Twilight had explained to her friend, Sunset that she was back for Summer vacation in a series of texts that night. She had tried not to overwhelm the girl with too much information but decided to at least divulge that she was home for the Summer and wanted to see her, hoping it didn’t come off as too needy or clingy. To not much surprise, Sunset’s reply was simple; “I’ll think about it.”

Sunset’s lack of instant acceptance of the offer did bother Twilight, but she attributed it to the girl still having a hard time readjusting to a normal life after everything that happened. Sunset was always one to not enjoy burdening others when she didn’t have to. Twilight wanted to tell her that she wasn’t a burden, but she knew that she would probably be crossing some kind of line by doing so. The best thing for her to do was to wait for Sunset to open up naturally and be there at the right moment.

Twilight just hated how she was so impatient in waiting for that to happen. In general, Twilight wasn’t a very patient person, so adding romance to her desire for things to happen faster only made the process feel more grueling.

She had agreed to go with Cadence to get her hair done. She loved spending time with her sister-in-law and she knew she was in need of a small trim for a few weeks. Twilight’s long hair had been growing a bit out of control lately and she didn’t want to go too crazy with her hair.

Pulling the hairband out of her long locks, she freed her hair for the stylist to begin working on. A woman with a rather impressive mohawk sat her down next to Cadence. Twilight looked over at her sister-in-law with worried eyes, wondering if this really was the place for them after a quick look around. Every single stylist seemed to exude a bit of an alternative flair.

Cadence giggled as she clearly read Twilight’s mind. “Trust me, these ladies are the best, I come here all the time.”

“I’m not worried about that…” Twilight blushed.

The stylist working on Twilight grinned as she threw a cover over Twilight’s body and tied it off. She spoke up with a thick British accent. “What’s wrong, love? Afraid you’ll come out lookin’ like me?”

Twilight blushed and looked away. “I… I didn’t mean anything by it…”

The woman chuckled. “Cheers, sweetie; was a joke. Though I can see the inner punk rocker in you…” She stated as she ran her hands through Twilight’s long hair. “We could put some dreads in here, dye ‘em black… Maybe take you to the piercing shop…”

“P-piercing!?” Twilight squeaked at the thought.

She nodded. “Aye, you’d look absolutely sexy with a few earrings and a nose ring…”

“W-why would I want to do that…?” Twilight flinched just as the thought of a needle going through her nose.

“You don’t want all the blokes looking at you?” She asked as she turned Twilight to face the mirror. “You’ve got an adorable face, cute eyes… With a little help, you could take some blokes’ breath away…”

“I…” Twilight blushed.

As if she could read Twilight’s mind, the Stylist smirked. “Ahhhhh, you’re into the sisters then, eh love?”

“W-what!? No, it’s not like that!” Twilight blushed deeper and raised her hands in protest, wanting to stop the conversation from going any further.

It was as if the stylist didn’t even hear her, or maybe she just preferred winding Twilight up. “In that case, better go with a tongue ring…”

“Tongue!?” Twilight exclaimed. “W-why would anyone want that!?”

Twilight already knew though, she had fantasized a few times what it would be like if Sunset had one, but she didn’t want to be thinking such thoughts at the salon with her sister-in-law next to her, who appeared to just be giggling uncontrollably at Twilight’s misfortune.

“You know… For Goin’ down under? Hitting the pleasure spots better?” The Stylist gave a suggestive eyebrow wiggle, making the two piercings on her eyebrow move up and down with it.

“W-what!?” Twilight shook her head trying to dismiss such thoughts.

The stylist giggled and brought a pair of scissors out. “Relax, I’m only teasin’, love. However, I was serious about making you gorgeous… If you ever want to add a little adventure to your look, come to see me, alright?”

Twilight nodded. “I… Well… Do you think it’ll really work…?” Twilight asked.

The stylist nodded as she began to take long strands of hair into her hands and snip gently with precision. “Who’s the girl?”

Blinking, Twilight looked at Cadence who was just leaning back getting her hair trimmed. Her sister-in-law looked back at Twilight and nodded. “Go ahead, you can show her, I’ve been coming here for years, these girls don’t gossip to other people, promise.”

