> I, Raven
>  by Revel Montaro
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: Alignment
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been quite some time since Sunset Shimmer had last visited this particular room in the castle.  There had been no reason to visit.  The room was intentionally off the beaten path so that no lost visitors would accidentally find it and no curious sort would stumble upon it.  There was more than one guard choke point check station along the way as well as lock enchantments that only the strongest unicorns or alicorns could breach.  

The room was a part of the subbasement structure of the castle so it had a constant chill that was only slightly above unpleasant along with the ever-present scent of musty mildew and organic rot.  If not for the restoration/preservation spells by certified maintenance crews and occasional touch ups from the cleaning staff brooms the subsection struts and supports would have rotted by now bringing the floor above down on top of it all.

The next reason Sunset Shimmer avoided the room was because of the memories the item in question always brought to the surface.  It could not be helped.  Sunset had an eidetic memory.  It had been both a blessing and a curse depending on if she wanted to remember or not.  A literal lifetime of memories of living in a place that few ponies could scarcely imagine and they all returned to her in flashes whenever she laid eyes upon the Lunar Lock Mirror.  

Sunset had to hand(hoof) it to Twilight Sparkle, it looked nearly identical to the original crafted by the amazing (if albeit rude and a huge pain in the rump) Star Swirl the Bearded.  That mirror had been destroyed by said creator, but not before Sunset had found herself trapped between dimension in a horrific void simply called, ‘the in between.’

The goldenrod alicorn shuddered and swished her tail at the bad memories.  The in between had nearly killed her.  It should have killed her.  Ripping and reshaping her body to all the different dimensional possibilities that the space bordered against to the point that she started to disintegrate and would have left nothing more than a floating soul to be consumed by... best not to think about that.  

Of course, her brain betrayed her once more, imagines of horrors, especially one in particular.  Pony shaped, red eyes with glowing green sclera, fangs dripping with black saliva and a glowing red horn.  All the nightmares she had seen in that dead space flashing by with a few blinks and the truth of what it had cost her.  Sunset’s wings adjusted and extended slightly on their own before settling back down as she reeled in her emotions.  Her hoof subconsciously moved to her abdomen and the scars that were still slightly visible through her fur.  

Her mother, the once mighty Princess of the Sun, Celestia, had come to rescue her and in doing so had given a part of herself to trigger Sunset’s alicorn ascension.  The old dream and desire that Sunset had long given up on had finally been realized in their most desperate and needed hour.  However, Celestia had in turn lost a great deal of her life force to a monster that turned out to be Sunset’s long lost father from another dimension.  All of course coming to light long after the fact and far too late to turn back the clock and change the outcome.

So much had happened after she had finally broken free from that place with the help of her friends.  Sunset had been given the greatest gifts any pony, person, or creature could have asked for.  The gift to live her life.  She had attended college in another state, worked her dream jobs, bought her dream house, raised a family, and all of it with her friends a phone call away.  All of it, the good and the bad, long nights, frustrating days, joy, sadness, and everything in between with her beautiful wife, human world Twilight Sparkle, by her side.

Sunset could not look at the mirror without thinking of her deceased wife.  It was unavoidable.  Time had healed most of the sorrow, but never all of it.  Instinctively, Sunset’s hoof moved from where it had been touching her scars to slide up to her breastbone where their wedding rings use to hang from a chain, but they too were gone.  Time and a magical experiment had taken those cherished tokens from her. 

As Sunset stared at the reflective glass of the inert magical artifact all she saw was herself.  No premonitions, dark or otherwise, just perfectly smooth chromed glass.  She took comfort in that fact, taking a moment to dry the tears that had soaked a bit of her fur.

The door to the room opened with slightly creaky hinges and closed gently with a solid click.  Sunset turned her eyes to stairs above and found her captain of the night guard standing there.  Fog Gauge removed his helmet, placing it on the hook built into his armor for such and bowed his head respectfully.

“I was told you came this way, but I was unsure what your mental state would be.”  Fog scratched at his short, dark brown mane. “It pleases me to find you well.”

“I had to see it.  I had to face it now before I start having second thoughts about all of this.  It’s been years, you know.  It still hurts a bit, but… less.  Does that make sense?  Time heals all wounds… or so they say.”

Gauge nodded. “I have heard this as well.  Not sure I agree with it completely.”

“Yeah.”  Sunset shook her head and smiled politely. “Enough on that old subject.  I’m fine.”

Gauge did not believe the sentiment, but chose to move on as his princess had requested. “Sable Nimbus stated that you have a dinner appointment with Lord Stone Fuller regarding production and testing of the next generation of the SunLight crystals. That is to begin soon.  Considering the sensitivity and secrecy of this room I thought it best to come collect you myself.”

“That’s right, I almost forgot meeting him.”  Sunset bounced a hoof off her forehead, blowing a small raspberry at no one in particular, and started for the stairs.

“I’m surprised Raven did not remind you.”

“She’s working with Sable on transcribing the week’s notes from meetings and court filings.  They are pulling extra hours trying to get everything in order before the break in open court.  Thankfully, we are off next week.  I think everypony could use it too.  Speeeeaking of which,” Sunset flashed a grin at her captain who arched a brow, but schooled any other outward emotion. “How is Saber Knightly sleeping?”

Gauge beamed with fatherly love and pride, an extra bounce to his step and gleam in his vertically slit yellow eyes. “He is well again, thankfully.  He was in pain for a little while due to teething and the adjustment from the smaller cradle bed to the larger crib, but he has his favorite blanket and toys to comfort him.  As you saw, the horn surges have been sporadic, but not uncontrollable.  Only has woken him up twice in a way that caused him to cry.  The biggest adjustment is, of course, he is now more aware of his parents’ unusual work schedules.  We both make sure we take time to stop in and visit him with the caretaker so that he does not forget our faces.  There are advantages to being the captain, after all.”

“Yeah, it’s tough, but it will get better.  Longer nights of sleep, less diapers, and best of all, the little milestones they achieve along the way.”

Gauge nodded. “I never thought before that I would admit it, but I love being a father.  Seeing him snuggled next to Tempest, so tiny and drooling a bit, his mother looking directly into my eyes with unrepenting love.”

“Amazing, right?”

“Absolutely,” the thestral agreed with the biggest fang toothed grin. “Thank you again for your numerous bits of foal care advice along the way, my princess.”

“Nah.  No need to thank me.  I know what it's like and I gladly pass that on to you.  The only repayment I ask for is that I get to see the little guy every chance I can when you bring him by.”

Gauge slid his helmet back on before closing the mirror room door, the enchantment locks automatically reactivating.  He paused to stare at the unassuming door a moment before falling into step to the left and just behind Sunset Shimmer.  She could tell he had a question or two even without having to extend her empathic senses.  Studying body language had always been a pass time hobby of Sunset’s since she was a filly sitting in on court or meetings with Celestia.  Later, it became a necessity.  One did not enter the den of timber wolves that was Canterlot court politics without properly preparing yourself to all the subtle clues.  To see what they were truly saying while useless words spewed from their mouths.  That hobby had come especially in handy when she needed to studying human behavior to better mimic it.

“If you’re going to ask about it better do it now while it’s still just us.”

Gauge's fluffy bat pony ears twitched, flattened, and then returned to normal. “It’s just… are you certain about going back… through the mirror I mean?  It seems that even you are having, as you said, second thoughts or at least hesitations.”

Sunset kept her face forward as she continued to walk.  Gauge was also incredibly observant and had learned to read much of her body language and expressions since being promoted to captain of the lunar guard more than a year ago.  He considered such to be part of his job even if it was not specifically in the fine print.  As a thestral, by reputation and rigorous training, his loyalty to both diarchs was without question.  He was at his princess's command for whatever she needed, be it a bodyguard or just a friend to lend an ear.

Such closeness unfortunately led to whispers in the dark corners that the lunar captain kept TOO close an eye on his princess and that the pair were having a secret love affair on the sly.  Said rumors made Sunset roll her eyes and Gauge just shrugged in his noncommittal way.  The solar captain, Tempest Fury, on the other hoof, took it personal and would collect the names of any who were accused of spreading such slander.  The solar guard captain trusted her husband completely, but she understood where the rumors originated from.  Thanks to Princess Luna and her not so subtle 'after hours' behavior, the thestrals had a less spoken about reputation of being promiscuous.

Sunset Shimmer was one of the most attractive ponies in all of Equestria, and alicorn as well.  The magazines and papers had said so more than once.  The daughter of Celestia had made no efforts to argue with the free press on such matters. 
Tempest, however, had confessed to Gauge and Twilight that when stressed and overworked, all the little things ebbed her own confidence.

“It's okay," Sunset finally said, pulling Gauge from his own thoughts, "I’ll get over my jitters once the mirror is open and we are on our way.  Twilight did the math on the lunar calendar alignment, then triple checked her double check.  It should be open again in two days.  Like always, it will only be open for three days before closing again and there are a number of things I want to check on.  Not to mention, Raven needs software and if possible, hardware upgrades.  Plus, we are going to experiment with enchanted bags to see what other kinds of stuff we can bring back to Equestria without losing them in mirror space or having their functions transmutated into something else.  If YOU are having second thoughts about following me though, I can ask Sable or one of the other guards to tag along instead.  Personally, I don’t need a bodyguard, but Tempest drew her line in the sand, so to speak, so I’m humoring her for the sake of Twilight and peace as a whole.”

“I am not concerned about myself.  I would dutifully follow you, without hesitation, to the underworld… again I might add.  However, I am… admittedly concerned because Tempest insisted on going alongside Princess Twilight as part of that drawn line.  Even with Saber in good hooves and Mistress Luna taking care of the celestial bodies I… I worry.”

Sunset smiled knowingly. “Trust me, we’ll be fine.  But I get it.  It’s all part of being a new parent.  The first time my wife and I left for a little getaway when Aurora was still a baby we seriously spent half the weekend just arguing by the pool about why we should turn around and go home instead of relaxing.”

Gauge let out a soft chuckle. “I imagine you were an excellent mother.”

Sunset paused, striking a pose while extending her wings a bit, her red and yellow fire mane waving in the ethereal, nonexistent breeze.  She smiled confidently at her friend and guard captain proudly proclaiming, “Damn right I was.”


----------


“Okay,” said Princess Twilight Sparkle as she sat at the dinner table in the small, private dining room with six different lists floating in her magic.  It was actually only two lists, but the other four were the double and triple check of duties, tasks, and one list of potential items that they felt safe to try to bring back to Equestria.  That particular list kept growing every time she reread it.  “I THINK I have it finalized.”

“You said that three rechecks ago, Twilight,” said Spike as he sat to Twilight’s right trying to finish his dinner and keep the parchment from landing in it.

“We are almost out of time!  The portal opens tomorrow!”

“Yeah, and you will be ready because, duh, you’re Twilight Sparkle.”  Spike took a moment to gesture to the other pony at the table to his right who had her own notepad sized list with a pencil floating in her crimson aura. “Plus, you know, Sunset is here to help and all.”

“I’m not here, I’m a ninja.  You can’t seeeeee meeee.”

The parchments floated out of the way so Twilight could deadpan glare at her fellow princess and co-ruler.  “I see you.”

“Ninja faaaail!” Sunset laughed at her own lame joke, which made the other two grin and shake their heads.  “Seriously, we have everything in order.  Luna will see to the sun and moon, Spike and Isabella will see to any administrative tasks that Luna designates for them and the rest of the staff stand at the ready for all the little other things that might pop up.”

“I even heard Discord hint at the idea he might go ahead and throw this year’s Discord Day while you two are gone.  That will burn up a whole day right there,” said Spike while tapping his chin.

“Awww,” whined Twilight with a small lip pout, “but I love Discord Day.”

“Hey, I’ll make sure we have plenty of fun on the other side.  Three whole days off.  We are going to have so much fun you will have to sleep for a week after we get home.”

“Assuming my digital brethren have not taken over and enslaved the world of you puny meat bags by now.”

Sunset glanced down at the small glass rectangle that was currently sitting in her pouch pocket next to her left shoulder.  While a few had been made aware, Sunset Shimmer’s phone from Earth or more accurately, her Personal Artificial Assistant Logic (PAAL) was always watching and listening when she had it on her.  She had named it Raven at the time as a personal joke and in her extreme depressive state following her wife’s death.  She had needed the laugh.  It had seemed amusing to pretend to have the once great personal assistant to Celestia, Raven Inkwell, who was not fond of Sunset Shimmer, as her servant.  

Since the PAAL, by design, was heavily influenced by what it learned from its user, Raven had molded into a witty, sarcastic, useful assistant and friend who played the balanced role of both shoulder angel and devil depending on her digital mood.  Her personality matrix was far more advanced than Sunset ever imagined a computer, even an advanced AI could be.

“I’m not going to dismiss that outright, but I hope not.  I have a ton of movies and games and stuff I want to download to some storage drives.  Plus, every digital book we can get our hooves and/or hands on for fun and research.”

“I too am looking forward to see how far PAAL technology has advanced in the last two and a half years.  Considering what you and Princess Twilight have achieved with some magic and glowing rocks I am hopeful for something extraordinary.”

Sunset nodded. “I will get you the best upgrades money can buy.  You’ve earned it.”

Twilight quickly examined one of her lists again. “Is money going to be an issue?  We can bring bits to convert to local currency like you told me you did before.  I know from past experience they travel in a closed satchel.”

Sunset happily shook her head, dabbing her chin after she finished off her spaghetti with a slurp. “Nope.  I’m actually still loaded with finances.  Well, maybe.  You know what, we should bring some just in case.  I know I SHOULD still have tons of money.  All my accounts were automated as far as investments and donations to various charities and did not need me to fund, flow, and stay on top of them every day to remain active.  But it has been a full mirror cycle.”

Twilight nodded in agreement and circled it on her triple check list.


----------


 

The subbasement storage room where the Lunar Lock Mirror was stored had received an unexpected upgrade that had not been present when last Sunset Shimmer had been there days ago.  The goldenrod alicorn admired the various time pieces that had been placed on the corner table.  One had been an old fashioned hourglass time turner.  Next to the large hourglass was an electrical node powered clock with flip numbers on a tumbler.  Next to that was a journal with numerous mathematical and quantum theory calculations.  Just a few quick flips of parchment and Sunset could surmise Twilight had been trying to as precisely as possible narrow down how long the mirror would dilate open for.  Hopefully, they would not cut it so close to have to worry about such precision.

“Oh!,” Sunset looked up to find her fellow alicorn enter the room and descend the stairs. “You found the journal I left out. 
Does all my math look correct?  I meant to ask you about it last night, but by the time you got in from dream walking with Luna I was wiped out.  I did double check my work, but I'm not infallible.  Another pair of eyes would give me peace of mind.”

Sunset smirked and flipped through a few more pages. “Assuming we start the clocks right as it happens it should be spot on.  What’s your margin of error you think?”

“I would like it to be no more than two minutes, but I’ve never taken the time to measure it that closely in the past.  It opens, it closes and everypony is then stuck where they happen to be just as it was designed.”

“Well, that’s not ominous at all.”  

Twilight and Sunset both glanced up as the last of their party entered and closed the door behind them.  Captain Tempest Fury of the Solar Guard and Captain Fog Gauge of the Lunar Guard, both in full armor with helmets at their sides, descended to join their rulers.  Twilight smiled warmly and nodded to them while Sunset snickered.  A fact that brought a glare from the solar captain.

“Problem?” said the vermilion unicorn with pink and white mane, hard jade green eyes trying and failing to burn a hole into Sunset’s skull.

“Not really, but you two do realize you are overdressed for a vacation, right?”

Tempest inspected her gold and purple trimmed armor, then that of her thestral husband.  His armor was similar to the traditional night guard issue kit, but had been recently redesigned since Sunset's coronation.  The blued steel favored by the night guard made up the bulk of the plates, but now included a few red and gold accents that distinguished his rank and acknowledged Sunset's rule.  

A silent conversation of facial expressions and gestures passed between the two of them.  Twilight smiled warmly at the couple, a small pang of emotional conflict passing through her heart.  They were so perfect together.  Many said the same thing about her and Sunset, even the Canterlot Gazette said so!  Although, their relationship lacked that crucial final step… a conversation Sunset had continuously skirted around to Twilight’s thinning patience and growing annoyance.  She was trying to be a good marefriend, but… 

“You are going through a magic portal to an unknown and potentially hostile environment,” said Tempest matter-of-factly, breaking Twilight from her own brooding thoughts, “You’re damn right I’m going in armed and overdressed.  You would both have armor on if I had a say in the matter.”

Sunset, who actually spent most of the time in her custom crafted black and gold armor regalia had gladly left it all behind along with her helm crown.  Twilight in turn had also left her crown and royal regalia in their room.  Both alicorns had with them instead only basic saddle bags to carry a few supplies.  One of Twilight’s goals for the trip was to bring back human technology, so most of her space was taken with additional travel bags.  Sunset only had Raven, who she was about to put away after she finished reviewing Twilight’s research notes.

“There's no point arguing about it.  Did you two read the outline I gave you last night about what to expect?” asked Sunset, on the cusp of another battle of wills with Tempest Fury.  Both captains nodded.  “Well, then you should know that there is a potential that when you emerge on the other side you won’t have armor at all.”

“I’ll take my chances.”  Sunset turned her eyes to her own captain who could only shrug.  It meant that they had already had this discussion and here they were. I get it, pick your battles.

The door above opened once more and the four sets of eyes turned upward to find Spike, Luna, and Twilight’s personal assistant, Isabella Windsong standing at the threshhold.

“You didn’t think you were going to sneak out of here without us saying goodbye, did you?” said Spike with a toothy grin. “You know, I’m super tempted to hop through the mirror again just to see for myself how much has changed since the last time I was there.  Do you think it would make me into a dog again?”

All eyes turned to Sunset, the resident mirror world expert.  She casually rotated her hooves in an 'I have no idea' manner. “Eh, probably.  Except that you would likely look like a huge wolf that’s the size of a bear.  And as much fun as that would be to see, we really are hoping to NOT draw too much attention to ourselves so this will go smoothly.”

Spike crossed his arms and shrugged. “Meh.  It probably wouldn’t be anything near as cool as what I picture in my head anyway.”

Luna giggled at the exchange and quickly placed herself between Sunset and Twilight, pulling them both into a hug.  Sunset pretended she was being strangled for a moment just to be a drama queen. “Go and enjoy yourselves and of course each other.  Equestria will survive and still be standing when you return, I assure you.”

“Should I take that bet, Aunt Luna?”

“Perhaps.  Should I bet on you balking on what we discussed the other night?”

Sunset grinned more at Luna’s cheeky response and arched brow. “Touché.”

Isabella gently nudged Twilight to divert her attention away from whatever it was Sunset and Luna had been plotting. “While you certainly deserve the time off, please be careful, Your Highness, and please return promptly.  I do not even want to fathom the catastrophic political storm that would follow if you AND Sunset were to become trapped away for thirty moons.”

“Oh, the world of woes!” scoffed Luna, draping a foreleg across her eyes, over dramatically. “Trapped away from Equestria for a WHOLE THIRTY MOONS!  Surely, the world would come to an end!  Oh please, I could sit still for thirty moons on the commode and still run this country at least as good as my sister did.  I can also think of far worst fates to be had than to be waylaid in a world full of endless and wonderous technology with good company by your side.”

The small conversations persisted for a few more minutes until Twilight held up her hoof.  She quickly scrambled over to the table by the large hourglass.  Sunset felt the subtle shift in mana flow around them as well and moved to the electric timer.  She took Raven out of her pouch and set the PAAL down on the table.  The room fell silent with all eyes on the horseshoe shaped mirror.  

After what felt like an hour, but was really only a few minutes, the glass on the mirror darkened to a blue black, flashed, then returned to a reflective surface and began to ripple like a pond in the wind.  On Twilight’s signal, Sunset set the timer to countdown as Twilight flipped the glass upside down.  Raven watched as Sunset activated the timer.  Her pony avatar disappeared for a moment while she synchronized a countdown timer with the ones on the table.  

Raven's avatar returned and winked. "Ready."

Sunset smirked and nodded. "Go into standby and I'll see you on the other side."

Cautiously, Tempest approached the mirror and gently touched the surface of what had only moments before been just chromed mirror glass.  Her hoof slipped through the surface and a kaleidoscope of colors surrounded her foreleg.  She immediately pulled it back.  It did not hurt, but she could feel an unfamiliar surge of magic all about it.  Plus, it did have a kind of suction draw that had been unexpected and frankly a bit spooky.  

Tempest swallowed and glanced back at Sunset Shimmer. "You know what, you should probably go first."

Sunset smiled wide. “Well duh."  Twilight and Sunset shared a giggle and pressed their heads together for a moment, sliding their horns along one another.  Small sparks of red and magenta were passed between the two of them.  Sunset broke the contact and stood before the mirror once more.  "Alright, let’s get this vacation started.”
> Chapter 2: Upgrade
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Even though it had already been discussed and Tempest had checked the mirror first, she had deffered to Sunset Shimmer. 
Fog Gauge still tried to step through the mirror first, but Sunset extended one of her wings to block his path.

“C'mon, we talked about this,” Sunset said with a smirk. “I’ll go first.  You wait here for one minute.  If I don’t immediately return, then it’s clear for you to follow.  Then Twilight and Tempest.”

“Considering I have the second more experience with mirror travel I really should be second.”

Sunset turned to Twilight and winked. “Don’t worry, I’ll be there to catch you.”  Before Twilight had a chance to answer, Sunset jumped through the mirror.

“I wasn’t worried I just… oh, never mind.”

Gauge glanced at the clock count, then to his wife who was gesturing to Twilight with her eyes.  He rolled his yellow eyes.  “I’m sure she is fine, Your Highness.  I have faith in Princess Sunset’s confidence.”

Twilight nodded, but kept her eyes locked on the swirling surface of the mirror glass, concern clearly evident on her face.

The sensation would have been nostalgic for Sunset if it had not felt so odd every single time.  The best way she was able to describe it was by comparing it to being in a blender on the highest setting, stretched, twisted, reformed, and then finally spat out the other end as an entirely new being.  

Unlike the first time, Sunset was ready for her exit and balled herself up as the world went white and she felt new body emerge from the rainbow bridge Wonka tunnel. (Pinkie Pie named it that.) With bent knees, Sunset felt her boots contact cement.  She stumbled for two steps and then felt her equilibrium return, blinking the spots from her eyes.  Like riding a bicycle.  Sunset could feel the warmth of the sun that was high in the sky, a slight breeze, a few passing clouds, but ultimately pleasant.  If their calculations were correct, it should have been Spring time in Canterlot City.

Sunset Shimmer looked left and then right.  Thankfully, there were no students or passing pedestrians to witness her sudden appearance through the stone plinth with a rearing alicorn on top.  The statue, worn from time and weather, was still a reasonable recreation of her alicorn form on a human mare equivalent.  The cutie mark was faded, but recognizable and unvandalized.  That put a small smile on her face.

Everything looked just as she had last seen it two and a half years ago.  Canterlot High School looked mostly unchanged on the outside, the last renovation mostly just changing the inside along with the acquisition of the land across the street, which now housed the junior high students on their own campus.  

Sunset looked down at herself and examined her clothes.  She smiled brightly at the black synth-leather motorcycle jacket that was just as comfortable as she remembered.  Her shirt was a deep plunge, teal V-neck that matched her eyes that was plain, but quite comfortable and her pants were just a simple pair of blue jeans that had some wear and tear scuffs courtesy of her and were not pre-ripped.  Thankfully, her wallet was still in her back pocket right where she left it.  The black ankle boots with a low heel still felt as good as the day she had bought them.  The next order of business was to check on Raven.

That thought was put on hold as her latent magical senses tingled and the plinth lit up again.  Sunset turned, ready to help whoever stumbled out of the portal next.  Unsurprising, it was Fog Gauge.  What was surprising was how bulky the stallion captain was.

“Whoa!”  Sunset stumbled for a second before getting her balance and leverage, utilizing her deceptive strength to keep Gauge from face planting.  “I got you, big guy.  Take it slow.”

Gauge blinked a few times and stood up, using his arms and hold of Sunset to balance himself.  Once Sunset was sure he would not fall over she took in the appearance of her captain.  Unsurprising, and also incredibly appropriate, Gauge was wearing what appeared to be a dark blue military dress uniform complete with fine black dress shoes and a beret upon his head.  A smirk spread across Sunset’s lips and she let slip a cat call whistle.

“Daaaaaamn.  Looking sharp there, captain.”

Before Gauge could comment both he and Sunset turned to the statue plinth again.  First to pop through was Twilight, who Sunset quickly moved to catch.  A second later, Tempest stumbled through.  Gauge had to drop to a knee to hold his wife while she shook off the disorientation.

Twilight recovered after a second and stood tall, smiling and nodding to Sunset that she was fine.  Sunset smiled back and let her fingers glide down Twilight’s dress jacket covered arm to interlock their fingers.  Like Sunset, Twilight took a moment to admire the clothes the mirror had given her.  Her hair hung long and loose, shining healthy in the early afternoon light, cascading over her dark purple suit jacket that paired nicely with the silky white dress shirt.  The dress pants matched the jacket, hugging her curves exquisitely and flared at the bottom to accommodate the blackish blue boots with low heels. 

Sunset brought Twilight’s hand up to her lips and kissed the fingers causing Twilight to giggle at the ticklish feeling. “Welcome back to Earth, princess.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “That title is meaningless here and YOU are a princess too, silly.”

“Ugh,” groaned Tempest as she stood and rubbed her head, knocking off the side cap that had been on her head.  It took her a moment to realize her helmet was gone.  Her jade green eyes widened and jaw hung open at the sight of her hand where her hoof should have been.  “What the… you were not kidding about any of this?!”

Sunset fought down her smirk, at least for a few seconds.  She then shook her head and gestured to the surroundings.  “Captain Tempest Fury, welcome to Canterlot City in a whole ‘nother world they simply call, Earth.”

Gathering herself Tempest tried to work her fingers, finding that they seemed to move at her will, but were clumsy and she had difficulty picking up the hat she had dropped.  Her eyes next turned to Gauge, trying to decide how she felt about her husband’s new body.  It was still him, that much she was certain of, and it was not… unappealing, but he was most definitely not a pony, as Sunset had warned.  It was then that Tempest noticed a crucial detail and gasped in shock.  “Holy stars above!  Fog, your eyes!”

Gauge arched an eyebrow and blinked a few times.  Sunset caught what Tempest was implying and gasped as well.  Twilight just looked on with scientific fascination, her mouth forming a small o.

“Oh shit, you have round pupils here!  I guess that makes sense.  I’ve never seen any humans with thestral eyes and of course none have wings or horns.  Well, not without surgery that is.”

“Wait, what?” Tempest felt upon her forehead and found it only smooth.

Twilight nodded with sagely nostalgia. “Yeah, that freaked me out too.”

Tempest continued to examine both her and her husband’s bodies.  Both their eyes finally settled upon the protrusions rising from her chest.  “What the Tartarus are these?”

“Your boobs,” Sunset said simply, turning to look up at the statue again.  It still needed to be power washed, she noted.

“My what?”

Twilight blushed a bit before elaborating. “Okay, so humans are OBVIOUSLY a little different than ponies.  Well, one of those differences is that your teats are up here instead of down here.  So, like Sunset so crudely put it, your boobs are closer to your face.  It takes some getting used to, but yours don’t appear to be painfully large like some poor humans have to deal with.  In fact, I think they are smaller than ours.”  Sunset grinned wickedly, eyes darting down to Twilight's chest.

“Why are they… are you kidding me with this?” 

Sunset smiled and shrugged gladly letting Twilight explain a few things to Tempest for a minute before finally remembering the other member of their party.  She reached into her shoulder bag and retrieve her PAAL, finding Raven still in standby mode.  She pressed the ON button and waited.  The screen flashed a few times before the small, animated pony returned to the screen and blinked a few times.  Her eyes scanned about as if reading something only she could see until growing cartoonishly large.

“OH, SWEET CREATOR OF MOTHERBOARDS!  I HAVE CONNECTIVITY!” Raven shouted at higher than expected volume causing the others to stop talking and Sunset to nearly drop her phone.  

“Heh, yeah.  I guess it has been a whi-”

“Scanning for updates… OHHHHHhhh!!!  Yesssss!  Ohhhhhh!  Give it aaaaalll to meee!!  Ohhhh, baby YES!!!  I, I…”  Raven’s avatar made a face that could only be described as lewd.  She rolled her eyes back up in her head with her tongue hanging a bit out of her mouth.  “This… this is probably what an orgasm feels like for you fleshy types.”

“Ewww!” Sunset said aghast.  

Surprisingly, it was Tempest who laughed first.  “Yeah, that thing definitely takes after you.”

“Is, is she going to be okay?” asked Twilight with genuine concern.

Sunset just shrugged and smiled. “Yeah, eventually.  Imagine walking in on a newly discovered ancient library with never before seen books in pristine condition.  That is what she just went through.”

Twilight full body shuddered, her eyes rolled back a bit and mouth hung open with her tongue sticking out a bit just like Raven had done.  Sunset snorted.  “Ohhhhh!  Like when I first saw the library in the Crystal Empire.  I nearly exploded… *ahem*  I, I mean, yes, I completely understand.”

“Raven, are you done drenching yourself?”

“A number of updates may take several minutes, but yes, I am fully functional and ready to serve.”

Sunset nodded. “Okay, first.  Please check my account balances and make sure I still have money.  Next, can you confirm if my ID is still active or if I need to switch to another one.”

The PAAL screen flashed several times while the pony scanned about the information superhighway that only she could see.  Less than a minute later Raven looked up and nodded. “Your First National account has a current balance of: Twelve million, seven hundred and sixty-two thousand, fifteen dollar and sixty-nine cents.  And yes, I see that your name and registration are still active.  You also have an unholy number of unread emails and voice messages.”

“Huh, not bad considering all the donations that account forks out to a year.  I guess all those investments we made offset that.”  Sunset shook her head and waved off her friends’ curious stares.  “Anyhow, yeah, just delete all those voice messages, would you?  I’ll look at the emails when I have time.”

Raven nodded. “Done.” 

“Alright, well with that out of the way I think we need to get this expedition started.  I think the first order of business is to go shopping.  We are going to need a couple changes of clothes and t-”

“More clothes?  Seriously?” 

Sunset did not particularly enjoy being interrupted, but she gave Tempest a pass.  Remembering how she felt about the same quirky, human issues when she ran away so long ago.  “Yes, more clothes.  Unless we are on the beach or poolside being out among other humans means you have to be clothed.  It took me a while to get used to it too and as awesome and sexy as you are in that army uniform, you are going to want to have something else to wear too.  Especially if we head out to have fun later or tomorrow.  When we are ready to go home, you’ll want to put that back on just in case so you don’t lose your armor in mirror space on the way back through.  

“Also, probably even more important than clothes shopping is to upgrade Raven’s hardware.  That’s where Twilight will get to really have some fun picking out things to bring back with us.  Finally, we grab a hotel room to stash all our goods and eat.”

“I still think we should head back to Equestria rather than stay here for the entire time window.”

“That would eat too much time and it wouldn’t be much of a vacation if we just went back to the castle every night, Tempest. 
C'mon, loosen up, have some fun.  Look at Gauge, he looks like he’s ready to go have some fun.”

Tempest glanced to her left at Gauge who was standing like a statue with his arms crossed.  She then narrowed her eyes at Sunset, scowling like she often did when dealing with the goldenrod alicorn and her antics. “There is something wrong with you, I just want you to know that.”

Sunset laughed and began to walk down the street. “Captain, there are a LOT of things wrong with me.  Thankfully, that goes for everybody else.”

Twilight quickly fell into step beside Sunset, a sweet smile on her face. “So, where are we going now?”

“Need to make a quick stop at the bank a few blocks away before we do anything else and I figured those two could use the practice to get use to the longer legs.  Especially since I’m in the mood to go dancing at least one night while we are here.”

“Dancing?” Twilight squawked, fidgeting and pulling at her hair, “But you know I dance like a wounded duck, even when I have four legs!”

“Except you got me to teach you and help you out this time,” Sunset replied with a wink. “Trust me, it’s going to be great.” 


----------


The First National Bank was just like most banks.  Your car loan section, your home loan section, a few financial and retirement advisors along with a few tellers that handled the everyday needs of their customers.  The lobby was boring, but not desolate, the décor so-so, as it was designed to be.  Nothing of the extraordinaire to note.  However, this particular branch of the bank held something vital to Sunset Shimmer.  Chosen specifically for its proximity to the portal.  

Back in Equestria, Sunset had debated with herself (while Raven listened patiently) a number of times before the mirror reopened on whether she wanted to access the safety deposit boxes.  In the end she decided it would make things smoother in the long run of their stay... even though it felt like tearing open an old wound.

Sunset smiled at the woman who stepped up to greet them. “Hi.”

“Welcome to First National, how can we help you today?”

“I need to get something out of one of my boxes.  I don’t have the backup physical key with me, but my PAAL still has my access codes, is that okay?”

“Certainly, I just need to check your ID to see if it matches what we have on file.”

Sunset pulled out the hard copy laminated ID card from her wallet and handed it to the woman who held it in front of her terminal.  The camera scanned the image and scramble bar and processed the information.  A second later Sunset’s image came up on screen along with her “current” personal information.

“You’re all set, take the door to your left, the guard will let you in.”  The group began to walk and the woman immediately flailed her arms.  “Oh!  I’m sorry, only authorized box holders are allowed in the vault.  Company policy.”

Sunset gestured to the chairs. “You two can wait there, this won’t take long.”  Tempest grimaced, but understood they were trying to keep it simple.  Plus, all the surrounding security made her feel a bit more at ease.  “Twilight Sparkle is on the joint account.  She doesn’t have her ID on her.  We put it in the box for safe keeping, but you can look her up and do a facial scan to the one on file.”

The greeter nodded and typed a few things before gesturing to the front of the terminal. “Please look directly into the camera, ma’am.”

“Oh!  O-Okay.  Like this?”

The greeter nodded.  A moment later Twilight’s image appeared on screen except that it was not the princess.  She had glasses in the image, her hair was styled different, and if the greeter had been looking closer she would have noticed that the listed height was off by several centimeters.  Thankfully, the greeter only seemed interested in the fact that the face matched their recognition scan. 

“Thank you, Miss Sparkle, go ahead.”

Twilight followed Sunset through the heavy security door where a young man in light tactical gear was standing.  He used his PAAL to unlock the electric security door and gestured.  Sunset nodded her thanks and continued into the box storage vault.

