Twilight and Sunset decide to give a relationship a shot, only to learn that the mirror has begun to mysteriously crack. Determined to stop it from falling apart, Sunset returns to Equestria to help. Will they succeed, or have to say goodbye to CHS?
[CURRENTLY BEING REWORKED DUE TO LOSS OF NOTES! SEE MY BLOG POST "Plans Moving Forward" FOR INFO!]
Twilight and Sunset are good friends. Some might even say they are the best of friends. Connected by a magic mirror, the two begin to experiment with the idea of being something more than friends.
However, this idea is made more complicated when said magic mirror begins to mysteriously crack, and if it keeps cracking, it will seal the gateway between the two worlds forever. In order to make sure that doesn't happen, Sunset returns to Equestria to help find a way to stop it. Will she and Twilight succeed, or will they have to say goodbye to their friends at Canterlot High forever? Will they make new friends along the way? All they know for sure is that they have to try.
SunLight, and potentially other ships.
Rating may change with future chapters. Updates may vary in frequency. Cover art by Zanies (Thanks a million, friend!)
“Stupid unpredictable weather,” Twilight Sparkle muttered quietly to herself as she stared the stormy visage outside the window. The city of Canterlot had been experiencing a massive snowstorm for the past three days, and it showed no signs of stopping. It was like someone had taken a metaphorical snowglobe, and kept shaking it non-stop, all so they could see how long it would take for the fake snow inside to settle. It was annoying.
So it was with a heavy sigh that Twilight couldn’t help but feel trapped inside by circumstance. She wasn’t used to weather just happening without warning, where she was from, there was a team of pegasi that determined when and how much it snowed during the winter months. Whenever she was curious about the weather, she merely had to ask Rainbow Dash or some other pegasi on the weather team. Sadly, that wasn’t the case here.
Looking out the window, she couldn’t help but be frustrated. Sure, she had planned to stay awhile, but that was two days ago. That was before the weather became so nasty that if she so much as tried to leave, she’d be blinded by the harsh winds more or less throwing natural snowballs at her face. She let out another annoyed sigh as she walked away from the window, taking a seat on the sofa in the center of the room.
Her plans for the week had been made nearly a month in advance via an exchange between herself and Sunset Shimmer. She had planned to celebrate the human equivalent of Hearth’s Warming (Christmas, if she recalled correctly) with her friends from Canterlot High, as it took place several days after it’s Equestrian counterpart.
She had agreed to it after Sunset had told her a little bit about human holidays and customs, which had piqued her interest when she had heard about the small differences. She wanted to experience both forms of the holidays back to back, and record her findings, which would help with her understanding of human culture. Christmas was the first Holiday she had chosen to experience, as she had just barely missed their celebration of Thanks-something.
The holiday had certainly been interesting to her, as it wasn’t based on the three tribes of ponies and wendigos. Instead, it was to celebrate the birth of a religious figure. According to Sunset though, it was more or less just a highly commercialized time of year. There was also something about a large man in red with a white beard, coming down chimneys and leaving gifts for good natured people. Quite frankly, Twilight thought that was a bit absurd, and she and Sunset came from a land of magic, which was virtually non-existent here.
She had intended to head back to Equestria on the day following the festivities, but “mother nature” had different plans, deciding to impede her desire to return home with a snowstorm. Instead of leaving, as she had planned initially, she was forced to stay until the storm died down at the very least. And much to her displeasure, that wasn’t happening anytime soon.
“Hey Twi, you want some tea or some cocoa?” Sunset’s voice questioned, pulling Twilight of her frustrated thoughts. Looking over to the doorway to the left of the sofa was her fellow Equestrian turned human, giving her a small smile as she approached her with a warm looking blanket.
“Sure, some cocoa sounds lovely, thank you,” Twilight replied with a smile, accepting the blanket that her friend had offered her. Wrapping herself loosely with the blanket, she watched as the other girl left the room. Sunset had been incredibly nice to let her stay with her while she was stranded by the evil weather. It wasn’t the biggest place she could have stayed, but it was the one she oddly felt the most comfortable with.
Sunset’s home was a simple apartment in a rather nice looking building. It was a nice, cozy place to live, and when the wind and snow wasn’t blocking it, had a fairly nice view of the cityscape. It was on the edge of the suburbs that housed Canterlot High, and was a short walk from said high school. At least, it would be if the weather was permitting.
She really needed to stop thinking of the weather this much.
Thankfully, she was able to do just that when her fiery haired friend came back through the doorway with two warm looking mugs and a small bag of mini-marshmallows. The smell was very distinctly chocolate, and boy did it smell good. She wasn’t normally one for cocoa, but she was definitely in the mood for something sweet to contrast with the sour feeling that the condition outside.
Seriously, she needed to stop thinking about the weather.
Sunset took a seat beside her, and passed her a mug.
“Thank you,” Twilight said, taking the mug that was held in front of her. Sunset simply nodded as she opened the bag of mini-marshmallows, plunking a few into her steaming hot chocolate.
She didn’t even so much as try to take some of the blanket that Twilight had wrapped around herself, despite it clearly being big enough for the two of them. It’s not like it was cold inside, but it’s not like it would have been weird for the two of them to share the blanket. Instead, Twilight watched Sunset take a small sip of her cocoa as she flipped on the television with the remote that just happened to be beside her on the couch.
The TV simply showed what appeared to be about girls that were apparently talking space rocks, and a boy that was half space rock, half human. Sunset had showed her the show a few days prior, and Twilight had to admit, it was pretty cute, and very entertaining. She couldn’t quite recall the name of the show, and didn’t really bother to try as she sipped at her warm beverage.
It wasn’t long before Twilight, out of a small pang of guilt, offered some of the blanket she had received earlier to Sunset. She had accepted it without a single ounce of hesitation, bringing herself closer to Twilight to maximize comfort. The two were only a few inches apart, as had been the norm when they wrapped themselves up in a blanket on the sofa. It was certainly warm, and while it wasn’t by any real stretch cold, it certainly was much more comfy than sitting without the blanket.
A half an hour passed in near silence as the two enjoyed each other’s company whilst watching the television. It was a comfortable silence that both seemingly appreciated, but for whatever reason, Twilight couldn’t help but feel like something was missing, or at the very least not right. For a while, she tried to dismiss it as simply feeling like it would be more natural if they were both in their true forms, as an alicorn and a unicorn respectively. After a while though, that didn’t quite feel right.
“When do you think the snow is gonna stop?” Sunset asked. Twilight’s attention immediately shifted to Sunset Shimmer’s face as she tried to silence her previous thoughts and think of an answer to her friend’s inquiry. The answer to her question didn’t really take long to leave her tongue.
“I’m not sure,” she said simply, sighing for a third time that evening. “I mean, it’s not like we can just ask one of the weather pegasi when the blizzard is going to end.”
“True... That is one thing I really miss about Equestria.”
“The fact that you have a more concrete idea of what the day’s weather is going to be?”
“Yeah, it makes making plans with friends a heck of alot easier,” Sunset said, putting her mug to her lips. “That, and they never have snowfalls last this long. Three days and counting is a bit too extreme for most weather ponies.”
The two shared a brief moment of laughter before returning to the familiar silence. Twilight had grown very accustomed to the lack of conversation, as it felt as though they had run out of conversation topics over the past couple of days. Between catching up on the goings on in each other’s lives, and the odd bit of harmless gossip, the two of them had simply just started to enjoy the other’s wordless company. Even still, Twilight wanted to converse, mostly so she could keep her mind off of the bitter thoughts about bitter weather.
“So Sunset, how are things with the girls at Crystal Prep?” Twilight asked, unsure as to what else she could ask. She feels like she might have asked about it at some point prior in her days cooped up in Sunset’s apartment because of mother nature’s cruel sense of humor.
“They’re doing fine, though I’m not exactly the best person to be asking. Sci-Twi is the one who hangs out with them the most,” Sunset responded, turning her attention to the Princess of Friendship. She did have a point, Twilight’s human counterpart was the one who knew them the best, given her status as a former classmate of the five girls. “They’re dealing with human me right now, actually.”
“Human you? Huh...”
