Twilight and Sunset stepped off the bus and back into the slowly increasing flurry of snow. Thankfully they only had to run for a few seconds before coming to the mall’s entrance.
“So, where’s the arcade?” Twilight asked, brushing snow off her clothes and putting her mittens back in her pockets.
“It’s not far,” Sunset returned Twilight’s scarf. “Thanks for letting me borrow this.”
Twilight tucked the scarf in her pocket too, then followed after Sunset as they made their way to the arcade.
Looking at the various arcade games, Twilight tried to remember the last time she had played one. Maybe Shining took me to an arcade a few years back? She thought.
Sunset took her by the hand and pulled her deeper inside. “Come on, let’s play some skee ball!”
Sunset continued to drag Twilight to a few of her favorite games. Not that Twilight minded, she really enjoyed spending time with Sunset. The fact that Sunset beat her in every game they played wasn’t even enough to bring her spirits down.
“I’m getting pretty hungry,” Twilight said, while Sunset looked around for the next game they could play.
“Oh, right. Me too, now that you mention it,” Sunset said. “You want to head to the food court now, then?”
Twilight nodded. “This has been really fun, but if we stay here much longer, we’ll miss the chance to look at any of the stores here,” Twilight tried her hand at teasing
They laughed and started towards the food court.
Entering the food court, they looked around at all the various food stalls.
“What do you want to eat?” Sunset asked.
Twilight took a couple of moments to think before answering. Her eyes scanned over the stalls one more time to see what was most appealing right now. “I want noodles, I think.”
They walked closer to the noodle stall and Sunset gave an appreciative nod. “Sounds good. Let’s get in line.”
There luckily wasn’t a line for the stall.
“Oh, hello.” Twilight said, looking at the different offers they had. ”Uhm, I’ll have the chicken and egg noodles, please.”
“I’ll have the vegetarian noodles.” Sunset said next to her.
Twilight suddenly felt uneasy at her choice, but she decided not to say anything yet.
They sat down at a nearby table and Sunset immediately dug into her food. Twilight however, felt the need to speak up.
“Sunset,” Sunset looked up, her cheeks puffed out from her food. “Does it… bother you that I’m eating meat?” Twilight poked a piece of chicken on her plate for emphasis.
Sunset raised a finger at Twilight while she chewed and swallowed. “Don’t worry, Twilight. I’ve come to terms with the fact that most people eat animals, even if I don’t agree with that. And I don’t want you to feel like you have to eat food you don’t like as much on my account.”
Twilight gave a smile and nod before digging into her food.
“So, what do your parents do for a living?” Twilight asked between bites.
“My mom is the principal of CHS, actually. It made changing schools a bit awkward, to be honest.” Sunset replied.
Twilight remembered Sunset’s MyStable profile, and the fact she only had two other people on her friends list. Two names that had felt vaguely familiar, and that she now remembered seeing when she had been researching CHS after finding out that the readings came form there. They were the Principal and Vice-Principal of CHS.
“Your mom was your principal?” Twilight realized it was a rather unnecessary question, but couldn’t help herself.
“Not always, actually. She adopted me a few months ago. Before then I was on my own.” Sunset chuckled slightly, “I had been sleeping in the school library, on a mattress made of books.” Twilight watched Sunset chuckle at the old memory, trying to figure out how she felt about this.
“You used to be homeless?” Even Twilight could hear the pitying tone to her voice.
Sunset looked down at her noodles. “Well, yeah, kinda. I had a part time job, which was enough to keep me fed and clothed, so I wasn’t really struggling. But now I have a real home, and a parent who really cares. Everything is so much better now. Mostly,” Sunset trailed off and went back to eating, not meeting Twilight’s eyes.
Twilight had lived with a loving family her whole life. She really couldn’t relate to Sunset’s past.
“Wait,” Twilight said, narrowing her eyes, “if you were living in the school, how did they never see you? How did you get in and out after school and on weekends?”
Sunset shrugged. “I stole a key from the janitor, and he never went into the library. Apparently he accidentally destroyed a bunch of books once when he spilled a cleaning bucket, and the librarian demanded that she clean the library herself, which she always did during school hours.”
Sunset took a sip of water before continuing. “Also, the school didn’t feel the need to have CCTV or anything like that. Honestly,” she giggled, “they didn’t take security all that seriously. Normally, what I would do is leave the school early in the morning, before the staff arrived and then show up with all the other students. Except one day, Principal Celestia came to work early, and caught me as I was leaving. I ended up telling her the truth about living there, and she generously invited me to stay with her, which eventually led to her adopting me.”
