Girls Night Out

by Mystic Sunrise

Chapter 1

Twilight hummed quietly as Sunset finished her story. The princess's brows were creased in concern at what she was hearing, and she wasn't liking it.

The Dining Room of the Friendship Castle was empty except for the two of them. Spike had gone gem hunting with Rarity, and Starlight was out and about on something or another.

It still felt odd for Sunset to be in her pony body again. But ever since she had made up with Princess Celestia, she had been trying to come to Equestria more often, though it was easier said than done.

Twilight sighed as she placed her drink down on the table. "I can't believe someone would do that. All just for revenge on someone else."

Sunset nodded, her ears folding. "Juniper's uncle wasn't happy, to say the least. That guy is in a whole heap of trouble now. He tried to apologize to her, but the damage was done."

Twilight nodded, her own ears dropping. "How is she?"

Sunset shook her head. "Calling her fine would be a lie. Juniper has a place at the studio, but I don't know if she'll take it or not, now. She's taken time off to think about things, as she told us."

Twilight nodded, her heart going out to the girl. She may not have known Juniper Montage in person or her pony counterpart, but she still felt for her. "Does Juniper know about?" She waved a hoof at everything around them.

Sunset chuckled. "Nope. Magic wasn't an issue here, though she was curious about our geodes and Sci Twi's necklace. I'm not sure how we might explain it to her if we do at all."

Twilight was glad to hear that. This was something that the fewer knew of, the better. She was curious though about one thing. "No one wanted to come with you?"

Sunset rolled her eyes. "Everyone somehow got a college tour on the same day. All in different states I might add. I have no idea how they will all manage that."

Twilight giggled. "I bet. I'm surprised you're not staying Sunset."

Sunset shook her head. "I don't have a reason to stay, Twilight. I never planned to stay this long as it is. My home is in Equestria, and that's final. I've already talked to Princess Celestia about maybe finishing my studies with her after graduation."

Twilight smiled at the thought. It had been something she had been wondering for a while now. "You'll always have a place in Ponyville if you need a place to stay Sunset."

Sunset grinned. "Thanks, Twilight."

For a time, the two sat in silence, not sure of what to talk about next. All the news from Equestria and the Human World had been exchanged, but one thing was nagging at the back of Twilight's mind.

And finally, she couldn't take it any longer. "Sunset, I need to ask you something."

Sunset swallowed before she spoke up. "What's wrong. Did we miss anything in swapping news?"

Twilight shook her head. "No. This is more personal." She sighed. "My birthday is coming up soon, and I want to do something different this year."

Sunset blinked. "What do you-" She paused as it soon hit her. "You can't be serious Twilight?"

Twilight nodded. "I wanted to celebrate it with you and the rest of our friends. We never spend enough time together as it is. And the last few times have been trying to save the world."

While Sunset couldn't argue that point, she still wasn't convinced. "What about your Ponyville friends? Won't they feel left out?"

Twilight smiled slightly. "I already talked about it with the girls. Sure, they'd be disappointed, but we can always have another party here. Pinkie wouldn't mind."

Sunset rolled her eyes at that. Knowing both versions of Pinkie Pie now, she could well believe it. "What about your family?"

Twilight snorted. "We live in different parts of Equestria. Cadance, Shining, and Flurry Heart live in the Crystal Empire. It's really hard to get us all together as we should.

Sunset couldn't really argue with that. She still needed to really make up with Princess Cadance. The award ceremony had been a good start, but she still didn't feel like it had been enough. "Okay, say we do celebrate it with the rest of the girls. What would we even do?"

Twilight smirked, having thought of this. "Surprise me. You girls know that world far better than I ever will. But I don't want to go just to do research. I want to live it. Know what it's like to live there. To just be human for a while, and not worry about anything else."

Sunset sighed as she took another drink. She could see that the princess was dead serious about this whole idea, and had thought it through as much as she could. And to be honest, she was kind of hoping that this would have come up at some point before now. This wasn't quite what she had imagined, but could she really say no?