“Yeah, I mean, I should have expected her to show up at some point. Especially considering your human counterpart popping up reminded me that this is a parallel world,” Sunset laughed. “I guess it should come as no surprised that she’s a total brat. Not unlike how I was a little while ago.”
“Think we should blast her with a magical rainbow beam?” Twilight joked, lightly elbowing her friend in the side. “It seemed to work wonders for you.”
“Haha, yeah, but I was a raging she-demon when I was hit, so who knows if it’d work on her.”
“True, but it could be fun to try.”
“When did you become the princess of laser light shows?” Sunset laughed. Twilight was quick to laugh at her new joke title. “Lemme guess, it was some time between shooting Tirek in the face with alicorn magic, and the giant alicorn of rock?”
“You know me too well, Sunset,” Twilight giggled. “In all seriousness, maybe I should confront her or something? I was able to get through to you, and you were likely a lot worse than some bratty teen.”
“I don’t know. I mean, I was pretty bad, and until I put the Element of Magic on my head, I was also just a bratty teen.”
“I guess that’s true,” Twilight chuckled halfheartedly. “I’m sure she’ll come around eventually. Let’s hope she doesn’t happen to stumble across any Equestrian magic anytime soon.”
“Yeah, who knows what she would do with that kind of power,” Sunset said, shuddering at the thought of her bratty doppleganger getting her hands on something akin to an Element of Harmony.
“Haha, well it can’t be much worse than an army of brainwashed teenagers.”
Sunset just laughed. And then the silence returned, if only for a few moments.
“So Twilight, have you gotten around to asking out your world’s Flash Sentry?” Sunset asked, bringing up a name that would often come up when Rarity was around. Twilight’s expression shifted to a disappointed smile.
“Yeah, I did. We went on a date, and it really didn’t work out,” she said. Her reply was soon followed by the fourth sigh of the evening to leave Ms. Sparkle’s lips. “He was sweet, but there wasn’t really much to him outside of that.”
“I know what you mean, the Flash in this world is a great guy, but he seems kind of... plain?” Sunset said, earning a nod from her best friend. “I mean, I wasn’t dating him because I actually liked him, but we went on enough dates for me to figure that out about him.”
“I remember when I told the girls about the date. Rarity was blown away by me saying that I wasn’t up for a second one. She said I was crazy for letting a catch like him go,” Twilight said, chuckling at the memory of Rarity’s flabbergasted expression. It was certainly an amusing memory.
“I’m sure this world’s Rarity would have a similar reaction, given how she reacted when I told her I wasn’t really interested in any guys here.”
“Let me guess, she tried to set you up with a stalli-I mean guy, that she felt was ‘a perfect match for you darling?’” Twilight asked, doing her best Rarity impression, earning a bit of laughter from Sunset. She wasn’t sure if Sunset was laughing more at the slip up, or at the impression, but she didn’t really mind. Her laugh was nice, regardless of the reason.
“Oh yeah, she’s done that quite a few times, especially since the Friendship Games. Apparently she met a nice guy from Crystal Prep, and ever since then, she’s been trying to ‘improve the love lives of her dear friends,’” Sunset replied, doing her own impression of their mutual friend. Twilight, like Sunset not a minute prior, couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s nice, but I kinda wish she didn’t bother.”
“She means well, but yeah, it’s a tad frustrating at times.”
“Yeah... besides, I’m not really into guys, though I’d rather not tell Rarity that,” Sunset sighed. The statement didn’t surprise Twilight in the slightest. Most fillies back home played for both teams, which was due to a larger female population. That was another difference between the two worlds she had found interesting: there was a better balance of males to females when compared to the land of talking ponies. “Not to mention there’s still a slight stigma against that kinda thing here.”
“There is? What’s wrong with being a fillyfooler... or whatever this world calls them?”
“Nothing’s ‘wrong with it.’ Heck, most people here are okay with it,” Sunset said, shrugging. “It’s still not nearly as widely accepted as it is back in Equestria though. I think it’s because of the whole ‘Catholicism’ thing.”
“So it’s some kind of spiritual thing?”
“I think so? I could never really follow any of that stuff,” Sunset shrugged. “Either way, it’s not really anyone’s business whether or not I’m a lesbian or whatever.”
“Yeah, that’s true. I mean, it’s not like there is anything actually wrong with it.”
“What about you?” Sunset asked, earning a confused look from her guest. “I mean, do you like girls at all?”
“I’ve never really thought about it. My personal preferences in romance and sexuality aren’t things I tend to worry about much,” Twilight said with a shrug. She wasn’t really the type to get hung up on her own love life. She was perfectly content with her current quality of life, and was in no hurry to find love. Or anything of the sort for that matter. “I’m not opposed to it I guess? I’m just going to wait and see what happens.”
“I can respect that,” Sunset said with a smile. “I’m in no hurry to find my special somepony either.”
And then the earlier silence returned. Twilight’s mind lingered on the conversation, as she had nothing better to think about. That, and it was certainly better than the prickly thoughts of the current state of the world outside the apartment that had occupied her thoughts for the majority of the day.
Her brief relationship with Flash wasn’t really one that had been rewarding. Immediately following the date, she had figured it was because she had expected too much of the pegasus counterpart to the boy she had met in here. However, after the recent visit after the conclusion of the Friendship Games, she found that she wasn’t as drawn to the guitar playing teen as she had once thought. Was it because she knew his pony counterpart better? She couldn’t really say for sure.
The question of whether or not she was into fillies was an interesting thing to consider. She hadn’t really experienced any sort of attraction towards anyone but Flash, and that attraction ended as soon as her date with him had ended. Was it because she never really tried to find something in anyone other than friendship? Perhaps she’d have to pay a visit to her sister-in-law, since she was kind of the Princess of Love. If there was anypony who would be able to help her with the subject of love, it was Cadance.
Of course, she was open to entertaining the idea that she could be interested in fillies, and by extension, girls. This called for a test of some kind, and who better to test this possibility with then Sunset Shimmer?
“Hey Sunset?” she spoke, albeit quietly. than she had intended.
“Hmmm?” Sunset hummed, acknowledging that she had heard Twilight’s quiet call for her attention. “What’s up?
“I was wondering if... umm...” Twilight began, her words getting caught in her throat. She inwardly cursed the fact that this was an incredibly weird thing to ask. It seemed so much simpler in her head. “Would you be okay with... snuggling? With me I mean?”
The question had very clearly caught Sunset off guard, as her present slackjaw expression had made evident. Twilight watched as Sunset’s face lit up like her namesake, and she found her flustered expression extremely adorable. She could feel her own face heat up at the mere thought that she found Sunset adorable.
“Wha-What? Where’s this c-coming from?” Sunset asked, clearly incredibly confused. “I mean, s-sure, I don’t mind... but... why?”
“I’m just... y-you know... c-curious I guess?”
“Curious? A-about what? What it’s l-like to snuggle?” Sunset asked, earning a nod from Twilight.
“S-sorta? I’ve snuggled with a guy b-before... so...”
“You want to know what it’s like to snuggle... with a girl?” Sunset asked, once again earning a nod from her royal friend. “Well I... sure! I’d be happy to show you!”
Sunset sounded a little too excited at the idea in the end, but Twilight didn't mind. Sunset was into girls, and the two of them were incredibly close, so it only made sense in her mind.
Silently, the two of them brought themselves closer to one another, until they were touching. Twilight watched as Sunset moved one of her arms over her shoulders, pulling the two of them ever closer. Adjusting the blanket to be more snug around them, Sunset leaned her head onto Twilight’s, and sighed in a content manner. Twilight smiled, finding the sound cuter than she had when Flash had done effectively the same thing when they had went to see a play during their first and only date.
Nuzzling up against Sunset, she let out her own sound of content. This was nice, nicer than she had thought it would be. Sunset was as warm and welcoming as the blanket they were both wrapped in. The two of them continued to watch the television, not even bothering to drink what little was left of the cocoa in their mugs, until Twilight pointed out it’d be a waste to just leave the warm beverages left unfinished. They had cooled considerably, but were still just warm enough to enjoy.
“This is nice,” Twilight said softly.
“Yeah. It is.”
