The merging of memories was a painful and difficult endeavor. Adagio Dazzle and Angel Song, were two women of completely different caliber, of different upbringings, and different personalities. Yet now they stood as the same person, no longer separated by the barrier placed between them by Princess Twilight’s spell or Shimmer’s protection. Now Shimmer was gone, and all that remained was one woman, not quite human, not quite siren.

When the two had decided that it was time for the past to die, they had chosen for Adagio Dazzle to disappear, and Angel Song to take her place. While her memories as Adagio would never truly go away, nor the guilt of all she had done, she would find time and patience to work on being Angel all the time from then on. No more magic, no more powers, the portal back to Equestria was closed, and that at least made it slightly easier for her to be who she wanted to be.

Though she wanted to move one from the past, Angel couldn’t just erase it, and a part of her didn’t want to.

The feelings of resentment toward herself were difficult to overcome in the initial weeks, but after some time, she had convinced herself that the only way was forward. Shimmer had lost her life because of Angel’s past self, and despite that, she dedicated nearly two decades to protecting her from within her body. Shimmer was truly a selfless girl, who didn’t even hold a grudge against her after all she had done.

Angel didn’t know if sirens were ever supposed to feel love, or love others, but she did know that she didn’t care anymore. She had loved Shimmer, she had longed for her, and that love at first drove her to do terrible things, but in the end, it was that love that convinced her to continue living, to put the past behind her, and aspire to be more like the girl she had loved.

Sitting firmly in a chair with her eyes closed, the woman breathed in and out slowly and carefully. The pain of a needle pricking her skin over and over didn’t seem to bother her as much as she had thought it would. Perhaps before she had gained her memories back it may have bothered her more, but after all, she recalled enduring, this pain felt like nothing in comparison.

“You’re a pretty easy customer, you know that?” The tattoo artist spoke as he started to apply the finishing touches.

Angel smiled, not even opening her eyes. “I wasn’t always like this, it took a lot of painful things to get me this way.”

He laughed and nodded. “We all have painful things that we’d rather leave in the past, I guess, but sometimes it’s better to remember than it is to forget, isn’t it? If we remember when we were weak, we can focus more on being strong. It makes us feel more human in a way.”

Human. That’s what she was now, wasn’t it? Sure she had Equestrian blood, but Angel Song was a human. She was seen as human, treated as human, and lived as a human. In the past, such a connotation may have been seen as negative to her, but now she almost welcomed it. It almost had a nice ring to it. She finally felt accepted, and even loved, dare she say it.

“Right now, being human is all I aspire to do,” she responded.

He nodded in agreement. “It’s all any of us can do, sister. We gotta live each day to the fullest, right?”

Her wrist vibrated gently, signaling a call coming in. Before her eye a projection of Starlight’s name appeared along with her usual profile picture. Angel raised her free arm and made the usual hand gesture to make the projection of a single-ear headset appear. The light glowed and formed into the shape of a glowing headset that Angel utilized to answer the phone.

“Hey.”

“Hey,” Starlight responded.

“So, are you almost done at the tattoo place?” Starlight asked.

Angel chuckled. “Yeah, I’m almost done. He’s putting on the finishing touches now.”

“Cool, we’re outside waiting for you. We just got back from the mall, so we’ll see you soon, okay?” Starlight replied.

“Yeah, see you soon,” Angel replied.

“Love you, girl.” Starlight made a kissing noise over the phone.

Angel blinked and paused for a moment before replying. “You too, Starlight.”

Once she hung up, she looked over at the artist who was cleaning up and wiping the bodily fluids clear from her shoulder. Angel looked at the tattoo briefly before nodding at the artist.

After a few minutes, she had it wrapped to be protected while it healed and offered her money to the artist. Just outside the shop, there stood her best friend in the whole world and her fiancé, Sunburst. He smiled when he saw Angel and nodded at her with his arm around Starlight.

It had never occurred to her how happy it made her to see her friend with Sunburst. She always took it for granted, always thought of it as Starlight had “finally” managed to get a boyfriend again, but it was more than that. Sunburst made her truly happy, she was past her sexual urges and had grown to love him more than anything in the world.

Angel could relate, at one time she had known those feelings. After being told for so long that they were wrong, that they were forbidden, to give in to that desire felt so rewarding. She imagined Starlight felt the same.

Approaching, she smiled and nodded at the two, Starlight coming in to pull her into a tight hug, careful to not touch her freshly inked shoulder. “So, what’d you get!? We’re dying to know!”

Angel chuckled and turned to her side to show them the cling-wrapped marking on her right shoulder. The two blinked as they observed it.

Three small symbols were etched into her skin, one bearing a familiar emblem that Starlight always wore, one that Sunburst had always worn, and the last the two didn’t recognize, but appeared to be some kind of setting sun. They blinked and looked up at Angel with confusion.

“This represents three people to me that were life changers. Without them, I wouldn’t be who I am now. I owe everything to all three of them, and they may be the only people I’ve ever loved, but all three of them taught me what it was like to be loved…” Angel explained.

“Sunburst… Me… And… Who else?” Starlight tilted her head.

“Shimmer…” Angel responded quietly.

There was a long pause among the group. Starlight and Sunburst had come to understand Shimmer’s death to be the fault of Angel when she was still Adagio. While they had all moved past it, they never imagined she would want a permanent reminder of the bitter and angry person she was another lifetime ago.

“Didn’t you…” Starlight began but stopped herself, not wanting to pick at an old wound.

Angel nodded her expression serious, but confident. “Yes, I did. I will pay for that for the rest of my life, but I am still thankful to her. I don’t really know if the siren’s curse is real or not, or if I can ever really forgive myself for what I did, but I do know that Shimmer showed me how important it is to feel loved… I did some bad things, but that doesn’t mean I have to remember my time with Shimmer as purely negative. I loved her, and I still do… Just like I love you two…”

Starlight nodded and pulled her back in, Sunburst joining in for a group hug. “We love you too, Angel. Whatever you’ve done… We can move past it, we’re privileged just to be a part of your life.”

Nothing in life was ever a certainty. There was no telling what tomorrow would bring or if one could ever truly get away from their past, but one thing was certain to the girl formerly known as Adagio Dazzle: for the first time in her life, she understood what family felt like, and because of that, her healing could truly begin. She smiled as her new family hugged her, and under her breath, she thanked Princess Twilight, the mare who had given her a second chance, the mare who showed her she could be better if she was given the chance. Second chances truly were a blessing and not one that she would squander.

Bolt flipped his skateboard from under his feet and landed back upon it with relative ease. The teen had gotten much better at his hobby over the past three months thanks to the new time that he was afforded. Though he missed having magic abilities to enhance his skill, a part of him was glad he could go back to normal. It felt much more accomplished to achieve greatness without magic.

His mother had praised him for doing so well, and when everything was said and done with Serenade, he promised himself he would try harder in school for Fluttershy’s sake. He couldn’t bear any longer to try and keep his poor school performance from her, nor could he stand the thought of seeing her disappointed in him. So over the past few months, he had gone from a C- student up to a respectable B+ (with the exception of math which he only got up to a B-) one. His mom had given him the “way to go”, pep talk and they had celebrated a few times.

Things at home had eased up and his brother spent a lot of time sewing nowadays after Bolt told him he should do what he loved and not give a damn what others thought. His brother had become quite a natural too and gained some recognition from a few schools who were interested in his ability.

The stress of his mom ever being deployed again was finally behind them, as Rainbow Dash had been approved for early retirement now. After so many tours of duty, involvements in special missions, and being a part of the Returned Warriors, program, the military had decided to grant her early retirement. It finally put his mother at ease. They had told their two sons that they would stay in Canterlot for the foreseeable future and Fluttershy would become the breadwinner from her work at the veterinarian clinic where she was offered a job as the actual vet and no longer the assistant, something she had been dreaming of for years, but never saw happening due to them always moving.

