Frantically, Shimmer hit redial on her phone for the tenth time in less than an hour. She hadn’t moved much from in front of Moondancer’s apartment when she had gotten the text from her sister asking for her aid; however, when she went to actually call the girl, she had received no answer, despite how many time she attempted to call her.

Her fingers tried dialing Sunset’s number manually, carefully and slowly she watched the numbers appear on the screen to ensure they were right. Her patience running out she pressed “call” and held the phone to her ear awaiting an answer. After several minutes of a dial tone, she could finally hear a familiar message play.

“Hey, this is Sunset. I can’t come to the phone right no-“

Growling with anger, Shimmer hung up and threw her phone into the passenger seat and violently banded the steering wheel of her vehicle screaming an obscenity at the highest volume she could muster at that moment.

“FUCK!”

Leaning forward she placed two fingers on her forehead as she attempted to calm down and compose herself. She knew she was losing her temper, and her mind fell back upon the anger management courses she had been taking. Reaching into her glove compartment she rummaged through the various documents and located a small stress ball she had opted to keep in the car at all times and gave it a few squeezes as she calmed herself.

“Get it together, Shimmer… magic tends to be caused by emotional outburst… control your temper…” she reminded herself out loud.

Shimmer attempted to clear her head, but her mind settled on how Sunset had decided not to tell her what was going on, and the more she thought about that, the more she realized there was a good chance that Twilight knew more. That was right; Twilight spent plenty of time visiting Sunset while Shimmer was distracted with her research, business with the school, and now her time with Moondancer.

Composing herself, she retrieved her phone and began to dial Twilight’s number. She took a few deep breaths as she heard the phone ring in her ear. After a good twenty seconds though, Twilight’s curious voice greeted Shimmer.

“Hello? Shimmer?”

Shimmer leaned back in her seat sneering. “What’s going on with Sunset?”

Twilight paused for a second before answering. “Oh… I take it she messaged you or something?”

“Yes, she messaged me, I got a text just a bit ago just saying ‘Help me’, what’s going on Twilight Sparkle, and tell me the truth,” Shimmer demanded, already feeling the gears in her mind turning again, the steam of her anger making her ears hot again.

“Well… I’ve been visiting her a bit and last I saw she was still sick, but… I kind of assumed she was trying to hide her illness… since she was being kind of dodgy about me going to see her…” Twilight admitted.

“And you decide to relay this information to me now? You didn’t think it was important to tell me this earlier? What kind of friend are you?” Shimmer interrogated.

Twilight clearly was intimidated by Shimmer’s anger as her responses became squeaky and nervous sounding. “I-I didn’t know what to do… I’m still newish to this friendship thing too you know? I figured if Sunset wanted anyone to know she’d have said something… Sunset has always been… kind of secretive, you know?”

Shimmer blinked as she realized in her irrational temper she had been going off on Twilight, who likely knew little. She had a point, Sunset kept a lot of cards close to her chest, and it wasn’t unlikely that she kept Twilight mostly in the dark as well; after all, Twilight was admitting she was mostly guessing regarding Sunset’s state as well.

Taking another breath, Shimmer nodded and answered, “Right… Sorry, I didn’t mean to yell at you, Twilight. It’s not your fault, after all, you have little clue what’s going on either I assume.”

Twilight choked out her response. “Y-yeah… that’s right…”

“I’m worried about her…” Shimmer admitted.

“I am too, are you going to go and see her?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, I’m heading over there right now. It’ll take me a bit as I’m on the other side of town… I think I’m near 8^th street…” Shimmer poked her head out of her car window to be buffeted by the cool fall air. Observing around her she could see the sign for 8^th street not far from where she was. “Yeah, 8^th street…”

“Hey, you’re not too far from where I live, do you think you could pick me up and take me with you to see her?” Twilight asked.

Shimmer smiled at Twilight’s concern. “Yeah, definitely; be outside in maybe five minutes, I’ll pick you up.”

“Can do,” Twilight replied before hanging up.

