The Sunlight Theory

by Space Jazz


Equity Theory

Everything was perfect for a total of twelve seconds.

Story of my life, I guess. So much for being an open book. Though I did have some explaining to do… if only I could just string together a coherent set of syllables. But no, my tongue was a traitor. It had planned a coup with my brain behind my back and went on strike the moment I needed it to be at least semi-functional.

“I… uh, eh-heh. About that…” I swallowed, nearly choking on my own spit. “Where did… How… Um…”

“I figured as much,” Sunset said, her voice dropping. She rubbed at her neck and looked away for a brief second before mumbling, “and here I was hoping you snuck it in the flash drive on purpose.”

Oh. The flash drive. Of course it was that. I handed it off to her without thinking anything of it, and now she most likely saw everything. Oh gods, what else was in it?

Finally powering through my initial shock, I forced myself to laugh—except it came out as a coughing, choppy gurgle. It took a few seconds after that to work up the courage to speak up again. “How much did you read?”

“Not much,” she answered, her voice a bit more confident than before but still shaky. “I got to the thesis statement and took a peek at some of the comparative charts.”

I gritted my teeth. “Oh."

She let out a soft chuckle. “I should have figured there was more to it.”

“More to what?”

“The detailed schedule on asking me out,” she said.

“Oh, right… that,” I said, remembering the night spent in the hospital room where she had found only a small fraction of the plan itself. But now, she had everything: the thesis, the research, and even the extensive series of charts. “I… uh, I can explain.”

She sat up. “You don’t have to,” she said, her voice firm. Without hesitating, she took my hands and rubbed them with her thumb. “Twilight, I’ve known you for months now, and I’m not the least bit surprised about this.”

“You’re not?” I asked, feeling my chest loosen up. I could breathe comfortably again.

“No,” she said, rubbing her knees. “I’d write an essay on how great I am, too.”

I punched her shoulder, and she laughed in response.

“But seriously,” she continued, “it’s a little weird and all, but it’s kind of endearing coming from you.” She draped her arm around my shoulder, and I let out a small sigh of relief. “Although, I’m expecting a two page essay tomorrow on my desk. Single-spaced, size twelve font, Times New Roamin. And don’t even think about messing with the margins.”

I smiled, digging my head into the nook of her neck. “I won’t, Miss Shimmer.”

She moaned, tugging at my hair. “Oh, that kinda gets me going. Do it again.”

“S-stop,” I stuttered, my face flaring up.

Sunset grinned. “I can’t help it. You just have the cutest little blush.” Giggling, she pinched my cheeks. “It almost makes me want to write an entire essay about it.”

I groaned. “You’re not going to let me live this down, are you?”

“Not a chance,” she said, sinking deeper into the couch. “Although, can I ask you one more thing? It’s about the data collected.”

I gritted my teeth. “Sure.”

“How’d you get my bra size?”

•·.·´`·.·•·.·´`·.·☀·.·´`·.·•·.·´`·.·•

Grinning, Rainbow Dash slapped a stack of papers onto the cafeteria table. “Look at this,” she said, pointing at the paper on the top of the stack. The other girls sat up from the bench and leaned over the documents.

“What’s this?” Applejack asked. Her face scrunched up as she pulled a stray sheet of paper off her lunch tray.

“I’m glad you asked, AJ,” Rainbow said, a smirk creeping up on her lips. “You see, on January 21st, the website for DaringDoTheMovie.com was registered by a certain movie studio. That means that we might be able to see Daring on the big screen soon.”

“So what?” I asked, cutting her off. “Movie studios do that all the time. They do it to keep squatters from stealing the domain and forcing them to pay thousands for the website. Just because they registered the site doesn’t mean that—”

“But that’s where you’re wrong, egghead,” Rainbow interrupted, flashing me a smug smirk. “I have the proof right here.” She dove forward, moving around the papers until they nearly filled the surface of the table. Digging around, she isolated a printed out web article and pointed at it with an emphatic hum. “You see this?”

“‘Wonderbolt World Champion Spitfire forced to drop title due to shoulder injury,’” I read aloud. “What about it?”

