When Twilight arrived home, her determined anger turned to familial joy. Her father had picked her up in the early hour of the evening with a knowing smile on his face but he refused to blab.
When they pulled into the home's driveway, the front door immediately opened and the best babysitter in the world beamed at her. Then her awesome bbbff appeared behind his fiancée and engulfed the thin nerd in a bone-crushing hug.
The sight of her best friend and her mother in the kitchen cooking together made Twilight’s stomach fill with fuzzy butterflies. When Sunset turned around she gave a small smile with tired eyes before a purple puppy ran in from the backyard and pounced on the scientist, jumping up her right leg and licking at her. Her left leg was being warmed by an orange feline rubbing itself against it.
Before the family sat down for dinner Twilight excused herself to her room to change into home attire. What she hadn’t expected was for her fiery-haired friend to follow her. As soon as the door closed the room went from her own to an interrogation room.
“Care to tell me what happened?” Sunset asked, despite her face being stoic, Twilight could see the red flames in her eyes.
Twilight chose not to turn towards her, instead, her back faced Sunset as she fumbled at nothing on her bed nightstand, “I’m afraid I don't know what you mean.”
The taller figure moved and now loomed over her, sending a weird thrill up her spine, “Twilight,” Sunset’s warm raspy voice said, lowly, “the back of your uniform is covered in dirt.”
When the shorter girl stayed quiet Sunset spoke a question again, “It was those girls from last time wasn’t it?”
Twilight crumbled apart, “Yes,” she covered her face with her hands, “They are just so stupid they don't know what to do with themselves so they take it out on me.”
Sunset’s strong hand flipped Twilight around, “What are their names?” She growled.
If Twilight were one of the girls she would be terrified but instead another thrill bolted up her spine, “I-I honestly don’t know. Their upperclassmen and I don't exactly have the gaw to march up to anyone and ask.”
Sunset scowled and threw her eyes to the floor, “I can’t be angry,” her hands gripped into fists, “as much I want to be.”
Lavender hands pulled amber ones out of the tight roll-up, “Why do you say that?”
“Because I’m a bully too.”
Twilight shook her head, “You’re different from them.”
“How can you say that? I’m just like them, how can you be friends with me?” Sunset asked with wide pleading eyes.
Fearless violet eyes and back into teal, “You never hit anyone did you?”
“No!” Sunset rubbed the back of her neck, “I wanted to with some people though.”
Twilight smiled and brought her eyes back to Sunset’s hand, using a finger to trace the lines of her friend's palm, “See your not just like them. True, you have been mean with a side of manipulation and blackmail, but you’ve realized your errors. You’re working to become better and you chose to stop those actions. Do not discredit yourself.”
Sunset stayed quiet. Twilight spoke again, “Trust me when I say you are nothing like those girls. They could become aware of their actions, if they aren't already, and still not care or want to change. Plus you just had a different look in your eyes.”
“What do you mean?”
“They have nothing but meanness in their eyes. I’ve seen it for years on so many others that have picked on me. You, on the other hand, even when trying to intimidate and threaten me, just had this… sadness in your eyes.”
The other girl was silent again for a moment, keeping her eyes on the floor, “Oh, I see.”
Twilight cupped her cheek and Sunset leaned into it, “Please don't say mean things about yourself. You’re my friend and that’s for a good reason.”
The redhead blinked away the tears building in her eyes before letting out a small laugh, “Sap.”
The girls chuckled together for a moment until Sunset pulled away and headed towards the door, “Get out of those dirty clothes. This friend is hungry.”
Twilight laughed again, “Fine. Only for you,” she said as Sunset closed the door. Twilight blushed when she saw the blush on Sunset’s cheeks as she closed the door. She hadn't meant it like that! That doesn't mean she can't later down the road though.
The rest of the night had passed by without incident and Twilight found herself in a stinky junkyard on a Saturday. The large grin on her friend's face made it worth it. Oh, and the fact that as young female mechanics, they were surpassing expectations by building their very own motorcycle!
