By the end of the night, of course, Sunset was no longer cheered up by the ice cream lunch with Rarity, no matter how great it had been. Her mind eventually drifted right back to the problem that would not leave her alone, sinking her back into the mire of despair.

How could she apologize properly to her friend if she couldn’t even talk to her? It was a Gordian Knot like none she’d ever run into before in her relatively short lifespan.

Relative to an immortal pony goddess, anyway. How long had Twilight said she’d been alive? Thousands of years? Maybe she was just done playing with a child and wanted to move onto other, more mature people. That would be sensible, especially after said foolish child decided she was entitled to some ‘fringe benefits’.

The summoning circle and its drying blood did nothing new when she tried again. She spoke the words, lit the candles… and got no response at all. Not even a ‘please hold the line’ message like that one time. She wanted to scream, wanted to throw the old spell book out the window, but she knew that would only force her go to outside and pick it up. The thing still belonged to her teacher, regardless. Besides, what if she hit somebody? That wouldn't be cool at all. Far better to simply give up and try again some other time.

November finally turned from dark but warm to chilly and bright, not yet frigid enough for Winter but just beginning to edge its way past what Sunset tended to consider ‘autumn weather’. A brief snow flurry in midweek threatened to cancel classes, but unfortunately didn't pay out enough to make it actually happen. The mixture of students who were laughing and catching snowflakes on their tongues with the ones who were bundled up in six layers of clothes and grumbling on their way to and from classes was one of the things that made her college truly feel like a cultural melting pot.

And then there was the Yeti Walk.

Long ago, the seniors had started the tradition of getting all the freshmen up and the crack of dawn and forcing them outside in their underwear of pj’s — and usually, they would catch one or two students who actually slept in the nude, though that was rare indeed. Then, they would make a speech about tradition and heritage, about preserving the sacred rites that seniors handed down to the freshmen before leaving to go out into the world. Then, after all that happened, they would all run from one end of the campus, through the quad and until they wound up at the other end, near the oldest building and the statue of the college’s founder. There they had coffee and hot chocolate waiting, and sometimes food, if they were lucky and had a rich brat amongst the seniors.

Of course, Sunset wasn’t a senior, and was definitely not a freshman anymore, but she still decided to rouse herself in order to head to campus with Rainbow — and surprisingly Fluttershy, who seemed to be getting along somewhat better recently — to watch the poor freshmen do their thing. No nudists this year, but one guy in a neon pink bikini speedo made up for that — and Rainbow and Sunset both hooted and wolf-whistled at him enough for everyone. The annual event was fun, and a slight distraction from everything that was going wrong in her life.

It was while she was out there, watching the freshmen sprint and shiver, when she had the idea, completely unrelated as it was. Once it struck her, she wondered how long she had gone this long without considering it -- but at the same time, didn’t wonder in the slightest.

After all, it’s all about connections, isn’t it?

“Okay,” she breathed shakily several hours later as she lit the candles and began to place herself in the ‘summoning state of mind'. Even though it seemed to work most of the time whether or not she concentrated, this would be unlike her previous attempts. A little extra effort couldn’t hurt.

“Laughter, Generosity, Kindness, Honesty, Loyalty and Magic; I call upon the elements here and now. Friendship ties everything together, and makes it all complete. I call upon the magic of Cadence, to come to me tonight!”

She wasn’t entirely sure of simply changing the name from Twilight to Cadence would work, but already, the difference in energies was palpable. So many times had Twilight entered her home in this way that she knew the sensation by heart. However, she pressed on. “Element of Love, you are bound to me, to do my bidding until thy work is done! Come to me!”

Candles flickered, the air grew tight as it readied to squeeze a solid form through it. However, Sunset was in for a surprise. The shadowy, slightly pinkish bulk was nearly twice the size that Twilight had been, even in her ‘super spooky monster’ form. A single horn the size of a scimitar jutted from the forehead, and long incisors dripped with saliva. Talons raked the air in front of her, but stopped far short of Sunset’s actual body.

