Twilight Sparkle concentrated in her freezing cold sleeping bag. She conjured in her imagination the vision of her safe space. She closed her eyes, and a dark void appeared in her mind. Part of her mind drifted off back to the real world, noticing the uncomfortable floor she was laying on. She cut off that line of thought, and continued focusing on the void. The floor disappeared, and she was now floating without gravity in a vast nothingness. A small glowing point appeared, and then another one. One by one, stars appeared in the darkness. The sky above and below her filled with more and more of the tiny lights, until she was surrounded by billions upon billions of stars -- an entire galaxy.
The empty space had a smooth coldness. It didn't make her shiver, but it reduced her circulation and gave her muscles a persistent torpor. Lit only by distant starlight and cosmic background radiation, there was nothing to keep her warm.
She cleared her mind of all other thoughts besides the star field. The feeling of the sleeping bag faded away. Another part of her mind suddenly remembered a school assignment, due upon returning from winter break. It was uncharacteristic of her to leave something like this until the last minute, and she almost panicked. However, years of insomnia had trained Twilight well in meditation, and the thoughts of the assignment were also cut off.
She continued concentrating on the star field, cutting off each thought and sensation, one by one, leading hopefully to sleep. The last thought in her mind was of her friends. One year ago, she didn't have any friends. She now had six friends she was actually able to bond with. But, as happy as that thought made her, her friends wouldn't be able to help her get to sleep. She cleared this thought, and arrived at a state of complete concentration, focusing on the void of space. No other thoughts passed through her mind.
Twilight made it half way to sleeping before she realized that she was still uncomfortable. Despite her full concentration on the void, this one final sensation broke through her mental barrier. For several minutes, she tried to ignore it. If it had been a thought, she would have excised it. But, this was an external sensation, so she couldn't override it.
She released her state of concentration. Sunset Shimmer's dark living room snapped back into existence. In an instant, she felt how cold the room was. As her various other senses returned, she felt the uncomfortably hard wood floor, and smelled stale pizza.
There were three others on the floor. Rarity's head was poking out of what must have been the most expensive-looking sleeping bag Twilight had ever seen. Applejack was wrapped up in a thick winter camping sleeping bag. Fluttershy was curled up with Spike under a blanket.
Outside, it was snowing hard. The living room's large picture window normally overlooked the street, but that night it showed only falling snow, which glowed orange in the urban light pollution. Twilight likened the view to looking out into the universe, only to have her line of sight interrupted by a spherical wall of hydrogen plasma.
A potted cactus on the windowsill sported a few icicles, hanging off like a second set of spines.
Twilight blinked a few times to wake herself up. What time was it? She grabbed her phone off the table, and clicked it on.
01:32 AM
Tuesday, January 1st
For a moment she considered returning to her meditation. However, she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep. It was too cold.
Twilight crawled out of the sleeping bag and shed the blanket she had borrowed from Sunset. She put on her glasses, tiptoed around the confetti on the floor, and made her way to the hall.
She considered her options. Her first pick would be to go home, to her own warm bed. This had been her original plan, but her parents were snowed in as well, and Shining Armor was on patrol. A taxi would be impossible, considering the weather. She crossed out that idea in her mental checklist.
She looked back into the living room. Spike was already asleep in Fluttershy's arms. Besides, the heat output of Spike's tiny body was negligible. She mentally crossed out another line.
Twilight's thought process was interrupted by a giggle coming from a crack of light under the door to the kitchen. Curious, Twilight peeked through the door.
"...so I wrote 'five turtlenecks and a cheese grater!'" whispered Rainbow Dash, as she broke out into nearly silent laughter.
Pinkie held her hands over her mouth and let out a muffled snort. She was standing at the counter opposite Rainbow Dash, and appeared to be doing all she could to avoid falling over laughing.
Pinkie's eyes widened when she noticed Twilight entering the room. "Shh! Shh, quiet!" She reached across the counter to pull Rainbow close, and whispered, "We're keeping them awake!"
Rainbow turned to Twilight, and grabbed her lightly on the shoulder. "Sorry. We'll try to keep it down."
