//------------------------------// // Even when I was wrong // Story: And If You Don't Know, Now You Know // by J Carp //------------------------------// As Sunset pulled away from the hug, her smile was huge, genuine, kind.  Wallflower‘s chest hurt just seeing it, even though she knew that was terrible.  (She was not certain why it was terrible; she’d have to ask later.  But it certainly somehow was.) “It’s so great to see you!” Sunset enthused.  “I saw you over there, but you looked pretty busy, so.” “Aw, just some tax stuff for the farm,” the girl replied.  “Dunno if you heard, but I’m getting into the whole business side of it.  I ain’t never been big on planting and harvesting, but numbers, I’m good at.”  Right, of course she was smart.  She looked smart.  The smirk she was putting on was clearly a smart-person smirk.  “I was gonna come over and say hi, too, but you and your friend here seemed to be in your own little world.” “Ahaaaha!”  The noise Sunset made was mostly a nervous laugh but also choking, but she recovered well.  “Maybe.”  She paused slightly, then seemed to remember herself.  “Oh!  Um, yeah, Wallflower, this is Apple Bloom.  Remember her?” I mean, I don’t know, Sunset, I can’t keep track of all your kabillion gorgeous friends.  “Um.”  Wallflower tried to smile; this Apple Bloom chick really did look genuinely nice.  “Hi.” “Hey!”  Apple Bloom grabbed her hand and shook it heartily, and it somehow didn’t feel like an uncomfortable violation of personal space.  “You from here?  I’d know you if you went to Canterlot, so, hm, lemme think.  You one of them Crystal Prep people?” “N…no.  I, um.” “Aw, man.”  Apple Bloom scratched the back of her head charmingly.  “You’re probably one of Vignette or Rara’s bigtime celebrity friends, huh?  Sorry, I…” “Wallflower did go to Canterlot,” Sunset interrupted, voice smooth.  “And careful, kiddo.  You might have been class president this year, but you didn’t know everyone cool on campus back when you were a little freshman.” “Hey, now.”  Apple Bloom sighed playfully.  “Am I just always gonna be a freshman to you?” “Forever and ever!” Pinkie Pie confirmed, looking up from busing Apple Bloom’s table.  Goddddd, Sunset did that perfectly.  She completely changed the subject away from the thing making Wallflower uncomfortable, in a way Apple Bloom didn’t even notice because it was kind of an insult, but then she knew to throw in a compliment too so it was clear everyone was just playing around.  It was perfect.  She just completely knew how to be utterly perfect without even thinking about it. Apple Bloom finished rolling her eyes and saying whatever she said back to Pinkie, and she regarded Sunset again.  “Well anyways, I can’t believe Applejack or Rares hasn’t mentioned you’re in town.  You just back for a visit, or the summer?” “Whole summer!  I got in a week ago, but I’ve been hermiting.  Needed to decompress and get my work situation set up.”  Wallflower glanced over in surprise.  She and Sunset had hung out several times already, and they texted a lot in between.  She must be seeing people; why would she lie to Apple Bloom like that?  “You’ll get sick of me coming over to the farm pretty soon, I bet.”  Apple Bloom laughed.  “I bet.  Well, I’m heading home.”  She smiled at Wallflower; it didn’t look fake at all.  “Good to meet you again!  Y’all are welcome over at the farm any time, too, just so long as you don’t mind hearing us talk your ear off about apples.” “I like apples.”  That had been a very stupid thing to say, but she couldn’t think of anything else.  Luckily, though, Apple Bloom was socially skilled enough to just respond with a huge grin and a wave.  Wallflower watched her walk to the door, noticing she felt pretty okay.  “She’s nice,” she said, meaning it. “Right?  She’s always been a cool kid.  I still can’t believe she’s graduated and going to college and everything, though.” “I still can’t believe she thought I was a social media celebrity.” A loud gasp rang out nearby, but she expected it enough to not be startled.  “Wallflower!” Pinkie yipped, wiping down a nearby booth, “you’d be such an awesome social media celebrity!  The people need someone to teach them how to arrange flowers and everything!” Wallflower couldn’t help but smile at the compliment, but she noticed Sunset next to her laughing in a way that seemed forced.  Pinkie obviously noticed, too; she frowned for just a split second before returning to her work.  “Oh!”  Sunset glanced at her watch.  (She’d picked it up sometime over the past year at school; it was one of those wide, black, digital ones.  Indestructible and practical, just like Sunset herself.)  “You guys closed ten minutes ago!  Sorry, Pinkie, we’ll get out of your way.” “Hm?”  Pinkie looked up, hugely smiling.  “Don’t worry about it!  …But if you’re going, I’ll see you tomorrow with the girls, right?” “Wouldn’t miss it.” Sunset replied, smiling back, some of the tension dissipated. “It’ll be kinda weird without Twilight or Rainbow around, but it’ll be so good to see everyone else.” “Ah, thanks for reminding me!” Pinkie yipped.  “I’ll share you on the video chat schedule!  You’re a night owl, but you miiigggggghhht have to get up early for talking to Twilight!  I don’t want her to think we’re not thinking about her just because she’s all the way in Flankfurt!”  “She won’t.  But I’m glad you’re on it.”  Sunset had mostly relaxed by now, and she waved smoothly.  “See you at lunch.” Pinkie’s smile was huge.  “Byyeee!”  She looked at Wallflower; her smile stayed just as big.  “I know you hate getting put on the spot about social things, so I won’t, like, acccccctively invite you, wink? But I know all the girls would love to see you any time!” Wallflower nodded, feeling weirdly not overwhelmed.  Pinkie was pretty great at people.  “Thanks.” “I mean, not as much as Sunset does,” Pinkie clarified.  “But almost!” Sunset made a weird snorting sound, and when Wallflower turned to look, she had her back to her, pressing a hand to her face.  “Hee hee hee hee hee.”  Pinkie’s laugh was almost sinister, but still utterly benign at the same time. “Gniiight!” As they stepped outside, Wallflower glanced over, raising an eyebrow.  “Pinkie’s pretty random, huh?” “Yep!” Sunset quickly agreed.  “That’s her!  Raaandom ol’ Pinkie!”  She walked right to the passenger door of Wallflower’s car, which was still kind of surprising to see.  “There’s really no one like her anywhere.  Her and you.  Those are the two people I’ve met who are just totally unique.” “Ehhhm.”  Wallflower unlocked the car bashfully, trying in vain to will her face to stop being red before getting in where it was light.  “C’mon.  There’s plenty of Wallflowers.  You just wouldn’t know, because no one ever notices them.” Sunset laughed, sliding her seatbelt on.  “But I noticed you.  Which means you are unique.  QED.” “Grf.”  Wallflower did not mind the embarrassment she was feeling.  It was actually pretty nice.  “Well.  Okay.”  She started the engine and pulled out.  “I don’t think you used ‘QED’ correctly.” “Shush.”  The silence between them was completely fine.  Sunset-silence.  They’d been friends for years.  Always texting on and off.  But at some point over the past semester, they’d started texting more.  And then more.  And then every day.  She had no idea how it happened. She suddenly realized Sunset was staring at her.  She glanced over, and Sunset reacted like a kid caught looking at a dirty magazine.  “…What?” “Nothing!”  Sunset stared down at her own lap, rigid.  “Just.” “…Whaaaat?” “Nooothhhinnng.  I was just thinking.  Um.  Who could possibly not notice you?” Wallflower surprised herself by continuing to be able to drive safely, though in every other way, she was totally falling apart.  “See, this is why I didn’t want to say it.  It was too dorky.” Yeah, so what Sunset considered dorky was still somehow the sexiest thing ever.  Wallflower almost had one of her bad thoughts, so she reminded herself again that Sunset had a whole lot of friends, and she probably texted them all the time, too.  Every single one of them probably thought there was ‘an energy’ when they were sitting in a car together, because that’s just how things worked for the friends of extremely hot bisexual people.   