“Gilda! Hey Gilda!”

‘You know,’ Gilda thought idly from where she was perched at the top of a rusted old jungle gym in an abandoned skate park. ‘I skipped school, got a new pack of reds, slapped around the double-D’s and took their lunch money… the day was going pretty good up til now.’

“Hey! G!”

‘I could ignore him, or...’ Taking a long drag from her cigarette, Gilda held in the smoke as she considering the pros and cons of shutting the yapping shithead up with the lit end. ‘Nah, that’d definitely get me arrested.’

“What do you want, Hoops?” Gilda asked raspily as she let out the breath of smoke. “And I swear t’god if you got jacked up again because you picked a fight you’re on y’fuckin’ own this time, savvy?”

“No! I mean, no, it’s nothing like that!” Hoops replied. He was a kid who could be best described as ‘kinda thick’, in most senses. Thick head of brown hair, broad shoulders, and dense as a concrete slab. “Someone’s posting people’s secrets on MyStable!”

“Oh yeah?” Gilda smirked before pulling out her phone and tapping open the MyStable app. “What’s the profile?”

“Anon-A-Miss,” Hoops answered with a touch of sycophantic glee. His voice always rubbed Gilda the wrong way, but contrary to popular belief he wasn’t that bad of a dude. Just dumb as a rock.

“Anon-A-Miss, huh?” Chuckling, Gilda punched in the name to the search bar. “That’s stupid. Bet whoever it was thought they were real clever.”

Gilda scanned the first post and got a dry laugh out of it. ‘Piggly wiggly? Can’t say I’m too surprised. Still stupid though… hey wait…’ Her eyes fixed on the profile image, red and gold and the outline of a girl. ‘That’s not… nah, no way. This is fuckin’ childish.’

Tucking her phone away, suddenly feeling annoyed, Gilda turned back to Hoops. “So was that it?”

“Uh, y-yeah, I guess,” Hoops answered with a shrug. “I just… y’know, figured you oughta know, G.”

“Cool,” Gilda answered stonily. “Well scram, I’ve got a long day of doing jack shit to get around to, seeya later Hoops.”

Without waiting for his answer or to see him leave, Gilda laid back down on the bars of the jungle gym. Her bomber jacket fluttered in the cold wind where it hung through the gaps in the bars and for a moment Gilda closed her eyes and just let the air pass through her. Being high up was one of her favorite things, she didn’t know if there was a reverse version of acrophobia but if there was it fit her to a ‘T’. It was winter now and small flurries of snowflakes had been falling regularly, though it didn’t bother Gilda too much. She’d been colder than this before. The encroaching holidays, a ‘time of goodwill’ and all that jazz, only ever meant a colder walk to school to her, ‘and less time playing hooky in the park once it really gets cold,’ Gilda thought in annoyance.

Gilda brought her hand back to her mouth to draw in another lungful of smoke. That profile picture was bugging her but she couldn’t really put a finger on why. Something about it felt… off. Gilda never claimed to be any kind of egghead but she had a kind of cunning that kept her light on her feet and one step ahead. Up until Sunset Shimmer showed up and brought CHS under her thumb in under a year. That genuinely impressed Gilda, enough that she decided trying to contest the matter wasn’t worth it.

Whatever, she had stayed out of Sunny’s warpath and Sunny had shown her the same courtesy, neither one had a need to pick a fight. None of the teachers like Gilda anyway and she didn’t so much have friends as she did cronies. ‘Then the whole Fall Formal Fuckup had happened and Sunny went Softy.’ The Queen B of Canterlot High cleaned up, made friends, and saved the world from pop music sirens.

Woop-de-fuckin-doo.

‘Damn cryin’ shame, though,’ Gilda mused as she slowly wore down her cigarette. ‘Bet she woulda been a bitchin’ evil overlord.’

That thought made Gilda laugh at the wrong time, her laughter turning into a mix of hacking coughs and chuckles as she tried to breathe around the smoke.

‘Whatever,’ Gilda flicked the dying butt out of her hand towards the fence at the edge of the park. ‘She’s all goodie-good-girl now. Hope that works out for her.’

‘Yeah that doesn’t seem to be working out for her…’ Gilda thought, grimacing as she pulled her books from her locker. She couldn’t reasonably skip much more without taking some serious heat. The teachers at CHS might not give much of a damn, but they definitely still had a little ‘damn’ left to give.

The students, on the other hand, still had plenty of ‘damn’, it appeared.

“How could you do this!” Rainbow’s voice cracked as she shouted at Sunset Shimmer, who was trying to approach her friends.

“I-I didn’t! I swear I would never-” Sunset’s tear-filled voice was cut off by, of all people, Fluttershy.

“You’re not our friend! You never were!”

Even Gilda winced at that one. ‘Wow, always the quiet ones, huh.’

Fluttershy’s condemnation seemed to take the wind out of Sunset, and she dropped to her knees. Something in Gilda’s gut rebelled at the sight of it. It made her mad. It made her want to walk up to Sunset, smack her upside her striped head, and tell her to ‘woman up’. Nobody needed a bunch of dweebs who were just gonna drop them at the first sign of trouble anyway. Especially not Sunset goddamn Shimmer.

“You’re just a secret-stealer!” Pinkie pointed an accusing finger at Sunset, but Applejack stepped forward and reached out, laying a hand on Pinkie’s wrist and bringing it down.

“This is it Sunset,” Applejack said in a somber tone. “You’re not gonna take advantage of us anymore.” Wrapping an arm around a teary-eyed Fluttershy, she turned away, only glancing back once. “Ah’m sorry but you did this to us, tell whatever secrets you want… but we don’t have to listen.”

Gilda half-expected Sunset to get up and chase after them or something. Instead, she just sat in the hall and sobbed. The sound was painful to listen to and it made Gilda grit her teeth. ‘C’mon Sunny, where’s the big bad bitch who had a deadlock on the whole fuckin’ school? Crying in the hallway is a goddamn embarrassment.’

Slamming her locker shut, Gilda stomped off to her class. She was done. She couldn’t watch it anymore.

‘This is why I don’t have friends,’ Gilda fumed as she reached her algebra class which she had originally planned to sleep through, she was too mad for that now. ‘Friends just stab you in the back… or worse. Guess it’s better she learn it now.’

Mr. Cranky didn’t bother to greet Gilda if anything he looked a little put out that she showed up as she shouldered her way to her desk and dropped her messenger bag to the ground. Crossing her arms on her desk, Gilda slumped forward, staring towards the front of the classroom but not really seeing anything Cranky was writing.

All Gilda could see was Sunset, crying her heart out in the hallway like a weakling. Just thinking about it pissed her off. Dammit, she had been looking forward to her midday nap. Stupid Rainbooms, stupid Sunset, and stupid friendship.

The rest of the week went about as expected. Anon-A-Miss posted pretty reliably once or twice a day, always another secret which led to another set of fights, broken friendships, and furious shouting matches in the cafeteria. It was really starting to get on Gilda’s nerves. As if she needed another reason to not come to school. Going around the back, Gilda crunched through the built-up snow and filth that had crusted along the ground as she headed towards one of the less-used buildings. Technically it was part of the gym but the back east corner was really just a pile of garbage and broken sports equipment that never quite made it to the dump. It didn’t smell great but that’s what made it such a good spot to catch a smoke on school grounds.

Gilda had almost gotten to the corner when the sounds of acoustic guitar strings reached her ears along with a low, feminine voice singing softly.