Before long, Twilight heard the quiet sounds of Sunset’s calm breathing slow down. Glancing up as best she could, she found her friend to be asleep, lying against her. It was rather late, so she couldn’t blame her friend for falling asleep like she did. Yawning, she cuddled up closer to Sunset and closed her eyes. It wasn’t long before she herself had fallen asleep.
The weather outside might have been a furious blizzard, but no matter how much mother nature shook the snow globe they were in, they were both warm, and they shared a similar smile as they slept on the couch.
And as they slept, the weather slowly began to die down.
It was a little bit after one thirty in the morning when Sunset began to stir. As her eyes cracked open, she began to attempt to sit up, but found she was already more or less upright. Confused, she surveyed her surroundings, only for her to find that she had fallen asleep watching TV. She was used to doing this, though that was usually after a weekend Netflix marathon. Her right hand began combing the surface of the couch in search of the remote, so she could turn off the dimly glowing box. She tried to do the same thing with her left arm, but found that it was somewhat numb, and elevated slightly.
Attempting to move her head to investigate, she let out a quiet, pained hiss. Her neck had a small crick in it, and while it wasn’t the worst feeling pain, it was still enough to limit her head’s movement. Opening her mouth to groan, she was immediately met with an alien texture. Stopping her search for the remote, she brought her hand to her mouth to remove whatever it was.
Moments later, her still tired brain had been able to figure out that hair had fallen into her mouth, which was not at all uncommon for a person with long hair. Pulling the hair out of her mouth with zero regard as to how hard she had pulled it, she was met with a quiet sound of discomfort. And it wasn’t coming from her mouth.
Whatever fatigue was still in her system feld, her brain now alerted to the fact that she was not alone on the couch. This was made especially apparent when she had finally taken notice to the odd weight that was on her left side. Her body jerked away from the weight slightly, only for the source of the weight to groan. Ignoring the dull pain in her neck, Sunset looked at said source of the foreign weight, only to see the slowly awakening form of Twilight Sparkle.
Memories of a few hours prior made themselves known as she quickly recalled the Princess of Friendship having asked to snuggle. Her face began to slowly burn with newfound embarrassment, realizing that she had fallen asleep on Twilight when they were cuddled up together. She had made a royal pony princess into a human pillow. Although... it was probably the most relaxed Sunset had felt in years, which was nice... even if she felt a little guilty for falling asleep on her.
“Never thought I’d ever be that close to Princess Twilight...” she thought to herself as she watched the now awake Twilight rub her eyes free of sleep. The way she moved her arms was, quite frankly, incredibly cute, and Sunset couldn’t help but smile a little. Her embarrassment had all but evaporated by the time Twilight’s tired eyes met here. “God... why is she so damn adorable with that tired look on her face?”
“Mmm... what time is it?” Twilight asked with a small yawn.
“Almost a quarter after one in the morning. We fell asleep watching TV,” Sunset replied, as she stretched her arms, waking up her numb left arm. Sadly, this was met with her arm feeling like the static on a signal-less channel. “Aagh... stupid pins and needles feeling.”
“What?” Twilight asked, confused as she did a quick stretch herself. “Pins and needles?”
“You know, the feeling you get when your nerves wake up and your arm feels like it’s covered in little pin pricks?”
“Oh, yeah, that.” Twilight said, nodding to show she understood. “That feeling is the worst when you’re just waking u-wait it’s one in the morning!?”
“A little slow on the uptake when you’re waking up, huh princess?” Sunset laughed, earning herself an annoyed look from her best friend. She had found the way that Twilight’s nose scrunched up when she was bothered by something to be, much like her tired expression, incredibly adorable. She began to wonder if Twilight was just made that way. “Yeah, we fell asleep at like... eight-o-clock? It’s probably a good thing we did, since sleeping the way we were isn’t exactly good for you.”
“I guess... but now I’m awake...” Twilight groaned, which was followed by another groan. This time, however, the source of the groan was her stomach. Her face instantly flushed as she smiled awkwardly. “And I guess I’m hungry too...”
“You and me both,” Sunset laughed. “I’d say we could order something, but I’m pretty sure all of the take-out places are closed because of the time... not to mention the weather.”
Rolling her eyes, Twilight looked out the window. Surprisingly enough, it seemed the weather had finally decided to let up a little, though it was still pretty rough looking. Perhaps it would clear up more by dawn? Either way, that was the least of her concerns at the moment, as she had grumbling stomach to attend to. She stood up, turning to face Sunset.
“You want to think of what we’ll eat while I take a quick trip to the little princesses room?”
“Alright,” Sunset nodded, watching her friend leave the room to relieve herself. Rising from the couch herself, she walked around the little island that separated the living room and the kitchen, and opened the fridge. She was reminded of the time she had something of a midnight snack at Pinkies. She had never eaten that much whipped cream on it’s own in her life, and she wasn’t in a hurry to do so again. Thankfully, her refrigerator was filled with more than just canned cream.
Grabbing a bottle of orange juice (from concentrate), Sunset shut the fridge. Applejack had given her such a dirty look when she, along with the others, had visited Sunset’s apartment. Being a part of the Apple family, it was to be expected that she’d want her friend to drink from her family’s farm, but Sunset was always more of an orange juice kind of person. Taking a pair of glasses from the nearby cupboard, she swiftly poured herself and Twilight a glass. She took a quick sip of her glass before she went into her other cupboards, looking for the pair’s late night snack.
Settling on some chips, she pulled out two large bags of Sunchips, ironically enough. Pinkie Pie had been the one to introduce her to Sunchips, mostly as a joke, but Sunset ended up loving the taste of them. Ripping open a bag, she began eating her snack as Twilight returned from the restroom.
“Sunchips?” Twilight asked, giggling a little. “I wonder what Princess Celestia would say if she found out you like the taste of the sun.”
“Haha, she’d probably offer to send me to the sun, so I could get a fresh taste,” Sunset laughed. Thinking back, her mentor certainly did have a ‘trollish’ sense of humor. Every time she saw the pranks played by internet trolls, she couldn’t help but wonder if one of them was the Princess of the Sun. “Or she would banish me there for defiling the name of her sun.”
“You could just say that you have the word sun in your name as your defence,” Twilight joked.
“Yeah, but seeing as I’m likely a disappointment in her eyes, I doubt that’d mean much.”
“She’s already forgiven you, Sunset. You know that,” Twilight said, offering her friend a small smile. Sunset smiled back, though it was clear that she didn’t really believe it. “She wants you to come visit sometime soon. She says she misses you.”
“I know, I’ll think about it.”
There was an awkward silence between the two of them, before Twilight decided to say something.
“You know, I have to wonder if Sunny Flare drinks ‘Sunny D.’”
“She probably does. That or one of her friends has some on hand to joke about having ‘Sunny’s D’ or something,” Sunset chuckled. “The people here have a weird sense of humor sometimes.”
“Yeah, you don’t really see those kinds of jokes back in Equestria. I wonder why?” Twilight asked, despite knowing that neither of them had an answer to that question. She knew that it was likely due to the differences in the social side of their two world’s cultures. “Maybe we should look into that? It could be fun.”
“Maybe...” Sunset replied, taking a sip from her glass. “It’s not the most conventional topic, though I’m sure it’d be interesting.”
“Yeah...” Twilight said, biting into a chip. The conversation petered out once again from there, though it wasn’t long before Sunset had a new topic, resulting in her face lighting up.
“So uh... did you like... um... cuddling with me earlier?” she asked, before quickly trying to hide her embarrassment with a small handful of chips. Having unintentionally avoided the topic until now, Sunset felt incredibly stupid for getting flustered. Still, it was better late than never. “I mean... uh... I obviously liked it... So I wanted to know if... you know...?”
Twilight’s expression shifted to one of slight embarrassment as she recalled the events from earlier in the evening. She looked into Sunset’s eyes, seeing something of a hopeful shine in them. She thought it was obvious how she felt about the whole situation, though she figured that Sunset thought it was worth clarifying.
“Yeah... I mean, I enjoyed it,” Twilight began. She felt herself begin to fidget a little as Sunset watched her. “I said as much earlier... didn’t I?”
“Oh yeah... I must’ve been more tired than I first thought, haha,” she commented, rubbing the back of her neck nervously. She couldn’t help but think she was too relaxed earlier, forgetting a simple thing like that wasn’t like her. “You want to do it again? With a movie?”
