Sunset had let Twilight and Flash have their moment. She still wasn’t sure how to feel about that. It was confusing on several levels, and right now, she’d rather ride out the rest of her Magic.
That made her stop and laugh. She had Magic again, full Magic instead of just crystals. And it was better than ever.
But what she loved most, was the difference it made with others. She’d been okay with letting everyone else take the spotlight, but the girls kept sending people to her, saying she could answer their questions much better. The first few had been tentative, but it was hard for them to deny she was different, better. After all, she had the ears and Magical glow, just like the other six.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?”
Sunset was getting used to that phrase, but she’d given up on hearing it from him. As if sensing the shift, the people around her quickly made their way elsewhere. And for the first time in months, Sunset was alone with Flash.
“I… uh... sure?” Sunset said.
Flash looked just as awkward as she did. Since she didn’t know where to start, she waited.
“I just wanted to say I was sorry,” Flash began. “For that ‘bad girl we all love to hate’ thing. It wasn’t….”
“It’s fine,” Sunset shrugged. “Kind of warranted, since I was a terrible person before. Sorry about, well, all of that. I didn’t expect you to say it, but you know, Siren Magic and all that. They kind of wanted you to hate us since we could stop them.”
“Sunset, you know I’m smarter than that,” he sighed. “Saying ‘it’s fine because you were hypnotized’ might work on others, but not on me.”
“What makes you think you weren’t hypnotized?” she asked.
“Because it was different from-“ he frowned and stopped himself. “You’re probably tired of people bringing up the Fall Formal, but it was different from when you hypnotized us. You made us like puppets. What those girls did, we weren’t doing what they said. It was like-“
“Like you wanted something,” she filled in, looking down. “A Desire that would make you say anything, do anything to get it, no matter who got in your way. But you’re aware enough that you can break out of it if it makes you Desire to do something you really don’t want to, or at least if you realize it.”
“Yeah,” he nodded. “You knew?”
“Flash, I’m a Unicorn,” she gave a sad smile. “Huh, so many years and I can finally say that to you. Bet your ‘Pegasus Dreams’ make a bit more sense now. Just seeing through the eyes of your Interdimensional Counterpart. It’s pretty rare, I think.”
“Then again, no one questions a reoccurring Pegasus dream,” he said.
“But yes,” she sighed. “I grew up in a world of Magic, and I was trained in things most could only dream of. What Sirens work with is Emotional Magic, specifically Desire. They can make you want things, and they gain power from that. “
“Desire, huh,” he said. “That makes almost too much sense.”
“Because of what happened with Twilight the other day?” she asked.
“A bit,” he nodded. “I thought she’d come back just to help the Rainbooms with the competition and-“
“It hurt that she didn’t come back for you,” she finished. “Your Desire was upped, so it hurt even more. I’m guessing you already apologized for that.”
“Yeah,” he said. “But I needed to apologize to you too.”
“Why?” she asked. “I was terrible to you. While I don’t want to be hated, I understand why you do.”
Flash was quiet for a moment, and Sunset followed suit. They watched others wander, talking with their friends. It was strange to be self conscious of her ears again, worried about what emotions they’d show. Even if Humans didn’t understand the nuances, they could guess.
“I wanted to hate you,” Flash admitted. “After everything that happened, I wanted to hate you. Because none of it felt real.”
“Well, obviously I lied at the beginning,” Sunset said. “It was only one third a lie, but still a lie.”
“Which third?” he asked.
“My parents know I’m gay but they don’t want to kick me out,” she said. “You can probably guess now, but my parents are also Unicorns. Back in Equestria. I lied about that, to get you as a fake boyfriend.”
“I kind of figured that out a while ago,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Not the Unicorns thing, but that you lied to get me with you.”
“Really?” she asked. “How? When?”
“The first time we went to your place,” he answered. “You told me your parents were ‘always on business trips’. Absent parents can’t figure out their daughter is gay.”
“Then why didn’t you say anything?” she wondered. “Why’d you stay?”