“You didn’t get punished or anything?”
“No,” Sunset idly played with her noodles. “Mom realized I was a bad place, and needed help not discipline.”
After finishing their food, they started their way out of the food court.
“So, were do you want to go next?” Sunset asked.
“I really want to visit the bookstore. There’s also a movie showing at the theater that might be fu-” Twilight was interrupted when Sunset grabbed her arm and pulled her behind a trash can.
“Shhh, don’t move, “Sunset whispered.
Twilight looked around trying to see what was going on. The other mall goers were continuing on normally, except for a few that gave the two of them questioning looks.
“What is it?” Twilight whispered to Sunset.
Sunset peeked over the top of the trash can, and Twilight followed her. She seemed to be looking at a group of girls in line for one of the stalls. “Who are they?” Twilight asked, not bothering to whisper, since they were on the other end of the large hall, well out of hearing range.
Sunset sighed. “Those used to be my friends. I don’t really want to deal with them now.” They watched as the girls all got their food then went to sit in a corner just out of sight from where they were hiding.
Sunset led Twilight to an escalator that would take them up a level. “The bookstore sounds great. And as a bonus, I doubt well run into them in there.”
“Ok, now you have me really curious. What happened between you and them?” Twilight asked.
Sunset sighed. “It’s kind of stupid really.” She kept leading Twilight in the direction of the bookstore. “Someone started spreading a bunch of peoples’ secrets on a MyStable profile that had been made to look like me.”
“You were framed? And everyone just blindly assumed you were behind it?” Twilight frowned.
“I didn’t exactly have the best track record.” Sunset rubbed her arm bashfully. “They never believed me when I said it wasn’t me, and after a couple of weeks of being shunned and bullied by my classmates, I decided to transfer.”
“And you never found out who did it? Or why?” Twilight felt her fists clenching.
Sunset shrugged. “I don’t really care at this point. I’m pretty happy with what I have now,” she winked.
Twilight blushed. Not really having a follow up, she let the conversation drop.
Twilight’s frown vanished when they entered the bookstore and started browsing the shelves and chatting about various books, genres and authors.
They spent an entire hour just looking at, and talking about books. Twilight bought a couple for herself, and Sunset got one that Twilight had recommended her.
Sunset looked around as they left the bookstore. Twilight had a feeling she was still worried about those girls.
“Is this whole trip going to be a stealth mission now?” Twilight teased, crossing her arms.
“Nah,” Sunset said in a casual tone. “They probably have work today, so we’ll just have to avoid a few of the stores here.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow at her friend. “Is it that big of a deal if they see you?” She asked.
“Well…” Sunset gave Twilight an odd look, then smiled and put her arm around Twilight’s shoulders. “Today is about new friends, not old ones. And I intend to keep it that way.” Twilight felt a warmth in her chest at Sunset’s closeness. She wasn’t used to this kind of affection. Except from family, but that wasn’t quite the same.
Twilight’s smile faltered as the image of Sunset in the locker room returned. Sunset released her and looked around at the shops again. Twilight shook her head to try and banish the pesky thought.
“I was thinking of buying some new clothes,” Sunset said. “You wanna come check it out?”
Twilight nodded, hoping her blush wasn’t too obvious. She didn’t have much of a fashion sense, and rarely gave much interest when her mother dragged her to one of these stores, but she was happy to go along with Sunset.
The mall happened to be full of various clothing stores, and the two of them started with the nearest one.
Sunset went straight for the t-shirt section, Twilight followed along as Sunset quickly scanned the t-shirts. She took out a light blue tank top and, putting it against her chest, she turned to Twilight.
“This looks nice. What do you think?” Sunset asked.
Twilight’s mind started to panic slightly as her not-interested-in-fashion mind thought of an appropriate response. “Uhm, It’s kinda cute, I guess?” She said, with a minuscule amount of confidence.
Sunset looked at it for a bit longer. “Hmm, I’ll try it on.” She continued on and found a pair of orange shorts. “Ooh, I like these.”
Twilight looked around at the various articles of clothing, but didn’t really find anything that caught her eye.
“I’m gonna try these on, could you hold this?” Sunset asked, holding out her bag from the bookstore.
“Sure.” Twilight took the offered bag, and sat down outside the changing rooms. She passed the time by looking through some news sites on her phone. Though nothing caught her interest.
