Sunset’s legs had filled out more appropriately, becoming more womanly and alluring. She had always had long legs that connected to a shapely rear, but her poor nourishment in the past prevented them from reaching their true potential, now, however, they were nearly flawless, decorated by stockings bearing pentagrams.

Draping over her gentle hourglass figure was a black dress held up by two leather straps over her shoulders. It was asymmetrical in design with the skirt being longer on the right than it was on the left, and sporting a torn appearance at the skirt to make it look old and beat up, only drawing more attention to her legs.

Twilight found her eyes drawn to the neckline which came down just enough to give a hint of Sunset’s cleavage. She envied her for having such large breasts, but at that moment she found herself just staring at them out of pleasure rather than envy.

On her left hand, an expensive Apple Watch sat just above a rubber Armstrong band which sported a logo for the television show “Supernatural”, which Twilight wasn’t even aware Sunset was a fan of. On the right side, she had a spiked leather cuff around her wrist and a series of rings around her middle, ring and pinkie fingers. Just below the rings, Twilight spotted black painted nails with a glossy finish.

Twilight noted that she had chosen to wear some gothic tall boots with chains on them, that gave a gentle rattle any time she moved her feet. Interestingly enough she had chosen to go with heeled boots, making her height slightly more impressive, only rivaled by Applejack.

On her face Twilight could see brilliantly done mascara decorating her eyes with a tiny pinch of glitter making her lovely eyes radiate just a little more. Moving over to her ears, a pair of moon shaped earrings dangled from her ears.

All of it, however, was nothing compared to her lavish long red hair that seemed to bounce when she moved. Her usual wavy hair had grown a little since they had last seen each other and she had more of a disheveled look to it, with a cowlick or two sticking out, but in somewhat of an adorable way.

And there, strapped tightly to her neck was a black choker bearing a familiar emblem. Her magic geode had been fashioned into a black ribbon choker. Twilight noticed that Sunset seldom wore it before this, probably because the power of being able to see the emotions of others would only add stress to her already stressful routine. Twilight knew that her power had reached a point where it had to be consciously activated, so there wasn’t much risk of Sunset randomly detecting how Twilight felt about her, but she still made a note of herself to be careful. She doubted Sunset would use her power to violate her friend’s privacy though.

The group had been able to use magic without the geodes, but such instances were always limited and required all of them to work together. However on an individual level, without the geodes, they were all just regular girls, Sunset being no exception. Twilight wondered why Sunset had chosen to start wearing her own again; after camp Everfree Twilight noticed her wearing it less and less until the Adagio incident came up. She surmised it had to do with not wanting to feel more like an outsider than she already did. Sunset always aimed to be as normal as possible, despite the fact that always seemed impossible given the circumstances she always seemed to find herself in.

Still, it looked good on her, regardless. Every accessory that Sunset wore always seemed to increase her sex appeal just a little more. The thought of her with a tongue ring resurfaced in Twilight’s mind for a brief second before Twilight dismissed the idea once more, not wanting to get herself too worked up.

There was a designer purse hanging off her shoulder, and her left arm gripped the strap of the bag while she gave Twilight a very simple smile. Despite her attractive appearance, her smile seemed to lack presence, it wasn’t quite as powerful as Twilight had remembered in the past. With half-closed eyes, Sunset seemed to be forcing a smile as she approached. The forced smile, however, didn’t seem to last long as she came within a few steps from Twilight; her face returned to a more neutral one.

“Hey… Like I said, sorry I’m late… I had trouble getting out of bed…” Sunset stated.

Twilight was speechless for a moment. She was still trying to take in how great Sunset looked, she was practically drooling. If she had more confidence, she’d had stepped forward and grabbed the girl and kissed her.

“Something wrong?” Sunset tilted her head.

“Huh? N-no, it’s fine…” Twilight blushed.

“Heh, yeah well it took a while to get here because all of this doesn’t just happen, you know?” Sunset smirked lightly as she gestured toward the rest of her body.

Twilight nodded silently as her eyes never left Sunset.

“How do I look, by the way?” Sunset asked.

Amazing, take me home and have your way with me… Was the only thought on Twilight’s mind but she resisted with everything she had from saying those words out loud.

“You look great…” Twilight undersold.

I would let you do unspeakable things to me…

Sunset turned around and looked behind herself. “You don’t think it makes my butt look too big?”

There is a place in hell for teases like you… Twilight’s eye twitched as she contained herself.

“Nah, you look fantastic. I wish I was bold enough to wear something like that…” Twilight frowned.

