MLDC: Firestorm Crisis

by Michael_Ravencroft

Entry 11: Win-Lose and Win-Win

A couple of weeks had passed since Twilight and Sunset had flown half across the world and infiltrated the abandoned Organization base, and utterly destroyed it. Although Twilight didn’t find any trace of her big brother, she was able to finally move past the grief and accept his passing.

Sunset on the other hand was still mulling over everything Twilight had told her about herself. The secret that Twilight was created by the Organization, along with several other children, to be brainwashed sleeper agents within governments and high-ranking positions around the world.

It made sense to Sunset why Twilight cherished her friends and those around her. She had nothing, knew nothing more than what she was taught. Twilight was easily the smartest girl on the planet, and yet she chose not to show how smart she was, wanting to have the things she didn’t have.

Well, that’s not true. Professor Neigh was like a father to Sparky, if it wasn’t for him she’d probably be more like a robot than a person. 

Sunset now understood why Twilight had said that she was “nothing”, because Twilight was born from nothing more than random DNA, she had nothing, and now she had friends, a life. Sunset reflected on this for the past couple of weeks, visiting the Sparkle residence more often to work on their joint science project.

During that time Sunset had opened up to Twilight a little more, little was left of the hate she harbored for this girl, she figured she had been surrounded by more than enough of that when she was younger and she certainly didn’t need anymore from Sunset.

Once in a while that feeling would rise up again, but it would just as quickly be submerged once she see looked upon that happy smile on Twilight’s face. It was then replaced with another feeling, one that made Sunset’s heart thump in her chest and her cheeks feel warm. Sunset more than once shook off this feeling, only to have it return a moment later.

“Sunset, you alright?”

“Huh – what?!” Sunset stammered.

Twilight was sitting on the couch, going over the formulas and equations of their project to ensure that the device would not blow up. “I asked if you were alright, you looked deep in thought about something.”

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine, don’t worry about it, Sparky,” said Sunset as she went back to fiddling with a piece of the fusion reactor.

The purple girl wasn’t so sure about that, but she knew better than to press Sunset on certain matters, believing that she’d tell her if she deemed it important enough.

“I can’t believe it’s almost here, this is kind of exciting!”

“More exciting than blowing up an Organization base with our own bare hands?” Sunset asked with a smirk.

Twilight chuckled. “Yes, but it feels better to make something than to destroy it.” The violet haired girl immediately regretted those words. “I-I didn’t mean it like you enjoy destroying things! I –!”

“Sparky, relax, I know what you meant. And you’re right, making something and being constructive is a nice change of pace.”

She wasn’t lying, she did like making things. Especially when it came to tuning her bike, Sunset discovered she had a gift for mechanics and engineering, just like she had a good grasp on this world’s science. Sunset continued to put the final components of their reactor together, and, theoretically speaking, the device should be able to achieve fusion without the need for radioactive material.

All the power, none of the nuclear waste, with their combined genius Sunset was sure they’d win. She really didn’t care for hobnobbing with scientists, but she did like the taste of victory and lording it over the ones she crushed.

“Might want to be careful when we’re there Sparky,” said Sunset.

“Why’s that?”

“Comparatively speaking, we’ll probably be the two hottest girls there, so watch yourself when you’re around the nerd boys.”

“‘H-Hot’, me?! Nononononononono, I-I’m not!” Twilight stammered.

Sunset gave a wave of her hand as if dismissing her statement. “Please, I wouldn’t be surprised if they drooled over me, but you, you’re not exactly unattractive, Sparky. You got that dorkish, cute librarian girl thing going for you. Guys dig that.”

Twilight’s cheeks reddened and she was finding it hard to concentrate on her work with Sunset detailing her attractiveness. “You…ahem…You’ve seemed to put a bit of thought into that description. Is that how I appear?”

Now it was Sunset’s turn to feel embarrassed. “I…well…it’s just an observation! Yeah, that’s it! I’ve just noticed these things, it’s the same with your friends. Applejack’s got that country girl thing working for her, Rarity’s like a teasing diva, and Fluttershy, well – objectively speaking – she’s cute on a ridiculous level. And the fact that she’s painfully shy makes guys want to protect or some BS like that. And Rainbow Dash…well…what can I say, she’s a tomboy. And you complete the set.”

Despite the fact that Sunset had evaluated each of her friends’ – Twilight included – specific traits that would appeal to the opposite sex, Twilight began to wonder about something.

“And what would yours be?”

Sunset put down her equipment and gave the matter some thought. “Don’t know really. I dated Flash for a little while and I honestly didn’t know what he saw attractive about me.” Sunset looked herself over, the denim jeans, and a purple tank top, cut just low enough to leave much to the imagination. “I mean, I’m sure it wasn’t my sparkling personality or lack thereof. So I can only imagine he found me hot.”

“Do you…Do you really think that that’s all he saw in you, just your looks? That sounds really shallow,” said Twilight.

“Like I said, I don’t know. Flash was a great guy and all, but I never really like-liked him. I just used him to get more popular.”

“I don’t see that, I mean, I think Flash may’ve honestly liked you? He did help me for a bit when I first started going to school here.”

Sunset scoffed. “Yeah right, the most likely reason he was nice to you was to get in your panties.”

“GET IN MY WHAT?!” Twilight exclaimed in a near high-pitched voice.

“You heard me Sparky, so do you like ‘em or not?” Sunset asked.

“I…I like him as a friend, he’s been away for a while with that record deal, but he checks in when he can. He actually called a couple of days ago to see if I was alright. I guess someone told him about my brother.”

It was true, Flash Sentry and his bandmates were found by a talent agency and they saw potential in his music and the band. So they offered him a record deal and so far he was getting some traction, unfortunately he had to be away from school for a while, much to Principal Celestia’s chagrin, but she did make sure that they had a tutor to keep them up to date in their studies.

If nothing else, Sunset admired that the teenage boy did take his academic career just as seriously as his rocker career. Still, why was the fact that Flash Sentry called Twilight very irksome to her?

“Hmm.” Sunset hummed in thought.

Sunset went back to work and fiddled with the device a few moments longer. The older girl would glance at Twilight every so often, zeroing in on little details of her intellectual opposite. How Twilight would scrunch her nose whenever she was thinking, the way her bangs would swish to and fro with each slight movement, and mostly, the glow in her eyes whenever she was doing something science related.

“………We should date.”

The sound of falling papers along with some parts of the reactor wrested the fiery haired girl’s attention. Sunset looked up and saw Twilight’s stunned and blushing expression. It was then that Sunset realized that she had said that out loud and not in her head, making her mentally face palm herself for uttering those three little words.

“S-S-Sunset you…you want to date me?!”

“No that’s not what I meant! I – What meant to say was…You see…I wanted to, uh, go out with you!”

The blush on Twilight’s face brightened and Sunset was wishing she had a brick wall to smash her head against.

“I meant as friends! You know, just a couple a girls, who are friends, just hanging out and enjoying each other’s’ company! Stuff like that!”

The room got real quiet as neither girl said a word. Sunset’s heart was racing, both with fright and, oddly enough, anticipation. Part of her had hoped Twilight would buy her lies, and at the same time, she hoped Twilight picked up on the underlying feeling in those words. Twilight played with the hem of her skirt, her eyes darting back and forth from her hands to Sunset. After what felt like hours of silence, Twilight cleared her throat to break the silence.

“I…I wouldn’t mind hanging out together, just you and me. After all these things that have happened lately, we only ever get together when we’re working on the project, and even less at school,” said Twilight.

Sunset could tell that Twilight was setting her up to make the decision. Now the power was back in Sunset’s hands, either she wave it off or say she was busy and potentially put a speed bump in their growing trust. Or would she go through with it and risk these unknown and scary feelings becoming something that Sunset herself may not be prepared for? Clenching her fist, Sunset mustered up her usual air of superiority and smirked at Twilight.

“Why not, sounds like fun. And, honestly, I’ve got nothing better to do.” It wasn’t a total lie. After her plans fell through, Sunset had had lots of free time, too much.

Twilight eyes widened with mirth as a smile began to form on her lips. “That sounds great, Sunset! I-I guess we should set a date or…”

“Well, the Science Fair is the day after tomorrow. How about we just treat ourselves to something, win or lose?”

“Y-Yeah, that sounds reasonable.”

“A-Alright then, let’s get back to it,” said Sunset.

It was growing closer to spring weather in Canterlot City, not cold enough to wear a jacket, and not warm enough to wear shorts; just somewhere in between. It was during this time that Twilight, after school let out, had called up someone that she equally trusted as much as her big brother.

The lavender skinned girl waited outside the school and saw a powder blue Volkswagen Beetle come driving up next to the sidewalk. The driver emerged, revealing a taller, older woman, about mid to early twenties. Her skin was a soft fuchsia color, with tri colored hair of purple, pale yellow, and bright pink.

The woman’s amethyst eyes sparkled brightly in the sunlight, and that was just her. Her outfit was comprised of white, form fitting pants, and a sky-blue halter-top. She also had on a necklace, and resting just below her collarbone was a pendant crystal heart.

Needless to say, the appearance of this young woman caused many of the boy students heads to spin as they gawked, unashamed, at the woman approaching Twilight. Despite her beauty and grace, it didn’t prevent this woman’s kind, gentle, and loving nature to show through.

She was Twilight’s confidant, just as much as Shining Armor was, and someone she could always turn to besides her parents. Her name was Mi Amore Cadenza, but she preferred Cadance. When Cadance walked up to Twilight she crossed her arms and gave the young teenage girl a waiting look.

