Eyes opened to gaze at a familiar building through foggy glasses. Twilight grumbled as a yawn escaped her. Her back ached and she didn’t even remember falling asleep. Wrapped around her was a blanket she had retrieved from her father’s car when she arrived last night. It was cold and she wanted to avoid catching any ailments as she waited.

Part of her knew going home was the better idea, but she decided instead to simply wait, not wanting to miss Sunset’s return if she did come back through the now closed portal.

It had occurred to her though that something had woken her up. A gentle tap on the shoulder, which caused her to look up to see the blurry face of a woman in her early thirties looking down at her with a raised brow.

“Principal Celestia?” Twilight asked.

The good principal knelt down to Twilight’s level and looked the girl in the face. “Twilight Sparkle? What are you doing here?”

“Waiting for Sunset…” Twilight replied as she shifted in her blanket.

“Sunset? You mean Sunset Shimmer?”

Twilight nodded.

Celestia sighed and shook her head. “Have you been here all night?”

Twilight frowned and looked away with a blush, though it was hard to see as her cold face was mostly red already. “I… I don’t know…”

“Oh dear… Come on, let’s get you inside, you’ll catch a cold out here…” Celestia took Twilight’s hand only for the girl to remain seated. Celestia looked back with confusion at Twilight’s protest.

“No! I have to stay here… I have to make sure Sunset’s okay…” Twilight replied.

Celestia sighed again and gave another tug on the girl’s hand, only for Twilight to defiantly stay seated.

“Twilight, I don’t know what’s going on, but you’re not going to be any good to Sunset if you catch a cold out here. Now please, come inside with me and we’ll get you warmed up and we can talk about this, alright?” The principal requested.

Twilight looked up at her and instantly felt her armor peel away. There was something about the principal that was always soothing. She was definitely in the correct career field as she was excellent at getting teenagers to listen to her, even when they wanted to be defiant. Perhaps she had an aura that made one not want to disappoint her which made her such a good disciplinarian. Often times Twilight heard of students turning themselves in out of fear of Celestia’s disapproval rather than fear of getting caught.

The teen came to a stand and used her free hand to keep her blanket wrapped around herself as she followed Celestia inside.

Reaching the front door, Twilight saw her retrieve a set of keys from her pocket and unlock the front door. It dawned on her that she was going to experience the school before hours which was something she always was curious about; what teachers did before all the students arrived.

Entering the atrium of the school, Twilight could see that most of the lights weren’t on yet, and a very frazzled and busy looking Ms. Cheerilee waved to Celestia before catching up with her.

“Principal Celestia! And… Twilight Sparkle?” She tilted her head in confusion as she focused on Twilight.

Twilight gave a gentle wave only for Celestia to explain her away to the frantic teacher. “It’s a long story, what do you need Ms. Cheerilee?”

The teacher coughed and adjusted herself. “Oh, just running a bit late and wondering if you could make an announcement that my early morning tutor sessions are canceled. I had some car trouble earlier and-“

The Principal held out a hand to cut her off and simply nodded. “That will be fine, Ms. Cheerilee. Please, go get yourself some coffee and relax.”

“Relax… yes… of course…” She nodded before brushing her messy hair with her hands and wandered off.

“She’s a lot less… peppy in the morning…” Twilight stated.

“She’s better after a cup of coffee, trust me.” The principal chuckled.

“I guess so…” Twilight remarked.

“She’s a busy woman, that’s all. I know what that’s like…” Celestia grew quiet for a moment before shaking her head and smiling at Twilight as she gestured for the two to continue to her office.

Twilight nodded and continued their walk until they crossed paths with a familiar Vice-Principal with bags under her eyes. The young woman yawned and stretched as she nodded at her sister quietly.

“Up late again?” Celestia asked.

Luna shrugged. “Insomnia, you know how it goes…”

Celestia sighed and shook her head. “Go get yourself some coffee…”

“Waaaay ahead of you…” her younger sibling replied before lifting a McDonald’s cup.

“How many of those have you had by chance?” Celestia asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

“Only four…” Luna rolled her tired eyes.

“Four lattes!?” Celestia groaned in annoyance.

Luna paused and rubbed her ear. “Five counting this one…”

“You really do take after dad…” Celestia smirked.

Luna chuckled and nodded before taking a long sip from her to-go cup. “What’s with Twilight? No offense dear, we love having you here, but I’m more used to you being here during school hours…”

“You know, when she’s human,” Celestia teased as she nudged Twilight’s shoulder, causing the girl to giggle.

