“So yeah, I guess that’s that,” said Sunset Shimmer.
She sat on the front steps of Canterlot High School, one leg over another, looking at her friend, Princess Twilight Sparkle. The pony princess had decided to pop in personally to hear the story of Sunset and her friends’ latest magical adventure. Sunset had offered to go to a cafe and talk over snacks, but Twilight was insistent that she’d eaten a large breakfast and they really should just get to the interesting part instead of wasting time.
“And you really have no idea where the magic came from?” asked Twilight. She was very interested in learning how magic behaved in the human world, but Sunset hadn’t had a chance to investigate the source—much to the princess’ chagrin.
“Nope,” said Sunset.
“Well, much as I’d love to, I can’t spend too much time in this world,” said Twilight with a shake of her head, “so if you find anything, please write everything down in detail and send me a copy of your notes as soon as you can!”
“Of course, Twilight,” Sunset smiled.
“Alright, I guess I’ll be going now. It was good seeing you, Sunset!” said Twilight standing up.
“You too.”
The two ponies-turned-humans exchanged a somewhat awkward hug. Just as Sunset was about to let go, she felt a jolt go through Twilight’s body.
“Oh!” Twilight said, stepping away. ”I nearly forgot!”
“What?” Sunset tilted her head to the side.
“How’s Flash Sentry been doing?” Twilight’s cheeks reddened ever so slightly. “I’m mostly wondering because, you know, there’s the human me now, and, you know...”
Sunset rolled her eyes. “Yes, Twi, I know.” All of a sudden, her eyes widened in silent but obvious realization. “I, um...” Sunset looked at the ground. “I might’ve told Flash Sentry that he needs to get over you.”
Twilight’s reaction was instantaneous. “WHAT?” Seeing Sunset jump away from her, Twilight exhaled and continued in a somewhat calmer tone. “Why would you do that?”
“Twilight, calm down.”
“Oh, I am calm,” Twilight said, looking anything but. “And also waiting for an explanation.”
“Okay, if you say so.” Sunset approached Twilight and put a hand on her shoulder. “Twilight, let’s be fair to the guy. It’s just a silly crush. You’re not going to spend a lot of time here.” She smiled. “You can be friends, pen pals, but I don’t think long distance relationships can work when they’re cross-dimensional. And one of the participants is a princess.”
Twilight sighed, closed her eyes and nodded. “You’re right, Sunset. Sorry.”
“It’s okay, Twilight,” said Sunset.
“Thanks for doing that, I guess.” Twilight interlocked her hands (with some difficulty). “I suppose if you hadn’t, we’d have stayed caught up in some sort of suspended pseudo-relationship.” She looked at her friend. “Can I talk to him? Do you know where to find him?”
Sunset tapped her chin. “Sure, but first we need to do something.”
“What?”
“Twilight, can we hop into Equestria for a second?” said Sunset. “Then I promise we can go find Flash.”
“Sure, but why?” Twilight’s eyes widened. “Did you want to talk to Princess Celestia? Do you miss being a pony? Are you homesick?”
Sunset stared at her. “Er... No, no, Twi, it’s nothing that dramatic.” She put on a reassuring smile. ”Trust me, it’s just a little something we should do before talking to Flash.”
“Alright, I trust you.”
Sunset nodded to Twilight and slowly walked to the portal. She waited for her friend to step through, felt for something in her back pocket, smiled, nodded to herself and followed Twilight into the shimmering surface.
Twilight shielded her eyes from the bright magical glare. She could hear the clop of Sunset’s hooves on the crystal floor. She opened her eyes to see Sunset stuff something inside a saddlebag.
“Sunset, why do you have saddlebags?” Twilight said, staring at the objects in question.
“Oh, I had some stuff in my pockets,” Sunset said. “Maybe the portal thought it’d rather give me saddlebags than take away my personal belongings?”
“This is fascinating!” Twilight grinned. “I should write this down!”
“Twilight...” Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t there something you wanted to do?”
“Oh! Right.” Twilight paused shook her head. “No, wait, it was YOU who wanted to do something here!”
Sunset grinned. “Oh, I’m all done.”
“Already?”
“Already. I said it’d only be a second, didn’t I?”
Twilight furrowed her brow. “And you’re not gonna tell me what it was?”
“Nope!” Sunset gave Twilight a cheeky smile. “Come on, let’s go find Flash.” With that, she turned around and stepped into the mirror.
“See, I still remember his address,” Sunset said as the duo stopped before a suburban house that looked just like the ones around it. “Go ahead and ring the bell. He should be home.”
Twilight took slow and deliberate steps towards the door. She looked back at Sunset. Sunset gave an encouraging nod. Twilight steeled herself and pressed the button.
After a few seconds the door opened to reveal a very surprised Flash Sentry.
“Twilight? Hey, I was just thinking about you the other day—” Flash narrowed his eyes. “Wait, are you the new Twilight or the original Twilight?”
“Wow, Flash,” Sunset smiled as she approached the pair, “that’s even worse than calling her ‘your Twilight’.”
