The rest of the day was spent eating ice cream and talking about past experiences. I told very little about my childhood, especially the death of my parents. I had never met any of my friends’ parents in Equestria, save for Twilight’s, so these stories were still somewhat new to me.
For instance, Rainbow Dash told of a time when she and Fluttershy went to the zoo, and Fluttershy ended up somehow communicating with one of the gorillas. She didn’t have any pictures of it on her phone, but I could imagine it was adorable; it is Fluttershy we’re talking about, after all.
Anyhow, once the sun started going down, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie had to leave, so now it was just me, Sunset, Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash.
“Just out of curiosity, Jake, how exactly did you and Sunset meet again?” Twilight asked.
Before I could answer, Rainbow Dash pulled out her phone and held the camera toward me. I looked at her with a confused expression.
“What? You know Rarity’s gonna wanna hear this. I’m recording it for her,” Rainbow explained.
“Umm, sure,” I replied. “So, I met Sunset when I was hanging out alone in Princess Twilight’s castle; everyone else was busy, and I wanted some time to myself. Anyhow, I’m sitting in the library, and I hear this loud crash from another room.”
“Wait, are you saying that Princess Twilight has her own library?” Twilight cut off excitedly.
“Well, it is a mirrored version of you we’re talking about,” Sunset teased.
Twilight blush, embarrassed. “Oh, right. Go on, Jake.”
“Anyhow,” I continued. “Like I said, I heard this loud crash from another room, so I went to check it out. And there was an amber coated unicorn with a red and yellow mane that I had never seen before wobbling around, recovering from the crash. So, I asked her if she was alright, and at first she doesn’t notice me. But when she saw that I was a human, she started nailing me with questions.”
We all looked at Sunset, who started blushing furiously.
“So we sat down, and we got to talking. She said she came to talk to Princess Twilight about something, but...kinda lost it when she heard that Princess Twilight had, direct quote here, two lovers. I got her to calm down, and we got to know each other a bit more, until Princess Twilight got back to the castle. Then…” I paused a moment to stifle a laugh. “Sunset got the genius idea to mess with Princess Twilight by grabbing onto my arm and suggesting...maybe I could have one more girlfriend.”
All heads went back to Sunset. I started laughing, and Sunset quickly joined in.
“Ah’m gonna assume Princess Twilight’s reaction was somewhat humorous,” Applejack stated.
“It’s...you haven’t known Princess Twilight quite as long as I have. I love her...but I also love messing with her,” I said in between laughs.
“You should’ve seen her. She literally dragged Jake off the couch into her room, saying ‘we’re gonna cuddle like never before!’,” Sunset added.
By this time we were all laughing. Rainbow Dash even started banging on the table. As far as I could tell, they all knew how easy it was to mess with Twilight, as well as how…rewarding it was.
Unfortunately, after we all calmed down, Applejack’s phone buzzed. She pulled it out and looked at it, a frown forming on her face.
“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked.
“Applebloom got a project from one of her teachers, includin’ glue, paint, and glitter. She an’ her friends tried working on it on their own, and I think y’all could figure out the rest,” Applejack answered.
Sunset, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash cringed and shuddered at the farmer’s words.
“Oh boy, there’s a group of Crusaders here too?” I asked.
“Yeah. Judgin’ from yer reaction there, Ah’m assumin’ you know plenty of mah sister and her friends’ antics,” Applejack replied.
“Oh, you have no idea. The Crusaders back in Equestria are just...I love ‘em to death, but they can be a bit...much sometimes...most of the time,” I explained.
“Trust me, we know what you mean. Good luck, Applejack. See you Tuesday,” Twilight said as Applejack waved goodbye and left.
“I should get going too. Scootaloo’s probably gonna be texting me any minute now,” Rainbow Dash said, standing up.
We all said our goodbyes as she left.
“I guess I’ll leave you two alone then. This is your date, after all,” Twilight said, standing up as well.