“Well?” Cadance asked.

“Well…?” Twilight asked back.

“Aren’t you going to start?”

“Start wha – Oh Cadance, n-not in front of the school!” Twilight pleaded.

“Ladybug, I remember us making a promise a while back about our special greeting?”

“I-I know, and I will, but just not here,” said Twilight with a pink tint to her cheeks.

Cadance’s smile turned from devious to warming as she placed a hand on Twilight’s shoulder, bringing the young teenager into a half hug.

“Oh alright, but you owe me one.”

Twilight smiled back and hugged Cadance. “That’s fine, and it’s good to see you Cadance.”

“Same here Twily, c’mon, let’s go somewhere and talk.”

Twilight got into the Bug and buckled up. As Cadance entered her car she noticed a few boys looking her way, she smiled and then winked at them before getting back in the car. That might as well have been cupid’s arrow, because each boy started to whoop it up and call out to Cadance as they drove away. She was a nice person, but that didn’t mean she didn’t like to tease and flirt once in a while.

After driving for a little while, Cadance pulled into a little cafe. The outside seating area wasn’t being used so much and they decided to be seated there, this way they could have the privacy they wanted. Once seated and their drinks brought to them, Cadance leaned forward onto her elbows and laced her fingers together in contemplation.

“So, Twily, what’s their name?” Cadance asked with a coy smile.

“Whose name?” Twilight asked.

“The name of the person who’s on your mind right now.”

Twilight blushed and went slacked jawed. She never disclosed why she wanted to talk with Cadance, but like always, Cadance had an uncanny ability to pick up on another person’s strong feelings. Problem was that those uncanny abilities mostly aligned towards the romantic, in other words, Cadance had a knack for being able to figure out if another person had amorous feelings for another person.

It was almost like a sixth sense with her, something that Twilight had vowed way back to one day figure out how she did it, but right now, those abilities were turned towards her and in a way it confirmed what she was feeling.

Twilight released a deep sigh. “Do you promise not to tell my Mom and Dad?”

“Twily, it’s me, Cadance, you’re old babysitter and friend! I’d never break your trust like that, so long as it’s nothing like drugs or something illegal to the point that it might land you in jail. You aren’t doing anything like that, right?”

The studious girl almost yelped, even though they weren’t doing anything illegal, the powers they had made them dangerous, but Twilight wasn’t about to reveal all of that just yet.

“No, nothing of the sort!”

“Mmm-hmm, alright. So give me a name already, I want to know who my favorite girl is crushing on!”

Steeling herself, Twilight confessed. “Cadance, I…I think I do like someone, a lot. But, I’m not sure how I should tell them, or if they even feel the same way. Plus, there’s another little snag.”

“And what snag would that be?” Cadance asked.

“You…Do you promise not to be weirded out or…”

Cadance watched as Twilight began stroking at a lock of her long hair nervously. The older woman reached out with her hand and placed it over the nervous hands of her former charge. “I swear, Twilight, nothing you say will make me think any differently of you. You’ll always be my little Ladybug, no matter what.”

You might not think that if you knew what Sunset knows about me, thought Twilight. But this is probably the lesser of those evils.

“The person I like is actually…another girl!” Twilight shut her eyes tight, bracing herself for the shocked and possibly disgusted reaction of her former babysitter. But when none came she slowly opened her eyes.

Cadance’s expression hadn’t changed much, the only thing different was a raised eyebrow. “And?”

“‘And’, that’s it? You’re not grossed out, or even a bit shocked by this?” Twilight asked.

Cadance chuckled warm-heartedly. “Oh Twilight, you’re not the first girl to like another girl, there’s nothing wrong with that. I’ll admit, people make a big deal about it, but ultimately it comes down to what your heart tells you. Who makes you happy in the end is what matters, be they a boy or a girl.

“I won’t lie, I’ve done my fair share of experimenting and then some with the fairer sex, but I prefer boys, and that’s how I feel. Just because I prefer them doesn’t mean I’m going to look down on girls who don’t, and that especially means you Ladybug.”

Twilight felt like a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders, well, one of many different weights, but a significant one for her. The tension in her body visibly ebbed away as she stopped ringing her lock of hair and put her hands back on the table, now smiling at Cadance more hopeful.

“Well then, I guess you’ll probably want the name of the girl, right?”

Cadance leaned back and picked up her latte. “It would help me with the dispensing of my sagely advice.”

“Okay, do you remember me telling you about a girl at my school who was a bit of a bully?”

“More like a terror from what some of my friends’ younger siblings say, the Queen Bitch of Canterlot High, Sunset Shimmer, correct?” Cadance asked as she took a sip.

“Yes…ahem, her, well…I…I like her, in a romantic way, at least…I think I do.”

Cadance’s cheeks puffed out as she held in her first reaction to spit out her latte, once the initial shock died down she was able to swallow the sip she had taken and took a breath when it was down. “Y-You have a crush on Sunset Shimmer?! That mean girl?! Really?!”

Twilight nodded sheepishly.

Cadance ran a hand through her hair and sighed deeply. “Geez, I figured you might go for the bad boy type – well bad girl in this case. But I never thought that it’d be her, are you sure you’re not being seduced by her at all? Maybe she picked up on your preference and is trying to worm her way into your heart to set you up for a fall later?”

Twilight vigorously shook her head in spite of that notion. “No Cadance, she’s not like that! At least…she doesn’t want to be anymore, it’s kind of complicated. We’ve been working together for a bit now, and during this time I’ve been able to see just how brilliant and, to a degree, nice she can be.”

“She’s strong, not just physically, but strong in her convictions and courageous. And while she tries to hide it, deep down I know she’s hurting, but puts up a front, like she has to make sure everyone around her doesn’t see her as weak so she doesn’t feel it inside. And, in a way, we’re both the same.”

“She’s kind too…Did you know, after we got the news about…Shining Armor…she came to my house and I talked to her for a bit and she just listened. I broke down then and there, and Sunset reached out and held me close, I cried and cried but she never let go. In her own way, even though she probably could’ve said ‘Everything will be alright’, she didn’t, she knew I didn’t need words, but just someone there to hold me while I let it all out.”

Cadance listened intently to all that Twilight had to say. This didn’t sound like the girl that she had heard rumors of through the grapevine, in some ways it sounded like the same girl and at the same time it wasn’t. But Twilight, the way she spoke about Sunset Shimmer, she could actually sense how strongly she felt for her, even if Twilight wasn’t fully aware of it herself.

Personally, Cadance wasn’t sure if Sunset Shimmer was the exact perfect match for her little Ladybug, after losing Shining Armor, the last thing she needed was to have her emotions toyed with and exploited by a psycho bitch.

“So…what do you think about Sunset?” Twilight asked.

“Hmm, I’ll reserve my judgement for when I meet this girl. You’ve painted a rather contradictory picture in my head, versus what I’ve heard of her. I trust your judgement Twilight, but for now I’ll take this with a grain of salt.”

“That’s fair, but there’s no point in how I feel if I don’t know if she likes me the same way. I don’t even know if she likes other girls?!”

Cadance winced, that was a quandary. All of this was a moot point if the girl in question wasn’t into girls herself, the other question of if Sunset Shimmer felt the same way about Twilight hinged on knowing which way she swung. Cadance glanced up and down Twilight, doing her own assessment of the younger girl.

Hmm, if I hadn’t babysat her, I’d probably date her just to see what it was like. 

“That is the question, but, honestly Twily, I’d turn gay for you,” joked Cadance.

Twilight blushed profusely to the point she was muttering nonsense.

“All you can do is hope that your feelings reach her and if she’s a true friend, she’ll stick by you no matter what. By the way, was there something else weighing on your mind? I imagine it’s connected to Sunset Shimmer.”

Twilight stopped her stammering and began chuckling nervously as she rubbed the back of her head. “Actually…it does…Sunset and I are going to be at the Science Fair they’re holding at Canterlot University! And I know you’ll probably be busy with schoolwork tomorrow, but I was wondering if you’d come by and see me? You don’t have to of course, my friends, my parents, and I think our Principal will be there.”

Cadance reached over and mussed up Twilight’s hair playfully. “Twily, I wouldn’t miss seeing you show up about bunch of know-it-alls for anything.”

Sunset arrived at the Canterlot High School, driven by Celestia herself no less. Despite the fact that she had transportation of her own, Celestia insisted on taking her, and since she was the Principal of the school both girls attended, it was the most logical choice. It was going to be an all-day event anyway, and Celestia had already got Vice Principal Luna to take up running the school for the day.

Twilight was getting her own ride to the University via her parents, and of course, Celestia pulled some strings to get her friends to tag along as well. She knew Twilight would need at least a little bit of a cheering gallery, and even though Sunset wouldn’t admit it, she’d like it too.

As Celestia pulled up to the University she paused to take in the sight. Canterlot High School was a grandiose structure, looking more akin to a university itself, but CU was even more so. Sunset had never been to CU before, so when Celestia slowed her driving to gaze at the scenery, Sunset took the opportunity to do the same.

In some regards, this place looked almost like a mirror image – no pun intended – of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. Tall spire-like towers that led to observatories, a clock tower at pretty much each cardinal direction, and each marked with a mythological oriental creature.

The clock tower they passed by marked the south entrance to Canterlot University, on top it had a statue of a red phoenix. Sunset had poured over enough of the different mythologies in this world to know that that was the guardian of the south gate, Suzaku. The Campus was expansive, each building looking like someone had taken CHS and plopped it down in this place, but each was done up in its own unique design to represent the studies that each one held.

