For the next two days, things had been odd in the apartment, mainly between Jackie and Sunset, with the former trying to figure out where they hell they stood and the latter not giving any answers. Well, not that it was Sunset's fault, Jackie was totally baffled and had no idea how to bring up the subject. 'Hey Sunshine, we fucked, what the hell does that mean for us?', it was weird how she could be so brash with others but when it came to her and Sunset it just seemed... difficult. Granted Jackie was probably making this more complicated than what it probably should have been. If she asked for the clarification on where they were at, would Sunshine's feelings be hurt that Jackie didn't think they were together? Would she get weirded out that Jackie thought they were in a relationship when it was just supposed to be casual? What if Jackie made things more awkward? What if Sunset got angry and moved out? What if she never wanted to see or speak to Jackie ever again?! ARGH!!!!
On the upside at least, as she held off on bringing this up, it gave her time to try and think over her own feelings on the matter... and so far it was still a confusing mess. It would of been so much easier and quicker if she could talk to Sandy since the woman was more nuanced in matters of romance and such but it seemed like a bad idea to tell any of their friends anything. Well, she had told Bobby but he was their roommate, he would have picked up on things sooner and she trusted him to keep this matter under wraps. Maybe... dammit, he better not have told anyone!
That Saturday morning, Jackie had woken up to find Sunset was out of bed already. Normally the red head woke up before her anyway but the last couple of days she had gone to bed after Jackie was asleep and woken up before Jackie did. That certainly didn't help make matters less confusing. She'd found a note taped to the fridge saying that she and Bobby had gone out grocery shopping, which left her alone in the apartment to eat some Captain Crash cereal and watch some cartoons. The new episode of Stephanie Galaxy was premiering and after that she could catch the newest episode of My Biggy Primate!
Yet while Princess Bush Baby (heh-heh, bush... honestly, was it any wonder there was so much rule sixty-three of her on the internet? And no, Jackie did not go actively looking for it, stupid anti-Bromates/Primasisters always liked to throw that shit up in her face because they were assholes) was busy solving yet ANOTHER problem where a big bad villain was threatening peace in the land of Mammalia, there came a knock at the door. Puzzled as to who this could be since she was sure it wouldn't be until much later in the day that Sunset's friends would arrive from Canterlot (assuming when they left Friday afternoon they didn't stop and drove all night), a curious Jackie went to the door to see just who was interrupting her morning of sugary delights and silly animaton.
After she made sure the trusty old bat was on hand by the door as usual, Jackie peeked through the keyhole and was surprised to see someone familiar. Once she undid the security latch, she opened the door to get a better look at an indigo haired girl dressed in a blue blouse, purple shirt and purple knee high boots with a small, purple and green dog in her arms.
"Twilight Sparkle?"
"Yes! And you must be Jackie!"
"Nice to meet you! You know I'm Spike, right?"
Not even batting an eye when the dog talked (wow, she was really getting jaded when a talking dog didn't even phase her), Jackie scratched the side of her head.
"Oh yeah, are you the one from the pony world? Cause you don't have the glasses or the bun or your school uniform. But uh... if you are, how did you get here from Canterlot?"
"Oh right! I wanted to surprise Sunset, is she in?"
"Uh, no, she stepped out with Bobby... want to come in and wait?"
After letting Twilight and Spike in, she moved over and cleared off the text books and papers off of the chair in the living room so that she could have a seat, letting the young woman and dog have the more spacious couch. When prompted about how she was here when the others from Canterlot weren't, the princess of friendship started going going off on a spiel about time and space, something about magic and some bearded guy's theories... it sounded like the lectures in high school and just like then, Jackie could feel her eyes start to roll into the back of her head as it felt like her brain was being overloaded to the point the information was smothering her brain and cutting off the oxygen supply. Finally the human raised a hand to put a stop to it.
"Okay, now pretend I'm a human who doesn't study magic and only has a high school level of education. Can you bottom-line that for me?"
