“Spike! Where did you put the book that was on my throne?” Twilight yelled from across the hall.
“I didn’t do anything with it. You took it with you when you went downstairs, remember?” Spike yelled back.
“It’s not like Twilight to forget where she put a book,” Starlight, who was just entering the library, said. “What’s going on?”
Spike sighed. “She’s got a date and she’s been acting nervous and jittery all day,” he explained.
“A date?” Starlight repeated, surprised. “With whom?”
Before Spike could reply, however, Twilight entered the library as well. “It’s not a date,” she said in a tone that suggested she’d said those same words quite often that day.
“Sure it isn’t. That’s why you’ve been reading books like ‘Dating for Dummies’ and ‘What Not to Do on Your First Date’ and who knows what else,” Spike replied with a steel face.
Twilight flushed. “That’s…I…those have nothing to do with this,” she said lamely. Spike merely raised an eyebrow.
“Twilight, it’s great that you have a date,” Starlight said with a wide smile. “Why would you be ashamed of that? So…” She stepped closer to Twilight, grin widening. “Who is it?”
Twilight smiled back nervously and took a step back. “It’s not a date, really,” she said again.
“Do I know him? Oh, is it that Flash Sentry guy from the human world?” Starlight pressed.
Twilight sighed. “You do know her, and it’s not a date!” she said forcefully. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to read some books. In my library. Alone,” she went on, letting her gaze — which she hoped looked stern and decisive — go from Starlight to Spike.
Starlight kept grinning as she and Spike stepped into the hallway. Twilight closed the door behind them and locked it.
“So, who is it?” she asked Spike.
Spike smirked at her. “Sunset Shimmer,” he said.
Starlight raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Really?” She considered for a moment. “Well, Twilight does write her a lot. I guess it makes sense,” she said. She began to grin again. “Do the others know about this?”
Spike pretended to look shocked. “Starlight, are you suggesting we should reveal this to everypony? That’s just evil.” He grinned. “Let’s go tell them.”
While Starlight and Spike headed out to complete their ‘devious’ plan, Twilight was pacing up and down the library. This would have been so much easier if Spike hadn’t found out about all of this. She wasn’t entirely sure why she was so adamant about nopony knowing that she was going on a date. It wasn’t exactly strange for two mares to like each other, after all. But for some reason, Twilight didn’t feel comfortable with them knowing about it. She knew that neither Spike nor Starlight believed her denial, but she figured that, as long as she stuck to her story, there really wasn’t much they could do about it.
But what her friends were up to didn’t scare her half as much as the prospect of the date itself. Not because she wasn’t sure about it — she knew very well that she had a crush on Sunset and Sunset definitely felt the same way — but because she’d never been on a date before. It had surprised her a bit, finding out that she liked Sunset as more than just a close friend. But she had found that over time, she’d begun to enjoy talking to her more and more, and the conversations they had through the enchanted journal had long since gone from superficial descriptions of their day to longer conversations, more serious ones, both about magic and about their lives, what they wanted to do, where they wanted to go. And then, not too long ago, their conversation changed bit more.
Dear Twilight,
Something’s been on my mind lately. It’s not something I expected, but I guess in hindsight I probably should have. I like you. And I mean that in the ‘I have a crush on you’ way. I hope you’re not too weirded out by me saying that and honestly, I don’t mind if you don’t feel the same way. I enjoy the way things are now, and I don’t want to miss that for the world. I just felt like I should at least tell you how I feel. But, just because I’m curious…do you feel the same way?
Your (more than?) friend,
Sunset Shimmer
When Twilight had gotten that message, the instant quadrupling of her heartbeat had immediately answered that question for her. She felt like she’d suddenly been supercharged, just by reading those few lines. Despite that, she wasn’t really sure how exactly to respond. It wasn’t like she’d gotten that many confessions in her life. So, being a pony who was very rational and to the point, she’d eventually decided on a reply.
Dear Sunset,
Yes. Yes I do.
Your friend,
Twilight Sparkle
Not exactly romantic, Twilight had to admit, but it certainly was unambiguous. Sunset had later written to her that she hadn’t dared to check the response immediately, because despite her assurance that she wouldn’t mind if Twilight had felt the same way, it still would’ve hurt to see it. Upon seeing Twilight’s reply, she’d first felt immense relief, and then broken down laughing for a while because of how short the reply was.