Sighing, Twilight fished her phone out of her pocket and began swiping at the screen to find a good photo of Sunset. She eventually came to her yearbook photo that she had saved. Sunset was wearing a black summer dress held up by thick straps. Her ears were decorated with dangling emblems that matched the Sun emblem she almost always wore.

Twilight had noticed her mascara was done so perfectly despite Shimmer not being around to do it for her, she surmised that Sunset had gotten very competent at doing her own makeup over the past few months. Her shining teal eyes were alluring, irresistible even.

Her long red hair was easily her best feature, Twilight imagined herself locking her hands into it, and playing with it every time she saw the girl.

The stylist looked over Twilight’s shoulder to get a good look and whistled. “Two words, lady boner.”

Cadence giggled at that comment. “Sunset really is a pretty girl isn’t she?” Cadence asked.

“So you’re after a fox like that and you don’t want anything like what I just suggested? I can tell by looking at her, she’d be all over you with a little alt flair, love.” The Stylist said.

“Well… Maybe… Maybe I could get a new piercing…?” Twilight squeaked.

“Now you’re talking my language, love. Baby steps, we’ll work our way up to tattoos.” The Stylist winked.

“T-tattoos!?” Twilight shook her head. “No way!”

“Was a joke, love.” The Stylist giggled, gently petting Twilight’s hair to calm her.

Twilight calmed herself and closed her eyes as she decided to just stop talking and allow her hair to be cut. It was clear that this stylist enjoyed getting a rise out of her, and she wasn’t in the mood to be picked on further. She was however interested in trying something new.

Cadence spoke up. “So do you really want to go to the piercing shop after this?”

Twilight looked over at the Stylist who nodded in approval. “Promise we won’t do anything too crazy, love.”

Sighing, Twilight nodded. “Well… What harm can it do right?”

Cadence nodded and giggled.

Twilight had no idea how she allowed herself to get talked into such a crazy thing. She stood in a place surrounded by different types of body jewelry that she was examining while she and her sister-in-law waited for their turn to be seen. Twilight eyed one of the pieces and then looked at the label below it: nipple ring.

She winced and stepped back, gripping her chest as she could already feel the needle piercing through it. She shuddered at the thought and wondered why anyone would want a needle to go through their nipple. Just thinking about it was almost enough to make her faint.

Cadence came up behind her and eyed the jewelry. “Oh, that’d be cool! I bet your brother would go crazy if I got that done!”

“Y-you can’t be serious!” Twilight shook her head.

“Yeah, you’re right… Probably not a good idea while I’m still breastfeeding, huh?” Cadence brought a hand to her chin, the gold bangles on her wrist clattering as she did so.

“Or a good idea ever! Why would anyone put a needle through there!?” Twilight shook her head.

A burly man behind the counter answered her. “More people than you know get them. Increases sensitivity there, good for the sexually adventurous…”

Twilight caught a glimpse of the man who was covered from head to toe in tattoos, his body was clearly a canvas, a canvas that had been filled by many artists. He sported a large nostril ring and an impressive beard. He was perhaps the most masculine figure Twilight had ever seen.

“People actually voluntarily put needles through their nipples?” Twilight asked.

“That’s nothing, I just did like eight vaginal piercings today…” He shrugged.

“V-vaginal!?” Twilight’s face went white at the thought. She didn’t even want to imagine such a thing.

“Where would people get a vaginal piercing…?” Cadence asked, her hand still on her chin.

“Well some people get the clitoral hood pierced, and some people pierce their clitoris itself…” The owner of the shop answered.

Twilight’s face only turned more white, which she didn’t think was possible. She was crossing her legs and trembling as she thought about the pain that would cause. “T-their clitoris!?”

He nodded. “Yeah, makes sex wild after that.”

“No, no, no, no, I don’t want to hear anymore!” Twilight covered her ears in protest, shaking her head violently to try and get the thought out of her brain, wishing it was never there in the first place.

“I take it that’s not what you’re here to do then?” He asked with a raised brow.

Cadence chuckled and stepped forward. “We were at the salon down the road and one of the stylists suggested she get something done, so we’re a little curious as to what would look good.”

He blinked and nodded. “Ah, you met Quick Cuts, yeah she’s always sending business this way. You came to the right place, so you’re the one who wants something done right, shivers?” He spoke giving the mocking nickname to Twilight.

