Dear Diary I finally got back from the camping trip. Sunset still wouldn’t return my calls, or answer my messages online. So I decided to go over her head. I got Mom to talk to Sunset’s dad and arrange a playdate for the both of us under the impression that Sunset already knew. Sunset got pretty mad when I showed up, and she locked herself in her room. I didn’t go away though, and I stayed outside until she finally talked to me. She was hurt. Not because of anything I did, or because of what the girls said, but because she felt that she had let me down, and that she didn’t deserve to have me as a friend. Because she lost control of her temper and ruined what would have been a great time for the both of us. For someone that’s nearly as smart as me, Sunset can be kind of dumb sometimes. I didn’t care about any of that. I mean, yeah, it’s probably something she needs to work on, but I would have been happy if she had just talked to me afterwards. Sunset is my friend, and that’s all that matters. I told her that, and she finally let me in, and we hugged and cried a bunch, then I offered to take her out into the woods to show her some of the stuff I had learned. Maybe it wasn’t the best summer we could have had, but I don’t regret a thing. -Twilight Sparkle

Twilight yawned as she made her way down the stairs, trying her best not to trip over the dog weaving between her legs as she went.

"Morning, sleepyhead!" Cadance called out from the kitchen. "Breakfast is almost ready."

Shining Armor looked up from his phone and flashed her a grin. "Man, I'm jealous. I can't remember the last time I got to take a vacation like that."

Twilight shrugged, sitting at the table next to him. "So take one. You've got a lot of vacation days saved up, don't you?"

"Yeah, well..."

Cadance came out and began setting plates on the table. "Not always that simple, I'm afraid. You know how hectic our schedules can get.”

"Sounds like an excuse to me," Twilight said, digging into her food. "You guys do anything interesting while I was gone?"

Shining Armor and Cadance shared a knowing look before smirking.

Twilight scrunched her face up. "Ugh, nevermind, I don't want to hear about it. And I don't want those sorts of questions directed at me either."

Cadance stuck her tongue out, then slid into her seat across from Twilight. “So, what’s next in the life of Twilight Sparkle?”

“More science, I guess. Still a lot of work to do.”

“Is that all?” Cadance asked, raising an eyebrow. “You have a girlfriend now, you can’t become complacent just because you got lucky. Canterlot High will probably be having their prom in, what, two months now? Are you gonna go?”

Twilight sighed. “I dunno. Probably? I’m not a student, but if Sunset wants me to go I guess I will. Does it really matter that much?”

Cadance smacked her forehead with a palm. “Boo. Come on, Twilight, think of the romance! Prom is the only thing that matters in life for every teenager ever! Haven’t you seen literally any movie? Plus, we should totally go dress shopping. I know a really great place down by the mall; they’ve got some outfits that would suit you perfectly.”

“Actually,” Twilight said, pulling out her phone. “I’ve already got that covered. Rarity makes dresses in her spare time, and she said she’d hook me up. They’re actually pretty good.”

“Is that so?” Cadance narrowed her eyes. “Remind me to have a talk with her some time. I’ll see what she considers fashionable.”

Twilight snorted, and Shining Armor rolled his eyes.

“Twily’s not a doll you can just dress up, honey.”

“But, but!” Cadance turned to her husband, her eyes wide and sparkling. “But she’s so adorable, and I want to get lots of pictures of her and her girlfriend being adorable together!”

“Hey, bro,” Twilight said, scrolling through her phone as she purposefully ignored Cadance. “What’s your schedule look like next week?”

“Hmm.” Shining Armor set down his fork and turned back to his own phone. “Looks like I actually got that weekend off. Why, did you have something in mind?”

“You think you could run a game for me and the girls?”

Shining Armor leaned forward, tenting his fingers in front of his face. “I don’t know. Do you think they can handle it?”

Twilight shrugged. “Probably not. They’ll all be total noobs.”

“I see. Excellent.”

Cadance crossed her arms over her chest with a loud harrumph. “Oh, I see how it is. I want to talk about dresses and romance and pretty girls, and I get completely sidelined. But we start talking about dice and roleplaying and stupidly-complicated rule systems and everyone's already off in their own worlds. Why do I even bother?”

“Because,” Shining Armor said, standing up and grabbing his plate. “I’m awesome enough to do the dishes, give you back rubs, and because I love you with all of my heart.”

