Sunset found herself grumbling as she felt a hand try to wake her. She turned in her sleep, trying to ignore the person trying to force her out of bed, hoping that if she continued to ignore their presence that they would allow her the benefit of sleeping just a little longer. She couldn’t remember why she stayed up so late last night, but she knew her body simply wasn’t ready to greet the waking world just yet.

“Five more minutes…” Sunset groaned. Not realizing for that moment that it didn’t really make much sense for anyone to be trying to wake her up.

When her mind clicked with reality for a moment and then thought about the appendage touching her shoulder. It was far too large to be Moon pawing at her, and it definitely was a person.

A smile came to her face as she considered the only person who had a key to her estate. The only person who would think to come to her house and wake her up in the morning. The only person she’d be excited to see at such an ungodly hour.

“Twilight?” Sunset grinned as she rolled over in her bed. Adjusting her eyes, a blurry figure slowly became clearer and there standing at the side of the bed was not Twilight.

Instead, it was a taller, slender woman, sporting a tight spandex suit wrapping around her body and accenting her smaller breasts. As Sunset’s eyes followed the body up to the head, there at the top was familiar piercing red eyes, and wild orange hair staring her down.

“Sorry, not Twilight…” They grinned.

Sunset shuffled backward on her bed and rolled off onto the other side. Standing up and reaching in her drawer, she retrieved a gun from her end table drawer and pointed it at the siren standing there. It was none other than Adagio.

Adagio just smirked. “Go ahead, shoot…”

Growling, Sunset didn’t even hesitate to follow that command. She pulled the trigger eight times, with every shot pointed directly at Adagio’s head, all of them hitting and connecting. The shots caused the siren’s head to lean backward but soon she leaned back forward as if it were nothing.

Bullets lined her face and fresh holes bled a deep red as she stood there unfazed by the damage that was done to her.

“Did you really think that was going to work?” Adagio asked plainly.

“What the fuck are you?” Sunset hissed, weapon still pointed in her direction.

“I’m already dead, remember? You took care of that, or have you forgotten that little execution that you and the Princess did?” Adagio tilted her head as she reminded Sunset, “bullets won’t hurt me now, because you can’t kill what isn’t alive…”

“Why are you here?” Sunset asked.

Adagio grinned and stepped forward, causing Sunset to flinch. “You think you’ve seen the last of me… You don’t even know the beginning of my power, you don’t know what resources I have available to me… For all you know, I could be back to life already, preparing to kill you… Or better yet… Maybe I’ll kill that little Twilight of yours…”

“You stay the fuck away from her!” Sunset yelled, thrusting the gun in Adagio’s direction.

“Or you’ll do what? Kill me?” Adagio chuckled.

She took in a breath and the bullets in her face all fell out and onto the floor. Before Sunset knew it, the wounds she had created healed up instantly, leaving the woman looking clean and youthful once more. She approached Sunset and used her hand to lower the gun in Sunset’s hand. Adagio’s free hand came upward and rested on Sunset’s cheek.

“When you mess with darkness… It always has a way to follow you… Doesn’t it, Sunset?” Adagio’s voice grew quiet and sinister sounding.

“I’m not that person anymore…” Sunset shook her head.

“Aren’t you? Seems like you were pretty quick to try and kill me… Maybe… You’re not as in control as you think you are? In fact, maybe Twilight should be more afraid of you…” Adagio grinned.

“I’d never hurt her!” Sunset protested.

“Maybe… But you don’t know what the other you is capable of do you?” Adagio chuckled playfully.

“You should shut up about things you don’t understand…” Sunset growled, her patience wearing thinner and thinner by the second.

“I understand you gave into her once… And you almost gave into her again when you were fighting me, it’s only a matter of time, Sunset. The lure is too strong, and you know it… Either way, you know this isn’t over… One day, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow… But one day… You’ll have to face the consequences of you coming to this world, you can’t just stay here forever…” Adagio lectured.

“You can’t tell me what I can and can’t do…” Sunset reminded.

Adagio nodded and laughed. “You’re right…”

Suddenly Sunset felt a sharp pain in her gut. She looked down and through hazy vision could see Adagio’s hand pushed into her stomach, ripping out the back of her. Blood spewed out of the fresh wound and Adagio looked up to Sunset and grinned.

“Darkness is always right around the corner, Sunset Shimmer…” Adagio whispered, "and it's waiting for you to give in..."

Another sharp pain overcame Sunset as Adagio’s hand ripped out of her. As she collapsed to the floor, feeling life itself leave her, she closed her eyes.

When Sunset’s eyes reopened she was sleeping in the same bedroom. She looked around and noted there was no blood anywhere or any sign of a siren standing in her room. She lifted the sheets off of herself and looked down at her exposed stomach. She was still completely intact.

Sighing, the redhead fell back onto her pillow and shook her head. “Fuck… Another nightmare… How much longer are these going to go on…?”

She calmed herself and closed her eyes. “It’s just a dream… Don’t worry about it, Sunset…” She told herself.

Still, she felt a nagging in her mind, a nagging that she knew she would need to quell. She had to know that Adagio couldn’t come back, that sirens stayed dead. That meant she needed to talk to two people that she had hoped never to see again. If she wanted the piece of mind that she was safe from Adagio, she needed to talk to Aria and Sonata.