Twilight shook her head. "No, it's not you. I can't sleep. It's too cold."
"You could go sleep in Sunset's bed," Pinkie whispered, grinning. Rainbow laughed in response.
Twilight rolled her eyes. "Very funny."
"Here, this'll warm you up!" Rainbow held out the partly-drained bottle of sparkling wine to Twilight.
Twilight folded her arms. "I think I've had enough for one night."
"You had, like, a drop," said Rainbow.
"I'm not even eighteen. I shouldn't be having any."
"Neither am I, but it didn't stop me," said Pinkie.
"Regardless, alcohol doesn't actually make a person warmer. It causes the sensation of warmth by increasing circulation to the extremities, but thereby actually reduces the core temperature."
Rainbow sighed, and rolled her eyes. "Fine, let's just turn up the thermostat." She walked out into the hall, allowing light to stream into the living room and illuminate their sleeping friends.
Twilight followed her. "Wait-- without Sunset's permission?" She shut the door, and the hallway was dark again.
"Better than waking her up to ask."
Rainbow found the thermostat, and poked at a few buttons. "Uh, I'm not sure what it's doing." She flicked its display, and then smacked it on the side.
"Shh, the others are sleeping!" Twilight whispered. She pressed a button, and the screen illuminated. The thermostat was already set several degrees above the current temperature. "Rainbow, unless you've been touching it in the last few minutes, this means that the furnace is already operating at maximum output. It's not going to get any warmer in here."
Twilight suddenly felt arms hugging her from behind. "You could go ask Sunset." It was Pinkie Pie.
Twilight looked back at the kitchen door. It was still shut. She was sure it hadn't been opened since she came through a moment ago, yet here Pinkie was.
And why was she hugging Twilight? Twilight didn't really care when Pinkie encroached in her personal space like this -- it wasn't like they weren't friends. And yet, it still was something that two friends normally wouldn't do. For example, if Twilight were to hug one of her friends at random -- Sunset Shimmer as an example -- would that be strange? Would Twilight be doing something totally acceptable, or completely socially awkward?
Twilight decided that it would be improper, except in very specific circumstances. Pinkie could only get away with it because she was Pinkie. Rules of social interaction just didn't apply to her.
"Ok. I'll go ask Sunset."
"Just tell her you had a bad dream. You're cold and scared and want to sleep in her bed tonight," Pinkie said.
"What are you talking about? I'm going to let her know the furnace isn't working. That's it."
Rainbow finished a long swig from the bottle, and then tossed it to Twilight. "Ahh. I'm done." She ran to the couch, jumped over the back, laid down along the length of the couch, and pretended to snore.
"Wait for me!" Pinkie whispered loudly. She crawled over the back of the couch, and fell into an upside-down sitting position, on top of Rainbow Dash.
Twilight put the empty bottle on the living room table.
She sighed. As rude as it would be to wake up Sunset, a malfunctioning furnace was probably something she would want to know about.
She ascended the stairs leading to Sunset's bedroom, feeling the air get warmer with every step. The door was already open, but she stopped in the doorway. If it had been her own room, she wouldn't want strangers entering uninvited.
"Sunset," she whispered across the room. There was no response.
After waiting a moment, she resolved to enter the room. The bedroom was tidy, although the walls were covered in posters, photos of Sunset and her friends, and various other accoutrements. The only furniture was the bed at the far end of the room, a nightstand, and a narrow dresser, on which Sunset's iconic leather jacket lay. Outside the room's single window, there was only snow.
Twilight made it half way to the bed before stopping again. She didn't proceed any further, for concern of waking Sunset. But I'm trying to wake her up, Twilight thought.
She moved to the edge of the bed. She reached out to shake Sunset, but hesitated. I can't just go into her room while she's sleeping like this and touch her without her consent! That would be inappropriate, she thought, pulling her hand away.
"Sunset," she called again, and again, there was no response.
I can't go back to sleep, I can't go home right now, and I can't wake her like this. I'll try one last time, and then I'll shake her shoulder to wake her up, Twilight thought, her heart pounding.
