“Sunset-Protector-Fire!”

Spike launched himself at her, forgetting—or overlooking—that he was no longer a twenty pound lapdog, and was instead several hundred pounds of muscle, bone, and sinew. The resultant impact sent her staggering back into the angular basalt column, and she made a sound of pain as he started sniffing and vigorously licking her face. “I was so worried! Where did you go? You were there and then you were far away and it wasn't easy to find you! Are you okay?”

She hugged the dog before pushing him down. “You’re a bit big right now to jump on me like that.” The former unicorn rubbed his neck. “I was in some more of those illusions, but I found my way out. Nothing attacked me this time.” The image of an older Twilight, grown into her body yet still every inch the goofy nerd Sunset had fallen for danced across her mind’s eye. “All things considered, that might have been preferable,” she muttered.

Tilting his head, the dog sniffed at her again. “You smell sad.”

“…One of the illusions was…something I want very badly,” Sunset said evasively. “It hurt to know it wasn't real, and it was just a trap.”

He leaned his weight against her in a gesture that made the vice around her heart ease. “That's not nice…” Then, as if to cheer her up, he added, “We’re getting closer to Twilight.”

“Good.” Sunset straightened up, and stretched to try and loosen up some of the tension she was feeling in her back and neck. “I’m…ready to be done with all these fake lives that this place keeps using to torture me. It's starting to feel unnecessarily overdone.” She sighed, feeling the last several hours weighing down on her—it couldn't have been more than three or four hours since the teen had rolled out of bed, but it felt like she’d been away for weeks. “Which way, Spike?”

The dog obediently began leading her again, and she focused on staying close and putting one foot in front of the other, as time blurred to her senses.

In truth, the brilliant white light that overtook them was almost a relief.

Something was tickling her skin, soft, featherlight touches that drew her to the waking world slowly. As her eyes blinked open blearily, a familiar mouth covered hers with a kiss. It was sweet, affectionate, but far too brief for her liking. “Hey…” she rasped, voice rough with sleep.

Twilight rubbed their noses together. “Good morning, birthday girl.”

Oh right. It was her birthday, wasn't it? Or at least the human approximation of it that she used on her paperwork. “…morning.” Sunset slid her arms around Twilight under the covers, even as she attacked her neck with kisses.

“S-Sunny!” her girlfriend squealed with laughter.

Her answering grin was full of mischief and desire. “Your birthday pony wants birthday kisses, Sparky,” she purred playfully.

A pillow smacked her in the back of the head, and Applejack’s voice drawled, “Now don't make me get the hose, you two. Ain’t none of us interested in a free show, ‘specially not this early.”

“Awww,” Pinkie chimed in. “But birthday shows are the best!”

Sunset went still, her still groggy mind catching up to the memory that the night before had been a pre-birthday sleepover with the girls at Twilight’s house. She groaned, and flopped back on her side of the bed, hiding her face under the pillow AJ had tossed at her. “No shows, Pinkie. I forgot you girls were here.”

Laughter from Dash heralded the coming of teasing. “Performance anxiety isn't usually your thing, Shimmer.”

She sat up and hucked the pillow at her friend. “I have no concerns about my ability to perform. I just don't do that kind of performance for more than an audience of one. As short as you are, you still bring that number to at least one point five, and that's not including everyone else.”

Everyone laughed, even if Rarity’s was a polite titter behind her hand and Fluttershy’s was barely audible. It was Pinkie who got things going in some sort of direction. “Right! So who is ready to set up for SunShim’s Super Special Awesome First Real Birthday Celebration Ever?!”

Sunset wrinkled her nose. “I think I need a shower and coffee before I’m alive enough to do anything, Pinkie.”

“No way, Shimmer. It's your birthday,” Dash piped up. “You don't work on your birthday.”

“I…what? But…what if I want to help?”

“Nothing doin’,” Applejack told her. “Got some things we’re doin’ that ya can’t see 'til they're all done.”

Rarity made a thoughtful sound. “Twilight, darling, do you think you can keep Sunset otherwise occupied while we do the part of the setup that is meant to be a bit of a surprise?”

Lavender fingers toyed with the collar of Sunset’s sleep shirt. “I do believe I can manage to construct a schedule of activities for the birthday girl that will keep her out of trouble, yes.”

Rolling her eyes good naturedly, Sunset sighed. “Don't I get a say in this?”

“Nope!” Pinkie chirped.