Being out and about with Rarity for a day of shopping proved exhausting, as it always was when one gave Rarity the chance to indulge one of her favorite past times. The woman had too much energy when it came to shopping or fashion, however as Twilight knew, when going to someone for improving her wardrobe to impress Sunset, Rarity was the best bet. Now that her date with the girl had gone well, she wanted to improve her entire ensemble to be more alluring.

Twilight was starting to find a newfound confidence to dress a little more complimentary toward her figure and to “show off” a little more of what she had to work with, as Rarity would put it.

The duo had been through at least eight stores already, and Rarity had a handful of bags filled with clothing for Twilight to wear, after forcing her to try on nearly the entire store selection of each store. Twilight, of course, was the one expected to carry said bags.

Huffing and puffing from exhaustion, Twilight kneeled slightly and tried to catch her breath after the two had gone up a flight of stairs. “Hey… Rarity… Maybe we could… Take a break… Get lunch or something?” Twilight asked.

Rarity frowned and put on a pouty face. “Awwww… But we have yet to go to Hot Topic! I was thinking maybe we could try an alternative look for you on some days… I know Sunset is into that, and I bet the whole dark look would be very cute on you…”

“Maybe… After lunch…?” Twilight raised a brow.

Sighing, Rarity nodded. “Oh… Alright… I’ll pay for us, my treat for humor me for so long…”

“Long” was an understatement, the two had been there since the mall opened.

Twilight frowned. “You don’t have to do that… I have money…”

Rarity shook her head. “It’s fine, I make money from my sales and Applejack works at the auto shop during the day, we’re actually doing quite well. Though… That’s mostly because she works a good fifty hours a week…”

Twilight blinked. “Wait, Applejack works that much and then comes home and does farm work!?”

Rarity frowned and nodded. “Sadly… Yes… Applejack wants to try and give me the life she thinks I deserve and despite me always telling her to stop pushing herself so far, she doesn’t listen. She’s exceptionally stubborn… But, as a result, we are financially secure.”

A part of Twilight’s heart seemed to light up as she heard Rarity’s appreciation for her wife. She longed for a relationship like that with someone, where every extra mile you took was always recognized, and Twilight could see that the concern on Rarity’s face was genuine. The bookworm could already imagine the kinds of conversations the two of them would have regarding Applejack’s health and how working so hard was not the best thing for her. Hearing that Applejack was that stubborn though came as no surprise.

“You really care about her, huh?” Twilight asked.

Rarity nodded and placed her hands on her heart. “I do… Applejack is precious to me. I gave up very much for us to be together and she knows that, which is why she always tries twice as hard for me… I wish she wouldn’t though, I wish she’d understand that I don’t mind giving things up if means I can be with her. You know how she is though, darling… In Applejack’s mind, I deserve her and everything else…”

“She loves you, that’s all, Rarity,” Twilight reminded.

“There was never any doubt.” Rarity winked.

The two found some seats at the food court at the mall and sat down while they contemplated what to eat.

Rarity smirked as she leaned in over the table, her chin resting in her hands as she propped herself up via her elbows over the table. Her long lashes fluttered as she looked at Twilight. “So…”

“So?” Twilight raised a confused brow.

“You and Sunset… How did your little date go? You haven’t told me yet…” Rarity grinned.

“I knew this was coming…” Twilight sighed.

Rarity giggled and nodded. “Well, certainly you knew that my curiosity would not be kept at bay forever. I’m dying to know the details… What happened between the two of you?”

Rolling her eyes, Twilight sighed and leaned in to speak. “It was… Well, the date was fun, and it wasn’t awkward or anything. I definitely felt the chemistry between us…”

“And…?” Rarity’s brow rose expectantly, knowing Twilight was omitting the juiciest of details, making Rarity beg for the most interesting gossip.

“We… Made out…” Twilight blushed.

“Ooooooo! Now that is adorable! Were you nervous?” Rarity leaned in excitedly as her feet kicked rapidly under the table for a brief moment.

Twilight was unsurprised by Rarity’s interest in the subject and knew that there was a good chance she would be expected to divulge the details to her at some point, it was Rarity after all.

“Very…” Twilight admitted.

“How was it though?” Rarity nodded.

“Amazing… Probably the most excitement I’ve felt in my entire life… I probably would have willingly given myself to her if she allowed it… Am I too eager?” Twilight tilted her head in wonder.

Rarity giggled and shook her head. “Twilight, you’re a virgin at your age… It’s natural to want to cut to the chase, so to speak… You are still a virgin, right?”

Rolling her eyes, Twilight nodded. “Yeah, I didn’t go that far.”

“Just checking… When you do finally… Well… Get intimate, you must tell me!” Rarity squealed.

Twilight rubbed her neck nervously, unsure of what to say to that statement. “Well… I… I’m not really even sure what I would do if I was in that scenario…”

“I can loan you a few books on the subject…” Rarity winked.

“Books are good, I prefer to learn things from books…” Twilight nodded.

Giggling, Rarity nodded back. “I know you do, Twilight.”

