I made it out of the door some mornings was the thought of seeing you, Gil.”

Gilda smiled faintly, her cheeks coloring as she leaned into Sunset’s touch.

“C’mon, Sunshine,” Gilda said with a small laugh, “something like that wasn’t gonna stop ya.”

“I’m not so sure about that, Gil,” Sunset replied, tightening her grip around Gilda’s waist. “There was a little window of time where you… you were the only bright spot in my whole life… without you, it would have all just been dark.”

Frowning, Gilda reached up to stroke her fingers across Sunset’s cheek. “Hey, that ain’t fair… y’better than that.”

“Maybe now,” Sunset said quietly. “But back then? A year ago I wouldn’t have cared about being alone because I was a callous bitch… after the Formal though? After actually learning how good it felt to have people who care about me? Who love me?” Sunset shivered, wrapping her arms around herself. “I can’t even picture it, babe… it’s like going from being in front of a warm fire to the cold streets… yeah maybe I was used to it once but now? Not so much…”

Gilda stared down at Sunset whose eyes had taken on a distant look as she stared at the far end of the apartment. Gilda knew that’s not what she was seeing though, she knew that Sunset was seeing the old her, the person who was perfectly fine ‘being in the cold’ as she had put it.

“So… y’had panic attacks huh?” Gilda asked, quietly changing the subject, earning her a grateful glance from Sunset, who nodded. “Guess I kinda knew that but… I didn’t know what it meant, savvy?”

“It’s not something you can just describe to another person, yeah,” Sunset answered. “I’ve heard a lot of people say it feels like you’re dying… but for me, it was like… being crushed and deafened and overwhelmed all at once and… and…”

“Sunshine?”

“Written’s Quill, Gil, when it got really bad a part of me prayed it would end,” Sunset clenched her eyes shut as Gilda went rigid in her arms, and tears leaked out and down her cheeks.

Gilda pulled away, her hands settling softly on Sunset’s cheeks as she stared into those painfully bright sky-blue eyes she loved so much. “Why… why didn’t you say anything?” Gilda croaked. “I coulda… I’da… I dunno… done something, I just…”

“Because I’m an ass,” Sunset replied tearfully. “Because I didn’t know how to talk about it… I still don’t… I’m just… I’m not good at this stuff, Gil… and I’m not healthy, I know that…”

Leaning in, Gilda slowly pressed her lips to Sunset’s as she brushed her thumb across the soft amber cheek of her girlfriend, wiping away the tears that were still trickling down. Sunset shuddered as she melted into Gilda’s affection and nestled closer to the taller girl.

“I love you, Sunshine,” Gilda whispered as they pulled apart. “And I ain’t ever lettin’ you go, a’right? So just… talk t’me, y’know? I can listen, even if I ain’t much help…”

“I know…” Sunset said quietly as a stone of guilt settled hard in her gut. Suddenly the tiny pins in her hair were like lead weights dragging her head down.

“H-Hey… Gil?” Sunset started in a quiet voice, one hand trailing up to tangle into her hair. “I…”

A knock came at the flat door and both girls jumped. The silence had been so heavy in the room that the simple noise had been almost deafening. After a moment, though, Gilda stood, smiling down at Sunset as she brushed her knuckles gently over Sunset’s lips.

“Hold that thought, Sunflower,” Gilda said with a small laugh as she walked over to the door.

Swinging it wide, and shivering a little at the influx of cold air, Gilda grinned at the two older women who stood on the other side of the threshold.

“Hey aunties,” Gilda said with a smirk, stepping back to let Celestia and Luna both come in out of the cold. Gilda gave both of them a quick hug, still mindful and a bit self-conscious about how sweaty she was. “C’mon in… still gotta tell us what this is all about, yeah?”

“Yes, hopefully we aren’t intruding,” Celestia replied with a smile.

“Never,” Sunset said with a grin as Luna stepped in to wrap Sunset in a tight hug. “How are things, Aunt Luna?”

“Quite good,” Luna replied, smirking as she nudged Celestia. “Though we’re still missing someone who was supposed to be meeting us here.”

Gilda and Sunset both raised an eyebrow as Celestia rolled her eyes. “Hardly missing, sister,” Celestia replied before glancing at the open door. “You’re lurking again. Enough with the dramatics, just come in out of the cold will you?”

A scoff sounded from outside the doorway, drawing Gilda’s eye as a slender, feminine shape seemingly peeled out of the shadows by the door. Gilda let out a low whistle as the dark-skinned woman stopped in front of the door. She was tall, statuesque really, and her skin was the shade of coal, while her hair was a pale, sea-storm green. She wore a simple black jacket and gloves, over dark jeans.

Most curiously, in her right hand, she gripped a solid black cane that she leaned on heavily, and her fluid movements were interrupted by a slight jerk whenever she moved her left leg, which seemed uncommonly stiff.

“Everyone,” Celestia began as she stepped up to the door. “I’d like you to meet my very good friend, Chrysalis.”

“Ex-girlfriend, you mean, and one I could never quite hide from,” Chrysalis said in a voice dripping with wry, acerbic humor. “My door is still open by the way, my dear… as is my bed.”

Celestia flushed crimson and swatted at Chrysalis’s arm. “Stop that, you’re here for a reason, Chryssi.”

“Natch, may I come in?” Chrysalis asked, turning to Gilda and nodding inwards. “The cold does absolutely nothing for my leg.”

“Oh, uh, yeah, sure,” Gilda stepped out of the way, holding out a hand to help her in.

Chrysalis glanced down at her hand in amusement. “I may walk with a cane but I’m still a special operations agent, I’m not some delicate damsel.”

“More like an unkillable cockroach,” Luna said with a smirk as Chrysalis stepped the rest of the way in, knocking the door closed with the butt of her cane.

“Oh, you wound me, Lunatic,” Chrysalis said with a mock pout. “I know you secretly pine for me, though.”

Luna stuck out her tongue.

“Is that an offer, Lulu?” Chrysalis asked in a low, husky tone, giving her eyebrows an exaggerated wiggle.

Slowly, Luna withdrew her tongue back into her mouth and grimaced. “You’re truly a vile thing, you know that Chryssi?”

“Flattery will get you everywhere, Woona,” Chrysalis replied before moving over to Celestia’s side.

All of a sudden the acid and mockery was gone from the dark-skinned woman’s expression and even from her posture as she smiled at Celestia and opened her arms. Without a word, Celestia stepped in to pull Chrysalis close, and Sunset and Gilda could both see their Principal’s hands grip tightly around the mysterious woman.

“I’ve missed you so much, Tia,” Chrysalis whispered softly, though not softly enough to avoid being heard. “It’s so good to see you again.”

“And you, Chryssi, how was Marescow?” Celestia asked, a touch of concern entering her eyes.

“Classified, as you well know,” Chrysalis replied with a small smile. “But I’m touched that you care.”

“I’ll always care, Chryssi,” Celestia said firmly. “Just like I’ll always…”

Chrysalis interrupted Celestia’s words with a single dark finger over her lips. “Later, you were right, I am here for a reason.” Turning to Sunset and Gilda, Chrysalis smiled down at the pair of girls. “Well, Tia was right about one thing; you two are just the most adorable pair.”

Sunset and Gilda both shared a blush as Sunset spoke up. “Uhm, thanks? So… who are you exactly?”

“Chrysalis Hive,” she extended her hand, shaking both Gilda and Sunset’s hands in turn. “Former delinquent, hacker, and reprobate turned white hat, and I’m here to do you both a very big favor.”

“What’s the catch?” Gilda asked, raising an eyebrow as she moved closer to Sunset and fixed a suspicious look on Chrysalis.

The ebon-skinned woman smirked. “Mm, smart girl… no catch this time though, I’m not doing this as a favor wholly to you… I’m doing it for Celestia, so here.”

Chrysalis pulled a thick manila folder from her jacket and passed it over to Sunset, who took it. Opening it up, Sunset pulled out a few of the papers to examine them, and after a moment her eyes widened considerably.

Birth certificate… passport… driver’s license… insurance cards… social security card, and even school records from primary onward.

Sunset felt the breath catch in her throat as she realised that, in her hands, she was holding the proof of her own existence in this world. A moment ago she had been a ghost in the system… an anomaly that, so far as Canterlot was concerned, didn’t exist outside of a few well-forged school identity documents.

These were no cheap forgeries, though. The ink and paper were right… the stamps and even the signatures all bore the look of total authenticity and Sunset had a sneaking suspicion, from how Celestia and Luna had spoken about Miss Hive, that everything she was looking at was real.

“Hey, wouldja lookit that,” Gilda said with a small smile. “Yer a real girl now, Sunshine.”

Sunset’s hands started to shake as she pulled the rest of the papers free and stared down at them and, quite without warning, tears starting trickling down her cheeks.

“H-Hey, what’s wrong?” Gilda asked, her eyes widening at the sudden waterworks.

“I’m real…” Sunset whispered as she turned to Gilda with a radiant smile. “Look! I’m really real!”

Gilda pulled back as Sunset held the papers up to her for all the world like a child who had just gotten their first All-A’s report card.

“I can finally get a job!” Sunset practically sobbed as she pulled back the papers to hug them to her chest. “I can get medicine and therapy, and… and… I can exist! Gilda… we can get married!”

Celestia, Luna, and Chrysalis’ eyebrows scooted upwards at that, and Gilda’s jaw dropped slack. The first three were simply surprised, but Gilda…

‘How the fuck didn’t I think’a that?’ Gilda stared into Sunset’s eyes and at that moment realised exactly what those papers really meant to both of them.

Those papers represented more than just the fact that Sunset now existed in some abstract database. The papers in Sunset’s hands meant that now the two of them had a future together.

“Married? That’s quite a step,” Chrysalis said with a grin, “mazel tov.”

“Indeed, congratulations,” Luna said with a warm smile. “I have only the best hopes for the both of you.”

“Agreed,” Celestia chimed in, matching her sister’s grin.

“I rushed them as much as I could,” Chrysalis said with a slightly apologetic grin, “but this isn’t television, these kinds of papers take time if you want them done right, and those will pass any inspection or background check you care to try.”

Sunset shook her head. “No, I couldn’t even imagine complaining… you’ve given me a whole life to look forward to.”

“Yeah well, after Celery here told me about your accident,” Chrysalis gestured to Sunset’s legs with her cane, “I could hardly say no, could I?”

“You in an accident too?” Gilda asked. “Or was it y’work?”

Sunset swatted Gilda on the chest. “Babe! Rude!”

Celestia grimaced as Luna let out a barking laugh and Chrysalis just chuckled. “No, actually, this hobble of mine is entirely thanks to your beloved Principal herself.”

“W-what?” Sunset snapped her eyes away from Gilda to stare at the three women in front of her. “How?!”

“I’d… really rather not-” Celestia began, looking uncomfortable, but Chrysalis just grinned widely and slung an arm around her shoulder.

“Oh don’t be shy, lover!” Chrysalis said, cackling, while Luna looked in obvious glee. “Tell your beloved students how their prim and proper Principal yeeted me into a wall so hard it snapped my leg in three places!”

Sunset and Gilda both stared slack-jawed at Celestia who groaned and covered her face in her hands. Luna busted up laughing as Chrysalis stared hard at Celestia with the worst sort of shit-eating grin on her face. It took several moments of silence, broken up by Luna’s barely controlled giggles before Celestia let out a breath and glanced up to glare at Chrysalis.

“For the last time, Chryssi,” Celestia began, “I did not yeet you into the wall, it was a proper judo shoulder throw, and secondly you had a gun pulled on Luna.”

“Okay wait,” Sunset held up both hands. “First of all what? Second of all WHAT?!”

“Third’ed,” Gilda piped up, raising a hand. “I gotta hear that story.”

Celestia rolled her eyes and gestured to Chrysalis and chuckled and nodded.

“All three of us attended Canterlot University, us two a year ahead of Luna naturally, and back then my preferences in romantic partner weren’t as… accepted as they are today.” Chrysalis began, leaning against the wall and hooking her cane over her shoulder. “So you can imagine I was caught a little off-guard when I discovered I had the attention of the local ten-out-of-ten.”

“Celestia always was the popular one,” Luna remarked wryly.

“We both coped with our family tragedy in different ways, Lu,” Celestia said quietly. “I drowned myself in social interaction, you went the opposite direction.”

“Anyway…” Chrysalis said, reclaiming her place in the conversation. “I made a point of openly flirting with girls in our comp-sci class, mostly to make them uncomfortable because, and I can’t stress this enough, I was kind of a bitch.”

“It was the first time a girl had been so openly obvious with me and…” Celestia blushed heavily.

“And so when I opened up with both barrels on Tia here,” Chrysalis gestured to the Principal, “imagine my surprise she went crimson and started stammering like a schoolgirl in front of her crush instead of acting disgusted.”

“She wouldn’t leave Celestia alone after that,” Luna groaned. “And it only got worse when they started actually dating.”

“Neither of us had been in a relationship before,” Chrysalis admitted, shrugging. “I played the cool, worldly girl, but I was winging it, and Celestia was the first genuine attention I’d ever gotten so…”

“And Chryssi was the first time I’d ever felt… validated,” Celestia said quietly. “I felt whole suddenly, but…”

“Neither of them were healthy,” Luna said, rolling her eyes. “Chrysalis was controlling and stalked Celestia twenty-four-seven, Celestia was a depressed mess anytime she wasn’t with Chrysalis and was going out at all hours to see her… I had just gotten my life back on track, too, so I was trying to get Celestia to see what was happening.”

“It all culminated in Luna and I getting into a fight in their living room…” Chrysalis said, smirking.

~Fifteen Years Ago~

“Stay away from my sister.”

Luna stared daggers at Chrysalis who had walked into their home in Whitetail. The young woman was beautiful, even Luna had to acknowledge that, but she was also poison… and she was killing Celestia even if neither of them saw or acknowledged it. Chrysalis had a chokehold on Celestia’s whole life, and Celestia seemed utterly content to leave it like that.

Luna was not of the same opinion.

“Beg pardon?” Chrysalis asked all-too-innocently, her lips curling into a nasty smile that didn’t even enter the same time zone as her eyes.

“You heard me,” Luna hissed, “get out of our house and stay the fuck away from my sister, or I’ll-”

“Or you’ll what?” Chrysalis bit back, taking several steps forward until she was practically nose-to-nose with the younger Sonen sister. “Celestia is my girlfriend, and you can’t give me orders, Woona.”

Luna’s face twisted into an angry snarl. “You’re a monster,” she spat, “and I won’t watch you hurt my sister any more than you already have.”

“How dare you,” Chrysalis said in a low, acidic tone. “I’ve never laid a hand on her.”

“No, of course not,” Luna sneered. “You’ve just hounded her every hour of the day, cut her off from her friends, monopolized all of her time, had her out at all hours to the point that she comes home looking strung out.”

Chrysalis smiled venomously. “I suppose you’d know exactly what that looks like, wouldn’t you, Lunatic? That is what they called you back then, right?”

The color drained from Luna’s face as her body went rigid and eyes widened. Her body trembled, part in memory and part in rage.

“What’s wrong?” Chrysalis simpered. “Didn’t think I had the ability to learn a~ll about you? You’ve got a lot of nerve lecturing me considering how far you dragged Tia down only for her to pull your ass out of your own dumpster fire.”

“That was different,” Luna snarled. “And this time I’m going to protect her.”

Luna’s hand snapped out and the switchblade she’d been concealing snapped out along with it. The gleaming steel blade still shone with polish along with the wood-inlaid mother-of-pearl handle. It was a beautiful tool, but it had clearly also seen use, and the comfortable manner with which Luna gripped the weapon suggested she was more than skilled in that use.

“You’re going to try and take my Sun away from me with a knife?” Chrysalis spat. “Try again.”

Chrysalis swung her hand around her back and pulled out a matte-black Beretta M9. Reliable, sturdy, and loaded, Chrysalis smirked at the sudden look of fear on Luna’s face as she lifted the gun, not quite pointing it at Luna but making the threat all the same.

“Blah, blah, knife to a gunfight, blah,” Chrysalis said mockingly and with obvious relish as she gestured with the pistol. “So, still going to ‘protect her’?”

“Chryssi?”

This time it was Chrysalis’s turn to feel a stab of horror as an icy chill sluiced down her spine. Glancing over Luna’s shoulder, Chrysalis’ eyes widened as Celestia came down the stairs. There were bags under her eyes and her normally vibrant hair hung lank and pale over her sallow skin. For a moment Chrysalis saw it, she saw precisely what it was that Luna was talking about. She saw the beautiful young woman she’d fallen in love with hurting.

Forgetting the lethal firearm in her hand for a moment, Chrysalis started to raise her arm. “C-Cel-”

Celestia’s eyes widened as they fixed on the gun, the gun that was pointed almost directly at her sister who was brandishing her old knife. Instinct took over, and all of that time spent taking self-defense classes both in high school and college roared to the forefront of her mind.

Charging someone with a gun was stupid, everyone knew that and every self-defense course that Celestia had ever taken hammered home that the threat of a gun was not to be treated lightly.

None of that mattered because once again her sister was in danger, the only family that Celestia had left in the world was in danger, and all she could think of was to protect her.

In an instant, Celestia had surged down the stairs, through the archway dividing the living room from the dining room, and had an iron-hard grip on Chrysalis’ arm as she jerked the dark-skinned girl forward, setting her off-balance and wrenching control of her center of gravity away from her. Adrenaline surged through her veins like liquid lightning as she arched and levered Chrysalis ass-over-teakettle-

-less than two feet directly into the wall behind Celestia.

~Present~

“I hit leg first, unfortunately,” Chrysalis said with a wry smile as she gestured down at the mentioned limb. “And the breaks were not clean, which meant I was in your position, Miss Shimmer, for a good while; stuck in a hospital bed and trying to digest the news that I would never walk properly again, even if my leg healed in the best possible circumstances.”

“I felt awful about it, I barely left her side the whole time,” Celestia said quietly. “The safety on your gun wasn’t even off.”

Chrysalis turned to Celestia and walked up to her, leaning heavily on the cane with one hand and caressing Celestia’s cheek with the other.

“You didn’t know that, Tia, you protected your sister,” Chrysalis said in a soft voice. “I made a crap choice and deserved what I got, I’m just glad I learned my lesson and got to keep you as a friend, if not… you know.”

“Even back then I didn’t think you deserved to be crippled, Chryssi,” Luna insisted, her mocking humor lessened as she put a hand on Chrysalis’ shoulder before turning to her sister. “But yes, I still agree that you reacted appropriately, Tia, as we’ve both said many times.”

“That’s why you acted so off-puttingly the day of my accident,” Sunset said suddenly, looking up at Celestia with wide eyes, “when you called me into your office that afternoon to talk about how I was spending so much time with Gilda!”

“I saw too much of myself in you, Sunset,” Celestia admitted. “And not a little bit of Chrysalis in Gilda… I learned the hard way that infatuation, even real and genuine love, can lead you to a dark place if you don’t keep your head on straight.” Sighing, Celestia turned to Gilda. “But, belated as it is, I do owe you an apology, Gilda. I suspect I was… projecting my own fears onto you two.”

“As near as I can tell,” Chrysalis said, meeting Gilda’s eyes, “Miss Grimfeather is a far better person now than I ever was.”

“Nice of ya t’say,” Gilda remarked, “dunno if I agree, though.”

“Respect your elders, girl,” Chrysalis sneered playfully. “I’ve seen a lot of crap in my life so believe me when I say that you? You’re good people.”

Gilda let a small smile etch slowly over her face.

Luna clapped her hands together as she stepped back. “Now, how about we celebrate! I say we go out and get dinner, on us!”

“On me,” Chrysalis said, gesturing with her cane. “I’ve got a lot of back pay to pick up so I might as well.”

Sunset glanced over at Gilda who was grinning back at her. The pins felt a little less heavy… maybe… maybe they could wait.

“Sounds good to me,” Sunset replied with a smile.

~Canterlot Highway 17, February 19th, Evening

~

The rumble of the engine in Zee’s E-Type sent a familiar thrum through Twilight’s bones as she leaned against Zee’s shoulder from the passenger seat. It had been far too long since they’d gone on a drive in the car, Zee had been avoiding its use ever since the debacle at Twilight’s parents’ house. The car, she reasoned, was too recognizable, and with Twilight’s brother being a cop it meant that driving it around would be like waving a chequered flag at the local police department.

Now, though, with the report on Twilight closed and all things set into their proper place, legally speaking, Zee was once again free to untarp her ride.

The inline straight six engine rumbled and growled like the vehicle’s namesake, the Jaguar, and the sound of it was quickly becoming synonymous in Twilight’s mind with Zee herself. Even while it was tarped for weeks, Twilight often found Zee underneath it, tinkering away, improving, or fixing bits of it. That meant that the house was oftentimes filled with the sound of the engine going on and off or just running at idle.

One of Twilight’s favorite recent memories was, in fact, the day she had come back from Crystal Prep in an emotional mess after dealing with her sister-in-law, Zee had wrapped Twilight up in her arms and taken her out into the garage. They’d sat there in the car for hours, the engine idling with its comforting grumble, with the garage cracked open to allow the exhaust to filter out and the fresh winter air to filter in as they listened to the classic rock station on the old radio.

Twilight had rested against Zee’s shoulder then, as she did now as they cruised North up the freeway.

A stone of guilt still stuck in Twilight’s gut at the thought of what had happened at school earlier that day, though: the accusations, the shouting, and the anger… it had all felt right at the time, it had all felt justified. It had felt righteous.

And then Twilight had gotten home and everything she had said had fallen on her like a set of hundred-pound weights.

Cadence hadn’t just been her babysitter and she wasn’t just her sister-in-law. Cadence had been the closest thing to a real big sister that Twilight had ever had. It had been Cadence who had taken the time to get to know her, to play with her, to entertain the precocious and sullen child she had been growing up as and was, arguably, one of the only reasons Twilight had any social skills at all.

Twilight’s parents had been at a loss when it came to trying to get her to socialise with other children. Cadence was the one who had pointed out that: maybe she couldn’t socialise with them because she was just too far above them intellectually. It would be like trying to get a teenager to play with a group of nine-year-olds.

There just wasn’t enough mental stimulation.

And Twilight had torn into her like all of that effort in the past had been for nothing…

‘She hurt Zee!’

‘She only wanted you to be safe!’

‘She tried to take Zee away from me!’

‘You and Zee are hurting each other.’

Twilight clenched her eyes shut as that final thought flickered through her mind. Cadence didn’t understand… Zee did her best, and she always learned and she always apologised, and Twilight did, too. Cadence couldn’t understand… how could she? She had a perfect relationship with Twilight’s brother.

Shining Armor was a well-off, well-raised, and gentle creature, and such an irrepressible dork that he was impossible not to love.

Not everyone was that lucky though. Zee wasn’t raised with all the money in the world, she wasn’t raised with every single need met. She didn’t get to go to the best school in the city and never have to want for anything!

She was raised in poverty and, as far as Twilight could tell, Storm had still done his best to raise Zee with all the love in the world. But love couldn’t fill an empty stomach, and it couldn’t keep the heater on, or pay rent, and now… maybe more than she ever thought possible, Twilight understood why he was a criminal, and why Zee had gone along with it.

And why Zee was so loyal to him.

Storm had risked life in prison and a place on death row to keep his little girl safe… that was a man worth being loyal to, and Twilight had never really understood what kind of strength of will and character that would take until she had met the man. He was like a mountain, not in stature but just in the feel of him… being near him was like being in the shadow of something powerful and almost overwhelming.

Twilight understood why Zee treated Storm like he was her hero because, for all of his sins and his crimes and his character flaws, he was a hero to Zee. And to Twilight, for everything he had done for Zee.

But as for Twilight herself?

“Zee?” Twilight asked softly as Zee cranked the wheel, changing lanes towards the exit ramp. “Am I a good person?”

Zee glanced down at Twilight with a raised eyebrow.

“S’bit’ve a loaded question there, our lass,” Zee said with a faint sound of uncertainty in her voice. “Not sure I’m any sort t’judge that manner’a thing, aye?”

Twilight let out a small laugh as she realised she was essentially asking that question of a black hat hacker, borderline cyberterrorist, and daughter of a ganglord, which did make it sound a little silly.

“I know, and maybe it doesn’t matter, but-” Twilight trailed off as Zee slung an arm around her.

“Hey now, I didn’t say owt about it not matterin’,” Zee replied, frowning. “I’ll ‘appen ye’ve got a good reason f’askin’ uz that, aye? Jus’ that I dunno if I got an answer’s all I’m sayin’.”

“I still want to know what you think,” Twilight said with a small smile.

Zee sighed and nodded, leaning back in the car as she shifted down a gear and got onto the slower city streets.

“Guess I’ll ‘appen ye’re a good enough sort of person,” Zee started. “Better’n me, though I’ll grant that’s a bar wot’s damn near subterranean, pet.”

“Don’t say that,” Twilight said crossly, swatting Zee’s arm gently. “You’ve done your best… we grew up in practically two different worlds. Comparing isn’t fair and it’s also just… wrong. You’re… you’re good to me.”

Zee’s expression fell a little at that statement, and Twilight saw her hands grip the steering wheel harder. “Tha’s a matter’ve opinion, pet,” she said softly.

“You are…” Twilight said in a much smaller voice.

“But I-”

“-make me feel safe,” Twilight said, her voice still painfully weak, and Zee glanced over as Twilight buried her face against Zee’s arm. “I know we fight sometimes… and I know what people say about it… but if it helps… I never feel unsafe around you.”

“Ever think maybe ye should?” Zee asked, grimacing as her grip tightened on the wheel again. “Ever think maybe… maybe m’just too far broken, lass?”

Twilight opened her mouth, at first to argue, then closed it as she turned to let out an annoyed sigh and snuggled back up against Zee.

This was their song and dance, the one they performed every few days. The ‘am I worth it’ talk. They always argued the same points, too: Zee would point out her temper and violent streak, Twilight would counter that she had the same problem, Zee would argue that she always started it, Twilight would disagree, and they’d be back where they started.

It was an unbroken loop of self-recrimination, one that led to nothing, endlessly recurring in upon itself like an ouroboros made of frustration.

What Twilight didn’t understand is why it mattered so much to Zee. The two of them had a weird kind of equilibrium, their own personal definition of stability, but it worked, right? Why did it matter how it happened so long as both of them were willing to make the relationship work.

That was what you did when you loved someone after all, you made it work.

Why did she even-

Twilight blinked owlishly as a brainwave struck her. A break in the loop.

“Hey, Zee…?” Twilight said quietly as they turned a corner, Gustave’s appearing in the distance. “Would… would it make a difference if I said I didn’t care?”

Zee furrowed her brow. “Don’t care ‘bout what, pet?”

“That you’re broken,” Twilight said. “So long as… as you don’t care if I am?”

“Ye ain’t fuckin’ broken, our lass, savvy?” Zee hissed.

Twilight smiled softly as she could see Zee’s temper rear its head. She was biting her lip, and a small trickle of red slid down to her chin. Pulling out a small handkerchief, Twilight lifted it up and wiped the droplet from Zee’s face.

“I know you’re angry right now, y’know?” Twilight said, “and y’know what else?”

“Wassat, our lass?” Zee asked, sighing heavily as she angled into the parking spot, threw the gear into park, and rested her head against the vibrating steering wheel.

“I’m not afraid of you,” Twilight replied.

One eye opened, one gold and black orb fixed itself on Twilight who sat across from Zee unflinchingly. Zee’s breaths came slow and deep as she stared at Twilight, feeling a choking mix of anger, frustration, fear, and love just looking at the girl.

“I beat ye lass,” Zee growled, venom dripping from her lips but even Twilight could hear that it wasn’t directed at her. “Ye should be afraid.”

Zee was shaking, her hands gripping the wheel as hot tears slid down her cheeks. All the anger, all the self-hatred, was boiling up to the surface and it felt for all the world like she was about to crack in half from the pressure.

Soft, lavender hands came to settle over her white knuckles, and with an effort of will Zee looked up to meet Twilight’s eyes.

She was smiling.

“But I’m not,” Twilight said, and Zee could only stare.

She was searching for the lie, searching for the flicker in Twilight’s gaze that would tell Zee that Twilight was only humoring her, patronizing her, saying what she wanted to hear just to make her feel better. She searched and scanned and found… nothing.

“Why?” Zee choked out turning to face Twilight with wide tear-streaked eyes, her cheeks stained black with lines of running mascara. “F’love n’guts, our lass, why?”

“Guess that part of me’s broken,” Twilight said with a shrug.

Zee stared, jaw hanging open at the almost painful nonchalance of Twilight’s answer. All the anger seemed to drain out of her as a weak, cracked, and broken laugh bubbled up out of her throat. A moment later Zee was practically howling with laughter, held up only by her seatbelt and the steering wheel she was leaning against. Her rough, husky voice was joined a moment later by Twilight’s own higher, chiming laughter as they leaned against one another.

Several moments of gasping and reclaiming their breath later, Zee was leaning against Twilight, her seatbelt undone and her head resting at the soft crook where Twilight’s neck and shoulder met.

“Ah love you, our lass,” Zee said softly. “More’n life an’ all the fuckin’ magic in it, aye?”

“Arcane Science,” Twilight chided, cuddling against Zee, “and… I love you too.”

“Guess we oughta go in,” Zee said almost grumpily. “Gonna be waitin’ on us.”

“Mm, yeah,” Twilight agreed as they sat up. “Let me fix your makeup first, though, you’re a mess.”

Zee chuckled as Twilight licked the clean side of her handkerchief and went to work wiping up Zee’s streaked makeup.

“Ye’ll allus be there t’clean me up, won’t ye lass?” Zee asked, and there was a note of pleading in her voice.

Twilight stopped at her almost childlike tone and turned to smile at Zee.

“Always.”

“How do you wear that stuff?” Rainbow asked as she leaned back in their booth, kicking her feet in boredom.

Lightning chuckled softly as she leaned against Rainbow Dash’s shoulder and smiled. Her hair was styled, rather than in its usual windswept look, with the rough edges turned to soft curls that hung around her cheeks, framing her face nicely, and wearing a long dress the color of pale cream with a daring slit up one leg that hung off of a single shoulder.

None of that was what Rainbow was referring to, though.

Earlier that night, Lightning had stunned Rainbow to speechlessness when she had stepped out of her apartment with rouged lips and finely applied makeup. Apparently, it was one of her grandmother’s many skills, developed not in the military but in the process of raising a granddaughter who wanted to be ‘pretty’.

“It’s called fashion, thweaty, look it up,” Lightning quoted in a nasal voice, earning a snort of laughter from Rainbow.

For herself, Rainbow had fallen back on the tried and true: a pair of clean black slacks, white and black blazer, and her normally wild hair tamed into something that was very similar to order, and managed to look more stylishly ruffled than her usual ‘birds nest’.

Rainbow had forgone any attempts at makeup.

“I just hate how it feels on my skin,” Rainbow said with a grimace. “It’s like… dusty and greasy at the same time, and lipstick just feels like there’s a layer of wax on my mouth and I keep licking it.”

“You’re not supposed to eat lipstick, Rainbabe,” Lightning said dryly, clearly trying to hold in laughter with only moderate success given the twitching at the edges of her lips.

“But chapstick is flavored!” Rainbow said with a grumpy look. “Why would it be flavored if it wasn’t edible!”

Lightning stared on with a quivering lip, not trusting herself to open her mouth without busting up laughing and getting in trouble with the Maitre D’.

After a few moments of Rainbow sullenly glaring at her, Lightning swallowed and shook her head. “B-babe, just because it’s palatable and doesn’t, like, hurt you, doesn’t mean it’s… supposed to be eaten.”

“Okay well, I still hate how it feels,” Rainbow groaned.

Rainbow Dash’s train of thought was derailed by a low whistle from Lightning, who had turned to stare down towards the entrance. Rainbow followed her gaze and her eyebrows raised at the sight.

Twilight and Zee had just walked into the restaurant and they looked like they’d just stepped out of a movie premiere.

Zee was wearing a black sheath dress, accented in fiery gold matching her eyes, that terminated just above her knees. Though not exactly curvaceous, what curves she did have were accentuated by the dress, but were significantly outweighed by the amount of artwork her dress left on display. The vast majority of her intricate tattoos were clearly visible and while most people Rainbow knew would go to lengths to hide that kind of thing in this sort of restaurant, Zee wore them almost defiantly.

Rainbow and Lightning both couldn’t help but admire that.

On the other hand, Twilight, who was on Zee’s arm, was wearing a much more modest neck-to-toe mermaid gown that covered almost every inch of her and flared out at the bottom. It was an almost startling shade of silver with accents of purple at the collar, wrists, and hemline, and the whole thing was accentuated by a royal purple sash tied around her slender waist.

“Damn,” Lightning said with a grin. “If I weren’t gay already I would be now.”

“Meh,” Rainbow shrugged. “I like Zee’s tats more than her dress.”

“That’s because you’re a philistine, Rainbabe,” Lightning said with a laugh.

Rainbow frowned. “Rarity says that all the time too, and I still don’t know what it means.”

Before the Maitre D’ could say anything, Zee pointed out the two seated girls, speaking in a low voice, before sweeping past him like she owned the place.

“Aye up, lasses,” Zee said with a wide grin as she sidled into the booth, pulling Twilight down to be seated beside her. “Thanks fer ‘oldin’ the seats, didn’t mean t’be late.”

“No sweat,” Lightning said with a shrug. “You know, when you and Twi said ‘double date’, I was thinking, like, a burger joint and a movie, right? This is… swanky.”

“Zee doesn’t do ‘subtle’ very well,” Twilight said with a chuckle, nudging the aforementioned girl with her elbow. “Sorry if it was a lot of trouble.”

“Nah, I always wanted to check this place out,” Rainbow said with a grin. “I’ve never even been inside this place before, too rich for my blood y’know?”

“Aye, speakin’a which,” Zee fished around her dress for a few moments, her brow furrowing in annoyance. “Where t’fuck…”

A small clutch purse was suddenly waggling under her nose, held by Twilight who was smiling mischievously at Zee.

“You left it in the car,” Twilight said with a laugh. “For a genius, you’re a real scatterbrain sometimes.”

Zee frowned for a moment but shrugged as she grabbed at it and popped it open. “Aye well, ‘ad t’lose somethin’ t’be better’n everyone else at everythin’ else, ‘ey, lass?”

“Mhm,” Twilight agreed, leaning in and pecking Zee on the cheek as the waiter came up to the table.

“Good evening, ladies,” he said with a warm smile. “Welcome to Gustave’s, my name is Silver Platter and I’ll be your server,” Platter set out a menu in front of each of the girls as he spoke, moving in smooth, practiced motions as he did so. “Can I get anything started for you?”

“Giz uz a tick, mate,” Zee said with a grin as she drew out a black card from her purse. “But go on’n open a tab on this, we’ll just clear it all at the end’a the night, savvy?”

Zee tapped the card on the table as she handed it to Silver Platter, and the card let out a metal ring as it struck the solid oak table. Zee, Lightning, and even Twilight stared at the black card whose center was embossed with a silver profile of a Roaman soldier. Their surprise, however, was nothing compared to their server’s, though.

Silver Platter’s eyes had gone so wide they looked fit to roll out of his skull.

“U-uhm… M-miss, may I… uh, see some identification for that card?” Silver Platter asked, his throat suddenly parched.

“Natch,” Zee replied with a Cheshire grin, before pulling it out. “Ain’t ‘ad m’stateside ID show up yet, but this’ll do, I’ll ‘appen.”

Zee passed her Braytish ID over along with her passport. Silver Platter took both and thanked Zee profusely, even sketching a short bow before racing off to the Maitre D’s side and speaking to him in a hushed whisper. The older man looked like he was about to have a stroke as he examined the cards and passport that Platter handed him, and slowly more of the waitstaff started drifting over to figure out what all the hubbub was about.

“What is that all about?” Rainbow asked as she watched Silver Platter before turning back to Twilight and Zee.

“Zee… was that a Centurion card?” Twilight asked, in a quiet voice as she turned to regard her girlfriend with a raised eyebrow.

“Huh?” Zee looked back at Twilight, leaning on both elbows. “Aye, what of it, pet?”

“Don’t you think that’s a little… high profile?” Twilight whispered, lowering her voice as she leaned next to Zee’s ear. “Considering we’re… y’know…”

Zee chuckled. “Ye’d think that, our lass, but one’a the first things a card like that buys ye is privacy.”

“Sorry, a what card?” Lightning asked, raising an eyebrow. “We can pay our share, it’s okay.”

Silence settled on the table momentarily before Zee let out a small chuckle. “Ah, lass… not t’talk ye down but this place isn’t much less’n a hundred a plate, aye? Ain’t countin’ nowt else like gratuity.”

Lightning and Rainbow’s eyes both widened in shock, and for a moment they were doing a fair impression of Silver Platter, but Zee just waved off their stammering.

“S’on me tonight, loves,” Zee said with a grin, looping an arm around Twilight and pulling her close. “What’s the point’a ‘avin’ loads'a cash if ye got nowt’n no one t’spend it on?”

“To clarify,” Twilight said with a small smile as she snuggled against Zee, “Zee does private contracting for cybersecurity firms and other corporations, so…”

“Makin’ six figures at sixteen,” Zee chimed in with a cocky grin. “Not bad, ey?”

“Holy shit,” Lightning swore, leaning back and looking stunned. “Color me impressed.”

Rainbow didn’t speak, she just stared at Zee curiously for a while before nodding and settling back in the booth seat. Lightning took the opportunity to sidle closer to Rainbow, matching Twilight and Zee as she took Rainbow’s hand and leaned against her while Rainbow settled an arm around Lightning’s waist.

“Wha’s wrong,?” Zee asked, smiling that lopsided grin of hers at Rainbow. “Don’t believe me?”

Rainbow shrugged. “Nah I mean, you’re covering us at this place, right? I figure you’re pretty loaded, cyberstuff just goes way over my head.”

“So why the looks, love?” Zee asked, leaning forward with elbows resting on the table as she met Dash’s gaze.

Dash just shrugged. “I dunno, just… seriously… it’s freakin’ uncanny.”

“What is?” Twilight asked, her curiosity piqued.

“You!” Rainbow gestured at Zee. “We’ve only hung out a few times but…”

“You seriously don’t see it, Dusty?” Rainbow asked, turning to her girlfriend for support who flinched a little and laughed nervously.

“Man, your tact is on point tonight, Rainbabe,” Lightning replied, her laugh turning into a dry chuckle. “Sorry… I guess you kinda do look like this girl at our school, though.”

“Really? That’s a little hard to believe,” Twilight said, one eyebrow raised incredulously. “Zee’s coloration is pretty unique, don’t you think?”

“I’m right ‘ere, loves,” Zee said in a mocking voice that belied the tension that was building in her body.

“R-Right, sorry, look I’m just telling you my…” Rainbow choked, the next word out of her mouth was about to be ‘friend’ but it wouldn’t come, “this… this girl I used to know pretty well, she’s got the same look: dark skin, white hair, and everything see?”

Rainbow lifted her phone and flicked through it several times until finally finding a relatively recent picture of Gilda, one the taller girl didn’t even know Rainbow had; in the still image Gilda was leaning against the school wall in her usual jeans and bomber jacket, a cigarette hanging from her lips as she stared up at the sky with the snow collecting unseen in her white hair and the pale fur rim of her jacket. Rainbow was no photographer but even she had been struck at that moment by a need to record it, even though a part of her felt guilty for it, voyeuristic even.

“Huh, she’s actually kinda pretty in that pic,” Lightning said, leaning in and looking down at the image. “Way different when she isn’t barreling down on you in gym, huh?”

“Incredible,” Twilight stared at the image with widening eyes. “You’re right… she’s so similar I'd swear the two of you were-”

A dull, electric whine filled the air and the metal cutlery began spitting sparks and rattling in place as Zee stared at the picture.

“-sisters.” Twilight finished as her face drained of color as she started up from her seat.

Rainbow and Lightning Dust quickly followed suit as they caught the look on Zee’s face; a twisted rictus that hovered somewhere between pain and rage. The two girls staggered back as Zee rose with deadly slowness from her seat. The muscles in her arms, face, and legs twitched horribly, giving her an appearance not unlike a marionette with tangled strings.

“No, no, no, no, no,” Twilight murmured, her eyes widen and terrified. “You just had an attack this afternoon, how can another one be coming already?!”

“Uh… Twi?” Rainbow said in a panicked voice as she glanced around. “You wanna… uh… take this outside maybe?”

“R-Right, help me!” Twilight got under Zee’s left arm while Rainbow took her right.

Lightning moved ahead of them, ushering people out of the way with an explanation of ‘seizures’. Rainbow felt a surge of both admiration and gratitude towards Lightning as they heaved Zee through the restaurant and out the doors. Every step seemed to make her condition worse, though, and by the time they were out of Gustave’s Rainbow felt like her whole body was buzzing with static as tiny blue-white arcs snapped out from Zee’s body to strike anything metal nearby.

“Someone wanna explain this?” Lightning hissed as she snapped the door to the restaurant shut after assuring the waitstaff that an ambulance was already on its way. “Because this is not normal!”

“I’m so sorry!” Twilight cried. “I’m… I don’t know what to do! These attacks are rare, and they always have days or more between them! She just had one this afternoon so I thought she was safe!”

“Well whaddya normally do?!” Rainbow asked, doing her best to push down her own rising panic.

“Her… her dad knows how to calm her but he can’t get here…” Twilight replied, her hands shaking as she ran them through her hair, tangling the delicate coif into a mess of lavender curls. “He can’t leave the house, and I can’t drive stick!”

Twilight gestured to Zee’s E-Type as she stared imploringly at Rainbow and Lightning. Both of them just shook their heads in response, though.

“I don’t even have my license,” Lightning admitted. “Too poor to afford a car anyway.”

“Only ever drove an automatic,” Rainbow replied, “My dad’s station wagon, but I have it here I can drive us!”

“Fuck no… and stop panickin’,” Zee snarled out through clenched teeth. “Can’t ye teleport us, love?”

Twilight blanched. “NO! What part of ‘I’m holding too much power’ did you miss?!” Zee, Rainbow, and Lightning flinched at Twilight’s tone. “If I try to teleport us we’ll probably end up in orbit!”

“Then just… Get me… somewhere else.”

Twilight’s voice softened as she took Zee’s hand, ignoring the burning sensation and the pain. “If Rainbow can get us home we can-”

“Not enough time, pet,” Zee panted out, pulling her hand away. “I can feel it… s’like a nail in my skull heatin’ t’fuck up.”

“How long?” Twilight asked in a quiet voice.

“Fuckin’... ten minutes… bit more? Bit less? Don’t fuckin’ know, our lass,” Zee replied.

“The Verge,” Lightning said suddenly, drawing every eye to her. Suddenly the center of attention, Lightning Dust shuffled uncomfortably but powered on, driven by the look of agony on Zee’s face. “T-The Everfree Verge, it’s not that far, we’re on the edge of North Canterlot, remember? The ritzy part where lots of rich folks live? There’s tons of forest-y real estate out there if you go in the right direction.”

“Can you take us?” Twilight begged.

Lightning nodded and turned to tell Rainbow to get the car only to be greeted by the sound of the station wagon’s engine revving up and Rainbow pulling out of their parking spot and up next to the three girls.

“Get in!” Rainbow yelled, with the windows cranked all the way down so she could see them. “Lightning up front, I don’t know this part of town!”

Not wanting to waste any time with an argument, Twilight heaved Zee up, supported on the other side by Lightning Dust, and dragged her to the back seat of the old vehicle. As soon as Zee was in, Twilight ran around the other side and stayed near her while Lightning didn’t even bother opening the passenger side door, instead just hooking her fingers onto the roof and going feet-first into the passenger-side window and dropping onto the seat.

“Go out the east exit of the lot and hang a left!” Lightning ordered.

Rainbow didn’t hesitate as she stepped on the gas and tore out of the parking lot. Lightning gave rapid-fire directions while Twilight sat in the back, murmuring softly over Zee’s twitching form as she pulled up her purse and wrenched out the chunky scanner.

“Okay, get on this road and we’ll drive for a few minutes, pretty soon you'll see a place to pull onto the shoulder about a quarter mile out,” Lightning said firmly. “It’s right next to a meadow that leads up to the Verge, will that do?”

Twilight looked up at the question to see Lightning staring at her with Rainbow glancing back every so often, trying her level best to keep her eyes on the road even with her shaking hands.

“Y-Yeah, I hope so,” Twilight replied.

“How are we going to fix this?!” Rainbow shouted over her shoulder. “And what’s wrong with Zee?!”

“I… I haven’t had a chance to discharge the energy I absorbed from her this morning… I don’t know if it’s safe to do it again so soon…” Twilight sobbed, gripping the scanner so hard her knuckles began turning white.

“What are you talking about?!” Rainbow yelled back.

“It’s… it’s hard to explain…” Twilight said, cradling Zee’s head as the prone girl spasmed and jerked in Twilight’s arms. “Do… do you believe in magic?”

For a moment, Rainbow felt her whole body slacken at the question, and a second later she pulled off onto the shoulder next to a wide, open meadow. In the distance, the high, wild trees of the Everfree rose defiantly in the face of the civilization and the borders of Canterlot city.

Letting out a dry, acerbic chuckle as she unsnapped her seatbelt and let her forehead hit the wheel of the station wagon, Rainbow scoffed.

“Twi… you mighta just lucked out harder than ever,” Rainbow replied turning to the lavender-haired girl. “Magic is kind of a Canterlot High thing.”

Kicking open the door, Rainbow got out followed quickly by Lightning Dust. Together, the three of them extracted Zee from the back seat, and Rainbow grimaced at the scorch marks they’d left behind. That would be a tough one to explain to her dad. Putting that aside, pooling their efforts the three girls staggered towards the open field, although Zee was jerking and spasming so badly by that point that they had to spread the job out, with Twilight taking her right arm, Rainbow taking her left, and Lightning doing her best to wrangle Zee’s thrashing legs.

Once they’d gotten far enough into the field that they couldn’t see the road anymore, the carefully lowered Zee to the ground.

Just in time, as the damp grass around Zee blackened and began scorching as she let out surge after surge of electrical current. Rainbow cried out as she was zapped, and staggered back into Lightning Dust’s arms. Twilight stood over Zee, fiddling with her scanner until it popped open.

“Okay… uhm…” Twilight stared down at Zee, then down at the scanner, then over at Rainbow and Lightning. “Uh… here goes nothing?”

Concentrating, Twilight sent her will through the scanner, and she could feel the dense mass of power that was collected within from Zee’s prior attack earlier that day. Twilight prayed to whatever god or spirit might be listening that there was enough room to pull in more.

Anchoring to the scanner, Twilight reached tendrils of her power out towards Zee and sank the ephemeral siphon into the tormented girl’s body.

Some miles away at a diner, Sunset felt her hackles go up, and she suddenly snapped her head up to stare out the window. The conversation around her died as Celestia, Luna, and Chrysalis stared at her and Gilda.

Gilda had made the exact same movement at nearly the exact same time.

A second later there was a blinding flash of light in the distance like an almighty stroke of lightning ripping down from the mostly-clear sky to hammer into the earth, and a couple of seconds later a deafening report of thunder rattled the windows of the diner and in the distance all of them heard the shattering of other glass nearer to the impact, and the bleating, blaring horns of car alarms.

“Gilda?” Sunset said in a tone of quiet horror.

“I felt it, babe,” Gilda replied in a low voice.

“Sunset was that-?” Celestia stood and stared out the window with wide eyes as Luna and Chrysalis looked in concern.

Sunset Shimmer nodded. “We have to get out there… that was magic.”

22. Hello There, The Angel From My Nightmares

Author's Note

Here we go ladies, strap in.
Someone mentioned something about Sunset going badass at some point too I think, well...

22. Hello There, The Angel From My Nightmares

~Northbound Hwy 15, February 19th, Evening~

“Go faster,” Sunset urged Celestia. “Go much, much faster.”

“Unless you want us to be pulled over by the police-” Celestia replied from behind the wheel of her vehicle.

“Fuck the police,” Sunset hissed before pointing at the Everfree, “that was a thaumic flare powerful enough to rock half of Canterlot!”

“And we’re goin’ towards it?” Gilda asked with an incredulous look on her face.

“I still think this is a very poor idea,” Celestia said in a strained voice.

“We went over this,” Sunset replied, crossing her arms. “Would you rather know what happened? Or not?”

Luna coughed lightly into her hand and shrugged. “Truth, sister? I’d rather know.”

“And we’re taking our chil-... our students into the middle of this mess with us why?!” Celestia bit out as her grip tightened around the wheel.

“Because we can’t grow wings, shoot fireballs, or throw lightning bolts,” Luna replied dryly. “And unless you’ve also got a magical spear hidden somewhere in your unmentionables then I’d suggest swallowing your pride and accepting that.”

“At least Chryssi is on my side,” Celestia grumbled as she put her foot down on the gas.

In the distance, lightning struck again and again as the once-clear skies quickly began clouding over with brutal, black thunderheads, and as the pair of vehicles, made up of Celestia’s blue sedan and Chrysalis’ silver Lotus approached the source, it was only becoming more and more obvious that something unnatural hung heavy in the air.

Sunset could taste it, even if no one else could, like ozone but almost… rotten. A human being could be forgiven for not noticing the subtle flavor of magic in the air, but to a unicorn who once stood in the presence of a Goddess on a daily basis and was hailed as the most talented sorceress of her generation, there could be no mistaking the high density of tainted magical particles.

Dark magic.

Even Sunset had never risked delving into that particular lore; there was far too much evidence that its use corrupted the mind and body of its user and her experience with the stolen Element of Magic, when she had inadvertently turned its power dark and suddenly been submerged in its influence, proved her right on her caution.

‘As if I should’ve needed an in-person example,’ Sunset thought bitterly.

She knew of the ancient histories of Equestria, of the War of Shadows when the slave-legions of King Sombra marched across the north. Sunset knew about the siege-engines the terrible king had crafted from living shadows that had battered down every fortress that had stood against his annexation and creation of the Crystal Empire. She knew all about how his lieutenants wielded magic so powerful it would consume them as often as it did the armies that were arrayed against them.

No, Dark Magic was too much of a risk and had she known what she was stepping into when she put the crown on Sunset would never have considered it. Even the old her, the bitch queen of Canterlot High, wasn’t that arrogant. After all, what was the point of ruling anything if it came with the caveat of insanity from Dark Magic corruption?

Now that same magic was threatening the human world again and, no matter what platitudes Twilight gave her, Sunset knew that the danger it presented now was almost certainly her fault.

A warm hand closed around Sunset’s, dragging her thoughts back to the present as the countryside rolled away alongside them, and Sunset looked up to see Gilda staring down at her.

“Ain’t your fault,” Gilda said quietly.

“I wasn’t-”

“Think I don’t know that look on y’face, Sunshine?” Gilda asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking in a way that informed Sunset that she didn’t really need an answer to that question. “You got a bad habit’a blaming yourself for a lotta shit, babe.”

Sunset scowled. “Yeah well, this mess is my fault.”

Gilda sighed but didn’t continue the argument. It was one they’d had before and almost certainly one they would have again. Sunset’s regrets were tied almost as deeply to Canterlot High and what she did to the student body as they were to Princess Celestia. It wasn’t something that was going to be solved by one conversation, just a lot of time and a lot of processing, and Gilda…

Gilda intended to be there for every second of it.

Sliding her arms around Sunset, Gilda pulled her close and buried her face in Sunset’s hair, letting the scent of lilacs and cherries fill her senses. She felt Sunset let out a sigh of her own and wrap her arms around Gilda’s torso, clinging tight to the bigger girl.

“Don’t worry, Sunflower,” Gilda said quietly, “we got this… you’n me.”

Sunset nodded but clung all the tighter to Gilda as Luna glanced back at the pair. Gilda in her bomber jacket and Sunset in a faded sweater curled together and looking for all the world like the most normal pair of teenagers.

Luna grimaced at the thought. They were normal teenagers, for most intents and purposes. Neither of them wanted to be in the situation they were in and it was terribly unfair that they had to be. As much as Luna wanted to turn her back on what was happening in the distance as thunder cracked and boomed overhead, as much as she wanted to just take the pair home with them and let someone else deal with the danger the fact was… there wasn’t anyone else.

“I’m scared, Gil,” Sunset said in a tiny voice, one that was so small and subdued that it broke Luna’s heart, and Gilda looked little better.

Gilda tightened her embrace around Sunset and nodded. “Y-yeah… me too, Sunshine, I’m fuckin’ terrified… but…”

“I know,” Sunset said softly. “I know we have to do something but… I can’t lose you, Gil… I just can’t,” the last word came out as a sob, and Sunset gripped tight onto the shoulders of Gilda’s jacket.

Tonight, with the wind and thunder and lightning, all Sunset could think was that it was just like her dreams, just like her nightmares, and the thought of it was almost paralyzing. Was this it? Was this the night it happened? Was tonight the night that her nightmare visions would become reality? Would she see the love of her life pursued through the storm only to be struck down?

“I don’t think I’d survive it, Gil,” Sunset cried. “I really think if you… if something happened to you, I really think it’d kill me.”

Luna and Celestia waited to hear Gilda reply, to hear her give her usual comfort to Sunset. There were no words that came, no harsh raspy laughter, or cocky remarks.

Instead, there was just another, soft, broken sob. Luna glanced back again as the rain began to fall in pounding sheets around them, and saw Gilda with her arms crossed around Sunset, face buried in Sunset’s hair, with her shoulder shaking and tears dripping down her cheeks.

“Sister…” Luna said softly.

“I know, Lulu,” Celestia said through gritted teeth. “I know.”

It was like a fist-sized rock had been lodged in Celestia’s chest, listening to the two girls in her backseat cry. They were so scared and there wasn’t a single ounce of that fear for themselves. They weren’t scared of being hurt, or of fighting, or even of dying.

They cried because each was so scared of losing the other. Of the other being hurt.

“Girls…” Celestia said, trying her absolute best to keep her voice from cracking with the tears building in the corners of her eyes. “We can turn around… we can leave, I won’t make you do this.”

The quiet cries from the back softened for a moment, and it was Sunset who eventually broke the silence.

“We can’t do that, auntie,” Sunset said in a raw voice. “We have to go there, we have to know… there’s no one else.”

“If it’s him,” Gilda joined in, her voice as hard as iron, “if it's my pops then… it’s gotta be us.”

Celestia took a deep shuddering breath as tears slid down her own cheeks.

“I am… so proud of you girls,” Celestia sobbed out, her hands tightening on the wheel of the car. “If I ever had daughters I’d hope and pray that they had even a fraction of your strength and character, so understand, no matter what happens, that I… that we are so very proud of you two.”

Luna nodded along, gritting her teeth as her hands curled into fists so tightly that she felt a pinch of pain.

A shape resolved out of the darkness a moment later alongside the road, and Luna jerked up at the sight of it. “Tia, there!”

“I see it, Lu,” Celestia replied, pulling off to the side of the road just behind the station wagon that had been haphazardly parked by the side of an open meadow near the Everfree. “It looks familiar.”

“No,” Sunset hissed venomously as her eyes fixed on the parked vehicle, and Celestia and Luna both snapped their heads around to look at her.

Sunset’s face had gone pale as she scrabbled out of Gilda’s arms. “Get my wheelchair out, now!” she snapped

Gilda got out and unfolded the chair, helping an impatient Sunset Shimmer into it as the four women pulled on gloves and pulled their coats closer around themselves to ward off the wind. The rain had abated, in a certain sense, but only because it was clear that they were now in the eye of the storm. Dark clouds twisted around them like the bars of a cage, and the wind ripped and bit at any exposed skin or loose clothing as Chrysalis’ Lotus pulled in behind them after being flagged down by Celestia.

“Babe? What’s the matter?” Gilda asked, half-shouting over the howling wind as Sunset gripped the wheels of her chair the moment she was settled and rolled over to the station wagon. “Sunny what the fuck is goin’ on!?”

Sunset stopped just behind the older car and stared with wide eyes. “No, no, no, Dash you fucking idiot!” Sunset shrieked at the parked station wagon. “WHY IS IT YOU?! WHY IS IT ALWAYS YOU?!”

Reaching into her jacket, Sunset pulled out a small smooth, black stone and held it to her lips. Gilda saw her whisper something to the rock and suddenly it began to glow faintly.

Tossing the stone into the air, Sunset snarled: “Find her!”

The rock snapped off towards the inner part of the meadow like it had been loaded into a slingshot.

“Sunny what-” Gilda approached, but Sunset had already turned and started following the trail of faint red sparks that the stone had left in its wake. “Shit, I guess that’s that.”

Pulling her phone out, Gilda sent out a quick text before sprinting after Sunset, marveling at how quick the girl was moving on the wet grass.

“Fuckin’ magic,” Gilda grumbled.

~Everfree Verge, February 19th, Evening~

“Uh… here goes nothing?”

Rainbow Dash did not like the fact that Twilight made that sound like a question and a quick glance at Lightning proved she shared Dash’s misgivings. None of them had any time to make an alternate suggestion though, because Zee clearly didn’t have the time for it.

“What the fu-” Lightning muttered, trailing off as she watched pale, translucent purple-and-green tendrils, like hundreds of living cords and wires, slither out from behind a small, ancient-looking bell set inside Twilight’s odd bauble.

“Back it up, Dusty,” Rainbow set a hand on Lightning’s shoulder and pulled Lightning Dust away from Zee’s thrashing form.

Twilight’s conjured tendrils slithered through the air towards the tormented girl, probing around her for a few moments before finally arching back and lancing towards Zee. The tendrils stuck fast into Zee’s flesh, linking with her and within seconds her thrashing began to diminish as coils of energy wound themselves up and around the tendrils towards Twilight’s strange machine.

It was clearly not going perfectly, though, as Twilight scowled and trembled, sweating profusely as she seemed on the edge of passing out.

Sprinting up to Twilight with Lightning Dust hot on her heels, Rainbow stopped herself before touching her, not sure if it would break the lavender girl’s concentration.

“What can I do?” Rainbow asked softly.

Twilight’s eyes flicked towards Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust, and both of them could see the raw panic in her eyes.

“I… I don’t know,” Twilight croaked. “It hurts, Dash… it’s never hurt before… I don’t know if I can do this twice in one day!”

“What happens if it goes wrong?” Lightning asked, stepping up beside Rainbow. “What are you even doing?”

“It's complicated, but tee-el-dee-ar? Zee is overloading because of the armbands she’s wearing, and I have to use this to siphon the excess but…” Twilight swallowed hard as another tremor wracked her body, “but I’ve never done it twice in one day! If it goes wrong the discharge could hit the whole meadow!”

“Yeah, I… I can guess what that means,” Lightning replied, looking pale before looking back to Dash. “What do we do?”

Before Dash could answer, Zee’s voice snapped out from the ground. “Fuckin’ run, mates… tha’s what ye do… get t’fuck outta here and take our lass wif ye.”

Her voice was hard and cracked and, behind it, there was an almost electrical buzz and whine.

“NO!” Twilight cried, tears streaking down her face. “I’m not leaving you, Zee! I’m never going to leave you, okay? I’ll save you!”

“Get t’fuck outta here!” Zee roared, her body convulsing as snapping arcs of electricity scorched the earth around her. “I can feel it… it’s all gone wrong! Get out!”

“No! This is my fault!” Twilight sobbed. “I made us stay! I got us into this! I won’t be the reason you… you…”

Rainbow narrowed her eyes and then stepped up and, following her instincts, clapped her hand on Twilight’s shoulder.

For a brief moment, she was positive she had made the wrong decision because suddenly absolutely everything hurt. Rainbow Dash screamed as electrical current roared through her, and it felt like she was being lit on fire from the inside out but… It was familiar, too…

Rainbow felt this power back when the unbridled force of the Elements of Harmony was surging through them, during the Fall Formal and during the Battle of the Bands, but it was different. Back then it was focused, all drawn towards a central point and it flowed like a raging river, here though… it was like there was no focus, no goal, just power.

“Focus!” Rainbow roared, gritting her teeth through the pain. “Magic is alive, you gotta focus on it, and focus on what makes you who you are! The magic will figure it out from there!”

“What does that even mean?!” Twilight cried.

“It means focus on everything that makes the world real for you!” Rainbow snapped, and she closed her eyes.

For a moment, her old reflexes took over, the ones from when she and her friends would Pony Up. She thought of how each of their magics felt, the bubbly, airy feeling of Pinkie’s laughter, the insistent, gentle strength of Fluttershy’s kindness, the quite, iron presence of Applejack’s honesty, the warm, encompassing pressure of Rarity’s generosity, the blinding, living spark of her Twilight’s magic, and…

Sunset.

She was like pure, fiery passion, but it wasn’t a terrible heat and it didn’t burn. It was like a hearth, a feeling of home, and of welcome. A feeling like no matter where she wandered, or what she did, she could always… always come home.

Whatever equilibrium Rainbow had gained flew apart like a shattered window at the thought of the girl with red-and-gold hair and Rainbow screamed again as the electrical energy blasted through her.

Darkness filled Dash’s soul and suddenly she was choking, she was drowning, she was alone and she was going to die that way… she was alone… she was al-

A warm grip suddenly appeared on the edges of Rainbow’s senses as someone took her free hand, and Rainbow snapped back to reality as Lightning cried out in pain. She was standing right next to Rainbow Dash, both hands clasped around Rainbow’s hand.

“I’m not leaving you either!” Lightning shouted through the pain. “I’m never giving up on you, Dash! I chased you for years! I’m not losing you now!”

“Lightning…” Dash stared over at the amber-haired girl who was smiling through a rictus of pain. “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry!”

“It’s okay,” Lightning replied, her tears crackling and evaporating before they had a chance to fall. “You’ll never leave me either, right?”

Rainbow gripped Twilight shoulder and Lightning Dust’s hands harder, glancing between the two girls, and Zee on the ground, linked to Twilight through her spell, before finally looking back at Lightning Dust.

“Never,” Rainbow hissed as pain shot through her. “I’ll never leave anyone hanging ever again!”

“I can’t hold on!” Twilight cried, her body shaking violently. “I’m gonna lose it!”

“We’re here!” Rainbow roared. “We got this! We’re not leaving anyone behind! We’ve got-”

Whatever Rainbow was about to say next was lost as the reinforced casing of Twilight’s machine snapped clean in half, and her entire world turned white.

“Wait!” Gilda called out, sprinting across the field in Sunset’s wake.

Somehow, Sunset had managed to tear past all of the soaking wet grass towards a pillar of smoke that rose up near the middle of the field. That question of ‘how’ was answered as Gilda finally managed to catch up and saw Sunset, her body and chair limned faintly in teal light. She had gotten ahead because she hadn’t been touching the ground at all.

“How-” Gilda muttered.

“Can’t you feel it?” Sunset asked, not turning around but staring down at the crater. “The magic here… it’s dense, it’s so dense and it’s all tainted. I can barely breathe, Gil… it’s like someone covered everything in a foot-thick sheet of whale blubber, everything feels… wrong.”

Gilda licked her lips as she glanced around. For certain, she could feel… something. There was a spark in the air, a metal stink like lightning had struck the ground countless times, although they’d definitely seen something like lightning strike here back at the diner.

But Sunset was right; there was something else.

Something… dark.

“What is it?” Gilda asked, slowly moving to Sunset’s side and staring down at the crater.

Sunset gripped the arms of her chair tightly and scowled. “Dark magic… tainted magic… like the kind that… that…”

“That turned ya into a demon, huh?” Gilda finished, and Sunset flinched. “S-Sorry, I know…”

“No, you’re right,” Sunset replied. “But this… this place makes what I did look like foal’s play, the magical particles in the air here are so dense I…”

Her last words came out in a choking sob, and Gilda looked over at Sunset. Tears were streaming down the redhead’s cheeks as she shook perceptibly in her chair, one hand covering her mouth and her eyes wide and haunted.

“There’s so much power, here, Gil,” Sunset breathed. “I can taste it… it’s like I’ve been starving all this time and suddenly… suddenly I can eat as much as I want!”

Holding up her hand, Sunset’s smiled turned glassy and stretched as she flicked her fingers, releasing a pulse of teal energy and lighting a flame in her palm. It flickered and danced and glowed a searing, blinding white. Stretching her fingers, Sunset pursed her lips and blew softly as if over a birthday cake.

The little flame blossomed into a pillar of pale fire that stretched several feet into the air, and Gilda staggered back at the overwhelming heat. Thunder cracked around Sunset as the extreme hot and cold air struck one another like a hammer to an anvil.

Gilda’s eyes widened. “S-Sunshine?”

“I don’t… I don’t want to, though,” Sunset cried, her face falling as her shaking redoubled and the pillar of flame wavered and sputtered out. “I don’t want to be her again… I can’t… I can’t do that again, I want it so bad, though, Gil…”

Gilda clenched her jaw and stepped in front of Sunset, reaching out to wipe the tears from her cheeks.

“You say the word, and we’re fuckin’ gone, babe,” Gilda said softly, running her thumb over Sunset’s warm, soft skin. “Fuck Canterlot and fuck this whole world, savvy? You say the word, and I’ll run as far away from here with ya as y’want.”

Sunset took several shuddering breaths as she looked up at Gilda, and at the unwavering and absolute loyalty in her eyes, and a part of her wondered if that was the Elements influence or…

‘I don’t need a magical artifact to be kind, right?’

Of all things, Fluttershy’s words to Vinyl and Octavia were the ones to come back to her.

No, it wasn’t the Element making Gilda loyal, it was Gilda who was worthy of the Element because she was loyal. Because this was just the kind of person Gilda was. Sunset knew that Gilda wasn’t just testing her, or making a hollow offer. Sunset knew that Gilda would do exactly what she had just promised to do and that all Sunset had to do was ask it of her.

To leave, to go somewhere they could live in peace. Somewhere they could be away from the threat of magic and all the awful things it had brought into Sunset’s life. To be free of the responsibility of the Elements and to just forget everything and be normal. To not be a sorceress or an Element-bearer or a hero.

To just be… Gilda’s wife.

To run away.

Sunset closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out in a slow, calming stream of air as she brought her hands up to cover Gilda’s, taking comfort in their strength and warmth.

“Sunset Shimmer doesn’t run away,” Sunset said firmly as she opened her eyes and stared back up at Gilda. “And neither does Gilda Grimfeather, right?”

Gilda smiled.

A smile that vanished in a flash as her hackles went up. Before even Sunset could react, Gilda had spun around, her wings erupting from her back with a pulse of magical force as she released Huracán with a deafening snap of metal just as an arching pulse of electricity tore out of the smoke towards the pair only to be caught on the tip of Gilda’s spear like a lightning rod and deflected into the ground.

“Gilda~,” a voice hissed from inside the fading smoke.

The voice sent a chill of terror up Sunset’s spine and suddenly she wasn’t so sure that she had made the right choice. There was something about that voice… something horribly familiar, like something from a dream.

Or from a nightmare.

Now it was Gilda’s turn to start shaking as a dark and tattooed figure emerged from the smoke. A scorched dress flickered around her slender frame as she stepped out into the storming winds. The faint, inconstant illumination of the lightning strikes in the distance reflected strangely off of the gauntlets that covered her arms to the shoulder. Pale white hair that was a terribly familiar snowy shade fell across half of her face, covering one eye but leaving the other one wide open and fixed on Gilda with a mad intensity.

A single, golden eye.

“Z-Zee?” Gilda whispered softly, her whole body was frozen still as she worked her jaw, trying to find any words that could convey the torment of emotions she was feeling. “You… you’re alive… y’really alive?”

“Arh,” Zee growled as lightning snapped and coiled around her body, “no fuckin’ thanks t’you, GILDA!”

With a wordless roar, Zee snapped her arms out and coruscating arcs of electricity danced between the metal gauntlets for a brief moment before surging out in a stream of unbridled power that was aimed straight at Gilda.

An angled plane of teal force appeared in front of Gilda in the split-second before the ravening energy struck, intercepting the blast. Gilda shot a look back to see Sunset holding up her hands and shaking as she used her magic to weather the onslaught Zee was unleashing.

The torrent of blinding energy vanished leaving behind a winded and sagging Zee. Her gauntleted arms hung like lead weights from her shoulders as sweat poured down her face, plastering her hair to her scalp. Zee took a breath as she struggled to straighten, only to sag again.

“Zee, sis…” Gilda said in a quiet voice as she lowered Huracán. “C-C’mon… it’s me… I didn’t… I tried but… Pops… he k-killed ya… he told me-”

“TRAITOR!” Zee roared, raggedly before shooting a glare over her shoulder. “Giz uz more power, our lass! Giz uz more!”

Another figure began to breach the smoking ruin of the meadow and, for a brief moment, Sunset expected it to be Rainbow Dash. A large part of her expected it actually, and she was only about half correct, as the figure that emerged was familiar, but in all the wrong ways.

Her eyes were lit with a furious, lambent shade of cyan fire that licked out from the edges of her eyelids. Dark magic coiled around her entire body in a sickly, serpentine manner that left Sunset’s skin crawling. Her eyes were wide and that familiar, heart-shaped face of hers was framed by a messy waterfall of lavender hair. It was a face of a friend, of someone who had brought Sunset out of her darkest moments.

“T-Twilight?” Sunset said her friend's name, drawing the girl’s gaze.

Raising an eyebrow, Twilight sneered. It was an utterly nasty expression and one that made Sunset’s stomach twist as she saw its form. It was a look that had no place on a face like Twilight’s one made for kindness and gentle reassurance.

“We’ve got to go, Zee,” Twilight said, ignoring Sunset as she turned to look at Zee. “We’ve got them to look after.”

Twilight gestured behind her and only then did Sunset and Gilda see them. Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust were floating, supine, through the air in a sheath of telekinetic force. They looked a little singed, but even from where she was sitting Sunset could tell they were breathing.

For now.

“No,” Zee hissed. “You’ll giz uz that power, pet… that fuckin’ traitor’s not leavin’ my sight til she’s DEAD.”

Something erupted out of Zee at that moment, a monumental presence that seemed to diminish all the world around her. Sunset felt her mouth go dry at the tenebrous shape that grew from Zee’s body and towered over both Gilda and Twilight. The latter barely had time to gasp before the world shuddered around her, and Sunset watched in horror as pure magic was ripped whole from Twilight’s body and straight into Zee. The form that stretched out from Zee’s back laughed in a voice like a distant thunderhead as it devoured the power and funneled it into Zee.

“I know you,” Sunset whispered softly, and the shadow turned to face her. It’s indistinct features seeming to focus on Sunset alone. “You can’t be real, though… you’re a myth, just a foals’ tale.”

There were so many old stories from Equestria’s past, and even further back. Stories from the times of the three tribes, when division plagued the unicorn, pegasus, and earth pony nations when disunity drew down the endless winter and the Wendigo from the north. There were even older stories, too, though, like faerie tales, but stranger… each one a foals’ story told at their bedside and they were all about cartoonishly evil villains being defeated by the power of love and friendship and song: Tirek and the Two Rainbows, The Shadow of Tambelon, the Witch’s Daughters and the Utter Flutter.

But one, in particular, stuck in Sunset’s mind. One that gave her nightmares when she was just a little filly living in the Canterlot Orphanage.

The Shadow-Eater.

A boogey-mare’s story, and one that even as a foal Sunset had found disturbing. The concept of an evil wind that swept up behind bad foals to gobble up their shadows. A laughing, wicked wind that had a name, one that always made Sunset shiver when the keepers of the orphanage would tell the story to the group.

Sunset licked dry lips as she stared at the shadow, and felt her bones quake with its laughter.

‘Say it,’ the shadow seemed to say as two unearthly, burning orbs piercing into Sunset’s soul. ‘Say my name…’

“Arabus,” Sunset murmured in a voice so small that the wind stole it away.

“Babe?” Gilda glanced back worriedly at Sunset.

The form shuddered, it’s shoulders seeming to shake as that thunderous laughter boomed from around Zee’s body.

“Gilda… we need to run,” Sunset said in a frail voice. “This was a mistake… I made a terrible, terrible mistake… we’ve gotta get out of here now!”

“Yer not goin’ anywhere, pal,” Zee hissed.

Raising her hands, Zee ran her fingers through her hair as pure magic coruscated across her body. Her pale hair stood in a wild mohawk, held aloft by the electrostatic energy pouring off of her slender frame. Lashing her arms down, bolts of lightning crashed out from her fists to rip the ground up around her as she stalked towards Gilda and Sunset, her face a grinning rictus of hatred.

“Gilda let's go!” Sunset cried. “That’s not your sister!”

Any answer Gilda had was interrupted by a bolt of lightning. Reflexes from months of training and years of fighting, multiplied by the powers of her Element, snapped to the fore as Gilda spun Huracán and caught the bolt, casting it into the ground. Arc after arc of blinding white energy flew from Zee’s hands as she roared her rage out, each bolt caught by the tip of the storm-forged spear and dispersed harmlessly into the ground.

“I ain’t leavin’ my sister again, Sunset,” Gilda said in a low voice, “never again.”

Sunset felt her heart clench at Gilda’s words and tone. ‘Sunset’ she had called her. Not Sunshine, not Sunflower, but Sunset.

“I…” Sunset stammered, but her words were ripped away by a scream of manifold rage from Zee.

“GILDA!” Zee roared.

A crash of thunder boomed through the meadow as arcs of electricity spat out from Zee’s back, and for a moment, Sunset thought they looked almost like wings. If she closed her eyes, the image burned there from the intensity of the light and shadow gave the distinct impression of coiling wings of light.

The moment passed and suddenly Zee moved, barreling towards Gilda with her fists raised and the ground around her cracking and blackening from her passage. Sunset gripped her fists, calling up her magic as quickly as she could but Zee was far too fast.

The clangor of metal impacting metal erupted throughout the meadow as Gilda deflected Zee’s frontal assault. The shorter, younger Grimfeather moved in a blur of fists wreathed in crackling blue-and-white lightning as her older sister desperately spun and twisted the Huracán to catch, turn, and spoil each attack, and soon Gilda was breathing hard as she did her level best to keep Zee at bay.

“FIGHT ME!” Zee screamed, “FIGHT ME OR I’LL KILL Y’BOTH!”

“Don’t do this, Zee!” Gilda cried as she snapped the Huracán in a wide stroke, forcing Zee back. Gilda was painfully aware that her girlfriend was mere feet behind her and if she missed even one attack from Zee… “Don’t make me do this!”

“Y’already killed me once, Gils…” Zee spat. “Wha’s one more for the road, ey?”

Zee’s eyes flicked over Gilda’s form, and her face fell as her eyes lingered on Gilda’s right wrist where a faint shine of gold and gems reflected the strange light crackling off of the both of them.

“S’a fancy bit’a glitz ye got there, Gils,” Zee said, her voice suddenly dropping to a toneless drawl. “Don’t remember ye wearin’ nowt like tha’.”

Gilda’s voice stuck in her throat as Zee’s eyes drifted over to Sunset.

“Guessin’ tha’s yer lass, aye?” Zee said, an ugly smirk growing over her face.

“Don’t you fuckin’ look at her,” Gilda hissed, true anger entering her voice for the first time. “This is ‘tween you’n me, Zee, don’t you dare fuckin’ look at her!”

“Guess ye’ll ‘afta fight me arter all, then, Gils,” Zee said, her smirk growing into a humorless, shark-like smile.

In an instant Zee was gone, her body accelerating and blackening the grass around her as she circled around Gilda with blinding speed. A second later, a bolt of lightning shot out at Sunset from her left, and only Zee’s threats had given Sunset enough time to raise her shield. It was a quick and dirty defense, absorbing the blast with plates of hard, ablative conjured force that shattered under the attack.

“NO!” Gilda screamed as Sunset threw up another shield on instinct the moment her first went down.

It shattered an instant later as Zee’s follow-up one-two bolts hammered through them.

“Don’t you FUCKING TOUCH HER!” Gilda shrieked, her wings billowing out and firing her towards Zee, the black flint-and-gold eyes of her Ponied form tracking the motions of her younger sister.

“GILDA WAIT!” Sunset cried as the taller girl tore off into the sky after her sister. “No… no, no, no…” Sunset mumbled as she stared up into the skies and watched the two indistinct shapes battle, her head pounding with the sudden use of so much magic. “It’s happening… It’s… I can’t let it happen like this!”

She needed the Elements of Harmony but… but they weren’t here. Sunset had brought everyone to this place, into this danger, lacking their greatest weapon. If she had the rest of the girls here she might have been able to defeat Zee, maybe even help her, because right now Gilda’s sister was riding the dark magic high of being half-fused to an artifact that might very well be the final remains of a demon out of Equestrian antiquity.

Wringing her hands and gripping her hair to the point of almost tearing it out, Sunset let out a low moan of despair.

In the skies above the meadow, a war was being fought as Gilda wheeled through the winds that whipped violently around, the higher she went the more rain there was too, and it pelted her face like hail as she strained her wings to keep up with her sister.

Zee moved like a firefly, held aloft in a crackling mantle of electromagnetic energy and magical force, and she was fast.

“GILDA!” Zee roared.

It was the only warning Gilda got as she spun about to face the oncoming threat, and the air around her crackled violently as Zee slammed into her fist first. Her gauntleted knuckles crashed and crackled against the unyielding metal haft of Gilda’s spear.

Arcs of lightning spat and sparked between the two sisters as they clashed, and Zee let out another wordless yell of rage as she gripped the haft of Huracán with her free hand.

“I’ll put you down, Gils,” Zee snarled, “and I’ll send that redhead slag’a yours right on after ye.”

Gilda roared back as she leveraged the full weight of her body and her greater strength, swinging Zee through the air like a rag doll before bolting after her, the tip of the Huracán spitting sparks as it clove the air. Zee cackled wildly as she met Gilda’s charge, catching Huracán’s deadly tip on the curve of her right vambrace and sending it skittering awkwardly down the length of the gauntlet. The force sent Zee back but Gilda’s momentum carried her along for the ride; enough that Zee put a surge of energy into her left arm and rocketed it forward to slug Gilda across the face.

A sound like a thunderclap split the air as Gilda spun out and away. Gilda tried to clear her ringing head as she righted herself, but she knew she was on the back heel. Flapping her wings, she wheeled and spun in the air as the living livewire that was her sister bolted to and fro behind her in a chaotic pattern that Gilda couldn’t read.

All she knew was that Zee was getting closer no matter how hard she tried to evade and that eventually she would be caught. A faint tickle of static on the back of her neck sent a jolt through Gilda’s instincts and she whirled about, bringing up Huracán to guard just as Zee impacted hard carrying a fistful of lightning.

A crash of light and thunder from above Sunset preceded a cry of pain as two figures came crashing down from the sky. Sunset’s eyes were barely able to pick out Zee wrestling with Gilda, her gauntleted hands gripping the haft of Huracán and trying to tear it from Gilda’s grip as they fought over it, finally impacting the ground.

A crash of lightning from above her preceded a cry of pain as two figures came crashing down from the sky. Sunset’s eyes were barely able to pick out Zee wrestling with Gilda, her gauntleted hands gripping the haft of Huracán and trying to tear it from Gilda’s grip as they fought over it, finally impacting the ground.

A loud crack sounded and Sunset felt her heart leap into her throat as she recognized Gilda’s voice in pain. Gripping her wheels, Sunset cursed her condition and tried to roll towards the pair as Zee was the first to stagger drunkenly to her feet. Sunset flinched as she saw Gilda try and push herself up, her wings bent at odd angles from the impact.

Zee spat a glob of bloody phlegm onto Gilda and kicked her arms out from under her, sweeping one arm down to grab Gilda’s right arm and lift it up as Gilda dropped to the ground.

“She must really love ye t’give ye glitter like this, Gils,” Zee croaked as her grip tightened on Gilda’s forearm. “Wha’say we make it a little more permanent, aye?”

All Sunset heard was a deafening boom of thunder, the crackle of electricity, and a gut-wrenching, utterly overwhelming scream of pain. At that moment, Sunset’s whole world went red with rage as magic roared out of her like a geyser. Her wheelchair sagged and fused into molten slag as she pushed herself up, buffeted on heated air that coiled around like cushions as thermal energy leaked from her eyes and dripping embers from her fingertips.

Her eyes caught the last bit… they caught Zee smirking coldly down at Gilda as she let go of something that was blackened, burnt, and… and… Sunset’s stomach twisted horrendously and all of a sudden her anger was reflected a thousandfold.

“GILDA!” Sunset shrieked.

Zee had a brief moment to glance up, witnessing no less than an avatar of light and fire in front of her, and at that moment something broke through the inebriated cocktail of dark magic that was currently pickling her mind… a single, primal, overwhelming urge.

Run.

She never got a chance.

A beam of pure, blinding white light punched Zee full in the chest with the force of a champion boxer’s haymaker, sending her flying backwards, and instinct told Zee that whatever magic was in the gauntlets was the only reason that the beam hadn’t seared through her. The bolt of solid light left Zee feeling like she been just sideswiped by a passing I-beam as she gasped agonizingly, and felt as much as heard the crackling in her chest that informed her in no uncertain terms that she had multiple broken ribs.

Before Zee could even begin pushing herself to her feet, a faint teal light appeared around her followed quickly by a sensation like a dozen super-heated bands of iron clenching around her and lifting her bodily from the divot that her impact had dug into the damp dirt, leaving her flailing helplessly in the air.

Zee’s eyes widened as something unearthly hovered in front of her.

The girl that had been in the wheelchair earlier, Sunset Shimmer, was burning. Her amber skin was lit from within making her flesh seem almost gem-like, and her hair whipped and snapped in the coiling sirocco caused by the heat she was emitting.

Her eyes were the worst though, and they drove a cold spike of fear into Zee’s heart: cold and blue… and so much like her foster father’s. Nothing so much as two pitiless shards of blue ice driving into her soul.

“I know Storm King sent you, but I don’t care...” Sunset hissed through gritted teeth as she drifted forward, “because if he comes looking for you the only thing he’ll know you by is whatever ruin I leave smote upon the ground.”

Zee choked and sputtered as she flailed in the invisible grip of Sunset’s magic, her eyes widening as the girl she’d all but written off as a cripple floated closer carried on a thermal of rage.

“And if he wants revenge? If he comes for me?” Sunset clenched her jaw and raised her fist as a writhing mass of flame, like a miniature sun, was conjured several feet above Zee’s head.

“He’ll know me by my trail of flames.”

Sunset swung her hand down like the smile of a headsman’s ax in the same moment she released Zee, dropping her roughly to the ground as the fireball detonated downwards in a spear of liquid light.

Tears streamed from Sunset’s eyes, hissing into steam before they reached halfway down her cheeks as she hemorrhaged the flames of her rage into her spell. A part of her asked what Gilda would think… there wasn’t anything on this null-magic world that could survive this kind of heat, and Sunset damn well knew that. Gilda might never forgive her but…

‘I will do whatever it takes to protect you,’ Sunset swore mentally. ‘No… no matter what.’

Something was wrong. The thought came to Sunset as her spell tapered off. She could feel something under the cascade of molten energy: something solid, if a little brittle. Snapping her hand and banishing the rest of the spell, the light faded to reveal a hemispherical dome of pure opaque shadow, and a heavily panting Twilight Sparkle underneath it with her hands outstretched, her legs trembling and sweat streaming down her face standing protectively over Zee’s prone form.

The barrier collapsed a moment later and Twilight with it as she fell on top of Zee and wrapped her arms around the burnt and wounded girl.

“C’mon babe, the others are safe, we gotta go!” Twilight sobbed as she pulled Zee’s unmoving form to her breast.

Sunset snarled, lambent fury lighting in her chest as she felt the beginnings of a teleportation and instantly Sunset understood how Twilight had gotten to Zee in time to save her. The skin of the world began thinning around the two girls as Sunset let out a scream of rage.

“NO!” Sunset shrieked, tears falling as she snapped a hand up to conjure a spear of molten light. “You don’t get to get away! You don’t get to just hurt her and get away from me!”

Reality boiled around Twilight and Zee as Sunset loosed the bolt, but in the moments before it reached them there was a sickening crack and they vanished, leaving the bolt to erupt through the empty space they had occupied a split-second ago and strike the ground behind it with a deafening explosion.

Sunset hung in the air for a moment, breathing hard as her jaw went slack and she stared at the emptiness in front of her. They were gone… they had gotten away… she’d… she’d let them get away.

Seconds later, Sunset felt the wind go out from her as the magic in the air bled away. She had nothing left… everything she had been wielding she had been drawing from the magically saturated air around them that had been left over from the thaumic flare, but now, with the sources of that flare having fled, the energy in the area was dispersing naturally, stretching itself thin over the whole region and sinking into the magicless soil like water being dumped into desert sand.

A moment later, it was gone… all the magic and all the power Sunset had been gripping had faded leaving her empty with a gnawing hunger in her soul. A broken sob escaped her as the last vestiges of her spells collapsed, taking her down to the ground with it.

“G-Gilda…” Sunset sobbed as she turned back to the crater from where she and Zee had landed earlier.

Gripping the damp grass and dirt, Sunset began crawling towards it, dragging herself forward as she heaved frigid air into her abused lungs. The journey felt impossibly long, though she wasn’t more than a few dozen feet away; Sunset had never cursed her legs more than she did at that moment.

Hand over hand… wincing as she felt her raw hands crying out in pain from the cold and wet ground.

“Gilda… please~” Sunset cried as she reached the edge of the crater. “Please… answer me!”

Taking a deep breath, Sunset pulled herself over the edge and tumbled roughly into the open wound in the earth.

At the bottom of the crater, she was there… and Sunset let out a wordless cry as she saw the state Gilda had been left in. Her right arm looked like it had been struck repeatedly by lightning and her whole body was covered in scars radiating out from her right shoulder across her face, and presumably down her torso, that resembled bolts of lightning themselves.

“B-baby?” Sunset sobbed as she crawled over Gilda and pressed one hand to Gilda’s cheek, with the other gently shaking Gilda’s shoulder. “Baby? Please… please wake up…”

There was no response, and Sunset tightened her grip on Gilda’s jacket as she buried her face in Gilda’s chest.

“Please, baby, I can’t do this without you…” Sunset begged. “You can’t leave me… you can’t… I’m not strong enough.” Sunset’s breath caught in her throat as hot tears fell from her eyes and soaked into the leather jacket. “Please… come back to me, Gilda… please…”

Sunset’s eyes snapped open as she felt it. A faint susurration, a heartbeat… so weak that it was barely there, how weak it was didn’t matter though, all that mattered was that it was there.

It wouldn’t be for long, though. Sunset knew Gilda was fading fast and there was no time to get her to the hospital.

“Magic…” Sunset muttered. “Gilda has a wellspring, even if it’s weak it could… but there isn’t any magic left!”

But there had been.

Sunset sobbed as she collapsed onto Gilda. If she had just gone to Gilda first… if she hadn’t let her temper control her again then she would have had more than enough magic to perform a transfer, enough to refill Gilda’s wellspring a dozen times over, and enough time to get her to the hospital just like Gilda had done for her months ago.

‘But no… what did I do instead?’ Sunset cursed bitterly, ‘I did the same thing I always do when things go wrong: I got mad and I threw a fucking tantrum.’

And this time not only had she failed to stop the person who had hurt, maybe worse than hurt, the most important person in her entire life… Sunset had probably signed off on Gilda’s death warrant herself.

Sunset’s breath came in deep, gulping sobs as she let out an agonizing scream of rage and despair as she buried her face in Gilda’s chest again, tangling her fingers into her hair and gripping as she tried to let out all the darkness that was coiling inside her like a python strangling her heart.

Her fingers came to rest on something cold and metal in her hair, and Sunset’s eyes flew wide.

“Magic…” Sunset whispered, barely daring to hope. “Maybe… maybe it’s enough.”

Tightening her grip on the twin runes that were pinned into her hair, Sunset prayed to whatever deity governed this horrible world, if there was one, that it would be enough.

“I don’t care if it means I have nightmares every single time I close my eyes,” Sunset cried as she began pulling on the threads of magic that were circulating through the runes and keeping them active. “So long as you’re there when I open them.”

The runes turned to dust as Sunset ripped the magic from them, gripping the glowing star of arcane energy in her fist, she pressed her hands to Gilda’s heart and let it flow into her wellspring directly. She had no idea if it would work or if there would be enough there to matter, but it was all she could do.

All Sunset could do as all of the stolen hours of sleep she’d kept at bay with her now-disintegrated Slumbernot rune slammed into her at once was pray that, when she opened her eyes, Gilda would be there too.

Sunset collapsed as her limbs turned to lead and her body went numb with exhaustion, and she curled around Gilda’s form as the last of her magic seeped away. Sleep dragged Sunset down to unconsciousness with the weight of iron chains, and her last thought was a prayer that when she woke up, it would be to the sight of gold eyes, and the smell of smoke and leather.

23. Suddenly The Sky Erupts

~oOo~

“I’ve been dreaming a lot lately,” I say, resting my hand on the warm cup of coffee in front of me.

A song is playing over the sound system, it’s a beautiful song, wordless and nostalgic and it’s so easy to get lost in it; in those familiar, dulcet voices.

“Tell me about your dreams.”

I blink away my fugue and turn back to my companion, but she’s so bright and so… much, that I can barely make out her outline, but I don’t need to see her, we already know each other, don’t we? And besides, the world is hazy and it’s so hard to focus that I decide to look back down at my drink instead.

“I dream of storms,” I reply, and I feel my head spinning slightly as I try to pick up the coffee. I pull my hand back thinking better of it, and the spinning stops.

“You’re not dreaming of storms, you’re dreaming of a storm.”

I raise an eyebrow. “What’s the difference?”

“Well it’s a specific one isn’t it?”

“I guess so,” I say quietly, “but… does it matter?”

“I should think so.”

The song is distant, but I have a feeling like someone in the back room is turning up the volume. I hadn’t realised it but it had been difficult to hear the song before now.

“That’s fair,” I reply, before furrowing my brow and looking around, suddenly realising that I couldn’t properly account for when I’d come in here. “When did we come to Cuppa’s?”

“Are we at Cuppa’s?”

“Y-yeah, we’re…” I look around, and the world is so hazy. “I think… aren’t we?”

“Well, if you say so then I suppose we must be.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.

“You mustn’t blame yourself you know.”

I blink in confusion before turning back to them. “What do you mean?”

“I mean you, Sunset… you mustn’t blame yourself.”

“If I don’t blame myself who will?” I ask, feeling bitterness flood into my voice. “It’s my fault, isn’t it? Stealing the crown, hurting all of those people, and… Gilda…”

My head hurts and everything is spinning, the song is loud… too loud… I really wish someone would turn it down. The music is beautiful but it’s too damn loud.

“What are you looking for, Sunset Shimmer?”

“I don’t know!” I hiss, clutching my head as a dull ringing sound pierces the air. “I want… I…”

“What do you want?”

“To be… forgiven,” I say, and the music dies down a little. Sighing in relief as I blink tears from my eyes, I nod to myself. “I just… I want to be forgiven.”

“You have been.”

“THEN WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!” I cry as the song’s volume suddenly rises shuddering as the world quakes around me and lightning and thunder crash in the distance.

“I want you to know who you are.”

“I’m… I’m…” I groan incoherently as a sharp pain grows between my eyes. “I’m Sunset Shimmer!”

“Are you sure?”

“I… I just want to be forgiven!” I sob.

“I told you: you have been.”

“Then why do I still feel this way?!” I groan, pressing the heels of my palms into my eyes, trying to blunt the sharpness of the pain.

“Maybe it’s not about being forgiven.”

“Then what is it?!” I say through a veil of tears as I grip my head, the ringing, pounding metronomic song is splitting my skull open. “What… what else is there?”

“Maybe what you’re really looking for isn’t forgiveness, maybe it’s-”

Her last words are drowned out, and all I can hear is the song

~oOo~

~Canterlot General Hospital, February 26th, Morning~

“A~h, ah ah… a~h ah ah… A~h ah ah… A~h a~h...”

A wordless tune crept into Sunset’s sleeping mind like a lullaby, but rather than coaxing her deeper into slumber it instead made an insistent pull on her mind, dragging her out of her comfortable darkness and into the blinding white light of consciousness. The pull was weaker at times and stronger at others, and there were periods where it faded altogether, but never for very long, and each time it began again it sounded a bit nearer and a bit clearer. Each chord and melody was like a warm hand gripping Sunset’s own and pulling her free from a tar pit of cloying exhaustion.

Whether she wanted to be or not.

Begrudgingly, Sunset stirred, and the first thing she realised was that every inch of her hurt. It wasn’t agonizing, but it was certainly noticeable. Her limbs were stiff, and mouth was dry, and it felt as though someone had glued her eyes shut sometime in the night.

“Mmm… mma…” Sunset grunted through lips that felt as though they were stitched together, and she heard faint gasps from around her.

“Oh gosh, she’s awake! Go wake up ‘Dagi!”

The sound of someone scrambling out of a chair filled the air as the feeling of soft, warm hands came to rest on Sunset’s cheek and a thumb slowly brushed over her eyes, letting her blink them open, narrowing her eyes against the sudden glare of light and groaning in pain.

“Oops! Sorry, Sun-bun, hold on!” the familiar voice said, and there was the sound of someone shuffling around for a moment before the lights went out, and only a faint illumination from behind her lit the room.

The dim light was much more tolerable, and Sunset opened her eyes again, carefully this time, to see a slightly bedraggled Sonata Dusk leaning over her.

“Hey there, Sunny-buns, good morning,” Sonata said with a careful smile. “You gave us a big scare.”

Sunset worked her jaw several times, trying to form words around her parched tongue. “G-Gil-da…?”

“She’s alive,” Adagio’s voice came from somewhere to the side, and Sunset glanced over to see the elder siren stepping into the room with a relieved look on her face. “It was touch and go for a bit, but between your infusion to her and the three of us sharing most of our magic I’m happy to say that she made it.”

Aria followed quickly on Adagio’s heels and stepped up next to Sunset’s bedside with a small paper cup of water.

“Here, drink a little if you can,” Aria said softly.

Tipping the cup against Sunset’s lips, Sunset gulped the water down greedily, coughing a little as she tried pushing herself up to a sitting position. She nearly failed, but Sonata leaned in and supported her, sliding her arms around Sunset and lifting her up gently.

“Careful, Sunny,” Sonata said firmly. “You’ve uh… got a catheter so…”

Sunset winced as she glanced around.

There were bright balloons and flowers, so many that the hospital staff had apparently added a table in to support some of them. Arranged around the displays were piles of get-well cards and well-wishing tokens, and directly by her bedside was a familiar photo album.

“W-Where…?” Sunset coughed, but the sisters caught on.

“You’re back at Canterlot General,” Adagio replied with a wry smirk, “you and Gilda both this time. You would not believe how much leverage, from both myself and that odd friend of your Principal’s, it took to get us in so we could refill your wellsprings.”

“How long?” Sunset rasped, and the three sisters shared a concerned look.

“About a week,” Aria replied. “Your Principal and her sister pulled the two of you out of a crater, and at first they thought Gilda was… well…”

“Considering the state she was in when the medivac got to her, I’m not surprised,” Adagio said grimly. “The doctors said they’d never seen a wound like it, and even we haven’t seen that kind of damage since we left Equestria.”

“W-where…?” Sunset glanced around, feeling an absurd amount of panic surging through her chest. “Where is she? Where… ‘Dagi, where’s Gilda?”

Gilda would never have left her side for a moment, Sunset knew that for a fact because she wouldn’t have left Gilda’s either. If Gilda wasn’t here then either she was taking a very inopportune bathroom break or…

“She… she hasn’t woken up yet, Sunny,” Sonata said in a gentle voice, scooting onto the bed next to Sunset and wrapping her arms around the slowly hyperventilating girl. “The doctors… they said she’s stable but…”

“She’ll wake up,” Sunset said in a harsh, hollow voice. “She has to wake up… it’s… it’s my fault she’s-”

“It’s not your fault,” Aria snapped, making a slashing motion with her hand. “You went to investigate and walked into a shitstorm by accident.”

“But I could have gotten us OUT!” Sunset cried, her voice cracking.

A second later, Sunset’s vision spun wildly and she collapsed onto the bed as she desperately tried to keep hold of her consciousness. Dry heaves twisted her stomach in a vice as her body tried to combat the sudden bout of vertigo it was being assaulted with.

All three sisters were at Sunset’s side within moments, holding onto her as she tried to balance herself out again, her vision was still spinning but it was slowly steadying out. Likewise, the pounding in her head was beginning to lessen.

“Slow down, Sunny,” Aria said firmly. “You just got out of a week-long coma, you can’t just work yourself up like that.”

“I… I’ve never felt this bad before,” Sunset gasped. “What’s wrong with me?”

The three girls shared another uneasy glance, and Sunset stared at the trio with concern.

“Girls… give us the room, please?” Adagio said in a soft voice, gesturing to the door.

Sonata and Aria held Adagio’s gaze for a moment before nodding, deferring to the once and future leader of the Dazzlings. Adagio’s gaze gave her silent thanks to her sisters as they passed Sunset by, both of them reaching out to give Sunset a reassuring squeeze of the shoulder before leaving.

Once the door was shut, Adagio pulled a chair up and took a seat next to Sunset, reaching out and taking the amber girl’s hands as she did.

“A-Adagio?” Sunset said in a small, quavering voice. “What’s wrong with me?”

Sighing, Adagio brushed a strand of fiery red hair from Sunset’s face. “It’s your magic, Sunset… you’re almost totally dry. You’re suffering from severe burnout and your body doesn’t know how to cope with it.” Adagio felt Sunset’s hands tighten around her own as she spoke. “This world… it’s so very weak, magically speaking, and… I’m not sure how long it will take for your wellspring to recover naturally.”

‘If it ever does.’

Sunset heard the unspoken words as clearly as if Adagio had shouted them. Burnout was not a small matter even in Equestria where they had doctors trained specifically in dealing with it, and specialised facilities for aiding in recovery from the condition. In a world where magic wasn’t even known beyond works of fiction?

Shakily, Sunset raised her hand and focused hard with all her might. It was just a little light, a candle-flame, that was all she was trying to make, but try as she might, no matter how hard she pushed… nothing came.

“Don’t,” Adagio said softly, closing a hand over Sunset’s. “You barely have enough in you as it is, and it’s probably all that’s keeping you from being an atrophied mess right now… don’t risk using that up, too.”

“But… I just… I just got it back,” Sunset said in a tiny voice.

“I know, and I’m so sorry, Sunny,” Adagio said in a painfully gentle voice. “We did our best to repair as much of the damage to your wellspring as we could while you slept but… it’s up to fate and fortune now to see if it goes anywhere.”

Slowly, Sunset lowered her hand. Her face was pale and bloodless as she stared down at her open palm like it had betrayed her. After several moments Sunset finally looked up at Adagio.

“I… I want to see her,” Sunset said.

“Sunset I don’t think-”

“I WANT TO SEE GILDA!” Sunset snapped as her limbs started shaking, though after several breaths she forced herself to calm down and added: “please…”

Adagio let out a defeated sigh and nodded. “Fine, I suppose if I said no then the moment I turned my back I’d be liable to find you gone from your bed and crawling on the floor.”

Sunset let out a small, hollow chuckle, and nodded.

“I’ll be back with a wheelchair,” Adagio promised as she stood up, smoothing out her skirt before walking out of the room.

Sonata and Aria stepped back in as Adagio left, but Sunset barely noticed their presence. She knew they were just being thoughtful, but at that moment the only thing she could think about was Gilda. Her world was tilted and off-kilter, it was like everything she looked at was just subtly the wrong shade, and Sunset knew it would stay that way until she was next to Gilda.

Wrapping her arms around herself, Sunset shivered as Sonata and Aria put a hand on either of her shoulders. It wasn’t enough… she loved the sisters, she really did, but neither of them was the one she needed.

“Come on then,” Adagio said from the doorway, “help me get her together, ladies.”

Between the three of them, they managed to get Sunset into the chair. Adagio and Aria had even stepped out so that Sonata could remove her IV and catheter, though Sunset was certain she probably wasn’t supposed to do that.

For that matter, Sunset wasn’t even certain how Sonata even knew how to do that in the first place.

“I used to be a nurse,” Sonata said in a quiet voice when Sunset asked, but when she said it her eyes took on a distant, haunted quality, and for a moment her hand drifted up to her neckline before falling back down as Sonata smiled up at the red-head while smoothing out Sunset’s hospital gown. “There, all done.”

“If we get in trouble I’ll tell them it was my idea,” Sunset promised as Aria scooped Sunset up and carried her over to the chair.

“They won’t argue with us, Red,” Aria replied, “Sonata is your ‘personal nurse’.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow, and Sonata laughed a little. “I mi~ght have a medical degree… or four… I lost count sometime around the early nineteenth century.”

“Either way,” Aria cut in, “between your Principal’s special friend and our financial-slash-political clout, we’ve got your papers mostly filed and, fortunately, we were able to get Sonata named as your nurse, and Gilda as your caretaker.”

Sunset nodded gratefully as she was gently deposited into the wheelchair that Adagio had acquired from somewhere. Sunset didn’t particularly care where it had come from, so long as it brought her to Gilda’s side.

Adagio took her place behind Sunset, pushing her out of her room and down the halls.

“Promise me,” Adagio said in a low voice, “that since I’m doing this for you, you’ll do your very best to take it easy.”

“I’ll try,” Sunset replied. “How… how is she?”

Adagio sighed. “Better than she could have been but… well, you’ll see.”

Sunset did not like the sound of that but she knew it would be pointless to argue, she was on her way to see Gilda regardless and, frankly, Adagio was probably right. It would be better for her to see whatever it was herself rather than hear about it second-hand.

“How is everyone?” Sunset asked, keeping her voice low as they passed through the halls.

“Well as can be expected,” Adagio replied, “and worried of course… Penny was beside herself, Octavia put on a strong face but Vinyl was probably the only thing keeping her together.”

“And…?”

Adagio sighed. “The… former Bearers expressed a lot of worry and panic over your condition, enough that I assured them you’d be fine.”