Celestia was driving towards a building that had a lot of foot traffic, banners and the like were put up high to the viewing of all. The building had a huge atom painted on the side, it had colors of red and blue, with a little white to offset it. There was a sign on it that read: “R. Palmer Science Hall”, no doubt in recognition of the benefactor of science hall.

Celestia pulled her car into one of the parking lots and the two disembarked. It didn’t take the two of them long to find Twilight and her parents, and as Sunset predicted, the genius girl was like a kid in candy land after seeing the place.

“Sunset! Have you seen this place?! It’s beautiful!” Twilight gushed.

Sunset couldn’t help but shudder at feeling that Twilight had somehow channeled Pinkie Pie’s hyper-ness. “Uh, yeah…beautiful’s not the word I’d use for it, but it’s pretty nice, nostalgic even.”

“We have to take a tour of the campus! We’d probably have to set aside a couple of days for that, because I don’t think we’d be able to see it all in one day!”

“Easy Twilight,” said Mr. Night Light, “let’s concentrate on you two winning this thing first off, and then we’ll talk about that tour.”

Twilight rubbed the back of her head and blushed. “Sorry Daddy…I got a little excited.”

Sunset crossed her arms and chuckled from watching Twilight’s embarrassment. More like you were on the verge of an org –

“There ya are!”  

Sunset and Twilight turned towards the incoming band of five girls, but before each of them got to within ten feet of the two girls, Celestia stepped forward and the five paused. She then held out her hand and asked, “Permission slips, please.”

Each girl hurriedly whipped out the aforementioned slip of paper and handed it to Celestia. She scanned over each of them. Her many years of seeing phony and plagiarized sick notes and permission slips gave her an eye for spotting fakes.

If she wanted to she could be a consultant for the FBI on spotting falsified documents and handwriting, but she felt her skills were better spent on molding young minds. After an agonizing few seconds, Celestia nodded her head and stepped out of the way.

“Proceed.” She said with a smile.

The five girls headed towards Twilight, but Sunset stepped away from Twilight, putting a sizeable gap between them. This did not go unnoticed by the younger girl.

“Sunset what’re you –?”

“It’s fine Sparky,” said Sunset, quickly cutting off Twilight.

Before Twilight could respond her five best friends surrounded her, each happy and excited for their friend’s big day.  

“This place looks fabulous Twilight, I never imagined CU was this massive! It’s practically its own little city!” Rarity commented.

“Seriously, if it weren’t for you giving us a heads up on the layout of the place, we’d be lost somewhere,” said Rainbow Dash as she hooked arm over Twilight’s shoulders, an action that made Sunset tense up for some reason.

“Um, Twilight, where’s yours and Sunset’s project?” Fluttershy asked.

“Oh, it’s inside, I brought it over in case we needed extra space, but they already had a booth set up for us. Which reminds me,” Twilight turned to the fiery haired girl, “Sunset, we need to run through some final checks on the you-know-what before the Fair starts.”

“Yeah, sure, I’ll meet you inside,” said Sunset before taking off for the entrance and leaving Twilight behind.

Celestia, having spied Sunset storming off into the Science Building, ended her conversation with Velvet and Night Light and headed after her ward. When Celestia finally caught up to Sunset she found her slouched against an entryway.

Celestia stood next to Sunset and looked down into the amphitheater like layout of where the Science Fair was going to be held. A staircase descended down into an arena that had multiple booths set up, each housing a special project from the various high schools in Canterlot City.

The tall woman leaned her back against the archway as well and looked over at Sunset Shimmer. “So, do I need to ask why you suddenly ducked inside?”

“Spar – I mean, Twilight wanted me to help her with some last checks on our project.”

“Uh-huh, and where’s Twilight Sparkle now?”

“You know where she is.”

“I know that, but why haven’t you gone to the booth then?”

“‘Cause…”

“Because?” Celestia asked while waving her hand for Sunset to continue.

Sunset glanced over at Celestia and blushed. “Because…I…I don’t know where it is…”

After that little embarrassment, Sunset and Twilight set to work on their project. Sunset had done some more tweaking to the device, all the while informing Twilight of her progress. Twilight was doing the same, going over their combined notes and research and conversing with Sunset on different points in their work. Both girls were masters of multitasking, their hands either scribbling down numbers, twisting a screwdriver, or soldering some circuit boards.

It was hard work, but neither of them lost that somewhat mad scientist grin the whole time. Twilight’s friends and parents, and even Celestia, thought it best to leave the girls be, and grant them as much as space as possible. For fear of any of them getting electrocuted or somehow caught in an accidentally created black hole.

“Looks like your mom and dad are happy for you, I’m glad,” said Sunset.

“Thanks, honestly though, I think they’re just happy that I’m not as sad as I was a few weeks ago. Thanks again for that Sunset,” said Twilight with a smile.

The older girl grinned. “Any time, Sparky. So, after having looked at our competition, I’d say we’re walking out of here with first place for sure.”

“Hmm…I don’t know, there are a lot of people here, and their works seem pretty good,” said Twilight.

“Says the genius girl who hacked the Penta –”

“SHH!” Twilight quickly clasped a hand over Sunset’s mouth. “Don’t say that around here!”

Normally, the person who dared slap their hand over Sunset’s mouth would find said hand broken off and shoved up somewhere where the sun don’t shine. But given that this was Twilight, and the fact that that panicked look on her face was cute, she’d let it slide.

It was now that she caught a hint of the girl’s scent, which smelled, ironically, of lavender. Sunset could even feel how smooth Twilight’s hand was against her face, and it sent a pleasant warmth through her.

The former unicorn slapped herself mentally and cleared her throat loudly to gain the other girl’s attention. Once Twilight had realized she had kept her hand over Sunset’s mouth for longer than was necessary she immediately retracted it, and blushed a cute pink color as she did so.

It’s almost a crime how adorkable you are.

Just then Twilight’s phone buzzed in her skirt pocket and she immediately pulled it out.

“I thought they weren’t going to call or text us until the competition was over?” Sunset asked.

“It’s not them, I have my computer at home scanning the web for anyone wielding a Firestorm Protocol, and any alerts I get are rerouted to my phone!” Twilight swiped at the screen a few times until she stopped. “Take a look!” Twilight showed Sunset her phone and on it was a live feed of Manehattan.  

{We bring you to our developing story. A man and woman pair are wreaking havoc on downtown Manehattan. It is unclear if they are human or extraterrestrial, but their motives are clear enough. The two have begun a series of attacks on the city itself. Local law enforcement has suffered heavy losses in their confrontation with the duo. The National Guard is in-route, but whether or not they will prove any more effective will remain to be seen.}

“Another Protocol, and there’re two of them now?!” Sunset quietly shouted.

“They’re attacking Manehattan, Sunset we can’t just let them continue like this!”

Sunset groaned as she pinched the bridge of her nose. It wasn’t that she knew they had to stop them, quite the opposite, Sunset wanted to stop them, but leaving now would mess up everything they worked for. All those days and nights tinkering and formulating, all this getting closer to Twilight and not hating her as much anymore, it would’ve felt like a total let down to just up and walk away now.

“Twilight, I’m not saying we shouldn’t, but if we just suddenly up and vanish the others are going to get suspicious, and we’ll lose!”

“It’s not ideal, believe me I wish we could, but…”

“Sounds like a dilemma.”

Sunset and Twilight both jumped in shock at the sudden new voice. Standing at their booth was a tall, pink woman. Sunset didn’t need to ask who this was to know her name. She’d recognize that pink visage, tri-colored hair, loving smile, kind eyes, and that annoyingly seductive, curvy body anywhere. In Equestria, she was the newly dubbed Princess of Love and adopted niece of Princess Celestia, Mi Amore Cadenza.

“C-C-Cady?!” Twilight stammered.

“Yep, that’s me. And I couldn’t help but overhear something about the two of you getting away for a bit, care to explain?” Cadance asked with a sly smile.

“W-W-Well, it’s just – The thing of it is – You see –!”

Sunset knew this would get them nowhere fast, and so, in possibly the second most awkward thing she had ever done, she interlocked Twilight’s right arm with her left and drew the younger girl closer to her.

Twilight let out a small “EEP” sound as her heart pounded in her chest and resonated in her eardrums, the swift pull from Sunset had brought Twilight’s head resting against Sunset’s left shoulder and their bodies pressed against each other. Sunset put on her cocky smile and looked directly at a wide-eyed Cadance.

“Look, I don’t want to cause any chaos around here, but I want to have some time to talk with Twilight privately. It’s something personal that I’d rather her friends and parents not have to deal with yet, do you understand?” Sunset asked.

Cadance gave Sunset a scrutinizing look, trying to see some deceit in Sunset’s words. The bad girl knew all too well of Cadance’s special talent for love and all things connected to it, so she hoped that playing the forbidden love angle with Twilight would convince the alicorn princess’ parallel self to let them leave for a moment without arousing suspicion.

However, the way Twilight called her “Cady” must’ve meant that the two of them already knew each other, worst-case scenario: they were friends and she would know that Twilight didn’t swing that way. Come to think of it, she didn’t even know which way Twilight swung.

After what felt like an eternity, Cadance’s gaze softened as she put on a smile. “Well then, I’ll hold down the fort for you two.”

“Crap I knew this wouldn’t – wait what?!” Sunset gaped.

“Are you serious Cady?!” Twilight asked.  

“Of course, the competition isn’t going to start for another few minutes, and when it does, the judges will be going to each station one by one in order. Yours is number thirty, so between the time it will take for each station to present and show off their stuff, I figure you got at least an hour, maybe an hour and a half if someone really milks it.”

