Smog hung heavy over the sprawling metropolis of Las Pegasus. The sheer size of the city was almost mind-boggling to see in its entirety from the hilltop that Gilda had pulled over on. Sunset wrinkled her nose at the intense smell that seemed to waft through the air around the city, and Gilda chuckled a little as she pulled her helmet off and took a deep breath.

“Ah, breath it in, Sunshine, that’s some primo Las Pegasus air,” Gilda said with a wide grin that turned arid quickly as Sunset glowered at her. “No seriously, breath it in, ‘cause it only gets worse from here.”

“How do people live here?” Sunset grumbled. “It tastes like even the air is trying to kill you.”

“Basically is,” Gilda replied as she leaned and shifted around on the seat of her motorcycle, getting a little more blood flow to her legs after the long ride. “We’re headin’ down there,” Gilda pointed to the southern end of the city. "South Central, real shithole, but it was home for most’a my life that I can remember.”

“Bad crime rate?” Sunset asked wryly.

Gilda laughed. “Hah, more like bad ‘anything but crime’ rate.”

“Is it safe?” Sunset asked quietly leaning against Gilda’s back and looking down at the darkened area of town she was pointing at. “Or, I guess that’s a stupid question, huh?”

“Safe f’us, Sunflower,” Gilda replied. “Tempest’ll’ve put out the word t’keep an eye out f’me, plus most’a the runners probably remember me, too, the old guard anyway. Guess some’ve them might’a croaked by now, or got caught.”

“That’s pretty cold, Gil,” Sunset said, frowning. “Weren’t they your friends?”

“Co-workers,” Gilda corrected. “Guess a few of’em were friendly enough, though. Tarot, Dandy, Bar Hop, Thorn… all runners, we were pretty tight I guess, they were good folks f’the most part, hopefully they’re still around.”

“Will they help us?”

Gilda nodded solemnly. “Zee was everyone’s little sister, savvy? She was the youngest and, scary smart or not, everyone treated her like family. Losin’ her was… everyone felt it, y’know? They’ll help us figure this shit out, Sunshine.”

“Never had any family like that, so…” Sunset replied, sighing, “point is, I just want to get this done with. I’m not looking forward to spending a week or more surrounded by gangbangers.”

A silence stretched out for a few moments, drawing a look of concern from Sunset. Gilda was staring down at the visor of her helmet, fiddling with it and looking suddenly pensive and nervous.

“Gil?” Sunset said softly. “You okay?”

Gilda didn’t answer for several moments. Setting her helmet in her lap, Gilda ran her thumb over the engraved lines on the side of the black helmet, and Sunset could practically hear her mind grinding away like it did when she was uncertain. Finally, after long enough for Sunset’s concern to upgrade to actual worry, Gilda spoke.

“E-eight to fourteen…”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“I said… eight t’fourteen, Sunshine,” Gilda repeated, her voice a little unsteady.

“What does that-”

“It’s how long I was raised as one’a those ‘gangbangers’ y’talkin’ about,” Gilda said bitterly. “The ones y’don’t wanna be surrounded by… or didja f’get that y’talkin’ about me too when ya said that?”

Sunset opened her mouth to argue when the full measure of what Gilda was saying hit her. Gilda was a gangbanger, still was in some regards. Sunset’s mind replayed the words she’d just spoken and she winced at how they sounded.

Closing her eyes, Sunset took a breath and wrapped her arms around Gilda’s waist again, leaning in and pressing her face to Gilda’s back.

“You’re right, that was a really shitty thing of me to say,” Sunset said quietly. “I should never have said it… I’m sorry.”

Sunset felt Gilda relax through her riding leathers, and she nodded silently.

“Yeah… s’okay,” Gilda replied sullenly. “I know y’didn’t mean it like that but… still hurts t’get looked down on like that, savvy? T’get looked at like yer the scum’a the earth?”

Nodding silently, Sunset tightened her grip around Gilda. “Yeah… I know, I’m still kind of a prissy bitch sometimes but I oughta remember that, adopted or no, I’m still an orphan, I really should know better.”

“Yeah, y’should,” Gilda agreed, and Sunset flinched at the steel in her voice, but relaxed as Gilda sighed heavily. “Sorry… I just… they’re good folks, y’know? Mostly, I mean… When y’poor sometimes y’gotta do shit y’ain’t proud of t’stay alive. Way I see it, there ain’t no shame in workin’ a corner or hustlin’ a few bills if the only other option is lettin’ you or y’family starve, savvy?”

“Savvy,” Sunset replied, letting her head fall against Gilda’s back. “You’re right, and… thank you… for calling me on that. I needed that.”

Gilda turned to look over her shoulder and smile at Sunset. “Anytime, Sunshine, y’ready t’go?”

“Yeah, let’s go,” Sunset said with a grin.

Fitting their respective helmets, Gilda opened up the throttle and headed into the city proper. Soon, the grimy suburban environment gave way to a significantly more grimy urban one. Cars drove around with only a vague respect for the lines on the roads, and there was always the omnipresent sound of car horns either nearby or in the distance.

Sunset was also fairly certain that she hadn’t seen a single wall or alley that wasn’t marked by graffiti, although she didn’t mind that stuff so much; some of it was genuinely beautiful artwork that brought a jarring splash of color to the otherwise gray, concrete world of Las Pegasus.

Las Pegasus wasn’t like any city in the human world that Sunset had ever been to, but it definitely reminded her of the Wards in Canterlot, her Canterlot, where she’d grown up before she’d been singled out by Princess Celestia. Everywhere she looked there was garbage, broken windows, poorly kept shop fronts, and all manner of people of all color and shape eyeing the world around them with an almost animal wariness. Even at a glance, Sunset could see the cunning that had been honed in a world where danger was very clearly around every corner and the only sane approach to that world was to either be faster or be more dangerous.

After twenty minutes of drifting through the urban desolace of South Central, Gilda took a turn onto a worn road heading east. On the corner was a large apartment complex in only slightly less of a state of disrepair than the rest of the area had been, and beyond it was a long stretch of road terminating in a dead end with cramped houses of various shapes and sizes lining the road on either side.

Sunset couldn’t help but compare it to the vaguely cookie cutter aesthetic of Whitetail; it was almost the total opposite. The same basic idea was present but it was executed in a completely different hand. Every single house was slightly ramshackle and not a single one could possibly be confused for another. Some houses had two stories where others had basements, some were tall and thin, others were squat and flat.

And there were people everywhere.

Kids in hand-me-downs played soccer in the streets while teens hung out by the porches and corners talking or smoking. Older folks sat in chairs in the lawns or watched from windows, chatting with people outside.

The moment Gilda turned onto the street properly, though, the whole atmosphere changed. There was an easygoing vibe to the whole neighborhood that was suddenly submerged under a vague pall of threat. Even the kids eyed Sunset and Gilda cautiously and, after a few minutes of driving slowly through the street, a older teen, probably a year past the two of them walked up. There was a pistol displayed clearly, tucked into his jeans, he wore a cut-off tee and vest and his mocha arms were tattooed up and down with symbols that had an oddly wicca vibe to them, Sunset thought.

“You got business here, esé?” He asked, his voice was calm but Sunset could hear the unspoken ‘if not then get out’ behind it.

Gilda scoffed under her helmet as she leaned back and turned to face the young man. Sunset could practically feel her grinning.

“Damn, Hop, your dumb ass is still alive?” Gilda said, her voice muffled under the helmet. “I’da bet cash money you’da got caught after tryin t’run up a wall or somethin’ else stupid, savvy?”

The young man’s eyes widened as Gilda reached up and pulled her helmet off, shaking her shaggy white hair loose.

“Grifa?!” the guy Gilda had called Hop spoke with an awe-struck tone. “Hah! Que milagro! Y’still kickin’? Get in’ere!”

Hop moved in and wrapped his arms around Gilda in a tight hug who looked vaguely surprised at the sudden display of affection, but recovered quickly, chuckling as she hugged Hop back. Sunset smiled as she pulled her own helmet off and tucked it under her arm, and a moment later Hop turned to Sunset.

“Damn, is this y’girl, Grifa?” Hop asked, unashamedly looking Sunset up and down as Sunset gave him a dark smirk. “You lose a bet or somethin’ senorita? ‘Cause you way outta Gil’s league.”

Sunset laughed. “Nope, she saved my life.”

Hop’s eyes shot up to his hairline. “No jodás? Guess that’s one way t’score it, ‘ey, Grifa?”

“Y’better not be talkin’ about m’jeina like she’s a piece’a meat, Hop,” Gilda growled with a grim smile as she cracked her knuckles. “Or we’re gonna be havin’ a real tough talk ‘bout how t’go about respectin’ a lady, ‘cause Sunshine here? She’s a fuckin’ lady.”

Hop stepped away, holding his hands up in mock surrender as he laughed.

“So you gonna introduce us or what, babe?” Sunset asked, swatting lightly at Gil’s shoulder.

“R-Right, meet Bar Hop, he was one of the top runners along with me back in the Kings,” Gilda gestured to the young man. “Bar Hop, this here’s the light’a my fuckin’ life, Sunset Shimmer.”

Sunset blushed and nudged Gilda with her elbow. “Ba~be, seriously?”

“Hey, shame is f’folks who ain’t found the love’a their life, savvy?” Gilda shot back with a grin before turning back to Hop. “Tempest’re Summer around?”

“Down the road, Grifa,” Hop replied, thumbing towards the dead end. “They told us t’expect ya but damn, you’ve fuckin’ changed.”

“F’the better, no doubt,” Gilda replied. “How’s the old crew? Tarot?”

“Doin’ a nickel in San Tornado,” Hop said with a grimace. “Same with Thorn, both got caught holdin’.”

“Shit,” Gilda leaned back, scowling as she nodded. “Dandy?”

Bar Hop winced and drew a line across his neck. “Fought over turf a year or so ago, took two t’the chest.”

Gilda’s eyes widened. “Fuck, seriously?”

