A Sparkling Sunset

by Ferhog


Sunset's Home-Twilight Sparkle

Twilight stretched her eyelids open, allowing the morning light shining through the window to hit her right in the eye, causing her to shut them back again in pain. As her mind recovered from sleep, she acknowledged the aches that she was feeling all over her body. Even after she applied cushions to her makeshift bed, a bed made from books, was bound to be uncomfortable.

She sat herself up and stretched her arms, relieving some of the stress on her body. Upon standing up, she slipped on her light blue blouse, pink tie, and boots before walking down the stairs to the ground floor of the CHS library. She looked at the library's clock to see that there were thirteen minutes until lessons started.

'Moon banishment! I slept in!' She thought. 'I need to get ready!'

Twilight ran back up the stairs to where she had set up her bed and put all her things. Not being an actual CHS student, she didn't have a schedule, and had no idea what lessons she had. This was irrelevant for preparation of course, since Twilight loved to carry all her books around with her anyway.

The library doors burst open as she ran through them, headed for the bathroom. There she emptied her bladder and brushed her teeth (Yes, she had been that prepared for a simple visit to Canterlot High), before running back outside and down a hallway filled with students getting things in and out from their lockers.

Again, she didn't have a schedule, so she had to ask one of her friends what the next lesson was. They always gathered in the small music room, so she probably didn't have to go far.

She quickly glanced at a clock she was passing. Six minutes to first period.

'Its too late! I'm doomed! DOOMED!'

She shook her head.

"Calm down, Twilight," she whispered to herself. "You don't even really go to this school. Who cares if you're a bit tardy?"

'Sunset will care! She'll think I don't take learning seriously! She'll hate that! She'll hate me!'
All of a sudden, Twilight skidded to a halt.

Of all the things to think about in this situation, why think about that?

'It doesn't matter, I have to prioritise getting to class.'

She was about to bolt down the hallway again before she realized that the door to her left was the room she was looking for.
Her hands slammed the door open to reveal Sunset, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie Pie getting their bags ready.
"WHAT LESSON DO WE HAVE NOW?!"

They all stared at her with disturbed expressions, making her realize how weird she was acting.

"Sorry," she mumbled. "I... slept in and... didn't wanna be late..."

Pinkie shook her head. "Overeactivisis, horrible thing. I contracted it myself when I came across a blueberry bake sale in southern Mozambique."

"Rarity an' I got Chemistry in four minutes," Explained Applejack. "Sunset an' the others all got Biology."

"Good," Twilight replied. "I guess I'll go with them."

"Yes!" They heard a loud whisper say.

Everyone turned their head to see that Sunset Shimmer had a fist triumphantly raised in the air. She puckered her mouth inwards awkwardly when she noticed them all staring at her.

"Um... I mean... that's great..." She put on a clearly forced grin. "Twi's only gonna be here another four days... It’s good to.. .spend more time... with her... and... stuff like that..."

Not for the first time, Twilight noticed that Sunset was behaving oddly. "Sunset, are you okay?"

Sunset's eyes widened, as if some big secret had been revealed. "Sure! Why wouldn't I be okay? I'm just... hey look it's two minutes until Biology starts! Gotta go!"

She seemed to instantly burst into a run as she quickly went out the door.

Rarity gave everyone a puzzled look. "What do you suppose is wrong with her?"

"Maybe something bad happened to her recently," Fluttershy responded.

"Maybe she has something real important on her mind," Said Applejack.

"Maybe she harbors secret romantic feelings for one of the women standing in this very room," Pinkie said.

The next round of awkward stares were directed right at her.

"Uuum... I don't exactly think Sunset's the kind to be interested in... females, Pinkie. I mean, she was in a relationship with Flash once," explained Rarity.

"Well, you forget to mention that she claims to have had no real feelings for him," Pinkie responded. "And there's a little something called a bisexual you know."

"There's still no evidence to support this theory of yours."

"First of all, it’s more of a hypothesis than a theory, secondly, maybe she's going through some weird sexuality questioning college phase."

"She's not even in college!"

"Well, to be fair her chronological age is like twenty six."

"Girls!" Applejack shouted, getting effectively catching their attention. "You can continue debating on the sexuality of a magical pony from another universe, or we can all hurry up and get to class, which may I remind you is starting in a few seconds!"

