Collapsing on her bed with a new book, desperately hoping it would give her the break from her life that she needed, Twilight Sparkle wasn’t sure how much more she could take of the way her emotions were making her feel, especially because very little of it was rational or logical. She had planned for a stressful week; with Winter Break coming, the end of the semester loomed large at Crystal Prep, with mandatory semester projects coming due and exams that had to be taken. This was always a terrible few weeks at the school for her, the atmosphere of competition and superiority turning outright hostile as anyone and everyone saw her position as the academic front-runner in the school with the highest marks across the board (everywhere but gym class, at least, though Sunset’s regular self defense training had started to help) as some form of threat, as if it were somehow her fault that they couldn’t get better grades in their own classes.

For the past two years, the end of semester periods had come with ugly looks, snide remarks at the edge of her hearing, a bit of rough handling in the halls, and a general attitude of disdain and scorn from the other students, and while all of those things had been present, she felt different about it. It got to her in ways it never had before, irrational flares of temper and irritation that had left her shaking and seething in the quiet dimness of the small closet-turned-laboratory she used after lunch for her independent research projects. On Wednesday alone, she’d broken three pencils in half in a white knuckled grip, and on Thursday, she almost came around swinging when her one friend left at school had slipped up behind her without her realizing it—things like that just did not happen to Twilight Sparkle. Ever.

The bizarre and extremely vague phone call from Sunset on Tuesday hadn’t helped matters either, bringing with it a whole host of up-and-down emotions. Intellectually (and rationally), she knew that Sunset had friends at her school; these days, her girlfriend talked freely about the group of girls who had done their best to put aside their own negative pasts with Sunset Shimmer and get to know the real person the redhead was instead of the bully persona she had projected for so long. They even seemed like fairly nice people, ones that Twilight thought she might enjoy getting to know someday when Sunset was ready to introduce her to them. So when Sunset had called, and explained that she was trying to be a good friend, to help them deal with a major problem that had come up, she was proud of her girlfriend, happy to see that she had found friends to bond with besides just her. Sunset deserved it, no matter how much she might feel she didn’t. Twilight had absolutely no reason to feel angry and jealous of Sunset’s other friends, and up until this week, had felt nothing of the sort.

Until Sunset had started sending her little texts, seeking reassurance and comfort, texts with words she didn’t say outright, phrases and linguistic patterns that jumped out to Twilight, because they were things Sunset said when her moods were at their darkest. She could feel the strain, the tension, and the self-flagellation from the text alone, and found herself furious at Sunset’s other friends. Friends that became her Sunny’s friends well after Twilight herself had, friends who seemed unaware of just how much whatever was going on was affecting the amber-skinned girl, either because they didn’t notice or didn’t care, and all that Twilight could think was that if they couldn’t pay enough attention to Sunset to realize how bad her mood had gotten, they didn’t deserve her or her friendship.

It left behind a petulant, possessive want to have Sunset with her instead—maybe then they both could have felt better, and she could’ve gotten some sleep. The mix of stressors had raised her anxiety levels enough that in less than four days, Twilight had had six full blown panic attacks on top of the other emotional reactions, plus a partial one that was halted by a frantic call to Cadence to bring her home early. Even the medication that her therapist had prescribed to assist her with her anxieties wasn’t enough to get her through the day, let alone combat the effect it was having on her ability to sleep. She found herself staring for hours at her ceiling, mind racing to understand this creeping sense of impending doom that had no logical source, and when she did fall asleep, it was restless and agitated, her REM cycles a twisted mess of night terrors and intense, passion fueled dreams.

The nightmares would send her bolting up in bed, sobbing as fragments lingered in her memory: flashes of fire and flame, sadistic laughter, icy, too long fingers so cold they burned the flesh of her arms where they grabbed her, pain and blazing agony along all of her nerve endings that made her feel like she was dying. The dark haired girl would hug Spike to her chest then, weeping into his fur and struggling to breathe properly against the feeling that the world was about to come crashing down around her ears, wishing that instead of the soft furred, wriggly puppy trying to lick her face, soft lips were there to kiss her tears away instead while she was tucked close to Sunset’s familiar warmth.

