TECHNOMAGICOMMUNION

Chapters

1 – NO ONE PLANS TO LEAVE
2 – FUN AND GAMES
3 – SURFACE TENSION
4 – Capgras
5 – LIE BETWEEN THE LINES

1 – NO ONE PLANS TO LEAVE

Author's Note

This story has been in the works for quite a while, but now we finally feel ready to tackle it. Updates will come out as they're finished, so there's no set schedule.

If you're wondering what time frame this is, this is a little over half a decade since high school graduation. The girls are all in their mid 20s.

1 – NO ONE PLANS TO LEAVE

A bar on the sketchy end of Canterlot City wasn’t the kind of place Sunset Shimmer would have chosen to spend her first weekend night back from Equestria. Despite her outward appearance matching the vibe of such an establishment, she felt like a fish out of water. Maybe in another life, this would be a place she thrived in. The music was pretty good, she felt like she fit nicely next to the other patrons, and even with how crowded it was, the atmosphere didn’t feel oppressive.

But with how much time she’d spent in Equestria over the last few years, being on this side of the portal at all meant she felt out of place. She hated that, though she’d never say it. After all, in her heart, she was always a unicorn. Even when she was living on the human side of the portal, that never changed.

So, then, why did she resent the fact that being human felt more foreign with time?

Truthfully, it wasn’t hard for her to see, but she tried not to think about it. Equestria was her home, but everyone she’d grown to know and love lived on the other side of the portal. After the Fall Formal, she used to dream about moving back to Equestria. There, she could resume her studies—something she’d undoubtedly excel at even further than she did before with Princess Twilight’s help.

But she wasn’t staying there by her own choice. Well, it was her decision, but only because it was the right thing to do. And while she was indeed studying with Twilight, it wasn’t just to forge new frontiers in different fields of magic. Her research was focused on one thing: fixing the mess she made that fateful Fall Formal so many moons ago.

Rainbow Dash tapped Sunset’s arm.

“Hey! Sunset!”

Retrieving her head from the clouds, Sunset blinked.

“Yeah, Dash?”

“I’m bored.”

Well tough shit, Sunset thought, driving one of her canines into the center of her tongue to stop that from escaping her mouth. As bad as she wanted to let that fly, it would undoubtedly result in another argument, and that was the last thing either of them needed.

Even though she’d be right in the end. After all, it was Rainbow Dash’s fault that they were stuck waiting in this dingy dive bar. Her first Saturday night back from Equestria in who knows how long, and it was just her and Rainbow Dash waiting around instead of doing literally anything else.

“What do you want me to do about it?”

“I dunno,” grumbled Dash, drumming her fingers against the bar counter. “Honestly, I’m starting to think this might be a bust. If Lightning Dust were going to show up, she probably would have by now.”

Sunset shook her head. “I don’t care if we have to sit here until the bartender kicks us out, Dash. Unless we hear from one of the other girls or catch Lightning Dust ourselves, we stay put.” Sunset said, swallowing down the urge to further admonish her for landing them there in the first place. “Besides: you’re the one that suggested we stake out this place, why give up now?”

“I did, yeah,” Dash conceded, sipping her beer bottle as she leaned back in her barstool. “But it was kind of a stretch. This was a favorite spot of ours, since like, high school. Sure the food sucked and it’s poorly lit and smelly and skeevy but the drinks are cheap and lots of lesbians hang out here so you know, it all balances itself out.” She chuckled, a nostalgic smile emerging on her face.

“Anyway, that was then, and this is now, and I don’t wanna be here,” she continued.

"Well, that sucks," said Sunset. "But, again, what do you want me to do about it?"

Dash groaned. “If we have to sit here, the least you could do is talk to me instead of staring off into space like you do all the time.”

Sunset grabbed her own bottle, now slick with condensation. She took a sip, having to contend with the urge to spit it out when it met her tongue. So many things had changed on this side of the portal, but beer still tasted like liquid paper to her.

“How the hell did you two get in here as teenagers? Fake ID?”

Rainbow shook her head. “Nah, Gilda used to sneak us in. She was dating this line cook who would vouch for us, and as long as we paid for our own drinks, the owner didn’t really care that we were obviously way too young to be in a place like this.”

“Gilda,” Sunset muttered. Graciously, she hadn’t heard that name in quite a while. During Sunset’s reign upon the throne of Canterlot High, Gilda was the one student that Sunset was actively wary of, mostly due to the fact that she was probably the only girl at school Sunset couldn’t take in a fight. “What’s she doing these days?”

Dash snorted. “Last I checked? Time.”

“What? Really?”

Taking a sip of her beer, Dash nodded. “Yep. She got arrested last year after an explosion in her basement burned her house down. You can probably draw your own conclusion from that.”

“Holy shit, how did I not hear about that?”

“There’s a lot you probably haven’t heard about.” she replied. “That's what happens when you’re never around.”

Sunset could detect a hint of bitterness in Dash’s tone. Maybe she was just imagining it. It was hard to tell with Rainbow Dash sometimes, but her intuition was seldom incorrect. That said, it was progressively getting harder to tell with any of the girls. The more time they spent away from each other, the more difficult it got.

What wasn’t hard to tell was how some of them never really forgave her for leaving them, for “choosing” to move back to Equestria full time. Sunset only returned once or twice a month to help deal with whatever the latest magical threat was, and there was always a mild to severe air of resentment among them because of that.

It’s not like Sunset could blame them, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t quietly enraged by it. If anything, they should have shown her some gratitude. When it came down to it, the “choice” Sunset had to make was always a losing game: stay with her friends and fight off magic for the rest of their lives, or stay in Equestria with Princess Twilight to find a way to make magic stop leaking once and for all.

Neither choice would have made her happy, but the selfless choice arguably made her even more miserable. Her first few days back in Equestria were spent sobbing in a room in Twilight’s castle because of how much she missed the closest friends she’d ever had. And yet they all acted like she wanted to do this, as if this were an affront to them. Like they thought she was just sick of them and wanted to peace out in pony land, not that she did it to protect them and their world. But if they didn’t understand by then, they probably never would.

Rainbow Dash shot her an annoyed look. “You’re doing it again.”

Sunset shook her head, forcing out a chuckle. “Yeah, I guess so. Anyway, this feels kind of bad to say, but I’m not really surprised to hear that about Gilda.”

“Pfft, you think I was?” Dash took another small sip of her brew. “Like, yeah, it sucks for her and everything, but I know her. She had every chance to turn her life around, but she didn’t, and now she’s fucked it up for good.”

Sunset tilted her head in acknowledgement, not really sure what to add beyond that.

“I do feel kinda bad for her, though.” Rainbow stared into her half empty bottle. “Like, I want to think this will be the wake up call Gilda needs, but prison is a messed up system. It’s probably going to just make her worse, and even if she does try to change, having jail time on your record really screws your future.”

“Nonsense,” Sunset replied sarcastically. “Who wouldn’t learn their lesson after wasting away for years in a cell just to come back into society nearly unemployable?”

Dash raised her head and looked directly at Sunset. “Does Equestria have that kind of problem? I mean, I don’t even know what a justice system run by colorful ponies would look like.”

Sunset rolled her eyes at the last remark, but shrugged. “Eh, I mean, we have jails, yeah. And there’s Tartarus which is pretty much our equivalent of a maximum security prison.

“But we don’t have the bloated prisons your world has. Friendship and forgiveness are core values of our culture, so barring stuff like war crimes, punishments tend to be more of the “don’t do that again!” sort. Starlight Glimmer nearly erased Equestria from existence, and her punishment is being Princess Twilight's student—barely a slap on the wrist."

Sunset then remembered the petrified Discord in Princess Celestia’s garden that she passed by many times while serving as her ward. Or that creepy statue of Tirek, Chrysalis and Cozy Glow that popped up in Twilight’s garden not long after graduation.

“Unless you really piss off one of the princesses or something. Then they’ll turn your ass to stone.”

“That’s hardcore,” replied Dash.

“No, they’re still their regular soft, squishy selves on the inside.”

Dash looked confused.

“Don’t worry about it,” Sunset replied.

“Well, I’ll remember to never piss off an Equestrian Princess then.” Dash shuddered.

“Highly recommend you don’t. I have some experience with that and trust me, those rainbows hurt.”

“Uh, heh, yeah.” Dash scratched the back of her neck. “Sorry about that.”

Sunset quietly scoffed. “It’s been years, Dash. Do you really think I still care?”

A lull in the conversation ensued as Rainbow Dash pretended to get a message on her phone. Sunset ostensibly observed the crowd, hoping that Lightning Dust would eventually be among them. In reality, Sunset was cursing at herself internally. Why did she bring up the Fall Formal? She hated when people reminded her of it. Yet here she was, digging it up herself.

She wished this night would just be over. It wasn’t like she didn’t like being around Rainbow Dash, but she’d been dreading having to do this since their plans were set. This was the first time they’d been alone together in a long time, and every time they spoke, it felt like she was a few wrong words away from getting into a fight with Dash.

She felt the pack of Neighports burning a hole in her pocket. The bar allowed smoking which led her to toy with the idea of lighting one up.

Thankfully, self-control prevailed in the end. Since there were no cigarettes in Equestria, she’d been off of them for a few months now. That didn’t stop her from bringing a pack wherever she went in this world, but she hadn’t indulged her vice yet. And assuming this whole Lightning Dust ordeal wrapped up soon, she’d rather not go back to Equestria dealing with headaches again.

Besides, if she were to do it right in front of Dash, she would probably receive yet another lecture about how it’s bad for her, how it shortens her life, ruins her teeth and every other school assembly talking point she’d heard for years. And considering how short tempered Sunset felt, that could only end in confrontation, and this wasn’t the time for personal squabbles.

But she really, really wanted one right now. Her hands were shaking and she couldn’t stop bouncing her leg. She was tempted to tell Dash she had to use the bathroom just to go smoke up in the girls room like it was high school again. It would be too much of a risk, though. Lightning Dust could show up at any time. Then again, she wouldn't take that long, and in the event she did show up, having cooler nerves might be–

“Oh!" Dash’s exclamation cut through Sunset’s inner monologue. “Rarity just texted me and said her flight’s taking off. She should be here in a few hours.”

“Good,” Sunset remarked. “We might be able to subdue Lightning Dust, but we won’t be able to neutralize her magic until Rarity gets here.”

Sunset personally wished Rarity would have been back sooner, but she knew it wasn't fair. This wasn’t the life they’d signed up for, and even if it was, they’d been doing it since they were teenagers. Plus, even if they wanted to, they couldn’t keep doing it forever.

But after multiple arguments, it was clear they didn’t want to anyway. It was clear they all wanted to move on to normal lives, and Sunset couldn’t ask them to put their plans on hold. And it was clear they expected Sunset to make that happen.

Of course, they didn’t mind the fact that Sunset put her life, her budding career as an artist, and all the relationships she forged in this world on hold. That was just expected of her. She was always the one that had to take one for the team. If not her, then who?

Sunset reined that thought in before the bitterness inside made her swallow her tongue.

Dash finished her beer and slammed it on the counter. “Here, I got a question that’ll kill some time: what’s our group dynamic?”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“You know, like…” Dash made some kind of thinking motion with her hands, “we’re basically superheroes, right?

“Superheroes?” Sunset repeated incredulously. “Don’t you think you should take this a little more seriously?”

"Just humor me on this, okay?"

Sunset rolled her eyes, but motioned for Dash to continue.

“Every superhero team has roles.” Rainbow Dash began to list them off, counting on her fingers. “Like, you got the leader, the smart guy, the big guy, the sneaky guy—you know, stuff like that.“

Sunset’s eyes darted to the side momentarily. "I don't know, I'm not sure I'm into this. Besides, remember what happened last time you got all gung-ho about being superheroes?"

“Where do we fit in?” asked Dash, ignoring the question. “Which one of us is which?”

Sunset wanted to roll her eyes and say “who cares”, but much to her chagrin, her curiosity was piqued. Sure, it was a silly question, but it offered a chance to break up the monotony of sitting and waiting, and a way to stave off further unpleasant thoughts and urges.

“Well, to start, AJ is definitely the brawn,” said Sunset. “I think we can both agree on that.”

“Well duh!” said Dash. “Even if strength wasn’t her thing, she’s still the tallest and swollest among us.”

Dash looked up, tapping her finger against her chin. “I think Pinkie Pie is like… the wild card. The super unpredictable one that does crazy shit like cut the brakes in cars.”

“You’re still not over that?” Sunset jabbed.

“I know why she had to do it, but that cost me over a thousand dollars to replace the brakes in my van, and she never even paid me back!”

Sunset chuckled. “Hard to argue with that. She’s our wild card.”

Rainbow Dash grabbed a bar napkin and a pen nearby. “Let’s write this down.”

She spent a moment scribbling on the napkin before presenting it to Sunset. Dash might as well have used this napkin to wipe up a spill, because whatever smudge Sunset was seeing was a far cry from handwriting.

“What does “gadfafislabidaka” mean?”

“Yeah, I know, my handwriting sucks, whatever.” She grabbed a fresh napkin, handing that and the pen over to Sunset. “So why don’t you write it down, miss hooves?”

“I resent that,” Sunset replied. “And write what down?”

“What role each of us have on the team, I wanna keep that shit straight!”

“Fine.” Sunset let out a theatrical sigh, placing the napkin down on the bar counter’s flat surface. She quickly scribbled down Applejack: The Brawn and Pinkie Pie: The Wildcard on it before writing out everyone else’s names, leaving a blank space after those yet to be determined. “Okay, who’s next?”

Rainbow Dash’s previously downbeat attitude had faded. In fact, she sounded downright giddy as she scooted closer to Sunset.

“Hmmmm, maybe you’d be the brains? You’re the magic researcher, after all.”

“No, I’m not the brains. That’s definitely Twilight,” Sunset said, definitively.

“Eh, I view Twi as more like the techie.”

Sunset squinted. “That’s basically the same thing. You have to have the brains to be good with tech.”

“You’re just being a pendant.”

“You mean a pedant?” Sunset corrected.

“Whatever,” Dash hissed. “Look, point is: you don’t have to be smart to know how to use tech. Even I built my own computer.”

Sunset pursed her lips. “I’m going to pretend you meant to imply you aren’t smart.”

“Wha- No! You know what I mean!”

The two of them shared a laugh. Sunset spent so much time thinking this would be miserable, but for the first time that night, it felt like old times. She hadn’t joked around with Rainbow Dash like that in so long. It was a nice feeling.

“Regardless,” Sunset began, “Twilight is the brains and I’m standing by that. Even aside from being good with technology, do you think I’d be able to figure out how even half of how magic works in this world if I didn’t have her around to help me? She’s a genius, and a creative one at that, so she’s the brains. Period.”

Rainbow Dash chuckled. “You would say some gay shit like that.”

“Can it.” Sunset elbowed Dash in the side with more force than she intended.

Dash rubbed her side. “Fine, fine. Twilight can be the brains. She’s the only one of us that wears glasses anyways, and the smart guy in cartoons always wears glasses.”

“Glad you see it my way.” Sunset nodded in smug satisfaction.

Sunset quickly scribbled Twilight Sparkle: The Brains on the napkin.

“So, that’s Twi, AJ and Pinkie covered,” said Sunset. “What about Fluttershy?”

“The heart.” Dash said with no hesitation.

Sunset tilted her head briefly in consideration. “Yeah, I see it. You’ve got to have heart to put up with our garbage.”

Even years after they’d made amends, it still amazed Sunset that her and Fluttershy were friends—close ones at that. Considering their history, it was nothing short of a miracle. Before Fluttershy, Sunset never knew compassion could run so deep in someone. No matter how dark and deep of a hole Sunset was trapped in, Fluttershy would always be there with a rope and flashlight to help her out.

“For real,” said Dash, her voice warming up as it always tended to when she talked about her childhood friend. “Anytime there’s some kind of beef among us, she’s the one that can get us to squash it.”

“She’s the glue when we need to stick together, and the wedge when we shouldn’t.” Sunset said quietly. That second role had become essential, especially when it came to Sunset, Rainbow Dash and Rarity.

“Yeah...” Dash swirled the few remaining drops around in her bottle.

Detecting how thoroughly she’d killed the mood, Sunset tried to let it roll off.

Fluttershy: The Heart she wrote on the napkin in an attempt at a recovery.

“Now,” Sunset began, “what about Rarity?

The mere mention of the fashionista caused Rainbow Dash to perk up a bit. Unsurprisingly to Sunset, her voice regained its animated tone. Not only that, but her gaze darted around the room, as if she was trying to avoid eye contact with anything.

“Good question,” she replied. “I mean, she’s smart, but not like Twilight-smart or even you-smart.”

“Come on, Dash,” said Sunset, “you can’t tell me I have an inflated ego one night and then say something like that the next.”

Rainbow Dash huffed. “I take it back, Rarity’s smarter.”

Sunset rolled her eyes as Dash continued.

“She’s also funny, that’s kind of Pinkie’s thing. She’s also really nice, but that’s Fluttershy’s territory. She’s pretty, but that’s not really a “role” I think…” Rainbow Dash paused when she noticed Sunset laughing into her hand. “What?”

“Nothing.” Sunset waved. “Just keep talking.”

It was impossible not to notice how close Rainbow Dash and Rarity had become in her absence. It wasn’t the first instance of Dash making this obvious, but it was the most entertaining way so far.

The day prior, Sunset had gotten into a heated discussion with Rarity about when she’d be back. When Dash overheard their conversation, she started repeating the same excuses Rarity was already giving in an equally confrontational tone. Had it not been for Fluttershy’s intervention, those two yelling in Sunset’s ears at the same time might have caused her to snap.

In hindsight, Sunset understood. It was just another consequence of their dimensional distance from each other. Of course everyone else in the group was closer now, they all lived near each other. Of course everyone else in the group got to move on with their lives, it’s not like Sunset could just expect them to sit around and wait forever. Of course everyone else in the group got to live their dreams, but they deserved that.

But not Sunset. As long as magic remained as unstable as it is between their worlds, she didn’t.

Not that she even had the right to be bitter about that. She was the reason magic existed among humans now. Anyone that got hurt (or worse) as a result was her responsibility. To her knowledge, magic hadn’t killed anyone yet. But it could, and if it did, the blood would be on her hands.

