The faint hiss of steel was all it took to bring Gilda’s reflexes, honed in a hundred back-alley scraps on the brutal, gang-controlled streets of Las Pegasus, roaring back. She dropped to the ground as a long and wickedly curved knife sliced through the air.

Once and twice. Back and forth. A throat-cutter’s strike.

Gilda swore as she ripped her gauntlet free and jammed into onto her hand, pulling the leather straps taut as she backpedaled towards the kitchenette. A shadow moved near the t.v. set, peeling away, enormous and broad, the figure lunged forward again, blade out and ready to cut.

The dark shape dove in, arching the knife in a wide, outside slash. Gilda smirked as she read the motion. The wide stroke was meant to force her to backpedal again and hit the wall. Without room to maneuver she’d be diced in seconds.

Good thing backing up wasn’t in the plan. Gilda lunged forward to meet the slash, catching the blade on the curved plates of her gauntlet and spoiling the strike. Gilda rocked back with the sheer muscle that was behind the blow but the figure swore in an accented voice as the knife went clattering away.

Rolling with the motion, Gilda swung her right arm up in a wild, uncontrolled haymaker. Her assailant was off balance but brought their arm up to catch the strike on the meat of their shoulder, absorbing the weight of the blow.

Twisting to absorb the momentum of the backblow, Gilda planted her feet and locked her steel-clad fingers in place, striking straight forward with the deadly, razor points of her claws aiming for the soft meat beneath her attackers sternum.

One hit, a lot of blood, and no more threat. That’s what Gilda’s brain told her.

Except the shadow moved like lightning, melting out of the way of Gilda’s strike, catching the dark-skinned girl by her armored wrist, and twisting it so hard Gilda nearly spun in place. One minute she was charging, the next the room was spinning around her and she was on the ground. Before she could even start to rise, a heavy boot landed on her back and drove Gilda’s face down into the floor rug.

“Your CQC es todavía basura, Grifa,” a familiar, accented female voice said as the hand release Gilda’s aching wrist. “But I give you credit for knocking my knife away, bravo.”

“FUCK!” Gilda thrashed under her assailant's boot but the force keeping her pinned was like a steel i-beam on her back. “You tried to shank me, you crazy witch!”

“Tranquila, Grifa, you still got that temper’a yours, I see,” the voice said with a laugh. “I was just givin’ ya a Las Pegasus ‘hola’, figured you’da gotten soft but I swear yer faster than ever.”

A gloved hand swept down past Gilda’s vision to snatch up the curved and notched knife from the ground. Gilda jerked in place, trying to lash out at the hand with her talon, but a booted foot intercepted the strike with a swift kick. The moment the pressure was off of her back, Gilda spun around, but not quickly enough as the boot took its place again, this time jamming itself down on her left shoulder. Gilda let out a harsh bark of pain as the ridged treads bit deep.

Gilda’s golden eyes glared fire up at the figure towering over her. The witch was just like Gilda remembered her; huge, broad, muscular, and impossibly strong. The students at CHS may have thought Gilda was bulky but the leader of the Brujah was truly Amazonian.

Her burning eyes were the blue of a cold moon with her right eye marked by a brutal scar dipping down from the edge of her right eyelid to the corner of her mouth, giving her a permanent sneer. The entire right side of her face was covered in an intricate sugar skull tattoo that presented a terrifying visage to her enemies.

A thick black flak jacket covered her chest, revealing bare arms even in the cold of a Canterlot winter that were sleeved with tattoos, the curved and geometric symbology of the Brujah told anyone who could read them exactly who and what this woman was. Her trousers were dull black military surplus lined with pockets, and a heavy revolver hung from her hip.

Her most notable feature, though, was the red mohawk.

“Tempest,” Gilda snarled the name venomously. “I thought I toldja to stay the fuck away from me until I was ready t’talk t’you again.”

“Got tired’a waitin’, Grifa,” Tempest replied with a crooked smile and her voice turned simpering. “I missed mi preciosa carnala.”

“Bullshit, Fizz,” Gilda spat, drawing a scowl from the towering woman above her.

Tempest’s grip tightened on the bone handle of her knife as her other hand swept the revolver from her belt ripping it free of its holster, thumbing down the safety, and aiming the barrel directly at Gilda’s face.

“Don’t… call me that,” Tempest said in a cold, deadly voice. “My old name is dead to me, just like the ones who gave it.”

Gold eyes met furious blue ones as the two women stared daggers at each other. The air in the room was thick with murderous intent as the silence settled in with an almost palpable weight.

A weight that was disrupted as the door was quietly opened.

“Gilda? I’m ho-” Sunset pushed the door open, flicked on the lights, and started to roll in but her words and momentum died instantly at the sight that awaited her.

Sunset sat, poleaxed, as she stared at the towering woman pointing a frankly absurdly huge gun at her girlfriend. Her mouth worked soundlessly as she tried to take in what she was looking at.

“G-Gilda?” Sunset’s eyes, wide with horror, traced up to stare at the figure that had her girlfriend pinned to the ground and threatened with a loud and messy death.

Tempest scowled, twitching her gun up to catch Sunset in its iron-sights. “Who the fuck are you?”

Threatening Gilda was one thing. That was something Gilda was used to. Getting threatened with death almost felt normal, actually, and it certainly wasn’t the first time she’d stared down the barrel of a gun. In fact, it wasn’t even the first time that it had been that specific gun, either.

But threatening Sunset?

A sound like thunder was heard throughout the commons and anyone near the complex would have seen a flash of light like a transformer blowing and, in point of fact, that’s exactly what people would report the next morning.

Inside the flat, though, was a different story.

The revolver fell to the ground in five neatly sliced pieces as Tempest was heaved bodily from her feet and into the air. Gilda stood tall, burning with power as her wings stretched wide, reaching from one wall of the small flat to the other; her right hand gripped Tempest by the throat while her left twitched with barely restrained violence.

Tempest had hardly seen Gilda move. One moment she was threatening the crippled girl, an admittedly asshole-ish move even her own books but it had more been by reflex than anything, and the next moment there was a flash of light, a scream of rending metal as a set of claws passed through her revolver like butter, and a hand going around her throat. Tempest stared down, feeling the unfamiliar sting of fear as gold light dripped like tears from Gilda’s eyes and a pair of enormous, feathered brown wings attached to her back flared aggressively. Furthermore, where once Gilda’s ‘talon’ had only covered her hand down a few inches past her wrist and looked like the patchwork metal kludge-job that it was, now it gleamed like polished armor and stretched to her elbow.

Curiously, there was something else. A symbol emblazoned on the back of Gilda’s hand. One of a winged spear thrust downward, the wings curling protectively around a split sun.

“Qué mierda?!” Tempest croaked as she scrabbled at the grip that was suddenly implacable and unbreakable and slowly crushing the air from her throat.

“You threaten me? Fine,” Gilda hissed, rage pouring off of her like fire. “But nobody… NOBODY, threatens my Sunshine.”

Tempest tried to speak, to apologize. But all she could get out was a dull crackle as Gilda started to squeeze. Lacking any other option, Tempest swung her knife, only to have it caught by Gilda’s talon gripping the edge and ripped roughly from her hand to be thrown to the floor.

“Tempest!” A lilting, melodic voice cried out from the doorway, and Gilda snapped her head to the side to glare at whoever had called out.

Sunset looked up and around and, standing behind her with her hands braced against the doorway and a terrified look on her face was a beautiful young woman wearing a thick jacket and fitted jeans. Her skin was a faded, smoky gray, and her hair was verdant green done up in a messy bun.

“P-please! Let’er go, sugah, ah swear she didn’t mean t’threathen ya jeina, ‘kay?” Her words were a strange, stitched up mess of lilting southern drawl and Las Pegasus cholo slang. The combination of her upbringing and lifestyle clashing together. “C’mon Gilda, y’all ain’t gonna kill’er, are ya?”

Silence fell over the flat as Gilda very strongly considered doing exactly that. Tempest had pointed a gun, a loaded, safety-off, gun, at Sunset. Gilda didn’t give a shit if Tempest hadn’t meant it, it had still happened.

“Gilda, please drop her,” Sunset’s voice cut through Gilda’s thoughts like a blade as she rolled up closer to her girlfriend and set a hand on Gilda’s arm. “It’s okay… I’m okay… you can let her go.”

Tearing her eyes away from Tempest and the new girl, Gilda looked down at Sunset who was smiling up at her. The fire and fury in her heart started to fade as Sunset leaned in to wrap her arms around Gilda’s waist and awkwardly hug her. Letting out a shuddering breath, Gilda nodded and opened her hand, dropping Tempest roughly to the ground.

“Didn’t say I had to put’er down, easy, Sunflower,” Gilda said with a twisted grin.

Sunset returned the smile and shrugged. “She was beating you up and pointed a gun at me, I’m not gonna say a thing.”

“Temp!” The girl dashed to Tempest’s side, getting an arm under the larger woman’s shoulder and helping her up as Tempest massaged her throat.

“Dios mio, Grifa,” Tempest gasped in a raspy voice, a bruise already starting to form around her neck in the form of a handprint. “Guess I’m way outta the loop, ‘cause I don’t remember you bein’ able t’do that, when we ran together.”

“Yeah, a lotta shit has changed,” Gilda said as the glow around her began to diminish. After a few moments it faded completely, her wings were little more than a glimmer and her eyes had returned to their normal, if intense, gold. “Now get the fuck outta my house.”

The green-haired girl grimaced as Tempest leaned against her. “You okay, sha?”

“Y-yeah, fine,” Tempest replied with a cough.

“Good,” she said coldly as she pulled away, dropping Tempest onto her ass as she swept her hand down and pulled her right shoe off in what looked like a very practiced motion. “What da fuck were y’all thinkin’!?” she yelled, swinging the shoe and smacking Tempest across the back of her head.

“OW!” Tempest curled up, holding her arms up as the smaller girl smacked her upside the head again.

“How. Dare. You!” She punctuated each word with a swing of her shoe. “Attackin’ Gilda? Threatenin’ a cripple?”

“Hey!” Sunset said indignantly. “I’m right here!”

“Sorry, sha,” the woman said, turning to Sunset with an apologetic grin and taking a brief break from wailing on Tempest with her footwear. Tossing her shoe to the ground, she turned and held out her arms to Gilda. “C’mon, ami, ya’ain’t got no beef wit’ me, nah?”

Gilda sighed heavily, grimacing, but shook her head. “Nah, we’re good, Summer…” Gilda stepped forward and embraced the green haired woman after a moment, then stepped away and turned back to Sunset. “This is Summer Wind, she’s… kinda like the closest thing I had to a mom after mine died.”

“Qui ça dit, sha,” Summer said with a smile, holding her hand out. Sunset took her hand a little warily and shook it. “Sorry ‘bout Tempest back ‘dere, she’a real couyon when she wanna be, which is most’a da time.”

