The sound of the school bell rattled in Sunset’s ears repeatedly, bringing her to a more waking state. She had almost dozed off in her final class of the day (which truthfully wasn't an entirely uncommon event). She really didn’t have much of an interest in chemistry, unlike Twilight who was wide awake the entire class, her eyes glued to the whiteboard, occasionally asking Sunset how “awesome” this was. She was like a giddy child when she was enjoying her learning experience. Sunset just gave gentle smiles and nods between yawns.

When the class finally let out, Sunset stretched and released the loudest yawn yet before scratching her head and turning to be face to face with Twilight. Twilight’s face plastered with an incredibly excitable grin, her glasses resting crooked upon her petite nose. Twilight’s facial features were gentle and somewhat child-like if you examined them up close, shy of her lips which were actually rather full.

She didn’t wear a lot of makeup either, in contrast to Sunset who had actually been taking some beauty tips from her younger sister in the past few weeks.

“Wasn’t that an exciting class!?” Twilight leaned in, causing Sunset to inch back a bit to create some more personal space between the two.

“Uh… Sure…” Sunset lied, unsure of what else to say so as to not break the girl’s spirit.

Twilight rolled her eyes and smirked knowing Sunset was lying. “Your eyeliner is smeared by the way. If you’re going to sleep in class it’s best not to wipe your eyes after if you wear eyeliner. Even someone as uninformed about fashion as me knows that.”

With a shrug, Sunset grabbed her bag and began to walk alongside Twilight to the hallway. “I guess you caught me.”

Twilight gave a wagging finger and winked as she scolded the pale girl, “you know you should pay closer attention if you want to pass the mid-terms.”

With a grumble, Sunset rubbed her face and shook her head. “It’s only the second month of school and you’re already thinking about mid-terms? You really have a one-track mind, you know?”

“That would be Rainbow Dash actually,” Twilight corrected.

Chuckling, Sunset found herself forced to agree, “Yeah true… You got me there.”

Sunset reached her locker and opened it up to gaze in the mirror. Twilight was correct; her eyeliner was smeared pretty badly. She still wasn’t used to wearing it, but Shimmer had taught her how to apply it some time ago, and insisted she looked great with it; followed by incessant squealing and fantasizing about Sunset getting a boyfriend. Shimmer had truly come out of her shell and the girl she turned out to be was somewhat akin to Rarity in many regards.

Reaching into her locker, Sunset retrieved a makeup wipe and began removing the smudge before reapplying. Once she was content, she leaned in and held the eyeliner stick carefully while Twilight conversed with her.

“Still interesting that Shimmer taught you how to wear makeup,” Twilight said.

“How so?” Sunset spoke, still focusing hard on applying her eyeliner.

“Well, you just didn’t strike me as someone who would wear makeup.” Twilight shrugged.

Sunset finished her application and placed the stick back into her locker before looking herself over. “I guess I never really thought about it.”

“Well you look good, Shimmer definitely has style,” Twilight replied.

Sunset looked at her friend with a smirk. “Are you flirting with me, Twilight Sparkle?”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Totally,” she feigned, “I just dream about having you in my bed at night, and I cry myself to sleep when I realize you’re not there. It’s a hard life that I live…” Twilight placed an arm across her forehead in a false acting manner as she lied.

With a giggle, Sunset continued to tease her, “is that why you and Timber broke up?”

She had struck a chord as Twilight quickly stopped acting and got legitimately flustered, she ran a hand through a strand of her hair repeatedly. “That was… No. We just didn’t feel it was working out, it was mutual. It had nothing to do with… Nevermind…”

Blinking, Sunset was a bit surprised that Twilight was actually somewhat flustered by that comment. A part of her regretted it, as she didn’t intend to offend her friend. “Sorry… Awkward.”

“It’s cool…” Twilight replied quietly as she looked away.

“Anyways…” Sunset tried to break through the awkwardness to change the subject, “we still on for studying together this week?”

Instantly cheering up at the prospect of knowledge-seeking, Twilight gave a quick nod. “Absolutely!”

Sunset gave her a nod and poked Twilight’s nose, causing her to step back for a second. Sunset’s face was sporting a playful smile as she replied, “holding you to it.”

