Not out of the woods yet.
“It’s just... Bizarre,” Sunset grumbled, wiping the muck from her hands onto her knees as she climbed over and around the array of boulders littering the forest path. “I guess that maybe, theoretically, there could be other portals to Equestria— but that still doesn’t explain how the geodes ended up in that cave; or what they are.” She reached up to push a curl of red hair from her face, puckering her cheek with a faint blush as she watched Twilight press on through bushes and narrow-lined trees. “Rambling; sorry.”
Twilight giggled a bit and glanced over her shoulder at the other girl before pushing away the vines that hung from overlapped branches, “Is this how I usually sound?”
“Mh,” Sunset hummed, catching the taut twigs before they struck her in the face as she followed in Twilight’s footsteps, “a little. Except, you know, when you do it you’re talking about things that make logical sense. Science— math— not... monsters and magic.”
The scientist raised a hand to her mouth to stifle another light chuckle. “And when you do it, it’s kind of cute.”
Sunset arched a brow. “Only kind of?”
Twilight rolled her eyes, ignoring the heat that spread through her cheeks as she fought off a grin. “Well, however they ended up here, I’m sure you’ll figure it out. Careful, water,” she paused in her step to hop across a spreading stream, then turned to offer her hands out toward the other girl. Sunset smiled and took her hands, allowing for Twilight to pull her over the water as she jumped.
“Thanks,” she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Twilight offered a silent nod and continued leading the way, only for Sunset to let out another small sigh. “You know, I wish you girls didn’t have such blind faith in me…”
Humming, Twilight stopped to set her hands on her hips, turned her head from side to side, puckering her cheek as she did so. She mumbled to herself quietly and chewed on the side of her index finger as she knitted her brows in thought. Sunset patiently stopped at her side, quirking a brow as she merely watched the other girl attempt to navigate her way through the dense brush. “Ah— this way,” Twilight smiled, finally, pointing ahead as if to punctuate her point.
Sunset couldn’t help but smirk, clicking her tongue with a shake of her head.
“You know Sunset, I don’t think you give yourself enough credit.” Twilight huffed, pressing her palms against her knees as she climbed the sloping hill, “I know you’ve made mistakes in the past— I mean,” she rubbed the back of her neck with a sheepish blush, “I only know what you and the other girls told me. And after what happened at the friendship games, I—”
“Hey,” Sunset picked up her pace to fall in with Twilight’s stride, if only to rest a hand at the bottom of her back, rubbing along her spine gently to reassure her. “You didn’t know what you were messing with. The girls and I forgive you for what happened. There’s no point beating yourself up about it.”
Twilight shook her head and turned from Sunset’s reach to wave a dismissive hand, forcing a smile as her brows knitted together awkwardly. “No, it’s not that. I mean, I know I felt guilty— I still do, of course…” The smaller girl pursed her lips and stopped, hugging her arms around her torso as if to squeeze an answer out. “This isn’t about me, anyway.” Twilight shook her head and met Sunset’s concerned stare with one of her own, allowing her eyes to soften as she reached out to rest a hand on Sunset’s shoulder.
“I might not have known what I was messing with back then, and we still don’t really know what we’re messing with, even now— but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to.” Twilight bit her lip and dropped her eyes to their feet and kicked at the mossy ground, toeing the grass and dirt with her shoe. She took a breath; pursed her lips; drew a circle on the ground with her foot; exhaled, then met Sunset’s eyes once again. “You might not have all the answers but we know you’re trying. I know you’re trying. I want to help you understand the magic here— but until then, I’ll trust you, Sunset. Whoever said our faith was blind?”
The taller teen’s breath caught in her chest once Twilight’s eyes met hers once more, and her stomach fluttered with butterflies at every word that left the other girl’s lips. She felt warm, and giddy, and inspired. Sunset nodded. “Yeah,” she said, “okay.”
“Now c’mon,” Twilight smiled gingerly, eyes lingering on Sunset’s as she moved to lead the way, “it’s just a little bit further.”