The door burst open as they all ran out into the hallway.

***

Of all the classes she had attended at Canterlot High, Twilight found that Biology and Geography were by far the most enjoyable, mainly because of how different they were in a different universe. Through the few lessons she went through, along with the few books she had borrowed, she had learnt a lot about the world and the organisms that lived there.

For Geography, she was mainly interested on how nature worked in a world without magic, while for Biology, she was more interested in the creatures that did and didn't exist in each world, along with the differences between the creatures that the worlds did share.

That particular Biology lesson they learned about carnivorous plants, Heliamphora chimantensis to be exact. At first, Twilight was confused at how a plant could be carnivorous in a world where there was no such thing as magic or living plants. But this made her all the more interested in how they ate, which was by using special scents to lure small organisms such as bugs into their pouches, dissolving them with acid, and absorbing the raw nutrients from the remains. Sometimes, the most fascinating things about nature were also the most disturbing.

The remaining lessons were just standard subjects, like Maths and English. And thanks to Twilight's studies under the wisest being in Equestria, she went through them like a raging academic bull of schoolwork destruction.

Because she went through the work so fast and easily, she had a lot more time to think about what was going on with Sunset. The incident earlier that morning wasn't the first time that she had acted so awkwardly. Twilight noticed that Sunset had started behaving strangely since yesterday morning. When Twilight had tried to talk to her she started stuttering and almost sweating slightly, saying that she didn't have time to talk. Twilight didn't see her again until break, and even then she wasn't acting like her normal self, staying unusually quiet, and whenever someone started to talk to her, she gave them this worried look like they were trying to get her to spill the beans on something.

The Sunset Shimmer that Twilight knew was a relaxed and confident person, and Sunset wasn't acting like that at all. Something had to be wrong. Fortunately, Sunset had invited Twilight to spend some time at her home this afternoon, so there was plenty of opportunity to find out what.

It was strange to think about how many times Sunset had visited Twilight's castle, yet Twilight had never been to Miss Peachbottom's orphanage before. Not once. Then again, between a magical crystal castle in a land of magic and wonder, and a building struggling to support several children of various ages who all lost their parents in likely tragic ways, the former was probably the better option when it came to social interaction.

After the last lesson had ended, Twilight went out into the school grounds where she found Sunset waiting for her. As soon as the latter spotted her, she turned around as if she was deliberately trying not to look at Twilight.

"Hey, Sunset," Twilight said upon reaching her. "How was your day?"

She continued to stare off in another direction. "Yeah... it was fine."

"So... when's the bus arriving?"

"It usually arrives about four minutes from now," Sunset replied, her voice showing as little emotion as possible.

The attitude that Sunset was giving her made Twilight feel uneasy. The awkward demeanor she had adopted recently had been strange enough, but now it looked like she didn't even want to acknowledge Twilight's existence. Something was definitely wrong.

A bit earlier than Sunset predicted, a large yellow bus pulled over in front of them. The two girls sat themselves next to each other near the back of the bus, while the rest of the seats were filled by dozens of other kids, most of them Sunset's fellow orphans.

Throughout the journey, Sunset continued to remain silent and stare in any other direction except Twilight's. After about five minutes, Twilight built up the courage to confront her.

"Sunset... is something wrong?"

Sunset turned around and looked at her with wide and concerned looking eyes. "What’s wrong? Nothing's wrong. I'm fine. Why you ask?"

She said those words at a fast rate that fed Twilight's suspicions.

"Well... you haven't really been acting... normally lately."

"I said I'm fine!"

The tone in which Sunset spoke wasn't loud, but there was something harsh in it that shocked Twilight into going silent.

'Is it me?' She thought to herself. 'Did I do something that's making her act this way? But... I don't remember doing anything wrong!'

It dawned on Twilight that Sunset might actually be angry at her.

'Was it school? Did I not go to enough of her lessons? Did I not talk to her enough? What did I do?! What if she thinks I'm being too clingy? First I give her that sudden embrace last week, then without even asking I just come into her world for a visit. I am being too clingy! How could I let this happen to our friendship...'

"Are you okay, Twi?"