“Si, outta nowhere too, Tempest took it hard,” Hop said solemnly. “Anyway, Tempest wanted t’see ya as soon as you were in town, Grifa, go on up, ahora.”

“Yeah… and thanks for the update, Hop,” Gilda said as she leaned back in the cycle’s seat again. “I owe you a drink.”

“No hay bronca, Grifa,” Hop said with a grin. “But I’ll take the drink anyway.”

“Beer’s on me, then,” Gilda said, reaching out and catching Hop’s hand, locking their thumbs together and gripping. “The old King is dead.”

“Long live the Kings,” Hop replied.

Letting go, Gilda turned and opened the throttle up on the motorcycle, coasting down the road towards the far end where Hops had indicated. As she did, Sunset tapped Gilda on the shoulder.

“What was that?” Sunset asked curiously. “That thing you said to each other?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah,” Gilda smiled wanly. “S’how we knew each other, back in the day, savvy? Call’n response? It was also sorta our battlecry.”

“Long live the Kings?” Sunset repeated.

“Yeah,” Gilda replied a little sadly. “Not a lot’ve us left, I guess, the old Kings… the old guard. Most’ve probably left, a few’ve started again as Brujah under Tempest, but… us runners? We were kind’ve our own thing, even in the Kings.”

“Like a separate order?” Sunset asked, leaning against Gilda a little. “Seems like you were pretty well respected.”

Gilda nodded. “I was the most trusted runner ‘cause I was the best. Never got caught, never lost a package, and never, ever stopped running til I hit my target.”

“A meritocracy then?” Sunset said with a small laugh.

“Eh, that’s most gangs,” Gilda replied. “That’n nepotism, savvy? Y’promote who ya trust, and ya trust folks who’re good at what they do, and family.”

“Way to take the mystery out of it, Gil,” Sunset replied, chuckling. “I’ll never be able to watch any of those crappy romanticised gangster films the same way ever again.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Gilda groaned. “I hate those fuckin’ things.”

Sunset couldn’t help but appreciate the image of an actual member of a real life gang watching a movie or a t.v. show about those types of gangs. She imagined it would be a lot like watching episodes of Horse with an actual doctor; just an endless stream of vitriol and corrections as every episode delivered more and more inaccuracies about the profession.

Except in this case the profession involved significantly more gunshots, violence, and brutal criminal activity.

The two story house at the end of the corner was one that Sunset could hardly imagine belonging to a hardened gangster. It was neither ostentatious, nor was it particularly well guarded. There were multiple windows, and a nice, cleanly kept yard with a small garden of flowers surrounding the front porch. The house was painted a faded grey, though it had clearly been some time since it had seen a fresh coat, and the wide, open porch had several easy chairs set out under the awning.

What Sunset didn’t see, however, were guns. There were no armed guards, no hardened criminals hanging out by the sidewalks. There were no threats… nothing, just a normal house with the sort of wear and tear and attempted upkeep one might expect of a family with a lot of love but maybe a little less money than they’d like. Enough to keep everything clean but not enough to keep it looking like new. The worn and warm look of a house that had seen a life.

“Reminds me’a Pops old place,” Gilda said quietly as she parked at the curb. “Nice’n homey.”

“Not to stereotype, babe, but uh… drive by shootings… they’re a thing right?” Sunset asked uneasily as she reached back to help unstrap her chair from the rear of the motorcycle. “Aren’t they worried about how open it is?”

Gilda chuckled. “That’s kinda the point babe,” she answered as she stood up. “Ask that question again, then look at the house.”

Sunset furrowed her brow for a moment, looking back at the house as she did. After a moment she nodded. “Ah… I get it now.”

“Ayep, I mean… that's most of the point,” Gilda replied as she set up the chair next to Sunset. “Part’a the point is just t’have a nice house, savvy? But the rest’ve it? Yeah, it’s a big-ass middle finger to rival gangs sayin’; ‘hey you, fuck you, I ain’t afraid’a you!’, y’know?”

“Telling the whole world you’re not afraid just by owning a house,” Sunset said with a grin. “I like it, it’s not exactly subtle but I like it.”

“Yeah, ‘bangers ain’t exactly known for subtlety, Sunshine,” Gilda said with a dry chuckle.

Gilda wrapped her arms gingerly around Sunset, lifting her up off of the back seat of the cycle and lowering her into the wheelchair. Sunset shifted a little, getting comfortable in it again after the long ride. She’d spent more time on the cycle than in her chair over the last few days and while she couldn’t complain necessarily, there was a certain level of appreciation she now had for not having to deal with her butt vibrating for hours at a time.

Pushing Sunset forward, Gilda glanced up at the house and grimaced. She wasn’t looking forward to the conversation that was coming but she knew it had to happen. She’d held a grudge for so long, and it was hard to accept that it had, essentially, been for nothing. She knew there was no way she could’ve known it was for nothing, Gilda knew that but…

“Startin’ t’get why y’don’t wanna hold a grudge, Sunflower,” Gilda said softly as they approached the porch. “Feels pretty fuckin’ stupid when it turns out it like this, savvy?”

“Not your fault, Gil,” Sunset said, looking over her shoulder. “It really wasn’t your fault, okay? You were tricked, everyone was, and you had every reason to think your sister was dead… anyone would hold a grudge over something like that.”

“Yeah… maybe,” Gilda replied. “Still don’t feel any smarter, though.”

Navigating Sunset onto the porch wasn’t precisely easy, but Gilda had enough muscle to get the chair up the couple of porch steps. Sunset glanced around as she wheeled herself up to the front door beside Gilda, and everywhere she looked she saw signs of life. An ashtray with a few cigarettes on an end table someone had brought out to the porch. A couple of empty beer bottles sitting by the foot of a chair. A couple of toys, simple chipped metal cars and trucks that might belong to a small child.

“This really is just a home, isn’t it?” Sunset said quietly, looking up at Gilda.

Gilda nodded silently, then raised a fist to knock sharply on the door. They weren’t waiting more than a few minutes before the sound of footsteps echoed from within, and a moment later the door opened to reveal the smiling face of Summer Wind as she met Gilda’s eyes.

Her hair was down, rather than up in the bun she had worn when Sunset and Gilda had last seen Summer. It was a tumbledown mess of frizzy curls that framed her heart-shaped face nicely.

“Hey there, sha,” Summer opened her arms to Gilda who wore an expression that was half grimace and half smile.

She didn’t hesitate though, Gilda walked forward, stepping into Summer’s embrace and burying her face in Summer’s shoulder. Summer wrapped her arms around Gilda and hugged her tightly as Gilda let out a shuddering breath.

“H-Hey, Summer,” Gilda said quietly. “S’good t’see ya again.”

“Good t’see you too, sha,” Summer replied softly. “And ya jeina, how you doin’, sha’ree? You look good.”

“I have it on good authority that I always look good,” Sunset remarked with a grin, and Gilda laughed a little as she pulled out of Summer’s embrace.

“Ain’t wrong there, Sunshine,” Gilda replied. “Temp around?”

Summer nodded. “Ayeah, sha, she waitin’ on ya in da front room if ya wanna talk. Ah know she’s been itchin’ t’talk t’ya’ll, too, since ya dropped that bombshell on us a few days back.”

“Yeah, guess I owe’r an explanation,” Gilda agreed. “Sunflower here’s the one who saw’er though, so…”

“C’mon in, ya’ll,” Summer waved them in to follow her as she walked into the front room.

It was as warm-feeling on the inside as it was normal on the outside. Everywhere she looked all Sunset saw was a normal house. Pictures hung from the walls, pictures of seemingly random people mostly, which seemed odd. Mostly younger too, all smiling toothy grins at the camera. It only took Sunset a moment to realise who it was she was looking at, though.

“They’re all Kings, aren’t they?” Sunset said, more than asked.

“Si,” a familiar voice answered from down the hall, and a moment later Tempest stepped out from a doorway to fix Sunset with a look. “All Kings, mostly dead or in prison now.”

Tempest looked a far cry from the brutal figure she’d cut the first time Sunset laid eyes on her. She was wearing a loose tee stained with what looked like grease and old paint, and she wore baggy black track pants. Ink seemed to cover most of her body where her skin was exposed, and her hair hung in a loose veil over the tattooed side of her face.

“The walls of a home are a place for pictures of family,” Tempest said quietly as she walked up to Gilda and Sunset’s sides, looking at neither of them, and instead staring at the images on the wall. “Family and friends… it’s the only thing that means anything when you live this life, right, Grifa?”

Gilda nodded. “Yeah… hate it when somethin’ pops taught me turns out t’be right, though…”

“That pinche gringo was a piece’a work, Grifa, no doubt,” Tempest said. “But he wasn’t stupid, y’know? Guess that’s why we’re in this mess.”

“And that’s why we’re here,” Gilda said determinedly. “We gotta talk t’pops, savvy? I gotta talk to pops. I gotta know why he hid Zee, why he lied t’me… t’all of us.”

“Yeah… I’d like t’know the same thing, Grifa, believe me,” Tempest replied. “But it ain’t that easy… gotta make some calls, make some deals… Ol’ Jefe, he ain’t easy t’talk to.”

“Tell them who’s here then,” Gilda replied with a snarl.

“You think that’ll matta’, sha?” Summer asked, raising an eyebrow. “Da cops don’t give a damn ‘bout no family, hon.”

“S’not about them,” Gilda replied, giving Summer an even look. “Why y’think pops ain’t been shanked? He fucked over a lotta folks, folks who got friends’n family in San Tornado… that old fuck oughta been dead within’a month.”

Summer and Tempest shared an uneasy look, but Sunset just groaned as she caught up to what Gilda was saying.

“He’s got connections to the guards,” Sunset said quietly. “Blackmail, bribery… right?” Suddenly Sunset's eyes snapped wide. “Shit, of course! I get it now!”

This time all three of the women looked quizzically at Sunset who stared at them curiously.

“R-really? You guys don’t see it?” Sunset asked.

“Not all’a us’re geniuses, babe,” Gilda replied. “Wanna let us in on whatever ya got?”

