Wallflower walked down the hall. This was a big day. Momentous. Today was her first day at school… with a girlfriend.
She found Sunset by her locker.
Wallflower hesitated. Part of her feared last night had been just a dream.
But Sunset smiled and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek in greeting, making Wallflower live up to her last name. “You ready?”
“No,” Wallflower admitted, shrinking into herself.
Sunset’s smile faded. “We don’t have to-”
“We can,” Wallflower said hurriedly. “I just… am nervous, that’s all.”
“Why?” Sunset asked.
“I don’t know,” Wallflower admitted miserably.
Sunset pulled her into another hug. “It’s alright,” she said gently. “I’m sure our friends will be happy for us.”
Somehow, this worked. Just being here with her made her feel like anything was possible. “I’m ready now.”
Sunset smiled. She took hold of Wallflower’s hand, and together, they walked into the cafeteria.
Wallflower wasn’t sure what she expected.
What she got was Pinkie shooting to her feet. “Ha!” she crowed, pointing triumphantly. “Pay up, ladies!”
The table groaned. Rainbow irritably split her dessert in half and slid one over.
“Wait, wait,” Sunset said. “You were betting on us being a couple?”
“It was more of a ‘when’ than an ‘if’,” Rarity said comfortingly as she drew out a long spool of fancy ribbon and passed it to Pinkie.
“We could all see it,” Fluttershy said, passing over a picture.
“As obvious as a one-legged man at a can-kicking contest,” Applejack confirmed.
“Wait. You mean you all knew she had feelings for me?” Sunset asked, dumbfounded.
“You didn’t?” Twilight asked.
Sunset shook her head.
“Ha!” Pinkie shouted. “Pay up, ladies!”
Rainbow let out a low groan and pushed the rest of her dessert over.
“You really didn’t know?” Rarity asked, aghast.
“I had no idea,” Sunset admitted.
“How does the wielder of the Geode of Empathy not know these things?” Rainbow asked.
Applejack jabbed her in the ribs.
“She did figure it out eventually,” Rarity said. Then she paused. “You did ask her, right?”
Sunset hesitated.
“Ha!”
The others groaned loudly, nearly drowning out “Pay up, ladies!”
“I hate you both, just for the record,” Rainbow groused, scribbling out an IOU on a torn piece of lined paper.
Wallflower wasn’t quite sure how to feel about all of this. But then again, she’d subverted their expectations. That did feel pretty good. What’s more, they didn’t seem to be annoyed with her.
“Why do we bet against Pinkie?” Rainbow groused.
“In our defense, we all thought it was a longshot,” Twilight said. “The odds of this were, like, three thousand, two-”
“Don’t tell me the odds,” Rainbow grumbled.
This conversation continued, but Wallflower wasn’t listening too closely. This had gone… well.
Sunset noticed. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m feeling… warm,” Wallflower answered honestly.
Sunset grinned. “I’d say something about being my girlfriend, but this time it’s probably because you’re sitting right next to that exhaust vent.”
Wallflower looked over and realized she was right. “Huh,” she said.
But Sunset was wrong. It wasn’t just that. It was a feeling of…
This was right.
It won’t last
Wallflower pushed that thought away. She gently touched Sunset’s shoulder, and felt herself smile.