“Who disturbs my slumber?” the voice boomed. “Know this: only one may enter here, one who’s worth lies far within. A diamond in the rough…”

“Oh! Oh! I know that one! That’s from Aladdin!” Sunset smirked, folding her arms over her chest and lifting her chin triumphantly. “Do I know my Disney, or what?”

The creature paused, then tilted its head to one side.

“Speak.”

“I don’t even need you to do anything all that complicated for me. Just want some questions answered.” She shifted slightly. “You’re... Cadence, right?”

At last, the booming nature of the voice receded as the being continued, her tone turning smooth and conversational. “Ah… you want some answers in the field of love and romance, do you? Or are you after something more… specific?”

“More specific. I’m… I need to ask you about another, um, goddess. Pony. Um… yeah.”

“... Sunset Shimmer.”

That did throw her for a loop. “You know my name?”

“Well, you’re all we’ve been talking about recently. So it’s sort of hard not to know your name, at least. Should I change to a more… comfortable form?”

“Go for it.”

And as had happened so many times before in that apartment, transformation began: the giant, pinkish, translucent bulk began to melt down into a form distinctly more human — more feminine as the being turned. She was surprisingly short — shorter than Sunset, at least — but graced with pale pink skin and hair that cascaded down her shoulders and back in pink, purple and golden curls. For an instant, she was nude, but then a red silk robe shimmered into existence around her form. Long, elegant wings fluttered from behind her back and her horn remained. When she turned back, her burning red eyes dimmed to a soft pink — as if there wasn’t enough pink to her form already — and seemed to glow with an unearthly light.

“Okay,” Sunset breathed shakily. Her newly-found appreciation for women was making her even more flustered than she normally would be, but only the barest amount. Was it going to get worse the longer she lived, or did she eventually ‘get used to’ eying curves?

“There we go,” Cadence said, tugging at the ends of her robe and examining her nails. “Wow, it’s been a while since I took this form, buuuut I think I nailed it. What do you think?” She twirled, giving Sunset a little show as the bottom of her robe flared out to show smooth pink thighs.

“Uh… yeah. Great,” she mumbled, suddenly finding the corner of the bathroom very interesting. “Anyway… feel free to take a seat.”

“But, there’s only one chair. Also, it looks pretty uncomfortable — there’s a hole in the center.”

“What? Oh, not in here — in there.” She gestured to the living room, and the goddess sighed in relief.

“Oh, good.” Leisurely sashaying into the living room, she painted herself into Sunset’s couch and crossed her legs smoothly, hands perched on the arm and across the back like a true goddess on her throne. “Now, since I am the Princess of Love, I’m pretty good at sensing these things. And when I look at you…” she paused momentarily, eyeing Sunset. “I sense that this is a matter of the heart. You desire a… oh. A woman? Mmm… interesting.”

Sunset wasn’t sure if she liked that grin. Pressing one hand into her cheek was the only way she could keep talking. “Am I that obvious? God, and I didn’t even know I do until like, a few days ago…”

One pink eyebrow lifted. “Well, it’s not as obvious as you might think. Like I said, I’m just good as picking up these things.” She tilted her head slightly. “Though, if it’s just curiosity that drives you, you’re more than welcome to try me out…” Her hand drifted down to the belt of her robe.

“What?!”

“Well, I’ll admit it’s been a while since I’ve been with a woman, but there just just something about them that really flips my switch. And you’re not bad to look at, either.”

“No! I mean, um, no, th-thank you.” Clearing her throat and hoping she wouldn’t pass out, Sunset took a seat on the far end of the couch. “It’s about a specific woman, but I’m not really sure what to do.”

“Well, you’ve summoned the right pony for the job! If there’s one thing I understand, it’s matters of the heart!” Under her breath, she added, “No matter what everypony says these days.”

Now that she mentioned it… “You know, how did you get to be the Goddess of Love, anyway?” she asked, genuinely curious. “I mean, how does something like that happen?”