They just drove for a minute or two. “It was cool seeing Apple Bloom,” Sunset remarked eventually.  “I mostly know her as Applejack’s little sister, but I’ve been in touch with her more, recently.  She and her friends have kind of taken over dealing with Equestrian magic flare-ups.  We should probably figure out what we’re gonna do about that in the fall, huh.” At the mention of equestrian magic, Wallflower tensed up.  “Is that still a problem?” she asked, trying to sound neutral. “No, just little things here and there.  A magic, bottomless shopping bag.  Something about a crystal that made mushrooms turn into cats?  Didn’t really understand that one.”  She paused, then seemed to realize something and looked over quickly.  “I’m not saying all Equestrian magic is bad!  Some of it’s good.  Just, it’s also good to have people here, keeping on top of things.” “Yeah.”  Wallflower very much wanted to change the subject, but by the time she thought of a new topic, there had been a long enough pause that it probably didn’t even matter anymore.  But she asked anyway,  “Are, um.  Are things okay between you and Pinkie?  It seemed a little tense.” Sunset paused in a poorly disguised attempt to feign surprise.  But she gave that up quickly and sighed.  “Yeah.”  She rubbed the back of her neck, laughing nervously.  “It’s no big.  Just, um.”  She was blushing; this was weird.  “We just kind of had a thing last summer.” “A… thing?” “Yyyeeeah.  Texting and video calls have been fine, but seeing her in person again just kind of hit me.  I was mostly just surprised I wasn’t totally over it.” Wallflower didn’t say anything.  This had not been the subject she’d wanted to change the subject to. “I’m kinda embarrassed you even noticed,” Sunset continued, babbling a little.  “It’s really not a big deal.  I just missed everyone a lot after my first year away, and when I got back into town, bam, Pinkie’s there being all huge and affectionate and herself, and… I mean.  I got a crush on her.” “Oh.” “She’s pretty much straight.  But Pinkie’s Pinkie, she doesn’t want to disappoint anyone, so she, um.”  Sunset coughed.  “…wow, I am just laying all this on you, huh?  I thought I was over it.  I mean, I am over Pinkie, just… you know how weird things can be when friends hook up.” Wallflower absolutely had no clue how weird things could be when friends hooked up.  “Are you all right?” “Yeah!  Yeah, just still kinda guilty over putting her in that position, you know?  She’s told me a bunch of times it’s cool, and I believe her, but… um.”  “Believing and believing are different things.” “Exactly.”  Sunset nodded thoughtfully, then smiled.  “Should’ve known you’d get me.  You always seem to.” Wallflower didn’t plan on feeling nice from that, but she did.  She just drove, feeling nice for a bit.  “Um,” she said finally, “it’s been really great seeing you so much.  I know you have a lot of people you want to see now that you’re back, but I hope.  Y’know.  I hope we can still hang out a bunch.” “That’s definitely my plan.”  Sunset smiled at her.  Wallflower smiled, too.  She couldn’t help it.  Yyyyyup, every time she’d seen her all week, she thought maybe she wasn’t totally head-over-heels.  Then by the end of the night, that little fantasy was right out the window. Sunset’s phone buzzed right as they reached her sublet.  She fiddled with the screen for a few seconds awkwardly, then smiled as she read something.  “Pinkie wants to make sure you understood you actually are invited to when we all hang out.  That’s why she said ‘wink.’” “Yeah.  I got that.” “Thought so.”  Sunset fiddled some more, then gave up and put her phone back in her pocket.  “Eh, sorry, this is just a new phone and I’m not really used to it yet.” “When did you get it?” “Just right after I got into town.  I haven’t done anything with it yet but order food and.  Well.  Text you, pretty much.” “Uhm.  C’mon.” “Really!  You were my inaugural new phone text.  It felt special, that way.  