//------------------------------// // 2 – Something to Think About // Story: Something About Sunset // by Krickis //------------------------------// Chapter Two Something to Think About ⠀ ⠀ Being alone was not new to Twilight. Nor was it usually a problem. If anything, Twilight liked being alone. She was someone who valued personal space, and the freedom to spend her time working on her various projects. She would always love spending time with her girlfriend and their friends, but she also always enjoyed her alone time. Except for today. Fluttershy and Applejack were on a date, and that was fine. As much as she felt guilty for it, Twilight wasn’t sure she wanted to spend time with them anyway. They’d spent the day together already, and some time apart wasn’t a bad thing. And, of course, there was that comment Fluttershy made. She’d told Twilight to ask out Moon Dancer. Something big and potentially life changing, and just as importantly, something Twilight wanted. How many times had she wished for Fluttershy to say those words? And yet, now that she had, Twilight couldn’t bring herself to act on them. It had been two hours since she made it home, and she was no closer to texting Moon Dancer. She stared at her phone and the text message conversation from earlier. ‘Busy day today, can you talk this afternoon? I should be free then.’ ‘Sure, just message me when you’re free.’ Well, Twilight was free now, for all the good it did her. How was she supposed to continue this conversation? What could she say? ‘Hey Moon Dancer, I got permission from my insecure girlfriend to date you, but for all I know she’ll just change her mind later and she’ll probably never actually like you’? That wouldn’t go over well. Twilight collapsed back onto the bed, which she’d been alternating between lying on and pacing around. She distrubed Spike, who had been trying to sleep at the foot of the bed since they got home. He yawned, then turned to her. “What’s up, Twilight?” Twilight winced. She hadn’t meant to wake him. “Nothing, I just… have a lot going on.” Spike scratched his ear with a hind leg. “You nervous about moving away from Mom and Dad?” Well, there was that too… “Yeah, I am.” “You’ll still have me though. And you’ll have Fluttershy and Applejack, right?” Twilight smiled a little. “Yeah, I know. It’s just a big change. You’re not worried?” Spike considered it for a moment, then walked over to Twilight and curled up beside her. “Not really, not as long as I have you.” Twilight’s smile grew a little more genuine. “I’m lucky to have you, Spike.” “Yeah, I am pretty –” Spike interrupted himself with a yawn “– great.” Twilight kept one arm around Spike, and she used her other to open her notes app on her phone. If she couldn’t do anything with Moon Dancer, she could at least do something with the other big thing of the day – deciding on the right apartment. It was best to get as much info down as she could while it was still fresh in her mind. She made a quick list of every apartment complex they visited, trying to remember the different options in each one. She again kicked herself for not taking notes while they were out. Using the pictures they took as a reference point, Twilight copied her thoughts into the app. She listed pros and cons, and came up with quite the sizable list. Deciding it was getting to be too much of a hassle to do one handed on her phone, she gently pulled herself out from under Spike and made her way to her computer. Since her notes app had cloud storage, Twilight was easily able to pull it up on the computer. From there, she went to the apartment complexes’ websites, finding the prices of all the different options they’d viewed so she could accurately compare them. It kept her busy, which helped to keep her mind off her other issues. All in all it was going pretty well right up until she finished compiling her notes. She frowned at her computer screen. She had expected that having the differences spelled out would make it easy to tell which was the best option. But there were just so many factors – cost, size, amenities, and location, just for a start. How was she supposed to make sense of it all? Like this one. It was probably the nicest place they went to, it was in a good location, it had a pool, and there was plenty of space. But it was decidedly out of their budget. They could make the month to month payments, but what if sudden expenses came up? How much could they budget to make sure they were prepared for things like unexpected car repairs? The whole idea of budgeting a household was entirely new to all of them! Twilight put her head in her hands. This was too much for her. She sighed and stood up, pacing around her room absentmindedly. Of course, there was an obvious solution: She’d have to talk this over with Fluttershy and Applejack. And of course, she would. This was a big deal to all three of them and they needed to talk it through. But when she thought back at all the panic attacks Fluttershy had over the idea of moving out with her girlfriends, she knew it would be hard to bring it up with her. And of course, there was Applejack. She would be more level headed about things, and definitely the one to talk