Sunset let the phone ring, feeling her heart beat louder by the second.
By the eighth second, the ringing was barely audible, her heartbeat replacing the acoustics of the room, until finally a gentle, smoky voice answered the call.
Hey Sunset, what’s up?
A second of silence. The sound of his voice almost made the redhead hang up. She immediately regretted this decision. Why did she call him again?
This is the first time she’s actually called him by the phone. Back then, she would just send texts that are just two sentences by the maximum, and all of them were either a demand or fake flirts to pull his heartstrings. In terms of calls, it’s always been him. A call to ask if she wants a ride home. A call to ask her out. A call to check if she’s okay when she’s absent or late for class. A call just to tell her that he wanted to hear her voice. Sunset would roll her eyes almost every time he called her. It annoyed her. But with her phone currently by her ear and knowing full well who’s on the other side, she remembered all those times that he did. He was just caring for her—and she missed it. And now she’s calling him.
Uhhh, hello?
Another second of silence. Her hands were trembling. She could feel herself sweating buckets. What time is it? Is this a bad time? It’s never like this when I call the girls. Heck, it wasn’t even a problem when I called Timber Spruce for Twilight. Why is this so hard? Oh my gosh is this how she felt? I’m sorry Twilight!
The voice on the other line changed to a softer, concerning tone. Hello? Sunset? You OK?
This finally snapped her back into attention. “H-hey, Flash! Y-yeah, I’m OK. Sorry about that.” She managed, her voice sounding ridiculous and wobbly. Congratulations, Sunset. You managed to say three sentences. Oh gosh why am I so nervous? Just get on with it, Sunset!
She sat back down on her couch. She took a deep breath, trying to relax her nerves. It didn’t work. She continued anyway. “I uhh, I want to talk to you. You, you free tomorrow?”
The reply was instant, as though there was no hesitation from the other side of the line at all.
Sure, I got no rehearsals tomorrow, so I’m free.
“O-oh, great! So uhh, meet up at the Sweet Shoppe? 3 o’clock?”
3 o’clock? In the morning? I don’t remember Sweet Shoppe being open 24/7. The redhead heard the boy chuckle, his tone sounding lighter, way more relaxed that Sunset could ever be at the moment. Sounds pretty shady if you ask me.
A feeling of worry shot through her, memories of her past self flooding out of her head. “W-what? No, no! In the afternoon! I just want to talk!”
Immediately noticing the panic in her voice, Flash toned down his playful banter, now sounding completely serious, and just as worried as Sunset. Hey relax, I was only joking. I know I asked this a while ago, but are you OK, Sunset?
A second of silence passed, but not from Sunset’s nervousness. He still cares. The thought brought a small smile on her face. With a shaky, but determined breath, she admitted to the blue-haired boy.
“Actually Flash? I’m not OK. I had a terrible dream last night. About the past me. About you. That’s why I wanted to talk to you.”
Unlike before, there was a moment of pause coming from the other side, worrying her; half-expecting for him to hang up, just like that. But she heard his voice speak up once again, his tone soft and gentle with worry yet firm and resolute.
OK, Sunset. I understand. I’ll be there. I promise. See you tomorrow.
A breath of relief could be heard from Sunset’s side, her whole body loosening up from tension. A tired smile touched her rosy cheeks.
Thanks, Flash. I’ll see you tomorrow.
She hanged up the phone, collapsing to her side on the couch, exhausted. The call only took about a couple of minutes, but to her it felt like hours. She looked back at the window, noticing that the night is indeed still very young. And just about time for dinner. She dragged herself to the kitchen, scavenging for any leftovers. She can’t have Flash worry about her any more than he already is.
_____________________________________
Today was a quiet day for Sweet Shoppe, despite being a Sunday. Usually it’d be packed with customers, both young and old. But today only a total of 9 customers paid the café a visit. Perhaps it’s because of the cold, cloudy weather outside. Unlike the darkened sky however, the Cakes were still as bright as ever; the kitchen was abundant with activity, Mr. Cake taking out fresh confectioneries out of the oven to fill up the display shelf at the counter, where Mrs. Cake was preparing the beverages. She brought the prepared mugs to the café’s remaining two customers, two young teenagers; a boy with spiky blue hair, sitting uncomfortably with his hands tucked in his jacket, and a beautiful girl with red and golden hair, her arms hugging herself as if she were in the cold, despite having a warm-looking leather jacket draped over teal blouse. Only one of them was looking at the other, the atmosphere around them seeming to match with the weather outside.