Sunset squinted and stepped closer. She turned Twilight’s head and observed a piercing she had not seen before on the girl. “Well… That’s new…”

“Oh… Yeah… Cadence and the hair stylist talked me into it, it was sort of a spur of the moment thing…” Twilight rubbed her neck nervously.

She noticed!

Sunset nodded and stepped back. “It’s cute. I like it.”

Pinch me, I’m dreaming.

“I never imagined you for being adventurous enough to get a piercing like that… I’m proud of you,” Sunset said.

Twilight nodded and tried to act confident. “Well… It didn’t hurt as much as I thought it would, and it’s a little sore from healing, but it’s not that bad. Maybe I’ll get something else done…”

“I kind of want to get my tongue done,” Sunset admitted.

For the love of god, please do. Was all Twilight wanted to say. She wanted to scream it to the heavens.

“Wouldn’t that hurt?” Twilight winced from the thought of that pain.

“You haven’t heard where else I want done.” Sunset winked.

Twilight wanted to hear more, oh how she wanted to hear more but decided to leave that subject floating in the air to drift away so they could focus on other things. If she indulged in that subject it likely would be all she could think about for the rest of the night. She cursed her hormones internally.

Sunset frowned and eyed Twilight up and down before standing with her arms crossed a pouty face decorating her as she looked at Twilight. Twilight turned her head confused.

“You haven’t offered me a hug or anything yet…” Sunset pouted.

Twilight nodded and stepped forward awkwardly. Sighing, Sunset shook her head and decided she needed to take charge. She came forward and grabbed Twilight, pulling the slightly shorter girl in for a tight embrace. Twilight relaxed and allowed herself to be held, she nuzzled gently into Sunset’s neck as Sunset gently pet her hair.

Despite all the changes that Sunset had gone through, despite how her appearance had changed (or improved in Twilight’s eyes) she still gave amazing hugs. It wasn’t like Pinkie who put a ton of energy into them, but instead, there was a lot of subtle things, little things she did that made every hug more affectionate. Sunset was always awkward about affection, but when she did give it, she always went all out.

Twilight didn’t want the embrace to end, but sadly it did. As she slowly parted from Sunset, her eyes were drawn to the girl’s moist lips. What she would do for the confidence necessary to go ahead and kiss the alternative redhead in front of her, but she knew that she lacked that level of courage, it would remain only a dream instead. Instead, she allowed Sunset to end the affection and gesture to the right of her. “So… Shall we get dinner?”

All Twilight could do was nod in approval, as words didn’t seem to come to her.

“I’ll pay to make up for being so late, sound fair?” Sunset asked.

Twilight only nodded once more, still stunned by the entire experience.

Rolling her eyes, Sunset reached forward and grabbed Twilight’s hand and started to tug her along.

As they walked, Twilight found herself only focusing on the warmness of Sunset’s hand in her own, the only thought in her mind being how her hand just felt like it was where it belonged. Twilight never wanted to let go.

Sunset had chosen a rather nice restaurant in the mall, not too high class but not too low class either. Despite now being technically a millionaire, Twilight seldom saw Sunset as someone who went to buy overpriced food. Fine dining wasn’t exactly her cup of tea (nor was tea for that matter), and money didn’t seem to change her much in that regard.

Twilight placed an order for a chicken dish while Sunset stuck to vegetarian. She had almost forgotten that Sunset didn’t eat meat, but she supposed it made sense since most animals in her universe were sentient, and she herself was an herbivore creature back home. Twilight surmised that ponies of Equestria never ate meat, and Sunset wasn’t intending to be the exception despite the fact that she was in the human world now. They had talked about it before, but Twilight recalled dropping the subject because it became too awkward.

Poking at her food, Twilight tried to think of ways to start conversation. “So… How have you been?”

“Fine…” Sunset replied plainly.

Twilight knew it was likely a lie, but she had nothing to press it with, so she decided to leave it in the air.

“Have you heard much from the others?” Twilight asked.

“Not lately, no…” Sunset stated.

The entire night, Twilight had sensed something off about her, from the moment they met back up and she saw that halfhearted smile on her face, she could sense an almost melancholy mood radiating from Sunset; a mood that she was clearly trying to mask.

Sighing, Sunset spoke up again. “I… Sort of haven’t really been trying that hard to get back in contact with everyone… Too much going on, you know?

Twilight nodded, knowing it was a fib, but was rolling with it. “Is running the Institute a difficult job?”

“Yeah… Sometimes… I mean I have advisors, but I still have to attend board meetings from time to time and show up to impress investors… Mostly I just read off of index cards they make for me and keep quiet…” Sunset explained, her eyes on her food.

