//------------------------------//
// Ends and Beginnings 
// Story: ...But It Often Rhymes 
// by Posh 
//------------------------------//

"Would you lay off already?" Sunset snaps, pounding her hoof against the sun-baked pavement. "I forgot, okay? I told you I was sorry!"

"It's not about the date, Sunset," Cheerilee says. Around them, other ponies stop their business to stare at the feuding couple. "It's about you. You're like a different pony, and it's not just me who's noticed. Moonie told me—"

"I don't care what Moonie told you," Sunset growls, cutting her off. "What does she know?"

"She knows that this isn't you!" Cheerilee cries, her composure failing. "Your friends are—"

Sunset silences her with a harsh laugh. "To hell with friends. I don't need friends!"

Cheerilee's voice drops to a whisper. "Do you need me?" 

Sunset's eyes widen. Temptation stirs inside of her, almost strong enough to make her relent.

Not strong enough.

"I don't need anypony. Not the Princess, not Moonie." Sunset glares, furious and cold. "Certainly not you."

Cheerilee doesn't say anything back – she just breaks. She flees, in tears, to the pitying glances of passersby.

Sunset watches her flee, then tosses her head and storms away. The pitying glances turn to scornful glares as passersby regard her, and the world seems colder, and dimmer, for Cheerilee's absence. Sunset doesn't care. To break somepony, and so easily – the thought makes her swell, makes her feel powerful.

It's a feeling she could get used to.





Judging by the students in gowns milling about in the CHS courtyard, papers in hand, Sunset's missed the commencement ceremony. There are only a handful left, though, Twilight being one of them. She's leaning her back against the central statue – thankfully, not the side with the portal – and thumbing away on her cell phone.

She looks up, spots Sunset by chance, and grins. Tucking her phone away, and doffing her graduation cap, Twilight bounds over, and wraps Sunset in a hug.

Sunset hugs back. "Sorry I missed the ceremony."

Deliberately, she adds to herself.

"Knew you would." Twilight pulls away. "But I knew you'd show up all the same."

"And I knew you'd wait for me. We just know one another so well." Sunset snickers, disengages from Twilight, and casts a quick look around the courtyard. "I was expecting the girls to be here, too, though."

"There's a post-graduation party at Pinkie's house." Twilight lifts the phone to show off the group selfie of Pinkie with their friends, each one holding a plate with a sizable slice of cake. "They didn't want to start without you, but I persuaded them to go on ahead while I waited here for you."

Sunset raises an eyebrow. "Why?"

Sunlight glints off of Twilight's glasses. "Because there's something I need to show you."

She guides Sunset around the school's perimeter, and they walk in silence as streaks of orange paint the sky overhead. Eventually, Twilight stops Sunset and steps in front of her.

"I know it's none of my business, but..." Twilight's hands clap together. "Have you talked to her yet?

There's an icy feeling in Sunset's stomach. "No."

"I didn't think so." Twilight bites her lip. "You should."

"I know. I just—"

"Sunset..." Twilight grips Sunset's shoulder and turns her, gently, until she faces the school building. Through the window in front of her, she sees Cheerilee in her classroom, hunched over her desk.

"I did a lot of pacing while I was waiting for you. Saw her in there during my third circuit of the school." Twilight pauses. "You should talk to her now."

Sunset's mouth droops open; she stares at Twilight.

"Come on. You think I never noticed the way you look at her?" Twilight smirks. "Gotta say, I admire your gall."

A blush creeps onto Sunset's face. "You perceptive little..."

"Hey, all I did was follow the breadcrumbs," Twilight says smugly. "She was the only chaperone in the gym after the rest of them vanished, and you both disappeared at about the same time. After what you told me yesterday, the connections all just seemed obvious."

Sunset doesn't answer; she stares through that window uncertainly. She reaches her thumb toward her mouth.

"What are you afraid of?" Twilight says softly.

Sunset bites down on her thumb. "You got an hour to kill, Twi?"

"It was a rhetorical question. Although I'd love to hear all about it." Twilight smiles sadly. "But maybe you should tell her before you tell me."

Sunset's heart is a jackhammer; her teeth are a few pounds of pressure away from breaking the skin on her thumb. "I..."

"I know." Twilight takes Sunset's hand and gives her an encouraging squeeze. "But I have faith in you. Remember that, okay?"

