//------------------------------// // 7. Arcade // Story: Dearest of Desires // by twience //------------------------------// Dearest Of Desires Chapter 7 By, Serenityx Twilight sucked in a breath. "...Sunset." The other girl looked Twilight up and down. Her face showing mixed emotions of surprise, confusion, and glee. "...Twilight Sparkle?" Twilight didn't respond with any words, but instead gave off a small smile. Sunset supposedly didn't know what to say, as she just stood there blinking. You idiot! Act surprised! Twilight internally smacked herself. "W-What are you doing here?" Twilight finally spoke up and asked. Sunset didn't respond, and instead, continued to stare at Twilight. She... she looks... "S-Sunset?" Twilight tried again. Sunset suddenly realized she was ignoring what Twilight was saying, and snapped back into reality. "Sorry. What did you say?" "I said, what are you doing here?" Twilight asked more confidently this time. "Oh, uh, I'm meeting someone," Sunset answered. She then brought her helmet to her bike and attached it to one of the handle bars. When secure, she turned back to Twilight. "You?" Twilight hummed. "Same..." Sunset nodded. "Out of all the places, I didn't expect to see you here." Twilight rubbed the back of her head. "Heh... yeah." Sunset smiled at her. Ah! She's smiling at me! Ugh, calm down Twilight. They stood in silence for what seemed like forever! "Say..." Twilight started. "The someone you're meeting... are they a friend of, oh I dunno, Applejack?" "Yes, actually. How did you—" Sunset suddenly stopped. Could Twilight be the someone she was meeting. "Are you...?" Twilight tried to smile and act innocent at the same time. "Oh stars, what a coincidence," Sunset commented. She then walked off the street and up onto the concrete. Sunset then held her hand out to Twilight. "It's nice seeing you again." Twilight locked her hands with Sunset's. "You as well..." Sunset suddenly dropped her hand and her eyes went wide for a second. "I'm so sorry. Would you like to go somewhere else? I don't expect arcades to be your thing; no offense." Twilight shook her head. "None taken. Though, I don't see why we can't go inside. It could be fun." "Really?" Sunset's spirit brightened up. "Cool. We shouldn't waste the day. Come on." She began to walk towards the door. Twilight breathed with relief. Sunset wasn't onto her. They could actually have fun! With Twilight calm again, she followed Sunset inside. Not to her surprise, the arcade and a bunch of games displayed. Virtual reality, driving, stick games, hands on, ones where you could win prizes, and some small carnival games like skee ball. Maybe their hang-out wouldn't be so bad. Sunset was worth it anyways. Sunset was still surprised at the fact that Twilight was the one who ended up being at the Arcade. Not that she wasn't glad she was here, she's actually been wanting to see Twilight again. It was like fate they ended up seeing each other again. Well, maybe she shouldn't go that far. "Should we pay for our entry?" Twilight asked. "Uh huh," Sunset nodded, took out her wallet, and headed over to commission desk. Twilight followed, and started taking out her wallet as well. Sunset noticed this and shook her head. "I've got it. I was the one who suggested this place after all." Twilight knew that Sunset promised Applejack she would be on her best behavior, but this was being extra generous. "Oh no, don't worry. You wouldn't do that for just anyone would you? Anybody could have showed up here," Twilight informed. "I trusted your friends. I don't know why, but I did. Besides, you're not just anyone are you?" Sunset told her with a small smile. That made Twilight blush a little. Well that settled it. Twilight was totally bisexual. ....Lesbian even? "T-Thanks..." Sunset put a hand on Twilight's shoulder. "Don't mention it." She then took out her card, gave it to the commissioner, and payed for two entry fees. When both of them were paid for, Sunset took the receipt and stuffed it into her pocket. The commissioner then gave each girl a small bucket of tokens. When in held, Sunset gestured for Twilight to follow and started walking deeper into the arcade. "So, what would you like to do first?" Sunset asked her. Twilight twiddled her thumbs. "I uh, thought you would know. I've never been here, afterall." Sunset looked around. "What