“….can you pass me the water?”

Sunset smiled affectionately down at Twilight and pulled her fingers out of dark hair so she could grab the bottle of water on the desk next to the bed. “Here,” she said, passing it to the girl that was stretched out, laying half on top of her under a blanket.

Twilight sat up just enough to take a long drink, and hand it back, eager to cuddle up close and not move from where she’d pretty much spent the last several hours. Sunset polished off the water and returned to stroking her fingers soothingly through Twilight’s hair. “You sound like you're feeling a little better.”

Purple eyes looked up at her, but the other girl remained laying with her cheek pressed to Sunset’s chest comfortably. “…the nap helped,” she admitted, her voice still sounding rough from her earlier panic attack. “…but I think having you near helped more…” The arms encircling her hugged tighter. “…when I realized you came for me…it was like I could remember how to breathe…”

“I promised, Sparky…when you need me, I’ll be there.” The redhead dipped her face down to kiss her girlfriend’s nose.

The arms shifted until the younger girl was hugging her around the neck. “I thought I was imagining your voice talking to Indigo…especially when it kept happening, but then you were there, and real…thank you for coming for me.”

Her own arms squeezed back, and she twisted a little so she could hook her long legs around Twilight’s, feeling the intense need to surround the smaller form entirely, to keep the rest of the world out. “Wild monsters couldn’t have kept me away,” she murmured. “I will always come for you.”

Silence fell over them for a long time, the couple content to bask in quiet closeness and soft brushes of their lips against each other’s. In between the kisses, Sunset found herself humming music that she thought of as calming.

Sunset knew Twilight needed time, but they…needed to talk too. So she decided to go with a safe topic. “…I like your friend Indigo.”

“You do?” Twilight asked, the hope in her voice digging into the former bully painfully.

She nodded, nuzzling into her hair, resisting the urge to lip playfully at dark strands. “I do. She…reminds me of my friend Rainbow…she was willing to blind text my number to get help for you.” Pausing, she considered her next words, before forging ahead with what she was thinking. “And she was willing to stay with you until your family showed up, because I asked her to.”

The other girl was quiet for a long minute. “…so when I thought I heard you talking to Indigo a bunch of times? I thought I was just imagining what I wanted to hear…”

“I was on the phone with her twice, and then I talked to her in the nurse’s office too,” Sunset confirmed. “She told the nurse off more than a few times…and I think your principal is going to end up firing the nurse to avoid some lawsuits.”

Twilight made a distressed sound, burrowing her face back into Sunset’s chest. Amber fingers resumed their gentle stroking through midnight colored locks. “Hey…what happened wasn't your fault, and if the nurse gets fired, it's because she broke the law. My vice principal told me that a school nurse has to call your parents when something happens—her refusing to do that was a huge deal that had less to do with you and more with people that even your principal has to answer to.”

No answer, other than a low sound that she felt through her shirt more than she heard it. “Sparky…” she murmured, cuddling her close again. She really didn't know what else to do at this point other than be a giant body pillow for her girlfriend and offer emotional support, but deep down, she knew that wasn't enough. Not for Sunset, not after feeling how tainted and twisted the grounds of Crystal Prep really were, and certainly not after observing how both her girlfriend and Indigo were treated by the staff. She had thought it was like CSGU…but she couldn't have been more wrong—it was far worse than CSGU could ever hope to be. “…I know you don't like hearing this, but…your school is awful and toxic—what are you actually getting out of it that makes it worth being attacked in the halls or having people ruin your possessions?”

Twilight tensed, but then sort of slumped in defeat. “…it’ll help me get into a good college.”

Sunset sighed, rubbing her girlfriend’s back. “Sparky…you’re brilliant. You blow every test you take out of the water, you're so above high school that you finished the advanced math and science courses they offer in your freshman year…Colleges are going to be begging you to grace their halls, and…” She hated to call it out, but… “…and your family can afford to pay for your college without going into debt. You're pretty much guaranteed a spot anywhere you want to go after graduation. You don't need CPA. CPA needs your test scores to look good, to offset the spoiled rich brats who use gold to pave their way in life rather than work.”

More quiet, and it made Sunset uneasy. “Look, I’m not telling you what to do. It just seems to me that you aren't getting as much out of going to Crystal Prep as you keep saying you should be…and the rational, logical response to that would be to reevaluate whether you want to continue attending school there.”

Twilight made a soft sound of frustration. “I…I realize you're probably right, Sunset, but…can we not talk about it just yet? My parents are probably going to bring it up too, and I can't deal with having the conversation twice, not tonight.”