“Man does picking on me ever get old?” Luna complained.

“Not likely.” Celestia snickered.

“Still haven’t answered my question…” Luna spoke in an annoyed tone, clearly, the two were used to bickering like this in the morning, but Luna grew tired of it very quickly.

Celestia composed herself and adjusted her jacket. “I found her outside sitting in front of the statue…”

“I see…” Luna blinked before leaning down to Twilight’s level, her face only an inch away from Twilight’s. Twilight could smell the mixture of chocolate and coffee on her breath as she smiled. “Late night trips to Equestria?”

Celestia pushed her sister’s face back gently and forced the woman to stand upright before brushing Luna’s shirt. “Luna, why not go rest a bit in your office, I’ll handle this.”

With another yawn escaping the haggard, sleep-deprived disciplinarian, Luna nodded and decided it was for the best to allow her older sister take care of the situation. “Alright… if you need me, I’m going to be trying to nap on my couch, try not to wake me until the first bell rings though… maybe I can manage to read that manga I’ve been sitting on…” as the woman walked away she began to ramble to herself almost incoherently.

Celestia sighed and rolled her eyes. “I swear she reads so much of that trash. When we were kids all she’d do is read that stuff and watch those animes of hers’…”

Looking back to Twilight, Celestia let her positive face come back to her and lead the remainder of the way to her office. Once the two managed to get inside, Celestia walked over to a coffee maker in the room. Twilight assumed that the two sisters drank enough to where they needed their own private machine. She took note that it was clearly a more expensive model with a timed brewer on it, so it was likely that Celestia set her coffee maker on a timer so she’d have fresh coffee the moment she walked in the door.

Part of her wondered how often Luna’s coffee maker ran.

“Coffee?” Celestia asked.

Twilight shook her head.

Nodding, Celestia poured herself a cup and threw two sugar cubes into it. With the gentle twirl of a nearby spoon, she took a short sip and smiled before returning to her chair.

“So… tell me again why you were sitting in front of the school in your pajamas and a blanket?” The Principal asked from behind her cup.

“And a hoodie,” Twilight corrected.

“Twilight,” Celestia scolded.

“Right… well, it’s a long story but… I think… Shimmer took Sunset back to Equestria…” Twilight frowned as she started to feel the memories of the previous night resurface. Those feelings of defeat tried to overtake her again and she could feel her hands ball into little fists just thinking about it.

“Why would she do something like that?” Celestia asked with a raised brow.

“Sunset is sick… she’s been sick for a while…” Twilight explained.

With a nod, Celestia clearly understood. “I see, I know she’s been absent with an illness, but I had no idea it was so bad…”

“I’m just worried because what if they quarantine her there or something?” Twilight asked.

Celestia chuckled and set her cup down. “Relax, Twilight. I doubt anything like that will happen. Shimmer cares about Sunset; she wouldn’t do something like this unless she thought it was the best thing for her. That girl comes her personally to pick up and drop off Sunset’s homework. I can see it in her eyes; Sunset is the world to her.”

Twilight didn’t consider that perspective before. Maybe Shimmer knew what she was doing, it was possible after all that everything would work out, still, she wished she could see Sunset.

“I’m sure Sunset will be fine,” Celestia reassured.

Twilight nodded finally and found herself trying to agree with that statement. “Right… I mean… you’re probably right… still is it possible you could continue to make an excuse for Sunset? I don’t want her to get in trouble for truancy or anything…”

The principal nodded and smiled. “I have it under control. Believe it or not, Twilight, but I know what it’s like to deal with mischief and very odd circumstances…”

“Y-you do?” Twilight leaned in with awe. She could never imagine Celestia as a troublemaker.

The woman chuckled and gave a hand gesture suggesting she wanted Twilight to calm down. “Another story for another day, Twilight. For now, why don’t you just get some rest on the couch before school begins? Do your parents know you’re here?” Celestia asked.

Twilight shook her head. “I mean… they knew I took the Impala last night to get here, but I imagine they expected me to come back…”

Celestia nodded and stood up. “I’ll call them for you. Please go ahead and use the couch, you’ve had a long night and you should rest up.”

Twilight nodded and found herself wandering over to the red couch in the room with a yawn. She was far more tired than she imagined. The moment her head touched the pillow she was already feeling her eyelids grow heavy, but the only thought on her mind was wondering if Sunset was okay and praying for her to have a safe return.