“Tch.” Cadance looked her husband up and down as she continued to pout. “And now you’re ruining a perfectly good dramatic hissy fit by being all reasonable about it. Where’s your sense of adventure?”

“If it helps,” Twilight said, standing up and grabbing her own plate, “I can try and goad him to the point where he flips the table.”

“You wanna be a NPC?” Shining armor asked, kissing his wife on the cheek as he made his way to the kitchen. “I’ll let you ham it up as much as you like.”

Cadance rolled her eyes, but then broke out into a big smile. “Yeah, that sounds like fun.”

“Please meet me in my office after class.

- P.C."

Sunset crumpled up the fancy stationery and stuffed it into her pocket. Out of all the things she wanted to do, talking with Principal Celestia was exceedingly low on the list—especially considering the alternatives. She pulled out her phone, checking her recent messages again.

“Hey, come over to my house tonight. I want your help with some science stuff. Also I want us to all play a game next weekend and I want to get a head start on teaching you the rules. <3 xoxo”

She hesitated in front of the door to the principal’s office. Principal Celestia wasn’t Princess Celestia—that much was obvious. The former lacked the millennia of ancient wisdom and the regal bearing of the latter, and as far as Sunset could tell, was just an ordinary middle-aged woman in charge of a single school.

But she made Sunset feel uneasy all the same. She was colder than the Celestia she remembered, and her eyes had a way of boring deep into her soul, as if to shine a light on all of the ugly parts of herself she’d rather leave behind.

Gritting her teeth, she knocked on the door.

“Come in,” a voice said from inside.

Sunset entered and made her way to the desk. It had been months since her reformation, and still the negative memories of this room swirled through her mind. Sunset had never been to this room without some misdeed spurring her visit, and even if she had usually managed to defer the blame to someone else, the pain was still there.

“Sit,” Celestia commanded, gesturing to the open chair. She put on a smile. “It’s good to see you, Sunset Shimmer. It’s been a while since we’ve spoken like this. Did you enjoy your Spring Break?”

There was a reason for that. And as for her spring break… what would even be the best way to describe it? Wonderful? Magical? Fun? Sexy? Beautiful? Cute? Adorable? An absolute joy to spend time with?

“Good,” Sunset said, face steady. “I had a lot of fun.”

Celestia shifted a stack of papers and laid them flat on her desk. “I’m glad to hear it. Do you know why I’ve called you in here today?”

A dozen sarcastic replies jumped up Sunset’s throat, but she swallowed all of them, opting instead to merely shake her head.

“I’m a very busy woman, Miss Shimmer. I wish I could give each and every student the kind of personal attention they deserve, but alas, there is only one of me. You, on the other hand, are a special case. After the… incident last fall, I gave you a second chance to prove yourself, which—judging by the events of last spring—was an excellent gamble on my part. I’m proud that you’ve been able to turn yourself around.”

Sunset could already hear the next word coming.

“But not everything is music and rainbows. There are only two months left in this semester, after which you will graduate and become a full grown woman ready to take her place in the world. Your grades, on the other hand, tell a different story. I see a girl before me who has massive potential, and who could accomplish great things, if she were only to apply herself. Tell me: do you think you have gotten all that you can out of your time here in high school? Have you learned enough to prepare you for what lies ahead?”

Sunset almost barked out a short laugh but caught herself, pinching her arm quietly. The pursuit of greatness was exactly what had landed her in this world.

“I don’t know,” she mumbled, forcing herself to look away from the endless abyss of those judgemental eyes.

“I see.” Principal Celestia opened a drawer, pulled out a flier, and placed it in front of Sunset. “Two months isn’t a very long time, but with the right amount of effort, it can make a tremendous difference. I have here a list of personal tutors who would be willing to help you with your schoolwork. It would, however, require you to work hard and study harder. The only one who can make the change is you. The rest of us can just help you along the way.”

Sunset picked up the flyer and looked it over. What a joke. She should work her ass off, studying hard, for what, exactly? A human education? A few extra points on her human degree? To shore up on her knowledge of human history or literature or anatomy, so that her application to human college would look better? Sunset wasn’t like Twilight. She had never cared about knowledge for the sake of knowledge. To her it it had always been the method through which she would obtain power. Without that dark lust driving her, studying lost a lot of its appeal.

“Thanks,” she said. “I’ll consider it. Is that all?”