Reluctantly, Twilight nodded. “Y-yeah… What do you think would be a good idea…”

He paused for a moment and brought his powerful looking hand to his chin in thought as he stepped out from behind the counter and then approached Twilight. With a few large strides, he was right in front of her, placing a hand on her chin as he turned her head a few times getting a good look at both sides.

He nodded after he had clearly seen all he needed to see. “I’d say go with an industrial, they look good on just about everyone and it’s not too out there since I’m detecting you’re extremely nervous about this whole thing.”

“What was your first clue?” Cadence joked, clearly enjoying Twilight's disdain. Inside, Cadance had a prankster in her, one that did enjoy ruffling people's feathers when she got the chance.

“Industrial?” Twilight asked with a tilted head, ignoring Cadence’s joke.

The man reached into a drawer and withdrew a long bar with two balls screwed on the end. “Yeah, we take this and push it through the cartilage at the top of your ear. It goes in sort of at a diagonal.”

“Wait!? It goes through twice!?” Twilight gulped, not liking the sound of that, going through once already sounded bad enough.

He laughed and nodded. “Relax, it won’t be that bad, I promise.”

Twilight looked at Cadence to get her input. Cadence nodded in approval. “I think it’d look cool! I bet Sunset would to…” She nudged Twilight’s side affectionately.

Sighing, Twilight nodded and stepped forward. “W-will it hurt…?”

The man chuckled and gestured for her to follow him. Doing as she was told, Twilight came to an area in the back where the man pulled some gloves over his large hands. Twilight was surprised that they even made gloves big enough to cover such colossal hands.

“It’ll hurt for a few seconds, and it’ll be sore for a while, but it’s not as bad as you’d think,” He assured.

What she thought was likely ten times worse than reality. Twilight hated pain, and even the smallest amount of anticipated pain made her quiver in fear. She easily had the lowest pain tolerance of her entire group of friends, possibly worse than anyone she knew.

“Do people get these all the time?” She asked as she watched him begin to prepare a needle.

“Oh yeah, definitely. One of the more common ones out there. It’s going to look good on you, promise.” He offered a smile to her.

Twilight found herself smiling back at him.

He reached forward and gripped her ear. “Alright, you’re going to feel some pressure, so brace yourself okay?”

Nodding, Twilight gripped her seat with both hands and no sooner than she did that did she feel a sharp pinch at her ear. She winced in pain only to feel a second one go through. Her entire body was screaming at her to stop, but she was already almost there.

Ironically the needle wasn’t the most painful part, but the bar going into the freshly made holes and being screwed on. Twilight’s legs shook uncontrollably as she endured the pain.

However, it appeared as though the large piercer was being truthful when he said it would only hurt for a few seconds. She let out a breath and it was already over. She panted a few times before she opened her eyes again and saw the piercer dabbing her ear with a paper towel.

He smiled at her. “Well you clearly don’t handle pain well, but at least you’re not much of a bleeder.”

She smiled and nodded. “Well… That’s good news I suppose…”

Removing the towel, he tossed it into the trash and removed his gloves and put them in with the towel. “All done, want to see?”

Twilight nodded.

He retrieved a mirror and offered it to her. Twilight turned her head and smiled at the new addition to her ear. Somehow she felt slightly more confident at that moment. She actually did something that put herself way out of her normal comfort zone and succeeded. Not to mention she was starting to see the appeal, it actually did look good on her.

“I… Like it… Surprisingly…” Twilight admitted. She was actually being honest too, it actually seemed fitting on her ear. She felt just a little bit more adventurous as well like she stepped outside of her comfort zone and had a permanent reminder of it.

The piercer laughed and nodded as he began to lead her out to the front of the shop. Cadence was practically dancing with excitement. “Lemme see!”

Twilight turned her head to show off the new jewelry. Cadence let out an excited squee. “It’s super cute! I kind of want one now!”

Twilight chuckled and nodded. “T-thanks…”

The piercer offered Twilight a bag and smiled at her. “Wash it daily with this spray and be careful. There’s a pamphlet in there that explains more.”

Taking the bag, Twilight nodded graciously. “Thank you…”

After going through all she did, Twilight could now tell up close that this man was nothing more than a big teddy bear. She smiled at him and he returned it. “You look good too,” he added.

Twilight blushed and looked away bashfully. “T-thanks…”

Cadence turned back to the piercer and smiled. “So… About those vaginal piercings… What do you have in stock?”