It was difficult for Shimmer to tell how much time had passed due to her and the Princess spending the past few hours in the waiting room of the Ponyville hospital. Shimmer also contemplated if time moved at the same speed in this world, or if time in her world was parallel to it. Give how long she had to think about such questions by the time what she assumed to be morning had come she had a long list of question to ask the Princess when she returned home.

Princess Twilight was leaned against a wall as she sat in a chair awkwardly, snoring. For a princess, she wasn’t the most dainty, but then again Shimmer didn’t quite know what that was for her species.

Shimmer must have counted the tiles on the ceiling at least a dozen times at this point to keep her mind clear of thoughts of how long it had been. Not a word from the doctors, and it worried her.

Relief finally came to her as she saw the Doctor Healer step out through a set of double doors holding a clipboard in her hoof. Shimmer noted how tired and dishelved the mare looked. Given how tired the mare looked, Shimmer had guessed they had been sitting around for many hours at this point, she guessed at least eight.

She gave Twilight a shake, causing the princess to grumble and utter “18 boxes please…” as she was still half dreaming.

“Twilight, wake up, the doctor is here!” Shimmer shook the tired mare more viciously causing Twilight to grumble more.

Finally getting up with a long yawn, Twilight pulled herself out of her seat with Shimmer, as the two approached the doctor; Shimmer with a more concerned face, Twilight with one of annoyance, clearly still tired.

“How is she, doctor? Is she alright? What can we do?” Shimmer pleaded.

The doctor grumbled and covered her ear. “One question at a time, please…”

“Right… sorry” Shimmer blushed.

“You said you’re her sister, right?” the doctor asked, answering Shimmer’s question with another question.

“Y-yes…?” Shimmer could feel her heart leap into her throat.

“Please, let’s have a seat.” Doctor Healer gestured back to the chairs.

Shimmer nodded and Twilight followed as the group sat down. The doctor levitated the clipboard in front of her eyes, giving her glasses a slight adjustment. “Well it’s 1:28 PM, so I’ll be clocking out soon, but I put my nurses and another doctor on the job.”

“Sorry to keep you, doctor…” Twilight attempted to apologize only for the doctor to raise a hoof.

“Save it. Next time, I can’t help but stress how important it is to get to us sooner, had you two arrived even a minute later, we wouldn’t have even gotten her to the hospital…” the doctor complained.

“S-sorry…” Shimmer choked on her words.

Doctor Healer took a long inhale and then released the breath as she leaned back in the chair looking over the chart, her silky brown mane covering part of her face, to where she brushed it out of the way.

“That being said… her condition is… not good…” she admitted.

“What’s wrong with her?” Shimmer spoke.

“She has Magicolius, It’s a magic-based virus common in adolescents, most are vaccinated for it when they are in their early preteen years, I’m surprised she wasn’t as well be honest, it's very rare that a foal is not immunized…” the doctor explained.

“S-so there’s a cure then!?” Shimmer leaned in excitedly.

The doctor covered her ear again and inched away from Shimmer. “I said there was a vaccine, not a cure. Anyway, she is far too weak to give the vaccine now.”

Shimmer frowned and pulled away from the doctor nodding. “R-right…”

The princess yawned again and composed herself. “Give it to us straight, doctor… how is she?”

Doctor Healer closed her eyes and sighed. “Not well… her vitals are poor, we had to monitor her all last night… there aren’t any signs of her improving either. I have my best nurses watching her but…”

“But…?” Twilight asked.

“I… I would plan for the worst-case scenario… it’ll be a miracle if she survives the night.” The doctor frowned and paused before adding, "I'm sorry..."

Shimmer felt tears welling up in her eyes as she turned and buried her face into Twilight’s chest. The princess wrapped a hoof around her.

“She’s a tough girl, but she’ll be fighting for her life from here on out. Whether she makes it or not will be determined by how badly she wants to live…” The doctor explained.

“Thank you, doctor…” Twilight replied.

Doctor Healer stood up and placed a hoof on Shimmer’s shoulder, causing the girl to look to the tired doctor with wet eyes. “I had a sister myself… I lost her when I was young, it was the whole reason I became a doctor, so I understand what you’re going through.”

Shimmer nodded as she wiped her tears.

“She needs you to be strong right now, I have the best nurses and doctors I know on the job.” The doctor smiled.