“Oh so they give you index cards and you read off of them, but when I do it to prepare you for a test, suddenly it’s excessive?” Twilight teased.

Looking up from her food, Sunset let a snarky grin appear on her face. “That’s because they hand me like three… not eighty…”

“It wasn’t eighty!” Twilight protested.

“Sorry… Eighty-eight.” Sunset’s smirk only grew.

While it was at her expense, Twilight was glad just to see the girl smile again, this one feeling far more genuine.

“Hey, you passed that test did you not?” Twilight asked.

Sunset rolled her eyes. “You forget that I’m mostly a straight-A student just like you… I retain information pretty easily… Obviously not as well as you, but you get the idea…”

“Few can match up with the walking encyclopedia that is Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight boasted.

A giggle escaped Sunset, who nodded in agreement. “You’re a smart cookie, that’s for sure. Socially inept as hell, but smart.”

“Hey!” Twilight pouted.

“Relax, I sort of like you that way, you know? You wouldn’t be Twilight Sparkle unless you were a spaz sometimes in social situations,” Sunset offered.

Twilight wasn’t exactly sure how that made the statement more complimenting as it felt more insulting, but she knew Sunset meant well. She always did when it came to Twilight.

“Why are we only focused on me, I could be pointing out your flaws too, you know!” Twilight huffed.

Sunset nodded and placed an elbow on the table which she used to prop her head up, looking off into the distance. “Where to even start there…?”

Twilight blinked, not entirely sure she wanted the conversation to go this direction.

“I’m stubborn, and I let every setback destroy me… In a way, Adagio wasn’t really the worst part of all of what happened to Shimmer… I was… I always let self hatred destroy me… I fuck myself up more than someone like Adagio ever could…” Sunset rambled.

Twilight shook her head and reached across the table, gripping Sunset’s hand. “Listen, I do the same thing! I let setbacks mess me up too, but every time that happens you’re always there to bring me back down to earth!”

Sunset blinked and looked down at Twilight’s hand and then back up at her eyes. Those purple eyes filled with fire staring back at her. A small smile came to Sunset’s lips, and like that the somber atmosphere was lifted.

“Thanks… I needed to hear that, I think…”

Twilight nodded and gave Sunset’s hand a squeeze. “Just like you’re always there for me, I’m always going to be there for you…”

Sunset nodded. “Thank you, Twilight.”

Twilight smiled back at Sunset and the two remained silent for a moment. Sunset was the one to break the silence. “Twilight…”

“Yeah?” Twilight asked.

“I’m going to need my hand back…” Sunset looked down at the two hands locked together.

With a blush Twilight quickly released Sunset’s hand and nodded as she stuttered. “S-sorry…”

Sunset smiled and took a bite of her food, swallowing quickly.

Twilight returned to her meal as well and after a few minutes the two found themselves engaged in small talk, it felt so much like old times, like for a few minutes that everything had returned to how it was before Shimmer’s death.

“So, college huh? That sounds pretty fun…” Sunset said after swallowing a bite of food.

“Yeah, it’s pretty busy though, I have a lot of homework and I’m in a few clubs…” Twilight admitted.

“So no college booty calls?” Sunset asked.

Twilight shook her head. “Nope… Still a virgin…”

“Same…” Sunset shrugged.

“I guess I couldn’t tell if someone was flirting with me anyway… I am socially inept as you put it after all.” Twilight winked.

“That you are, but I’m sure even you would catch on if someone was flirting with you…” Sunset rolled her eyes.

“Oh how I missed hanging out with you… How would I ever survive without you always busting my chops?” Twilight asked.

Sunset paused but then her face lit up with another smile. “I missed hanging out with you too, Twilight. I’m sorry for being so distant… We should change that… How about we go do something together tonight while everything is still open, what do you say?”

Twilight blinked but found herself accepting immediately. “Absolutely.”

The two engaged in idle chit-chat catching up a little on what was going on in Twilight’s life, but Sunset keeping her own relatively quiet. After a good twenty minutes or so, Sunset raised a hand to call for a check.

Sunset had taken the two to the arcade in the lower section of the mall, a place where she and Twilight used to frequent all the time. Sunset had grown a small appreciation for video games, but was still somewhat mystified by them at times. While she was far from what Twilight would consider “skilled”, she at least had become competent at them.

Twilight blinked as the two entered the arcade and a group of teens took note of them. One of them made an inappropriate whistle as they came by and leaned against one of the arcade machines looking Sunset over. “Hey girl… What say you and me get out of here?”

“I just got here…” Sunset pointed out.

“Sunset, I believe he’s attempting to insinuate he wishes for you to leave with him for a sexual rendezvous…” Twilight replied, holding up a finger.