Sighing, Sunset closed her eyes, gathering her thoughts as she followed the trail of breadcrumbs her instincts and sense for planning had always left her. Something had been niggling at the back of her mind ever since Gilda had told her how she’d been tricked by her foster father. The nature of it seemed backwards, or off somehow. It seemed either needlessly convoluted or just plain spiteful.

Except… what if it wasn’t?

Opening her eyes, Sunset nodded. “Right, so… Storm… he lied about your sister being dead, right? Why would he do that?”

Gilda, Tempest, and Summer glanced between one another and each of them shook their heads.

“Because he needed her to fall off the radar,” Sunset answered insistently. “He needed to be absolutely sure you wouldn’t look for Zee. Do you get it? Do you get why that’s important?” Sunset was met with blank stares and she groaned, throwing her hands into the air as she did. “Why wouldn’t he just fake his own death to escape custody? Why wouldn’t he run? If he was ready with the ploy for Zee’s fake death that means he knew Gilda would betray him all along so why not run?!”

A light seemed to flick on over all three of the other womens’ heads. Lines began connecting, ideas that hadn’t been in the same zipcode were suddenly in reach.

“Mierde,” Tempest swore. “It’s because he needed Zee more than he needed to be free… he’s been playing a long con this whole time…

Summer spat out a Prench curse. “Not jus’ that, sha, he didn't jus’ need Zee t’be free, that old crow needed t'be damn sure she’d be on his side.”

Gilda clenched her hands into fists and swore as she began pacing back and forth like a caged animal. “Shit! How the hell did… why would he fuckin’ do somethin’ like that? What could possibly mean that fuckin’ much that he’d throw himself inta prison?”

“Prison didn't scare him, he knew it didn’t matter,” Sunset answered. “He has connections to the prison guards, maybe even the warden. It’s the only explanation I can think of as to why someone who made that many enemies lasted that long in a cage with them.”

“But why?!” Gilda asked, her voice twisting into a snarl. “None’a that answers the fuckin’ why of it!”

“I… I don’t know,” Sunset admitted. “All I can tell you is that everything that’s happened up til now with your sister… I’d be willing to bet that it happened on purpose.” Rolling over to Gilda’s side, Sunset took her hands, twining their fingers together. “You’re right, though, at least I think you are… I think we’ll be able to talk to Storm right away… I’ll be willing to bet there will suddenly be an opening immediately in fact.”

“Yeah… bet you’re fuckin’ right,” Gilda replied before turning to Tempest and Summer. “Make the call, Summer… we’ll go in tomorrow.”

Tempest guided Gilda and Sunset into the living room while Summer went into the kitchen to make the call to San Tornado. Like the rest of the house, the living room was startlingly normal-looking. It had two couches, one on each wall, and an easy chair in the corner. There was a coffee table that had been polished at one point but now bore the tell-tale stains and slight burn marks of use. The whole room smelled vaguely of warm food and cigarette smoke which was being contributed to by, no doubt, the ashtray on the coffee table.

Gilda slumped onto one of the couches and started digging through her pockets for her cigarette pack only for a small paper tube to appear under her nose as Tempest handed one of hers to Gilda.

For a moment, Gilda stared at the cigarette almost accusingly… but eventually shrugged, and took it. Tempest passed one to Sunset and offered her lighter, which Gilda turned down as she fished out her matches.

“Still lightin’em like that, ey?” Tempest asked, turning and sitting on the opposite couch as Gilda struck the match and held it under her cigarette, and then under Sunset’s who was looking at Gilda questioningly. “Old school, with matches, I mean.”

“Can’t help it,” Gilda answered as she blew out a plume of smoke. “Usin’ lighters makes the whole stick taste like fuckin’ butane. Leaves a shit taste in the back’a my mouth, savvy?”

Tempest’s face fell as Gilda explained, but she nodded. “Si, lo se, I remember… so… Grifa, bout us?”

Gilda took a long drag on her cigarette before blowing the smoke out and grimacing. “Fuck, I dunno, Temp… even knowin’ she’s alive… y’still couldn’t protect’er like ya promised, y’know?”

“I know,” Tempest said quietly. “I tried… sent a buncha my best out t’where I thought she’d be at the same time we went after Storm that night, y’know?” Tempest shook her head. “Afterwards… they all said the place looked abandoned, nothin’ doin…”

Sunset took a drag on her own cigarette as she leaned to the side and rested her hand on Gilda’s arm. “Gil… my bet is that Zee was long gone by then… if Storm already knew you’d betray him then she was probably gone even before he threatened you with her safety.”

Grimacing, Gilda nodded. “Yeah… fuckin… I know, y’know?” Angrily blowing out another plume of smoke, Gilda brought her hand up to grip Sunset’s. “I fuckin’ know she was gone, okay? I know it was fuckin’ hopeless, now, but…”

“Family is family, si?” Tempest said. “Don’t matter how it happens, some things ya don’t just get over.”

“Yeah,” Gilda replied in a tired voice. “S’like that.”

“But that’s wrong!” Sunset said suddenly, bringing both Tempest and Gilda’s eyes up to meet hers as she pounded her fist on her armrest.

“Look, I know I’m probably the worst person to talk about forgiving people but, damn it this is different! The only one who’s at fault here is Storm!” Sunset snapped, pointing in the vague direction of the prison. “And look at you both!” she gestured sharply to Gilda and Tempest. “You’re both just sitting here wallowing in blame because you’re a bunch of machismo addled idiots who think letting go of shit is weak and all the while all you’re doing is letting that piece of shit win!”

Tempest and Gilda both shrunk back under the heat of Sunset’s tirade as Sunset rolled up so she could look both of them in the eyes and both of them found themselves glancing elsewhere.

“Don’t just sit there like a pair of lumps,” Sunset snapped, putting out her cigarette on the metal brace of her armrest. “Gilda Grimfeather, you look at me right now!” Gilda flinched but obeyed as she met her fiery girlfriend’s gaze. “Do you really think that holding on to the grudge you have against Tempest for failing at something she literally could never have possibly succeeded at is helping anything?”

“I… I don’t-” Gilda stammered, but Sunset wasn’t finished.

“No, you listen to me,” Sunset rolled forward until she was staring straight at Gilda. “Right now we have no idea what Storm is planning, but we know it involves your sister. His whole plan has been predicated on keeping her and you apart, and ideally keeping you isolated, savvy?!”

Tempest and Gilda both flinched but nodded.

“He’s like any other abusive asshole, then,” Sunset continued. “So long as you’re holding grudges and cutting yourself off from people who can help you, you’re giving him cards to play against you, alright?” Sunset sighed, her shoulders sagging as some of the fire went out of her, and she took Gilda’s hand in both of hers. “Look… babe, I love you so much… and I get holding grudges, you know that I do… but this isn’t reasonable… Storm played all of you from the start, and by holding onto this grudge all that’s happening is that you’re doing his work for him.”

Gilda frowned as she gripped Sunset’s hands, leaning in to rest her forehead against their clasped fingers.

“Please… Gilda,” Sunset pleaded. “I know… I know how much I’m asking of you right now but… please…”

Sunset was right. Gilda knew that Sunset was right. In her head and in her heart Gilda knew she was just getting played by Storm again. He always knew exactly what buttons to push, how to point and direct her anger. Hadn’t she even told that to Sunset in almost those exact words?

Storm knew exactly how to harness Gilda’s anger. From the very beginning he knew that she’d blame Tempest for everything, Storm knew that Gilda would take out her anger on the people who loved her because…

Because that’s exactly what he’d taught her to do.

Tears trickled down Gilda’s cheeks and she let out a wracked sob. Her grip tightened on Sunset’s hand and Sunset pulled Gilda in and wrapped her arms around the girl who was suddenly feeling so very frail.

“I’m sorry…” Gilda whispered between her tears.

Tempest looked up, startled at the words as Gilda turned, her eyes red and tears streaking her cheeks.

“Temp… m’sorry…” Gilda mumbled, her shoulders shaking.

Whatever Tempest had been expecting from the day, this was not on that list, and suddenly the amazonian gangster was shaking too. Her eyes clouded as she put out her cigarette roughly on the ashtray and walked over to sit next to Gilda.

Sunset pulled away, giving Gilda’s hand a last squeeze and giving her an encouraging nod as she did so.

Shaking, Gilda turned shamefaced to Tempest and let out another sob. “I… fuckin’... I just… I’m s-sor-”

Her broken, stammered apology was cut off as Tempest suddenly enveloped Gilda in a tight hug, pulling her close and burying her face in Gilda’s pale hair as the huge woman let out a cracked cry of her own. Gilda’s cry was muffled by Tempest’s larger frame but she wrapped her arms around the muscular woman nonetheless.

“Y’don’t gotta apologise, Grifa,” Tempest said softly, stroking Gilda’s hair. “I don’t give a shit about that, si? All I care about is that I got mi carnala back… I got my family back!”

Gilda nodded silently, her fingers tightening to grip the loose fabric of Tempest’s top as she relaxed into her older ‘sister’s arms.

Sunset smiled warmly, feeling that same surge of something inside her heart. The same feeling she’d had when she saw Octavia and Penny making friends. The feeling that she’d done something truly good. She started slightly as a hand came to rest on her shoulder, and Sunset looked up to see a teary-eyed Summer Wind looking down at her.

“Y’worked a little miracle right there, sha’ree,” Summer said quietly, not wanting to interrupt Tempest and Gilda’s reconciliation. “Gettin’ those two grande beede t’pull they head outta they asses and talk it out? Hoo lawd, I ain’t ever think I’d see the day.”

“They just needed a push,” Sunset replied, smiling back up at Summer. “They wanted to forgive each other, Gilda wanted to forgive Tempest, I could feel it.”

“Ain’t that easy, sha,” Summer said, shaking her head. “At least… ain’t normally that easy.”

