Fear. It's not exactly something that everyone likes. Sunset is also in that category for obvious reasons. The difference in this situation though was the fact that the one with fear in their heart wasn't her. It was the boy she was staring directly at. Flash Sentry. Several seconds passed as the two looked at each other in awkward semi-silence. Thankfully for them, there were other people in the room.
“Sunset! The Great and Powerful Trixie is ready to do one last practice session with you before the party!” Trixie exclaimed, instantly grabbing Sunset's arm. “You better be ready Sunset!”
“I uh...er...um...okay Trixie.” Sunset stuttered. She found herself in a mild panic as she tried to recompose herself. It took her an extra minute to grab a guitar, ready to practice with Trixie. Her mind tried to focus as Trixie sat down in front of her, her costume slightly getting in the way. 'Don't think about that Flash guy Sunset. Just practice with Trixie...the awkward stuff can come later.'
“Uh Sunset?”
“Yes?”
“Trixie is confused, why are you doing just notes? You're supposed to only do strumming at the party.” Trixie said while pointing at Sunset's guitar.
“Oh.” Sunset looked down and quickly flexed her fingers. “Sorry about that. I was...distracted.”
“Well don't be! Trixie demands perfection for the party Sunset! You are my backup as the Great and Powerful Trixie plays with Vinyl for the party!” Trixie yelled as she stood up, her costume slightly swaying in the sudden movement.
“Right. Sorry Trixie. I'll make sure I'm no longer distracted.”
“Good! Now, let us try again!” Trixie exclaimed as the duo began to play again. After a small practice session, the two smiled at their results. “Very good Sunset. Trixie believes we are ready for the party now!”
“Same here. I'm just glad I got good enough before the party happened.”
“Oh please,” Trixie said while waving her hand. “You had the Great and Powerful Trixie as your teacher! Of course you would be ready by then!”
“Heh heh...thanks Trixie.” Sunset said with a small smile. Trixie began to do several poses, showing the practice session was done. As she did that, Sunset began to observe the others' costumes. Trixie's was a costume that was the combination of a magical girl and a witch. Bon-Bon and Lyra's was the combination of a devil and an angel. Octavia was in a fancy kimono and Flash was in a type of zombie costume. As she looked at him again, she remembered how the sudden surprise he gave her frightened her so much. Ironically, it seemed the opposite had now occurred, as the guy wouldn't even look at her. In fact, she noticed that when he did look at her, he was absolutely terrified. 'Hmm...' she thought, 'I know I accidentally hit him hard but...I didn't think I hit him that hard. I wonder if I can apologize to him later...'
“Sunset, we must get going!” Trixie yelled into Sunset's ear. “Come! Trixie must make sure Vinyl's equipment is ready as well!”
“Uh, er...okay Trixie.” Sunset said as she got up with the guitar. The two left the clubroom soon after, quickly walking down the hallways. It was then that Sunset realized something, Screwball didn't come to the clubroom. Now that fact didn't exactly bother her but she knew it meant one thing. It meant she hadn't pranked Trixie today. That was never a good sign.
The two entered the gym, soon seeing Vinyl setting up the speakers with Pinkie Pie. “Yo! Come over here and help me!”
“Coming!” the two replied in sync. After a few minutes, all the equipment was fully set up and tested. Pinkie then ran off and brought back some apple cider.
“Here you go girls! Applejack gave me an extra delivery today.”
“Cool! Thanks Pink!” Vinyl said as she slugged down the drink. “Aaahhh...nice.”
“No prob. I'm just glad all the preparations are done!” Pinkie said with a grin.
Sunset patted her on the back as she said, “No worries, the party looks great!”
“Thanks Sunny! Also, I love your costume!”
“Thanks...though you should probably tell that to Rarity than me.” Sunset said before her eyes showed a slightly confused look. “And uh...nice costume Pinkie. Are you uh...a chicken I guess?”
“That right! Buck buck buck-caw!!!” Pinkie said while showing off several chicken poses. She then pulled out a big bag of candy and stuffed her face inside. Trixie and Vinyl just looked at her with faces of confusion and surprise. Sunset snorted with a small smile.
“Don't worry you two, she's just being Pinkie.”
“Yeah...okay.” Vinyl muttered as she went back to her mix table. “Let's make sure this is working...”
“Hi there!” said a sudden voice, causing Sunset and Trixie to do a slight jump. They both turned, only to see someone dressed as a smiling skeleton in a hoodie. Sunset blinked several times as the skeleton spoke up, “Do you wanna have a bad time?”