“K-koo-yon?” Sunset asked with a small laugh.

“Ayeah, sha, ‘couyon’,” Summer said with a laugh. “E’eryone got a couyon in dey life, you know? Light’s’re on but nobody’s home? Wheel is turnin’ but dah hamster is dead?”

Sunset cracked up laughing, Summer’s own infectious demeanor having done its work. Even Gilda couldn’t help cracking a smile at the sound of her girlfriend’s laughter. As the fit of giggles subsided, Sunset rolled forward a little.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Summer,” Sunset said with a grin. “I’m Sunset Shimmer, and as you probably guessed, I’m Gilda’s girlfriend.”

“Ah kinda got dat, sha,” Summer said with a laugh. “Ah ain’t never seen Gilda get dat worked up ova’ nobody, leastwise not since-” The sound of grinding metal from Gilda’s clenching left fist shut Summer up instantly. “O-oh, yeah, sorry ‘bout dat, sha,” she said with a frown. “A-anyhow, Ah’m real sorry ‘bout all dat noise.”

Sunset nodded. “Yeah… not gonna lie, I almost didn’t stop her,” she said with a grimace. “Seriously, that wasn’t a fuckin’ peashooter she was aiming at me,” Sunset said gesturing to the pieces of the firearm that were scattered on the ground.

“Oh believe me, Ah know,” Summer said, grimacing. “An’ Ah’m real grateful y’all stepped in, merci beaucoup, sha. Ah ain’t lookin’ to widow young.”

Gilda’s eyes snapped up to Summer at that and then down to Tempest. “Wait, you guys finally hitched?”

Tempest chuckled, held up a gloved hand, and pulling the glove off revealed a gold band. Summer raised her own hand to show off a matching one. “Si, and I wanted ya t’be there, Grifa, but we aren’t exactly on speakin’ terms at the moment… or we weren’t.”

“Ain’t sure we are, yet,” Gilda retorted with a twisted scowl. “I sure as fuck ain’t forgivin’ ya yet, if I ever do.”

“y’all ain’t got no reason t’forgive, Grifa,” Summer said, stepping between Gilda and her wife and putting a hand on her shoulder. “But we still think’a you like family, sha, an’ we still love ya.”

“I ain’t comin’ back t’Las Pegasus, guys,” Gilda said with a glare. “Nothin’ doin’, savvy? I’m sick’a that town and everything it’s fuckin’ taken from me.”

“We wasn’t gonna ask, sha,” Summer said as she leaned down to grip Tempest’s hand and pull her up to her feet. “But we’ve been waitin’ on ya t’let us back in, or at least start talkin’ to us again.”

“Neither’a you ain’t got any right to ask me t’do a damn thing after that fuckup with the Kings,” Gilda snarled, then pointing a finger at Tempest. “That shitshow was the first and last fuckin’ straw, Temp.”

“Si, lo se, Grifa,” Tempest said with a frown. “But mi hermosa es right, we want you around, or at least…” For the first time, Sunset and Gilda saw a measure on uncertainty enter the tall, powerful woman’s appearance. “At least don’t let my sin destroy what you have with mi verano, por favor?”

Sunset reached out and gripped Gilda’s hand and Gilda looked down and smiled. “I don’t know what happened,” Sunset said softly, “and believe me, I’m the last person to talk about forgiving people,” that drew out a dry chuckle from Gilda. “But Summer hasn’t done anything right?”

“N-no…” Gilda said after a few moments. “But ya can’t get Summer without gettin’ that lump of muscle over there,” she pointed at Tempest who shrugged and nodded. “And… ugh, never mind, I don’t wanna talk about it.”

“I won’t push it, babe,” Sunset said, pulling on Gilda’s hand and drawing her down so that she was within kissing distance for the wheelchair-bound girl. “But when you need to talk? I want to listen, okay?”

“Yeah… and I… I will, I promise” Gilda said softly. “I love you, Sunshine.”

“I love you too, Gil,” Sunset replied warmly.

“Never thought I’d hear that,” Tempest said wryly. “Somebody tamed la Grifa?”

“I’m not that bad…” Gilda grumbled as she laced her fingers into Sunset’s who was laughing quietly. “So, you gonna tell me why you’re here? ‘Cause even I ain’t dumb enough to think it’s a fuckin’ coincidence or a friggin’ social visit, you guys want something, right?”

Tempest and Summer shared an uneasy glance. “Grifa, we did want to see you,” Tempest said, her voice softening from its boisterous volume. “But… si, we uh… I…”

Summer reached up and seized Tempest by her ear, jerking her downward with a grimace. “Oh f’the love a-, we need t’know where Ol’ Jefe’s last cache is, sha.”

“Then I guess you can both go fuck yourselves,” Gilda said, scowling. “I said I’d tell ya when ya came through for me, and ya never fuckin’ did, so that shit gets to rot where he left it, savvy?”

“It’s not like that, Grifa,” Tempest replied heatedly, rubbing her sore ear as she stepped forward. “I’m pretty sure I already found it, but… it was empty.”

“Bullshit,” Gilda spat. “With Zee gone, I’m Storm’s last chief runner, I’m the only one who knows the drops and the codes, and I’m the only one left with a key, savvy?” Tempest scowled as Gilda held up her keyring to emphasize, and Sunset couldn’t help wondering which one it was. “You have no idea the kinda shit Storm stuffed his caches with t’keep folks out.”

“You don’t have to tell us where it is, Grifa, but please,” Tempest said, grimacing. “I… I’ll tell you where I think it is, where we looked, and I need you to tell me if I’m right, deal?”

“Babe, I have no idea what you guys are talking about, but…” Sunset trailed off for a moment before leaning in and pressing her cheek to Gilda’s hand. “This sounds important, and I don’t think they’re trying to trick you, okay?”

A series of expressions danced across Gilda’s face, from frustration and anger to something like grief.

“I don’t buy it,” Gilda said after a moment. “But fine, you tell me where you think it’s at and I’ll give a yes’re a no. One guess, that’s it, savvy?”

Tempest grimaced then nodded solemnly to the terms. “Gracias, Grifa, I swear I ain’t pullin’ ya chain, okay?” Gilda gave her a sharp nod in return as Tempest takes a deep breath. “The last cache; was it ‘bout forty meters into the storm drain systems under the abandoned water treatment plant on forty-eighth and Rosa?”

The effect was instantaneous. Gilda snarled and cursed under her breath. “Yeah, that was it… shit, and you said it was empty?”

“Si, all cleared out, Grifa,” Tempest replied. “Someone got to it.”

“Bullshit, again,” Gilda shot back. “That place was a deathtrap unless you knew exactly where to step.”

“Oh we know, sha,” Summer said. “We took a gander, but whoever it was? They knew every trap and how’ta beat’em.”

“Then Storm talked,” Gilda remarked with a snarl. “That means he made a trade, wasn’t the fuzz or you’da heard about it on the news. So that means-”

“Someone talked ta Ol’ Jefe in prison,” Tempest said darkly. “And got’im ta tell his secrets…”

“Storm never did nobody nuthin’ f’nobody ‘less he was gettin’ paid, sha,” Summer put in, scowling. “Leastwise we know the old man’s up ta somethin’ now.”

“Alright, so is that everything?” Gilda broke in, her arms crossed as she glared at the two women and all good humor gone from her demeanor. “If it is then I’d like ta reiterate my statement’a ‘get the fuck outta my house’.”

“You ain’t even curious as’ta who got into Storm’s cache’n what they gonna do with it, Grifa?” Tempest asked, looking surprised. “After how long ya held onta that key?”

“I held onto it to remind you of what you did,” Gilda snarled. “If it’s gone it’s gone, and that’s it. Not my circus, not my monkeys, savvy?”

Both Tempest and Summer flinched as Gilda finished speaking, drawing a confused look from Sunset.

Brushing it off, she turned to Gilda. “Babe… they came all the way out here to-”

“I don’t give a fuck what they came out here t’do, Sunshine!” Gilda hissed, causing Sunset to flinch back. Gilda grimaced as she pulled her temper back in. “Shit, I’m… I’m sorry Sunflower, I know how ya feel about me raisin’ my voice and gettin’ pissed…”

Taking a calming breath, Sunset rolled forward and held a hand out to Gilda, who took it.

“I know, you’re trying though, that’s the important part,” Sunset said softly before turning to Tempest and Summer. “I think you should leave, I’m sorry, maybe another time, alright?”

Summer smiled sadly, but nodded. “Wit’ dah greetin’ mah wife gave ya Grifa, sha, Ah can’t say ah’m surprised,” she replied reaching out to grab Tempest by the ear again. “C’mon ya grand beede’, an’ Miss Shimmah?”

Sunset looked up at the sound of her name.

“Whatever y’all’re doin’ f’Gilda, keep doin’ it,” Summer said softly. “After all dat happened in Las Pegasus she deserves t’be happy, sha. We’ll leave y’all alone, now.”

“I’ll see you out,” Sunset said, turning to Gilda she gave her girlfriends hand a squeeze and brushed her lips against Gilda’s knuckles. “I’ll be right back, babe, okay?”

Gilda nodded. “Yeah, love you, Sunny…”

“I love you, too,” Sunset answered warmly.

Summer opened the door to the flat and towed a sheepish Tempest, who had been gathering up the fragments of her gun, out behind her with Sunset on their heels. Once outside, Sunset turned to close the door and fixed a steely gaze on the two women.

“I’m not going to pretend I know what’s going on, because I don’t,” Sunset began, her eyes narrowing. “I don’t know your history with Gilda but it’s clearly pretty fuckin’ painful, savvy?” Sunset held up a hand to forestall any explanation. “And I don’t want to know, not from you anyway. If Gilda wants to talk about it with me then she will, and I’m willing to wait.”

“Lo siento, señorita,” Tempest said in a quiet voice. “I… Gilda has always been alone since what happened in Las Pegasus, I never thought she would be with someone else, much less living with them.”

“Not an excuse,” Sunset deadpanned, earning a flinch and a nod from Tempest. “So, here’s what’s going to happen,” Summer and Tempest felt a weight settle into both of their chests at the iron-hard glare Sunset was giving them. “I’m going to go back in there and smooth things out with my girlfriend, you two are going to stay away for a while, and if… if Gil decides you’re worth her time after that shit you pulled we’ll see each other again.”

Letting out a slow breath, Sunset rolled forward and gestured for Tempest to come closer. The moment Tempest leaned down, Sunset grabbed her by the collar and dragged her down until they were nose-to-nose.

“And if you ever,” Sunset hissed, her eyes blazing, “ever, hurt or threaten my girlfriend ever again, I swear I will find you and I will burn you alive.” Sunset pulled her hand away from Tempest’s collar which was smoldering slightly. “Not all of my magic is gone, savvy?” Tempest nodded in alarm as she glanced at an equally shaken-looking Summer.