Sunset shrugged, glancing at Gilda who was looking as if a weight had been pulled off of her. “Maybe that’s just what everyone wants to think but… I think all it really took was Gilda knowing that it was okay…” Grimacing, Sunset looked back up at Summer. “All her life she and Tempest were taught that forgiveness was weakness… that it was bad business. Having someone tell her otherwise at the right time… it might mean more than you’d think.”

“Maybe y’right, suga’,” Summer replied. “But y’know what ah’m thinkin’?” she asked, looking down at Sunset who gave her a questioning look. “Ah’m thinkin’ ya’ll ain’t givin’ y’self enough credit, ah’m thinkin’ not just anyone could’a looked those two hardheaded couyon in da eye and spat out th’truth, y’see?”

Blushing a little, Sunset leaned back in her chair and chuckled. “Uhm, maybe… I guess? I have a lot of practice lately with handling Gilda…”

“Mhm, bet you do, sha,” Summer said teasingly, earning a much brighter blush from Sunset.

“S-So… the meeting?” Sunset asked, her good humoring tapering off as she voiced the question.

Summer nodded. “Ayeah… s’like ya’ll said… suddenly we got a meetin’ with Ol’ Jefe Storm, no fuss, no muss.”

“I can’t say I’m surprised,” Sunset said quietly. “My guess is that Storm wants to gauge where Gilda’s at now, he wants to make sure he’s still in control.”

“Then he’s in for a big surprise,” Summer hissed in a low voice.

Sunset just nodded as Summer spoke, she didn’t want Gilda to have to go through with the pain of the meeting, she knew it would hurt and she knew it would be difficult… but she also knew that Gilda needed to do it.

Something was changing in Canterlot, and Sunset had a sneaking feeling that whoever Storm was, he was right in the middle of it.

The monolithic penitentiary loomed in front of Sunset and Gilda as they entered through the first of what appeared to be several checkpoints. Gilda had, grudgingly, left her talon with Tempest and Summer, in part because it would certainly be confiscated and partially because Gilda didn’t trust herself not to attack her foster father with it on the slim-to-nonexistent chance that it did make it through.

Gilda was at war with herself with every step she took through the halls of the penitentiary. Every impact of her boots against the cold concrete sent a ripple of emotions up her spine, rattling her heart in its cage.

What do I say… what do I even do? The intrusive thoughts drowned out the rest of the world around Gilda as she was guided through the prison towards the small meeting area.

Surprisingly, they weren’t taken to the higher security meeting place; with its dividers, glass barriers, and unpleasant plastic phones. They were lead to the minimum security section, a small area that had the look of a cafeteria to it. A small, but open room with a few tables and chairs scattered around.

Somehow, that made things worse. Gilda felt her heart clench at the thought that in less than an hour she’d be standing face to face with him again. There would be nothing between them but air and bad blood.

“It’s okay, you can do this,” Sunset’s voice cut through Gilda’s thoughts like a blade as she took Gilda’s hand, giving it a light squeeze.

Gilda looked down at Sunset, who was smiling up at her as she laced their fingers together. There was every ounce of silent support that Gilda needed in those eyes. That, and maybe more, she thought as Gilda realised she was taking ragged, gulping breaths. She felt light-headed as she consciously slowed her breathing, taking several slow, deep breaths to calm herself down.

“Dunno if I can do this, Sunshine,” Gilda all but whispered as they entered the small room and were directed to a table near the center. “I… I wanted to but… fuck, feels like my fuckin’ brain is meltin’ out my ears.”

“You’re going to be alright, Gil,” Sunset said quietly, reaching out to pull a chair from the table and gesturing at it. “Sit, take a breath… I’m not going anywhere, okay?”

“Heh… yeah,” Gilda nodded, chuckling dryly. “Guess I was right though… no way I was gonna be able t’do this alone, savvy?”

Sunset nodded. “No shame in that, babe, I felt the same way about the portal.”

“Yeah… just…” Gilda slumped in the chair and grimaced. “Just… can ya do me a favor?” Gilda asked, and Sunset gave her a questioning look. “When pops starts talkin’... try not t’listen to hard, okay?”

“What do you mean?” Sunset asked, her brow furrowing in concern. “Why wouldn’t I listen?”

“Because pops is… he’s real persuasive, savvy?” Gilda warned, her mouth twisting in distaste. “S’like… when he gets talkin’ ya wanna listen, and then he gets worked up and ya get worked up right along with’em… he’s… he’s a hard guy t’say no to.”

“Sounds like a slimeball,” Sunset replied with a smirk.

Gilda didn’t laugh, though, nor did she smile. She just shook her head.

“Yeah… everyone says that at first,” Gilda replied darkly.

Sunset narrowed her eyes at that remark and started to retort sharply before catching herself. Gilda wouldn’t have said that if she didn’t really believe it and if she believed it then… Sunset had to trust that there was a good reason for that. She knew that Gilda knew how intelligent Sunset was and if Gilda was still concerned then…

“I’ll be careful,” Sunset said, finally, “he sounds dangerous.”

“Ya got no idea, Sunflower,” Gilda remarked in an arid voice. “Pops is the kinda guy who’ll be your best friend, y’surrogate dad, y’teacher… y’dealer… whatever he needs to be to get inside your head, savvy? And he can do it all, too…” Grimacing, Gilda sat up straight, fidgeting with the edge of her coat.

“One minute he’s a chef, then he’s a petrolhead, then he’s a philosopher, y’know?” Gilda said, her face twisting into fear and disgust. “S’like he gets a feel f’who he needs to be the moment ya start talkin’, and suddenly he’s the expert that y’wanna impress… dunno if I’m sayin’ it right but… just… be careful.”

“I will,” Sunset said quietly. “I promise.”

Gilda smiled as she reached out and took Sunset’s hand, squeezing it slightly before putting her arms around Sunset and pulling her closer.

“I love you, Sunshine…” Gilda muttered as she leaned against Sunset, nuzzling against the top of her head and breathing in the calming scent of lilacs and cherries. “I’ll always love you, savvy?”

“Heh… savvy,” Sunset replied with a smile. “Hey… Gilda, while we’re waiting can I ask you a question?”

Gilda leaned back and smiled down at Sunset. “Sure, I mean... Y’don’t gotta ask like that, y’know, babe? You can just ask.”

“I… I know,” Sunset said with a slightly nervous laugh. “I just… a-anyways, I was wondering about something… every time you talk I see Tempest and Summer flinch… like you said something weird or bad, why is that?”

“Huh?” Gilda raised an eyebrow and cocking her head to the side in confusion. “What’dya mean?”

“You mean you never noticed?” Sunset asked in surprise. “I noticed it the first time we met, you’d talk and they’d flinch, it’s always the same thing too, it’s whenever you-”

“Ey up, sprog.”

A chill jolted down Sunset’s spine at the deep, sonorous voice that spoke suddenly from the far side of the room, and Gilda jerked like she’d been stabbed. Gilda’s hands clenched into tight fists as they both turned their heads to see a figure walking lazily towards them.

He was long limbed and wolf-lean in his clean-looking blue prisoner’s uniform, with his arms swinging easily at his sides. His long, wiry white hair was tied back in a braid that trailed to his mid-back and terminated at a widows peak on his prominent forehead. A pair of large, bushy eyebrows accentuated the long, sharp features of his weather-tanned face, and a short, wispy white beard tapered off his chin,

Tattoos of realistic lightning bolts, like sharp, angular veins, crawled down his arms from his shoulders, and at his brow was tattooed a black, jagged crown.

There wasn’t even a question as to who Sunset was looking at, she didn’t need to see the look of frozen, absolute panic on Gilda’s face either. The set of his shoulders, the look of absolute confidence in eyes that made Sunset think of something like shards of frozen opal.

“Storm King,” Sunset muttered softly, and King’s mouth twitched upward slightly at the sound of his name.

“Arh cocka, seems I’ve got me birthday comin’ early,” Storm said, a laugh hiding behind every word as he grinned, approached the table, and leaned on the back of the chair. “Got me favorite daughter ‘ere, and a lovely young thing with’er.”

“I’m surprised they don’t have you shackled,” Sunset said in a low voice. “Where’s the guard that’s supposed to be with you?”

“Giz uz a tick wif our bairn afore the twenty questions, hen,” Storm said, waving his hand dismissively as he dropped into the chair and started tapping his fingers rhythmically against the table, each finger coming down with a distinct ringing thump.

Gilda stared, frozen in place as the man who practically raised her stared across the empty metal table at her. Sunset felt a chill make its way down her spine as Storm glanced between the two of them.

“Y’look well, Gilda,” Storm said, his previous sneer vanished, and a warm fatherly smile replacing it. “Ah’ve missed ye.”

Sunset squeezed Gilda’s hand, but the taller girl was completely frozen, and at the same time she was pressed hard against the back of the chair, as if she were trying to retreat from him. Sunset scowled at how Gilda’s chest juddered with sharp breaths; she was panicking, and badly.

“Now then, sit oop straight, aye?” Storm gestured at Gilda who, to Sunset’s shock, suddenly sat ramrod straight. “There’s a good lass… can’t expect t’keep a tidy lass like that’n if y’can’t e’en sit up properly, savvy?”

Sunset’s eyes widened at the sound of the familiar word. Of course, it would make perfect sense, wouldn’t it? It was such an odd, anachronistic word: 'savvy'. It didn’t really belong in the lexicon of a normal high school girl, not that Gilda was strictly ‘normal’ but… Sunset grit her teeth as she suddenly understood why Summer and Tempest seemed to flinch every time Gilda spoke. It must have been hard to hear Storm’s voice coming out of the mouth of a girl they both considered family.

“F-Fuck you,” Gilda finally spat out, letting go of Sunset’s hand to slam her fists into the table with a rattling crash.

The moment Storm King, her ‘pops’, had stepped into the room it was like time had stopped for Gilda. Her brain and body both froze up as she stared at the man who had taught and raised her for so much of her life. His voice, familiar and warm, weaseled into her mind the way it always did. Gilda wanted it to be different, to feel different. She wanted to hate Storm but, looking at him… it was so much easier to hate him from a distance. It was one thing to swear she’d kill him over and over in the safety of her flat, but now… face to face?