“Here are your drinks, dearies,” she called to their attention.
The boy was the first to look up at her, receiving his drink with a wry smile. “Thanks, Mrs. Cake.” Flash Sentry briefly looked at his mug, a brewed macchiato with a dash of cinnamon. He then looked at the redhead across him staring outside the window, who still hasn’t noticed the kind shop-owner’s approach. Mrs. Cake gave the boy an understanding nod, and gently placed the mug of chamomile tea on the girl’s side of the table, leaving then the two alone to embrace the mixed therapeutic scent of coffee and tea wafting in the air around them.
Sunset Shimmer was silent the entire time she was in the café. When she entered the café a few minutes ago, she simply waved to Mrs. Cake with a tiny wave and with an even tinier smile before she made her way to a booth by the window. She did the same to Flash Sentry when he arrived two minutes later. Immediately after, she shifted to her current pose, unmoving like a model, as though an artist was painting her in a beautiful, sad piece of art. Noticing Sunset facing the window and nothing on the table, Flash walked up to the counter, ordering his drink and Sunset’s. As Mrs. Cake diligently took his order, she couldn’t help but look at the unmoving girl with a worried look. Sunset Shimmer is a regular customer here in Sweet Shoppe, usually if not always with her best friends. And every time she was here, she was with a smile. Seeing the poor girl like this was becoming unsettling to the shop-owner.
With a lowered voice, she asked the boy, “Why, what’s happened to your friend, dear? Is she alright?” Flash looked uneasy, tensing up as he rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s uhh. It’s complicated,” he replied. The shop-owner could only nod, “Well I hope it goes well, dearie. She’s much prettier with a smile on her face.” She then noticed the boy relax his tensed shoulders as he turned to look the girl as well. He muttered under his breath, “Yeah, she sure is.”
________________________________________
Back to the present time, Flash took a sip from his coffee, taking in the bitter-sweetness of the macchiato, his hands firmly holding on to the mug. He looked at the downcast girl in front of him again. The silence between them is different than the silence they shared yesterday at the mall. This one was making him more uncomfortable by the minute. Sunset is clearly not being herself at the moment, and Flash is clearly concerned about it, and he wants to help, but he still waited patiently for the redhead to speak. She said she wanted to talk, so she will, the boy reminded himself.
Just as he told himself so, Sunset breathed out a sigh, taking her mug of tea, embracing its warmth in her hands, and finally looked at him, her eyes moist with emotion.
“Thanks, Flash. For coming, for waiting, I, I think I’m ready to talk now.”
The boy gulped silently and nodded firmly to the girl. She continued,
“I had a dream the other night. It was a memory; one that the old me would call ‘the most humiliating day’ of my life.” The boy then thought of a certain lavender girl, facing off against Sunset Shimmer in front of the school, at the night of Fall Formal. But then he heard the redhead’s next words,
“It was the day you broke up with me.”
“…Oh.”
He looked down to his coffee, his hands tightening its grasp over it. The scene from that hallway immediately resurfaced on his mind, flooding over the scene from Fall Formal like a tidal wave. Images of the memory reflected off fresh and vivid, as if it just happened yesterday. He remembered gravity being ten times stronger as he stood waiting by his girlfriend’s locker. By each mini-second the memory became even clearer; every object, every person, every speck of tiny dust floating about, made visible by the morning light, every detail was now in high-definition. Sunset’s frustrated face when he said those three words. Him walking away. Her angered voice growing in volume until it filled the entire hallway, drowning out all sound. His legs weighing heavier and heavier with every step and—
“Stop.”
Flash snapped back to the present, his eyes now locked unto Sunset, shocked to see her eyes—for a brief moment—glowing a bright light. He was more shocked however to see tears on her now cyan eyes. He felt her hands over his; shaking, trembling.
“…Sunset?”
“Don’t remember it,” she pleaded, “Please.”
He looked back down to see her trembling hands on his. How long have her hands been there? And they felt so soft, and so, so warm. He looked back to the redhead with golden streaks, tears flowing down reddened cheeks like a broken stream. He then noticed a small, bright light glowing from her chest, and he finally understood—her geode; the one she and her friends found in Camp Everfree. The boy doesn’t fully know the details, but the seven girls all gained some sort of magical ability because of those magical stones. Everyone rather calls those abilities “super powers” though. From what he could remember, Sunset’s power is reading minds and looking through the memories of others from a touch. Did she see the memory too?