“You can’t be serious!” Twilight blurted out, hoping that Cadence had forgotten about them.

Cadence shrugged. “Hey, doesn’t hurt to be adventurous! I bet Shining would go crazy if I came home with one! He wouldn’t be able to keep his hands off of me!”

“Cadence that’s insane! Putting a needle anywhere near there!” Twilight reprimanded.

“Party pooper…” Cadence crossed her arms and sported a pouty face. “No harm in just looking…”

Twilight hardly wanted to even think about how her brother would respond to a vaginal piercing from Cadence. She hardly wanted to think of what getting a piercing down there would feel like at all. However, she did know that Shining would give Cadence quite the talking to if she allowed Twilight to get one.

“I could get a tattoo then!” Cadence placed her fist in her palm as she thought out loud.

“Cute lady like you? I bet you’d look great decorated in some body art.” The piercer smiled at the suggestion, clearly admiring Cadence’s natural beauty. Twilight could hardly disagree that Cadence would look stunning with the appropriate body art.

“How about we get one together, Twilight!?” Cadence clapped her hands together, clearly already sold on the idea.

Twilight was about to say something else when she felt her phone vibrate, she let out a sigh of relief at the easy out she was given; one needle was enough for one day, or even one month for her. She reached into the pocket of her shorts and retrieved her phone, checking the message. To her surprise, it was from Sunset.

I’m free tonight at around seven if you want to catch up, meet me at the mall?

Twilight stood in front of a mirror in her bedroom holding two outfits in front of herself. One with a blue striped blouse and the other being a simple purple dress. She wondered if a dress may be a bit too much. She scurried over to her closet and retrieved a thin transparent black cardigan and a red blouse.

She looked over at Spike for his opinion. “Spike, what do you think? Is this too much? Like do you think it says I’m trying too hard or that I’m not trying hard enough…?”

Yawning, the dog looked up at the outfit and tilted his head. “I mean… It shows off a little more but why does it matter? You’re just going to meet Sunset, right?”

Twilight nodded and sighed. “Alright, let’s just get this admitted out loud so we can move past it since everyone already has it figured out and won't stop giving me a hard time until I admit it out loud… Yes, I have a crush on Sunset, yes I am hoping to impress her, so we can all stop the facade now and talk about this with a level of legitimacy instead of pretending you don’t know what I’m talking about…”

Smirking, Spike nodded, clearly just wanting to make Twilight admit it out loud. “And now that that is out of the way… Go with the red blouse and see-through cardigan, it’s cuter.”

Twilight nodded and tossed the two items onto her bed and opened her mouth to ask about something else, but Spike already reading her mind spoke up. “Short shorts, the ones that hug your rear.”

Tilting her head, Twilight raised a brow. “Why those?”

Spike chuckled. “Don’t you remember what Rarity once said? You have a nice butt, you have to show it off. You want Sunset to see the best of you, right?”

Twilight nodded but then paused after she realized what Spike had actually said. “Wait… Why were you and Rarity discussing my butt!?”

Spike rolled his eyes. “She is just trying to help, Twilight. She may have made a few comments about how to improve your look… Just roll with it.”

Twilight stared in his direction with severe eyes. Spike remained unfazed however and just looked at the outfit she was holding with half-closed eyes, clearly ready to fall back asleep the moment Twilight was finished fussing over what she should wear to go and meet up with Sunset again.

Spike yawned and laid down, closing his eyes as he dictated. “Wear those, ankle socks and your Vans… Leave your blouse slightly unbuttoned to show off the goods…”

Taking a mental note of his advice, Twilight realized that her dog was better at fashion than she was, though he spent a lot of time around Rarity who dog sat quite a bit, so he likely picked up a trick or two from the fashionista. Rarity likely slipped a few fashion tips his way to try and get him to assist her in influencing Twilight’s wardrobe.

Preparing her outfit, Twilight began to wonder if she should carefully choose her underwear. Then only seconds after that wondered if such a thing really mattered, it wasn’t as if Sunset was going to know what she was wearing under her clothes.

Her eyes glanced over at her mirror and she jumped and yelped when she saw someone standing in her room behind her. They were covered in a clean white cloak, their face completely obscured. They were probably average height for a woman and Twilight could see pale skin from under their hood.

