Ch. 2: Would You Like to Try Again?
Sunset arrives outside of Sugar Cube Corner. Before heading inside, she pulls out her phone from her pocket to check the time. 12:47 PM. Sunset puts her phone away and turns to face the door. She hesitates going inside. On any normal day she wouldn't give it a second thought, but today isn't a normal day. Her stomach churns with anxiety and her mind runs at a million miles an hour, thinking of worst case scenarios. What if I accidentally insult him? What if he's just leading me on in order to make me look foolish? What if a UFO crashes right on top of us? Each scenario becomes more imaginative than the last. Sunset feels her heart picking up, her breathing hastening, and her eyelids opening wide. I don't think I can do this. I can't do this, I need to--I need--.
"Sunset," a voice calling out from behind brings her back into reality. Sunset turns around and sees Applejack and Twilight running towards her from the other side of the street. "Sunset, oh my goodness," Twilight says with a tone of concern, "Are you ok? What's going on?"
"I--I just--I," Sunset struggles to get a sentence out, she breaths quick breathes between each word.
"Hey, hey, Sunset. Look at me, look at me," Applejack says as she gently grips Sunset's arms, "breath, breath." The farmer demonstrates a deep breathing method with her hand.
Sunset takes in and lets out several deep breaths. She begins to feel a good part of her anxiety slip away. "Thanks Applejack," says Sunset as she takes in one more deep breath, "I have no idea what came over me there."
"Do you usually get panic attacks?" Twilight asks.
"No, I've never really had one before," says Sunset, shaking her head "that was a first for me."
"I guess you're more worried about talking to Flash than we thought," says Applejack.
"I guess I am," Sunset says as she rubs her left arm, "I knew this day was going to be hell."
"Well you know, Dante wouldn't have gotten through hell if he didn't have Virgil," Twilight says as she walks up to Sunset's right, wrapping her arm around her shoulders. "You've got your friends by your side to help get you through this."
"She's right," Applejack says as she walks up to Sunset's left, "I’m not sure about that first part, but we're not going to let you go through this alone."
"Pluuus," Twilight reaches into her purse and pulls out a five-inch-thick stack of index cards, "I made you some ice-breakers and talking points, just in case you can't think of anything to say." Twilight smiles and gives a small squee as she hands the cards to Sunset.
Sunset looks at the cards. "Gee, I hope I have enough," she says dryly.
"Not to worry, I brought three more stacks just in case," says Twilight, oblivious to the sarcasm.
The three girls turn around and face the door. Well, abandon all hope ye who enter here, Sunset thinks. "Ok," she sighs, "let's do it." The three girls walk inside the shop and head over to their usual seats, where Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie are already sitting. The three girls take their seats on the couch; Sunset places the cards on the coffee table as Mrs. Cake comes over to them.
"Hello girls, might I take your order," she says in a cheery voice.
"I'll take a small strawberry and banana smoothie," says Twilight.
"I'll have a medium coffee, two cream one sugar, and an apple fritter," says Applejack.
"I'll just have a small black coffee," says Sunset. Mrs. Cake jots down the orders, tells them it’ll be out in a few minutes, and walks off.
"So Sunset," says Rarity, "how are you feeling about today?"
"Like I could throw up," Sunset groans.
"Feeling nervous?" Fluttershy asks, prompting Sunset to nod.
"It'll be fine," says Rainbow Dash, "if there's one thing I've learned from playing sports the past three years, is that everything is far more worse in your head than it is in reality." Rainbow then looks down and sees the stack of notecards on the table. "So, uh, what's with the cue cards?"
"They're ice breakers," Sunset explains, "Twilight gave them to me just in case I can't think of anything when I'm talking to Flash."
Rainbow Dash leans forwards and picks up the top card and reads it out loud. "’What's your favorite kind of pasta?’" Rainbow says quizzically, "Seriously Twilight?"
"Hey that's a very important question," Pinkie interjects, "you don't want to be friends with someone who likes Rigatoni."
"Why is that Pinkie," Applejack asks, her curiosity piqued.
"Trust me, AJ," Pinkie's tone switches from cheerful to deadpan, "you don't want to know."
As they continue their chatter, Mrs. Cake comes over with Twilight's, Applejack's, and Sunset's orders. She places the drinks and the fritter on the tables and tells the girls to enjoy before heading over to the next table. Just as Sunset reaches for her coffee, she hears the front door bell chime. She looks up and sees Flash Sentry walking into shop with his hands in his jacket pockets, looking around the shop. She begins to feel her stomach churn again.
