Today was the day.
Sunlight was going to ask Sweetie Belle to be her marefriend today. She had it all planned out. First she would go by and make sure she wasn’t too busy with helping Rarity with any pregnancy related issues. Then they would go to where they had their first date at. Then Sunlight would ask her to be her very special somepony!
Sunlight managed to keep her cool during the trip to Ponyville. Once they had landed in town and Sunlight stepped off of her chariot, it seemed that every kind of butterfly had been released into her stomach.
The young princess took a seat at the table she was to meet Sweetie Belle at. They had been meeting here ever since they first met a whole month ago.
But to Sunlight, it felt like a whole year.
Just as Sunlight was about to drift off to another fantasy of a dashing Sweetie and her in a castle, Sweetie Belle could be seen trotting up to the table.
Sunlight's famously huge grin spread across her face as she caught sight of her big time crush. Sweetie took her seat across the table from Sunlight.
“Hey Sunlight!”
Sunlight suppressed her blush from just seeing Sweetie and gulped down her nervousness.
"H-Hey Sweetie Belle!" She watched as Sweetie Belle leaned forward, seeming particularly happy today.
"You won't believe the day I've had!" Sweetie began in a happy tone. "Since Carousel Boutique closes early today, Spike didn't have to work past 12:30!" She leaned forward with joy and continued with, "So Spike is at home taking care of Rarity, and I'm free for the day!"
"That's… Great!" Sunlight smiled, this time feeling her cheeks warm again as she prepared herself for the question. "Um…"
"Oh, right! And I had the funniest thing happen," she said, adjusting herself to be comfortable for her story. Sunlight felt a mix of disappointment and relief when she was interrupted, but listened intently to her crush. As she spoke, no matter what tone she was using, everything began to sound softer and sweeter to Sunlight as she basked in Sweetie Belle's beauty. Her glistening mane, her pure white coat, her emerald eyes that sparkled with her excitement… The word "perfect" was going through Sunlight's mind as she blushed.
"… And it turns out, it wasn't anything at all!" She finished with a chuckle, though it sounded like more of a giggle. Sunlight smiled with her, but couldn't help feeling her heart flutter at the sound of her laugh.
"It sounds like you had a good day," Sunlight commented, trying to transition smoothly into her question.
"I did. And you can only imagine how happy I was when I remembered I was meeting with you again today, too!"
Sunlight's heart skipped a beat.
"… Really?"
"Really!" The smile on Sweetie's face only added to Sunlight's feelings at that moment. "We've only known each other for a month, but I really enjoy talking to you."
"… R-Really?" Sunlight stuttered, starting to sound like a broken record.
"Of course! I feel like even when some of my stories sound boring, you just always seem interested. And I really like hearing about you, too! Your life is so interesting!" She giggled. "I love spending time with you!"
Sunlight's feelings intensified and her heart raced. She could feel every single beat. Her face was noticeably red. Was this even happening? It was the perfect moment.
"Y-Yeah… I like talking to you, too." She managed to get out a somewhat normal-sounding sentence. She gulped, readying herself for her confession.
"S-Sweetie Belle… I really need to tell you something."
Sweetie nodded then spoke up, “Theres also something I should tell you. Its just too important not to tell you.”
“Oh, What is it?”
“Well, I met someone~!” Sweetie smiled widely and clapped her hooves together.
Sunlight tilted her head. “You met a new friend?”
Sweetie shook her head. “Not exactly like that, even better”
“A best friend?”
Sweetie shook her head once more.
“I think its better that I showed you.” Sweetie Belle looked behind her and called out a name, “Button Mash!”
A brown, weak looking colt with his patchy mane in bangs and very greasy looking to Sunlight. He trotted up to the girls but didn’t seem too interested in them, rather he just pulled out a grey thing with big buttons and just seemed to pay more attention to it than them.
“Sunlight, I would like you to introduce my newest coltfriend, Button Mash!”
Button Mash just mumbled out something close to a “mya” and went back to his device. Sweetie Belle just seemed to giggle and look at Sunlight.
“Isn’t he just the best coltfriend?”
Broken
That is what Sunlight felt inside. All the butterflies dropped dead and her heart seemed to be slowly freezing over and cracking apart at the seams. She couldn’t stop the tears from falling down her cheeks in rapid streams.
“Sunlight?”
Sunlight heard something, but it all sounded like dead noise to her. Her crush was literally crushed in front of her eyes. Stomped into little pieces by this “Button Mash”. Sunlight’s tears stream down her face faster.
She had to get out, now!
She stumbled getting out of her chair and picked herself up quite easily and raced back to her carriage.
Sweetie was confused. Why was Sunlight acting this way?
“S-Sunlight, Wait!” Sweetie left her own seat to chase after her friend.
Button Mash on the other hoof just shrugged and stared into his Gamecolt.
“Was it something I said?”
Sunlight scrambled to get into her chariot. The guards tried to ask her what was wrong but Sunlight just yelled at them to get her out of there, weeping and crying at the same time. The guards nodded and did their jobs, flying the chariot away from Ponyville and away from Sweetie Belle.
