Sunset hurriedly weaved through the crowds of students as she made her way to the front entrance. She was thankful that most of the students had either left or were in their club rooms, leaving the hallways mostly barren.
Still, she would’ve appreciated it if no one was around, then she wouldn’t have to deal with every other student giving her a look of regret or embarrassment. It might’ve been better than when they were glaring at her, but now it was really starting to get on her nerves-
She yelped as she turned a corner and crashed into someone, the two of them falling to the ground in a daze. She cursed herself for being so careless and rubbed her forehead.
“Sunset?”
Sunset's eyes fluttered open as she heard Flash’s voice, turning her head to look at him. “Hey Horsefucker.”
Flash gave her an unamused look. “Almost as funny as when Anon-A-Miss and the rest of the school called me that.” He stood up and offered her a hand, lifting her up when she accepted. “Worst part is, I didn’t get that far with either of you.”
“I bet you would’ve liked that, wouldn’t you?”
“Well…” Flash shifted awkwardly before clearing his throat. “So, where are you off to in such a hurry?”
“I’m just hanging out with Derpy; I decided I need some people I can actually depend on.” Sunset crossed her arms. “Since she knew I was innocent the whole time.”
Flash frowned at Sunset's not so subtle jab at him. “Look, I’m sorry that I was on the fence about it, but I’m still reeling from our relationship.” He placed his hands in his pockets. “You didn’t endear yourself for the year we were dating.”
Sunsets face softened and her shoulders slumped. “Yeah, and I’m sorry about how I treated you. But you knew me better than that, I thought we worked things out after the Sirens.”
“And I thought I knew you when we first started dating, you had the innocence facade back then. The way Anon-A-Miss operated didn’t fit your usual behavior, but I wasn’t sure who else would do something like this…” Flash sighed. “Sunset, I really am sorry I didn’t make up my mind in time. I should’ve been there for you during Anon-A-Miss.”
Sunset's previous anger faded and she uncrossed her arms. “Well, I’m sorry for being the worst girlfriend ever and leading you on for nearly two years… and, I suppose you deserve some leeway for at least not immediately thinking I was guilty, you would’ve been justified in thinking your evil ex was back to her old ways.”
“You weren’t evil.” Flash shook his head. “You weren’t great, but I never saw you as evil. Hell, you’re not even the worst ex I have.”
Sunset looked surprised at that. “You’ve had exes who’ve turned into demons before?”
“More like they were always demons.” Flash laughed. “At least you turned into an angel, I have some crazy exes.”
“You have terrible luck with women don’t you?” Sunset smiled in amusement.
“The worst ever.” Flash gave Sunset a small smirk. “Speaking of which, you and Twilight still talking?”
Sunset's smile faded. “Yeah, we talk every day.”
“Uh, how's she doing? Does she ever talk about me? Do you know when she’s coming to vis-”
“Flash.” Flash stopped talking and looked at Sunset. She stood there quietly for a few seconds before taking a deep breath. “I didn’t want to say anything because I felt I had no right being your ex, but you and Twilight… it’s never going to work out.”
Flash tilted his head. “What do you mean?”
“Well, really think about it, Flash.” Sunset looked to the side, feeling bad she was about to dash Flashes dreams. “You're barely seventeen, she’s twenty. She’s a sovereign leader of a nation who is very busy and gains more and more responsibilities every month.”
Flash glared at Sunset lightly. “So? I’d support her anyway.”
“You have a counterpart back home who has a steady job as a royal guard, is older than you, and lives on his own.”
“Twilight knew me first, she may not even like my counterpart.” Flash said stubbornly.
“Maybe, but what can you offer her exactly?” Sunset challenged. “You have a part time job, still live with your parents, and at best your dream of being a musician will net you millions of dollars. Twilight is a princess who lives in a crystal castle and can use the wealth of an entire nation however she pleases whenever she desires. Think of how luxuriously kings and queens lived, and times it by ten.” Sunset held up all ten fingers. “There are roughly fifty million people of various different races living in Equestria, we have magic, we have low corruption, and we’re going through an early Industrial Age. All that adds up to an insane amount of money, all of which Twilight has access to.”