Sunset’s heart was pounding against her chest. She had basically just asked her best friend out on a date; the best friend that had no idea how she felt about the idea of going out with a girl. Her mind was quickly trying to find a way to justify the question. Twilight was, after all, a creature of logic. A very pretty creature of logic.
“Like a...” Twilight started, before an audible, nervous gulp could be heard coming from her direction. Sunset could only imagine how dry Twilight’s throat felt at the question, as she was currently trying hydrate her own. As if taking a cue from her, Twilight gulped down the remainder of the orange juice in her glass before getting continuing. “L-Like... a d-date!?”
Silently cursing the way her voice climbed in volume as she finished speaking. She averted her attention to the surface of the kitchen island.
“Way to sound like a nervous wreck. Twilight!” her brain all but screamed. She quickly peaked at Sunset. Her eyes were looking at her glass of juice, nervously darting to meet her own gaze for a fraction of a second. Noticing that Twilight was looking at her, she quickly turned her head. “Looks like we were both frazzled by her question... that’s good... I think.”
“Yeah, why not try? I mean, you asked me to cuddle to see what that would be like... so why not try and see what it’s like to go on a date with a girl?” Sunset answered nervously. She could feel Twilight’s gazing daggers into her ear as she spoke, between the throbbing sounds of her heart pounding against her eardrums.
“That... makes... sense.... S-Sure, okay!” Twilight spoke, her mind satisfied by Sunset’s logic. It was the next logical course of action after all. A date, to see if Twilight could get into the idea of dating a fellow girl. She’d enjoyed cuddling, and while it was a huge step, it was still worth looking into... right? “Do you... you know, have a d-day in mind?”
“Wait... seriously? Y-You’re okay with this?” Sunset said, stammering slightly, her jaw nearly touching the floor. “I mean, it’s a huge step up from snuggling...”
“I know... but it’s the next logical course of action, r-right?” Twilight asked.
“I don’t know? I’ve never really... been in this position, I guess?”
“Neither have I, Sunset!” she yelped. Sunset visibly jumped a bit in place, leading her to feel bad for basically yelling at her friend. With a sigh, she continued speaking, careful to keep her voice low. “I’ve never really... you know...”
“I haven’t really either honestly,” Sunset confessed, earning an odd look from Twilight. “What? I may like girls, but that doesn’t mean that I’m constantly thinking of them. Besides, I’ve been busy trying to explain how magic works to a person who up until recently thought that was all illogical ‘hocus pocus.’”
“What does Hocus Pocus have to with anything exactly? Isn’t he one of pioneering scientists of Equestrian magic?”
“It’s a turn of phrase here. Apparently he was a huge fraud of a magician here a long time ago,” Sunset replied with a shrug. When she had first found out that the great unicorn Hocus Pocus was nothing but a laughing stock in this world, she didn’t know whether to be sad or laugh her flank off.
“So... a-anyway...” With the momentary distraction having run it’s course, the Twilight decided to bring it back to awkwardsville.
“Maybe we should try something else before a date?” Sunset suggested.
“Like what?” Twilight asked. What could they do that wasn’t as big a step as a date? She had next to no idea how this kind of thing worked, so she just looked at Sunset with a confused expression.
“We could... I don’t know...” Sunset stuttered, swallowing what little saliva was left in her dry mouth. Her heart was still slamming itself against her ribcage, and she silently hoped it’d break through the bones in her chest to spare her the embarrassment. “... kiss... I don’t know?”
Twilight clearly wasn’t expecting to hear that from her. Hell, Sunset can barely expected to say it herself. After saying it though, she felt a bit better. It was like the words had been stuck in her throat for a good while. Like she had kept herself from saying them, almost as if she was saving them for this very moment.
No, thinking things like that would line her up for disappointment. Experience had taught her that.
“Y-You can’t be serious!” Twilight yelled. She had expected the purple pony-turned human to have this kind of reaction the moment the words left her lips. Still, her ears couldn’t help but hate her for setting up this scenario. “Isn’t that s-something couples do d-during or a-after a date? That s-seems like an even b-bigger step than a date!”
“Yeah, you’re right... sorry, I don’t even know where that suggestion came from,” Sunset apologized, rubbing her arm awkwardly. “Maybe I’m just desperate or something... Or I’ve had feelings for Twilight this whole time...”
That’s when it hit her, and it hit her hard. She liked Twilight. A lot.
Looking back, I should have been obvious to her. She’s had her eyes on Twilight since her little encounter with her back when she was a power hungry villain. She had this sort of... charm, and it had caught her eye. She hadn’t noticed at all though, since at the time, she was keeping an eye on her to make sure she didn’t get in her way. She did, obviously, otherwise, they wouldn’t be where they are right now.
Or was it when they had that heart to heart in Pinkie Pie’s kitchen? When they had both felt pressured by the situation with the Dazzlings in their own ways, and they felt like they were going to let everyone down. She certainly felt like that would have been as good a time as any to start feeling something for the Princess.
But then why didn’t she feel anything for the human Twilight other than something of a kinship? She had spent over all more time with the girl she had come to know as “Sci-Twi” than she has with the pony princess. Heck, there wasn’t even the lingering stigma that she was Celestia’s replacement for her, as this Twilight hadn’t met Celestia until the Friendship Games. So why wasn’t she drawn to the doppleganger of the bearer of the Element of Magic?
It was a dumb question, as she already knew the answer: She wasn’t the same Twilight.
Deciding to think more on this later, Sunset looked at the princess, and felt her heart begin to race again. She needed to tell her... at least, she felt she should.
“T-Twilight?” Sunset called out to her friend. Twilight’s eyes met hers, a small blush outlining the bottom of them. Sunset, for the upteenth time that evening, felt her own face match heat that Twilight likely felt in her own tears.
“Y-Yeah?”
“I don’t want to make you... uncomfortable by saying this... but...” Sunset spoke, before trailing off, the words not wanting to leave her vocal cords at any audible level. Twilight merely looked at her, waiting for her friend to finish her thought with cheeks tinted red by a blush. She was adorable. She was cute. Faust, she was just so... “... but I’ve... k-kinda... you know... liked you... for... uh... for a w-while...”
Twilight’s face lit up brighter than she had ever seen it go. The redness on her face, if viewed out of context, likely would have looked similar to that of a mild fever. However, Sunset knew exactly why her face was beet red. It was kind of hard to process, Sunset was sure. It was still hard for even her to process. She had no idea where the confession came from, but looking at her best friend’s tomato of a face, she couldn’t help but not care.
“H-How long have y-you-”
“-Felt that way? I don’t know.” Sunset spoke, with a new found confidence. “I honestly don’t know when I started wanting to. All I know is that it just... I don’t know... hit me? I can’t say when it hit me for sure... but since it did... I couldn’t not tell you... y’know?”
“Oh...”
“I-Is that bad?”
“N-No... it’s just...”
“Surprising?”
“Y-Yeah...” Twilight said, looking down, likely unsure of herself. Sunset reached across the small counter top, placing her hand on top of Twilight’s. She knew what she just did could have countless repercussions on their friendship, but it’s too late to stop that from happening if it was going to. “Hey, S-Sunset?”
“Yeah?” she spoke, acknowledging the nervous girl.
“I... I don’t know if I can... return those feelings... at least right now,” Twilight said, looking up at the her. Her eyes were soft, and they shimmered with warm intention. “I’m not sure I even like fillies... girls... you know what I mean.”
“Mhmm, I know.”
“But that being said...” Twilight paused, taking a deep breath. “I’m willing to try and see if I can.”
“You are?” Sunset all but gasped. “You don’t have to. I mean, it’s not like you should feel obligated to give me a chance, especially when you are unsure of yourself. And-”
“Sunset.”
Sunset stopped her rambling, her eyes once again focused on the girl in front of her.
“I’m willing to try because I won’t be able figure anything out by not trying,” Twilight concluded, smiling brightly at the girl. “That doesn’t mean we’re going to do anything like kiss. Not yet anyway.”
“Y-Yeah, I kinda figured t-that’d be the case. Sorry for suggesting it earlier...” Sunset said, offering her own sad smile. She felt incredibly stupid for dropping the “k” word the way she did earlier. Hindsight is kind of a bitch in that regard.