“Fine, but I demand coffee and breakfast after my shower.” She rolled to her feet. “C’mon, Sparky. Since you're meant to keep an eye on me, you can help me wash my back.”

The sight of Twilight’s eyes going comically wide behind her glasses was worth the smack she got to the shoulder when her girlfriend caught up to her in the bathroom.

Leaning against the back of the bathroom door, Twilight’s arms around her neck, Sunset pulled back from a rather heated lip-lock. “…have we…officially distracted me…long enough?” she asked with a crooked smirk. “Or should we come up with another distraction to kill ten more minutes?”

Twilight hummed, playing with damp curls. “I would enjoy distracting you all day…but I suppose…we should come out before someone comes looking.” Sunset’s stomach growled loudly, and she laughed, tucking her face into the taller girl’s collar. “And feed you something before you start eyeing Mom’s houseplants as a snack.”

“I would never!” Sunset snorted. “Your mom works really hard to keep that gardenia alive, and it's super pretty. It would be a shame to sacrifice it to a case of the munchies.”

Her girlfriend blinked. “…aren’t gardenias poisonous to equines?”

Sunset tilted her head. “Maybe Earth ones? Your horses are exceedingly fragile, especially their digestive systems. Gardenias make a neat garnish for a few meals in Equestria, but honestly, they are best with honey.”

“…That just raises so many more questions…” Twilight murmured.

Pecking her lips, the former unicorn straightened. “We can compare biology later, okay? I've never had a real birthday party before, and I don't want to miss it.”

Her girlfriend nodded enthusiastically. “Of course!”

They stepped out into the hallway, and the scent of all kinds of food hit her nose, making her stomach rumble in gleeful anticipation. She felt slim fingers curl around hers, and Twilight tugged her towards the stairs. “Most of the setup is going on in the backyard, so we should be okay to poke our noses into the kitchen for a snack and your coffee.”

Voices were talking, and Sunset picked up bits of the conversation as they descended the steps.

“…could take the time out of your schedules. I suspect it will be quite the surprise. I just hope it's a good one,” Velvet was saying, only to be answered by a Twilight that wasn't pulling Sunset along.

“It really wasn't too much of an issue for me. Ponyville was fairly quiet this moon, and if there's an emergency, we’ll get a message right away,” Princess Twilight offered in assurance.

The redhead looked to her Twilight to see the girl watching her with a worried but hopeful expression. So she did know that they were bringing her Equestrian counterpart over for her birthday. Interesting. She wondered absently whose idea this had been.

“That’s good,” Velvet said with a chuckle. “Now…I’m still not quite sure I understand all the details. Ponyville is… some distance from your Canterlot City, correct?”

Princess Twilight made a sound of agreement. “Yes! It's actually about three or four hours by train from the Ponyville station to the Canterlot one.”

“And..:Canterlot…that's where you live, and Sunset grew up?”

The voice that responded made Sunset freeze in place, her eyes going wide and the world grinding to a halt.

“…yes. Canterlot is the capital of the kingdom, and Sunset had the run of the palace as a foal…” Celestia’s voice said softly. “…are you certain it was the right idea for me to be here? We…did not part…on the best of terms. I do not wish to—”

Her feet were moving, this time away, and she found herself on the front porch, trying to avoid a complete breakdown. Why was Princess Celestia here? Who had invited her? And why?

She registered her girlfriend’s soothing touch, hugging her tight and her voice whispering softly in Sunset’s ear. The sounds weren’t really words, but they were relaxing, and they helped her muscles unclench. For the time being, Sunset leaned into it and let herself drift, not thinking or asking the questions that hovered on her tongue, because on some level the very idea of the answers terrified her.

They were joined at some point by Spike, who stretched up and put his paws on her knee. Sunset briefly wondered which Spike it was.

“Sunset-Protector-Fire!”

Oh. That was which Spike it was.

Amber fingers scratched behind his ears. “Hey, Spike…” she managed.

“What are you doing? We have to get to Twilight!”

Get to—but Twilight was right here, next to her. Confusion flooded her. Wasn’t she? Sunset turned to look at the girl cuddling close to her, and saw the same confusion in purple eyes. “Spike?” Twilight asked, her voice trembling.

“You have to fight,” Spike growled, and suddenly, the cute little dog was a massive, demonic looking hound. “This isn’t real! It's another trap!”

Ice flooded her veins. “I’m…still in Hell?”