Celestia narrowed her eyes a hair’s breadth, then sighed. “Yes, that is all. Please, consider my words carefully, Sunset Shimmer. This is your future we’re talking about. It’s not something to be taken lightly.”

Sunset stood up, nodded her thanks again, and left.

A part of her wanted to just dump the flier in the nearest trashbin, but some pang of reason drove her to fold it up and place it inside her bag instead.

But even if that had been a total waste of time, she still had plans with Twilight to look forward to.

“Hand me that boiling flask, would you?”

“Sure thing.”

“Perfect.” Twilight started the burner, then stepped back, making her way across the makeshift laboratory. “Now all we have to do is wait.”

Sunset grinned and stretched, her bones popping audibly. “Always the fun part, right? I’d kiss you, but that’s probably a bad idea with all these chemicals around.”

Twilight blushed, but kept her expression neutral. “I’m sure we can get plenty of that in later.”

“You really think this is going to work?” Sunset asked, resting a hand on her hip. “Magic is a difficult thing to isolate, even when you have access to it as a tool.”

“Well, I have to try, don’t I?” Twilight pulled off her gloves and moved over to the utility sink to wash her hands. “Equestrian Magic transforms your bodies. It causes physical changes and grants speed and strength and additional powers when exposed to certain emotional stimuli, usually brought about by intense emotions that result from friendship, or an elevated sense of concentration and focus. What someone like Rainbow Dash might refer to as ‘the zone.’”

Sunset laughed. “I’m supposed to be the expert on magic here, but honestly you’re on a better track than I am. None of that is how I’d describe or classify magic back home, but for whatever reason that’s how things happen here. Maybe it has something to do with the Elements of Harmony?”

Twilight pulled out her phone and set a timer. “Just think of the potential implications!. If we can isolate your magic, we can figure out the exact chemical composition and possibly synthesize it. Testing it on humans would probably be dangerous of course, but who knows what sorts of things it could accomplish? Curing cancer is a bit cliché, but still a definite possibility. Heck, if you guys had better control over it, you could easily moonlight as superheroes.”

“Who’s to say I already don’t?” Sunset moved up behind Twilight and wrapped her arms around her. “The elegant mage, Star Blaze, blinding enemies with fire and justice.” After a brief pause she frowned. “This whole scene does actually seem like an origin story in one of those superhero movies. Probably for one of the villains.”

“I’d watch that movie,” Twilight said, giggling. She took Sunset’s hand and squeezed, before she pulled out of the embrace. “But don’t worry. I can recognize the potential, but I know how all this stuff works in real life. Even if it's possible to synthesize magic, it’d probably take decades of testing before scientists could do anything useful with it. I just need to study as much as I can, write an amazing paper, and win a Nobel Prize. Easy.”

“Be careful. Pride goeth before the fall.” Sunset made her way over to a couch in the corner of the garage, sitting down and taking off her own gloves. “So, what was that game you were talking about anyway?”

Star Blaze’s footsteps echoed off the slick dungeon walls as she led the way. The flickering flames adorning her staff cast deep shadows around every corner and into every nook and cranny, leaving them near blind to whatever sort of horrors might be lurking just out of sight.

“This must be it,” she muttered, stopping before a massive set of double doors that towered above her. They were covered in intricate patterns of runes and sigils, only some of which she recognized, but the time it would take to translate them all was more than she had to spare. The doors were flanked on either side by two robed and hooded statues, their massive stone greatswords thrust into the ground.

“Boss man what hurt girl through here?” Ironbite asked, stepping up to the front of the party and rolling his massive shoulders, the popping of his bones loud enough to echo.

Diamond Glitter sashayed up to Ironbite, daintily resting her hand on his shoulder. “Yes, I’m sure this is the place, darling. Our foe is just beyond these doors.”

Ironbite gave a lopsided grin, and unsheathed his great axe. “Guess I’ll door then.”

“Woah now, hold up there big guy,” Arclyte said, stepping forward with a pair of lockpicks between her fingers. “Let’s let the pros handle this, okay? I’ll have this door open in, like, three seconds tops.”

Star Blaze frowned. Something was off here. She could sense the hum of magical energy nearby, and there was a faint taste of ozone in the air.

“Hey guys! You think if I’m up here I can surprise the bad-guy by jumping down on him from on top of his own statue?”

Star Blaze flinched as she looked up to see Heartsong waving at them from on top of the statues. She began calling forth arcane signatories in her mind, but after a few tense moments of silence, she relaxed. “Heartsong, be careful! Those statues could be trapped.”