Like it’s kinda your phone, too, somehow.” Wallflower vaguely noticed Sunset gently touching her hand, then gently pulling her hand away.  “I’m.  Really dorky tonight!  I guess.  Ha ha.” ‘Please do not ever stop being dorky,’ Wallflower thought, but she absolutely didn’t say that out loud.  Sunset was reaching out to her as a friend, and she was terrible for twisting that with wrong thoughts.  “I’ll… see you soon?” “Yeah!  Yeah.”  Sunset nodded quickly.  “I’ll be in touch.  Texting.  Yeah.”  She quickly hugged Wallflower, then threw open the door and jumped out, waving. So, Sunset totally knew.  Every one of her friends had probably fallen in love with her at some point (except Pinkie of all people??) so she was naturally going to be cool about it, but Wallflower still felt like a total jerk.  She forced herself to smile as she pulled away. She drove around the corner and pulled into a little office building’s parking lot.  She took a deep, shaky breath. This was bad.  It was inevitable, of course, but bad bad bad bad.  Inevitably bad.  Inevitably Bad: The Wallflower Blush Story. She was having thoughts.  Specifically she was having thoughts that Sunset was… feeling things towards her that Sunset Shimmer would never feel towards her.  It was gross of her, especially to think that about someone being such a good friend. But.  She had a remedy.  She pulled out her phone and opened up her newest app.  With a very obviously magical whoosh, the app came to life.  Her phone glowed. She held it up and spoke clearly into the air.  “Hey, Juicy.” brrmp “How much more attractive is Pinkie Pie than me?” Pinkamena Pie is eighty-one percent more attractive than Wallflower Blush. She frowned.  That was fine, but it sounded closer than it was.  Pinkie had looks, but that wasn’t her real strength.  “Hey, Juicy.” brrmp “How much better-liked is Pinkie Pie than me?” Pinkamena Pie is liked by six hundred forty-three percent more people than Wallflower Blush. Okay, right, there it was.  Sunset wasn’t shallow; she wouldn’t just care about how pretty someone was.  What pushed Pinkie up to her level was the social skills, the charm. Wallflower clutched her phone tightly.  This hurt, but it was right, so then....  well, so then something.  What mattered was, it was right. The app had just appeared on her phone a week or so earlier, and she would have worried it was some sort of virus if the icon hadn’t been glowing in a very distinctively Equestrian Magic kind of way.   It sure seemed harmless.  No mind control or giant monsters.  Just a promise: Ask Juicy anything.  Juicy knows everything. Once she established its legitimacy, she lasted about three hours before she asked it about Sunset.  Specifically, she asked it how many people Sunset had ever kissed.  The answer was twelve, which seemed low for how gorgeous Sunset was, but made more sense considering she hadn’t been around any people for the first two-thirds of her life. Violating Sunset’s privacy made her feel gross, and she tried not to ask more questions like that.  But she was glad she did it once, just to have that added perspective.  She could quantify things: even with her handicap, Sunset was twelve times less of a loser than Wallflower was, if that one time with a drunk and experimenting Roseluck even counted, which it shouldn’t. “Hey, Juicy.” brrmp “Does Sunset still…”  She trailed off.  She couldn’t ask if Sunset still liked Pinkie.  That would be creepy and invasive.  And it didn’t matter, anyway. I’m sorry, I don’t understand your question. “How much uglier am I than the ugliest person Sunset has ever kissed?” Wallflower Blush is twenty-three percent uglier than Red Truth. Right.  That was what mattered, right there.  Whoever this schlub was, they were the absolute baseline for how low Sunset would go, and Wallflower was even grosser than them.  She just had to keep remembering that. “Ummmmmmm.”  Derpy scratched her forehead, leaving a trail of dirt behind.  “I think, uhm, she might… like you?” “She doesn’t,” Wallflower replied quickly.  “I must’ve told it wrong, if you got that impression.” “Yyyyeah.  