//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Denying feelings // Story: When Dating a Sunset... // by ThePinkedWonder //------------------------------// ...You know, Eric? From what you, Sunset, and even Princess Twilight herself said, she really likes you. So why won’t you ask out Princess Twilight? The others and I here think you and her could make a good couple! Really? I bet you think that because you’re Princess Twilight’s counterpart, you might have better luck to get me to do it, right? Look, I will admit that she's cute when she smiles. But she's not just my best friend, she’s one of my two Equestrian big sisters AND a mare, so it would feel too weird! But you used to say that you couldn’t look at mares like “that”, but then two weeks ago it happened with Diane Heart! I know it did. But trying to look at my big sis in that way is just too weird. Besides, I told you and the other girls how nice she’s been to me since she found me in Equestria, right? If I could do it, don’t you think I would have fell for her by now? Well, I guess you have a point. You have been in Equestria for several months, so you had plenty of time to form a crush on her. And she doesn’t think of me like that anyway. If she did, she would have shown signs of it, like blushing when near me for seemingly no reason, but that's never happened. But I gotta go, but tell Sunset and the others I said hi and I’ll “talk” to them later, okay? Okay, and I’ll tell them. I hope Princess Twilight can someday do something about the magic that blocks you from passing through the portal, so you can finally talk to me and the others in person. Me too. Hey, Eric “Buggie” Reed here. Two weeks ago, and several months after I woke up in Equestria and been unable to leave, I formed my first crush on a mare, Diane Heart. After I suffered an embarrassing week of trying, Sunset Shimmer made a rare appearance in Equestria to help me ask Diane out. But, my pony crush turned me down, and I later discovered it was because I looked “weird” to her because of my “real-life” appearance. It reminded me of an...awful experience eleven years ago as a little kid and I ended up heartbroken. But my three Equestrian siblings, Princess Twilight Sparkle, Starlight Glimmer, and Spike, as well as five of my friends, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy cheered me up by performing a dance. The “Chicken Dance” to be exact, and it was h-i-l-a-r-i-o-u-s! Unfortunately, Sunset didn’t join them. The poor thing thought my heart getting broken was her fault and felt horrible. She returned to “her” world before the others came to my room to cheer me up, but not before asking Twilight to tell me that she’ll make up for it someday. But later that day, after "talking" to her in a special journal that’s magically linked to one of two journals Sunset has, I got her to feel less guilty. It was the same journal that I just “talked” to “Sci-Twi”, or the human Twilight Sparkle, with. The other journal Sunset keeps with her is the one she talks with Princess Twilight with. Apparently, the whole "human" Mane Seven, or should I say the “Shipping Seven", thought I should ask out Princess Twilight because the two of us have such a tight bond. Uh, no. Not happening! Three hours after I talked with Sci-Twi, on the floor in the middle of the library in Twilight’s castle, Starlight and I were working on solving a jigsaw puzzle. Twilight often does them with us too, but she had “princess” stuff to do, so it was only me and “Starie”. Spike was also off somewhere. Thirty bits says he was trying something to land Rarity again. The puzzle Starlight and I were working on was a one-hundred piece puzzle, and at this moment we each had five pieces beside us. The mostly-complete puzzle was lying between the two of us, since we were sitting on the floor and facing each other. My thoughts were on something else, so I was struggling to stay focused on the puzzle. Picking up a puzzle piece in her light-blue magic, Starlight lifted her head to look at me. “Hey, Buggie? Is something wrong?” Also picking up a puzzle piece with my left hand, which I was barely aware I was doing, I shook my head and answered, “Oh, uh, no. It’s nothing.” Starlight frowned and asked, “Is it about last week with Diane? Because I thought you said you were over it.” “But I am over it. I promise!” Starlight sighed and tilted her head down to the puzzle. “Okay, if you say so. But I’m glad your boss finally gave you a raise three weeks ago. You’re one of the top masseurs at the spa, so you deserved it.” I don't know if I'm that good a masseur, but ponies seem to think that. Maybe it has something to do with me having hands, not hooves. “Thanks. I wasn’t sure if my cheap as buck boss would ever give me a raise.” I fitted in a piece of the puzzle, as Starlight fit in one at the same time, leaving four pieces by each of us. “Tell me about it, Buggie. Twilight was close to marching down to the spa and tell your boss to give you your overdo raise.” Starlight put in a puzzle piece, leaving three by her. I put in another puzzle piece, also leaving me with three. “That so? And I’m surprised you didn’t try to run there and take my boss’s Cutie Mark, big sis!” "Augh, I know you’re joking, but must you make jokes like that? You know how I'm still trying my best to become a better pony." "Sorry." After my not-so great joke about Starlight being prone to acting like an overprotective