She didn’t get a very good look at them before she turned around to see no one was standing there.

Spike, hearing her surprise poked his head up and blinked. “W-what happened?”

“There was… Someone in here!” Twilight pointed in the direction where the figure was.

Spike looked in that direction and raised a brow. “Twilight, there’s no one in here but us two…”

Twilight quickly glanced back at the mirror to see that the figure had vanished completely without a trace of ever being there in the first place. “Did I… Imagine it…?” Twilight blinked, approaching the mirror and touching it with her hand. She didn’t understand how someone could appear and disappear so quickly, even with magic she figured she would have seen some kind of sign that they were there.

She couldn’t have imagined it, she recalled far too much detail for it to be a figment of her imagination.

“You probably did imagine it…” Spike suggested.

Twilight took a double take to see if maybe the figure would reappear in the mirror, but to her dismay, nothing happened.

Calming herself, she decided she was merely seeing things and that she was letting her anxiety over her situation with Sunset get the better of her.

“You’re… Sure you didn’t see anyone…?” She asked one last time to Spike.

The dog nodded. “Pretty sure; you haven’t been getting enough sleep, you’re just seeing things, probably. You’re just stressed out about this whole Sunset thing…”

Twilight nodded in agreement, lacking a better explanation. “Must be it…” She was almost certain she saw someone standing there, but without any way to prove it, she knew it wasn’t wise to dwell on it.

“Anyway, you are sure that you’re going to be okay going to see Sunset? Like what do you plan on telling her? You’re not going to confess right away are you?” Spike asked.

Twilight’s face turned red at just the thought. “Of course not! I plan on just using this time to reconnect, slowly get back to where we are talking more regularly… Then I’ll probe and see if confessing is a good idea…”

“Always so overly tactical…” Spike rolled his eyes before laying back down.

“It’s better than being tactless…” Twilight huffed.

“Dunno, seems to get Applejack pretty far…” Spike reminded with a smug tone in his voice.

He wasn’t wrong, but going into things with no tact just wasn’t Twilight’s style unless it was unintentional. She had to approach the situation with Sunset delicately if she wanted to preserve their friendship. At that moment, the only thing she was concerned about was how Sunset was faring.

She recalled the last time the two had seen each other in person.

About a Year Ago

Twilight tapped on Sunset’s front door as she crossed her arms and held on firmly to a textbook she had been tasked with delivering to Sunset. The end of the school year was upon them and Sunset had once again gone back to skipping regularly.

The door opened and a rather haggard looking Sunset gave Twilight an approving head nod before stepping inside, gesturing for Twilight to follow. The bookworm wiped her feet on the welcome mat before slowly making her way into the large manor, following closely behind her disheveled looking friend. Sunset clearly hadn’t been sleeping properly, which was to be expected.

“I just made coffee, want some?” Sunset asked as she lead Twilight into a nearby kitchen.

Sunset gently walked behind the counter and took a cup in her hand and sipped from it. She had clearly just prepared it before Twilight arrived.

“I’m alright…” Twilight said before setting the book down on the counter.

Sunset’s eyes wandered over to the book and then back to Twilight. “I take it Principal Celestia is concerned about me again?”

Twilight nodded as she stood there awkwardly. “She just wants you to graduate on time… Finals are coming up, and you’re slacking a lot. You skipped prom too…”

Sunset only responded with a shrug as she downed a large gulp of her caffeinated drink. She knew she probably should have been more concerned about these things, but she found herself unable to care. Lately, she found it difficult to care about virtually anything if she was being honest. Some days she didn’t even get out of bed.

“Meh…” Sunset replied.

“Not, meh. Sunset, I thought this would stop when we caught Adagio…” Twilight reminded.

With their valiant efforts combined, Adagio had met justice, she had assumed her fate and the group had watched her be put to death. Sunset remembered not turning away for even a second, not wanting to miss even an ounce of Adagio’s suffering as her life came to an end. She remembered telling herself over and over that this was justice, that retribution finally came to pay this monster a visit.

“Yeah… I thought so too…” Sunset closed her eyes.

“Then what is the problem? Why are you acting like this…?” Twilight pleaded.

Sunset considered telling Twilight the entire truth but decided to settle on just part of it, knowing that she likely wouldn’t want to hear the rest. “It’s just…” She paused and looked down at her cup.