It wasn’t so easy.

“I don’t gotta listen to a word y’say anymore, got it pops?” Gilda said, forcing strength into her as she leaned forward, glaring at Storm who kept smiling through Gilda’s anger. “Not after the shit you pulled, not after Zee.”

Storm’s face fell at the mention of Gilda’s sister.

“So it’s true… y’really bought it, eh?” Storm said softly. “Y’really thought I killed her.”

Gilda froze and Sunset felt her heart clench at his words.

“Y’really thought I’d do it, ey?” Storm’s voice was filled with sorrow and hurt as his fingers beat their rhythmic tattoo onto the table. “I’ll ‘appen I wasn’t th’best father ‘round, Gilda, but I never laid ‘ands on ye, never hurt ye, never ‘urt Zee, an’ I damn well never would, savvy?”

“You… you said-” Gilda choked out.

“Said what I ‘ad to t’keep a mutinous traitor from comin’ arter m’daughter,” Storm finished, his eyes meeting Sunset and Gilda’s evenly. “Was gonna send you right ‘long with’er, sprog… but…”

Storm sighed, running his free hand through his bound hair in a motion that made Sunset’s skin crawl at how similar it was to what Gilda did every time she was thinking or unsure or herself. It was so goddamn similar that Sunset could definitely see precisely why Gilda made Tempest and Summer flinch on occasion.

For all that she hated Storm, Gilda had still managed to copy his mannerisms and speech pattern, even if she never did pick up his accent which sounded thickly Braytish if Sunset was any judge.

Gilda was silent, she tried to think of something to say, an argument… anything to keep her feet on the ground but the sadness in Storm’s eyes, the look on his face… had she really been the one who was mistaken? It was a ploy… sure, but did she misread what the ploy was.

“I never hurt m’little girl, sprog,” Storm swore, his fingers never ceasing their beat. “Not once… and I went t’prison afore even hintin’ that I’d gone’n put’er somewhere safe so’s t’let m’traitor daughter an’ her swamp witch wife believe there weren’t nuffink t’look for but… but I thought that you might…”

“You… you’re lying…” Gilda bit out angrily. “You threw a bloodstained medal t’me you bastard! Zee’s medal! Our dad’s medal!”

“I’m you’re pops, sprog,” Storm said a little bitterly. “Jus’ ‘oo d’ya think fed you? Clothed ye? Put ye in school and made sure ye learned ‘ow t’survive? I am y’dad! And you owe me everything!”

Gilda flinched back, and Sunset could feel tremors shuddering through her girlfriend’s body. She turned to glare at Storm, to say something to him, but the pain on his face stopped her. What little conversation there had been died between them as the room was filled with nothing but the beat of Storm’s fingers on the table.

“You’re a monster,” Sunset said quietly. “Believe me, I would know… I know monsters.”

“Oh aye?” Storm asked with a small, tired grin. “An’ ‘ows that?”

“I was one,” Sunset replied, narrowing her eyes.

Storm met Sunset’s gaze for several moments, and Sunset grit her teeth as she forced herself not to look away. For all of Gilda’s warnings, the sheer force of Storm’s presence almost reminded Sunset of her mother. The feeling of being smaller, weaker, and in the presence of something greater that was pushing down on her. Not to the degree of standing in the presence of a literal goddess, of course, but the fact that a mere mortal man could make her feel like that rattled Sunset badly.

Finally, Storm chuckled.

“Ye’ve got bawls, lass,” Storm said after several moments of silence. “Tha’s good, Gilda needs a firm ‘and. Sure ye’ve got a touch’a the monster in ye.” Sighing quietly, Storm leaned back in his chair. “Ain’t lyin’ though, I’d ‘oped that Gilda woulda seen through m’lie to the rest’a that traitorous bunch’a slashers an’ known I’da never, never ‘armed an ‘air on ‘Zelda’s ‘ead.”

“So it’s my fault?!” Gilda spat. “My fault you fuckin’ lied t’me?! My fault you went t’prison?! It’s my fault I spent the last four years thinkin’ I’d killed my baby sister?!”

“What can I say, sprog?” Storm asked, looking a little weary. “You betrayed me, right ‘long with all t’others… I’d ‘oped ye’d see the truth, but… Ah see y’never really trusted y’pops.”

“BULLSHIT!” Gilda roared, standing sharply and knocking the chair she was sitting at to the ground. “I loved you! You were my goddamn hero! Then… all those folks! Our fuckin’ family! You lost yer fuckin’ mind, Pops! Goin’ around and pickin’ fights with every other goddamn gang in spitting distance, starting wars, gettin’ people killed!” Gilda’s breaths were coming in short, sharp gasps as she yelled at Storm. “You ripped my whole fuckin’ world apart when you took Zee away from me, savvy?! I hate you!”

Storm let Gilda’s tirade wash over him unflinching, as he tap-tap-tapped his fingers. “Ye think I didn’t feel every single one’a them deaths? Eh? I knew I ‘ad t’stir the hornet’s nest t’find wot I needed an’ all ye’ad t’do was trust me, but ye couldn’t do it.”

“How was I supposed’ta fuckin’ trust you when you wouldn’t tell us nothing?!” Gilda yelled back. “You kept everything so fuckin’ close t’the vest that it looked like ye’d gone off yer fuckin’ rocker!”

Sunset stared as Gilda started slipping into a shadow of Storm’s speech, her words slurring together slightly as the traces and vestiges of the accent belonging to the man who raised her starting making themselves known.

"Don’t ye talk t’me like that, sprog,” Storm’s voice took on a low, dark tone and Sunset’s eyes widened at the way Gilda wilted back from him.

Silence fell between them as Gilda righted the chair and sat back down in it, reaching out for Sunset to grab her hand gain. Sunset grimaced at the feeling of her love’s shaking fingers.

Letting out a slow breath, Storm looked up at Gilda then at Sunset before fixing his gaze back on his ‘daughter’.

“Gilda, it’s nowt t’me that ye lost faith,” Storm said quietly. “Ye’ll allus be m’little girl, aye? Ye’ll allus be my daughter… so what’s all ‘appened ‘tween us, it don’t matter oreyt? Ah forgive ye, if ye’ll f’give me?”

Gilda felt her chest wrench in place as Storm spoke. A part of her, a large part, wanted to take him up on what he’d offered.

Wasn’t it true, what he’d said? He’d never really hurt Zee, he’d never hurt her either. Sure, he’d done awful things, but… if he had a reason? Didn’t she owe him at least a chance to explain himself? The drumming of Storm’s fingers on the table seemed to drown out the rest of the world as she stared at him. Her Pops, her hero… he’d taught her so much… so much of how to be a good person and a bad one, but… wasn’t it his lessons that brought her Sunset? Extend a hand, feed the hungry, clothe them, and give them a roof? Wasn’t he the reason why all of this had happened, in the end, both good and the bad? What if the bad really had just been… misunderstanding?

Gilda stared down at Storm’s other hand as he extended it to Gilda.

“C’mon then… giz uz ye hand,” Storm said with a smile. “We’ve got bad blood twixt us, no lie, but we’re family… family allus sticks close, savvy?”

There was a chill in Sunset’s heart as watched Storm reach out to Gilda, and everything in Sunset’s mind was screaming that something was wrong. Something was going terribly, terribly wrong. They were supposed to get Storm talking. They were supposed to find out why he had sent Zee away, why he had driven a wedge in the Kings, and why he had let himself go to prison. Everything that Tempest, Gilda, and Summer had told her about Storm made him sound utterly mercenary, a man who was without a truly generous bone in his body; that everything he did was for a purpose, never just to help.

It contended badly with the image Gilda had given her, though. The image of a man who was much like Gilda herself, cruel but kind, an honest liar, and a generous miser. A man who drew a line in the sand and gave not a single shit about the people on the other side of it and yet…

He had killed people, gotten people killed, manipulated and torn apart his own family for… what?

Every one of Sunset’s thoughts came to her through what felt like a haze of smog, whenever she tried to concentrate on those things the topics just… slipped away. All of it drowned out by that infernal drumming.

“Pops I…” Gilda started, and Sunset could see the tears start to form in Gilda’s eyes.

Something was wrong, terribly wrong. The anger was gone, the hate… under any normal circumstance Sunset would be thrilled to see Gilda without an expression of fury painting her face. Rage was pain, it hurt everything around it, and seeing Gilda controlled by her anger hurt Sunset as much as she knew it hurt Gilda. But today was different… Gilda knew better. She knew that Storm was a manipulative bastard, hell she was one of the ones who had warned Sunset. She knew that no single moment or set of honeyed words should ever be enough to douse the flames of hate that Storm had stoked in Gilda’s heart.

So why was Gilda letting Storm get into her head? Sunset clenched her eyes as she tried to wrack her brains but she could hardly think. Her mind was full of that… that…

Sunset’s eyes shot open.

“STOP!” Sunset slammed her hands on the table.

Currents of magic spilled out from Sunset, disrupting the flow of the aether around them, and suddenly Sunset’s mind was clear while Storm jerked his hand away from the table as if he’d been shocked. The air around the three of them was suffused with the bracing scent of sea salt and ocean wind as the spell dissipated the ambient magical energies into nothingness.

Sunset stared at Storm, a cold fist of ice having formed in her gut as she reached out for Gilda, missing twice before grabbing onto the hem of the stunned girl’s bomber jacket.

“Gil… Gilda get me out of here,” Sunset stammered, her eyes never leaving Storm’s own gaze as he stared in blatant disbelief at Sunset for a few moments before a look of wild, borderline insane joy started to light up on his face. “Gil, NOW!”

Swallowing hard, Gilda turned scooped up Sunset with one arm and grabbed the wheelchair with her free hand and turned to sprint out of the room. She didn’t quite get out before Storm began laughing. While Gilda had her back turned to the man, Sunset could see him easily over Gilda’s shoulder. He had his head thrown back, leaning back in his chair as he cackled and laughed wildly as he stood and stared at Sunset, pointing a single finger at her.