“A bad time?” Sunset asked, seeing the skeleton present its hand. Blinking again, Sunset slowly shook the hand, only for a long sounding fart noise to suddenly appear. “What the?!”
“Hahaha! The good old whoopie cushion in the hand trick! It works every time!” the skeleton said, falling over laughing.
“Trixie knows that laugh! I've got you now Screw-” a pie quickly flew past Trixie's head. “Ah-ha! The Great and Powerful Trixie has dodged your stupid-”
SPLAT!
A second pie flew into Trixie's face, its cream slowing falling off her face. Sunset gulped as she watched Trixie's face turn completely red with rage. “Screwball...Trixie's gonna kill you, you little pie-throwing skeleton brat!!!” she yelled as Screwball broke into a sprint. Trixie followed suite, her legs stretching as much as they could in the costume. “Get back here you-you-you...you prankster you!”
“Oh boy...” Sunset groaned as she watched the two run out of the gym. “Good thing the party isn't until another hour from now.”
“No kidding.” Vinyl replied. “Are you and Trix at least ready?”
“Yeah. We should be good.”
“Then it'll be fine.”
Some time later, Trixie finally came back to the gym. Her face was completely wet, along with the top of her costume showing signs of some water. Sunset surmised that Screwball probably threw a third pie at her, hence the extra cleaning of Trixie's face. It wasn't long till students began to flood the gym, all of them sporting all sorts of costumes. Sunset's face began to smile as she saw the rest of her friends and their costumes. Applejack with her scarecrow costume from earlier and Rainbow Dash as Daring Do. Fluttershy was dressed up as a gothic vampire which Sunset found to be very impressive looking. Rarity was dressed in a very dark sleek dress with several shining jewels on it. Sunset suspected it must be some kind of dark princess dress, or perhaps a dress to represent nightmares. It was really similar to Luna's that Sunset saw earlier at Celestia's office.
Then, the party started. Trixie signaled Sunset, snapping her fingers as the two walked up to the make-shift stage, their guitars in hand. After several dramatic poses from Trixie, the Music Club began their performance. Sound embraced the room, noise blasting throughout the entire gym. Sunset watched all the students as they began to dance, her eyes shining as she watched the scene unfold. 'Amazing...' she thought as she continued to play. 'So this...this is what music can really do! Wow!'
Before she knew it, they had already gone through several songs. Trixie walked up and patted Sunset shoulder. “Okay Sunset, let's take a break.”
“Huh? Oh, okay.”
“What's the matter? Tired already Sunset?” Trixie giggled.
“Huh? No! No no no...not at all Trixie.” Sunset said, her arms flailing back and forth. “I was just...overwhelmed.”
“That's natural Sunset. Trixie remembers her first show on the stage, it was the same for Trixie.”
“Oh? Okay. Thanks Trixie.” Sunset said, a small smile forming on her face. “How long is our break?”
“Probably a good half hour. Go ahead and talk to your friends Sunset.” Trixie said with a wave. “If necessary, Trixie can cover for you.”
“Oh that's not necessary Trixie. I'll be back to play.”
“Good. Trixie's gonna go get a drink, see you later Sunset!”
The two waved bye to each other and Sunset proceeded down the stage. There, she quickly joined her friends, hearing their compliments about the music.
“Not bad Sunset. That was pretty awesome!” Rainbow said as she patted Sunset on the back. “Though I bet I could-”
Applejack's hand quickly slaps the side of Rainbow's head. “Just give her a compliment Rainbow!”
“Hey! I did!”
“She is right darling, the music was quite good. I prefer classical...but I must say, you and Trixie did quite well.”
“Thanks Rarity. Say, where's Fluttershy?”
“She's getting some punch. Pinkie is over at the dance floor in her ridiculous chicken costume.” Rarity gagged. “I swear, sometimes I'll never understand what goes on in that girl's head.”
“I don't think it's worth the effort in trying to find out.” Sunset said, scratching her head. “By the way Rarity, thank you. Again. The uh...kunoichi thing worked really well.”
“But of course dear, I had a feeling my work was up to snuff.”
“Yeah, it really is.”
Rainbow lounged her arm around Sunset's shoulders. “So, you gonna go dance now? Cuz that's where I'm heading!”
“Uh...no thanks. I think I'll get myself punch as well.”