Cadence shrugged elegantly. “Like anything else, really,” she said. “But I like to think of myself as a princess rather than a goddess. The whole immortality thing is more of an unfortunate circumstance rather than my defining point; I’d really rather be remembered for my contributions to the study of Love.” She paused for a few moments, and then shrugged again, waving her hand in front of her with slow grace. “To answer your question, however, I became the Princess and Goddess of Love because my special talent is Love.”

“Your special talent?” Sunset repeated dubiously. “What do you mean by that?”

Cadence opened her mouth as if to explain, but seemed to change her mind partway. “Twilight Sparkle didn’t explain this to you?”

Sunset blinked. “Twilight… Sparkle?”

Now it was Cadence's turn to blink. “Oh, Celestia… she really is slipping if she doesn’t fully introduce herself to her summoners.” Then, with a heavily put-upon sigh, the pink goddess rose to her feet. “In that case, I shall show you.”

Before Sunset could even take a fortifying breath — or complain, for that matter — Cadence’s silk robe vanished into motes of pink light, leaving her completely nude.

“Wh-whoa!” she stammered, her hands flying up to cover her eyes from the shameless display of pink glory. “Give a girl some warning, why don’t you?!”

“Oh, grow up, Sunset,” came the grumbling. “I won’t bite. Just look.”

It took a moment to work up to it, but after a few moments, Sunset finally did so, and did her best to avoid looking at anything interesting -- even though part of her kind of wanted to. Instead, she followed the goddess’ hand down to her lower thigh, where a very peculiar marking was proudly displayed on her skin. Clearly visible from the pinkness surrounding it, was a bright blue, glasslike heart.

“Huh. A tattoo?” It definitely looked like one.

Shaking her head, Cadence’s horn glittered with light as her robe reappeared around her, much to Sunset’s relief. “Not a tattoo. A cutie mark.”

“... you mean a beauty mark.”

The princess huffed and stamped her bare foot on the floor. “A cutie mark! It’s a symbol ponies get when they discover their special talent. It’s… sort of a coming of age thing,” she explained. “Mine is love.”

“Oh...kay.” Sunset nodded slowly. “I’ll buy that. So were you always a Princess, or what?”

Cadence grinned at that. “Oh, I was royalty much earlier, but I became the Sovereign Princess of the Crystal Empire when I used the power of Love to save a kingdom and its ponies from a tyrannical alicorn king.”

There was silence for a while, until Sunset cleared her throat. “So… what, you slept with him?”

The princess barked out a laugh. “Oh!” she cackled, delighted. “Oh my! Wouldn’t that have been something! My Shining would have loved to see that!”

While Cadence laughed maniacally at the idea of adultery — and, lack of context aside, Sunset could appreciate some well-timed dark humour with the best of them — she shifted uncomfortably.

“R-right. Um, anyway. Well, at least you seem to be doing pretty well for yourself.” She cleared her throat. “Aside from the whole ‘forced summoned goddess schtick’.”

When she finally stopped laughing, Cadence shrugged again. “I suppose. I have a daughter, I have Twilight, and I have my little ponies to look after. The occasional jaunts to this world are more of a favor to Twili.” And, before Sunset could ask her to clarify, she leaned forward, her interest piqued. “Anyway, on to business! Which do you want to discuss first — this new allure that women now hold over you, or the one who happens to already have a place in your heart?”

“It’s all kinda the same, to be honest…”

“Is it? Oh…” The smile that grew on Cadence’s face was more like that of a Cheshire cat who had spotted fresh cream. “Ohhhhh…. oh, this is delicious! You like like Twilight!” She gasped dramatically, her hand pressed to her chest like a teenager in a school play, and her eyes glittered with sudden enthusiasm. Then she clapped her hands together excitedly. “Yay! It’s been so long since something like this has happened!”

“I… what?”

Dipping her head slightly in a poor attempt to hide her mirth, Cadence recovered enough to speak again. “Well, every now and again there will be some summoner who will become… shall we say… ‘overly enamored’ to the summoned. Usually it’s me,” she added with a conspiratorial whisper. “Although it’s been some time now, so I’m a bit vague on the details on how we normally handle this… but I do seem to recall something about boiling in oil… or a beheading.”