Cloud had taken the news of his mom’s retirement quite well, as to him it was a sign that the old mule that was Rainbow Dash had finally learned her limit and learned to accept that she shouldn’t keep pushing herself beyond it. It only took losing her arm to finally get that lesson to sink in, it seemed. Whether or not she’d ever get that arm wrestling match with her old rival Applejack remained to be seen.

After her paperwork was filed, Rainbow actually started going to therapy seriously, and in earnest. She wanted to focus her time on being a housewife now, taking care of Fluttershy when she got home and being a mom to her two sons more. There would be a period of role reversal at their home, but Bolt was ready for it. It would be cool to have his mom around more often.

Doing another kickflip in front of the school, he grabbed his slacked beanie to ensure it didn’t fly off. When he landed, his black lopsided T-shirt hung down to his left side, his chest partially exposed from the large neck hole.

The glowing yellow bands wrapped around the sleeves seemed to shine in the dusk light. It was getting late, but he wasn’t ready to go home yet. Three months had passed, yet he was still processing a lot of what they had all learned on their adventure. Serenade was dead, but he had a hard time admitting that all the things he saw did get to him sometimes. They had been forced to kill people, and that much stuck with him. Even if those people were Serenade’s subordinates who threatened the lives of others, it didn’t mean that Bolt enjoyed the thought of ending the lives of others.

His thoughts were broken when a familiar squeaky voice crossed his ears. He turned and blinked as lime-green hair filled his vision. As per usual, Keylime’s outfit consisted of a mishmash of random oddities that for anyone else wouldn’t go together but somehow worked with her. A slanted half-skirt along with form-fitting shredded-up dark purple capri pants (one leg slightly shorter than the other of course), miss-matching socks along with red and white Converse shoes, and of course an asymmetrical crop top that showed off her midriff (along with a new belly button piercing she had obtained recently).

He eyed her up and down and nodded approvingly but instead of his usual perverse commentary, he went straight for practical discussion. “What’s up?”

Keylime looked upward with legitimate wonder. He should have expected such, but she looked back at him and shrugged. “Clouds, I guess. Say, did I ever tell you the time when I tried to turn clouds into cotton candy as a kid? See it all started when...”

He reached forward and covered her mouth and chuckled. “Maybe some other time, why are you here, Keylime?”

Once he released her, she placed a finger on her chin and tapped while looking up. Once she thought it over, she grinned happily. “Well, when a man and a woman love each other, or not inherently love each other but he just wants to get his rocks off, and she-“

“I didn’t mean why are you here on this planet, lord knows there is no answer to that, I meant what are you doing here with me right now?” Bolt rolled his eyes.

She blinked and nodded in understanding. “I came to check up on you, that’s all.”

“Check up on me?” He tilted his head.

She nodded again. “Indeed, you always come by every Thursday at 8:00 AM and get a few donuts from our bakery, but you haven’t been by at all lately. I was worried that there was something wrong with the batter, but after eighty-eight tests, we’re pretty certain that the batter is indeed perfection. Your taste buds must be not working correctly, so you really should see a doctor about that.”

“I promise there’s nothing wrong with your donuts or my taste buds...” Bolt shook his head and sighed.

“Well, that just makes your actions completely insane. We’re serving confectionary perfection and you’re not eating it, and it’s not because your taste buds are completely fried? Nothing about this makes sense...” Keylime shook her head.

Never in his life had Bolt met someone who took sweets so seriously as the Pie family. He couldn’t cook worth a shit, let alone bake, but Keylime had a natural talent for it, just like her mother. He was somewhat envious of how easy things seemed to come to her. Keylime pulled better grades than he had without much discernible effort, she did alright at PE and she was loved by all the teachers. She even spoke Japanese and American sign language! She was a multi-talented girl.

“Nothing surrounding you makes sense...” Bolt pointed out.

“That’s not true, air is around me, and air makes perfect logical sense,” Keylime corrected as she wagged her finger, the many colorful bands on her wrist shaking as she did.

“Never mind... You were worried about me, weren’t you?” Bolt cut right to the point.

Keylime nodded. “Mostly because of the donuts thing, but now that you’ve cleared that up, my worry toward you for other stuff is coming out. What’s going on with you?”

He sighed and stood his board up on its end, the top of it clutched in his fingers as he spoke to her. “I’ve just been thinking about the past...”

“Dinosaurs? Yeah, they cause me concern when I think about them...” Keylime nodded.

“I meant our past...” He rolled his eyes.

“You had dinosaurs in your past? That must have been super neat. Did you ever have to ride one? I can’t ever find one to ask...” She frowned.

He was having a difficult time discerning if the girl was serious or not, but shrugged and realized she probably was and ignored her inquiry regardless.

“I just... Lightning Dust, you know?”

“What about her?” Keylime asked.

“I just was thinking about how she fell into Serenade’s clutches and she’s dead now because of me. I killed her, and that’s something I can’t escape...” He frowned.

Keylime shook her head. “Maybe so, but you saved my life too. That more than makes up for it.”

He rubbed his neck awkwardly. “Yeah... I remember...” His mind had wandered to that moment when she had kissed him. It was still something they had not talked about since that day, but it definitely came to the forefront of his mind more often than it probably should have.

Sensing his embarrassment, Keylime leaned in. “You must be thinking about that kiss, huh?”

“Well, I was going to be more tactful than that.” He rolled his eyes, still trying to avoid eye contact.

With a smile, she came closer and took his hands. She pulled them behind her and placed them on her waist as she looked up at him. His eyes were drawn to hers, along with the eyeful of cleavage that anyone would get by looking down at Keylime, but he remained silent.

This time, no words were said, and both of them leaned in, lips locking. It definitely felt way better than the first time.

The reality for Eclipse was, that he had never really grown up. He had taken on adult responsibilities and adult roles, but he didn’t really know how not to be a kid. Here he was though, a young adult trying to figure out how to pay rent, how to manage a life, and everything more. Truthfully, he hated it.

Sunset had called him her brother and spoke of an obligation to take care of him, to make sure he was cared for. As a result, she had pulled some strings and made paperwork for him appear out of thin air, likely using a similar technique that Shimmer had for her; a technique that Eclipse suspected took a lot of money moving between hands. Money that she now had plenty of.

She had told him the importance of finding purpose, and as a result, he had gotten an apartment paid for by her, and a part-time job working for a non-profit organization that helped gay people like himself who were without a home, be it from parental disownment or other reasons. It was interesting work, and he got to share parts of his own story with others (leaving out specific details of course), and while he felt like he was making a difference to those youths, he couldn’t help but feel somewhat empty.

He had meant what he said before, in that he had kept himself alive solely to kill Serenade, nothing else. Now that the job was done, however, he felt listless. A longing to just end himself. While he had found his loathing of Sunset had come to pass, and himself coming to care for his niece, Horizon, Eclipse still didn’t feel much reason to keep going. His parents were dead, though not that they cared much about what he did anyway. He had avenged them, and there was little left for him to do.

Not a thing Eclipse did made him feel fulfilled, he had returned to that child he was so many years ago who just didn’t care about anything. Nothing mattered, nothing concerned him. His life was completely without joy.

Many nights he would lay awake wondering if anyone would even really notice for longer than a week if he was gone. Getting eight hours of sleep was difficult for that reason.

What had stopped him from actually doing it, he never understood. He wasn’t afraid of death, if anything death just seemed like “another thing” to him. It was someone waiting at the door ready to be let in, and all he had to do was answer the door and he could stop this pointless charade.

