Twilight had noticed that her dates with Sunset over the next two weeks had become very different than when they started their relationship. Before she was ecstatic and lively, now she had become distant and aloof. There was something off about her that Twilight couldn’t pinpoint, but clearly, there was something plaguing her. She had even declined to get physical with Twilight a good eight times at this point. While Twilight felt rejected, Sunset insisted it was merely she was not in the right mindset to perform.

After enough time had passed, Twilight was starting to get concerned. Their relationship was so fresh that she feared speaking up would damage it. She feared pestering Sunset on the subject might cause a rift that such a fledgling relationship couldn’t survive. Instead, she held her tongue and hoped that it would pass, she prayed that what ever Sunset was facing would be temporary and they could go on before the Summer break ended and discuss where their future was heading.

With the Summer break ending in only two weeks, Twilight could feel the matter becoming more and more urgent, and tonight was no exception, the tension was clearly in the air between the two girls as they sat at a restaurant that was needlessly crowded.

“It’s a bit packed in here don’t you think?” Twilight spoke loudly over the noise.

“Hm?” Sunset asked as she peeked over in Twilight’s direction for a moment, her chin resting in the palm of her hand as she stared out the window.

“Don’t you think we should have booked somewhere else!? Maybe somewhere less crowded!?” Twilight was practically shouting over the ridiculous level of noise. She could barely hear herself think, as loud as her thoughts were currently being.

“It’s okay… I can tune the noise out…” Sunset spoke up just enough for Twilight to hear her over the chatter of other conversations being carried on around them.

Twilight was definitely suspicious. All of their previous dates, Sunset preferred a quiet setting so that the two could share stories and bond, but now she seemed to prefer a place where a conversation was literally impossible. Twilight suspected that Sunset had become privy to the fact that Twilight knew something was amiss. It made logical sense that she would bring Twilight somewhere that was full of people to prevent her from wanting to make a scene. Sadly as much as Twilight hated being right, she knew that she didn’t have it in her to try and broach such a delicate subject in a place where she would need to scream at the top of her lungs just for Sunset to even hear her.

On the way over, Twilight had recalled Sunset being exceptionally quiet, and a hint of wine on her breath when she offered the girl a kiss, which Sunset lazily accepted. Her kiss lacked the same oomph that Twilight had grown to crave, instead, it felt like one of a girl going through the motions.

Twilight feared losing Sunset more than anything, and she couldn’t take her mind off of Sunset’s behavior. Her thoughts returned to the revolver that she found on Sunset’s bookshelf, the same revolver housing only a single bullet. She couldn’t accept the matter as coincidence. She knew that something was up with her, but she didn’t know what to do.

Galeal yawned as he leaned back onto the grass, stretching his wings as he did so, Eclipse by his side, taking the opportunity to snuggle up closer in the griffon’s embrace. Noting Eclipse’s new closer proximity, Galeal closed a single wing around the unicorn and grinned.

“You know, I’m not a fucking blanket,” Galeal half-complained.

“Stop being so warm then.” Eclipse smirked.

“Stop being so gay and wanting to cuddle all the damn time. That sounds better, don’t you think?” Galeal rolled his eyes.

Eclipse smirked and sat up, meeting Galeal’s eyes with his own. “Even if I shat out a rainbow right now, I wouldn’t be gayer than you…”

Grinning, Galeal sat up with Eclipse and met him with a stare down as he spoke. “You’re so gay that when you were born, they handed your mother an interior design brochure.”

Enjoying the banter, Eclipse nodded before retorting. “Well if I’m that gay, then how gay are you for being gay with me?”

“You’re such a faggot, you know that?” Galeal hissed.

“Kiss me then, queer.” Eclipse smirked.

With another roll of his eyes, Galeal leaned in and closed the distance between the two, wrapped a claw around Eclipse’s head, holding him there as their tongues explored the other’s mouth. Eclipse couldn’t believe that they had been like this for the past few weeks since the first time they had kissed.

The nature of their relationship was odd, it usually involved tormenting the other one, and never really acknowledging what they were, or defining the terms of their strange romance. It was odd to think that only a few weeks ago, this griffon was nothing more than a new student who thought everyone and everything was stupid, and now he shared a spot next to Eclipse, willingly making out with him; though still thinking everyone and everything was stupid.

