“I’m going to show you something, but you have to promise me not to freak out okay?” Angel Song spoke to her friend Starlight who just nodded as she adjusted her jacket. Starlight had lived in California her entire life, though she moved from Ventura to Sacramento a few years back, and as a result, she had a poor tolerance of cold weather, even of the minor variety. California was usually always warm especially at that time in the Summer, but for some odd reason, the temperature had dropped to a somewhat chilling sixty-eight degrees, causing her to wear a hoodie.

“How are you not fucking cold?” Starlight asked as she rubbed her arms for warmth.

Angel shrugged. The truth was the cold never really bothered her. “I… I don’t know… Guess I just run hot or something? Beats me.”

Starlight rolled her eyes and followed her friend into the empty alleyway that she was leading the two girls to. “Alright, so you wanted to show me something, but why are we in some kind of dirty old back alley like some kind of horror movie? You’re not going to pull out a coat hanger and disembowel me, are you? Because if you are, like warn me first.”

Angel Song rolled her eyes at her friend’s sarcasm. “That’s gross…” Angel shuddered at the thought. “Plus don’t even joke about that stuff… You know I don’t like those kinds of movies…”

Starlight smirked and nodded. “That’s right… You were always a wimp when it came to horror films… Hell, I can’t even get you to play a Resident Evil game…”

“That’s because video games are stupid, first of all…” Angel pointed out with an extended finger. “Second of all, I’m just easily scared, it’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“Video games are alright, you’re just mad that you suck at them…” Starlight crossed her arms defensively.

“I watched you last weekend get murdered at least a dozen times in Overwatch… And you want to tell me about who sucks at video games? Half the guys on your team were calling you absolute trash,” Angel pointed out.

“Yeah yeah, so let’s see what you brought me out in the middle of bumfuck nowhere to show me…” Starlight moved her hands in a rolling motion to signify she wished to get on with it and thus get out of the cold.

Angel nodded as she rolled up the long sleeves of her scoop cut shirt. She paused and looked back at Starlight. “I need you to not scream or anything… I need to concentrate or it won’t work…”

“Alright, alright, just get on with it… I’m freezing my tits off out here… If I lose these then how am I supposed to get a date for next Friday night?” Starlight joked as she placed a hand atop of her breast.

Angel rolled her eyes at the thought. “You could always charm them with your personality.”

“So now you’re saying I’m ugly?” Starlight crossed her arms.

“I didn’t say that…” Angel sighed.

“Only ugly girls need their personality to win guys over…” Starlight groaned.

“Just be quiet, okay?” Angel pleaded.

Deciding that the faster she complied, the faster the entire ordeal could be over and she could get back inside to warm up; Starlight nodded and waited patiently.

Angel let out a breath and closed her bright eyes. Opening her hands, she concentrated on a nearby empty can of soda sitting atop of a trash can in the alleyway. The blue haired girl opened her eyes slightly and found herself focusing as a certain energy built up inside of her. At first, she could feel a deep strain on herself, but after a few more seconds of fighting through the strain of it, a familiar sensation crept up her body and started to pulse in her arms.

It wouldn’t take much more now, she would focus on the energy and push it toward her hands, willing it to obey her mind as she strained herself, a bead of sweat trickling down her neck as she licked her full lips and kept her composure.

“Come on…” She stressed out loud as her hand began to glow with a powerful glowing white aura.

Her long pigtailed wavy blue hair began to float in the air, defying gravity itself as the power began to surge through her hands and her entire body and with one last push she was able to make the can levitate in thin air.

Starlight watched in both shock and awe before Angel could sustain the action no longer. Eventually, her hair began to obey the laws of gravity again, and her body slumped slightly as the aura disappeared, leaving Angel in an exhausted state.

Stumbling, Starlight rushed forward and caught her. Angel looked up at her friend with a genuine smile about her. “Heh… Surprise…”

“Did I ever mention how awesome it is being friends with you…?” Starlight smirked.

“I have a feeling you’re about to remind me…” Angel panted.

Twilight’s eyes started to open, though it took a few blinks to get them to register the light in the exquisite bedroom she was in. After a good eight blinks, she was starting to make out the details of the room she had fallen asleep in.