See, it’s just, the whole texting thing?” “No!  That was…  grragh.”  Wallflower did what no one should ever do and looked over to Trixie for help.  “Tell her!” Trixie glanced over the rims of her sunglasses but made no other effort to not lethargically sprawl across her lawn chair.  “You must have told the story wrong,” she agreed.  “Because I got bored with it and stopped listening midway through.” “Grrpf.”  Wallflower dropped her shovel and glared at Derpy.  “She’s Sunset Shimmer.  She doesn’t like me.” “I mean, couldn’t you put some car chases in it or something?  Spice things up?” “Trixie, I swear to god.”  Wallflower was always worried she wouldn’t be able to click into old grooves when she hadn’t seen her friends for a while, but she should have remembered that Trixie’s annoying personality was some kind of eternal fact of the universe.  “Chill out, Blush, jeez.”  Trixie stretched, looking totally unconcerned.  “We’re friends!  It was very nice of me to give you a chance to do your little plant whatever, right?  I could have invited you over to watch me practice my magic.” Wallflower rolled her eyes.  “First, that is a very weird way to phrase ‘come over and landscape my parents’ flower garden for free.’  And second, you totally did invite us over to watch you do magic, remember?  We said no.” “You said no,” Derpy corrected with a wide, childlike grin.  “I wanna see, later!  I just also want to be able to dig around in the dirt with you, Wally.” Wallflower sighed.  She wanted to just feel sour, but she couldn’t with Derpy friending at her like that.  “Yeah.  I missed it, too.  Too bad Roseluck isn’t coming back this year.” “Oh yeah!” Trixie said, sitting up.  “Where is your cute friend Roseluck?  She’s not coming?” “She’s in Manehattan all summer.  Being straight.  So forget it.”  Wallflower shook her head, aggravated.  “Look, we got off track.” “...Wait, did Rose tell you she was straight?  ...Huh.” “What?” Derpy shrugged.  “Uh, nothing, nothing.  Never mind.” “Graaugh!  Look.  Listen to me.  The point is, Sunset.  Doesn’t.  Like me.” “Uh huh…”  Derpy set her trowel aside and looked up hesitantly.  “See, but, what if she does, though?” “Then she shouldn’t.” Derpy had no response to that.  She just sighed, picked her trowel back up, and kept working.  Wallflower didn’t feel as satisfied as she thought she would, but a win was a win.  She went over to get her shovel. So, Sunset was acting very much like someone who was attracted to Wallflower, which was really starting to get on Wallflower’s nerves.  It was obviously all a coincidence, but, like, a reasonable person would be making these mistakes. She suggested they prolong their nighttime hangout by swinging on the swingsets of a nearby playground, which was already a problem.  And then Sunset had, as usual, said goodbye with a hug. But when Sunset pulled back from the hug, she half-closed her eyes and leaned forward again, and come on, that was something very easy to get wrong ideas about.  If Wallflower had been Pinkie or Flash Sentry or someone, this exact behavior would very reasonably lead to… certain conclusions.  Kissy conclusions. Wallflower froze in place.  Sunset stopped, blinked as if realizing what was going on, then jerked back, looking terrified.  “Uh!” Thinking of Sunset’s exes and adjacent exes, something occurred to Wallflower.  “Oh!” she exclaimed.  “You know I’m gay, right?” That would explain everything.  Sunset just thought they were gal pals, because she thought Wallflower was straight, and so she could throw out these ambiguous cues without worrying if anyone would get the wrong idea. Sunset’s eyes were as wide as if Wallflower had just pulled out a machine gun.  “Yes?” she squeaked.  “You.  Um, you told me you were.”  She paused.  “You’ve told me a couple of times, actually.” “Well.  I am.” Sunset was noticeably sweating.  “So…?” “So… yeah.” Sunset tittered like a person who was losing their mind.  “...Yeah?” Wallflower realized she had totally messed this up.  She mumbled something about seeing Sunset the next day and bolted.  