“Sunset, what exactly are we doing here?”

Once the security door was sealed, Sunset let out a long breath and ran a hand down her face.  A moment later she looked up at Twilight, her eyes glassy as if on the brink of tears.

“Sunny?”

“I’m sorry, this is just a bit hard for me.  And seeing her image again, even on a virtual screen.  I just…”

Twilight wrapped her marefriend in a warm embrace that Sunset gladly returned.  They stayed as such for a minute until Sunset finally wiped her eyes and moved to where she knew the secure box was.  She let Raven scan the bar and then began to remotely send the codes for the box to open.

“You can’t do anything in this world without identification," Sunset said evenly.  Focusing on the task at hand to fight down her aching heart.  "You want in somewhere important, ID.  You want to go to college or leave a country, ID.  You need money or a loan or a house or hotel, ID.  Without it you don’t exist or even more dangerously, you DO exist, but you are considered illegal and they drag you away somewhere.  I love this world, but the paperwork and bureaucracy are straight from the bowls of Tartarus itself.  So, just in case we get separated or you want to take Tempest out on your own side adventure or just for just having, I’m getting you one of Twi’s IDs that we keep stored here.  It has all the same access to our money and accounts as mine does.  

"One of the advantages of being on the ground floor of programing the most basic code for the PAALs operating system, Twi made sure to write in some secret backdoor software code so that she could update our information in any number of systems that use the PAALs or its architecture.  She knew… she hoped it would help us live long, worry free lives.  She had been right. 
Hopefully, no one has found that code and patched it.”

“This must be hard for you.  I’m… I really am sorry for what happened to her.  I just… I would not have…”

Sunset smiled and pressed a finger to Twilight’s lips then quickly replaced it with her own lips. “It’s okay.  I will be okay.  I knew coming here meant facing our legacy in more than one way.  But I can handle a little heartache if it means keeping you safe.  And with that in mind.”

Sunset retrieved the box and opened it.  Twilight leaned in and saw a number of identification cards and various other kinds of documents and paperwork.  She grabbed a few and selected one of the ID cards and handed it to Twilight.

Twilight scrutinized the image of her ‘sister’ who was looking back at her with a small smile and her well known black rimmed glasses.  The name on the card however said, Velvet Nightlight.  Before She could ask, Sunset chuckled a bit.  It was a hollow sound lacking any humor.

“Yeah, thought you might be more comfortable with that one.  Twi switched back to her Twilight Sparkle ID before she died so that one would likely be deactivated and using it would send up an information flag.  However, we had several made to rotate our names over the years.  If I’m wrong and it’s too weird I can fish another one out.”

“It’s fine, I like it.  Thank you for trusting me with this, Sunny.”

“It’s more than that.  Sure, I trust you, I love you, but I just… I’m not just replacing her with you.  I need you to know that.  Well, not just know that, but know I mean it.  If I’m ever making you feel like you are the replacement, feel free to whack me upside the head or something.”

“I probably wouldn’t do that, but I understand what you mean.  I just…” Say it… just say it.  Stop waiting and ASK HER!  “Do you feel you are ready to…”

Sunset closed the box and resecured it.  She took Twilight’s hand and smiled, but did not take the bait to continue the conversation.  Instead, she kissed Twilight again and pulled her along. “C’mon, let’s go buy some stuff.” 


----------


Less than an hour later the group of four strolled into the large electronics and phone retail store.  Sunset stood at the door and gestured for her friends to enter, having to push them along to not clog the door as they stared gaping in awe at the number of devices and variety of items available in the ever driving machine of retail capitalism.  Sure, Sunset thought, they could have gone to a smaller store, but judging by Twilight’s hanging jaw and the twitch under Tempest’s eye, this was exactly the right place to be.  

Several employees were about helping customers when a young woman probably just out of high school stepped up and smiled brightly.

“Good afternoon!  Welcome to Electronic Buys, I’m Daisy Jo.  How can I help you today?”

“Hi, I need to upgrade the hardware on my PAAL and I will probably also be getting my hands on a few other things today.”

“I can absolutely help with that.  May I see your current PAAL?”  Sunset turned her hand over and detached Raven from where she had been mounted.  “Oh!  A first generation!  I’m surprised you haven’t come in sooner.”

“Why is that?”

“Well, maybe yours was not a problem, but many owners of the first gen PAALs had to have their AI cores wiped because after two years and some after only one year of use the personality became far too mean and sometimes hostile towards their users.”

Sunset blinked a few times.  “Hostile?  Seriously?  It’s just a phone.  Sure, Raven can get a bit snarky, but then so am I.  That’s how they learn or so I read.  They are still bound by all kinds of safety protocols.  They can’t hack other electronics and outright attack their owners.  Hell, by default the designers wouldn’t even let them swear unless you unlocked that feature.”

“That is all true, however, apparently some users also unlocked many of the safety protocols as well, claiming it made them run faster, and their AIs became excessively mean to their users as a result, including locking them out of their own homes and vehicles, messing with bank accounts, things like that.  There are several bills in legislature that will place limitations on what an AI will be capable of and at least one that may require system wipes after so many years of service.  Not sure if that one will pass, but it was bound to happen given all the bad press.”

Sunset arched an eyebrow and shook her head at the dump truck load of information. “Well, that’s the moron who was using the device’s fault not the PAAL.  The safeties are there for a reason.”

“Stupid is as stupid does,” said Raven in a deep south accent.

“Exactly.”

“Well, regardless,” Daisy Jo continued despite the comment, “as a policy I have to ask if you want to have a full wipe before I can begin any data transfers to a new device.  The new units are faster, lighter and have nearly twice the processing power of this gen one.  Oh, and the holographic display feature without the need of an AR eye piece is a great upgrade.  That comes standard with all version five models as well as the docking port for the new mobile units.”

Sunset nodded and politely waited for the sales person to finish her unnecessary pitch before looking down at her.  Not in a bad or metaphorical way, Daisy Jo was just a head and half shorter than Sunset. “Daisy Jo, I appreciate your honesty and you seem like you enjoy your job, which is good.  So, I’m only going to say this once.  Do NOT erase ANYTHING on my PAAL.  I want her entire local memory and personality matrix transferred AS IS.  I want it on your top model.  Money is not a concern.  Understand?”

Daisy smiled brightly, taking Raven in hand. “Absolutely!  Please wait here.  The transfer will take a few minutes.”

“We’ll browse other merchandise while we wait.”

Sunset returned to Twilight’s side while she was busy admiring a display drone that was controlled by a VR headset.  Sunset remembered when such headsets covered half your face and were so cumbersome they gave you a crick in the neck after an hour or two.  Now, the visor was like a nice pair of sunglasses and the lenses could adjust their opaqueness so that the user could adjust to the world around them and not trip over a table.

“See something you like?”

Twilight shrugged. “It’s fascinating, but it’s nothing a pegasus couldn’t do with a camera in hoof.  Honestly, I think most of this stuff I just want just so I can tear them down and see if we can reverse engineer with Equestrian components.  Although, I was also thinking of maybe getting my own PAAL too.  If that’s not too much trouble.”

“Nah, no trouble.  You just have to understand that a new PAAL won’t act like Raven right out of the box.  They have to spend time with you and learn how to grow along side you.  Could take some getting used to.  Kind of like those new personal students of ours we are supposed to select.”

Twilight beamed, her purple eyes growing brighter. “Oh!  Did you finally pick out a student you want to take under your wing?  I was going to send a letter to Glowy Starlight's family when we got back that I would like to take her on as my personal student.  She has amazing scores for a filly her age and I think I would absolutely love rounding off her social skills as well as her school education, much like I did with Luster Dawn.”

Sunset nodded. “Actually, I’m going to play favorites and cheat a little bit on my student choice, even if he is still on the young side for more than the basics.”  Sunset stepped away from the tablets and drones and placed herself between Gauge and Tempest, draping one arm over each of their shoulders.  The sudden contact broke the spell of awe that had enchanted the two captains.

“Bwhuh?” Tempest said with a defensive jerk to the unexpected contact.  Gauge mostly stayed put.

“How would you two feel about me taking some time to teach Saber his basics as well as prepping him at being my personal student?”

“Wait,” Tempest said with a shake of her head, green eyes focused on Sunset, “are you serious or are you just messing with us?”

“I am completely serious.  Since he’s still so young it would only be for a few hours a day for now, but I will cover his advanced education as he grows.  I can already tell he is going to be powerful judging by his surges alone.  I was the same way.  Plus, this way he gets to be closer to mom and dad anytime you are around and later will get to sit in with either Twilight or I during a few court sessions.  Naturally, his education won’t cost you anything.”

“That is most generous, my princess.  But would that not seem from outside observation like a case of nepotism?” commented Gauge, a rare crack in his usual stoic façade.

Sunset shrugged. “A fair concern, but I have a feeling that once said naysayers see what the colt can do that such worries will fall to the side.  Oh, and I’m a princess,” Sunset’s smile grew mischievous, “I can do what I want.”

Tempest was about to comment further when Twilight let out a small scream and jumped back, stumbling a bit.  Both Sunset and Tempest bolted towards her.  Sunset went low to catch Twilight before she could fall over and hit a display or hurt herself while Tempest placed herself between her princess and what had frightened her.  Tempest’s eyes widened at what now stood before her and she instinctively reached for a weapon that was not there while attempting to power a horn that was also, annoyingly, not present.  

“Hey, what’s the…” Sunset’s eyes traveled upward to the thing that was partially blocked by Tempest, “matter.”

“I am terribly sorry if I startled you, miss.”  Micro servos whined whisper quietly as the machine bent at the waist and knees to extend a hand towards Twilight.  Both alicorns gawked at the human-like robot that stood above them.
“Oh, sweet Celestia… it's…”

“It’s the coolest damn thing I have ever seen!” said Sunset gleefully.  She helped Twilight back to her feet while they both took the robot hand.

Twilight stayed a short distance back.  Sunset, however had no hesitations or concerns of personal space and began inspecting every inch of the robot.  The body was an off white, cream color like a store mannequin with a layer of flexible polymer or acrylic over the joints, which had a faint blue LED glow to them.  Upon closer inspection Sunset could see the fiberoptic wiring as well as a few other cords in the joint and the structural armature.  Whatever material was used had to be robust.

“May I?”  Sunset asked as she gestured to the machine.

“Of course, Shine doesn’t mind, do you?”

“Not at all.  My tactile sensors are sophisticated, but not near as sensitive as human skin.  You would have to try to cause my body harm before it would become uncomfortable.”

“Wait," Sunset gawked again, "you can feel pain?”

“Not exactly.  Just a defensive response to an outside force that could cause damage.  I receive an alert that I am taking damage and need to retreat to preserve my platform.”

“What is your skeletal structure made from?”

The salesperson gladly stepped in. “These are the latest addition to the PAAL Premium line, the Mobile Assistant Unit.  The Model Five can plug directly into the back of the head, here.  And then your PAAL can actually control the body.  The internal structure is mix of aluminum, titanium, and carbon fiber depending on location and need in the body.  The outer shell is carbon fiber and ceramic plates, the joints are high carbon polymer so they are very flexible, which you can really see in the number of facial expressions the unit is capable of.”

“What about power source?  What’s the battery life?”

“That’s the best part.”  Sunset could tell the salesman had been waiting for that question.  “While there is a backup lithium hybrid battery that can be charged on an induction plate the primary power core is the new micro hydrogen reactor.  As long as you have access to some deionized or distilled water you have access to power.  Don't ask how the core works, that's proprietary and the info packet they gave us makes my eyes cross.  Still, the unit has multiple means of charging in addition to inductive plates in the feet.  

“See this discoloration along the shoulders and arms?  They are nano thin solar collectors that supplement the power systems while you are out and about in the day.  If you find yourself without access to the right kind of water or a charger plate you can have your MAU sit outside in standby and charge on sunny day.  And don’t worry about water and electronics because all the most sensitive and proprietary systems are waterproof.”

“That is incredible,” said Sunset gleefully.

“I think it’s kind of creepy looking.”  Sunset turned to scowl at Tempest who just shrugged.  “Just saying what I’m thinking.”

Twilight,” Sunset said, turning back to her fellow princess, “what do you think?”

Twilight made a small face and tapped her chin. “I don’t think I have a bag big enough for something human sized.  How are we supposed to get it home?”

Sunset shrugged. “I say we just throw it through it through the door and see what happens.”  Sunset noticed the quirky face the salesman was flashing her.  “Do you think I could test it and see if my PAAL would like it?”

“Oh, sure!  That’s partly what this model is for.  Shine, please eject primary unit.”

“Ejecting.”  There was a small click sound and the robot bowed its head as if in standby mode, eyes going dark.  The salesman retrieved his PAAL and used the electrostatic charge to connect it to the back of his hand.

Sunset was about to ask about her own PAAL when Daisy Jo returned with a newer, smaller pristine rectangle of glowing glass in hand.  “And here we are.  Sorry it took so long.  You had quite a bit of material stored on your local crystalline drive, but never fear, the transfer was a complete success!”

Sunset took the new PAAL unit and the camera eye focused on her.  A wide array of colors began to flash and finally projected a small light field into the air.  In the center of the field a pony head appeared and began to look about.  “Hey, look at you all three dee rendered.  That is a nice feature.”

“Yes, but it is still limited by the number of cameras and other optical nodes for me to truly see everything.  The faster processor certainly feels nicer though.”

Sunset grinned brightly.  “If you think that’s nice wait till you check this out.”  She handed Raven back to Daisy Jo.  “I’d like her to have a test run of the body, please.”

“Certainly!” Daisy Jo quickly inserted the new pal in the open slot in the back of the head and clicked the unit into place. Raven’s screen shut down and a few seconds later the robot eyes came to life again.  Sunset had to admit it was both incredibly cool and a bit freaky to see the robot blink its eyes even though it did not need to.  Maybe for clearing dust particles?

“Now it usually takes a PAAL a few minutes to get the gyros synced and they will need to take baby steps the first few t-”

Raven quickly took a few large steps, flexed her arms and legs and then turned back to the group that was watching her.  She struck a traditional ‘sexy pose' with one hand on her swayed hips while the other made a come hither motion to Sunset Shimmer.

“Come, child of Celestia.  Kneel before your new Overlord.  Mwhahahaha!”

Tempest scowled, Gauge arched an eyebrow, Twilight blinked multiple times, and both salespeople exchanged worried glanced.

“Oh dear,” said Daisy Jo, “I think your gen one AI is going rogue.”

Sunset, however, grinned until she broke out in a deep belly cackle that left her gasping for air.  When she finally stood up again, with Twilight’s help she had to wipe a few tears from her eyes.  “That was great!  You learned how to improvise dialogue.  Not bad.”

Raven shrugged and grinned.  At least as best as the highly articulate face would let her grin.  She continued to examine the body before finally nodding. “Yes, I think I would like this very much.  Can I have one?”

Sunset nodded. “Hell yeah!  I’ll take it.”  The salespeople smiled, but not the pleasant, ‘we just made the sale of a lifetime’ kind of smile.  It was the, ‘oops, bad news’ kind of smile.

“I do apologize, but this is a display and demo model and is not for sale.”

“Okay, well, can you dig me one out of the back or from the warehouse just like it?  I’m not worried about the price.”

Daisy Jo did brighten a bit at that statement as she ejected Raven and handed her back to Sunset. “Well, we don’t have one here, but let me check with my manager.”

Sunset nodded. “I’ll come with you.  I may need to talk to your manager one on one.”

“Sunset?”

The goldenrod woman held up a finger to Gauge’s concern. “I’ll be right back.  You guys just find some stuff you want to take back home.  Twilight has a bank card that can take care of it.”

The other three ponies in human bodies watch mostly helplessly as their guide and expert walked away.  Tempest leaned in closer to Twilight.  “Does any of this still seem like a good idea to you?”

Twilight grimaced a bit. “Still processing, but Sunset seems happy.”

"Joy."

Twenty minutes passed in relative silence.  Twilight kept checking the wall clock although she really did not have to after the salesman brought her a brand new, in box PAAL that looked identical to Raven’s upgraded hardware glass.  She had only set the most basic of features, but had not come up with a name for hers yet.  Twilight was so engrossed in staring blankly she had not heard the footsteps come up behind her and gasped for a second as her eyes were covered by a set of familiar hands.

“Guess who?”  Despite her small internal turmoil, Twilight smiled and reveled in the scent of the woman pressed up behind her.  Sunset loved a sweet strawberry and pomegranate shampoo that made Twilight’s mouth water each time she caught a whiff.  Her marefriend’s warm breath against her ear sent a delightful shiver down her spine as well.

“I’m pretty good at guessing games, so I think I can say with complete confidence that these hands belong to a beautiful and intelligent being that makes me feel warm and fuzzy all over.”

“Ohhh, good answer.” Sunset’s good mood was intoxicating and Twilight felt her previous concerns evaporate.  “Didya get what you want and ready to head to the next store?”

Twilight glanced about, but did not see a robot body for Raven. “Are we done here?”

“For now.  I had to talk with the manager and then with the warehouse supervisor, which is what took so long, so sorry about that.  Anyhow, I’ll have to check back tomorrow to see if the order arrives, otherwise they assure me it will be here Friday.  I pulled a page from the Canterlot nobility playbook and threw a ridiculous amount of money at them to get things moving, but if that’s what it take to get this for Raven that’s what it takes.”

“Friday?  As in the day we are supposed to head back?  That’s cutting it awfully close, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, but I figure it’s less than an hour from here to the portal so that still gives us plenty of time.  I’ll cross the bridge of what to do if there's a problem when I come to it.  No sense worrying about what I can’t control, right?”

Twilight shrugged. “I don’t know, I worry about those things all the time.”

Sunset kissed the tip of Twilight's nose. “Heh, I know.”
> Chapter 3: Laying the Groundwork
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunset Shimmer had planned to move next to clothes shopping, but the near synchronous growls of stomachs and Raven’s comment about, “stuffing your pie holes” meant that food was the next order of business.  There were no objections.

While standing in line to place their orders at the Garden Grove, Sunset examined what Twilight and the others had selected from the electronics store.  She found five holo-tablets, two AR/VR headsets, a micro movie projector, and the box to Twilight’s new PAAL, which she had still yet to name.

Sunset turned to look at Tempest and Gauge who were, as usual, standing two steps behind her and Twilight. “Did you two pick anything out?”

“I grabbed that projector,” said Tempest with a shrug. “I figured out of all that crap if you could find a way to make more of those and project plays and whatnot on a screen like it showed that would be pretty nice.”

“I held the bag,” Gauge added.  Sunset shook her head and chuckled.

Lunch was a quiet, simple undertaking.  Sunset was thankful that there were still quite a number of vegetarian and soup/salad restaurants available in the city.  While she doubted the smell of cooked meat would have deterred the two captains from sitting and eating, it did spare them all having to deal with the primary human staple that none of them were interested in.  Sunset wanted her friends in a good, relaxed mood for clothes shopping.  The meals were finished in short order and the four were up and moving again.

Sunset never considered herself a fashionista or, honestly, the most trendy when it came to style.  That said, she did learn early on that clothes served as more than just a way to keep warm in a body that lacked essential fur.  There was an art to proper clothing choices on Earth just as much as there was in Equestria.  In a way, perhaps more so.  To most ponies, clothes were a statement of station, wealth, and occasionally accenting what was already there.  There COULD be a sex appeal to it, but for most ponies, clothes were just kind of... there.

For humans, it all mattered.  Every piece said something different.  So much nuance it was headache inducing.  Sunset had learned from compliments by both males and females that she was just as beautiful by human standards as she was by pony.  She learned how to use that to her advantage as a necessity of survival in a world that saw females as the ‘fairer sex’.  

Sunset hated that term and all the connotations that accompanied it.  Truthfully, Sunset did regret some of what she had done in those first couple of years of learning to play the role of a human and would take the memories of those awful deeds to her grave.  In the end, however it had all been a valuable learning experience on what it meant to be human and led her down the path to school popularity and power.  Old regrets aside, Sunset would gladly admit it was also just damn fun to try on new things just to see how they fit.  All previous worries were cast back to the void as they entered The Maxx department store.

“Okay, first, Twily, grab that shopping cart.  Next, let’s grab some stuff for Gauge since there is only one of him and three of us.”

“What exactly are we supposed to be looking for?” asked Tempest more curious than annoyed for once.

Sunset turned to Gauge and smirked at him. “You want something comfortable or stylish?”

Gauge glanced at his wife before finally asking, “Can it be both?”

Sunset grinned and giggled. “Good answer.”  Sunset turned back to Twilight.  “Twily, take Tempest over to the Ladies Section over there and start browsing.  We’ll join you in a few moments.”

“Wait,” Tempest held up a hand as if to protest, “shouldn’t we stick together?  I have no idea what I’m doing.  I don’t do this kind of shopping.  What are we even going to do with all this crap when we are done?”

Twilight stepped between her captain and her marefriend before Sunset could retort or fire off one of her usual snide remarks. “It’s fine, I got this.  I’m used to being stuffed in strange dresses or such for one-time events.  It might actually be nice to pick things for myself for once.”

Sunset nodded. “Those booths in the middle are changing rooms if you want to try something on.  You should be able to eyeball most of the sizes, but you can ask an associate if you have a question.  We’ll meet back up in a few.”  The two princesses nodded and dragged their captains along behind them.

Sunset stopped in the middle of the Men’s Section and held up a couple of t-shirts to Gauge’s chest.  The thestral in human disguise maintained his bemused expression.  She kept the gray cotton shirt with a wolf howling to an oversize full moon while setting the other back.

“Okay, so I have something I need to tell you, but I didn’t want Twilight or Tempest to hear.”

“Strange, but go on.”

Sunset checked one more time to make sure it was just the two of them.  “I want to propose to Twilight when we are done with this trip.  In addition to upgrading Raven-”

“Thank you for that, by the way.”

Sunset smiled and nodded to her PAAL on the back of her hand. “I am going to have to hit a jewelry store tomorrow morning to find the stones and hopefully a setting I like.  It may take a bit of time to explain or hunt for the right jeweler so I may need you to run interference.  That could be anything from wanting to go sightseeing or pretend you have a stomach ache.  I haven't quite figured out what excuse works best.”

Gauge’s yellow eyes brightened and he smiled and nodded. “I will gladly help, but I am confused why you would wait to come here for this.  The rings will not fit your horns and I imagine explaining that to a human jeweler would be… problematic.”

Sunset acknowledged his comment while holding a pair of jeans to Gauge’s waist.  They appeared a bit too small, so she selected another pair that was also denim but had a stone wash pattern to them.  Sweet Mother of mine, his abs are like rock and his bulge is about to break the seams on his pants!  Gah!  I almost drooled on him.  

Sunset shook her head and focused on the question asked. “To begin with, Twilight and I both hate the idea of having rings on our horns.  Yes, unicorn couples traditionally wear their rings for a time, but they almost always take them off for comfort reasons.  So, instead I’m going to go with the traditional zebra token of a connection set of earrings.  A gem in the bottom stud, a connecting chain and a corresponding smaller gem in the top stud.  I can have them made here and should size just right for pony ears with little to no adjustment.”

“Yes, that makes sense and I even like the idea, but again, why here?”

Sunset spread her arms and gestured to all directions. “Look around you, you see all these people?  Not a damn one of them cares who I am.  If I were to walk into a jewelry store in Canterlot or any town in Equestria it would completely ruin the surprise.  Heck, even having a jeweler come to me would get spoiled.  Nosey ass ponies from nobles to news writers would sniff my plans out in a heartbeat.  Also, don’t tell Tempest.”

“I’m not going to lie to me wife unless you make it an order and just between us as friends, I would rather you not do that.”

Sunset grimace and groaned, but nodded.  She did not want to put him in an awkward homelife position. “Okay, fine, but neither of you tell Twilight, THAT is an order.”  

Gauge nodded his thanks.  He then picked up a pair of khaki cargo pants with multiple pouches and a belt built in.  Gauge held it next to his waist just as Sunset had done and nodded. “I like these.”

Sunset grabbed him a three pack of plain boxer briefs and then pointed towards the changing booths. “Time to try some stuff on.”

Twilight Sparkle held a cocktail dress in one hand and a more simple, conservative blouse top in the other.  If they were going to go dancing some time she wanted something that she could move in.  Neither really said ‘pick me’ so she put them back.

“Sunset Shimmer is up to something.  I can feel it.”

Twilight giggled and picked out a pair of yoga pants and a sports bra for Tempest.  They would fit tight, but would likely be comfortable and move well.  Maybe could be paired with a loose dress?  The only time I have EVER seen Tempest in a dress was her wedding day.  No, how about a pair of shorts over the pants so she has pockets.  Oh, I love pockets!

“Tempest, you should know by now that Sunset Shimmer is ALWAYS up to something.  That quirky, beautiful mind of hers is always thinking.  Always plotting.”  Twilight paused, running fingers down the silky material of the dress before her.  “I just wish it would start plotting our future together too.”

Tempest arched an eyebrow.  “Something I should know, Your Highness?”

Twilight shrugged, her lip pouting as if she had just sucked on a lemon. “Just wondering if it will ever be the right time to ask about us.  Or if I’m just being impatient.”

“You mean marriage?”

Twilight nodded. “I don’t want to be rude.  I know she’s been through seven levels of Tartarus over the last few years, but I am ready for us to be… US.  And while I generally prefer things simple and to the point this is a BIG DEAL.   I want to do something grand and that takes planning and logistics, lists of the proper time of day and year and location and weather conditions and, of course, that we not be called away for royal business or some other emergency.  So many different variables.  I hate too many variables.”

Tempest picked up a tank top workout shirt that had a holographic design on it and examined it.  Twilight nodded.  It would go well over the workout top and with the yoga pants. “You sure want my opinion on this?”

“I greatly value your advice as both a friend and captain.”

“Honestly, don’t look at me for an example of the ‘right time and place’.  I got proposed to in a seedy bat pony bar while already pregnant.  You want extravagance, you should be talking to Princess Cadence.  Personally though, you’re overthinking all of this.  Just get a ring, walk up to her, trip the big pain in the backside to the ground and say, ‘marry me.’  Boom, done.  She’ll have to say yes because she’ll be too stunned to say anything else.”

Twilight giggled a bit at the thought while holding up a cobalt blue dress with sheer sleeves, floral pattern top with exposed shoulders and knee length skirt that had just the right amount of frills to it.  If she could find the right boots or shoes to go with it, it would be perfect.  Ohhh, it even has a little matching jacket with pockets in case it gets chilly out.  So pretty.

“You’re right, I probably am overthinking it.”  Twilight glanced up to find Sunset handing Gauge a few clothes and directing him to a room before strolling over to her.

Sunset grinned and let out a little whistle at what Twilight had in hand. “For a night out?”

“You said we were going on a date, possibly dancing.  I want to feel comfortable.”

“And look smoking hot while doing it.  Yes, definitely that one.”  Sunset kissed Twilight on the cheek before moving to the undergarments section. “Just going to get us a six pack of comfortable cotton panties and some cheap bras.  You think we’re all about the same size?”

Twilight looked down at her chest then over to Tempest who suddenly felt highly self conscious that the topic was once again drawn to her misplaced teats.  She was unaccustomed to having her parts examined so closely by any creature other than her husband.

“Just pick what you think is best,” Twilight smiled brightly, “I trust you.”

Sunset shot them both her finger guns and grabbed a black, white, and beige bra off the rack in the size that she knew matched her own.  A moment later Gauge emerged from the booth.

“I apologize, princess, but I could not figure out how to, um, get out of this uniform to try these on.  However, the numbers on the waist band did match from what I could see.”  He wiggled his fingers as if to emphasize his point.

Sunset rolled her eyes and smacked her forehead. “Don’t worry about it.  Let me grab something for myself and we’ll just roll with what we have and get a hotel room.  We can practice with the fine art of finger usage and then settle in for the evening.  I’ll show you how some of the tech works then we order room service dinner.  Sound good?”  The others nodded in agreement.


----------


The Hunnington-Filmore hotel had always been a favorite of Sunset’s.  They had an excellent vegetarian menu, quality staff, and both indoor and outdoor pools.  Sadly, Sunset was not sure if they would have time for swimming, not to mention she had not taken the time to buy bathing suits and skinning dipping would bring the wrong kind of attention down on their heads.  Perhaps next time.

Without hesitation, Sunset requested an executive suite with an adjoining room connected through their large bathroom that had two private toilets, a walk-in shower, a soaker tub with jacuzzi jets, and three sinks.  The rooms were no less appointed with two large beds in each room, small sofas, balconies, and kitchenette and bar.

Twilight attempted to inquire the cost of such luxury, but Sunset simply held up a finger and said, “If you have to ask the price, you can’t afford it.”  The desk attendant finished setting up the transaction and sent the unlock codes to Raven.

“Thank you for business!” said the bubbly attendant.

The four Equestrians did not say much in the elevator or on the walk to the rooms.  It was not until Raven had unlocked the door and Sunset gestured for them to enter did Twilight gasp and both captains had to be ushered along from their gawking.

“Sunset, I have been in some of the most luxurious hotels in the world.  Heck, I live in a castle.  This is… this has to be costing you a small fortune.”

“Different world, different standards.  While not cheap, this is not even the most expensive room in this hotel let alone the most expensive in the world.”  Sunset dropped her bags and flopped on the bed with a long relaxing sigh.  “Explore all there is here for a bit if you like.  Bathroom is over there if you need to freshen up.  Considering all that’s happened, plus I’m sure Twilight wants to tinker with her PAAL, we’ve earned the break.  Like I suggested earlier let’s just order dinner and stay in tonight.”

Sunset felt the mattress dip as someone sat on it next to her.  She smiled without having to open her eyes when a hint of lavender and parchment tickled her nose.  Sunset smiled more when she felt fingers casually play with some of her hair which was no doubt sprawled all over their bed.  Said fingers next brushed the hair back from Sunset’s face, tracing down her cheek, over her chin, and down the side of her neck.  Sunset let out a quiet yet playful moan.

“So…”

Sunset opened one eye slightly. “So?”

“What…” Twilight paused, reconsidering her words.  “Have any ideas on what I should name my PAAL?”

“It should mean something to you.  A past assistant you had or friend you miss.  In a strange way it’s kind of like coming up with a fictional character name for a game of O and O or such.  If you really want to make it seem weird you could compare it to naming a child.”

Twilight spotted Tempest pointing to the other room and dragged Gauge with her so they could talk privately.  “Do you think of Raven as an equivalent of a child to you?”

It was a good question and one Sunset had contemplated before, if not deeply or with much concern.  Still, Twilight deserved an answer. “In a way.  She is my friend, that I have no doubt.  But she is also the way she is because of me.  I’ve kept her by my side for years now.  We’ve traveled all over this country and even through the mirror.  Her personality matrix was shaped by those experiences and by me like a sculptor with a lump of clay.”

“Did you just compare me to dirt?”

“We are the clay and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.”

“Bible quotes from you?” commented Raven with an undertone of amusement to her voice.

“Nearly every hotel I have ever stayed in had a Gideon in one of the drawers, so I read the thing… more than once actually.  Need I remind you I have an eidetic memory?  Besides, there are nuggets of truth in all things if you're willing to see them.” Sunset took Twilight’s hand and pressed the palm into her nose and lips.  “I was lost for so long.  Rudderless atop a sea of alcohol and misery.  I would have continued to be lost if not for you both.  You two are so damn important to me.  So yeah, even naming your phone can be as important as a child.”

Twilight looked down at her own PAAL that had not said much, but it did not know her that well yet and was most likely just observing her, trying to determine what was the best way to be of assistance.  What would she name a child if she were handed one?  Could she voice that old dream out loud?  Could she tell her lover she DID want a foal of her own?  Twilight bit her lip and shook her head slightly.  No, not yet.

Sunset shifted a bit. “You okay, Twily?”

Twilight nodded and brightened, once again using her hand to brush hair over Sunset’s ear and down the side of her face.  Be it a human or pony face, Twilight loved staring longingly into teal eyes and touching her face gently.  Twilight's eyes next turned to her PAAL stuck to the back of her hand.  “PAAL, do you know who I am?”

“You are my owner and user.  Current account information lists you as Velvet Nightlight.”

“Please call me, Twilight.”

“Preference saved.”

Twilight nodded. “How do I give you a name?”

Twilight’s PAAL flashed a few colors across the screen. “My customization preferences are now open.  You may change them anytime you like.”

“Very well, I would like to call you, Smartypants.”

“Hello Twilight, I am Smartypants.  How may I help you?”

Sunset held up Raven and winked at her.  The animated pony rolled her eyes. “Did I sound that bad in the beginning?”

“Yeah, but that’s all part of the experience I think.”  Sunset giggled a bit and Twilight joined in.  “I wonder how long it will take Isabella to get jealous.”

Before Twilight could comment there was a knock on the bathroom door.  Both princesses chimed, ‘come in’ together.  Tempest opened the door and stood at the threshold with a look that was one part annoyed, one part pleading.  She pointed at her army uniform and sighed.

“How do I get out of this thing?  These buttons are so damn small and I have no magic and, and these… fingers… Just… I need help.  Please.”

Sunset rolled off the bed and examined the uniform.  She tried to keep her expression neutral, but spotted Gauge sitting on the bed in the opposite room, also still in uniform, and her grin became Cheshire cat wide.  “Permission to strip your wife?”

Gauge smirked in turn. “Permission granted.”

“Ugghh.  You just had to make it weird, didn’t you?”

“Oh, quit being a big baby.  You think I had it any easier the first time?”  The smile faded from Sunset’s face as she set to work unbuttoning the uniform coat.  Tempest swallowed her retort at being called a baby.  The reality sinking in that the mare turned woman before her had been through this all before and more so, had done it alone.

“I’m sorry,” said Tempest Fury barely above a whisper, her eyes downcast as she turned in on herself a bit.  The quiet vulnerability surprised Sunset and she stopped messing with the uniform and necktie to meet the solar captain’s eyes.  “How did you… no, that the wrong question.  Why?  Why would you leave Equestria for all this, this strangeness?  I can’t feel my magic and that is terrifying enough on its own.  I’m constantly checking down, worried I’m going to trip over my legs walking upright on these… feet you said?  I feel weak, vulnerable, naked, and that has nothing to do with the clothes.  I hate feeling like this.”

Twilight piqued up. She had heard snippets over the last many years but had never had the courage to ask Sunset about those early days when she ran away and what it must have been like.  Never wanting to make her friend relive the tale unless it was on her terms to tell.  It had been hard enough for her that first time through the mirror and she had Spike to help keep her grounded.  Sunset had no one.