“Found ye!” Storm crowed before throwing his head back and laughing again as the two girls fled from the small room.

Gilda ran with Sunset and her wheelchair in tow. She felt sick to her stomach but she couldn’t quite put a finger on why.

“What the fuck was that, Sunny?!” Gilda gasped as they made their way out.

Sunset looked pale and drawn as she curled into Gilda’s arms, wrapping her arms around Gilda’s neck and pulling herself closer as Gilda moved through the exit. They were stopped briefly by the guards to get their personal effects back, the few they’d brought with them, but were left mostly unmolested.

All through the process of leaving, Sunset didn’t answer but Gilda felt… awful. She felt hollowed out and everything around her felt cold. Even with Sunset’s proximity, usually enough to light a blaze in her heart that would warm her to the bone, Gilda couldn’t seem to shake the unearthly chill biting into her. It was like it went deeper than just flesh, and that thought sent another chill through Gilda. It was like she felt it in her soul.

The warm, sharp, winter air of Las Pegasus slapped Gilda in the face as the two girls left the confines of San Tornado and Gilda had absolutely no desire to go back. Gilda took several deep breaths as she stopped at the curb outside the prison and dropped onto her ass with Sunset pulled into her lap. She wrapped herself around Sunset as if the smaller girl were the only thing keeping her in one piece.

“Gilda.”

“What the fuck…” Gilda stammered as she pulled Sunset close with one hand and covered her face with her other. “What the fuck… what… what the…”

“Gilda!”

“I was about t’forgive ‘im…” Gilda croaked out. “I could feel it, right on the tip of my tongue I was gonna just… I was-”

“Gilda you’re hurting me!” Sunset cried, and Gilda jerked as she pulled away.

Sunset winced as she rubbed at her side were Gilda had fixed a deathgrip on, taking a few deep breaths. An icy feeling of a completely different stripe sluiced down Gilda’s spine as she saw the Sunset in pain.

“Ah… shit, Sunshine, I-” Gilda stared, suddenly distracted from whatever it was her foster father had done. “Fuck, I’m… I’m sorry babe I didn’t-”

Sunset’s finger met Gilda’s lips, followed quickly by her own lips as Sunset pulled Gilda down in a kiss. Gilda felt her brain resetting as she wrapped arms around Sunset, the familiar scent of lilacs and cherries filling her nose and the soft feeling of Sunset’s warmth under her fingers dragging her scattered mind back to reality.

They pulled apart as Gilda took a deep breath, leaning her head against Sunset’s shoulder.

“It’s okay… it’s okay,” Sunset repeated softly, rubbing her hand in circles across Gilda’s back, lightly kissing the top of her head as Gilda shook in Sunset’s arms.

“What the hell happened, babe?” Gilda pleaded, her hands clenching and unclenching as the memory of the last ten or fifteen minutes blurred together in her mind. “S’like all of a sudden I was a kid again… like he was my pops and I just… I wanted to…”

“Let’s get home, Gil,” Sunset said quietly. “I’ll… I’ll try to explain once we’re alone, okay? I promise.”

Gilda nodded and stood carefully, Sunset clinging to her as she set up the wheelchair and slowly lowered Sunset into it. The walk back to the motorcycle and subsequent ride back to Tempest and Summer’s place where they had been put up in a guest room on the second floor was relatively quiet; Gilda felt almost as badly shaken as the night Sunset had nearly died, and Sunset’s prevailing silence on the matter of her foster father and whatever he had done wasn’t helping.

Every inch of Gilda screamed for her to press Sunset for answers as they pulled into the driveway of the small South Central homestead. She had to know, she needed to know what Storm had done but…

‘Sunshine’ll tell me… she promised,’ Gilda thought, pushing down the panic that was starting to eat at her gut. Sunset had promised her answers and Gilda trusted Sunset with her life.

“Don’t ask,” Gilda said, immediately upon entering the household as Tempest opened the door for them and began to open her mouth. “Somethin’ fuckin’ shady happened, a’right? I… I dunno what it was but…”

“Tranquila, Grifa, I won’t ask if ya don’t want me to,” Tempest said in a subdued voice that barely fit the amazonian gang leader. “But… we gotta know, si? So…”

“We’ll tell you tomorrow, okay?” Sunset said as she followed Gilda in, her eyes flinty as she rolled past Tempest towards the stairs. “Gilda and I have to talk first… I know we’re imposing but…”

“De nada, cielito,” Tempest said with a laugh, waving her hand. “You’n Grifa’ll always have a bed with us here, okay? No hay bronco, I’m just sorry my guest room’s on the second floor.”

“I’ll live,” Sunset replied with a dry grimace as she rolled up to the staircase and waited for Gilda to help her up, muttering about Daleks again.

Gilda lifted Sunset from her seat and tucked the chair under her arm once Tempest had finished collapsing it and carried both girl and chair upstairs. The room they shared was a small one, not quite as well kept as the guest room in the Sonen sisters’ house but certainly more lived in. The guest room they had been given in Whitetail over Christmas had the look of a true room for guests, while the one that Tempest and Summer offered, well, it looked more like a room someone lived in for a long while before moving out. The bed was a clean, if slightly lumpy, queen-sized with a knitted comforter and mismatched pillows. The dresser that Gilda and Sunset had filled with their few belongings that they had brought from Canterlot had all the telltale dings and scars of a piece of furniture that had survived someone’s younger years.

Gilda set Sunset down on the bed before leaning the chair against the wall and sitting down on the bed beside her girlfriend. The world around her felt like it was moving too slowly as she let out a long sigh and buried her face in her hands.

“Gilda? How are you doing?” Sunset asked quietly, leaning her head against Gilda’s shoulder as she did.

Gilda shrugged silently before answering. “Dunno babe… I’m kinda fucked up right now if’m honest. Feels like somethin’ got in my head and scrambled everything up, savvy?”

Sunset winced. A part of her wished she could mentally scrub that word right out of her vocabulary after hearing the casual way that Storm used it. She knew it was unfair to Gilda and unreasonable on her part, but she hated having even something as petty as a shared verbal mannerism in common with that man.

“I’m not surprised, actually,” Sunset replied after a moment. “Considering what he was doing.”

“What was that?”

Grimacing, Sunset mentally searched for the words, before sighing and shaking her head. She was overcomplicating it like usual. Taking a lesson from Gilda, she stuck to the simple side.

“It wasn’t… really much more than a parlour trick, honestly,” Sunset began. “A nasty one, sure but… it was simple… so simple I missed it when he started.”

Gilda furrowed her brow as she looked up from her hands to peer over at Sunset. “Wha’dya mean?”

Reaching over towards the small nightstand by their bed, Sunset began tapping her fingers. “Tap-tap-tap… tap-tap-tap… a basic rhythm that occupies the attention, right? A con-man’s trick.”

“Yeah, everyone knows that one,” Gilda replied. “Make’m look at y’right hand while y’left is filchin’ their wallet… ain’t a pickpocket in the city who don’t know that trick.”

“Right, except…” Sunset grimaced and sighed. “You felt it right? Like a fog in your head? It’s like all of a sudden-”

“Like y’couldn’t even think straight,” Gilda finished in a soft voice, her gaze fixed on the wall straight ahead of her. “Like the moment he started talkin’ I was right back to bein’ a little girl and just…”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Sunset said softly. “I promise you, it wasn’t… he wasn’t just getting in your head.”

Gilda shot a worried look at Sunset. “Th’fuck happened, Sunflower? C’mon… I… y’can’t just-”

“Magic,” Sunset said in a dark voice. “That’s what happened.”

Silence descended on the small room as Gilda stared in disbelief at Sunset. Before she could voice any question of her own, though, Sunset continued.

“Simple magic… foalish, really,” Sunset said quietly. “Like I said, a parlour trick, but it was one I wasn’t expecting… one I missed… just simple mind magic; create a stimulus and then attach a magical signature to it that makes anyone who hears it distractible and… more open to suggestion.” Sunset rubbed her hands together, feeling a chill up her spine. “He used magic, Gil… not sleight of hand or misdirection… Storm King used real magic.”

“That ain’t… that’s not fuckin’ possible, babe,” Gilda replied in a hollow voice. “He was my pops, Sunshine, I’d know if he coulda used magic, savvy? He ain’t-”

“This isn’t a discussion, Gil!” Sunset snapped. “He used magic! I’m not guessing here, I’m not speculating! Storm King used actual, for real, magic!”

Gilda pulled back from Sunset who was seething furiously in her lap. Sunset shoved herself off of Gilda and onto the bed as she started angrily pulling the sweater she’d been wearing off.

“Of course it’s magic, fucking of course!” Sunset snarled in a muffled tone as the sweater passed her head. “Because my life can’t just settle down for a second, can it?! Every god damn good thing that happens in my life has to come with a heaping side helping of stupid magic!”

Wrapping the sweater in a ball, Sunset hurled it angrily at the wall where it bounced off.

“H-Hey, c’mon Sunflower, what are y-” Gilda started before being verbally overrun by her girlfriend’s continuing rant.

“Why did I ever want magic in the first place?” Sunset spat as she pushed herself back onto the bed and pounded her fist impotently against it. The plush softness of the covers only made her angrier. “I wanted power and I went for magic but really?! When has magic ever, ever brought me anything but fucking misery?! Pursuing magic ruined my relationship with my mom! It turned me into a raging high school bitch! Then when I finally got it all it did was turn me into a literal demon!”

“Sunshine calm down!” Gilda tried to wrap her arms around Sunset but the smaller girl threw her off with surprising strength.

“No! Don’t ‘Sunshine’ me!” Sunset snapped. “I’m sick of this! I’m sick of constantly running into stupid magical problems that ruin my life! I thought things were going to get better but no! Starswirl the Bungler used a world full of perfectly good people as a null-magic dumping ground for stuff he didn’t want to deal with and look where it… got… us…”

“Sunflower…?” Gilda leaned in as the wind seemed to go out of Sunset’s rage for a moment. Encouraged by, at least, the lack of an angry response, Gilda wrapped her arms around Sunset and pulled her close. “C’mon, talk t’me.”