It didn’t take long for her to realize that she was laying in a four-poster bed that was very much different from her own. Looking under the blood red sheets, Twilight noted she was still in just a bra and panties.

There was a moment of confusion which subsided when she recalled she had spent the night after an intimate night with Sunset. The details were starting to come back to her slowly, causing her to shiver in delight. Sunset clearly had done her homework on how to pleasure a woman, and it definitely had paid off for Twilight. She swore she could still feel a slight tingle between her legs, though it may have just been caused by having a vivid imagination of the night prior.

Looking next to her she saw a mess of red hair sprawled about the pillow with a head turned sideways. Sunset laid there on her back, quietly inhaling and exhaling. The blankets only covered her stomach downward as she rested. Twilight could still see her lacy black bra covering her impressive chest (making Twilight a bit jealous).

Sunset was gorgeous, even when sleeping. Twilight wondered how she appeared when she slept but submitted that she likely looked ridiculous and goofy, though Sunset was hardly the person to mind.

Looking over to the end table, Twilight noted the black collar from the other night was sitting there, causing her to blush at its mere sight. She’d likely have to hide her face every time she saw or touched a collar from now on.

She had never really considered what Sunset was into sexually, but somehow despite being kinkier than Twilight would have imagined… It worked for her. She enjoyed being controlled, Sunset merely took it to another level. There was something about that vulnerability that excited Twilight, that made her crave more and more, and Sunset’s personality worked so well at being as commanding as Twilight needed to fully enjoy herself.

Looking back at her lover, Twilight recalled that she confessed her feelings for Sunset officially last night. The sense of dread she had held for those few seconds while she waited for a response felt like a good hour, but to her luck, Sunset felt the same way and everything worked in her favor. Twilight was beginning to think she must have found some kind of good luck charm, as her luck was seldom this great.

Leaning over, Twilight kissed Sunset’s cheek. There was no effect. Twilight climbed over and hugged the girl, and still, she slept. It became clear very quickly to Twilight that Sunset was quite a heavy sleeper.

“It figures that you sleep like a rock…” Twilight rolled her eyes.

After enough time had passed, she finally decided to shake her lover to wake her up. With a few powerful shakes, the girl began stirring with a grumble or two. She complained and turned her head to see Twilight, her eyes only slightly open, still not adjusted to the high amount of light in the room.

“Morning,” Twilight said plainly.

“I pray for the sweet embrace of death…” Sunset replied before turning away from Twilight and trying to pull the blanket back over herself, blocking the light from the room from touching her.

Twilight stood as an obstacle between her and going back to sleep, as the bookworm grabbed the blanket and pulled it off of the girl, eliciting more complaints out of her. “You’re the devil…” Sunset replied.

“Oh come on, it’s time to get up, it’s already 11:08…” Twilight giggled before kissing the girl’s cheek.

“That means I still have three hours to sleep!” Sunset groaned in protest.

“Oh come on, let’s not lay in bed all day…” Twilight frowned and pouted.

“Why not? Last night you were content with being in this bed? We could do that again! Tell you what, we stay in bed and later I’ll make you quiver again, how about that? That sounds like an awesome way to spend the day!” Sunset grinned.

Twilight rolled her eyes at the proposal, despite a blush appearing on her face. A part of her still couldn’t believe that she was able to do such things the night prior. She could still imagine Sunset’s fingers inside her, the sensation she felt when the girl bit down on her neck (which she knew she’d need to get creative to hide the marks from which).

“Come on… It’s morning, time to get up and greet the day.” Twilight shook Sunset once more.

“My name is Sunset Shimmer, meaning I’m not a morning person, you shouldn’t be either Twilight Sparkle…” Sunset groaned.

“Oh please, our names don’t mean we can’t enjoy the morning!” Twilight insisted.

“At some point in my life, someone once said, ‘Sunset, you’re going to great things’,” Sunset paused before finishing that statement. “Just not in the morning, so good night.” With those words, she attempted to pull a pillow back over her head and drown Twilight out, only for the other girl to retrieve her glasses from the end table and roll her eyes.

Quickly, Twilight lifted the pillow off of Sunset and forced her to accept that she wasn’t going to get Twilight to let up so easily.

“You can’t even wake up if it’s for me?” Twilight pleaded with the most innocent sounding voice she could muster.

