Jake Taylor was reading in the castle library. It was rare that he had the castle all to himself, so he decided to make the most of the peace and quiet by catching up on some Daring Do books. At the moment, Starlight was on the road with Trixie, Twilight was in Canterlot with Rarity on a friendship mission, and Spike was at another rousing guys night with Big Mac and Discord playing Ogres & Oubliettes (which he was invited to but declined since Discord had magically turned him into an elder lich the previous guys night).
“Ah,” he happily sighed as he adjusted himself on the couch in order to get even comfier. “I love my marefriends more than anything, but I’m glad for the occasional alone time. Being the boyfriend of two mares isn’t always easy.... Why am I talking to myself like this?” he wondered.
Ignoring his own rhetorical question, Jake went back to reading his Daring Do book. He had just gotten to the part where Daring Do snuck into Dr. Caballeron’s camp to retrieve a golden statue when he heard a crashing sound coming from down the hall.
“Hello?” Jake asked as he put his book down, unsure whether he’d actually heard a noise or if his mind was just playing tricks on him.
A few seconds of silence passed before he decided to investigate. As Jake got up from his seat and made his way towards the library doors, he couldn’t help but wonder what the noise could have been.
’Could Twilight, Starlight, or Spike have gotten home early?’ He thought.
As Jake looked out the library’s doors, he turned his head to the right and saw nothing. When he turned his head left, however, he saw what appeared to be an amber colored unicorn with a crimson and yellow mane stumbling out of a room on the other side of the hall.
“Hey, are you okay?” Jake asked as he made his way over to the disoriented pony, wondering who she was and where she came from.
“Y-Yeah, I’m fine,” the strange unicorn said as she slowly lifted her head. “The portal just threw me out a bit too…AAAAHHHH!”
“AAAAHHHH!” Jake screamed as he fell backwards, startled by the unicorn’s sudden outburst.
The strange unicorn just stared at him with a look of total shock.
“Y-Y-You’re human!” she blurted out.
“Um, yeah, last I checked,” Jake calmly replied as he got back on his feet, sensing the strange unicorn’s distress. “I’m Jake Taylor, and you are?”
“I’m...Sunset Shimmer,” the unicorn introduced herself as she calmed down a bit.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Sunset Shimmer,” Jake commented as he extended his arm.
Sunset Shimmer extended her right forehoof as Jake took it in his right hand and shook it.
“Y-Yeah, nice to meet you too,” Sunset said back, a hint of confusion in her voice.
Jake couldn’t help but get a strange feeling from Sunset. He was used to ponies freaking out a bit when they saw him for the first time, but this was different. Sunset’s reaction hadn’t been purely because he was a human; after all, she clearly knew he was a human. No, Sunset seemed to be startled by something else.
“So, um, Jake,” Sunset spoke up. “Would you mind if I asked you a few questions?”
“Uh, no, I guess not,” Jake answered.
“Why are you here? Where did you come from? Were you born in Equestria? If not, how did you get here and how come you didn’t turn into a pony? How long have you…” Sunset began spouting off so quickly Jake couldn’t get a word in edge wise.
As Jake listened to Sunset’s seemingly endless series of questions, he couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. The whole situation reminded him of his first encounter with Twilight.
“Um, did I say something funny?” Sunset inquired after slowing down her questioning and picking up on Jake’s amused state.
“No, no, it’s just, you’re reminding me an awful lot of Twilight right now,” he confessed.
“You know Twilight?” Sunset asked with a bit of surprise, before coming to an obvious realization. “Of course you know Twilight, you’re in her castle.”
“Yeah, Twilight and I are in a relationship,” Jake admitted.
“WHAT?!” Sunset inexplicably shouted. “Are you saying you and Twilight are in a…relationship-relationship; like boyfriend and girlfriend?!”
Jake had to take a moment to recompose himself after Sunset’s sudden, and loud, question before he could answer.
“Well, it’s…complicated,” he started to explain. “You see, I am in a relationship with Twilight, but I’m also in a relationship with a pony named Starlight Glimmer.”
“Woah, woah, woah,” Sunset stated as she placed her left forehoof in the air. “You’re telling me that you, Twilight, and this Starlight Glimmer are in a three-way relationship?” she asked in disbelief.
