Twilight waited at her locker for Sunset. There was still plenty of time for her to get there, but she still couldn't shake the feeling that she wasn't going to show up. She didn't like these thoughts entering her head, but she couldn't shake them. She was tapping her feet with nervous energy when she heard Sunset's voice call her name.
"Hey Twi! Sorry for running a little late, there was a fender bender that held me up for a bit. Were you waiting long?"
"Not long at all. That's an interesting way to carry your backpack." She pointed at the upside down bag slung in front of her chest.
"Yeah, I didn't get a chance to buy a new one since somebody kept me busy all weekend."
"Oh you poor thing." She teased back. "I do feel bad that you have to carry your things like that though."
"Don't worry about it. I'll just drop them off and stop at my locker between classes. I'll buy a new one after school."
She smiled brightly and took Sunset's hand. "Sounds like a plan. Let's unload your stuff and find the others!"
The search didn't take long as everyone was sitting at a table in the cafeteria enjoying breakfast. They waved as they passed to get in line for their own meals. Sunset glanced at the screen in the cafeteria and noticed that the Student Spotlight was Vynil. It had a list of fun facts about her including her stage name, 'DJ Pon3'. She smiled, happy to see she had used the silly feature to spread more awareness of her music. Sunset leaned against the wall and gently pulled Twilight against her so she could hold her from behind.
Twilight sighed contentedly, feeling protected in her arms while they waited for the crowded line to move ahead. The girl in front of them glanced back at Sunset with a sneer and put some more space between them. Twilight rolled her eyes, but looked back at Sunset regardless. She noticed that she had a fixed gaze on the floor which told her she'd seen the look. Twilight soothingly rubbed the back of her hand with her thumb and gave her a kiss on the cheek. This seemed to change her mood.
They talked about the classes they had that day and which ones they were excited for while the line steadily moved forward. With trays in hand they made their way to their table. They were deep in conversation and didn't see the boy approaching them from the side with a look of mischief in his eyes. They were only alerted to his presence when Rainbow Dash nonchalantly walked into him, the force of it threw him off balance. He turned to see who had ruined his fun and she fixed him with a serious look that froze whatever he was going to say in his throat.
"Whoa, sorry about that. I should have watched where I was going." The steely glint in her eye betrayed her smile and cheery apology.
"Uh, it's cool, whatever." He plunged his hands in his pockets and walked back to his table.
"Hey you two, how was your weekend?"
When they got to the table they all shared what they did over the weekend. They all fell easily into conversation as though the events of the previous Friday hadn't happened. This put Sunset at ease. She had been worried things would be uncomfortable when she returned to school.
Fluttershy and Rarity had spent Saturday at the animal shelter, which inspired Rarity to design a line of couture pet clothes starting with a winter line. Applejack and Rainbow had a marathon gaming session at Rainbow's house. She had been getting more into them recently, due in no small part to Rainbow. Cheese had taken Pinkie out on a romantic date to her favorite restaurant followed by dancing.
When they had all finished their food, the group went to their usual spot in front of Rainbow and Twilight's lockers. They continued their conversations, all of them happy to have the sense of normalcy back in their little group. When the bell finally rang to call the students to class Twilight noticed Sunset stiffen up.
The two of them stopped at Sunset's locker so she could get the necessary supplies for her class. They walked hand in hand to their Psychology class. She noticed Sunset still seemed tense the whole time, with worry resting behind her eyes. Just before they arrived Twilight stopped and gently placed her hands on Sunset's cheeks, looking deeply in her eyes.
"What are you doing?" Sunset smiled.
"You can do this. Just take it one class at a time." She kissed her lovingly.
Sunset's smile widened and she took one of Twilight's hands and kissed the palm. "Thank you."
Twilight replaced her hand and gently smushed Sunset's cheeks together before kissing her again. "I love you."
She gave Sunset's hand a squeeze before walking into class together. She smiled at Miss Cherry Bellum before taking their usual seats. It was fifteen minutes into class before the first subtle insult was muttered in their direction from Quick Wit. They had learned to tune him out and kept their attention on the lesson. When he saw no reaction from either of them he kept making rude remarks and trying to get a rise out of them until the teacher caught him and warned him if he didn't stop she'd send him to the office. He apologized and sulked for the remainder of the period.
During the last part of class they took the opportunity to catch up with Berry Punch. They smiled when she told them about her date she had with Party Favor. She was telling them how good a time she had and how she hopes he asks her out again when the bell rang to excuse them from class.
"I'm sure he'll ask you out again!" Twilight said excitedly. "How could he not? It sounds like you two had a great time, plus you're a total catch!"