Sunset squeaked as she clutched her throat. “Beheading!”

Laughing, the princess waved her hand in front of her. “Kidding! I’m kidding! Gosh, she was right about you! You’re so uptight!”

“That wasn’t funny,” Sunset grumbled. When Cadence simply rolled her eyes, she grunted, “Then again, that is the kind of joke Twilight would make.” She allowed the princess her moment of humor, and then cleared her throat. “So… what’s up with Twilight’s, um, cutie mark, then? I…” she hesitated, but only for a moment. “I’ve seen the scars.”

Sitting, Cadence steepled her fingers over her lap, eyeing her carefully. “You don’t know a lot about her, do you? But you’re already so taken with her, from what I sensed when I was summoned, and from your heart. That’s… intriguing, to say the least.”

“Well, I don’t know, she just… I’ve never met anyone like her. The way she listens — and it’s more than just because she has to, I can tell.” Then she swallowed and pressed on, feeling her entire body begin to tremble even though she had sworn she would not let it. “But it’s not like I’m in love with her or anything, I just… some feelings happened and I wasn’t expecting them. Honest!”

“I believe you,” Cadence assured her softly. Then she grinned widely. “Hey, you should try singing with her.”

“Why?”

Rolling her eyes, the princess said, “Magic, of course. Duh.”

“I… I don’t understand.” Sunset crossed her arms over her chest, genuinely confused. “What magic?”

“Okay, look; Flurry could explain this better than me, but I’m here so I’ll do my best.” Cadence straightened, her hands resting in her lap. “Have you ever heard a song that’s so good, so catchy, that all you want to do is sing along?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“That’s the magic of Music at work. There is a magic in song — as well as Love and Friendship — and is present in all living things. It surrounds you, and guides you, and fills you up with energy, makes you what you are… makes you who you are.” She stopped, smiling softly. “It’s why we like Disney so much. Their musical numbers are so catchy.”

“Huh.” Sunset nodded. In a way, that did make a weird sort of sense. She did always like singing along to her favorite songs, and when they were younger, she and Rarity had some really impressive duets. Maybe she was onto something here. “So I should get Twilight to sing? What would that do?”

“I can’t say. All I can say for certain is it would probably clear things up between you two. Magic works in mysterious ways, after all.”

Okay… not entirely helpful, but at least it was something. Sunset nodded and said, “Yeah, okay, thanks. I figured. Just… tell me I can see her again, at least. Can you talk to her? She’s your sister, isn’t she? Won’t she listen to you? I really messed up and I want to apologize!”

This seemed to take Cadence aback. “You’re… telling the truth, aren’t you? You’re totally serious; Twilight’s well-being is that important to you — even knowing she’s from a different world? Even not knowing how she is what she is? You know so little about so little about her—”

“You think I care about that bullshit?! We’re talking about one of my best friends! She has to know I didn’t mean it, and that I’m sorry!”

The room was silent for a long time as girl and goddess stared at each other intently. Sunset was breathing hard and her eyes prickled with unshed tears, but she wasn’t about to blink or lower her gaze. At long last, Cadence crossed her legs in the opposite direction fluidly and leaned against the opposite arm of the couch.

“She… really is something special, isn’t she? All this time being trapped in servitude, all because she feels she must be, and she still seems to maintain such a… perfectly Twilight aura about her. It… nopony else could have done it.” She smiled softly, as if only to herself. “I can see why you love her.”

“I didn’t say I—”

“Admire her, then.”

“Yeah, right, admire. So can you figure out how to talk to her?”

“Of course. There are any number of ways you could go about that.”

“Good.” A few seconds passed in silence until Sunset finally burst out, “And what are they?!”

“Well, you could come back with me to Equestria,” she chuckled lightly — and the offer made Sunset’s eyes boggle, so she smoothly continued. “Or you could have me pass on a message. There’s also summoning her directly.”

“I’ve tried that already.”

“Not really, no,” she countered. “Your heart was calling out to my magic, so I answered because I was free at the time. There is a much more specific way than a mere internal focus — a way to pinpoint the exact magic of a pony, should you have their name.”

