Coming out of a bathroom stall, Twilight poked her head about to see if the locker room was completely vacated. She sniffed about and could smell the remnants of sweat, and recently used soap from the showers. It was evident that the other girls had already showered and washed up after a vigorous gym class.

Twilight’s ritual was the same almost every gym period, she would hide away in the bathroom until most of the other girls left and she’d shower when the place was empty. She had purposely set it up so that her class after gym fell upon one of the most relaxed teachers who didn’t mind Twilight being a few minutes late. It was the perfect setup to ensure she wouldn’t have to stand awkwardly with a bunch of other girls fully exposed.

At Crystal Prep, Twilight had always found excuses to get out of gym class as often as possible, though sometimes she would fail to do so and be forced to run track or do cardio on a treadmill. Twilight was out of shape, and she knew it, but changing that wasn’t on her immediate list of priorities, even here at Canterlot High.

Tip-toeing out of the stall, she made her way to the shower with a towel upon her arm. As expected it was completely empty, though the floor was still wet with suds from the previous users.

Taking a seat on the bench in front of some lockers, Twilight began to untie her Converse sneakers and set them aside. Pulling the band out of her hair, she unleashed the wild locks from her ponytail and removed her glasses. Placing everything in a neat pile, she stood up and stretched, trying to remove the cramps caused by extraneous physical activity. Her body ached a bit as today they were playing Soccer, and due to Twilight’s poor performance (and Rainbow’s overcompetitiveness), her entire gym wardrobe was covered in grass stains. She must have fallen down at least eight times, though, to her good fortune, Rainbow always offered to help her back up.

Preparing to remove her shirt, she heard the door to the locker room open and close gently, as if someone was making sure not to cause a big thud with the door. Twilight released her shirt and allowed it to fall back down and cover her stomach. The clack of heels echoed through the locker room as Twilight held still looking down the aisle of lockers for the owner of said sounds.

Nearly holding her breath, she waited only to hear them grow closer and closer, then suddenly stop.

She sighed as she shook her head and realized she must be imagining things. She returned to trying to lift her shirt as she turned towards the shower and came face to face with a long-haired girl leaning up against the locket next to her. She had snuck around the lockers and came up from behind Twilight.

Twilight nearly jumped at the surprise as she came face to face with a familiar face, hidden partially by fiery red messy hair. Twilight had noticed over the past few weeks she had started wearing eyeliner and mascara sometimes, and even lip gloss. Her attention was drawn to the girl’s small lips which seemed to shine in the fluorescent lighting of the locker room.

Her signature leather jacket draped over her as she leaned against the locker with a smirk, crossing her arms. “Hey, Twilight.” She spoke very softly, a bit of mischief in her voice, not unlike her.

“Sunset… You scared me half to death…” Twilight placed a hand on her chest as she breathed heavily, trying to compose herself after such a shock.

“Sorry, what’re you up to?” Sunset asked, still smirking at Twilight.

“Well, I was going to take a shower…” Twilight fidgeted a bit, trying to give Sunset the signal she’d like some privacy.

“Don’t let me stop you,” Sunset replied as she sat down on the bench, her eyes not leaving Twilight.

Clearly, the message wasn’t clear enough.

“I kind of you know… wanted to do that… alone…” Twilight rolled her eyes.

“Don’t worry, I’ll watch from over here, won't even know I'm here,” Sunset assured.

Watch!?

Twilight blushed and shook her head. “W-what? Are you okay? You’re acting funny.”

Sunset stood up and smashed her hand just to the left of Twilight’s head onto the locker behind her as she cornered her against the metal wall. Her voice grew very tender, lusty, and in a hushed whisper. Her other hand formed into a curious finger that ran down Twilight’s jawline, landing upon her chin, forcing her to look up at the taller girl.

With a powerful stare, Sunset looked into Twilight’s eyes. Twilight was completely immobilized, she couldn’t move an inch shy of her legs shaking. Sunset's vibrant eyes locked Twilight in place, she was unable to do anything.

“Maybe you wanted me to wash you? Is that it?” Sunset spoke, her voice filled with invitation with a touch of mischief.

“I-I…” Twilight couldn’t even form a proper sentence.