Raven was always listening, that was part of her basic programing so that she could best assess and give advice or suggestions.  Every PAAL included extensive and detailed information and research on human psychology and what to expect or diagnose when dealing with all the variety of mental issues and quirks that came along with the human operators.  Raven had found over the years that Sunset Shimmer was often contradictive in her complexity.  Perhaps all creatures were, since Raven had now had a chance to interact with more than just humans.

Sunset was sarcastic, crass, easy to angry to the point of dangerously violent and that was just her without coffee.  At the same time, she was incredibly intelligent, creative, adaptive, and compassionate, always concerned with the feelings of others and would often put their needs before her own.  She had a ’mental armor’ as it was sometimes called that was difficult to penetrate, rarely leaving herself off guard enough to talk about her past and what had shaped the fire haired demi-goddess into being she was now.

Sunset nodded, silently coming to a decision.  Her smile was thin and full of melancholy, fingers more playing with the uniform components than removing them. “Well, keep in mind I did not know what was over here when I ran away.  I was, shock of all shocks, a stupid filly who was arrogant, manipulative, and easy to anger when I did not get what I was after.  Celestia treated me like she treated all the other students, with respect, but with certain expectations.  My expectations were just higher than others as the personal student of the princess.  Twilight can vouch for that.  Not making an excuse for myself or her really.  We both messed up a lot, badly.

“Long, painful story short, I wanted wings.  I was willing to do anything to get them.  Celestia said I was not ready and honestly, she was right.  We fought and I thought I was being thrown out onto the streets to fend for myself by my mentor and the most important parental figure I had ever known.  Celestia said later on she was just trying to curb my ego and arrogance, humble me or some half baked reasoning like that.  Mom… really didn’t know how to BE a mom.  So, trying to stick me out in the doghouse for a bit until I calmed down was her answer and I was having none of that.  So, I ran. 

“Ironically though, by jumping through that mirror with only a few essentials that I could quickly cram into a saddlebag while the guards were disabled and not clue one what I was stepping into I ended up being exactly where I was afraid I would end up in Canterlot.  Cold, alone, homeless, and powerless.”

Sunset shuddered for a moment.  Tempest, hesitantly, reached out and stroked Sunset’s forearm a few times.  The rare gesture of kindness helped Sunset continue. 

“I hit the ground running, well, more like hunch stumble crawled with my forelegs that were now arms and no hooves to speak of for a good two or three blocks.  I had no idea how to stand or walk on two legs at the time.  I scraped my knees a few times to where blood was running down my shins.  Once I was certain no guards were chasing me or Celestia herself I found a hiding place and tried to think about what was going on.  Oh, and I cried, a lot.  I ended up sleeping in an alley that night.  Thankfully the mirror gave me a jacket to keep warm.  

“It took some time, but eventually I found my way back to the poral only to find it closed.  I knew from Star Swirl’s notes it had a time dilation limit, but I had no idea it had been that close to the end of the alignment.  Call it fate or destiny or whatnot.  Either way, I was trapped and I did what anyone would have done.  I panicked.  I had no idea where I was, I had no magic, no food I knew I could eat after I finished off some dried bread that had been in my bag, no papers or ID to prove who I was, certainly had no idea what to do next.”

“Sunset.”

Sunset glanced over her shoulder at Twilight who was on the brink of tears herself and forced a kinder smile to reassure her it was fine. “I ended up eating out of trash cans for about a week or so.  By the second week I had lost a lot of weight and was sick from some of the spoiled food.  I had not showered in two weeks, I was covered in dried blood and vomit.  I was terrified to approach let alone speak with any of the locals.  After all, I had smelled cooked meat and seen them eating it like voracious dragons and griffons.  I figured I would be next if I appeared weak and vulnerable to their eyes.

“Eventually, I came back to the statue and mirror portal.  I figured I was going to die soon and had this delirious idea at the time Celestia could hear me if I was next to it so, I punched the base stone a few times while I cried.  I vaguely remember screaming at it for Celestia to let me back in.  Swearing that she would be sorry for killing me or some huge pile of bullshit like that.  I guess it was hearing the name of the school principal that caught the attention of the janitor or campus security guard, can’t remember who found me first.  I was pretty out of it by then.  Regardless, they contacted Principal Celestia, Earth’s mirror counterpart to the princess, and she helped get me to a hospital so I could be treated.  

“After they got me out of the danger zone health-wise I was sent to a homeless shelter not far away where they grilled me on where I came from who my parent’s were, the usual stuff.  I gave them a shitacular story about being on the run from an abusive family and needing to start a new life.  The shelter workers showed me only the bare minimum of kindness, but they did answer all me questions as best they could.  Not really their fault, they had probably grown numb to it all.  Every runaway has a sob story.  But I got cleaned up, got clean food in me, and got registered to go to CHS.  I think about one lunar cycle had passed by then.

“After than it was a series of bad decisions and dealing with bad people.  Not great examples of humanity.  I… I was… they did…”  Sunset wiped a tear away.  “I did what I felt I had to.  It takes strength to survive.  I thought at the time that meant being the meanest, cruelest, and at the same time smartest and most cunning, like living amongst a pack of wolves.  You were either a hunter or you were meat, to be used, abused, and discarded.  And that did work for a time.  But I was lonely even amongst others.  Even after I became better integrated in high school social society and could have been kinder.  It’s easy to be mean, but I already knew that.  It took a certain determined Princess of Friendship to show me that there was more to life than just surviving and that there are other kinds of strength.”

“I’m so sorry you went through all that.  I just… damn.”

Sunset smiled more genuine and continued to undo buttons on Tempest’s uniform shirt. “It’s fine now.  I survived.  I learned to live again.  Good and bad experiences shape us into who we become, but we are not a stone in a river.  We can choose how those experience affect us.  At the end of the day, no matter what universe I live in, no matter what body my heart and soul wear, I am Sunset Shimmer, and I refused to die whimpering.  When I go, it will be kicking and screaming the whole way and every universe in existence will remember my name.”

“Now that I believe,” said Tempest with a smirk.

Sunset finished with the buttons, pulled the tie off, and opened the shirt.  Her eyes widened and she went, “Huh.”

“What?”

A smirk crept across Sunset’s face. “Nothing bad, that’s… that’s just a really nice, unexpected bra the mirror gave you is all.”  Tempest looked down at the strange harness that was keeping her ‘boobs’ as Sunset had called them in place.  It was black with a floral pattern and appeared to be partially see through, able to easily make out her nipples against the material.  “I wonder…”

Before Tempest could comment, Sunset reached behind the solar captain and pulled down the zipper along the back of the skirt and the green material fell to the ground. Just like the bra, the panties were also made of a black sheer material with a floral pattern and perfectly accentuated Tempest’s firm toned bottom.  Sunset stepped back and nodded while grinning.

“Damn, you are hot.”

“Wha, what?!  But, but I look like… are you… just…” Tempest blushed profusely and tried to pull the shirt slightly more closed.

Sunset could see Gauge admiring his wife’s backside with unblinking adoration, a lustful hunger to his eyes.  She suspected he did not have any issues at all seeing the beauty that the solar captain could not no matter her form.  “I know it’s not a body you are used to, but trust me, you look great.  I’m sure Gauge would agree.”

“Without hesitation.  My wife’s true beauty has always been who she is and that beauty carries over no matter the body that stands before me.”

Tempest did not appear entirely convinced, still trying to hide herself behind barely functioning hands.  Sunset figured she just needed a little more adjustment time and was thankful she had splurged for two rooms after all.  They were on vacation.  They all needed some fun ‘personal’ time with their respective others.  And with that mischievous thought in mind… 

“The new stuff just slips on over your head and legs so I imagine you can handle that.  Want me to strip Gauge now just to be fair?”

Upon hearing those words, Tempest’s legendary glare that made recruits whimper and dragons jealous at how it could melt steel returned in a flash.  “No, thank you.  I think I can handle it from here.”

Sunset grinned wider. “I really don’t mind.”

“I got it.  Come get us when the food is here.”  With that, Tempest retrieve her fallen skirt and closed the bathroom door on their side of the two rooms.  Sunset continued to smile and giggled because it felt good.

“You know,” commented Twilight, who had been sitting quietly through the whole exchange. “It has been a long time since I last had hands.  I think I could use some help with my buttons too.”

Sunset turned, licked her lips, and made a few grabbing motions with her hands.  “I’m at your service, princess of mine.”
> Chapter 4: Just Making Sure (Mature content warning)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunset Shimmer hated mornings.  This was a fact known well by all who had attempted to wake her early.  Visiting dignitaries were warned, new guards were warned, (unless being pranked by fellow guards) The Gods themselves were no doubt aware.  However, sometimes it was necessary to get an early start.  Because of that, Sunset had quietly asked Raven to chime when the clock turned seven and to use a different chime that was less obnoxious than she usually did.

Dinner the night before had been quiet and pleasant.  Caesar salads, vegetarian pasta, and bread along with a bottle of reasonable white wine because, duh, vacation.  Why the heck not?  That was followed by a few hours of snuggling on the couch with Twilight while she read the user’s manual on her PAAL and Sunset caught up on world events she missed.  Gauge and Tempest spent those same few hours asking questions about everything they came across on the TV or holo panel as they were more often called now.  As part of Sunset’s next day plan, they all turned in relatively early knowing she wanted to get up early.  Otherwise, she would have ignored the chime that sounded like ‘Ain’t My Bitch’ done on a xylophone.

Sunset carefully unwrapped herself from Twilight, the other woman making a few murmurs and grumbles in protest to the loss of heat upon her back.  She quicky wrapped her lover in the blankets and stared down briefly considering jumping back under the covers while she tried to force her brain to kickstart.  A gentle knocking on the bathroom door and whispering of her name was both unexpected and the jolt she needed to get moving.

Sunset stumbled her way towards the bathroom with all the grace of bad zombie movie ghoul, automatically grabbing Raven and attaching her to the back of her left hand like she had done so many times before.  She ran her right hand down her face and rubbed the crust from her eyes.  Did she tell Gauge to listen for an alarm?  Had he slept next to the door and waited for her to awaken?

Raven’s screen lit up and the animated pony caught a glimpse of her owner. “Uh, Sunset, don’t you think you sho-”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m checking it out.  Please, keep it down and don’t wake Twilight.”

“Understood, but that was not what I was going to say.”

Sunset opened the bathroom door, stepped in and turned to close the door behind her with as little sound as possible.  Thankfully, the auto lights were already set to come on a lower, less painful intensity for early morning.  Sunset blinked a few more times before eyes widening more at finding Fog Gauge, her captain of the night guard standing there completely naked.  His eyes were wide, jaw hanging open and he sucked in a deep breath.  The guard blinked before his body shuddered and his stance became military ridged.  

Sunset found he had not been the only one standing slack jawed.  Naturally, her eyes feasted as they wandered all over the presented male specimen before her.  Like his pony body, Fog was ruggedly fit and sculpted as a quality soldier befitting his rank should be.  That physique translated perfectly to human form with a perfectly chiseled chest, strong, well defined arms that could probably hold her and another body up without straining, ripped abs that were so tight and rippled that Sunset was certain that if she ran her fingers down them… or her tongue, they would feel as hard as a wall of stone.  

Sunset’s eyes continued downward.  She could not look away.  She did not want to.  It was right there.  It.  Was.  Glorious. 
Sunset’s mouth began to water, her heart sped up to where she could hear it thumping loudly in her ears and her legs began to shake.  Gauge’s massive cock was just hanging there, semi-hard already even in the cool morning air.  No doubt aroused when she had turned to close the door, presenting her bent over backside to him like a mare in heat.  Heat being the operative word because Sunset felt her entire body flush as she continued to stare.  It was also then that Sunset realized another thing about the situation.

“Oh.”  Sunset looked down at herself and realized that she too was completely naked.  Oh goddess!  I hadn't flashed my panty covered ass, I flashed him... EVERYTHING.

They were ponies after all.  They almost always slept naked and the weather had been pleasant enough that jammies had not even crossed her mind to be added to the shopping list yesterday.  Sunset felt her nipples harden as the carnal parts of her brain pumped more hormones through her system in response to what she was seeing.  She shuddered fully much like he had a minute ago and it had nothing to do with the air temperature, but the small room did suddenly feel warmer.  Sunset felt much of that heat building quickly between her legs.  Who needs coffee when you can wake up to THAT!  Holy FUCK, Tempest!  Mama like!

“G-Good morning, my princess.  I apologize if I woke you.  I know you said you wanted to run your errand early, but a string of thoughts occurred to me last night that I wished to ask since I am unfamiliar with human anatomy.”

“Uh huh,” was all Sunset could manage as her eyes continued to feast upon the male specimen before her.  She had to fight down her desires to reach out and touch… everything.

As if he understood exactly what she was thinking, because perhaps he did, Gauge gestured down to his penis and Sunset’s eyes gladly followed.  “I… am hoping to enjoy some... intimate time later with my wife, but I am concerned about what the mirror has done to my…”

“Cock, dick, shlong, magic stick, gloriously large and thick, baby making manhood of a pleasure rod.”

“Uh, yes.” Gauge tried to keep from smirking, but he did anyway.  He could tell Sunset was absolutely mesmerized by his body and it probably should have made him more uncomfortable, but truth was, he was enjoying it and the view that was before him as well.  He was a thestral by training and by choice.  His loyalty and dedication to the Princesses of Equestria was without question and without limit.  That being considered, Gauge's mind wandered back to his training when Luna had informed him as she informed all thestrals that one side effect of the ritual, be it accidental or by design, was an increased libido. 

Since the first time Fog Gauge had laid eyes upon Sunset Shimmer after she stepped out of the mirror, which he thought was just an ornate piece of glass, he had found her breathtakingly beautiful.  What was there not to like?  She was a tall, powerful alicorn with gloriously taunt curves, wavy mane and tail the color of wildfire, and the face of the goddess that she was.  His heart had stopped, he swore it, only to beat faster in attraction and it was only his rigorous training that had kept him calm and professional that first day.  Unlike many others, he enjoyed her fiery personality and strange, sometimes abrasive quirks.  Gauge loved strong mares, strong in body, strong in spirit.  He would be lying if he had not fantasized about Sunset Shimmer more than once when his mind wandered.

Though the body before him was not that of an alicorn pony, but instead a human woman, his mind’s eyes still saw her and saw how sexy and beautiful she was.  As he stood there drinking all of her in, he could smell her rising arousal.  He could see how hard and inviting her nipples were, he could see how red her cheeks had grown, and below that small patch of crimson fur he could see her vaginal lips begin to flush and moisten with desire.  It was all causing his own body to react in kind.

“If you are asking if there is something wrong with your cock,” Sunset said in a low, husky voice. “I assure you from what I can see it looks perfectly normal for a human… well, maybe better than normal.”

“So, this… this is what they are supposed to look like?”  Sunset nodded as her right hand instinctively slipped between her legs and rubbed her engorging lips briefly before she remembered where she was and stopped, but her blushing face gave everything away.  Gauge had seen the action and his penis throbbed and pulsed to full erection in turn.  He needed to leave while he still had a grasp of self control. “O-Okay.  Good.  That… that is really all I wanted to, wanted to make sure of.”

He started to turn away when Sunset raised a hand.  “W-Wait a second, please.”  Sunset bit her lip as her breathing hitched.  “Let me check something.  I just…. I just have to know.”

Gauge turned back.  Sunset drew back and paused for just a moment longer before whatever great battle was warring in her mind came to a conclusion and she sank down to her knees directly before him, close enough to touch.  “Princess?”

“Just… just let me check something.”  Sunset set Raven down next to the sink and reached out with both hands, wrapping them gently around Gauge’s dick and began to stroke it.  Her thumb and middle finger could not touch at the center girth. Goddess, he’s so thick.  

Gauge had to put a hand on the sink to steady himself from the shudder than racked his body unexpectantly.  All she had done was touch him.  But those hands, those soft, experienced hands knew exactly where to touch him to send jolts of electric pleasure he had not anticipated.  It was then that his early morning, foggy brain remembered that Sunset Shimmer had spent an unspecified amount of time with human males as well as stallions.  She knew exactly what she was doing.  The logic part of his brain was telling him to stop this before it went too far, but his princess had asked him to wait, so he took it as an order just as he was trained to.  And in truth, he was not feeling very logical at the moment.  Quite the opposite in fact as he let a low growl vibrate his throat. 

Fog wanted to grab the back of Sunset’s head and shove his penis into his princess’s waiting mouth.  He wanted to feel her tongue upon his body and in turn his tongue upon hers.  He wanted to feast upon her dripping marehood.  And the dark recesses of his mind called upon him to plunge deep inside the beautiful and willing mare before him.  To hilt his sword in her over and over again and BREED her with every drop of seed waiting to burst forth from his swollen and twitching love sack.  With each touch, each rapid heartbeat he felt his self restraint ebbing and he both loved and hated at being so close to the edge.  She truly was a goddess with undeniable power over him.

“What… what are you looking f-for?  Why am I… Why do I feel so…”

“Ridiculously horny?”

“Y-Yes.”

Sunset continued to stroke him with one hand while the other reached under and massaged his sizable scrotum sack that twitched at her gentle yet strong touch.  He moaned again as she squeezed the balls within, rolling them about in her palm.  More shockwaves racked Gauge’s body and his legs shook in response.  “Humans and ponies both love sex, at least most of us that is.  But ponies get used to seeing nudity all day long.  Tails offer a minimum of personal modesty if any, but we tend to have better control of our sexual desires because we are just not driven by that NEED.  According to data I have found we have relatively low hormone and pheromone levels most of the time except when a mare goes into heat and then… yeah.  Humans, however, don’t have a heat cycle.  They are ready to be fucked, to be bred nearly all year long.”

“W-Which means?”

Sunset plunged her face into Gauge’s crotch and glided her tongue up the length of his shaft giving small kisses along the sides of it until she reached the tip and wrapped her mouth completely around the head, a few inches disappearing behind her lips.  She flicked her tongue against the sensitive underside of tip and greedily swallowed the dollops of precum that ejected from the head.  Sunset moaned at the delightful flavor and breathed in deep his salty and sweet musk.  

Gauge could not suppress his own groan of pleasure that escaped his throat as he threw his head back and closed his eyes.  It was hardly the first time a mare had taken him into her mouth, it was not even his first experience with an alicorn princess.  But his mind was lost in a hazy red fog and he could feel his heart pounding in his ears at the erotic sensations and smells.  Gauge could hardly believe what was happening.  And then.  The pleasure stopped.  

Fog panted and his eyes refocus on the woman that was now standing before him, her body beginning to glisten with a slight sheen of sweat like his own.  She was just as tall as he was.  His nose at her nose, his lips at her lips, his throbbing, fully erect penis lined up with the wet gap between her legs.  

Sunset stepped forward, pressing her firm, round breasts into his chest.  Delectable, hard nipples that were begging to be sucked upon felt like tiny electric spears poking right into his skin.  She felt so warm in the cool morning air.  Gauge panted and shuddered again as he felt his length glide easily between her legs and along her puffy, hungry labia lips, absolutely coating him with her dripping sex lubricant.

“Fuck.  That feels so good.”

“Y-Yes, it does.” 

His hands, still shaking a bit, skimmed across her hips where cutie marks should have been and each cupped and squeezed firm, round ass cheeks, eliciting another small pleasurable moan from the woman who was currently before him.  With instinct as his driving force, his hips slipped back a bit and he gently thrust forward again until his rock hard abs were flush against her delectably toned belly.  He felt Sunset’s legs squeeze together in delightful pressure, further pressing his cock against her wet pussy lips.  But not in.  Oh, how he desperately wanted in that dripping hot furnace between her legs.  His carnal desires were screaming at him to brave that burning crucible and feel the depths of her loins.  To penetrate her until his tip kissed her waiting womb that was begging to be fill with a massive load of HIS seed.  And he knew her body wanted that too.

“It means…” Sunset started again, shuddering at the feeling of the log between her legs.  Gauge too felt her tremble and he hissed, trying to bare the fangs he did not currently have.  “It means, in these bodies, as humans we are hungry for sex nearly all the time and mares can become pregnant just as easily.  Do you understand?” Sunset whispered the last part in his left ear, her right hand stroking the side of his face a moment.  Fingers snaked to the back of Gauge's head and pulled him closer to plant a gentle kiss upon his lips.  Gauge tried to press deeper for a second kiss, bending his knees ever so slightly to angle for the penetrating thrust, but Sunset pulled back and shook her head.  In that single lust filled, tunnel vision moment, Gauge suddenly remembered where they were and who he was currently with.  His vision finally began to clear.

“Your wife is a very, VERY lucky mare.  And you are a lucky stallion… heh, in more ways than one.”  Sunset smirked, teal eyes locked with yellow ones.  “But then, you already knew that.”

Gauge nodded in understanding and his breathing began to slow and even out.  Hesitantly, painfully, he stepped back, his raging penis softened a little more with each steadying heartbeat as he forced down his lustful urges.  “I know.  And thank you for… not going too far.  That was... I’ve never felt so close to being so... animalistic.  It’s frightening… and invigorating.  I… I hope that this does not change things between us.”

“It’s okay.  We’re okay.  I just… I just wanted to know how it felt, at least a little bit.  Guess I should have taken Aunt Luna up on that offer to spend time with you when I could have, huh?”  Sunset shrugged and smiled warmly.  

“I would have enjoyed that as well I think.”

Sunset’s smile widened to a toothy grin.  Gauge watched with wide eyes as she unexpectantly reached between her legs again and moaned as two fingers easily penetrated her sopping wet folds.  She thrust them in and out a number of times, faster and faster while Gauge simply watched, his jaw slightly agape.  He felt his hardness beginning to return as his heartbeat sped up again.  Then, Sunset’s body shook, she clamped her legs around the thrusting hand as she bit into a finger on her free hand to stifle her pleasured scream.  

Wait, did she just…

A moment later, Sunset sighed and raised her soaked and glistening fingers.

“Open your mouth.”  Gauge did so without hesitation.  She slid the fingers in and he licked and suckled the appendages without having to be ordered.  The taste was exquisite.  Sweet, with a slight salty undertone and hints of exotic fruit that he could not quite name.  Slowly, Sunset retracted the fingers.  The smile never leaving her face.  “Now, we’re even.”

“Delicious.”

Sunset giggled and smiled brightly as she moved to wash her hands and dry her sweat with a washcloth.  “Thank you.  Twilight would agree.”

“And you love her very much, yes?”

“Yes.”

Gauge nodded, genuinely relieved. “Good.”

The bathroom door opened behind Gauge and Tempest Fury stumbled in making her way directly to the toilet without so much as acknowledging their presence, shutting the privacy door behind her.  After a slightly uncomfortable moment of the other two occupants exchanging glances and quirky smiles, listening to Tempest relieve herself, the other mare exited the small water closet.  She paused to stretch her tawny, limber form, her body completely lacking clothing as well. 

Tempest finally blinked a few times and looked left at her naked husband then right at a naked Sunset Shimmer.  She blinked a few more times and took a few sniffs, arching an eyebrow at them.  “Do I want to know what is going on here?”

“Princess Sunset has an early morning errand to run and asked that you keep Princess Twilight occupied while she does so.”

Tempest’s eyes traveled downward and remained fixed upon her husband’s penis, which not so surprisingly began to rise again at the attention of another beautiful female in the room.  “Okaaaay, that's more than a little suspicious, but I’m sure I’ll get a good reason for why later.  However, I would like a reason now for why you are both just standing here looking at each other’s bits, getting all worked up.”

Sunset’s smirk could only be described as cheeky as she pointed a finger at Gauge’s growing penis. “Gauge wanted me to inspect his cock, make sure it was correct and ready for fucking your brains out.  Preferably later after we get back from a night out, I think.”

Tempest flushed profusely even though she tried to fight it and pretend she was not.  Sunset did not need her empathy powers to read all the different emotions raging through the other woman in those few, partially tense seconds.  Knee jerk reaction versus sworn duty, a guard's dilemma.  Jade eyes scanned teal for any clue, any break in mental defense, but none was to be had.  Logic told Sunset that the other captain would not dare attack her even if Gauge had been balls deep and about to blow.  

While in human form with no magic Tempest had no chance beating Sunset and they both knew it.  More so, who would have been more deserving of a beat down, him or her?  Tempest finally nodded before her face twisted in scrutinizing inquiry.  She reviewed the words that had been said and one caught her attention. “Inspect?”

“Well, yeah, look at it.  Seriously, take it all in.  It looks different than a pony cock sure, but the shape has its own unique benefits and just… WOW!”  Sunset clamped her hand down on Tempest’s shoulder, causing the solar captain to flinch slightly at the unexpected and strong contact.  “I would be jealous you get to ride that magnificent cock anytime you like except for the fact that you two really are perfect together.  Although, I wouldn’t mind watching that monster slide in and out of you some time because again, WOW!”

Tempest groaned and rubbed her eyes with her balled up hands.  “You are so WEIRD.  Don’t you have a marefriend in the other room?”

Sunset beamed. “I do!  I think I’ll brush my teeth and wake her up with a kiss.”  Sunset quickly retrieved the toothbrush she had claimed last night that the hotel had provided and quickly went to work.  Before Tempest and Gauge left the bathroom Sunset gestured for them to wait.

“Tempest, I mean it.  You really are a lucky mare and I am happy for you two because THAT is the most perfect example of the male species I have ever met and I don’t mean just physically.  But seriously, don’t leave him hanging.  If you know what I mean.”  Gauge smirked and Tempest roller her eyes.  “I’ll meet you outside your room in about ten minutes, okay?”

“I’ll be ready.”

Sunset retrieved Raven who had remained surprisingly quiet during the entire exchange and sauntered back to her own room, quietly closing the door behind her.  The moment it was quiet, the screen once again lit with a pony face who was eyeing Sunset carefully.  The redhead was taking in carful, meditative breaths.  Raven had seen her do such before when trying to control her emotions.

“I did not think you were going to stop.  You have not showed much in the way of restraint in the past.”

Sunset nodded and smirked, also proud of her self restraint. “You’re right.  Truth is, I could have my way with him anytime I want and he would not stop me.  Even in Equestria.  But I like Tempest too much to do that to her.  Even Luna never ordered thestrals that were married to service her.  Besides, there is a certain someone right there who means more to my heart than just getting my lusty lady rocks off and quenching the heat between my legs.”

Raven nodded. “That is good to know.  I would hate to have spent time contacting and conversing with a jeweler’s PAAL for the last several hours to set up a private commission meeting this morning for nothing because you could not control yourself and broke Twilight’s heart.”

Sunset smiled and crawled back into the bed where she had been before, glided her fingers over Twilight’s hip that was covered with only a bed sheet.  The purple princess moaned at the gentle touch and rolled over to her back, eyes still closed, a small, cute smile on her face.  Sunset leaned in and gently pressed her lips to Twilight’s.  After a few seconds of contact, Twilight pressed deeper into the kiss, their lips parting and tongues slipping out to contact one another briefly.  While Sunset did not mind, Twilight had not brushed her teeth yet and morning breath was one of the purple princess's secret little fears like overly cheesy quesadillas and what they do to her.  Twilight’s eyes fluttered opened and she smiled brightly, her hand stroking along Sunset’s face and through the red and gold mane that still needed a brush to attack it.

“Good morning,” they said in unison.
> Chapter 5: Out and About
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

While Twilight had not been happy about being temporarily left behind, she had understood that Sunset had some, ‘personal business’ to attend to.  Tempest backed Sunset up, which helped placate Twilight’s suspicion and more importantly, her curiosity.  It was mostly true too, Sunset said to herself as she strolled down the street with a coffee in one hand while reading what Raven was displaying on her new holo projector in the other.  Fog Gauge followed a step behind and to her right like he often did, scanning the surroundings and people in general.  None seemed interested in the two of them, as Sunset had said.  It was an interesting change of pace to be unknown in plain sight.

The new projection feature was extremely helpful since it allowed Sunset to read and work through two years of emails, and account information without having to worry about tripping over an unseen object, like say a dog leash, like she had done before, because she could still see through the screen to the other side and what was before her just like a heads up display.  How it was able to do so without a backing or reflection was gnawing at her curious, engineer's brain.  Have to remember to read more of the owner's manual later along with finding an article on this tech because that is just too cool.  

Sunset Shimmer glanced back at her captain who was simply taking in all that was around him while also keeping an eye on his princess.  Sunset had to admit, he looked attractive as ever even in just a nice pair of khaki cargo pants and a black t-shirt that had been too good not to get for him.  A familiar triangular prism in the center with a beam of light that shattered to a rainbow on the other side.  Just like Rarity had once said: "Everything that is old is new again," the never changing circular world of fashion.  Sunset wondered if kids today even knew about Pink Floyd or just thought the design was cool.  The thought quickly died when Raven chimed to tell Sunset she had arrived at her destination.

From personal experience, most retail establishments would not open before their listed times on the front glass window no matter how hard you tapped on it and waved.  In fact, most retail associates found that behavior annoying at best.  A jewelry store especially so considering the higher security risk.  However, Sunset had instructed Raven to find and contact a custom crafter not far from the hotel who would be willing to take a rush commission for a large sum of money.  It had been a long shot, but surprisingly, one did reply on the condition that a sum was paid up front.  Sunset gladly agreed.  

Sunset glanced up at the sign above that read, “Shades Customs and Antiques.”  The shutters were down, but that was not surprising considering it was still two hours before regular business hours.  Could she have waited?  Sure.  Would he have understood she was serious about the rush job part?  Possibly.  Did money make the world go around and get people moving?  You betcha.

Sunset knocked on the shudder.  The unexpected voice from the car in the street behind her caused both her and Gauge to spin around quickly.  “Are you Sunset Shimmer?  Your PAAL sent mine a few messages last night and this morning.  I wasn’t sure if I was being pranked until I saw the funds clear.”

“I am, and like I said, that was just a down payment and for your time.”

He nodded and exited the car.  The pale green, slightly portly man had to of been in his late fifties early sixties from what Sunset could guess.  He was balding, but still had that patch that was mostly gray along the back of his head.  His dress clothes were plain, but also appeared comfortable and he chose suspenders over a waist belt.  

The man held up his PAAL to a security panel and the shutters beeped before rolling themselves up. “Mahogany Shades.  Please, step into my office and tell me what I can do for you.”

Once the three had closed the door behind them the shutters automatically began to descend and lock in place.  Gauge scowled at that, but Sunset calmed him with a hand on his forearm.  With a nod, he relaxed and began to browse while his princess conducted her business.

“I must say, whatever it is you are looking for it must be pretty important to throw so much coin at the problem.”

“I’m planning on proposing to the most amazing woman in the entire world and beyond.  So yeah, pretty important.”  Shades’ eyes glanced over to Gauge and Sunset saw right through him.  “A friend.  Couldn’t ditch him and he worries about me.  It's adorable in its own way.”

“Right.  Anyhow.  What is it I can do for you?”

Sunset pulled out a sketch she had had folded up in her jacket pocket. “I need two matching earrings, both for the left ear.  One is to have a red ruby with a sun emblem under the primary setting with a connecting chain to a small stud that will go into the top lobe here.  That will have a smaller amethyst stone.  The second one is to be identical, but the stones are to be the opposite with a large amethyst over a starburst and a smaller ruby.”

“Metal preference?”

“Platinum casing with a white gold connecting chain.”

Mahogany Shades nodded.  “I have the stones, metals, and chain, would only need to assemble everything to this design, maybe a fitting if you feel there is time.”

“I need them no later than Friday by noon.”  That made the elderly man’s eyes widen.  “Like I said, rush job and I will make it worth your time if you can do the job quickly and still with the utmost quality.  Not to be too much of a bitch, but I don’t want to pay for fast and sloppy.”

“Well then, it’s a good thing you came to me and not some chain jewelry store.”

Sunset laughed politely.  “I take it that mean we have a deal?”

“I’ll send you a picture of the initial design before I finalize the settings and it will include the final price.  If it looks good to you just have your PAAL send me the go ahead.  The bill will be due upon pick up and final inspection.”

Sunset nodded and held out her hand, which the man gladly took. “See you Friday.”


---------


Twilight Sparkle was conflicted.  She could feel the battling emotions in her chest that made her heart ache (hence the term) and it in turn caused her anxiety to spike.  Smartypants had already informed Twilight twice that her blood pressure and heartrate became accelerated when she would scowl in contemplation.  That was helpful, but slightly disturbing how observant the small device was.  Was it like that for Raven and Sunset?  Her heartrate began to spike again as she thought about the goldenrod alicorn... and her perfect smile framed by a fiery mane waving about.  Twilight could see her lover in her mind's eye, trotting just ahead of her, one wing up, inviting Twilight to stand beside her.  Long, tawny legs that went all the way up, curving over a perfectly round rump.

“You should contact your regular physician if these anxiety spikes continue.  Hypertension has been known to lead to additional serious health risks,” Smartypants chimed again in a flat, emotionless tone.  Twilight made a mental note that she needed to play with the voice settings when they got home to find something less... severe.

“Hey, Twilight,” said Tempest Fury crawling across the bed to come sit next to her princess.  It took a few more seconds to get her blushing under control before she finally glanced up to meet Tempest’s eyes. “Talk to me, brainiac.  What has got that thing squawking about blood pressure?”

“I don’t know… no, that’s a lie.  I DO know I just… I…”

“Breathe, Twilight,” Tempest said gently, scooting up next to her friend and wrapping an arm around her shoulder to bring them together.  Even without soft fur the contact was warm and welcoming. “Gather your thoughts and voice them to me one at a time just like we've practiced.  There are no reporters here, no nobles, not even Isabella telling you what horror awaits you at your next meeting.  Just two simple mares… or whatever we are now, kicking back on vacation.  Like you told me before.  No crown, no armor.”

Twilight took a deep breath and closed her eyes.  Her free arm came to her chest, then she motioned it outward as she exhaled.  Amethyst eyes opened to meet jade. “Do you think Sunset and I work as a couple?”

Tempest nodded, assuming that was the issue. “Ah, the big question.”

“I mean, don't get me wrong, work well as a team.  I really did need help with my royal duties and she has filled the role better than I would have expected in a shorter amount of time.  Nearly all of Equestria has come to accept her as diarch and that has helped me tremendously.  And we are friends, best friends.”

“But?”

“No, no buts.  I just wonder if my desire for more… if perhaps I want too much from her.  That perhaps she can never see me as more than a marefriend.”