Sunset had decided that meeting with the two remaining sirens in the human world would be too dangerous alone. While she knew that they had no magic left and even helped her take down Adagio, she still wanted to be cautious around them. As a backup, she decided to take Moondancer along with her.

Looking over the address texted to her, Sunset stood at the sidewalk hopping out of her car with Moondancer following closely. Sunset squinted and caught a glimpse of Moondancer’s tank top and shorts combo before returning her attention to the address of the apartment building the two were standing at. She looked up at the building from her phone and blinked.

“Not much to look at…” Moondancer spoke, practically reading Sunset’s mind.

Sunset reached to her neck and touched her choker, gently running her finger along her magic geode, ready to dispense some powerful spells if the situation called for it.

“I guess it doesn’t pay much to be a siren with no powers in the human world, does it?” Sunset suggested, though clearly more as a joke.

“I wonder what these girls do even to afford living here…” Moondancer placed a hand on her chin as she contemplated the thought.

Sunset nodded in agreement. “I’m curious myself…”

“Well, what did you do when you were an undocumented alien from another universe with no means to support yourself?” Moondancer raised a brow.

Rolling her eyes, Sunset gave a curt reply, “I collected cans and caught fish to sell to farmers down at the farmer’s market…”

Moondancer began giggling until she noted that Sunset’s expression didn’t change. “Oh… Wait… You’re serious?”

“Why would I lie about that?” Sunset crossed her arms and put on an annoyed expression.

Sensing the newly created tension, Moondancer waved her hands frantically. “Well… You’re going great now!”

Sunset rolled her eyes and decided to let it go, there wasn’t much sense in dwelling on the past, after all, not to mention Moondancer meant no harm.

The two returned their attention to the apartment complex in front of them. “So… the other two sirens really live there, huh?”

Sunset merely nodded in response.

Taking a few steps forward, Sunset felt Moondancer’s hand on her shoulder, stopping her. She turned to face the bespectacled woman with her eyebrow raised in confusion.

“Sunset… Are you sure it’s safe? I mean their friend murdered Shimmer and almost killed you… Even with the two of us and your magic… I don’t know if it’s a good idea to lock ourselves in with them…” Moondancer frowned.

Sunset smiled at her friend and shook her head. “Don’t worry, if worse comes to worse…” Sunset reached into her bag to reveal a powerful looking firearm tucked away in her purse. Moondancer’s eyes widened at the sight of such a weapon. She cringed lightly; memories of the last time she held a gun already pouring back into her head. She was thankful that she didn’t use it to kill anyone, but she had hoped that would be the last time she held one.

“That’s…” Moondancer shook her head, unable to finish that sentence.

“A last resort… I promise…” Sunset smiled as she stuffed the weapon back into her purse.

“Alright… I trust you…” Moondancer frowned.

“Let’s get this over with…” Sunset sighed as the two approached the building.

After a good few seconds of walking, the two came to a stairwell and made their way up to the second floor. After reaching the desired door numbered B-8, Moondancer and Sunset looked at each other before Sunset tapped on the door lightly.

A voice called from inside, muffled slightly by the door. “Come in.”

Obeying, Sunset turned the knob and allowed Moondancer and herself to enter the room. Stepping inside, they noted how small the place was, probably no bigger than Sunset’s old apartment, if not smaller. Sitting on the couch was a rather bored looking Sonata flipping through a magazine.

On the old beat up recliner sat Aria, a work uniform sporting the logo of Taco Bell on her and a cigarette burning between her fingers. “Oh, it’s you… I didn’t say you could bring a friend…” Aria pointed with her cigarette to Moondancer.

“I figured it’d be more appropriate if it was two people meeting two other people…” Sunset explained.

Aria chuckled. “Funny, you think I actually believe that you see us as people?”

There was silence after that statement. Sunset merely stood still, not wanting to answer that question one way or another. Finally, after realizing that Sunset wasn’t going to budge, Aria gestured toward the couch next to Sonata. “Sit,” she instructed.

Moondancer hesitated as she eyed Sonata, who didn’t seem to even notice the two were in the room as she continued to flip through her magazine. Her mind was clearly elsewhere as the two women stood in their apartment. Eventually, both Sunset and Moondancer realized that Aria wasn’t going to talk until the two of them took a seat.

Sunset decided since she had the weapon she would put herself between Moondancer and Sonata, to ensure that Moondancer would be the furthest away from danger if the situation turned sour. Sunset kept a hand on her purse at all times, ready to draw her weapon if she needed it in a pinch.

Moondancer just sat there with her hands in her lap, leaning forward awkwardly as she waited for the conversation to begin.

There was tense silence only interrupted by the sounds of Aria exhaling smoke.

“So… How have you all been?” Sunset began.

“Sunset Shimmer, why are we pretending that you give a shit about us? Seriously, you came here to ask us some questions, and I’m pretty sure this wasn’t so we could become good friends… I am well aware that you have some negative feelings regarding our kind, so I’d appreciate it if you didn’t waste my fucking time…” Aria sneered.

Sunset sighed and nodded, realizing that putting up a pleasant facade was simply a waste of time. “Alright, then let’s cut right to the chase. I need answers to some very important questions…”

“Go ahead… I’m listening…” Aria nodded, taking another drag of her cigarette.