No. No, she couldn't, as she finally smiled. "Okay, fine. I'll ask the girls and see what they say. I have no idea of when they'll all be back though, so I can't say when you'll have an answer."

Twilight all but squeed as she flew over and pulled Sunset into a hug. "Thank you! I promise you won't regret it," she gushed happily.

Sunset chuckled as she returned the hug. "No problem Twilight. Anything for a friend."

***

Outside the Dining Room, somepony else heard most of the last part of the conversation, and it had gotten her thinking, even though she knew better than to listen in on something that wasn't her business. But a part of her couldn't help it.

Call it a holdover from her old life or what have you, but the fact remained that she had heard quite a bit of Twilight and Sunset's conversation. Especially the part about Twilight's birthday plans.

And as she walked back to her room on the third floor, Starlight Glimmer began to make plans of her own

***

As the World Mirror hummed to life, Twilight turned to look at her friends with a slightly worried expression. "Are you guys sure you don't mind I'm doing this? I know it came out late."

"We'll be fine darling," Rarity said with a knowing smirk. "Go have fun with your friends. It's not every day you get to have your birthday in another world."

"Yeah! And when you get back, we'll have another one!" Pinkie added excitedly, her grin growing wider every second.

Twilight chuckled before she looked at Spike. "Are you sure you don't want to come, Spike? I'm sure the girls won't mind."

Spike shook his head. "Nah. I'm done with going to other worlds if it's all the same to you. Plus me and the guys have some O&O to catch up on. Can't miss that."

Twilight rolled her eyes, while Rainbow and Pinkie looked rather excited at the thought. Ever since that first time, the two of them had tried to join Spike, Big Mac, and Discord, in the game. Not always, but enough.

And from what Spike had told her, the guys didn't seem to mind too much. It took them a while to explain it all to them, but they soon got it.

Sunset had finally written back several days before. Their friends were more than happy to help Twilight celebrate her birthday. Pinkie even had a party in the works for all of them.

Sci Twi had said she had something in mind that she hoped they could do together, but hadn't said what it was. No matter how hard the princess tried to get her to.

Twilight did have one question though, as she looked around for somepony in particular. "Has anyone seen Starlight? I haven't seen her all day. It's not like her."

The girls shook their heads. "No. I even asked Trixie, and she hadn't seen her either," Fluttershy replied with a worried voice. "I hope she's alright."

Spike didn't look too worried. "She'll show up eventually. Starlight can take care of herself, so I'm not too worried. Maybe she went to see Sunburst?"

Twilight shook her head. "Starlight would have told somepony if she was going to the Crystal Empire. Or even to go see Thorax or Maud. I'm not worried too much, but I don't like that she didn't tell us where she might be."

Applejack gave the mirror a look. "Ya don't think she went through here, do you?"

Twilight paused as she thought about that. Now that she thought of it, the Journal had felt like it had been used recently, and not by her either. And Spike had mentioned it had been hooked up to the mirror the day before. For no reason.

Twilight shook her head. "I hope not. I told her she's not ready for the Human World." She gave her friends a hopeful look. "You'll look out for her?"

Everyone nodded. "Knowing her, she probably just forgot to tell anypony where she was going," Rainbow scoffed.

Her friends nodded, and as Twilight turned and stepped through the mirror, she really hoped that was the case.

***

No matter how many times she did this, Twilight was still not used to the feeling of her body being twisted and changed like it was as she hurtled between worlds. She at least knew to brace for it.

As well as the sudden stop at the other end, as she was thrown unceremoniously out of the Wondercolt statue in front of Canterlot High. Unlike last time, however, Twilight felt herself fall onto something soft and comfortable that let out a small pomf! as she landed face-first on it.

"When did we get a mattress for the portal?" She asked in a muffled voice.

"It didn't seem very nice that people kept landing like they used to," came Fluttershy's voice as she helped Twilight to her feet. "It was Applejack's idea that we put one here. If we knew someone was coming."

Twilight smiled as she patted down her skirt, before pulling her friend into a hug, one Fluttershy was happy to return. "Thanks, Fluttershy. It's a lifesaver," she said, pulling apart after a moment, before looking around. "Where is everyone?"