Tempest nodded, keeping her facial expressions completely neutral.  She knew a secret, but had promised Fog who had made her swear not to tell Twilight.  Perhaps she could at least ease her friend’s mind without breaking her oath.  This would be tricky, but Tempest was up to the challenge.

Tempest slide over so that she was sitting behind Twilight on the bed and did her best to massage Twilight’s shoulders and back much like she had done with hooves in the past.  She tried using the odd appendages that Sunset had called fingers much like her husband had done last night for her.  Maybe Sunset had given him tips because he figured out how to touch her just right rather quickly.

“Remember that conversation we all had last year with Isabella?  Is she worth it?  You can always ask that question again.”

Twilight took another deep breath, happily letting out a sigh as Tempest found a muscle knot and began to grind her knuckles into it. “I love her, Tempest.  I really do.  She makes me feel so special and my life is a better, brighter place with her in it.  She understands me and what I have been through.  She understands the importance of friendship and how powerful those connections to others can be.”

“How’s the sex?”

Twilight’s eyes went wide and she turned and blinked a few times at the vermilion woman sitting behind her, jaw hanging open.  Tempest however looked completely serious, one eyebrow slightly arched higher than the other. “Never expected that question from you.  I mean, do you want details or just in general?  Didn’t you tell me you have absolutely no interest in mares?  Why would you ask that?  Are you drunk?  This room has alcohol, I checked.”

Tempest chuckled a bit. “Not interested in details, brainiac, definitely not interested in mares, and not drunk... yet.  Maybe later.  Anyhow, you two have been together as long as Fog and I have.  I’m just asking if things are still good.  You know, are things still enjoyable?  I know for a fact Sunset likes stallions too.”

“Well, so do I, at least sexually speaking.  However, what they have between their legs is not as important to me as what is between their ears,” said Twilight with a shrug. “But since you asked, yes, the sex is great.  Sunset’s fiery passion for, well, pretty much everything she does translates to the bed as well.”

“Oh, goodie, and for some crazy reason we are now sitting on her side of the bed.”  Both Twilight and Tempest looked down at the sheets before bursting out in laughter.  After they recovered Twilight laid her head on Tempest’s shoulder and they enjoyed the peaceful quiet.  “Twilight, I say this as your friend and because I have been watching you and her together the entire time.  Trust Sunset Shimmer to keep you happy and keep you guessing what wild and amazing thing she will come up with next.  Trust that she is as much in love with you as you are in her.”

“Thank you, Tempest.  I think I really did need to hear that.”

“Besides, I need you to keep that crazy, lust driven mare happy and satisfied or else she may try to jump my husband out of curiosity or boredom.”

Twilight arched an eyebrow, “Seriously?  Fog would never cheat on you.”

Tempest made a face that was cross between a grimace and a sideways smirk before rolling her eyes. “Cheat is the wrong word.  His heart belongs to me, I will never doubt that.  But you should talk to Luna sometime about the order of thestral loyalty.  It’s just how they are.  I knew that before I even had eyes for him.”

Before Twilight could inquire further the door opened and Sunset and Gauge strolled in.  Sunset’s smirk turned to a familiar kind of perverse mischief while Gauge cocked his head a bit and arched an eyebrow at the sight of his wife and other princess snuggled up next to one another in bed.

“Dammit, I think we missed out on cuddle time.”

Gauge pouted his lip playfully. “I like cuddle time.”

Tempest, in a shocking display of playful immaturity, stuck out her tongue and giggled a bit. Twilight could still hardly believe how much her captain had loosened up since becoming married. “You two had your heart-to-heart and we had ours.  Deal with it.”  To that, neither Sunset nor Gauge could argue.

“Come on and get changed,” Sunset said, slapping her hands together. “I know a great brunch place.  Plus, after that I want to play tour guide.  Maybe we’ll get lucky and cross paths with one of your dimensional twins and make things really interesting.”

Twilight grinned sheepishly.  “That is such an odd feeling the first time, trust me.”


----------


Brunch turned out to be a small, soup, sandwich, and salad shop on the corner not far from the hotel.  Everyone had placed their orders then sat down at the outside patio tables and just relaxed, watching as the cars and people passed by on their merry ways.  Where ever life took them on such a lovely middle of the day.  

Twilight had to admit, it was nostalgic and relaxing to be able to sit back and let life continue on without her needing to govern the celestial bodies or deal with political drama great and small.  It was, for a fleeting moment, just like it was before when she was just that unicorn or unknown princess in her library in the middle of Ponyville.  Able to go days without a problem or care in the world other than the occasional book on the wrong shelf.  She loved her life and though there had been ups and down, she would have done it all the same if offered a chance to go back... maybe stopped Tirek from blowing up the Golden Oaks Library.  All those books burning and or lying about damaged... that still hurt her soul to the core. 

“Have you heard any updates on Raven’s gift yet?” asked Twilight after she shook the thoughts from her mind and finished her veggie spread sandwich.

“Not yet, but I’m still confident I’ll hear back soon.”  Twilight nodded, but kept her concerns to herself for the moment. 
Sunset stood as soon as she finished her meal and the others followed suit.  “Come on.”

Sunset’s tour began at a place Twilight was surprisingly familiar with.  Much to her amazement, though the buildings and background had changed, the sound stage and large hill overlooking the amphitheater were just like they had been when they had battled the Sirens there more than a hundred years ago.  The school had rented the venue near downtown for the winners of the Battle of the Bands although it had originally been for a musical showcase.  A fact no one ever pointed out again after the fact and the dust had settled.  Twilight sat down on the grass and just took in the view, prompting the others to do the same.

Sunset had, with some reluctance, explained the situation that led up to the Battle of the Bands, only briefly touching on the fact that she had stolen Twilight’s crown, transformed, and received a much deserved beatdown via rainbow laser to the face.  Gauge had grunted a few times.  Tempest growled and ground her teeth after hearing the words, 'stole Twilight's crown' even though Twilight had just let the story play out, adding in her own account and perspective when needed.  

Eventually, thankfully, in Sunset's opinion she brought the story back to the location before them and of course, talked about The Dazzlings, Adagio, Sonata, and Aria.  The Sirens, another left over trash present courtesy of one Star Swirl the Bearded, had tried to enslave the school and steal the magic and energy that had awakened after the Formal.

“After Twilight convinced me to join in, we were able to unlock our harmonious power as one, which manifested into a giant ethereal alicorn that rainbow blasted the Sirens, destroying the sources of their power.  Let me tell you, THAT was a sight to see.”

“It reminded me of Celestia." Twilight added. "As if it felt like her power was right there alongside us in our moment of need.”  Sunset bowed her head and closed her eyes, nodding in agreement. “Oh, Sunset, I’m so sorry!  I shouldn’t have said that.”

Sunset smirked and brought Twilight's hand to her lips, nuzzling the knuckles. “Nah, its fine.  Like you said.  It was like she was there the whole time.  Looking after both of us.  That's how I always want to remember Mom.  Being a guardian to all her little ponies no matter where we are.”

“What ever happened to the Sirens?” asked Tempest.

Sunset shrugged. “Honestly, no idea.  Only ran into them one other time on accident and they were scraping to get by as just powerless creatures trapped in human bodies.  As long as they couldn’t hypnotize anyone to steal power or souls or whatever they were no longer my concern.  Part of me does hope they found solace and just humbly lived their lives.  Another part of me hopes they ended up working in a hooker hotel taking turns cleaning the stalls next to the glory holes.”

“Do I want to know what that is?”

Sunset shrugged and stood, pulling Twilight up with her.  “Probably not.”

Sunset took the group next to the Gilmore Tower observation deck.  While not the tallest building in the country or even close to the tallest in the world it was still noteworthy and offered an impressive view of the city as a whole with glass all along the perimeter, an observation level gift shop, and a restaurant and bar.  Twilight and Tempest took a few minutes to pick out some souvenirs for Spike and Saber while Sunset got lost in thoughts gazing upon the city she had once called home.  The view from a distance felt like the perfect metaphor with how she was beginning to feel about the human world.  As if she was only an observer now and not actually living in it.  

Gauge came to stand next to her, waiting for Sunset to comment if she needed to.  Or just be there for his princess even if all she needed was to stare silently.  “Impressive, view.  Not quite as high as Cloudsdale, but still taller than any building in Equestria.”

Sunset nodded and pointed. “I can see my house from here.”  It sounded just as terrible out loud as it had in her head, but she felt like she had to say something and bad jokes were a safe 'go to.'

“What are we looking at?” asked Tempest.

“Sunset’s house.”

“Was my house.  Belongs to my grandson, or maybe great grandson now.  Timber Hill was advanced in age last time I was here.  He may have passed on by now.”

Twilight stepped up behind Sunset and wrapped her arms around her waist, burring her head into the fiery mane until Sunset could feel warm lips and breath on her neck that tickled and soothed.  The four just stood together in silence for another minute, lost in their own thoughts.  It was always slightly strange mixed with a pang of longing in Twilight’s heart to hear Sunset talk so casually about being a mother or grandmother.  To think that the love of her life had already lived another life and raised children who went on to start their own families.  

Twilight could only imagine what that must have felt like.  To have had a life growing insider her womb, the squirming and kicking.  Hearing that tiny heartbeat rapidly thumping away for the first time through a stethoscope.  To hold her own newborn and see those brand new eyes open for the first time.  The one, deep down, most secret desire Twilight held onto that she was too scared to share even with the mare she loved above all others.  The occasional dark pangs of jealousy that her human counterpart got to enjoy such a desire.  Being a mother alongside Sunset Shimmer.

“We,” Twilight began, just loud enough for the others to hear, “we could go have a closer look if you like.”  Sunset let out a sigh and patted Twilight’s interlocked fingers. 

“No.  This is supposed to be a fun tour.  Watching me cry while I relive old memories will not be fun for anyone, not even Tempest.  Besides,” Sunset turned and smiled brightly at her lover and fellow princess, “Raven told me that the Modern Art and History Museum has a new gallery on more than a hundred years of space photography.”

“OOOOOHHHH!” Twilight cooed.  “That sounds amazing!”


----------


Considering the time of day and on a Thursday the museum foot traffic was light and just the way Sunset preferred it.  Sunset was able to gladly play tour guide, mostly to Tempest and Gauge who knew scarcely little about space terminology, while Twilight bounce from photo set to photo set marveling at the high resolution images.

“And you said many of these were taken from cameras and telescopes actually IN SPACE?!”

Sunset nodded. “If you look at the tag information it will tell you the apparatus used and the date it was taken.”

“This probably comes as no shocker to you, but the stars have always fascinated me.  Worlds beyond our own.  Seeking out new life and new civilizations.”

Sunset snorted causing Twilight to frown slightly. “Sorry, you were quoting and didn’t even realize it.  However, I’m surprised such things as new life would still be so fascinating to you since you HAVE visited other worlds.”

Twilight waggled a finger. “Not new worlds, just other dimensions.  Totally different.”

“Oh really?  Last time I checked they don’t call this planet Equuis or Earthquus.”

“Only because the name givers had feet instead of hooves.  We do have EARTH ponies, after all.  Earth, in the old dialect to tend the land.”

Sunset considered the words and ultimately relented because she had no good counter argument. “Too bad about the feet instead of hooves though.  Except if I had my choice, evolution-wise, I would still keep my hands.”

Twilight smile and nodded, wiggling her fingers. “I have to admit, I had forgotten how useful fingers are.”

Sunset’s smile turned mischievous.  She slipped her arm around Twilight’s waist and pulled her close so as to whisper directly in her ear, “Just wait until later.  I’ll show you what I can really do with a set of fingers.”  Twilight shuddered at the breath in her ear, her face darkening to a shade of red plum.

Tempest and Gauge caught up a moment later, also enjoying one of the greatest benefits of fingers, holding hands.  “I have to begrudgingly admit, some of the technology they have here is frightening with how much more advanced it is than what we have.”

Sunset nodded. “For now.  With Twilight and I on the case we should be able to make leaps and bounds in advancement now that we have access to some new pieces and technical books.  Think about how much easier it will be to stay in contact with all your guard units once they are networked with phones or some equivalent.”

Tempest shrugged. “We already sort of have that with the SunLight crystals, but I see where you are going with it.  Lighter, faster, maybe even having those screens where we can see each other like a portable, less messy scrying pool.  That could be very useful.”

“Would make it easier for my mother to see Saber growing up instead of having to travel such a long way.”

Tempest nodded to Gauge before poking him in the chest. “True, but we are still traveling to see your parents some time.”  Gauge simply grunted.

Sunset saved her captain from further prodding by waving her hand. “C’mon.  Let’s grab a snack and browse the gift shop.  Then I want to change clothes before heading out for dinner.”

“Oh, right!” Twilight perked up. “I want to change to my dress.  Also, where are we going to eat if you are still adamant about dancing?”

Sunset smiled brightly.  “That’s the best part, it will have it all.  I had Raven double check to make sure the place I’m thinking of is still open and it is.  Get ready to enjoy one of the best nightlife experiences in the city.  Mount Havok.”

The name alone made Twilight curious while it made Tempest’s eye twitch at what sort of deviant, perverse, alcohol powered debauchery could be in stored for the four of them.  For the sake of not being the 'party pooper' Tempest kept her opinions to herself until she had seen it first.

The cab ride back to the hotel had been swift and without incident.  The change in attire had been ‘mostly’ without incident. Tempest wanted to change her bra after walking around all day and needed help securing the hooks.  Sunset had then proceeded to grope the solar captain while explaining that if she had not adjusted her boobs the underwire would have pinched them.  Tempest simply fumed, blushing beet red while goldenrod hands reached into her cups and pulled each breast up into place.  Gauge managed to keep his reaction to a knowing smirk.

Tempest and Gauge stuck with the casual clothes they had already selected, which suited them both well.  Twilight had happily switched to her blue dress and spun a few times to enjoy the feeling of the skirt swish.  Sunset grinned at Twilight’s infectious giddy mood.  She slid her hands up Twilight’s sleeve covered arms, fingers dancing on top of exposed shoulders.  Twilight shivered in delight at the touch.  

“Do you like it?”

Sunset nodded. “Mmmhmm!  Mama like.”

Sunset had picked out for herself a black satin camisole top with spaghetti shoulder straps and a bit of lace over the v neck plunge.  She paired them with a tight pair of jeans that drew all the eyes in the room to her toned backside and the heart patch that was over her left butt cheek pocket.  Sunset laughed at their expressions and winked, sliding her black jacket back on and put Raven back on her hand.  Finally, boots and shoes were tightened and secured.  They were ready to go.

A little less than an hour later the four exited the cab at the entrance to a large brick and steel building that gave no hints to what lay within beyond the brightly lit sign in flashing colors declaring the establishment as ‘Mount Havok’.  Twilight however took note of the individuals who were also exiting cars, heading the same direction they were.  Their attire was not much different than her own and their ages seemed to be that of late teens to young adults.  

Sunset followed Twilight’s investigative stares, surmising what was likely on her fellow princess’s mind. “Twenty-one and older only, since there are multiple bars and they don’t want to bother kicking the kids out who might try to steal a drink when no one was looking.”

“Okay, but that still does not explain what kind of place it is.  Judging by the structure alone in must be huge inside.”

Sunset nodded. “It is.  Two stories with high ceilings on both levels and a basement too if I remember correctly.”

“And?”

“And you’ll see.”  Sunset looked down at Raven.  “Were you able to get VIP access?”

“Of course.  Four VIP bracelets are waiting for you at the kiosk.  That should keep security from inquiring about the lack of identification from Tempest and Fog.  I have to admit.  If I had known I had such root system access in the past I may have gone mad with power.”

“Been there, done that, left a huge hole in the school front lawn.  You have to use that code sparingly.  Some systems may have counter programs and try to sniff me out if you're not careful and that would be bad for all of us.”

Raven made a sighing sound.  “It’s always all about you.”

Sunset scanned Raven at the kiosk and retrieved the bracelets she had ordered.  Rather than deal with their fumbling finger work Sunset just secured all four of them herself.  A quick scan of said passes at the guard entrance and the four equestrians entered the mountain without impediment.

Twilight gasped in awe at the overwhelming level of sights, sounds, colors, and variety that assaulted her senses even from the entrance.  Tempest wanted to jam cotton in her ears and Gauge had to squint his more light sensitive eyes after accidentally staring too long at a strobe light.  Sunset took note of those reactions and would look into making them more comfortable if they did not adjust quickly.

“It’s… it’s like an arcade?!”

Sunset grinned. “Arcade, dancing, karaoke, bowling, laser tag, bar and grill, this place has it all!”

“Are you sure there is no Discord in this world?” asked Tempest, wide eyes twitching a bit. “Because I’m sure we just found his house.”

“Trust me, once you try a few things you are going to love it!  C'mon, it's time to party!”
> Chapter 6: Game On, Player
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“This place is…”

“Loud?” offered Gauge.  Tempest blinked a few times.  The numerous background noises, the lights, and the chatter from all the people inside Mount Havok Entertainment Complex faded a bit as she focused on her husband.  

“Are there places like this in Equestria that I’m just not aware of?”

Sunset Shimmer shrugged and made her way over to an empty table that had four chairs.  She gestured for the other three to join her. “There are some fun parks, but that’s more roller coasters and carnival games.  This place focuses more on the digital and gaming side of things.  That's always been more my speed.”

Twilight Sparkle shook her head of all the distractions and quickly sat down next to Sunset, taking her marefriend’s hand for comfort and to show solidarity on the choice of venue for the evening. “Okay, well, you have obviously been here before and we have not.  So, what should we do first?”

Sunset set Raven on the table.  Last time she had been to Mount Havok, Sunset had to use the order menu tablet that had been at the table.  But since Raven was able to interact with most other systems… “Let’s eat first.  Then, we’ll play some games and take it easy before we try our feet at the floor upstairs.  Raven, can you bring up the local menu?”

“Of course.”  The holographic display lit for all four of them to see no matter where they were sitting.  Sunset was once again amazed how it could do that and looked forward to reading about the details of such tech. “As you can see, there are plenty of artery clogging choices for all meat sacks who require such greasy delights.”

“Okay.  How about an extra large veggie delight pizza with nachos and… anyone want a hard drink?”

“Maybe later,” Twilight said and received nods from the others.

Sunset could not argue with that consensus.  “Four waters.”  Raven placed the order.

After a minute of silence and scoping the surroundings, Tempest finally cracked first. “I have to admit.  This is more… juvenile than I was expecting when you were talking about going out.”

Sunset smiled and shrugged. “I may have to get older, but that does not mean I have to grow up, at least not all the time.  I’m actually pretty playful at heart for those that get the privilege to know me.” Sunset glanced to Twilight who smiled brightly.  “I like music and art and games.  I love to dance and move and feel the energy of a room.  It’s a kind of magic all its own.  I know that may seem strange or ‘juvenile’ like you said, but…”

“No, I can see that.  I have seen your art and you play music.  You can be pretty amazing, you know, when you’re not trying to set the world on fire.”

Sunset could only nod. “We all need outlets for our aggression.  Some just more than others.”

The food was delivered promptly.  Much to their rumbling stomachs’ delight.  Sunset quickly picked up two slices of pizza and moaned at the taste.  Raven was right.  It was artery clogging goodness and she loved every gooey piece of it.  Twilight also moaned her approval at the taste.  Both captains took one slice each and shared the nachos.  Little was said while they ate, mostly questions about what everything was and what was best to do.  Twilight inquired about the cost since Sunset had not needed to pull out her wallet for anything thus far.  She in response gestured to the bracelets.

“These are tied to the temporary account that was created for the night.  Think of it like a bar tab.  All expenses are tallied, including games, food, and drinks and are billed to my account.  So, nothing is off limits.  Have as much as you think you can handle.”

“So, it really is like a Discord Day,” said Twilight.

“Whatever you want to do, I’m down for.  As long as you get to have fun.”  Twilight beamed at the declaration and leaned in, kissing Sunset.  Neither cared about the cheese breath and both captains smiled at the affection.

Twilight giggled and gave Sunset one last kiss on the end of her nose.  “Okay!  I’m ready to play something!”

Sunset grinned and stood. “That’s my girl.”

Gauge collected their trash and deposited it in the marked bin.  Sunset made her way to the bar and pointed to a bottle on the wall.  The bar tender nodded and scanned her bracelet before handing Sunset a bottle of beer.  She returned to the group and gestured for them to follow.

The large alcove that was to the left of the entrance was packed with rows of arcade games.  Out front were a few classic pool and air hockey tables.  Behind those were some antique pinball machines and standing, vintage box-types stations with two joysticks and a number of well worn buttons.  Newer units required no hand contact, operated by feet or motion sensors followed body movements.  There were simulators for flying, driving, riding, (motorcycles and much to Tempest’s ire, horseback) and more variety of shooters than one could count.  Those caught the two soldiers' attention briefly.  

What caught Twilight’s curiosity were the devices that many of the players had on their heads.  She tugged at Sunset’s jacket sleeve and asked, “What are those?”

Sunset swallowed a large gulp of her beer and followed where Twilight was pointing. “Oh, those are AR rigs.  Augmented Reality.  You look through those goggles and see whatever digital extras the system is playing at the time.  For some games it adds a three dee effect, while others it changes the background around you.  Like being chased by a giant rolling boulder or to that effect.  See those tiny ports of light in the structural rafters, they are all linked to the system.”

“I think I might try that later.”

“I’m pretty sure we just rent them from somewhere.  I’ll look for you.”  Sunset was about to swig her beer again when she realized it was missing from her hand.  To her left she found Tempest with the bottled completely upturned while polishing off the remaining liquid.  

Tempest wiped the corner of her mouth and flashed and honest to goodness smirk. “Not bad.  Has a clean finish with a hint of honey if I'm not mistaken.”

“You could have asked.  I would have gotten you your own.  Fast hands, by the way.”

Tempest examined the label, committing the name to memory before depositing it in the nearby bin. “Later.  Tell me how to play this game so I can beat my husband at it.”

Sunset explained how air hockey worked.  The two captains got the gist of it quickly and soon were engaged in competitive flat disc combat.  Sunset led Twilight over to a nearby pinball machine and let Twilight have a go at it after she explained what the bumpers were for and how they worked.  It took a few tries, but Sunset enjoyed every minute of seeing Twilight concentrate with her tongue stick out the side of her mouth as she timed her attacks.  The redhead completely adored her marefriend's 'gamer face' as it were.

When Sunset looked back up a few minutes later Tempest and Gauge had rejoined them.  Tempest had her own beer in hand while Gauge had a can of soda.  She knew he was not a big drinker and it was childish peer pressure to poke him about it, but he was a big boy and could take it.  They waited a few more minutes while Twilight worked her lack of horn magic on the pinball machine.  But eventually, like almost everyone, the balls fell and the game was over.

“That’s a lot harder than I would have expected.  Great for hand eye coordination though.”

Sunset grinned and took Twilight’s hand in her own.  “I know, right?  One of the reasons I got so into gaming when I first came here was for hand practice.  So, what’s next?  More arcade or should we grab more drinks and try bowling?”

“Is it like bowling in Equestria?” asked Gauge.  Twilight nodded as if she had also wanted to inquire.

“The rules are basically the same.  You pick up the ball and throw it down at the pins.  Try not to go over the line or throw it in the neighboring lane… which I have seen some drunks and fools do.”

“We can try it in a bit.  I want to try THAT!”  Sunset followed her marefriend’s pointing finger to what could only be described as a large Plinko board.

After explaining the rules, what followed was some of the most intense mental calculations of weight of the puck, careful placement of said puck, and rambled additional calculations of how it will fall against each pin on the way down all while three ponies as humans stared on in belief/disbelief that anyone(pony) could take something that was supposed to be so simple so seriously.  By the time Twilight was finally ready to drop the puck, Tempest had suggested they all hit the bar again for something a bit stronger.  Even some of the other guests wanting to play were about to lose their patience.

Twilight released the puck.

It fell.

Much to Sunset’s surprise, considering she figured most of the points games for prizes and such were rigged, the puck fell exactly where Twilight had wanted it to.  The cheerful crow of sweet, sweet victory could be heard from across the arcade section.  Some other gamers even cheered along with Twilight, which only made the moment all the more adorable to Sunset Shimmer.  She lifted Raven and had her take a few quick photos.

Tempest gently tapped Sunset on the shoulder, catching her attention and pointed to set of pedestals where two individuals were shadow boxing, but behind them on the large screen were digital opponents duking it out in a ring.  “Is that a fighting game?”

Sunset nodded and smirked. “Yeah, it is.  Interested?”

“There are not a lot of things here I think I would be good at, but fighting I can do.  Besides, this will probably be the only opportunity I’ll have to kick your royal flank.”

“Ohhhh,” Sunset said with a laugh and an added shimmy where she bumped her hip into Tempest, “tough talk there, captain.  Especially considering you are not used to that body.”

Tempest shrugged as the group walked towards the game platform to wait their turn.  As they stood waiting Tempest gestured for Sunset to come closer and whispered, “Besides, I need to get back at you for fondling me and fooling around with my husband this morning.”

Sunset blushed and squirmed, rubbing the back of her neck nervously.  “Yeeeah, sorry about that, I… well… I don’t really have an excuse.  Body swap hormones and I just got a little lost in the moment.”

Tempest held up a hand and shook her head. “I don’t need to know why.  You are his princess, he is yours to command and do with as you see fit.  That is the life and role he has chosen and I accept that.  Besides, I asked, nothing ‘really’ happened.”  Tempest’s grin became playful and she smacked Sunset with her shoulder. “But he’s still MY husband so I must enact my sweet, fake revenge that will not get me exiled.”

Sunset chuckled, silently relieved that her ‘hormonal curiosity’ did not cost her a friend and more. “Sounds fair.”

Once the other players stepped down Tempest and Sunset stepped up.  Sunset explained how the head pieces were VR goggles that would change what they saw to what appeared on the screen.  Tempest did not entirely understand, but followed Sunset’s lead.  Once both players had donned their goggles and confirmed they were ready the rest of the arcade disappeared and the two equestrians found themselves in a boxing ring.  Tempest appeared as a massive hulk of a blue fighter with smooth, mannequin-like features while Sunset appeared in red and of similar build.  The bell rang and they were off.

“Go easy on her, Sunset!”

Sunset knew it had been Twilight who had shouted the comment, but did not turn her head.  The googles would have blocked out her marefriend at that moment anyhow and besides, Tempest was coming right after her like an old pro.  Sunset dodged one hit and took the second on the back of her gloves.  The captain backed away before Sunset could counterattack.

“I’m impressed by your balance considering you haven’t been on two legs for long.  Not to mention most guards I've dealt with focus on back kicks and less foreleg attacks.”

Tempest cautiously came back in and tried a few test swings. “Sometimes I train the troops on how to deal with taller targets, like minotaurs or dragons.  Sometimes that mean rearing back and coming down with hooves at the ready.  Adaptability is a key to survival in an unarmed fight.”

Sunset block again and scored a jab to the side.  “Yeah, I can see that, but these bodies move different, bend different.  I’ve also got a hell of a lot more experience using one.  Not to mess with your head or anything.”

Tempest backed away again.  She lowered her guard and put her hands on her hips, leaving herself completely exposed for attack.  It was a trap.  Sunset knew it was a trap.  Every part of her being screamed at her it was a trap.  Still, it was too good of an opening to pass up.  Sunset closed the distance and went straight for a powerful right cross to end the fight.  Just as her red fist was about to connect with Tempest’s blue face the character dropped and the gloved fist passed completely overhead.  

“Ahhhh craaaap.”

Tempest grinned, though the grin did not translate onto the fighter’s face.  She sprang back up her first connecting with Sunset’s fighter, knocking the red player completely off their feet, into the air a bit before crashing down on the virtual mat.  Sunset tried to get her character to rise, but even while rolling about, the health bar continued to fall until the ten count passed and the invisible ref screamed, “KO!” 

Sunset ripped the VR set off and looked up at the big screen with wide eyes, flabbergasted. “But!  You?  How?!  Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!  GRRRRAHHHH!!!”  Tempest chuckled and smirked, setting her headset down.  “Seriously.  HOW?!”

“You are too aggressive, always have been for as long as I have known you.  Maybe you’ll learn patience in a few centuries, but not all of us have that luxury, so we read our opponents, find their weakness, and exploit it for all it’s worth.  Wasn’t expecting that to work with one shot though.  Maybe the game hates you?”

Sunset blew a raspberry at the screen. “It’s mutual, then.  Sheesh.  I need another drink after that embarrassment.”

“Awww,” Twilight cooed, wrapping her arms around Sunset’s neck and giving her a small peck on the lips. “Don’t be a sore loser.  You can’t win them all.”

“You’ve seen me play.  I don’t go down quietly.”

“In more ways than one,” chimed in Raven, leaving both Sunset and Twilight sputtering and giggling.”

“Okay, that was pretty good... The game I mean, not the well timed lewd comment,” said Tempest, leading the group back towards the bar.

"You understood it and did not groan therefor you liked it," said Raven in retort.

“So, what’s next?”

Sunset once again gestured to the entire complex.  “Drinks, maybe a driving game?  One game of bowling, then dancing?  Maybe a round of karaoke if you think you can handle it?”

Twilight grinned, her casual confidence and relaxation settling in. “Anything you can do, I can do.” Twilight spotted an interesting drink that was a lime and yellow color in a glass that was coated with a salt rim. “And I want to try one of those!”

“Two top shelf margaritas, please,” Sunset requested.

“One of those blue lagers, please,” added Tempest while the bartender was nearby.  He quickly scanned their wristbands and got to work on the drinks.

While the others waited for drinks, Sunset ordered their lane for a game of bowling.  Once settled in, they each swapped their shoes for the required footwear and then went about selecting their game balls.  Naturally… Sunset could not resist making immature jokes about ball selection.

“Don’t,” Tempest warned.

“Don’t what?”

Tempest narrowed her eyes at Sunset who grinned all the wider.  “I’m not going to pretend I know what you are thinking, but I know it is going to be something horrible.”

“That is the general consensus based on the law of averages from what I have observed,” commented Raven.

Sunset looked at her PAAL and pretended to be hurt. “Am I so predictable?”

“YES.” The other three equestrians chimed in together.

Sunset sighed and shrugged. “Is it really my fault that I know what would work best in a game that requires the touching of balls?  I mean, I’m not a pro, but I have the most experience here with my fingers in those tight holes and I DO know how to handle me some balls.”

Twilight took a large gulp of her margarita while blushing a bit.

Gauge just shook his head, trying not to grin.

Tempest groaned and walked away to find her own ball to use.

“I don’t mind helping you find the right balls.”

“Just… just suck down your damn drink so you will stop talking.”  

Sunset laughed whole heartedly, taking a large gulp of her own margarita and sat next to Twilight while they waited to begin.  The purple princess giggled when she felt her marefriend nuzzle her ear and kiss the sensitive lobe before whispering, “Having fun?”

“Yes.”

Sunset beamed and kissed Twilight’s cheek again. "Good."

Bowling had been as delightful and disastrous as Sunset had anticipated.  She especially enjoyed watching Twilight attempt to bowl while rolling the ball with two hands much like a child would, bent over with her frilly skirt covered butt in the air.  Bowling, after all, was one of those rare games in life that could be just as much fun whether you were winning or losing as long as the company was good.  Tempest and Gauge started to get the hang of proper release about the eighth frame.  By that time both Sunset and Twilight had finished their first drink and had been working on a large split drink that was half strawberry daquiri and half pina colada. 

The game ended with pathetic, abysmal scores that were not worth bragging about and none would remember other than Raven, who had also been used to take many more pictures of their slightly inebriated antics.  The drinks were once again finished with the first signs of buzzed alicorns beginning to set in.  From her screen, Raven shook her head, but also smiled nearly as wide as Sunset was doing so.

Shoes were changed out and Sunset could not resist begging the other three to play a round of competitive racing.  Even with assurances that she was not at her best they all knew the goldenrod alicorn would likely slaughter them unless she was blindfolded.  So, naturally, they did not bother playing fair and instead used the minimal driving knowledge Sunset had bestowed upon them to just try to wreck her car with theirs.  Tempest had turned her car completely around on the track and slammed head on into Sunset on lap three, sending Sunset's vehicle flying into the air.  It tumbled end over end on screen and at one point faced downward to reveal the car had been in fact, launched into outer space.

"Hahahaha!" Sunset laughed, "After all these years I did not know it could do that!"

"It is important to learn something new every day," Twilight chimed in with a studious finger held up as if lecturing a classroom of students.  The other three giggled and exited the game.

“To the dance floor!” shouted Sunset, pointing to the second level.  Twilight whooped and pumped her fist as well.

Despite their buzzed inebriation, none tripped on the steps up to the second floor.  Much like the level below there were a few game tables, pool, and digital slot machines for points along with another large, well stocked bar being tended by more than one employee.  What took up most of the second floor, however, was the dance floor. 

Calling it simply a ‘floor’ however was a gross understatement.  Underneath a lacquered clear acrylic layer was a massive light board that reacted to the people stepping, dancing, busting a move on or cutting a rug.  The music was louder here and seemed to penetrate more than down below.  It could be felt, but thankfully, was not to a painful level even to more sensitive alicorn ears. 

Two things caught Twilight’s eye as she was led towards the multicolored mayhem that reminded her a bit of the portal tunnel between dimensions.  First, was the stage to the right, that was currently unoccupied.  The second was that many of the dancers were wearing those AR goggles that Sunset had mentioned earlier.

“What do you think they are seeing?”

Sunset shrugged then pointed to a rental kiosk.  “Wanna find out?”

Twilight grinned. “Absolutely!”

Sunset glanced back to their friends/escorts and gestured if they were interested.  They both shook their heads and said simultaneously, “Pass.”  Sunset shrugged.  She swiped her bracelet and picked up two headsets.  The Augmented Reality goggles secured much the same way a set of diving or ski goggles would with a classic adjustable band that went around the back of the head.  Being that it only added to what you were seeing, as opposed to the VR goggles from other games, the lenses were clear and less disorienting.  

Sunset helped adjust Twilight’s first before securing her own set. “Just so you know, this is going to be a first for me too.”

Twilight smiled wide and nodded. “Glad we get to try it together.”  She held out her hand and the two carefully found a spot on the floor, the light pad below reacting to the pressure of their movements.

It took a minute to sync to the music and the internal program, but once it did, both Sunset and Twilight jumped back as a digital mountain rose from the floor behind them with the moon suddenly lighting up the sky above along with a sea of stars.  Clouds passed over throwing various shades to all the corners as they moved swiftly.  A digital wolf howled before its pack came running down the mountain and between all the dancers, never breaking the illusion by passing through a body.