Sunset rolled her eyes. “I know what he was implying, Twilight, I was being snarky…”

“Oh… Right… I knew that…” Twilight blushed. Admittedly, she didn’t actually know.

“So how about it, sweetheart?” The young man smiled, a brow raised as he ran a hand through his spiky dark purple hair. His chin appeared to be sporting a rather immature looking goatee that didn’t appear to be growing in very well. It was likely he was still at that awkward age for males where their facial hair grew in all patchy.

Sunset looked him up and down and gave a smirk of her own. “I don’t think you’d be able to handle someone like me…”

“Yeah, but I’d try all night long…” He responded with a wiggle of his eyebrow, his friends cheering him on with a long “oooooooo.”

Sunset looked around the room and then at a nearby machine that was unoccupied. “Tell you what… How about we make a little wager?”

“Sunset what are you doing…?” Twilight asked.

Sunset gave her a dismissing hand gesture to her friend. “I got this, Twilight…”

The boy looked back at his friends with a smirk and then back to Sunset and nodded. “I’m listening, keep talking.”

“I beat you, then you leave me and my friend alone,” Sunset suggested.

“And what if I win, baby?” He leaned in with interest.

“I’ll go on a date with you.” Sunset replied plainly.

“What!? You can’t be serious!” Twilight protested.

Already in her mind, Twilight was imagining every worst-case scenario, the idea of this creep defiling Sunset already making her blood boil and her fists starting to clench.

“Relax, I got this…” Sunset calmed Twilight as she stepped forward. “So, how about DDR?” She pointed over to the vacant machine and tossed a pair of quarters in the boy’s direction.

He caught them and nodded. “No one ever beats Combo Masher, you’re on, girl.”

Sunset removed her purse and handed it to Twilight. “Hold this for me?” She asked with fluttering eyes.

Twilight groaned in protest once more. “Sunset you shouldn’t do this… What if you actually lose and have to go on a date with this creep? Who knows what he’ll do!”

Sunset giggled and shook her head. “Relax, Twilight… I already have it under control. Rest assured, this guy isn’t going to touch me.”

Twilight blinked, unsure of what Sunset was planning, but she knew that Sunset seldom got that confident unless she had a trick or two (or even three) up her sleeve. Twilight lowered her guard and just nodded in approval as Sunset stepped away.

“Wish me luck.” Sunset winked.

Before Twilight could say anything else, Sunset stepped up onto the dance pad and smirked at Combo. “Ready to lose?” She asked.

“I’ll have you know, I want you to wear that for our date… Provided it’s easy to get out of…” He winked.

“I guess you’ll never know…” Sunset smirked.

“Never say never,” he replied.

Rolling her eyes, Sunset selected the song as she tried to ignore his pathetic attempt at flirting. Once the game began, Sunset took a breath and released it as she began to move her legs.

To Twilight’s surprise, Sunset’s footwork was far more impressive than she would have guessed. She moved with such dexterity, such grace. Rapidly she was tapping the notes on the floor with ease, hitting every single one, missing maybe only one or two, Twilight never anticipated that Sunset would actually be skilled at the game.

Combo wasn’t terrible himself, but it was clear he was struggling to keep up with her. Twilight watched as Sunset clearly was barely even concerning herself over winning as she appeared to be having genuine fun dancing, her body moving and swaying so wonderfully as she rocked her legs and hips; the skirt of her dress coming up just a tiny bit for Twilight to catch a glimpse of her black underwear, making a blush appear on her face.

It was a sight to behold, watching this girl dance, but Twilight shouldn’t have been too surprised as Sunset showed much interest in music, with the ability to sing and play guitar it was no wonder she could dance too.

Within a few minutes, the game had ended and the game displayed their scores, Sunset’s completely dwarfing what Combo had achieved. He looked down in shame and shook his head. The two stepped off of the dance pads, but Sunset offered a hand to the boy.

He looked up at her confused.

“You played well, we should play again sometime…” Sunset stated.

A smile came to his face as he took her hand in his own and offered a tight handshake. “Alright, but next time you will be going on a date with me.”

“Keep dreaming.” Sunset rolled her eyes.

He released her hand and his friends gathered around him. He gave a wink and a thumbs up in Sunset’s direction. “You’re pretty cool, we’ll see you around…” He paused.

“Sunset, Sunset Shimmer, and this is my best friend, Twilight Sparkle,” Sunset stated. “And in the future, you should ask a girl her name first.”

He chuckled and nodded. “Alright… I’ll remember, anyway see you ladies around.”

