//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: Sunset & Eric Vs. Startrix // Story: When Dating a Sunset... // by ThePinkedWonder //------------------------------// It’s now been a week since Sunset’s and my first date. We were growing closer than ever. How much time she spent here varied per day, depending on how much she had to do in her world, but Sunset came to Equestria on six of the last seven days. Between playing "Snake Hunter" or a different arcade game, bowling, playing board games such as “Dragon Pit”, taking walks, or simply talking in Twilight’s castle, we had a blast together. Sunset even started working at the spa for a couple of hours. She thought doing that every three or so days could prevent me from having to “spend too many of my bits on her”. But don’t think I forgot about Twilight and the others, so I didn’t just spend time with Sunset. They stopped trying to spy on Sunset and me, but I once found the CMC hiding in a bush being the CNC: Cutie Nosey Crusaders. Ha, nice try fillies. This was a day Sunset and I were in the mood to bowl, but this time we asked Starlight and Trixie if they wanted to bowl with us. I was going to ask just Starlight, but I knew she would have wanted to bring “Ms. Powerful” along, so Sunset and I simply asked both of them. Twilight’s OCD was in full force and wanted to write a ton of new checklists, so we didn’t invite her to come. Well, more like Sunset and I hightailed out of the castle, with Starlight, Spike, and Trixie, before Twi could ask us to help with the lists. For once, the Princess of Lists's number-one assistant needed to take a pass on assisting her and was with Big Mac. In the bowling alley, Starlight, Sunset, Trixie (without her magician get-up) and I prepared for our first game. Sunset and I sat in chairs beside each other, and Starlight and Trixie were in chairs across from us. More used to being in her pony form again, Sunset sat more like a pony this time. Like the first time Sunset and I bowled, the sounds of the balls hitting the pins helped pump me up.  Because Sunset and I enjoyed cheering for each other when we were trying to beat the all-time high score in Snake Hunter, we challenged Starlight and Trixie to bowl as a team, and they accepted it. Or, to be more accurate, Trixie accepted the challenge. Thus, it will be the team of Sunset and me vs Starlight and Trixie, or should I say “Startrix”. But, this time, Sunset and I weren’t going to bowl like we did before. Since Starlight, Sunset, and Trixie are all Unicorns, instead of them bowling on their hind legs, this time I’m going to throw my bowling ball with magic. Starlight cast a special spell to grant me a small temporary “Unicorn” horn with a fraction of her magic. This will allow me to use telekinesis like Unicorns can and “throw” my ball down the lane with it. Starlight already did the hard work of mastering and fine-tuning her Unicorn magic her whole life. Thus, all I would need to know is the basic knowledge of how to use telekinesis -- focus on what you want to move in your head -- and I can perform it without much trouble with Starlight’s magic. It’s similar to using advanced technology that’s not hard to use if you’re shown how to use it, but difficult to actually build. We told everypony in the bowling alley about what Starlight did, so I using magic wouldn’t surprise them. The order we will bowl: Trixie, Sunset, Starlight, and me. With us all ready to bowl, Trixie hopped off her chair and levitated her ball to her. “I, the Great and Powerful Trixie and captain of team Trixie and Starlight, will impress with a strike.” “You’ll impress me if you just hit any of the pins, Ms. Powerful,” I teased. Trixie and I love messing with each other and have banter, but we really are friends. “The Great and Powerful Trixie will ignore that remark.” Trixie walked to the lane we were bowling on to get in position to throw her ball. We all agreed to use our magic (or Starlight’s magic in my case) to throw the ball, but not steer it with our magical telekinesis. Even so, I watched Trixie’s horn to make sure it stopped glowing immediately after she “threw” her ball. It did, and she got seven pins. Trixie turned her head around to me. “Are you impressed, big mouth?” “I thought you were going to ‘ignore’ that remark.” “You two aren’t going to be like this the whole game, are you?” Starlight asked. I was like this with one of my sisters in my old world and Starlight knows it. Knowing it can prevent me from potentially feeling homesick, the big sister in Starie will usually let Trixie and I have our fun without saying much; she’ll sometimes laugh at it a little herself. But