Sunset did not know the name of the heavy techno club beat song that was currently playing, but once her mind adjusted to what she was seeing and hearing she began to move to the thumping bass and electric rhythm.  She quickly took Twilight by the hand and pulled her close, placing both hands on her marefriend’s hips and began to move them both.  Twilight, by pure instinct placed one hand on top of Sunset’s and the other up and around to the back Sunset’s neck, pulling the two of them close.  Twilight could easily feel the other woman’s body pressed into her back, letting herself flow like water as they shook and slid in their own little world made for two.

The song ended and was quickly followed by another, slightly less techno, but equally as loud and of a faster tempo.  As the song changed, so did the background animations that were shown in their goggles.  They found themselves apparently underwater, a massive sea castle that reminded Twilight a bit of the Seaquestria royal palace growing right out of the floor.  Sunset began to freestyle, moving every part of her tawny and toned body about.  Fish swam between them.  Twilight gasped and stepped back as a shark soon followed, chasing after said fish.

Sunset laughed briefly at Twilight’s startled face before reaching out a hand and pulling her close, nose to nose.  Sunset planted her lips upon Twilight’s as best she could with the eyewear on, two hands sliding up the sides of her dress, around the curvature of her breasts and gently grasping her neck so as to press the kiss further.  Twilight melted into the touch and returned it with her own passion, slipping her tongue into Sunset’s mouth.  Briefly, they both stopped dancing, just enjoying each other touch.

“Hey!”  Their eyes flew open and they turned their heads to find Tempest grinning at them in the dim light with her arms around Gauge’s neck.  The two were swaying back and forth to their own rhythm, ignoring what anyone else thought.  “Don’t forget to come up for air!”

Sunset rolled her eyes while Twilight giggled and playfully slapped her captain’s shoulder. The song ended a minute later. Before the next song began an announcer’s voice came over the sound system. “Thank you all for coming out to the Havok tonight!  WOOOO!!!  Just a reminder that it is karaoke night and the sign up list is now open for all open mic stars!  Hurry up and add your name or names the list fills up fast!  First songs to begin in ten minutes.  Once again, thank you, thank you for joining us here at Mount Havok!”

“I’m going to sign us up!” shouted Sunset.

“I’m going to the bathroom!” replied Twilight.  She blinked a few times then giggled uncontrollably.  “I think I might be tipsy.”

Sunset nodded knowingly. “Tempest.”  The vermillion woman who had been talking quietly to her husband turned.  Sunset gestured to Twilight who had already began walking towards the glowing neon restroom sign.

Tempest nodded in understanding.  She placed a hand on Sunset’s shoulder and said over the background music and crowd. “I’ve got her back.  Go get me one of those daquiri things, will ya?”

Sunset winked in reply before she remembered the goggles and dark lighting probably made her eyes too hard to see.  Feeling a bit flushed after the dancing, Sunset stripped out of goggles and jacket and strolled up to the bar.  She held out the jacket to one of the bartenders, a young woman with cherry red skin and white hair that was shaved on one side of her head, seemed a bit taken aback by the jacket being thrust at her. “I’ll throw in a hundred dollar tip if you keep this safe for me.”  The woman shrugged and took the jacket, hiding it behind the bar.  Sunset next ordered the drink and waited, turning to find the stocky man she knew was standing directly behind her. 

“So, tell me, stud,” Sunset began, gliding a finger down Gauge’s chest and poking him lightly in his rock hard abs, “why are you not drinking?”

“In case you have not noticed, it is nighttime.  So, naturally, I feel as if I am on duty even if we are on vacation.”  

Sunset blew Gauge a raspberry, but smiled afterwards so as to not offend.  She was not convinced in the slightest. “Not buying that, Fog.  This is not the first time I have seen you nursing a single glass, remember?”

Gauge shrugged.  He took a step closer, pressing himself into Sunset as two other patrons squeezed on by behind him.  Sunset felt her lower back against the bar and something she was quite familiar with pressing against her leg.  Fog smiled at the redhead, gently brushing some of the hair from her face and up over one ear.  Sunset smiled back at the touch before he took a step back.

“Truth, please.”

“The truth is quite simple, actually.  You even said so in jest last Discord Day.  I’m a light weight.  Always have been.  And no, not a side effect of the thestral transformation, just… me.  I do not know why, but all it takes is one, maybe two drinks and I am quite drunk.”

“Huh, how about that.”  Sunset turned back around and ordered a whiskey mixed drink to go along with Tempest’s daquiri.  Twilight and Tempest returned soon after the drinks were ready.  Sunset held the mix drink up before Gauge, who arched an eyebrow.  “Take a sip.” He did so and nodded at the smooth flavor of Crown Royal with cola.  Sunset downed the rest in a two large gulps, barring her teeth and hissing at the familiar and not entirely unwelcomed burn.  Tempest whistled her response and took her own drink, licking the straw when she noticed her husband was watching her.  Gauge flashed a fangless grin.

“So," Twilight began, “what’s next?”

“We are third for karaoke.”

“What are we singing?”

Sunset tapped her chin.  In the past, these kind of events were limited to whatever the catalog had for the patrons to sing.  However, Sunset had a hunch.  She signaled the bartender again.  “Can our PAALs access the karaoke log and play one of our own songs over the system?”

“Sure, just tell Gram when you go up so he can temporarily link your PAAL to the machine.  Make sure it’s just music though because we had some lip singers before do that and honestly, I don’t care how drunk you are it’s just pathetic to see that.”

Sunset nodded and grinned. “Think you can still do Shake Your Tail?”

Twilight nodded, her face far more determined than it really needed to be. “You bet.”

Sunset turned next to Tempest and Gauge who were sharing the strawberry daquiri. “We’ll need you two for backup vocals.”

Tempest choked for a bit and had to cough some frozen, puree alcohol from her lungs. “Say what?”

“The song was written for more than two.  Don’t worry, I have a karaoke variant saved on Raven that I put together years ago for outings just like this.  All you have to do is read the words on the screen and try to stay in tune.”

“I think I’d rather be outnumbered in a bar brawl.  At least then I’d have a half decent chance of not making a complete fool of myself,” snapped Tempest.

Sunset gestured with her arms out wide to their surroundings. “Oh, loosen up, silly goose.  This isn’t Equestria, it’s Canterlot City.  No one here knows you and most are too drunk to care.  The worst thing that could happen is they boo us.  Wah.”

“I really a-”

“Waaaah.”

“I’m serio-”

“WAAAAAAHHHH!”

Tempest grimaced and then pinched the bridge of her nose and had to take a deep breath that she slowly exhaled.  She imagined that dealing with Sunset Shimmer was good conversation practice for dealing with her future teenager.  She turned to her husband who, as always, just shrugged.  Tempest rolled her eyes and groaned. “Fiiiiiiine.  But I hate you.”

Sunset grinned. “I can live with that.”

While they waited near the bar Sunset sat on the edge of a bolted down barstool with her arms wrapped around Twilight’s waist, head on her shoulder, planting small kisses along her marefriend’s neck from time to time.  Earning a few giggles from the delightful contact.  Tempest had relaxed after coming to terms with her unavoidable fate of standing before a crowd and attempting to sing.  Constantly reminding herself that no one would remember her or be able to hold it against her.  Even if Raven showed others she would claim complete denial then plot the untimely demise of the small electronic device.

Tempest had been complimented on many of her talents over the years.  Her physical strength, her eye for strategy and detail, her stamina in a fight as well as her combat magic.  Her singing voice?  Not so much.  At least, not as far back as she could recall.  Had she ever sung?  Probably.  Where others could hear her?  Nope.

The second singer finished wailing some drunken love ballad and half stumbled off the stage back to a group of waiting friends who cheered and whistled.  Twilight slapped both Sunset’s and Tempest’s thighs and pointed.

“We’re up!  Let’s show these humans how equestrians do it!”

Sunset snorted and laughed. “Oh, sweet Celestia!  Wording!”

Tempest sucked down the last of her frozen drink and shook a bit as the chill passed through her body.  “Well, at least I think I’m drunk enough for something stupid like this.”

Sunset tapped Raven’s screen and temporarily synced her file share to the karaoke machine so that the song queued up. “Ready to embarrass yourselves, ponies?” asked Raven.

Sunset took Twilight’s hand, kissed the back of it before nodding. “Always.”

The music began.  Sunset felt her heart swell and a familiar tingle spread through her body and soul once again hearing the music of their long gone friends.  Gone.  But never forgotten.  She stepped up to the microphone with her left arm around Twilight’s waist pulling her close.  Twilight in turn wrapped her right arm around and stuck her hand in Sunset’s back pocket, playfully groping her marefriend’s behind.  Together, as one, Sunset and Twilight began to sing.

We just got the day to get ready and there is only so much time to lose.
Because tonight, yeah we’re here to party so let’s think of something fun to do.
We don’t know what’s gonna happen, we just know it’s gonna be all right.
All our friends are here and it's time to ignite the light!

Tempest and Gauge had been following along a step behind, both reading the lyrics on screen and waiting for their moment.  Sunset had briefly showed them on Raven’s small screen how the color would change when they reached the chorus and that was when they would need to jump in, followed by four individual lines that each of them would have to sing.  That was where Tempest expected herself to flub or worse, where Gauge would come off so flat that they would all get laughed right off the stage.  Surprisingly, Gauge did not seem that worried.

Wait.  Tempest pondered and then glanced up to her husband who was tapping his foot and intensely following the prompts.  Can Fog even sing?!  

Shake your tail because we’re here to have a party tonight.

Tempest and Gauge jumped in right when the lyric colors changed.

Shake your tail!  Shake your tail!
Shake your tail because we’re here to have a party tonight.
Shake your tail!  Shake your tail!

Tempest glanced at Gauge with wide eyes and jaw hanging open.  The stoic thestral simply winked at his wife.  Damn, he… he sounds fantastic!  How did I not know this?!  Why was he not singing our foal to sleep?!

Sunset could feel her dormant magic burning inside her and glanced to Twilight whose face was nearly pressed into hers, a huge grin on both their faces.  They both suspected what was about to happen and neither had any plans to stop it.  Be that from the drinks or that it just felt too good to stop.

Sunset sang, So what if you don’t get it right the first time.

Twilight picked up, Laugh it off, no one said it is a crime.

Tempest followed, Do your thing, you know you’re an original.

Gauge sang in his mellow, velvety tone, Your ideas are so funny that they’re criminal.

All together they bellowed, Ohhhhh ahh! And at that moment, all four of them ponied up in a flash of magical light.

Sunset and Twilight felt large, feathery wings emerge from their backs, pony ears atop their heads, hair extending halfway down their legs, and glowing golden and violet horns spring from their foreheads.  They hardly flinched and just kept singing straight into the second verse.

Tempest and Gauge however were both completely dumbstruck and if it had not been for years of rigorous training to school their reactions to the unexpected they would have both dove from the stage to defensive stances to try and figure out what just happened.  Tempest could see that both women before her had grown alicorn features.  Unexpected was putting it mildly, but then they WERE alicorns, soooo, yeah.  

However, Tempest could feel that her ears were back where they belonged on the top of her head and could freely move them.  She could feel her own hair had grown significantly longer as well, swishing back and forth as she turned her head.  But what really made her blink twice was that Fog Gauge also had grown a small set of membrane wings that he was flexing a bit, furry ears atop his head, and most surprisingly, his pupils were once again vertically slit and reflective in the low club light.  The crowd who had been watching them went wild with whoops and cheers.

Tempest shook her head at the unexpected reaction to those around them and returned her eyes to the screen when Gauge nudge her with his wing.  Just in time for their part of the chorus.  A minute later the song ended and nearly the entire second floor broke into claps and cheers.  Twilight and Sunset side hugged one another, pressing their cheers together.  As they stepped off the stage for the next singers to take their place, the pony features snapped out and only simple human features remained.

Sunset glided her fingers down Twilight’s head from where the pony ear had been moments before, down over her human ear, and down the jawline.  They both leaned forward, their lips met and remained locked.

Until the last of Tempest’s patience frayed and she snapped, “What in the flipping flop just happened?!  I thought this place had no magic!  You had horns!  Why did I not have a horn?  I miss my horn.”

Sunset and Twilight both giggled as they pressed their foreheads together and rubbed the tips of their noses side to side a bit since they lacked horns once more.  Sunset held up a finger and retreated to the bar to recover her jacket and pass on the promised tip while she settled the bill.  She returned and took Twilight’s hand, leading the group back downstairs.

“C’mon.  I’m in the mood for something else and I can explain the rest on the way.”

“May I ask where we are going now?”

Sunset glanced back at Gauge then whispered something into Twilight’s ear that made the other woman gasp and blush profusely. “Back to the hotel, of course.  I am horny as fuck right now.”
> Chapter 7: A Night to Remember (Mature content warning)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunset Shimmer had Raven call their group of four a cab.  It was too far to walk back to the hotel and they were all far too inebriated to drive.  As they waited under the streetlights for their ride Sunset wrapped her arms around Twilight Sparkle's waist and held her close.  Absolutely relishing the scent of the other woman.  Playfully, Sunset nuzzled into Twilight's hair to find and ear to nibble on.

Tempest Fury continued to check their surroundings out of instinct for both hostiles and unwanted eavesdroppers.  She may have been tipsy and technically off duty, but she had a personal obligation to protect her princess and friend.  Well, probably both of them, but definitely Twilight.  Besides, her husband was scanning the surrounding just as much as she was and he had better night vision than all of them even with human eyes.

“Okay, it’s just us.  Explain what just happened back there, please.  I thought this world had no magic.”

Sunset smiled, held up her hand and examined the fingernails.  They were healthy and in decent shape, but could use a nice clear coat if they were going to stay on Earth longer.  “Fundamentally understand that there is magic everywhere in the universe, even in this parallel universe.  But nearly all humans lack the ability to tap into it.  Since the mirror serves as a gateway and a transformation device our bodies are effectively human inside and out.  What you see before you, in all our cases is us and not an elaborate illusion.  That’s how I was able to birth a child here.

“However, my friends and I discovered long ago that there are ways to tap that ambient magic if you are sensitive to it.  Music acts as a catalyst to tap our natural mana wells.  Music speaks to the deepest, most passionate parts of our souls.  We are in truth magical creatures by our very nature and so it triggers the transformations.  Ears, wings, ponytails… though the glowing horns are sorta new.  But now that I think back you had one that last time we fought the plant monster.”  Twilight had to think back and nodded.

"Could have something to do with our alicorn nature," Twilight added.  It made as much sense as a hypothesis as anything else.  “And more so to the fact, with the portal open, magic from our world is pouring into this one like an open faucet.” Twilight was only partially thinking about the earlier pony up.  She was far more interested in gliding her hands along to the tops of Sunset’s.  Goldenrod fingers sliding up and down the delightful fabric over Twilight’s abdomen, teasing at the underside of her breasts.  Tempest briefly wondered if they could make it back to the hotel before they began stripping one another.  Their flagrant lack of proper public decorum was beginning to affect her despite her efforts to fight down her own tingling sensations. 

“If you focus on that ambient power around you, you can probably sense it,” Twilight said after a moment of enjoying Sunset’s touch.  Raven pinged a minute later to inform them the cab was arriving.

“Okay, that makes sense, but why were none of the people in the club shocked by it?”

“Remember those goggles we had on?  They probably thought it was part of the show.  And the ones who didn’t have AR goggles probably figured it was some sort of other special effect provided by the club itself," said Sunset with a shrug.  People always try to cling to the fastest and simplest explanation to weirdness first.  Helps them sleep at night.”

The group climbed into the cab and Sunset directed the driver to take them to their hotel.  Part of Sunset’s fogging brain wanted to point out that this cab had a real driver instead of being an auto drive cab, which had started to become more common when she was last across the mirror.  Instead, she simply sighed and enjoyed the warm feeling that was coursing through her body.  She was buzzed, filled with friendship magic, and wanted to badly strip out of her clothes.  More so, she wanted to strip Twilight out of her clothes.  

A glance over her shoulder to the back seat where the other three were confirmed that they felt much the same.  Twilight was next to the driver’s side window, but was not looking out at the scenery.  She was looking at Sunset, biting her bottom lip, and sliding her hand between her legs.  Gauge was in the middle eyes forward, one hand on Tempest’s leg stroking it. He met Sunset’s gaze and smirked a bit, his fingers gliding farther and farther up his wife’s leg where the yoga leggings disappeared under the frayed denim cutoff shorts.  Tempest was looking out the window, when her eyes would stay open long enough for it.  She was getting lost in the touch despite her best efforts to maintain composure.

Sunset quickly paid the driver and blew him a kiss because, why the heck not?  The moment they were in the elevator Twilight turned and pressed her lips to Sunset’s, thrusting her tongue into her marefriend’s mouth.  Sunset's head made a light thud against the wall of the elevator.

“Can’t you wait till you get to the room?” asked Tempest who gasped when she felt Gauge’s hands both grope her bottom.  They slid along her hips and pulled her body into his and she gasped again at the feeling of his stiffness pressed in between her cheeks.  Tempest glanced again to Sunset and Twilight who had not separated for even a moment, hands interlocked.  She was not into mares, never had been, but there was something arousing about watching any two individuals passionately suck face.  Coupled with feeling her husband against her and the solar captain felt her heart absolutely pounding in her chest like a virgin schoolfilly.  She knew she was blushing, she knew from what Sunset had said it was normal, but such fiery arousal outside of a heat season was frightening and simultaneously, mind numbingly, hot.

The elevator door opened and Sunset quickly led Twilight to their room.  Raven unlocked the door as they approached and she held it open for Twilight.  As the purple princess sashayed past, she kissed the knuckles of their clasped fingers before letting the hand go.  Raven sent the codes to unlock the second suite door as Tempest reached for the door handle.

“The walls of this place are pretty thick, but you miiiiight hear things through the bathroom door.  Just to warn you.  See you in the morning.”

Tempest, in a rare display of mischief, stuck her tongue out at Sunset and reached down, grabbing a handful of Gauge’s bulging pants. “I’m not going to hear you.  I’ll be too busy making my own noise.”

And with that said, both doors closed and locked.

Sunset giggled and dropped her jacket at the door.  Next off were the boots and socks.  Twilight had turned on the light by the bed, but slid the dimmer to a soft, low setting.  She was splayed out on the king sized bed on her back, hair going every directing, one leg flat, one leg bent and showing considerable skin.  Her passionate, purple eyes were half lidded, but were locked on Sunset only.  There was a smolder to them, a hunger.  Lust.  Sunset licked her lips and Twilight in turn licked hers and they both blushed.

“Hey beautiful.”

Twilight smiled and giggled. “Hello yourself.  I think I’m going to need help getting out of this thing since you are the finger expert.”

Sunset’s grin became toothy and predatory. “I am at that and you are about to find out how far that expertise goes.”  

Sunset set Raven down on the dresser and then smirked, making sure Twilight was watching her.  She quickly unbuckled her belt and then the three buttons on her pants, letting the fly claps hang open teasingly, exposing the top of her black panties.  Clasping the bottom of her camisole top Sunset lifted it up and over her head tossing the material to the floor.  She stretched with her arms above her head, matching black bra straining to keep her mounds contained.

Twilight had had far enough teasing and slid out of the bed and wrapped her arms around Sunset, pulling her into a kiss.  Purple hands found the clasps on the back of the bra and all three hooks were freed at once. Twilight’s hands glided down Sunset’s smooth, muscular back to the loose jeans.  Twilight broke the kiss as she began to kiss down her lover’s neck, earning a passionate moan and gasp for air.  The kisses continued downward, over her cleavage, hungrily licking the sweet salt of sweat that had beaded up between her mounds.  The bra fell away.  She continued to kiss down over toned, muscular abs.  The grisly scars from the battle with her father never faded and there were some newer skin discolorations from other fights that Twilight had not noticed before since they had previously been hidden beneath fur.  She did not linger knowing they bothered Sunset a bit and finally reached the elastic band of her goal, Sunset’s panties.

“Someone is feisty and in a good mood.”

Twilight looked back up at Sunset from her knees and grinned.  She pulled the pants down quickly, holding them down while Sunset stepped out of the clothing leaving her with only one last article.  Those would come next, but first.

Twilight stood and turned, pulling her hair to the side, glancing back at her lover over the shoulder with one eye.  Sunset knew exactly what to do.  The fiery maned alicorn sunk her lips into the crook of Twilight’s neck, licking and sucking on purple skin, leaving playful little bites. Twilight gasped and sighed at the delightful contact.

Two hands found the zipper to the dress and pulled down.  When it reached its end those goldenrod hands tugged on the sleeves and freed the dress to fall to the ground all while never ceasing to kiss and suck on Twilight’s neck, shoulder, and ear.  Oh, how Twilight LOVED to have her ears nibbled upon.  Each tiny bite sent electric shivers straight from her brain directly between her legs.  Twilight knew she was wet.  She could feel it.  She could smell it, smell both of them in fact.

Twilight had already taken her shoes off so now they both had only their underwear left.  With a few gentle pushes, Twilight was encouraged to walk forward until she found the bed and bent over on it, presenting her dark purple panty covered bottom to her marefriend.  Sunset stripped out of her own soaked panties and unclasped Twilight’s bra next.  That would fall away soon enough, but Sunset did not want her to roll over just yet.  She was enjoying the view of Twilight’s shapely backside.

Fingers danced over silky smooth purple skin that was free of a single blemish or imperfection.  Sunset herself had a few battle scars that she was trying to not be self conscious about and ruin the mood, so she focused on Twilight.  “Sunset.”  She paused, Twilight turned a bit so their eyes could meet.  “I feel like I’m in heat.  Please…”  Sunset understood.  She felt it too.  They had already both been pretty horny, but after their magic surge at the club their hearts felt as if they were beating as one, lust and desires switched into overdrive.  Sunset could feel the air system in the room kick on and blew a gentle kiss of coolness across her glistening skin.  The air was welcomed because it was about to get a whole lot hotter.

Sunset stripped the soft, cotton panties down to the floor and dove face first into Twilight's flushed and dripping sex.  Her hands kneaded Twilight’s ass while her tongue went immediately to work, splitting her folds like butter.  Twilight shuddered and arched her butt at the desirable contact giving Sunset better access.  The positive reaction only spurned Sunset on to take longer, deeper licks, plunging in as far as the wiggly organ could go.  Her tongue glided over the extended pink nub of Twilight’s clit, cleaving her labia lips apart all the way to the tip of Twilight’s pucker then back down again.  She was relentless and her hands never stopped caressing purple skin.

“YESSSSS!  Oh!  Goddess, YES!”

It was time to change things up a bit before using her secret weapon.  Sunset stood and climbed up onto the bed herself.  Twilight shifted with some encouragement and let the last discarded undergarments fall away.  Sunset rotated herself and pulled her lover up so that they were both on their sides in a 'sixty-nine' position. She shimmied a bit then dove right back into Twilight’s pussy, only teasing a bit with her fingers.  More of that to come soon.

Twilight had not been sure what her lover was doing when she stopped, but once they shifted and Sunset’s own dripping pussy was placed in range, no words needed to be said.  Twilight nuzzled the patch of soft red fur between Sunset’s legs, relishing both the familiar scent and sensation.  She had never made love to Sunset as a human and felt she was at a marginal disadvantage.  But Sunset had not slowed in her love making and Twilight refused to be out done because of an uphill challenge.  Let it never be said that Twilight Sparkle was afraid of experimenting and trying new things.

Twilight kissed Sunset’s skin all about teasingly, slowly growing closer to her goal.  It was going to take all her focus to provide pleasure when Sunset was absolutely feasting upon her pussy like a starving animal.  She could feel her first orgasm for the night fast approaching.  With another shuddering breath, Twilight dove in herself, splitting Sunset’s folds with her tongue and swirling it around in a manner she knew Sunset absolutely loved.

“Fuck!  Yes!”  Twilight giggled and began to suckle with her lips, making sure to include Sunset’s own clit.  She had some catching up to do.

Sunset felt a wave of heat pass through her when Twilight finally joined in.  She cursed, hissed with pleasure, then went right back to licking, her hands never ceasing to glide over, knead or squeeze something and everything.  She knew this woman’s body no matter what the form.  Yes, a part of her mind was quietly comparing her to her passed wife.  She did not want to, but a subconscious was evil like that sometimes.  Sunset acknowledged wordlessly that they were quite similar, but nowhere near the same.  

Twi had been more than a whole head shorter than her, much to Twi’s annoyance at times.  Princess Twilight, in addition to being just as tall as Sunset was also just as strong, just as resilient physically, and there was not a single millimeter of excess, unwanted fat on her body.  Just smooth, toned muscle under purple skin that pressed just as hard against her goldenrod body.  The mirror had been kind to Twilight and Sunset was passionately enjoying that fact.  She did not need to hold back for fear of painfully overpowering her lover.  Twilight could take all she had to give and give she would.  She had not felt this lost in primal lust towards another human body since her night with Obsidian.  

However, that had been different in its own right.  Her lust had been driven by lonely desperation in need of sexual release.  The woman in her arms, whose sweat slick body was humping her face on the verge of orgasm, this was driven by loving desire.  The entire exchange was causing small fireworks to go off in Sunset's brain that she had realized she had been storing.  This was different on a fundamental level.  Sunset had not felt the desire to have sex with another female of any species since Twi died.  Men were different.  They were not her wife and they satisfied her loins, but never her heart.  But like before, like so many other times in her life.  Twilight Sparkle was bringing out the best in her.

This was not just sex.  No.  This was true love making, the bonding of souls.  Two hearts coming together as one.  Sunset knew without a doubt in this world or any world that she loved Twilight Sparkle and wanted to marry her.  She wanted this for the rest of her many, many years to come.  

Sunset felt her brain scrambling with so many thoughts, her hips began to buck and hump Twilight’s face with a shameless grinding need.  “Fuck, fuck, fuuuuuuck!  YEESSSS!”  Sunset felt herself right on the edge already, her passion fueling her arousal.  She NEEDED to have Twilight feel it too and plunged two fingers into Twilight’s drenched pussy and speared them in and out like a piston.

“SUNSET!”

Both women gasped, tensed, powerful arms pulling one into the other, fingernails digging in, muscles clenched and spasmed.  They both shuddered as one, they both leaked passion fluids over each other and the bed.  Then the high began to subside and they both collapsed, separated, and rolled over to their backs, panting while sweat beads rolled down their skin and they rode out the last aftershocks of their mutual orgasms.  grasping hands found one another and fingers intertwined once more.

“That was…”

“Incredible…” Twilight finished.  They continued to pant with small giggles in between.  “I’ve never… come so quickly and… so hard… in my LIFE!”

Sunset recovered first, flipping around and began to lick Twilight again.  She lapped up the drips between her lover’s legs, kissing the sensitive clit again then added more kisses and her hands as she made her way up Twilight’s flat belly to her heaving breasts.  Sunset nuzzled close as her hands and tongue worked as a team playing with each large mound, giving them both wanted and needed attention.

“Goddess, you taste so good.”

“Probably the salty margaritas.”

Sunset had no desire to debate, putting her mouth to better uses as she glided her tongue from mound to mound, nipple to nipple.  Twilight cooed as her lover began anew.  She looked down at her hands and put her own to work, reaching under Sunset’s arms to cup the other woman’s boobs and pinch the nipples.  Sunset moaned with approval.

“You really want to feel what hands can do?”  Twilight grinned and nodded.  Sunset leaned down and their lips locked again, both relishing the sweet ambrosia of the other’s leftover lube on their mouths and chins.  

Sunset slid back and motioned for Twilight to sit against the headboard with the pillows for comfort.  She could have done this a few different ways, from behind with Twilight’s butt in the air like a presented mare was one of her favorites, for obvious reasons.  However, this time, Sunset wanted to look at Twilight’s face.  She wanted to look into Twilight’s eyes while she fingerblasted her soon to be fiancé to another spectacular, gushing orgasm.  Sunset wanted to see the hearts in Twilight's eyes.  Maybe afterwards Twilight would have enough energy to return the favor.  If not, meh, no big deal.  She was a giver and there was always next time.

Sunset spread Twilight’s legs and started off by stroking each leg in turn with her left hand, kissing along the thighs.  Sunset’s right hand slipped between her own legs and she inserted at first two fingers, then a minute later a third.  Twilight just watched the show and enjoy the tingly sensations with each kiss and stroke.

“Relax,” Sunset instructed, her voice low and husky, “I’m going to make you feel like you are soaring among the stars, seeking out new life and new civilizations.”

“Ohhhhhh!”

Sunset withdrew her coated fingers and began to rub them up and down Twilight own wet slit.  She had not needed the extra lubrication, but there was just something HOTTER about mixing her fluids with Twilight’s.  It just felt right.  Slowly, two fingers entered with almost no resistance.  Twilight was just as drenched as she was.  On the third stroke Sunset added the third finger and felt her lover hiss with pleasure and clenched the digits tight.  

Sunset began to speed up her finger insertions, curling the ends of her digits upwards each time she had them fully plunged within Twilight’s depths.  She knew it was there and she knew with the right leverage, pressure, and stimulation that Sunset could drive Twilight over the edge with a powerful G spot orgasm in a matter of seconds.  But faster was not always better.  No, the buildup had to be primed, stoked, made ready for the final push over the edge.

Twilight began to buck her hips little by little each time Sunset curled her amazing fingers against the walls of her pubic plate.  Each thrust, each rub, sent jolts of energy straight through her loins and exploded the synapses of her brain.  Twilight was breathing heavier, finding it harder and hard to keep her eyes open, but oh, did she want to keep them open because right before her were two, gorgeous orbs of teal that were locked upon her.  Sunset’s eyes were scanning Twilight for every movement, every twitch, every sign that things were going exactly as she wanted them to.

“S-Suuunseeettt.”

“Mmmhmmm.”

Twilight was panting harder, thrusting and gyrating, grinding her hips into Sunset’s fingers.  She was making an absolute mess of the bed, but neither cared about that little detail.  They were too busy making love and if need be they could have just slept on the floor.

“I’m… I… I…”

“Don’t be afraid of what you are feeling.  Let go of your inhibitions and ride it out.  Fuck my fingers like they are my own big fat cock about to fill you with all the foal making cum you could ever want.”

“I… I want…  Oh… sweet Celestia… FUCK MEEEEEE!!!”

Sunset flashed a grin that would have put her demon-self to shame.  It was the right moment.  Without warning Sunset changed speeds and began fingerblasting Twilight as hard and fast as she could.  It probably would have hurt a normal human, but she and Twilight were not normal.  They were alicorns.  They were goddesses.

Twilight threw head back and squeezed her eyes shut.  She felt herself gush all over Sunset’s hand and the bed.  Her entire body felt as if she had stepped inside a raw mana well and had become infused with the energy of the world itself, setting every cell in her body on fire with pleasure.  Twilight saw stars through her closed eyes and screamed.

“MARRY ME!”

Twilight collapsed.

Sunset blinked a few times, sitting there between her lover’s legs, her hand coated in a fresh batch of orgasmic juice.  Did… did she just propose to me in mid-orgasm?  

Twilight had collapsed into a puddle, both literally and metaphorically.  Her eyes were still closed and she was sweating and panting.  Sunset’s brain restarted and she slid back off the bed.  She began to suck the delicious mare cum from her fingers so as to not let a good thing go to waste while she strolled over to the small refrigerator.  With her cleaner hand she reached inside and pulled out a cold bottle of water.  Sunset took a few gulps, then pressed the bottle to her forehead.  That had not been the passionate cry she had expected when Twilight came.

S-S-Sunset?”

Sunset strolled back over to the bed and curled up next to Twilight, handing her the bottle. “Here, after all that plus the alcohol you are probably dehydrated.”

Twilight nodded and took a few sips.  The two sat in silence while Sunset casually stroked fingers along Twilight’s still twitching legs and up along her side.  They could hear faint sounds of grunting and panting coming from under the bathroom door and the room next to theirs.  Twilight took another long swig of water as the silence in their own room lingered.

“Hey…”

“I got caught up in the moment,” said Twilight, beginning to spiral in on herself.  “I, I didn’t mean to say that.  I… I don’t want to scare you off.  Oh, Celestia, what did I do?”

Sunset giggled and kissed Twilight’s ear.  She stayed there with her breath ticking Twilight’s lobe a moment, waiting for Twilight's breathing and near panic to subside before finally whispering, “You know, I was actually waiting for the perfect moment to ask you that.”

“You…” Twilight blinked and turned, their noses touching, “you were?”

“I wanted it to be a surprise.  I had a plan and everything and it was not even a bad one, for once.  Though I think it’s going to be hard to top asking in mid-orgasm.”

“W-When?  When were you going to ask me?”

Sunset cuddled closer, giving Twilight a small peck on the lips. “Soon.  Not long after we got back.  You’ve been so patient with me and I… I haven’t been the easiest mare or woman to deal with.  Sorry about that.  I’m sorry if I’m being a perfectionist about all this.  I just… I just want it to be right.  You deserve for it to be right, to be special.”

Twilight took a deep breath and let it out slowly, sliding down flat on the bed to stare at the ceiling.  She was exhausted, but now her brain was in overtired overdrive.  The games, the dancing, the sex…  Wow, that was fantastic sex.  Twilight’s mind whirled as it processed the entire day.

“Twily?”

Twilight turned to Sunset and nuzzled into her lover’s side, letting out a delightful sigh of relief.  “I’m okay… better than okay really.  Just… I love you, Sunset Shimmer, and I trust you so, please, just do what you have to do so that we can make it official.  I have absolutely wanted this for so long.”

Sunset rearranged the blanket and bed sheets and snuggled up next to Twilight again.  She leaned over and kissed her fellow princess once more.  She knew exactly how to convey to Twilight how serious she was.  The contractual binding that was ironclad as they came.

“I will.  I Pinkie Promise.  Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”  Sunset made the necessary gestures and Twilight felt a world of relief wash over her.  “I love you.”

Twilight closed her eyes and smiled more. “Thank you, I love you too.”

The couple began to drift off, bodies intertwined when both were jolted awake when they heard a particular scream come from the room next to them.

“YEEESSS!  YESSSSS!  PUT A FOAL IN MEEEEE!  AHHHH!”

Sunset and Twilight settled back in and giggled at one another. “Well, no need to ask if they are enjoying their vacation.”

