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The Friendship Games were in shambles. Once again, a school event was ruined. Once again, it was because of a magical demon. Once again, Sunset was responsible. Only this time, Twilight Sparkle, her friend and her savior, wasn't around to help.
Sunset Shimmer weaved through the portals and cracks rapidly forming in thin air to stand in front of the transformed version of Dusk Shine. "Dusk, you can't do this!" she yelled.
He turned to her. The timid, nerdy features that Sunset had seen before were gone, replaced with an arrogant smile and wild eyes. Dusk laughed. "Why not?! There's a whole other world right there, and it's just filled with magic!"
Magic shot out from Dusk's hand and, faster than Sunset could see, struck at another crack. It burst outward, shattering the world in purple and cyan. In the rift, Sunset saw a rural village. Ponies looked through, expressions of terror matching her own. It was Equestria. Her home.
So many thoughts and feelings raced through Sunset. Fear of the destruction. Dismay that she couldn't prevent this from repeating. Nostalgia at seeing Equestria for the first time in years.
In the back of her mind, confusion at why Dusk's demon form looked so feminine.
As Sunset arrived at Dusk's house, she looked at her watch: 4:55 PM. She was early, so she sat down on the steps to bask in the sunlight to melt away her nerves.
After the Friendship Games, everyone exchanged phone numbers and celebrated. Then Dusk disappeared. For three weeks, no one had heard from him. Sunset kept reaching out: she sent text after text, invited him to events, offered to talk about becoming a she-demon. Nothing. Not until this morning. He asked her to come to his house, offering no other context.
If his thoughts were anything like hers after the Fall Formal, he needed someone. Calling Sunset was progress. It was also vulnerable, so Sunset knew she couldn't mess this up. She struggled with comforting people at the best of times. Given how important this was and how few other people would be able to understand what he went through, this wasn't the best of times.
Sunset wished Twilight was here. Sunset knew Twilight wasn't perfect, but she was better at talking. Plus, considering that everyone in the human world had an Equestrian counterpart, she might know something about pony Dusk. After all, they were both purple with indigo, pink, and purple hair. They even acted similar too. Maybe they were related? Unfortunately, Twilight's responses to the journal were sparse at best. It seemed like she was busy with something else. Time for Sunset to step up.
The door behind Sunset opened, interrupting her train of thought. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! Have you been waiting long?" Dusk asked as he ran over to her.
"No, no! I just got here early," she said, trying to reassure Dusk, who already seemed halfway into panic mode. "You said to meet at 5, and…"
Sunset trailed off as she looked at Dusk. He looked bad. He had bags under his eyes far darker than before. Just standing at the steps, he wobbled on his feet. Despite the warm weather, he was wearing an old, stained hoodie. While he had always looked a little messy, this was worse than she expected. She kicked herself for waiting so long before showing up in person.
"Are you okay?" Sunset asked, reaching a hand out.
"Yeah, of course!" Dusk said, dodging the hand. "Don't worry about me!"
Before Sunset could ask, Dusk urged her inside. It looked much nicer than Sunset's apartment: pristine kitchen, flat-screen TV, the works. No one else was home. Perfect.
"So," Sunset said, placing her purse on the kitchen table. "I know it must be hard thinking about your demon transformation, but –"
"I don't really want to talk about it," Dusk said.
"Are you sure? I mean, after the Fall Formal, talking about it really helped me, so – "
"Sunset, please."
Sunset's heart fell. Did she misread the whole situation? "Sure," she said half-heartedly.
They walked upstairs to a room. When Sunset looked inside, she had to double-check that they were still in Dusk's house. The room was filled wall to wall with scientific instruments. There were notes scattered around a central desk, empty coffee mugs stacked on every surface, and countless open books.
"Sweet!" Sunset said. She walked around, admiring every polished piece of glass. It had more in common with Princess Celestia's magical laboratories than Principal Celestia's classrooms. She gestured to a huge contraption she thought she recognized. "Is this an autoclave?"
Dusk eyes widened. "Yeah!" he said happily. "I only got into chemistry recently, so I haven't used it much. But it's a lot of help!"