big sister to me, a moment of curiosity about her passing through the portal last week took over. I found myself making circles on the floor with a finger. “Uh...when you went through the portal to get Sunset last week, did she ask about me even before you told her what was going on?” Starlight raised her head up in thought. “Hmm...yeah. Before I told her about you having trouble asking out Diane, she asked how you were doing.” I felt a burst of joy fill my heart, and couldn't fight the big smile that followed. “She did?!" “Yeah. And how Twilight and Equestria is.” “Oh.” “Why you ask?” “I was just wondering.” I drew more invisible circles on the floor with a finger. This is something I never used to do, but is something ponies sometimes did with their hooves when they felt awkward about something. It’s one of the habits I picked up in Equestria. “Okay.” Starlight placed two of her three remaining pieces in their correct spot in the puzzle. “When we finish this puzzle, you want to come with me and watch Trixie practice some spells?” “Uh...not this time. I think I’ll stay in the castle and read a book or something.” I put in a puzzle piece, leaving me with two. Starlight chuckled and said, “I can’t believe you’re passing on a chance to mess with Trixie. In fact, maybe the others were right, and you have spent too much time with Twilight.” This is something I heard a lot last week, and it annoyed the Tartarus out of me! I guess it’s because I gained some of Twilight’s habits that I didn’t have before we met, and I spent more time with her than anypony else. I groaned and rolled my eyes. “Oh, don’t you get into the act too, Starie! And I could say the same about you and Trixie.” I placed my last two pieces in the puzzle. “But, I...” Starlight realized I had her, so she gave a defeated sigh. ”Fine, point taken.” Starlight placed the last piece to finish the puzzle and smiled. “And that’s the last piece, so we’re done!” Since it looked upside down from where I sat, I got up to walk around it, then stood beside Starlight, who also stood up. The finished puzzle was of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna standing beside each other with their wings spread out. The right half of the puzzle had the sun in the background in the light-blue daytime skies. The left half showed the moon against the dark-blue nighttime skies. This is also Twilight’s favorite puzzle to do. Heh, I wonder why? “This might be a new record for how fast we solved this puzzle, Buggie. In fact, I think we need some new ones.” “Well, when I get my next paycheck, I’ll buy us some new ones and with more pieces for a better challenge. You want to see if we can do the next one even faster, or are you about to go help Sunset -- er, I mean, Trixie?” “What’s up with that, Buggie? It’s like you can’t stop thinking about Sunset or something. What’s wrong?” I couldn't resist giving one of my big ‘ol nervous grins. The last four days, Sunset’s been on my mind far more than usual. At first, I thought it was because part of me was worried that she still felt bad about the thing with Diane. I’ve always struggled with paranoia. “Oh, uh, nothing’s wrong! It was just a slip of the tongue.” Starlight’s frown showed she didn’t buy it, but still backed off. “Okay...but anyway, I think I should go to Trixie. But when I'm done teaching her new spells, I can come back and we can try to do another puzzle even faster.” “Sounds good to me. Have fun, Starie.” Man, did I want to say “have fun with your marefriend, Starie" instead! But thought better of it. After Starlight left to train “Ms. Powerful” in more spells, I picked out a red book from one of the library’s bookshelves and hopped on one side of a purple couch. The couch was close to the bookshelf I got the book from. Most of the time when I read in the library, it’s with Twilight, so I felt a bit lonely reading alone. I even found myself staring at the other side of the couch, where Twilight usually sat when we read. Good thing the Shipping Seven couldn’t see me like this, or they would have used it as "shipping fuel". But, as I opened the book and looked at the words on the first page, that’s what I did: I looked at the words. Well, more like stared at them. Thoughts about Sunset clouded my head, and blocked my ability to comprehend what they meant. Thoughts like how nice it was of Sunset to come to Equestria just to try and help me land my first crush here. Or for that matter, how nice Sunset is period. Her red and yellow “bacon” mane. Gold coat, and her turquoise eyes, which I didn’t even notice were turquoise till I saw Sunset a week ago. And, oh boy. Thinking about her deep, silky voice almost made me melt on the inside. The fact that it was quiet in the library made it even harder to get my thoughts off Sunset and onto reading my book. I shook my head, sighed, and focused harder to “force” myself to read, and it worked. For five seconds. Then, along with my previous thoughts, I thought about how cute Sunset looked in her pony form, and it used to feel weird thinking she's cute as a mare. But not this time. In fact, I even thought about how hot that mare looked! Knowing I wasn’t in the frame of mind to read, I hopped off the couch and placed the book back on the bookshelf. I figured what was going on in my noggin was from the lingering shock of Sunset coming to Equestria without a heads-up, and I’ll be “back to normal” soon. Yet as I paced back and forth