The former unicorn mulled that over with a thoughtful expression, and decided to draw a little bit on the diplomatic tactics Princess Celestia had used. “I can respect that, Sparky…but can you promise me that in return you will really listen to everyone’s thoughts too? No one believes you aren’t capable of succeeding or even surviving what Crystal Prep is throwing at you…none of it is an attack on you. They're worried. I’m worried—Indigo was there today, and I managed to get to you after she let me know, but…” she left the thought hanging pointedly.

Lavender fingers gripped her shirt tightly, and Twilight pressed deeper into her embrace. “…I…I know that, but…” She made a muffled whining noise into Sunset’s cleavage. “Why can't this just all go away? I don't want to talk about it, or think about it, or argue with Mom and Dad about it because I know this is way bigger than how any of us feel about my school!”

Her voice hitched in the beginnings of a sob, and Sunset immediately tried to soothe her. “Hey, hey…it's going to be okay, Sparky. We don't have to talk about it right now…” She could feel her magic pulsing under her skin, itching to help, but she was wary of using it now with Twilight wide awake.

“I know I’m going to have to,” Twilight sniffled, “but it's too much right now and I can't think straight…” she lifted her head, turning her face up towards Sunset, her eyes pleading with the redheaded girl. “…can you…just hold me? Kiss me like you do, and make everything in my head go quiet? Please, Sunny? I…I need to be in that place where nothing else matters except you and how safe you make me feel.”

Sunset sucked in a breath, possessive hunger igniting in her veins at the plea, and she couldn't have stopped herself any more than she could have chosen to have been born something other than a unicorn. Her hands slid lower on Twilight’s back, until they found the girl’s rounded rear; using both hands on it to tug Twilight higher up elicited a surprised but not distressed squeak. That put her girlfriend’s mouth close enough now to capture with her own. Twilight wanted to clear her mind of anything but Sunset? She was going to make sure that was exactly what happened.

Lips met, searing heat and needy fervor accompanied by roving hands breathless sounds that held no real words yet communicated eager want and needy desire. Sunset made a low, burbling growl in her throat as she conquered the now familiar territory of Twilight’s mouth, one hand tangling in dark hair. Amidst it, she could feel the dark, furious emotions that had given her strength earlier, when the stuffed shirts and dark magic thought they could keep her from her Twilight, and beneath that, a desire to leave a mark on Twilight that could not be denied. Her magic pulsed, not unlike it had when it had moved to protect Indigo, and following that feeling, Sunset let it seep into Twilight where skin touched skin, leaving a tingling trail of magic behind where her fingers blazed a path under her girlfriend’s top.

Purple met blue-green, and Sunset’s thought’s crystallized into a single idea, one that thundered across her mindscape. Mine, it growled, in passion and fire.

Twilight pulled back from the kiss to catch her breath, and her fingers brushed along Sunset’s cheek, pushing hair out of her eyes, her face flushed and lips kiss bruised. “…yes…” she murmured, before closing the distance again. “All yours, Sunset Shimmer…”

It was exactly the right response, and the redhead painted Twilight’s skin with magical afterimages, instinct urging her as she drew ancient spellforms and sigils her magic knew was protective, even if she didn't quite remember in the lust haze what they stood for. And with each completed shape, the power filling the room grew, Harmonic magic and Sunset’s crimson energies reaching for some kind of crescendo as one girl pressed the other into the mattress, their eyes closed and their breath mingling together.

SLAM!

SLAM!

The sound of car doors shutting loudly in the driveway below cut through the intimate bubble, breaking the spell that kept them from the world beyond. Sunset’s magic fell away, leaving only lingering, unfinished traces, and a sense of frustration at not succeeding at her goal. She flopped her head back on the pillows, hands resting on Twilight’s hips, and chuckled breathlessly. “How's your head now?” Sunset asked, pushing her magic back down along with the sense of annoyance. It was probably good they got interrupted before any clothing got tossed away this time—she was fairly sure neither of them had locked the door.

Her girlfriend stared at her, expression a bit dazed, and with a smile tugging at her mouth. It took her a full fifteen seconds to register what Sunset had said, and she pressed back close with a dreamy expression. “…head’s good…everything’s good…you're good….and warm…” Her hands had found their way under the redhead’s top and were pressed to her sides, soaking in the heat radiating from amber skin. “Mmm…” she murmured, nuzzling into Sunset’s neck.