Shimmer was surprised to see the grumpy doctor actually smile for a change, but she found a smile coming to her own face as she nodded. “T-thank you, doctor.”

Doctor Healer nodded and raised a hoof as she stepped away. “Now, I will be in my office sleeping. I’m not leaving this building until this girl is no longer in my care.”

As she trotted away Twilight smiled and pet Shimmer’s head. “At least she is dedicated…”

Twilight waved to her father as he drove off, dropping her off at the gate to Applejack’s farm home on the edge of town. Her eyes were drawn to the old rusty pickup truck parked haphazardly in front of the house and took note of how it contrasted with the nicely kept house. The house was clearly painted recently and while Applejack and her family clearly didn’t care much for having a presentable vehicle, they did seem to care deeply about having a nice home.

The place reminded her of the kind of nice country home you’d see in postcards. She remembered Applejack briefly mentioning they used to live on a farm down south before they moved to Maryland, she couldn’t remember all the details though.

Adjusting the bag saddled on her back, Twilight opened the front gate and began the slow walk toward Applejack’s abode. It had been a few days since her friends had seen her. After her race with Shimmer to the portal only to be met with defeat, Twilight spent the morning sleeping in Celestia’s office.

As predicted though, she developed a small cold, and the Principal drove her home and had her father come to pick up his car. While her parents were deeply worried about her, they didn’t seem too upset regarding her actions after she explained them. She was blessed to have such understanding parents, though they did tell her to bring a jacket next time and to come home sooner.

She would then spend the next few days at home recovering, constantly checking her phone hoping to get a message from Shimmer, but no such luck. Eight days had passed since Shimmer left and there was no word on when she would return, if ever. It was all that was on Twilight’s mind; what could possibly be going on there? Was Shimmer arrested for illegally going through the portal? Was that a thing over there? Was Sunset quarantined?

She couldn’t seem to get the thoughts out of her head, as she worried more and more. There was a dreading fear that things had taken a turn for the worse.

As she stepped along the path she looked up to the sky, realizing that it would start snowing soon. Winter was going to be in full swing in a few weeks. She wondered if Sunset would even be home for Christmas.

Twilight’s weak frigid finger reached forward and rang the doorbell before stuffing her hand back into her jacket pocket for warmth. Not to much surprise, Applejack answered the door and a big grin appeared on her face before the country girl grabbed Twilight and pulled her into the structure with a tight hug. “Y’all gave us quite the scare there, sug.”

Twilight gasped for breath remembering now that Applejack didn’t know her own strength when hugging people and almost gave more violent hugs than Pinkie, but Pinkie still rated the most over the top for hugs, unsurprisingly. Twilight once recalled wondering if she would survive a hug from Pinkie when they first met.

One major difference between Applejack and Pinkie, however, was that Applejack knew when to stop, whereas Pinkie seemed to take struggling for air as a challenge to squeeze harder.

Realizing Twilight was gasping for dear life, Applejack loosened her grip and ultimately allowed her to escape the embrace, before placing both of her hands on each of Twilight’s upper arms as she held the girl at a distance with a chuckle. “Heh, sorry. Don’t know my own strength sometimes…” Applejack admitted, a blush crossing her freckled cheeks.

Twilight seldom stood this close to Applejack, but she noticed that she actually had a very feminine face up close. She tried to hide it with her mannerisms and refusing to adopt makeup into her wardrobe, but underneath that stetson of hers was the cute face of a young woman, actually Twilight almost felt a bit jealous of how naturally cute Applejack was up close, but she decided it wasn’t the topic of conversation she wanted to spark up at the moment. She composed herself and snapped back to reality quickly.

“It’s alright, also I’m sorry for worrying you…” Twilight smiled meekly.

Applejack pulled her arm as she stepped backward to drag Twilight into the house more. Nearly falling forward, Twilight followed as Applejack closed the door behind her. “Let’s get in here, we’re lettin’ all the warm out,” she instructed.

“R-right!” Twilight stuttered as she regained her balance.

Twilight cautiously walked deeper into the house to find herself standing in the living room where the other girls all sat. Twilight wanted to giggle as she watched Rainbow Dash sit with a blush and an annoyed expression as Fluttershy braided her long hair. “I swear I am going to cut my hair so people are not tempted to try and braid it or do frilly girly crap with me…”

Fluttershy giggled and continued as she shook her head. “You wouldn’t do that, you like your hair.”

“Mark my words! I will become a butchy lesbian just to stop this nonsense!” Rainbow objected.