“Huh.” Sunset considered that. “Okay.”

“But before you do… I suggest you learn more about our little Princess of Friendship.” Cadence said, straightening on the couch.

“Okay. What can you tell me about her?”

Chuckling, Cadence held out her hand. “I don’t have enough time to fill you in on the essentials. So…” Her horn glowed with a soft pink light, and there was a flash, followed by a soft pop, and when Sunset finally blinked away the dark spots in her eyes, she noticed a book in the princess’ hand. “Take this.”

“What’s this?” She took the book, making a slight ‘oof’ as she hefted it; it was even heavier than the spellbook she got from her professor. Opening it and giving it a cursory glance, she arched an eyebrow at a smiling Cadence. “A textbook?” The distinct lack of pictures and over abundance of text was a dead giveaway.

“A Brief History of Equestrian Royalty,” she explained proudly. “It’s my personal copy, so Twili won’t notice it missing quite yet. That has enough information to fill you in on Twilight Sparkle before you talk to her.”

“Ugh… do I have to read the entire thing?”

Cadence threw her head back and laughed. “No, no… there’s a section in there on her early life. I’ve marked and translated it for you. It should tell you everything you need to know. The rest… well, you can ask her yourself.” She paused, tilting her head at Sunset, regarding her. “After you summon her directly, anyway.”

“Okay…” Clutching the book to her chest, Sunset sat forward a little more as she stared at the face of the pink pony princess in her living room. “Is this… I mean, do I have to do anything weird? With the direct summoning?”

“... define ‘weird’.”

Following the summoning instructions, Cadence also informed Sunset that she would not be able to use them right away. The spell was designed in such a way that essentially had it as a ‘one summoning per night’ policy that nobody bothered to tell her about at any point in time before that -- not her book, and certainly not Twilight.

Convenient, that.

But, on the flipside, it did give her pretty much the entire day to study ‘briefly’ about Equestrian royalty.

Unsurprisingly, Princess Twilight Sparkle was one of the — if not the most — famous ponies in all of Equestrian history, after Princesses Luna and Celestia. The Cliffnotes version that Sunset took away from her cram session was that Twilight was born a normal unicorn, to a normal family of unicorns in the capital city of Canterlot.

Man… these ponies and their horse puns were gonna kill Sunset someday.

When she was young, she was discovered by Her Radiance Princess Celestia and given private tutelage; something that was a great honor amongst unicorns. She quickly became one of the most well-learned and magically-gifted students ever taught by Celestia, and even, with the assistance of a small group of other ponies, managed to defeat Nightmare Moon when she invaded Equestria. Her Majesty Princess Luna began her co-sovereignty after being freed from the influence of Nightmare Moon, but Sunset didn’t concentrate on that piece of history.

Twilight and the other Elements of Harmony, as they were known, spent years together, acting as Equestria’s best and last line of defense against evil forces and magical entities that threatened their world for a number of years. They were national heroes, almost demi-gods in their own right. They were undefeated and adored by every pony in the land, and were the best of friends.

And then what was simply known as ‘The Catastrophe’ happened.

The book seemed to gloss over many of the details on how it happened exactly, but somehow, a magical artifact known as Starswirl’s Mirror was damaged. According to records, the mirror was supposed to be a gateway to other worlds, and being damaged, the bridge between Equestria and said ‘other worlds’ became unstable. Ponies up and disappeared without a trace, entire cities crumbled and sunk into the earth, killing thousands, and strange landmarks appeared seemingly out of thin air, only to disappear just as quickly, leaving only blank space and frightened ponies behind. Nobody knew what was really happening, but they knew the damaged mirror was the cause.

Twilight and the other Elements of Harmony were called upon, and they, knowing it was the only chance to fix the bridge between worlds, used their combined powers of Harmony to fix the mirror and restore balance to their world… among countless others.

Unfortunately, they failed.