Berry Punch blushed. "Oh come on, you're being too nice."
Sunset smiled as she collected her things. "You are though. If he doesn't see it, it's his loss."
"Well we've been texting a lot so I think he sees it." Berry Punch giggled.
They wished their friend a good day and made their way toward the library. Twilight felt Sunset hesitate as they entered the room. Twilight went to one of the tables while Sunset retrieved a book before joining her. Twilight was finishing up her homework when she noticed Sunset's leg was bouncing anxiously and she was chewing her thumb nail.
Twilight placed a gentle hand on her knee. "Is everything alright?"
She jumped in surprise. "Yeah... sort of. I guess I'm a little uncomfortable being here since last time we were, we had a fight." She paused. "Is that dumb?"
"No, I see what you mean." She smiled. "There is a little bit of weirdness left over. Where would you like to go instead?"
"Want to go to the computer lab? We can take the scenic route and stop by my locker."
"Sounds wonderful." She said while gathering her things. "I just have to grab a book real quick."
Twilight approached the librarian's desk. "Good morning Mr. Decimal."
"Good morning to you too." Dewey Decimal said cheerfully. "Now is this for fun or work?"
"It's for one of my classes so work, but reading is always fun. So, both?" She chuckled as she put the thick book in her bag.
"That's what I like to hear. Have a good day you two."
After stopping at Sunset's locker, the pair trekked through the school toward the computer lab. The room was mostly empty with a few people taking practice tests or writing essays. One person was blatantly watching YouTube videos with a set of headphones on. The teacher in charge of the room seemed to be pretty lax about what the students did during a study hour. They took a computer toward the back. Sunset pulled out her earbuds.
"You've got to see this video. It's so funny!"
Twilight smiled and put in one of the ear buds.
The video was indeed very funny. A collaboration of animators took small portions of a gaming video and animated it in their own style. After it was over the girls fell into a spiral of watching videos until the bell rang. Twilight closed out of the 'top ten creepiest voicemails' video she thought looked interesting and slung her bag over her shoulders.
"Thanks Twi, I sure hope I never get any important news as a voicemail because I'm never checking mine again!"
Twilight couldn't help but laugh, though she felt similarly. "I promise to never leave a voicemail, if I need to get ahold of you I'll just keep calling."
"I think that's an excellent plan." She chuckled.
Sunset walked with Twilight to her next class. Twilight relished the little extra time it gave them, holding Sunset's arm and leaning against her girlfriend as they walked. They talked about dates they could go on when the weather was nicer. They both agreed that a picnic was in order as soon as possible. They continued on until they were standing in front of Twilight's next class.
"Here's my stop." Twilight said as she held Sunset close. The two girls parted ways with a kiss. "Tell Rainbow hi for me."
"I will. See you after school." Sunset smiled and went to lunch.
Twilight entered the room with a bit more pep. She was glad to see Sunset having a good day. She had the feeling she was, understandably, nervous about returning to school. So it made her happy to see some of her old confidence return. She took her usual spot, and before she knew it the girl behind her started her usual jabs at her relationship.
"Still dating that loser I see." She said with a cocky sneer. "Why not drop her and get with a real woman?"
"First off Gilda, she's not a loser." Twilight said without turning to face her overly confident classmate. She turned slightly to half face her so that hopefully the next part stuck. "Secondly, while I'm flattered by your interest, I will have to adamantly decline your offer. Partly because this really pushy approach you're using just doesn't really work on me. Mostly though, it's because as you pointed out, I'm still happily in a loving relationship."
Twilight was surprised at her own words. She wouldn't have thought she could just come out and say something like that. She knew she had Sunset to thank for helping her confidence and assertiveness grow.
"Come on, what's she got that I don't?" Gilda persisted. "I know she's not as popular as I am. I'm on the basketball team for Pete's sake! You're really hurting your social standing by staying with her."
Twilight didn't justify that with a response. She simply rolled her eyes and turned to face the front of the room. Gilda had apparently been in the hall when she'd had her fight with Sunset and seen it as an opportunity to try and steal her away. Gilda had been critical of her relationship with Sunset since the semester had started, but after seeing the fight she'd changed tactics to include being obnoxiously flirty. She made her first attempt last Friday in their English class and was just as cocky and straight-forward as today's attempt. Since she had a class with her each day, she was hoping the attempts would be short lived if she kept turning her down.
Gilda made a few more passes at her throughout class, but stopped when the teacher fixed her with an icy stare. When they were sent into the lab Gilda kept trying to distract her with flirty talk when she passed by Twilight's work station and subtle lewd gestures from across the room. Which annoyed her but the latter still caused her to blush. Gilda's final attempt of the day was to shoot her a wink as she exited the class room.