Rainbow scoffed. “‘What about it?’” she mocked, imitating me in a deep voice. Rolling her eyes, she explained: “Spitfire has been known for taking time off to shoot new seasons of Mareami Vice in the summer, but she has never, ever, vacated the title for it. They always book it for her to lose the title at least a month in advance.”

“So?” Rarity butted in. “Maybe she’s actually hurt.”

“Except she’s not!” Rainbow declared, shuffling around some more papers. “Here, look, on her blog, The Fireside Chats. Last year, she posted a picture of her X-rays of her broken wrist. Three years ago…” She paused, looking around for more evidence. “Ah! Here she is at the hospital for her cracked ribs.”

“My…” Fluttershy gasped. “You’d think it’d be safe. You know, because it’s fak—”

“Hey!” Rainbow cut in. “It’s not fake. It’s predetermined. There’s a difference.”

“Yeah, it’s sooooo dangerous!” Pinkie jumped in, bobbing up and down in her seat. “My sister, Limestone, once suplexed me through a table at my tenth birthday! It was awesome! We had my birthday cake in the emergency room. But I totally got her back the next year when I drop-kicked her off a—“

“My point is,” Rainbow continued, clamping Pinkie Pie’s mouth shut with her free hand. “By now, Spitfire would have totally posted an update on what happened, but her blog never mentioned anything about her injury especially since—ugh! Pinkie!“

Rainbow let go of Pinkie’s face and wiped her hand off on her shirt. Pinkie giggled, her tongue sticking out.

“I think you’re grasping at straws,” I said. “I don’t see any correlation between this and—“

“Then let me show you… the piece de resistance!” She pulled out a photo from her pocket. It was a picture of a hooded figure, walking out of a bookstore with a box set of the Daring Do series. “This photo of Spitty was taken here, in Canterlot, about half a mile away from the local movie studio. Now, I direct your attention to this!”

She planted her index finger right at the figure’s wrist, where a stylized flame tattoo was printed around her wrist like a bracelet.

“Spitfire got this custom tattoo on an episode of Wonderbolt Ink about a month ago. I remember this because she talked about her favorite books and movies. One of them was Daring Do because she’s awesome.”

Rarity huffed. “If only you researched this much for school.”

“Shut up,” Rainbow quipped, glaring. “And the final piece of the puzzle. Look at her hair! It’s black and gray! This can’t be a coincidence.”

“Wow, that’s…” Rarity trailed off.

“Impressive?” Rainbow asked, grinning. “Thanks. Me and my online buddy spent weeks on the Daring-Dominion forums cracking this.”

I looked down at the assortment of papers, including an extensive series of chat logs between a SentonRainbomb and a QuibbleMania96.

“Seems a little excessive, isn’t it?” I asked, thumbing through the sheets.

Sunset giggled. “Says the girl who wrote an entire thesis paper on courting me.”

“S-stop!” I gasped, my face heating up. She laughed some more before hugging my side. “You’re not going let me live this down, are you?”

“I dunno, now that I’ve slept on it...” She stalled, pretending to think about it before planting a quick peck on my cheek. “Nah.”

I looked down at the tabletop, but I felt the stares from the other girls. Sure enough, when I looked up, I was met with all the girls’ attention. Some, like Rarity and Fluttershy, tried to hide their reactions behind behind a hand to the mouth. However, Rainbow was much less considerate as she slammed her fist on the table in an attempt to hold back laughter.

“So she found out about the thing?” Rainbow asked, biting her lip.

“Yeah…” I said, groaning as Sunset squeezed tighter. “She saw everything.”

“Well, I haven’t looked at everything yet,” she mused, finally letting go of her hug. “I’m trying to savor it the best I can. It’s not every day your girlfriend hands you a paper on why she loves you.”

I slammed my head against the table. The others giggled. Thankfully, the bell came to my rescue, and I was able to quickly excuse myself to my locker and prepare for class.

•·.·´`·.·•·.·´`·.·☀·.·´`·.·•·.·´`·.·•

“Page thirty, paragraph twelve.”

This can’t be good.

“What about it?” I bit the inside of my cheek and looked up from my locker, turning to face Sunset. She flashed a cheeky smile and brandished her cell phone, where there was a highlighted bit of text.