“Talk to me…” Twilight stepped forward and placed her hand gently on the counter as she closed some of the distance between Sunset and herself.

“I thought seeing Adagio die would make me feel better, you know? Like I thought that it would just make everything slowly return to normal or something… That things could slowly go back to the way they were… At least how they were before Shimmer came into my life…” Sunset explained, taking another long swig from her mug.

Twilight leaned in with interest. “So… What happened then?”

“Nothing…” Sunset sighed in defeat.

“Nothing?” Twilight tilted her head, confused.

“Yes, nothing. That’s the problem… Her death didn’t…” She paused and set the cup down, letting out another long sigh. “It didn’t make me feel anything… It didn’t make me feel better or worse… I just feel… Empty… Maybe I just need more time or something…”

“That could be it,” Twilight replied with a smile on her face. “It’s still sinking in that it’s all over after all! Adagio was put to death only eight weeks ago, you’re having a hard time adjusting that’s all.”

Sunset nodded and looked back at her mug, questions racing through her head, but the lack of answers frustrating her. Adagio’s passing should have brought even a semblance of returning to normalcy in her life, yet it didn’t seem to affect her at all.

“Either way… I can hardly find the energy to care much about history right now…” Sunset pointed to the textbook with a small smirk on her face.

Twilight was happy just to see even a semblance of a smile on her best friend’s face again.

“Well, keep the book and study when you’re feeling more up to it, and you can always call me to study with, alright?” Twilight suggested.

Sunset nodded in approval. “I’ll keep that in mind then, Twilight.”

Twilight sighed and stepped forward. She took Sunset’s hands in her own, causing the redhead to look down to her hands and then back up at Twilight’s serious eyes. The girl had an expression that suggested she was far more worried than she was letting on. “Sunset… Promise me you won’t do anything stupid…”

“Stupid…?” Sunset raised a brow, unsure of what Twilight was saying.

“Just promise me!” Twilight demanded, gripping Sunset’s hands tighter.

Sunset’s eyes were drawn back to Twilight’s hands. She closed her eyes and nodded. “Alright…”

“Say it…” Twilight commanded.

Taking a breath, Sunset spoke again. “I promise, Twilight. I won’t do anything stupid and if I do somehow manage to do something stupid, you’ll be the first to know about it.”

Twilight nodded and gave Sunset’s hands another squeeze before pulling the teen into a tight embrace. Sunset was taken by surprise but gently began patting Twilight’s back as the girl held her tighter. Realizing that Twilight wasn’t going to let go, Sunset wrapped both of her own arms around Twilight and rested her head in the crook of her neck.

Sunset stood a few inches taller than Twilight, and the height difference allowed her to gently caress the bookworm’s head and take a gentle inhale of her hair. She could smell mango scented shampoo on her. The scent was somehow comforting. Sunset closed her eyes and decided to just enjoy the moment without question it.

With a yawn, Sunset reached an arm out of her bed and fumbled about looking for the clock on her end table. When she located an object large enough to be the clock, she pulled it forward and turned slightly so that an eye peaked from out of her pillow. It took a few seconds of adjustment, but she could read the time as 5:08 PM.

She groaned and grumbled as she forced herself to get up, rolling out of bed to one side and placing her feet on the floor lazily. She kept her upper body on the bed as she stood there with her feet on the ground, trying to find the motivation to do anything else.

The dog in her bed sensed her movements and crawled over, and began to relentless lick her face. Trying to escape the barrage of dog kisses, Sunset turned back and forth hoping to get him to stop but was unsuccessful. Moon was determined to show his master affection even if she wasn’t in the mood at that exact moment.

“Okay, okay… I’m getting up…” She stated as she finally used her arms to push her upper body up and come to a proper stand. Sunset wiped her face off and smirked at the dog. “You know, it takes guts to wake a lady with that many kisses, and you my friend are quite the ladies’ man.”

Moon sat there wagging his tail and barked at his master.

“Alright, alright… Come on, I’ll let you out but mommy needs to get ready after that…” Sunset checked the time again and swore under her breath. “Shit… I promised Twilight I’d be there by six…”

Sunset sighed and shook her head, annoyed at herself for sleeping in so much. “Guess I might be a little late…”

Making her way out of the bedroom, she stretched as she made it into the bathroom. She examined herself standing there in nothing but black lacy underwear and frowned. She looked tired, which meant she’d need to get extra creative with her makeup to cover that fact up.