Much of the two’s free time was spent reading comic books, reading books together and long make out sessions when they got bored of those. Sometimes they found themselves kissing for hours, then snuggling up afterward. Not really saying much, or even acknowledging what they were doing. Most of their time together was in silence, but somehow it appeased both of them.

Even when he was intimate, Galeal never seemed to shave off his “tough guy” persona. Eclipse surmised that it was a permanent fixture to the griffon and that it likely would never fade away.

Neither of them wanted the kiss to end, but when they both broke it to take a breath, Eclipse smiled. “Would it be gay of me to say you’re a good kisser?”

“Extremely gay.” Galeal looked away, a blush on his face. “But thanks…”

Eclipse sighed and rested his head on Galeal’s soft chest, smiling as he looked to the sky. “So… You think your parents will get mad that we’re still out here? I mean it’s gotta be past midnight or something by now…”

Galeal shrugged. “We’ve been out here for a good eight hours… If they were mad, they’d have come looking for us, now. My dad is kind of a firm believer in letting me sort of do my own thing, you know? Very claws off…”

A chuckle escaped Eclipse. “Yeah… I can relate. So basically you get to do what you want?”

Galeal nodded. “Yeah, I guess that includes hanging out with queers like you.”

“You wouldn’t have it any other way though, and I already know it…” Eclipse giggled.

“You’re probably right…” Galeal sighed.

Eclipse closed his eyes and allowed himself to enjoy the soft feeling of laying on his friend’s chest. Galeal’s feathers offered a certain warmth and feeling that could not be imitated by anything else.

The two merely sat in silence, just enjoying each other’s silent company. All was right with the world, if not only for a short while for the two young males.

Shining Armor had come by to visit his younger sister for the night, and had opted to assist her in some of her household chores throughout the day. With her mind on Sunset during most of her free time, Shining’s company proved an effective distraction as he assisted her.

The two stood in front of the washer and dryer, folding various clothing articles. Twilight had expertly remembered to wash all of her underwear and bras prior so that she didn’t need to have another awkward conversation with her brother about her newly active sex life with Sunset.

Shining lifted a pair of jeans and blinked as he looked them over. “Man… girls jeans are getting tighter and tighter it seems…”

Twilight blushed at his comment. “They’re meant to show off err… Well… You know…”

Shining nodded as he flipped them over. “Yeah, but do they really need to charge so much for jeans that are already beat up and tattered? I mean when I was a kid we used to just do this ourselves! Either through going outside and wrecking our jeans, or we’d put them in the dryer with pumice rocks… Now you guys are paying top dollar for them…”

“You’re only like eight years older than me…” Twilight rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, and a lot apparently changed in eight years. Seriously, how much does a pair of jeans like this cost?” Shining spoke as he folded them up and placed them into a basket with several other pairs of various leg wear.

Twilight shrugged. “I think those were like… eighty or something?”

“Eighty dollars!? You have to be kidding!” Shining blinked with astonishment. Though now he was starting to understand why the shopping bill was always so high when Cadence went clothes shopping.

“The amazing part is that they have no actual pockets… All fake pockets… I feel like that is some kind of gimmick with women’s clothing to sell purses or something… They actually advertised having fake pockets as a selling point…” Twilight shrugged.

“I never thought I’d see the day where you would wear things that were less practical, and more stylish…” Shining chuckled as he reached into the dryer to pull out more clothing to fold, passing a share of them to Twilight.

Twilight accepted part of the laundry before she spoke again. “Well… I didn’t want to look so out of style next to Sunset. She always dresses so… so… hot. And I am over there looking so plain that I sort of needed to even the playing field a little… That’s all…”

Shining grinned and nodded. “Well, they always say love brings out the best in people, and it’s good that you are not dressing like an old lady anymore…”

“Gee… Thanks…” Twilight rolled her eyes.

“I’m teasing, still… I’m glad that you’ve gotten more comfortable with yourself, sounds like Sunset is having a good effect on you… I figured you’d be in good hands… Ever since I met that girl, I was confident that she would take good care of you.” Shining reached forward and ruffled his younger sister’s hair, much to her dismay as she swatted him away and began to fix the mess he had created on her head.

“And what would you have done if she didn’t?” Twilight raised a brow after being content with her hair once more.

“Eh, probably given her the biggest cold shoulder you’ve ever seen…” He shrugged. “I don’t know, I didn’t think that far ahead… I usually trust your judgment of people, Twilight.”