“November sixteenth, approx one fifteen AM,” Sunset said, reciting what was written on the phone. “‘At the night of Pinkie's party for her sister, I shared bed with Sunset. One seventeen: Sunset tossed her bra in the corner of Pinkie’s room.’”

“Oh no.”

“Oh yes,” Sunset sang, nodding vigorously. “It was then, wasn’t it?”

“I told you I don’t remember,” I answered, dropping off a pair of textbooks in the locker. “I was collecting a lot of data that might have proved useful at the time.”

Sunset arched an eyebrow. “What use would my bra size be?”

I shrugged and made the “I don’t know” sound, which only seemed to make her laugh. “Honestly, it’s all one big, misguided blur.”

“No kidding,” Sunset said. “I mean, no offense, but the whole thing is kind of ridiculous.”

I gritted my teeth and forced a laugh. “Yeah, I guess it is.”

 “Well, it’s good to see that you can look back at it and laugh.” Sunset paused for a moment. “And hey, it worked… sort of.” She draped her arm over my shoulders and smiled. “Can I walk you to class?”

“Oh, how romantic,” I hummed. “But aren’t we supposed to be holding hands?”

“If you want to be a square,” Sunset teased. “Only cheesy rom-coms do that.” She pulled me in closer, and I let out a surprised squeak. “This is much better.”

I didn’t argue with her, mostly because I found myself liking the way she held me. As we walked, I dug my head against her arm. She played with the collar of my shirt, mindlessly tugging at the fabric. Immediately after, I felt a chill up my spine as Sunset’s nails rubbed against my neck and shoulder.

“Uh, what are you doing?” I asked.

 “Just collecting data,” she said, playfully tugging at my bra strap.

I pried myself from her arms. “Why?”

She shrugged before shooting me a cheeky grin. “Dunno. It might prove useful.”

I felt my face heat up. “You could have asked.”

“You could’ve, too.”

At that point, I stopped trying to argue. It felt like I was stepping into every trap she set. "Fine," I mumbled. "I get it. I went too far."

"Still," she started, "it's only fair that I get to know yours."

"S-Sunset..."

"Fine, fine, I'll drop it," she said, half laughing. "I'll pick you up after school, sound good?"

I nodded, thankful that it wouldn't be brought up again.

"I'll be waiting up front," she said, giving me a kiss on the cheek before heading off to her next class.

•·.·´`·.·•·.·´`·.·☀·.·´`·.·•·.·´`·.·•

Every day, the ride up the hill to my house became more and more tolerable. It also helped that Sunset was accommodating when it came to her speed on the bike. Still, I couldn’t help but stare at the curb where I broke my ankle each time Sunset drove me home.

“Hey, Sunset,” I started, stepping off the bike and onto the driveway. “Would you like to come inside and hangout?” I felt my chest tighten as I waited for an answer.

She shook her head. “Nah, I have some errands to run right now. Catch you another time?”

“Yeah, definitely,” I said, pulling off my helmet and handing it back to her. “See you tomorrow then.”

“See ya.” Sunset gave a mock salute before fearlessly speeding off down the hill.

I watched her drive until she disappeared and then made my way inside the house. The heater was on, which was welcomed since Spring was still a few weeks off. I kicked off my shoes and let out a relaxed sigh as the warmth began to settle in my skin.

I caught Spike laying on the couch, something my parents still didn’t like despite the fact that he’s asked and bargained for the privilege several times.

“Oh, hey, Twilight,” he said, popping up from the couch’s cushions. He ran over and stopped right in from of me, his tail wagging.

“Hi, Spike,” I said, stooping low to greet him. He jumped in my hands, and I carried him back to the couch, where he then got comfortable on my lap. “What’s up?”

“Nothing much,” he answered. “I’ve just been watching TV all day since you’ve abandoned me.”

I rolled my eyes and laughed. “For the last time, Spike, I got a girlfriend. I didn’t abandon you.”

“Same difference,” he shot back smugly. He pawed at my shirt. “By the way, I watched the first three seasons of Ne’er Do Well without you.”

“Spike,” I huffed. “We were supposed to watch that together.”