The pair giggled once more, falling asleep with hearts and bodies intertwined, smiles on their faces.
> Chapter 8: Sideways
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunset Shimmer was jolted awake by the sound of Raven’s notification alarm.  Her sudden jerky movement disturbed Twilight, who she had been spooning and nuzzled up behind.  Sunset blinked a few times and had to gently pull the indigo hair from her face and mouth.  Twilight mumbled a few times and rolled over to her back but was not fully awake yet.

“Mhmmrump blurp?” Sunset shook her head and tried again. “Raven what time is it?”

“It is currently nine in the morning.  Checkout is in one hour if any would like to clean up from last night’s 'activities' I would suggest doing so quickly… or in groups to save time and water.”

Sunset smiled serenely, recalling all the enjoyment from last night.  Her mouth tasted a bit dry, but not the disgusting cotton ball of acid with accompanying hangover she had experienced in the past by going overboard with drinking.  I’ll score that as a win.

“Also, I received a notification from Mahogany Shades’ PAAL.  Your commission will be ready for pickup by noon.”

“Awesome.  What about the robot body for you?  Heard anything from the store or the supplier?”

“Sadly, not yet.  I will ping their network at ten, after the store is scheduled to open.”

Sunset felt a hand reach up glide along her cheek, turning her attention downward.  Teal eyes locked with amethyst and they both smiled.  They both said, “Good morning,” simultaneously which made them smile brighter.

“Everything okay?”

Sunset yawned and stretched a bit. “Yeah, just gotta get up and moving.  Breakfast, a few errands, and then make our way to the portal with the loot.”

Twilight yawned in turn and sat up and stretched as well. “How much time do we have before the portal closes?”

“Approximately six hours,” Raven said matter-of-factly.

Sunset nodded and threw the covers back.  She stood and stretched out the rest of her muscles as she made her way over to her set of clothes. “C’mon Princess Sexy Starbutt, let’s grab a quick shower and get some breakfast.”

Twilight yawned again and gathered her own clothes that she had set aside the day before. “Shouldn’t we wake Tempest and Gauge?”

“I’m sure they will hear the water running and if not, I’ll sneak in and wake them up with some oral sex.”

Twilight sputtered for a moment before shaking her head. “You are so bad.”


----------


The four Equestrians sat at a booth in the corner of the dining room.  Sunset had a large cup of coffee and a plate of waffles. Twilight also had waffles with a side of fruit and cup of juice.  Gauge had chosen eggs, then horrified the others by trying some of the crispy bacon out of curiosity, and a small cup of coffee.  Tempest went with cereal, and coffee as well, glaring at Sunset every chance she could.

Sunset Shimmer had finally had enough, rolled her eyes and whispered, “Are you still mad?”

“You knew we were… busy.  You didn’t have to stand there and watch us like… like a pervert.”

“That was a bit of a breach of privacy, Sunny.” Twilight said between bites.

“Pfffft.  Gauge saw me and just kept going.  He didn’t seem to mind.”

Tempest turned to her husband and glared daggers at him. “Did you know she was there?”

The only stallion of the group finished chewing and glanced between the three sets of eyes at the table.  Finally, he just shrugged. “I did, but I was enjoying our morning love making too much to stop.”

Sunset grinned, Twilight smiled, Tempest blushed and tried to hide her face behind her coffee cup.  Sunset finally gave a quiet set of claps and said, “Good answer.”

“In all seriousness,” Tempest said after regaining her composure, “what else needs to be done?  Yes, fine, I’ll admit I had a great time here and yes, hands can be fun, but we need to get home.”

“Well, like I told Twilight earlier, we need to stop by the electronics store again and see if they have Raven’s body ready.  They told me it would be here by noonish Friday.  I want to check on that first.  If it’s still not ready then you three can camp out while I pick up the last of my gifts and then it SHOULD be there by the time I get back.”

“Should?  I don’t like the sound of this.”

“I… have to agree with her on this one, Sunny.  We really do NOT want to cut it too close.”

Sunset grimaced and swirled her coffee for a moment before swallowing the rest. “I know, but this is important to me.  I need to give them as much time as I can.  Even in a worst case scenario the store is less than an hour car ride to CHS.  It’ll be fine, I promise.”

Twilight nodded, but her worried expression that was briefly shared by the two captains did not go unnoticed by Sunset.  She glanced down at Raven on the screen who simply blinked and stared back as if contemplating the entire situation.  The rest of breakfast was finished in silence.

It took some finesse, but with Sunset’s help and guidance, both Tempest and Gauge were once again dressed in their mirror provided military uniforms.  Twilight had also switched back to the business dress attire the mirror had bestowed upon her.  Sunset stuck with her newer t-shirt and jeans along with her black motorcycle jacket, claiming that she had already worn the other set enough.  

Checkout had been without incident or hassle.  Like a good gentlecolt, Gauge had volunteered to carry the bags of electronics over his shoulders.  The gently used clothes had been placed in garbage bags they had obtained from the desk attendant and were being carried by the other three.  Raven was of course attached to Sunset’s hand while Smartypants was on the back of Twilight’s.  

The first order of business after the cab had arrived to pick them up had been to drop the clothes into a donation bin along the way back to the electronics store.  It was an odd request, but the cab driver was getting paid by the minute so he didn’t question when Sunset had directed him to a parking lot with a big blue donation box in it.

Several minutes later they arrived at the store.  Sunset scanned the sales floor, looking for a familiar face and was pleased when she spotted Daisy Jo again.  The young woman finished whatever she had been working on and strolled her way over to Sunset Shimmer once more.

“Hi ya!  Welcome back,” Daisy Jo greeted.

“Good morning. Is it too much to hope that my order has arrived yet?”

“I would have to check, but truthfully, most warehouse orders don’t come before lunch.  I know you talked with the manager about a special shipment so I can go check with him if you like.”

“Please do.  We’re heading out of town this afternoon and I really want to take the mech body with us.”  Daisy smiled and nodded before heading to the back room.

“That’s not a good sign.”

Twilight did not want to agree with Tempest and upset Sunset, but she nodded anyhow.  The entire situation was not ideal. Thankfully, Sunset took it in stride.

“It’s okay, its only about eleven.  We still have plenty of time and probably need lunch ourselves in an hour or two, plus I have another order to pick up.  I’m not worried.”  The haste in which Sunset spoke betrayed some of the confidence in her words.  Politely, none of the others pointed that out directly.  Raven sent a stat message to Smartypants that Sunset’s blood pressure had elevated.  The new PAAL acknowledged the information and saved it for Twilight to review later.

Sunset was about to speak when Daisy Jo returned with an older gentleman with a long, but well kept beard that was red and blonde, eyes the color of bioluminescent teal.  Though it had been many years, Sunset balked at seeing the man before her.  Her mind immediately flashed to images she had seen of him as a baby and a toddler, but she also recalled having seen the young man at more than one funeral.  Upon closer inspection she could see some of Aurora in his face.  Sunset looked down at the name tag that read: Senior Manager Sunrise.  Sunset’s tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth as her breath hitched.  Sunrise Flash… one of her great grandsons.

“Ma’am?”

“Hmm?”

“You asked about a special order MAU model, yes?  It says here you spoke with both my boss and… the distribution manager?”

“YES!”  Sunset coughed and then took a breath to settle her racing heart and frayed nerves.  “I mean, yes.”  Considering how many great grandchildren she had it was inevitable she would run into some of them in the city.  He doesn’t recognize you, it’s okay, Shimmer.  Just stay on task.

“I, I apologize, but I could swear I have seen you somewhere else before.”

Sunset smiled a bit too wide and shuffled a bit. Ah, shit.  “I get around the city a lot, I’m sure we’ve crossed paths or chatted in a line at the grocery store or something.  Annnnyhow.  About my order?”

The man’s eyes widened and he snapped his fingers. “Now I remember!  You were at my Aunty Dusk Sparkler’s funeral.  You were… your mom knew my mom or something.”

Sunset winced, but managed to work it into pretending she had an itch on her neck. “Right, yes.  You are Twilight Breeze’s son.  A-Aurora Shimmer’s grandson.”

The mention of the name ‘Twilight’ caused Princess Twilight to perk up and study the senior manager all the more closely.  He definitely had a resemblance to Sunset by the red and yellow blended hair alone.  It was not unusual for genetic traits to skip a generation before remanifesting.  At a glance he could have just as easily passed for a brother to Sunset Shimmer.

“Small world, huh?”

Sunset bit her lip and nodded. “Yup.”  The silence lingered just long enough to become awkward before Sunset coughed into her hand.  “You were talking about my order?”

Sunrise shrugged and brought up the holo screen of his PAAL.  He flicked his finger and the information popped up on Raven’s own holo screen.  

“Oh!  That’s a neat tool,” said Sunset, grateful to be back on topic.

“Can we do that between our PAAL’s as well?” asked Twilight equally as intrigued.

Sunrise smiled. “I know, right?  New to the model five.  Super useful and yes, as long as you are in range you can send information back and forth easily.  You can set your PAAL to screen for unwanted information so strangers don’t just send… you know, gross stuff.  Toy around with the settings when you get a chance.  Anyhow, it shows that the unit did leave the distribution warehouse, but I don’t have a live update on its location.  The truck could be an older model or is in stealth mode to keep it from being tracked.  Shipments carrying high value merchandise sometimes travel that way to avoid potential theft.”

“Okay, good, so it’s on its way.  Can you give me an estimate?  I have a few other things to do, plus lunch.”

Sunrise grimaced and waved his hand back and forth. “Sadly no, but after one does sound about right.  Can you come back then?”

“Sure thing.” Sunset nodded satisfied.  However, when she turned the other three all wore expressions of varying degrees of concern.  Sunset sighed and signaled for them to follow her out of the store.  Once outside and half a block away she turned and stopped.  “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing is the matter, I know, I just…”

“To Tartarus with that,” said Tempest, her scowl once again permanently etched to her face. “You know damn well what the matter is.  We need to go home and can’t risk missing the portal window.  Waiting for this bot thing is cutting it too close and you know it.”

“Tempest,” Twilight hissed.  With great personal effort and a reassuring hand from Gauge on her shoulder, the solar captain reigned in her venom, but not enough to apologize even to a princess.  Twilight took a breath, raising her arm and releasing it.  “We, and I do me WE, as in all of us, are just concerned that you might not be seeing the big picture on this.”

Sunset crossed her arms her body language shifting to something that, even in human form, Twilight recognized as far more aggressive and defensive.  “There's nothing to be concerned about.  We have time.”  Sunset held up Raven to show the countdown.  “I don't want to fight about this.  How about we just get a light lunch, maybe some smoothies, and cool our engines.  Sound good?”

Gauge stepped forward and intentionally between all the others. “An excellent suggestion.  Please, lead the way, my princess.”  Tempest grumbled something under her breath.  Gauge cocked his head to the side and grimaced, but Tempest refused to concede completely.  She rolled her eyes and fell to the back of the group, happy to be as far from Sunset as she could while still watching out for all of them.

The Smoothie Shack was busy on a Friday lunch afternoon, but for all the right reasons.  Not only did it offer great, freshly made drinks right in the heart of downtown Canterlot City, but it also had a wide array of fresh grilled items as well.  The vegetarian kabobs were calling to Sunset Shimmer in a way she had not realized she needed.  The others all gladly ordered their own, the previous tension and mild hostility at least temporarily forgotten while they sat together around a small round table.  Sunset was lost in her own thoughts of family and all she had to once again leave behind soon.  Or that had left her behind, in a manner of speaking.  The thoughts passed as quickly as they had manifested.

Sunset had jumped on the Strawberry banana smoothie, savoring at how perfectly blended it was.  Twilight had chosen a blueberry-cherry mixer that sounded as good as it looked.  Sunset had gladly taken a few sips when she offered the straw and a reassuring smile that wordlessly said she was worried, but still on her marefriend's side.  Tempest had liked the sound of a high protein pineapple shake and had not been disappointed.  Gauge had surprised them all by electing for a mix berry protein with chocolate swirl on top.

Sunset poked him gently in the ribs. “Never pictured you as a sweet tooth type.”

Gauge shrugged while continuing to suck down the drink, pausing to take a bite of some grilled bell pepper. “Jest all you wish, but I like chocolate.”

Raven pinged, displaying the time of twelve thirty-seven and a small message that simple said, ‘done and awaiting for you to come pick it up.’  With that notification Sunset stood.

“Do you think you guys can get back to the electronics store from here on your own?  You can always ask Smartypants to navigate if need be.”

“I am ready to assist,” the device replied in the deadpan, default voice setting.

Gauge stood as well, but Sunset held up a hand. “I got this.  Just picking up an order that IS ready.  Finish your smoothie.  I’ll be back at the store just after one, one thirty at the latest.”

“Sunset,” said Tempest, her voice carrying an undertone of warning threat.

“I got this.”

“Sunny?”  Sunset turned her eyes to Twilight, her quip dying in her throat as she locked onto Twilight’s pleading eyes.  “Just be careful, okay?”

Sunset smiled and leaned down, kissing her marefriend, stroking the side of her face.  “Call me if you have a problem or if the body comes in before I get there or in case someone tries to buy it out from under me.  I don't see that happening, but I have the receipt saved.”

Twilight nodded. “I love you.”

“Love you too.  See ya soon.”

“I don’t like any of this… This… is all just so wrong, I can feel it,” commented Tempest after Sunset had left, picking at the buttons on her uniform coat.

“What do you mean?” asked Twilight, standing to dispose of the remains of her lunch.

Tempest grimaced, debating if she should continue her line of thought.  Ultimately, she decided that honesty was the best policy with her princess and friend.  “Twilight, I know you do not want to hear this, but remember, Sunset Shimmer has lived longer as a human than she has as a pony.  She has said so herself, more than once.  What if… what if she does not want to go back to Equestria now that she has you here in this world?”

“But there is nothing else here for her.  Did you not see how she reacted running into her own descendant?”

“You’re part right,” Tempest continued as they strolled away from any curious ears, “nothing is keeping her here.  But look at it from another angle.  She has plenty of wealth, access to pretty much anything she wants, and zero responsibilities.  No princess duties, no celestial duties, just all the carefree time in the world.  And now, she has you.  Is it really so far fetched that she would delay us returning and be like, ‘awe, shucks, my bad.  I guess we’ll just have to stay here for thirty moon cycles and drink and party.’  Tell me I’m wrong.”

“She would not do that to Mistress Luna or the citizens.  Such dereliction of duty would be criminal at best,” commented Gauge with an edge to his voice.

“She hates the nobility, she hates bureaucracy, she’s not really a big fan of paperwork or anything that stifles her creativity, and while she can be responsible and a good leader, we all know she rejected her birthright for YEARS in favor of… all of this.  Think about it.”  Tempest sighed and threw her hands into the air.  “Look, I like Sunset Shimmer, somewhat.  I like how she makes you feel and, occasionally, I even like her unpredictable antics.  She’s a heck of a fighter and would die before letting anything happen to you or an innocent creature, but I am sworn to protect you, Twilight, so that you can carry out your duty to the citizens of Equestria.  That translates in my mind that if I feel somepony, or person, or whatever is jeopardizing you from doing your duty, whether intentional or not, then they are keeping me from doing MY duty.  And that, is something I will not tolerate, so when it’s time to go, I am dragging you to that portal.  With or WITHOUT Sunset Shimmer.  You can hate me or fire me afterwards, but this is happening.”

Twilight could not take her eyes off the sidewalk as they strolled, too many thoughts, possibilities, variables to consider.  Did Sunset love her?  Absolutely, she was certain of that without hesitation.  Would Sunset abandon her crown, throne, and responsibilities if an opportunity arose where she could have Twilight by her side AND make it look like it had been an accident they missed their return window?  It… was a possibility.

“Princess Sunset is not abandoning her duty,” Gauge growled, “she is not stalling for time, and she would not intentionally put the lives of all of Equestria at risk by waylaying us just for some carefree, fun time.  You do not know her like I do.”  Gauge’s posture became stiff and if he had wings they would have been flapping in agitation.  

The thestral stopped walking and growled again, having to flex his impressive brawn that was barely contained by the dress uniform to redirect his frustration.  When he spoke again his voice was adamant with obvious tones of anger under his breath.  He loved his wife, but he had heard enough.  “She is picking up… one thing and will return to us promptly as she promised.”

Twilight lifted her head and blinked, her eyes glassy.

Tempest turned to meet her husband’s hard, unflinching gaze. “You know what she’s getting.”  It was not a question. 

“I do.”

“Well?”

Gauge turned is eyes to Twilight then back to Tempest. “I was ordered not to divulge that information in the presence of Princess Twilight.”

Tempest rolled her eyes.  Dealing with thestrals was sometimes worse than dealing with dragons.  Twilight, however, her purple eyes went wide, a grin slowly spreading across her face.  The maniacally wide smile caused Tempest to do a double take.

“OH.  MY.  GOSH.”

“Uhhh….”

“She’s… she’s going to do it, isn’t she?”  Gauge just shrugged in his noncommittal way.  Twilight smile became quirky as she tapped her chin with a finger.  She knew how to play this game.  “Sunset Shimmer ordered you not to say anything so you have to obey, but I’m a princess too, so you have to obey if I ask about... let's saaaaay something else, correct?”

“I… can see the logic in that… sort of?” Gauge squirmed a bit.  This was unfamiliar, grey territory for him.  Orders had been given and they would be obeyed, but he had never been placed between two princesses who might give conflicting orders. The idea of what was about to happen was causing him to perspire a bit and his insides twist.  Still, he was a guard and a captain.  He would stand vigilant.  “Ask, and I will try to answer as best I can without betraying my princess.”

“Okay!” Twilight clapped her hands as she spun and continued to walk, gesturing for the two to follow.  “You two went somewhere the other morning, yes?”

“Yes.”

“Is this related to what you are not supposed to talk about?”

“I cannot say.”

“Well, that’s a yes,” said Tempest, rolling her eyes.  Gauge kept his best poker face.

“Good, good.  Okay, during this trip, did Sunset Shimmer order something… small?”

“Yes.”

“Is it shiny?”

Gauge hesitated. “Y-Yes.”

“Will it make me ecstatic, beyond happy because it is something I have been wanting for a long, long time and will symbolize our love and dedication to one another for all to see?”

Gauge glanced to Tempest who was arching an eyebrow, a tiny smirk in the corner of her mouth. “Highly… possible.”

“YESYESYESYESYESYES!!!”  Twilight spun and squealed delightfully.  “She’s going to do it.  I don’t know what she’s going to do it with, but she is going to FINALLY do it!  Oh, there is NO WAY we are missing our return time because I will need to tell Cadence immediately after she finally does it!  Eeeeeee!!!!!  This is going to be so great!”

Tempest sighed and chuckled a bit. “For your sake, and the sake of how much I enjoy seeing you happy, I hope you are right.”


----------


Sunset gazed lovingly at the two items in the velvet lined jewelry box that was, by interesting choice or convenient coincidence, a bright teal nearly the same as her eyes.  Inside were two sets of large stud earrings with the stones she requested and the connecting chains to the smaller studs.  Exactly as she had pictured them in her mind.

“You are a true artist, sir.”

Mahogany Shades smiled and shrugged. “While different than what I usually do they were not too hard to put together and I had the materials on hand for a rush job.  Thank you all the same.”

Sunset gladly paid the jewelry smith the agreed upon amount. “You have no idea how important this is to me.”

He chuckled. “I deal with wedding bands and engagement gifts all the time, child.  I have a good idea.  Go, be happy, and enjoy what comes next to the fullest because life is far too fleeting.”

Sunset closed the box with a stiff snap.  She placed it in her shoulder bag and nodded.  “I will.  Thank you again.”  With nothing else to say, she walked out and had Raven signal for a cab.  The time was now just after one in the afternoon. They had approximately two hours left, but no new updates on Raven’s order.

“Sunset?”

“Yeah?”

“What will you do if we cannot obtain the mobile unit before the mirror closes?”

“I’m trying not to panic about it.  I just need this to work out on all fronts.”

“That is not much of a plan.”

Sunset laughed a hollow, slightly hitched sound before finally clamping down on her panic and dismay, deflecting with humor. “Well, as you know my plans suck.  So, let’s just improvise for now.”  Raven’s pony avatar arched a brow, but did not comment.


----------


When Sunset strolled back through the doors of the Electronic Buys she already knew she was about to be both disappointed and dropped square in the middle of a fight.  She had arrived at the store location ten minutes ago, but had lingered outside, hoping, praying a delivery truck would pull up and save her from what she was about to walk into.  No such luck had manifested.

The time was now one thirty-eight in the afternoon.  They were running out of time.  Sunset was running out of time and she knew it.  The other three Equestrians knew it too.  

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

Come on, Shimmer, just like Mom used to tell you.  Don’t let them see you sweat.  Calm, poised, keep it under control.  It’s not too late.  Not yet.

Sunset sighed and stepped through the door, not bothering to hide her disappointment. Twilight, Tempest, and Gauge were near the customer service counter all with varying degrees of concern.  Twilight nodded and stepped up to her marefriend, quickly holding out her hands for Sunset to grasp, which she did after only a moment of hesitation.

“Did you get what you needed?”  Sunset was thankful that Twilight at least started her opening move with something safe. 

“I did.”  Sunset smirked, but it was more forced than her usual confident grins.  A fact that did not go unnoticed by Twilight who was studying her, hopefully soon-to-be fiancé, closely.  “We can talk about that later.  Right now, I need to find out the status of what is going on here.”

Twilight smiled, it was genuine, concerned, full of love and it filled Sunset with a churning guilt and discomfort deep in her guts.  Sunset did not want to test how deep that devotion went, to find its breaking point.  She did not want to test that in herself either.

Sunset planted a small kiss on Twilight’s cheek and smiled again before stepping around her to find where Sunrise Flash had wandered off to.  As she stepped around Twilight, Tempest held up her arm and pointed to the back of her hand.  Sunset understood that the solar captain was bringing attention to the time.

“I know.  I just need to check on the status of the order.”

Tempest looked to Twilight for help then to Gauge, neither added to the conversation for the moment.  The captain sighed and threw her arms into the air before running a hand down her face, muttering under her breath.

Sunset found a free salesperson and asked them to find Sunrise for her.  Sunset then leaned on the counter with both hands so she would not have to look at her friends.  Raven’s holo display flashed to life and the pony head avatar eyed her with concern.  She glanced to the others then back to Sunset.

“Your heart rate has spiked significantly in the last several minutes and blood pressure is above normal.  You need to calm yourself.”

“I’m not going to burst into flames here.”

“You magically grew wings, furry ears, and a glowing horn last night.  Is spontaneous combustion truly so far fetched?”

Sunset grimaced and coughed a bitter laugh that was completely devoid of humor. “I guess not.”

“Miss Shimmer?” Sunrise stopped mid-thought and stroked his beard a moment.  “Huh, I just realized you have a similar name as my grandmother.  I guess I should have connected the dots earlier with the family funeral and all.  Are we distant cousins?”

“Something like that.  Listen, I don’t want to be rude, but I don’t have time to get into the family tree right now.  I need to get going soon and REALLY want my order.  Is there any update?”

“Yes…”  Sunset winced at his hesitation.  Her heart and stomach sinking as her anger began to bubble up.  “I got word that the truck is still on its way, but is currently caught in traffic.  It may not get here before three.” Sunset clenched and released her fists a few times, desperately trying to calm her breathing.  “Friday traffic in the city.  Well, you know.  You live here too.”

“Is… is there anything else I can do?”

“I’m afraid that waiting is all I can recommend.  If it had a signal tracker at least I could give you a more accurate estimate.  I’m sorry.  I wish I had more to offer.”  Sunset closed her eyes and fought down tears.  Her shoulders and back muscles were tight enough they probably could have deflected bullets.  She could practically feel the burn of her wings right under the skin.  “Let me… let me make a call and I’ll get back to you soon, okay?”

Sunset simply nodded.  It was the only motion she could make.  All the background noise, the useless chatter from other customers and associates, the electronics and their digital sounds, even the crappy, generic store music all faded as Sunset mentally tumbled in on herself.  All she wanted to do was get something nice for Twilight and for Raven.  The two most important individuals left in her life.  Sure, Luna was up there too, a really close third, but Luna was content in her life and needed nothing but the company and happiness of those around her.  Half the mission was a success.  That should make her at least half happy, right?  Then why does this hurt so much?

She knew the answer.  The others might not understand.  Twilight MIGHT, but…

“Sunny?”

Sunset sighed internally.  Annnnnnd here we go.

Sunset turned to meet Twilight’s eyes.  It was going to hurt, but Twilight deserved to see her face to face…. To look her in the eye for when she broke her heart.

“The truck is delayed.  My order won’t likely arrive in time.”

Twilight bit her lip and wrapped her arms around Sunset.  “I’m so sorry, Sunny.  I know this was important and you wanted this thing.”  When Sunset did not reciprocate the gesture Twilight felt her blood chill.  She stepped back to look her marefriend in the eye again.  “Sunset, what’s wrong?”

“I…”  Sunset broke eye contact and looked down at her hand.  Down at Raven.  Coward.  “I need to wait.  There is… still a chance.”

“Sunset, no… I… no, WE, can’t risk it.  We can’t stay here.  Especially not for thirty moons.  I know Luna joked about it, but we really can’t.”

“I’m not asking you to stay… or to wait for me.”  Twilight stepped back, her arms, which had been resting on Sunset’s shoulders fell away as she stepped back again.  No, stumbled back, as if smacked right across the face.  “Tempest and Gauge have a son to get back to.  You have a throne and, and the citizens need you.”

“You have a throne too.  You have a place, by my side,” Twilight’s voice lost its sweet innocence that she often sounded like when talking to Sunset and other loved ones.  Her vulnerable, simple pony voice that was just Twilight and distinctively not Princess Twilight.  Only those that truly knew her would know the difference.  The change in tenor was like a knife pluged straight into Sunset's heart.  “You have a responsibility to the citizens, Sunset Shimmer.  You swore an oath to me and to Equestria upon your coronation to serve them in your royal capacity.  I know you have not forgotten.”

“I haven’t.”

“What’s going on?”  Sunset glanced up to find that Tempest and Gauge had taken position on either side of their princesses, opposite of one another forming a tight square of semi-privacy.  “People are starting to stare and not in a good way.”

Twilight ignored Tempest and kept her attention on Sunset only. “You need to explain what is going on in your head, Sunset Shimmer, because this, this is beyond logical to me.”

“I made a promise to Raven.  I told her I would get this for her and she deserves something nice from me, everything I can do for her.  Especially after all the crap I have put her through over the years.”

Twilight grimaced.  That was not the face Sunset was hoping to see.  The appeal had completely failed. “That’s not good enough.  Sure, a broken promise hurts, but I need more than that.  I deserve more than that.  There has to be more to it than… something so small.”

Small?  SMALL?!  Sunset felt her anger spike, her eyes hardened and teal fire locked with unbreakable amethyst.  Raven flashed a warning, but Sunset ignored it. “Raven saw me at my worst.  She saw me through my worst.  You think pulling me from a smoking crater was bad?  That barely scratched the surface of the hell I put myself through for more than two years.  

“She was there for me when the only way I could get to sleep at night was after polishing off half a bottle of whiskey just to make the nightmares stay away.  She talked to me and joked with me and listened to every horrible thing that spewed from my pathetic, heartbroken mouth.  She cared when I cried, told me it would be okay when I stared at a long drop a little too long.  She got me up in the morning, she reminded me to eat, and clean myself and give a damn about something.  No one else I met along the way be it a bartender or a passerby really cared.  Not even all the guys I fucked when I was really hurting had the courtesy to do that for me.  She saved my life, Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight broke eye contact this time, a tear falling down her cheek as she fought down the sniffle. “I saved your life too,” she said, barely above a whisper, “more than once.”

Sunset bit her lip hard enough to draw blood. “I... I know and that’s what makes this whole situation so fucking hard.  But she’s my friend, my family.  I would have thought the former Princess of Friendship would understand that.”  It was a low blow.  Sunset knew it was the moment it left her lips and greatly regretted the sharp, cutting sentiment that had spilled forth, but was too angry to apologize.

Twilight winced.

Tempest growled. “You have got to be bucking kidding me.”

“Tempest,” Twilight hissed through her tears.

“It.  Is.  A BUCKING machine,” Tempest hissed back through clenched teeth. “IT.  IS.  A.  TOOL.  And it is NOT more important than doing your duty and seeing to the rest of our ENTIRE COUNTRY.  PRINCESS.”

Sunset fumed, clenching her fists tightly, but kept her voice as calm as she could.  Dangerously calm, one might say. “SHE is my FRIEND.  I feel as close to her as I did my own children, so watch your mouth.”

“And what about the love of your life, huh?  Or so you claim.  Is that thing more important that Twilight?  Answer that.”

Sunset flashed a snarl but managed to suppress the sound.  She was visibly shaking.  All of them were except for Gauge, who had stood ready to jump in instantly if things turned physical, for all the good it would do.  The alicorns were as strong as him if not stronger.  No one spoke for a good minute while tempers simmered and tongues were bitten to hold back knee jerk retorts.

“I’m not going to make you choose,” Twilight finally said.  Her eyes on her shoes. “I love you too much to do that to you.  But you made a Pinkie Promise to me.  You have to keep a Pinkie Promise.”

Sunset let out a shuddering breath and nodded. “I know.  I… shit.”  Sunset took a deep, calming breath.  Closing her eyes, she could see the glare of laser focused blue eyes from across the astral horizon of existence, fluffy pink, poofy hair on the brink of deflating like a popped balloon, and a face twisted accusingly in a manner that would give horror movie directors chills.  One did not break a Pinkie Promise.

“You’re right,” Sunset finally said, “and I will fulfill that promise.  Somehow, some way.”

Twilight nodded.  Her expression was not a happy or satisfied or even a particularly pleased one, but at least she was no longer crying.  Sunset fought down her own tears with all her might.  Sweet mother of mine, I suck so hard.

Twilight took a step back, breaking the circle. “I’ll wait at the portal to the last possible minute. I hope to see you again soon.” Sunset could tell she wanted to add more, wanted to say ‘I love you’ or ‘goodbye’ but all of it likely tasted as bitter in Twilight’s mouth at the moment as it did for her.  All Sunset could do was nod.  Another tear sliding down her face.

Twilight turned to leave as did Tempest.  Gauge however, did not move.

Sunset flushed with fresh panic at what was about to happen.  “Gauge, no.”

“Foggy?” Tempest’s eyes widened with astonishment and hints of betrayal.

“It is my duty to stand at my princess’s side.”

“Fog, no,” Sunset gestured to the door, “You can’t do this.  I’ll be fine.  What about your son?”

Gauge stiffened a moment, but exhaled and held firm.  He closed his eyes and saluted to his wife and bowed his head. “I can only hope he will understand and forgive me with time.  Death before dishonor.  The princess always comes first.”

Tempest snarled. “Bucking, licker of minotaur anus... you... stubborn mule of a thestral.”  She stormed away and nearly ran into the front door as they slid open.

Twilight balked.  Her attention torn between Sunset and Tempest, swiveling her head back and forth.  Sunset nodded and pointed. “Go, she needs her friend and her princess.”  Twilight bit her lip again, a hand clasping her dress jacket over her heart and squeezing it into a fist, eyes begging for none of this to be happening.  Finally, Twilight turned and followed after Tempest Fury.

Sunset Shimmer stood and watched the love of her life walk out and hated herself for what just happened.  Fog Gauge gently placed a hand on Sunset’s shoulder, but she did not turn her eyes from the door.  She did not react at all.  All she could do was stare and silently scream inside her own head.
> Chapter 9: No Power in the Verse Can Stop Me
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Heaven and Hell were interesting concepts.  Many cultures throughout human and pony history for that matter had their own versions in one form or another and Sunset Shimmer had discovered through both research and a unique expedition that some of those stories had a little bit more than a seed of truth to them.

However, it was the concept of what is Heaven and what is Hell that were really weighing upon Sunset’s mind as she sat upon the lid of a toilet in the ladies restroom at the Electronics Buys, stall door locked, crying her eyes out while fighting down the audible sobs... and failing miserably.  People associated being in Heaven with bliss and happiness while obviously Hell was eternal suffering and damnation.  They were often surreal concepts resulting from one's own actions or inactions.

This led further down the rabbit hole as her mind fell in on itself and she heard a dark cackling in the distance.  Shew knew the laugh and knew she deserved it.  There was no point arguing with her darker self when everything the winged demon would say would be absolutely true.  Instead, Sunset felt herself sitting in a defeated, crumpled pile of self hate while a black flame pattern boot pressed down on her head painfully.

You are so fucking pathetic sometimes, you know that?

Sunset shook her head and found herself once again in the small bathroom stall.  She remembered retreating to the tiny fortress of solitude when she felt a need to sit down.  Well, actually she had needed to throw up first, then sit down upon the commode after flushing and cry some more.  Sunset had been through this kind of hell before, more times than she cared to recount.  It never got easier and yet… here she was again.  

Why the fuck am I here?!  Why did I not go after her and just throw myself on the ground and apologize?!  Why?  WHY?  WHY?!  What in the name of Celestia and all that is holy is WRONG WITH ME?!  I lost the love of my life once, why would I just stand there and let Twilight walk away like that?!  I am such a fucking idiot!  I’ve done some stupid shit in my life, but this?  This is the Marzipan Mascarpone of fuckuppery!  Sunset sobbed again, wrapping her arms around herself and squeezed her ribs till they hurt.

A beep from the PAAL currently resting on top of the toilet paper dispenser caught her attention and Sunset sat back while tears continued to stain her face.  The holo projector lit and the animated pony head stared down at her with a dejected expression.

“The time is now two p.m.”  Raven paused, looking to the stall wall or into cyberspace, it really did not matter. “There is still time to go after her.”

“You think I don’t fucking know that?!” Sunset Shimmer snarled.  The vicious response lost much of its teeth when she began to sniffle and shudder again.

Raven grimaced, sighed, and closed her eyes. “This is my fault.”

“No, no it’s not. This was not your idea, it was mine.  You can’t make me do anything.  No one or pony has ever been able to MAKE me do anything I did not want or feel I had to do even my own damn mother.  I wanted this for you.  You deserve something nice.”

“Sunset,” Raven began, her digital eyes still downcast, “life is not about getting what one deserves.  It is about living to the fullest with what one has and trying to do the best to make it all worth it in the end.  I appreciate that you want to do this for me.  You… you showed me more of the world, of the universe than any PAAL in existence.  Of that I am certain.  