In her head, her first question sounded incredibly stupid, but she needed to know for sure. “Is there any way for a siren to come back to life?”

“Planning on killing us or something?” Aria chuckled.

Moondancer decided to speak on Sunset’s behalf. “She is wondering if there might be some way that Adagio could come back from the dead?”

“Back from the dead? Why are you worried about something like that?” Aria’s brow rose.

The subject seemed to even have attracted Sonata’s attention, who had lowered her magazine and looked in the group’s general direction as she listened. “Can that happen, Aria? Can sirens come back to life after death…?”

“Of course not, stupid…” Aria rolled her eyes, already exhausted with Sonata and her stupidity.

“You’re sure?” Sunset asked.

“Yes, I’m fucking sure. Not a siren in history has ever done it, we’re no different than you mortals; dead is forever. You’re brown bread, you don’t come back…” Aria answered, still a bit confused as to why this was even a subject of interest to Sunset.

“What about… Lasting effects of siren powers? Nightmares specifically?” Sunset asked.

Aria put out her cigarette in an ashtray and leaned forward. “Look, as far as I know, sirens can only control you while they are alive. I’ve never heard of a siren able to affect someone’s dreams after they die. Then again, I don’t meet many sirens. That being said, whatever shit is going on in your head is likely your own paranoia.” Aria had put two and two together and figured out partially why Sunset might ask such questions.

“Relax, Adagio is dead; she can’t come back to get you…” Aria reassured.

Sonata nodded in agreement, not having much to add.

“See, Sunset? Nothing to worry about.” Moondancer smiled at her friend, hoping this would put the matter to rest for Sunset.

Sunset wasn’t entirely satisfied however, she still had more questions for the two creatures. “You mentioned something about a Siren’s Curse?”

Sonata’s face turned pale at the mention of the curse. She looked over at Aria with a nervous expression and shook her head disapprovingly. Aria nodded in silent agreement before shaking her head at Sunset and Moondancer. “Sorry, I can’t tell you anything about that…”

Squinting, Sunset leaned in. “And why not?”

“Some things are taboo for our kind to tell mortals. Some things are kept secret for a reason…” Aria explained.

“What difference does it make now? Adagio is dead…” Sunset reminded.

Aria grunted and looked away. “Be that as it may… I am not going to trust a mortal with that kind of information. I don’t care if we’re not enemies, the fact remains that you still fucked us over, Sunset Shimmer… You destroyed our amulets and thus cursed us to be stuck here until we eventually age and die a slow death like mortals. I don’t trust you any further than I can throw you, so you won’t get shit out of me…” Aria hissed.

“Same here!” Sonata agreed as she nodded, though likely just echoing whatever it was Aria was thinking. Without Adagio, it looked like Aria had stepped up to be the leader of the two.

Sunset couldn’t blame them, after all, Aria had a point. Were it not for Sunset and her friends, the sirens would still have their magic. Still, the fact that Aria was so adamant about not answering only made Sunset more suspicious.

“I don’t see what the big deal is…” Sunset blinked.

Aria scoffed and looked away. “Look… All you need to know is that the Mother’s Scorn is something that affects all of us sirens should we…” She blinked and shook her head. “It doesn’t matter, the point is that I’m not allowed to tell you about it…”

“Mother’s Scorn? I thought you said it was called The Siren’s Curse?” Moondancer interjected.

“It’s called both, but The Siren’s Curse is the more common name for it,” Sonata pointed out.

“Shut up, Sonata! Don’t tell them anything more!” Aria scolded.

Sonata frowned and sunk down in her seat.

Sunset came to a stand and gestured for Moondancer to do the same. She had determined that they had acquired all the information out of the pair that they were going to give up without things turning ugly. Sunset was curious about Mother’s Scorn, but as long as she knew that Adagio wasn’t able to come back to life, that was good enough for her.

“Come on, Moondancer…” Sunset said, her eyes locked with Aria’s.

“And for what it’s worth… Dooming you all to a mortal existence was never our intention… We were obligated to protect the people of this world from being enslaved by your powers… It wasn’t anything personal…” Sunset said.

“A day will come where you will have to prove that, Sunset Shimmer, prove to us that you have no prejudice, for your sake, you better hope that I believe it.” Aria sneered.

Sunset nodded and walked toward the door with Moondancer only to be stopped by Aria’s arm in the way. “Hey… For what it’s worth… I am sorry about your friend Shimmer… We didn’t have any hand in that, but if I could go back, I’d have stopped Adagio before it was too late…”

Sunset smiled and nodded. “I know… You went to her grave to drop off flowers, after all.”

Aria couldn’t think of anything to say in response. Instead, she moved her arm and allowed the two girls to leave. On her way out of the door, Sunset said nothing, but she knew that one day she might learn the sirens’ secrets, one day they may actually be able to move past their differences and maybe even be friends.

The reminder that Aria delivered flowers to Shimmer’s grave and that the two sirens didn’t condone what Adagio did at least brought Sunset hope that not all sirens were monsters perhaps.

At least she had the closure she needed in knowing that Adagio would not come back to haunt her. That was one demon at least that she could put to rest, though she knew she had quite a few more.

