“There is no way. No way!” Rarity sounded a bit too excited about what Sunset had told them.
“Well I’ll say. That’s a fine thing to hear, Sunset. You’ve been looking worse than a juice-drained apple since Princess Twilight told us she was gonna be queen,” Applejack smiled.
Sunset tried no to cringe at the mention of that particular detail.
She’d told them about the date tomorrow. She’d settled that without even looking at her schedule, and so today she’d changed shifts with a co-worker to make sure she was free. She was growing increasingly nervous about the whole thing, and she figured her friends would be able to help her somewhat.
“I’m just worried it’s gonna go badly. I don’t want to hurt Flash… again,” she sighed. “Me, Twilight, Twilight,” she looked at their world’s Twilight, who looked a bit uncomfortable at that. “Guy hasn’t caught a break in a while.”
“Then let me ask you: Why’d you ask him out?” Rainbow said. “Sounds to me like you’re kind of rebounding,” she explained.
Sunset pressed her lips, her eyes quickly darting to Twilight. She chuckled self-consciously before shrugging and shaking her head. “I don’t know. We had a nice chat, we bonded. I just… felt like it. I mean, I do like him. He’s nice.”
“Well, as long as you like him, I think that’s all that matters,” Fluttershy said.
As long as I like him. Sunset sighed, propping her head up with a hand, wondering if she did like him. It wasn’t a question she’d be able to answer right now, she figured. “Well, we’ll see how it goes. If anything, I hope it’ll be distracting.”
“If you want distractions I have plenty of them!” Pinkie said, fetching a bunch of toys from her hair.
Sunset wasn’t sure what else to say, so she allowed Pinkie to show them off one by one. There was however, one thing more distracting than the toys: Twilight’s stare nailed on her.
It wasn’t until after they were all about to go home that Twilight asked her to speak in private for a moment.
“Twilight? Is everything ok?” Sunset asked.
Twilight nodded. She looked a bit nervous. “Yes, yes. I just… I wanted to ask you… Eh…” she blushed a bit. “Do you- I mean, did you… I, well. You know… it may be presumptuous of me…”
Just by how stuttery she was, Sunset got a good idea of what she was talking about. While a bit embarrassed, she decided to nod. “Y-yeah, actually. I liked you. I still do,” she explained. Twilight’s eyes widened. “I mean, not you! Well, a bit you. The one I… I actually like is Princess Twilight. You’re… well, you’re really nice too! And I like you for who you are, not for being an… alternate version of… whatever, you get what I mean,” she scratched the back of her head, not sure how to continue this. “Yes, I like you.”
Twilight chuckled a bit at Sunset stumbling for words. “I never noticed. I’m really sorry for that.”
Sunset snorted. “Please, it’s not your fault. I never gave you any hints anyways, I was too much of a coward. But even if I had… I didn’t really have much of a chance, did I?”
Twilight looked down, apparently ashamed. “I… don’t think so, no.”
Maybe surprisingly, Sunset smiled. “Yeah, I figured that’d be the case. Comes with being an empath and all. It’s a bit relieving, in fact. Feels like a weight’s been lifted, you know?”
“I think I get it. Maybe I should have a similar chat with Flash, though we’re not as close,” Twilight suggested.
Sunset considered and nodded. “I think he’d appreciate it.”
The end of school in Friday was marked by Sunset and Flash meeting eyes in the classroom and smiling awkwardly at each other. They both waited until everyone else got out of the classroom before getting up and walking to each other.
“So…” Flash looked a bit nervous too. “Do we go to the mall or…?”
“The mall? Please, no. All my friends work there,” she explained. She didn’t want to deal with the stares and knowing smiles.
“Right. Then… Any good places you know?”
Sunset thought about it for a second. She didn’t really want to grab a coffee, in truth. So…
“You’ve got your car, right?”
“Of course.”
“Then let’s go, I have an idea.”
Flash raised a curious eyebrow, but soon after they were leaving school, and he didn’t question Sunset once.
The hill was a good ways off from the city, but as they sat against the tree on top of it, Sunset felt it was worth it.
“This is a beautiful place. How’d you find it?” Flash asked after a while.
“I didn’t. Applejack did. Told me it used to belong to a cousin of hers before he moved to the countryside. The hill technically belongs to someone, but they’ve left it open for people to come. Not a lot do, nowadays.”
“Heh, that’s nice,” Flash looked at the horizon. “We never did something like this back in the day, did we?”
“Nope. I wasn’t interested in actual romance,” Sunset said with a bit of shame. “But I think the mood is nice, don’t you? If there’s anything to get us started, this may be it.”
Flash chuckled. “You talk as if it was the environment that mattered, not us,” he playfully bumped her. “Wanna leave the hard work for someone else?”
“Excuse me? I always do the hard work myself,” Sunset said.
“Nowadays, at least.”
Sunset deadpanned.
