It was time to make a decision. Either try to get over Sunset Shimmer or ask her out, and hope she doesn’t say "no" with the reason being I look weird. The odds of her even saying I look odd was slim to none, but my paranoia didn’t care about the odds.
I once asked Twilight if she could cast a spell to fix my “realistic” appearance. However, the spell she knew for it could only last a few hours, and Starlight couldn’t use it any more effectively. Recasting it over and over would have been too dangerous for my body, so that was out as a way out of my little dilemma.
The answer on what to do was scary, but clear. If I did nothing, I’d either get worse, or Twilight and/or Starlight would eventually grill me for answers if they got too worried and entered their “big sister” modes.
Therefore, I decided to go for it!
But then I had a new problem: how do I say it in our journal?
Yet the answer of simply writing “Sunset Shimmer, would you like to go on a date with me?” refused to enter my head.
In the library of her castle, Twilight Sparkle had finished "talking" to Sunset Shimmer, but remained on the purple couch she sat on when she talked to Sunset. She had a hoof on her cheek with her teeth gritted, struggling to deduce what was wrong with Eric Reed.
Maybe he wanted to ask her for something but was worried about her reaction? Perhaps he wished to confide in her a secret, but couldn’t bring himself to say it? Or could it be that she accidentally upset him? It took all of Twilight's willpower to not run to him and beg for him to tell her what it was, making her let out a frustrated groan.
Hearing Twilight’s groan in the castle’s hallways, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Starlight, and Spike all walked through the doors to the library. Pinkie Pie was also with them, but she hopped through the doors.
“Twilight, was that you? What’s wrong?” Spike asked.
Twilight turned her head to the others with a frown. “It’s about Eric.”
Fluttershy asked, “Eric? Is he all right?”
“I’m not sure. He said he is, but I know something's on his mind.”
Rainbow said, “Guess Eric still can’t stop keeping things to himself if he thinks it might make us worried, huh?”
“Yeah,” Spike answered. “Too bad he hasn’t figured out that he’s bad at pretending nothing's bothering him.”
“At least the darling means well,” Rarity brought up. “But maybe we can figure it out on our own. Twilight, what did he say?”
“Well, not long ago, he came up to me when I was writing to Sunset in my journal, and he--”
“Wanted to know if Sunset asked about him, right?” Starlight interrupted.
Twilight nodded her head.
“Sunset? Do you mean Sunset Shimmer, who lives in the world on the other side of the portal?" Fluttershy asked.
“Yep, Sunset Shimmer.”
“Okay, so Eric asked if Sunset’s asked about him. What else?” Applejack questioned.
“Hmm. Well, he looked nervous, like he wanted to ask something else.”
Fluttershy rested a hoof on her cheek. “Odd. Anything else?”
“He blushed when I suggested for him to talk to Sunset.”
“Okay. Well, let’s try to remember the last time he acted like this, and maybe that’ll give us some kind of clue on what’s goin' on in his head,” Applejack suggested.
With Fluttershy already doing it, the rest of the friends placed a hoof or claw on their cheeks to think, except Pinkie, though she stopped hopping. After five seconds, Rarity smiled. “I think I got it.”
“What?” Spike asked.
“This sounds like how Eric acted when he tried to ask out Diane Heart.”
“Oh, yeah, he was a mess. But what does--" Rainbow gasped in realisation. "Oh, so THAT’S it.”
“Y’all thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’?”
Spike replied, “I think so, Applejack.”
Starlight facehoofed. “I can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner! What kind of ‘big sister’ am I?!”
Pinkie resumed her hopping and confessed, “It’s about time! I was getting bored waiting for you to figure it out!”
“Wait, you already know Pinkie?” Fluttershy asked. "When did he tell you?”
“He didn’t,” Pinkie answered with a smile, as if she were answering a "run-of-the-mill" question.
“But if he didn’t, how--” Applejack stared at Pinkie, and the realization that she’s Pinkie Pie sank in her head, making her facehoof. “Never mind, Pinkie Pie. Then why didn’t ya tell us?”
“I thought it would be more fun to watch you figure it out on your own.”
Spike commented, “That sounds like something Discord would say.”
As the friends’ attention shifted to Pinkie Pie’s unexplained moments of nigh-omniscience, Twilight Sparkle remained confused about something else. With a bewildered frown, Twilight asked, “Hold on, guys. I don’t understand. What’s wrong with Eric?”
Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Seriously, Twilight? Out of all of us, you're the closest to Eric, and you still can’t figure it out?”
“No.” Twilight gasped and in a more alarmed voice asked, “It’s not something serious is it?!”
Applejack shook her head. “And Eric wonders why we were so surprised when we thought he wanted Twilight to help him ask out Diane.”
“And to think we were worried that Twilight and Eric had spent too much time together,” Rarity commented.
“Come on, just tell me. What’s wrong with Eric?”
Knowing they would have to simply tell the oblivious Twilight, Rainbow explained, “Fine. Eric has a crush on Sunset.”