“Because I didn’t know why you lied,” he said. “I didn’t know what you got out of it. I had thought you might’ve done it to get me as a boyfriend, but you kept it strictly platonic. It would’ve been so easy to say ‘hey, since we’re pretending, why don’t we play the part and make out?’, but I can count on one hand how many times we fake kissed in three years. All of which were initiated by other people saying 'the couple should kiss'.
“And it didn’t matter,” he continued. “Even if it started from a lie, for whatever reason, you were a friend. Hell, you were family. Goldie and Bramble loved you. As far as they were concerned, you were another kid to them. They kept suggesting to bring you over, to let you know you could always live with them if you needed it. I was sure that any day they’d say ‘yeah you’re young, but just propose so we can have an official daughter-in-law!’.
“Really?” she asked.
“Really,” he nodded. “But then everything went down. All the bullying and blackmail. And then the Fall Formal… you said it was because you ‘had to’, but why?”
“Desire,” she almost laughed at the answer. “A burning Desire that makes you do nearly anything to get it. Except I mostly didn’t have the excuse of ‘out of my mind with Magic’. I… I never wanted the Fall Formal to happen like it did. I just wanted to go home, but I wanted it for the same reason I left. Because of what I couldn’t have.”
“And I see it so clearly now,” she continued. “Everything I screwed up. Everyone I hurt. Everything I could've done better. And I figured you’d hate me, so it’s not really a surprise. I’m just sorry it happened.”
Silence again. Sunset searched for what to say, how to tell him everything in a span of a few minutes. How to prove she wasn’t lying again, or make it all not sound like an excuse.
“I don’t…” Flash stopped and sighed. “I want to hate you. Because I should. You were terrible at the end, and it made me question everything we’d done together. Because it felt real. While it started from whatever lie, it didn’t matter because by the time I figured it out you were my friend. But I wasn’t sure if the real Sunset Shimmer was the girl I thought I knew, or the girl who bullied and blackmailed her way into things.
“But because of the good times, I couldn’t hate you,” he continued. “I wanted to, but I couldn’t. And when the, well, ‘Desire Magic’ hit, it made me want that more. So when I saw you tackling Rainbow for what seemed like no reason, all I could think was ‘there, that’s proof that it was all a lie, that you’re just as terrible as people say’.”
“It probably would be easier if you hated me,” Sunset said. “Then I’d at least know what to do about it.”
“I don’t know either,” he said. “Can you answer one question?”
“If I’m not honest, may Applejack hunt me down,” she joked, holding a hand up. “Uh, go ahead. Sorry.”
“Was any of it real?” he asked. “I know you lied to get me as your fake boyfriend, and this isn’t about what happened when we stopped talking. But all the time we were hanging out, everything with Thunder and Brawly and Goldie and Bramble. Just a couple of kids having fun.”
“Other than the beginning,” she said, “the only things I lied about were things I couldn’t explain without telling you about Equestria. Things like where my parents really were, or just my past in general. Everything else? I was scared, and thought that what I felt didn’t count since out friendship was based on a lie. Even without the fake relationship thing, I never thought I could tell you about Equestria. I didn’t think we could really be friends if I had to hide all of that. But everything else? That was real.
“And I’m sorry I ruined that,” she shook her head. “And a part of me wants to go back to before that, back to when we were just kids on the beach at night, where I could forget about Unicorns and Magic and Princesses.”
“But we can’t,” he sighed. “Because that would include ignoring everything that happened.”
“Yeah,” she agreed. “But while I wish it happened differently, I’m glad you know about it all now. About who I am, what I am. And I want to fix things. I know things can’t be like before, but this time around, I think I can do it right. No lies to start it, and I’d be able to tell you everything about me.”
“We can work on that,” he said. “And Goldie and Bramble will too. I never told them about why we stopped talking. They’ve heard a bit about how CHS has Magic, but they don’t know your part in it.”
“Thanks,” she smiled. “While it might be easier to have you talk to them, I think I want to do it myself. Not just yet though. Think you can do me one favor though?”
“What?” he wondered.
“Get your shit together and make up with Thunder already!” she exclaimed. “Or make out with him! I don’t care! You two need to get over your teen angst bullshit!”
As expected, that earned her a playful shove. She snorted with laughter as she stumbled sideways, and smiled more as she felt her own Fire growing brighter.