//------------------------------// // Care Package // Story: Sunset Brings Twilight Glasses // by Slateblu1 //------------------------------// Pacing back and forth, a small part of Sunset’s mind worried she was going to wear a groove into her carpet. The vast majority of her mind, however, was going through the list in her hand. Again. “Okay, so I’ve got a few spare glasses cases, a dozen things of lens wipes, one of those necklace things so the glasses don’t fall...” she ticked off each item on her list as she went down. “Twilight, what does she need for a ‘glasses repair kit’?” Sunset stopped in the middle of her room, turning to face her purple faced friend. Twilight, for her part, was calmly sipping tea. The tea did a wonderful job of hiding the giggles that threatened to escape her every few seconds. She had to take a sip to stifle another wave before speaking. “Ohh, just, hehe, some small screw-drivers, some super glue, that kind of stuff.” Twilight took another sip, leaving the mug raised to hide her growing grin. “But with her magic, you could probably leave that one off the list.” “Nope! Going to the hardware store! Back in a bit!” Sunset grabbed her jacket and ran out, locking the door to her apartment behind her. Twilight waited until she could hear Sunset’s motorcycle rev and drive off before setting her cup down. She took a deep breath, and fell to the floor, rolling with laughter. Tears welled up in her eyes as she rolled back and forth. “Ohh, she fell for it! She fell for it good!” After a minute of laughter, Twilight was finally able to calm down. “I need to tell the princess.” Sunset’s bedroom was a simple affair. There was a lofted bed and a desk beneath that. Next to the desk was Sunset’s backpack. Twilight smiled as she pulled it open. There were only two books in there, a math textbook, no doubt for that weekends homework, and the journal. Twilight pulled it out, grabbed a pen from the desk, and wrote out a quick message. Princess Twilight Sparkle, Sunset totally bought the joke. It’s great. But she’s going out and buying stuff for your ‘glasses.’ Shall I tell her now, or do you want to? She’s planning on visiting this weekend to give you a care package. -Twilight Sparkle. Twilight set the journal down on the desk and sat in Sunset’s chair. She didn’t have to wait long for a response. Twilight, Ohh, that’s brilliant! How adorable is she being about this? Let her come over, I’d love to see her again. Why don’t you come with and we can both tell her? I’m sure that’s not the only thing we need to tell her... -Twilight Twilight, Absolutely adorable. Sounds great. I’d love to see Equestria. And ya, that kinda just slipped out, didn’t it? I’m sure she’ll message you soon enough about setting up a time. -Twilight With a grin returning to her face, Twilight slipped the book back into Sunset’s bag. Heading back out to the main room, Twilight picked up her tea, returned to her chair, and set to work getting the massive grin off her face. Or at least enough that she could hide it behind the cup. Sunset walked up and down the aisles of the hardware store. The screwdrivers and super glue hadn’t been that hard to find. But she wanted to make sure she got everything. So she was scanning each aisle, trying to decide what Twilight might need. Her only problem was that she didn’t wear glasses, and as such had absolutely no idea what Twilight could need. “I shoulda brought Twily along. She’d know way better than me.” Not thinking of anything, and not wanting to go down every single aisle, she pulled out her phone and sent a quick text to Twilight, asking for help. Twilight didn’t take long to respond, telling her she was probably fine, the only other thing she could think of was some microfiber rags to dry them off with. It didn’t take Sunset long to find the sign for microfiber cloths. She briefly wondered why the sign didn’t say anything else. As she turned onto the aisle, she froze, realizing why. The entire aisle was full of different microfiber rags and cloths, all in dozens of colors, shapes, and sizes. She slowly walked down the aaisle, overwhelmed by the choices. “Does it matter how big they are?” she mumbled to herself. “Do I need to get her a bunch of them, or can she reuse them?” She stopped half way down the aisle and stared at the brand with the largest color variety. “Ponyfeathers, what color