Black Candles & Pink Butterflies

Chapters

1 – Death
2 – Rebirth
3 – Life

1 – Death

Chapter One: Death

Today was the worst day of the worst week of Sunset’s existence.

Last Monday was a fairly annoying day, much like any other given Monday: traffic, political news, school, and sour moods from exhausted people spreading the joy! Tuesday began as a day to make up for the Monday Blues, which– of course– meant that some grumpy asshole with a rain cloud over his head had to ruin it for Sunset by causing a scene at the Sushi Bar. Wednesday, on the other hand, was a generally nice day… up until somebody ran a red light. And now, with Thursday and Friday having been showered in tears, Saturday was to be spent picking up the pieces of a broken future.

But before that could happen, the first thing Sunset had to do was attend the funeral of one of the six most important people in her life. Fluttershy’s funeral was undoubtedly the single worst way to end this horrid week in Sunset’s existence.

The whole thing was a wretched affair, with students and teachers and friends coming to cry and talk about how great Fluttershy was. It seemed everybody– no matter how little they really knew Fluttershy– had something profound to say about how kind Fluttershy was, or how good she was with animals. Sunset knew that there was more to be said about her than what some pious pompous windbag from some church could glean from people who actually knew Fluttershy. But she also knew that nobody needed to hear any of her pessimistic thoughts on the matter.

So she had sat quietly during the funeral, listened to everybody share what they had to say, and cried as discreetly as her misery would allow her. When it was her turn to approach the closed casket and say her final words to Fluttershy, nobody heard her speak while she said the words “I love you, Shy. I always will.”

But she had definitely said that, and it definitely tore at her insides as she said it.

What nobody knew was that Fluttershy would have preferred to be cremated, her ashes spread across the Everfree National Park so she could return to nature. Only Sunset knew that Fluttershy was a Neo-Pagan Witch before she met her bitter end. So of course, only Sunset was disgusted by the funeral. She knew how much of a misdeed it was for Fluttershy’s parents to stuff her in a box in a graveyard attached to the church they had gone to in her childhood. And only Sunset would know how self-centered everybody was who was involved, because Sunset had made a promise not to tell anybody.

Even if it hurt her to do so, Sunset kept all of it to herself. Because that is what Fluttershy would ask of her, even if she knew how botched her funeral was.

As she was walking away from the funeral, she heard Twilight calling after her, “Sunset!” Turning to look over her shoulder, Sunset slowed down slightly as the bespectacled girl fell into stride beside her. Her black dress looked too nice to be worn for such a grim occasion. “I’m so sorry for your loss.” That was another awful cliché about today!

But Sunset smiled weakly all the same, and gave her friend the practiced response, “Thank you, Twilight. It means a lot to me.”

“I know you and Fluttershy were really close, and I can’t pretend to know what you’re going through…”

Pity. All she was worth today was pity. Sunset had expected it from most of the relative strangers of CHS, but not from Twilight. Out of everybody who came here to rain pity down upon Sunset for losing one of the six most important people in her life, the other five weren’t supposed to be part of the pity party! But Twilight was here, talking to Sunset– who was too numb to hear the exact words she was saying– about how terrible it was that Shy was gone.

“But I want you to know, if you ever need somebody to talk to, I’m always a few minutes or a phone call away!” While Twilight’s choice of words was more unique, this sentiment had been uttered many times over the course of this morning, not to mention the past two days.

Weary of the funerary formalities and dead inside, Sunset kept up that paper-thin smile and automatically said, “Thank you for your support, Twilight.”

Smiling hopefully, the lavender girl gave Sunset a hug before they silently parted ways. Sunset just kept walking towards her next destination, gently caressing the pink butterfly gemstone around her neck. Fluttershy had gotten it on the same day Sunset had gotten hers, which was red and emblazoned with a sun. A sun shaped like her cutie mark.

Receiving this gemstone of hers was an occasion on par with getting her cutie mark as a unicorn filly, on the other side of a mirrored portal. Both of them were magical gifts, and receiving each one had made her mind dance with daydreams of what awaited her! But if this day was what those lead to– having buried her lover and having only Fluttershy’s gemstone to remember her by– then Sunset wished she had never gotten either gift, and dreaded the fact that she had to walk this path.

But even in this state of misery, her heart hemorrhaging from the loss of Fluttershy, Sunset had to keep walking this path, wherever it took her.

By all rights, she should be asleep right now. But the chance to sneak into Fluttershy’s back yard, tap on her window, and surprise her with the late-night visit was just too good to pass up! Even after two weeks, Sunset felt her heart race and her nerves go into overdrive just thinking about her adorable girlfriend!

After quietly skulking around on the front lawn and hoisting herself over the gate that led to the backyard, Sunset crept past the garbage and recycling cans to approach the back left corner of the house. As she rounded the corner, the window to Fluttershy’s bedroom was to her right, just above shoulder level from the ground. She maneuvered past the flower garden and embraced the side of the house, moving into position to knock and climb into the window.

But right as she lifted her arm to knock, she noticed the glow of candlelight and Fluttershy’s silhouette as she sat on the floor. Five candles were placed around her in a star shaped circle, with some kind of box-shaped object in front of her within the circle. One pink and two white candles, a chalice, a bowl of salt, an empty metal bowl, and some small trinkets sat on top of a colorful cloth draped over the object. Sunset froze as she watched Fluttershy sit on the floor in her pajamas, with her back turned to the window, completely unaware of her girlfriend’s presence.

As she poured Sweet Apple Acres’ cider into the chalice, Fluttershy spoke reverently as she recited something resembling a poem.

“Friendship mine, friendship true,
Friendship sent from me to you;
Friendship strong, friendship free,
Friendship sent from you to me;
Friendship true, friendship bold,
Friendship new, friendship old;
More precious now than gold or gem,
May our friendship never end
This I ask in the name of the Goddess,
So mote it be, and Gaia bless!”

She took a drink from the chalice, and then wrote something on a small scrap of paper. Sunset couldn’t see what was written, but it took very little time for Fluttershy to scribble it down. She folded the paper and lit it on fire with the pink candle, quickly placing it in the empty metal bowl and watching it smolder into ash. Before the fire died completely, she took a pinch of salt from the other bowl and sprinkled it over the flame.

“This I ask, wanting nothing in return;
May the fires of friendship forever burn.”

Fluttershy stood and walked around the circle, chanting something under her breath as she blew out each candle in turn. She was so entranced in her ritual that she didn’t notice Sunset peeking to witness the spectacle. After each candle was ceremoniously extinguished, she sat down and watched the three candles on the altar burn until they flickered out. Only then did she collect all of the materials and the altar cloth, placing them all neatly back into the black wooden box that was once an altar.