Today, after leaving work, he was feeling about as listless as always, his expression one of an uncaring man. For his age, he appeared young, though he was an adamant believer in preserving one’s appearance. He did so to feed his never-ending sexual needs, which he always preached that if you weren’t watching how you looked, no one else was either. Sex was his addiction, it was the only thing that seemed to distract him these days, and it was getting worse. Often after work, he would be texting various men to meet up with him to satisfy himself. On many occasions, he had met with as many as eight in a single night.

Everything felt empty to him, yet he didn’t want to admit that he was just faking interest in life to his sister or niece. In actuality, he was always contemplating how it’d be easier if he got it over with now so they could move on from him earlier rather than later when they get more attached.

Twilight had taken a liking to him as well and viewed him as somewhat of a lost soul at times, and always offering him encouraging words whenever she could. She was a sweet girl, maybe even too sweet for someone like Sunset, but it wasn’t his place to judge. His sister had a hero complex, but he had started to recognize that she couldn’t help it at times and was working to surpass it.

He walked toward his Nissan and sighed before placing his head upon the window, and just standing there silently. Sure enough, as if on cue, a crack of thunder was heard and water began to downpour over him and his half-opened button-up shirt. He groaned as his long silky hair went flat and draped over himself.

It felt like the universe hated him at that moment, but he didn’t care enough to do anything about it. Something was missing from his life, and nothing he did filled the hole. When chasing Serenade he could ignore it because he had a purpose at that time, something that he was setting out to do, but now he felt like his existence was meaningless. This human world wouldn’t even notice if he lived or died, save for his sister and her family.

“Fuck me...” He mumbled out loud.

A raspy voice came from behind him at his request. “Well, I was gonna be more elegant about it than that...”

Blinking, his eyes shot open. He recognized that voice anywhere, it was one he hadn’t heard in several years, but one he would never forget. Yet it was impossible, there was no way it could be him. The gateway between their worlds was closed forever, meaning that there was no way that who he thought was there could actually be standing behind him.

Turning slowly, Eclipse moved wet hair out of his face to get a better look, and there in a slant-cut tank top was a set of somewhat impressive muscles, along with a soft face. Black and white messy hair that was about medium length, and a pair of shining eyes that he knew anywhere. He was wearing a pair of belted black jeans with a half skirt draping to the left side. The jeans themselves were somewhat form-fitting, almost qualifying as skinny jeans. On his wrist, was a black chain bracelet, and on the other side was his phone which glowed white.

Interestingly, he was wearing earrings, something Eclipse had never really thought about on him back in Equestria; but they looked cute.

“What the fuck are you doing here? How did you even get here?” Eclipse raised a brow, still in disbelief.

He shrugged and adjusted the umbrella that he was carrying. “I told you, dude... That amulet... As long as you had it, I would find you again.”

Eclipse looked down to his neck and gripped the familiar crystal that dangled from it. It wasn’t possible, was it? That this tiny trinket had somehow led the griffon to him somehow?

“What do you mean?” Eclipse asked, looking back up at him.

“It was enchanted a long time ago. So long as you have access to magic, you can track it down. I had a unicorn back in Equestria use a spell to try and find you, but it didn’t work, being in another world made it too difficult to get a proper read... So I traveled further to find a more powerful one until eventually it led me to the human world...” He explained.

“How did you find me here?” He asked.

He shrugged. “I went off the little info I had obtained from Princess Twilight. She had told me that you admitted to her that Sunset Shimmer was your sister, so I spent a lot of time here trying to find anything I could about her to track her down, figuring you’d be close by, but since she apparently was living in hiding for a long time, it took some time to find you. I just talked to Sunset, and she told me what you guys did, tracking down Serenade and all?”

Eclipse remained still, releasing the gemstone in his hand. “What of it?”

The other male smiled back at him. “Pretty cool if you ask me. That’s hardcore.”

“Thanks, but I don’t need you validating my accomplishments. What do you want, Galeal?” Eclipse grumbled.

Galeal rubbed his neck with his free hand. “Let’s not make this too awkward...”

“Too late,” Eclipse retorted.

With a sigh, Galeal took a few steps forward and closed the distance between the two. He leaned forward to get the shorter male under his umbrella with him as he spoke. “Listen... I’ve wanted to apologize for the past for so long now... I imagined after all this time I’d know what to say, but like... I guess I still suck at this thing...”

“Suck at what? Saying something sincere, or being gay?” Eclipse responded with a hint of venom in his voice.

“Both, I guess...” Galeal frowned, looking away. “I wanted to start over, dude.”

“That’s going to be difficult considering you’re apparently not gay...” Eclipse rolled his eyes, mocking him.

“I told them the truth...” Galeal responded.

That, Eclipse had not expected.

“What?”

Galeal looked back at him and smirked. “I told them everything. That I was gay, and that I wanted to be with you. I came all this way to tell you that I finally came clean about what I am. I know the chances of you taking me back are low, but I didn’t want to go on until I tried... I want to be completely open this time, to have what we did before...”

Eclipse bit his lip. He could tell that Galeal was being sincere, as he wouldn’t have trapped himself in the human world otherwise, but his emotions had started to bubble up inside of him. For so many years he had held back emotion, but whenever Galeal came into his life, emotions seemed to creep forward on him.

“Galeal... You’re asking me to take you back, after all this time?” Eclipse clarified.

Galeal nodded. “Yeah, I liked what we had... Even if you are a massive faggot.” There was a playful tone to his voice.

Oh, how Eclipse missed their banter, but it wasn’t enough for him. Something was still missing.

Looking up at him, Eclipse stood incredulously. His gaze became serious. “Galeal... If you want me to take you seriously, I need you to stop being playful and actually say what you haven’t said all this time...”

Galeal’s face contorted to one of discomfort. “Come on, dude, you’re really going to make me say that kind of shit? I’m no good at that...”

“I need to hear it to know it’s true. You can’t go back on something if you say it out loud, and I know that about you. I need to hear the truth from your mouth, or you just wasted your time coming here...” Eclipse demanded.

Sighing, Galeal took a deep breath and reached a strong hand forward. He brushed back the wet white hair from Eclipse’s face and gave him a gentle smile as he looked down at him. Even after all these years, he was still so effeminate. As a human, he almost seemed cuter than he had been before as a unicorn. There was just something about this boy that made Galeal long for him.

“Eclipse, I have been pretty shitty to you... I know that...” Galeal began.

“Stating the obvious won’t get you anywhere...” Eclipse rolled his eyes.

“I wasn’t finished...” Galeal grunted.

Silence filled the air once more and Galeal caressed the male’s cheek before resting his hand upon it, looking down at him and touching his forehead to Eclipse’s. “I fucked up, and it’s taken a long time but I want to fix it...”

“Then say it, Galeal...” Eclipse spoke softer, his heart racing.

“I love you, Eclipse... I always have. I just didn’t want to admit it for some stupid reason. I squandered what we had, and I’m an idiot for that. I wish I could take it back, but I can’t. I’ll do anything though, we can live a normal life, I’ll move in, we’ll get married, all of that shit. I don’t care what people think anymore, and I mean it this time...” Galeal spoke.

There was silence. Painful silence.

Galeal gulped, feeling rejection set in. “Say something, man...”

“Galeal...” Eclipse nearly whispered.

“Yeah?”

“Do you mean all of that?” Eclipse asked.

He nodded. “I’ll prove it if you give me the chance.”

“If you mean it... Then kiss me right now...” Eclipse smiled.

Not wasting another second, Galeal’s hand snaked around Eclipse’s neck and he pulled the male in, not caring if he got soaked. Eclipse leaned in and placed his hands on the taller male’s waist, allowing himself to be kissed. The two smacked lips for a solid eight seconds before breaking the kiss and resting foreheads against each other. Galeal parted his lips slowly and spoke gently. “I have missed that so much...”