Twilight threw her arms out and hugged Cadance tightly. “Thank you, Cadance! Thank you! You have no idea how much this helps!”

“I think I do, but go on ahead before something else happens!”

Cadance shooed the two girls out of the booth, watching the retreating forms dart around a corner and away from sight. The pink woman then placed her fists on her hips as she hummed in contemplation. “Let’s see…this is a pairs competition so it’ll look weird if I’m alone…Aha!”

The college girl quickly grabbed hold of a rainbow haired girl and pulled her to Twilight and Sunset’s booth.

“Hey what’s the big…idea…!”

Rainbow Dash suddenly found herself speechless upon seeing who it was that grabbed her. She had met this woman once before, during a sleepover at Twilight’s house. She joined their little party and was a bit of a wild card, and flirty, real flirty, and of course Rainbow Dash was her victim most of the time, just because she couldn’t stop blushing whenever she did something suggestive or told a dirty joke.

“Hey Rainbow, been a while hasn’t it?”

“Y-Yeah, I guess…um, why am I standing here with you? Isn’t this Twilight’s and – ugh – Sunset’s spot?”

“Yes it is, but something with the project came up and they needed something from one of the labs in this place. I pointed them in the right direction, but I’m not sure how long it’ll take them.”

“T-Then shouldn’t we help them?” Rainbow asked.

“No, they’re the only ones who know what exactly they need for it. Heck, if we did help and got the wrong thing, this little doohickey could blow us all up.”

The fact that Cadance said that with a straight face worried Rainbow, and made her wonder if they should be this close to the duo’s project.

“We just need to hold down the fort until they come back, no muss, no fuss.”

“Right…but shouldn’t we…”

Rainbow was suddenly cut off when Cadance turned the tomboy’s head towards her with one finger, and gazed into her rose-colored eyes. “Please Rainbow, for Twilight at least?”

Rainbow Dash gulped as she felt her cheeks heat up. “O-Okay…!”

“Great, now let’s look like we’re doing something!”

She played me, and I fell for it. Nice Rainbow, real nice.

Streaks of pink and yellow flames flew across the sky, both aimed directly for Manehattan. Traveling to the other side of the world took almost half the day, but considering the distance wasn’t overseas it was much shorter, like under ten minutes. It wasn’t hard to find out where the rogue Firestorms were, they had left a trail of destruction a mile long, and getting longer.

Sunset flew beside Twilight and went over their game plan. “Okay, so we fly in, kick their asses in under an hour or less, and make it back in time to wow the judges with our project! Sound good to you Sparky?!”  

“Well, I wouldn’t put in such simple terms, but essentially yes! That’s assuming we can beat them, this won’t be the same as Blaze, there are two of them, and they have the full power of a completed Protocol. If we hope to stand a chance we have to fight together!”

Sunset nodded and the two of them proceeded forward. When they landed they were treated to a weird sight, there were rose petals littering the streets, as if it were some tribute to the destruction. On the flipside of the destruction, metal was twisted and molded into bladed forms, jutting out of the ground or nearby buildings where long twisting vines that had roses blooming from them coiled.

Neither of the girls thought anything of them other than their aesthetic appeal, but upon closer inspection the soldiers and police officers caught near them seemed to have had a terrible allergic reaction to their pollen, and some of the thorns had turned into razor sharp tendrils that had skewered or sliced up a few of them.

Another strange sight was that of flames that were colored blue and white, but for some reason whatever they engulfed they froze. Sunset and Twilight continued to follow the trail of destruction until they found its source.

A female Firestorm stood at the center of the street, waving her hands around as if conducting an orchestra. From the ground vines burst forth and even more roses formed. Her flames were emerald green, and she had a long gown.

The second was a man, his flames were the same frosty blue they saw earlier, and all around him the air seemed to fog up as if cold. His face had a beard made of the flames, and his outfit made him look like a Viking warrior.

Sunset and Twilight readied themselves for attack, but it seemed as if the other two were already aware of their presence. The green flamed Firestorm turned around and did a little curtsy to the two young heroines.

“Look dear Prozen, we have a couple of new additions to our family.”  

The Viking Firestorm looked down and landed next to the female. He crossed his arms and looked at Sunset and Twilight with a level gaze. “Hmm, we were not informed that there would be others arriving, but I suppose the more the merrier. Eh, Fire Rose?”

Twilight and Sunset landed a few feet away from them, with the former stepping forward to address the Firestorm couple. “Listen to me, those Firestorm Protocols don’t come without a price! The ones who gave them to you are only seeking to use you! You’re playing into their hands by doing this!”  

“Gave them to us?!” Fire Rose began laughing haughtily. “Oh silly girl, no one ‘gave’ them to us! We paid quite a pretty penny for these, right honey?”  

Prozen nodded his head as he grunted in agreement. “Indeed, and I must say, we’re getting our money’s worth.”

Sunset shook her head at that. “You paid for those Protocols! What are you two, some kind of mercenaries, terrorists, sociopathic serial killers?!”  

Fire Rose placed her hand to her chest as if offended. “Oh good heavens, we’re none of the above. Just a couple who was bored of the mundane and cheap thrills wealth can provide. To be gods, now that’s something that no amount of money could buy! Well, till now of course, ha-ha!”  

Sunset’s fire mane flared up in agitation as her fists ignited. “Aristocratic, arrogant, pompous, low lives…In this world or the other, you’re all still looking down on others and flaunting your wealth!”

“‘In this world’?” Twilight mouthed to herself.

Sunset began walking forward, cracking her knuckles as she did so. “I’m going to enjoy this!”

Prozen lowered his gaze and began stepping in front of Fire Rose. “I won’t allow you to harm my wife! I don’t know how little girls like you paid for such powers, but I’ll see if you are worthy of them!”

As Sunset and Prozen started to get closer to each other their auras flared up, one blue and white, and the other a golden yellow, the air becoming heavy with their warring powers. Without warning, Sunset concentrated her energy into a sphere of burning plasma, and Prozen created a sphere of white and blue plasma.

The atomic rings formed on either of their spheres and at once the two launched their beams. Sunset’s fiery energy blast struck against Prozen’s beam, a fierce hissing sound echoed out through the streets as the opposing cold flames struck against the burning flames. A concussive boom raged out as steam rolled through the streets, creating a thick fog that blanketed everything.

Sunset wasn’t one for waiting for her enemy to get the upper hand, so she ignited the flames around her feet and shot up into the sky, trying to get above the fog and hopefully take the high ground first. Unfortunately, Prozen had the same idea, as both Firestorms exited the fog bank at the same time. When they saw each other, their fists blazed. Sunset shot towards Prozen, and Prozen to Sunset. The two cocked back their fists and thrust them forward, connecting at the middle and creating a powerful shockwave.

Down below, Twilight watched as the fog was pushed away from the sheer force of their blow, leaving her and Fire Rose still on the ground. The elegant woman dusted off her gown and looked at Twilight with a predatory gaze.

“Hmm, my husband and your friend seem to have the same…aggressive tendencies. Tell me dear, are you two perchance…?” Fire Rose let the question hang in the air.

Twilight got the hint and blushed, even in Firestorm form, at the accusation. “And what business is it of yours if we were or weren’t!” Twilight had feelings for Sunset, but she wasn’t about to admit it to someone like her.

“Well I certainly don’t judge, when you have the kind of wealth we do, you tend to have done anything and everything. And because I doubt I’d see many girls with this power, I wanted to get to talk to you before I started THIS!”

Fire Rose slammed her hand on the ground, the atomic rings forming immediately as she did. The energy coursed through the ground, latching onto the atomic and cellular structure of the planets that were within the asphalt and concrete. Despite how modern a city could be, nature wasn’t one to be pushed out completely, and Fire Rose showed it.

The ground suddenly erupted with giant thorny vines that whipped around like angry vipers. At the ends of them were giant rosebuds that bloomed, but within them were giant, gnashing, dagger like teeth that dripped out an acidic ooze. Twilight took a step back, eyes wide at the gross mutation before her.

Manipulating something on an atomic level is one thing, but cellular transmutation on this scale is something else, thought Twilight.

The monster vines lashed out towards Twilight, but the purple Firestorm wasn’t about to be taken that easily. Atomic rings formed around her hands as she brought up her ring and index fingers. Twilight then slashed the air with those two fingers, causing the air molecules to thin themselves till they were as sharp as a scalpel. And in that same motion the molecules were launched, condensed air sailed towards the vine in the form of a sickle crescent that whistled and blustered.

The air blade sliced through the first rose-vine-monster like a hot knife through butter. The head, or mouth in this case, falling right off the vine and flopping around until it ceased living. Twilight continued to slash the air with her two fingers on both hands, cutting up the vines as they appeared before her. Suddenly another row of vines sprouted behind her and Twilight found herself surrounded.

“People these days sorely underestimate just how dangerous plant life can be, even something beautiful can be deadly, it is the first lesson nature bestows upon us.” One of the vine-monsters slithered up to Fire Rose as she petted it like a household pet. “And these lovely things well teach you in spades my dear!”

Twilight slammed her palms together as the rings formed around them. She then hurriedly went down on one knee and placed both hands on the ground. The asphalt and concrete began to move around, churning like a river. Fire Rose watched as the ground beneath her suddenly became thick, globby, and slushy. She quickly took to the skies and watched with a slight shriek.