“Isn’t that what you want?” Sunset asked with an almost innocent-sounding voice. She leaned in and gave a gentle breath on Twilight’s ear before whispering to her. “I’ve seen how you look at me…”

Twilight blushed and turned her head away. “That’s… W-we shouldn’t…”

Attempting to move away, Twilight felt her wrist get grabbed and pinned to the locker. She looked up to see Sunset’s grip. Sunset pushed the bench out of the way and pressed her body closer, locking Twilight in place. “Did I say you could leave?” She added a bit of command to her voice.

Twilight whimpered.

Sunset playfully used her free hand to slide her fingertips down Twilight’s gym outfit, over the grass stains and slowly down her form landing atop of her left breast. Gentle fingers swirled around it before an entire palm cupped it, eliciting a gasp from Twilight who couldn’t escape if she wanted to, Sunset had a strong grip.

Leaning in, she whispered again into Twilight’s ear. “You’re cute when you pretend you don’t want it… Just relax, Sparkle… let me do all the work, alright?”

Twilight remained silent; her breathing had sped up, causing her to be unable to form any kind of proper response.

Sunset took her silence as invitation and leaned in, biting down hard on her neck, almost enough to puncture the skin, but just under; not too rough, but not too gentle. With a yelp, Twilight only resisted for a second before using her free hand to wrap her fingers into Sunset’s wild hair, pulling her closer as she gnawed viciously. Twilight could feel a bruise forming, but the pain actually excited her more than she thought it would. Her legs squirmed as she felt herself getting hotter.

The hand of her “attacker” slowly trailed down, down her stomach. The voice of Sunset spoke between gnaws, “You’re mine now…”

Twilight blushed as the hand slid its fingertips into her shorts, even under the waistline of her panties. It moved further down, all the way until-

With a gasp, Twilight rose from her pillow and sat upright. Panting, she could feel her back was covered in sweat, her entire body was tense. More importantly, she could feel a certain discomfort somewhere else. Reaching below her sheets, she slid her fingers below her now damp pajama’s waistband and then-

She blushed as she could feel a moisture she had not expected to find when she awoke.

Spike grumbled and looked up from his small dog bed at her. “Bad dream?”

Twilight nodded. “Yeah… bad dream… sorry… I didn’t mean to wake you.”

Nodding, Spike twirled around his bed to find the best sleeping position and plopped back down with a grunt.

Poking her head in the door, Twilight could see the face of her mother, partially illuminated by the hallway light. Her earrings seemed to sparkle in the correct light. She blinked and gave a concerned expression to her daughter.

“Are you alright, Twilight? I heard noises from this room.”

Twilight nodded nervously, had her mother heard her in her sleep? Had she been talking in her sleep? She hoped she hadn’t.

“Y-yes… I’m fine mother, just a bad dream.” Twilight was thankful that the darkness of the room concealed her blush.

Her mother gave a suspicious eyebrow raise before answering. “Well… alright… try and get some more sleep though, darling.”

“I will, thank you, mother,” Twilight replied.

With a nod, her mother closed the door to her daughter’s room, a smirk plastered on her face. She made her way back to the dining room where her husband sat at the table reading a book. Failing to contain her giggles, she sat across from him and picked her cup of coffee back up, taking a long sip as she sat in front of a laptop, working on her latest novel. She had managed to get to page 88, despite various distractions.

“What were those noises?” Her husband asked, not looking away from his book.

His wife gave an expression that screamed she was just waiting for him to ask that very question.

“I think our daughter just had a wet dream.”

He lowered his book and snorted. “They grow up so fast.”

“Well, Shiny started having them when he was twelve, remember?” She responded.

“Better a late bloomer than never, right?” He smiled.

She nodded. “Our little girl is growing up.”

Opening her eyes for the first time for the day, Sunset could already feel the grogginess of her morning cast over her. Instantly she could feel the craving for coffee scream at her. However this morning she felt something else that was unusual. Taking a sniff she could only return the sound of mucus build up, unable to retrieve any air from her nostrils. Trying again in vain, she found herself unable to breathe through her nose.

Sitting upright, she tried to see if changing her position would make it easier. No luck. Shrugging it off, she placed her feet on the floor, when she didn’t feel the same cheap carpet she was used to; she quickly remembered she had spent the weekend at Shimmer’s lavish estate. Instead of crappy carpet in need of replacement, she was standing atop mahogany floorboards, expertly crafted and constructed to make a magnificent-looking guest room, worthy of royalty. Shimmer really had it made.

Hobbling her way to the mirror, she took a glance at herself. Her eyes seemed fine; it appeared to be just a stuffy nose and a minor headache.