“You and me both... No one ever did that like you did for me...” Eclipse giggled lightly.

“You’re just as cute as when we met, you know that?” Galeal said.

Eclipse chuckled and tapped his nose. “There’s something else I’ve missed...”

Galeal blinked before realizing the look in Eclipse’s eyes was a lusty one. “Oh... Really? Right now?”

Eclipse nodded. “Let’s go back to my place...”

“Sounds like a plan.” Galeal laughed.

It had taken some time for Cloud to move past everything that they had been through. He had seen so much over the past few months that he wasn’t sure how he was managing to take it in stride up to that point. He remembered how panicked he was when he was certain that his brother would die, and how he lost it when Sunset had her little episode in front of the group. He had always had a weak constitution, but everything he had was put to the test.

Through all of it, he had leaned on his brother, the stronger of the two to make it through. Bolt was always the one doing the rescuing, and Cloud was always the one being rescued, that was the nature of their dynamic.

It was because he cared so deeply and relied so heavily on his brother that Cloud was always self-conscious of his thoughts. Throughout the years he had made his thoughts on effeminate things very known, right down to his blatant homophobia. Yet, ironically he never said heads or tails about any of that to Cloud. Never had he called anything Cloud did “girly” or “for fags” as he had put it. There were even times when he had stuck up for him doing things that weren’t exactly good for his masculinity.

It always perplexed Cloud, making him wonder if his brother would approve of him being in any way so long as he was his brother, or if he protected him out of pity and kept his feelings of resentment to himself.

It was time though, it had been long overdue to confront Bolt on a matter that he was certain the two of them had known was going to come about one way or another.

He sighed and took a breath before leaving his bedroom and making his way across the hall to his brother’s door, catching a nod and a glance from his mother on the way. Rainbow appeared to be transporting a laundry basket to the back room where the washer and dryer rested.

After his eyes moved away from his mother, they rested back on Bolt’s door, which of course was covered in various skateboarding and video game stickers. Composing himself in his long sweater, Cloud tapped on the door nervously.

“Yo, come on in,” A deep voice from the other side ushered.

Sighing, Cloud opened the door and stepped inside nodding at his brother who was focused on a video game as he fidgeted away with a controller in his hand. “Sup?” Bolt asked.

“Am I interrupting?” Cloud leaned in to get a look at the game, but given that he wasn’t too into games, it was hard to say what game it was, or if he was particularly far in it.

Bolt shook his head. “Not really, I’ve beaten this before, I’m just trophy farming, what’s up, dude?”

Cloud felt the nervousness in his body well up some more. His legs were trembling, ready to give out. A part of him beckoned to call it all off and go back to his room, but the point of no return approached as he cleared his throat.

“Bolt, I-“ Cloud stopped, not sure of what to say.

It was as if Bolt had read his mind and knew exactly how to encourage him. “Just say it, man.”

Inhaling and exhaling, Cloud nodded and composed himself. “Well, we’ve been through a lot together, Bolt...”

“Of course.” Bolt raised a brow.

There was another pause followed by Bolt finally pausing his game and setting his controller down. He looked over at his brother and directed all of his attention to the effeminate boy. “What’s bothering you, bro?”

“I have been thinking about some things...” Cloud fidgeted with his fingers from under his obnoxiously long sweater.

“Oh?” Bolt kept his demeanor casual, but could clearly see the discussion was about to turn serious.

“I... I guess I’ve been confused for a long time...” Cloud winced just letting the words out.

“Confused about what?” Bolt replied.

Cloud braced himself. “I don’t know, I guess my gender or something... I have been for a long time, but the past few months have been pretty hard on me. The entire thing with Serenade distracted me at first, but I sort of was forced to face some thoughts during that time and I haven’t been able to forget about them.”

There was a short pause followed by Bolt’s words that had an air of neutrality to them. “You mean like you’re transgender or something?”

“I don’t know about that, but I definitely have some dysphoria...” Cloud closed his eyes, not sure of what to expect.

Another awkward silence filled the room followed by a single-word reply from Bolt that caused Cloud to open an eye. “So?”

“So?” Cloud responded with surprise.

“Yeah, so?” Bolt shrugged.

Cloud was genuinely surprised. “I was... Expecting a different response than that...”

Bolt smirked. “You’re my brother, I’d die for you, man. I don’t care what you are or what you’re into. It doesn’t make a difference to me.”

“Yeah, but you’re so homophobic at times that I worry...” Cloud frowned.

Bolt shook his head and stood up from his bed, placing his hands on Cloud’s small shoulders. “Listen, I’ve been a dipshit for a while, but I’ve been thinking it over and I really should try and stop saying shit like that. I guess I’ve just been uncomfortable, but I never knew why. The more I think about it, the more I realize how ignorant I’ve been. Keylime has kind of shown me that stuff that is weird isn’t inherently bad.”

Cloud blinked. “I take it things went well with her then?”

Bolt smirked and winked. “It’s in the bag, man.”

“Well, I’m happy for you.” Cloud smiled.

Bolt nodded and nudged the younger sibling’s cheek. “You’re my brother, Cloud. I’ll stick up for you no matter what, okay? I promise. In exchange, you gotta teach me to be better, alright?”

Cloud grinned and covered his mouth as his girlish giggle escaped him. “It’s a deal, brother.”

Cinder had long since finished her work at the Apple family’s farm, and now that Serenade had been gone for a solid few months, the woman had found new work at a grocery store stocking shelves. She had made a few acquaintances there who enjoyed her company, though she could never truly be 100% sincere with them regarding herself. She had kept the story of her arm being from the military going, but she found at least some sense of belonging.

Eclipse would come and visit her from time to time, and the two would spar now and then, but the rest of the time they would share a drink and talk about the old war stories. Sometimes he would ask her about her life in Dragon Scar, and she would indulge him. It always felt like he was one of the few people who were genuinely interested in hearing about it too.

The last time they had met, he had told her that Galeal had returned to be with him and the two had decided to be together once more, something that she was over the moon for him for. Galeal made Eclipse feel complete, and the sisterly nature of Cinder made her smile just thinking about that.

While work and normal life were great, a part of Cinder still missed her days as a warrior. She had trained her entire life to be a warrior, to be the blade of Dragon Scar, and while peace had its own benefits, she was restless without a fight to prepare for. She had raised a few students and all of them had made her proud, and she was thankful for the ones she could still see. Though, without any more fights to have, Cinder wondered what her purpose now would be.

On nights when Eclipse didn’t visit, Sunset would drop by and the two would drink until dawn (though Cinder could easily outdrink her). It was nice to have a few companions who knew her from back home.

The rest of the time though, she found herself sitting at home with little to occupy her time. She had gotten into reading high fantasy novels about battles with mythical creatures to pass the time, as it reminded her of home. Though she didn’t care much for how the dragons were often depicted as the villains or beasts in them, she still found them entertaining and could look past their lesser qualities.

Life was simple, almost too simple. Dragons were creatures that were known to go and do as they pleased whenever they pleased, but the human world didn’t accommodate that sort of behavior very well. Everything in this world was regimented, organized, and with a long list of rules and requirements. Sunset had even had to help Cinder figure out how to file taxes and pay bills. It was not something Cinder truly enjoyed, as math wasn’t her strongest subject.

A nearby gym had been her favorite hangout spot, as Sunset got her a membership, saying it was a gift for old time’s sake and saving her skin a few times back during the war.

Cinder frequented it every day after work for a good two hours before heading home and had become known by the locals there. Many were often impressed with her physical fitness and how much weight she could bench and deadlift. Many of the women who were there aspired to be like her, wanting to learn from her ability. It gave her a sense of being a teacher once more, but it somehow just wasn’t enough for the former warrior of Dragon Scar.

