//------------------------------// // Penny For Your Thoughts? // Story: The Sunlight In Her Eyes // by DigitalPhoenix //------------------------------// Twilight awoke the next morning after only a few hours of sleep, her hair hardly any messier than when she had retired for the night. She sat up in her bed and stretched her arms, hoping that maybe the daylight might help her find the answers she sought. Alas, her mind was still too weary to try and make any connections, and so she resigned herself to venturing into her kitchen for some breakfast. Despite not attending Crystal Prep anymore, Dean Cadance had assured her that her dorm would still be readily available until she graduated or found another place to stay. It put Twilight's mind at ease to know she wouldn't have to haul all her equipment to some random apartment and risk it getting damaged. Heaven knows what she'd do if she lost any of her magic detection equipment, or worse, if somebody else stole it. Her dorm was very simple, but accommodating. A single bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and living room made sure she and any guests were reasonably comfortable, though she hardly ever had guests. Her front door led out to a small parking lot that was located away from most of the school's events, so it was more often empty. Some potted plants rested in the windows, at Fluttershy's encouragement; something about "brightening the place up". Don't see how plants can make a room brighter... She rummaged through her kitchen, finally settling on a bowl of cereal. She constantly wondered why several cereal companies seemed to be on their own sugar high of sorts, always coming up with new products that just sounded overly sweet, and so she abstained from most of the product. She preferred the simpler stuff, much to PInkie's chagrin. Maybe that's why the girl is so hyper all the time. After downing her cereal and the remaining milk, she decided to get dressed and head out for the day. Maybe she could ask her friends for some advice while she was at the mall. Yeah, that sounds like it might be a good idea This is a terrible idea It should have been easy. These were her best friends now, and they always said that she could come to them with any of her problems and they'd do their best to help. So why couldn't she ask them about this? It was something Twilight had debated with herself time and time again, especially since they had no issue giving her relationship advice for Timber, even if that advice was practically worthless. The only logical answer was that it came down to the party in question. Sunset was another of their best friends, and the likelihood of any of them spilling the beans to her ruined any confidence Twilight had in confiding her troubles to them. Pinkie and Rainbow were especially notorious for not keeping their mouth shut, and Rarity loved to gossip. How embarrassing would it be if Sunset actually knew the truth? More importantly, what would she think? Would she accept, or simply let Twilight down easy and try to move on? What if she just flat out rejected her, and their friendship never carried on the same? What if Sunset wanted nothing to do with her ever again, and the rest of her friends cast her aside, deeming her not worth being their friend?? What if...... "TWILIGHT!!" The abrupt shout jolted her back to reality, reminding her that there were currently six girls occupying her food court table, each one looking at her with concern. "What has gotten into you lately?" Rainbow asked. "You're always dazing out on us ever since we got back from camp!" "Oh, sorry, it's nothing, just a lot of ideas buzzing around my brain. You know how I am with my research." Applejack leaned towards Twilight, "Well sure, but ya'll ain't never this out of touch, sugarcube. Ya also don't look like ya got a lot of sleep." A soft voice on Twilight's right caught her attention, "You're not still having nightmares about Midnight, are you?" "What? No, I got over that at camp, remember?" "Well," Sunset placed her hand over Twilight's, eliciting a blush from the girl, "just remember that we're here if you need anything from us. If you want, I'll help you with all your late night research if it'll help you sleep easier." Oh, please, yes, yes, YES! "Oh don't worry about it, I've got everything under control. Spike just kept me up with his antics last night. No biggie." "Ugh, enough with the sap, lovebirds," Rainbow drew the attention of the entire table, leaving both Twilight and Sunset's faces aglow. "Now, if we actually have your attention, Pinkie was wondering if you were gonna be available for a party before we head back to CHS this year." "What for? Aren't you supposed to celebrate at the end of senior year?" A large poof of pink hair appeared upside down in front of her face, "Well, duh, we're not celebrating that, we're celebrating the start of your first full year at CHS!! We're gonna have lots of cake, play some games, tell scary sto-mmmphmph...." Sunset placed a hand over Pinkie's mouth to quiet her enthusiasm, "More importantly, we're gonna give you a little more info about the school, extracurricular activities, scheduling and so on. I doubt there are any classes that compare to what you took at CPA, but I'm sure we can find you some interesting clubs to join." Rainbow let out a snide laugh, "Sunset, you know it's too earlier to worry about stuff like that. It's a party, not a campus tour. Besides, we all know that the only clubs worth joining are the sports and our band." "Oh, sure, Twilight is certainly going to want to play a sport," Rarity interjected. "Honestly, do you ever consider what others but yourself might actually enjoy?" "Actually, I did play tennis while at CPA. It was easy to figure out trajectories based on the angle of the racket's mesh, tensile strength and...." Twilight paused to take account of the surprised looks around the table. "What? We still needed PE credits. Almost every high school makes them mandatory." "Never took you as a jack-of-all-trades, Twilight." Sunset's compliment sent a fresh wave of blood into Twilight's cheeks. "Oh, I can't do nearly as much as you can. I mean, you're smart, can play music, do art, not to mention..." "UGH, ENOUGH! Look, are you coming or not??" "Oh, uh," Twilight turned to Pinkie, "when and where is it?" Pinkie reached into her hair to pull out a rather large calendar with sticky notes present on almost all the dates. "Sweet Apple Acres, this Saturday at 6:00 sharp!" "Ok, I think I can make that, anything I should bring? I probably should bring some partygoing necessities, is there a book I can..." She was silenced by a finger poking her nose, belonging to none other than the object of her affections. "You don't need to bring everything, and you're not gonna always find your answers in a book." Sunset stood from her chair and stretched. "I don't know about you girls, but I'm ready to head home for the afternoon." Her friends agreed, each citing some reason or another for their departure. Twilight excused herself from the rest of the group, leaving her once again to her own thoughts. She couldn't stop thinking about every little action Sunset would take towards her, from lending a comforting hand to tapping her on her nose to get her attention. Even the way she teased her was gentle in its approach, and more often than not gave Twilight a sense of giddiness. It made her feel special, and gave her just that little more confidence that maybe, just maybe, she might have a chance after all. That alone made her day.