Science building. Mathematics hall. Art wing. Campus green. Courtyard. Cafeteria.
These and more passed by as Sunset Shimmer ran from one end of the CSU campus to the other. Between her sprints, she looked down at her cell phone, firing off one desperate text, unanswered phone call, and unread notification after the other. Each conveyed the same anguished plea:
Please pick up, Wally. Please, please, PLEASE tell me where you are!
It had only been five minutes at first. Then ten. Then fifteen.
Now, it had been almost an hour since Wallflower Blush's final class of the day had ended. Sunset could barely remember where she had parked the car at this point. Every coherent thought she could spare was devoted to finding her.
The "Pez incident" of the week prior still weighed heavily on Sunset's mind… as did all the others. One after another, each spelled out what Sunset was certain had transpired.
When Sunset's phone rang at last, she instantly slammed it to her ear. "Wally?!"
"Nopey lopey, Sunny!"
Sunset groaned. "Pinkie Pie!" Pinching the bridge of her nose, she resisted the temptation to immediately hang up. "Sorry, but I need to keep this line free!"
"Well, good news for you, Miss Goody Newserperson, because I— "
"I don't have time for your jokes, Pinkie! Wallflower is missing!"
"Yeah, funny story about th—"
Sunset brought the phone down, hovering her finger over the "disconnect" button on the screen. "There's nothing funny about this!"
"Well, in a certain light—"
"I'm hanging up now," Sunset warned.
"Wait, wait!" Sunset could practically feel Pinkie Pie yank her hand away through the phone. "That's what I was calling you about, Sunset! I know where Wallflower is!"
Almost dropping the phone, Sunset shrieked, "Tell me! Tell me right now, Pinkie!"
Instead of answering, a hot-pink Volkswagen Beetle pulled up to the curb out of seemingly nowhere. Sunset jumped back, coughing from the massive cloud of dust that engulfed her. The tires squealed as the vehicle came to a stop.
Pinkie Pie stood up through the sunroof, waving over at Sunset. "Hi, Sunset! Wally overdosed!"
Pale as a ghost, Sunset opened her mouth, then closed it. Next, she sputtered a string of nonsense. After that, she tried to move. Tried to get into the car. Tried to speak again. Then breathe.
None of it happened.
"C'mon, Sunny! We've gotta get to the hospital!" Like maneuvering a mannequin, Pinkie Pie led Sunset into her car. Once she was sitting in the passenger seat, Pinkie added, "Don't forget your seat belt, silly!"
Sunset mumbled gibberish in reply.
Pinkie rolled her eyes. "Well, I guess I'm getting that for you, too!" She buckled Sunset in, then climbed into the driver's seat.
The world moved of its own accord as Pinkie drove them off campus.
Sunset sat. Unmoving. Unblinking. Unfeeling.
Unreal.
It had happened… both again, and finally.
And now she was here, with no idea what to do.
As if sensing her turmoil, Pinkie Pie patted her on the shoulder. "Oh, c'mon, Sunny! It's not that bad!"
Air forced its way into Sunset's lungs at last. "... Not… that… bad?"
"Pffffffffffft, not at all!" Pinkie shrugged. "I mean, when Rainbow Dash did this last year, you didn't even care, Sunny!"
Sunset gaped at her.
"Yup! And she had to get her stomach pumped, too!"
"Wh-what?!"
"Aw, don't act so surprised, Sunset!" Shifting back to the road, Pinkie hummed some merry tune. "We've all thought about doing it at some point!"
Icy tendrils wrapped around Sunset's heart. Torturous revelations hit her one after the other. Not only was Wallflower in the hospital from a suicide attempt… Not only had one of her best friends done the same last year, without her even noticing… But apparently her entire friend group was suffering the same way her girlfriend was.
And Sunset had done nothing about any of it.
The rest of the ride to the hospital was a blur.
"One visitor at a time." The clearly overworked nurse stared down Sunset and Pinkie, blocking the view of the precious patient within the room.