Sunset gave them a bright smile. “Good, and Merry Christmas,” she said, before turning on her axis and wheeling back to the door of the flat and going in.

Summer was the first to recover as she turned and patted out the embers on her wife’s collar. “Hoo lawd, dat girl given me da frissons, sha’ree,” Summer said as she grabbed Tempest by the shoulder and steered her away. “She a real terror when she angry.”

“No jodas,” Tempest said, pulling gingerly at her caller and wrinkling her nose at the smell of seared fabric before shaking her head and laughing. “If she’s in love with that girl then Gilda’s in some real deep mierda, mi alma.”

“Ayeah, beb, dat Sunset?” Summer replies with a chuckle. “She got some real joie. But t’handle Gilda? She gotta be like dat, yeah? Gilda’s in good hands, f’now.”

“Now what?” Tempest said, grimacing as she turned her thoughts to the issue with the cache. “I’m not letting Storm’s shit go without a fight,”

Summer nodded. “Ya know what we gotta do, sha,” she said softly, turned to wrap her arms around Tempest and lean against the bigger woman. “Gotta talk t’Ol’ Jefe, now.”

Grimacing, Tempest nodded. “Puta madre, I was afraid you’d say that.”

Back in the flat, Sunset wheeled herself forward to the bed where Gilda was sitting with her face buried in her hands as she took slow breaths in and out. As Sunset got closer she frowned as she noticed her girlfriend’s shoulders shaking slightly and quiet sobs issuing from under her hands.

“Oh… babe,” Sunset said softly, rolling forward and wrapping her arms around Gilda’s head and pulling her forward until she was pressed against Sunset’s shoulder.

Slowly, Gilda’s arms went around Sunset as she cried herself out, holding on tight as Sunset stroked her back and rested her cheek against Gilda’s. Gilda’s fingers curled in and out of Sunset’s hair as her sobs became wracking cries. It was an awful, rasping sound that Sunset had never heard before and the pain behind it sliced to her core. So much so that Sunset couldn’t help burying her face against Gilda’s shoulder and letting a few of her own tears fall.

“It’s okay, Gil,” Sunset whispered in a raw voice. “I’m here for you, I’ll always be here for you.”

Gilda just nodded wordlessly as her tears fell. It took several moments for Gilda to get a hold of herself and eventually pull away, wiping at her eyes with her sleeves and sniffling a little and leaning her elbows on her knees before looking away.

“S-sorry, ya had t’see that, Sunshine,” Gilda said in a choked voice with her eyes downcast. “I uh… I don’t get like that much but… sorry.”

Sunset just shook her head. “You never have to apologise like that, Gil,” she said, reaching out and stroking Gilda’s cheek. “I mean, c’mon, how many times have I cried myself out on your shoulder, huh?”

“I’m just… I’m supposed t’be stronger, savvy?” Gilda said, grimacing. “Not fuckin’ cryin’ my eyes out over some shitty old memories.”

“No one can be strong all the time, Gil,” Sunset said, running her thumb over Gilda’s cheek and wiping away a trail of tears. “I don’t want you to be faking it for my sake, savvy? I’m a big girl, I can be the shoulder that soaks up tears sometimes too, okay?”

Gilda nodded silently, her face twisting in grief as another fresh wave of tears crashed over her. Sunset bit back her own cry and gathered Gilda up in her arms, pulling her close again.

“Ssh, it’s okay,” Sunset whispered, brushing her lips over Gilda’s cheek. “I’m right here, it’s okay.”

Slowly, Gilda cried herself out, and in between sobs Sunset pulled off her jacket and tossed her scarf onto the coat-rack, pulled her boots off and grabbed the metal handle to swing into bed next to Gilda before getting undressed. The two of them laid in bed, warm bodies pressed against each other under the blankets as the winter snows fell, coating the world in a dusting of white powder.

After a few hours of laying in bed silently, holding one another and taking comfort in each other’s presence, Gilda finally spoke up.

“S-so… guess ya wanna know what all that shit was about, huh?” Gilda said, and Sunset could hear the fear in her girlfriend’s voice. “All’a what happened, n’shit?”

Sunset did.

She really, really did.

Except…

“Yeah, I do, but…” Sunset took a breath and pushed what she wanted to the side. “Not tonight… I trust you, Gilda Grimfeather. You’ll tell me eventually, just not tonight. Tonight, I just want you to hold me.”

Gilda felt the tension in her body release like a taut wire coming loose as Sunset let the subject go. Letting out another, happier sob, Gilda curled her arms around Sunset and buried her face in Sunset’s fiery red hair.

“Th’fuck did I do t’get this lucky, Sunflower?” Gilda whispered as she breathed deep, filling herself with Sunset’s calming scent. “I don’t deserve you.”

“You deserve the world, Gilda,” Sunset whispered back, smiling and kissing Gilda’s neck softly. “But you’ll just have to settle for me.”

“Between you’n the world, Sunshine?” Gilda said, hugging Sunset tight. “I’ll take you, every single fuckin’ time.”

Rainbow Dash was laying in bed and staring up at her ceiling. Her walls were plastered with posters of some of her favorite athletes; Spitfire, Soarin, Surprise… all the people she idolized. All sports superstars at the height of their careers, all perfect examples of physical fitness.

Ever since Rainbow had seen Sunset at the mall, sitting in a wheelchair, a part of her just hadn’t been able to relax.

Maybe it was just the idea of being crippled; the thought of losing her legs made Rainbow Dash shudder violently. Every part of her was tied up in sports, in competition… it was one of the things she had gotten along with Sunset best about.

They’d competed over everything and it was awesome. For the first time, Rainbow had someone who could keep up with her.

“And I went’n fucked it up,” Rainbow muttered, grimacing as she draped an arm over her face. “Now Sunset is…”

Rarity and Applejack had contacted the group earlier that day. Apparently, Gilda was working at an auto garage in the Commons and, according to Applejack, had confirmed that, yeah, the wheelchair thing was permanent. Rarity had wanted to get together to brainstorm ideas over how to make up for their betrayal to Sunset, but Rainbow couldn’t even come up with a reason why Sunset would ever forgive them.

Hell, if Rainbow was being honest with herself she wasn't even sure she had the courage to face Sunset at all, now.

“Screw it,” Rainbow mumbled as she stood up from her bed and walked out into the hall towards the living room to grab her coat.

“Honey? Where are you going?” Rainbow Blaze leaned out of the kitchen to fix his daughter with a stern look, his prismatic hair that he’d passed on to his daughter falling in a tumble over his periwinkle skin. “It’s dark out and freezing.”

“I’m just going down the road, dad,” Rainbow grumbled, pulling her coat over her shoulders and sitting down on the couch to get her boots on. “I just need to take a walk, okay?”

Heaving a sigh, Blaze nodded before asking, “is it about your friend?”

Rainbow Dash flinched. “I just... “ Rainbow choked up and clenched her eyes shut as she leaned back against the couch. “She’s… she got hurt really bad, daddy… she’s… she’s in a wheelchair.”

“Oh, hon.”

Pulling his cook’s apron off and tossing it to the side, Blaze pulled his daughter into a hug as he sat beside her. Rainbow always called him ‘dad’ or ‘pops’, but almost never ‘daddy’. Not unless she was scared and hurting.

“She’s never gonna walk again, daddy,” Rainbow sobbed, burying her face in her father’s chest. “She and I… Sunset was the only one who could beat me and… and she was like… one of my best friends and…”

“I’m so sorry, hon,” Blaze said softly, letting his daughter cry herself out on him. “That’s so terribly unfair…”

“And it’s my fault, dad!” Rainbow cried. “I abandoned her! I just… I fuckin’ left her on the floor crying!”

“Language!” Blaze retorted grimacing, but let it go as his daughter hiccuped and nodded. “And it is not your fault, Dashie, alright? Yes, you jumped to conclusions and made a serious mistake, but that’s part of life. Did you personally track her down and break her legs?”

Rainbow hiccuped again but shook her head.

“Did you tell someone else to?” Blaze asked, his voice calm and reasonable. “Or do anything to ensure your friend got hurt?”

“N-no…” Rainbow replied. “B-but I-!”

“You made a mistake, Dashie,” Blaze said firmly. “But a mistake isn’t unforgivable, it only becomes that if you never try and make up for it.”

“B-but what if she never gives me the chance?” Dash asked in a somber voice. “What if I screwed it up forever?”

Rainbow Blaze let out another sigh. “Then that will be her choice, alright?” He said, settling his hand on Rainbow Dash’s head. “Sometimes people choose not to forgive because it’s just not in them, Lord knows I know that well enough with what happened with your mom.”

“Mom was an idiot!” Rainbow bit out. “Just ‘cause you’re… y’know-”

“Rainbow Danger Dash, do not talk about your mother like that,” Blaze said, narrowing his eyes. “Whatever our relationship, I won’t have you tearing down your own mother, alright?”

“She… she tried to have me taken away from you, though,” Rainbow said darkly. “Just ‘cause you’re gay she thought you’d corrupt me or something. How can you forgive her?”

“Bisexual, is the term, Dash,” Blaze corrected gently. “And I haven’t forgiven her, nor do I plan to.”

“Then why-?!” Rainbow started, but her father shook his head.

“Just because I don’t have any plans on forgiving your mother for her actions doesn’t mean we can’t be civil,” Blaze said firmly. “I’m not going to raise a daughter to hate her mother, Dashie, I refuse to be that kind of person. I’m not asking you to forgive her, or even love her, but I do expect you to be civil and respectful.”

“Even if she isn’t?” Rainbow grumbled.

“Especially because she isn’t,” Blaze replied.

“Why?!”

Rainbow Blaze smiled dryly back at Rainbow. “Because who we are and how we treat others should be the best reflection of ourselves. Just because I won't tolerate her bigotry doesn't mean I want to raise you to hate her. People change, and maybe proving you can be a bigger and better person will make her take a good look at herself one day.” Tousling Dash’s hair, Blaze smiled down at his daughter. “Just like your kindness towards Sunset made her take a good look at who she was.”

“But… then I betrayed her,” Rainbow said grimly. “I said she was like family and then… I just abandoned her.”

“And you were wrong to do so,” Blaze reiterated, “but having met Miss Shimmer, and having seen how far she’s come from the bully she was, I think she’ll eventually find her way back around.”

“Yeah, I hope so,” Dash replied. “Weird thing, though, didja know she’s apparently dating Gilda now?”

Rainbow Blaze raised an eyebrow in surprise. “As in Grimfeather? Your old childhood friend?”

“Yeah,” Rainbow responded with a chuckle. “She was such a bitch after she got back from wherever she and her family moved to… but I guess she’s a lot nicer now that she’s with Sunset.”

“Y-yeah… moved to…” Blaze said uneasily.

“Dad?”

