Two Lanes

by Contesting Contester

Merge Left?

Moondancer woke up to shuffling from the other side of the room. “Mmph, Sunny?” She rubbed her eyes and sat up, the air on her bare back shockingly cold.

“Sorry,” Sunset said, sliding on her leather jacket, “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“Do you really have to leave already?” Moondancer asked, putting on her best pout.

Sunset sighed and walked over. “Twilight and I have a date scheduled for later. I can’t miss this dinner.” She shook her head. “It’s at this super fancy restaurant that actually charges you for canceling a reservation.”

“Fiiiinne… kiss goodbye?”

Sunset gave her a peck on the lips, before turning and walking to the door. “Love you, Moony,” she called, and turned the handle to walk out.

She almost didn’t hear Moondancer’s return before the door shut.

---

Twilight had arrived at the park an hour early to set everything up. Today was the day. Today had to be perfect. The sun was high in the sky, the weather clear… so far so good. She opened the box of cupcakes she had prepared as a dessert. Perfect, it hadn’t fallen into the frosting. She tried to make it a little straighter, only for it to have the opposite effect.

Twilight sighed and closed the box again, hiding it in the picnic basket lest Sunset open it too early. It had to be perfect.

---

Moondancer poked at the sleeping form of Sunset. “Come on, wake up already!” Finally, she just kicked the comatose form.

“Mmph, say wha…?” Sunset groggily mumbled.

“Sunset, I’ve been trying to wake you for the last 5 minutes.” Moondancer chuckled. “You’re a really heavy sleeper, ya know that?”

The still asleep Sunset groaned. “So I’m told. And you didn’t have to kick me, that kinda hurt. Can I go back to sleep now?”

“Sunny… your date with Twilight? In two hours?”

“Urgh, just text her on my phone saying I can’t make it.”

“Sunset. It’s your one year anniversary. There’s no missing this.”

“What, WHAT?” Sunset screamed, now awake enough to think. “Ah, shit. I completely forgot.”

“Obviously. Now hurry up and kiss me goodbye, then run on off to your forgotten anniversary vacation and have some fun. Okay?”

They leaned in for a quick peck before Sunset rushed to get dressed. “Love you, Moon!” she called, stepping out the door.

“Sometimes I wonder about you, Sunset Shimmer…”

---

A deep, growly-rumbling sound rose above the park noise, faded a little, then steadily grew as it moved in Twilight’s direction. Soon after, Sunset atop her motorcycle came into visual range. Twilight watched as Sunset pulled into the spot next to her car and set the bike down on its stand.

Sunset waved at her as she came over, Twilight waved back.

“What’s all this, Twilight? It looks wonderful!”

“Well, I wanted today to be something special, you know?” Be humble, she reminded herself. “It’s nothing much.”

“Nothing much?” Sunset smirked. How Twilight loved that smirk. “Twilight, this looks absolutely fantastic.”

“You really think so?”

“Hell, yeah! But come on, we’ve dated for two years now, surely we’ve come past this almost expected awkwardness?” Sunset sat down on the ground opposite Twilight. “So, what masterful culinary extravaganza have you come up with this time?”

“Well, for the main course” -Twilight took off the cover of the nearest pan- “we have Pajeon, a Korean dish made of green onions, wheat flour, rice flour, and egg batter. Plus a few secret ingredients,” she added with a wink.

“That sounds amazing, Twilight.” Sunset’s mouth was watering already.

“Then, as a side dish,” Twilight continued, taking off a second pan’s cover, “we have Japchae, which is noodles and sweet potatoes stir fried with some shredded vegetables, and a couple flavorings.”

“Twilight, you spoil me so much! Please tell me that’s it,” interjected Sunset with a knowing grin.

“Heehee,” Twilight giggled. “Not quite. I also made some BBQ Beef on crispy wonton chips. While not a true Korean BBQ, it does use similar ingredients in the marinade and the secret ingredient of a grated pear, which is what makes authentic Korean so authentic.” She lifted off the cover of the third and final pan.

Sunset could hardly believe her eyes. Or her nose. It all looked and smelled too good to be true. “Twilight, you didn’t have to do all this work for me. You know that, right?”

“Yeah, I know. I just wanted to. Now dig in, Sunny!”

“No complaints from me!”

---

“Leaving so early again, Sunset?” Moondancer asked, not sitting up this time.

“You know how it is with Twilight, Moony. I have to meet her at the park today. It’s ‘super important’ to her.”

“Yeah, I know how it is,” she sighed. “I just wish you could stay later these days. It’s all Twilight this, and Twilight that!” She groaned slightly. “How is this ever gonna work, Sunny?”