“Would you really?” Rarity sitting on the couch raised a brow as she sat with her legs and arms crossed.

“N-no… but still…” Rainbow grumbled.

Rarity smirked and nodded, content with herself. “As I thought, the tough and oh so anti-feminine Rainbow Dash has a womanly side that she is afraid to admit she enjoys…”

“Shut up! I do not!” Rainbow growled.

“Defensive, I see?” Rarity teased.

“Girls, please…” Fluttershy intervened a few strands of Rainbow’s long multi-colored hair still in her hands.

Her words were effective as the two ceased and looked away from each other in annoyance. Twilight giggled, but she knew that Rarity had somewhat of a point. They had caught Rainbow doing “girly” things in secret before, and she was certain they would again at some point.

“Twilight, dear! It’s good to see you!” Rarity changed the subject and patted the seat next to herself. Applejack gestured to go ahead as she sat down on the other side of the same couch. It appeared as though whatever they were going through the two of them patched up. Twilight surmised it was just another squabble due to the two of them having personalities that but heads regularly.

She took the invitation and sat down between the two of them and leaned back into the comfortable couch. Applejack’s family seemed to have the most comfortable furniture she ever sat in, the only one that came to a close second was Rarity’s home, though Rarity clearly sacrificed a small amount of said comfort for style and appeal.

“You had us all worried you know?” Rainbow spoke up, her arms crossed looking at Twilight.

A blush appeared on Twilight’s face as she sunk deeper into the couch. “S-sorry… sort of a last minute thing, I didn’t have time to really think it through…”

“Next time please call one of us, we could at least have brought you some more blankets and stayed with you…” Fluttershy frowned. Her face gave the signal that she was more disappointed that Twilight didn’t trust her enough to give her a call while she waited by that old statue all night. She instead of having someone to talk to spent the night wondering when the school had the broken horse statue replaced and how she hadn’t noticed, she ultimately chalked it up to just being too distracted lately.

“I promise next time I’ll call someone… it wasn’t because I don’t trust any of you or anything, it was entirely because I just wasn’t thinking…” Twilight frowned.

“No need to explain, darling.” Rarity smirked before placing an arm around Twilight’s shoulder and winking. “We know you were just worried about Sunset.”

“Speaking of which… how is she…?” Applejack spoke with a bit of hesitation in her voice, clearly worried about the answer.

Twilight sighed and shook her head, causing the entire group to droop a little. “No idea… I haven’t heard anything… I was hoping you guys would…”

“Nope, not a text, phone call or nothin’,” Applejack stated before crossing her legs and leaning back.

“I see…” Twilight frowned. “Hopefully she’s okay…”

“Sunset? Please, it would take a dozen trucks hitting her to take her out!” Rainbow reassured with a fist in front of her.

“She is a tough girl that’s for sure…” Fluttershy added.

“If Shimmer took her, then you know she’s getting the best care; Shimmer doesn’t do anything halfway…” Rarity reminded.

Twilight nodded, her friends were right, she had little to worry about with her being in the care of both Shimmer and the Princess; still she wished she could see her and find out what’s going on.

Sunset looked around what appeared to be a big empty space. For miles, she could see nothing but emptiness. She couldn’t remember how long she had been in this place, or when she arrived, but she blinked as she saw Twilight appear before her instantly. She blinked and she popped into existence. Sunset took a step backward as she gazed at her.

“T-Twilight?”

The nerdy girl nodded and smiled. “It’s been a while, Sunset… I miss you…”

Sunset rubbed her neck and nodded back. “Y-yeah… I miss you too… where are we?”

Another voice called to her from behind, causing Sunset to jump as she turned and saw Rarity standing there. The girl walked in a half circle around her before she was standing next to Twilight. “Where do you think we are, darling?”

Sunset squinted in thought. “Last thing I remember… is passing out…”

A third voice with a southern accent echoed through the seemingly endless room before she saw blonde hair and a freckled face poke out from behind Rarity. Just like the others, Sunset never saw her enter this place.

“Right, so that means…?” The voice of Applejack rang.

Looking the country girl up and down, Sunset thought it over. “I… I don’t know…?”

With a giggle and a snort, Pinkie Pie came into light, stepping out of the darkness from seemingly nowhere just like the rest of them. She contained her giggles for a moment to speak. “Come on, Sunset; think harder…”

Sunset blinked and her eyes widened in horror. “A-am I… dead?”