Setting her phone back into the mount on her dashboard, Shimmer sighed and shook her head as she started the car. “You really are the most stubborn bitch I’ve ever met, Sunset…”

Shimmer’s vehicle arrived in front of Twilight’s home as Twilight stood in the frigid cold regretting that she chose to wear a skirt today. Five minutes didn’t give her a tremendous amount of time to prepare so she had to run out in what she was already wearing but managed to find the time to throw a large grey hoodie over herself that was clearly a size or two too large.

The door to Shimmer’s expensive car opened as Shimmer leaned outward and pushed it open for Twilight. “Come on, hop in.”

Twilight paused for a moment but nodded as she daintily managed to get herself into the car and closed the door. Quickly she fastened her seatbelt and looked over at the serious looking Shimmer. Her friend’s face was filled with annoyance and concern.

Attempting to break the ice she gave a gentle smile to Shimmer. “Why are you all dressed up?”

“Long story, I’d rather not get into it at this exact moment. I’m trying to keep myself from ripping Sunset’s head off… you better call her because I can’t seem to get through to her.”

Not wanting to argue, Twilight reached into the pocket of her hoodie and retrieved her phone. With a few presses on the screen, she heard the dial tone as she held it to her ear.

The next few seconds fell completely silent as both girls waited patiently for an answer. The cold sounds of the cell phone ringing in both of their ears as they waited. Time stood still for what seemed like an hour, but in actuality was only a few seconds.

Silence would soon be replaced by the sound a familiar voice that Shimmer could only barely hear coming from Twilight’s phone.

“T-Twi…?”

Twilight exhaled a breath she didn’t even know she was holding in. “Sunset… you had me worried…”

Shimmer growled and reached over, snatching the phone from Twilight aggressively. Holding it to her ear, she could feel her teeth grinding. “Sunset, what the hell is going on?”

“Shimmer?” Sunset managed to get out.

Shimmer noted that her voice sounded weak.

“Yes, it’s Shimmer. I’m sitting here with Twilight, enough about that though, what the hell is going on? You sound terrible.”

Sunset only coughed in response, unable to truly manage to get an answer out.

“We’re coming over, now,” Shimmer barked.

“You don’t need to do th-“ Sunset was cut off by Shimmer hanging the phone up and handing it to Twilight.

Taking her phone back carefully, Twilight locked concerned eyes with Shimmer who was practically fuming.

Shimmer tilted her head in confusion.

“You’re not blinking…” Twilight pointed out.

Shimmer blushed and looked away as she took another breath. “Sorry… I just… I just… I don’t want to lose her… she makes me so mad when she gets reckless like this… I doubt you’d understand but she’s all I have now. I spent so long with no one that finally having someone in my life… well, I’m reluctant to allow that to slip through my hands so to speak…”

Twilight smiled as she reached over and placed her hand on top of Shimmer’s with a smile. “I know how you feel, trust me.”

With a sigh, Shimmer nodded and allowed her eyes to meet Twilight’s as a smile came to her face. “Let’s go save the day.”

Shimmer’s normally impeccable discipline to follow traffic laws was completely disregarded on this trip to Sunset’s apartment, much to Twilight’s dismay who was certain she would be sick soon if Shimmer didn’t slow down and stop weaving in and out of traffic. Her hand on the gear shifter seemed to move almost mechanically as her eyes focused on the road, dodging every car she could as she tried to make record time getting to Sunset’s abode.

Had Twilight not been a passenger in the speeding luxury car she might have been impressed with Shimmer’s skillful driving.

Seeing the fire in Shimmer’s eyes though, Twilight didn’t dare comment on the lack of safety in her driving.

When the car finally came to a stop, Twilight caught her breath and looked at the clock; 6:18 PM. She released the seat she had been clutching tightly for dear life before her eyes wandered over to Shimmer who was already taking her seatbelt off before even shutting off the car. Finally retrieving her key and letting the car shut down she looked over at the trembling Twilight. Ignoring the girl’s fear she opened her own car door and stepped out as she uttered an order, “Come on.”

