Sunset walked slowly down the street, her hands in her pockets. She enjoyed this kind of weather; it was fresh and crisp, but not so cold that it was unbearable.
A car slowed down next to her, and she turned to see a familiar face behind the wheel.
"Hey." Flash Sentry greeted, giving a small wave.
"Hey." Sunset answered, nodding her head.
"You heading somewhere?"
"No where in particular."
Flash nodded towards the empty front seat. "Hop in."
Even after a year had passed, Sunset would never forget the smell of the inside of Flash's car. He always kept a bottle of cologne inside the car door, which he sprayed inside the car so it would always have that "new car smell."
"Remember when we would just drive around the city like this?" Flash asked after the long silence began to grow uncomfortable.
Sunset smiled in spite of herself. "Yeah. And one time the car broke down and we had to call your mom to come pick us up."
Flash laughed. "I remember that. She was so pissed."
"And when she came to come get us, she was wearing a teddy. A teddy. And no robe or anything. I thought you were gonna die on the spot."
Flash's face turned beat red as he continued to laugh. "Oh my God, I can't believe you remember that. You've got a sick mind, Shimmer."
"Hey, it's not my fault your mom decided to go out in public in nothing but lingerie." Sunset pointed out in mock offense. "I could see her thong!"
"Gross, Sunset! Now I'm never gonna get that image out of my head!"
Laughter filled the car for a minute or two, then it slowly tapered off into silence again.
"Those were good times...." Flash said absentmindedly.
Sunset sighed, then turned to gaze out the window. "Yeah....."
"Look, Sunset...." Flash said awkwardly. "I want to say I'm sorry. And not just for...you know." His gaze flickered momentarily towards her bandaged head. "But for everything. What you said... you were right. What I did, it was a dick thing to do. I should have just been honest about how I was feeling from the start. It would've saved us both a lot of grief."
"I didn't exactly make it easy for you." Sunset conceded. "When you started avoiding me....I think I knew at that point it was over. I just didn't want to admit it."
"I'm kinda surprised you didn't blackball me." Flash said.
Sunset cocked an eyebrow. "Are you kidding? You're Mr. Clean. I couldn't find a speck of dirt on you if I tried."
Flash gave her a pointed look. "That's bull, and you know it."
Sunset turned her head to the side in contemplation, and then asked, "Flash....did you think I was Anon-A-Miss?"
Flash considered his words, then answered, "At first...yeah. But then I thought about it. I mean really thought about it. And it just didn't make sense. After all you went through, why would you purposely sabotage your reputation and friendship just to post a couple of stupid pictures? Unless everything had been an act.....and you hadn't changed at all. "
Sunset nodded, accepting his answer.
"Of course, even if you hadn't changed, it still didn't make sense." Flash continued. "I mean, when you did all that stuff, before the Fall Formal, you were more subtle. We knew it was you, but we could never prove it, since you had either gotten someone else to do the dirty work, or blackmailed or threatened everyone into silence. If it had really been you, you would have made it look like one of the other girls had posted the pics, or left the profile page completely blank so there'd be no clue as to who it was. That profile, it was pretty obvious that it was made to look like you created it. All that was missing was a neon sign pointing at your head."
"I appreciate your honesty." Sunset said solemnly. She spotted a familiar house over the horizon. "Pull over, okay?"
Flash slowed the car down and pulled off to the side. As Sunset opened the door, he stopped her. "Wait. Don't forget this."
He reached into the backseat and pulled out a familiar looking book....her journal.
Sunset smiled and took it. "Thanks."
"Hey....can I ask you something?"
"Yes?"
Flash paused, then asked, "When we were together....was any of it real?"
Sunset sighed and stared her ex directly in the eyes. "I really cared about you, Flash. I never lied about that."
Flash watched as Sunset closed the car door and walked down the street and out of sight. He then shifted the car into reverse, made a U-turn, and drove away in the opposite direction.
Sometime later, Sunset tiptoed quietly downstairs so as not to wake anyone in the Shy household. She turned on a lamp, opened her journal, and began writing.
Twilight? You there?
Sunset? Yes, I'm here! Are you okay?
Relatively speaking. I thought about what you said, and I think I'm going to stay here for the time being.
Oh? So you made up with the others, then?
Honestly, I'm still kind of on the fence on that. But I don't want to give up yet. I want this to work.
Sunset paused, then added.
I've also decided to get help. Professional help.
........
That's good. I'm glad, Sunset.
Hey Twilight? Thanks for being my friend.
As Twilight's reply appeared, she noticed that there were spots blurring the ink in some places.
Of course, Sunset. And I want you to know that whatever you decide to do with your life, whatever choice you make, I will support you any way I can.
Thanks, Twilight. Goodnight.
Good night, Sunset.
As Sunset closed the journal, she looked out the window to gaze at the clear night sky. For the first time in a long time, she truly believed that things were going to work out fine.