Quieting her footsteps, Gilda crept up to the edge of the corner and looked around to the other side of the brick building. Sunset Shimmer was sitting on one of the trash piles that looked recently if poorly, cleared of snow. She was wearing a sweater that had definitely seen better days and a ragged orange scarf that was fraying at the edges. Her guitar looked a little worse for the wear too, and so did she for that matter, but she was still strumming it and singing softly. Gilda could make out the slight tracks on her cheeks from dried tears as she sang a melancholy tune.

Gilda pulled a cigarette out, stuck it in her mouth and, being careful to mute the sound, lit a couple matches. Sunset’s voice was cracked and raw, probably from crying, Gilda thought. The idea made her angry again, so she lit her cigarette and just listened from where she leaned against the wall. Sunset just kept singing, soft and low as she trailed into the chorus again, hitting a high note perfectly and rolling easily into the short solo, Gilda dragged a few frustrated puffs on her cigarette.

‘Those girls don’t deserve Sunset as a friend if they’re just gonna throw her away like that.’ Gilda thought angrily. ‘I mean who the hell just pitches someone over a couple of stupid fucking rumours?’

Gilda drew in annoyed drags from the cigarette, savoring the heat before letting them out in long exhalations of grey smoke. ‘Seriously, anyone can see it’s not Sunny’s style, even before she went happy-go-lucky she was at least subtle.’

Sunset drifted from the third iteration of the chorus into a longer, more detailed guitar solo, picking away at the strings and humming along, occasionally repeating the chorus a few times before drifting back into the calming chords of the instrument. Gilda closed her eyes, letting the sound of the strings and the dulcet voice wash over her as she started in on her second cigarette.

The now ex-Rainboom had an amazing voice, that much was obvious for anyone who ever heard her sing. “She knocked it out of the park against the Sirens,’ Gilda thought with a smile, ‘the girl’s a living power chord.’

The melancholy tune slowly faded and took a good deal of Gilda’s anger with it. The actual song had long since faded into a melodic plucking away of chords that followed the same sort of emotional vein, eventually stopping altogether, though the white-haired delinquent barely noticed.

Gilda was so lost in thought she nearly inhaled the remains of her second cigarette when a voice said, “G-Gilda?”

Hacking and coughing, Gilda spat out her cigarette and angrily stomped it into the ground before rounding on Sunset who had just come around the corner. She was gripping her guitar and hold it in front of her like a shield.

Gilda was, well, kind of huge; almost a full foot taller than Sunset, dark-skinned with alarmingly pale hair. Back in her bad-girl tenure Sunset had discovered a little-known fact, or more like random trivia since it wasn’t really useful, that Gilda’s coloration was entirely natural. Premature greying wasn’t exactly rare but in Gilda’s case, it just made her more imposing since she’d managed that rare shade of pure white. Other than that, Sunset hadn’t dug up any dirt on her that wasn’t really common knowledge beyond one minor thing.

“Oh no, d-did Anon-A-Miss post something about you?” Sunset asked looking on the verge of a panic attack, “I swear to you I am not her! I promise, whatever that profile looks like I-”

“Shut up, Sunflower,” Gilda growled, towering over Sunset. “Anon-A-Miss didn’t post shit about me, and s’far as I know there’s nothing to post. Do I look like the kind of girl who keeps secrets?”

Sunset flinched, before looking down and mumbling something. Gilda leaned in, eyeing the smaller girl. “What was that?”

“N-nothing!” Sunset answered a little too quickly. “Just… I mean… there’s one… and I thought… nevermind.”

Gilda scowled, advancing on Sunset like an oncoming storm cloud. “You wanna clarify that a little, Sunflower?”

Swallowing dryly, Sunset glanced around, looking for any kind of help even knowing none of the students at CHS would bother at this point. “Uhm… you don’t live with your parents, you live alone in the Ponyville Commons part of town.”

Backing up from Sunset, Gilda crooked an eyebrow up and chuckled. “That it? Sure, I live alone in the shit part of Canterlot but that ain’t a secret, I just don’t advertise my fuckin’ address every four blocks, savvy? Hell, I’ll do you one better; I don’t just ‘not live with my parents’, I’m an orphan.”

Sunset’s eyes go wide but before she could say anything Gilda continued on, sticking another cigarette in her mouth and lighting it. “Car crash when I was eight, bounced around the foster system for a few years, emancipated myself when I was fourteen, and it’s just been me, myself, and I ever since. See?” Gilda held her arms wide, grinning toothily around her smoking, burning cigarette. “No secrets here, Sunflower, I’m so low down in the dirt even Anon-A-Miss can’t reach me.”

“Oh… uh, wow,” Sunset said, stuttering around a total loss for words as she rubbed some feeling back into her gloveless hands. “That’s… kinda fucked up actually.”

Gilda cackled around her cigarette. “Yeah, innit? Everyone knows I’m a dirt-poor shitkicker with crap grades. So what’s Anon-A-Miss think they’re gonna do?”

Sunset blinked in confusion for a moment before a dawn of realisation came over her face. “Y-you said: Anon-A-Miss.”

“Yeah? What of it?” Gilda asked, taking a puff of smoke.

Shaking her head, Sunset laughed a little grimly. “I mean, you didn’t say ‘what do you think you’ll do,’ you said ‘what’s Anon-A-Miss think they’re gonna do’. Does that mean… you don’t think I’m her?”

Silence filled the space for a moment before Gilda shrugged, her bomber jacket scraping against the brick wall. “Nah, that shit is amateur hour compared to the crap you used to pull. You mighta gotten rusty since going sunny-side up but no one gets that rusty.”

“Are the ‘sun’ puns ever gonna stop?” Sunset deadpanned, drawing a raspy laugh from Gilda.

“Not a chance, Sunshine,” Gilda replied with a smirk before draping an arm over Sunset’s shoulders, shaking some of the snow that had settled on the smaller girls frame loose. “Not a chance in hell, but hey, at least I’m not kicking you while y'down, yeah?”

Sunset nodded with a subdued laugh. “Y-yeah, that’d be… pretty crappy.”

Feeling some of her good mood draining away, Gilda scowled back at the school. “Look, Sunny, don’t let the rest of those shitlords get on your tits. If the Rainbrats can’t stick with you through this, then it’s better to find out sooner, savvy?”

Sunset sniffled a little but nodded. “I guess so… I just… I’ve been alone for so long, and they said I was like family now and… and…” Sunset clenched her eyes shut and rubbed at them with arm trying to get the tears to go away. “Shit, I’m sorry, thanks for believing me though, Gilda, I needed to hear that.”

“Uh, yeah, no probs, Sunflower,” Gilda answered a little unsteadily. Being thanked was an unusual state of affairs for the rough-and-tumble girl. Coughing and clearing her throat to break the tension, Gilda gave Sunset a wide smirk and held out her pack of smokes with one sticking out of the opening. “So, given that life has taken an inglorious shit on your biscuits, how do you feel about starting a bad habit?”

The cigarette hung from the pack for a few seconds with Sunset staring at it with a strong look of consideration on her face.

Finally, she looked up at Gilda with a brighter smile. “Eh, why the hell not?” she said, plucking the cigarette out of Gilda's hand. “At least it’ll help keep me warm.”