Sunset’s routine target practice felt much more stressful than usual. Despite her earlier relief in knowing that Adagio was dead, a new omen loomed over her. Sunset knew that Adagio couldn’t come back now, beyond any reasonable doubt but somehow she still felt anxious.

She found herself unable to focus, unable to concentrate and as a result, her shooting was far off her usual level of marksmanship. Sunset knew she was distracted, but she couldn’t take her mind off of a certain subject.

Adagio was dead, but so was Shimmer. Adagio not coming back meant… No. Sunset didn’t want to even think the words. The reality that Adagio was dead for good had reminded Sunset that Shimmer also was dead for good. Both girls shared the same fate, and she was recalling how she felt right after Adagio had been put to death, she felt nothing; Sunset felt empty. The death of the siren had done nothing to heal her pain, instead, Sunset turned to other means.

For those first few weeks, she had thought that if Adagio’s life ending didn’t stop her pain then she needed to join Shimmer. They were easily the darkest weeks of her life. It was a challenge every day not to put one of the many guns in the house in her mouth, or drive her car at full speed into a tree. She even recalled at one point staring at a bottle of rat poison for several hours, somehow finding the resolve to not partake in any of those ideas though, she had survived. She had survived and she was lying to herself if she said it didn’t still bother her.

The harsh reality was that Shimmer died in her place. She gave her life to keep Sunset alive, to protect her. Sunset wanted to feel grateful, she wanted to feel happiness that someone would care so much about her, but she was struggling to not feel anything more than guilt. That guilt in turn only made her feel more guilty for not being able to be completely happy.

In the past few weeks, talking to Twilight again and her friends had made her forget, made her move past those dark thoughts, but it wasn’t enough at times. Moments of weakness like this one still crept up on her.

Sunset shook her head and looked down to the gun in her hand, noticing her fingers trembling. Nervously, she placed the gun down and decided it was best to leave it there. She couldn’t trust herself when she was in such a state, and she knew that. She had to do something to get herself under control.

She stepped backward, her eyes locked on the gun, but she stole herself in her determination and managed to back her way out of the room. Closing the door behind her, Sunset let out a long sigh before sinking down to the floor, her back against the wall as her legs arched up and allowed her to rest her arms on her knees as she sat there trembling.

“Fuck…” She said quietly, her voice shaking.

Sunset knew she couldn’t fall back into the same traps. She needed to speak up about what she was going through.

Reaching for her phone, she contemplated calling Twilight, but decided that perhaps her difficult personal problems were a bit too much for their early relationship. Twilight deserved to see her at her best at that time, and she wanted to better herself for Twilight.

Going with the next obvious choice, she dialed Moondancer’s number and held the phone tightly to her ear.

It was only a moment or two before Moondancer answered. “Sunset? What’s up? How you been since our trip to the sirens’ place yesterday?”

“I…” Sunset paused before answering, “not good…”

“What’s wrong?” Moondancer asked.

“I just…” Sunset could already feel tears streaming down her face, her eyelids became heavy as she closed them tight trying not to make it too obvious that she was crying, but failing tremendously. Her voice cracked as she tried to speak through sobs. “I can’t stop thinking… about Shimmer…”

Moondancer was quiet in her response. “Me neither… I still think about her all the time…”

“If I wasn’t here… If I didn’t come to this place… She’d still be alive…” Sunset sobbed.

“Sunset… You can’t blame yourself… What happened was a mistake… A mistake that you didn’t have any role in…” Moondancer reminded.

“I’ve dreamed so often about switching places with her… I’d do anything to go back and do that…” Sunset admitted.

There was a sigh on Moondancer’s part. “Sunset, you’ve been thinking those dark thoughts from before again haven’t you?”

Nodding, Sunset answered verbally over the phone. “Y-yeah… It’s… It’s not easy…”

Another sigh came from Moondancer. “Sunset, you’re too easy to relapse. You can’t keep letting this come back to haunt you… Maybe it’s time to see a professional?”

Sunset didn’t want to admit that Moondancer was right, but she knew it was true. Even if she couldn’t divulge the aspects of magic or being from another world to someone, she could still confide in a professional psychiatrist to help her through her feelings. She needed to face these demons or she might give into them.

“Y-you’re right…” Sunset admitted.

“I am…?” Moondancer sounded astounded at the admission.

“You’re not going to fight me this time?” Moondancer asked.

Wiping her eyes, Sunset took in a few breaths before responding. “N-no… It’s pretty clear that I have some kind of PTSD from all of this… I need help… I want to live… I want to be there for Twilight… I want my life back… I can’t be left alone right now… I can’t trust myself…”

Moondancer was silent as she heard Sunset start to sob on the other end.

“I feel so stupid…” Sunset let out.

“You’re not stupid. It takes a lot to admit you have a problem. I went to therapy for a while too, and I still go on occasion, there’s nothing shameful about it, Sunset,” Moondancer stated.

“I feel so weak…” Sunset sniffled.

“You’re not weak. You’re strong. You were strong enough to take down such a powerful siren without the help of dark magic, and you are strong enough to want to make it through this,” Moondancer assured her.

A small smile came to Sunset’s face as she nodded in agreement. Somehow despite her worldly experience, Moondancer seemed to say exactly what one needed to hear on occasion.