Twilight blinked, a bit surprised by that admittance. “R-really?”

Shining set the clothing in his hands down and gave Twilight a serious look. “Of course. You may be a little naive sometimes, Twilight, but you always seem to be able to spot good people. I don’t know why, considering you’ve never really had the best social skills, but you’ve always been able to know when people are good at heart… It’s something I’ve always admired about you, baby sis. Sometimes I wish I had such an ability, it would help me a ton in my line of work.”

Twilight rolled her eyes at her brother. “Figures, you find a way to make everything about work…”

Shining chuckled and shrugged. “My job is pretty important, Twilight. I bring a lot of people closure on their lost loved ones, and stop other people from getting hurt.”

She couldn’t deny that, Shining definitely was a person of importance when it came to the police force. She still felt a little guilty that because of her and Sunset, he was forced to file a false report to protect Sunset. He insisted that some things are best handled outside of the law, and while she admired his sense of right and wrong, she still felt bad that he had risked his job for them.

Shining always told her that sometimes people merely aren’t ready to handle some things, and that meant having to do things under the table. Shining was always a firm believer in doing the right thing, even if it meant putting himself in a worse position.

Twilight smiled as she thought that over. “I’m sure Flurry will look up to you one day…”

He grinned and nodded. “Yeah… Cadence already says that I’m her hero, so I guess it’s only natural that Flurry will too. I love that little girl so much, being a dad is still my greatest achievement…”

Twilight giggled and nodded. “Me too, so you mentioned before that you were curious about the portal to Equestria after the whole Adagio ordeal?” Twilight said, changing the subject.

Shining paused and looked over at his sister with a serious expression. “To be frank, Twilight… I’m sort of worried about that thing…”

“Why’s that?” Twilight asked as she folded a shirt and placed it into a laundry bin.

Shining stared at the dryer, chewing his thoughts before speaking up. “I think… At some point… We will need to close the portal…”

Twilight shrugged. “Probably, so what?”

He looked over at Twilight, his eyes serious and complex. “Twilight… Part of you has to know that Sunset may be an obstacle if we ever tried to close it.”

“Huh? Why would she?” Twilight tilted her head in confusion.

“Twilight… Even if she doesn’t have a lot left for her back there, that place is her home. I don’t think she’d be so keen on closing off her only way to get back home… She’d be trapped here, I think a part of her always feels safer knowing she has that escape route back to Equestria.” Shining explained.

Twilight looked down and narrowed her eyes. She had never considered such a thing. She knew that Sunset didn’t have much waiting for her back in Equestria, but would she really stand in the way of closing the portal to Equestria? Going back home to Equestria wasn’t something that Sunset talked about, but would she ever want to just bail on her human life and go back to where she was born? Could Twilight even blame her?

“Sunset is…” Twilight paused as she thought out loud, “She’s… not human…”

Blinking, Shining looked over at his little sister as he stopped folding clothes. “Well… Yeah… I thought you understood that when you started dating her… She’s some kind of alien from another world…”

Twilight nodded. “I did… I just… I guess I never really thought that deeply about it.”

Stepping forward, Shining placed his hands on Twilight’s shoulder, causing her to look up at her older brother. “As long as you love her, it won’t matter… Right?”

“Yeah… I guess… I just… I guess I am just remembering that the Sunset I know isn’t even her true form… What will I do if she ever wants to go back to Equestria? What if we’re forced to close the portal?” Twilight whimpered just at the thought.

Shining gave her a small shake. “Twilight, control yourself… Listen… Whatever happens, you’ll cross that bridge when you get to it, but know that you love her and she loves you. You’ll be able to overcome all of that if that’s true. Sure, your relationship is far from typical, but it’ll be worth it in the long run and overcoming obstacles is normal for romance, albeit usually different obstacles.”

“T-thanks, Shiny… I appreciate that… I need all the confidence I can get sometimes…” Twilight smiled sheepishly.

“Don’t mention it.” He nudged her shoulder before returning to folding laundry. Lifting a pair of jeans he squinted. “Hey… these seem a bit… big for you…” Shining pointed out.

Twilight took a look at the pair of black tattered jeans and sighed, realizing the implications that being in possession of this article of clothing was going to have on Shining. “Oh… Those… They’re… Sunset’s…”

He blinked and looked them over before whistling. “Yeah, she definitely has a nice ass then…” He grinned before blinking again. “Wait… That means…”

“Please… Can we not talk about it?” Twilight blushed and looked away.