“Yes! We’re almost to Twilight,” Spike told her. “You can't give up!”

That…actually made all of this a lot more bearable, Sunset decided. Of course Princess Celestia wouldn't come to the human world for something as trivial as Sunset’s birthday party. She was far too busy running Equestria to traipse across the mirror for a day trip in the human world, even if Princess Twilight had free time to devote to her friends--although, with her being the Princess of Friendship, one might argue that spending time with friends was part of her royal duties. Some mares had all the luck.

If this was an illusion like the others created by Hell, then of course the Princess of the Sun would just…be there. What better way to twist the knife than to repeatedly throw the mare in Sunset’s face? There was something to the fact that so far all of its digs at her had involved either Princess Celestia or the human Twilight Sparkle. Both affected her deeply, for very different and yet similar reasons, reasons that came from deep in her psyche.

Which meant the Twilight in her arms was another fake, meant to distract her from saving the real one from where she was held captive.

The redhead disengaged herself from Twilight’s embrace gently, kissing the illusion’s forehead—she might have just been pulled from her subconscious, but Sunset wasn't going to be cruel to something that looked and felt like Twilight. “I have to go--if this is still Hell…then…the real Twilight is waiting for me…but thanks for keeping me company for a little while.”

“…I…understand,” the false Twilight murmured, her voice sad. “…If this isn't real, and you're still hunting the real me in that awful place…you have to do what you came here to do. It wouldn't be fair for me to demand you stay for a while just to make my own existence better.” She touched Sunset’s face gently, a strange echo of the previous Twilight in another such fantasy. “I know this isn’t a real place, and I don't know if I have a right to ask this, but…please…be careful? Even if you aren’t my Sunny, I don't want to see you hurt.”

Sunset closed her eyes, cursing her own mind for being able to reconstruct Twilight so accurately for Hell to use against her, unable to lie even to an illusion. “…little bit late for that,” she choked out, her heart aching and her throat burning. “This whole journey has been nothing but torment—I…I am not just going to be able to walk this one off…if I can even escape this place afterwards.”

Purple eyes were suddenly very sharp, and hands tightened on hers. “What do you mean?” Twilight demanded with sudden intensity.

Could it be…? Sunset shrugged off the impression a moment. “...I was a demon once,” she admitted. “I still am, kind of.” It's not like Hell didn’t already know that. “Hell is a prison for demons. When I came here...I…I was told there’s a chance I wouldn't be able to leave. That…this was a one way trip.” She brushed her fingers over a lavender cheek with light affection she couldn’t help--everything about this figure before her screamed Sparky to her instincts. “I don’t know if it matters to Hell, or you, or anyone else constructed in this nightmare realm, but I...came anyway. Twilight needs me, and I promised I’d be there when she needed me. I’ll still do my best to go home with her…but I understood the risks, and accepted them before.” She chuckled humorlessly. “If I can't leave, I guess one of you Twilights here will have company.”

“No,” the Twilight said firmly. “She won't leave without you, Sunset…because I wouldn't. I would fight for you, just like you are fighting so very hard for the real me.” She poked Sunset with a finger in the stomach. “So none of that defeatist talk, do you understand me? You’ll find the real me, and the two of you will take Spike and get out of here, back to the real world…back home, where we belong.” Her eyes flashed. “And then I expect you to let me punch my principal in her ugly faerie face, because she deserves it.”

It was what Sunset needed to hear, and she flashed the illusionary Twilight a half smile. “Thanks…I needed to hear that.” Then she looked at Spike. “Let’s get out of here.”

Twilight called out as they started to walk away, “Spike! Look after her, please?”

Spike gave her one of his deliberate nods, and as the world went fuzzy around the edges, he said, “Don't worry, Twilight. That’s why I am here. That, and to get to you. We’re almost there!”

Everything around them became mist, but instead of it fading to reveal Hell’s dark caverns and caves, it simply reshaped into a familiar school hallway. Specifically the hallway right outside the magical research room at the school. “Um…” Sunset blinked. “What…”

—Guessing Hell is wanting to hurry things along as much as we are,— her demon side commented.

“I guess so. Not that I’m complaining. Wonder what this one is about…” She turned in a slow circle, gazing down the hallway in both directions before stepping into the magic room.

It was empty.

Sunset took a moment to sit down at the desk. “Any ideas on this one?”