Walking out to the front entrance of the school, their friends had dispersed and headed to their various obligations already. Applejack mentioned earlier that day something about needing to run home to help Big Mac, Pinkie rattled off something about getting together with the party committee to begin work on the senior ball, Fluttershy had to run to the short-handed animal shelter, Rarity spoke of some kind of deadline for some dresses coming up, and Rainbow had practice, so it was just Twilight and Sunset.

Sunset didn’t mind though, she found Twilight and her had the best bonding when they did it one on one.

Reaching the entrance, Sunset blinked as she looked down at the foot of the stairs leading up to the school. There standing in a sweater that was a size or two too large for her (possibly intentionally though, as Sunset wasn’t the biggest fashion expert) and a tight pair of skinny jeans was her younger sister, Shimmer.

Sporting an expensive pair of Sunglasses, and some combat boots that went halfway up her legs, she stood confidently. “I’ve been waiting for you, big sis!” she called out with a wave.

Twilight found herself giggling at how doting Sunset’s sister was, to which Sunset just rolled her eyes as she and Twilight stepped down the steps carefully.

“What’re you doing, here, little sis?” Sunset tilted her head in confusion.

Shimmer stuck her tongue out and winked. “You promised we were going to stay up and have fun tonight, remember? I came to escort you so you didn’t forget about it.”

“Sounds like you two have quite the night planned out.” Twilight giggled.

“Sure do, I’ll plan one for you some time too, Twilight!” Shimmer spoke up in an excited tone. Twilight could already tell the girl was serious.

It was interesting to see Shimmer in such a fun-loving and happy mood. Twilight recalled when the group had met her, she was a very somber girl, but who would have guessed that under that depression was actually a very fun-loving girl waiting to get out, probably just waiting for the right nudge. Twilight figured that Sunset must have been quite proud of herself for playing a role in this girl’s new outlook on life.

“I look forward to it; well I better get going; have fun you two!” Twilight waved as she stepped away towards the parking lot where she knew her brother was waiting to pick her up from school.

Sunset watched as Twilight left, Shimmer instantly noticing her elder sister’s fixation on the bookworm. Shimmer leaned in with a smirk. “Checking out Twilight?”

Sunset felt her face get hot as she turned to Shimmer’s devious grin and shook her head furiously. “W-wha?” she managed to get out.

Shimmer looked over to Twilight as she left; paying attention to the jeans she chose to wear today. Twilight was ordinarily a fairly formal dresser, but when Fall hit she started opting for pants over skirts. Shimmer smiled and nodded. “She does have a nice butt though…”

“W-what’re you talking about?” Sunset shrunk a bit from the embarrassment.

“So you don’t like her?” Shimmer blinked innocently, clearly enjoying the teasing of her older sister.

“It’s not like that… I just worry about her sometimes, that’s all…” Sunset rubbed her neck, feeling sweat well up and covered her hand as she did so.

Shimmer didn’t seem entirely convinced but she decided to drop the subject with a shrug. “Anyyyywaaaays, come on. Let’s ride home together, it’ll be fun!”

Composing herself, Sunset nodded. “Yeah, okay.”

The group of teenage friends waited patiently after school hours for the arrival of the newest addition to their team. They hadn’t seen Shimmer for some time after her breakdown a few weeks back, due to being extensively in therapy, anger management, and other various things that kept her. The only one who maintained contact with her, however, was Sunset via texts and the occasional phone call, though all the girls worried about her well-being during her time away.

After so long in therapy, the girls were finally going to be able to see the younger sister of Sunset again, and thus why they had gathered. Sunset had arranged it for Shimmer to meet them all here in front of the school after classes let out. Out of all the girls, she was certainly the most anxious.

Leaning up against the statue in front of the school, Applejack tilted her stetson up to get a better look at her watch. Shimmer was a good twenty minutes or so late, and even the normally patient Applejack was getting rather restless. “Are y’all sure she’s comin’?”

Sunset nodded as she checked her phone to make sure she had read the text correctly, even if it was redundant as she had done so at least a dozen times by now. “Positive. She must just be running a few late, I think she took the Audi today and traffic wasn’t too amazing today. If she had just taken the motorcycle she’d have been here ten minutes early.”

Rainbow Dash poked her head out from behind the statue with a smirk. “Man, I wish I could get one of those things! You two make me so jealous!”

Sunset rolled her eyes before responding, “I think giving you anything that goes that fast is generally not a wise idea.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Rainbow Dash pouted.

“She’s sayin’ if’n we give y’all a bike you’ll kill yerself’,” Applejack answered on Sunset’s behalf, a smirk crossing her lips.