Today though, as she was heading home from the gym, a face she hadn’t seen in some months appeared before her. A woman with long flowing hair dyed a midnight black with expert-level detail. She was sporting a set of gold hoop earrings, which Cinder already knew why she avoided silver.

She stood there with an expensive tote bag over her exposed shoulders. Her outfit was expensive and flawlessly showed off her impressive figure. Cinder smiled at the woman and offered a fist bump, which she reluctantly took, and performed the gesture rather awkwardly. It was clear she was more of a handshake or hug kind of woman.

Cinder placed her hands on her hips as she looked her up and down. “A few months go by and you still are quite a sight to see, Rarity Apple… If I didn’t know your own skill myself, I’d say you’re the most effeminate woman I know, but you and I both know you have a tough side to you…”

Rarity blushed and stroked a piece of hair behind her ear. “Well… In the past, I’d be offended at such a notion… But a lady needs to be able to protect herself too, right? I think I learned that more than ever when you were around…”

“What could you possibly need protection from, Rarity? You’re naturally tougher than most…” Cinder asked.

Rarity looked at the ground and nodded, clearly a bit bashful about the subject.

“You never plan on telling them, do you?” Cinder asked.

Rarity looked up at her with a sad expression. “How can one tell their family that they’re this… This monster…”

“You’re not a monster, Rarity. Most people would see me as a monster, but I know that I’m not and that’s all that matters…” Cinder replied.

Sighing, Rarity nodded. “No… You’re not. I wish I shared your carefree nature…”

“I’m far from carefree.” Cinder chuckled.

Rarity rolled her eyes. “Well… Still…”

“How did it happen if you don’t mind me asking?” Cinder raised a brow.

“I got bit when I was around ten or so, darling… Then I got very sick, I managed to survive so I turned into… Well… One of them…” Rarity frowned and looked away.

“So there’s a chance you could have just died?” Cinder asked.

Nodding, Rarity bit her lip. “About 98% of those who get bit die… The body fights it off like an infection and usually, it kills you… However, in rare cases, you survive and the body adapts…”

“So if anything… It only proved how strong you really are, Rarity.” Cinder reminded.

Blinking, Rarity looked back at the woman and blushed. “I… I suppose that’s true… You always know what to say, Cinder…”

“I wouldn’t say always…” Cinder chuckled.

Rarity rubbed her neck and there was silence between the two. Cinder sensed something was amiss and broke the silence.

“Something else is on your mind, Rarity.” It was more of a statement and less of a question.

The dark-haired woman nodded in response. “Yes… Well… I know all of the matter with Serenade is behind us and all, but…”

“But?” Cinder leaned in.

“I would like to know if you’d still be interested in training with Candy…” Rarity asked.

Cinder tilted her head. “Why? All is well now, there is no need to be ready for a fight anymore.”

Rarity nodded. “Yes, I’m aware, but… Candy just… She really seemed to find focus when she trained with you, discipline, a lot of which I just couldn’t get out of her myself.”

Cinder smiled. “I’d be more than happy to teach her.”

“And… Maybe… If you’re not overburdened and willing to take on another student…” The woman shuffled awkwardly.

Cinder blinked in surprise. “You want to train too?”

Rarity nodded. “It’s a good chance for Candy and I to get closer… And… Given my nature, you never know when another threat to our family will come, and I can’t just rely solely on Applejack to take care of everything all the time!”

Cinder laughed and nodded in agreement. “She is usually quite busy. I’d be happy to take on the both of you.”

Rarity stepped forward quickly and wrapped the larger woman into a hug; a hug that surprised her, but Cinder returned it, placing her arms around the petite woman, rubbing her back gently.

There were no more fights to prepare for, no more wars to be fought, and yet, Cinder had found a new purpose, perhaps her skills and talents still had a use after all, if there were students willing to learn, perhaps she could prepare them for fights she would no longer be present for. After all, life was meaningless without purpose.

Candy Apple had been waiting outside of school to get a glimpse of Cloud. The young boy was just as adorable as she remembered. She hadn’t seen him in a good few months due to conflicting schedules. Her mother had sent her to a few seminars regarding fashion and allowed her to assist with a few dresses she had been working on, so Candy’s schedule was quite busy.

During the last three months though, she had recently turned thirteen, and puberty had kicked into overdrive for the girl. She had grown a good three inches in height and was beginning to have the curves of a woman. Like her mother before her, she was an early bloomer and wasn’t afraid to admit it.

Her shoulder-length hair bounced as she walked trying to get closer to Cloud who was exiting the school, now heading toward the parking lot where he usually waited for his brother, who Candy knew would arrive in fifteen minutes, as always. It was like clockwork.

Making her move quickly, Candy approached and stopped directly in front of Cloud who blinked and glanced her up and down. “C-Candy?” He blinked, trying to determine if it was really her.

She nodded and giggled as she placed her hands behind her back and swayed her body. “Didn’t recognize me now that I’m all grown up, did you?”

“You look… Different…” He blushed and looked away bashfully.

Damn he’s so cute! Candy thought.

She winked at him. “Puberty. I’m thirteen now, you know?”

He nodded but refused to look directly at her, so as not to be rude.

She giggled and snapped her fingers. “Hey, you can look, it’s okay.”

“I’m trying to be polite…” He replied.

“I said it’s fine. I mean I wore this outfit to show it off, so it’d be a waste if people didn’t look.” She giggled.

Cloud seemed to relax just a little bit and turned more toward her, though he kept his eyes focused on her face. Something she found absolutely irresistible about him. Cloud was too polite for his own good, and that excited Candy. The idea of convincing him to break the rules was far more exciting.

“So uh… You’ve been busy with learning from your mother, then?” Cloud asked.

She nodded. “I heard you want to take up being a designer too?”

He blushed. “Uh… Yeah… I kind of learned a little bit when I was in Japan as a kid…”

“Oh that’s right, you guys have traveled a lot! I’m so jealous!” Candy squealed in delight.

He rubbed his neck. “Yeah well… That’s coming to an end. Mom got the retirement papers, and Fluttershy couldn’t be happier about it. So no more moving for us, Canterlot is where we’re gonna be for a while now.”

Candy smiled at hearing that news. “I’m glad… I’d hate to see you leave…”

“I’d still message you all…” Cloud admitted.

“And would you message me?” She asked.

Cloud’s face only turned redder. “O-of course…”

She grinned and stepped closer, placing a hand on his chest. Cloud’s expression turned to a much more nervous one as she gripped his shirt in her hand, now speaking in a lusty voice to him. “Cloud… You and I… We have a lot in common don’t we?”

He looked down at her and nodded. “Uh… Yes… I think so…”

She smiled and reached up with her other hand, touching his cheek. “Do you think… We should do some stuff together sometime?”

Cloud’s face was sweating lightly. “Candy… I… I’m a few years older than you…”

She shook her head. “We don’t have to do anything until I’m older, promise. I just want to be around you…”

Cloud bit his lip and looked away. “I… I don’t know if that’s going to be a good idea…”

She frowned and released his shirt. “Why not? Do you not like me?”

“No, it’s not that. I think you’re incredible it’s just… I’m not so sure you’ll like me down the road…” Cloud frowned.

She tilted her head. “Why not?”

Cloud was silent, he wasn’t sure how to word it. “It’s… Well…”

“You can tell me anything, Cloud. I promise I won’t be mad.” She gave him a warm smile.

Seeing her smile somehow put him at ease. He felt like he could trust her with anything when he saw her smile like that.

He let out a sigh and composed himself. “It’s like this… I’ve been really… Well… Not sure about who I am for a little while now and I was thinking…” He paused and looked over at her. She was patiently waiting for his explanation. “I’ve been thinking… Maybe I’d be happier as a girl…”

There was silence.