Twilight turned her head to see Sunset looking at her with a concerned expression. She suddenly realized that both of her own eyes were shedding slight tears.

"I'm fine... just..."

"Look Twilight, I'm sorry if I've been acting strangely recently. I've... had a lot on my mind. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or anything like that."

Twilight took a slow deep breath, relaxing herself as she was assured that her friendship was strong and intact.

"I understand, Sunset but there's clearly something wrong. And I can't help you if you don't tell me."

Sunset looked down and closed her eyes like she was trying make a decision. She lifted her head and looked back at Twilight.
"Yesterday, I had a talk with..."

She was interrupted by the sound of the bus doors opening and a bunch of children getting out.

"Come on, this is where we get off," Sunset said as she stood up.

While they were making their way from the bus stop to the orphanage, Twilight started thinking about what happened on the bus.

'How did I not notice that I was crying? Heck, why was I even crying in the first place? I mean...sure, the idea of losing a friendship is sad. But there wasn't even any real evidence that she was upset with me. I get her attitude making me feel upset, but crying? Crying?'

Twilight was no stranger to acting over the top in certain situations, but this was something else.

Before she could continue, she heard Sunset say "And here we are."

The building in front of them was a brown four story brick construction, with four windows on each floor. On the ground floor was a double beige wooden door, and above it was a blue sign with the words Peachbottom Canterlot City Orphanage painted in bold yellow letters.

"Looks pretty cozy," Twilight commented.

"More or less. It’s certainly the coziest home I've ever lived in."

"Really?" Twilight asked with a playful smile. "I can't imagine any place beating Canterlot castle."

"Not even your library?"

"Point taken."

It was good to see that Sunset was acting a lot more cheerful than how she had been acting just a few minutes earlier.

The interior of the building definitely had a much friendlier look to it. The walls were painted light green, and the floor was covered with a simple cherry red carpet. There were about two doors and two hallways attached to the main reception, and connected to the wall opposite to the front door was a wooden counter, and inside was a very familiar looking woman.

"Hey there, Sunset," said Miss Peachbottom. "I see ya brought your friend along."

"Nice to meet you, Miss Peachbottom," Twilight replied, holding her hand out.

'Again, to be exact.' She said in her head.

"Same here," Peachbottom responded while shaking her hand. "Sunset's said a lot about you. Some things...more believable than others. Although, after see'n her tremendous change in personality, I'll believe anythin' by now."

Twilight chuckled. "Yeah, I suppose that is."

"So, Miss P," Said Sunset. "Do we get started now?"

"Don' sweat it, Sunny! Yer friend is visitin' for the first time. Give her some time to get a good look at the place. I always appreciate a good first impression."

"That sounds like a good idea," Twilight responded. "I'd love to meet some of the other kids."

Sunset shrugged. "Sure, why not."

Twilight followed Sunset up a flight of stairs and down a hallway. On the way they passed a couple of dormitories, where Twilight got a glimpse of a few of the orphans, some of them looking like they were on the verge of graduation, and others looking no older than ten. They stopped at one door which revealed a dormitory with six beds and three other girls in it.

"This, Twilight, is my room," Sunset said.

The three girls looked over in their direction and waved.

"Hey, Sunset," Said a girl with dark blue skin and white hair.

"Hey, girls," Sunset waved back. "Twilight, these are my roommates, Salty Haze..."

She pointed at the dark blue girl.

"...Sweetcream Scoops..."

She pointed at a lime green skinned girl with orange and pink hair in a style very similar to Twilight's.

"...and Cactus."

She pointed at a pale green skinned girl with green and brown hair in a spiky style.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance," Said Salty Haze, shaking Twilight's hand. "Its not every day you get to meet a magical pony princess from another dimension."

"No," Twilight replied. "I suppose it isn't."

The other three girls started laughing, and pretty soon they both began to giggle as well. It was a good introduction.

The next few minutes was filled with a bunch of talking and getting to know each other. It was surprising that they asked almost no questions regarding Equestria, but then again, they were Sunset Shimmer's roommates, so they had probably asked their fair share of those kind of questions already.

Eventually, Sunset pointed out that they should probably get to doing the job now, and Twilight said goodbye to the three girls before walking out the door.

