Sunset didn't understand the big deal about spring in the human world. It wasn't any more magical than spring in Equestria, it just required less help to get going. Humans, however, considered it the season of rebirth, and while she didn't understand it she could at least accept it.
Thankfully, Rarity was patient enough to explain it to her.
Written for Oroboro's Changing Seasons shipping contest.
9/9/2017: Now with cover art designed by the very generous Novel-Idea! Thank you so much!
Chapters (1)
Flirt harder, Rarity.
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She's tryin'.
5/10 not enough swooping.tegenangela.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/magpie-attack1.png
otherwise it was brilliant
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More swooping next time, got it.
Sweet,
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Glad you enjoyed it!
Edit: Holy heck this got ludicrously long
Apologies in advance for the rambles 
Finally got the chance to read this! Was my absence noted? I bet my absence was noted.
It was interesting reading this on the heels of That Would Be Enough, given the fact both stories having Rarity playing a similar role, right down to the predominance of the hand holding. But rather than feel like a rehash, I rather enjoyed the difference the two stories illustrate between Sunset and Twilight. The awkward uncertainty was wonderful in That Would Be Enough, and it's completely absent here. But in its place, we get Sunset's confidence as she not only catches on to Rarity's flirting (if not exactly the full point Rarity was coming to), but also flirts back a little bit herself. Both are done rather wonderfully, and while there's obviously no connection between them, I think reading one story helps highlight the other.
Moving to this story on its own, the chemistry between Sunset and Rarity is wonderful (although I'd expect no less from you), and as I touched on above, I absolutely loved how confident they both are in themselves and the other's feelings. We can assume Rarity must be by how openly she's flirting, but we see it very clearly with Sunset. She barely spends any time in the "Is she doing what I think she's doing?" phase, and she barely bothers to note it once she's sure (just judges that Rarity would also want to close the distance for the kiss that almost happens based on the look in her eyes). My favorite thing here is how despite both of them knowing what's going on, neither of them rush into anything (I'm going to super overanalyze that shortly). Instead, they continue to toy with each other, going through a dance that I imagine they both enjoy. It leads to since excellent moments ("You love me" standing out among them).
Before I really get to overanalyzing their behavior, I have something else I'd like to look entirely too much into here. From here on, I've got a couple ideas that you may not have intended, but that occurred to me all the same. To start with, there's the season. It struck me as odd that Sunset says ponies don't put much thought into the seasons, that they're only viewed as work in Equestria. While the specific notion of spring as the season of rebirth may not have been mentioned anywhere in the show, it seems that many ponies do find the changing of the seasons to be something of wonder (or at least something to be excited about). But as I kept reading and Sunset just insisted on being so cynical about it, I realized that just like she doesn't understand how humans view seasons, she also doesn't understand how ponies do. She knows how she thinks of seasons, and she assumes that's universal among other ponies, but she also was completely self centered the last time she was in Equestria. Her opinion was the opinion, and she certainly wasn't going to hold enough of a conversation with anyone to hear otherwise. We still see signs of this personality trait showing through, since even if she's reborn, it's as a better version of herself, not a new person entirely. She's now willing to hear out someone else's view on the seasons, but it's with the hope that there's a big enough revelation to convince even her. She's already connected the dots and sees what the reasoning is, but she can't personally understand that, so she still assumes there must be something else. Because if she can't understand something, there must be something she's missing, because her views are the right ones. I'm the end, she proves that she's capable of seeing beyond this self-centered ideology; it's very much worth noting that she still doesn't seem to understand the connection, but she understands that Rarity and others feel that way, showing a good amount of personal growth.
Continuing with the idea that Sunset is still very much the same person she's always been (albeit with any number of better qualities), and getting back to that point I said I'd come back to, Sunset is still obsessed with control. That may be a bit strong of a word, as I suspect it's entirely in her subconscious by this point, but I'd say it's shown to still be part of her personality here. It's most noteworthy because Rarity is as well, and it shows up throughout their banter. This could play out very negatively, but like with Sunset opening herself up to the idea that other people have different ways of seeing things, they're both capable of realizing that other people have the same need for control at times. They both comment on and thank one another for being patient, and in each time, the thing that they're patient with is allowing the other one to take control of the conversation. And the one time Sunset isn't patient — when she forcibly takes control of the conversation after the Fall Formal comes up — she apologizes no less than three times. Both the constant praise and the abundance of apologies for something so simple could be seen as excessive, but it illustrates that they both understand each other. It also press puts a clearer focus on why they might continue to put off the inevitable kiss even when they both know the other wants it; they're both exerting a degree of control over how the situation plays out, and neither of them is willing to rush the ending and give that up.
Wow, I don't think I've ever rambled this much on one of your stories, and it's mostly been about things that you might not have even intended
In any event I hope you've enjoyed my flashback to English Literature and Composition class, and that you do well in the contest!
Also I might have fangirled about you in a blog post recently
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Hey, never apologize. I like reading your thoughts.
I'm thrilled someone caught onto that undercurrent with Sunset, that she's speaking more from her own experiences and thoughts about Equestrian seasons and continues to frame it as a fact because, well, it's a fact to her. It might not be true to other ponies, but she certainly wouldn't know that because she never spoke to any of them about it, didn't really care to speak to them about it anyway, and hasn't been back to Equestria for the changing of the seasons to talk to anypony about it again to see if they share her opinion or think otherwise. It's rather subtle, but I do think it's something that while Sunset has clearly changed wouldn't go away completely. Personality traits like that are very deeply ingrained, and I wanted it to come through that she still had that habit while also showing how much she's grown and changed compared to when she was in Equestria.
And hey, you just so happened to nail down exactly why I have so much fun writing the dynamics for RariShimmer.
It's always a neat little challenge for me to put the two of them together because they're both very... hm, I suppose the word would be confident? They know what they like and what they believe, and they're not afraid to express it. And obviously as you noted that can go into some very bad places if it's not handled correctly (in both writing and in any real life relationship, of course), but for me half of the challenge is finding a way to approach it so that it's positive and attractive to them both.
Thank you for the comment, and I'm glad you enjoyed the story!
這個故事很棒！我喜歡角色發展和你在場景之間轉換的方式！你的描述讓我開心，我希望你做得很好！確保你不要把醬汁放在洗衣房裡！
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Good to know, and I’m glad my rambling wasn’t minded 
Ah, so it wasn’t just me overthinking it
You make me so jealous ;-; I want to be as popular as you, and your stories are so much better than mine.
This was so cute, oh my gods! *high fives* Great job, my dude!
Well, Sunset thought.
“… Maybe,” she admitted, cyan meeting dark blue in a gaze that was both nervous and sheepish as her free hand rubbed the back of her neck.
It was worth it just to hear the ivory-skinned girl giggle again, and she gave the redhead’s arm a friendly squeeze. “I give you credit for admitting it, at least.”
“I didn’t admit anything.”
“You said maybe, and that’s as good as a yes in my book when it comes to admitting something because it isn’t a no.” Her smile became teasing as she gently tapped the other girl’s nose, letting out a third giggle at the way Sunset wrinkled her nose in response to the touch. “And I can see into your eyes. They don’t lie.”
Sunset sniffed, tearing her eyes away from Rarity’s and hoping the heat she felt rushing into her face wasn’t as obvious as she thought it was. “I’m sticking to that maybe.”
Oh my gosh. So cute.
There were a few mistakes here and there, but overall it was a delighting reading. Have a like and fave.
That, I can agree with.
Yes rarity, that's how it is. 🙄
Lol 😂
She sure is.