Meeting Twilight’s eyes, Sunset grinned and sighed in defeat, Twilight knew exactly what to say to get her way. “Well… I will admit… I could get used to waking up like this… With you there, that is… Not at this ungodly hour, mind you.”

Twilight grinned and nodded before snuggling up closer to her lover and kissing her cheek. “I love you, Sunset…”

“So we’re still saying that even when the heat of the moment is gone?” Sunset asked curiously.

Twilight blinked and stared into Sunset’s eyes. “Were we supposed to stop?”

“Nah, I was just worried you got caught up in the moment like you tend to do something and that those feelings would go away when we woke up the next morning… I kind of was like… Scared of that all night…” Sunset blushed as she admitted and looked away bashfully.

Twilight reached over and forced Sunset to look into her eyes once more. “I promise, I meant it… I still mean it too…”

A small smile came to Sunset’s face as she nodded lightly. “Yeah… I did too… Part of why I was worried…”

Twilight giggled and gave Sunset a peck on her forehead. “There’s no need to worry with me around, I promise…”

“It’s not you that I worry for…” Sunset smirked.

“You are too harsh on yourself…” Twilight frowned.

Sunset sighed and nodded. “I just don’t want to screw something else up, you know? Like I did with Shimmer… If I had just stayed away like you told me to then…”

Twilight reached forward and placed a finger on her lover’s lips, hushing her. “Stop… Don’t finish that sentence okay? It’s in the past now…”

Another sigh escaped Sunset, but she knew that Twilight was right. She had to move forward, regardless of how difficult that would be.

Starlight found herself pacing in circles in her apartment as Angel rested on the couch with a cup of coffee in her mitts. Her eyes followed Starlight as she watched her roommate process all that she had learned in the past hour or so. Pacing frantically in the room, Starlight stopped and looked over at her friend on the couch, sitting there so innocently.

“So like… You have superpowers?” Starlight began, deciding that was the best place to start, albeit, in her head, she envisioned herself broaching the subject a bit more tactfully.

Angel shook her head and ran a hand through her blue hair that she had let down, no longer confined to two pigtails. The girl’s hair cascaded down her back slightly and stopped shy of her shoulder blades. “No… I don’t know what they are… Some kind of telekinesis I guess? I’m not really sure…”

Starlight nodded and began pacing again as she thought it over. She stopped as she had another thought she felt like sharing. “So, that wasn’t just some kind of trick? You could actually do that?”

Angel nodded. “You know I wouldn’t lie about that… I don’t lie about anything…” She sunk in her seat bashfully.

She had a point. As far as Starlight could remember in the eight months that they had been roommates, Angel never lied about anything. She’d turn herself in for drinking the last of the milk. She was far too innocent to ever be a convincing liar, and there was no benefit to lying or pulling that entire stunt as some kind of way to trick Starlight.

The more Starlight thought about it, the more she realized the only explanation was that she was being legitimate.

“Okay, so you have some kind of psychic abilities or something… What else can you do?” Starlight asked curiously.

Angel shrugged. “Not much… It takes a great amount of concentration just to do what I showed you… I haven’t really explored anything further…”

“Girl, you could be like a superhero or something!” Starlight explained as she stepped closer.

The timid girl on the couch flinched at Starlight’s sudden approach before shaking her head. “No way… That sounds way too dangerous… I’m not cut out for that kind of stuff…”

“Hey, Peter Parker was a total nerd before he got his powers and then he became Spider-Man!” Starlight pointed out.

“Peter Parker was also a genius who knew how to invent gadgets that allowed him to make the most of his powers which by the point I am at in my life, he had mastered…” Angel reminded.

Starlight growled and rolled her eyes. “You are such a nerd sometimes…”

“Oh please, I saw you reading Fruits Basket in the bathroom…” Angel giggled.

A blush came to Starlight’s face as she looked away. “Manga is a guilty pleasure of mine…”

There was a short pause followed by Starlight shaking her head, not allowing the subject to change. “How long have you had this power?”

Angel shrugged once more. “I only began to notice it maybe two months ago? I don’t really know when it began… It’s like something triggered it or something… I don’t really understand it, but it’s kind of scary… Right now, you’re the only person who knows about it besides myself, obviously…”

“I wonder if there are other people out there that can do this… We have to find out…” Starlight insisted.