Opening the cabinet in front of her, she pulled out a stock of mascaras, blushes, eyeliners and more, setting them on the counter. Nodding in approval at her selection, she made her way to the shower. She gently turned the nozzle and checked the temperature before slipping out of her panties and easily unclipping her bra to toss aside.

The redhead stepped into the warm water and closed her eyes while it washed away the sleepy feeling that still lingered. The sensation was palpable, she cooed lightly at the amazing feeling of the water gently massaging her tired skin. While Shimmer had always preferred baths, Sunset couldn’t deny that a good shower was incredible when one was feeling groggy. Though she could at least admit the bathes that Shimmer prepared were always incredible as well. She at least could concede that if the bath was in a bathhouse style like the one in the Shimmer estate that it was indeed superior to a shower, but that was as far as she’d go in the baths vs. showers debate.

She hadn’t gotten much sleep from last night, she kept waking up and turning, though staying up until eight in the morning probably didn’t help her. Staying up late had become routine for her, and her coffee maker was working overtime just to keep the girl standing.

She began to lather shampoo into her hair as she considered her night with Twilight. It would be refreshing to catch up with her, even if the two didn’t talk as much as they used to. Sunset blamed herself for the silence as she wasn’t exactly being stellar in the past few months at keeping a conversation going. She clearly was way too distracted to talk most of the time.

Sunset promised herself that she would spend tonight trying to reconnect with Twilight and not complaining about her problems. Twilight was back from school and she wanted to see her old friend, not a moping Sunset who didn’t even really understand why she was depressed or upset. Not a Sunset that was worried over trivial things.

Everything should have been fine, after all. Adagio was dead, Shimmer was at peace, and the day was saved. Yet Sunset didn’t want to admit out loud that she didn’t think it was over. It felt too easy, too convenient, like everything cleaned up far too nicely. The worrywart in her made her constantly consider the possibility that Adagio’s death wasn’t the end of it, that there was more to come; more waiting to happen.

She didn’t want to think about it, but she always did. At the back of her mind, regularly coming up to the surface was that lingering feeling that none of this was over and that it was only beginning. Rational or not, Sunset couldn’t shake those feelings. She couldn’t get her head to stop considering every worst-case scenario.

There was a good chance she was simply worried over nothing, but she couldn’t shake the feeling; that sensation that something more sinister was around the corner even though she knew that wasn’t possible. Adagio was dead, and death was forever, that is what she kept telling herself. Once you’re dead, you can’t come back, and that meant that Adagio was gone for good.

But what if there are other sirens like her out there? Sunset thought.

No, it wasn’t likely, she knew that sirens were rare and three being in the human world was already an oddity. The reality was she was dancing around these issues, to try and avoid another one in the back of her mind, one that had been bothering her since her fight with Adagio, and that only compounded her concern even more.

I almost gave into the darkness… She thought to herself, a cold sweat starting to appear on her neck as she repeated those words in her head.

It was true if Twilight hadn’t have been there Sunset’s life could be very different at this point. She would be a demon, maybe not even able to come back at all. She got lucky the first time in that the Princess and her friends pulled her back, but she wasn’t sure if she could be saved a second time.

The darkness lingering inside of her, she knew it could never truly go away, and the temptation to give into it would return one day. That thought alone terrified her. Originally she wore the scar on her back with at least a semblance of dignity, seeing it as a reminder of what she once was, but would never be again. She saw it as something behind her which represented how her darker side was in the past. Now though, it had a different meaning for her. Now she merely saw it to mean that there is a darkness always waiting behind her, ready to take her when she least expected it.

Twilight had saved her, pulled her back to the light, but Twilight couldn’t be there all the time, and that is what bothered her. The thought that she could slip right back into darkness. The monster she became almost three years ago was still inside of her, waiting for a moment of weakness to return.