"You got it, chief!" After saluting the nurse—who rolled her eyes at the gesture—Pinkie shoved Sunset into the room. "I'm gonna go get a burrito! Byyyyyyyyyyye!" With that, she skipped away, making a springing noise with every step.
Sunset stood in the doorway, motionless.
The nurse looked over her shoulder at the girl in the bed, then at Sunset. "Why the long face? She's gonna be fine. After we pumped her stomach, at least."
Sunset whimpered.
The nurse stepped around Sunset's stoic figure. "I'll be back after my lunch. Later."
Once the world's best nurse left the room, Sunset finally saw her.
Lying supine, her eyes closed, was Wallflower Blush. IVs, heart monitors, and other machines were hooked to her delicate, fragile body, secured by garish medical tape. The quiet, steady beep pierced the thick, suffocating silence of the hospital room.
Wallflower's eyes were closed, her breath coming in short—yet, thankfully, regular—rhythms. To anyone else, it might have looked like she was sleeping.
Peaceful.
To Sunset, it was the worst thing she had ever seen.
"Wally… no…" Sunset whispered.
Nothing.
Did Wallflower know she was there? Would she hear her? Could she hear her? When would she wake up?
…Would she ever?
One foot in front of the other, Sunset shuffled to Wally's bedside. Every single step was a fateful one, bearing more weight behind it than any she had ever trod. Crossing the portal was nothing compared to this.
When she reached Wallflower's side, at last, the dam burst.
Sunset collapsed, burying her face in Wallflower's neck. Tears, salty and stinging, burned their way down her cheeks as she unleashed it all.
She had tried so hard, and got so far. But in the end, it didn't even matter.
So many near-misses… so many sleepless nights… so many anguished days… For naught.
And now there was only one thing left to do. One thing all her preparations, all her efforts, all her trying had not accounted for.
Sunset had to find out why.
Through a veil of tears, Sunset looked at the love of her life one last time.
Whether Wallflower woke up or not, their relationship would never be the same after this.
"I'm s-s-sorry, Wally."
Sunset kissed her. Then, with one hand on her empathy geode, she reached for Wallflower's with the other.
And remembered.
Today was the day.
Finally.
Something she had wanted her entire life. Something no one could understand, nor relate to. Something that she needed to do. Absolutely needed to do. The longer she put it off, the stronger the impulse became.
She'd left class early. Gotten a ride home. Known when Sunset would be out. She didn't want Sunset to see this.
Or to stop her.
Now, she just needed to wait for the final piece of the puzzle to arrive.
Wallflower Blush paced in her apartment, glancing at the clock. The one on the wall. The one on her cell phone. Both in time, in sync. She wrung her hands over and over, peeking now and then at the door.
Nervous. Waiting.
Wallflower had been waiting so long that when the knock finally came, she almost jumped out of her skin. She waited until she heard the footsteps of the delivery person fade away. Good. She neither wanted, nor needed, an audience.
She had to do this alone.
The package was heavy. Wallflower regretted throwing out the Bowflex™. It would have been good practice for the real thing. No matter.
It was so hard to get ahold of these, but it was worth it. Nothing else would suffice. She wanted to do this right. With Sunset being around so much lately, she only had one shot—one opportunity. She had to seize the moment and own it.
Struggling with the heavy box, Wallflower lamented her weak nerd arms. She almost laughed. Sunset had been right. Sunset was always right. Not just about that, but a lot of things. That's why she couldn't see Wallflower like this. Wallflower could only imagine Sunset's face if she saw.
Alternating between pushing and pulling, Wallflower managed to get the heavy box into the apartment. The door closed with an echoing thud. She gave herself a moment to catch her breath before continuing onward.
Her parents never understood this part of her. That's why she had to do this. But Sunset?
Sunset would understand. She wouldn't like it, at first—but she would understand. She would get used to it.
Soon, she might even join Wallflower.