Fluttershy shook her head. "Sunset has to work, Rainbow has soccer practice, Applejack had something happen at the farm, Pinkie and Rarity have something going on they didn't talk about. But it sounded important. We'll all meet up later."

Twilight nodded before she noticed someone was missing. "What about Sci Twi?"

Fluttershy twirled her hair as she looked away. "She hasn't come back from her college visit yet. She said she was on her way this morning, but that was it."

Twilight rubbed her forehead. It always messed her up, the time differences between this world and Equestria. She hoped everything was okay. But then she noticed Fluttershy seemed nervous. "What's wrong?"

Fluttershy looked at the portal. "Do you know if anyone else came through before you did?"

Twilight shook her head. "Not that I know of. Why?"

Fluttershy sighed. "Vice Principal Luna says she saw someone come through the portal yesterday afternoon, but she didn't see who it was. Sunset seems to know something though, but she won't talk about it."

Twilight pinched her nose. This was not what she needed to hear right now. Very few knew of the portal as it was in Equestria. None of her friends had used it, she knew. No one had broken in and tried to use it, as far as she and Spike could tell.

There was one possibility of who it might have been, but Twilight hoped she was wrong. She didn't think the mare was that deceitful anymore. She had proven it over and over.

But if it was her, then there would be Tartarus to pay.

Fluttershy seemed to guess her thoughts, for her expression became even more worried. "Do you know who it might have been?"

Twilight sighed. "Maybe. But I don't know for sure. I want to be wrong about this, but if I'm not. Then she is in very deep trouble, and she will be getting a stern lecture when we meet."

Her friend wanted to ask what the princess meant, but something told her that she was better off not knowing.

***

"... And so as of last week, I am now officially the Crystaller for Princess Flurry Heart. Me and Cadance are still working out how I'm going to able to get from Ponyville to the Crystal Empire. But I think we can figure something out," Twilight finished, taking a sip of her milkshake.

She and Fluttershy had retreated to the local Sugarcube Corner. With all their friends otherwise occupied for the moment, there wasn't much else they could do. And both girls were more than happy to have some quiet time.

Fluttershy looked worried as the princess finished her story. "That's so sad. After all he did. He sounds like a nice stallion."

Twilight nodded, smiling a little. "Starlight knows him far better than I do. But we've always gotten along and we have a lot in common. Sunburst isn't sure what he's going to do next. But Cadance and Shining say he will always have a place in the empire."

Fluttershy relaxed at that. "That's so nice of them. It's hard to believe Dean Cadance rules her own empire in another world."

Twilight giggled. "And I can't believe she's a teacher here. She was always so nice and helpful when I was a filly, so I guess it's not that surprising Cadance is helping like this here."

They both giggled at that, before falling silent for a time. Twilight was always happy for this kind of time with Fluttershy. Aside from being in a different world from Equestria, this was a lot like the times they spent together in Ponyville.

Time she wouldn't change for anything. Quiet time was a rare luxury it seemed recently, Twilight thought. Princess Celestia seemed to be giving her more and more princess responsibilities, Princess Luna had been spending more and more time with her, and now there was her role with Flurry Heart. Aside from being the Best Aunt Ever.

It all felt like it was building to something big in the future. And Twilight wasn't sure how she felt about that idea.

Fluttershy seemed to catch onto that something was eating the princess. "Is something wrong, Twilight?"

Twilight shook her head, brought out of her musing. "No. I'm just, thinking. So much has changed for me in the last few months. All for the better of course. I never thought I'd be like I am today. But I just know there's more to come."

"Is that a bad thing?" Fluttershy asked.

Twilight slumped as she took another sip of her milkshake. "I don't know. And that's what worries me. I know I can't control everything that goes on around me. But it drives me crazy sometimes."

Fluttershy looked worried for a moment. "Lesson Zero crazy?"

Twilight flinched. She hated that name. It reminded her of the lowest point in her life. How she got off with what she did, she would never understand. "How did you-?" She began.

