Sunset barely had time to step out of her open car door before a smear of color tackled her to the ground at a speed that would have earned a thumbs-up from Rainbow Dash.
"Ooof. Hey, Twi."
"Oh, sorry! Sorry sorry sorry! I didn't meant to knock you down like that, I got too excited and I forgot how slippery it was and it's not like I could really see the ice in the dark and-"
"Hey, it's okay, I'm excited too!"
Twilight got back on her feet and pulled Sunset off the pavement. "It's just been so long, and my head is completely spinning!"
"Mine does that around you too, it's just not usually this literal."
Twilight frowned and rolled her eyes. "That was awful."
"You're awful."
"Shut up!"
"I love you."
"I love you too, now shut up and let's go!"
Sunset laughed. "Go?"
"To the festival!"
"Twi, I know you're excited, but I need to get my stuff inside! I can't leave poor Ray out in the cold!" She pointed to the terrarium that she had strapped securely in the back seat.
"Ray?... Oh no! I forgot to make a space for Ray's terrarium!"
"That's okay, I'm sure it won't be that hard. Say, isn't that your roommate in the doorway over there?"
"Huh?" Twilight looked up where she could see that, indeed, Bright Blaze was there, wheeling two luggage carriers down to the curb. They strode over to Sunset's car.
"Hey Twilight, you left in a bit of a rush. I figured you probably wanted your room key."
"Oh! My bad!" Twilight squeaked awkwardly as Sunset smirked behind her. "Sorry I got carried away, if you still need help with the luggage I can definitely-"
"Ah, I see," Sunset snarked, grinning as Twilight turned back to face her. "You already made a luggage date? Guess I'll just have to carry all this stuff all on my lonesome..."
"Oh, stop it. We can take yours in as we take theirs out, crybaby." Twilight whipped back around to Bright. "Sunset and I will be happy to help."
"Awesome," they replied. "So there’s the famous Sunset Shimmer in the flesh."
Sunset strode over to shake their hand. "Hi Bright, great to finally meet you in person! Would you mind grabbing one of the suitcases from the back? If Twilight grabs the other and I carry the terrarium we should be done in one go."
"Yeah, no sweat. My driver's about 8 minutes out, so I should have enough time." Bright and Twilight walked over to the trunk as Sunset unlocked it with her keys, then removed the straps securing the terrarium to the car seat and carefully grasped it.
"Alright, Ray, let's get you inside!" Sunset beamed as her beloved leopard gecko stirred from its slumber and looked into her eyes.
It took a few minutes to find a good place to stick the terrarium, but, afterwards. the couple grabbed the rest of Bright's stuff, carried it down to the curb and waved them goodbye. The pair then darted back into the room so Sunset could feed Ray while Twilight made sure she had all her winter garb. Just a few minutes later, they were off.
Sunset couldn't think of a less appealing idea at the moment than getting back into a car, and Twilight hadn't been sure how much available parking there would be anyway or how much it cost, so it was a no-brainer that they would simply walk across campus, with the festival just a short ways away from the edge of the grounds. The college courtyards were just as illuminated as the city streets had been, with bright lights strung all around and a number of art installations brilliantly decorated. Sunset marveled at the sight.
"I don't think I've gotten to walk around this place since your orientation, but it just feels so completely different at night and with all these lights," Sunset said. "It's magnificent."
"That's awesome, Sunset. I wish I could see it through your eyes, I honestly feel a bit numb to all the decorations already. The whole campus, to some extent."
"Really? I can't say I feel that way about CrysArts."
"...I mean sure, but you're at an art school, I'm sure they have something new and interesting all the time! Especially with Pinkie there."
"Well, I don't know- hey, how'd the video chat with everyone go? I was so disappointed I didn't make it for that!"
"Oh!" Twilight paused, her eyes darting around; Sunset noticed, frowning. "Well, I mean, it was... fine, it was good, everyone said hi, Rarity and Fluttershy asked about you. Applejack was picking up an extra shift so she wasn't there, but Pinkie talked about heading back to Canterlot early and making her playlists and stuff, and... yeah!"
Sunset was quiet for a moment as they trudged through the snow past the edge of campus into an adjacent park. "That's all?"
"Yeah, I mean, it ended kinda suddenly, we started kinda late and then Rarity and Pinkie both had to leave to do stuff with their friends, and, well, then it was just me, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, and they clearly just wanted to be with each other and, um, I didn't want to get in the way or anything, and plus I was trying to keep an eye out for you, so I just, well, I said bye and let them go hang out together!" She laughed nervously as Sunset's confusion morphed into concern.
