It’s now been two days since Sunset and I said we loved each other.
We were deep in the woods (where Fluttershy likes to spend time with some of her animal friends) with Twilight and Starlight. This is where I first woke up in Equestria, where Twilight later found me, and is the only place where a special spell that lets me talk to someone from my world once a week works. It was time for Sunset Shimmer to “meet” one of my human big sisters: Erica Reed.
In front of one of several trees surrounding us, Twilight and Starlight were standing side by side. Sunset was close to them, and I stood opposite them. The grass was up to my ankles. As I told Sunset I would, I wore my new necklace with my "honorary" Element, and Sunset had her new necklace around her neck. Of course, I also wore my hat with my sisters' and friends' Cutie Marks.
Twilight asked, “Okay, Buggie. Are you ready?”
“Yeah, I’m ready.”
“In that case, Starlight and I will prepare the spell. As usual, stay still, and when the smoke surrounds you, call out Erica's name.”
“Oh, wait, hold on.” I looked directly to Sunset. “Can you come stand beside me, Sunset?”
Sunset replied, “I can, but I thought I would be able to hear your sister’s voice from here?”
“You can, but I want you by my side when you ‘meet’ Erica.”
Sunset grinned, ran to me, and offered me her hoof: she knew I wanted to hold it for this.
Starlight smiled and said, “Aww, that’s sweet, Buggie!”
“Thanks, Starie. I got the idea from reading a book.” With a smirk, I looked to Twilight when I said “book”. I’ve had fun with that pony about “the book” a few times already, and Starlight and Sunset know about it now too. They laughed their heads off when they found out and were giggling here too.
Of course, Twi was not amused and she rolled her eyes. “Ugh! Eric, how many times are you going to bring that up? I feel awkward about it as it is!”
“Till it stops being funny, Princess of Romance. With how close you and I are, I was a bit worried that you might get jealous about me dating Sunset. But I was oh so wrong! Ha ha!”
“Okay, did you come out here to talk to Erica or pick on me?”
I started feeling bad, so it was time to lay off Twilight and I stopped my laughing, and Starlight and Sunset did too. “Okay, okay, I’ll knock it off. Sorry, Twi.”
With a smile, Twilight said, “It’s okay, Buggie. You wouldn’t be you if you never mess with me, and you put up with my...not-so-great habits.”
Starlight asked, “Like when you wanted to make Eric’s outfit ‘perfect’ for his first date and wouldn’t let him leave his room until you were done?”
“Wait, she did that to you, Eric? I thought it was only me that went through something like that before our date.”
“Wow, so you went through that too before our date, huh? I didn’t think Sci-Twi would do that,” I confessed.
Twilight frowned when I said “Sci-Twi”, but said nothing. She couldn’t actually be jealous of me using a nickname for “another” Twilight Sparkle, could she? Or maybe she just didn’t like that nickname either.
Sunset told me, “It wasn’t ‘Sci-Twi’; it was the Rarity in my world that did it.” Sunset formed an almost giddy grin. “But I can’t wait to finally talk to one of your sisters in your world, so let’s do it.”
Twilight’s and Starlight’s horns glowed, and a green smoke leaked from them. It circled Sunset and me, feeling like a light warm breeze, and formed itself into a ball.
After the smoke had stopped whirling and settled but remained in a spherical shape, I called out, “Erica? Can you hear me?”
Yeah, I can hear you, Eric. Twilight told dad that you got hurt three weeks ago. Are you all right now?
“Yeah, I’m all right. It wasn’t anything too bad.”
Usually, Twilight and/or Starlight cast the spell so I can talk to my family, but it’s possible for them to talk to someone from my world even without me. While I was still in the hospital, Twilight used the spell to tell my dad the situation. She also apologized for not being there to prevent it from happening, and I even tried to tell Twi that she didn’t need to do that last part when she was about to talk to my dad. Still, she felt that it needed to be done. Wish Twilight could finally forgive herself for accidentally bringing me to Equestria, as well as for being unable to get me back to my old world.
Anyway, this day was picked as the next day I talk to someone. I chose Erica to be the one this time, so she was ready to hear my voice.
That’s great. So, what’s new, little bro?
“A lot, because I have somepony with me that I want you to meet, big sis.”
I will never get used to you saying “somepony”, but who is it?
I motioned my free hand to Sunset, signaling to her “you’re up”.
“Oh, uh, hi, Erica. My name is Sunset Shimmer and, uh...how are you doing?”
I’m good. Are you a new friend of Eric’s?
“You...could say that,” Sunset answered, looked down and lightly, with the hoof on the foreleg I wasn’t holding, patted the ground.
Sunset got hit with the “shyness stick”, so I said, “Sunset’s not just my friend: she’s my girlfriend.”
Wait, what?! She’s your “girlfriend” Eric?!
I answered proudly, “Yep.”
Sunset recovered from the shyness stick, stopped giving the ground a “massage”, and said, “A-And I understand that a pony and a human dating might sound weird, but we get along so well and our time together when we started dating has been magical. And I’m a Unicorn, so I know magic.”
Wow. Well, if Eric’s okay with it, then so am I, and I know the rest of our family will be. But I have a question for you, uh, “Sunset Shimmer” you said your name is?
“Yeah, and you can just call me ‘Sunset’ if you like.”
Okay then, Sunset. I want to know: if you’re dating my brother, what bet did you lose to get stuck with that bonehead?
That jab at me made Twilight and Starlight giggle, but Sunset was just confused, rubbed her neck, and she asked, “Huh?”
“Oh, ha, ha, very funny, Erica! Sunset’s not dating me because she lost a bet!”
“I guess Erica likes to mess with you?” Sunset asked.
“‘Likes to mess with me’ is putting it mildly. She can be even worse than Trixie.”