"They seemed like good people," Twilight said happily.

"Yeah, pretty much." Sunset replied with a smile. "I guess that's one reason why I consider this place above Canterlot castle. Its the one place where I really had a family."

"I see." Twilight looked to her right, seeing more orphans through the open doors as they walked down the hallway.

It then popped into her head how many orphans she had seen in this place. It had to have at least been twenty.

"Wow. This place really has a lot of parentless children for just one city."

Sunset's smile faded. "Yeah...well, sometimes life isn't exactly nice to you. Just about everyone here has a sad story to tell. Sweetcream Scoops' mother was an ice cream woman who passed away from lung cancer when Scoops was only six. Salty was even younger when she lost her parents. Her dad was an Air Force pilot who got shot down in some hostile African territory, and her mother couldn't cope and died of a drug overdose. Cactus doesn't suffer remembering the loss of her parents, because she was found abandoned in an alleyway as a baby."

Twilight was shocked to hear all this. She was no stranger to hearing about tragic things happening to people back in Equestria, but not to that extent. The idea that a child could experience watching their parents die, or that someone would just leave a baby out on the streets to fend for themselves…

"That sounds awful."

"Yeah well, no orphanage comes without sad stories, and that's just my roommates. There's a lot more kids here with even worse experiences to talk about."

"Like you?"

Sunset stared at the ground in silence for a few seconds. "Like me."

***

The room showed clear signs of several years of neglect. Whatever wallpaper that had once covered the walls had peeled off, now in crusty tatters on the floor. The wooden floorboards had traces of splinters and mold over them, and creaked as the two girls walked across the room. The part of the room that was in the best condition was the window, and that was completely covered in a layer of dust.

"Wow..." Twilight gasped. "This...looks like its gonna take a while."

"I don't know..." Said Sunset, analysing the room. "The carpet should take care of the entire floor, and the window will just need a good quick clean. The hard part is the walls, though that shouldn't take more than three hours."

"Well, lets get started then."

Sunset was right. Apparently, the area of the floor had already been measured, and the carpet they were using had been cut to that size, so they just needed to roll it from one side of the room to the other and it fit instantly.

"Are you sure the carpet is secure?" Twilight asked. "Shouldn't it be like...glued to the floor or something?"

Sunset giggled upon hearing this.

"Hey!" Twilight protested playfully. "Im a princess. I didn't exactly study construction."

"Whatever, your highness," Sunset replied, still chuckling. "Don't worry, I'm pretty sure the size alone should keep it fit on the floor."

"If you insist."

For the next few seconds they just smiled at each other in silence.

"Look, Twilight..." Sunset said, putting on a more serious face. "I'm still sorry if I haven't really been acting normally recently. And I'm sorry if my attitude upset you earlier. I've just...had some problems recently. Not like...actual problems, more...emotional problems..."

"Involving your past?" Twilight asked.

"Not...exactly..."

"You mentioned that you had a talk with someone."

"Yeah...um...yesterday morning...I had a talk with...Discord."

Twilight's eyes widened. "Discord? But he's in Equestria."

"He said he followed you through the portal when you came here."

"Okay...putting that...confusing matter aside, what did you talk about?"

Sunset looked down at the floor, looking like she was uncomfortable with the subject, which made Twilight feel really concerned.. What had Discord said to Sunset?

"Twilight...you are...probably the most incredible person I know. In just a few days you changed me from some evil selfish witch into a better person. You've accomplished so much more in your lifetime than I ever did, and inspired me to accept love and friendship in my life..."

There was a slight thumping feeling building up in Twilight's chest.

"...For months now, seeing you in Equestria has been the highlight of my life. I find myself thinking about you when you're not with me, and more than ever when you are..."

Twilight could almost hear the fierce thumping in her chest.

"...and...I just..."

She was cut off when Miss Peachbottom appeared from behind the door.

"Hey girls! Wow, lovin' the job ya done with the floor!"

"Thanks," Sunset responded, looking happy to see a distraction.

Peachbottom revealed a large grey object with some buttons and a pair of speakers that she was holding in her hand. "I thought ya might want some auditory entertainment, so I brought ma stereo up here."

"Thanks," Sunset repeated.

