With a long yawn, Sunset found herself waking up far earlier than she usually did. Prior to her meeting with Twilight the other day, Sunset would often stay up late either practicing her skills with computers, hitting the shooting range or just meditating to improve her magic depending on what day it was. However since she had promised Twilight that she would try and spend time with her while she was back in town, Sunset would have to move her morning routine around which usually consisted of waking up around 1:00 PM and having a tough exercise regime.

Since she now had to be up much earlier to get all of her daily tasks done with enough time to spare, she now was out of bed at 8:00 AM, a rarity for her, and one she certainly wasn’t thrilled with. Even before she met Shimmer, Sunset was never great at getting up in the morning. She was an excellent student back then, but not because of how punctual or ready to go she was in the morning, but more from applying herself and be naturally gifted at learning; being early to things wasn’t exactly a quality that Sunset excelled at.

Exercise in the morning didn’t sound that appealing, but she told herself that she could have a nice cup of coffee when she was done to truly wake up for the remainder of the day.

Checking her schedule, Sunset still had to meet up with Moondancer later at 4:00 PM, so she’d need to make sure she was done before that point.

It didn’t take long for her to make her way down to the gym and switch into her gym clothes, of which she kept a few sets in the gym itself. It was actually astounding how complete of a gym Shimmer had on the basement level, it was definitely large enough to accommodate a good five to eight people. She imagined that her family must have all tried to stay in shape; maybe it was a family activity.

After a few stretches, Sunset decided to start with cardio. She hopped onto a nearby treadmill and increased the incline and resistance before she began running. Over the past few months, she had started to develop the cuts and figure of an athlete, maybe even rivaling Rainbow Dash or Applejack. While she was still built more like a feminine sex object, she could see her arms and legs were toned now. Sunset questioned how she got so lucky in the human world to have such a great figure but wondered if magic played a role. She didn’t quite understand how the portal decided what shape to give someone yet.

In the pony world, while she had a cute face, she was nothing to write home about. Sunset saw prettier ponies all the time back at school. Maybe she just was a late bloomer.

Either way, when she started this routine she could only take a good half hour on the treadmill under the current conditions, now she could take a good two hours if not more and still have the energy to do the rest of her routine. Cardio was a big focus for her as she knew she needed more speed. Strength and power would mean nothing if she didn’t get the chance to use it due to poor speed and agility. She needed to be faster than her enemies, stronger than her enemies, and smarter than her enemies. Who those enemies were, however, remained a mystery.

Before, her legs felt like they full of battery acid when she’d finish running, but now she only felt the motivation to keep going. Her eyes were glued to the only TV in the room, paying attention to the news. If she didn’t get up and watch the news every morning, she would have lost touch with what was going on outside long ago. These past few months of almost pure isolation weren’t treating her mental health well, and she knew that going out with Twilight and her weekly meetings with Moondancer were keeping her from losing her mind, also Moon helped a little.

Her ears made her head face the television as she listened. They were running some story about how hologram projections were going to be the way of the future and how one team in Germany had made new break-throughs in the technology. They predicted that within the next decade or so hologram projection would be the next big thing, being utilized in computers, cell phones and even home entertainment centers.

Technology was strange to Sunset. It seemed like it was advancing so quickly, faster than magic in Equestria did even. Equestria seldom got new inventions due to the simplicity of most lifestyles, but humans always seemed to be looking for a better way to do everything. A coffee maker that made coffee instantly wasn’t enough, they needed it to be automatic, then they needed it to connect to their phone, then they needed it to have a built-in radio. Humans were always trying to find ways to improve every invention they made and Sunset had a hard time keeping up with it all due to it all moving so quickly.

The past few years in the human world alone were overwhelming for her on the technology front as they were entering a new technology boom, massive improvements to everything were coming all at once and if she didn’t have Moondancer around she wouldn’t even know where to begin.

Sunset looked at the tray in front of the treadmill and picked up her phone, still running at a brisk pace. Quickly she typed up a text to Moondancer.

I Just saw that hologram projections are apparently making a huge breakthrough on TV. Know anything about that?

She kept her phone in her hand for a moment before realizing that Moondancer was not a morning person and that the chances of her being up at this hour were slim to none. Changing her schedule had her all out of whack. Sunset set her phone down and concentrated on her exercise.