she’d reach her limit and get mad if we overdo it. Sunset, on the other hand, giggled at our banter. “I think I’m going to like bowling with you guys.” Trixie picked up her ball from the nearest ball return machine by the lanes with her magic, so she didn’t have to walk to it. She threw it and got the three remaining pins. “Well, it wasn’t a strike, but a spare will work.” “All right, I’m impressed, Trixie.” Despite how much we mess with each other, I give praise to Trixie when she does things well. Starlight also complimented, “Way to go, Trix.” “Impressive, Trixie,” Sunset chimed in. “Thank you.” With a smirk, Trixie strutted to a chair by where the rest of us were and sat down. She looked directly at me, and her smirk grew bigger. Yep, Trixie can be so smug when she gets a chance to. Sunset hopped from her chair and levitated her ball to her, with it being her turn. “Well, maybe I can get the first strike. I feel one coming on, so those pins better watch out!” “Go get ‘em, Sunset!” Since we were on the same team, there was no reason for me to mess with her, and we wanted to cheer for each other anyway. Sunset threw her ball and got eight of the pins. Trixie teased, “So much for that ‘first strike’, Sunset.” “No big deal. I can just get strikes the rest of the game.” Like Trixie did, Sunset picked her ball up from the ball return machine with her magic, then threw it down the lane. She got the last two pins, giving her a spare. “All right, Sunset!” I cheered. “Nice spare,” Starlight echoed. Trixie said nothing, but nodded her head. Starlight hopped off of her chair, picked up her ball, threw it and got a strike. Maybe Starlight is a natural in more than magic. “Yes! I guess that strike you ‘felt’, Sunset, was Starlight’s!” I don’t mess with Starlight like I do with Trixie, so I complimented, “Nice strike, big sis!” “You’re pretty good at bowling, Starlight.” “Well, I don’t get too many strikes, but I get them. You’re up, Buggie.” I stood from my chair, walked to the ball return machine close to the lane, and picked up my ball with my hands. I was about to face the lane to throw it when Starlight called out, “Uh, Buggie?” I turned around to her. “What?” Starlight pointed at her horn. That made me remember I had a “Unicorn” horn and could use magic. Normally, I would have facepalmed here. But I was holding my ball, so I did it mentally, and I bet my face turned red. “Oh, yeah. I forgot I’m ‘part Unicorn’ right now.” “Don’t feel bad, Eric. I was born a Unicorn, and I forgot I had my horn again when Princess Twilight asked me to come to Equestria a while ago.” “But if you want to throw it with your hands and make it easier for me and Starlight, be my guest!” Since I had no comeback, I said nothing to Trixie’s jab at me. Though it did feel amusing to hear her say “hands” and not “hooves”. With “my” magic, I picked up and brought the ball in front of me, and “threw” it. I just had to mentally will where my ball would go, then stop once it moved towards the lane. This gave the ball roughly the same kind of momentum as physically throwing it.  I hit the head-pin not head-on, but on its left half, but didn’t get a strike; I got nine pins. “That’s okay, Eric. That will be a strike next time,”  Sunset told me. Great teammate, isn’t she? I thought Trixie would say something, but stayed quiet. Perhaps she was waiting for me to blow it on my second throw to do it. Once the ball rolled back on the ball return machine, I picked it up with magic. When I threw my second ball, I got the last pin, giving me a spare. “Good job, Buggie!” Sunset cheered, “That's showing that pin who's boss, Eric!” “Not bad, not bad. The Great and Powerful Trixie will give credit where credit’s due.” Obviously, we’re doing better than if none of us used magic, like when Sunset didn’t use her magic when we bowled for the first time. Unicorns don’t know how good they have it. For frames two through nine, the four of us more or less matched each other. Trixie and I kept trading playful insults and some praise, at times forcing eye-rolls from Starlight, but she did giggle a few times at it. Sunset not only enjoyed Ms. Powerful’s and my banter, she joined it by giving a little friendly trash-talk to Trixie too. Did I say how much I like Sunset Shimmer? Starlight didn’t say it, but knowing her, she was thinking something like “Oh Celestia, now there are three of them!” when Sunset got into the act too. Starlight’s sassy and can crack jokes, but isn’t too competitive, so she didn’t feel like getting into it herself. Going into the last frame, it was close. Trixie’s score was 141, Sunset had 144, Starlight’s 149, and I had 145. Since