Sunset didn’t deserve a normal life. The moment that crown touched her head all those years ago, her life was over.

If only she knew that at the time.

“Hello? Sunshim? I’m talking to you!”

Dash’s rasp snapped Sunset out of her self-loathing stupor. “Uh, sorry, kind of blanked out for a moment.”

“You don’t say,” she remarked, sounding annoyed. “You’ve been doing that a lot since you’ve been here this time around.”

Sunset awkwardly shrugged. “My bad.”

Rainbow’s face shifted to a look of genuine concern.

“Are your powers acting up again? We can go stand outside if there’s too many people in here or–”

“Dash,” Sunset cut her off, more curt than she intended. “I’m fine. I’ve gotten pretty good at blocking out thoughts over the past few years. Even with how much we've all been using our powers, it’s only a problem if everyone’s powers are going off at the same time. I’ll be okay.”

“Well if that’s not it, it has to be something,” she prodded. “Just because I only see you every couple of months doesn’t mean I don’t know you anymore.”

That was questionable.

Sunset let out a brief sigh. “It’s nothing we should discuss right now, but after this whole Lightning Dust fiasco, we’ll sit down as a group and talk about it.”

Leaning forward, Dash’s eyes went wide. “Did you find a way to stop the magic leaks?”

Sunset grew tense. “Like I said, we’ll talk about it. Let’s focus on the matter at hand.” She gave Dash an unconvincing smile. “But I appreciate you trying to look out for me, though.”

Dash returned the smile, one looking about as strained as hers. Strangely, that made Sunset feel a little better about her own reaction.

“Always.” It looked like Rainbow Dash wanted to say more, but whatever it was refused to come out. Sunset could relate.

“Anyway, what were we talking a-oh right!” Sunset snapped her fingers. “Rarity is… I don’t know, the mouth?”

“The what now?” Dash raised an eyebrow, looking a tad flushed.

Sunset stifled a laugh to elaborate. “You know! Like… she’s easily the most charismatic out of all of us.”

“Excuse me?” Dash sounded offended.

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on, you know what I mean. That girl can sweet talk her way in and out of anything. I’m pretty sure she could sell ice in winter or fire in Hell if she wanted. It’s what got her to get so far in the fashion world, right? She’s very persuasive—you of all people should know that.”

Dash held up her hands in surrender. “I guess anyone who can successfully convince me to wear a poofy dress has to be a pretty smooth talker.”

Ultimately, Sunset decided against making a comment about how that probably didn’t take much convincing at all.

Once more Sunset, grabbed the all important Napkin and wrote Rarity: The MouCharmer

Sunset looked down the Napkin, their names being the only two without a subtitle written next to them. “Okay, that just leaves us now.”

Dash leaned back in her stool, placing her hands behind her head as she stared at the ceiling. “I think we both know what I am.”

“Oh, really?” Sunset asked with an air of doubt. “What’s that?”

“The leader, duh.”

Sunset narrowed her eyes. It wasn’t just Dash asserting herself as the leader, or how quickly and casually she said it; it was how she assumed Sunset thought that as well.

“I don’t know about that.”

“What are you talking about?” Dash’s tone almost made it seem like she thought Sunset was stupid for disagreeing with her.

“Since when am I not the leader? When did this happen?”

Dash shrugged. “I mean, you were, but since you only pop in like, what—once or twice a year at this point? Somebody has to be the full-time leader of the Rainbooms, and that somebody actually has to be here to be that.”

If Sunset were detecting bitterness in her words before, she was tasting acid in them now. Still, her focus was turned to something else.

“You still refer to us by our old high school band name?”

“What? That name kicks ass!” Dash whined, crossing her arms in a huff.

“Sure, I guess it’s a cool name,” she conceded, “but doesn’t that feel a little egotistical? Since it’s named after you.”

“Sunset, we literally shoot rainbows when we link up for our big magical girl attack. I think it’s a pretty damn fitting name!”

“Yeah, but we don’t shoot rainbows because of you,” she argued.

“You don’t know that,” Dash countered. “For all you know, the elements saw how awesome I was and decided to design our attack based on me. If you got an issue with it, take it up with them.”

Sunset flashed an incredulous grin. “Well, I haven’t talked to the Elements since the Fall Formal ages ago, but if I see them again, I’ll make sure to ask if that’s true.

“And if it is true, maybe I’ll ask why we can’t have an apple, or diamond, or maybe even a sunset themed attack. Just for variety’s sake.”

Dash’s eyes grew wide again. “Wait, you actually talked to the Elements?”

Sunset winced upon realizing she brought up the Formal yet again, but nodded nonetheless.

“And you didn’t tell us?”

She giggled. “The things I haven’t told you about me could fill this bar.”

“Okay, but you can’t just bring that up and not tell me what they said.”

Sunset shook her head. “I’ll tell you when you’re older.”

“We're the same age.”

“As far as you know.”

In actuality, Sunset wasn’t really interested in discussing an important moment in her life that ended with her sobbing in a crater any more than she already had that night.

Rainbow Dash squinted, recognizing she was being messed with. “Fine, whatever, I don’t care anymore.”

Sunset chuckled. “Okay, can we get back to why you are completely wrong because I’m still the leader of our group and not you?”

“A leader’s the one that does the planning right?”

Sunset glanced to the side. “Yeah, but–”

“Well who's the one that coordinated this stake out for Lighting Dust? Me, bitch!” Dash argued, meeting Sunset right in the eye. “Without me, we wouldn’t know what to do. But because of my plan, The rest of the girls are looking around Dust’s old haunts right now, and we wouldn’t even know where to look without my intel.

“That, and who do you think is the one who convinced Rarity to come home early?” She added with that insufferable smug grin of her’s. “If it weren’t for me, she was ready to make us wait another week.”

Sunset glared at Rainbow right back. If Dash wanted to fight, Sunset came ready for war. “Okay, sure, that’s true. But when we fought Dust yesterday, I was the one out on the field calling the shots. I was the one that set the trap for Dust that almost worked. And if I’m not mistaken, you were the one that ruined it by letting her bait you into setting her free.”

She knew she shouldn’t have said that, but her own bitter words came with a much needed aftertaste. Maybe it was all fun and games between them until that point, but Dash’s arrogance was becoming grating, and Sunset felt she needed a reminder why they were stuck here in the first place.

Dash took it as well as Sunset expected: not at all. Her eyes narrowed, her fists clenched as did her jaw.

“Fine, I get it,” she began. “I already said I shouldn’t have let Dust make me lose my cool like that, and I won't make the same mistake this time. Do we really have to do this again?” She was trying to keep her voice level and doing a piss poor job of it.

“Dash, Lightning Dust is fucking dangerous. She could have killed you, or me, or any of us. We’re lucky it seems like she’s more interested in screwing with us than taking advantage of all that power she has. If this were someone with a brain bigger than a teenager’s-”

“I get it!” Rainbow Dash snapped, the blaring music and conversation of the bar patrons loud enough to drown out the sharpness of her voice. “Do you really think I don’t already know that?”

“I don’t know, Dash,” she argued. “You’re over here talking about being the leader, but–

“Okay! Fine! You’re the fucking leader! Are you happy now? Or do I need to go home and spend all night thinking about how I fucked up again?” Her voice cracked, sounding as though tears were welling in her eyes. Rainbow looked down on the floor, her fiery confidence from before now just a piddling, defensive ember.

Sunset anticipated a negative reaction to her words, but not one like this.

“Dash, I wasn’t trying to–”

“It’s just been hard.” Rainbow Dash rested her forehead in her hand. “It's hard trying to do your job when you're not here. It’s hard not having you around. It’s just not the same. I miss you—everyone does. I’m just trying to keep everyone together, but it’s so hard when it always feels like something’s missing.”

The very last sparks of Sunset’s anger towards Dash were smothered, and from those ashes rose guilt. Sunset wasn’t about to make this any more about herself, though.

“Being in charge sucks, doesn’t it?” She said, genuine sympathy in her voice.

“Yeah, it really does.” Rainbow let out an empty chuckle. “Like, honestly, I was always kind of jealous that you were, like… the center of us. But trying to do your job is hard. It’s scary, like, realizing everyone’s lives are in your hands, you know?”

Sunset nodded, sliding her palm over Dash’s hand.

“This all used to feel like fun. Like we were superheroes, or magical girls, or some shit like that. The stakes never felt this high, even though now I realize they’ve kinda always been. But stuff like this keeps happening, and the more dangerous it gets, the less I wanna do it.”

Dash took a deep breath, her voice again cracking, trying her hardest not to display the emotions she was bursting at the seams with. Sunset knew how much she hated crying in front of others. She was the exact same way.

“I know it’s serious. I know what Lightning Dust can do. I know that if something happened to someone yesterday, it would be my fault and I’d never forgive myself for it. I know what’s at stake here, Sunset, I’m only trying not to think about it all the time.”

Sunset pulled Dash into a hug, Dash burying her head in Sunset’s shoulder as if she’d been wanting to for a while.

“I don’t know how you do it, SunShim.” Rainbow murmured.

Sunset made a noise that tried to sound like a laugh but didn't really hit the mark. “I don’t. Trust me Dash, I’ve been doing the leader thing scared out of my mind since we were in high school. I’m not much better, I’m just better at hiding how freaked out I get.”

Sunset let out a deep sigh. “I just wish there was more I could do while I’m in Equestria.”

“I mean,” Rainbow Dash pulled away from Sunset, “you could always–”

“Dash, don’t–”

“Why can’t you just–”

“We’re not having this discussion again.” Sunset slapped her palm on the counter. “I didn’t want to leave, but it was the only choice I had. As long as magic acts the way it does, I have to find a way to stop it because I never want what happened to Twilight to happen to any of you ever again.

“So no, I can’t stay on this side of the portal. Not until I fix the mess I started years ago, and the only way I’m going to figure out how is with Princess Twilight’s help. You have to understand that, Dash. I’m doing this for all of you.”

There was a look in Dash’s eye, one Sunset knew too well. It wasn’t negative, but it was one Sunset hated to see nonetheless.

It was pity.

“Sunset, what happened to Twilight wasn’t-”

“Stop.” Her command was quiet, calm, but there was a force behind it that made Rainbow get the message immediately.

It made Sunset feel a little guilty, like Dash was a puppy she’d just kicked, but Rainbow Dash knew better than to go there. Sunset knew what she was responsible for, and she wouldn’t hear any different. The only way she saw to atone was to give Twilight and her friends the normal lives they deserved by any means necessary, and that was not up for discussion.

Sunset sighed, once again feeling as though she’d killed the mood. She stared at her increasingly lukewarm beer, a wave of exhaustion washing over her. It was far too early in the night to be feeling like this.

Thankfully, Dash broke the silence between them.

“You know, I think I know where I fit in the group. Something that suits me way better than being the leader.”

Sunset turned her head, curiously raising an eyebrow. “And that is…?”

Dash flashed Sunset a shit eating grin.

“Sex appeal.”

There was a pause.

And then Sunset smiled.

And then Dash started to chuckle.

And then Sunset started to laugh.

Soon both of them were cackling, Sunset literally slapping her palm on the bar, tears welling in her eyes. It had been a long time since she’d had a laugh like that, and it was over the stupidest thing. But that was okay. Dash’s ability to make her do that was one of her favorite things about her.

“Here, I’ve got an actual idea,” Sunset remarked. “I think you’ll like it.”

Sunset wrote out Rainbow Dash: The Technician onto the Napkin.

“The technician?” Dash echoed.

“Yeah,” she replied. “I mean, I could say, like… the speed or something, but you’re not just fast; you’re quick and dexterous. And... besides, if I were to pick any role to take over when the leader is MIA, I'd say the one that's as quick-footed as she is quick-witted."

Rainbow Dash smirked. “Who’s feeding whose ego now?”

“Don’t push your luck,” said Sunset.

Last on the Napkin was herself; Sunset Shimmer: The Leader.

“Now, does that answer your question?” Sunset gave Dash a smile.

“I think that’s it.” Dash nodded and smiled back. “That’s our dynamic.”

Despite all the twists and turns in their conversation, that moment, it felt like everything would be okay. All the distance and time apart accumulated didn’t seem to matter all that much anymore. Rainbow Dash was Sunset’s friend, just like the rest of the girls were, and as long as they were all around, nothing could sever that bond.

“That’s the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever seen.”

A hand landed on both of their shoulders, the warm mood between them pushed away by a frigid gust. Before they could turn to look, Lightning Dust roughly pushed Rainbow Dash into the seat next to her as she took the space between them. Grabbing Sunset’s beer, she made a show of taking the biggest swig she could, clanking it down on the counter with a firm “ahh” afterwards.

Sunset wanted to bang her head against the bar counter. She was as humiliated as she was terrified. They were here to catch her, yet they were caught with their pants down.

Dash looked ready to hurl every curse word she knew at Dust, but before she could, her old high school rival wrapped her arms around both Rainbow and Sunset.

“If either of you try anything, you two and everyone in this whole fucking bar are going to be on the news tonight.”

Lighting Dust flexed her fingers, arcs of blue energy rising from the webbing to the tips. The lighting in the bar fluctuated, the music began to skip, the girls’ hair began to frizz. Both of them held their breath, half expecting Lightning Dust to finish them right then and there.

When the patrons began to notice the lights, she clenched her fist, and everything went back to normal. Soon, the sounds of bar goers chatting resumed as if nothing happened.

The entire bar was unaware they were being held hostage by Lightning Dust, everyone aside from Rainbow Dash and Sunset.

“You don’t have to do this,” Dash spoke with trembling bravado. “Your issue is with me, right? Then fine, we leave, and you do what you want with me; but leave Sunset, my friends, and all these innocent people out of it, okay?”

Sunset wouldn’t ever let Dash sacrifice herself like that, but Dust cut her off before she could vocalize that.

“Oh, Dashie, that’s so fucking noble! I could just vomit in your lap right now.” Dust sneered, rolling her eyes. “You know, I actually considered killing your friends first before stopping by here since I know where they’re all at. I knew you’d be sending them to search our old spots.

“Would have been real easy too. Just zip to each spot, zap them to death then run over to the next spot, rinse and repeat.”

It was hard to tell whether Dash or Sunset was more tense after that. The thought of her hurting Twilight lit a spark of fury in Sunset, but she kept it covered as best she could.

“And, like, I gotta be honest, it would have been so funny to see your reactions! You’d be stammering, and crying and–”

“Hey, LD!” The bartender stood across from the trio, a smile on his face. “Haven’t seen you here in a hot minute! What can I get for ya?”

“Hmm.” Lightning Dust sat for a few moments, pretending to shuffle through the choices in her head. “I don’t know, surprise me! And make it something real expensive! These two have me covered tonight, right girls?”

Sunset and Dash shared a look, but when they felt the hair raising on the back of their necks either from fear or the static Lightning Dust was emitting, they nodded.

“Comin’ right up!” he said, walking to the other end of the counter. As soon as he was out of earshot, Lightning Dust continued.

“Anyway, I didn’t! Your stupid friends are all fine.” Dust pulled them both closer. “Now say thank you.”

A few seconds of silence ticked by. The girls’ hair stood up even more as they felt the slow build of electricity from inside Lightning Dust.

“I said say thank you,” she repeated.

“Thank you,” they both said through gritting teeth.

“You’re welcome!” Dust relaxed her grip, but kept them held close. “But I am getting pretty bored of this game. It’s been like, what, two, three days, give or take?”

That prompted a slow, nervous nod from both Dash and Sunset.

“That basically means I win, right? I mean, what’s stopping me from zapping you two and going after your friends right after, hmm? After all, I could be doing so much more than toying with you losers. Think of all the damage I can cause!”

Sunset tensed even harder, unaware of the fact that she was now holding her breath.

“Because then it wouldn’t be a real win, would it?” asked Dash.

Her blood running cold, Sunset stared wide-eyed at Rainbow Dash, desperately hoping she had some kind of plan and wasn’t just egging her old rival on.

“I don’t know,” Lightning Dust replied. “I’ve only been toying with you all this whole time, I think it’s safe to say I’ve won.”

“Yeah, but you’ve never gone against us directly,” argued Dash. “You can fry us a piece at a time, sure, but that would be cheap. And you’d have to spend the rest of forever knowing you couldn’t beat us in a one on one fight.”

Sweat began to bead on Sunset’s brow. Lightning Dust looked incensed, but she hadn’t killed them yet.

“One on one?” Dust repeated. “Dash, I know math was never your strong suit—or any subject for that matter—but there are seven of you, and one of me. I have to take what I can get.”

Lightning Dust began to glow a faint shade of blue. Sunset closed her eyes, waiting for the moment it was all over.

“But aren’t you the strongest there is now? That’s what you said. You should be able to take on fourteen of us by yourself.” Dash smirked. “Or maybe you’re not as great as you say you are. I mean, what would you expect from someone whose high school band name was The Washups.”

Lightning Dust’s playful demeanor vanished, a sour look spreading across her face.

“It was The Washouts,” she growled.

“Same difference,” Dash replied.

Dust glared at her silently for a few seconds before bringing the two closer again.

“Okay, fine,” she began. “Tonight, in the wee hours of the morning, I want all of you to meet me at the parking lot of the abandoned Canterlot Mall. We’re gonna settle this once and for all. Because it’s not enough for me to just be better than Dashie now, I want to prove I can outdo all of you wannabe magical girls at once—fair and square! Deal?”

Rainbow and Sunset exchanged a look, Dash giving Sunset a confident nod.

“Deal,” she agreed.

“Great! I’ll see you both tonight then. I hope you both bring your A game. Though, it’s not like it’s going to matter.”

Lightning Dust took her arms off the girls and got out of her chair, taking one last gulp of beer.

“Oh, and Sunset?”

Dust looked right into the redhead’s eyes, flashing her a malicious grin that reminded Sunset far too much of herself during her worst days.

“You might want to check up on Sparky. I heard her talking about you when I zipped by her earlier, and she just sounded so sad, it tugged at my heart.”

Before taking off, Lightning Dust picked up the napkin. With a wave of her fingers, Dust incinerated it right in front of her. After that, she winked at Sunset, grabbing a stranger and pulling them in front of her. By the time the stranger turned to see who it was that grabbed them, Lightning Dust was gone.

Sunset looked down at ashes on the ground that were once a napkin. As the bar goers moved along, the small pile was spread across the floor until it was no more.

