//------------------------------//
// Sunset Shimmer Plays Baseball 
// Story: Future Progressive: The Speedfics and Drabbles of Present Perfect 
// by PresentPerfect 
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Sunset Shimmer Plays Baseball
by Present Perfect

Sunset Shimmer: the girl of your dreams.

You had of course forgiven her for her transgressions.  Sure, maybe you didn't understand quite how she had been able to take over students' minds, but you had easily put it out of your mind, especially after she saved helped save everyone from... whatever that other weird, not easily understood thing was.  Anyway, a little attempted world domination seemed like a minor thing compared to her gorgeous hair, her gorgeous eyes, and her gorgeous body.

Also she was really smart.

After a little bit of time, during which she learned to forgive herself or something, she agreed at last to go on a date with you.  It wasn't going to be anything major, just dinner at Sugarcube Corner and maybe some hand-holding in the park.  Maybe, if you were lucky enough, there would even be a kiss.  First base had never felt closer.

Kissing was first base, right?

Well, when the time came, you showered, shaved, put on some Old Spice (you could taste the double sun power!) and got in your beat-up Ford Pinto hatchback.  Some might call the car a rusted-out heap, a lemon, or even a garbage can on wheels, my-god-how-does-that-thing-even-run, but to you, it was your home away from home.  Indeed, you had lived in it for almost a whole year when your parents kicked you out of the house after turning eighteen.  Those had been hard times, as your Pinto's interior was too cramped to fit your entire collection of body pillows.  It might have had something to do with why you were still in high school, despite being legally, and functionally, an adult.

But you didn't need a dakimakura now.  If you played your cards right, you'd have a real girl to cuddle with and whisper your dirtiest secrets to long into the night.  Second base!  Right?  Well, in time; you were playing things slow, of course.

Off you went to the candy shop, and then afterward to the florist.  Like the grown-up adult you were, you had ordered ahead, and everything was ready and waiting for you, just as you'd planned it.  This day was going to be perfect.

You drove up to Sunset's house with fifteen minutes to spare.  Like you, she lived on her own, in a slightly run-down, if safe, part of the west side of town.  She drove to school in her own car, which had considerably cooler decals than yours, if you were being honest.  You had never asked about parents, but now wasn't the time for such things.

You checked your hair in the rear-view, did that thing where you breathed into your palm and sniffed it (minty!), grabbed the chocolates and flowers, and stepped out onto the asphalt.

Right into the path of an oncoming car.

"Hey, I'm drivin' here!"

Your amazing hair had unfortunately blocked your view of the road behind you.  Thankfully, your catlike reflexes saved you from becoming someone else's hood ornament.  Less thankfully, the box of chocolates slipped from your grasp and was rendered so much sugary paste beneath the wheels of that red Nissan Cube.  There was nothing you or your cougar-like reflexes could do.

But the flowers!  The flowers remained, tightly clutched in your manly grasp.  The flowers would be fine on their own, you told yourself.  Sunset wasn't expecting anything.  The flowers would be fine.

Feeling yourself shaking and peeing just a little, you sat back down in the driver's seat and began the arduous process of squirming across the center console and into the passenger's seat to avoid a second close call.  Long story short, this left you arriving at Sunset's door punctually, and not a moment sooner, thanks to your impressive girth hampering efforts to extrude yourself across the seats.

But there you were, and you rang the doorbell, and after a few moments, there she was, smiling up at you.

"Look at you!" she said, grinning ear to ear.  "Ready to get going?"

Suavely, you handed her the bouquet.  Her eyes lit with joy and wonderment.

"For me?" she gasped.  "Thank you!  They're gorgeous!"

Closing her eyes, she drew the bouquet to her face and inhaled deeply.  You let out a tiny sigh of relief; against all odds, at least the flowers survived.

Now was a good opportunity to take in her appearance.  Aside from the addition of a sunburst barrette, her hair looked as it usually did.  Good; you wouldn't want her to change a single strand, not even for you.  Her normal leather jacket ensemble had been replaced by a cute aqua sun dress, and she was wearing sandals that showed off freshly painted toenails.  She'd really gone all out for you!

The sound of crunching drew you from absorbing her beauty.  Blinking, you shook your head slightly and stared.

Sunset was eating the flowers.

"They taste a little weird," she said through a mouthful of petals.  "Are you sure these are fresh?"

Your mind was incapable of adequately forming words to describe the emotions you were experiencing, let alone providing an answer to her nonsensical question.  She may as well have asked you to rub cream in her antlers to get the egg whites out of her leg.

As you stood there, mouth agape in fish-like wonder, Sunset staggered and held her hand out against the door frame.

"I feel funny," she said, words slurring together.  "And why do I smell pee?  What was in these fluh--"

She fell.  Luckily, with your puma-like reflexes, you were able to catch her.  Unluckily, she was way heavier than your scrawny muscles could account for.  The two of you went down in a single heap.  You had to wonder if this counted as first base or second.

You couldn't be sure; you're bad at sports.

Out in the road, a red Nissan Cube screamed back through the neighborhood, the driver cackling and tossing refuse out his window.  You knew he was up to no good.

But now was no time for recriminations.  Vowing revenge on the Cube driver, you grabbed your cell and dialed 9-1-1.





"And that's how you ended up here," said the nurse.

"Wow." Sunset scrubbed at her face with one hand.  "I don't get it.  I'm not allergic to that kind of flower."

The nurse clucked her tongue.  "Honey, you ate them.  Those flowers are poisonous."

Sunset stared, unable to comprehend what had just been said.  "But... we were about to go on a date..."

"Yes, and flowers are generally admired or smelled." The nurse gave her a hard look.  "Not eaten."

The nurse poked around her personal space for a few more minutes, during which Sunset remained quiet.  Only the beeping of the monitor filled the air.  Then, the nurse left, and Sunset could only stare at her hands.

She couldn't believe how many things she was still learning about this world.  Don't eat the flowers, huh?  It hadn't come up before.

With a sigh, she turned to look out the window of her hospital room.  Across town, a baseball team practiced on a diamond.  Her thoughts turned back to the boy who had so charmed her with his funny ways.  Everything had been going swimmingly up until that one little mistake, and now here she was, untouched, unkissed, and fully clothed.  Well, clothed in a hospital gown, at least.  Or was that third base?

She was never going to get to first base at this rate.