Sunset and I were bowling as a team against Starlight and Trixie, our combined score was 289, and “Startrix’s” was 290. We all “opened” in the ninth frame. Trixie, of course, went first and got a spare. Because of the rules of how the tenth frame is in bowling, she got to throw one more time and got eight pins. “I guess that’s not too bad a finish. Still wish I could have gotten a strike.” “Nope, that’s a good finish, Trix,” Starlight said. “Yeah, you did good, Trixie,” I complimented. “You did, but now it’s my turn, and I truly feel a strike coming!” “Sure you do,” Trixie teased. Trixie walked to her chair as Sunset hopped off hers, with a particularly confident smile, and got her ball. This was the first time Sunset smiled like this at the beginning of her turn, so she was feeling it. Sunset went up to the lane, threw her ball, and got a strike! She jumped in the air and shouted, “Yes!” “A strike! That’s my girlfriend!” “That’s your first strike, Sunset!” Starlight pointed out. Sunset spun around to Trixie with a big smirk. “Ha! I told you I felt a strike coming on!” Trixie had nothing, so she “played” with her hooves and stayed quiet in her chair. “Wow, it’s not often Trixie can’t think of a comeback,” I remarked with a chuckle. Sunset gave her own chuckle and picked her ball up once it rolled back on the ball return machine. She threw and got seven pins on the first of her two extra throws; she got two because you get to throw two more times if you get a strike in the tenth frame. On her second extra throw, she picked up the last three pins. Trixie summoned her inner good sport, put on her usual smile and said, “Well, I am impressed, Sunset.” “Me too,” Starlight echoed. “And I’m definitely impressed,” I chimed in. “Thank you.” Sunset sat in her chair beside me and we high-fived/hoofed. Starlight hopped off her chair to take her turn. Like Sunset, she got a strike. Obviously, Trixie loved it, and cheered, “That’s my number-one assistant!” “Great strike, big sis!” “You really are good in bowling, Starlight!” Starlight didn’t react as happily as Sunset did to her strike, but she smiled at us and said, “Thank you,” to the praise we gave her. She got nine pins on her first extra throw, and the last pin of her last throw. After Starlight’s turn, the team of Sunset and I were down 19 pins, and I stood from my chair. It was my turn. To give my team the win, I needed to either: One, get two strikes back to back. Two, a strike and then a spare on my two extra throws. Or three, get a spare, then get a strike on my last ball.   I picked my ball up with magic; I didn’t forget I had magic this time. I felt some nerves but hid it, or Trixie would have milked it to rattle me. I was good at this when I pitched in high school. In sports in general, I’m good at hiding it when I’m nervous, but not so great at doing it at other times. “Good luck, Buggie!” Starlight said, being the good sport she is. Sunset tried to pump me up and encouraged, “You can do it, Eric!” “Try not to choke, Eric.” “Ha, you wish, Trixie.” I walked to the line and threw my first ball. It hit the headpin on its left side, but only nine pins fell. Guess I couldn’t follow Sunset’s lead and get a strike. Much worse, though, was that the pin still up was the one in the back row that’s the farthest to the left. It’s the one I have the hardest time hitting, magic or no magic. I left it twice already in the game and missed it both times. This wasn’t good. I facepalmed and whined, “Oh, no! Not that pin!” “It’s your ‘favorite’ pin, Buggie,” Starlight said. This is about as close to “trash-talking” as she’ll do to me. But the trash-talker of team Startrix, Trixie, had a good laugh. “And it’s now my favorite pin.” “I almost want to throw you down the lane, Trixie, so I’ll get it for sure!” “I’d like to see you try!” “Nah, I won’t. I’ll pick it up the old-fashioned way.” Of course, I wouldn’t actually throw Trixie down the lane. Trying to do something that could get a Unicorn too mad would not be smart! Doing all that, my ball rolled back on the ball-return machine and I picked it up with magic. I took special notice of Trixie’s smug grin. She “knew” her team won. But with a big ‘ol smile, Sunset encouraged, “You got this, Eric. I believe in you! One more reason to get that pin: I couldn’t let my girlfriend down, and it helped that I could be “clutch” in sports. I took a deep breath and my eyes locked on that pin,  still up, and threw the second ball. It was close, but I grazed the right side of it, and it went down! “Ha! I got it!” “Yes! That’s my boyfriend!” "Great job, little bro! You finally got that pin!" I spun back to a groaning Trixie and asked, “Is it still your ‘favorite’ pin, Ms. Powerful?” Trixie collected herself and said, “Whatever, but you still need to get a strike to win.” I threw my extra ball, and it hit the right half of the headpin, This time, they all went down! Team Sunset and Eric win! Do I dare say team “SunReed”?  