Another chuckle escaped her, and she sat up against the pillows, tugging the hands out of her clothes. “Not quite what I meant, nerd,” she teased, kissing her forehead. “And my eyes are up here.”

“But your boobs are down here…” came the muffled voice as Twilight buried her face into Sunset’s chest once more. “…bury me here…”

One eyebrow went up. “That would make the funeral very awkward, Sparky. For me and for your parents. Not to mention your brother.” She considered it. “Cadence would just laugh at me though.”

The dark haired teen burrowed her face further onto the soft fleshy ‘pillows’, and Sunset let out a noise of pain when she found the sore spot left behind from earlier. Twilight immediately jerked her fully back to reality. “Sunset? What's wrong?”

One hand tugged up her shirt to show the discoloration on her flesh that would look pretty ugly by morning. “You were pretty grabby when you dozed off earlier. One hand got my bra, but…”

“Oh, Sunny, I’m so sorry!” she apologized, leaning in to kiss the tender spot.

Sunset laughed. “You’re adorable, nerd…I’ll be okay. I told Cadence I’m calling it a ‘best friend merit badge.’” Even if she was never a foal-scout, or whatever humans had. Kid-scouts? Child-scouts? The ones who sold cookies and popcorn.

Twilight giggled. “I’m fairly certain neither of us was ever a Girl Scout.”

“You got me…” Sunset’s grin was unrepentant as she straightened her clothes. “But you laughed, and that's what I was hoping for. Now how are you feeling? Seriously.”

The other teen sobered quickly at the question, but Sunset recognized it as ‘Twilight.exe is processing’ face. So she waited, giving her the time she needed to do some self analyzing. At last, Twilight took a breath. “…I am…more clear headed, yes, which has helped reduce my anxiety levels,” she responded in the clinical tone she used when she was falling back on logic to help manage emotions. “…but I am…not in the best headspace at present. Today has been…too much…for me to hope for that.”

Reaching out, Sunset brushed knuckles against her cheek lightly. “I didn't expect you to be—today was a bad one, probably the worst I’ve ever seen you have.”

Her girlfriend drew in yet another breath of the kind that preceded bad news. “…I used to have ones like that a lot before you met me. Sometimes I would spiral for hours…sometimes days when I was little. I think my parents would almost be relieved when I finally snapped and went into the hysterical part and then cried myself to sleep.”

Sunset closed her eyes for a moment, her heart twisting from the raw pain underlying Twilight’s detached tone that she could almost feel, empathy for her best friend dredging up old memories of a similar grief in herself. Her volatile magic and the temper tied to it were different from Twilight’s panic attacks and anxiety, but the shame, guilt, and frustration had been the same for a long time, and it had been part of what made her hateful and bitter. She could remember the looks from other foals and teachers at CSGU, the servants, passing nobles…but most of all, she could remember Princess Celestia and the tired disappointment on her face every time Sunset lost control. In the end, she’d become a surly shut in to avoid it all as much as possible, focusing on her studies and then later Ascension.

So she knew exactly what Twilight was feeling. Even if they both knew that Velvet and Night did not resent their youngest child’s difficulties, Twilight had met plenty of others who had, and the shame-guilt-hurt from that was hard to dispel. The former unicorn tossed her head to shake free of her own memories, and wrapped her arms around Twilight in a hug that Pinkie would have been proud of. “Doesn't matter to me,” she said gruffly, “how good or bad it gets. I’ll always be here to make sure you come out the other side, even if the only way I can help is by being a snot rag and a body pillow. You’re my first friend, my best friend…and you can't chase me off that easily.” She leaned her head down and tipped Twilight’s chin up to kiss her sweetly. “That's why I will always come for you when you need me…because you taught me that being a friend means being there at our worst, not just our best. And if it means I get to scare the horseapples right out of your principal, then I will even break a few speed limit laws to get there in record time.”

Twilight didn't laugh this time, but her lips did turn up in a smile so Sunset counted it as a win. “…thank you, Sunny…but please don't go terrifying school administrators on my behalf.”

“I mean, it was sort of on Indigo’s behalf and I didn’t mean to scare them? I just wasn't going to let her get away with punishing Indigo for doing what I asked her to do—what I made her promise to do. She kept her word…and that…that means something to me, Sparky. She protected you until I got there.” She sighed, cuddling her girlfriend tight. “But I’ll try to be good, even if your principal is a lemon sucking harpy with all the disposition of a yak with half a tree branch stuck up his rump.”