Rainbow Blaze sighed heavily, slumping back in the couch as he considered the ramifications of what he was about to do. He wasn’t going to lie to his daughter. Not again. Before he had been trying to protect her, but now? Now she was a young woman and she deserved to know. Back then he’d told his daughter that Gilda and her family had moved away because of the military, and Dashie had been devastated. Gilda had been her best friend and the fact that she hadn’t even said goodbye was awful but, like most things in childhood, the pain had faded quickly.

Now, though…

“Dashie… look…” Blaze began. “There’s… something I have to tell you about Gilda and… and her family.”

Rainbow Dash felt a pit of uncertainty grow in her stomach. “Dad? Is… what’s wrong?”

“Gilda… your friend… when she was little, right before she left,” Blaze sighed, closing his eyes and bracing for the blow to come. “She was… in a very bad car accident.”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open.

“W-what? Why didn’t you tell me?!” Shaking her head, Dash smiled nervously. “B-but she’s fine, right? Like, I see her all the time, she’s fine!”

Blaze nodded. “You’re right, but her parents… they died.”

The streets were mostly empty as Rainbow Dash walked down the road, idly kicking the frozen chunks of snow and ice that gathered alongside the curb. After her father had told her what really happened to Gilda it felt like her whole chest had hollowed out.

It certainly explained why Gilda was such a bitch when she got back.

Dead family? Then ending up shuffled around in the foster system?

Rainbow Dash had yelled and shouted at her father, calling him a liar, then cried and sobbed and apologised. She felt awful about a variety of things, not just Sunset anymore, and after promising her dad she’d be careful and come back soon, she took a walk. The cold air was bracing and cleared her head a little as she spotted the neon sign of the little gas mart at the corner.

“Can’t believe she was dealin’ with that all this time,” Rainbow mumbled as she fished around her pocket for her wallet. “No wonder she was such a tool when she got back, I can’t even friggin’ imagine what she must’a gone through.”

Rainbow opened the door to the mart and the little bell-tone jingled as she walked in. A tired-looked young man sat at the register and glanced up in vague acknowledgment of her existence before going back to staring at his phone. Rainbow wasn’t even a hundred percent sure she wanted anything, she certainly didn’t have an appetite at the moment, but it was better than sitting at home and being mad at literally everything.

“Yes, sister, I’ve got your vile cheesy snacks, and the drinks, I’ll be home soon,” a familiar voice says in an annoyed tone. “And don’t touch my pizza!”

A moment later, Luna turned the corner of one of the aisles; hanging from one arm was a basket crowded with cheese-dust covered chips of about five different varieties, and two tubes of cheez-whiz, while her other was gripping the neck of a large bottle of tequila and her cellphone was tucked between her shoulder and ear.

Rainbow Dash and Luna stared at one another silently for several moments as Luna slowly moved the tequila behind her and out of sight.

Shifting her shoulder so her phone dropped into the basket, Luna plastered on a smile. “R-Rainbow Dash! What are you doing out so late?”

“Uh… just takin’ a walk VP’,” Rainbow answered. “My night kinda took a nosedive.”

“Does it concern a certain Miss Shimmer?” Luna asked with a sad smile.

Dash gave a hollow chuckle. “Uh, I mean, in part yeah but…” screwing up her courage, Rainbow Dash looked up at the Vice Principal. “Hey, VP? C-can I ask you a question?”

“Well, technically I am off the clock as an instructor, but, certainly,” Luna said with a laugh.

“Gilda… y’know? Gilda Grimfeather?”

Luna nodded. “Oh believe me I’m very aware of the girl.”

“D-did you know that her parents died?”

“Ah… yes,” Luna answered after a moment’s hesitation. “I’m aware that they passed away when Gilda was very young but no more than that.”

Rainbow wrapped her arms around herself, scowling. “My dad lied to me when I was a kid… he said that Gilda and her parents moved away. Gilda was like, my best friend before that… I never knew.”

“Far be it from me to criticise parenting styles, given my own lack of offspring,” Luna replied aridly, “but your father has always struck me as a very kind sort of man, and I can’t imagine he had any ill intentions. If I’m being honest I have no idea what I would do if I were faced with that sort of awful choice.”

“I… I know,” Rainbow said, sighing. “I just… I get it, right? Like, I get it. I was like… eight, I don’t even know if I really knew what death was at that point. Like, my biggest concern was going downstairs in a cardboard box!”

“Ah, childhood,” Luna remarked.

“So… yeah, I guess just…” Rainbow blew out an angry breath and shoved her hands into her pockets. “Between finding out Gilda basically got her whole life nuked outta nowhere and, ugh, this crap with Sunset… I feel like a really shitty friend,” flinching, Rainbow grimaced. “Uh, sorry 'bout my language.”

Luna shrugged, “I told you, I’m off the clock, I don’t care.”

“Uh, oh, well, yeah,” Rainbow continued, slumping forward. “So, I’ve always been proud of being a good friend and sticking by people and apparently I’m actually really fuckin’ bad at that? Because the only times its mattered I… haven’t… so…”

Walking up to the register, Luna dropped several bills on the counter and paid for her assortment of booze and cheese before gathering it up and walking towards the door. Rainbow followed behind her, not really having anything else to do.

“We all face these sorts of things, you know?” Luna said after a moment as they stepped into the winter air. “Realising the image of who we were or want to be in our head is not who we are.”

“Yeah, I’m kinda figuring that one out,” Rainbow said in a dry tone. “Specifically that I’m actually a bitch, apparently.”

“You’re a teenager,” Luna remarked with a grin as she walked to her car and opened up the trunk to drop in her groceries. “As a former teenager I can confirm that: ‘mistakes have been made’ is the tagline of the teenage condition.”

Rainbow laughed, shaking her head as she smiled. “Y’know, you’re pretty cool, VP, I wish you weren’t so terrifying at school.”

“I’m in charge of student discipline,” Luna replied, planting a fist on her cocked hip. “My sister is supposed to be the approachable one, but she’s a bit of a stiff if I’m honest. At least until she’s got a few drinks in her.”

“I… both do and do not want to know,” Rainbow admitted with a laugh before frowning again. “So… as a cool adult? How… how are we supposed to make up for what we did to Sunset? I… we all want to but… how are we even supposed to face her?”

Luna shook her head. “I don’t know the answer to that, Miss Dash, I’m sorry, but take heart that she’s getting better. She’s even spending Christmas Eve and Morning with my sister and I, along with her girlfriend as I understand it.”

Rainbow smiled a little at that. “G-good, I’m glad at least that, y’know, she’s not gonna be alone or anything on Christmas. That would… seriously suck.”

“Indeed,” Luna agreed wryly, “but at least she has Gilda, that and a few other friends. My sister told me she saw Sunset and a few others along with, if you can believe it, the Sirens, performing at the arcades in the mall, here…”

Luna pulled out her phone and flicked over to her messages and scrolled up to the video her sister had sent her. Hitting play and holding it out, Rainbow’s eyes widened as she watched the small ensemble playing a lively jazz number and, sure enough, watching them from nearby were Adagio Dazzle and Aria Blaze. Rainbow recognized Octavia Melody from school playing her huge instrument alongside Sunset, but she didn’t recognize the other girl.

As a musician herself, couldn’t deny what she was seeing. Sunset had real chemistry with the girls, their music flowed easily through each other in a way even Rainbow and her friends’ lacked.

And that was before Adagio began to sing.

“Apparently,” Luna began, “as good as it sounds here, it was nothing compared to being there in person. I’m a bit jealous, honestly.”

“Yeah, sounds like it,” Rainbow said a little morosely. “We always kinda sidelined Sunset before the Battle… or, I did, I guess… for the band I mean… we never knew she was so good,” she trailed off before adding, “never asked either, though.”

“Perhaps that's the issue, then,” Luna said, leaning against her car, and Rainbow looked up at her hopefully. “In the end, you never really got to know the real Sunset Shimmer.”

Rainbow opened her mouth to protest but thought better of it and asked, “whad’ya mean?”

“I mean, Miss Dash,” Luna continued, “that for all that you tried to include her, you never got to know the person she was underneath. I imagine you all invited her to things you all liked doing, correct?”

“Y-yeah, but what's wrong with that?” Dash replied a little defensively.

“In and of itself? Nothing at all,” Luna answered. “But answer me this: did any of you ever ask her if she wanted to do anything? Or about her interests? Her passions? Hobbies?” Luna ticked off the items on her fingers. “Or did she only ever do the things that you all wanted to do?”

Rainbow opened and closed her mouth several times before looking downcast. “Why… why wouldn't she say anything?”

Luna frowned slightly and put her hands on Dash’s shoulders. “Because,” she said, “ Miss Shimmer suffers from deep feelings of guilt over her prior actions. Imagine you, as you are now, trying to ask Sunset for a favor… could you?”

The answer was painfully obvious. Rainbow couldn't even imagine asking Sunset to forgive her, much less ask her for any kind of favor. Dash shook her head and buried her face in her hands.

“Hey, VP?” Rainbow asked in a muffled voice as Luna tucked her hands back in her coat. “Why am I so stupid?”

“The first step on the road to wisdom is first understanding how little you know,” Luna quoted, smiling. “You're not ‘stupid’, Miss Dash, but I daresay that having the thought means you're on the right path.”

“Ugh, I friggin’ hope so,” Dash grumbled, before going silent and looking up at Luna with a more intense expression. “Hey, uh, VP? You said Sunset is spending Christmas with you this year right?”

“That is the plan, yes,” Luna confirm with a nod.

“Cool, uhm…” Rainbow Dash fidgeted for a moment before finding her courage. “Hey VP? Could… could you do me and the girls a big favor?”

The day after the emotionally harrowing visit from Gilda’s old friends had been spent in the best way Sunset could think of; curled up in bed, only leaving it to tend to necessities, and watching movies. They’d powered through some of the most awful sequels which were made significantly more bearable by their running commentary and impromptu voiceovers.

Between that and spending almost the entirety of the day ensconced firmly in Gilda’s arms, Sunset could honestly say it was one of the best days she’d ever had on this world or Equestria.

Through it all, not a word was said about Tempest or Summer’s visit. Nothing about Gilda’s past was brought up, and no questions were asked about the person Gilda had referred to as ‘Zee’.

No matter how much Sunset wanted to know.

It was the first time Gilda had ever put a name to her ‘friend’ she’d mentioned that had died, but given the way Gilda spoke about her that night Sunset could only assume this Zee and that friend were one and the same. It was equally clear that Gilda blamed Tempest for Zee’s death at the hands of someone named Storm, too, and that neither Tempest nor Summer bothered to refute the idea. Rather, Tempest specifically seemed to blame herself at least as much as Gilda did.

Sunset knew she could probably figure it out if she tried, too. That was the tempting part. She had the skills, information gathering was one of her specialties; specifically digging up secrets. She had a few names, a location, a rough timeframe, and enough assorted details that a little effort and some serious research would probably turn over enough stones to give her a picture.