I jumped in the air and exclaimed, “Yeah!” “You did it! I knew you would!” Sunset hopped off her chair, ran to me, and we shared a quick kiss. Still love her kisses. “Well, you guys win. Good game,” Starlight said. “I guess you’re owed some luck.” I responded, “Whatever you say, Trixie. And thanks, Starie.” Sunset asked, “You guys want to bowl again?” “As much as I would love to avenge my team’s defeat, I have to practice for my next show.” “And Maud asked if I wanted to fly kites in a while and I don’t think I have enough time for another game, so I’m done.” “In that case, Eric and I will see you two later.” I added, “And maybe you can avenge your loss next time, Trixie.” I didn’t think I needed to rub it in any further, and risk being a sore winner. “You can bet on that, Eric.” Starlight and Trixie left the bowling alley. Neither Sunset nor I asked if the other even wanted to bowl again. Guess we grew close enough to sense what the other was thinking. Or, we just knew how we always wanted “one more game”. For once, we did only have one more game, which I won. I've had Sunset's number in bowling, but she's had my number in "Snake Hunter". Soon after we left the bowling alley, the spell Starlight cast on me ended and my “Unicorn” horn vanished. Sunset said that she’d always wanted to explore the Everfree Forest since she was a filly, so we decided to head there. At the entrance to the Everfree Forest, with Sunset standing to my left, we were admiring the scenery. Well, not “admire”, because the forest’s not exactly a “pretty” place, save for some nice-looking red or white flowers here and there. The “road” in front of us was a dirt road that cut through part of the forest. Trees were growing on both sides of the road, with some patches of bushes also growing beside the roads on either side. Nothing else seemed to be nearby since we heard no sounds, save for the rustling of tree limbs from the occasional breeze. Our ears were alert for any kind of sounds that wasn’t from us or the tree limbs. Sunset’s capable of teleportation spells so I figured that, if necessary, she could teleport us to safety if a Timberwolf or something appeared. “Wow, so this is the Everfree Forest. Is this your first time here, Eric?” I shook my head. “Nope, but it is my first time without Twilight, Starlight, or the others.” “Why?” “Like you said Princess Celestia once told you, it can be dangerous even during the day, and I can’t run as fast as ponies and can’t use magic or fly.” “Are you scared? Because we can go back, and I know my magic’s not as strong as Twilight’s or Starlight’s.” “Nah, I’m not really ‘scared’ and we can look around a little, but just don’t stay too long.” We traveled deeper into the forest, but stayed on the road. The trees blocked much of the sunlight, so it grew a little darker as we walked. My heart rate sped up a little. But, with how paranoid I was about Sunset possibly thinking I looked weird when I wanted to ask her out, I didn’t want to bring up that I felt nervous. After about fifteen minutes, I said, “I think that’s long enough. We better get out of here before something finds us.” “Okay. I’m glad I could at least see this much of the forest.” We turned around and started to go back down the road to exit the forest, so Sunset was now to my right. Then, I felt a chill. I stopped walking, making Sunset stop too. It didn’t feel like we were being watched. But it did feel like we were not alone. “Eric? What’s wrong?” “Do you feel like there’s something nearby?” “I didn’t want to say anything, but yeah.” I didn’t know if I should have felt relieved that it wasn’t just me, or felt worse because I wasn’t being paranoid for once. “Uh-oh. If we both feel it, that can’t be good. Maybe we should play it safe and have you teleport us out of here.” Unfortunately, instead of lighting up her horn and teleporting us away, Sunset frowned. “Uh...I don’t think I can.” “Why not? I thought you knew teleportation.” “I do.” “Then what’s wrong?” “Teleportation spells are hard and I’m still not fully used to how Unicorn magic work yet. At best, I could teleport only myself, and I’m not leaving you behind.” Wonderful, just wonderful! There goes my plan of Sunset teleporting us away. Figures it wouldn’t be that easy, but Sunset did say magic in the human world “works” differently than in Equestria, whatever that