“Don’t be,” the dark haired girl said, shaking her head. “You’ve probably been wanting to for a long time, so it was bound to come out eventually. Besides...”
She paused, adjusting her hand under Sunset’s to a position where it could hold it instead.
“You saying you want to kiss me is basically like telling me that you want to try giving ‘us’ a chance... and like I said earlier, I wanna try too.”
Sunset’s eyes widened.
“Us?” she asked, confused. “What do you mean?”
“Well... uh... earlier, before our little nap... I...” Twilight stammered. Clearing her throat nervously, she continued. “I thought about asking you to come back to Equestria with me for a few days... maybe introduce you to my friends over there... and spend a bit of time together in my castle’s library...”
Sunset couldn’t help but giggle at how Twilight fidgeted in place, the fingers of her hands drumming nervously on Sunset’s hand. Tightening her grip on Twilight’s hand, she smiled.
“I’d like that. It sounds like it could be fun.”
Twilight returned her smile, with Sunset noticing her friend’s grip grow stronger to match her own.
“We should probably get some more sleep before anything else,” Sunset chuckled. “Can’t do any of that stuff when we’re sleep deprived, right?”
Sunset’s prediction the night prior, for the most part, was correct. The weather that had been completely miserable yesterday, was actually kind of agreeable that morning. While it still wasn’t optimal, it was manageable. Twilight could very easily make it back to the portal in a short drive. However, despite the improvement in the weather, driving was out of the question for a multitude of reasons.
Well, it really just came down to two reasons.
The first reason was rather simple: Sunset didn’t want to drive her motorcycle in the current weather. Besides the fact that it was still incredibly cold, she had reasoned that the roads wouldn’t be completely free of snow. That, and she didn’t want to run the risk of being blinded by the snow. Twilight could accept that reasoning, as it was very much a “safety first” situation. Besides, she wasn’t entire comfortable riding the motorcycle yet.
She remembered the first time she had joined Sunset on the motorized bike. She hadn’t been that scared since the early days of learning to fly, and she had no desire to experience that kind of fear again any time soon. While she had slowly but surely gotten used to it back in the summer, she could easily see the safety concerns of driving it in the snow. When she had arrived for Christmas, Sunset and her had taken the bus. She thanked the fact that she had gotten used to flying, otherwise she was sure she’d have motion sickness.
The second reason to not drive to the portal was also quite simple: Twilight was not going through the portal alone this time. Sunset had agreed to come with her for a short visit, and they didn’t know how long that visit would be. The fiery haired girl made it abundantly clear that even if she was up to driving, she was not up to the idea of leaving her motorcycle unsupervised parked at the school for longer than she had to. Twilight could see the valid concern in that. After all, it’d be very easily to walk away with the bike, even without the keys.
So here they were, sitting at the kitchen island like they had the night prior, enjoying a simple breakfast and making plans for the day ahead of them. Twilight had opted to eat a bowl of a cereal she ended up loving during her various visits to the human realm: Honey Bunches of Oats. It reminded her of home, and she was glad Sunset also liked it, as it gave her easy access to it. It was addictingly sweet, especially with milk.
“You think we can stop by a store to pick up a few boxes of this cereal?” Twilight asked between spoonfuls. Sunset simply snickered at her friend’s apparent addiction to the simple breakfast cereal. “They don’t make this back in Equestria, despite how easy it sounds.”
“Sure, we can satisfy your addiction to human cereal. There’s a small grocery store that’s not to far from here,” the fiery haired girl replied with a chuckle. “I seriously can’t believe they haven’t started selling this stuff in Equestria. Hey, maybe we can start a business making it? I’m sure the people of Equestria would love to buy anything with your seal of approval on it, princess.”
Twilight’s face flushed at the mention of her royal status. She had a point, Twilight’s mere mention of liking something had proven to be a strong marketing tactic, as one Sassy Saddles had proved to her and her friends.
“I don’t know how I feel about using my name to sell something. Again.”
“It’s happened before?”
“Yep. I’m sure Rarity would be more than willing to tell that story. It’s more her story to tell, despite my involvement,” Twilight said, finishing her bowl of food. “I know my word can really affect sales, but it’s for shallow reasons. That kind of stuff doesn’t really sit well with me.”
“That’s understandable. I would have probably loved the influence I’d have over people if I still cared about being an alicorn princess,” Sunset said, carrying their two empty bowls to the dishwasher. “I mean, being an alicorn would be awesome, but I don’t really feel like I’ve... earned it, I guess.”
Twilight smiled, happy to see that the once power hungry unicorn turned human had changed so much in the course of a year and some change. When she had first met Sunset, she was a rude, self absorbed jerk, and she had come a long way since those days. All it took was a magical rainbow laser, and a few friends.
“Oh, speaking of which, are you going to tell Celestia that I’m visiting?” Sunset asked.
“I wasn’t planning on it. I figured you’d want a bit of time to adjust to being back in Equestria a bit before I told her you were back,” Twilight replied. Sunset seemed to breathe a sigh of relief with this news as she sent a thankful smile Twilight’s way. “Maybe you and her can talk during a future visit? Like, visit three or four.”
“Have I ever told you I love how considerate you are?” Sunset asked, approaching her friend. Technically, they were more than friends now, but by how much had yet to be seen. Still, the comment had Twilight’s cheeks heat up with embarrassment. “It’s one of your more loveable traits.”
“What else do you find endearing?” Twilight asked, intrigued by Sunset’s way of wording the compliment. She was glad that the apparent crush Sunset had on her was for more than just one aspect. Afterall, she had learned the hard way that putting someone on a pedestal of any kind based on a single attribute was just setting one’s self up for disappointment. She had, after all, watched Rainbow Dash learn that lesson countless times.
“I’ll tell you later,” Sunset said, smiling coyly at the young princess. As she talked, she began heading towards her room to gather some things for her trip beyond the mirror. “As much as I would love to shower you with compliments, we have a bus to catch in about 20 minutes.”
Frowning for but a moment, Twilight nodded her head, and began headed to the bathroom to brush her teeth. As much as she loved the honey covered cereal, it was filled with sugar, and that lead to cavities, which meant a trip to the dentist. And if there is one place in all of the multiverse Twilight didn’t enjoy spending much time, it was the dentist office. On the short list of things she didn’t much care for, dentist offices were in the top five, right under quesadillas.
Spitting into the sink and turning off the sink, she gathered her things, and brought them out into the main room. It didn’t take long for her to pack her aforementioned things, and it took her even less time to bundle up in the winter jacket that, thankfully, came through the portal with her. She was happy that Rarity’s hard work hadn’t gone to waste via the process of her shapeshifting in between worlds. Wrapping a scarf around her neck and slipping on her boots, she was ready to head out.
“Will we still be able to run into the store?” Twilight asked, watching her friend bundle herself up. “We’re running short on time as is.”
“We should be fine, if we hurry. The bus is usually a few minutes late, especially when it snows,” Sunset replied, slipping her arms through the loops of her backpack. “I texted the girls to let them know where I’m going. Hopefully I don’t held up by something like crazy weather.”
“That won’t happen, unless you consider getting lost in a good book or something like that ‘held up.’” Twilight giggled. “Do you want to give one of them the journal, so they can contact you in case of an emergency?”
“Nah, I doubt anything major will happen in the next couple of days,” Sunset replied, shaking her head. “It’s not like anything huge has happened since the Friendship Games. You know, unless you call my human counterpart showing up ‘major.’”
Chuckling, Twilight opened the front door of the apartment, holding the door open as the two of them made their way into the hall. Sunset took a minute to lock the door, before putting her keys into her backpack. The last thing she needed was a magic portal to steal the keys from her pocket.
Sunset lived on the floor just below the top floor. It was a rather new building, and seemed a bit out of the price range of a teenage girl. Thankfully, Sunset had managed to bring a small bag of Bits with her through the portal, and the gold exchange rates at the time she came through made living alone extremely easy. She had told Twilight that the bank was quick to give her money at the sight of the gold, and she never really bothered to question it.
Entering the elevator, the two of them made small talk.
“So, I know you’ve told your friends about me, right?”