A loud click rang out, and Arclyte pulled away from the door, dusting her hands off. “See what’d I tell you? Easy as—”

A wave of energy rushed past, and the runes on the door lit up. Star Blaze took a split-second to translate what runes she knew—then screamed, “Get down!”, drawing into her own magics in the process.

Lightning arced from the door in searing bolts of power, coursing through the assembled party with deadly force.

But just as soon as it had started, it was over. Star Blaze’s vision was full of white spots, and she was trembling, but relatively unharmed. Her left hand still crackled with the electricity that she had absorbed and redirected, so she crouched and discharged it harmlessly into the ground.

“Ugh,” Diamond Glitter said, standing up and dusting off her dress. “Is everyone alright?”

Crisp Fritter groaned, and pushed herself up off the ground, her plate armor still steaming and sparking. “Course it had t’be lighting. I swear, armor ain’t doing me no good in a place like this.”

“Oh no, Arclyte!” Woodwidow screamed, rushing in from behind and kneeling by the unconscious and twitching rogue. “Please be okay. I’ll help you, I promise!”

There was a soft glow and rush of wind that smelled of flowers, and Arclyte gasped for breath, the restorative energy flowing through her.

“What the… what happened?” Arclyte groaned, rubbing her head.

“Oh, thank goodness,” Woodwidow whimpered, clinging to her tightly. “I was worried for a second. You really need to be more careful, Arclyte.”

Ironbite laughed, poking Arclyte in the chest with a meaty finger. “Or you need get tougher, and take hit better. Barely scratch me.”

Arclyte growled and slapped his hand away, standing up. “I’m fine, geez. I just got unlucky, is all. Magical traps are dumb anyway.”

“I’m not sure if it was intended to kill us,” Star Blaze said, sighing, “but it does sap our resources a little more before the big fight.”

“Speaking of resources,” Crisp Fritter said, “could use a little healing myself over here.”

“Ooh, let me get this one!” Heartsong said, her hair sticking out in every direction. “I think everyone is a little dinged up, so I’ll get that taken care of in a jiffy! Oh when you’re feeling kind of down, and you really want to frown, you’ve just got to—”

Star Blaze tuned out the song. While the music behind them was sincere, and she could already feel the magic washing away her fatigue, the lyrics tended to rhyme poorly and were often out of key. Instead, she focused on the door, checking to make sure there were no more arcane surprises.

“I think it was just a one shot deal,” Star Blaze said, running her fingers along the runes. “But anything could be behind here. Be ready for it.”

Crisp cleared her throat and spat on the ground, before pulling out her sword and shield. “Alright, team, listen up. I dunno what’s behind that door, but it ain’t gonna be pretty. Our main goal here is to rescue the princess. If we don’t get her back soon, there’s gonna be war, and countless innocent lives will be at risk. If we can take down the evil sorcerer in the meantime, then hey, ain’t gonna argue with that. But gettin’ her out alive and well is priority number one. We all clear?”

“If, um,” Woodwidow said, raising a hesitant finger, “there’s a priority number two… or I guess three? Please just be careful. I can only do so much, and I want us all to be able to walk out of here alive.”

Everyone nodded, their faces grim.

“Alright then,” Crisp said, wiping at her brow. “Let’s do this. Ironbite, door.”

“Door,” Ironbite repeated. He pushed the doors open, his muscles straining with the effort.

A chill wind greeted them as the doors slid open, a howling force coming from somewhere in the vast chasm of darkness beyond.

Star Blaze raised her staff to bring forth light, but she needn't have bothered. A pair of blue flames sprung into existence before them, followed by another, and another, flanking a path to the center of the room.

The flames circled a large altar, surrounded by glowing sigils etched into the ground. Atop of it, bound with chains, sat Princess Buttercup.

Princess Buttercup turned her head to see the party, rolled her eyes, and began to struggle against her bonds. “About freakin’ time someone showed up. Do you have any idea how long I’ve been waiting down here?”

“Uh…”

“Don’t just stand there gawking! Get over here and untie me! I swear, adventurers these days.”

Diamond Glitter smirked, then made her way up the firelit path. “I understand how you must feel, darling, and I do apologize for any tardiness on our part, but we’re doing the best we can. Everyone has a role to play in these sorts of things, no?”