“Thanks, Moondancer…” Sunset managed to get out.

“No problem, promise me that you’ll go talk to a professional this week?” Moondancer pestered.

Nodding, Sunset agreed. “Yeah… I promise.”

Sunset felt her phone vibrate against her ear and pulled it away for a moment to check the screen. Sure enough, a photo she had taken of Twilight had come up on screen, and Sunset found herself smiling.

When she placed the device back up to her ear, her tone had changed to a more light-hearted one. “Hey, Moondancer, can I call you back? Twilight is trying to call me.”

“Sure, try and take care of yourself, okay?” Moondancer instructed.

“Yeah, I will,” Sunset answered before hanging up and picking up the second call.

“Hey, Twilight,” Sunset said.

“I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” Twilight asked.

“You? You’re never interrupting, babe.” Sunset smiled.

There was a short pause from Twilight. “B-babe…?”

“You don’t like it?” Sunset asked.

“No! I love it! I just… I’ve never had an affectionate pet name before…” Twilight admitted.

“So it’s okay if I call you ‘babe’ then?” Sunset giggled.

“Absolutely,” Twilight replied.

Both of the girls broke out into a fit of giggles, and the moment of joy had washed over Sunset and made her forget about the stress and negative feelings from just a few moments ago. It was amazing how Twilight was able to calm Sunset so easily.

“So, I was wondering… If you wanted to catch a movie tonight? Maybe… Around eight?” Twilight asked, trying her best to sound nonchalant.

“A date then?” Sunset smirked.

“Alright… A date…” Twilight replied.

Sunset chuckled. “How much of the movie are we actually going to see?”

“W-what’re you implying!?” Twilight gasped.

“Maybe you’ll find out… So… eight then?” Sunset giggled.

“A-alright… eight it is,” Twilight agreed.

“See you then, babe.” Sunset hung up with those words and sighed contently. Things were starting to look up for her.

Sitting at an immaculate new mahogany desk, a young colt rested his head on his hoof as he let out a sigh, wallowing in his extensive boredom. A middle-aged Pegasus went over the founding of Equestria for probably the eighth time that school year and he was finding it difficult to focus.

With a hum of magic from his horn, the young unicorn twirled a strand of his long white mane. The end of his long silky mane coming to gentle curls naturally. His purple eyes struggled to stay open as he listened to what he believed to be a meaningless recap lecture.

“Eclipse!” The teacher boomed in his direction, causing the colt to flinch and jolt his attention forward. “Since you’re so enthralled over there, perhaps you’d like to tell the class the name the place where the first unification meeting was held?”

Eclipse yawned and shrugged. “Sorry, Ms. Ruler...”

Ms. Ruler nodded as she pointed a hoof in his direction. “Please pay attention, Eclipse.”

He shrugged but nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

Before she had the chance to reprimand him any further, however, another pony entered the classroom with a note floating in front of her, held in place by a magic aura from the older mare’s horn. The teacher took it from her in her wing and began to run her eyes across the contents. Nodding at the other mare, Ms. Ruler set the note down on the table and watched as the door swung open.

Entering the room was a young griffon, his feathers draping over his left eye, white with a grey tint toward their tips. His claw sported a grey banded bracelet and his coat was a very dark brown, looking almost black, but his face was a light off-white.

As he looked toward the class, Eclipse caught sight of the griffon's soft pink eyes, which were contrasting to his rough exterior.

Around the creature’s neck was a pendant shaped like some kind of long crystal. He and Eclipse made eye contact for a brief intense moment before the griffon looked toward the rest of the class.

Ms. Ruler cleared her throat. “Class, this is Galeal Drift. His parents just moved here from Cloudsdale and I’d like you all to make him feel welcome.”

The class gave off a murmur of hellos, most of which sounded barely even half-hearted.

“Galeal, why not tell the class about yourself?” Ms. Ruler suggested as she smiled in his direction.

He shrugged and then looked at the class. “Dunno... Like... I like flying... I guess...”

Sensing that Galeal clearly wasn’t the talkative type, Ms. Ruler decided it might be best to move forward. “We were actually about to talk about the science fair coming up, why don’t I partner you up with someone so you can get caught up to speed quickly?”

Galeal just shrugged. “Whatever...”

Ms. Ruler scanned the room for potential candidates. While it was tempting to place the new student with a student she already was certain would produce great results, the educator in her locked her eyes on Eclipse. A small smile came to her face as she thought it over. A partner may finally make the boy focus.

“How about Eclipse over there.” Ms. Ruler pointed to the unicorn in the back of the room.

Eclipse snapped out of his trance and looked at his teacher with empty eyes, unsure of how to respond to the suggestion.

“I trust this won’t be a problem, will it Eclipse?” Ms. Ruler raised her brow.

Eclipse looked back at Galeal, noting that the griffon was now staring directly at him. The two held eye contact for some time before Eclipse spoke, still not breaking their stare off as Eclipse caught an eye full of Galeal's lazy expression, eyes half closed, yet somehow still powerful. Eclipse noted how uninterested the griffon looked.. “No, it’s fine...” Eclipse said.

Ms. Ruler smiled contently. “Excellent! Galeal why don’t you sit here in the front row?”