“But you’re almost always gone with your girlfriend,” he retorted. “And when you do come back, you hog the TV with her.”

“Oh, I get it,” I started, lifting him up into the air.  I couldn’t help but baby-talk at him. “Someone’s feeling a wittle lonely.” Smiling, I brought him into a tight hug for a few seconds before putting him on the couch next to me. “I guess I should be balancing my time out with you some more.”

“That’d be nice.” Spike slumped down on the cushion. “Though, you’re probably busy all the time—what with your girlfriend, your band, your two sets of friends, school, whatever you do with your parents…”

“You know, when you say it like that, I have a lot going on. I think I might not be able to make time for you.”

“Don’t even joke about that,” Spike said, nestling into my side.

“I’m kidding,” I reassured, massaging Spike’s back. He seemed to appreciate it. “But you know what? You’re getting my all of my attention for the rest of today.”

Spike’s ears lifted up. “Seriously.”

I nodded and rubbed at the back of his head. “Yup. Just you and me.”

“Did Sunset turn you down or something?”

“Rude,” I huffed. Although, I couldn’t really tell him that he was right. “No, she didn’t.”

Spike seemed pleased with the answer as he hopped back onto my lap. “Well then, what do you want to do?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Whatever you want.”

—☀—

“One! Two! Three!”

“Your winner, and still Wonderbolt Champion… Misty Fly!”

Apparently, Spike watches the Wonderbolts while I’m away. Still, watching the wrestling show with him gave me some more context behind what Spitfire did for a living besides acting. The matches were fun, nothing I’d be into on my own, but watching Spike react to everything made things much more enjoyable. Although, with all the amount of flips and flashy, impractical moves, it made me wonder how anyone could think it was real combat like the show presented it to be.

Spike groaned. “Of course she cheats to win again.” He snarled and barked at the TV screen. “Her feet were clearly up on the ropes.”

“Is that bad?” I asked.

“It gives her unfair leverage while going for the pin, and the stupid referee didn’t even see it!” He pawed at his face.

I hummed. “Well, I guess they’re doing their jobs right. I’m sure the scripting is supposed to make you feel frustrated.”

“Scripting?”

“Yeah,” I continued, without even thinking, “the referee knows how the match ends, so he pretends not to see that.”

Spike looked up at me and cocked his head. “What do you mean the ref knows how it ends? It’s illegal to rig a fight.”

Oh, no. He thinks it’s…

I figured I had to tell him. “Um… Spike, it’s not exactly… real.”

“It’s not?” His voice faltered, and his posture lowered. “Well, that’s kinda disappointing. Next thing you’re gonna tell me is that Spitfire isn’t really injured, and she dropped her title for nothing.”

I’ll just let him have that one.

“I’m gonna grab something to eat,” I said, standing up from the couch. “You want anything?”

“My innocence back?”

“Sorry, Spike,” I mumbled as I patted his head. “I thought you knew.”

He rolled onto his back and rested on a throw pillow. “It’s fine, I guess. Though some of the fun is kind of taken out of it. Now I have to question everything on whether it’s real or a total lie.”

At that point, I figured it was just him being dramatic. I simply scratched at his belly and all seemed to be forgiven. Still, I couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty about shattering his perception despite how unrealistic they were.

I made my way into the kitchen and searched around the pantry. Too lazy to make anything that required effort, I settled for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I felt a squeeze on my shoulder and turned see my mother opening the fridge.

“Hi, Mom,” I said, muffled somewhat by half a sandwich still in my mouth.

My mother pulled out a pitcher of iced tea. “Hey, Twily.”

“Where’s Dad?”

“Busy,” she answered, joining me at the kitchen counter. “He’s prepping for the announcement tomorrow.”

“Announcement?”

“Yeah, for the movie.” She poured a glass and offered it to me. I shook my head. “Right now, he’s arguing with Yearling on which poster to use tomorrow. I swear, they’re like a match and a fireworks factory.”

“Which one’s which?”

She took a sip from her drink. “Today, your father’s the match.” She rubbed at my shoulder again. “So what’s going on in your life? I hardly ever get to check in on you now that we’re in production.”