“How though? It’s not exactly something you can just ask random strangers… If you could, then I’m sure you’d hear about this sort of thing all the time,” Angel reminded.

Starlight placed a hand on her chin and her other hand on her hip as she contemplated Angel’s words. She was right, of course. They couldn’t just go up to strangers and ask if they had strange psychic powers; furthermore, they couldn’t risk anyone who didn’t already know about them finding out. They would need to be tactful, something that Starlight struggled with herself.

“Well, I’m your friend, so I’m going to help investigate this with you. We’ll be discrete, but I am sure we can uncover why you have these abilities, maybe even find someone who has more info,” Starlight suggested.

Angel smiled and nodded, happy that her friend looked out for her so much. “T-thanks, Starlight, I’d be lost without you…”

“Don’t mention it, from now on, we’ll stick together!” Starlight offered a thumbs up to Angel.

Some weeks had passed since Sunset and Twilight had shared that night of passion together and revealed their love for one another. For the next few weeks, Twilight was elated, feeling high on life itself, not wanting to ever come down. Eventually Sunset would refer to Twilight as her “girlfriend” in conversation, which at first caused shock, but eventually would elicit smiles and giggles among their friends (and Twilight of course).

Being the romantic partner of Sunset Shimmer was definitely a unique experience. Twilight had to remind herself that she was now dating a millionaire, a woman of prestige and potential power down the road in Canterlot. Sunset’s wealth and influence over the prestigious institute meant that new doors might open for Twilight simply by being associated with the girl.

Eventually though, she knew she would return to college and they’d have to discuss how to move forward, what kind of arrangements would be necessary to continue their romance, but until that point, she didn’t even want to think about it, instead she wanted to continue creating the wondrous memories that they were weaving together over this Summer break.

Dates became more unique and thoughtful as Sunset tried her best to continue swooning the bookworm. Instead of just dinner or a movie, Sunset would take Twilight stargazing, or to the library that the school owned, and sometimes just somewhere random like a tea house on the other side of town that she had heard of from a magazine.

Eventually, Sunset began to play a major role in virtually every aspect of Twilight’s life, even her wardrobe.

Not wanting to look so plain anymore, Twilight requested Sunset’s assistance. She opted for her over Rarity, because she already knew asking Rarity to update her appearance would have been a complete overhaul, the fashionista would not have allowed her to settle for anything less than the absolute best; which usually was too over the top for Twilight’s liking.

Instead, she had opted to add jeans and leggings to her wardrobe and a few more form-fitting tops. Babydoll Ts became a new part of her regular getup, and she had switched to converse sneakers for her day to day footwear. Part of the change was being a little less modest with her body and more willing to show it off, so she was definitely showing a bit more skin than she once did.

Oddly enough, what used to make her feel awkward and uncomfortable was beginning to make her feel far more confident in herself. Sunset had convinced her that she owned her new look, and she’d be damned if she didn’t feel sexy.

Standing downstairs in the basement, Twilight stretched as she tried to break in a new pair of dark grey skinny jeans that she had bought on a recent shopping trip. She had to admit while she felt sexier with this new style, a lot of the clothes that complimented one’s attractive features often took some time to break in and get physically comfortable moving around in.

Twilight added some detergent to the washing machine she had come down to use and put the machine on medium before reaching into her pocket to check her phone.

She nearly jumped at a tapping sound on the stairwell next to her. Looking upward, she could see Cadence standing there with a smile on her face. She was wearing perhaps one of the most gorgeous light blue summer dresses that Twilight had ever seen. Or rather, perhaps it only looked more gorgeous being on her; Cadence had such an enviable figure, after all.

“Hey, Twilight.” She waved as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

“Doing some laundry, huh?” She asked as she noted the basket.

“Yeah, just washing some of my new clothes…” She blushed as she noticed Cadence trot over to another basket and lift a pair of lacy purple panties up and smirk.

“Well… These are certainly interesting…” Cadence commented.

Blushing, Twilight played with a loose strand of hair and nodded. “Oh… Yeah… I just wanted to update my wardrobe… A little…”

Cadence smirked and leaned in with interest. “Oooooh, I get it… Our little Twilight is sexually active isn’t she?”