"There's already a CD in it, but y'all can put whatever you like in. Enjoy yerselves."

She placed the stereo near the door before walking off.

"Y'know what, Twilight," Sunset uttered. "You stay here and get the window cleaned, I just need to go fetch something."

"Sure," Twilight replied, as Sunset jogged out the room.

After Sunset had left, Twilight brought a bucket filled with soapy water over to the window. Before she got started, she removed her tie, along with any other outer pieces of clothing that might get wet. She took the sponge out of the water and rubbed it against the glass, effectively removing the dust.

'What happened back there? My heart felt like it was on the verge of a violent eruption!'

Wherever Sunset was going with that conversation, it did something strange to Twilight. She felt this surging feeling in her chest that she was completely unfamiliar with. The only time she felt anything like that was with Flash Sentry, and other times with Sunset.
What if...

'No. That...that can't be right...'

As Twilight finished cleaning the window, Sunset came back into the room holding a small square case. She knelt down near the stereo, opened the case, and placed a small disc in the slot. After a button was pressed, the stereo started letting out some pleasant tunes.
Sunset turned around and smiled at Twilight. "Well, now that that's done, I think its time we move on to the walls."

They started by removing the last remnants of wallpaper that remained attached to the walls. Using some small masonry trowels they scraped it off bit by bit, leaving behind nothing but a blank grey concrete wall.

Afterwards they moved on to painting the wall, and there was a bucket of thick cyan paint and two large brushes laid out for the job. Sunset shed her jacket before getting started, leaving her in just a purple T-shirt and some jeans. As they dragged the paintbrushes up and down, coating the walls in the paint, the stereo continued playing song after song, ranging from instrumental to even one case of a capella.

"This is some good music," Twilight commented.

"I know," Sunset replied. "Its one of Vinyl's CDs."

"Wow, I didn't know this was the kind of stuff she did."

"Yeah well, neither did I."

As they continued working, the previous song ended, and the stereo started playing a different, yet very familiar song.

Love is in bloom, a beautiful…

"Wait a second, is that Love Is In Bloom?" Twilight asked in surprise.

"Yeah...do you know it?"

"Know it? I sang it at my brother's wedding!"

Sunset nodded. "Interesting."

Twilight continued covering the walls in paint as she tapped her feet to the music. There was clearly something different about the song compared to the day she sang it. Whatever Vinyl had done, the music had been altered, tweaked, and extended in a way that made all the notes fit together perfectly, to the point where the song could be described as beautiful.

Suddenly, Sunset stood up and stretched her hand out towards Twilight, and without even speaking, asked her to take it. It was obvious what Sunset was gesturing towards, but Twilight wasn't sure about it. It seemed like a weird idea.
So why did it feel so right?

Twilight joined her right hand with Sunset's, interlocking their fingers. Sunset then placed her left hand on Twilight's waist, and Twilight proceeded to do the same.

To the sound of the music, they started moving their feet in synchronization. It was nothing special, nothing fancy. Just them holding each other as they shifted their feet around the room together, their eyes locked on each other's faces. But honestly, it was one of the most beautiful experiences Twilight had ever been through.

...Love is in bloooooooom…

Everything in the world seemed to fade away except for Sunset and that amazing music. But the more she stared at Sunset, the quieter the music seemed to get.

...A beaut...bride...handso...groom

The tiny traces of cyan paint on Sunset's face mixed perfectly with her light amber skin and aqua eyes. Her red and yellow hair was in a pretty mess behind her head, strands of it hovering over her face. Twilight had never seen anything so beautiful.

...said...love...in...bloom…

Twilight focused looked deep into Sunset's eyes. Her aqua irises were like green pearls, the reflection of light making them almost sparkle. The music continued to blur as the eyes became the only thing in the world that seemed real.

...starting a life...making room…

And as she stared at Sunset, suddenly, everything made sense. What Discord had been saying, what Pinkie Pie had been saying, the way she had been feeling about Flash, the feeling in her chest. All of it came together in one answer, and that answer was Sunset Shimmer.

...for us…

Twilight couldn't hear the music anymore, and she couldn't see those eyes anymore. Because something even more beautiful was outshining them both.

And that was the feeling of Sunset's lips pressing back against hers.