He frowned, sensing he had made things awkward, but to his surprise Candy’s expression was neutral.

“Like… You’re thinking of going to the clinic kind of thinking?” She asked.

He nodded. “Yeah, when I turn 18 probably…”

“And you think this will make you happy?” She asked.

He frowned. “Yeah… I think so.”

Candy stepped forward and took his hands in her own, she had a warm touch. She squeezed lightly and smiled at Cloud. “I kind of had a feeling…”

“How did you…?” Cloud began.

“A girl just knows.” She winked.

“You’re not disappointed?” He asked.

She shook her head as she squeezed his hands tighter. “It doesn’t bother me. I’ll be there with you, I’ll teach you how to dress, how to do everything, I don’t care if you’re a boy or a girl, I care that you’re you.”

Cloud smiled at her and nodded. “Okay. Then we’re in it together then?”

She nodded. “I’ll go wherever you go, Cloud. I will be there for you no matter what.”

Cloud squeezed her hand and just smiled at her, saying nothing, as if nothing needed to be said.

Adagio stepped out of the bathtub and wrapped a towel around herself. She smiled as she saw her little sister enter the bathroom for her turn to freshen up. The two had just finished a concert yesterday and today was their day to recharge. Adagio nodded at her sister as she stepped past her, gently brushing her shoulder with her hand as she entered the bedroom.

Serenade was saved thanks to the efforts of Sunset and her friends and Adagio was thankful. It was incredible to think that only a short while ago, the two were worried about Serenade turning into the same monster that the other Serenade was, but now they were able to move on with their lives and everything was a distant memory.

Adagio had reached out to Sunset in the past few months to thank her once again, but Sunset only said that she had nothing to thank her for. In Sunset’s mind, the two of them wouldn’t even be in the predicament they found themselves in if she hadn’t come to the human world in the first place.

While Adagio didn’t know all the details, she could feel Sunset’s pain.

Serenade stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom and began to remove her makeup with the makeup wipes next to the sink. As she removed her eyeliner she glanced at her youthful face. At only age fifteen, Serenade had many years of youth before her, and she smiled at how pretty she had become.

She turned to view her body and she had all the markings of someone who was on the path to becoming a full-fledged woman. Her rear had grown to be shapely, and her chest had grown to a respectable C-cup (unlike her more flat-chested sister). She nodded in delight as she admired her beauty.

Adagio spoke to her from the other room as she began to clip her toenails. “English class going well for me.”

Serenade spoke back as she opened the medicine cabinet and retrieved a facial creme she began to apply to her face. “I’m glad to hear sis. Your English is getting better too.”

“Thank you. It’s such a hard language…” Adagio admitted from the other room.

Serenade chuckled and nodded. “I mean, you managed to help me learn it.”

“Yes, but teachers do more for you than me,” Adagio admitted.

Serenade laughed. “You never taught me Russian though.”

“Not useful here in America. It was better for you to learn English…” Adagio replied.

Serenade spoke quietly so that Adagio could not hear her. “Ich bin anderer Meinung, Schwester…”

Adagio called out to Serenade. “What was that?”

“Nothing, just talking to myself…” Serenade spoke.

Adagio blinked, sure she had heard something, but she decided not to comment on it. Changing the subject, Adagio called out to her sister. “Say, do you think all the danger we dealt with is over?”

Serenade blinked and smiled. “I don’t know, it’s impossible to say…”

Adagio nodded in agreement. “Perhaps we should buy life insurance? You never know what can happen. Should always have a backup plan.”

Serenade smirked as she gazed at herself in the mirror. A black tendril came out from her neck and moved unnaturally as she observed it. She reached forward and petted the tendril as she spoke out loud. “Yes… I think you’re right, sister… It’s always good to have a backup plan…”

Sunset ran a hand through her freshly cut hair, wondering if she had gone too extreme. Her hair now came down to her neck, a far cry from the almost ankle-length red hair she was sporting for years now. She had tidied up, and her face was far more visible now; no longer hidden by thick locks. She had opted to donate the massive amount of hair just that morning.

Sighing, she parked her car and composed herself. It was her scheduled visit with Horizon. Twilight and Sunset had talked it over after Sunset defeated Serenade and discovered that death wasn’t her future after all, and they had decided that it would be best for her to slowly reintroduce herself to Horizon’s life. They had agreed upon weekly visits, and Sunset had kept her end of the promise.

Every Friday, she would come by in the afternoon, and they would spend time together, but only at the house, while Twilight was home. Sunset respected Twilight’s wishes and decided she was right that they had to let Horizon decide the pace at which this progressed.

Stepping out of the car, Sunset looked up at the stairs in front of the house. Twilight had not changed much about the manor since she took over, though she did considerably increase their family’s wealth.

There at the top of the stairs, Twilight stood, she blinked a few times as she observed the redhead standing next to the expensive vehicle. Coming down the stairs with Horizon at her side, Twilight chuckled as she observed Sunset’s new appearance.

“Well that’s quite a drastic change, don’t you think? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you with short hair…” Twilight giggled.

Sunset placed a hand on her head and frowned as she ruffled her own hair. “You think it’s too much? Maybe I went overboard?”

Twilight waved her hand dismissively to the redhead. “No, it’s fine, I was just surprised is all. It’s cute. It looks good on you.”

Sunset smiled. “I kind of just wanted a fresh start, that’s all.”

“Given all you’ve been through, I don’t blame you…” Twilight nodded at her.

Horizon looked up at her mother and said nothing. Sunset looked down at Horizon and noted that her hair had grown quite a bit since the two worked together to defeat Serenade. What was once shoulder length had grown well past her shoulders and now rested a good eight inches past them.

Sunset smiled at her daughter and patted the girl’s head. Horizon merely stared as usual.

“Have you heard from the Princess?” Twilight changed the subject.

Sunset shook her head. “Nope. And I won’t anymore either.”

“So the portal being destroyed really did destroy the connection to Equestria?” Twilight asked.

Sunset smirked. “Well, I don’t know about that, but I destroyed the journal.”

“Wha!?” Twilight blinked in shock.

“I told you before, I am done being called away from my family. I destroyed the only connection to Equestria I had left to ensure that couldn’t happen again. Even if the Princess came here, I would turn her away…” Sunset’s face was stern, Twilight could tell she was actually being serious.

“The bold adventurer settles down… I never thought I’d see it…” Twilight shook her head in disbelief.

“Nothing is more important to me now than my family…” Sunset replied.

Twilight rubbed her neck awkwardly. It was nice to hear that Sunset still considered her family, even if they were separated. The two hadn’t finalized a divorce, or even filed paperwork, but Sunset never brought up if they would get back together after she found out she was going to live after all. Twilight surmised that she assumed the situation remained unchanged from before, and respected Twilight’s wishes.

“You won’t miss Equestria?” Horizon tilted her head.

Sunset shook her head. “Nope. I’m better off without it, anyway.”

Twilight gestured for the group to head inside. “Let’s head in.”

Horizon followed Twilight, but Sunset stood at the car watching the two girls walking away, she was frozen in thought. She was taking the moment to take things in, she was finally free of all the things that weighed her down. She was finally with her daughter again.

Horizon glanced back at Sunset and blinked before she called out to her. “Are you coming, mom?”

Twilight flinched at hearing the last word that Horizon said, as did Sunset. The two older women glanced at each other, never hearing Horizon address Sunset as her mother. Sunset could almost cry hearing that word, could it mean her daughter finally saw her as a mother again?

Sunset composed herself and nodded. “Yeah, I’m coming.”

The redhead followed the two girls, letting Twilight go on about how Yuna was coming over later to see Horizon, but Sunset could barely hear any of it, she was lost in her own thoughts with a bright smile on her face. She finally felt at home.