The pool of concrete and asphalt rose up and began wrapping itself around the vine-monsters, practically adhering to them. “I’ll admit, I may not know much botany, but I do know enough that if you kill the roots, you kill the plant! So…”

Twilight raised her hands up, willing the concrete to completely cover the vines and even force its way into their mouths. She then slammed her palms together again, causing the concrete to solidify and constrict like a python. A chorus of squishing sounds echoed out from deep below and above as some of the vines’ acidic juices leaked and hissed.

Up above, Fire Rose clapped her hands in applause. “Very creative, and here I thought this would be no fun! Let’s really cut a rug, and maybe when this is over,” Fire Rose licked her lips, “maybe you wouldn’t mind lending me your ‘friend’.”

Fire Rose opened her hands and showed some seedlings. She clenched them in her fists as the atomic rings formed around her fists. The energy fed into the seeds and accelerated their growth within nanoseconds. The vines grew around her arms, turning them into a bouquet of rose viper monsters.

Something about that last comment flipped a switch in Twilight. Her pink flames and sparkles doubled in intensity, she held out both hands, concentrating her transmutation energy towards them. Exposed metal girders began to moan and groan as they were twisted off and brought to either side of her. Twilight manipulated the atoms, changing their form and composition. When she was done, she had created a long scythe. She waved her hand over the crescent blade, imbuing it with disrupting gravitons.

Twilight then twirled the sickle in her hands and pointed it towards Fire Rose. “Time to do some pruning!”

“Um Cadance…?” Rainbow asked.

“Yes Rainbow Dash?”

“How long did you say Twi and what’s-her-face would be?”

Rainbow Dash and Cadance and been fiddling around with the fusion reactor, well, mock fiddling. Anyone with a trained eye could tell that they were just staring at the equations and schematics, and only taking a look under the tarp to pretend to do some work on it. For a while now, the judges had been on the far end of the arena, no doubt held up by a long-winded pair. But Rainbow was getting concerned.

“They didn’t say, they said the name of the part but to be honest I can’t pronounce it. It’s best to just leave them to it, they’ll be back in time! I know it!” Cadance assured.  

Even in a place like this, Rainbow didn’t trust Sunset Shimmer as far as she could through her, which was pretty far if she said so herself. She couldn’t understand why Cadance would allow those two to be alone, yes nothing has happened, but that didn’t something wouldn’t happen. And deep inside Rainbow felt – no, needed to keep Twilight safe. But why was that?

Yes she’d worry about her other friends like this, heck, Fluttershy needed a lot of worrying. But for some reason, Twilight kept springing to the forefront of her mind. “Hey, Cadance, can I ask you something?”

“Shoot, Rainbow.”

“Um…if…well…you’re pretty close with Twilight right?”

“Of course, I did babysit her for a while and…” Cadance’s movements slowed a bit as a sad expression befell her.

Rainbow face palmed herself. “Oh crap, I’m sorry! I-I didn’t mean to –!”

“It’s alright Rainbow.” Cadance released a deep sigh. “I miss him, I always well. But Shining Armor wouldn’t want me to wallow in sadness forever. It doesn’t help me, and it definitely doesn’t help Twilight.”

Rainbow Dash pretended to go over the formulas. “Sorry still. But, uh, before I go on…do you have anything against…girls liking girls?”

Cadance slapped her hands against the table, causing Rainbow to jump. The pink woman then put her hand to her forehead and shook it. “I knew it, I made another one fall for me.”

“Wait, what?”

“Rainbow Dash, I’m sorry, I have no problem with that. But I’m not into dating other girls, some other things with girls, but not into romantically dating them. Besides, it wouldn’t work, I’m in college and you’re still in high school, it’d be bad for both of us.”

Rainbow Dash’s face went bright red at the insinuation that she wanted to go out with Cadance, not that the thought wasn’t provocative, especially after that last part. “I-I-I NO! I wasn’t saying it like that! I mean, not that you’re not hot, but I’m not…into you.”

Cadance released a sigh of relief. “Oh good, I don’t think Twily could handle me dating one of her friends. So, why the question?”

“It’s just…I think I may be crushing on Twilight…”

Cadance made a choked sound that she quickly played off. “Oh, well, what makes you think that?”

Rainbow thought back to the day Twilight arrived. A young, bookworm of a girl, a girl who looked like she had been sheltered all her life and was a virgin to interacting with people, but who was actually kind, sweet, and very smart. Flash Sentry helped Twilight out a bit around school, but it was Rainbow Dash who got her on her feet, Rainbow’s being an amateur rocker allowed him to ask her to help out showing Twilight around.

It was only then that she was able to hang around the violet haired girl more and more. She found out that, despite her nerdish, awkwardness, Twilight was very concerned with the way the other students were, it almost hurt her to see the student body divided like it was, even more so when she found out about Rainbow and her friends’ break up.

Somehow she saw it as her personal mission to reunite them. Rainbow was only glad that Sunset was in juvie for that period of time, otherwise she’d shudder to think of what she’d do to her for messing up all her underhanded work.

It only infuriated Rainbow when Twilight unintentionally found the commonality of the five friends’ break up, Sunset Shimmer. If Rainbow hated Sunset Shimmer before, she despised her now. She never knew a person could be so vindictive, conniving, and freakin’ cruel all at once and not bat an eyelash at it.

So when the girls proposed to put Twilight on for Princess of the Fall Formal, Rainbow had to be sure Twilight was up to the task. And the best litmus test for that was a soccer match against the rainbow haired tomboy. In the end Rainbow won hands down, but in spite of not being Rainbow’s physical equal, Twilight still showed her determination through her efforts, and that’s all that Rainbow needed to see and know.

But ever since then, even after the Fall Formal, Rainbow Dash had had a strong sense of wanting to protect Twilight. Just being around her made her feel a lot better, and gave her that annoying fluttering feeling that Fluttershy said was the feeling you get when you like-like someone.

“She’s just a really great girl – scratch that, she’s just a good person all around. And I know I’m not as smart as her, hell, even if I was immortal and had all the time in the world to understand this crap, I’d still be lost. But then again, that’s not a bad thing, she’s more the brains and I’m more on the brawn, but we still get along despite those differences. She’s also um…cute.” Rainbow blushed at saying that.

Cadance found it cute, really cute. She knew how much Rainbow Dash disliked being mushy and showing affection in public, but for these rare instances, it was a treat to see this cute blushing side of the tomboy.

“Well, if you feel that strongly about Twilight, it’s best that you tell her.”

Rainbow nearly ripped the formula sheet by accident at the suggestion. “I-I can’t tell her! For one thing: how damn cliché would it be for the jock, tomboy girl falling for the bookworm, schoolgirl?! Plus…” A shadow fell over Rainbow’s features.

“Plus what?” Cadance asked with a bit of worry.

“Plus everybody always jokes about me being gay…I hate it, because I am and if I came out it’d be like proving everybody right! It’s really freakin’ frustrating to walk around and know they’re just waiting for the moment when you say it!”

Cadance watched as Rainbow Dash’s features became agitated. She had no idea that the Captain of every sports team had such turmoil inside of her. “Oh Rainbow Dash, have you at least told your other friends this, maybe that girl, Fluttershy?”

Rainbow sighed and sat on the edge of the table. “I’ve talked to her about which way I swing, and she’s cool with it. Pinkie Pie’d probably just smile and not really care, she’s always accepting of stuff. Rarity, well…she might be okay with it, most likely on the condition that I don’t try and hit on her. AJ…well…I’d rather she’d not find out if you know what I mean.”

Cadance put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow at Rainbow. “Now who’s being stereotypical?”

Rainbow brought up her hands in defense. “I know, I know, I just don’t want to take a chance. They’re all my best friends, but AJ and I are like this,” Rainbow crossed her middle finger around her index finger, “I don’t want to mess that up!”

“Fair enough, but Rainbow Dash, you have to tell her, at least let her know that you feel this way. Twilight won’t just shut you out, you know she’s not like that. Trust me, it’s better to let them know how you feel about them then go around wondering ‘what if’, y’know?”

Rainbow Dash crossed her arms in front of her chest and sighed heavily. “I know, and I’ll think about it. But do you have even a small hint that she might…y’know, swing that way?”

Cadance smirked. “If I did, I can’t say. What’s said between Twily and I is private, and stays that way unless otherwise notified.”

Rainbow shrugged and chuckled. “I didn’t think it’d be that easy, but nothing ventured nothing gained.”

The rainbow haired girl went back to her pretend work, leaving Cadance to ponder. I know Twilight told me about how she feels towards Sunset Shimmer, and, for the most part, it looks like Sunset Shimmer feels the same way. But I don’t want Twilight getting hurt by her or make her rethink her orientation just because she had a bad experience. Rainbow might be the better candidate for Twily, but in some way, I’m willing to take a chance on that other girl, I trust Twily. I just hope Sunset Shimmer does, too.

Sunset had been battling Prozen in the skies and across one rooftop after the other. The Viking looking Firestorm’s power over cold was making Sunset’s flame attacks less effective. It was strange, the flames he spewed were so hot that they were cold, freezing as well as burning.

A couple of times Sunset had the misfortune of having her arm or leg get hit with those attacks, and feel firsthand that strange and painful dual sensation. Thankfully not having a flesh and blood body made it easier, somewhat, to regenerate and heal up.

“You fight with great ferocity,” said Prozen.

“Only because I know what a psycho like you can do with this power!” Sunset shot back.

Prozen chuckled. “And what does that make you? You have the same power, why shouldn’t you use it?! It makes you stronger than rest, look at us!” Prozen waved his arms out and held them out stretched to either side. “We stand above the others, literally! We are like gods, the future is us, and only those worthy will have a place in it!”