Of course, the napkin’s demise wasn’t what really upset Sunset.

It’s what Dust said about Twilight. Was that true, or was she just trying to get in Sunset’s head?

If it were the latter, it worked. That spark of fury was now a raging inferno, especially knowing that Dust was so close to Twilight. If Lightning Dust actually went through with killing her, Sunset would have torn her apart limb from limb, lightning powers notwithstanding.

Dash spoke up, freeing Sunset from what was an increasingly morbid fantasy. “Look, I know that was probably stupid of me, but what choice did we have? It was accept her terms or d- hey! Where are you going?”

“Did you not hear her?” asked Sunset as she stood up from her chair. “Like, yeah, thank you, you saved our asses, but we have to tell the others and get going now.”

“Hang on,” Dash replied, “the bartender is coming with the drink.”

Sunset’s mouth fell open.

“Rainbow Dash, are you fucking kidding me?”

“What?” she argued. “I don’t like keeping an open tab!”

Firmly grasping Dash’s wrist, Sunset yanked her out of her seat. Using her free hand, she dug her phone out of her pocket, calling her first speed dial contact. As she waited for Twilight to pick up, running down the sidewalk, she wondered what they were going to do. They had a location, but no time for a plan, and as long as Rarity wasn’t there, it felt pointless to try and come up with anything.

But someone had to think of something. And if not her, then who?

2 – FUN AND GAMES

Sunset paced back and forth under the streetlamp, its dim lighting the lone source of illumination in the dark parking lot. Gravel on the asphalt crunched under her combat boots. Despite the moderate temperature of an early summer’s night, her entire body was shaking as if she were naked in a snowstorm. It was a mix of fear, anger, anxiety, and many other emotions she didn’t care to label.

Ring

She was lucky. They were all lucky. For some reason, Lightning Dust hadn’t shown up yet. That gave them ample time to prepare, time that was absolutely essential if they wanted to take her down.

Ring

Unfortunately, since Rarity hadn’t shown up when she was expected to, it was nothing but time wasted. As the clock drew closer to three in the morning, Sunset began to wonder if they’d be caught with their pants down for the third time in a row. And after the encounter at the bar, she didn’t want to know whether or not they’d get a fourth chance.

Ring

Much like at the bar, she wanted nothing more than to indulge her vice. One quick puff was all she needed. Anything to get her body to stop shaking. That was burning energy—something she was critically low on—and she needed to conserve every bit she had.

Ring

So instead of smoking, she alternated between two tried and true methods of restless stimulation: pushing her lip rings with her tongue, and biting her thumb. And in the beginning, that was good enough. But that was more than an hour ago. She’d done both so much since then that she hardly had much thumbnail left to bite, and her bottom lip already felt swollen.

Ring

Sunset prayed she would hear Rarity’s voice in a moment. Her actual voice, not the answering machine recording. If she had to hear that one more time, she’d scream with a force so loud, it would shatter every window in the old abandoned mall.

Ring

Her jaw tightened with every ring. If her teeth sank any further into her thumb, she was liable to bite the appendage clean off.

Ring

“Pick up the fucking phone already!” Sunset hopelessly shouted into the receiver. “You’ve been on the ground for over two hours! Why aren’t you answering?”

Ring

As much as Sunset loved her friends, she was ready to light Rarity up with every curse word she could muster. This was serious, and her taking forever to arrive made it abundantly clear how little she understood this. She’d never been so mad at one of her friends before, she couldn’t wait to lay into her and–

*click* “Sunset, I have already told you I’m going as fast as I can!”

“I know! Sorry, I just need to know where you’re at.” She answered, hoping her seething rage wouldn’t burn a hole through the friendly veneer she presented.

“I understand you need me there but I don’t know what you else you expect me to do about it. Do you have any idea how difficult it was to return from Manehattan to Canterlot City on such short notice? I had to grease more than a few palms to catch even a red eye flight back here, and even then, the boarding and exiting process took forever! And don’t get me started on all the ignoramuses on the road at this hour! The rules of the road apply at all hours of the day and yet-”

A loud honk and an even louder shriek interrupted the fashionista's rant, booming through Sunset’s speakers.

“Why are you only going ninety-five in the fast lane you witless idiot!?”

Surprisingly, hearing Rarity’s intensity was enough to coax a laugh out of Sunset, one she forgot to move the phone receiver away from her mouth for.

“I’m so glad you find my transit perils amusing!” Rarity huffed indignantly through the speakers. Even though Sunset couldn’t see it, she knew her friend was fixing her with one of her patented icy death glares.

Sunset coughed. “Sorry, but I really needed that. Things are a little tense around here.”

“Darling, I’m no less tense than any of you. Has Lightning Dust arrived?”

“Not yet,” Sunset answered. “Kind of surprising considering how late it is.”

“That’s good. I– hang on a moment.”

Sunset could hear tires squealing through Rarity’s microphone. She held her breath until she heard Rarity’s voice once again. Sunset thought about asking what that was about, but decided it wasn’t worth getting distracted by.

“Anyway, at this rate, I may have a trail of police following me when I arrive, but I swear I’m not wasting a moment.”

Rarity’s often impeccably maintained accent faltered for only a moment, but Sunset knew that was something that only ever happened when Rarity was truly stressed. Upon hearing the sheer exhaustion in Rarity’s voice, Sunset felt her anger relent.

“Look, just focus on driving, and please get here as fast as you can,” Sunset replied. “Lightning Dust could be here any second.”

Rarity hummed in agreement. “I’ll see you then, but if it comes down to it, I’m sure the six of you will do a fabulous job keeping things under control until my arrival!”

A person shaped object flew right past Sunset's face. It was Applejack, her back hitting the streetlamp loud enough for the sound to reverberate through the empty lot. Sunset looked at AJ writhing on the ground, unable to make a sound.

“What? What was that noise?”

A second later, Rainbow Dash joined her, Applejack’s body absorbing much of the impact as the speedster crashed directly into her.

Sunset looked at the two groaning in pain while sprawled out on the asphalt, the phone shaking in her hand.

“Hurry.”

Sunset could hear Rarity shouting as she hung up the call, shoving her phone into her jacket pocket. She rushed over towards her fallen friends.

“Shit, shit, shit,” she cursed. “Are you two okay? Anything broken?”

Applejack wheezed, shaking her limbs one at a time. “Don’t think so. Hurtin’ like hell but, I’ll live.” She wheezed, trying and failing to pull herself up. “I’d be even better if Dash here would fuckin’ get off me.”

“Come on, even if your powers aren’t working right, I’m not that heavy,” Rainbow countered, ungracefully rolling off AJ’s stomach and onto the rough blacktop.

Sunset helped the two of them to their feet. “I know I’m asking for a miracle here but try to be careful. Fluttershy’s not here yet, so we don’t have any heals, but she should be here with Pinkie real soon. Just got off the phone with Rarity, she’s on the way too.”

“Ugh.” Dash rubbed her head. “Rares better get here soon or we’re gonna get our asses-s-s-Sunset! Behind!”

Swiveling her head around, Sunset’s gaze was met with crackling electricity running right at her, yellow eyes closing in with pure malice. Her heart nearly stopped in its chest as every survival instinct she had failed her completely, leaving her body paralyzed in fear. A deer in headlights, picoseconds away from being run through with enough speed and force to turn her into a fine mist.

Every bad choice, every failed relationship, every regret flashed through her mind, one after another.

“Your father and I have tried to be understanding, but you just insist on making this so difficult on all of us.”

“Sunset Shimmer, if you are going to continue down this path of arrogance and cruelty, I will no longer have you as my student.”

“Kid… this is gonna be it between us. After today, you won’t be seeing me again. I’ll make sure you’re taken care of, but… it’s better this way.”

“You will never rule in Equestria. Any power you had in this world is gone. But tonight, you showed everyone who you really are. You showed them what is in your heart.”

“I can’t sleep! Every time I close my eyes, I see Midnight! It’s been days, and it won’t stop! I don’t know what else to do!”

“How am I supposed to get back at you if nothing I do matters!? I hate you!”

“Look, I’m sorry, Twilight. It’s not you, it’s just… I don’t know how to feel that way about anyone. I don’t know if I can feel that way about anyone.”

“Well… I’m gonna find a nice line to wait in so I don’t ruin it for you again. You deserve to have a good day, Sunset.

“I know you’re still in there, Twilight. You’ve beat Midnight before, you–”

The ghosts of her past were banished by an overwhelming warmth overtaking Sunset’s body. It took only a moment for her to recognize the familiar purple glow surrounding her arms, her body yanked right out of her assailant’s path the very next. Lightning Dust missed by mere inches as she ran right past the spot Sunset stood moments ago.

Sunset sat shell shocked on the ground. She could hear someone talking rapidly, though the words were unintelligible. A pair of hands gripped her shoulders, narrowly stopping her from falling over and kissing the asphalt. That was a touch she’d recognize anywhere. Even if she still couldn’t see, Sunset only knew one person that could yell a mile a minute like she was. Her eyes were wide with fear behind her square specs.

Sunset’s ears were still a little fuzzy, but she gradually understood more and more as she regained her equilibrium.

“Sunset… okay?.. Almost… Oh gosh, if I was just a second later…”

Even with the life or death circumstances surrounding them, it was so endearing when she got like this. But Sunset knew better than to let her go on too long, lest Twilight encounter an error and need to close.

Sunset placed two hands on Twilight’s shoulders.

“Hey.” Sunset’s voice was firm. Somehow, despite her brush with death, Sunset managed to offer an easygoing smile. Her half lidded turquoise eyes met bespeckled purple.

“I’m okay, now breathe.”

She started inhaling, silently encouraging Twilight to follow her lead, the two exhaling at the same time. Sunset kept her eye on Lightning Dust, craning her neck to the side every other second to make sure Applejack and Rainbow Dash were still keeping her occupied.

Sunset almost wanted to laugh. Twilight was the one that saved her life, and yet she was the one having to ground Twilight. That was far from unusual, and even further from the first time it had happened, but somehow, she still found it amusing, as weird as she felt about that.

Watching over Twilight’s shoulder, Sunset saw Dash and Dust collide with one another repeatedly, the two blurs almost impossible to keep up with. Not far from their clashes, Applejack pulled one of the many lightposts that lined the parking lot out of its concrete base as if it were a weed on her lawn.

“How many times have you saved my ass now?” Sunset asked, hands still on Twi’s shoulders and vice versa. “Eleven, right?”

“Twelve.” Twilight answered immediately. Of course she’d keep track.

Rainbow Dash ran a loop around the perimeter of the parking lot with Lightning Dust close behind. Seemingly at random, she swerved at an almost perfect ninety degree angle, but that didn’t seem to shake Dust off her trail.

Meanwhile, Applejack held the light pole like she was getting ready to swing a bat, at least to the best of her ability with an object that large. Right when Dash was about to zip past her, AJ hurled the steel post forward with all her strength.

A loud *CLANG* echoed through the empty parking lot.

Sunset chuckled and patted Twilight on the shoulder. “I owe you one, but don’t use that as an excuse to get into any near death situations, okay?”

Twilight seemed to loosen up, her panic fading into a comforted smile.

One moment, Sunset was looking down at Twilight. The next, she was locking eyes with the woman who nearly vaporized her mere moments ago. A pit of dread formed in Sunset’s stomach as she realized it wasn’t Lightning Dust that Applejack managed to hit.

Lightning Dust wedged herself between the two of them, forcing Twilight to let go of Sunset and vice versa. The wind was suddenly knocked out of Sunset as Dust shoved her palm into her chest.

With Sunset tumbling across the ground, Dust was left in the spot Sunset stood before. Twilight stood defiant, at least until Dust leaned in uncomfortably close, cupping her chin.

“You know, I really have to wonder: how have you lasted this long? You always look like you're about to shit yourself, you know that?”

There was no reply. Suddenly, Twilight couldn’t move, speak, or do anything at all.

As Sunset pulled herself up from the ground, she could feel her own body trembling. Not out of fear for her own wellbeing, but seeing where Lightning Dust had her best friend. Her eyes narrowed with fury. In a moment, the danger of Lightning Dust’s power left Sunset’s consideration as she ran directly at her. Each stomp became heavier until it felt like the pavement might crack under her feet.

“Let her go you bitc-”

Sunset didn’t even see Lighting Dust move before her hands gripped her throat. In one fraction of a second, she was rendered just as helpless as Twilight. She attempted to claw at the hands on her neck, stopping when Dust channeled lightning through her arms.

“Didn’t exactly think that through, did you?” Lightning Dust’s smug smirk suddenly soured. “Also, hey, where’s that drink you were gonna get me? You paid for it, right?”

In lieu of an answer, Sunset spit in her face.

Lighting Dust blinked, a heated arc of electricity shooting past her cheek, instantly evaporating the stain

“…Well, regardless, you’re going to pay for that.”

She lifted one hand from Sunset’s neck, holding out her index finger. A spark formed and crackled on the tip as she inched it close to Sunset’s face at an agonizingly slow pace. Sunset grunted, hoping the defiant glare she gave her captor was enough to hide that she was, in fact, very scared.

“I don’t know why you’re bothering trying to resist at this point. You and I both know you’re screwed—all of you are. Don’t you just want to get it over with?”

Lightning Dust eyed the sinew of saliva dripping down Sunset’s chin. A wicked smile spread across her face as she eyed the two rings on both sides of her bottom lip.

“Oh man, you really didn’t think this through. You picked a fight with a chick made out of electricity when you’ve got two perfectly good lightning rods in your mouth!”

Dust hovered her finger over one of Sunset’s piercings. As much as Sunset wanted to struggle with more intensity, Lightning Dust’s grip on her throat was gradually depriving her of oxygen. Her vision was steadily fading.

Twilight stood behind, still seemingly frozen in fear. Sunset wanted to scream, break Twilight out of her stupor and beg her to do something, but found it impossible to make any noise with her throat compressed so harshly.

"Do you know what happens when you put silverware in a microwave? If not, you’re about to see what it looks like.”

Sunset eyed Twilight again. The look of utter hopeless terror on her face mirrored the one on Sunset’s own at this point. Would Twilight truly not snap out of this before it was too late? And where were the rest of her friends? Shouldn’t they have been there by now?

This couldn’t be how it ended. She was so close. This was the last time they were ever going to have to deal with a magic incident. After this, she knew how to fix this. All she needed to do was survive this.

Instead, this is where she would meet her end, and the solution to their problem would die with her.

Out of nowhere, some kind of pie struck Lightning Dust, splattering all over her face. She winced, and when she opened her eyes, she looked bewildered.

“Cinnamon?”

Sunset immediately shut her eyes as hard as she could as the pie exploded into a cloud of bronze powder. Dust’s grip finally faltered causing Sunset to fall to the ground. The moment her back touched the asphalt, she took a deep breath, immediately regretting it when her mouth was filled with the cloyingly sweet taste of excess cinnamon.

Lightning Dust charged away from the scene, running straight into a lamp post more than once as she fled. The dim lighting of the late night parking lot and shroud of acerbic spice made it difficult to get a clear look at her hero, but there was only one person Sunset knew who could do something like that.

Before she had a chance to stop coughing and thank her savior, she was assaulted by more words than she could process.

“Hi, Sunset!” Pinkie Pie greeted. “Sorry we were late, I just wanted to make sure we were super duper prepared because I was only super prepared last time, but I ran out of ammo at the worst time, so I didn’t want that to happen again, so I made sure to bake extra cakes and pies and cupcakes and cookies and–”

A set of rapid footsteps interrupted Pinkie’s undoubtedly endless list.

“Pinkie Pie!” Rainbow Dash called. “Hop on!”

“Don’t worry Sunset, I’ll kick that big meanie’s butt for you!” Without skipping a beat, Pinkie Pie piggybacked onto Rainbow Dash’s back. Reaching into her mass of fluffy hair, she pulled out yet another pie. “Onward, trusty steed!”

Rainbow Dash groaned. “Could you please not be weird about this?”

“I SAID ONWARD!” Pinkie screamed.

Dash took off immediately after, Pinkie Pie’s “weeeee” gradually getting quieter as they went after Lightning Dust, followed by a drum solo of confectionary explosives in the distance.

As Sunset continued to roll around on the ground, sputtering and trying to clear her eyes, her vision gradually cleared. Two figures stood hunched over here. Sunset could tell from the silhouette that one of them was Twilight, but before she had a chance to guess who the second one was, water splashed across her face.

“Sunset!” Fluttershy patted Sunset’s face with a rag. “Are you okay?”

She wheezed in response, still trying to catch her breath.

“Oh my gosh, Sunset, I’m so sorry.” Twilight sounded close to hysterics. “I-I don’t know what happened, I–”

“It’s okay, I’ll be fine in a second,” Sunset spat between coughs. Truthfully, she wasn’t entirely sure of that. Her head was still spinning and her lungs felt lined with sand, but if they were going to win this, she had to at least pretend she didn’t feel like she was dying.

“Have you heard from Rarity?” Fluttershy asked Sunset, her soft voice punctuated by at least a baker's dozen pops on the other side of the parking lot. “I felt a little woozy after healing Rainbow Dash, but my blood sugar is still fine. I’m just not sure how hard I should push myself after yesterday.”

Sunset blinked, suddenly recalling that they were still down one member.

“Still on the way.” Sunset snorted and spat out a cinnamon flavored loogie. “Going about a hundred miles an hour down the road last we spoke.”

“Oh dear, I hope she actually makes it without incident this time.” Fluttershy shuddered.

Sunset attempted to chuckle, but only coughed. “Hopefully another street light doesn’t sprout out of the middle of the road.”

“Hopefully,” Fluttershy echoed, punctuated with a giggle. “Um, I-I’m sorry we’re late, by the way.” Fluttershy spoke up, at least, as much as her soft voice allowed. “Pinkie Pie had to be sure she baked both enough ammo, and also that she had enough left over for me when my sugar drops.”

“Sorry, Fluttershy. Saving my life is just not good enough.” Sunset gave a playful smile after that.

Fluttershy rolled her eyes before returning the gesture. She placed her hands on Sunset’s shoulders, gently dragging them down to her arms. She continued down Sunset’s body as she closed her eyes. As she did, Sunset let her head fall back, feeling her bruises and other tender spots slowly evaporating.

“How about that?” asked Fluttershy.

Sunset winked. “That’s a fair trade.”