“I-I can still add my money to her finances. There’s no guarantee she would even use the money to benefit herself.”
“You can’t use the money you accumulate here to buy anything over there. Trust me, I’ve tried the opposite approach… and even if Twilight used less than a percent of the money available to her, that’s still nearly a billion dollars.”
“Well… she could still use somebody who could always be there for her.” Flashes' resolve clearly had been shaken, but he continued arguing regardless.
“Fine. But I’ve got one more question for you: will you leave everything you’ve ever known to live with Twilight?” Sunset looked at Flash expectantly. “Cause, she’ll never leave Equestria, no matter how much she loves you. So, you’ll have to leave your family and your home to live with her. You and I both know long distance relationships don’t work, and can you even handle being in a relationship with someone with far more money, fame, power, and influence than you? You won’t even be immortal! You’ll die and she’ll continue living.”
Flash stared at Sunset quietly, not sure how to respond. He looked down, staring at the ground as if it would give him the answer.
Sunset saw this and sighed. ‘Great job, no wonder he wasn’t sure you were Anon-A-Miss…’ sunset thought bitterly. “Look, I’m not saying this to discourage you. I hope you can prove me wrong and that it’ll work out between the two of you. But you have to look at the reality of the situation and really decide whether it’s something you want to continue pursuing. I don’t want you hung up on Twilight in ten years when you could’ve been dating some nice girl and gotten married. Just... just think about it, ok?” Sunset scratched the back of her head. “Anyway, I’ve got to run, Derpys probably waiting with her siblings. See ya Flash.”
“Yeah… see ya.” Flash stood still for a few seconds before flattening against the locker and looking up at the ceiling.
“I hope you thaw out by the time I reach Sunset.” Bon-Bon said as she looked at a chocolate milkshake in a plastic cup. She had left it in the teachers lounge refrigerator with their permission, and had retrieved it after school. She hadn’t expected it to be a chocolate ice cube by now, but she was sure it would thaw enough in an hour.
She hoped that Sunset hadn’t gone home yet, otherwise she’d be repeating this process until the teachers got annoyed with her or she finally managed to catch Sunset.
Bon-Bon wasn’t sure how well a milkshake would keep after repeatedly being frozen solid. She wasn’t even sure if Sunset would accept her gift.
She stopped when she saw Derpy and Sunset at the entrance sharing a hug, Sunset clearly being uncomfortable with it but trying her best to humor Derpy. Bon-Bon couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous as Derpy broke away, but knew it was her fault.
Bon-Bon sped up to catch up with them as the two girls walked out the entrance. “Sunset!” Bon-Bon cried out as she reached the front steps, the two girls turning towards her.
Bon-Bon shrunk inwardly at the glare from Sunset and the look of disapproval from Derpy. “H-hey Derpy.”
“Bon-Bon.” She said coldly, which felt like a slap in the face to Bon-Bon.
“I’m not going to Sugarcube Corner with you and Lyra.” Sunset declared. “I already have plans with Derpy.
“I wasn’t going… I come bearing gifts.” She held out the milkshake.
Sunset lifted an eyebrow and took it from her grasp. “A… frozen milkshake?”
“It was your order from Sugarcube Corner.” Bon-Bon explained. “You left it when you ran out the store, I felt bad since you had spent money on it and didn’t get to eat much of it. So I packed it up and held onto it till I saw you again.”
Sunset's glare disappeared and she looked to Bon-Bon. “Really?” She studied the milkshake as if she was determining how true that statement was. “Uh, Thanks… people might confuse this for you indulging in your feeder fetish though.”
Bon-Bon seized up and her eyes widened. “As I have explained to everyone I know, including my parents, I DO NOT have a feeder fetish!” Bon-Bon said with a mixture of anger and annoyance, making the two other girls back away in surprise. “I just like giving my friends and family sweets and food because I like seeing them happy! I don’t derive any other kind of satisfaction!”
“I-I didn’t-”
“You know what’s not sexy?” She held a finger up to Sunset. “Lyra having health problems because she’s overweight! You know how awful I’d feel if that was the case?” Bon-Bon shook angrily.