Obliging, Twilight stepped out as well and reached the stairwell with Shimmer, who was already racing up it. Twilight paused at the bottom for a moment to watch the girl’s expensive outfit move to the shape of Shimmer’s womanly body as she moved. Shaking her head she ascended with her and managed to get to the floor where Sunset called home.

Tapping the door, Shimmer called out to Sunset as Twilight was approaching.

“Open the door, Sunset, it’s me.”

No answer.

Shimmer grunted as she took a step back and raced forward towards the door with all her strength, throwing her shoulder forward before Twilight had a chance to object.

“Wait don’t do-“

It was too late, with a powerful crash; Shimmer tumbled and rolled across the floor as the door burst open. Clearly, the girl wasn’t the strongest, nothing like her elder sister who was almost the definition of scrappy.

“That…” Twilight finished as she wandered in and offered a hand to Shimmer.

Taking the hand, Shimmer pulled herself up and brushed herself off.

“I was trying to tell you that I had a key on me…” Twilight blushed.

“Oh… Well, I’ll send someone to fix the door then…” Shimmer frowned, a bit embarrassed at her overreaction.

Pushing the door closed, Twilight sighed as she saw it wasn’t going to click shut again.

Shimmer placed her hands on her hips and stomped into the main room of the empty apartment. “Sunset, where are you?”

Blinking she yelped and ran down the hallway that granted access to the bathroom and bedroom.

Twilight flinched at Shimmer’s yelp and peeled around the corner and looked at the floor in the hallway to see what caused the scream. There on the floor, Shimmer was leaned down placing the back of her hand on Sunset’s forehead. Sunset was lying on her back on the floor with her mouth ajar and her eyes closed.

“She’s burning up…” Shimmer informed.

Twilight ran over as quickly as her legs would carry her and knelt down to Sunset and got on the other side. She leaned in and positioned her ear over Sunset’s mouth, listening for any sound. She couldn’t quite catch any noise coming from her. “I can’t tell if she’s breathing.” Twilight gulped.

“Do you know CPR?” Shimmer asked.

“Ummm… yes… I do…” Twilight nodded.

Shimmer gave a gesture to Twilight to go ahead.

Taking a breath Twilight looked down at Sunset and blushed. Her eyes focused on Sunset’s open mouth and found herself hesitating.

“Come on, hurry up, Twilight!” Shimmer scolded.

“R-right…” Twilight composed herself and leaned down ready to perform when she saw Sunset’s eyes open gently.

“Oh thank god, she’s alive…” Shimmer placed her fingers on her chest in relief.

“H-hey guys…” Sunset managed to get out with a smile.

“Well, that’s a good sign…” Twilight replied.

“It’s hot in here…” Sunset mumbled as she closed her eyes again.

“Crap, she’s delirious. Help me get her downstairs and into the car. We’ll take her back to my estate,” Shimmer instructed as she got her arms under Sunset’s and began to strain herself to lift the larger girl. With a groan she managed to get her body halfway off the floor, Twilight assisting in getting the rest up. The two placed one of Sunset’s arms around each of their shoulders and allowed her to float in between them as they took strained steps.

“Alright, down the stairs we go…” Shimmer commanded.

With no objections from Twilight, the two took careful steps down the steps and took their time reaching the bottom before finally reaching the car. Opening the door, Shimmer and Twilight carefully moved Sunset in on her back taking up the entire backseat of the car.

Twilight closed the door as they finished and the two nodded before racing to the front of the car, climbing into the driver and passenger seat respectively.

“Thank god she’s alright…” Twilight said.

Shimmer only nodded as she started the car.

Twilight turned her head in confusion, wondering why Shimmer wasn’t more excited that they had made it in time and Sunset wasn’t dead.

“Let’s just get her to the house before we celebrate…” Shimmer said quietly.

The trip back to the house was uneventful. Shimmer remained silent most of it, with Twilight attempting to start up a conversation only to be met with silence. It was clear that Shimmer was far too shaken up to engage in the small talk that Twilight was trying to start.

When they arrived inside, Shimmer and Twilight would have to use the elevator to get Sunset up to a guest room where they would finally bring her to rest.