“Stretching the truth a little, aren’t you?” Sunset replied wryly.

“Not at all,” Adagio said firmly, her voice taking on an icy tone. “After all, there’s very little that’s truly dangerous about Slumbernot beyond its cumulative exhaustion, is there?”

Sunset winced. “H-How did you…”

“What you ponies call the Sigilic arts were invented by my kind, Sunnybuns,” Adagio said in a stern voice that held a hint of anger to it, “arts that haven’t meaningfully evolved since their initial creation. Meaning the Slumbernot has been around since some enterprising Siren magister decided he wanted some help pulling an all-nighter. Did you really think I wouldn’t recognise the effects?”

“I’m sorry…” Sunset whispered softly, her voice was small and subdued, and Adagio let out another sigh. “I just… the nightmares, my visions, they came every night, and every night they showed me the same thing: Gilda… being hurt.”

Adagio slowed her movement, and then eventually stopped, and Sunset could hear the faint squeak of the rubber handles under Adagio’s ever-tightening grip. Rather than looking up, she busied herself looking anywhere but at Adagio, focusing instead on the increasingly familiar-looking halls.

“And don’t say there might have been something we could do!” Sunset snapped before Adagio had a chance to speak. “You might be old enough to remember when rocks were soft but I’m a genius and a former supervillain, okay? So give me some credit! There was nothing useful in my visions, everything moved so fast that all I could ever see was wind and rain and storm-clouds, and all I could hear was thunder and someone screaming Gilda’s name like a psychopath!”

By the time Sunset reached the end of her rant she was in tears, her vision was swimming and the dry heaves had returned in full force, prompting Sonata to move quickly to her side to try and keep her stable.

“I tried,” Sunset sobbed, gripping her own sides as she hung her head. “I tried to find a way to stop it but… but it was literally my worst fear playing itself over and over and over again in my dreams every time I slept, and… I… I just couldn’t face it anymore.”

“It’s okay, Sunny,” Sonata said, reaching up to rest her hands on Sunset’s cheeks. “It’s okay… I promise, we’re here for you, we’re not mad.”

“I’m mad,” Adagio grumbled from behind them.

“Okay, well, ‘Dagi’s always a little mad, but I’m not mad,” Sonata said with a small smile, that earned a tiny hiccup of laughter from Sunset. “Even Ari’s not mad and that’s pretty impressive on a good day.”

“Hey!”

Sunset snorted and wiped at her eyes.

“I’m starting to wonder if you shouldn’t have been the Element of Laughter,” Sunset said as she took several deep, calming breaths.

“Nah,” Sonata said, shaking her head as she stood up, rocking playfully back and forth on her heels. “I laugh to hide stuff, that’s not how it’s supposed to work.”

“I… huh?” Sunset blinked in confusion at Sonata’s statement.

“Try not to think about that too hard, Sunnylove,” Adagio said quietly as she put a hand on Sunset’s shoulder. “We’ve all three of us lived far too long to have much real laughter left in us.”

“Anyways,” Aria said in a dry voice. “Ready to head in?”

She jerked her thumb to the side, indicating the simple, nondescript door that Adagio had stopped them all next to and Sunset froze, staring at the door as the siren sisters looked down at her.

“T-that’s… that’s Gilda’s room?” Sunset asked in a careful voice.

“Yeah?” Aria said, crooking an eyebrow. “Something wrong with it?”

“No… it’s just…” Sunset said softly, realising now just why the halls had looked so familiar a moment ago. “That was my room, after my accident I mean.”

“Ominous,” Adagio remarked dryly. “Or maybe Doctor Tourniquet just has a ‘section’.”

Taking a deep breath Sunset reached down and gripped the wheels of her chair. They felt different than those of her old chair and despite how much she’d begrudged its existence, she found herself missing it all the same, if for no other reason than because it had been worn in and comfortable.

Sunset tried to roll herself forward but her whole body protested loudly and painfully.

“You just got out of a coma,” Aria scoffed as she moved to Sunset’s side, smirking at Adagio. “Take it easy.”

“I just… I want to do this myself,” Sunset said. “I… it’s-”

“Just open the door,” Adagio grumbled. “Otherwise this is never going to happen.”

“I’ll take her in,” Sonata said quietly, moving next to Adagio. “You two wait out here, okidoki?” Adagio and Aria shared a look of sisterly communication before looking back at Sonata, but before either of them could speak she said: “Yes, I’m sure.”

Sonata took up Adagio’s place as Aria opened the door, and pushed Sunset through before gently closing the door behind them. Sunset could hear the faint, metronomic beeps of the ECG machine by the bed, a bed that contained the sum total of Sunset’s entire world which was, at that moment, fit to come crashing down around her ears as Sonata parked her at Gilda’s bedside.

Gilda’s breathing was steady and even, thankfully, and the blankets were pulled up and tucked around her. Her snowy hair was a ragged mop, and there were dark circles under her eyes.

“There’s something you should know,” Sonata said in an uncharacteristically serious voice. “Something about Gilda.”

“Tell me,” Sunset said quietly, not looking away from Gilda’s prone form.

“When they got to her… her arm looked like it had been struck by lightning multiple times and…” Sonata sighed and moved around Sunset to pull down the part of the blanket that covered her right side. “There, uhm, there wasn’t a lot more that could be done, Sunny… I’m sorry.”

‘Don’t look,’ Sunset’s mind told her, ‘because it’s not real if you don’t look. If you don’t look then you don’t have to see how much you took from her. You don’t have to… to…’

Sunset slowly turned her head and looked down. Gilda’s gown was tied off just below the shoulder and where her right arm should have been there was… nothing.

“Can you leave me alone with her, please?” Sunset asked, swallowing thickly without looking up.

“Sure thing, Sunny,” Sonata replied quietly, only reaching out to give Sunset’s shoulder a gentle squeeze before turning to leave.

Only when the door had fully shut did Sunset let out the harsh, shuddering breath that had been trapped in her chest. She reached out with a single shaking hand to brush the snowy locks from Gilda’s face, trailing her fingers along the new scars that crawled up the right side of her body. From the soft curve of her neck up to the base of her jaw were pale bolts of lightning drawn in jagged, arching Lichtenberg figures.

A memento of Sunset’s failure.

“I’m sorry,” Sunset whispered quietly into the dark room. “I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you… I tried… but I’m not like Twilight or any of the others… I’m not a hero.” Tears began trickling down Sunset’s cheeks as she traced a finger over Gilda’s cheeks and across her soft lips that Sunset knew so well. “Heroes win, bad guys lose, but what happens when it’s two bad guys fighting? Who wins? Or do we just destroy each other?”

Sighing, Sunset ran her hand gently through Gilda’s hair.

“Maybe that’s what’s meant to happen,” Sunset mused. “I wish…” her words were interrupted by a harsh hiccup as hot tears began pouring in earnest down her face, “I wish I were a hero… I wish I was stronger… I wish… I wish I could have kept you safe.”

Sunset let out a strangled sob as she lowered her head to rest against Gilda’s shoulder, shuddering at the way it terminated unnaturally, and let her tears soak into the uncomfortable hospital gown. Slowly, she wrapped her arms around Gilda, pulling herself closer as she buried her face against the warm shoulder that had taken so many of her tears over the months they’d been together. With infinite care, Sunset reached out and took Gilda’s unmoving hand and drew it over to rest across her back so she could feel Gilda’s touch, her strength, at least a little.

“Part of me says I should leave,” Sunset sobbed, mumbling her words against Gilda’s chest. “That this is my fault and if I just go away you’ll be okay but…”

A faint pressure distracted Sunset from her words. Gilda’s arm had moved, and her hand was curling around Sunset’s side. Glancing up in shock, Sunset searched Gilda’s face for signs of consciousness.

There was nothing. She was still asleep.

And yet…

Sniffling, Sunset smiled a little. “I remember our promise…” she said softly. “I will never give up on you, Gilda Grimfeather, not in a thousand years, and not in all the turnings of the sun and moon.”

Breathing out slowly, Sunset curled against Gilda and sighed. No matter how it would be, no matter how painful, Sunset resolved to be there for every moment of Gilda’s pain when she woke up just like Gilda had been for her.

Several hours passed, with the Sirens periodically checking in and one frantic moment of Doctor Tourniquet grumpily discovering his comatose patient had not only woken up but been moved without his say-so, only being mollified by Sonata’s presence and promise to look after Sunset. It was late into the evening when a knock came at the door to the hospital room, drawing Sunset’s gaze over as she sleepily blinked away the weariness from her eyes.

“Who is it?” Sunset croaked.

The door creaked open and, for a moment, panic and terror spiked through Sunset’s heart as Twilight Sparkle stepped into the room. Intellectually she knew that this was not the one from the meadow, that this was her friend, the Princess of Friendship, the one who had reached out to her at her lowest and pulled her into the daylight.

“Sunset?” Twilight said softly.

Biting her lip, Sunset swallowed back her fear response and calmed her breathing, nodding silently to herself. She would not let fear control her like that, not now, not when Gilda needed her more than ever.

“Hey Sparkle,” Sunset said weakly, trying to grin, “s’been a minute.”

Twilight gave Sunset a gentle smile as she stepped into the room, over to Sunset’s side, and knelt down to wrap Sunset in a warm embrace.

“Everything’s going to be okay,” Twilight whispered.

Of all things, that was what did it.

Sunset let out a strangled hiccough as violent shudders rolled through her body, and suddenly her face was buried against Twilight’s shoulder and she was bawling as she wrapped her own arms around Twilight and held on tight. Through it all, Twilight made soft cooing sounds, gentle wordless noises of reassurance, not talking, just waiting and riding out the storm with Sunset.

“I broke her, Twi’!” Sunset sobbed. “Look what I did to her! Look what I… I…” Sunset’s words drowned under a wave of grief as she pressed her face back into Twilight’s embrace. “How will she ever forgive me? I’m gonna lose her!”

“You won’t lose her,” Twilight assured Sunset gently. “Gilda isn’t the type of person who would ever, ever hold this against you, especially since it wasn’t your fault.”

“It was my fault! I made the wrong call, Twi’,” Sunset moaned miserably, covering her face with her hands and shaking. “I was the one who wanted to go there… I was the one who made the call to go in without waiting for anyone else, it’s all my fault!”

“You couldn’t have known,” Twilight said sternly. “I spoke to the Principal and her sister, and both of them agree it was the right call to make at the time, you couldn’t have known how it was going to turn out, you’re not-”

“NOT WHAT?!” Sunset snapped. “Not a seer?! Because apparently, I am!”

“-not omniscient,” Twilight finished with a sigh. “There is no form of divining that’s perfectly accurate. You could see a whole set of events in a vision and when it comes to pass only half of it actually occurs!”

“Then what’s the point?!” Sunset cried.

Twilight shook her head and sighed. “I… I don’t know if there is a point,” she admitted. “To any of this…”

“Nice pep talk,” Sunset grumbled.

“That’s not what I mean,” Twilight replied quietly. “When I was Celestia’s student I was convinced I had to make every second mean something, that every moment I spent not studying or bettering myself was wasted because the Princess of the Sun had taken me, the daughter of a very minor noble family, in as her personal pupil and that I needed to live up to that, to whatever plan she had for me.” Twilight pulled away from Sunset slightly, dragging a chair from the other side of the room over to her with her magic, and sat down. “Even after the redemption of Luna and so many other things, I was convinced I had to keep… I don’t know… living up to her expectations.”

“What changed?” Sunset asked, keeping her voice low.

“I ascended,” Twilight answered in a soft, distant voice. “And suddenly I was the Princess… suddenly I was the one with a student trying to live up to my expectations, I was the one who supposedly had a plan, and… my point is this: our world… this one and Equestria? I don’t think there’s a point to anything, and there certainly isn’t a plan as far as I know… there’s just us… ponies, humans… we’re just stuck here trying to do our best.”

Sunset grimaced as she looked over Gilda’s gently breathing, prone form. “That’s kind of a horrifying thought.”

“Is it?” Twilight asked, meeting Sunset’s cyan gaze. “I thought so too at first but… now I’m not so sure.”

“But if there’s no plan-” Sunset started.

“Who says this mythical ‘plan’ would’ve been a good plan to begin with?” Twilight cut through, meeting Sunset’s gaze and causing the redhead to clam up. “There are so many different people in our worlds, so many dreams, and bonds, and friendships, and… so, so much more than one plan could possibly account for!” Twilight’s features softened as she turned, reached out and put a hand on Gilda’s shoulder. “Gilda was willing to fight and die for you, and not because she thought it was part of some plan, but because you,” Twilight looked pointedly at Sunset, “are you.”

Sunset gripped the edges of the wheelchair hard, not meeting Twilight’s gaze but instead staring down at Gilda.

“I love her so much, Twi,” Sunset said quietly. “I love her so much that it hurts… and when she gets hurt it feels like I’m dying inside.”

“I think… I think that might just be part of falling in love,” Twilight replied gently, laying a hand over Sunset’s. “When you let someone that far into your heart… how could you help but feel all of their pain?”

“She’s worth it,” Sunset said in an iron-hard voice. “Any amount of pain… whatever it takes… she’s worth it.”

Twilight nodded, seeming relieved as she settled back into her chair and looked over Gilda. She knew where Sunset was coming from and Twilight knew that if any of her friends had been put in Gilda’s condition it would have been killing her, especially if she thought it was her fault.

“You know, a part of me was afraid you’d put distance between the two of you to try and keep her safe…” Twilight admitted. “I’m a little ashamed that I thought it, but I’m glad you aren’t trying to run away.”

Sunset just chuckled dryly, wiping her eyes as she stared down at Gilda. It was as if she could hear her girlfriend’s voice in that very moment and Sunset knew what she had to do: Sunset met Twilight’s gaze with a sardonic grin and gestured down at her legs.

“Well, I mean, yeah.”

~Whitetail Neighborhood, February 26th, Afternoon~

The small metal spoon clattered to the floor of the living room, followed by a vicious string of colorful oaths as Zee weakly pounded her fist against the pile of comforters and duvets covering her body. Shivering, she burrowed deeper into them as Rainbow Dash knelt and picked the spoon back up, wiped it off, and calmly set it back down on the platter of the folding tray that sat before the angry, white-haired girl, alongside the bowl of soup it belonged to.

“Don’t sweat it, Zee,” Dash said with an encouraging grin. “You’re getting better.”

Zee scowled as she reached out again with her right hand, as her left was covered in something that looked like paper mache and smelled like someone dumped a hundred pounds of potpourri into a fairground port-a-potty on a hot summer day. In fact, her entire left side, for the most part, was covered with the odd slurry mixture, along with a good portion of her torso and half of her face. Her father had told her it would help with the burns, and he was right in that they no longer hurt horribly, but Zee was seriously starting to question if it was worth it to endure the stink.

Combining that with the fact that ever since her pops had brought her back from the brink she’d been weak as a kitten and it all left Zee in an especially foul mood.

One that Rainbow had been enduring with a surprising amount of patience and more grace than anyone had expected.

Letting out a slow breath, Zee closed her fingers around the spoon again but, like always, it was as if she had no strength in her. The moment she tightened her muscles to form a grip her hand started shaking violently and a second later the spoon rattled right out of her grip.

“Slaggin’ ‘ell,” Zee snapped as she leaned back and shivered. “S’like I’m barely even fuckin’ alive, fuckin’ allus cold’n I can’t barely e’en pick a damn thing up, gotta be waited on hand’n fuckin’ foot just t’get about… s’fuckin’ aggravatin’, mate.”

“Yeah well, according to Twi you, like, literally almost died of shock,” Rainbow said with deep concern in her voice, “so maybe take it slow?”

“Ain’t no good at that, mate,” Zee grumbled. “T’ain’t in me t’take much slow, savvy?”

“Yeah, no I get that,” Rainbow said with a laugh. “Slow and me don’t get along very well either.”

The door to the house opened as Rainbow bent to pick up the spoon again and Zee looked up with obvious relief as Twilight stepped into the house looking more than a little tired and disheveled. Her weariness seemed to vanish the moment she set eyes on her girlfriend though as she kicked off her shoes and stepped into the living room.

“Hey Sparkle, how was prep for the games?” Rainbow asked as she set down the spoon and walked over, opening her arms for a hug. “You look like hell.”

Twilight smiled and stepped in to hug Rainbow quickly before moving to Zee’s side, slipping in beside her and taking her hand.

“It’s rough, honestly,” Twilight said after a moment, leaning her head against Zee’s shoulder. “The group is mostly people I hate, including Sugarcoat, Lemon, and Sunny… though I’m not surprised.”

Zee let out a hiss of derision. “Tha’ slag I cut up at the mall? She’s on y’fuckin’ academic rally team?”

“Sunny Flare might be a horrible person, but her grades are only a little behind mine,” Twilight said, sighing. “Same with her two flunkies… even if they’re awful people they are some of the brightest that Crystal Prep has to offer, and those are the only people that Principal Cinch would send to the Games.”

“Wow, that sounds incredibly shitty,” Rainbow said with a frown. “What about teamwork? What about synergy? Wondercolts are supposed to work together which means, bare minimum we gotta at least like each other. Are all Crystal Prep teams like this?”

“Nah, I know the type,” Zee grumbled, looking none-too-happy about Twilight’s news. “Figurin’ if all’a them are good as individuals then they’re sure t’win against a group that’s not better person-to-person, tha’reyt?”

“Mhm,” Twilight mumbled, burrowing gently into the covers and leaning her head against Zee’s shoulder. “It’s exhausting, Zee… I have to deal with them all day at school, then for hours after school for extra study… none of them listen to me… I’m so tired.”

"Ye’ll ‘ave it, our lass,” Zee replied softly, reaching out with her good arm and looping it around Twilight’s waist to pull her closer. “S’only for a bit, savvy?”

Rainbow’s stared at Zee for a moment before shaking her head.

“Man, you really are her sister, huh?” Rainbow said in a low voice. “Grizelda Gr-”

“King,” Zee snapped, “m’last name is King, not Grimfeather, ‘asn’t been for a long-arse time, savvy?”

“King, s’cool,” Rainbow agreed, holding up her hands in surrender. “Just… I knew you looked familiar but it was so weird to think of it, y’know?”

“And personally,” Zee growled. “I don’t consider owt who would leave me for dead and send m’pops to fuckin’ death row to be my sister, oreyt?”

“Yeah, fair enough, Rainbow replied.

“How’s Lightning?” Twilight asked quietly, looking up at Rainbow. “Even though it’s only been a week, I do want to run some tests. But I know that she’s probably still getting used to…”

Rainbow sighed and held up her hands and for a moment there was nothing, then a blinding flashing of lightning arced between her palms.

Twilight’s running theory she had given them after they’d all come to was that somehow, they’d managed to link together: sharing the load as it were. Ever since the night in the meadow, Zee hadn’t suffered another attack, while Lightning and Rainbow had both gained some measure of power from the exchange. At first, Twilight had been at an utter loss to explain how something like that could have happened.

At least, that was the case until Rainbow had explained the truth of what had happened at Canterlot during the Fall Formal, and during the Battle of the Bands.

The Elements of Harmony: a unified magical force that linked multiple people together into a complex web of power that amplified itself over and over, and Rainbow Dash had once been among them.

Upon learning the truth, Twilight had posited the theory that in order to channel magic the Elements must have changed something in Rainbow, and in all of her friends who had linked with the artifacts, in order to allow them to connect with one another. The Elements were supposed to function off of bonds of friendship and Twilight’s theory was that the Elements, in fact, used those emotional bonds as a medium to transmit and amplify magic. In order to do so, the Element Bearers had to be bonded to one another already, and through those bonds, the Elements opened channels to create, in effect, one massive arcane engine.

And those channels were still open.

Twilight could absorb and amplify energy through the bell matrix that she wore, and Zee was the source of it all, while Rainbow had her open channels designed to connect and bind to people she had a bond with; between the three of them Lightning had been connected as well, with her love and devotion to Rainbow allowing her own channels to connect to Rainbow’s open ones.

It hadn’t been graceful, and it certainly hadn’t been painless, and Twilight suspected the Elements were designed to do safely what the four of them had managed to accomplish by accident, but it had happened nonetheless.

Lightning Dust hadn’t taken spectacularly to her newfound abilities. Not that she’d been angry but more…

“They scare her, I think,” Rainbow said after a moment. “I mean I get it… it’s pretty freaky to be able to just-” Rainbow’s form flickered for a moment like an errant spark of lightning and suddenly she was on the other side of the room with the sudden wind whipping around her. “-y’know?”

“Can’t say I ain’t chuffed ‘bout m’own powers, mate,” Zee said with a grin before shivering and pulling the covers tighter around herself.

“Zee, please, you’re still recovering,” Twilight scolded her as she stood up. “You were almost… I… you have to be more careful from now on, alright?”

“Twilight’s right,” Rainbow said with a frown, “you’re in pretty bad shape, Zee, like… really bad shape. I might be like, the worst person to be saying this but even I know to slow it down and get better if I’m sick, right?”

“Thank you, Dash,” Twilight said quietly as she stepped forward to pull Rainbow into a tight hug. “For being there for us, and for everything.”

Rainbow smiled as she hugged Twilight back. “Hey, I’ll never let a friend down ever again, alright? And you two are some of my best friends,” stepping back, Rainbow rolled her shoulders and nodded towards the door. “Anyways, since you’re home I’m gonna head back. My dad’s been wondering where I’ve been all this time.”

“Sure thing mate,” Zee replied, “an’ uh, y’know, thanks f’stickin’ around too, I know I ain’t the easiest sort t’be around f’long, aye?”

“Nah, you’re a blast, Zee,” Rainbow replied as she jogged back towards the door. “See ya!”

Rainbow’s form blurred and flickered as suddenly she was gone, but Twilight caught the faint hint of ozone on the air before the door closed.

“Damn riot, that one,” the sonorous voice of Storm said from the threshold of the kitchen as he stepped out. “Still don’t like me much, though.”

Twilight grimaced. “She’ll come around, you’ve got a pretty bad reputation, pops.”

Storm chuckled and nodded. “Aye, that I do… can’t blame nowt f’that but m’self. I’ll be ‘eadin’ down t’the basement, then, you two… try’n keep m’daughter in one piece, aye?”

“Always,” Twilight replied with a small grin as Storm passed the living room and headed down the stairs.

He had barely closed the door before Twilight started pulling her school uniform off without so much as a word of explanation.

“Ah… pet? What’re ye-?” Zee stammered as Twilight tossed her skirt and blouse away and moved up to Zee.

Grabbing the covers, Twilight quickly pulled them open, wincing a little at the hiss from Zee as the cold air hit her skin. Twilight remedied that as quickly as possible by burrowing in next to her and pulling the mass of covers around the both of them, curling her own body around Zee’s and resting her head on Zee’s shoulder.

“There… better?” Twilight asked quietly.

“Better?” Zee chuckled nervously. “I’ve got our lass curled ‘round me in nowt but’er pants, so aye… aye tha’s a world better, love.”

Twilight let out a soft hum and tightened her grip around Zee, being careful to avoid her wounds, but refusing to relent on touching the girl, trailing her fingers over the lines of Zee’s tattoos and the defined valleys of muscles as she nestled her face in the crook of Zee’s neck, planting a soft kiss against it every so often that made the dark-skinned girl shiver.

“I’m jealous, you know,” Twilight said after a moment. “And it’s awful of me… and I hate it, but I am.”

Zee narrowed her eyes for a moment. “Jealous? An’ ‘ow’s that?”

“How else?” Twilight grumbled. “Leaving you alone all afternoon with a pretty girl who’s taking care of you while I’m out at the academy…”

Zee raised her good hand up to stroke her fingers across Twilight’s cheek.

“And I know it’s stupid!” Twilight said angrily. “I know it’s not right, and it’s not fair to Rainbow who’s probably one of the nicest people I’ve ever met, and it’s not fair to Lightning Dust either because I know Rainbow would never cheat on her, and it’s obviously not fair to you because… because…”

“Because I’ll only ever love you, pet,” Zee finished, as she put what little strength into her hand that she could to guide Twilight’s face around so they were staring into each other’s eyes. “Only you, and it’ll always be you, savvy? Can’t even look at another lass like that now… all I can think of is you.”

Twilight sniffled a little a nodded before leaning in to press her lips to Zee’s, trailing her fingers over her cheek and across Zee’s face to the ragged bandages.

“I almost lost you,” Twilight said quietly as she pulled away. “It was so close and… and I don’t know what I’ll do if I really lose you, Zee.”

“T’weren’t tha’ bad, pet,” Zee said with a wry chuckle. “Helluva scrape but it’s not like I died, aye? I’ll bounce back.”

“Yeah…” Twilight said quietly, closing her eyes and laying her head on Zee’s shoulder. “You will… I’ll make sure of it.”

Zee still didn’t know what happened that night, not really. No one but herself and Storm knew and Twilight intended to keep it that way. She had to until she learned what precisely it was that Storm did on the night that Zee died.

+========+

Whitetail Neighborhood, King House, One Week Ago

+========+

Lightning crashed and the air snapped and crackled as Twilight tore through the fabric of space to land in the basement of her and Zee’s home. The air was filled with the stink of cooking meat as Twilight scrambled to her feet. She hadn’t been fast enough, not quite… the sheer bleed-over of heat from the sphere of fire that girl, Sunset, had conjured had been like standing on the edge of an open blast furnace, and Zee had been exposed to it for too long.

“STORM!” Twilight cried. “STORM, HELP!”

Rainbow and Lightning Dust were laying on their sides nearby, stunned and unconscious, but alive. Twilight had gotten them out when it looked like Zee had been winning, but when she’d come back her worst nightmare was right in front of her eyes

Zee was hanging suspended in the air, kicking and flailing helplessly as Sunset wove magic, real magic like it was nothing.

Never before had Twilight felt so utterly outclassed.

Twilight knew she was brilliant, her intelligence was challenged by so few people that it was almost funny if it weren’t so lonely. She had been proud of how quickly she had picked up the art of translocating, especially considering how many mental calculations had to be done to arrive safely, and she’d been getting better at it over the course of months with consistent practice.

Now though, she felt like an idiot. She had called the power she was wielding ‘Arcane Science’ as if it was brand new and then, seemingly in mockery of her, the universe showed her exactly how simplistic her view of things really was.

Sunset Shimmer wielded magic like she breathed it, despite the fact that it was effortless and mind-bogglingly complex at the same time. She had willed into existence a sphere of roiling plasma contained by an unknown force from nothing. She had created what looked like a miniature sun with a wave of her hand while floating in the air and keeping Zee contained with invisible bindings of kinetic force.

By Twilight’s standards that would have been like juggling running chainsaws while blindfolded and standing in the middle of an active freeway.

Twilight felt as though she had just started learning to count on her fingers and toes only to come across someone who could do calculus.

Twilight Sparkle was, in a word, terrified.

“Help!” Twilight cried again, only to hear the sound of heavy footfalls coming down the stairs a moment before Storm burst into the basement. “Please… help, Zee’s hurt, she’s hurt really badly… please.”

Storm glanced down at Zee and cursed. Zee’s entire right side was covered in first and second-degree burns and she was shaking violently.

“She’s goin’ inta shock, lass,” Storm said grimly as he moved forward, leaned down, and carefully scooped up Zee only to carry her over to the table nearby. “Get that cleared.”

Twilight didn’t hesitate as she rushed forward and swept her arms over the table, knocking everything on it to the floor only for it all to be replaced with Zee’s tremoring form a moment later.

Here in the light, Twilight could see it all, and she let out a pained sob. There was so much damage… Zee was burned, badly, and her body was quaking and twitching.

Storm ran a hand over her forehead before leaning down and pressing his ear to her chest only for his eyes to snap wide. “She’s goin’ into arrest!”

“W-what?!” Twilight cried. “B-but she’s… she-”

“She’s been electrocutin’ ‘erself repeatedly,” Storm snapped as he wiped his hands down and then tore open her dress to press the heels of his palms against her chest over her heart. “She’s burned, scorched, zapped… and now’er body’s done wif it all, savvy? Can’t keep’er goin’ any longer… there’s too much strain, the electrical surges like as not reached’er heart minutes ago an’ I’ll bet my bell that s’only magic what’s kept’er goin’ til now.”

With great care, Storm began rhythmically pressing, trying to keep her going. Through it all Twilight stared down at Zee, stroking her cheek and whispering, begging for her to come back as tears streamed down the lavender girl’s cheeks. After a few minutes of work, though, and Twilight hovering in a raw panic, Storm slowed, then finally stopped.

Sagging slightly Storm grimaced. “Soddin’ bastard… lost’er.”

The words struck Twilight like a mallet to the solar plexus, and she stared down at Zee. She wasn’t shaking anymore, or twitching, or gasping. In fact, she wasn’t doing anything anymore. Not even breathing. Her whole body was still tensed from shock, but it was still as Twilight tried to grapple with what she was looking at.

This couldn’t be happening.

It was a nightmare. Just an awful, awful nightmare and she’d wake up next to Zee and everything would be fine and Zee would be alive and… and…

Slowly, she turned to Storm as he stared down at his daughter.

“Storm… please… do something,” Twilight begged quietly. “Anything.”

“I’d need more power, lass,” Storm said. “Don’t suppose ye’ve got any floatin’ about?”

“Power…?” Twilight glanced down at the shattered remains of her mechanism. She had secured the bell back onto her neck with some cord once she’d found it in the crater after waking up. “I think… I think I might.”

Raising her hands up until the bell was hanging just between her open palms, Twilight closed her eyes and concentrated, listening for the sound of the bell in her mind. The power was still there, so much latent power that the bell had absorbed from the backlash of Zee’s attack, and through that Twilight could feel something inside her had changed. It was like before she had been listening from inside a walled house with no doors or windows, and now the bell sound was all around her. Free and unbound, Twilight felt like something in her had been ripped open and now she could smell the breeze and taste the air.

Her world had been so stifling before and she hadn’t even known it, and what was more, all around Twilight she could feel what she was looking for.

Power.

The sound of the brass bell rung through the basement as Twilight drew out sparks and ripples of energy.

Unseen and unheard by Twilight who was lost in her trance, Storm grinned and chuckled. “Well, a’right then… ‘ere we go, old goat, get ready because everythin’ is comin’ up Storm King.”

A moment later, Twilight’s eyes snapped open, her normally warm violet eyes gleaming brilliantly, and backed by an almost sickly-bright cyan.

“Tha’s it, lass,” Storm said standing straighter and holding out his hands. “Now giz uz that power… we can do it t’gether, aye? No one’s gotta die tonight, I’ll ‘appen.”

“No one dies tonight,” Twilight growled back and reached out her hands to lay them in Storm’s wide, calloused palms.

Storm jerked for a moment as the power rippled into him, traveling up his veins and into his core, and a harsh gasp of laughter escaped his lips as his eyes took on a lambent red glow.

Suddenly sapped of energy, Twilight staggered back, her eyes returning to normal as Storm towered over her. Looking up at him, Twilight felt a stab of sudden fear. For a moment she saw something else, someone else, superimposed over Storm’s form. An enormous figure with hateful red eyes and the curling horns of a ram.

Then it was gone as Storm reached down and gently pulled Twilight to her feet.

“A’right then, lass,” Storm said with a grin. “Watch this, now.”

Walking over to Zee’s silent form, Storm slipped his left hand under Zee’s head, gently supporting it, and held his right over her body. His hand wavered for a moment as if fishing around for something that Twilight couldn’t see, only to suddenly jerk, his fingers tightening and closing around something invisible.

“Got ye,” Storm whispered, “I knew ye ‘adn’t quite left off yet, aye?”

Twilight swallowed dryly as she watched, a part of her wondering what he was even doing while another part… well, that part didn’t want to know at all.

“C’mon then,” Storm whispered. “Come on back, ain’t done wif you yet, kiddo… neither is ye tidy lass, now wake… UP.”

Storm snapped his fingers down like he was throwing something and then tightened them again, and Twilight was struck suddenly by the image of a puppeteer gripping the strings of his dummy in the way Storm twitched his fingers.

Seconds later the image was lost as Zee spasmed violently, jerked, then snapped her eyes open and gasped in a deep gulp of air.

“Giz uz a pillow, lass,” Storm said quietly, nodding towards the corner of the room.

Twilight moved slowly, barely believing her eyes as she watched Zee’s breathing even out. Snatching the pillow up from the corner of the room she passed it to Storm who slid it gently under Zee’s head and removed his hand. Standing tall, he dusted his hands off as if he’d just gotten finished changing a particularly finicky lightbulb and not bringing someone back from the dead.

“She’ll ‘ave th’hell of it for a while,” Storm said, setting a hand on Twilight’s shoulder. “Necromancy ain’t pretty, nor is it ‘ealthy on the body… sapped a lot of’er life to get’er back.” Twilight’s eyes widened at his use of the word ‘necromancy’. “She’ll be cold, chill’a the grave, an’ weak… the animatin’ force of her soul’ll take weeks to anchor back in’er body.”

“B-But, she’s alive?” Twilight asked quietly.

“Mostly,” Storm replied with a smirk. “Soul Strings, y’see… tied’er back to’er body an’ tricked it into thinkin’ she’s still kickin’, aye? She’ll heal slow but fine, lass… body’s nowt but a machine, see? I just took out’er battery and plugged’er into the mains f’the moment… eventually, she’ll charge back up natural like and it’ll be like she was never ‘urt, savvy?”

Not for the first time that night, Twilight felt utterly outclassed. She had dared to imagine she was at least proficient in magic but seeing Sunset, and now seeing what Storm had just done to save his daughter’s life…

“Can you teach me, Mister King?” Twilight asked quietly.

Storm raised an eyebrow. “Teach ye… wot?”

“How to do what you did,” Twilight said, “and more… can you teach me?”

Storm let a grin cross his face. “Aye… I’ll ‘appen I can do that… on one condition.”

“Anything,” Twilight said firmly, lifting her head to meet Storm’s gaze.

“No more’a this ‘Mister King’ and ‘Storm’ crap, aye?” Storm said with a chuckle. “Call me ‘pops’.”

+========+

Present Day

+========+

“Zee?” Twilight spoke up after a long bout of silence.

No response came and, briefly, Twilight felt a stab of panic that somehow Zee had slipped away, that maybe Storm’s spell had come undone and Zee wasn’t healed enough to keep her grip on life.

The faint susurration of breath from Zee’s lips, a tiny snore, punctured the panic attack that Twilight had felt oncoming, and she curled harder into Zee’s side. She was just tired, that was all, Zee was just exhausted. Storm had told Twilight to expect as much given how much trauma her body had sustained.

“I guess I owe Storm almost as much as you do now,” Twilight said quietly. “Even if I can’t tell anyone why.”

Rainbow and Lightning were among those people, although they had stuck around despite being told the truth about Storm’s identity. No small part of that, Twilight guessed, stemmed from the fact that Twilight had revealed that Storm had unequivocally saved Zee’s life, even if she hadn’t specified how he had done it. She’d only said that Zee’s heart had stopped and Storm had managed to get her going again.

All three of them had agreed to keep that little detail from Zee herself, though. Lightning had been the most vocal about it, insisting that Zee had been through more than enough, to which Twilight couldn’t help but agree. Rainbow hadn’t been happy but she understood and agreed, and Twilight, in turn, understood Rainbow’s reticence. They weren’t lying, but Dash wasn’t pleased about having to keep something like that from Zee.

“You’re my whole world, Zee,” Twilight whispered, letting her lips brush lightly over Zee’s cheek. “I’ll never let you go.”

And she wouldn't, because Storm would teach her how,

~Canterlot General Hospital, February 27th, Morning~

“Sunset? Wake up, dear.”

Sunset’s eyes flickered open. For once her sleep had been dreamless, a pleasant surprise considering she had been expecting yet more apocalyptic visions of disaster when she felt herself nodding off. She had sworn to Adagio she wouldn’t use the Slumbernot rune again, no matter how tempting, and Adagio had agreed to keep her actions from the rest of their friends.

‘Sometimes, Sunny,’ she had said, ‘I think that honesty is knowing what not to say.’

Looking up, Sunset blinked her eyes clear and saw the face of Nurse Kindheart looking down at her.

“Oh, hey, sorry,” Sunset shifted in bed and pulled herself up. “Just catching up on some sleep I guess,” a sudden thought struck Sunset as she spoke, “is everything okay? Is Gilda-?”

“Still sleeping,” Kindheart said softly, “but Doctor Tourniquet is certain she’ll wake any day now.”

“I hope so,” Sunset said quietly. “So what’s up?”

“Well, you did tell the nurse on duty to wake you if you had any visitors,” Nurse Kindheart said with a smile. “And you have one who claims to represent your mother?”

Sunset’s eyes widened.

“You can tell me if that’s true or not, but I didn’t want to send her away given the circumstances…” Kindheart continued. “However, I was under the impression you were an orphan?”

“I am,” Sunset replied softly. “I mean I was… my mother and I… we’ve got a complicated relationship… we parted ways years ago under very poor circumstances that were pretty much my fault, I was an awful daughter. We argued, it was… brutal, and she ended up throwing me out.” Wiping at her eyes, Sunset was unsurprised to find tears, and she sighed. “Thing is, I think she was expecting me to come back and… I didn’t. I came here instead, and because of that, we didn’t speak for years, half a decade actually, not until last December… it’s funny, Gilda is the only reason I had the strength to face her again.”

“Well I’m not sure I like the sound of your mother if I’m being honest, dear,” Kindheart said sternly. “As a mother myself, and a grandmother now it comes to it, I couldn’t imagine turning out a child of mine no matter how poorly she behaved, but I suppose I can’t judge… would you like to speak to the woman?”

“Yeah,” Sunset said, nodding. “My mother… she’s been torturing herself all these years for how things ended between us, and I think I’ve been doing the same thing, so I want to try to…”

“Mend bridges?” Kindheart supplied.

“Reconnect,” Sunset said, nodding again. “I want to-”

‘I want to be forgiven,’ Sunset closed her eyes as her dream from the night before came back.

“I’ll send her in then,” Kindheart straightened and stepped out of the room.

Sunset heard a short, muffled exchange, and as she waited considered who her mother might have sent. Princess Celestia herself couldn’t come, obviously… her inborn magical power shook the heavens, literally, the last time she stepped through the portal and that was only for a matter of moments. This world just didn’t have the metaphysical infrastructure to contain something like her. That meant it was probably one of her messengers, a guard courier perhaps, or-

The door opened and a young woman stepped through carrying some kind of heavy metal briefcase, and her matte-black office heels clicked loudly against the tile floor. She had pale, almost dusty-white skin, and wore a simple dark business skirt that complimented her long legs nicely. Her blouse was a white that complimented her complexion well, and a wine-red ruffled necktie at her collar tied the ensemble together. A pair of square-lensed glasses sat perched on her nose below a hairdo that was pulled up in a severe bun.

“Sunset Shimmer,” the woman said in an utterly arid voice. “Granting your relationship to the Princess, Equestrian law requires that I say I’m pleased to see you alive and well.”

Sunset blinked in confusion for a moment, then let out a sigh as she realised who she was looking at.

“Good evening, Raven,” Sunset said quietly. “And before we go any further, I want to apologise for what an intolerable bitch I was to you back during my days in the castle, alright? You’re not the first person I’ve apologised to, and I doubt you’ll be the last.”

Raven raised a single, meticulous eyebrow before nodding. “An apology? I have to say I wasn’t expecting that… for whatever your mother said of you and how much you’ve grown as a person, you and I both know she never knew you at your worst.”

“No, I reserved that for when I wasn’t directly in her line of sight,” Sunset groaned. “Or in sight of her little ‘birdies’.”

“Ah, yes,” Raven grinned humorlessly, “couldn’t have one of mumsie’s little spies reporting her adopted daughter’s borderline criminal behaviour.”

“Obviously not,” Sunset agreed, and Raven’s eyebrow scooted up another centimeter. “Look, I know what a horrible person, pony, whatever, that I was back then, alright?” Pulling her sheets away, Sunset dragged her useless legs around so she could sit hanging off the side of the bed and face Raven head-on. “But if it gives you some kind of catharsis, or makes you feel better then go ahead: yell at me, berate me, tell me how much you hate me because I guarantee it won’t be more than I hate myself, so bring it on!”

Raven’s oaky brown eyes met a burning pair of cyan ones, and after a moment her posture changed, relaxing slightly.

“Well, will wonders never cease,” Raven breathed quietly. “I had always thought that if there was one person in all the wide, wide world that your mother’s teachings would never reach, it would be you.”

“In your defense, they didn’t,” Sunset said with a wry smirk. “It took my replacement to hammer that particular lesson home.”

“Ah yes, Twilight Sparkle,” Raven smirked a little. “Night and day, you two… just as anti-social mind you, but at least you could fake it. That filly once brought half a library into a masquerade ball she’d promised to attend just so she could keep studying.”

Sunset snorted out a laugh, mostly because she could definitely see Twilight doing precisely that.

“But seriously,” Sunset said quietly, patting the side of the bed for Raven to join her which, after a moment of hesitation she did, “I am sorry. You were, what… an adjutant?”

“Junior aide,” Raven said quietly. “At the time, I was just a junior aide to Midnight Oil, prior to his retirement.”

“And, of course, I treated you like absolute garbage,” Sunset said with a melancholic sigh, “just like everypony else I saw as being lower on the social totem pole back then, which was everypony else on the totem pole, except of course for the Princess.” Burying her face in her hands, Sunset sighed. “The worst part is, I probably couldn’t tell you what I even did to you if you put a gun to my head… I tormented so many people back then, it was like breathing for me.”

“I’ll tell you it was bad enough that I considered just quitting,” Raven admitted in a quiet tone. “I’d gotten a hoof in the door at my dream job, working in the castle, and as a junior aide to the Princess herself no less, and rather than be overjoyed, I practically cried myself to sleep every night, dreaming about going back to Ponyville and just taking the dead-end job at the mayoral office that my mother offered me, secretarial work, you know?”

“I’m so sorry,” Sunset replied, fidgeting with her hospital gown as she looked away.

“It wasn’t just you, if that helps,” Raven said after a moment. “The nobles, the court, the lords and ladies… there were so many stuck up, mean-spirited cretins that I could hardly stand it.”

“But I was one of them,” Sunset said firmly. “And I am sorry.”

“I know,” Raven replied. “And honestly, it is kind of nice to hear that, even if its several years late.”

Sunset nodded. “It took me a long time and…” sighing, she gestured to her legs, “a lot of loss to get where I am but… I don’t think I would change it for the world.”

Raven smiled faintly at that and set a hand on Sunset’s shoulder.

“You know, if somepony had told me yesterday that today I’d be feeling bad for Sunset ‘Her Bitchiness’ Shimmer, I would have laughed in their face, spat on them, and walked away.”

“Wait, did ponies actually call me that?” Sunset asked, looking surprised.

Raven gave her a deadpan look. “Yes, we did, in fact I’m relatively certain some of the old guard still refer to you by that moniker.”

Sunset sagged a little and sighed. “Well, I guess I made that bed myself, huh?”

“Yes, you did,” Raven replied before chuckling lightly. “But nonetheless, I am glad to see you’ve grown as much as the Princess claimed… in all honesty I was expecting the same bitchy princess wannabe who had her mother wrapped around her hoof when I got this assignment,” Raven grinned and lightly elbowed Sunset in the ribs, “but I’m pleased to see that’s not the case, if only because it makes this conversation infinitely more tolerable.”

“Glad to hear I’ve ascended to the rank of ‘tolerable bitch’, then,” Sunset said with a smirk. “So what’s the assignment?”

Raven nodded and pulled the large briefcase up into her lap and worked at the locks with fumbling fingers. “Deliver; we had to- curse these miserable digits -communicate with the current Element of Honesty to acquire this safety case since your mother didn’t want its contents falling into anyone else’s hands, but it’s the product of a great deal of research done on the portal by Princess Sparkle.”

“Twilight made it?” Sunset leaned over, “what is it?”

“A gift,” Raven said as she finally released the catches by pressing her thumb to a small recess in the lock and entering a pair of three digit codes. “From your mother to Miss Grimfeather as thanks for protecting her daughter.”

“Gilda…” Sunset sank into herself at the memory. “She fought for me… she almost died for me.”

“But she didn’t,” Raven said in a reassuring voice as she put a hand over Sunset’s and gave it a gentle squeeze, “and your mother is committed to ensuring that despite her injury she still maintains full effectiveness.”

Cracking the case open, Sunset looked down and her eyes widened in shock at what she saw set into the velvet lining.

“H-How…?” Sunset stammered, “this isn’t… how is this possible?”

Raven smirked. “I told you, Princess Twilight worked on it, and she knows more about the sciences of transdimensional travel than any pony alive today, on top of that she is both a genius scholar and the greatest geometer of the modern era, do you really think this is beyond her?”

Sighing, Sunset shook her head. “No, honestly I guess I don’t… and I’m glad but… it’ll be up to Gilda if she wants to accept it. It’ll be a shock, you know.”

“I know,” Raven said, shutting the case closed. “Not all patients are willing, some want, or need, to heal in their own way, so we’ll wait, but I’m at your disposal until she makes a decision.”

“Okay, thanks,” Sunset said before having a thought. “H-Hey, Raven? I know hospital cafeterias aren’t the best but… would you like to go get a cup of coffee with me?”

“You know,” Raven replied with a small, genuine smile, “oddly enough, I think that sounds rather nice.”

24. I Remember Who All This Was For

~Canterlot High School, March 1st, Morning~

The sunlight streamed through the curtains of the Principal’s office and the day, overall, looked to be starting perfectly. It was the sort of chilly, late winter morning that wasn’t so frigid as to be unbearable while the sun shone clear overhead giving a tolerable warmth to the air, and better yet, little to no breeze. All-in-all it was probably one of Celestia’s favorite types of mornings, and she would have been enjoying it significantly more if not for the conversation she was forced to have with her sister.

“We’re not announcing the teams yet, we still have time,” Principal Celestia said firmly. “I’m not budging on that Luna.”

“I know you want them for the team, sister,” the Vice Principal said in a tone she hoped was mollifying. “But it’s not fair to the rest of the school, I don’t want to do this either but waiting until the last minute won’t help if Miss Grimfeather doesn’t-”

“Don’t say it,” Celestia snapped, her marble expression vanishing for a moment.

Luna sighed, it wasn’t often she was witness to those sorts of looks on her sister’s face. Celestia had always been the stoic one, sometimes to the detriment of all involved, but she always kept her cool. That cool head had been entirely absent over the past several days ever since the events at the meadow. Not only for the two sisters on a personal level but for the school itself.

Originally, they had planned on having Sunset and Gilda both on the team for the Friendship Games. Every Friendship Games began the same: with the Academic Decathlon Elimination, and with Sunset holding up the academic theory side they intended Gilda to be put in place for the workshop style events. With those placements, they had hoped to have a good chance this year.

For all of her academic falterings, Gilda had routinely held one of the highest grades in the mechanical classes like Shop, and only her atrocious attitude and reputation as a bully had initially kept her out of the runnings for the team. Celestia and Luna both believed strongly in a cohesive team synergy and having a contentious figure like Gilda on the team would have gone a long way towards ruining that.

Ever since the turn of the new year, though, Gilda had not only started earning a more positive reputation, doubtless helped along by her relationship with Sunset, but also had started making genuine friends of her own. That combined with the curriculum adaptation she had been given to account for her dyslexia had even pushed her academic grades well into tolerable ranges, and while she wasn’t the star student that Sunset was (as very few in the school were) she was certainly stepping into the higher echelons of academic success.

Or at least she was until…

“She’ll wake up,” Celestia said insistently. “Sunset already has, and she’s recovering quickly, Gilda will wake up.”

“And if-” Luna bit her tongue and sighed, “when she does, do you really think she’ll be in any shape to want to take part in the games?”

“I don’t know,” Celestia said quietly. “But I intend to give her the chance, we’ve failed Gilda spectacularly as educators for years, Luna, you and I both know that, and I refuse to replace her until I have no other choice.”

“I’d argue we’re already there,” Luna retorted. “The Friendship games are at the beginning of May, meaning-”

“-meaning we have well over a month!” Celestia snapped.

“No!” Luna slammed a palm onto Celestia’s desk. “The games begin the first week of May, and the teams are supposed to have this time to study, practice, and cohere as a group!” Luna stood and began pacing in front of her sister’s desk. “You know all of this, sister! I know you do! And believe me it kills me to say this but you cannot give them preferential treatment!” Celestia grimaced as she leaned back in her chair, but Luna wasn’t finished. “We’ve never left group selection this late before, and it isn’t fair to the rest of the members of the team. You have to find a replacement, make the announcement, and begin the process of advanced study for the acadeca, and you know it.”

“It’s not just about how I feel,” Celestia said after taking a slow breath. “Let’s not beat around the bush, Lulu… Sunset Shimmer is our ace; you know it, I know it, and the whole damn school knows it.”

Luna grimaced. As much as she didn’t like putting one student above others, she knew it was true. Sunset Shimmer had the highest grades in the entire school with straight A-pluses across the board, and she was in every Advanced Placement class the school could offer without overloading her schedule, and moreover, she blazed through even those subjects with almost effortless-looking ease.

Of course, Luna knew that a huge part of that was simply how driven Sunset was as a person. She studied, she pushed herself, and she focused… her drive and ambition didn’t permit her to be anything less than the best, and that was as true back in her bad-girl days as it was now.

So yes, Luna knew full well that Sunset Shimmer was their ace, she would easily be the match of whoever was the lead for the Crystal Prep team that year, and that was almost always whoever had the highest grades during selection. Furthermore, Luna and Celestia were both aware that Crystal Prep had a much more unforgiving curriculum by dint of being a private school: they had better facilities, better-paid faculty, and that showed in their students.

And Luna knew full well that Sunset Shimmer was probably smarter than all of them.

“Sunset is a polymath, a polyglot, and has enough ambition to topple an empire, and I wish that was less literal than I know it is, Lu,” Celestia continued, ticking off the relevant points from her fingers, “she’s a legitimate genius and our best bet for beating Crystal Prep in decades, and if Gilda isn’t on the team… no, especially if Gilda is still comatose… how do you think that will affect her?”

Luna sagged a little but nodded. She couldn’t deny that her sister did have a point. Sunset would almost certainly perform better with Gilda present and acting as her defacto second-in-command. The fiery redhead always had a knack for leadership, and Luna was absolutely certain she could whip whatever team they gave her into fighting shape.

Assuming Sunset herself was in any shape to do so.

“I’m not just thinking about myself here, Luna,” Celestia said softly, bringing her hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose. “Sunset’s morale is a serious concern for the efficacy of the team… if I cut Gilda from the team I might as well be cutting Sunset too and that simply isn’t an option.”

“So what, we hope for a miracle?” Luna asked in a wry voice. “Given our past few months, I’d say we might very well be fresh out of miracles.”

“I have faith that Gilda will wake up soon,” Celestia replied. “If for no other reason than that not even a near-death experience and the loss of an arm could keep that girl away from Sunset Shimmer.”

“While I can't say I disagree, I will say that you really are a hopeless romantic, sister,” Luna said with a laugh before smiling mischievously. “Speaking of which, how is Chryssi?”

Celestia flushed crimson. “Luna, that’s highly inappropriate!”

“Oh come on,” Luna chuckled, waving a hand. “School hasn’t even started yet, I don’t have to put on my big-girl pants for another hour, and I know you went to dinner last night.”

“We went to dinner to discuss this exact situation,” Celestia said heatedly, “I just wanted another opinion on it!”

“So you’re saying you didn’t spend half the evening playing footsy under the table?” Luna asked, one eyebrow raised.

Celestia worked her jaw for a moment and Luna’s grin only widened the longer it took her sister to deny it. Before Celestia could say anything though, Luna stepped around the desk and put a hand on her shoulder.

“Celly, look, I know how much of a torch you still have for Chryssi,” Luna said, her expression softening from its impishness to something warmer. “And Chrysalis is clearly still in love with you… you know how flirty she is but with all of her jet-setting and world travel, have you ever once heard her mention another woman? A tryst? A liaison of any kind?”

Celestia stared up at Luna for a moment before sighing and shaking her head wordlessly.

“Chryssi is still madly in love with you, Celly,” Luna said quietly. “You and I both know that since she’s not exactly subtle about it, even if her delivery leaves something to be desired.”

“We all decided that she and I would be better as friends,” Celestia said in a manner that suggested it was something she repeated to herself in rote.

Luna cursed under her breath. “We decided that when we were in university, sister, which was over a decade ago! You’ve changed and so has she! Do you really think that I, of all people, would be the one pushing this matter if I didn’t think it was a good idea?!”

“But last time-”

“Was almost fifteen years ago!” Luna cut in. “Neither of you are the same woman you were back then… you’re more mature, more responsible, and you both are going be miserable without each other if you keep this up!” Luna sighed in annoyance. “Or are you saying you don’t love her?”

“Of course I love her!” Celestia snapped, teary-eyed. “She’s all I think about some days! I worry about her constantly! Her work is dangerous, even if she’s rarely in the actual field!” Celestia buried her face in her hands as Luna put an arm over her sister’s shoulders. “I love her so much, Lulu,” Celestia cried quietly, “so much that there’s no room for another woman, and you know it! So don’t ask me if I love her, because you know that I do.”

“I do know,” Luna said quietly. “Which is why I want you two to try again.”

“And if it goes wrong?” Celestia asked in a grim voice. “If it all falls apart again?”

“It won’t,” Luna insisted firmly. “If for no other reason than because neither of you will let yourselves be the person you were before, and if it doesn’t work out?” Luna shrugged. “I have faith that you’ll remain as friends, I don’t think that two people who care this much about one another would let something like that get between you two, and honestly I don’t think it will fail.”

Celestia sighed and let her head thump down to her desk before mumbling into the wooden surface: “I’m too goddamn old for this, Lu…”

“Sometimes we have to take the long way around to get to where we need to be, Celly,” Luna said, patting Celestia’s shoulder. “After all of this is settled, after we’ve resolved this latest crisis, promise me that you’ll try again with Chrysalis, please?”

“And if she says no?” Celestia asked in a small voice.

Luna rolled her eyes. “Celestia Sonen, you and I both know damn well that Chrysalis has never in her life been able to say no to you.”

Celestia chuckled softly but nodded. “Fine… alright, we’ll give it another shot… assuming we all survive this and the world doesn’t end.”

“Do you feel like we’re getting a bit blasé about that lately?” Luna asked with a sardonic grin.

Celestia leaned back in her chair and laughed a little. “No, I think it’s just a combination of weary resignation and numbness, actually. But seriously, this would be the, what, third magical disaster in six months?”

“Something to that effect,” Luna agreed. “Maybe we should quit teaching and become full-time magical monster hunters.”

“Not that teaching is a massive earner, but I highly doubt solving magical mysteries pays well,” Celestia shot back, matching her sister’s smile.

Luna scoffed. “That’s assuming we’d have to go anywhere considering all of these frustrations seem perfectly content to shit in our backyard, as it were.”

The good-natured grumbling of the two sisters was interrupted by a faint ringing and a moment later Celestia had her phone out and to her ear. Luna watched, almost not daring to breathe as the look on her sister’s face shifted from worry, to shock, and finally to relief and as Celestia set the phone down, she smiled up at Luna.

“Was that our miracle?” Luna asked hopefully.

“We’ll see how it pans out,” Celestia replied, letting out a sigh that bled out a great deal of tension from her shoulders before looking up her at sister with a hint of her old humor. “But, as my students are wont to say: bitch it might be.”

~Canterlot General Hospital, March 1st, Morning~

“...so the temperatures are like, negative-twenty Fahrenheit by earth standards,” Sonata continued with a grin, “there’s a blizzard outside, the opera house is on fire, the yakistani oligarchs have all declared war on each other, the building is falling apart around us and Aria yells: ‘What is wrong with this place!? We haven’t done anything yet!’ and for once Adagio is speechless!”

“Oh dear,” Raven replied, badly holding in her laughter while Sunset was chortling around a mouthful of oatmeal. “The yakistani royal families have blamed you three for the Conflagration War for centuries, and you’re saying you…”

“We were just there for the hor d'oeuvres, well I was, and opening night obviously,” Sonata said, waving her hand. “Who wants to start a war in the frozen north, anyway? We weren’t even on the program for that evening!” Blowing a raspberry, Sonata took a bite out of her poppyseed muffin. “But no! The big bad sirens caused another war! Except we didn’t… that time… the other times were pretty much spot on.”

“The Griffon Imperial Schisms?” Raven asked simply, one eyebrow raised.

Sonata chuckled nervously, tugging at her collar. “Okay, look, that one was on us… but in our defense, their Emperor at the time was a real freak okay? He was in love with ‘Dagi, and she slapped him down… literally, and then he would not leave her alone.” Sonata took another bite and grunted angrily. “Seriously, it was constant overtures, and when that failed he tried taking her hostage! So we decided if he couldn’t take a hint we’d sort of collapse his entire empire for funsies.”

“That seems like kind of an overreaction,” Sunset said around another spoonful of oatmeal.

Sonata smirked. “Maybe, but it was a lot of fun! Besides, they ran everything on slaves. It’s not like there wasn’t a bunch of bubbling strife already.”

Sunset laughed a little at that, and Raven’s giggles joined hers soon after. Sonata, when she could be peeled away from her computer, was a surprisingly good story-teller, although her outfit had gotten more than a few odd looks.

At first, Sunset had thought it was a costume of some kind, but a cursory touch of the fabric told her it was entirely genuine: a thick, white linen nurse’s gown with a simple lace collar and slightly flared shoulders. Her shoes were simple pale cream heels and her normally chaotic tail of hair was tied up in a bun that was kept in place by a starched and spotless nurses cap circa eighteen-twenty.

“So I have to ask,” Sunset said with a smile as she set her spoon down, “that’s… a little out of date isn’t it?”

Sonata looked down at herself and shrugged. “Yeah, I have newer ones, but this one’s my favorite, I always take good care of it.”

“Fair enough,” Sunset replied, mirroring Sonata’s shrug. “I just-”

Sunset’s words died on her lips as she felt something indescribable, like a faint warmth in her chest. A tug and pull that wasn’t there a moment ago was now so insistent that she couldn’t ignore it even if she tried.

“Sunny?” Sonata leaned over to look her in the face. “What’s wrong?”

“Gilda…” Sunset whispered, “hey, ‘Nata, can you take me to Gilda’s room?”

The youngest siren raised an eyebrow but didn’t argue and instead she stood and moved behind Sunset, pulling her free of the table, carefully passing the other patrons and a capped custodian bussing the tables so as not to jostle them, and moving towards the bank of elevators that would take them to the floor where her and Gilda’s rooms were. Raven moved into step beside them, having stopped only to pick up the metal case that hadn’t left her side since her arrival through the portal.

“May I ask what’s wrong, Sunset?” Raven said in a quiet voice, looking down at the restless young woman. “You look shaken.”

“I’m not sure,” Sunset said firmly. “But I can feel… something, I think it’s our connection? Maybe it’s because of our Elements, but the bearers of the Elements are connected in ways that no human or pony truly understands, not even the Princesses.”

“And?” Sonata said, prompting more, but Sunset just shook her head.

“It might be nothing… I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up,” Sunset replied.

‘Especially not my own,’ Sunset thought grimly. For all she knew, she could be mistaking mild indigestion for an ethereal quality of some cosmic binding force.

They were nearly there when the door opened in a rush and Nurse Kindheart came hurrying out only to stop in her tracks a few feet from Sunset, Raven, and Sonata.

“Oh, dearie, I was just coming for you!” Kindheart’s expression couldn’t be mistaken for anything but joy. “She’s coming to!”

Sunset felt her breath catch and she jerked free of Sonata, gripping her wheels and pushing herself forward towards the door. Kindheart held it open so she could wheel in with a minimum of difficulty, and true to the nurse’s words… Gilda was stirring. Her pattern of breathing had changed and she was shifting in her sleep. Gilda’s once steady slumbering breaths were becoming deeper and a little more irregular as her face twitched slightly, and then her eyes fluttered open.

Sunset was by her side in an instant, feeling stinging tears of relief streaming down her cheeks. She wanted to say something, anything, but all she could manage was several choked sobs of relief as she stared into the slowly focusing eyes of glinting gold that lit her heart on fire no matter how often she saw them.

‘Gilda!” Sunset cried, finally working the words past her lips. “Baby… you’re back!”

Sobbing, Sunset pulled herself forward and buried her face in Gilda’s chest. Gilda chuckled a little weakly as she wrapped Sunset in her embrace.

Or tried to.

Sunset froze as she felt Gilda’s left arm go around her right side, and a slight bump from her left. Her relief was washed away in a sluice of icy chill that slid down her spine as she looked up at Gilda who was staring in mild confusion at where her right arm used to be. As if not quite believing what she was seeing, Gilda tried to move the short mass of bandages and when nothing else appeared, Sunset saw what she had feared ever since seeing the wound for herself.

A small spark of light went out of Gilda’s eyes.

“Oh…” it was a small noise that slipped past Gilda’s lips.

“Baby…” Sunset said softly. “It’s okay, I’m here.”

Gilda turned to Sunset and her face had the look of someone in a daze. “I don’t… Sunshine? I’m… missin’ somethin’.”

“It’s okay,” Sunset repeated, bringing a hand up to her cheek, “you were hurt, Gil… really badly, and there was nothing they could do but I’m still here and I always will be, okay?”

“Sunny?” Sonata stepped in but Sunset just shook her head without looking up.

“Please, ‘Nata,” Sunset said in a carefully controlled voice. “C-can you give me and Gilda the room, please? And make sure we aren’t disturbed?”

“The Doctor-”

“Sonata!” Sunset’s voice cracked and Sonata took an instinctive step back before nodding.

“Sure thing, Sunny.”

Sunset heard the door click closed behind her and resolved to apologise to Sonata profusely later on. She hadn’t deserved that, but right now Gilda couldn’t handle other people. Sunset knew well enough how badly Gilda responded to being seen as weak and, in her current state, she needed to find a center, some solid ground to stand on, before anything else.

“Gil?” Sunset said softly. “Talk to me, babe.”

“What happened t’me?” Gilda asked in a low voice that betrayed no real emotion. “And… and h-how long?”

“A week or so,” Sunset replied softly. “And as for what happened… Grizelda… your sister she… she tried to kill you. She almost did… it was close baby… really, really close.”

“And… Zee?” Gilda asked hesitantly, and Sunset could hear the fear in her voice.

“Alive as far as I know,” Sunset said, trying to keep the bitterness out of her voice. “The other Twilight Sparkle teleported her out of there before I could… before I could make a terrible mistake.”

Gilda nodded. “So you… y’tried to-”

“She all but killed you, Gil,” Sunset bit out, “you have no idea what… what watching that was like. I had to watch her hurt you, I watched her… I heard you screaming… Written’s Quill, Gilda, I can still hear it.”

Gilda shifted in place, pulling herself slowly up until she was propped up on the inclined bed and looked over at Sunset with inscrutable eyes, and for several moments she just stared. The quiet was deafening but Sunset had no idea what to say. How do you explain why you just tried to kill your girlfriend’s little sister? The one she lived for years thinking that she had killed? The one she just learned was actually alive?

“Who’s Written?” Gilda asked suddenly, and Sunset blinked in confusion at the question. “Y’always say ‘written’s quill’, they a person? Or pony?”

Working her jaw for a moment, Sunset considered brushing the question aside but, in the end, chose not to. It wasn’t like she had anything better to say to Gilda.

“Well… uh, to start with, Written Word is supposedly the first Alicorn,” Sunset began, “no one knows if she was real or not, honestly, but Princess Celestia talks about her like she was so… a-anyways, according to legend, Written Word was the Alicorn of Creation, her cutie mark was a Quill, nothing else, no adornments, just a simple Quill.” Sunset felt a small measure of comfort coming back to her as she spoke about her homeland, and her voice gained a little strength as she continued. “Stories say she wrote the language of water, creating springs and brooks, and even oceans. Then Written turned to the flatlands and wrote the tongue of mountains and the earth heaved into shape. Everywhere she went, Written Word wrote the world into existence with language and song, and her magic is supposedly the foundation of my homeworld. Swearing by Written’s Quill used to be like… an oath of truth, because her Quill could never write a lie, but now it’s mostly just, y’know… an oath in general.”

“Huh,” Gilda grunted.

Sunset waited for a moment, shuffling a little nervously before saying: “Uhm… why do you ask?”

“Dunno,” Gilda replied tonelessly. “I always kinda wondered but, y’know, not enough t’ask, savvy? Then I’m sittin’ here thinkin’ about how I almost died… how I might anyway if my sister swings back t’finish up,” Sunset bit her lip but didn’t interrupt as Gilda continued, “or pops y’know? And I think: I should ask that stupid fuckin’ question I’ve had for a long-ass time.”

“It’s… it’s not a stupid question,” Sunset said, “I didn’t even think about it’s just… something ponies say.”

“Nah, I know,” Gilda replied, her voice still empty. “Just… it’s weird, I almost fuckin’ die and go’n lose a limb and all I can think is… what didn’t I ask’er, y’know? What haven’t I said?”

Gilda started to shake and her whole body tremored as she lifted her remaining hand to her face with tension bleeding through her body.

“Did I tell ya I loved you enough times?” Gilda croaked. “Did I say how I’m fuckin’ sorry I ain’t strong enough to go toe-to-toe with my own baby sister and protect ya?” Tears streamed down her cheeks as her shaking redoubled until Gilda was nearly biting the words out. “Did I apologise for bein’ a fuckin’ piss-poor excuse for a girlfriend who can’t even protect the girl she loves more’n life from her psycho fuckin’ sister?”

“Gilda stop!” Sunset sobbed. “Please, it wasn’t your fault! I’m fine! I’m just fine!”

“Because you stopped her!” Gilda yelled, making Sunset flinch back. “I just got my fuckin’ ass kicked across the goddamn horizon, and then… fuck! If I can’t even do my own fuckin’ job then what use am I? I ain’t even got all my pieces anymore!” she gestured violently to her missing arm. “I’m… I’m just… fuckin’ useless now.”

“Never…” Sunset said firmly, working her voice past her tears. “You will never be useless, Gilda Grimfeather, do you hear me?”

“But-”

“I love you, Gilda,” Sunset cried, shaking in her wheelchair as she spoke but refusing to let her emotions steal her voice. She needed to say this, for her sake and for Gilda’s. “I love you like I’ve never loved anything or anyone in my entire life… and I don’t think I’ll ever love anyone else the way I love you. I don’t know if I can… I don’t think there's anyone in the world who I could trust like I trust you, Gil.” Sunset leaned in to take Gilda’s left hand and lace their fingers together. “I don’t care how cheesy it sounds, or how cliche or dumb or sappy, but I… I don’t feel whole without you, I don’t think I ever did and now… I can’t lose you, Gil… I’d give anything up but you, okay? You’re never useless, baby because I need you so badly. My life, and this whole stupid world, it’s all empty without you.”

“But… I’m broken,” Gilda sobbed, looking down at her arm. “I ain’t even a whole fuckin’ person anymore.”

“Gilda your missing arm doesn’t make you any less of a person than my useless fucking legs do for me, okay?” Sunset snapped. “You’ve spent these past several months convincing me I’m still worthwhile even if… if I can’t do everything I want to, so don’t think I’m not going to be there for you when you’re going through the same thing.”

Gilda sagged in place, giving a weak nod, but didn’t reply. Sunset couldn’t think of anything else to say except:

“Help me up,” Sunset said quietly. “I can’t get up on my own so… help me up.”

Looking over, Gilda frowned and glared at her stump, but moved anyway, shifting to the left and leaning so she could lock arms with Sunset and give her some leverage. Using Gilda’s arm as a lifting point, Sunset levered herself onto the hospital bed and laid back in it, still holding Gilda’s hand and being careful of her bandaged limb.

“I’m not leaving you, Gil,” Sunset said quietly. “Whatever we do, we do together… okay?”

Gilda gave another perfunctory nod but didn’t reply.

The hours passed quickly, with Doctor Tourniquet, exceedingly miffed at having been kept from his patient, performing his examination with as much care and thoroughness as he usually did, giving Gilda a rundown on her injury as well as possible treatments. Through it all, Gilda just nodded or stared silently. After Doctor Tourniquet was finished with Gilda's exam, he took Sunset aside and over to the hallway.

“Depression isn’t uncommon after something like this,” Tourniquet began in a low voice. “Among a host of other mental and physical issues, losing a limb is significantly worse than losing one’s mobility, from a mental health standpoint.” He gestured to Sunset’s legs with an apologetic grimace. “In your case, there’s still some hope for recovery but, for Gilda-”

“-the limb is missing entirely,” Sunset replied, “leave that to me.”

Tourniquet raised an eyebrow but rather than contest the issue, just sighed a little dejectedly. “You know, I’m starting to wonder what it is I’ve gotten myself into, precisely, by taking on your cases.”

“Would it help if I said that you really don’t want to know?” Sunset asked weakly.

“No, it would not,” replied the Doctor blithely. “Either way, though, I can say she’s in remarkably good health otherwise, even lacking much of the muscular atrophy I would expect to see after a week of being entirely sedentary combined with the shock of limb loss.”

“Yeah, small miracles right?” Sunset said with forced cheer.

‘What else do I say?’ Sunset thought with a small amount of grim humor. ‘Yeah doc, having three sirens hard-dumping magic into your patient’s body to regenerate internal damage and cope with the physical stress is a helluva thing, you should try it sometime!’

“Ri~ght,” Tourniquet said dryly. “Well, given that I’m seeing my hand in this case slip ever further off of it, I beg you at least consult with me before doing anything drastic, please?”

“We will, I promise,” Sunset agreed.

As Tourniquet left the room he was intercepted by the young woman he had taken as some kind of secretary or perhaps caseworker.

“Doctor Tourniquet, let me introduce myself,” Raven said stiffly, holding out a hand, “Raven Inkwell, adjutant to the diarchal throne, and on behalf of the Equestrian Crown I thank you for your service and skill, you’re a credit to your kind. I’ve been informed that it was you who handled Sunset Shimmer’s healing during her tenure here after her accident.”

Looking baffled, Tourniquet just nodded. “I… yes, I did, but… pardon me the what crown?”

“Excellent,” Raven reached into one of her pockets and drew out two slips of paper: one naming its recipient as the Doctor and the other as Nurse Kindheart. “I’m given to understand this will function as a promissory note for your world’s currency; Her Royal Highness the Solar Diarch of Equestria grants her warmest regards and her deepest thanks for your care over her daughter.”

Tourniquet took the cheque and looked down at it, examining it for a moment before glancing back up at Raven in disbelief.

“This is an obscene amount of money,” he said in a very quiet voice.

“We draw from the personal royal stipend of the ruler of one of the wealthiest countries in the world, sir,” Raven replied sternly. “I assure you this is hardly a drop in the bucket.”

“I’m not certain I can legally accept this,” Tourniquet said weakly. “And you’re telling me that girl, Sunset, is… what, royalty?”

“She is, of a sort,” Raven replied. “Formerly estranged and distant, but recently reconnected to her mother, something that only happened thanks to your dutiful care. As for the legality of it all, I can’t speak to that; I’m not familiar with your world’s legal system, but the Pax Equestris and the Codex Solaria permit gifts such as this so long as it is taken from personal funds and not embezzled from state resources.”

“I… see,” Tourniquet said, swallowing back his many questions. “I suppose I’ll just check with my lawyer then.”

“That is agreeable,” Raven said. “If your laws do not permit such a gift then I’m certain some other reward could be arranged, you can leave me a missive at this number,” she passed him a card with a nine digits in block print on it, “it was a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Doctor, now if you’ll pardon my rudeness, I have duties to attend to.”

“Y-yes, of course,” Tourniquet nodded as Raven swept imperiously past him towards the door carrying the large metal case she’d been holding for their entire conversation. “Good… afternoon, then.”

Stepping into the small hospital room, Raven quietly closed the door behind her.

“Where did Princess Celestia get money for this world?” Sunset asked as Raven stopped beside her.

“The sirens assisted us in transferring some of the crown’s wealth to an account here on this world,” Raven explained. “They said it would take special skills to ensure it was tracked properly.”

“They've laundered your money for you,” Sunset translated blithely. “Right, of course they did, okay… well, that’s not relevant at the moment...” turning to Gilda, Sunset rolled over to the side of her bed and reached out a hand. “Babe? You with us?”

Gilda glanced over and nodded. “Yeah, guess I am.”

The emptiness in her voice was like a cold blade in Sunset’s chest. Even if they’d managed to keep her healthy and strong, the fact was that the mental shock of losing a limb was something that no one could cushion. Moreover, Sunset knew Gilda was grappling with a problem that might be almost as painful to consider; that when Gilda and her sister had met, gone toe-to-toe, and fought it out… Gilda had lost.

“Well, Gil, I want you to meet someone,” Sunset turned and nodded to Raven. “This is my mom’s personal aide, Raven Inkwell.”

Gilda stared up at Raven for a moment before nodding as well. “Please t’meetcha, I’d shake y’hand, but…”

“Naturally,” Raven said with a dry smirk. “You’re the Gilda Grimfeather of this world? I’ve heard excellent things about you. About your indomitable spirit, your total loyalty, and your unwavering dedication to Miss Shimmer.”

Gilda scoffed, leaning back in the bed. “So did y’need somethin’? Here to tell me off for fuckin’ up and lettin’ Sunshine get hurt?”

Raven’s lips pressed to a hard line and she glanced down at Sunset who gave her an apologetic shrug. Sighing, Raven lifted the metal case and set it on the nightstand beside the bed, then set to work opening it.

“Quite the opposite,” Raven replied. “Princess Celestia wishes to honor your sacrifice in the defense of her daughter. You fought, risking life and limb in a literal sense, and by all accounts acquitted yourself with honor.” The metal case ground loudly on the cheap table as she turned it to Gilda. “As such, Princesses Celestia and Twilight have decided to grant you this… the first of its kind.”

Gilda looked down and her eyes widened. Set within the velvet lining of the case was a gleaming grey arm crafted from articulated plates of metal. Where it terminated at the shoulder, there were multiple straps and bolts that looked to be part of a complex harness, and what was more, Gilda could tell instinctively that the limb was almost, if not perfectly, identical to her lost arm.

“Is that…” Gilda breathed, barely daring to believe, “will it move?”

Raven nodded. “I’m not a magister, so I don’t know the specifics, but according to Princess Twilight the arm links directly to your wellspring and its associated circulatory system.”

“The plates are made from repurposed fragments of Pegasopolan Cloudsteel so it will survive channeling your magic,” Sunset explained, moving up to Gilda’s side. “And there’s a masking charm on it that will make it look like a normal prosthetic, although I’m not sure how well it will work outside of Canterlot where the ambient field is weaker… it will at least be fine here.”

“This is the first in a set of prototype prosthetics,” Raven said firmly. “And Princess Celestia deemed you worthy of it, not only for your past deeds but so you could continue to protect her daughter.”

“That’s just it,” Gilda said, and Sunset could here the self-aimed anger behind her voice. “Dunno if I am worthy of it, y’know? I didn’t fuckin’ do anything.”

“Babe, your sister was supercharged with dark magic,” Sunset said firmly. “You were on the back heel from the start, that’s not your fault!”

“What’s it matter if I still got my ass kicked?!” Gilda snapped. “What’s the point if I can’t go up against her without being able to bring’er down!?”

“We can!” Sunset cried. “Together! Together we can-”

“What?! Kill her?” Gilda shouted, silencing the room, and after a moment she spoke again in a voice that was a shadow of its former strength. “I can’t… Sunflower… I can’t do it… couldn’t do it then… can’t do it now.”

Sunset furrowed her brow and wheeled a little closer, putting a hand on Gilda’s cheek and letting the taller girl lean into her touch. “Gilda?”

“I let’er go, Sunshine,” Gilda sobbed quietly. “I held back… in the meadow, when we were fightin’ I held back, and I couldn’t… I couldn’t hurt’er and because’a that you almost…” Gilda’s shoulders shook with silent tears. “I know what ya needed me t’do, Sunny… I know… but I dunno if I can.”

Sunset felt her heart drop and chill creep into her spine. Gilda looked so broken at that moment, so lost and Sunset realised she’d been missing something awful. She had tried to kill Grizelda after the younger Grimfeather had downed Gilda, she hadn’t even hesitated. But Gilda… asking her to do the same? Asking her to abandon her loyalty to her blood and hurt someone she swore to protect?

It was something that Storm would have done.

“Take it away,” Sunset said gently to Raven, nodding to the prosthetic, “we’ll talk about it later, okay?”

“Of course,” Raven said in a soft voice, snapping the case shut. “Take your time, I was given almost a month away to handle this matter, so I’m in no hurry.” Reaching into another pocket, Raven pulled out a small ebony case before she left. “And Miss Grimfeather?” Gilda looked up at Raven, red-eyed and weary. “For your services and sacrifice to the Equestrian Crown, for unflinching loyalty to Princesses and Country, I award you: the Solar Order.”

Opening the case, Raven revealed a small medal with a silver and gold frame that held an intricately worked sun in the center. Gilda stared at it as though it were a viper about to bite her as Raven set it on the table next to the closed case before picking the case up and bowing herself out of the room.

“I get it now,” Gilda whispered quietly.

“Get what?” Sunset asked in a small voice.

Gilda nodded down at the medal. “Why dad, my real dad, got all quiet every time I asked ‘bout his old medals as a kid… I get it now.”

Sunset wasn’t sure what to say, so she didn’t say anything as Gilda leaned back against the bed and stared up at the ceiling. After a few moments, Sonata stepped in, not saying anything but asking, with her presence, if anything was needed, and for a few moments Sunset wasn’t sure.

‘I’m lost… I’m completely lost,’ Sunset thought faintly. ‘What can I even do for her like this? What can I say? What do I-’

Sunset let out a breath, she needed help and she needed to stop relying solely on herself. That was what got her into this mess in the first place. Gripping her wheels, Sunset turned and rolled towards the door, and Sonata stepped away to let her leave, following her out and closing the door quietly behind her.

“Sonata? Can you bring me my Journal?” Sunset asked, turning to the Siren. “I assume that’s how you’ve been contacting Equestria, am I right?”

“Oh, uh… y-yeah,” Sonata nodded sheepishly, “sorry we borrowed it without permission but it was kind of an emergency.”

“Obviously,” Sunset replied dryly, “please get it, I really need to talk to Twilight.”

Dear Twilight,

Gilda woke up.

I figured I should put the good news first because it’s going to get harder from here on. She woke up but… she’s sinking, Twi’... I don’t know how else to describe it. When she saw her lost arm it was like I watched something in her die and it broke my heart. I don’t know what to say to her, I don’t know how to fix this.

I don’t know if I can fix this.

I can feel her drifting away from me, Twi’, and I’m lost. When I talked to her it was like she was only half there. She’s not like me, Twilight, she didn’t lose things because of her own arrogance, she’s had everything in her life taken from her, and now she’s had even more stripped away and I don’t know how to reach her.

Please, help me.

Your Flailing Friend,

Sunset Shimmer

~Two Days Later~

Dear Sunset,

I am so sorry it took me so long to reply, I’m in Saddle Arabia acting as a diplomatic liaison and mediator between some contesting… factions. It’s messy and complicated, but I’m here for you and I do have an idea, and although it’s going to take me a bit to figure out the timing, I promise I will be there for you soon, alright?

I know someone who I think might be able to reach Gilda and as soon as I can get back to Ponyville I’ll be through the portal and by your side with them, count on it.

Just a heads up though… that might be a few days. Barring a miracle or one of these two bull-headed brothers spontaneously dropping dead and solving the succession issue for me, anyway.

I’m joking, that’s the frustration talking.

Mostly.

One of the brothers opened the debates by suggesting he and I get married and ‘solve the succession issue in his quarters’, and my bodyguard almost gelded him which was hilarious and did wonders for my mood.

Maybe you had to be there…

Sorry, I’m going on a tangent. I will be there Sunset, okay? Just give me some time and do what you can, I’ll see you soon. I’ll send you a message before I pass through the portal, okay?

Ever Your Friend,

H.S.H, Twilight Sparkle, Ph.D., M.d, etc.

~Canterlot General Hospital, March 8th, Evening~

It was late in the evening when the two figures entered the hospital. One was a young woman dressed like a high schooler; her long purple and pink-streaked hair cascading in a silken waterfall over her shoulders, and her warm violet eyes sweeping over everyone in the waiting area equally; a worried looking couple sitting quietly together, a large, older man in a custodian’s uniform mopping, and a variety of others. The few that met her eyes felt a small sense of kinship suddenly, carried by a warmth that spread through their limbs at her gaze. There was something, they thought, unearthly about that girl… something more than human, but it was a passing thing and quickly dismissed, although it did leave all involved in a better mood than before.

The other was a figure that could not have been more different. Towering well over six feet, they wore an exceedingly strange outfit. Their torso was clad in a long, sleeveless leather coat with a heavy cowl that was buttoned from collar to waist, at which point it flared out around and behind their legs, leaving their lower body free. Bare arms showed off toned muscle, and gold bands clasped with images of lions rampant were wrapped around the bicep of each arm. The figure moved in a manner that almost anyone looking would be at a loss to describe as anything other than predatory, and they moved in the girl’s blind spot, covering angles with their head on a swivel, though careful to keep their face low and hidden.

“Excuse me, miss?” Twilight Sparkle stopped at the front desk and smiled down at the orderly. “I’m here to see Gilda Grimfeather?”

“Uhm, visiting hours are over, I’m afraid…” the orderly began.

“It’s perfectly alright,” A voice said from behind the figures. “I was told you’d be arriving, miss.”

Twilight turned and smiled as Nurse Kindheart held out a hand. “We didn’t introduce ourselves properly last time, but my name is Nurse Kindheart.”

“Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight said with a smile. “Shaking the nurse’s hand.”

“And, ah…?” Kindheart looked up at the menacing figure behind Twilight.

“Oh, this is my bodyguard,” Twilight explained, stepping back and setting a hand on their shoulder. “Don’t be afraid, she’s really nice actually…” the figure scoffed, and Twilight rolled her eyes and glared playfully back at them, “she’s just a little stand-offish at times. So can we see her?”

“Doctor Tourniquet gave his approval, yes,” Kindheart said, “I’ll walk you up.”

“Thanks, I really appreciate it,” Twilight said with a smile as she fell in behind Kindheart with her bodyguard slipping in just behind her.

“Not at all,” Kindheart replied. “So… I understand you’re some kind of foreign royalty, is that right?”

Twilight blushed. “Newly ascended, and I try not to make a point of it… I wasn’t born into it. My family is, at best, upper middle class by your standards.”

“Well, uhm, your English is very good,” Nurse Kindheart said awkwardly. “I’d never have known you weren’t local.”

Twilight chuckled nervously. “Oh well, you know… bilingual studies are very important where I’m from, so…”

Her bodyguard started chortling and Twilight swung her head around to glare at the woman which only served to make her laugh harder. Twilight let out a grunt of irritation and swatted them in the stomach, her hand bouncing off of their chest and earning yet more laughter.

“Oh shut up, you,” Twilight grumbled as she turned away, and her bodyguard made a mocking kissing sound from behind her, earning a light blush. “You’re the worst.”

“Twilight!”

Sunset waved from down the hall and Twilight’s face lit up as she quickened her pace, moving past Nurse Kindheart with her bodyguard quickly on her heels. The moment they were in range, Twilight knelt and swept Sunset up into a tight hug.

“I’m so sorry it took me this long, Sunset,” Twilight said warmly. “And we really need to stop making hospital visits a thing.”

“Believe me I agree,” Sunset laughed as she pulled back from her friend. “Thank you for coming all the way out here, is this-?.”

“Mhm,” Twilight replied. “I knew that I didn’t really have any advice, so that’s when I had a thought… maybe it wasn’t us she needs to hear from, how is she?”

Sunset sagged back in her wheelchair. “Not well,” she replied, “she’s been sleeping a lot, they’ve started her on physical rehab, which is good I guess, but her heart isn’t really in it. She gets frustrated easily, too, and it’s not like before.”

“And the prosthetic?” Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sunset shook her head.

“I don’t know what’s happening in her head,” Sunset said quietly. “She refuses to look at it or even talk about it, I think she blames herself for what happened in the meadow and… ugh, I don’t know.”

“She doesn’t want to be rewarded for failing,” Twilight said quietly, “or at least that’s what it sounds like.” Twilight sighed and shook her head as she looked over at the door to Gilda’s room. “Gilda puts a lot on her own shoulders, especially when it comes to you, Sunset, and my guess is that she’s punishing herself, whether or not she means to be…”

“It’s not fair,” Sunset replied in a small voice. “She didn’t do anything wrong… no… she did everything she possibly could have done and…”

“It’s not about logic,” Twilight said, kneeling next to Sunset. “I… know it’s a little odd to hear me say that but it’s true. I had to learn the hard way that whether or not it makes sense, you can’t ignore what someone is feeling.”

“And I’m not,” Sunset groaned, “but I can’t… I can’t get to her from where I am! I’m acknowledging her pain but I just-”

Twilight’s bodyguard shook her head and scoffed, a sound Sunset found strangely recognizable but which drew a glare from Sunset and Twilight alike, the latter stamped up to them before Sunset could say anything, reached up and under the cowl, and seized onto what Sunset presumed was their ear only to drag them down half a foot to Twilight’s level.

“Don’t, be, rude,” Twilight hissed, glaring at them as they flailed weakly against Twilight’s grip.

Sunset raised an eyebrow, her prior anger at the vulgar guard’s reaction forgotten in the face of her friend’s total abandonment of her usual decorum and polite attitude.

Turning back to Sunset, Twilight shot her friend an apologetic grin and laughed a little. “S-sorry about that,” Twilight said nervously before snapping her head back around to her guard, “she can be kind of an asshole sometimes.”

The figure chuckled and made another kissing noise at Twilight as they turned away, rubbing the side of her head under the cowl as they chuckled under the withering glare of the Equestrian Princess they were ostensibly here to safeguard against threats. Before the figure could make any remark though, Twilight shook her head and walked away and down the hall.

“Who is-” Sunset looked up at Twilight’s guard but didn’t get a look at their face before Twilight moved towards Gilda’s room, gesturing for the pair to follow. “Wait! Hold up and just… just let me tell her you’re here first, okay? She’s hurting.”

Twilight stopped, her hand hovering over the door handle, then backed away and nodded. “Of course.”

Sunset opened the door and rolled in, moving to Gilda’s bedside. Gilda was still staring up at the ceiling, seemingly lost in thought as Sunset moved to her side.

“Gil?”

Gilda blinked and turned her head slowly. “Oh, hey Sunshine… ‘sup?”

“How you doin’?” Sunset reached out, wishing she could take Gilda’s hand, but settling for a hand on her shoulder.

“Shitty,” Gilda replied. “Real shitty, Sunflower.”

Sunset grimaced, this wasn’t like Gilda. She was never one to wallow like this, and it was killing Sunset to see it. “Okay well… Princess Twilight is here.”

“Sparks?” Gilda said and chuckled dryly. “Say hi t’her for me.”

“Well, that’s just it, she… she has someone who she wants to talk to you,” Sunset said. “Is that alright?”

“Some horse shrink?” Gilda said acidly. “Sure, send’em in, this should be fun.”

Sunset frowned but nodded, and rolled back a little. “Hey, it’s okay, c’mon in.”

Twilight stepped in, flanked by her guard, and grimaced at the state Gilda was in. “Evening, Gilda… how are you-”

“How the fuck y’think I’m doin’, Sparks?” Gilda spat angrily, causing Twilight to step back.

A low growl issued from the guard who stepped between them.

“Who’s this loser?” Gilda asked, looking up at them. “Doesn’t look like a shrink.”

The figured let out another familiar-sounding scoff and shook their head. Reaching a hand up, they gripped the edge of the cowl and pulled it back. Sunset’s jaw dropped as she stared up at the guard who had followed Twilight in, and even Gilda looked stunned to absolute speechlessness.

Predatory golden eyes stared down past a fringe of snow-pale hair at Gilda who stared dumbfounded up at what could have been the most perfect mirror in the world save for the fact that one of the two still had both arms.

Gilda stared at Gilda, and the Equestrian version laughed.

“I’m you, loser,” she said with a grin. “What’s up, dorkus?”

Twilight sighed. “Gilda… Earth Gilda, I mean… I’d like you to meet First Lieutenant Gilda Grimfeather of the Ponyville Royal Guard, second in command to Guard Captain Tempest Shadow, and my personal bodyguard.”

“Wait, what?!” Sunset squawked. “When did this happen?!”

Twilight laughed nervously and shrugged. “Well uh, you kno~w… do you remember back after your accident when you said I should give the Gilda of my world another shot?”

“She did,” Lieutenant Gilda said with a grin, setting a hand on Twilight’s shoulder. “Th’Princess here reached out’n offered me a spot on her guard roster, I was in a crappy place at the time so I took it up, figured it couldn’t be worse’n scrounging around for myself.”

“This is really fuckin’ weird,” Gilda said, staring up at her smirking doppelganger. “Now I’m gonna have’ta tell people I got a twin sister too?”

“Twins…” Sunset stared over at her Gilda, then up at the Equestrian version, then back to her Gilda, then immediately smacked both hands over her face as she blushed a brilliant crimson.

“Uh…. babe, you okay?” Gilda asked, looking at the heavily breathing Sunset.

“Oh yeah, just fine,” Sunset said in a muffled voice from behind her hands. “I’m gonna just… go out into the hall where I’m not sitting between my super hot girlfriend and her completely identical twin, and… maybe take a really cold shower while I’m at it.”

“Ha!” Gilda’s twin cackled and shook her head. “Sorry, Wheels, I’m a one-filly kinda gal, but thanks for the laugh.”

Sunset’s Gilda raised an eyebrow and then scowled a little. “Lemme guess, Rainbow Dash?”

The Equestrian Gilda looked down at her twin in confusion for a moment before shaking her head. “What? Rainbow? Nah… she an I were never like that. Dunno if Rainbow’s ever been interested in anyone like that, actually. Her first’n last love is the sky, y’know? Nah, my loyalty lies ri~ght…” Gilda reached around Twilight’s back and down to her rear end… and goosed her, earning a shocked squeal, “here.”

Sunset turned and stared at Twilight in disbelief as the Equestrian Princess blushed furiously and stared at the ground.

“Uh, Twi’?” Sunset prompted. “Explain?”

“Well… it turns out you were right,” Twilight grumbled, “Gilda can be really charming when she wants to be, okay?”

“Turns out, Stars and me get along pretty good,” she said with a laugh.

Twilight sighed. “I make a lot of foreign visits, okay? Tempest wanted me to have a capable, permanent, guard and she couldn’t do it herself so…”

“Griffons are warriorborn,” Her guardian said with a smirk. “Even our cubs are born with more fight in’em than most ponies, I worked my way up the ranks pretty quick on my skill alone.”

The Equestrian Gilda flexed, earning a roll of the eyes from Twilight.

“If skill were all Tempest cared about then we’d have hired a Minotaur mercenary, you oaf,” Twilight remarked, and Sunset raised an eye at the ease she had around her version of Gilda. “You displayed incredible talent, sure, but you were also loyal, dependable… gentle.”

Twilight’s Gilda flushed and looked away. “A-anyway… yeah, we ended up hitting like, five different nations in two months, so, y’know… ya spend that much time with someone and…”

“Gilda is wonderful,” Twilight said shyly, “she’s attentive, kind, and she almost never leaves my side-”

“-that’s literally my job, Stars.”

“A~nd,” Twilight spoke over the smirking former Griffon, “I never brought it up because I didn’t want things to be… weird, you know? Because it is… really weird.”

“Uh, yeah, ain’t gonna lie, Sparks,” Gilda said, staring up at her twin. “This is pretty weird, like… probably the weirdest thing that’s happened and I’m gettin’ married to a magical talkin’ unicorn-turned-pretty-girl, savvy?”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Okay, fair, but Twi’, c’mon… you could’ve told me you were dating ‘guard Gilda’ for… how long?”

“A month… and I know, okay?” Twilight groaned. “Believe me I know, but every day that went by that I didn’t tell you it got harder to bring it up and then I just… didn’t… I’m sorry.”

“A~nyways,” Guard Gilda said, raising an eyebrow. “Y’brought me here for a reason and I can see why, so scram, a’right? I got a bone t’pick with the armless wonder, here.”

“Hey!” Sunset snapped. “You can’t just-”

“S’fine, Sunshine, just go, a’right?” Gilda said quietly, “and… I love you.”

Sunset stared at Gilda for several long seconds before nodding and letting Twilight get behind her chair. “I love you too, Gil… more than anything.”

“Yeah, I know,” she replied.

Sunset met Gilda’s eyes, trying to will all of her feelings into the look and knowing it would fail, but Gilda nodded, and for a moment she could see that light in her eyes again, just for a moment, before Twilight wheeled her out of the room. The Princess shared a few words with her guard before passing her something and leaving the room, leaving the twins to their business.

“So…” the newcomer raised a familiar book in her arms and flipped it open, making a dramatic show of paging through it. “A-fuckin-pparently, you saved Wheels’ life, now ya live t’gether and you’ve been knocking hooves with’er for a few months, ya got knighted and engaged by the friggin’ Solar Princess, then proceeded t’get your ass kicked so hard in your first magical throwdown with our baby sister that your arm fell off, that about right?”

Gilda glared but, gritting her teeth, she nodded. “Yeah, pretty much.”

Her doppelganger chuckled. “Oh wait, I missed somethin’ here,” she held the book up and scanned it. “Right, it also says here that you’re a whiny bitch.”

“I just lost my fuckin’ arm!” Gilda yelled, her temper going from zero to a hundred as she snapped. “What the fuck do y’want from me you shit-head!?”

“Careful, who ya callin’ shit-head, shit-head,” Gilda’s twin shot back with a smirk.

Gilda started to open her mouth to retort, when her twin slammed a fist on the desk next to her, splintering a portion of it and glaring down at the human counterpart. For Gilda’s part, she had never been on the receiving end of her own glare for obvious reasons, but seeing it now from the Equestrian version of herself she was suddenly discovering a bit of sympathy for the people she had been intimidating all these years.

“You’re going to shut up, and you’re going to listen, yeah?”

The Equestrian Gilda stalked around her human twin’s bed, eyeing her up and down in the manner of a wildcat examining its prey. For a moment she stalked back and forth, until finally she came back to the splintered desk, grabbed the chair beside it, and tossed it down in front of the bed backward before dropping herself into it. Her arms rested crossed on the backrest of the chair with her chin perched on top of them as she glared, letting the silence sink in before finally breaking it.

“Damned if I can’t figure out what th’fuck ya problem is,” Lieutenant Gilda said with a grimace. “You’ve got a fuckin’ job t’do and you’re sittin’ here like a sun-damned lump.”

“I’m-”

“Missin’ an arm, yeah I can see that, dingus,” she snapped, “and given I ain’t a complete fuckin’ moron like you, my question is: So, the fuck, what?”

Lieutenant Gilda stared down at her counterpart with a frustrating combination of annoyance and confusion, while Gilda herself was still trying to work through how to respond. Eventually, it was the Equestrian double that broke the conversational deadlock.

“Don’t you get it?” She asked angrily. “We’re it,” she gestured out towards the door that Twilight and Sunset had left through. “We’re what’s between them and everything shitty that life is throwing in their direction, got it? So what if you lose an arm? Or the other arm? Or a fuckin’ leg?” Lieutenant Gilda sagged a little and wrapped her arms around herself. “Th’Princess? She gave me a real shot at bein’ somethin’ other than another fuckin’ statistic, y’know… I’d give up my wings if it meant keepin’ her safe… would you?”

The stump of Gilda’s arm throbbed painfully as if in response to her Equestrian counterpart’s question. Would she? Of course she would, she would give up everything for Sunset. Her home, her world, her life… everything, hadn’t she already told Sunset that same thing when they had been standing in front of the Portal and watching the rest of Sunset’s old life vanish?

‘I’d give it all up, my world n'my whole life here if it meant stayin’ with you.’

That was what she had said and here she was, sitting on her duff for a week after already having slept for a whole other week.

“The Griffon Kingdoms? They’re a really shitty place to grow up, y’know?” Lieutenant Gilda said quietly as she relaxed against the back of the chair. “I had nothin’ and no one… heard your folks’re dead, right? At least they had a good excuse f’not raisin’ ya. Mine kicked me out,” Gilda started in surprise at that, staring at her twin in shock, who smiled wanly back at her. “What? Y’think ‘cause Wheels comes from some happy-go-lucky paradise that it’s like that all over? Nah, the Kingdoms’re are a frozen shit-hole full’a miserly, spiteful birds. My sire’n dam had another egg on the way and the first thing they were tryin’ t’figure was if they oughta sell the egg or keep it and kick me out, ‘cause two was one too many beaks t’feed, y’know?”

“What the fuck?!” Gilda snapped, rising up from her bed and wincing at the shock of pain that rolled through her from the sudden motion.

“Yeah, right?” Her twin said with a grin that was half-grimace. “And y’wanna know how they were gonna choose between tossin’ me and sellin’ the egg?”

Gilda swallowed dry but nodded. “How?”

“They flipped a coin,” she answered. “And I didn’t let that sucker hit the ground, I snapped it outta the air and told’em: ‘nogrif sells my family, even if I ain’t met’em yet,’ and I packed my stuff… mind you I’d only seen about seven winters by then… and I left for Equestria,” Lieutenant Gilda shrugged and smiled. “Got accepted at the border, put in an orphanage, joined up with the Junior Speedsters and met Dash… eventually, I went back t’Griffonia but… dunno, my family was gone, most everygrif I’d ever known was gone by then… I’d made my way back home the long way ‘round and there wasn’t even a house left waitin’ for me.” Shrugging again, Lieutenant Gilda laughed bitterly. “I tried to go back to Equestria and reconnect with Dash but… fuck if that didn’t blow up, so I wandered; I scrounged for food and slept in the lee of cliff landings, I stole and fought and scratched… I had no direction… no nothing… not until the Princess came t’find me and held out a hoof. It was like the whole world just stopped for me until then and-”

“-and suddenly you were breathin’ again,” Gilda finished. “Sunset was the same for me… I was just livin’ day after day, waitin’ for nothing and just bein’ a general shit-head to everyone until I met her.”

Lieutenant Gilda nodded. “Never told’er… dunno if I will… but when she came’n found me, when she looked at me with those stupid-pretty eyes and… yeah, that’s when I fell, ‘cause us Grimfeathers? We’re not made for bein’ alone, y’know? We need somethin’ t’fight for, t’live for… I realised that when Princess Twilight let me into her guard.” Standing up, she moved the chair away from her with her foot and glared down at the human Gilda who flinched away from her. “So I’m sayin’ it again: ya lost your arm, and so, the fuck, what?”

Gilda leaned back against the bed and looked pensive. She knew she’d had a rough life, that was obvious, but this version of herself? The one from Sunset’s world seemed to have had it a lot harder. Sure, she never got in with a gang, but Gilda herself had never had to live at the bottom of the barrel like that either. Even if it was a gang, even if it was with a manipulative, monstrous, criminal ganglord, Gilda had always had her sister, and she’d always had a home, and friends, and family…

“Tell me this,” Lieutenant Gilda said grimly. “The world ain’t stopped turnin’ while you’re layin’ here… so what happens when Sunset gets hurt because you weren’t there?” Gilda felt her breath catch in her throat as her twin fixed her with a deadly look. “How’s that arm gonna feel then? Huh? That’s how it is, dipshit… me and you? We ain’t got the luxury of feelin’ sorry for ourselves… not while we have to do right by them,” she jerked her thumb towards the door. “So lose an arm… lose a leg, lose everything… then ask y’self: what’s any of that matter so long as she’s safe?”

Gilda nodded, staring down at her missing arm.

“Yeah… savvy,” Gilda replied before chuckling quietly. “What the fuck am I even doin’?”

“Damn good question,” Lieutenant Gilda replied with a smirk. “What are you fuckin’ doin?”

“Not my job,” Gilda replied, her chuckles turning into laughter. “I’m sure as fuck not doin’ my job… guess I got a lot t’catch up on, huh?”

“Damn right.”

Lieutenant Gilda turned away, walking towards the door but, as she did, Gilda called out to her.

“Hey… uh… me, you… whatever…” Gilda grappled with her words as her twin turned to fix her with a curious look. “If… y’know… if you could do it all over, would ya change anything?”

Lieutenant Gilda let out a harsh bark of laughter. “Change somethin’? And risk missin’ meetin’ my Moon’n Stars?” she turned to face Gilda fully, her hands tucked into her coat pockets and a wide, riotous grin on her face. “No. Fuckin’. Way…. why? would you?”

Gilda looked down at her right shoulder: at the mass of bandages and the twisted wrappings. She remembered the smell of ozone and dirt, of rain and wind. She remembered the look of joy on Sunset’s face when she’d asked her to be her girlfriend, the look of wonder when she given her the ring made of magic ice. She remembered all the nights they’d spent in each other’s arms and all of the days they’d spent together.

She remembered the smell of lilacs and cherries.

“And risk never meetin’ my Sunshine?” Gilda asked finally, looking up from her arm to meet her twin’s gaze with a smirk that was neatly mirrored by the other version of herself. “No fuckin’ way.”

“So~” Sunset started, “Gilda, huh?”

Twilight blushed and buried her face in her hands again, leaning against the back of one of the cushioned chairs that lined the hallway. The pair of them had staged up near enough to Gilda’s room to see when they were done, but far enough away to give the two their privacy, since things were liable to get loud.

“I know! Okay?” Twilight said weakly. “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything, it was just…”

“Really weird?” Sunset finished.

“Extremely weird,” Twilight agreed. “I mean, how was I supposed to say it? ‘Hey Sunset! Did I mention I’m dating the alter version of your girlfriend?’ Plus with me having to dodge around Equestria…”

“We have a direct line of communication, Twi’,” Sunset said dryly. “It doesn’t take a long time to write a note.”