Shrugging she shuffled herself over to the door to try and locate the nearest bathroom, knowing it was likely in Shimmer’s bedroom across the hall. She didn’t want to wake her, but looking at the clock and determining it was exactly 8:08 in the morning, she was certain Shimmer was likely already awake and doing her morning beauty routine, as Shimmer was definitely an early riser.

Gently opening her bedroom door, she grumbled and crossed the hall, opening the door with Shimmer’s name plastered on the front. Inside she was met with the instant smell of expensive perfume, and steam coming from the open shower. Shimmer was wrapped in a towel as she sat in front of the vanity mirror blow drying her long hair. She could catch Sunset out of the corner of her eye and smiled at her sister.

“Morning, sleepy head,” Shimmer chirped.

Sunset grunted and gave a single word response, “coffee.”

Shimmer giggled and nodded. “Give me a few minutes and I’ll make some. How’d you sleep?”

“Alright…” Sunset managed to get out after a few sniffs.

A frown formed on Shimmer’s reflection in the mirror that Sunset could see. “You don’t sound so good, are you alright?”

“Just a little stuffy nose and a minor headache, I’ll be fine…” Sunset yawned.

“You should stay home from school today. You don’t want to get the other girls sick,” Shimmer stated.

Sunset shook her head and wandered into the room before sitting on Shimmer’s bed. “I’ll be fine.”

“I insist. I’ll take care of you. I can’t have you going around and getting yourself sicker, what kind of sister would I be?” Shimmer responded.

She wanted to object, but it was too early, she lacked coffee and her minor illness fatigued her ability to rebuttal. Instead, she shrugged and nodded before falling back onto the bed.

“It’s settled then, I’ll look after you. You’ll be better in no time, promise. I know a great chicken soup recipe.” Shimmer giggled.

Sunset raised a finger to object, but Shimmer quickly addressed her concern before she could even voice it. “Sans chicken, obviously.”

A smile appeared on Sunset’s face as she nodded.

While most of the school had gotten over what had happened at the Friendship Games, and Twilight Sparkle had managed to gain a group of six amazing friends, walking through the halls of Canterlot High still made her uneasy. She knew that while people had forgiven her for what had happened, many likely hadn’t exactly forgotten just yet. Now and then she’d catch the stare or glance of onlookers, knowing they were wondering if and when she’d turn back into Midnight Sparkle, the monster hell-bent on ripping the fabric of space and time apart for her own gain of knowledge.

Twilight hated what she had become, and it was a nightmare she spent a lot of time reliving. It was something she couldn’t bring herself to talk to her friends about, but it made her feel isolated in her own world.

On weekends like this one, Twilight found herself alone in her bedroom, trapped with her thoughts. She would try to study, get ahead on school work or anything that would occupy her mind and distract her from the negative thoughts. She had acquired so much since she left Crystal Prep and the thought of Midnight Sparkle returning threatened to take all of that away.

Tapping a pencil at a notebook, the studious bookworm had been blasting away at future math assignments when she heard a series of eight taps upon her door.

Looking to the direction of the noise from her desk Twilight gave the okay. “Come in.”

Poking their head in was a middle-aged woman with a bright smile on her face. She looked positively giddy, ready to share some obviously interesting news.

“What’s up, mom?” Twilight asked, clearly knowing her mother was waiting for her to inquire.

“You have a visitor, Twilight,” her mother spoke with an ever-growing smirk plastered across her lips.

Blinking, Twilight looked at the time via a digital clock in the shape of a molecule upon her study desk. The time was exactly 4:08 PM, she hadn’t received any kind of texts that notified her of a visitor, and it was a Saturday. Who could possibly be visiting her? Did her friends even know her address?

“Oh… Ummm… Let them in I suppose?” Twilight’s tone made it clear to her mother that she had little clue as to what to do with a visitor.

With a nod and a giggle, her mother retreated from the door and vanished into the hallway. Only a few seconds later, the door creaked and into the room came the familiar face of a girl with long wild red and yellow hair. She smiled at Twilight as she placed her hands behind her back and stood, unsure of what to do with herself in someone else’s bedroom.

“Hey,” she said warmly.

Twilight removed her glasses and rubbed them, trying to adjust her vision to make sure she was seeing correctly and Sunset Shimmer was indeed standing in her room. Once she had confirmed she was not imagining things she returned the greeting. “Hello.”