“Yeah, they’ve asked a bunch of questions about you and the other girls ever since the first time I went through the mirror,” Twilight replied. Her friends had been incredibly quick to ask a number of questions about the human world, as they had never been allowed to follow her in the past. She wished she could bring them through on one of her many trips, but knew it would be way too confusing. “Although, back then, they were more concerned with me meeting Flash.”
“That makes sense. I mean, it’s not everyday you find out a princess has a crush on someone,” Sunset chuckled. “I can totally picture Rarity grilling you for details, only for you to not tell her anything.”
“Oh, I told her about Flash. Mostly because she wouldn’t stop asking,” Twilight giggled. Many a day had been spent with Rarity not so casually trying to get answers about the male that had caught the attention of the former unicorn’s heart. “You know how she is.”
“Yeah. You should have seen her when she found out Rainbow Dash had been spending a bit of time with Soarin after soccer practice.”
“Not so subtly bringing Soarin up in daily conversation, progressively getting more aggressive with her quest for answers?” Twilight asked, a small smirk on her face.
“You know it,” Sunset laughed. “I’ve never seen Rainbow get that annoyed in a while. It was almost like she was channeling her inner Sour Sweet whenever Soarin’s name left Rarity’s mouth.”
“Obnoxiously nice sounding, or incredibly harsh and sarcastic?”
“A bit of both. Sometimes it was like Sour Sweet was in the room with us,” Sunset replied. Twilight had met Sour Sweet briefly, as she and Fluttershy were hanging out every so often. Apparently they got along extremely well, surprisingly enough. Sour Sweet, much to everyone’s surprise, was extremely good with animals, which lead to her helping out at the animal shelter Fluttershy worked at from time to time. “Actually, there was one day where Sour Sweet was over at Fluttershy’s when Rarity had mentioned Soarin. Her reaction to Rainbow’s attitude was hilarious.”
“Seems like she spends a lot of time with you girls.”
“Yeah, she’s the one ‘Shadowbolt’ that I’m around the most. Other than her, they’re more a part of Sci-Twi’s circle of friends.”
“I still feel weird hearing the other me’s nickname... or her name at all,” Twilight said, rubbing the back of her neck. “It’s weird being called ‘Princess’ by myself too...”
“Yeah, I can only imagine,” Sunset spoke, holding open the apartment building’s front door for Twilight.
“Thank you,” she replied, smiling at Sunset warmly. “Have you met your human counterpart yet?”
“Nope, I’m steering clear of that awkward moment for as long as possible.”
“No fair,” the Princess of Friendship said, blowing a raspberry at her friend as she walked out the door. She was soon met with a gust of wind, and the snow that had been riding said gust. Her eyes involuntarily shut, the cold air biting at them like a pack of chilly timberwolves. “Ugh, I should’ve borrowed a pair of goggles from Rainbow Dash before I left.”
“Yeah, goggles would be awesome right now.”
The two friends began walking, not enjoying their walk in the least. Their respective scarfs were tightened around their faces, though that offered no protection for their eyes. Thankfully, they didn’t have to walk very far to get to the grocery store, and the bus stop that sat out front. The store was only a short five minute walk, and they were quick to dash inside when the automated doors opened.
Their break from the wind was a short lived one however, as they were in and out with two boxes of Twilight’s new favorite cereal firmly secured in her backpack. They debated just waiting for the bus inside, but in this weather, the driver likely wouldn’t see them through the snow covered glass, so they had to wait outside.
“How long until the bus gets here?” Twilight asked, doing her best to block the oncoming wind and snow. She was starting to think it would have been better to wait another day before leaving, but it was too late now.
“It should be here any second.”
And thankfully, as soon as Sunset finished saying that, the bus was visible, turning a corner a block away. Twilight watched as the bus come to a stop in front of them, opening it’s doors to free the two of them from this frigid air. Sunset paid the driver the necessary fee for the two of them as Twilight made her way to some open seats. Once she had paid, Sunset joined her companion in the relatively comfortable seats.
“Thank Celestia we only have to put up with a few more minutes of this horrible weather,” Twilight said, a sigh of relief escaping her lips. Sunset nodded in agreement, thankful for the invention of automotive travel. “If we’re quick, we can just make a mad dash for the portal.”
“The school is in the direction the wind is going, so we won’t have to deal with getting snow in our face until we are in front of the portal.”
“Oh, right. I forgot the portal was only on the one side of the statue’s base,” Twilight sighed. “If only magic in this world was as convenient as it is back home.”
“It’d certainly make trying to understand it a heck of alot easier,” Sunset agreed. “I’m still barely able to wrap my head around why the girls and I pony up.”
“I still think you could call it something else.”
“Hey, it’s not nearly as cringeworthy as ‘Rainbow Power,’” Sunset retorted, rolling her eyes in mock disgust.
“I guess we both suck and naming magical phenomena.”
“Yeah, Starswirl the Bearded would be so disappointed in us,” Sunset chuckled, earning a laugh from her dark haired friend. “Well, at least you can say you were able to finish a spell that Starswirl couldn’t. Even I couldn’t do that.”
“Well, he apparently disappeared before he could finish it. I’m sure he would have been able to figure it out had he not mysteriously vanished,” Twilight shrugged.
“There you go being humble again.”
“Is there something wrong with me being humble?” Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Nope, it’s another thing I like about you,” Sunset said with a warm smile. “It’s nice to see that you aren’t letting your status as a Princess of Equestria affect the pony you are.”
“Thanks,” the Princess of Friendship said, blushing at the compliment. “How many other things do you like about me?”
“I like the way you look as a human,” Sunset commented, a mischievous smirk gracing her lips. Twilight’s blush darkened, unsure of how to take that compliment. Did it mean that Sunset only liked how she looked as a human? Probably not, Sunset wasn’t that shallow these days. Although, Sunset had only seen her pony form for a few short minutes, and that was back when Sunset was occupied with trying to steal the Element of Magic. “And that fulfills my compliment quota for the day. You’ll have to wait until tomorrow before you get any more.”
“No fair.” Twilight responded, sticking her tongue at her... what was she now? Was she a friend with benefits? Nope, definitely not. The two of them weren’t that kind of ponies. At least, she wasn’t. She couldn’t speak for Sunset. “Hey Sunset?”
“Yeah?”
“What are we exactly?” Twilight asked, deciding it’d be best to clarify where they stand now, while they waited for the bus to reach their stop. It was certainly better than her thinking that Sunset was into shallow relationships.
“I dunno... I mean, we’re testing the waters before we make it anything official, right?”
“I guess?” Twilight replied, her voice full of confusion. “I’m just new to this kind of thing... I’ve only really been on two dates before, and neither of those ended with me in a relationship.”
“Two dates? I thought Flash was the first time you’ve ever went on a date?”
“Technically, that was the first time I acknowledged a get together as a date,” Twilight explained. “There was this one time where I had lunch with a stallion back in magic school. I was so absorbed in my studies, I didn’t really know he saw it as a date.”
“Ah, that makes sense,” Sunset said with an understanding nod. “Hard to picture you to be the type that cared more about books than you do anypony else. What with you being the ‘Princess of Friendship’ and all.”
“I wasn’t always the pony you see before you today... although you technically don’t see a pony right now, since I was turned into a pony by a mirror...” Twilight trailed off. Sunset cleared her throat, snapping Twilight off her random tangent. “Anyway, I used to be a really bad friend. My nose was always in some book, and I didn’t really care about having friends. And then Celestia sent me to Ponyville.”
“And the rest is history.”
“Exactly,” Twilight nodded. “But back to the subject from earlier...”
“Oh, right, sorry for changing the subject like that,” the fiery haired girl apologized, scratching the back of her head nervously.
“It’s okay. I just want to know where our relationship stands... you know, after last night.”
“Yeah, I get what you mean,” Sunset agreed. It was certainly a good question, she thought to herself. “Would you be comfortable calling me your marefriend yet?”
“Not yet... sorry.”
“It’s fine, I didn’t think you were ready for that kind of relationship yet,” Sunset said with a small smile. “I guess we’re one of those couples that are ‘together but not really,” as awkward as that sounds.”
“So... would we be some kind of ‘friends with benefits?’” Twilight asked, grimacing at the term she finished her sentence with.