The griffon finally broke intense eye contact with Eclipse and nodded. He took his seat and slouched backward as the teacher returned to her lecture. Eclipse however found himself unable to hear a word she was saying, his mind remained focused on the new addition to the class.

Sunset arrived on time for her date with Twilight. She stood in the parking lot of the theatre after stepping off of her motorcycle. She removed her helmet and placed it onto the seat, attaching a safety chain to it before scanning the parking lot to find Twilight not even eighty paces away.

The girl approached and looked at Sunset’s motorcycle with concern and intrigue. She wondered how safe such a contraption really was, but held her tongue.

“Hey…” Twilight gave an awkward wave.

“Hey, babe.” Sunset smirked.

Twilight shuffled awkwardly as a blush crossed her face, unsure of how to handle the affectionate pet name calling.

“Hey… S-sweetie…?” Twilight attempted to sound convincing back at Sunset, but there was an aura of nervousness in her voice, causing Sunset to merely chuckle.

“That’s adorable…” Sunset giggled.

A frown came to Twilight. “You don’t like it?”

“No, no, it’s fine. You can call me whatever pet name you like, I just thought it was adorable how hard it is for you,” Sunset pointed out.

Twilight nodded before offering her hand and looking away. “Did you… Want to walk me into the theatre?”

Sunset grinned before taking Twilight’s hand and using her other hand to grab Twilight’s waist, pulling the bookworm in close, their bodies touching. “I haven’t even had a kiss yet…”

Looking up into Sunset’s eyes, Twilight was mesmerized. She could only nod gently in agreement and allow Sunset to take whatever she liked from her. Sunset, of course, indulged herself to her heart’s content, leaning in and connecting lips with Twilight affectionately, gripping her waist and keeping her balanced as Twilight reached up and gripped Sunset’s shirt while they kissed.

Holding each other for a brief moment longer, their lips disconnected, and Sunset rested her forehead on Twilight’s. “I’m glad you practiced on the mirror…”

“Oh shut up… Why did you have to bring that story back up…?” Twilight rolled her eyes, a blush on her face.

Sunset reached down and placed her hand on Twilight’s cheek as they locked eyes. “It’s a cute story… and clearly, it worked because you’re a great kisser…”

“You have nothing to compare my kisses to…” Twilight pointed out, the scientist in her shining through.

Giggling, Sunset nodded. “True, but perception is reality, right?”

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t dream about kissing you…” Twilight admitted.

“Better than the dream?” Sunset asked.

Twilight nodded confidently. “Definitely.”

Placing her arm behind Twilight and resting her hand on the girl’s waist, Sunset lead the two toward the theater, the two exchanging little looks at each other and nuzzles as they bought their tickets and headed inside.

The movie remained predictably mostly unseen as the two young women had become distracted by the prospect of making out. At first, they both tried to resist, but after the second or third kiss they gave into their desires and took advantage of the dark theatre.

When the film ended, Sunset and Twilight walked back out into the parking lot holding hands. “Man, I can’t believe how much like the book it was,” Twilight commented.

“To be fair any inaccuracies we may not have noticed due to not really seeing most of it...” Sunset pointed out.

Twilight’s face flushed red but she nodded. “Well, we can always see it again... I mean the book was great so I don’t mind seeing it again.”

“Yeah, The Circlet of Feydra was a great novel, glad they stayed true to it in the film.” Sunset smiled.

Reaching Sunset’s motorcycle, Twilight checked her phone. “Well, I should call my ride...”

Sunset blinked and placed her hands on Twilight’s hips, gently swaying the girl left and right as she stared into her eyes. “Awwww, come on, come home with me. We can have a little wine, have a good time...”

Twilight’s eyes were drawn toward the motorcycle, and gulped nervously at the contraption. “O-on that thing…?”

The redhead looked over at her bike and then back to Twilight with a smile. “Just hold on really tight to me, you’ll be fine.”

Somehow those words didn’t bring Twilight any further comfort. However, she gritted her teeth and nodded in agreement.

The ride home was mostly uneventful, shy of Twilight yelping and screaming for her life every time they so much as hit a crack in the road. Sunset was a fast driver, and clearly enjoyed the thrills that a motorcycle offered, Twilight… Not so much.

By the time they had reached Sunset’s home, Twilight looked up at the impressive estate, reminded of how lavish the house that Sunset lived in truly was.

Stepped off of her bike and removing her helmet, Sunset gestured for Twilight to follow her as she opened the front door. “Come on, the wine isn’t going to drink itself.”

Nodding, Twilight followed close behind before the two arrived in the living room. Sunset grinned and kissed Twilight on the forehead before telling her to stay put. “I’ll go get some, I’ll be right back.”

“Alright…” Twilight smiled sheepishly. Truthfully she wasn’t much of a drinker and given that both of them were underage, that made sense, however, she mostly just wanted an excuse to spend time alone with Sunset in her home. She’d be lying if she said she didn’t wish something would happen between them, but she knew the chances were unlikely.

As Sunset exited the room, Twilight began to wander and noticed something sitting on a bookshelf in the back of the room. She approached gently and found herself trembling as she reached down and touched the object sitting there.