Yet, despite all of that, it was the dreams that enacted a much worse toll on Twilight’s psyche and state of mind than the nightmares. The nightmares were terrible, but they brought emotions she had struggled with her whole life: anxiety, fear, panic, distress, worry. Emotions she had learned coping skills for to help mitigate her reactions and the long term effects, emotions she’d been working through with her family, with Dr. Soft-Spoken, with Cadence, for as long as she could actively remember. The dreams were another matter entirely—vivid, carnal things of heat and sensation and realized lust, all starring the beautiful girl with blue-green eyes and fiery hair that resembled her name, and those she woke from with Sunset’s name on her lips, panting and trembling and achingly unsated, and no matter what methods she tried, no conscious fantasy could manage to cool the fire her subconscious had started. Nothing she had dealt with before had ever come close to the way her body was betraying her now, and it made her jittery, hyperaware of her surroundings and the people in it, leaving her vulnerable to sensory overload in a way she hadn’t had difficulties with in years.

Everything compounded together had left her struggling to cope, her family picking up on her agitation pretty readily, even if they were unaware of the exact problems she was having. Her mother had sat down to talk to her after finding her fixated on reorganizing her bookshelves for the third time, coaxing her into opening up about both the stress at school and Sunset’s strange emergency that would leave her absent from the house that Friday. Velvet had listened, before offering her daughter a comforting hug and parental words of wisdom that made her feel better, even if they didn’t dispel all of the frustrations and anxieties eating at her or help her sleep any better that night.

Twilight Velvet put an arm around her shoulders, squeezing her in one of those warm, comforting sideways hugs that always left Twilight feeling safe. “You’re doing everything right, Twilight,” she confirmed gently. “You’re Sunset’s best friend, and the best thing you can do for her right now is be here and available if she needs you for support. I know you wish you could be helping her more actively, or at least knew more about what is going on, but Sunset will tell you when she’s ready to. She trusts you, not just to listen and keep her confidence, but to be there when she needs you, in the way she needs you.”

She nodded against her mother’s shoulder, still wound up and tense. Her mind just couldn’t shake the feeling that something terrible was about to happen, and it took everything she had in that moment to keep her breathing steady and even. “…I know, Mom…I just wish I could do more than just…text her little messages to keep her spirits up. Something is wrong, something big, something bad—I know that doesn’t sound logical or rational, but nothing I try seems to dispel this sensation, and I feel like I should be doing more to make sure Sunset’s okay, to let her know she isn’t alone with whatever is going on.”

Her mother kissed the top of her head. “…I have an idea, if you’d like to hear it?” she offered. When Twilight gave another shuffling nod of her head, Velvet continued, “What do you think about the whole family calling and leaving her a phone message on Friday? She won’t be with us, but she’ll know then that we’re all thinking of her, and that her presence is missed. Do you think that will help lift her spirits?”

The dark haired teen perked up at her mother’s suggestion, mind racing as she considered it. “…That could work…” she mused, calculating how she could go about it and if she could manage to sneak in a more private message in on the tail end of the voicemail. “…It would show Sunset that she and her wellbeing are important, that someone is thinking about her, even when she’s busy helping other people.”

“Then we’ll do that, right after dinner on Friday. Hopefully it will make up for her being unable to come over that night.” Velvet gave her another warm hug, and added, “In the meantime, I want you to give some serious consideration to calling Dr. Soft-Spoken. I know you get anxious around the end of every semester, Twily, but this isn’t the norm for you, and I know you’re smart enough to recognize that too. I know you might not want to tell me or your father everything that is going on in your life these days, but if it’s bad enough to upset you like this, perhaps you would benefit from telling her. She might be able to help you work through it.”

Twilight chewed on her lip nervously. “…I’ll think about it, Mom.”

“That’s all I ask, sweetheart.”

True to her word, she had considered her mother’s suggestion thoroughly. Her therapist was a warm, understanding, and accepting woman, and Twilight trusted her with a great deal. She was one of the few people the dark haired teen trusted enough to come out to, it was true, but in the end, Twilight decided that as much as she trusted her, there were some things she wasn’t prepared to share. Intensely detailed and erotic dreams involving all of the myriad of things her subconscious wanted Sunset Shimmer to do to her—and with as well read as Twilight was, that was not a short list—was something way outside her comfort zone. She wasn’t even certain she’d be able to share those things with Sunset herself, at least not any time in the immediate future. Coupling that with the surges of anger and jealousy, Twilight was sure that her therapist would have a lot to say, but she wasn’t sure she was in the right place to hear it. This was something she had to work through on her own. Leaving her own private message after her family had finished the group call the night before had helped some, but she still got very little sleep Friday night, acutely aware of the body that wasn’t pressed up against her in bed like it should have been, of the eerie quiet that was normally broken by Sunset’s soft, odd sleeping sounds and whuffling snores.