Twilight curled up into the chair and nodded. “No… I know, I just… I was scared, okay? I was scared and nervous, and I thought you’d be mad, and… at first, I pretended I didn’t feel anything for Gilda because of how you two are here but…”

“She’s pretty persistent, huh?” Sunset said with a small smile, and Twilight nodded. “Mine too.”

“I tried,” Twilight said in a small voice. “I tried not to fall for her, okay? The last thing I want is for something like this to come between our friendship, Sunset… you’re one of my very best friends and I… I don’t want to lose that.” Tears trickled down Twilight’s face, and Sunset felt a small pang of guilt. This had obviously been weighing on the Princess for a while. “But I’m so happy with her, Sunset! Being a Princess is so much harder than I thought it would be, and I already had a good idea of what it took! There are nights I cry myself to sleep out of stress, other nights I don’t sleep at all because I’m worrying so much, but now-”

“Now you have Gilda,” Sunset said, and she felt a not-insignificant pang of venomous jealousy.

Of course it wasn’t her Gilda, Sunset knew that. Obviously, the two were as different from one another as her Twilight was from the one who lived in this world. They probably had a few things in common, beyond identical appearances, but past that they had lived entirely different lives on entirely different planets on entirely different planes of existence. The Gilda of this world, who had proposed to Sunset on New Year’s Eve with a ring of magic ice was not the Gilda who served as a bodyguard to the Princess of Friendship.

And yet…

The words burned in her mouth: ‘You have Gilda.’

They tasted like fire and anger, and Sunset wanted to spit and curse at Twilight for trying to take even more from her than she already had.

Sunset bit her lip at that last thought. ‘That’s entirely unfair you ungrateful bitch,’ Sunset thought bitterly, ‘Twilight hasn’t taken a damn thing from you, you gave up any right to say that when you abandoned your world out of selfish greed.’

Letting out a slow, even breath, Sunset tried to will the anger away. It was getting easier with time, Sunset knew for a fact that she was an angry person by nature; passion and ambition were two of her defining features, it was what drove her to be the best at whatever she tried her hand at. But passion was a double-edged sword and it had gotten the better of her more often than it hadn’t, if she were being honest.

“Okay, so let’s talk about this,” Sunset said finally, looking up at Twilight. “First off… you have absolutely nothing to apologise for, alright?” Twilight hiccuped but nodded. “Good, because I have no right to tell you who you can and can’t be with, no one does… second, that’s not my Gilda, even if they look and sound the same they’re two different people and conflating the two isn’t fair to either of them.”

Twilight sighed, nodding as she rubbed at her eyes. “I know that, intellectually I mean, of course they’re different but… they’re so alike, too.”

“Well they are alters of each other,” Sunset said with a laugh. “They’re bound to have a lot of similarities.” Sunset leaned back in her chair and drummed her fingers against the armrest as she considered her next words carefully. “So… you know how me and my Gilda met and got together… how did you two happen?”

Twilight's face turned bright red and a moment later her hands went over her cheeks. “Uh… you really don’t want to hear that story.”

Sunset blinked in surprise at the reaction and laughed. “Well now I do, I mostly asked out of curiosity but that reaction has got to have a good story behind it.”

“No~! It’s stupid and bad and, in Rarity’s words, the worst possible thing,” Twilight groaned. “It’s humiliating and stupid and it makes me look awful.”

“Then you’ll be in good company, Twi’,” Sunset said with a laugh. “But seriously after a description like that you can’t not tell me, so fess up.”

“U~gh, fine,” Twilight replied reluctantly, then took a deep breath and sat back in her chair, crossing her legs and getting comfortable. “I found Gilda about a week after you suggested I give her another chance, and originally I was just going to see if she wanted to talk but, honestly, she was in a pretty bad place when I caught up to her.” Twilight grimaced, remembering the state of affairs she’d found the griffon in, the look of one too many missed meals evident in her thin ribs and sallow glare. “Tempest had been pestering me to increase the guard numbers for the castle since Ponyville was expanding and so rather than talk I just… offered her a job.”

“Yeah, I got that part,” Sunset replied. “How did you two end up… y’know,” Sunset held up her fingers in a v-shape to her lips.

“SUNSET!” Twilight screeched, and Sunset started cackling and rocking back and forth in her chair. “Ugh, you’re the worst, but fine, if you have to know… Gilda turned out to be a fantastic guard; she stuck close to me most of the time, never missed sweeping a room for threats, and Tempest eventually realised her excellent vision and natural warrior traits made an ideal bodyguard for me,” Twilight explained and Sunset nodded along, gesturing for her to get to the point. “R-right, so fast-forward a month: the beginning of the new year here, and we’re in the Dragonlands, far to the south past the badlands.”

“The Dragonlands?” Sunset looked impressed. “Dragonlord Torch is a real bastard, I heard, has he actually relaxed a little?”

“Torch isn’t Dragonlord anymore, actually,” Twilight replied. “He abdicated and was succeeded by his daughter, Ember, who’s actually pretty friendly.” Sunset let out a low whistle and nodded for Twilight to continue. “Alright well, Pinkie and I were there to try and open potential trade lanes with the dragons; their abundance of natural minerals and refined ores for our gemstones.”

“Back up,” Sunset said, holding up a hand. “Pinkie? As in Pinkie Pie? As in ‘keeps balloons and confetti in her mane’ Pinkie Pie?”

“The Pie family owns a massive stake of rock farms,” Twilight replied. “They use their unique Earth pony magic to foster gem growth in their boulders as well as maintaining vast quarries, so most of the trade would go through them, and besides,” Twilight shrugged, waving a hand, “this might surprise you, but Pinkie is a fantastic businessmare, she’s a lot more capable than she lets on.”

“Alright, I buy it,” Sunset said, “clearly yours and mine are way different but go on.”

“Right, so, it’s uh… really hot in the Dragonlands, right?” Twilight said. “Like, really hot, like, miserably hot, and the talks aren’t… aren’t going great,” she grimaced at the memory. “Ember might be nice enough, but I had to convince all of the elder dragons, she might be Dragonlord but she’s new to the throne and very young by dragon standards, so if she forced the issue and ignored the other dragons one of them might try and stage a coup.”

“Ugh, politics,” Sunset groaned. “I’m not missing that part of being Celestia’s student.”

“Right?” Twilight agreed with a laugh, “isn’t it the worst?”

“I prefer problems I can throw fireballs at,” Sunset said with a chuckle, “and most of the noble houses look askance at having their progeny immolated.”

“There’s a few I could name that wouldn’t mind losing a scion or two,” Twilight replied blithely.

“Bet I can guess,” Sunset shot back. “Say it on three, 1… 2… 3-”

“House Blueblood!”

“House Blueblood!”

Twilight and Sunset broke out in peals of laughter. For whatever it was worth, the two of them had shared a unique childhood in the halls of Canterlot Palace as Celestia’s personal student, and now that she had given up her anger and jealousy over it, Sunset found that she liked having someone she could relate to as much as she did with Twilight Sparkle.

“So, continuing on,” Twilight said after catching her breath, “we’re in week two and we’d been arguing for almost seven hours when Ember called it a day, we were close to some concessions but one of the elders, Nickle-something, was being a brute about relying on non-dragons and Ember wanted a couple of days to talk him down before we reconvened, which meant extending our trip again,” Twilight grimaced and shook her head. “At this point, I’m at my wit's end and about to just blow the whole island off the map when I get back to the room and find Gilda talking to another Griffon on the balcony of our suite, they pass something over to her and she comes back in with actual ice.”

“In the Dragonlands?” Sunset replied incredulously.

“That’s what I said,” Twilight replied. “But apparently there’s a dead volcano nearby that’s tall enough to get snow and ice which happens to be home to a small Griffon clan-aerie, the Bladebeaks,” Twilight laughed a little at the memory. “Gilda had sent a missive and gotten a delivery of enchanted ice along with a no less than three bottles of triple-distilled Griffonian Vodka.”

“Oh no.”

“Oh yes,” Twilight said, nodding grimly. “The two of us then proceeded to get completely shitfaced in the diplomatic suite,” Twilight admitted, going red-faced again. “So, no shit, there I am: pent up, angry, frustrated, and my bodyguard and I are drinking like it’s the end of the world, and I vaguely remember telling her how hot I think her flanks are.”

“Classy.”

“Right?” Twilight grumbled. “Then Gilda, who is equally hammered, grabs my glass out of my grip, knocks both hers and mine back, and then moves in and kisses me.”

“How romantic,” Sunset said in an utterly arid tone.

Twilight buried her face in her hands at the memory and gave a small, weak laugh. “So cut to next morning: I wake up in a tangle of feathers and bedsheets, and sweating vodka, with Gilda spooning me and the hangover from Tartarus crushing my skull. Better yet, the room is absolutely destroyed and my uh… state of affairs south of the border tells me that I, in no uncertain terms, drunkenly railed my bodyguard the night before.”

Sunset stared for several moments before just shaking her head. “Wow… that’s just… wow.”

“I. Was. Mortified,” Twilight said grimly. “Absolutely mortified.”

Sunset was doing her best not to laugh out loud at her friend, she really was, but success was not coming to her at that moment, so the best she could manage was not pointing and laughing before falling out of her chair and settling for nodding with the occasional sputter escaping her lips.

Twilight sighed and leaned back in her chair. “So Gilda wakes up a second later, smacks her lips, looks around, spots me mid-panic attack, and says: wanna go again?”

That did it. Sunset cracked up entirely, and the hall was filled with her bubbling laughter as Twilight buried her face back in her hands and waited out her friend’s hysterics.

“Done?” Twilight asked dryly.

Sunset took several breaths, nodding wordlessly and gesturing for Twilight to continue her story.

“Right, so…” Twilight sighed and shook her head. “I apologised over and over again to Gilda, I’m feeling like the lowest of the low, and Gilda just kisses me again. I’m sweaty, messy, snotty, and she just kisses me like… like…”

“-like you’re the prettiest girl, mare, whatever, in the world?” Sunset ventured.

“Yeah,” Twilight blushed warmly and smiled. “Once I was done falling apart we got breakfast and talk it out; I admitted to her that I’d had feelings for her for a while but never acted on them because of how inappropriate it was,” Sunset started to protest but Twilight raised a hand to forestall it and continued, “for a variety of reasons. Yes, one of which was that one of my best friends was dating her alternate version, but also because I’m literally her boss.”

“Oh, right,” Sunset said quietly, chuckling. “Guess that’s still a thing.”

“Yeah,” Twilight agreed. “But… we decided to give it a go anyway… technically there aren't any rules about her and I being together but only because each Princess has their own code of conduct for their guards and I, uh, haven’t written mine yet.”

“Gotta say, Twi’, that is not what I expected to hear,” Sunset said, shaking her head and chuckling. “I mean, I’m not sure what I was expecting but it was not that.”

“Being a Princess is stressful, okay,” Twilight groaned. “I’m lucky I have such good friends because I don’t get nearly as much of a social life as I want, I’m away from them for long periods of time so I didn’t have anyone to talk to either.” Twilight stood and stretched, her body stiff after sitting and talking for so long. “But it all worked out in the end… Gilda and I are happy, and Rarity was over the moon about how romantic it was for a Princess to fall in love with her bodyguard.”

“I can imagine,” Sunset replied, imagining her own version of Rarity hearing about it. “And… I’m happy for you, I really am.”

“Are you sure?” Twilight lowered herself down until she was almost kneeling in front of Sunset. “Really sure? Because I won’t let this destroy a friendship, I promise.”

“What kind of friend would I even be if I tried to make you give up someone who makes you this happy?” Sunset asked with a sad smile. “It would be awful and selfish, and only serve to make me feel better about something I have no right to feel bad about in the first place. Like I said, acting like our Gilda’s are the same person is disrespectful to the both of them.”

“So… we’re okay?” Twilight asked quietly. “Really?”

Sunset laughed a little, remembering one of her new favorite movies she had watched with Gilda. “Really, really,” she replied in a Scoltish accent.

Before Twilight could question the odd response, though, the door to Gilda’s room opened and immediately the two girls were looking up. The first to emerge was the Equestrian Gilda, clad in her leather combat coat and striding down the hallway. Behind, a moment later, was Sunset’s Gilda, her jeans pulled on and belted and her hospital gown covering her torso and tied off at her waist.

“H-Hey, Gil,” Sunset said in a soft voice, wheeling up to her. “How you feeling?”

Gilda sighed, then knelt in front of Sunset and reached out with her remaining arm to lay it over Sunset’s cheek. Without saying a word, she looped her fingers into the tumbling waterfall of red locks and pulled Sunset in as she leaned forward, pressing their lips together in a passionate kiss. In that moment, Sunset could feel it again; the fire and passion that Gilda had been missing since she woke up and saw what she had lost. It was back, maybe a little weak, maybe a little fainter, but it was back.

“I’m so fuckin’ sorry, Sunshine,” Gilda said as she pulled away. “Arm or no arm, I ain’t givin’ up, savvy? Just like we promised.”

“Just like we promised,” Sunset repeated happily, tears forming at the edges of her eyes. “I love you so much, Gil… so, so much.”

“I know, Sunflower,” Gilda replied, smiling back at her. “I love you too, and together we’re gonna figure all this shit out and, arm or no fuckin’ arm, we’re gonna live happily ever after, a’right?”

“Alright,” Sunset cried, smiling through happy tears. “I’m so glad you’re back, baby.”

“Good to be back,” Gilda replied wanly. “Now… where’s that hot secretary? I need’er t’gimme a hand.”

Sunset sagged in her seat and groaned, a sound mirrored neatly by Twilight, as Gilda’s doppelganger crowed with laughter. “Yup, she’s back.”

Raven ended up being easy enough to track down; she had staged up in the lounge on the lower floor, which was empty other than the orderly at the desk, reading a book and eating a platter of cheese and fruits she had procured from somewhere unfathomable when Twilight went to fetch her with her Gilda in tow who was back to being hooded so as not to confuse the doctors and nurses as to why their patient was up and about with her missing arm mysteriously intact. Raven looked up as they entered, and there was a hopeful glint in her eyes that a nod from Twilight encouraged.

“She’s ready?” Raven asked as she stood up and stowed her book.

“As she’ll ever be,” Twilight replied. “She’s willing to try, at least.”

Nodding, Raven picked up the case and followed Twilight up to the floor and entered the small room where Sunset was sitting with her girlfriend happily enjoying each other's company.

“Keep an eye out here, alright?” Twilight said, turning to her Gilda who nodded. “I don’t want anyone interrupting us; if the doctor comes by just tell him we’re busy, please?”

“Sure thing, y’Highness,” Gilda replied with another nod, and Twilight sighed.

“You know you don’t have to-”

Gilda shook her head. “Y’still my boss, and y’still a Princess of Equestria, so yeah, I have to, except when we’re alone, y’know?”

Twilight leaned in to brush her lips over Gilda’s. “I know, be careful.”

“Ain’t nothin’ even on this floor except a few patients,” Gilda gestured around the floor, “a nurse,” she pointed to the station, “and that poor bastard over there moppin’ up someone’s sick,” she nodded to a custodian in a cap mopping up a puddle of vomit.”

Twilight grimaced, “oof, poor guy, I don’t envy that job, but yeah… I just… I’m nervous about this whole situation. Is that silly?”

“Nah,” Gilda replied, shaking her head. “Means y’bein’ careful, ain’t nothing wrong with that. I’ll hang here.”

Twilight gave her bodyguard and lover’s hand a quick squeeze before going into the room and closing the door behind her as Raven was setting the metal case on the nightstand, moving with sure fingers, she unlatched and opened it to reveal the arm once more.

Shifting on her bed to keep the stump of her arm from touching anything, Gilda moved to hang her legs off the edge of the bed alongside Sunset as Twilight approached them.

“Alright,” Twilight said, reaching out and gingerly lifting the arm up. “This is a bit of an experiment if I’m being honest, we have prosthetics in Equestria but nothing like this.”

“Just plug it in, Sparks,” Gilda said firmly. “If I’m gonna be any good when shit goes down I need t’have my fuckin’ arm back, savvy?”

“I’m just warning you,” Twilight said, “I’ve given you the best shot I can, I modeled the arm perfectly off of my Gilda’s right arm back in Equestria, and it transitioned through the portal exactly as I predicted it would. I matched the systems inside to her fundamental magical system and my hope is that it will be close enough to yours that the period of acclimation will be minimal.”

“Y’lost me,” Gilda replied, and Sunset sighed beside her.

“Basically she’s built you an arm that’s as close to identical to your old as mortally possible, Gil,” Sunset explained before turning to Twilight. “Is there a chance of rejection?”

“There shouldn’t be,” Twilight answered, “but like I said, it’s an experiment, so there may be some pain, and it will probably feel very… strange, at first.”

“I’ll take whatever comes,” Gilda replied evenly, “so long as it means I can protect Sunshine, here.”

Twilight smiled. “Glad to hear it, turn yourself this way then,” she gestured for Gilda to present the stump of her arm to Twilight. “Hopefully this will only pinch a little.”

Carefully, Sunset undid Gilda’s wrappings, revealing the stitched and sutured stump that had, indeed, healed remarkably fast. Impossibly so by modern medical standards, but those standards never accounted for magically encouraged regeneration. Once the wound was clear, Raven stepped forward and dabbed the entire area with alcohol swabs before stepping away and allowing Sunset to start fitting the harness over Gilda’s shoulders.

The harness belted across Gilda’s back in an ‘X’ shape and curved around under her breasts to belt in tightly with a thick primary brace that rested over Gilda’s right clavicle like a shoulder pad. Once those pieces were fitted the prosthetic was slid into the slot under the pad and a loud, clacking sound could be heard as it latched.

“Alright, here we go,” Twilight said as she pressed the arm against the stump. “Three, two, and-”

The sound of electricity snapping rocked the room and Gilda spasmed, jerking in place with her eyes going wide as she let out a harsh, rattling gasp of pain.

“F~uck!” Gilda swore, snapping her arm away from Twilight, “that wasn’t a fuckin’ pinch!”

“Gilda,” Sunset said in an awestruck voice, “look!”

Gilda blinked in confusion, then looked down at her hand. Her right hand, alien though it was, moved with smooth, liquid motions, it’s unnatural origin betrayed only by a faint clicking sound as the gears inside aligned and shifted for every movement. Warily, Gilda flexed her fingers and, sure enough, they opened and closed at her command.

“Kinda hurts,” Gilda muttered. “The shoulder, I mean.”

Twilight nodded. “The nerve connections will be raw for a while. The arm is partially piggy-backing off of your arcane circulatory system to account for the nerve endings at your shoulder that were destroyed by the lightning.”

“Will it stop?” Gilda asked quietly.

“I… I don’t know,” Twilight replied. “Maybe? I hope so… I’d hate for it to always hurt, but… you can always take it off.”

“How bad is it?” Sunset asked in a worried tone.

Gilda grimaced. “Like needles jabbin’ into my arm over and over, but I don’t care, so long as I can protect ya, I don’t care.”

“But-”

‘Sparks is right, Sunflower,” Gilda said, looping her left arm, her real arm, around Sunset’s waist and pulling her into a one-armed hug. “I can always take it off, besides, I ain’t afraid of a little pain, savvy? Trust me, I got this.”

Sunset wanted to protest more but when she looked up and met Gilda’s eyes, her words faded away. There was light there, the light that Sunset had quietly feared had gone away for good.

“I got a job t’do, Sunshine,” Gilda said firmly, turning to wrap both arms around her and pull her close. “I’ll lose whatever I gotta if it means you’re safe, a’right?”

Sunset sniffled a little but nodded and buried her face against Gilda’s chest.

“I love you, Gilda,” Sunset cried quietly. “I’ll always love you.”

“Love you, too, Sunflower,” Gilda replied softly. “Always.”

~Canterlot High School, March 9th, Late Afternoon~

Sunset and Gilda stood in front of Canterlot High school, their backs to the entrance as they faced the statue and the portal that lay hidden within it as Twilight, Raven, and the Equestrian alter of Gilda stood nearer.

“Let me know if anything goes wrong with the arm, okay?” Twilight said, smiling at Sunset and Gilda. “And I’ve given the sirens the schematics for it, in case I can’t make it over because I’m trying to put out some political fire.”

“Between Adagio, Aria, and Sonata, I’m pretty sure they’ll be able to figure it out,” Sunset said with a grin. “I’ll try not to drag you over here over nothing.”

“You say that like I couldn’t use the vacation from being the Princess of ‘Solving Stupid Problems’ every now and again,” Twilight griped playfully. “But seriously, let me know, if for no other reason than scientific curiosity.”

“Will do, Sparks,” Gilda replied. “And before ya go, you mentioned your Captain… Tempest? My Tempest worked for my pops, Storm King, so did she…?”

Twilight grimaced but nodded. “Yeah, she was his former number two, and he was a huge threat to Equestria before he was destroyed… that’s another reason I’m so wary of your version.” Sighing, Twilight ran a hand through her hair. “Our version of Storm King was obsessed with power. When we met him he had a kingdom, influence, wealth, but none of it was enough… it was always about what he didn’t have.”

“Yeah… sounds right,” Gilda replied.

“And that’s why I’m worried,” Twilight said. “So be very careful… those types of people? They’re at their most dangerous when they’re left alone to plot.”

“Don’t need to tell me that, Sparks,” Gilda replied, “and uh, hey, uh, me?”

The First Lieutenant raised an eyebrow at her counterpart.

“Before ya go, I just wanted t’say thanks,” Gilda said quietly, “f’the pep talk’n all, y’know?”

“Y’mean for pullin’ y’head outta your ass for ya?” she replied with a chuckle. “No problem, couldn’t have ya goin’ around givin’ us ‘Gilda’s a bad name.”

“Right,” Gilda laughed. “I’ll try not t’fuck up too much.”

“Raven,” Sunset called, rolling forward a little as the trio at the portal began to turn away, and Raven turned to look back at Sunset. “Tell my mom… tell her I love her for me, okay? And that I miss her. I’ll visit as soon as all of this is over, I promise.”

“We’ll both be looking forward to it,” Raven replied with a gentle smile. “Good-bye, Sunset.”

Sunset nodded and one by one the three Equestrians vanished back into the portal with a faint snapping sound. Once each of them had disappeared, Gilda let out a low hiss and raised her arm to flex and stretch it.

“This arm is really given me shit, Sunflower,” Gilda grumbled, and Sunset frowned. “Ain’t even just the pain, the weight is all wrong and I can’t swing it right.”

“Let’s talk to Aria,” Sunset said after a moment of thought, “she does MMA fighting right? Maybe she can help you out?”

“Y’mean she can ‘gimme a hand’?” Gilda said with a grin, earning a light swat from Sunset.

“Are the ‘arm and hand’ puns ever going to stop?” Sunset dead-panned, but smiled a moment later as she remembered her and Gilda’s first real meeting.

Gilda clearly did as well as she chuckled. “Not a chance, Sunshine,” she replied with a grin as she set a hand on Sunset’s shoulder. “Not a chance in hell.”

A lone figure watched the three women vanish into the portal and, after a few minutes, the other two girls left as well. Slowly, he stepped out from behind a series of hedges to stare over at the statue. He wore a blue jumpsuit that bore the badge of the hospital custodial service on it, though his torso was covered in a thick brown jacket, and the blue cap was pulled low over his head as he watched the pair of girls move away and into the distance.

Once they were out of sight he glanced around, ensuring that he was alone, before moving up to the statue itself and examining it closely.

Grinning, Storm King lifted the cap up slightly and stared into the glassy marble surface. Reaching out his hand, he had almost reached the flat plane of the statue before an arc of white light snapped out and singed his hand, backing him up a few feet. Grimacing, Storm shook his hand violently, letting the faint buzzing sensation fade.

‘You cannot pass through this, fool,’ the dark, humorless voice in his mind said. ‘The old sorceress’ spell is as strong now as it was then, meaning I am still banished from that place and, as long as we are one, so too are you.’

“Aye, I got that ye old goat,” Storm muttered. “Figured as much, but now at least we’re sure of where it is.”

‘We already knew it was at this petty little school,’ the voice replied.

“An’ tha’s all well’n good, mate,” Storm replied. “But now that we know that the bastard’s ‘ere, we can do this.”

Holding out his hands, Storm closed his eyes and attuned with the soul that was sharing his body. Their minds lined up together and the spirit suddenly saw what it was Storm was planning, and a peal of low, brassy laughter filled Storm’s ears. Together they moved as one, muttering words in a tongue that was born in a different world as their fingers curled in strange, unpleasant patterns. Dark magic gathered and coiled around Storm as he wove the spell that was being fed to him by his inner companion. After a moment, he stretched his left hand out fully, and geometric lines of black energy snapped out and into the portal, weaving and stitching around it until they had bled fully away from Storm and were now wrapping around the statue.

A moment later the lines faded, leaving the statue looking as normal as ever.

“Tha’s better,” Storm said with a grin. “Now we ain’t gotta worry ‘bout any interference from that side, aye?”

‘The power that child gave us was immense but not infinite, Storm,’ the voice said gloomily. ‘I agree with this expenditure, sealing them away from this place as I was sealed away from that one amuses me. But no more… not until the end.’

“Aye, aye, tha’s as it is,” Storm muttered. “Don’t get ye horns in a tangle, old goat, we’ve got all the time in t’world now…”

25. Down For What You Stand For

~Jackhammer’s Gym, March 14th, Afternoon~

“When you said we’d be meeting someone who could explain everything,” Cadence said a little uneasily as she stepped into the sweat-filled air of the gym, “this wasn’t really where I was expecting to end up.”

Shining Armor silently agreed, but he was willing to put a lot on faith at this point. He and Cadence had shown up at Sunset and Gilda’s flat on the morning they had agreed on, but there hadn’t been anyone home. After several hours of waiting they had eventually given up, and a part of Shining wondered if he had just imagined the entire interaction with Sunset. It wasn’t until nearly a week later that he was contacted by Sunset via a note left for ‘Officer Armor’ at his desk.

According to Sunset, her girlfriend had been badly injured during an incident out at the Everfree Verge. Shining Armor had seen the sudden storm as well helped deal with some of the aftermath and damage that had hit that part of the city which really only amounted to light structural damage to some windows and a few instances of theft. Apparently, it had been much more than just a storm, however, and Sunset had promised, again, to explain everything once they had some time but that they were both in the hospital.

A week later, Sunset had contacted him again and offered a time and place to meet; a local gym and MMA arena in downtown Canterlot which was where they had come to that afternoon. Sunset had asked them to meet her up on the second floor but hadn’t specified why.

“I’m willing to do whatever it takes to figure out what’s going on in my city, Cady,” Shining said after a moment, “and besides… this girl, Sunset, she seems more wary of us than we are of her.”

“Why?” Cadence asked, furrowing her brow as they started up a set of stairs.

Shining just shook his head. “I’m not sure, but I’ll bet it has something to do with what we’ve both seen.”

“If she really knows something about what’s happening…” Cadence shivered. “What kind of world are we living in, Shiny? Is this real?”

Sighing, Shining just shrugged. “I guess we’re about to find out.”

The upper level was filled with the pulse-pounding beat of rap music that was punctuated by the thunder of fists striking heavy fabric. Curiously, it seemed like the entire upper floor was empty, at least at first glance until the pair spotted three figures in one corner. Off to the side of a large practice mat that had an immense and strange-looking punching bag suspended above it, was the familiar seated figure of Sunset Shimmer who was watching the pair on the mat with a sharp, slightly worried look on her face.

The pair on the mat were singular in several respects. Shining recognised Gilda instantly from her robust stature and shock of white hair. She wore a fitted muscle shirt and a pair of workout shorts, both of which showed off her impressive physique. The other young woman, with short purple hair and a matching outfit to Gilda whom she was spotting for by bracing the bag and shouting a combination of encouragement and abuse, was not familiar.

“Faster!” she shouted angrily. “You have to move faster or you’ll lose your momentum, and if you can’t maintain your momentum you’ll never get used to your arm’s weight while you’re fighting!”

“Give her some time to breathe, Ari’,” Sunset said in a worried tone, “she’s still recovering!”

“How-” Cadence was staring slack-jawed at Gilda with wide eyes, and Shining followed her eye line.

His own eyes widened at what he saw, what he had missed the first time. When he’d initially seen Gilda on the mat he’d just recognised her presence, but now looking more closely he realised what he’d overlooked.

Gilda’s entire right arm from the shoulder down was now what appeared to be a matte-black prosthetic. Plastic with metal fittings if Shining had to guess, he’d seen a few members of the force who were war vets that had them except…

Gilda’s moved like it was real.

Snarling, Gilda ignored Sunset and barged forward with her fists raised in a boxing stance. Her arms lanced out like piston-powered hammers slamming into the punching bag and rocking it back with every blow. Each time her fists impacted there was a strange flash of bluish-white energy and Gilda’s eyes glowed faintly as she struck over and over.

“Faster!” Aria snapped. “You’re moving so slow I could break your other arm off and beat you to death with it before you got a swing in!”

Rather than responding, Gilda just poured more force into her attacks and Shining and Cadence’s eyes widened at what they saw.

Her body began to blur and every impact of her fists seemed to strike twice, knocking the punching bag back over and over and even Aria began to grin as she was forced backward, her planted feet grinding against the mat as both she and it were pushed by the unstoppable force being put out by Gilda.

“FASTER!” Aria roared.

Gilda replied with a roar of her own as her body blurred further and there was suddenly no time lag between her strikes. Every moment that her arm was cocked back for another punch another strike was already lancing out to slam against the punching bag and for a brief second, she was thundering into it like a machine.

Then she stumbled.

Sunset flinched as Gilda’s prosthetic fist struck the punching bag off-center and slid against the smooth material. Gilda let out a shout of panic as she suddenly shot forward, her feet going out from under her, and for a moment it looked like she was going to slam into the wall.

Aria moved like water made of light. Before Gilda could make it more than a foot past the punching bag Aria had slipped past her and seized Gilda’s outstretched arm with both hands, levered her up and over, twisting out the larger girl’s momentum in midair in a motion that was so fast neither Sunset nor Shining or Cadence could properly keep track of it, and threw her down to the mat.

“Sloppy!” Aria snapped. “Your right arm has more weight than your left so if you try to strike evenly with both you’ll just overbalance!”

“I know!” Gilda said angrily, sitting up and running the back puff her head. “I just… the faster I go the harder it is!”

Aria shook her head. “That’s not how it works, dumbass… you’re overthinking it. Part of this spell means that entering the hyperkinetic combat state accelerates your body as well as your mind, so as far as your perceptions are concerned: everything is just moving slower.” Straightening out, Aria held out a hand to Gilda who took it to pull herself up. “You’ve got a knack for the art and fantastic instincts, no doubt about it; I’ve never seen anyone pick up hyperkine combat this fast, but you’ve got the same problem every novice Myrmidon has had in the history of ever… you know that you’re moving faster and so you think that you need to try and compensate, but your body is already compensating.”

“So how do I stop?!” Gilda asked in annoyance. “I can feel how fast I’m goin’.”

“No, you can’t,” Aria countered. “It’s just psychosomatic because you’re mentally trying to keep track of how fast you’re moving and that gives you a sensation of acceleration, but the spell is already making all the adjustments that you need to your body to keep you up to speed.” Aria sighed and walked over to the edge of the mat to grab a couple of water bottles and tossed one to Gilda. “You have to find an empty state of mind where you’re only aware of the world around you, and not of your own thoughts. You have to act and react, nothing more, don’t think about punching just punch.”

“Ugh, this sounds like some zen bullshit,” Gilda groaned, dropping back to the floor as she did so and taking a swig of water. “What the hell am I even doin’?”

“Every form of spellcraft requires intense mental will,” Sunset said as she rolled closer to the mat’s edge. “Hyperkineticism is an almost purely instinctual form of spellcasting, so you have to lean into that. But it’s more than just for fighting, you’ll recover a lot faster too.”

Aria nodded. “It’s why most of our warriors were hyperkines… everything is sped up including the speed of your body’s natural adaptation so, in your case, it means your rehab time will be cut by an order of magnitude.”

Shining Armor coughed loudly, drawing the attention of the three at the mat, and Aria immediately turned and snapped her fists up.

“Shit,” Gilda swore, standing and tucking her arm behind her back and angling herself to put it out of their view. “Thought you rented out the upper floor f’the day?”

“It’s okay,” Sunset said quickly, moving between the two pairs. “I invited them here because they’re involved in all of this.”

Aria grimaced but relaxed her stance. “I trust ya, Red, but you really oughta run this shit by me first, okay? I don’t like gettin’ caught off guard.”

“I know,” Sunset said quietly. “And I am sorry, I’ll let you know next time it’s just… this is a long time coming and I forgot to mention it.”

“Whatever,” Aria shrugged and moved back towards the punching bag. “So how’re these poor idiots involved in this shitshow?”

“Beg your pardon?” Cadence said, meeting Aria’s arid gaze.

“You’re pardoned,” Aria said dryly.

“It has to do with Twilight Sparkle,” Sunset said firmly, and that got everyone’s attention. “Shining Armor is her brother, which would make you,” Sunset nodded to Cadence, “her sister-in-law?”

“I’ve known Twilight almost her entire life,” Cadence said, her voice softening. “I’m closer to her than I am to most of my own family.”

“She like a sister t’you?” Gilda asked as she turned to face Cadence, who nodded grimly. “Good, because she’s apparently in some kinda thing with my sister, Zee.”

Cadence let out an almost animalistic snarl. “Zee is your sister?”

Sunset saw rage flash across Gilda’s face at Cadence’s tone and for a moment she thought she would actually have to get in between the two of them, but a second later the anger was gone and in its place, there was only a kind of weary resignation.

“Guessin’ she fucked you guys over too, huh?” Gilda said bitterly. “Yeah, she’s my sister, but the one ya oughta really be mad at is my pops, he’s the one-”

“She beats Twilight,” Cadence hissed.

The atmosphere of the room dropped what felt like several degrees as Gilda went pale and took a step back from the fuming young woman. Sunset, for her part, just stared at Cadence. What she had said, and more importantly how she had said it, didn’t sound like an accusation or a suggestion.

It sounded like a fact.

“A-are you-” Sunset began, but she knew the question was pointless.

“We saw the bruises,” Shining Armor said quietly. “And Twilight admitted that their arguments often get… physical, but there’s more to it than just that.”

“Shiny-”

“Don’t protect her, Cady,” Shining said, his voice hardening. “Gilda, your sister had just as many bruises from Twilight as Twilight had from her.”

“Should I be here for this?” Aria said awkwardly from the sidelines.

“Yes,” Sunset groaned, “I mean… no, or, yes for what’s coming up, this is kind of… a horrifying tangent I wasn’t really expecting, sorry.”

“Hey, don’t apologise t’me, Red,” Aria said, waving a hand dismissively. “Human’s are monsters to each other, you may’ve heard of genocides but I’ve seen them.”

“Excuse me, who the hell are you?” Cadence turned her glower on Aria.

Aria turned and met Cadence’s eyes without flinching. “My name is Aria Charybdia Blaze and I’m over a thousand years old. I’ve watched your race eat each other, little girl, so don’t give me that petty glare.” Cadence took a step back at the sheer weight of Aria’s voice as the Siren took a step forward. “I’ve witnessed world wars and atrocities you can’t imagine; I raised a blade for Lancaster, operated a Prench guillotine so often they called me Aria la Rouge, and sat huddled in a brick and mortar basement with my sisters in Brayton while you miserable apes bombed the living shit out of each other!”

Shining Armor and Cadence were both backing up several steps as Aria advanced on them in a fury.

“You want to know who the hell I am?” Aria hissed. “I’m the one who owes her and her sisters’ sanity to the girl in the wheelchair over there, and as far as I understand she asked you here for a goddamn reason so SIT DOWN!”

The pair stumbled back at her final roar and found themselves sitting in two of the chairs that lined the east wall of the gym and staring up at the young, bob-haired woman who was glaring murderously down at them.

“Aria, that’s enough,” Sunset said in a gentle voice as she rolled up and reached out to take Aria’s hand. “They didn’t come here for you to abuse them, they came because they want to know what’s happening to their family… you can at least sympathise with that, can’t you?”

Aria looked down at the warm amber hand that was gripping hers and gave it a short squeeze before letting go and nodding.

“Yeah, sorry about that, Red,” Aria muttered, “I fuckin’ hate humans.”

Gilda chuckled. “Can’t say I blame ya.”

Shining watched Aria stalk over to the large, hanging punching bag and start hammering on it for several seconds before turning to Sunset.

“Miss Shimmer is she… serious?” Shining asked quietly. “The way she says ‘human’...”

“She’s not human,” Sunset confirmed. “She’s from another world, and even on this one she’s fundamentally different; she’s what’s called a Siren and, so long as she has her magic, she’s immortal. The same goes for her two sisters.”

“Magic?” Cadence muttered. “Immortal? You’re… you're joking, right?”

“I’m not,” Sunset replied, shaking her head before turning to look over her shoulder at Gilda. “Babe, can you c’mere?”

Gilda walked over and stood beside Sunset who reached out and put her hands on Gilda’s prosthetic, lifting it as if showing it off.

“What do you see here?” Sunset asked, looking at both Shining and Cadence. “Just say it, it’s alright.”

Shining stared uneasily at the arm before sharing a glance with his wife and nodding. “I… I see a prosthetic arm, a nice one, but… it’s just plastic and metal fittings.”

“Except it moves,” Cadence said firmly. “I saw it, we both did, we saw her arm move like it was real.”

Sunset looked up at Gilda a nodded. “Release the masking charm.”

Setting her real hand on the false arm, Gilda closed her eyes and there was a faint snap of electricity, followed by the smell of ozone, and Shining and Cadence’s eyes widened considerably.

“That,” Sunset said gesturing to Gilda’s now revealed arm, “was an illusion spell, a relatively minor one… this is what her arm actually looks like.”

Gilda held up the arm, it was crafted from bluish-gray plates of metal set at interlocking points, each one moving around the other as Gilda shifted her arm, making it look almost organic. The fingers were the most intricate; each joint and knuckle defined and articulated to mimic her original range of motion perfectly.

“Alright,” Cadence held up a hand. “You’re saying… magic makes her arm work? And, what? Hides it, too?”

Sunset nodded silently.

“I saw her fly, remember?” Shining Armor put in, “I thought I was going crazy.”

“Need more evidence?” Sunset asked with a wry smile. “Hey babe, grab your engagement bracelet from the bag.”

“C’mon, Sunshine,” Gilda grumbled, but obeyed regardless and began fishing around her duffel bag. “Don’t break it provin’ a fuckin’ point.”

Pulling out the bracelet, Gilda held it out to Sunset who swept it up and displayed it to the couple. “This,” she said with a smile, “was hit by three or four lightning bolts directly. A lightning bolt is roughly five billion joules of energy, savvy? Notice anything?”

Cadence and Shining stare at it in disbelief. The bracelet it utterly pristine, as much as it was the day that Sunset had put in on Gilda’s wrist. The gleaming adornment was seemingly no worse for the wear despite the apparently ruinous damage it should have suffered from Grizelda’s attacks.

“Assuming we believe you,” Cadence began, “how is that possible?”

Sunset looked down at the bracelet fondly as she rubbed a thumb over the gems. “My mother enchanted it herself, meaning that it’s borderline indestructible. It has a grand nullification ward on it.” Holding it up again, Sunset traced a finger over the gold filigree, “that’s a high-grade abjuration that bleeds out about ninety-nine point nine-nine percent of energy directed at it, and furthermore the remaining point-oh-one percent is refracted away from it.”

Turning to reach for Gilda’s metal arm, she took the articulated hand and gently pulled Gilda closer so she could fit the bracelet back onto her wrist.

“What that means is that you’d essentially have to drop a multi-megaton nuclear warhead on it to produce the requisite energy needed to blow past the ward,” Sunset grinned back up Cadence and Shining before looking back at Gilda and linking their fingers. “It’s why I gave it to her for our engagement… it’s as unbreakable as we are.”

“That’s real gay!” Aria called from the mat, not missing a beat in her combination of punches and kicks.

“How’d dinner with Mic Drop go?” Sunset called back with a wide, Cheshire grin.

“IT WASN’T A DATE IT WAS A BUSINESS DINNER!” Aria shouted, going slightly red as the punching bag swung past and gently beaned her across the back.

“I didn’t say it was a date,” Sunset retorted with a smirk.

Aria fumed silently, glaring across the room at Sunset as the punching bag swung back towards the combative siren and she snapped a hand out to seize it, stopping it in place.

“Why go to all this trouble?” Shining asked after a moment of silence. “Why not just… y’know…” Shining mimed flapping bird wings with his hands.

Gilda laughed. “Uh, yeah I don’t think Jackhammer would appreciate me blowin’ out all his windows.”

“Gilda’s transformation is… loud,” Sunset filled in. “And it’s actually gotten significantly more so since she was given that arm of hers, I think it has to do with the Cloudsteel amplifying her native magical attunement.”

“Then can’t you just-” Shining began, but his words died at the look on Sunset’s face.

“I can’t,” Sunset said quietly. “I… I hurt myself in the meadow… overextended is probably more accurate, actually, and… there’s a chance I may not get my magic back this time.”

“Never say never, Sunflower,” Gilda said in a gentle voice as she knelt and took Sunset’s hand. “You saved us, both’a us.”

“I screwed up because I can’t keep a hold of my temper,” Sunset spat angrily. “I nearly- ugh, no, that’s not why we’re here.” Turning back to Shining, Sunset just shook her head. “Short of it is that… my magic is gone, for all intents and purposes anyway, but I still have my mind, and I flatter myself to say I’m one of the finest arcane theorists in any world.”

“She’s not wrong,” Aria called. “So get to the point, why don’tcha?”

Sunset nodded. “Right, you’re not here to get a primer on magical theory, you’re here because of your sister, right?” Sunset let her eyes scan over the pair and she could see the expressions on their faces harden. “You’re here to talk about Twilight Sparkle.”

“Tell us,” Cadence said in a low voice. “Please.”

Taking a deep breath, Sunset nodded. This wasn’t going to be easy, graceful, or pleasant, but they deserved to know, and furthermore, Sunset needed as many allies as she could get if she was going to leverage her diminished strength against Storm King and whatever it was he was planning.

“Twilight is… incredibly dangerous,” Sunset began and held a hand to forestall the incoming protests she saw forming on the pair in front of her. “I’m not saying she’s evil or even a bad person… I’m… well, the jury’s still out on that one, but she’s definitely a Dark Mage. In the Equestrian vernacular, that is in my language, we would have called her a ‘Warlock’, a renegade mage who uses forbidden magic.”

“What do you mean?” Shining asked quietly.

“We both saw Twilight at the meadow that night,” Sunset continued. “And she was saturated in dark magic… and it is important for you to understand just how alarming that should be.” Letting out a sigh, Sunset leaned back in her chair. “Dark magic is like an unregulated drug; deadly, unpredictable, and intoxicatingly powerful. It can let a mage do frankly absurd things, but always at a cost, one only the desperate or the foolish are willing to pay.”

Cadence and Shining shared a worried look. “W-what do you mean?” Cadence echoed.

Sighing again, Sunset braced herself to deliver the news. “Dark magic erodes the user, mind and body. Imagine burning yourself up to stay warm, only it’s your sanity and your health you’re setting fire to, whether you know it or not,” Sunset shook her head and laughed bitterly. “I had a run in with dark magic once and it happened to me probably the same way it happened to your sister… because I got into something I shouldn’t have and fell face-first into it. I tapped into an artifact that wasn’t meant for me and we both knew it, but my ambition and my hatred and my pain poisoned it and me. As for your sister, my bet is that she’s holding onto something that… that isn’t from here, and it’s giving her this power, but I doubt she really understands what it’s doing to her.”

“Does that mean there’s hope?” Cadence asked weakly, “please… is there anything you can do?”

“We’ll do whatever we can to help,” Shining put in. “Just please tell us what you need from us and we’ll do it.”

Sunset sighed. “Look, I might- MIGHT -be able to do something but I’m… I’m not sure yet how it will work and… I’m going to be honest with you, while the effects are generally benign they aren’t what you’d call… predictable.”

“That doesn’t sound encouraging,” Shining said a little stiffly.

“Tell me about it,” Sunset replied aridly, “Babe, c’mere, can I see your talon?”

Gilda retrieved the article from her bag and knelt down to Sunset’s level to hold it out to her. Sunset ran her hand over it, admiring it for a few moments. It had changed since the day she had first seen it at the skatepark. Back then it had been a kludge-job of a gauntlet with mismatched and pitted plates hammered crudely together, brutal but simple claws made from spars of iron reclaimed from some piece of metal, then welded on and sharpened to give them cruelly hooked edges.

Now, though, the plates seemed to match better. The pitting was gone and the finish of the metal was almost polished. The gauntlet looked cleaner and more like something crafted purposefully rather than thrown together from whatever bits were lying around the shop floor.

The power of harmony at work.

“Do you see this?” Sunset held up the gauntlet, showing the back of the hand to the pair.

A gleaming, jewel emblem was set into the metal surface of the back hand-plate and showed a downward-thrust spear with wings curling out from where the speartip met the haft to fold protectively around a divided sun.

“This is one piece of six,” Sunset explained. “One fragment of an ancient artifact called the ‘Elements of Harmony’, and they’re meant to cleanse dark magic.”

Cadence’s eyes widened and she reached out for it, only for Sunset to pull it away and shake her head.

“You can’t,” Sunset said quickly before Cadence could retort. “The Elements choose their bearers and, unless the bearer proves unworthy, they and only they can make use of the Element. In this case, this is the Element of Loyalty, and it belongs to Gilda.”

Sunset passed the gauntlet back to Gilda who nodded and tucked it away.

“I know the location and owners of all of the other pieces except…” Sunset grimaced, “except the last one… I know who has it but… I don’t know what it is or how to activate it.”

“Then what good is it?” Cadence cried, and Shining slipped an arm around her to pull her close.

“It’s the only hope your sister has,” Aria snapped, walking up behind Sunset. “Dark magic is no fucking joke, and your sister has been swimming in the stuff. Even if you get her away from whatever’s giving her the power it won’t matter, she’ll never be stable or normal again until you clear the tainted magic from her system,” Aria swept her hand towards the bag where the Element of Loyalty lay. “The only way to do that is with the Elements or with years of systematic arcane therapy and your species doesn’t have that.”

“Look,” Gilda said in a low voice, standing up and getting between Aria and Sunset, and Cadence and Shining Armor. “I ain’t like them, okay? I’m like you, I’m… well, I ain’t normal anymore but I ain’t some crazy magical powerhouse, savvy?” Stretching her limbs to loosen them from her workout, her prosthetic arm clicking and whirring as she did so, Gilda sighed. “Th’fact is this; ain’t no one in this or any world is capable of savin’ y’sister like my Sunshine is, okay? I know it’s takin’ a lot on trust’n faith, and I know this probably ain’t what ya wanna hear but it’s all ya got, so either take what Sunflower here is offerin’ or stop buggin’er about it, she’s doing’er fuckin best.”

The words came out with an easy grace, but both Shining and Cadence could hear the steel in Gilda’s voice. There was a protectiveness there, a defensive nature that formed a bulwark between them and the girl in the wheelchair. Gilda wasn’t speaking loudly or angrily, she was just speaking, and yet there was no mistaking her message.

Shining nodded. “Okay… so what do you need from us?”

“I need help and information,” Sunset replied. “So let’s talk.”

~Whitetail Forest, March 14th, Late Afternoon~

Lightning Dust sat beneath the boughs of Whitetail, the sun streaming down through the branches where the first hints of leaves were beginning to show. The air was still chilly with the bite of winter, but it was weaker than a month ago and the warmth of spring was beginning to make its way back to the city, however slowly. Lightning never specifically minded the cold, though, so much as she did being alone, and right now she was alone.

She hated it, the feeling of being by herself. It was a feeling she had lived with for a long time. A feeling of being apart from everyone else came with being raised by her grandmother, with not having a mother or father. Not that Lightning regretted it, she loved Dust Off and couldn’t imagine being raised by anyone else, much less her deadbeat mom or whoever the hell her dad even was: neither of which she cared for. Yet, at the same time that feeling of being alienated was one that left her feeling sick to her stomach and now she had an entirely new reason to feel that way.

More than one, actually, given her new ‘allegiance’. Yes, she did appreciate that Storm somehow saved Zee’s life, despite the horrific burns and terrible damage, the girl was all-in-all… fine. Not perfect, and definitely weak, but she would live with no major loss of function as far as Twilight had explained it. It was a borderline miracle and yet…

That night was a blur, the last part of it anyway, and because of that Lightning had never brought it up but… she remembered a little bit of it. Like a zoetrope spinning off-kilter, she remembered flashes of light and dark and images imposed between them.

She had seen Twilight and Storm in the basement, how they had gotten there Dust wasn’t certain, though she could guess it was Twi’s doing. They were leaned over Zee and there was a sickly light spilling from Storm.

And something else.

A figure… towering and terrible with burning eyes and curling horns. Something utterly inhuman. Seeing it had been like living out a nightmare, and that was all she remembered. A part of her wasn’t certain it was real but she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something else in the room with them anytime she was near Storm. It was why she had been avoiding that house since they’d gotten back, even if it meant spending less time with Rainbow.

And then there was the Friendship Games.

Lightning sighed. She knew she would be picked, of course. She and Rainbow were two of the best athletes in the entire school so it was inevitable, but…

~Two Days Ago, Canterlot High Auditorium~

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Principal Celestia called proudly from onstage, her mellifluous voice echoing in a slightly tinny manner through the aged P.A. system. “Thank you for your patience, I know this has been a trying year for all of us but I also know that we, as Wondercolts, are more than our disagreements and our foibles. We are more than our mistakes so long as our hearts remain open.” She took a moment to pan her view over the audience who looked humbler than she could remember any group of teenagers ever looking. “I know that we’ve taken more time than usual to select our team for the upcoming Friendship Games, and I know some of you may feel that it’s unfair, but I promise you that this team is so much more than the sum of its parts, and I beg your good faith to give them a chance, and your applause as I introduce them!”

“Without further ado,” Vice Principal Luna said cheerily as she stepped forward, “I give you your Friendship Games participating team!”

The curtain was pulled away to reveal twelve students standing shoulder to shoulder with one another as Principal Celestia went down the line of introductions.

“In the Advanced Academic sector,” Celestia began, “may I introduce: Rarity Belle, Octavia Melody, Fluttershy, Micro Chips, and Vinyl Scratch.”

“Your Advanced Athletics and Economics sector,” Luna continued, “I give you: Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Lightning Dust, Bulk Biceps-

“YEAH!”

Luna shot Bulk a withering glare, and the larger student took a step back.

“Sorry.”

“-and Gilda Grimfeather!” Luna finished with a smile.

“And of course,” Principal Celestia stepped up beside her sister with a beatific smile, “I am proud to introduce your team captain: Sunset Shimmer.”

Each individual member of the team had gotten their share of applause from around the room, some more than others, but when Sunset’s name was called the room all but exploded with applause. Sunset waved uneasily from where she was seated in her wheelchair on stage by Gilda’s side, who set a hand on her shoulder and gave her a reassuring squeeze.

Luna held up her hands for silence before gesturing for Sunset to approach the stand. The redhead clenched her hands, her grip tightening over her armrests for a moment as panic started to leak into her heart.

“Hey,” Gilda’s voice was soft but insistent as she knelt by Sunset. “Knock’em dead,” she whispered with a grin, before reaching out with her good hand to cup Sunset’s cheek and pull her into a kiss.

The kiss prompted a series of cheers and not a few wolf whistles from the crowd that both girls ignored.

“Thanks,” Sunset whispered quietly as she pulled away from Gilda.

Taking a deep breath, Sunset gripped her wheels and rolled up to the microphone, and Luna nodded encouragingly as she lowered the microphone down to Sunset’s level and took a step back.

“Thank you all for your enthusiasm,” Sunset began as she took her Luna’s place at the microphone. “This has been a hard year, not just me but for all of you too, but I also believe that this year has brought us closer together as a school than ever before,” Sunset shared a glanced around and, happily, found a lot of nodding faces. “As most of you know, Canterlot High has never beaten Crystal Prep in the Friendship Games, and while I agree with Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna that victory is not really the point…” Sunset smirked, straightening a bit in her chair and showing a shadow of her old presence and strength as she did, “I still think it would be nice to knock those Shadowbolts down a peg and get at least one trophy under our belt, WHO’S WITH ME?!”

The crowd erupted in cheers for a second time as Sunset thrust her fist into the air. The auditorium thundered with stomping feet and cheering voices as the Principal and her sister share and wide grin.

Once the fervor had died down, the student body was dismissed back to their classes, the crowd filing out of the open space in something resembling order if one were to squint hard enough. The team of twelve, however, did not follow, and instead were ushered into the back room by Vice Principal Luna while her sister herded the students.

“You’ve all been given a great opportunity in these games,” Luna said as she closed the door to the back room behind her. “And I hope each of you will rise to that occasion,” she gestured to the whiteboard on the wall as she spoke. “You’ll see here the timeline and dates for the Games, furthermore, this room and any resources the school can reasonably offer for your preparation for the games will be provided.” Setting a hand on Sunset’s shoulder, Luna smiled at the rest of the team. “Sunset, go ahead and take over.”

“Right, well,” Sunset let out a slow breath, nodding mostly to herself. “I’m going to be here every day after school for at least a few hours,” Sunset said firmly. “I ask that each of you try to be here with me at least three times a week so we can study and prepare, with respect to your own schedules.”

“Doesn’t that seem like overkill, darling,” Rarity spoke up, raising a delicate eyebrow. “That’s almost… seven weeks of extra study.”

“Crystal Prep has been doing the same thing I’m proposing here for over a month now,” Sunset said firmly. “Only it’s mandatory for all team members and it’s all five days in the school week.”

“Wow,” Pinkie said grimly. “That’s no fun.”

“Crystal Prep is not about fun,” Octavia retorted. “They’re about success at all costs regardless of how it affects the students’ social lives.”

“Seems like ya’ll know quite a bit about what they’re up to over there,” Applejack said from beside Rarity.

Gilda scoffed. “Yeah well, we got a friend who goes t’Crystal Prep, savvy? She’s the one who told us.”

“Uh, isn’t that spying?” Lightning asked quietly.

“There’s no rules against it,” Sunset replied with an easy smile. “Besides…” her eyes lingered on Lightning and Rainbow for a moment longer, “I just assume they know as much about us as we do about them for similar reasons.”

Lightning swallowed dryly. “R-Right, guess that’s fair.”

Sunset smiled enigmatically before turning to fully face the team in its entirety as she pulled out an enormous binder. “Alright team, here’s our curriculum.”

The explanation took almost two hours, and Lightning had been a little pleased to see even Gilda getting antsy as Sunset went over the minutiae of her plan, but they had been dismissed from their classes for the rest of the day anyway for the sake of catching up on lost time.

As much as Lightning Dust hated sitting still, she couldn’t deny that Sunset was definitely the right girl for the role of ‘team captain’. It occurred to her, as she listened to Sunset explain in detail their strategies and approaches for performing in the Games, that she’d never truly appreciated just how much forethought and ability it had taken Sunset to control the school as she had for nearly her entire tenure there. The explanation she was giving to the team was long, but not without reason; over the hours they covered practicals and theoreticals on how to not only learn the material but on how to improve as teams within a team, since many of the challenges in past Games had required the teams to separate into pairs or trios to compete.

By the end, even if she was fidgety and a bit bored, Lightning had to admit she felt a lot more prepared and significantly more hopeful about their chances at actually accomplishing what no other Canterlot High team had done before them: sneaking a win from Crystal Prep.

“Alright ladies and gentlemen,” Sunset said, folding up her binder. “That’s all I’ve got for today, you’re free to go.”

“YEAH!”

“For the love of god, Bulk.”

“Sorry.”

Sunset shook her head, letting out a good-natured chuckle. “Don’t be sorry, big guy, it’s fine. I will admit I have no idea how Roseluck puts up with it day after day, though.”

“She said she think it’s cute,” Bulk rumbled, blushing slightly. “She said guys don’t get excited over stuff enough, so it’s nice to see. I’m really lucky…”

“She’s a great girl, Bulk,” Sunset agreed.

Sunset waved Bulk out and along with most of the others, and Gilda had gone off to find the two of them some food before the cafeteria shut and they were stuck waiting for the end of classes to eat.

“Lightning? Dash? Can you stay for a second?” Sunset said in a perfectly friendly tone, one that wouldn’t raise any eyebrows.

Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust froze on their way out. They couldn’t very well just ignore Sunset and leave. Half the team was still filing out of the room and they would all see it. The pair of girls shared an uneasy look that lasted a split-second before nodding.

“S-Sure,” Rainbow said, swallowing dryly as she turned with Lightning on her heel. “What’s up, Cap’?”

Sunset smirked at the name but didn’t respond, waiting for the room to empty out. Once it had done so and the door drifted shut, Sunset’s feature took on a stormier cast.

“Are we going to have any problems, Dash?” Sunset asked evenly.

Rainbow sighed. “Nah, I wanna win this for CHS, okay? You’n me are… whatever, but I ain’t gonna leave the school hanging like I… well, fuck, you know.”

“I’m with Dash,” Lightning said firmly. “This is bigger than that crap that happened last year.”

“Agreed,” Sunset said firmly before holding out a hand. “Truce?”

“Truce,” Rainbow agreed, a ghost of a smile hovering over her lips as she reached out and took Sunset’s hand.

A crackle of electricity leaped between their palms. Sunset’s expression soured instantly, and she tightened her grip painfully around Rainbow’s hand as she jerked the athletic girl in close, nearly pulling her from her feet.

“I knew it,” Sunset hissed. “Magic… you’ve got magic, Dash, I’m a sorceress I can practically taste it.”

“W-wha-?!” Dash stammered, and Lightning bit her lip as she felt a cold panic rise up in her gut.

“Don’t ‘what’ me, dumbass,” Sunset snarled. “I saw you two in the meadow that night, I know who you’re rubbing elbows with, savvy? Storm’s a criminal, Dash, and a gangster. How many people do you think he’s hurt?”

Rainbow yanked her hand back from Sunset’s grip, shaking it loose as the feeling returned to it.

“Zee is my friend, Sunset,” Rainbow said, her voice carrying a tone of cold anger. “I’m not leaving her or Twilight hanging, no way, no how. I learned my lesson.”

Sunset stared, her jaw hanging half-open in raw disbelief for a moment before a bubbling, slightly crazed laughter started rolling out of her. The two girls stared at the third uneasily as she cackled and laughed in her chair for a solid minute before finally mastering herself.

“Your lesson, huh?” Sunset asked incredulously. “You… y’know what? I believe you. It would just figure, though, that you learned in time to be sticking with the bad guys.”

“They’re not bad guys!” Lightning snapped. “They’re our friends! Both of them, and yeah, Zee’s dad is a little… weird. But he’s a nice guy!”

“He’s a monster,” Sunset replied darkly. “You don’t know him, but… fuck it… you won’t believe me anyway but I’d bet my bottom bit you’ll see it eventually.”

Rainbow and Lightning stared down at Sunset for several silent moments before Dash nodded and reached out to take Lightning’s hand. Lightning gave the hand a squeeze and stepped a little closer to Dash.

“Guess all that talk about friendship really was bullshit to you, huh?” Rainbow snarled. “C’mon, let’s go, Dusty.”

Rainbow stormed out of the room, and Lightning started after her only for a hand to snap out and grab hers.

“Wait.”

“Don’t ask me to abandon ship here, Shimmer,” Lightning said angrily, glaring back at Sunset who was grabbing onto Lightning’s hand. “I’ll never abandon Dash.”

“I know,” Sunset said quietly. “Just… when things go wrong… take care of her, okay? And… and be careful.”

Lightning blinked in confusion for a moment. “That’s it?”

“What else can I do?” Sunset asked.

“Try and stop her yourself?” Lightning suggested, nodding after Rainbow Dash.

Sunset scoffed. “Like that has literally ever worked with that idiot… all it does it make her dig in her heels.” The two girls shared a small, arid chuckle at that. “Things are going to go wrong, Dust, I know it… especially for Dash, okay?”

“So stop her,” Lightning said firmly. “I… I can’t.”

“You could, I think,” Sunset said quietly. “If she loves you as much as I think she does.” Lightning blushed heavily at that comment, “but… even if you can’t… I…”

“You what?” Lightning raised an eyebrow.

“I…” Sunset began as she looked past Dust to the door that Dash had stormed out of. “Ugh, okay, this is going to sound crazy, especially coming from me but despite everything between her and I? I still trust her.”

“You’re right,” Lightning said in disbelief as she started turning to leave, “you do sound crazy.”

~Present Day~

“What the hell is happening,” Dust muttered angrily as she held out a hand and glared at it. “And why me?”

“Y’know I asked myself the same thing a few times.”

Dust let out a surprised squawk at the voice that came from above her as she tumbled and rolled away from the tree. Looking up, she grimaced as she saw Rainbow Dash reclining in the branches.

“How the hell-”

“Super-speed,” Dash quipped, tipping out of the tree. “That and you looked pretty out of it so, like, I probably could’ve walked up to the tree with a full brass band goin’ and back-flipped up into it without you noticing.”

“Thanks,” Lightning said with annoyance painting her voice, and Rainbow Dash grimaced.

“Hey, look, I’m… I’m sorry about all this, okay?” Rainbow said quietly, dropping out of the tree and walking up to Dust to hold out a hand. “I’m… kinda used to being in the middle of this weird crap, but you’re not… I shoulda been there for you more this week.”

Lightning Dust sighed and reached up to grip Rainbow’s hand and pull herself up to her feet. She didn’t stop there though, and leaned in to press herself against Rainbow Dash; taking a deep breath, Lightning wrapped her arms around the brash girl she’d spent so long competing with and buried herself in her scent.

Rainbow returned the embrace, frowning a little as she did. It was so easy to forget that Lightning Dust wasn’t the ‘tough girl’ act she put on at school. That it was a mask she wore and one that she wore both well and easily, but a mask nonetheless. Beneath that mask was something much softer and much more delicate. Something Rainbow didn’t think she deserved but… that wasn’t her decision to make.

“I’m scared…” Lightning whispered. “This is so big.”

“Yeah, I know,” Rainbow replied in as gentle of a voice as she could manage.

“Am I gonna be this way forever?” Lightning asked weakly.

Rainbow shrugged. “I dunno, maybe? I lost my power once so… maybe it’s like, a temporary thing? Or… fuck, I dunno, Dusty.”

Lightning stepped away and looked down at her hands, grimacing as she did and for a moment her body seemed to take on a strange, hazy quality.

Then she moved.

And she didn’t.

Something that looked astonishingly like Lightning Dust erupted from her body, something made from coruscating arcs of electrical energy that glowed a strange, lambent yellow, and moved like a striking serpent scorched across the grass to slam headfirst into a nearby tree leaving a burn mark across the bark.

“Hey, neat,” Rainbow grinned between Lightning Dust and that, “you’ve been practicing.”

Lightning Dust sagged and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, Rainbabe, only so that I don’t accidentally spit out a lightning bolt shaped like me instead of getting out bed again.”

Rainbow winced at that but nodded. “Okay, so, the best thing to do is practice more, right? You can do more than that can’tcha?”

“Yeah,” Lightning replied uneasily. “But-”

“No buts,” Rainbow remarked. “Seriously, don’t… I dunno exactly what’s goin’ on with this crap, but I can tell you it’s better to know what you can do, right?” Rainbow’s form blurred and she seemed to flicker in place for a moment before appearing next to Dust. “Look Dusty, if we don’t get a hold on these powers we’re gonna blow something up, or hurt someone, right? Or ourselves… or… or each other, and I’m not gonna do that, alright? So let’s do this together.”

Sighing softly, Lightning Dust couldn’t keep the small smile off of her face as she nodded. “Y-yeah, together sounds a lot better.”

“Cool, I found a neat clearing a little ways away,” Rainbow chirped, before unceremoniously scooping Lightning Dust into her arms.

“Rainbow Dash don’t you DAAAAAAAAR~E-” Lightning shrieked the last word as Rainbow dug her heel into the ground and accelerated, ripping through the forest for a few seconds before stopping with a slight jerk, and lowering Lightning to the ground.

Lightning Dust got two feet on the ground, only to immediately fall over and bury her face in her hands.

“Rainbabe?” Lightning said in a muffled voice.

“Uh… heh, yeah?” Rainbow Dash replied uneasily.

“Never, ever do that again.”

“Gotcha,” Rainbow said with a laugh.

The clearing was wide and open but mostly surrounded by trees. Rainbow Dash knew there was a suburb nearby but that was a few miles away.

“Alright,” Rainbow said cockily as she hopped and skipped away from Lightning Dust, “let’s see what ya got, Dusty.”

Lightning Dust got to her feet, knocking some of the dirt from her jeans as she did and turned, rolling her shoulders and relishing the faint cracks at her neck.

“You sure?” Dust called. “I don’t wanna hurt you, Rainbabe, and I dunno if I can dial down the voltage too well yet.”

“I’ll be fine,” Dash called, waving a hand nonchalantly. “Even if you hit me, which is gonna be rough, I’ve taken a few shots before. We’ll take five if we need to, alright?”

Dust frowned but nodded. “Alright, here goes nothing.”

Planting her feet, Lightning Dust focused inward, remembering Rainbow Dash’s words from back in the meadow on the Everfree Verge. Magic is alive, it’s more than just power, it was presence and instinct, and everything in-between. Lightning let her instincts carry her and forced herself to move.

Not her body, but her mind: her intent.

All of it said move.

Lightning jerked in place, miming a right cross from where she stood several meters away from Rainbow and instantly a copy of herself erupted outwards to carry the motion of the punch. Despite the speed, Rainbow just bobbed around it with a cocky grin as it careened past her, tapping into her speed.

Grunting in annoyance, Lightning concentrated, frowning as she snapped her arms wide, sending a crackling clone in either direction only to jerk her head forward and send a third one bolting towards Rainbow Dash. The prismatic speedster ducked the first only to have the left hand one barrel off of a tree and storm towards Rainbow Dash in a shoulder barge. Speeding up more, Dash sidestepped the second only to stumble as the third crashed into her legs in a football tackle, bringing her down to the ground.

Rainbow Dash vanished in a flicker of movement as the clone detonated, leaving a scorch mark on the ground, only to reappear next to Lightning Dust to flick her across the forehead, the sudden movement and sharp motion sending her stumbling backward and dropping her onto her ass.

“Nice!” Rainbow cheered as Lightning rubbed at the spot on her head. “Up to three now? And you’re getting really good at controlling them, too!”

“It’s weird,” Lightning admitted grumpily from the ground. “When they’re out there it’s like I’m trying to maneuver an entire soccer team in my head, by myself, all at once.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s like…” Lightning flailed her hands a little, “like having a bunch of extra limbs you’re in charge of and you gotta make sure they do every little thing right.” Lightning sighed. “Imagine like, have twelve people worth of bodies in your head and you gotta make’em move and run and punch and all that stuff. Like I said, it’s having a whole team in my brain that I gotta control manually.”

“Does it have to be manual?” Rainbow asked with a raised eyebrow.

Lightning cocked her head. “Wha’dya mean?”

“I mean like, why does it have to be manual,” Rainbow said, shrugging. “Why can’t you just give’em a play?”

Lightning’s eyes widened a little as Rainbow voiced the thought. Lightning scrambled to her feet and looked around. Spotting a pinecone hanging from one of the trees, she narrowed her eyes and blurred for a moment as one of her clones erupted from her body. It raced to the tree, leaving slightly scorched footprints behind it, and ran up the tree trunk, snapped the cone from where it hung, and pitched it to Lightning who caught it.

“Woah, nice,” Rainbow said with a grin. “That was a lot cleaner, what’d you do?”

“I… I traced a line in my head,” Lightning replied. “Like, when Coach Will is lining out plays on the whiteboard before a game, y’know? Like, I drew a line to the tree, then up to the cone, then I sort of… circle the cone in my head and drew a line back to me.”

“Huh,” Rainbow gave an impressed grunt. “I didn’t think that’d work like… literally.”

Staring down at the cone in her hand, Lightning tossed it up and down before getting a grin on her face as an idea occurred to her. Backpedalling, she cast her gaze around until she found two trees that were about a dozen feet apart with nothing between them. Tossing the pinecone up, Lightning leaped back, staring at the cone as it fell.

Rainbow saw Lightning’s eyes snap side to side as if she was taking everything in instantly. It was a look she was extremely familiar with. Lightning got that look anytime they started being put on their back heel during a game. Rainbow had fantastic reflexes and incredible instincts, but Lightning was far more calculating. She could read a field faster than anyone else, even if she couldn’t physically keep up with Rainbow. It was why anytime Lightning would create an opening, it was always Rainbow who could exploit it.

It was what had made them such great teammates and rivals.

Time seemed to slow for a moment as Lightning took in the space around her, measuring and planning in an instant as the cone descended. The moment it struck the ground, five golden, crackling clones of Lightning burst forth, spreading out in a standard forward offense play.

The central clone snap-kicked the cone to the far left one who caught it on the curve of her shoe only to deflect it inward to the inner left one who sent it hurtling to the right. From there the cone bounced between the far and inner right as all five rushed the pair of trees that Lightning’s mind had designated the ‘goalposts’, only for the cone to finally be sent popping into the air where the inner left clone put on an extra burst of speed to leap and headbutt it past the ‘posts’.

The clones faded with a faint crackle, and Lightning sagged, dropping to her knees on the ground, panting and sweating.

“Holy crap,” Rainbow muttered before turning back to Lightning. “That. Was. AWESOME!”

Lightning held up her hand, giving Rainbow a breathless thumbs up. “Of course it was awesome, Rainbabe. It’s me we’re talking about!”

Rainbow was grinning like a madwoman. “We gotta do that again!”

Despite her leaden limbs and tired mind, Lightning nodded. This felt good, no matter where it came from… it felt good.

~Canterlot Docks, March 14th, Late Evening~

The small warehouse near the south edge of the docks district of Canterlot was, in every sense, entirely unassuming. That was naturally the point given the purpose that it was going to be put to use. There were rarely more than a few vagrants prowling around dockside during winter who might see anything, though, even during the tail end of it. The bay was just too cold, and frankly, most people had better things to do.

At least, that was what Sunset was counting on when she asked Adagio to find them a nice quiet space that was out of the way. She hadn’t strictly expected Adagio to just purchase an entire warehouse for them but, then again, the Siren was nothing if not excessively extra.

“This place is a dump,” Gilda said, wrinkling her nose slightly as she surveyed the space.

“Yeah well, that might be for the best, Gil,” Sunset replied wryly as she rolled around the area examining it. “I did ask Adagio for something out of the way and this is pretty ‘out of the way’.”

“Well, yeah,” Gilda remarked. “Because why the hell would anyone want to be here?”

Sunset chuckled dryly. “I think it’s less of a want than a need…”

Gilda looked over at Sunset and saw a distant look in her eyes as she looked over the dirty concrete floors, with its collection of seemingly random bits of wood, metal, and other assorted detritus piled in the corners and near the walls.

“Not everyone has a roof over their heads, y’know?” Sunset finished after a drawn-out moment of silence.

Gilda clicked her tongue, silently chiding herself. “Right, yeah… it’s weird, I guess I almost forgot you were-”

“-homeless?” Sunset finished with a smirk. “Sort of, I mean I had a roof and a place to lay my head at night that wasn’t horribly unhygienic, which I guess is better than some folks do.”

“Still… I wasn’t thinkin’,” Gilda said quietly, “so, y’know… sorry.”

“Gilda?” Sunset said in a soft voice. “What’s wrong?”

Rather than answering, Gilda walked up to one of the tall, concrete walls. The warehouse was a cold, spartan affair. Four walls with a few load-bearing struts that looked like they were meant to house shelves between them. The rotted wood that lay around the area suggested they may have even once done that very job. The roof had lent an odd, thin, tinny quality to the air outside, and Gilda knew that meant it must have holes in it, or at least that it wasn’t quite structurally sound, and the water stains on the floor supported the thought.

Reaching out, Gilda pressed her flesh-and-blood hand to the stone walls she stood beside and hissed softly: it was ice-cold and as hard as it looked, and the floor was unlikely to be any better. The concrete drank in the cold but took ages to heat, it was hard and unforgiving, and even the decaying wood in the corners would probably make a more comfortable bed than the floor.

“Gilda?”

Gilda pulled her hand from the wall and turned to Sunset, who felt her heart catch in her chest at the expression on Gilda’s face.

“I… I guess I never really got it, y’know?” Gilda said in a low voice. “Even when things were at their worst… I always had a bed t’sleep in, food t’eat, it was always warm and the lights were always on, savvy?” Gilda shivered as she looked around the warehouse. “Livin’ like this? I… I can’t even fuckin’ imagine it.”

“It’s…” Sunset began, then stopped. The words that were about to leave her lips sounded thin and weak even in her head. “Ugh, I was about to say it’s not that bad but… yeah… it’s kinda that bad.”

“How long?” Gilda asked quietly. “I… I figure I mighta asked this already, but… y’know me and rememberin’ shit, Sunshine… so… how long?”

Sunset shrugged. “Since I crossed over, so about five-ish years, I guess.”

Gilda stopped and rested her back against the wall, slowly sliding down until she was sitting with her back propped up and her head in her hands.

Five years.

Five whole years of living in places like this.

“H-how?” Gilda asked in a pained whisper. “How th’fuck did ya do it?”

Sunset rolled over to where Gilda had sat down at the wall. Slowly and carefully, she moved from her chair, occasionally using Gilda as a support strut until they were both sitting side-by-side against the frigid concrete wall with Sunset on her left.

For several moments Sunset was silent as she looked over the warehouse. For certain, it wasn’t dissimilar to places she had slept over her time on this world, and it certainly had a lot in common with her old ‘home’ in the third-floor office of warehouse forty-one. It was just are sparse and uncomfortable as that place had been when she had first found it, and the cold from the concrete floors bit through her clothes just as hard as she remembered.

“I… I don’t know,” Sunset finally admitted, her voice taking on a slightly shaky quality as she wrapped her arms around herself. “I really don’t, Gil… sometimes it all just feels like a bad dream, like it happened to some other girl.”

Gilda moved over a little until she was pressed up next to Sunset and put an arm around her, pulling her close.

“Can ya tell me?” Gilda asked quietly.

“Why do you want to know?” Sunset asked in return, her gaze fixed firmly on the ground. “Why does it matter?”

“Because it happened t’you,” Gilda replied. “I… sorry… y’don’t have to if ya don’t want to, savvy? I just… wanna know.”

“You really don’t,” Sunset replied after a moment. “It’s ugly, and nasty, and horrible.”

Gilda let out a slow, even breath, and turned to look down at Sunset who was blinking away tears as she stared down at the floor with wide eyes, her breath coming in shaky streams as Gilda reached around with her mechanical arm and gently placed the fingers under Sunset’s chin, raising it up until their eyes met.

“Look’t me, Sunflower,” Gilda said softly. “D’ya really think there ain’t a single thing in the whole fuckin’ world I don’t wanna know about you?” Sunset clenched her eyes shut and shivered as she brought her own hands up rest tenderly on Gilda’s prosthetic arm. “I ain’t sayin’ you gotta spill it if it hurts but… even if it ain’t today, y’know? I wanna know.”

“Is it weird that I… I barely remember any individual days, see?” Sunset asked in a strangled voice. “Days just blurred together most of the time… but…”

Sunset took a deep breath and buried herself against Gilda’s side. For a few moments, she just sat there and breathed, shivering every so often as she wrapped her arms around Gilda’s middle and let herself drown in the scent of smoke, ash, and oil.

“The worst thing about being homeless,” Sunset started, her voice a ghost of a whisper, “is how scared you are of getting sick, savvy? I was lucky… and it’s probably why I’m still alive when so many others aren’t. I rarely got sick because of my magic.” Sunset took another breath and her voice gained a little strength. “It’s so cold, and here in Canterlot, it rains so often… put those together and… well, like I said, I was lucky, but it still happened once or twice.”

“Must’ve handled it fine, I guess,” Gilda said faintly.

Sunset shook her head. “I stole medicine from a store, hid in a public library where it was warm… I slept in a supply closet under a few fire retardant blankets I’d scavenged from an emergency kit.” Sunset shuddered. “But that was just one day… a few days, actually, I guess… but, day-by-day, I’d do what I had to in order to survive. Eating out of the garbage, hitting up local shelters when they had room, stealing small, useful things from some of the big-brand stores that don’t care enough to chase you past the parking lot…”

Sunset started to shake, and Gilda tightened her grip around her, wrapping both arms around Sunset as she buried herself in Gilda’s arms.

“I still remember…” Sunset cried, “I remember which deli’s toss their daily garbage first, so if you hit the dumpster at the right time you’ll find whole sandwiches people didn’t finish… sometimes they’re even still warm,” she shuddered in Gilda’s grasp but the words poured out of her like poison. “I remember what older buildings were abandoned, and who had claims on them… and which ones you could trade stuff to for a night out of the cold, and which ones you shouldn’t because you don’t want to sleep near them.”

Gilda felt a pit of horror opening up in her gut, but she didn’t push the issue.

“Like I said, I’m lucky,” Sunset repeated. “I knew to ask around, and how to. I grew up an orphan so I knew not to trust… but others? Not so much.”

After a moment, Sunset let out a dry, empty chuckle.

“Y’know, it’s funny what you can get used to,” Sunset said, her voice still choked with tears. “There were whole months I was lucky to get more than one meal a day, and even that usually wasn’t very good,” she shuddered again, remembering some of the things she’d choked down just to have food in her stomach. “I think it’s why I’m… smaller, I guess I’m average maybe, but I should probably be taller than I am. You stop feeling the hunger pains after a little while, though, or at least you get used to them, or learn to ignore them.” Sunset sniffled and let out another shaky breath. “I was so… so grateful when I got into Canterlot High… free breakfasts and lunches? That was like paradise compared to how I’d been living. I barely kept it together in the cafeteria most days, and it was half the reason I even went to school at all,” Sunset laughed bitterly. “Two square meals a day? Sign me up!”

“Ah shit, S-Sunset,” Gilda whispered, feeling her heart clench hard in her chest.

“And then I met you!” Sunset sobbed, “and… suddenly I had a warm place to sleep, and you fed me, and… and held me when I had nightmares, and you kissed me and told me I was beautiful, and… Written’s Quill, Gil, I am so happy being with you.” The last of the wall inside Sunset cracked as she hugged Gilda tight, her words tumbling out like razor blades that had been lodged inside her for far too long. “Our first week together, I wasn’t hungry for the first time in years! And I couldn’t even remember what it was like to be warm during the winter until then! And even more… I felt… I felt loved! And I was so fucking scared I would lose it all one day! But you kept… kept being there! You kept doing shit for me! You… you made me: a genius, homeless, loser, your girlfriend! And then you said you’d marry me!”

Gilda pulled back from Sunset and, before she could protest, leaned in and kissed Sunset, pulling the redhead tight against her. Sunset returned the kiss with desperation bordering on mania, her fingers scraping against Gilda’s side, chest, and arms before finding purchase in the short, ragged locks of her white hair.

Both girls lost track of time as they held onto each other, Gilda giving Sunset the purchase she needed to scrabble back some measure of control after dipping into memories that clearly caused her pain, and Sunset giving Gilda the simple reassurance that she was there, safe and sound in the taller girl’s arms.

“Do you know what it’s like to always be hungry, Gil?” Sunset asked after the silence had stretched itself thin. “Not starving, mind… just… hungry.”

“You had a little cash, though, didn’t ya?” Gilda asked quietly. “Couldn’t you’ve just… gotten somethin’?”

“I had a few hundred bucks for an emergency,” Sunset replied. “An emergency, as in a single one… like if I needed something expensive that I couldn’t just ‘acquire’. If I’d spent the money on food it would’ve been gone in a month or two; money that I’d spent years scrounging to save up.” Sunset shuddered. “I couldn’t buy ingredients, I didn’t have anywhere to cook the food… and I did the math and if I spent a few bucks on dinner from some burger joint every night and nothing else, I’d be broke in less than two months. So I just… didn’t eat except for at school.”

“I didn’t…” Gilda started, but she choked on her words, and after a moment just said: “s-sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Sunset said gently, “I know what you meant… but, it’s just one of those things… I was so desperate to get back home, back to Equestria, but I refused to do it on anyone’s terms but my own.” Scoffing, Sunset shook her head and smiled wanly. “That first night I spent at your place I swear I almost died at how good that stew was but… but I didn’t say anything because, Quill, it just sounded so fucking pathetic, even in my head.”

“Sunset, I swear t’you,” Gilda said in trembling voice. “I ain’t ever gonna let you go back to anything like that, savvy? Whatever it takes, I’m always gonna take care’a you.”

“Only if you promise to let me take care of you, too, Gil,” Sunset said in a small voice as she reached out and set both hands on Gilda’s cheeks. “You can’t take the whole burden all the time and besides, I’m not a weakling… we’re stronger together.”

“Yeah,” Gilda said as she leaned into Sunset’s touch. “We’ll always take care’a each other… I promise.”

Sunset sniffled a little and smiled happily. “Me too.”

For almost half an hour the two girls sat against the cold wall of the warehouse, keeping one another warm with each others company. The wind outside picked up now and again, and both shivered occasionally as the bitter winter air coming off the harbor waters sliced through the gaps in the insulation, what little still remained anyway. Finally, though, Gilda pulled away slowly, shrugging her shoulders and pulling her jacket on tighter.

“So, uh… what’re we doin’ with this space anyway?” Gilda asked, scanning the ceiling and floors. “Like I said, seems like a dump.”

“Well, considering what I plan to do with it I’d prefer a dump,” Sunset replied easily. “We’re going to come here after school and on weekends and I’m going to teach the girls how to use their magic.”

Gilda frowned. “Ain’t that kinda… risky? Like, I almost nuked half’a Whitetail forest.”

“None of them are stormcasters, babe,” Sunset retorted, “and Adagio doesn’t really need any help, I’ll probably be learning as much from her as she is from me, but she still needs to adapt to her Element’s powers.” Gripping her wheelchair, Sunset heaved herself back into it, snapped the lock lever back, and began roving around. “Vinyl, Octavia, and Penny all need instruction from the basics and up, though… I doubt they’ll be anything like the Rainbooms, since as far as I can tell every instance of Element Bearers has been radically different. Mom and Luna both bore three Elements apiece actually… and according to Twilight, she and her friends all have to be together to do anything with their Elements, back when they wielded them actively anyway, and then we have the who Rainbooms activated theirs with music.

“And since I can use mine on my own…” Gilda started, frowning.

“It’s likely they can all do it, too,” Sunset finished. “Which means we need to figure out how they activate their magic, what form it takes, and how to control it, and we need a safe place to do it, hence,” Sunset gestured broadly at the warehouse interior, “our brand new dump.”

“What if one of’em does have magic like mine?” Gilda asked uneasily. “This place ain’t exactly… stable.”

Sunset nodded. “I considered that,” she replied, “and Adagio and I are going to place some reinforcing runes along the walls. I may not have magic but I can etch runes just fine so long as Adagio is there to charge them.

“I still feel like we’re out in the open, Sunshine,” Gilda grumbled.

“I know, Gil,” Sunset replied with a sigh. “But we need the space and we need to time to practice.” Sunset turned on her axis as she surveyed the warehouse critically. “It’s as unobtrusive as we can get and right now we have no choice in the matter. We know something is coming, we know that we’re up against magic, and if the rest of the girls don’t know how to use their powers we’ll get slaughtered.”

Gilda flinched but nodded. “Yeah alright, fair enough, Sunflower, so how do we get this started?”

Sunset rolled over to her bag and heaved it up into her lap and it rattled heavily as she sat it down. Gilda chuckled at the recognizable sound as Sunset began pulling out can after can of spray paint, a faint smiling tracing its way over the redhead’s lips as she handled the now-familiar tools.

“Hey, babe?” Sunset looked up at Gilda a little shyly. “I’m gonna need your help for this.”

Gilda picked up one of the cans and spun it on her palm. “Been a while since I tagged anything, Sunshine.”

“Yeah well…” Sunset frowned a little but laughed. “You’re a lot taller than me, even when I could stand up so you’ll have to get the high spots.”

Gilda raised an eyebrow. “Weren’t these for paintin’ runes?”

“Well, not just runes,” Sunset said with a small laugh. “But… yeah, we’re gonna be doing that.”

Gilda frowned down at the paint can at that.

A warm, amber hand closed over Gilda’s, drawing the taller girl’s eyes to Sunset who was smirking.

“C’mon babe,” Sunset chided softly, “tagging is basically a glyphic language all on its own. You can’t tell me half the crap tagged across South Central looks anything like actual words unless you know how to read them, right?”

For a moment, Gilda looked stumped, blinking her eyes owlishly as she looked back down at the spray can as if it were a completely different object. Then she smiled and chuckled as she tossed it into the air, setting it to spin over her palm before catching it just as easily.

“Guess I never thought about it like that,” Gilda replied. “Alright right then… let’s give this place a makeover, Brujah style.”

Sunset shook the can violently, setting the marble in the can rattling as she grinned. “Sounds like a plan, babe.”

27. The Tick Tock Of The Clock Is Painful

~Downtown Canterlot, April 16th, Early Evening~

“Pawn to E-Four.”

The deep, sonorous strains of cello strings filled the air of the warehouse which had, over the course of the past month, become significantly more liveable. The floor had been swept and mopped, and the detritus cleared away. The walls were a riot of colorful, curvilinear symbols that, to the untrained eye, appeared to be no more than a particularly creative panoply of graffiti.

Of course, a magi would probably recognise the advanced contained spells, even given the unusual manner of their execution.

The floor was a mismatched gridwork of bare stone carved with perfectly measured runic containment circles, comfortable rugs with well-used couches, tables, and chairs atop them, and sparring mats that seemed like they would be more at home in a gym.

“Well?,” Adagio said with a cheshire grin as she nodded towards the board. “Go on then, and remember… don’t touch.”

“We’ve been practicing like this for two and a half weeks, darling,” Octavia replied, matching the Siren’s smirk. “I’m well aware of the rules by now.”

“And yet you still have yet to win a game,” Adagio jabbed with a good-natured grin.

Octavia cocked an eyebrow up and stared expressionlessly at Adagio.

“Well pardon me for not having several centuries of practice,” she shot back with a playful sneer.

The two girls sat in the center of the warehouse. Adagio in an expensive-seeming easy chair she had procured from somewhere. She had done most of the furnishing personally with token input from the rest of the group. At the moment they were the only ones using the space, everyone else had things to do that evening which suited both Octavia and Adagio perfectly fine.

Between them a chessboard floated in a pale orange glow, enchanted by the Siren who watched her opponent, and student, smugly.

More chords thrummed into the air and Octavia concentrated, narrowing her eyes at the chessboard where all of the pieces sat in their starting configuration.

She focused specifically on the pawn that Adagio had named, and pulled the rosined bow along the strings of her instrument.

The sound of her cello filled the room, back by a deeper, more powerful thrum. Soft, gray light flowed off of Octavia, melding with the instrument, and after a moment a small pair of gray-furred pony ears curled up from under her rich black hair.

Reaching deeper, Octavia concentrated and played another set of chords, and suddenly the gray light was shot through with veins of violet radiance.

Tiny, separate planes of violet and gray closed around Adagio’s white pawn like a mechanical hand, slowly lifting it and then moving it over to the space Adagio had designated. The moment it was in place, Octavia twitched her bow, changing the tune, and the piece began to lower until it was settled perfectly in the center of the square.

“Perfect,” Adagio said with a smaller but more genuine smile. “Your move.”

“Pawn to E-five,” Octavia declared.

Adagio’s smiled widened slightly, then she closed her eyes, parted her full lips, and let a graceful, lilting melody flow outward. Light that was a rich shade of goldenrod suffused Adagio for a moment as a delicate pair of frilled fins unfurled from under her enormous poof of orange hair, a faint suggestion of scales textured her neck and collar, and from behind her a large pair of scaled, fin-like wings extended.

The black pawn in question rattled in place for a moment before spinning upward in a graceful spiral only to land on the appointed spot with a tiny pirouette.

“Show off,” Octavia said, a grin curling her lips upward.

“Only ever, my dear,” Adagio replied with a breathy laugh. “Knight to F-three.”

Huffing slightly and trying her best to ignore the sweat beading on her forehead, Octavia let the music flow from her, through the cello, and out into the world.

“You know I always assumed you had a reason for this inane exercise which you would eventually explain,” Octavia said in a strained voice as she encased the white Queen-side knight in layered planes of energy. “But I’m beginning to think you might just be, as Gilda would say, fucking with me.”

Adagio giggled, a rich and pleasant sound that made Octavia shiver.

“Oh my darling Octavia…” Adagio said in a gentle voice. “You can’t possibly have failed to notice, have you?”

“What I have noticed,” Octavia said stiffly as she set the piece down with a clatter, “is a statistically significant increase in the number of migraines I’ve been having since we started practicing like this.”

“Hmm,” Adagio smiled and nodded in appreciation as Octavia took a breath and examined the board. “So you haven’t, interesting…”

“Haven’t what?” Octavia asked as she glared at the chess pieces in question. Her eyes traveled over the board for a few moments before she shrugged and said: “Knight to C-six.”

Adagio sang the knight into its new position as she let her hand trail over her fins. She had missed the small, lesser aspects of her true form. Of course, she bitterly missed the full glory of her old body in its entirety, but she had to admit there were nice things about being human. She highly doubted she would have been able to make friends with Octavia as a draconic sea monster, after all.

“Bishop to C-four,” Adagio called, before continuing. “You do remember what this exercise is for, don’t you?”

“To train my precision,” Octavia replied. “But it seems like I’m making no progress at all, and I have to admit it’s awfully frustrating…” the tune of the cello faded as Octavia sagged in place. “I’m… I’m not making any progress, ‘Dagi… I’m just going to drag everyone else down when it comes to it… I can still barely move these damnedable metal toys!”

Adagio’s brow furrowed, and she sighed. “Octavia, darling, you are improved, far more than you believe I assure you.”

“Am I?” Octavia said bitterly. “Vinyl can create pulses of sound strong enough to shatter stone, Gilda can throw lightning and move so fast she turns into a blur,” she gestured with her bow as she was wont to do when she got irritated, “Penny can play with people's senses and emotions by plucking a few bass strings, and you can make a chessboard of pieces perform a flawless rendition of SWAN LAKE!”

“Perhaps that one was a bit much,” Adagio allowed, with a sheepish smile.

“You can hum an entire symphony and bring a small army to life!” Octavia huffed, “and I can hardly get through a single game of chess without wanting to taking my cello to my own skull.”

Adagio sighed quietly, looking across at Octavia for a few moments and taking in the dejected young woman. She admired the young cellist deeply for a number of reasons, among the chief of which is that Octavia, to Adagio, represented something she had not seen in many years.

Nobility.

Noblesse Oblige.

The idea that the wealth of the wealthy should serve to enrich all, not just rot in their coffers, passed down from mother to daughter, father to son, in an unending chain of indulgent and hedonistic wastefulness.

“How about we try something a little more exciting then?” Adagio said suddenly, sitting up in her chair and smiling. “Let me prove to you beyond a shadow of a doubt that you have, in fact, improved.”

Octavia raised an eyebrow. “Well, as much as I enjoy the intellectual pursuit of chess, I will admit I wouldn’t mind something a touch more stimulating after two weeks of it.”

“Fair’s fair, my dear,” Adagio chirped, standing up as she did and with a whistled tune sent her chair sailing away to the wall.

Octavia’s chair followed suit the moment she stood, and Adagio couldn’t help but admire the faint muscle definition the cellist was beginning to show. All of the girls had undergone weeks of physical training alongside Gilda, with direction from Aria, to put them into better physical condition. It had not been as extensive as Gilda’s training, but it had given the already relatively healthy girl an attractive sort of fitness. It also meant she could wield her cello like a sledge, the normally cumbersome instrument looked almost weightless in Octavia’s grip.

“Well then, Octavia darling, if you would please take up position on the training mat at the far end, over there,” Adagio pointed at the east wall, “we can begin.”

Octavia dutifully took up the position Adagio had indicated, then readied herself; bracing the cello and settling the bow gracefully on the strings of her instrument.

“Alright then, let’s see how your reflexes have improved,” Adagio said with a faint grin.

Then she began to hum.

It was a deep, rhythmic, sonorous tune that originated from deep with the Siren’s chest but seemed to fill the air of the warehouse with echoes that made the space sound like an grand auditorium hall. It took Octavia several moments of listening for her to realise what it was she was actually hearing.

“Is that ‘Hall of the Mountain King’?” Octavia muttered.

Adagio’s head bobbed in tune with her hums and, after a moment, Octavia realised that a goldenrod glow had suffused the chess pieces that lined the game board and they were beginning to float into the air with short, staccato bobs that matched the Siren's voice.

On a strictly technical level, Octavia was stunned at the accuracy of Adagio’s acapella performance of ‘Hall’, but a moment later she realised why.

Percussion, bass, and other sounds were filling the air from nowhere. It was Adagio’s magic; she was conjuring herself an entire orchestra as the little black and white pieces began circling around her ever faster as the tempo of the music grew.

Finally, Adagio’s lips parted to speak, but the music never stopped.

“Pawn to E-Four,” Adagio whispered.

One of the white pawns shot forward like a bullet, and Octavia reacted on impulse, dragging a sonorous stroke across her strings and halting the piece in the air in clap of sound as its momentum was abruptly arrested by binding planes of purple-shot grey.

“Good,” Adagio cheered, “but can you withstand a frontal assault?”

Adagio wheeled her arms as she sang a deep, faster tempo into the air and pawn after pawn fired with rapid snaps of air like a hail of gunfire.

Octavia, catching the tempo of Adagio’s song, added her cello’s deep-bellied voice to it, and each featherlight touch of her bow to the instrument’s strings snatched a piece from the air. Over and over, knights and pawns, bishops and rooks hammered towards her until only the kings and queens remained orbiting around the Siren.

“You’ll have to do better than that, dearie!” Octavia cheered smugly.

Adagio had been right, this was making her feel better. She was fast, precise, and accurate… she was still just catching toys though.

“Better?” Adagio asked, a wicked grin slipping over her features. “Well, I suppose I could do that.”

Octavia paled a little as the four final pieces began glowing an iridescent orange. She barely managed to strike a rising crescendo as the small objects erupted out of Adagio’s aura like they were shot from cannons. Acting on instinct, Octavia, poured her whole being into the stroke of her bow and in an instant a massive grey wall with beautiful geometric purple designs etched through it sprang to life in front of her, intercepting the pieces which buried themselves into the energy field Octavia had conjured.

“Excellent work,” Adagio said happily, clapping slowly as she floated in place.

Sagging a little, Octavia shot Adagio a small glare around the myriad of floating pieces that were now hanging around her.

“That was a bit dangerous, wasn’t it?” Octavia said with a hint of annoyance. “Even if they are toys, at that speed you could have really harmed me.”

“I knew you could catch them,” Adagio replied with a beatific grin. “Speaking of which… think fast!”

Adagio let out a sharp, trilling note of song that split the air like a spear thrust. Octavia’s only warning of attack was the faint snapping sound of a carabiner unlocking as she whirled around to see Aria and Gilda’s massive punching bag hurtling towards her.

Time seemed to slow as Octavia’s mouth went dry. That thing weighed nearly a thousand pounds, was designed and reinforced to take the impact from two practiced hyperkine warriors, and Octavia had only ever practiced with children’s toys.

Nevertheless, the cellist's hands were already moving, tracing an instinctual pattern; dragging out a matching tone over her cello’s strings to try, perhaps in vain, to catch the enormous weight that was currently careening towards her.

Time seemed to catch up to Octavia in a rush of sound as she sliced her bow across the strings of her cello, and she vaguely thought that she heard someone was screaming, or roaring in defiance. The deep-bellied growl of her cello echoed through the warehouse while the wind and air snapped around Octavia as she closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable brutal impact.

Nothing came.

After a moment, Octavia cracked one eye open, then the other, then stared.

The thousand-pound bag hung suspended several feet from her by graceful planes of purple-and-grey energy. They were restraining and lifting the sandbag as easily as they had the chess pieces as if the bag weighed no more than any of the little figurines.

Relief washed through Octavia, and she dropped to her knees, clinging to her cello to keep her upright as she released her grasp on the chess pieces and the punching bag alike.

From behind her, she heard a cataclysmic crash of multiple objects of impossible weight.

Octavia turned slowly, staring with wide eyes and a pale expression as she searched for the source of the sound.

She found them in the floor as a sheepish Adagio lowered herself from where she floated in the air to land lightly on the ground amidst where the chess pieces had each buried themselves half an inch into the solid concrete floor of the warehouse, in one case a rook had punched clean through the couch it had been hovering over when Octavia had released it.

“W-w-wha…” Octavia stammered, staring in disbelief as Adagio wove towards her in between in the small holes.

Lowering herself down so she was squatting beside Octavia, Adagio shrugged.

“It’s an old Sirenic training spell,” Adagio explained with a light chuckle. “Once upon a time, our Myrmidon would wear rings of enchanted metal coins that would absorb small amounts of their magic as they trained, the spell would convert the magic into physical weight, slowing them down and forcing them to get stronger in order to move.” Adagio reached out a sang a tune, wrenching a bishop free of its concrete tomb and floating it between them. “Then the Myrmidon would eventually remove the weights and be freed from their handicap, faster and stronger than before.”

“S-So those little chess pieces I’ve been lifting for the past two weeks…?” Octavia began weakly, pointing at the bishop that hovered in a sheathe of goldenrod light.

“Weigh about a half-ton each by now, I think,” Adagio answered with a small smile.

Octavia worked her jaw noiselessly as she goggled at the tiny floating figurine.

“But how do you lift it so easily?” Octavia asked in a feeble tone. “I have to strain to lift them, and while I feel a touch better about myself now that know I was… well, powerlifting…”

“Our magic is fundamentally different,” Adagio replied gently. “I lift things by generating a sheathe of power around an object and counteracting gravity in a local area,” she explained, gesturing at the glowing piece. “Then I make small bursts of kinetic force to move them about.”

“You must be very good,” Octavia said softly, reaching out to prod the piece and smiling as it bobbed in place. “I would probably just make it flail drunkenly about trying to do that.”

“Well, I did too when I began a millennium or so ago,” Adagio said with a small, wry laugh. “But you could learn it if you tried and practiced, and that’s the difference between us… if push came to shove you could do what I do, I couldn’t do what you do even if I pushed magic out til I was green at the gills.”

Octavia furrowed her brow. “Why? You’re so much more powerful than me.”

“Do not mistake skill and experience for power,” Adagio said firmly, “as they are two very different things.”

Cocking her head slightly, Octavia got to her feet a little unsteadily and Adagio put out a hand to catch her.

“Power,” Adagio continued, letting the cellist lean on her, “is a measurable, codified force to a practitioner of magic, you see.”

The eldest Siren sang the chairs they had been using back to them from the wall and helped Octavia into one before taking a seat across from her. Octavia took a deep breath, relaxing into the chair as she leaned her cello against it.

“Your potential is immense, Miss Melody,” Adagio said, her voice turning serious. “You used panels of pure kinetic force to lift the chess pieces at first, then when they became heavier you instinctively modified your panels with coils of magic to reinforce them like a skeletal structure,” Adagio shook her head and laughed, a loose, dry little sound. “And you continued to do so even when the pieces reached a scale of weight that even I would have balked at trying to lift normally.”

Octavia’s eyes widened. “What are you saying? I’m… what?”

“You’re an abjurer par excellence, Octavia,” Adagio said, a hint of pride in her voice. “You’re a natural shield-mage, and not only that you’ve got enough pure magical grunt to flip a Buick with brute force.”

“I… I do?” Octavia’s voice raised a little, and her cheeks colored with a flush of pride. “But… how? I’m not magical… I’m… I’m just human.”

Adagio shrugged. “It's who you are, the Elements unlocked our potential, but they don’t necessarily enhance it,” smiling wanly, she toyed with her own element at her neck. “My old amulet amplified mine and my sisters magic tenfold, but we had so little. Ironically I have more magic now but without the amplifying property I’m back to my old limitations… no more draining others to fuel my powers, which is probably for the best.”

“So… I’m stronger than you?” Octavia asked, a smug grin growing over her face.

Adagio laughed smokily. “Don’t get a big head, Miss Melody, you still can’t beat me in chess or magic, and I’ve got ten of your lifetimes in practice.”

Octavia laughed, an honest, bubbling sound, and Adagio found herself smiling more widely. After a moment she felt a faint pang in her heart though, something like loss or nostalgia, and her smile faded.

“Adagio? Are you alright?” Octavia asked quietly, her smile fading a little. “You look… sad.”

“I suppose I am,” Adagio said in a small voice.

Octavia frowned. “Why?”

“Because, Miss Melody,” Adagio replied, her heart suddenly aching, “you’re going to die.”

“B-beg pardon?” Octavia stammered, her face paling.

Adagio gave a small, bitter laugh. “Not soon, Nodens forfend, but I meant… in the long stretch, being mortal you know?”

“Oh,” Octavia laughed weakly, “I, uhm, I suppose you’re right, I will, but that’s just the way of things isn’t it?”

“I’m an immortal, remember?” Adagio replied with a brittle smile. “Dying is a rather mortal pastime.”

“Right,” Octavia said, suddenly following Adagio’s meaning. “I suppose I’d forgotten that, hm? That is quite sad to think about… losing all of one’s friends like that.”

“I’ll always have my sisters, of course,” Adagio said softly, “but lately I’m struck by the idea that I’ll lose all of you, even Sunset, to your own mortality at the very least, and…”

Octavia’s eyes widened a little as she saw tears begin trailing down Adagio’s cheeks.

“...and of you all, I find the idea of your loss to be the most painful of all,” Adagio finished, “if I’m being fully honest.”

“Me?” Octavia croaked in a tiny voice. “Why, me?”