“Yeah, yeah,” the Princess said with a sigh. Clearing her throat several times, her eyes filled with tears and she wailed, “Oh, brave adventurers, please save me! Heeeelp! The evil villain will surely be back any moment!”

Crisp snorted, giving Diamond Glitter a sidelong glance. “Sounds like someone else I know.”

Ironbite gave a lopsided grin, jogging towards the altar. “Ironbite save pretty lady!”

Star Blaze’s eyes widened as she sensed magic stirring in the air. “Wait!”

A flicker shot past, and in a flash a dark hooded figure appeared above the altar, robe billowing in the wind.

“Welcome,” a deep voice rumbled, coming from all around them at once. “To your doom.”

“To our doom?” Princess Buttercup, asked. “Are you serious? I can’t even get captured by quality villains these days. Unbelieveable.”

“Tell me about it,” Diamond Glitter said, yawning. “And overly long black billowing robes? It’s completely out of fashion.”

“Silence!” The figure roared, the ground shaking with the sheer volume of it. “None of you shall leave my lair—”

A dagger blossomed from his chest.

“Blah blah blah,” Arclyte said, pulling another dagger from its sheath. “Shut up and fight.”

The hooded figure removed the blade and cast it aside. “So be it.”

The doors slammed shut behind them with a bang, and the blue flames floated into the air, spreading out across the room. Each one settled into what appeared to be a massive suit of armor. They came to life with a blue light in their eyes, drew their weapons, and clanked forward.

Star Blaze lurched backwards, positioning herself behind Crisp Fritter and several of the constructs while chanting under her breath and moving her fingers through the elaborate dance of arcane gestures. Her magic filled her, lit up her eyes and her staff, and half a dozen small orbs of fire sprang up around her, circling around her head.

With a casual flick of her wrist, she sent one of the orbs crashing into the nearest suit of armor. It exploded with a deafening roar and a backlash of wind that sucked the breath out of everyone nearby for a brief instant. The armor toppled backwards, but as soon as it hit the ground, it twitched and moved to stand up once more.

Arclyte landed on the downed construct and, with a blur of motion, her twin daggers sliced into the vulnerable straps that held it all together. It collapsed in on itself with a soft sigh and a rattle of metal, the light fading from its eyes.

“Hah,” Arclyte said, spinning her daggers around. “These guys are total—”

There was a high pitched whine, and the collapsed armor exploded in a torrent of blue fire. The concussive force washed over them and hurled Arclyte through the air, smoking as she tumbled across the ground and landed at Crisp’s feet.

“Dangit,” Crisp growled, buckling slightly under two heavy blows she caught on her shield. “They light up when they go down, be careful!”

Woodwidow dashed in, her head low, to play medic again while Ironbite charged in a frothing rage, slamming one of the pair pinning down Crisp and knocking it a good fifteen feet back.

Star Blaze darted her attention every which way, trying to focus on everything at once as the adrenaline coursed through her veins, heightening her perception. To her right she watched Diamond Glitter take on one of the hulking monstrosities, her style of combat always looking more like an elaborate dance than a brawl.

Diamond Glitter swayed left and right, dodging strikes with perfect clarity and grace, before delivering two swift kicks to the knees, then leaping up and delivering a third to the chest, sending the construct staggering.

“Diamond!” Star Blaze called out. Diamond took the hint, diving out of the way and rolling as Star unleashed another fireball. When the construct fell, she followed up her previous spell with a concussive blast of sound, sending it careening through the air and into the distant corner of the chamber, where it exploded safely away from her friends.

The thunder from her spell in these enclosed quarters was practically deafening, and she felt the ground tremble under her feet.

“Star, look out!” Heartsong screamed.

Star Blaze spun just in time to see a sword descending down on her. She pulled on her rapidly diminishing reserves of magical power and raised a hand, summoning a protective forcefield.

The forcefield cracked under the pressure, and even though the backlash sent a jolt through her right arm that left it feeling numb, the attack had been deflected.

A left hook to her gut caught her by surprise.

The force of the punch sent her flying backwards, tumbling across the floor. She groaned, barely able to breathe as her ribs sang out in sweet agony.

Struggling to rise, she could see the golem advancing towards her, raising its sword once more.

“Hey now, don’t worry, I’ve got you!” Heartsong sang softly, kneeling by her side. With a murmur of magic, a veil of light spread around them, and the construct stopped advancing, looking around for a few moments before turning his attention to the rest of the party.