to. But then… Applejack was great, she was Twilight’s friend and her metamour. But she wasn’t Twilight’s girlfriend. It felt… wrong to prioritize talking to her over talking with Fluttershy. Which brought her back to telling Fluttershy, and that made her switch from worrying over which apartment was the right choice to worrying how to bring it up to her anxious girlfriend. She could just see it now… “Hey, Shy, I was thinking of the apartment and I –” “Oh, uhm, I’d actually rather not talk about that right now… It’s just… It’s really a lot…” Twilight bit back a scream of frustration, wary of the sleeping dog on her bed. Sure, it hadn’t actually happened, but hadn’t it? Twilight and Fluttershy had gone through that song and dance so many times in the past year and a half. No, this was up to Twilight to figure out. She would be the one who had to go through all the data. Of course it would be a group decision, but Twilight would have to take everything they knew about each place and turn it into something easier for them to approach. That was her responsibility, and no one else’s. The room was starting to feel hot and small, so Twilight left it. She walked downstairs to the kitchen, more for something to do than because she wanted anything from there. She was stopped before she got there. “Hi, Twilight,” Twilight Velvet said. She was sitting on the couch with a book. “Hi, Mom,” Twilight said, then finished making her way to the kitchen. Once in there, she pulled a glass from the cabinet and filled it with water from the fridge. After taking a sip, she retraced her steps. As she passed through the living room she considered asking her mom’s opinion on what she should do, but she decided against it. It didn’t matter anyway, because before she could make it out of the living room, her mom asked, “So did you figure out anything about those apartments?” Twilight pursed her lips and turned around. “No, not yet. I just finished compiling my notes on them though, so I’m sure that’ll help us figure them out.” “You know, your father and I are happy to go with you to take another look at them. I know this is new to you and Fluttershy.” ‘And Applejack,’ Twilight thought bitterly, thought she didn’t say as much. “We’ll be fine, Mom. We’ve just got to talk it out.” “Of course, I’m sure you’re probably on the phone figuring it out now. I’ll let you get back to it.” “Actually, Fluttershy and Applejack are on a date.” Twilight Velvet put down her book and gave her daughter a sympathetic look. “Oh, you poor thing. And they left you all alone?” Twilight gritted her teeth. She didn’t need this on top of everything else. “It’s fine, Mom. You do know they’re also dating. Of course they go on dates without me, just like Fluttershy and I go on dates without Applejack.” “Oh, well, I know, of course…” Twilight Velvet looked off to the side, clearly aware she had made the same mistake again. “I just meant that after the day you had, you have to think about all this apartment stuff on your own.” That was, obviously, not what her mom had meant at all. Time and again, she showed Twilight that she never understood her daughter’s decision to be in a polyamorous relationship. She did try to show her support, but at times like this it was hard to remember that. “I’m fine, Mom.” Velvet smiled innocently, but she didn’t apologize for stumbling over her words. “Why don’t you show me your notes and we can talk about it?” “I’m fine, Mom!” Twilight said again, louder this time. “Just… let me do this!” “Well… okay, if that’s what you want…” Twilight didn’t answer. Instead, she turned around and walked up the stairs. In part it was out of anger with her mom, but more importantly, it was out of anger with herself. She didn’t stop until she reached her room. Once there, she realized she was still clenching her teeth and relaxed her jaw. The rest of her muscles only followed suit once she collapsed into her computer chair. What had she been thinking? She had to have known what would happen if she brought up Fluttershy and Applejack’s date, but she had done it anyway. And then when her mom had tried to fix the conversation, Twilight had snapped at her. Feeling like a terrible daughter, Twilight turned her attention to the computer. She sipped on her water as she skimmed her notes once more, trying to focus on that instead of her outburst. It didn’t really help. All she saw were words and numbers rather than proper sentences and paragraphs. She read over the same pro about one of the apartments three times before it stuck, and she still forgot it halfway through reading the next one. Everything felt wrong. Every decision in front of her, every apartment complex, every note. And more than that. The things she’d said throughout the day felt wrong, the things she hadn’t said, all of it, everything just felt wrong. Twilight Sparkle was smart. She was one of the smartest people she knew. But god, she was an idiot sometimes. She wasn’t used to people, had never had friends growing up, and it still showed. She didn’t talk enough, and when she did, she was sure she messed everything up. Twilight closed her eyes tight. She took a deep breath, and when she opened her eyes, she