Sunset couldn't help but giggle to herself quietly as she heard the shouted declaration from the room next-door. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to break through her dour mood. As the brief laughter subsided, a frown returned to her muzzle and she rolled over on the bed, curling into a ball and diving back into the many thoughts warring for her attention.
By far the loudest of these thoughts was a panicked voice urging her to get up, run blindly through the castle trying not to scream, and find a hiding place where none of the Princesses would ever find her. It was a tempting idea, and judging by how lost Twilight was in her own castle, not at all out of the realm of possibility.
Of course the second loudest voice in her head was telling her that doing so would be ridiculous. It went on to say she needed to be brave and finally face the consequences for her actions. It was a noble thought, and she was secretly very pleased that she had come so far in developing a proper moral compass. That being said, there was something about the thought of an angry and disappointed Princess Celestia that immediately drowned out the voice by flooding her veins with ice water.
Sunset groaned and rolled back onto her stomach, shoving her face into one of the many pillows covering the bed. She tried to focus on the pair of bickering thoughts, but no matter how much she attempted to let her anxieties over meeting with her old mentor take over, she couldn't ignore the third voice that kept whispering in her ear every time she thought she'd escaped it.
Seeing her as a pony did not help at all. If anything it's worse now.
Sunset groaned again. "Now is so not the time for this!" she chided herself, trying once again to banish the train of thought. Instead she found herself thinking back to the advice her friends had given her only a few days earlier.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sunset slid her lunch tray onto the table and fell into the unoccupied seat next to Fluttershy before resting her head in her hands and staring off into space with a drawn out sigh. Had she been paying any attention, she might have noticed all five of them had stopped talking and were now watching her intently.
"So...should we say something?" Applejack asked nervously. She hated prying into other people's business, but at this point all of them had noticed Sunset's strange behavior.
"...She doesn't seem...unhappy...I think? Maybe we should just let her be." Fluttershy added, equally uncomfortable with the thought of being nosy.
"She's been like this for weeks! It's getting kinda creepy. She's so out of it!" Rainbow Dash countered, gesturing to Pinkie Pie, who was busy making a plethora of strange faces at Sunset with little to no results, to emphasize her point.
"It is a bit out of character for her." Rarity pointed out.
"HEY SUNNY! Why ya actin so funny? HEY, THAT RHYMED!" Pinkie crowed, circumventing the discussion entirely and startling Sunset from her daydreams.
"Huh...wha?...oh sorry girls, I wasn't paying attention, what's going on?" Sunset asked, realizing all five of them were staring at her.
"That's what we're trying to find out." Rainbow snickered.
At this Sunset gave them a questioning look, wondering why their expressions had suddenly turned expectant.
After another moment of awkward silence, Rarity decided it was time to step in. "Ahem. Dear, what we're trying to say is you've been acting, well, somewhat unusual lately."
Sunset smiled nervously. "I don't think I know what you mean."
Rarity gave her an un-amused look before smiling indulgently. "Oh come now, the drawn out sighing, the long looks off into nowhere...it's almost as if..."
"Sunset, you're weirding us all out." Rainbow piped in, ignoring a pointed glare from Rarity.
"As. I. Was. Saying." Rarity continued through gritted teeth. "It's almost as if you have a special someone on your mind." Her eyes seemed to sparkle as she said it, a conspiratory grin crossing her lips.
"I don't know what you're talking about!" Sunset responded far too quickly for her own good, and cringed at her own misstep.
"That's a lie if ah've ever heard one." Applejack chuckled, crossing her arms and grinning.
Rainbow sat up at hearing this, changing from an expression of detached boredom to one of curiosity. Pinkie leaned in closer as well, an enormous grin on her face, and even Fluttershy brushed her hair from her face to get a better look at her increasingly flustered friend.
"Alright, spill it, we're gonna find out eventually anyways." Rainbow demanded.
Sunset was sweating at this point, and drawing a blank when trying to think of options for escaping the conversation. "D-do I have to?" she stammered, a fierce blush spreading across her face.
Rainbow grinned at seeing her reaction. As much as Sunset had become one of her best friends, there was still something satisfying about watching the former Queen of the school squirm. "Oh relax Sunny, it's not gonna kill ya."
"You don't have to tell us anything if you aren't comfortable doing so." Fluttershy said with a friendly smile, putting a comforting hand on Sunset's shoulder.
The others all nodded along with Fluttershy's reassurance, though their hopeful expressions remained unchanged. The smell of gossip had affected them much like blood affects sharks, even if it was their friend's blood.