Except for her promise.

“Stupid ‘not being evil’ anymore,” Sunset mumbled as she rolled over in bed.

Gilda had gotten up a few minutes ago to go to the bathroom and Sunset was feeling restless. A part of it was the question hanging over her head about Gilda’s past but, if she was being honest, a bigger part of it was just that she had spent an entire day in bed and was now filled with nervous energy.

That and she was starting to suspect she was putting on weight.

Sunset scowled as she sat up and prodded her belly. She’d always been fit and toned, partially out of necessity, she didn’t exactly have a lot of groceries, but also because she took the same pride in her body as she did in her mind, and being wheelchair-bound didn’t exactly do her any favors in the exercise department.

“Maybe I should ask Gilda if she can install a pull-up bar or something…” Sunset murmured, sighing. “Maybe a gym membership? There’s gotta be an affordable one around here somewhere.”

She definitely had a slightly more pronounced bit of belly fat; it was faint but it had only been a little while since her accident. Sunset grimaced, if she was already putting on weight then she definitely needed to do something, she refused to let her accident take even more away from her than it already had.

Besides… she wanted to keep looking nice… for Gilda, if nothing else. Gilda deserved to keep having a cute, pretty girlfriend…

“You okay, Sunshine?” Gilda’s voice cut in drawing Sunset’s gaze up to see Gilda looking down at her with concern in her eyes, wiping her hands on a towel. “Ya look a little off.”

Sunset frowned and looked down at herself for a moment before looking back up at her girlfriend as a nasty and hilarious thought came to her.

“Hey, Gilda… am I getting fat?

The following silence was utterly deafening.

‘Oh shit,’ was Gilda’s primary thought as she stared down at Sunset, eyes widening as those last, terrible words left Sunset’s lips. Every gear in Gilda’s brain came to a hard, ass-grinding halt as she tried her utmost to figure out the right answer while Sunset stared up at her with a heartbreaking pout

‘Shit, Shit, Shit,” Gilda’s brain was not being helpful. ‘What’s the right answer… is there a right answer?! I’m pretty sure there’s not a fucking right answer here! I can’t say ‘a little’ right?! I mean… she’s a little softer than before but I kinda like it… shit if I say that she’ll call me a perv or something! Do I say no?! She’ll think I’m just tryin’ to make her feel better. SHIT!’

The chaos in Gilda’s brain lasted right up until Sunset’s lip quivered a little too much and a small snort of laughter escaped.

The dam cracked a second later and Sunset descended into a fit of uncontrollable giggles as she rolled onto the bed laughing. Gilda let out a slow breath of relief as she realised Sunset had just been fucking with her, like usual, then snapped her head back up with a glare.

“Okay, that’s it!” Gilda said, tossing the towel away and diving onto the bed.

It was a relatively well-known fact, at least among the Rainbooms and mostly thanks to Pinkie Pie, that Sunset wasn’t really ticklish.

It was a far less known fact that Gilda had found the one place just above the small of her back behind her ribs that Sunset very much was during a short break from watching movies that had led into other, more distracting, activities yesterday,

Shrieks of laughter and pleas for mercy filled the small flat as Gilda clambered onto the bed after her retreating girlfriend, picking her up and pulling her into her lap while viciously attacking her weak spot as she flailed uselessly against Gilda’s greater strength. After several minutes of brutal tickling, Gilda let her exhausted girlfriend slump over onto the bed.

“Y’know, Sunflower,” Gilda said with a smirk as she leaned against the wall at the head of the bed, “one day yer teasin’ is gonna get you in trouble.”

“Pretty sure… it already did…” Sunset panted, chuckling as she tried to get her breath back and fished around over the side of the bed for her clothes. “Can’t help it sometimes, my sense of humor sucks.”

Gilda laughed as she reached over and pulled Sunset away from the edge of the bed and back onto her lap, laughing a little more as she flailed adorably trying to grab her leggings.

“Gil, I’m not laying in bed naked for another whole day,” Sunset grumbled as Gilda pulled Sunset into her lap again, this time to hold rather than torment. “I need to do something.”

“Well, we’re goin’ t’the Principal’s place fer Christmas Eve n’stuff tonight, right?” Gilda said, wrapping her arms around Sunset’s waist and holding onto her. “So we gotta go eventually.”

“Right,” Sunset said quietly, “I’d almost forgotten, actually… Christmas with the alter-reality version of my adoptive mom and her sister.”

“You’re life is kinda nuts, huh babe?” Gilda said with a dry chuckle.

“Kinda is…”

Gilda pulled Sunset a little closer, letting her fingers trace lines along Sunset’s side and up her arms and reveling in the soft, comforting warmth of having the girl she loved right where Gilda wanted her, safe and warm in her arms. After a moment, Gilda frowned, though, and leaned back against the wall again as she tried to put words to her concerns.

“Hey… Sunshine?” Gilda asked finally, and Sunset tossed a questioning look over her shoulder at Gilda. “You really worried about gettin’, y’know… heavier, n’stuff?” Sunset’s expression soured instantly as she turned back around to scowl down at the bed. “Take that as a yes,” Gilda said softly.

“I… I know there’s nothing wrong, with being bigger,” Sunset said quietly. “Making fun of people's weight was something the old me did and it was incredibly shitty. But… but I’m just… kinda vain, I guess. I like how I look and… I wanna keep looking cute and small and… and nice.”

“Guess I can get that,” Gilda replied, “I’m pretty proud’a my guns, and it’d suck to get all flabby and stuff and lose’m, but y’know I don’t care, right?”

Sunset sniffled a little and nodded. “I… I know… in my heart, I mean, I know,” she answered. “But my head keeps saying I need to be pretty and cute or else… or else…”

Sunset hiccuped as she curled in on herself and Gilda felt a grip on her heart as she wrapped her arms around Sunset and drew her in closer to hold.

“I’m sorry, I know it’s not true, right?” Sunset sobbed quietly. “I know you wouldn’t leave me just for putting on some weight or some shitty reason like that, but it’s so hard to get past that crap in my brain.”

“Yeah, savvy” Gilda whispered, stroking Sunset’s hair. “Believe me I friggin’ know, but you’re right, I ain’t going nowhere, Sunshine, nothing doin’. If you wanna stay in shape we’ll figure somethin’ out. And if you get a little bigger, well, honestly? I uh… I kinda like softer girls… so…”

A finger settled over Gilda’s lips as Sunset gave her girlfriend an arid little smile. “Babe, quit while you’re ahead, okay? I… I know my head is just in a bad place, I know you won’t leave me… but I still want to stay in a shape that isn’t ‘pear’, alright? It’s just something I’m a little sensitive about, I guess.”

“Yeah…” Gilda said quietly before gathering Sunset up in a tighter hug and burying her face against the back of her girlfriend’s neck. “You know I love you n’matter what though, right? That ain’t gonna change, just like we promised, savvy? I ain’t ever givin’ up on you, Sunflower.”

The reminder of their promise made Sunset’s heart flutter a little. A promise made on a snowy day after their first big fight as friends. A promise to always, always be there for one another. The promise that became so much more as time passed.

“Yeah,” Sunset agreed, turning to kiss Gilda softly on the cheek. “I remember, and I’m not ever giving up on you, Gil, and I’m sorry I need you to remind me of it so often… it feels like I’m walking some kind of self-worth tightrope lately and every little thing pushes me one way or the other…”

“Never gotta be sorry about that, Sunflower,” Gilda said with a laugh. “I love remindin’ you that I love you because it keeps reminding me that the prettiest girl in the world loves me too.”

“Goddammit, Gil,” Sunset said, turning around to smile happily up at her. “You’re such a huge dork, you know that?”

“I’m a huge 'lotta things', babe,” Gilda said, smirking. “But I’m your huge dork, right?”

Sunset’s smile was radiant. “Yeah, damn right you are.”

Grinning as she swept her arms around Sunset and tipped her back slightly, earning a cute yip of surprise that was cut off as Gilda dipped Sunset down, arms holding her tightly, and kissed her gently, earning a soft hum of appreciation as Sunset’s arms went around Gilda as well.

Pulling away, Gilda grinned down at Sunset who was blushing furiously over her smile. “How is it that, even though I’m naked, sweaty, and I haven’t showered in like two days, you can still make me feel pretty, Gil?”

“Just that good I guess,” Gilda replied with a cocky, lopsided grin.

Smiling silently up at her girlfriend, Sunset let out a happy sigh. “Yeah you are,” she said softly as she pulled herself upright and hugged Gilda tight, pressing her cheek against Gilda’s as she breathed in her girl’s calming scent. “You’re my whole world, Gil, and I’m gonna love you forever.”

Gilda’s jaw dropped open slightly as her arms went up to Sunset’s back to support her. Forever… Gilda swallowed thickly as she nodded, burying her face against Sunset’s shoulder.

“Yeah, you’n me, babe,” Gilda mumbled softly, closing her eyes as she smiled, feeling a warmth build up in her chest. “Together forever.”

I’m flying.

Flying through a sky that’s trying to tear me from the heavens.

The winds are roaring in my ears and the clouds are as black as tar. All around the world is limned in a strange kind of half-light, though, as if my eyes are piercing the darkness on their own merit. The world around me is a thunderhead of truly epic proportion. I can’t even grasp the kind of storm this is… it stretches from horizon to horizon and even the wind stinks of ozone.

The storm is nigh on apocalyptic.

I pitch downward and twist wildly in the air as lightning lights up the world followed by the deafening detonation of thunder not even milliseconds behind it. Again I dip and dodge, and again the lightning crashes close enough for me to taste metal.

The storm is hunting me.

“GILDA!”

A voice, female, rasping and harsh with fury, screams the name of my love. I can’t see her though as the world wheels around me. I’m flying evasively, every pitch and yaw avoiding a stroke of thunder and lightning as my ears are filled with a strange, electrical whine.

“GILDA!”

The voice screams again, this time carried by thunder, and my world goes white.

“GILDA!” Sunset screams and thrashes as she throws the covers off of her, The world still white and wild and stinking of ozone as her breath came in great, heavy pants.

“Babe?” Gilda’s sleepy voice comes from beside Sunset as she slowly gets up from the bed. “Babe, what’s wrong?”

Sitting up and patting herself down as if she expected to find something on her body, Sunset gulped down air. Cold sweat clung to her as her eyes fixed on an empty point ahead of her.

“What was… did I…” Sunset gasped. “I… a dream?”

“More like one’a yer night terrors, babe,” Gilda said a little sadly. “Ya fell asleep a couple hours ago while we were layin’ in bed figurin’ out what t’do so I figured we’d take a nap…”

Sunset shook her head. “Not a night terror, or… not one of mine,” Sunset said, furrowing her brow. “My nightmares are always the same but… this time it was different. I was in a storm, flying around dodging lightning and… and someone was screaming your name, and… I think I got hit by a bolt or something.”