The dog joined her, resting his head in her lap. “Maybe we just need to look around? We had to run for a long ways before that angry Daybreaker-pony talked to you.” He twitched his ears. “I said that right, right? Pony?”

“Yes, that's what my kind are called.” She sighed. “I just wish I knew what the point of all this was. We…talked, Hell and I, but…it mostly accused me of being mean and awful and stealing magic. It didn't…really tell me what it wanted, and it didn't seem inclined to…talk things out in a healthy way.”

“…maybe it's trying to decide if it is higher than you? Because you and Hell are made of the Good Things, but both of you have hurt, broken parts? I’m pack, so it ignores me like I would ignore a squeaky prey, but you're the same…so it's like if I met another of my kind and we had to decide who was higher. See, first we have to sniff—”

Sunset interrupted as gently as she could, not really wanting to hear the details of doggy meet-and-greets from the dog’s perspective. “I am familiar with how dogs say hello, Spike. I was there that day in the dog park with that Doberman.”

He paused, thought back, and then wagged his tail happily. “Oh yeah! Likes-Flowers-Pretty-Strong! She was nice…if Twilight hadn't taken me to the Vet-Cutter-Stinky, she said I would have made a good mate for making puppies.” Spike puffed out his chest. “I am higher to her than mean Long Eye-Scar-Growler, even though he can still sire puppies, and he doesn't like that.”

This. This was why pets didn’t talk. Sunset rubbed her face. “Anyway…” Anything to avoid the topic of doggy interpersonal relations. “What do you mean Hell and I are ‘made of the Good Things?’ I know I have magic touched by the Elements somehow…but…Hell?”

Cocking his head to the side, Spike looked at her. “You don’t feel it? This whole place is made of the same kind of Good Thing…Good magic? It's in you, and it's in here, and it's in Twilight and in your friends--the ones that knew my name when I found you? But it's closest to what's in you, the Good…and I guess the Bad too.” He scratched at his ear with a paw. “...I was thinking maybe it’s trying to decide which of you is the One-Who-Leads. It feels bigger and older, but you feel…stronger? More magic?”

Was...he actually suggesting that this was some kind of dominance struggle between a demonic prison and herself?

--To be fair, isn’t it?-- the voice mused. --It keeps trying to trap us, to goad us, to get something from us, and we keep telling it no.--

That…was a reasonable point.

“Maybe?” she said hesitantly, mulling over the implication that Hell might have some connection to the Elements, or at least to Harmony. “Honestly, I don’t even know anymore, Spike. I feel like I have more questions now than when I woke up today.”

Whatever reply Spike had was interrupted by a massive surge of energy. Sunset jumped from her chair and stumbled to the window, the magical equivalent to a flash-bang having left her senses reeling. She stared down, and saw armor clad figures exiting the statue, transitioning smoothly from four limbs to two. The armor was shining, crystalline, worked with complex runes and glyphs, and left the figures’ arms and legs bare. Most had what looked like short spears stored on their backs, and she counted a full two dozen plus an obvious leader, his helmet bearing a shocking blue crest of bristly hair, a shield strapped to one arm that was nearly as tall as he was, and a familiar six pointed star inside a blue shield marking his armor.

This was bad.

That looked like a full unit of Royal Guard, ready for combat, and they were here, in this illusionary version of the human world. Was she about to see one of her worst nightmares play out, a war beginning between the two worlds? Sunset swore under her breath. Fake or not, she had to stop this, just like she had challenged Daybreaker to save an illusion of Princess Twilight.

She whipped away from the window. “I just found the problem, Spike. Time to go!” the redhead told him as she bolted out the door and down the hall, heading for the nearest stairwell.

The former unicorn garnered more than a little attention from the facsimiles of students she knew as she raced through the halls, enough that she had quite the entourage following after her by the time she pushed open the front doors. Her heart dropped, seeing Rainbow and AJ standing in front of the figures, both of them tense and coiled, their magic sparking and their bodies already Ponied-Up. This was definitely edging into the kind of nightmarish horror that terrified Sunset’s darkest thoughts about humanity.

Darting forward, she immediately put herself between her friends and the invaders. “Okay, let’s not jump right to fighting. What’s going on here?”

“These gentlemen here think that they have a right ta come through the portal an’ start makin’ demands. Like they own the place.” Applejack cracked her knuckles. “We don’t take kindly ta that…or what they're here fer.”

One hand squeezed Applejack’s shoulder. “Easy…I’m sure it's a misunderstanding of some kind. Ponies don't go around normally being hostile.”