“As if!” Rainbow grunted as she stepped out, pointing a challenging finger at Applejack.

“I must agree with Applejack, darling. You like to show off too much, and those machines are not the safest…” Rarity who had been up to this point, adjusting her makeup chimed in.

“Pfft, who asked you anyways…” Rainbow rolled her eyes and backed off of Applejack and crossed her arms in protest.

Rainbow Dash stepped a few steps away and swung her arm around a surprised Fluttershy, causing her to “eep” as Rainbow pulled her in, locking her arm around her shoulder. Fluttershy’s facial expression turned to one of sheer embarrassment as she tried to hide behind her hair and make herself small.

“Fluttershy knows I’d be awesome with a motorcycle. Right, Shy?” Rainbow nudged her friend.

Fluttershy found herself stuttering and unable to form a sentence for a few seconds before finally squeaking out an answer, “W-whatever you say, Dash…”

Rainbow puffed her chest out with confidence. “Yeah, see?”

Rarity rolled her eyes and gave a smirk to Applejack as the two giggled at something that clearly only the two of them were in on. It caused quite the frustration from Dash who leaned in with squinted eyes and an annoyed frown at the laughing which came at her expense.

“And what is so funny?”

Applejack snickered one last time before trying to contain herself. “Heh, nothin’.”

Pinkie hopped up from the grass she was sitting on and placed an arm around both Applejack's and Rarity’s shoulders, squeezing herself between them with a smile as wide as her face. She gave a faux whisper that was actually only slightly less audible than her traditional voice (which was almost shouting levels anyway). “I like secrets! Tell me!”

Rarity groaned and covered her nose before reaching into her purse to offer Pinkie a stick of gum. “Pinkie dear… You really need to start carrying gum if you’re going to eat that many sour cream and onion chips…”

It was clear Rarity was only trying to change the subject to avoid letting Pinkie in on the secret, but of course, Pinkie fell for it as she took the stick of gum and wadded the whole thing into her mouth after quickly disposing of the wrapper into her bra. Pinkie had opted out of wearing anything with pockets today, so Rarity assumed that was her primary means of carrying things. This was reaffirmed by Pinkie’s phone sticking out of her bra just barely.

“Pinkie, it’s called a purse…” Rarity protested.

Pinkie just shrugged.

Sunset found herself giggling at their antics and wondered how such diverse teenagers could actually be as close as their clique was. It was truly astounding at times.

Rarity groaned, “Pinkie, storing your personal belongings in your bra is bad enough, but garbage too? Seriously, I have seventeen purses I will gladly give you one.”

Applejack shrugged this time as she interjected, “Ah’ don’t have a purse, and Ah’ get by just fine.”

Rarity’s eyes were like daggers as she shot a sneering scowl at Applejack who was clearly not helping her argument. “You always have pockets is why!”

A smirk crossed AJ’s lips as she replied, “yeah, but Ah’ rock it don’t Ah’?”

Rarity’s face turned to one of genuine appeal and agreement as she nodded lightly with a smile. “Very true, you do. The rustic look works so well on you.”

The group broke their line of thinking as a motorcycle engine was heard in the distance. Looking to the street, a stylish bike pulled up and parked only a few feet from the group. Removing their helmet, the girl underneath flicked her head to loosen up her lavish ponytailed hair that was previously trapped under the helmet.

Looking her up and down, Shimmer was sporting a full leather suit that contoured her features almost flawlessly. Rainbow found herself blushing as she watched the girl step off the bike, her combat boots touching the ground so gracefully. On her front side, she left her zipper halfway down revealing much of her upper chest, and a bright orange bra.

The weather had been getting cold enough to wear such a thing was feasible, but most of the girls had expected her to show up in something a bit more contemporary.

Taking a few steps towards the group she opened her arms and ran to Sunset, quickly jumping into a hug with the girl. Sunset returned the embrace and held the girl close to her chest as she stroked her hair.

Pulling back from the hug, Shimmer smiled and looked at her sister with a grin. “I missed you.”

Sunset nudged her cheek playfully and nodded. “You too.”

Shimmer turned to the rest of the group who had been patiently waiting, she nodded and bowed to them. “And all of you!”

“I must say Shimmer, that outfit is very daring but… It works so well on you… I simply have to model you!” Rarity squeaked in delight.

With a giggle, Shimmer nodded. “Come over sometime this week and I’ll make sure it happens.”

