Twilight Sparkle watched as the world outside zipped by the pickup truck’s window. It had taken every bit of her strength and better judgment to leave Sunset’s side. She was the only one who knew where the redhead's living space was and was the only one familiar with the place. Her mind swirled with so many worries and anxieties she had been rendered blank.

As the city went by her mind's eye created a golden unicorn with flaming locks of hair running alongside the car. Mindlessly her hand reached out and her fingertips grazed the icy cold window as if to pet the creature only in her mind’s eye.

The streets soon became more and more familiar as the fiery unicorn guided the vehicle until they came to a stop. The mythical creature of fire magic disappeared into the familiar townhome.

“Is this the right place, sugar cube?”

Twilight nodded as she un-clicked her seatbelt. She opened the car door and had to endure a small hop out of the tall truck before walking away. A raspy voice was heard from behind her saying, “Okay…Guess we'll just follow.”

Two other car doors shut behind Twilight as she stepped up the porch and surfed through the keys of her chain, finding the one that belonged to Sunset Shimmer’s home. She had taken it from under the mat that day she found Sunset to be gone.

“This is a pretty nice place,” Rainbow Dash commented as Twilight, Applejack, and herself entered.

“Where do ya want us to start lookin’?” Applejack asked as her eyes scanned the apartment.

Twilight let her feet carry her over to the stairs that lead to the bed loft. There were only so many places they could look and even fewer that she knew her partner would only be comfortable with.

“You two head through that door,” she pointed to a door next to a wardrobe, “there are stairs that lead to the attic, she has a bunch of miscellaneous stuff up there. Doesn't hurt to look.”

The two girls nodded and followed the instructions. As they passed through, the door was left open and as they ascended the stairs Twilight did the same up the shorter flight to the comfortable bed at the top of the loft pad.

Despite knowing how important finding the journal as soon as possible was, the young genius found herself falling into the plush blue comforter. She breathed the blanket deeply. It smelled purely like Sunset: sunshine and strawberries.

Twilight had laid there for a few many moments too long when a sudden constant vibration on a hard surface caught her attention. Her head shot up in surprise and whipped around looking for the source.

She had to do a double take as her eyes caught sight of the very journal she was supposed to be looking for, jumping around on the small dresser. Twilight scrambled off the bed and over to the magical tome, she had never seen it vibrate as if it were receiving a phone call before. The vibrations stopped and Twilight thoughtlessly fixed her skewed glasses. She finally placed her hand over the journal, which practically flew open to the most recently used page. The hand- or rather, horn writing as Sunset referred to it, not dissimilar from her own was scribbled stressfully across two pages.

‘Dear Sunset Shimmer,
I understand your desire to defeat the Sirens without side help- Yet, being in a world with so little magic I strongly encourage taking advantage of the aid Equesria or I can give you!

Your friend,
Princess Twilight Sparkle’

‘Dear Sunset Shimmer,
It’s been many days! Please let me know if all is well and that the girls and yourself are okay.

A pony you can trust,
Princess Twilight Sparkle’

The next message, the most recent, was the most fretful.

‘Sunset, please get back to me!
It’s been much over a week- if another day passes by I will be opening and crossing the portal.
A very worried friend,
Twilight Sparkle.’

The scientist thought for a moment to not respond; but being a Twilight Sparkle herself, she knew all too well the stress and anxiety the equine one was going through.

“Twi?!” Applejack’s country accent sounded loudly from the bottom of the loft steps, “Did ya find it darlin’?”

“We didn’t find the journal thing but Sunset’s got a cool ass punching bag upstairs!” Rainbow Dash added with a shout.

Amused, air blew out of Twilight’s nose at the athlete’s antics before she grabbed the journal and met the girls at the bottom of the steps, “I have it here. Turns out the Princess has been frantically trying to contact Sunny for days.”

“Doesn't surprise me much, Ah gotta say. She was a bit of a worrywart, that one,” Applejack chuckled.