Sunset grinned. "Awesome!" She looked around the room and whistled. "It's so great that you have a whole lab to yourself."
Dusk looked confused. "Yeah, I mean… this is my room."
"Like, your bedroom?"
Dusk nodded.
Sunset looked around again. On second viewing, she noticed a small bed tucked into a corner and a closet. But that was it. There were no pictures, no awards, no mirrors. Nothing that a normal bedroom had.
It reminded her of her time as Princess Celestia's pupil. Entirely focused on magic and power. Uninterested in making friends. Making the biggest mistake of her life.
Sunset suppressed a shudder. Dusk wasn't anything like her. He was quiet, excitable, shy. Even when he was transformed with magic, he wasn't nearly as destructive and petty as Sunset. To be honest, maybe she was hoping that she could talk about being a demon more for herself than for him. To talk about what it's like to make the biggest mistake of your life. But it seemed Dusk was so much less selfish than her.
She shook her head, trying to clear it. "What do you need me for?" she asked.
"I want to test myself. I need to know if magic changed anything about me; if there are any lingering effects," Dusk said. He walked over to a cart that had a huge screen on it and began to connect wires. "Can you help me set it up?"
Sunset blinked. "Woah, really? How did you do that?"
"I took readings of magic when I had the amulet, so I was able to quantify the difference between normal physics data and magical data."
"Cool!" Sunset said. She walked over and examined the machine. It was obviously made by Dusk, the way that none of the components matched and the buttons and panels overflowed the surface, but that just made it more impressive. She wasn't quite sure how she could help set it up, but Dusk motioned to a wire on a side table and she handed it to him.
"So this is what you've been doing since the Friendship Games, huh?" Sunset said.
Dusk didn't respond. Sunset chided herself. Was everything about the Friendship Games off limits? It'd make sense. It was far too soon to bring it up!
Before she could apologize, though, Dusk asked, "Do you know Twilight Sparkle?"
"Of course!" Sunset said. "Wait, how do you know her?"
"I kept seeing pictures of her at Canterlot High. Everyone talked about her like she was perfect."
Sunset clicked her tongue. "Yeah, she kind of was. She struggled, sure. But when it came down to it, she saved the day. She saved me." It was about what she expected from Princess Celestia's star pupil. Incredible at most things, charmingly incompetent at the rest, and infuriatingly likable despite it all. Sunset couldn't help but smile thinking about her. "Not like us, huh?"
Dusk pursed his lips and Sunset began to have a new understanding of Rainbow Dash's ability to put her foot in her mouth. Quietly, he said, "It's ready."
"Great!" Sunset said, eager to move on. "What do we do?"
"It works like an ultrasound machine," Dusk said.
Sunset waited for him to explain further. He didn't. "Great!" She said. "What's an ultrasound machine?"
Dusk tilted his head in confusion. It took Sunset a moment to realize why that was a confusing question. "I came here from Equestria, actually," Sunset said by way of explanation.
Dusk's face lit up. "Wait, really? That's perfect! You can be the control group!" he said.
Dusk took the remote he was working on, smeared some kind of cream on it, and then took hold of Sunset's hand. Suddenly, he jerked his hand away like it was burning and stared wide-eyed at Sunset. "Sorry!" he yelped.
"Sorry for what?" Sunset yelled back, beginning to get freaked out.
"Sorry, I should have asked if it was okay to touch you. And test this equipment on you, and everything." Dusk began to run his free hand through his hair and his eyes weren't focused on anything in particular. "I should've tested this more thoroughly before inviting you here at all. I'm so stupid."
Sunset could see the beginnings of a freak-out as clearly as she ever could. "Hey, no, you're alright," she said, slipping her hand into Dusk's. "We're friends, aren't we?"
That stopped Dusk right in his tracks. He looked at her, blinked, and then took a deep breath in and out.
"Okay," he said, breathing slower. "Here's what's going to happen. I'm going to press the sensor down onto your skin. On the screen, we'll be able to see inside your body."
"Woah. Wait, really?" Sunset said. "How does it do that?"
"High-frequency sound waves! It's actually a really interesting..." Dusk trailed off and shook his head. "I'll explain later. The important part is that we'll be able to see if there's magic in your body."