Sunset then noticed that the crackling of electricity and the percussive sounds of improvised explosive delectables suddenly ceased. That could mean Dash and Pinkie finally had Dust cornered, or Dust had managed to take them down.

Fluttershy finally let go, the three of them taking off to find out where the others were. It didn’t take long for them to catch a faint blue light emanating from around the edge of one of the abandoned mall’s buildings.

When they rounded the corner, they saw Lightning Dust surrounded by Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie. Despite having the numbers advantage, they seemed to be locked in a stalemate, and none of Sunset’s friends looked all that confident.

Be that as it may, Lightning Dust looked worn out, her body covered head to toe in cake and icing. The neon blue glow her body radiated before had faded considerably. The arcs of lightning that swirled around her body seemed faint, few and far between. She was heaving, occasionally breaking into a coughing fit. Even if Pinkie missed every shot afterwards, that initial cinnamon smokescreen pie was still enough to knock and keep the wind out of Lightning Dust.

But then Sunset looked over to their friends, and it was obvious that they weren’t doing too hot either.

Rainbow Dash was panting, her body looking one wayward gust away from collapsing like a house of cards. Applejack was holding a concrete bollard, but even with the tip of it resting on the ground, it looked like she was struggling to hold it. Pinkie Pie held two cupcakes with sparklers in the icing. That was an ammunition she seldom ever used, and the fact that she was holding it at the ready was a telltale sign she was out of any other kind.

All that combined with how much magic they’d all expended over the last three days, and they looked no more likely to win than Lightning Dust.

If they didn’t wrap this up soon, it was all going to be over.

Rarity, if there were ever a time to randomly drop in... Sunset thought.

Still, even if they couldn’t purify the magic out of Dust yet, she was weak enough now that they could incapacitate her until Rarity finally arrived.

Though, maybe they didn’t have to.

“It’s over, Lightning Dust.” Sunset took a step forward. “We beat you, now let’s stop–”

“Bullshit!” she shouted, immediately wheezing afterwards. “You think I’m done? I’m just getting started!”

“You can’t keep running around in the state you’re in,” said Rainbow Dash. “You can barely breathe! You’re gonna collapse any second!”

For the first time since this all began, Lightning Dust looked genuinely frightened, as if not even she believed she could make it out of this.

She began to step backwards. “I’m just getting you all close together so I can fry you all at once!”

“The only thing you’re fryin’ is your brain from lack of oxygen,” said Applejack.

“We can help you,” Fluttershy gently appealed.

“Help me?” Dust repeated doubtfully. “How? By taking away the one good thing I have?”

“Lightning Dust, this isn’t a game,” said Sunset. “This is serious. You have no idea what kind of power you’re messing with.”

She laughed, nearly descending into a coughing fit.

“And you all do? I've been running circles around all of you for days, and you've been on the ropes the whole time.”

Dash stepped forward. “Look, Eldi–”

“Don't call me that!” she shouted, baring her teeth.

“Fine, Lightning Dust, whatever,” Dash conceded. “This still isn’t a fair fight.”

“Come on, Dash, are you really going to try wailing about how unfair this is again?”

“No, that’s not what I mean.” Rainbow Dash’s eyes darted to the sides momentarily, as if she wasn’t even sure what she was going to say next. “We’re still down a member, and we still managed to corner you.”

Dust looked even more incensed, but didn’t seem to have an argument.

“If all of us were here, you’d have lost. So why not just give up? Even if you beat us, you still won’t feel like you’ve won.” Rainbow Dash took another step forward, holding out her hand. “I’m sorry about what happened between us. But if you let us help you, I’ll try to make it right.”

Lightning Dust backpedaled another step, the rage in her expression now equally mixed with fear. She nearly fell over as her back hit the concrete base of a lamp post behind her.

When she looked up, her eyes met the light above her directly. A wry smile slowly spread across her face as she held up her hand.

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “Wait, what are you–”

The light bulb in the streetlamp above exploded, startling all of the girls as they got out of the way of the broken glass raining down on the concrete.

When the coast was clear, what Sunset saw caused her stomach to fall through the floor.

An arc of electricity snaked out of the port where the lightbulb once was. It danced down the pole, meeting Lightning Dust’s hand as she laid her palm against the steel. She stood there, her exhaustion giving way to an eerily serene smile as she absorbed the electricity. Her dull blue glow marginally strengthened.

When she looked back down at the girls, she flicked her hand. All at once, the bulb in each lamp lighting the parking lot shattered into pieces, the asphalt blanketed in darkness and glittering shards of glass. Streams of lightning shot directly toward her, causing her to glow with brilliance that rivaled the sun itself.

“Holy shit!” Lightning Dust cackled, and whatever hopes Sunset had to end this fight quickly were stamped out like a cigarette on the sidewalk. “Honestly, I didn't realize I could do that until now! This magic shit just keeps on giving and giving! No wonder you all wanna keep it to yourselves.”

Sunset looked at Fluttershy next to her, at Pinkie and Twilight standing just a bit further. Applejack’s jaw dropped, and Rainbow Dash looked completely exasperated. They all wore different shades of the same feeling: abject terror. For a brief moment, they all shared the thought that this might actually be over.

So far, the one saving grace about magic existing in the human world is that most humans never understood the true depth of power magic could give them. Lightning Dust seemed no different than anyone else before her, yet no one had discovered a power of this magnitude before. This was the absolute worst case scenario. All the more reason the leaks had to be stopped, assuming they lived through the night.

“You know what, Dash?” Lighting Dust cracked her neck, clearly drunk from the fear she could taste in the air. “You’re wrong. Even if you’re not all here, I know I’ve won. And to prove it, you get to watch me fry all your friends!”

She immediately zipped to where Pinkie and Twilight stood, grabbing their arms before either could get away. “Starting with you two.”

Sunset felt her heart stop. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Fluttershy running straight at Lightning Dust, the color drained from her face. Sunset jumped to action herself, feeling as though time itself was slowing down. Her mind knew there was no way she could make it in time, but she charged forward nonetheless.

Thankfully, a chromatic blur flew right by Dust. Twilight and Pinkie disappeared from her grip, leaving behind a gift for Dust in the form of a tall, muscular woman in a stetson.

Applejack, true to her no nonsense nature, didn’t bother with a quip of any kind. She just swung her fist directly into Lightning Dust’s face as hard as she could, sending her careening across the parking lot, bouncing several times against the pavement as she flew. Sunset could see the ghost of a smirk on AJ’s face as she shook her hand. She had to be relishing that bit of payback after Dust did the same to her earlier.

A very disoriented Twilight appeared next to Sunset, glasses and bowtie askew. Dash flew by Fluttershy, dropping Pinkie Pie right next to her, prompting Fluttershy to throw her arms around her.

Unfortunately, Dust managed to get back up much faster than anticipated. A single streak of blood ran down her chin. Even though she was visibly injured, she didn’t look particularly upset at this turn of events. If anything she looked… excited?

Lightning Dust gave AJ a wicked smile, her teeth stained red. “Oh, you got me good cowgirl! I’ll let you have that one, but…”

A second later she was standing in front of Applejack, who didn’t so much as flinch. “Now it’s my tur-”

Another punch interrupted Dust, but this one didn't come from AJ, but the returning rival speedster: Rainbow Dash.

Lightning Dust wasn’t allowed a chance to move as Dash rained blow after blow down on her, zipping all around her in a multi-colored whirlwind. Pinkie cheered for Rainbow as if she were in a wrestling match. Sunset felt Twilight clutching her arm on instinct, allowing Sunset a moment to be grateful she was safe, and that they were all still in this together.

That didn’t mean things would stay that way. They may have had the upper hand on Lightning Dust yet again, but after absorbing all that electricity, Dust undoubtedly had more left in the tank than Dash. As if right on cue, she saw Dust finally grab Dash’s fist, forcing her to stand still.

The two rivals just stood there, eyes drilling into one another with bitter contempt. It was all uncomfortably familiar for her, reminiscent of her first encounter with Princess Twilight all those years ago.

Pinkie had ceased her yelling. The entire parking lot was deathly quiet now. No one was sure who would make the first move, or if they should make a move at all.

Despite the blood streaking out of her mouth, Lightning Dust growled, bending Dash’s fist so hard that Sunset wondered if she was going to snap it off.

“Surprised you actually got back up. You’re looking really rough, you know? Even more than usual.”

“You sucked up all that electricity and you still can’t finish me off?” Rainbow Dash exuded confidence, but Sunset knew better than to think it was genuine. Dash was merely buying time. “I always was better than you.”

She could also feel the genuine rage coursing through Lightning at that statement, to the point that Sunset was worried she was gonna start shocking Dash to death right there.

But she didn’t take the bait. Instead, she met Dash’s smirk with one of her own.

“Oh Dashie, you're just the same as you were in high school. Still trying to act hard, always needing to play the tough girl. That was always one of your cutest qualities.”

She wrenched Rainbow’s fist, her devious smile widening at the same time as her eyes narrowed. Rainbow Dash’s bravado was beginning to falter. Grabbing onto her wrist with her other hand, she tried to pull her arm out of Dust’s grip to no avail.

“But we both know that’s a front. You want to be the tough girl, but every time I see your face, I just think of all those times you cried in my lap like a little bitch. And now, I’m gonna savor forcing that smarmy ass smirk off your f-”

A punch from Applejack ended her threat prematurely while Dash broke free from Dust’s grasp, giving AJ a nod of appreciation before disappearing in a flash of color.

Dust growled in frustration, a stream of voltage bursting from her hand in AJ’s direction before she felt a tap behind her. When she turned around, she saw Rainbow standing with that cocky smirk still firmly intact.

“For the record, Dusty, I don’t act hard. I’m just a hard act to follow.” She punctuated that with a strike to Dust’s face, followed by another furious flurry of fists. Lightning eventually managed to dodge one, following with a stream of energy Rainbow Dash barely avoided. The two of them raced around the parking lot in an intertwined spiral of rainbow and neon blue.

Sunset, Twilight, Pinkie and Fluttershy could only barely keep up with the spectacle, Dust and Dash seeming to blink in and out of existence, exchanging attacks and insults all the while.

But while they were evenly matched at first, eventually, they noticed that Dash’s movements were growing increasingly sluggish, her breathing labored. It seemed like every attack or dodge was draining just a bit more of her energy reserves and it wouldn’t be long before the tank was empty. Meanwhile, Lightning Dust was hardly breaking a sweat. With the boost she got earlier, she could probably go for days before feeling any fatigue.

It wasn’t just Dash that was showing signs of depletion. The rest of the girls were in a state of exhaustion or panic. Trying to follow the action was a laborious task in itself. Nobody looked like they knew what to do, and all of them were undoubtedly looking to Sunset for a plan. Unfortunately, she was just as clueless as the rest of them.

And Sunset still didn’t know when Rarity was gonna be there, or if she would even show at all.

Sunset’s hopeless contemplation was brought to a pause as Rainbow Dash’s limp body skipped across the asphalt, hair wicked with blood and sweat stuck to her face.

Both Sunset and Fluttershy tried to get closer, but Lightning Dust was standing right over here a nanosecond later, an even more wicked and contemptuous grin on her face than earlier.

She picked up Dash by the collar, holding her up in the air.

Dust swiveled her head around, flashing a triumphant smile to each one of the girls. “If any of you move from where you’re standing, I’ll fry her to death right here.” As if to emphasize her point, arcs of electricity swirled around her feet, smoke rising from the asphalt below her.

Nobody budged an inch. Rainbow Dash grunted and groaned, her legs kicking in the air until Lightning Dust’s fist made contact with her face. A tooth came flying out of Dash’s mouth. Another strike, blood splattering out of her nose.

Another strike.

And another, and another.

Sunset felt compelled to do something, but her feet were rooted to the ground, much like the rest of her friends.

“Aw, come on Ardi! What’s the matter? Where’s those clever one liners? Those adorable defiant looks? I thought you were a tough girl! You can’t handle a few punches?” Lightning Dust mocked, shaking Rainbow Dash’s limp body before delivering a blow to her ribs.

“Stop!” shouted Fluttershy, sounding as though she were on the verge of hysterics. “Why are you doing this? What’s the point?”

Lightning Dust responded with a cackle. “Honestly, I had reasons, but now? I’m just doing this for fun.”

She laughed as she continued, delivering another strike to Dash’s midsection for every thing she listed.

“She abandoned me! She was always one-upping me! She got me kicked off the team! She said she loved me but she ruined my life!”

The further down the list she got, the more intense her voice became, and the more maniacal she looked.

“All that, and she gets to have super powers? It should have been me!”

“It is you!”

Lightning Dust’s fist stopped just shy of Dash’s stomach, her head creaking in Twilight’s direction. Similarly, the rest of the girls’ looked at Twilight as well.

“You have super powers now—magic,” continued Twilight. “Just look at what you’re capable of.”

Twilight pointed to the broken streetlights. “You did all of that because you thought about it. If you can do that, imagine what else you can do.”

The girls all exchanged confused looks. Sunset stared wide-eyed at Twilight, mouthing what are you doing as clearly as she could.

“If you can pull that much power out of a bunch of street lights, imagine what you could get from a power line, or the city’s power grid. You could be doing so much more, yet you’re wasting your time with us, and for what? So you can feel better about what happened in high school?”

Lightning Dust’s eyes widened with intrigue.

Applejack attempted to cut in. “Uhh, Twilight, what the heck are you–”

“And once we’re gone,” Twilight continued, “who else are you going to have to fight? We’re your only real opposition. But imagine how much stronger you could be while fighting us. Imagine how much harder you could win.”

Dust’s face was twisted into a frenzied elation. She was inspired by Twilight’s words, and while that might have been buying them some time, that time wouldn’t matter if Lighting Dust became unstoppable as a result. Given the alternative, it was the only choice she could think to make.

Dash fell to the ground in a bloody heap.

“Holy shit! You’re right!” Dust slapped her forehead. “Ahaha, how did I not think of that myself? You really are the smart one!”

Sunset tensed up as she watched Lightning Dust saunter over to Twilight. Lightning Dust ran her fingers through Twilight’s hair, delivering a kiss to her forehead afterward. “When I come back for you, I’ll make sure it’s nice and quick.”

Every cell in Sunset’s body was brimming with fury, but she didn’t dare move from her spot. With her that close to Twilight, she was afraid of what Dust might do if she made any sudden movements.

As if she weren’t angry enough, Lighting Dust then shoved Twilight to the ground, chuckling as she walked away.

“Come on, everyone. Don’t look so sad! Thanks to your friend here, you losers get to live another few days!” She spun around in place, holding her arms out in a theatrical motion before coming to a sudden stop.

“And only a few more. I’ll be back for all of you. You won’t know when, you won’t know where, but I’ll be back much sooner than you think.”

Lighting Dust skipped away from them, acting disturbingly giddy as she did. “Anyway, check the news later tonight! I’m sure I’ll be on every channel by the end of the week.”

And just like that, Lightning Dust blinked away from them so fast, they couldn’t even see which direction she went.

Once she was gone, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Applejack dove to Rainbow Dash’s side, AJ attempting to patch up any bleeding with Pinkie assisting her, and Fluttershy using her healing abilities to the fullest extent she could.

Sunset stared at Twilight, her jaw agape. Twilight stared back, trying every syllable she could until she landed on something coherent.

“I-I-I didn’t know what else to do!” she cried. “I-If I didn’t say anything she would have killed Rainbow, and I–”

Before she could finish her sentence, the sound of tires screeching against pavement reverberated through the empty parking lot. Rarity burst out of the driver’s side door, not even bothering to turn the car off. She ran as carefully as she could in her heels, dodging the many shards of glass strewn about the asphalt.

“I’m here! I’m here!” she screamed. “I’m so sorry I was late but I’m–”

Her paces grew slower as she got close to the group. “I’m… too late aren’t I?”

Sunset glared at her, nodding slowly. Before she could say anything, Dash gurgled loud enough to be heard over the girls crowding around her. When Rarity looked down at the heap that was Rainbow Dash, her jaw dropped, a gasp loud enough to be heard for a mile escaping her mouth. She dove toward Rainbow Dash, frantically asking her ten million questions she had no hope of even trying to answer.

With that, Sunset could wait no longer. She reached into her jacket pocket, pulling out her pack of cigarettes and a lighter. The sun would be rising any minute, and yet it still felt like she was in for a long night.

As everyone tended to Rainbow Dash, Sunset looked outward to the parking lot. Rarity’s car was still on, her high beams still illuminating the parking lot. Sunset watched as it rolled forward into the lot, much too far away from her to stop it. The car rolled forward onto the asphalt, the glass strewn about the lot undoubtedly puncturing all four of the tires. Suddenly, the vehicle was stopped, the front fender bending around the base of a streetlamp.

It wasn't funny, but Sunset couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Author's Note

We've been working on this chapter off and on for over a year, and it's probably one of the most difficult scenes either of us have ever worked on, but I think we managed to pull it off well enough. Originally, this was even longer than the first chapter, but we managed to trim it down for the sake of pacing.

If at any point you found yourself saying something to the effect of "electricity doesn't work like that," try to remember that this is a fanfiction, and that you should really just relax.

3 – SURFACE TENSION

Had it not been for the fact that Sunset was already filled with existential dread, she would have been in a far worse mood after last night’s failure. Lightning Dust had once again escaped them, and all of them were marked for death at an undetermined date.

Sunset didn’t feel good by any means. She just didn’t feel as frantic or hopeless as the rest of the girls did. Maybe that was because no matter what happened, Sunset was more than likely screwed.

And while her friends may have shared a similar sentiment, they only knew the half of it.

On the surface, Sunset was stoic; unmoving. Her eyes were fixated on the living room window. Despite her empty gaze, she was still keenly aware of her surroundings.

Twilight sat on the couch next to her, constantly fidgeting, shivering like the window was open in the middle of the winter. She’d been that way off and on since they arrived at Sunset’s apartment, nearly catatonic when she wasn’t looking like she was ready to crawl out of her own skin.

Pinkie Pie was in the kitchen steadily making baked goods to supplement Fluttershy’s blood sugar. Traditionally, cakes and cookies weren’t the most efficient way to replenish glucose, but something about Pinkie Pie’s confectioneries had a healing effect on Fluttershy, one that only seemed to work on her. Sunset’s kitchen was going to be an absolute mess by the end of the morning, but if it kept Fluttershy from fainting or seizing up, it was worth it.