“Because in a very short time you have become very near and dear to my heart, Miss Melody,” Adagio said, her tone gentle and pained, “your nobility and poise, among your many virtues, move me in a way I had thought your kind lacked the capability to manage.” Sighing, and giving a weak scoff, Adagio wiped at her eyes. “I suppose this is me eating a helping crow over that.”

“Maybe it’s selfish of me,” Octavia said after a moment, “but… I’m happy that I met you, and that I could talk to you, and spend time with you.” Tears of her own slid down Octavia’s cheeks as she laughed bitterly. “My god, it does sound so very selfish but I look forward to spending my life listening to your stories, and perhaps if I’m permitted a little pride, letting you listen to my music.”

Adagio reached out and wiped a few tears from Octavia’s cheeks and smiled.

“I should like nothing better,” Adagio said softly. “Come whatever pain might, I would not trade that pain for never knowing you, my beautiful Melody.”

“Heh, oh stop,” Octavia chuckled, waving a hand as her cheeks colored, “say that out loud again and people might think you’re in love with me.”

Adagio closed her eyes, and felt tears sear at the back of her eyelids. For a moment she tried to push them back but found she simply didn’t have the strength, nor did she have the desire.

Not anymore.

As Adagio opened her eyes, Octavia felt her breath catch as tears glittered against Adagio’s bright, raspberry-colored orbs, and she smiled in a way that reminded Octavia of someone who was grieving.

“I believe I am, Miss Melody,” Adagio admitted in a pained voice, “but that’s not the path of this world… you have found your heart already, and I’m happy for you.”

Octavia raised a hand to her chest and she let out a sob. “I… I love Vinyl… I love her so much that it hurts sometimes.”

“I know,” Adagio said softly.

“So why…?” Octavia cried, “why does it suddenly feel like my heart is breaking?”

Adagio reached out and took Octavia’s hand, holding it tight as Octavia gripped back, then lifted the Siren’s graceful fingers up and pressed them to her lips.

“Perhaps we’re mourning what might have been,” Adagio said in a voice that was raw with tears. “Perhaps we’re just mourning the fact that as a mortal and an immortal, we were always divided by death from the start.”

“I do love you, Adagio,” Octavia cried bitterly. “I could never leave Vinyl, nor do I want to, but-”

“I know,” Adagio said in a soothing voice.

“All my life I’ve felt like I’d been cosmically misplaced somehow,” Octavia said, her voice raw as the words poured out of her, “like a living anachronism with no real world merit or purpose… and if anything that feeling is only highlighted with Vinyl who’s a… a pillar of modernity!” Adagio clenched her teeth at the pain in Octavia’s voice, but didn’t interrupt. The girl sounded like she needed to get this out. “It’s why I almost threw my cello away! I wanted to… to throw away that uselessness! That pointless, antiquated version of me!”

“Why didn’t you?” Adagio asked quietly.

“Because… because Vinyl said it was one of the reasons she had fallen in love with me,” Octavia said, her voice weak. “And yet, for all her love, I still felt misplaced until I met you, and then suddenly it’s like I’d found that last missing piece and… and I’m whole now.”

“And you will never be without me,” Adagio swore in a tight, almost angry voice. “In one way or another.”

Octavia sniffled a little but nodded. Time passed in a languid crawl as the pair, the immortal songstress and the mortal cellist, sat in one another’s company. After a time, Octavia raised her head and met Adagio’s gaze with a question.

“Can you die?” Octavia asked. “Are you truly immortal or, when we go out there eventually, is there a chance…”

“There are many kinds of immortality,” Adagio replied. “My sisters and I are ageless, but not invulnerable. Our magic lets us heal from most injuries, and we can’t succumb to illness, and the architecture of our minds precludes anything like dementia.”

“But…” Octavia prompted.

“But a bullet to the head would still kill any of us,” Adagio admitted, “as would any sufficiently dire trauma that would result in instant death, or something egregious enough that we couldn’t simply regenerate it, like a shorn limb.”

“So when this all comes to a head,” Octavia said, her features darkening, “you’re in as much danger as anyone else.”

“Naturally,” Adagio answered.

“Why?” Octavia’s voice was pleading. “You’re a living archive of experience, you could recite the true nature of countless historical events! You, Adagio, are priceless!”

“If in living I permitted you to die, my dear Melody,” Adagio said with an utterly grave expression, “then I am not priceless, I am worthless.”

Octavia stared in mute shock at Adagio who never once looked away. She let the young woman stare into her eyes and see the absolutely sober sincerity that she spoke with, and after a few moments, Octavia sagged in her chair, wrapped her arms around herself, and shivered violently.

“Am I truly worth so much to you?” Octavia asked in a harrowed voice.

“And more,” Adagio replied, steepling her fingers in front of her face.

“I see,” Octavia murmured.

Silence stretched for a brief moment, then Octavia reached out and picked up her cello to settle it in place before her.

“Will you play for me, Miss Melody?” Adagio asked gently.

Octavia smiled as she rested the bow against the strings. “Til the end, Miss Dazzle… til the very end.”

That evening the air around the warehouse was filled with the deep, sonorous strings of the cello, and it remained that way for hours, deep into the night, though there were only two who were present to properly attest to it. A few of the vagrants thought they heard an unearthly voice join in on occasion, but they weren’t certain. It might have simply been the way the music carried on the ocean wind.

After all, it hardly even sounded human.

~Old Town Canterlot, April 17th, Late Afternoon~

The bass was thumping with a tactile, rhythmic pulse from the garage of the old house off of the corner of Belgrade and Cheval. The house itself was not a particularly notable one, despite being in the part of town where many of the houses were refurbished old townhouses from the original days of Canterlot, back when it was a small town.

Age-wise, the home settled into that awkward place where it was old enough to have a myriad of problems; from old wiring to poor insulation to leaky pipes that thumped and banged every time it rained more than two inches, which was most seasons, even Summer, but not old enough to be considered a ‘classic’ and worth the cost of restoring it.

On the upside, this meant the rent was cheap, and that was main incentive its current tenant cared about, and that the neighborhood was one in which, overall, nobody particularly cared when the tenant blasted thirty-year-old rock albums on vinyl at two in the morning.

In fact, a good number of his neighbors were the types who would crack a window for the occasion.

The garage was closed, but that did little to muffle the thunderous noise. The music was somewhere between EDM and rock, and for good reason. The two girls who sat across from one another fairly represented both avenues of music.

Penny sat cross-legged on a beat-up old couch, her bass guitar balanced in her arms and a wire trailed from it to the antique set of twenty-odd year old turntables that Vinyl Scratch was working at. Penny wore a clean white and red-striped tracksuit with a band shirt underneath it and socks on feet that twitched with the rhythm of their music. Vinyl wore a tank top and loose, ragged jeans that clearly got distressed the old fashioned way, and a pair of high-top sneakers. Her hand held one speaker of her headphones to an ear and she bobbed her head to the beat.

Both girls were grinning broadly as they blended their music, and both had a pair of pony ears sticking up from under their hair, and a faint glow around them. Vinyl’s ears were pale white and the glow that surrounded her was an icy glacial blue, while Penny had a pair of pink ears, and wings, and her glow was a riotous neon yellow.

They played, freestyling together for almost half an hour before Penny finally let out a breath and waved at Vinyl to shut the system down.

Sweat beaded Penny’s forehead, and she wiped at her brow as the glow around the pair of them faded, along with the fuzzy ears.

“Damn, girl,” Penny said with a laugh, “that was awesome! We’re gonna kick these goons out of Canterlot when they rear their heads!”

Vinyl gave a silent thumbs up, grinning as she did.

A knock came at the door, and Penny glanced up, smiling as she shouted: “it’s open!”

“Should damn well hope so,” an older man’s voice called out good-naturedly. “It’s my goddamn garage.”

The door creaked open, and man stepped into the garage. He was long, lean, and gangly, angular in a stretched sort of way that made his limbs look a bit too big for his body. He had dark green skin and darker green hair that hung roguishly ragged over his grey eyes which twinkled mischievously.

He had a wide mouth that had lines etched permanently around it, suggesting he smiled often enough that it had turned into his default expression. His whole body had a kind of twitchy, restless energy, and it showed most in his fingers.

“Hey Uncle Gun, thanks for letting us jam here,” Penny said fondly. “No way I’d get away with this at my place.”

“Well my sister used to be a lot more chill about shit til she married that asshole from the Heights,” Gun shot back. “Too bad, too, but I ain’t her keeper.”

Gunpowder Tea was, fittingly, the black sheep of the family. He rarely interacted with his sister except at family functions and wasn’t so much welcome as tolerated. Penny had taken after him to what her mother, Hibiscus Tea, considered to be an utterly unreasonable degree considering she didn’t even meet him until she was almost fourteen.

“Sweet tunes, though, Princess,” Gun said with a smirk. “And it’s cool as hell to have the DJ Pon-3 chilling in my garage.”

Vinyl just shrugged and gave Gun two thumbs up. He returned the gesture with a broad grin.

“Now not that I’m complaining about having my favorite niece over so often-” Gun began nonchalantly as he cracked open a beer.

“I’m your only niece, Uncle Gun,” Penny cut in, rolling her eyes.

“-but I gotta ask,” Gun continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “Is everything alright at home, Penny?”

Penny expression soured and she shrugged. “As good as ever, Uncle G.”

Vinyl got up from her turntable and padded over to where Penny was sitting, dropped down beside her, and slung an arm over her shoulder, then shot Gunpowder a pointed look, letting her sunglasses tip down her nose so they could meet eyes.

Gunpowder sighed and nodded.

“Well your friend seems to think there’s something to talk about,” Gun said evenly.

“That’s cool, we could do that,” Penny said, a harsh edge to her voice, “or you could both mind your own business about it.”

Neither of them rose to the bait, Vinyl just hugged Penny tighter as Gunpowder took another sip of his beer.

“This about Hibiscus?” Gun asked.

Vinyl shook her head, and Penny glared up at the mute girl. “This isn’t anyone’s business but ours, Vee.”

“I figure my sister’s got something to do with this, since you’ve been coming here pretty much every other day,” Gun said evenly. “Also mighta gotten a call from her about an hour ago lettin’ me know you’d run away a few days back and for me to let her know if you turned up.”

Penny froze, staring down at the rug-covered floor of the garage, and Vinyl jerked in surprise as she stared down at Penny.

“Told her I would, but I didn’t, obviously,” Gun said with a shrug. “Also told her she treats you like a doll, and that’d make anyone run away.”

“Are you going to?” Penny asked in a small voice. “Tell her, I mean.”

Gunpowder shrugged. “Guess it depends on why you ran.”

Vinyl kept staring, her eyes burrowing into Penny who flinched away.

“I’m sorry Vee, I… I just… I couldn’t stay there anymore,” Penny said in a small voice. “I didn’t mean to hide it or lie,” her voice started getting tearful, “you don’t know what it’s like though… my mom, she hates everything about me!”

Gunpowder’s eyes narrowed but he didn’t try to contradict his niece, he just waited and listened as Vinyl’s expression softened and she pulled Penny closer.

Penny let out a bitter sob and buried her face against Vinyl’s chest.

“She hates my music, she hates my dreams…” Penny snarled, “it’s like the only thing she likes about me are things she’s made up about me in her own fucking head!” Her shoulders shook as she curled in on herself, and Vinyl moved her arms around Penny protectively. “Mom wants me to be someone I’m not and the fact that I fake doing it halfway is the only thing she likes about me! I hate her! I hate her and I hate dad! I hate them!”

The words poured from her like poison from an infected wound, and Gunpowder closed his eyes with a pained sigh.

“Hibby you dumb piece of shit,” Gun muttered under his breath.

“I want to have my own life, Uncle Gun,” Penny said, her voice turning quiet. “If I have to do it from the streets I will.”

“Yeah, no I believe you,” Gunpowder said with a nod. “I did pretty much the same thing, after all.”

Vinyl pulled back a little and signed at Penny who shook her head. “Sorry, c-could you slow down a little? I’m still not great at this.”

Nodding, Vinyl signed her message again, and Penny just shrugged.

“No, I haven’t been back to school at all,” Penny replied. “I figured that’s the first place she’d look. Second place would be Heldon’s, third would be here…”

“And when she files a missing persons report?” Gunpowder asked pointedly.

Penny just shook her head and laughed bitterly. “She won’t, she probably even got my absences excused as me being sick or something.”

“Ugh, I hate to admit it but you’re probably right,” Gunpowder replied, grimacing. “Hibiscus wouldn’t wanna risk anyone finding out her daughter had run off, it’d be humiliating.”

“And that’s all my mom really cares about,” Penny spat. “My friend ‘Dagi has been more of a mom to me the past few weeks than my actual fucking birth mother, how sad is that?”

Beside Penny, Vinyl pulled out her phone and began rapidly tap-tap-tapping away at it; Gunpowder and Penny stared for a moment before Penny just shook her head and turned back to her uncle.

“Penny… I’m not defending my sister here,” Gun said in a weary voice that didn’t match his face, “but… she does love you, she just thinks she knows what’s best, and neither God nor logic will tell her otherwise.”

“I don’t care,” Penny said angrily. “I’m done trying to live straddling the line of my mom's stupid expectations for how I’m supposed to live my life.”

Gunpowder sighed. “I guess I can’t very well argue with that.”

A pale hand tapped Penny’s leg gently and Vinyl gave her an earnest look. She had taken off her shades, fixing them in place amidst her tumbled mane of electric blue hair, and her bright red eyes were on full display. Vinyl handed Penny her phone, the notepad app was open and on it was a long message.

‘Penny,’ it read, ‘you never have to be anything but what you want or need to be. Whatever happens, just know that your friends: me and Octavia, Adagio and her sisters, Sunset and Gilda, we’ll all be there for you. Even if you leave your birth family behind, you will always have a family waiting for you with us.’

Tears trickled down Penny’s cheeks as she read and reread the message over and over, a small but genuine laugh slipping out. A feeling of relief settled over her that she hadn’t known for weeks.

Her uncle's hand settled over hers as he knelt beside her, his expression warm.

“Look Princess, I get not fitting in, alright?” Gunpowder said quietly. “Your mom was always our parents golden child, yknow? I was the disappointment of the family: never married, ‘wasted my life’ by their figuring.” He chuckled and shook his head. “But the way I see I’m living exactly how I feel like I ought to and I’m happy doing it, dunno if your mom is, I can’t speak for her, but all I want is for you be happy, alright kiddo?”

Penny nodded, wiping at her eyes and taking a deep breath. “W-What do I do?”

Vinyl flashed a few signs.

“Yeah, I’m eighteen, why?” Penny replied.

“She’s saying you’re a legal adult,” Gunpowder clarified. “Meaning, technically, you can just leave. Hibiscus can’t force you to come back if you don’t want to, but…”

“Where else would I go?” Penny said quietly. “I’ll uh… I’ll be honest, I’ve kinda been crashing at the training ground after everyone else leaves, Vee.”

Vinyl scowled and signed angrily.

“I know, but how was I supposed to ask any of you to put me up?” Penny grumbled, shifting uncomfortably. “I don’t want to be a burden.”

Reaching over, Vinyl flicked Penny across the nose and made more angry signs.

“Oh yeah…” Penny said sheepishly. “I guess ‘Dagi and her sisters do live in a literal mansion, huh?”

Vinyl slapped her palm to her face.

“And,” Gunpowder put in with an annoyed tone, “you know you can crash on my couch if you need to. You’re my niece, Princess, c’mon.”

Huffing with irritation, Vinyl flashed a few signs then snatched her phone back and started rapidly tapping away.

“No! Don’t!” Penny cried out in a panic.

Gunpowder raised an eyebrow. “What’s she doing?”

Penny flailed at Vinyl’s phone trying to get it away from her. “She’s telling on me! When Adagio finds out I didn’t come to her for help she’ll be livid!”

Vinyl didn’t stop typing as she glanced over at Penny with a single arched brow that said everything it needed to.

‘You deserve it.’

Chuckling, Gunpowder Tea stood up and brushed at the knees of his jeans. “You’ve got good friends, kiddo,” he said, smiling broadly, “I didn’t when I was your age, so trust me when I say: hold onto that.”

“I know,” Penny said quietly, a small smile tracing over her lips. “They’re the best friends a girl could ask for.”

Vinyl exchanged several messages over the next few minutes, and eventually looked up at Penny with an even expression. She signed, moving a bit slower than usual so Penny could keep up, and Penny just nodded. She grumbled a little, and winced a few times, but eventually she sighed and smiled.

“Tell her thank you for me,” Penny said, “and give her my love, okay?”

Vinyl nodded and went back to typing.

“So what’s up?” Gun asked as he dragged a chair up and sat down. “Everything good?”

“Adagio is going to have one of her sisters clear out one of their guest room,” Penny replied. “She’s also going to talk to her lawyers about changing my registered paperwork at the school so I can finish up.”

“Lawyers? Plural?” Gunpowder asked, surprised. “I thought this ‘Adagio’ was your age.”

Penny laughed nervously, her grin a little weak. “Uh, yeah, I mean… she’s a little older but, here…” Penny fished around in her pocket before producing her phone and pulling open the photos, “this is is all of us.”

Taking the phone, Gunpowder examined the photo. There were eight girls in it, all smiling big, broad, happy smiles. They were all close together; hugging and leaning on one another, except for the redhead in the middle who sat in a wheelchair with her hand tightly gripping the prosthetic hand of the tall, dark-skinned girl behind her.

They seemed to be in some kind of warehouse, but there were couches and rugs all around.

Something tickled at the back of Gun’s mind as he looked at the picture, and his eye traced over three girls, all grouped together, one of which, with a large poof of orange hair, had her left arm slung over Penny’s shoulders and an unbelievably cocky grin.

“That’s Adagio,” Penny said fondly. “And those are her sisters,” she pointed to the other girls at Adagio’s right, “Sonata and Aria.”

“No way,” Gunpowder whispered in a haunted voice. “No damn way.”

Penny blinked in surprise. “Uncle Gun? What’s wrong?”

“I know her,” Gunpowder pointed at Adagio. “Or… shit, maybe her mom? Fuck, she… she’s the spitting image.”

“Uh…” Penny glanced at Vinyl who just shrugged.

“It was Woodstock eighty-nine,” Gunpowder said in a low voice, staring as if transfixed by the image. “The ‘Forgotten’ Woodstock. It was a mess, basically just a bunch of roadies and music buffs who wanted to do something for the twentieth anniversary of Woodstock sixty-nine, y’know?”

“What happened?” Penny asked, slipping a little closer to her uncle who was still staring at the picture.

“Like I said, it was a mess,” Gun said, “no stage or lights at first, only food was what folks brought with them or traded for,” he reached out a finger to touch the image, as if he expected it to vanish. “Then this girl shows up, big crazy head of hair and a set of pipes in her like you wouldn’t believe! I had run away from home for the first time just to see that show, see? And I saw her: singing and dancing, wearing almost nothing but this wild body paint covering her… she was like some kinda old world priestess.”

Neither Vinyl nor Penny interrupted. They just waited and watched and listened as Gunpowder spoke, his voice almost reverent.

“No one was going near her, it’s like they were afraid, so I went up and sat down beside her in front of this big fire,” he continued, “and I took out papaw’s old acoustic six-string I’d brought with me.” Gunpowder closed his eyes and looked as if he was somewhere else for a moment. “I’d never played like that before and… I haven’t since. But I just… played whatever came to mind, I played and she sang and she danced, and I lost hours and hours… dunno when I passed out but when I woke up she was gone.”

Gunpowder sighed and looked down at his hands. There were old, tiny scars covering his fingers.

“I’d played til my fingers bled,” Gunpowder said quietly. “I asked around and everyone remembered her but no one got her name. They said she just swept in like a spirit and suddenly the whole place came to life…” Gun waved his hand emphatically, “people started working and building the place up… it went from this podunk anniversary to a concert with like, a hundred thousand people in a few days!”

“Wow,” Penny said quietly. “A-and then what happened?”

Gun shook his head. “Nothing, I looked everywhere for her, but it’s like she just vanished,” he sighed wistfully. “I chased that dragon for three years, obsessed with her, obsessed with playing for her again but… I never found her.”

“And you think… maybe it was her mom?” Penny asked, her voice a little weak.

“I guess it would’ve had to’ve been, y’know?” Gunpowder replied. “I mean, she looks like she couldn’t be much older than you, kiddo, and this was thirty years ago.” He chuckled dryly, “but goddamn, your friend looks just like her.”

“Heh, yeah, weird how that goes,” Penny replied, struggling to keep her face straight. “Guess she must be.”

“I wonder if her mom’s still around,” Gunpowder said hopefully. “Do you think you could ask her? I’d love to just talk to the lady for a minute.”

Penny barely kept the panic off of her face as she glanced at Vinyl who shrugged, then briefly signed: ‘it couldn’t hurt, right?’

“I… I guess,” Penny replied carefully, she didn’t want to shoot down her uncle, not after he’d done so much for her. “I’ll… I’ll call and ask, okay?”

Gun grinned massively. “Wild! I owe you one, kiddo!”

Penny speed-dialed Adagio’s number and waited as it rang. It only rang twice before Adagio picked up and answered, her voice terse.

//You have a lot of explaining to do, young lady,// Adagio’s voice was sharp with reproach, but Penny could hear the worry behind it.

“I know,” Penny replied, “and I’m super sorry, okay? But, uhm, I need to ask a favor.”

//Oh?// Adagio’s voice lilted musically on the other line, //that’s a bit ballsy considering you-//

“I know but please, ‘Dagi!” Penny chirped, cutting Adagio off. “I know I screwed up but this isn’t for me it’s… it’s for my uncle.”

//And why would I bother doing a favor for your uncle?//

“He… he just wants to talk to your mom,” Penny said, carefully stressing the last word. “He says he met her back in eighty-nine, at a concert.”

Silence stretched across the line, followed by a soft sigh.

“Please, ‘Dagi,” Penny said in a gentle voice. “This is important to me.”

//You want to make him smile,// Adagio said quietly. //Well, I suppose it is your Element after all, I can’t expect otherwise.//

“So you’ll-!”

//Do you trust him, love?// Adagio asked quietly, and Penny answered with an affirmative. //I see, then pass me over to him, dear,// Adagio said, her voice strangely clipped.

Penny’s face broke into a wide grin. “Sure thing, hold on!” She looked up at Gunpowder who looked hopeful. “Here, she wants to talk to you.”

Gunpowder raised an eyebrow. “Your friend does?” Penny nodded, so he shrugged and took the phone. “H-Hello? My name is Gunpowder Tea, I… I was hoping I might tak to, uh, I guess she might be your mother?”

//Woodstock eighty-nine, was it?//

Blinking in surprise, Gunpowder found himself nodding dully before recalling he was on the phone and answered: “Uh… yeah, that’s right.”

The voice on the other side of the phone was enchanting, but more than that it woke memories in him that were so intense they were like a flashback.

Even after thirty years had passed, Gunpowder could still close his eyes and see her: wild and free, and somehow untethered from the world, and her voice had been utterly and uniquely perfect.

The same voice that was speaking to him now.

Swallowing hard, Gunpowder found his own voice after a moment. “Sorry, Miss c-can I-?”

Another sigh. //I’m afraid the woman you met that day is no longer among us, Mister Tea.//

Gunpowder felt the bottom drop out of his stomach, and he sagged. “O-oh, that’s… well… I… I’m so sorry to hear that, my c-condolences.”

He was about to hand the phone back when he heard another sigh.

//You had an old rosewood acoustic,// she said quietly, her voice warm and nostalgic. //Six strings, and you played for m-... for her at the fire.//

Gunpowder felt his mouth go dry. “Y-Yeah, that’s right, that’s exactly right! S-She told you?!”

//She remembers you,// Adagio said quietly. //In fact, I think you were the only thing about that concert that was worth remembering at all.// Another quiet sigh passed over the phone. //Your playing was beautiful, and… and her only regret was that you had torn up those long lovely fingers of yours to make music for her.//

“I’d do it again in a heartbeat, Miss,” Gunpowder said, his voice thick with tears. “Your mother inspired me to make my own way in the world, to live my own truth.” He lifted a hand to his face and covered his eyes as a few tears leaked out. “I’m sorry she’s not with us anymore but if it means anything… she touched my life, and even though I’ll never speak to her I’ll always be grateful to her.”

The other line was silent for long enough that Gunpowder was started to wonder if they’d been disconnected. Just as he was about to check, though, she spoke again.

//Thank you, Mister Tea, for telling me that,// Adagio said quietly, and Gun imagined he could hear tears through her voice. //You really have no idea how much it means to me to hear those words.//

“Thank you, Miss,” Gunpowder replied, his voice catching. “I never imagined she would remember someone like me and, knowing that she did, well… God, I can’t even tell you how that feels.”

//You are most welcome,// she replied softly.

“If it’s not too much to ask,” Gunpowder put in after a moment of hesitation, “I never did learn her name.”

//Her name? Oh, well it’s no great secret,// she said with a small laugh. //It just so happens we share a name, tradition you know… so the woman you met, her name was also Adagio Dazzle.//

Gunpowder closed his eyes and nodded, and for a moment he couldn’t stop smiling. All those years and he finally knew her name:

Adagio Dazzle.

“Thank you, Miss,” Gun said finally. “Thank you so much.”

//Anytime, Mister Tea.//

The line disconnected and Gunpowder lowered the phone with a look of something like awe on his face.

“Well don’t that beat all,” Gun muttered, grinning massively. “I’ve been wondering about this lady for most of my life, then outta nowhere her daughter and my niece end up best friends? Makes a guy wonder about a few other things…”

Penny lifted her hand to her the necklace and its gleaming fretboard symbol, brushing her fingers over it and feeling her heart swell at the smile on her uncle’s face. The Element had a strong, steady pulse to it that made her fingers buzz.

“Yeah, heckuva thing, huh?” Penny said happily.

The moment was interrupted by a loud knocking at the front door. Gunpowder furrowed his brow and got up, waving at the pair silently to stay sitting while he went to the front.

He was gone all of two minutes before he returned with a look of concern on his face that he directed at Penny.

“Heldon’s at the door,” Gun said quietly, “you didn’t mention you ghosted him, too.”

Penny went pale and wilted back into the couch as both her uncle and Vinyl glared at her.

“That boy has too good a heart to be treated that way, Penny,” Gunpowder admonished her. “He doesn’t deserve that.”

“It’s not about that…” Penny said quietly. “I’m… I’m not trying to hurt him or get rid of him or anything… it’s something else.”

Gunpowder raised an eyebrow. “Yeah? This better be good, ‘cause I like that kid.”

Penny clenched her eyes shut and let out a breath. She couldn’t tell her uncle that she was trying to protect Heldon because then he’d ask what she’s protecting him from. She couldn’t tell him either, for the same reason and because it sounded crazy.

A slight tapping on her shoulder interrupted Penny’s thoughts, and she looked up at Vinyl.

‘Explain it to him’ she signed. ‘Your boyfriend deserves to know.’

“But-!”

Vinyl put a finger over her mouth and shook her head.

Sagging, Penny nodded.

“Can… can you tell him to come in here?” Penny asked quietly. “And… maybe give us a couple hours in private? There are some things we need to talk about, I guess.”

Gunpowder relaxed a little and nodded. “Yeah, I can do that… just, be kind to the guy, alright? He loves the hell outta you, kiddo.”

“I know,” Penny said quietly. “And he deserves better than this.”

Vinyl gathered up her things and put a hand on Penny’s shoulder, silently asking if she wanted support, but Penny just shook her head.

“Thanks Vee, but I need to do this myself,” Penny said softly, giving Vinyl’s hand a faint squeeze before letting go.

Nodding, Vinyl sketched a mock salute and followed Gunpowder out of the garage. They closed the door behind them, leaving Penny to her thoughts; thoughts about what to say and how to say it. About what needed to be said and what could be held back.

Nothing, was the answer Penny struck on. If she was going to be fair to Heldon, nothing could be held back.

A small, almost hesitant knock sounded out the door to the garage. It opened a moment later, and Heldon Tenor stepped lightly into the room, concern and worry on his grey-scale features. He was wearing a loose blue button-down shirt that was stained a little with rain and sweat, and his jeans had mud on them. His hair was matted slightly to his head from the rain outside.

“So here you are,” Heldon said after a moment, his voice clear and strong.

Penny relaxed the moment she heard it. He had the loveliest voice, and it was one of the reasons she’d gone all aflutter when he’d asked her out.

One among many reasons.

“Here I am,” Penny agreed weakly, spreading her arms a little.

Heldon shook his head in disbelief. “I guess… let’s get the worst out of the way… are you breaking up with me? Is that why you just-”

“NO!” Penny cried, “no I’m… I’m not! I swear I’d never want to!” Tears trickled down her cheeks as she felt her heart clench. This was her fault and she had to make it right. “I ran away from home because I couldn’t take my mom anymore, Heldon, it was never about you!”

“Then what about the last month and a half?!” Heldon asked, his jaw tightening. “We went from spending every other day together to me barely even seeing you in the halls!”

“That was something else,” Penny said quietly. “And I’ll tell you everything if you give me a chance, on two conditions.”

Heldon narrowed his eyes for a moment, then slackened a little and sighed.

“I don’t deserve this,” Heldon said stiffly, after a moment.

“Nope,” Penny said, popping her lips a little on the ‘p’ sound. “You deserve a lot better and… and a lot safer than me… and you deserve a lot more stable than me.”

Shaking his head, Heldon strode forward and sat down on the far side of the couch from Penny, leaning his elbows on his knees and staring straight forward.

“What conditions?” Heldon asked quietly.

Penny let out a breath of relief. “You cannot, ever, tell anyone what I’m about to tell you, okay? It’s not just my secret it’s… it could hurt a lot of people.”

“Fair enough, I guess,” Heldon allowed, shrugging slightly. “I can’t really argue with that, so what’s the second?”

“No trying to convince me not to do what I’m about to tell you about.”

Heldon stiffened again, then turned his head and fixed his eyes on her carefully.

“That doesn’t sound suspicious or anything,” Heldon said, a hint of anger coloring his tone. “You can’t ask me to do that when I don’t know what you’re going to tell me! That’s not fair!”

Penny flinched. Heldon was always the calm one between them; the voice of reassurance and reason. He kept her grounded and she loved him for it. He never got angry or worked up like this… Penny sighed, at least it meant he still cared.

“I know it’s not,” Penny agreed, “but if it helps, you couldn’t convince me anyway… I just… I don’t want you feeling like you failed or something dumb like that.”

“You sound like you’re about to go to war,” Heldon said in a dark voice. “We’re teenagers what could be such a big deal?”

“Yes or no, Heldon,” Penny said, staring straight down and bending every once of her will to not cry. “I’m sorry but… I wouldn’t be asking if it weren’t really that important.”

Heldon shook for a moment, a brief, angry shiver, and smacked his hand against the arm of the couch and snapped out:

“Fine!”

Penny sagged, she knew she’d pushed him too far. Even if they came out of this she wasn’t sure Heldon would ever trust her like he had before. She’d hurt him, badly, and she was paying for it.

“Okay,” Penny said finally, “you said I sound like I’m going to war, well… I kind of am.”

Heldon stared, cocking his head in confusion. “What?”

“On January twenty-fifth I went to the park to meet Sunset, remember?” Penny said quietly. “You had practice so you couldn’t come.”

“I guess I remember, yeah,” Heldon said, shrugging. “What’s that got to do with anything.”

Penny waved a hand.

“I’m getting there!” She said in an agitated voice. “Sorry, just… that day changed everything. This is going to sound crazy but… magic is real, Heldon, I mean like… really real, and it’s insanely dangerous.”

Heldon held up a hand palm up.

“Okay, I’m gonna stop you right there,” Heldon said quietly. “I… I don’t want to say ‘crazy’ but you… you know how that sounds, right?”

“I know,” Penny said softly. “Believe me I know… but I’ve seen someone sing and lift a thousand pounds, I’ve seen someone move so fast they turn into a blur, I’ve seen someone throw lightning and…” Penny clenched mouth shut, pressing her lips to a thin line. “And then there’s what I can do.”

Heldon raised an eyebrow. “Seriously?”

“I don’t need you to believe me out of hand,” Penny said quietly. “Let me show you.”

Penny reached down and picked up her bass guitar from where she’d lain it during the conversation with her uncle. It sat easily in her arms, and it was quite possibly the only good memory she could readily bring to mind about her mother. Hibiscus Tea had bought her the guitar for her birthday three years ago; an indulgence for her hobby, but Penny knew it was more of a bribe so she would keep toeing the line. It was just her mother’s way, after all: so long as Penny was kept happy enough, she would keep doing at least an approximation of what her mother wanted.

Now, though, it was so much more than a reminder of her gilded cage.

The moment Penny’s fingers struck the strings of the bass her whole body sang with a sort of quiet thrum. It reminded Penny of when you flicked a bass string hard with your finger and then let it sit; the string would vibrate on its own for a while, and you could hear it in the air around it, even feel it.

On instinct, Penny began picking out a bassline, a simple and upbeat rhythm that got both her and Heldon’s foot tapping almost immediately.

Then a soft yellow radiance began to suffuse Penny, sinking into the air around her like a mist of energy. The energy came to life as Penny started increasing the complexity of her playing, and as she focused, the yellow light turned to a bright, neon yellow that snapped and whirled like a living thing.

Heldon stared in mute disbelief as she played, his eyes drawn up to her head where a pair of adorable pink ears had just poked up out of her blue hair.

“Am I high?” Heldon asked hollowly. “Did I drop acid on the way here and forget or something? What the…”

“I can do more than glow,” Penny said with a smirk.

Then she gripped her pick hard and struck the strings, hitting a perfect chord that sent chills up Heldon’s spine.

Suddenly the world seemed to brighten. Colors were more saturated, even the air felt more real, and better than that? He felt like he could take on the whole world with his bare fists. Motivation, followed by something deeper and more fulfilling, surged through him and before he knew it he was on his feet, practically vibrating.

He wanted to dance, to sing, to leap from a stage into a crowd of roaring people and ride it all the way to the back.

Then the music stopped.

Heldon felt the intensity wash away, but it didn’t take everything. There was still that faint sense of meaning, of purpose, that crawled up his limbs and demanded he do something.

“What the hell was that?” Heldon breathed, looking down at his hands. “I feel like I just ran a mile and punched a bear in the mouth and now I want to do it again.”

Penny chuckled. “Yeah… that was my magic, actually… we’re all pretty musically inclined, except Gilda that is, but I’m pretty much a literal Bard from like, Ogres and Oubliettes.”

“So you… what, inspire people?” Heldon asked, shaking the nervous energy from his limbs as he sat down.

“Sort of… it’s more than that though,” Penny said quietly, stroking her guitar fondly. “It’s that feeling you get when the bass drops just right, or when the lead guitar hits that note, you know the one: ka-ki~ing, and then your whole body vibrates and you get goosebumps?” Penny closed her eyes and lifted her head up like she was listening to some inaudible music. “It’s like a tall glass of water, and you take a drink and suddenly realise that you’re craving it and you down the whole thing in a second… it’s the feeling that goes up your leg when you hit a soccer ball just right and it goes flying past the trees…” Penny opened her eyes and sighed. “I don’t know if there’s a word for it that really describes it, but-”

“I know,” Heldon said quietly, “I felt it.”

“It’s all of us,” Penny said, pulling her pendant free from under her shirt and letting it hang from her neck. “Element Bearers, she called us… I don’t even know what that’s supposed to mean, but apparently I’m the Element of ‘Laughter’.”

Heldon reached out and took the delicate-looking pendant in the palm of his hand. It was beautiful and small, and yet even just holding it he could feel… something. A pulse like a heartbeat, and a sense of being… observed.

Watched.

Judged.

His breath caught in his throat and Heldon dropped the pendant. Suddenly he was positive he didn’t want to touch it again. He had a distinct feeling that whatever he had felt knew that he been holding it and was testing him.

“It’s weird right?” Penny said with a weak smile. “It’s like it’s alive… I think it is, kind of anyway… at first it creeped me the hell out. I left it on my nightstand once when I went to school and it kept showing up in random-ass places… my backpack, my locker, I even found it in my mashed potatoes at lunch.”

“That is super creepy,” Heldon agreed.

“Yup, me and my weird horror-movie laughter jewelry,” Penny said, giving Heldon a brittle smile. “So that’s… that’s the first part.”

“You said you were going to war,” Heldon repeated, his voice hardening.

Penny shrugged. “Yeah, and… no… I dunno, all I know is that the Element Bearers are like… protectors. Power and responsibility and all that jazz, y’know?”

“Okay, but I get the feeling it’s like… a little more immediate than that,” Heldon pressed, and Penny wrapped her arms around herself and nodded.

“There’s… this guy,” Penny began, her voice low and a little scared. “He's like, some kind of crimelord, but he’s got this wicked bad magic… and his daughter, or adopted daughter I guess, has these haunted gauntlets with a demon in them…” Penny laughed weakly, “god this sounds so cheesy and bad but it’s honestly fucking horrifying. That storm a month back? That was just the demon taking a deep, fucking, breath, like, that was it just existing! And this ganglord? He’s a straight up murderer.” Her face hardened as she kept going. “And his daughter, right? She’s Gilda’s sister… and then there’s her girlfriend, apparently she’s got magic too? And now… now Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust, her girl, are on their side… at least we think so…”

Penny let her voice fall away and silence descended on the garage. For a time there was no sound but Penny periodically plucking a bass string, then letting the note trail off into nothingness.

Taking a deep breath, Penny turned to Heldon and smiled wanly. “And we’re the only thing between them and whatever the hell it is they’re going to do which, by the way, we don’t even know!” Penny chuckled and shook her head. “And y’know what?”

Heldon felt his mouth dry up but he met Penny’s eyes evenly. “What?”

“It doesn’t matter that we don’t know,” Penny replied. “Our magic might literally be the only thing stopping some kind of apocalyptic storm demon from leveling half of Canterlot,” she shook her head and laughed again. “That’s what the Elements are for, they’re for stopping these bad things from happening! It’s the whole reason they exist! It’s the reason they chose bearers! To give good people a fighting chance against the piss-and-shit darkness!”

“And that’s why I can’t convince you not to do this, huh?” Heldon said, feeling the weight of finality settle over them.

Penny nodded. “Yup, because all my life I’ve wanted to make people smile and play music for them, and all kinds of great shit, but… if I walked away from this and something bad happened because I’d cut and run?” Sighing, Penny leaned back against the couch and strummed her bass. “Pretty sure I’d never smile again…”

“And if you get hurt?” Heldon asked, his voice small and fragile. “If you… if you die?”

Shivering, Penny clutched her bass to her like a lifeline and let out a small sob.

“Don’t you think I’ve asked myself that?” Penny said softly. “I have nightmares about it… but…”

“But what?!” Heldon exclaimed. “We’re just kids, Penny! This isn’t our job!”

“It’s not anyone’s job, Heldon!” Penny snapped back. “Because it’s not a job! It’s just something has to be done!”

Gripping her bass tight, Penny stood tall on the couch, balanced herself precariously, then raised her right hand, gripping the pick, and slammed it down over the strings.

The garage erupted into neon yellow light and bass, and Heldon blanched as Penny's ears came out and wings flared from her back. Suddenly she wasn’t just a teenage girl anymore, she was something more… something powerful. The bass seemed to thrum around her like a living thing, rattling the walls and windows, and making the air around her quake with some kind of purpose.

“I’m not just Pennyroyal Tea anymore, Heldon,” Penny said, staring down at him. “I’m the Element of Laughter, and I’m not going to abandon my friends! If they fight, then I’ll be right there next to them, and if they… if they die?” the light flickered as a sob slipped past her lips, and the next words came out weak but honest, “if they die… then I hope I go first.”

“Why?” Heldon whispered. “Just… why?”

“You’ve never seen her like she really is, Heldon,” Penny said quietly, the air around her still glowing and shaking with power. “Sunset, I mean, because when she talks us up it’s like she’s on fire and that fire just spreads to us; she can teach and bolster and she always knows the right words…” Penny gripped the bass tight for a moment, then hopped off of the couch and planted it at her feet like a knights longsword. “I never got it before, right? All those dumb war stories and novels about soldiers saying they’d follow their crazy-ass leader into the teeth of hell, but when Sunset gets going?” Penny shook her head and her smile became bright and calm. “You don’t get it Heldon… she’s not just like, a leader, or some wise wizardess, or something… it’s easier than that. I’m not just doing this because I have to, because I don’t… I’m not doing it because I want to, even though I do… I’m doing it because following Sunset Shimmer means I get to follow a hero.”

“And what if she gets all of you killed?” Heldon asked bitterly. “If she makes the wrong call?”

“I don’t think she will,” Penny replied, shaking her head. “Make the wrong call, I mean… she’s too smart for that… plus I trust her. No, I think if we lose it’ll be after we all give it our best, but if that is how it goes?” Penny sighed and dropped to the couch, the light fading from around her, “I guess I’ll die doing the right thing, y’know? And that’s way more than most people in this dumb world can say.”

“And I’ll be the one to bury you,” Heldon said angrily, tears slipping down his cheeks. “This isn’t fair.”

“Nope, it’s really not,” Penny agreed. “But if it makes you feel better,” she said quietly, and Heldon looked up and met her gaze, and Penny smiled encouragingly, “if we all cark it at the Games, then everyone else in a ten-mile radius is probably like a minute behind us at best.”

Heldon snorted and laughed. “That’s awful!”

“It sure is,” Penny agreed, laughter bubbling up from her.

For several moments the pair just laughed the kind of helpless, giggling, hysterical laughter of the desperate and terrified. They clung to one another, laughing as they leaned hard to keep each other sitting up through their fits of hysterics. It took time but it passed, and eventually they were both lying back on the couch, Penny curled up in Heldon’s arms as they stared at the ceiling.

“You really trust her that much?” Heldon asked quietly after a few moments, one arm draped over his forehead and the other curled protectively around Penny.

“Sunset?” Penny asked, and Heldon nodded. “Yeah, I do… like I said, you’ve never really seen her at full tilt and, honestly, I’m not sure I have either… and that’s both terrifying and awesome at the same time.”

“I really hope she’s as incredible as you say,” Heldon said finally, sighing and pulling Penny closer. “I… I love you, Penny.”

“I know,” Penny replied, pulling herself to press her lips to his. “I love you too, and that’s another reason I’m fighting.”

“I’m surprised you haven’t tried to convince me to leave Canterlot,” Heldon said with a small chuckle, but Penny just shook her head.

“You wouldn’t even if I tried,” Penny said, and Heldon gave an affirmative shrug. “And… and besides,” Penny said, her voice trailing off, “the truth is… I have this really bad feeling that even if you did… if we don’t win this one?” Penny clenched her teeth and narrowed her eyes, “if we fuck this up, I don’t think there’s a place you could go where it would even matter.”

~Ponyville Commons, April 17th, Night~

Sunset collapsed against the bed, Gilda was braced over her panting, propped up on her one good arm. They were both flushed with exertion, smiling dazedly at each other for a moment before Gilda slowly lowered herself to nuzzle against Sunset’s nose, kissing her lightly.

“If I knew this was what you were planning when you wanted me to take a day off,” Sunset said, laughing breathlessly, “I’d have put up less of a fight about it.”

Gilda laughed her worn, raspy laugh as she leaned to the left to drop herself next to Sunset and curl around her.

“Hah, bullshit Sunshine, you’da just felt worse about puttin’ up a fight,” Gilda retorted. “Can’t burn y’self out though, won’t do us any good if you’re dead on your feet.”

“Figuratively speaking?” Sunset asked, a wry smile on her face.

“Fuck, ya know what I mean, Sunflower,” Gilda said, waving her hand back and forth. “We need ya at fightin’ prime, same as any of us, and ya ain’t gonna be that if you never take a breather, savvy?”

Sunset turned and curled in to nestle against Gilda, taking a deep breath of her scent as she traced her fingers over the young woman’s dark, muscular arms.

She was stronger now, her whole body more defined thanks to weeks upon weeks of punishing Hyperkine training under Aria’s watchful eye. With the magic, Gilda’s body strengthened faster, repaired itself faster, and rebuilt muscle faster.

There was a leanness to Gilda now that hadn’t been there when they’d first met. A kind of feline, long-limbed swagger when she moved that suggested the danger she posed. Aria hadn’t just taught her to control her magic, she had taught Gilda how to fight, and not the backalley street boxing she’d learned in Las Pegasus either. Aria had taught her to balance her weight, and how to pivot and move to leverage her greater mass against an opponent.

Strength, speed, precision, and power; Gilda had all of it now. Where before she moved with a kind of violent tension in her, now she was loose and ready with every step.

Sunset couldn’t help but be proud.

“Once the shit hits the fan, Gil, I’m just a useless liability,” Sunset said, and her voice was even, if a little resigned. “My magic is gone, I can’t figure out how to ignite my Element, and I’m a cripple… doing work now is all I might be good for.”

Gilda sighed and curled her arm around Sunset, drawing her close. “You ain’t useless, Sunshine, you’re the shotcaller. Without you we ain’t got a plan.”

“But on the field I’m a big glowing weak spot for the team,” Sunset retorted, her voice becoming heated.

Gilda sat up and stretched, and despite herself Sunset couldn’t help but lick her lips a little. The curve and angle of Gilda’s body was gorgeous, and the incongruously pale lichtenberg figures left behind as lightning scars were like artful tattoos.

Before Gilda could respond, Sunset pulled herself up and draped her naked body against Gilda’s broad, muscular back; brushing her lips against Gilda’s clavicle and shoulders.

Gilda hummed in delighted appreciation at the gentle touches.

This was how they had spent almost the entire day. Together in bed, holding onto one another as though either of them might turn to mist and vapor if they looked away. The world had spun into chaos for the pair of them and, with that in mind, Gilda had spent the better part of a week begging, cajoling, and threatening to get Sunset to take a day off from training the others at the warehouse in the midst of also doing her duties as Captain of the team for the Friendship Games.

Sunset had, eventually, capitulated, with her only condition being a request.

‘Distract me.’

So Gilda had.

“Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?” Sunset asked quietly.

It was the sort of question couples asked one another playfully, Sunset knew, but at the moment she honestly couldn’t recall if the words had ever passed her lips, or if they’d just remained as thoughts.

“Beautiful ain’t really my thing, Sunflower,” Gilda said with a cocked smile. “I’ve heard ‘swole’, thick, and a few others that were a shitload less flattering, though.”

“You are, Gil,” Sunset said, her voice still low as she trailed kisses across Gilda’s bare back. “You’re so beautiful that sometimes I can barely breathe and look at you at the time.”

Gilda tensed for a moment, then let out a slow breath. “Sunshine… c’mon, ya don’t gotta butter me up or anything… I know what I look like.”

Sunset just shook her head, letting Gilda feel the gesture as Sunset rested her forehead against Gilda’s smooth, warm back.

“I don’t think you do,” Sunset replied after a moment. “I really don’t.”

“Ain’t that big’a deal t’me, alright?” Gilda said stiffly. “I’m fine lookin’ how I do… especially since it means I can take care of you… protect ya and all that?”

Sunset chuckled softly, scooted back on the bed, and pulled Gilda down until she was laying on her back with her head in Sunset’s lap.

Idly, Sunset toyed with Gilda’s wonderful, pale white hair. It was like strands of warm snow between her fingers, soft and ticklish. One of her favorite things about being with Gilda, among a legion of reasons, was that she could freely play with Gilda’s hair whenever she wanted.

It was just so pretty.

“And I’m not buttering you up, Gil,” Sunset said with a small laugh. “I think we’re pretty much past that part of our relationship.”

Gilda rolled her eyes and relaxed under Sunset’s gentle, insistent touches on her scalp.

“Ya ever think about how it hasn’t actually been all that long?” Gilda asked in a low voice. “Like… November, yeah? It’s been what? Six months?”

“Maybe a little less,” Sunset agreed, still toying with Gilda’s hair, her expression remaining unchanged. “Does it matter?”

Gilda shrugged. “Guess not… not sayin’ it’s wrong, obviously, just feels… weird.”

“You’re the one who said it best though, didn’t you?” Sunset chided Gilda playfully. “What was it you said at the portal that night? ‘It’s not like there’s an arbitrary goalpost I need to run through before I figure out who I want to spend my life with’ or something?”

Gilda blushed. “I uh, I don’t think I managed to get the whole thing out before I realised I was sayin’ it out loud.”

“So what changed?” Sunset asked, cocking her head. “Why ask now?”

Shrugging, Gilda sighed and closed her eyes. All the better to focus on the feeling of Sunset touching her.

“Guess I was just realising how fast things’ve gone, y’know?” Gilda said. “Like I said, not bad just weird.”

“Not really, if you consider who we are as people,” Sunset said with a wry chuckle. “I mean, is it any wonder we latched onto each other and never looked back?”

Frowning, Gilda stared up at Sunset. “I ain’t followin’, Sunflower.”

“Well,” Sunset said with a small laugh, “I’m a control freak with deep-seated abandonment issues, two-thirds of a god complex, and who desperately clings to stability and affection while trusting neither…”

Gilda opened her eyes, raised an eyebrow up at Sunset, looked pensive for a moment and then shrugged and nodded.

“Sounds right.”

“While you,” Sunset prodded Gilda on the forehead, “have had everything you’ve ever stood on ripped out from under you not once but twice,” Gilda grimaced but nodded again, “been told you’re inferior almost all your life, have an angry streak a mile wide, a martyr complex about as long, and are just as desperate for something real as I am.”

“Wow, ya didn’t hafta say it out loud like that, Sunshine,” Gilda grumbled, staring off to the side. “Guess y’not wrong, though… so what? We’re like two buildings who fell over just right and managed to prop each other up?”

“I mean… sort of,” Sunset said quietly. “That’s not necessarily a bad thing though, right?”

“Guess not,” Gilda replied. “Honestly, I figure we’re just lucky neither of us turned out t’be toxic assholes, savvy?” Sunset nodded grimly at that. “Because let’s be real here, Sunflower, I don’t think either’a us woulda left, even if that was the case.”

“Dodged a bullet there, huh?” Sunset admitted, before shaking her head and shrugging. “My point, though, is that we grew up way too fast, right?”

“Pretty much,” Gilda grunted.

“But,” Sunset continued, “we’re strong enough to hold each other up,” she ticked a finger up, “smart enough to talk like adults about our mental shit, clever enough to work around it, and we love each other like crazy…” Sunset leaned back and stared up at the ceiling, sighing. “And honestly that’s better than a lot of people do, right?”

“Yeah, suppose that ain’t wrong, Sunshine,” Gilda allowed.

“We went fast because we wanted to go fast,” Sunset said, smiling lightly. “Was it a gamble? Yeah it was… it was crazy risky and we could’ve really hurt each other but that’s not what happened.”

“So we’re a gamble that paid off?” Gilda asked with a chuckle.

“I mean that’s pretty much every relationship in the history of ever,” Sunset pointed out blithely. “But we did sort of go all in emotionally a lot faster than other, less damaged, people might’ve.”

“Cool,” Gilda said still chuckling as she reached up and stroked Sunset’s cheek. “Well, I always was lucky at gambling.”

“Guess this is all your fault then, because I’m unlucky as shit,” Sunset said cheekily. “It’s why I’m so good at cheating.”

The pair of them shared a laugh, and Sunset couldn't keep the smile off of her face at Gilda’s bright expression.

“Seriously though, going back to my main point,” Sunset said, prodding Gilda again. “You are beautiful, and gorgeous, and pretty, and a lot of other words that belong in a cheesy romance novel.”

Gilda chuckled. “The kind that’s got the words ‘milky white breasts’ in’em?”

“Pretty much,” Sunset said, laughing. “Basically I’m just real gay for you, savvy?”

“Doesn’t change the fact that beauty don’t look like me, though,” Gilda said pointedly, fixing Sunset with a wry look.

Sunset sighed, blowing out an annoyed breath.

“Beauty,” she said heatedly, “looks like whatever the person thinks is beautiful, babe,” Sunset flicked Gilda’s nose frustratedly. “You’ve heard the phrase: ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’, right?”

Gilda wrinkled her nose but nodded.

“Well I’m the one holding all the bees here, okay?” Sunset said indignantly. “I’ve got hives of bees up in this bitch! If I were allergic to bees I’d be going into anaphylactic shock over here!”

Gilda was barely holding back her laughter, but the slightly defeated look on Sunset’s face spoiled her humor.

“Why can’t you see it?” Sunset pleaded softly. “You’re so, so beautiful… you’ve got this gorgeous dark skin, wonderfully soft white hair, lips that I literally cannot kiss enough, and your eyes,” Sunset brushed some of Gilda’s hair from her brow revealing her sharp, golden eyes. “Written’s Quill, Gilda, your eyes are so stupid pretty.”

“Sunflower… I-”

“So what if you’re taller than other girls?!” Sunset snapped fiercely. “So what if you’ve got muscle and broad shoulders? I think your body is fucking beautiful, Gil!”

Gilda had wrapped her arm around her still-naked body almost shyly, as if she were trying to hide the parts of herself Sunset was naming, but Sunset reached out to grip Gilda’s arm and pull it away.

“Don’t ever hide from me, Gil,” Sunset begged softly. “I love looking at you… at every inch of you, always… okay?”

It wasn’t conscious, but it happened anyway. As Sunset said those words, Gilda’s bright golden eyes trailed down to stare at the stump of her right arm, traced with brilliantly pale scars and covered in clean bandages to hide the still-tender scar tissue.

Sunset shivered and wrapped her own arms around herself as a surge of guilt climbed up her throat.

“I… I’m sorry,” Sunset said quietly, and Gilda blinked in confusion before realising she was looking at her arm. “I tried… I’m sorry…”

“Sunshine, c’mon…” Gilda said softly, sitting up and wrapping her arm around Sunset. “I toldja it ain’t your fault.”

“Feels like it is…” Sunset said from where she rested her lips against the hollow of Gilda’s throat. “Feels like I hurt you… like I broke you, baby.”

Gilda buried her nose halfway into Sunset’s hair and breathed out a deep sigh.

“You didn’t make my sister hate me enough t’try and kill me,” Gilda said sternly, “and honestly, I’m thinkin’ if magic weren’t ever a thing, she’d probably’ve just fuckin’ shot me or somethin’, y’know?” Sunset stiffened in Gilda’s embrace at the thought. “So I figure since you had magic that’s the only reason I scraped through that shitshow, savvy?”

Sunset nodded quietly, then pulled herself up to press her lips to Gilda’s, letting herself mold against the taller, stronger young woman and let her own strength slip away.

Maybe it was selfish but she wanted Gilda to hold her up for a little while. To take her burden off of her for a while.

“Hey Gilda?” Sunset said softly.

Gilda straightened a little to meet Sunset’s eyes as she took Gilda’s hand, placed it right under her navel, then started pointedly moving it lower.

“Distract me.”

So Gilda did.

It was early in the morning, or at least early enough that one could still be convinced it was night.

Gilda slept soundly beside Sunset, who was laying on her side and staring at her, and she was terrified.

It was like a cold, bottomless pit of deafening silence in the back of her throat.

She was terrified of losing Gilda. Of losing any of the people who were trusting her.

She was terrified of being a failure. Of never figuring out how to ignite the catalytic Element that Princess Twilight was so certain she possessed, and of being the reason that they wouldn’t be able to harness the power of those Elements at a crucial moment.

She was terrified of being helpless. Her magic was gone, she was empty. Every time she reached for her power there was just a void… an open and gnawing emptiness. It made her a liability to her team, a teammate who couldn’t protect themselves needed to be, by definition, protected by at least one of the others.

That meant they weren’t fighting to their fullest, which in turn made them vulnerable.

What if she was the reason Gilda died?

Or Octavia?

Or Adagio?

Or Penny, or Vinyl, or literally any of the other kids at the school?

Sunset wasn’t stupid, she knew what she was doing. She could have had Celestia and Luna cancel the games, withdraw and accept a defeat on their record to join the dozen or so others. It would have almost certainly kept whatever Storm was planning from coming to fruition.

That time, anyway.

And there was the rub.

The Friendship Games were the one time that Sunset knew that Storm would have to show his face.

Sunset knew precisely when and where Storm was going to make his play and that gave them an opportunity to stop him. To bait out his plan and all of his limited resources and close the gate on him for good.

It was their best possible chance.

It might be their only chance.

Sunset curled in on herself, her stomach twisting as she grimaced and tried to keep from crying.

It was all fine so long as she didn’t think about the fact that she was using an entire school of kids plus whoever was present to watch the games as bait.

It was all fine so long as she didn’t think too hard about how many actual kids she was putting in the line of fire to buy her and her team a chance to nail Storm for good.

So long as she didn’t think about how all it would take would be one errant bolt of lightning from Gilda’s demon-possessed sister to turn a stadium stand into a horror show. Or some dark magic thrown in the wrong direction to snuff out a dozen lives in an instant.

“I’m no princess,” Sunset muttered bitterly, her voice inaudible to the slumbering Gilda. “Princesses do the right thing. They protect their people. They don’t weigh the lives of others against the greater good and find those lives wanting.”

‘But a General does,’ a nasty voice in the back of Sunset’s mind whispered. ‘You’re not a princess, you’re barely even Equestrian… no, you’re very… very… human.’

Sunset curled in on herself, feeling her guts churn again with self-hatred. She couldn’t keep her eyes open, she was exhausted, but when she closed them all she could see was the faces of her friends, her peers, her teachers, her family… all dead because she put them in harm’s way.

This was her decision.

To take a risk not just with her lives and the lives of the people who basically knew what they were getting into, but to risk the lives of hundreds of innocent and completely unaware bystanders because the only other option would be putting the kibosh on Storm’s plan early, and giving him all the time in the world to concoct a new plan, build up more resources, and probably end up as a magnitudes-bigger threat than he was now.

“I did everything I could,” Sunset whispered to herself. “Shining and the CPD will start evacuating everyone when it starts… Cadence, Celestia, and Luna will be ready to make sure everyone escapes…”

She wished the words sounded more certain and less like she was just trying to convince herself that her half-assed contingency to cover the frankly egregious levels of potential collateral damage her plan required would be worth a damn.

Sunset felt her stomach pitch a fit and she bolted upright, desperately clamping her hand over her mouth as she felt nausea slam into her like a star boxer had just gut-checked her. She dragged air in through her nostrils, trying to calm the roil in her stomach. It was no use, she pulled herself as carefully from the bed as she could, dragged herself into her chair and wheeled into the bathroom.

Only a monumental effort of will got her to the toilet in time. Once inside the bathroom Sunset collapsed out of her chair, leaned hard on the porcelain rim, and retched into the bowl. She shook, and cold, fever-like shivers wracked her body as she stared at the swirling mess for a moment before grabbing some toilet paper to wipe off her mouth and flush the toilet.

“I… I have to do this,” Sunset muttered. “I have to… I-”

Sunset’s stomach heaved again and her whole body clenched like a fist, she stared down into the bowl waiting for the next surge, trying to keep herself steady.

“I have to do this, I have to do this,” Sunset mumbled, shaking as vertigo and nausea swirled in her head. “I h-have to-!”

Another wave of panic and anxiety slugged Sunset in the gut and she bent double over the toilet and for a second she had this absurd flash of fear that her hair was about to get into the scummy toilet water.

It didn’t.

A gentle, insistent tug held her hair back, and Sunset glanced back to see Gilda kneeling behind her, silent, holding her hair back as she shivered and leaned over the bowl.

Gilda didn’t say anything, she just met Sunset’s eyes and gave her a soft smile and a nod. Sunset let out a weak half-laugh, and tears began falling down her face. She was such a mess; ruddy-faced, teary-eyed, with sick staining her mouth and then there was Gilda, just like always, right behind her and holding her up while she tried to lift the weight of the world with legs that wouldn’t even lift her.

And she always would be.

Author's Note

And now we enter the endgame, as I said in my blog I will not be posting Featherfall for about a month so I can write the entirety of the finale and edit it as a cohesive whole rather than going bit by bit in an effort to ensure it is as fluid and coherent as possible.

Thanks so much for coming this far with me, let's get in.

28. We've Got Fun & Games

~Sugarcube Corner, May 3rd, Morning~

The sun was only just beginning to peek over the horizon as eighteen assorted men and women settled into seats in a small cafe called Sugarcube Corner.

Most of the tables in the establishment had been pushed together to accommodate them, the curtains had all been drawn, and a sign had been placed on the main door informing anyone approaching that the Corner would be opening late to the public on account of a small private function.

Among the men and women gathering up in the dining area was one Officer Shining Armor. He sat near the head of the table, his body tense as he watched the rest of his co-workers take their seats. There was a heavy silence to the room, and no one quite wanted to be the first to break it. There were a lot of rumors about why this meeting was taking place, but nothing substantial had been announced.

Until today.

Shining was nursing his fourth cup of coffee, along with a slow, bone-deep weariness that he had woken up with.

Today was the day; in less than twelve hours things would be over… one way or the other.

If he was being totally honest, Shining was surprised he had gotten this far. Weeks ago he had approached his captain with this request and it had gone about as well as could be expected.

~Three Weeks Prior~

“I beg your pardon?”

Shining felt sweat trickle down his back as Stalwart Stand, Captain of the Canterlot PD, eyed him suspiciously.

The captain had a dark, close cut head of auburn hair and pale skin, like marble, and his eyes were the piercing gray of the winter sky. As figures go the captain was an imposing one, standing better than six feet tall with broad shoulders and slabs of working man's muscle barely confined by a shirt that didn’t quite fit his frame. The captain cut an intimidating figure even seated.

“Please, sir, just hear me out,” Shining said, trying to keep the note of pleading out of his voice. “This could be the most important operation any of us ever take part in.”

In retrospect, Shining thought, he probably shouldn’t have led with: ‘I know where Storm King is.’

“Storm King is one of the most dangerous men in the country,” Stalwart said in a dark basso voice. “If you know where he is then why-”

“I… I’m sorry, I don’t know where he is now but I do know where he’ll be,” Shining clarified, feeling his face warm.

He had said the words mostly to get the captain’s attention, even though they weren’t entirely accurate. Now that he had it though he had to keep it and, more importantly, not sound like a total lunatic while doing so.

“How?” Stalwart asked, his voice stony.

Shining swallowed. “I… I can’t tell you that, sir.”

Stalwart Stand narrowed his eyes dangerously.

“I’m sorry, I really am,” Shining said, taking a step forward. “Someone came to me with this information in confidence and I can’t break that.”

“Officer Armor,” Stalwart began, “Storm King was responsible for inciting one of the bloodiest gang wars the streets of Las Pegasus have ever known,” Stalwart’s eyes became several shades colder under his brow. “The Kings engaged in a level of wanton violence we haven’t seen since the roaring twenties for reasons that even the best criminal theorists can’t determine. Hundreds died, and now you’re telling me that he’s in my city and someone has information about him?”

“That’s… correct, sir,” Shining said, feeling a cold sweat break out. “This person is afraid for their life, though, and it’s only by coincidence that they trust me at all! I can’t break that trust!”

“Damn it, Armor, this is more important than trust!” Stalwart barked and Shining flinched at his sudden volume. “Psych evals of Storm paint him as a total sociopath, practically a demagogue! He’s more like a cult leader than a crime boss!”

“I know!” Shining said, bristling. “But please hear me out!”

“How can you be certain you know where he’ll be?” Stalwart asked grimly. “How do you know this isn’t a plant? That this isn’t false information?”

“Because the person who gave it to me is… was very close to Storm,” Shining said firmly.

Not strictly true, since that was Gilda and it had been Sunset who had told him, but it wasn’t inaccurate either. It would hold up too, Shining knew, since Storm had originally been brought down by his own gang turning state’s evidence against him in exchange for immunity. It wasn’t too odd to think it might happen again.

Stalwart narrowed his gaze. “Shining… you’re a good cop, a very good one, and I respect your desire to keep to your word but if what you’re saying is true then you can’t keep your source secret.”

“With all due respect, sir, that’s bullshit,” Shining bit out stiffly, and Stalwart’s glare turned icy. “You worked Vice for twelve years before you took captaincy and I know for a fact you still keep some of your sources close to the vest even now!”

Shining didn’t know that of course, not for certain anyway, but he suspected as much and the stiffening of his captain’s shoulders in response to the accusation gave him confidence.

“This person isn’t a criminal but they are scared, sir,” Shining pressed, leaning forward on the captain’s desk. “They took a huge risk telling me as much as they did and I can’t betray their trust like this.”

Captain Stand sighed heavily and leaned back in his chair, suddenly looking a decade older. Steepling his thick, calloused fingers in front of his mouth, Stalwart fixed Shining Armor with a heavy look.

“Talk, then… what did they tell you and what are you trying to do?” Stalwart said firmly. “I assume you want permission for this operation?”

Shining Armor nodded. “Yeah, I do, and you’re… okay, just hear me out because honestly you’re probably not going to like it.”

~Present Day~

Shining had been right. Captain Stand had not liked the idea of putting an entire school at risk from a dangerous criminal, but had grudgingly agreed that letting someone as brutal and clever as Storm King go to ground was markedly worse.

It had been dicey in the end. Shining had been forced to concoct an explanation as to why Storm was going to be going be at a seemingly random high school. Sunset had given him a good line to run with though; Shining had told his captain that the informant was going to be at the school and had something Storm wanted relating to a cache he had left in Canterlot.

Storm’s supply depot network had achieved a kind of infamy among the police force for its sheer thoroughness, so the idea that he had left something in Canterlot in case Las Pegasus got too hot didn’t exactly beggar belief. Shining had told Stand that Storm was going to use his remaining loyal people to infiltrate the Games while everyone was distracted to try and seize the person and the cache.

When Stalwart had asked why the person hadn’t just run, Shining had been able to answer that one honestly.

‘Because they wanted to do the right thing,’ Shining had said.

He suspected that had gotten the captain on his side more than anything.

Captain Stand entered the Corner on the tail of the last few officers, bulky in his police-issue body armor. Everyone hushed as he took up position at the head of the combined tables and began laying out the plan.

Shining barely listened, partially because he knew it by heart anyway but mostly because it was irrelevant. The plan would never happen, it was a smokescreen to get the police in position when the real event went down.

In summary, though, it was a sting.

There were always a pair of rookies stationed at the Games for safety reasons, more out of tradition than necessity, but today they were replaced with veterans; between them and plainclothes spotters set up in the surrounding area they would wait for Storm or his associates to appear.

They never would, Shining knew that much. Sunset had told him as much: that she had witnessed his sister work teleportation magic, something that still boggled his mind. If Storm and his associates were going to get in it could be practically at will and potentially at any point inside the school.

Shining had considered trying to get a warrant for his sister’s arrest and then trying to stop her by force, but he’d discarded the plan almost immediately. Not only did he have no cause to get a warrant, but she could also just teleport out of custody if she had to.

It was an idle wish, an easy way to stop his sister from making an enormous mistake.

No, Shining had resolved to follow the plan as it had been laid out.

This was Sunset’s plan, and Shining had to admit it was a decent one. Using his own connections in the police force it was his job to get them in place to evacuate most if not all of the spectators and students as quickly as possible.

Captain Stalwart had always held a ‘civilians first’ policy when it came to operations, up to and including scrubbing an entire op if there was too much risk and focusing entirely on preserving life. It had earned him a sterling reputation in city hall and among the people, and it was what Shining was counting on.

Between the police and Cadence’s cooperation, Shining prayed there would be enough time and boots on the ground to get everyone out safely. Sunset had faith that the knee-jerk reaction and training of the CPD, backed up by Captain Stand’s iron discipline, would give everyone their best chance to avoid getting caught in any crossfire. Faith that Shining Armor thought was well founded… or that he hoped was well founded anyway.

There was no getting around how big of a gamble this plan was though, but the alternative was leaving Storm free to do as he pleased, or forcing him to ground where they’d never find him and leaving Twilight in his grasp.

‘Lord forgive me but I’ll roll those dice if it means having a chance to save Twily,’ Shining thought grimly, unconsciously clasping his hands in front of his face. ‘Please just let this be the right choice.’

“Are you alright, Officer Armor?”

Shining glanced to his side. One of the junior officers was beside him, a trainee, and he mentally fished for her name for several moments before finally hitting on it.

“You're… Will Doo, right?” Shining asked after a moment, he hadn’t ever been assigned with her, but he thought that sounded right.

She was a young woman of middling height, about five feet and seven inches, with short, dirty blonde hair, bright yellow eyes, and skin the shade of overcast clouds. Her uniform was clean and crisp, every button in place, but she had a more tired look to her eyes than Shining had expected in a woman so new to the force.

“Wilhelmina Doo, yeah,” she said with a wry grin, “but I prefer Will, so thanks for that.”

“Yeah, uh, your full name is pretty long if I’m honest,” Shining said with a weak chuckle. “And yes, I’m fine… just thinking.”

“Praying?” Will asked with a quiet smile.

Shining sighed, he hadn’t precisely been raised religious but his mother had been for most of her life, although his father was staunchly agnostic. They had both taken the route of simply stepping aside and allowing each of their children to try and find their own way to spirituality, however that happened.

For Shining’s part, at least, he found comfort in having faith in the divine. In an all-knowing maker that he could reach out to even in the darkest of places.

“Yeah,” Shining said quietly.

“I did my own share of praying a minute ago,” Will said quietly. “My sisters, Ditzy and Dinky, go to that school, so I’m not really thrilled that we’re using it as… bait.”

“Storm will be showing up there regardless of if we use it as bait,” Shining said firmly. “Either he’ll show up now, or at a time and place we don’t know.”

“I know,” Will said with a dark grimace. “After our parents passed I had to take care of them, though, and sometimes I feel more like their mom than their sister… and here I am putting them both in danger.”

“It’s not your fault,” Shining put a hand on either shoulder and squared her up to look at him straight. “We’re doing our absolute best to make sure every single person in that school comes out of this alive and well, and yes, sometimes that means taking a serious risk, but we’re faced with two bad choices here, Will.”

Will nodded, her mouth pressing to a hard line. “Like I said, I know… intellectually I know, but all I can think about is how unfair it is to them… to all of us! Hasn’t the Doo family suffered enough?”

Shining glanced around noting that, for the most part, the various officers had fallen in together in small groups to discuss their parts in the sting. Taking a breath, Shining looked back at Will, letting his arms fall to his sides.

“I wish I had answers for you, Officer Doo,” Shining said a little morosely. “This world isn’t a fair one though, it’s our job to try and change that little by little.”

“It sounds so simple when you say it like that,” Will said a touch bitterly. “No offense, Armor, but you come from a pretty charmed life… I don’t really expect you to understand.”

Shining started to bristle, opening his mouth to defend himself.

Then he stopped, sighed, and nodded.

“I guess that’s fair,” Shining admitted, “I don’t think I ever really appreciated what I had til now, or what it might mean to lose someone.”

Will flinched and shrugged. “Yeah… I heard about your sister down the grapevine… just bits and pieces so it’s probably half rumor, but… I’m sorry.”

Shining nodded. “Yeah… me too, all I can do is pray I can still get her back.”

‘Even if it means risking so many other brothers and sisters,’ Shining thought angrily. ‘You’re a selfish hypocrite, Shining Armor.’

Captain Stalwart Stand stood up from his small conference with the senior officers, and addressed the room in a booming basso.

“Everyone get your game faces on,” Stand thundered, “remember we’re not just here to apprehend a criminal, we’re here to protect lives… do not let Storm take hostages, even if it means scrubbing this whole sting, evac first, pursuit second.” For a moment, Stand looked older and more weighted, but he schooled it behind a hard expression. “I will not have the death of a child on our consciences, understand? That is unacceptable, our focus is the young lives we are charged to protect, first and foremost, is that clear?”

The small crowd of officers shouted out a hard, enthusiastic chorus of ‘YES SIR’ in response.

“Good,” Stand said, his voice lowered to a more reasonable volume. “Now, suit up, strap up, and get in position: you all know where you’re supposed to be, so get to it.”

Without another word, Stalwart Stand turned on his heel and headed out towards the various plain vehicles parked nearby. They’d had to requisition multiple unmarked cars from other district offices to have enough for the operation which had required some creative finagling and not a few favors called in by the Captain.

As Shining got into his car, he leaned his head back and tried to keep the plan in mind.

Sunset was smart, far smarter than him, and at this point all Shining could pray for was that she was also smarter than Storm King, too.

~Canterlot High, May 3rd, Morning~

There was a faint snapping of displaced air, a crackling of static, and the vague flavor of purple pervading the rooftop of Canterlot High for a brief moment, then a figure was dropped into existence.

Her snow-pale hair fell over the burn scars on her face; the scars kept consistent down her whole left side as if she’d fallen asleep next to a lit furnace. Sharp, predatory gold eyes scanned the rooftop for threats briefly, her armored hands twitching with energy and restless violence for a moment before she relaxed.

It was early, before school hours but not by much. Zee could see the figures moving below her setting up the various parts of the school grounds for the upcoming Games.

With a thought, she dismissed the gauntlets back to their armband forms before they could begin exhaling a storm. They folded with an almost clockwork crackle of metal on metal and she turned, then leaned forward onto the raised mortar of the rooftop edge as she watched the people below go about their duties.

“King…” Zee muttered quietly. “My name is Grizelda King… innit?”

She could practically hear her Pop’s voice in her head, boisterous and self-assured.

“Tha’s as it is, sprog,” she said softly, saying the words she knew that he would say to her. “Tha’s as it is.”

She wasn’t a Grimfeather. Her sister was a Grimfeather, but Zee herself? No… she had no idea what that even meant. She couldn’t remember the faces of either her birth mother or father. She had vague recollections of voices but nothing more; no sense of a bond or an identity beyond the murky memory of the past.

Was this who she was though? Zee wasn’t so certain anymore. A year ago she’d had the ironclad certainty that only a fanatic or a fool possessed, and she knew that now.

Today she was questioning.

“Get yer ‘ead in the game, lass,” Zee hissed angrily to herself. “Ain’t time f’questions when we’ve got worlds t’walk.”

Twilight had teleported Zee to the roof ahead of everyone else to get her in position. She was too noticeable and with her having already fought the girl they knew as Sunset Shimmer, and lost badly, neither of them wanted to take the risk of a second fight going the same way.

Zee shivered, tracing her fingers up her bare left arm where she’d practically been cooked alive.

She wanted to be furious at Sunset, to rage at the redhead for having gotten the better of her. Zee wanted to feel some kind of righteous indignation at her loss that would drive her to seek out a second bout to prove herself.

All she felt, though, was a cold, gut-wrenching terror at the thought of going up against Gilda’s girlfriend again.

The calculating rage in Sunset’s eyes and the almost childish ease with which she’d dominated Zee terrified her. Zee had felt so powerful right up until the moment when Sunset had snapped invisible bindings around her that may as well have been folded tungsten.

All of her power and Zee had been utterly helpless as Sunset conjured up a miniature star and then calmly tried to execute her.

That was the worst part.

Zee had been enraged when she’d fought her sister and not better than blind drunk with hate and vengeance as she had hammered her sister with every low blow she’d had available.

Sunset had been furious, but not blind. Zee had seen the judgment in the redhead’s eyes the moment they’d locked gazes and knew in that instant that she was going to die.

And she would have.

If Twilight had been even an instant slower Zee knew she would have been reduced to composite particles by that kind of extreme heat. There probably wouldn’t have even been ashes left over, just a molten pool of slag in a meadow outside the Everfree with no name and no record beyond the memory of her.

Sunset had very nearly erased her from existence and she’d done it with cold precision.

Zee shivered again.

Sunset was the reason they were being so cautious. None of them had reckoned with her sheer power and ability, and even Pop’s had seemed wary of Sunset's magical might. They had imagined she might be a natural channel for the power that existed in the gauntlets and the bell, a genetic freak of nature that was born with it, but this was beyond the pale. She wasn’t just some genetic sidestep, Sunset Shimmer was an entirely different order of being. Pops had bits and pieces of uncanny spellcraft, but Sunset tossed spells like she was a max level video game character.

When they’d questioned Rainbow Dash about it she’d been a little evasive, but had told them that as far as she knew Sunset had always had some kind of magic. However, Rainbow had also admitted that they hadn’t gotten a chance to get to know each other as well as they could have before things had fallen apart between them.

Following up on that, Pops had just asked after what she did know, and Rainbow had told them of Sunset’s takeover of CHS over the course of a single school year; how she had kept everyone divided and controlled, how she had evaded noticed by the faculty, and as far as Zee, Twilight, and even Storm could tell, she’d done it the old fashioned way:

Threats, bribes, blackmail, and sheer political savvy.

If anything, Pops was of the opinion that that made her more dangerous. She wasn’t just powerful, she was damnably smart, and Storm weighed intelligence as a far greater threat than simple strength or power.

A strong idiot was just a tool waiting to be put to use by a more intelligent enemy. But an intelligent enemy was a threat that couldn’t be discounted or effectively manipulated without taking the risk of being manipulated yourself.

“But we can’t kill her,” Zee grumbled.

Not that Zee particularly wanted to try since it had gone so poorly the first time. Still, getting the jump on Sunset seemed liable to work, but Pops had been adamant.

Don’t take a risk that doesn’t need to be taken. Don’t engage them, don’t pick a fight, don’t get killed.

Zee slumped her head into her arms.

“I guess tha’s fair,” Zee said quietly to herself. “There’s nowt actual need to fight’em til we’re ready to crack the gate open.”

That was the rub.

Cracking the portal open wouldn’t be fast and it wouldn’t be subtle. The moment they began the rite Pops had told them to just assume that the jig would be up and that Sunset would know immediately. They were essentially stirring the magical pot as it were, riling up all the magic in the area into a big spell, and there was almost no possible way that someone as powerful as Sunset wouldn’t notice it. That was where Twilight, Zee, Rainbow, and Lightning came in:

They had to keep Sunset and whoever she had with her from interfering. They had to buy Storm the time he needed to finish the spellcraft, and after that it wouldn’t be about winning or losing. The gate would be open and they would’ve already won.

It would be just like a con: outsmart, outthink, outplay.

Twilight was their gorilla. The big, loud, obvious threat that kept everyone looking at her, with her own lieutenants and enforcers.

They just had to stay alive.

Zee prayed that all of Twilight’s new power would be enough to withstand the force she’d seen Sunset lay out back on the Verge. Plus it was stupid not to assume her sister wouldn’t put herself into fighting trim, same as she, Rainbow, and Lightning had.

Zee’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of boot-clad footsteps approaching from behind her. Her hackles went up, and she tensed as someone walked close, stepped beside her, then joined her leaning forward on the wall.

“Morning sis,” Gilda said quietly.

Her shaggy white hair wavered in the spring breeze while her sharp, golden eyes, so much like Zee’s own, were fixed on a point on the horizon beyond the Canterlot skyline. She stood tall; taller than Zee remembered, and there was something about how Gilda was standing that seemed different, more at ease. She wore a glove over her right hand, and her bomber jacket was pulled close around her.

For a moment Zee braced herself for the onrush for rage that always accompanied thoughts of Gilda, but for once it didn’t come. Zee stared at the girl that she had literally dreamt of killing for years and felt a shadow of anger, but it was more of a reflex than anything substantial.

A part of Zee knew why, too. It was because she was afraid. For so long fear just transmuted itself into rage but this time there was too much of it. She was afraid of Sunset, afraid for Twilight, afraid of what was coming.

And underneath it all there was that frustrating current of relief as Zee stared at her sister.

“Aye up, Gils,” Zee replied, swallowing back her surprise and faint anger. “Yer up early, ain’t ye?”

“Big day,” Gilda grunted back.

“Mind me askin ‘ow ye found me all fast-like?” Zee asked, raising an eyebrow.

Gilda chuckled, shoving her hands in her pockets as she smirked.

“Sunshine pointed me up here,” Gilda said. “Don’t sweat it, though, ain’t here t’fight. She said ya’d just haul ass if I tried it anyway.”

“Arh, cocka, so yer lass can track a teleport…” Zee muttered, feeling a chill go down her spine. “Bit of a nifty trick, that.”

“Nah, she didn’t track nothin’,” Gilda replied, her smirk widening a little. “Said you’d get dropped here because your Twi’ couldn’t put you inside the school… said your Twi’ couldn’t know if any given room she’d pick would be empty, so she’d probably have to put you on the roof.”

Zee blinked in surprise for a moment then began to laugh quietly, nodding as she did.

“Fuck me,” Zee mumbled, shaking her head. “Tha’s all but ‘xactly what our lass said when I asked why I was goin’ t’the roof.”

“Sunflower ain’t stupid, stupid,” Gilda said with a satisfied grin. “You ain’t beatin’ her at this game, savvy?”

Reaching into her jacket, Gilda fished around in her pocket for a few moments before pulling out a pack of cigarettes and yanked one out with her teeth. Then she gave the pack a small shake, jostling a second one loose, and held it out to Zee.

Zee raised an eyebrow for a moment, then shrugged and took the offered cigarette with a muttered ‘ta’, and slid it between her lips. Gilda silently replaced her pack, then drew out a box of matches, struck a pair of them against the side before passing the box to Zee who mimicked the action.

“Bah, these yankee smokes taste like shite,” Zee grumbled, blowing out a stream of smoke.

Gilda chuckled, straightening out to stand at her full height and stare down at the slowly awakening city of Canterlot, and the suburbia surrounding the school.

“Ya, I’m a bottom shelf kinda gal,” Gilda replied, shooting a smirk at Zee. “Fuck me as t’how I got a top shelf girlfriend, savvy?”

Zee snorted and shook her head. “Aye, I’ll ‘appen she’s well outta yer strike zone, Gils… got luck’s all it was.”

“Yeah, lucky me,” Gilda replied, her voice darkening. “Lucky me I got me a girlfriend who keeps gettin’ hurt because of shit I did, right?” Zee flinched as she felt Gilda turn that cold, golden gaze to her. “Lucky me I got a fuckin’ superhero t’pull my ass outta the fire that I started… lucky me.”

Zee took in a slow drag, and as she blew out the smoke she hoped the nicotine would keep her hands from shaking.

“Why didn’t ye jus’ die, Gils?” Zee said bitterly. “Why ya gotta make this ‘ard on us?”

“Can’t die yet,” Gilda replied with a smirk. “I’ve got a pretty lady to protect… how ‘bout you just give up?”

Zee scoffed. “Ain’t really the givin’ up sorta lass, I’ll ‘appen.”

Gilda turned away from her sister and stared back out at the horizon. The world was waking up and none of them knew just how much was happening in this little no-name high school.

People would be going to work, feeding their pets, heading to the gym, getting off the night shift… all just going about their normal day with no clue that they were in danger from a crazy old ganglord with magic.

“Can’t ya just walk, Zee?” Gilda asked quietly. “I don’t wanna kill ya, I don’t wanna hurt ya… hell, sis, I don’t want any’a this shit.”

“You think I do?” Zee grumbled. “Our lass ‘as gone mad wif that magic she’s slingin’ around,” Zee pulled the cigarette from her lips and stared into the ember. “She’s bonkers, Gils… mad as ye like, but she’s our lass… I can’t walk away from that.”

“He’s lyin’ to ya,” Gilda said angrily. “Pops… that’s all he fuckin’ does is lie,” she took a short drag and blew out a puff of smoke. “He lied about you bein’ dead, lied about why he started that war, and I’d lay down cash that he’s lyin’ about whatever he’s here for.”

Silence stretched between the two sisters for a moment before, finally, Zee just shrugged and gave a short nod.

“Arh, maybe,” Zee said after a moment.

Gilda closed her eyes, took her cigarette from her lips and clutched it between her middle and ring fingers as she blew out a slow breath.

“Don’t make me do this, Zee,” Gilda said in a barely audible voice. “You're all I got left‘a my family…”

“Ain’t makin’ ye do a thing, Gils,” Zee shot back. “You’re the one gettin’ in the way on this one.”

“Pops is gonna hurt people, Zee,” Gilda pressed, her eyes narrowing to a glare. “You ain’t stupid… hell you’ve always been the smart one, but he got dozens of Kings killed last time he pulled this shit.” Her face tightened with remembered grief, and she grimaced. “Good folks, too, people who had family… kids… and he turned them into orphans like us!”

For the first time in the conversation, Zee went slightly pale. She stood up a little, straightening out, and stared down hard into the burning end of her cigarette again.

“Tha’s as may be, Gils,” Zee said finally, “but I ain’t leavin’ our lass… and she ain’t leavin’ til we do what we came ‘ere t’do.”

“Zee…” Gilda said the name pleadingly. “C’mon…”

Zee turned to Gilda with a brittle, cracking smile. The scars on her left side distorted the expression, turning into something like half of a grimace, and her hands were shaking as they held onto the cigarette tightly.

“Arh… sorry Gils,” Zee said, her voice a little reedy. “Wish this ain’t ‘ow it ‘appened, oreyt? It’s no way for sisters to be, but tha’s as it is…”

“But-”

“You wouldn’t leave your lass behind for owt would ye?” Zee asked, and Gilda felt her words stick in her throat.

After a moment Gilda just shook her head silently.

“Aye, me neither,” Zee said. “Fuckin’ ‘ellfire… guess we got somethin’ in common after all, ‘ey?”

“I just found you again,” Gilda said in a hollow voice. “I can’t just…”

“S’you or me,” Zee’s expression hardened as she spoke. “Me or your lass, maybe? So how’s it be, Gils? Between me’n your redheaded witch, who would you choose to save?”

Suddenly the morning felt so much colder than it had several moments ago. Gilda met her sister's glare, twin pairs of gold, hawkish eyes searing into one another and, in a pained voice, Gilda replied:

“Her… I’d choose her.”

Zee smiled.

“Aye, same with uz an’ our lass, Gils,” Zee replied wanly. “What a shite bit’a family we are, ‘ey?”

Gilda clenched her teeth and turned back towards the Canterlot skyline. Sullenly, she finished her cigarette, put it out, and palmed the remains before stepping back and away from the edge of the roof and from her sister.

“I needed to give ya the chance, Zee,” Gilda said quietly as she turned away. “I needed to know I tried… that I tried to save ya, that I tried to stop it all from happenin’ again, savvy?”

“Savvy,” Zee replied, nodding as she put her own smoke out. “Tha’s all ‘cause you’re better’n me, Gils… but take this bit’uv advice back with ye,” Zee turned and met Gilda’s gaze evenly. “When it ‘appens, you come at me with death in yer eyes, oreyt? Not like last time.”

Gilda grimaced but nodded. “Not like last time… yeah, can’t afford it this time ‘round.”

Zee turned back around and leaned onto the edge of the roof again, her pale hair whipping idly in the breeze, and Gilda sighed as she made her way back to the stairs.

Briefly, very briefly, Gilda considered starting a fight right then and there. Bringing her sister down hard and dragging her bodily out of the mess that was about to happen.

For years she had been haunted by the thought that she had, even if only indirectly, been responsible for her baby sister's death. Now, though, Gilda had all but promised that same sister that she would kill her with her own two hands if it came to it.

Letting out a slow breath, Gilda stopped in front of the door, scowled, and then banged her head on it. Dull, cold pain flashed through her and she swore viciously as she pulled back from the door, slammed her prosthetic fist into it hard enough to dent the steel, and went stomping across the roof back towards her sister.

Zee barely had a chance to look up before Gilda had her arms around her, and the smaller girl let out a startled squawk as Gilda’s grip tightened-

-into a strong hug.

“I love you, Zee,” Gilda choked the words out through a haze of tears. “A’right? So whatever happens? Whatever it is we gotta do today? You’re still my sister, a’right? And I love you.”

Zee let out a shaky sob and slowly raised her arms up to grip onto the sleeves of Gilda’s bomber jacket, hanging on as if for dear life. She didn’t say anything back, though, there was nothing that could make it out of her throat that was suddenly tight as a cranked vice.

Instead, Zee just nodded.

Pulling herself roughly away, Gilda stared down at Zee’s face and tried to remember it as it was right then, in that moment. To burn those features, so similar to her own, into her memory. A face of a loved one, of a sister, without the pain of an injury or a rictus of rage twisting her features.

Gilda gave a stiff nod, clapped Zee on the shoulder, and turned away.

She made it all the way back to the dented door when Zee shouted out to her.

“Why?!” Zee hollered angrily, “why can’t ye jus’ fuckin’ hate me?! Why can’t ye make this easy?!”

Sighing, Gilda shot a look over her shoulder and shrugged, which made Zee screw up her face in frustration.

“I tried t’kill ye, ye dozy fuckin’ twonk!” Zee spat, her body quaking as she glared across the span of the roof at her sister. “Are ye really tha’ fuckin’ stupid?!”

Gilda started chuckling, a small and slightly bitter noise that grew into a strong wave of laughter. Zee just stared on as her sister laughed for several seconds before finally mastering herself.

Shaking her head in a motion that sent her rakish white hair tumbling in the wind, Gilda fixed a hand on the door, looked up at Zee, and gave her a wan smile.

“I ain’t stupid,” Gilda said with a shrug and a small laugh. “I’m dyslexic.”

Zee just stared in disbelief as Gilda cracked open the door and slipped back inside the school.

“Why, Gils?” Zee muttered quietly to the empty roof. “Why ye gotta make me ‘afta kill ye again?”

Gilda tromped down the steps to the second floor of Canterlot High to the service door she’d used to reach the roof access. Pushing the heavy old door open, she stepped back into the familiar halls of the school, letting the weight of the door close itself.

“Well?”

“No luck, Sunshine,” Gilda replied quietly, her voice hard. “Thanks f’lettin’ me try, though.”

Sunset smiled up at Gilda, reaching out her hands to the young woman. Gilda took her hands, squeezing them softly as she let out a shuddering breath.

“It was worth trying,” Sunset said firmly. “I don’t want to fight this battle, and if your sister is anything like you then underneath all that anger I don’t think she does either.”

Gilda let out a weak laugh. “Considering what she did t’me I’m kinda shocked ya let me even try.”

Sunset frowned, her eyes going to Gilda’s prosthetic as she did. After a moment she closed her eyes and sighed, then pulled Gilda down closer to her level.

Responding, Gilda knelt, her hands still wrapped around Sunset’s smaller ones.

“Gilda, I… I can’t stop seeing you there… in that crater, you know?” Sunset said in a small voice. “It’s like a nightmare that’s waiting for me every time I close my eyes…”

“Then why-”

“Because!” Sunset cut Gilda off as she tightened her grip on the taller girl’s hands. “I don’t have the right to tell you what you can and can’t do, Gil!” Sunset raised their hands up, pressing her forehead to Gilda’s knuckles. “Especially not when it comes to your family… how I feel about her shouldn’t- no, it can’t come into it because that’s not fair.”

“I ain’t gonna defend what she did, Sunflower,” Gilda said, her lips turning to a hard line. “Fact is she tried to bump the both of us off, and if ya don’t think that pisses me right the fuck off-”

“But she’s the only family you have left,” Sunset interjected, looking up at Gilda. “I get it… I do.”

Gilda sighed, pulling her hands free of Sunset’s and rubbing her temples.

“I swore I’d keep’er safe, y’know?” Gilda said after a moment. “On my mom and dad's graves… I swore it. But now I gotta…”

“We can’t let them get away with whatever it is they’re planning, Gil,” Sunset said in a tired voice. “This isn’t just about us… it’s about Canterlot, maybe more.”

“Well, I ain’t doin’ this for Canterlot,” Gilda grumbled, reaching out a hand and letting her fingers coil through Sunset’s red and gold hair. “I’m doin’ this for you, to protect you, and ‘cause I love you. I ain't really a big picture sorta gal, a’right? I’ll leave that to you, I trust you to do right by me.”

“I just hope I’m worthy of that trust,” Sunset replied morosely. “I guess we’ll be answering that question today, though, huh?”

Gilda nodded and took her spot behind Sunset, pushing her along down the hall to the elevators and taking them to the first floor. When it opened Principal Celestia was waiting for them with a concerned look on her face, and Sunset just shook her head in the negative.

Celestia sighed.

“Well, it was worth the effort, I suppose,” she said quietly. “I don’t suppose we can try and apprehend her?”

Sunset smiled a little wanly. “On what grounds? Sonata looked into it and, what few records there are, have her here on a legitimate visa with no criminal records.”

“Also, she’s still crazy fuckin’ dangerous,” Gilda put in.

“We’re at a stalemate,” Sunset said grimly. “We can’t prove anything about anyone that we know is acting with Storm, and if we try to go around the law we’ll just start the fight we’re trying to avoid…”

Gilda pushed Sunset out of the elevator cab and into the hallway as Principal Celestia stepped away and began making her own way down the hall while Gilda and Sunset fell in beside her. The school was curiously quiet, the silence broken only by the faint squeaking from the wheels of Sunset’s chair, joined by the clicking of Principal Celestia’s heels and the dull thumps of Gilda’s boots.

There was something vaguely unsettling about an empty school, Sunset thought. A place that was constantly full of lively chatter and noise being so desolate gave the world around her an almost post-apocalyptic sense of calm.

Sunset chuckled dryly, drawing a look from Gilda and Celestia.

“Sorry,” Sunset said, seeing their questioning glances. “Just had that ‘calm before the storm’ thought.”

Gilda scoffed and nodded. “Yeah, I was tryin’ not t’say it.”

“Ugh, thank god,” Celestia said, sagging slightly as she kept walking. “I’m glad someone said it, holding it in was getting painful.”

Sunset snorted and giggled, and after a few moments she was joined by Gilda's low chuckles and Celestia’s gentle laughter. They continued that way for several moments before stopping at the door to computer lab two. Pushing it open, Sunset took hold of her wheels and rolled in, followed quickly by Gilda and Principal Celestia.

“All set up?” Sunset asked, looking at the corner of the room where what appeared to be several computer towers and three monitors had been wired together somehow.

“Yup!” Sonata chirped, tipping back and forth in her chair as she looked over her setup, Aria was snoozing face-down on the table adjacent to Sonata’s rig. “I had to get a little creative to manage the processing power I needed, but I should be able to keep an eye on pretty much the whole school exterior from this point.”

“A part of me wishes we had more cameras inside the school now,” Celestia said grimly. “I turned them down because I believed they were both unnecessary and gave the impression that I was treating the students like criminals, but now…”

“Auntie,” Sunset said admonishingly, “you didn’t make a bad choice, okay? I doubt you could have predicted needing a security setup to track down a criminal ganglord.”

“I realise that, Sunset,” Celestia said, rolling her eyes. “But I’m permitted some small and idle regrets, I think.”

“Fair enough,” Gilda grunted as she slipped out from behind Sunset.

Sunset smirked as she watched Gilda stalk towards Aria slowly, her booted feet suddenly silent as she snuck across the tile floor towards the dozing Siren. Gilda flexed her fingers slightly, cracking her knuckles as she got closer and closer.

There was no warning, just a single violent surge of motion as Gilda launched forward, her whole body suddenly lambent with hyperkine energy as she accelerated to a near blinding speed in an instant, her fist hammering towards Aria.

Sunset blinked… there was no visible movement from Aria. One moment she was practically asleep, the next she was standing on top of the table she’d been dozing on, her hand gripping Gilda’s wrist and twisting to spin the dark-skinned girl in place and send her crashing to the ground with a deafening clatter.

“Try again, newbie,” Aria scoffed. “And next time don’t crack your knuckles as you’re approaching… macho posturing does you no good if you’re on the ground a second later.”

Gilda sat up sullenly, rubbing the back of her head as she did, and nodded. “Fuck, I ain’t ever gonna get the drop on you, huh?”

“Not unless you live a thousand years too, birdbrain,” Aria cackled, crouching down on top of the desk. “But you’re getting better, well… better than most humans.”

“Can you please not destroy our school equipment?” Principal Celestia asked quietly. “Our budget isn’t exactly phenomenal.”

“We’ll make a ‘charitable donation’ later,” Aria said with a smirk. “Assuming any of us survive this mess.”

“We don’t even fully know what they’re doing,” Sunset said bitterly. “All we can do now is prepare and hope we catch wind of it before it’s too late to do anything about it.”

“You’ve done all you can to prepare, Sunset,” Principal Celestia said calmly, putting a hand on the girl’s shoulder, turning Sunset to face her. “It hasn’t been that long, but you’ve come so far as a person,” Celestia continued, and Sunset grimaced, turning her eyes away. “I know you regret who you were and the things you did, and I know you regret the misery you caused, but that isn’t who you are anymore.”

“Are you sure?” Sunset asked quietly. “Because the way I see it I’m putting everyone that I made miserable in danger… again.”

“You’re doing this to protect them,” Celestia pressed, her brow furrowed. “As an educator and the Principal of this school, you know that I don’t like this any more than you do… but I also understand why you’re doing it.” Slowly, Celestia sank down until she was on one knee in front of Sunset. “What you’re doing now, you’re not doing out of pride or malice, you’re doing it out of love, and out of a desire to protect, so don’t destroy yourself over this, Sunset, please.”

Sunset let out a sigh and nodded, and Celestia leaned in to hug the young girl. Sunset shuddered and clung to Celestia for a moment, trying desperately to keep from crying out of stress and panic. They needed her to be strong, to be unflappable… if she was going to break down it would have to be later.

Assuming there was a later, of course, and if there wasn’t then it would suddenly not be her problem anymore.

“Alright…” Sunset said, taking a deep breath and nodding. “Let’s go out there… the bus from Crystal Prep should be showing up any minute now.”

“Adagio is already in position for her part,” Aria said from where she was still sitting on the table. “And I’ll be waiting in the wings as backup… I might not be an Element but I can put a bitch through a wall if I have to.”

“Please don’t kill anyone, Ari’,” Sunset said with a dry smile. “Most of them don’t know what they’re doing.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Aria scoffed, waving a hand, “go be a hero, Red.”

A hero.

Sunset’s thoughts turned bitter as she turned and left the room with Gilda and Principal Celestia in tow. Gripping her wheels tightly, she pushed herself along down the halls towards the entrance of the school.

Go be a hero.

Although she would never say it out loud for a variety of reasons, morale being among the utmost of them, Sunset hated being called a hero, especially lately. Today she wasn’t a hero, or at the very least she certainly didn’t feel like one. Everyone kept telling her she was making the right decision, but no matter how much reassurance was tossed her way she couldn’t help but think that Twilight would never have had to resort to a plan that put so many innocent people in danger.

Certainly, Princess Celestia wouldn’t have but, then again, Sunset wasn’t a solar demigoddess so she permitted herself a certain amount of forgiveness over that comparison.

“Sunshine?” Gilda called out, her tone concerned. “You a’right?”

“I’m fine,” Sunset replied tersely as she reached the front doors and slammed her fist, perhaps a touch harder than necessary, on the powered door pad, causing it to swing lazily open. “Let’s go meet the competition.”

The day was an almost frustratingly nice one. The spring morning was out in force with the sun coming down through mostly clear skies, a light breeze was blowing the floral scent of newly blooming flowers across the city, and there was just enough chill in the air to wake up anyone who happened to step outside.

It was almost as though the world wasn’t in potentially dire peril.

Sunset took a certain amount of comfort in the fact that statistically speaking, it was probably miserable somewhere on the planet and therefore at least the weather was obligingly appropriate in some part of the world.

Turning sharply, Sunset took the ramp down and around to the walkway towards the statue where the defunct portal was still standing quiescent and unusable after whatever curse was levied on it took hold. In front of the portal stood her team, the Canterlot High School Friendship Games team, only a few which knew the true stakes of the day.

‘And not all of them are on my side,’ Sunset thought bitterly. ‘Dash you dense motherfucker.’

A small part of her was still aggravatingly certain that Rainbow Dash would come around; that in the end she would try and make things right… but that part was getting smaller. Sunset knew Rainbow well enough, both as a former friend and as an enemy, to know that for whatever the sporty girl’s flaws were, she genuinely meant well. Beneath the rusted patina of bad decisions and poorly thought out impulses, Rainbow Dash had a truly good heart.

She was just incredibly dumb sometimes.

Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Sunset gestured for Gilda to join the rest of the team as she mentally composed what she was going to say to them. Octavia and Vinyl knew the stakes, but they were the only ones other than herself and Gilda among the team that did. For a moment Sunset toyed with the idea of just revealing the whole matter to ensure they were all on the same page but…

No, that was a recipe for disaster.

For one, she had no guarantee that the rest of the team would be on board with the ‘use the school as bait’ plan. If they weren’t it could scrub the entire thing before it started and Sunset quite simply couldn’t allow that to happen. For two… Sunset wanted them to enjoy the games.

Telling them would only amount to informing them that they wouldn't be able to do anything and so just to try not to think about it. That wouldn’t be helpful nor would it be safe.

“Alright everyone,” Sunset said calmly, leaning back in her chair as she surveyed her team. “We’ve all studied hard on the road to this day, and we’ve done more preparation that I think anyone was really expecting.” A part of Sunset chuckled internally thinking of the warehouse before continuing. “Today we go head to head with one of the best private schools in the country and you know what I think?”

By this point she had the entire team’s attention, even Rainbow and Lightning were practically standing at attention as they listened. Sunset mentally made a note to thank her mother for all of those public-speaking and speech-giving lessons that she had woven into their magic studies.

“I think that we have a shot at this title,” Sunset said firmly. “Is it in the bag for sure? Not a chance…” that got some looks from the team but before they could start to doubt, Sunset cracked her fist against the armrest of her chair, taking back their attention. “This is Crystal Prep, ladies, and if I said we’ve got this in the bag it would be a lie, because this team we’re going up against will be good. It’ll be the best they’ve got and I’m not going to make the mistake of underestimating that level of skill, and neither should any of you!” They were standing taller now, and there was a fire in their eyes, even Microchip who normally looked like nothing so much as a hunched bird with corrective lenses. “What I’m telling you now is that we may not have this in the bag, but I think we’re closer to victory than any Canterlot High team has ever been! That team will have skill and ability, but WHO ARE WE?!”

“Wondercolts!”

Sunset almost lost her train of thought as Rainbow Dash was the first to answer.

‘I should’ve known you’d be the first voice to reply to that question, though, Dash,’ Sunset thought wryly before picking up her momentum.

“I DIDN’T HEAR THAT!” Sunset roared. “WHO ARE WE?!”

“WONDERCOLTS!” The rest of the team hollered, and even Gilda took a step forward as she got into it.