The redhead had her hair held back in a low sitting braid, something Twilight’s near-future sister-in-law had insisted on doing. At first, Sunset appeared extremely uncomfortable but soon relaxed into the feeling. The amber-skinned girl was also wearing a blue tank top and ripped black skinny jeans. When they first arrived Sunset was wearing her signature leather jacket but the beating sun along with the hot equipment forced her to shed it, despite the chilly wind. Her muscular arms wouldn’t stop teasing Twilight as they worked with the welding fire gun. The only thing the scientist hated about the sight was she could no longer see her partner-in-crime’s face due to the protective metal shield.
Twilight bit down on her lip, forcing her eyes to look away and focus on the measurements that were needed before they could meld for metal together.
Eventually, the hiss of the fire stream stopped and Sunset placed the metal weaver away safely before crunching the gravel beneath her as she walked over to Twilight, “How’s it going over here?”
Twilight looked up at her with that dorky grin that made Sunset feel like breezies flew through her, “Wonderfully! I’m almost done with the measurements! Then we’ll have to test run everything, Sunny, we’re so close to actually having a working vehicle.”
Sunset smirked with pride as she grabbed a seven-up from their backpack cooler, “Great minds do great things, gadget-girl.”
Twilight swelled with pride from the comment. It was good to know Sunset knew of her intelligence and knew she could do something with it. These days it felt like the otherworldly girl was the only one.
“Speaking of great things, I wanted to ask you something,” Twilight said, turning from her spot on the ground to face her friend, who was leaning against the brick wall of the main scrapyard building.
“Hit me,” Sunset said, taking a swing of the soda.
“Do you know how the portal was made?” The question made Sunset pause as the drink stayed midair in her hand. Teal-colored eyes met violet-colored ones.
“…Vaguely,” Sunset answered with hesitation, “I remember reading about it in a scroll that was in my teacher's restricted section of her study.”
Twilight’s heart skipped a beat in excitement, “Good! You can help me build a new portal!”
Sunset gave her a scrutinizing glaze before she moved her eyes to the drink hole of her soda can, “Why would you want to do that?”
“Just imagine the things we could discover and advance with it!” Twilight said excitedly as she grabbed Sunset's arms after she bolted up from her spot in the gravel.
Sunset stared back at her with wide uncertain eyes, “I… don’t know Twilight. Magic and multi-dimensional portals are not exactly something you can play around with.”
Twilight's grip tightened, “Sunny I know you're just as smart as me. We both can’t sit for very long,” she let go and opened her arms, “you come from a place of magic and exploration, right?”
The redhead looked back down into her can, swishing around the liquid, “Yes… but I think it’s been made clear they don’t want me back. Or even in the first place.” She said with melancholy, the last sentence being a whisper.
Lavender's fists pumped in determination, “Well this is our chance to prove everyone wrong.”
Teal eyes met hers again asking for a further explanation, Twilight answered, “We both have had our skills undermined, I think we should create something truly altering, like our own portal, to make everybody speechless.”
Sunset couldn’t help her smirk, “What’s gotten into you, Sparkes?”
The indigo-haired girl sauntered up to the redhead and stood on her top toes in sudden confidence, “I’m starting to think that you have.”
Sunset’s face turned as crimson as her hair, but Twilight wasn’t going to make the first move. Not until she knew the other girl would be comfortable and okay with it. Both of their hearts pounded and after a moment of hesitation, it appeared the redhead was going to take the move. That was until a chime of a phone going off made them jump and break apart.
Distance was made between when the shorter one plucked her phone from her pocket and adjusted her foggy glasses, “We should wrap things up here. It’s mom, she says dinner will be ready in an hour.”
Sunset nodded and made her way over to what they had built of the motorbike model so far, “Just think, Sparkes, we probably only need one or two more weekends, and then we’ll have this finished!”