Fluttershy was going back and forth between the bathroom and the kitchen, alternating between healing Rainbow Dash to the point of nearly fainting, and restoring her blood sugar so she could continue tending to her best friend. Usually, it only took Fluttershy a few minutes after eating to stabilize, but she’d been using her powers constantly, and the long-term toll it was having was impossible not to notice. Her words were slurred, her movements stilted, but she refused to stop.

Applejack was in the bathroom, monitoring Rainbow Dash when Fluttershy left the room and consoling Rarity while Fluttershy worked her magic. Recognizing the thick tension in the atmosphere, Applejack did what she could to keep a lid on things. That was usually Fluttershy’s job, but with her too disoriented to finish a sentence most of the time, AJ took it upon herself to play peacekeeper.

Rarity went between sobbing at Rainbow Dash’s side and cursing to Applejack about any and everything. While Sunset couldn’t make out much of what Rarity said, she caught more than a few choice words that were directed at her, and even more at Twilight. Sunset wasn’t looking forward to when she would inevitably hear those words from the girl herself. She was even less eager for Rarity to inevitably start an argument with Twilight.

Rainbow Dash was passed out in the tub, groaning in pain during her brief bouts of consciousness. Despite Fluttershy’s efforts so far, her body was still burned, bruised and battered. As worrisome as that was, Sunset knew she’d be okay. This wasn’t the worst she’d been injured after a fight. If anything, with the beating she sustained, she was lucky her injuries weren’t more severe. Besides, Fluttershy would never let anything happen to her, even if it meant risking her own wellbeing.

Sunset finally blinked when the sound of skin quickly rubbing against skin became too much to ignore.

Twilight’s palms slid up and down her arms. It wasn’t cold in Sunset’s apartment, but Twilight’s teeth chattered as though it were—a sign she was on the verge of being overwhelmed with anxiety. So far, Twilight had held it together to the best of her ability, but Sunset could tell she was close to melting down.

“Do you need a hug?” Sunset offered.

Twilight glanced at her, looking down at the floor immediately after.

“Don’t worry about me.”

“Not a valid answer.”

“I’ll be fine.”

Sunset pointed to Twilight’s restless arms. “You call that fine?”

“Sunset, please–”

Before Twilight could protest any further, Sunset draped her arm over Twilight’s shoulders, pulling her close. Despite her previous denial, Twilight leaned into the hug, resting her head against Sunset’s chest.

A sudden hollowness, followed by a gust of cold air ran through Sunset. Over the years, Sunset had gotten good at blocking others’ emotions from entering her when she touched them, but Twilight was a different story. For some reason, her emotions were always so much more potent than anyone else's. Sunset's mental sieve could block out the images from inside her mind, but Twilight's raw emotions flowed through it and into her like water.

And during times like these, when Twilight was at her most anxious, it was like a tidal wave. It took a significant physical and mental toll on Sunset, but no matter how hard the wave struck her, she refused to be knocked over by it. Just like every other time, she stood firm.

She offered Twilight a warm smile. “Thanks for saving the day. We’d all be dead right now if it weren’t for you.”

“Hard not to think we are already,” she replied. “We just probably won’t see it coming.”

Sunset wanted nothing more than to say she was just being pessimistic, but she couldn’t find it in her to disagree. The only thing she could muster at first was a shrug, followed by several moments of nothing.

“If it comes down to it, I can go through the portal and get the princesses to help.”

Twilight gently huffed. “Won’t that just agitate the portal even more? And besides, what are they going to do? It’s not like they have any magic over here.”

Once again, Sunset found it difficult to counter. There was an argument there, but Sunset couldn’t quite articulate it, at least not concisely.

Of course, it was difficult to think of an argument for a number of external reasons as well.

It was six in the morning, and Sunset hadn’t slept in close to thirty six hours. On top of that, there was a discussion in the bathroom between Rarity and Applejack that was heating up by the minute. And if that all weren’t enough, the industrial-grade kitchenware Pinkie Pie was using, interrupted by occasional explosions, made the kitchen sound like a demolition site.

“I don’t know,” Sunset admitted. “But I’m sure they could think of something. We could think of something.”

Twilight curled further into Sunset, a wave of depression following in the wake of her movement. Twilight opened her mouth a few times to speak, but changed her mind each time. Eventually, she managed to spit something out.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.”

“I should be.”

“No, you shouldn’t.”

“Well, I am.”

“Why?”

“Lightning Dust nearly killed you.”

“But she didn’t.”

“Still, you could have died if it weren’t for me.”

“And I would have died if it weren’t for you.”

Twilight looked up at Sunset. She was hurt. Sunset couldn’t understand why, but she immediately regretted her words nonetheless.

“But I didn’t,” continued Sunset. “None of us did, and it’s specifically because of you. Now stop apologizing, you didn’t do anything wrong.”

As her face relaxed, Twilight grabbed her legs and curled up into a ball on the couch, still leaning into Sunset. Even if she wasn’t done arguing, Sunset could feel her starting to come around.

“I don’t think Rarity agrees.”

“Who cares what she thinks?”

“I think it’s pretty important that everyone’s voice is heard.”

“Are you saying that because you actually mean it, or because you feel like you messed up?”

She didn’t say anything. Even if she weren’t channeling her emotions, Sunset could tell by how Twilight tensed up that she was on the verge of a breakdown.

She turned her body to face Twilight, holding her in both arms. Not long after, Twilight began to unwind again.

“If Rarity comes out here and tries to start something, I’ll handle it.”

“No,” said Twilight. “Please, don’t.”

“Twilight–”

“I can defend myself.”

“You shouldn’t have to–”

“Sunset, please.”

“Twilight, I’m not going to sit by while Rarity demands you explain why you saved all our lives.”

“I don’t need you to fight all my battles for me every time you’re here.”

“Just because Rainbow Dash said that yesterday doesn’t mean it’s–”

“Sunset.”

Despite Sunset’s clear frustration, Twilight wasn’t going to budge. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath. “Fine. But if she says anything to me, I’m not promising anything.”

“That’s fine,” replied Twilight.

The two continued to sit there for several minutes. One of Twilight’s legs was falling asleep, but she didn’t feel like moving. Despite the dire situation they found themselves in, Twilight managed to find comfort, if not for just that moment in time. Reality cast a harsh light on all of them, and Sunset provided some much needed shade. And though Twilight hadn’t asked for the shelter her best friend provided, she might as well enjoy it.

The longer Sunset held on, the less intense Twilight’s feelings were. The draft blowing from the emptiness inside her subsided, and warmth filled her once again. That was one reason Sunset didn’t mind how strongly she felt Twilight’s emotions. If she could manage to make her feel better, the feelings she received were rejuvenating.

Once again, Rarity began yelling something from inside the bathroom. Even as Sunset pulled away from Twilight, she couldn’t quite understand what she was yelling about. Whatever it was must have been bad enough that Fluttershy stumbled out of the kitchen before she had a chance to recover from low sugar. Before she could make it to the bathroom, Rarity yanked the door open and stormed out.

“Rarity, wait, please–” Fluttershy slurred.

“Zip it!” she snapped.

“Don’t talk to her like that, Rare!” Applejack stood in the bathroom doorway. “This ain’t the time to be havin’ this discussion.”

Rarity ignored Applejack, her heels clacking on a warpath straight toward the couch. A deep exhale left her nose as she stood before Twilight, eyes lit with fury.

“You have doomed us all!”

In an uncharacteristically bold move, Twilight stood up from the couch, looking ready to stand her ground.

“Rarity, I–”

Unfortunately, it didn’t look like Rarity was going to give her a chance to.

“Why would you tell her that, Twilight? That psychopath is going to cause so much pain and suffering and it’s all because of you!”

“She would have killed us, Rarity!”

“Oh, so instead, you just handed her the idea of how to not only kill us more painfully, but a potentially countless number of others as well? Are you insane?”

“Rarity, I done told you that ain’t fair,” said Applejack. “If she killed Dash—if she killed any of us, there’d be no stoppin’ her at all. She’d eventually find out how to do all that fancy lightning magic shit on her own anyway. None of us had a plan, and it was the only thing she coulda done.”

Rarity held out her hands in exasperation, motioning towards everyone in the room. “I’m sorry, but none of you could have thought of anything else? That was the only thing anyone could come up with? You all just sat slack-jawed while Twilight handed Lightning Dust a pen to sign our death warrants, is that what I’m hearing?”

Sunset opened her mouth to speak, but stopped the moment she heard Twilight’s voice.

“Rarity, I’m sorry, okay? Applejack is right, It was the only thing I could think of. Maybe we couldn’t think of a plan then, but at least we have time to think of something!”

“What does it matter, Twilight? What are we going to do when she sucks every major power plant dry? What are we going to do when major cities are suddenly without power without any plausible explanation? What are we going to do when the media hears about a crazed lunatic who eats electricity, and what are we going to do when everyone inevitably finds out we were supposed to stop her, but instead we made her more unstoppable?!”

Twilight sputtered. “I-I, I don’t–”

“And that’s assuming we live long enough for everyone to find out. After all, what are we going to do when she makes us watch her electrocute us one by one? Don’t you know how this works? Don’t you know what’s at stake here? Aren’t you supposed to be smart?”

Sunset bit her tongue, the taste of warm iron following.

“Rarity!” Fluttershy shouted, almost collapsing into a nearby chair immediately after. “I understand you’re upset, but that’s uncalled for and you know it!”

“I won’t hear it from you!” Rarity glared at Fluttershy who was still too dazed to stand up to her any further. “You’re always taking everyone else’s side, but she doesn’t have a leg to stand on and you know it!”

“Rarity, please simmer down,” Applejack firmly pleaded. “You keep talkin’ like this, and you’re gonna end up sayin’ somethin’ you regret. Pointin’ fingers ain’t helpin’ nobody.”

“There ain’t no helping any of us, Applejack!” Rarity pointed her finger sharply at Twilight. “We’re all dead women walking and it’s all because of her!”

Try as she might to summon a response, Twilight looked like she was about to crumple like a wet tissue.

Sunset held back for as long as she could, but this had gone on long enough.

“Rarity, this is the only time I’m going to ask you nicely: back away from Twilight, and calm down.”

Sunset stood up from the couch, getting between Rarity and Twilight. She could feel the unhappy look from Twilight on her back, but considering Rarity’s role in their failure, this wasn’t just about how she talked to Twilight anymore. Sunset wouldn’t fight Twilight’s battle, but she had to try and de-escalate this.

And for a brief moment, Sunset felt proud of herself. For hours, she’d wanted nothing more than to spew every bit of venom toward Rarity she’d built up. In her mind, this was a damn good reason to finally do so. Despite this, she still managed to keep her cool. She didn’t even swear. She was handling this, just like she’d always done.

Unfortunately, she’d forgotten a very important rule; one she’d had to learn more than once: “calm down” is the worst thing you can say to someone who’s angry.

“And there’s her knight in shining armor!” Rarity was clearly trying to bait her, but Sunset wasn’t going to bite. “I don’t want to hear a word from you, part-timer.”

Until she did.

"Part-timer?" Sunset echoed incredulously, punctuated with a chuckle.

“Alright, Sunset, I know she’s outta line, but y’all don’t need to stoop to her level.” Applejack attempted to intervene, but her efforts proved ineffective from across the room.

“Rarity, I want you to know something. When I got the message about Lightning Dust, I was in Equestria’s frozen north, skulking around an abandoned shadow dimension. Yet I still managed to get here way before you. So, with that in mind…”

Sunset’s tone had been ostensibly friendly up until then, but when her face twisted into a scowl, her demeanor quickly shifted to match. “Can you explain why the fuck it took you so long to get here?!”

Rarity glared back. “If you must know, I was at an incredibly important conference in Manehattan—an event that had the potential to make my career if I didn’t have to leave three whole days early!”

“And you didn’t think to tell anyone else about this?”

“I told Rainbow Dash!”

“And nobody else?”

“Of course not!”

“And why is that, Rarity? Don’t you think all of us should have known where you were?”

“I didn’t say anything because I didn’t think this would happen. And even if I did, why would I mention it to anyone else? Every time I talk about leaving Canterlot City, I get hassled about it even though almost nothing happens when I’m out of town, and I’m sick of it!”

“And shit like this is why we hassle you, Rares,” said Applejack. “‘Cause all it takes is one time for somethin’ like this to happen, and then we end up here ‘cause you didn’t have a plan to get back here quick.”

“What would you have me do, Applejack? Tell the airport to keep a plane on standby in case I need to be here at a moment’s notice? Buy my own private jet? Perhaps next time, I should just hijack a plane myself and fly it here directly?”

Sunset stepped closer to Rarity. “Hold on, you’ve been doing this?”

“Yes.”

“The whole time?” Sunset continued. “And you just weren’t telling us?”

“I always told Rainbow Dash so at least someone knew.”

“And why did you only tell Rainbow Dash?”

“Because–”

“Because you knew she wouldn’t say anything.”

“No! Because I–”

“Because you knew the rest of us would get on your case, you knew we’d tell you to make sure you can get back at a moment’s notice, and because you knew Rainbow Dash wouldn’t do either of those things. Not only that, but you had to know she’d probably forget to mention it to anyone else.”

Though she knew she was cornered, Rarity wasn’t about to admit she was wrong. “Must you always make things personal, Sunset?”

“Maybe I wouldn’t if you didn’t try throwing the blame on someone else when it’s your fault.”

“Sunset.” Twilight firmly tugged on her arm. “That’s enough.”

Sunset knew she should stop, but she just couldn’t. Even with Twilight urging her to quit, reason was just water on a grease fire.

“Say what you want about what Twilight did, say what you want about how I’m never around, but don’t pretend we’re not here because of you. If you had just stayed here like we keep telling you, we wouldn’t even be in this situation. Lightning Dust would already have been dealt with, we would have all become friends and learned an important lesson or whatever. Instead, you lied to us, and now, because of you, we’re stuck.”

Rarity looked seconds away from swinging, refusing to back down from the girl who stood several inches taller than her.

“I’m not sure if you’ve received the memo, Sunset, but I’m a fully grown adult woman, and I can do what I want! Yes, I lied by omission, fine! But perhaps you should consider that I shouldn’t have to seek your—or anyone else’s permission to leave this city because my life does not revolve around it nor you!”

“You’re right, it doesn’t—and believe me, I’m happy about that—but as long as magic keeps leaking into this world, and as long as we’re the only ones who can deal with it, we have to stick close!”

“And why do we have to, Sunset? Hmm? Because I don’t remember signing anything saying I want to spend the rest of my life orbiting my old high school, risking my life every month for no reason! I don’t recall ever having a choice in this matter. All I seem to remember is that one day, my old high school bully nearly killed me and my best friends, and since then I’ve had more unnecessary near-death experiences than I have hairs on my head!”

Sunset opened her mouth to respond, but nothing came out. Several eternal seconds passed by without another word. All at once, everything Sunset had said, the way she’d said it—every bit of it registered with her. And not long after that, the truth in Rarity’s words dawned on Sunset.

“You know you don’t mean that, Rarity,” the only voice left unheard so far in this encounter cut through the tension in the air.

Everyone’s head turned toward the kitchen door. Pinkie Pie stood with a mixing bowl in her hand. Her brightly colored outfit and frilly apron clashed against the unbefitting frown she wore. Sunset, feeling as though she was probably the biggest reason for Pinkie’s sour expression, felt her stomach twist.

“Sunset’s the biggest reason we’re all still friends. She’s the only one who can solve our problem, and she’s doing everything she can to do that while helping us out with the magic issues.”

As much as Sunset appreciated Pinkie’s defense, it rang hollow. After all–

“She’s the reason we’re even having these issues in the first place!”

Rarity was right. That’s why, in the end, it really didn’t matter that–

“Sunset couldn’t have known that all this would eventually happen.”

Ignorance was hardly an excuse, and one she couldn’t really lean on. She didn’t know the specifics of what could happen that night at the Fall Formal, but that was because just about anything could have happened. That was why–

“It doesn’t matter whether or not she meant to,Pinkie Pie. Every magic incident we’ve been through is rooted in the same event, and this one has left us in the most mortal danger we’ve been in thus far. There’s someone who has explicitly stated they’re coming to kill us after they become more powerful—someone we were already struggling to beat—and it’s all because of one thing that happened in high school.”

“Like you’d know anything about that,” chided Applejack. “Sure, we’ve been strugglin’ to beat her, but we wouldn’t be if your ass had actually been here.”

“Be reasonable, Applejack,” Rarity huffed. “After she manhandled all six of you, do you genuinely think a seventh one of us would have made that much of an impact?”

“Yes, as a matter o’ fact, I do,'' answered Applejack. "You know we're stronger together. Either way, it sure as shit wouldn’t have hurt our chances.”

“Applejack.” Pinkie gave her a firm look. AJ sharply exhaled and rolled her eyes.

“I get it, Rarity. You’re scared. I’m scared, too. But the only way we’re gonna make it outta this is if we work together.” Pinkie put down her mixing bowl, slowly approaching Rarity. “Twilight saved our lives today. If it weren’t for her, when you showed up, we’d have all been sizzling like bacon.”

For a moment, Rarity looked ready to make her case a second time. “Yes, but–”

Pinkie put her hand on Rarity’s shoulder. “If Twilight hadn’t acted, Rainbow Dash might not have made it.”

For the first time since she’d stormed out of the bathroom, Rarity’s anger cooled. Pinkie alluding to Rainbow Dash’s current condition served as a sobering reminder that things could have gone down so much worse. The outlook was dismal, but at least there was still an outlook left at all.

“But now, we have another chance. And this time, we’re all together.”

Rarity’s began to shake, her words fighting against sobs. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to– I… I’m just–”

“It’s okay,” Pinkie Pie interrupted with a hug, one that Rarity quickly folded into. “We understand, and we forgive you, right girls?”

Sunset kind of resented the way Pinkie Pie spoke for all of them, but knew better than to contest her. Unity was far more important than her right to be petty.

Soon after, Fluttershy joined in on the hug, still looking absolutely exhausted. Then Applejack, though she looked to do it rather begrudgingly. Eventually Twilight took a step toward them. As she got closer, Rarity’s arm specifically sought to pull her into the hug, as if to suffice for an apology. To Sunset, it was a comforting sight to see, but it felt wrong just the same.