All the items except the bowl of ash. For whatever reason, it sat out while all trace of the ritual otherwise disappeared from sight into the box. With the ritual apparently finished, Sunset finally brought her hand to the window and tapped on the glass. Fluttershy jerked unexpectedly and stood up to open the window. With a surprised look on her face, Fluttershy asked, “Sunset? What are you doing here?”

“I was in the neighborhood, so I thought I’d drop in.”

Fluttershy seemed to accept that at face value and helped Sunset climb into her bedroom. After pulling Sunset in through the window and helping her to her feet, Fluttershy took her hand and led them both to her bed. Sunset caressed Fluttershy’s smiling face and they both shared a kiss.

It had taken them a while to get accustomed with such long kisses, being that Shy was uncomfortable with public displays of affection beyond holding hands or holding each other close. But behind closed doors, Fluttershy was far more outgoing and more passionate. Going steady and taking things slowly was just about the greatest feeling Sunset could ask for, but the fire burning within her drove her crazy! Being around Fluttershy in and of itself made her feel like a radiant sun, and that only intensified when they kissed. And every second she was apart from Fluttershy made her heart ache and her passions rise; hence the impulsive late-night visit.

But even though Sunset had originally shown up with more romantic intentions, her curiosity got the better of her. Once they pulled apart and were gazing into each other’s blue eyes, Sunset took a chance by asking, “So, Uhm... What was that you were you doing, with the candles and stuff?”

“Oh… You uhm… you saw all that?”

“Yeah, I did. I didn’t want to interrupt you, so I just kind of… watched. It was pretty spectacular to see.”

’Totally not creepy!’, Sunset thought to herself.

“Really? It’s not really anything special.”

Shy was selling herself short, and Sunset wasn’t going to let that slide! “So why were you doing it? There must have been some reason you chose to do all that.”

“I was uhm…” Hesitating, Shy bit her lip and seemed to reconsider telling Sunset. After a few seconds, she shook her head and looked away; “You’ll probably think it’s dumb.”

Sunset mock-gasped and whispered “Such language!”

That only made Fluttershy blush more. Not wanting to make her girlfriend too embarrassed to talk about what happened, Sunset caressed Fluttershy’s cheek and guided her gaze back to meet Sunset’s eyes. “C’mon Shy, you should know by now that you can tell me anything!”

“You probably won’t understand.”

“I wanna understand, Shy. I promise I won’t laugh or get mad or anything! Please?”

After a few moments of contemplation, Fluttershy finally explained, “I was asking Gaia to make sure that Rarity’s fashion show goes really well.”

“Aww, that’s really sweet of you, Shy! I’m sure Rarity would be happy to know that she has your support! And hopefully Gaia’s, too!”

“You don’t think I’m... being silly?”

“Of course not, Shy! I may not understand most human religions, but I can understand magic and revering the Earth. I just wish I could play a bigger part in your spiritual life!”

After some time spent in silence, Fluttershy finally asked, “Can I show you something?”

Eager to learn more about Fluttershy's belief system, Sunset nodded. Fluttershy reached under her mattress at the head of the right side of her bed, producing a brown book from the box spring. It was worn with time, but looked newer than her journal to Princess Celestia, the one that was replaced by the new journal to Princess Twilight. The cover had a triangular knot that looked like some form of three-fold infinity symbol.

Before she could ask about the cover, Fluttershy answered, "That's a triquetra, a Celtic knot that represents a trinity in all things! It can mean anything you want it to; earth, water, and air; life, death, rebirth; maiden, mother, crone. It can mean many different things, but it's always an infinite process, spinning like a wheel."

Sunset looked up from the tome to smile at her beaming girlfriend, "That's really beautiful, Shy!"

Sunset read the instructions and poems of each ritual on every page, fascinated by every single spell and detailed note. It wasn't too far off from the magic journals she had studied under Princess Celestia's tutelage. She couldn't help but exclaim, “Wow! Did you write all of these yourself, Shy?”

“Uhm... Well, no. I actually found most of them online. I did a presentation on world religions in eighth grade, before I actually decided to be a pagan.”

Skeptical, Sunset asked,“You? A presentation? In front of a whole class?”

Fluttershy hid behind her hair and chuckled nervously, “It went about as well as you can imagine, what with me being less brave than I am now. But doing the research for that project actually is what started my path. The more I learned more about various pagan traditions, the more I felt like it was what I believe in. But I have only been practicing witchcraft again since the Fall Formal, being that I had something positive in my life to focus my personal energy on.”

“I know how you feel there. Princess Twilight changed all of our lives for the better and I’m so glad to have you and all of our friends... What’s with this ripped out page?”

“What?” A look of realization came to Fluttershy’s face and she turned white. “Oh... That page. Uhm... Sunny, can you promise not to get mad if I tell you what’s on that page?”

Sunset laughed, “I could never be mad at you, Shy.”

“Do you remember in Sophomore year when you cornered me in the girl’s bathroom and...”

Fluttershy hesitated, but Sunset already knew of the event Fluttershy had on her mind. She made a power move after Fluttershy got her in detention, which involved accosting her in the bathroom and ended with a large swathe of pink hair being cut off. It was an insignificant amount in comparison to how much hair Fluttershy had, but it was still five inches too many!

“Yeah... I don’t think I ever apologized for that, even post-demonification. I’m really sorry that I did that to you, Shy.”

“I’m the one who’s sorry, Sunset. That night I found a spell to put a...” Fluttershy stopped, biting her lip as she struggled to meet Sunset’s eyes. Finally she looked away and said, “I put a hex on you!”

“Whoa...” No other words came out, because Sunset didn't have the faintest idea how to react!

“I was so ashamed of myself afterwards that I ripped the page out, burned the hex, and hid the book out of fear of hurting someone ever again! I didn’t use pagan magic again until after the Fall Formal. And as hard as it was to forgive you for what you did to me and all the others, it took a long time to forgive myself for what I did to you, Sunset. That’s why I haven’t been talking to you about my beliefs; I didn’t want you to hate me.”

“Shy, if I’m being completely honest, I was a bitch back then and I more than likely had it coming. And thinking back, that does explain why I got stung by bees every day for a week almost immediately after!”

“I’m sorry!”

Armed with an encouraging smile, Sunset pulled Fluttershy in close and reassured her, “Hey, don’t be sorry. At least now we know that your non-Equestrian magic works!”

“In a way, I guess I always kind of knew– or at least I hoped– that what I was doing had some kind of effect on the people in my life.”

"Hey, Shy? I know that Gaia is your goddess, but... Could I, like... Well, since she's important to you, I'd like to get a little closer to Her, you know?"

Fluttershy lit up at the suggestion, and boldly offered "We could invoke her and you could pray to her! I mean, uhm, if you want to, that is."