Twilight gleamed as she gathered the mechanic pipes, “I know!” After a moment a query struck her, “How are you going to drive this if you only have your permit?”
“I sort of know a guy who knows a guy that can help me out with that. I mean I already know how to drive, I learned how about a year ago. I just don’t want to find myself behind bars,” Sunset answered as she tied the cover wrap around their progress.
“Good. Me neither,” the nerd again moved her glasses further up her nose, “I don’t think my anxiety would be able to handle it.”
When the girls finished up their packing, they sat thigh-to-thigh on the bus. Sunset had been forced to use her intimidation skills when a grotesque man was making googly eyes at them.
When they arrived at the home, the family dinner had been ready to be placed and seated. The former unicorn sat silently and simply listened in on the family as they ate. Despite this being her third time around the Sparkles storge dinner, she was still surprised to hear her name be addressed and their insistence on including her in the conversation. The dinners that didn’t involve only herself were either quiet or simply questions about her magical study progress. This change was nerve-wracking but… nice. It always left the amber-skinned girl with a smile and warm feeling.
Twilight Sparkle played with her hearing aid’s charger to ignore her thrumming heart at being caught.
She weirdly heard her bedroom lock before a taller, and stronger figure pushed against her from behind making an electric shock race down her spine. Large, yet feminine hands gripped her hips, making sure the smaller figure couldn’t escape.
“Come on, gadget-girl. We both know I’m not stupid. I know something happened,” that warm, husky voice growled in her ear.
“I-I,” Twilight stammered, “I wasn’t trying to say you are-“ she was cut off by a quiet gasp when a few fingers slipped under the waistband of her plaid skirt, staying on her hip.
Sunset’s dominant voice spoke in her ear again, “It was those girls again, wasn’t it?” Suddenly her hands felt hot on Twilight, the other girl could feel the sizzling heat through her skirt, making her bite her lip harshly and cross her standing legs in an attempt to conceal the arousal.
Twilight’s attempt was cut short when those two fingers moved to her front, slipping under her panty line. She gripped her nightstand and bit back her whimper as her fiery-haired friend spoke again, “I’ll do whatever I need to to stop them Twilight. I won’t allow you to be hurt by some grotesque cockatoo look-alikes.”
“Yes, Sunset save me,” Twilight moaned out as an amber finger circled the destination she wanted to badly, “I’ll let you hurt them however you want as long as you do whatever you want to me.”
Sunset chuckled in her ear before biting and pulling the lobe, “Don’t you worry Princess, I’ll keep you safe and satisfied.”
Twilight bolted up from her spot in the bed in a cold sweat while also feeling much too hot for comfort.
She should have known this would happen. Her mind was getting the best of her, moving way too many steps ahead. This always happened with things she was excited or even anxious about, even when it came to school work or her personal research projects. Twilight looked at her bed mate in guilt. Sunset slept peacefully with her mouth slightly open and her hands in relaxed fists.
Twilight sighed before exiting the room and cleaning herself up before she placed her glasses on her nose and one sound aid device on the lobe to connect to her ear canal.
The genius needed something to get her mind off her dream and she found herself, not for the first time, saddened at the fact she didn’t have a home lab. Only her laptop had her notes.
She sat down on her sofa in the living room and powered on her portable computer. She then opened her research base going over her notes and findings. It only took a few minutes to pass before she felt the tremors of footsteps above on the second floor that began to decline the stairs. The first thing Twilight saw was smooth tall amber legs with socks and a pair of teal pajama shorts that showed off chubby thighs. Twilight’s eyes eventually found Sunset’s concerned face, “Is everything okay?” she saw Sunset's mouth say.
The indigo-haired girl cranked up her hearing device now that she would need it, “Just a… weird dream, are you okay?” Twilight said as she pushed her glasses up.
Sunset nodded as she pulled at her fingers, “The bed got cold.”
Twilight smiled, “I see. Forgive me, I just wanted to look at my research notes for the portal.”