Sunset came out of the changing room wearing the blue tank top and the orange shorts.
“What do you think?” Sunset asked.
Twilight looked up to see Sunset standing in front of the changing room wearing the blue tank top and the orange shorts. Immediately she noticed that the colors suited Sunset a lot better than the school uniform. She also noticed that Sunset was showing off a lot of skin, a look that also suited her nicely.
“I-it looks great,” Twilight brought her hand up to brush her bangs out of her face in an attempt to hide her blush.
Sunset turned back to look in the changing rooms mirror. “It does, doesn’t it? I would totally buy this if it wasn’t the middle of winter right now.” She sighed and went back into the changing room. “Be back in a minute, then we’ll look at some other stores.”
Twilight nodded, then took a deep breath to try and calm her racing heart. How many times is she going to surprise me like that? She thought to herself.
Sunset came back out in her CPA uniform, and the two left the store. They walked past plenty more clothes stores, giving each a quick glance before moving on, until one of them caught Sunset’s eye.
“Here, let’s try this one.” She said, pulling Twilight by the arm into the store.
Sunset pulled Twilight to a rack of blouses in various shapes and colors. She looked at them one at a time, occasionally asking for Twilight’s opinion. To which Twilight tended to give non-committal positive answers.
“Hey,” Sunset said, pulling out a dark blue blouse with long sleeves and holding it up against Twilight’s chest. “This one looks like it might look cute on you. Why don’t you try it on?”
Twilight looked down at the blouse. It did look pretty cute. “Sure, why not?” She said.
Sunset also picked out a few for herself. They spent a few more minutes looking at various shirts and some jeans, not finding anything they liked, before heading to the changing rooms.
There was only one empty changing room, and Sunset insisted that Twilight go first. Twilight switched her school uniform shirt with the dark blue blouse. Before long, it was time to show herself off. Something she had never really taken to before, and with Sunset of all people out there, Twilight was feeling a little nervous.
She took a moment to compose herself then parted the curtain and took a step forward. Sunset looked up from her phone and stood up to admire her.
“I was right, It does look cute on you.” Sunset smiled and twirled her finger, silently telling Twilight to spin in a circle. Twilight was happy for the brief opportunity to hide her blush.
Sunset held a finger to her chin, nodding in appreciation. “I definitely think you should get that one.”
Twilight twirled a lock of hair in her finger. “I think I will. It does look pretty good.”
Twilight changed back, and as she left the changing room, Sunset took her place to try on her picks.
She came back out a few minutes later, holding a short sleeved red blouse in one hand and the rest in the other. “I really like this red one. I’m gonna leave the others though.” Sunset indicated the blue blouse in Twilight’s hands, “So, you going to buy that one?”
“Oh, uhm. Yes. It’s a bit pricey, but I have some allowance saved up.” Twilight said.
Sunset nodded and they made for the cashier.
Twilight left that store with the warm feeling of having gotten something new. Though not as much as when she left the bookstore.
They continued past a few more stores, until one caught Twilight’s eye.
“That one looks pretty good.” She said, pointing at a fairly classy looking store a few paces ahead.
Sunset suddenly grabbed Twilight by the arm and stopped her in her tracks. “Actually, we should avoid that one. One of my ex-friends works there.” Sunset then sneaked closer to the store, and poked her head round the corner. “She’s talking to a customer right now. We should be able to sneak past unnoticed.”
Twilight wondered how necessary all this sneaking around really was, before Sunset grabbed her once again and pulled her forward. Twilight caught a brief glimpse at a purple haired girl she recognized from the food court talking animatedly with a customer before they were out of sight again, completely unnoticed.
“Are you sure you’re not being a bit paranoid about all this?” Twilight asked, wringing her wrist where Sunset had grabbed it twice now.
Sunset saw this and her expression immediately became guilty as she rubbed the back of her neck. “Sorry about that. But no I don’t think I’m being paranoid. Like I said, I want this to be about the two of us, and you cannot imagine just how overbearing those girls are. Especially when they're all together. Well, except for Fluttershy, I guess.”
Twilight still thought Sunset was taking this whole thing a bit too seriously, but decided to stay silent on that. She noticed another store that looked interesting to her and nodded her head towards it.
“How about that one?” She asked.
Sunset looked over at it and nodded. “Yeah, we can check that one out.”