should I get her? Does she have a color she likes best? Maybe I should get her five colors, one for each of her friends...” Sunset sat down on the hard floor. “What about that new girl, Starlight was it? Is she a friend? What about me? Is that even the right thing to do?” Letting her eyes wander across the wall of color, Sunset continued muttering to herself. “Or maybe I should just get her a bunch of purple ones. But what if she has another color she likes better....?” Starting to panic, Sunset hopped up to her feet and began pacing again. She whipped out her phone and called Twilight. “Come on... Pick up. Really need you right- Twilight! What color rags should I get her?” There was a slight pause before Twilight replied. “Ohh, um.” Twilight paused again. “I know! Orange!” “Orange? Why orange?” Sunset let the confusion fill her voice. “Well, she’s me, right?” Sunset grunted. It was vaguely confirming. “I like orange, so I know she will too.” Sunset shook her head. “Okay. Orange. Now, what brand?” “Doesn’t really matter, Sunny.” Sunset blushed at the nickname. Neither Twilight could know, but it was what Princess Celestia had called her when she was young. "Just get her a dozen or so. Ohh, call waiting, see you whenyougetbackbye!" Twilight hung up. "Orange... Okay." Sunset shrugged. Turning back to the wall of cloth, her face fell. "Why do they have multiple oranges?" Groaning, Sunset went about trying to decide which orange to get. She grabbed one of each and then grabbed one of every other orange microfiber on the aisle. Luckily for her, orange wasn’t a common color, so she only ended up with a baker’s dozen. She sat down at the end of the aisle, trying to decide. "This one's neon orange. I mean, I'm sure both Raritys would thow a fit upon seeing it, but it might be easier to keep track of." She set that one to her left to begin her ‘maybe’ pile. "Bleh, this one looks like the rust on my bike. Nope." She tossed this one to her right and the newly formed ‘No’ pile. "This one is okay... I guess. Uhh... Why do I like it?" Sunset took a moment to realize just what she liked about it. "Ohh." She looked at the sleeve on her jacket. "Same color as that... Alright, it's a maybe." The next half dozen went in similar fashion, being sorted into her two piles. The tenth one caught her attention. "Ohh.. I could..." Sunset blushed. By what was no doubt random chance, Sunset had found rags almost the exact same shade as her skin. "Rarity would gripe about how it's slightly darker but..." She bit her lip and smiled. "No, I'm getting this one. If she does like me then maybe this will go over great." Just as she was gathering up her two piles, she froze. “But if she doesn’t, would this come off as too forward?” She started pacing again. “I can brush it off, act like I hadn’t noticed... What was that Equestrian tradition about matching somepony’s coat color? Does that mean friendship or romance?” Biting her lower lip hard enough to draw a drop of blood, Sunset’s pacing sped up. “And she’s the princess! Would I get in trouble if I came on too strong? Ohh and what will this Twilight think? Will she think this means I chose the other Twilight over her? Does she even like me that way? Eughh, I can’t figure this out!” Deciding to just go with it, Sunset went about putting the rejects back, and grabbing a few more of her chosen type. “I could get some for both Twilights... That way she doesn’t feel left out. Or maybe- No.” Sunset stopped herself from worrying again. “I just have to just go with it. And hope. Lots of hope.” Sunset took a deep breath and managed to calm down somewhat. Putting a spring into her step, Sunset added two dozen of the rags to her basket. Twilight had to hang up on her friend. She had almost burst out laughing over the phone. She couldn’t ruin it yet, but she was having trouble holding it in. “I wonder if she got the hint?” Twilight let loose a happy laugh. “If she went to the place by the sweet shop...” Twilight giggled as she pulled out her own orange cloth, purchased from said store, and gave her glasses a quick wipe. “Ohh, this will be perfect. Now, I need to calm down. I can’t mess this up.” Twilight brought her hand to her chest as she took a deep breath, then pushed it away as she let the air out. She did this a few times before getting her nerves under control. “I really hope she likes us back.”