means. I didn’t think growing so accustomed to it could have weakened her in Unicorn form. “Well, in that case, you look right and I’ll look left for anything watching. Let’s hope we’re both just being paranoid.” Not wanting to risk overlooking something, we took slower steps down the road than we did before. My eyes scanned for anything in the trees or bushes growing beside the road to our left. Sunset did the same to our right, and her ears were perked up. After about five minutes, Sunset abruptly stopped walking, and I matched her. “Eric? I think I hear something.” “Where?” She pointed to the trees to our left. “Behind those trees.” I glanced over to those trees. They were still and quiet, at least to me, and nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary. “I didn't hear anything. Then again, ponies can pick up sounds better than me. What now?" "Let’s go closer and check things out.” “You sure?” Sunset nodded her head. “Yeah. This way, if there really is something over there, it won't be able to sneak up on us. Plus if we can find out what it is, we could think of a plan for our best move. I can still cast spells, just not my stronger ones.” “Okay, and I like the idea of it not sneaking up on us, and we can use the trees as cover. Just stay quiet and near me, and be ready to throw out any spells that you can still do if we’ll need them.” I hoped we were not trying a stupid plan as we crept to the trees where the sounds seemed to be coming from, at least according to Sunset. My heart pounded harder than before and I clenched my fists. In this patch of the forest, the trees grew very close together, so most of what was behind them was blocked from our view. We crept between the gaps of the trees that we could fit through, hoping Sunset's ears were just messing with us. Or, if something were behind the trees, I hoped it was something that Sunset could handle with her magic. Too bad I didn’t have my baseball bat, so I wouldn’t have had to rely on my girlfriend for this; it was killing my pride as her boyfriend. Soon, we peeked our heads through a couple of trees to finally see all of what was on the other side. It was a small clearing in the forest, around fifty feet long and wide, with mostly just grass growing from the ground. The trees surrounded most of the clearing; a bigger gap between the trees was on the other side of where Sunset and I were, and some bushes grew close to the trees. This normally would have been a good-ish spot to have a picnic. But, that thing Sunset must have heard was in the clearing, and seeing it made my heart sink! Pure fear flowed through my body. I’m surprised I didn’t scream. With the frightened frown on Sunset’s face, the same thing happened to her too. The thing before our eyes was big, about seven-feet tall but much longer than that, and was lying on its stomach. It had thick-looking green skin. Rocks, or what seemed to be rocks, were growing on its skin, like huge spots. Its face was facing our direction. Its mouth had big sharp teeth, but was closed, and the sounds we heard seemed to be its snoring. It looked like a Crocodile, but a giant one. Even “Salties”, or the largest Crocodile in my world, the Saltwater Crocodile, have nothing on this beast! It was in dream land, but ten feet from us, beside the trees and to our right, was a bucking Cragadile!! It must have gotten into the clearing through the larger gap between the trees. “Is that a Cragadile?” Sunset asked in an obviously hushed voice. “I didn’t think they were that big!” In just as quiet a voice, I answered, “Yeah. Still, I thought they lived deeper in the forest, or I definitely wouldn’t have had us come by ourselves!” “Or at all. Good thing it’s asleep.” But before we could take any steps back to get the buck out of there, since we now knew what it was we heard, bird cries came out of nowhere. Then...oh man. The Cragadile’s eyes flew open. Its tail swung to its left and our right and it smashed into two trees. With the sounds of wood splintering that filled our ears, the two trees fell. They took down more trees in a domino effect. The trees fell toward Sunset and me. With a scream, we ran into the clearing to avoid being crushed by the falling trees heading our way. We weren’t even thinking about where we were going. Then, that Cragadile’s eyes locked on us and it roared. Staring into that huge open mouth with those huge, sharp teeth, my girlfriend and I understandably screamed in terror. Twilight Sparkle, an Alicorn, needed help from the rest of the Mane Six to handle one of these things when they ran into one. And Sunset Shimmer and I were all by ourselves. Save for the Cragadile.