“Sort of. It’s kind of a long story, but the short version is that they both fell in love with me, and I fell in love with both of them, so now we’re in all in a relationship together,” Jake clarified.
Sunset just stared at Jake with a vacant expression as she tried to process what she’d just heard.
“Are you kidding me?” she said so softly it was practically inaudible.
“Sorry, what was that?” Jake asked.
“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!” Sunset repeated, once again inexplicably shouting, as she turned around and yelled down the hall with a white-hot fire in her eyes. “TWILIGHT HAS A BOYFRIEND AND A GIRLFRIEND?!”
“W-Well, I-I’m not sure I’d c-call Starlight Twilight’s g-girlfriend…” Jake tried to interject.
“I CAN’T GET A SINGLE DATE BUT TWILIGHT IS IN A THREE-WAY RELATIONSHIP?!” Sunset continued, completely ignoring Jake. “UUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHH!”
Jake didn’t know what to do. Sunset was clearly upset, and he wanted to help her, but he didn’t know how.
“Um, Sunset, maybe you should calm down a little,” he gently suggested.
Sunset turned back around to face Jake. She was breathing heavily from all her yelling and had a frustrated look on her face, and strangely enough, tears in her eyes.
“I-I’m sorry if I what I said upset you,” Jake stated, trying not to sound nervous. “B-But it’s probably best if you just calm down.”
As the tears continued to flow from Sunset’s eyes, her face slowly changed from one of frustration to one of sadness. She fell onto her rump and placed her forehooves over her eyes, trying to cover up her distraught state.
“I-I’m sorry I y-yelled like that,” she tried to say through her tears. “I-It’s just, h-how come Twilight g-gets to have two lovers, but I c-can’t even get one?”
The thought crossed Jake’s mind to once again state that Twilight and Starlight weren’t in an intimate relationship, but he quickly dismissed it. Instead, he approached Sunset, got down on his knees, and embraced the amber unicorn in a warm and supportive hug.
“Shhh, it’s okay,” he reassured her. “Just let it all out.”
Sunset lowered her hooves from her face as she returned the hug and placed her head against Jake’s chest. Her tears began to stain Jake’s shirt, but he didn’t care; he just wanted Sunset to feel better.
The two of them sat in the hallway for about five minutes as Sunset cried out her feelings. When Sunset’s tears started to dry up, she broke the hug and stood up on all four hooves, but avoided direct eye contact with Jake.
“T-Thank you, I needed that,” Sunset gratefully, but sullenly, stated as she turned around and started walking towards the room she’d emerged for earlier. “I’ll just be going now, sorry I bothered you.”
“Sunset, wait!” Jake said before she got too far.
Sunset turned around to face Jake but didn’t say anything in response, still trying to avoid eye contact.
“You don’t have to go,” he said as he approached the mare. “I know we just met, but if you want to talk about what’s going on I’m willing to listen. I promise I won’t be judgmental or anything.”
Sunset finally made eye contact with Jake and, upon seeing the sincerity in his eyes, decided that maybe it would be good to talk to him.
“O-Okay,” she said with a slight amount of hesitation.
Jake and Sunset were sitting together in the library. It had been about ten minutes since Sunset had agreed to stay and talk about her recent outburst and breakdown, though so far she hadn’t said a word. Jake contemplated getting the conversation started but figured it would be better for Sunset to make the first move.
“Sorry again for all of that,” Sunset finally spoke up. “It’s just, the whole reason I came here was to ask Twilight for relationship advice, and when you told me about how you, her, and this other mare are all in a relationship together, I got a little…jealous.”
Jake nodded his head in acknowledgment but remained silent.
“I mean, I’ve been trying so hard and for so long to find someone who will love me, and it’s just so frustrating,” Sunset continued as fresh tears started to form in the corners of her eyes. “W-what if there’s something wrong with me? What if…what if I never find someone?”
Sunset closed her eyes in an effort to stop the tears, but they started to flow anyways. She felt embarrassed at crying in front of Jake again, until she opened her eyes to see Jake sitting right in front of her, his hands on her shoulders and a serious look in his eyes.
“Sunset, listen to me,” he sternly said. “There is nothing wrong with you. You just haven’t found the right someone yet is all.”
Sunset felt her tears begin to dry up as the power of Jake’s words rang in her ears.
“And even if you never do find someone, you’ll still have your friends,” Jake continued as a small smile crossed his face. “Friends like me.”