It was strange to say the least, how close the two had become since meeting, only a few short weeks ago. Sunset chalked it up to familiarity— although she always tried her best to separate the girl before her with the girl she communicated with through Princess Celestia’s journal. The two were distinct; one being inherently modest, and the other, as Sunset came to know her better, was very much aware of the talents and skills she possessed and she wasn’t afraid to admit it. Sunset liked that about her, she supposed. She enjoyed the sarcasm; the banter; and the test of wits that they shared on a daily basis. She enjoyed Twilight’s company, more than most.
Not that she didn’t enjoy the company of their other friends, of course! She just found Twilight to be… refreshing. Engaging. Curious in a way the other girls weren’t. Sunset had just assumed they either didn’t care, or, just didn’t want to bring up any sore memories from her time in Equestria. Sunset wasn’t sure which one she preferred. Dismissed or treated like glass; there really wasn’t an option she favored.
“We’re here!” Twilight finally beamed, shifting out of the way to pull back a canopy of vines and bushes to create an entrance for the wide clearing that opened before them.
Sunset held up a hand to shield her eyes from the sun that shone from above as she stepped into the clearing, blinding light dappling through the trees. The clearing was… beautiful; Twilight hadn’t been exaggerating. Trees— old, wise, oak— hugged the area on all sides. Their trunks were thick, and their age was only made more apparent by the culmination of mushrooms and berries that sprouted at the bases of branches, the further up you looked.
But that had nothing on the waterfall that gathered into a beautiful pool in the centre, before running off into a stream, no doubt feeding off somewhere into the large lake back at camp. Dust and pollen almost created the illusion of glitter, and for a moment Sunset’s throat tightened in a lump.
“It’s… Magical.”
“I told you, right?” Twilight giggled, clasping her hands behind her back as she stepped into the clearing behind her. She wandered over to the water’s edge and crouched down to smile at her reflection in the rippling water before ushering Sunset over with a wave of her hand. “This is a natural spring, you know. That means this is freshwater.”
Sunset snorted with an arched brow, teasing. “I dare you to drink it.”
Twilight punched her in the arm with a playful pout. She stood up and dusted herself off, wiping dirt from the back of her shorts from leaning on her heels, before making her way over to one of the make-shift benches made from old, discarded tree trunks. “I went on a hike to clear my head, when I found this place. I thought, maybe,” she shrugged, rubbing her arm a little, “it could help you take your mind off things for a while.”
Sunset couldn’t help but smile. Twilight sat and patted the space beside her for Sunset to join her, an invitation that she eagerly accepted with a teasing roll of her eyes. The space was quiet, albeit for the distant chirping of birds from somewhere above, and the dull roaring of the waterfall. Sunset closed her eyes as she folded one leg over the other, content with simply taking in the ambience. It was nice. Calming. Sunset frowned.
“Why’d you have to clear your head?”
“Hm?”
“You said you found this place while on a hike.” Sunset paused, “why’d you have you clear your head?”
“Oh!” Twilight straightened herself out and fidgeted with her hands, her shoulders dropping with a slump. “Just… things. I’ve been thinking a lot. About… all of this.”
Sunset let her gaze shift to the water ahead of them and sat forward to wring her hands a bit. “Ah… right. I get it.”
“I mean, it’s just all so... “
‘Weird? She’s definitely going to say weird. Bad. Stressful. Life-altering.’ Sunset swallowed thickly.
“—fascinating.”
“I— what?”
Twilight nodded and edged closer, eyes glittering in the light. Sunset piqued a brow with a small frown, but leaned back to meet her enthusiastic stare. “I mean— how magic affects humans. It’s fascinating. Are our two world completely paralleled, or is there some kind of overlap? If that’s the case, what dictates the overlap? Why did magical sorcerers from your world deem it moral to dump all of their magical problems into this world,” Twilight began listing her points on her fingers, Sunset could only stare on in bewilderment. “And now,” the scientist moved to pull the small purple crystal from her pocket and held it up to the light, “these. What are they? Our worlds equivalent to your Elements of Harmony? What would that even mean? Does that, by proxy, create a seventh element in your world?”