Twilight finally approached and took Shimmer's hands in her own. Shimmer looked down at Twilight’s grip and then up to meet her eyes, always a bit surprised by Twilight’s odd social mannerisms, then again she was probably quite odd herself in that regard. Twilight had a warm smile. “How has therapy been?” Twilight asked.

“Pretty good actually, I feel like a whole new person. Sorry for being so unhinged on you guys in the past…” She frowned.

Twilight shook her head and gave Shimmer’s hands a squeeze. “That’s not a problem, we’re all friends here, just don’t keep us out of the loop anymore.”

Shimmer nodded. “Promise.”

Twilight released her hands and Shimmer leaned up against the statue next to Applejack. “So what have you guys been up to?” Shimmer asked trying to change the subject to something more light-hearted.

“Well, Twilight was discussing college and future schooling arrangements,” Rarity chimed in.

Shimmer blinked and looked in Rarity’s direction with genuine interest. A smirk played on her face as she took a guess at what Rarity’s plans were, though it wasn’t a difficult guess. “Lemme guess… Fashion school?”

Rarity nodded and smiled with pride as she straightened her posture to stand tall as she boasted, “That’s right. I was accepted at Trottingham Design School.”

“Impressive, when you get out of school give me a call, I’ll help jump-start some of your clothing lines.” Shimmer winked.

The fashionista gushed and wiggled happily at the offer from her friend. “I’m holding you to it!”

Applejack merely rolled her eyes at Rarity’s over-the-top behavior and shrugged. “Dunno ‘bout me. ‘Ah planned on staying on the farm fer’ a bit longer while ‘Ah figure out what ‘Ah want to do…”

Shimmer nodded in understanding before looking back at Sunset. “So, you still planning on going to Canterlot Institute?”

Sunset shrugged. “I guess.”

A frown crossed Shimmer as she shifted in her position to speak more directly with Sunset, “something wrong?”

Shimmer had expected Sunset to be far more excited about the offer, instead, she seemed almost unsure now.

Shaking her head, Sunset approached and leaned up next to Shimmer, which caused her younger sister to affectionately lay her head upon Sunset’s shoulder. The scent of Shimmer’s luscious shampoo was strong, and Sunset could tell she spent a lot of money taming her hair, though the end result paid off.

“Not really, no. I want to go to Canterlot Institute, I just have no idea what I am going to do there…” Sunset admitted.

Shimmer giggled and placed an arm around her sister’s waist, pulling her closer. It caught Sunset somewhat off guard and she almost lost her balance and fell. Composing herself, she listened to Shimmer.

“You’ll find something. Take a lot of electives in your first semester and find something you like, then major in it. You’re getting a full scholarship, it’s okay to experiment,” Shimmer reminded.

“That is pretty lucky,” Twilight stated, before removing her glasses to wipe the lens on her shirt.

“I guess you’re right… Sorry for worrying, I guess I can just be a worry wart sometimes…” Sunset admitted.

“Must run in the family.” Shimmer giggled before poking Sunset’s nose affectionately.

“Maybe you just rub off on me,” Sunset replied, nudging her sister’s shoulder.

Shimmer winked and offered a genuine smile. “Well, what can I say? I bring out the best in you obviously, I mean where would you be without me?”

“That’s true,” Sunset replied.

Entering a steamy bathroom, Sunset fanned herself with her hand in response to the temperature and humidity in the room. Shimmer had practically turned the room into a sauna with how warm it was. Sunset peered around through the steam to see this bathroom was actually quite lavish. It reminded her of a spa almost, the tub was recessed into the floor and the entire room had plenty of space to move around in.

Sunset could see Shimmer standing near the tub, wrapped in a towel, missing her signature glasses, though they likely weren’t much use in this environment as they would just fog up in a matter of seconds.

Catching a glimpse of Sunset, she smiled and gestured for her to come closer. With a blush, Sunset nodded and took a few steps forward.

Shimmer smirked and giggled. “You know, the idea of a bath doesn’t work so well if you are wearing clothes. While I appreciate you wearing the clothing I gave you, I’m going to have to ask you not to ruin it by bringing it into the tub.”

Sunset shuffled awkwardly in her button-up shirt and jeans, not quite sure of what she should do. She didn’t respond, and instead just made an awkward face and blush. Sighing, Shimmer shook her head and took a step forward. Placing her hands on Sunset’s top button on her shirt caused her to flinch. Shimmer paused and looked up at her. “Relax,” she said.