“Nah, we’re not in that kind of relationship,” Sunset said dismissively. “Those kind of relationships are not really my thing, and I take it they aren’t yours either?”
“Yeah, it’s not something I agree with personally,” she replied, relieved that Sunset wasn’t that kind of mare... girl... She forgot she was still in the human world for a minute, despite the fact that her attention was placed on her currently human friend. “I guess we’ll have to figure out what we are when we get to Equestria.”
“I’m sure the two of us can... together.”
As if the bus had been waiting for them to finish their conversation, it came to a halt in front of Canterlot High. Thanking the bus driver as they got off, the two girls found themselves back in the frigid air of the outdoors. Nodding at one another, the two made a mad dash towards the portal entrance, their hands interlocking halfway. Without wasting a single moment, they both dashed right into the solid looking surface of the base of the still broken statue.
Upon passing through the entrance of the portal, they felt their bodies bend and warp into a new, smaller form. The process wasn’t at all painful, although that certainly didn’t mean it wasn’t uncomfortable. It had been a long time since Sunset Shimmer had felt this strange feeling course through her body, and she certainly didn’t miss it. Neither did Twilight for that matter, yet she had long since accepted the discomfort as a necessary evil.
The two friends soon fell onto their faces, as per the norm with passing though a portal that changed one from a bipedal being to a quadrupedal one. The two of them rose to their feet quickly, with Sunset nearly falling over again, before the familiar feeling of standing on all fours came back to her.
The sound of scaly feet entered the room, alerting Twilight to Spike’s presence.
Sure enough, the young dragon was rounding the bookshelf, his words getting caught in his throat as he saw the unexpected guest.
Explaining the reason for Sunset’s appearance to Spike was fairly easy. He had watched her accept the magic of friendship, and had heard from his mirror world counterpart (who could talk for some reason) that Sunset had been the one who had shown Twilight’s counterpart the very same magic. After an ironically familiar sounding scenario played out, of course. Sunset’s appearance hadn’t really phased him after the short explanation from the two of them.
What had phased him though was a single sentence inside that explanation.
“Sunset and I talked a bit, and decided we wanted to try and see if we’d be compatible together.”
The dragon wasn’t stupid. He may have been young, and a bit naive at times, but even Spike knew what that meant. Twilight, a pony he saw as a kind of mix of a mother and an older sister... was basically telling him she was experimenting in the realms of romance. With another mare.
It wasn’t the idea that she was trying out a relationship with a fellow mare, as that was quite common. It wasn’t even that it was Sunset, as he had long since accepted Sunset as a member of his extended circle of friends. No, it was the fact that it was Twilight that was testing the waters with a relationship; the very same Twilight that had tried to give love a shot with Flash Sentry about two months ago, only for it to not work out.
Twilight, as Spike knew her, wasn’t really one to think about that sort of thing very much, if at all. He had watched her turn down offers from potential suitors (something that, as a princess, she had to do very, very often) very often. She’d rather curl up with a dusty old book, and get lost in it’s pages than go out with somepony and get lost in them. Heck, it had surprised him when she had shown an inkling of an interest in Flash, and it had taken her nearly a year to accept a dinner date.
Basically, Spike was almost starting to think that Twilight was a lost cause. He talked to Rarity about it at one point, and she had considered it a possibility that Twilight was ‘ace.’ Not knowing what had meant lead to him looking into it, and finding himself agreeing with the idea for the most part. He felt like he was finally able to understand why she had shown effectively no interest in finding a special somepony.
And all that changed when she told him that Sunset and her were going to give some form of a relationship a try.
Needless to say it was a pleasant surprise.
“So... are you two marefriends or... what?” The young dragon couldn’t help but ask. He watched as the two looked at each other, both with somewhat unsure looking expressions. “I mean, that is what two mares in a relationship are to one another... right?”
“It’s... a little more complicated than that, Spike,” Twilight replied, giving her number one assistant a small smile. “As I said earlier, Sunset and I are testing the waters with this type of relationship a bit first, before deciding on anything official.”
“Yeah,” Sunset agreed. “I mean, neither of us have really had a relationship with another mare before.”
“So... is this like those books about ponies going to college and ‘experimenting’ with one another?” Spike asked, being sure to use air quotes for added emphasis. His answer came in the form of a bright red blush covering both mares faces and Twilight yelling.
“Spike! What kind of books have you been reading while I was gone?!”
“I read a book Rarity recommended to me... and some comics,” he answered flatly. “None of them were that kind of book.”
“Then how did yo-”
“I heard Lyra and Bon Bon talking about it when I went to buy some gem candy from Bon Bon’s store,” he replied, shrugging. “I try to avoid books like that.”
After deciding that Spike’s explanation was as good enough, Twilight made a mental note to have a chat with Bon Bon later. There should be a rule of some kind preventing ponies from talking about such lewd subjects in public, especially in a candy store. After all, young ponies (and dragons) could overhear some of it, and ask their parents about it, and Twilight was sure that parents would rather not have to deal with that topic for as long as possible.
“Anyway, should I send Princess Celestia a letter to say that you are back?” Spike asked.
“Not now Spike. Sunset doesn’t really want to have the princess pop by just yet,” she replied, looking at Sunset with a soft smile. “As much as I’d love to talk to Princess Celestia about my research into human holidays, it can wait until Sunset’s visit is over.”
“Alright. What about your friends? Should I send them something to let them know you’re back?”
Twilight once again turned her attention to her guest, an inquisitive expression gracing her features. Sunset appeared to think about it for a moment, before shaking her head ‘no.’ Twilight nodded, and looked back at the young, purple dragon.
“No, that can wait until tomorrow,” the princess replied. “I’m sure Applejack and Pinkie Pie are tired from their trips, and I bet Rainbow Dash and Rarity are still busy with their work.”
“What about Fluttershy?” Spike asked. “Last I checked, she wasn’t really that busy.”
“No offence Spike, but today, I want to have Twilight to myself,” Sunset answered, giving the dragon a hopeful looking smile. “I wanted to see what kind of new books have come out since I... you know.”
“Didn’t you already have her to yourself for like, two days straight?”
“That was different... and before we decided to try ‘seeing each other,’” the fiery maned unicorn explained.
“If you say so,” Spike shrugged, turning to leave the room. “I’m gonna go to the bookstore. A new issue of Power Ponies came out today, and I want to get the special variant cover version.”
The two mares said goodbye as the little dragon left the library, leaving the two to their own devices. The two looked at each other, smiling as they began walking through the massive library of Twilight’s castle.
“It kinda feels like we’re in the castle library back in Canterlot. You know, only more ‘crystal-y,’” Sunset said, in awe of the massive selection of books at Twilight’s disposal. She stopped in front of a random bookcase, skimming through the incredibly large quantity of books on the many shelves. “You must love your books.”
“I do. Some would say too much, but nothing quite beats the feeling of getting lost in the pages of a good book,” Twilight sighed happily. A dorky smile formed, making Sunset giggle. “What?”
“Nothing, oh Princess of Dorkiness,” the unicorn said in a tone full of whimsy.
“That’s the second fake title you’ve given me,” Twilight laughed, playfully jabbing the amber mare in the shoulder. “Though I admit it’s probably the more accurate of the two titles.”
“I dunno, you do end up shooting rainbow lasers at a lot of bad guys,” Sunset joked, earning a giggle from her friend. She loved the sound of Twilight’s laugh, and was glad that she was able to make her target of affection giggle like this. “Then again, you require the help of five other ponies to make that happen.”
“Or five humans, depending on the circumstances.”
“True enough,” Sunset chuckled. “Still, you’re a cute dork, so that makes you the best kind of dork princess.”
Twilight’s face was soon wearing a light blush, as well as a small grin. It was the kind of soft smile that Sunset had found cute on Twilight’s human face, and it remained that way after passing through a magic mirror. It might have been cuter on this side of the mirror, but Sunset wasn’t sure if that was fair, since she couldn’t compare the two. Either way, it didn’t matter. Twilight was adorkable no matter the world.
“So, you want to read something together?” Sunset asked, looking up at the books on the crystal bookcase beside her. She recognized quite a number of them, but for every one she recognized, there was one or two she didn’t. Equestrian writers had clearly been busy while she was in the mirror world. That, or she didn’t explore the library enough as a filly, though that was highly unlikely; she had all but memorized the castle library back then.