“Wait, you don’t have to go,” Sunset said.
“Yeah, we can find something to do,” I added.
Twilight waved a hand and scoffed. “Please, I don’t wanna be a third wheel to you two. Have fun.”
“If you’re sure,” I said as Twilight walked away. I looked to Sunset and said, “Just out of curiosity, has she ever met Princess Twilight?”
“Just once. It was...regardless to say, weird. It was right after a bit of a...magical crisis, so Princess Twilight just burst through the portal and caught us all by surprise. She said something about a time-travelling pony and that it was the weirdest thing she’d ever seen...until she saw Twilight,” Sunset answered.
I cringed, knowing what she meant by “time-travelling pony”.
“You alright?” Sunset asked.
“Umm...that ‘time-travelling pony’ just so happens to be...umm, Starlight,” I hesitantly answered.
“What?!” Sunset yelled, catching a foot of air.
“I’d honestly rather not explain it without her permission. If anything, just ask Princess Twilight next time you see her. Or, you have that journal she told me about,” I explained.
“A-Alright. I guess I can’t be too quick to judge because of the whole, you know. But still, she’s your girlfriend, not mine,” Sunset replied.
We sat there in awkward silence for a minute. We just...ran out of things to talk about.
“So uh...back to my place then?” Sunset asked.
“Uh, yeah...sure,” I answered.
Once we got back to Sunset’s apartment, I realized that we had run into a problem. There was nothing to talk about. Normally, I wouldn’t consider this a problem, but I never actually noticed it with Twilight or Starlight. Not that it hadn’t happened, but it never really...presented itself as a problem. But with Sunset, it was pretty clear. And it wouldn’t be good if this whole thing worked out.
I could tell Sunset was worried as well, because she had her eyes closed, and it looked like she was thinking hard.
“You...okay?” I asked, resting a hand on her shoulder.
Sunset popped her eyes open and looked at me. “Do you like me?”
“W-Well, yeah, duh,” I said, chuckling.
“I mean...do you want this to work out? Because it feels like we’re at a dead end,” Sunset asked.
“Of course I want this to work out. Why don’t you tell me what’s bothering you,” I said, turning my body to face her.
“It’s just, I’m afraid I’m...how do I put this, suffering in comparison,” Sunset explained.
“I’m sorry...what?” I asked, on the verge of laughing.
“I feel like I can’t...draw you as much as Twilight or Starlight. It feels like, compared to them, I don’t mean much. Don’t get me wrong, the last few days have been amazing, but I just don’t know if I’m...I don’t know, meeting your standards?”
I took a moment to let Sunset’s words sink in. It kinda made sense, in a strange sort of way. She was worried she wasn’t good enough for me.
In quick response, I pulled her close into a deep hug. She was a little surprised at first, but she slowly wrapped her arms around me too. I began stroking her fire-colored hair with one of my hands.
I pulled apart enough to look at her and said, “Sunset, you don’t have to worry about that. This week is all about me and you, not Twilight, not Starlight, just you and me. I’ll be honest, I’m not sure how this’ll all work out, but I have a really good feeling about us. I want you to be my girlfriend, really I do.”
Sunset looked down, and up at me again. “It’s just hard. Like, where do we go from here? What if it…doesn’t work out?”
I softly caressed her cheek. “Let me tell you something. When I first fell in love with Starlight, I had no idea what would happen. Part of me even thought she would blow me off just because we were different species. But when I found out that she felt the same way, everything fell into place.” I pulled her close once again, and whispered in her ear, “I don’t know where to go either, but that shouldn’t get in the-”
I was cut off by Sunset’s phone dinging.
“...Damn, I was on a role there,” I said to myself.
Sunset blushed out of embarrassment. “S-Sorry, just a text.” She looked at the phone and squinted for a second. “Rainbow Dash asked if we wanted to go dancing with her and...Soarin.”