Since then, not a whole lot had actually changed. They still wrote to each other a lot, and the conversations were still about everything and nothing. Then, a few days ago, Sunset had asked if Twilight would like to come over for an actual date, and tonight it was finally going to happen. Twilight had taken to reading every book about dating she could find, but to her frustration a lot of the tips only dealt with stallions asking mares out, and the rest were all contradictory as to what should and shouldn’t be done. Ultimately, none of her books had been able to help her prepare, and that was the very reason Twilight was now nervously pacing along in her library.
Somepony knocked on the library door. Twilight ignored it. She wasn’t in the mood to answer questions, although Spike knew most of what was going on already anyway. She mentally cursed herself for leaving the journal open when she left the room to get a new inkwell. She really couldn’t blame Spike for accidentally seeing an open book, after all. Another knock on the door.
“Still reading,” Twilight yelled.
“Your books can wait!”
Twilight stopped pacing. “Pinkie?” she said. She suddenly got a hollow feeling in her stomach.
“Not just her, darling.”
Twilight sighed. She definitely wasn’t going to like this, but against her better judgement she unlocked the library door and opened it. As she’d feared, all her friends were there. She gave Spike and Starlight an expressionless stare, then looked at Pinkie, who seemed angry about something.
“Why didn’t you tell me you had a date?! Now I didn’t have time to prepare your ‘first date’ party,” Pinkie said.
“Because it’s not a date,” Twilight said stonily.
“Of course not,” Rainbow Dash said with a smirk.
“It isn’t!” Twilight insisted. “I’m just going over to the human world tonight, that doesn’t make it a date.”
“So are you going to hang out with all your CHS friends tonight?” Rarity asked.
“N- I mean, yes. All of them,” Twilight said.
Applejack chuckled. “Sugar cube, your lying is even worse than mine.”
Twilight made a frustrated sound and then asked, “Why are you all here?”
“To wish you good luck on the date,” Fluttershy said sincerely.
“That’s…kind of you,” Twilight said, knowing that if nothing else at least Fluttershy meant well. “But it’s not a date.”
“Twilight, absolutely nopony believes that,” Rainbow Dash said bluntly.
“Why are you so insistent on denying it, darling? There’s nothing wrong with going on a date, you know,” Rarity said.
Twilight looked from left to right, trying to come up with an answer. “I…Look, it’s…ugh! Okay, fine, it’s a date! Are you happy now?! There, I’ve admitted it, anything else? No? Okay, thanks for your concern and good luck wishes and whatnot, much appreciated, thank you, bye!” she said.
Her friends shot each other confused glances. “Are you nervous, darling?”
Twilight’s eyelid twitched. “No, whatever gave you that idea?”
“Okay, that was probably not the most intelligent question,” Rarity conceded.
“I’m sure it’ll go well, sugar cube,” Applejack said.
“Yeah, it’s not like the first date is crucial for the rest of the relationship or anything,” Pinkie added. The others glared at her.
Twilight sighed. “I know, but guys, I really, really, really want to prepare for it alone. I know you wouldn’t make fun of me for it. I know you all mean well, but the truth is I’ve never done this before. I just want to do it in my own way, and I just…don’t really want to talk about it with anypony, so I kept it to myself. But Spike accidentally found out, and now all of you know about it. I would’ve told you about it, eventually, but I don’t want you to all make a big deal out of it.”
She looked from pony to pony, hoping that they’d understand her desire to be alone and respect that.
“Well, okay, but tell us how it went when you get back,” Pinkie Pie said. “I need to know if the party I’m going to throw needs to be a ‘congratulations on your first date’ party, or a ‘cheer up’ party.”
Her friends began to walk out of the library. “Spike, Starlight, could you stay here for a second?” Twilight said.
“Sounds like you’re in trouble,” Rainbow Dash said casually.
She closed the door behind her, leaving Twilight alone with Starlight and Spike, both of whom had guilty looks on their faces. For a moment, Twilight didn’t say anything.
“I’m not exactly happy with you two right now,” she began. “Both of you knew I wanted to keep this to myself. Honestly, that you’d think it funny to tell the others about this when you knew I wanted to keep it to myself is just…wrong.”
“We didn’t mean to…” Spike began, before being cut off by Twilight holding up her hoof.
“I know you didn’t mean to hurt me. All in good fun, right? But you should have known better just the same.” She sighed and looked at her oldest and newest friends. They looked guilty enough. “I’m not mad at you. Really, I’m not. But please, in the future, consider somepony’s wishes before you do something. I’m lucky to have friends who are supportive and who want the best for me, but that might not always be the case. A joke is fine, but they can go too far. Just ask Rainbow Dash.”
“We’re sorry, Twilight,” Starlight said. “We really do want your date to go well. We figured that the others might help you relax a bit. And, okay, we admit we thought it would be funny, too.”