finished her glass of water. She looked back at the computer and set her mouth into a frown. Twilight was not good at a lot of things, but she was good at this. She could find the best option for the three of them. That was how Twilight could make up for the day. “I compared all the notes, and I think I have the best choice for us. What do you think about ___?” “Oh, I think that’s perfect! Thank you so much, Twily!” Twilight smiled. She could do this. She would do this. In the end, a process of elimination made the most sense. There was too much data to focus on which was best, but surely she could find which was worst. She’d just need to keep eliminating the worst options until she came out with the best one. She compared the pros and cons again, looking more heavily at the cons. There were some things that they could deal with easily enough, but there were others that would be a constant source of frustration to them. Surely she could find something in one of them that would be easy enough to eliminate. She did. She highlighted all of the text, then hovered over the delete key. There was a lot at fault in this place, but… She looked at the pros. It was one of the cheapest places, and they didn’t have to live there forever. Maybe it would be best to play it safe in case budgeting proved harder than they expected? Twilight fell back in her chair and groaned. She was supposed to be good at this. She was supposed to be good for something. It was all on her to figure this out, but try as she might, she couldn’t manage to eliminate a single option. Before Twilight could beat herself up too much, however, her text message tone went off. With a frown, Twilight grabbed her phone and checked who was messaging her. Her frown fell away when she saw it was from Sunset. ‘Heya Sparky, I’m on lunch’ Twilight grinned as she typed a response. ‘Hi, Sunny. How’s work going?’ ‘It’s ok. Kinda slow’ ‘Well, at least it’s an easy day then, right?’ ‘Yeah it is. So how are you doing?’ Twilight glanced towards the computer, then stood up. ‘I’m doing well. Just been going over the options with the apartment.’ ‘You’ve gotta tell me about them. Any obvious winner?’ ‘Not yet, but I’ll figure it out.’ ‘Of course you will, you kind of kick ass at this stuff’ Twilight sat down on her bed and lay back, holding her phone over her face as she texted. ‘Not as good as you, I bet.’ ‘Well hey, after work we can work on it together if you want. I wanna talk to you and hear about your day, at least’ That sounded nice. Twilight always liked talking with Sunset. ‘Well, I’ll be around.’ ‘Good’ Sunset only got half an hour for lunch, and of course she had to eat during that time. Still, she texted Twilight nonstop. Twilight always hoped she did actually eat on her lunch breaks, but she was afraid to ask because she didn’t want to find out she was keeping Sunset from eating since she’d have to put an end to their lunchtime discussions if that happened. There was something on Twilight’s mind though. Something other than apartments. It was hard to talk about, but Twilight forced the words into her phone. ‘Hey Sunny?’ ‘Yeah?’ ‘Fluttershy said something today. About me having another girlfriend…’ ‘Oh really? Is she coming around to the idea?’ ‘I think she is.’ ‘Sparky that’s amazing! I told you that you just had to give her time’ Twilight smiled. Sunset had said that. ‘I know, but it feels weird. Like… still wrong somehow.’ ‘Hey, give your girlfriend more credit than that. If she said she’s ok with it, then I’m sure she is’ ‘I guess you’re right. I need to trust in Fluttershy.’ ‘Of course I’m right. I said it.’ That got a smile out of Twilight. There was something else she wanted to talk about, but Sunset was just about to go back to work, and that would be a big discussion. ‘Ugh, can you come and save me? I don’t want to go back’ Twilight giggled. ‘You’ll do great, Sunny. You’re amazing, you know?’ ‘Yeah yeah. Well I should go, but I’ll call after work’ ‘Sounds good! Bye, Sunny <3’ ‘Bye Sparky <3’ Even when they were done texting, Twilight lay on her bed with a blissful smile on her face. There was something about Sunset, somehow she could always make Twilight smile. And Twilight needed things to smile about today. She looked back towards her computer and couldn’t bring herself to go back to it. But since she also couldn’t bring herself to leave her bedroom and face her mom, her options were limited. But she did have her phone. She backed out of her text conversation with Sunset and something else caught her eye. ‘Busy day today, can you talk this afternoon? I should be free then.’ ‘Sure, just message me when you’re free.’ Her conversation with Moon Dancer from the morning was still on pause, and it was well after the time Twilight could have resumed it. She loved talking to Moon Dancer, and she’d been looking forward to it when they made the plans. But then Fluttershy said what she said. She told Twilight to talk to Moon Dancer. She told Twilight to ask her out. What was she supposed to do with that information? Sure, a part of her wanted to do just what Fluttershy said. A large part, in fact. But another part… Twilight took a deep breath. She could think about that, there was no rush. But she should let Moon Dancer know she was free. She started typing. ‘Hey, home now. You still around?’ Unsurprisingly, there wasn’t a reply right away. She was probably busy, so Twilight just swapped to a social media app. She saw Rarity posted pictures of the new outfit she was working on, so she left a like and a comment telling her how good it looked. Before Twilight could scroll through her feed too much though, Moon Dancer replied. ‘Yeah, I was just catching up on some reading. How was your day?’ Of course, Twilight wasn’t getting into all of that. Instead she just typed, ‘It was pretty good. Went out looking at apartments with Fluttershy and Applejack.’ Now that they were messaging, it didn’t take long at all for Moon Dancer’s reply to come in. ‘That’s nice. Did you figure out the best one yet?’ ‘Well, no… There’s just so many choices…’ ‘Oh, well, you’ll figure it out.’ Twilight glanced at the computer and found she wasn’t so sure about that. ‘Yeah, I just need more time to think about it.’ ‘Want me to let you focus on that?’ ‘No, I could use a break. So what are you reading?’ ‘More like studying, actually. I’m reading up on some biology papers to study for the SATs.’ Twilight smirked. ‘Sounds I should be the one letting you focus.’ ‘I could use a break too. I’ll give you a call.’ ‘Wait not right now, I’m –’ and that was as far as Twilight got before her phone rang. Cursing her luck, Twilight answered. “Hello?” “Hi, Twi.” “Hey. So… biology?” Twilight sat up, but she didn’t leave her bed. “Yeah, just kinda going over some principles I already know, but making sure all the details stick.” Although Moon Dancer obviously couldn’t see, Twilight nodded at that. “Sounds like a good idea. Anything you want a study buddy for?” “No, I’m fine. Though it would be kind of fun to study together again.” “Well, we can always try doing some online studying. It’s not the same as in person, but we could make it work.” “Yeah, we could do that some time.” Twilight smiled at the tentative plans, but it soon became apparent that neither she nor Moon Dancer had a plan for this conversation. The silence drifted on for a few too many moments, becoming awkward. Twilight glanced around the room, looking for something to talk about. This was why she hadn’t wanted Moon Dancer to call. It wasn’t that she didn’t like talking to Moon Dancer on the phone, but she wasn’t ever entirely sure what to say. Eventually Moon Dancer spoke up, although she sounded awkward. “So any plans for the rest of the day?” “Not really,” Twilight said. “I told my friend Sunset that I’d talk to her when she got off of work, but that’s it.” “Guess you deserve a break after going around apartment hunting.” Twilight scratched at the back of her neck. “It really wasn’t that bad. I feel a little guilty that I can’t seem to decide which is the best one.” Moon Dancer laughed a little. “Yeah, but you’ll figure it out. You’re pretty smart, you know.” Twilight didn’t feel very smart at the moment. “I guess.” The two of them stumbled into another awkward silence before Twilight thought to give Moon Dancer her question back. “What about you? Anything big going on today?” “Just some studying.” “Or yeah, right.” Twilight facepalmed. She had already known that was what Moon Dancer was doing. “Well… any other subjects?” “Today is all science, yesterday I did math, tomorrow I’ll do literature and composition. Gotta stay well rounded.” “Of course.” Twilight blushed a little. “I think it’s great that you take your studies so seriously. It makes me happy to know you’re doing well.” Moon Dancer laughed a little again, and Twilight liked to imagine that she was blushing too. “Yeah, well… You too, you know? You work just as hard as I do, and you’re trying to find an apartment on top of it.” “Is this going to turn into another compliment war?” “Maybe.” Both girls giggled, and Twilight decided to go out on a high note. “Hey, uhm… I tried to say before you called, but I actually have to go walk Spike.” “Oh, okay. Sorry, I should have asked. “No no, don’t be sorry! Just… I’ll talk to you later, okay?” “Yeah, sure. I’ll go back to biology, I guess.” “At least it’s an interesting subject,” Twilight offered. “Yeah, it is. I’ll talk to you later, Twi.” “Bye, Moon Dancer.” “Bye.” Twilight hung up the phone and frowned at it. She wished she could hang up her guilt as easily as the call. She liked talking to Moon Dancer, she really did. The other girl’s voice made her happy to hear, and they got along so well when they had something to talk about. But when they didn’t? Well, neither of them was really a conversation starter… Twilight set her phone down on the bed next to her and collapsed back into it. She turned onto her side and her fingers brushed against Spike, so she stroked his fur while she thought about what to do next. She should plan what to do about Moon Dancer. She should work on figuring out what apartment was best. She should go apologize to her mom for snapping at her earlier. There were many things she should be doing. Instead, she took off her glasses, set them next to her phone, and closed her eyes. “We’ve come so far together, got memories to treasure. I look at