about coin-op? Simple, but rewarding." "Okay," Twilight answered, just agreeing to whatever her companion was picking. When they arrived at the game, Twilight looked at it curiously. Sunset pointed to the box machine. "It's a prize game. You use a token to get a certain number of chips put into the shooter there. You use the shooter to shoot chips at the tokens inside the game. There's little prizes inside you can win if your chip manages to knock some out of the slot." Twilight listened to the explanation carefully, so she wouldn't embarrass herself trying to play. When Sunset was finished, she slowly tilted her head. "So, you use a token just to get more tokens? That seems like a waste. Especially if you end up getting nothing." "That's what makes the game thrilling!" Sunset grinned. "You could use one token and end up getting two in return. Or maybe a whole load. Even a prize if you're lucky." Twilight laughed a little. "Okay," she shrugged. "Let's give it a go." Twilight took a token from her bucket and slipped it into the game slot. Colors flashed inside the box machine knowing she now had a full turn. There was four different sides to the game. Meaning multiple people could play at once. Sunset took advantage and went to the left of Twilight and slipped a token of her own in. "Good luck!" Sunset wished to her. Meanwhile, following the game's instructions, Twilight started playing the game. To her disappointment, she barely got a single token out of the slot. Those chips seemed to go by very fast, and Twilight was getting frustrated. "How can anyone play something like this!?" Twilight only heard soft chuckling as a response. She playfully rolled her eyes and noticed she had only one chip left. Carefully, she aimed the shooter in the right middle and shot the chip out. To her surprise, it bounced back and some tokens fell out of the slot. "Yes!" Twilight cheered and reached down to claim her prizes. In the pile of tokens, there sat a key chain with a plastic diamond attached to it. "Aw, cute." Twilight looked up and saw Sunset approaching. "I didn't win anything like that, but I did get about fifteen of these," Sunset opened her fist to reveal her tokens. "That's great!" Twilight praised.. "I didn't expect to actually gain anything myself." "Don't put yourself down, Twilight. Arcade games could be your secret talent," Sunset teased. Twilight laughed a little. "Doubt it, but thank you." Twilight started looking around at some more games, until she found one that caught her interest. "Oh— look!" she started to pull Sunset across the room. "Woah, hey where are we going?" Sunset tried to tell her. When she noticed Sunset trying to slow her down, Twilight lowered her pace, but still continued to hold onto Sunset's hand when walking. "I used to play it all the time with my brother. I just can't believe it's here." Sunset nodded, and then glanced down at there clasped hands. It made Sunset blush before arriving at their destination. They were finally stopped, and Sunset glanced at just what Twilight dragged her to. "Connect four?" "It's a giant connect four! I've never seen it so... big!" Twilight eyes were like saucers looking at the game. Twilight noticed her excitement and started twirling her hair. "Well what are we waiting for? Let's play," said Sunset and put a token in the slot. Twilight did the same. They played a total of three rounds, since nobody else came around to play the game. Sunset won the first two, and Twilight the third. In which Twilight blamed Sunset for letting her win —which was totally denied by Sunset. Though, deciding to just accept her win, Twilight cheered for herself and got a giggle from Sunset. However, did Twilight win the game on her own, or did Sunset let her? She would never know. After that, they played some ski puck —which Sunset was obviously good at— and then a classic fish bowl game. Twilight kept missing the fish bowl. However even with multiple losses, Twilight was determined to get the ping ball into the fish bowl. Sunset knowing if she let her keep going, they would use up all their tokens. Gratefully, Sunset managed to lead Twilight to another game where she could test her skill. Sunset was just happy that Twilight was having the funniest time of her life. She was worried Twilight would be pretty bored. After Twilight won a round of food ninja