The specifics were not recorded in the text, but the end result was that the Elements of Harmony all died, and only Princess Twilight Sparkle remained alive. And not only that, but she somehow became an immortal goddess like Celestia and Luna; and was forced to live out the rest of eternity with her magic tied to the fate of Starswirl’s Mirror, for better or worse.

The only positive thing to come from such a tragedy was that the mirror -- while not completely fixed -- had been repaired enough to stabilize the bridge, thus saving Equestria and its ponies from destruction. In the millennia since then, Twilight has been a beloved national hero, god-princess, living martyr, and decidedly alone.

Everything in the book sounded — and rightfully so — as some kind of fantasy story, or a children’s cartoon. And as a weird sense of bemused shock settled over her as she sat back in the library chair, she knew — instinctively— that it was true. Somehow, asking her to believe that was a lot easier to swallow than believing both Twilight and Cadence — their use of magic aside — had been hallucinating about the entire thing.

But there was only one way she was going to get any more help then the book could give her, and it was going to be if she actually went to the source of all her troubles. And, as chance had it, her office hours were open.

“You want to know about what?!”

“The summoning spell,” Sunset repeated herself as she eased the door closed behind her. No way did she want another living soul overhearing this particular conversation.

Professor Shine glanced between the book she had laid on the desk between them and her student’s face, wearing a highly skeptical expression that she wasn’t even bothering to hide. “Be more specific. What’s the spell do, and what more are you wanting to know about it?”

“Anything you can tell me. I mean, I’m just really fascinated by the idea itself. How does summoning work? Can you do it in reverse? How are these being able to be summoned at all? Where do they come from?”

“Calm down, calm down,” the woman half-laughed, still a bit thrown off as she leafed through the pages. “What is the reverse of a summoning, anyway? Do you mean a banishing?”

“Sure, yeah! That!”

“That’s the kind of thing you’d be better off asking the church about; exorcisms and such.” Slipping a pair of teal reading glasses that matched her eyes, the professor glanced down at the pages as she flipped, until she found what she wanted. “Ah, there we are! Alright, yes… I presume this is the one you meant?”

“You got it,” Sunset said, trying to hide her excitement and knowing she sucked at it.

“Hmm, yes. I see.” She read quietly for a few minutes, then eventually shrugged. “Seems pretty straightforward; draw the symbols, light the candles, a bit of life-force… blood, most likely… say the incantation. What else do you need help with?”

“Well… I was wondering if it could be altered.”

The old eyes sure did have a way of sharpening on someone when they were suspicious. “Alter it… how? And to what end?”

“Well, this is all just, um, conjecture,” Sunset said, trying sound more intelligent than childish if she could pull it off. “But… like, say this spell actually does anything besides mark up your floor and waste a perfectly good candle. Would there be ways you could alter the way it works? For example…” Leaning in, she tried to lower her voice but not so much that it would make Professor Shine unable to hear. “Is there a way the summoning could be made… permanent?”

“Again, that depends on what a ‘permanent’ summoning is. Do you mean that the… being… would never leave once it arrives?”

Hard though it was, Sunset fought down the feeling that she sounded like a stupid little girl who wanted to clap hard enough to revive Tinkerbell as she nodded and said, “Yeah, pretty much.”

‘“I doubt it,” she sighed as she glanced over the wording and notations, her sunflower yellow-painted fingernails skimming down the page to help her concentrate. “This one seems to have a very specific purpose: to enter you into an agreement, so the—” she squinted. “—specific element can grant you a favor. Anything beyond said purpose would be something else entirely, and therefore would — I surmise — call for an entirely different spell.”

“Ugh,” Sunset sighed, slumping. “Kinda figured it wouldn’t be that easy.”

“Sorry,” the woman chortled. “Is this for a project of yours?”

“You might say that.”

The woman thought for a moment before she flipped to the book and began skimming down the columns of reference numbers with practiced ease, looking for anything that might stand out to her. After a full minute of looking, she sighed and set the book back down.

“Sorry, hun. Nothing that looks to do the sort of thing you wanted; most of these are white spells in the first place, just to grant things like fuller crops, or clear up warts. Pretty eclectic stuff. Afraid you’ll have to make your own, er… banishment spell, or whatever you plan on making.”