The bitter, winter wind flowed through the gaps in the jungle gym, rippling Gilda’s jacket and sending the faux fur tickling along her neck. Breathing in the fresh, snow-kissed air as it passed over and through her from where she lay on top of the gym’s bars, she felt relaxed; a rare thing for the perpetually irritated young woman. With her eyes closed and nothing but the wind in her ears, Gilda could pretend she was flying. It was a moment of pure calm and peace in her otherwise dull, frustrating life.

“You were right,” came the voice from Gilda’s side. “This is pretty great.”

Grinning, Gilda flicked her wrist, bopping her knuckles against Sunset’s hand. “See? Toldja so. No one to bother us, just the wind and the sky.”

“And the snow, and no one’s bothering us because we’re skipping school, Gilda,” Sunset retorted with a small laugh. “Not that I miss that… it’s getting pretty rough.”

“Yeah, I heard there were more postings,” Gilda remarked sourly. “S’bullshit is what it is. Can’t believe anyone thinks it’s you. It’s like they didn’t have to experience your entire schtick for like three fuckin’ years.” There was no response from Sunset and Gilda winced internally. “Sorry, Sunshine, I know you’re kinda sore about that.”

“No, I deserve it,” Sunset answered softly. “I definitely earned my reputation.”

“Sure, but you also kinda saved the entire school,” Gilda bit back. “Not that they seem to remember that part when they’re busy snapping at each other.”

“Hey G!” A dull, heavy voice called out from ten feet down near the ground. Gilda glanced down to see Dumbbell, Hoops, and Score in thick jackets, their hands shoved in their pockets as they scowled up at the pair. “So it’s true?! You’re kickin’ it with Anon-A-Miss?!”

Gilda growled in the back of her throat. “No, you fuckbuckets, I’m hanging out where I always hang out. And Sunflower here is about as likely t'be Anon-A-Miss as I am to grow wings outta my ass and fly to Mars.”

“But the profile picture looks just like her, it even has her colors!” Score and Dumbbell barked back, pointing a finger up at Sunset who flinched away.

Letting out a loud, annoyed groan, Gilda waved her hand back and forth, the lit cigarette dripping ashen embers to the ground. “Yeah, exactly, and Sunflower here is actually subtle, whereas that stupid page is about as subtle as Dumbbell’s B.O. after gym!”

Dumbbell’s face reddened and for a second looked like he was gonna retort before wheeling around and stalking away through the snowfall. Score, on the other hand, wasn’t as wise.

“Whatever guys,” Score spat, “let’s go, leave G to cuddle up to her snitch girlfriend.”

Their only warning that Score had crossed a line was the sound of steel-toed boots slamming into the snowy ground and cold metal ratcheting into place before crudely soldered but brutally sharp-clawed fingers wrapped themselves around Score’s neck, their points digging into his flesh; not hard enough to break the skin but hard enough to hurt. Score made a startled choking sound as he was dragged back, his heels making lines in the snow before being thrown to the icy ground.

Sunset stared down at Gilda towered threateningly over Score, flexing her fingers as light flurries drifted around her, framing her dark skin with white. Her left hand was what drew Sunset’s gaze though, it was clad in what looked like a crude, pitted, piecemeal metal gauntlet, except the fingers which ended in wickedly curved, almost talon-like, claws. Gilda grinned viciously down at Score who was staring up at her and whimpering incoherently.

“Sorry 'bout that, Score,” Gilda hissed through her teeth which were clenched as she stared at the prone teen. “Buddy ol’ pal, I think I must’ve gotten something incredibly, impossibly stupid stuck in my ear 'cause I swear I just heard you say something really, really thick.”

Hoops and Dumbbell race to Score’s side but kept a good foot from him, the former holding up his hands in a placating manner towards Gilda. “Woah, woah, G, be cool! He didn’t mean it!”

Gilda’s armored hand snapped out and grabbed Hoops by his gloved fingers and squeezed hard, drawing out a startled cry of pain. Feeling a surge of panic, Sunset began clambering down from the ice-slick jungle gym.

“Oh, I think he meant it,” Gilda snarled. “And I definitely think I’m gonna have to teach him a nice, tidy lesson about manners now. Since Score must’ve slept through the ‘how to not die a stupid death’ module I figure I should enlighten him, savvy?”

Jerking her gauntleted wrist, Hoops stumbled away as she advanced on Score. Dumbbell looked down at Score with terrified eyes and then shrugged. “Sorry bro, you fucked up good,” was all he said before scrambling out of Gilda’s way.

The tall, jacketed girl reached her right hand around her back and bought it back out with a set of brass knuckles adorning it. Score’s eyes went from scared to pants-pissingly terrified as he started scrabbling backward on the ground through the filthy snow.

“Sorry fucko,” Gilda said, her voice even and dark, “but you shoulda kept your stupid mouth shut.”

Her right hand barely raised, though, before a pair of amber arms went around her waist and pulled tight. “Stop! Gilda, please stop!” Sunset’s voice cracked through the red haze of fury that Gilda had built up. “Please, don’t hurt him, it’s okay, I promise it’s fine, just… just let him go.”

Sunset was hugging her from behind. It was an awkward position; Gilda was huge compared to the smaller redhead, standing nearly six foot two, broad and sturdy, to Sunset’s lanky five-three and a hundred pounds and change soaking wet. Her arms held Gilda like a vice though, or at least that was how it felt to Gilda. ‘Fuckit, just shove her off and teach this douchemaster a lesson. Never let anyone swing at you without swinging back twice as hard! That’s the Rule!’

“Please, Gilda, don’t do this,” Sunset pleaded, her face buried in frost-rimed fur of Gilda’s jacket collar. “Please… let him go.”

‘The Rule! That’s the Rule!’ But Gilda could hear the tears in Sunset’s voice and the white-haired thug grimaced before letting out a calming breath and stepping back, nearly knocking Sunset over. “Fine, consider it your lucky day, Score. Now get on your knees, thank Sunflower here, and then get the fuck out of my sight.”

Scrambling up to his knees, Score did as Gilda ordered before getting to his feet and tearing off, making tracks towards the alley adjoining the old skate park. Dumbbell and Hoops looked stunned that their friend had just managed to get out in one piece but quickly followed after. Only Hoops stopped for a second and looked at Sunset.

“H-hey, uhm, thanks for that,” Hoops said haltingly before speeding up again and catching up with Dumbbell.

“Shouldn’t’ve stopped me,” Gilda growled as she returned her weapons to where they had been latched to her back and belt. “Now they’ll think they can get away with shit.”

Sunset glowered at that, crossing her arms as another cold breeze blew through her thin sweater. “Gilda, where the hell did you get those?”

Gilda cocked an eyebrow, then shrugged. “Shoplifted the brass a few years ago, the other thing I made in shop class. Heated up some scrap metal and pounded it into shape, sharpened up the fingertips, added a few leather straps and boom, I’ve got my talons.”

“Gilda you could straight up kill someone with those,” Sunset admonished.

Letting out an incoherent growl, Gilda waved her hand at the dirty, snow-caked alley that Dumbbell, Hoops, and Score had fled down as she rounded on Sunset. “And? So what? If that’s what it takes to teach people not to mess with you that’s what you fuckin do, Sunflower! You used to know that!”

“No, I learned better than that!” Sunset shouted stepping closer to Gilda who scowled.

“Oh yeah?” Gilda yelled, getting into Sunset’s face. “Fat lot of good that lesson did you when all your friends left you on the fuckin’ floor!”