I shrugged. “Nothing much, I guess. I’m in a band now. I don’t think I’ve told you that yet.”

“Oh,” she hummed taking another drink. “You joined your school’s orchestra?”

“Actually, it’s a rock band.”

“Oh.” She leaned on the counter. “That doesn’t sound like you.”

“My girlfriend’s in it,” I explained.

“Ah. Makes sense.” She patted my shoulder one last time before making her way out the kitchen. “Well, if I have the time, I’d love to see your band play.”

“It won’t be as good as you think it is!” I yelled out into the hallway.

•·.·´`·.·•·.·´`·.·☀·.·´`·.·•·.·´`·.·•

“Do we ever get any gigs?” I asked, looking over the Rainbooms’ songbook.

Rarity shook her head. “Not really. We sort of just do this for fun.”

“What about the one time we played at Sugarcube Corner?” Fluttershy asked, tapping her fingers against her tambourine.

“I wouldn’t necessarily count that, dear.” Rarity slung her keytar over her shoulder. “We played for about ten minutes before the Cakes made us leave because we weren’t exactly ’easy listening.’”

“Who would have guessed that the people at coffee shops don’t want unrelenting power chords?” Sunset said.

Rarity sighed. “That’s why I keep insisting that we try out a few of the ballads I wrote, but Rainbow Dash keeps saying that we’re exclusively power rock—whatever that is.”

“Speakin’ of Rainbow,” Applejack cut in. “Where is she? It’s not like her to be late to rehearsals.

“I’m here!” Rainbow shouted, kicking in the band room door. “Was busy at the library, printing this baby out.” Grinning, she waved a piece of paper over her head triumphantly.

“You at the library?” Sunset teased. “Must be something really important.”

“Oh, it is, bacon hair,” Rainbow shot back, arching an eyebrow. She turned to me, a smirk plastered on her face. “Suck it, Sparkle! I was right,” she cheered, dropping a sheet of paper on my lap.

Daring Do Movie Announced, Spitfire Announced in Lead Role.

No amount of warning could prepare me for the sheer amount of pelvic thrusts in my face. Rainbow, with a grin plastered on her face, played a short guitar riff, still pumping her midsection at me. I rolled my eyes, which only seemed to make her even more cocky.

Rainbow Dash smiled. “So what do you say now?” she asked. “Admit it. Say you were wrong, egghead.”

“Lay off her,” Sunset interjected playfully, giggling.

“No, no,” I dismissed, shrugging nonchalantly. “I was wrong. I can admit that.”

Rainbow scowled. “It’s no fun if you go along with it.”

I bit the inside of my cheek. “Um, was I supposed to say something else?”

Sunset chuckled. “Just leave her be, Rainbow. She doesn’t know how to be wrong.” She held my hand. “You’re supposed to get angry and whine.”

“Oh, okay then,” I said, playing along. I scrunched my face and grunted, earning an amused chuckle from the others.

“Can y’all stop goofing around?” Applejack cut in, powering on her bass amp. “I’d rather not waste another rehearsal just talking about nothing.”

Rainbow scoffed. “Fine, fine. Just give me a sec to get my guitar out.”

—☀—

"One, two, three, four!”

It started with a quick rhythmic line, Sunset on guitar and Applejack on bass. The driving bass line set the chords for Rainbow Dash to play an aggressive, commanding melody commanding attention. Once the percussion hit, the music carried us away. We got lost. There was something about the energy in the room; the bass resonated in my chest, striking like lightning, roaring like thunder. I almost forgot my part until Rainbow’s raspy voice kicked in. I jumped awake and joined in, singing a simple harmonic part.

Something clicked. It wasn’t like the other rehearsals. No starting and stopping after two bars. No arguments. Nothing. Just pure music.

I looked to the others, meeting their eyes and seeing the same spirit I was feeling. They were all smiling, powering on as the volume rose to a fever pitch.

Rays of light shot from the other Rainbooms. I stopped singing, shielding my eyes from the light. Once the light was gone, pony ears appeared on the heads of everyone else; their hair grew longer, and Fluttershy and Rainbow sprouted large, feathery wings. I could recall something like this happening during the Friendship Games, but it still caught me off guard.