Several minutes passed before Wallflower deemed herself ready. There had been enough stalling. Time to get on with it.
For some reason, Wallflower couldn't find the scissors, or her pocket knife, or anything in the entire apartment that was sharp enough to do the job. Luckily, she still had her keys. That would be a start.
With her keys shaking between her fingers, Wallflower began.
She opened the box.
Her eyes lit up with joy at the reveal of its contents. Her heart started to race, her eyes widening in awe. Finally. After a lifetime of suffering, she was going to end it.
Reaching in, Wallflower seized her prize. The one thing she had always wanted.
An industrial, bulk shipment of Skittles™.
Forty pounds of her precious gay candy lay in wait. Individually packaged in twelve sacred, immaculate fifty-four-ounce bags. The scent of the wrappers couldn't hold a candle to the treasure that lay within.
Wallflower had dreamed of this day since she was a little girl. Now, at last, it was happening. A dream come true.
"Only one bag of Skittles™ every year on my birthday, huh, Mom?" Wallflower mocked. "Too much candy rots your teeth, huh, Dad?" Laughing, Wallflower tore the box open with gusto, tape and packaging peanuts flying skyward. "We'll see about that! Nothing can stop me now!"
Careful not to rip the bag, Wallflower opened the first of what would be many wonderful packages of the best candy ever made. She ran her fingers over the zipper lock at the top, marveling at such a wonder of engineering.
But she could only stall for so long. The Skittles™ called to her. Taunting. Waiting.
"J-just a few…" Wallflower murmured, reaching into the pouch. "J-just one bag."
Wallflower popped a Skittle™ into her mouth.
In an instant, everything was technicolor rainbows. Everything.
And all was right with the world.
Pupils dilating, Wallflower grabbed another Skittle™. And another. And another. And…
Fistfuls of Skittles™ slammed into Wallflower's mouth. Shredding the bag, Wallflower soon found the bottom of it. Her hands, now trembling, pawed in the crate for another. Once retrieved, they crudely tore the top off, then resumed shoveling.
More. More. More! Wallflower needed more. More to feel alive.
Her eyes glazing over into rainbows, Wallflower cried out in pure ecstasy. What she screamed couldn't rightfully be called words in any language, but the meaning was clear:
Wallflower was going to eat as many fucking Skittles™ as humanly possible.
… An hour later, Wallflower Blush fell to the floor, her hands still full of sweet, sweet morsels. Skittles™ littered the floor. Half a dozen empty bags lay in tatters, a seventh in her lap. The box had been upturned, its contents spilled on furniture, floor, and the ceiling. The carnage was something out of a gay horror novel.
Foaming at the mouth, Wallflower curled up into a ball. As her eyes grew heavy, she muttered, "So that's what it feels like to taste the rainbow…"
Just before Wallflower blacked out, the door to the apartment flew open. A familiar shriek rang out, though she was powerless to answer it.
Lying in a puddle of rainbow-colored drool, Wallflower twitched, then stopped moving.
Her mother screamed:
"WALLY, NO!"
The housewarming gift she had brought fell to the carpet. Another horrified screech followed. "I KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN!"
The last thing Wallflower saw was her mother's sobbing face.
"Sunny, can you let go of my hand? You're squeezing it a little too hard."
The glow faded from Sunset's eyes. Blinking away her tears, she looked down at Wallflower, who was wide awake, not in a coma, and completely fine.
"You know I'm not into the rough stuff, Sunset," Wallflower teased, adding a coy wink.
"Buh," Sunset replied, her arms falling limp.
"Buh?" Wallflower giggled. "That's all you have to say?"
Sunset stared at her.
"What? Is there something on my face?" Wallflower ran a hand over her cheek. "I thought I wiped up all the drool earlier!"
Sunset… stared at her.
Yawning, Wallflower stretched, then rested her head on her girlfriend's shoulder. "So I'm guessing you won't let me have Skittles™ more than once a year now either, huh?"