Sunset staggered back like she’d been struck, her mouth hanging open as she tried to form some kind of response. Gilda’s face fell as she realised exactly what had just come out of her mouth. ‘What the fuck was that you idiot?!’

There was a brief moment of silence that was only disturbed by the muted sounds of snowfall as whorls of snowflakes drifted between the two girls. Neither could process what had just been said and even the crows knew better than to laugh at what was happening on the ground. Gilda tried to find some way to take back what she said but her brain was grinding its gears like a busted engine.

Sunset recovered first, and shouted, “Well if that’s how it is then, fine! Fuck you too!” and turned on her heel to sprint away. She didn’t make it more than ten feet before Gilda’s arms went around her upper torso, pinning Sunset’s arms to her sides as Gilda closed her grip like a pair of steel clamps and lifted up, pulling the redhead tightly against her.

“Let go! Let me go you miserable bitch!” Sunset shouted through her tears as she struggled helplessly against the stronger girl’s grip.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!’ Gilda cried out, the pain in her voice stopped Sunset’s struggles in their tracks. She’d never heard Gilda sound so close to crying. “Please, S-Sunset, I’m… I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean it. I swear ta god I didn’t mean it. I got mad, I’m sorry!”

Gilda pulled Sunset close and buried her face in Sunset’s red and gold locks, they were wet from the drift snow that had been collecting but Gilda didn’t give a damn. Now that she’d eased up on struggling around so much Sunset realised that Gilda was shaking like a leaf. It was disconcerting for Gilda to feel so… fragile. Once she stopped moving Gilda lowered Sunset back to the ground and stepped away, her eyes downcast and refusing to look at the smaller girl as Sunset turned to face her. For the first time since they’d properly met Gilda looked small and uneasy, she had brought her left hand up and was awkwardly rubbing her right arm.

Sunset stared angrily up at Gilda, taking deep, heavy breaths that came out misted in the cold winter air as she calmed herself down. Finally, after several moments of Gilda stiffly shuffling, unwilling to leave but also apparently unable to make herself get any closer, Sunset reached up and rested both hands softly on Gilda’s face and gently guided her golden, hawkish gaze back to meet with Sunset’s own aquamarine orbs.

“What you said hurt, Gilda,” Sunset said, her voice breaking a little as she tried to keep a rein on her emotion. “It hurt really, really badly.”

Gilda just nodded, trying to look away from Sunset’s piercing gaze only to have her head brought back in place by Sunset. Eventually taking a deep breath of her own, Gilda spoke. “I-I know… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it.”

“You still said it,” Sunset retorted, earning a flinch from Gilda and, surprisingly, a slight sniffle.

“Yeah, I…” Gilda trailed off as she stared down into Sunset’s eyes and Sunset was a little shocked to see tears at the edges of Gilda’s eyes. “I’m dumb, okay? I get mad and I say dumb shit because I’m a fuckup, alright? What do you want me to say?”

Sunset let go of Gilda’s cheeks and dropped her arms to her sides. “I know, but… did you have to go for that? I mean… like, one of the worst times in my life that happened barely a week ago and… that’s where you hit?”

Gilda could only shrug. “I… go for low blows. It’s the easiest way to win a fight. Even when I shouldn’t. I ain’t got an excuse, Sunflower, I just… I fucked up and I’m really, really sorry, okay? I’m a shit human being, I can’t even promise it won’t happen again.”

Bringing her hands up to her face, Sunset let out a deep sigh through pursed lips. For a second, Gilda imagined Sunset would just turn away and walk off. ‘I wouldn’t even stop her this time, I said I’m sorry, I really… really fucked up. If she wants to go her own way that’s… that’s her choice. It’s my fault.’

A slight bump against Gilda’s chest dragged her out of her inner thoughts. Looking down she realised Sunset was hugging her, the redhead’s face buried in the crook of Gilda’s shoulder. Uneasy, but glad that Sunset decided she wasn’t just going to walk away, Gilda wrapped her own arms around Sunset and pulled her a little closer, letting her jaw come to rest on Sunset’s head.

“I forgive you, you big thug,” Sunset muttered from practically inside Gilda’s jacket. “Just… don’t do that again, okay? I don’t think my heart can take losing any more friends like that.”

Gilda let out a sigh of relief and a cord of tension drained out of her shoulders that she hadn’t even realised was there. “I… I dunno if I can make any promises, Sunshine. I’m pretty fuckin’ stupid, but I promise I’ll try.”

Chuckling from her place in Gilda’s arms, Sunset nuzzled in closer to her friend’s warmth, eliciting a blush from Gilda who was suddenly very glad that Sunset couldn’t see her face. “Fine, how about this then: you promise not to give up on me, and I promise that I won’t give up on you, okay?”

“Yeah… I think I can do that, Sunflower,” Gilda answered a little more confidently. “You know that means ya’ain’t ever gettin’ rid of me unless you give up first, right?”

“Giving up isn’t really my style, Gil,” Sunset answered with a wry smile as she pulled away. Gilda let go too, but a little reluctantly. “Also, hey, you finally called me by my actual name for once. It just took you accidentally saying some super horrible shit.”

“Uh, heh, yeah, guess I did,” Gilda laughed awkwardly. “Uhm, I can call you Sunset from now on if the names really bug you.”

Sunset just shook her head. “Nah, I like’m actually.”

This time there was no hiding the blush and Sunset giggled a little. Gilda laughed raspily along with her and after a few moments, the tension had fled. Walking up to her friend’s side, Gilda shook out a couple of cigarettes and passed one over to Sunset, who took it and set it dangling from her mouth as she waited for Gilda to pass the lit matches.

“This is a horrible habit you’ve gotten me into, Gil,” Sunset murmured around the cigarette as she took the proffered matches that were rapidly burning up. Holding them up to the head she took in a small breath, then blew out a wisp of smoke. “Seriously, what kind of friend gets their other friend hooked on cigarettes.”

Gilda laughed again as they walked back to the jungle gym and relaxed against it, Gilda dusting the snow from one of the lower bars before taking a seat, and Sunset leaning on one of the straight poles next to her. “The kinda friend that knows that life is short, shitty and stressful and that a bad habit or three keeps ya sane.”

“Amen to that,” Sunset grumbled around the cigarette and she held up her fist, Gilda bumped her knuckles against Sunset’s as they shared another smile.

Gilda’s flat was not what one would call luxurious, but it was definitely a sight better than where Sunset laid her head at night. Not that she would ever admit that to Gilda, of course. She didn’t even want to imagine how the protective girl would react to that news. Still, it was warm and cozy and smelled very strongly of cigarette smoke. A simple bottom-floor one room in the low-income housing section of Canterlot, it had a couch futon in the corner flanked by a squishy easy chair that had seen better days with an old tube tv sitting on a dresser across from them, a couple of big, stained, and slightly burnt rugs in place of carpeting, a poorly tended to kitchenette, and small square table with a couple chairs.

Gilda chuckled uneasily as she walked in with Sunset on her heels. “Sorry ‘bout the mess, Sunshine. I don’t usually have company and I’m… uh… kind of a slob. Wasn’t gonna let you walk home in that fuckin’ storm though, you’d get buried.”

“You’re the best, Gil. And don’t sweat the mess” Sunset laughed off Gilda’s awkwardness. “My place isn’t any better.” ‘Ain’t that the truth though’, Sunset thought grimly.