Sunset crossed the room and hugged her. “I don’t know, Moony. We just have to not lose faith in each other. You’re just as important to me as Twilight is. I love you, Moon.”

“I love you too, Sunset,” Moondancer returned, Sunset breaking the hug and striding through the door. “I just hope you know what you’re doing…”

---

“Twilight, that meal was delicious! I dare say the best you’ve ever made,” Sunset said with a smile.

“I’m glad you liked it so much. But I hope you saved room for dessert, I’d hate for you to miss out on these cupcakes I made,” Twilight laughed whilst retrieving her previously hidden box, handing it to Sunset.

Who opened it. And dropped it. “Twilight, I…”

Twilight’s face fell. Panic time. “Sunny…”

“Twilight,” Sunset breathed, her voice quaking, “i-is that a… is that a ring?”

“Well, yeah…” Twilight bent down to where Sunset dropped the box and fished out the ring. “It was my great grandmother’s, I’ve already had it altered to fit you. I wanna live life with you, Sunset. I wanna wake up every morning to see you there, go to bed every night with you next to me. Work through the rest of our lives together. Sunset, I love you so much. Will… will you marry me?”

“Twilight, I...I don’t know.”

Tears were already forming in Twilight’s eyes. “But… but we’ve been dating for two years now, and it seemed like we were at a good place, and… and... ohmygoshI’mfreakingout.”

“Now, Twilight, just… calm down. I love you, you know that? I would love to marry you, but… I can’t. I just can’t.”

Twilight sniffled and took a deep breath. “Why not, Sunset?” She asked in as steady a tone as she could, which wasn’t very.

“It’s… it’s just that…” -Sunset hung her head- “I’m seeing someone else now. I have been for a while. I’m sorry, Twily, it’s just that we met up one night and we just resonated and… and…”

“Sunset,” Twilight wavered, “please leave.”

“Twilight, I’m… I’m sorry you had to find out this way.”

Sunset ran to her bike and drove off.

Twilight sat on the grass and wept. “I thought you loved me…”

---

“Sunset Shimmer,” Moondancer started with a glare, “what did you do to Twilight?”

“What… do you mean?” returned Sunset, warning sirens blaring.

“I mean, that she called me yesterday, me, the grade school friend she hasn’t spoken to in seven years, to cry her head off about something you did! So I ask you again, what. Did. You. Do?” She emphasized every word with a finger point.

“Twilight… Twilight proposed yesterday. And I told her no.”

“Oh really? Is that all? Because I definitely heard mumblings of ‘cheating’ and ‘betrayal’ in between the rampant weeping.”

“I… also told her I was seeing someone else. And that it-it’s been happening for a while.”

Moondancer sighed. “Sunset, look, I am very angry with you.”

“You think?” Sunset quipped with a smirk, dodging the incoming smack.

“But more than that, I’m afraid. How long until you cast me away like trash? How long until you cheat on me too? How long till you leave me? Do you even love me?”

Sunset pulled Moondancer into a hug. “Of course I love you, Moony, and I’ll never let you go.”

“Then… Sunny, what do we do? Where do we go from here? I don’t wanna do this to Twilight...”

“I’m not sure, Moon. I don’t know all the details. As long as I’m with you, I don’t care. I wanna wake up in the morning and not panic, go to bed next to you without fear. I love you, Moony, and don’t you ever forget that. Whatever happens, I wanna make this journey with you.”

Author's Note:

So, yeah! My entry into Oro's contest. I gotta say, it didn't turn out as well as I had hoped, and I certainly coulda done better. But, sadly, that deadline is real close.

Comments

[Ri2]

Poor Twilight.

[FanOfMostEverything]

There's a few days left. You might have wanted to use them. This story doesn't so much end as it stops, leaving the characters in the lurch in the middle of the conflict. The good news is that you've left me wanting more. The bad news is that you did it by writing something that feels unfinished.

[Contesting Contester]

9137786
Unfortunately, I just don't know where to go with this. I would love for there to be more, I just... don't know what else. Perhaps sometime in the future, I'll figure out what to do... I hope. Idk.

Also, I am deathly scared of standard moderation queue times. Regardless, worst case scenario is that I got some writing practice in, right? Anyway, thanks for doing contructive feedback there.

[Mystic Sunrise]

I'm all for rejected Sunlight (God Empress Twilight, knows that). But in most cases, Sunset at least has the deceny to not be a two timing bitch.

Also you took the cheap way out by not properly finishing this and just leaving it like that. This is why I don't do contests. More freedom to do what you want with a story and not worry about anything.