After some fever-reducing medicine, water, and forcing her to get some hot soup into her system, the two caretakers sat down at Sunset’s bedside observing the time; 8:01 PM.

Shimmer sighed as she leaned back in her chair next to Sunset’s bedside, Twilight doing the same on the opposite side of the bed.

With enough time and treatment by the two’s combined efforts, Sunset managed to get her eyes open and speak coherently, albeit still weak. “W-where am I…?”

Shimmer sat up and came to a stand before pointing an accusing finger. “You’re at my estate, and you had me worried sick! What were you thinking!? You let it get this bad before you decided to text me!?”

Sunset frowned and looked away. “I… I didn’t want to worry you…”

Shimmer’s hands balled into fists but unclenched just as quickly as she calmed herself, trying to remind herself that Sunset was alright now. Leaning down she placed a hand on Sunset’s cheek and forced her to look into her own eyes. “A lot of good that did; Sunset I was more worried that you were so ill and I wasn’t anywhere around to help. Don’t scare me like that again, okay?”

Sunset remained silent as she stared at her younger sister.

Shimmer leaned in and touched her forehead to Sunset’s. “I can’t lose you…”

“You’re not going to, I promise. Remember? I told you before I’d always be around to protect you.” Sunset offered a weak arm that Shimmer leaned into for a half hug.

The two both grew smiles before Twilight coughed awkwardly. Blinking, Sunset gently moved her head in Twilight’s direction as she released Shimmer from the embrace. “Is that you, Twilight?”

The bookworm nodded quietly.

Sunset smiled and offered her hand which Twilight took. Her grip was weak, and her hand cold as ice. “You had me worried too…”

Sunset smirked and nodded. “I tend to do that it seems… sorry… to both of you…”

With a sigh Shimmer nodded and nudged the girl’s shoulder. “It’s fine… just don’t do it again…”

Sunset nodded gently.

Shimmer began to pace the room and placed fingers to her temple. “Okay… so the hospital is out of the question, so I guess I’ll have to get my private doctor here and pay her a lot more to not ask questions. We can trust her, and more importantly, she can keep a closer eye on you when I’m not here…”

“That’s really not necessary…” Sunset tried to object.

Twilight caught Sunset’s attention with a squeezing of her hand. Sunset’s head turned to Twilight’s direction to see Twilight simply shake her head. “Just let it happen, Sunset…”

With a sigh, Sunset nodded and decided that Twilight was right; not that she had the energy to protest anyway.

Shimmer leaned back and looked to Twilight with a smile. “Come on; let’s let her get some rest. You look like you could use a bath.”

Twilight blinked and pointed to herself, unsure if it was her that Shimmer was addressing.

Shimmer nodded and gave an inviting finger as she headed for the door. “Yes, you; come on it’s good for stress.”

Twilight blushed and followed Shimmer as she gave a quick sniff of herself, realizing she hadn’t showered today.

Leading Twilight to the bathhouse within the estate, Shimmer tapped a cabinet in the steamy room and smiled to the nervous looking Twilight before giggling. “The towels are here and relax I’m not going to join you so if you were worried I was going to see you naked you can rest easy. I have a few things I need to take care of.”

Twilight blushed and nodded as she held her body close together, clearly a bit shy about her potential nudity in front of Shimmer. Mostly out of general shyness, but also out of comparison to Shimmer who was clearly far more gorgeous than herself.

Winking to Twilight, Shimmer made her exit.

As she closed the door to the bathhouse, Shimmer took a few steps away before retrieving her phone seeing a text from Moondancer awaiting her.

Hey, I had a great time.

With the situation with her sister under control, Shimmer found herself able to remember the events of earlier in the day and smile a bit as she texted back.

Oh yeah? What was your favorite part?

It was clear that Moondancer wasn’t good at being put on the spot as her response reeked of social awkwardness and inability to figure out how to respond to such an obvious bait question. Instead of feeding Shimmer a compliment, Moondancer attempted to avoid the obvious.

Uh… I don’t know… what was yours?

Shimmer giggled as the mischievous part of her came out.