“Ok, ok. Sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you. I just didn’t want students to get the wrong idea." Sunset held her hands up. “Look, it was really nice of you to return the milkshake I bought, thank you.”
“No, I’m sorry, it’s just-” Bon-Bon blushed and her anger dropped, clearing her throat awkwardly. “I can’t do shit anymore without someone bringing it up. My parents had a fit when they saw the post, so did Lyra's. I was scared they would’ve made us break up. It’s still kind of a sore spot for me.”
“Regardless, I should’ve known better.” Sunset turned to Derpy. “Hey Derpy, I think this is gonna be a while, you shouldn’t keep your siblings waiting. I’ll meet you at the car.”
Derpy smiled and walked off. The two girls were left alone, silently staring at each other. “You know, there was a time I was actually gonna blackmail you like that.”
“You were going to threaten to spread rumors that I had a feeder fetish?” Bon-Bon frowned when Sunset nodded. “Why didn’t you?”
“I had standards, believe it or not.” Sunset said with a small smile. “Not a lot, but there were lines I refused to cross.”
“Yeah, like what? I’m curious.”
“Well: I never went after the middle schoolers, I never brought family members into the mix, I refused to spread rumors about or reveal someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity, I never made fun of someone’s dead relative or friend, I never sabotaged academic competitions (for more arrogant reasons admittedly), or reveal secrets or make rumors that could genuinely be damaging to someone's future."
"Huh…" Bon-Bon stood there for a moment, having not expected such a comprehensive list. "So, if you found out about me and Lyra before we went public, you wouldn't have-"
"More like I didn't."
"You didn't? What does that mean?"
"Freshman year." Sunset placed her hands on her hips. "November 1st."
Bon-Bon's mouth fell open and her eyes lit up. "That was when…"
"I followed the two of you after school, thought I might get some pics I could use for something I was working on at the time… sorry about that by the way"
Bon-Bon blushed brightly and cleared her throat. "Uh, h-how long were you-"
"I was following you two right up till Lyra kissed you." Sunset explained, shifting awkwardly. "Now, either you two were keeping it a secret or that was the first interaction like that. Either way, I felt sick with what I was doing, you two felt comfortable enough to let your guard down and here I was spying on you, so I left. It didn't feel right, you know?"
"A-actually that was our first kiss. We weren't dating by that point, I didn't even think Lyra liked me back." Bon-Bon huffed awkwardly. "Well, thank you for that. You weren't as awful a person as you could've been… though when I look back on that memory from now on, I won't be able to get out of my head that you were in the background watching like a perv."
The two girls shared a small laugh. "Probably wouldn't have even worked as blackmail anyway, you two went public not too long after."
Bon-Bon nodded and thought over what to say next. "Oh, and, sorry for what happened friday. I shouldn't have been so pushy."
"Yeah, I think I would've loosened up after a while. Bringing up forgiveness kind of ruined the night for me." Sunset cleared her throat. "But you know, I'm not… against hanging out with you. I actually wanted to try being friends before Anon."
Bon-Bon looked surprised. "Really?"
"Yeah. Admittedly it was because I thought I'd have the easiest time with you two, thought the fake Formal gave me an edge, but I did like the two of you."
"Why weren't you trying to befriend Derpy first? She would've been the easiest, she's friends with everybody. She already liked you before the Sirens."
Sunset cringed and gave a tired sigh. "I felt… too guilty to try being her friend. I'm only doing it now because AJ encouraged me, and Derpys having me do a favor for her in the future."
"I see." Bon-Bon nodded in understanding. "I suppose now might be too early to broach the subject?"
"Let's wait until after the Spring Fling, then we'll talk. I still have my other friends I need to get through, I don't want to try making friends while I'm emotionally volatile."
The conversation petered out and the two girls stared at each other, not sure how to continue. "Well I'll see you later."
"Yeah, see you Bon-Bon." Sunset waved as she began walking away. "Thanks for the milkshake, don't knock Lyra up, have a nice day."
Bon-Bon opened her mouth to respond but realized what Sunset had said. "Wait, what?" With that Sunset disappeared behind a corner and vanished from view. "... Maybe being friends with her is a bad idea if that's gonna be common."