Sunset realized what she was doing and pulled away, her face burning in a sudden panic. “S-sorry! I-I didn’t mean to read to your mind,” she began rambling, “I just saw you looking sad and I didn’t know what came over me and I just sort of wanted to hold your hands and my powers activated and I just,” she paused to look at blue-haired boy. He was just staring at her blankly, unsure with what to do or say. She took a shaky breath and continued; her hands grasping her mug once again, still warm yet still filled to the brim. “That memory just now—that was the dream I had the other night. I, I remembered that I was so humiliated and I was just, so angry! But, that was from the old me. I looked at the memory again from my current point of view and this time, I remembered you. I remembered you so clearly, and I saw your eyes, oh gosh your eyes…” She faltered, looking up at Flash, a blush slowly becoming visible on his cheeks.
“And then I saw how you felt in that memory and I just—”she tried to blink away the tears, but they’ve now increased in intensity and volume, and with no sign of them stopping. “—I don’t ever want to see you like that again. I’m, I’m so sorry, Flash.”
She could no longer hold it in. Right in front of her ex-boyfriend, she wept. From the counter, Mrs. Cake saw the weeping redhead, and felt somewhat grateful that those two were the only two customers in the café, giving them the needed privacy and peace for the sorrowful girl to cry out her feelings. She also felt prompted to change the sign on the front door from “Open” to “Closed,” and walked over to the door to do so. Flash Sentry on the other hand just watched her cry, still processing the information that was just said and currently happening in front of him. He’s the one who break up with her, and yet here she was, crying in front of him, apologizing. Even as she cried behind her soft fingers the boy could hear her mutter in whispers, “I’m sorry…I’m sorry...” He then felt a familiar, tiny desire building up inside him. It was a feeling that he couldn’t quite put his finger on it; something he felt a long time ago, but he pushed it to back of his mind, wanting to focus on the now. It didn’t matter that the girl crying in front of was his ex-girlfriend. It didn’t matter that she hurt him deeply. This time, she’s the one in pain, and as much as Sunset didn’t want to see him hurt, he too didn’t want to see her like this either.
He wanted to reach out for her hand but both of them were covering her face, droplets dripping in between her fingers. Instead he called out to her, his voice gentle and firm.
“Sunset. Sunset, it’s okay. I’ve already forgiven you.”
“No it isn’t!”
She practically yelled, which caused the boy to retract a little. She immediately realized her actions and regretted it, turning away in shame. She finally took a sip from her tea with shaky hands in attempt to ease her nerves, but to no avail. She sighed and gazed back at Flash, “I-I’m sorry about that. But how? How is it okay? How was any of it okay? I was a terrible a person and an even worse person to you! I played you like a pawn. I trampled on your feelings like dirt! How could you just forgive me like that and be okay with all of the stuff I’ve done to everyone? To the girls? To you?”
Flash was slightly taken aback by her question, but with a sigh of his own, he lowered his eyes to his coffee. Unexpectedly, a tiny smile crested on his lips, “it’s, because of Twilight, I guess.” Now it was Sunset’s turn to be taken aback, a mix of shock and confusion could be seen on her face. She out of everyone in the entire school would understand which Twilight he was referring to.
“Back in Fall Formal,” he continued, “Twilight gave you a second chance. Then she left you in the care of Applejack and the others, giving you a second chance too, despite all of those things you’ve done to them. They accepted you as their friend and helped you change for the better. And then during the Battle of the Bands, when everyone was still doubting you—when I was still doubting you—she came back, and showed the Sirens and everyone how much you did change for the better.” He smiled at her; a genuine, wide smile, void of any doubt and hatred. His smile then changed to an excited, cheeky grin, his hands gestured wildly like a child playing with robot toys. “And you girls were just so cool when you shot that huge rainbow lazer from the sky!”
Sunset couldn’t help but snort out a laugh from the boy’s sudden burst of excitement and silly hand gestures. “What, our song wasn’t what appealed to you guys?” She asked with a playful smirk.
Secretly relieved to see her finally smiling again, he replied playfully in kind, “Yeah well, hate to break it to you, but the giant rainbow-blasting unicorn with wings stole most of the attention. The Dazzlings got their light show too, but sea horses aren’t that popular nowadays.” The two youths stared each other down with competing smirks, and with a snicker from both of them they broke into heartfelt laughter. Mrs. Cake silently breathed out a sigh of relief as she watched the couple laugh out of the depressing atmosphere.