After a good two hours of cardio, Sunset stepped off the treadmill and took a long drink from a water bottle in the room and wiped her face before checking her phone again. She had received a reply from Moondancer.

Hologram projection is supposed to be the future, but there’s no telling what it’ll be applied to. We can discuss it when we meet up.

Sunset nodded and place the phone in her pocket before she cracked her knuckles and reached for a nearby pull-up bar. Gripping it tightly she began to lift herself and then lower herself over and over. She began counting as she went up and down. By the time she got to one hundred, she let go and decided it was time for a break.

The redhead sat down and wiped her forehead as she leaned against the wall, sitting on the floor. Her long wild hair tied back in a ponytail as she sipped on some water just sitting there in thought. She had made amazing progress in only a year. When she fought Adagio, she barely had a grip on her fire magic, but now she has reached a point where it was almost second nature.

Back then her body wasn’t nearly as strong as it was now. She had to keep going, making sure her magic was efficient, her body was ready and her mind stayed sharp. It was a full-time job just maintaining it all, but given that she had nothing else to do, she always found the time. Twilight coming back couldn’t disrupt that, if she was to spend time with Twilight that only meant she had to move things around and make time to squeeze that in too without sacrificing any of her training.

Last time, Twilight almost got hurt by Adagio. Sunset swore she’d never let that happen again. She swore she would never give into the darkness inside of her again and she swore she would never be so weak as to be defeated by a siren again.

She closed her eyes and could still see the memory of that night replaying in her head. Those brief seconds of feeling dark power course through her, her hands slowly becoming claws, her eyes filled with heat and her veins pulsing with raw power. Opening her eyes, she let out a long sigh as she leaned back. There was no mistaking it, there was a monster inside of her, and if she wasn’t vigilant, it might still get out one day.

“I won’t become that again…” She thought out loud.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket, causing her to break her train of thought and retrieve the device. To her surprise it was Twilight.

Hey, I know it’s weird since like we just hung out and I don’t want to seem like overbearing or anything, but I was wondering if you wanted to come to dinner tonight? I have nothing else to do and my family always makes a lot…

A smile came to Sunset’s face as she read the message. Twilight was always so awkward about asking anything, but Sunset did like the sound of getting out of the house for a change.

I can be there by eight, I have some stuff I have to take care of before then.

The reply, naturally, was instant.

Great! I’ll see you then!

“Mom, if you have ever done anything for me, I need you to make sure this dinner goes smoothly…” Twilight pleaded with her mother who was standing at the counter preparing lasagna while consulting a cookbook. She had opted to modify her recipe after hearing that Sunset was a vegetarian, hoping that she could learn how to make vegetarian dishes in a single night. She came from a family of carnivores and not including meat with a meal was a rarity for her.

“Sweetie, you’re worrying too much, what could possibly go wrong?” Twilight’s mother asked with her eyes still glued to a cookbook.

“Mom… I really like this girl and I don’t want to scare her away… I’m hoping to sort of…” Twilight paused, not certain if she wanted to reveal much more to her mother.

With that motherly instinct though, Twilight’s mother set her utensils down and turned to Twilight with a sugary smile on her face. “You want to confess to her eventually, huh?”

A blush came to Twilight’s face but she nodded. “I… I don’t want to screw this up…”

Her mother snickered and nodded back. “I promise that your father and me embarrassing you won’t hurt your chances. Everyone has embarrassing parents, it’s sort of how we are. If we’re not embarrassing you then we’re not doing our job.”

“Sunset doesn’t have embarrassing parents…” Twilight frowned.

Twilight’s mother paused and thought about that statement for a moment. “That’s right… You mentioned that her parents are not really involved in her life?”

Twilight nodded. “Yeah… They sort of stopped caring about her some time ago. They don’t even know she’s here. She hasn’t talked to them in almost six years now…”

Her mother frowned and sat down beckoning Twilight to sit across from her. Her daughter did as instructed and both of her hands were taken and clasped into her mother’s tightly. Velvet, her mother, looked Twilight in the eyes and gave her the most serious expression she had ever given. Her mother was a happy-go-lucky prankster most of the time, already ready to deliver a snide comment or a witty remark, but at that moment Twilight saw her more serious than she ever had in her entire life.