Today, she’d forced herself to go through something of a routine to keep her mind distracted and to prevent her from reorganizing her books again. She’d run through her self defense exercises in the backyard several times, taken Spike for a long jog through the neighborhood, did all of her homework as well as studied for her finals, spent several hours pouring over a number of the in-progress inventions in her garage lab...and looked frequently at her phone. She was alone in the house now, with her parents out for a function from her father’s job at the university, and was trying to lose herself in a novel she’d been waiting six months for. Twilight’s head dropped back against her pillows in frustration—she couldn’t even get three pages into it before her mind started winding itself up again.

Her phone rang, and all thoughts of her book dissolved away. She didnt even have to look at the name to know who was calling her—the ringtone existed on her phone for one person only. Lavender hands snatched the device off her nightstand, the book forgotten on the covers next to her. “Sunny?” she answered, trying to keep her voice level and non-frantic. “How are you doing? How’re your friends?” With the sparse contact all week, Twilight suspected that this call meant either something very bad or something very good—she hoped for good.

“Hey...” Twilight could hear how worn but happy her girlfriend sounded in the one word. “My friends are fine. Everything is going to be okay...I’m so glad. I was really worried for a bit that it was all going to take a turn for the worse, end in the worst way....but it worked out and I’m happy I was there to help.”

Twilight felt relieved—whatever bad memories had been dredged up, it seemed like the positive outcome for her friends and the fact that she had been able to do something to help had actually taken some of the weight off of Sunset’s psyche. Perhaps this whole week had been a hidden boon, no matter how agitated it had left them both.

“Sparky...?” Sunset sighed into the phone, not even the affection in her tone hiding the undercurrent of exhaustion. Happy as she was, she sounded ragged and only half awake.

“Yes?” Twilight suspected she already knew the question.

“Look, I know its late, and you’re probably busy....” her breath hitched over the phone, causing the dark haired girl to sit up. “...I need you,” came the whispered plea, and her heart jumped, those three words sending her mind and pulse to racing. Her dreams taunted her, flashes of Sunset pressing her into the blankets and breathing words just like that into her ear, but Twilight shut them down, hard; she needed her head clear. Besides, Sunset’s tone didn’t quite match the idea that the words had been meant in regards to sexual intimacy.

Her decision came easily after that: Sunset needed her, and she wouldn’t turn her away. “Come over,” she told her. “Mom and Dad won’t be home until late, but you’re the exception to the rule about not having people over when they’re out.”

“You’re sure you won’t get in trouble?”

“I highly doubt they will be upset at all, and as unlike me as it sounds, I don’t care if they are. You sound...out of sorts, and you said you need me. I’m here for you.” She pushed her glasses up on her nose, a soft smile on her lips. “I would also be lying if I said I hadn’t missed you this weekend. Even a few hours is better than nothing. Come over.”

“Alright,” Sunset acknowledged. “I need to make a stop home, but I’ll be over in a few minutes.” The phone clicked off, and Twilight got up off her bed, heading downstairs.

She found a notepad and wrote out a note to her parents—from the sound of her girlfriend’s voice, she suspected they would be retreating to her room immediately. She was just finishing when she heard the familiar rumble of a motorcycle.

She met Sunset at the door, eyes roving over the haggard redhead who was still managing to smile at her, and pulled her inside firmly. Sunset looked like she had been through absolute hell. Her eyes were bloodshot and had dark circles under them that looked almost like bruises, and her cheeks seemed pale and sunken. Her clothing was scuffed up, a layer of dust and grime coating it, and when she shed her coat, Twilight spotted a scabbed over scrape on her elbow. There was a faint tremor in her limbs and she moved like she was three steps from collapse.