“Damn right,” Sunset said with a smile. “We’ve got teamwork, we know each other’s limits and abilities, we won’t trip over each other and we know how to work together… something tells me Crystal Prep doesn’t put much value on giving one another a hand up.”

A round of chuckles answered Sunset’s commentary.

After a moment, a blue fist raised up into the air, and Sunset raised an eyebrow at Rainbow who was standing tall with her eyes fixed on Sunset’s own.

“We made it all the way here because we’re not like any other school,” Rainbow said, her voice a little shaky at first, but gaining strength. “We’ve faced things that other kids our age couldn’t even imagine.”

‘Like me?’ Sunset thought, but she didn’t derail Rainbow, the others were already invested.

“We’ve stumbled and fallen, and then gotten up, but…” Rainbow trailed off for a moment, her hand flagging, but Lightning reached out and took Rainbow’s other hand and gave it a soft squeeze. “But… we believe in more than just winning or losing, right?” Rainbow looked around to nods, even from Gilda. “We believe that there's something more than just winning some stupid competition, because we’re Wondercolts! We know that, as corny as it sounds, the magic of Friendship is something that’s kinda… literally real, right?”

More nods came from the team, and even Sunset couldn’t help but go along with it, as much as the memories that Rainbow’s words stirred up hurt.

“We Wondercolts have screwed up more than a few times,” Rainbow continued softly. “But we’re better than we were and… today I think we’re going to prove that sticking together, being together, makes us stronger than anything!” She pumped her fist back into the air with renewed strength. “We’re all Wondercolts forever! So let’em come at us!”

Applause rose from the team, with Sunset’s own hands clapping along with the rest of them.

‘There’s that natural charisma,’ Sunset thought a little morosely, ‘for all of her faults, Rainbow is a natural leader…’

“Here, here,” Sunset said as the applause died down, and Rainbow Dash met Sunset's gaze evenly.

No one in the group was unaware of the tension between the pair of them, even the most oblivious extremity of the school body knew that Sunset had been cut loose from the friends she’d stood by during the Battle of the Bands over the Anon-A-Miss debacle.

“Wondercolts forever, huh?” Sunset asked after a moment as Rainbow lowered her fist. “I guess we are.”

Rainbow nodded silently. “Yeah, at least… I hope we are.”

“Me too, Dash,” Sunset said quietly. “Me too.”

At that moment a bus came rolling to a stop on the other side of the statue by the sidewalk. It bore the purple and black livery of the Crystal Preparatory Academy as well as the insignia on its side. Rainbow scoffed a little as she, along with the rest of the team, made their way around the statue to greet their incoming rivals.

“Geez, think it’s them? Might be too subtle,” Lightning said dryly, earning a smattering of laughter.

Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna joined the team a moment later just as the door of the bus opened with a pneumatic hiss.

Dean Cadence stepped down the small set of stairs and onto the sidewalk, followed by the tall and primly dressed Principal Cinch.

“Cadence, it’s lovely to see you again,” Celestia said warmly, stepping into the embrace of the younger woman. “We have to have dinner and catch up sometime soon.”

“We do, I think we could all use a night out after today, anyways,” Cadence agreed, meeting Celestia’s eyes, then Luna’s. The three of them shared a short nod, and Luna stepped in to give Cadence a short hug as well.

“Abacus, always a pleasure,” Celestia said far more stiffly as she held out a hand to Crystal Prep’s Principal.

“Naturally,” Principal Cinch replied, glancing down at the proffered hand for a moment before limply taking it as if trying to keep skin contact to a minimum. “I’m looking forward to adding a new trophy to our case.”

Celestia’s grin became slightly strained and her grip tightened. “I’m sure you are, but I think we’ve got some strong competition for you this year.”

Cinch returned the tighter grip with one of her own.

“We shall see,” Cinch said through gritted teeth. “Competition has always had a somewhat weaker definition in the public sector, though.”

Celestia didn’t rise to the bait, though, instead pulling her hand back and stepping to the side, gesturing at the team behind her.

“May I present to you, Canterlot High’s team for this year’s Friendship Games,” Principal Celestia began. “This is our team captain: Sunset Shimmer.”

Sunset gripped her wheels and rolled forward a few paces and held out a hand. “Pleased to meet you Principal Cinch, I look forward to having some decent academic competition for once.”

Sunset’s smile was shark-like as she met Principal Cinch’s eyes fearlessly, and for a moment Principal Cinch hesitated before returning the gesture.

“Miss Shimmer, I take pride in my work and in my ability to judge a student’s calibre,” Cinch said as she clasped Sunset’s hand. “I have the distinct feeling you belong at my school, not here.”

“A year ago I might have agreed,” Sunset replied evenly. “So let’s see what your school has to offer.”

“Indeed,” Cinch replied stoically before glancing at Cadence and giving her a stiff nod.

“Competitors,” Cadence said, addressing Canterlot’s team, “I’m proud to present to you the Shadowbolt team, representing Crystal Prep in the Friendship Games,” she gestured as they began disembarking from the bus. “This is our team’s captain: Twilight Sparkle.”

Sunset blinked in surprise. The Twilight that descended from the buses steps barely looked anything like the one that she knew from Equestria. She wore the same uniform every other Crystal Prepper wore; a wine-dark button-up blouse with a pleated skirt of dark pink and stripes of white. Twilight’s hair fell in long waves, coiled primly to the side so the long locks fell over her left shoulder, leaving her right side bare. At the meadow Sunset could have sworn she’d worn glasses but now she was bare-faced, and she met Sunset’s gaze with an almost furious calm.

“Twilight Sparkle, huh?” Sunset said, schooling her voice to neutrality as she held out a hand. “Pleased to officially meet you.”

One of the other girls from the group, a girl with a pale, bluish-gray complexion and light purple hair streaked with shades of pink glared daggers at Sunset, causing her to raise an eyebrow.

“And I, you,” Twilight said with a grim tone to her voice and leaning in as she took Sunset's hand. “I look forward to beating you,” she leaned a little closer and her voice dropped to whisper: “this time.”

“Good luck, neophyte,” Sunset hissed back acidly. “You’ll need it.”

Twilight’s expression screwed up into a rictus of rage that was present only for the briefest of moments before returning to serenity. Then the pair parted with a few odd looks from members of both teams at the air of animosity that had blossomed between the two captains in an instant.

The Principal’s ushered the teams down the walkway towards the entrance steps of Canterlot, and Sunset carefully observed the Crystal Prep team as they moved. All of them had an almost arrogant swagger to their movements, a peerless sort of confidence that spoke of absolute surety. But for all of that confidence, Sunset could see the fractures and divides. They all moved apart from one another, glancing more at each other than they did at the team they were supposedly here to beat. Their mutual mistrust of one another was almost palpable.

Except from the girl who had shot her that ugly glare earlier.

She walked beside and behind Twilight in a manner that it took Sunset a moment to read the purpose of. It clicked a second later, though, and Sunset narrowed her eyes. The girl was walking behind Twilight almost like a disciple… like a devotee, her head was bowed slightly, but her hands were twitchy and wringing as if she were aching to reach out and touch the girl in front of her.

For Twilight’s part, she paid the girl almost no mind at all. It wasn’t ignorance though… no, it was something Sunset was almost painfully familiar with.

Twilight treated the girl behind her with an awareness combined with a sort of imperious disregard. She knew the girl was there and was purposefully paying her no mind, much in the same way her mother had treated Sunset herself in the Royal Courts, with that same ‘necessary distance’ that had ended up driving a wedge between them.

‘How far down the path of the dark mage have you walked, Twilight?’ Sunset thought ruefully. ‘You’re treating people like objects already… are you really that far gone?’

Sunset knew she shouldn’t expect this Twilight to be anything like her friend from across the portal but it was still painful to see the staggering difference between the two of them.

The team came to a stop together, the CHS team gathered up in one group and the Shadowbolts a few meters away in another. Celestia and Cinch ascended up onto the landing of the steps, joined moments later by Dean Cadence at Cinch’s side and Vice Principal Luna at Celestia’s.

Principal Celestia cleared her throat gently as she faced the gathered high schoolers.

“Students of Crystal Prep Academy, I welcome you,” Celestia began formally. “My name is Celestia Sonen, I’m the principal here, and it is an honor to be your host,” the students of CHS were listening intently, while the Crystal Prep students looked more or less bored. “Now since it’s much earlier than a normal school day, I took the liberty of asking our cafeteria to prepare a light breakfast for everyone to share.”

That got everyone’s attention. Crystal Prep or not, competitors or not, world ending magical catastrophe in the making or not, there was nothing quite like a hungry teenager in the morning.

“If you’ll all follow me, I’ll be happy to show you around,” Principal Celestia practically chirped, gesturing for the gathered teens to follow.

The walk to the cafeteria was mostly silent with a smattering of hushed whispers here and there between the students. Sunset noted that the only actual conversation came from her team, while the Shadowbolts seemed content to glare suspiciously at their surroundings as much as at one another.

“Since when is breakfast part of the Games?” Octavia whispered as she caught up to Sunset.

“Traditionally it’s not,” Sunset replied. “I worked this out with Principal Celestia in advance.”

“Part of the plan then?” Octavia queried, an eyebrow raised in question.

Sunset gave a small nod. “Nothing the team has to be worried about, though. Just get something to eat, you’ll need it.”

“I’m aware,” Octavia said with a grimace. “If all our training taught me anything it’s that… well, that kind of exertion of strength eats a lot of calories.”

“Now you know why magi are always so skinny,” Sunset said with a smirk.

Octavia let out a small snort of laughter but muffled it under a cough as she fell back amongst the rest of the team.

The cafeteria that the students walked into bore little resemblance to its usual state. For one, it was sparkling clean and smelled faintly of pine-scented cleaner; the trash cans, usually overflowing with a variety of detritus, were freshly emptied, and the smell of pancakes, eggs, sizzling bacon, sausage, and other sundry breakfast fare filled the air.

Several tables had been pushed together in one part of the cafeteria and had a small paper sign standee on it with the sign reading: Teams. Another table had the word Staff on the standee, and a small circular table set apart from all of the others with a single chair at it had the word ‘Captains’ perched at the center.

Without a word, Sunset turned from her team and rolled up to take a spot at the captain’s table. Following her example, Sunset’s team quickly found seats on one side of the Teams table.

Twilight nodded to her follower, the short-haired girl, who began ushering the Shadowbolts into seats on the other side while their captain took a chair opposite Sunset. The four adults seated themselves at the Staff table, and moments later the Cafeteria kitchen doors swung open and a small troupe of students trotted out, led at their head by a young woman with a bright poof of orange hair.

“To begin,” Adagio exclaimed brightly with the air of a proud maître d′, “platters of fresh fruits, biscuits, and toast. The main course to follow in precisely fifteen minutes.”

Cinch’s eyebrows looked fit to crawl up past her severe hairline as plates were quickly and efficiently laid out with a minimum of clatter followed by the promised dishes of fruits.

Fresh cut apple slices and peeled oranges, sliced cantaloupe, kiwis, pineapple, and even coconut were on display. Bowls of brightly colored strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries joined them, and beside the dishes were tureens filled with thick, freshly whipped cream.

Plates of toasted bread were laid out soon after followed by yet more plates stacked with fluffy biscuits.

“Bon savour!” Adagio said, her voice still bright and clarion.

Then she turned briskly on her heel, snapped her fingers, and her and everyone she had brought with her vanished back into the kitchens as quickly and cleanly as they had appeared.

“That was… impressive,” Cinch said quietly. “I must grudgingly admit that you’ve at least stepped up your hosting game, Celestia.”

Celestia grinned, popping a blackberry into her mouth. “Never underestimate the competition, Abacus.”

“Indeed not,” Cinch replied testily, but she tucked into the plates before her nonetheless.

At the Captain’s table Sunset was busy scooping small portions of just about everything onto her plate while Twilight eyed her suspiciously.

“Isn’t that a bit dangerous?” Twilight asked in a neutral tone. “You’re going to stuff yourself right before a big event?”

Sunset glanced up at Twilight in surprise, although Twilight couldn’t tell if it was feigned or not.

“I’d recommend you do the same actually,” Sunset replied, before chomping down on an entire slice of apple, then swallowing. “You must’ve noticed, haven’t you?”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. The small smirk on Sunset’s face was infuriating, and seeing it made her want to smack it right off of the smug redhead’s face.

“Noticed what?” Twilight replied evenly, a snarl hiding under her voice.

“Magical exertion eats up a lot of energy, and it doesn’t all come from the surrounding thaumic field,” Sunset said between bites of cantaloupe. “It burns through calories like no one’s business, so no self-respecting magus skimps on breakfast unless they want to blow out their lambda system.”

“Thaumic… what?” Twilight stuttered, feeling wrong-footed. “What’s a-?”

Sunset stopped eating mid-bite into a slice of orange and stared, eyes half-lidded, at Twilight. The Shadowbolts captain felt something like ice water sluice down her spine at the terrifying intelligence her opponent’s eyes held.

Finishing her orange slice, Sunset lowered her hands and wiped them on a napkin.

“The thaumic field? The lambda system?” Sunset repeated in a questioning tone. “You do know your basic thaumic theory, right? Arcane Bio one-oh-one and proper nutritional quotients for sustaining ideal levels of energy?”

“I… there’s no such thing as-” Twilight began uneasily before Sunset cut her off again.

“Dark Magic like what you use is especially calorie intensive,” Sunset continued, gesturing with a mostly eaten cantaloupe rind that she was working on. “I’d recommend a lot of sugars and starches unless you want it to start eating away at your body,” she said, tossing the rind to the side and grabbing a biscuit. “Cognitive function goes out the window pretty fast if you don’t do at least that much… think early onset dementia turned up to eleven.”

“How the hell would you know any of that?” Twilight hissed.

Sunset noted smugly that Twilight took a larger serving of fruits, though.

“Because it’s literally textbook,” Sunset replied casually around a mouthful of buttered biscuit. “Y’know, Elementary Arcane Principles: Volume One, chapter two? Basic nutrition?” Twilight's expression dropped as Sunset took a swig of orange juice. “Philosophy of the Body by Green Thumb pretty definitively proved that magic is drawn heavily from your wellspring and that energy isn’t free.”

Twilight worked her jaw a few times, occasionally glancing down at her plate before turning her gaze back up to Sunset.

Suddenly her appetite was quite gone.

“But I guess you never got anything like a basic magical education,” Sunset said, keeping the one-sided conversation going. “After all, Miss Sparkle,” Sunset flicked her eyes up to meet Twilight’s, “you were born human.”

Silence descended on the small table, and suddenly the low chatter from the team and staff tables seemed almost deafening. Twilight stared hard at Sunset as if trying to gauge what exactly she was saying.

Something in Sunset’s eyes gave the answer she was searching for, if not the one she wanted, and her own eyes widened.

“The gate…” Twilight whispered, her low voice almost hollow. “You’re from beyond the gate.”

Sunset didn’t reply, she just kept the small smile on her face as she took another bite of apple slice.

“Answer me,” Twilight said, her hands had started shaking and her pupils had shrunk to pinpricks. “Are you from beyond the gate?”

Silence reigned, broken only by the dull crunch of Sunset biting down on her apple slice. Then Sunset smiled, dabbed at her mouth with her napkin, and said:

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Captain Sparkle.”

The kitchen doors swept open again, killing any retort that Twilight had been about to make, and Adagio strode into the cafeteria once more with a beatific smile curving her lips upward.

“Honored guests, I present to you… Breakfast,” she said simply.

What followed was a sumptuous parade of fluffy pancakes and crisp waffles, along with every topping imaginable. Those were followed by platters of bacon, sausage, and even plates of vegetarian substitutes, along with large portions of eggs, both scrambled and fried.

“Enjoy,” Adagio said brightly before dipping in a low curtsy, then hustling the student staff back into the kitchen.

“Ooh, waffles,” Sunset said brightly before dishing herself out two and topping them with whipped cream and strawberries.

“What are you?” Twilight asked calmly as she claimed a few pancakes and adding a trickle of syrup. “Are you some kind of… polymorphic entity?”

“Ppfffff,” Sunset laughed, nearly choking on her bite of waffle. “Did you just say ‘polymorphic entity’? You could’ve just said ‘shapeshifter’, savvy?”

Twilight’s cheeks reddened as Sunset laughed around her waffle, wiping away some of the cream from her cheeks as she did.

“Do you intend to spend this whole meal making a mockery of me?” Twilight hissed in a dark voice.

Sunset smirked, taking another bite of waffle as she did.

“Why would I bother?” She asked as she chewed. “You don’t seem to need the help.”

That did it.

A cold, baleful sensation trickled down Sunset’s back as Twilight’s face contorted in rage. Where her eyes were once the normal shade of purple, they flashed to a brilliant violet backed by cyan fire as her skin began to smolder and darken, as if burning from within.

“Careful Sparkle,” Sunset said evenly as she forced a smile onto her face. “Your game face is showing.”

Twilight Sparkle’s raw power was staggering, and just being close to it made Sunset’s guts churn. In the meadow her power had been considerable, enough that a simple brute-force defensive spell like a force barrier had been enough to shield both her and Zee from Sunset’s conjured plasma.

Today she was beyond ‘considerable’, and beyond even ‘formidable’.

Twilight Sparkle was, clearly, every bit the natural powerhouse that her Equestrian counterpart was.

In a word, she was a monster.

“I’m going to burn you for what you did to Zee,” Twilight snarled under her breath, her fork twisting and distending in her grip.

She was fighting to bring her visage back under control, but it was a fight that she wasn’t winning, at least not quickly.

“You really don’t get it, Twi’,” Sunset said evenly, fighting back her surge of panic at the wellspring she was faced with. “You can’t control your own magic… look at you! If I hadn’t put up a veil around us you’d be causing a small riot.”

Sunset gestured around them, and Twilight scanned the cafeteria. Everyone was still talking or eating or otherwise calmly wiling away the morning.

Sunset made a mental note to thank Adagio for her surreptitiously cast veiling spell. Twilight was off-kilter enough that she would probably buy that Sunset had conjured it without her noticing.

Above all, Sunset couldn’t afford to let them realize she didn’t have her magic, and this little bit of theater was her ticket.

Twilight, for her part, stretched her senses out and found a wispy barrier of something like cobwebs surrounding the two of them.

“Without that, you’d be vomiting your power all over the cafeteria,” Sunset continued, keeping her face a study in neutrality. “Dark magic is like poison or radiation… powerful as it is dangerous and as beautiful as it is toxic,” Sunset shook her head, banishing memories of her own bout with the power, “believe me, I know all too well.”

“Dark magic,” Twilight spat, almost laughing. “Sounds more like magic no one bothered to understand.”

“Oh my people understand it,” Sunset said grimly. “Unlike your kind, our knee-jerk reaction to things we don’t understand isn’t to kill it with fire.”

Twilight was practically shaking with barely restrained fury. Sunset could feel her emotions pouring off of her in waves, creating a feedback loop of power between herself and the Dark magic that was coursing through her. This was the danger of that kind of magic, whatever it was fed with became easier to feel, which in turn made more fuel, and on and on and on until the maelstrom of power and emotion it creates tore its user apart.

“Twilight,” Sunset said in a voice that was as calm as she could make it. “Unless you’re planning on knocking the roof off of the cafeteria and ruining whatever plan you have going,” Sunset held out a strawberry to Twilight as she forced her expression to remain calm, “I would recommend you stop surging and eat some breakfast.”

The pair of girls stared at one another for several long seconds, and Twilight’s mind was filled with a clangor of bells, loud and brassy, and demanding she wield the power that was suddenly crackling at her fingertips.

But Sunset was right, as furious as that made Twilight. If she outed herself now then everything Storm had done would be for nothing. With a monumental effort of will, Twilight closed her eyes, took a breath, and let the power go. When she opened her eyes again they were normal, a soft purple with white sclera, and her skin had taken on its usual luster.

Then Twilight reached out and plucked the strawberry from Sunset’s fingers, took a bite of it, and met the redhead’s gaze evenly as she swallowed.

“Why stop me?” Twilight asked quietly. “You worked me up on purpose, right? So why stop me when I was about to ruin my own plan?”

Sunset chuckled and took another bite of waffle. “Well for one,” she held up a finger, “you probably would have nuked everyone in this cafeteria in the state you were in, whether you meant to or not, and if it’s all the same to you I’d rather not have that on my conscience, savvy?”

Twilight grimaced, glanced around, then nodded; once again, Sunset wasn’t wrong.

“And two…” Sunset held up another finger, “I needed to see how much control you have… and I’m both impressed and not. You lost control way too easily, you let me into your head practically without a fight.” Sunset leaned back in her wheelchair, lowered her hand, and sighed, shaking her head. “You’re no magus, you’re a bipolar schoolgirl with a magical bazooka and an itchy trigger finger.”

“I’m in control,” Twilight hissed. “You have no idea what I can do.”

“Actually I’m pretty sure you have no idea what you can do,” Sunset said grimly. “I want everyone to come out of this alive, Twilight… my friends, your friends… everyone, alright?”

“No one is going to die,” Twilight said quietly. “That’s not in any part of the plan.”

“Assuming you don’t lose control like you just did now, and blow a hole in someone’s torso, sure,” Sunset snapped, and Twilight had the good grace to flinch. “I’m trying to protect people, and yes that even means you, despite the fact that you and Zee tried to kill the love of my life.”

Twilight’s expression turned strained. “You almost killed her! Zee is everything to me!”

“And Gilda is everything to me!” Sunset hissed. “Absolutely everything, savvy? And your psycho girlfriend put her down before I ever touched her, so tell me this: if the roles had been reversed would you have been any different?” Tears were falling from Sunset’s eyes now as she glared at Twilight who looked taken aback. “If I had been the one to hurt Zee first would you have been any less insane than I was at seeing her lying near-death in a crater?”

For the first time, something like regret or shame crossed Twilight’s features, and she looked down at her plate.

“No…” Twilight answered finally, “I guess I wouldn’t… but that doesn’t matter.”

“You want the truth, Sparkle? Fine,” Sunset said heatedly, pushing her half-finished plate away. “Yes, I’m from beyond what you call the gate,” Twilight began to interrupt, but Sunset held up a hand, “and it transforms any of my kind who passes through it into humans, and vice versa if you were to go to my world.”

“How can you be-”

“How can I be sure?” Sunset asked waspishly. “Well, your people sure as Tartarus didn’t build the portal, right? Who do you think created it?”

Twilight’s eyes widened at that.

“My people do magic like your people breathe,” Sunset snarled. “We’ve built cities out of clouds, we control our weather, our seasons, and even our celestial bodies!”

“Impossible,” Twilight mumbled in a shaky voice. “If your people are that strong then why haven’t come over here and conquered us yet?”

Sunset just laughed bitterly at the question.

“Written’s Quill… what a human question…” she said by way of reply. “Did you consider that maybe it’s because we don’t want to hurt anyone?” Sunset shook her head and leaned forward, steepling her fingers in front of her face, before raising one hand up and counting off as she spoke: “Generosity, Honesty, Laughter, Kindness, Loyalty; those are what my people believe in… even if I didn’t until recently.”

“That sounds like a child’s notion,” Twilight replied in an acid tone.

“Maybe it is on this world,” Sunset allowed. “But it’s not on mine, so imagine for just a moment if you can… if your human brain is even capable of it, imagine a whole world where those are the guiding principles.” Sunset closed her own eyes, casting her thoughts back to her homeworld. “Imagine a place where it’s not laughed at but simply treated as a way of normal life, are you even capable of that?”

Very briefly, Sunset thought she saw tears in Twilight’s eyes. Then the moment passed and Twilight looked away, glaring down at the floor for several moments before answering.

“No,” she said quietly. “I don’t think I am.”

“This will end in tears, Twilight,” Sunset said softly.

Twilight nodded, and Sunset continued.

“It doesn’t have to.”

Sighing, Twilight pushed her own plate away.

“Yes,” Twilight said finally, “it does.”

“Damn you,” Sunset said in a soft voice.

Twilight gave her a wan smile. “You first, Shimmer.”

Sunset made a small jerking motion with her hand and Adagio, watching from across the room, gave a stiff nod and whistled out a small tune, lowering her veil.

Abruptly, the sounds in the cafeteria took on a sharper quality. Twilight had been so engrossed in their conversation she hadn’t noticed the aural effect the veil had given the area. It hadn’t been silence, precisely, but more like she’d been listening to everything happening from outside of a window. She suspected that everyone else had had equal difficulty listening in on herself and Sunset, if anyone had even tried.

“See you on the field, Captain,” Sunset said in a neutral tone before wiping her mouth and her hands, pulling on a pair of black, fingerless gloves, then gripping her wheels and rolling away towards her team.

“See you,” Twilight replied as Sunset left.

A moment later Sunny Flare was by Twilight’s side again, as loyal and dogged as she had been since their moment in the halls at Crystal Prep.

“What was that about?” Sunny asked quietly. “I tried to listen in but the sound was all funny.”

“A veiling spell, she called it,” Twilight said in a low voice. “It was like the magical equivalent of a privacy screen, I guess… it was incredibly sophisticated… it made that silence bubble I put up look like a preschool finger painting next to a Rembrandt.”

“What did she want?” Sunny asked, concern crossing over her pretty features as she reached out for Twilight, her fingers stopping just short of touching the girl. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Twilight said before reaching out and giving Sunny’s hand a reassuring squeeze. “I think she was just taking my measure… and we were right, Sunset Shimmer is incredibly dangerous.”

“So what do we do?” Sunny asked, her brow furrowing angrily. “Are we just going to let her get away with that?”

“I’m not going up against Sunset Shimmer unless I have no other choice,” Twilight said evenly. “I might have power but she… she’s got training, proper training, so we wait.”

“For what?”

Twilight flicked her eyes downward. “For Pops signal… he should be arriving soon.”

“How will he get in without being seen?” Sunny asked as Twilight began walking towards the Shadowbolts. “This school is open on all four sides.”

“I don’t know,” Twilight admitted. “He told me he’d be calling in a marker… whatever that means, and that we would know when he starts the ritual.”

“So we just wait?” Sunny crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow suspiciously.

“Pops knows what he’s doing,” Twilight said, putting a placating hand on Sunny’s arm, drawing a faint blush from her. “Trust me.”

Sunny blew out a breath, nodded, then raised her eyes to meet Twilight’s. They were bright with feverish zeal the same way they had been since the day in the hall, and Twilight felt another, familiar pang of responsibility.

“Always,” Sunny said, her voice thick with emotion. “My Midnight.”

“Stick to ‘Twilight’ when we’re with the team,” Twilight hissed, and Sunny flushed but nodded.

“R-Right, sorry,” Sunny replied.

“It’s okay,” Twilight said, smiling faintly as she raised a hand to stroke Sunny’s cheek, and Sunny shuddered with delight. “I forgive you.”

Sunny nodded dreamily as she fell in behind Twilight who had glanced over at Sunset. The redhead was speaking to Zee’s sister, Gilda, in hushed tones. There was something between the two girls that Twilight found she envied; a kind of… purity. The clear, bright look in Gilda’s eyes when she was looking at Sunset spoke of something more than zeal or mere loyalty.

It was trust… and it was love, Twilight realized. Real and untainted love, and suddenly that envy turned into an ugly tidal surge of twisting, gut-wrenching emotion.

“Damn me? No, damn you, Shimmer,” Twilight murmured. “If I have to do it myself.”

~Canterlot High Basement, May 3rd, Morning~

Canterlot High School is an older building than most people would think. Its first iteration was built at the turn of the last century which stood for close to fifty years before burning to the ground and being rebuilt. Since then it has been updated, renovated, brought up to code no less than twenty times in regards to plumbing, piping, and wiring, but through that span of time one part of the school has persisted mostly intact:

The basement level.

It was more expansive than most would expect and built of solid cement foundations with old red brick and mortar walls in most places.

The contents of the basement were many and sundry and would have taken an experienced museum curator to accurately identify, but one thing near the furthest east corner of the basement probably would have escaped even their notice.

A locker, old and decrepit and made of faded red wooden panels with dirty, rusted metal fastenings and framework sat mouldering in the back corner, forgotten by even the most studious janitor.

Like most mornings, the basement was quiet except for the faint clunking and banging of pipes in the walls. Unlike most mornings it didn’t stay that way as the locker abruptly rattled and thumped violently, shaking in place as strange wisps of pale smoke or fog coughed from between the fastenings, and the cracks between panels showed an ugly bruise-red light occasionally flickering from inside.

Sounds came from within the locker; sounds that seemed strangely distant and echoed hollowly as if the locker were far larger than it ought to be.

Suddenly the locker doors exploded outwards, shouldered open by main force as a figure came crashing out of it, coughing and hacking as they stumbled from within and down onto the basement floor, falling to their knees in a wild tumble with a leather satchel tied at his shoulder.

Storm gasped in great heaves of air as he knelt on the ground.

After several moments he rose unsteadily from his knees to his feet, bracing himself with one hand on the wall as he wiped blood, mud, and other noisome fluids from his front and hands with the other, then spat on the floor as if trying to get a taste out of his mouth.

“Remind me,” Storm said in irritation, “never t’travel coach ever again, aye?”

‘Those realms were never meant to be used as transport,’ the sonorous voice in Storm’s mind replied dryly. ‘Be thankful that particular entity owed me a favor.’

“Tha’s well’n good f’you, old goat,” Storm said as he stumbled over to a nearby old sink and started running cold water. “You didn’t ‘afta do anything.”

‘We made it, did we not?’ the voice said a little smugly, and Storm rolled his eyes.

“Arh, cocka… I’ll ‘appen we did,” Storm said as he washed off his hands and did his best to clean the filth from his shirt. “Guess we oughta get to it then.”

‘Our timeline for this plan is short, mortal,’ the voice growled, ‘the Heirs of Light are nearby as well… this is a terrible risk.’

“S’only a risk if ye can’t stack the deck, old goat,” Storm said with a light chuckle as he rolled up his sleeves and started fishing through the satchel. “Arh, ‘sides ye know why it ‘ad t’be this way… can’t do it without’em, aye?”

The voice let out a derisive snort that was oddly bestial. ‘Given a proper amount of time I’m certain we could have managed on our own.’

“Or,” Storm replied as he drew out chalk and a long, guardless ritual knife, “we might’ve found nowt and been up shite creek, savvy? S’called strikin’ while the iron is hot, and old goat? It’s never been hotter.”

The voice let out a tired sigh but didn’t argue the point.

Storm had a plan and, by rights, it wasn’t a terrible one. It was a risky one certainly, but the ancient shade within the ganglord knew that it was a calculated risk. Besides, he had taken risks himself plenty of times, and more often than not they had paid out, although the times they had not had cost him dearly.

‘And what of your daughters?’ the voice inquired in a measured tone.

Storm clicked his tongue as he went to work etching out a symbol on the wall with chalk before going to work chipping it into place with the knife.

“What of’em?” Storm asked as he worked.

‘This plan of yours… you know what will happen.’

“Aye, well,” Storm began as he chipped and notched at the bricks, “we all make sacrifices, innit?”

The voice let out a dry, bony chuckle.

‘That we do, mortal,’ it replied in a darkly amused voice. ‘That we most certainly do.’

29. You Set My Soul Alight

~Canterlot High Auditorium, May 3rd, Afternoon~

“Incorrect!”

Principal Cinch’s voice was tight with controlled anger, and a hush fell over the auditorium broken only by the harsh snap of a stick of chalk. The fractured half fell to Twilight’s feet as she shook in disbelief, all while staring at her calculations and at her answer.

Thirty degrees.

Glancing over at Sunset’s she saw an almost identical set of calculations but at the bottom, her answer was twenty. Twenty degrees… how had she-?

Her eyes spotted the subtle differences in their respective boards, the altered variables in Sunset’s equations, and suddenly it was blindingly obvious.

Twilight clenched her eyes shut, the sound of brass bells wouldn’t shut up in her head and while they normally made things easier for her, clearing away extraneous thoughts and emotions, trying to do advanced mathematics with them in the background was like trying to take a calculus exam in the middle of a windstorm.

Canterlot High’s team was cheering uproariously, with Gilda’s voice at the top of the heap. Twilight felt her cheeks burning with shame and fury… it had been years since Crystal Prep had lost the Academic Decathlon Elimination round to Canterlot High… years! And while intellectually Twilight knew that the competition didn’t matter, that it was just a smokescreen and a delaying tactic for Storm King’s ritual, the fact that she had actually lost to Sunset Shimmer at a test of main intellectual force stung badly.

It was humiliating.

For Sunset’s part, she tossed her own stick of chalk into the air and let out a whooping cheer of victory before rolling over to the edge of the stage. For a second Twilight felt her breath catch as Sunset tipped completely over, and that odd, primal panic of seeing a disaster occurring as Sunset tipped from her chair struck Twilight in the chest like a hammer,

It passed in an instant as Gilda snatched her out of the air in a fluid motion and held her tight, laughing brightly as the redhead clung to Gilda’s shoulders while the taller girl smothered her in kisses. Gilda’s arms slid under Sunset’s rear, propping up her dangling legs so she seemed to be sitting, relaxed, in the crook of Gilda’s arms.

Most irritatingly, they were settled against each other in a manner suggesting this was regular for them. With Sunset’s head nestled against the hollow of Gila’s neck, and Gilda resting her own head lightly on Sunset’s.

“Ya nailed it Sunshine,” Gilda crowed, smiling in her wide, toothy grin. “Knew you had’er on the ropes the whole time!”

“It was a math problem, Gils,” Sunset replied with a roll of her eyes. “I was actually kind of expecting another tie on that one.”

“I wouldn’t have been surprised,” Principal Celestia said with a small smile as she approached the two girls. “I believe the longest record was eighteen consecutive equations before one of the contenders failed.”

“Wow,” Sunset said grimly. “We only got through four before their Captain choked.”

“That’s kinda savage, Cap’,” Rainbow said, frowning. “She did her best.”

Sunset opened her mouth to snipe back, then stopped herself, grimaced, and nodded.

“Yeah, fair enough…” Sunset replied.

Leaning against Gilda, Sunset took in a deep breath and let her senses fall away for a moment so she could drown herself in that familiar scent of leather, engine oil, and smoke. Without a word she curled inward, wrapping herself as much around Gilda as she could, her arms clinging tightly to the larger girl as she relaxed.

The ACADECA had been unforgiving, and as much as she knew in her mind that winning or losing the Games was irrelevant, Sunset couldn’t help but invest herself.

The decathlon had opened with a series of workshop style competitions, followed by an elimination round, and then ending in a one-on-one final.

The final test had been one that had made Sunset grin when it was announced.

Calculus.

Each school had been given the opportunity to choose certain tests from a preset list.

As the visiting school, Crystal Prep chose first, selecting Chemistry, then CHS had picked woodshop which they had traditionally dominated, with Gilda’s handiwork keeping CHS in a strong position. CHS has kept up their lead in Crystal Preps Home Ec choice because not even a school full of hyper-competitive geniuses could predict Pinkie Pie, and thanks to Sunset’s rigorous regimen of study they had fared reasonably well in the spelling bee elimination.

The final selection, made by Crystal Prep, had been Calculus. The highly cerebral test was one that the advanced private school rarely, if ever, lost mostly thanks to its vicious curriculum and it was the test that Crystal Prep always selected as the final round when they had the choice because it was one they practically knew they would win, regardless of how the rest of the decathlon fared.

This time, however, they had been hampered by two things.

One: Sunset Shimmer, who had not only a background in advanced mathematical placement but also a firm grounding in metaphysical mathematics, some of which literally didn’t even exist on the human world.

Two: their maths ace, Twilight, was impaired. Dark magic did not play well with the orderly and geometrical thinking required of traditional maths, and Sunset had known it.

Thinking in equations while your brain is pickling in Dark magic was the mental equivalent of swimming against high tide. Twilight hadn’t realized it but her brain had been fighting her the entire time.

Nonetheless, the competition had been fierce. Sunset breathed in and out slowly as she let the tension bleed from her shoulders and neck.

“You a’right, Sunflower?” Gilda asked quietly.

“I always am with you,” Sunset replied softly, her voice low enough that only Gilda could hear it. “Just… hold me for a second, okay?”

“Sure thing,” Gilda replied, brushing her lips over Sunset’s cheek.

A scoff from the other side of the room drew Gilda’s eye, and she saw one of the Shadowbolts, Sour Sweet, Gilda thought her name was, staring over at the pair of them with a condescending smirk.

“Aww, how sweet,” she chirped, then her voice twisted into an ugly rasp, “how about you get a room ya carpet-munching dy-”

Sour never finished her sentence as Sunny Flare whipped around with a furious snarl and slammed her fist directly between the pink-haired girl’s eyes before she could voice the final slur.

Sour Sweet staggered, her eyes crossed, and then she crumpled to floor.

“Sunny!” Principal Cinch cried out, horrified.

Sunny flinched at the sound of her mother’s voice before staring down at her bruised knuckles in horror and then glancing up to meet Cinch’s furiously burning gaze. Sunny began to shake as her mother stalked towards her, hands folded primly at her front, but Celestia stepped between them before Cinch could reach her daughter.

“As much as I abhor and condemn violence,” Celestia said sternly, “CHS has absolutely zero tolerance for the kind of hateful and disgusting language Miss Sweet was using,” then she turned to Sunny with a slightly sad expression. “Miss Flare, I appreciate your ardor in standing up to that kind of venom, and I will overlook it this time, but please restrain yourself from physical violence in the future. Enforcing punishment is not your job in these halls, it is mine and my staffs’, are we clear?”

“Y-Yes,” Sunny said weakly, retreated slightly to Twilight’s side.

“Is that sufficient, Abacus?” Celestia asked quietly, turning her gaze to the Principal of Crystal Prep.

Principal Cinch stared coldly at her counterpart for several moments, before nodding.

“Of course,” Cinch replied stiffly, “since this is your school you may handle things as you will.” She glanced over Celestia’s shoulder, though, and met Sunny’s eyes. “I will have words with my daughter in private tonight concerning maintaining proper decorum, however.”

Celestia’s mouth twisted momentarily in disgust, but she said nothing. There was nothing she could say to that.

Behind Celestia, Sunny had begun to shake as she turned away from her mother and towards Twilight, whose face had turned serene.

“Don’t worry,” Twilight whispered softly to Sunny, putting a gentle hand on the girl’s cheek. “I promised, remember? She’ll never touch you again.”

Sunny gave a shaky nod as she glanced back at her mother for a moment, then let out a slow breath.

Down where Sour had fallen, Indigo Zap and Sugarcoat were tentatively helping the stunned girl back up to a sitting position, and Lemon Zest was staring incredulously at Sunny Flare as she pulled her headphones from her ears.

“What the shit was that about?” Lemon said in disbelief, staring at Sunny Flare. “Since when did you go social justice warrior, Sunny? You’re the one who called Twilight a-”

“Say it and I break you,” Sunny hissed, her eyes blazing.

Lemon took an involuntary step backward at the intensity of her voice.

“Sunny, take five,” Twilight said quietly as she stepped past her to face Indigo, Sugarcoat, and Lemon.

Sunny Flare bowed her head at Twilight’s word and stepped back, moving past Sour Sweet who was still getting her bearings.

“I’m curious as to what is between you and Sunny,” Sugarcoat said, her voice toneless but her eyes sharp and concerned.

Twilight flicked her gaze over to meet Sugarcoat’s and normally expressionless girl’s eyes widened as a dark, cyan flame rippled across Twilight’s eyes.

“No, you’re not,” Twilight said in a low and deadly voice. “You want to know what I have over her, and more importantly whether or not the same could happen to you, right?”

Sugarcoat swallowed thickly.

Twilight gave her a small, enigmatic smile. “What a very good question, Sugarcoat… let me know if any of you think of an answer.”

Turning on her heel, Twilight stalked away from them and Lemon Zest leaned over to Sugarcoat, licking suddenly dry as she did.

“Am I the only one here experiencing a sudden wave of regret at having screwed with Sparks all through high school?” Lemon asked weakly.

Sugarcoat adjusted her glasses nervously. “No, Lemon, you are not.”

Over at the CHS side of the auditorium, the team was huddled together, having watched most of the exchange from a distance. Under normal circumstances, most of the conversation wouldn’t have been caught, but normal circumstances rarely included magical influence.

“What was all that about, Blue?” Gilda asked, turning to Vinyl as Sunset shooed away the rest of the team, sending them off to get drinks and snacks.

Vinyl Scratch had her headphones on, and the cord trailed down and into her hoodie pocket, this wasn’t an abnormal sight of course but unbeknownst to most of the team and the whole crowd of spectators, the cord wasn’t plugged into anything. The cord was being gripped in Vinyl’s hand… a hand that had a faint, electrical glow around it that gave off a subsonic thumping beat.

Octavia had lingered behind with Vinyl as Vinyl turned her eyes shaded gaze up to Sunset and Gilda.

“They’re arguing,” Vinyl signed. “Nothing useful, though.”

“Are you sure?” Sunset asked pointedly. “Sunny and Twilight seemed… close.”

Vinyl cocked her head and then tapped her headphones before glancing around to make sure no one was looking. Everyone was distracted with the fiasco over at the Crystal Prep end of the auditorium, and she slowly withdrew her glowing hand, spread her fingers, and an instant later a spinning disc of white energy that was going blue at the edges appeared under her palm.

Thrusting her middle finger down, Vinyl caught the disk on her finger and a soft record scratch noise sounded. Slowly, Vinyl turned the disk back the opposite direction it had been spinning. It took her a few moments but, eventually, she stopped and took off her headset and then handed it off to Sunset.

Donning her friend’s trademark gear, Sunset listened closely as Vinyl released the pressure of her finger on the disk.

//Don’t worry// Twilight’s voice said, the quality was odd and had an electronic quality to it. //I promised, remember? She’ll never touch you again.//

Sunset grit her teeth hard and let out a harsh snarl before passing the headphones back to Vinyl.

“Looks like I was right,” Sunset said grimly, “Twilight has herself a disciple, Sunny Flare… and better yet it sounds like Sunny’s mom is borderline abusive, if not all the way.”

All three other girls narrowed their eyes at that, each tossing a glare at the back of the Crystal Prep Principal.

“For what it’s worth, I was right about something else,” Sunset continued, her features softening.

“What’s that, Sunflower?” Gilda asked quietly, and Sunset sighed as leaned back against Gilda.

“That there really is still a good heart left in this world’s Twilight Sparkle,” Sunset said in a sad voice. “She’s marinating in dark power that are orders of magnitude worse than what I got into, and has been for far longer, but despite that… she’s still in there.”

“What does that mean in the practical?” Octavia asked quietly.

Sunset sighed.

“Nothing,” she said bitterly. “We can’t let them pull off whatever it is they’re doing… it’s just…”

“You couldn’t lie to us,” Octavia said, her voice still soft. “Thank you for that, Sunset… for not just pretending she was a lost cause.”

“You all deserve to know what you’re doing,” Sunset said in a quavering voice. “And maybe… maybe we can save her, but… we can’t make that a priority.” Sunset wrapped her arms around herself, and Gilda felt a tremor run through her. “Canterlot can’t afford for us to.”

“And if we can’t save her,” Octavia continued, “then may we all carry that sin equally.”

Sunset let out a small, tired laugh. “You should’ve been born a princess, Tavi, you’ve got the better mindset for it, I think.”

Octavia blushed, the expression coloring her gray skin prettily.

“Now what?” Gilda asked l, her brow furrowed. “Just go back t’plan A?”

“Pretty much,” Sunset replied, nudging Gilda and nodding over at her chair.

The larger girl took a few long strides to the auditorium stage, set Sunset on the lip of it, and carefully lifted and lowered the chair to the ground before picking Sunset back up and settling her into the seat.

“Thanks,” Sunset said softly, taking a grip on her wheels. “We’ve still got the next event to deal with, and we’re deep enough into the day that whatever they’re doing could coming swinging in at any time.”

“We’ll swing right back at’em, then,” Gilda said, her voice brash and confident.

Just then Sunset’s phone let out a soft chime. Pulling it loose, she scanned the message, smiled, then glanced up and over the crowd of high schoolers who had come out to see the games, and spied familiar head of blue hair among the crowd. The figure waved excitedly before settling back down into the seat as Gilda raised an eyebrow.

“All accounted for then?” Gilda asked quietly.

“Yup, the gangs all here,” Sunset confirmed. “All of the Elements in one place, now I just have to hope this all doesn’t go pear-shaped right away.”

“Nah, we got this,” Gilda said, clapping a hand on Sunset’s shoulder. “Like ya said, Sunshine, you’re a genius, you’ll keep us in the running.”

“Speaking of running,” Sunset grumbled. “The next competition is the tri-cross relay…” she glared down at her legs and sighed. “Which is gonna suck ass for me.”

Gilda furrowed her brow as Octavia and Vinyl stepped in. “How’s it gonna work?”

“We select six members from our team, then put them in teams of two,” Sunset explained, “and unfortunately I’ll have to sit this one out because I can’t really participate in them. We’ve got an archery obstacle course, then speed-skating, then motocross.”

Gilda grinned broadly at that last one.

“Yeah,” Sunset chuckled, “you’re our Ace for the last challenge, Gil.”

“Damn right,” Gilda replied, baring her teeth.

“What’s our layout for the other challenges?” Octavia asked, stepping closer. “I’m afraid I’m not much good at either of those.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ve already got out teams in mind,” Sunset said with a smile. “Legs I may not have, but I learned tactics and troop deployment from a literal war hero at the age of ten.” That got a round of raised eyebrows from the three girls, but Sunset just continued speaking. “Fluttershy and Applejack are our Archery squad, Applejack is aces at it, and Fluttershy is pretty good when she gets past her performance anxiety.” Sunset glanced over at the room where the rest of the team vanished. “Pinkie Pie and Lightning Dust are our Speed-Skaters, Lightning has better control than Rainbow, after all.”

“Why Pinkie?” Octavia asked, cocking her head in confusion.

Sunset just smiled. “We may not have been very good friends, but we were friends remember? Pinkie does roller derby.”

“Oo~h,” Octavia got a broad grin on her face. “Dollars to donuts those Crystal Prep blowhards have never even heard of a sport that leaves more bruises than football.”

“Just my thought,” Sunset replied.

Gilda frowned. “That leaves me on Motocross along with… ugh, lemme guess.”

“Yeah, sorry Gil,” Sunset said quietly. “Rainbow Dash is the only other one who knows her way around a dirtbike so it’s gotta be you and her, and believe me I’m not any happier about it than you are.”

“Nah, it’s cool,” Gilda said, waving a hand back and forth. “It’ll be fine, she and I can get by…”

“What about the real purpose of the Games,” Octavia pressed, glancing around as she spoke to make sure there wasn’t anyone else listening in. “He must be here by now, right?”

“Savvy, he must be,” Sunset replied. “By this point in the day, he must be in the building somewhere.”

“Pops ain’t gonna be seen unless he wants to,” Gilda said darkly. “Trust me on that one, he’s a slippery old bastard.”

“Should we go looking for him then?” Octavia asked worriedly. “Ideally we stop him before whatever he’s doing goes off.”

“Sonata is eyeballing practically the entire school,” Sunset said firmly, “and Aria is standing guard over her to make sure Storm doesn’t hurt her, but we can’t go looking for him.”

Vinyl signed a question mark.

Sunset sighed. “Because that’s playing his game… look, the school is huge so if we go looking for him that means we have two choices, right?” Sunset held up two fingers. “One, we scour the school with numbers, but that means tipping our hand and, honestly, my bet is that if that happened Twilight would just get him out from under us,” the three other girls nodded at that. “Or two, we use the few people we have which means splitting up and looking for a known murderer in a bunch of hallways.”

Vinyl, Octavia, and Gilda all grimaced at that.

“See our problem?” Sunset asked dryly. “We’re stalemated right now, we can’t let him rabbit… all we can do is pray that Sonata gets eyes on him, but if not we’ll have to be ready to stop him the hard way.”

Octavia let out a wry little chuckle. “You know, it’s times like this I’m relieved that you’re the one in charge, Sunset,” she admitted, wrapping her arms around herself and leaning against Vinyl. “I can’t imagine trying to outthink someone like this… I’d be lost.”

“It’s all I can do,” Sunset said quietly. “He’s got experience, I’ve got brains… we’ll see who comes out on top, I guess.”

At that moment, Sunset flinched as she felt a sudden discharge of magical energy, and she whipped her head around searching for the source. It was sharp and without warning, and then… gone just as quickly

“Sunflower?” Gilda stared down hard at Sunset as the redhead swiveled her gaze around. “Babe what’s wrong?”

“I… I don’t know,” Sunset said quietly. “Someone just worked something big, not huge… but… it was strong, whatever it was.”

“Is it…” Octavia trailed off, and Sunset shook her head.

“No,” she replied, letting out a slow breath. “No, it was a one-and-done sort of deal, a single casting and nowhere near strong enough to be anything major, but it was well-executed… Storm is definitely behind it.”

“Where’d it come from?” Gilda asked, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

Sunset clenched her eyes shut, concentrating, then swore under her breath.

“I can’t tell,” she replied. “It was too fast and there’s too much ambient magic in Canterlot High, I’m sorry.”

“No sweat, Sunshine,” Gilda said, patting her shoulder. “We’ve still got this.”

“I hope so…” Sunset said quietly. “I really, really hope so.”

~Canterlot High Roof, May 3rd, Afternoon~

~four minutes prior~

Zee paced restlessly on the rooftop of the high school, her fingers twitching and flexing with every moment that passed. It as almost noon and she had been idle for almost five hours straight, unable to act until she heard from Storm, and alone with her thoughts which were becoming dangerously infuriating after the talk with her sister that morning.

Everything was spiraling out of control and Zee didn’t know if she could fix it, or if she even should given that doing so would meaning moving against her father. For the first time in her life, Zee was plagued by the insistent feeling that she was doing the wrong thing, though.

Considering her upbringing, Zee wasn’t someone who particularly subscribed to the idea of morality. Everyone had a price they were willing to sell themselves for; every single person who claimed a moral high ground had a pricetag on that pedestal they were standing on, and they were happy to hop off it so long as someone was willing to shell out the green. Zee had seen plenty of people sacrifice morality to satisfy things that they could later justify away in their own minds and it had left her with little more than disdain for what the human race called their ‘sense of right and wrong’.

And yet…

Zee grit her teeth. Her heart was pounding, her mind was burning, and every inch of her instincts was telling her that something was wrong.

‘Arabus~’

A voice slithered out of the air around Zee and she snapped her head up, looking around for its source.

‘Arabus!’

The voice was louder now, and Zee felt the strangest sensation of something pulling on her. Not physically but mentally, or even spiritually. There was a sense that she needed to be elsewhere, and that-

‘Thrice I name thee and appear! ARABUS!’

There was no warning; Zee’s back arched as electricity cascaded through her, her mouth snapped out in a silent scream, and her senses exploded out of her body as she was suddenly dragged downwards. Hearing, sight, touch, taste, and scent were all violently divorced from her physical body as the insides of the high school raced past her in a cascade of brickwork masonry and concrete foundations.

The falling sensation halted suddenly with something akin to a hard impact, but without the pain.

Shakily, Zee got to her feet, or something approximating it. The air around her appeared smoky and indistinct, and the ground beneath her had lines seemingly seared into it with an arc-welder. The symbols engraved into the stone seemed almost blinding, and they were encased in a circle that rippled and coursed with power.

“Relax, sprog,” a familiar voice said from beyond the smoke and fire. “S’just me… don’t ‘ave a fit.”

From the shadows at the edge of the circle the form of Storm King appeared, smiling in that easy, nonchalant manner that always seemed to rest on his features.

“Thee’oreyt?” Storm asked with a faint chuckle.

“W-What… t’fuck’d you do t’me, pops?” Zee stammered as she looked around.

Her body was faintly translucent as if it were composed of ash and dust, and she couldn‘t approach to more than a foot from the edge of the circle without feeling terrible heat.

“Summon’d ye is what I did,” Storm said, still laughing a little. “Well, technically I summoned Arabus, the demon ye’re bonded to outta them gauntlets there,” he pointed to Zee’s armbands, “but Arabus can’t be separated from ye wifout ye say-so or ye death, so when I called’im up he brought ye along f’the ride… sorry ‘bout the rough travel, coach is a bitch, innit?”

Zee stared down at her gauntlets for a few moments before looking back up at her father. “P-Pops… I ain’t so sure’a this anymore… somethin’ feels wrong ‘bout this ‘ole mess.”

Storm’s eyes narrowed for a moment, then he relaxed and shrugged.

“Suppose tha’s fair enough,” he replied easily. “I ain’t told ye much ‘bout wot I’m doin’, only natural ye’ll question it a bit… I raised ye arter all.”

For a few seconds Zee stood tense, she’d been expecting him to grow angry with her, or slap her down, but when he didn’t she let out a slow, relieved breath, and continued.

“Well, go on then,” Storm said, waving a hand, “won’t ‘ave much time arter all this and we’ve got a mo’, so ask ye questions, sprog, I ain’t gonna bite.”

“Our lass… there’s somethin’ wrong wif ‘er, Pops,” Zee said, her voice cracking a little. “She’s gotten worse… nasteh and mean…. gettin’ right fuckin’ wicked, really.”

Storm sighed quietly. “Aye, well, in my defense I did warn ye not t’use that bell,” he said, planting his fists on his hips and shaking his head. “S’not the sorta thing an amateur oughta be usin’, savvy?”

Zee felt a faint pang of guilt at Storm’s words. He wasn’t wrong, he had told them they wouldn’t need it and not to use it. Of course, they had ended up needing it but Zee wasn’t certain if that was because her father had been wrong or simply because she had failed to use the gauntlets themselves correctly. It had been Zee’s decision to retrieve the bell and let Twilight examine and experiment with it, and that meant that whatever side effects they were having… those were her fault too.

“What is it?” Zee asked quietly.

Almost a minute passed as Storm looked pensive, as if he were listening to something in the distance, or lost in thought. Finally, though, he met Zee’s eyes and let out another sigh.

“S’a family heirloom’s what it is, sprog,” Storm replied. “M’great-granddad bought it off some old Saddle Arabian dealer some hundred or more years back, aye? Been in the family ever since, passed from father t’son.” Storm began pacing around the circle on the floor. “Inside it is… arh… m’dad called it a ‘tutelary spirit’, tha’s sort of like a fairy godmother ‘cept it ain’t so nice, aye? It’s a source’uv instruction an’ learnin’ but it’s wicked powerful and unless ye know ‘ow t’use the power it’ll start takin’ its toll on ye mind.”

“Our lass’s got some spirit in’er?” Zee asked, worried. “Why ain’t she mentioned-”

Storm slashed a hand, cutting Zee off as he shook his head. “Nah, she ain’t got nuffink but a bell wif a load’a power in it, aye? Storm correct. “The spirit’s wif me, allus has been… but its allus been real quiet-like, aye? Whispers ‘ere and there… teachin’ bits of real magic and the like, but s’allus like it’s comin’ from awful far off.”

“But somethin’ changed, aye?” Zee asked, her brow furrowing, and Storm nodded.

“A bit more’n five and a half years back the spirit got riled up,” Storm said quietly. “It was a bit louder, a touch stronger, and the pair’uv us could actually talk from time t’time, aye? Tha’s when it told me ‘ow t’find the Hands of Arabus,” he gestured to Zee’s gauntlets again. “Tha’s when it told me ‘bout the gate.”

“Five years back?” Zee asked quietly. “Y’mean… the gang war? All’a that shite in Las Pegasus?”

“Aye,” Storm said, nodding. “Don’t ‘ave time t’explain the why’a that, sprog, but I’ll ‘appen you’re more interested in knowin’ ‘bout the bell an’ your lass, aye?”

Zee swallowed thickly. She wanted to keep asking about the war but her father was right, it wasn’t what she needed to know. It was past and done, while Twilight was still in danger from the bell.

“What’s that bell doin’ to our lass, Pops?”

Storm shook his head. “S’like a kinda corrosion, sprog… like running power through a live wire that ain’t got no insulation, aye?”

“Why t’fuck’re ya lettin’ her do it then?!” Zee barked, rage coiling up from inside her. “Why ain’t ye stopped’er?”

“Because it ain’t gonna kill’er, lass,” Storm said tiredly, waving a hand, “and we can undo the damage, see? S’long as we get this rite done and kick the doors of the gate down, I’ll ‘ave all the power I need t’reverse the effects and sever her from the bell, aye?”

“Sever her?” Zee asked, worry flashing across her features.

“Aye,” Storm said grimly. “She’s bonded to it, relies on it too much for’er magic, but she’s got power in’er without it, see? All I gotta do is cut’er off from it and she’ll go back t’normal, given enough time that is.”

“But… only if this rite goes off wifout a hitch, aye?” Zee asked quietly. “Tha’s… the only way?”

Storm shrugged. “If’m honest? May not be the only way, but it’s the only way I know’ve so that’ll ‘ave to do… time ain’t exactly on our side, sprog.”

Zee sagged a little but nodded. Her father had a point, there probably was another way around whatever was happening to Twilight but it was irrelevant. Her lass was on borrowed time if Storm was telling the truth and, at least in this case, Zee didn’t have any reason to doubt that he was. She had been watching Twilight come apart at the metaphorical seams for the past month and half or so, and it had been killing her, and Storm’s explanation held plenty of water.

“That it, lass?” Storm asked, raising an eyebrow. “We got work t’do if so.”

“Aye, Pops,” Zee replied wearily. “I’ll ‘appen tha’s all I got… let’s get this done, then, savvy?”

“Savvy,” Storm said, his smile growing. “When I let this binding I’ve got ye in go, I want ye to give it ‘bout a thirty count, then let the gauntlets out and start bleedin’ power like no tomorrow.”

Zee’s eyes widened. “Pops… that’ll… that’ll make the storm I made over th’Everfree look like a stray gust’a wind! That was me ‘oldin’ it back!” She stared down at her hands and felt sick to her stomach. “If I jus’ let it go like tha’, it could wipe ‘alf’a Canterlot off the bloody map! We’re talkin’ ‘Day After T’morrow’ shite here, Pops!”

“Arh, cocka,” Storm said, his grin never fading. “Tha’s precisely why I need ye to do this… we need power, luv, and lots of it.” Storm gestured around to the basement. “I’ve set up the ‘ole of this place to suck down power like a vortex, aye? You call up ye storm, and the art I’ve worked inta this place’ll pull it down to power the rite, aye?” Nodding down at the gauntlets, Storm smirked. “Them gauntlets bleed power out wild-like, aye? Since the power ain’t got nowhere t’go it makes a storm, but if I give it a place t’go then it won’t be causin’ trouble outside more’n a small area… savvy?”

Zee looked down at her hands with worry, feeling the old, angry, crackle of power inside of them. She didn’t trust these gauntlets as far as she could throw them, and they were currently stapled to her arms for all intents and purposes.

‘Ye sure?” Zee asked in a small voice. “I ain’t knockin’ over a city, Pops… tha’s not what I bloody signed up for.”

“I ain’t plannin’ on it either, sprog,” Storm said with a calming smile. “I’ve got this planned to the ‘t’, oreyt? You giz uz the gas, I’ll feed it to the engine. Then we’ll save ye lass.”

Zee closed her eyes and let out a slow breath. Gilda had been right, she didn’t trust her father, not anymore… he’d done too many dark things, taken too many risks, and told too many lies… but he wasn’t lying now.

“Aye, Pops,” Zee said finally. “For our lass, we’ll crack the sky open for ye… jus’... please, no more killin’.”

“S’long as ye keep’em occupied while the rite charges, sprog,” Storm agreed. “Can’t ‘ave’em trompin’ down ‘ere lookin’ for me, savvy?”

“Won’t need t’worry ‘bout that,” Zee said stiffly as she stood up straight. “We’ll give’m such a brayin’ as they won’t know what hit’em.”

“Tha’s my Zee,” Storm said fondly. “Now giz uz thirty arter we let ye off, then call it up… be safe, sprog.”

“Aye… you too, Pops,” Zee replied.

Storm waved a hand, and as he did he scuffed a shoe over the searing circle of light, shattering it. Despite bracing herself this time, there was still the sensation of being seized somewhere near the middle of her chest by an enormous fist and being dragged, upwards this time, through the concrete and masonry until she was catapulted out of the school and back into her body.

Zee gasped and heaved in gulps of air as she staggered to her feet from where her physical body had fallen to the ground. Her vision swam and her whole body tingled with pins and needles, but nonetheless she began the count to thirty as she staggered over to the roof’s edge.

Beneath her she saw the students gathered and engaged in the next challenge. She saw Lightning-Dust and the pink-haired girl rocket across the finish line, the final time, with their opponents hot on their heels. The instant they were past the line the air filled with the sound of an engine being gunned and Zee looked over to the outer ring and saw Gilda take off in a roar of dust and exhaust with Rainbow Dash right beside her, and seconds later the team from Crystal Prep did the same.

“...twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight,” Zee counted softly, staring down at her sister as she rode, “twenty-nine… thirty…” Zee clenched her eyes shut and sighed quietly. “Sorry, Gils… this is ‘ow it has t’be.”

Snapping her arms out wide, Zee backed up as she released the seals on her gauntlets and they ratcheted out to sheathe her arms up to her shoulders in dark metal. Bolts of lightning struck out from them, scoring the concrete roof with blackened marks as Zee began ascending slowly into the air, buffeted on a concentrated cushion of humid wind.

Above the school, the sky had begun to boil with black clouds that were forming into massive thunderheads with alarming and abnormal speed. Within moments the first booms of thunder and flashes of lightning carved through the darkening sky as wind that stank of ozone and unspent rain began blowing hard throughout the whole area around Canterlot High School.

Bolts of lightning struck the ceiling of the school over and over, leaving black patches, but Zee was almost relieved to see the electricity seem to sink into the stone as if it were a sponge.

Her father had been telling the truth… the school was acting as a giant magical lightning rod.

Zee’s mind was filled with a deafening, booming laughter as a shadow peeled out from her and a pair of hands carved from pure shadow emerged from her back along with arcs of electricity that snapped and coiled around her like a mockery of wings.

Her instinct was to press against that alien mind, the presence that was whispering and laughing and hungering inside her. Every instinct in her body told her this thing was a monster but she had made her father a promise, and more than that… they needed power. She couldn’t afford to hold back if she was going to save Twilight.

Zee let go.

It was not unlike the feeling of taking a long, deep breath as the world exploded around her in an endless cascade of thunder and lightning. In the span of that one breath the storm that had been forming over the school nearly doubled in size, the black clouds spiraling out from the school and Zee heard glass shattering from windows as far out as the city proper as the air was displaced.

The laughter that filled the air became a scream of pain and defiance as the fragmented spirit of a demon that spanned ages truly stirred for the first time in millennia.

Beneath Zee, on the grounds of the second challenge of the games, Gilda came skidding to a halt on her bike as she stared up with wide eyes at the impossible storm. She snapped her eyes back to Rainbow who had stopped beside her and pulled her helmet off with a grim look of determination on her face.

“Sorry Gilda,” Rainbow said quietly as she glanced over at her one-time friend, “I’ll try not to hit you too hard when it starts.”

Rainbow’s body blurred and suddenly she was gone, her bike clattering to the ground now divested of its rider.

“Shit,” GIlda swore, and she gunned the engine as the Crystal Prep students came to a halt as well, looking up worriedly

Gilda turned the bike and roared towards the sidelines where her team was waiting. Sunset was already staring up at the storm in horror.

“Sunshine!” Gilda called, “What the hell is happenin’?”

“I don’t know!” Sunset called over the quickly growing winds. “This is insane! This kind of storm could all but demolish the whole city!”

From the crowd of spectators, Penny came sprinting out with her bass guitar strapped to her back and look of worry on her face. Adagio stepped out from the under some of the bleachers where she had been quietly watching the event to stop at Sunset’s side where Octavia and Vinyl had already taken up their positions.

Sunset pulled out her phone and dialed out to Shining.

“No time!” she roared into the phone before Shining could get his greeting out. “Get in here! All of your people right now! It’s starting and we haven’t got time to talk, just evacuate everyone!”

The sound of high, mad laughter filled the air around the challenge course and Sunset looked over to see Twilight striding over it with impunity, flanked at either side by Rainbow and Lightning Dust. Her eyes were lit with a mad fervor as dark magic crackled around her body.

“You had your fun at my expense, Sunset,” Twilight said in a cracked and furious voice. “Now it’s my turn to get my licks in!”

Twilight Sparkle ascended slowly and gracefully from the windblown grass, and she tore the ribbon from her hair to let it whip and blow wildly in the winds as she pulled a brass bell on a corded necklace out from under her blouse, then stretched her arms wide and raised her face to the sky.

Sunset’s eyes widened as Twilight’s skin darkened to a deep, light-devouring shade of violet and her eyes erupted in cyan flame and brilliant mulberry. Her hair went from snapping uncontrollably in the storm winds to wavering like living flame, and from her back a pair of beautiful, terrible black wings grew out to flare wide and catch the winds to keep her aloft.

“MIDNIGHT!” A voice screamed in almost ecstatic glee, and all eyes turned down to see Sunny Flare with her arms thrown up, stretching as if to reach for Twilight, and her tear-stained eyes wide with something like madness as she slowly sank to her knees. “MY MIDNIGHT! THE MIDNIGHT OF EVERYTHING! YOU’RE SO BEAUTIFUL!”

“What have you done you worthless child?!” Cinch snarled as she glared at her daughter, “how dare you have any part of this… this…”

Abacus Cinch raised a hand high as she stood over Sunny, the back of her hand poised to come down in a vicious blow. The blow never landed as a beam of pure, violet energy lanced out and slammed into her side like a piledriver and sent the principal of Crystal Prep Academy flying to the side, ragdolling limply across the grass.

Twilight… no, Midnight Sparkle was glaring over her shoulder at the prone form of Abacus Cinch with one finger pointed at her that sparked with dark magic and a look of pure disgust on her face.

“She is mine, and you will never raise a hand against her again,” Midnight snarled before turning away and then looking up at the darkening sky.

Midnight’s smile turned from a rictus of strain and hate to one of almost peaceful pleasure. Slowly she raised her hands to the sky and began laughing.

“Let’s get this started, baby!” Midnight crowed. “Get down here!”

A bolt of lightning slammed into the ground between Sunset and her team and the approaching group that stood with Midnight. Gilda snapped her arms down, releasing Huracán from its compact form and spreading her wings, calling up her armored talon as she threw her jacket to the side, revealing her prosthetic to the world, now out from under its illusion.

“Damn it, Zee,” Gilda breathed as she stared at the figure that slowly stood up from inside the smoke.

A torrent of wind blew the smoke clear and what stood in the middle barely resembled the girl that Gilda had seen that morning. Her hair stood on end in a wild warhawk that crackled with electricity, but ended in a smoky blackness, making it look like a stormcloud. The gauntlets had grown to cover her chest from her collar down to her waist and she wore armored boots that curled up and rose to her knees as well. Her eyes with a dull white, pupiless and terrible, and a grin of pure hatred stretched her lips into an ugly smile.

“Gil…” Sunset said quietly. “That’s… that’s not-”

“Yeah,” Gilda said through gritted teeth. “Dunno how much of that is really Zee anymore…”

“We’ll try to save her, Gil… I swear it,” Sunset said gravely before raising her voice to the rest of the group. “Alright everyone,” Sunset said grimly as she gripped her wheels. “Put your game faces on.”

Vinyl pulled her hoodie off and threw it to the ground. Spreading her hands wide, twin disks of pure white energy edged with blue began spinning between her fingers as her hair sparked and crackled, lengthening into a long tail as a pair of white ears perked up from her hair. The whole area around her thrummed and trembled with a semi-constant bass note that settled deep into the bones of everyone around and left them feeling stronger and more hale than before.

Beside her girlfriend, Octavia held out a hand to Adagio who let out a trilling tune, calling the cello that she had been keeping an eye on under the bleachers and sending it flying to Octavia’s hand along with the bow. Planting the instrument firmly in front of her, Octavia ran the bow along the strings, releasing a deep, thrumming tune as her hair coiled out to a tail limned in grey light and a pair of grey pony ears slipped out from beneath her long dark hair to match as planes of pure force blossomed around the group of students to shield them.

Penny had come to a skidding halt beside Sunset just as the fields of force appeared and turned, whipping her bass off of her back and letting it hang from its strap in front of her as she pulled a pick from her pocket and slammed it down across the strings. The whole stadium rang with a single clarion note that seemed to banish the darkness away, making the whole area a little bit brighter. Wings stretched from Penny’s back as her ears perked up and her ponytail lengthened and curled down to a spiraling tip near her knees.

“Time to teach these mortals a lesson in real magic,” Adagio laughed as she spread her hands and sang out a clear, rolling melody.

Scaled fin-like wings coiled out from her back and a pair of frilled unfurled from under her hair as her skin took on a texture of delicate scales. Goldenrod light suffused Adagio’s body as she floated into the air and took her position beside Sunset and the gem at her throat glowed with a brilliant lambent orange light.

Midnight scowled at the display in front of her, then glanced around to Rainbow, Lightning, and Zee. The former two looked less than thrilled at what they were faced with, and fair enough. That was quite a lot of magic that was on display.

“Real magic?” Midnight said mockingly. “I’ll show you real magic!”

Arching out her fingers to either side of her, Midnight, pure energy snapped out of her hands to strike Rainbow and Lightning in the backs of their heads. They jerked for a moment and then began to shiver and quake as veins of power trailed down from their spines through their bodies, over their faces, arms, and legs, before sinking in deeper and fading.

Rainbow grinned wildly over at Lightning. “Hey, Dusty… looks like we’re outnumbered.”

“Looks that way, Rainbabe,” Lightning Dust said with a smirk. “Whadya think we should do about that?”

“Give’m a taste of their own medicine, maybe?” Rainbow suggested with a shrug of her shoulders.

“I’ll write the prescription,” Dust replied.

Lightning Dust’s whole body flexed for a moment, and then copies of her made of living lightning began stepping calmly out of her until there were more than a dozen arrayed against the other girls.

“Uh… since when could she do that?” Penny asked, her voice concerned.

“Good question,” Octavia replied dryly before looking over to Vinyl. “I suppose this was never going to be easy, was it darling?”

Vinyl glanced over her shoulder at the dozen or so students who were cowering behind them and the barricade of grey light that Octavia had erected, then turned back to Octavia and just shook her head.

“Thought not,” Octavia replied with a sigh. “Would you be a dear and give me an amp, my love?”

Grinning, Vinyl snapped her right hand to the side and stream of light spiraled out from it to connect to the base of Octavia’s cello. Settling the bow again against the strings again, Octavia struck another chord, and Vinyl pulsed her fingers over the disk of light, multiplying the strength of the sound, and the planes of grey light suddenly bloomed in size, becoming streaked with lines of dim purple and interlocking until they formed a dome around both the Elements and the small body of students nearby.

There weren’t many, thankfully. When the lightshow had begun Sunset had watched Celestia, Luna, and Cadence all surreptitiously scatter with decisive motion and sure enough, by the time the real threats had appeared, most of the spectators and students had been hurried off of the grounds. The sound of police sirens in the background could be heard in a constant whine of background noise, and briefly Sunset considered trying to send the rest of the students with them away.

Except… she wasn’t sure they’d make it. Glancing back, Sunset surveyed the small team, plus a few hangers-on. Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie, and Fluttershy were all huddled together. Nearby was Microchips and Bulk, as well as Dumbbell, Hoops and Score, who were friends with Bulk and had come out to cheer him on. Sunset grimaced at that… they had just slipped in to give their friend encouragement and now…

Sunset wished she were more confident that, if she sent them out, they wouldn’t get hurt or taken hostage, but she’d seen Twilight, or rather Midnight’s, lack of control.

No, better to keep them in arms reach where Octavia’s dome shield could protect them.

Midnight Sparkle descended from above to float between her warriors, dark magic crackling around her like a corona. Rainbow, Zee, and Lightning all looked to her and she grinned maliciously.

“You know the plan,” Midnight said, gesturing towards the faintly opaque barrier that hid their targets. “Break their backs.”

The air cracked and boomed as Rainbow vanished, leaving behind a scorched trail. The grey dome shield shuddered as Rainbow slammed a fist into it, the plane of light she impacted cracking violently. Crackling prismatic energy surrounded Rainbow’s entire body as she cocked her arm back again, her eyes sparking with unpleasant light, and slammed her fist into the cracked barrier once more.

As Rainbow attacked, Zee soared into the sky trailing lightning, and Sunset’s eyes traced her arc until she stopped above the dome. Sunset’s eyes widened and she pointed upwards.

“Gilda! Don’t let her hit us!” Sunset cried. “She’ll come down right on the dome’s central axis!”

Gilda snapped her head up and let out a snarled oath before flaring her wings and rocketing into the sky with a thunderous report, leaving the pavement under her cracked and smoking.

“I’ll deal with miss split-personality, how about?” Adagio said as she floated outwards from the barrier, the dust under her feet coiling around her as she glided delicately towards the army of Lightning’s and Midnight herself.

“Do it,” Sunset snapped, “Penny, Octy, give her supporting fire, keep that witch off of Adagio! Vinyl, amp Penny and keep Octavia’s barrier up for as long as you can!”

“Will do,” Penny replied, and her fingers began dancing across the strings of her guitar.

Vinyl nodded and snapped a cord of light out from her left-hand disk to attach to Penny’s bass. Then she twisted the fingers of her right hand around and set the right disk on a repeated line of cello notes that pulsed outwards, and the cracks that Rainbow had inflicted on the plan began to seal up before their eyes.

Rainbow scowled, then smirked. “Fine, I’ll just hit it harder… be right back.”

Her body blurred, another boom erupted across the field, and then she vanished.

“Ooh, I have a have a really bad feeling about that one,” Sunset muttered quietly before glancing skyward. “Give’m hell babe… and I hope I’m not fucking this up.”

Gilda barreled upwards, her body covered in coruscating light as she called up the magic and the training she had been put through over the past months. Above her, Zee’s form was pulling in bolt after bolt of electrical energy, she looked like a lightning rod being held up in the middle of a hurricane.

“Sorry Zee,” Gilda snarled as she gave her wings a solid flap and sped up. “Gotta lay you out before you hurt anyone.”

Zee’s features twisted into a nasty grin as Gilda sped directly towards her. Zee began raising her arms, her fingers crackling with barely-restrained power. At this range there was no way that Gilda could dodge and-

Without warning, Gilda vanished. Her body seemingly melting out of existence, and Zee’s eyes flew wide. She spun wildly to the left as the tip of Gilda’s spear thrust downwards where she had been an instant earlier and let off a bolt of twisting white lightning with a roar of defiance.

“Not right, Sis,” Gilda snarled as she spun the Huracán and caught the bolt on it’s tip only to send it spiraling back at Zee, catching her full in the chest and throwing her across the sky.

“Hah!” Zee barked as she righted herself, the air around her whining with electrical current. “That’s more like it, Gils,” she hissed.

Zee surged forwards, her arms blurring as she sped up, and it became immediately obvious that neither Zee nor Gilda were the same as they had been that night in the meadow. Gilda’s movements were quick and precise, catching Zee’s fists and turning them to the side on the flat of Huracán’s blade, there was barely any wasted movement as Gilda kept her eyes fixed firmly on Zee’s body, reading every movement as her hyperkine senses sped up and fed her information faster than any normal human could process.

“Sorry Zee,” Gilda spat as she spun Huracán and spoiled another thrust of Zee’s fist, turning the momentum into a full kick, catching Zee in the gut with her shin and sending her spinning down. “But I gotta end this.”

Gilda exploded forward, Huracán thrust downward in a killing stroke aimed at Zee’s heart. Zee spat a curse and slammed her hands together, catching the blade as it reached her and bracing her shoulders to absorb the force of the strike.

It didn’t come.

Releasing her tensed grip on the Huracán she lanced her prosthetic fist straight between Zee’s eyes and there was a sound like a thunderclap as her cloudsteel arm released its pent up energy point-blank into Zee’s face.

The impact struck so hard that from an outside view Zee all but vanished from where she’d been falling only for a detonation of earth and mud to bloom beneath Gilda. Flapping her wings, Gilda scowled as she flexed her fingers, her flint-black eyes scanning the mess of ground beneath her for her sister.

“GILDA!” Zee’s screamed, her voice lit with mindless rage.

Gilda’s eyes widened for a moment before a blinding stroke of lightning slammed through her from above to meet Zee’s raised fist from where she lay supine on the ground. Gilda screamed as the power overwhelmed her natural defenses, both those granted by Huracán as well as from her own arm.

Stunned, Gilda tumbled from the sky, her dark form smoking as she dropped like a rock to the ground,.

Zee staggered out of the crater she had made, baked mud falling from her body in clumps as Gilda shakily got to her feet, leaning heavily on Huracán as she did.

More of that noisome smoke began pouring off of Zee and she started laughing as she stood up straighter, and Gilda rolled her eyes as she watched Zee shake off the damage she had taken from her blow.

“Of fuckin’ course,” Gilda groaned as she straightened out.

Zee launched herself into the sky, cackling madly as she did, and Gilda erupted upwards hot on her heels.

“C’mon Gils!” Zee crowed from ahead of her. “Catch me if ye can!”

On the grounds below the sisters, Adagio floated almost carelessly around as clone after clone sprinted towards her, each one lunging out with a punch or a kick, some even leaping at her trying to drag her to the ground. Adagio laughed airily as she avoided them, her weightless form drifting between the furiously sparking figures as they threw themselves, literally, at her.

“You’ll have to do better than that, my dear,” Adagio taunted as she flicking past one that had thrown itself towards her, only for it careen past and slam into another that was coming up from behind. “Your multitasking skills leave something to be desired.”

A coil of sickly energy bloomed behind Adagio and she spun about, singing out a high, keening note that unraveled the bolt of coruscating dark energy before it even reached her, leaving only a shower of faintly unpleasant-smelling sparks to fall past her.

“And you are the magical equivalent of a bulldozer, Miss Sparkle,” Adagio remarked as she pirouetted to side, dodging another clone’s attack.

“What are you?!” Midnight spat as she followed Adagio, gripping a sparking orb of dark energy in her fist. “Are you like her? Like Sunset? From beyond the gate?”

“I am,” Adagio confirmed as she spiraled in place for a moment, flicking a finger and singing out another stanza that sent a charging clone flailing into the sky as it suddenly lost connection with gravity and went sailing comically over Adagio’s head. “Although I’d appreciate you not comparing me to Sunset… I love the dear but that’s like comparing a Political Theory undergrad to Trotsky.”

Midnight couldn’t help but agree. Sunset’s magic had been terrifying in its intensity and complexity, but what this Adagio was doing was neither powerful nor particularly complex.

It was… graceful.

Sunset and Midnight, for all their differences, treated magic fundamentally the same; as a study in forces of power. In terms of energy input and output, in throughput and the control of such forms of energy to be used and shaped into physically impossible effects.

Adagio, on the other hand, simply nullified gravity around her and made such perfect, minute adjustments to the spell on the fly that it made her seem as though she was some kind of unearthly faerie, casually denying gravity its hold on her. Spells unraveled around her as if they were little more than a ball of yarn as she simply sang them into nonexistence.

In short, if Sunset and Midnight knew magic, then Adagio was magic.

“Well, like Pops says…” Midnight said, scowling. “All you’ve gotta do is hit’em hard enough.”

The air all around Lightning, Adagio, and Midnight turned cold with dark magic as Midnight took in a deep breath, gathering power to her in an unassailable surge, and her body crackled and glowed with power as she pulled more and more in until she was a lantern in the night.

Adagio grimaced; not even her countersong could unravel that much power without some serious blowback and even then she doubted she would destroy the spellcraft completely.

Fortunately, unlike these buffoons, she was not fighting alone.

Midnight let out a riotous scream and lashed her arms out just as the dozen clones of Lightning collapsed back and threw themselves over Lightning herself like mobile cover. A surge tide of rippling black magic erupted from Midnight’s arms, annihilating the earth around her and rotting the grass where it had grown.

“Da~rli~ng!” Adagio crooned, then struck a mid-air pose with one hand raised to the sky while she reclined on her side as if on a chaise lounge directly in the path of the oncoming wave.

It was mere feet from her when a veritable bulwark of grey light slammed into existence around her, each one reinforced with buttresses of purple energy and heralded by the stroke of cello strings. The tide of magic flowed around the walls, barely even cracking them but destroying nearly all of Lightning’s protective coating of clones.

As the wave faded, Adagio held her pose, floating idly in place with a self-satisfied smirk crossing her features as her raised hand came slowly down to rest on her forehead.

With her finger and thumb in the shape of an ‘L’.

“I’LL KILL YOU!” Midnight shrieked furiously, then whirled on the dome of protective magic where Sunset and the others hunkered down and held out a hand. “Starting with all of you!”

A pulsating beam of dark light shot from Midnight’s hand to strike dome like a hammer on a church bell, and Octavia flinched as she turned her attention back to the dome to reinforce it. Sunset flinched from the lightshow as the beam struck almost directly in front of her, and Penny swore colorfully as she continued to play, her magic was the only thing keeping the people under the dome from freaking out and running in all directions.

Adagio turned to unravel Midnight’s spell but her countersong was spoiled by a sudden onslaught from a half dozen clones of Lightning Dust being thrown her way, sometimes literally, and she was forced to dodge, bob, and weave away from Midnight.

“Stay focused!” Sunset called, “Vinyl, keep amping Octavia, we can outlast her!”

“RAINBOW NOW!” Midnight cried.

“Oh shit,” Sunset barely got the word out before she heard multiple approaching sonic booms coming from the direction of Canterlot City.

A streak of rainbow light ripped through the streets, shattering windows on cars and buildings as Rainbow Dash built up speed and momentum, drawing on the reserve of magic that Midnight had infused her with to wrap her own body in dampening magic.

She was about to hit something really hard after all.

Rainbow Dash tore past what looked like every cop in the city who were busy evacuating students and teachers alike, and she had a brief moment of appreciation for the fact that Sunset had probably set that up ahead of time, before turning her attention back to the quickly looming dome in front of her.

She ran parallel to the beam of light and Octavia barely had a moment to react, striking a single cord and refocusing as much of her magic on the small area being attacked as possible before Rainbow struck it.

The dome shattered violently as the combined force of Midnight’s beam and Rainbow’s strike overloaded Octavia’s defensive magic. Rainbow’s fist was wrapped in a shining prismatic corona of light and, for a moment, time seemed to slow as she careened towards Sunset.

Only for the sound of cello's cry to create an angled hexagonal grey shield that snapped into existence between the two of them, and Rainbow crashed against it.

“Ow…” Rainbow groaned as she looked up, pushing herself up slightly from the plane of light that hovered at a forty-five degree angle in midair.

Beneath her was a shocked-looking Sunset Shimmer, her eyes wide and panicked, and behind Sunset-

Vinyl Scratch glared furiously at Rainbow over Sunset’s shoulder, her head tipped down so her eyes, burning nearly red with rage, could meet Rainbow’s over her omnipresent shades as she angled both of her hands, their twin glowing disks of white energy pulsing in tune to that barely-heard beat, towards Rainbow’s face.

“Uh… heh… oops?” Rainbow laughed weakly.

Vinyl tightened her grip on both disks, there was the sound of a deafening bass drop, and Rainbow Dash was sent rocketing into the sky by a fist of pure sonic force. Her brain rattled in her skull and her skeleton felt like it was trying to vibrate out of her skin as she spun ass over teakettle through the stormy skies.

Rainbow had no grasp on where she was, where the ground was, or how close she was to hitting said ground as the world spun around her, but before she could gain her bearings something whipped past her and gripped her hand, pulling her out of her spin and dragging her behind them. Rainbow looked up to see a faintly smoking and wildly smiling Zee gripping her hand as she flew along.

“Aye up, Rainbow!” Zee crowed as she put on a burst of speed. “Give our sister our love, aye?”

Rainbow laughed as Zee spun in midair, whirling Rainbow about like a pair of bolos. The former Element of Loyalty accelerated her body, letting it crackle with prismatic force as Zee let Rainbow fly bodily towards the pursuing Gilda.

“Hey, Gil! HEADS UP!” Rainbow cried, and she got a brief look at the shocked expression of Gilda’s face before she planted her knee in the larger girl’s gut.

The heavy blow knocked the wind from Gilda and sent her spinning through the sky as Rainbow barreled past and back down towards the ground. Rainbow got a brief glimpse of Zee reclaiming momentum and rocketing after Gilda, a fistful of lightning in hand, before she managed to right herself and turn towards the rapidly approaching earth.

Suddenly, a glowing yellow figure leapt in front of Rainbow’s vision and she got a glimpse of Lightning Dust’s features before it tried to catch her, but the speed Rainbow was moving at ripped the clone apart. Another clone got in way, grabbing on and slowing Rainbow down even more before it too fell apart. Finally, a third clone leapt up and caught Rainbow in its arms, wrapping itself around her and absorbing the impact of the pair of them hitting the ground, then disintegrating as Rainbow scrambled back to her feet.

Rainbow Dash stood up, dusting herself off as Lightning Dust, the real one, stepped up beside her, holding a fist up. Rainbow knocked her knuckles against Lightning’s and smirked as Midnight came floating down behind them.

There was a deafening report and a crash of thunder and lightning, and Gilda came spinning down from the sky.

Sunset had a brief moment of terrible panic, remembering the moment in the meadow, but this time Gilda managed to right herself at the last moment, landing with her legs bent and her wings flared to hit the ground with something approaching grace several yards from the group. Her whole body was smoking though, and Gilda staggered as she made her way back to the main group, her legs wobbling and the main force of her weight balanced heavily on her spear.

“Penny! Help Gilda!” Sunset barked.

Penny nodded sharply and sprinted over to Gilda. Once she was a few feet away, she brought her guitar and started play, a deep thrumming tune in a four-four beat. Gilda’s breath came in sharp as she gave a start, then took a deep breath, and stood up, shaking her head as if to clear her mind.

As she did, some of the burn marks began to vanish, or at least lessen in intensity, and Gilda’s aura of magical power flared.

“Thanks,” Gilda said quietly, nodding to Penny.

“It’s not going to last,” Penny said quietly. “It’s just a shot of energy, you’re gonna feel it in the morning.”

“I’ll take it,” Gilda replied with a smirk, “if I ain’t in top form, there may not be another morning, savvy?”

Penny grimaced but nodded at that.

From the center, Adagio came floating back, her eyes glowing but a faint sheen of sweat on her brow. Her magical reserves were not inconsiderable, but they were nothing like Midnight’s or even Octavia’s. She was efficient not just by desire but by necessity. She dropped to the ground less gracefully then she might have liked, her feet stumbling a little as her vision swam from the exertion of spending so much magical energy at once.

The four-four beat reached her ears a moment later, and Adagio took a deep breath, feeling her heartbeat align to it, and a grin crept over her face as she felt some of her reserves refill.

“Laughter really is the best medicine, my dear,” Adagio said, smiling faintly.

“Feeling better?” Sunset asked grimly, and Adagio nodded as Octavia, Vinyl, Gilda, and Penny moved to flank them. “Good, because this isn’t over.”

While Sunset’s party regrouped around the students they were protecting, Zee struck the ground next to Midnight like a hammer before standing and dusting herself off with a smirk as she walked up beside her girlfriend.

“Want to know something, babe?” Midnight said quietly as Zee reached her side.

“Aye? Wuzzat, our lass?” Zee asked, flicking her eyes over to Midnight.

Midnight was staring out across at the group of Element Bearers suspiciously.

“I think… I think Miss Shimmer might have been bullshitting me,” Midnight said angrily. “She didn’t even try to stop Rainbow… at first I thought she was holding back so she didn’t waste her magic, forcing me to expend power while she remained fresh but now…”

“That night in the meadow, though,” Zee murmured, “she was burnin’ like th’sun, aye?”

“I know, and I think it might’ve burnt her out,” Midnight said playfully, a wicked smile curving her lips upward. “Only one way to find out…” she glanced over at the other two girls. “Lightning, Rainbow… buy Zee a shot at Sunset, I’d like to test a theory.”

A look of concern crossed Rainbow’s features and she glanced over at Lightning Dust who furrowed her brow.

“At… at Sunset?” Rainbow asked quietly. “But-”

“Just do it!” Midnight snapped angrily.

Rainbow Dash flinched but nodded and stepped back circling around to get a better position as Lightning began deploying her clones again.

“H-Hey, lass,” Zee said, her voice tinged with uncertainty. “If Gils’ witch ain’t got’er magic, and I take my swing at her she’ll…”

Midnight looked over to see Zee’s face twisted into a grimace of concentration, as though she were fighting through something in her mind. Her eyes were drifting unsteadily between smoky gray and sharp gold, and Midnight narrowed her gaze to a glare. She didn’t need this, not right now.

“I’m sorry, babe,” Midnight muttered, her mouth curling into a scowl. “This’ll be over soon, okay?.”

Midnight reached out and trailed a finger down the back of Zee’s neck where her spine and skull met and a spark of brackish, unwholesome power leapt from her finger and into Zee.

The white-haired girl spasmed for a moment, then shook her head and grinned vacantly, her eyes milky white.

“Arh, cocka… let’s do this,” Zee said in a hollow voice.

Midnight flinched. She hadn’t wanted to do that, had she? Zee hadn’t wanted to hurt Sunset, but… did she? Did Midnight want to either?

Did Twilight?

Snarling, Midnight shook her head to clear away the thoughts and focused on the clangor of bells in her mind, gripping the brass bell that hung from her neck as she did. No more questioning, no more reasoning; Sunset had humiliated her and now Sunset and her entire posse of glowing idiots were standing between her and apotheosis. She had to be put down, for the greater good, for progress… Sunset was standing in the way of everything!

Yes… Sunset had brought this on herself.

As Midnight and Zee conferred, Lightning moved alongside Rainbow Dash.

“Hey, Rainbabe,” Lightning said quietly as they eyed Sunset and her friends. “I’m… I’m starting to have some thoughts about this…”

“Yeah,” Rainbow replied uneasily. “Yeah, me too.”

“I uh, I think we might be the baddies,” Lightning said with a weak, empty laugh.

“I’m starting to think you’re right,” Rainbow agreed, and she clenched her eyes shut in anger. “Dammit… she tried to tell me but I was just so… fucking concentrated on not leaving Zee and Twilight behind.”

“Is there even anything left of Twilight in that thing?” Lightning asked in a low voice, shooting a glare at Midnight. “I mean… seriously, look at her! The Twilight we met months ago was never like this!”

“I know,” Rainbow said in a cold voice. “It’s just like what happened to Sunset… she went all dark-magic-badass and suddenly she was insane… remember?” Lightning nodded, and Rainbow sighed heavily. “We’ve gotten in way too deep, I’m not doing this… I’m not gonna back this up anymore, okay? Friends… friends gotta know when to say ‘no’.”

Lightning nodded again, turning to Midnight. “I’m with ya Rainbabe.”

“This is probably gonna hurt, y’know?” Rainbow said with a low chuckle.

“Yeah,” Lightning replied, rolling her eyes and cracking her neck. “But Gran always says doin’ the right thing usually does.”

Both of them turned as one, both set on putting a stop to Midnight’s intentions. Rainbow’s body crackled with pent-up power, ready to accelerate her body to supersonic speeds, while Lightning’s small army of clones waited in the back of her mind, their limbs matching with hers.

Neither of them were prepared to see Midnight mere inches from them as they turned.

“Going somewhere?” Midnight asked dryly.

Before either of them could think to move, an aura of black, sparking magic slammed around each of them. Bands of iron-hard force coiled around Rainbow and Lightning’s arms and legs, keeping them from moving, and the whole mass of energy seemed to writhe around them.

“Everyone keeps turning against me,” Midnight hissed, her voice raw and furious. “But you’ll see… I just need to finish this… this great working. Pops will make sure it happens… he won’t betray me like you.”

“We’re trying to help you!” Rainbow’s voice came out in a high crackle as the bands of energy tightened around her chest. “You’re s-sick, Twi’, there’s something wrong with you! We want to help you!”

“I’m not sick!” Midnight shrieked. “I am perfect!”

Midnight reached out and gripped Lightning and Rainbow’s heads, one in each hand, and energy lashed around their minds.

“But you were right about one thing,” Midnight continued, her voice going low and deadly. “You will help me.”

Lightning Dust’s eyes widened and she tried to turn to face Rainbow, but Midnight kept her head from moving at all, the best she could do was look to the side, trying to meet Rainbow’s gaze. Rainbow Dash was doing the same and both of them could see the fear and terror reflected in both of their eyes.

“It’s okay, Dusty,” Rainbow said in a soft voice. “I’m right here.”

“I’m scared,” Lightning’s voice came out a cracking sob.

“I know,” Rainbow replied, “me too, I’m sorry I dragged you into this, Dusty, I’m sorry! I’m so-”

“SHUT UP!” Midnight screamed, and power snapped down her arms and into Rainbow and Lightning’s heads.

Neither girl even had time to scream. They both went slack, the barriers of their minds battered down by main force as Midnight imprinted her will into them. They were nothing to her, nothing! They were tools, they were pawns, they were…

Tears trickled down Midnight’s cheeks as she let Rainbow and Lightning fall from her grip.

They were her friends.

Both girls shook their heads, their eyes misty and gray, then they looked up at Midnight and gave eerily synchronised nods before moving into position.

“I’ll fix them,” Midnight muttered quietly as they all moved away from her, “I… I promise, I’ll put it all right, okay?” None of them could hear her, and even if they could she wasn’t entirely certain they would understand her. “I promise… after all this is done it can all go back to the way it was… to the way we were, I’ll fix it all.”

“What have you done?!” Sunset’s voice bellowed from across the field, and Midnight turned to face her. “What did you do to them?!”

Midnight scowled viciously.

“You did this!” she screamed back, her voice high and tinged with something unpleasantly unhinged. “You made me do this! Why couldn’t you just back down?! WHY?!”

Sunset looked around, feeling a dark chill in her stomach at the blank faces of Zee, Rainbow, and Lightning. This wasn’t just dark magic… this was damn near the very blackest of arts: Slave magic.

Somehow, without even realising it, the Twilight Sparkle of this world had managed to replicate the spellcraft of the old slave legions of King Sombra. Sunset knew this magic only by reputation, but seeing it first-hand was spine chilling. Twilight wasn’t just a powerhouse or a monster… this Twilight was every bit the genius her counterpart was sans absolutely any moral compass.

“You’ve gone too far, Twilight!” Sunset roared.

Midnight didn’t respond; instead she lashed a hand out sent a wild volley of black, smoking bolts of energy at the gathered group, and only a hum of cello strings carrying reinforced plates of magical energy on their heels intercepted them.

“DO IT!” Midnight roared.

Without warning, dozens of clones erupted from Lightning, turning an empty open area of grass into an onrushing army of glowing, pale-yellow figures. They thundered towards the shielded group in a blind rush.

Gilda spat an oath, leapt in front of the group, and snapped Huracán around in a wide arc in front of her, lightning spitting from its tip in a stream of coruscating power. Swathes of clones vanished in crackling pops but where one vanished, two more took its place, and Sunset reached out to drag Gilda back into the safety of the dome as they all leapt at it, crawling over it like ants until the group within was blinded by the glow and press of bodies.

“Penny! Reverse Amp!” Sunset shouted, before pointing at Vinyl. “Vinyl, clear the air!”

Vinyl gave a sharp nod, and the white cord that had trailed from her spinning disks to Penny’s bass suddenly turned a blindingly bright shade of electric blue.

“Here goes nothing, Vee!” Penny shouted, “give’em the bass cannon!”

Penny slammed her pick across the strings of her guitar, and this time instead of the reinforcing energy radiating out in a wave, every iota of it was launched directly into Vinyl like an injection.

For a brief second Vinyl Scratch’s entire body effervesced with blinding power, her back arched as the strain of containing the output of two Elements at once, even for a moment, overwhelmed her.

A moment later Vinyl gave the power its outlet.

Dozens of disks of light like the ones in Vinyl’s hands appeared, each one pressed to one of Octavia’s grey planes of defensive solid light.

The sound that followed it was felt more than heard. Every single one of Lightning’s clones shattered with a sound like breaking glass as they were annihilated by the wave pure sonic energy, and Lightning Dust let out an odd, strangled hiccup as the psychic backlash of all of her clones immediately and violently dying sent her eyes rolling back into her skull as she toppled over.

The clones had vanished just in time to see Rainbow descending from the sky like a prismatic rocket to slam her light-clad fist into the apex of Octavia’s defensive dome.

Everything after that happened in the space of a few breaths.

Octavia screamed as her power lashed back on her, the strain of keeping the barrier up through that sudden punishing impact becoming too much for her. Her bow and cello tumbled from her hands as she collapsed bonelessly to the ground in a dead faint.

Snapping her spear around, Gilda caught Rainbow at the gut with the haft of Huracán, knocking the air from her and sending her sprawling before she could follow through. Penny was sagging in place, barely supporting a delirious Vinyl.

A serpent of black energy lanced towards the group from Midnight’s hands, sparking wildly as it snapped and writhed like a living creature. Adagio ascended again, wheeling her arms and gathering the latent magic in the air to supplement her own vastly depleted reserves, and just as the conjured entity struck.

With a long, soprano wail, Adagio caught the striking conjuration with needles of goldenrod light, each one neatly pinning it to the ground and unraveling it.

Midnight smirked as she dropped to the ground to reveal Zee behind her clutching a fistful of lightning that fired out like a spear of white directly at Sunset Shimmer.

Time seemed to slow for Sunset and Gilda both.

The wheelchair-bound girl’s eyes widened as she realised what their plan had been. They had gone all in for one, single, deadly strike at the most vulnerable member of their opponent's team: Her. She hadn’t even realised she’d been made, but in retrospect it seemed obvious. It had to have been when Rainbow had made her attack, it had to have been painfully obvious that Sunset hadn’t just not defended herself, but had been unable to defend herself.

Gilda tried to speed up, but she was off-center, her body still bearing the weight of Rainbow’s limp form, and Hyperkine magic wasn’t made for constant speed like Rainbow’s power, it was all just bursts of instinctual movement, and she was moving the wrong direction to have any leverage.

They both had only a split second to realise that Sunset was going to die.

“SUNSET NO!”

Sunset was struck hard, and she was sent sprawling to the ground from her wheelchair onto her stomach, the smell of cooked flesh scorched her nose as she gasped for air. There was a weight on her, and she flailed wildly for a moment, trying to see where she’d been hit, expecting the searing pain to come at her at any moment.

It never did.

Struggling to right herself, Sunset turned with some effort and felt her heart all but stop at what she saw.

Laying across her was a prone form, his arms curled protectively around her and his shirt burnt away to reveal the horribly scorched skin beneath from where Zee’s blast had struck him full on. His head of messy black hair obscured most of his face, but his breathing came in harsh, ragged, faltering gasps as he shook like a soaked kitten.

“S-Score?” Sunset stammered, her eyes wide in horror as she pulled herself out from under him. “What… what did you do? WHAT DID YOU DO?!”

“Ah shit…” Gilda swore as she threw Rainbow’s unconscious form to the ground as safely as she could. “Ah… fuck… that’s…”

“Oh… child,” Adagio said weakly as she stared down at the boy, her eyes filling with tears.

Pulling herself up so she was sitting, her legs coiled uselessly under her, Sunset dragged Score up so his head was rest haphazardly on her lap. He was stocky and a little short, but he had broad shoulders and looked like he would have been pretty strong.

Normally, anyway.

Now he was just shaking, his jaw held in a rictus of pain.

“W-What…” Zee’s voice came from nearby as she stared at the fallen student and at Sunset, she shook her head as the horrifying result of her attack managed to break through the cloud of Arabus’s insensate rage. “What did I… why did I-”

Zee turned to Midnight who was staring in horror at what had happened.

“I didn’t mean to,” Midnight said in a small voice that sounded more like Twilight than she had for the entirety of the games. “I swear… I didn’t mean for that to happen!”

“You made me do that,” Zee said in a voice of patent disbelief. “Why’d ye do that, lass?! WHY!?”

The storm above them reach its zenith before Midnight could answer and a deafening crack of thunder split the sky. Zee’s vision suddenly swam violently and her stomach lurched, and she had just enough of her wits about her to catch herself as she dropped to her knees on the ground. There was a clicking sound from below her and a feeling like a weight being lifted off of her shoulders, and Zee stared down at her hands and arms.

And at the armbands laying unlocked and open on the ground under her, their luster gone and all trace of the immense power vanished. Before her eyes, the armbands began to crumble.

Glancing over, Zee saw Midnight in nearly the same state, her power bleeding off of her in waves as she dropped to the ground like a lead weight, her wings disintegrating into the air and her magic hemorrhaging out of her.

Over among the Elements, Gilda spat a curse as Huracán snapped back into its compact form against her will, then she stumbled and dropped to the ground, and she saw Vinyl and Penny do the same, their faces pale. Power was coming off of them like smoke into the air and, all around her, there was laughter. Adagio let out a strangled cry and dropped to the grass, her body limp and her face ghostly and drawn.

“Ye ask why she did it, sprog?” A rich and darkly familiar voice asked, and it was filled with dark humor as it echoed strangely around them. “She only did what ‘ad t’be done, savvy?”

Between the two groups, a tall wolf-lean man stood. He was rain-soaked, and his thick linen shirt clung to a limber, muscular form, and his steel-grey hair clung to his pale skin as he laughed again.

Storm King.

“Ye’ve done well, lass!” Storm howled as he raised his arms to the sky. “Better’n I’d ever bloody imagined!”

“Why… what did you do to me?!” Twilight gasped, her power gone and her body returned to its human state as Storm walked over to her.

“I funneled all the magic in the area into one place, ye dozy wazzock,” Storm said with a laugh, “including all the magic in all th’channelers here, you… them… anyone wif power, aye?” Storm explained before reaching down and ripping the bell roughly from Twilight’s neck. “An’ I’ll be ‘avin’ that back, thank ye.”