“Damnit,” Star Blaze growled, the words painful even as she felt Heartsong’s healing fill her once again. With the shock of the blow she had lost concentration on her miniature fireballs, and they had winked out of existence. Talk about a waste.

Ironbite’s axe cleaved deep into the chest of one of the golems, and he let out a roar of triumph as it fell. The following explosion didn’t even faze the beast of a man; he walked out of the flames, already searching for his next target.

Star Blaze stood back up, the pain in her chest all but gone. She surveyed the battlefield, did a quick assessment of what power she had left, then raised her staff and fired a quick, if basic, lance of fire towards the construct engaged with Crisp. It slagged a line of metal across its chest, and Crisp took the opportunity to plunge her sword into its “heart”, and ducked behind her shield as it exploded.

With only one remaining construct, and Arclyte back on her feet, their combined efforts ended the battle in just a few more seconds.

“Ugh,” Arclyte groaned. “Why the heck am I the one who keeps getting knocked out?”

“Stop it,” Woodwidow scolded, lightly slapping Arclyte’s hand. “I’m not done with you yet. Hold still.”

“Huh. Weren’t so tough,” Crisp said, keeping a wary eye out around her.

“Uh, hello, still chained up over here? Cool fight and all, but I’m getting cramps,” Princess Buttercup said, shaking her chains for emphasis.

Ironbite strode over to the altar, grabbed the chains, and tore them apart with his bare hands. “Ironbite save pretty lady,” he grunted, looking particularly pleased with himself.

Buttercup rolled her eyes, but couldn’t help smiling. “Yes, it seems like you did. Such a gentleman.”

Before anyone could catch their breath, the ground rumbled under their feet.

“What now?” Star Blaze groaned, her eyes darting about. The cloaked figure had disappeared in the chaos, but she could hear his laughter echoing across the cavern.

There was an ear-splitting crash, and a large chunk of stone slammed into the ground not twenty feet away.

“This place is falling apart!” Crisp yelled, rising to her feet. “We’ve gotta get out of here now!”

Ironbite nodded and hit the doors to the chamber like a charging bull. They didn’t budge an inch.

“Arclyte, quick, look for other exits!” Crisp barked, gesturing to the cave around them.

The rumbling intensified, and most of Star’s concentration was occupied making sure she wasn’t crushed under falling rock. With a quick spell, she sent a bolt of force at a boulder the size of her head, veering it off course so it didn’t land on Woodwidow.

“There’s no other exits!” Arclyte called back from the darkness, her voice tinged with an edge of panic. “We’re trapped!”

“Oh, no no no,” Princess Buttercup mumbled, huddling close to Crisp. “I am not going to die buried alive in a dirty cave!”

Crisp Fritter stared down at the Princess, before her face hardened with grim determination. “Don’t worry, Princess. We came to get you out of here, and that’s what we’re gonna do.”

“How?” Star Blaze asked, blasting another rock out of the sky, “We don’t have much time!”

“Do you still have that scroll? The one that teleports or whatever?”

Star had found it early on in the dungeon, but… “It can only take myself and one other person out of here safely.”

Crisp Fritter nodded. “Do it then. Get the Princess out.”

Princess Buttercup threw herself over to Star Blaze, her eyes wide. “Oh, thank you. Do it, hurry!”

“But… you guys…” Star looked around at her friends, who huddled together, doing their best to deflect the debris from above as it piled up around them.

“Don’t worry!” Heartsong said, her smile never fading. “We’re super-awesome, and can totally handle ourselves!” She slapped Star Blaze on the shoulder. “Here, take all the luck I can give. You’ll probably need it out there on your own!”

“But—”

“Do it!” Crisp snapped, grunting as she barely dodged some debris. “That’s an order!”

Her fingers shaking, Star Blaze reached into her pouch and unfurled the scroll contained within. She recited the inscribed spell, praying that the tears in her eyes didn’t cause her to flub anything.

As the magic took hold, she watched the world fade away, just as the cavern collapsed in all around them.

"And with that," Shining Armor said, his voice low as he closed his book, "we draw this week’s session to a close."

There was a chorus of groans from around the table.

"Shoot. That's one heck of a cliffhanger to leave us on."

“This is stupid.” Rainbow Dash glared daggers at her collection of dice. "What's the point of putting everything into dexterity if I keep rolling ones and twos?"