Looking around, Twilight noticed that this store was very ‘girly’ and held mostly skirts and knee socks in bright bubbly colors.
As entered the store, Sunset folded her arms. “This ones all you. This isn’t really my style, you know?.”
Twilight started to feel bad about her choice and considered just leaving and finding a different store they could both enjoy. But Sunset apparently read her expression because she held up a hand to stop Twilight from speaking.
“Don’t worry about me, I’ll help you look.” Sunset smiled reassuringly. Twilight nodded and started looking through the store.
Five minutes later, she had a couple of skirts and a few knee socks to try on, and they went to the changing rooms. Twilight tried on a few combinations of skirts and socks, but one of them stood out from the rest. A purple skirt and dark blue socks that she was sure would go perfectly with her newly purchased blouse. She decided to ask Sunset’s opinion on the matter.
Leaving the changing room, she heard a low whistle come from Sunset. “Now that looks really good. And,” Sunset stood up to get a better look. “I think that blouse you just got would match it really well too.”
Twilight giggled as she spun around to show herself off for her friend. “That’s exactly what I thought.” She responded cheerfully. The nervousness from last time was still there, but it was a little easier to handle the second time around.
Twilight brought her picks to the cashier. The price was a bit smaller this time around, so the didn’t feel too bad about spending a lot in one day. Besides, she could afford to splurge from time to time.
“How about we get some ice cream now?“ Sunset asked. “You know, before I indirectly get you to spend your whole allowance on clothes.” Twilight rolled her eyes at Sunset’s teasing smile.
“Ice cream sounds great actually,” Twilight said.
Five minutes later, Twilight and Sunset sat down with their ice cream. Twilight had ordered cherry, and Sunset had picked blueberry.
Twilight savored the sweetness of the first lick, but was interrupted from her personal bliss when Sunset spoke.
“So, you mentioned you play violin?” Sunset asked.
Twilight nodded. “Yep. I started learning when I was six.”
Sunset gave a low whistle. “You must be pretty good then, that’s what, eleven years of practice?” Sunset asked.
“Ten years, actually. I skipped 7th grade. But yes, I am pretty good.” Twilight blushed as soon as the words left her mouth, hastily adding, “At least, thats what my parents tell me. A-and Shining and Cadance.” Twilight saw a slight grin start to spread across Sunset’s face. “I mean, that’s what my teacher said.” Sunset chucked at Twilight’s embarrassment, and Twilight then decided the best course of action was to stuff her mouth with ice cream so she couldn’t dig herself any further down.
“You’re only sixteen, huh?” Sunset asked. Twilight nodded, her mouth still stuffed with ice cream. “I heard it can be tough to skip a grade. Whole new set of classmates, some find it difficult to socialize with the older, more mature kids.”
Twilight kept her eyes focused on her ice cream cone. “As if I didn’t have difficulty socializing beforehand.” She muttered, then cleared her throat. “I never really had any close friends, so it didn’t really change much for me. Just a new set of slightly familiar faces. So, do you play any instruments?”
“Yep, I play the guitar. Used to be in a band as well. I used to love performing in front of a crowd.” Sunset looked wistfully at her half-eaten ice cream.
Twilight laughed, finally relaxing after the earlier awkwardness. “I was the opposite, I hated having to do recitals. I always got so nervous I’d be stressing over them for days beforehand.”
Sunset joined in her laughter. “I’d love to hear you play someday. If you don’t mind.”
Twilight froze. Inwardly, she was already panicking. ”Uh, s-sure. We could do that.” Terrifying though it might be, Twilight did want to impress Sunset. And she felt like she didn’t have all that many ways of doing so. “I’d like hearing you play too in that case.” Maybe she wouldn’t be as stressed about it that way.
“Done.” Sunset said.
They finished their ice cream, and chatted some more while they waited for Cadance to come pick them up.
“Hey, Cadance.” Twilight asked as she climbed into the passenger seat, while Sunset took the back seat.
“Hi, Twily.” Cadance said with her usual cheer. “Nice to see you again, Sunset.” She added, looking in the rear view mirror.
“Hi De-, uh, Cadance,” Sunset responded.
“So, I’ll be dropping you off first. Where do you live?” Cadance started towards the parking lot exit.
Sunset gave Cadance her address, then turned to Twilight. “So, what kind of music do you like?”
Twilight turned in her seat to face Sunset. “Classical, mostly. It was why I wanted to learn violin in the first place. My favorite is Beethoven.”