“Why, Pops?” Twilight sobbed. “You said-”

“I lied,” Storm sneered, before lancing a kick into Twilight’s stomach. “I allus say: gimme a smart mark o’er a dumb one any day, oreyt? At least dumbshite idiots know they’re idiots, savvy? Smarties like ye think they know everything.”

He fixed the cord around his neck and let out a sigh of relief.

‘Good,’ the deep, basso growl in his mind said, ‘that went better than expected.’

“Aye it did, old goat,” Storm replied. “Now, ‘ows about we actually use some of this power, ‘ey?”

‘My thoughts precisely, old friend,’ the voice said in a laughing tone. ‘How about a more suitable form, first, though?’

Black veins grew along Storm King’s body, trickling across his skin like droplets of paint leaving trails of stains, and Storm grunted and twitched and his body contorted and shifted. Curling rams horns sprouted from each side of his head, and his shoes ripped as heavy, cloven hooves tore free from them. His skin darkened to a deep, smoky blue, and his eyes burned red with infernal flames.

Sunset stared up at the growing horror in front of her, tears tracking down her cheeks as she watched helplessly on. A cough from below her brought her back to herself, and she looked down to see Score shivering, his eyes hazy with pain and shock.

“Why?” Sunset whispered quietly, brushing a lock of Score’s hair from his face. “Why did you do that? That was supposed to be me.”

Score gave a weak laugh that turned into a flinching cough.

“D-Dunno…” he said in a reedy voice. “I saw it happening… saw no one could do anything, and I just… I dunno… moved.”

“You don’t have any magic,” Sunset sobbed. “You’re just… human… Score, you’re… you’re gonna-”

“Y-yeah, I know,” Score said, coughing again, “b-but I had to do somethin’ y’know? It was eating me alive… knowing what I did to you.”

“I forgave you, dumbass,” Sunset cried. “It wasn’t your fault!”

“Yeah but…” Score shivered again and coughed. “I couldn’t look myself in the mirror or… or look my dad in the eyes anymore… I had to do somethin’, right? Somethin’ to… fuck, I dunno, redeem myself, I guess, I had to… I just… I…”

Score’s voice began to weaken, then it slowed, then it trailed off completely, and his eyes closed. Sunset’s eyes widened a little as she stared down at Score, and time felt like it stopped in that instant.

And so did the rain, and the thunder, and the lightning, and the wind, and warm glow like the break of dawn spilled over Sunset’s back.

30. Suspended On Silver Wings

~oOo~

“You’ve been dreaming a lot lately,” my dream companion said quietly.

“I guess I have,” I replied, and my voice carried all the exhaustion I was feeling.

The air around us was so still, and it was thick with unspent magical power. In the distance I saw the dark and towering form of Storm King, his motionless body twisting with magical force to better accommodate the alien mind occupying him. Raindrops were frozen all around me, Gilda was captured in an expression of pain as she staggered towards me, and I felt a pang at the torment painted over her features.

“You can’t always be dreaming, though,” she pointed out.

“Don’t you think I know that?” I spat bitterly as I looked over the rest of them.

Octavia lay supine on the ground, her cello had cracked with the strain of absorbing the magical energy it had been channeling which Rainbow had shattered through. Penny and Vinyl were slumped onto the ground, barely held up and leaning on one another as their magic bled out from them and into Storm King.

“You’re so close to me now,” she said, and I sighed.

“Couldn’t you have just told me who you were?” I asked, weary and feeling a familiar surge of anger. “All of this could have been avoided!”

I heard her chuckle in an equally bitter tone from behind me.

“I’m not a person, remember?” she said, and I hear the apology in her tone. “I’m you… a part of you, anyway… the part that intrinsically understood your Element, but it just wasn’t enough to go all the way.”

I turned to the migraine bright light behind me and winced. It wasn’t as bad as before and slowly, achingly slowly, the light began to fade.

“But you see it now don’t you?” she said, her voice warm and kind. “Thanks to that boy there.”

“Yeah,” I replied, gritting my teeth in rage. “Thanks to his sacrifice I finally fucking get it… and really, of all people, you’d think I’d have figured it out before now.” I looked up and glared at her… no, at me and gestured to the frozen chaos around us. “You’d think I’d have figured out your name before all of this!”

I smiled down at myself. No, that’s not quite right. She was so much more than I was… she was more me than I was. Wings of pure, brilliant white light stretched from her back, and her scarlet and gold hair flowed like a liquid sunrise. A golden horn was like the tip of a charger’s lance and rose from the middle of her head, gleaming with light. She was clad in a flowing white gown, my split sun mark adorned her shoulders, arms and feet like armor, and there was a streak of red across her face, splashed over her eyes like war paint.

“Don’t blame yourself,” she said softly. “You were hurting, you were in pain, and those in pain often don’t realise what it is they’re looking for until after they find it.”

“Fat lot of good it did Score,” I replied angrily.

“We can help him,” she said, and I felt my heart leap into my throat as I turned and stared.

“But… I can’t-”

I can’t use magic… was what I almost said. And that was true… not right now, but…

“It’s time, Sunset Shimmer,” she said in a gentle voice, stretching her hand out towards me. “You need to do more than just seek forgiveness and make amends, but the question is are you strong enough to do that?”

Was I?

“Say my name,” she pressed. “It can only come from you… and make no mistake, the catalyst must be the shoulders that bear the brunt of the burden from the Elements… can you do that?”

Could I?

“Can you say my name?”

I had to be.

I had to be strong enough. For myself and for Gilda, and for Penny, and Vinyl, and Adagio, and Octavia, and Helden, and Score, and for every single person out there that Storm was going to hurt.

“Okay, it’s been a little while but I think I remember how this goes,” I said, a smile tracing over my lips as I met my double’s eyes. “Let’s say those words that started everything… one last time.”

Then I took a deep breath and I remembered. I remembered a more innocent time, a time when I had to complete my lessons and write to my mother about them, something she did with all of her students, as I understood it, and eventually did with Twilight as well. My lessons, and therefore my letters, were generally arcane in nature, but I’m given to understand that Twilight had to write letters about Friendship.

Maybe this time it was my turn, and I raised my gaze to the sky, wondering if somewhere out there my mother could see me.

“Dear Princess Celestia,” I began, “today I learned that sometimes it’s not enough just to hear someone say that they forgive you for doing something that hurt them,” tears flowed from my eyes and down my face as I remembered every wicked thing I’d ever done to the students of CHS, “and if you want to be able to grow and rise above the things you did, that sometimes you have to take a much harder road.” Light began to suffuse me and veins of white light rippled through my body. “When someone forgives you it can feel good for a moment but, in the end, it all just feels worse because you feel like you didn’t deserve it, and the reason is because… because I hadn’t forgiven myself.”

A pulse of power echoed out from me and I rose up into the air, I felt the energy of the Elements of Harmony all around me, just like I had that day in front of the school that was, ironically, not far from where I was at that moment. Only this time the power came from inside me, and from my friends… my family.

“Humans aren’t like ponies,” I continued as the power raced along my body. “We’re flawed, and angry, and we lash out because we don’t know any better, but sometimes, if we’re lucky, someone comes along and shows us a better way.” I saw my friends all around me, not just my new friends, but my old ones as well. “And that’s when we’re given a choice… we can keep listening to our lesser selves, indulging our demons, or we can take a higher road, a harder road… and even if it hurts, it’s still worthwhile, because it’s a road that others will walk alongside you, and that’s what I’m going to do!”

The air split with a deafening boom as my Element ignited in my heart, and I smiled as I felt myself connect to the others that were scattered around me.

“Even if it takes me my whole life, I’ll spend it seeking Redemption.”

My dream companion smiled as she faded away, her fragmentary essence rejoining the greater whole. Then I took a deep breath and finished.

“Your Faithful Student, Sunset Shimmer.”

~oOo~

~Canterlot High Game Fields, May 3rd, Afternoon~

There was a blinding detonation of light as the rain resumed in a hammering fall and the lightning crashed and the thunder boomed around me, but Sunset barely felt it as she stared down at Score.

She descended on wings of silver and sunlight, reaching out fingers clad in pale gossamer white to touch the burn scar on his chest. Warm sunlight flowed from her hand into his skin and where it touched the scorched flesh became new and clean,

“S-Sunshine?” Gilda’s voice was awestruck, and Sunset turned and smiled at her lover, her girlfriend… and one day, her wife. “Is… that you?”

Sunset nodded with a faint smile.

“Yeah, babe, it’s me…” she chuckled lightly and spun a pirouette in the air, “so uh… how do I look?”

Gilda worked her jaw soundlessly for several moments. Words didn’t come easily to the young former-gangster in the best of circumstances but…

“Like ya ain’t even real,” Gilda said quietly, her face still struck with disbelief. “Y’like a daydream in the middle of a nightmare…”

“Heh, daydream, huh?” Sunset said with a smile. “Maybe you’ve got a little bit of a poet in you after all.” Taking a deep breath, Sunset turned to look over her shoulder at the towering figure of twisting shadow behind her. “Get everyone else up, babe… I’ll buy some time, but we’ve got to end this.”

“Savvy,” Gilda said, nodding as she stiffened and moved towards the fallen Elements.

Sunset glanced over to the small group of students who were still cowering away from the rest.

“AJ! Rarity!” Sunset called, and the two former elements perked up. “Get everyone to safety, I’ll cover you!”

Both girls gave her a sharp nod and began corralling the students, including with a dazed and confused Score who was being tearfully hugged by his friends, away from the devastation of the front lawn.

Waving her hand as she turned, Sunset sent a ripple through the walls of reality, then passed through them, emerging on the other side of Storm’s shifting form between the prone forms of Zee and Twilight. The former was shaking and crawling towards Twilight, while Twilight was just lying on her side, a distant, broken look on her face.

“I’m so sorry I took so long,” Sunset whispered softly as she looked down the pair of them.

Zee let out a broken sob and turned to look up at the angel in their midst.

“Help’er!” Zee croaked, “please… I’ll do anythin’ ye want! Please… jus’... help’er!”

“That’s all I ever wanted to do,” Sunset replied in a gentle voice, then lowered down, still floating, and press one finger to Twilight’s forehead and with her other hand pressed a finger to Zee’s. “Sleep… and let this nightmare turn into a daydream… and when you wake may you wake free of your hatred…”

With an effort of will Sunset pressed her power through the pair of girls, and she felt the roil of dark magic there. Rather than try to wipe it out in one fell swoop and risk missing some of it, she instead planted a seed of pure magic and breathed life into it, willing into existence a growth of pure light that began to spread through them.

It would take time, but the roots of that seed would find every shard of darkness infecting them. It would be painful, and it wouldn’t be free, but… there was hope.

“May Harmony keep you both,” Sunset said quietly, then she turned and sent a similar seed into the minds of Rainbow and Lightning, letting it plant itself there and begin repairing the egregious damage that Twilight had inflicted on them. “You tried, Rainbow… I saw it… I saw that you tried.”

Scowling, Sunset rose on wings of light and glared at the creature that had once been Storm King. The shadows had fallen away from him like a cloak, revealing a body mostly covered in wiry black-blue fur across the chest that darkened to black where it reached his cloven hooves. Brutal, chipped rams-horns curled out from his head and his hair had turned bone white and now fell in a wild mane down his back as he stood better than eight feet tall. Clawed hands flexed and grasped at nothing, as if testing their limits, and Storm’s eyes burned with a hateful red light.

Most telling though was what lay on his chest. A small brass bell hung there, looking almost comically small where it rested on the monster’s enormous frame.

“I know your name,” Sunset said quietly, and the creature looked up at her with disdainful contempt.

“Oh do you?” It said, and its voice was a strange basso cacophony of intertwined tones, as if it were two voices overlapping. “Do pray tell… what do you remember, foal? Have I not yet passed into myth and the forgetfulness of mortal memory?”

“For most, sure,” Sunset allowed, nodding a little. “But I was taught by the immortal Princess of Equestria.”

“Ha!” he barked out a guffaw of laughter. “Immortal Princess? Those bit-store ageless hybrids yet persist? No… I am the only true immortal, foal.” He chuckled as he turned to face Sunset and opened his arms as if in welcome. “But please… do tell, I would hear my name from Equestrian lips after so many millennia of banishment by your witch-goddess.”

Sunset took a breath and, even with all of the power of her Element coursing through her, she felt a shiver of true fear sluice down her spine.

“You are Grogar,” Sunset whispered, “Grogar the Necromancer, the Black King of Tambelon.”

Grogar smiled, an ugly, twisted smirk that revealed too-sharp teeth as he opened his palms out wide and brayed out a great laugh.

“So named, and so I am,” Grogar agreed, a broad smile on his lips.

“Now what?” Sunset snarled, gesturing around her. “What will you do now that you’ve battered a bunch of neophyte practitioners into insensibility and, what, killed off your last real ally?”

“I presume you speak of Arabus?” Grogar asked, a dark laugh in his throat, then he waved his hand dismissively. “That mad thing has been dead since he was torn apart in the maelstrom of light but even had he not been, it was a necessary sacrifice for my return to power.”

“I can’t imagine what it must be like to be so cruel,” Sunset said bitterly.

“And that is why you are destined to remain a powerless cripple,” Grogar chuckled, a deep, ugly noise. “Although I must thank you, without your arrival on this world it may have taken me centuries to acquire enough magic to even begin executing my plan to return.”

“W-what?” Sunset choked out, floating back, genuinely wrong-footed. “I didn’t do anything!”

“You came here,” Grogar said matter-of-factly, gesturing around himself. “To the place of my imprisonment, and when you passed through the portal, by opening the iris of the passageway, if only briefly, you allowed a small amount of pure, true magic to flow into this world.”

“That’s… that couldn’t have been more than a few droplets of magic!” Sunset cried. “You’re lying!”

“I only lie when it suits me,” Grogar spat, “and this does not suit me, not when it agonises you so,” he brayed out a wicked laugh. “I am a sorcerer capable of twisting dimensions, foal, do you really think I’m incapable of capturing every iota of power possible? It took time but I was able to get just enough to speak to my host here, and a more brutal, self-serving creature I could not have asked for.” He gestured around with another braying cackling. “I might’ve had to engineer a dozen such massacres as I did in that loathsome, smog-filled port without you!”

I felt the bottom drop out of my stomach. “Engineer… what?”

“NO!” A voice roared from behind Grogar and a bolt of lightning caught him full in the back with a deafening peal of thunder.

Grogar didn’t even move.

Turning his head slightly, he stared unblinkingly back at Gilda who was breathing hard and fast, and her eyes were incandescent with rage. Her body was sparking and her hand raised, open, and crackling with lightning as Huracán snapped back to life. Somehow, through the funnel of her rage, Gilda had dredged enough magic out of the air to fuel herself again.

“YOU?!” Gilda snarled, stalking forward. “It was YOU?!” Another bolt splashed harmlessly over the towering, demonic figure. “The fuckin’ gang war?!” Another bolt struck, but it did as little as the others. “All those goddamn people?! WHY?!”

Finally, Grogar smiled.

“Why?” he asked in a wry voice before turning back to Sunset. “Would you like to explain to this… primitive creature the why of it? I’m feeling magnanimous and will permit her go into oblivion with at least the satisfaction of her question having been answered.”

Sunset swallowed hard, her own limbs shaking with barely contained anger. It didn’t take a genius of the arcane to figure out why he had convinced Storm King to trigger a seemingly meaningless gang war.

After all, it was practically in his name.

“Grogar the Necromancer,” Sunset hissed. “You caused the gang war just to feed your own power…” her fists began to shake and light like a dawning sun started to gather in them. “There was never anything you were looking for… all that chaos… all that suffering… there wasn’t any other reason… the war was an excuse, it was all just a harvest!”

“I heard it put well by another, once,” Grogar said with a ugly grin. “To quote: I will use any ends, to achieve my means.”

Without any warning beyond a bellow of incoherent rage, Gilda charged Grogar down, spear leveled and eyes blazing, and Sunset felt a stab of terror in her heart as the enormous, demonic sorcerer turned to face the charging woman.

“Gilda don’t!” Sunset cried.

There was no reaching her, though, and tears streamed from Gilda’s eyes as she barreled forward. Gilda’s body blurred with sharp, blue hyperkine light as she reached Grogar, weaving and blurring around his grasping claw and spinning the spear into a devastating overhand blow to drive the tip of Huracán down in his chest.

Huracán stopped inches from Grogar, right above his heart. He had the blade grasped in his other claw as he grinned at Gilda who was now being held up by him.

“How-”

A beam of pure, effervescing light lanced out and hammered into the back of his head, jerking him a step step towards.

Blinking in irritation and surprise, Grogar whipped around as Sunset charged him from behind, her hands outstretched and blazing with power, and backhanded her roughly out of the air with the force of a freight train. Sunset went spiraling away in a flash of light to impact the ground, leaving a crater hewn into the torn ground.

“SUNSET!” Gilda screamed, her voice raw with panic.

She flapped her wings and tried to wrench the spear from Grogar’s grasp, but it was like trying to pull a piece of steel rebar from concrete by main force. Raising his free hand he’d use to throw down Sunset, Grogar curled it slowly into a fist, his lips twisting up into a smirk, then thundered his fist down.

Grey planes of light, flickering and unsteady, caught the descending hammer of his attack in a deep, bass hum of cello strings. Octavia was getting unsteadily to her feet, bracing herself on her cracked cello as she drew the bow along the strings shakily, her body limned with magical light.

Snarling, Grogar threw Gilda, sending her sailing haphazardly away from him as he gripped the planes of light and shredded them apart with brute strength, drawing out a cry of pain from Octavia as her spell was forcefully shattered. He began to raise his hand, drawing out the sickly dark magic in his soul to conjure a killing beam of necromantic force, but a flare of light from Grogar’s side drew his attention.

Abandoning his spell, Grogar sidestepped as a ravening beam of razor thin light scored a furrow into the ground beside him. Two more identical beams flared out and he ducked one, then leaned to the side to avoid the other.

“You’re aim is poor, foal,” Grogar jeered. “Or perhaps my blow to your head simply rattled your wits that badly.”

“My aim was perfect, shit-head,” Sunset snarled.

Then she snapped her arms wide, let out a song-like cry, and the storm-riven sky directly above Grogar split open. The ancient necromancer’s eyes flew wide and he had a split second to glance down and see the triune of interlocking lines his enemy had carved into the ground; a quick, dirty, and very effective thaumic binding circle that left him nailed to the ground flared to life as Sunset infused it with her will and power before calling down the might of her magic.

Grogar roared, bellowing out a wave of power to shatter the seal that was keeping him standing in place, but it was too late. A pillar of searing solar light crashed down from above him just as the seal broke. His fur cooked and scarred, his horns blackened, and he let out a shrieking bray of pain.

Then came the darkness. It boiled out of him like a tidal surge of tar and sickness and, even through the pain of the ravening light, Grogar wove it around himself like a chilling cloak before casting it upward into the pillar. The darkness devoured the light, tunneling upwards like the inevitable encroach of midnight on dusk, until there was nothing left of it.

It had bought Sunset time, though. She landed amongst her friends with Gilda on her heels. Vinyl and Penny were only barely beginning to stand and Adagio was getting to her feet, looking sick as she did so, and her lambent goldenrod aura was beginning to flicker around her again, but weakly. Octavia was breathing hard and only seemed to be standing by virtue of her sturdy instrument as Gilda gave her a silent nod of thanks for the interception she’d managed.

“We’re fucked, Sunshine,” Gilda rasped as she stared at Gorgar’s display of horrific magical strength. “We ain’t got nothin’ like that.”

“We have the Elements,” Sunset replied evenly.

“Not to belabor the obvious, my dear,” Adagio replied testily. “But the Elements are running on fumes right now, thanks to his ritual.”

“Oh believe me, I know,” Sunset countered before glancing back at her team. “And I’ve got a plan… do you trust me?”

The five other girls shared a look, then Gilda chuckled and shook her head in disbelief.

“C’mon, Sunflower,” she said with that wry, cocked grin of hers, then raised her hand in a fist, showing Sunset the back of her hand where the etched symbol of wings enclosing a divided sun glowed like forge-flames. “Do ya even gotta ask?”

Sunset felt her heart swell at the looks of absolute loyalty on her friends’ faces, the trust in their eyes, and tears started to fall.

“Okay,” Sunset said quietly as Grogar banished the remainder of her spell and began reaquiring his bearings. “Then trust me, watch each others backs, stay alive, and after this buy me like… five minutes.”

“You got’em, boss,” Penny snarked, her voice tired but ready.

“Do try not to die, darling,” Octavia quipped as she took a bracing breath and steadied her arm, but Sunset could see the concern in her eyes.

“Take care of each other,” Sunset said as she began turning back to face the scorched-looking Grogar. “And… Gilda…”

“I know, babe,” Gilda said, her cocky grin turning soft and warm. “I love you too… now’n always.”

Sunset nodded, wiped the tears from her cheeks, then steeled herself. She hardened her gaze to a furious glare that was leveled at Grogar and bellowed out a wordless warcry. Her body lit with blazing tattoos of blinding white light, Sunset charged him down with twin solar flares blooming in her fists, her total aggression and recklessness catching the necromancer off-guard for a moment so he only had time for the crudest kind of counterattack.

A beam of dark energy carved through her path, but she veered hard right, releasing the orbs of light and sending them spinning in wild arcs at Grogar.

He roared, smashing one orb out of the air with a fist and taking the other on the meat of his shoulder as he turned his massive frame ponderously to follow Sunset’s rapid flight. His attacks came with brutal speed though, slamming through the air with wrecking-ball strength that carried bruising force in their wake.

Sunset dove and wove gracefully between the attacks, lancing stinging sparks and blasts of power into Grogar, leaving scorched patches of flesh wherever she passed.

“Stay still!” Grogar roared, snapping out one hand to cast a net of brackish coiling power at Sunset that she neatly avoided. “Are you a foal or a fly?!”

“Give up!” Sunset snarled back. “It doesn’t have to be this way Grogar! Even you can come back from the darkness!”

“HAH!”

Grogar brayed a laugh and whipped around at the sound of Sunset’s voice, turning on his cloven hoof in a curiously graceful spiral. Grogar got a split-second glimpse of Sunset’s shocked face before his power wrapped fist slammed into her body, shattering through her defensive enhancements and barrier spells with a sound like breaking glass.

This time he didn’t hold back, Grogar had ceased playing with these lesser creatures, and he leaned the full weight of his strength into the blow.

Sunset shot backward like she’d been fired from a cannon towards the school she’d been caught in front of. Her impact was carried by the sound of exploding masonry, splintering wood, and crumbling drywall as her limp frame punched through the school’s structure.

“SUNSET!” The voices of her friends split through the night as they saw their leader sent away in what looked like a lethal blow.

“Don’t try to redeem me, foal,” Grogar chuckled dryly as he shook his hand out, briefly examining his scorched knuckles where he’d blown through her shielding spells, before they healed over. “I did battle with the power of light back when it was whole.”

A strange sound erupted from somewhere to Grogar’s side like bass strings bellowing from the world’s largest speaker, and a stroke of lightning came at him. In an instant a barrier of black energy was erected between him and the incoming attack but it only took a moment for Grogar to realise his reflexive defense would not be enough.

The ensuing thunderclap shattered every window in Canterlot High, tore through the shield Grogar had raised, and caught him full in the chest, backing him up several meters and leaving blackened furrows in the ground beneath him. Grogar roared and staggered back as pure energy ravaged him in a stream of undiluted power. It passed a moment later, leaving him scorched and smoking, staggering as he shook the lights from his eyes.

In front of him was Gilda, her spear outstretched and crackling, with lines of white energy coiling out from her back and into the right hand of the girl with blue hair and furious red eyes whose left hand had yet more wires that were trailing into the instrument of the girl wielding a bass guitar.

Gilda let out a gasp, and her limbs immediately began quaking with the strain of channeling so much power all at once.

“D-Double Amp is probably a last resort, girls,” Gilda gasped out, “that really hurt.”

“Take a moment,” Adagio said, looking slightly more healthy as she took another breath. “I’ll tag in… Miss Melody? Do back me up, won't you?”

“Always, Miss Dazzle,” Octavia was still shaking slightly, but she matched Adagio’s smirk and stood a little straighter.

A thrum of Penny’s bass sent a thrill of power and adrenaline through Adagio’s frame and the Siren grinned viciously as she rocketed towards Grogar who was still shaking stars from his eyes as electricity sparked between the scorched tips of his horns.

Adagio spiraled around him belting out a high, operatic cry. Goldenrod light erupted out from her and cascaded around Grogar who blinked in confusion as tiny sparks and fireflies of warm light began to orbit him.

“What trickery is-”

His next words were lost in a roar of anguish as the little motes all simultaneously raced into his body and he suffered a perfect repeat of what Gilda had done to him at point-blank range, his body arching as electricity detonated through his body. Another roar of defiance ripped from his throat as he released a massive, disrupting wave of dark magic, purging his body of Adagio’s spell through the pain of the effect, but only barely.

“That…” Gorgar gasped as he found his footing again, “that was a spell-echo…” he fixed his eyes on the gracefully floating form of Adagio who was smiling beatifically at him. “How can you wield such complex magic in this crude place?”

“You thought that was complex?” Adagio asked playfully. “Is that why you’ve been limiting yourself to crude vomitations of power and magically enhanced brute force?”

“The laws governing the arts in this world are different,” Grogar snarled, “what manner of pony are you that you can-”

“BE SILENT, GOAT!” Adagio snarled imperiously, her aura flaring violently. “You are not speaking to some third-circle spellslinger, you stand before Adagio Scyllia Dazzle, Strifebringer, and the last of the true Siren Sorceresses of Coltlantis!” Another cry of operatic magic wove out from her and slithered past Grogar’s defenses.

His lungs began filling with salt water and he gagged, staggering backwards and falling to his knees as he vomiting out seawater in torrents that refused to end while Adagio floated closer.

“I have been in this world for over a thousand years, and unlike you I didn’t sleep through most of it” Adagio said contemptuously. “I’ve had all the time in this world that I needed to learn how magic functions… do not presume to lecture me on the mysteries of magic you two-bit, death-worshiping charlatan!”

Grogar bellowed as he brute-forced through the spell gripping him, spitting out the last of the seawater and charging towards Adagio with his head down and power crackling off of him. Adagio’s eyes widened and she spun out of Grogar’s path as he ripped up the ground around him.

As he passed her, Grogar swung an arm out, nearly clipping Adagio across the chest, but his blow was intercepted by layered planes of gray light that he shattered through. It was enough, though, and Adagio managed to narrowly avoid the strike.

Grogar spat a curse, snapped out a palm towards the gathering of girls, and loosed a flurry of curving bolts made from dark, smoking energy. Gilda charged forward, spinning Huracán, expertly catching three of the bolts on its crackling tip and dispersing them even as Octavia intercepted more of them with planes of light. The rest were blown from the air by a pulse of bass guitar strings funneled from Vinyl’s hands as the two girls amplified one another.

“This is hopeless,” Grogar snarled at Adagio. “You’ll all run dry momentarily… while I still have all the power of an elder demon to draw from, not counting my own considerable strength.” His gleaming red eyes narrowed at the ancient Siren. “Why do you stand by them, Strifebringer? I know your name… I know the ruin you made of Old Equestria… how can you stand as an Heir of Light?”

Adagio’s harsh look softened for a moment, then she smiled.

“Because Sunset wasn’t lying when she said anyone can be called back from darkness,” she replied with a shrug. “And because I want more for my sisters than the ignominious decay of failure and defeat that you are destined for.”

“I’m curious how you reckon that, Strifebringer,” Grogar asked with a chuckle before waving a hand at the other girls. “Look at them… they’re exhausted… barely standing and nearly dry of magic with only the wells of their Elements keeping them alive, and a master sorceress you may be,” he allowed, now gesturing at Adagio, “but you will reach your limit soon, while I could endure all day.”

“You’ve left one variable out of your equation, Necromancer,” Adagio said with a small smirk.

She could feel an upwelling of power beneath the earth, some great working of the magical arts was building up steam and her senses were beginning to prickle.

“Oh?” Grogar smiled back as he stood and aimed a hand at her that was filled with crackling black energy. “Do tell.”

“Didn’t you wonder why Sunset never came out of the school?” Adagio asked brightly.

Grogar stared at her for several moments, then his eyes widened and he spun around to face the school with a snarled curse. He had barely finished turning when a wave of power rolled out from beneath the school and over the field surrounding Canterlot High.

~Approximately Five Minutes Ago~

Sunset Shimmer threw the collapsed rubble and drywall off of her, gasping for breath before groaning in pain as her entire body reported back to her that it was one entire bruise. Her jaw clicked and she was at least relatively certain she’d either cracked or broken a few ribs as she floated back into the air. Coughing up a spatter of blood, Sunset tensed as she waited to see if Grogar called her bluff.

If he pursued her into the school then her gambit was screwed.

He didn’t, and Sunset let out a slow breath as she sent of prayer of thanks to her friends whom she could hear causing trouble outside in the form of muffled explosions and one building-rattling crack of thunder.

“Nice one, Gil,” Sunset murmured, then looked around and began thinking. “Okay, Sunset… think, think, think… he invoked a ritual that turned the school into a magical lightning rod, funneling magic down to him… down! Magic flows downward!”

She stared down at the floor beneath her and swore.

“The basement!” Sunset spat, “of course it was the basement! I’m so stupid!”

Stretching her arms out to either side of her, Sunset spat narrow beams of superheated light down and spun in place. A clean circle of concrete and flooring fell down into the basement below and Sunset followed it a moment later, shedding soft sunlight from her hands as she flitted around the lower level, looking for any signs of Storm’s working.

It took better than two minutes to find the secluded corner, and that was only because Sunset knew what to look for. A cursory glance might not have spotted the scorched symbols on the filthy concrete floor, but her eyes picked out the unpleasant, curling runes that had been carved into the stone underneath the patina of scorched dust.

“THERE!” Sunset stared down at the section of concrete that made up the main magical circle.

Her eyes roved over it and Sunset forced herself to take her time. She had to trust her friends to take care of themselves and keep Grogar’s titanic ego occupied long enough to ensure he wouldn’t give too much thought on why she hadn’t gotten back up yet.

“Got it,” Sunset muttered, her face splitting into a satisfied grin.

Snapping her palms out she cleansed the filth from the floor that was covering the symbol, then went to work adjusting, changing, and repairing the circle until it was in the configuration she wanted.

“I can’t just funnel everything like Storm did… I can’t risk siphoning any of Arabus’ tainted power into the Elements…” Sunset muttered to herself, her gaze dancing over the multiple runes on the walls and adjusting those as well with sparks and beams of light that spat from her finger like a magical arc-welder. “Gotta make it selective… funnel in the pure magic, sieve out the dark magic… leaving him with his own strength won’t matter if I can just re-engage the Elements themselves!”

“Change the function,” Sunset recited as she darted around the basement, making sure she accounted for every single carved rune, “tighten the variable thaumic range, add an exception a~nd…. YAHTZEE!”

Flitting back to the central circle Sunset grinned viciously and began bleeding power into the circle, closing it and beginning the ritual.

“Time to start the engine,” Sunset said, laughing a little. “Let’s see how you like getting a silly straw stuck into your wellspring, goat-boy.”

She felt the power begin to build and seconds later energy began flooding into her, and Sunset shot forward to make her way out of the basement.

It was time to end this.

~Present~

Standing at the wrecked entrance of the school, Sunset Shimmer floated with her arms outstretched and a look of fury on her face.

A beam of ravening black power erupted from Grogar’s hand but before it made it halfway to Sunset the coiling energy began distorting, twisting, and then dispersing into the air as an invisible vortex of energy began pulling it apart. The constituent energy bled away from beam and seemed to drain back down into the school, and Sunset glowed a little brighter.

“Did you forget that I’m a genius, asshole?” Sunset roared as she pulled in a waterfall of ambient energy, and suddenly the emblazoned symbol of her Element erupted into a furious light. “Your ritual wasn’t so complicated, and you left it all right there on the basement floor for me!”

“NO!” Grogar thundered, as what looked like smoke began issuing from his body. “NO! You worthless, insignificant little insect! You cannot-!”

Light of all colors poured out around Grogar, and he turned with wide eyes to see the other girls all erupting into light in turn, each one’s Element flaring into life as their magic began funneling back into them from their connection to Sunset Shimmer as she drank back in the stolen power that was now leaking from Grogar.

“Grogar,” Sunset said calmly as she began floating into the air, and moments later the other girls began to finding their places alongside her in a slow kind of orbit. “I made you an offer of redemption and you spat it back at me, now it’s time to give the other one in there with you a chance… girls, let’s do this.”

Sunset stretched out a hand to Grogar who, for the first time since he had awoken, looked truly afraid. He took two steps back, but made it no further as the eyes of each of the six girls turned white with incandescent power, each one contributing a blaze of color that poured into Sunset and then out of her in a torrent of prismatic light.

“NO!” Grogar shrieked again, raising his arms and conjuring a thick, ablative shield of black light in a futile gesture. “I WAS SO CLOSE! I WAS SO-”

The light shattered his defense like tissue paper and slammed into him, bleeding through his corrupted body. All at once it was as though there were two figures standing in the midst of the torment of light, each overlayed on top of one another, the wolf-lean figure of Storm King and the twisting, ugly, emaciated abomination that was Grogar’s true body.

“Storm!” Sunset cried out to the human ganglord. “You have to let go of him! Just let go of him!”

“N-No!” Storm snarled, then he gasped as his face twisted in an insane rictus of hate. “I won’t… let ye… take… my p-power… from…”

The light of the Elements was clearly trying to separate the two of them, the human and the unnatural sorcerer, but impossibly it was both Grogar and Storm who weren’t letting go of their venomous link.

“It ain’t yours pops!” Gilda snapped. “Y’gotta let it fuckin’ go, savvy? You ain’t gettin’ outta this one! Please! Just let it go!”

“SHUT UP!” Storm screamed, his ghostly hands still wildly grasping for the strands of power that were bleeding out of him. “I’M STORM KING! STORM KING! I’M THE BLOODY-!”

All at once the voices of Storm and Grogar merged again in a high, keening howl as the light consumed their forms entirely. Sunset flinched away along with the rest of the girls, holding out arms to shield their eyes as the Elements of Harmony judged the two soul-bound sorcerers in front of them.

When the light faded and the girls lowered their arms Grogar was gone, and standing in his place was a statue of marble shot through with thick veins of black. The statue was tall and twisted, and Sunset grimaced at it as she and the girls descended back to the staircase.

It was Storm King, his arms up, his hands grasping and curled in arthritic claws, and his face frozen in that insane snarl of madness and hatred. The horns of a ram curled out from his temples, and one of his eyes was human while the other was the narrow bar of a goat. He still wore his rough linen shirt, come slightly undone in the fight and ragged with scorched holes and damage, and suspended from his neck, cast in stone, was a small, brass bell.

“Ah… pops…” Gilda sagged slightly as she staggered over to him, leaning heavily on Huracán. “All ya… all ya had to do was…”

Sunset put an a hand on her shoulder as she floated over to her girlfriend, a look of sadness on her face. “We tried, babe… it was his choice.”

Gilda sniffled, nodding as she wiped at her eyes. “Y-yeah… I know… but fuck, I guess it was stupid t’hope he might… y’know?”

“Not stupid…” Sunset said quietly, floating around to face her and pulling her into a warm embrace. “You wanted him to be better than he was but, sometimes, people just aren’t.”

Nodding, Gilda let her tears flow as she buried her face in Sunset’s shoulder, her own shoulders silently shaking as she let it out. Moments later four more pairs of arms went around her as the Elements of Harmony leaned against one another, their bodies wracked with pain and exhaustion, but flushed with victory.

~Canterlot High, May 4th, Morning~

Outside the windows of Principal Celestia’s office the sounds of construction could be heard. Men and women milled about cleaning up and prepping for the larger scale of work that would be needed to get the school back into working order. Fortunately an anonymous donation had been made to the school about twelve hours prior that paid for more than just the rebuilding costs.

“So in the end he just wouldn’t let go of the power he’d gotten, no matter what,” Sunset finished, sighing as she leaned back in her wheelchair. “Storm was so obsessed with his magic, with his power, that even in the face of the Elements he was totally blind.”

“Some people are,” Chrysalis replied evenly. “You see it in petty dictatorships and corrupt officials all the time… even if it flies in the face of all logic and reason they still do anything, no matter how insane, to hold onto their power.”

Sunset nodded at that, but everyone knew that she was still a little angry that it had played out that way, though.

It was the day after the Battle of Canterlot High, as it was starting to be called, and school had for obvious reasons been canceled. Regardless, Sunset and Gilda had been asked to meet with the Sonen sisters and Chrysalis to explain what precisely had happened over the course of the fight itself, since they had evacuated along with all of the students and staff from both Crystal Prep and Canterlot High long before Storm had ever shown his face. They had all gathered in the faculty conference room and were seated around one of the long tables that had somehow survived the punishment the school had taken during the fight.

Sunset sat at the head of the table in her wheelchair with Gilda seated dutifully beside her, and both girls looked harrowed and exhausted, with bags under their eyes and a kind of weary slowness to their movements. Gilda particularly looked worn incredibly thin to the point that she wasn’t even moving her prosthetic arm, claiming the magic it took to power it was just too much at the moment. Principal Celestia and Chrysalis sat beside each other near the other end of the table, while Luna sat at Celestia’s left munching on a donut she had procured from somewhere.

Gilda wore her usual t-shirt and jeans, with her father’s bomber jacket pulled snug over her, and her left had was clad in her talon that clicked as she tapped a clawed finger on the table. The symbol of her Element gleamed in burnished red and bronze on the back of her hand. Sunset was wearing her teal dress, and had her tumbling mess of red-and-gold hair that she clearly hadn’t had the energy to tame tucked partially under her orange beanie. A new addition to her ensemble, however, was a choker of light blue silk that was around her neck, and at her throat a jeweled divided sun symbol done in ruby and topaz rested. Her hand had settled over Gilda’s gauntleted arm comfortably, occasionally giving it a reassuring squeeze.

“May I ask what happened to Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust?” Celestia asked quietly. “Are they alright?”

“They will be,” Sunset assured them. “My mother had them taken over to Equestria to be treated for the damage that ‘Midnight’ inflicted on their minds,” the image of Twilight overriding their wills still turned Sunset’s stomach. “Princess Twilight claims to know of an expert on the subject of mental compulsion who will be treating their symptoms and ensuring they recover safely.”

“What of their parents and guardians?” Luna asked, narrowing her eyes, but Sunset shook her head and nodded to Chrysalis instead.

“Ah, right, I’ve been taking care of that,” Chrysalis put in. “I spoke to both Dust Off, Lightning’s grandmother, and Rainbow Blaze, Dash’s father, and explained the matter to them inasmuch as I could.”

“Which was how much?” Celestia asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Not nearly enough for their liking,” Chrysalis replied wryly. “But it was enough to assuage them… I had to bring them in on the whole ‘magic’ angle, though, so I’ll be keeping an eye on them to make sure they don’t spill the beans.” The dark-skinned woman shook her head ruefully. “Magic… what a righteous mess, at least Dust Off knows the whole military routine, so I’m reasonably certain she’ll keep her mouth shut.”

“They’ll be okay, though,” Gilda said quietly. “Sparks promised us they would, and she ain’t ever let us down.”

“Plus,” Sunset added, “they’ll be kept in a magically induced sleep state for the period of time that they’re on the other side of the portal.”

“Probably for the best,” Chrysalis agreed. “I hate to ask this but… what about him?”

Sunset sighed.

The statue of Storm/Grogar was currently hidden away in the basement but it wasn’t exactly a permanent solution. Sunset didn’t have the resources of an entire kingdom and its immortal ruler at her beck and call the way Twilight did with Princess Celestia. She barely even had magic to call on, and she wasn’t one hundred percent certain it would be enough to contain a being as powerful as Grogar.

And she certainly didn’t want to risk sending the statue through the portal. That seemed like a recipe for absolute disaster.

Besides, the Elements of Harmony weren’t tools of death or destruction. The mind of Grogar, that ancient evil, was still in there along with, unfortunately, the mind of Storm King. All of that meant Sunset needed a place to keep him and they couldn’t exactly put him on the front lawn.

“I… might have a solution to that,” Sunset admitted after a moment, rubbing her arm awkwardly. “But it’s gonna sound a little crazy.”

Luna raised an eyebrow. “Miss Shimmer, you just fought an apocalyptic battle of sorcery and demons on the front lawn of I and my sister’s public high school,” she gestured towards the school entrance with a flat stare. “I think we’ve sprinted past the bar of ‘crazy’ at this point.”

“Agreed,” Celestia said, rolling her eyes and took Chrysalis’ hand. “Lay out your plan.”

Gilda chuckled and elbowed Sunset gently. “Yeah babe, go on and tell’em what ya wanna do to their school.”

That got both Luna and Celestia’s attention.

“O-Okay, well,” Sunset began, awkwardly wringing her hands. “You know how the Sirens are funding the rebuilding of the school?”

“Y~es,” Celestia said in a tone of deep suspicion.

“Well… I might have helped Sonata and Adagio draft up the blueprints they’re working off of,” Sunset explained, laughing a little nervously. “They’re going to be expanding a basement a little, and restructuring some of the foundations in a more… ‘geometrically advantageous’ configuration.”

Celestia and Luna stared at her with blank expressions, but Chrysalis just started laughing.

“Oh, my, god,” Chrysalis gasped, “a-are you turning your high school into a prison for magical entities?”

“Just the basement!” Sunset replied with a painfully weak smile. “It’s not like we have anywhere else to put him! And it’s a lot safer than moving him!”

“What, precisely,” Celestia groaned, “are you doing to my school?”

“It’s not that bad, Auntie,” Sunset replied, raising her hands placatingly. “I’m just sort of replicating some of the structural advantages of my mom’s arcane academy… it’ll help guide and channel magic more safely and we’ll be able to use it to contain things that… y’know… might be dangerous.”

Luna raised an eyebrow. “Things?”

“Aha,” Chrysalis said after a moment. “You think there are more dangers out there, don’t you?”

Sunset shrugged. “I mean… it seems reasonable, right?”

“Yeah,” Gilda chimed in, “apparently my pops had that bell for a while before magic came in and screwed stuff up, there might be a buncha other stuff around.”

“Right!” Sunset added, “and with the magic that our fight let off into the atmosphere, those things have an exponentially greater chance of waking up… not to mention possible… uh…”

This time it was Chrysalis’ turn to sit up and fix Sunset with an even look.

“Why do I get the feeling I’m not gonna like what you’re about to say,” she asked, narrowing her eyes.

“Heh… w-well,” Sunset laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. “T-there’s a better than even chance that, considering the amount of magic that we released, some real human practitioners, like Storm was, might crop up.”

“Well shit,” Chrysalis spat, leaning back in her chair and sighing. “My superiors are gonna love this field report: possible magical threats incoming, eta in ‘who the fuck knows’?” Sighing, she leaned against the table and shook her head, then stopped, and looked up at Sunset with suspicion. “And you suspected this would be the case, didn’t you? That’s why you’re working with those girls to rebuild the school.”

Sunset looked away from them, but nodded faintly.

“I wanted to be prepared for anything that might happen,” she explained quietly as Gilda put a supportive arm over her. “There’s no telling what might come up next, and there’s no way to get any official acknowledgement of something like this… so we needed an edge, a bastion we can operate from.”

Chrysalis smirked.

“Oh no,” Celestia held up her hands in an ‘x’, “no, Chryssi, I am not letting you go along with this, you are not co-opting my high school! If you try and turn it into some kind of counter-magical wetworks operation and if you try I will throw you into the wall until I snap your other leg!”

“Auntie please!” Sunset pleaded. “I know it’s not fair, but this is ground zero, Canterlot, and the surrounding area, is going to get more dangerous with this level of magical saturation!”

Before Celestia could answer, Luna put a hand on her sister’s shoulder and met Sunset’s eyes. “How dangerous?”

“Very,” Sunset continued, looking concerned. “I’ve already discussed it a little with Adagio, and the level of magic we’ve filled the air with here will definitely wake up any dormant artifacts nearby, and could easily cause people who might have a natural aptitude for magic to start generating real talent.” Sunset wrapped her arms around herself and looked stricken for a moment. “Please… I can’t put this parasprite back in its cage but I can try and mitigate the damage, okay? This is half my fault so please… let me try to help!”

Celestia sighed, burying her face in her hands as she blew out a breath and counted to ten.

“Alright,” she said, finally, “let’s figure out how we’re going to do this.”

“Y’know when I joined in on this,” Chrysalis said, still smirking, “I didn’t foresee it leading to me getting in on the ground floor of the first counter-magical organization.”

“It doesn’t have to be counter-magic,” Sunset said with a smile that was quickly warming as she put her hand over Gilda’s. “This is a school, right? So instead of trying to suppress magic, maybe… maybe we can start teaching people to control it.”

Celestia looked up, a light entering her eyes for the first time since the start of their dire conversation, and even Luna looked markedly more interested.

“A school?” Celestia muttered, turning to meet her sister’s eyes. “A school of magic?”

“Not openly, of course,” Chrysalis said, shaking her head. “But for kids who get caught up in this whirlwind… that doesn’t sound like a bad idea.”

“But how?” Celestia pressed the issue, but Sunset could tell she was hooked on the idea.

“My mother has her own school remember?” Sunset replied, the optimism growing in her voice. “I figure we’ll start with a basic education and then… see where it goes. Adagio is already on board since she knows more about controlling magic on this world than anyone else.”

“It will be dangerous,” Luna said with a touch of concern, “but I agree that it’s probably our best course of action.”

“Plus we got us, still,” Gilda put in, breaking her silence. “The Elements, remember? If anyone goes off the deep end like my pops and sister did we can get’em back in line.”

“Speaking of,” Celestia interjected. “How are those two girls?”

Gilda sagged a little.

“Zee still ain’t woken up,” she admitted, “but Doc Tourniquet says she’s stable and it’s only a matter’a time… Adagio and her sisters are checking in on her now and again.”

“And Twilight?” Luna asked, her voice gentle.

“Completely comatose,” Sunset replied grimly. “She was saturated with dark magic, far more than anyone I’ve ever seen come back from, but harmony-willing the seed I planted in her mind will bring her back to us.” She debated not going on, but that wouldn’t have been fair or honest. “But… it might be a long time,” Sunset admitted, “and her body isn’t in great condition anymore either… the dark magic left her broken and she’ll probably need a lot of help for the rest of her life.”

“How so?” Celestia asked, her voice sad.

“Her immune system is shot,” Sunset replied angrily, and everyone could hear it. “She might have some memory issues early on too… I’m not sure if the effects are the same on this side as they are over in Equestria either, but if they are…” Sunset closed her eyes for a moment, gathering herself before pushing forward. “If they are then she’ll suffer from things like paranoia, bouts of forgetfulness, even psychotic breaks… but I’m hoping the seed I planted will mitigate most of that.”

“What about Zee?” Gilda asked, her mouth set in a hard line.

Sunset relaxed a little. “Fortunately the news is better there… as it turns out she was insulated from a lot of the worst effects by the armbands,”

“How so?” Luna looked curious as she leaned forward. “She seemed worse than any of the others for a while.”

“But it was all Arabus’s latent consciousness,” Sunset explained. “And Zee never let Arabus fully into her mind except at the very end, so the damage was minor. It seemed bad, but there was always a partition between Zee and the Demon, and when Grogar killed what was left of it… it ended the effect on Zee’s mind entirely.”

Gilda let out a relieved breath. “Thank fuck f’that.”

“Good to know,” Chrysalis agreed.

“Any other casualties?” Luna asked.

“Well, Abacus Cinch is in traction,” Chrysalis replied dryly. “Apparently that blast nearly killed her.”

“My heart is truly broken,” Celestia said in an utterly arid tone of voice. “I also understand she’s under investigation for child abuse regarding her daughter, Sunny.”

The mood at the table darkened considerably, and Sunset expression turned nasty.

“Yeah, someone may or may not have tipped off certain elements of the police by providing magically produced recordings,” Sunset said in a neutral tone. “Too bad we’ll never know how that happened.”

“Mm, yes, too bad,” Chrysalis replied with a smirk. “I should mention also that Sunny Flare has yet to leave Miss Sparkle’s side, save for necessities… is she…?”

Sunset sighed.

“Her mind has the residual scarring effects of mental magic, yeah,” Sunset confirmed, which got a grimace from the table. “But it wasn’t as bad as Rainbow’s and Lightning’s, honestly.”

“How is that possible?” Celestia asked, her brow furrowed in confusion. “Twilight only controlled Miss Dash and Miss Dust once, right? She must have been controlling Sunny for months.”

“I don’t think she was, actually,” Sunset admitted, shrugging. “There was some residual scarring, like I said, but it was old and mostly healed… in fact, I’m pretty sure Sunny was just that crazy to start with, or close to it… which was probably her mom’s doing.”

“God I hate that wretched woman,” Luna spat. “What a horrible creature.”

“So long as she’s not going to crack, that’s all I care about,” Chrysalis replied, waving her hand slightly. “Magical side-effects are kind of out of my jurisdiction… either way, though, I’ll check in on her and Miss Sparkle from time to time and keep you all updated.”

“We’d appreciate that, Chryssi,” Celestia said warmly as she took the woman’s hand in her own. “So… back to the prior topic: a school of magic, huh?”

“Not just a school,” Sunset said, a touch of her old pride coming back to her voice. “The first school in this whole world.”

“What’ll we call it?” Gilda asked, “can’t exactly keep callin’ it ‘Canterlot High School’, I mean… it’ll be that but it won’t be just that.”

“Well, it’ll still be my school, but you called it a bastion right?” Celestia began, meeting Sunset’s gaze, and the girl nodded cautiously. “A bastion… Bastion Academy of the Arcane has a nice ring to it, I think, don’t you, sister?”

Luna smirked and nodded along with Celestia. “I like it, any objections?”

There weren’t, and Sunset grinned brightly at the two educators who were actually getting into this.

“No objections,” Sunset said happily. “Bastion Academy… that sounds perfect.”

~Canterlot Heights, May 5th, Early Evening~

The sounds of a cello filled the large living room of the Siren’s mansion in the Heights, and the smells of good food permeated the air. The low chatter of friendly conversation was a dull thrum in the air as the saviors of Canterlot took a much needed rest from their trials.

There were three long couches, a handful of easy chairs and loveseats, and the coffee tables interspersed between them had plates of food and drink set out on them.

For a gathering of teenagers in high school, the Sirens notwithstanding, the atmosphere was curiously subdued, but with the chaos of the last few months having finally been put to rest all of them had agreed that a quieter evening would be just what the doctor ordered. Octavia had been pleased to take the opportunity to play for pleasure rather than for purpose, and had taken up one of the large easy chairs with her cello and contented herself with filling the air with music. Vinyl was seated beside her girlfriend, shades off, eyes closed, and headphones down and around her neck as she listened to the calming music.

Adagio sat nearby, her eyes occasionally drifting over to meet Octavia’s and sharing small smiles between them.

Sunset Shimmer, for her part, spent most of the evening in a comfortable doze sitting on Gilda’s lap, with Penny and Helden sharing the couch with them. Penny had her bass perched in her lap and would join her bass strings to the cello’s own deep voice every so often in short bursts of harmony that would occasionally be joined by Adagio’s sultry contralto, Aria’s golden tenor, and Sonata’s rich soprano.

Hours passed from afternoon and into the early evening, with most of the group simply sitting about contentedly, conversation flickering around subjects that had nothing to do with magic, demons, apocalypses, or the events that had most recently occurred at the school.

Which meant someone had to break the ice eventually.

“We did it, babe,” Sunset murmured softly as she watched the horizon turn a warm, smoky orange. “It’s finally over.”

“Yeah, we did…” Gilda replied quietly, her eyes half closed as she leaned her head on Sunset’s. “We made it out the other side… all in one piece, too.”

Sunset chuckled.

“Well, mostly…” The redhead patted both her legs and Gilda’s prosthetic arm. “But yeah… we’re all here… and we did it.”

“You did it, I think you mean,” Adagio said from where she was curled up on a chaise lounge like a model from the twenties. “Without you we’d have all perished.”

“Hear, hear,” Octavia agreed, waving her bow emphatically, to which Vinyl cracked and eye and gave a thumbs up, while Penny nodded judiciously from beside Sunset and Gilda.

“We all did it,” Sunset countered, “and I’m not just being self-effacing… that’s literally what the Elements are about, after all.”

“Speaking of which,” Adagio put in, “your Element is one I’m still not clear on… it’s what? Forgiveness?”

“Seems about right,” Aria laughed, taking a long sip of wine as she did.

Sunset shook her head, though, as she brought a hand up to toy with her Element where it hung from her choker.

“It’s not forgiveness, it’s Redemption,” Sunset clarified.

“Okay…” Sonata raised an eyebrow as she took a long pull of her gin and tonic. “But like… what’s the difference? Seems like one means the other pretty much.”

“They’re close, but the intent is different,” Sunset said firmly. “Forgiveness comes from others more than it does ourselves, I mean sure we can ‘forgive ourselves’, but it’s more than that…” Sunset gave Gilda a wordless look and Gilda reached a hand up and undid Sunset’s choker for her, and Sunset held it up. “Redemption isn’t an act… it’s a commitment… it’s a journey and a path, one you might spend your entire life walking down.”

“But why is it the main Element for this world?” Penny asked, still idly strumming her bass.

“Because… humans need it as badly as ponies need Magic,” Sunset replied, turning the Element in her hands to stare into it. “We make so many mistakes, and we do so much harm… but Redemption can always find us somewhere along the way.” Looking up, Sunset smiled at her friends, and a bloom of warmth opened in her heart for a moment as they all smiled at her. “Humans are sort of baseline crappy, y’know? It sucks but at the same time… damn it we try so hard not to be!”

“Hear, hear,” Gilda echoed Octavia dryly, earning a chuckle from the others.

“Seriously, though!” Sunset pressed, her voice rising. “We make so many stupid mistakes, and hurt so many people… what would it mean if we couldn’t redeem ourselves?” That sobered the group a little, and the Sirens especially looked thoughtful. “But we can, with Loyalty, Generosity, Laughter, Honesty, and Kindness we can find a way back from darkness and pain…” Sunset closed her hands over her Element and pressed it to her heart. “We can find Redemption, even if we’re never forgiven.”

Aria, Sonata, and Adagio turned to look at one another, each of them sharing smiles as they reached out and took each other’s hands. Sunset felt her heart warm at the sight of the sisters, once enemies, now the staunchest of allies.

“Hey, if a thug like me gets it I figure we all got a shot, right?” Gilda said with a laugh.

“I’m fairly certain we Sirens hold the gold medal for terrible mistakes,” Adagio countered to the laughter of the room. “But… yes, I suppose your words make sense, Sunset.”

“Everything is going to change, isn’t it?” Penny said suddenly, her eyes taking on a distant quality. “The magic… the power we’ve been swinging around… it’s going to change everything.”

“Yeah, it is,” Sunset replied. “But we’ll all be here, together, for every moment of it.”

“But nothing’s changing tonight,” Octavia said, finally opening her eyes and lifting her bow from her cello. “Tonight we’re all here to remember that there’s more than just fighting… there’s victory… and there’s peace.”

Sunset laughed a little. “Seriously, I’m telling you, Tavi, you shoulda been born a princess, you’d be aces in Equestria.”

“I could never leave the love I’ve found on this side of the portal, I’m afraid,” Octavia replied wryly, leaning over to kiss Vinyl. “And besides, were I a princess I imagine I’d have hardly any time to play my cello.”

“Too right,” Adagio agreed, “and we can’t be having that.”

The conversation settled into a more comfortable silence for another half hour as everyone in the household shared smiles. Aria was looking increasingly restless, however, enough so that she eventually sat up and let out a huffing snort of annoyance.

“Hey ‘Dagi, you gonna tell’em at some point tonight, or am I?” Aria asked, her voice wry, and Adagio stiffened. “You said you would, and it’s been hours.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Tell us what?”

“C’mon, ‘Dagi,” Sonata pushed, nudging her ribs.

Adagio rolled her eyes and sank back into the couch looking pensive for several moments before nodding to her sisters and looking out to address the group.

“I… suppose now is a good time to mention something,” Adagio began uneasily. “Which is that… following Storm’s consumption of all magic… we, the Sirens, are no longer immortal.”

“What?!” Sunset sat up looking stunned, and silence descended on the group.

“It was a spell,” Aria explained, “between Adagio and Sonata the three of us got to live pretty much forever by funneling some of our feeding magic into our lifespans.”

“But the spell was broken,” Sonata chimed in, “or, I guess… technically it was eaten.”

“Can’t you recast it?” Octavia asked worriedly.

The three sisters shared an uneasy look.

“Maybe,” Adagio replied, “but…”

“We’re not sure we wanna,” Aria answered for her big sister, earning more stunned looks. “What? It’s not that weird.”

“You’re basically choosing to die,” Penny said dryly. “What’s not weird about that?”

“Well, technically we should’ve died like, yonks ago,” Sonata said with a nervous laugh. “Like, a long time ago… right? Plus… we don’t even know if it’s possible to cast the spell here, and even if it is we’re not sure we have the juice for it.”

“It would take years, possibly decades, to redesign the spell to operate within the laws of this world’s magical system,” Adagio replied with a shrug, “and that’s assuming it’s even possible to do so, like Sonata said.”

“Which means we might end up spending decades working on a pointless-ass spell,” Aria replied in an arid voice. “A spell that may or may not even work, and… y’know… even if it does…”

“It means we’ll have to lose all of you!” Sonata cried, her voice choking up a little. “A-and… and I don’t wanna do that!”

Sunset’s jaw dropped open as she watched the three ancient Sirens look very determinedly in any direction but the rest of the group, and she could see tears in their eyes.

“I-it was one thing when the spell was permanent,” Adago said, her voice thick with emotion, “but p-purposefully recreating it only to go back to watching all of our friends and loved ones die of old age just…”

“I ain’t doin’ it,” Aria said stiffly. “Not again… I ain’t living like a fucking parasite again, and I’m sure as fuck not gonna spend another fucking millennium watching every friend I ever made or make turn to literal dust.”

“Me neither!” Sonata cried, her tears finally falling. “I’m not gonna stay young and just watch all of you wither away! I’m tired of it! I’m so… I’m so tired of losing people!”

“So… that’s the consensus, as you can see,” Adagio said, her shoulders giving a heave every now and again as she fought against her own tears. A battle she was losing as one trickled down her cheeks every now and then. “None of us are willing to waste decades of our lives in magical experimentation for the sole purpose of once more isolating ourselves for the rest of eternity… it’s just too much.”

Only Octavia noticed that Adagio had been looking at her when she’d said the words.

“So… you're all mortal then, huh?” Sunset said, wiping away at her eyes. “That’s it? Just like that?”

“I assure you the decision wasn’t made easily,” Adagio half-growled. “But… yes, mortal once more, for the first time in ages.”

“Actual ages,” Aria added.

“What does that mean, then?” Penny asked quietly. “Does it change anything?”

“Not really,” Adagio replied. “We’ll have to take a more active role in preparing for the future since we eventually won’t be in it, but…”

“We just wanted you all to know,” Sonata said with a smile. “We’re one of you now, for realsies… and it actually feels kinda good.”

“Who knows, we might actually start families,” Aria said with a laugh. “I always kinda wanted a rugrat or two, I just never wanted to outlive’em.”

That got a lot of people talking.

Penny seemed thrilled at the idea of her friends wanting kids, and she and Helden both began talking excitedly about their own plans. Penny, with the Sirens’ help, had officially gotten out from under her mother’s thumb, and Adagio had ensured she could finish her schooling at Crystal Prep.

“Everything really has changed, huh?” Sunset said in a quiet voice, leaning back against Gilda as she did.

“Is that a bad thing?” Adagio asked as she took another sip of her drink. “Change is good right?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Sunset admitted. “Just… a little scary I guess.”

Vinyl let out a huffing laugh before signing. ‘Scary? Sure, but that’s what friends are for, right?’

Sunset smiled warmly.

“Yeah, I guess they are…” her eyes roved over her friends, all of them, and nodded. “No, I’m sure of it.”

It was late in the evening, and the slowly cooling night air brushed past Sunset as she stared out over the city of Canterlot from where she was sitting on the west balcony of the Sirens’ home. Sunset had left the slowly dispersing group about an hour ago to sit on the balcony, right at the edge, and lean her arms against the bannister as she watched the sun sink all the way beneath the horizon and the moon come into its full brilliance. Most of the others were asleep, taking up the sisters’ many guest rooms, and the fullness of the home had led Sonata to cheerfully inviting everyone to just live there together.

As appealing as that had sounded, Sunset hadn’t been sure she wanted to leave her and Gilda’s little apartment. It was nice, having a small, personal space. Plus they had so many memories there… she knew they’d move out eventually but it was nice to savor it while it lasted, even if the insulation was bad and the floors were a little dirty.

“It’s finally over, huh?” Gilda’s voice said from behind Sunset.

Sunset looked over her shoulder at the young woman she’d fallen so deeply in love with, and smiled. Gilda’s own smile was as cocky as ever, a little lopsided and arrogant, but charming. Her dark skin was lovely under the starlight, and her beautiful white hair, getting long now as the months passed, was wavering in the gentle breeze.

“Yes and no,” Sunset replied. “I mean… we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.”

Gilda walked up to the edge of the balcony where Sunset was seated and leaned next to her. She’d let Sunset have some time alone, she knew when her girlfriend needed it, just like she knew how Sunset hated for her to be out of arm's reach for more than an hour.

“You okay?” Gilda asked.

“For certain definitions of the word,” Sunset replied, nodding a little. “I think it’ll be a long time before I process everything… so much has happened.”

“Yeah, savvy,” Gilda replied with a harsh laugh. “Hard to imagine not too long ago we were sittin’ on that pile’a junk behind the school smoking cigarettes and avoidin’ everybody.”

“I miss that old junk pile,” Sunset said in mock wistfulness.

“Pretty sure the construction crew cleaned up,” Gilda replied with a laugh.

“Tragic,” Sunset said lightly.

Gilda pulled a crumpled pack of cigarettes from her coat pocket and shook a couple out, passing one to Sunset and tucking the other between her lips. In her other hand she took a pair of matches, struck them, lit her cigarette, then leaned down to Sunset who angled her head up til the tips of the rolled tubes touched.

Taking a deep breath, Sunset let the flame pass between them, then looked back over the skyline.

“I should really quit smoking one of these days,” Sunset idly as she blew out a breath of the pungent smoke. “It’s awful for me.”

“I’ll quit whenever you do,” Gilda said around her own cigarette, smoke leaking from her lips and giving her a vaguely draconic look.

Sunset chuckled quietly before taking another breath and blowing out a ring of grey ash and vapor.

“Yeah… I figured you’d say that.”

“Gonna quit, then?” Gilda asked, not looking down at Sunset.

“Mm… eventually,” Sunset allowed, a faint smiling curving her lips.

“Not today though?”

Sunset laughed, and spirals of grey smoke spilled out from between her lips as she did before she took the tube out and shook some of the spent ash from its lit end.

“Nah,” Sunset replied. “Not today.”

The warm, late spring wind cascaded over the pair of girls as they watched the night expand its dominion, and Sunset reached out to take Gilda’s hand as they stood in silence. The world was quieter than it had been in months, for Sunset at least. For so long, ever since the events of the Fall Formal, it was like everything had been happening all at once. In just over half a year her entire world-view had been shaken, shattered, and rebuilt no less than twice, maybe three or four times depending on who was counting.

She glanced up at Gilda and had the thought that maybe one of those times hadn’t been all that bad.

“Bit for your thoughts?” Sunset asked playfully.

Gilda chuckled around her slowly smoldering cigarette.

“Eh… just kinda feelin’ lost now, I guess,” Gilda replied. “Like… I ain’t even sure what to do with myself anymore, savvy?”

“Go back to fixing cars?” Sunset suggested, an impish smile on her face.

“Yeah, I guess,” Gilda admitted, shrugging. “But… what about the Elements? What about all that magic crap we talked to the Principals and the scary-ass government broad about? What’s it all mean?”

“It means,” Sunset said wryly, “that we’re still kids… still teenagers… and we deserve to live our lives the way we want to.”

“So long as I’m living my life with you, babe?” Gilda said, her voice becoming serious as she turned and knelt at Sunset’s side, taking one of her hands in her wide, warm palm. “So long as we’re in this together? Then I’m pretty much good with whatever you want… you’re all I’ll ever need.”

Sunset blushed heavily as she turned her chair to face Gilda, letting the larger girl’s hands envelope both of hers. Her heart was thundering in her ears, and she knew she wasn’t going to get a better moment to bring up the subject that had been sitting in the back of her mind for the past few days.

“A-and… if I said I…” Sunset swallowed heavily, and Gilda cocked her head and grinned at the nervous look on Sunset’s face. “I-If I said… that I’d thought about what you mentioned a few months back?”

“What’s that?” Gilda asked, crooking one eyebrow up.

“Y-Y’know, before we left for Las Pegasus?” Sunset said sheepishly. “About… about maybe having kids one day?”

Now it was Gilda’s turn to blush.

“O-Oh…” Gilda worked her jaw for a few seconds before her face split into a wide grin. “So… so ya think… maybe…?”

“I want kids, Gil,” Sunset said in a quiet, happy, tearful voice. “I want your kids, I want to have a family… I want to have a home… I want to be a mom,” Sunset’s shoulders began to shake as tears fell down her cheeks. “My whole life has been about bouncing from one place to another with nothing solid under my feet, and I’m tired of it! I want to make something real out of my life, I want to do more than just exist place-to-place.” Sniffling, she wiped her cheeks with her arm, but gripped Gilda’s hands all the tighter. “It doesn’t have to be anytime soon, y’know? It doesn’t have to be today or tomorrow, or even this year. I know we’re still basically kids… but maybe whenever we get married, savvy?”

Gilda held Sunset’s hands tightly, pulling them up and pressing her face to them, and Sunset could feel warm tears trickle down along her fingers and Gilda nodded.

“Y-Yeah,” Gilda said happily, “yeah, that sounds good t’me, Sunshine.”

Sunset pulled Gilda forward and pressed her lips to Gilda’s in a warm, passionate kiss, the pair laughing and crying equally as they leaned against one another, bliss and relief mixing together into a cocktail of euphoria.

Another hour passed, and by that point Sunset had left her chair and was sitting in Gilda’s lap as they stared up at the stars. Gilda had her arms wrapped snugly around Sunset who was half-buried in Gilda’s jacket with her as she leaned her head against the comfortable crook of Gilda’s shoulder.

“Hey Sunflower,” Gilda said suddenly, and Sunset glanced up at her girlfriend in silent reply. “You, uh… ya said you wanted ‘my’ kids but, uh… given we’re both ladies how’s that-”

Sunset smirked.

“We’ve got a spell for that, actually,” she said confidently, then frowned a little. “I mean, so long as you’re okay with it… I think I’d be the one, y’know, actually having them.”

“Wait so… you’n me can just, like,” Gilda made a vague gesture with her hand, “get pregnant like that?”

“It’s a little more involved and complicated than,” Sunset mimicked the waving hand gesture, “but yeah, and it’s safe… it’s a pretty common spell actually.”

“Magic, huh?” Gilda looked thoughtful, and Sunset watched her for a few moments. “Guess we might as well give it a shot right?”

Sunset’s smile could have lit up the night.

“It’s all in the future though,” Sunset said happily. “We’ve got a lot of time ahead of us, y’know? Plus, maybe I’m just old-fashioned but I kinda wanna get married first.”

“Fair enough, Sunshine,” Gilda replied, wrapping her arms more tightly around Sunset’s waist. “I ain’t goin’ anywhere.”

“Yeah, you aren’t huh?” Sunset said quietly. “We promised… so long as I never give up on you-”

“-then I’ll never give up on you,” Gilda finished.

“Together forever, then?” Sunset asked, her voice stronger than before.

“I’m too stubborn for anything else, Sunflower,” Gilda replied with a cocky smirk.

Sunset smiled, and the world turned for several more silent minutes as they finished smoking, eventually putting out the stubs in an ashtray nearby. A few more minutes passed before Sunset spoke again, and as she did she reached up to set her hand on Gilda’s cheek, stroking the strong lines of her lover’s face.

“Gilda?” Sunset’s voice sounded, to Gilda, almost as strong as it had the before her accident.

“Yeah, Sunshine?”

“Kiss me until I tell you to stop,” Sunset said firmly, her fiery cyan eyes fixed intently on Gilda’s hawkish gold orbs.

Gilda chuckled as she leaned down.

“When’s that gonna be?” she asked, stopping less than an inch from Sunset’s lips.

“Maybe never,” Sunset replied, moving in just a touch to brush their lips together playfully.

“Sounds like a plan, Sunflower,” Gilda said, grinning as she pressed her lips firmly to Sunset’s.

The scents of cherries and lilacs mixed with the warm, smoky spice of ash, engine oil, and leather as Sunset and Gilda embraced under the moon and stars.

The future would come and bring what it may, be it adventure, beauty, or something utterly new. One thing, however, was certain: when it did, it wouldn’t find a single one of them standing alone.

Author's Note

We Have Come To Terms

Wow, folks, I can't believe how far these girls have come. I really can't. It kind of blows my mind how big of a story this ended up turning into. Like, I had plans and outlines but seeing the finished product is absolutely a different beast altogether.

This was a huge endeavor, it started so small scale (the word count of individual chapters notwithstanding) with just a few major characters, and then exploded into this massive ensemble cast. I'll be honest, I'm not sure how good I did at giving everyone their fair share of screen time, but I never wanted to commit the cardinal sin of the filler arc in a story that already had so much going on.

There will be an epilogue coming in at a later date, soon most likely, but this is the story of Gilda Grimfeather and Sunset Shimmer, the product of a random plot bunny that scampered through my mind with the words "what if Gilda weren't a heinous bitch" stapled to its hindquarters.

I'm not sure I can properly convey what it feels like to be finished with this project, I think that, like Sunset, I'll have to take some time to process it. It'll be so weird not writing Sunset and Gilda anymore.

Which is why... I kind of won't be... the truth is that I'm going to be angling the meat of my efforts towards writing something original and to fans of this story I can promise two of the main characters will have some... very familiar features. No, it's not going to be an E.L. James style rewrite of this, the story is entirely original, but there will definitely be some callbacks, nods, and characters that only fans of my work here will really understand.

I love all of you, thank you so much for coming on this crazy ride with me.

Special thanks to Reese for their peerless editing and to WandererD for their insight and conversation early on.

Cheers,

I-A-M

Epilogue: In Any Universe You Are My Dark Star

Sunset could feel herself starting to hyperventilate as she stared at the twin double doors in front of her. Her hands were shaking, gripping the armrests of her wheelchair with aching strength, and a very small part of her wanted to throw up.

Loudly.

“Octavia, Rarity?” Sunset said in a small voice, glancing up at the pair of beautifully dressed young women that were flanking her.

“Yes, darling?” Octavia replied with a wry smile.

“Are you sure you can’t like, break my legs or something instead?” Sunset asked tremulously. “I… I don’t know if I can do this.”

Rarity shook her head and shot Octavia a glance that said very clearly: ‘I told you this would happen.’

Octavia sighed and rolled her eyes.

“Sunset, dear, you’ve been waiting for this day for literal years,” she said firmly. “You are not backing out now because you got a case of cold feet.”

“I’m a cripple, my feet are always cold!” Sunset hissed back.

“Well, I’m certainly not letting you off the hook with this,” Rarity said as she moved between Sunset and the doors. “After all, I made each of these dresses by hand and I do so hate to have work go to waste.”

Rarity flourished her dress which was nearly identical to Octavia’s save for a few alterations to the color to be more of a match to their owners' complexions.

Both of their dresses were a shade of pale cream, but while Rarity’s had strings of small opals decorating them, Octavia’s had gray pearls, and the rest of Sunset’s retinue who were waiting on the other side of the doors at the far end from where she sat had similar accoutrement to their outfits.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” Sunset practically sobbed, her arms and shoulders shaking. “I’m terrified! Why am I terrified!?”

Octavia sighed, then knelt beside Sunset and reached out, taking the redhead’s hands in hers and gripping them tightly.

“Because every time you’ve opened your heart to someone and let them close, they’ve hurt you, and what you’re doing now will let someone in closer than ever,” Octavia said simply, her sharp, mulberry eyes meeting Sunset’s sky-blue ones evenly. “You’re scared because the idea of that happening again is painful, but I promise you, here and now, that it won’t.”

This time Sunset really did let out a sob.

“How do you know?”

Smiling, Octavia raised her right hand where two beautiful rings lay interlocked into one another, one was silver set with a sapphire, the other was gold set with topaz.

“Well,” she said after a few seconds of knowing looks and silence, “I have done this a few times.”

Sunset let out a weak chuckle, but nodded and took a deep, shuddering breath.

“And, “ Octavia continued, “the only reason I’ve managed to do that is thanks to you, Sunset Shimmer,” Octavia stood, her left hand unconsciously caressing both rings. “And, really Shimmer, I understand getting nervous but don’t be so dramatic… you trust Gilda don’t you?”

“With my life!” Sunset snapped, then she forced herself to relax and shook her hands out nervously. “S-sorry, I mean… yeah… with my life.”

“Well, that’s what you’re doing here, isn’t it?” Rarity said with a smile, nodding towards the door and she stepped out of the way. “Besides, weren’t you six just out east fighting for your lives last month?”

“The warlock in Belgrade, yeah, and I’d take that over this kind of fear any day,” Sunset said with a wry chuckle, then shook her head in disbelief. “I’d never realised how dangerous a spellcasting rapper could be… even I can’t cast that fast.”

Octavia laughed along with Sunset and nodded. “He was an atrocious creature, though… I still haven’t let my dear Adagio live down the fact that she out-rapped him, I never knew she enjoyed that kind of music, oh the shame on her face.”

The laughter spread easily between the three of them, and Sunset could feel herself relaxing as she smiled up at the doors. It was almost time… and Octavia hadn’t been wrong, she’d been waiting for this moment for years.

And she’d been the one responsible for putting it off for so long, which had never been fair to Gilda.

Fear was something Sunset knew she had always struggled with; fear of inadequacy, fear of intimacy, fear of abandonment, fear of weakness, and of failure…

But letting that fear rule her life, and letting it impact her relationship with Gilda, was something she couldn’t allow any longer. Gilda deserved better than that, and… and so did she. It had taken Sunset a long time to be able to think like that, to be able to see herself as deserving the things people told her she deserved, and even longer to quit arguing with herself every time something good happened.

Sunset still had that nagging feeling every time something was going right that it would all fall apart, that sense of waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it was weaker now and it didn’t control her.

Not anymore.

“Now about this next part,” Rarity began, reaching behind her and picking up the length of wood from where it had been resting by the door and holding it up to Sunset. “You’re certain you want to try to do this?”

“Yes, Rares, we’ve gone over this a dozen times,” Sunset replied, rolling her eyes. “I am not doing this in my fucking chair.”

“Sunset, you know it’s not-” Octavia began, but Sunset silenced her with a glare.

“No, Tavi, I get what you’re saying and it’s not about… about being crippled,” Sunset said firmly before taking another deep, calming breath. “I’m doing this for me… to prove to myself that all the work I’ve been doing these past several years hasn’t been for nothing… to prove that I can make progress.”

“It’s been, what, six years since the accident?” Octavia said quietly, one hand coming to rest on the handle of Sunset’s chair. “The doctor said-”

“I know what he said and I don’t give a damn,” Sunset said stiffly. “Just… let’s do this, okay? If it goes wrong then… then at least I tried.”

Rarity and Octavia glanced between one another and shared a long-suffering smile. They had long since grown used to Sunset’s stubborn nature, something that not even being with the notoriously patient and phlegmatic Gilda for all this time had succeeded in tempering.

Gilda had her own streak of stubbornness, of course, but it was more like the stubborn nature of a mountain or a particularly obdurate boulder.

Sunset had momentum, while Gilda had inertia.

“Well, you’ll have someone to catch you even if things go wrong,” Octavia said finally, “now, I do believe we’ve kept our friends waiting for quite long enough, don’t you?”

Sunset grimaced but nodded as she settled the wedding veil over her face. “Okay… yeah, let’s do this before I throw up on my dress.”

‘Don’t you dare,” Rarity hissed in a deadly voice as she moved to open the doors as Octavia sent a text to Penny and Vinyl letting them know to start.

The moment the doors began to swing open a punk rock rendition of Mendelssohn’s Wedding March began to play throughout the small open plaza.

Warm, late spring sun shone down over the gathering of friends and family, found and otherwise, on either side of an aisle, and a fair breeze blew gently across them.

On the left-hand side of the aisle there was a small army of extremely rough-looking Marexican men and women, all of them beaming and looking extremely excited. At the furthest point from Sunset on the left but nearest to the aisle was Tempest Shadow and her wife, Summer Wind, and Tempest was already shamelessly bawling.

To the right was probably a strong third of Sunset and Gilda’s graduating class from Canterlot High, and Sunset couldn’t help but feel her heart swell at the sight.

From the heart of the crowd, Score was giving her a broad smile and two thumbs up.

After Score had graduated he’d gone on to become a physical therapist, and a damn good one, specifically to help Sunset as well as other people like her, and beside him were Hoops and Dumbbell looking equally pleased.

Off to the side was a sound system setup where Vinyl was manning the station next to Penny who was grinning back at Sunset while playing the March medley she’d put together for the occasion.

To the right of the altar was Adagio Dazzle, who was waiting for both her wife and Rarity to join her, while to the left of the altar was Aria Blaze, looking handsome in her fitted tuxedo, Applejack in her Sunday best, and Bar Hop in a pure white suit, his dark skin and darker tattoos standing out in contrast.

And at the head of the aisle, in front of the altar, was a sight that nearly stopped Sunset’s heart.

Gilda stood, tall and broad-shouldered, and her gold, hawkish eyes were misty as she stared down the aisle back at Sunset. She was wearing a sharply pressed suit, deep black with edgings of deep midnight blue, which had been tailor-made for her by Rarity. Her dark skin fairly glittered under the warm sunlight, and only the barest trembling of Gilda’s hands betrayed her emotions.

Her hair was still ragged, and she kept it short, though not as short as when they’d met, and the pair of them had learned long ago that no amount of product or effort would keep it tamed. The snow-pale strands drifted faintly in the wind and although Adagio had done her level best to give her a presentable appearance, Sunset thought at that moment that there was probably nothing to be done that would hide the fact that Gilda was just too much of a thug at heart.

And Sunset loved it.

A quiet, happy gasp escaped Sunset’s lips as tears filled her eyes and she lifted her hands to her cover her mouth. A small part of her was terrified that she was about to start crying, right then and there, because she knew that, if she did, then she wouldn’t stop for a good while.

“Stiff upper lip, darling,” Octavia whispered, settling a firm hand on Sunset’s shoulder and squeezing. “Now go get married, why don’t you?”

Sunset nodded rapidly, not trusting herself to speak, then she reached out a hand to Rarity and gestured.

Nodding, Rarity held out the length of wood for Sunset to take.

It was just under a meter and a half long with a tightly bound leather grip that Sunset closed her hand around, feeling the surety of the solid wood. The material itself was aged teak, dark and heavy, and down the length of it was spiraling Equestrian script that had intricate spellwork woven into it to lend a touch of strength and stability to the one holding it, making them difficult to move.

Octavia moved behind Sunset and pushed her forward until she was right at the beginning of the aisle. Then, with a deep breath, Sunset planted the short staff into the ground in front of her, shifted the legs of her chair, unlocking them and moving them to the side so her feet were resting against the ground, then Sunset levered her strength against length of teak and pushed.

With aching slowness, Sunset Shimmer stood up from her chair, the lion’s share of her weight held against the staff which was giving off a faint, hearth-ember glow. It hurt, and Sunset grit her teeth against the strain of the effort, but after a moment she was standing.

There was a simultaneous intake of breath from the crowd as they stared at her. Sunset stood tall and proud, her right hand gripping the staff, and her scarlet wedding dress, strung with beads of gleaming amber, was fluttering in the breeze. Her red and gold hair blew around her head like a corona of evening light and, for the first time in a long time, Sunset raised her veiled face and let her chin jut out with a bellicose grin on her face.

Then, without warning, there was deafening applause.

From all corners of the open air garden the crowd as clapping their hands, tears in their eyes and cheers on their lips, the loudest of which was coming from Fluttershy who was leaping up and down in her bridesmaid’s dress and whooping ecstatically.

Amidst the cheers and applause, Sunset felt an arm loop around the crook of her left elbow and she looked to the side to see her Aunt Celestia taking hold of her.

“If you don’t mind me giving you away,” Celestia said with a tearful smile.

“I’d like nothing better,” Sunset replied warmly.

The movement down the aisle was slow as the applause died down, with Sunset having to take small steps to avoid stumbling or tripping on her dress. Her legs didn’t quite move to her command, and both Score and Doctor Tourniquet had been honest that this was probably the most movement she would ever get out of them, but Sunset didn’t care.

Even if they were right, she had still done it.

She was standing under her own power, even if she did have to lean on a staff to manage it.

Then, as if she’d teleported, she was suddenly standing in front of Gilda, Celestia had left to take her seat beside her quietly crying sister, Luna, and Sunset’s heart was pounding a thousand beats a second, and her stomach was swimming with butterflies.

Her knees were practically knocking together and Sunset was fairly certain it had nothing to do with her spinal injury.

With infinite care, Gilda reached out and lifted the veil from Sunset’s face, revealing a teary face that was wearing a wide, deliriously happy smile.

“Hey there pretty lady,” Gilda said softly, and Sunset sniffled and laughed a little.

“Hey,” Sunset replied shyly, tears falling down her cheeks as she did.

A soft clearing of the throat came from beside them, and Sunset and Gilda both blushed as they looked over at the cloaked and hooded figure standing on the other side of the altar between holding a heavy book.

Princess Twilight Sparkle pulled the hood from her head, and she smiled at her two friends before settling the large book onto the altar.

“Mind if I start?” Twilight asked wryly, and Gilda chuckled but nodded.

Princess Twilight squared her shoulders and looked out past the happy couple and over the crowd before formally laying a hand on the tome which bore the image of the Elements of Harmony.

“Friends,” Twilight began, “family, and all those who stand today in witness of this blessed event, thank you for coming!”

A small cheer rose up from the crowd, and Gilda reached out to take Sunset’s free hand.

“I’ll keep this short and sweet since these two have written their own vows,” Twilight nodded to Gilda and Sunset, then extended both of her hands to them, one to each. Sunset transferred her staff to her other hand and took one and Gilda took the other, and Twilight smiled. “Unto the both of you, I invoke the grace of harmony, that you shall always be honest with one another, loyal to one another, kind to one another, share laughter with one another, be generous with one another…”

A faint, prismatic light seemed to fill the air, and everyone in the crowd could feel it, like a gentle presence had suffused the world, and Twilight’s hair began to shimmer and twist with crepuscular light.

“By this invocation, we are made known,” Twilight finished, “now, under the gaze of Harmony, please make your vows.”

Gilda took a deep breath as she let go of Twilight’s hand, turned to Sunset who swapped her staff back to her right hand, and opened her mouth. For a few moments, nothing came out and then Gilda made a small choking sound and swore under her breath.

“C-Crap… I swear I knew this,” Gilda said quietly and Sunset laughed softly.

“Go ahead, Gil,” Sunset said happily. “I made you wait for six years, I’ll wait all week if I have to.”

Gilda shook her head then took another breath and gripped Sunset’s free hand with both of hers and nodded, meeting her sky blue eyes and matching the redhead’s smile.

“Sunset Shimmer,” Gilda began, her voice thick with emotion, “you… you’re the most beautiful girl I ever met,” both women laughed softly as Gilda wiped at the corners of her eyes. “Before I met you I was kind of a mess, and not like you… you were a hot mess, I was just a regular one, savvy?”

Sunset, along with half the crowd, burst out laughing, and the bride-to-be leaned on her teak staff as she rode out the giggles while Gilda waited patiently.

“You brought out the fuckin’ best in me, babe,” Gilda continued, not even bothering the fight the tears that had begun trickling down her cheeks. “When I’m with you I feel better, I feel like I can be better… before I met you I didn’t have any friends, I was pushin’ away anyone who gave a damn about me, and hell… I wasn’t even really livin’ or breathin’, y’know?” Gilda took a deep breath and met Sunset’s eyes again. “But then I met you and suddenly I could breathe again, and that night when I was holdin’ you, after your nightmares… that was when I knew I was screwed, ‘cause when I was holdin’ you suddenly my whole world felt right again, and I knew I was never gonna let you go.”

Sunset let out a small, tearful gasp, but nodded, her own cheeks streaked with tears.

“So here’n now, I’m makin’ that promise again,” Gilda said firmly, breathing in deep and straightening out. “Sunset Shimmer, I’m never gonna stop lovin’ you, and I’m never gonna let you go, savvy?” Gilda reached out and laid a hand on Sunset’s cheek, and Sunset leaned against the warmth of Gilda’s broad hand. “I’m gonna love you forever, babe… now until the end’a time, it’ll be you’n me, sickness’n health, richer’r or poorer’r… magic or not, you’ll always have me.”

“That’s all I ever wanted,” Sunset whispered out in a choked voice.

Twilight gave Gilda a firm nod, her eyes practically swimming as she turned to Sunset and signaled for the redhead to give her own vows, and Sunset returned the nod before taking a deep breath of her own, trying to claim back some semblance of calm so she wouldn’t just break down mid-vow.

“Gilda Grimfeather,” Sunset began, “I am such a bitch.”

Peals of laughter sounded from the crowd and Gilda chuckled quietly.

“For six years I’ve tested your patience,” Sunset continued, gripping Gilda’s hands tightly. “For six years I’ve kept you waiting, you wonderful, beautiful woman… and you’ve waited faithfully for me for all that time,” Sunset’s fingers tightened around the grip of her staff, “and all because I refused to be the woman who couldn’t walk down the aisle to her wife on her own two legs… something that I know is selfish and that I know you wouldn’t have cared about, but I cared and I don’t think anyone else would have waited as long as you did for me to pull my head of my ass.”

“I’d wait forever if I had to, Sunshine,” Gilda said quietly as she smiled.

“I know,” Sunset replied with a small nod. “So that’s why you won’t have to wait for me ever again, Gil… I’m done making you wait, I’m done being scared because of things that have happened to me in the past,” Sunset took a shaky step forward, so she was leaning against Gilda’s broad chest and stared straight up into the dark-skinned woman’s shining golden eyes, “I’m safe with you, Gilda Grimfeather, and I always will be, and I know that, so I’m swearing to you, here and now, that I will always be by your side, I will always support you, and I will always, always love you.”

Gilda wrapped her arms around Sunset and she hugged her tightly.

“For as long as you’ll have me,” Sunset swore as she cried, “I will always be with you.”

Twilight swallowed thickly and held out both of her hands, settling them on the pair’s shoulders and gripping them firmly.

“So mote it be,” Twilight said in a raw voice. “I now pronounce you bound in soul, graced by Harmony, together in life and death alike unless willfully forsaken, may your souls be forever entwined.”

Then Twilight let out a slow breath, smiled, and nodded to the pair.

“Well?” Twilight asked wryly, “do I have to say it?”

“Yes,” Gilda and Sunset said giving Twilight a synchronized glare, and Twilight laughed.

“You may kiss the bride!”

Sunset’s staff clattered to the ground as she slung her arms around Gilda’s shoulders and Gilda pulled the young woman into a tight embrace. Their lips met with gentle ferocity, curving against one another with the familiar intimacy of two people who had been together for a long time, who knew one another well and yet still burned for each other.

With the ease of strength and years of practice, Gilda swept Sunset off of her feet and spun her around, their lips still pressed together, and all around them the crowd clapped and whooped with happiness.

Above them, the sun shone and all around them, the two orphans were surrounded by family as the world glistened with hope and heart.

There would be storms in the future, but not today.

Today the only tears were ones of happiness, and the only cries were of laughter.

Slowly, Gilda lowered Sunset to the ground and the two young women smiled up at one another.

“We did it, babe,” Sunset cried quietly. “We really did it!”

“Hell yeah we did,” Gilda agreed tearfully.

Gilda Grimfeather and Sunset Shimmer leaned against one another as the world turned around them, and for a time everything was quiet, everything was bright, and everything was good.

All things come and go, all things change.

All things but this.

For when the sun has gone out, all has gone dark, and all else has faded to nothing, three things shall remain.

Faith, Hope, and Love.

And the greatest of these is Love.

“I love you, Gilda Grimfeather,” Sunset said softly, as she leaned against the taller woman.

“Love you too, Sunflower,” Gilda replied as she buried her face in Sunset’s hair, taking in a deep breath of lilacs and cherries. “Now’n forever.”

And They Lived Happily, Forever After.

1. This Lonely View

“Gilda! Hey Gilda!”

‘You know,’ Gilda thought idly from where she was perched at the top of a rusted old jungle gym in an abandoned skate park. ‘I skipped school, got a new pack of reds, slapped around the double-D’s and took their lunch money… the day was going pretty good up til now.’

“Hey! G!”

‘I could ignore him, or...’ Taking a long drag from her cigarette, Gilda held in the smoke as she considering the pros and cons of shutting the yapping shithead up with the lit end. ‘Nah, that’d definitely get me arrested.’

“What do you want, Hoops?” Gilda asked raspily as she let out the breath of smoke. “And I swear t’god if you got jacked up again because you picked a fight you’re on y’fuckin’ own this time, savvy?”

“No! I mean, no, it’s nothing like that!” Hoops replied. He was a kid who could be best described as ‘kinda thick’, in most senses. Thick head of brown hair, broad shoulders, and dense as a concrete slab. “Someone’s posting people’s secrets on MyStable!”

“Oh yeah?” Gilda smirked before pulling out her phone and tapping open the MyStable app. “What’s the profile?”

“Anon-A-Miss,” Hoops answered with a touch of sycophantic glee. His voice always rubbed Gilda the wrong way, but contrary to popular belief he wasn’t that bad of a dude. Just dumb as a rock.

“Anon-A-Miss, huh?” Chuckling, Gilda punched in the name to the search bar. “That’s stupid. Bet whoever it was thought they were real clever.”

Gilda scanned the first post and got a dry laugh out of it. ‘Piggly wiggly? Can’t say I’m too surprised. Still stupid though… hey wait…’ Her eyes fixed on the profile image, red and gold and the outline of a girl. ‘That’s not… nah, no way. This is fuckin’ childish.’

Tucking her phone away, suddenly feeling annoyed, Gilda turned back to Hoops. “So was that it?”

“Uh, y-yeah, I guess,” Hoops answered with a shrug. “I just… y’know, figured you oughta know, G.”

“Cool,” Gilda answered stonily. “Well scram, I’ve got a long day of doing jack shit to get around to, seeya later Hoops.”

Without waiting for his answer or to see him leave, Gilda laid back down on the bars of the jungle gym. Her bomber jacket fluttered in the cold wind where it hung through the gaps in the bars and for a moment Gilda closed her eyes and just let the air pass through her. Being high up was one of her favorite things, she didn’t know if there was a reverse version of acrophobia but if there was it fit her to a ‘T’. It was winter now and small flurries of snowflakes had been falling regularly, though it didn’t bother Gilda too much. She’d been colder than this before. The encroaching holidays, a ‘time of goodwill’ and all that jazz, only ever meant a colder walk to school to her, ‘and less time playing hooky in the park once it really gets cold,’ Gilda thought in annoyance.

Gilda brought her hand back to her mouth to draw in another lungful of smoke. That profile picture was bugging her but she couldn’t really put a finger on why. Something about it felt… off. Gilda never claimed to be any kind of egghead but she had a kind of cunning that kept her light on her feet and one step ahead. Up until Sunset Shimmer showed up and brought CHS under her thumb in under a year. That genuinely impressed Gilda, enough that she decided trying to contest the matter wasn’t worth it.

Whatever, she had stayed out of Sunny’s warpath and Sunny had shown her the same courtesy, neither one had a need to pick a fight. None of the teachers like Gilda anyway and she didn’t so much have friends as she did cronies. ‘Then the whole Fall Formal Fuckup had happened and Sunny went Softy.’ The Queen B of Canterlot High cleaned up, made friends, and saved the world from pop music sirens.

Woop-de-fuckin-doo.

‘Damn cryin’ shame, though,’ Gilda mused as she slowly wore down her cigarette. ‘Bet she woulda been a bitchin’ evil overlord.’

That thought made Gilda laugh at the wrong time, her laughter turning into a mix of hacking coughs and chuckles as she tried to breathe around the smoke.

‘Whatever,’ Gilda flicked the dying butt out of her hand towards the fence at the edge of the park. ‘She’s all goodie-good-girl now. Hope that works out for her.’

~The Next Day, November 30th~

‘Yeah that doesn’t seem to be working out for her…’ Gilda thought, grimacing as she pulled her books from her locker. She couldn’t reasonably skip much more without taking some serious heat. The teachers at CHS might not give much of a damn, but they definitely still had a little ‘damn’ left to give.

The students, on the other hand, still had plenty of ‘damn’, it appeared.

“How could you do this!” Rainbow’s voice cracked as she shouted at Sunset Shimmer, who was trying to approach her friends.

“I-I didn’t! I swear I would never-” Sunset’s tear-filled voice was cut off by, of all people, Fluttershy.

“You’re not our friend! You never were!”

Even Gilda winced at that one. ‘Wow, always the quiet ones, huh.’

Fluttershy’s condemnation seemed to take the wind out of Sunset, and she dropped to her knees. Something in Gilda’s gut rebelled at the sight of it. It made her mad. It made her want to walk up to Sunset, smack her upside her striped head, and tell her to ‘woman up’. Nobody needed a bunch of dweebs who were just gonna drop them at the first sign of trouble anyway. Especially not Sunset goddamn Shimmer.

“You’re just a secret-stealer!” Pinkie pointed an accusing finger at Sunset, but Applejack stepped forward and reached out, laying a hand on Pinkie’s wrist and bringing it down.

“This is it Sunset,” Applejack said in a somber tone. “You’re not gonna take advantage of us anymore.” Wrapping an arm around a teary-eyed Fluttershy, she turned away, only glancing back once. “Ah’m sorry but you did this to us, tell whatever secrets you want… but we don’t have to listen.”

Gilda half-expected Sunset to get up and chase after them or something. Instead, she just sat in the hall and sobbed. The sound was painful to listen to and it made Gilda grit her teeth. ‘C’mon Sunny, where’s the big bad bitch who had a deadlock on the whole fuckin’ school? Crying in the hallway is a goddamn embarrassment.’

Slamming her locker shut, Gilda stomped off to her class. She was done. She couldn’t watch it anymore.

‘This is why I don’t have friends,’ Gilda fumed as she reached her algebra class which she had originally planned to sleep through, she was too mad for that now. ‘Friends just stab you in the back… or worse. Guess it’s better she learn it now.’

Mr. Cranky didn’t bother to greet Gilda if anything he looked a little put out that she showed up as she shouldered her way to her desk and dropped her messenger bag to the ground. Crossing her arms on her desk, Gilda slumped forward, staring towards the front of the classroom but not really seeing anything Cranky was writing.

All Gilda could see was Sunset, crying her heart out in the hallway like a weakling. Just thinking about it pissed her off. Dammit, she had been looking forward to her midday nap. Stupid Rainbooms, stupid Sunset, and stupid friendship.

The rest of the week went about as expected. Anon-A-Miss posted pretty reliably once or twice a day, always another secret which led to another set of fights, broken friendships, and furious shouting matches in the cafeteria. It was really starting to get on Gilda’s nerves. As if she needed another reason to not come to school. Going around the back, Gilda crunched through the built-up snow and filth that had crusted along the ground as she headed towards one of the less-used buildings. Technically it was part of the gym but the back east corner was really just a pile of garbage and broken sports equipment that never quite made it to the dump. It didn’t smell great but that’s what made it such a good spot to catch a smoke on school grounds.

Gilda had almost gotten to the corner when the sounds of acoustic guitar strings reached her ears along with a low, feminine voice singing softly.

Quieting her footsteps, Gilda crept up to the edge of the corner and looked around to the other side of the brick building. Sunset Shimmer was sitting on one of the trash piles that looked recently if poorly, cleared of snow. She was wearing a sweater that had definitely seen better days and a ragged orange scarf that was fraying at the edges. Her guitar looked a little worse for the wear too, and so did she for that matter, but she was still strumming it and singing softly. Gilda could make out the slight tracks on her cheeks from dried tears as she sang a melancholy tune.

Gilda pulled a cigarette out, stuck it in her mouth and, being careful to mute the sound, lit a couple matches. Sunset’s voice was cracked and raw, probably from crying, Gilda thought. The idea made her angry again, so she lit her cigarette and just listened from where she leaned against the wall. Sunset just kept singing, soft and low as she trailed into the chorus again, hitting a high note perfectly and rolling easily into the short solo, Gilda dragged a few frustrated puffs on her cigarette.

‘Those girls don’t deserve Sunset as a friend if they’re just gonna throw her away like that.’ Gilda thought angrily. ‘I mean who the hell just pitches someone over a couple of stupid fucking rumours?’

Gilda drew in annoyed drags from the cigarette, savoring the heat before letting them out in long exhalations of grey smoke. ‘Seriously, anyone can see it’s not Sunny’s style, even before she went happy-go-lucky she was at least subtle.’

Sunset drifted from the third iteration of the chorus into a longer, more detailed guitar solo, picking away at the strings and humming along, occasionally repeating the chorus a few times before drifting back into the calming chords of the instrument. Gilda closed her eyes, letting the sound of the strings and the dulcet voice wash over her as she started in on her second cigarette.

The now ex-Rainboom had an amazing voice, that much was obvious for anyone who ever heard her sing. “She knocked it out of the park against the Sirens,’ Gilda thought with a smile, ‘the girl’s a living power chord.’

The melancholy tune slowly faded and took a good deal of Gilda’s anger with it. The actual song had long since faded into a melodic plucking away of chords that followed the same sort of emotional vein, eventually stopping altogether, though the white-haired delinquent barely noticed.

Gilda was so lost in thought she nearly inhaled the remains of her second cigarette when a voice said, “G-Gilda?”

Hacking and coughing, Gilda spat out her cigarette and angrily stomped it into the ground before rounding on Sunset who had just come around the corner. She was gripping her guitar and hold it in front of her like a shield.

Gilda was, well, kind of huge; almost a full foot taller than Sunset, dark-skinned with alarmingly pale hair. Back in her bad-girl tenure Sunset had discovered a little-known fact, or more like random trivia since it wasn’t really useful, that Gilda’s coloration was entirely natural. Premature greying wasn’t exactly rare but in Gilda’s case, it just made her more imposing since she’d managed that rare shade of pure white. Other than that, Sunset hadn’t dug up any dirt on her that wasn’t really common knowledge beyond one minor thing.

“Oh no, d-did Anon-A-Miss post something about you?” Sunset asked looking on the verge of a panic attack, “I swear to you I am not her! I promise, whatever that profile looks like I-”

“Shut up, Sunflower,” Gilda growled, towering over Sunset. “Anon-A-Miss didn’t post shit about me, and s’far as I know there’s nothing to post. Do I look like the kind of girl who keeps secrets?”

Sunset flinched, before looking down and mumbling something. Gilda leaned in, eyeing the smaller girl. “What was that?”

“N-nothing!” Sunset answered a little too quickly. “Just… I mean… there’s one… and I thought… nevermind.”

Gilda scowled, advancing on Sunset like an oncoming storm cloud. “You wanna clarify that a little, Sunflower?”

Swallowing dryly, Sunset glanced around, looking for any kind of help even knowing none of the students at CHS would bother at this point. “Uhm… you don’t live with your parents, you live alone in the Ponyville Commons part of town.”

Backing up from Sunset, Gilda crooked an eyebrow up and chuckled. “That it? Sure, I live alone in the shit part of Canterlot but that ain’t a secret, I just don’t advertise my fuckin’ address every four blocks, savvy? Hell, I’ll do you one better; I don’t just ‘not live with my parents’, I’m an orphan.”

Sunset’s eyes go wide but before she could say anything Gilda continued on, sticking another cigarette in her mouth and lighting it. “Car crash when I was eight, bounced around the foster system for a few years, emancipated myself when I was fourteen, and it’s just been me, myself, and I ever since. See?” Gilda held her arms wide, grinning toothily around her smoking, burning cigarette. “No secrets here, Sunflower, I’m so low down in the dirt even Anon-A-Miss can’t reach me.”

“Oh… uh, wow,” Sunset said, stuttering around a total loss for words as she rubbed some feeling back into her gloveless hands. “That’s… kinda fucked up actually.”

Gilda cackled around her cigarette. “Yeah, innit? Everyone knows I’m a dirt-poor shitkicker with crap grades. So what’s Anon-A-Miss think they’re gonna do?”

Sunset blinked in confusion for a moment before a dawn of realisation came over her face. “Y-you said: Anon-A-Miss.”

“Yeah? What of it?” Gilda asked, taking a puff of smoke.

Shaking her head, Sunset laughed a little grimly. “I mean, you didn’t say ‘what do you think you’ll do,’ you said ‘what’s Anon-A-Miss think they’re gonna do’. Does that mean… you don’t think I’m her?”

Silence filled the space for a moment before Gilda shrugged, her bomber jacket scraping against the brick wall. “Nah, that shit is amateur hour compared to the crap you used to pull. You mighta gotten rusty since going sunny-side up but no one gets that rusty.”

“Are the ‘sun’ puns ever gonna stop?” Sunset deadpanned, drawing a raspy laugh from Gilda.

“Not a chance, Sunshine,” Gilda replied with a smirk before draping an arm over Sunset’s shoulders, shaking some of the snow that had settled on the smaller girls frame loose. “Not a chance in hell, but hey, at least I’m not kicking you while y'down, yeah?”

Sunset nodded with a subdued laugh. “Y-yeah, that’d be… pretty crappy.”

