Trixie, eyes locked with Twilight, smirked.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Twilight Sparkle," she said coyly, trying to play it cool.
Twilight did not smirk back.
"What are you up to, Trixie?" she asked, frowning. The rest of the Human Six stood behind her.
The magician took a few steps forward, saying, "Trixie's got a date with Sunset Shimmer tonight. Jealous much?" Her smirk tried to turn into a full grin, but Trixie refused to have the lower hand in this duel. Her smirk remained the same.
Before Twilight could make a remark, Rainbow Dash stepped forward, shoving her away. She went right up to Trixie. Making her toughest face, the athlete said, "Why would I want a date with a bully like Shimmer or yourself?" right in her face.
Trixie crossed her arms, closed her arms, and let out a "hmf". These Equestrian Girls didn't know as much about friendship as they pretended to. A real friendship expert would have known to try to make peace and friends with the bacon-haired girl and the magician.
Trixie opened her eyes. "You guys shouldn't continue to be enemies with us." She walked up to Twilight Sparkle and started her locked stare again. "If you were a real friendship expert, you'd know that you should try to make friends with your enemies." She then turned away from the Human Six. "Maybe then you'd learn the truth."
With that, Trixie took her Iced Caramel Chocolate Milkshake, and giving Twilight one more glare, walked out the door, slamming it as she left.
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Meanwhile, Sunset Shimmer was freaking out.
"Where will we go? What will we do? Gah!" she muttered.
This was terrible! She had no idea what to do, and Trixie thought she knew! What would she do if she canceled the date? Trixie might never like her again, for being arrogant, or lying!
Sunset stood up. She was at the mall, sitting on one of the benches outside. She looked up at the letters on the building and walked inside. She wouldn't give up. She had to stop being worried, and actually do something! If she just sat around all day, she'd never think of an idea.
Sunset looked at all of the stores inside.
"Goldie Delicious' Feline Grooming Salon? No, Trixie might be allergic, and we don't have a cat... Joe's Donuts? That's more of a morning thing... Autumn Blaze's All Night Disco? Too loud, and not really a date place... Fancy Pants' Suits? Nah, that's for men..."
Sunset Shimmer simply couldn't find the perfect place.
Suddenly, a light-up store sign caught her eye.
"Minty's Ice Cream Café? Hmmm... Quiet, not too fancy, and delicious! Perfect!" she cried with a smile forming across her face. Problem solved!
Sunset pulled out her phone, wrote herself a reminder of where to go just in case, and triumphantly walked out of the mall. This night was going to be perfect, and she was going to make sure of it. Because if it went wrong, she could lose Trixie.
And that would mean losing the one friend she had left.
The thought made her spine go cold. She stopped moving, and her mind was filled with thoughts like 'What if everything goes wrong? and 'This was a terrible idea!' The pony-girl grimaced. This date had to go on without a hitch, it had to! There wasn't possibly a way that everything could go wrong.
Sunset Shimmer looked up at the sky with a face of pure determination.
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
In Fillydelphia, Starlight Glimmer sat in her bedroom/office. Should she find her parents? Or should she stay here and continue to ignore them?
They'd think she was a failure if she went back. She'd be shunned and hated. Unless... unless they were proud of her. What if they saw everything she'd done? What if they missed her, and actually did love her? Warmth flooded through her body, and for a second she thought a real smile would form.
Instead, Starlight shoved it off.
She had so many responsibilities. Running a place like this wasn't a piece of cake, especially if her goal was to make everyone feel loved. And she was not going to leave children, aging from six to fourteen, all alone. It was possible that she could leave Megan, the oldest child here, on her own, since she was very responsible, but some of the youngest kids here could be troublemakers sometimes, and couldn't properly take care of themselves.
So had she decided? The pony-girl wasn't actually sure. Part of her wanted to run to find them, to put herself in their welcoming arms (if they did love her). But, her other half wanted to stay here, to take care of the kids, and to prevent any negative things that might happen to her.
Starlight sighed. She wasn't getting anywhere. She'd come in here to settle her thoughts, but all she'd gotten was a more split opinion.
There were several knocks at her door. "Miss Glimmer?" called a voice preceding the knocking.
The Equestria Girl sat up from her drooping position and called back, "Come in, Megan."
A fourteen-year-old girl with pale peach skin and big, light blue eyes walked in. She closed the door behind her, knowing her caretaker's enjoyment of privacy. Her golden hair was pulled back by a big red bow.
Starlight gave one of her classic fake smiles. She hadn't given a real smile in years. It wasn't that she hated these children, she just couldn't bring herself to break out in a real grin. Besides, her fake ones fooled almost everyone.
Megan nervously pulled on the straps of her turquoise overalls. Biting her lip, she looked down and said, "You've been in here for hours. The little ones are worried, and there's a bit of a problem between L.S. and Aqua again."
The caretaker tried her best not to groan. The extremely playful and messy Lickety Split was always getting into fights with the shy, organized, sweet Aquamarine. Over the past three years, they'd had enough fights to drive a normal caretaker insane. Thankfully, Starlight wasn't your normal caretaker- her personal experiences drove her forward.
Starlight Glimmer stood up and followed Megan to Aqua's room. There were the two children, fighting over a mess L.S. had started. Starlight could tell over the dollop of chocolate pudding dripping down the wall. It was classic for the little boy to hurl ice cream or pudding when he was upset or craving excitement. He enjoyed messing with Aquamarine, even though she never did anything wrong to him.
Now Aqua was practically hissing; L.S. usually brought out her dark side. Meanwhile, Lickety Split was just standing there, smirking. He was obviously enjoying this.
Play it cool, Starlight, the pony-girl thought to herself.
She walked in between the two fighting kids, yelling, "Cut it out!"
Silence struck the room. Not a child spoke. The only sound was the strawberry ice cream dripping from the ceiling onto a small wooden box. Upon seeing this, Aqua whimpered. The box held her small collection of gemstones, which meant a lot to her. L.S. snickered. Megan walked over to the box, picked it up, and wiped it off with her matching pink sleeve. She then handed the box to the ten-year-old girl.
"Here."
Aqua smiled and Lickety Split rolled his eyes and began to walk out of the room.
"Not so fast, Lickety Split." Starlight said, causing the boy to let out a groan and turn around. He wasn't getting out of this one, and he knew it.
"I can deal with him if you'd like," Megan said helpfully. "I know how much you like your thinking time."
Starlight gave a small, fake smile.
"Thanks, Megan," she said.
Then she walked over to her office, went inside, and closed the door.
That's when the tough, troubled caretaker broke down in tears.