‘Heh, your parents don’t care?” Gilda cracked as she dropped her bag near the door. Sunset just shook her head, though.

Carefully lowering her guitar case and leaning it against the easy chair, Sunset shrugged. “Nope, I’m like you actually. I live alone. I don’t even remember my parents, just the orphanage I grew up in. I got taken in once but that fell through pretty badly. So I’m just, y’know, on my own.”

“Oh, uh,” Gilda rubbed the back of her head and gave a short laugh. “Wow, didn’t know we had that much in common, Sunshine. I always kinda figured you were some kinda high horse, ivory tower girl or something.”

“Pretty much the opposite, actually,” Sunset responded with an arid grin.

The snowstorm outside howled and Sunset shivered as the thin walls only kept a bare minimum amount of heat in. She was thankful beyond words that Gilda had offered to let her crash at her place for the night, the storm was supposed to let up by early afternoon tomorrow and Sunset wasn’t looking forward to either the obnoxiously long trek to her ‘place’, nor the fact that it was, by and large, unheated.

“Crap, sorry,” Gilda took a couple long strides over to a closet and pulled out a few ratty blankets. She gave them a couple desultory sniffs before shrugging and tossing them over the futon alongside the thick comforter that made up the majority of her bedding. “They’re not pretty but they’re warm.”

“It’s cool,” Sunset shook off her coat near the door and hung it from a hook on the wall before kicking off her boots and heading over to the couch to curl up in one of the blankets.

Gilda vanished into the adjoining bathroom and Sunset chuckled as she heard a muffled ‘oh shit’. “Uh, hey Sunshine? I’ll be a sec, sorry, just gonna… uh, tidy up.”

Sunset laughed as the door to the bathroom slammed shut. Reaching out for her case, she pulled her guitar out and started tuning it up a little as she listened to the muffled swearing and crashes from the bathroom along with some furious scrubbing noises. It was honestly kind of cute how embarrassed Gilda got about the state of her place. She really struck Sunset as the type to not care. Maybe it was that she did care and just didn’t have guests very often. That one definitely seemed likely. Either way, it really wasn’t that bad.

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll be right here,” Sunset answered through a smile. Glancing out one of the small windows she couldn’t help but feel relieved that she had a warm place to sleep for the night. The snow was coming down hard and the streets were probably buried by now.

Hefting up her guitar and settling it on her lap, Sunset started picking out a tune. Her hands wandered for a few minutes before settling on a nice, quick-paced but paradoxically relaxed song.

“Come to decide that things that I tried were in my life just to get high on~,” it was one of Sunset’s favorite songs, it had an easy, relaxed feeling to it that carried every word into the next. “When I sit alone, come get a little known, but I need more than myself this time…”

From where she was leaning on the door, Gilda closed her eyes and listened to Sunset’s beautiful voice singing softly away in her living room; that was a sound she could get used to.

When Gilda had walked into the bathroom she’d had a minor panic attack when she realised how filthy it was. Gilda couldn’t recall ever particularly giving a damn even on the rare instance someone did come over to her place except during her monthly check-ins from the government goomba that made sure she kept up with basic minimum health crap. Sunset was different though. Gilda wouldn’t be caught dead letting her walk into the bathroom the way it had looked; she had no desire to go into detail but it left the overwhelming impression of brown.

“Hey, o~oh, listen what I sa~y oh, oh,” Sunset’s voice tamped down the rest of Gilda’s thoughts as she cleaned, “come back’n hey, o~oh, lookit what ah say, o~oh.”

Standing up, Gilda surveyed her work. Not great, but passable. Definitely smelled better at least, so there was that. Brushing her hands off on a towel, she grabbed a pair of fresh ones from the rack near her shower. She started drying her short, ragged hair where the snowmelt had left her sodden, and tossed the other onto Sunset’s head as she exited the bathroom.

Sunset laughed as she cut off from playing and set her guitar down. “Thanks, Gil, the cold was starting to settle in.” Gripping the towel, Sunset set to work drying off her much longer hair.

“Hey, no prob, Sunflower,” Gilda cracked as she dropped heavily into the easy chair, letting out a sigh of relaxation as she melted into her favorite seat. “What’s mine is yours, y’know?”

“That’s… really generous of you,” Sunset said, a little surprise coloring her tone. “I mean, we haven’t known each other that long, but… I really like hanging out with you. It feels like… it never gets old, y’know?”

Gilda’s cheeks warmed considerably at that. “Y-yeah, well, other than Rainbow Crash you’re almost the only friend I’ve ever had and that was fuckin’ years ago.”

Sunset studied Gilda for a moment before leaning back in the couch. “So… you knew Rainbow before all of this? Like, you were friends?”

“Eh, kinda?” Gilda remarked, running her fingers through her shorn hair. “We sorta grew up together until the whole thing with my folks. I fell off the planet into the foster system after that. When we finally met up again at CHS I guess I’d gotten pretty rough around the edges… we uh, didn’t really get along.”

“Rainbow’s pretty abrasive, too,” Sunset countered with a grim grin as she leaned closer to Gilda, resting her head on the arm of the couch nearest the chair.

Gilda waved her hand back and forth. “Nah, she’s really soft. When we were kids she was the biggest crybaby. Basically hung off my arm wherever we went. Lotta kids made fun of her hair too, so I got in a bunch of fights over that even before my life took a nosedive.”

“That’s kind of adorable actually,” Sunset said with a small smile, before reaching out and setting a hand on Gilda’s wrist. “You’re a lot nicer than you let on, y’know?”

Gilda looked sharply away, feeling her face go warm again and thanking god her dark complexion hid most of the obvious signs. “Whatever, Sunflower, you’re the big softie between the two of us.”

“Hey,” Sunset called out softly, drawing Gilda’s gaze over. “You’re pretty.”

No amount of melanin was going to hide that blush and Gilda nearly choked at Sunset’s words, provoking a gush of laughter from the redhead on the couch. Gilda tucked her knees up to her chest and glared in the opposite direction of Sunset, mentally willing the blush to go away and failing spectacularly. Sunset did her best to stop laughing, she really, really did, but Gilda’s response was so extreme she couldn’t help it. After several minutes of uncontrollable chortling Sunset finally reached out to touch Gilda’s knee.

“Hey,” Sunset poked Gilda’s knee but she stayed looking away. Frowning, Sunset poked her a few more times. “Hey, Gil, c’mon, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to embarrass you like that.”

“I’m fine, Sunshine,” Gilda grumbled, still looking away and doing her utmost to scowl away the warm feeling in her cheeks.

Sighing, Sunset got up from the couch, crawled over and deposited herself squarely in Gilda’s lap, eliciting another squawk of surprise. Curling up, Sunset looked up at Gilda with the biggest pout she could manage.

“Forgive me?”

Covering as much of her eyes and cheeks with one hand as she could, (her other arm had somehow ended up cradling Sunset’s frame) Gilda just nodded. “Sure, fine, you got it Sunflower.”

Sunset smiled widely and hugged Gilda tight. “See, you’re a softie too. You’re super protective, you’re letting me stay at your place in the middle of a storm, and you’re… you’re my best friend in the world, Gilda. And I’m not just saying that because the rest of my friends kicked me to curb.”

“Y-yeah,” Gilda chuckled a little dryly, hugging Sunset a little tighter. “You’re my best friend too, Sunshine. No question, gal like me doesn’t have a lot of friends. You sure are huggy today though.”