“Twilight, I promise… We will make this girl feel like family, alright?” Velvet said.

Twilight believed her mother, she knew that when Velvet said she’d do something, she always delivered. Nodding, Twilight smiled at her mother. “I know you will, mom.”

Velvet nodded back and came to a stand. “Now… Come over here and help me taste test this lasagna because I am certain it’s missing something…”

Sitting down at a desk next to Moondancer, Sunset studied a series of notes scribbled down by the girl as she tried to make heads or tails of it all. Moondancer always had more of a Sherlock Holmes way of doing things, in other words, a way that only made sense to herself and often required an extensive explanation for anyone else to get it.

Over the past few months though, she was starting to learn Moondancer’s methods, starting to understand the way the girl did things. She did notice slight hints of Shimmer’s mannerisms had rubbed off onto the girl. She recognized things that Shimmer did in Moondancer’s notes from all the old notebooks that Shimmer left laying around the lab. Sunset occasionally flipped through them to remember exactly how brilliant Shimmer truly was.

“So you think that holograms will achieve a point where there is digital matter than can be directly interacted with?” Sunset raised a brow as she tried to make sense of Moondancer’s notes.

Moondancer nodded. “Yes, though we have already achieved this on some levels. It should be only a matter of time before all of this becomes consumer level stuff.”

“Sounds like we’re living in the future… If Equestria had any of this stuff then we basically wouldn’t ever even need magic…” Sunset joked.

“Yeah well… Magic has its uses…” Moondancer rubbed her neck awkwardly.

“Yeah… but it can definitely be abused…” Sunset reminded.

Moondancer nodded silently and kept her eyes focused on her notes. Sunset and she reached to turn the page at the same time, lightly brushing fingers before pulling away. Moondancer struggled but ended up looking in Sunset’s direction, observing her face from her side profile. For a brief moment, she could almost see Shimmer.

Sunset caught Moondancer staring and turned to her with serious eyes. “Something wrong?” Sunset asked.

“It’s nothing…” Moondancer looked away.

Sighing, Sunset used her hand to turn Moondancer back to facing her. “Listen… I get it… You haven’t said anything because you don’t want to be a bother but I can already tell what you’re thinking…”

“Y-you can…?” Moondancer gulped.

Nodding, Sunset replied, “I look just like Shimmer. When you look at me you’re reminded of her, and it’s painful seeing me all the time because you know that I’m not her. I carry her face, but it’s confusing to see her face and know it’s not her…”

Moondancer sighed and looked down. “I… Well…”

“I admire your bravery in even agreeing to meet with me in the first place, it takes a lot to face that kind of thing…” Sunset smiled.

“Thanks… What about you though…?” Moondancer asked with a raised brow, reaching up to adjust her stylish frames. They were a vast improvement over the taped up cheap glasses she wore before.

Sunset sighed and leaned back in her chair as she looked up at the ceiling. “Trust me… Just facing you was a challenge. Anything that reminds me of Shimmer has taken some time to get used to without feeling like utter shit… I keep thinking about all the things she’ll never do because of me… You're just another thing that she left unfinished because of my meddling. If I hadn't have come here and brought magic...”

“It wasn’t your fault, Sunset…” Moondancer reminded very quickly.

“Isn’t it? If I wasn’t here she would still be alive… I’m the one who helped defeat Adagio at the battle of the bands, thus Adagio came after me and killed her by mistake as a result… Adagio would have never even noticed magic in this world unless Princess Twilight hadn't needed to use it to knock some sense into me at the Fall Formal,” Sunset pointed out, “that’s not even pointing out the fact that me coming to this world killed her parents…”

“You can’t keep blaming yourself for that…” Moondancer frowned.

Sunset shook her head. “At first, I didn’t, but now it’s sort of hard not to… I am living in her house, and my bullshit almost got the rest of my friends hurt too…”

“You saved me though…” Moondancer reminded, “had you not been there, I might have made a terrible mistake…”

“If I wasn’t around you wouldn’t have been in a position to make that mistake in the first place…” Sunset pointed out.

“I also wouldn’t have met Shimmer…” Moondancer retorted.

Sunset just scoffed and looked away, unsure of how to argue with that.