Feeling some of her good mood draining away, Gilda scowled back at the school. “Look, Sunny, don’t let the rest of those shitlords get on your tits. If the Rainbrats can’t stick with you through this, then it’s better to find out sooner, savvy?”

Sunset sniffled a little but nodded. “I guess so… I just… I’ve been alone for so long, and they said I was like family now and… and…” Sunset clenched her eyes shut and rubbed at them with arm trying to get the tears to go away. “Shit, I’m sorry, thanks for believing me though, Gilda, I needed to hear that.”

“Uh, yeah, no probs, Sunflower,” Gilda answered a little unsteadily. Being thanked was an unusual state of affairs for the rough-and-tumble girl. Coughing and clearing her throat to break the tension, Gilda gave Sunset a wide smirk and held out her pack of smokes with one sticking out of the opening. “So, given that life has taken an inglorious shit on your biscuits, how do you feel about starting a bad habit?”

The cigarette hung from the pack for a few seconds with Sunset staring at it with a strong look of consideration on her face.

Finally, she looked up at Gilda with a brighter smile. “Eh, why the hell not?” she said, plucking the cigarette out of Gilda's hand. “At least it’ll help keep me warm.”

~One Week Later, December 6th~

The bitter, winter wind flowed through the gaps in the jungle gym, rippling Gilda’s jacket and sending the faux fur tickling along her neck. Breathing in the fresh, snow-kissed air as it passed over and through her from where she lay on top of the gym’s bars, she felt relaxed; a rare thing for the perpetually irritated young woman. With her eyes closed and nothing but the wind in her ears, Gilda could pretend she was flying. It was a moment of pure calm and peace in her otherwise dull, frustrating life.

“You were right,” came the voice from Gilda’s side. “This is pretty great.”

Grinning, Gilda flicked her wrist, bopping her knuckles against Sunset’s hand. “See? Toldja so. No one to bother us, just the wind and the sky.”

“And the snow, and no one’s bothering us because we’re skipping school, Gilda,” Sunset retorted with a small laugh. “Not that I miss that… it’s getting pretty rough.”

“Yeah, I heard there were more postings,” Gilda remarked sourly. “S’bullshit is what it is. Can’t believe anyone thinks it’s you. It’s like they didn’t have to experience your entire schtick for like three fuckin’ years.” There was no response from Sunset and Gilda winced internally. “Sorry, Sunshine, I know you’re kinda sore about that.”

“No, I deserve it,” Sunset answered softly. “I definitely earned my reputation.”

“Sure, but you also kinda saved the entire school,” Gilda bit back. “Not that they seem to remember that part when they’re busy snapping at each other.”

“Hey G!” A dull, heavy voice called out from ten feet down near the ground. Gilda glanced down to see Dumbbell, Hoops, and Score in thick jackets, their hands shoved in their pockets as they scowled up at the pair. “So it’s true?! You’re kickin’ it with Anon-A-Miss?!”

Gilda growled in the back of her throat. “No, you fuckbuckets, I’m hanging out where I always hang out. And Sunflower here is about as likely t'be Anon-A-Miss as I am to grow wings outta my ass and fly to Mars.”

“But the profile picture looks just like her, it even has her colors!” Score and Dumbbell barked back, pointing a finger up at Sunset who flinched away.

Letting out a loud, annoyed groan, Gilda waved her hand back and forth, the lit cigarette dripping ashen embers to the ground. “Yeah, exactly, and Sunflower here is actually subtle, whereas that stupid page is about as subtle as Dumbbell’s B.O. after gym!”

Dumbbell’s face reddened and for a second looked like he was gonna retort before wheeling around and stalking away through the snowfall. Score, on the other hand, wasn’t as wise.

“Whatever guys,” Score spat, “let’s go, leave G to cuddle up to her snitch girlfriend.”

Their only warning that Score had crossed a line was the sound of steel-toed boots slamming into the snowy ground and cold metal ratcheting into place before crudely soldered but brutally sharp-clawed fingers wrapped themselves around Score’s neck, their points digging into his flesh; not hard enough to break the skin but hard enough to hurt. Score made a startled choking sound as he was dragged back, his heels making lines in the snow before being thrown to the icy ground.

Sunset stared down at Gilda towered threateningly over Score, flexing her fingers as light flurries drifted around her, framing her dark skin with white. Her left hand was what drew Sunset’s gaze though, it was clad in what looked like a crude, pitted, piecemeal metal gauntlet, except the fingers which ended in wickedly curved, almost talon-like, claws. Gilda grinned viciously down at Score who was staring up at her and whimpering incoherently.

“Sorry 'bout that, Score,” Gilda hissed through her teeth which were clenched as she stared at the prone teen. “Buddy ol’ pal, I think I must’ve gotten something incredibly, impossibly stupid stuck in my ear 'cause I swear I just heard you say something really, really thick.”

Hoops and Dumbbell race to Score’s side but kept a good foot from him, the former holding up his hands in a placating manner towards Gilda. “Woah, woah, G, be cool! He didn’t mean it!”

Gilda’s armored hand snapped out and grabbed Hoops by his gloved fingers and squeezed hard, drawing out a startled cry of pain. Feeling a surge of panic, Sunset began clambering down from the ice-slick jungle gym.

“Oh, I think he meant it,” Gilda snarled. “And I definitely think I’m gonna have to teach him a nice, tidy lesson about manners now. Since Score must’ve slept through the ‘how to not die a stupid death’ module I figure I should enlighten him, savvy?”

Jerking her gauntleted wrist, Hoops stumbled away as she advanced on Score. Dumbbell looked down at Score with terrified eyes and then shrugged. “Sorry bro, you fucked up good,” was all he said before scrambling out of Gilda’s way.

The tall, jacketed girl reached her right hand around her back and bought it back out with a set of brass knuckles adorning it. Score’s eyes went from scared to pants-pissingly terrified as he started scrabbling backward on the ground through the filthy snow.

“Sorry fucko,” Gilda said, her voice even and dark, “but you shoulda kept your stupid mouth shut.”

Her right hand barely raised, though, before a pair of amber arms went around her waist and pulled tight. “Stop! Gilda, please stop!” Sunset’s voice cracked through the red haze of fury that Gilda had built up. “Please, don’t hurt him, it’s okay, I promise it’s fine, just… just let him go.”

Sunset was hugging her from behind. It was an awkward position; Gilda was huge compared to the smaller redhead, standing nearly six foot two, broad and sturdy, to Sunset’s lanky five-three and a hundred pounds and change soaking wet. Her arms held Gilda like a vice though, or at least that was how it felt to Gilda. ‘Fuckit, just shove her off and teach this douchemaster a lesson. Never let anyone swing at you without swinging back twice as hard! That’s the Rule!’

“Please, Gilda, don’t do this,” Sunset pleaded, her face buried in frost-rimed fur of Gilda’s jacket collar. “Please… let him go.”

‘The Rule! That’s the Rule!’ But Gilda could hear the tears in Sunset’s voice and the white-haired thug grimaced before letting out a calming breath and stepping back, nearly knocking Sunset over. “Fine, consider it your lucky day, Score. Now get on your knees, thank Sunflower here, and then get the fuck out of my sight.”

Scrambling up to his knees, Score did as Gilda ordered before getting to his feet and tearing off, making tracks towards the alley adjoining the old skate park. Dumbbell and Hoops looked stunned that their friend had just managed to get out in one piece but quickly followed after. Only Hoops stopped for a second and looked at Sunset.

“H-hey, uhm, thanks for that,” Hoops said haltingly before speeding up again and catching up with Dumbbell.

“Shouldn’t’ve stopped me,” Gilda growled as she returned her weapons to where they had been latched to her back and belt. “Now they’ll think they can get away with shit.”

Sunset glowered at that, crossing her arms as another cold breeze blew through her thin sweater. “Gilda, where the hell did you get those?”

Gilda cocked an eyebrow, then shrugged. “Shoplifted the brass a few years ago, the other thing I made in shop class. Heated up some scrap metal and pounded it into shape, sharpened up the fingertips, added a few leather straps and boom, I’ve got my talons.”

“Gilda you could straight up kill someone with those,” Sunset admonished.

Letting out an incoherent growl, Gilda waved her hand at the dirty, snow-caked alley that Dumbbell, Hoops, and Score had fled down as she rounded on Sunset. “And? So what? If that’s what it takes to teach people not to mess with you that’s what you fuckin do, Sunflower! You used to know that!”

“No, I learned better than that!” Sunset shouted stepping closer to Gilda who scowled.

“Oh yeah?” Gilda yelled, getting into Sunset’s face. “Fat lot of good that lesson did you when all your friends left you on the fuckin’ floor!”

Sunset staggered back like she’d been struck, her mouth hanging open as she tried to form some kind of response. Gilda’s face fell as she realised exactly what had just come out of her mouth. ‘What the fuck was that you idiot?!’

There was a brief moment of silence that was only disturbed by the muted sounds of snowfall as whorls of snowflakes drifted between the two girls. Neither could process what had just been said and even the crows knew better than to laugh at what was happening on the ground. Gilda tried to find some way to take back what she said but her brain was grinding its gears like a busted engine.

Sunset recovered first, and shouted, “Well if that’s how it is then, fine! Fuck you too!” and turned on her heel to sprint away. She didn’t make it more than ten feet before Gilda’s arms went around her upper torso, pinning Sunset’s arms to her sides as Gilda closed her grip like a pair of steel clamps and lifted up, pulling the redhead tightly against her.

“Let go! Let me go you miserable bitch!” Sunset shouted through her tears as she struggled helplessly against the stronger girl’s grip.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!’ Gilda cried out, the pain in her voice stopped Sunset’s struggles in their tracks. She’d never heard Gilda sound so close to crying. “Please, S-Sunset, I’m… I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean it. I swear ta god I didn’t mean it. I got mad, I’m sorry!”

Gilda pulled Sunset close and buried her face in Sunset’s red and gold locks, they were wet from the drift snow that had been collecting but Gilda didn’t give a damn. Now that she’d eased up on struggling around so much Sunset realised that Gilda was shaking like a leaf. It was disconcerting for Gilda to feel so… fragile. Once she stopped moving Gilda lowered Sunset back to the ground and stepped away, her eyes downcast and refusing to look at the smaller girl as Sunset turned to face her. For the first time since they’d properly met Gilda looked small and uneasy, she had brought her left hand up and was awkwardly rubbing her right arm.

Sunset stared angrily up at Gilda, taking deep, heavy breaths that came out misted in the cold winter air as she calmed herself down. Finally, after several moments of Gilda stiffly shuffling, unwilling to leave but also apparently unable to make herself get any closer, Sunset reached up and rested both hands softly on Gilda’s face and gently guided her golden, hawkish gaze back to meet with Sunset’s own aquamarine orbs.

“What you said hurt, Gilda,” Sunset said, her voice breaking a little as she tried to keep a rein on her emotion. “It hurt really, really badly.”

Gilda just nodded, trying to look away from Sunset’s piercing gaze only to have her head brought back in place by Sunset. Eventually taking a deep breath of her own, Gilda spoke. “I-I know… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it.”

“You still said it,” Sunset retorted, earning a flinch from Gilda and, surprisingly, a slight sniffle.

“Yeah, I…” Gilda trailed off as she stared down into Sunset’s eyes and Sunset was a little shocked to see tears at the edges of Gilda’s eyes. “I’m dumb, okay? I get mad and I say dumb shit because I’m a fuckup, alright? What do you want me to say?”

Sunset let go of Gilda’s cheeks and dropped her arms to her sides. “I know, but… did you have to go for that? I mean… like, one of the worst times in my life that happened barely a week ago and… that’s where you hit?”

Gilda could only shrug. “I… go for low blows. It’s the easiest way to win a fight. Even when I shouldn’t. I ain’t got an excuse, Sunflower, I just… I fucked up and I’m really, really sorry, okay? I’m a shit human being, I can’t even promise it won’t happen again.”

Bringing her hands up to her face, Sunset let out a deep sigh through pursed lips. For a second, Gilda imagined Sunset would just turn away and walk off. ‘I wouldn’t even stop her this time, I said I’m sorry, I really… really fucked up. If she wants to go her own way that’s… that’s her choice. It’s my fault.’

A slight bump against Gilda’s chest dragged her out of her inner thoughts. Looking down she realised Sunset was hugging her, the redhead’s face buried in the crook of Gilda’s shoulder. Uneasy, but glad that Sunset decided she wasn’t just going to walk away, Gilda wrapped her own arms around Sunset and pulled her a little closer, letting her jaw come to rest on Sunset’s head.

“I forgive you, you big thug,” Sunset muttered from practically inside Gilda’s jacket. “Just… don’t do that again, okay? I don’t think my heart can take losing any more friends like that.”

Gilda let out a sigh of relief and a cord of tension drained out of her shoulders that she hadn’t even realised was there. “I… I dunno if I can make any promises, Sunshine. I’m pretty fuckin’ stupid, but I promise I’ll try.”

Chuckling from her place in Gilda’s arms, Sunset nuzzled in closer to her friend’s warmth, eliciting a blush from Gilda who was suddenly very glad that Sunset couldn’t see her face. “Fine, how about this then: you promise not to give up on me, and I promise that I won’t give up on you, okay?”

“Yeah… I think I can do that, Sunflower,” Gilda answered a little more confidently. “You know that means ya’ain’t ever gettin’ rid of me unless you give up first, right?”

“Giving up isn’t really my style, Gil,” Sunset answered with a wry smile as she pulled away. Gilda let go too, but a little reluctantly. “Also, hey, you finally called me by my actual name for once. It just took you accidentally saying some super horrible shit.”

“Uh, heh, yeah, guess I did,” Gilda laughed awkwardly. “Uhm, I can call you Sunset from now on if the names really bug you.”

Sunset just shook her head. “Nah, I like’m actually.”

This time there was no hiding the blush and Sunset giggled a little. Gilda laughed raspily along with her and after a few moments, the tension had fled. Walking up to her friend’s side, Gilda shook out a couple of cigarettes and passed one over to Sunset, who took it and set it dangling from her mouth as she waited for Gilda to pass the lit matches.

“This is a horrible habit you’ve gotten me into, Gil,” Sunset murmured around the cigarette as she took the proffered matches that were rapidly burning up. Holding them up to the head she took in a small breath, then blew out a wisp of smoke. “Seriously, what kind of friend gets their other friend hooked on cigarettes.”

Gilda laughed again as they walked back to the jungle gym and relaxed against it, Gilda dusting the snow from one of the lower bars before taking a seat, and Sunset leaning on one of the straight poles next to her. “The kinda friend that knows that life is short, shitty and stressful and that a bad habit or three keeps ya sane.”

“Amen to that,” Sunset grumbled around the cigarette and she held up her fist, Gilda bumped her knuckles against Sunset’s as they shared another smile.

~Four days later, December 10th~

Gilda’s flat was not what one would call luxurious, but it was definitely a sight better than where Sunset laid her head at night. Not that she would ever admit that to Gilda, of course. She didn’t even want to imagine how the protective girl would react to that news. Still, it was warm and cozy and smelled very strongly of cigarette smoke. A simple bottom-floor one room in the low-income housing section of Canterlot, it had a couch futon in the corner flanked by a squishy easy chair that had seen better days with an old tube tv sitting on a dresser across from them, a couple of big, stained, and slightly burnt rugs in place of carpeting, a poorly tended to kitchenette, and small square table with a couple chairs.

Gilda chuckled uneasily as she walked in with Sunset on her heels. “Sorry ‘bout the mess, Sunshine. I don’t usually have company and I’m… uh… kind of a slob. Wasn’t gonna let you walk home in that fuckin’ storm though, you’d get buried.”

“You’re the best, Gil. And don’t sweat the mess” Sunset laughed off Gilda’s awkwardness. “My place isn’t any better.” ‘Ain’t that the truth though’, Sunset thought grimly.

‘Heh, your parents don’t care?” Gilda cracked as she dropped her bag near the door. Sunset just shook her head, though.

Carefully lowering her guitar case and leaning it against the easy chair, Sunset shrugged. “Nope, I’m like you actually. I live alone. I don’t even remember my parents, just the orphanage I grew up in. I got taken in once but that fell through pretty badly. So I’m just, y’know, on my own.”

“Oh, uh,” Gilda rubbed the back of her head and gave a short laugh. “Wow, didn’t know we had that much in common, Sunshine. I always kinda figured you were some kinda high horse, ivory tower girl or something.”

“Pretty much the opposite, actually,” Sunset responded with an arid grin.

The snowstorm outside howled and Sunset shivered as the thin walls only kept a bare minimum amount of heat in. She was thankful beyond words that Gilda had offered to let her crash at her place for the night, the storm was supposed to let up by early afternoon tomorrow and Sunset wasn’t looking forward to either the obnoxiously long trek to her ‘place’, nor the fact that it was, by and large, unheated.

“Crap, sorry,” Gilda took a couple long strides over to a closet and pulled out a few ratty blankets. She gave them a couple desultory sniffs before shrugging and tossing them over the futon alongside the thick comforter that made up the majority of her bedding. “They’re not pretty but they’re warm.”

“It’s cool,” Sunset shook off her coat near the door and hung it from a hook on the wall before kicking off her boots and heading over to the couch to curl up in one of the blankets.

Gilda vanished into the adjoining bathroom and Sunset chuckled as she heard a muffled ‘oh shit’. “Uh, hey Sunshine? I’ll be a sec, sorry, just gonna… uh, tidy up.”

Sunset laughed as the door to the bathroom slammed shut. Reaching out for her case, she pulled her guitar out and started tuning it up a little as she listened to the muffled swearing and crashes from the bathroom along with some furious scrubbing noises. It was honestly kind of cute how embarrassed Gilda got about the state of her place. She really struck Sunset as the type to not care. Maybe it was that she did care and just didn’t have guests very often. That one definitely seemed likely. Either way, it really wasn’t that bad.

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll be right here,” Sunset answered through a smile. Glancing out one of the small windows she couldn’t help but feel relieved that she had a warm place to sleep for the night. The snow was coming down hard and the streets were probably buried by now.

Hefting up her guitar and settling it on her lap, Sunset started picking out a tune. Her hands wandered for a few minutes before settling on a nice, quick-paced but paradoxically relaxed song.

“Come to decide that things that I tried were in my life just to get high on~,” it was one of Sunset’s favorite songs, it had an easy, relaxed feeling to it that carried every word into the next. “When I sit alone, come get a little known, but I need more than myself this time…”

From where she was leaning on the door, Gilda closed her eyes and listened to Sunset’s beautiful voice singing softly away in her living room; that was a sound she could get used to.

When Gilda had walked into the bathroom she’d had a minor panic attack when she realised how filthy it was. Gilda couldn’t recall ever particularly giving a damn even on the rare instance someone did come over to her place except during her monthly check-ins from the government goomba that made sure she kept up with basic minimum health crap. Sunset was different though. Gilda wouldn’t be caught dead letting her walk into the bathroom the way it had looked; she had no desire to go into detail but it left the overwhelming impression of brown.

“Hey, o~oh, listen what I sa~y oh, oh,” Sunset’s voice tamped down the rest of Gilda’s thoughts as she cleaned, “come back’n hey, o~oh, lookit what ah say, o~oh.”

Standing up, Gilda surveyed her work. Not great, but passable. Definitely smelled better at least, so there was that. Brushing her hands off on a towel, she grabbed a pair of fresh ones from the rack near her shower. She started drying her short, ragged hair where the snowmelt had left her sodden, and tossed the other onto Sunset’s head as she exited the bathroom.

Sunset laughed as she cut off from playing and set her guitar down. “Thanks, Gil, the cold was starting to settle in.” Gripping the towel, Sunset set to work drying off her much longer hair.

“Hey, no prob, Sunflower,” Gilda cracked as she dropped heavily into the easy chair, letting out a sigh of relaxation as she melted into her favorite seat. “What’s mine is yours, y’know?”

“That’s… really generous of you,” Sunset said, a little surprise coloring her tone. “I mean, we haven’t known each other that long, but… I really like hanging out with you. It feels like… it never gets old, y’know?”

Gilda’s cheeks warmed considerably at that. “Y-yeah, well, other than Rainbow Crash you’re almost the only friend I’ve ever had and that was fuckin’ years ago.”

Sunset studied Gilda for a moment before leaning back in the couch. “So… you knew Rainbow before all of this? Like, you were friends?”

“Eh, kinda?” Gilda remarked, running her fingers through her shorn hair. “We sorta grew up together until the whole thing with my folks. I fell off the planet into the foster system after that. When we finally met up again at CHS I guess I’d gotten pretty rough around the edges… we uh, didn’t really get along.”

“Rainbow’s pretty abrasive, too,” Sunset countered with a grim grin as she leaned closer to Gilda, resting her head on the arm of the couch nearest the chair.

Gilda waved her hand back and forth. “Nah, she’s really soft. When we were kids she was the biggest crybaby. Basically hung off my arm wherever we went. Lotta kids made fun of her hair too, so I got in a bunch of fights over that even before my life took a nosedive.”

“That’s kind of adorable actually,” Sunset said with a small smile, before reaching out and setting a hand on Gilda’s wrist. “You’re a lot nicer than you let on, y’know?”

Gilda looked sharply away, feeling her face go warm again and thanking god her dark complexion hid most of the obvious signs. “Whatever, Sunflower, you’re the big softie between the two of us.”

“Hey,” Sunset called out softly, drawing Gilda’s gaze over. “You’re pretty.”

No amount of melanin was going to hide that blush and Gilda nearly choked at Sunset’s words, provoking a gush of laughter from the redhead on the couch. Gilda tucked her knees up to her chest and glared in the opposite direction of Sunset, mentally willing the blush to go away and failing spectacularly. Sunset did her best to stop laughing, she really, really did, but Gilda’s response was so extreme she couldn’t help it. After several minutes of uncontrollable chortling Sunset finally reached out to touch Gilda’s knee.

“Hey,” Sunset poked Gilda’s knee but she stayed looking away. Frowning, Sunset poked her a few more times. “Hey, Gil, c’mon, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to embarrass you like that.”

“I’m fine, Sunshine,” Gilda grumbled, still looking away and doing her utmost to scowl away the warm feeling in her cheeks.

Sighing, Sunset got up from the couch, crawled over and deposited herself squarely in Gilda’s lap, eliciting another squawk of surprise. Curling up, Sunset looked up at Gilda with the biggest pout she could manage.

“Forgive me?”

Covering as much of her eyes and cheeks with one hand as she could, (her other arm had somehow ended up cradling Sunset’s frame) Gilda just nodded. “Sure, fine, you got it Sunflower.”

Sunset smiled widely and hugged Gilda tight. “See, you’re a softie too. You’re super protective, you’re letting me stay at your place in the middle of a storm, and you’re… you’re my best friend in the world, Gilda. And I’m not just saying that because the rest of my friends kicked me to curb.”

“Y-yeah,” Gilda chuckled a little dryly, hugging Sunset a little tighter. “You’re my best friend too, Sunshine. No question, gal like me doesn’t have a lot of friends. You sure are huggy today though.”

“Mm, yeah,” Sunset admitted with a shy laugh. “I’m cold and you’re really warm, sorry, I’m leeching off your body heat.”

“Hah,” Gilda cackled, “some friend, admit it, I’m just your mobile space heater.”

“Ma~ybe,” Sunset answered with a Cheshire grin, before letting out a sigh and settling down in Gilda’s arms. “Hey Gilda? Sorry, but… is it weird that I like sitting here like this? I mean, I don’t know if it’s awkward or anything, I can move if you want.”

Not willing to say what was exactly on her mind, Gilda just laughed it off. “Uh, nah, it’s cool, I just figured you were huggy. I don’t care, sit where ya like, Sunny.”

“Thanks, Gil,” Sunset answered quietly, “I guess, after spending most of my life alone and then just… getting dropped like I was nothing, everything feels more real when I’m in physical contact. Otherwise, I start thinking stuff, unhealthy stuff, and I know it’s wrong and stupid but the thoughts are just… there.”

“What kinda thoughts?” Gilda asked, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible but feeling a pit of concern open in her stomach.

“Just… stuff I know is wrong,” Sunset responded without looking up at Gilda. “Like, how I’m never gonna have any real friends. Or how I always end up alone. Or like, what would happen if you decided I wasn’t worth it like everyone else did. Or-”

Gilda pulled Sunset tighter, cutting off her words with a strong hug. “Don’t think like that, yeah? You an’ me? That’s not going anywhere, savvy?”

There was a slight sniffle from where Sunset had buried her face in Gilda’s shoulder. “Promise?”

“Already did, Sunflower,” Gilda said softly, petting Sunset’s long, slightly damp hair, “but yeah, I promise.”

“Okay,” came the small, slightly cracked response. Sunset lifted her head up laughed a little bitterly. “Sorry, Gil, I’m just a big weepy mess, huh? Feels like I’m all over the place; one minute I’m happy, then I’m bawling, then I’m pissed off. It’s exhausting.”

“Yeah, sounds like it,” Gilda replied, still running her hand through Sunset’s hair in a calming, petting motion, earning a relaxed hum from Sunset. “Dunno how ya do it, Sunshine.”

“Hey, you’re the one who has to put up with me all the time,” Sunset shot back with a smirk. “Sorry about that, by the way.”

“Don’t be,” Gilda said, leaning back in the chair and stretching before getting up, lifting Sunset up in a princess carry earning a high-pitched ‘eep’ from Sunset. “I’d deal with ya all day, Sunshine. I’m gonna make us some grub, you good with beef stew?”

Sunset nodded, blushing from her spot in Gilda’s arms. “Yeah, I’m good. Used to be vegetarian but I figured out how to not be picky pretty quick.”

Easing Sunset down to her feet, Gilda grinned and walked into the kitchen. “Yeah, us broke bitches can’t be too picky,” she laughed.

Gilda quickly went to work, pulling out a large pot and throwing it on the burner with a pat of butter in it before starting the process of counting out potatoes, onions, carrots, and some cans of tomato paste and beef broth. Sunset just curled up on the couch and watched as Gilda moved in smooth, practiced motions, chopping the vegetables into nice even chunks, each going into their own bowl with salt and pepper. The butter melted quickly and just as it began to hiss a little Gilda reached into the fridge and pulled out a plastic bag of cubed beef and upended it into the pot. The scent of sizzling meat quickly began to fill the small apartment and Sunset’s mouth immediately began to water. Gilda kept a weather eye on the meat, holding onto a long wooden spoon she would occasionally dart in with it shift the cubes around. Once she was satisfied she dumped the onions, beef broth, and some spices in and lidded it.

“There, give it an hour and I’ll add the rest,” Gilda said as she turned the heat down a bit and walked back to the living room. “Another hour’n we’ve got ourselves some homemade stew.”

“You’re really good at that, Gil,” Sunset remarked as Gilda settled down.

Gilda shrugged as she pulled out a couple cigarettes and passing one to Sunset. “Yeah well, you learn to fend f’yourself in the foster system. And when you live alone. Girl’s gotta eat, y’know?”

Pulling out her matchbox, she scowled at the lone match left in it. Shrugging, Gilda struck the match and set it to the head of her cigarette, took a few puffs to light it, then shook the match out. The moment she did she realised Sunset was still sitting on the couch with an unlit cigarette dangling from her wryly smiling mouth.

“Shit,” Gilda cursed as she began digging for another match, “Sorry babe, hold on. I got another pack’a matches ‘round here somewhere.”

“Nah, it’s okay,” Sunset said before leaning in, taking Gilda’s chin in her hand, pressing her unlit cigarette to Gilda’s lit one, and taking a few sharp breaths to ignite the rolling paper and tobacco. “There, we’re all good.” Leaning back, Sunset idly puffed one her cigarette, pulling back and leaning her elbow on the arm of the couch and resting her chin on her knuckles as she smiled at Gilda.

Gilda had managed to hold down the blush when Sunset had leaned forward, honestly she was more embarrassed that she’d just put the match out; major, not-cool, party foul in her book, but the lidded stare she was getting from Sunset was starting to weird her out a little.

“Uh, what’s up, Sunshine?” Gilda asked a little nervously as she took a long drag on her own cig.

Sunset just laughed a little around her smoke. “You called me ‘babe’.”

‘Wow and suddenly it got really hot in here,’ Gilda’s brain rewound the last couple of sentences and she realised she had indeed called Sunset ‘babe’. ‘Wonder how she feels about burying someone who died of embarrassment.’

“U~hh… s-sorry,” Gilda choked out around the smoke in her lungs. “Just sorta slipped out.”

Sunset shook her head. “You don’t have to make excuses, Gil, you’re a lot more affectionate than you let on and I’m totally cool with that. Call me Sunny, Sunshine, Sunflower, babe, whatever you want. You’re my best friend, Gil, and personally, I think it’s kinda cute that you call me literally anything but my actual name.”

Relaxing, Gilda leaned back in the chair. “Yeah, uh, it’s kinda my thing. I just have a habit of nicknaming people. It’s easier in my head…”

“I like it,” Sunset responded as she pulled the blanket towards her and over her bare feet. “It makes me feel… I dunno, special I guess?”

“You are,” Gilda responded instantly, gesturing with her cigarette that was tucked between her middle and ring finger. “You saved the whole fuckin’ school from the Sirens during that crazy Battle of the Bands, ya grew friggin wings, which, I’m not even gonna ask how that shit worked ‘cause I’m pretty sure I’m too stupid to wrap my brain ‘round it. You forgive people ya probably shouldn’t, show mercy when I definitely wouldn’t. You are special, Sunshine, ‘cause unlike all the other folks who say they’re good people, you actually are good people.”

With every word, Sunset’s amber skin turn redder until she was blushing furiously. After a few moments of silence, she smiled shyly up at Gilda. “Thanks, Gil, you keep talking like that and I’m gonna get a big head though.”

“Yeah, right,” Gilda shot back. “You’re terminally humble, Sunflower.”

“Hopefully not literally,” Sunset answered dryly. “Hey, uh, this is kinda super off topic but I’ve been wondering… what kind of music do you like? I mean, you can probably tell where my tastes fall, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard any music from you.”

“Uh, well,” Gilda thought to her smartphone and resolved to make sure she double-checked the password on it. Sunset could never know the truth. “I uh, I don’t really have musical tastes, y’know? I just listen to whatever.”

“You always struck me as a screamo kinda girl,” Sunset remarked.

“Ugh, god no,” Gilda hung her tongue out and blew a raspberry. “Screamo is shit, it’s like someone realised they couldn’t sing and went, ‘well, if I just gargle the mic no one will ever know!’ then made a career out of it.”

Sunset broke down into cackling laughter at that, barely keeping her cigarette from hitting the blanket. “Okay, fair enough.”

“I like what you play, though,” Gilda said, taking another drag. “Never listened to a ton of Chili Peppers but I dig it any day of the week. So how about movies? What kinda movies you like?”

Sunset shrugged. “Never watched a lot of movies, didn’t really have access to my own t.v. for a long time and even then I had too much work to do to get into much stuff.”

“I’m a slasher girl at heart,” Gilda thumbed her chest with a wide grin. “Mike Meyers, Freddy Krueger, Jason! Gimme a machete and buncha dumbass co-eds any day of the week.”

“Who?” Sunset cocked her head to the side at the names Gilda listed off.

Gilda’s smile turned a little glassy. “Uh, y’know, Michael Meyers? Halloween? Freddy? Nightmare on Elm Street? Friggin Jason Voorhees? Any of this ringin’ a bell?”

“Nope?”

Gilda’s stared dumbfounded for several moments before coming to a grim conclusion. “Looks like we’re bingeing the classics tonight,” she said before standing and taking several purposeful strides to the closet and pulling it open and burying her head in the mess inside for a moment before pulling out several old VHS and an old VCR.

“What are those?” Sunset stared at the two pieces of archaic technology, earning a laugh from Gilda.

“These, Sunflower,” Gilda held up her trove, “these are the foundations of my childhood, so buckle up. We’re goin’ on a fuckin’ ride.”

It took Gilda a couple hours to untangle everything, sort out the movies, figure out which ones to watch first, then start wiring up the VCR to the old t.v. which ended up being way more of a chore than either of them expected. Sunset ended up hunched over Gilda hold a flashlight while the taller girl was laying on her side plugging wires. They had to break at one point so Gilda could finish adding everything to the stew, resetting the heat and lidding it for another hour. Eventually, it all got done and Gilda had the first movie popped in.

The case showed a fist gripping a bloodstained kitchen knife superimposed over a glowing jack-o-lantern titled ‘Halloween! The Night HE Came Home!’ which Sunset thought seemed a little dramatic.

“So you’ve seriously never seen a horror movie?” Gilda asked incredulously. “Ever?”

“For the fiftieth time, Gil, no, I haven’t,” Sunset said with a resigned laugh. “Like I said, I never had the gear or the time and when I did, well, horror wasn’t really a big favorite with, y’know…”

“Yeah, the Rainbrats, I getcha,” Gilda waved her hand like she was clearing a stink. “Well, we’re gonna get you a proper goddamn education in cinematic history tonight, Sunshine!”

What followed was several hours of murder and stabbings of shrieking teenagers with big hair and hilariously out of date trousers as the two teens chowed down on bowls of thick, hearty soup. At some point between Chainsaw Massacre and Nightmare on Elm Street, Gilda had switched from sitting on the easy chair to joining Sunset on the couch futon with a bowl of popcorn and part way through Freddy ejecting the entirety of the Boyfriend-Character-du-jour out of a bed in liquid form, Sunset had curled up sleepily against Gilda. As the movie closed out, with Freddy’s clawed hand dragging Nancy’s mother into the house, Sunset shifted slightly against Gilda and yawned, squeaking a little.

“I think I’m tapped out on the murdertrain, Gil,” Sunset murmured sleepily. Gilda fished around for the remote and hit the eject button, she’d rewind them later, and got up from where they’d gotten comfy under the blankets.

“Sure thing, Sunflower,” Gilda said quietly, “guess ya probably don’t have any pajamas or anything, huh?”

“Uh, no, guess not,” Sunset said as she rubbed at her eyes. She didn’t really have anything that fit that bill, even at home, other than a ratty pair of sweatpants and a sweater that had seen better days. “I can sleep in my clothes though.”

“Nah, hold on,” Gilda went to a dresser under the t.v. and pulled out a large ragged sweater and some shorts and tossed them to Sunset. “Here, you’ll be swimmin’ in’m but they’re way more comfortable to sleep in than your clothes.”

Blushing, Sunset lifted the clothes and smiled at Gilda. “Thanks, you rock, Gil. I’ll be right back, just gonna change.”

Sunset disappeared into the bathroom, making Gilda doubly glad she had taken the time to clean it after they got in, Gilda opted to just pull the shades and change in the living room, tossing down her jeans and sweater, she’d long since given up wearing bra’s. She was, frankly, a bit too big for regular off-the-rack ones and the ones she needed were wa~y out of her budget. As she was pulling on a pair of sleep pants and a loose shirt, Sunset called out from the bathroom.

“Uh, Gilda, you wouldn’t have any smaller shorts, would you?” Sunset asked from the bathroom.

Hopping on one leg towards the bathroom door, Gilda leaned against it and replied. “Nope, sorry, pretty much all the same size, why?”

Gilda heard Sunset sigh through the doorway, and it cracked open revealing the redhead wearing just the sweater, which hung to mid-thigh, holding out the shorts from one finger, and giving Gilda a flat stare. “Because I’m pretty sure you’ve got a lot more ‘donk’ in your ‘badonk’ than I do. Even with the drawstrings pulled, these shorts will not stay on.”

Gilda snorted before falling into crippling laughter as Sunset stared on impassively for several seconds before screwing up her face, twisting up the shorts and whacking Gilda over the head with them.

“Hey, just because I don’t have a big bubble butt like you doesn't mean a thing! I’ve got plenty of assets!” Sunset brought both hands under her breasts and lifted them. “Look at these girls! Seriously, it’s nuts! I’m like five foot! What kind of mad quirk of evolution gives a five-foot girl double D’s?! It’s madness! I’ll have back problems before I’m thirty!” At that point, Gilda was on the floor choking on her laughter, desperately trying to breathe but failing to get any air past her mirth.

Dropping her arms to her sides and glaring off into the distance, Sunset delivered a light, playful kick to Gilda’s side who responded by laughing harder. “Fine, fuckit, I’m just gonna sleep in the sweater. I’m too tired for this bullshit. Human clothing is stupid and it can suck my dock,” before stalking over to the futon, kicking it into the bed formation, and dropping onto it.

It took several minutes for Gilda to pull herself off of the floor, there were a number of failed attempts that resulted in another fit of giggles, but eventually, Gilda got herself into her easy chair and kicked it back to the reclining position.

“Heh, sorry ‘bout that babe, you just… looked adorable. Didn’t make’ya mad did I?” Gilda asked as she pulled her comforter over her.

Sunset was curled up in the two spare blankets and resting her head on a pillow on the arm nearest Gilda’s chair. Smiling up at the taller girl, Sunset shook her head. “Nah, it’s fine, I just wanted to complain. Thanks for the lend, though. I wasn’t looking forward to sleeping in my jeans.”

“No probs, Sunshine,” Gilda said as she curled into her favorite chair. The truth was she fell asleep on this thing way more often than she did her actual futon. “Lemme know if ya need anythin’.”

Sure thing, G-g-gilda,” Sunset said around a wide yawn. “Thanks for letting me stay. I had a blast tonight, you’re really… the… best.”

Soft snores immediately emanated from the couch and Gilda smiled as she watched Sunset drift instantly to sleep. She looked peaceful and… perfect. Really. Gilda was tired, exhausted really, but a part of her didn’t want to close her eyes. She just wanted to watch Sunset a little longer.

Just a little bit… longer… and…

Gilda snapped awake to the sound of crying and thrashing. Shaking the sleep from her eyes she swiveled her head around and reached for the bomber jacket and jeans that were pooled at the foot of her chair. It was also where her talons sat at the ready. After a minute of shaking the sleep free of her brain though Gilda realised that the sounds were coming from the futon.

Sweaty and tangled in the covers, Sunset was thrashing her arms around. Tears were pouring down her face as she muttered mostly in a language that Gilda didn’t understand. Some of the words were in English though, and Gilda could make out a few of them: Celestia, sorry, the names of the Rainbrats, demon, and a few others.

The clock on the VCR, which Gilda had set mostly out of habit, read three-thirty-four in the morning. Pulling herself free of her comforter, Gilda shivered violently before grabbing it again and wrapping the cover around her shoulders and torso before kneeling next to Sunset. Carefully, Gilda reached out to Sunset and set a hand on her shoulder, giving her a soft shake.

“Hey!” Gilda whispered harshly. “Hey Sunshine, wake up! C’mon Sunny, wake the fuck up!” She shook Sunset several times.

By the fifth shake Sunset eyes snapped open, they were wild and incognizant of anything around her, and her breaths were coming in with violent heaves. The terror etched on Sunset’s face caught Gilda’s heart in place and in a second she had Sunset pulled close. The redhead clung to Gilda like she was flotsam in a raging storm. Gilda got up onto the futon and sat by Sunset as the smaller girl slowly got control of her rapid breathing.

“Y’okay, Sunshine?” Gilda asked, genuinely worried and with all thoughts of sleep gone. She’d seen Sunset’s mood swings but this was… way more intense. “What the hell was that?”

“M’sorry,” Sunset mumbled as she clung to Gilda. “Should’a warned you I have nightmares sometimes. Didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“Dude, those weren’t just nightmares,” Gilda shot back, looking down at the pale, exhausted girl. “Those were like, fuckin’ night terrors or something.”

“Night terrors?” Sunset looked up at Gilda from her shoulder. Sunset’s eyes were bloodshot and a little puffy from exhaustion and tears.

Gilda nodded. “Yeah, like, really fuckin’ intense nightmares, they’re a helluva thing. I used to have’m when I was a kid after the crash. Bein’ stuck in the car, dreamt I was bein’ crushed. Pretty much went away after I got outta the foster system, still get’m sometimes, though.”

“Sounds right,” Sunset said quietly, curling up closer to Gilda. “Sorry again, though. I’m usually okay at sleepovers and stuff.”

“Why?” Gilda crooked an eyebrow up.

Sunset just shrugged. “Dunno, we all used to just fall asleep in… kind of a puddle? Like, there were six of us and we usually all slept in the same room. Maybe the physical contact kept me grounded or something. Like you said, I’ve gotten really huggy so… maybe that helped.”

“Yeah,” Gilda answered thoughtfully, “maybe it did… hey, uh, Sunny?” Sunset looked at Gilda questioningly, but the look just made Gilda choke on her words. ‘Okay, G, how do you say this without soundin’ really fuckin’ weird?’

After a minute of waffling back and forth, Gilda just decided ‘fuckit’ and pulled her pillow off of the easy chair, straightened the covers, and laid down on the futon, trying her best not to blush furiously as she gestured for Sunset to lay down too.

“You tell anyone about this, Sunflower, and… well, I’ll forgive you… but I’ll also suplex you into next week,” Gilda said as Sunset stared down, her cheeks reddening.

Sunset just nodded, smiling a little at the threat before laying down in front of Gilda, backing into the much larger girl and settling her head onto the pillow. Gilda pulled the blankets over them and shifted around until she was comfortable. Even as a bed the futon wasn’t big and, let’s face it, Gilda was a big girl, but Sunset fit pretty easily against her and soon the two of them were dozing, Sunset’s little spoon to Gilda’s much bigger spoon.

“Hey, Gilda?” Sunset whispered after a few minutes, “can I ask you something?”

Gilda answered without opening her eyes. “Sure thing, Sunshine.”

“Why are you so nice to me?”

“‘Cause you’re my best friend, Sunflower, I thought we covered that,” Gilda answered back, opening her eyes slightly and getting a face full of red and gold hair.

Sunset just shook her head. “I’m not an airhead, Gil. You go way out of your way for me. Like, more than my… than any of the other girls ever did. Especially, uhm, given your reputation, y’know? No one has ever treated me as nicely as you have. I mean, you literally just crawled into bed to hold me so I wouldn’t have nightmares, so… why?”

‘Because you’re a better person than I’ll ever be?’ the thought drifted unbidden through Gilda’s brain. ‘Because you have a heart as big as the world? Because I…’

“Dunno, Sunny,” Gilda grumbled, “not really a deep thinker over here, savvy? I do it ‘cause I wanna. Same reason I do anything.”

Gilda could practically hear Sunset roll her eyes as she laughed a little. “Sure, pull the other one, Gil, they got bells on’em,” Sunset replied, wiggling her feet a little.

Turning her head, Sunset looked up at Gilda, who felt her breath catch hard in her throat. Sunset’s sparkling aquamarine eyes were mere inches away, her lips were just as close. She was smiling, and Gilda couldn’t manage a single coherent thought as Sunset just… looked at her. Her eyes flicked back and forth like she was searching for something and Gilda couldn’t help getting more and more flustered as the seconds ticked past. Finally, she seemed to find whatever it was she was looking for, and her smile widened a little.

“It’s okay,” Sunset said softly, “whenever you’re ready. I’m not going anywhere.” Then she reached around and laid her hands on Gilda’s arms, gently pulling them around her and snuggling deeper into the larger girl’s embrace. “However long it takes.”

Gilda didn’t say anything. Couldn’t say anything. ‘What am I supposed to say to that?’ Everything her brain tried to give her just… snagged in her throat and refused to make its way out. So instead she just hugged Sunset tight and nodded, not acknowledging what she knew Sunset was saying but… trying her best.

“Hey, Sunshine,” Gilda mumbled after several minutes. “You, uh… you got any plans for winter break?”

“Not anymore,” Sunset answered a little dryly but Gilda could hear the smile, and the hope, behind the words.

Gilda took a deep breath as she took her shot. “Cool, uh, you wanna spend it here? Like, uh, extended sleepover sorta thing? I can catch ya up on the best horror stuff? Heh, even the shitty sequels. I got’em all.”

Sunset wiggled, slowly rotating in place until she was facing Gilda, a bright smile on her face. “Yeah, that sounds like a perfect way to spend Christmas to me, Gil. Now let’s get to sleep, I wanna sleep in. No way schools on with that storm out there.”

Smiling from ear to ear, Gilda hugged Sunset tight and couldn’t help nuzzling the top of her head a little, taking in the scent of lilacs and cherries as the redhead settled into rest. She would ask then, that night; the first night of winter break. Gilda would ask, Sunset would say yes, and… yeah. She just needed time to get her brain together. It would be perfect.

Sunset deserved perfect.

Author's Note

This story is dedicated to my girlfriend who has done all of the art for this story and is a massive gay when it comes to cute girls and their big tough girlfriends.

11. Please Don't Make Any Sudden Moves

~Pie Family Farm, Canterlot Outskirts, January 4th, Morning~

Pinkie Pie yawned as she sat on a rock by the side of the road where the school bus always stopped, pulling her knitted hat down around her ears and shivering a little in her thick pink jacket. It was a long, dusty track caked in dirty snow that was barely on the edge of the local school district. The bus that came out to get her and her sisters, along with anyone else who lived out here or along the convenient route, was one of the smaller ones and Pinkie had gotten a lot of teasing as a kid for being on the ‘short bus’ early on, but that had lasted about as long as it took Limestone, who was sitting just to Pinkie’s right at that moment, to lose her temper over the matter which was slightly less than a full school week.

Of course, people still occasionally teased her, Pinkie knew she was a little weird so it was to be expected. Kids could be real meanies when they weren’t thinking about how other people felt.

Pinkie knew that unfortunate truth for a fact.

“Are you okay, Pinkie?” Maud’s monotone voice brought Pinkie’s gaze up to look at her sister. “You’ve been pretty down all vacation.”

“Yeah… I’m not feelin’ so pinkie keen right now, Maudie…” Pinkie said quietly. “I… I dunno… ever since what happened with Sunset it feels like I lost something big.”

“Dunno why you’re still worked up over her,” Limestone grumbled. “If she doesn’t want to be friends then that’s that.”

Pinkie turned and fixed Limestone with a glare that made the bellicose Pie sister recoil.

“I helped ruin her life, Lime,” Pinkie said in a low and very not-Pinkie voice.

“But… but she tried to ruin yours, too!” Limestone shouted back, stomping her foot. “Isn’t it fair?! Maybe she got what she deserved!”

Pinkie continued to stare at Limestone for several seconds, each passing moment becoming more unnerving. Despite never blinking, Limestone never saw Pinkie’s next movement as Pinkie rose up and smacked her hand hard across Limestone’s cheek, rocking her back a step.

“How… how dare you,” Pinkie said in a hollow voice that was on the edge of tears. “Sunset is crippled for the rest of her life, Lime, so no… she didn’t get what she deserved. Nobody deserves that.”

Limestone stared at her sister in shock. Never in her entire life had she ever known Pinkie to hit someone like that. Playful rough-housing and wrestling, sure, they were sisters so of course accidents happened.

But to strike someone out of anger?

“Pinkie,” Maud’s voice was a toneless blade and Pinkie flinched at the anger she heard underneath it. “Apologise.”

Hanging her head slightly, Pinkie wrapped her arms around herself and sat back down on the rock. “I’m sorry I hit you, Lime… I really am… but, you need to not talk to me for a while, okay? What you said… I’ll forgive you later.”

Limestone opened her mouth to agree but a look from Pinkie put paid to whatever she was about to say. Instead she just nodded after a moment of awkward silence.

“So, is there any news about the present?” Maud inquired, her dry, toneless voice betrayed no emotion to the lay listener, but Pinkie could hear the faint touch of concern as Maid tried to break through the tension.

Pinkie played along, nodding with a fragile smile. “S-Sorta!”

Pulling out her phone, Pinkie thumbed the unlock, brought up the recent messages, and handed it over to Maud. Taking the phone, Maud scanned the recent texts from Applejack to a group chat; it was a set of screenshots of a conversation.

//Sunny: I got the present.//

//Applejack: Yeah?! Didja open it?//

//Sunny: No.//

//Applejack: oh, well, it’s okay if ya don’t wanna.//

//Sunny: I might, eventually.//

//Applejack: rely?!//

//Applejack: really?!*//

//Sunny: Don’t get your hopes up, Jackie, all it means is I didn’t throw it away.//

//Applejack: guess that’s pretty good progress by our standards, huh sugarcube?//

//Sunny: Don’t call me that.//

//Applejack: sorry//

//Sunny: Anyway, I just wanted to tell you it was delivered and say to thanks for the Christmas present. Even if I don’t open it… the thought was nice.//

//Applejack: yeah, yer mighty welcome. Mind if I let the other girls know?//

//Sunny: Go for it, I’m gonna go now, don’t text me back.//

“Wow, that was kind of cold,” Maud said in a colorless voice, handing the phone back to Pinkie. “Especially since you got her a present.”

Pinkie just shook her head. “Uh-uh, after what we did I’m kinda crazy-surprised she didn’t just bin the present right away! It means… it means maybe one day she’ll forgive us for… for…”

Maud put an arm around Pinkie as her sister curled up on the rock and started sniffling. Pinkie leaned against Maud’s side and wrapped her arms around the stoic sister’s waist as she cried quietly. There had been a lot of days and nights like this since the whole Anon-A-Miss disaster and while Maud couldn’t deny she was disappointed in Pinkie for abandoning her friend, Pinkie was still her baby sister.

“I took away her smile, Maudie,” Pinkie sobbed not for the first time. “I’ve never done that before, to anyone! I just want Sunny-buns to smile at me again!”

“Ssh, I know,” Maud said in monotone comfort. “It’s going to be hard work to make up for it, Pinkie, but if you keep trying I have faith that you’ll make it happen.”

In the distance the bus appeared at the far end of the road, rumbling down the cold, snowy dirt. Wiping her cheeks dry on her mittens, Pinkie took a deep breath and put on a smile. It wasn’t her biggest one or her most genuine, but it wasn’t fake either, which made Maud feel a bit better. It had been hard seeing Pinkie so moody and low for the past few weeks. Her optimism and good cheer that most in the family would readily describe as ‘relentless’ had been much absent from the household, making the cold season much colder than normal.

The bus came to a squeaking stop by the rock that had been decided upon long ago as the arbitrary place for it to make pick-ups, mostly by dint of it being the primary noticeable landmark that existed by the mostly-empty road. The doors accordioned open with a dull, pneumatic hiss, and Maud waved goodbye to her sisters as Pinkie hopped off the rock, grabbing her backpack from behind it and getting onto the bus with Limestone not far behind.

“Have a good day, Pinkie, you too Limestone,” Maud intoned in an empty-sounding voice, but Pinkie smiled as she heard the affection in it.

“Will do, Maudie!” Pinkie replied, waving back.

Scanning the back rows of the bus, Pinkie spotted the waterfall of pink hair belonging to her friend and quickly left her sister's side and trotted over as the door hissed shut and the bus began rumbling forward again.

Fluttershy’s family kept an animal sanctuary on the edge of town not far from the Pie Farm, it was how they had met. Her mother was a veterinarian who helped care for many of the larger animals on the farms surrounding Canterlot. There were very few in the outskirts of the city that didn’t know the Shy family, but their proximity meant that Fluttershy was one of Pinkie’s few childhood friends.

It hurt Pinkie to see the gentle girl so routinely distraught lately almost as much as it hurt her thinking of what happened with Sunset. Fluttershy had been taking it particularly hard because of the harsh words she’d thrown at Sunset that day in the hallway.

Not that Pinkie felt like she had any room to talk.

“Hey ‘Shy,” Pinkie said, settling in next to her friend. “What’s shakin’?”

“Oh… not much…” Fluttershy said softly from where she was half-buried in her jacket, three scarves, large beanie, and long, thick skirt.

“You uh… you saw Jackie’s text, right?” Pinkie asked, already knowing the answer but not knowing how else to broach the subject. “At… at least she kept it, right?”

Fluttershy nodded dully.

“C’mon Shy… we’re gettin’ there!” Pinkie said, trying to keep the cheer in her voice as she put an arm around Fluttershy’s shoulders. “I’m sure it’ll all work out.”

“Should it?” Fluttershy’s muffled voice asked as she stared vaguely ahead. “Do we even deserve for it to?”

Pinkie’s face fell for a moment before she rallied, scrunching her face in the closest approximation she had to a glare.

“It doesn’t matter if we deserve it,” Pinkie insisted. “Maybe we don’t, but it’s not up to us, one way or the other, okay!? It’s up to Sunny-buns, and that means we gotta keep trying to make up for our stupid mistake until she tells us to stop!”

“What if we’re just making it worse, though?” Fluttershy asked, finally turning her head to face Pinkie. “What if we’re just making it harder for her to move on?”

Pinkie frowned but shook her head. “Then Sunny will tell us, we didn’t trust her once but… but now we’ve got to now, okay?” Pulling Fluttershy into a tight hug, Pinkie took a deep breath and dredged up as big a smile as she could for Fluttershy. “Poppa Pie says that when we wrong someone we have to make up for it no matter what, and sometimes that means walking away, but that should never be the first thing you do because that’s just giving up, and I’m never giving up on Sunny-buns ever again, oki doki?”

Fluttershy smiled a little weakly through her scarf and nodded. “Yeah… you’re right, we can’t give up on her again. I’m sorry, Pinkie, it’s just… I don’t know what to do. I feel so terrible about the things I said to her.”

“Me too, ‘Shy,” Pinkie confessed. “I’ve been feelin’ pretty pinkie-mean since we found out the truth. That… that was a tough cookie to swallow, y’know?”

“I really hope she opens the present, Pinkie,” Fluttershy said after a moment. “Especially after all the trouble you went to.”

“We all put our hearts into it, ‘Shy!” Pinkie insisted, frowning. “That’s what made it so super-duper special, and besides it was Dashie’s idea!”

“But you put more effort into it than the rest of us combined,” Fluttershy insisted. “Even Rainbow knows that! We literally wouldn’t have been able to do it at all without you!”

“Heh, well, that just goes to show it pays to have friends in the journalism club, y’know?” Pinkie said, chuckling a little. “But… but I hope she opens it to, even if she doesn’t forgive us I want her to know that we love her.”

“Me too,” Fluttershy agreed.

As the early morning wore on the bus entered the city limits of Canterlot proper, rolling along the road towards the school. Rainbow Dash joined them on the bus not long after they got into the suburbs, sitting down in the back near Pinkie and Fluttershy. Applejack and Rarity never used the bus, Applejack because she got a ride to work with her grandmother, and Rarity because she had her own little car.

Technically Fluttershy did to, though it was a large and slightly beat up van, but the timid girl strongly preferred not to drive it if she could help it. Driving was, more often than not, a practice in stress management for Fluttershy.

“Hey girls,” Rainbow said a little dourly as she slumped into the seat across from Pinkie and Fluttershy. “Ugh, winter break sucked.”

“It… it wasn’t so bad,” Pinkie said, trying to keep her smile in place. “You okay, Dashie?”

Rainbow sighed, before leaning conspiratorially. “L-Look, I just… I found out something pretty fucked up over break, okay? I… didn’t really know how to talk about it either. I got in a big fight with my dad about it.”

“What?!” Fluttershy gasped. Rainbow Dash would deny it to her grave but she was the biggest daddy’s girl in the group. Her father was her idol almost as much as the various sports stars she followed. “What happened?”

“He just… he lied to me,” Rainbow admitted. “When I was kid I mean… my dad lied about something huge, like massive, crazy-huge.”

Fluttershy and Pinkie glanced at each other uneasily.

“S-So… y’know how me and Gilda used to be friends, right?” Rainbow started, looking up at Fluttershy who had known the both of them at that same time. “Like, we were basically inseparable, y’know?”

“Uh huh,” Fluttershy nodded. “Then she moved away and when she came back she was, uhm, not as nice.”

“Yeah, understatement there, ‘Shy,” Dash chuckled grimly. “Turns out there’s a pretty good reason for that. See, she didn’t move away, she got put into the foster system.”

Pinkie and Fluttershy’s eyes both widened considerably.

“B-but, what about her parents?” Fluttershy asked, “why would they put her-” Her brain caught up to her mouth a moment later. “N-no… Rainbow… it’s not… is it?”

Rainbow nodded grimly. “Yeah, they died in this horrible car crash, I guess.”

Pinkie’s hands flew up to her mouth in horror and Fluttershy went pale and looked nauseous at the notion.

“She was in the car when it happened,” Rainbow went on, “and my dad only found out a lot later. By then I guess everything was done with, y’know?”

“Holy shit,” Fluttershy mumbled dully, drawing looks of shock from both Pinkie and Rainbow Dash. “O-oh, pardon my language.”

“Anyway, my dad lied about the whole thing,” Rainbow said, her features darkening. “He told me she moved away so I wouldn’t have to deal with knowing she was in this horrifying fuckin’ accident.”

The bus came to a stop just outside the school as Rainbow let the confession of what she’d learned over break settle in. Slowly, they filed out of the bus towards the school.

Fluttershy felt a little shell-shocked honestly. She had no idea that the Grimfeather’s had suffered such a terrible fate. Nothing in her own life had even come close to that kind of tragedy, she’d never known the Grimfeather’s well, but the thought that they had just… died like that. Out of nowhere? It was mind-boggling.

One thing scratched just at the edge of Fluttershy’s mind, though.

“Rainbow?”

Dash looked back behind her as they made their way into the halls of CHS. “What’s up ‘Shy?”

“Whatever happened to-”

Thunder eclipsed whatever it was that Fluttershy was about to say. The noise rattled the lockers and shook the walls of the school. It wasn’t just thunder though, it was the voice that rode the thunder. It was filled with such manifold rage that Fluttershy wilted in place as every part of her seized up from the sheer aggression in it.

“GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HER!”

Pinkie, Rainbow, and Fluttershy stared at each other for barely a moment before sprinting towards the voice. All three of them knew it, they had just never heard that voice sound that furious.

It was Gilda’s voice, and where Gilda was…

~Crystal Prep Academy, Canterlot Heights, January 4th, Morning~

In the lower levels of Crystal Prep, Twilight Sparkle was sitting in her chair and sipping from a cup of heavily cream-and-sugared coffee as she stared at a printed read out. Running her hands through her messy and slightly greasy bun of hair, Twilight pulled off her glasses and set them in her lab jacket pocket so she could rub at her eyes. Glancing at the mirror she grimaced at the bags. She really needed to get some real sleep and maybe start eating a little better before Pawnee came to visit, Twilight decided. She didn’t even know what her friend looked like but she still wanted to look nice for her first date ever.

Sighing, Twilight turned back to the screen and her newest conundrum. For the past week and a half she’d been putting her all into trying to determine the makeup of the gauntlets that Pawnee had given her the specs for. Failing at that she had tried to determine where they came from and only found limited success.

They were old, she knew that much. Crazy old, in fact. Thousands of years at least. Ancient pictographs and murals found in Mareyan Temples and Marexican Pueblos dating thousands of years back held the suggestion of these gauntlets in conjunction with some kind of pagan religion. At the same time, there was always the suggestion of some kind of disaster that followed.

Sighing heavily, Twilight pushed her rolling chair back to her other computer and typed out a message.

//Labrat19: Still nothing concrete on the physical makeup, at this point I'm not even sure it actually is metal.//

//Pawnee4: What do you mean?//

//Labrat19: I mean the energy profile of this thing is such that any known metal possessing it would be in the form of a boiling liquid. Plus, the few reputable historical sources I found all seem to agree that the gauntlets were made by a god or something. Oh and that they’re cursed, somehow.//

//Pawnee4: Sounds kinda sus, Lab, pretty much everything weird or strange back then was ‘magical’ or ‘cursed’.//

//Labrat19: I know, but there’s a weird kind of unity to those murals I sent you pics of, despite them being from vastly different cultures and time periods. And I’d be more inclined to dismiss the superstition if these gauntlets didn’t completely defy scientific explanation.//

//Pawnee4: Kind of a moot point, though, innit? We have the gauntlets so what’s worse? Figuring them out? Or ignoring them?//

Twilight grimaced, Pawnee had a really good point there. You couldn’t just ignore stuff like that, it went against the fundamental principles of science. If it was dangerous then she had a duty to determine how and more importantly why, and if it was just a historical artifact with a curiously spotty history then she needed to verify it.

//Labrat19: I know, I know… just seems weird is all.//

//Pawnee4: I getcha, Lab, and it’s cool if you want out. No hard feelings, sav?//

Scowling, Twilight practically pounded out her response.

//Labrat19: No way! We’re in this together, Pawnee, okay?//

//Pawnee4: Heh, yeah, okay.//

//Labrat19: So… any idea when you’ll be coming up?//

//Pawnee4: That eager to see me, lab?//

Twilight blushed furiously as she buried her face in her hands, spinning around in her chair as she tried to think up a response that didn’t make her sound completely desperate for affection or something.

//Labrat19: I am, okay!? I’m really excited to see you!//

//Pawnee4: Aw, and here I was hoping to do more than just see you.//

Swallowing hard at the suggestion, Twilight bit her lip and giggled a little to herself before typing out her response.

//Labrat19: Oh yeah? Uhm, like what?//

//Pawnee4: Oh, you know, holding hands… cuddling on a park bench…//

Twilight felt her temperature rising as her cheeks flamed red. Pawnee was so romantic sometimes… it wasn’t the first time they’d teased her like this since Christmas.

//Pawnee4: And I’m definitely gonna get at least one kiss.//

“Eep!” Twilight squeaked as she toppled out of her spinning chair at reading that last message. “Pawnee! No fair…” Twilight grumbled to their non-present friend before reaching out for the keyboard to grumble at them over the internet.

Her hands froze in place as a certain machine in the corner of her room starting beeping wildly. Scrambling to her feet, Twilight rushed over to the machine and grab at the readings it was churning out; wild and inconsistent spikes measured at seemingly random points in the city, the Commons, a few warehouses, a random neighborhood in the ‘burbs, suddenly concentrated like never before…

“At Canterlot High School?” Twilight mumbled, then her eyes widened as she remembered the first few reading in the Fall. Huge spikes of energy and then… nothing. “That was at Canterlot, too! Except after that there was total silence and then… but…”

Turning back to her computer she sat down.

/Labrat19: Pawnee! Did you see that spike!?//

//Pawnee4: Sure did, Lab, and guess what?//

//Labrat19: What?//

//Pawnee4: Line up the energy profiles off the reading with the spectrograph readout of the gauntlets.//

Twilight’s eyes widened as spun around and grabbed the new readings with one hand while clicking over to the spectrograph file on her computer and plastered the readout against the screen. Twilight felt her breath catch in her throat as she stared at the lines.

It wasn’t a perfect lineup, but the peaks and troughs? The general pattern? It was nearly identical.

~Ponyville Commons, January 4th, Morning~

A few hours earlier…

“Seriously, Sunshine, you sure about this?” Gilda asked for the millionth time as Sunset pulled on the jacket that Luna and Celestia had given her for Christmas. “Pretty sure the Principal would get it if ya didn’t wanna go back t’school right away, savvy?”

Sunset sighed, and nodded. “I know they would, and I know I could stay home, babe, but I also know that it’s not going to get any easier.”

Sitting on the edge of their bed, Sunset carefully brushed her hair. One hundred strokes total got her hair exactly the way she liked it. Gilda was moving around the flat with half of a piece of toast in her mouth that was slowly disappearing as she got ready, pausing only to check if Sunset was really, really sure she wanted to go back to classes today.

Really, though, Gilda was going full mama bear, and Sunset got it. She did understand because honestly… the idea of going back was terrifying. Suddenly being surrounded by everyone who had tormented her for weeks who would probably want to ask all about her wheelchair and ask for her to forgive them and…

Sunset took a deep breath and focused on her brush.

Sixty-seven, sixty-eight, sixty-nine, get your head out of the gutter, Sunset, seventy…

“I know, I know,” Gilda grumbled as she strapped her talon to the back of her belt and pulled on her bomber jacket. “Guess I’m just antsy about this whole thing.”

“Trust me, Gil, I’m aware,” Sunset said with a laugh. Eighty-one, eighty-two, eighty-three. “Oh, hey, c’mere! I wanna show you something!”

Gilda cracked her knuckles, a nervous tic she was starting to develop that had Sunset a little concerned, before dropping her schoolbag next to the door and walking over to Sunset.

“What’s up, Sunflower?” Gilda asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ninety-seven, ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred. Dropping the brush on the bed beside her, Sunset held up her right hand and wiggled her fingers at Gilda.

“Remember that old analog antenna you had your closet?” Sunset asked with a smile. “I stripped some of the wiring and made this!”

Leaning in, Gilda’s eyes widened a little as she spotted a little copper loop around Sunset’s right ring finger. Blushing, Gilda leaned back and covered her face as she was wont to do every time she got embarrassed.

“Aw, Sunshine…” Gilda said, not even bothering to keep the smile out of her face. The weight of the gold bracelet Gilda wore was all the more noticeable suddenly. “Ain’t it supposed t’be a secret, though?”

“We’ll just call it a promise ring,” Sunset said, smiling gently as she examined the ring. “Plenty of people our age have worn them so it won’t be as weird as, y’know, people knowing you actually proposed to me.”

The truth was, ever since the little ring of ice had melted that same night, Sunset had felt like there was an emptiness on her hand. It was as if she were missing something that ought to be there, and the little copper ring helped.

“Y’know copper stains right?” Gilda asked, smiling wryly as reached out and took Sunset by the hand. “S’gonna turn a whole band ‘round y’finger green.”

“I’ll just keep it polished,” Sunset replied with a smirk. “Besides, even if it does stain I’m gonna be wearing another ring there eventually, so no one will ever know.”

“Gay,” Gilda snarked.

Sunset raised an eyebrow at that. “Considering what we spent pretty much the whole rest of the night-slash-morning after you proposed doing, uh, yeah… I’m pretty gay, babe, and I got some bad news… so are you.”

“Only for you, Sunshine,” Gilda shot back.

“Bullshit, Gil,” Sunset replied, crossing her arms and smirking. “I saw you checking out Octavia’s flank.”

“Ass, babe,” Gilda said, sighing and trying to cover a blush. “Not flank, ‘ass’.”

“Fine, you were checking out her ass.”

Gilda shrugged. “She’s got a real nice caboose for a rich girl.”

“Not arguing that,” Sunset remarked.

“Does… that bug you?” Gilda asked, her voice suddenly becoming much more subdued. “Y’know I ain’t ever gonna have eyes for anyone but you, right, Sunflower? Like, if it makes ya uncomfortable I-”

“Gilda, hush,” Sunset said with a small smile. “You are perfectly allowed to admire another lady’s rear end, or a dude’s for that matter.”

Sunset reached her arms out for Gilda who obliged, stepping forward and wrapping her own arms around Sunset and lifting her up in a princess carry, Sunset’s favorite way to be held, Gilda had quickly discovered.

“You promised to marry me, Gil,” Sunset said, her eyes shining. “So yeah, I trust you. Besides, you put up with all my quirks and sometimes-crazy outbursts so I think you’re entitled to admire a few butts here and there.”

“O-okay… just, y’know,” Gilda stammered, chuckling a little nervously as she leaned in and kissed Sunset softly on the lips. “I just… never want ya t’think a time’ll ever come when I ain’t in love you, savvy?”

“Maybe it’s unfair of me…” Sunset started, leaning in to press her forehead against Gilda’s. “But I’ve got a lot of issues so I’ll just blame them when I say I’m gonna go ahead and hold you to that, okay?”

“Fine by me, Sunshine,” Gilda replied as she walked over to Sunset’s wheelchair and gently sat her girlfriend down in it. “Ready for school?”

“Not even a little,” Sunset answered tiredly. “But I can’t avoid it forever, savvy? So we might as well get this train wreck out of the way.”

Grabbing her bag from the floor, Gilda got behind Sunset and pushed her outside. There was a small, chilly breeze that made both of them pull their scarves a little tighter as the wind sprinkled flurries of snow chaotically around the parking lot of the flats. The progress was a little slow thanks to the buildup of snow from the evening, and the Commons were always a slightly lower priority for clearing than the Heights thanks to suspiciously carefully planned plow truck routes.

In spite of the slight obstruction the pair made it to the bus stop in enough time for both of them to board.

Therein lay the first challenge of the day as Gilda glared death at every single student who even looked sideways at Sunset. Every single person the two of them passed began whispering to one another, causing Sunset to retreat into the comfort of her scarf and beanie, pulling them closer around her. One hand fell on the headset that was plugged into her phone and lay just inside her jacket but Sunset forced herself to let go of it.

It’s a last resort, if things get too much, Sunset mentally reminded herself. You don’t need to resort to shutting the whole world away the moment some people start talking.

Taking several deep breaths, Sunset closed her eyes and let Gilda push her along to the back of the bus where the disabled seating was and park her there, strapping her in carefully before taking a seat beside her.

“You alright there, Sunshine?”

Letting out a slow breath, Sunset slowly shook her head as she continued to stare straight ahead, not trusting herself to move too much without losing it.

“Say the word and we’re outta here, savvy?” Gilda said, her voice low and hard as iron. “Auntie’ll understand.”

“I’m not giving up, Gil,” Sunset said softly, pulling her mittens off and massaging her chilly hands. “But… thank you…”

“No probs, Sunshine,” Gilda replied with a slightly forced smirk.

Smiling, Sunset mouthed the words ‘I love you’ to Gilda, who smiled back at her as the bus kicked off again.The bus ride was, for lack of a better term, tense. Sunset did her level best to avoid the constant not-so-subtle stares being thrown her way, and while they weren’t the acidic and hate-filled ones she had become used to over the course of Anon-A-Miss’s reign, the sheer pity in them was almost worse.

It’s not shutting the world out if I just want to listen to music… Sunset thought to herself as she pulled her headphones out and settled them over her head, adjusting them so they were buried in her hair before putting her beanie back on. What else am I supposed to do on the bus?

Pulling out her phone, Sunset checked to make sure the plug was fixed in the jack, then flicked the music app open and hit shuffle. Soft tones and bass beats started playing in her ears and Sunset smiled as she closed her eyes and settled into her chair. Vinyl was right, the headphones made the whole world vanish. She could still feel the faint rumble of the bus in her bones but the the voices, the whispers, the stares… they were all gone.

A faint pressure on her hand brought Sunset back to reality, and she looked over to see Gilda had locked their fingers together as she leaned back in her own seat. Smiling slightly, Sunset gave Gilda’s hand a squeeze. She suppressed a small laugh as Sunset felt Gilda’s thumb trace idly over the little copper ring she had fashioned that morning.

Movement near the edge of her vision drew Sunset’s eye, and she saw a few students across from them staring and whispering to each other. Narrowing her eyes, Sunset gripped Gilda’s hand harder and looked away.

Let them judge if they wanted to.

Gilda’s own hand tightened almost painfully around Sunset’s all of a sudden as the bus stopped, and Sunset glanced up in concern. Flicking her gaze down towards the front of the bus, she saw what had made Gilda start.

Dumbbell, Hoops, and Score had just gotten onto the bus and were headed back towards the far end where Sunset and Gilda were seated. They hadn’t noticed either of the two girls yet but Sunset could feel the tension in Gilda’s body. She was like bowstring pulled fully taut, and her free hand was twitching and shaking.

As the three boys approached, Sunset lifted Gilda’s hand to her lips and pressed her lips softly to Gilda’s knuckles. The sensation drew Gilda’s attention, bringing her back to reality just like Sunset knew it would.

Reaching up, Sunset pulled the right speaker of her headphones from her head and gave Gilda a small smile.

“No murder on the bus, Gil,” Sunset whispered softly.

Dumbbell passed by, his eyes widening as he spotted Sunset and he slapped his hand back into Hoops’ chest, drawing the other boy’s gaze. Score followed suit a moment later and his reaction was the strongest.

Hoops just looked upset, Dumbbell look shocked, but Score? He looked like someone had just gutted him. Sunset tried to muster an expression, or some kind of something, but no matter how far down she dredged she found… nothing. Score just stared, rocking slightly as the bus started up again, as Sunset looked at him with tired eyes from her wheelchair.

“I… S-Sunset… I…” Score choked out but a shout of ‘Sit down!’ from the bus driver combined with his friends dragging him back cut him off.

Just as well, Gilda was looking properly murderous.

“Gonna kill’im first chance I get,” Gilda muttered as the three boys moved past them and sat at the very back of the bus. “Tear his fuckin’ throat out for what he-”

“Gilda,” Sunset’s voice cut through Gilda’s quiet, angry tirade like a blade. “Don’t, okay? No more violence, no more hurting… I’ll deal with him myself, savvy?”

“B-but, Sunshine he-!” Gilda stammered, staring down at Sunset’s legs that were hidden and kept warm under dull gray blankets. “It’s his fault that you’re… you’re…”

“I know,” Sunset said tiredly, “believe me I know…”

Some of the wind went out of Gilda as she stared at Sunset who was shaking in her chair, eyes clenched shut and hand gripping Gilda’s hard. Gently, Gilda reached over and pulled the errant speaker back over Sunset’s ear, shutting the world back out and filling her ears with music again.

Sunset relaxed a little as all the sounds of the world faded and she looked up Gilda gratefully who smiled back at her and scooted a little closer, resting her arm on Sunset’s chair so Sunset could lean her head to the side and rest on Gilda’s shoulder. She took slow, deep breaths, savoring the scent of her girlfriend as the bus rumbled forward towards the school. Sunset did her level best not to think too hard about the coming rest of the day. If the bus ride was this bad, and Gilda was right by her side for the whole thing, then how bad would it be when Gilda had to go to her own classes leaving Sunset alone.

Maybe shutting the rest of the world out wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

The bus ride took far too little time, in Sunset’s opinion. One moment, she was settled comfortably against Gilda’s arm listening to her tunes and letting the world drift by unattended, the next she was being shaken softly by Gilda.

Pulling her headphones away, Sunset glanced up at Gilda’s grimacing face.

“We’re here, babe,” Gilda said softly, getting up and leaning down and start unbuckling Sunset’s chair.

Taking a deep breath, Sunset steeled herself for the oncoming day. She knew she couldn’t avoid the world forever, even if she could shut it up for a little while with Vinyl’s thoughtful present.

Mental note: thank Vinyl and Octavia profusely for the headphones, Sunset mused dryly as she was extracted from her position on the bus and rolled out to the sidewalk.

Sunset Shimmer kept her eyes fixed determinedly on non-existent point directly in front of her as pulled her gloves back on and gripped her wheels, rolling herself forward towards the ramp on the side of the school entrance. Gilda stalked beside her, glaring at the rest of the student body, forcing them to keep their distance. That would work right up until they reached the hallways where space was necessarily limited.

The whispering never stop and, joy of joys, had been joined by fingers being unsubtly pointed in Sunset’s direction. Moving off to the side of the stairs leading up and into the school Sunset almost made it to the ramp before someone called out her name.

“S-Sunset wait!”

Gilda froze, eye twitching as her left hand drifted almost reflexively toward her talons. “No way,” she muttered angrily. “Nope, can’t be… no one is that fuckin’ suicidal.”

Sunset gripped her wheels hard, eventually mustering the courage to turn and see Score running up towards her with Dumbbell and Hoops sprinting just behind him.

“What the fuck’re you doin’, man?!” Hoops hissed as he caught up and grabbed him by the shoulder. “You got a deathwish?!”

“C’mon man, let’s scram!” Dumbbell snapped, his eyes never leaving Gilda’s furious expression as he grabbed Score by the arm and pulled.

Score didn’t budge, nor did he look up at Gilda. His eyes were fixed solely on Sunset who was staring at him with an expression of vague terror and panic.

“Is… is that my fault?” Score asked, his voice a little empty as he brushed his black hair away from his eyes. They were wide with fear. “Was that… because of me?”

Gilda moved but barely got more than a few inches before Sunset’s hand shot out and grabbed her by the arm. With Gilda’s strength she could’ve easily kept powering forward and dragged Sunset along for the ride, but the moment Sunset’s hand settled on her arm she stopped.

“Gil, give us a minute, savvy?” Sunset said softly. “Just me and Score.”

Her eyes went wide and Gilda started to protest, but the burning look in Sunset’s own gaze shut down any words before they made their way out.

“Y-yeah… savvy,” Gilda said finally before turning to Hoops and Dumbbell. “C’mon guys, the lady said alone.”

Advancing on the pair, she reached out and gripped them both by the scruff of their jackets and lifted them bodily, one-handed each, and stalked off. Gilda’s grip was implacable as she moved them a good few meters to the side.

Once they were a decent distance away, Sunset turned and gestured for Score to come closer. He seemed profoundly reluctant to do so but after a moment, swallowed thickly, nodded, and stepped up until he was directly in front of Sunset, looking down at her.

“You put the Dogs onto me, right?” Sunset said quietly. Her voice held no accusation, only a firm statement, but Score flinched nonetheless before nodding. “Can I ask why?”

Score’s whole body was tense, his hands curled into fists and he was shaking as he opened and closed his mouth several times trying to dredge up an answer. Nothing was forthcoming, and eventually he just clenched his eyes shut as hot, angry tears started to trickle down his cheeks.

“I-I don’t know!” Score finally choked out. “I was just pissed off! I was… I was just angry, okay?!”

To his credit, he didn’t run. Score stood his ground, trying desperately to keep his tears in and failing badly. He looked to Sunset like he was choking on something horrible. On impulse, she reached out and set her fingers on one tight and shaking fist.

Pain, guilt, and self-hatred… they were almost palpable. They radiated off of him like heat from a glowing ember. They were eating at his insides like acid. She could almost feel it killing him on the inside.

Up til that moment, Sunset hadn’t been quite sure what she would do when she saw Score. She knew he was responsible for the Dogs finding her ‘home’, of course, and of course he couldn’t have known what would happen but he should’ve expected something bad.

Right?

Except…

Sunset knew all about acting rashly and idiotically out of anger. She knew, probably better than anyone in two worlds, exactly what kind of wages were paid to rash decisions made in the sound and fury of the moment while deaf to even the most basic of logic.

Letting out a slow breath, Sunset did what had to be done. What had been done for her. She reached up and set her hands on his shoulders and pulled him down into a hug.

Score froze as Sunset wrapped her arms around him and hugged him. His shaking stilled momentarily only to become worse by an order of magnitude a second later as he lowered himself to his knees from his awkward, bent-backed position mostly because Score no longer trusted his legs to hold him up.

“It’s okay,” Sunset whispered. “I… I forgive you.”

His hands went up to hug Sunset back mostly because Score wasn’t really sure what else to do. Feeling his heart choking up into his throat, Score managed to hack out a single, broken word as he buried his face in Sunset’s shoulder.

“Why?!”

Sighing, Sunset patted his back as the word devolved into a strangled cry and then into broken, cracked sobs.

“I think it’s because…” Sunset started, staring up at tiredly at the blank gray sky, “...because I’ve been where you are? Because all hating you will do is make you hate yourself, and what’s the point of that?”

Sniffling, Score pulled away, his long heavy bangs matting against his tear stained cheeks. “B-but I almost killed you… and I… I fuckin’... your legs! I… I…”

Giving Score a faint smile, Sunset reached up and swept some tears from Score’s cheek with her thumb.

“Yeah, y’did,” Sunset agreed. “I’m pretty much fucked now thanks to your decision. But I’m still alive, and so are you, so… what’s the point? Just... next time you get mad? Do better… be better, okay?”

“But I…” Score started, but Sunset silence him with a look.

“Do you want me to hold a grudge?” Sunset asked pointedly, and Score shook his head emphatically. “Do you want me to hate you?” Score shook his head again. “Good, because I don’t, I don’t want to hate people and hold grudges. I don’t want to be miserable and cling to the things that fucked up my life, savvy? I want to move on.”

“S-so… what do I do?” Score asked, sounding small and lost.

Sunset just shrugged. “Dunno, Score… maybe learn a lesson from all this? Learn to think before you act, I guess, because sometimes you do things that have serious fuckin’ consequences.” Sunset gestured to her wheelchair at her last word and Score flinched.

“I don’t think we’re ever gonna be friends, Score,” Sunset said after a moment, “but I don’t hate you, mostly because I was you not so long ago, and I’m pretty sure that’s as good as we’re gonna get, savvy?”

Score sniffled a little but smiled and nodded. “Heh, y’sound like Gilda when you say that.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Sunset replied, “and another thing… don’t be afraid to cry. As someone who’s done their fair share these last couple of weeks, it really does help, okay?”

Score nodded as he stood up and stepped away from Sunset. “So… what now?”

“Now I go to class and try not to meltdown, freak out, or have a panic attack,” Sunset answered blithely, earning another flinch from Score, causing Sunset to sigh. “Look, up to you if wanna carry this fuckup around with you for the rest of your life, savvy? But I said my piece.”

“Yeah… hey, Shimmer?” Score said as Sunset began turning away, she looked back up at him questioningly. “You ever need anything? Or… y’know… just… ask, okay?”

Grimacing, Sunset shrugged but nodded. “Sure thing, Score.”

Gilda moved up to Sunset’s side a moment later as started pushed her up the ramp. They’d barely made the top before Gilda spoke up in a tight voice.

“Dunno why y’did that, Sunshine, s’gonna give the rest of these losers ideas.”

Sunset crooked an eyebrow up at Gilda. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Look,” Gilda nodded her head slightly towards the crowd.

Sunset glanced towards the gathering students surreptitiously, careful to keep her eyes low and her scarf covering most of her face. Gilda wanted to her see something but all she could see was the other students looking up at her, just like they had been since she got to the school.

Except…

They looked less nervous, less uneasy… they looked almost hopeful.

“Oh,” Sunset said softly.

“Yeah,” Gilda grunted in annoyance. “Bet my dad’s jacket they all think Saint Sunset’s gonna forgive’m all, because hey, they just made ya miserable, savvy? You just forgave the guy who fucked up y’legs.”

“I… I just…” Sunset stammered as Gilda pushed her into the hall. “I did that for me, maybe a little for him too, but… he didn’t even do it because I was Anon-A-Miss!”

“Nah, that’s the hilarious thing, savvy?” Gilda said with a nasty smirk. “Score wasn’t even tryin’ to aim f’you, he was tryin’ to hurt me.”

“Exactly!” Sunset hissed. “It was an accident! Yeah, it was a stupid choice but we’re friggin teenagers, it’s what we do! He didn’t try to hurt me, he just didn’t think it through! I threw a fucking fireball at Twilight that was hot enough to slag concrete so trust me I get that!”

Gilda shook her head, her mouth tracing into a thin line. “Don’t matter t’those assholes out there, Sunshine,” she said quietly. “They’re gonna think they can just waltz up and get a hug and an ‘I forgive you’ and move on.”

“Well they won’t!” Sunset snarled. “Score didn’t try to hurt me, he just made a shitty choice and had bad aim, unlike me. The rest of those, though? They actively made my life miserable for weeks based on the flimsiest fucking evidence!”

“H-Hey, Sunset!”

Sunset turned slightly, glancing worriedly over her shoulder to see a student running up to her with a slightly nervous smile on his face. She didn’t recognize him by name but definitely remembered the nasty smirk he wore in the hallways while she was scrubbing off her locker one day. She remembered the harsh tone in his voice as he swore at her over something Anon-A-Miss had posted. And she definitely remembered the rough shoves he threw her way when they passed on the hall.

Her view was eclipsed as Gilda moved in between her and him, and the taller girl glowered down at the student. “Beat it, she’s not talkin’ to you, Sandalwood.”

“Hey!” Sandalwood practically growled. “I justed wanted to apologise!”

“And I’m tellin’ you t’get lost,” Gilda retorted stepping forward and glaring down at him, causing him to step back reflexively.

Gathering up his courage, Sandalwood stepped forward again and tried to move around Gilda who stopped him with a palm to his chest and shoved him roughly backward.

“Try that again and you’re on the ground, savvy?” Gilda said in low, deadly voice.

“Sunset! Can we talk?” Another student, that Sunset vaguely recognized as Cherry Crash from her punk aesthetic, swept by around Gilda’s other side. “I just wanted to-”

“Hey, the fuck did I just say?!” Gilda snapped her arm out and grabbed the girl by her faux leather vest and pulled her away from Sunset. “She’s not talkin’ to you shits!”

Turning, Gilda got behind Sunset and pushed her forward, Sunset had her hands covering her head and pulling her beanie down. Gilda could hear the harsh, gasping breaths coming from Sunset that signaled an oncoming panic attack.

“S’okay babe, y’fine,” Gilda muttered as several angry students followed them. “I ain’t leavin’ ya, savvy?”

“This was a mistake, Gil,” Sunset sobbed raggedly. “I shouldn’t’ve come back, I sh-shouldn’t have even tried.”

“Fuckit, I’m gettin’ ya outta here,” Gilda snarled. “Principal’s’ll hafta understand, Sunshine, because this ain’t fuckin’ workin’.”

Taking a turn, Gilda aimed for the side doors at the other end of the school near the cafeteria. It was usually relatively quiet in the morning except for the kids who got the free breakfast.

“Sunset!”

“Hey, hey Sunset!”

Voices were calling from down the hall, Gilda glanced over her shoulder to see a few figures turning the corner and pointing.

“She’s over there!”

“Fuck!” Gilda swore, putting on a little more speed and taking a moment to considering the cost-to-benefit of modding Sunset’s wheelchair for better handling.

They barely made it to the cafeteria before a trio of students, Photo Finish and her friends Violet and Pixel, walked out of the double doors chatting, their conversation dying the moment they saw Sunset and Gilda.

“S-Sunset!” Violet gasped, nudging Photo who stared from behind her overlarge shades.

“Ah, Zunzet, I vas hoping to-”

“Nope,” Gilda took a hard turn towards the next nearest exit.

Luck was not with either of them, though, as they turned a corner to a small crowd with several others following.

“Shit,” Gilda muttered, her eyes widening as she glanced around. “This is gonna turn into a fight.”

“Sunset!”

“Hey, Shimmer, look I just-”

“Hey!”

Looking down Gilda saw Sunset was hugging herself tightly as the students called out to her, her breath coming to short, sharp heaves as she scrabbled for her headphones and jammed them over her ears and closed her eyes.

Snarling, Gilda ripped her talon off of her belt and snapped it on, scraping it hard and loud against the nearby locked, drawing dull scratches across the cheap metal.

“Beat it!” Gilda growled. “She doesn’t wanna talk t’any’a you fucks so get the fuck away!”

“Sunset! C’mon, we just wanna talk!” Another student advanced from one end.

Two more came in from the sides as the first distracted Gilda and they made the first cardinal mistake.

One of them touched Sunset.

“Hey, I just wanted to say I was-” Fleetfoot, one of the soccer team members who had made Sunset’s life hell after several of the team’s secrets were published, put a hand on Sunset’s shoulder.

The pressure, the touch, the scent; Sunset’s eyes snapped open. It wasn’t Gilda touching her. It was someone else. Someone Else.

Sunset screamed.

Gilda had heard a lot of things from Sunset. Soft cries and loud wails, sobs and pleads, she had heard gentle whispers and happy laughter. Gilda heard so many things and every moment she heard Sunset’s voice lit her up inside a little, even if it hurt.

She had never heard Sunset Shimmer scream.

Thunder detonated throughout the hall.

“GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HER!” Gilda roared as lightning snapped and crashed around the hallway as she turned to curl protectively around Sunset.

Every student within a few meters of Gilda was bodily thrown from their feet to the ground, and even those further away were knocked backwards violently. The students of Canterlot High stared at the display; at the massive set of brown-feathered wings that were wrapping around Sunset, wheelchair and all, as small arcs of lightning snapped out from them to scorch the lockers where they touched.

“Hey! What in the Sam Hill’s goin’ on?”

A familiar stetson bobbed near the back of the crowd but quickly shoved it’s way forward as Applejack elbowed and shouldered through. Rarity was gripping her hand and following quickly behind with a worried expression.

“Jackie?! What’s going on?!” Pinkie’s voice called from near the other side as she, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash pushed through to meet in the middle, on the other side of the shield of feathers.

Peeking over them, Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened. “Woah, what the heck is this?”

“They’re… they’re wings,” Fluttershy answered. “Red-Tailed Hawk, I think, from the pattern and whitening around the edges of the coverts and primaries, female, specifically.”

“Thanks for the vet lesson, ‘Shy,” Rainbow groaned, “I’m askin’ what’s actually happening?”

“Did you hear that scream, darlings?!” Rarity asked worriedly.

From inside the veil of her wings, Gilda ignored the voices outside that were chattering and talking. If anyone tried to get to them they’d get a face full of claw for their trouble. Instead she just pressed her forehead to Sunset’s, closing her eyes and petting Sunset’s back soothingly.

“Ssh, s’okay Sunshine,” Gilda whispered softly, cradling Sunset in her wheelchair as she flexed her wings and tightened them around the two of them. “I gotcha, okay? Sunshine?”

Gilda’s eyes widened as she realised Sunset’s eyes were closed. She wasn’t moving, she was just… laying there in Gilda’s arms. Feeling a stab of mad panic, Gilda shook Sunset gently. “C-C’mon Sunflower, what’s wrong?! H-Hey! Wake up!”

“Gilda?” Applejack’s voice broke through Gilda’s panic. “That you, sugarcube?”

A part of Gilda wanted to ignore the call but this wasn’t about her, Sunset… something was wrong with Sunset. Pulling the veil of feathers away slightly Gilda looked up and out at Applejack who had Rarity clinging to her arm, both of them were staring down in concern.

“P-please, y’gotta help!” Gilda pleaded, not caring that these were the people who had ruined Sunset’s life. “She ain’t wakin’ up!”

Applejack’s eyes widened, and without a moment’s hesitation shrugged off Rarity’s arm and ducked underneath the nest of feathers to get in close to Sunset.

“Damn, Ah don’t… wait,” Leaning her head out, Applejack called out. “Hey, Fluttershy, you there, sugarcube?”

“U-uhm, yeah, over here!” Fluttershy called from the other side of the feather shield.

“Let’er in, Gilda, she’s First Aid certified, a’right?” Applejack begged, putting a hand on Gilda’s shoulder.

Gilda grimaced but nodded, lowering her left wing and raising her right to admit Fluttershy in. The timid girl quickly ducked in, stopping only momentarily to admire Gilda’s wings from the inside before crawling over to where Gilda was cradling Sunset.

“S-sorry, I just need to get closer,” Fluttershy said softly.

Reaching out, Fluttershy took one of Sunset’s wrists very gently, settling her thumb over the vein. At the same time she put a finger to Sunset’s neck. Closing her eyes, Fluttershy focused for a moment, concentrating, then opened her eyes again.

“Her pulse is good and she’s breathing steadily,” Fluttershy said in the most steady voice that Gilda had ever heard from the normally fearful girl. “If I had to guess from the sweat and tension, I’d say she had a panic attack and fainted.” Looking back up to Gilda, Fluttershy met the taller girl’s gold eyes with her intense, almost fiery blue ones. “You need to get her to the nurses office now, though, alright? She needs rest.”

Gilda felt her breath catch hard in her throat at the sheer intensity of Fluttershy’s gaze, but nodded.

“Good,” Fluttershy said after a moment, smiling beatifically. “I know you don’t like us, and you have every right, but let us help you okay? Just this once?”

Biting her lip, Gilda considered denying her but… that was stupid and selfish. It certainly wouldn’t help Sunset.

“Fine,” Gilda spat. “This once, savvy?”

Gathering up Sunset in her arms, Gilda stood, letting her wings fade away as she focused on bringing her emotions back down to a manageable level. Applejack and Rarity started gathering up Gilda and Sunset’s things, piling them onto the wheelchair.

“The rest’a you can fuck off, though,” Gilda growled. “She doesn’t need t’wake up to you lot and go passin’ out again.”

Pinkie started forward but was stopped by a blue hand on her shoulder.

“Yeah,” Rainbow said, meeting Gilda’s gaze. “You got it, G, c’mon Pinks, help me break up the peanut gallery.”

Gilda blinked in surprise as Rainbow nodded, not even trying to argue the matter, which took Gilda a moment to take in. As Rainbow was pushing Pinkie away she turned back to Gilda and frowned.

“H-Hey, G, can we talk sometime?” Rainbow asked in a subdued voice. “Not about the crap with, y’know, the Rainbooms and all… about, us… please?”

Hefting Sunset a little so she was resting her head comfortably against Gilda’s shoulder, Gilda stared questioningly at Rainbow. Sighing, Gilda shrugged.

“Yeah, sure thing, Dash,” Gilda replied, “but you try’n turn it into a thing about Sunshine here and I’ll clock you one, savvy?”

“Yeah, got it,” Rainbow agreed before following Pinkie who was doing an admirable job to breaking everything up peaceably.

Rarity pushed the pack-ladden wheelchair along, with whatever didn’t fit on it being carried by Applejack who walked alongside Gilda towards the nurse’s office. Gilda couldn’t help glaring at every student who crossed their path and with Applejack flanking her most of students quickly got out of their way.

Applejack glanced over her shoulder as they approached the nurse’s office, calling out to Rarity. “Hey, hon, you go ahead t’class after ya’ll drop the stuff with Nurse Manners, a’right?”

Smiling, Gilda chuckled a little. “Guess you’n fancy-frills over there’re finally knockin’ boots, huh?”

Rarity and Applejack both blushed furiously and Applejack shot Gilda a glare. “Y’mind bein’ a little more discreet about that, sugarcube?”

“Why?” Gilda asked, sounding oddly conversational. “Ain’t like people aren’t gonna notice after a few weeks, even if ya don’t say anything, and if ya keep it quiet people’ll figure there’s a reason yer not talkin’ about it, meanin’ it must be somethin’ t’fuckin’ talk about.”

“That’s… oddly insightful, Miss Grimfeather,” Rarity said from behind the two of them. “But Applejack’s family is, shall we say, very traditional. Mine are far more, ah, liberal in that regard of course; the fact of the matter is that you can’t be any part of the fashion industry without having a rather open mind, but…”

“But what? Family’a farmers, yeah?” Gilda asked, raising an eyebrow at Applejack who nodded. “Not much of a family if they kick ya t’the curb the moment ya stop fittin’ in.”

Applejack opened her mouth, her face twisting angrily for a moment before the subtext of what Gilda had said hit her and she closed her mouth, looking down in shame, glancing momentarily at Sunset.

“Y-yeah, guess ya’ll ain’t wrong,” Applejack said quietly. “But… still, mind lettin’ us get to it in our own time, there, Gilda?”

Gilda shrugged again. “Whatever y’say, Hoedown. S’your life, not mine, y’wanna spend it hiding who you are it’s no skin off’a my back, savvy?”

Elbowing open the door to the Nurse’s office, Gilda cleared her throat. “H-hey, Nurse Manners, I… I need help,” she tried her best to keep her voice level but it quaked nonetheless.

Bedside Manners had been the nurse for Canterlot High for almost fifteen years and so there were really no students who didn’t know her save for the very newest. Her bob of blue hair tucked neatly behind a nurses cap and clean white scrubs were a sigh few students hadn’t seen at least a few times during cold and flu season. Being around them so much of their formative years and tending to them meant that Nurse Manners tended to be very protective of the kids in her charge… with a few exceptions.

Gilda was one of those exceptions.

“Miss Grimfeather what did you do to that girl?!” Nurse Manners snapped, her eyes widening as they fell on Sunset’s unconscious form.

In Nurse Manner’s defense, almost all of her prior interactions with Gilda had been patching up those who got on the bigger and stronger girl’s bad side. Plenty of students made the mistake of mocking Gilda for one thing or another, whether it was her white hair or bad grades, but very few of them had suffered the kind of consequence that openly making fun of a former gangbanger tended to carry with it.

That ‘consequence’ being a beating of legendary proportion.

So it was fair to Nurse Manners that she was completely wrong-footed and set back on her heel when Gilda responded.

“I’D FUCKIN’ NEVER!” Gilda roared, gripping Sunset tight and glaring death and hatred at the Nurse who staggered back from the girl whose eyes were suddenly snapping with electricity.

“Easy there, sugarcube,” Applejack said, settling a strong hand on Gilda’s shoulder and pulling her back before turning to Nurse Manners. “Powerful sorry ‘bout that, Nurse Manners, Sunset here is Gilda’s girlfriend and she had a panic attack in the hallway and passed out. Ah can vouch fer it, n’so can Rarity.”

“I… I see,” Nurse Manners said, glancing once down at Sunset then back up to Gilda.

Gilda was breathing hard, her face twisted in a rictus of anger. The idea, just the thought of hurting Sunset made her want to vomit. The idea that someone thought she would be that? That someone thought Gilda would ever, ever hurt her Sunshine was…

“Ease up there, girl,” Applejack said quietly, patting Gilda’s back. “Let Nurse Manners do’er thing, a’right?”

Nodding silently, not trusting herself not to say something else awful, Gilda walked over to an empty bed and, with a shocking amount of care and tenderness, laid Sunset down on the clean white sheets. Carefully, Gilda unlaced Sunset’s shoes and pulled them off one by one, setting them by the bedside, then reached out a hand and gestured for Rarity to bring the wheelchair closer.

Rarity obliged, and Nurse Manners watched in shock as Gilda gathered up the patchy but warm-looking grey blankets and gently tucked them around Sunset legs up to her chest.

“S-she gets cold, savvy?” Gilda said quietly, staring down at Sunset as she reached out to run her hands through the unconscious girl’s hair. “An’ she gets night terrors when she sleeps. Dunno if it’ll happen like this but if she starts thrashing get me here, I can stop’em, y’know?”

“I’ll bear that in mind, Miss Grimfeather,” Nurse Manners said, keeping her voice low as she joined Gilda at Sunset’s bedside.

“And… y’know about her legs right?” Gilda asked. “She can’t move’em, so be careful, okay? And… and let the Principal’s know too, savvy? They know about it all.”

“I’ll be sure to do that,” Manners said, reaching out and putting a hand on Gilda’s arm. “I need to examine her now, though, Miss Grimfeather.”

Blinking and shaking her head, Gilda took a shaky breath and nodded.

“Y-yeah, guess given everything y’probably want me outta here, huh?” Gilda said softly, not looking at Nurse Manners.

Leaning down, kneeling slightly to bring her larger frame to Sunset’s level, Gilda brushed her lips across Sunset’s, then pressed her forehead to Sunset’s shoulder.

“I’m a call away, Sunflower,” Gilda whispered. “I love you.”

Turning to leave, Nurse Manners reached out and put a steadying hand on Gilda’s shoulder.

“Wait, Miss… Gilda,” Nurse Manners started, shaking her head. “You can, assuming you behave yourself for once, stay in the waiting area just outside my office, alright? I’ll just write you a note. All things being equal, I really should ask you about what happened.”

“Uh… y-yeah…” Gilda nodded, looking relieved. “I’ll wait.”

Walking out of the small, cot-filled room, Gilda settled down into one of the slightly-uncomfortable plastic chairs that sat outside of Nurse Manners’ office.

“You gonna be alright, sugarcube?” Applejack asked, looking over her shoulder at Gilda as she opened the door to the hallway. “Ah can stick around too, if’n ya want.”

“Nah, I… I’m fine,” Gilda said, her left hand drifting up to her right wrist and fiddling with the bracelet that lay under her jacket. “But, uh… y’know, thanks, Hoedown, fer bein’ there’n and helpin’ out.”

Applejack smiled wanly. “Ah figure Ah ain’t been there Sunset plenty as it is, so Ah might as well start makin’ up fer lost time.”

“Yeah, fair enough,” Gilda replied, letting out a sigh.

Applejack waited a few moments more before shrugging and turning to leave and join Rarity outside. As she was leaving, though, Gilda found her voice again.

“H-Hey, Hoedown,” Gilda called, drawing another look from Applejack. “I… I don’t hate ya, I hate… I hate what you all did t’Sunshine but… I don’t think I hate ya.”

“Well, reckon that’s a step in the right direction fer all’o us, ain’t it?” Applejack replied with a more genuine grin this time before leaving and quietly shutting the door behind her.

“Guess maybe it is,” Gilda mumbled, leaning back in her chair and staring down at the floor.

For as long as she’d been with Sunset all she had ever felt for the Rainbooms had been, at best, antipathy. At worst it was outright hatred. Not so long ago Gilda would’ve gladly cracked their heads against the pavement just to satisfy her anger at what they had done to Sunset. The only thing stopping her all this time had been the knowledge of how deeply Sunset would disapprove of her actions.

Gilda sighed, burying her face in her hands as she groaned in irritation.

“Penny for your thoughts, Miss Grimfeather?”

Gilda glanced up to find Nurse Manners standing in front of her with a bemused look on her face. Before Gilda could answer, though, Nurse Manners gestured towards her office.

“There’re nicer chairs in there, if you’d like,” Manners said blithely as she stepped past Gilda and fitted her key to unlock her office door and enter. “I have to finish reporting Miss Shimmer’s condition anyway, so you might as well follow.”

Following Nurse Manners into her office, Gilda glanced around, taking in the dimly lit little room. It had a comforting feel to it and the chairs by the desk were soft, cushioned ones rather than the hard, unpleasant plastic outside.

“Take a seat, then,” Manners said, gesturing at the chair as she swept around her desk and settled into her own seat and brought her computer back to life with a few mouse flicks.

“Uh, yeah, thanks,” Gilda said quietly, taking a seat across from the Nurse and crossing her arms. Unconsciously, her fingers slid up her sleeve to run across the smooth metal of her bracelet. “So is… is Sunset, okay?”

“Mhm, quite so,” Nurse Manners replied. “I suspect she hyperventilated and passed out, which tracks with what you and your friends said, I imagine she’ll be back among us within the next half hour.”

“They ain’t my friends,” Gilda replied, scowling a little. “They… guess they’re nice enough but they screwed over Sunshine pretty bad.”

Nurse Manners looked up from her computer for a moment, her gaze a little sad. “The Anon-A-Miss incident, I assume? That was such an awful thing.”

“Yeah, they pretty much ruined her life fer fuckn’ no reason at all,” Gilda growled. “They goddamn dropped her like it was nothin’! I can’t even… fuckin’... what kinda friends-?”

Nurse Manners held up a hand, forestalling Gilda’s little tirade. “I understand you’re passionate about this but I really do need you to tell me precisely what happened in the hall this morning.”