“Sunset?” Pinkie asked. “Aren’t you gonna join us?”

She wanted to, more than anything, but she couldn’t. It would hurt too much. Not even because of the way Rarity cast blame on her—something she herself found hard to argue with—but there was something else on her mind. Something she’d been waiting to tell the girls until they were all in the same room together.

Perhaps it wasn’t the best timing, but the sooner she got this out in the open, the sooner they’d realize there was still hope.

And it might be their last hope at stopping Lightning Dust.

“Princess Twilight and I… we think we may have found a way to stop the magic leaks.”

The girls dispersed from the hug. They gawked at Sunset, a couple of their mouths hanging agape. The room was silent for a brief eternity.

That was until the sound of someone stirring in the bathroom caught everyone’s attention.

Rainbow Dash climbed out of the tub, stumbling over to the doorway. She looked confused, like she wasn’t sure where she was.

“Where lightny dud…?”

Dash collapsed onto the ground immediately after. The girls all ran to her aide. Sunset just stood back and watched. It was like the timebomb she’d been holding finally ticked down to zero, only for there to be no detonation.

But it had to go off eventually.

Had it not been for the fact that she was already filled with existential dread, Sunset would have been in a far worse mood after her confrontation with Rarity. The girls could rest a little easier knowing there was still hope.

Sunset didn’t feel good by any means, but she felt better knowing her friends had some relief. No matter what happened from there, though, Sunset was still screwed.

If only they knew the half of it.

Twilight sat on the couch next to Sunset, her breaths slow and heavy as she’d been asleep for a little while. It was equally surprising and relieving to see. After her and Rarity’s confrontation, Sunset fully expected Twilight to go into crisis mode. Instead, after everything cooled off, she began to nod off until she was out.

Fluttershy was also passed out on the loft in Sunset’s bed, Pinkie Pie wrapped tightly around her. Fluttershy’s blood sugar had dropped far too many times in quick succession which left her in a precarious state of total exhaustion, and Pinkie Pie refused to leave her side for a moment.

Rarity and Applejack were tending to Rainbow Dash who had recently regained consciousness, making sure she had everything she needed. Fluttershy healed a good amount of her wounds—broken bones, open cuts, damaged organs, missing teeth, and a concussion—but time would have to iron out the other marks and bruises.

When Rainbow Dash learned what Twilight said, she was as livid as Rarity was. Thankfully, the revelation that the leaks could be stopped—and by extension Lightning Dust’s magic could be disabled with it—staved off yet more in-fighting.

“So, that’s what you were talking about at the bar.” Rainbow Dash said, her voice still somewhat hoarse. “When were you going to actually tell us?”

“Well, I was going to wait until after we beat Lightning Dust to say anything.”

“Whatever for?” asked Rarity. “Why not tell us right away?”

Sunset looked away, trying to ignore how it felt for Rarity to be asking a question about someone not telling anyone about something.

“A few reasons,” she began. “I thought it might put too much pressure on us if we knew this could be our last encounter with rogue magic. I wanted all of us to be in the same room when I said it. And—if I’m being totally honest—I don’t exactly know how all of this is going to shake out. All I know is we have one option left.”

“What do you mean by that?” asked AJ.

“This entire situation is woefully complex. The things I’ve learned about magic in the last couple of years would take me days to explain, and I’m still lightyears away from being able to understand all of it. The only thing I have is a very oversimplified explanation Princess Twilight gave me, but even she claims most of it is conjecture.”

“Well, how did she explain it?” asked Twilight, leaning forward with a sleepy look in her eyes. Sunset felt one half of her mouth curl into a smile.

Taking a deep breath, Sunset looked up at the ceiling.

“The tunnel that connects Equestria to here is like a sleeve made out of magic fibers. These fibers help regulate the balance of magic between worlds. This world was never meant to have magic, and that sleeve is supposed to keep magic in Equestria, and out of here.

“While it’s not perfect at its job, Equestrian magic is—at least for the most part—harmonious. Magic that flows from Equestria here should only manifest in benign and peaceful ways; the exception being artifacts designed and created with malicious intent.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Benign and peaceful?”

“I know how that sounds, but…” Sunset bit her thumb, immediately regretting it when she felt how sore it was. “Well, you know how we’ve always referred to people like Lightning Dust as being possessed by Equestrian magic?”

The girls all nodded.

“It turns out that might be kind of a misnomer.”

“Are you saying there’s a kind of magic that isn’t Equestrian?” asked Twilight. “As in: there is magic native to this world, or…?

“Yes and no,” Sunset answered. “Because Equestrian magic is what connected this world to Equestria, that’s the only kind of magic there should be,” answered Sunset.

“But it ain’t, is it?” asked Applejack.

“That’s what we theorize,” replied Sunset. “We think the problem is with the magic fibers. We don’t think they’re very durable, and because of that, just about anything that causes magic to transfer between worlds wears away at the sleeve.”

The girls all exchanged looks; all except for Sunset who refused to look anyone in the eye.

“Each time the portal gets used, each time me or any of you write in the journal, any time any of us uses our magic; we’re stretching the fabric that holds these worlds together. That allows the magical forces from outside the sleeve to seep in, and that upsets the balance between here and Equestria. So while Equestrian magic keeps showing up over here, it’s often augmented by something else.”

“I guess that’s why magic’s gotten so crazy the last couple of years,” said Dash.

Twilight tilted her head. “But you said you and Princess Twilight have found a way to repair it, right?”

Sunset let out another deep sigh.

“No,” she solemnly said. “We just… might know what to do about it.”

The girls all exchanged confused looks.

“Then what’s the plan?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“That’s where this gets tricky,” explained Sunset. “This is all how we think it works, but there’s no way to be sure, and that means building a plan around this involves a lot of guesswork.

“As you all know, when traveling between dimensions, you don’t exactly get time to process anything you’re feeling or seeing in between worlds until you’ve already crossed over. The Princesses, Starswirl and I have been working on a spell to allow for free movement between worlds, but even with all that help, we’ve only managed to get something to work for a half a minute at best. Not exactly enough time to figure out what we’re looking at, and without any way to record anything, our observations are limited by memory. That, combined with the fact that it takes a monumental amount of magic to pull off—meaning we’re only able to do it once every few days—has kept research efforts at a glacial pace.

“So far, there have been two potential ideas: we work on this spell, spending days, weeks, months, probably years perfecting it to sustain it for long periods of time with far more efficient magic usage. After that, then we can find a way to patch the magic fibers. The issue with that, though, is that we don’t know how to do that either, and even if we found out, it would have to be maintained perpetually as long as our worlds are connected. That, or…”

Sunset finally looked down, looking at her friends though still avoiding eye contact.

“Or we cut through the sleeve and sever the connection for good. No more sleeve, no more interdimensional magic flow.”

The room fell silent. Rarity looked at Dash, who looked at Applejack, who looked at Twilight, who stared in shock at Sunset.

“And how would that work?” asked Twilight.

Sunset shrugged. “More than likely by supercharging both sides of the portal and sending someone inside to do it.”

“And I’m willin’ to bet that someone’s gonna end up bein’ you, ain’t it?” asked Applejack.

“Who else, right?” Letting out an empty chuckle, Sunset held up her hands. “In all seriousness, there’s really no one else who can.”

“That sounds terribly dangerous,” added Rarity.

“Anything could happen,” replied Sunset. “But, more than likely, I would jump through the mirror in Equestria, quickly cast some kind of magic to tear the fabric in half, then hop through the mirror on this side before the entrances close up.”

“More than likely?” Twilight asked. Sunset could feel Twilight tense up next to her, but ignored her question.

“You mean you wouldn’t be stayin’ in Equestria?” asked AJ.

“I wouldn’t really have a choice,” replied Sunset. “I need to enter the portal as a unicorn to cast that kind of magic.

“Besides, barring the last few years, I’ve lived most of my life on this side of the portal. Equestria’s where I’m from, sure, but everything I know is over here, so.”

Despite Sunset’s assurances, there was an air of emptiness in her words. The girls could all tell, but none of them knew how to address it.

Dash leaned forward in her chair. “Alright, so if we want to stop Lightning Dust, we should probably do this soon, right?”

Sunset nodded. “I’ll have to write to Princess Twilight and let her know how things went down last night, and it’ll probably take a few days for her and the others to devise a plan, but… yeah, that’s our only hope.”

“A few days?” echoed Rarity. “Isn’t that all the time Lightning Dust gave us? What if she comes back before we’re ready?”

Sunset sucked her teeth and tilted her head. “Unless anyone else has a better idea, that’s just a chance we’re going to have to take.”

The room fell quiet again. The faint murmur of Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie stirring from the bed upon the loft broke the temporary placidity.

“I guess someone should let them know what’s going on.” Dash attempted to stand up from her seat, immediately hissing in pain when she tried to put weight on her foot.

Rarity immediately dashed out of her chair to Rainbow’s side. “Yes, perhaps someone should; someone who isn’t recovering from serious injuries.”

Dash rolled her eyes. “Rarity, I’ll be fine. I just need some pain meds and then I can walk the rest of it off.”

“You will do no such thing, Rainbow Dash. You are not to exert yourself physically unless deemed absolutely necessary, are we clear?” Rarity gripped her arm, causing Dash to grunt in pain. “O-Oh, goodness, sorry darling.”

“Rarity’s right,” Sunset agreed. “You should probably sit tight until someone can take you home. Besides, with how many hits you took to the face, I don’t know if we should trust your memory yet.”

“Oh, come on! My memory is totally fine and…” Her expression suddenly shifted to worried confusion. “Uh...what were we talking about again? And where are we?”

Rarity’s eyes grew wide. At least until Dash was unable to keep a straight face any longer, descending into a fit of snickering.

Rarity squinted at her. “You have some nerve, you know.”

Sunset tuned out their playful squabble, standing up from her seat, dreading the fact she was going to have to repeat everything she said. The sun might have been up for some time, but the longest night of Sunset’s life continued to drag on.

Standing at the back of her garage, Sunset waved toward herself. Rarity slowly drove her car forward, the wrecked front end causing the vehicle to squeak in mechanical agony.

Unfortunately, living at an apartment complex, Sunset wasn’t given a very large garage. Thankfully, Rarity’s rental car was small enough to squeeze in, with enough room to spare for Sunset’s motorcycle.

As Sunset held up her hand, the car let out one long squeak as it came to a halt. The front was nearly pressing Sunset against the back wall, but she knew Rarity would be able to stop right on time.

Rarity awkwardly stepped out of the vehicle, the door unable to open all the way before meeting the wall. Once Rarity was out and not at risk of falling on her face, she shut the door behind her.

“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” she asked. “It’s not like I can’t just pay for the damages myself. Besides, I made sure to pay extra for insurance.”

Sunset nodded. “I haven’t gotten to tinker around with a car in ages. Besides, you’re already paying my rent while I’m not here; you don’t need to spend any more money when it’s unnecessary.”

Rarity grumbled. “Sunset, you know I refuse to accept compensation for that. I’m doing well enough financially to pay your rent three times over if needed. Besides, even if your apartment sits empty most of the time, you still need a place of your own while you’re here, and I’d hate for you to have to couch surf.”

“Well, I appreciate it,” Sunset conceded. “Still, if nothing else, this gives me an excuse to call up Flash Sentry. I’ll probably need his help, and I might as well get in a little time with my friends while I’m still breathing.”

A forced laugh escaped from Rarity, her eyes darting away from Sunset’s own. “Aren’t you the one who believes we still have a reason to be hopeful.”

“Yeah, you do.” Sunset had more to say, but kept her mouth shut. Thankfully, Rarity didn’t seem interested in prying.

“Look, darling, I’m… I’m very deeply sorry for what I said. Both to you and Twilight. That wasn’t fair to either of you, and I do hope you’ll both forgive me.” She let out a deep sigh. “After all, you’re right: my delay is why the situation with Lightning Dust has escalated to such a degree.”

Sunset shook her head. “I’m sorry, too. I shouldn’t have gone after you like that, and I shouldn’t have blamed you either. Especially because, well… you’re right, too. It’s my fault we’re even in this mess in the first place, and I took it too far.”

Rarity offered a strained but genuine smile. “Perhaps we shouldn’t worry about blame, anyway. After all, we may triumph yet, thanks to Twilight.”

Sunset smiled back, unsure of what to say in response. Maybe she was right, but Sunset felt no less blameless than she did before Rarity said that. Aside from that, it was hard to tell if Rarity actually meant what she said, or if that was her attempt at placating Sunset.

“Speaking of, I do hate to ask, but… how did Twilight do on the field this time?”

Of course, she should have guessed it was appeasement. The mirth in Sunset’s face vanished, a sharp exhale exiting her nose.

“Fine,” she curtly answered. “Twilight did fine.”

Rarity raised an eyebrow. “I don’t mean to pry, Sunset, but you do know Rainbow Dash is going to give me a play-by-play breakdown of last night’s events, and–”

“She saved my life, but she almost watched me die. There, you heard it from me this time. Happy?”

Jaw hanging agape, Rarity spent several seconds stunned. “You call that fine?”

“Look, Rarity, I–” Sunset dragged her palm up her face, running her fingers through her hair. “I’m not interested in having this discussion with you again. You know what she’s been through, you saw what happened to her. If that were you, you’d be messed up too.”

“Sunset, I’m not denying that, nor am I trying to retread ground, but–”

“I don’t know what you expect me to do about it, though,” Sunset interrupted. “Like, yeah, Twilight’s days of doing this are over and have been for a while. I know that; we know that. Ever since the second Midnight–”

“That’s not what I’m trying to say!” Rarity countered.

Sunset stopped, prompting Rarity to continue.

“What I’m trying to say is…” Rarity pursed her lips, organizing the most diplomatic words she could behind them. “We need to be careful. I know you have full confidence in her, and while I wish I shared your optimism, you certainly have to see why I do not.”

Letting out a sharp exhale, Sunset crossed her arms. “Yeah, but–”

“Unless we’re all ready to take someone down, she should probably remain outside of the confrontation. Not only for her safety, but for everyone else’s.”

Sunset bit back a comment about how much worse their chances against Lighting Dust would have been if they were down two members instead of one, but Rarity’s concern wasn’t unreasonable, as much as Sunset hated that.

“If you think that, then you be the one to tell her. Otherwise, I’m going to let her decide for herself, because taking that choice away from her is only going to make things worse.”

“You know I would Sunset, but you know she won’t listen to me,” Rarity replied. “But we both know if there’s anyone she’ll listen to, it’s you.”

When Sunset didn’t seem interested in responding with anything other than a stoic expression, Rarity knew it was time to drop it.

She cleared her throat. “Umm, anyway, I should probably get going. Thank you again for offering to repair my rental. I’ll need to return no later than a week from now.” Rarity let out an awkward chuckle. “Here’s hoping we live long enough for it to matter.”

Sunset let out an empty laugh, pulling Rarity into a hug. “Here’s hoping.”

Despite all her unresolved frustrations, Sunset was relieved at the end of their conversation. Rarity had a tendency to say exactly the right thing to get under Sunset’s skin, but it was never from a place of malice. Sometimes, Sunset needed to hear the things she didn’t want to hear. And while she really didn’t want to have to hear those things from Rarity, she was still grateful it was her instead of anyone else.

Letting the garage door slam on the ground behind her, Sunset made her way back into her apartment. Even with the threat of death hanging over her head, Sunset found herself looking forward to collapsing on her bed for a dozen or so hours. Her entire body felt like it was submerged in thick sludge, the true weight of her exhaustion having set in hours ago, but even more apparent now that she was alone.

At least, she thought she was alone.

Sunset’s plan was to shamble up her loft and fall over onto her mattress. But when she entered her apartment, she found Twilight sitting in the same spot on the couch she’d been in for a while. If Twilight were still there after everyone else cleared out, there was a reason. Considering this was their first moment alone in months, it wasn’t hard to guess what it was.

As Sunset approached, she noticed Twilight wouldn’t stop staring forward. Even as she sat next to her, Twilight seemed frozen in place, oblivious to her surroundings.

“So, um,” Sunset began, “how’s life been over the last couple of months?”

Twilight finally looked in Sunset’s direction. Her eyes met Sunset’s for a split second before fixing on the ground. She hadn’t said a word, but her reaction said it all.

“Do you need a hug?” Sunset offered yet again.

This time, Twilight didn’t hesitate to throw her arms around Sunset’s waist, burying her face in Sunset’s chest.

That familiar rush of dejection nearly overwhelmed Sunset, but she stood firm. It hurt to know how bad Twilight was doing in her absence, but at least she could be there to do something about it.

With Lightning Dust still at large, that meant Sunset couldn’t head back to Equestria. It would at least be a few days before she could, if she could. If nothing else, that meant she’d get to spend some time with her best friend. Time that Twilight seemed desperate for.

Time that Sunset had to make count.

But before any of that, Sunset had an urgent letter to write to Princess Twilight.

Author's Note

Sorry for the absolutely ridiculous length of these opening chapters. Originally, this one was supposed to be a good bit shorter than the last two, but when you've got five to seven characters participating in a dialog heavy scene, the word count tends to balloon. The next one will be less than half as long as this, and they're not all going to be this long going forward.

Also gee it sure seems like Sunset is hiding something :trixieshiftright:

4 – Capgras

Author's Note

This chapter centered on Twilight's POV. Chapter titles in caps will mostly center on Sunset's, and proper capitalization will mostly center on Twilight's. These are the two primary (but not only) distinctions.

Forgive me if the next few updates take a bit. Blame Elden Ring lol

4 – Capgras

For most of her life, Twilight kept herself on a tight regiment. As a student, maintaining a sharp schedule was not only something she excelled at, but enjoyed doing. A complicated routine meant staying busy, and Twilight hated being idle. That, and keeping up with so many plans gave Twilight a sense of control over her life. And above all that, it made her feel like she was doing it right—regardless of how nebulous the concept of “it” was.

Several years ago, for a variety of reasons Twilight avoided ever thinking about, that changed.

When she counted the amount of events that led her to this point in her life, it never added up. In her nearly two and a half decades alive, Twilight had been through so much; yet a few things—a few days—were enough to change everything forever. Not just her life, but her perception of herself, her friends, and the world around her.