slice, Sunset led her to a basketball shooting game. And unlike most of the games, it wasn't virtual. It was a actual hands on basketball and a hole in a wall as a basket. Twilight gulped; she was terribly bad at sports... "Oh wow. Basketball," Twilight tried to show excitement. Sunset however, could spot Twilight's nervousness before she even opened her mouth. "It's not as hard as it looks. Quite simple actually. If you manage to shoot in a straight direction, it's pretty hard to miss. But we can totally skip this one if you like. There are plenty more games to—" "No!" Twilight interrupted hastily. Sunset gave her a confused stare. "I mean, pfft, I can shoot a basketball." She didn't want to be a wimp; not that Sunset would ever call her one. She did lie, she could never play b-ball. But she could try to shoot a basketball into a large hole that was three and so feet away. Sunset didn't respond right away, but there was no harm in playing a simple arcade game."If you're sure," Sunset said. She then slipped a token into the machine and basketballs were released for grabs. Twilight picked one up and stared at it. What am I doing? Twilight was going to shoot the ball. She just didn't want to get humiliated. By Sunset to be the most specific. She looked up and saw the board. Lights were glowing, and she then noticed there was exactly three holes. Biggest, smallest, and in between. The smaller the hole, the more the points. Twilight decided to go for the middle hole. Am I trying to impress Sunset? Twilight raised the ball. No knees bent, no figure, no finger position, nothing. And she shot. Twilight apparently had her eyes closed, because when her vision became clear. The ball was gone. Did she actually manage to get in the hole? "Ow!!!" Nope. Twilight missed so badly, the ball ended up having to much force and bounced out of the game, across the arcade, and onto some little girl's head. Sunset slightly gasped as she ran over to the now crying child. Twilight turned around to see Sunset running, and she slowly gulped before chasing after her. The mother was furious. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that was? My child could've been seriously hurt!" the lady yelled. Sunset couched down to the child and started rubbing her head. "We're so sorry ma'am," she apologized. She then raised the little girl's chin. "Are you alright? Do you feel dizzy?" The girl hesitated, but answered, "No, it just hurts." Sunset nodded but innerly sighed. Hopefully she didn't have a concussion. "What are you doing?" The mother asked fearfully at the young woman near her daughter. "Just checking her out for any head injury. I'm no doctor, sure, but I've taken a few nursing classes," Sunset told her. Twilight tried to remain calm, but she felt terribly sorry for what she had caused. The girl was still crying, and suddenly, she got an idea. Twilight crouched down as well and held out her small cup of remaining tokens. "Here, take them. As a sorry. This was all my fault." The girl blinked, making the few last tears fall, but ended up taking the cup. "Thanks..." Twilight smiled. "You're welcome," she said and stood up. Sunset stood up as well. She pulled out her wallet and took out two dollar bills. "Take these," she handed them to the mom. "Get her a cup of ice. Her head could start to throb. If she seems to feel anything out of the ordinary, I'd recommend taking her to the doctor." "Thank you, I certainly will," she replied coldly and took the bills. "Come on, Tangerine." Tangerine, the little girl, took her mother's hand and wiped her eyes with the other. She waved at Sunset and Twilight before letting herself be pulled by her mother's grasp. "I'm so sorry, Sunset! I didn't know what I was thinking...!" Twilight cried to her. "It's alright, Twilight. No one can blame you. I bet it happens all the time." "Nope," someone added in the distance. Sunset didn't even bother to turn around. "The mistakes don't matter. It's what you do about them. You showed sympathy to the girl you hurt, and she was grateful for it." Twilight frowned. "I still shouldn't have been so foolish. Speaking of, I should pay you back for those tokens." Sunset shook her head. "Don't. That was very generous of you. I wouldn't have it any other way." Twilight sighed and looked down at her feet sadly. I screwed up... All of a sudden, Twilight