Twilight’s entire face turned red. She wanted to deny it, but she knew that Cadence could read her better than that, that she would instantly figure out that Twilight was lying.

“Well, I…” She giggled and blushed.

“Oh my…” Cadence grinned before hopping on top of the dryer and patting the washer next to her for Twilight to sit.

Shrugging, Twilight decided that she could be open with Cadence about her sex life, that and her relationship with Sunset had brought her more confidence, enough to even resist the teasing that Cadence normally enjoyed at her expense. She hopped up on the washer and felt it hum and whir under her while Cadence giggled and looked over at her younger sister-in-law.

“So… How was it?” Cadence grinned.

“It was amazing…” Twilight admitted, a grin coming to her face as she recalled the details.

“So anything you wanted to ask?” Cadence leaned in with interest.

Twilight blushed and looked away. “Well… We’ve been intimate a few times, but I’m kind of unsure of how to…” She paused, her face turning another shade redder than before.

“Go on…” Cadence smirked.

“Well… For lack of a better term… Perform oral…” Twilight almost squeaked those last words out.

Cadence only giggled more and shook her head. “Shining had that problem at first, but I sent him some links to a few sites that helped. I could send them your way?”

Twilight nodded furiously. “That would be great! Reading material is always helpful.”

Cadence snorted and sighed contently. “I take it you love her, don’t you, Twilight?”

Pausing, Twilight closed her eyes and thought about Sunset. Her face vivid in her memory. It was true, she had fallen in love with Sunset, she wanted to please her, she wanted to be enough for the girl.

“Yeah… I really do…” Twilight smiled.

Galeal leaned back on his bed flipping through a comic book as Eclipse sat at a nearby desk in the room examining a book half-heartedly. Eclipse couldn’t find enough energy in him to even comprehend what he was reading or remembering much more than a few sentences at a time. Truthfully he couldn’t even remember what was going on in the book he was reading at all.

Turning to look at Galeal lounging on his bed, he decided to speak up, and perhaps break the monotony. “Your parents don’t really check up on you, do they?”

Not even taking his eyes off of his comic book, Galeal nodded. “My dad and mom broke up some time ago… I live here with my mom, and she is sort of always busy… So I’m sort of by myself a lot… It’s what ever…”

Eclipse nodded in agreement. “I see… So… Going to take a stab in the dark and assume you’re not really interested in working on that project at all?”

Lowering his comic book, Galael shot Eclipse a baffled look. “You’re joking, right? That project sounds lame as hell… Of course, I’m not going to really work on it, why do you think I said for us to come here? So we could goof off and not work on that waste of time…”

Standing, Eclipse approached the bed and eventually was standing at its side as he spoke. “Ms. Ruler is going to be pissed…”

“Good, fuck that bitch…” Galeal yawned.

A gentle smirk came to Eclipse’s mouth as he hopped into the bed next to Galeal, laying on his back with he head on the pillow he looked at the comic that his friend was reading. The two had spent the past few weeks in a similar routine. They would come back to Galeal’s home after school and laze about, occasionally swap stories, and from time to time they’d chip away at schoolwork, albeit slowly and sparingly.

“Whatcha’ readin’?” Eclipse asked.

Galeal shrugged. “Some horse shit… It was good but then it got all stupid when the badass sword wielder started getting lame google eyes for some stupid chick…”

“I see…” Eclipse commented as his eyes wandered toward the art on the page.

“Yeah, I mean it totally sucks when they ruin a good story with some stupid romance bull shit, doesn’t it?” Galeal ranted.

Eclipse had never seen Galeal legitimately show enough annoyance to rant about something before. He sat and listened, not wanting to interrupt the griffon.

“I mean that stuff seems lame in general, don’t you think?” Galeal asked.

Eclipse paused for a moment, unsure of what to say regarding that comment. After some thought, he merely shrugged. “Dunno… Never been interested in the romance stuff, but I’m assuming there’s a reason why everyone wants to make out and stuff…”

Galeal nodded. “Yeah, I guess… I mean I don’t know much about it myself truthfully… Kissing and crap…”

There was a short pause before Eclipse spoke up. “I kind of wanted to try it at some point…”

Galeal sighed and rolled his eyes. “You would, you loser.”