Sunset took her hand and squeezed it. "I'd like that, Shy."

Fluttershy stood up, instructed her to sit down while she walked in a circle around Sunset and the empty space where she would sit down to join Sunset. As she passed by, Sunset could her Fluttershy's incantation; "Spirits of Gaia's Water, I call upon you to keep us safe as we invoke the Mother Goddess. Blessed be!" Later, Sunset would learn all about this "quarter call" that Fluttershy was doing, but even now before she understood it all, it was quite a thing to behold!

They both take a deep breath

"Now repeat after me... Gaia."

"Gaia."

As Fluttershy spoke, Sunset did the same after each pause, trying to match her reverence and serenity despite her huskier voice, "I call upon you, the Mother of Earth... To hear my words and answer my call..." When Sunset finished repeating the incantations, Fluttershy added, "Now you can say whatever you want to say to Gaia."

After another deep breath, Sunset spoke, as if Shy were not in the room, "Gaia, I know we've never really talked, and I know I'm not of your world; but I know how important nature is and how much you mean to Fluttershy. I only ask that you... Well, I'd like your forgiveness for all that I have done. I'd really like to get to know you, and maybe even pray to you in some of Shy's rituals. Keep Shy safe and grant me the strength to always support her."

Fluttershy let the silence ring out before she added, "So mote it be, and Gaia bless!"

Sunset figured what the significance of those words were, and repeated, "So mote it be, and Gaia bless!"

Sunset opened her eyes to see Fluttershy smiling at her, so she blushed and smiled back. Wordlessly, Fluttershy stood and walked along the perimeter of the "circle" once more. When she was done, she helped Sunset to her feet and they shared a quick kiss.

"I love you, Shy."

Fluttershy was taken aback for a moment, as Sunset had not yet uttered those words out loud. But soon, Fluttershy smiled again and whispered, "I love you too, Sunny."

It felt wonderful, finally having those five words be said out loud to her! Sunset felt as though something greater than her and Fluttershy was present in the room. If she ever had her doubts about a human religion's nature goddess, in that moment she believed anything was possible!

Fluttershy shared one more kiss with her before pulling away and picking up the bowl of ashes. "Come on! I need to finish the spell for Rarity!"

Sunset nodded, still in a bit of a love struck daze, and followed Shy out of her room and onto the back porch. Shy walked to the fence, took a deep breath, and whispered something before she cast the ashes and salt into the air. From there, the air carried that which did not fall to the ground, whisking it away to some unseen destination under the moonlight. Sunset had goosebumps as she thought about whether Rarity's fashion show will go well. But as she walked over to Shy and wrapped her arms around her waist, she had faith that Rarity had Gaia's blessing.

Faith. Now that was something that Sunset had been lacking for a great long time!

Sunset sat in Fluttershy’s room at her parents’ house, crying. She had never shed a single tear in Fluttershy’s room, but the experience was just as miserable as every other room she had cried in.

Fluttershy’s parents had made the decision to maintain their daughter’s room for years to come. As sweet as it was, the more cynical part of Sunset’s mind saw it as just a macabre reminder of a happy life that can no longer be. This room, where Sunset had snuck in to be with Fluttershy in the middle of the night countless times, was to be turned into a mausoleum of what her parents knew of her life. It struck her as a hopeful form of necromancy that her memory could be kept alive if her room were left the way it was.

But if Sunset was really honest, she would rather that her girlfriend be alive than her memory. Or her secrets.

The box next to her on the bed contained everything Fluttershy had left behind in her locker at school. As Fluttershy’s girlfriend, the family gave her the privilege of keeping whatever she wanted from the box. Sunset couldn’t bring herself to take any of Fluttershy’s stuff for herself; but fate had taken her lover from this world, so she was left with earthly possessions and memories. After an eternity of hesitation and tears, Sunset finally set the box on her lap and looked inside.

A mirror, hairbrush, pet brush, a phone charger, hair ties, and a bunch of other day-to-day stuff. There was also a half-empty bag of dog treats that Spike loves and an empty bag of Angel Bunny's favorite treats. She'd have to remember to go grab him from the Canterlot Animal Shelter and bring him here to get him settled. After all, Sunset had made a promise to Fluttershy that she would take care of the little guy if anything happened. It's just that she wasn't in the right state of mind to take care of an animal in the past few days, even if Angel was pretty independent. A clean shirt and skirt pairing was folded up beneath all of that. No doubt Rarity had instilled some necessity in her, something to the effect of "You never know when you may need a spare outfit, darling!"

Sunset had chuckled at that, even if it was fairly weak. She removed the clothing and set it beside her, on top of everything else. Underneath the clothes were the only things left in the box: a photo of her and Sunset together, about a week before the accident. Sunset took Fluttershy out to Sweet Apple Acres for a surprise, which consisted of a candlelit dinner out in the orchard and the gift of a wand. Sunset herself had carved the wand in woodshop class, using wood from a much thicker branch off of one of the apple trees. The photo itself was from after the dinner, after presenting the wand to Shy, and after suggesting that they pose for a selfie with the wand. That wand now sat at Sunset's loft, along with the wooden altar box and all of Shy's other pagan items. 'Well, everything except...'

Sunset lifted up the mattress on every corner until she found the book that was hidden beneath. This time it was under the left corner near the head of the mattress. Shy preferred to keep it hidden here rather than carry it with her where she went; less chance of it being found by those who were not so nature-oriented.

Fluttershy’s parents were devoutly Christian, so Sunset helped Fluttershy keep her religious activities a secret to prevent any kind of drama. While they were dead set on preserving this room and everything they had left of their late daughter, who knows what they’d do if they found this. They were liable to just burn it because of some notion about “tainting the sanctity of the household” or some nonsense like that. There was no way of knowing how they would handle this revelation, so Sunset placed it in the bottom of the box and buried it with everything she’d decided to keep.

Fluttershy had trusted Sunset with her secretive life of goddess worship, so Sunset felt as though she owed it to the woman she loved to keep this book sacred and safe.

After leaving Shy's old room with the box and exchanging goodbyes with Shy's parents, Sunset made her way home. Sunset had said that she would stop by from time to time, but she wasn't even certain that she wanted to go back to work tomorrow, much less subject herself to such agony. Perhaps with time it might be less painful, but right now she and the hole in her heart had their doubts about that!

After making it home to her loft and changing out of her funeral dress, Sunset fell face-first onto the bed, barely making any attempt to protect her face as it slammed into her pillow. The darkness of the void engulfed her before any tears came. Sunset felt as though she was being eaten alive by the inhuman nihilism that had plagued her in her grief! All the plans she had made, all the places she wanted to go, all of the experiences she wanted to share with the love of her life; it was all pointless now! Fluttershy was gone, and nothing was going to be the same!