“I thought you could use some company. I noticed none of the other girls have really hung out with you on the weekend yet, so I imagined you were likely pretty lonely over here,” Sunset explained before sitting down on top of Twilight’s bed on the other side of the room.

“What gave you that impression?” Though Sunset was probably spot on, Twilight didn’t want to admit that outright for some reason. She felt shameful admitting that she felt alone.

Sunset gave a shrug before speaking, “well when I first made friends it was difficult to deal with being apart at first. I know what it’s like to feel alone in the world, trust me. You’re lucky that you have your parents here at least, they seem like nice people.”

Twilight nodded. “They are; I’m definitely lucky in that department.”

“Well, I just wanted you to know if you ever feel alone, or you just want someone by to just share or chat with, I’m always a phone call away. You can call me anytime and I’ll be there, okay?” Sunset said.

The sincerity in her voice was almost surreal. This girl clearly had a lot of empathy for Twilight, even though really all she had ever done to her at this point was almost destroy her school and potentially harm her friends. Sunset definitely was a forgiving person.

“I… I’ll be sure to call you if I ever need someone.” Twilight managed to get out, a bit choked up by the whole ordeal.

Taking notice of her difficulty speaking, Sunset responded, “whoa, whoa. No reason to get all worked up. It’s what friends do. I’ve got your back, Twilight… So long as you got mine?”

Twilight found herself pausing before smile appeared on her face as she nodded. “Yeah, of course, I do. We’re friends, after all, right?”

“The best of!” Sunset winked.

Twilight could feel her face get hot with a rose tint splattering upon it.

Sunset quickly pointed in her direction with a mocking tone in her voice, “ha! Made ya blush!”

Turning away quickly to hide her face, Twilight instantly denied it, “did not!”

“Uh-huh, then why are you turning away?” Sunset mocked.

“S-something in my eye!” Twilight lied.

Bursting into a fit of uncontrollable giggles, Sunset leaned back on Twilight’s bed, trying to placate her giggling fit. There was something adorable about her laughter to Twilight who found herself growing another smile as she listened.

Wiping tears from her eyes, Sunset sat back up and caught her breath before speaking, “Oh man, you’re a riot, Twilight. I’m glad we met, I can already tell we’re going to be very close.”

“How can you tell that?” Twilight raised a brow.

Sunset shrugged. “Dunno. There’s something inside me that’s telling me that, I can’t explain it, but I can feel that you and I are going to be really great friends. It’s in my gut.” Sunset gently punched her own stomach as she said those words.

“I hope your gut can tell you the answers to the math exam coming up, which is what I’m trying to study for before you showed up,” Twilight teased.

Giving a dismissive hand gesture, Sunset blew a raspberry and rolled her eyes. “Please, math is my best subject. I’ll destroy you, Sparkle.”

“Is that a challenge?” Twilight could feel the excitement of competition already filling the air.

“If I get the best score, you have to buy me lunch after, and if you get it, I’ll buy you lunch,” Sunset said.

“Oh, it’s on!” Twilight nodded.

Twilight was starting to feel what Sunset’s gut was apparently saying: this was definitely going to be a great friendship.

Rainbow Dash stood upon the empty soccer field by the bleachers, bouncing a soccer ball off of her ankle, counting how many times she could bounce it. Twilight who was sitting upon the bleachers was counting herself but stopped somewhere after one hundred and thirty-three. Rainbow no doubt was still counting and probably in the three-hundred region by now.

The silence between the two only grew in how awkward it was before Rainbow finally broke it. “So what’d you need to talk about, Twilight?”

Twilight was fidgeting with her phone when the question came; she stumbled a bit and almost dropped it. Catching it, she sighed and placed it into the pocket of her skirt. Trying to find the words to begin seemed to be the hardest part, she placed a finger upon her chin, trying to determine the least awkward way to broach the subject. After a good ten seconds of thinking, she realized that might be completely impossible.

“Well… I wanted to talk to you about… A dream I had… Or rather a few dreams I’ve been having…” Twilight blushed and looked down, hoping her bangs hid her face better from the soccer player.

Rainbow set the ball on the ground and placed her right foot atop of it and leaned in confused. “Dreams? Uh… Okay… I’m not really an expert on this subject, hell I don’t even really know anything about dreams…”

“It’s more of a matter of the contents of the dreams…” Twilight’s face seemed to get hotter and hotter; talking about it aloud was bringing back flashbacks of said dreams.