But it’s not like you never did it either, Eric. I still haven’t forgotten when you put a fake mustache on my face when I was asleep!
“Ha ha, oh yeah, that was a good one, and you were so mad, big sis! But let’s get back to Sunset. Anything else you want to ask her?”
Yeah.
“What is it? Ask me anything.”
Really, what bet did you lose to have to date Eric?
This time, Sunset joined Twilight and Starlight in giggling.
“You know, Ms. Comedy, one thing I never picked on you about was when Derek asked you out! I even pulled out the stops to make you look good, remember?”
Ha ha, okay, I’m sorry, Eric. I’ll stop.
After another chuckle, Twilight said, “I think I see where you got it from, Buggie.”
“Where I got what from?”
Starlight answered, “Why you like to make jokes.”
Oh, so that bonehead messes with you guys, uh, ponies, too?
“Oh, he does, and he was messing with me about...something, before Starlight and I cast the spell to let us talk. But ponies say ‘guys’ the same way that humans do, so you were okay.”
I’ll remember that. But seriously, little bro, I’m happy that you have a girlfriend. In fact, something about your voice sounds different, like you’re happier than you were the last time we talked.
“I do?”
Yeah. But is Sunset still there?
“I am. Do you want to ask me something else?”
Not really ask, but I just want to say be good to my little brother. That bonehead can be a pain sometimes, but he has a heart of gold and I love him to death.
“I know, and trust me, Erica: no one will love him more than I will.”
I’m glad to hear it. So, tell me some things about yourself, Sunset. If you’re going to be dating Eric, we should get to know each other too.
“Okay. What would you like to know about me?”
Well, first…
Sunset and Erica would do most of the talking for a while. Sunset told Erica about how she’s a magical prodigy -- in a humble way -- how she lives in a “human” world different from the one I’m from, and some other things about herself. Though, she left out the part about her she-demon “phase”, how she was before she reformed, and for that matter how she even needed to reform. Don’t blame her.
Erica also told Sunset some stuff about herself: she’s a manager at a Wal-Mart, married, and loves sports like I do. She was even a star pitcher for the girls’ high school baseball team for our school before she graduated.
Oh, and she just had to bring up when her baseball team played my team for fun. It was the last time I played baseball in my old world.
...And that’s how my team beat Eric’s team before he “left” to Equestria. He was so mad when I struck him out!
“I still say your ‘Erica curveball’ was a ‘ball’ not a ’strike’ so you didn’t really ‘strike’ me out’!”
Sure it--
Twilight said, “Guys? I’m sorry to interrupt, but the spell’s about to end.”
Oh. Well, Eric, who do you want to talk to next week?
“I’ll talk to Jenny next, but don’t tell her about Sunset: I want to be the one to tell her.”
Okay, my lips are sealed. But it’s too bad you and Sunset won’t be able to...uh...you know, because you’re different species.
“Who said we couldn’t?”
Wait, WHAT?! You two mi--
The smoke vanished, so whatever Erica said -- or yelled -- after that couldn’t be heard by us. Heh, now that was more like how I thought Twilight Sparkle would react at the thought of Sunset and me possibly “doing it”. Not try to help.
“I guess Erica wouldn’t approve of...that, Eric?” Sunset asked with a frown.
“I doubt it’s that she doesn’t ‘approve’. She was just surprised.”
Twilight asked, “Uh, guys? How about we leave and...talk about something else?”
“Not that this is...boring,” Starlight chimed in.
“Okay. My shift at the spa starts in another two hours, so I want to eat something before I go.”
“I’m hungry too, so you mind if we get something to eat together before I go back through the portal?”
“Of course not!” I answered. “Let’s go!”
Twilight, Starlight, Sunset, and I left the woods.
What Erica said about me seeming happier was unexpected to say the least. But as I thought about it, I think I figured out what she meant. It was some time after I was picked on as a kid about my burns that I started cracking jokes and gained a sense of humor. Yet, I guess it was partly as an attempt to get over the bullying, and it “stuck”.
But now, I’m finally over it, so the jokes don’t have that slight sadness in them anymore, which I really wasn’t aware of. As close as I have become with Twilight and Starlight, I still haven’t known them for a full year, so they failed to pick this up or even suspected it. Erica Reed, on the other hand, has known me since I was born, so she was able to tell.
In the dining room of the castle, Sunset and I had just finished eating. She had a carrot dog and I had a salad; the bowl I ate it from was now empty, save for a few pieces of lettuce. We each sat in a chair -- beside each other, of course.
When Sunset took the last bite of her carrot dog, she looked to me. Something about her frown and eyes was different. She wasn’t mad, yet her face showed that she was serious about something.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I was thinking. Remember when you said that I got over my past, and it helped you do it too?”
“Yep.”
“Well, the part about how I got over my past isn’t quite accurate.”
I rubbed the back of my head. I really had no idea where Sunset was going with this. “Uh...I’m confused, because you have overcome your past and fears by completely changing from how you used to be and you’re not looking back...right?”
Sunset looked to the hooves on her forelegs and rubbed them as she answered, “Sure, I changed, but unlike you, Eric, there’s something about my past that still haunts me. I want to face it now, but I’m going to need both your and Princess Twilight’s help to do it.”
“Really?” I was about to ask what Sunset meant, then it hit me and I gasped. I immediately understood why her eyes had that spark of determination. Even if the rubbing of her hooves showed nervousness, Sunset Shimmer was finally ready.
“From your smile, I guess you know what I’m thinking, don’t you?” Sunset asked.
“Yep. And I’ll do what I can to help, and I’m sure Twi will too. But are you sure?”
Sunset nodded her head and stopped rubbing her hooves. “Yes. I’m ready to face Princess Celestia.”