Shining chuckled and snickered. “Oo-la-la, Twilight…”

“And… We’re talking about it…” Twilight rolled her eyes.

“Alright, alright, I won’t tease you that much about it…” He said before folding the pants. “It might behoove you to not leave her clothing laying around though… Unless you would prefer the same commentary to mom and dad.”

“In the heat of the moment, you lose track of that kind of stuff…” Twilight blushed.

“I can relate… One time I ended up having to explain how a pair of Cadence’s panties ended up on the front lawn the neighbors.” Shining chuckled.

Twilight blinked as her eyes opened wider. “What kind of kinky stuff are you two doing…?”

Shining winked at his younger sister. “You may never know.”

“I’m not sure I want to…” Twilight rolled her eyes.

Sunset yawned as she sat in the bath house with her younger sister. Placing a cloth over her face, she allowed herself to relax while she let the hot water soothe her muscles. Her sister doing much of the same as she cooed delightfully upon stepping into the tub and letting the water pull her body in. “Oooooo, that feels nice…”

“Yeah… definitely after a long day, I can’t deny this is super nice…” Sunset admitted.

“So, you’re finally ready to accept defeat on the baths versus showers debate?” Shimmer grinned excitedly.

Rolling her eyes, Sunset shook her head. “The battle continues… I still believe that a nice hot shower is perfect for waking one up and greeting the day. A bath relaxes you too much to where you are almost lulled into another slumber.”

“When did you become so poetic?” Shimmer chuckled, giving her sister a playful space of the water. The hot liquid rolled off the girl’s pale skin.

Sunset returned the splash with a smirk of her own. “Hey, showers are important. Being all wet makes me think better…”

“Well, that’s going to make someone very happy one day…” Shimmer gave a suggestive wiggle of her eyebrow at Sunset’s words.

Once the teen realized the perverted interpretation of what she had just uttered, her face turned a shade of crimson.

“Like I’d ever get anyone hot and bothered…” Sunset sighed.

“Why not?” Shimmer blinked.

Sunset shrugged. “Well, what about you? Are you… Experienced?”

“A lady doesn’t kiss and tell…” Shimmer winked at her elder sister, her voice sounding insanely false as she spoke those words.

Sunset crossed her arms and raised her brow suspiciously, causing Shimmer to snicker. “Alright, sorry, I couldn’t resist acting like Rarity for a minute. To answer your question though, yes. I’ve had a few boyfriends and girlfriends… As I mentioned before, and yes we’ve had sex, a few times actually. I wouldn’t call myself an expert, but I definitely know my way around the human anatomy so to speak…”

“Lucky… I feel like I’d just choke if I ever got to the moment…” Sunset admitted.

Shimmer placed and arm around her sister’s shoulder and pulled her closer. “We all do, the important thing is to just be yourself. You can’t go wrong with that.”

“No offense, but myself is lame…” Sunset deadpanned at the incredibly cliched advice her younger sister was giving her. In a way, she felt a tad ashamed to seek sexual advice from her younger sibling, even if that sibling was just her from another universe.

“Lame is all in the eye of the beholder. You’re a cool girl, Sunset.” Shimmer reminded.

“You’re obligated to say that because you’re both my sister and an alternate reality version of myself… Saying that I’m uncool would be like admitting you were uncool…” Sunset squinted at the younger girl.

Shimmer giggled and sunk down into the water, allowing herself to relax for a moment before answering. “That may be so, but your friends talk about you with such intrigue that it’s pretty clear to me that you’re cooler than you give yourself credit for.”

Blushing, Sunset looked away bashfully. “Well… They are some of the best friends a girl could ask for… I’m glad they think so highly of me…”

“They’re not the only ones…” Shimmer reminded.

Turning back to face her younger sibling, Sunset saw a genuine smile on the girl’s face. Shimmer somehow managed to look even cuter with her glasses off. While the two shared extremely similar bodies, there were all the little subtle differences that only Sunset and she noticed about each other. Shimmer had a far softer smile than Sunset did, it was subtle but endearing. The kind that made you want to reach out and pull her into a hug.

“Thanks, Shimmer…” Sunset smiled back.

“Also, I’m sure you’ll find someone who will put up with you. After all… You’re a very attractive woman, I mean how can you not be? You have a very similar figure as me.” Shimmer sat up a bit, puffing her chest out with pride. It was seldom to see even a shred of arrogance come from Shimmer, but it was always an amusing sight to see.