Sunset nodded and took a breath to calm herself, truthfully she didn’t quite understand why she was so nervous, likely it was due to lack of close proximity to anyone in her life.

Unbuttoning her shirt, Shimmer assisted her in its removal and placed it on a bench nearby. Wasting no time, Shimmer unbuttoned Sunset’s skinny jeans and looked up at her. With a nod, Sunset wiggled out of them as Shimmer removed them for her and placed them aside with her top.

Coming to a stand, Shimmer smirked. “I am assuming you can take off your own underwear?”

Sunset feeling more comfortable at this point rolled her eyes and unclasped her bra and tossed it aside before sliding her panties off. She actually wasn’t that uncomfortable with nudity, it was mostly Shimmer that was making her feel uneasy. It was a bit awkward to see what is essentially yourself standing in front of you in nothing but a towel.

However, Sunset wouldn’t have to see that image for long as Shimmer tossed the towel aside and gestured for Sunset to follow her.

She couldn’t help but stare for a brief moment before registering Shimmer’s command. Shimmer had perhaps the perfect body, a round behind, slender waist, small feet, and large breasts. Every boy must have lusted over her.

Sunset knew she was probably fair given that they shared a lot of similarities, and she definitely could see she had slightly larger breasts than Shimmer, but Shimmer seemed to have filled out better than her. Sunset always had a hard time retaining weight, even in her childhood. She was always eating as much as she could to keep some pounds on but seemed to lose it without any real effort.

Shimmer beckoned Sunset with her hand as she pulled her out of the daydream. “Come on, the water will get cold… Okay not really because it’s a heated tub, but still…”

Nodding, Sunset took Shimmer’s hand and followed her into the soothing water. It took a second to get adjusted, but when she managed to get used to the temperature, she cooed pleasantly while she let herself relax. The knots in her muscles seemed to become undone and relaxed in a matter of seconds as Sunset allowed herself to loosen up.

There was a hint of lavender scent in the water, likely some kind of bath beads that Shimmer added.

Leaning her head back, Shimmer rested as well and smiled. “Nothing like a hot bath after a long day. I could spend half my life in here… Just need to get a waterproof laptop and I’m good to go…”

“Couldn’t you just buy one? I mean I’m sure they exist and you have the money to get one…” Sunset raised a brow.

“True, but I never get around to it…” Shimmer smirked before placing a damp washcloth over her face.

Sunset leaned her own head back and began to look at the decoration on the ceiling. Lots of stars and planets were painted skillfully above them, the entire bathroom had sort of a lost-in-space theme with a darker atmosphere to it, but it was lethargic.

“What was it like growing up like this?” Sunset asked.

Shimmer didn’t even bother removing the washcloth as she answered with a shrug. “It was nice. Piano lessons, tennis, I never had to really think about how much anything costs. Unlike most rich kids I didn’t just get stuff to make up for all the neglect though; my parents were always there for me…”

Sunset regretted asking as she brought up her parents. “Sorry I didn’t mean to-“

“It’s fine. I’ve been learning how I need to stop remembering them not only as they died, but also how they lived too. Those happy memories of them… I can’t just push them aside in favor of only thinking about how they died. I learned that in therapy,” Shimmer responded.

Sunset nodded, even though Shimmer wasn’t paying attention.

“What about your parents? You sort of avoid the subject…” Shimmer responded.

Sunset shrunk down a bit into the water. “Well… My parents… They sort of…”

Shimmer lifted the washcloth from her face and looked to Sunset with a raised brow.

Rubbing her neck, Sunset shrugged. “Not much to say. I spent most of my childhood fighting for their attention from… Well, work. They were workaholics, I rarely saw them. They sent me to boarding school when I was becoming a handful and then when I got into Celestia’s Star Student program… I don’t think I ever saw them again after that.”

“You mentioned before they never filed you as missing?” Shimmer recalled.

With a nod, Sunset frowned as she answered, “Yeah… They basically didn’t really care what happened to me, and probably still don’t. It’s been a few years now, and I’m sure nothing has changed…”

“I’m sorry…” Shimmer frowned.

She shrugged. “I didn’t really grow up rich either. We were middle class, but my parents didn’t really buy me a lot of stuff because they were never around. When I came here, I just sort of got used to not owning anything… A place like this… This is beyond my comprehension of how someone could actually live here.”