“Twilight—”
“I’ve taken notes from all of the stories you and the girls have told me— about the sirens, Starswirl—”
“Twilight.”
“I know that if you girls would let me study these geodes or— or even if you let me figure out how the portal—”
“Twilight!” Sunset frowned, furrowing her brows as she held the girl’s wrists firmly. She closed her eyes as she took a steadying breath, “I know… that you’re curious. I know that you want answers. But we have to be careful with this stuff. You’ve seen first-hand what can happen. I don’t want whatever happened to Gloriosa to happen to you, too.” She softened her grip on the other girl’s wrists to hold her hands and gave them a gentle squeeze. “I thought that The Dazzling’s and I were able to be corrupted because magic flowed through us. But, that isn’t the case, I guess,” she sighed. “Until we figure out how this magic works, I don’t think any of us should be messing with this stuff; especially you.”
The smaller girl frowned in disappointment, her brows furrowing as she opened her mouth to argue. Seeing Sunset run a tired hand through her hair, however, she allowed her posture to relax. Twilight pulled her hand from the other girl’s to cup her face and pulled her head to look at her. “I’m sorry.”
She felt the older girl stiffen for a moment, only to relax against her palm, the orange skin of Sunset’s cheek warming under her touch. The redhead pursed her lips, eyes darting down towards Twilight’s own quickly before rising again to return her stare.
Twilight smirked, teasing, and quirked a brow as if to challenge the other girl. Sunset, taking the cue, gave Twilight’s other hand a squeeze as she intertwined their fingers, before closing her eyes and leaning in to close the space between them. Sunset’s lips were soft and shy against her own, and when the other girl shifted closer, adjusting her head to meet Twilight’s lips more firmly, she instead allowed her eyes to gaze over at their reflection in the water.
Her familiar lavender eyes were gone; in their place resided a haunting, turquoise glow; and for a moment, Twilight swore she saw an aggressive, snarling unicorn horn protruding from her forehead. She inhaled sharply, raising her hand to her lips as she stifled a startled yelp. Her fingers dug into the front of Sunsets shirt, clutching onto the fabric tightly as the other girl blinked in half-lidded confusion.
“Twilight—?” Sunset stammered, “a-are you okay? What’s wrong?”
Twilight blinked then shook her head, turning back to Sunset to bite her lip. “Nothing, sorry. I just—... I thought I saw something in the water.”
“Oh,” the older girl rubbed the back of her head awkwardly, hanging her head low, “right. Uhm—”
“That was nice. Sorry. Maybe we should head back to camp?”
“Yeah, uhm… Yeah,” Sunset nodded and moved to stand, offering her hand to Twilight to help her up to her feet. Sunset tucked a lock of red hair behind her ear. “I’ll, uh—... Lead the way?”
She stepped to come back the way they had come, trying her best to steady her breathing, or at least calm the heart that hammered in her chest. Only when she met the tree-line did she notice the absence of Twilight’s footsteps, and all too suddenly Sunset felt an ominous chill overtake her; like a crawling sense of dread that ushered the hairs across her skin to stand on end. She hugged herself a bit and rubbed at her arms as she shivered, turning to face the girl behind her. “Twilight, are you—”
Twilight stared back at her with a hollow grin, the crooked smile not quite meeting her eyes. Sunset faltered, blinking, then opened her mouth to sputter out, “A-are you feeling okay?”
“Mhm,” she replied, “never better.” Twilight’s voice was… unnerving. There was an overlay— a voice that wasn’t hers, echoing her words, but expressing nothing but malice. Sunset froze. “What’s wrong, Sunset?” The smaller girl tilted her head with child-like curiosity, expressing no awareness or concern for the wide, black-feathered wings that spread from her back, consuming them both in shadows as they flexed.
Sunset was all too suddenly aware of how secluded this part of camp was.
She wondered if this had been intentional.
Author's Note
There was an extended version of this somewhere where Twilight may or may not have hurt Sunset, but, I thought that may have been a bit too dark. Who knows, though.
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