She was sneaking through the house in the dark of the night, unseen and unheard. She did not need the light to guide her down the stairs and through the twists and turns of the corridor. Old, dry wood would’ve creaked under her weight, but she has long since learned how to persuade the most stubborn stairs to keep their silence, even when she still had hooves instead of soft human feet.

Last turn, and the room was straight ahead, and silently she twisted the doorknob and opened the door. Nopony would wake up until her deed would be done, and it would be way too late for them to do anything…

“Hi, Sunset!”

“Oh, hey Twilight.” She blinked away the blindness of the sudden light, like an owl hit by the car lights and tried to play it cool. “Still working on that counter-song?”

She tried not to look as the purple little princess grabbed her notebook protectively at the mere mention of her spell. It still kinda hurt.

“Don’t worry, I’m not here to mess with your work. Just a late-night raid on the fridge. Besides, after all those years without magic, I’d probably just get in your way.”

She opened the refrigerator, only to see that the last piece of the cake was gone. The sounds of scribbling continued behind her back for a few seconds before quieting down again.

“Do you miss it?“ Twilight gripped her pen tightly as she asked the question. “Your magic, I mean.”

“Sometimes,” Sunset answered absentmindedly, still trying to find something other than the whipped cream in the fridge. Giving up with a sigh, she grabbed the nearest can. “It’s good to have magic. But there are other types of power that are as good, if not more powerful than unicorn magic. Want some whipped cream?”

“Right! Like friendship!”

Sunset stopped pouring the cream in her hand for a second. “Eh… yeah, heh, exactly. Friendship. That is exactly what I meant. ”

Twilight stopped doodling in her notepad and looked straight at Sunset for the first time.

“Sunset… even I know that’s not what you wanted to say.”

“Well… kinda, yeah, not really. I just thought back to my adventures, and the sort of lessons I’ve learned, and… you sure you don’t want any of this stuff? It’s pretty good.”

Twilight pushed the offered can aside. “I know we have our differences… but I really want to understand. Talk to me. Please?”

Sitting across the table from the Princess, Sunset sighed again.

“Fine. But if you really want to understand where I’m coming from, it’s kind of a long story, and it’s getting late. You sure you don’t want to do it some other time?”

The door burst open before Twilight even had a chance to answer.

Pinkie moved at the speed of a hurricane, and suddenly the room was full of still-sleepy girls in their pyjamas.

“Pinkie Pie, what is the meaning of this?” Rarity said testily, as she pried off her sleeping mask. “Why on earth did you drag us here in the middle of the night?!”

“It’s storytime! Sunset was going to tell a story, and nobody misses a Sunset story!”

“But--”

“Nobody!” Pinkie snapped, cutting off any and all protests.

Applejack’s chuckle turned to a yawn as she stretched out.

“Fine.” Rarity relented. “But before we begin, I am at least making us some tea.”

Next Chapter: CHAPTER I: DRAW Estimated time remaining: 5 Hours, 60 Minutes