"The dice fall where they fall," Twilight said, a smug grin on her face as she picked her plastic Ironbite figure off the table. "Plus, I told you not to dump constitution. You can't dodge everything."

"Seriously though, you girls did great," Shining Armor said with a wide smile, his ‘DM face’ evaporating. "Great thinking with the teleport, Applejack. And you too, Sunset, for going along with the plan. I have some good ideas for next week."

Sunset shrugged, blushing slightly. "It was pretty intense, and we didn't have a lot of time to think it through. Still, we've been at this for three weeks now; I think I'm starting to get the hang of it."

“Yep!” Twilight grabbed Sunset’s hand, leaned up, and kissed her on the cheek. “You were totally awesome.”

Cadance cleared her throat.

“Oh, right. You were awesome too, sweetheart,” Shining Armor said, rolling his eyes. “And thanks for bringing the snacks, Pinkie Pie.”

“No problemo,” Pinkie Pie said, standing up. “I’ll help with cleaning up too!”

It wasn’t long before everything was put away, and almost everyone had gone on their separate ways home.

“Hey, Sunset?”

Sunset slid her jacket over her shoulders and grabbed her helmet off of the coat rack before turning to Twilight. “Yeah?”

Twilight frowned, clasping her hands together. “Are we actually going to prom together? I mean, I’ve kind of been assuming we are, but it’s getting closer and we never actually said anything about it, so…”

Sunset blinked, then smacked her forehead with her palm. “I’m so sorry! I had just kinda assumed, you know? I… do you wanna go to prom with me?”

Twilight giggled. “Of course I do. I’ll warn you now, though: I can’t dance.”

“Really?” Sunset shrugged. “Well, we’ve still got a month to practice. I’d be happy to teach you; I know some of the basics, at least.”

“Wait, you do?”

“Yeah. Flash taught me, way back when.”

Twilight made a sour face, but sighed, quickly dispelling it. “Alright, I’ll see if I can work dance lessons into my schedule.” She leaned up and kissed Sunset on the lips. “Drive safe.”

Sunset smiled, then put on her helmet. “I always do.”

Twilight entered the living room and flopped down onto the couch next to her brother. He was pouring through his campaign notes, occasionally scribbling something down to the sounds of the low static and occasional chatter of a police band radio.

“Hey. I know I asked you to run this and all, but I forgot how much prep work goes into it behind the scenes. I hope it’s not eating into your free time too much.”

Shining Armor shrugged, closing a folder and setting it aside. “Nah, it’s fine, don’t worry about it. I love being able to spend time with my little sister. Plus, I’ve missed this.”

Twilight laughed, nudging him with an elbow. “Yeah, I can tell.”

“I’ll have to time everything right so we can end it on a strong note. The rest of the girls are all graduating soon, right?”

“Yeah.” Twilight frowned. It was easy to forget that graduation was still such a big deal for people, since she had already done so. “I think they’re all planning to go to Canterlot University. It’s pretty close by.”

Shining Armor raised an eyebrow. “And you’re still going to Hayvard, on the far north end of Canterlot.”

Twilight bit her lip, wringing her hands together. “It’s not that far… like, what, an hour in light traffic? Not exactly the end of the world. Plus, the internet is a thing.”

“Yeah. It’s not always bad. Still, I almost never get to see my buddies from high school anymore. College was one thing, but when I moved out here with Cadance, well… In any case, friendship is great, but what about Sunset?”

“That’s easy, she’ll just…” Twilight paused, then lowered her finger. “I guess I haven’t really given it much thought. But it’s not like we’re going to break up or anything.”

Shining Armor turned to give her a level look. “Have you talked to Sunset about it at all? These things are important, Twilight.”

Twilight fidgeted, sinking further into the couch. “Yeah, I know that. I guess I’m just caught up in the moment, you know? Life and all its wonders, and stuff like that. I probably should though, huh?”

“Probably,” Shining Armor said with a grin, reaching over to ruffle her hair. “You two make a good couple, weird as it is. If you want to hold on to that, you’ll have to put in the effort to do so.”

Twilight nodded, smiling. “Yeah, I will.”

The police band barked a short burst of shrill static, then the choppy voice of a dispatcher.

“We’ve got a ten-fifty down on Main Street. Vehicle collision with a motorcycle. It’s a bit of a mess, so we’ll need a cleanup, over.”