“Oh my gosh! Sunset!” Twilight pulled her into the bathroom on the main floor, sitting her down to clean and cover the elbow wound. “What happened? Did you get in a fight? Who did this to you?”

Bemused, Sunset reached out to cup her cheek with one hand, pulling her down into a kiss. “Hey. It’s okay. I had a bit of a fall is all.” She sighed. “It’s been a rough week.”

“Sunset,” Twilight began as she cleaned the wounded arm with a damp cloth. “You look like you been up all night, shimmying your way through the crawlspace under someone’s house. Your clothing looks slept in, and...” she sniffed, wrinkling her nose. “You kind of need a shower.” She met blue green eyes with a stern gaze. “This is more than just a rough week.”

Wincing, her girlfriend rubbed a hand over her face. “It’s...complicated.” Bleary eyes looked back at her, causing Twilight to take a breath and collect herself. She had to; Sunset looked exhausted and was likely emotionally compromised.

The dark haired girl finished making sure the injury was clean and free of anything overt that could cause infection, giving her much needed time to devise a plan and make a mental list. “Alright. First things first, you’re filthy, Sunset, and you...don’t exactly smell pleasant. You’re going to take a nice warm shower and...did you bring pajamas?”

Blue-green eyes looked at her, and then it clicked. “Ponyfeathers...” the redhead cursed—the odd swear always made Twilight giggle, her mind automatically conjuring the comical image of a horse wearing an oversized chicken suit. “I forgot to...”

“It’s okay, Sunny. My stuff is too small, but you can borrow one of Shining Armor’s shirts and a pair of Cadence’s pants. Come on. Let’s get you upstairs.”

Half carrying Sunset upstairs, Twilight set about getting the shower started—with how out of touch Sunset was with reality in that moment, she was a little concerned the other girl would either freeze or scald herself. “Okay. That should be optimal for not burning you or making you pass ou—“ the rest of her sentence ended abruptly in a strangled squeak.

Sunset had already started to strip down and blinked at Twilight’s flustered reaction, looking down at herself in confusion. “....what?”

Twilight tried very hard not to stare, she really truly, most certainly did. Her eyes fixed on her girlfriend’s face, desperate to not notice the curvaceous figure now only covered by underwear...very flattering, sexy underwear... She did her level best not to drink in the sight of amber skin and round breasts that she swore defied the laws of gravity (her mind started running the numbers to confirm it), the lean toned stomach...but it was probably the hardest thing she’d ever done, because she really wanted to look. “I...you...naked...” she floundered, her dreams once more dancing across her mind’s eye.

It seemed to register with Sunset and the redhead looked mortified. “Oh stars...I’m sorry Twilight! I wasn’t thinking!” She hid behind a towel, though that seemed more for Twilight’s benefit than any embarrassment over her own nudity.

“Its...its okay, I just...” Twilight turned an even darker shade. “Just warn me next time,” she squeaked, before saving them both further awkward suffering and fleeing the bathroom. She used the time it took to find something clean for Sunset to wear to rebuild her control and remind herself several times that she had to be the one willing to think rationally. Sunset needed her to be the cooler head, they both did.

It worked well enough—by the time she knocked on the bathroom door to hand over the pajamas, she’d managed to tuck the image of a nearly nude Sunset Shimmer away into the corner of her mind where it wouldn’t affect her brain so badly. She was fully aware that she’d indulge in it later, particularly if her dreams remained the intense variety that had been plaguing her, but for now, her mind was clear to focus on her distressed companion.

Sunset shuffled out of the bathroom and into Twilight’s room looking much cleaner and a little less out of it some time later. The dark haired girl pointed to her desk, where a bowl of hot vegetable soup gave off steam, a thick hunk of fresh bread next to it on a plate. “I hypothesized you haven’t eaten much either, so I took the liberty of making something light but nutritious.”

Her girlfriend flashed her one of those endearing lopsided smiles. “You’re not wrong...nothing seemed to want to stay down, especially with all the nightmares. Thanks, Sparky...” she dropped into the chair and focused on the food for a little bit, eating slowly and taking small bites. Unsurprising, if she had been eating minimally for a few days, and when she stopped after only two thirds of the bowl and half the bread, Twilight said nothing.