Eclipse frowned at the insult and looked away embarrassed before hearing Galeal’s words ring in his ear. “Alright, let’s go.”

Blinking, Eclipse turned to face Galeal with confusion. “H-huh?”

Galeal rolled his eyes once more. “You said you wanted to try it, so let’s get it out of the way…”

“Y-you can’t be serious…” Eclipse gulped.

The griffon shrugged, showing no strong emotions one way or the other. “It’s better to get it out of the way to see how stupid it is, right?”

“I-I guess…” Eclipse blushed, trying to avoid eye contact.

There was a short pause followed by a sigh from Galeal. “Jeez, you’re such a coward… Come here…” He realized that Eclipse was far too shy to make the move himself, so taking charge, Galeal rolled over and before he knew it, he was leaning over top of Eclipse, his claws planted on both sides of the unicorn’s head holding himself up.

Looking down at Eclipse, Galeal noted just how effeminate he looked laying there with his long mane sprawled out on the pillow. He smirked and spoke, “you look like a girl, you know that?”

Eclipse rolled his eyes. “Do you feel less gay by imagining me as one?”

Not giving him the satisfaction of a response, Galeal leaned in slowly and opened his beak, connecting his mouth with Eclipse’s he closed his eyes and allowed the event to progress naturally. Before he knew it, he found his sharp tongue dancing with the other male’s, a gentle moan escaping Eclipse before breaking the kiss and opening his eyes.

The two stared at each other for a long silent moment before Eclipse broke the silence. “That was… nice… actually…”

Galeal looked away bashfully. “Yeah… I guess so…”

Eclipse grinned and tapped Galeal’s beak with his hoof. “Fag,” he teased.

“You’re a bigger one…” Galeal grinned in response, clearly trying to hide his embarrassment. It was the first time that Eclipse had ever seen anything ruffle his feathers so much, but it was a look that he felt suited Galeal.

Rolling off of him, Galeal returned to his side of the bed and avoided eye contact. “Anyway, I guess we better work on that project before Ms. Ruler wrings us both out, huh, homo?”

Eclipse grinned and crawled over to the griffon and laid his head on the pillow next to him. He noted that Galeal occasionally stole a glance or two at the unicorn. After a few seconds of silence, he extended his claw and pulled Eclipse closer, letting him rest his head in the crook of Galeal’s neck.

Eclipse merely grinned and whispered. “You’re so gay…”

“Takes a homo to know a homo…” Galeal defended, the blush on his face getting bigger.

Sunset found herself waking with a scream as she frantically looked around her bedroom. She could feel her entire body covered in sweat from the stressful night of sleep. Sitting up, she let out a few breaths as she started to come down, realizing she had just had another nightmare.

Another haunting dream about how Adagio killed Shimmer and shook her entire world. It dawned on Sunset how much she was suppressing how much she actually missed her younger sister. A part of her always felt dirty when she was reminded that Shimmer was gone and Sunset was merely living in her house, wearing her clothes and driving her car as if nothing had happened. When these dreams reared their ugly heads though, it only reminded her more.

Climbing out of bed, Sunset threw on a robe hanging off of the back of the bedroom door and made her way down the hall. With a short walk, she entered a room that at one point were merely a spare room used for storage. However now it had been fashioned into an old Japanese style shrine. There sitting in the center was a framed photo of Shimmer, though it was missing the urn that usually was present as Shimmer had not been cremated, still, the room brought Sunset some comfort.

She had recalled Shimmer mentioning she was half Japanese, so she felt it was fitting to give her such a shrine.

During her darkest time right after Shimmer’s death and right after stopping Adagio, Sunset spent a lot of time in this very room. She swore she could almost feel Shimmer’s presence in this room and that feeling got her through some difficult times. While those times were over, Sunset still had a difficult time overcoming some of her insecurities.

Sunset spoke up as if she were speaking directly to Shimmer. “H-hey… It’s been a little while… I haven’t forgotten you or anything though…” She rubbed her neck, not sure what she was expecting in response to that statement. Deciding to leave it be, she continued talking.

“It’s been a nice past few months… Twilight and I… Well Twilight has sort of distracted me from how much I miss you, I guess…” Sunset stated.