Sunset grit her teeth. “You mean those with the money to buy their place in it! That’s what you really mean right?! Only those with enough wealth have the right to become gods!”

“The privileges of those who have the means and power, I’ve no doubt there will be others like my wife and I, which is why we are carving out our little slice of the kingdom for ourselves!”

Here or in Equestria, the wealthy, the nobles, they’re all the same! 

Sunset’s body erupted with the golden flames of the sun as her eyes shined white, a bit of an old grudge rearing its head at this moment. Sunset focused the heat and energy floating about in the air, channeling it, condensing it, making it burn hotter and brighter. Prozen saw this and smirked, he liked the obstanence in this girl, and it showed in her power. Prozen’s flames erupted as well, the air becoming near absolute zero.

Suddenly Sunset fired off plasma fireballs in rapid succession. Prozen readied himself for the impact, but none of them hit, in fact they sailed right past him. Still, Sunset continued to fire one after the other, some even came close to grazing Prozen, but in the end they missed him. The bearded Firestorm was starting to get a little annoyed at the barrage, and a little disappointed.

“Come now, girl, surely you’re better than this,” queried Prozen.

Sunset stopped her barrage and put on her trademark cocky smirk. “Who said I was done!”

Prozen suddenly felt something approaching him, he turned around and narrowly dodged the same fireball he had just moments ago. But that wasn’t the only one, another came whizzing out nowhere, and then another, and another, and another.

Soon all the fireballs that Sunset had fired off were returning like boomerangs, all of them locked onto Prozen from every which way. The blue and white Firestorm shot back with cold plasma flames, but the fireballs just curved around his attacks and went straight for him.

Sunset fired off even more, littering the sky with glowing, fiery orbs. Prozen stopped for a moment and realized that he was completely surrounded by the orbs of fire. Before he could utter a word, Sunset commanded the fireballs to descend on Prozen all at the same time. Up, down, right, left, front, and back, it was a total three-hundred and sixty degrees of punishment from every conceivable angle.  The fireballs all struck at once, creating a cacophony of explosions that rang in the air.

Prozen came hurling out the smoke cloud and crash-landed into the side of a building. With a bit of satisfaction, Sunset prepared herself to go down and remove the rogue Firestorm’s Protocol, but it was at that moment that her half of the Matrix began to warn her. She looked down to the battle that Twilight was having with Fire Rose, and she gawked at the sight.

It was as if she was looking at something from Equestria, a hydra like monster made of vines, with dripping fangs within the center of their rosebuds. Twilight was flying around the creature, slicing at it with her scythe, which was coated in a layer of graviton particles.

Sunset could see what she was thinking, graviton particles can disrupt cellular regeneration, melding it into a blade would guarantee the cells in the plants wouldn’t be easily regenerated. Sunset concentrated her energy into her right palm and fired a beam of pure plasma fire right down towards the Rose-Hydra.

The blazing beam struck the plant and set the creature ablaze, making the monster shriek in pain from the flames. Twilight looked up towards Sunset, the crimson Firestorm brought up her index finger and blew on it like a smoking gun, and then winked at her partner.

But her celebration was short lived as a beam of cold fire shot out from the place that Prozen had entered and struck Sunset in the back. She let loose a painful cry as the powerful force of cold fire sent the crimson Firestorm right towards the road a few feet away from Twilight’s position.

The beam continued to stream as it slammed Sunset into the pavement, ice began to form around her, transforming into a massive iceberg with her inside of it. Twilight’s eyes widened in horror at the sight of her friend frozen within the strange fire-ice creation; Twilight watched as Fire Rose was about to counterattack, but Twilight narrowed her gaze as she pointed her left hand towards Fire Rose.

With a snap of her fingers, the air swirled and snapped violently, creating a fierce friction that ignited multiple explosions that blew up in a wall of fire right in front of Fire Rose. The power of the explosions sent Fire Rose flying backwards and made the plant creatures burn to ashes. Twilight hurriedly made her way towards the iceberg, landing just a foot away from the ice. The pink-flamed Firestorm placed her hand against the ice but quickly retracted it, yelping in pain from the odd, painful sensation.

“SUNSET!!!” Twilight cried out.

Twilight focused her energy and willed the gravitons to smash into the ice like a sledgehammer. The ice barely cracked, making Twilight continue her gravity blasts and even adding the explosion technique she used earlier, but sadly even this wasn’t enough.  

“SUNSET PLEASE BE OKAY!!! PLEASE!!! I CAN’T LOSE YOU, TOO!!! SUNSET!!!”

Suddenly the sun symbol on her chest glowed bright red, at the same time, so did the symbol on Sunset’s chest. The two glowing suns resonated with each other, making Twilight step back a bit as a new sensation overtook her, she felt a heartbeat, but one that was beating right beside hers, echoing in rhythm. It didn’t take Twilight long to figure out that the second heartbeat was Sunset Shimmer’s.

The ice began to fissure, steam hissed out of the cracks and spilled out into the air. Within a few seconds the center of the ice glowed bright gold, and after another second the ice shattered as golden flames erupted into the air, with Sunset at their epicenter. The ice completely evaporated, leaving a small crater and Sunset, panting as she struggled to stay on her feet. Twilight hurried to Sunset, propping her up the best she could.

“Sunset, are you okay?!”

“I’m pissed that I got hit from behind, and my damn body can’t decide whether it’s hot or cold!” Sunset looked to her left and saw the worried expression on Twilight’s face, she then gave Twilight a small reassuring smile. “But otherwise I’m fine, thanks, Sparky.”

Twilight blushed, but her gaze on Sunset was quickly turned to the regrouping couple just some yards away. “We need to end this, now!”  

“I know, we need to take out their Protocols, but how?!” Sunset remembered at that moment. “Earlier, you felt it right? We were…connected, and it made me stronger – made us stronger.”

“It might work, but I don’t know how long it’ll work for,”  said Twilight.

“Long enough, are you willing to give it a try, Sparky?”

Twilight looked to Fire Rose and Prozen, and then back to Sunset. A determined and confident smile appeared on her lips. “I am!”  

“Prozen, dear, I’m starting to get annoyed with these girls. It’s time to show them where their proper place is!” Fire Rose proclaimed.

The Viking Firestorm grunted his agreement as the two of them prepared to attack. Sunset and Twilight took their stances, their sun symbols glowed bright as their flames burned with greater intensity. At that moment their corona crowns shined, the mark of a yin-yang sun and six-pointed star appeared over each respective girls’ foreheads. Sunset took off with great haste, leaving behind a flaming trail that would’ve made even the fastest pegasus’ speed trail pale in comparison. Prozen prepared himself, but Sunset wasn’t after him.

Sunset Shimmer inhaled deeply and placed both fists near her mouth as if she were about to blow into something. The atomic rings formed around her hands as she put her lips to the first hand, blowing hard, and out the other end a bellowing burst stream of flames roared towards Fire Rose. The elegant Firestorm woman wasn’t prepared and was suddenly slammed with an intense inferno, sending her flying back and separating her from her husband.

“ROSE!!!” Prozen called out.

“You’re battle’s with me!”

Twilight clapped her hands together, forming the atomic rings. She then slammed her palms to the ground and manipulated the atoms within. The street erupted with dozens, upon dozens of stone fists charging straight for Prozen.

The Viking Firestorm fired out one cold-fire blast after the other, even going as far as to freeze the ground itself. But Twilight was quicker on the transmutation game, she overtook his transmutation and changed the stone fists into diamond hard, ice fists; Prozen was caught completely off guard and was struck with one uppercut after the other, along with hooks, jabs, and hammer fists.

Meanwhile Fire Rose recovered from the attack and quickly summoned more of her carnivorous plants. Sunset stopped flying, letting her feet hit the ground as she skidded towards Fire Rose. The crimson Firestorm slammed her two fists together, igniting the rings, she then fanned out her arms, the flames coalescing to them and forming a pair of dragon wings.

Sunset whipped her arms back and forth, slicing through each creation. She then jumped into the air, spinning around and whipping the flame wings with her. The crimson Firestorm then brought down both hands, slicing in an X shape and struck Fire Rose right in the chest, making her crater in the asphalt and concrete with a painful grunt. Sunset could feel her energy begin to wane slightly, letting her know their joint power up wouldn’t last much longer.

The crimson Firestorm appeared behind Fire Rose, igniting her fist with golden flames, she punched Fire Rose right in the face causing her to fly through the air. Twilight could feel the waning of the power up, and saw Sunset’s set up. Prozen took this opportunity to attack Twilight, sending a wave of cold-fire at her. Twilight masterfully countered, throwing her hands out into the air as she summoned the atomic rings.

The transmutational energy flowed through the air, creating a buffeting wall of force that created a wedge around Twilight and the frozen flames. Twilight used that wedge as a snowplow, taking off towards Prozen. Suddenly, as Twilight cocked back her fist, her own fist ignited into pink, blazing flames.

Without stopping to question how or why, Twilight thrust her fist forward, striking Prozen right between the broad man’s eyes and sending him flying as well. Prozen and Fire Rose were on a collision course, both bouncing on the pavement until they ended up in the middle, smacking against the other’s back with a powerful thud that sent a mini shockwave through the air.

Twilight focused her energy around her right hand, and at the same time, so did Sunset. Their hands had pink and gold flames spiraling around them in the form of the atomic rings. At that moment, a corona halo appeared behind them, gathering energy as the both took off towards the couple. All this happened within a matter of seconds, thought moving faster than the average person, combined with heightened reflexes and speed, all coalescing into a one movement that was synchronized to a T.