Twilight steadied her nerves, and took a deep breath. "SUNSET!" she yelled. Her voice echoed across the house. She cringed, certain that some of her friends sleeping downstairs must have woken up. Embarrassed, she turned around to go back to her ice-cold sleeping bag.
She was just outside the bedroom when she heard the sound. It was a soft "pffft". Great, Sunset just farted in her sleep, and I had to hear it. This is so awkward. I should never have even come in here. I'll just pretend to sleep for the next five hours, and walk home as soon as the snow is plowed, she winced internally.
Each step down the stairs chilled her more and more. The lower floor was colder, and, though she had established that she needed to wake up Sunset, there was just no way to do it.
"Twilight."
She turned back to the stairs, and froze. Sunset was standing at the top. "Did you need something? Glass of water, blanket, diphenhydramine?"
No! Twilight thought, turning away and clenching her eyes shut. Now Sunset knew that she knew Sunset farted. She just knew it! And Sunset knew that she knew that Sunset knew that She knew that Sunset farted. She wondered how Sunset could look as cool as a 6000 kelvin ideal blackbody radiator, while her own cheeks felt like 6000 kelvin. She faced the wall, trying to hide her rapidly-reddening face.
Twilight tripped over her words until she made a coherent sentence. "Um, uh, Sunset, I uh think I... Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up. I'll just go back to bed."
"You woke me up for nothing?" Sunset said, descending the stairs.
"Well... no. I feel you should be aware of a technical malfunction in your furnace. It appears that its current power output is below its rated output capacity, and, in fact, below the required output level needed to maintain the current set point."
"Nah. It's fine." Sunset yawned. "The furnace isn't... really big enough for the house." Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Sunset examined the thermostat. "This happens sometimes on cold days."
"Oh. Never mind, then. Good night." Twilight thought for a moment, and then hugged Sunset from behind. She hoped she was doing it right.
"Holy shit, Twilight--"
Twilight quickly pulled her hands off Sunset. How could I do something so stupid! That's just not a thing that friends do, Pinkie excepted. Now I've made an idiot out of myself, Twilight thought, kicking herself for being so brash.
"--Your hands are freezing!" Sunset turned to face Twilight, and gently grabbed her shoulder. Her hand was warm. "Are you sure you're ok? Don't be afraid to ask, if you need something."
"Yes, I'm ok. Sorry if I'm getting in your space. I'll just go back to bed."
"Why were you even up this late?"
"I can't sleep. It's too cold."
"Do you want to sleep in my bed? It's warmer."
"Uh, aren't you sleeping there?"
"I'll sleep on the floor. I've endured worse. In colder weather, too."
"But... you live here. I can't kick you out of your own bed so that I can sleep in it. What kind of a guest would I be?"
"Fine, we'll share it," Sunset said with a sarcastic smile.
Twilight recoiled. "What kind of a girl do you think I am!?"
"What kind of a girl do you think I am? My intentions are unquestionable. You sleep in the bed, because you need it, and I'll either sleep in the bed or on the floor. Your choice."
Twilight facepalmed. She was left with no options. "Ok. We can share the bed."
"Go upstairs and get in bed. I'm getting a glass of water first."
Twilight followed Sunset's command. She went upstairs, set her glasses on the dresser, and slowly slid into Sunset's queen size bed.
The bed was still warm from Sunset a moment ago. The residual warmth of another person felt strange to Twilight, and it made her uncomfortable, like an unfamiliar aura, visible only in the mind. However, she quickly forgot her discomfort, when she realized how good it felt no longer being cold.
She slid deeper under the covers. The sheets smelled faintly of sweat. Twilight's nose wrinkled at the presence of an unexpected stimulus. She shook her head. Her bed would probably smell equally bad to Sunset.
Upon Twilight's next breath, she detected cinnamon, a smell she only now noticed that she subconsciously associated with Sunset. Her mind automatically brought forth images of Sunset. A memory of the first time they met, when Twilight was examining a statue covertly. Another memory, of Sunset smiling, with her six friends. A painful memory of Midnight Sparkle powering down while holding Sunset's hand. A memory of crying in a cave at Camp Everfree, while Sunset held her and stroked her hair.
