It was the attendant in charge of night watch patrolling the manor. He used the light magic generated by his horn to illuminate the corridor as he patrolled back and forth. After passing the main guest room and finding nothing unusual, he turned and left for another area.
"Are they gone?" Aurora asked.
Sunset Shimmer pressed her ear against the door and listened for a while, only nodding after she could no longer hear the attendant's hoofbeats at all. "Gone."
Aurora breathed a sigh of relief. This manor was primarily managed by Meteora; if a night-watch pony saw her wandering around at night without sleeping, they might report it to Meteora the next day.
"Now, it's time to explain your reason for running out of your room in the middle of the night, right?"
Sunset Shimmer blocked the doorway, clearly intending not to let the other go until she spoke.
One must know that on the way home, Aurora had been complaining about being exhausted, yet now she wasn't resting properly and appeared at her door; it was no wonder Sunset Shimmer felt she might be up to something.
"I couldn't sleep, and I was just preparing to go to the kitchen downstairs to heat up a cup of milk." Aurora's eyes were somewhat listless; she looked truly exhausted.
AI Model: gemini-3.0-flash
"I don't know the reason either; I just vaguely felt something touch my magic, and my heart feels all jumbled up."
Seeing that Aurora didn't seem to be joking, Sunset Shimmer had to become serious as well, asking with concern.
"Is it serious? Should we tell your parents...?"
"No need! I don't think it's a big deal. You know, Unicorn magic sometimes has these 'bursts of inspiration' situations. That feeling is gone now."
Sunset Shimmer frowned slightly at her words. How could a pony her age be so resistant to seeking help from her parents?
"...Alright then. But you at least have to let me take a look."
Sunset Shimmer said, then moved closer to Aurora, using her horn to touch Aurora's horn.
"It feels a bit itchy..."
"If you don't say it out loud, the feeling won't become so obvious...!"
Sunset Shimmer crossly told Aurora not to talk so much.
A Unicorn's horn is a very important organ. Unless it's a very close relationship, they generally wouldn't allow other ponies to touch it casually, let alone a close-range magic connection like this.
The rhythm of the magic was like each other's heartbeat; to be honest, it was a bit embarrassing. But now wasn't the time to think about such things.
Sunset Shimmer did feel that Aurora's magic was a bit messier than the normal threshold, as if it were stressed. It's just that she had said earlier that she didn't know the reason herself.
It really wasn't a big problem. Even if left alone, the magic would slowly recover on its own. However, to let Aurora sleep peacefully tonight, Sunset Shimmer still helped her.
Under Sunset Shimmer's magic soothing, Aurora's mind also calmed down.
"Thanks so much, Senior Sister. I feel much better. To repay you, I'll warm the bed for you tonight."
As she spoke, Aurora had already dived into Sunset Shimmer's blankets at light speed.
"...Has any pony ever told you that you're really good at pushing your luck?"
"Yes, you just did."
Aurora's skin was thicker than the city walls of Canterlot. Far from intending to leave, she even wrapped herself tighter.
"Just say you want to sleep with me because you were scared by a nightmare and your magic got disrupted. I won't laugh at you."
Sunset Shimmer teased her, then also crawled into the blankets.
Usually, they would occasionally lie down and rest together like this, so Sunset Shimmer was somewhat used to this intimacy. It was just the first time doing it at her house, and they had never spent the night together.
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