It wasn’t until I saw Sunset that I noticed the warm glow. Something about it made her seem more… comfortable. I couldn’t explain it, but she looked happier surrounded by the magic.

I stepped back, watching the rest of the Rainbooms as they continued on. Applejack stared back at me and shot me a confused look. She stopped playing, and then the rhythmic drive disappeared. Soon after, the music fell apart, and the pony parts quickly disappeared. It was like all the air had left the room.

The dust settled, and the magic was gone. Now all the girls’ attention was on me.

“That’s weird,” Sunset commented, walking up to me. “You didn’t pony up at all.”

“‘Pony up?’ H-how often does that happen?”

She shrugged. “More than you’d think. I’m surprised it took this long.” She turned to the other girls. “But man, that really felt good.” Smiling, she rotated her shoulders and stretched out her back. “Didn’t it?”

The Rainbooms nodded. “Shame we couldn’t hold onto it a little longer,” Rarity said, rubbing her head where her pony ears used to be.

“Should I be worried about this?” I asked.

Sunset shook her head. “Nah, not really. It’s mostly a cosmetic thing at this point.”

“Oh." I tried to come up with a decent response. “It makes quite an impact. Very marketable.”

“Yup! We’ll look great on a T-shirt!” Pinkie Pie chimed in. “Maybe hats with pony ears, a toy line—ooh! How about a series of commemorative souvenir cups?”

“As cool as it would be to be on a T-shirt...” Rainbow started, “I think we’re better off being underground for a while. Let the success roll in after a few months of indie gigs.”

Rolling her eyes, Sunset strummed at her guitar. “Okay, sure.” Pick it up from the top?” Sunset asked. There were various murmurs of agreement as everyone lifted their instruments.

“One, two, three, four!”

•·.·´`·.·•·.·´`·.·☀·.·´`·.·•·.·´`·.·•

After another hour of starting and stopping, we weren’t able to recreate the magic—both literally and figuratively. So, instead of forcing it, we decided to call it a day.

“Hey, Twi, wanna go grab a bite?” Sunset asked, slipping her guitar off her shoulder.

I nodded. “Yeah, sure.”

“Oh!” Pinkie squealed. “Can I come I know a good pla—“

“Don’t you have a shift at Sugarcube Corner?” Rarity asked, cutting her friend off. She shot a wink in my direction, and I stifled a giggle.

“Oh, right, yeah,” Pinkie said, giggling as she twirled her drumsticks.

“I’m gonna go get the bike. You fine waiting here?” Sunset asked, locking her guitar away in its case. I nodded, and she planted a small kiss on my cheek before leaving. I brought my hand up to my face, rubbing at the spot as I watched her walk out the door. I turned towards the others, who were all staring back at me.

“So,” Rarity droned, “you two seem close.”

“Yeah,” I said dreamily, my hand still on the spot where Sunset had kissed me. “I guess we are.”

“When’d you get all lovey dovey?” Rainbow asked, gagging. “It’s kinda gross.”

I’m the one who’s gross? I rolled my eyes, still trying my best to forget Rainbow’s pelvic thrusts from earlier.

Pinkie Pie squealed, bouncing up and down on the drum pedal, which in turn set off the bass drum. “You two—cute—gether!” She let out a happy chirp. “I jus—ly want to—“ As she spoke, the drum beat got faster until it drowned out her voice. Eventually, the beat slowed, and Pinkie looked at me with big, expectant eyes. I only nodded in response, which seemed to please her.

“Valentine’s is coming up,” Rarity said coyly. “I tried getting Sunset to tell me something about your plans, but she won’t say anything. So I was wondering if you knew—”

“Mind yer business,” Applejack interrupted. “Ah’m sure the two want to keep their private lives, ya know, private?”

Rarity scoffed and crossed her arms. “Can’t a girl just vicariously live through her friends?”

“It’s fine,” I said, taking control of the conversation. “Sunset and I haven’t really talked about it yet.”