Definitely the ramen, though nothing like the places back in Japan…

The reaction was predictable.

Oh… right…

Shimmer made a turn and made her way to her laboratory before sitting down at a desk and tapping away a reply.

I’m only teasing, obviously, it was that kiss.

Shimmer could practically hear the sigh of relief from Moondancer’s reply.

Oh thank god… that was my first time doing that… I was hoping I didn’t fuck it up…

Shimmer’s cheeks lit up with a blush as she remembered the kiss herself.

You’re not bad for a first-timer. You’ll need practice though if you want to kiss a lady and make her toes really curl if you know what I mean.

The reply was bold, bolder than Shimmer was expecting from someone as nervous about the whole ordeal as Moondancer was, perhaps she was rubbing off on her faster than she thought.

Well with you as a partner, I’m sure I’ll get there in time.

Shimmer blushed deeper and snickered.

Oh my, aren’t we bold? Nonetheless, I accept the offer. Your first lesson is you are going to have to kiss me first next time. You have to take a little charge if you want to really make the sparks fly. Slightly different subject but my friend Pinkie is having this little get together and I was wondering if you wanted to come meet my friends? I’d really like to see you again as well.

She knew she was asking a lot out of the socially awkward girl, but fortunately enough the answer came rather quick.

I’d love to. When is it?

Shimmer typed up the details and sent the message before leaning back in her chair and found her mind going back to Sunset’s condition again. With a sigh, she dialed a number on her phone and pressed call as she waited with her breath practically held.

The voice on the other end sounded quite surprised. “Well, I wasn’t expecting you to actually call me. We’ve spoken exclusively through texts up to this point; I was under the impression you wanted to avoid talking to me whenever you could. I fail to see a point in ground rules when you keep breaking them…”

Shimmer grunted in annoyance. “Cut the shit. I figured it would be faster to call you directly; I need your opinion on a matter since you’re the only other person who has seen my notes in excess. You know more about magic, Equestria, and Sunset than anyone…”

“I suppose that’s correct. What’s going on?” The voice spoke back.

Shimmer leaned forward in her seat as she explained her situation. “Sunset’s sick… very sick in fact. I’m having my private doctor look at her, but truthfully… I’m not even sure a human doctor can help her… I can’t bring her to a hospital for obvious reasons, but like… what should I do?”

The voice on the other end sighed. “Honestly? I would say take her back to Equestria to get looked at, but there’s no telling what will happen if you go through the portal with her. I mean according to your notes a lot of magical influx happened here when she came to this world, so who knows what’ll happen if you go there… I’d say save it as a last resort.”

Shimmer sighed afraid that was the answer she was going to get. “Yeah… I agree… alright, I’ll try and avoid it unless the situation comes to it. God knows I don’t need any more magical mishaps in my life.”

“I imagine magic has you stressed out given what I’m seeing in your notes, pretty incredible stuff here,” the voice on the other side of the phone replied.

“Yeah… anyway… thanks. I know this is awkward, but I do appreciate your help,” Shimmer admitted.

“Let’s not get this mixed up; let’s resolve this ordeal with magic first and then we can talk about this friendship or… whatever it is that’s going on here.” The voice responded.

Shimmer nodded in agreement. “Yeah… alright. I’m hanging up now; let me know if you have any updates…”

“Sunset…” the voice halted her before she ended the call.

“Y-yeah?”

“Don’t do anything stupid.”

Shimmer smirked. “Come on, I thought you knew me better…”

“I guess, either way, stay safe.”

“You too.” With those words, Shimmer hung up the phone and let out a powerful sigh.

The previous night came and went, and by the time morning had rolled around, Shimmer had managed to get her private doctor into the house to look after Sunset. With a long discussion and explicit instructions that nothing discussed would leave the house and a handsome payment, Shimmer was able to set her mind at ease as she prepared for Pinkie’s little gathering that night. Shimmer had decided to go with a black low cut dress that showed off a bit more of her finer features. The outfit complimented her breasts and made a very alluring cleavage line that she knew would draw Moondancer’s attention.