When the tears finally came, they came like a downpour.

Sunset had no idea how long she cried, but after a lifetime of crying, she finally gathered herself to lay down on the bed properly. Her eyes fell on the box, and her first instinct was to get it out of her sight that way she might be able to stop crying. But at the same time, everything in that box became precious to her, because they were all she had of Fluttershy besides all the memories they had made. So instead, Sunset decided to fish the book out from the box and finally take an extensive inventory of its spells.

In the front of the book, folded neatly despite some slight crumpling, was a graded essay written by Fluttershy. Desperate for any connection to Shy, Sunset read the whole research paper. It made Sunset equal parts more depressed and less numb, reading the five-page paper Fluttershy had written on the spiritual practice that would become her own. And the more Sunset read, the more she felt as though she might take up pagan magic and goddess worship; evidently, there was no shortage of ancient pagan pantheons, revived god/goddess couplings, or three-fold deities to choose from! And all the magic that witchcraft and pagan 'magick' boasted appealed to Sunset's scholarly mind. If she could apply Equestrian magic to these concepts...

That was when she saw an excerpt that called out to her:

Some practitioners of olden times participated in the art of necromancy, or divination by means of communicating with the dead. This usually meant consulting the souls of the deceased to gain hidden knowledge, although sometimes the dead were summoned to say goodbye to a loved one.

That gave Sunset an idea…

2 – Rebirth

Chapter Two: Rebirth

Sunset had no idea what she was doing or if it would work, but damn it if she wasn’t going to try!

After countless hours at the library, pouring over books, online PDFs, and occult articles, Sunset had an idea of what she was doing. And after nine days spent living in “the gloom of death”– which entailed sitting around her apartment wearing Fluttershy’s old clothes every second she wasn’t at work and abstaining from salty foods, according to her numerous sources– Sunset was finally ready to try her hand at a necromantic ritual.

According to human occultism, necromancy was, quote, “the apex of all magical art in the world”. But human magick was such an unreliable joke compared to unicorn magic– even amongst common humans– that she didn’t know how much Equestrian Magic she could apply to the concept. Plus, it wasn’t like she could go through the mirror and look for credible magical solutions in Equestria without answering a few questions. So she had to rely on what she had on hand.

Sunset unpacked her bag, pulling out a jar of ash, five rose quartz stones, incense, some herbs, candles she bought in a questionable store, and a few pages of notes. The basic idea was that she was going to use the magic in Fluttershy’s gemstone, combine it with these earthly trinkets and the ritual she had thrown together...

And then…

Well, Sunset didn’t really know what would actually come from this. This was like adding an electric current to a paper clip, some gum, a cell phone, and a refrigerator magnet and just hope that it did something! The odds were not in Sunset’s favor as far as success.

She made an agreement with herself that if this failed, she would try her best to move on. As impossible as necromancy seemed, that sounded about as hard as stapling water to a tree!

“Well…” Sunset said to herself, “Here’s hoping…”

She spread the ashes to make a thin circle around Fluttershy’s gravestone, big enough for the entire grave. At four positions in the cardinal directions, she placed four black candles. In five more positions– only one of which overlapped with the Northern candle– she placed a pink rock and stuck a lit stick of incense into the grass.

As she walked around the circle, from North to East, East to South, South to West, West back to North, she invoked the spirits of the cardinal directions in turn. Then she repeated the walk around the circle, instead invoking the elements and lighting the incense.

Sunset sat there for the better part of two hours, waiting for something to happen. But nothing did,

This whole thing felt like a huge waste of time. The grass was wet, and this was definitely going to ruin this particular dress. The smoke from the incense was noxious, the ash circle all but completely faded away with the wind, and the candles had all but died out.

With a sigh, Sunset stood up and put her hands in her pockets. She looked at the gravestone longingly as she contemplated just leaving all this crap here for someone else to clean up. But that wouldn't be very pagan of her, or even secretive, so she gathered up everything except the candles. This way it would just look like someone held a vigil here, paying their respects to the dead.

“Goodbye, Shy. I love you…” Shouldering her backpack, Sunset turned to leave this place behind.

“I love you too, Sunset.”

Frozen in place by that familiar voice, Sunset stood wide-eyed as her heart started racing! After a few seconds of questioning whether she actually heard something, Sunset slowly turned her head back to the gravestone. Sitting on the marble gravestone, pale and wispy like fog, was the love of Sunset’s life, even if she was post-mortem.

“Fluttershy? Is it really you?”

“Mhmm...”

Without a second’s hesitation, Sunset dropped her backpack and ran to hug the love of her life!

Everything started tumbling after Sunset passed through Fluttershy like running through smoke. Her legs, face, and chest surged with sharp pain as she crashed into the gravestone and plummeted onto the grass behind it. Sunset laid face-first on the ground, unable to breathe, wheezing an inhuman moan of agony as her mind caught up to the fact that she was such an idiot!

“Oh my goodness! Sunset, are you okay?”

Sunset coughed as her lungs fought hard to catch their breath. “I’m dying!”

Fluttershy frowned, “That is not funny, Sunset!”

Sunset laughed hysterically in between “Ow”s, as dew, blood, and tears ran down her face. Wriggling to get her legs off of the gravestone, Sunset ended up rolling onto her side, passing through Fluttershy’s ghostly boots.

“Oh Sunset, your nose is bleeding!” Fluttershy stepped around Sunset to sit down beside her on the grass. Concerned, she reached over to caress Sunset’s cheek, only to pass right through it. Sunset’s spine felt as though it had turned to ice, but she didn’t care in the slightest.

“Sorry.” Fluttershy apologized.

“It’s fine, Shy... So it worked? The ritual actually worked?”

“I think so. I’m sorry I didn’t say anything earlier. I didn’t know if you would hear me, since I’m, you know... dead.”

“Well, at least now I know that I didn’t do all of this for nothing!"

"How is Angel Bunny? Is he okay?"

"He's doing alright. He had to take some time to adjust to my place and the fact that you're not around anymore. But all in all, I think he and I are starting to bond."

"I'm so glad to hear that! He isn't giving you too much trouble, I hope?"

"Oh, don't get me wrong, he's an absolute shithead and he drives me up the walls! But I'm working on him."

"Well at any rate, that's good to hear."

They sat for hours, talking and catching up as if nothing had happened. As surreal as it felt, Sunset felt like a fire that died out two weeks ago was being stoked back into a roaring flame! She felt complete, being reunited with Fluttershy, even if only for a few hours.

But, sooner or later, for worse or for better, all good things must come to an end. “Hey, Sunny?”

“Yes, Shy?”

“I love you, and nothing can ever take that away from us. I’ll always be watching over you, so don’t cry over me being... you know.”