Twilight was lucky to have such good friends, Sunset in particular. She smiled, and laughed softly to herself.
"Hope you're not getting any ideas," Sunset remarked as she walked into the bedroom.
Terrified, Twilight turned around to face the window, so Sunset couldn't see her blushing face. "Nothing like that!"
Sunset slipped under the covers behind her and turned off lamp on the nightstand. "Good."
Twilight felt Sunset's arm on her side. And then, she felt Sunset's entire body up against her back. The sudden intimacy made Twilight's heart beat rapidly.
Sunset whispered in her ear, "I can't believe you're so cold right now. Are you, like, a lich? How did you get any sleep at all?"
But Twilight was petrified solid, and couldn't answer at first. After a moment she said, "I've always had low circulation in my extremities. Um... my parents used to joke that that's why I had purple skin."
Sunset chuckled. After that, it was quiet. Eventually, Sunset's breathing became steady, and it was clear that she was asleep.
Twilight felt certain that her unstoppable trembling would wake up Sunset -- unless her loudly pounding heart did first. She sighed. Even sighing she was afraid to do -- would breathing too deeply disturb Sunset's arm draped over Twilight's stomach?
Twilight watched the falling snow, orange in the urban light pollution. Without her glasses, the street lamps looked like shattered circular panes of glass.
Is this normal? She wondered. Spooning was certainly something that a married couple, or in some cases even an unmarried lovers could do, but friends? Sleeping in the same bed was always such a sexually charged idea that even the phrase "sleeping together" was often used as a euphemism for sexual intercourse. Why would Sunset put her in such an unusual, uncomfortable situation that friends wouldn't normally do?
But Twilight trusted Sunset, and Sunset wouldn't abuse that trust. So, Twilight concluded that, yes, it is ok for platonic friends to sleep in the same bed. She didn't fully understand social norms, but she trusted that Sunset's motivation was in line with common decency.
And the alternative? Impossible. They wouldn't even be romantically compatible. Even in the most generous of results, studies of sexuality would always find that rates of homosexuality never exceed 10%. This would give them a 1% chance of even having a compatible romantic orientation, assuming she knew nothing about either of their orientations. But, she did: Twilight had had a crush on Timber Spruce, and Sunset had dated at least one male previously. That would put the chances at even lower than 1%.
Besides that, Twilight just didn't feel that way. She did not have a crush on Sunset.
Twilight wondered when she might next develop a crush. At her age, it would be logically expected for such feelings to develop spontaneously. But, she had only ever had one crush, and it had gone nowhere. She wondered if her next crush would be on a similar person, or a much different type of person.
She felt a little more comfortable, as she often did after introspection. Her trembling had stopped. She scooted in closer to Sunset, to get more warmth. Only for warmth, she assured herself.
Despite her own reassurances, she had one other question distracting her mind. For friends to be in this position was certainly very intimate. This was presumably something that Sunset wouldn't do for just any friend.
She recalled Sunset's words, "Don't be afraid to ask, if you need something."
She grabbed Sunset's hand from her stomach. "Sunset, are you awake?"
"I am now."
"Why are you doing all this for me? Is this really something you'd do for any friend? I don't want to be treated differently from any of our other friends."
"Twilight, friendships sometimes develop at different rates, or in different ways. But, no, I'm not playing favorites. Still, I wouldn't do this for anyone else, either. I would do different things for them. I did this for you because you needed it. And, I'm pretty sure you wanted it, too. Didn't you?"
"Wait, does that mean there's something different about the development of our friendship? Something special? What do you mean by that?"
"Uh, that's... a complicated question. Our friendship can be whatever kind of relationship we want it to be. We have to decide on that for ourselves. Together."
"Hmm."
"We can talk about it more in the morning."
"Ok."