"Oh, right, sorry!"
Admittedly it was a little cute how the... what did Sunshine call her? Alicorn? Blushed and looked sheepish, clearing her throat before dumbing it down for Jackie.
"Basically, it's magic! Celestia allowed me access to Starswirl the Bearded's archives. In my world, he was a powerful unicorn that created the mirror to this world and I found his papers and schematics! So between studying them and studying the mirror that links to the statue at Canterlot High School, I managed to make another portal that links to here in Los Pegasus!"
"Really? Cool, but why didn't you tell Sunset about this? I mean, then she could've told me and I could've picked you up so you wouldn't of been wandering the streets and got jumped or something."
"Well, I wanted it to be a surprise. Although maybe she might suspect something since I did ask for her address the day before. I would have been here sooner but I'm not too familiar with Los Pegasus, in this world or in mine."
"Alright, well, you can bet Sunshine's probably going to be happy that you can visit more I guess..."
"Sunshine... that reminds me."
Suddenly the young woman became more serious, her back straightening with a slightly more analytical look in her eyes.
"I know Sunset has talked about you when we talk, but I haven't had the chance to speak with you at all. I really want to thank you for everything you've done for Sunset, this is the happiest I've ever known her to be."
"Ah well, you know... I like it when she's happy."
"I mean it, you're really good for her and I want you two to stay together for a long time."
That came off a bit weird to Jackie, who stopped rubbing the back of her head and gave the princess a weird look.
"I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't meddle! But the way she talked about you, I just can't help but think you two are really good together. I mean, she talks about you a lot and how much the relationship you two have means to her."
"Really? Good, cause I wasn't sure where we were after Thursday when we fucked but-"
"WHAT???"
Judging by how utterly shocked Twilight looked, it was reasonable to assume Sunset had not mentioned that to the alicorn... like, AT ALL. And to make matters more fabulous, Jackie could hear the door knob turning, signaling Bobby and Sunset Shimmer had returned. In her panic, the blue haired guitarist's head jerked over her shoulder to see Sunset Shimmer looking quite surprised to see Twilight and Spike on the couch.
"Twilight?"
"You had sex with Jackie?!!"
"JACKIE!!!"
"Um, you know the neighbors can probably hear all this?"
"SPIKE!"
"Holy crap, that dog can talk?!"
"BOBBY!"
When the confused shouting was done, Jackie just wished she could sink low enough to disappear into her chair as Sunset Shimmer glared poisonous, flaming daggers in her direction.
"Um... hey! Twilight opened a portal to Los Pegasus so she can see you now! Yay!"
Despite slumping down to hide behind the chair, Jackie could still feel that stare.
"Twilight, Spike... please come with me to the bedroom so that we can speak more privately."
Hearing the groceries the red head was carrying being dropped down onto the kitchen counter, Jackie continued to hide as Twilight and Spike got up and left the living room with Sunset. Bobby would sit down on the couch after setting down his groceries, looking at Jackie with a mix of incredulity and pity.
"I'm guessing you're locked out of your bedroom again?"
"Shut up, Bobby..."
"... so." began Twilight Sparkle, sitting on one side of the bed with Spike in her lap, still feeling quite awkward and a little aghast at Jackie's crassness. But mostly awkward now that she was over the initial shock. Sunset was lying next to her, eyes closed and rubbing her temples. If Twilight had to guess, the other pony now human possibly had a headache after all of that.
"Yes, I had sex with Jackie. No, we're not together. We're not together because I'm not sure if I do want to start a relationship with Jackie, not when I'm looking to go off to college and it possibly won't be here in Los Pegasus, not when I'm actually a unicorn that's taken on a human form. Not when I have thoughts about just returning home to Equestria and, if I patch things up with Celestia, I have the option and might consider staying permanently. Not that I'm sure if it'll work out because I've only known Jackie for less than half a year. And I'm sure there are at least a dozen other reasons as to why I'm hesitant about pursuing a relationship for the first time since Flash Sentry, oh yeah, add that to the list since my last relationship with a blue haired guitarist ended so well because I didn't actually love him in the first place, but I can't think of them at the moment. Does that answer all your questions, Twilight?"