Dash snorted. “Oh yeah? Tell that to these assholes. Go on, ask them to repeat themselves.”

Sunset sighed and turned towards the contingent of guards, and their leader, who she recognized with an uneasy sinking feeling in her stomach. “Prince-Consort Shining Armor,” she said warily, remembering what Princess Twilight had mentioned about her brother. “What brings you beyond the kingdom’s territory and into foreign land with armed soldiers? Princess Twilight could have easily contacted us through other means that does not constitute a massive security risk for both worlds.”

Shining’s counterpart raised an eyebrow at her acknowledgement of his title, but he cleared his throat. “We are here to collect you.”

She stared. “Um…what? Me?”

He made a sharp jerking motion of his head. “Lieutenant Sentry,” he commanded.

Another armored figure spoke with Flash’s voice, though he was far broader in the shoulders than the boy Sunset had dated. “Magus Sunset Shimmer, Former Ward of the Princess of the Sun, you have been charged with breaking and entering into the palace, entering illegally into restricted areas, activating and making use of restricted Artifacts, theft of property including but not limited to books, bits, gems, royal regalia, minor and magical Artifacts, assault on kingdom citizens, maiming of kingdom citizens, assault on a Princess, attempted murder of a Princess, and of evading justice by fleeing to a foreign land. It is my solemn duty to inform you that we are here to place you under immediate arrest. Please submit yourself to the Crown’s judgment and come quietly. If you resist, we have been authorized to use force.”

“…that’s…” Sunset boggled at the list of charges. “…a rather comprehensive list, but…some of those charges are completely false, and what’s more, Princess Twilight Sparkle already handed down my punishment for stealing her Element of Harmony. I have maintained my status as an Equestrian Exile and not attempted to cross back into the kingdom.”

“Yeah!” Rainbow yelled. “She’s our unicorn now, and she lives here! You can't have her back, especially not just to punish her for something she already got punished for!”

Flash—not the armored one, but her friend—had joined the crowd, and stepped up beside her. “I’m not sure how it is for ponies, but we humans have a law about not being able to punish someone twice for the same crime.”

“And Sunset Shimmer is neither human, nor a citizen of your lands,” the prince-consort stated. “She is a wanted fugitive, who has not yet been tried for the listed crimes.” He studied her with cold blue eyes. “My sister’s choice to lay down the rule of exile for the small list of crimes against her own self are not being debated here. That deliberation stands. These crimes are in many cases older, and the arrest order does not come from Princess Twilight.”

Wracking her brain, the former unicorn tried to match the charges to her actions against Celestia. “Princess Celestia is charging me for the tantrum I threw before I ran away?!” she squawked, shocked. “This is about the book I threw at her and the guards I knocked unconscious?!”

“Hardly,” sneered one of the guards. “The Princess of the Sun refused to sign the order.”

Clearing his throat, Prince-Consort Armor silenced his mouthy subordinate with a hard look, then explained, “This order comes from Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, and among the crimes listed is the attempt you once made on her life.”

Memories of fire and magic surging out of control tickled her. “I was twelve,” she pointed out tightly, “and it was an accident. Magical surges in foals are legally protected from being criminalized.”

Rarity laid a hand on her arm. “Another point of order, sirs,” she said politely. “Sunset is in fact a citizen of this country—she has a full legal identity and is enrolled as a student, and at this point, our government does not have an extradition agreement with yours. You are therefore making demands we do not have to submit to…”

“And neither does Sunset,” Twilight’s voice was there behind her, and Sunset felt arms squeeze around her tightly. It was a bit of a shock.

Emboldened, Sunset straightened. “I can't go with you—I know the trap that waits for me if I do…but I also can't let you hurt even these versions of my friends and classmates,” she told the armored figures. “…any more than I could let them hurt you as badly as I know they are capable of. It's not right, and you know this is all wrong.”

Blue eyes flicked to Twilight, and he frowned, completely ignoring Sunset for the moment. “This is not your fight. Stand aside.”

Twilight raised her chin defiantly. “My real brother would know better than to make that demand,” she said, voice firm, “because he would know that I don't abandon my friends, and I’m certainly never going to abandon my very best friend to whatever you want from her.” She slid to be partially in front of Sunset, arms wide. “If you want her, you're going to have to deal with me too.”