Sunset was silent for several moments as she leaned against Gilda, wrapping her own arms around the larger girl’s middle and nuzzling against her. Sighing, Gilda settled on waiting, Sunset would talk when she was ready, she always did. In the meantime, Gilda did as she always did; she waited, gently petting Sunset’s hair as the smaller girl took deep breaths to try and calm down.

“Sorry,” Sunset said finally. “I kinda lost it there for a second.”

“Yeah, a little,” Gilda replied with a small chuckle. “Y’ready t’talk?”

After a moment, Sunset nodded. “Back in the prison, I used a kind of quick and dirty version of Blue Jay’s Banishing Stroke, a sort of wide-range counterspell. Most basic spellforms would’ve resisted it but Storm’s magic relied more on us not noticing than anything else, I think.”

“Guess that’s how y’knew?” Gilda asked.

“Mm, yeah… I only even suspected because Princess Cel… Mom, she taught me how to recognise basic mental manipulation spells, sort of a prerequisite if you’re gonna spend any amount of time in a high court,” Sunset explained quietly. “I just… I must be really rusty, though… I didn’t even notice the signs.”

“Hey, don’t start that, Sunshine,” Gilda said a little sharply, drawing a look of surprise from Sunset.

“W-What?” Sunset asked, her face screwed up in a confused expression.

“That stupid thing you do where you beat y’self up,” Gilda replied, visibly restraining herself from snapping. “Every fuckin’ time y’feel like you did somethin’ wrong you start beatin’ on y’self. Don’t think I don’t fuckin’ notice, savvy?”

“But I should’ve-!”

“No!” Gilda cut Sunset off. “I always fuckin’ ignore it but that ain’t doin’ you any fuckin’ good, Sunflower, so I ain’t ignorin’ it this time! You didn’t do anythin’ wrong, a’right?” Gilda took a deep breath before continuing, leaning down to press her forehead softly against Sunset’s. “You couldn’ta known. Period, full stop… there was no goddamn reason f’you to even fuckin’ consider that my Pops could use any kinda magic, savvy? So stop beatin’ y’self up for somethin’ you couldn’t’ve fuckin’ known!”

Sunset stared up at Gilda in shock for a few moments before sagging slightly and nodding as she curled up against her girlfriend.

“Look… m’sorry if I got worked up, y’know?” Gilda said in a much softer voice. “I know I ain’t got the best voice f’this kinda shit but… it hurts y’know? Seein’ ya beat y’self up all the time? I hate it…”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for you to take it like that…” Sunset said quietly. “I think I’m just so used to blaming myself that it’s just a kneejerk reflex.”

Gilda snorted and nodded in agreement. “Yeah, just right… well I’ll tell ya what, Sunshine, if I ain’t allowed t’call myself stupid then you ain’t allowed to beat y’self up for stupid shit anymore, savvy?”

The redhead that was curled comfortably in Gilda’s arms chuckled a little but nodded.

“Okay, so how do I tell if it’s stupid?” Sunset asked in a sardonic voice. “That’s kinda the point of being a fuckup, right?”

“Guess I’ll just have t’be the judge’a that, huh?” Gilda replied. “You stop me from callin’ m’self stupid, and I’ll stop you from always beatin’ on y’self.”

Taking a deep breath, Sunset leaned against Gilda and sighed. She wanted to say so many things but, at the same time, wasn’t sure she needed to. Her whole chest felt warm and the feeling seeped down from her heart to the tips of her fingers. She was certain her toes would’ve been tingling with the feeling too if she could feel them.

“Sounds like a promise,” Sunset finally said, smiling up at Gilda.

“A promise?” Gilda said with a grin. “Yeah… guess it is. We make a lotta those, huh, Sunflower?”

Sunset nodded before leaning up to peck Gilda quickly on the lips. “Yup, good thing we’ll never break them, huh?”

“Not a fuckin’ chance, Sunshine,” Gilda replied, then scowled slightly. “Okay so… back t’the problem then, yeah? So… Pops has magic… what the fuck do we do about that?”

Sunset shook her head. “Not much we can do, babe… he’s in prison for life, remember? And it’s not like he’s some spell-slinging archmagus…” Sunset did her best not to think about what a man like Storm would do with that kind of power. “He’s a con man who knows a mental misdirection cantrip.”

“Yeah, but there’s no way that’s all there is to it, y’know?” Gilda replied, concern coloring her voice. “I ain’t lettin’ that shit go, savvy? Pops was hard enough t’ignore when he didn’t have magic!”

“I’m more concerned about what your sister is up to, Gil,” Sunset admitted a little grimly. “Look, the fact is that Storm is relying on her to do something… don’t quote me on this but I get the feeling that if Storm could get out of jail with magic then he would.” Flopping backwards against the bed, Sunset sighed and rubbed at her face. “Look, I know he’s your… foster dad, or whatever, but I know creeps, okay? I was one… I really think he’s there because he has to be, not because he wants to be. It’s part of the plan but unless I really miss my mark then it wasn’t ‘Plan A’, y’know?”

“Ugh, yeah, no, I getcha,” Gilda agreed grudgingly. “I just fuckin’ hate t’think about Zee hoppin’ everytime that asshole says ‘frog’, y’know?”

“She’s lived practically her whole life as his daughter, Gil,” Sunset said in a soft voice. “Think about that… so far as she knows he’s never betrayed her, always looked out for her, made sure she had everything she needed, and even, from her perspective, went to jail to protect her… how far would you go for someone like that?”

“He’s a liar, Sunshine…” Gilda said, her voice tight with fury. “And I’m gonna get my baby sister back from that fucko, savvy?”

“I know, and I promise we will, but we’re gonna have to speed up our own timetable to do it,” Sunset said.

“Wha’dya mean?” Gilda asked, her brow furrowing in concern.

Sunset sighed a little angrily. “It means we’re going to have to talk to the Rainbooms, first of all… they’re the only ones other than the Sirens who were in touch with magic, plus I still need to confirm that little theory of mine.”

“Okay…” Gilda said, grimacing slightly. “Thing is… what about, y’know…”

Sunset clapped her hands over her face again and groaned. “Fucking… Rainbow Dash…”

‘Why,’ Sunset thought angrily as she stared up at the dim, fluorescent light in the center of their ceiling. ‘Why couldn’t you have just waited… why couldn’t you have made this easy? Why did you have to be… you.’

“I don’t know, Gil,” Sunset said in a dull voice as she let her arms drop to her sides. “I really don’t know.”

Rainbow Dash hammered the soccer ball across the field with far more force than was strictly necessary, scowling as it ricocheted off of the goal post. For the past few days Dash had found herself on the field during lunchtime for a very specific reason. Her friends hadn’t cut her out of their group, they hadn’t even been unkind about anything in particular.

That didn’t stop Rainbow from endlessly hearing Applejack’s words as they dropped their bombshell on her the morning of the tenth.

Dashie, look, it ain’t like we’re choosin’ sides, but Sunset weren’t exactly subtle ‘bout how she’s feelin aboutcha right now, Applejack had said when they met up in front of the school that morning. She’s… Sunset’s outta town but… don’t lose hope a’right, sugarcube? We’ll try an’ talk t’her about everything once she gets back.

Try and talk…

Dash grimaced as she danced around the soccer ball, letting it rolled across the ground, dribbling it between her feet, kicking it up to juggle it on her knees, before dropping it to the ground and lancing another kick out to send the ball firing at the nearby goal.

The sound of the ball impacting the post rang out again, and Rainbow Dash swore angrily, spitting on the ground.

She was angry, Rainbow Dash knew that, she just didn’t know what or who she was supposed to be angry at.

Her friends for hedging her out from their possible upcoming reconciliation with Sunset? Should she be angry at Sunset for forcing the issue?

Dash dropped to ground, cross-legged, and clenched her eyes shut, driving the heels of her palms against them as she let out a slow, pained groan of frustration.

She couldn’t be mad at Sunset… not now, not after everything. Not after Rainbow had abandoned her in the halls, not after she’d kissed Gilda. Dash knew that Sunset had every reason in the world to keep her at arm’s length but…

“Why do I have to be so goddamn stupid?” Rainbow muttered as she flopped backwards on the ground and stared angrily up at the sky. “All I had to do was just… wait. I just had to wait and then she’d’ve opened the stupid present and everything woulda been awesome again.”

Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and frowned as the image of Gilda’s betrayed, furious face flashed across the darkness behind her eyelids. The look of utter and total disgust as she’d done what she promised and cracked her knuckles right between Rainbow’s eyes.

Of all the ways that Rainbow had thought she might get turned down on her first crush that was probably the worst.

“Guess I deserved it,” Rainbow said quietly opening her eyes and staring sullenly up at the gray, overcast sky. “Didn’t have to do anything but wait and I couldn’t even do that right…”

The soccer ball rolled idly up to her, knocking gently against Rainbow Dash’s head and drawing a confused look from the sulking cyan girl.

“Hey, gonna lay there all day or what?”

Rainbow Dash sat up and grimaced at the girl who was standing a few feet away. She’d apparently been so caught up feeling sorry for herself that she hadn’t even heard Lightning Dust approach.

“You look like crap,” Dust said with a small, cocky smile.

“Yeah?” Rainbow sneered back. “Well I feel like shit so I guess I look better than I feel, huh?”

Lightning Dust’s expression twisted into one of distaste. “Wow, guess all the awesome must’ve leaked out of your ears when Gilda knocked your head in, huh?”

Snarling, Rainbow Dash bolted to her feet and got in Lightning Dust’s face. “What the fuck did you say?”

Eyes widening, Lightning Dust stepped back and held up her hands in a placating manner.

“Woah, woah, cool it,” Lightning said as she backpedaled. “I was on my way to the sports shed to grab my stuff when I saw her clock you, okay? That’s it, don’t even know why she did it, alright? I was gonna come see if you were okay but then your friends all came rushing out and… dunno… didn’t seem like the right time.”