“O-oh, yeah, savvy,” Gilda said, breathing out a sigh shrugging. “Well, we basically were pretty sure it was all gonna go t’shit in the first place, y’know…?”

Nure Manners listened closely as Gilda recounted everything that happened, from getting on the bus, to the small incident in front of the school, to the event that ultimately led to Sunset’s panic attack in the hallways. Manners couldn’t help but grimace a little as Gilda told the story. The students of Canterlot High School were good at heart, she truly believed that even accounting for the whole Anon-A-Miss fiasco. Teenagers never did handle having embarrassing secrets aired out for all to see very well in her experience so there weren’t many ways that mess was going to go but poorly.

Still, they ought to have known better than to just mob the poor girl. Well, forethought was also never a great talent of the young, at least not so much as enthusiasm was.

As Gilda trailed off, Bedside Manners couldn’t help but notice her eyes kept drifting to the side toward the wall. Precisely in the direction where Sunset Shimmer was laying asleep.

“You really love her, don’t you?” Nurse Manners said softly after a moment. “I can’t imagine anything else changing someone so drastically in so short a period of time than that.”

Gilda clammed up for a moment, tightening her arms around herself as she did. Her cheeks reddened slightly, but after a moment, Gilda nodded.

“How much do you love her, I wonder?” Manners asked, staring at Gilda with piercing eyes. “I’ve seen a lot of high school romances burn bright, flicker, and fade, but I can honestly say that I’m not sure I’ve ever seen whatever it is I’m looking at right now.”

“She’s… she’s everything,” Gilda said in a slightly raw voice. “Sunshine? She’s… my whole world, savvy?” Letting a slow, shaky breath, Gilda scrubbed her fist over her eyes and ran a hand through her hair. “I felt like I was havin’ a fuckin’ heart attack when she stopped movin’ in the hall, y’know? It was like… like I was right back in the alley when I found her under all that metal, right? Like she was gonna die and there wasn’t shit I could do about it.”

“Sunset will be just fine,” Nurse Manners said with a faint smile. “At worst she might have a bad headache after waking up. I’m more worried about you, Gilda.”

“Me? I’m just fuckin’ fine,” Gilda replied before catching herself, coughing lightly and amending to, “uh… I mean, I’m… I’m fine, Nurse.”

“See, that right there,” Nurse Manners said, pointing a finger at Gilda. “No offense, Miss Grimfeather, but you have a very poor reputation in my little office, you understand?” Manners narrowed her eyes at the wilting teen in front of her for a moment before sighing and shaking her head. “I’ll be honest, Gilda, I’m supposed to be impartial but the truth is that up until a moment ago I could honestly say I did not like you. Not one bit. I’ve seen so many bruises, black eyes, split lips, and broken noses inflicted specifically by you pass through my office that I’m not sure I’d have trusted myself if I had to patch you up.”

Gilda sagged in her seat, but nodded. That wasn’t too surprising, all things considered. Gilda knew she had a reputation for violence, given how she grew up it wasn’t surprising but it wasn’t an excuse either.

“Y-Yeah… sorry about that.”

Nurse Manners pointed at Gilda again. “See? There it is again.”

“What?” Gilda asked, feeling a little annoyed. “I just apologised.”

“Precisely,” Manners replied. “Over my tenure here at Canterlot High I’ve only known a few bullies that were as prolific as you, Gilda Grimfeather, and I don’t think I ever heard a single one of them apologise and actually sound like they meant it.” Leaning back in her chair, Nurse Manners’ mouth hardened into a thin line. “And yet… when you said that I… I believed you. I genuinely think you’re sorry for what you’ve done in the past. That’s… shocking, if I’m being honest.”

“Why?” Gilda grumbled, feeling a little put out as she crossed her arms. “What’s so friggin’ shocking about me wanting to be better, huh?”

“Everything, really,” Manners replied, cocking her head to the side a little in amusement. “I always got the impression you didn’t, as you would say, ‘give a shit’ about being anything other than what you were.”

Gilda opened her mouth to refute the Nurse’s words but choked on it as she realised that was exactly true. A few months ago that was exactly what she’d thought. There was no need to change, no reason to be different, no reason to move on.

Not since Zee died.

“And yet here we are,” Manners said, gesturing around her office. “You’ve clearly changed a great deal for the better, and I’m left wondering if maybe I was the one who failed all of those other children who passed through here that I wrote off as bullies.”

Leaning back in her chair, Gilda cracked her knuckles and shrugged. “I… I don’t think ya did, if it means anything…” she said quietly. “Most folks ain’t gonna change unless they got a really good fuckin’ reason, savvy?” Gilda glanced over her shoulder towards the door. “I got me a real good reason to change, see? I gotta if I’m gonna be good enough f’her, y’know?”

“I do know,” Nurse Manners replied. “Love can bring out the best or the worst in us, depending on how it flows and whether we’re mature enough to handle it.” Chuckling a little to herself, Manners gave Gilda wry smile. “I’ll admit you wouldn’t have been my first guess as someone who apparently is, but… I’m glad you are.”

“Sunshine… she’s the best part’a my world, y’know?” Gilda said quietly, wringing her hands. “I… I love her, a lot, like… I dunno, I’m not so good with words, savvy? But… I’d do a lot more than die f’her, y’know?”

“Duty is heavier than a mountain, death is lighter than a feather,” Nurse Manners intoned softly. “A quote from an old Neighponese Rescript to their soldiers; that is to say, dying in service is all well and good but catching a bullet is hardly difficult, living for something greater than yourself? That is far more challenging.”

“Living f’something other than me, huh?” Gilda repeated, before smiling and nodding. “Yeah, that sounds right. You wanna know how much I love Sunset? I’d live for her.”

Nurse Manners nodded, smiling as she rolled her neck. “Good, I’m glad to hear it, and hopefully you keep to that, Gilda, because I daresay it’s done both your demeanor and your mood a world of good.”

A brief knock on the door interrupted their conversation, and Nurse Manners called out for them to enter. The door opened and Vice Principal Luna walked in, her face schooled to neutrality but Nurse Manners could see the tension on the edges of her eyes.

“Nurse Manners, I heard Miss Shimmer was accosted in the hallways, is that right?” Luna said, her voice tight with barely restrained anger.

“Not quite,” Manners replied with a sigh. “It seems the students were simply… overzealous in attempting to ask Miss Shimmer’s forgiveness for their behaviour over the last few weeks of school prior to break.”

Some of the tension left Luna’s features as Manners explained the matter fully, with a few interjections and clarifying questions pointed at Gilda.

“I see, that’s unfortunate,” Luna said after Manners finished. “I can understand how it happened. I’m not happy about it, but I see where it came from. I blame myself for not foreseeing this and making some kind of announcement.”

“Pretty sure Sunshine wouldn’ta wanted ya to,” Gilda said from the side. “She’s stubborn like that, y’know?”

Luna sighed. “Yes I am fully aware of Sunset’s fiercely independent personality.” Stepping out of the small office, Luna glared down towards the cots. “I strongly suspect it’s that which led her to refuse asking for help.”

“I shouldn’ta let’er come,” Gilda grumbled as she followed Luna out Manners’ office. “I knew it was gonna go wrong, savvy? Too much bullshit in one place.”

“I can’t help but agree, though I’d ask you to tone down your language in these hallways, Gilda,” Luna responded with a sardonic smile. “I don’t personally mind but as I’m employed by the state one might say that I’m paid to care.”

“R-right, sorry,” Gilda replied sheepishly.

“Here’s your note, Gilda,” Nurse Manners said, exiting her office with a pale yellow slip of paper. “Just drop it by Cranky’s classroom, alright?”

Gilda grimaced as she thought about the abrasive maths teacher. “Ugh, yeah… right, savvy.”

“I’ll let Sunset know you stayed,” Manners said, putting a hand on Gilda’s shoulder. “But you really ought to go to class. I’ll call you in around lunchtime to get her, if that’s alright?”

“Uh, y-yeah, sounds good, Nurse,” Gilda agreed, taking the note from Manners. “Don’t want her goin’ around the halls alone, y’know?”

“I agree,” Luna said in a deeply annoyed voice. “Regardless of Sunset’s wishes, I’m going to make an announcement to leave her alone. A remarkable young woman she might be, but she is not invincible and I will not have her hospitalized over her own stubborn refusal to take things one step at a time.”

“Can’t argue there, VP,” Gilda replied.

The walk to the Algebra classroom was a quiet one. It was about a quarter of the way through second class and the halls were empty. Gilda nervously held the crumpled note in her hand as she walked towards Cranky’s classroom. The old man had never liked her, and frankly Gilda had never given him a reason to. She was rude, surly, and generally slept through all of his classes. She was disrespectful and probably got more detentions from him than she did from Miss Harshwhinny, which was sort of impressive. Although Gilda largely suspected Harshwhinny simply didn’t care enough to bother with a detention slip.

Still… it didn’t make walking into the classroom any easier.

Stopping in front of the door, Gilda looked through the little glass window. Cranky was sitting at his desk, his classroom empty, grading papers most likely.

Taking a deep breath, Gilda knocked on the door.

“C’mon in,” Cranky grunted from his desk without looking up.

Swallowing hard, Gilda turned the knob and opened the door, walking in and up to Cranky’s desk. “H-hey, Mister Cranky… just uh… droppin’ off a note from Nurse Manners, y’know? S’why I wasn’t in class this morning.”

Gilda stared at the ground, feeling irritated at how guilty she felt as she held the note out and moment of nothing passed before Cranky finally responded.

“You gonna look at me, Miss Grimfeather or you set on winnin’ that starin’ contest with the ground?”

Biting her lip, grimaced and looked up at Cranky. His expression surprised her though as he reached out and plucked the note from Gilda’s hand.

He looked… sad.

“Alright then, was that it?” Cranky asked.

“Uh… yeah,” Gilda responded, rubbing her neck. “I… I guess so.”

Turning on her heel, Gilda set off back towards the door.

“Y’even walk like yer daddy, yknow?” Cranky’s voice said.

Gilda stopped in her tracks, her breath catching hard in her throat as she turned to look over her shoulder at the old maths teacher.

“W-what?” Gilda choked out.

“Yer daddy,” Cranky repeated, looking down at the note with eyes that clearly were seeing something else. “Ol’ Grendel Grimfeather’n I were good friends, a’fore he passed’n all.”

“I… I didn’t know ya knew’em,” Gilda said quietly, turning around and shoving her hands in her pockets for lack of anything better to do. “Guess I never asked, though, huh?”

“You weren’t the only one who never asked,” Cranky said in a sour voice. “Shoulda known no daughter’a Grendel’d be lazy or a layabout.”

“The hells that suppose’ta mean?” Gilda asked, grimacing.

“Ya never tried in my class, and ya had an ugly reputation about ya,” Cranky said, turning in his seat to face Gilda. “Thought it was such a damn shame ya turned out so bad, but… Celly and Luna talked to the staff a few days back during the first meeting of the year, see? Among the topics were that we’d have to dust off the old stuff about Dyslexia, as we had a student who needed the help.”

Gilda’s cheeks reddened and she looked down at the ground, her hands curling into fists as shame leaked into her heart.

“Ain’t your fault, hon,” Cranky said with more fire in his voice than Gilda had ever heard, drawing her eyes back up. “Look, I shoulda seen the signs, alright? You ain’t exactly the first Dyslexic kid I’ve taught. Far from it, I seen it before and I ain’t got no excuse for missin’ it this time.”

Cranky stood up from his seat. He was never a tall man, shorter than Gilda by a fair margin, bald as the moon with something like a permanent grimace on his face. Now though, he just looked sad.

“Grendel, Drusella, and I were good friends up until the day they passed,” Cranky said softly. “And if Matilda and I could’a afforded it ya know any kid’a Grendel’s would be welcome in our home.”

“Ain’t your fault, Mister Cranky,” Gilda said quietly. “I’m a fuckup, and I’m stupid, so… I ain’t blamin’ ya.”

“Don’t you go doin’ that, girl,” Cranky snarled. “Puttin’ yerself down like that, phooey on that I say. You think I didn’t ask to know what you been up to all break when Celly broke the news? Think I don’t know you been breakin’ your back givin’ that poor Shimmer girl a home? Think I don’t know you got a job with Ol’ Crank down in the Commons? I’ve got plenty’a friends ‘round town, Gilda Grimfeather.”

Gilda choked quietly as tears welled up in her eyes. “I… I ain’t… I’m just doin’ the right thing, s-savvy?” Gilda said, her voice cracking in a sob before stepping forward. “I don’t… I don’t give a shit if anyone knows it!”

Cranky shook his head and took Gilda’s left hand in his; hands were broad and dark and thick with calluses. “Aw hon, ain’t like that… I just wanted you to know I’m sorry, alright? Ain’t easy for an old man t’say but I was wrong to give up on ya like I did, even if ya didn’t know it. I owed you better and I certainly owed your daddy better. I just wanted to tell you how proud I am of ya.”

Sniffling, Gilda brought her free hand up to rub at her eyes, nodding silently because she didn’t trust herself not to break down if she opened her mouth to say anything. A few more moments passed as Gilda wiped at her eyes and nose, coughing as she stepped away and smiled.

“T-thanks Mister Cranky,” Gilda said finally, “I dunno why but… it was really good t’hear that, y’know?”

“Ya oughta come ‘round for dinner sometime,” Cranky said, smiling warmly. “Matilda’d love it, I know, and o’course Miss Shimmer’s invited too.”

“Y-yeah, maybe,” Gilda nodded. “I’ll see if Sunshine wants to, y’know?”

As Gilda turned to leave again Cranky called out. “Gilda, if it ain’t a question you wanna answer ya don’t have to but… can I ask something else?”

Gilda turned, a coldness in her gut telling her that she knew what the question was going to be.

~Canterlot High School, January 4th, Afternoon~

Rainbow Dash kicked her soccer ball lazily around the field. She was the only one out there at the moment since lunch had just started. She had a bagged lunch and usually sat with her friends but today she had no appetite and even less desire to socialise.

Besides, she had a meeting.

Gilda had texted her earlier letting her know she’d be out in the fields if Rainbow still wanted to talk. She was going to be waiting for Nurse Manners to call her in to pick up Sunset.

The soccer ball went hurtling across the field as Rainbow aimed a particularly hard kick at it, sending it far off course towards the edge of the school building. A second later the ball came hurtling back and Rainbow barely managed to headbutt it back to the ground before glancing up to see Gilda standing at the corner, a cigarette dangling from her mouth.

“You wanna talk or what?” Gilda called, moving the cigarette, using her lips to shift the cigarette from one side of her mouth to the other. “I ain’t sittin’ here all day, Rainbutt.”

Rainbow Dash chuckled dryly as she rubbed at the slightly red spot on her forehead before walking over to the wall and leaning against it.

“I forgot you did that,” Dash said with a laugh. “Nicknaming and stuff? You got in a lotta fights over that.”

“Got in a lot more fights over your stupid hair,” Gilda shot back, with a slight sneer. “Fights ain’t ever stopped me before, Rainbutt.”

“Yeah, I remember,” Dash said, before letting the conversation fade into awkward silence.

After a few moments, Gilda plucked the cigarette from her lips and knocked some of the ashes away with her thumb as she blew out a plume of gray smoke.

“Look, we gonna talk or not?” Gilda asked in annoyance.

“My dad lied to me,” Rainbow said finally, not really knowing how else to start. “About why you left when we were kids, and what happened to your parents and shit. My dad told me you just moved away… he lied.”

Gilda stared impassively at Rainbow for several seconds before taking another drag and blowing another plume of smoke.

“Can’t say I blame’im, savvy?” Gilda replied finally.

“You were my best friend, G!” Rainbow shot back, her face contorting in anger. “You and me were friggin’ inseparable, and then suddenly you were gone! If I’da known-!”

“You’da what?” Gilda shot back, grimacing. “Believe me, Dashie, it wouldn’ta fuckin’ done your eight year old ass any good to get an earful ‘bout how’er best friend’s family got fuckin’ pancaked by a Mack truck ‘cause the driver nodded off, savvy?”

Rainbow visibly recoiled, turning a little green around the gills.

“I’ve had a long-ass time t’get around that shit, Dash,” Gilda said in quiet voice. “My family ain’t comin’ back, and there ain’t no reason to make a deal outta it.”

“When you came back though…” Dash started, her gaze dropping to the ground. “I… I didn’t know… y’know?”

“So what?” Gilda shot back. “I was a bitch, dead parents or no, savvy? Y’weren’t wrong to kick me t’the curb.”

“Bullshit!” Dash snapped. “We were best friends, G! I shoulda tried harder! I shoulda figured something went wrong! I should’ve… I should’a…. done something,” she sagged against the wall, scowling angrily. “Something other than just fuckin’... leaving you behind.”

“I wouldn’ta been any good f’you, Dash,” Gilda said quietly. “Trust me on this, I was a bad fuckin’ influence. If you’da stuck around, I know you, you’da kept on with it until I dragged you down to wherever the fuck it was that I was.”

Wheeling on Gilda, Dash got in her face, the burning ember of Gilda’s lit cigarette burning inches from Dash’s face.

“Or maybe I’da been the one to drag you up, huh?” Rainbow cried. “Maybe I’da brought you around! Or… or gotten you help or something! Maybe then…”

Rainbow backed off, tears trickling down her cheeks that she quickly rubbed away as she leaned against the wall with her back to Gilda.

“Maybe what, Rainbutt?” Gilda asked, mildly curious. “You think you coulda gotten through this thick skull’a mine?” She said, jabbing a finger to her temple. “Not fuckin’ right, Dashie, you’da just gone bad like I did.”

“Or maybe…” Rainbow started, biting her lip then turning to Gilda.

Gilda blinked as she realised Rainbow as shaking. Her hands gripped in tight fists as she tried to wrench out whatever it was that was in her throat out into the daylight.

“Heh,” Gilda chuckled reaching out a hand to settle it on Rainbow’s head to mess up her hair. “Always were a crybaby, Rainbutt.”

Rainbow let out a sob, leaning her weight against Gilda’s hand.

“I’m sorry…” Rainbow whispered, her breath coming in rough coughs as she cried. “I missed you so much, G… I really, really missed you…”

Gilda sighed, she wanted to hate the Rainbooms, she wanted to hate them for all the things they did to Sunset and for being a bunch of assholes who ranted about friendship and then cut and run when it came time for all the talk to mean anything.

But no matter how deep down Gilda looked, she couldn’t find it in her to hate her old friend. Not really. Rainbow Dash was still the little rainbow-headed crybaby that she had protected from bullies in the schoolyard.

Sighing, Gilda stepped closer and pulled Rainbow into a rough embrace.

“Weren’t y’fault, Rainbutt,” Gilda said quietly. “I’m the one that chased ya off, remember?”

“B-but I-!” Rainbow’s muffled voice was cut as Gilda hugged her tighter.

“Nah, I mean it, Rainbutt,” Gilda said, grimacing as she took another drag and dug up the courage to say what she needed to say. To admit the truth. “I did it on purpose.”

Rainbow Dash froze in Gilda’s arms, after a few moments she pushed away and looked up at the tall, dark-skinned girl.

“W-what?”

Gilda looked down at Rainbow, her golden eyes boring into the bright cerise orbs of her old friend. “Y’heard what I said, Dash, I did it on purpose. Y’think I don’t remember little Stuttershy from when we were kids? You were as protective of her as I was a’you, savvy? So why the fuck d’ya think she’s the one I picked on?”

“You did it so… so I’d…” Rainbow stammered, her face starting to redden with anger. Rainbow always did wear her emotions right on her face.

“Yeah, I did,” Gilda said, stepping away from Rainbow. “I fucked with her because I knew it was the one thing that’d get ya t’drop me faster than’a flamin’ shit.”

“Why?!”

Gilda shook her head. “You got no clue what I went through, Dash, a’right? I was a fuckin’ wreck, savvy? I didn’t wanna get better either, too much effort… too much work.” Gilda pulled the cigarette from her mouth, shaking free more ashes and blowing out a breath. “I knew the minute I saw ya again that you’d start followin’ me around just like before. I didn’t want no one lookin’ up t’me, I sure as fuck didn’t want someone actin’ like me.”

“But… I wouldn’t have…” Rainbow stammered, “I wanted to help!”

“Yeah, I know,” Gilda replied, setting the last dregs of the cigarette back to her lips. “But you woulda done it, just like I said, see? Lookit ya now… even after all these years yer actin’ like me. That in-ya-face, take-no-shit attitude? Fake it til ya make it right?”

Rainbow Dash stepped forward and hung her head against Gilda, she didn’t really have a good answer to that. Gilda wasn’t wrong, after all; Dash had modeled her behaviour after that of her childhood friend and protector for so much of her life. Dash had, maybe unconsciously, been trying to embody all the best parts of what Gilda had been to her all those years ago. Even now when Dash thought about ‘strong’... she thought about Gilda.

Never backing down, never giving up, and never, ever, leaving a friend hanging.

“S’kinda cute,” Gilda said with a laugh, patting Dash’s head. “I guess yer what I mighta been if I hadn’t gotten all fucked up, savvy? Not so bad, there, huh, Dashie?”

Dash stared up at Gilda as the snow fell gently around them, her tears dry as she wiped them away. There was definitely something different about Gilda now; there was an ease to her, something that was just a little bit more… relaxed. Her smile was a bit more like Rainbow Dash remembered, cocky and self-assured but not cruel, not like it used to be.

It felt good, seeing Gilda like that, it made Dash feel…

Rainbow Danger Dash had a speciality, and it wasn’t in speed or even necessarily loyalty. It was ‘action’. There’s a certain kind of virtue in being the one who acts rather than the one who waffles over whether or not something is the right decision or not. Sometimes acting in the moment can be the difference between life and death, success or failure, ruin or reward.

The keyword being ‘sometimes’.

The rest of the time, on the other hand…

Gilda’s eyes snapped wide as Rainbow Dash pulled herself up and pressed her lips gently against Gilda’s and the effect was instantaneous.

Shoving Rainbow back, Gilda’s right hand snapped up and cracked hard between Rainbow Dash’s eyes, sending her staggering back cross-eyed with a shout of surprise to fall on her ass on the sodden, snowy ground.

“What the FUCK?!” Gilda roared, spitting her cigarette to the ground and swearing viciously. “You wanna go, Dash? ‘Cause I oughta slam your face into that fuckin’ ember I just spat on the ground f’that shit!”

“S-shit, I’m sorry!” Rainbow cried, holding a handover her bruised face. “I’m sorry, G! I’m sorry! I just… I wasn’t thinking okay? I just… I…”

“Just fuckin’ right, you weren’t!” Gilda snapped. “You know I’m with Sunshine, you fuckin’ KNOW THAT!”

“BUT IT COULD’VE BEEN ME!” Rainbow shouted back, her eyes watering from pain and rejection, sending Gilda back a step.

“W-what?” Gilda replied, wrong-footed.

“If… if I’d stuck around… maybe it could’ve been me,” Rainbow sobbed from the ground. “Maybe I’d be the one you fell in love with… y’know? Maybe… maybe I coulda been the one you got all sappy and smiled about all the fuckin’ time, but…”

Gilda stared, her heart hammering with adrenaline that was slowly fading as she flexed her hands, easing the tension from her fists and pulling out of her combat-ready stance. Beyond that, though, she wasn’t sure what to say. Rainbow Dash wiped at her eyes but it didn’t do any good, and Gilda couldn’t help but grimace a little at the bruise forming on Rainbow’s face. Nurse Manners’ was probably gonna have some words about that.

“I just… after ya left I cried fer weeks, y’know?” Rainbow admitted. “I kept imagining you’d come back and we’d be friends like always… then, y’know, as I got older, I started thinking we might… might be more.”

“Dash… I don’t think it’d work, y’know?” Gilda said quietly, sighing as she pressed her palm to her face. “We’re like, fuckin’, fire’n gasoline, savvy? I’m a fuckup and you’d just make it worse ‘cause you’d do whatever I did, and then I’d just… make shit worse f’you ‘cause you wouldn’t leave and… shit, I didn’t even know you were gay.”

“Dunno if I am,” Rainbow Dash admitted. “I only ever felt like this about you, y’know? Just you, no one else… just you Gilda.”

“Yeah well, sorry Dashie,” Gilda said, shaking her head. “I never… I never felt like that about you, y’know? Friends? Sure, but… nothin’ else.”

Rainbow Dash curled up against her knees, face buried in her arms as her shoulders shook and she cried. Gilda sighed and wiped her arm against her lips. It was almost a physical sting, the idea that someone else had touched her lips like that other than Sunset. She wanted to be angrier at Dash but seeing her like this?

Gilda pulled out her cell phone and opened a text.

//Gilda: come get rainbutt in the soccer yard, she needs a hand.//

//Hoedown: Gilda? What’s wrong with Dash?//

//Gilda: long story, she’s cryin though and believe me I ain’t gonna be any fuckin help here, savvy? Short of it, she kissed me and I punched her, ask her about it.//

//Hoedown: Uh… wow, yeah, alright, I’m comin//

“I’m sorry, Dash,” Gilda said softly, not knowing what else to say and Dash didn’t respond. “Sorry I couldn’t be that, sorry that you fell for an asshole, sorry that… I dunno, that shit lined up like it did. But I ain’t sorry for choosing my Sunshine, a’right? If y’still wanna be friends down the road though… dunno, shoot me a text, we’ll see where it goes, savvy?”

The P.A. system flickered to life with a spurt of static: “Gilda Grimfeather, to the Nurse’s office, please… Gilda Grimfeather to the Nurse’s office, please…”

“That’s me, Dash,” Gilda said, shaking her head free of snow, she knelt down one last time and set a hand on Rainbow’s head. “Even if you hate me… guess it doesn’t matter to you but… I ain’t leavin’ you hanging either, a’right?”

Gilda glanced to the side as the side-door to the High School opened and Applejack stepped out, looking around worriedly with Rarity on her heels. Gilda stood and flagged them down, walking towards the and jerking a thumb towards Rainbow who was still sitting on the ground.

Applejack raced past Gilda to Rainbow, only giving a brief nod of thanks to Gilda as she passed. Rarity stared at Gilda as she walked past then down at Rainbow, then back up at Gilda.

“Couldn’t… couldn’t you have let her down a little easier?” Rarity asked quietly.

Gilda stopped in her tracks and glanced back at the pale girl, looking pensive for a moment before shrugging.

“Maybe, but I didn’t,” Gilda said finally. “S’not like I can go back in time and fix it.”

“I suppose not, darling,” Rarity answered sorrowfully. “Thank you, though… for calling us out here.”

“Yeah,” Gilda replied, turning away from Rarity and Applejack. “No problem just… take care of her, savvy? She’s a real soft crybaby under all that gruff, so don’t leave’r alone for awhile, even if she asks.”

“Agreed, don’t worry,” Rarity promised. “Thank you again.”

Gilda didn’t answer, just waved a hand as she stalked back inside the school, feeling a sourness in the pit of her stomach. Turning to the trash, she scowled and spit into it, scraping her hands over her lips against.

How was she gonna tell Sunset?

Author's Note

Check out our new tvtropes page!

Also as note: there will not be a Featherfall update next week as I will be posting a submission for Oroboro's Sunset Shipping Contest. Guess who it's gonna be?

It won't be a part of Featherfall canon, no crippled Sunset, no Anon-A-Miss. It is definitely Featherfall-adjacent though. Many of the world-building elements are still there.

26. If You're Guilty And You Know It Put Your Hands Up

~Downtown Canterlot, March 30th, Night~

The night skyline of Canterlot was a sight to see in the luminous dark. Towering skyscrapers soared up like spears of engineering and innovation lit by the tiny sparks of life that moved inside of them. Below, in the streets, was the endless and unsleeping noise and bustle of the city’s nightlife. Hundreds of people were moving between clubs and bars, sharing laughter and memories that would last a lifetime assuming they weren’t blackout drunk at the time.

Zee preferred it up above. From high up the world looked different. It looked cleaner and more hopeful. From high up, she couldn’t see the grease and grime that coated the alleyways of the capital.

The air crackled and spat around her like an angry cat. Electricity snapped and crawled across the concrete roof she was floating above.

Zee took a deep breath of the cool, evening air as she flexed her muscles under her loose tank top. Blue-white arcs of energy slithered across her skin, drawing traceries across her tattoos while her hair stood in a high, wild mohawk kept up by static charge.

The metal across her body, from her lip piercings to the manifold buckles she wore over her waist tying up her surplus army pants and down along her knee-high shit-kickers faintly glowed with electrical energy.

A cold wind blew from the north and Zee flinched as her entire left side tightened up painfully. The scar tissue was only slightly faded, and without a skin graft it would never fully fade, leaving the whole left upper half of her body looking mottled and rough. Twilight had taken the time to impress upon her how lucky she was that she hadn’t lost her eye to the damage as well.

Raising her arms, Zee stared down at the gauntlets she wore. The articulated plates stretched from her fingers up to her shoulders, and she could feel the restless hum of power that left them practically vibrating.

She hated it.

It was like an ugly, constant hunger gnawing at her insides and it left her itchy and restless no matter what she did.

“Sod it all,” Zee muttered angrily. “Can’t sleep… can’t sit… can’t do nowt but pace like a fuckin’ animal.”

She hadn’t even been able to do that much until recently. Zee had hated this past month more than almost any stretch of time she’d ever experienced. For the first half of the month she was little more than an invalid; barely able to even feed herself or move around the house. Using something as complex as a computer was right out.

For a while it had felt like she was never going to get any better but, achingly slowly, she had healed. The path had been agonizing, literally, because when she did finally get her strength back suddenly every movement caused her searing pain. Zee had gotten the impression that her Pops knew why it was happening but he wasn’t exactly forthcoming.

Either way, ever since the meadow something had gone wrong inside her.

Zee felt sick: like she had pounded back a half dozen energy drinks chased with too much gin. Her bones were rattling, her eyes burned, and her stomach churned. Something was wrong with her, she could feel it all the way down.

And it wasn’t just her.

Behind her there was a faint sound of wind and a popping noise that tasted faintly purple, although Zee wasn’t entirely certain how that worked, followed by the sound of flapping wings.

“Zee?”

“Aye?” Zee replied, not turning around. “Sorry I vanished from bed, our lass… I needed a mo’, savvy?”

“It’s okay,” Twilight replied gently. “It’s quite a view.”

“Arh, tha’s as it is,” Zee remarked tonelessly. “Not really seein’ it if’m honest, though… just came out ‘ere t’think.”

Zee felt the familiar touch of Twilight’s fingers lacing into hers as she moved to Zee’s right side, giving her hand a squeeze, and the reassuring, insistent act brought a measure of soothing calm to Zee’s rattling soul. Usually, Twilight’s touch could always bring Zee down from wherever her mind had taken her, but this time was different.

“What about?” Twilight asked.

Closing her eyes, Zee sighed. Slowly, she turned and in her mind's eye, she could see Twilight as she had been when they’d first met in person. She could see the nervous, awkward, gawky girl who had run into her outside of the Crystal Emporium: all pale, and stammering with apologies and flop sweat.

Then Zee opened her eyes.

There was little of that girl left after enduring Storm’s tutelage, and the Twilight Sparkle that was with her on the rooftop could hardly have been more different.

Her hair was down and waved slightly in the wind, and Twilight’s eyes glowed an almost radioactive shade of teal surrounding sharp, mulberry pupils. Her skin had taken on a darker pallor and her nerdy, slightly nebbish glasses were gone, left behind since she her eyesight had been sharpened with magic.

Most obvious, though, were the appendages that sprouted from her back. A pair of graceful, pitch-black raven’s wings, one of which curled around to drape reassuringly over Zee’s shoulder.

“You’re beautiful, our lass,” Zee said finally, with a small smile.

Twilight blushed and giggled, kicking idly at the grit of the roof with her foot and awkwardly slapping her hand into Zee’s shoulder as she looked away.

At least that much hadn’t changed.

“Well… you’re not so bad looking yourself,” Twilight flirted back awkwardly.

Zee’s smile slowly faded as she turned to stare back out over the cityscape, and tightened her grip on Twilight’s hand. So much had changed so quickly, and a part of Zee desperately wanted to go back to the days when it was just her and Twilight on their little private chat server talking about science and engineering, or sharing their gaming guild’s Eris server for organizing their next raid. Things were easier then, back when everything that was happening in the here and now was just a distant plan, so far away and so huge that it hardly seemed possible.

Zee didn’t regret coming out and meeting Twilight. She didn’t regret the time they’d spent together or the days and nights spent curled around one another.

Her only real regret was that things couldn’t have been different. That they couldn’t have been… normal.

“Zee?” Twilight gently prodded her girlfriend with her left primary.

“Eh?” Zee blinked in surprise, realizing she had been caught in her mental wanderings. “Sorry, pet… got a lot on my mind, I’ll ‘appen.”

“I can see that,” Twilight replied with a touch of concern. “Are… are you okay?”

Zee opened her mouth to reassure Twilight that she was, in fact, just fine. That she was just feeling thoughtful, or cooped up, or any other number of excuses that Zee knew Twilight would accept.

They all turned to ash in her mouth the moment she opened it, and instead what came out was:

“I’m scared, our lass.”

Twilight furrowed her brow and stared concernedly up at Zee. “Scared? Why?”

“Why ain’t you, pet?!” Zee bit out. “Look at ye, our lass! You’re fuckin’ glowing’ and not in the naked fun way!”

Twilight flushed faintly at the crude comparison. “I’m more powerful than ever!” Twilight replied heatedly. “So what if I look a little… weird… so do you! And so did she!”

“I’ll ‘appen tha’s all true,” Zee conceded. “But it ain’t all the time, pet, I can put me glitz away, and Gilda’s redheaded slag looked fine’n normal til…”

Zee bit her tongue. According to her Pops, Gilda was still alive. She had survived but barely and minus an arm. Something that had, somehow, been rectified, but he hadn’t gone into that much detail. Zee wanted to be furious that her traitorous sister had survived their confrontation. She wanted to be fuming over it and champing at the bit to bring her down again.

Instead, she was… relieved.

The thought of avenging herself on her sister had been intoxicating. The idea of putting Gilda down as callously as she herself had been abandoned had kept her going past everything else and in the moment it had been glorious.

Now she just felt sick.

“I’ve seen ye, our lass,” Zee said after a long pause. “Sleepin’ in our arms like ye do and ye look just the same as now, nowt is different but that ye put yer wings away.”

“S-so what?!” Twilight snapped. “I’m ascended! I’m so much more than just human now! Why shouldn’t I look different?!”

Zee grimaced. “Ascended? Tha’s a load of shite, our lass. Ye been listenin’ t’Pops go on ‘aven’t ye?”

“And why shouldn’t I be?!” Twilight shot back. “Your dad, Pops, the things he knows! The things he can do! He’s incredible!”

Arh cocka,” Zee replied, turning away and frowning as she did so, “I ‘appen he’s somethin’ like that.”

“What’s your problem, Zee?” Twilight asked, her voice take on a slightly nervous edge. “A few months ago you would have torn the sky apart to save your dad. It’s like you’re a completely different person.”

“Maybe I’ve just got more t’lose now, pet,” Zee said quietly, looking down at her hands as energy sparked from them. “Months ago, a year ago, fuck, since this ‘ole mess started, I’ve only ‘ad m’self and Pops… an’ idiot fuckin’ kid I am I allus figured tha’s all it’d be, savvy?” Zee clenched her eyes shut, her hands curling into fists. “An’ now… that ain’t ‘ow it is anymore and…”

Slowly, Zee turned back to Twilight, stepping away and she gestured around the both of them.

“Look’t us, our lass,” Zee said in a low, almost shocked voice. “What kinda mad fuckin’ plan puts this kinda power in the ‘ands of a sixteen year old girl?” She asked angrily, raising her gauntleted hands as she did. “What kinda plan turns a sweet’eart like ye into… into that!?” Zee gestured at Twilight who scowled a little. “Somethin’s fuckin’ wrong, our lass, somethin’ is right outta sorts. Pops… he’s plannin’ somethin’ more’n just walkin’ worlds, oreyt?! I fuckin’ know it and he’s draggin’ us on with’im!”

“And what if I want to be dragged along?!” Twilight snapped desperately, and Zee stepped back with a startled look on her face. “What if I’m sick and tired of this boring, useless, worthless planet with all of it’s boring, useless, worthless people!”

“Arh… pet,” Zee said, feeling a chill in her heart. “You… y’don’t mean tha’.”

“Don’t I?” Twilight almost growled. “All I’ve ever seen of it, of the entire human race, has been… ugly. This world is insane and not in a good way. We kill each other for money we’re never going to spend,” Twilight raised a hand, ticking off fingers as she counted down, “hurt people who have done nothing wrong, punish the very concept of intelligence unless it fits some arbitrary, specific, narrow mold, and all for WHAT?!”

Twilight shrieked the last word, her breath coming in heaves and gasps as tremors ran through her body. Blindingly bright teal energy leaked from her eyes in a way that almost mimicked glasses, or a mask, and Twilight’s hair was becoming less and less solid, wavering in the wind as it rose, and glowing with an eldritch light.

“What makes this world so great?” Twilight hissed. “You got to sit in a dark room all your life and play God from behind a computer screen,” she said bitterly, pointing a finger at Zee who flinched back, “while I had to walk around getting bullied and mocked by everyone whose tiny, insignificant mind I threatened just by being myself.”

Zee swallowed dryly, tasting the odd flavor of magic in the air as Twilight slowly lost her temper. Not for the first time, Zee felt a sliver of fear in her as she stared at the burning eyes of the girl she loved.

Taking a deep breath, Zee released the gauntlets’ magic, letting the electrical surge around her die out as the metal plates ratcheted back into place as armbands and she herself lowered to the ground. Slowly, she reached out and took Twilight’s hands and pulled her down to join her, squeezing them softly as she did, and after a few moments the fire in Twilight’s gaze started to fade.

“I love ye, our lass,” Zee said quietly, stepping closer to Twilight, “like I ain’t loved nothin’ or no one else.”

“I know,” Twilight replied in a choked, tearful voice. “I love you too.”

“But-”

“And I know I scare you!” Twilight cut Zee off suddenly as she bit the words out, clenching her eyes shut as tears began slipping down her cheeks. “I… I know you never say it, and I know you think I don’t notice… but I do… I know I scare you.”

“Pet… s’not like tha’,” Zee started, but Twilight just shook her head angrily.

“It is like that, Zee,” Twilight said despondently. “It’s very much like that… I know I scare you because… because look at me!” she gestured down to herself, and Zee grimaced a little. “I’m… I’m terrifying, I know, but I also know I… I scared you even before I changed, back when we used to fight a lot, and… we’d sometimes hurt each other.”

“We ‘aven’t ‘ad a row in ages, love,” Zee replied softly, bringing a hand up to stroke Twilight’s cheek. “We’re gettin’ better, I’ll ‘appen.”

“Maybe we are,” Twilight replied quietly, “but I still scare you.”

Silence stretched between the two girls for several moments as zee fought for something to say. She wanted to reassure Twilight that she wasn’t scared of her but that would be a lie, and a poor one at that. Zee was a little scared of Twilight, a fact that had been the case for some time, actually. When they got into fights, when Zee lost her temper, it was always Twilight who ended it.

Usually painfully.

Zee knew Twilight could keep her under control, even at her worst, but the guilt that would eat at her after the fact was atrocious. Zee hated that she would hurt Twilight, but at the same time Twilight never showed any fear of her. She never shied away from the fight when Zee’s temper would start to fray and, after a few times, Zee began to realise why.

Twilight wanted to fight.

Maybe she hadn’t been certain the first time, or even the second time, but after a while it became obvious. Twilight wasn’t an idiot, and Zee knew that the girl could de-escalate a fight, she even knew how to soften up Zee herself. Zee knew full well that her temper was little more than a blind, angry bull and she hated how little control she had over it, but she was no fool either.

Zee knew that, sometimes, she would go blind with rage and hurt Twilight and that thought killed her every time she considered it. But at the same time… everytime they had fought, Twilight always won. Twilight always won because she knew what was going to happen and was prepared for it.

She was ready to be hurt and to hurt back.

“I’m angry, Zee,” Twilight said quietly, her limbs shaking perceptibly. “I’m so angry, all the time… I hate this world so much, Zee… I don’t want to be here anymore, I don’t want to live in a place like this.” Letting out a body-wracking sob, Twilight leaned forward and rested her face against Zee’s chest. “I don’t want to hurt you anymore, Zee… I don’t want to be angry anymore, but I… I don’t know if I can do that here, and I love you so much that I will do anything… anything to be good for you.”

Zee worked her jaw for a few moments, badly wrong-footed as she found herself in the awkward position of comforting Twilight for many of the same reasons Twilight had been forced to comfort her.

“I love ye too, our lass,” Zee repeated in a stronger voice. “But Pops… I think he’s just usin’ us both.”

“I know,” Twilight said quietly, “and I don’t care.”

Zee pulled away, looking down at Twilight concern.

“I meant what I said, Zee,” Twilight said firmly, “I will do anything to be good for you, even if it means tearing open a portal to a new reality because this one isn’t good enough.”

“Tha’s…” Zee stared down at Twilight in shock for several moments before shaking her head, “tha’s fuckin’ mental, our lass.”

“Fucking barmy,” Twilight agreed a little wearily. “But I’ll do it… whatever it takes, I’ll do it… because I’m never going to lose you, Zee.”

“Yeah,” Zee agreed quietly, “tha’s as it is, innit? You’n me, oreyt?”

Twilight leaned up and pressed her lips to Zee’s, smiling faintly into the touch as Zee curled her arms around Twilight’s slender waist and pulled her in until their bodies were pressed warmly together. Zee hummed in satisfaction at having her woman so close to her, and all the fear melted away into the gentle, insistent kiss they shared.

A snap of displaced air, followed by the sound of rubber soles screeching on concrete from a few meters away, distracted the girls from their kiss, and they both looked over to see Rainbow Dash setting down a slightly windblown-looking Lightning Dust.

“Ugh… remind me to- urp -invest in some dramamine, Rainbabe,” Dust said as she staggered slightly, her head swimming with vertigo. “Dunno how you manage going horizontal to vertical and back again all the time like that.”

“Hey, running up buildings is awesome,” Rainbow shot back with a smirk. “And if ya want, we can always get horizontal later and stay that way for a while.”

Lightning Dust blushed furiously as Rainbow waggled her eyebrows at her. “Smooth, Dash… real classy.”

As Lightning found her feet again and straightened out, her form blurred slightly. It was a constant effect, a faint afterimage of her movement that was ever-present so long as she wasn’t suppressing it. After weeks of practice with Dash her powers had grown exponentially, and she was able to control more of her clones than ever.

“Somethin’ ye needed, loves?” Zee asked, slightly annoyed at the interruption.

Rainbow shrugged. “Just noticed you were up here being all broody, so we decided to come hang out and brood with ya.”

“I’m not sure that’s how brooding works, Dash,” Twilight replied, but couldn’t help smiling as the girl’s humor infected her. “We’re fine, though.”

“Eh, doesn’t matter, really,” Rainbow replied with a shrug, glancing back at Lightning who gave her girlfriend an encouraging nod and smile. “There’s no reason to brood or any of that crap… it just makes things worse, alright? You’ve got us now, and since we’re linked literally all the time, we’ll know when you’re feeling like crap.”

Lightning nodded, stepping up and leaning against Dash, and taking her hand as the cold wind nipped at her. “Dash’s right, you two… you don’t have to just, y’know, be all dark and moody all the time anymore. I get if you need time to yourselves, but… trust me, don’t dwell on it, it doesn’t do anyone any good.”

“We’ll never leave you two hanging,” Dash finished with a wide smirk.

Zee and Twilight both chuckled lightly as they turned, arm in arm, to face their friends. “Aye… friends t’the end, is it?”

“Come hell or high water,” Rainbow said with a grin, gripping Lightning’s hand tighter and bring their clasped hands up between them and the other pair of girls.

“Lame as fuck, this is,” Zee said with a small laugh, but her hand was tightening around Twilight’s all the same as they raised their hands to meet Rainbow and Lightning’s.

“Pssh,” Lightning scoffed. “It’s only lame if you can’t live up to it, right?”

“Right!” Rainbow said with a grin and a nod. “In a month we’ll change the world, right?”

“Right,” Twilight said firmly, matching Rainbow’s smile. “One month and everything will be better… so… friends? To whatever end?”

Zee, Rainbow, Lightning, and Twilight glanced between one another, nodding as they did and after a moment they all spoke in unison as their grips on each others hands closed more firmly.

“Friends to the end.”

~oOo~

“I’ve been dreaming a lot lately.”

Wind tore soundlessly around the fog-filled landscape. A part of me can feel the wind but only in the sense of awareness, it’s like I’m in a sturdy stone building in the midst of a tornado. In point of fact, I’m sitting in a comfortable, cushioned chair at a small circular table, and as usual I’m not alone.

I never am in my dreams anymore.

“So I hear.”

I frown at the playful tone my companion is taking with me and try to focus on the girl, the woman, the… person, that’s sitting across from me but I just can’t. There’s a haze made of headaches that surrounds them, and instead I settle for looking down at my hands where I have them folded on the table, like always.

“Who are you?” I ask quietly, my voice echoing strangely in the fog.

A chuckle sounds from the other side of the table, it’s familiar but I can’t place it.

“Where even are we?” I ask more insistently. “Why do you keep… I dunno… haunting me?”

“I’m not haunting,” she says idly, and with a faint tone of sadness to her voice, “I’m waiting.”

“For what?!” I snap, and the windstorm around us stills for a moment before going back to silently roaring in the background.

There was no answer forthcoming. There never is, though, and I grumpily settle back into my chair. Rather than pursue the useless line of questioning as to my companion’s nature, I turn to my attention to our surroundings.

“Where are we this time?” I ask after a few moments of silence.

“I suppose that’s mostly up to you, isn’t it?”

“Is it?” I grumble. “Why can’t you just tell me? Why won’t you tell me who you are?!”

“Because there are things that can’t be told.”

I let out a slow, even breath. For a moment I close my eyes and imagine I can smell engine oil, ash, and leather. It calms me down more than anything, just like it always did.

Just like she always did.

After a few moments, I open my eyes again.

The howling winds were further away and, rather than sitting amidst a foggy realm of pale nothingness like before, I realise suddenly that I know precisely where we are.

“Is… is this the cafeteria at CHS?” I ask with no small amount of incredulity as I look around at the familiar stained floors and tables.

It’s eerie, how quiet it is. I’m more used to the cafeteria being filled with the hubbub of life that came with being the central gathering point for hundreds of hungry teenagers.

That and I can still feel the howling wind outside.

“The cafeteria?” She asks, then laughs softly. “I guess that’s appropriate.”

I turn back to my companion only to flinch as pain pierces my brain forcing me to look back down.

“Why is that?” I ask, gently massaging my temples. “Is this dream just here to tell me I’m about to wake up craving the mystery meat special?”

“It’s appropriate because this is where you would have been,” she says, and I get the distinct impression I’m being pointed at, “instead of with Gilda on that fateful day.”

I stop at that and stare around at the empty, echoing chamber, and feel a cold chill settle in my gut. It had been so long since I’d imagined a day without Gilda in my life but being here I realise my companion is right.

This is where it would have happened.

Assuming Anon-A-Miss had never happened, of course.

Right here in this innocuous and completely normal place filled with people whom I liked and who probably liked me, surrounded by the six girls I cared about most in the world, I would have missed the moment where I would meet the love of my life.

The entire world shudders as a feeling of sickness fills my mouth with bile.

“It’s a future that will never be,” she says, and I hear the seat she’s sitting in scrape in that familiar plastic manner as she stands. “In another place, another world, you stayed with your friends… you pursued the meaning of friendship, befriended many others, and together put down many dark forces.”

“Are you saying I won’t?” I ask, breathing hard as I try to get control of my rebelling gut. “Also, side-question, can you vomit in a dream?”

“In no particular order: yes, and I can’t really say.”

I take a deep breath and cover my face with my hands. “Which of those answers belonged to which of my questions?”

“Who knows?”

“AAAAAAAAGGHHH I HATE YOU!”

The air fills with the sound of her laughter, and it’s achingly familiar. It always is and I can’t place it which just serves to infuriate me further.

“You’re definitely haunting me,” I groan as raise my head, careful to direct my gaze away from her.

I’ve had this dream enough times that I’ve stopped trying to identify her by sight. Even when I try to catch a glimpse of her in my periphery where the light isn’t so blinding my brain still takes that moment to do its best impression of a full Coltic Riverdance troupe in steel clogs in my skull. A small part of me toyed with the idea that I was just going crazy, but the images and scenes I’d seen in my dreams were too true to life for me to buy that.

“And how can I even still see things like this without magic?” I ask with a touch of bitterness entering my voice. “And what’s even the point?”

“Because nothing can truly take your magic away, Sunset,” she said in a sorrowful voice.

“I beg to differ,” I snap back.

She sighs and I hear heels click against the tile as she walks away from me towards the windows and stares out of them. I don’t know how I know that’s what she’s doing, I just do… it’s like an instinct or a feeling… I know what she’s doing no matter what, almost as if it’s me doing it.

Of course, given that it’s my dream that might be truer than not.

And right now she’s waiting for me to join her.

Suddenly I'm in my wheelchair instead off the comfortable cushioned one is been sitting in moments prior. Specifically my old chair, the one that was currently sitting in a slagged mass of metal somewhere in the meadow outside the Everfree.

Sighing, I take a hold of my wheels and roll away from the table and towards the windows, studiously keeping my eyes away from her directly and angled forward at the window.

“Why do you do that here?” she asks, not looking away from the window.

I crook an eyebrow. “Do what?”

“Use your wheelchair.”

Glancing down at it, I start to rebuff her except… this is a dream. I could get up if I wanted to, I could just will myself to my feet and walk over to the window and join her. No fuss, no muss, I could just have my legs back for a bit, even if it is just a dream. Sure it wouldn’t be real, but nothing here is real in the first place, right?

So why should it matter?

“I… I don’t know,” I say quietly, staring down at my chair, “I guess I never thought about it… I wonder why, even in my dreams, I’m in this chair.”

“Because being forgiven isn’t enough.”

I blink in confusion for a moment before looking up at her, which was a mistake as usual but the reflex happened anyway. I clench my eyes shut against the blinding headache, hissing out a curse as I rub at my eyes.

“What’s that even supposed to mean?” I ask waspishly. “Given everything I’ve done I…” I bite my tongue and stop, “whatever, we don’t need to rehash this conversation… why am I over here?”

“Look outside,” she said, and her tone of voice sent a chill my spine.

I obey, turning to look out the window. The front of the school is spread out in front of me. The sidewalks and the bus drop-off’s were all where they were supposed to be, the trees were whipping and snapping in the silent storm outside, but they were still there. The statue of the Canterlot Wondercolt stood resplendent on its plinth in the faded light, covering in black ribbons and chains that ground noisomely together and-

“W-what is…” my mouth drops open as I stare at the statue.

“You have to go outside to know for sure,” she says grimly.

I grimace. “In that storm? Are you joking?”

“You’ve been there before.”

“I haven’t-” I begin, but then stop.

She’s right… I have been there before.

In the midst of a terrible storm with the wind ripping the sky apart around me and apocalyptic thunderheads darkening the sky for miles. The nightmare that haunted my dreams for so long that I resorted to rune magic to stave off sleep just to avoid seeing the visions I was being plagued by.

“B-But… it already happened,” I say hollowly. “The storm… the fight… the vision already came true.”

“Did it?” she asked. “I wonder…”

I feel my breath catch in my throat and the world seems to spin around me. How much of this is a vision and how much is it just a nightmare? I can’t know…

“Then why haven’t I seen it since then?” I snap at her, and I hear her sigh from beside me.

“Because,” she answers slowly, “in here you’re safe.”

In here I’m safe. I feel a weight press down on me as I realise what she’s saying. I remember the dreams prior to this one, too. All of the rumbling and shaking that happened on the outside or around me, all of the silent howling winds as if armageddon was happening a few feet away, but someone had left it on mute.

“You’ve been protecting me?” I ask weakly.

“You’ve been hiding,” she replies evenly. “But you have to face it eventually, especially now that that’s there.”

I feel her point at the statue and I swallow dryly.

“Do I have to?”

I feel her shrug. “I can’t make you do anything, but if it helps… whether or not you have to, I think you that ought to, and regardless of what I think… I know that you will.”

“Why?”

I hear her sigh. “Because Sunset Shimmer doesn’t run away.”

~oOo~

~Ponyville Commons, April 10th, Morning~

“-ake up!” Gilda’s voice snapped through the torrent of sensation and sound that was filling Sunset’s head. “Sunny, c'mon, wake up!”

Gilda shook her girlfriend gently as Sunset thrashed in her sleep. Sweat poured from the redhead and her eyes were clenched painfully shut as she twisted in the sheets. Gilda felt her chest tighten in panic as she shook Sunset again. It didn’t usually take this long to wake her up. Usually Sunset would snap awake in a few seconds but now it was as if she were stuck.

“C’mon, Sunshine, y’scarin’ me here,” Gilda said in a tight voice. “Please… please wake u-”

Sunset gasped, her back arching as she snapped awake and her eyes flew wide open. Teal orbs stared up at the ceiling as she collapsed back to the mattress, her chest heaving in gulps of cool air as she shivered and shook.

“Fuck sake,” Gilda groaned, collapsing to the bed alongside Sunset. “What th’fuck, Sunflower? Y’ain’t been that bad in months.”

“I’m sorry,” Sunset said, shuddering as she pushed herself up to a sitting position. “I… I had to stay dreaming for a while… there was something I needed to see.”

“S-Stay dreamin’?” Gilda asked, raising an eyebrow. “Th’fuck’s that supposed to mean?”

Sunset looked down at herself, frowning as she did. “I… I’ll explain later, but I need to contact Twilight… now.”

“Hold up,” Gilda said, narrowing her eyes. “I ain’t just lettin’ this go, a’right? What the hell d’ya mean ‘stay-”

“Gilda please!” Sunset snapped, and Gilda flinched back at the fear in Sunset’s voice. “P-Please… please get me my journal so I can contact Twilight.”

For a moment Sunset thought Gilda was going to fight her on the matter, but after a second of silence the taller girl blew out a low, irritated breath, and nodded.

“Fine, but we ain’t done here, Sunshine,” Gilda said firmly as she moved from the bed to start fishing around on the messy floor for the journal.

Sunset let out a sigh of relief. “I know… and I promise I’ll explain, but I just… I really need to contact Twilight, I wouldn’t be asking like this if it weren’t an emergency, Gil.”

“Savvy, I trust ya, Sunflower,” Gilda said quietly without looking up from her search. “I’m just worried about ya, a’right?”

“I know,” Sunset replied, “but… I’m alright, I promise.”

Gilda sighed and nodded wordlessly as she stood up with the journal clutched in her hand, and she walked over to the bed and sat down beside Sunset, laying the journal down between them.

“Can you get ready to go quickly?” Sunset asked as she picked up the journal and flipped it open to a clean page. “We need to get to CHS yesterday.”

Gilda frowned but nodded, hearing the urgency in Sunset’s voice and began going about getting dressed, picking up a little as she did so. Despite her direction, Gilda kept finding her gaze pulling back to Sunset who was writing furiously into the journal. Things were heating up and all of them could feel it; all six of them. Training sessions in the warehouse were becoming more and more intense with even the normally sanguine Penny getting serious about it.

Part of that was due to Sunset not having minced words about the threat they were facing, which Gilda had appreciated. The two of them had agreed that there was no reason to be miserly on the details at this point. There was too much at stake with so much power floating around, and even more problematic was that all six of them needed to be on guard.

Gilda sighed. Sunset had stressed that an attack could come at them if they weren’t careful. It wasn’t likely, but it was certainly possible and it was possible because of one very aggravating, rainbow-headed reason.

No one among their enemies should even know about the Elements of Harmony much less who they were attuned to. It should have been their best advantage over Storm King and whatever chaos he was planning.

Except for Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow had been an Element, and she’d been there when Sunset had revealed the new bearers, and furthermore… she had taken it very poorly.

Gilda could only pray that Rainbow still had enough loyalty left in her not to rat out the people that Gilda cared about, and as frustrating as it was to imagine, Gilda did truly believe that Rainbow Dash wouldn’t do that.

If only she weren’t so goddamn stupid.

Sighing, Gilda pulled on her prosthetic and winced as it snapped into place. Every time she put it back on the pain was a little more bearable, but Gilda honestly wasn’t certain if that was because it was really getting to be less painful or if she was just getting used to it. She followed her arm with a fitted shirt, jeans, and a belt, and swept her bomber jacket off of the rack last.

Before she slung it onto herself, Gilda stopped and held onto it for a moment, staring down at the sleeve. She hadn’t even noticed it at first, because the hand that had repaired it was just that good.

Back in the meadow when Zee had nearly killed her, the entire arm of her jacket had been scorched as well. She hadn’t noticed because she’d been busy dying, obviously, but it seemed obvious in retrospect. Apparently, though, when she’d been in the hospital Applejack had taken the jacket from her, adamantly refusing to let the doctors cut it off. From there she and Rarity had worked together to patch it back up until it looked as good as new, with a brand new sleeve attached perfectly, and even a few nicks, dings, and rips that she had long since stopped noticing buffed out or stitched up.

Even the fringe felt like it used to.

They hadn’t said anything or asked for anything. The jacket had been left for her in her room when she woke up and that was that. It wasn’t even until the thought of why her own jacket was still intact, when Sunset’s hadn’t been, had occurred to her that Gilda had even asked about it, which was when the truth had come out.

“Friends, huh?” Gilda muttered quietly to herself as she sighed and pulled the jacket on. “Helluva thing, I guess.”

Adagio probably would have offered to buy a new one for her, and Octavia too. Vinyl would’ve helped her antique it so it looked like an old school jacket, but it wouldn’t have been the same. So, in the end, it was Applejack who proved to understand best what it meant to have something that had belonged to her father, her real father, to Grendel Grimfeather, and had practically moved heaven and earth to make sure it happened.

Gilda still hadn’t thanked her. She wasn’t entirely sure how.

“Gil, you ready?” Sunset’s voice broke through Gilda’s thoughts.

Turning, Gilda saw Sunset sitting in her chair fully dressed, clutching her journal, and staring back up at Gilda with concern in her eyes.

“Are you okay?” Sunset asked in a quieter voice. “You were spacing out for like, five minutes.”

“Was I?” Gilda blinked and glanced at the clock. “Huh… sorry ‘bout that, Sunflower… just got a lot on my mind, I guess.”

“I think we all do, lately,” Sunset said with a sad smile. “But we’ve got to do everything we can while we’ve got the chance… right now I think I may have found something… something big.”

“Ain’t good, is it?” Gilda asked with a wan grin.

Sunset mirrored the grin and shook her head. “If it’s what I think it is? Then no, and more importantly it means they’re onto us. At least a little bit.”

Nodding, Gilda stepped over to the window and looked out, grimacing at the heavy rainfall that was coming down. The harsh winter was warming but all that meant was that instead of sheets of snow they got torrents of rain; something Gilda was even less keen on since the night in the meadow.

At least there was no thunder and lightning this time.

“Taking the bus?” Sunset said more than asked.

“Yeah,” Gilda replied as she reached out and picked up a pair of gloves that Adagio had gifted her, fine leather riding gloves that, combined with her jacket, served to mask her prosthetic when she went out. “It’s way too dangerous to ride.”

“Twilight still hasn’t responded yet so we’re not in an immediate hurry,” Sunset said, “but I want to be there the moment she does.”

“Savvy, let’s head out then,” Gilda agreed, nodding.

Sunset gripped her wheels and rolled out of the flat, pausing only for Gilda to turn and lock it up. The rain fell in a light scatter around them as they moved through the parking lot towards the bus stop, and Gilda glanced down every so often to see Sunset looking more and more pensive. The expression on Sunset’s face was tight and a little strained, and Gilda would catch Sunset muttering to herself every now and again as they waited for the bus to arrive.

A part of Gilda was torn, because she wanted to ask what was wrong, but she got the impression that even Sunset wasn’t entirely certain of that, which was probably one of the things that was driving the redhead up the wall.

“Gilda, what do you think about forgiveness?” Sunset asked suddenly.

Gilda furrowed her brow in confusion for a moment, but was saved from having to answer immediately by the arrival of the bus. As Gilda went about the now-familiar act of securing the locking straps to Sunset’s chair before taking her own seat, she mulled over her girlfriend’s question.

Sighing, Gilda settled back into the seat and glanced over at Sunset who was staring up at her patiently.

“I dunno, Sunshine,” Gilda replied finally, shrugging. “Ain’t ever been somethin’ I thought about too hard, y’know? I’m the kinda gal who, if I did somethin’ shitty enough that I need t’be forgiven then I ain’t got the right t’ask for it, and if I figure I did the right thing, then I don’t need t’be forgiven even if they hate me over it.”

“But what about Tempest?” Sunset asked, seeming almost desperate. “You forgave her!”

“F’somethin’ I didn’t even have a right t’hold over her,” Gilda replied with a scowl. “I was holdin’ a grudge because… fuck… dunno, maybe because it was the only way’a holdin’ onto Zee I had left, savvy?” Leaning back, Gilda ran her hand over her face and groaned. “I fuckin’ gripped that hate hard, Sunflower, and all it got me was cuttin’ me off from folks who care, y’know? Tempest’n Summer? They were my real family, and they loved me, and I just…”

Gilda clammed up and ran a hand through her hair as she leaned forward, bracing her elbows on her knees as she stared at the rumbling floor of the moving bus.

“Why ya askin’?” Gilda asked, breaking her silence after a few moments. “Seems like y’got this forgiveness thing on lock, Sunshine.”

Sunset sighed, burying her face in her hands. “I just don’t think its enough.”

Gilda raised an eyebrow at that. “What’s enough? Ain’t like anyone’s askin’ more of ya are they? What else d’they fuckin’ want from ya?”

“Not from me,” Sunset said bitterly, lowering her hands and scowling down at them, “for me.”

“I ain’t followin’, Sunny,” Gilda said as the bus kicked and rocked underneath her. “What ain’t enough? You got nothin’ t’be ashamed of!”

“I have my entire life up until these past few months to be ashamed of, Gil!” Sunset hissed. “I… I know it wasn’t as obvious to you, but that’s because you never got in my way! I was a monster, both literally and figuratively.” Sighing, she sagged in her chair. “I don’t just get a free pass because I sang a few pretty songs and made some friends! That’s not how it works! I still… I…”

Gilda reached out and curled her arms around Sunset, who leaned into Gilda’s embrace and pressed her face against Gilda’s chest. Shuddering, Sunset took a deep breath, tightened her grip, letting out a quiet sob.

“It hurts, Gil,” Sunset cried. “It feels like I’ll never be clean… like I’ll never be rid of this… this rot in my heart so I just have to keep struggling and keep fighting and keep… just… hating myself until I’ve burned it all out!”

“What can I do, babe?” Gilda asked gently, pulling Sunset closer, her arms practically swallowing the smaller girl. “I ain’t good at this shit, Sunshine, I don’t know what to do.”

Sunset shook her head. “I wish there was something you could do, babe, but there isn’t. A part of me wonders if I’m just… just going to be like this for the rest of my life and the thought of it is suffocating.”

“We’ll figure it out, a’right?” Gilda said quietly. “You’n me, savvy? Together.”

Sunset nodded, sighing, and forcing herself to relax into Gilda’s arms. “I hate this, Gil… I hate that I’m always trying to distract myself from how I feel… from the things I’ve done…”

“We’ll get ya better, Sunflower, a’right?” Gilda assured her in a soft voice, inasmuch as her natural rasp could create. “An’ I’ll be right there with ya.”

“I know,” Sunset replied, lifting herself up slightly to nestle against Gilda’s neck. “You’ll always be there for me.”

Gilda leaned back, relaxing as Sunset dozed against her in the cold. The city of Canterlot drifted uneasily past the pair of them, its image distorted by the raindrops staining the glass windows.

The world seemed so much more complicated than it had several months ago, back when her primary concerns had been eating, sleeping, and smoking. Gilda felt a wry grin tug at the edges of her mouth as she mused on that; things were so different now that it felt like a lifetime ago. Sure, things were always kinda weird at Canterlot High, but this was a brand new scale of weird. There was magic and mayhem, storms and near-death experiences… and Zee.

Gilda closed her eyes and thought back to the meadow where they had fought. Zee and her armored gauntlets, her lightning… her rage. And the titanic shadow that had clung to her, towering over everything like the specter of death.

“Arabus,” Gilda muttered.

“What did you say?” Sunset asked in a low voice.

“Huh?” Gilda glanced down at Sunset to see the redhead staring worriedly at her. “I… I was just sayin’ that name you said back at the meadow… right? Ara-”

“Don’t,” Sunset hissed, and Gilda glued her mouth shut at the harshness of Sunset’s tone. “Don’t… don’t say his name so casually, please.”

“I uh… okay, yeah,” Gilda replied quietly. “Mind me askin’ why?”

Sunset scowled and tried to go back to relaxing against Gilda’s chest. It was significantly harder now, though.

“Because names have great power,” Sunset answered finally, “especially when they belong to demons.”

Gilda scoffed. “Demons? C’mon… that’s kinda…”

The words died in Gilda’s mouth as she looked down at Sunset who was staring off into space with a worried expression. Magic, mayhem, and… demons? Gilda felt a cold stone settle in her gut at the thought.

“Sunshine?”

“They’re rare,” Sunset said quietly. “Almost extinct, really… the time of the old gods, the dark faiths, the cults, is over, thank the Quill,” sitting up, Sunset pulled out her journal to check and see if Twilight had responded as she continued. “My mother led over a dozen Solar Inquisitions to root out practitioners of dark magic, diabolists, and demonologists… over a thousand years of decades long hunts to put down such people; ponies, minotaurs, griffons, whoever would invoke them, but even then… at least according to my mother, the demons were minor. Insanely dangerous, of course, but by demonic standards… minor.”

“So what’s ‘not-minor’ look like?” Gilda asked, not certain she wanted the answer.

“There are only stories,” Sunset replied uneasily. “The old greater demons were banished or defeated in ancient times. The demon Arabus was one of them, and you saw how powerful he was.”

“What do you mean?”

“The storm, Gil,” Sunset explained.

“He made the storm?” Gilda asked, and a shiver went down her spine.

That storm had been enormous, and insanely dangerous. It was just the wrong side of a supercell and if it had kept going it could have caused major damage. It was a natural disaster on par with an earthquake or a tsunami.

Sunset shook her head. “He was the storm, Gil, it was the manifestation of his presence… demons like him leave behind calamities like we leave footprints; him just being awake and present in the area is what made that storm. That wasn't him conjuring, was just him flexing.”

Gilda stared for a few moments before leaning back, eyes wide as she digested that little tidbit of information. After a few moments she took a deep breath and raised her hands to her face, and Sunset grimaced as she felt Gilda shudder a little in her arms.

“Gil?

Blowing out a breath, Gilda lowered her hands as she stared outward, her eyes fixed on nothing in particular. “Sorry babe I just… guess that kinda freaked me out, savvy?”

“If it makes you feel better,” Sunset started, “I don’t think he’s got his full strength, or even most of it… if he did then, believe me, we’d know it.”

“What’s that mean for…”

“For Zee?” Sunset asked quietly, and Gilda nodded. “I don’t know really… she’s not possessed, strictly speaking… if I had to guess I’d say it was those gauntlets she was wearing.” The moment she said it, Sunset knew she’d hit the mark. “They’re like remains, or a totem… the demon who owned the name ‘Arabus’ was supposedly annihilated ages ago, so I’d bet my bottom bit those gauntlets contain the last fragment of his essence! Not even a whole mind just… hunger.”

The high school came into view around the corner as Sunset spoke, and Gilda pulled the cord signaling a stop, then sat up to start unbuckling Sunset as she continued to talk her way through it, drawing a few odd glances from the other passengers while the bus ground to a creaking halt.

“No that makes perfect sense!” Sunset exclaimed as Gilda sheepishly pushed Sunset onto the lift. “Arabus was destroyed but he’s a greater demon so he can’t be killed entirely! But rather than haunting Equestria he somehow ended up on this side, blown through a portal! But there’s no magic here so the fragment took a shape of something that would act as a vessel, and since legends say Arabus could snatch your shadow his form took on the shape of a pair of hands!”

“Video game stuff, sorry,” Gilda said with a weak chuckle, waving at the other bus riders as she went out the door and met Sunset outside, pulling her jacket up against the rain and took Sunset’s handles. “So what’s it doin’ t’Zee?”

“I couldn’t even guess,” Sunset replied worriedly. “Dark magic is passively influential, and a bad time all around trust me… but it’s not malevolent, necessarily speaking. It’s like giving a loudspeaker to your shoulder-devil, savvy?” Leaning back, Sunset tapped her finger on her chin thoughtfully. “This isn’t just dark magic though, it’s a crude sapience… a demon of gluttony… give me some time to think on it and I’ll get back to you, alright babe? This is complicated.”

“Fair enough, Sunflower,” Gilda replied. “Half’a this shit goes way over my head… but Zee… she’s still my sister, y’know? Even if she hates me, even if she’s tryin’ t’kill me, I still gotta protect’er.”

“I know,” Sunset said quietly as they approached the statue.

They had hardly made it to the stone plinth before Sunset’s Journal suddenly began loudly buzzing, and Sunset grinned as she pulled it free of her bag, hunching over it to protect its pages from the rainfall.

“Right on time, Twi,” Sunset whispered as she cracked the book open and read the lines.

Sunset,

Sorry I missed your message, I was a little tied up. I’ll head to the mirror right away but I have to ask: what’s wrong?

Twilight

Sighing, Sunset pulled out her pen and began writing.

Twi,

I think someone did something the statue on this end, to the portal, I need you to test it safely. Try and send something through or something… I just need to know what happened. I had a dream, a vision, I saw the statue wrapped in black chains and ribbons, like it was locked up, and that cannot be good.

Your Suspicious Friend,

Sunset Shimmer

Twilight’s affirmative came seconds later and Sunset snapped the book shut to glare up at the portal with concern.

“And now we wait,” Sunset muttered.

The wait was all of a few moments. Sunset’s head snapped up in a distinctly feline manner, despite there not having been any sound beyond the pattering of the rain and gentle breeze that chilled the air.

“Can you feel that?” Sunset hissed as she stared up at the plinth.

Gilda furrowed her brow. She could feel… something, but she wasn’t sure what. Like a tingle at the tips of her extremities or a faint flavor in the back of her mouth she couldn’t identify properly. Moving away from Sunset, Gilda approached the plinth of the statue with wide eyes.

“Don’t touch it!” Sunset cried.

“I ain’t gonna,” Gilda replied evenly as she got closer.

Gilda could taste the spoiled air around the statue. Something had gone wrong with it, she knew it now just as sharply as Sunset did. It was an ugly taste but it was also… familiar.

Before Gilda could catch the errant thought that was flitting through her mind, there was an pulse of acrid air and a flash of light from the statue, and Gilda staggered back with a shout of alarm.

“What the hell was that?!” Gilda snarled.

Foul-smelling wisps of smoke were curling off of the smooth plane of stone that both of them knew made up a portal to another dimension, and Sunset wheeled herself forward to examine it critically while her journal began to buzz and rattle.

“It’s a seal,” Sunset said darkly as she opened up her journal. “A powerful one, too… strong enough to interfere with a portal created by one of the foremost arcane minds in the last ten centuries.”

Someone has disabled the portal, Sunset! I tried to send through a statuette and the machine started sparking and hissing and a minute later it spat it back out IN PIECES!

Sunset grimaced. “I was afraid of that.”

“Afraid’a what?” Gilda asked.

Scowling at the statue, Sunset muttered a curse under her breath and wrote a quick reply to Twilight relaying what the effect had looked like on their end.

“They found the portal,” Sunset said as she wrote. “And worse… they’ve cut us off from any Equestrian aid for the time being. Twilight is going to contact Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, as well as the few experts on dark magic in the Kingdom, but says not expect any help anytime soon… they just don’t know enough about how the portal was built to mess with it too much.”

“So we’re on our own, huh?” Gilda said sternly, staring at the portal with a displeased twist to her mouth. “Bastards.”

“We’re never on our own, Gil,” Sunset said evenly, snapping her journal shut. “We’ve got each other, we’ve got the girls… we’ve got all the help we need.”

Gilda sighed and nodded. “Yeah… yeah I guess we do.”

“Call the girls up, Gil,” Sunset said firmly, “from now on we practice anytime we’ve got a minute, because now it’s up to us.”

Gilda smirked and pulled out her phone, “you’da made a good Princess y’self, Sunshine,” she said as she started sending out messages to their group chat, “that sounded like a royal order.”

“I’m no Princess,” Sunset said quietly, her gaze hardening as she stared at the now-defunct statue portal. “But I’ll be a General if I have to.”

~Crystal Prep Academy, April 12th, Late Afternoon~

“You wanted to see me, Dean Cadence?”

Cadence looked up and instantly her lips pressed to a thin line of concern. The door opened quietly and inside stepped the girl that Cadence had watched grow from a child to a young woman. From an inquisitive toddler to a brilliant polymath. And from a good-hearted person to someone who came off lately as almost vindictive.

Twilight Sparkle stepped into the office, shutting the door behind her as she approached to a respectful distance. There was no familiar greeting, no hugs, and no song or dance.

“I did,” Cadence said crisply, trying to push down the pain in her heart, “an hour ago.”

An hour.

Last year Twilight would have been in paroxysms of anxiety at the idea of walking into an office a full hour after she was called by not only a teacher but the Dean of Students. Now, she looked merely… bored.

“My apologies,” Twilight said tonelessly, “I got caught up in what I was doing and lost track of time.”

“I’m sure you did,” Cadence replied before gesturing to the chair in front of her desk. “Twilight… please sit down.”

“If it’s all the same to you, Dean Cadence, I’ll stand,” Twilight said after glancing down at the chair for a moment. “Will this take long? I really need to get back to the team.”

Cadence narrowed her eyes. Twilight was many things and, admittedly, not all of them were positive, but rude was never among them. This new Twilight displayed traits Cadence had never imagined she would see in the young woman. She was always polite, sometimes to a fault, and always well-behaved.

A part of Cadence wondered if this was something that had truly changed about her little Twily or if it was always there: buried under a decade of bullying and social neglect.

Taking a deep breath, Cadence fixed her gaze on Twilight evenly.

“I was wonder if you could answer my question as to why you’re going to be leading the Friendship Games team this year,” Cadence began.

“It was my condition for joining,” Twilight replied.

Cadence raised an eyebrow at the bald-faced admission. “So you bargained? That’s a little…”

“I didn’t break any rules, Dean Cadence,” Twilight said tersely, nudging her glasses up with a finger. “I just told Principal Cinch that, given my grades, I didn’t think it would be worthwhile if I weren’t in the lead position, and she agreed.”

“I see,” Cadence replied, feeling that same faint unease she got lately whenever she was around Twilight. “Twilight, you’ve never been competitive, and you’ve never shown any interest in displaying your work, so why now?”

“I decided I wanted to, that’s all,” Twilight answered, her eyes narrowing.

“But why?” Cadence pressed, leaning forward as she did.

Twilight scowled, the first real show of emotion on her face since she’d come in.

“I don’t think that’s relevant, Dean Cadence,” Twilight replied in a tight voice, “now may I please get back to my team? We have a lot more to cover.”

“Is it because of Zee?” Cadence asked, her own voice darkening. “Or is it Storm?”

There it was.

A flicker of fear and panic snapped like a lightning bolt across Twilight’s features, and was gone just as quickly as she schooled her face to a cool, even expression.

“I’m afraid I don’t know any Storm,” Twilight replied.

Cadence had to admit she was a little impressed. The Twilight Sparkle she had helped raise hadn’t been able to lie worth a damn but the one in front of her had looked her straight in the eyes and done just that. If it weren’t for the fact that she knew for certain, thanks to Sunset, precisely who Twilight was involved with she might have even believed her.

There were other signs though; a tightness around her jaw and neck, a faint sheen of sweat on her brow, and other small ticks that told Cadence that Twilight wasn’t speaking honestly.

“Twilight, please,” Cadence pleaded. “You don’t know what you’ve gotten yourself into! I want to help you, please just let me!”

“I’m not a child, Ca- Dean Cadence,” Twilight said, her voice dangerously low, and that faint burn of illumination lit behind her eyes again. “I don’t know what you think you know or what you think is happening, but I’m doing just fine and would appreciate it if you kept yourself out of my personal business unless you want me to file a harassment complaint against you.”

Cadence looked taken aback. The cold shoulder was one thing but threats were new.

“Twilight I’m trying to help you,” Cadence said softly, holding out her hands across the desk. “I know things have gotten out of control, I know you don’t trust us anymore, but I am begging you, please let me in… I swear to you all I want for you is your happiness.”

Twilight stared across the desk at Cadence, her hands tucked neatly behind her as she kept her features dispassionate.

“We know, Twilight,” Cadence continued, “we know everything… Shining and I, I mean… we know what kind of powers you’re toying with.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Twilight said through gritted teeth.

Cadence sighed and withdrew her hands. She couldn’t force Twilight to cross the gap to her and let her help, and Twilight wasn’t willing to cross the distance and meet her halfway on her own.

“I see,” Cadence said quietly. “May I field another question I found concerning?”

Twilight’s jaw tightened slightly, but her dedication to playing the role of the dutiful student kept her anchored in place. “Of course.”

“Your address on your new forms,” Cadence began, “I visited out of concern to ensure you were keeping up to standard health and safety, given your lack of parental supervision.”

“Did you now?” Twilight replied, her voice returning to its toneless state. “Were you satisfied?”

“The small studio apartment you claim to live in was almost sterile,” Cadence said, “almost as if no one had ever lived there.”

“I spend a lot of time in the lab and at Zee’s,” Twilight said. “I don’t go home often.”

Cadence sighed. She was getting tired of these word games and dancing around the issue. If she could just catch Twilight in an inconsistency… if she could just get the girl to unravel then maybe, maybe, she could make some progress.

“I see,” Cadence said, her patience was wearing thin but she kept it off of her face. “I have to ask, too, out of concern, how is it you’re affording such a home? The stipend for an emancipated minor isn’t nearly enough for such a nice apartment, and subsidized housing for the program uses low-income locations. Furthermore, how exactly did you pay for the tuition after your parents were pro-rated? I’m sure you’re aware that after-school jobs are prohibited by Crystal Prep.”

“You know I don’t have to tell you any of my personal financial information,” Twilight said firmly.

“I do, but-”

“But I will, if it helps you sleep at night,” Twilight continued, giving Cadence a saccharine smile that put a shiver down her back. “The answer is simple: Zee is paying for everything. We weren’t lying at dinner that night, she makes six figures with her job and doesn’t buy much, so this is barely even an expense.” The smile remained set on her face like it had been plastered there as she spoke. “I agreed to balance her books and clean up her finances since she’d previously been doing it herself, it’s not an official job and I’m aware it’s a little grey, but I’m well within my rights since I’m not on any kind of payroll. I’m just… doing my girlfriend a favor.”

Cadence bit the inside of her cheek, forcing herself to keep her expression neutral. Twilight had very neatly tied up a lot of loose strings that Cadence had been hoping to tug on and the result left her with a perfectly whole tapestry that she knew consisted almost entirely of lies but had no actual means of proving the fact.

“I’d like to have Zee’s confirmation on that, then,” Cadence said, playing what she knew might be her last gambit.

Twilight’s eyes narrowed, spoiling the smile on her face. “Zee is a private person, and not a student, so you have no authority over her,” she said before quickly adding, “Dean Cadence.”

“But my husband is a police officer,” Cadence replied thinly.

Twilight smirked, a twisted, odd expression that did something unpleasant to her cupid’s-bow lips. “Then get a warrant or I’ll see you in court.”

Cadence’s nails scraped dully against the cool, wooden grain of her desk, and she nodded carefully to Twilight.

“So,” Cadence said quietly, meeting Twilight’s eyes. The younger girl didn’t look away and Cadence shuddered at the chill she saw there. “That’s it then? That’s how it is?”

“Yes, Dean Cadence,” Twilight answered in a polite, neutral voice. “That’s how it is.”

Closing her eyes slowly, Cadence let out a slow breath and nodded. “I see… then you’re dismissed, Miss Sparkle, and good luck with your team.”

“Luck is for people who can’t stack a deck,” Twilight replied, the edge of her lips quirking up in an odd smirk.

Cadence blinked in surprise at the quip as Twilight turned on her heel and quietly let herself out of the room. That hadn’t sounded like Twilight at all. That reply had been sharp, barbed even, and just… tasted wrong coming from Twilight, and after a moment another shiver went down Cadence’s spine as it occurred to her that she might not have been hearing Twilight in that moment at all.

She strongly suspected that the voice she had just heard belonged to Storm.

Twilight swept out of Cadence’s office in a foul temper. Her former sister-in-law was as nosy and insistent as ever, and still just didn’t get it. Storm had been right, as it turned out. He had warned her some time ago that eventually her family would try to pry in to her new life, to use her to get at Zee and likely himself. He had warned her that they couldn’t be trusted and that all they wanted was to have their brilliant ‘daughter’ back under their thumb, and that they would come at her from any angle possible to accomplish that.

And he had been right.

Cadence’s had made a jab at everything of Twilight’s that she could reach: her emotions, her connections, her finances, even going so far as threatening Zee with a police response. The thought made Twilight’s blood boil as she stalked down the stairs and towards the basement level where her team’s conference room was and braced herself for that fiasco.

Whatever she had said to Cadence, Twilight was floundering when it came to roping the rest of the Crystal Prep team into something resembling cohesion.

Not a single one of them seemed to respect her, despite the fact that she was clearly smarter than most of them combined. She had heard the whispers too, about her sudden departure from her family, about the police report, and all other manner of rumors including no small amount of slander aimed at her and her girlfriend.

Thug, ruffian, dyke, and every other slur in the book was spoken in whispers just low enough that everyone involved could keep a straight face while they lied to her. If it had been just her Twilight could have borne it, but dragging Zee into it was too far.

And Twilight knew precisely who to blame for the onslaught of rumor mongering that had cropped up: Sunny Flare.

She had been quiet since Zee had threatened her, and maybe for a time she had even actually been cowed. But like every bully in the history of ever, she’d found her spine again and had started taking swings at the people who had humiliated her. More than just the threat at the mall, having the prestigious leadership of the Friendship Games team swept out of her hands had probably stung.

Twilight permitted herself a small, vindictive smile at that thought.

But it was biting her now. Sunny was popular where Twilight was not, Sunny had a pedigree that Twilight did not, and whatever loss of face she had suffered for having been passed over for the teams captaincy, her mother was still the principal.

Stopping outside the door to the room, Twilight took a slow, even breath.

“I… can I do this?” Twilight hated how small her voice felt. She hated how weak she sounded. “I can… I… I… dammit!” she swore under breath and swallowed hard. “Pops will know what to do.”

Stepping away from the door and trotting several paces down the hall, she pulled out her phone and hit the speed dial. It only rang twice before it was answered, and a darkly humorous voice spoke.

//Aye? Thee’oreyt, lass?//

Twilight felt the tension in her shoulder relax at Storm’s easy tone. He would know how to take care of things, he always did.

“Yeah, I’m okay… I need help, Pops,” Twilight said, keeping her voice low, “the team… they don’t listen to me… I know we need to make sure the games go off and I’m trying… but they won’t listen! They treat me like I’m not even there!”

//Mmm,// he grumbled thoughtfully, //I’ll ‘appen ye pissed one of’em off, tha’reyt?//

Twilight grimaced. “Y-yeah, her name is Sunny and she’s the principal's daughter. She bullied me for a long time and-”

//And now ye’re her boss an’ she ain’t takin’ it too graceful-like?//

“She’s sabotaging me, Pops,” Twilight hissed, “she’s turning the team against me, making sure they don’t respect me or listen to me!”

//We need the distraction of those games, lass,// Storm said sternly. //If tha’ team gets rolled over we may not ‘ave the time to set all the sigils. S’gonna be tight on time as it is.//

“Do we have to do it during the games?” Twilight asked quietly. “Can’t we just… go in at night or something? Why do we need these… other people?!”

//We need more magic, lass// Storm replied in a calm, even tone. //And there’s not enough wif us, savvy? We’ve got t’be dead certain that all, or at least most, of the channellers in the city’re in one place if this conjurin’s gonna ‘ave half a chance of firin’ off. And they’ll all be at the games and they’ll be distracted. The perfect setup… but only if we can manage our part.//

“How do I make them listen, then?” Twilight pleaded quietly, pressing her back to the basement wall and sliding down it as she tried not to cry in frustration. “I can’t deal with people… I don’t know how!”

//Tha’s not as it is, lass// Storm replied with an airy laugh. //Ye’ve got all th’fire in ye belly ye need, oreyt? You’ve fought n’clawed n’spit in the face of any who tried t’make ye owt but what ye wanna be! Ye’ve got the strength, lass, I’ve seen it… now use it t’make tha’ Sunny slag see things your way.//

“My way?” Twilight considered Storm’s words carefully, and a slow, uneasy smile filtered over her face. “What do I do?”

//I’ve got a rule f’that, lass,// Storm said with in an almost cheeky voice. //There’s quick learners n’slow learners, savvy? Folks learn things natural-like at different speeds, see? You’n me learn quick, Sunny learns slow.//

“Okay,” Twilight said, nodding along with his words.

//But there’s a trick to it,// Storm continued, his voice rich with dark humor. //Us humans’re just animals, and every animal learns fast s’long as ye hit’em hard enough… s’long as ye scare’m bad enough… savvy?//

Twilight’s grip tightened on the phone as images of Sunny flickered through her mind. Anger and hate billowed up from her gut and she smiled, a weak crackle of laughter escaping her lips.

“Savvy, Pops,” Twilight replied, her limbs trembling as an idea formed in her mind. “I know what I’ll do.”

//Tha’s a good lass,// Storm said, and Twilight felt a surge of warmth at the pride in his voice. //I’ll leave ye to it then, go’n make me proud.//

Twilight smiled widely as she stood up and tucked her phone away into her skirt pocket. Smoothing out the rumpled lines of her uniform, Twilight gently wiped at her eyes, took a deep breath, and turned on her heel to walk back over to the conference room door.

She opened it, not quietly, but imperiously. Sweeping the door wide and moving through with a sharp clicking of the heels of her uniform’s shoes against the marble stone floors.

The team sat talking, wasting time and chatting, around the large table, and Twilight scowled.

There was Jet Set and his girlfriend Upper Crust, averagely intelligent but amongst the wealthiest of the students. Trenderhoof, who was genuinely sharp and incisive as the president of the Crystal Prep Journal ought to be. Hoity and Suri who had helped design the newest iteration of the schools uniform that she was wearing, and Neon Light who had led the Modern Advanced Musical Theory Club.

They were the low rung. The second string of the twelve mostly brought in to appease wealthy parents despite those clearly purchased grades.

The last ones were the true stars. The broad, academic backs that would carry the team.

Indigo Zap, an athletic prodigy who could act as the Ace of almost any teams roster regardless of the sport. Sour Sweet who, despite her contradictory and occasionally vicious personality, could solve multiple linear equation systems in her head when she could be forced to concentrate, and was a almost to Indigo's level in athletic ability, though less in sports and more in triathlon and biathlon activities.

And then there was Twilight’s bane. Sugarcoat, Lemon Zest, and Sunny Flare. All brilliant academics among other things. Lemon was a musical genius, Sugarcoat was, Twilight grudgingly admitted, nearly as intelligent as herself, and Sunny was, for all of her other faults, unfailingly precise, politically-minded, and intellectually formidable. Although her intellect seemed to fail her when it came to not messing with Twilight and her new family.

“But everyone learns fast when you hit them hard enough,” Twilight muttered under her breath, before raising it so the whole room could hear her. “Sunny!”

Sunny Flare looked up, one eyebrow cocked skyward. “Uh… yeah? What do you want Captain?”

Twilight let a small smirk quirk her lips up. A small part of her had started to consider her plan, and genuinely felt bad about it.

At least it did right up until that word came out dripping with sarcastic venom.

“I need to speak with you privately, please,” Twilight kept her voice as nonchalant and pleasant as possible as she opened the door back up, then put a bit more iron in her tone. “Now.”

The others looked genuinely surprised, ten other pairs of eyes settling in Twilight as she and Sunny stared one another down, evaluating her, calculating her.

She let them.

Sunny smirked back and stood up. “Y’know what? Sure, let’s talk.”

Twilight stepped out of the room first and beckoned for Sunny to follow her, which she did, her sharp cerise eyes fixed on Twilight.

Neither girl spoke as Sunny followed Twilight down the hall towards the computer room, and the further they went the stranger Sunny found it.

“Is there a reason we’re going to that comp-sci crap hole you spend all your time in?” Sunny said acidly. “You’re not going to put the moves on me out here are you, Dykle?”

Twilight’s mouth twisted in distaste. If she’d had any reservations at all about what she was about to do they vanished then and there.

“No, Sunny, I’m not going to put any ‘moves’ on you,” Twilight hissed as she came to a stop and glanced over her shoulder. “Just because I like girls doesn’t mean I find your rancid personality remotely attractive. I didn’t bring you hear to flirt, or to talk, savvy?”

“Then why-”

Twilight didn’t let her finish. Magic was already curling through the veins of her arms like electric serpents, sinking their fangs into her muscles and injecting pure power into them. Her eyes blazed to life with cyan fire as she whipped around, closing a hand around Sunny’s throat and lifting her bodily into the air with a single arm before turning and slamming her against the wall.

“I brought you her so no one would hear me teach you a little respect,” Twilight snarled, “you arrogant, bitchy, ugly little insect!”

Sunny kicked uselessly, her thin legs knocking against the wall and she croaked as she fought for breath around Twilight’s suddenly implacable steel grip.

Giggling, Twilight felt a smile curl over her face as she pressed Sunny harder against the wall.

“Oh wow, I don’t know why I was reluctant to try this,” Twilight chortled as she gave Sunny a little shake. “God, you really are so pathetic when someone actually calls you on your bullshit, Sunny.”

“P-ple-”

Twilight scowled and tightened her grip around Sunny’s throat a little, choking off the words.

“P-p-p-please?” Twilight said mockingly, sputtering the word as she grinned around teeth that felt much sharper than before. “How many times did I ask you to stop hurting me, Sunny? How many times did I beg you to ‘please stop’, huh?”

Sunny Flare didn’t respond. She had passed out and hung limp in Twilight’s grasp. Glancing down, Twilight wrinkled her nose in disgust as she realised Sunny had actually wet herself in terror.

“Gross,” Twilight grumbled before giving Sunny a solid shake. “Hey, wake up.”

She didn’t, and Twilight sighed. Her body was still rattling with coursing magic and she wasn’t quite done tormenting Sunny, nor had she gotten what she needed yet.

Lowering her slightly, Twilight brought her other hand up and pressed the tip of her finger to Sunny’s forehead.

“Wake… UP!” Twilight snapped, and sent a jolt through the meat of her brain.

Sunny’s eyes snapped wide open as she gasped a deep breath of air and spasmed in place. Twilight dropped her to the ground as she grinned.

“Welcome back to the waking world, Sunny,” Twilight said in a sugar-sweet voice. “How’d you like that little adrenal cocktail? A double shot of norepinephrine, some serotonin, and a little good old fashioned epinephrine is a helluva wake up call, right?”

Sunny made a sharp intake of air that told Twilight she was about to scream. Narrowing her eyes in annoyance, Twilight snapped her fingers, pushing her will out into the air and hardening it.

Sunny screamed, shrieked really. For several seconds she threw her all into screaming for help while Twilight watched dispassionately. After a few moments she wore herself out and sagged against the wall looking nervous, terrified, and triumphant.

“Done?” Twilight asked with a quirked eyebrow.

“You’re finished, Dykle,” Sunny spat. “The whole school must’ve heard that! You’re a freak and they’ll burn you alive!”

“They might,” Twilight agreed as a slow and nasty grin split her face. “If anyone had heard you, that is.”

Triumph turned to confusion on Sunny’s face as Twilight smiled down at her.

“I hardened a small bubble of air around us so it wouldn’t carry sound,” Twilight explained with an easy grin. “But you’re welcome to give it another try if you want.”

No response was forthcoming, and Twilight’s smile turned calm and deadly along with her voice.

“Now… I know you’ve been talking behind my back, Flare,” Twilight said in a measured tone. “I know you’ve been making my life harder because you’re a selfish, petty, bitch.”

Sunny flinched but didn’t deny any of Twilight’s accusations.

“God you’re a disgusting,” Twilight snarled. “Why do people like you even exist? What do you contribute? Why are you even alive?” Twilight’s face twisted into a rictus of anger and irritation. “Do you think you’re strong? That you’ve got some kind of power just because you can lie and leverage your mom’s stupid job to get people to do what you want?”

Sunny Flare sobbed piteously through her bruised throat. Twilight stood up to her full height, seeming to tower over Sunny.

“Let me show you what the world really has in store for you,” Twilight said, spreading her arms wide as if to embrace Sunny.

At first there was nothing, just the faint crackle of electricity around them a strange, unpleasant flavor in the air. Then Sunny’s eyes widened as Twilight began to change. Her skin darkened to a deeper, more sinister shade of lavender, and her hair began to dance like violet flames around her shoulders. Her eyes burned bright with that startling shade of cyan, fixing themselves on Sunny Flare with predatory intent.

And from her back a pair dark, black, feathered wings gracefully extended before curling down and around a stunned Sunny, lifting her up in their embrace.

For a few moments Sunny Flare just gibbered wordlessly; weak mewling sobs escaping her lips now and again as Twilight gazed down at her with quasi-divine weight.

It felt so good to be like this, to wear what was feeling more and more like her real skin. Her wings felt cramped, as if they’d been crammed under a jacket all day, and a tightness around her neck was finally loosening up.

And more than that there was the power. The pure and undiluted power that was vibrating through every inch of her, waiting to brought to bear on whatever she deemed necessary.

“What are you?” Sunny whimpered finally, before a broken sob escaped her lips.

“I’m everything humanity could’ve become if they weren’t all just like you,” Twilight answered calmly. “I am power and perfection! The day of this world, as you know it, is coming to an end and I will be its darkest hours, its own personal Midnight.”

Sunny sniffled and sobbed again. “Am… am I gonna die?”

Twilight chuckled darkly. “No, because you’re going to help me get those pea-brained idiots back in that room to finally get serious, because I have a plan that’s going to take me somewhere far from here where I can finally be who I truly am, you see?” Twilight reached out and gently ran a finger under Sunny’s chin, and the girl shuddered violently at Twilight’s touch. “And it has to happen at the games, and that means that you are seriously cramping my style with your petty rumors and backtalk.”

As Twilight pulled her finger away from Sunny, she grinned as she saw Sunny lean forward briefly, as if trying to keep the contact for even a second longer.

On whim, Twilight swung her senses out towards Sunny Flare, letting her consciousness worm its way into Sunny’s mind through her fear-riddled hindbrain.

What she found there made her smirk viciously.

“Oh Sunny,” Twilight simpered. “If you’d just told me you thought I was cute from the get-go that might have actually worked.”

Sunny Flare’s breath pulled in sharply as her eyes widened. “I… I don’t-”

“Seriously though, wow, beating me up because you like me? That is really cliche,” Twilight continued savagely. “You know, I used to wonder why you would never leave me alone, why you’d always slap me around… y’know, before I just let myself get numb to your abuse,” Twilight leaned down as ran the back of her fingers across Sunny’s cheek. “But you couldn’t say anything, could you? Couldn’t do what you wanted to do, huh? Mommy’s perfect little angel couldn’t be a filthy pervert who dreamed of kissing other girls, could she?”

Sunny Flare sobbed, curling in on herself. “It’s not true, s-shut up! P-please just s-shut up! I’m normal! I’M NORMAL!”

Twilight felt something then.

A hitch caught itself right in the back of her throat. A bilious feeling like nausea welled up inside her as she stared down at the bitterly sobbing, weeping form of Sunny Flare curled up on the cold stone of the hall.

Guilt settled into her gut like a black, cancerous mass, and Twilight’s face fell.

For a moment she just stared, watching and listening as the proud, belligerent Sunny Flare mentally and emotionally fell apart into tiny, unrecognizable pieces in front of her. Then she looked down at her own hands, her form, and for the first time Twilight felt a twinge of disgust at herself.

“W-What am I doing,” Twilight whispered softly. “Why… why am I…”

Looking back up at Sunny, Twilight felt her heart go out to the girl. Was she a bully? Sure she was. And had she made Twilight’s life a living hell for three years?

Yes. Yes, she had.

But her own life had probably been hell long before that. Growing up under Cinch’s unforgiving and ever-judging gaze couldn’t have possibly been fun. Twilight, by comparison, realised she had been relatively fortunate to have grown up with parents who didn’t care who she was so long as she was…

So long as she was happy.

Tears trickled down Twilight’s cheeks as images of her mother and father flickered through her mind.

Another broken sob pulled Twilight’s attention back to the here and now, and she looked down at Sunny.

The girl was an absolute wreck. Her mascara was running, her face was splotchy and red, and she was curled up in the fetal position shaking. She stank and, on a whim, Twilight waved her hand, isolating the compounds of her terror and whisking them away into the sewer underneath them, cleaning Sunny up a little before kneeling and wrapping her wings around the girl more gently and pulling the sobbing Sunny Flare into her arms.

“Ssh, it’s okay,” Twilight cooed softly as she pet Sunny’s head in reassuring strokes. “I’m sorry I hurt you… I’m sorry I said those things… I didn’t…” Twilight sighed and clenched her jaw.

She had been about to say ‘I didn’t mean them’ but Twilight knew that would have been a poor lie.

Twilight had meant them. She had meant every single mean-spirited word of them when she had been spitting them like poison barbs into Sunny’s heart.

“It’s okay, Sunny,” Twilight continued, keeping her voice low and kind and as tender as possible, “I promise I won’t ever hurt you again, alright? No one will ever hurt you again. Not your mom, or anyone else, okay? I won’t let them.”

Sunny buried her face in Twilight shoulder and let out a bitter, wailing cry as tears flooded out of her. She clung to Twilight in a pitiful state, her whole body shaking as she rode out her despair. Twilight found herself desperately thankful that she had raised the dome of silence around them for no other reason than so they could be alone. To, at the very least, preserve a modicum of Sunny’s dignity with the others, even if she had none left with Twilight.

They sat that way for nearly twenty minutes as Sunny sobbed her way through the pain and anguish of years. The blockades of repression, forced behaviour, and expectations that had been cracked and swept carelessly away by Twilight’s mental intrusion had left behind a ruin of wounds in Sunny’s mind, and Twilight, more kindly this time, let her own consciousness trickle into Sunny’s, lending her a extra buffer of mental support as she pulled herself together bit by bit.

“I’m sorry,” Sunny whispered finally, in a tiny, shattered voice that was raw from tears and mucus. “I didn’t want to hurt you, the first time I saw you I w-wanted to kiss you… and do things with you… b-but every time I saw you I got so angry at… at myself, for wanting those things, and at you for making me feel them and…”

“It’s alright,” Twilight muttered, her wings brushing soft feathers against Sunny’s arms and pulling her closer. “I forgive you.”

Sunny Flare sniffled and nodded, “my mother is going to kill me.”

“I would kill her first,” Twilight hissed, her eyes blazing furiously as she wrapped around Sunny more firmly. “I’ll keep you safe, Sunny, I promise.”

Sunny sighed softly and sank into Twilight’s arms. Twilight felt a pang of guilt as she pulled away a little.

“S-Sunny… you know I’m… I’m not-” Twilight started.

“I know,” Sunny said quietly. “I just… I wanted to… to pretend for a little while.”

“I love Zee,” Twilight said firmly. “She’s… she’s everything to me. She keeps me sane, she keeps me grounded… she protects me.”

“She protected you from me,” Sunny agreed quietly, and a rattling breath that might have been a choked back sob escaped her lips. “I’m sorry… I know I don’t have any right to ask but… can I stay here for a little bit longer?” Sunny leaned in tentatively, as if expecting to be pushed away, but Twilight nodded and let Sunny rest against her shoulder. “I don’t want to go back to the way I was right away,” she muttered, “I want to pretend for a little bit longer.”

Twilight nodded and let Sunny relax against her as she absentmindedly went back to petting Sunny’s hair.

Several moments passed and Sunny eventually stirred.

“You need my help, right?” Sunny asked without looking up. “With your plan?”

“They listen to you,” Twilight said quietly. “They don’t respect me… not yet… and I don’t know if I have time to make them. I can’t do to all of them what I did here…”

“I’ll help you,” Sunny said finally, and after a moment she looked up and met Twilight’s eyes.

There was an almost fanatical glint gleaming her wide cerise orbs. Something slightly unhinged that made Twilight wonder if maybe she’d inflicted more damage on Sunny with her intrusion than she’d thought. Or maybe it was just the damage of denying who she was for more than a decade under the unyielding thumb of her ruthless, slave-driving mother.

“I’ll do anything you want,” Sunny swore as she clung desperately to Twilight. “I promise, I’ll do anything at all for you, Twilight, no, Midnight… my Midnight… anything, just ask.”

Twilight nodded, feeling guilt wash through her and that twinge of self-hatred settle into the back of her throat. What she had done to Sunny was horrible, Twilight had broken her clean in half without even realising how brittle she really was.

But they needed Sunny, they needed her mind and her wit, they needed her connections and her leverage.

Storm had told her, hadn’t he? Hit them hard enough and they learn.

Twilight just hadn’t reckoned on precisely how much damage hitting someone that hard really inflicted until the moment she did it. She felt sick to her stomach at her ignorance.

This had been Storm’s intent. This was how he had controlled a gang of belligerent bangers in the rough streets of Las Pegasus; with a velvet glove wrapped around an iron fist.

Doubt slithered into the back of Twilight’s mind and, as she nodded to Sunny and they began discussing how they would mold the team, she couldn’t help but wonder for the first time: was this all going to be worth it?