in the library trying to think of what to do next, deep down, I knew the real reason. The warmness in my heart proved it. But the fear that Sunset possibly thought I looked weird too, but was just hiding it from me, made me fight to deny it. In the human world where Sunset Shimmer resides, in Rarity’s bedroom, Sunset, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack were waiting on Rarity to finish combing her hair. Rarity sat in a chair in front of a two-feet-tall mirror on her dresser. The other girls stood close together near the open bedroom door, with Sunset closest to the doorway. Sunset also carried the strap of a brown pack over her shoulder. Photos of various designs of dresses, as well as pink and purple diamonds, hung on the walls. Sunlight shone through the windows, though they were half-covered by purple curtains. As always, Rarity wanted her hair to be perfect. However, she was combing it too long for her friends’ tastes, and their crossed arms or annoyed groans proved they were near their limits. Applejack whined, “Come on, Rarity! Aren’t ya done yet?” Keeping her eyes on her reflection in the mirror, in a sing-songy voice, Rarity answered, “Not yet, Applejack.” “You look good already, so let’s just go,” Sunset said. “Sunset, you should know that I don’t want to look 'good'. I want to look fabulous!” “But at this rate, we’re going to miss seeing ‘The Return of Chrysalis’!” Pinkie pointed out. Rainbow warned, “If you’re not done in the next minute, we’re going to the theater without you.” “Annnnnd, finished.” Rarity stopped combing her hair, which was purple and ended in three curls, and set the comb on the dresser. “Okay, my hair is perfect, so I’m ready.” “Finally!” Applejack exclaimed. Twilight Sparkle, or “Sci-Twi” in Eric Reed’s words, walked to the doorway, but didn’t go in the room. Fluttershy, with Spike in her arms, stood beside her. “Hi, guys,” Twilight greeted. Applejack waved her hand at Twilight, Fluttershy, and Spike. “Hey. I thought ya two were goin' to meet us at the theater.” “Well, we were nearby, so we thought to come here so we can all go together,” Fluttershy explained. “Are you all ready?” “Yeah, we’re ready.” Rainbow took notice of a brown journal Twilight held in her arm. “Oh, Twi, did you talk to Eric yet?” “Yeah,” Twilight answered. “Did you have any luck?” Rarity asked with a smile. Twilight frowned and shook her head. “No. I tried, but I couldn’t talk him into it.” Pinkie in turn frowned. “Wow, and I thought he would listen to you at least, since you’re ‘another’ Twilight." Rainbow groaned and complained, “Why is that guy so stubborn? He and Princess Twilight get along so well!” “Girls, maybe we should back off on this. Eric told Twilight that Princess Twilight has never shown signs that she might like him,” Spike explained. Applejack said, “Well, in that case, maybe Eric shouldn’t ask her out after all, and they just keep their relationship as a brother-sister friendship.” “I guess so,” Rarity agreed. “And none of us want him to get crushed if he ask her out, but she didn’t like him like that.” “Yeah, that would be baaad,” Pinkie chimed in. “Especially not after Sunset got Eric hurt last week and--” Pinkie suddenly became aware of Sunset’s presence, and smiled sheepishly at her. “Uh, no offense.” Sunset sighed, hearing “no offense” for the millionth time. Or it at least felt like the millionth time to Sunset. “None taken, I guess.” Fluttershy asked, “Sunset, do you still feel bad about last week?” The frustration in Sunset gave way to lingering guilt, which forced a frown from her lips. “A little, Fluttershy. I know Eric said he’s all right and not mad at me, but I still can’t believe I got his heart broke like that. I felt like an awful friend.” “Well, at least he’s all right now,” Applejack reassured. “But, that reminds me: ya and Princess Twilight said Eric looks different from Equestria or even our world, right?” “Oh, yeah! How ‘different’ does he look?” Spike asked. “Oh, that’s right, I never told you how he looked.” Sunset placed a finger on her cheek in thought. “Well, it’s hard to explain. The details on his body are more...detailed, and he definitely stands out. But I don’t think Eric looks ‘weird’ like Diane Heart did, but just ‘different’.” Rainbow asked, “Is he cute?” “Cute? Well, I didn’t really think about it. But I guess he’s kind of cute.” Rarity smiled mischievously toward Rainbow. “Wait, Rainbow, don’t tell me that you might want to go to Equestria and ask Eric out, now that we know he and Princess Twilight will never get together?” Rainbow shook her head and waved her arms in front of her, in a manner used when denying something. “N-No, it wasn’t that! I was just curious!” Twilight chuckled and said, “Anyway, here’s the journal back, Sunset. I know you like to be the one to hang on to it.” Twilight walked through the doorway and handed the journal to Sunset. Sunset took the journal and placed it in her pack. “Thanks. But the next time Eric gets a crush, I’m staying out of it, unless he's the one that asks me for help.” Rainbow glanced to a clock on the wall of the room. “But that’s enough about Eric; it’s almost time for ‘The Return of Chrysalis’ to start! Girls, let’s go before they run out of tickets!” As she left with her friends, little did Sunset Shimmer know that the next time Eric Reed would form feelings for a "mare", she would play a much bigger role in it than she would ever suspect.