The dress was short, just barely passing her butt cheeks. She chose thick stockings and a cardigan to throw on in her car in the event that it was too cold. Realistically it wasn’t the best outfit practicality wise for the fall, but she had other intentions in mind. She was far less interested in practical and far more interested in teasing Moondancer.

Arriving at Moondancer’s apartment she honked the horn of her car to get the girl’s attention. Afterwards, she gazed into her vanity mirror to check her lip gloss. Batting her eyes playfully she could also observe that her mascara was flawless. Checking the time she saw she was early and it was only 3:58 PM.

Approaching the car, Shimmer took note of Moondancer’s ensemble. The girl had on a pair of tattered grey skinny jeans, some sporty skater shoes and what appeared to be a light blue plaid long sleeve blouse. Her hair appeared to have had little effort put into it, and was the same mess it always was.

She had just a hint of a masculine look, reminding Shimmer more of an effeminate pretty boy, but not that she minded.

Moondancer entered the car and froze for a second as her eyes met the decorated eyes of Shimmer.

“Hey,” Shimmer said.

“Hey,” Moondancer replied, still staring.

Shimmer giggled at the girl’s awe. “Take a picture, it lasts longer.”

Moondancer quickly dug into her pocket trying to get her phone before Shimmer reached a hand out and stopped her. “It was a joke, sweetie.”

“Oh…” Moondancer blushed at her foolishness and nodded. “Right.”

Starting the car, Shimmer began to guide the two towards Pinkie’s home. There was silence for a few minutes before Moondancer broke it. “You look…”

Shimmer caught her out of the corner of her eye and waited for her to unpause. After a good thirty seconds, it was clear she wasn’t going to without some encouragement. “Go ahead, say it.”

“Stunning...” Moondancer blushed, unable to look at Shimmer as she spoke.

More giggled escaped Shimmer. “Thanks, you’re not bad yourself. That shirt looks freshly ironed; did you iron a shirt just to come out with me?”

“I wanted to leave a good impression on your friends…” Moondancer lied.

“Ah, I see. Well, I wouldn’t worry about that. This bunch is… unique,” Shimmer said.

It wouldn’t take long before the two arrived at Pinkie’s abode. Stepping out of the car, Shimmer came to the other side and stood next to Moondancer, shooting her a smile before the two walked together towards the entrance. Moondancer’s eye behind her glasses constantly peaked down to Shimmer’s delicate hand, contemplating taking it in her own on the walk to the door. Nerves got the better of her though as they reached the door and she had not gotten the courage to even attempt it.

Shimmer rang the doorbell, and Moondancer just gulped in anticipation.

From the other side of the door, they heard a faint “I got it!” before the door flung open.

A very casual Pinkie Pie stood there sizing Moondancer up with vibrant blue eyes. Moondancer stood perfectly still as the girl in an oversized T-shirt and tight leggings sized her up. After a bit of squinting and examining she stood back with her finger upon her chin.

“Hey Pinkie, this is my friend Moondancer,” Shimmer said.

Pinkie nodded with the same expression on her face before breaking into a bright smile. “Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Moondancer!” She exclaimed before violently shaking Moondancer’s hand. After a good ten seconds of shaking, Moondancer tried to pull away, getting dizzy from the gesture.

Once she had reclaimed her stolen hand, she composed herself and nodded. “A pleasure… Pinkie Pie right?”

“Right-o-roni!” Pinkie beamed, “come on inside you two.” Pinkie gestured for the two to follow as she turned around and swayed her hips while she walked inside. Moondancer took note of her over peppiness, wondering if it was normal or if the girl was on some kind of medication that made her that cheerful. Either way, she felt exhausted just being in the same place as Pinkie.

With a nod, Shimmer wandered into the house, followed by Moondancer. Making their way into the living room, Rainbow and Applejack were violently at war on some video game that the two had gotten so intensely into that they had stood up during play and were delivering the usual banter.

“You are going down, Apple!” Rainbow grunted with a few more presses on her controller.

“In yer’ dreams, Rainbow!” Applejack growled before violently twitching her arm with her controller, clearly seeming to think it’d give her some kind of in-game advantage.