She could still remember them so vividly; she could almost feel Sunset’s breath upon her neck.

You’re cute when you pretend you don’t want it… Just relax, Sparkle… Let me do all the work, alright?

Twilight could feel her entire body shiver as she remembered Sunset’s lusty dialogue from her dream from this morning. The words were still just as powerful now as when she had the dream, their effect still washing over her, putting her in the girl’s hold, almost enough to-

No. She had to dismiss those thoughts, she was not in the safety of her bedroom with a closed door, she was in public, and she couldn’t afford to deal with such a thing now.

Rainbow could see Twilight spacing out and waved a hand in front of her face. “Hey… Earth to Twilight.”

Blinking and looking up to meet the confused face of the Athlete, Twilight gave out a “huh”, then allowed her eyes to focus on Rainbow as she came back from the fantasy, and into reality.

“You just started spacing out on me for a minute there, what were you thinking about just now?” Rainbow asked.

“Oh right… Yes… My dreams…” Twilight started up again, hoping not to get distracted again this time.

“Yeah… Dreams… Once again I’m not really a dream therapist, Twilight.” Rainbow rubbed her neck awkwardly as she shifted her weight to her left and leaned.

“Yes, I’m aware of that. However, I’m not looking for dream therapy, though I am certain I probably need therapy for the various other ‘quirks’ that I have, no this is different.” Twilight adjusted her glasses as she took a breath.

“Alright, so spill it.” Rainbow opened a water bottle she had left near the benches and took a huge gulp. Twilight was amazed at how much water the girl could down, but it was perhaps an after-effect of how much excellence she exuded on the playing field. Twilight wasn’t one for sports, but even her limited knowledge of them could tell her that Rainbow Dash was an excellent player and she was in superb shape, even for her young age.

“The dreams are of… An… Amorous persuasion?” Twilight blushed slightly as she admitted it.

Her words were lost on Rainbow who simply raised a brow.

“Err… You know… Of the… Passionate variety?” Twilight attempted.

Same effect, Rainbow clearly was going to make her spell it out.

She sighed and decided to try one more time. “Romantic… So to speak?”

That did the trick. “Ah, sex dreams. Got it.” Rainbow nodded.

Twilight’s entire complexion turned red as she looked away in shame. “I wouldn’t have worded it like that… But… Yes…”

“Totally natural, Twilight. I don’t know why you’re coming to me about this; did you want me to give you the talk? See when a boy and a girl… Well not always a boy and a girl, but you get the idea when they like each other-“ Rainbow was cut off.

Twilight waved her hands in protest hoping to stop that train of thought instantly.

“It’s not the sex I am trying to figure out. It’s… The romantic part… How it made me feel… You know…?” Twilight turned back to face her, her face still hot as she tried to dismiss thoughts of thinking about the dreams in detail again, Rainbows birds and bees speech wasn’t helping.

“Romance… Yeah… Why didn’t you like… Go to Rarity for that?” Rainbow shrugged.

“Well… I was going to, but given the err… Subject matter… I felt you were a better candidate…” Twilight responded.

Rainbow laughed and shook her head. “I have no idea how you came to that conclusion. Rarity probably dreams about romance when she’s awake, let alone in her sleep.”

“Yes but… you have experience with… The err… well, the thing in question.” Twilight was surprised at how much more difficult this was to say out loud than she anticipated.

“You know if we want to get anywhere Twilight, you will need to stop speaking in code. Spill it,” Rainbow commanded.

Twilight let out a sigh and looked down. “Very well…” She took a breath before speaking again. “The person in my dream wasn’t a boy… It was… A girl… That’s why I came to you; you’re the only openly well… You know… That I know.”

“Fair enough, but all I can tell you is that you need to be true to yourself. If that’s what you want, then you need to treat it the same way. The rest… well, you really should consult Rarity on, I’m sure she won’t be weirded out or anything,” Rainbow explained.

She had a point. Rarity would likely only see the romance in the situation, and not really concern herself with issues like gender.

“I suppose you’re right… I’ll try and talk to her soon.”

Rainbow sat down next to her and smirked. “So… Who is it?”

“Huh?”

“Your crush. Come on, you dragged me out here and made me give you advice on it, I have the right to know now, it’s in the bro handbook.” Rainbow chuckled.

“Promise me you won’t tell anyone?” Twilight asked.