Twilight nodded. “I know. So, again, please try to consider somepony’s feelings about certain things before you act, okay?”
She smiled when her two friends nodded. “Good. Now that that’s cleared up, I have some preparing to do. Why don’t you go join the others? I’m sure they’re wondering what kind of lecture I gave you.”
A few hours later, Twilight stood in the throne room, facing the portal. She took a few deep breaths to calm her nerves, but it wasn’t working so well. The distractions of the afternoon were still on her mind for some reason, and that annoyed her. It had been dealt with, hadn’t it? Now it was time for something fun, so why was her mouth so dry? She closed her eyes for a moment and tried to clear her mind. She only partially succeeded, but it would have to do. With her heart beating a million beats per minute, she stepped into the portal.
A flash of light and a strong feeling of vertigo later, she emerged from the other side. Sunset was already waiting for her, and she helped Twilight to her feet.
After a short hug, Sunset looked into Twilight’s eyes. “You seem…bothered by something,” she said.
Twilight sighed. “I have some overeager friends who came over to wish me good luck on the date,” she said, not really wanting to begin the date by talking about that.
Sunset nodded in understanding. “Our friends here did the same. They’ve been trying to find out who my date was for days.” She looked around a couple of times. “I’m pretty sure they’re not around here now, but at this point nothing would surprise me anymore. Although I may have scared them off when I lost it yesterday.”
Twilight looked surprised. “You got angry?”
Sunset nodded, an embarrassed look on her face. “They’d been grilling me on it all day and I kept telling them to drop it. I…may have lost my temper a bit after the hundredth time.”
Twilight winced. “How did they take it?”
Sunset put her hand behind her head and grinned. “I think they realized they’d gone a bit too far, so they apologized and left. It didn’t do my nerves much good, I can tell you that.”
They laughed, and Twilight felt a bit of stress falling away. This wasn’t so bad. It felt the same as just hanging out.
“So, ready to go?” Sunset asked her.
Twilight nodded. “Sure. Where are we going?” she asked. “Well, there’s a carnival in town so I figured we could go there first. We can probably grab something to eat there as well.” She smiled apologetically. “I’m not one for fancy restaurants, even if I had the money for it.”
Twilight smiled back. “That’s okay. I’d much rather just hang out together anyway. I’m not usually here when the fate of our worlds isn’t hanging in the balance, so it’ll give me a much better idea of how this world usually is.”
Sunset smiled in relief, and Twilight wondered if she’d been worried that perhaps her idea wouldn’t have been good enough. That notion was strangely calming to her. Together, they walked away from CHS.
“These carnivals are even noisier than the ones in Equestria,” Twilight said as she and Sunset walked between the rows of flashing lights and loud music, each stand trying to outdo the ones around them to attract as many people as possible.
Sunset nodded. “It’s crazy, isn’t it? The first time I went to one of these I thought I’d go insane. I couldn’t figure out why the humans liked this so much.”
Twilight gave her a sideways look. “Since we’re here now, does that mean you figured it out?” she asked.
Sunset grinned widely. It made Twilight’s heart flutter to see it. “You’ll see in a minute. I’m trying to find the right stand.”
They walked along, and Twilight couldn’t help but glance at Sunset every few moments. She didn’t look any different from how she usually did, but something did feel different. She seemed to radiate more energy, or something. Twilight couldn’t really explain it, but seeing it did make her feel happy.
“Ah, there it is,” Sunset said, shaking Twilight from her thoughts.
Twilight looked in the direction Sunset was pointing and saw a small stand, with a flashing neon sign that said ‘CHURROS’ above it. Only a few people were in line there.
“Churros?” Twilight asked as they joined the queue.
Sunset nodded. “Some kind of deep fried dough snack. I think you could get them in Canterlot as well, but for some reason they taste so much better here than in Equestria, especially with the cinnamon sugar on them. They are the reason these carnivals are worth going to. The rides are fun, sure, but the churros just complete it.”
Twilight smiled at Sunset’s enthusiasm. It was a whole different side of her than when they had to stop the Sirens, or when she was distraught over trying to find out how the magic in this world worked. After a few minutes, Sunset and Twilight stepped away from the stand, both holding a bag of churros. Twilight took a bite out of one, making sure there was plenty of cinnamon sugar on it at Sunset’s insistence. The flavor wasn’t exactly new or very strong, but Sunset had definitely been right. These things were delicious!
“This is great!” Twilight said, quickly dipping the remaining half of her churro in the sugar again and scoffing it down.
Sunset laughed. “Told you,” she said. “So, want to check out the rest of the carnival?”