Shimmer tried to offer some kind of comfort to her, but all that came out was, “It gets kind of lonely sometimes. I mean I’m used to solitude, but it is nice when you come over. Otherwise, it’s just Moon and me.”

Trying to lighten the mood, Sunset smirked. “Yeah, but that’s puppy love. He’s going to love you more than any man will.”

Shimmer found herself in a fit of giggles. “True, I can’t imagine any man looking at me the way he does.”

Sunset despite making the first joke found that hard to believe in actuality. Shimmer was gorgeous; Sunset actually felt a lot better about herself when she looked at Shimmer knowing that they looked similar and that Shimmer was a knockout definitely bolstered her confidence just a little bit.

“Yeah, but you’re a knockout, little sis,” Sunset replied.

Shimmer felt herself smile. “Yeah, but you’re a hottie too. After all, you take after me.” Shimmer gave the girl a wink as she said those words, causing Sunset to roll her eyes.

“Yeah, well, I’m not the best at taking compliments as you may have figured out by now,” Sunset said as she began to lather some shampoo into her hair.

Looking over at her sister, shaking her head, Shimmer sighed. “Or cleaning yourself for that matter; allow me.”

Sunset let her hands fall back into the water and rested as Shimmer came up behind her and began to help lather the shampoo into her sister’s hair. After a few moments, she was satisfied and instructed her sister to stand. “Let me get your back for you.”

Nodding, Sunset came to a stand with a blush on her face as her sister stood as well. Taking a bottle of soap in her hand, Shimmer squirted a healthy amount of the liquid into her palm and rubbed her hands together after setting the bottle down. Gently, she placed both of her hands upon Sunset’s shoulders and began to massage the soap into her skin. Sunset noticed she was very delicate with her hands for a girl with anger problems.

“This is… Pretty strange…” Sunset commented.

“In other countries, siblings bathing together is not strange at all. I spent a year in Japan before, bathhouses are actually very common, people of the same gender bathe together there, it’s actually more economical and preserves water. Only here in America do people find it odd,” Shimmer replied.

Aware that Shimmer traveled before, this was Sunset’s first hearing about her living in Japan for a year.

“Where else have you lived?”

Shimmer shrugged. “All over. We stayed in England for a little while when I was too young to remember. My mother is actually half Japanese, so we lived nearby so she could reconnect with old relatives.”

“And your father?” Sunset decided that conversation was the best way to keep her mind off of the awkward feeling of Shimmer helping her bathe her nude body.

“He’s from Holland. He became an American citizen when he was young. So I guess technically I’m Eurasian, but my nationality is American, that’s what my passport says anyways,” Shimmer said.

Shimmer’s hands reached down to the scarred midsection of Sunset’s back and finally just touched the scar there. She paused as she traced her finger around it, getting a good feeling of it with her hands. Sunset could tell exactly what she was doing but remained silent. Shimmer paused as she pulled her hands away and clutched her left hand in her right. There was a moment when both girls fell silent.

The silence was broken by Sunset. “It’s gross, I know.”

“It’s not that…” Shimmer said.

Sunset tilted her head as she looked over her shoulder to see the concern on the other girl’s face.

“D-did… It hurt?”

Sunset nodded sincerely. “For the first few days, I felt like I could die… It was impossible to lay on my back.”

“Do you think…” Shimmer stopped herself, not wanting to ask such a question.

With her curiosity peaked, Sunset turned around and faced the girl with a raised brow. She took her sister’s hands in her own and looked into her eyes. “Do I think what?”

Shimmer bit her lip and looked away from Sunset’s powerful gaze before speaking again, “That… I could turn into a demon like that?”

Sunset reached over and tilted her sister’s head to face her as she responded, making sure to keep her tone stern. “It could never happen to you. It took a tremendous amount of anger and hatred to turn me into that, there’s no way it could happen to you, not while I’m here. I love you, Shimmer and I’m not going to let that happen to you. I’ll protect you from anything that would hurt you…”

Shimmer’s eyes grew misty as she choked out a response, “Do you promise?”

Sunset nodded and brought the smaller girl in for a tight hug. “I promise.”

I have to say I really loved Applety's sketches this week! Top notch!

Behind the scenes: originally I humored the idea of Shimmer appearing in a tight spandex suit, but the scene changed significantly and it would have been odd to have her in one as in the initial scene she shows up getting off a motorcycle.