Sunset’s eyes went as wide as dinner plates.
“Y-You consider me a…friend? Even after the way I’ve acted today?” she asked in sheer disbelief.
Jake simply nodded his head as small tears started to form in his own eyes.
“Of course, I do,” he said. “And I hope that you can consider me a friend too.”
Once again, tears formed in Sunset’s eyes, only this time they were tears of joy. She quickly lifted her fore hooves and wrapped them around Jake’s neck in a hug.
“I can see why Twilight likes you,” she softly said. “You’re a really nice guy.”
Jake returned the hug as his own tears of joy started to flow.
“Well, I try,” he jested, happy that his new friend was feeling better.
Twilight Sparkle was just returning home from her friendship mission in Canterlot with Rarity. It had been a long day, and she was eager to see have a relaxing evening with Jake, knowing that Starlight and Spike, in all likelihood, wouldn’t be back anytime soon.
As Twilight opened the front door to the castle, she swore she could hear laughter coming from the library. One of the voices was clearly Jake’s, but the other she couldn’t place. Wondering who else was in the castle, she made her way over to the library.
“Hello, Jake?” Twilight asked as she poked her head into the library.
The sight that Twilight saw filled her with mixed emotions; she saw Jake sitting on the couch with Sunset Shimmer to his left, the two of them looking at what appeared to be the scrap book Twilight had given him for Hearths Warming.
’What is going on here?’ She thought with varying degrees of confusion and apprehension.
“Oh, hey, Twilight,” Jake said as he noticed his marefriend in the doorway.
“Hey, Twilight,” Sunset reiterated.
Twilight forced a smile as to not let her emotions show.
“Sunset, so good to see you!” she said as she approached the two, trying to sound as natural as possible. “I see you’ve met Jake.”
“Oh, yeah,” Sunset affirmed. “I actually came here to talk to you, but it turns out Jake is a really great listener and was able to help me instead.”
“Really? That’s great,” Twilight said through her forced smile as she took a seat to Jake’s right. “So, what are guys doing now?”
“Oh, I was just showing Sunset some of the pictures from my travels,” Jake explained.
“It’s really quite astonishing how many places he’s been,” Sunset commented. “I can’t believe you went to the Dragonlands and came back in one piece.”
“Well, I found that beneath their fiery exterior most dragons are big softies, not unlike a certain fiery unicorn I know,” Jake said as he gave Sunset a small nudge with his elbow.
“Oh stop, you’re embarrassing me,” Sunset retorted with a giggle as a small blush appeared on her face.
“Ahahaha,” Twilight nervously chimed in. “Wow, you two really seem to have become close in such a short time.”
“Hey, like I said, Jake’s a great listener,” Sunset said as she wrapped her hooves around Jake’s arm, causing Jake to now smile and blush as well.
Twilight took notice of just how close Sunset was getting to Jake and wrapped her own hooves around his other arm.
“That he is,” she said as she began to nuzzle his arm as well. “I’m so glad that he’s my boyfriend.”
Sunset gave a coy smile upon hearing Twilight emphasize the word ‘my’.
“From what I understand you already share him with another mare,” she slyly commented. “Maybe he wouldn’t mind having a third girlfriend?”
Sunset’s less-than-tactful suggestion caused Twilight to cease her nuzzling and stare daggers at the mare on the other end of the couch, while Jake’s eyes widened to their limits as he blushed even more.
“Alright, that’s it, come on, Jake,” Twilight authoritatively said as she got up from the couch and used her magic to pull Jake’s hand behind her.
“Wait, where are we going, Twilight?” Jake asked as the two of them crossed the room.
“We’re going to bed, and we’re going to cuddle like we’ve never cuddled before because you are my boyfriend,” Twilight replied.
“But what about Sunset?” Jake asked.
“She knows the way out,” Twilight pointedly stated as she turned around. “Good seeing you again, Sunset!” she half-heartedly shouted at the mare still on the couch.
“Um, uh, goodbye Sunset,” Jake also shouted as he and Twilight exited the room.
Sunset laughed a bit at the scene that had just unfolded in front of her.
“Goodbye, Jake,” she shouted back, unsure if he could actually hear her.
“Be seeing you around,” Sunset continued, much more impishly, as she got up and made her way to the portal room, a coquettish smiling forming on her face as she did so.