“Easy there, if your ego shows anymore, we may have to pop it with a balloon…” Sunset smirked.

Shimmer reached over and gently punched her sister’s shoulder. “I’m serious though, you’re going to find someone, I promise. You’re a good looking girl and anyone would be lucky to have you.”

“I hope you’re right… Tell me about some of your boyfriends and girlfriends though?” Sunset leaned back, attempting to change the subject.

Shimmer, however, looked into the water as she appeared in deep thought. Her mind became flooded with old memories, most of which recent. “Let’s just say… I’m really bad at romance. I have a tendency to fuck things up or get involved with fucked up people. We’ll leave it at that for now…”

“Oh come on…” Sunset frowned.

Shimmer shook her head. “Another set of stories for another day, promise.”

“I’ll hold you to that…” Sunset grinned.

“Do me a favor though?” Shimmer asked, her voice becoming tense.

“Sure?” Sunset blinked, wondering why she was getting so serious all of a sudden.

“If you do find someone that makes you happy… Do everything you can to take good care of them okay? They deserve to see the best of Sunset Shimmer as often as possible…” Shimmer smiled.

Blinking, Sunset took a moment to respond. She was always taken back by how wise Shimmer could be on some subjects. These moments of role reversal always had her questioning who was really teaching who about friendship, but it made her happy just to think that Shimmer had come so far along.

“I promise.”

Over the next few weeks, Starlight and Angel had become perhaps the most sleepless pair in all of Sacramento. By day they would work at their waitressing jobs, by the evening they would hit the library and by night they would review their notes and practice a bit with Angel’s magic.

It was astounding what two weeks of practice could do for magic. Before she struggled to lift a tin can, now she could lift an object as large as a basketball and whirl it about like child’s play.

Sitting on Starlight’s bed, Angel practiced flipping the pages of a book on the desk a good few feet away from her. Without much effort, she could turn to a specific page and then turn back without much thought. Waving her glowing hand about, she smiled as she watched her own work. “This really is amazing…” Angel spoke.

Starlight nodded as she opened an energy drink. “Yeah, I kind of wish I had magic too…”

“Maybe you do… Maybe magic can be learned?” Angel proposed.

Starlight shook her head. “Nah, none of our findings suggest that. I think these kinds of powers have to be inherited somehow.”

“By the way, how did that lead with Leaf, go? Did she know anything?” Angel asked curiously.

Starlight had gone to investigate a story of a kid who claimed her brother was capable of supernatural powers in the next town over after work. She had spent her entire night commuting there and back, by the time she arrived at home, she had to wake Angel up.

“Nah, was a bust, turns out there was a logical explanation for it all. She just happened to see her brother get angry at the same time that that lightning struck the schoolyard bully dead. No magical murder there, just a story of a very oddly convenient coincidence…” Starlight shrugged before taking a long sip of the Pepsi clenched in her hand. She had forgotten how thirsty she was.

“So we’re back to square one, once again…” Angel sighed as she ceased playing with her magic.

“Yeah, but at least we can cross off another lead, you know?” Starlight shrugged. “It wasn’t all a total waste though! A cute guy on the bus was checking me out…” A small grin appeared on Starlight’s face.

“You have a one track mind sometimes…” Angel sighed and rolled her eyes.

“Oh come on, I’m only human. You should actually try getting laid sometime, Angel. Come on, I’ll hook you up. What kind of guys are you into? Surfers? Skaters? Pretty boys?” Starlight quizzed.

Angel leaned back and allowed her head to rest on the bed while staring up at the ceiling. “I don’t know…”

“Maybe it’s girls that do it for you then?” Starlight grinned playfully.

Angel sat up with a raised brow. “And what are you implying?”

“Well, you did turn down Chase, and he’s pretty cute…” Starlight continued smirking as she spoke, believing she was onto something.

“That was totally different and you know it…” Angel rolled her eyes.

Starlight downed the remainder of her soda and crushed the can in her hands. She tossed the remains into a waste basket near her desk. “All I’m saying is that I’ve never seen you with a guy or bring home a guy… Maybe you swing the other way?”

“I don’t think I swing any kind of way…” Angel replied dryly. It was true though, for as long as she could remember, romance wasn’t exactly something on the front of her mind. She was able to appreciate when people found her attractive, but nothing more than that most of the time.

