//------------------------------// // Magical migraine // Story: Delayed Currents // by Luke_Whiterock //------------------------------// Sunset closed her eyes, trying to take deep breaths, or at least centre herself in some way to avoid drifting into the thoughts of every passing person. Twilight's hands gripped her own, trying to send her calming thoughts in her direction, but the other sounds still filtered in through the softly spoken words, puppies and forest scenes that looked suspiciously as if they were from Indians Jones.  “Does it help if you plug your ears?” She asked out loud, her thumb stroking over Sunset’s palm.  “I’ve tried everything Twi, no one will shut up, it’s been two days, and I can’t even sleep...” “Have you attempted to take off your geode?”  Okay, maybe that was something she hadn’t exactly thought of, but she shouldn’t need to, she had the ability to control it, and now that was just slipping from her? “Here, let me do it.” Twilight smiled softly, letting go of her hands and leaning forward so she could see the clasp as she undid it.  The moment the crystal slid away from her neck, the room silenced, leaving her with nothing but a throbbing headache and her own thoughts.  Sunset couldn’t help but lean back and let out a deep breath she hadn’t realised she had been holding. “Probably should have thought of that one.” “It’s okay, you could hardly hear your own thoughts.”  “I just don’t get it,” Sunset whispered, feeling her eyes sting with the attempted block of tears. “I can control it, I’ve never not been able to control it before.”  “When it first started it was tough, maybe you just didn’t get enough sleep last night and you’re too tired?” More like no sleep. The explanation made enough sense, but this was still more heightened than normal.  “Just take some deep breaths, don’t think about it, okay? We can figure it out later, you need rest.”  “Do I really look that bad?”  “Mm, I wouldn’t say bad, just…really really tired, you have some pretty dark cercles,” she said softly, brushing Sunset’s cheek.  “And how do I ‘rest’ in the middle of the school hallway, Twi.”  “I’m going to drive you back to my place, you can rest there until you are ready to head out.”  “But then you miss your science class!” Sunset gasped, her eyes going wide, though the lights felt as if they were burning her retnas.  Twilight raised her brow, looking slightly offended. “I’m pretty sure I can miss it to make sure my girlfriend isn’t in excruciating pain, you matter more than a class I’ve understood since grade ten.”  Knowing how presistent Twilight was when she wanted something, Sunset just caved, nodding and letting herself start to be pulled through the halls.  Once they reached Twilight’s car, the passenger door was opened for her and she flopped down into the comfortable seat, glad she had come to school with her this morning and left her bike at home.  “Do you want me to put on your Green Day CD?”  She nodded, knowing each song would comfort her, as she had heard them all a million times.  Once the CD was in, Twilight started up the car, probably having managed to contact the school and tell them that neither of them would be there already.  The drive wasn’t too far, only about ten minutes, but it felt like an hour with the vibrations practically attempting to shake her brain out of her head, or at least that’s what it felt like.  “Okay,” Twilight mumbled softly, probably noticing the discomfort. “Let’s go upstairs, you can lay down while I grab us a snack, then maybe we can watch a movie? Or do you want to sleep, did you get any?”  Sunset shook her head, lifting the rock that the extra keys were kept under since she knew Twilight had probably only grabbed the ones for her car in the morning, despite having been told she should just clip them together countless times. The door creaked as it opened, and Sunset froze when she heard rustling from somewhere in the kitchen.  “Damn it,” Twilight hissed. “I forgot my mum had the day off, she’s going to kill me.”  “Just explain to her Twi, honestly, she’ll get it, and I can always ham it up if I need to,” she giggled and winked.  The two walked in, closing and locking the door behind them. They could both hear Violet coming towards them, probably confused as to why someone was coming in at such a random hour without even knocking.  “Girls?” She asked, seeming confused, then a little pissed. “Are you two skipping? Twilight, I’ve raised you better than to-” “Mum! I’m not- I’ll catch up on the work, I called the school already and we were excused.”  Of course she had.  “Why would you need to leave, did you want to hang out? You know you can after school, no need to leave school early for it, don’t you have science? You love science.”  Sunset quickly chimed in, not wanting a fight to break out. “I’ve got a migraine, it kept me up all night, Twilight took me here because I got too overwhelmed to keep working. She was just going to work on some of her stuff while I slept- and since she drove me to school this morning, she had to take me anyway.” That was at least half true, the after effects felt far worse than a migraine though.  