As he left, Sunset waved and turned back to Twilight, crossing her arms and growing a smug look. “And you thought I couldn’t do it…”

“How though? You have never really been that great at video games…” Twilight inquired.

Sunset nodded in agreement. “You are correct there, and I still suck at a good majority of them, but I happen to have that game at home and I use it a lot to exercise, it’s excellent for cardio.”

“I guess that explains why your legs look so good…” Twilight commented.

Taking her bag back from Twilight, Sunset nodded with pride. “Damn straight, also didn’t know you were checking out my legs, Twilight…”

Before the two could speak further, a familiar southern drawl rang in both of their ears causing them both to turn toward the entrance to see a familiar pair of green eyes staring in their direction.

“Well, howdy there… If it ain’t Sunset Shimmer, the ghost of Christmas past…” Applejack chuckled.

There at her side with both arms wrapped around Applejack’s toned arm was Rarity, as per usual she was perfectly groomed and her wardrobe drew a rather extreme contrast to Applejack’s short sleeve flannel shirt that seemed to be struggling to contain her bust.

Sunset stared back for a moment before nodding. “Applejack, Rarity… It’s good to see you two…”

“Likewise, we haven’t seen y’all in some time… We were startin’ to think ya’ might have died in that house or somethin’, or maybe got teleported to some alternate dimension…” Applejack teased.

Rolling her eyes, Sunset shook her head. “Nah not this time, just… Enjoying a little solitude… Though perhaps enjoying isn’t the best word for it, is it?”

“Regardless, it’s nice to see you out and about again, darling… We were concerned…” Rarity admitted.

Sunset rubbed her neck and nodded awkwardly. “Yeah… Well… I had things under control… Mostly anyway… Don’t worry about it too much, looks like Twilight came to save the day again and forced me outside…”

“Another victory to put under the belt of Twilight Sparkle,” Applejack commented with a wink in Twilight’s direction, causing the girl to blush slightly.

“You two seem to be doing well, how’s the married life treating you both?” Sunset asked, clearly wanting to change the subject from herself.

Rarity grew a large grin as she prepared to boast about it, but Applejack was the one to speak, likely because she didn’t want everyone to be sucked into a long detailed lecture about how marriage is all she ever dreamed of and then go on to compare it to every romance novel she had ever read.

“Pretty well, lovin’ it so far,” Applejack answered.

Rarity pouted and looked away. “I was going to answer…”

“Y’all would have spent the next twenty minutes or so comparin’ it to yer’ smutty novels…” Applejack rolled her eyes.

“Oh? You mean the ones that you read as well, darling?” Rarity smirked.

Applejack’s face turned red. “We promised that y’all wouldn’t mention that to anyone…”

“I don’t recall such a promise…” Rarity spoke with faux innocence, fluttering her eyes affectionately, implying she was fully aware of what she was doing and of such a conversation where she promised she wouldn’t tell anyone about Applejack’s enjoyment of lewd literature.

“‘Ah swear t’ god, Rare…” Applejack’s face only grew redder, she was starting to resemble the Apple that was her namesake.

“Applejack reading smutty novels?” Sunset giggled.

“To be fair she only reads them for… How was it that she put it? ‘The good bits’, as she refers to them as…” Rarity winked in Sunset’s direction, clearly taking a little pleasure from tormenting her wife.

“So the sexy parts… Good to know…” Sunset nodded.

“Don’t you dare tell anyone about that!” Applejack commanded, pointing a finger in Sunset’s direction.

Whistling innocently, Sunset turned away. “I’ll save it for when I need you one day…”

“Blackmail? How scandalous, Sunset!” Rarity giggled.

Stepping forward Applejack offered a hand, which Sunset cautiously took only for Applejack to pull the girl into a full embrace. With a light grunt, Sunset patted Applejack’s back as she listened to the girl.

“It’s good t’ see ya’ regardless…” Applejack said after releasing her.

“Likewise, AJ…” Sunset gave a light smile to her old friend before taking note of Rarity coming in for a hug to which Sunset opened her arms and allowed Rarity to get in on the reunion affection.

She caught a nose full of Rarity’s perfume, but Rarity gently sniffed the air to catch a bit of Sunset’s. She stepped back and smiled. “Are you using Coloratura’s newest fragrance?” Rarity asked.

“Uh… Yeah?” Sunset shrugged.

“Ooooo, you have such good tastes, darling. It smells divine, the boys are going to eat you up.” Rarity winked.

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Again, I wouldn’t know what to do with one if I got one…”

“Necessity is the mother of all invention, you’ll figure it out…” Rarity giggled.