“Uh-oh! There goes your shield! What’re you gonna do?” Rainbow taunted.

Applejack grew quiet and focused but Rainbow appeared to be winning. “Oh wait for it… wait for it… wait for it…” Rainbow paused for a second before mashing a button on her controller. “OH YES! THERE IT IS! DEAD! FUCKING DEAD!” Rainbow cheered as she held her controller in the air. “Oh man here comes the replay!” She pointed to the screen as an on-screen character grabbed Applejack’s character and ripped their skull clean off their head and tossed it into her body. “Oh FUCK YOU!”

“That looks like overkill t’me.” Applejack rolled her eyes.

“You’re just jealous, Apples.” Rainbow smirked as she spun the controller on her finger before setting it down and plopping onto the nearby recliner.

“Jealous of what?” Applejack raised a brow in annoyance.

“Jealous that you are in the presence of a true champion,” Rainbow bragged with the largest grin she could muster.

“Ah’ demand a rematch.” Applejack growled.

Rainbow sat up and smirked but the two were cut off by an annoyed Rarity. “Would you two knock it off? Seriously, you behave like infantile children sometimes.”

Shimmer took note that Rarity was painting her nails with a vibrant red nail polish.

Applejack grumbled but ultimately decided to drop it as she turned her attention to Shimmer and her company.

“Oh, howdy there, apologize fer’ the language.” Applejack blushed, “name’s Applejack.”

“You’ll get used to it, especially when she’s around the ever-so-incorrigible Rainbow Dash over there…” Rarity spoke, her eyes still locked on her nails.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and decided to let it roll off her shoulders.

Fluttershy who had been silent this entire exchange finally squeaked her name as she gave a gentle wave to Moondancer from the spot on the couch next to Rarity. “I’m Fluttershy…”

On a chair on the other side of the room, Twilight raised a hand and waved. “Moondancer right?” Twilight asked.

“How did you know that?” Rainbow asked leaning up.

“I recognize her from when I attended Crystal Prep. You still go there, right Moondancer?” Twilight adjusted her glasses.

Moondancer nodded. “Y-yeah… I remember seeing you on the top of a lot of class lists, Twilight Sparkle right?”

Twilight nodded and giggled. “I’m sure you’ve taken my place now that I’m gone. I recall you being pretty high on those lists too. You placed 8^th in the state tests for the entire state didn’t you?”

Moondancer shrugged, not particularly interested in talking about school.

“My name is Rarity,” Rarity chimed in as she finished her nails and met Moondancer with a bright smile.

Before any further commentary could commence, Pinkie burst through the room carrying several stacks of pizza boxes. It was almost unreal how many she was capable of carrying. “Enough talk! PIZZA TIME!”

Several hours into Pinkie’s gathering and Rainbow Dash and Pinkie were already passed out from stuffing themselves with pizza. Halfway through their first slice, they managed to challenge each other to a pizza eating contest and by the time they got through the first half of their second pizza they both regretted the decision. Regardless though, Pinkie ended up being the champion, though it came as a surprise to no one as the girl was more or less a garbage disposal.

Applejack was busy practicing at the game her and Rainbow were playing earlier, obviously preparing for that rematch she demanded, and Fluttershy, Twilight, and Rarity seemed occupied trying to play dress up with Twilight’s dog Spike that she had apparently brought (much to his apparent dismay) with her.

The night was spent with small talk between the girls, and for Moondancer there was a lot of trying to get to know the group. She found herself, however, clinging to Shimmer’s side as much as she could so she could latch onto some level of familiarity.

Shimmer had stepped out onto the balcony in the kitchen by herself, catching a bit of fresh air as she gathered herself. The cool fall air was a bit harsh, but somehow she felt comfortable despite her cardigan behind in her car.

Her mind fell onto her sister’s health. She was contemplating giving her a call and asking the doctor how she was holding up. However before she could even think to run back in to grab her phone, she heard the sliding door open. Shimmer didn’t even need to turn to know who it was, and she just stood silently as her friend approached and placed her scrawny hands onto the railing next to Shimmer as she too began to look out to the distance.