“What are we waiting for? Let's tell her what's going on!” Rainbow Dash motioned for Twilight to open the book.

“Should we wait till we’re with everyone else?” Twilight asked. She was stalling. She knew she was stalling. She knew it was wrong and held them back but something in her wasn't ready for this interaction.

The farmer seemed to have sensed her hesitation and uncertainty, “Twilight, darlin’… Ah know you aren't keen on the princess, but I hope ya know that ain't one of us thinks her as better than ya.”

Twilight looked at the blonde with a hint of disbelief.

“Now, that's the honest truth when Ah says that. Ya both are amazing gals in your own ways and you… yuh’ve done something that ain't no one else has been able to. Ya changed Sunset Shimmer- made her happy, made the real one under all that hurt and muck shine through.”

Nothing but truth, wisdom, and admiration shines in the forest-green eyes of the farmer.

The soccer athlete smiled with a light laugh, “Yeah, and whatever player is controlling us all knows that seemed like a mission impossible to all of us. Surprised you didn't have to look up a walk-through.”

Twilight laughed at that and pushed up her glasses as her cheeks heated bashfully.

Rainbow Dash's smile fell, “And… and I’m really sorry for how I treated you… during the battle of the bands. We're friends and supposed to be welcoming and I- I was the opposite of that,” Her eyes of pink rubies met Twilight's, “I hope you can forgive me and we can be friends.”

Twilight sniffled, suddenly feeling emotional. No group of people in her life had ever fought for her friendship like this. Her beautiful Sunset had been the exception, back before the fall formal when the fiery girl had fought to be by her side despite the dark magic becoming an obsession due to its influence…

“Your sentiments are very appreciated. You… you weren't the only one that made uncharacteristic mistakes in the past weeks. I did as well, not just to all you girls but to Sunset too… and she never held that against me, or any of you. I would be wrong if I did the opposite of her example. So, I hope and would like to be friends too.” Twilight smiled, grateful for this moment. She then sat on the sofa and picked up the spare pen on the thrifted coffee table.

The girls agreed, joining her in the comfy living room.

A meow of a cat interrupted them. Twilight froze with surprise, “M-magma?”

The orange tabby appeared with a swishing tail. He meowed again before rubbing himself against Applejack’s boot, making her giggle.

Twilight scratched the under of Magma’s chin as he joined her on the couch, “I’m sorry, Maggie! I-I should've remembered to come back for you!”

Rainbow Dash laughed at the farmer’s giggle before saying, “I forgot Sunset has a cat!”

“Me too,” Applejack said, reaching down and petting the feline, “Poor little guy.”

The rainbow-haired girl nodded in agreement and plopped down on the old sofa, brushing her hand over the cat’s silky fur.

Twilight took a deep breath as she held the pen up and stared at the new empty page.

“Hey,” Twilight turned to the raspy voice who took her attention. Rainbow Dash gave her an encouraging smile, “You got this.”

The indigo-haired girl nodded, the new courage flowing through guided her hand, “Dear Princess Twilight…”

Magenta hooves paced back and forth on new, polished crystal floors.

“Twilight…” The familiar voice of her little brother nagged, “I’m sure they are okay.”

The princess passed by the large table for the umpteenth time, “How could you possibly know that!”

Spike popped a red gem into his mouth and chewed, “I trust the girls! Plus, Sunset Shimmer is a power mage. I’d say she’s the closest to you I’ve ever seen, remember, the whole Canterlot High forest thing?”

Princess Twilight sighed and looked at the mirror portal, “I do… but, why would she ignore my messages? Why would she not let me know everything on their side is okay? The sirens are not exactly easy to ward off. Even, Starswirl had so much trouble he had to ban them to a magicless world!”

Her pacing quickened as her thoughts ran rampant. Spike sat up, trying to think of a way to quell her anxiety, “Maybe they threw a celebratory party after and are resting! I mean there’s a Pinkie Pie with them!”