She didn’t look back. When she got home, she almost cried but didn’t.  This was all just really stupid and avoidable, but she couldn’t make herself really believe the facts. “Hey, Juicy?” brrmp “Am I just the world’s hugest loser?” ‘Loser’ is a 1994 song by alternative rock musician Buck. “Gaaagh!”  She tossed her phone across the room and collapsed onto her bed. “Soooooo.  You were on a swingset in a kids’ playground in the middle of the night.” “Uh huh.” “And then when you said goodbye, she hugged you, and she…” “I know!  I know how it sounds.  I know.  It sounds like she wanted to kiss me.  I know.” Derpy shrugged.  “Well.  Kinda, yeah.” “Did you kiss her?” Trixie asked, because of course she did. “No, of course not!” “Why ‘of course not?’” “Because I know she wouldn’t want to.” Derpy placed her hand on Wallflower’s arm, kindly.  “Hon, I know it can be hard to believe good things about yourself sometimes, but…” “No.  You don’t get it.”  Wallflower hesitated, then sighed.  “It’s not about believing.  It’s about knowing.  I know she wouldn’t want to.  For sure.” “How could you know?  That’s impossible.”  Derpy took a step forward, being an extremely good friend, all things considered.  “Hon, really.  I understand how this can feel sometimes…” “No, you really don’t understand!  I actually do know!  For real!” “How?” “Because…”  She made the decision.  This was fine, if it’d make them understand. She pulled out her phone.  “...I have this: Juicy.” “Oh!”  Trixie came as close as Wallflower had ever seen to blushing.  “Well.  I appreciate the nickname, but I don’t see what a phone has to do with…” “No!” Wallflower snapped.  “No.  Juicy is an app.  But, like… it’s also equestrian magic.” “Ohh, huh.  Like the cat mushrooms?” “Yeah.  It knows everything; it can answer any question.  I’ve been using it to help with Sunset.” “Whaaaaaat,” Trixie squawked, leaning forward.  “You’re using pony magic to spy on your girlfriend?  Don’t do that; that’s creepy.” “She’s not my girlfriend.  She wouldn’t…”  Wallflower shook her head angrily.  “This is the point.  I use it to remind myself she shouldn’t like me.  Look.”  She held up the phone and spoke into it.  “Hey, Juicy.” brrmp “How much uglier am I than the people Sunset has kissed?” Wallflower Blush is two-hundred forty percent uglier than the average person Sunset Shimmer has kissed. Derpy and Trixie just stood there for a moment.  “Um.” “Well first, yikes,” Trixie said.  “Second, booorrrrring.  If you’re gonna be a magic creep, at least get sexier info.  Hey, Juicy!” brrmp “Who’s the hottest person Sunset Shimmer has ever made out with?” The most attractive person Sunset Shimmer has kissed is Flash Sentry. “Uggggh, nooooo, hey Juicy, who’s the hottest girl Sunset Shimmer has ever made out with?” The most attractive girl Sunset Shimmer has kissed is Fleur de Lis. “I don’t know who that is.  Should I know who that is?” “Trixie, cut it out,” Wallflower grunted.  “I’m not trying to spy on Sunset.”  Except if Fleur de Lis was who Wallflower thought she was, it was more useful information about how far Sunset was out of her league.  “The point is not being into her, because of all the reasons I shouldn’t be.” "I was kinda hoping it'd be Fluttershy. Or Roseluck. Or..." “Hon…”  Derpy interrupted Trixie, thankfully. But she trailed off, sighing.  “Just…”  She trailed off again.   “Whaaat?” “Nothing. Never mind.”  Derpy frowned, hugging her arm uncomfortably.  “Just take care of yourself, okay?” Wallflower nodded.  “That’s all I’ve been doing.” Okay, like.  Come on. The whole couch was open, but Sunset sat really close.  Right up next to her. Sunset was not making this easy.  And then immediately after thinking that, Wallflower felt bad about it.  This wasn’t Sunset’s fault.  Sunset was being wonderful, kind, perfect Sunset.  This was Wallflower’s fault, for getting stupid ideas in her head and then not being disciplined enough to get rid of them. It was also Trixie’s fault.  Probably.  Somehow. Sunset looked down, apparently noticing how close her knee was to touching Wallflower’s, and she scooted over a few centimeters away, cheeks red.  