“Sorry, sorry,” Flash smiled awkwardly. “I shouldn’t bring that up.”
After a few seconds, Sunset sighed, leaning gently on Flash. He tensed up. How cute. He smelled like too much deodorant mixed with cheap cologne, but it wasn’t an unpleasant smell. “No, you totally should. Nobody really talks too much about it anymore, but… so many people were hurt by what I did. I’m sure some hold resentment towards me, and with good reason. Wallflower was probably just one of many.”
Flash, very hesitantly, slid an arm around her shoulders. He advanced painfully slowly, almost as if expecting Sunset to snap at any second. She didn’t. “Don’t get hung up on that. Everyone knows you’ve changed. I mean, we saw you get blasted with the rainbow laser and all. Not that it was all that mattered, but you worked hard to change our perception of you.”
“Thanks.” Then Sunset laughed softly. “I turned into a demon. Can you believe it? It’s so stupid when I think about it. What was I gonna do once I got to Equestria, anyways? Conquer the world with a small army of teenagers? Celestia and Luna would’ve dispatched me in an eyeblink.”
“They, or… well, Twilight,” he said the name with reluctance.
Sunset understood. “It’s gonna be though, huh. Before, we could at least pretend. I used to imagine scenarios where Princess Twilight would write me up at night, ask me to meet. And then she’d confess to me and we’d go back to Equestria together. Or maybe I confessed to her, and we met every night for a couple hours to be together… or stuff like that.”
“Well, that sounds a lot less selfish than me. I liked to imagine she’d… drop everything, come here to stay with me. We had a thing, that first time she came. And then it just… faded. I still wonder if maybe things could be different if I’d managed to resist the siren’s spell. I was such a jerk to her.”
“Hey, that wasn’t your fault. And I don’t think so. Ugh,” Sunset shook her head. “Look at us. Talking about our crush while we’re supposed to be on a date. I’m really bad at this.”
“Well, I’m no better. I’ve had a couple girlfriends since you, but neither lasted very long. I think I had a crush on… uh…” he blushed a bit.
“Who?”
“Uh, no matter.”
“Oh, no you don’t,” Sunset activated her powers and touched his arm. She saw a flash of… “Really, Sandalwood?”
Flash pouted. “Hey, that’s unfair! But… yes, I mean, I don’t really know if it was a crush or not, but… I just thought he was really cool.”
“I get it. He is kinda cute, anyways.” Sunset stared at the city for a moment. It looked small from here. It was strange, almost, not to be able to hear all of its sounds.
“Not as cute as me, right?”
“You’re getting ahead of yourself,” Sunset nudged him, and he laughed. “But yes, you are quite the handsome guy. I’m surprised you haven’t gotten anyone yet, to be honest.”
“Well, I was hoping for Twilight, but it seems I better keep my options open. I accepted a date with a girl because of that,” he said with a playful tone.
“Ah, what a lucky person! I hope you like her,” Sunset played along.
Flash squeezed her shoulder. “I… Do. I do like her. I can’t be too sure about how things between us would go—we have a bit of a rough history on that department—but I think I’d like to give it a shot.”
Sunset smiled and looked to the side, meeting his eyes. “Are you sure? We both could be just… rebounding. Seeking some comfort in a relationship while we’re stuck in Twilight.”
“Well, it’s a good thing we like the same girl, then. There won’t be any jealousy between us, wouldn’t you agree?”
He was smiling at her. And, for a second, Sunset could almost feel the gloom that had permeated the last week of her life give way to some warmer feelings. She smiled back. “Alright, I guess you have a point there,” she said.
She then moved up, pressing her lips against his for a few moments. They were a bit on the rough side, and he was so tense she could barely tell if he was reciprocating the kiss. But they were very warm, and far better than she remembered from their past.
When she pulled back, Flash was in shock. “W-wow. You’re a bold one, aren’t you?”
“It was just a peck. We’ve done it hundreds of times,” Sunset remarked.
“I don’t count those. It’s the first time the new Sunset kissed me,” he put on a lopsided grin. “And it makes me feel good.”
Sunset shook her head, though she was smiling too. “So… do we make it official, then? Wanna start dating, see how things go?”
“Honestly, I fail to see myself capable of doing something like this with anyone that isn’t you,” he explained. Then, he pulled her a bit closer, kissing her properly this time. He’d definitely grown better at it with the years. When they parted, they stared at each other for a few seconds too long, and Sunset felt a bit of heat crawling to her cheeks.
“I think I feel the same. You, and me, and our inability to let go of a crush on an interdimensional princess. On theaters soon,” she said.
Flash laughed. Sunset followed him.
“Do we stay here?” Flash asked after that.
“I kinda wanna see the sunset though there’s like an hour left for that.”
“Or I could just bring a mirror.”
“Shut up,” Sunset pushed him away, and he laughed again.
Maybe they wouldn’t be able to fully let go of their past. But, if nothing else, they could help each other feel better about the future.