“Promise.”

Twilight looked away and blushed. “S-Sunset…”

Rainbow spit the water out she was drinking. “Oh man! For real!?”

Twilight nodded bashfully.

“I could definitely see it. She does have a nice rack, I’d hit it.” Rainbow smirked, “though I’d give my left tit to get busy with her sister, that girl is gorgeous.”

“Pervert.” Twilight laughed before nudging, Rainbow’s side.

She was thankful for it though, Rainbow’s nature lightened the mood, and made the entire topic easier to discuss. She was glad she had chosen to open up about it.

Stepping up the stairs with soup in a large mug, Shimmer gently creaked open the door to the room that she prepared for Sunset whenever she was over before poking her head in to see the girl sitting up on her bed, on a laptop. With a smile on her face, Shimmer gently walked inside before gesturing for Sunset to move over on the bed.

Obliging, Sunset shifted herself to the left of the bed, allowing Shimmer to sit down next to her and offer the soup.

“I know you’re used to magic, but this soup is a different kind of magic, it’ll kill cancer cells, I’m sure.” Shimmer bragged.

Taking the cup from her younger sister, Sunset snickered before taking a long sip of the mixture. Her face lit up as she instantly took another sip without even blowing on it. The hot sensation going down her throat felt wondrous, but she decided it was best to not try and go for another sip right away before blowing on it.

“This is amazing…” Sunset commented before blowing gently on the soup to cool it down.

Shimmer’s face lit up as she was filled with pride. “Thanks, my mother taught me how to make it. I’ve modified it over the years though.”

Looking down at the MacBook sitting on Sunset’s lap, Shimmer tilted her head to get a look at what Sunset was doing.

“I see you’re using the MacBook, I loaned you.” Shimmer smiled.

Blowing upon the soup some more, Sunset nodded before answering. “Yeah, though I’m totally lost… Took me twenty minutes to figure out that Safari gets me onto the internet…”

Shaking her head, Shimmer giggled as she scooted closer. “You’re hopeless. We’ll have to teach you about computers properly at some point, surprised that Twilight Sparkle hasn’t given you a crash course.”

“She has a hard time getting past the sighing and cringing at how computer illiterate I am,” Sunset replied.

“I can only imagine… Though you really should learn this stuff, pretty much everything in this world relies on computers, it’s a good skill to have,” Shimmer said.

She had a point. From the moment Sunset arrived in this world, it was evident that technology truly controlled and influenced virtually everything. To humans, this was their form of magic, and just like the magic that had carried over from her home to this place, she didn’t understand it in the slightest. After years she had wrapped her head around the basics, but Twilight’s attempts to educate her further were far too complex, even for a smart girl like Sunset.

“I have some books that might help you learn them better. Instruction manuals, entry-level college books that explain them, perhaps they will offer better help than the sighing of Twilight?” Shimmer offered.

Books were a safe point for Sunset. If it was in a book, she was certain to be able to wrap her head around it. It was an unwritten rule; well perhaps a written one, given the context that books made her understand virtually everything. Though admittedly they weren’t as amusing as watching Twilight get overly excited for a subject she was proficient in and eager to teach someone else.

There was a certain spark that appeared (no pun intended) in Twilight when she got to talk all nerdy; it was cute in a way.

“That would be very helpful,” Sunset admitted.

Shimmer nodded in response before scooting closer to her sister. “No problem. After all, you’re sick and I have to take care of you, right?”

“How did I get so lucky?” Sunset teased playfully.

“Your parents didn’t take care of you when you were sick?” Shimmer asked.

A frown came to Sunset’s face as she recalled her time with her family back in her memories. “I didn’t get sick a lot, but the few times I was… No… They wouldn’t even skip work for me. They would tell me I was a big girl and I could take care of myself. Sometimes they’d even tell me I still had to go to school… My parents were pretty strict about me going to school.”

A matching frown came to Shimmer’s face, making the two almost identical girls look slightly more identical. At that moment if Shimmer had less makeup on, one might even mistake her for Sunset.

“So no one ever took care of you when you weren’t feeling well?” Shimmer asked.

Placing her hand upon her chin in thought, Sunset contemplated that fact. Her mind began flipping through her memories like someone trying to find a word within the pages of a dictionary. She focused hoping to find even a single instance that would give her the chance to tell Shimmer that she had been cared for before.

Her mind came up blank.