you, stories –” Twilight hit the mute button on her phone and groaned as she woke up. She squinted at the screen and saw Sunset’s face, blurry since she wasn’t wearing her glasses. She slid her finger across the screen to answer it. “Hello?” “Hey, Sparky. Everything okay? You sound out of it.” “I just woke up from a nap,” Twilight said as she let out a yawn. “Uh oh, midday naps? Careful, Sparky, that’s study time wasted.” “Yeah yeah.” Twilight smiled as she fumbled around the bed for her glasses. She noticed as she did that Spike had woken up and left the bed at some point. “So how was work?” “It was pretty much more of the same. Slow day, but not terrible.” “Well, I guess a slow day here and there isn’t so bad. Besides, you were worried it would be packed, right?” “Yeah, I really shouldn’t complain. And anyway, I had something to keep me going.” “Oh?” “Well… I was looking forward to talking to this great girl all day.” “Sunny…” Twilight grinned and blushed. “Yeah… But Pinkie didn’t answer, so I figured you would be a good second choice.” Twilight’s grin only grew. “Oh really? And I suppose I should be honored to be your second choice, huh?” “Well, I don’t want to tell you what to feel, but also yes.” Twilight sighed, but it was more for show than anything. She also got out of bed and stretched. “So do you work tomorrow?” “Nah, I have the day off.” “Nice. Any plans?” “No, nothing yet. Why, feel like doing something?” That hadn’t been what Twilight was thinking at all, but now that she mentioned it… “I dunno, it might be nice.” “I figured you’d be busy with Fluttershy and Applejack. You three have a big decision ahead of you.” That got Twilight to lose some of her grin. “Yeah, you’re right. We probably will have to talk this over.” “You sound disappointed.” Twilight thought quickly; she didn’t want Sunset to know that she would choose to spend the day with her instead if she could. “It’s just that I’ve been trying to figure out what I think is the best apartment for us, but I haven’t come up with any answers.” “That sounds frustrating.” “A little. But don’t worry, I’ll figure it out.” “Sure, but I can help. Tell me about them.” “You really don’t have to…” “Sparky, it’s me.” Sunset’s smirk was audible through the phone. “If anyone can solve this, you know I can.” Twilight rolled her eyes, but her grin remained in place. Sunset just had that effect on her. “Fine. Give me a moment to pull up my notes.” Twilight walked over to her computer and pressed the spacebar to wake it up. She typed in her password, then her notes were already on the screen. She transcribed them for Sunset. “I can see why you’re torn, there’s a lot of pros and cons here,” Sunset said when she finished. “Yeah, it’s a lot to weigh.” “So don’t come up with one answer, come up with three.” Twilight shook her head. “A top three would be great, but I can’t even figure out a single one to eliminate.” “No, not a top three. Three options that represent the best of a specific feature. Like a best budget option, a best location, and a best amenities. Then only focus on those three features, and figure out what’s the best for those specific things.” That sounded a lot more doable. “I guess I could do that.” “Then when you talk to Fluttershy and Applejack, you can decide which things you want to focus on.” “Why are you so good at this?” Sunset laughed. “Because I’m me? I kinda kick ass at everything.” Twilight wasn’t sure if she should feed Sunset’s ego, but she couldn’t help herself. “Yeah, you kind of do…” “Hey, how about I head over and we can work on this list together?” Twilight blinked. The idea of having Sunset over at her house was so wonderful, but she felt guilty. “You worked all day, and you’re home for the night. I don’t want to make you head out again.” “Hmm? No, I’m still at the mall.” “You’re what?” Twilight scrunched up her eyes. “You didn’t even go home?” “No, I was too excited to talk to you.” Twilight grinned. “Don’t you mean Pinkie?” “Shush. So how about it?” It sounded so nice. But… there were things Twilight wanted to talk about that she couldn’t in her home. “Could we go out somewhere instead? I…” “Yeah, sure,” Sunset said, surprising Twilight by not needing any explanation. “I’ll be there in ten minutes, okay?” “Sure, I’ll see you then.” “Okay. Bye, Sparky.” “Bye, Sunny.” Twilight hung up the phone and took a deep breath. She hadn’t planned to spend the evening with Sunset, but as always when Sunset was involved, these things just sort of happened. Still, Twilight wasn’t worried. There was something about Sunset, everything felt so natural when she was involved. Smiling to herself, Twilight made her way to the bathroom to check herself in the mirror. She was still dressed from the day, so she was more or less ready. All she had to do was re-tie her ponytail and she was good to go. It was almost unfortunate; she could have used something to distract her for the ten minutes. ‘It’s okay,’ Twilight reassured herself. ‘Fluttershy said it was okay for me to date someone else, and like Sunset said, I should trust her on that. And she likes Sunset! This could actually work, I just have to not blow it…’ She sighed. It was going to be a long ten minutes.