“Oh, so that’s what it is. He likes Sunset and--” Twilight’s eyes grew. Of all the things that she thought it could be, Eric having feelings for Sunset Shimmer was one of the last things she considered. “Wait, WHAT?! Eric likes Sunset? Sunset Shimmer?!”
“At least, that’s what it sounds like,” Fluttershy replied.
With her moment of shock over, Twilight’s eyes returned to normal size. “Wow...yeah, that would explain things, but I didn’t think that could be it because he hardly sees her and always talked about her as a friend. But if he likes Sunset, why wouldn’t he want to tell me?”
Twilight gasped and jumped from her couch to her hooves. “Wait, could he be scared that I might become jealous or laugh at him if he did?” Twilight paced in front of her couch and gradually sped up the speed of her pacing as she continued, “Because it's not like I have a crush on him so I wouldn't get jealous over him liking her, and I didn’t mean to laugh when he told me what happened the first time he tried to ask out Diane Heart! Oh, gosh, I’m a horrible friend and big sister and I--”
Before Twilight could panic any further and hyperventilate, Applejack said, “Okay, calm down, Twilight. I got a feelin’ there’s more to it than him worryin’ about ya gettin' jealous or laughin’ at him.”
“But whether there’s ‘more to it’ or not, what are we going to do?” Rainbow asked.
“Twilight, if Eric can’t tell Sunset how he feels, maybe you could tell her?” Pinkie suggested.
“Hmm...I don’t know, Pinkie. He doesn’t want to overly depend on me or others, so he prefers to try to solve his problems himself first. I don’t want to step in to do things for him, unless I have to or he asks me to do it.”
Fluttershy asked, “Well, if he won’t tell us how he feels, and we can’t tell Sunset, then what do we do?”
After a moment of having a hoof on her cheek, Starlight removed it and looked to Twilight. “I have an idea. Is Eric in his room?”
Twilight answered, "Yeah, he is."
"Okay. Give me five minutes, and I'll take care of this.
Starlight Glimmer trotted out one of the library's green double-doors. She or the others couldn’t inform Sunset of Eric’s true feelings to see if she might make a move. Starlight knew letting Eric try pointlessly to get over Sunset was not an option, and would struggle to ask Sunset out in his journal. There was only one other course of action that Starlight could think of.
But first, she needed to give a little "tough love" by forcing Eric to tell her how he felt about Sunset.
Holding a quill and the journal, I was struggling to think of what to write in it. Or write something period.
Okay, I can do this. Just write words. It’s not like Sunset would get mad or judge me if I ask her out. The worst she’ll do is say ‘no’. That’s no big deal, and we could just stay friends.
I lowered the quill to a page of the journal, but stopped right before it touched the page and sighed.
But Sunset’s really nice, so of course she wouldn’t say anything if she thought I look weird. But what if she thinks she’ll need to be honest if I ask her out and say I look weird to her? Oh buck, I don’t know if I can do this.
But before I could tear myself apart on the inside more, Starlight walked in through my bedroom door and closed it. The frown on her face didn’t show anger, but was one she’d have when about to do something, whether you like it or not. Likely with a Starlight plan.
“Hey, Buggie? We figured it out.”
I set the journal beside me and closed it. “Figured what out?”
“You have a crush on Sunset Shimmer, don’t you?”
Yep. My jaw dropped at what came out of Starlight Glimmer's mouth! I tried to deny it and lied, “W-What? N-No I don’t!”
Knowing I was full of it, in a voice showing that she knew the answer to her question, Starlight asked, “Then why are you blushing?”
“Uh, well, I…” I became more aware of the frown on Starlight’s lips, and I realized she was in "big sister" mode and thus wouldn’t budge unless I fessed up. She only acts like this to me if she has to and is quicker to do it than Twilight is. I groaned and admitted, “Okay, Starlight, you win! I have a big fat crush on Sunset Shimmer! There, I said it! You happy?!"
Starlight relaxed her frown into a smile. “Now, was that so hard to say?”
Feeling a wave of guilt go through me, I sighed and answered, “No. And it wasn’t that I was trying to hide that I like her. It’s just…”
A frown formed on Starlight's face again, but this was a sympathetic one. “What’s wrong, little bro? If you were worried I might laugh, I wouldn’t, because this isn’t funny.”
“I know you wouldn’t. It’s just...what if Sunset thinks I look weird?”
Starlight walked to and sat on my bed, to my left, and wrapped a foreleg around me. We’re about the same height while standing, but because of how ponies sit, my head came up to Starlight’s chest. With her face tilted down to mine and mine up to hers, in a soft voice, Starlight said, “Oh. So that’s why you’re having so much trouble to ask her out. I should’ve already known it. But Sunset’s not like Diane, or those kids that picked on you when you were little and healing from burns that firecracker gave you.”
“I know, but--”
Starlight smiled and hopped off my bed. “Wait, before I came in here, I thought of an idea. Hand me that journal for a second.”