The reminder doesn't chase Sunset's fears away, but it helps her master herself. She breathes deeply, slowly, until her heart steadies and she approaches something resembling tranquility.

"Thanks, Twilight." Sunset gives her friend a serene smile. "Give the girls my best. Tell 'em I'll be there when I can."

Twilight nods. Then, as an afterthought, she doffs her cap, and slides it over Sunset's head; a curl of red pokes out from the elastic. The tassel dangles over the cap's left side. Twilight flips it to the right.

"Congratulations, Sunset Shimmer."





Sunset's knuckles rap on the window pane, and Cheerilee starts, bolting up from the desk. When she glances out the window, her jaw drops with an unheard gasp, and her hand clutches her chest.

Sunset raises her own hand and waggles her fingers in a nervous wave.

Cheerilee almost smiles, but her expression quickly sobers. She crosses the room and slides open the window, and looks blearily at Sunset.

"I didn't see you at commencement," says Cheerilee. Her voice is thick, and rasps a little. "I assumed you decided not to come."

"Last-minute decision." Sunset folds her arms tightly across her chest. "I was too late for the ceremony."

Cheerilee glances at the cap on her head, half-frowning.

"It's Twilight's," Sunset says. She notices the purple pen in Cheerilee's hand. "You working on something?"

Cheerilee stiffens. She takes a breath. "Yes. My, um..."

The rest of her sentence is mumbled, incoherent.

Sunset leans forward. "Didn't catch that – say again?"

"...Resignation letter."

"In purple ink? That's kind of a weird—" Then the weight of Cheerilee's words crashes into Sunset. "Wait, you're resigning? Why?"

Cheerilee looks away. "You know why."

Sunset's insides go cold. "Oh, Cheerilee, no. You don't have to—"

"Yes I do," says Cheerilee sharply. "I have no place at this school after prom. I was drunk, I conducted myself unprofessionally, and I tried to take advantage of—"

Sunset's hand darts out. Two fingertips press against Cheerilee's soft, glossy lips.

"The punch might've played a part in... what happened... but I was there because I wanted to be. And you didn't take advantage of me." Sunset pulls her hand away, tucking it in her jacket pocket. "I know I freaked out a little; I know I hurt your feelings. And I'm sorry. I couldn't really handle it right then... but you were right about how I look at you."

Cheerilee stands there, silent, as if in a daze.

Sunset fidgets, clasping her hands behind her back. "Do, um... do you really look at me the same way?

Cheerilee gives a tiny, tiny nod. Then she sways, catching herself on the window sill.

Sunset reaches through the window to steady Cheerilee. "Need to sit down?"

"What I need is a drink," Cheerilee mumbles to the floor.

Sunset leans into her field of vision, smirking impishly. "Wanna see if they have some of that punch left?"

"...Kinda." Cheerilee returns that smirk in full. "But I'm pretty sure Ms. Harshwhinny absconded with it after the prom shut down."

They laugh, the previous tension flowing away with every breath. When it's over, they straighten, and look one another in the eye.

"So," Cheerilee says. "What does this mean for you and I?"

Sunset rubs her elbow, hesitating. "I don't know. It's... complicated on my end. There are things you don't know, that I haven't told anypon— anyone about. None of my friends, not even Princess Twilight. And I don't know what that means for us, if the two of us can be..."

She twines two fingers and raises them.

Cheerilee purses her lips. She nods with resignation.

"But you deserve to know why," Sunset continues. "To know the truth – all of it. And I'm gonna give that to you, I promise." She extends her hand to Cheerilee, palm up, with a hopeful smile. "So, please, if nothing else... tear up that resignation letter."

Cheerilee regards her hand stonily. Then her eyes gleam, and she takes Sunset's hand in her own, flipping it palm-down. There's a click, and she raises her pen.

Sunset looks warily at her. "What are you—"

"You said you'd tell me the truth. I assume you didn't mean tonight. So... whenever you're ready..."

The pen tickles as Cheerilee writes deft, neat purple digits on the back of Sunset's hand.

"...You'll know how to reach me." She finishes with a flourish, and clicks her pen closed.

Sunset looks down at the phone number – from her perspective, it's upside down. "Couldn't you have just put this into my cellphone contacts?"

She gets a dimpled grin in reply. "Where's the romance in that?"