This time Rainbow Dash’s voice came from behind her as a hand was placed on her shoulder. Looking over her shoulder she saw Rainbow standing there with a smirk. “Is that such a bad thing? Being dead that is?”

Sunset didn’t answer, instead, she looked down at the ground with a frown.

A hand reached up and touched her chin, forcing her to look up. There she was met with the soft face of Fluttershy. “You can stay here with all of us, Sunset. We won’t leave you…”

Her frown slowly changed into a smile. “I… I would like that…”

The group lined up in front of Sunset as Twilight extended her hand to her. “Take my hand, Sunset.”

Gently Sunset reached forward only for the loud booming voice of another woman to echo through the air. “ENOUGH!”

Sunset turned away for only a second, but when she turned back, Twilight and her friends had already vanished. She blinked in confusion before she saw a taller, elegant woman step in front of her. She looked a lot like her vice principal, but far more elegant, adorning a dress that looked like it would cost a small fortune rather than the attire that the vice principal wore.

It only took her a moment to figure out who this woman was. “Princess… Luna?”

She nodded and a smile appeared on her face.

“Sunset Shimmer… we meet at last… I have heard much about you, but this is our first time actually meeting…” Her loud voice grew softer as she stepped forward and placed her pale hand on Sunset’s shoulder.

“I heard from Princess Twilight that you returned a while after I left…” Sunset said.

Luna nodded. “Twilight restored me after a thousand year banishment. That, however, is a story for another day, child.”

“I thought you were a pony…” Sunset raised a brow.

Luna chuckled and nodded again. “I have taken this form as it is one you have grown more accustomed to at this point.”

“I suppose that makes sense…” Sunset nodded back.

It was true too, she had spent so long in the human world that she actually had forgotten most of how she did anything in Equestria. She couldn’t even remember directions to get to her old family home in Canterlot.

“So… what are you doing here?” Sunset blinked.

The princess removed her hand and placed both of her arms behind her back as she wandered about speaking to Sunset. “You have probably figured out that this is all a dream, haven’t you?”

Sunset frowned and nodded in agreement. “Yeah… so that means you’re not really here are you?”

The princess of the night looked over at Sunset with a smirk. “I didn’t say that. You see my abilities allow me to enter the domain of dreams. I have come to speak to you about this particular dream you’re having.”

“That’s kind of cool actually… but what about this dream do you take interest in?” Sunset blinked.

Luna frowned as she came back to standing in front of Sunset, this time placing both hands on her shoulders and looking down at her. Her intense eyes met Sunset’s causing the girl to become frozen in her gaze. “Sunset Shimmer, this dream of yours, it must not go any further.”

Sunset blinked and tilted her head, her eyes still locked on Luna’s. “What are you going to do then?”

“I’m here to make you wake up, Sunset. You still have much you need to do, you cannot afford to sleep forever just yet.” Luna said.

She leaned in and whispered into Sunset’s ear. “We will meet again, good luck Sunset Shimmer.”

Sunset watched as Luna reached up and tapped Sunset’s forehead.

Shimmer had spent every moment either in Sunset’s hospital room or in the waiting room, determined not to leave until she could do so with her elder sister. Every moment inside the hospital only made her feel more and more guilty that she had not acted sooner.

With the roller coaster that was this trip to Equestria, Shimmer wasn’t sure if she’d ever want to come back to this place, even on better terms. It would be difficult to not allow any future endeavors to Equestria to remind her of the past few days.

Every interaction with the doctors always made her more upset. Always telling her that Sunset was barely holding on, that her condition was declining and they weren’t sure how long she’d hold out. Shimmer probably only managed to get two hours of sleep each night.

Twilight would always stop by for a good three or so hours when the evening would roll around, but she had to leave shortly after to be in bed to be ready to attend to her duties in the morning. For a busy princess, she certainly always knew how to make time for her friends, which was admirable. Shimmer was almost in awe of her impeccable scheduling abilities (though she attributed most of that to Spike assisting her on that matter).

Shimmer had gotten somewhat used to carrying things using her hooves, though magic was still useless, and she wasn’t too interested in learning how to use it in this world. She had been told that unicorns all can utilize magic, but she would need practice and training to do so.

She had returned from a drinking fountain with a paper cup in hoof as she sat back down in a familiar chair in the waiting room.

The disgruntled but kind face of Doctor Healer made an entrance through the double doors leading out of the room, causing Shimmer to stand and meet her.