“Mm, yeah,” Sunset admitted with a shy laugh. “I’m cold and you’re really warm, sorry, I’m leeching off your body heat.”

“Hah,” Gilda cackled, “some friend, admit it, I’m just your mobile space heater.”

“Ma~ybe,” Sunset answered with a Cheshire grin, before letting out a sigh and settling down in Gilda’s arms. “Hey Gilda? Sorry, but… is it weird that I like sitting here like this? I mean, I don’t know if it’s awkward or anything, I can move if you want.”

Not willing to say what was exactly on her mind, Gilda just laughed it off. “Uh, nah, it’s cool, I just figured you were huggy. I don’t care, sit where ya like, Sunny.”

“Thanks, Gil,” Sunset answered quietly, “I guess, after spending most of my life alone and then just… getting dropped like I was nothing, everything feels more real when I’m in physical contact. Otherwise, I start thinking stuff, unhealthy stuff, and I know it’s wrong and stupid but the thoughts are just… there.”

“What kinda thoughts?” Gilda asked, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible but feeling a pit of concern open in her stomach.

“Just… stuff I know is wrong,” Sunset responded without looking up at Gilda. “Like, how I’m never gonna have any real friends. Or how I always end up alone. Or like, what would happen if you decided I wasn’t worth it like everyone else did. Or-”

Gilda pulled Sunset tighter, cutting off her words with a strong hug. “Don’t think like that, yeah? You an’ me? That’s not going anywhere, savvy?”

There was a slight sniffle from where Sunset had buried her face in Gilda’s shoulder. “Promise?”

“Already did, Sunflower,” Gilda said softly, petting Sunset’s long, slightly damp hair, “but yeah, I promise.”

“Okay,” came the small, slightly cracked response. Sunset lifted her head up laughed a little bitterly. “Sorry, Gil, I’m just a big weepy mess, huh? Feels like I’m all over the place; one minute I’m happy, then I’m bawling, then I’m pissed off. It’s exhausting.”

“Yeah, sounds like it,” Gilda replied, still running her hand through Sunset’s hair in a calming, petting motion, earning a relaxed hum from Sunset. “Dunno how ya do it, Sunshine.”

“Hey, you’re the one who has to put up with me all the time,” Sunset shot back with a smirk. “Sorry about that, by the way.”

“Don’t be,” Gilda said, leaning back in the chair and stretching before getting up, lifting Sunset up in a princess carry earning a high-pitched ‘eep’ from Sunset. “I’d deal with ya all day, Sunshine. I’m gonna make us some grub, you good with beef stew?”

Sunset nodded, blushing from her spot in Gilda’s arms. “Yeah, I’m good. Used to be vegetarian but I figured out how to not be picky pretty quick.”

Easing Sunset down to her feet, Gilda grinned and walked into the kitchen. “Yeah, us broke bitches can’t be too picky,” she laughed.

Gilda quickly went to work, pulling out a large pot and throwing it on the burner with a pat of butter in it before starting the process of counting out potatoes, onions, carrots, and some cans of tomato paste and beef broth. Sunset just curled up on the couch and watched as Gilda moved in smooth, practiced motions, chopping the vegetables into nice even chunks, each going into their own bowl with salt and pepper. The butter melted quickly and just as it began to hiss a little Gilda reached into the fridge and pulled out a plastic bag of cubed beef and upended it into the pot. The scent of sizzling meat quickly began to fill the small apartment and Sunset’s mouth immediately began to water. Gilda kept a weather eye on the meat, holding onto a long wooden spoon she would occasionally dart in with it shift the cubes around. Once she was satisfied she dumped the onions, beef broth, and some spices in and lidded it.

“There, give it an hour and I’ll add the rest,” Gilda said as she turned the heat down a bit and walked back to the living room. “Another hour’n we’ve got ourselves some homemade stew.”

“You’re really good at that, Gil,” Sunset remarked as Gilda settled down.

Gilda shrugged as she pulled out a couple cigarettes and passing one to Sunset. “Yeah well, you learn to fend f’yourself in the foster system. And when you live alone. Girl’s gotta eat, y’know?”

Pulling out her matchbox, she scowled at the lone match left in it. Shrugging, Gilda struck the match and set it to the head of her cigarette, took a few puffs to light it, then shook the match out. The moment she did she realised Sunset was still sitting on the couch with an unlit cigarette dangling from her wryly smiling mouth.

“Shit,” Gilda cursed as she began digging for another match, “Sorry babe, hold on. I got another pack’a matches ‘round here somewhere.”

“Nah, it’s okay,” Sunset said before leaning in, taking Gilda’s chin in her hand, pressing her unlit cigarette to Gilda’s lit one, and taking a few sharp breaths to ignite the rolling paper and tobacco. “There, we’re all good.” Leaning back, Sunset idly puffed one her cigarette, pulling back and leaning her elbow on the arm of the couch and resting her chin on her knuckles as she smiled at Gilda.

Gilda had managed to hold down the blush when Sunset had leaned forward, honestly she was more embarrassed that she’d just put the match out; major, not-cool, party foul in her book, but the lidded stare she was getting from Sunset was starting to weird her out a little.

“Uh, what’s up, Sunshine?” Gilda asked a little nervously as she took a long drag on her own cig.

Sunset just laughed a little around her smoke. “You called me ‘babe’.”

‘Wow and suddenly it got really hot in here,’ Gilda’s brain rewound the last couple of sentences and she realised she had indeed called Sunset ‘babe’. ‘Wonder how she feels about burying someone who died of embarrassment.’

“U~hh… s-sorry,” Gilda choked out around the smoke in her lungs. “Just sorta slipped out.”

Sunset shook her head. “You don’t have to make excuses, Gil, you’re a lot more affectionate than you let on and I’m totally cool with that. Call me Sunny, Sunshine, Sunflower, babe, whatever you want. You’re my best friend, Gil, and personally, I think it’s kinda cute that you call me literally anything but my actual name.”

Relaxing, Gilda leaned back in the chair. “Yeah, uh, it’s kinda my thing. I just have a habit of nicknaming people. It’s easier in my head…”

“I like it,” Sunset responded as she pulled the blanket towards her and over her bare feet. “It makes me feel… I dunno, special I guess?”

“You are,” Gilda responded instantly, gesturing with her cigarette that was tucked between her middle and ring finger. “You saved the whole fuckin’ school from the Sirens during that crazy Battle of the Bands, ya grew friggin wings, which, I’m not even gonna ask how that shit worked ‘cause I’m pretty sure I’m too stupid to wrap my brain ‘round it. You forgive people ya probably shouldn’t, show mercy when I definitely wouldn’t. You are special, Sunshine, ‘cause unlike all the other folks who say they’re good people, you actually are good people.”

With every word, Sunset’s amber skin turn redder until she was blushing furiously. After a few moments of silence, she smiled shyly up at Gilda. “Thanks, Gil, you keep talking like that and I’m gonna get a big head though.”

“Yeah, right,” Gilda shot back. “You’re terminally humble, Sunflower.”

“Hopefully not literally,” Sunset answered dryly. “Hey, uh, this is kinda super off topic but I’ve been wondering… what kind of music do you like? I mean, you can probably tell where my tastes fall, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard any music from you.”

“Uh, well,” Gilda thought to her smartphone and resolved to make sure she double-checked the password on it. Sunset could never know the truth. “I uh, I don’t really have musical tastes, y’know? I just listen to whatever.”