“Well… That’s not 100% true, I mean at least 80% of the time, I still think about you, but I guess I’m just not as hung up on it until I have another one of those nightmares… And then I ask myself… What am I doing?” Sunset closed her eyes and tried to hold back tears as she contemplated her thoughts out loud. “Being involved with me is what got you killed… I may not have pulled the trigger, but I put the gun in Adagio’s hand… If I had just stayed in Equestria…”

Sunset blinked and her eyes shot open as she recited those words. It had occurred to her that there was something she was overlooking, something she had been refusing to think about until now. She was Equestrian, meaning that she didn’t belong in this world. Knowing this, she suddenly felt even more selfish and guilty. Twilight had fallen for her, and she had fallen for Twilight, but how could she promise Twilight a normal life if she wasn’t even human? She was asking Twilight to love someone who will likely always require her to lie about how they met, to lie about what she was, to try and hide their potential children from being discovered as non-humans. Was it fair of her to expect that of Twilight? Was it fair of her to allow Twilight to accept it?

What was worse is that she wasn’t even sure if Adagio would be the only one of her enemies to show up again in her life. There was little stopping virtually anyone she had wronged from stepping through the portal and targeting Twilight to get to her. Was it right of Sunset to drag Twilight into such a life? There was no way they could avoid magical mishaps forever, Sunset knew even if she sealed her own magic away, it would find its way back to her one way or another, as the universe always seemed to have a way to employ the help of Sunset Shimmer and friends.

She closed her eyes and tried to clear her head. What did she want? What was the right thing to do? She didn’t know. She wanted to be with Twilight for sure, but was that too selfish of a thing to expect? Did she deserve Twilight? Did she deserve to be with anyone of this world?

Coming to a stand, Sunset made her way to the bedroom she had left and looked about for her phone. Once she had located the device, she picked it up and gave Twilight a call, figuring it was better than texting her a cancellation.

“Sunset? Hey.” Twilight’s voice rang from the other end once she picked up.

“Hey… Listen, Twilight… I have to cancel for today… I have some stuff I have to take care of, but I’ll call you back sometime tonight and we’ll set up something for the end of the week okay?” Sunset explained, hoping her lie was believable enough.

The sound of Twilight’s slightly disappointed voice was enough to almost make her consider telling Twilight she was only joking and that they were still on, but she held firm. “Oh… Okay… Well I hope you get it all done, I love you, Sunset.”

“I…” Sunset paused for a brief second, “I love you too…”

With those words she hung up the phone and found herself sitting on her bed letting out a sigh. She could already tell that things were only going to get more difficult from here.

“So you’re sure about helping me understand these powers, Starlight? I mean… It could be dangerous, you know?” Angel spoke sheepishly as she carried a stack of books that Starlight had retrieved from the public library.

Starlight nodded as she approached a table and set a stack of her own down, then offered to take the stack from Angel, which she happily obliged before her arms gave out. Angel was never really a very strong girl, as far as Starlight remembered.

The two girls sat down at the table and began flipping through some old texts. “Absolutely, you’re my best friend, and furthermore you are now also the coolest friend ever because you have like super powers!”

Angel rolled her eyes. “I would hardly consider them ‘super’ at this point. I could barely lift a tin can, remember?”

Starlight blew a gentle raspberry and waved her hand dismissively. “You just need training, that’s all.”

“And where does one go to receive training for abnormal powers? Is there a school for that?” Angel raised a brow with a smirk on her face.

“There might be! I mean it could be like Harry Potter where like… you know, muggles can’t ever know about it or know where to go to find Hogwarts?” Starlight proposed.

Angel found herself rolling her eyes once more. “So you’re suggesting that I’m like a witch and I need to find some magic entrance to a school somewhere in London by running into a brick wall at a train station?”

“I see you’re familiar with the series…” Starlight grinned, happy that her friend had read the same books.

“You own the whole set, so I’ve read them from time to time when I was bored and you weren’t home. Odd considering you weren’t much for books…” Angel commented.

Starlight shrugged as she flipped through the pages of an old history book in front of her, that was old enough itself to be history. “I only read stuff that catches my interest, but I’m more of an active learner. I learn better by doing things than reading about them, you know?”