“Why?” One of the guards challenged. “Why would you defend her? She has done terrible things, abused power stolen for personal gain, and become a living embodiment of corruption.”

“And she owned up to her mistakes—people screw up sometimes, and sometimes bad people learn to regret their choices. She has worked hard to change, has chosen a better path, and she has done as many wonderful things as she has terrible.” Twilight looked up at Sunset, who was starting to wonder if this was an illusion at all, or if Twilight had broken free on her own. She wouldn't put it past her brilliant mind to come up with a way to break out of Hell somehow.

“Let’s discard the flimsy obfuscation of the reality we’re in--it’s not working anyway. She’s here,” Twilight continued, “in this terrible place, allowing you to torture her, all to rescue someone who did nothing but spew hate and break her heart the last time she spoke to them. She gains nothing from this, and she’s here anyway, fighting and bleeding and struggling against everything you are throwing at her. And you’re sitting there like you have the right to judge her for any of it.”

The same mouthy guard snarled, “We do have that right! It is our purpose!”

By now Twilight--who seemed less like a part of the illusion and more an independent person…unless Hell was now at odds with itself…which frankly, Sunset wouldn't put past the place--had stepped in front of Sunset and crossed her arms. Short as she was, she somehow managed to seem like she was looking down at the figures in armor. “And when do you judge yourself, Hell? When do you receive punishment for the torment you have inflicted? What makes you any better than Sunset? Better than me, even? She’s hurt people, but so have I. So has every human ever, whether they meant to or not…and so have you. You hurt me. You hurt her--you could have talked to her. Or, if you don't like the personal connection, you obviously read minds. That should have told you who she was and why she was here. You had no reason to put her through what you did, tearing open emotional scars and recent wounds, to the point where she is willing to admit that it hurt her?”

Silence, and the whole reality…flickered and froze, with some measure of uncertainty. Hell itself didn’t seem to have a reply for the accusations.

“…Sparky…?” Sunset whispered, the rest of the world fuzzing as she focused on the figure between her and Hell’s latest attempt at capturing her. “Is…are you real..?”

“I…followed you from the porch,” she admitted, turning away from Hell’s illusion to face Sunset. “I don't know if I’m real or dreaming, or if you're real or if any of this is just me trying to cope with dying at the hands of my principal…but you're hurting, and even if this is some kind of dying nightmare or whatever…I can’t…I can’t let them hurt you like this without doing something.”

One arm slipped around the other girl’s waist, and Sunset hugged her, something feeling at last right in this awful day. “I’m real. I was coming to rescue you. Seems like you didn't need me much after all.”

“You should know by now that I’m not fond of the damsel cliché. I don't do well being idle…but I’ll always need you, Sunny.”

Spike coughed. “She’s not all here. The rest of her is still nearby, but she's here-and-there.”

Head canting, Twilight blinked. “I’ll…ask about my talking dog later. I have so many questions.”

Sunset laughed wetly. “And I have so many things to tell you…once this is all dealt with.”

A nod, and the dark haired teen turned back to the silent enemy. “You said this wasn't my fight—if it involves Sunset, it will always be my fight. You’ve read my mind as much as you have hers, and you should know by now that I already picked her the last time someone gave me an ultimatum. I refuse to walk away, to abandon Sunset to whatever torture you have planned because she made a mistake once…so either you face us both, or you let us go.”

The world around them melted and blurred until only the figure that was the Prince-Consort was still clear and solid. Then he morphed, becoming one shape after another…human, pony, hippogryph, demon, copies of beings she knew and dozens she didn't, before becoming an echo of the brilliant white form of Princess Celestia. “I have seen all I need to, Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle.”

And then that form melted, into white and then red, an ever present fog that seemed faintly backlit, and the vague space began to fade. Twilight began to disappear with it, and she squeezed Sunset’s arm. “See you soon?”

“Rampaging dragons couldn't stop me,” Sunset promised.

The last thing Sunset saw there was the red condensing as it propelled itself at her.

Author's Note

*evil grin*

Happy Day of Approved Gluttony to them that Celebrate. Enjoy my offering for your holiday weekend.

And come now, you should know Twilight makes a terrible damsel, and that she absolutely would take an entire realm to task for abusing her BFF. The princess one hucked Tirek through a mountain range over her house and her friends.

She might be a tiny teenage girl, but she's got a serious set of brass ones.

Anyway.

The reunion you've all been waiting for is coming up, yes. ANd I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did writing it. Bruhahaha.