“You haven’t?!” Rarity’s eyes went wide. “But it’s the day for couples. It’s the day for big gestures of love, romantic walks in the park, rides on a ferris wheel that gets stuck on the top so it overlooks the sun setting over the ocean. A day that—”

“We get it,” Rainbow cut in, rolling her eyes. “I expected them to be the ones to shove their relationship down our throat, not you.” She paused, staring Rarity down. “Though, knowing you, I dunno why I’m surprised.”

“What?” Rarity asked. “There’s nothing wrong with wishing that my friends have a great day celebrating their relationship.” She turned to me, a cartoonish smile drawn on her face. “Although it wouldn’t hurt to hear something. Come on, who kissed who first?”

I felt my face heat up and my chest swell. “I did.”

“No way,” Rainbow exclaimed. “I call bull.”

“Pay up, Dash,” Applejack teased, holding out her hand.

Grumbling, Rainbow fished around in her pocket before dropping a crumpled bill onto her friend’s palm. With a smirk, Applejack took the money and stuffed it down her shirt.

“How… did it happen? If you don’t mind me asking, that is.” Fluttershy looked away and hid behind her hair.

I bit my lip, suddenly feeling light. “I don’t know... I just sort of went for it.”

Rarity squealed and brought her hands to her mouth, muffling her sounds of approval. “Ohmygosh, I never would have guessed you’d be the one to make the move.”

“Well I did, and honestly it—“ My phone buzzed. Jumping from my seat, I took it out and checked it. “Gotta go, girls. Sunset’s outside.” Without another word, I made my way out the band room.

•·.·´`·.·•·.·´`·.·☀·.·´`·.·•·.·´`·.·•

Sunset sipped at her soda, idly tapping at her phone as I joined her in the restaurant booth with our food. I passed Sunset her meal, and she responded with a simple, “Thanks, babe.”

I’m a babe.

“N-no problem,” I said, trying not to melt after being called the pet-name. I sat down and laid out my meal on the little paper wrapper. I wasn’t much of a fan of veggie burgers, but my eating habits seemed to match Sunset’s, which made me a somewhat of a vegetarian.

At least fries count. I could take solace in that.

“Valentine’s is coming up,” I said nonchalantly. I bit at the corner of a ketchup packet, pretending that it deserved more of my attention. “Don’t wanna make a big deal about it, but I wanted to know if you want to do something.”

“Oh yeah,” she said, chewing on the tip of her straw. “We should probably do something.”

I nodded. “It’s been a while since we’ve been on a date.”

She tilted her head. “Depends on what you call a date. If a date is going out and making a day of it, then yes, it’s been a while. Although…” She tapped her chin. “This is technically a date, isn’t it?”

“Are we going to argue semantics?” I asked, rolling my eyes.

She shrugged. “Why not? I think it’ll be fun.” Smirking, she shook her empty drink, rattling the ice on the inside. “Loser gets refills?”

I let out an amused huff. “No need—I got it,” I said, grabbing her drink. “Orange?”

She nodded, holding her hands out in the shape of a heart. I laughed and walked off to refill the drinks. I found myself thinking about her comments. Sunset was right. This technically was a date—definitely one not as glamorous as our first, but it was a date nonetheless. I guess I just imagined something more… romantic, for lack of a better word. There was nothing romantic about a soda machine running out of ice.

I slid back into the booth and handed Sunset her drink. She nodded with a slight smile before taking a sip from her drink. I tapped my fingers, struggling to come up with something to talk about.

Sunset hummed. “So… how’d I look with the magic ears?”

The question caught me off guard. “Oh, um, well, they were kinda cute.”

She leaned forward. “They freaked you out a bit, didn’t they? I saw you staring.”

“I wasn’t expecting it, so yeah.” I paused and tried to think of something else to talk about. “Though, I don’t know what’s weirder, the magic ears or Rainbow being right about Spitfire.”

Sunset laughed. “Definitely Rainbow.” She dug into her fries. “Although, I’m a bit embarrassed because I totally thought Spitfire got hurt on TV. She took a really bad hit a few weeks ago.”

“Oh, I never took you as a wrestling fan,” I said, tapping my fingers against the tabletop.

Laughing weakly, Sunset averted her gaze and tugged at a loose strand of hair. “I know, it’s kind of lame and dorky, but the Wonderbolts were my heroes when I was little.” She paused for a moment. “I got to see them a few times when I was back home, and I sort of kept up with them here.”