Moondancer reached forward and grabbed Sunset’s hand, squeezing it tightly. “Sunset, there are people you can talk to for this stuff… Clearly, you need help…”

“Yeah, and what do I tell them? That I’m an alien from another world? That magic fucked up my life and killed my adoptive sister?” Sunset raised a brow.

“Maybe you could see a therapist in Equestria? Do they have that over there?” Moondancer suggested.

Sunset shook her head. “I know you don’t get it, but there’s a lot of painful memories for me in Equestria, so I’m not exactly in a hurry to go back there… The possibility of running into my old mentor or my parents exists there.”

“So? I thought you and her saw each other at the trial?” Moondancer raised a curious brow.

Sunset shook her head. “We saw each other, but I avoided eye contact the entire time and we didn’t speak once.”

“Maybe it’s time to talk to each other?” Moondancer suggested.

Sunset sighed. “The last time I spoke to my mentor I basically abandoned her teachings and fled here and my parents basically could care less if I was alive or dead, so not a lot of love there… Equestria has no place for Sunset Shimmer.”

“Sunset, you have to handle this one way or another…” Moondancer frowned.

Sunset just shrugged.

Moondancer sighed and let go of Sunset’s hand, realizing she wasn’t getting through to her. Sunset was far too stubborn, though she did have a point in that this wasn’t the kind of thing you could tell most people in the human world; any doctor would think she’s insane.

Sunset let off a sigh and closed her eyes. “I have no fucking family to speak of, and I’m completely and utterly damaged…”

A small smile came to Moondancer’s face. “You have me…” Moondancer pointed out.

Sunset shared in her smile and nudged the girl’s shoulder. “That’s true…”

“In a way, we’ve become like sisters, haven’t we?” Moondancer asked.

The past few months with Moondancer for their little meetups did feel a lot like when she spent time with Shimmer. Though they maintained boundaries due to Sunset looking identical to Shimmer, they had definitely formed a bond. While Sunset found herself avoiding her friends, she couldn’t avoid Moondancer. A part of her had to know that the person that Shimmer cared about most was still okay. That compelled her to check up on the girl periodically.

Their initial meetings were awkward at first, but as time passed they grew to care for one another. Sunset was not easy to get to open up, but Moondancer didn’t seem to mind, she was a patient girl.

“Yeah… We are…” Sunset nodded.

“Just no trying to give me beauty advice alright?” Moondancer joked.

Sunset laughed and nudged the girl again. “You? What’re you talking about, you’re adorable the way you are.” Sunset reached forward and lightly pinched Moondancer’s cheek, causing the girl to swat her hand away.

“So you’re into disheveled bookworms then?” Moondancer smirked.

“More like I enjoy a difficult project…” Sunset slyly replied.

“Ouch, cutting deep there…” Moondancer rolled her eyes.

“I didn’t say it was a big project…” Sunset winked.

The two girls broke out into a fit of laughter before calming down and Sunset wiping the tears from her eyes, Moondancer lifting her glasses to do the same.

After she had settled her fit of giggles, Moondancer offered her extended pinkie. “So if we’re sisters now, you have to make a pinkie promise on it.”

Sunset chuckled as the gesture reminded her much of her friend, Pinkie Pie who forced everyone into pinkie promises any time something happened. “Alright, what am I promising?”

“Two things…” Moondancer smiled.

“Which are?” Sunset raised a suspicious brow.

“The first is that we’ll always watch out for each other and tell each other anything important,” Moondancer stated.

“Sounds easy enough, and the second?” Sunset asked, though admittedly she wanted to point out that she didn’t exactly have a great track record when it came to watching out for siblings, but decided to leave that detail alone.

“That you’ll do whatever it takes to be happy…” Moondancer’s tone grew more serious.

Sunset wanted to tell her it wasn’t that simple, she wanted to say that her life was complicated, but looking at that girl, Sunset couldn’t bring herself to do so. Instead, she reached forward and took Moondancer’s pinkie in her own and locked them together. They gave a firm shake of their hands and Sunset smiled.

“I promise.”

Sunset held up an outfit in the mirror and considered it on herself for a few moments before looking over at Moon. “What do you think, Moon? Too revealing? I don’t want Twilight’s parents to think I’ve become some kind of whore…”

The dog just barked in her direction.