‘“Make my own?”

“For your book.” The gaze in the professor’s eyes was a lot shrewder than the next question seemed to merit. “That is what this is about isn’t it? You’re writing some sort of novella, fanfiction, or a creative writing assignment, aren’t you?”

Gasping, Sunset shot bolt upright as she seemed to realize just how much she had forgotten to feign that this wasn’t for personal use. “R-right! I mean, something like that! Wow, you are… super on-point!”

“Of course I am,” she laughed again as she shut the book. “One has to be limber along the tenure track. Either that, or one has to have male biology and a very nice toupee, as our Professor Nile exemplifies.”

"Right, right,” Sunset also laughed — though wasn’t quite sure she understood the joke. “So, um, thanks for your help. Guess I’ll just figure my own way through.”

“Of course. And apparently you’ll still be needing it as a reference regardless.”

“Huh? Oh!” It haven’t even dawned on her that she was still taking the book with her. “Right, I um… yeah, if you don’t mind? As you can see, it’s still in great condition!”

“Indeed.” Rubbing at her chin for a brief moment, she murmured, “Miss Shimmer…”

Blinking innocently, she asked, “Yes?”

“If you were to, hypothetically, try putting any of these spells into practice… I do hope you would be wiser than to start with that one.”

Now the blinking was accompanied by a derisive scoff. “Why would I want to do something crazy like that?!”

“I wonder.” Then she was shuffling her papers and waving at the door. “But I also hope my insights into magic helped you, as much as they might.”

“No, yeah, I totally appreciate all your help. You’re really the best. Seriously!”

Smiling up at where she hovered, Professor Shine said mildly, “Flattery will not prevent your assignment from being due next class, Miss Shimmer.”

Every condition had been satisfied according to Cadence’s specifications when Sunset surveyed her work roughly six hours later that night. Though her professor had not turned out to be much help other than to bounce a few theories off, Sunset at least still found the theories to bolster her confidence in herself. Knowing a thing or two more than a venerated professor in her sixties was a shot in the arm like none other.

There in the circle of symbols was an etching of the words “Twilight Sparkle”, in Equestrian symbols, in pig’s blood. A few of the letters were barely legible, but that wasn’t what mattered; it was the intent, the symbol of what she wanted. Either was, the life force was the catalyst — disgusting as it was to paint with.

For good measure, however, she pricked her finger with a sanitized sewing needle and allowed a single drop of her own blood to fall. Once it had splashed amongst the letters, she began her recitation.

And she got nothing. Seemed that once again, her calls were to go unanswered.

“Fine,” she grunted as she clenched and unclenched her fists. “Just… fine! Just fuck off and stay out of my fucking life, you dick!”

Silence.

“Okay, maybe I didn’t mean that, but you could at least come talk to me! Just tell me how you were feeling when we couldn’t talk, okay? That’s all. Please.”

Almost thirty seconds passed before the candles began to gutter out one by one, before the air pressure changed and her ears popped. Though she had been beyond excited when the figure emerged, she was slightly disappointed when the figure spoke down to her — since it was her ‘super scary smoke monster’ form.

“Okay, seriously, there’s no possible way you forgot what happened last time I was here,” the dark growl that technically belonged to Twilight at the moment snapped. “Why are we pushing the envelope? Are you so dense that you can’t get the message when I won’t respond?!”

Seconds passed, and no response came. Somehow, even though they had parted on such unusual terms, Sunset hadn’t expected anger.

“Well, you have me here. You have me contracted by magic for a few hours at least, or until you’re satisfied — and now I’m pretty damn worried what that might mean.”

“Don’t do that… please?”

The tone of her voice — cowed and meek — took all the wind out of the goddess’ sails. Though her form remained dark and foreboding, her arms folded over her chest and her voice quieted to her normal tone.

“Fine. What do you want then?”

“Just to talk.”

‘“Talk about what?”

Taking a deep breath, Sunset managed to squeak out, “I know how you got those scars on your cutie mark.”