“No, no, you don’t have to justify it,” I said, hoping to make her feel a bit easier. “I can see the appeal. The flashy, flippy fighting can be pretty exciting.”

“It is.” Sunset nodded and chuckled. She looked at her hands and avoided eye contact.“It’s a bit embarrassing to say this, but I thought it was real.”

“No way.”

“I seriously thought it was a vicious combat sport.” She smiled, her face turning a little red as she scratched the back of her head. "Though, the only reason I'm letting you know is because of all the gems in your flash drive."

I felt like I had to know more. If anything, the flash drive was a small price to pay to get some information like this. I couldn’t just drop it here. Curious, I leaned in closer. “When did you first find out it was fake?”

She winced. “A few months ago, I think.”

“No.”

“Yes…” she said with a half-chuckle.

“Well, at least I have something over you now,” I chided, unwrapping my veggie-burger. “I guess we’re even now. I have my thesis papers, and you have your wrasslin’.”

“Don’t forget, I have your Summer Sun pictures as well.”

“Of course you do,” I groaned. I still wasn't sure if I wanted her to keep looking through the thumb drive, but I was also too scared to ask for it back. “What wasn’t in that flash drive?”

“I don’t know, but we’ll both find out,” she said, a wide smile plastered on her face.

I crossed my arms. “Can we at least agree that we don’t bring any of this up to the others?”

“Deal,” Sunset agreed. “That wrestling thing stays between us. The last thing I want is Rainbow making fun of me for it. That honor goes to you and you alone.”

Once we had made the pact, we let the conversation breathe for a moment. Our eyes met. I smiled. She smiled back. We both just sat there and enjoyed the silence. It was perfect… for about twelve or so seconds.

“Did you really think wrestling was real?” I asked, laughing. I just couldn’t resist.

Sunset took a sip of her drink, shrugging. “I was adjusting to the human world, mind you. The Wonderbolts in Equestria were elite stunt flying pegasi. Very real flying.”

“Pegasi? Oh, right, Equestria…” I mumbled. “I keep forgetting.”

“Well, keep forgetting then,” she said nonchalantly, taking a bite of her veggie-burger. “Mm, this ish good,” she mumbled, pointing at her meal. “You wan’ some?”

"No thanks," I said, shaking my head. I had the same meal, and I knew she was just trying to change the subject. I didn’t call her out on it. Instead, I picked at my food, taking small bites.

“You know,” I started, “I actually ran into Spitfire the other day.” It was a half-truth, but it helped kickstart the conversation again.

She sat up. “You did?”

“Yeah,” I droned. “At the bookstore on Seventh.” Okay, that one was a straight-up lie. “Of course, I didn’t recognize her with her hair dyed.”

Chuckling, Sunset picked at her fries. “You must be kicking yourself.”

“Oh, totally,” I agreed, playing along. I faked a laugh. “We made some small talk, and I actually recommended a few books to her.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Seriously?” She fell back and reclined in her seat. “Man, I’d kill to meet her.”

“Would you really?” I asked facetiously.

“Duh, of course I would,” she joked, chuckling. “Spitfire was kind of my anchor to Equestria,” she said in between bites of food. “She was on TV every Monday, and the show was something everyone at the shelter—”

She stopped talking and immediately stuffed a handful of fries in her mouth.

“Shelter?” I gasped. “As in… a homeless shelter?”

“Forget I said anything.” Sunset shifted in her seat. She dug around her tray and grimaced at the lack of fries.

Not knowing what else to do, I passed forward my tray. I wasn’t all that hungry, anyways. She looked up and me and smiled weakly. “Thanks,” she said, her voice cold as she reached for the paper tub.

I thought about what she said for a moment. And as much as I tried to avoid it, every thought about Sunset and her past made me want to know even more. It was like every little bit of information I learned about her wasn’t enough. Unfortunately, I barely knew anything about Sunset’s life in Equestria. I didn’t even know much of her life before I met her.

She was only letting me in on what she wanted to reveal, and that was frustrating because she knew everything about The Sunlight Project.