//------------------------------// // Opinions, Distractions, and Not-Dates // Story: Consequences // by shallow15 //------------------------------// “Hey, are you okay?” Timber Spruce asked. “You've been quiet ever since I picked you up.” “Huh?” Twilight blinked and straightened up in her seat, knocking her spoon onto the table. She blushed and giggled nervously. “Fine. I'm fine. Totally fine. Everything is just... fine.” Timber gave her a look. “Really?” Twilight deflated. “No. Sorry. I'm kind of killing the mood, aren't I?” “It's just lunch, Twilight. It's not like it's a date or anything.” Twilight's eyes widened and a manic grin spread across her face. “Date? Who said it's a date? This? A date? Pfft. Noooooo. Just us. Having lunch. Totally not a date. Haaaaaa!” Timber opened his mouth to speak, unsure of what exactly he was going to say, when mercifully, Pinkie Pie rolled up on her skates with their food. The two had decided on lunch at the Sweet Snacks Diner at the mall, and had happened to get a table in Pinkie's section. “Okay, double cheeseburger with curly fries for our favorite camp counselor,” Pinkie began, “And one grilled cheese and celery for Twilight!” She blinked and looked at Twilight, who was blushing bright red and grinning stiffly. “Um, Twilight? Are you okay?” “I'm FINE!” Twilight yelped, gaining the attention of several other tables. She let out a half-hearted chuckle and slowly slid lower in her seat. Pinkie and Timber looked at her with concern. Pinkie took a quick look around and leaned close to Twilight. “Listen, I'm sure Sunset feels really, really bad about what she said last night. Don't let it ruin your date. He's REALLY into you!” “Um, I'm right here,” Timber said. “And you need a refill!” Pinkie said, brightly, grabbing Timber's glass. “Be right back!” She zipped off, only to somehow return, rolling backwards. She bent herself backwards and gave Twilight a saucy smile. “Totally into you,” she whispered before zooming off again. Twilight and Timber stared at her as she left before looking at each other. After a moment, they both laughed. “Well, I guess that's one way to break the ice,” said Timber. “Yeah.” Twilight took a deep breath then let it out. “I'm sorry I'm being such a flake. Things have been really stressful the last couple of weeks. And last night...” “What happened? Is Sunset all right?” Twilight sighed and related the argument she had with Sunset the night before. “And the worse part of it is that I know she's right. I didn't have a plan and I nearly got all of us hurt or worse. Pinkie had to get her cast reset before we could take her home. I don't even know what she told her parents.” “Well, for what it's worth, I think you had a point too.” Twilight gave him an incredulous look. “Really?” Timber nodded. “Really. Look, what you did was dangerous, yeah, but even if she knew what she was getting into, things were still just as dangerous. We've had some of the kids who live in Klugetown come to the camp. They're hyperaware of everything. It's a dangerous place and even if Sunset knew these people, they could have still done something to her and Applejack.” “Well, yeah, but I almost got us eaten by whatever it is that's out there.” “And she could have gotten herself or Applejack shot,” Timber countered. “From where I stand, last night, you were both idiots.” Twilight blinked and stared, open-mouthed, at his serious expression. Then she sputtered when he grinned and shoved one of his fries into her mouth. She spit the fry out, which landed on the table between them. Timber grinned, speared it with a fork and ate it. “Oh my god! That was in my MOUTH!” Twilight yelped. Timber grinned. “I know.” Twilight couldn't help herself, she made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a gag. “You're so gross!” “Maybe, but it got your mind of your troubles for a bit, didn't it?” Twilight stopped cringing, looked at his smirk, and started laughing. He joined her and they calmed down after a minute. “Seriously, though,” Timber said. “You're both right. You both did some seriously dangerous things last night, and with that Tempest Shadow person sniffing around, it could have drawn the kind of attention you guys don't want.” “I know,” Twilight replied. “But we have to do something. The longer it's out there, the more likely she'll start looking into it and that may lead right back to us.” “I'm not saying you stop looking for this thing, I'm saying you all should try to be smarter about it. I don't know what, if anything, she found at the camp, but I don't know if the giant magic light show is going to be your best option when you do find this thing. And maybe suggest to Sunset she try not to involve criminals in what's going on when a federal agent is looking into what you guys do.” “If she's still speaking to me,” Twilight muttered, poking at her sandwich. “We've kind of been at odds with each other these last couple of weeks. We have a conflict, we resolve it, and then something else crops up and we're right back where we started.” “And you guys work the problems out and move on. And judging from what Pinkie just said, Sunset probably feels as bad as you do. If talking to her solved your other problems, it should work for this one, right?” “Maybe. I just wish I didn't keep --” She was interrupted by a the sound of her text notification going off. Twilight reache dinto the pocket of her skirt and pulled out her phone. She blinked. “It's from Sunset.” “What's it say?” Twilight read the text then held out her phone to Timber. At that moment, Pinkie Pie returned with Timber's refill. She put the glass on the table. “Whatcha looking at? New meme? Is it the one with the otter dressed like a 16th century nobleman and he asks really mundane questions in iambic pentameter? I love that one!” Twilight gave Pinkie her phone. The bouncy girl's face fell. “Oh... bummer.”