Twilight nodded, and the two of them set off. They tried various rides, like the bumper cars and the small roller coaster, though Twilight declined going into any of the spinning rides. The night seemed to go by in a haze of colors and noises, but Twilight was having the time of her life. In truth, they could’ve been doing almost anything and she would’ve liked it. She enjoyed hanging out with Sunset in a non-world-threatening context for once, and she liked that despite this being a date, there wasn’t any awkwardness between them.
After going around the carnival a couple of times, Sunset told Twilight there was one more thing she wanted to show, but she refused to elaborate any further.
“You’ll just have to trust me,” she said playfully, and with that she began to walk away. Twilight didn’t have to think twice about following her.
The night was oddly dark and quiet without constantly being bombarded by the noises and flashing lights of the carnival. Sunset led Twilight through the well-lit park towards a nearby field. To Twilight’s surprise several groups of people were there. The field itself wasn’t lit, and there didn’t seem to be anything there, but Twilight figured something was going to happen there, otherwise all those people wouldn’t be there.
A breeze blew past them, and Twilight shivered. The clothes the portal granted her had given her short sleeves, and it was getting cold now that the sun was gone. She suddenly felt something warm being draped over her shoulders, and looked up to see Sunset giving Twilight her jacket.
Twilight smiled in appreciation, but then said, “Won’t you get cold now?”
Sunset shrugged. “I don’t get cold easily. Besides, I’m the one who dragged you to this field. I’d feel guilty if I ended up giving you a cold because of it.”
“Thanks…” Twilight said softly. She pulled the jacket closer around her. It smelled sweet, and somehow that faint sweetness warmed her up far more than the jacket itself it.
For a few minutes, Sunset and Twilight stood in silence. Twilight wondered what was going to happen, but she knew Sunset wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise. Then, a streak of fire shot into the sky from the far side of the field. It exploded in a beautiful bouquet of red and green sparks, which split up into small crackles as they fell towards the earth.
Twilight gasped. Of course Equestria had fireworks too, but most of them were magical in nature. These clearly weren’t…but they were mesmerizing just the same. More streaks of fire launched into the dark sky and exploded. Color filled the air, and the bangs were far enough away that their sound was oddly comforting.
“It’s beautiful,” she whispered.
“I’m glad you like it,” Sunset whispered back.
Together, they watched as more and more bursts of color illuminated the sky. At some point, Sunset put her arm around Twilight. It startled her for a moment because she hadn’t expected it, but she quickly decided she liked it, and put an arm around Sunset as well.
She wondered if it was a stupid thought, but she felt safe like that. Not in the sense that she needed protection, but more that she could take on anything right then. This night, standing here with a girl who meant more to her than anyone or anypony had ever done, or at least, in a very different way from everyone else, Twilight felt like she could take on the world.
The fireworks were beginning to come faster now, bigger. Clearly the show was building up to its apex. A series of enormous, multi-colored bouquets appeared in the sky, perfectly timed. Twilight felt the explosions in her chest when the sound reached them, but it wasn’t an unpleasant feeling in the slightest.
The last firework that lit up the sky was bigger, and even more breathtaking than the ones that had come before, but Twilight didn’t get to see it. As the arrow streaked up into the sky, she felt soft lips touching hers, and without thinking she closed her eyes and kissed back. She didn’t know if she was any good at it, nor did she care much. It felt good, and that was all that mattered. She felt the thump of the final firework hit her, but with how fast her heart was beating it really didn’t make much of a difference. She also ignored the people around her starting to applaud the show. For Twilight, only that one moment existed, and she and Sunset were alone, not on a crowded field. So many feelings raced through her that she lost count of them. She couldn’t think. Her mind, always so analytical, was quiet for once.
It felt like the kiss lasted for an eternity, but in reality it was probably only a few seconds. When they broke apart, both Sunset and Twilight were blushing furiously.
“I…I hope you didn’t mind that,” Sunset said nervously.
Twilight shook her head. “Of course not. I…quite liked it, actually.”
Sunset looked relieved. Then she looked at the people around them, now all leaving the field now that the show was over.
“So…I guess it’s about time we go back to the portal, huh?” she said. She didn’t sound very eager.
Twilight grabbed her hands and said, “Or…we could stay here. Just a little bit longer.”
Sunset smiled at her. “I take it you liked the date, then?” she asked.
Twilight nodded. “Yes. Thank you, Sunset.”
Then she kissed her again. She knew she’d have to back to Equestria soon, but just for now, she wanted to hold on to this moment. Here, on this field, kissing Sunset while still wearing her jacket. Everything was perfect.