//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Guiding Light // by Havokwithak //------------------------------// "Hey, Sparkles!" Sunset called from across the park. Twilight turned at the voice and smiled warmly at her friend. "C'mere a minute. I have something for you." she called. Twilight walked across the park, following the other girl as she led her deeper through the trees, occasionally catching a glimpse of a blush on the other girl's cheeks. "What're you up to, Sunny?" she asked. Sunset for her part merely scoffed and sputtered. "Sunny?" she asked. Twilight shrugged as she caught up to the older girl. "If you can call me Sparkles, then it's only fair I call you Sunny." she stated with a resolute nod of her head. Sunset merely chuckled as she continued her slow walk through the trees. "You never answered my question." Twilight said. "What are we doing out here?" "You'll see." Sunset said leading the way. Twilight grinned as she followed her. After a few more minutes of walking the two came across a small duck pond deep within the trees of the park. Twilight gasped as she caught sight of the items placed next to the pond. Candles burning on the grass, a blanket spread out across the ground, and a picnic basket placed in the center of the blanket. Sunset sat on one side of the blanket and gestured to the basket with a sheepish grin. "Care to join me?" she asked, her blush growing by the second. Twilight stared at the other girl for a second, pondering her actions. "Why didn't we bring the others if we're having a picnic?" she asked. "They're still back there." Sunset nodded and took on a tone that sounded much like the one Twilight herself used when explaining to the Cutie Mark Crusaders why they should not mess about in her lab. "Yes," Sunset said, "I planned this for the two of us." "But, our friends-" Twilight started, however she was cut off by a small laugh from Sunset. "They helped me plan this." Sunset said. Twilight stepped over to the blanket and sat next to Sunset. "I've been wanting to get you alone for a while now, and they wanted to help when I told them... that I wanted to see you..." Sunset's blush covered her entire face at this point and she could not seem to meet the other girl's gaze. "Are you okay?" Twilight asked as the other girl trailed off. "Your face is all red." Twilight placed her hand on Sunset's cheek and gasped. "Sunset, you're burning up. We should get you to a doctor." Twilight stood and grabbed Sunset's hand, moving to drag her to the nearest hospital. She felt a sharp jerk on her arm as Sunset refused to budge. Sunset for her part, merely sat on the blanket and stared at the ground. "I'm okay, Twilight." she mumbled, her voice no higher than a whisper. Twilight raised an eyebrow, but merely sat back on the blanket. "I need to tell you something." Sunset stated with a quaver in her voice. "It's kind of important, but I don't know how to say it." Twilight blinked. She stared at the top of the other girl's head, considering that was the only part she could see, and felt a wave of nervousness rise within her. Why was Sunset acting this way? Had something bad happened? "Sunset?" Twilight asked quietly. "Twilight..." Sunset finally raised her head to look Twilight in the eye, her aquamarine eyes welling with tears as she took a deep breath and released it shakily. "Yes?" Twilight asked, her hands shaking and her heart pounding within her chest. Why was she so nervous? Why was her body heating up and shaking like this? It did not make any sense. Sunset said nothing, she merely placed her hand atop Twilight's own and leaned closer to the frightened girl. Twilight stared as those Aquamarine eyes grew closer and she saw her own eyes reflected in them. Sunset's eyes closed as her lips brushed against Twilight's own. Twilight gasped as she felt the soft slickness of Sunset's lips slide against her skin. The taste of cherries filled her mouth for a moment before she forcefully threw herself away from the other girl. She felt scared and confused, having never been kissed before and her first was taken by her trusted friend. After throwing herself clear of the blanket, Twilight rolled to her feet in a standing position. Sunset looked hurt, her eyes welling with tears as she gazed at the other girl. Still, she made no move to chase after the girl, she had done what she felt she needed to do and now she simply sat on the blanket crying, knowing her answer for the unasked question. "Why did you do that?" Twilight whispered the question. She had no idea how to react right then, should she be hurt, angry... happy? She did not know. "I would think that was obvious." Sunset said. "I did it because I like you... I was hoping you felt the same way." Twilight shifted on her feet for several agonizing seconds as her mind raced faster than ever before. She had no idea how that had made her feel, but she did have to admit that Sunset's lips were soft and that her kiss had been innocent. There was no lust filled passion behind the kiss, it was simply a warm gesture meant to assure the girl of her feelings. She had been so warm and so kind to Twilight for so long and all of that warmth and... love... were evident in her kiss. Twilight took a deep shaky breath, her hand held to her chest as she inhaled and pushed away as she exhaled. She was now calm enough, she opened her mouth to speak. The first thing Twilight noticed when she awoke in the hospital, was the fact that her flank hurt really badly on her left side. The second thing she noticed, was a cyan pegasus, sitting in a chair reading a Daring Do book. Twilight got to her hooves and realized she had been sleeping on the floor for some reason. Twilight had enough sense of mind when she awoke to remember the events of the previous night. Her library exploding as the Not-Sunset came through the portal and rushing to the hospital. She remembered her friend, Rainbow, holding her as she cried and then... nothing. "What happened?" she asked groggily as she wiped the sleep from her eyes. A quiet chuckle from Rainbow as she placed a bookmark in her novel and closed it. "I talked the doctors into giving you a sedative. Thought you needed the sleep." Twilight glared at the pegasus before releasing a weak chuckle of her own. "And how did you do that, Dash?" she asked. "Pretty sure that's illegal." "Well," Dash started, "when I