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// The Semi Finals 
// Story: What one can't have? 
// by Miralusa 
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	Sunset pulled Twilight to the side and dragged her out of the backstage area. She took her to the statue outside the school and they sat at a nearby bench. Sunset fiddled with her thumbs nervously as Twilight waited patiently for her to speak her mind. Sunset sat at one end of the bench and Twilight was on the other end, and Sunset wouldn’t even look at Twilight... Which slightly worried her.
“Am I…” Sunset trailed off not knowing how to word her worries. She sighed and tried again. “Are you in love with Flash?” She asked turning towards Twilight.
Twilight seemed surprised by the question. “What does that have to do with anything?” She asked confused.
“Just please answer the question…” Sunset managed her voice cracking a bit as her doubts manifested.
It was Twilight’s turn to look away now. “Yes, I am in love with him…” She said looking towards the ground. She then looked back at Sunset. “But that doesn’t matter, I love you more,” She added and took Sunset’s hands in her own.
“Then why is it that whenever you see him you blush and mix up your words… Maybe the sirens were right, maybe I’m the third wheel…” Sunset trailed off and tears started to run down her cheeks as she pulled her hands away from Twilight’s.
Twilight then moved closer and pulled Sunset into a hug, stroking her hair softly. “He may make me mix up my words, but he doesn’t have what you have,” Twilight said.
“What’s that?” Sunset asked wiping tears from her eyes.
Twilight grabbed Sunset’s hand and brought it to her chest. “My heart, I gave it to you willingly the night of the Fall Formal. You're not the third wheel, and you never will be, you’d think that night at Pinkie’s would have been enough of a signal,” She said and kissed Sunset deeply. “Is that good enough of an argument?” Twilight asked with a smile when they parted from the kiss.
“Let me think about that,” Sunset replied with a mischievous smile and she locked lips with Twilight again. When they parted finally Sunset looked away again, this time it was something that was angering her.
“What is it now?” Twilight asked confused that that wasn’t the only problem. 
“I’m just so angry at the sirens, about what they said about you,” Sunset replied trying to control her temper.
“Don’t listen to what they say, they’re just trying to get under our skin. I don’t care what they said about me and neither should you, getting angry about it won’t help us at all,” Twilight said and placed her hands on Sunset’s cheeks. “If we let hate dictate our actions we become just like them if not worse,” she added. 
“You're right, Twilight,” Sunset replied placing her hand on top of Twilight’s. “I still want to make them pay, not for revenge but to protect my friends… And you,” She finished locking eyes with Twilight.
“That’s the girl I know,” Twilight said and brought their foreheads together.
“Love you, baby,” Sunset said as she closed her eyes savoring the moment.
“Love you too, silly filly,” Twilight replied with a sly smile.
Sunset sighed. “You’re really sticking with that one aren’t you,” she said in an exasperated tone.
“Oh yeah,” Twilight replied with a laugh.
Sunset rolled her eyes and closed in for another kiss before an awkward cough interrupted that train of thought.
“Seriously, it’s non-stop with you two,” Rainbow said leaning against the statue. “I don’t need the image of you two sucking face in front of me ok?” She added moving her hand over her mouth like she was going to start vomiting.
“Would it kill you to give us some alone time,” Twilight yelled to the surprise of everyone. “Honestly, first Discord and now you, you're really killing the mood you know?” She added rather impatiently.
“Well sorry, but we have a competition to win and we’re up next, right after Trixie,” Rainbow shoots back pointing towards the school.
“Give us a minute, Rainbow,” Sunset said making a shooing motion towards Rainbow.
Rainbow rolled her eyes and walked off.
“Honestly, I just want to have some time with you, is that so much to ask?” Twilight asked resting her head against Sunset’s shoulder.
“We’ll get our chance, we just have to wait a bit more,” Sunset replied and stroked Twilight’s hair gently. 
“Yeah, just a little longer,” Twilight said with ever so slight disappointment in her voice. “Let’s go,” she added after a short bout of silence. They both got up and made their way towards the school their hands intertwined. 
What they entered into was to no surprise to either of them, the group arguing, Applejack and Rarity were yelling about their attire.
Rainbow and Fluttershy were fighting about the song they were going to play, and Pinkie was arguing with herself. 
Discord sat in the corner stirring a martini. When Sunset and Twilight turned to him for an explanation to this madness, he quickly tossed the martini away and put his hands up defensively.
“As much as I would love to screw with you girls mentally, it wasn’t me this time,” Discord giving his best apology while trying to cover his face.
Sunset sighed. “I know Discord,” she said and walked towards the curtain area with Twilight.
“Wait you do?” Discord asked confused and then straightened up. “Of course you are,” he beamed as he straightened his tie and his posture. 
“We’re doing awesome as I wanna be, it’s the semi-finals, Fluttershy!” Rainbow shot at Fluttershy with an extended hand to emphasize her frustration.
“I don’t know why I even bother,” Fluttershy huffed and just gave up.
“You have no respect for fashion, Applejack!” Rarity yelled getting right up in Applejack’s face.
“We’re trying to save the world here, not make it onto a magazine. When you figure that out let me know,” Applejack shot back and spinned on her heel.
“Next up the Rainbooms,” Luna called over the intercom.
The group couldn’t even stand being next to each other let alone be in the same room. Should I say something, Sunset thought… It’s not your place Sunset, they’ll tell you if they need help. She looked over at Twilight who was going over what could be called the counter-spell.