Twilight frowned slightly at the comment, not really wanting to think about Sunset getting swept off her feet by some random boy. She hid her frustration with the thought, but she knew Rarity’s aim was to make her jealous, after all, Rarity was fully aware of Twilight’s crush, and it was clear that this was her form of motivation for Twilight to step up and say something. She’d be disappointed, as Twilight only stood there and waited for the awkwardness to pass.

“So, it’s great to see y’all and all, but Rare and I were on our way to dinner and saw you two, figured we’d say hi. Don’t be strangers, come to see us some time,” Applejack encouraged.

Sunset nodded and took a more relaxed pose. “I’ll try and be better about that.”

“If’n ya’ don’t, ‘Imma come to yer’ estate and drag ya’ out.” Applejack gave a pointing finger in her direction with a wink.

Rolling her eyes, Sunset nodded. “Promise, it was nice seeing both of you though.”

“Likewise, darling. We’ll let you get caught up some more with Twilight, I’m sure you two have a lot to talk about…” Rarity looked at Twilight and wiggled her eyebrow, causing Twilight to look away slightly and blush.

Checking her watch, Rarity blinked. “Oh dear, it’s already eight o’ clock! We best be off! Bye Sunset! Bye Twilight!” She waved as she tugged at Applejack’s arm to get her to move faster as the two exited.

Once they were out the door, Twilight stared in their direction. “Hard to believe they got married…”

“They really are in love…” Sunset stated quietly.

“Huh?” Twilight asked.

Sunset smirked. “I used my powers on both of them when they hugged me…”

“Sunset!” Twilight scolded.

“Relax, I just wanted to see for myself…” Sunset said.

“See… What?” Twilight tilted her head in confusion.

There was a short pause before Sunset answered. “What it feels like…”

“What what feels like?” Twilight stepped closer.

“To be so in love with someone and for them to be so in love with you back… I… I’ve never really known how that feels… To feel like someone loves you so much…” Sunset replied quietly.

Twilight wanted to say something, she wanted to tell her friend how she felt, how there was someone who loved her, but she found herself instead biting her tongue and internally telling herself it’s far too soon. She could tell that Sunset was referencing old wounds, likely from long before Twilight’s time of knowing her. Instead, Twilight just stood there in silence.

Sunset had offered Twilight a ride home, which the bespectacled young woman accepted. Sunset had opted to take the Audi that day, and Twilight remembered thinking once again that the cars that Shimmer owned were far nicer than anything she would ever hope to own in her lifetime.

The two engaged in more idle chit-chat as they drove home. Twilight still hanging on the words that Sunset said back at the arcade. Finally, after a short period of silence, she decided to try and broach that subject, even though it was likely an emotional minefield that she was stepping into.

“Hey, Sunset,” Twilight asked.

“Hm?” Sunset replied, her eyes still locked on the road.

“About what you said at the arcade…” Twilight began.

“About never knowing what it feels like for someone to love you so much?” Sunset practically read Twilight’s mind.

Twilight nodded. “Yeah… What did you mean by that… Sorry if it’s a sore subject…”

Sunset shrugged. “My whole life… As I’ve told you before… I wasn’t exactly a boy magnet in Equestria… I was seen as a weird kid… While I had a short thing with Flash here in this world, it didn’t really go anywhere… I’ve never really known what it was like for someone to love me…”

“Your friends love you…” Twilight pointed out.

“Yeah, I know, but that’s different. Like I’ve never known what it’s like to feel like… love-love if you know what I mean?” Sunset tried to explain it.

“What about from your parents?” Twilight asked. She knew that Sunset didn’t say much about her own parents, and the subject seldom came up.

Frowning, Sunset shook her head. “My mother and father were…” she paused but continued, “neglectful, to say the least. They weren’t around a lot, most of the time they were at work, chasing improving their careers. I spent most of my time studying, and as a result, I didn’t get to have much of a childhood. They sent me to boarding school eventually and I seldom saw them…”

“Were they abusive to you…? Did they ever... hit you?” Twilight asked cautiously, knowing she was walking into a minefield of emotions.

Sunset shook her head. “Nah, nothing like that… They just… Ignored me. I guess they just weren’t good parents… When I went missing they never even filed a report… I guess at the end of the day they must have regretted having me or something, maybe I was just a big mistake to them that they were always looking for a way to get rid of… I’ll probably never know how they really felt…”

Twilight reached over and grabbed Sunset’s arm in comfort. “You could go and see them… Maybe get some answers as to why they were like that?”

Sunset shook her head. “That ship has sailed for me. At this point I don’t really want to know, I’m afraid the answer may be exactly what I fear. I’m better off not knowing and there still being a chance that I’m wrong rather than confirming I’m right… I don’t need them, I’m here now and here is where I plan to stay…”

Twilight blinked. “So you never want to go back to Equestria?”