Rainbow Dash relaxed slightly, but the angry expression didn’t soften much on her features.

“Yeah well… doesn’t matter, alright?” Rainbow said grimly, turning back to sullenly kick at the soccer ball on the ground nearby. “I fucked up again, and now Sunset’s definitely never gonna forgive me.”

“Really?” Lightning asked in disbelief. “Considering she seemed fine with the little shithead brats that ruined her life, I think you’ve probably got decent odds.”

“What?!” Rainbow whirled on Lightning Dust who stepped back again at the sudden shift in Rainbow’s demeanor.

“Y-you didn’t know?” Lightning asked in disbelief. “I was, uh… well, guess maybe I got a little carried away when I ran across those brats in the hallway with Misty and uh… a-anyways, Sunset threatened to fuckin’ set me on fire if I ever threatened them again.”

Rainbow’s eyes widened at that. A part of her wanted to rail on Lightning for threatening or even hurting Scootaloo, the freshman had been her biggest fan and the closest thing to a sister she’d ever had for the longest time. Right up until Scootaloo and her friends admitted to having engaged in a campaign of cyberbullying against Sunset Shimmer and caught the entire school in the crossfire for one of the dumbest reasons even Rainbow had ever heard.

Jealousy and spite. That was how Rarity had put it when the girls had confessed. The three younger girls had tried to isolate and drive away Sunset because they were jealous of how much time their respective sisters were spending with the reformed redhead and angry at how she had seemed to have gotten away with everything she had done since she had first arrived at Canterlot High.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack had been livid, while Pinkie and Fluttershy had just been horrified to realise what they had done to Sunset.

Rarity had been the only one to keep her head on straight. She’d explained to the girls that Sunset had learned her lesson, and that she was… she was their friend. At least, Rarity hoped she still was… that was a distant hope, they all knew.

The words Rarity had said to the girls were still echoing in Rainbow’s ears.

If we hold a grudge forever, then what’s the point of punishing Sunset? And who gets to decide it’s over? If she learned her lesson and we keep hurting her after the fact then that just makes us monsters. Ones that are, I think, worse than she ever was.

A very subtle way of pointing out how badly the girls themselves had acted. Rainbow had to admit, at first she was stunned that Rarity could even talk to the girls without screaming at them but that barb she’d thrown at them, tossing a mirror in their direction and making them see a monster worse than Sunset had been? That was where Rarity’s anger had come out.

After a moment, Rarity’s words caught up with Rainbow again as she looked over at Lightning Dust and grimaced.

Without a word, Rainbow cocked her arm back and lanced forward to crack her fist against Lightning Dust’s face, sending the amber-haired girl staggering backward with a squawk of shock, pain, and alarm.

“Those idiots learned their lesson, Dust,” Rainbow said with an angry snarl. “Sunset was right… if you keep knocking on them we’re all gonna have words, okay?”

Lightning Dust stared up at Rainbow in shock as she rubbed at her cheek, a bruise quickly forming, and Rainbow Dash’s face fell as a stone of shame sunk into her gut. Walking up to Lightning, who looked close to tears, Rainbow knelt down, causing the girl to flinch away as she offered a hand.

“H-Hey… I’m… I’m sorry, okay?” Rainbow said quietly. “I’m… fuckin’ pissed at everything right now and I got really angry and… that was… I gotta stop that.”

Staring at the hand suspiciously for a moment, Lightning eventually reached out and grasped it, and Rainbow stood, pulling Lightning to her feet as she did. Lightning did her best to hold on to Rainbow’s handd as long as she could, a few seconds of contact longer than maybe she needed under the guise of getting her feet under her, before letting go.

“Y’need an ice pack or something?” Rainbow asked with a small, apologetic smile.

Lightning Dust shrugged and laughed, wincing slightly as her smile stretched at the bruise on her face. “N-nah, I’m good… you got a helluva right hook, Crash.”

Rainbow blew a raspberry at Lightning’s use of her childhood nickname.

“Look… don’t let Shimmer get ya down, okay?” Lightning said, clapping a hand on Rainbow’s shoulder. “You’re, like… awesome, okay? A-at least, I think so.”

The sentiment put Rainbow back on her heels for a moment.

“Seriously?” Rainbow asked, raising an eyebrow. “You’re like… my biggest rival, I don’t think you’ve said one nice thing about me since we met.”

Lightning Dust blushed slightly and grimaced. “Uh, y-yeah… well, y’know.. We always competed for the same positions and stuff so… what was I supposed t’do?” Looking back up at Rainbow, Lightning Dust screwed up her courage and dug out what was eating at her. “I… think you’re pretty… awesome, I mean, p-pretty awesome! You always keep me on my toes, like every day at practice and stuff? We’re the best players on the team and everyone knows it. It’s ‘cause we’re always fighting each other to be the best, right?”

“Aren’t rivals supposed to be enemies, though?” Rainbow asked with that sardonic smile of hers that sent a jolt of fluttering light through Lightning’s stomach.

“W-what?” Lightning laughed nervously, shaking her head. “Na~h, why the hell would we have to be enemies? We just gotta keep butting heads and I’m pretty sure we’d be doing that even if we were best friends.”

Lightning’s words struck a chord in Rainbow’s heart as she thought about Applejack and Sunset, both of whom she regularly got into competitions with, friendly, sure, but no less heated. Even after the fact, regardless of a clear winner, they would argue and bicker and needle each other for hours over who won and why, but always in good fun.

Always with a smile on their faces.

A smile that Rainbow suddenly felt like she would never see on Sunset’s face again. At least… not directed at her.

“Yeah…” Rainbow said, after a moment. “Guess… guess you’re right, huh?”

Lightning Dust frowned at the sudden shift in Rainbow’s mood, and she walked up, setting a hand on Rainbow’s shoulder. “H-hey, you okay?”

Rainbow grimaced, clenching her fists as she stared down at the ground.

“I’m… y-yeah… I…” the words felt like gravel in Rainbow’s throat, and finally she couldn’t take it anymore.

A choked sob left her throat as Rainbow Dash shook her head.

“N-no… I’m not…” Dash said quietly.

Lightning hadn’t been expecting the sudden, bald-faced admission, and felt her automatic, cocky response die behind her lips. Rainbow stood there, arms wrapped around herself and shuffling awkwardly, as she glared down at her own feet.

After a moment, Rainbow spoke again.

“I lost my friend because I believed something stupid,” Rainbow started, her mouth twisting into a scowl. “Then I fucked up again because I did something even dumber.”

Lightning bit her lip to keep her face straight as Rainbow reprimanded herself. She didn’t want to give away that she had seen a lot more than the punch Gilda had thrown. Lightning had seen Rainbow kiss Gilda, not a friendly kiss, or even a chaste one, but full on the lips. It had nearly made Lightning scream in rage to see it, but… then Gilda had rejected Rainbow.

Brutally.

It irked Lightning to see Rainbow get punched like that, even as she felt her heart leap to see Rainbow be rejected (not that she would ever admit that to Rainbow Dash) but even Lightning could see why it happened. Gilda and Sunset were stupid for each other, anyone with working eyes could’ve seen it. Even before the accident Sunset used to hang all over Gilda like a lovestruck schoolgirl which, technically, she was.

Still, even seeing Rainbow in such a terrible state as Gilda had left her that day, Lightning had felt lighter than she had in months in that moment. In one fell swoop she’d confirmed that Rainbow batted for her team, or at least was open to the idea, and that she was definitely single. Possible homewrecker tendencies aside, Lightning reasoned she could deal with that.

Easy girl, Lightning thought to herself. One step at a time.

Stepping a little closer, Lightning wrapped her arms around Rainbow and pulled her into a hug. Rainbow shivered slightly, going rigid, and for a moment Lightning was afraid she’d moved too quickly, too suddenly, but then she felt Rainbow’s arms go around her and return the embrace as Rainbow let her head fall onto Lightning’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell a soul,” Lightning said quietly as she patted Rainbow’s back. “Us tough girls gotta watch out for each other, right?”

Rainbow Dash nodded sullenly into Lightning’s shoulder as she took a few deep breaths to calm herself.

For Lightning’s part, she was just happy things were working out in her favor. Who knew having most of her dirty laundry aired out could end up working out in her favor?

Stepping back, Lightning smiled at Rainbow and clapped her hand against Rainbow’s shoulder again.

“Hey, c’mon, don’t look so down, okay?” Lightning said with a smirk. “Even if all your other friends drop you I’m pretty sure you and me will still be bickering and butting heads til the heat death of the universe.”

For the first time in a while, Rainbow Dash laughed and nodded. “Heh, yeah… I guess so, huh?” Wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand, she held out her fist to Lightning. “With enemies like us, who needs friends, right?”

“Best enemies forever?” Lightning asked with a small laugh. “I can get behind that,” she replied as she knocked her knuckles against Rainbow’s hand. “So… let’s get down to kicking your ass on the field, looks like you could use some practice if those crap kicks were anything to go by.”

Rainbow tightened her grip on Lightning’s hand, making the sporty girl flinch as Rainbow chuckled. “Hey, I was distracted, but when you and I are competing my eye is always, always on you.”

Lightning knew what Rainbow meant, but it still made her heart leap into her throat a little, so she just nodded. She didn’t say anything, certainly not the word that leapt to her mouth the moment Rainbow said those words; instead Lightning forcing a chuckled.

“Ga~y.”

Rainbow Dash flushed and swatted at Lightning Dust before sprinting past her, the ball dribbling between her feet with a crowing laugh of victory. Lightning let out a snarling laugh, quickly following behind and taking up the place she’d been in since the two of them had first sparked their rivalry: chasing Rainbow Dash.

Author's Notes:

IT'S BACK!

Also I want to note that I base Storm King a little more off of the comics/short novels version of the character; he's a lot more serious and sinister there than he is in the movie. You really get the feeling he has more of a plan in those stories rather than the slightly haphazard character from the film. Not that I didn't love the character, but he was definitely a cartoon villain