“I would love to,” Twilight replied, with a familiar dorky grin. Sunset thought it was adorable how happy she seemed with the suggestion. Of course, this was the girl who had practically earned the title of ‘Princess of Books...’ she had to stop giving Twilight fake royal titles like that... “Do you have anything in mind? I’m up for anything.”
“Well, there are a lot of books I’ve never seen, but I want to read something that you haven’t read yet.”
“Maybe I’ve read them all?”
“Haha, I’m sure there is at least one book in this whole library you haven’t read,” Sunset laughed.
“I don’t know, I do love reading,” Twilight spoke, her voice showing no hint of a joke. Sunset simply looked at the Princess of Friendship. Was she seriously implying that she had read every single book in this library? A library that held at least a few hundred books, and that was a modest estimation. The library was huge, and the amount of books that made up the library was as plentiful as the room was big.
“You can’t be seriously suggesting you’ve read them all... right?”
Twilight simply smiled, giggling a little at Sunset’s look of disbelief. It was cute.
“Obviously not, I’ve only read about... maybe a third of all of these,” Twilight said, hovering a book down from the shelf. “I took a list of all of the books I’ve read the last time I did a book-sort-cation.”
“Book-sort-cation?”
“Yeah, it’s basically something I do every so often,” Twilight explained. “Spike and I take a few days to sort through all of the books... I find it very relaxing.”
“Haha, that does sound like something you’d find relaxing,” Sunset giggled. Of course Twilight would find the idea of sorting books relaxing, she was the Princess of Dorks and Books after all. “Maybe I should give it a try? Next time you do one I mean.”
“I’m actually planning to do one in the spring,” Twilight spoke. She loved the idea of Sunset joining her on her next book-sort-cation. It was definitely something she could see herself doing with a possible marefriend. “If you want, I can write you when I’m about to start, and you can join me?”
“Sure, as long as it’s on a weekend. As fun as sorting books sounds, I don’t really want to miss any school.”
“Of course,” Twilight agreed. “The last thing I want to do is interfere with your studies. Even if you understand at least half of what they teach you from prior schooling.”
“Yeah, I never did get why the mirror spits us out as younger when we go through it.”
“Me either... maybe we could look into that too.”
“Sounds like a plan. I’m always down to study magic,” Sunset replied, relishing the idea of studying some of the mirror’s mysteries with Twilight. The mirror’s magic had long been a mystery, especially since Starswirl’s disappearance. She had so many questions about the mirror that had been left unanswered for years, and she was more than eager to get some answers. “Maybe we can start during your next visit... or my next visit?”
“It’s a date... without an actual date set in stone.”
“Well, you’re the better when it comes to scheduling things than I am... so when do you think would be the best time to start?” Sunset inquired.
“That depends, when do you go back to school? I take it you’re out of school until after the New Year starts?”
“Yeah, most schools don’t reopen until the second week of January. Unless you’re Crystal Prep,” she replied. “They start on January 2nd... no thanks to Principal Cinch and her precious ‘reputation.’”
“Isn’t there a school board that makes sure stuff like that doesn’t happen?” Twilight asked, recalling a book she had read about how the human education system. It had intrigued her, given how different it seemed from her past experience with the pony education system. “I thought all schools started more or less at the same time.”
“Most do, but Crystal Prep is a private academy, so I think They pretty much do what they want. ,” Sunset shrugged. “I don’t really know anything about them outside of what Sci-Twi told me. Apparently they do a six day week.”
“Kind of sounds like Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.”
“Yeah... come to think of it, was the principal of that school Abacus Cinch?” Sunset asked as she sifted through the books on the shelf just above her with her magic.
“I knew the name sounded familiar!” Twilight exclaimed, a metaphorical light-bulb going off in her head. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure she was the principal for the first couple of years we went there. I’m pretty sure she was let go after an argument with Celestia about something silly.”
“I remember that!”
“I think that was the year I became Celestia’s personal pupil,” Twilight said thoughtfully. “So that means it was the year that you left.”
“I left a week after that if I’m remembering right,” Sunset spoke, still focussing on finding a book to read.
“Do you ever regret leaving?”
“Huh? I guess...” Sunset hummed, deciding on a book. It was a copy of ‘The Dreamscape Mare.’ It appeared to be something of a mystery novel, but she wasn’t exactly sure. It was written by her favorite author, Forest Hazel. “To be honest, I used to regret it a lot... but now I’m glad I left.”
“Why’s that?”
“Probably because my life has gotten a lot better for me since I left,” Sunset explained. She showed Twilight the cover of the book, a hopeful expression on her face. “Have you read this one yet?”
“No, I haven’t really had the time, though I do like a lot of Forest Hazel’s novels... ‘The Pony of the North’ notwithstanding.”
“Yeah, that one wasn’t very good, though every author has at least one bad book on their resume,” Sunset said with a shrug. “Is there a place we can comfortably read this together?”
Twilight nodded, and began leading her friend to a better place to read together. While the library was a great place to find a book, it wasn’t the best for reading a book with another pony. Of course, that usually depended on the size of the book itself, and this one was not the biggest. That simply meant that they would have to huddle up together, which Twilight didn’t mind at all. If anything, she was happy that she’d get to try snuggling with Sunset in her pony form.
Not that snuggling with her as a human was bad or anything.
“When you said your life got a lot better since you relocated to the mirror world... what did you mean exactly?” Twilight asked. Deep down, she already knew the answer. She had mostly asked just to confirm her assumption, and to strike up a casual conversation.
“My life got better because you became a part of it,” Sunset replied, smiling warmly at the purple alicorn. Twilight’s face lit up as her heart began to beat a bit faster. Shooting the fiery maned Unicorn a questioning look, she couldn’t help but smile a little at Sunset’s choice of wording. “Well, you showed me why I felt so miserable... and you’re the reason I was able to become friends with the girls.”
Twilight shook her head.
“All I did was teach you that friends were important,” she spoke, smiling the kind of warm smile that made Sunset’s heart race. “I may have asked the girls to look out for you, but it was you that convinced them that you would make a good friend.”
“I know, but it was because of your words that I was able to start becoming a better person... and a better pony than I used to be,” Sunset told her companion. “If you hadn’t come to take back your crown, I would still be a selfish jerk.”
“Yeah... and you’d be raiding Equestria with an army of zombie teenagers.”
“Haha, you know it!” Sunset laughed. “Besides... if you hadn’t come through the mirror, I would have never developed some kind of a crush on you... and we wouldn’t be walking through your castle right now.”
“That’s true... and I wouldn’t have it any other way right now.”
The two of them eventually came to what appeared to be Twilight’s bedroom. There was a sofa sitting beside a bookshelf that held some of Twilight’s favorite books. There was also a small stack of books to the left of the sofa. Judging by the fact that the holidays had just happened, Sunset concluded that they were likely Hearth’s Warming gifts. This suspicion was confirmed when Twilight hovered the books she had received from their friends for Christmas into a small stack beside them.
Twilight took a seat on the sofa, and tapped the spot beside her with her right hoof, beckoning Sunset to join her. With a warm grin, Sunset trotted over to the couch, and took her seat next to the young princess. She watched as Twilight hovered a blanket from the nearby bed over to them, using her magic to wrap it around the two of them.
Nuzzling up against her, Sunset flipped open the cover of the book, and flicked through the pages with her own magic. The two of them were soon reading, and enjoying each other’s company.
Twilight couldn’t help but be reminded of the night before, their present state being reminiscent of the first time they snuggled together like this. It was warm, and it made her heart beat just a touch faster. Despite her heart beat however, she was as relaxed as she was the night before, only instead of the faint glow of her dear friend’s television, there was the dim glow of Sunset’s magic aura holding up the book. All that was missing was a warm cup of cocoa.
She contemplated calling Spike, but decided against it. They could go find him when they decided to have lunch. Looking at the clock she had hung on the wall, she found that they had plenty of time to read before they would go into the kitchen and make lunch.
She felt Sunset nuzzle her cheek against her own. She nuzzled back, happy with where she was right now. She could think of ways that this would be better, but she silenced those thoughts as quickly as they came.
Because right now, all was right in their little world.