“Well maybe that’s why you’re so serious all the time, you need to pick a side and go for it!” Starlight suggested.

“I’ll pass…” Angel sighed as she shook her head, not particularly interested in the idea.

“Oh come on, what’s holding you back? You’re a cute girl! It’s going to go to waste if you aren’t sharing your bed with someone.” Starlight protested, crossing her arms as she approached Angel.

“These powers of mine… They’re probably dangerous, Starlight… I can’t really involve anyone else in my life until I understand them more. I sort of worry that I could hurt someone or they could hurt me… What if I lost control of them? What if the reason I have them is something more sinister? What if using them causes me problems?” Angel admitted with a frown.

Starlight paused, not sure of why she didn’t think of that herself. “I see…”

The room became filled with awkward silence before Starlight smiled and sat down next to her friend, placing an arm around her. Angel leaned into the embrace as Starlight spoke in a quiet tone. “Hey… We’ll find the answers, okay? It may take us a while, but we’ll figure this out. Somewhere out there, there has to be an explanation for why you can use these powers… I’ll stay with you until we both find out.”

Angel smiled and nodded, feeling a bit more confident with her best friend at her side. “Thanks, Starlight… I know you will.”

Shining sat in his office in thought. His conversation with Twilight about Adagio and the portal to Equestria weighing heavy on his mind. He found the entire thing strange. He had met Adagio in the past, and putting it on the known timeline in his head, it would have had to have been sometime after the Battle of the Bands that Twilight mentioned, where Sunset and her friends stripped the siren of her powers. If that were the case, that meant when Shining met her, she was a mere mortal, no magic to speak of.

He recalled Sunset’s explanation that she somehow was able to siphon Shimmer’s powers into her restored amulet and that she likely reforged it by finding all the pieces and using Shimmer’s magic to do so.

Something still bothered him though, between when he met her and when she finally snapped, he didn’t get that kind of aura from her. Sure he had been wrong in the past, but usually, he was spot on when it came to reading people like Adagio. He didn’t sense an ounce of murderous intent in her when he met her in the past if anything she seemed scared. He could definitely detect animosity in her, but not enough to drive her to murder. Something simply didn’t add up, he was missing something between those two points, and it was bothering him.

The detective leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on the table as he thought it over. The more he thought about it, the stranger it got, for example, Adagio pretending she had no idea who he was. What was she trying to hide? Had he seen something that she hoped pretending to not know him would keep hidden?

More importantly, he wondered if he had made the right call.

Putting his feet down, he stood up to head over to his filing cabinet. Thumbing through a few files until he found the one regarding Shimmer’s murder he opened it and placed it on his desk.

His eyes studied the crime scene photos once more. He recalled all the emotions he had experienced the first time he saw these photos and they were all coming back quickly.

Such a beautiful young woman filled with bullet holes. He remembered how angry it made him, how for a brief moment he questioned what if this girl had been his child? Admittedly he was very emotional on his first murder case, but he had to temper himself.

Studying the pictures in front of him, he recalled what Twilight had mentioned at the trial held in Equestria about how Adagio unloaded a whole clip on this girl and then reloaded to empty another on her. Adagio didn’t hesitate when she thought it was Sunset. She wanted Sunset dead, that much was for sure. Was trying to regain her magic that important? If that were the case, why did she not pursue such a thing prior to killing Shimmer? As far as he could recall, the girl was nothing more than a drug pusher living day to day when he met her. There wasn’t anything sinister about her in his mind that he could pinpoint.

Was it possible that there was something he was missing? Something that simply wasn’t connecting?

“What’s the missing puzzle piece…” He asked himself aloud.

For some reason, he couldn’t shake the feeling that until he knew the entire picture of what happened to Adagio Dazzle, he wouldn’t be able to rest easy. Something was definitely not right, and he was determined to figure out what.

Twilight had spent the entire day trying to get a hold of Sunset to no avail. After enough annoyance in trying to get her girlfriend to answer the phone, she decided to consult Moondancer about the matter. Moondancer had informed her that Sunset was likely at her home today, but wouldn’t divulge any more information. It was odd to see how close Sunset and she had gotten, but it was also relaxing to know that both of them had another close friend that they could go to if things got out of control, which seemed to happen often in their circle of friends.