“I love you too, Shy! And... I think it’ll be a little easier knowing that. It’ll probably still hurt like hell, but I’ll try to keep that in mind.”

“And I am still tied to this...” Fluttershy pointed towards the pink gemstone on the necklace, continuing “So, you’ll always have a little piece of me close to your heart.”

Sunset brought her hand to the necklace, gripping it lightly and regarding it for a moment.

Suddenly, Sunset felt something squeeze her hand! Looking down, she saw that Fluttershy was somehow taking her hand in hers, as if she were corporeal!

“Shy, you’re... you’re holding my hand!”

“Oh! I... I am! I guess... I guess if I try, I can sometimes actually touch things.”

Sunset was overcome with so many emotions. All at once she was excited because of the physical contact, fascinated by the fact that it was happening, wistful because she knew that it couldn’t last, and so thrilled that she was holding Shy's hand that she never wanted to let go! As wonderful as it all was, Sunset’s heart ached as she squeezed Fluttershy’s ghostly hand tighter. She couldn’t be with her late lover for much longer, and they could never be together again. The moment would evaporate and Sunset would long for the sensation again, just like every other intimate moment she’d ever had with Fluttershy when she was alive. It just wasn’t fair!

So they had to make this moment last, because it was all going to be over soon. “Could I...?”

Fluttershy awaited patiently, looking intently into Sunset’s eyes as she fumbled the words, “I’d like to do this again sometime soon. Can we... Can I... like, if I were to try to reach out to you–”

Fluttershy smiled and answered “Yes.”

Sunset took a second to let that sink in. “Yeah?”

“Whenever you want to be with me, just come here, cast a circle, and summon me. You don’t need the incense and gemstones, though; just some simple candles and your willpower will do.”

“Okay.”

“I have to go now, Sunset. You go home and get some sleep. And, uhm... maybe wash my clothes when you’re done.”

Sunset joined Fluttershy in laughing at that, and it felt wonderful. This whole experience made Sunset feel like a great burden had been lifted from her shoulders. “I’ll make sure to wash it for you, Shy. I just hope there aren’t too many stains from the grass.”

Fluttershy lingered for a moment, and then leaned closer to Sunset’s face. Sunset found herself doing the same, licking her lips nervously as she wondered if it would work...

Fluttershy’s lips touched Sunset’s and all her worries melted away as she lost herself in that kiss. They probably kissed for four or five seconds, but it might as well have been a lifetime! By the end of it, Sunset’s heart was pounding, and she thought it might burst out of her chest! Her forehead rested against Fluttershy’s as they gazed longingly into each other’s eyes.

“I love you, Sunset.”

“I love you too, Fluttershy.”

“Goodbye, my love...” And then, just like that, Fluttershy was gone, vanished into thin air!

Sunset looked down at her empty hand, still forming a grip around some unseen hand. Shy may be gone, but now she could take solace in the fact that her girlfriend was still with her, holding her hand even if it couldn’t be seen or felt. As sad as it made her, Sunset still smiled and felt content. At least Shy would always be with her, and now she had a way to spend time with her. That filled Sunset with hope, and the heartache gave way to the feeling of true love.

3 – Life

Chapter Three: Life

“Sunset, you need to stop this.”

She couldn’t believe Fluttershy was saying this to her! After two months of spending time with her, trying to be with her despite the cruel twist of fate, how could Fluttershy say such a thing?!

“Shy, I'm doing this for us. I thought you’d be happy!”

“‘Happy’!? Sunset, you're talking about going against nature and bringing me back to life!”

“I'm talking about us being together again. We can make it work!”

“Sunset, I'm DEAD! I’m not thrilled about it, but that’s the way that things are! I’ve accepted that, and you need to do the same.”

“Shy, I can't go on living without you!”

“Sunset, I’ll always be with you, no matter what. But you need to move on.”

"Can't you see that this is the best thing for me right now? I've never been happier than I am with you, bringing you into the living world to be with me."

Fluttershy shook her head and her tone grew more critical than Sunset had ever heard from her, “I’ve been watching you, Sunset; you don’t eat right, your sleep is all over the place, and you’re not bathing anymore... You don’t even leave the house unless you’re at work or here with me! And your temper is out of control, your habits have gotten weirder and more obsessive–! Sunset, just look at your face! Don't you see what this magic is doing to you? You can't seriously think that all of this is healthy for you!”

Sunset didn't care that she didn't always smell her best without perfume. Or that the new lines on her face and bags under her eyes made her look much older than she was. Or even that she had not seen any of her other friends in over two weeks. Or that Angel Bunny had gotten fed up with her and broke out of the house last Friday. "I'm happy, Shy! Why can't you be happy that I'm happy!"

"Sunset, if this is your twisted definition of happy, then I can't bear to watch you suffer thinking like that!"

“So now you don’t want to be together? Shy, I’m doing this for us! I’m trying to give us the future we were dreaming of!”

“I DON’T want to be walking around as a zombie, Sunset!”

“You wouldn’t be a zombie, Shy! I’d be transferring your soul into a willing participant that way you could possess their body and live their life. Then we could be together and live happily ever after!”

“SUNSET! LISTEN TO YOURSELF! Do you realize how horrible that would be? We’d be ruining that person’s life!”

Even though Fluttershy was right, Sunset couldn't give up, so she raised her voice, “IT’D BE WORTH IT TO FIX BOTH OF OUR LIVES!!!”

“This has gone too far! I love you, Sunset, but I can’t let you destroy someone else’s life! You’re already doing too much damage to your own life and I’ve let it happen for far too long! On top of everything, you’ve destroyed three of my favorite dresses that Rarity put so much effort into making!”

Then Sunset said something truly harsh, without even thinking about it, “It’s not like you’re going to be wearing them anytime soon!”

Fluttershy's face looked like it would turn red if it weren't ethereal!

“Right there! That's the kind of attitude you have these days; you're not the same strong, sensitive, passionate woman I fell in love with! You need to stop, Sunset! This magic is corrupting you and making you act like you did before–”

“Don’t you DARE say it!”

Fluttershy stared Sunset down, her ghostly eyes staring past Sunset's flesh and into her soul. “Like how you were before Princess Twilight showed up.”

That hurt. A lot. “I am not that person anymore!”

“Well, you could have fooled me, Sunset! I don't even know who you are anymore!” Fluttershy shouting was something she had never heard before, and it tore at her soul. It was also oddly sobering. Sunset's mind went blank and she finally took stock of what had just happened. She had gotten into a screaming match with the ghost of her girlfriend, whose eyes were welling up with golden tears of light. After a few wounded squeaks, Fluttershy broke down, falling to the ground on her knees and sobbing into her ghostly palms! As Fluttershy cried, Sunset felt the rain pour down from the sky!