Sweetie Belle huffed and panted as she watched the chariot take off. She was too late to try and catch up with it. Sweetie’s mind was racing trying to find an explanation for what had just happen to her friend…
Canterlot Castle
Celestia raced to her daughter’s chamber. When she arrived she heard the heart twisting weeping of her daughter inside the room. Vanilla was there looking at the door with a worried face. Once the guardspony saw Celestia she straightened up.
“Princess…”
“How long has she been like this?”
Vanilla sighed and looked down.
“A few hours at best. She won’t let anyone in or talk to anyone.”
Celestia started for the door.
“She’ll listen to me. Go one with your duties for the day Vanila...I’ll handle this.”
Vanilla nodded and trotted down the halls of the castle and hoped that Celestia could reach Sunlight.
Celestia slowly opened the door to her daughter’s room, It was a total mess. Pillows and stuffed animals were thrown about, the curtains torn, and most notably the mirror was shattered from having the chair thrown into it. Most heart wrenching for Celestia to see was her daughter, Sunlight, in her true form covered with covers and her cheeks stained with salted streams of tears. “Oh, Sunlight….”
Celestia climbed onto Sunlight’s bed and hugged her tightly, whispering to her that it would be alright and caressing her mane. Sunlight held tightly onto her mother and weeped into her chest, hoping all of this was just some sick dream that she would awaken from. She wanted to forget this more than anything she had forgotten before.
She wanted to wake up to Vanilla yelling at her for forgetting the way to the restroom and going to the spa instead, her mother reading her bedtime stories just before bed when she was just a filly.
She wanted to wake up to a special somepony that would hold her close and accept her for being a halfling.
Her memories forced her to watch all the time she spent with Sweetie Belle…
Sunlight’s memory
It was a sunny day to have a picnic!
Both of the mares giggled at the stories they told one another. Right now Sweetie Belle was going on and on about something her friend Scootaloo did with a bucket of chicken eggs and a single ramp to impress Rainbow Dash. It ended up with Scootaloo falling into the pit and having Rainbow Dash clean her off.
Sunlight couldn’t help but giggle at that story. Sweetie Belle was starting up another story we're herself and Scootaloo pranked Applebloom on a date. But Sunlight was far too busy debating putting her hoof over Sweetie’s shoulder. She had seen many ponies in Canterlot do the very same thing with their special somepony. Maybe perhaps doing the same thing would surely let Sweetie know of how Sunlight feels for her. As Sunlight’s hoof reached over to do this, a butterfly landed right on her hoof. Sweetie Belle looked at the butterfly and giggled softly at the sight.
“Looks like you made another friend.”
Sunlight blushed and nervously giggled along with her crush.
The butterfly then flew over to Sweetie’s nose and expanded it’s wings, making it seemed like Sweetie had big monster eyes. Sunlight could not help but laugh at her friend’s new spectacles and soon Sweetie joined in as well.
Sunlight laughed with her friend and wished someday this day would be like every other day she had with Sweetie Belle.
Sunlight’s room.
Sunlight whimpered at that memory. To her, every memory she had with Sweetie Belle hurt to even try to remember. She sobbed into her mother’s warm fur and held tightly onto her as though if she were to let go, the dark feelings that wrecked inside her body would swallow her whole.
Celestia slowly rubbed her daughter’s mane and calmly said to her, “Mommy’s here now, its all right.” She heard Sunlight’s sobbing lower down and soon stopped all together.
“Now then, why don’t you tell me what happened to make you such a mess.”
Sunlight rubbed the last bit of tears from her face and looked up at her mother “Sweetie Belle… had a…”She felt like bursting into tears again.
Celestia got the point her daughter was trying to get across and hugged her tighter.
“Did she know that you liked her?”
Sunlight slowly shook her head, her tears building up again.
“I should have warned you on the dangers of having a crush. Sometimes in the end instead of getting your dream pony you end up… well, being crushed.”
Sunlight looked down and nodded in understanding.
“And Sunlight.”
Sunlight looked back up at her mother.
“Don’t let this one bad incident define how you will act towards Sweetie Belle in the future. You two might not be what you wanted, but you two are still friends and you should cherish even that when you're around her.” Celestia nuzzled her daughter. “You remember the story I told you about Luna?”
“You mean the story where she let her negative emotions control how she acted and felt towards others?”
Celestia nodded. “Bad things always happen to those who let their darker emotions, such as grief and envy, take control of them.”
“B-But it will hurt..”
“I know it hurts sweetie, I know it will hurt for a long time, but trust me when I say you should look to the brighter side of things then rather dwelling in the dark.”
Sunlight nodded her head and leaned on her mother.
“Okay mom… I understand.”
“Good. Do you want me to cancel your magic lessons for the time being?”
Sunlight nodded again.
“I’ll have Vanilla send a letter right away to Twilight. Do you need me to stay for awhile.” With a final nod both Mother and Daughter stayed in that room and held one another.