Sunset nodded as if she could actually understand him. “Yeah, you’re right they’re usually cool people so they recognize that young people dress differently than back in the day. A little cleavage never hurts anyone anyway.” Sunset smirked as she began to slip the dress on.

She sat down on a nearby stool that was in front of the vanity mirror to try and put her boots on when Moon waddled his way over and placed his head in her lap. Sunset ceased trying to tie her boots and looked down at the dog as she set her foot on the floor. “Oh, what’s wrong?”

The dog just stared up at her with a dopey face, his ears drooping as he watched his master.

“I guess it’s true that dogs can sense emotion… You and I are similar in that regard, though it seems as though that aspect of my power is not reliable when I’m an emotional wreck myself… I noticed I can’t really tap into that aspect of my power unless I have a relatively clear head.” Sunset explained pointlessly to the dog.

Moon just continued to stare at her.

With a sigh, Sunset reached down and pet him affectionately. “I know… I’ve been a miserable cunt lately… I’m aware… I’m going to take what Moondancer said seriously though, I’m going to try my best to be happy again… It starts with this dinner, I’m not going to fuck this up…”

Moon stared, clearly unconvinced by Sunset’s words, or at the very least he had the appearance that he wasn’t.

“Alright, I promise I won’t fuck this up. No need to wear me down like that…” Sunset rolled her eyes at the dog, realizing internally that she was actually only wearing herself down.

She reached back down and continued petting the dog. “Things can start going back to normal soon, I promise… Whatever constitutes as normal for the mess that I call a life, anyway; not exactly easy to be normal when you’re an alien from another universe, but regardless, I’m going to do my best, you’ll see…”

Sunset looking at the dress she had chosen decided it might actually be too much, instead she opted for some black leggings, a red plaid skirt that stopped above her knees and a short sleeve gray blouse decorated with an anarchy symbol on the back. The boots she felt could stay though, after all, Sunset knew she always looks great in boots.

For a moment she considered wearing a ponytail, but decided against it, she enjoyed her naturally wavy curls, and figured now was as good a time as any to show them off. Twilight had said she was always envious of Sunset’s hair, though Sunset always found it to be frustrating to have thick hair. That was something she always noticed about humans; people with thin hair always wished they had thick hair and people with thick hair always wished for thinner hair.

Sunset found her own hair to be quite a nightmare to maintain, but the end result always looked great when she put the work in.

Her mind returned back to Twilight and their upcoming dinner together.

The thought of spending the evening with Twilight and her parents did bring Sunset some genuine joy and just like when she hung out with Twilight, thoughts of her best friend brought a smile to her face.

When she thought about Twilight, all the dark thoughts in her mind just dissipated. She knew that so long as Twilight was around, things would be okay. She didn’t know how she knew, but she did.

The time was upon her, and Sunset found herself somewhat nervous. She had had dinner at Twilight’s abode before with her parents, but for some odd reason, she was exceptionally more nervous about it this night. Maybe it was the awkwardness of not seeing each other for so long and the fear that Twilight’s parents may be a little upset with her for being such a crappy friend. The possibilities of what could go wrong started to flood Sunset’s head as she sat there in her car having a minor panic attack.

What if she said something stupid? What if she ruined her and Twilight’s friendship? What if-

Her mind was cleared when she heard a light tap on her window. Blinking she turned to see Twilight standing there leaning down a bit to tap on the window. Her striped blouse had the first button undone and Sunset caught an eyeful of Twilight’s cleavage and somehow that managed to calm her down. The opportunity to bust on Twilight always seemed to put her at ease.

Sunset rolled down the window from the console on her door and Twilight leaned into the car through the window, resting on her arms.

“So, are you coming inside or are you just going to sit in this car all day?” Twilight asked.

Smirking, Sunset eyed the girl up and down. “Well, I’m getting a pretty good view of your tits, so I figured I’d stay and enjoy that for a bit…”

Twilight blushed and looked down to her shirt and then squeaked as she covered up her chest. “P-pervert!” She bemoaned.

“Hey, purple bras are cute, it suits you… I’m more of a black girl myself…” Sunset replied, gesturing to herself.

Twilight’s blush grew as she found herself imagining Sunset in her underwear before shaking her head to clear the image out. The last thing she needed was to be aroused at dinner.

“What size are you? Those things definitely look at least B to me…” Sunset smirked.