“Wow, that… sounds kinda cool and really shitty,” Gilda said with a laugh. “It was just a shitty nightmare, though, savvy? Y’fine,” Gilda reached out and pulled Sunset into a warm embrace, running her hands through Sunset’s sweat-matted hair. “Could probably use a shower, though.”

“Ugh, right?” Sunset groaned as she nuzzled into Gilda’s arms. “Dunno how you’re standing touching me when even I can tell how sweaty and gross I am.”

“Eh, I’ve held you when you were sweatier,” Gilda said nonchalantly, causing Sunset to blush furiously.

“Dammit, babe,” Sunset groaned.

Gilda chuckled, before reaching down and squeezing Sunset’s rear, earning a sharp ‘eep’. “Besides, I figure if we share the shower it won’t matter, right?”

“Uh… y-yeah,” Sunset stammered, her cheeks reddening. “I think I’m good with that.”

The shower was excellent though its usefulness was questionable given that the two girls quickly got distracted with much more entertaining things to do in shower. The result was another, shorter shower, after which Gilda carried her soggy girlfriend out as she toweled her hair dry.

“Hey Gil?” Sunset said as Gilda set her down on the bed and got to drying herself off.

“What’s up, Sunshine?”

“I think we should get something for Celestia and Luna,” Sunset said, “I know we don’t have much but they’re trying hard to be kind to me and show me I’m not forgotten about so…”

“Nah, I get it,” Gilda replied. “Y’right, ain’t good manners t’show up without somethin’ if someone invites ya over, what were you thinkin’?”

Sunset chuckled nervously at that. “W-well, uhm, see, I used to collect a lot of information on people, students and faculty. Y’know, in case I ever needed it, and I know for a fact there’s one thing both of the Sonen sisters would appreciate…”

“Heh, I forgot how sketchy ya used t’be, Sunflower,” Gilda said with a laugh. “So what’s the deal?”

“Uh, well, that’s the thing, I have no clue where to get it,” Sunset admitted, shrugging as she tossed the damp towel to the side and grabbed her bra. “But uh, I was thinking maybe you could call up Crankshaft and his brother and see if they could source it for me? I’d pay them back of course! I got some cash while I was busking last time.”

Gilda pulled her shirt over her head and cocked an eyebrow at Sunset. “Crank and Gear? Were they lookin’ for car parts?”

“Uh… no,” Sunset said, laughing, “just… can I see your phone real quick?”

Gilda grabbed her phone off the nightstand, unlocked it, and tossed it to Sunset who opened it up and copied down the number for Crankshaft, then dialed it into her own phone.

The phone rang a few times before it picked up.

//Bueno?//

“H-hi, Mister Crankshaft? It’s Sunset Shimmer,” Sunset said, feeling her chest tighten up. She never did like calling people, especially people she didn’t know.

//Sunset?! Ibuenas, mija! Qué onda? Everything good?//

“Heh, ‘sta bien,” Sunset responded with a laugh. Something about Crankshaft’s perpetual good nature always got her to smile. “I uh… I was hoping I could ask a favor.”

//Tis the season, ‘ey?// Crankshaft answered with a chuckle. //What you need, mi cielito?//

“Well, Gilda and I are going to spend Christmas with our Principals, and I kinda wanted to get them a gift…” Sunset began then trailed off and blushed. “But… it’s kinda… weird, and I was hoping you might know where I could get it?”

//No hay bronca, mija, if I don’t know it then I know someone who does,// Crankshaft replied with an audible grin.

“Cool,” Sunset said, “so… it’s like this…”

The snow was falling hard as the bus dropped Gilda and Sunset off at the bus stop nearest to the Sonen sisters’ house which was a little less than a mile away. It was a more upscale part of the neighborhood and with the number of cars coming and going to different Christmas functions the roads and sidewalks were still relatively clear.

“I can’t believe that’s what you ended up getting them,” Gilda said, still laughing as she had been off and on since Crankshaft had dropped it off at the flat just before they left.

“I know my bribes, Gil,” Sunset said with a Cheshire grin. “Believe me, they’ll love it enough that they’ll overlook getting it as a gift from a student.”

“Right,” Gilda replied skeptically as she took up her position behind Sunset’s chair and started pushing. “If you get in trouble don’t say I didn’t warn ya, savvy?”

“Savvy, babe,” Sunset replied, smiling back up at Gilda.

It was a slow walk up to the two-story house the sisters’ shared, but one that was made easier by the thermoses of hot coffee that Gilda had brought, the same ones she’d taken with them the night they’d bid goodbye to Sunset’s past. Sunset sipped the piping hot liquid carefully as they came up to the house which was festively decorated with lights of all colors, a decorated tree out front as well as one that could be seen through the living room window.

There were also a surprising number of shapes moving around inside.

Gilda scowled slightly. “Didn’t you say the thing was just gonna be us’n them, Sunshine?”

Sunset nodded. “That’s what Principal Celestia said… she said it was a small thing normally, I wonder if they had family stop by?”

“Well, we were invited so… guess we’re goin’ in,” Gilda said, her mouth thinning out into a hard line. “You gonna be okay, babe?”

Letting out a calming breath, Sunset nodded. “Y-yeah… I’ll be fine, Gil, maybe we just won’t stay the whole night?”

“Gonna be kinda hard t’get back home without a ride, Sunny,” Gilda replied wryly as she continued to push Sunset up towards the door. “I’m sure they wouldn’t mind though, we ain’t that far away.”

“Yeah…” Sunset fiddled idly with the brightly wrapped package in her lap as she was pushed up to the front door and Gilda stepped around her to knock.

After a few moments they heard the sound of footsteps and a moment later the door was opened to reveal a festively clad Celestia, wearing a bright red sweater with green stitching across the chest that read: It’s Christmas, Bitch! On it, stunning both girls into silence. Over the silence, they could hear what sounded like a remixed version of three different Christmas carols set to a lively bassline.

“Sunset! Gilda!” Celestia exclaimed stepping forward to lean in and gingerly hug Sunset who returned the hug, before standing and smiling kindly at Gilda. “Hug? Or hand?”

“Uh… hug’s fine I guess,” Gilda answered with a dry chuckle. “Y’kinda get used to’em livin’ with Sunshine, here.”

Celestia nodded and laughed as she stepped in and hugged Gilda, too.

“Merry Christmas,” Sunset said cheerily, holding up a square box, wrapped in snowflake printed foil wrapping paper and topped with a bright red bow. “Thanks for having us.”

“Sunset, you didn’t have to get us anything,” Celestia said, shaking her head as she took the gift.

“I know,” Sunset said, “but I don’t really have anyone else but Gilda to get presents for so… yeah, besides, you invited us here for Christmas Eve and Christmas… so I wanted to.”

Celestia smiled as she held the present up to her ear and gently rattled it. “Hmm… glass, I think… I guess I shouldn’t be shaking it around then.”

Gilda and Sunset shared a quick glance before Sunset just nodded. “Sure.”

“Hm, that wasn’t suspicious at all,” Celestia said with a smirk, “well, come on in you two, everyone’s waiting on us and we’re letting the warm air out.”

“Uh, yeah, about that,” Sunset said as she rolled in with Gilda in tow. “I uh… I thought it was just going to be us four? I didn’t realise you’d have company.”

As they entered the small foyer, Celestia turned to smile warmly at her Sunset. “It was, but… well, I ended up speaking to a mutual friend after seeing you play a rather lively jazz improv with her daughter in the mall, and invited them to join us if they didn’t mind.”

“Oh!” Sunset smiled as she realised what Celestia was saying.

“A-and…” Celestia said with a slightly sheepish smile, “after that it… shall we say, got a bit out of hand…”

“SUNSET!”

Sunset turned her head sharply at the sound of the familiar voice as Penny came barreling out of the living room to wrap her friend in a hug, following behind her to peel her off was Helden. A moment later the music faded out and Octavia stepped into the hall followed by her own girlfriend, Vinyl with Luna just behind.

“Penny?! Helden! What are you two doing here?” Sunset cried out as she returned Penny’s embrace.

Helden stepped in a moment later to give her a hug of his own. “Well, the two of us had planned to spend Christmas Eve together anyway, so when Octavia called up Penny and asked if we could make it to this little soiree, we decided, ‘why not’?”

“I’m afraid I may have hijacked the party a bit,” Octavia said with an apologetic grin. “But, I know you had planned to spend Christmas with your friends and when Principal Celestia invited my parents and I, extending the same invitation to Vinyl, I asked if perhaps we could ensure that that plan still happened…”

The other shoe dropped a moment later as Sunset’s eyes widened. “W-wait… Octavia! Tonight is Christmas Eve! The Canterlot Philharmonic Orchestra is playing! I thought you went every year!”

“My, my, she really did keep excellent tabs on you, my dear.”

A distinguished older man stepped forward, He was wearing a suit that was probably worth more money than Gilda’s whole flat, and had short, grizzled black hair. Following him was a slender beauty with pale skin and flowing dark hair framing twinkling mulberry eyes. Sunset suddenly realised exactly what Octavia was going to look like when she got older and had the thought that Vinyl was a very lucky girl.

“And yes, you are correct,” Legato Melody said, as he held out a hand to Sunset who accepted it. “But when my daughter told me that her dear friend, who had been protecting her and Miss Scratch this past year and a half with what I understand to be some excellent political maneuvering, was in danger of spending Christmas nearly alone, I was happy to cancel plans to attend.”

“My daughter cares very much for you, Miss Shimmer,” Soprana said as she stepped past her husband. Sunset felt her heart skip a beat as she stared up at the woman. She knew Soprana was edging on forty but she barely looked older than her own daughter. Also… she was incredibly hot. “I understand you have a bit of a chequered past, but no matter what happened back then, know that you have a mother’s gratitude for your actions.”

“I don’t care about the Orchestra,” Octavia said firmly as she stepped between her parents. “I’ve seen it a dozen times and more, but I’ll only have this one chance to try and make the Christmas after your accident worth remembering fondly. Whatever I have to do to make that happen, I will.”

Sunset felt tears tracking down her cheeks as her smile threatened to split her face. Helden knelt in front of her and smiled as Sunset swept her eyes over the gathered group of friends that had taken her in.

“I know we haven’t known each other long,” Helden said, reaching out a hand to Penny. “But Penny literally hasn’t been able to stop talking about your jam session at the mall. So trust me when I say, whatever you feel about yourself? Everyone here thinks you’re pretty incredible.”

“He’s not wrong there, Sunshine,” Gilda put in, finally speaking up, and settling a hand on her shoulder. “Whoever ya were before all’a this? No one here cares, savvy? You’re our Sunset, and you’re my Sunshine.”

Vinyl made a few quick signs and Octavia nodded. “Agreed, we’re all here because of you in one way or another, although locationally the notion is literal,” she said dryly, gesturing at the house, “but I can say Vinyl and I would have had a much harder time at school if not for you, and I never would have made friends with Penny and Helden either.”