“Sunset!” Twilight chastised her, shocked but also trying not to laugh.

The redheaded girl grumped, “It’s true! It's like someone forgot to tell her that the lemon in the water glass is to clarify the water, not to eat.” Then she gently redirected the conversation. “That was probably your dad and brother getting home, and it's getting close to dinner time. Are you going to be okay to go downstairs? To eat, at least, even if you're not ready to talk about today?” As if in response, Twilight’s stomach let out a long gurgling growling sound that made the teen flush a little, especially when Sunset chuckled, “I see your stomach has cast its own vote.”

“…I am hungry,” Twilight sighed.

Sunset nodded. “Probably because we both missed lunch, and you skipped breakfast again, didn't you?”

Looking a little sheepish, Twilight wouldn't meet her eyes. “…I was looking over the latest readings from my equipment,” she admitted. “I didn't have time to eat.”

Amber fingers tweaked her nose. “All the more reason to go eat dinner. If I know your mom, she's either been cooking all afternoon or had someone pick up enough take out for a small army.”

“…yeah…” Shoulders slumping, Twilight stared at the wall. “I know they're going to want to talk about today and my school…”

Time to try this again then. “Sparky…look at me.” When the smaller girl focused on her, adjusting her glasses, Sunset said, “I’m here to support you, Twilight—I’m not your enemy in this, but I am worried. You're my best friend, my girlfriend, and where I am sitting, you are being bullied and taken advantage of…and if there’s something I’m familiar with, it's what bullying looks like, since I was a bully for a very long time. Which is why I’m asking you to be willing to listen to what your parents have to say, and all the worries they have too. None of us believe you aren't strong or capable enough to handle yourself—we just believe you shouldn't ever be in a position where you feel like you have to, because what is going on is wrong. None of this is an attack on you.” She leaned forward and touched her forehead to Twilight’s gently, letting just a little bit of magic rise up where skin touched, willing the faint warmth to carry with it the concern she felt. “Can you please promise me you’ll listen with an open mind this time…and maybe be willing to consider a compromise?”

She could feel the deliberate, slow breaths Twilight took to match her own breathing. “…I…yes…Sunny…I promise to do my best to keep calm and try to listen to what they say rationally…” Twilight said after a minute. “It’s…it’s not the conversation I want to have, and I still don't think I could do it more than once right now, but…” Her arms snaked around Sunset’s neck and she clung to her, trembling slightly. “…maybe it's because I know you’ll be with me, or maybe because you helped get my mind off it all for a while or maybe you're just some kind of magic, but whatever it is…I feel like I can handle it now.”

“That’s my nerd,” Sunset encouraged. “I’ll be right with you if you need a hug or to see if you can break my fingers—maybe go easy on leaving bruises in public places though? I don't think anyone will believe I fell off my bike. As it is, I’ll be dressing out in a bathroom stall for a few days.” When Twilight tried to apologize again, Sunset put a finger to her lips. “I’m teasing, Sparky, relax.”

Twilight climbed off her, stretching the kinks out of her muscles from several hours of cuddling and a nap. “If you want to head downstairs, I think I want to wash my face and fix my hair. Just because everyone knows I had a huge panic attack today doesn't mean I want to look like I spent the afternoon crying.”

Impishly, Sunset poked her side where she knew Twilight was ticklish, making her yelp. “Probably a good idea. You've got my lip gloss all over your neck and face. It's nothing like that lipstick Rarity wears, and I don't mind it, but…your folks might ask questions.” She rose and sauntered right by her somewhat dumbfounded girlfriend to look herself over in the mirror, making sure she didn't have any visible marks from their heated make out. She didn't, and a quick finger combing settled her curls enough to be presentable.

The redhead went to leave the room, pausing to lean down and kiss Twilight’s lips. “Don't be too long, nerd, or I’ll come back up and get you.” With that, she left the room with all the confidence she’d once used to command the halls at CHS, stifling the giggle at the squeaky, flustered noise that escaped the girl she left standing red faced in the bedroom.

*chuckles*

Sunset, don't break the poor girl.

Anyway. Little bit of reprieve for everyone, before more shit hits the proverbial fan. Take a breath.

It wont last. After all, Sunset still has to explain things to her principals. And her friends.

....She's not going to have a good time, is she?

As a side note, I have to admit that we were all highly entertained by the sheer variety of responses to the reveals in last week's chapter. I...didn't expect your guys' responses, especially the direction so many of them took. Watching the rampant speculation was fantastic!

*grins*