“This house has a pretty good view of the town…” Moondancer commented.

Shimmer nodded in agreement. “Yeah, it reminds me of a house we had in Japan. It was gorgeous, and when you looked out far enough you could see the water…”

Moondancer smiled as she closed her eyes and tried to envision the home. She had read up on Japan and had a general idea of how their houses were structured, and she could paint a picture in her mind of the house in question. A small quaint little town in the distance, a body of water just beyond that, but then there at the doorway Shimmer in a black and orange kimono with her hair pinned up. Her fantasy was broken however when Shimmer let out a sigh.

“Something wrong?” Moondancer leaned closer.

“Just… thinking about my sister…” Shimmer admitted.

“What about her?” Moondancer asked.

“She’s sick at the moment, and I’m worried about her…” Shimmer said.

Moondancer nodded. “I see… I know I don’t know her that well, but I’m sure she’ll be okay.”

Shimmer grew quiet and continued to look to the town lighting up in the night. “I haven’t known what family was like since 2008 when my parents died. Sunset is all I have, so I guess I’m a little paranoid about losing her…”

Moondancer blinked and reached over placing her hand atop of Shimmer’s, causing the girl to look at her. “That’s not entirely true… you have me…”

Shimmer smiled and nodded. “That’s true isn’t it...”

With a turn, Shimmer brought her body closer to Moondancer’s, looking at the slightly taller girl’s eyes. Moondancer gulped and found herself frozen, unsure of what to do. Her eyes darted between Shimmer’s powerful gaze, her easy to see cleavage line and her glossy lips. She kicked herself internally for not reading up more online about romantic etiquette. She found herself in a daze as her eyes seemed to land on Shimmer’s cleavage as she stood in thought with the other girl’s hands locked in her own.

After a good ten seconds, Shimmer chuckled and gave a gentle whistle to catch Moondancer’s attention. “Hey, my eyes are up here.”

Moondancer blushed and reverted her attention to Shimmer’s alluring eyes, trying to think of a way to play it off. “I… uhh… sorry…”

Shimmer giggled playfully. “It’s okay, I’m glad to see this dress caught your attention. Now I know you’re a boob girl.”

Moondancer’s blush only grew deeper as she looked away. “Fuck… sorry… I didn’t mean to…”

Rolling her eyes, Shimmer reached up and forcibly turned Moondancer’s head to face her again. “Hey. I didn’t say I minded, you goofball.”

With a nod, Moondancer gulped again.

Shimmer smirked and swayed her hips playfully as she stood there waiting. Moondancer only tilted her head in confusion.

“This is the part where you would probably want to try and kiss me,” Shimmer said.

Moondancer blinked. “Thanks for the hint.”

“Just a suggestion,” Shimmer teased.

Placing her hand on Shimmer’s small waist, and the other behind her head, Moondancer tried to calm her nerves as she pulled the girl in for the mentioned kiss. Thanks to Shimmer’s heels she didn’t have to lean down, but instead only gently tilt her neck downwards to match Shimmer’s height. She was fortunate that the two of them were both taller girls.

Their lips kept locked as Moondancer tried to recall what Shimmer had done during their last kiss, wanting to try and be a better leader this time, however, she was fighting the lust taking over her brain and making her thoughts disappear.

Quickly she remembered to open her mouth, offering her short tongue against her partner’s, causing Shimmer to giggle playfully but wrap her arms around Moondancer and keep her trapped in the kiss.

It wouldn’t be another few seconds before they finally broke the kiss. Moondancer and Shimmer both found themselves at a shortness of breath. Shimmer nodded contently as she placed her forehead to Moondancer’s. “Now that is how you kiss a girl.”

The full draft for this chapter was actually done in a single night. I was super impressed with myself!

Behind the Scenes: Also the sketches for this were completely changed! The new ones turned out much better than the initial idea. The second one was changed from a kiss between Moondancer and Shimmer to the humorous scene that we got in the end because Applety thought it would be funnier.