“Hey Sunny!” Penny crowded in and pressed her cheek against Sunset’s as she held up her phone facing the two of them. “Smile!”

A small click sounded from the phone and Penny handed it over to Sunset. On the screen was a girl with flame-red hair streaked with gold smiling radiantly, a few glistening tracks of tears on her cheeks, with her friend cheek-to-cheek with her.

“You’re probably one of my nicest friends, Sunset,” Penny said in a much more subdued voice. “I love my schoolmates but… in Crystal Prep it’s hard to have friends who aren’t also rivals, y’know? I never have to wonder about that with you.”

Vinyl slowly made her way between the crush of people and took Helden’s place in front of Sunset, kneeling down to Sunset’s level as she took off her shades to reveal brilliant red eyes. Perching the shades on top of her mop of electric blue hair, Vinyl slowly signed so Sunset could follow.

‘You were our friend before we ever really met, you showed us kindness when you had no reason to.’

“I was just trying to be decent,” Sunset said quietly. “I was a bitch, not a monster…”

Vinyl chuckled raspily, and shook her head. ‘Let us show you a little kindness back, it’s the least we can do.’

With that, Vinyl reached behind her toward Octavia who held out a wrapped gift box. “It was Vinyl’s idea… she thought you’d like it,” Octavia said with a soft smile aimed at her girlfriend.

“Go ahead, Sunset,” Luna said from the back. “We have a tradition to open up one gift each on Christmas Eve anyway, so I imagine my sister and I will be opening yours as well.”

Sunset stared down at the gift, feeling her heart hammering in her chest as tears flowed freely down her cheeks.

“This is my very first Christmas present…” Sunset whispered softly, running her hands over the smooth wrapping paper. “It’s… it’s almost a shame to open it.”

Unseen by Sunset, everyone but Gilda glanced at one another sadly. Gilda’s eyes were only for Sunset, though, who was smiling and crying at the same time as she stared down at the gift.

“Go ahead, Sunshine,” Gilda said, quietly, setting a hand on Sunset’s head and mussing her hair. “Presents are made t’be opened up, savvy?”

“Yeah…” Sunset replied, wiping at her face with her sleeves. “I guess you’re right.”

Tugging at the wrapping paper while doing her best not to actually rip it, Sunset peeled away the shiny paper and pulled out a white box made of thick, hard cardboard. Popping the lid off of it, she pushed the tissue paper out of the way and gasped. Reaching inside, she lifted out a beautiful pair of high-quality headphones covered in sweeping flame decals that would blend perfectly into her hair.

‘They’re noise canceling,’ Vinyl signed, smiling. ‘Sometimes, the world gets too loud. People talk too fast, and everything is way too much. Pop those on and the world disappears. Trust me, you’ll appreciate it once school starts up again.’

Sunset stared at the headset, tears falling silently down her cheeks as her hands started to shake so badly that the headset fell back into its box. I had barely landed before Sunset lunged forward and wrapped her arms around Vinyl with a loud sob and buried her face in Vinyl’s shoulder.

Vinyl pulled Sunset in close and patted her back as Sunset sobbed out her gratitude, Celestia and Luna leaned against each other, both wiping tears from their own eyes as Penny, Helden, and Octavia gathered around their friend and hugged her as she wept happily.

For the first time in her entire life, Sunset felt whole. Even if for just a few moments, even if just for tonight, Sunset felt like her heart wasn’t missing a single piece.

“Everyone, let’s get a photo!” Legato said with a happy smile, pulling his phone out.

“We’ve got the perfect place!” Celestia said nodding towards the living room. “Luna, go get the tripod, everyone else, let’s go into the den.”

Wiping her tears as the small crowd of people peeled off of her, Sunset looked up at Gilda, grinning ear to ear. Gilda smiled back down at her, feeling her own heart swelling as she pushed Sunset forward following the crowds.

The den was a long space with a wide window on the outside wall, opposite another long wall that had a comfortable looking couch set along it. A fireplace was set into the wall at the far end of the small den, between the couch and window, with a fire crackling merrily inside it. There was also what looked like a small turntable setup and a number of instrument cases lying against the wall by the couch which had probably been the source of the music they had heard.

Following Celestia’s directions, Gilda pushed Sunset in front of the fire and turned her around so she was facing straight down the length of the den, flanked on either side of her was Penny and Helden, while Gilda took up her usual spot behind her. Octavia and Vinyl sat down in front of Sunset’s chair. Celestia took up a spot beside Gilda’s right, while Legato and Soprana settled in on her left.

Luna came in a moment later with a tripod and an old-fashioned camera. “Forgive the archaic technology,” Luna said sardonically, holding up the chunky black camera. “But it’s another small tradition we haven’t indulged in for a long while since neither my sister nor I have children.”

Locking the camera into place, Luna hit a button before rushing over to Celestia’s side.

“Alright, everyone smile!” Celestia said, grinning as she rested a hand on Sunset’s shoulder.

The camera clicked a few times as it counted down before flashing. The photo would take time to develop, but in a few days, Sunset would be given a copy of a picture that would show Sunset surrounded by loved ones as she smiled on, holding her brand new headphones like they were priceless jewelry. Penny grinned cheekily with her fingers thrown up in a ‘V’, while Helden rested his cheek on her head with his arm over her shoulder. Octavia and Vinyl were holding hands, Vinyl looking at the camera and smiling but Octavia having been distracted just enough to be caught staring at her girlfriend in the flash. Gilda had her hands on Sunset’s shoulders wearing a cocky grin, with Sunset’s hands up and resting on Gilda’s. Soprana leaned gently against her husband, smiling beatifically, while Legato, like his daughter, was caught staring down at his wife lovingly. Celestia and Luna leaned against one another, arms over each other’s shoulders as they smiled from ear to ear.

For the first time, their house wasn’t just them.

For the first time, they had a house full of something like family.

Once the photo was taken, Celestia and Luna ushered all their guests into the dining room where they sat around the table at a sumptuous affair. Realising their small family plans had somewhat fallen through, Celestia and Luna had opted to go all out in preparing a small feast.

“Open my gift!” Sunset said as she was pushed to a spot at the table and Gilda took a seat next to her. “Trust me you’ll love it!”

Luna picked up the box and examined it, reading the tag that was written in Sunset’s neat calligraphy: To my teachers and friends, hope this keeps your holidays happy!

“Hmm…” Luna narrowed her eyes at the gift as she sat down at Celestia’s right. “I’m finding myself feeling suspicious.”

“Oh just open the box, Lulu,” Celestia chided her sister from the head of the table. “Here, I’ll take one end you take the other.”

Together the two sisters pulled the wrapping paper apart and started opening the box. Luna and Celestia both gasped as they stared down at what was inside.

Reaching inside, Celestia drew out a slightly dusty glass bottle full of what looked like liquid gold, and that read on the label: Cascahuín Añejo.

“Sunset you didn’t…” Celestia whispered while Luna stared on and licked her lips.

“Uh, well, I happen to know a couple of guys,” Sunset said with a wry grin.

“Sister… isn’t this what we had on our vacation?” Luna muttered, reaching out and taking the bottle, turning it over to read the profile. “Yes… yes, it is…”

“Under normal circumstances,” Celestia began while staring at the bottle. “I would have to seriously question how you acquired this… however…”

“I believe she’s afraid that, if she does, you won’t get her any more,” Luna snarked cheekily as she set the bottle down. “Well… I was intending to have a glass of wine with dinner but, circumstances as they are, I believe I’m going to make some mistakes instead.”

“Hear, hear!” Legato crowed cheerily, handing over his own glass and earning an elbow to his ribs from his wife.

Dinner was a spread of turkey, four different kinds of potatoes covered in cheese, and a pair of casseroles that seem to contain the majority of a pantry’s contents between the two of them. It was messy, a little loud, and full of laughter as the small group joked, toasted, and talked until the evening was well on its way to maturity.

Through it all, Sunset could hardly stop smiling. It was the most fun she’d had a very long time and the most welcome that she had felt in quite possibly her entire life. At the same time, though, Sunset couldn’t help noticing how quiet Gilda was. Her normally boisterous girlfriend was curiously subdued throughout the evening and as dinner ended and everyone moved to the den, Sunset held out a hand to stay Gilda as she got up.

“What’s up, Sunshine?” Gilda asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I… I was just…” Sunset stammered as she tried to find the right words. “Is… everything okay, Gil? You’re really quiet…”

Gilda watched the rest of the group filter out until they were alone in the dining room. Sighing, Gilda shrugged and sat back down in her chair.

“It’s stupid,” Gilda started, shaking her head. “All this… it just… kinda reminds me of my old ‘family’, back in Las Pegasus.”

“The gang?” Sunset asked incredulously.

Gilda nodded. “Y’gotta understand, Sunflower… it wasn’t just a gang, it was a family. Like, literally… I just… damn it I suck at this!” Gilda swore, scowling.

Sighing heavily, Gilda stared forward silently for several moments. Sunset reached out and took her hand but didn’t pressure her, or ask her anything. She just waited, smiling lovingly up at Gilda. Making a decision, Gilda reached deep inside herself to the part that locked everything up and loosened the lock a little.

Just a little.

“So.. y’remember how I said I got fostered right?” Gilda began slowly, and Sunset nodded. “Y’mighta thought I got fostered, then I ran off n’joined the gang, savvy? But it wasn’t… it wasn’t like that.”

“What was it like, then?” Sunset asked, grimacing. “They let you join the gang?”

Gilda chuckled dryly. “Nah, they didn’t let me join the gang, they were the gang. The foster system is a piece’a shit, Sunshine, no one noticed this asshole was fostering kids and then just recruiting them.” Sunset’s jaw dropped open and she stared dumbfounded as Gilda continued. “To the system, he was just this nice old guy who was giving rough and tumble kids another shot at a family, savvy? Wasn’t til a few years back during Tempest’s mutiny that he got revealed as a crime boss. Turned out he was taking in kids and then basically… what’s the word f’like… brainwashing?”

“In… Indoctrinating,” Sunset said, trying to work her brain around what Gilda was telling her. “He was using the foster system to recruit and indoctrinate kids into his gang and teach them to be loyal enforcers…”

“Yeah, that,” Gilda said waving a hand nonchalantly. “We were his ‘kids’, y’know? And he was our pops. And he acted like a dad, too, savvy? Like, he’d take us out to places, throw birthday parties, make sure we went t’school n’shit… make sure we had all our supplies and ate breakfast…”

“But…” Sunset prompted.

“But… he’d also teach us how to avoid the cops and other bangers,” Gilda said, scowling. “He’d teach us how to pick locks and fight dirty, how to run the alleys, and pickpocket, and shoplift. The older kids, like Tempest, were our Aunts and Uncles… Tempest was his favorite shitkicker, right? But I was his best runner, I could cross half a ‘hood in under five minutes.”