After that, trying to do anything outside of necessitating her existence felt doomed for failure, and she’d been through that pain enough times. Besides, when every day seemingly blurred into the next, what was the point in trying to keep a schedule? Aside from the bare minimum—waking up early enough to prepare for work, showing up to the office on time, and going to sleep at a reasonable hour—Twilight preferred to keep an open schedule.

That might lead one to believe Twilight’s life was relaxing. Unfortunately, even with all the free time she ensured for herself, she seldom ever felt at peace. Back when she had motivation, ambition, self-discipline, and a litany of other things Twilight felt she’d lost, she thought her adult life would be so much more than what it was. She felt she had unlimited potential, and because of this, her future prospects only felt limited to whoever she chose to be.

Even knowing how messed up she was, Twilight’s high expectations never adjusted to her lower functioning capacity. Instead, they saddled her with a nagging, overhanging, unshakable sense of urgency.

It’s not like Twilight thought she was absolutely destined for greatness, but she was destined for something. Whatever it was, it had to be more than working an unfulfilling job, occasionally dealing with magic, and simply existing in the space between those two things.

It was frustrating. It felt like enough time had passed. She should have gotten over so much so long ago. Instead, she still felt broken, and her future prospects felt limited by who she had become.

Unfortunately, the world didn’t stop long enough for Twilight to figure things out. It didn’t matter that she still woke up some mornings with bleary eyes and tears on her pillowcase, she still had to push herself out of bed. She still had to eat and take care of herself. She still had to go to work, rent still had to be paid. No one else was going to do any of that for her.

There would be days where her anxiety would be so bad, Twilight would spend half her shift in the office bathroom. Occasionally, it was to hide a breakdown, but she found herself staring at the wall most of the time. Thanks to her work efficiency, she could take this time without her managers ever knowing.

She dreaded the day they caught on, though. Without the ability to slink away, Twilight’s barely maintained facade would surely crumble. And she always felt like if it did, the rest of her life would with it.

However, after everything that happened with Lightning Dust, Twilight found herself wondering why she even cared. There was a nonzero chance these were her last days alive, and that forced her to contend with how little she’d lived over the last several years. So much effort went into maintaining a life she resented, and for what?

Why was she wasting her time pretending everything was normal? Shouldn’t she be using this time to be with her family, or Sunset, or doing literally anything besides spending all day typing and occasionally answering a phone?

Instead, Twilight sat in a cafe, alone like usual. It was the same spot she went during her lunch break every day, her robust lunch of a single cup of coffee sitting right in front of her. A dull and depressing note for her story to end on, and she blamed no one but herself.

Maybe it was just Twilight’s way of asserting control over her situation. Lightning Dust left a promise to deliver a swift death to her, but Twilight’s persistence in living her everyday life was an act of defiance. It was her way of proving she believed things would be okay. Sunset and Princess Twilight would devise a plan, and once they pulled it off, things would finally be okay. Life could finally be normal.

But deep down, Twilight knew there was nothing “defiant” about her actions. Her inability to break from routine was as much out of fear as it was complacency. She felt just as hopeless about their chances as she did about herself. And if she were right, she’d rather be mired in mundanity.

That, and Twilight was too smart for her own good. As such, she found it very easy to poke holes in Sunset’s idealistic image of the future.

Something about Sunset’s demeanor during her explanation rubbed Twilight the wrong way. Though it had been years since she swore off trying to research magic and its potential interactions with technology, Twilight wasn’t naïve. In fact, there was no human alive who knew as much about magic as Twilight did aside from Sunset, and at the level she was speaking, nothing about magic was that simple. There had to be a catch.

Not only that, but considering the sheer amount of time Sunset had spent researching a way to fix the magic leaks, there was no way she’d sound so aggressively neutral about a potential solution. As long as Twilight had known her, Sunset’s mission was to “fix her mistakes,” so to speak. Even with the immediate threat of Lightning Dust, if the plan had a high enough chance of succeeding, Sunset would have been ecstatic.

That meant there had to be something about this plan that Sunset wasn’t telling them, and not knowing what was driving Twilight crazy. She had tumbled these thoughts through her head every waking moment since she left Sunset’s apartment, and the conclusions she came to were few and dismal.

The first possibility—and probably the most likely—was that Sunset was lying. There was no solution. She was just going to panic, ask the princesses to do something, and hope they somehow came through. Whether or not they could was up in the air, but considering Sunset briefly mentioned asking them for help herself, that felt like the most realistic possibility.

The next prospect was that severing the connections between worlds was much more dangerous than Sunset was letting on. There had to be some kind of risk factor—either to the worlds, or to Sunset herself. And as much as she didn’t want to believe that, she knew Sunset better than anyone—well enough to know she’d throw her life down for something like this.

Of course, none of the girls would ever ask her to do something like that—Twilight especially—but Sunset would say she’s doing it for them anyway. She’d argue she has to. And if that were the case, she wasn’t looking forward to the argument that would inevitably spark between them.

Future confrontation notwithstanding, Twilight resolved to ask for more details the next time she and Sunset were alone. She’d never spill the details with the other girls around, but Twilight knew how to get her to open up, and she’d get her to by any means necessary.

“Excuse me,” a voice parted the ocean of thoughts Twilight was immersed in. “Twilight Sparkle?”

When Twilight looked up, she was met with an unfamiliar face. At least it was initially. Upon second glance, Twilight could swear she’d seen this girl somewhere before. It was creepy how she knew Twilight’s name, but there was probably a reason she knew it.

Her hair was deep purple, save for a few streaks of mint blue. Bangs sat right above her eyebrows, the rest of her hair tied up and flowing down her neck in a loose ponytail. She was dressed in a white blouse, tucked into a long navy blue skirt, a short black tie around her neck. A ratty, beige cardigan barely sat on her shoulders, the baggy sleeves giving the impression it was a size or two too big for her.

Try as she might, Twilight couldn’t put a name to whoever this was.

“Sorry if I’m bothering you, I-I was just in town and I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

Her voice gave the impression she was trying really hard to sound sweet, but Twilight gave her the benefit of the doubt. Besides, all things considered, it’s not like she had any room to judge someone for an awkward introduction.

Yet she still couldn’t think of a name.

“Do you mind if I sit here?” she asked.

Twilight read about situations like this online. Without a name in her memory, she assumed this was an old classmate. And judging by her overly happy demeanor, she was probably here to try and sell her on some multi level marketing scheme. Still, considering she spent so much time staring at her trying to figure out who she was, it felt rude to decline.

“Um, sure.” Twilight’s voice barely exceeded a whisper.

The stranger sat across from Twilight, her eyes almost as wide as her smile. Twilight smiled back, a twist of anxiety in her stomach following soon after.

The woman chuckled. “You remember me, don’t you?”

Twilight suppressed a wince, her stomach tying itself into a knot.

“Well, um… you look familiar, but I’m not quite sure I remember.”

The woman laughed. “Come on, you know my name.”

The inflection in her voice caused something in Twilight’s brain to finally click.

“Starlight Glimmer!” Twilight exclaimed.

“You got it!” Starlight beamed

“It’s good to see you again,” said Twilight. “What brings you here, though? I thought Sunset would have told us if you were coming through the portal.”

Starlight raised an eyebrow. “I’m sorry?”

“The portal?” Twilight repeated. “Or, do you just call it the mirror on your side? It’s been so long since I’ve been over there that I forgot.”

Starlight looked even more confused. The knot in Twilight’s gut tightened.

There was no way Twilight was misremembering this. She guessed her name after all, and she vividly remembered the first time they met. It was hard not to considering Starlight saved the girls’ lives.

Still, judging by her reaction, something was off.

“I’m sorry,” said Twilight. “I-I think I’m confusing you with someone else. Where did we know each other from?”

“Eighth grade science class? We sat next to each other, a-and we were pretty much the only ones in that class who talked to one another.” Starlight let out an awkward chuckle. “You were pretty much my only friend through middle school, too.”

Memories of middle school—ones she hadn’t accessed in who knows how long—came rushing back to Twilight. Suddenly, she felt awful. Starlight was one of her few friends from that time in her life, yet meeting her interdimensional counterpart must have completely replaced her in Twilight’s memory.

Even worse than that, she was immensely embarrassed. Starlight probably thought Twilight was insane with her talk of portals and mirrors, and was probably realizing the huge mistake she’d just made approaching her.

At least that means she might leave me alone sooner, Twilight thought.

“Right! Starlight!” Twilight slapped her forehead. “I’m sorry I couldn’t remember. A lot has happened since middle school, and, y-you know how it is, right?” Twilight wanted to slap her forehead again after that answer, this time with a little more force.

Several agonizing seconds ticked by without a word, only Starlight’s wide-eyed grin. Twilight began to worry, wondering if she’d fallen into a catatonic state or something. Did she have a medical condition? What was Twilight going to do if–

Starlight began laughing out of nowhere, the volume causing Twilight to jump. She immediately ducked her head, looking around the cafe in hopes none of the other patrons’ eyes fell on her table.

“That’s okay!” Starlight calmed down quickly much to Twilight’s relief. “Honestly, if I were in your position, I probably wouldn’t remember me either. Who doesn’t try to forget middle school, right?”

Twilight felt a little more at ease. “I know how that is.”

“And don’t even get me started on high school,” Starlight continued. “I do not miss anyone at Manehattan High, and I definitely don’t miss anyone from Crystal Prep.”

Twilight blinked several times. “Wait, you went to Crystal Prep?”

“Well, not until junior year,” she answered. “When my family moved to Canterlot City, I applied there on a whim. I didn’t think I’d get in, but I became a much better student once I was a freshman.”

“Ah,” replied Twilight, unsure if she should mention the coincidental timing of her own school transfer.

“Yeah!” Starlight exclaimed. “You know, I was looking forward to getting to see you—you know, since you told me on the last day of middle school that’s where you were going? But Principal Cadance told me you left the year before. When she told me about what happened, though, I couldn’t blame you.”

Twilight felt another pang of guilt. Starlight could remember things with such specificity, but if Twilight tried to recall anything they’d said to each other, she’d probably come up empty handed.

Still, the more pressing feeling was worry.

“What exactly did Principal Cadance tell you?”

“S-Sorry if that’s a sore spot.” Starlight scratched the back of her neck. “All she just told me was that Principal Cinch tried to extort you into competing in a competition, and she said she couldn’t legally tell me anything beyond that.”

It’s not like Twilight expected Principal Cadance to give her the detailed version of events, but it was a relief to know Starlight knew very little outside of the basics.

“I was kind of bummed when you weren’t there,” Starlight went on, “but I ended up getting into Everton a year later anyway, so it all worked out.”

“Wait, you got into Everton?” Twilight immediately felt embarrassed at how loud she spoke.

“I did!” Starlight looked proud at first, but looked away bashfully. “I-I can’t really talk about the details, but the project I presented ended up being a huge discovery, so much so that I wasn’t even allowed to tell my parents what it was.” Starlight warily looked over her shoulder. “Even mentioning this is stretching the limits of what I’m allowed to say.”

Twilight blinked several times, unsure of what to say, or even how to feel.

“What are you telling me for, then?” asked Twilight. “I mean, that’s amazing, but I don’t want you to get in trouble or anything.”

“I-I’m not trying to brag or anything, sorry if it came off like that!” Starlight quickly clarified. “It’s just… the question “what did you do with your life” always comes up, and I can’t ever give a good answer to it. So, I just like to get that out of the way before anyone asks me.

”And I probably wouldn’t get in that much trouble for that little amount of information. Maybe just a slap on the wrist, but that’s still more than I’d like to deal with. Besides, I guess I just figured it was something you’d be interested in hearing about.”

For someone who managed to get into such an exclusive program, Twilight could hardly believe Starlight seemed so anxious. Still, there was some kind of comfort in knowing she was despite her vague accomplishments.

However, more than that, Twilight felt woefully inadequate. In leaving Crystal Prep and transferring to Canterlot High, Twilight had left that opportunity for someone else. And from the sounds of it, that someone was far more capable than her.

“How about you?” Starlight asked. “What have you been up to? I imagine some pretty big things, huh?”

Those feelings of inadequacy doubled. In a way, Starlight was right: Twilight had gotten up to some enormous things—things that were bigger than either of them and the world at large. But much like Starlight, she couldn’t really discuss any of it, though undoubtedly for different reasons. Even if she could mention her magical escapades, it’s not like someone of Starlight’s stature would believe something that sounds so nonsensical.

So what did that leave Twilight with other than the Nothing she’d accomplished otherwise.

“Well, I went to college for a couple of years after high school, but…” Twilight sighed, looking down at her lukewarm cup of coffee. “I ended up dropping out after a major life event which I can’t really talk about. After that, I started working in IT, and I’ve been doing that for a few years now.”

“Sounds like you’re doing pretty well for yourself,” said Starlight. “That seems like a field you’d be really good at. And you managed to get into it without putting yourself in debt? That’s impressive.”

Twilight shrugged, Starlight’s praise feeling as empty as it would from anyone else’s mouth.

“I guess?” Twilight half-conceded. “It’s not exactly difficult, but it pays the bills.”

“Hey, that’s what’s important, right?” Starlight smiled. “It’s hard out there for everyone these days; just getting by is something to be proud of, especially if you can do it with an easy job.”

Attempting a smile, Twilight nodded and took a sip of her coffee. As much as she appreciated Starlight’s words, that all felt like something Sunset would say. And though she also appreciated when Sunset said things like that, she knew it was usually a remark of pity.

With Sunset, though, she had a reason—many reasons to pity Twilight. Starlight didn’t. When Twilight realized that, she wasn’t just attempting to smile anymore.

“Thanks.”

“Of course.” Starlight’s smile widened.

The two stared at each other from across the table. Starlight was definitely peculiar, but that didn’t make Twilight as apprehensive as she’d usually be. Initially, Twilight found herself put off by Starlight’s demeanor, but after just a few words, it put her at ease.

Still, she wasn’t in the mood to carry a conversation about her life. Looking down at the time on her phone, Twilight found an out.

“Well, it was nice seeing you again, but my lunch is almost over.”

“Aww, darn.” Starlight frowned, playfully banging her fist against the table. “I was looking forward to catching up a little more.”

“Sorry, but I’m usually here around this time just about every day of the week.” Twilight sighed. “Well, at least for now.”

Raising an eyebrow, Starlight leaned forward. “Are you quitting your job soon?”

Twilight wanted to slap herself for saying that. How was she going to explain that? “Sorry, I’m going to die in a few days because I pissed off someone possessed by rogue magic. Yeah, it’s gonna be an all day thing.”

“Something like that,” replied Twilight. “At least, maybe.”

Starlight nodded. “Well, maybe we could get together sometime? I can give you my number, and we can plan something out soon.”

At first, Twilight was going to automatically accept, then resign herself to not ever contacting her like she would with anyone else in this situation. Instead, she tried to decline.

“Look, I’d love to, but… I don’t know if you want to bother. I can be kind of a flake.” She let out a sharp exhale. “And that’s kind of an understatement.”

Starlight giggled. “It’s okay, really, I understand. Honestly, that’s kind of a relief. I barely have the energy to socialize most days, so I won’t push you or anything.”

She stood up from the table. “Still, if you change your mind, I’d love to hear from you. And even if you don’t want to hang out, if you need a job, I’ve got you covered.”

Starlight reached into her cardigan, pulling out a small paper card from the breast pocket. She placed the piece of paper face down on the table and stepped away. “See you soon, Twilight.”

“Thanks.” Twilight gave a quick wave as her new-old friend walked away.

When Twilight picked up the card, she was a little confused. Of course, she wasn’t exactly sure what she expected the face of it to look like, but it wasn’t this.

It was a simple; black text on off white paper, clearly printed in a professional manner. In the center was a phone number featuring an area code Twilight had never seen before, and an absurdly long seven digit extension at the end.

On the top left corner was a multicolored logo made out of three letters.

“TMU?” Twilight muttered aloud to herself. For a moment, she thought this might have been the invite to join Starlight’s multilevel marketing company, but it looked too subtle for that. Whatever it was, Twilight didn’t have much time to dwell on it, slipping the card into her pocket and standing up from the table.

Everything about her encounter with Starlight felt strange, but something about that interaction brightened her mood nonetheless. She still wasn’t sure if she was going to reach out to Starlight—especially not after the unwarranted job offer—but she was already giving it far more thought than she would have with any other former classmate. Maybe she was just that desperate to be around someone who didn’t know how pathetic she truly was.

Even still, Twilight was emboldened. When her lunch first began, she felt resigned to her fate. But these could be her last days. Not only that, Sunset was still around, and she probably didn’t have anything to do.

And if there was anyone Twilight wanted to spend her last days—maybe hours—with, it was Sunset.

Considering her track record at work, Twilight made the decision to get up from her table at the cafe and head to her car. It didn’t matter that she didn’t clock out. If she was still around the next day, she could fix her time card then.

5 – LIE BETWEEN THE LINES

With everything Sunset needed to do, time was a very limited commodity. While waiting to hear from Princess Twilight about what their next move was, there were plenty of other things she could accomplish.

Every time she finally got a chance to be away from Equestria, she felt inclined to check up on all the girls on an individual level. She spent so much time away, so that was her chance to see exactly how life has been for them since she’s been gone. Admittedly, it felt like an obligation, but she missed them so much when she was away. Even with that in mind, she couldn’t bring herself to do it this time.

It was the same reason she couldn’t bring herself to actually start fixing Rarity’s rental like she said she would. The same reason that stopped her from answering the abundance of text messages she received upon her other friends learning she was back in town. The same reason she’d spent an indeterminate amount of time laid out on her couch, listening to the raindrops against the window nearby.

Every time she tried to get up, her efforts would be defeated by a single question: why bother?

Her entire body felt lifeless, and her brain buzzed with myriad thoughts that all screamed over each other. She felt paralyzed by exhaustion. The chaotic first few days back from Equestria had finally caught up with her.

When Sunset stumbled through the portal this time around, she didn’t even have time to get adjusted to being bipedal again. Traveling between the dimensions was always a little disorienting, and the anxiety she had coming through this time compounded with that. Her first minute back was spent trying not to vomit while Rainbow Dash frantically explained the situation. And within the second minute, she was already barking orders like she’d been there the whole time.

That pace was sustained up until the morning before. Then, things slowed down after Lightning Dust took off. Then, Sunset and Princess Twilight spent nearly an entire day writing back and forth. But, as physically and mentally taxing as all that had been, they were only minor parts of why Sunset felt like such a husk.