was being pulled in the direction they came from. "What's going on?" Sunset released Twilight at the same basketball game as before. "Oh no. I'm not finishing my turn. No way," Twilight gave it a death glare. "Just trust me," Sunset informed. She then took a basketball and set it in Twilight's hands. "I'm going to help you." Twilight looked at the ball. "This is pointless. I'm gonna miss—" "No you're not." Sunset got behind Twilight and placed her hands over Twilight's which were holding the ball. Twilight pursed her lips. "W-What..." "Relax," Sunset told her. "You're holding the ball to firm, let it loose a bit." Twilight was nervous, and not just by the game anymore. The closeness; the relationship was going too fast and they haven't even started anything yet. However, Twilight listened clearly and relaxed her shoulders and grip. "Great!" Sunset praised. "Now, what you need to do is bend your knees." "...Bend my knees? Are you calling me tall?" Twilight asked. Sunset chuckled. "Not at all. Players bend their knees to get more momentum and a better aim." Twilight nodded and bent her knees a little. "Perfect," Sunset said. She then raised Twilight's hands along with the ball upwards so that she was in a great position to shoot from. "Don't hold the ball on its sides. Try making a triangle shape with your thumbs and pointer fingers on the side facing you." "Alright," Twilight replied and did just that. "It feels so much better!" "See?" Sunset happily agreed. "So, eyes on the net- er hole. When I count to three, we're going to throw it. Not upwards, not downwards, but straight towards the hole. Got it?" Twilight could swear she was sweating. "Crystal." "One... two... three," Sunset announced. Twilight was going to close her eyes again, but didn't with the comfort of Sunset. She shot the ball in aim just like Sunset mentioned. The ball flew and swooped right into the middle hole. The game's light's blinked and five points appeared on the scoreboard. Sunset stepped away and put a hand on her hip. "Yes!" Twilight cheered. "We did it! I did it! Did you see that?" Sunset smiled proudly. "Sure did. Amazing job, Twi." Twilight stopped her ruckus a little and blushed at the cute nickname. "Thanks, Sunset." "Anytime," Sunset replied. "Do you play basketball?" Twilight asked her curious. "Me? Basketball? No. It's not my kind of thing," Sunset answered. "B-But you're so good!" Twilight commented, surprised. "Which only means I never slacked off in gym class when we were forced to play it," Sunset smirked playfully. Twilight laughed, and Sunset joined in a second later. "You're full of surprises, Sunset Shimmer..." Sunset didn't say anything after that. She blinked a few times, like she was trying to remember something. However, that quickly passed and she just gave Twilight a smile. The rest of the afternoon at the arcade went about the same as before. They played multiple games, ones even Sunset couldn't master, and cashed in their tickets for prizes. Yet, since they couldn't find anything interesting, they had their points put on a card which they could cash in another time. The two young women left the arcade happy as can be. "Would you like some ice cream?" Sunset asked her once they got outside. "I would love some. Is there a parlor nearby?" Twilight answered. Sunset pointed a few building down. "Just a block." "Cool!" Twilight exclaimed. "Wanna walk?" "Don't see why not," Sunset agreed. On the way to the ice cream parlor, they walked incredibly close to one another. Twilight could swear their shoulders would bump any second. Well, her shoulder into her arm. Sunset was about an inch or two taller than her. They walked in silence. And when they finally reached the parlor, Twilight released a breath she hadn't known she was holding. Sunset opened the door and gestured for Twilight to go in first. "Chivalrous, are we?" Twilight joked. Sunset suppressed a giggle. "Certainly." Twilight gave a single nod and walked inside with Sunset right behind her. "So, what's your flavour?" Sunset wondered, curious. Twilight rubbed her hand. "Vanilia..." Sunset eyed Twilight for a second. "Huh," she said, then looked at the menu. "...Huh? Huh, what?" Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Nothing. It just makes sense, that's all," Sunset replied. Twilight pouted. "You're calling me boring." "What! No, of course not!" Sunset eyes widened and looked at Twilight again. "There is nothing wrong with Vanilia. I'm a classic Strawberry myself." Twilight playfully rolled her eyes. "I'll try something different if you will." "Deal." With both of their unique ice creams paid for, both girls sat at a table in the corner. Sunset had gotten cheesecake, while Twilight chose oreos and cream. They weren't anything extremely wild; didn't even consist of any topics. But both were pretty happy with their choices. Sunset ate the consisting ice cream off her spoon before speaking. "Oh stars, this is good." Twilight giggled. "Good. Now when you order it, you'll think of me." Twilight then ate some of her ice cream. Her eyes widened as the spoon was in her mouth, telling Sunset she thought hers was tasty too. "Speaking of you, tell me about yourself," Sunset brought up. "What's Twilight Sparkle's life like?" Twilight set her spoon back in her cup. "Oh, there's nothing really special about me..." "Now I know that's not true," Sunset tried to convince. "I mean, I'm an ordinary college girl. I have three great friends who I wouldn't give up for anything," Twilight mentioned. "I love science, pretty much any of it. Learning is sort of a hobby of mine." "Me too," Sunset told her. "What's better than picking up a book, am I right?" Twilight smiled brightly at her. "R-Right." She picked up her spoon again. "So, what about you?" "I have two friends who I would do anything for as well. We've been friends since high school," Sunset started. "I work, Tuesday's and Thursday's. I also... have a youtube channel. Gaming is also another hobby of mine." Twilight didn't show any loath. It was bound to come up. "Fascinating. I don't know much about video games. Maybe you could show me sometime?" "Sure," Sunset happily agreed. A few more chats, and happy eating later, Sunset and Twilight were heading out the parlor. They started walking in the same direction they had came from. "This was fun. I had a really great time," said Twilight. She wished the day didn't have to end. "Same here. I loved hanging out with you," Sunset said back. "Wanna... do this again?" Twilight hesitantly asked. "I wouldn't want anything more," Sunset truthfully responded. Twilight smiled with a small blush before they reached their vehicles in front of E-Quest. "Let's take a photo!" Sunset exclaimed, pulling out her phone. "Oh... okay!" Twilight answered with just as much excitement. She's never taken a photo with anybody but her friends and Timber before. Sunset opened her camera and aimed her phone up for her and Twilight. They both smiled and held up peace signs to the camera. When still, Sunset snapped the photo and held it for Twilight to see. "Oh wow," Twilight admired it. They actually looked... "We look so cute!" That. "I'm totally posting it," Sunset mentioned and began scrolling on her phone. Twilight gulped. Sunset didn't know, but Twilight had totally stalked her instagram. Which meant Twilight knew about the thousands of followers Sunset had. Oh dear... When Sunset was done, she opened up her contacts. "I never got your number. Mind lending it?" "Oh! For sure," Twilight spoke and took Sunset's phone. She typed her number in Sunset's phone and gave Sunset her phone as well. They finally had each others numbers. "Hey... Sunset, are we friends?" Sunset gave Twilight an assuring look. "Weren't we already?" Twilight remembered back at Vinyl's party, when Sunset had offered Twilight her friendship. Though, Twilight sadly declined. "I don't think so..." Sunset walked off the cirb, took her helmet, and sat on her motorcycle. "I don't know about you, Twilight. But I believe, one kiss totally makes us friends." Twilight just stood there, staring at Sunset dumbfounded. Sunset attached her helmet on and started up her bike. "I'll text you!" Sunset called over the noise. Twilight smiled and held up a hand to wave. She didn't know if she was blushing or not because she was still in shock by Sunset's comment. Dismissal was then over, and Sunset took off out of the parking lot and down the street. Twilight breathed and took out her car keys as she walked to her car. Their hang-out went surprisingly well. And if Twilight wasn't stupid —which she wasn't— Sunset looked totally into her! Oh, and that's right. She finally got Sunset Shimmer's number. Take that, universe.