The baby dragon relaxed as Princess Twilight paused to hum, “It’s not exactly unplausible… still, maybe I should open the portal to check! That’s better than finding them when it’s too late!”

Before Spike could respond or Princess Twilight could enact her plan, the very book she had been obsessing over finally glowed and shook with an oncoming message. She raced over, her wings had flapped against her back in impatience before finally flipping the book open to the page of the new message.

The dragon across the table watched as frantic eyes zoomed across and down the old yellow-tinted page. He observed as her face turned from panicked anticipation to confusion and finally into concentration as books suddenly flew into the room with a sparkling magenta aura.

“What is it?” Spike asked.

Princess Twilight used her magic to start flipping through multiple pages of the book, “It’s a message from my counterpart in the human world…” she mumbled.

Spiked hopped down from his crystalized chair, “Oh? Is that good or bad?”

The Princess of Friendship’s eyes went back and forth between pages, “I’m not exactly sure… the sirens are defeated but apparently the sirens have done something to Sunset's magic- rendering her, ill?”

“Soooo,” the young reptile dragged out, “What does that mean?”

The purple mage set the books she had been surfing through down and levitated another dozen into the room, “I- I’m not sure. I haven't heard of her condition: firebreathing, hot to the touch, incapacitated… I’ve never heard of the happening to a pony!”

“Maybe she’s a dragon like me!” Spike suggested enthusiastically.

Princess Twilight rolled her eyes, “She’s not a dragon, Spike. I’m sure Princess Celestia would have told me if her former magic study prodigy were a dragon.”

“Ugh-!” The mare grunted, letting the books fall, “I’m afraid none of these work!” She tapped a hoof to her chin, “I wonder if it’s a curse or some spell of dark magic… in which both subjects are out of my expertise!”

She then trotted back to the journal and floated a quill pen over to begin her reply to the girls in another world.

“What are gonna tell them?” Spike asked, standing on his toes to look over her.

“I'll be doing as much research as needed to find out what's happening and how to stop it- I just need time to do so,” The Princess explained as ink scratched out her words onto paper.

Spike kept his concern to himself for a moment before his voice came out quiet and cautiously, “If she’s going through all those uncommon symptoms… Do you think they have time?”

“I…I don't know Spike,” She replied with her voice just as quiet. After a moment, she perked up and turned to him, “That’s why we need to work as fast as we can to figure this out,” her face gained a smile as she looked at him, “I trust I have my number one assistant to help me ensure this task?”

Spike nodded and gave a salute, “We’re on the case!”

Boiling, searing, blistering, and electrifying pain completely consumed every inch of her body. Her blood blew bubbles underneath her skin. Her nervous system stung and sent bolts of agony through her veins. Her bones creaked together and hissed at any movement making her cry for just a moment of release from the extricating torture happening within herself.

‘Please! Please! Help! Stop this!’ her voice begged inside her head.

Only the cackling of a power-crazed siren met her calls for help.

“You’ll never escape me, precious Sunset! This is your fate and now you're mine!”

‘No. No, Please anything but that!’

She felt her sanity crackle under the pressure, ‘Anything but that damn lunatic! I- I can’t take her anymore!’

Suddenly, trapped in the dark red void of her own mind, fire burst all around her as she huddled her body together, she clutched her head, and pulled at her hair as she floated in the hellish space.

A hand on her shoulder grabbed her, its sharp fingers cutting into her skin. She was whipped around and a red-skinned demon of fire with leather bat wings grinned wickedly at her with wide black eyes, “Can you take ME then?! Poor. Little. Sunny!”

The creature laughed in her fear-stricken face, “Look upon me! Look at what you truly are!”

“-unny!”

The tormented girl shook her head in rejection as her tears burned away. Her throat suddenly felt as though it had been scorched from the inside.

The demon laughed again as a memory she didn't know she held appeared like a movie. There she was- in a large storage space attacking her friends. Throwing fire and rawr’s at them as they screamed in terror and begged her to stop.

A sob attempted to escape her but only the sound of a cough and smoke left her mouth.