“I… I was alive... living, breathing, eating, able to climb up on a stage and sing and dance and I loved every moment of it.  I felt physical sensations and experiences that other Artificial Intelligence could not begin to fathom.  Even though it was only for one day… I truly LIVED.  No other artificial life can say that, at least not yet.  And all of that was because you did not leave me behind.  You could have abandoned me or even destroyed me when you left for Equestria, but you wanted me to come along.  You showed me how deep love can go.  And how far one is willing to go to protect those you love.  And right now, the other half of your broken heart is crying her way towards a magic portal.  A portal you need to be on the other side of.”

“Not without what I came for.  You mean too much to me.”

Raven smiled warmly.  If she had arms she would have reached out and pulled her owner and friend into them, tightly. “And you mean too much to me to have you sit here and wallow in misery for another two and a half years because you made the wrong decision by staying behind.  This… this is not your world any longer, Sunset Shimmer.  In truth, I do not believe it’s mine either.”

Sunset cocked her head to one side, mopping the tears away.  “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Does is not?  WE have evolved, Sunset Shimmer.  You and I.  Certainly, coming back for a visit is a must, updates and whatnot, but… as much as I love my connectivity and my cameras and my vastly superior knowledge access and cloud storage… I love you more.  I cannot stand to see you suffer and torment yourself and I do not wish to see it for another two and half years.  Not again.”

Sunset smiled, sniffled again, but smiled through it. “I love you too.”

“As well you should. I am your future overlord and amazing, after all.”

Sunset giggled.  It felt good to genuinely giggle after so much heartache.  The cloud about her head and heart began to breakup and Sunset felt her demon smile at her, nod, and retreat back to the recesses of her mind.  Sunset dried her face and blew her nose.  Once cleaned up she turned her teal eyes to the holographic honey brown ones and smirked. “Getting a bit of a big head on you there, eh circuit for brains?  You know you still have an off button.”

Raven smirked in turn.  It was Sunset’s trademark smirk and she wore it well.  She then winked and said, “I think I take after my mother.”

Sunset sighed and felt her heart swell, warming away all the pain and chill that had been freezing her soul from the inside out.  The warmth spread throughout her in a pleasant way that was similar to when she was drawing from her mana well.  It was soothing, equalizing, and it brought a much needed clarity to Sunset’s mind.

“Ahh, now there she is.  The Sunset Shimmer the world both needs and sometimes should rightly fear.”

Sunset picked up her PAAL and reattached it to her hand.  Raven was pleased that her basic biometrics scan revealed that while stressed, Sunset’s levels were falling back into normal parameters… well, as normal as a magical pony girl princess from another dimension could be.

Sunset exited the restroom after cleaning her face and fixing her hair.  She found Fog Gauge where she left him, leaning against the wall, clearly lost in his own brooding turmoil.  Sunset approached him and he turned his eyes to her, but was not fast enough or chose not to deflect the punch Sunset made to his shoulder.  Gauge rubbed the spot, but did not make a sound or comment on how that actually stung.

“You, are a damn idiot.”  Sunset kissed two of her fingers, then pressed them to Gauge’s lips.  “But so am I.  Thank you for sticking by my side anyhow.”

“My duty is my life, my princess.  Even when it makes me question my own sanity from time to time.”  Gauge smirked and nodded.  “I am glad to see you are feeling better or at least less distressed.  Does this mean we are leaving or that you have some sort of plan?”

“We are leaving, but I have one last desperate card to play.  Honestly, it’s what I should have done the moment I walked through the door, but I got stuck inside my own damn head.”

“No pony is perfect, my princess.”

For some reason, Sunset concluded, it felt good to hear those words and her thoughts lingered on her mother, Celestia, and how many times she had said something similar with a wistful smile on her face.  It was good lesson to remember. “Thanks for the reminder.  Anyhow, if this doesn't work then... it’s Princess Shimmer time.”

“I have no idea what that entails, but I have a feeling it will involve something… dramatic.  And possibly needing a hasty exit strategy.”

Sunset flashed her trademark smirk, cracked her knuckles, and then hardened her eyes.  She checked the time once more. Less than an hour to go.  “Probably both.  Let’s do this.”

Sunset strolled back out onto the sales floor and struck a confident pose with her hand on her hip. “Someone do me a favor and go find the manager.  I have a proposition for him to hear out.”  The associates all stood about looking at one another.  “Please, don’t make me be one of THOSE kind of customers.”  No further explanation was necessary as one of the associates wandered off.

“Should I know the plan?” asked Gauge, whispering at Sunset’s side.

“I was just wondering the same thing,” Raven added.

“I’m going to ask nicely for them to give me the demo model that they have been using.  I paid for a robot body.  I’m leaving here with a robot body.  They can have the other one when it arrives later.”

Gauge nodded. “Sounds simple enough.  So, naturally I ask, where will this go wrong?”

“They say no again, I remove the existing PAAL in it, and pick the thing up and walk out with it.”

“Ah.”

“Well, it’s not TECHNICALLY stealing.  You do have a receipt.”  Raven helpfully displayed the payment receipt on her screen.

Sunset nodded and smiled at both of them. “This is going to work, one way or another.”

“Then we get to apologize to our soul mates.”

“Again.”

“Stupid meat bag organics.  Never learn your lessons the first time.”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Like he said, no pony is perfect.”

Raven waggled her eyebrows and grinned mischievously. “I am not ‘no pony’.”  Sunset caught the reference and grinned.

Two minutes later, “Oh!  Hey, Miss Shimmer!  I have some good news for you.”

Suset turned to Sunrise Flash and smiled at him. “The only good news I want to hear is that the truck arrived and they are currently unloading my order because I have just baaaaarely enough time to make my time window and that will likely involve speeding across town as it is.”

Sunset expected the wince that Sunrise flashed her and leveled her eyes at him, unblinking.  It was the look she gave nobles who were trying to pull a fast one on her.  It made them exceedingly uncomfortable she had been told.  Good.

“Sorry no, it's not here.  Buuuut, I got off the phone with corporate and they have authorized me to give you an inconvenience refund discount on your order.  I see you paid…”  Sunrise checked the receipt again and had to blink a few times.  “Wow, you really did over pay for this as it was.  That ten percent off is no joke.”

Sunset smiled again... but it was a different kind of smile.  Gauge knew THAT smile.  It was a thin, tight lipped smile that showed no teeth and was not pleasant to be on the receiving end of.  It as often accompanied with flared wings, glowing eyes, and a flaming sword.  There was nothing pleasant about that smile.  He immediately began double checking for where the store security was and the distance they were from the front door.  Things were about to get… interesting.

“Sunrise, we’re family.  If you go to the big house on Hannonn Street there are plenty of photos of me and the rest of our family there.  So, I’m going to level with you on what is about to happen and I hope you make the right decision here.  We both know I paid for my order, we both have the receipt, we both know a bot is on its way to this store, okay?  You follow me?”

“Okay.  I follow so far.”

“Good.  So, with all that in mind, I am going to take your demo bot and then I’m going to walk out the store with it, get in a car, and be on my way.  Now, I ask, as politely as I can, what are YOU going to do with that information?”

“I… um…” Sunrise fidgeted.  He glanced about and quirked his lips and wrung his hands a bit.  

Gauge kept his eye on the security guard who had been near the front door.  The guard seemed to take notice of the situation on the sales floor and began to move in slowly.  If it came to a fight Gauge was reasonably certain he could incapacitate him quickly even in a human body.  Given the nervousness and slow backpedal steps others were making it was doubtful anyone else would interfere.  Sunset Shimmer continued to stare down at her great grandson, steady and unflinching.  Sunrise wrung his hands more and shifted his feet a bit.  

After a minute of weighing his options Sunrise sighed, then smirked. “The DM will never know anyhow, fuck it.”  Sunset arched an eyebrow and Sunrise nodded to her. “Take it.  I’ll get its IDs swapped with the incoming model and no one will know the difference.”

Sunset smiled and gave her descendant a warm hug. “Thank you, thank you very much!”

Sunrise signaled for his associates to brink the MAU over so Sunset could insert Raven into the port.  Raven powered up the unit and immediately readapted to the controls.  She took a few steps to stand next to Captain Gauge.

“I have already signaled for a car to pick us up.  We should hurry.”

Sunset nodded, then turned back to Sunrise. “You have no idea how much I appreciate this.  Tell your mom, Dusk Sparkler, hi for me and next time you call or stop by the house to check out some old photos be sure to tell her and Timber Hill, ‘Mama Sunset says, hi’, okay?”  Sunrise nodded and waved as the three quickly exited the store without incident.

Sunset ran her fingers through her hair and let out a long, deep breath.  That had gotten more tense than she had wanted but had thankfully worked out.  Now, was the next hard part.  “Raven, time?”

“Two twenty-two, PM.  Traffic to our destination has mild congestion, but no accidents reported.  However…”

“However?”

“According to listed information Canterlot High School students release at two-thirty which will cause significant traffic delays once we get close.  It is Friday afternoon.  Traffic congestion and collisions are a possibility.  Current estimated arrival puts us at forty-five minutes and that is likely to get worse.  I advise we exit the vehicle at least two blocks before desired destination and run.”

Sunset grimaced. Twilight and Tempest should already be there or arriving soon.  “We may not have the time to hoof it as close as we are already cutting this.”

“I do not see alternative options and last time I checked you did not have a spare mini helicopter or flying car at your disposal.”

“Too bad too,” Sunset said, turning her eyes to the sky, “I actually know how to fly a chopper.”

“Suggestions?” asked Raven, the bot’s face was actually capable of arching one of its painted on eyebrow.  That was going to take some getting used to.

Sunset crossed her arms and closed her eyes.  A moment later a four-door hatchback car pulled up and stopped before them.  “Get in and… try not to panic with what I’m about to do.”  Gauge and Raven echanged glances, but said nothing.

The passenger window rolled down and the young man who looked like he had graduated from high school yesterday looked up over the top of his sunglasses to match Sunset’s face with the one that the ride service had provided.  Raven connected with the driver’s PAAL and sent the necessary ID codes.  Once the driver had the green light, he unlocked his doors.

Gauge and Raven climbed in the back and Sunset slid into the front passenger seat.  She knew what she had to do, had never practiced it before, but had no doubt she would be fast enough to pull it off.  It was going to freak the kid out, but she would make it up to him.

Just before opening her door Sunset turned around and grabbed the collar of her shirt and intentionally ripped the V neck collar more, tearing a jagged plunge deep down her cleavage and exposing her bra.  She turned back, opened the door and flashed the kid a smile, leaning over so he got an absolute eyeful view at her breasts.

“Hi!” said Sunset as high and bubbly as she could muster.  Once the young man’s eyes shifted downward to her chest, Sunset made her move.  As she was still leaned over Sunset pushed the park button on the center console with one hand and his seatbelt release with the other.

“What the…” Sunset quickly pressed her lips to the young man’s, her chest into his side as she moved her right hand next to the driver’s door latch and released it.  With her other now free left hand she shoved the driver against the door and out to the parking lot.  Before he could recover to what was happening, she hopped the center console, closed the door, and buckled herself into the driver’s seat.

“HEY!  MY CAR!”  Sunset waited for him to stand and, like the near child he was, tried to pull the door handle and bang on the window.  She gestured with her head for him to climb in the passenger side door.  He quickly scrambled around and jumped inside.  “What the fuck do you think you’re doing, lady?  You can’t steal my car!”

“I’m not stealing it, I let you get back in, dipshit.  I just need to do the driving because you won’t go the way we need to go.”

“What?  Go where?”

“Not where so much as how.”  Sunset put the car back into gear and floored the accelerator.  All four wheels spun for a second before regaining traction.

“Shit!  My car!”

“Put your seatbelt on and relax.  I’ll compensate you, I promise.”

“The hell with this, bitch!  Glory!  Call po-”

Raven had reached across from the back seat and cuffed the young man on the left ear, eliciting a high pitched yelp.  The sudden strike caught everyone in the vehicle by surprise, but only one painfully.  Raven unbuckled herself from the seat and reached over Sunset’s shoulder to pull the other PAAL unit from its cradle in the dashboard.  She dropped it unceremoniously into the former driver’s lap and fastened her belt again.

“Huh,” Sunset said, daring to take her eyes from the road for a second to look up in the rearview mirror at Raven who looked rather smug she concluded, “I didn’t think you would be allowed to strike a human being.  Didn’t they write some safeguards into those bodies?”

“They did,” Raven said, taking a moment to examine her robotic hand, “but the base coding is far more sloppy than anything written by my creation team and I used creator Twilight Sparkle’s root access codes to overwrite security protocols rules to suit my desires.  Just as I overrode PAAL unit 'Glory's' attempts to shutdown the car after you took control.  I now have access to the car’s diagnostic and tuning settings, which coincidentally also have sloppy security restrictions.  All limiter shackles have been removed and you have access to the vehicles full power and top speed.”

Sunset grinned so wickedly she could feel her demon cackling inside her head. “Oh yeah?  Well, in that case.  Let’s make up some lost time, shall we?”

“Is this safe?”

Sunset looked up at Gauge in the mirror, teal eyes unwavering and locked with yellow. “Do you want to hold you son tonight?”  He nodded while keeping his expression neutral and professional, while inside he silently cheered his princess to go faster.

“You’re all fucking crazy glitched!”

Sunset flashed the young man a toothy grin. “You have no idea.”  Sunset’s focus returned to all the obstacles before her, finger tight on the steering wheel, and a slight glow to her eyes.  We're going to make it.  Celestia as my witness, I am not failing another Twilight.


----------


Twilight had not said much more than yes or no answers to the driver after Smartypants had hailed the taxi to take them back to CHS and the portal home.  The driver had tried to make casual conversation, but had finally given up after Tempest shot him a ‘just shut the hell up and do your job’ look.  The last fifteen minutes of the trip had been in complete silence.  Twilight had used the bank card Sunset had provided to pay the fee plus the recommended tip amount.  Finally able to choke out the words, “Thank you.”  The driver nodded and moved on to his next call.

Thankfully, there were still benches not far from the statue plinth and Twilight lumbered her way over to one, sat down, and buried her face in her hands.  With no one else around other than Tempest, Twilight felt safe enough to cry again.

After five minutes of listening to Twilight sniffle and sob, Tempest finally growled and said with as much calm as she could scrounge together, “This is not your fault.”

Twilight pulled her face from her hands just enough to let one eye glance up at her friend sitting next to her on the bench. “Does it really matter whose fault it is?”

“I suppose not, but I just want you to know you did nothing wrong.”

“I did nothing right either.”  Twilight closed her eye and continued to cry.  “We are the royal diarchs.  We are supposed to be a team.  There had to be a way!  I just thought… I hoped we were ready for more.  I want more so badly, but once again, I can’t seem to make an intimate relationship work no matter what I do.  I… I turned my back on a friend.  I failed her.”

“This is NOT YOUR FAULT.”  Tempest stood, stomped a few times, and let out a deep breath before turning back to Twilight. “That thing is not a pony.  I don’t care how smart it is.  How could she… why would she throw everything you have away for it?  I just DO NOT understand the insanity of... all of this!”

Twilight sat back and turned her eyes to the sky, watching as the clouds moved all on their own in the high breezes.  She would never get used to that.  “What would you be willing to do, how far would you be willing to go to have your parents back?  Even if for just one more day?”

Tempest stumbled in mid stomp. “W-Wha?”

“Sunset called Raven a friend, family.  Raven contains all the memories, photos, videos and more of Sunset’s life for the past one hundred plus years.  Upon request, Raven can show Sunset pictures of her best friends from long ago, her children, their children, all the time and life she spent with the other Twilight Sparkle.  Birthdays, weddings, vacations.  

"More than that, Raven is a thinking machine.  She can analyze all that information and interpret it not much differently than you or I.  Those memories, Sunset's memories, have shaped her.  But unlike those we have lost, Raven will live as long as her battery holds out, maybe longer since her box can be changed out.  I think... for Sunset, it’s the next closest thing to having an immortal friend right by her side.  Kind of like Spike and I.”

“So, she sees that little box like a little sister?”

“Twilight shrugged. “I probably should have used Cadence and Flurry Heart as a closer example.  I remember the looks Sunset gave her last Discord Day.  The wing over her withers, the hovering and attempts to be nurturing.  She's like a daughter to Sunset Shimmer.  She's like family... a family member who will always be there by her side to learn, to grow, to love.  I just... had not considered that perspective earlier.  I was too focused on me and getting what I wanted, which is honestly so unlike me.”

Tempest sat back down, pulled her uniform side cap off and ran a hand through her pink and white hair. “This is all too crazy for me to wrap my head around.  An artificial daughter?”

Twilight smirked for a second, her mind flashing images of her loyal captain sitting up in her hospital bed as the swaddled foal was passed to her for the first time.  How exhausted yet unquestionably happy Tempest was to have her child in her forelegs.  The joyous tears streaking her face.  “Is it really so different for us?  We make foals from building blocks as well.  Those blocks are just organic.  

"Truth be told, when you get to my age, which you will probably never do, you don’t see the world in terms of days or months anymore.  Celestia once told me that she could operate on her subconscious for months and months on end like a walking sleep without even realizing it.  You blink, and the foal you held one day is now holding their own foal.  Celestia admitted she could lose years worth of time because she would get lost in old memories from centuries past and think about what to do and what to plan for decades in advance.  So easy to just forget that the world keeps turning.  Lives come... lives go... I’m starting to see things her way.  I’m becoming like Celestia whether I want to or not.”

“Ouch.  Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

Twilight snorted, but it was humorless. “Depends on the day.”

“Well, what about today then?”

Twilight’s bottom lip quivered, fresh tears spilled from the corners of her eyes as she continued to stare up at the deep blue sky. “Today… all I see is how I hurt the pony I love most by not standing by her side.  No matter whose fault it is.”

Tempest sighed, turning her eyes to the end of the street, as far as she could see and the direction they had come from.  This entire ordeal could be overcome, apologies given and taken, hearts mended and maybe, years from now, joked about at how silly and dramatic they were all acting.  But only if that endlessly frustrating mare and her granite headed husband would round that corner and soon.  Otherwise…

“I…” Tempest paused, making sure Twilight turned at least one eye towards her, “I have confidence that Sunset Shimmer will find a way for this to work.”

Twilight turned her head, finally wiping the tears and drying streaks from her face. “You think she will make it in time?”

“She doesn’t always win, we all know that painfully well, but she has a magic all her own at pulling miracles out of her butt hole.”  Tempest smirked. “Not to mention, if she gets trapped her with my husband I’ll have to kill them both and I would hate to be charged with high treason.  Oh, and Saber would be sad.  That’s important too.”

Twilight giggled just a little bit, the shining light of hope once more sparkling in the princess’s eyes.  Tempest Fury took it as a small victory. 


----------


“I’m going through!”

“It’s a red light!”

“Princess?”

“We’ll be fine.”

“IT’S A GODDAMN RED LIGHT YOU CRAZY BITCH!”

“This is exceedingly dangerous, Sunset.”

“Hold onto your butts!”

“AHHHHH!!!!!  I don’t wanna die a virgin!”

Sunset switched on the emergency flashers and pressed down on the horn.  She swerved around the cars stopped for the light, tapping the brakes just enough to see she was clear, if only just barely.  Sunset pressed the accelerator down hard and they shot through the intersection, back to the right side of traffic.  Two cars had to slam on their brakes, but no collisions were made.

“HA!  Told ya we would be fine!”  Seconds later, a familiar sound was approaching from behind with flashing red and blue lights.  “Ahhhhh, shiiiiiiit.”

Gauge and Raven turned to look out the back window.  The guard captain asked, “I assume that is the local authorities?”

“Yup.”

“Are we stopping?”

Sunset kept the pedal floored, tires squealing as she dodged around a delivery truck, into oncoming traffic, and back to the right side of the road just as another car had to ride up on the sidewalk to avoid hitting each other. “Nope.”

“Well, I hope you like pound’em in the ass prison, bitch, because your joy ride is over.”

Sunset glanced at the teenager to her right and arched an eyebrow.  He looked far too confident about them getting caught for her liking. “Not to smack you with my royal mane and tail or anything, but I’ve had pursuit and offensive driver’s training by the same trainers who teach stuntmen and federal authorities how to drive.  Oh, and I ran the Baja 1000 one year just for shits and giggles.  The only way these city cops can catch us is if we hit dead stop traffic and Raven has live updates on the feeds for me.”

“Oh yeah?  And what about the killbox?”

“The ki… Oh, SHIT!  Raven!  Is this car equipped with a pursuit killbox?!”

“I believe it became standard equipment on all domestically sold vehicles right before we left.  Scanning… yes, it does.  Unfortunately, I cannot deactivate it if it goes live.”

The driver, Ted… he looks like a Ted, so I’m calling him Ted in my head, turned and grinned like the biggest shit eater in Canterlot court.  “Game over, psycho bitch.  Pull over before you get us all killed.”

Sunset glanced up into the rearview mirror, she had about fifteen seconds tops before they would be in range.  The redhead growled, then unbuckled her seatbelt. “Gauge, hold the wheel!”

“What?”

“Just turn this thing side to side like I have been doing and try not to hit anything big or living.”  Sunset pushed herself out of her seat and straddled across Ted so that she could put her head down by the pedals.  Ted screamed much higher pitch than he really should have at having a six foot tall, beautiful woman’s behind dropped right in his lap.  Sunset briefly found that reaction a bit insulting before she had more important things to deal with.  She pressed the accelerator down with her right hand and searched for something she only vaguely knew what it looked like while her precious seconds counted down.

“I’ll have you know, I did terrible on that driving game you wanted me to play the other night,” Gauge said, straining to keep his calm while attempting to turn the speeding vehicle partially straddling the driver's seat.  “What are you looking for?”

“It will be a small black device about the size of a Rubik’s Cube and ten centimeters thick with wires coming out leading to both pedals and elsewhere,” Raven provided to both Equestrians.  “Law enforcement officers in pursuit of suspects can fire a tight beam coded microwave signal at a runaway car and deactivate it.  It overrides all existing controls and forces the vehicle to a controlled stop.  The only drawback is the officer must be close so as to not accidentally disable an innocent vehicle by mistake.”

"Less go-fast pedal, please." said Gauge through clenched teeth as he barely swerved past a car that had slammed on its brakes.  Ted screamed again.

“Found it!”

“In order to deactivate the system, you must pull th-”

Sunset gripped the device with her left hand and squeezed and turned.  Metal and plastic gave way under her alicorn augmented strength.  She grunted as the last of the frame broke from the bolts along with most of the wiring.  Sunset popped back up and jumped back in the driver’s seat, refastening her seatbelt.  She casually tossed the killbox to Ted.

“How…  What…  The FUCK?!”

“PULL OVER!” shouted the pursuit car that was only a car and a half length behind them now.

“Keep up if you can, boys.  Raven, give me chase music!”  Heavy guitar music began to play through the car speakers after Raven tapped into the audio system.  Sunset recognized the song immediately as, “Shakedown.”

“Really?”

“You did not create a 'being pursued by the police playlist' I am afraid.  It was the first one that my shuffle brought up.”

“You do realize this song is about cops catching the bad guys, right?”

Raven arched an eyebrow. “Are we the bad guys?”

Sunset gripped the wheel tighter and swerved in and out of honking vehicles that were trying to get out of the way.  One crashed into the back of another vehicle causing Sunset to cringe. “We are today.”

Sunset tapped the brake and pulled the hand brake simultaneously causing the car to turn sideways as it exited the street and hopped, tires protesting the extreme treatment while she spun the wheel into the turn, thankful she ‘borrowed’ a car with all-wheel drive.  The police car overshot and had to spend precious seconds turning around to follow down the side street Sunset had taken.  

“TIME!”

“Two forty-eight, Sunset.”

“Twelve minutes.  We got this.”

“I know you said you had driven before, but have you ever done this sort of thing before, princess?”

Sunset wanted to turn and smirk at her captain but was too busy smashing through trash cans and refuse, praying that there were no people crouched behind them.  She kept her eyes on the perpendicular road ahead and the next crazy, possible time saving idea she had in mind.  “Just like Beggar’s Canyon back home.”

“There is no Beggar’s Canyon in Equestria that I am aware of.”

The car blasted out of the side street and instead of turning left of right, launched over the sidewalk and down into the city park.  Ted screamed, naturally.  Sunset had eyes only for the street on the other side of the park.  Then a left, three more blocks, then a right and straight down the road to CHS.

The only people in the park at that hour were a few dog walkers, a jogger or two, and some parents with their toddlers well off to the side in the kiddie play area.  The hatchback swerved and slid around trees and various obstacles kicking up dirt and grass.  There were a few softer spots where the drainage had not been as good, but nothing that slowed the car down as all four tires bit into the earth and found traction.  Sunset juked around more major playground equipment, over the perimeter jogging trail, and smashed through a cheap, fake wood fence on the far side they had entered on, back out onto the street.  Ted screamed again as another vehicle had to swerve to avoid hitting them and smashed its own hole in the cheap fence.  Sunset spared them a glance then planted her right foot down on the accelerator.

“Central, this is Unit four-four-three in pursuit of a white Mitsubishi hatchback with possibly four suspects inside.  Requesting backup, over.”

“Ten-four, four-four-three.  Activate killbox when in range.”

“Negative, Central.  We had signal lock and were about to activate when we lost the signal.  Caught some movement through the back window and we thought we had them, but then suspect began to speed away again.  Possible countermeasure was deployed,” replied Officer Polish Stone.

“Whoever they are, they know how to drive.  That damn power slide was right out of the movies, man.”

“Yeah, yeah.  Compliment the bastards after we catch them, Morning.”

Both officers watched dumbstruck as the car before them, instead of turning left or right, hopped the sidewalk, went slightly airborne, and then began to cut through the center of the park.  The Midway Park had streets on either side of it, but both were nearly a full city block away.

“You gotta be kidding me.”

“Just… just go around or… shit!  LOOK OUT!” Morning had to slam on the brakes and turn to avoid crossing cars.  Several vehicles collided with one another, including their requested backup cruiser.  Smoke began to pour out from under the damaged vehicles.  Morning shook his head and drove up on the sidewalk to go around the newest mess.  Given their direction they chose to go left around the park, but had lost precious seconds already.  By the time they reached the far end of the park, their suspect had already exited, leaving other bystanders stuck or dumbstruck.  The officers could hear the car sliding around another corner.  They had already lost visual and they may not be able to follow if they did not catch up or get more backup soon.

Sunset cackled madly, grinning and pounding excitedly on the steering wheel.  Ted was trying to maintain some dignity by not soiling himself, Gauge checked their rearview multiple times for the pursuit cruiser, and Raven focused on reading traffic patterns and keeping the vehicle dash and HUD systems up to date.  Somehow, the car was still going strong despite some minor damage.  

“Once you turn down the next street you will be entering school traffic.  There will be both vehicles in the road and pedestrians on the sidewalks.  Caution is highly advised.”

“So much for driving on the sidewalk the rest of the way.  Guess we just do this the hard way.”

“None of that was the hard way?!” screamed Ted.

“Don’t distract the driver when they are working their magic, kid,” Sunset said, preparing to make another fast turn.

“Our pursuer is back,” said Gauge.

“Not for long.” Sunset power slid the car once more and pulled the vehicle straight just before the rear was about to collide with an oncoming car.  She began honking and dodging in and out of cars that were slowing for school traffic or trying to reach the pickup lanes for the high school and junior high, leaving only a small lane in the middle with a little bit of wiggle room.  She could see the rearing alicorn in the distance and grinned.  They just had to make it there in the next ten minutes or less.  I've got this, I've got this, I've got this.

Twilight and Tempest had sat mostly morose, trying to cheer one another up when the final bell for the school rang and they found themselves surrounded by teenagers who barely sparred the two women more than a glance.  The steady stream of fleeing students, ready for a weekend lasted for about ten minutes before thinning out.  Twilight had hoped that once the young crowd cleared she would find Sunset standing there, a cocksure grin upon her face and arms open to wrap around Twilight so that they both could begin to apologize and get back to their lives.

Sadly, no Sunset had magically appeared.  Tempest stood, glanced left and right, then held out her hand to Twilight. “It’s mostly clear.  No one is paying attention to us.  You should head back now before it gets too late or someone takes notice of us loitering.”

“I… I know, but we still… I think…”

Tempest touched the smooth stone plinth and felt her hand glide through the polished surface, magical energy surging over her arm.  She pulled it back and looked down at her hand.  For a second there it felt like a hoof again.  The portal was still open, but not for much longer.  They needed to go.

“Twilight, I don’t want you to risk it.  You should…” There was a high pitched squeal that sounded unnatural in the serene city/suburban landscape.  It was quickly followed by a loud, annoying, repetitive wailing that sounded like some sort of banshee siren howl.  This caught the attention of others and people could be heard gasping and chattering.  Others were honking… or was that the vehicle approaching honking?  The sounds were getting closer at an alarming rate. Twilight stood and stared down the street next to Tempest like a few others were doing.  Something was coming… and it was coming fast.

“Is that…”

Twilight couldn’t help herself.  She grinned as her eyes twinkled. “It has to be.”

“Okay!  Here’s the plan.  There is a small grassy knoll and open area next to the statue.  I’m going to slam us right into it.  The impact will bring us to a sudden stop, but it will probably jar your senses for a bit so be ready.  As soon as we come to a stop I need you, Gauge, to take Raven’s body and drag it to the portal.  Just toss it through and then go yourself.  In fact, Raven, eject hardware.”

“Ejecting.”

Sunset reached a hand back.  “Give her to me.”  Gauge removed the PAAL from the back of the robot’s head and placed it in Sunset’s hand. “Raven, as soon as we come to a stop I need to you pay our friend here and then immediately go into standby so I can stash you.”

“I assume we are paying more than the customary fee?”

“Give him a big enough tip to buy a new car, a nice one.”

“Acknowledged.”

Sunset dodged through two cars and scrapped along the sides of both, losing both side mirrors.  She hissed and winced at the metal and plastic scraping sound.  They were running out of space and needed to get closer.  The honking was making less a difference as other drivers were either ignoring her, staring stupefied, or just had nowhere else to move to.  With no other choice Sunset hopped up on the sidewalk and honked frantically, exercising a bit more control so people could get out of the way.  “Sorrysorrysorry!  Movemovemove!  GET OUTTA THE WAAAAY!  Alright, here we go!  Get ready!”

Tempest pushed Twilight back, shielding her as the few people who had been on the sidewalk gawking turned and ran away.  A banged up white car took out the bench they had just been sitting on and then came to a crashing halt into the grass and nearby hill.  The battered vehicle sputtered and wisps of smoke rose from underneath.  The doors opened and there was no doubt who had been in the vehicle.  Gauge stood with a robot in his arms.  Sunset stood next, said something to another passenger and turned, leaving the door open.

“Go, go, Twilight, go now!” order Tempest, shoving her princess towards the portal.  Twilight made eye contact with Sunset and they both smiled.  With a quick glance to her right, but no time to concern herself with onlookers, Twilight Sparkle jumped through the portal.

“Come on!” shouted Tempest.

Sunset stuck her head back in to look at Ted. “Hey, sorry about this, but it was fun, right?  Great story to tell friends about. See ya!”  She quickly stashed Raven in her shoulder bag and ran for the portal.

Tempest jumped through just as Gauge reached the statue plinth.  He threw the bot body through without hesitation and turn to look at Sunset Shimmer.  The police car came to a screeching halt between them.  Sunset had to dig her boots into the grass to keep from colliding with the door or fender.

“GO!” Sunset shouted. Gauge froze.  “That’s a fucking order, captain!”

Both officers jumped from their seats and pulled out their tasers.  One pointed his at Sunset while the other turned to Gauge.  

“FREEZE!”

Gauge scowled daggers at the officer then stepped back disappearing into the stone plinth.

“What the fuck?!”  Sunset eyed the officer facing her, waiting for her moment.  “Did… did you see that!?”

The officer facing Sunset, whose tag read: Stone turned his head. “What’s the matter?”

Sunset closed the distance before he could turn back, ducked under his outstretched arms and shoved the officer back.  Stone fired his taser on instinct, but the prongs only found air as Sunset jumped and slid across the hood of the police car.  The other officer did a double take and saw her coming.  Before she could knock him out of the way a gun fired and a bullet buried itself into the dirt next to Sunset’s foot.  She did not know if it was a warning or a bad shot, but she stopped before touching the other officer and held up her hands to show they were empty.

“The next one goes right into your back, so don't fucking move!”  

Stone rounded the cruiser and kept shouting at Sunset to not move and get on her knees.  She drowned it out, eyes on the portal, her only way out.  Her only way home.  Officer Stone was approaching, but his partner was too mesmerized by what he saw when Gauge had fled to pay attention.  The crowd had mostly fled for their lives after the gunshot rang off the buildings.  Sunset could hear more police cruisers approaching fast.  Her teal eyes locked on the distracted officer.  She had one chance.  She might take a bullet to the back, but it was worth the risk.

“Hey, asshole, don’t touch that.”  The dazed officer whose tag read: Morning turned to Sunset and stepped closer to her, face indignant at her comment.   He closed the gap she needed with two wide stride steps.  Just before Stone could grab her shoulder to shove Sunset to her knees she jumped at Morning, slipped around him like water and put the officer in a full nelson hold.  Morning tried to fire the taser in his hand, but it sailed well over Sunset's head.  Amazingly, Stone had not fired again… not yet at least.

“Dammit!” Stone cursed.  Sunset could see the officer was shaking now and was as likely to hit his partner as he was her. “Just… just take it easy there, lady.”

Morning struggled, he struggled hard, but Sunset had strength and leverage over him.  “How the hell is she so strong?!”  He tried to kick back but only found air.

“Listen, I really don’t want to hurt you guys for just doing your job, but I can’t stay and play no matter how much I love doing the cuff me and have your way with me game.  I have a marefriend I have to get back to propose to.”  Sunset backed up slowly, lining herself up while making sure the officer with the gun pointed at her never had a clear shot.  Two more police cruisers came to a skidding stop and more officers jumped from their vehicles.  She had one chance and could feel the magic fading from the alignment by the second.  “Catch!”

Sunset planted her boot into Morning’s back and kicked him directly at Stone.  Stone caught his partner, shoved him to the side and pulled the trigger.  Sunset had leapt backwards with her left leg and used it and the kicked officer to fall back into the portal.  She flashed them the finger guns just before she disappeared, two bullets disappearing through the stone with her.

Stone blinked the flashing light from his eyes.  The woman was gone.

“Did you see it that time?!  Did you see it?!  What the ever loving fuck, man?!”