Sunset looked down at Shy, frozen in shock. How could Sunset have been so blind to how horrid she was becoming? And now, even in death, the love of her life was crying because of what she had done!

Sunset knelt down to hold Fluttershy close, but her hand passed through her shoulder. Even so, Fluttershy physically swatted her hand away and screamed, “DON'T TOUCH ME! You don’t understand how much this is tearing me apart! Not only because of how much it hurts me to be in the living realm, but because it breaks my heart to see you throw your life away chasing a ghost!”

Fluttershy turned away, tears of light still falling as the rain kept pouring. After a few sniffles, Fluttershy said, morosely, “If you try to summon me again, I’m not answering! Goodbye, Sunset.”

And just like that, Fluttershy was gone.

Sunset couldn't believe that she really was gone now; Shy was dead and gone, and Sunset had no way to talk to her or see her again! All the emotions she drowned in for two weeks after Shy's death came back to her, the darkness consuming her all over again. Sunset was left to gawk at the spot where Fluttershy once was, standing in the pouring rain. She probably looked like a mental patient! She certainly felt insane!

Blindly, Sunset navigated through the trees surrounding the cemetery, shivering her ass off and trying to remember the way home. Now that the moonlight couldn't light her way, she pulled out her phone and tried to turn on the flashlight. Just as quickly as she had found a way to guide her, she tripped over and overgrown tree root and lost her phone. She heard a splash and saw her phone's screen go black in the puddle!

"Shit!"

Pulling her phone out of the murky water, she wiped it off frantically with her equally wet and now completely ruined dress. None of the buttons on the side worked, and there was no hope for anything on her phone, save for what had been backed up to the cloud.

Sunset soon found that loss to be wholly insignificant, in light of losing her girlfriend forever... again.

Putting the ruined cell phone in her backpack, she trudged through the trees until she found a dimly-lit road. From there, she could find her way back home, but... Thinking about it now, Sunset didn't really care if she ever made it home. In fact, she found that she really did not want to, given what happened with Shy.
Sunset searched for a reason to keep living, but wound up empty. This was it; she had been swallowed up whole by the void inside her, and there seemed to be no way out. Sunset could only proceed deeper into the void, she just needed–...

Looking down the dark street, Sunset saw a set of headlights in the distance. She stepped back towards the treeline, watching the van intently. 'It would be so easy, just the right timing and I might never have to live with this pain ever again!'

There was a great flash of light and an immediate sonic boom! Sunset saw the silhouette of the approaching van against a bolt of lightning striking the side of the road beside it. Rubber screeched as it wobbled away from the anomalous impact, veering all over the road in a frenzy.

It wasn't far now, and the thought of the driver being so disoriented gave Sunset one last terrible idea. 'I'm sorry, Shy!' Sunset thought to herself as she walked out into the road and braced for the end...

Sunset felt like shit.

Her throat was dry, every part of her ached, and she was laying uncomfortably. A brief glance told her that she was in a hospital room, her left arm in a cast and elevated directly outwards. She was still alive, barely wounded, and would be stuck with hospital bills that she could not afford. Disappointment and shame washed over Sunset like a cascade once her groggy mind fully grasped the depth of the hole she had dug for herself!

With her free hand, Sunset reached up to touch her necklace, but it wasn't there! Looking around the room, she couldn't find any trace of it or anything else she had on her!

Finally the nurse came in, barely managing to smile at her as she exclaimed, "Oh good! You're finally awake!"

"How long was I out?"

The nurse checked the clock before answering, "Just over two days. You were really banged up when you got here. How's your head feeling?"

"Like I don't have a brain anymore."

"Well, that was one nasty concussion you had there! I'm just glad to hear that you can still talk! I'll send the doctor in after I check your vitals."

Sunset was numb to all of the prodding and tests that the nurse was doing, so it all passed by in the blink of an eye.

"Before you go, can I have my necklace?"

The nurse walked over to the foot of the hospital bed and rifled through a giant plastic bag until she produced the necklace adorned with red and pink gemstones. The nurse helped Sunset put the necklace back on since she only had one hand, and then she returned to her rounds. Sunset caressed the two gemstones as she stared off into space, her mind wrapping itself around the fact that Shy had broken up with her as a ghost.

Sunset barely noticed when the doctor came in. He gave her the run-down of her injuries; broken arm– obviously–, bruises, concussion on the back of her head, and a few scrapes from the asphalt. She might walk with a limp for a little bit, but will be fine in the long run, he assured her. Seemingly in the blink of an eye, the doctor disappeared to fetch the nurse, who would discharge her from the hospital shortly.

At some point while she stared into the void, a tray of hospital food and a glass of water was placed before her. Sunset didn't even remember eating it, but surely enough, she somehow managed to choke down the barely edible food and downed the glass of water. Hours felt like minutes, and the sun started to rise outside her window. Sunset had to figure out how the hell she was supposed to go on living, and pick up the broken pieces of her life all over again.

Suddenly, a man in a cheap suit appeared in the doorway. “Miss Shimmer is it?”

Sunset nodded, so he continued, “I represent Mr. King and WEGN on behalf of the studio’s insurance company. Due to the unfortunate circumstances that came to pass last Monday, the insurance company is willing to pay for your hospital bill in full.”

'A lawyer, wonderful!' “Aww, how sweet. Here I was thinking you were going to shake me down for damaging your van!”

“What happened was unfortunate, and nobody is going to benefit from suing anybody or trying to, as you put it, ‘shake you down’. I just need you to sign a few things.”

“Good thing my autograph arm isn't busted.”

Sunset skimmed the innumerable forms and signed, dated, and occasionally initialed where the suit told her to do so. Some of it was legitimate insurance stuff, some of it was to ensure that she wouldn't make a big fuss about being ran over by a weatherman, but all of it was written in legalese vaguely resembling English. It was nothing compared to the Old Ponish textbooks she read during her second year under Celestia’s tutelage. After the last dotted line was signed, the lawyer collected all the forms and his pen, bidding Sunset farewell with a firm but gentle handshake.

As soon as he left, the nurse came back and gave her both a lecture and some discharge paperwork. After barely listening to the things she needs to be careful about and signing away any legal responsibilities the hospital might have, Sunset changed into the clothes she was wearing early on monday morning and carried her things with her out of the room. Putting on Fluttershy's dress with a cast on her left arm was a little cumbersome, but Sunset managed.

An orchid colored girl with rose-colored hair and all-black clothes approached Sunset in the hallway, “Hey. You're Sunset Shimmer, right?”

"I might be. Who are you?"

“I'm Tempest Shadow; I work for Mr. King.”

Sunset stopped, putting up a hand to the girl, “Listen, I signed the paperwork that the insurance lawyer shoved in my face, and I’m pretty sure the fine print says something about talking about what happened.”