Pushing the chair back with a satisfied sigh, Sunset lurched out of it to flop onto Twilight’s bed, rolling onto her side. She raised one arm, eyes hopeful. “C’mere? I...I need to hold you.”

Twilight lifted herself off the bed. “Under the covers first, that way if you fall asleep, we wont be cold.” The other girl grumbled but did as she was bid, before holding her arm up again. Smiling, she set her glasses on the nightstand and joined Sunset under the blankets. Hands pulled her close, their owner unwilling to wait for her to get there on her own time, and while the motion surprised her, she found she had no complaints about being rearranged to suit Sunset’s choice in positions for cuddling.

Kisses were left on her neck, her ear, the hollow of her throat, before Sunset pressed her face into Twilight’s collar with a shaking breath. Lavender fingers moved up to tuck some of that soft red-gold hair behind an ear. “Did you want to talk about it?”

The head shuffled a little in a nod, but Sunset said nothing.

Twilight tried another question. “Is it something you can talk about?” She knew she was on target when the arms gripping her tightened fractionally, even before Sunset shook her head no. Twilight pressed her whole body closer, trying not to think too much about the things she could feel where they touched or how many of her recent dreams it brought to mind. “That’s okay,” she soothed, making a distant mental note to thank Cady later for teaching her this conversational trick with an upset person, albeit unintentionally. “You don’t have to talk about it if you aren’t ready.”

Sunset was quiet for several minutes, her breathing shaky and uneven as she gathered her thoughts. “You remember the Musical Showcase my school was doing today? The one that the girls have been working to perform in for weeks?”
Fingers continued to stroke through fiery hair, Twilight nodding despite her internal impatience to know what had happened to leave her girlfriend in such a state. “I do. You were going to help them and cheer them on because you said you weren’t allowed to participate directly.”

“Right.” Lips moved against the skin of her neck as Sunset spoke, sending a pleasant tingle through her. “...something happened on Tuesday. There were these girls...recent transfers from somewhere else. At first, they seemed nice, but it was all an act. They...” The arms tightened again, and Twilight could feel the way the taller girl began to tremble. “They were like I used to be, only worse...they didn’t care who got hurt, or how...using stuff against people even I would never have. I...can’t prove it, but I think they were behind the website and the locker, except they didn’t get caught.”

Anger flared in Twilight, and she pulled back enough to search Sunset’s face. “Oh, Sunny...” she whispered, before pecking her lips. “Are you okay? Did they try to hurt you?”

Smiling crookedly, the redheaded girl nuzzled her. “I...they didn’t try to hurt me directly, no. I was...a diversion. A distraction that amused them.” She sobered as she continued. “But on Tuesday, they...they slipped up. The girls and I found out about what they’ve been doing...and what they planned to do today.”

Shame colored Sunset’s tone, shame and guilt. “At the Fall Formal, I did something really stupid and really dangerous. I could have gotten other students hurt or even killed...and that includes me. I could have—“ she broke off, pressing her face back into Twilight’s neck, where the dark haired girl could feel tears drip onto her skin. “I should have died that night, Sparky,” she admitted. “I still don’t know how or why I walked away from it.”

Twilight’s heart lurched. Sunset had alluded to doing something foolish, something dangerous, the night they met, but to think that the other girl could have been killed...that left Twilight with a feeling of disquiet. “Sunny...what did you do?”

“Blew up the front walk of Canterlot High when I tried to prove my control and superiority against my competition.” There was an awkward pause. “I was practically at the center of that explosion...” She gave a humorless laugh. “Seeing my life flash before my eyes and how ugly I was...I was given a second chance I didn’t deserve that night...a chance I didn’t want to waste.”

Amber skinned hands pressed against the small of Twilight’s back, holding her flush to Sunset’s front. The familiar position, with their legs tangled together, helped the tension start to bleed out of both teens. “...and you haven’t, Sunset,” she pointed out softly. “Look at how much you’ve changed, how far you’ve come. You aren’t the same person you were before that night.” She considered the situation. It was possible Sunset was just rambling, but Twilight felt she wouldn’t have brought it up without a reason. “...but reassurance is not why you’re telling me this, is it?”