After Sunset received Princess Twilight’s last message, the finality of her situation truly set in. If everything went according to plan, this would be the end of a long and grueling journey. The wheels were turning, and while that inspired some semblance of hope, it filled Sunset with an equal amount of despair.

Sunset tried to keep telling herself: this was for her friends; the people she cherished more than anything in any world. And even if it wasn’t for them, it was the right thing to do. That’s what Sunset always tried to do, and afterwards, that would become her legacy. That should have brought her peace.

But the nobility of her cause no longer offered any comfort. Truthfully, it hadn’t for a while, but it hadn’t made her resentful until then.

Sunset’s confrontation with Rarity continued to burn at the back of her brain. She’d already conceded that Rarity had a point, and that should have been enough for her to move on. But no matter what she told herself, the whole thing still bothered her.

That bitterness was matched by the anger it inspired in Sunset at herself. There was no reason good enough to waste time on a petty grudge. Regardless of Rarity’s late arrival leading to things becoming as dire as they were, at the heart of it, it ultimately wasn’t her fault they were in this situation. Even if it was, blame didn’t change anything.

That didn’t stop Sunset from brooding about it, though. Rarity’s whining about being tethered to their old high school replayed over and over in her mind. It wasn’t fair. Sunset never wanted it to be that way. Beyond that, Sunset had even less freedom to do what and go where she wanted, but she never complained.

In fact, instead of complaining, she’d spent years tirelessly and pointlessly working to find a solution, dropping everything at a moment’s notice when her friends needed her. Their dreams, their hopes, their futures; that’s what mattered, and Sunset put her entire life on pause to give them a chance at those things. And while she was closer than ever to righting the mistake she made at the Fall Formal so many years ago, she knew that victory would still feel empty.

Sunset had known this was a possibility since the beginning—that she would do all this work for an unsatisfying ending—but she’d come to terms with it.

Or so she thought.

At one point, she genuinely believed that if it came down to this, she’d be ready. After sitting with it for so long, she thought she would become too familiar with it to be bothered by it. Yet the day she always thought she’d be prepared for, but hoped would never come, was right around the corner. This was time for pragmatism, not self-pity.

So, then, why was she lying down, silent tears streaming down her face? What happened to all that conviction? She was supposed to be inoculated to her own emotions over this. Yet, as the moment drew nearer, the veil on Sunset’s mental preparation lifted, revealing she’d only been dwelling on her own fear the whole time instead. Every word she said to herself about “doing the right thing” was hollow, and part of her always knew it was. Agonizing all alone, away from her friends for so long, and for what?

Staring up at the ceiling, she hoped that an alternate solution would fall through and hit her in the face. If not that, she hoped the journal on her desk would buzz, and Princess Twilight would have written “Good news!” followed by the kind of answer she’d been desperate for. One that didn’t involve so many unknowns, one that would make everyone happy in the end, one that she’d get to celebrate with her friends about.

But this was reality. From a young age, Sunset learned reality had it out for her. By now, she’d learned not to get her hopes up. If there were any fast, easy solutions, she and/or Princess Twilight would have found them by now. This was the only option left. It was now or never. Not do or die; just do.

Sunset jumped at the sound of a knock on her door. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, clearing her throat as quietly as she could. Getting close to the blank TV, she examined her face. It was hard to see the details in her reflection through the layer of dust the screen had collected, but it was enough. Her eyes were red, but she hadn’t slept a full night since she arrived from Equestria, so that was a given. She had an excuse. Hopefully, that would suffice for an answer in case whoever was at the door asked.

Rubbing her cheeks with her sleeve, she cleared her throat again. She sharply exhaled upon hearing a second knock.

“Hold up!” she finally called.

She silently lamented at how nasally she sounded from crying. If they asked, she would just say it was allergies.

Sunset wasn’t sure who she was expecting to see when she opened the door, but she probably should have guessed.

“Twilight?”

“I left work early today,” she said, walking into Sunset’s apartment without an invite.

Another pit of dread fell into Sunset’s stomach. She was still going to try and lie about her disheveled appearance, but selling Twilight on her excuses would be significantly harder than anyone else.

“Huh,” Sunset dumbly replied.

Twilight spoke faster than Sunset could keep up with, walking over to the couch without even looking at her.

“When I was at lunch, I met up with a friend from middle school I hadn’t seen in years, and that encounter made me realize what a waste of time it is to try and work while everything is going on, and because of how potentially dire our situation may be, I should come over and–”

A sniffle from Sunset was all it took to bring Twilight’s monologue to a halt. She walked back to Sunset and looked her in the eye.

“You’ve been crying, haven’t you?”

It felt like a bright spotlight was pointed directly at Sunset’s face.

“Huh? No, it’s just allergies. I haven’t been on this side of the portal in a while, you know how I get.” Sunset offered a crooked smile.

Unfortunately, Twilight didn’t look convinced. “Allergies?”

Sunset wasn’t about to give up though. “What?”

“Sunset, please. After everything we’ve been through lately–”

“I’m serious, Twilight. It’s just allergies. There’s nothing wrong, and even if there was, I don’t want to interrupt you.”

“It’s not that important. Besides, I know you. You have to be high strung after everything. You don’t have to pretend you’re not having as hard of a time as the rest of us are.”

“Yeah,” Sunset dryly replied. “But I’m kind of the reason we’re having a hard time in the first place.”

“Sunset, come on–”

She was cut off by Sunset’s empty laugh. “And hey, can you remember the last time I wasn’t high strung? At this point, I’m used to it. It’s like my thing.”

Sunset realized how counterproductive that statement was to her point right after it left her. Shuffling through deflections in her head, Sunset finally surrendered to telling a half-truth.

“But, yeah, okay. You got me. Everything from the last few days kinda caught up to me at once today. But, really, I already had my meltdown before you came over, so we don’t need to focus on it. I’ll be fine. We don’t have time for me to whine, anyway.”

By now, Sunset should have learned the words “I’ll be fine” rarely ever worked on anyone, least of all her best friend.

Twilight huffed. “Saying ‘I’ll be fine’ implies that–”

“–I’m not fine,” Sunset completed. “I know, I’ve heard this one before.”

“Well, if you’ve ‘heard this one before,’ if you know, then why–”

“Because there’s no need to dwell on this. Like I said, I’ve already–”

“–had your meltdown,” Twilight interrupted. “But do you honestly feel any better? Does crying by yourself ever really help?”

Sunset quietly groaned. “Maybe not, but–”

“When was the last time you let it out around someone else?”

That question was harder to answer than Sunset wanted to admit, and the pause it took for her to respond was a dead giveaway of that fact. Twilight was quickly chipping away at her defense, but Sunset still wouldn’t budge.

“I don’t know. I haven’t really needed to.”

“Haven’t needed to, or haven’t let yourself?”

There was nothing Sunset could say to that. Both of them knew the answer.

“Twilight, can we please just not do this–”

Those were the only words Sunset could say before Twilight wrapped her in a tight hug. Before she could complete the rest of her deflection, a rush of warmth from Twilight flooded Sunset’s entire body. Sunset could talk around things all day, but touch was a method that seldom missed.

Still, even though Twilight’s sympathy was sincere, it hardly made Sunset feel any better. It just made her want to cry again. And as hard as she tried to resist, the tears began to flow. Sunset’s hand quickly concealed her eyes, as if in a last ditch effort to hide her feelings.

Twilight herded Sunset over to the couch. The moment they sat down, the remnants of Sunset’s façade completely fell away. It should have been a relief. After all, Twilight was right. While she’d been away, Sunset had broken down many times, but only when she was completely alone. But she knew how to handle herself better than almost anyone, so it was better to manage her own emotions and save everyone the trouble of dealing with her volatility.

And while it felt somewhat good to let it all out to Twilight, every bit of catharsis was underlined with twice as much guilt. Part of her sudden breakdown was definitely because of all the stress she was under, but there was a much bigger reason. Unfortunately, she couldn’t tell anyone what it was, Twilight least of all.

“Sorry.” Sunset breathed a chuckle between choked sobs, wiping her eyes. “I swear I’m almost done.”

“I’m not going anywhere, just let it out as much as you need to.”

There was comfort in that reassurance, but it just made Sunset feel worse. She had to get herself under control, but Twilight was making it so difficult. She couldn’t afford to spend any time feeling sorry for herself, and Twilight was enabling her.

Still, she went on and on. Sunset had broken down on her own on many occasions, sometimes for hours, but she couldn’t remember the last time it was this intense. Falling into hysterics was a draining affair, and Sunset was always plenty exhausted without the help of excess emotions.

As Twilight rubbed her back, Sunset steadily relaxed. When she finally stopped crying, she was dizzy and tired. It was hard to keep her eyes open, and she could barely breathe through her nose. She was typically so on edge, she’d forgotten what this kind of “out of it” felt like.

“I think I’m okay.” Sunset wiped her face with her sleeves. “I really appreciate you stopping by when you did. You’ve got great timing.”

With her hand still on Sunset’s back, Twilight smiled. “I don’t know about that. In this case, I think it’s just dumb luck. Besides, you’re the mind reader, not me.”

Sunset playfully scoffed. “With the way our powers have been acting up? It wouldn’t surprise me if they suddenly started overlapping, too.”

Twilight giggled, and a lull fell between them. Though she was staring at the floor, Sunset could feel Twilight shift around, her gaze wandering around the room. When Sunset looked up at her, Twilight was glancing over toward Sunset’s desk.

“Have you gotten any word from Princess Twilight?”

That sucked any warmth right out of the room. The way Twilight asked sounded less like curiosity, and more like she was trying to piece things together. That made Sunset deeply nervous.

“Yeah, she and the princesses are setting things up over there. Our orders are to sit tight and wait for orders. That’s where we’re at.”

Just as Sunset thought, Twilight started inching toward a conclusion.

“Does that mean you know exactly how the plan is supposed to work now?”

“Not really, no. The explanation I gave yesterday is all I’ve got until Princess Twilight gives me the word to hop through the portal. It’s just a waiting game until then.”

Twilight’s eyes narrowed. “Doesn’t that seem, I don’t know, kind of reckless? Shouldn’t we coordinate things so we have a greater chance of success?”

Holding back a sigh, Sunset attempted to sate her curiosity once again.

“That would be if there were anything to coordinate. But, more than likely, you and everyone else will just need to be near the portal when it’s time.”

“So, it’s still going to be you severing the connection between worlds, then?”

Sunset closed her eyes for a few seconds. She was far too tired to mask her emotions as well as she usually could, but she still tried.

“As far as I know, yeah. Sounds like it might be kind of fun, though. I’ve never seen what ‘The Sleeve’ looks like. Only Princess Twilight has. It’ll be cool to finally have a frame of reference for what ‘between worlds’ is like.”

This only fed Twilight’s need to interrogate further.

“Is it really that simple?” she asked. “Is it really just a matter of you hopping in, doing a spell, then jumping through the portal, and then we’re saved?”

Instead of answering, Sunset just raised an eyebrow at her.

“I mean, not that I’m questioning your research,” Twilight continued, “but I’m just really curious about how all of this works. It’s been a long time since I did any research on magic myself, but that explanation just seems so cut and dry.”

“It isn’t necessarily that simple, no, but that’s all anyone on this side really needs to know.”

“Why?”

Sunset’s nerves began to eat away at her patience. Twilight’s increasingly incredulous inquiries were getting irritating. Sunset was running out of ways to dodge, but she refused to give up.

“Because I don’t know how to explain everything by myself, and even if I could, I wouldn’t have time to go into detail, and it’d be pretty unnecessary anyway.”

“But shouldn’t we at least be a little more aware? What if something goes wrong and one of us needs to go in after you or something?” Twilight was getting more and more worked up. “I just don’t feel right flying into this so blindly, especially something this complex and full of unknowns. And even if it’s not that simple, why haven’t we done it sooner?”

“We haven’t done it because severing dimensional ties has always been a last resort.”

“And I understand that, but couldn’t we have done that, then let Princess Twilight and the others find a way to reconnect the worlds? After all, that’s not the only connection between our worlds, just the biggest one, right? Not only that, but she’s done it before.”

“I thought you said you didn’t want to hear anything about magic unless we’re fighting it?” Sunset was getting dangerously close to snapping.

“Well, this is kind of different, isn’t it? If this is the answer we’ve been looking for, then I’m interested in how it’s all going to work, and I don’t think that should be an issue. We’re all going to be involved in this big “plan,” right? And considering I know more about how magic works on this side than anyone else, I figured you would at least explain to me what–”

“I’ve told you all you need to know,” Sunset stated firmly.

Twilight frowned. “But–”

“Princess Twilight will give me the orders when the time is right, and then I’ll let you know more. Any unnecessary details besides that will just complicate things, and we all need to be focused. This is only ‘cut and dry’ because it needs to be cut and dry. I have been thinking about this nonstop since before I even got here, so I would really appreciate it if we could talk about something else.”

Sunset internally kicked herself once she realized just how combative she sounded, and again when she saw Twilight shrink into herself.

“Sorry.”

“No- wait, Twilight, I-”

Sunset’s frustration grew. Her answer may have been terse, but Twilight reacted as if she’d been shouted at. Still, it wasn’t her fault. Twilight was naturally curious, and rightfully worried.

Seeing Twilight continue to shrivel into herself made Sunset’s heart sink. Putting her feelings aside, Sunset wrapped her arms around her. Twilight’s emotions struck her, and Sunset’s remorse deepened, but once the wave passed, she spoke up.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bark. I know that answer sucks, but that’s really all I got.”

Thankfully, Sunset caught Twilight before she could spiral any further. She gradually relaxed, and both of them felt equally relieved.

“I guess if all we can do now is wait… do you want to do something?”

Truth be told, Sunset hardly felt like breathing, but she was almost always willing to make a concession for her best friend.

“What did you have in mind?”

“Well, there’s an art exhibit running downtown I thought you might want to see,” she replied. “It’s not too far from CHS, so if we’re needed there at a moment’s notice, it won’t be hard to drop everything and get there.”

Again, Sunset’s immediate instinct was to say no. Even if it was close to the school, the idea of being preoccupied with anything before receiving word from Princess Twilight felt like asking for disaster. At the same time, Sunset had spent hours sulking in her apartment, and that wasn’t doing any good for her either.

Plus, she couldn’t remember the last time the two of them got to spend time together in a context outside of magic.

For the first time in a while, Sunset genuinely smiled. “Sure. Sounds better than moping around here.”

A warm smile spread across Twilight’s face as well. Sunset knew she should get up and get herself together, but she didn’t want to look away. Their potential impending demise notwithstanding, looking into Twilight’s eyes, seeing her smile, it made Sunset feel like things could be okay. Maybe the plan would go off without a hitch, and maybe if it did, they could finally share a normal life like any other pair of friends.

Eventually, Sunset shook herself from her wistful stupor. “Let me change clothes and get a few things together and we can be on our way.”

Twilight nodded. “I’m going to run to the bathroom while you do that.”

Standing up from the couch and making her way up to her loft, Sunset let out a deep sigh as quietly as she could. Truthfully, she just wanted to try and go back to sleep, but if her end was to be soon, she would rather go out knowing she made the most of the little time she had left.

Shuffling through the clothes in her dresser, she felt a certain melancholy creep into her mind. It’d been a while since high school graduation, yet she still had many of the same clothes she’d had since then. Even the shirts she bought most recently were years old by this point, yet had been worn and washed so few times they looked the same as the day she got them.

As she slipped her shirt over her head, Sunset paused, her eyes scanning the span of her apartment. She could see almost every part of it from the loft. It was then that she realized this was the longest she’d spent in her apartment in well over a year. Every time she came back, she couldn’t help but notice how much of a time capsule it had become, and the more time she spent there, the more apparent that feeling became.

Several years had passed in this world. Her friends had all moved into their own places. Their appearances as well as their living arrangements reflected not only their progress in life, but how much time had changed all of them.

Not Sunset’s, though. It was the same as it had always been.

Guitars hanging on the walls with rusty strings; unchanged since the halcyon days of The Rainbooms years ago. A game console that was so outdated it was soon to be two generations behind, sitting under a flat screen that hadn’t been powered on in who knows how long. Posters from bands who had probably released several albums she hadn’t listened to, assuming they hadn’t broken up while she was gone.

Sunset could see a pair of headlights from a car passing by outside, the light briefly beaming through her window. The streets of Canterlot City looked a little different. Even the unmoving roads and structures outside looked as though they’d changed with time.

Then she looked down at her shirt. A graphic band t-shirt she bought at a concert nearly a decade ago. There was a crude illustration of a firework exploding in someone’s face on it.

That caused a morbid thought to cross her mind: what was worse? Her potential fate, or being trapped in time the way she was?

Rather than give that the answer it didn’t deserve, Sunset pushed those thoughts away. As always, she didn’t have time to waste on things like that.

Throwing a bag over her shoulder, she gathered a few items scattered about her room and tossed them in. She looked around the loft, wondering where she put the journal. There weren’t that many places to look, but she still spent a few minutes looking under anything she could.

Suddenly, Sunset stopped.

The journal—left open to the most recent page—was on her desk.

Which sat close to the bathroom door.

Her heart stopped. When it started again, she could feel her pulse beating throughout her whole body. She rushed down the stairs, nearly falling as she did. As fast as she was, everything seemed to slow down. In the span of her extended perception of time, she hoped by some miracle that Twilight hadn’t noticed it sitting there.

But by now, she’d learned not to get her hopes up.

Sure enough, Twilight was standing right in front of it. Her eyes were wide as she stared down at the pages. When Twilight realized Sunset was there, she slowly turned. Her eyes were glistening with tears. She looked like someone had just stabbed her in the chest, and the pain still hadn’t caught up to the rest of her body.

A thousand different explanations and excuses flashed through Sunset’s head, but not a single one could lift her out of the hole she’d just fallen into; one she’d dug herself, no less.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Twilight spoke in a barely audible voice.

“So, that’s why you wouldn’t tell me?”

Author's Note

This chapter was supposed to be done before the end of October LOL.

Sorry for the ridiculously long wait! Hopefully the delays won't be this bad going forward. Also, I know I've been teasing this big thing Sunset hasn't told anyone, and I promise you'll learn what it is very soon. Plus, I feel like the more astute of you have already figured it out.