A long silver barrel, with a revolving chamber, it was perhaps one of the finest looking revolvers that Twilight had ever seen. Most of the ones she saw were in movies, but sometimes she caught a glimpse of the weapons that Shining used for work. Gulping, Twilight picked it up and opened the chamber to see if it had been fired.

Strangely there was only a single bullet left, the other five had been fired. Twilight wondered who Sunset was shooting at, but decided to put the weapon back before Sunset returned and saw her examining it. She scurried back over to the couch where she sat down and awaited Sunset’s return, her mind fresh with questions about the gun in the room.

Sunset returned eventually with wine and glasses in tow. She offered one to Twilight, who took it gracefully. Sunset cracked open the bottle and smiled at her friend as she began pouring. “Say when.”

Twilight admittedly didn’t drink much, she had tried a beer or two while she was attending the university, but truthfully she didn’t get invited to many parties and she wasn’t very big on alcohol. However, she didn’t want to seem too much light a lightweight to Sunset so she allowed the redhead to pour a relatively full glass before cutting her off.

Sunset nodded when she finished pouring and proceeded to fill her own glass to the brim, causing Twilight’s eye to twitch ever so slightly to see how much Sunset could handle.

Setting the bottle down, Sunset lifted her glass and winked at Twilight before taking a large sip, bringing the contents down at least a full inch.

Not to be outdone, Twilight forced down a sip and noted how sweet the wine was. Sunset seemed satisfied with her facade and giggled before taking another sip herself.

“Look at us… Sitting in a mansion, drinking wine… Making out at movies… I never would have imagined this would be my life when I arrived here years ago.” Sunset giggled.

“You arrived eight years ago now, right?” Twilight asked.

“That sounds about right…” Sunset looked up in thought as she contemplated it. It truly had been nearly a decade since she first arrived.

Twilight grew quiet as she asked her next question. “So your parents haven’t seen you in almost eight years?”

“Actually… It’s closer to twelve for them…” Sunset stated plainly.

Raising a brow, Twilight forced down another sip of her drink, starting to become accustomed to the taste. “Twelve? How do you figure that?”

Sunset gulped down more of her drink, putting the glass at only a quarter full. “You’ll probably be fascinated by the scientific part of it, but when I came here, I arrived through an unstable portal. Similar to the sirens, and with similar effects. The only difference, however, was that I was only displaced in time a small amount comparably…”

“If I recall when they arrived via Starswirl’s spell, they were sent a good few centuries into the future?” Twilight recalled the Princess’ lecture on the semantics of it all.

Sunset nodded as she swirled her wine glass in her hand. “Yes, a similar principle, but I was only pushed ahead a good four years or so…”

Twilight squinted, as she already found a hole in that theory. “But you went back to Equestria after the Fall Formal, remember? You said your parents hadn’t filed a missing per- err… pony report on you?”

Sunset nodded. “Yes, that is true, and at the time I thought only five years had passed, which in the human world they had, but I never bothered to check any calendars or dates since I was only there for a few hours. With Princess Twi’s help, I have pieced it all together more recently. I have been away from Equestria for a good twelve years or so…”

Twilight would be lying if she didn’t find it all fascinating. “But wait… What about when you write to the Princess with the journal? Or when she comes here?”

A smirk grew on Sunset’s face. “Remember, the journal is a more stable source of magic, and the portal was stabilized based on the journal. Everything going through the new portal or written in the journal happens in real time, one for one.”

“I suppose that makes sense… Still crazy how magic works… I’d love to study it someday…” Twilight thought out loud.

The two grew silent, and Twilight found herself unable to keep her mind off of the question she truly wanted to ask. The question that she knew she would not be able to ignore until it was asked.

The girl took a breath and sighed. “Sunset…”

“Hmm?” The redhead said as she finished off her glass.

“There’s… a gun on the bookshelf over there… Only one round remaining…” Twilight began.

Sunset nodded. “Yeah… Target practice. I must have left it there, sorry. Pay no mind to it, okay?”

Twilight wanted to comment further, she wanted to call out Sunset’s bluff but they were having such a pleasant evening that she didn’t want to ruin it. Instead, she pushed it out of her mind and returned to the pleasant conversation with the girl she had grown to admire more and more.

A lot going on in this chapter, I know!

We also finally get to meet Eclipse! Who is he? Why should we care? Who's Galeal? Tune in next time to find out. Same bat time, same bat channel.

No, but seriously, we are finally getting to the "juicy" part of this story. This is sort of where you are going to start learning a lot of stuff happening in the background that is major important.

Oh, and Galeal is the first ever griffon that Applety has ever drawn! He's such a cutie too, isn't he? His name is pronounced "Gah-Leel" for those wondering.

Sorry for the late post, the laptop that has the scanner hooked up is a Windows machine still and decided it needed to do an unannounced update and we were on our way out the door so we had to delay the chapter until we got home. My wife, Applety actually recently got an iPad Pro to sort of "replace" her broken laptop, so my household is almost completely on Apple now. Lol.

Also, are you reading Silence of a Siren? You really should be reading Silence of a Siren. It's a side story set in the Shadowsverse. It tells the tale of Adagio and what happened prior to the events of the story. So if you want to devour more of this universe's backstory, I recommend you give that a read! New chapters for it every Thursday before Shadows!