“O-Okay. Here you go.” I was so surprised that Starlight asked for the journal, I didn't think to ask why she wanted it. But I handed the journal to her, which was sitting to my right, and she grabbed it with her magic.
But I got my answer anyway when she levitated the quill I used to write in it and opened the book with her magic. With a smirk that came out of nowhere, she started writing in it!
I gasped and tried to grab the journal back, but before I could, Starlight froze me in place with her magic, so I couldn’t get to it or even move. This was one of those times when it’s clear how much weaker I am compared to Unicorns, let alone powerful Unicorns like Starlight Glimmer.
“Starlight! Let me go and give me back my journal! I mean it!”
Of course, Starlight refused to listen and kept writing. After three more seconds of writing, she released me from her magic and levitated the journal back to me. I snatched it from her magic and growled at her. I was not happy!
“Hey! What the buck was that about, Starlight?! And what did you write?!”
In a casual voice, Starlight answered, “Oh, I asked Sunset to come to Equestria tomorrow to spend the day with you.”
“Why?!”
“Eric, you and I both know that unless you tell Sunset how you feel, you’re going to stay a mess,” Starlight told me in a more serious voice.
“Yeah, but…*sigh*...okay, point taken. But I still don’t get it. Why did you ask Sunset if she could come to Equestria?”
“First, she’s going to think you asked. And second, when she says you don't look weird, it may mean more if she tell you to your face than in the journal.”
I set a hand on my chin to think about it. Hearing things told to your face do mean more than hearing it in other ways, so I figured Starlight was on to something.
“You know, I think it would.”
“And, maybe if you and Sunset hang out for a while, you’ll feel calmer and will have an easier time asking her out. You hardly see her in person.”
And that made sense. I was never worried about Starlight, Twilight, or the others thinking I looked weird as I spent time with them. Though, during my first few months in Equestria, I had bigger things to worry about. But even before “those” issues were solved, I felt comfortable enough to trust that they truly didn’t think I looked odd. "Maybe I would. But she doesn’t seem to like staying long in Equestria, so would she even agree to it?”
My journal, which I was still holding, glowed. It was Sunset writing something because the glow matched her magic, which is a red color. Even though she was in human form, the journal still glows red when she writes in it.
“I guess you’re about to get your answer, Buggie.”
My muscles tensed. I took a deep breath, slowly opened the journal and almost looked away from nerves about what Sunset wrote.
Sure, Eric, I can come to Equestria tomorrow for a day. I'll come at noon.
Starlight smiled and asked, “From your smile, I’m gonna guess that she said ‘yes’?”
“Yep, she said she’ll come tomorrow at noon."
Well, it wasn’t a “date”, but I was going to spend the next day with Sunset. I had the rest of the day to try to decide the best way to ask her out, as well as what we could do. Since it would be on a Saturday, she didn’t have school.
Though, I was surprised at how casually Sunset agreed to come to Equestria for a day. It even felt like she was too willing to come, almost like she already wanted to see me, but didn’t for some reason.
But I had no idea why.
In the “other” human world...
Sitting outside on a bench, Sunset Shimmer was holding the journal she “talks” with Eric with. Sunset wore a perplexed frown on her face. Twilight Sparkle sat on the same bench, to Sunset’s left, with her eyes on the journal Sunset held to.
“Sunset? What’s wrong?”
“Something must really be up with Eric. When he writes in the journal, it glows green, but it wasn’t glowing green just now. So that couldn’t have been him who asked me to come,” Sunset explained.
“Okay, so if that weren’t Eric, then who was it?”
Sunset raised her eyes up in thought. “If I remember right, the magic we just saw come from the journal was the color of Starlight Glimmer’s magic.”
“Starlight Glimmer? Why would she be writing in Eric’s journal?” Twilight asked.
“I can’t say why she did for sure. But I think it has something to do with what was bothering Eric, but he wouldn’t tell Princess Twilight what it is.”
“Hmm. So maybe she did it because he wouldn’t ask you to come on his own, and that was a way to get you to come. But, in that case, why wouldn’t she just come through the portal to get you? She did last week.”
“That’s what I can’t figure out and was why I decided to play along and pretended that she was ‘Eric’. Until I can ask her what’s going on, I don’t want to risk ruining whatever Starlight’s planning.”
“At least you have a reason to go to Equestria and talk to Eric, so he won’t think you came for another reason. So are you going to ask Eric about what’s bothering him?”
Sunset shook her head. “No, Princess Twilight said to don't try to ask him, and she knows him far better than either of us do.”
“Well, in that case, what are you going to do?”
“It might change depending on what Starlight says, but for now, I’m planning to just chill with Eric. Maybe I can get him to say what’s wrong without asking what it is.”
Sunset Shimmer struggled to think of what could be wrong with Eric Reed. It could help her choose the best way to coax him into admitting it.
However, what was on her friend’s mind was one of the last things she considered.