Trying to regain her composure, Twilight rolled her eyes before crossing her arms. “I’ll have you know I am a B cup, but not that it’s any of your business…” Twilight humphed.

Nodding, Sunset opened her car door and stepped out. She leaned over the top of the car and looked at Twilight on the other side. “Nice, I’m a D myself, it feels like these things never stop growing, I can only imagine how bad Applejack has it…”

Twilight blinked. “How big is…”

“Triple D, poor girl, or maybe lucky girl depending on how you look at it… Maybe Rarity is a boob lady?” Sunset suggested.

“Not that this isn’t enthralling conversation, but can we perhaps not talk about breasts before we go and have dinner with my parents?” Twilight raised a brow.

“Shit, there goes half of my dinner conversation cards…” Sunset joked.

“Har, har, seriously though, breasts… Not a subject I want to talk about at dinner…” Twilight crossed her arms.

Chuckling, Sunset nodded. “I promise I won’t talk about tits at dinner… Though you said at dinner, so I’m assuming the subject is not off the table for other settings?”

“Sunset!” Twilight huffed.

“Kidding…” Sunset rolled her eyes.

The two girls fell silent for a moment before Sunset cleared her throat. “Ahem… I believe it is customary for you to walk me inside since I am the guest at your home?”

Blinking, Twilight realized she had a point and extended a hand to take Sunset’s in her own, only for her palms to heat up almost instantly. That feeling that everything felt perfect and right in the world came rushing back to Twilight as she held her friend’s hand. It felt like it belonged like she was exactly where she should be. So long as that woman held her hand, Twilight could conquer anything, she felt as though she could slay a dragon or take on a heavyweight champion.

Coming back to reality though, Twilight began her gentle walk toward her home, taking her time so she could savor every single moment that her hand was clasped by the gorgeous Sunset Shimmer. Her heart beating began to fill her ears more and more with every step. All she could hear was the pounding in her chest as the two made it to the front door.

Reaching for the door, Twilight couldn’t hear a word Sunset may have been saying, she only prayed that the girl didn’t notice how sweaty her palms were getting.

When Twilight reached for the knob, it turned on its own and the door swung open. Standing at the entrance was the familiar grinning face of Twilight’s mother, who had to step up her usual “mom” wardrobe and decided to dress a bit younger. She was wearing a light blue button up that hung down and to Twilight’s surprise, she wore some form-fitting jeans, which reminded her that her mother still had a good figure for her age.

There behind her, her father stood with his around wrapped around her mother’s waist, a beard had been growing on him for the past few weeks, which Twilight assumed meant he was going to be trying out the facial hair look.

Twilight’s mother offered a hand to Sunset. “Sunny! It’s so good to see you again! It’s been far too long!”

Chuckling, Sunset released Twilight’s hand (much to Twilight’s chagrin) and took the older woman’s hand in her own, giving it a firm grip and shake. “It’s a pleasure, Ma’am.”

“Ma’am!? Please, sweetie, call me Velvet!” She insisted as she gave Sunset a dismissive gesture.

Sunset nodded and giggled a bit internally at how the woman was in slight denial of her age. She looked over at her husband and bowed slightly to him, which he nodded his head in approval.

“I’m going to assume you want me to call you Night then?” Sunset raised a brow.

“Or you can just call me dad.” He winked.

At that comment, his wife nudged his stomach causing him to grunt a little. “Hunny, too forward…” She tried to whisper.

“Night is good…” He grinned.

Twilight rolled her eyes, her parents were already off to an embarrassing start, but she was hardly surprised at that point. Twilight’s parents were often a little too forward, and it was clear to Twilight that now that they were very aware of her crush they were going to continue pushing it until Twilight either caved and told Sunset how she felt or until she lost her mind, whichever came first.

“Well don’t just stand there, let’s all get inside, dinner is waiting!” Velvet ushered them all in as she stepped backward to make room for Twilight and Sunset to enter the home.

Nodding and doing as she was told, Sunset walked with Twilight and observed the house. Most of it was exactly as she remembered it the last time she had been to Twilight’s home, she used to remember wishing she could live in a house as nice as this one; now she lived in one several dozen times the size of it and worth perhaps eighty times the price. Regardless, seeing Twilight’s home reminded Sunset of her roots, and how important it was to never forget where she came from.