“Don't worry, I had to sign more than a few contracts just to keep my job! I was in the passenger seat of the van when we…” She was obviously choosing her words carefully when she continued, “When the incident that may or may not have involved my boss occurred... I actually don’t want to talk about that, partially because we can't.”

“Ohhhkayyy... So, what? You wanna talk about the weather?”

“Funny you said that…”

Sunset raised her eyebrow incredulously, waiting patiently for Tempest to continue.

“Do you remember the odd weather early on Monday morning?”

“What, you mean the rainstorm? What about it?”

“The forecast was for a clear sunny day. Then just as we were driving out to film the sunrise as it…” She raised both her hands up and did airquotes with her fingers, “‘ushered in a beautiful and sunny day’, suddenly it starts pouring rain and a lightning bolt struck the road near our van! I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but our cameraman Grubber was so distracted he didn’t see you in the middle of the road! I looked over to see that pink-haired girl try to push you out of the way and I yelled for him to stop the car. We just barely grazed you–”

Sunset's brain shut down, so she put up her right hand and cut Tempest off, “Wait! Wait wait wait! 'Pink-haired girl'?"

“Yeah? The pink-haired girl that you were with? We couldn't find her after we realized that he side-swiped you. It's like she disappeared into thin air!”

Why was Sunset not surprised? Fluttershy always did embody the element of Kindness; of course she would save Sunset from an impulsive suicide attempt!

“I know this probably sounds childish, but for a while there, I thought I saw…”

Sunset interrupted, “A ghost?”

Tempest's opal colored eyes lit up like fireworks! “You know something, don't you?”

"Not at all. There was no pink-haired girl with me that night."

“Listen, I know when people are lying to me. I can take it from my boss, but I still hate it when people lie to my face!”

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you the truth." Sunset made a point to laugh and mutter under her breath, "Pink-haired girl, indeed!'"

"Try me!"

“Do you believe in…” She looked around, whispering, “Magic?”

Skeptically, Tempest asked, "Is this a joke?"

Sunset shrugged, "You wanted the truth!"

Tempest raised an eyebrow, looking around before sighing, "Okay, let's say, hypothetically, I said 'yes'; what about it?"

Sunset bit her lip as she admitted, "I was communing with a spirit– someone very close to me– before it started raining. I then..." Sunset looked around the room again and whispered, "I may have... tried to commit suicide that night."

Without hesitation, Tempest stated, "So the pink-haired girl– your special-someone– pushed you out of the way to keep us from doing more damage than a broken arm and a concussion."

"So you do believe in magic!"

"I never said that I didn't!" Tempest flashed a coy smile, her eyes still measured and serious. "Although I gotta say, it's probably not the smartest idea to admit the fact that you attempted suicide, given the paperwork we each signed!"

Sunset froze. Tempest now had some leverage over her because she let something slip that she knew she shouldn't have. But then, she got an idea. "Give me your hand real quick."

Tempest chuckled, "What now, are you going to read my fortune?"

"Something like that."

Tempest shrugged and presented her hand to Sunset, palm facing up.

Sunset touched her gemstone and reached for the orchid hand. She felt her powers surge as she saw a bright and hopeful young woman auditioning for a job as a news reporter. Sunset saw through Tempest's eyes– or rather Fizzlepop Berrytwist's eyes– as she worked hard to secure a position as a reporter for WEGN, only to completely blow it the second she was on the air. Sunset watched her get fired, but she also saw a tall grey man with snow white hair offer her a position as his assistant.

And by 'assistant', he apparently meant 'lackey', because that's exactly how Mr. King treated her! But a job is a job, and when Tempest started learning graphic design, Mr. King started taking greater interest in her, promising her that he would make sure she had a second shot at being a reporter. Soon she was in charge of the VFX on his weather segment, as well as doing work that more accurately fit her position as assistant. But even as she became more useful to Mr. King, he made sure that he was the one in the spotlight and she was under his thumb!

"Why does he make you go by 'Tempest'?"

That wiped the smug grin off of the dark girl's face! "What?"

"Well, your name isn't really 'Tempest Shadow', so why did he make you take that name?"

"It's... It's a motif, since he's the 'Storm King', it would be pun-tacular if his assistant were named Tempest!"

"And the 'Shadow' part is because you're living in his shadow, isn't it?"

"How did you–... What did you do?"

Sunset shrugged, "Magic!"

"Ah, Tempest, there you are!"

The man from Tempest's memories walked up to them, carrying a Styrofoam cup and wearing a suit that looked like it was custom-designed for a pretty penny! "Believe it or not, I actually managed to find a decent cup of coffee in this hellhole!"

Tempest simply cleared her throat and composed herself as she explained, "Mr. King, this is Sunset Shimmer, that girl who may-or-may-not have been injured by a certain station’s weather van?"

Grimly, the loudmouthed suit grumbled, "Oh yeah, Cemetery Girl." As if Sunset were too deaf or young to understand, he mustered a smile, giving her an aggressively-firm handshake as he boasted, "I'm The Storm King, Channel 7 Meterologist. Pleased as punch meet you, doll!"

Sunset smiled and stroked his ego a bit, "It's not every day you sign nondisclosure agreements for something involving the best weatherman in the tri-state area!"

He ate it up like dog chow! "Fan of the show, I presume?"

"Oh, absolutely!" She hadn't watched a weather report in her life, let alone seen this gullible douche on TV.

"I'll let you in on a trade secret; this purple girl helped me vamp up the show with her magic touch!"

'Ooh, a trade secret? Lucky me!'

Like a trained animal, Tempest stated, "Mr. King is too generous; I merely run the visual effects, designed all the graphics, and handle the technical side of things. It's his personality and vision that makes him the greatest weatherman-slash-meteorologist this side of the Mississippi River!" None of it sounded genuine, as if she had practiced it every time she got dressed for work. Having seen her memories, she probably had to bark that rhetoric to keep her job!

And again, the so-called Storm King couldn't get enough! "Couldn’t have said it better myself! Well, I could have, but I prefer that Tempest be the one to say it!"

Even without seeing it through Tempest's eyes, Sunset knew this guy's type: he talked a big game and inflated his public image, but the man behind the curtain was a nothing more than a mediocre, extroverted narcissist. People like Tempest were just underlings and tools he could use to further his agenda, not coworkers or employees.

"So Tempest, did you find out about... you know...?"

Tempest shot Sunset a look, thinking for moment before she answered, "Unfortunately, no. Our resident fan girl here has no memory of what happened!"

Sunset picked up on the lie, playing it up by saying, "Yeah, it was the weirdest thing; one second I was cutting through the cemetery to get home, and then..." Sunset shook her head lightly and made a face before she said, "Then I woke up with a broken arm! I don't remember anything else!"