Twilight groaned when she was sure Gilda was out of earshot.
"What's wrong Sugarcube?" Applejack asked when the two met up down the hall.
"Nothing." She paused. "It's Gilda, she really doubled down on her efforts to 'seduce' me today. What's her deal?" Twilight asked.
"Ah guess she's always been like that. Rainbow grew up with her and accordin' to her she's always talked a big game."
"Well I wish she'd stop trying to use her game on me." She huffed.
Applejack chuckled. "Yeah she can be a bit much. She'll get bored eventually, she just really likes flirtin'. Stand your ground and she'll back off. Trust me, ah know how annoyin' it can be. When Rainbow and I first got together Gilda got it in her head that she would be better suited for Rainbow so she really put on the charm." She made air quotes. "Luckily, Rainbow set her straight before it got too outta hand."
"Maybe I'll ask her nicely to stop and if it doesn't stop after that, maybe I'll have Rainbow talk to her."
"Ah'm sure she'd be happy to help. Here's mah exit, see ya Twilight." She waved and turned down a side hall.
Twilight smiled and walked on to political science. She greeted her desk mates with a friendly smile and pulled out her supplies for class. She took copious notes all throughout the teacher's lecture and got a jump start on the assignment once the lecture wrapped up.
"You know homework can be done at home right?" Lyra teased her good-naturedly. "Do you do that for every class? Or just this one?"
"I like to be prepared." Twilight said matter of factly. "Though I do find myself needing to spend more time on these assignments."
"Same. Sweetie Drops tried to help me a few times, but we end up getting... distracted, if I'm not careful. Admittedly it's mostly my fault, I'm very distractible. Especially when it comes to her." She smiled.
Twilight chuckled. "I know how that is. Sunset has helped me with math homework before, but more often than not it turns into kisses and cuddling."
"By the way, how's Sunset doing? I know she was having a a rough time for a while."
"She's doing well. She was in a good mood today." Twilight decided not to bring up her running away.
"That's good. I felt so bad for her. Luckily she has such good friends and a great girlfriend to be there for her."
"We do our best." Twilight said modestly. "How are you and Sweetie Drops?"
"Fantastic! We told my dad that we're dating over the weekend and he took it well. He's always liked Sweetie Drops and they've gotten along really well since we first became friends."
"I'm so happy to hear that! Do you have any classes with her?"
Lyra nodded. "I have two classes with her tomorrow"
"That's awesome! I'm glad you two get to spend time together during school."
The two talked a little more before working on the assignment. Twilight was so focused that she almost missed the bell ringing to dismiss school for the day.
"See ya later Twilight." Lyra called as she exited the room.
Twilight waved and packed up her things. She walked happily to the main hallway where she usually met up with her friends. Pinkie waved excitedly when she saw her and ran forward to give her a hug. They found the others shortly after, Sunset was the last to join the group.
After saying goodbye to their friends at the bus circle. Sunset and Twilight walked to student parking. Twilight offered to go backpack shopping with Sunset. An offer she accepted happily. When they hit the road Twilight decided to brooch the subject she'd been worried about all day.
"So how was it today? Did you have any more problems?"
"No more than usual. Whatever insults or negative things were thrown my way, my friends made it easier to ignore. Honestly though, it doesn't bother me so much anymore." She reached over and gave Twilight's hand an affectionate squeeze. "Knowing I have you and the girls on my side makes it all so much easier to deal with. I'm sorry I didn't realize that sooner.
"I'm just glad you realize it now." Twilight smiled.
They continued the journey to the local superstore, Twilight happily telling her about her day. Sunset laughed when she got to the part about Gilda, but Twilight noticed her girlfriend's grip on her hand tighten slightly all the same. Twilight smiled at Sunset's misplaced jealousy and assured her that Gilda wasn't her type. After a short time, however, Twilight got the sense that Sunset wasn't fully paying attention to their conversation.
"So how was your day?" She asked.
Sunset continued staring forward. "Mmhmm."
"I got into a fight with a dog, he insulted science so I had to take him out.
"That sucks."
"Sunset... I'm pregnant. And the baby's yours!"
"Oh yeah? Wait what?" Sunset glanced over at her. "That's impossible for multiple reasons."
"I know, but I had to say something to get your attention. Is everything ok? Did something happen?
"Not exactly." She nervously chewed her bottom lip. "Twilight, there's something I need to do, and I need your help."
"Of course, I'm happy to help with whatever you need."
"I need you to help me get in touch with Trixie."