When she first arrived in the human world, she lived in a cave with little more than a pocket knife and a lantern. She had moved to a small quaint apartment after that, and now she lived in a mansion, though all of those things were merely by luck which made Sunset feel a tad guilty. Sunset never anticipated that Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna would get her an apartment, or that Shimmer would leave her estate to her; hell she didn’t even anticipate that Shimmer would die.

Still, seeing Twilight’s house felt somewhat nostalgic. She recalled all the times she had spent the night, all the many nights that Twilight and she watched movies, or played PlayStation (though most of that time was Twilight explaining how a game worked), and she felt a smile come to her face.

As the group approached the dining room, an aroma of fresh red sauce and a piquant cheese filled the air. Sunset sniffed lightly and the closer she got the less the scent merely brushed her nostrils and instead reached into them and pulled her by the nose to the delectable smelling aroma.

At her estate, she often cooked for herself, but she did have people who came by and stocked the place. She opted out of having a personal chef, as she didn’t want her ability to cook food to disappear.

“It smells delicious, Velvet,” Sunset complimented.

Velvet turned and winked as she waved her hand at the chairs in the dining room, suggesting they all sit down.

Sunset decided that sitting across from Twilight made the most sense. The ends of the table were reserved for the owners of the house, that much she knew.

Gently scooting her chair in, Sunset gave a gentle smile to Twilight who had been adjusting herself in her seat. A goofy grin appeared on Twilight’s face as her eyes met with Sunset’s and for that moment the two merely stared at each other.

Twilight found herself unable to look away from her best friend’s gorgeous eyes. Her gaze was always strong and at that moment, Twilight was practically caught in their tractor beam.

Sunset was a bit lost in thought herself as she observed Twilight and realized after staring long enough and studying Twilight’s face that Twilight actually had a very cute face. She had always known this, but never really appreciated it until now. She had a small nose, and small lips to match, but big adorable eyes.

Sunset wished she could use her power to find out what Twilight was thinking at that moment, but she was not within range to touch Twilight and do so, on top of that it would be too obvious that she was trying to read her friend’s mind and that might have been seen as rude. Sunset vowed that she would never use her powers to violate her friends, and she intended to stick to that.

The eye contact was broken when Velvet re-entered the room with several dishes in hand. “I hope you like it, Sunny, sweetie. We spent a good portion of the day trying to figure out how to make vegetarian lasagna…” Velvet spoke as she set down a delectable looking meal in the center of the table.

Twilight’s mouth was already watering, she hadn’t eaten much that day, and was being tortured with the smell of food the entire evening. While she normally preferred meat in her Italian dishes, at this point Twilight could eat anything.

Sunset blushed at the gesture. “Oh… You didn’t have to go through all of that trouble just for me…”

Velvet shook her head. “Nonsense! You’re the guest!”

Not knowing what else to say, Sunset looked over at Twilight who smiled at her and nodded in approval. Sighing, Sunset nodded back and decided it was best to simply accept the hospitality.

There sitting around the table, enjoying delicious food, it was perhaps one of the most perfect evenings that Sunset had enjoyed for a long time, perhaps years even. Life after Shimmer’s death had been a roller coaster, but she felt like maybe she was coming down to the other side, that everything would become smooth sailing from here. She was starting to finally get past it all. Her friends didn’t hate her for being so distant, Twilight’s family still treated her exactly the same (maybe even better than before), she could move on now.

After dinner, the entire group met in the living room to share various stories, crack jokes and just enjoy each other’s company for idle conversation.

Sunset got to hear all about Twilight’s time in college and how things were going for her, along with a few embarrassing stories about Twilight’s past until the conversation turned onto her.

“So Sunset, we know you came from this place called Equestria, what was it like?” Velvet asked as she sipped some tea.

Blinking, Sunset wasn’t sure how to answer that question right away. She took a moment and thought about it. She closed her eyes to try and envision what Equestria looked like outside of the time she had recently spent in Princess Twilight’s castle but realized she didn’t remember too much about it.

“T-to be honest… I spent most of my time there in school… I was a gifted unicorn so I was sent to a lot of prestigious schools, eventually landing in Princess Celestia’s program for gifted students… I was exceptional at magic from a young age,” Sunset stated.