“How is she, doctor? I apologize for asking every time I see you, I just-“

The doctor held a hoof out to cut her off. Shimmer frowned, but then raised a brow in confusion as she saw the doctor smile.

“I have good news,” she began.

“Yes?” Shimmer leaned in.

“Her vitals are improving and her condition is stabilizing. The serums and medications are helping her fight this off; she’ll soon be strong enough for us to give her the vaccine,” she finished.

“You mean…” Shimmer placed her hoof over her mouth almost holding her breath.

“She’s going to pull through. She’s a very lucky girl, it’s almost a one in a million chance. She’s a fighter for sure,” the doctor explained.

Shimmer bounced forward and pulled the doctor into a tight hug which she was surprised to feel the doctor returned. “Congratulations, Shimmer.”

“Thank you so much…” Shimmer responded only squeezing her tighter as tears ran down her cheeks.

“I told you before, I became a doctor to help ponies,” Doctor Healer said.

It was clear that behind her grumpy exterior, Doctor Healer truly had a heart of gold.

Groggily, Sunset opened her eyes yet again, this time she was certain she was in the waking world and not in another dream. Had Luna truly visited her in her sleep, or had she imagined it? She supposed that was more or less the mystery of Luna’s ability, to not know if you were actually experiencing it at all. That was after all the convenient part about dreams; they always felt real while you experienced them.

Her eyes adjusted only to see a bright light. She squinted and shielded them with her hands only to realize she was lacking hands entirely.

She focused and was able to see hooves in front of her. She darted up and found herself sitting upright as she peered around a room. It wasn’t a place she recognized, but only seconds after rising a disheveled mare with a side swept red mane trotted in levitating a clipboard in front of her. Her body was covered in a white coat that looked a size or two too large for such a small mare.

The doctor looked tired and cranky, but she gave a genuine enough looking smile Sunset’s way as she noticed her.

“Ah, Miss Shimmer, glad to see you’re awake. You gave us quite a scare,” they explained.

“Where am I?” Sunset asked.

“You’re at Canterlot Hospital,” they said.

“And who are you?” Sunset raised a brow.

“I’m Doctor Healer; I’ve been overseeing your case since you arrived. You had Magicolius, to be honest, you’re lucky to be alive. When you arrived you were in grave condition and your chances of survival were low… somehow you miraculously pulled through. We administered the vaccine and you should be clear to leave in a day or two,” she explained.

Sunset leaned back and allowed her head to rest back on the pillow. That was right; she only could remember fainting back in Shimmer’s living room. The rest was all a blur. New questions surfaced, however.

“How did I get here?”

The doctor gave her a confused expression. “Your sister brought you here…”

Sunset’s eyes grew. “My sister is here!?”

The doctor only seemed to be even more confused. “Yes? Why wouldn’t she be? She’s in the waiting room right now; I’ll go fetch her in a moment. She’s been here since you arrived; she has yet to leave the building. Poor thing slept in the waiting room and I have to say those chairs are not the most comfortable thing out there…”

Nodding Sunset tried to relax. “Right… send her in then…”

Doctor Healer nodded and smiled. “It’s good to see you’re doing better though.”

With those words, the doctor made her exit to go and bring her younger sister to the room. Sunset spent the time alone thinking, trying to imagine how Shimmer even managed to get the both of them there. She surmised the scheme had to have involved Princess Twilight in some capacity as she controlled the portal.

Sunset’s thoughts were cut short as a unicorn looking similar to herself bolted into the room at top speed and grabbed Sunset into a tight hug. Sunset gasped for air, causing the girl to release her and wipe her eyes as she fought tears.

“Sunset… You’re alive…”

Sunset nodded as she reached forward and ruffled the girl’s mane. “Thanks to you… I owe you one…”

Shimmer shook her head. “I did what I had to do…”

“This will make one hell of a story to tell the girls, right?” Sunset chuckled.

Shimmer frowned and looked at the floor.

“What’s wrong?” Sunset asked, tilting her head slightly in confusion.

“No… It won’t….”

“It won’t? Why not?” Sunset squinted, unsure of where this was going.

Shimmer looked up with serious eyes from behind her glasses, her face stern and commanding. “Because you’re not going back, you’re staying here.”

Phew! Drama! Cliffhangers! Excitement!

Behind the Scenes: this was a difficult chapter to write, I had to stop a few times because I needed to compose myself, making sure it didn't get TOO emotional.