“You always struck me as a screamo kinda girl,” Sunset remarked.

“Ugh, god no,” Gilda hung her tongue out and blew a raspberry. “Screamo is shit, it’s like someone realised they couldn’t sing and went, ‘well, if I just gargle the mic no one will ever know!’ then made a career out of it.”

Sunset broke down into cackling laughter at that, barely keeping her cigarette from hitting the blanket. “Okay, fair enough.”

“I like what you play, though,” Gilda said, taking another drag. “Never listened to a ton of Chili Peppers but I dig it any day of the week. So how about movies? What kinda movies you like?”

Sunset shrugged. “Never watched a lot of movies, didn’t really have access to my own t.v. for a long time and even then I had too much work to do to get into much stuff.”

“I’m a slasher girl at heart,” Gilda thumbed her chest with a wide grin. “Mike Meyers, Freddy Krueger, Jason! Gimme a machete and buncha dumbass co-eds any day of the week.”

“Who?” Sunset cocked her head to the side at the names Gilda listed off.

Gilda’s smile turned a little glassy. “Uh, y’know, Michael Meyers? Halloween? Freddy? Nightmare on Elm Street? Friggin Jason Voorhees? Any of this ringin’ a bell?”

“Nope?”

Gilda’s stared dumbfounded for several moments before coming to a grim conclusion. “Looks like we’re bingeing the classics tonight,” she said before standing and taking several purposeful strides to the closet and pulling it open and burying her head in the mess inside for a moment before pulling out several old VHS and an old VCR.

“What are those?” Sunset stared at the two pieces of archaic technology, earning a laugh from Gilda.

“These, Sunflower,” Gilda held up her trove, “these are the foundations of my childhood, so buckle up. We’re goin’ on a fuckin’ ride.”

It took Gilda a couple hours to untangle everything, sort out the movies, figure out which ones to watch first, then start wiring up the VCR to the old t.v. which ended up being way more of a chore than either of them expected. Sunset ended up hunched over Gilda hold a flashlight while the taller girl was laying on her side plugging wires. They had to break at one point so Gilda could finish adding everything to the stew, resetting the heat and lidding it for another hour. Eventually, it all got done and Gilda had the first movie popped in.

The case showed a fist gripping a bloodstained kitchen knife superimposed over a glowing jack-o-lantern titled ‘Halloween! The Night HE Came Home!’ which Sunset thought seemed a little dramatic.

“So you’ve seriously never seen a horror movie?” Gilda asked incredulously. “Ever?”

“For the fiftieth time, Gil, no, I haven’t,” Sunset said with a resigned laugh. “Like I said, I never had the gear or the time and when I did, well, horror wasn’t really a big favorite with, y’know…”

“Yeah, the Rainbrats, I getcha,” Gilda waved her hand like she was clearing a stink. “Well, we’re gonna get you a proper goddamn education in cinematic history tonight, Sunshine!”

What followed was several hours of murder and stabbings of shrieking teenagers with big hair and hilariously out of date trousers as the two teens chowed down on bowls of thick, hearty soup. At some point between Chainsaw Massacre and Nightmare on Elm Street, Gilda had switched from sitting on the easy chair to joining Sunset on the couch futon with a bowl of popcorn and part way through Freddy ejecting the entirety of the Boyfriend-Character-du-jour out of a bed in liquid form, Sunset had curled up sleepily against Gilda. As the movie closed out, with Freddy’s clawed hand dragging Nancy’s mother into the house, Sunset shifted slightly against Gilda and yawned, squeaking a little.

“I think I’m tapped out on the murdertrain, Gil,” Sunset murmured sleepily. Gilda fished around for the remote and hit the eject button, she’d rewind them later, and got up from where they’d gotten comfy under the blankets.

“Sure thing, Sunflower,” Gilda said quietly, “guess ya probably don’t have any pajamas or anything, huh?”

“Uh, no, guess not,” Sunset said as she rubbed at her eyes. She didn’t really have anything that fit that bill, even at home, other than a ratty pair of sweatpants and a sweater that had seen better days. “I can sleep in my clothes though.”

“Nah, hold on,” Gilda went to a dresser under the t.v. and pulled out a large ragged sweater and some shorts and tossed them to Sunset. “Here, you’ll be swimmin’ in’m but they’re way more comfortable to sleep in than your clothes.”

Blushing, Sunset lifted the clothes and smiled at Gilda. “Thanks, you rock, Gil. I’ll be right back, just gonna change.”

Sunset disappeared into the bathroom, making Gilda doubly glad she had taken the time to clean it after they got in, Gilda opted to just pull the shades and change in the living room, tossing down her jeans and sweater, she’d long since given up wearing bra’s. She was, frankly, a bit too big for regular off-the-rack ones and the ones she needed were wa~y out of her budget. As she was pulling on a pair of sleep pants and a loose shirt, Sunset called out from the bathroom.

“Uh, Gilda, you wouldn’t have any smaller shorts, would you?” Sunset asked from the bathroom.

Hopping on one leg towards the bathroom door, Gilda leaned against it and replied. “Nope, sorry, pretty much all the same size, why?”

Gilda heard Sunset sigh through the doorway, and it cracked open revealing the redhead wearing just the sweater, which hung to mid-thigh, holding out the shorts from one finger, and giving Gilda a flat stare. “Because I’m pretty sure you’ve got a lot more ‘donk’ in your ‘badonk’ than I do. Even with the drawstrings pulled, these shorts will not stay on.”

Gilda snorted before falling into crippling laughter as Sunset stared on impassively for several seconds before screwing up her face, twisting up the shorts and whacking Gilda over the head with them.

“Hey, just because I don’t have a big bubble butt like you doesn't mean a thing! I’ve got plenty of assets!” Sunset brought both hands under her breasts and lifted them. “Look at these girls! Seriously, it’s nuts! I’m like five foot! What kind of mad quirk of evolution gives a five-foot girl double D’s?! It’s madness! I’ll have back problems before I’m thirty!” At that point, Gilda was on the floor choking on her laughter, desperately trying to breathe but failing to get any air past her mirth.

Dropping her arms to her sides and glaring off into the distance, Sunset delivered a light, playful kick to Gilda’s side who responded by laughing harder. “Fine, fuckit, I’m just gonna sleep in the sweater. I’m too tired for this bullshit. Human clothing is stupid and it can suck my dock,” before stalking over to the futon, kicking it into the bed formation, and dropping onto it.

It took several minutes for Gilda to pull herself off of the floor, there were a number of failed attempts that resulted in another fit of giggles, but eventually, Gilda got herself into her easy chair and kicked it back to the reclining position.

“Heh, sorry ‘bout that babe, you just… looked adorable. Didn’t make’ya mad did I?” Gilda asked as she pulled her comforter over her.

Sunset was curled up in the two spare blankets and resting her head on a pillow on the arm nearest Gilda’s chair. Smiling up at the taller girl, Sunset shook her head. “Nah, it’s fine, I just wanted to complain. Thanks for the lend, though. I wasn’t looking forward to sleeping in my jeans.”

“No probs, Sunshine,” Gilda said as she curled into her favorite chair. The truth was she fell asleep on this thing way more often than she did her actual futon. “Lemme know if ya need anythin’.”

Sure thing, G-g-gilda,” Sunset said around a wide yawn. “Thanks for letting me stay. I had a blast tonight, you’re really… the… best.”