Twilight thought on the development of her friendships for a while. Just a year ago, she had been so anti-social that she didn't have any real friends, and didn't think she needed any. Now, she couldn't imagine life without her six friends, especially Sunset Shimmer. They cared so much about each other -- not that the other friends weren't also great. Twilight tried to imagine enjoying this the same way with her other friends, but it just felt incorrect, like two mismatched puzzle pieces being forced together.
Her friendship with Sunset must have been something special, then.
Whether it remained unique, became ordinary and platonic, or somehow ended up romantic, Twilight would be sure to examine every possibility carefully. There would need to be a period of experimentation to find just the right configuration. There would need to be hypotheses and metrics for measuring data. They would have to try several different procedures.
Would they kiss? Scientific procedure required it. They would have to kiss. For science.
Twilight imagined Sunset's lips. Their color. Their texture. The shape they would make as they approached Twilight's lips. She imagined the feel of Sunset's hands on her cheeks.
She imagined the emotions she expected to feel when their lips would meet. Peacefulness. Comfort. Happiness. To her surprise, anxiety was not on the list.
Feeling relaxed, she decided to try to sleep.
She closed her eyes, and retreated into her own mind again. She concentrated on the cold nothingness of an infinite empty volume. One by one, her senses gradually disappeared. Her daily life's concerns faded away. She opened her mind's eye, and the star field appeared in front of her. Finally, her sense of gravity fell away, and she was floating.
A familiar pair of warm arms grabbed her from behind. It was Sunset, of course. She grabbed onto Twilight's back, invading the meditative dream, and disrupting her emotions.
Although awkwardly embarrassed, Twilight's concentration was not disrupted. She knew it would be counterproductive to turn and try to dismiss Sunset. That would only feed the imagined disruption further. She continued focusing, removing all thoughts, sensations, and emotions. The embarrassment faded to nothing, and the awkwardness left with it. She was left with the absolute calm of the surrounding galaxy.
And yet, Sunset was still there behind her, holding her in a warm embrace. She wasn't causing any embarrassment. She wasn't causing any awkwardness. She was a part of the vast ocean of silence that was the universe in Twilight's mind.
Twilight accepted the sense of peace that Sunset Shimmer had brought on, and finally fell asleep.
Twilight's eyes twitched in her sleep.
She was in the freezing cold star field again. The familiar streak of the galaxy shined on her.
A sleeping Sunset Shimmer was still an unshakable vice grip on her back.
This time was different though. Beneath her was an enormous dark region taking up nearly an entire hemisphere of the sky. A planet, she realized. It was framed by a white halo, delimiting the edge of the planet, where the sun diffused through the atmosphere.
There were lights on the planet. She realized that it must be her own planet; her home in the infinite universe. The view gave her a relaxing, comforting feeling, despite the cold of space. She smiled at the sheer beauty of the unlit planet.
Twilight was suddenly blinded by a bright light coming from the edge of the dark circle. She put her hand up to block it as light flooded over the horizon.
She was blasted with heat. She struggled to face away from the glaring sun, but any time she moved, Sunset would shift around behind her, pinning Twilight against her body.
Twilight shielded her eyes with both hands, but the brightness of the natural fusion inferno surged until she could see red through her hands.
Her skin burned. The incandescent ball of malice was clearly visible even through her arm. It was searing her skin.
She was in pain. She was on fire. The brightness and heat continued to grow until everything finally snapped.
Twilight woke up with a start. She was covered in sweat. The sun had just started to rise, and only a few of its rays were shining through the window into Sunset's bedroom.
Upon opening her eyes, she discovered, to her embarrassment, that her face was pressed firmly into Sunset's chest.
Twilight blushed. Her face felt uncomfortably hot.
She was excruciatingly bothered that her nose was being mashed into Sunset's boob.
The heat of the room, the covers, and most of all, Sunset Shimmer's body, made her wonder how she could have ever felt cold. She pulled her head away a little to get some air, but the grip of Sunset's arms kept her head in place.
"Sunset, wake up."
Sunset groaned. "Mmmf... What is it, Twilight?"
"I can't sleep. It's too hot."