Violet’s frown turned into a look of pity. “Oh darling, that’s horrible. You two hurry upstairs, I will make you some Ginger Tea dear, that should help with the symptoms.”  They both thanked her, then walked to Twilight’s room. Sunset flopped down onto the bed, wincing when her head hit the pillow with her body’s force. She’d gotten headaches from using her power too much before, but this was unbearable.  “We have to figure out why this is happening Twi, no one else is having flare ups, trust me, I could hear them.” “No, you need sleep, we can figure things out when you wake up again, okay?” Twilight sat beside her, tucking a stray strand of Sunset’s hair behind her ear.  “How am I supposed to sleep if I’m worried about it?”  “I’ll be next to you, the only homework I have is to finish the last few stories in The Canterbury Tales. Do you want your pjs? You left a pair here last week.”  “Mm no, I’m just gonna take off my jacket and jeans. No need to fully change.”  Twilight nodded, just opening her bag to search for her copy of the book she had to read. Sunset quickly undid her belt, tossing it, her rough leather jacket and jeans aside, then slipped under the lavender bed sheets, smiling at the soft smell of roses from her girlfriend's favorite parfumé.  The door creaked back open and Violet walked in, a cup of steaming tea in hand, as well as a cloth and ice pack.  “Here you go, place the ice pack on your neck under the cloth, it helps a bunch.”  Sunset thanked her, laying the ice pack on her neck with a shiver. It did kind kind of feel nice.  Once Voilet had left the room, Twilight lay down next to her, her arm wrapping around Sunset’s shoulders. The two simply lay there for a bit before Twilight grabbed her book and flipped it open to the story she was currently reading. Slowly Sunset felt herself start to drift off, the worries were for when she woke up, she would be okay, Twilight had it under control.  ————————————————————— Her headache was nearly gone when she next woke, and she could tell it had been a while considering sun no longer filtered through the curtains. Looking to her side, she spotted her girlfriend. She was still in her clothes, though her book had fallen to the ground, and her glasses rested on her chest, likely not by choice. Slipping away, she managed to pull herself out of bed and tiptoe over to Twilight’s dresser. Though she came over a lot, she didn’t exactly know her way around her dresser, so it took a few drawers being opened before she found where the pjs had been neatly folded, sorted by colour.  She grabbed the first ones her eyes landed on, a two piece purple silk set. Grabbing them, she walked back and gently lifted the glasses off her girlfriends chest, placing them on her bedside table. Luckily Twilight was a deep sleeper, because Sunset ended up fiddling with the buttons on her blouse.  Once she had managed to switch Twilight into the pajamas, she lay back down, knowing that sleep wouldn’t come again.  An hour passed before she got up again, grabbing Twilight’s skirt from the floor and grabbing her geode out of the pocket. Taking a deep breath, she slipped it back on, the thoughts of the three people in the house rushing into her head. Violet and Nightlight were both dreaming about bears, though one of them was having a much more traumatic experience, then her head drifted to Twilight.  A dark hallway loomed ahead, clear movement could be heard from further down, yet she felt stuck. Something hummed in both her ears, hands pressed into her back that were not her own, but she couldn’t turn around to figure out whom they belonged to.  A sudden jolt turned the world sideways, and she was left free falling down into the darkness. Her screams echoed off the walls, though the person behind her, who now fell with her, did nothing. She could see the ground now, approaching, she knew what would happen, she knew- Sunset forced herself out, leaping through both the others dreams again before just pulling the necklace off. So much for it magicly just getting better.  “Sunset?”  “Shit- did I wake you up?”  Twilight shook her head, yawning. “Bad dream, but you saw that.”  “I’m sorry, I know you don’t like me dream watching, I just thought-” “I know, don’t worry. You won me over with my favorite pjs. How did you know?”  “I didn’t, they were just closest,” Sunset huffed, sitting in the chair by Twilight’s desk.  “Sun…come lay back down, just because it’s a pro-D day tomorrow doesn’t mean you don’t need sleep.”  “I can’t sleep! What if it’s Equestrian magic? What if someone’s back, what if-” Twilight got up, walking over and placing her hand on Sunset’s shoulder. “You sound like me,” she giggled. “It’s all going to be okay, even if it is, we’ve dealt with it before. “I know! I know, I’m just…” she sighed, placing her head in her hands.  “Worried?”  “Yeah…” “That’s normal. Come on now, let’s hop back in bed. We can figure this out tomorrow, okay?” “Okay.”