For a brief moment, Twilight wished she had Sunset’s powers of being able to read people’s emotions, as limited as they were to figure out what was going on in that alternative girl’s head.

Sitting in her car with Spike in the passenger’s seat, she focused on the road as her canine friend spoke to her. “You know, Twilight… Maybe Sunset just needs space?”

“I wish I could believe that, but the last time she needed space, she more or less locked herself away for months… She isn’t exactly someone that uses solitude for self-improvement sadly, so she needs to be forced to step outside now and then when she’s feeling down…” Twilight reminded, her eyes still locked on the road as she navigated.

Spike sat there for a moment, considering her words. She was right, Sunset didn’t exactly have the best history when it came to solitude. “Good point, I suppose you’ve thought about this more than I have…”

“I wish I had a way to talk to the Princess…” Twilight admitted with a frown.

Spike’s brow rose at that remark. “Really? Why?”

Twilight sighed and shook her head in defeat. “She knows this kind of stuff better than I do… Friendship anyway… She also understands a part of Sunset that I likely never will…”

“What part is that?” Spike asked.

“The unicorn part…” Twilight spoke quietly, her words not even wanting to leave her mouth, but she forced herself to continue, “whether I like it or not… Sunset isn’t human. She’s a unicorn from another world, a place that I’m only vaguely familiar with… I’ve only seen her true form once at this point, and I don’t even understand the basics of unicorn culture or Equestria for that matter…”

Spike remained silent, letting Twilight continue her little rant. “I can’t relate to a lot of what she’s been through either… The reality is… Sunset has been left behind by so many people, be it by death or simply not caring… I may not have had friends for a long time, but I always had my family and you by my side…”

“That’s true… I imagine Sunset had a pretty lonely life…” Spike suggested.

She already knew he was right. Sunset was too keen on people viewing her as mentally strong to admit it, but she definitely lived a lonely life. Her attachment to Shimmer was evidence of that loneliness. She longed to have people care about her, and based on what she had said about her parents, she lived a life of neglect.

Thinking about that made tears well up in Twilight’s eyes. She could only imagine a young pony Sunset, struggling to gain any kind of approval or affection from even her own parents. Twilight couldn’t wrap her head around how that must have felt, but she imagined it was enough to make one feel unwanted, to feel like no one even cared if they were alive.

When the others had told her what a bully Sunset once was, Twilight didn’t think less of her, especially now that she knew what she did. She knew that the tough girl persona she had put on was to hide the pain, the pain she had been carrying almost her entire life. That same pain had been blocked out even when she made friends, the reality was that Sunset never truly let out her demons. She never confided fully in anyone what was ailing her. She spent most of her life unable to trust anyone.

The more she thought about it, the more she pressed her foot down on the gas pedal, trying to rush to get to Sunset’s estate to be there for her. She wanted to hold her and tell her to let it all out, to tell her girlfriend she could tell Twilight anything and she’d listen.

For a long time, she was jealous of Shimmer, and in a way she still was; Shimmer got to get close to Sunset, to get her to open up, and because of that, Sunset almost worshiped the ground that Shimmer walked on. She spent almost every waking moment with her younger sister, and it made Twilight upset. Upset that she was so petty as to be unhappy because Sunset was spending time with someone else, and also unhappy because when Shimmer died, it left Sunset in a worse position than when she started. A part of her wondered if she should have been more stern in telling Sunset to stay away from Shimmer in the first place. Sometimes she would ask herself “what if” when it came to Shimmer. What if she had convinced Sunset to stay away? Then she would be able to have gotten Sunset to open up about her problems a lot sooner.

The reality was that Shimmer caused a lot more damage to Sunset, even if she also offered some good to her. Sunset spent so much time blaming herself for what happened with Shimmer, and Twilight felt she was to blame for that. She wished she was more insistent in trying to get the two to never meet. Instead, she almost gave Sunset her blessing by being too “whatever you want to do” about it when in her heart she knew it was a bad idea from the start.

The more she thought about Shimmer though, the more she felt guilty for thinking so negatively of the deceased. Shimmer didn’t do anything to hurt Sunset, and it wasn’t Shimmer’s fault that Sunset got hurt. If anything, Twilight knew she should be thanking Shimmer for saving Sunset’s life, even at the cost of her own. Still, she hated having so many mixed emotions about the girl.

Spike noted how deep in thought Twilight appeared and decided to keep himself quiet, as he curled up on the seat and laid down, closing his eyes while Twilight approached Sunset’s estate.