Sunset shook her head. “Maybe to visit the Princess, but other than that… There’s nothing for me there, my home is here now.”

“I… I’m sorry Sunset…” Twilight said quietly, unsure of how to erase the awkward air she had created. Twilight felt guilty knowing she was going home to two loving (sometimes over loving) parents while Sunset had no actual family to speak of. Shimmer really was all she had, and she was taken from her after such a short time.

Sunset continued as though she didn’t even hear the apology. “I used to stay up wondering why they didn’t care about me… Why I was unwanted by my parents… Now though… I’ve had so much else to worry about that the thought hasn’t crossed my mind in ages…”

“I care about you…” Twilight frowned.

A small smile came to Sunset’s face as the two reached Twilight’s home. Sunset stopped and nodded, knowing that Twilight spoke the truth. “Yeah… I know you do… Thanks…”

“A-any time…” Twilight stuttered.

Sunset looked at Twilight face and offered to take Twilight’s hand. “M’lady.” Sunset joked.

Twilight rolled her eyes and allowed Sunset to take her hand, which she held between her index finger and thumb pulling it closer to herself. She planted a small kill on Twilight’s knuckles, causing the girl to blush. “Sheesh, no need to act like those creepy neckbeards… It’s bad enough I had to deal with them at the mall.” Twilight rolled her eyes.

“I figured it’d get a rise out of you and cut through the strange atmosphere that was created a few minutes ago. Plus shouldn’t you be happy that guys were approaching you at all?” Sunset winked as she let go of Twilight’s hand who snatched it back, blushing deeper.

“Why weren’t they going after you? You’re prettier…” Twilight pointed out, looking away.

Sunset shrugged. “Maybe the whole gothic thing makes me intimidating…”

“Hasn’t scared me away yet,” Twilight replied, a little snark in her voice.

“Well, then you are truly courageous.” Sunset smirked.

Twilight merely rolled her eyes in response.

“Shall I escort the lady to the door?” Sunset said keeping the ruse going.

“No, you shall not… Not if you’re going to act like that…” Twilight rolled her eyes but smirked so Sunset could at least tell she was being somewhat facetious.

“I missed hanging out with you…” Sunset admitted.

Twilight paused and looked over at her friend’s face. Her eyes were filled with what appeared to be remorse, some kind of guilt for avoiding Twilight. Twilight could hardly blame her though, with what had happened in the past few months, it was a miracle that Sunset wasn’t in the psych ward by now.

“I missed hanging out with you too,” Twilight replied with a smile on her face.

“So… want to set up some more plans while you’re in town? My treat?” Sunset leaned back in her seat and gave an innocent face.

Rolling her eyes, Twilight replied, “ever since you got money you suddenly want to pay for everything for me…”

“Nah, it’s not like that. Consider it repayment for being so crappy of a friend.” Sunset winked.

Sighing, Twilight nodded as she opened her car door. “Alright… You’ll text me right?”

“Nothing can stop me from it.” Sunset gave an affirming nod.

Satisfied with her answer, Twilight closed the door and waved to the girl who waved back before taking off. Twilight found herself at least a little more at ease. While Sunset was far from doing excellent, she was doing quite well given the circumstances.

Only a few feet did the car move before it stopped again and the windows rolled down. Sunset peaked out and spoke loud enough for Twilight to hear. “By the way, you’re plenty pretty.”

Twilight blushed as she saw Sunset smirk and roll the window back up and drive away.

After finding her way home, Sunset walked through the front door and looked up at the stairwell in the main hall. Every time she entered this building, she was always overwhelmed by how large it was, a place of this size always made her feel lonely, if it weren’t for Moon being around, she didn’t know how she’d survive in such a place.

Moon’s ability to navigate these halls always astounded her. It seemed as though no matter where she was the dog was able to locate her even if she was so far away that no one could even hear one scream. The house was large enough to explore for a few days without seeing all there was to see, and it was easy to get lost. Sunset had spent some time familiarizing herself with the place after she inherited it, for that first month she couldn’t even navigate without a map.

She had spent some time with Moondancer to learn more about computers and technology, so she was able to create a digital map of the place on her phone. The two still regularly communicated via text or FaceTime on her phone. They’d rendezvous for Sunset to learn more about the technology of this world on a regular basis now. Moondancer was probably just as skilled as Twilight with them if not more.

Checking the time, Sunset groaned as she realized it was 11:28 PM. She had gotten home later than she expected, but she had to make a stop after dropping Twilight off.