As snappy as it was, Twilight didn't seem to take offense since it appeared that Sunset had given this a lot of thought. Although as the princess of friendship sat in silence, a look of curiosity came to her face as something came to mind.
"How does sex between human women work? I mean, I imagine there may be similar anatomy between a pony and a human in respect to genitalia but over all anatomy would mean the mechanics would be different in many aspects-"
"Twilight!"
Now red faced, Sunset Shimmer sat up like a shot with a mortified look on her face while Twilight blushed in embarrassment and waved her hands. For Spike's part, the whole conversation was highly embarrassing and uncomfortable for a baby dragon turned dog, so he jumped off the bed and hid under it to escape.
"Sorry! Sorry! Not appropriate right now! Sorry! But um... you seem to have given this a lot of thought. It sounds more serious than you just wanting a casual um... "hook up". It sounds like this matters a whole lot to you and I know you care a lot about Jackie from what way I've seen you write about her."
It was hard not to snicker seeing Twilight raise her hands, her fingers curled as the princess made 'hoof quotation marks' when she said hook up. But of course Twilight was as astute as ever and there was no getting around it, Sunset Shimmer took a moment to collect her thoughts.
"A few weeks leading up to the Friendship Games incident, thinking about being with Jackie just seemed... nice. Which is ironic because that's what I think of her over all, she's so nice. I mean, she went above and beyond the call of duty when I was a complete stranger to her, and she can be so understanding and supportive when we talk. Yeah, she can be a spaz and a bit of a dork, but it's cute. And I admire how she can be so dedicated to her dream of making her band famous and just how passionate she is about playing guitar, and how loyal and caring she can be."
With a sigh, she leaned back against the wall the head of the bed was against, the small smile on her face slipping into a light frown.
"When I saw her so torn up and having nightmare about me dying, I wanted to make her feel better. But I guess some small, selfish part of me egged me on to kiss her. Then when she didn't push me away it just escalated. I felt a lot better after it happened too, I guess you could call it good stress relief and I finally got to be with Jackie. But... ugh, I dunno, I guess I've just been waiting for her to say something or make a move, but she hasn't. And now all those fears and lists of reasons not to reared their head again, chastising me because, sure, I died, but a 'living in the moment' mentality can have consequences."
"And maybe... having a list of reasons why it wouldn't work helps if she rejects you?"
".... yeah."
Reaching over, Twilight took Sunset Shimmer's hands into her own and smiled to the other.
"I know I'm not well learned in matters of love like Cadance, but I don't think it hurts to try. And if it's meant to be, then I don't think distance would be a problem. Although if you went back to Equestria that might be tricky. And you should know that while she's confused, she didn't seem repulsed when she mistook my words as her thinking you wanted a relationship. So I think you have a pretty good shot."
"Thanks... but I still want her to ask me. And you can't say anything either."
"What?! Why?"
"Duh, because she's too nice."
Staring blankly after Sunset's deadpan response, the red head sighed before explaining.
"If I asked her, I can't help but feel she'd just go along with it so I wouldn't be upset. And if you say something about everything I've said, I think she'll be pressured into saying yes even if she doesn't feel the same way. I want a true answer from her, Twilight."
"I guess I could see that, but you really think she's that nice?"
"Twilight, she confronted Gilda, drove me all the way here to Los Pegasus, has lent me her clothes, given me food, let me stay here rent free until I finally got an after school job, and has dealt with all of my drama and baggage."
"... good point."
"Right. Anyway, since I'm assuming you don't have a place to stay, you and Spike can have Jackie's spot on the bed while you're here."
"Um, are you sure that's okay?"
"Considering that Jackie's in the dog house after spilling that we had sex to you, yeah, it's perfectly fine.