Sunset nodded and tried to conceal her uncertainty about the idea. “What can you tell me about portal magic?” Twilight asked.
“Oh, it’s not as hard as one would think. It’s mainly just a bunch of time and space spells mixed with teleportation.” Sunset explained as she took a seat next to Twilight on the couch.
“And what's magic like in your world? How does it work? How does your world function with its existence?” The scientist interviewed as she typed quickly on her computer. When she was met with a hesitant silence violet-colored eyes looked up to meet teal.
Sunset looked away and into her lap, once again pulling at her fingers. That was until a small lavender-skinned hand grabbed hers, making Sunset stop, “You can tell me, I promise. I'm not going to make it public.” ‘Not for a while at least.’ Twilight thought to herself.
“…Are you sure? Where I'm from is nothing like this world. I mean their parallel worlds but they are many different species. I-” Sunset took a deep breath before looking Twilight in the eyes, “I’m scared it's going to run you off and you won't want to be my friend anymore.”
Twilight looked at her amused, “Is this coming from the same person who literally used threats and intimidation tactics to run me off? If that didn't make me want to leave, nothing else will.”
Sunset knew she was right but fear still made her heart thrum. Her birthplace was a lot more complicated than Sunset's old ways, “Do you promise?”
Twilight nodded with a smile, “I promise.”
With Twilight's sincerity, Sunset found herself blabbing the truth, her mouth practically moving on its own accord. It all came out with no stop. Equestria and the fact that the kingdom was full of sentient ponies that ranged from unicorns, pegasi, and earth. All what they do and how their magic affects them and the world around them. Even the dragons, griffins and more mythological creatures that were fantasy in the human world but reality in Sunset's home came up.
The whole explanation Twilight had a beaming smile as she furiously typed on her laptop. An hour passed before the former unicorn finally ran out of things to explain. The only thing left would be her own life in the place she was born that Twilight didn't know about. She hadn't mentioned being a sun goddess’ student.
When the bespeckled girl finished the note perfecting she laughed and Sunset felt her heart drop. She kept quiet until Twilight calmed herself, “I'm sorry Sunny, I'm not laughing at you,” she looked at her fiery friend with eyes that resembled the bright star-filled night sky, “You just always manage to impress me, Sunset Shimmer.”
A smile blossomed wide on the amber-skinned face, “Really?” she asked with a squeaky voice.
Twilight nodded as she closed her laptop before standing and stretching with her arm being pulled out against her chest, “I know it's a weekend but we should probably try to get some more sleep.”
Sunset nodded and grabbed the hand outstretched to her. The girls quickly found themselves back under the covers, the animals not looking disturbed at all. They laid back-to-back, consequently making Sunset almost feel alone, the only thing keeping her from getting entirely trapped in her mind was the warmth and pressure on her back.
“Twilight?” Sunset whispered nervously.
“Yes?”
“Do- do you think we could, maybe, hug and sleep at the same time?”
Twilight lightheartedly giggled, “You mean cuddle?”
“…Maybe…”
The body next to the Sunset’s flipped over, making her do the same, leaving the two now face-to-face. Twilight smiled and pushed back a gold lock of hair before scooting in closer and wrapping an arm around her friend's waist. She smiled when she felt the other bed occupant do the same.
The rest of that weekend passed by fast with motor construction, video games, and food that guided the moving clock until Sunset found herself moving back into her townhome on Sunday evening and catching up on the three days of work she had missed. The principal had been kind enough to gather the due assessments and Twilight Velvet had been kind enough to pick them up.
The night had been unpleasant, a maniacal red demon with fire for hair chased and laughed at her in a dark void filled with memories of her guilty conscience. So when her alarm screamed her awake before dawn, her eyes crusted open, and a throbbing pressure banged the inside of her skull with a hammer.
Sunset left early that morning to prevent having a bunch of teenagers stare at her as she walked into school and by the time she arrived in front of the school she already wanted to leave. The wondercolts' proud equine statue was gone. Instead, sat rubble and a dirt spot that once held the statue, there was caution tape all around the area where it used to bask in glory.