With a bag in her hand, she began to walk down the west wing until a bark came her way. She turned around to see Moon sitting at the stairs wagging his tail as he waited expectantly.

Smirking, Sunset reached into the bag. “I didn’t forget you…”

Retrieving a dog treat from the bag she tossed it in his direction. The canine managed to catch it with ease in his mouth and began to gnaw away at the tasty morsel. Sunset only giggled as she watched. “Stay there, mommy has some stuff to take care of…”

With the dog distracted, she continued her trek down the west wing, eventually reaching the stairwell that lead to the basement floors.

Sunset found herself thinking about her day with Twilight as she made her way downstairs, wondering what the two could do the next time they met up.

When she reached the bottom, she made a left and followed the hall down to the armory and the shooting range. Poking her head into the armory, she picked up a familiar handgun and checked to see if it was loaded. Confirming she had left rounds in it, she carried the gun in her free hand and walked the remaining distance to the shooting range.

Sunset set her bag down and turned it over to dump out the contents. Newly purchased rounds in boxes spilled out along with a new laser sight attachment which she picked up and began to attach to the weapon carefully.

She had made a stop at the gun store in town to pick up plenty of rounds to practice with and the sight; ordinarily, they’d be closed to customers but Sunset knew the owner and was a regular with him. Often times he made exceptions when she came around. Once it was attached she grabbed the pair of earmuffs and placed them onto her head as she tested out the weapon. Seeing the sight come on, she nodded and let off a few shots at targets in the distance.

Content with the precision it offered her she set the weapon down and removed the earmuffs. She told herself she could come back and practice at the range after the rest of her routine was done. Truthfully she only wanted to check to make sure it was working properly first.

Cracking her knuckles, Sunset left all of her belongings in the room and left to head to the training hall she had modified. Once inside, she quickly stripped off her dress and accessories, putting them in a pile in the corner of the large barren room sporting only a small chest to store clothing in. She opened the chest and removed a set of gym clothes which she quickly slipped on and did a few light stretches to limber herself up.

Once she was finished warming up, Sunset closed her eyes and focused. With her hand in front of her, she took deep breaths and exhaled slowly. Her mind cleared as she centered herself and concentrated solely on the will that would make and control magic. In Equestria it was so easy, a part of your body housed magic, making it possible to utilize it without much thought once you had learned it.

The human world, however, was different, her power came from a geode outside of her body and she lacked the same biology to utilize it the same way. Magic within the human world took concentration, discipline, and practice. While it was true that it was far more accessible when the girls were together, thus using each other as amplifiers, using magic on one’s own was still quite an undertaking.

Sunset had learned that she had quite a natural grip on fire magic, which made sense. She suspected the other girls likely had an elemental affinity as well which they could perform with more ease than other elements if they practiced at it. It was clear that her powers would only get stronger as she trained, and more abilities awaited her.

She needed to keep herself disciplined, trained and prepared.

Opening her eyes, Sunset could see a flame that she held in her hand. Concentrating she changed its shape into a long thin worm that came to a point at the end. She closed her palm around one end of it and could feel the heat as she held the freshly made whip of flames.

With a few calculated swings, she was able to slash it left and right with power in her swings. The whip seemed to move fluently as if it were made of leather as Sunset cracked it to her command.

She knew only one thing, if there was more after Adagio, if this all truly wasn’t over, she would be ready this time. She would be strong enough even without the darkness, she would be able to protect her friends; that much, she was certain of.

Thus begins what I call the "recovery arc" basically the point where Sunset stops being such a brat and starts to improve significantly. She starts to open up about problems as you see, face her demons and starts using her powers to PROTECT her friends, rather than distance herself from them to keep them safe. Naturally she has to cut through a lot of initial awkwardness of being gone from their lives for so long, and her journey won't be without bumps, but I wanted Sunset to sort of start healing after how hard Act III hit her.

What happened with Adagio obviously left scars on her, but she is hoping to recover from those scars. She wants to be ready for something to happen again, but not to the point where she cuts her friends off and pushes them out of her life to keep them out of harm's way.

A few little references in this chapter to real life things too.

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I was going to end the author's note there but I feel I should talk about the struggles of getting this chapter out!

For those who are in the EU like myself you'll notice this chapter TECHNICALLY arrived on Saturday at 1AM, but for those in the states it's still on Friday, but far later than usual. This is because we had intended on finishing the sketch for it and publishing it in the morning, but at our job a large piece of equipment broke and they called us in 3 hours early. So we had a 12 hour shift at work and thus were unable to do anything regarding the story until we got home around Midnight.

So I apologize for this chapter being late!