The first rays of sunshine broke past the curtains. In her half-conscious state, Sunset was reminded of the castle, of waking up on a cushion after falling asleep during a lesson, only to find the princess watching over her. Even after living in this world for so long, some mornings she still half expected to wake up in Equestria. Weight shifted against her side and she adjusted her arm around the person next to her. The scent of bubblegum finally got her to open her eyes.
She was lying on the couch in her apartment, looking up at the ceiling. Next to her, curled up and clutching her clothes, was Pinkie, cheek resting on her shoulder and drooling on her hoodie. Sunset's arm was around her waist. She smiled at her sleeping girlfriend as she properly remembered the night before.
"Heeey, girlfriend!" Pinkie hopped in the moment Sunset had opened the door for her, throwing her arms over her shoulder and squeezing her with an excited squeal. She quickly rushed past her into the apartment and put her backpack down.
"Um, come in," Sunset said with a silly smile on her face. She knew it was there and she didn't mind it. She deserved to feel a little silly.
After kicking off her shoes, Pinkie skipped up and gave Sunset a second hug, pressing her lips to her cheek with a giggle. "Hmm, 'girlfriend' is great, but do you think we can shorten it? Girly? G-friend? 'Bestie' was so... snappy."
Sunset chuckled again as she carefully pulled her arm out from under Pinkie's body and replaced her shoulder with a cushion under her head. She wiped at the spot of drool with her sleeve, but it was already dry. She needed to wash this one anyway.
She stepped over Pinkie's backpack on the floor and went over to the tiny corner of her apartment that could be called a kitchen to start making coffee.
Pinkie set the treats she brought on the couch table and sat next to Sunset, watching expectantly as she picked up one to try it.
"It's so good," Sunset said quietly through a half-full mouth after the first few bites. Pinkie squealed and squeezed her hand instead of tackling her again.
"I knew it! I know you like orange and strawberries, so I was gonna make orange-and-strawberry muffins, but I mixed it weird and it came out kind of blegh, so I just made six of each flavour!"
"You're gonna make me fat."
"Aww, that's okay. I'll still like you when you're fat," Pinkie said softly, leaning on her and petting her hair.
Sunset looked back to the couch when she heard groaning. Pinkie stretched her arms up high and her leg off to the side. She then collapsed again with a huff and curled back into the light blanket. Sunset smiled to herself and yawned, waiting next to the coffee machine for it to be done.
"So... what do we do?" Sunset stared down at their interlocked hands, taking particular interest in the new coat of pink polish on Pinkie's nails.
"What do you mean? You play games and I cheer you on and then we watch silly videos. We always do that, silly."
"Yeah, but... we're... dating now." She looked up at Pinkie, who was tilting her head at her, like looking at her from a slightly different angle would make her understand better. "I mean, won't things be... different?"
Pinkie blew air at the strand of hair hanging in her face. "Sure it's different. I can do this now." She grinned and leaned forward, pressing her lips to Sunset's in a superficial kiss. Sunset's eyes drifted closed and she felt the tension melt from her shoulders.
"You know," Pinkie continued after breaking the kiss, though she didn't back off very far, "my sister got a boyfriend and she also says she goes to him to 'hang out'. So it can't be that different."
"Huh. I guess." Sunset thought back to her time with Flash, but using any of that as data on how a relationship should work felt wrong. She also hadn't been friends with him like she was with Pinkie.
"Come on!" Pinkie squeezed her hand tightly. "Don't think so much, girly, let's play!" She cocked her eyebrow for a moment before snickering. "Okay, 'girly' doesn't work."
Pinkie sat up with a groggy smile and tussled hair. Sunset brought over a mug and dropped two sleeves of sugar into the coffee.
"Good morning," she said gently, kissing the top of Pinkie's head, while running a hand through her messy curls.
Pinkie mumbled in response and picked up the mug, holding it closely under her face to just smell the coffee for now. Sunset sat next to her with her own and took a slow, careful sip. After a few seconds, Pinkie took a long sip and opened her eyes wide, seemingly instantly awake. Sunset didn't find it difficult to imagine a mechanical Ping! sound as her mood visibly shifted.
"Morning, G-friend," Pinkie returned and threw one arm over Sunset's shoulders, pressing a firm kiss to her cheek.
"You know, Pinkie, maybe we should stick with 'bestie'. It's not like we're not best friends anymore."
"Hmm, I guess." She shrugged and chugged the rest of the coffee.
"Isn't that still hot?"
Pinkie set the mug down with a quiet thud. "Burning! I need milk." She quickly climbed over Sunset's lap and hurried to the fridge.
Sunset felt her eyes drift closed as the final video in Pinkie's playlist ended. They were already lying on the couch, Pinkie curled up against her side and a thin blanket over their legs. Pinkie reached over her to turn off her laptop, while Sunset yawned into her hand.
"We should go to bed," she said quietly as Pinkie settled back against her.
"Nope."
"What do you mean 'nope'?"
"I wanna sleep here." She nuzzled into the crook of Sunset's neck, resting her chin on her shoulder.
"I can just carry you--"
"Nope!" Pinkie smirked and grabbed her hoodie with one hand and her sweat pants with the other, wrapping her legs around her thigh.
Sunset scoffed quietly and pulled the blanket up a little more. "Fine. Have it your way."
She stared at the ceiling for a while, the only light in the room now the streetlamps shining through the window. She looked down at Pinkie, her eyes closed and breathing evenly. She carefully put her arm around her waist.
"I love you," she said softly. Her heart beat faster as the next second stretched into an anxious eternity.
"Love you too," Pinkie whispered back, half asleep.