“I like classical too, I usually prefer rock, though. I love a song with a lot of energy in it.” Sunset said. “My band was kinda pop, as much as some of us wanted it to be rock.”
“Did you ever write any songs?” Twilight asked.
“We wrote all our songs our selves. I only wrote one song, but that was actually after we split.” Sunset smiled. “Maybe I’ll play that one for you, Twi.”
“Oh?” Cadance joined in, “Did I hear that right? You’re going to give my ladybug a private performance?” Twilight felt herself blush, and saw the same happen to Sunset.
“Yeah,“ Sunset said, “I wanted to hear Twilight play violin, and she wanted to hear me play guitar.”
“I see.”
Twilight could see a glint in Cadance’s eyes, though they were still locked on the road.
They lapsed into a silence that lasted a few minutes, until it was broken by Cadance. “So, what did you buy, Twily?”
“A few books, “ Twilight started, catching an eye-roll from Cadance. “And Sunset helped me pick out some clothes.”
“Ooh, you’ll have to show me after dinner. I’m staying over for dinner by the way,” Cadance clarified, before turned into a suburban street. “Is this the right place, Sunset?” She asked while looking at the various houses along the street.
“Yep, it’s the yellow one on the right, over there,” Sunset pointed, and Cadance pulled the car into the driveway.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Twilight. Thanks for the ride Cadance.” Sunset left the car with her own shopping bag.
“Bye, Sunset,“ Twilight waved at her friend.
“It was nice seeing you again,” Cadance said.
Cadance and Twilight were silent as they drove down the street. Cadance pulled onto a larger road just as she broke the silence.
“So.” She started. “You’re going to give Sunset a private performance? I remember how much you hated your recitals.”
Twilight looked out her window. “It’s different when it’s just one person,” she muttered.
“Is it different because it’s just one person, or because it’s a specific person?” Twilight could clearly hear the teasing edge in Cadance’s voice.
Twilight blushed. “I guess it’s kinda both.” She started wringing the hem of her skirt. “Cadance,” Twilight hesitated, “what do you do if you… like someone?”
Cadance squeed in delight. “Oh, Twilight, I’ve been waiting for this moment for years. And, for what it’s worth, I think you and Sunset look adorable together.”
Twilight wilted under Cadance’s enthusiasm.
“So,” Cadance continued, “you’re going to have to start by finding out if she’s available, and interested. Do you know if she’s single? Or if she’s into girls?” Cadance glanced at Twilight occasionally, battling the urge to give all her attention to the conversation with the need to focus on the road.
“I never said it was Sunset,” Twilight protested weakly.
“Oh, sweety,” Cadance patted Twilight on the head. “You didn’t have to. I could hear it in every word you said to her.”
Twilight huffed in irritation. “Well, anyway. I’m pretty sure she’s single, though I haven’t actually asked. And I have no idea if she likes girls or not.” Twilight slumped in her seat and looked out at the buildings speeding past the window.
“Start by asking her about that, but you know, don’t be too obvious about it. ” Cadance said. “And just spend time together. You’re still young, so you don’t need to rush into a relationship. Just take you’re time, and become friends first, then pursue a bigger relationship.”
Twilight nodded. “Thanks, Cadance.” She said sincerely.
“And, since you’re going be serenading her, you might get a good start if you play her a love song.” Twilight gave Cadance a deadpan stare. Cadance winked at her, then focused her attention back on the road.
“Thanks, Cadance.” Twilight said sarcastically.
Cadance joined the Sparkles for dinner that evening. Velvet asked Twilight question after question about what she and Sunset did at the mall. After dinner she showed off her new outfit to Cadance, and was happy to receive a few compliments on it.
After Cadance went to go spend time with Shining, Twilight decided to spend the rest of the evening getting a start on one of her new books.
When her bedtime rolled around, she went through her evening routine, with the added step of ‘remove makeup’.
After a few moments lying in bed, a certain, persistent image popped into her head.
Sunset naked in the locker room.
The image had popped into her head a few times today already, but unlike before, now she was alone with no distractions, and privacy.
She tried to turn her thoughts to something else, she tried to simply go to sleep.
This is wrong. I shouldn’t be thinking about my friend like this. I shouldn’t do that while thinking about her. She chided herself for wanting this.
But it wasn’t enough. She found her hand constantly drifting lower and lower, focusing on anything other than Sunset’s flawless form became near impossible.
Twilight succumbed to her baser desires.