Fluttershy twirled a strand of her pink hair. "Spike mentioned the whole thing before the Fall Formal. While we were cleaning up the gym."

Twilight pinched her nose. "Of course he did. And no, I'm not feeling that bad. I hope I never sink that low ever again." She hugged herself, her gaze falling. "That's a day I want to forget about. Can we talk about something else? Please?"

Fluttershy nodded, seeing how uncomfortable the conversation was becoming for the princess. Her eyes drifted to the necklace around Twilight's neck. "Um. So what else can the Pearl do? Sci Twi's told us all about how she can transform into literally anything she can think of, and that only an alicorn can use it."

Twilight nodded, brightening at the shift in topic. "That's really all we know about them. We can also transform someone else if we're touching in some way. But that person has to trust the one with the Pearl for the transformation to work."

Fluttershy nodded. "What happens if someone steals it?"

Twilight shrugged. "We don't know. Nopony's ever tried to steal it from either me, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, or Cadance. So we're not sure what, if any effect, it might have on another." She placed her hand over the necklace, feeling the smooth surface of the Pearl held in it. "Honestly, it feels weird when I take it off. Like it's a part of me. A part that I can't live without."

Not knowing why she did, but feeling it was right all the same, Twilight undid the clip that held the necklace around her neck. Smiling, she held out the Pearl to Fluttershy, who hesitantly took it in her own hands.

Fluttershy was surprised at how light the necklace was. With how Twilight had described it, she almost felt that she shouldn't have been able to hold it at all. Yet it was as light as a feather. She stroked the Pearl itself, feeling the smooth and unblemished surface with a smile. "It's so warm," she whispered.

Twilight nodded. "Most of the time, I don't even remember that I'm wearing it. It's hard to explain honestly."

Fluttershy held a moment more, but as much as she wanted to keep it longer, or not even give it back, she finally handed the necklace back to Twilight, who quickly redid the clips around her neck, before sliding the Pearl down under her shirt.

A buzzing sound from her pocket caused Fluttershy to jump slightly, before pulling out her phone. She smiled as she quickly read the text that was displayed. "That was Sci Twi. She and her family are almost home." She paused as a thought came to her. "Where are you staying? Not in the School Library I hope?"

Twilight shook her head. "I talked with her, and I'm staying with my family here. They just need to know where I am."

Fluttershy nodded, quickly typing out a message. A moment later, a reply came through. "Okay. They know where to pick you up, and should be here any minute." She blushed. "Past that is up to you."

Twilight blushed as well but didn't comment, instead focusing on her milkshake.

***

A few booths away, someone else was listening in on the conversation going on between the two. She hated spying on Twilight like this. But she was rather good at it. No matter how much she hated to admit it.

She had done it before and had never been caught.

Author's Note:

Just to be clear about Movie Magic in this universe. Juniper was 100% innocent of what happened in the special. Someone made it look like she did it, and a lot worse.

The Rainbooms were the only ones who believed her. Everything up to when the incidents started, stayed the same as the special. Past that is different.

Edit: For those wondering, I combined Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 together into one. Which is why Chapter 1 vanished as it has. Cover art done by AmpersandXYZ.

Comments

[Mpony1]

Lovin it already

[Mpony1]

I just wanna say, GOD I LOVE THAT COVER PICTURE

[Mystic Sunrise]

10323924
I know right? It screams romance, and was 99.999% responsible for this whole universe in the first place.

[Captain_Cosmos]

update?

[Mica]

A nightclub that caters to same sex couples.

Will this be in the next chapter...?

[Mystic Sunrise]

10410324
If not the next one, it will be a location in the story. This is one has hit a massive roadblock of writer's block though. So I don't know when that would be.

[Godzillaboy2021]

Are u gonna continue this story eventually? I wanna read what happens next, how far will Twilight's relationship blossom with her human counterpart

[Mystic Sunrise]

10447173
I will. Honestly, not sure what else I can do for the two that would advance their relationship they haven't already done. I refuse to write sex, so that won't be shown, even if it's mentioned in the future.

Marriage is the next big thing I can think of for the two. But that is way in the future. Both in universe and in writing.