Twilight blushed. Flash nervously rubbed the back of his neck. “Come on, Sunset, that’s not fair.”
“Really now?” Sunset smiled slyly. “Not fair to the guy who doesn’t recognize this Twilight’s outfit and lack of glasses?”
“Oh. Touché,” Flash said, smacking himself in the forehead. “Sorry, Twilight, you just really caught me off-guard here.”
“It’s fine, Flash,” said Twilight with a goofy smile. She shook her head. “We need to talk about something.”
Flash looked between Twilight and Sunset. “Uh...” He fixed his gaze on the latter. “You told her, didn’t you?”
“Yup.” Sunset crossed her arms and nodded. “You gonna invite us in?”
“Oh! Sure! Sorry!”
“I thought as much,” Flash said. He'd taken a chair while Sunset and Twilight shared the couch. “You were totally right, Sunset. Thanks again. It’s good that I was prepared for this talk.”
“Don’t sweat it.” Sunset waved her hand. “You two didn’t deserve this uncertainty. I’m glad you both worked it out.”
“Yeah, although...” Flash turned to Twilight. “Twilight, I’ll be completely honest, I still feel something for you, but I agree with Sunset. I should get over this. For your sake as much as mine.”
Twilight giggled. “If it would help, I can act like a jerk for a bit.”
“No thanks,” Flash smiled, “I don’t think that would help. But I’ll work this out myself, somehow. Thanks for caring, though.”
“Anytime.” Twilight gave Flash a warm smile. Flash blushed and stared at her.
Sunset rolled her eyes. “Wow, Flash, you got it worse than I imagined.” She stood up. “Good thing I thought ahead.” She walked up to Flash, took out her phone and put it on the table in front of him. “Here, look at this.”
Flash stared at Sunset’s phone with an open mouth. He glanced at Twilight, who tilted her head in confusion.
“What’ve you got there, Sunset?” she said.
Sunset smirked. “Oh, nothing.”
Flash kept staring at Sunset’s phone. “Wow.” He looked at Twilight, then at Sunset. “So that’s what she?..”
“Yep.”
“Wow.”
“Guys, what is it?” Twilight’s expression grew annoyed.
“Sunset, why did you think this would help?” Flash asked with a tinge of desperation in his voice. “Now I just wanna keep her!”
“That just sounds creepy, Flash,” Sunset said. “Don’t forget, it’s still her, the same... person you know.”
“But she’s so... so...” Flash looked at Twilight and coughed. “Twilight, this may sound really weird, but I’m currently fighting the strongest urge to scratch behind your ear.”
“What?” Twilight shot up and stomped towards Flash. “Sunset, what did you show him?”
Sunset laughed and stepped away, allowing Twilight to look over Flash’s shoulder.
“Oh. Ooooh,” said Twilight, looking at a photograph of her pony form with squinted eyes and a scrunched muzzle. “I see.”
“Twilight, is this really what you look like?” said Flash in a mix of awe and giddiness. “Please tell me this is real.”
“Yes, Flash, that’s me." Twilight raised her eyebrow. "But what does it have to do with anything?”
“Twilight, I don’t know the standards in your world,” Flash said slowly, “But in human eyes you ponies might just qualify as the most adorable thing ever. And that’s coming from a guy.”
Twilight blushed. “What?..”
“It’s true, Twilight,” said Sunset with a grin. “If the mirror didn’t transform us, we’d be able to conquer this world through sheer weapon-grade cuteness.”
Flash slowly turned to Sunset. “I don’t suppose...”
Sunset shook her head. “No, Flash, I don’t have any pictures of my pony form. Though, rest assured, I look even cuter than Twilight here.”
Flash slumped his shoulders.
Twilight and Sunset stood in front of the Wondercolt pedestal and hugged once more.
“Thanks again for your help, Sunset,” Twilight said, “I wouldn’t have thought of this in a million years!”
Sunset smiled, letting go of her friend. “You just haven’t stayed in this world for long enough. Spend even a short time on the internet and it becomes pretty obvious what’s considered cute here.”
“It’s kind of weird, though.”
“Sure, but you can’t deny it worked.” Sunset lightly punched Twilight in the arm. “Flash won’t be able to get that image out of his head. Being pen pals with an adorable pony?” She grinned. “Soon he won’t even remember he had a crush on you.”
“No, I think he will,” said Twilight. “But it’ll be a nice memory and nothing more.” She walked up to the wavy stone surface and put one leg through.
“See ya, Twilight!”
Twilight turned around and waved at Sunset. “See you, Sunset!” She paused. “Oh, and Sunset? I agree with what you said.”
Sunset raised her eyebrow. “What’s that?”
“You do look very cute as a pony, too.” With that, Twilight jumped into the portal, leaving behind a bewildered Sunset Shimmer.
After a good ten seconds Sunset finally closed her mouth. She smiled to herself, put her hands into her pockets and walked away, humming a jaunty tune.