Soft snores immediately emanated from the couch and Gilda smiled as she watched Sunset drift instantly to sleep. She looked peaceful and… perfect. Really. Gilda was tired, exhausted really, but a part of her didn’t want to close her eyes. She just wanted to watch Sunset a little longer.

Just a little bit… longer… and…

Gilda snapped awake to the sound of crying and thrashing. Shaking the sleep from her eyes she swiveled her head around and reached for the bomber jacket and jeans that were pooled at the foot of her chair. It was also where her talons sat at the ready. After a minute of shaking the sleep free of her brain though Gilda realised that the sounds were coming from the futon.

Sweaty and tangled in the covers, Sunset was thrashing her arms around. Tears were pouring down her face as she muttered mostly in a language that Gilda didn’t understand. Some of the words were in English though, and Gilda could make out a few of them: Celestia, sorry, the names of the Rainbrats, demon, and a few others.

The clock on the VCR, which Gilda had set mostly out of habit, read three-thirty-four in the morning. Pulling herself free of her comforter, Gilda shivered violently before grabbing it again and wrapping the cover around her shoulders and torso before kneeling next to Sunset. Carefully, Gilda reached out to Sunset and set a hand on her shoulder, giving her a soft shake.

“Hey!” Gilda whispered harshly. “Hey Sunshine, wake up! C’mon Sunny, wake the fuck up!” She shook Sunset several times.

By the fifth shake Sunset eyes snapped open, they were wild and incognizant of anything around her, and her breaths were coming in with violent heaves. The terror etched on Sunset’s face caught Gilda’s heart in place and in a second she had Sunset pulled close. The redhead clung to Gilda like she was flotsam in a raging storm. Gilda got up onto the futon and sat by Sunset as the smaller girl slowly got control of her rapid breathing.

“Y’okay, Sunshine?” Gilda asked, genuinely worried and with all thoughts of sleep gone. She’d seen Sunset’s mood swings but this was… way more intense. “What the hell was that?”

“M’sorry,” Sunset mumbled as she clung to Gilda. “Should’a warned you I have nightmares sometimes. Didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“Dude, those weren’t just nightmares,” Gilda shot back, looking down at the pale, exhausted girl. “Those were like, fuckin’ night terrors or something.”

“Night terrors?” Sunset looked up at Gilda from her shoulder. Sunset’s eyes were bloodshot and a little puffy from exhaustion and tears.

Gilda nodded. “Yeah, like, really fuckin’ intense nightmares, they’re a helluva thing. I used to have’m when I was a kid after the crash. Bein’ stuck in the car, dreamt I was bein’ crushed. Pretty much went away after I got outta the foster system, still get’m sometimes, though.”

“Sounds right,” Sunset said quietly, curling up closer to Gilda. “Sorry again, though. I’m usually okay at sleepovers and stuff.”

“Why?” Gilda crooked an eyebrow up.

Sunset just shrugged. “Dunno, we all used to just fall asleep in… kind of a puddle? Like, there were six of us and we usually all slept in the same room. Maybe the physical contact kept me grounded or something. Like you said, I’ve gotten really huggy so… maybe that helped.”

“Yeah,” Gilda answered thoughtfully, “maybe it did… hey, uh, Sunny?” Sunset looked at Gilda questioningly, but the look just made Gilda choke on her words. ‘Okay, G, how do you say this without soundin’ really fuckin’ weird?’

After a minute of waffling back and forth, Gilda just decided ‘fuckit’ and pulled her pillow off of the easy chair, straightened the covers, and laid down on the futon, trying her best not to blush furiously as she gestured for Sunset to lay down too.

“You tell anyone about this, Sunflower, and… well, I’ll forgive you… but I’ll also suplex you into next week,” Gilda said as Sunset stared down, her cheeks reddening.

Sunset just nodded, smiling a little at the threat before laying down in front of Gilda, backing into the much larger girl and settling her head onto the pillow. Gilda pulled the blankets over them and shifted around until she was comfortable. Even as a bed the futon wasn’t big and, let’s face it, Gilda was a big girl, but Sunset fit pretty easily against her and soon the two of them were dozing, Sunset’s little spoon to Gilda’s much bigger spoon.

“Hey, Gilda?” Sunset whispered after a few minutes, “can I ask you something?”

Gilda answered without opening her eyes. “Sure thing, Sunshine.”

“Why are you so nice to me?”

“‘Cause you’re my best friend, Sunflower, I thought we covered that,” Gilda answered back, opening her eyes slightly and getting a face full of red and gold hair.

Sunset just shook her head. “I’m not an airhead, Gil. You go way out of your way for me. Like, more than my… than any of the other girls ever did. Especially, uhm, given your reputation, y’know? No one has ever treated me as nicely as you have. I mean, you literally just crawled into bed to hold me so I wouldn’t have nightmares, so… why?”

‘Because you’re a better person than I’ll ever be?’ the thought drifted unbidden through Gilda’s brain. ‘Because you have a heart as big as the world? Because I…’

“Dunno, Sunny,” Gilda grumbled, “not really a deep thinker over here, savvy? I do it ‘cause I wanna. Same reason I do anything.”

Gilda could practically hear Sunset roll her eyes as she laughed a little. “Sure, pull the other one, Gil, they got bells on’em,” Sunset replied, wiggling her feet a little.

Turning her head, Sunset looked up at Gilda, who felt her breath catch hard in her throat. Sunset’s sparkling aquamarine eyes were mere inches away, her lips were just as close. She was smiling, and Gilda couldn’t manage a single coherent thought as Sunset just… looked at her. Her eyes flicked back and forth like she was searching for something and Gilda couldn’t help getting more and more flustered as the seconds ticked past. Finally, she seemed to find whatever it was she was looking for, and her smile widened a little.

“It’s okay,” Sunset said softly, “whenever you’re ready. I’m not going anywhere.” Then she reached around and laid her hands on Gilda’s arms, gently pulling them around her and snuggling deeper into the larger girl’s embrace. “However long it takes.”

Gilda didn’t say anything. Couldn’t say anything. ‘What am I supposed to say to that?’ Everything her brain tried to give her just… snagged in her throat and refused to make its way out. So instead she just hugged Sunset tight and nodded, not acknowledging what she knew Sunset was saying but… trying her best.

“Hey, Sunshine,” Gilda mumbled after several minutes. “You, uh… you got any plans for winter break?”

“Not anymore,” Sunset answered a little dryly but Gilda could hear the smile, and the hope, behind the words.

Gilda took a deep breath as she took her shot. “Cool, uh, you wanna spend it here? Like, uh, extended sleepover sorta thing? I can catch ya up on the best horror stuff? Heh, even the shitty sequels. I got’em all.”

Sunset wiggled, slowly rotating in place until she was facing Gilda, a bright smile on her face. “Yeah, that sounds like a perfect way to spend Christmas to me, Gil. Now let’s get to sleep, I wanna sleep in. No way schools on with that storm out there.”

Smiling from ear to ear, Gilda hugged Sunset tight and couldn’t help nuzzling the top of her head a little, taking in the scent of lilacs and cherries as the redhead settled into rest. She would ask then, that night; the first night of winter break. Gilda would ask, Sunset would say yes, and… yeah. She just needed time to get her brain together. It would be perfect.

Sunset deserved perfect.

Author's Notes:

This story is dedicated to my girlfriend who has done all of the art for this story and is a massive gay when it comes to cute girls and their big tough girlfriends.