Twilight sighed and dropped the notebook, resting her head against the wall behind her defeat written all over her face. The band made their way to the stage and Sunset gave Twilight another hug and kiss.
“Knock em dead, baby,” Sunset said to her girlfriend trying to reassure her.
“Thanks, Sunset,” She replied half-heartedly and pulls away to join the rest of the band on the stage.
“Looks like someone has a lot on her mind…” Discord chimed in walking up next to Sunset. “She needs to relax a bit, I thought you two solved that at Pinkie’s?” He asked looking towards Sunset with a suggestive wink.
“We would have, had someone not killed the mood,” Sunset replied shooting Discord a death glare.
“I wonder who that could have been, probably that snoop Rarity,” Discord said as he brought his hand to his chin to contemplate his thoughts.
“I think I’m starting to understand why Twilight wants to kill you sometimes,” Sunset said in an exasperated tone.
“You mean there’s a time when she doesn’t?” Discord asked perking up with happiness. “Yes!” He yelled and raised his hands to the roof expecting confetti to appear. “Stay strong Discord,” he said as he tried to stifle his tears. “I just need a moment,” Discord ran from the back-stage area.
Finally, some peace and quiet, Sunset thought and looked back at the stage. Rainbow was in mid guitar solo but her magic ears were starting to show through. Sunset thought quickly and decided the best course was to tackle Rainbow. This resulted in Rainbow bashing into Twilight who hit Rarity's keytar and Rarity falling over and kicking Applejack’s bass and it somehow landed in Pinkie’s drum set. Fluttershy chucked her tambourine in the air and ran off stage crying. The gym was quiet for a minute.
“That’s the girl we love to hate!” Flash yelled from the crowd, then the gym erupted in a chorus of cheers.
“It’s not like that,” Sunset said in a defeated tone and her head drooped down as she exited the stage.
“What was that!” Rainbow yelled at Sunset as they got backstage.
“You were showing them your magic, I didn’t know what else to do,” Sunset said weakly, holding her arm nervously.
“Anything else would have been a better idea than what you pulled,” Rarity shot back pointing accusingly at Sunset.
“I was just trying to help,” Sunset said tears stinging the edge of her eyes. Twilight ran over and enveloped her in a hug.
“Yeah, well you didn’t,” Rainbow growled still annoyed at Sunset’s actions.
“Maybe she wouldn’t have had to if you hadn’t been trying to show off, as usual,” Applejack said aggressively getting in Rainbow’s face.
“Nice job, Rainboos,” Trixie said sarcastically as she walked backstage. “I especially liked how in a fit of jealous rage, Sunset Shimmer tackled Rainbow Dash mid guitar solo,” she added grabbing hold of Sunset’s shoulder. 
Sunset broke free of Twilight’s grasp. “It wasn’t a fit of jealous rage!” Sunset snapped at Trixie pointing a finger at her angrily.
“Whatever you say,” Trixie said and pointed towards Sunset’s friends. All of them couldn’t even look Sunset in the face… Even Twilight. “Oh, looks like they’ve already decided who’s going onto the finals. I hope it wasn’t too difficult for them,” Trixie added while brushing a stray hair out of her face. 
Luna and Celestia stood on the other side of the stage deliberating. The Dazzlings then walked through the doors on the far side singing their melody to the two of them.
Sunset looked at this oddly trying to discern what the Dazzlings were up to.
“This is just awful, we won’t have another chance at this. And I had the most fetching ensemble for the finals,” Rarity said with the back of her hand to her forehead.
“Yeah because that’s the real tragedy here Rarity, that you don’t get to play dress up!” Applejack exclaimed angrily.
“You know that wasn’t what I meant!” Rarity shot back poking Applejack with her finger.
“Could you two shut up, they’re about to announce who’s moving on,” Rainbow interjected pushing them apart.
“The band to be moving on to face the Dazzlings in the finals will be…” Celestia started and paused for dramatic effect.
Trixie puffed up her as she looked in her hand mirror and made ready to go on stage.
“The Rainbooms!” Celestia announced throwing her arms wide.
“What!” Trixie exclaimed voicing what everyone else was thinking. “This isn’t over!” She growled while stomping off.
The Rainbooms made their way onto the stage as they received silent death glares from the crowd.
“Congratulations girls, you deserve it,” Celestia said with sincerity.
“But we didn’t even finish our…” Pinkie started but Rainbow jabbed her in the stomach.
“We can’t wait to face you, you truly did deserve it,” Adagio said with her signature smirk on her face.
“You don’t deserve it Rainbooms!” Photo Finish yelled from the crowd and the entire gym erupted in outrage at the news.
The Rainbooms quickly left the stage and Twilight latched onto Sunset’s arm as they left the gym.
“Can we stop for drive through on the way to the arena?” Discord asked as they left.
“This is a travesty, a travesty!” Trixie yelled from the nearby bleachers with her fist clenched in front of her and her brows furrowed in anger.
“It certainly is,” Adagio said from behind Trixie and put a hand on Trixie's shoulder. “It should have been you in the finals,” she added turning her around.
“But the Rainbooms ruined that for you,” Aria stated with a regretful frown on her face.
“If only there was someway for the Rainbooms to not show up. But what could that possibly be?” Sonata asked literally confused with her hand on her chin in contemplation.
Trixie brought her hand to her chin and her mind quickly started to go through different plans and her face turned to an evil grin…