Yeah, so Sunset totally knew, and it was uncomfortable, but she was still dedicated to being a good friend.  Of course.  “Um,” Wallflower said, desperately trying to think of anything to say, “how’s work?” “Oh!  Yeah, it’s good!”  Sunset’s smile was awkward, but she kept it smooth.  “Not the most interesting stuff, but I was really lucky Dr. Certainty’s letting me keep working remotely.  No way I wasn’t going to come back to town, but I reeaaally didn’t want to do sushi again.” She wasn’t awkward because she liked Wallflower.  She wasn’t.  That didn’t make sense.  Stop.   “And,” Sunset continued, “I mean, I’m not Twilight, off working with nobel laureates, but I should probably be thinking about grad school recs and everything.”   Wallflower noticed something in her voice, there.  A hitch.  “Are you disappointed she didn’t come back this year?  And Rainbow Dash, too?” Sunset glanced away, scratching her head in discomfort.  “No?  Well.  A little, I guess.  But I know it’s really important for what they want to do.” “Yeah, but it makes sense you’d feel that way,” Wallflower pointed out.  “It’d even be okay to be a little mad at them, as long as you weren’t a jerk about it or anything.” “Yeah?”  Wallflower nodded, and Sunset sighed.  “Yeah, okay.  I know that, but it means a lot you said it out loud.  Thanks, Wally.” Wallflower looked down and realized Sunset was holding her hand, now.  She’d just reached out and entwined their fingers together, just like that.   Wallflower didn’t move.  Sunset pulled her hand away quickly. “Hey!  Yeah!”  Sunset stood up quickly and walked a few steps away.  “Thanks!  You’re a great friend!  Thanks!  For being such a great friend.”  She paused.  “Yeah.” “I have to go to the bathroom.”  Wallflower stood up and stiffly walked, as quickly as she could, away.  Once she was in the bathroom, she shut the door and locked it behind her. She’d taken psychology classes.  She knew how this worked!  People see what they want to see.  They interpret things based on what they want to be true.  Sunset deserved better than her friend having all these ideas! She pulled out her phone and, as quietly as she could, said, “Hey Juicy.” brrmp “Does Sunset only think of me as a friend?” I’m sorry, I don’t understand your question. Right, just like every other time she’d asked that.  Juicy was omniscient, but there were some questions it couldn’t answer, and that was one of them.  She just had to try, though. But she had plenty of backup plans.  “Hey, Juicy.” brrmp “How much smarter than me is Sunset?” Sunset Shimmer is three hundred twenty-one percent smarter than Wallflower Blush. “Hey, Juicy.” brrmp “How many people who are smarter than me and better-looking than me could Sunset call up right now and ask them out and they’d say yes?” Sunset Shimmer knows forty-three people she could start dating right now who are better-looking and smarter than Wallflower Blush. Good.  Right.  Okay. Wallflower took a deep breath.  She opened the door and stepped out, ready to continue this entirely platonic evening. But she’d only taken one step into the hallway when she heard it, very clearly.  It was a distinctive voice, one she knew well. ...set Shimmer has hurt Twilight Sparkle’s feelings seventy-three times. What. Sunset had… a Juicy?  Why did Sunset… But then she decided it didn’t matter.  Equestrian magic was weird; why wouldn’t Sunset have a Juicy, too?  The important part was, she was apparently using it to find out things that had gone wrong in her friendships?  Why would Sunset Shimmer ever worry about that? And seventy-three??  That seemed ridiculously high.  How had Sunset phrased that question?   Sunset’s voice flitted out of the living room: “Hey, Juicy.”  Anxious to hear more, Wallflower walked closer… but she apparently wasn’t careful enough, because Sunset yipped.  “Wah!  You done?!” Juicy is never done. “Gah, not you, you stupid…”  As Wallflower walked into the room, Sunset whirled around, smiling fakely.  “Hey!  Sorry, just… checking my voicemail!” “...Yeah.”  