When their laughter died down, Flash smiled warmly at Sunset, resting his chin on his palm as he continued where he left off, “And if a pony princess from another world was able to see the good in you and give you a second chance, why can’t I, right?”
Sunset felt her face flush from the boy’s statement, but nevertheless she reached for his other hand that was resting on the table, held it firmly, and returned his smile with a sincere smile of her own. A single tear flowed down her cheek, but that one teardrop was neither out of sadness nor regret, but out of relief and gratitude.
“Thank you.”
He only smiled warmly in response. He didn’t have to say anything else. Sunset rested her eyes to the hands on the table, hers embracing his, feeling the slight roughness of his knuckles from her fingertips. It felt strangely calming, as though it was the most natural thing to do; her hand holding his hand. His hand. That she is currently holding. For a while now.
“Oh my gosh! I-I’m sorry!” Sunset immediately pulled her hand away from his, feeling a slight sense of déjà vu, and hid both hands under the table. Her blush was in a furious shade now, as though her very skin has changed its hue to the mystic glow of her magic when she was a unicorn.
Flash, having pieced together to what just occurred, pulled away his hand as quickly as she did and, as cool as he attempted to be, choked out a chuckle, his eyes darting to every direction except to the astonishingly cute girl in front of him. “I-t’s cool! Really!” he stammered. After a moment of mutual awkwardness, which was awkwardly followed by a moment of mutual warmth, eyes fixated on the table, the blue-haired boy finally spoke up.
“So, uhh, I guess we’re good?”
“Y-yeah, I guess we are.”
Once more silence filled the café, but the awkwardness was slowly losing its tension. The redhead took this opportunity to take a sip of her tea, now lukewarm as its refreshing flavor reached her lips. As she does so, she heard the boy speak up again,
“Hey, remember that time in Camp Everfree? I called out to you wanting to talk about starting over, but then you ran off to the forest.”
The girl almost spewed out her drink and choked a little, and she palmed her forehead with a grunt.
“Oh right! I completely forgot! Argh! I'm sorry, I should’ve gone back to you afterwards.”
“Hey, it’s cool, no problem,” he quickly replied, not wanting to make her feel more apologetic than she already is. “I kinda understood back then anyway; you and the girls did gain super powers and defeat a crazy plant lady, after all. But that’s not why I brought it up.”
He looked at her this time, his shady blue eyes now focused on her. Sunset gazed back to the shady blue. She has a feeling she knows what he’s going to ask next, waiting in anticipation. He held out his hand to her,
“I’ll ask again properly this time: do you want to start over, as friends? I mean we already are, but I wanted it so that there won’t be any more heavy baggage between us.”
Sunset looked at the held out hand, and then back to Flash. Her expression lighting up with a sincere smile, she grasped his hand, and they shook on it.
“Yeah, definitely. And by the way, it was an alicorn.”
The boy looked back at her in confusion. “A what?”
"The unicorn with wings. It’s called an alicorn. That’s basically what the rulers of Equestria are.”
“Equestria? You mean the world where you’re from? At the other side of the statue?”
“Yep. Princess Twilight is an alicorn too.”
“Woah.”
Sunset giggled at the blue-haired boy’s childish reaction.
“So what about you?” He inquired curiously, “What kind of horse—“
“Pony.”
“Sorry. What kind of pony were you?”
“I was a unicorn. See, in Equestria there are three main species of ponies…”
And so, gone were the depressing atmosphere and the awkward silence in the café, replaced instead with a lively conversation between two friends. They chatted about Sunset’s home world; what’s it like, what sort of magical creatures there are. They debated over whether an alicorn is ‘a unicorn with wings’ or ‘a pegasus with a horn,’ becoming even more even more heated when a new argument, ‘an earth pony with both wings and a horn,’ was added to the mix. They laughed and giggled over the fact that a talking dog was a dragon on the other side.
The shop-owner watched the two teenagers’ converse in full swing, reminding her of a time when she met her husband, and how they talked hours and hours on confectioneries and baking techniques. Happy from her nostalgic memory and eager for the two friends to make newer, better memories in the future, Mrs. Cake walked to the café’s door, and flipped its sign.
The Sweet Shoppe, though temporarily closed for just a little bit, is once again open, awaiting now for new customers to fill up the café with even more happiness.