Dusk hovered the remote above Sunset's arm, but paused and looked up. Sunset nodded. He gently pressed the remote into Sunset's skin. Sure enough, the screen showed a greyscale version of her arm. She could see the blood pumping, the muscles moving, the bone still. Honestly, it made her feel a little queasy.
"There it is!" Dusk said. Sure enough, in the corner of the screen, Sunset saw little sparkles. Whatever they were, they didn't look very built in to the rest of her body. They danced around on top, glistening and shimmering even with the lack of color.
Sunset looked down at her hands, almost believing that she could see them on top of her skin. "That's inside my body?"
"Yeah! Those are particles of pure magic. I'm not sure if that's a result of you coming from Equestria or what happened after you interacted with the element of magic. I'd have to do more testing to figure it out. Still, good to know it works," he said.
"Cool!" Sunset said. "What's next?"
"Now I test it on myself," Dusk said.
Sunset smirked. "Waiting to see if it's safe before testing it on yourself?" she said before thinking. When Dusk's eyes widened in fear, she realized what she said. "No, I mean –"
"I'm really sorry!" Dusk said, desperation in his voice. "It's not about that! It's just –"
Sunset put her hand on Dusk's shoulder. He winced, but let it rest there. "Sorry," Sunset said as calmly as possible. Dusk was really vulnerable right now. Sunset had to remember that. "I didn't mean it like that. What are you using it for?"
Dusk took a deep breath. "On myself," he said. "I wanted to check if I had any magic lingering from after… my transformation."
"Good idea," Sunset said. "You wanna try it now?"
Dusk nodded. He put the gel on his arm, then grabbed the remote. He didn't put it on right away. His hands were trembling. He looked over to Sunset, so she smiled, hoping it looked reassuring. He nodded back, then put the remote on his arm.
His arm was normal. There were no sparkles. Dusk's face was indecipherable. "That's good," he said, voice monotone. "That's perfect."
"Did you want anything to change?" Sunset asked gently.
Dusk nodded. "I just hoped…" he began, but he trailed off. He chewed his words around in his mouth before finally whispering, "Maybe some parts of the changes would be permanent."
"Like using magic?"
Dusk shook his head. Again, he waited before saying, "Am I at all like Twilight?"
Sunset wasn't quite sure what the right answer was here. She wasn't completely sure why Dusk was comparing himself to Twilight or how much he had built her up in his mind. Frankly, Sunset thought he would be asking more about her than Twilight, considering she had gone through the same demon transformation thing.
Still, Dusk was sharp. He would know if she avoided the question or was too pat. Nothing to do but be honest. She took his hand in hers and lead them to the hallway outside Dusk's room, where there was a mirror at eye level.
"Look," Sunset said. "Twilight is a princess from Equestria. She studied under the ruler of a nation. She has long since surpassed me. She's nearly an impossible person to live up to. But if anyone can do it, it would be you."
"But I hurt so many people!" Dusk said, voice raising to a panic. "I don't deserve anything good! I'm not like Twilight!"
Sunset grabbed Dusk's shoulders, turned to him, and said, "Dusk, I tormented my classmates for years. I turned into a demon to enslave them into my army. And I still get to have good things. I'm sure Twilight made mistakes too. And whatever mistakes you made, whatever person you were back then, you're allowed to be happy too."
Dusk was quiet for a moment. "Thank you," he said, his voice shaky. "There's something I want to show you. Can you wait in my room?"
"Yeah, of course!" Sunset said. Relief flooded her veins; it seemed like her words were taken well.
As she entered the room without Dusk, she started to look around. She wasn't trying to snoop or anything; she was just looking through the papers strewn around.
Eventually, one caught her eye. Unlike the rest, it wasn't a scientific paper or a scribbled sheet of notes. It was a child's drawing of a woman in a dress. It was signed "Twilight Sparkle".
Before Sunset could process what she was seeing, a knock came from the door. Dusk entered, looking down and trembling. He was wearing the same dress as the one in the drawing.
Everything finally clicked in Sunset's mind. She knew exactly what to say. "You look beautiful, Twilight Sparkle."
Slowly, gently, Twilight smiled.