say talked them into it, I might mean 'took it from them and shot you before they could stop me', but you never know with me." Rainbow's innocent smile only seemed to confirm this statement for Twilight. Approaching the bed cautiously, Twilight looked down at Sunset's sleeping form and sighed. "We need to do something about her, Rainbow." Rainbow raised an eyebrow and looked towards the sleeping unicorn. "Why?" she asked. "It's not like she's going anywhere. Isn't she okay where she's at?" Twilight shook her head as she continued to watch the unicorn sleep. "No, we need to move her before she wakes up." "Why?" Rainbow asked. Twilight sighed and sat on her haunches before turning to the pegasus. "She's a unicorn, Dash. Not just that, she's a unicorn that has no control over her magic." Twilight searched Rainbow's eyes for some sign of recognition, however, finding none she sighed before asking, "Do you know what happens when a novice unicorn is scared or hurt?" After Rainbow shook her head, Twilight continued. "They have magical outbursts." "Like when you were a filly and you were trying to get into Princess Celestia's school?" Rainbow asked. Twilight nodded her head. "Right. I was scared and my magic acted out." Twilight sighed. "It can still happen, even if a unicorn is grown and has control over their magic. The reason we need to move Sunset before she wakes up, is if she wakes up and is nearly as scared as I was when I first entered her world, it could be bad for all of the hospital." Rainbow nodded. "That makes sense." she went to stand and walk away. "I'll go explain everything to the doctor." "Wait." Twilight said firmly. Rainbow paused in the doorway. "Go ahead and tell the doctor what I said, but let him know we won't be moving her for an hour." "Why not?" Rainbow asked. Twilight felt wetness on her cheek as she shook her head. "I need to go home and get a room ready for her. If she has a magical outburst there, no matter what magic she accidentally casts, it'll be safe in my castle." "And you need to put away the pictures of your Sunset...?" Rainbow asked quietly. Twilight merely nodded, placing a hoof over her mouth to stifle a sob. Her horn lit up and the magic wrapped around her as she teleported home. The rythmic beeping of a heart-monitor. Hospital? Good, she knew she had been shot and she sort-of remembered an explosion. She couldn't feel her fingers or toes and her clothes felt heavy; stifling. She groaned as she shifted in the bed, feeling her wound stretch, a dull throbbing reminder of what had happened. She was certainly enjoying whatever pain medicine they had given her. It was a pleasant sensation of a dulled pain without the light-headed dizziness she was accustomed to. She tested her arms, shifting them just to learn if she had been handcuffed to the bed like on TV. She was pleasantly surprised to find that her arms were unbound. She knew she had been saved. She couldn't remember exactly 'who' or 'how', but she knew a woman saved her life. She had a hazy memory of a winged woman, appearing as an angel, stopping the explosion from reaching her. At least, that was how she remembered it. She heard voices in the room with her as she awoke. She refused to open her eyes just yet, but she was listening intently to the conversation only to find herself confused by most of it. "Princess Twilight said we should move her?" A man's voice asked. "Yeah, she said something about magical outbursts and she thinks her castle would be safer for everypony involved." A thick raspy woman's voice stated. "Well, I may be a man of medicine, but I'd wager I know less about unicorn magic than the princess." The man said. Unicorn magic? Princess Twilight? Magical outbursts? What the hell were these people talking about. The man sounded like a doctor, but a man of medicine discussing magic with a woman? Who was the woman anyways? Was she the angel that saved Sunset Shimmer? She remembered the color purple defining everything in the room as she had been saved. She blinked her eyes open hoping to see the purple angel that had saved her life. However, as she looked across the room she saw strange ponies a brown one with a horn and a bright blue one with a rainbow mane and a pair of large wings. The brown pony looked to where she lay and smiled. "Well, look who's awake!" he announced cheerfully. The blue one, however looked at her with eyes full of worry as she muttered a quick curse under her breath. "Get out!" she yelled at the doctor, probably hoping that one less pony would make her feel better. The doctor gained a worried look as he looked between a hyperventilating Sunset and a worried looking cyan pegasus. The doctor swifly left the room and the rainbow maned pony closed the door behind him. Sunset felt herself panicking as the blue pegasus turned back to her. "Calm down, Sunset." she said. How did she know Sunset's name? "My name is Rainbow Dash. You're safe here." "Where am I?" Sunset asked. "You're in the hospital. You were hurt really badly and my friend Twilight Sparkle saved you and brought you here." Rainbow Dash said as she took a few tentative steps towards the bed. "We just wanna help." "How do you know my name?" she asked. "Twilight told us." she said. Sunset forced herself to take a few deep breaths and calm down, she felt some sort of fading in her forehead. It was as if she had started storing something as she panicked and she was releasing it in her relaxing breaths. Apparently she had visibly calmed enough that Rainbow could also relax. "Feel better?" she asked. Sunset nodded and smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry, it's just... talking ponies that know my name? It was a little scary." Rainbow adopted a confused look at those words. "What do you mean?" she asked. Sunset raised an eyebrow. "You do realize you're a talking pony too, right?" Sunset shook her head and laughed. "No, I'm a human." she said. "I'm sure it's confusing for you, and I bet you've never seen one before, but-" She was cut off by Rainbow handing her a mirror. Sunset tried to grab it, but her hooves wouldn't cooperate. Hooves? She looked into the mirror, and a pony with a horn looked back at her. The power she had felt in her forehead built again as she started to panic again. Rainbow backed away quickly as a bright light filled the room. Sunset screamed as a burst of light filled the room.