The Girl Who Never Smiles

Horizon and Sunset hurled a ball back and forth, as Yuna watched them. Given that the other two were far more athletic than she, Yuna often would sit things out when the two engaged in more physical activities. Instead, she opted to draw, illustrating the sight before her.

Sunset caught the ball before glancing over at Yuna with a smirk upon her face. She gave a wink to Horizon before calling out to Yuna. “Hey Yuna! Heads up!”

Quickly, Sunset tossed the ball in Yuna’s direction, catching the girl off guard. She only heard her name called at the last second and quickly came to a stand, dropping her sketchbook on the table as she attempted to catch the ball. Fumbling, the girl missed it and fell flat on her butt.

Sunset blinked as Horizon and she raced over to see if Yuna was already. As the two women looked down at her, Yuna’s face turned red in embarrassment over her inability to catch a ball.

To Yuna’s surprise though, when she looked up, she saw perhaps the most beautiful and amazing sight she had ever laid eyes upon. As Horizon looked down at her, the corners of her mouth turned and her face lit up as she began to laugh uncontrollably. Sunset blinked and looked over at her daughter as well who was holding her stomach as she laughed at Yuna.

“Oh! Oh wow! Your face!” Horizon laughed.

Yuna and Sunset were silent while Yuna sat up to observe Horizon laughing.

“Horizon…” Yuna spoke softly.

Horizon managed to get her laughter under control as she wiped her eyes. “Yeah? What is it?”

“You’re smiling…” Sunset finished Yuna’s sentence for her.

Horizon’s face still sported the smile she had grown. She shrugged and kept grinning. “I guess I am. So?”

“I’ve never seen you smile before…” Yuna said quietly.

“Same…” Sunset added.

Horizon shrugged again. “I guess that means I must be happy.”

Horizon offered her hand to Yuna, who took it and pulled herself up. She found herself smiling too, so glad that she got to see Horizon happy for the first time. “I am too…” Yuna replied.

“Me as well.” Sunset nodded.

Twilight had stepped outside to see the group and she had just seen what transpired. She said nothing, but Sunset could tell she was content.

Clearing her throat, Sunset changed the subject. “Anyway… It’s getting late, I think it’s almost eight. I should get heading off, I’ll see you next week, okay Horizon?”

“Sunset…” Twilight interrupted.

Sunset glanced over at the woman. “Hm?”

“Why don’t you stay here tonight?” Twilight suggested.

Blinking, Sunset stepped forward. “Are you sure? Are any of the guest bedrooms prepared?”

Twilight shook her head. “You can sleep in my room if that’s alright with you?”

Sunset paused for a moment.

Twilight worried if she had crossed a line, but then Sunset’s next words put her at ease.

“As long as you’re comfortable with that…”

Twilight offered her hand, which Sunset took. “Nothing would make me happier…”

Come to me.

Those words kept echoing in Horizon’s ears that night. It had kept waking her up and plaguing her dreams. Finally, she sat upright and looked next to her. Yuna had stayed the night, and Horizon had said it was alright if she slept in her bed, so Yuna was right there fast asleep.

The girl looked so content, holding onto Horizon as if she were a teddy bear. Horizon slipped out of her grip and replaced herself with a pillow. Yuna gripped the pillow tighter as Horizon placed her glasses on her face.

She was wearing a large T-shirt and just a pair of panties, not a suitable outfit for going out. Quickly she slipped the shirt off and grabbed a nearby bra, snapping it on quickly. As she looked around for a top to wear, she could hear the voice in her head, it sounded just like her own almost.

Come to that place.

Horizon was about to ask what place, but then she somehow instantly remembered. Something about Everfree Forest, an old forest where her parents mentioned they went to Summer Camp to at one point. She wasn’t sure why she knew of it, as she had never been there, but something in her brain told her where it was.

Horizon slipped on a white sundress and carefully exited the room, leaving Yuna there sleeping. The teen snuck down the stairs and made her way to the garage. She slipped on a pair of sandals and grabbed her car keys.

Once she was in the car, she set the navigation to Everfree Forest. She assumed once she arrived, she would somehow know exactly where to go from there.

As the car took off, Horizon leaned back in her seat and tried to focus on the voice in her head. She spoke out loud to see if it would answer her. “Why are you calling me to Everfree?”

Something very important waits there.

“What is it?” Horizon questioned.

She got no answer. She sighed and closed her eyes and allowed the car to drive her there.

A good twenty minutes or so, she arrived at the edge of the forest and parked the car. The teen parked and stepped out, wandering into the woods, listening for the voice to guide her. Somehow she knew just where to go, following an unknown feeling guiding her.

It wasn’t long before she came to an opening in the trees where she felt she was called to. She stood there blankly and wondered what it was she was supposed to see here.

“I’m here… Now what do you want to show me?” Horizon asked.

“What indeed…?” Another voice came from behind a nearby tree.

Horizon turned and saw a blonde-haired teen stepping out from behind the tree. She recognized her right away, the young teenage Serenade. “Serenade? What are you doing here?”

The other teen smiled at Horizon and approached carefully. “I came here to meet you…”

“The voice, did you hear it too?” Horizon asked.

She nodded. “I did.”

“Won’t your sister be worried?” Horizon questioned.

A black tendril came out of the sleeve of Serenade’s crop top and caressed Horizon’s face. Horizon put two and two together quickly upon seeing the tendril. “No… You’re the other Serenade… How though? My mother killed you…”

Serenade nodded. “She did, however, one such as myself always has an insurance plan so to speak.”

“You took over the human Serenade’s body…” Horizon concluded.

The blonde giggled and nodded again. “Correct. When I implanted a part of myself in her, I never imagined I would actually have a use for her later, however, in my last moments I remembered and transferred my consciousness to this body… She’s still in here though, don’t worry.”

“So you came here to kill me then?” Horizon asked calmly.

Serenade laughed at how unaffected Horizon was by this news. “No. Quite the opposite actually… I’ve come here to protect you…”

“Protect me?” Horizon tilted her head in confusion.

The petite Serenade reached toward Horizon and placed her hands upon Horizon’s face, holding her cheeks as she spoke softly to Horizon. “I was blind before… Blind to how special you really are, how important you are… You and I want the same thing, you just don’t know it yet.”

“Is that so?” Horizon asked.

Serenade nodded. “I will be your most valuable ally, I promise you that. I will protect you from the others.”

“Others?” Horizon blinked.

“Your so-called friends… They will come to this place soon, once they know you’ve come here, and they will try to lead you astray, Horizon. They will try and make you destroy yourself…” Serenade explained.

“Why would they do that?” Horizon questioned.

Placing a finger upon Horizon’s lips, Serenade hushed her. “They don’t know, that’s why. They don’t know what I know, and what you’re about to know. You’ll see, when the time comes, you’ll see that I am protecting you from destroying yourself. If you listen to me, you’ll live, if you listen to them, you’ll perish.”

“How can I possibly trust you? You’ve tried to kill us all more times than I can count.” Horizon pointed out.

Serenade caressed Horizon’s face gently and smiled softly at her. “Horizon, you haven’t awoken yet. You will soon, and when you do, you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about.”

Horizon blinked as Serenade released her and stepped back a few steps. “What are you talking about?”

“You haven’t noticed it yet?”

“Noticed what?” Horizon tilted her head.

“You must have noticed that the number eight holds a lot of significance to you, doesn’t it?” Serenade asked.

Squinting, Horizon tried to remember. At first, she wasn’t sure what Serenade was talking about, but the more she thought about it, the more she began to realize that she would often see the number eight in many places, and for some reason, it always stood out to her when she saw it. It wasn’t until now that she thought about it though.