Streaks of gold and pink flames took off from either direction, both heading for the same point, and Prozen and Fire Rose were helpless to counter it. The streets were torn by the force of Twilight’s and Sunset’s burst of speed as they hurdled towards their opponents. With a mighty battle cry they thrust out their glowing hands and struck both rogue Firestorms at the same time, piercing their chests in one shot.

Prozen and Fire Rose tensed up as they felt their enemies glowing palms reach into their very beings, not piercing flesh or bone, but striking deep into their metaphysical core. With one tug, both Sunset and Twilight drew back their hands, tearing out the Firestorm Protocols that resided in the wealthy couple.

The effects were immediate. Prozen and Fire Rose’s forms shifted back to that of a normal man and woman, both of them losing consciousness and falling to the ground motionless, but very much alive. Sunset and Twilight looked to each other, both holding glowing orbs with atomics rings floating around them.

The older Firestorm girl gave her partner a thumbs up and smirked, causing the purple Firestorm to blush and smile back. At that moment the Firestorm Protocols rose up from their hands and immediately shot towards them. The glowing orbs melded into their red sun insignias, causing them to glow and feel a strong surge of power. But like before, it was brief.

“Okay, that’s going to take some getting used to,” Sunset commented.

“Agreed,” Twilight then looked to a shop that wasn’t completely destroyed, spying a digital clock that made her white eyes bulge from her skull. “OH! MY! AAAAAHHHHH!!!”

Sunset nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard Twilight scream, making her enter a combative stance out of instinct. “WHO, WHAT – WHAT’S GOING ON?!”

“WE ONLY HAVE FIFTEEN MINUTES TO MAKE IT BACK BEFORE THEY JUDGE OUR PROJECT!!!”

Sunset deadpanned for a moment. They had just defeated a pair of – while probably not the toughest opponents they’ll ever face – strong rogue Firestorms and pulled an incredible synchronized attack maneuver, and Twilight was worried about the Science Fair?

Wait a minute…Oh hell no! No way, those two making us late is just as bad as if we lost this fight! Not happening!

“C’mon Sparky we’re kicking it into overdrive!”

Further away, some distance from the fighting, a young man stood on the edge of an eagle head statue, looking towards the battlefield with glowing eyes. The glow subsided as he blinked a few times, smirking at the end result of the battle. Behind him, Adagio, Aria, and Sonata were standing, waiting for their leader, Director Dusk Shine, to speak.

Aria gave Adagio a look that easily translated into: “We can take him right now and he’d never see it coming!”

To which Adagio shot back a disapproving glare to Aria that read: “No, it’s too early, we can’t make our move until we’re ready, and until we know more!”

Aria let out a grunt of annoyance, she knew Adagio was right, didn’t mean she liked it. Dusk Shine was an enigma, suddenly appearing before them and asking the Siren Trio to escort him to Manehattan to watch the wealthy couple use their Firestorm Protocols to wreak havoc on the city.

If there was one thing she hated, it was these humans. The three had been together for many years, hundreds of years, but Sonata and Adagio were the only beings she could trust, and honestly, the only people she cared about.

These humans, she despised them, had nothing but contempt for them. The Equestrians had their faults and were not perfect, but these humans, they were naturally aggressive. They fought and bickered about everything, down to their beliefs, land, and wealth. They had not the benefit of an immortal demi-god with thousands of years of wisdom to fall back on, to guide them and set them on the right path. Hell, even the hippocampi elders were more effective leaders than this world’s leaders.  

But for some reason, Aria hated Dusk Shine the most of all humans. Everything he did, every movement he made was calculated and without effort. He didn’t walk, he glided across the floor, as if he were barely making an effort. And his eyes, those eyes were cold, like staring at death.

Brilliant, and now powerful thanks to the Firestorm Protocol, Dusk Shine was not someone to mess with, even though those fat cats behind the monitors constantly look down on him. She never understood that, why would he keep letting himself be ordered by those guys when he could just as easily take over?

Probably because he thinks he can do it any time he wants, he’s just letting them think they’re running the show. Well, when Adagio starts her plan, he’ll be long gone, thought Aria.

“Penny for your thoughts, Aria?”

Aria Blaze’s eyes went wide as her body tensed up. Dusk Shine was glancing over his right shoulder, right at her.

“S-Sir?”

“You seem deep in thought, something the matter?”

“Uh, no, Director Shine, just remembering the last time I was in Manethattan! This building wasn’t here then,” Aria said while chuckling.

Dusk Shine nodded and shrugged. “Understandable, you three have been here for far longer than I have, far longer than many of the people walking about down there, too.” He then glanced towards Adagio. “Tell me, Adagio, what do you think of the human race?”

Aria and Sonata looked to Adagio, wondering what prompted this question from the young man. Regardless, Adagio was more than happy to answer. “With respect, Sir, you’re all a bunch of sociopathic, suicidal, beings. You preach peace, and yet you openly court war, you condone so many atrocities that it’s a wonder that you’re still alive now.”

Dusk Shine found it amusing. “You are right, Adagio, on all counts. But, do you think we’re capable of evolving?”

“If you mean as far as intellect Director, then comparatively you’ve come far a great deal.”

“No, no, no, I mean humanity as a species. Do you think we can evolve beyond our limitations, and achieve unity?”

“Honestly, currently, no,” Adagio said bluntly.

“Exactly.”

“Say what?” Sonata asked.

“It’s the ultimate contradiction of the Firestorm Protocols. They’re meant to evolve humanity and make us gods, but as you can see, godhood has its limits. Even if we all became gods, what’s to stop us from tearing apart the world? That’s the big question.”

Dusk Shine turned around and stood before Adagio, he walked the line of Sirens until he stopped in front of Sonata. He then reached out and lightly grasped the ruby jewel on her necklace. Aria and Adagio tensed up, their knuckles turning white as they clenched their fists and grit their teeth behind closed mouths.

Their pendants weren’t just fashion accessories, they were their connection to their magic, the source of their Equestrian powers. It was through these jewels that were once a part of their bodies that they’ve been able to live for so long.

The Sirens had learned long ago to protect these jewels from harm, even though they doubted anything in this world could shatter them. Sonata was getting antsy, the normally ditzy, and fun loving Siren was now nervous and a bit scared to have Dusk Shine examine her ruby. Despite knowing that it couldn’t easily shatter, it still didn’t take away the fear of it happening, it was a personal thing, part of them, and right now he was holding it gingerly and scrutinizing it.

“Whenever you girls use your abilities these trinkets glow, is this part of that ‘magic’ you spoke of?” Dusk Shine asked.

“Yes Sir, it is.” Adagio answered with a level gaze.

“Magic, something that was the thing of fairy tales, and yet, it crops up in so many legends, myths, and folklore all around the world. Not unique to any one culture, but almost as if it were a fact of life that it existed, and here you girls are, centuries old, using a form of that power to prolong your lives and make yourselves stronger. Fascinating…I wonder…”

Dusk Shine released the ruby and walked back towards the eagle head parapet.

“I’m going to do more research on Professor Neigh’s work. Something tells me he was onto something, something he conveniently left out. Continue to monitor their movements, do not engage unless otherwise engaged yourselves, ta-ta.”

Dusk Shine took one step forward and off the parapet to the thousand plus foot drop below.

“FIRESTORM!!!”

A streak of violet took off from some feet below, heading towards the horizon and out of sight. When he was gone, Sonata dropped to her knees and clutched at her ruby, nearly hyperventilating out of the pent up anxiety of having her precious pendant in the hands of that man. Aria knelt down and brought Sonata close to her, resting the young Siren’s head against her chest as she rubbed her head and made soft shushing sounds.

Adagio’s eyes glowed with the power of her Firestorm Protocol. They may bicker, they may argue and yell, and get annoyed or even angry at each other from time to time. But in the end, none of them would dare let the other be hurt, hundreds of years of exile had strengthened their bond beyond the norm.

Friends, lovers, comrades, family, that is what they were to each other, for there were no others in this world like them, they only had each other in the end, and nothing would change that. Adagio had seen these girls as her sisters and more for a long time, and what Dusk Shine did was equivalent to having molested Sonata, and it brought out the protective side of her.

The older Siren knelt down before Sonata, placing a hand on her cheek and wiping a stray tear away. “I’m sorry Sonata, I promise he’ll never do that again. I’ll make sure of it.” Sonata smiled a little and leaned into Adagio’s hand, keeping Aria close the whole time.  

Twilight and Sunset had broken the sound barrier to get this far, but it was worth the sonic boom to make up for the time they lost fighting Prozen and Fire Rose. They had worked so hard on their project, despite the things that have happened, they got it done, and it was a testament to how well the two girls worked together, a symbol of their hard work and genius.

Saving lives from rogue Firestorms was most likely going to be their mission until they figured out how to stop the Organization for good, but for now, small victories counted, and small victories outside of saving the world mattered too.

Twilight had been keeping watch on the sun, noting its position in correspondence to the shifting time zones. Their burst of speed had shaved a minute and some seconds off their flight time, but they were still going to cut it close.

Their fears were lifted slightly when the CU campus came into view. Twilight had cloaked them, bending the light away to render the duo invisible, and with any luck, they could slip in undetected the same way.

“We’re going to make it Sparky!”

“I know I can’t wait to –!”

Suddenly a giant blast of sound shot up through the ceiling of R. Palmer Hall. The beam was colored blue and warbled at a rhythm that reminded Sunset of dub step music. Twilight could see it through her spectrum vision, the blast was comprised of dense sound particles that took on a blue hue. When the blast ended the two Firestorm girls’ hearts raced. They knew it couldn’t have been their reactor, the building wouldn’t be there if it were.