Sunset exhaled. “These girls...we found out they planned to do what I did at the formal, except bigger and ‘better’—but we had no proof. No way of verifying to the principals that what we were saying was anything more than rumor or hearsay. We had no way to stop them...but if they did what they were planning, a lot more people would get hurt or killed than just them.” Her voice shook. “We spent...most of the week...trying to stop them...to get what we needed to stop people from being hurt...they realized pretty early what we were doing and...we became their targets.”

“Targets how?”

“However they could get to us without touching us physically. Everything in their power they could come up with to weaken us, drive us apart, discredit us to everyone around us...” Sunset trailed off, lost in thought as she nuzzled into the crook of Twilight’s neck. Twilight continued to run fingers through her hair, lightly scratching her nails against her scalp in a soothing gesture.

“Nothing was too far, too much for them, if it suited their end goals,” Sunset told her, voice catching. “They were tearing the girls apart, worse than I ever did, and...I could see it. See what they were doing and why it was working...but I don’t know much about being friends. I didn’t want to overstep, to stick my nose where it didn’t belong, not when I was still trying to figure out how I fit with them and how it all works...” She sniffled. “But it got so bad, Sparky, worse than I’ve ever seen before, and I had to do something. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t try, not after everything!”

Twilight could hear the growing emotion in the redhead’s voice, passion and intensity lending her words strength. “...and...I made them see what was happening, how they’d been turned against each other to stop them from stopping those girls. I fixed it, and we got what we needed to stop them before anyone got hurt.” She could feel Sunset start to smile against her neck. “...I helped make things better instead of ruining them...and...”

“It was like there was this empty place inside me,” she admitted, pulling back to meet Twilight’s eyes. “Like a hole that had been torn open and left there...And it’s gone now...filled with good things, with my friends and you and your family...” Her lopsided smile became a full one, and the words she spoke were filled with an emotion that Twilight couldn’t quite define. “...I don’t hate myself anymore...” she breathed.

More tears came, but there was a difference in them. Before, when Sunset wept, it had been out of suffering or pain. Now the tears were cleansing, a good cry that shed a burden. She could feel it in the way Sunset cried, with little sound, just tears flowing in silence to dampen her shirt, to drip into her hair. There were no hitching sobs, no snorting or snuffling of a mucus blocked nose, just the steady stream of relieved tears. Twilight held onto her the entire time, hands in constant motion: one rubbing up and down Sunset’s back, the other stroking through her hair, constant touch to let Sunset know she was there. Eventually, the redhead cried herself out, and she rested her forehead to Twilight’s with a yawn.

“...Sparky...” she murmured. “...thanks. I feel a bit better.”

“I’m glad,” the dark haired girl responded, kissing her lips lightly.

The one kiss became two, became more, emotions shared without words, affection happily traded back and forth. The exchanges towed the line between innocence and passion, but for now they both were still on the same page, neither quite ready to push the boundary. Sunset still held her tightly, but eventually shifted to tuck her face back into the crook of Twilight’s neck—that seemed to be her favorite way to doze off when they were together, the bookworm had noticed.

“Sleep, Sunny...I’ll be here when you wake up,” she told her, though the soft whuffling noise told her that Sunset Shimmer couldn’t hear her. She was already asleep.

Twilight had managed, after Sunset’s sleep had deepened enough that she didn’t fear waking her, to adjust them so she could sit up a little and go back to reading her book. Sunset now rested with her head using Twilight’s chest and stomach as a pillow, arms curled around her waist. One lavender skinned arm was around the redheaded girl’s back, keeping her close, while the other had made use of her kindle to simply read a digital copy instead of the hardback.

Spike had joined them sometime a few hours ago, and lay in the depression between her legs and Sunset’s—it seemed her dog had finally gotten over his mistrust of Sunset enough to use her as bedding. That made Twilight happy—it had bothered her that the normally sweet and friendly puppy had treated Sunset like a threat from the get go, and watching him warm up to her, if slowly, had eased some of her anxieties.

It was this scene that her mother opened the door to not long after midnight, and Twilight realized the awkward domesticity of it when her mother stared for a long moment, saying nothing. Panic was her first instinct, until Sunset let out a content sigh and hugged her tighter, causing that emotion to drain away. She went for the truth instead, seeing the paper in her mother’s hand.

“I’m sorry for breaking the rules, Mom,” she confessed, “but you should have heard her when she first showed up...she was so stressed and tired...she needed me.”