For as far back as she could remember, the number eight kept popping up. Why was she only realizing it now?

“Come to think of it… Yeah…” Horizon blinked.

Serenade smirked. “See, I’m not lying.”

“What does it mean though?” Horizon asked.

Serenade pointed to the ground, and before the two of them, a white crystalized rock protruded from the ground suddenly. Horizon stepped back and watched as the number eight appeared on the rock, it appeared to be glowing as if projected onto the rock.

Defying the very laws of physics, the eight on the rock turned sideways to make an infinity symbol. Horizon blinked in astonishment.

“It never was an eight… It was always that symbol. Eight merely resembles it… It used eight to convey itself to you…” Serenade explained.

“But… What is it?” Horizon said.

Serenade grinned as she stepped back. Quickly and without warning, a set of crystals broke out of the ground, capturing Horizon in them. She couldn’t move her lower body. She struggled to break free, but it was no use, she was trapped between the rocks. She looked over at Serenade in hopes of an explanation, but the blonde just placed a hand upon the crystals and spoke softly.

“It’s your destiny… Don’t worry though, I’ll be there soon enough to protect you… We have to part ways for a little while but don’t worry, I’ll see you very soon… Just remember what I said, the others will try to mislead you…” Serenade spoke.

Horizon didn’t even get a chance to reply as the crystals pulled her into the ground where she and they vanished, the earth reforming where they had protruded, leaving only the white rock with the symbol on it.

Serenade laughed as she approached the rock. “Things are finally getting interesting again…”

As the former siren placed a hand upon the rock, she vanished into thin air.

That morning when Sunset had discovered her daughter had gone missing, she had called up all of Horizon’s friends to go and find her. Somehow, when she was in a panic wondering where her daughter had gone, a memory from a long time ago popped into her head. It was a memory she had almost forgotten, but she recalled a hooded figure saying the words “Everfree Forest”. It was illogical to assume Horizon was there, but something inside of Sunset told her it was correct.

She wasted no time and had told all of Horizon’s friends to meet her there. Before she left, she recalled her conversation with Twilight.

“Twilight, I am going to find our daughter. I’ll bring her back, just stay here…” Sunset spoke.

Twilight sighed and looked down as Sunset said those words. Sunset comforted her by taking her hands and squeezing them gently, causing Twilight to meet her eyes. “Twilight, I’m not going to leave again, I promise. I’m going to bring our friends with me to ensure I come back. We’re going to find Horizon and bring her home. I want you to stay here just in case she comes back here, okay? I won’t be gone long.”

Twilight somehow felt comforted by Sunset’s words, and her fear of not seeing her again subsided. “Okay… I trust you…”

As Sunset arrived, she parked her car near the rest of the cars there. She noted that Horizon’s car was among them. As she got out, she could see the entire group gathered. Yuna, Jasper, Cloud, Candy, Keylime, and the rest of Horizon’s friends stood there with their parents too.

Applejack crossed her arms as Sunset approached, clearly still not tremendously fond of the woman, but she had cooled off to her a small bit. “So, mind tellin’ us how you reckon Horizon came out this way? How’d you know she would be out here?”

Sunset rubbed her neck. “Well… I sort of… Had a feeling… Sorry if that sounds like a bullshit excuse…”

“Darn tootin’ it does…” Applejack sneered.

Rarity took her wife’s arm and calmed her. “Relax, Applejack, dear. Horizon’s car is here, so Sunset’s feeling must have meant something. Stranger things have happened after all.”

A familiar male voice came from behind Sunset that instantly came to her defense. “I think we can all trust Sunset’s instincts…”

Sunset turned around and there was Eclipse, standing next to a rather handsome-looking man sporting the necklace that Eclipse once had. “Eclipse? What’re you doing here?”

“Horizon’s my niece, so Twilight called me,” Eclipse explained.

“Fair enough, but who is he?” Sunset blinked.

“I guess I haven’t exactly introduced you all to him yet… This is Galeal.”

Sunset was in shock. She had so many questions she wanted to ask, but knew now wasn’t the time. “I really wish I had the time to ask you a lot of questions, but this might not be the best setting to do so…”

Galeal waved his hand dismissively. “No worries, we’ll have time to catch up later.”

“I hope you all weren’t planning on going without me?” A raspy feminine voice said.

The group all turned and sure enough, Cinder had appeared donning both of her signature katanas. “Well, looks like the gang is all here then?” Sunset laughed.

Cinder gave a thumbs up with her mechanical arm. “Where there’s adventure, you’ll always find me.”

Sunset felt much better that all of her friends had come here to find her daughter with her. “Okay… Then we all go together!”

The entire group wandered into the forest, not sure of what they were about to fumble into, but their hearts were set on finding Horizon.

Twilight sat at the table in the yard. She had prepared some tea for herself and had sipped lightly as she waited for Sunset’s return with their daughter. She just knew that Sunset would come back. This time, she knew it would be different, this time she knew Sunset would keep her word.

Sighing, she began to wonder what she should prepare for dinner when they returned. She could call a cook to come by and make food, but she felt given the circumstances it would be more special to make something herself. Her mind began to flood with ideas, but her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of metal clanking together.

Twilight turned in her chair and saw standing a few feet from her was a woman sporting magnificent robes of the highest quality, along with many pieces of golden jewelry adorning them. Several sets of gold bangles upon her wrists, and shining ruby earrings on her ears, but most importantly a magnificent tiara rested upon her head.

Her face looked aged, perhaps someone in their fifties, and her red and yellow hair confirmed this as Twilight could see a few grey streaks through it.

There was no mistaking those eyes though, they were eyes that Twilight had gazed into so many times before with love and affection, though it wasn’t possible. She looked just like her, yet there was no way it was her.

The woman spoke up in a familiar voice. “Twilight… It’s good to see you again…”

I really really really can't believe we actually made it here. A part of me wondered if I'd ever get to the ending, but as I write this, it's surreal to think that I actually managed to finish this story. When I first started this back in 2017, I had NO idea it would take this long to finish. I had no clue I'd be here 6 years later finally saying goodbye to Shadows Cast Over the Sunset.

It's sort of lethargic to actually see the story end, but comforting to know so many people read this over the years. It's incredible to think how much the story evolved between when I started and now. Originally the story was only going to be Act I, but halfway through writing Act I I decided I wanted to vastly expand the story into a much larger epic which eventually became seven acts.

It took so much planning to pull this off, and so much in my life eventually got in the way. To think, since I started this story, I've since moved to another country, learned a new language, gotten divorced and remarried, gone to Asia, turned 30, saw G4 end, and more. This has been such an insane roller coaster.

While I'm sad to see it end, it was long past due for it to end. I had originally planned to be done in 2021, but so much got in the way that slowed down writing. Not keeping myself on a deadline though allowed me to push forward at my own pace. While not everything in this story is perfect (far from it!) I wanted to try and give the best I could. Some parts are rougher than others, but I like to think I tried my best.

This is my Christmas gift to all of you. What happens now? Well, as many know, the story is preserved on Wattpad in the event that this site ever goes down, and I might do a master edit and get a copy of it printed into books to place on my shelf so I can remember all the work I did.

Some final stats for you:

This story is in the top 50 in terms of word count. This story is almost as long as Homestuck. This story is more words to read than ALL of the Harry Potter books, COMBINED. That's a lot of reading, and it's crazy that so many of you actually made it this far, some of you have even been here since the start.

I want to thank each and every one of you. From the bottom of my heart, this journey wouldn't have been anything without all of you. The people who read my ridiculous tale about Sunset meeting Sunset, you are all the true heroes of the story. The ones who gave me a reason to finish it. Thank you all so much.

Here's to the ending! Here's to my next chapter in life!

I will answer any questions in the comments that you might have. :)