“Who’s Soarin?” I asked.
“One second, I’m asking Twilight,” Sunset said, typing something into her phone.
“I feel like I’ve heard his name before, but I don’t know where,” I mused.
“Same here,” Sunset agreed.
A few seconds later, Sunset got another text. She looked at her phone...and looked away, facepalming.
“What’d she say?” I asked.
“It’s Pinkie asking me who Soarin is,” Sunset answered.
A few seconds later, Sunset got another text. She looked at the phone and nodded to herself.
“Applejack says that Soarin’s the guy that Rainbow Dash has a crush on. Ring any bells?” Sunset explained.
“None whatsoever,” I responded. “Wait, wold do you mean Applejack told you?”
Sunset chuckled. “Apparently, Twilight asked Fluttershy, who asked Pinkie, who asked me and Rarity, who asked Applejack.”
I couldn’t hold back a laugh, and Sunset had trouble holding one down as well.
“Dancing sounds fun. Gonna warn you, I have absolutely no experience,” I warned.
“Neither do I,” Sunset admitted, and we both broke down laughing, a direct contrast to a few minutes ago.
’Maybe this can work, after all’
Sunset and I walked up to the place Rainbow Dash had named. It wasn’t a bar or anything, just a restaurant with a dance floor. Outside was a big blinking sign that said “Dance Night on Sunday”. Inside was a brightly lit interior. The sun was going down, so that was pretty much the only reason I could see (I have terrible night vision).
“Hey, there you guys are!” shouted a familiar, raspy voice.
Sunset and I both looked over to see Rainbow Dash approaching with a tall boy with extremely light blue skin, dark blue hair, a decent pair of pants (which I could barely claim to be wearing myself), and a Texas tuxedo.
“This is Soarin,” Rainbow Dash introduced.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Sunset Shimmer,” Sunset greeted.
The boy gave a small bow and said, “Nice to finally meet you. Rainbow’s told me a little about you, and there was also the whole Fall-”
“Stop talking,” Rainbow cut off, putting her hand over his mouth.
I looked over at Sunset, who mouthed “Thank you,” to Rainbow, who nodded back.
“I’m Jake Taylor. Nice to meet you,” I greeted, extending my hand.
“You too. Soarin Skies is the name, don’t wear it out,” he responded, shaking my hand.
“So you guys wanna go inside? I’m freezing out here,” Rainbow suggested.
With that, we all made our way inside, where we were instantly greeted by a hostess. “Welcome to Shaky’s. Dance night will begin in just a few minutes, so you’re here just in time.”
We all found an open table and ordered a few waters.
“So, Jake, I haven’t seen you around CHS. Where you from?” Soarin asked.
“I, umm…” I trailed off.
“We come from the same place. He’s just visiting,” Sunset answered for me.
I opened my mouth to correct her, but she wasn’t technically wrong. We made small talk for a while until the lights dimmed and focused on the dance floor.
“Alright, party people. It’s time for Dance Night!” shouted who I assumed was the DJ.
The room was filled with cheers, and I noticed that this place was packed.
“Have you guys ever come here before?” I asked.
“Nope, this kind of a...first date,” Rainbow Dash answered, her eyes positively glowing at Soarin, who blushed on the spot.
“Are you serious? I’m so happy for you two,” Sunset said, getting up to give Rainbow a hug.
“Thanks. I just thought with you and Jake here, I might as well take a chance,” Rainbow added.
“Wait, do you mean you and Jake are dating?” Soarin asked.
“Sort of,” I answered.
“Anyhow, I’m glad she did. Being totally honest, I’ve kinda had a crush on Rainbow ever since we met in fifth grade,” Soarin said.
“Well, I’ve got a good feeling about you two,” Sunset said.
“For tonight’s theme,” shouted the DJ, regaining our attention. “80’s Rock!”
The building felt like it was shaking from how loud everyone was cheering.