"Well, that certainly puts a cloud over my head!" Ugh, what a lame weather pun! "I was hoping that someone who was out that night would have an idea of what happened that morning! That rain and lighting came practically out of nowhere! And the crazy thing is..." He looked around in an exaggerated manner, before pretend-whispering, "The Accu-Weather Doppler didn't even detect it last night! Everyone at the station thinks the three of us are crazy!"

Sunset feigned shock, "Really? Not a single person believes you? But surely everybody in town saw the lightning, or at least the rain!"

Mr. King made a whole-body gesture to show off his facsimile of being dumbfounded, "That's what I said! But apparently, there was only rain and lightning and thunder in that one acre of town! And only the three of us and some girl in the hospital saw any of it!"

Sunset shrugged and exclaimed, "I don't know what to tell you; it must have been ghosts or something!"

That got the air-headed suit laughing with his whole body! He cackled like a monkey as he smacked his knee, bent over, and laughed from the bottom of his diaphragm. Tempest and Sunset each shot each other a look as his hysterics carried on, although Sunset was admiring the fact that he never spilled a single drop of coffee! Finally, he stood up and wiped a tear from his eyes as his laughter died down. "Alright, Sunshine, I think we're done here. Nice meeting you! C'mon Tempest!"

He turned to the exit, sipping more of his coffee as he started leaving without his assistant. Sunset moved towards Tempest, speaking softly, "You don't have to put up with a tool like him, Tempest; you're better than that! He hasn't even made good on his promise!"

"Tempest!!! We're leaving!"

Tempest furrowed her brow and stood her ground defiantly. "When will it be my time?!"

"Excuse you?!" Storm King's chipper tone was nowhere to be found; his voice was hostile and outraged as he spoke, "You wanna run that by me again?!"

She clenched her fists and raised her head high, not showing any fear as she called him out, "You promised me that I would have a second chance at being a reporter; when exactly do you plan on honoring that deal?"

"Fizzlepop, get in the van and we can talk about this at the station–!"

"No, Snowy, I want to know RIGHT NOW; are you ever going to give me what you promised, or are you just wasting my time!?"

"Don't you EVER use my civilian name again!"

"You have to choose, Snowy! Either give me what you promised or I'm quitting!"

"Look who put on her Big Girl Panties today! You'll never make it in this business if you quit, and I will NEVER give you your precious fifteen minutes of fame!"

Tempest squared up to the man– even though he stood a whole foot taller than her– and sneered in his face, "Then go find somebody weak and stupid enough to be your pushover! I QUIT!"

Tempest pushed past him, spilling what was left in the coffee cup all over his suit, and stomped out of the hospital faster than "Snowy" could come up with anything to say! Frustrated, he rushed towards the door from which she exited and yelled through it, "This suit alone is worth more than you, Fizzle! You'll never amount to anything!"

That only served to frustrate him more, as he clearly realized that she probably didn't hear him; he would probably be more angry when he realizes he was going to be hard-pressed to find a replacement! With an accusatory tone, he pointed at Sunset and asked, "Did you have anything to do with that?"

Playing dumb, Sunset retorted innocently, "Have anything to do with what? I didn't see anything!"

He puffed up with anger and made a point to storm out of the building. Sunset chuckled to herself as she carried her bag of personal items out the door. She didn't see Mr. King as she walked outside, but she heard the van peel out of the hospital parking lot. Sunset just smiled and took in her surroundings. It was a wonderful Wednesday afternoon, and Sunset had no idea what to do with the rest of her day.

Fortunately, someone else had decided for her. "That was probably the second stupidest-thing I have ever done in my entire life!"

Sunset turned to see Tempest hiding in the shade of a tree, slumped against the trunk facing the building. She smiled at Tempest and walked over to sit with her. "What would be the stupidest?"

Tempest nodded, eyes gesturing towards Sunset's necklace, "You tell me!"

Sunset smiled and answered "The day you accepted a job from that chauvinist?"

Tempest's smile faded a little as she answered, "The day I believed that he would actually do anything for anybody other than himself!"

Sunset reached out to pat Tempest's shoulder, "I'm sure I've done worse!"

"Well, it'll be hard for The Storm King to put on an amazing segment without this..." Tempest unzipped her bag and showed off a laptop, external hard drive, and a fleet of SD cards and flash drives. "I designed and managed all of his bells and whistles, but to my knowledge, he doesn't have any copies of the effect or any knowledge of how to do what I did." Affecting her voice into a playfully evil tone, Tempest exclaimed, "I think I will enjoy watching the Storm King lose his crown!"

Sunset raised her good arm for a high-five, which Tempest eagerly returned! "Now that's what that bastard deserves! I think I'll be hosting a viewing party at my place!" Immediately after saying that, Sunset remembered the horrendous state in which she left her loft! That will be the first of many reorganizations and cleanses she will be doing in the near future!

Tempest met her eyes and nodded, but seemed to be deep in thought. "What the hell am I going to do now?"

Sunset rubbed the back of her neck as she offered, "Well, my loft is pretty much a garbage heap at the moment. If you were interested in helping me clean up, I'd be willing to pay you for it! And then from there, I could probably help you find a job."

'After a hot shower and a change of clothes, of course!' She thought to herself.

Tempest searched Sunset's eyes, confused, "We only just met, why are you helping me? First convincing me to quit working for that asshat, and now this? Why?"

"Because that's what friends do, Tempest."

The orchid girl smiled and confidently requested, "Call me Fizzlepop."

Sunset smiled back and hugged her new friend. In that moment, she felt grateful that Shy had saved her life. Sunset had to stop dwelling on the past and remember how great it feels to live in the present!

Fizzlepop pulled away and motioned towards the road. "Let's see this loft of yours!"

Just as Sunset went to speak, her stomach gurgled like some kind of horror movie monster! After a moment of stunned silence, Sunset and Fizzlepop burst into laughter and helped each other to their feet!

"Come on! Let's go get something to eat!" Sunset wrapped her arm over Fizzlepop's shoulder, pulling her in close as they started walking down the street.

"Where'd you have in mind?"

"One of my friends works at this diner that serves the best food in town! And then, if you have time and would still like to know about magic, I know this bookstore that serves really great coffee”

Author's Note

The idea to make Tempest into a failed reporter turned VFX master was not borrowed from, inspired by, or suggested by any outside sources. I simply pitched the idea in the Who We Become Discord Server and spit balled with some of the peeps there. If this seems similar to anyone else's headcanon for Human Tempest, then it's just a coincidence. I'd love to think that Storm King has some kind of cutesy name like Snowy, which he distances himself from because of its cuteness. :rainbowlaugh:

Thanks again to: Krickis, Starry, Bolt (TallFry), Krixwell, and my wonderful partner, Misty, for being my biggest supporter.