“That sounds amazing! You must have been a great student then!” Velvet exclaimed.

Twilight frowned, already knowing where this story was heading and it wasn’t to a happy place.

“Not really… I eventually sort of… abandoned the program because I wasn’t getting the results I wanted, I came here for selfish reasons… I would eventually try and take over the school so that I could go back to Equestria and sort of seek revenge… It took me quite a while to get out of that dark place and I sort of still struggle with those memories…” Sunset frowned.

“Oh, I see…” Velvet grew quiet.

Night, realizing that his wife had made an awkward air attempted to cheer Sunset up, but didn’t realize how badly his attempt would fall flat on its face. “Well, surely your parents miss you?”

Sunset’s frown only grew as she shook her head. “My parents…” She paused and bit her lip, “they don’t even know if I’m dead or alive and I imagine they don’t care. Most of my childhood was spent in school and when I had a hard time getting along with the other kids they just sent me to boarding school… They weren’t really involved for most of my life, they were so enthralled with work… The only family I really had that cared about me was Shimmer, and she technically was just an alternate universe version of myself, but she treated me like her genuine older sister…”

Velvet sighed and offered Sunset a smile. “Well… I’m sure they love you still, Sunny, in their own way… Just like Shimmer did.”

Sunset just shrugged. She had more or less written her parents off at this point in her life, and Shimmer she was still getting over.

“Well, I can say this, you’re always welcome here and to us, you’re family.” Night smiled at her.

Sunset blinked and nodded back. “T-thank you…” she stuttered.

“Say, did we ever tell you about the time we caught Twilight practicing kissing with the mirror in her bedroom!?” Velvet exclaimed, her voice filled with all kinds of excitement. The excitement of a mother about to have a few cheap laughs at her daughter’s expense.

Sunset had always heard that part of being a parent was embarrassing your children, but she seldom got to experience it in action, Twilight’s family, however, seemed to do it on a regular basis. He older brother Shining came off as almost immune to it, either because he was too old to be bothered by it anymore or he legitimately was proud of every story they told about him.

Those words made Twilight jump into action. “Oh no! Mom!”

“Oh, this is a cute story! Twilight was about twelve or thirteen…” Velvet began.

“STOP! DO NOT TELL HER ABOUT THAT!” Twilight stood up and tried to cover her mother’s mouth, only for the older woman to hold her back with ease.

“But it’s a great story! It’s adorable!” Velvet protested.

“ABSOLUTELY NOT!” Twilight continued to attempt to fight, even if her efforts were in vain. She wasn’t about to give in so easily and allow her mother to embarrass her further.

“So Twilight had the weekend off-“ Velvet attempted to start again.

“I SWEAR I WILL PUT YOU IN A HOME WHEN YOU’RE OLDER!” Twilight threatened.

Night found himself laughing at the entire ordeal. “Oh come on, Twilight, it is a very cute story…”

“Dad! Whose side are you on!?” Twilight growled.

Night chuckled and shrugged. “Hey, I’m just enjoying the free entertainment here, as I’m sure Sunset is.”

Sunset smirked and leaned back in her seat on the couch. “I actually kind of want to hear this story…”

“Not you too!” Twilight groaned, knowing that if Sunset managed to hear the entire story that she would proceed to tease Twilight about it probably for the next few years like she did with every other embarrassing moment that Twilight had the misfortune of Sunset learning about.

“What can I say, I’m a sucker for a good story about you doing something dumb…” Sunset winked.

“I swear everyone is out to just demolish my self-esteem…” Twilight humphed before rolling her eyes and sitting down with her arms crossed defensively.

The entire group broke into a fit of giggles, knowing it was all just in good fun; eventually Twilight would even join them when she got over her pouting. For that moment though, Sunset remembered how much Twilight’s family accepted her, how much she fit in there.

For that night, she understood once more what it meant to be a part of a family. A feeling that she had only experienced fleetingly over her life, but it was one that she longed for. It was a pleasant feeling, and one she didn’t ever want to stop.

I think all of us would stare at Twilight's tits, don't you?

Work has been brutal lately. I've been trying to get ahead in writing for this story but it isn't easy with how often I'm at work. Usually, I'm only about 2 chapters ahead, but I am trying to get more done, but that requires completing two chapters a week. Not as easy as it sounds either.