Part of them feared that they’re secret had been found out, and an attack had been made on the Science Fair in hopes of coaxing them out. Regardless, they needed to go down there and help. Still cloaked, Sunset and Twilight descended through the hole in the roof, landing on the outer edge of the epicenter of the blast.

From what they could tell, nobody was killed. Confused, disoriented, and possibly, temporarily deaf, but otherwise everyone was alright. There was no sign of scorching, making Twilight’s theory of a sound weapon more plausible.

Thinking it safe, Twilight and Sunset deactivated their powers, returning them to normal. They ran towards their booth and found quite the sight. Cadance was laying sprawled on her back, semi-unconscious, while Rainbow Dash had landed on top of the older woman, head buried in Cadance’s cleavage and with a knee precariously pushing up said woman’s skirt.

Twilight blushed furiously and quickly covered her eyes to hide her embarrassed, blushing face. As for Sunset, she merely grinned wide enough to mimic the Grinch, pulled out her phone, and snapped three to four pictures of this scene.

The two girls groaned as they came to, Rainbow propped herself up on her hands, shaking her head a little to clear the ringing sound. Cadance was stirring as well, propping herself on her forearms and groaning a little. Both girls heard the sound of a digital camera shutter and turned towards it. Standing a foot away was Twilight and Sunset, the former still covering her face, and the latter snapping away photos.

“Shimmer, what the hell are you doing?” Rainbow asked in annoyance.

“Oh, just wondering if I want this as my wallpaper or screensaver. I’m thinking of naming it, ‘Jock does the Naughty Babysitter’, Sparky, any comments?”

“Why would you ask me something like that, and why would you name it that?!”

Rainbow blinked. “What the hell are you –?” Rainbow repositioned her hand and suddenly found it resting atop of something firm yet soft. “The hell is this?” she asked as she gave an experimental squeeze.

A sensual moan was released the moment Rainbow squeezed. It was then that Rainbow figured out what she was holding as she whipped her head forward and was almost nose-to-nose with Cadance.

*Click*

“Uh…Uh…Uh,” Rainbow stammered.

“Rainbow Dash, if you wanted to fool around, doing it in public isn’t my thing.”

*Click*

Cadance looked behind Rainbow. “Oh Twilight, Sunset, you’re back!”

“Cadance look at your position and reevaluate your priorities!” Twilight begged.

The fuchsia woman looked down at herself, seeing Rainbow nearly straddle her, the position of the tomboy’s knee, the hand that was somehow still on her left bosom, and of course the redder than a tomato, apple, and strawberry put together, face of said girl. In the end Cadance shrugged and smiled back at Twilight.

“Oh Twily, you’re more than welcome to join us down here, no need to be jealous,” Cadance teased.

Unfortunately, Twilight’s keen intellect and quick thinking was fast enough to stop a lewd image from appearing in her mind, causing her to freeze up and have this expression on her face that looked as if she had spaced out, although the glowing redness of her face had increased.

“I think you broke Twilight,” said Rainbow Dash.

*Click*

In the end, the official cause of the explosion was due to an entry that someone had dubbed “The Bass Cannon” and fired it off in the building. The acoustics of the arena amplified the power and made it twice as strong when it was turned on, exploding the roof and sending all projects and people flying everywhere.

Minor bumps, bruises, and above mentioned temporary deafness, but otherwise everyone was alright. Unfortunately most of the projects were destroyed thanks to the sound waves that penetrated through the different projects and broke them apart from the inside out, but thankfully, Sunset and Twilight were still able to show off their project.

It survived with minor damage thanks to Sunset’s idea to use metals that had better resonance with vibrational energy. They hooked it up and had it power the lights in the arena, allowing R. Palmer Hall to continue operating.

So they didn’t win the contest, no one did really, but they did get to impress everyone with their project and help people in the process, so not a total loss. As Twilight and Sunset were busy with the cleanup help, they were finally able to get some real alone time as they swept the debris from a more secluded part of the building. During this time, Sunset couldn’t help but ask.

“So, you couldn’t lose me too, huh?”

“What?”

“Earlier, when I was frozen in the glacier, you said you couldn’t lose me too. You sounded really desperate Sparky, sorry for worrying you,” Sunset said with sincerity.

“I was worried, really worried. I thought I was going to lose you. It scared me, it scared me more than anything!” Twilight’s grip tightened around the broom handle. “Sunset…seeing that happen, it made me think about all the things I didn’t get to say to you – wanted to say you! And now, if this keeps happening, if more and more rogue Firestorms appear, we’ll be in constant battles that’ll put our lives on the line.”

Sunset walked up to Twilight and clasped her shoulder gently. “Hey, as long as we got each other’s back we’ll be fine, Sparky. It’s dangerous, yes, but the two us can handle it I know it!”

“It’s not that, Sunset. I just…Sunset…” Twilight turned to Sunset Shimmer and looked her directly in the eye. “I…I like you!!”

Sunset took a step back, dropping her broom, her face plastered with a stunned expression. Her heart raced a million miles an hour, threatening to burst out of her chest at any moment. The feeling she had been working to suppress was surging forward in full force, but was this what she wanted.

“I…Sparky – Twilight, why?!” Sunset asked desperately.

“Why what?” Twilight asked back.

“Why would say that to me?! I…I’m not someone you should…GAH!” Sunset ran her hands through her hair in frustration. “Why would you like me?! I’m not someone who’s good for you! I’m barely a decent friend to you, what makes you think me being your gi…gir…girlfriend will be any better?!”  

Twilight was blushing again, but her determined look didn’t falter. “Because I-I know you’re a good person Sunset, everything that I’ve seen of you these past few weeks and months have made more sure of that than ever! And because, I don’t know what a normal relationship is, my mother and father, my friends, I know where I stand with them.”

“I know how I feel. But with you, it feels stronger, so much so I can’t call it friendship! I’m also scared, scared because I don’t want to mess up what we have now, or that I might mess up us being together.”

Sunset was still reeling from the confession. Her inner demons were yelling at her to not accept this confession, to better yet stomp all over it, and crush Twilight now that she had exposed her heart to Sunset. It would be so simple now, she could trample all over Twilight’s heart, rip her apart from the inside out and make her a pathetic mess from this one confession alone. Her vengeance would be satiated, and she’d be able to reclaim her power as the head of CHS.

But somehow, those thoughts weren’t as appealing anymore, in fact, the mere thought of doing that to Twilight made Sunset feel physically ill. This girl before her, who had been through so much, lost loved ones, and almost denied a future, was something else, an outcast like Sunset.

Twilight was born into this world, and yet she would forever be different from everyone else. Sunset was from another world, morphed into a human form, and yet she would always feel like a stranger in this world where everybody felt a part of it.

Twilight was more than an intellectual equal, she was a kindred spirit, her opposite, and yet they were the same. Where Sunset chose to isolate herself from the world she had shunned, Twilight chose to embrace the world she never knew. The long silence seemed to weigh on Twilight, as her gaze became downcast.

“I’m sorry, I said all that without even considering if you even were into same-sex relationships…Sunset, you don’t have to say anything from here on, I just needed you to know how I felt, before I regretted ever not telling you. I’ll just…”

Twilight began to turn away from Sunset, but suddenly she found her wrist pulled into the shaky, yet firm grip of Sunset. When she glanced towards Sunset, Twilight saw the same blushing face like her own.

“I…I’m not just into girls, alright, at least I don’t think so, but…I think I like you too, Sparky.”

“Sunset…”

“I’ve been wanting to get revenge on you for the longest time now!” Twilight’s expression became neutral as she listened. “I’ve thought of dozens of ways that I wanted to tear you down, leave you a mess in front of the whole school, humiliate you, and even hurt you!”

Sunset clenched her unoccupied left fist. “But no matter how much I wanted to, I couldn’t! I thought I hated you, and then I thought I just disliked you! And now, after everything we’ve been through, I’ve started to like you, and somehow I developed some stupid schoolgirl crush on you! I needed you to know that Twilight, I needed you to know what kind of person I am! Do you still even like me, knowing that?!”

Twilight stood before Sunset, she took the same hand that was clasped around hers and gently and held it. “I’m not perfect Sunset, you know that, do you honestly expect me to put you on a pedestal like that? If I didn’t like you for you, then what I’m feeling would be meaningless!”

Sunset could feel the gentle warmth radiating from Twilight’s hand, it was soothing, ebbing away her worry. “Well, guess, we could try this out…see where it goes, that alright, Sparky?”

Twilight nodded happily. “Of course.”

“So, do we tell your friends or…?”

Twilight thought about that. “I think we should wait and break it to them slowly. But we can tell Cadance, and my parents.”

“You want to come out to your parents, and announce you have a girlfriend right off the bat?” Sunset asked.

“Cadance can keep a secret, and this is something I don’t want to keep from them, well, other than the other thing.”

Sunset chuckled, as did Twilight. With little warning, Twilight moved forward and embraced Sunset, resting her head against the older girl’s chest. Sunset was stunned again, but only for a moment. This felt nice, being hugged like she was, Sunset figured that Twilight probably wasn’t up for a kiss, so this was a safe alternative.

The fiery haired girl returned the embrace, nuzzling the top of Twilight’s head with her cheek, reminiscent of how she saw Equestrian couples act when together. Secretly she had always hoped to find a special somepony, but a special somebody worked too, even if it was this adorkable girl in her arms.

Little did either of them realize at the time, there was a third broom on the floor next to the entrance, a small water drop on the floor, and the fading of rainbow hair as it moved further down the hallway.