“Gilda… that’s…” Sunset shook her head as she tried desperately to grasp the kind of environment that would be but for the first time her brain just… couldn’t.

“And… every Christmas we’d have this big thing, right?” Gilda said, slumping back into her chair and covering her face with her hands. “And it’s like… all the kids’d be together, and we’d run around and play games and have this big dinner. Pops would be there dressed as Santa, with a bag’a presents and stuff…”

Sunset could hear the pain in Gilda’s voice as she continued, every word becoming a little more choked until her last word ended in a sob. After a moment she continued, her voice raspy and raw.

“And the runners’d, we were all kids, we’d all have this big race around the house, savvy?” Gilda said, her voice choking again as tears dripped from underneath her hands. Sunset could feel her heart breaking as she reached out and put a hand on Gilda’s leg. “We’d start out front and run in and go through the whole house until the very end, we’d end right where we began at the front door and there would be pops, big bag’a presents, red suit, and fake white beard, and the winner’d jump into his arms and he’d spin’em around… and I always won, because… I just wanted him t’be proud’a me… y’know?”

“Oh, Gilda…” Sunset said softly, rolling forward and wrapping her arms around her girlfriend and pulling her in to hold her as she sobbed.

“He was my pops, Sunshine,” Gilda cried, “We were his kids! He taught me everything I know! He’s the whole reason I am who I am! An’ he… he…”

A hand settled onto Gilda’s shoulder, and Gilda started in shock. Looking up from Sunset’s shoulder she saw Vinyl, and Octavia behind her. Gilda’s stomach tightened in a stone as she realised the entire house had heard her… seen her crying. Her breath started coming in short, sharp heaves that were cut off as Vinyl leaned in and joined Sunset in hugging Gilda. Shortly after, Octavia was there, pulling Gilda close, then Helden and Penny.

“You’re so much more than he made you,” Sunset whispered as she stroked Gilda’s hair in the midst of the group hug. “You’re incredible, Gilda Grimfeather.”

“I know you don’t know me or Helden very well,” Penny started, looking up at Gilda. “But I think you’re pretty awesome, okay? Like, super cool.”

Helden chuckled at that. “She’s been talking about how cool you are over text most of the night,” he said in a stage whisper. “I think she’s got kind of a girl-crush.”

Penny blushed furiously and swatted at her boyfriend who laughed. “You asshole! It’s not like that!” she squawked in protest. “B-besides… pretty sure Sunny’s got’er on lock…”

Gilda laughed a little brokenly at the display, as Octavia tightened her hug on Gilda for a moment. “Gilda… I can’t apologise enough for how I thought of you before all of this but… I’d like to say right now that you’re stronger than I could ever hope to be, to have come back from something like that.”

“Not sure I did,” Gilda said softly as everyone stepped away from her. “Not sure I’m not still that girl who just wanted her pops t’be proud’a her… I did… I did some fucked up things to people just ‘cause he ordered me to… y’know?”

“You don’t have to go any further…” Sunset said, taking Gilda’s hands. “It’s Christmas… so let’s make you some new and better Christmas memories, savvy?’

Sniffling a little, Gilda nodded. “Y-yeah… that sounds good, Sunflower… that sounds real good.”

In the northern part of the city of Canterlot were the Canterlot Heights, a collection of high class and very expensive neighborhoods that were close to Crystal Prep Academy and whose occupants made up most of its student population as well as alumni among the families that lived in the area. Each of the houses was lavishly decorated for the holidays, extravagantly one might even say.

There was hardly a lawn that wasn’t full of custom made topiaries decorated with Christmas lights, or had patterns of lights that blinked on and off to patterns and sometimes tunes of a well known Christmas carol or other.

One house in particular, which was a bit more tastefully decorated than most in that it wasn’t entirely crammed with over-the-top holiday decor to rival the Manehattan Lights Parade, was playing host to a small gathering of family. A young man and his fiancee were visiting his parents for the holidays, enjoying dinner and conversation. One particular family member made only the briefest and most perfunctory appearance at the dinner, however, before retreating to the garage which had been filled with a variety of laboratory equipment to sit down at her computer.

She loved her family, she really did… but the person she wanted to spend the holidays with wasn’t in the dining room, they were in a private chat. Or they would be, eventually.

Hopefully…

Wrapping herself in a cozy blanket and nursing a mug of hot chocolate, Twilight Sparkle sat down in front of her three-monitor setup and tabbed over to the chat. She was getting restless, though. It was almost midnight and there was no sign of her friend.

“C’mon…” Twilight mumbled despondently. “You promised…” Reaching for her keyboard she typed out a short message, hoping maybe her friend was there and just hadn’t spoken up yet.

//Labrat19: Hey, you awake?//

No response. Twilight sighed as she leaned back in her desk chair and took a sip of her chocolate. She hadn’t really expected there to be one. Her friend was usually the one to speak up first anyway.

The clock ticked the night down, and every passing flick of the minute hand made Twilight more and more hopeless that her friend would be online. Something must have happened, maybe something came up?

Sighing as the clock turned to midnight, Twilight wiped at a tear in her eyes. She’d really been looking forward to spending Christmas Eve with her friend but…

“Guess someone else forgot about me…” Twilight mumbled as she reached out to turn off her monitor, but her hand was halted by the small ding of a received message.

//Pawnee4: Merry Christmas, babe.//

Twilight’s heart leaped into her throat as she smiled wide at the message that was sent at exactly midnight.

//Labrat19: Hey jerk! You were there the whole time weren’t you!?//

//Pawnee4: Mmmmmmaaaaaayyybe… I just wanted to be sure I was the very first to wish you Merry Christmas!//

Blushing, Twilight felt her smile widen as she typed out her response.

//Labrat19: Stoooooop//

//Pawnee4: Not a chance, babe, you’re too cute to not tease.//

//Labrat19: You don’t even know what I look like, Pawnee.//

//Pawnee4: Doesn’t matter, you’re adorkable, so you’re cute.//

Twilight buried her furiously blushing face in her hands as she curled into her little blanket nest. Pawnee was always teasing her, ever since they’d met in an online game two years ago. Pawnee’s intellect had stunned Twilight, who rarely found someone who could challenge her in the academic square, but where Twilight was more of a hardline theorist, it quickly became obvious that Pawnee was far more interested in practical applications.

The Engineer to her Scientist, as Twilight liked to think of it.

//Pawnee4: So I got something for ya to look at, Lab//

//Labrat19: Oh yeah?//

//Pawnee4: Check it.//

A file download popped up on the chat line, and Twilight’s custom antivirus immediately did a preliminary scan of it and pronounced it clean. Not surprising, since Pawnee had always been as fastidious as Twilight herself about cybersecurity. Clicking on the file she downloaded it and popped it open.

It took several moments for Twilight to work out what she was looking at. The folder contained a set of images as well as several PDF’s and documents detailing an object, or more specifically a pair of objects.

In the pictures, a set of elbow length black gauntlets were laid into a velvet interior of what looked like some kind of strongbox. The back of the gauntlets' hands were inset with a black gem of some kind, and the metal wasn’t any color that Twilight could readily identify. Clicking open a few of the documents, Twilight scanned over spectrograph readings, composition analyses, and the like.

To Twilight’s eyes, they all agreed on one thing.

//Labrat19: This… this is impossible.//

//Pawnee4: Inorite?! It’s literally an impossible metal!//

//Labrat19: Maybe some kind of meteoric iron? Its electromagnetic profile is off the charts! I can’t even begin to fathom what this is made of!//

//Pawnee4: Cool, huh? Don’t say I never got ya nothin’, savvy? Merry Christmas, babe!//

//Labrat19: You got me a homework project!//

//Pawnee4: you love homework//

//Labrat19: I know! YOU’RE THE BEST PAWNEE!//

//Pawnee4: Nerd//

//Labrat19: you love me anyway//

Twilight hit enter before her brain even caught up to what she’d typed out. The moment she did her brain locked up as she stared, open-mouthed

“I… I said l-l-love…” Twilight stammered. “Crap! What if that sounded weird?! What if Pawnee thinks I’m coming onto them!?”

After a moment of heart-hammering silence, Pawnee responded.

//Pawnee4: Kinda do, Lab… I kinda do.//

Twilight’s breath caught in her throat as she stared at her friend’s response. “Pawnee… kinda loves me? A little bit?!” Twilight said, laughing nervously, splashing her hot chocolate as her hands shook. “I… oh crap, what do I say?!”

Reaching out for her keyboard, Twilight typed her response.

//Labrat19: really? You really mean that?//

//Pawnee4: I always mean that shit, Lab. You’re pretty much my best friend.//

Twilight blushed as she choked up a little.

//Labrat19: You’re my best friend too, Pawnee… wish we lived nearby, I’d… I’d really like to see you IRL… like a lot.//

//Pawnee4: Might do, Lab… you live in Canterlot right?//

Twilight stared for a moment before typing out a nervous response.

//Labrat19: Why would you say that?//

//Pawnee4: You talked about getting unusual wavelength readings and anomalous energy spikes from that project you were working on a couple months ago, remember? I got’em too with some of the aggregate programs I’m wired into. They were centered on Canterlot so I figured you must live nearby since your setup is local.//

Twilight bit her lip but nodded. That checked out, and then she cursed herself for not realising she was giving away her location. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Pawnee, she did, but Twilight prided herself on her security protocols and she’d still gone and screwed up without even realising it.

//Labrat19: Right… sorry, and… yeah, I do.//

//Pawnee4: Cool, I’ll be in town in a while, got some stuff to take care of with my pops. We should meet up, though.//

Blushing and feeling her heart race, Twilight smiled as she imagined meeting her friend in person for the first time. Playfully, she typed out her response.

//Labrat19: Sure you wanna hang out with a nerd?//

//Pawnee4: Dunno, but I’m pretty sure I wanna take one out on a date.//

Twilight choked on her hot chocolate, only barely turning her head so she didn’t spit out a mouthful of sticky sugar onto her computer screens. Pawnee was asking her out! Twilight’s entire face turned beet red as she shakily typed out an affirmative response. ‘I’m gonna be going on a date! My first date!’

//Labrat19: That sounds… that sounds really nice, Pawnee. I wanna do that too.//

//Pawnee4: Count on it, Lab, anyway, I gotta hop off, lemme know what you think of those readouts, I’m doing my own work on’em, hasta la bye bye babe!//

//Labrat19: that’s still not linguistically sound… and goodnight… and merry Christmas babe.//

Twilight typed out her own goodbye and smiled warmly. She’d long since stopped needling Pawnee about her completely linguistically flawed sign-off phrase, and now it was more of a in-joke than anything. curling up on her chair and giggling. She wasn’t tired, especially not now, so she opened the documents to take another look. These impossible gauntlets were gonna keep her up all night. Pawnee always got her the best presents.