"Ugh, FINE!" Sunset threw up her arms in defeat, knowing even if she kept it to herself at this point, she'd eventually be pestered into giving in. "I...think I have a little bit of a crush on Twilight..."
The reactions came immediately. Pinkie's grin somehow grew larger, as did Rainbow's, more in reaction to victory than to the revelation itself, Applejack just looked a bit confused, Fluttershy blushed a bit herself, embarrassed for Sunset's sake, and Rarity looked practically giddy, a manic gleam in her eyes.
"You simply must tell her Darling!" Rarity practically shouted. "I'm sure she would return your affections! It's just too romantic, love across worlds!"
"Absolutely not." Sunset deadpanned. "I'm sure it's just a passing thing anyways, I think I only like her that way because she turned my life around. I mean, everything I have now is thanks to her." Sunset sighed and gave a small shrug. "Besides, like you said, she lives in a completely different world, what would be the point?"
"She has a point there Sugarcube." Applejack added, looking to Rarity. "The way ah see it, even if Twi felt the same, there's not much they could do about it." She turned back to Sunset and gave her an apologetic look. "Not to mention, doesn't Twi sorta have a thing for Flash?"
"Exactly!" Sunset surprised them all by seeming more relieved than hurt by Applejack's brutally honest take on the situation. "Trust me, I've been thinking on this for a while now. I just need to wait for this little infatuation to go away."
"Well that's kinda lame, but I guess you're probably right." Rainbow said as she leaned back in her chair, her attention span waning at the lack of drama.
Rarity just huffed, before relaxing a bit and giving Sunset a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry dear, I guess I just got a bit wound up. I'm sure you'll get over all of this soon enough."
"I hope so." Sunset sighed, though she gave them all an appreciative smile, feeling a bit better knowing her friends agreed with her.
Rarity put a hand to her chin contemplatively. "Well, you could always try convincing yourself you don't actually like her."
"I've been trying that for a while now." Sunset said with a roll of her eyes as she moved back into her position slumped over the table.
"Well how about this!" Rarity said, suddenly sitting up as an idea came to her. "A crush starts with attraction right? Well the Twilight we know doesn't normally look like that, she's usually a pony yes?"
Sunset nodded, not really following.
"Well then, how do you know you'd still be interested in her as a pony?" Rarity looked very pleased with herself as she said it.
"Yeah, I guess." Sunset admitted, shrugging again. "I mean I saw her as a pony when I went to steal the crown, and I didn't really care then, but it's not like I'm just going to go hop through the portal and check."
Rarity frowned. "That's not the point dear, it's more a thought exercise. If you don't like her as a pony, you don't like the real her, and therefore you're just attracted to her human form. From there it'll be simple to move past it." She nodded matter-o-factly.
"Yeah I guess that makes sense." Sunset smiled slightly at the thought. It hadn't completely convinced her, but it gave her some more hope that she was right in thinking it was all just a little crush and nothing more. "Thanks Rarity, that helps."
Any further advice from her friends would have to wait until later, as they were suddenly interrupted by the bell letting them know the lunch period had ended and it was time for their next classes. Together they all stood and headed towards the doors as Sunset slipped the few savable bits of her lunch into her bag for later, knowing she'd regret not eating.
The six of them pressed through the crowded halls together, eventually splitting off with a brief goodbye as they passed one of their lockers or classrooms. After a few minutes Sunset was alone and, surprisingly, she didn't find herself immediately slip back into thoughts of Twilight as she headed towards her locker.
It took her seconds to dial in the combination and fling the door open as she began exchanging various objects back and forth between the shelves inside and her bag. After another few moments, she was ready for her next class and was about to close the door when a heavily bound book at the bottom caught her eye.
She gave the magic diary a goofy smile as she realized she might have to write a somewhat cryptic letter in it later. Maybe something about being honest with your friends and appreciating their potential advice, or something along those lines. She knew Twilight always appreciated a good letter about friendship.
She chuckled lightly to herself and closed the door, heading back down the hall towards her classroom. As she went, she decided she should eventually take a minute to ask the rest of her friends for their thoughts on the situation. While Rarity's advice had certainly made a difference, she couldn't help but wonder if the rest of them had any input on the situation. Not to mention, there was a certain cathartic quality to finally talking about what had been stuck in her head for so long.
She turned a corner and found herself passing by the Principal's Office, which was just one hallway ahead of her classroom. She had plenty of time, and intended to enjoy a casual pace, until a furious yell rang out, almost causing her to drop the various books and supplies she was carrying. Recovering quickly, she scrambled as quickly as she could down the next hall and into her classroom.
"LUNA, WHAT THE HELL!? YOU KNEW ABOUT THIS EXTENDED VACATION CRAP!?"