I looked at Sunset and shrugged. With that, the four of us made our way to the dance floor.
As the music started, I just did whatever I could. There was no doubt I looked absolutely stupid, but then I looked around, and so did everyone else.
Rainbow and Soarin were dancing in what seemed like perfect synchronization. I looked at Sunset, who had a huge smile on her face. She was having a great time. She was also dancing real well. I loosened up a little and began to have a great time as well. As the song reached its chorus for the second time, everyone seemed to cheer along with it. I knew I was gonna have trouble hearing after this, but I lost myself to the music regardless.
As the song came to a close, I slowed down a little, winded. The others had trouble catching their breath as well, but we all had smiles on our faces.
“Jake, you never told us you were such a good dancer!” Sunset yelled over the crowd.
“Wait, you think I’m a good dancer?!” I asked out of shock.
“Are you kidding? You were awesome! You’ve got some real moves!” Soarin agreed.
“If that’s what you guys say. I gotta go use the restroom, be right back,” I said, making my way through the crowd.
The bathroom was significantly quieter and more isolated than the dance floor, and sure enough, my ears were ringing.
As I made my way out the door, a boy with a black leather jacket, yellow skin, and blue spiky hair came in.
“Excuse me,” I said, stepping out of his way.
“No problem,” he responded. “By the way, I saw you dancing out there. You’re really good.”
“So I’ve been told,” I said as I made my way back out to the dance floor.
“We’re gonna play something a little slower for y’all,” said the DJ, as the music started up once again.
As the song started, Sunset’s face flushed red as I returned.
“You, uh...ever slow dance with someone?” I asked.
“Once, a long time ago, though,” Sunset replied.
Rainbow Dash and Soarin were already embraced and swaying softly to the rhythm.
I looked back at Sunset, who couldn’t seem to make eye contact with me.
“You alright?” I asked.
“The last person I danced with...I hurt bad. I’m just...worried-” Sunset said, but I put a finger over her mouth.
“It’s fine. We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” I said.
“No, I really do want to...I’m just really nervous is all,” Sunset explained.
“I’ll do my best,” I said, wrapping my hands around her waist.
She slowly put her hands around my neck as we began swaying to the music as well. She couldn’t look at me at first, but as the song went on, she made direct eye contact with me.
And just like that, my whole world stopped. Sunset had a smile on her face that lit a fire in my heart. Her eyes shone like a light, and nothing seemed brighter.
I knew right then that this would work. No doubt it would be hard, even harder than my relationships with Twilight and Starlight since Sunset lives here. But still, I knew that we would overcome any difficulty that arose.
Sunset apparently felt the same because her smile suddenly turned from hesitant and worried to wholesome and sincere. Her features lifted from scared to happy. She leaned into me and completely wrapped her arms around me, resting her head against my chest.
I response, I wrapped my arms around her and rested my head atop hers. We stood there, embracing each other and swaying to the soft melodies of the music.
By the time the song had ended, we had no intention of letting go of each other. We broke our embrace, but still held our hands together.
“You two look like you just had the time of your lives,” Rainbow joked.
“What’s it to you?” Sunset countered.
“Nothing, I’m...just saying” Rainbow said, her hands up in defense.
Sunset looked back at me. “You...wanna go back to my place?”
“I’d like that very much,” I responded.
“You two have fun. We’ll see you later,” Sunset told Rainbow and Soarin as well began making our way off the dance floor.
We looked back again as the next song started, and Rainbow and Soarin began dancing again.
“I had no idea Rainbow had a crush on him,” Sunset said to herself.
“I’m happy for them,” I said.
We turned around and ran into the boy I saw earlier in the bathroom.
“Sunset...didn’t know you were here,” he said in a dejected tone.
“F-Flash, w-what are you doing here?” Sunset asked, her tone falling.
’Oh boy, that’s Sunset’s ex-boyfriend. This is not gonna end well’