“Fine. I'm gonna show them all I'm the best!” Rainbow replied, her legs already moving her. Applejack gave a slight nod and joined Rainbow. Sunset and Rarity glanced at each other for a second and then proceeded to the punch bowl. There, they found Fluttershy chatting with another student named Roseluck. Rarity quickly joined the conversation as Sunset made herself some punch. As she took her first sip, she turned and saw the one person she didn't want to see.
“Uh...hello Flash.” she squeaked as her lips ascended from the cup.
“Hey.” he said in a slightly cold tone, “You're not gonna kick me again, are you?”
“No.” Sunset shook her head. “And about that...I'm really really sorry. I didn't mean to-”
Flash raised his palm, “That's enough. Don't worry about it. I know I scared you and you...reacted violently.”
“Yeah, and I'm really sorry about that. I never meant to-”
“I said don't worry about it.” Flash said as he bent over to get himself a glass of punch.
“Oh...okay.” Sunset said in an exhausted tone. “Um...look...uh...”
“Yeah?”
“I'm sorry. I know I already said that, but I'm really sorry that happened. Uh...” her thumbs began to twiddle, “Look...could we start over? You know, since you're part of the Music Club now like I am.”
“Sure.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.” Flash nodded and extended his hand. “Flash Sentry.”
“Sunset Shimmer.” Sunset shook his hand, her grip tight. “It's nice to meet you Flash Sentry.”
“Same. I hope we can get along.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“Oh my, what's this?” Rarity said as she tapped Sunset's shoulder. “I sure wasn't expecting this on Halloween. Trying to seduce someone darling?”
“Huh? What are you-” Sunset glanced at Rarity and then back at Flash. Her eyes blinked several times as she noticed he was no longer there. “Hey! Where'd he go?”
“Oh dear, I didn't scare him off, did I?” Rarity said with fingertips covering her mouth.
“Um...maybe? What were you saying Rarity?”
“Oh nothing darling. I was just admiring your work on seducing that boy. Is he new? I don't recognize him.”
“He's the new student. And I'm pretty sure he's afraid of me.”
“Afraid of you? Why?”
“Long story.” Sunset replied, shifting her head away. “Don't want to talk about.”
“Oh come now darling, I do have some time and-wait! There he is!” she said, pointing to the dance floor. “My my...he has quite the moves, doesn't he?”
“Hmm?” Sunset looked at Flash, who was now showing a flurry of dance moves. “Huh.”
“Huh? That's all you have to say Sunset?”
“Yeah...” Sunset scratched the side of her head, trying to think about what to say. 'I better not tell her that I have no knowledge when it concerns dancing. Maybe I just don't remember...'
“Why don't you go talk to him darling? I doubt he's really scared of you.” Rarity said, her elbow on Sunset's shoulder.
“Um Rarity...why are you so focused on this?” Sunset asked, her head turned to the side in confusion.
“Isn't it obvious? I mean, it sure looked like you two were hitting it off.”
“Hitting it off? What does that mean?”
“What does it...um, are you sure don't understand what I'm saying?”
“No.” Sunset said innocently. “All I was doing was trying to apologize for something that happened earlier.”
Rarity facepalmed. “Oh dear...listen Sunset, I'm saying that-”
“Sunset! The Great and Powerful Trixie needs you on stage!”
“Nevermind. We'll talk about this later.” sighed Rarity. “Go ahead darling, we're rooting for you.”
“Thanks.” Sunset chuckled as she proceeded to the stage. Grabbing her guitar, she found herself playing another song. As more music began to stream out, her smile returned. The rest of the night was nothing but pure bliss. Music, happiness, joy, everything was there. Sunset forgot her worries as the music continued. She wasn't sure how much time passed, but it was wonderful to say the least. Before she knew it, the party was over.
The following hours were a blur to Sunset. She helped clean up, put the equipment away, and finally, a ride home with Celestia. As the car went down the streets, Sunset, Celestia and Luna conversed over how much fun they had at the party. Before they knew it, they were home. After a quick routine to get ready for bed, Sunset found herself in full crash mode. Her body slammed into the bed as her eyes slowly closed. 'What a day...wow. I hope every Halloween has a party like that. That was soooooo much fun...' A yawn released itself as she looked at her desk. 'Hmm...I'll write to Twilight later. She'll understand...she did say she was spending time with her family.' Not another thought went through her head as the land of sleep embraced her.