About ready to admit it out loud, suddenly a specific memory rushed to the front of her mind, screaming to get out.

“There was one time… Just once, but it wasn’t my parents.”

Shimmer leaned in with interest, her voice almost becoming a whisper as if they were sharing a secret and there were others in the room. “Yeah?”

Sunset nodded.

“Who was it?” Shimmer asked.

“Celestia, my mentor at the time. I had gotten a cold and I was trying to go back to school, but she stopped me. She took me in, let me sleep in her bed, cared for me…” Sunset found herself rambling as she got lost in the memory.

She could still smell the soup that Celestia had prepared for her, though that may have just been the soup in front of her that Shimmer had prepared. She could remember Celestia at her bedside, checking her temperature, gently caressing her hoof, even singing to her, something she couldn’t remember her mother ever doing even. Celestia had taken on the role of her mother while she lived at the castle, Sunset never said it out loud, but she knew she was more than a star student back then, she was almost family.

That feeling of belonging had been so long forgotten until the past few weeks. It had finally come back because of Shimmer; ironic that the girl with no family somehow made Sunset feel like she had a family again.

Her mind trailed back to the princess, however.

I wonder what she’s doing right now.

That thought left her mind though as Shimmer realized something was amiss and began to question Sunset’s sudden silence.

“Something wrong?”

Blinking a few times, Sunset looked down to the steaming bowl in front of her. She reached a spoon down and took a large spoonful and allowed the mixture to enter her and fill her body with warmth.

After a second spoon, she shook her head. “Nah, just thinking about my old mentor is all…”

“What about her?” Shimmer asked.

Sunset shrugged. “I guess I still feel like I let her down. I mean I ran away because I was arrogant. I refused to listen to her teachings and told her she was holding me back. I assumed I could learn so much more here than under her wing… Ironically I was right, but I could only learn as much as I have when I listened to the student she sent here to stop me from making a terrible mistake…”

Shimmer spoke the words that echoed Sunset’s next thought. “You’re wondering if she’d be proud of you?”

“Yeah…” Sunset nodded.

Shimmer sighed and nodded.

“You can always go and visit here you know?” Shimmer suggested.

Sunset cringed visibly at the idea. She could already feel a tiny bit of anxiety start to build up in her just at the suggestion.

“I’d rather not…” Sunset admitted.

This caused a confused face to appear upon Shimmer. She had heard Sunset talk about how magical and wonderful her home was, yet whenever the subject of actually going back there came up, she always dismissed it or tried to avoid it.

“Why not? You said yourself that you’re curious; the only way to find out for sure is to actually investigate for yourself,” Shimmer explained.

Her elder sister bit her lip and looked away, trying to focus on anything in the room to avoid eye contact with Shimmer. “I can’t face her… Not yet anyway. I don’t think I can handle it if she’s disappointed in me, you know? What if… After all this time she tells me how I’m a huge letdown?”

Shimmer sighed and leaned closer, placing a hand on her sister’s back. She craned herself to lean a bit over Sunset’s shoulder as she spoke quietly. “Sunset… You can’t spend your life afraid of things that might happen…”

“Look who’s talking…” Sunset rolled her eyes.

“Point taken, however, I’m almost an expert on the subject. If anyone knows about not letting stuff control your life it’s me; it has bad results, you can't spend your entire life worried about maybes and could haves. You have to eventually move on, you taught me that,” Shimmer said.

With another sigh, Sunset nodded and looked directly at her sister. Shimmer’s face was filled with the kind of concern that only came from a loving family member. Her eyes were genuine; she looked as though she could cry at any second. Sunset hated worrying her like this.

“I’m sorry… you’re right. It’s just… I’m not ready yet… that’s all…” Sunset blushed.

A smile finally crept up onto her sister’s face as she nodded in approval. “That’s fine. One day you’ll be ready, but you can’t hide forever is my point. I’ll be there for you when you are ready too, we’ll go together, promise.”

Shimmer extended her pinkie which Sunset took in her own, before locking appendages to seal the deal.

“I’m holding you to it.” Sunset giggled.

Man what a crazy week. Applety almost lost her computer as her hard drive randomly decided to stop working only for it to randomly start working again today. I currently am sick, but I'm pushing onwards. In other news, Applety's work just keeps getting better and better!

Behind the scenes: This chapter changed slightly from the original notes. Twilight's "dream" was much less vivid and vague in the original.