"So... you just left? Did they ask you to go?"
"No, no, I mean they would never say that out loud, you know them, but I mean it just seemed kinda obvious I'd be the third wheel and, uh... Maybe you're right. I shouldn't have left. That was dumb, that was stupid, that was... ugh!"
Sunset stretched her arm across Twilight's back, snagging her by the shoulder and pulling the girl to her side. "Hey, it's okay, Twi. It's a bit of an awkward situation, I get it! I just wanna make sure you did that because you wanted to and not that you felt like you had to."
Twilight looked glum. "I'm not sure, honestly."
Sunset planted a kiss on Twilight's cheek, and could feel her the tension in her girlfriend ease considerably. "Hey, we don't have to talk about it right now. I can see the lights!"
At Sunset's words, Twilight looked up to behold the enchanting glow of the Crystal City Winter Light Festival. She turned to Sunset with a grin on her face. "Race ya."
Sunset barely had an instant to register what Twilight said before the purple girl darted across the park toward the glow. "Hey, wait!" she cried as she bolted to catch up.
The two raced up a gradual incline, leaving boot marks scattered across the pristine snowscape before eventually reaching a short cliff overlooking the festival. Twilight had a few extra seconds to admire the sight before Sunset staggered up behind her, panting like a dog.
"Geez," Twilight mused, "I thought I was the one who was supposed to be bad at athletics. Don't you go running most mornings?"
"Har har, Twi," Sunset gasped in between deep breaths. "You can't just throw an uphill sprint at me, I'm a distance runner."
"Whatever you say," Twilight laughed, which earned her a punch in the shoulder. "Ow."
"You deserved that."
"Yeah, I did," said Twilight, still laughing. Sunset straightened herself, strode forward and stood next to Twilight, admiring the view. She laid a hand on her girlfriend's shoulder to calm her down before she got hiccups.
"It's really beautiful, Twi."
"I'm glad you think so." Twilight and Sunset turned their faces toward each other at the same time and, without a conscious thought, kissed each other full on the lips. Sunset grasped Twilight's waist and pulled her into a warm, wonderful embrace. Their heads drew back and they beamed at each other.
"You're pretty beautiful too, y'know."
Twilight smirked. "What'd I ever do to deserve such a corny girlfriend?"
"Well, I was gonna say you're breathtaking, but I think the sprint already took care of that."
Twilight shoved Sunset away. "You're AWFUL!"
Even as she recovered from the unexpected push, Sunset couldn't help but laugh at her own terrible jokes. Said laughter soon proved contagious, and Twilight fell into a fit of laughter herself, trudging back over to Sunset and holding on to her.
Sunset managed to pull herself together from her fit of giggles faster than Twilight, looking out over the brilliant festival lights. She could just make out the shapes of the individual displays; there was a huge tunnel at the center, and she also found Santa's sleigh and reindeer, a snowman, a large rainbow, an oddly-shaped horse, a dragon, a...
Sunset stopped and looked back at the horse as Twilight composed herself. That doesn't really look like a horse. The head shape is all wrong, the mane is weird and... hold on. Is that... a horn? WAIT...
"IS THAT AN EQUESTRIAN UNICORN DOWN THERE?"
"What? Where?" Twilight asked as she adjusted her glasses.
"RIGHT THERE!" Sunset grabbed Twilight and physically repositioned her to the direction of her finger. "The one in the bright orange lights! It's, it's... oh horseapples, IT'S ME!"
Twilight's eyes scanned until she saw where Sunset was poiting. She chuckled. "Whaaaaat? No it's not!"
"It is! At least it's supposed to be! They must have gotten it from one of those rotten cruise ship blabbermouths. My unicorn body is not in the public domain!"
"Oh come on, that's not what your mane looked like at all! If you turned those lights white and purple, you could just as easily say that's Rarity."
"Grrrrrrrrrr...."
"Easy, tiger, let's calm down a bit," Twilight cooed as she put a hand on her lover's shoulder. But to no avail -- Sunset had looked over and spotted something else.
"There's another one! Another unicorn! But wait... that one has wings! An alicorn? Is that supposed to be Princess Twilight?" She peered closer. "But those are butterfly wings! That's ridiculous! What pony has ever had butterfly wings? What bonehead-"
She was cut off when Twilight suddenly grabbed her by the arm and yanked her forward, and they both slid down the slight embankment that deposited them just in front of the parking area. Twilight grinned sheepishly at her irate girlfriend. "Sorry, but you'd have gone on all night if I'd let you."
"Alright, alright..."
"Come on, maybe it'll seem better in person. Let's go!" And with that they dashed toward the entrance.