Shame and guilt took control of the emotion panel in her brain. Her peers used to think of her as a tyrannical bitch, now, she was sure they’d think of her as a crazy bitch instead.
The stark silence of dust floating in the air and teachers preparing in their classrooms filled the redheads' ears. In her imagination, they flicked and moved on top of her head as they gathered sound. As Sunset’s boots quietly tapped down the hall a poster caught her attention. Along with many more. All of them had different princess candidate advertisements. But… wasn’t the Fall Formal last Friday? She shrugged, ‘Maybe no one has had time to take them down yet.’ Now that her brain was really on the topic she would wait until the principal made her take down her posters. That hall led down to the corridor that held framed photos of her past ‘victories.’ Sunset stared at them and was embarrassed. The three photos showed the literal evidence of her own corruption. The last one only being a few months prior at the welcome back dance.
The students of this school didn’t need these up as a constant reminder. She didn’t want to be that person anymore. She wanted to be someone whom Twilight could be proud of to call a friend and not be embarrassed about what Sunset had done in the past. Amber hands reached out and grabbed the oldest photo, then moved to the middle, then the newest and promptly threw them in the trash on the other side of the hall.
“Good Morning, Sunset. What are you doing?” A quiet voice asked that made Sunset jump in her hyde.
When the former unicorn realized it was Fluttershy, she answered, “Just getting rid of bad memories. Everyone’s bad memories.”
The animal caretaker nodded, “I see,” she hesitated before speaking again, “How are you doing?”
Sunset shrugged, “I’m… okay. Thanks for, you know, helping me last week.”
The shy girl nodded, “It was no problem at all. I’m just glad that you're safe and doing better.”
Sunset scratched at the back of her neck with a flustered blush, “Thanks.”
There was a pregnant pause.
“How, um, how was the formal? I’m sure everyone had a good time with me there to ruin it.” She said self-deprecatingly.
“Oh actually,” started Fluttershy in her mousy voice as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, “The principal’s decided to push it back by two weeks. I think they want to use it to introduce the new Wondercolts statue.”
Sunset cringed, “Great, I'm sure everyone hates me even more now.”
When arms wrapped around Sunset in a comforting hug she tensed up before eventually relaxing a little and stiffly patting Fluttershy’s back in thanks.
When the long light pink-haired girl pulled back she gave a sad smile, “I know I’m not upset about it. I…don’t go to the dances anyways.”
The redhead tilted her head, “Why not.”
Fluttershy pulled at her sage green cardigan’s puffy sleeve, “I’m not exactly the most social person and I… don’t have friends to go with anyways.”
That stung worse than any bear bee could do. That was her fault. How could she even think about allowing herself to make a friend while all the people she tore apart from each other stayed in isolated bubbles?
When she had spent her first year in this world she grew nothing but hate for a group of five girls. They were all so incredibly different from each other and yet they made their friendship look easy and the best. Sunset Shimmer was jealous that they had that type of connection. If she had to be lonely then so did everyone else, that’s what was fair.
The back of her eyes began to sting, “I- I’m so sorry Fluttershy.”
Fluttershy smiled, “There’s no reason to be sorry. It’s not your fault that some people are just too arrogant.”
Sunset stayed quiet, knowing that it was in fact her fault. It was her fault that the kind teenager could say that about her ex-friend. Even when Sunset 'Tyrant Queen Bitch of Canterlot High’ Shimmer was standing right in front of her.
Resolve and determination wrestled together in her chest. She had to fix this. It was her fault, to begin with. If Sunset hadn’t come here and ruined everything good for the school, they would all be happier. Everyone and every pony would have been happier if she hadn’t existed to ruin and burn everything good to the ground.
Not this time though. She was going to make things better for everyone and make her beautiful, compassionate, and caring Twilight proud to stand by her.