Velvet shook her head. “Twily, you don’t have to apologize—you aren’t in trouble. The rule about friends over without permission when we are out doesn’t apply to Sunset. She is welcome here any time, day or night.” Her mother stepped into the room, looking down at the sleeping girl with a measure of motherly concern. “Is she alright? She looks extremely rundown, far more than I would have expected.”

Twilight exhaled. “You should have seen her when she arrived. I don’t think she’d changed clothes in several days, and she hasn’t been sleeping well...or eating properly.” She frowned. “I’m afraid she might get sick. I got her to eat a little soup and some bread...”

Her mother perched gently on the edge of the bed so as not to disturb the sleeping girl, reaching out to stroke Sunset’s hair. “Poor thing. Do you know what happened?”

Twilight found herself recounting the week’s events as Sunset had told her, eyes watching her girlfriend’s face. “I think she spent all week mentally punishing herself because of the similarities between these three girls and her previous identity as a bully, especially because they were inspired by her previous actions to attempt something dangerous. I suspect it’s also why she pushed herself to the brink of collapse when it was her friends being attacked.”

The older woman tucked a few errant strands of hair behind Sunset’s ear. “Trying to give back to those who stood up for her, to atone for her own past...” Velvet glanced at her daughter. “Carrying all that guilt around isn’t healthy.”

Purple eyes met her mother’s gaze. “I...think it is going to be alright, Mom. As hard as this week was for her...” She paused, searching for how to word what she knew without being told. “...I believe it was actually exactly what she needed. We talked a little before she fell asleep—she cried, Mom, and told me she doesn’t hate herself anymore.”

Velvet smiled, but her eyes still held motherly concern. "She shouldn't have felt that way about herself in the first place." She shook her head, "Whoever that guardian was that took her in after her parents passed, I'm starting to feel like I'd like a little time alone with them, preferably without any witnesses."

Twilight couldn’t entirely fight the chuckle that escaped her. “Moooom...” Then she sobered. “She shouldn’t, but she did, no matter what I did. Ive done everything I can to help, but sometimes doesn’t seem like enough.”

“Twily, sweetheart, you’re doing everything right. I’m proud of you.” Velvet hugged her, placing a kiss on the top of her head. “You were here for her when she needed you. And...this is just a suggestion, but if she’s still extremely out of sorts and distressed in a few weeks, perhaps consider suggesting Dr. Soft-spoken to her? She might benefit from an opportunity to talk to a professional and not just her best friend.” Releasing her, her mother smiled and stood up. “Try and get some sleep yourself, okay? I don’t want you up all night reading. You’re still a growing girl, even if you are smarter than most people twice your age.”

“I will. I was just going to finish this chapter.”

“Alright. Your father has already headed to bed and I’m going to join him.”

True to her word, Twilight soon placed her reader down on the nightstand, glasses on top, and cut the light. She wriggled into a comfortable position against her companion, taking the opportunity to trace her fingers over Sunset’s jawline before pressing a soft kiss to her lips. She could hear the redhead’s voice in her mind, see the look in her eyes as she admitted “I don’t hate myself anymore...” Her own eyes filled with tears, tears of relief, because seeing that weight come off Sunset’s shoulders had taken a weight off of her own. Settling more comfortably in Sunset’s arms, she let sleep claim her, able to rest at last now that she was where she belonged.

[End Arc I: Redemption.]

You all saw this coming, I know--Sunset going right to the Sparkle house, cuz damn, that girl needs cuddles.

So now we know what Sparky's been up to. Sounds like she's not had a good week either.

Well...up until she got an eye full, that is. I dont blame her though. That would've improved my week too, were I in her place. *waggles brows* Its always the nerdy, quiet ones, isn't it?

So initially, this was what marked the end of Arc One, but in writing what was originally intended to be the bridge between Arc One and Arc Two, that bridge became more like the Arc One Wrap Up AND Arc 2 Setup, so...Consider the next...twenty five chapters or so exactly that. Wrap Up and Setup. Yes. Its going to be a busy Winter Holiday season for the girls, I think. I do apologize for Xmas in august though. I know Christmas needs to wait its fucking turn, but this is just how the stuff is going to play out due to my weekly posting schedule. Ah well. Still better than the Hallmark Channels.