Rinsing her hair out, Sunset sighed and shook her head as she began to pep talk herself out loud, “Come on, Sunset… You have to get this crap out of your head… Tonight isn’t about all of that…”

She picked up a bar of soap and began to lather herself as she continued talking. “Twilight doesn’t want to hear about your nonsense worries… Adagio is dead, this thing is over, No demons are going to take over you, it’s time to start going back to normal…”

Not to much surprise, no one answered her as she began to rinse off the soap. Once she was content with her cleaning, she turned the water off and reached out onto a wall rack and retrieved a towel.

She wrapped it around herself and stepped out to look in the mirror. Given the amount of time she had, she realized she’d need to blow-dry her hair if she wanted to make it even close to being on time. She looked herself over in the mirror and was already deciding on what makeup to wear.

With a sigh, she began to get to work.

Checking her watch, Twilight sighed. The time was 6:48 PM and Sunset was exceptionally late. It wasn’t a terribly uncommon thing for her to be a good five or six minutes late without announcing it, but seldom nearly an hour. If she was running that late, she usually would at least have the courtesy to send out a text to let people know why she was taking so long.

Still, despite that, Twilight waited patiently as she sat on the bench across from a GameStop, the spot where the two had agreed to meet. Often when they would meet at the mall they got into the habit of meeting up at this particular spot because Twilight always wanted to check the latest PlayStation releases before they made their way to the bookstore and then finally wherever Sunset wanted to go after that (usually Hot Topic) and then ultimately to grab something to eat.

In the old days they always stopped at the food court, but after Sunset inherited Shimmer’s estate she preferred to go to actual restaurants now. That wasn’t to say that Sunset suddenly began living high on the hog, but she was at least slightly less frugal than she used to be.

She only carried a single credit card though, and most of the time paid with debit, though she was starting to understand how Apple Pay worked and occasionally would use her watch to pay, followed by complimenting how technology was like magic. She often relied on Twilight’s help to understand it, but she was far more competent than she was when she originally arrived in the human world, where using a cell phone was a challenge.

When she would eat, she always tipped, perhaps a little too much at times, Twilight recalled once she tipped a waitress eighty dollars for a meal that didn’t even cost twenty.

The thing that struck Twilight as so interesting though is how Sunset allowed others to keep their dignity despite her money. She offered to pay for things now and then but allowed others to pay for themselves if it was clear they weren’t comfortable with her paying all the time. Applejack was always adamant about not letting Sunset pick up any of her costs, and that resulted in Applejack always paying her own share in everything the group did together.

After Prom, Sunset eventually went to school again and began to hang out with Twilight and her friends once more. For those last few months, she seemed mostly fine albeit a bit distant on some subjects, but once that Summer after graduation ended that is when she fell off of the earth a little. It was gradual at first, but eventually, everyone stopped hearing from her much shy of a facebook status update or two. When everyone went off to go and take the next steps in their lives, Sunset just locked herself away once more.

Twilight frowned, realizing that Sunset likely was battling demons inside of her that entire time but not saying anything about it. She allowed herself to appear happy but suffered in silence. Maybe she didn’t know how to approach the subject? Or maybe she just didn’t want to be a burden and act like everything was about her. After all, she had been the subject of concern for a good few months prior to that. Sunset clearly always hated being the center of attention. She didn’t want the pity of others, which was probably her worst trait; her relentless stubbornness to lean on her friends. She preached it quite often and would do so sometimes, but it was clear she didn’t enjoy doing it; albeit she was always thankful when she needed to. One wouldn’t find a more grateful friend than Sunset.

Letting out another sigh, Twilight crossed her legs and checked her watch. It was now 6:58 PM, much to Twilight’s dismay. She felt defeated as she began to accept the reality that Sunset wasn’t coming. A part of her wanted to be angry with her because she had gotten all dressed up and wasted all that effort along with getting a new piercing, but she couldn’t bring herself to be angry with her best friend.

Twilight came to a stand and adjusted her shorts as she took a step away from the bench, realizing that waiting any longer would just be a big waste of time and that Sunset wasn’t going to show up.

No sooner than she had taken a single step did she hear a voice call out to her from the distance. “Twilight!”

Twilight blinked and turned to the direction of the familiar voice.

There standing with her hands crossed in front of her and a very subtle smile on her lips was her best friend, Sunset Shimmer.

“Sorry, I’m late…” Sunset said.

For some reason, this chapter was kicking my ass when writing it. I managed to get through it though!

Twilight got an industrial, but will Cadence ever get that vaginal piercing? We may never know...