The lavish gates were closed, but Twilight now was aware of the passcode to get them to open.

Stepping out of her car, she approached the gates and positioned herself in front of a keypad next to them. Tapping away, she mashed in eight digits: 88888888.

She chuckled momentarily at how simple the code was, and how no one had ever guessed it. Sunset stated that she preferred to keep it so simple that no one would guess it because they would have felt it was far too easy. Though to be fair to Sunset, Twilight surmised that if she had made it more challenging she may not be able to remember it herself.

Once the gate was opened, Twilight found her way back into her car and continued the drive down Sunset’s long driveway. As she drove, she wondered why rich people always felt the need to put their homes so far away from the entrance. In theory, she could have put the house up front and the swimming pool, tennis court, and other various outdoor things behind said house. Though admittedly, even she felt that would look just a slight bit tacky.

Arriving at the front door, Twilight put the car in park and looked over at Spike with a smile. “Stay.”

“Real clever… Dog humor…” Spike rolled his eyes.

Twilight snickered and nodded. “Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I’m just going to be a few minutes. I’m going to go talk to her and see if she is willing to come out of the house. I just kind of need to figure out what’s going on with her…”

“Good luck.” Spike raised a paw in support as he watched his master exit the car and reach into her pockets to retrieve a key to the front door.

Once she had passed the barrier that was the front door, she looked around the foyer to see a familiar canine friend sitting there patiently wagging his tail. Twilight figured that Moon must have heard her coming and decided to wait for her. She leaned down and offered her hand to the dog, who in turn gave it a few friendly licks and then an excited bark.

Giggling, she pet the dog on the head before giving him instruction. “Hey boy, take me to Sunset, okay?”

Moon barked again before standing up and leading the way. Twilight noted her was taking them down a wing she normally didn’t go down. Sunset kept that side of the house relatively unexplored to her friends, but figuring there was no harm in looking, she followed the dog until they reached a staircase that would bring them down into the basement.

The basement of the house was something to behold. The Shimmer family clearly planned for everything, there was a staff living quarters which appeared to have been unused for years. Twilight remembered that she instead opted to switch her staff to part time to come in once a week to do cleaning and yard work rather than keeping them on site at all times. It was a far cheaper solution but definitely left the house extremely empty.

Further down the hall, Twilight poked her head into an open door, noting there was an armory in the house. She recalled briefly that Shimmer’s father enjoyed hunting, but the weapon collection he had acquired had certainly surpassed “hobbyist” by a long shot. Guns upon guns lining the walls, many of which Twilight questioned the legality of.

Only a few steps further down the hall and Moon stopped at a closed door. Twilight stepped forward and pointed toward the door. “In there?”

Moon only stared at her wagging his tail. Nodding, Twilight stepped forward and peeked through the window of what appeared to be a soundproof door.

There standing at a range was Sunset shimmer, letting off round after round in some kind of handgun. Twilight wasn’t too familiar with weapons, shy of the research she was forced to do for Shimmer’s trial, but it definitely looked powerful.

She watched as Sunset continued to fire, a certain look in her eye that was somewhat worrying to Twilight. Sighing she shook her head and turned around. Knowing that she would have to address this at some point, but that now simply wasn’t the right time. Her plan was to get Sunset’s mind off of this kind of thing, and she knew walking in that door right then and there would only result in a fight. She needed to be tactful.

Hey, another chapter arriving late in the day, I can explain why.

I am sort of a bit behind on writing because I've been sick the past few days, as well as Applety getting over being sick herself. Work has us there for 42-44 hours a week these days, so I basically have to get up early to squeeze time in for writing. On top of working on Silence of a Siren, I am doing a new project entirely, but that one I am going to do at my leisure rather than set myself to a schedule.

I sort of write this story for people's enjoyment. It's been a long journey for me already, and I'm thankful that so many people have read it. This is easily the longest thing I've ever written and I am hoping to one day see the completed version.

Every Act I have been trying to raise the stakes a little bit, and I know when I finally reach Act VII it's going to get wild. I hope people will really enjoy what's being built up to and how it plays out. I have most of the story planned out in a notebook for Acts 1-6, Act 7 will require its own notebook, that's how big and epic it's going to be. Here's hoping I make it, I'm trying to stay determined to keep moving forward! I believe we should be finishing Act IV this year.