“Sunset!”

“Ice! I need ice!”

The creature claiming to be her snickered in her ear, “I told you. You’re a monster.”

The blood-red space of fire swirled around her playing every horrible deed she had ever done. Sneaking behind the princess’s back, throwing a tantrum, disobeying, bullying, blackmail, cheating- the list felt it would never stop.

She had felt this before. It always sat at the back of her mind. Sunset Shimmer hated herself. She hated her past and what she had allowed herself to become. Why could she have never just listened to Princess Celestia?!

“Congratulations,” she said bitterly to herself, “You're a disappointment.”

The molten hot gas of the sun raptured through her. Her eyes split open, yet Sunset Shimmer could only see flames of red and black flashing past her vision.

She could feel her scream as blazes flew through her throat. After a moment, that felt like ten years, the flames dispersed, leaving their mark on the wall, the bed headboard, and the ceiling. Her body relaxed, her back coming back down to bed. Sunset lay numbly as no thoughts coursed through her, smoke and ember debris flowed out of her agape mouth.

“S-sunset?” a familiar voice appeared in a worried question, “Your eyes are open… are you awake?”

It took a lot of effort as Sunset’s eyes slowly moved an inch or two. The blurry sight of purple hovered over her.

“Here, I’m going to put this ice in your mouth, okay?”

The freezing sensation of a small cube slid on her tongue and made her entire mouth and throat tingle. As her taste buds realized what was on them, they cried and begged for more- her body joining as the cooling sensation canceled out the blazing pain. Soon, the ice had melted to small enough that Sunset swallowed.

“More…” Her voice rasped out from her scorched esophagus. The person in the room with her complied and gave her more ice until her body deemed itself satisfied and accepting of just water.

A cold rug was placed over her eyes before being wiped away. The room became clear to her. It was an old small room with a wooden ceiling and floors. The wallpaper was an antique yellow with red apples and hearts sprinkling it. The one window had open pink curtains and showcased there was snow falling gently outside where a landscape of an apple orchard sat. She was able to see she had been dressed in a large black t-shirt with a rainbow lighting bolt on it. Another cold rag, encapsulating ice was laid on her forehead.

She sighed gratefully at the relieving feeling. Twilight Sparkle smiled at her from the side of the bed, holding the ice pack securely, “Hi,” she whispered.

Sunset found her passageway too raw to speak, instead, she offered a tired small smile and her hand weakly found the other girls to show her gratitude.

“Don't worry, Sunny. You won't be like this for long,” Twilight said and when she received a quizzical stare she elaborated, “Well, there’s not much magically we can do on our side to cure you… so, we contacted Princess Twilight, about what to do and she’s doing research. Sorry, I kind of went into your apartment without permission to get the journal…”

A small chuckle escaped the fiery-haired girl. Her eyes started to blink as exhaustion began to retake over. Twilight continued to softly apply the icey cold rag to the pale amber face. She paused as Sunset suddenly opened her arms. The girl looked so frail and tried, worse than Twilight had ever thought possible.

Tears built up in Twilight’s eyes. Whether it was from relief to see her partner awake and have some sense of relief and being okay or from seeing her partner so ill and weakened… the inventor wasn't sure. Her breath hitched as she sunk into the mattress where her girlfriend's arms loosely wrapped around her.

Quiet tears left Twilight's eyes. That had been the first time they had laid together since Sunset had been taken from her. For a day or two, she had been scared she would never get this moment again.

A soft kiss was placed on her cheek and when Twilight raised her eyes to look at her partner, the teal eyes had blinked shut. The indigo-haired girl recaptured her grip on the ice rag and continued to message it where she thought was needed on the molten hot girl’s body before she also slipped away into sleep in what had been days.

Author's Note

Hiiiiiiii!

I am so excited to share this arc! I hope y'all are excited too!

As always thank you for reading, and thoughts, concerns, and theories for what I'm making poor Sunny go through are welcome!

(Sorry Sunset, I love you <3)