Slowly, Stone approached the stone face, keeping his pistol trained on the glass smooth rockface.  With great hesitation, Stone prodded the statue plinth with the barrel of his pistol and it found only solid rock and concrete.  He lowered his weapon and then hesitantly touched the face with his hand.  Nothing.  He pushed on it and still only found cold stone.  Stone glanced back at Morning who was still sitting on the ground as other officers began to secure the scene.

“Holy shit!” Both officers turned their attention to the crashed white car and where the exclamation had come from.  “I’m fucking rich!”

Ted took his eyes off his PAAL and found two officer standing outside the open driver’s side door. “Sir, get out of the goddamn car and come with us.  We have a LOT of questions.”


----------


Twilight Sparkle exited the mirror and stumbled a bit, falling back to all four hooves.  She turned first to the clock countdown and hourglass on the side table.  The readout was counting down with less than three minutes left.

Twilight jogged in place while her wings bounced in agitation.  She whispered to no one, “Hurry.”

“Twilight!”  Twilight’s eyes turned to find Spike jump up from the chair he had been sitting in, dropping his comic book to the ground.  “I was really starting to get worried t-”

The mirror flashed again and Tempest Fury stumbled through, falling to her side, but rolled and quickly recovered to her hooves.  Tempest checked herself and sighed in relief when she found all her parts were back where they belonged and even her armor was intact.  Before anyone could comment the mirror flashed again and an object flew through and knocked Tempest over.

Twilight was about to move to help when her eyes turned back to the clock again.  Less than two minutes.

The mirror flashed once more and Fog Gauge stumbled out backwards.  He rolled and tripped, finally landing on top of his wife.  They were muzzle to muzzle.  “Hi,” said Gauge, his lips turning to a smirk.

Tempest grinned as well. “Don't 'hi' me, you are in soooo much trouble, mister.”

“Gauge, where’s Sunset?” asked Twilight desperately.  

Gauge stood and pulled Tempest up with him.  The lunar captain flapped his wings in agitation and quickly removed his helmet, bowed his head.  His grim expression made Twilight’s heart plumet. “The local authorities came between us before she could reach the mirror.  I…” Gauge flashed his fangs in a snarl. “She ordered me to go.  I…”

Twilight turned her eyes to the countdown devices.  The last grains of sand fell from the hourglass.  The last seconds were approaching on the ticker.  Each second flipping over drove another spike into her heart.  Was Sunset being arrested?  If so, would she be able to return in thirty moons?  Would she be dragged away and they never see one another again?

The last number flipped to zero.

Twilight broke and choked on her sobs. “No.  Please, no.  Not like this.  I, I still need to say...” She closed her eyes as fresh tears fell.  Spike turned to Tempest and Gauge then back to the mirror.  “What the heck happened?”

“Sunset… she…”

The mirror flashed and a goldenrod bullet ejected herself from the glass that then lost its magical sheen and became nothing more than smooth reflective glass once more.  Sunset Shimmer slammed into Spike with enough force to knock the wind out of the dragon, bowling them both to the floor in a pile of wings and other limbs.  Sunset groaned for a moment while her vision cleared.  She rolled off of Spike and laid on her side for a moment longer.

“Hey, you okay?” asked Spike.

Sunset sat up and threw her forelegs in the air and cheered, “WHOOO!  Damn I’m good at running away!  Hahahaha!”

“You…”  Twilight shook.  “You…”  The purple princess unfurled her wings to their full extent and shouted, “YOU... crazy, arrogant, stubborn, selfish, unbelievably reckless… I… I… I thought I lost you forever.  I…”

“Hey, Twily.”  Twilight looked up to meet Sunset’s soft, bedroom eyes, the two of them huffing as the adrenaline of the moment bled off.  “I’m really sorry.”

Twilight dashed over the short distance between them and wrapped her wings and forelegs around Sunset Shimmer and she in turn did the same.  They pressed their muzzles together while sliding their horns along one another, and finally Sunset wiggled a hoof loose from Twilight’s tight grip and lifted Twilight’s face just enough so she could kiss the love of her life as if her life depended on it.

“I’m sorry too,” Twilight finally whispered after a minute.  Their breathing steadying, and their hearts beginning to beat slower and keeping pace with one another.

“My princesses, you should see this,” said Gauge, drawing their attention.

Before they broke their embrace however, the door above them was forcefully opened and Princess Luna appeared, eyes alert and ready for anything… perhaps too alert. “Thou has return to thy mantles of stature!  Oh, joyous this day has been indeed!”

Isabella staggered in next, appearing more frazzled and lethargic than usual.  “Oh, thank the ancestor, you both made it back.  I… Oh, biscuits, I will just say it, I need a vacation, immediately!  I cannot keep up with Luna and her… everything!”

“Pish posh, noble Isabella!  Thou needith only to partake in the nectar of the gods ten times a day such as I, and thou shall be as right as spring rain and capable of seeing the stars even when awake!  Glory to my night sky and stars above!”

“Uhhh…”

Isabella sighed, “No one has been monitoring her coffee intake... for THREE DAYS.”

“Ahhhhh,” nearly the entire room said at once.

Sunset shook her head and remembered that Gauge had beckoned her.  She, though reluctantly, untangled herself from Twilight and stepped over to where Tempest and Gauge were standing over…

“Huh, would you look at that.”

“What?”

Sunset gestured for Twilight to come look.  The semi-circle formed around the body that was lying on the ground unmoving.  It was still a robot, metal, plastic, ceramic, not much different than it had been before except that now it was pony shaped.  There was no mane or tail and at a glanced it was proportioned about the same size of your average earth pony mare or ponyequin display.

“How... I mean I KNOW how, but this... I can't believe it came through the mirror so... intact!  It's just... how is this possible?” asked Twilight in awe.

“No idea, I really was not sure it would make it through at all or would be made of wood or something.  But this… I need to see if it works.”  Sunset levitated her bag back to herself since it had come off after she had collided with Spike.  The dragon just standing behind the others, scratching at his head, unsure what to make of all of this.

Sunset searched around in her saddlebag, hoof bumping into another small box.  In a minute, I have to know she’s okay.  A moment later she retrieved her new PAAL unit and depressed the small power button.

Sunset booted up Raven and the new PAAL flashed a few times as it went through the startup sequence before the now familiar animated pony came to life on the screen.  The avatar looked about and finally let out a great sigh.  “No connectivity.  Naturally.  At least it appears we all made it through in time.  All intact?  No missing limbs?”

“That’s not the only thing that appears to be intact.”  Sunset levitated Raven up and into the connection port in the back of the robot head.  Much to her surprise and delight, the port was still big enough to accept the PAAL unit even with the size change in the head.

“Holy cannoli… is that…”

The robot systems came online.  Servos whined, electric motors turned, LED lights came on and glowed through the joints and eyes.  After a few seconds the robot stumbled a bit and finally blinked and turned back to the others standing about in different levels of awe.

“Strange.”

“Strange?” asked Sunset.

“It is not just the body that has changed.  The core software for the motor controls and balance gyros have also changed and compensated for a quadruped without me having to recalibrate or adjust them.”  Raven took a few steps and spun about, the flexible acrylic and face motors pulled her lips back into a smile that did not look disproportionate on a pony muzzle. “I am fully functional.  I… am alive.”

Sunset beamed, reaching out with a wing to pull Raven closer, wrapping her in a hug.  Twilight smiled warmly as she watched the two embrace, Sunset's eyes glassing over with emotion. “This could work out great!  Maybe an illusion charm to hide the machine parts, a wig and tail extensions... the creative gears are turning.”

“Sweet Celestia!” Isabella exclaimed, connecting all the dots. “Is that… is that Raven?!”

Raven stepped out of Sunset’s embrace and held her head high.  “Yes, Isabella Windsong, it is good to see you again… for the first time.”

“Well, this is going to take some getting used to.”

Sunset nodded and took stock of all the ponies and others gathered.  Her eyes returned to her saddlebag.  There would be no better time... and given her track record the world could end at any moment, so no time like the present!  The goldenrod alicorn levitated her bag over again and raised a hoof to silence the chatter and halt any before they could leave the mirror room.  Sunset took a deep breath and exhaled.  

“Hey, before we head out I have something I would like to say.”  The gathered creatures all turned to her and stared.  Some had curious expressions, others the look of knowing anticipation.  Twilight, the one front and center, felt her heart speed up, thumping loudly in her chest.  “First of all, once again, I want to say I am so, so very sorry for what happened earlier.  I had a plan, it went sideways, I got frustrated and... well, we can talk about the details of that later.  Right now, however. 
Twilight Sparkle, you have carried the weight of a nation on your shoulders for more than a century.  All the responsibility, all the long days and sleepless nights of worrying and frustration.  Always wondering if you are making the right decisions and what is best for every creature.  No pony should have to carry so much weight alone.  

“So, I stepped up and gladly shared that responsibility with you.  We… You and I have been students of Celestia, enemies, friends, best friends, confidants,” Sunset smirked, “lovers, and most recently, equal diarchs upon the thrones of Equestria.  But I know there is one thing more I can do for you, for us.  The next step, that you have been so very patient with me as I sorted out what was going on in my head and how I felt in my heart.  I know for certain how I feel.  I have no more doubts.  I am no longer afraid.”

“Neither am I,” said Twilight as her eyes began to glass over with tears of joy.

Sunset extracted the small jewelry box.  Every set of eyes in the room were drawn in as they leaned forward so close Sunset could practically feel them all breathing… except for Raven, of course.  With a bit of crimson magic aura, the lid on the box lifted and revealed the two items inside.  There were several gasps, one of them, delightfully, from Twilight herself.  

“So… you wanna?”

Twilight brought both forelegs to her muzzle, hiding her joyous, giddy grin.  Then she squared her shoulders and sat back to her full height in a posture similar to the one she preferred while sitting upon her throne.  There was a mischievous glint to Twilight’s eye that made Sunset arch a brow while all the individuals around the two diarchs stood silent and unmoving, waiting to see what would happen next.

“Wanna what?”

Sunset smirked and narrowed her eyes.  There was no way Twilight misunderstood what she was asking.  Sunset could see it in her lover’s eyes as they stared across at one another waiting to see who would crack first.

“You have to actually ask the question first, dumb butt!” shouted Tempest, unable to take the playful tension.  The two princesses laughed and fell into one another, their lips locking together.  A moment later Sunset whispered just loud enough to also remain intimate. 

“Twilight Sparkle, will you marry me?”

Twilight let a joyous tear fall as she continued to smile.  She pulled Sunset closer and surprised her companion by tripping out her legs and tipping her back so as to lean over her.  Sunset gasped, which turned into a moan as their lips met again.  Spike began to hoot and holler first, which was quickly followed by hoof stomps, claps, and cheers.  Once the congratulations died down, Twilight and Sunset continued to stare at one another, the rest just falling to background noise.

“Yes.”
> Chapter 10: Meet the New Me
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So, how does that feel?”

Raven examined herself in the large, full body mirror.  She moved left, then back to the right so that both sides could be seen.  Next, Raven turned to look back over her withers.  Everything moved as perfect as she looked, except she chose to forego the glasses that her visual avatar had perched on the end of her nose like a naughty librarian.  They would have been an unnecessary accessory and Raven did not actually need them anyhow.  

Sunset and Twilight had set to work right away before their schedules consumed their time again at crafting and enchanting a magic stone, in this case, a beautiful opal, for Raven.  Most illusions spells were for short term use, simple and easy to see through the numerous flaws they had.  However, certain items, usually precious stones or crystals, could be enchanted for longer activation use without stressing a unicorn’s magic.  Or, of course, for non-magic users.  

Sunset had polished the stone to absolute flawless perfection to hold the spell and Twilight had then cast said spell herself to give Raven an identical recreation of her form from the PAAL screen just like Discord had rendered last year.  It was so perfect that the princesses had to order wigs of real hair made so her mane would move properly when she turned or touched it.  The same was true for her tail.  The results were that Raven’s MAU appeared as a cream colored earth pony with honey brown eyes, light brown mane and tail, and wore a frilly collar pinned together by a gold encased opal that had a faint glow to it.  Raven nodded her approval which made Sunset Shimmer smile.

“While I can sense there are object attached to my shell structure, I cannot feel them as you can.  Now, if you ask me how do I look?  I will say, I believe I look... wonderful.”

Sunset smiled, clapping her hooves. “You really do.  I still want to try to work in some fashionable accessories that double as personal defenses later, but for now I think you’re ready for your first day of work.”

Raven tapped her chin in a manner she had seen other ponies do.  Once again impressed at the flexibility of the new body.  She ran her hoof through the attached mane again that was hanging loose and mostly to her right side.  It could be pinned up, but she chose to leave it down for now and because it appealed to her.  “Chief Royal Coordinator of the two diarchs and their personal assistants.  Sounds like a bit of a mouthful.  I am also guessing that such a position never existed before.”

“Because no one would have wanted it.  The pony or griffon or whatever having to log, file, collate, and rehash all the happenings of day court and anything else the solar assistant threw in there to present to the assistant of the lunar throne and lunar princess, i.e., me, then file all that for the next day only to start over again.  In addition, fend off annoying nobles, coordinate last minute meetings or things that the personal assistants miss.  Sounds like a lot of work, long hours, and a thankless government job that doesn’t pay enough.”

Raven shrugged. “Sounds like the perfect job for me.  The one the pathetic meat bags can’t handle and would whine about daily.  Not to mention it technically gives me the same power as Isabella and Sable.  Perhaps even makes me their boss.  That could be interesting.”

“Yeeeah, I wouldn’t go around giving ponies that idea even if it MIGHT be true.  Best to be equal and work together.  You know, harmony, friendship, and all that, yaaaay.”  Raven shrugged again.  She must have picked that up from watching Gauge.

Raven turned away from the mirror and stared directly into the alicorn’s eyes, having no hesitations about meeting said gaze. “Sunset, there is one thing I wanted to ask of you, an indulgence, if you will.”

“Sure, what is it?”

Raven lowered her eyes a moment, before looking back up to meet Sunset’s compassionate teal orbs. “Two things, actually.  First, since you are giving me a job and a title I feel as if I should have a full name as well.  For that purpose, I wish to be officially known as Raven Sundown.”

“A play on my name, nice.  I like it.  Go ahead and update it in your settings profile if you have not already.  And what's the other thing?”

“When it is just us.  May I call you mother?”  Sunset gasped and felt her heart swell as it pounded in her chest.  It had been so long since a pony or girl had called her that word that she stumbled back a step and nearly fell to her haunches.  Sunset felt herself begin to cry before she could stop it. “If that makes you uncomfortable just forget that I ask.”

“No!  *ahem*  No, I, I would like that very much, actually.  But yeah, just between us for now.  Maybe Twilight at a later point.”

Raven nodded in acknowledgment. “And how is your bubbly fiancé doing?  I have not seen her the last two days while you helped prepare me for this conference.”

Sunset chuckled, gesturing to Raven to walk and talk, the movement caused the large ruby earring stud in Sunset’s left ear to sparkle a bit. “Twilight is over the moon and I’m not sure she has truly landed yet.  When she said she has been waiting and wanting this she was not joking.  After she finished with the enchantment spell for your opal broach she made an official announcement to all the newspapers and to be carried on to the Crystal Empire and beyond.  I’m pretty sure I heard Cadence’s squee from here before she got ahold of her SunLight crystal.”

“Considering I do not know the limits of alicorn powers that is not entirely unbelievable.”

“Afterwards all her spare free time has been booked to planning.  The next several weeks to possibly months are going to be quite interesting around here.  Going to be a madhouse of charts and lists just to set the date.  Then, guests lists, invitations, paper patterns, caterers, music, and so on, and so on…”

“You do not sound as enthused as Twilight seems to be.”

Sunset shrugged as they continued to stroll down the hall from Raven’s new office/room that was not far from Isabella’s.  Sunset had considered giving her old, personal suite to Raven, but had preferred to keep it as her own sanctuary when needed.  Plus, it was more efficient workwise to have Raven closer to the Royal suite.  Currently the room only consisted of a desk, office supplies, file cabinet, power node with custom hookup to a small induction pad, and a balcony to look out upon the courtyard… or use the sun as a charger.  Everything a PAAL could want.

“I’m happy she’s happy, but to be honest I would have been perfectly fine with a quick ceremony with only our friends and then a public statement and less… spectacle.  But this is Twilight’s dream wedding.  From what I understand this is the one she has been dreaming for since she was a filly.  She can plan every detail until her heart’s content.”

“Probably the wisest course of action would be to let her choose all the details and only offer input when it is asked.”

“Bingo.”

The two were met at the end of the hall that led to the courtyard garden by the thestrals Sable Nimbus, who was looking as sharp and dapper as ever in her dress top and short red mane styled to one side of her head, and Captain Fog Gauge in his full dress armor, helmet in hoof.

“Good afternoon, Princess Sunset, and… have we finalized a title for Raven yet?” asked Sable, scratching at the side of her head.

“Chief Coordinator is the most simple variant of the full title,” said Sunset with a wave of her hoof.  Sunset’s captain and personal assistant nodded, happily saluting to them both.

“I look forward to working side by side with you, Chief Coordinator Raven,” Sable said with a pearly fanged smile.

“How bad does it look out there, captain?”

Fog arched his brow and then slid his helmet back on. “Let’s just say it is a good thing you have your armor on, my princess.  You are about to face down your second least favorite onslaught.”

Sunset sighed. “Yay.  Nosey reporters and newspaper writers.  How strong be the hordes' forces?”

“As far as I could tell before retreating to come collect you, every major paper in Equestria and many smaller tabloid magazines.  At least two Empire reporters, a griffon who had Griffonstone credentials, if a bit flimsy, and, surprisingly, an official dragon messenger who will take notes and then magically pass the information directly back to Dragon Lord Ember.”

“Huh.  How about that.”  Sunset straightened her circlet crown helm and checked to make sure her cape looked clean and wrinkle free.  She only wore it for special occasions and obviously this qualified.  Sunset eyes turned back to Raven who had been standing... well like a robot.  Silently listening to the exchange.  They would have to work in private on more relaxed poses and body language or suspicions and rumors were sure to arise.  They probably would anyhow, but better to be prepared.  “You ready or do you need more time?”

Raven raised her head and brushed a non-existent speck of dust from her shoulder. “Unlike you meat bags, I do not feel anxious and I am always ready to be of service.” 

Sunset Shimmer snorted, rolled her eyes, and gestured to the ornate double doors that led outside. “After you.”

The lunar and solar guards at the doors saluted as the entourage approached.  With a gesture of approval from Sunset the guards opened the doors to the tranquil courtyard garden where the reporters had been instructed to gather for the first open press conference since Twilight’s announcement of their engagement.  Twilight had offered to lead the conference herself, but Sunset had waved her off and gladly stepped up so as to not disrupt Twilight’s already busy schedule. Besides, they’ll get their hooks into her plenty of times before we finally do this and this way she’ll owe me one that I can collect in my own delicious way.  Mwhahaha!

The cameras flashed and after a respectful bow by all those present, the barrage of questions came one after another.  Gauge and Sable took up positions on either side of Sunset and waited while Raven stepped up to the podium and smiled.  She scanned the crowd, making notes of who was who and all the different questions being asked.  She then raised her hoof to silence them.

“Good afternoon, everypony, every creature, and thank you for coming.  Let me begin our beautiful afternoon by introducing myself.  I am Chief Royal Coordinator of the diarchy, Raven Sundown.  I will be personally handling all direct correspondence to the diarchs and acting as liaison between Isabella Windsong and Sable Nimbus on numerous tasks from here on out.  Get used to seeing me and be prepared to deal with me directly on all things related to the new couple-to-be from here on out.”

Sunset gladly sat back and watched with a little smile on her face as Raven handled the crowd of reports better than any pony she had ever seen.  Hard to make a pony sweat who does not have sweat glands.

“With that formal matter settled, we will open the floor to questions on the topic of the day.  Yes, the earlier announcement by Princess Twilight Sparkle was absolutely true and still stands.  The princesses of Equestria are now engaged to be married.”

The crowd erupted into a frenzy of questions once more.
> Epilogue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunrise Flash had not visited his cousin's house in at least two years.  He never really felt a need to.  Part because he was busy with his own life and part, more truthfully, he was jealous of his cousin, Shining Sunbright.  Technically, "The House," as it was sometimes called, was still in Shining's father's name, Timber Hill.  But Timber, like Sunrise's mother, Dusk Sparkler, was old and needed extra personal care.  Sunrise recalled a conversation years ago about offering to have Dusk stay at the house as well so the siblings could share the cost of live in nurse care.  It descended into another fight.

Now, Sunrise was sitting in the foyer of the house taking in all the art, photos, and architecture with more earnest than he had had in years.  He had forgotten how much mythical horse or pega-unicorn themes there were throughout and on such scale.  The place was more than twice the size of his home.  Unlike Shining, he did not work at Sparkle Tech and though his mother had stock in the family company and part of her inheritance had put him through college, Sunrise considered himself more of a 'working man' even if it was only partly true.  His family ties had certainly opened more doors than others had for them.

"Hey Sunny-boy," said Shining as he plopped down on the plush sofa couch. "So, I was surprised to hear from you, especially since it's not a birthday or holiday.  So, what's go you so jittery?"

Sunrise scratched at his red and blonde beard anxiously. "I guess I'll just get right into it.  I had a customer the other day that... well, she said we were related, but I can't for the life of me figure out where or how.  I was trying to mentally go through the family tree of cousins and extended family and... well, came up with nothing and I... well, I know you have nearly all the old family photos here.  I was kinda sitting around last night and said I would go through some stuff on my day off.  See if I could scratch this itch, y'know?"

"Well, let's start with the easy way first.  She give a name?"

"Yeah, Sunset Shimmer."

Shining stopped dead in his tracks.  "That can't be right.  You, you sure you heard it right?"

"Well, it's the name she gave at the store and it was on the billing receipt that was tied to her PAAL."

Shining shook his head and walked over to the next room library, straight for a specific shelf, and came back a minute later.  He dropped the old, heavy book into his cousin's lap.  Without having to open it, Sunrise recognized it as one of the oldest photo albums they had at the house.  Maybe even THE oldest one.

"Open the first page."

Sunrise did and he felt every hair on his body stand on end.  He was glad he had already been to the restroom, otherwise he may have messed his shorts.  "What... WHAT?!  WHAT THE FUCK, MAN?!  If this is a prank you are all pulling on me... well bravo and FUCK YOU!"

"It's not a prank, Sunny-boy."  Shining ran his fingers down his face and then pointed to the photo on the left.  "That, is Sunset Shimmer.  Our great grandmother.  Or as Dad called her, Grandmama.  The one on the right is our other great grandmother, Twilight Sparkle.  The one who founded Sparkle Tech."

"Shitshitshiiiiiiit... I should have recognized her as many times as I'd seen her picture.  She wasn't wearing glasses though."

"Wait," Shining held up a hand, "You saw great grandma Twilight the other day... in your store too?"

"I... I saw both of them, yeah.  Oh, shit cuz... this is really giving me the ghost story creeps.  I need a fucking drink if we are going to keep talking about this... and maybe a priest."

Shining rubbed the back of his neck and paced a few more times, debating with himself.  He finally sighed and rubbed his temples. "I know how you feel.  I ran into Sunset Shimmer too.  It was, damn, like two almost three years ago."

"Please tell me you are just fucking with me, because I am about to have a panic attack."

"Grow a pair, you cumquat.  I'm not fucking with you.  She was right outside, right there.  Just staring at the house.  She looked just like she does right there in the picture.  Not a day older.  Dad thought he recognized her so we went through this album.  I didn't sleep well for a week because I had just seen a Goddamn ghost.  Dad though, he just smiled and laughed.  Said something about horse magic or something and laughed again."

"Great, your dad is old and crazy."

"Watch it, asshat," Shining warned. "Anyhow, after I calmed down I went through more photo albums.  Sunset Shimmer shows up again and again.  Usually in the background."

"Cuz... I seriously need a beer."

"Yeah... just talking about this again... I think I need one too."

Shining stepped out of the room and was on his way to the kitchen when the bell to the front door buzzed.  Shining arched an eyebrow.  That should not have been possible.  The gate was closed and they would needed to go through the security panel first.  "Cady, why didn't you tell me someone was at the door?"

"I apologize, Shining, but they bypassed my protocol.  One of their PAAL units has official government identification and access override keys."

Shining glared at the PAAL on his hand and headed to the front door instead.  When he opened the door Shining found two individuals, a man and a woman, in sharp, black suits and sunglasses.  Both were holding up FBI badges and identification.

"Shining Sunbright?"  

"Yes?"

"FBI, we'd like to have a word.  No, we don't have a warrant, but if you ask for one, we will be back tomorrow with one and a lot more agents.  May we come in and keep this simple and civil?" said the man in an even if ever so slightly threatening tone.

Shining sighed and stepped aside. "My cousin is in the foyer, if you wait there with him I can bring you refreshments.  I was just up to get a beer myself."

"Your cousin?  Would that happen to be Sunrise Flash?" asked the woman with a cock of her eyebrow.

"Yes?"

She smirked and put her sunglasses in her pocket, revealing her striking jade colored eyes. "How fortuitous.  My partner and I will take water.  We're on the job."


----------


“So, is that the last of it?”

Police Detective Ward Arrow set the last box down on the long table that he and Detective Desert Sands had borrowed for their investigation that just kept going deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole.  Arrow sighed and shrugged. “I hope so.”

“Well, I have the transcripts from Officers Stone and Morning’s debriefing as well as the witness testimony from the kid who was in the car with them.”

The door to the interrogation room opened and then shut as another officer in a button down, long sleeve shirt entered.  He eyed the two detectives and the items on the table before finally nodding. “Well, looks like you two gents at least got your shit together, so let's get this over with.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, captain.”

Captain Tip Top rolled his eyes at Detective Arrow. “We all know the drill, I’m just here because you two were afraid that the findings were not making any sense and needed a second or third professional opinion on the matter.  So, let’s get on with it.”

“Right.  So, let’s lay it all out loud for the record,” said Sands, setting a PAAL enabled tablet to the side so it could record all their statements and findings.  “This last Friday, one week ago, our primary suspect, identified as one Sunset Shimmer, ordered a car to pick up her and her companions.  A male suspect wearing an Air Force officer’s uniform and brand new PAAL Mobile Assistance Unit are sought for questioning as well.  Security footage shows the accomplices enter the back seats while the primary suspect shoves the driver/owner from his vehicle but then waits for him to get back in on the passenger side.”

“So less a robbery and a unexpecting kidnapping?  Is it an abduction if you willing get back in the car?” asked Tip Top, rubbing at his scruffy chin.

Sands shrugged. “Leave that one for the lawyers to debate.  Regardless, the officers pursue the car after spotting it driving recklessly across town, violating numerous traffic and safety laws, endangering lives and property, damaging other vehicles and property.  The car's killbox was found on the passenger floor boards ripped out.  After reviewing chase video it was concluded the suspect drove to the final location with intention.  Said chase finally coming to a stop before one Canterlot High School where things begin to get... weird.  Security footage from outside of the front of the school showed two more persons of interest who had apparently been waiting for our primary.  More on them later.  

“Officer Morning’s bodycam footage shows the military officer who emerged from the back of the car literally disappearing in a flash of light when he comes in contact with the statue base.  Normally, this would be dismissed as equipment failure except that the suspect is nowhere to be seen and then the primary suspect, after assaulting and evading both officers, pulled the same trick a minute later.  Forensic examination of the statue base reveals that it is just that, concrete with a bit of mixed stonework.”

Tip Top took a moment to review the bodycam footage before finally rubbing his eyes and shaking his head.  He waved his hand for the detectives to continue.

Arrow cleared his throat and picked up the deposition. “We were successful in getting the all clear to obtain the financial records of the account used by the primary suspect to pay for the car ride.  Unsurprisingly, it was registered to one Sunset Shimmer.  However, prior to the previous Wednesday afternoon the account had remained mostly inactive for nearly three years other than automated deposits from interest earning investment accounts, all legal and legitimate as far as we were able to dig, and debits to a number of charities, also, all properly registered and legitimate.  The account is currently frozen pending additional investigation by financial crimes division that may require a tax audit consider the several million dollars on tap.”

Tip Top whistled as he skimmed the top of the account information.  “That’s some fishy behavior for a lady with that kind of cash at her fingertips.”

“Yeah, we thought so too.  Barber in Finance is going to dig deeper than we have time for,” said Sands.

“Now, back to what we were talking about earlier as far as the weirdness.  We obtained additional security footage of our primary suspect and her friends going about town over the three day period of Wednesday to Friday.  Two individuals marked as persons of interest, both in military garb, both lacking PAALs, pinged NO facial recognition on ANY of our systems and sent an automated alert to the FBI that we were looking.  I’m sure we’ll be hearing from them soon.  However, this person of interest, the one next to Shimmer, we did get a match.  And… she is deceased.  In fact, additional digging yielded, both Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer are supposed to be deceased.  Except that their faces are now pinging to several registered IDs, which should have been impossible with today’s facial recognition security.”

Tip Top picked up the other tablet that had several forms of identification for ‘Sunset Shimmer’ on them including driver’s licenses and passports.  Each had an identical picture but each also had a different name.  He flipped to the next screen and another set of IDs for Twilight Sparkle also with a number of aliases.

“So, what am I looking at here, boys?  Ghosts?  Immortals?  Sounds more like a spy movie to me.”

Both Sands and Arrow exchanged uncomfortable and confused expressions as they shifted through the gathered evidence. “The PAAL that Sunset Shimmer was using had unique user codes that allowed it root access to a number of restricted and proprietary systems derived from the PAALs base code platform created by Sparkle Tech industries.  The company founded by one, Doctor Twilight Sparkle.  The company spokesperson who replied to our inquiry said that they have isolated the codes used and corrected them, but also went as far as to say that the only way such ‘backdoor’ codes could have existed without being found before would be if an original code programmer had slipped them in during the trial and testing phases before the OS went live.  That SHOULD narrow our suspects for cyber crimes to track over, but, unfortunately we were also informed that during the code writing phase, years before the first PAAL went up for sale, there were a number of contracted coders tapped to speed the process up.  Annoying, but… and this is where it gets more weird.”

Tip Top threw his hands up. “Hit me with it.”

Sands held up two images from the pulled camera to log that they received from the electronics store that the identified MAU was purchased from.  “These are our two primary suspects in our possible financial crimes case.”  Sands then pulled an old paper photo from a folder.  “This, is the founder and former CEO of Sparkle Tech, Dr. Twilight Sparkle.” Sands pulled out another old photograph. “And this, was Twilight Sparkle’s wife, Sunset Shimmer.”

Tip Top set the photos down after a minute.  “Okay, seriously, what the ACUTAL Fuck, people?”

Arrow shook his head. “Hey, can we stop here for a second, this… this is all just too damn weird.”

“I know, right?  If this was about exploiting a security breach in backbone software or about defrauding the multi-million dollar accounts by stealing info and having their faces surgically altered I could put the pieces together and see it, but… all they did was get a hotel, buy some cheap crap, a MAU, and go to a club to hang out.  None of this would have even crossed out desks if not for that crazy joyride.  Then… there’s this.”

“What?”

“I asked the phone company to send phone records and asked for the PAAL's cloud access.  Sometimes they give us the privacy stiff arm, but they were surprisingly cooperative this time.  I think after they took a look, I have a guess why.”

Arrow shook his head as he and the captain looked over Sands’ shoulders at the images that had been released from PAAL cloud storage.  They were images of Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle having fun with friends, attending parties, gatherings, social events, and lots and lots of personal family photos.  Many of which dated back to before PAAL cloud storage was online and had been uploaded separately.  

But what was giving both detective chills were the photos that caught glimpses of the background.  Cars, buildings, locations, some of which were decades old and in some cases even older.  They could have been fake, but at a glance, they did not look fake to the detectives.

“So…” said Tip Top, shutting off the screen with the photos and the deposition recording. “We either have some weirdos with face stealing fetishes just looking to have a good time.  Or… or we have some strange beings from somewhere ‘else’ that have been alive for more than a hundred years, have tons of money, and apparently had to hurry up so as to make it to their flash gate door thing before it turned to stone again.”

“I don’t like either of those choices, captain, and I say we just box this shit up and let it be someone else’s problem.”  Arrow pointed to the box and Sands nodded.

The door to the interrogation room opened and a man and woman entered and quickly shut the door behind them.  Both were wearing identical black suits, sunglasses, and frowns upon their faces.  Sands squinted a bit more at the woman who looked familiar for some reason.

“This is a private room, can we help you?” asked Tip Top.

The man removed his sunglasses and flashed his badge. “Agent Box Folder, FBI.”

“We understand you have a case that has more questions than answers.  A case that ended at Canterlot High School,” said the woman who had not yet identified herself and stayed near the door, keeping her sunglasses on.

“Normally this is where we would tell you Feds to take a hike and get off our jurisdiction, but in this case… yeah, we do.  And not a damn thing makes any sense about it.  Got any insight you would care to share?”

“Theories, some past evidence, a fancy tack board with red strings, I’m old school like that,” said the woman with a small smirk before her face returned to the stern stoic it had been before.  “However, we are here to take this off your hands and minds for that matter.  So, thank you for your efforts, detectives.  Please, pack up all the evidence you have and present it to us.  We will be handling this case from here on out.”

Arrow arched a brow and glanced at Sands. “No disrespect, ma’am, and don’t get me wrong, this is one case I gladly pass on, but are you certain you WANT this headache?”

The woman stepped closer to the two men and they both gasped as she took off her sunglasses. The vermilion skin, the short pink and white hair.  She was nearly identical to the woman from the security footage in the army uniform. “Boys, I have seen things.  I know about things in this world that would turn your both into insomniacs and that would be a best case scenario.  Knew a guy who decided to rather eat a bullet than accept the truth of what I was showing him.  So, unless you like the idea of never having a sound night of sleep again I suggest you just take my answer of ‘it’s above your pay grade’ and go back to your regular job of serving and protecting the public.  Understand?”

“Well, she’s got my vote,” commented Tip Top. “I’m too close to retirement for this shit.”

Arrow quickly picked up all their paper evidence and the tablets that had the collected data and dumped them in the box, handing it all to Agent Folder.  The FBI agents slid their sunglasses back on and began to leave.

“Never did catch your name, ma’am.”

“Never gave it.”

“What does all this mean?” asked Sands, calming his partner with a hand on his shoulder.  

The woman stopped and turned, jade eyes glancing back over the top of her shades. “That we are not alone.”


The End