“So… I wanted to ask you something.”
“Sure.”
“Something stupid.”
“Uh huh.”
“Like, really stupid. Really, really–”
“Sunset, just ask.”
“Okay.”
“...”
“But do I have to ask? Cause–”
“Sunset, you brought it up!”
“Right, sorry. Okay. Well, my question was, ummm… are those your glasses?”
“...”
“...”
“Huh?”
“Oh, right, sorry, I should’ve been more clear. I meant–”
“No, I know what you meant.”
“–the rings of blue firelight around your… eyes. Yeah.”
“I’m just a little unsure what you’re asking.”
“Well, I mean, when you’re like this, in Midnigh– um, in this body, you don’t need your glasses, obviously. But I didn’t know if that was because your eyes are just different like this, or if those little rings around your eyes are, like, well, some kind of magical lenses, or something.”
“Oh.”
“I told you it was a stupid question.”
“Sunset–”
”No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked. I know it’s probably a sensitive thing to talk about.”
“Hey, don’t say that.”
“I mean it’s your body, even if it’s not one you wanted to keep–”
“Sunset.”
“...Twi?”
“I don’t mind the question. Really, I don’t.”
“No?”
“Look, I’m not gonna pretend I love becoming The Dark Angel of Canterlot High one night a month. I mean it’s definitely nice that it’s my brain in here now and not… hers… but it’s still not great when it comes to, you know, trying to move on and things like that.”
“I can’t imagine it would be.”
“And, well… kinda going off track, but you’ve really never felt the Daydream again, since the Games?”
“Not in any way I can be sure about. I’ve definitely never turned back into her. Or… or the Monster.”
“Okay, yeah, I shouldn’t have brought that up.”
“Twi, I’m sorry that it wasn’t– that it’s you dealing with this and not me–”
“No. Don’t… don’t do that. Don’t apologize for not having a problem. I’m a big girl.”
“I know, but, well, I don’t know. I’m sorry.”
“Look, we’ve gotten way more off track than I meant to go. I’m just gonna answer your question, okay?”
“Okay.”
“...Do you mind if I get in your face a bit? Like, up close?”
“Twi, of course not. I, um, I mean, well, yeah, go ahead.”
“Alright. Now, can you touch your finger to one of the rings?”
“Sure, um… oh. Yeah, it’s warm, but not like fire-warm.”
“Precisely. And you know as well as I do that if it were actual blue-colored flame, then–”
“It’d be scalding.”
“Right. Now– wait, don’t pull your finger back yet. Just slowly push down all the way down to the other side.”
“Okay. …Wow, there’s some actual resistance there. Like pushing my finger through something gelatinous.”
“Yep.”
“Wait, Twi, your eyes–”
“Keep going!”
“Alright. Erm… there, got it.”
“Phew. Yeah, so it should be obvious that it’s not empty space inside the ring. It’s definitely some kind of lens.”
“And it seemed like it was only about the same thickness as the ring around it.”
“Right. So the short answer is yes, these are magical glasses. And I can’t take them off. You managed to wipe them off of me, at the Games. But I can’t remove them myself.”
“That's... odd. Wait, hold on. Were you in pain, when I was doing that just now? You sounded like I’d stepped on your foot and you were trying not to yelp.”
“Ehhh, not pain so much as feeling like an uncomfortable tickle, except it’s inside your eyes somehow.”
“Your eyes did kinda look like, well, Ditzy’s, especially right around the midpoint.”
“I’m not surprised. Can I sit next to you?”
“Oh, sure, definitely. Let me just scooch– ah! Oh, sorry, ugh, really sorry, I just hadn’t expected the wing.”
“No, it’s fine, I’ll rein them in. They’re a little hard to manage, still.”
“Uh huh. Well, um, anyway, I assume that you’ve, uh, spent time experimenting with your body? I mean, this body? I mean… well, stuff like that?”
“Heh. And yes, I have. That particular thing – the magical glasses thing, I mean – I honestly hadn’t really thought much about, since it really doesn’t feel that different from just wearing glasses normally. At least, not until the first time I tried to sleep in this body.”
“Wait, can you–”
“I can, just, well, not the way I expected. The lenses and the energy horn mean I can’t sleep facedown without everything just glitching out, basically, which is an issue since that’s how I sleep normally. But if I try to sleep on my back or side, my wings freak out. So what I eventually figured out is that apparently in this body, I’m more or less supposed to just sleep floating in the air.”
“Ugh.”
“That was pretty much my reaction. And considering I normally can’t even so much as sleep sitting up, I had to experiment with melatonin dosages. Apparently this body needs a pretty strong one to have any effect.”
“I imagine. And that just raises even more questions about physiology and medicine tolerance and just all kinds of… ugh. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”
“For what?”
“Not being there, I guess? Hearing all this stuff you’ve been going through, every month, it just makes me feel like I wasn’t there for you when I should’ve been.”
“I didn’t ask you to be there, Sunset. I didn’t want you to. It felt risky, considering how dangerous this body could still be if I’m careless, but even more than that, it didn’t feel right."
"Didn't feel right?"
"Look, everyone at school remembers seeing this at the Games. I know there’s people who still see it when they look at me, even if they’re trying to be nice. It’s not that I thought you’d think of me differently, not really, but I just didn’t want to share it. Not then.”
“Would you even be sharing it with me now, if we weren’t dating?”
“I… I was gonna... look, I had a plan, I just felt like once we, um... I needed to accelerate it, with you. Once we started feeling more like something that was serious.”
“Oh.”
“...Y-you believe me?”
“I do. I just wish it hadn’t taken this long to find out why… sun and moon, how did I not see it? Especially because you made up some really dumb excuses for being busy some months.”
“Hey, I wasn’t lying about my cousin’s nephew’s roommate’s wedding! Except for the part about going to it.”
“You’re so ridiculous.”
“Heh. I will tell the others before next time. I promise.”
“Pinkie swear?”
“...yeah, Pinkie swear.”
“Good.”
“Going back to what we were talking about before, I just... I want to say I don’t really mind questions about how this body works. Honestly, I kinda want them. It makes it feel like less of a reminder of her and more of a... thauma-scientific curiosity. I mean, I’m still a little too afraid to try actual experiment-experiments like this, just because, um, the whole dimensional-portals thing. But, well, Midnight's gone, and now it’s me in here. I should be able to look at myself like this and never think about her. So screw her.”
“Agreed. Besides, you’re pretty, well, um…”
“Hmm?”
“Awesome, and cool, and smart, and superamazing, and ah…”
“Thanks for the excerpts from the Rainbow Dash Guide to Flattery, now say what you actually meant.”
“...Pretty. You’re really pretty like this. Midnight wasn’t, but you are.”
“Stop…”
“Never. Now hold still and take your darn hug and smooch.”
“Fine… as long as I get to hug you back.”
“Deal.”
“Mmm…”
“Mmm… gah! Wings again.”
“Sorry. Told you they get excitable.”
“Right. Also, I do have another quick question. A stupid one.”
“Go for it.”
“About your wings.”
“Yes?”
“Do you ever, um… do you ever need to preen them?”
“...”
“I told you it was a stupid question.”