“Is that how you learned to be a pain in the ass? By doing it first hand?” Angel snickered and teased.

“Yup, tons of practice too. I’m an expert at getting under people’s skin… Is it working?” She grinned at her friend.

Angel chuckled and shook her head. “Keep trying.”

“You are quite a challenge…” Starlight winked before returning her eyes to her book.

The two girls sat in silence shy of the random odd comment here and there as they looked over the books in front of them, trying to find anything of use.

“Hey, are you familiar with the Salem Witch Trials?” Starlight asked after a good eight hours of research.

Angel perked up and looked over at her curiously. “Vaguely, I guess? I mean I’ve heard of them, but I don’t know much about them…”

Starlight nodded and tapped the book she was reading. “Well, most of it was just a bunch of hokum. A bunch of people accusing others of being witches, so they burned them at the stake… Only later to find out that pretty much all of them were innocent…”

“Not that this isn’t a great story… But what is the point of you telling me about this really gruesome story?” Angel asked, cringing a bit at the thought of someone being burned alive.

Starlight rolled her eyes. “Just listen… Most of it was bullshit, but a few instances happened where some people insisted they were witches and those people were involved in strange phenomenon that still haven’t been explained to this day. Making things levitate, setting things on fire spontaneously… That sort of thing and they all insisted it was magic that allowed them to do so…”

“So… You’re suggesting that these things were real and that these people actually used magic to do this?” Angel asked.

Starlight nodded. “It’s just a theory… But what if… People have been able to do this for a long time? What if this… Magic has been something that people have had for a long time and have been forced to hide it due to stuff like the witch trials?”

“I guess that could explain why I am the only person I’ve met that can do it…” Angel suggested.

“What if… There are people that keep this sort of thing secret? But for some reason when your parents died, they didn’t know you had magic, or they never got the chance to tell you? What if that prevented those who control these things from finding you and thus why you’re able to tell me about it?” Starlight theorized.

“Sounds like the illuminati… Are you suggesting that my parents were part of some kind of cult?” Angel giggled at how ridiculous the idea sounded.

“Yeah… I guess… Still… I think we’re not entirely wrong with this whole ‘magic’ line of thinking…” Starlight said.

Angel shrugged. “I guess that makes about as much sense as anything else…”

“I wonder if we can find anything regarding magic happening in more modern times… I bet if we could find someone who also has access to it, we could learn a lot more…” Starlight said.

Angel squinted as she thought about that, realizing the dangers of such a thing. “Yeah, but if it’s meant to be a big secret… Won’t they be really resistant to telling us? I mean if your whole little illuminati theory is true, won’t they try to like kill or something if we stumbled onto their little secret?”

Starlight shrugged, an unsure look plastered on her face. “We won’t know until we try, right?”

“So what you’re saying is we should look into if anything out of the ordinary has happened in other places that could be explained as magic?” Angel asked, a brow raised.

Starlight pointed her finger in her friend’s direction with a nod. “Exactly, though we should be discrete at first, I mean if this is like… Some kind of big secret then we shouldn’t let people know what we know, get it?”

“You realize that paranormal stuff happens all the time… We’d be chasing stories from virtually every little redneck town across America, don’t you think?” Angel shook her head.

“We’ll only go after the ones that sound legit… We’ll research in our free time and only follow a lead if we are certain it’ll take us somewhere…” Starlight proposed.

Angel leaned back in her chair and wondered why her life was becoming so strange. A part of her wished she had never discovered these powers of hers, but she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t curious, or felt compelled to explore them. There were so many questions in her head that were unanswered.

The young girl let out a small laugh as she looked over at an eager Starlight flipping through books. “We’re starting to sound like that TV show… What’s it called… Supernatural.”

Starlight smirked. “I get to be Dean then.”

“So… Where do we begin with this crap? I mean there’s probably tons of strange phenomenon all over the country… How do we pinpoint what we’re looking for?” Angel asked.

Starlight grinned and pulled out her phone. “Let’s start with looking for things more recent, shall we? After all, recent means that the people involved are still alive for us to talk to if need be, right?”

“Sounds like a solid start at least…” Angel sighed before leaning back over the table and adjusting her button up shirt. “Let’s see what we can dig up then…”

The illuminati did not help in the making of this story, honest.