Wallflower couldn’t think of any way to productively get into anything, so she just squeezed her hands uncomfortably.  “...Anything important?” “Nope!  Just… y’know, work stuff.” Sunset relaxed in obvious relief.  Wallflower frowned, but she couldn’t think of any way to help.  “Want to play Forbidden Fruit Trees?  I saw you streaming it, but I bet I’m better.” “What, no way!” Sunset protested, grinning.  “C’mon.”  She sat down on the couch and patted the cushion next to her.  Wallflower sat down.  Not too close. Sunset pulled back from the hug, which Wallflower probably hadn’t even wanted, and which was probably the exact worst decision about how to say goodbye Sunset could have made.  Wallflower was great; she was strong in ways Sunset could barely imagine.  But there were ways she was fragile too, and they definitely had to do with hugs. God, Sunset just couldn’t help herself.  She was so gross, to keep putting Wallflower in uncomfortable positions. “Um.”  Cheeks red, Wallflower turned to walk away, then turned back.  “Hey, just.”  She trailed off. “Yeah?” “Mf.” “It’s okay, Wally, what is it?”  Sunset’s chest ached; Wallflower was just so sweet, deep down. She didn't even try. “Just.  I meant to say this a while ago, but…”  She looked up into Sunset’s eyes with pure kindness.   “Look, if you need someone to talk to about missing Twilight and Rainbow, then you really can talk to me.  I don’t know them super-well, but I know they see you as a really, really important friend, and.  Uh.”  Her shoulders were caving in on themselves as she spoke, but she finished clearly.  “I don’t want you to feel bad, is all.” Sunset felt intensely, overwhelmingly miserable for a split-second.  This girl just kept getting more and more wonderful, and Sunset couldn’t just be cool about it.  “Thanks.  I think I’m fine, really.  But I promise I’ll talk about it if I’m not.”   “Okay.”  Wallflower smiled with blinding adorability and stepped out into the apartment building hallway.  Sunset closed the door behind her. She somehow always forgot: when it’s most important to be careful, that’s when it’s hardest to be careful.  She especially should have known here, right? This all started from a random text sent right after the whole Red Truth debacle. She had tried to be light and friendly to a person removed from everything, just a random friend from back home, but Wallflower somehow suspected she might be upset, and it was a tiny gesture but wow it had sparked something not tiny at all for Sunset. But. Here she was, not being careful at all with someone she could hurt, again. She walked over to her phone and picked it up.  “Hey, Juicy.” brmmp “How many times did I lie to Flash Sentry?” The phone was silent for a moment, either processing the answer or mimicking thoughtfulness. Sunset Shimmer lied to Flash Sentry one hundred and twenty-four times. Sunset frowned.  That was actually lower than she’d been expecting; they had dated for several months, after all, and that was the absolute peak of her Lying Years.  “Hey, Juicy?” brrmp “How many times did I make Pinkie cry last summer?” Sunset Shimmer made Pinkamena Pie cry four times last summer. That one was a little more on-the-mark.  Only a real monster would make Pinkie cry, especially that many times.  She wasn’t a monster-monster; she knew that.  Just a little monstery.  Monstery enough where it was useful to remember it, sometimes.  “Hey, Juicy.” brrmp “How long after I’d decided to break up with Red did I actually do it?” Sunset Shimmer broke up with Red Truth four weeks and one day after she had already decided to end things. Right.  Red was a sensitive guy, which was part of why he was so popular with the girls around the department.  Sunset knew that.  She even respected it.  Even without her geode, she had always been good at reading people. And it’s why she should have known better, should have been more careful.  She got smug and careless.  Every time she thought of herself as someone who could be trusted, things went wrong.  She just had to keep herself from forgetting that. Luckily, she had an app that was really useful, there.