Rainbow Dash turns around to see Flash. "Well, look who's early," Rainbow says, "Hey Flash, we're over here!" Rainbow waves Flash over. He sees the rainbow-haired girl and begins walking over.
Sunset slides down in her seat a little, hoping she'll become invisible. Her worries subside when she feels Applejack's hand on her shoulder. She looks up and sees Applejack giving her a comforting smile that says "everything is going to be okay." Sunset sits back up and slowly takes a few deep breaths. Rainbow walks off and pulls over an empty chair and places it in between her and Rarity, so that he'll have a direct line of sight of Sunset. Flash sits down in the empty seat.
"How's your day been going Flash," Applejack asks, starting things off.
"It's been a pretty slow day so far," Flash responds, "you know, when I read that Sunset wanted to meet with me, I didn't realize it meant all of you girls. I didn't do anything wrong, did I?"
"Don't worry Flash, you're in the clear," says Rainbow, "for now."
"Excuse me?" Flash asks with concern.
"Relax dear, she's just teasing you," says Rarity, placing her hand gently on Flash's shoulder.
"We're just here to support Sunset," Fluttershy explains, "and to make sure that she’s comfortable."
"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Flash asks with growing concern.
Oh no, this is just making things worse, Sunset thinks, ugh, I don't want to but...if this is going to get done, then I need to be with him one-on-one, not one-on-seven. Sunset clears her throat. "Hey Flash, why don't we take this conversation to one of the outside tables. Just you and me...."
All six girls look at Sunset with a mix of confusion and surprise. Flash, also looking confused, slowly nods and says, "um… yeah, sure, that works."
"You go wait by the door," Sunset suggests, "I'll be over there in a bit." Flash nods, gets up from his seat, and walks over to the door.
The girls lean in towards Sunset. Twilight is the first to ask, "are you sure that's a good idea? What if you… you know?"
"Are you sure you don't need us by your side?” Fluttershy asks.
"Listen girls," Sunset explains, "I appreciate your support but if I'm going to do this then it needs to be between just me and Flash. He's the last person I need to make amends with; the last leg of my journey from what I used to be. I don't need you right by my side but I do you need backstage should anything bad happen. If things go south, or I start to panic again, then I trust you girls to handle it. You’ve never let me down before."
The girls look at each other for a minute until Rarity stretches out her hand and lays it on Sunset's hand. "We understand Sunset," Rarity says. "this is your final battle against the old you, now go and crush it."The other girls nod in agreement.
"We'll be right here if you need us," Rainbow says with assurance.
"Don't you worry about thing Sunset," Pinkie says as she reaches into her hair and pulls out a vanilla and a chocolate cupcake, both with white buttercream frosting, "I've got emergency cupcakes on standby!"
Sunset chuckles, "thanks girls, you're the best friends I could ever ask for." She looks over at Flash, breaths in and breaths out, "let's do this." Sunset stands up with confidence and walks over to Flash.
"You've got this, girl!" Applejack cheers.
"Oh, don't forget the notecards," says Twilight as she picks the cards off the table and holds them up to Sunset, who stops and looks at Twilight.
"I think I'll be ok without them," says Sunset, "but thanks anyway."
Twilight's jaw drops and her eyes widen in shock as she begins to mumble nonsense until she finally sputters, "a whole night's work...wasted!" Her top half from the waist flops forward with the cards landing on the table, somehow remaining neatly stacked.
Fluttershy leans across, picks up one of the cards and begins to read it aloud, "if you were stuck on a deserted island with only one book to read, what would it be and why?"
"Ooooh," Pinkie exclaims, "that sounds like a fun one."
“Well it’s obvious, ain’t it?” Applejack says, “A survival guide.”
Sunset walks over to Flash, who has been waiting patiently by the door for her. "You good?" Flash asks. Sunset nods and moves her hand towards the door handle. Flash steps in front of her and opens the door for her, "after you," he says.
Sunset chuckles, "still the gentleman I see." Flash responds with an abashed shrug. The two of them step outside and walk over to a table directly to their left. They take their seats across from each other, sitback in their chairs, and stay in awkward silence for a good minute. Flash is the one to break it.. “So um...how's it going?" he asks.
"It's going...good, it's going good," Sunset responds, oh god please don't turn out like it did yesterday. No I won't let it happen.
Sunset and Flash both close their eyes, take a deep breath, and, at the same time, they say, "look, I think we need to talk about us." The two of them are both taken aback by what just happened, "uh, you go first," they say together again. They both give off a nervous chuckle as their cheeks begin to blush.
Sunset clears her throat and begins, "I guess I'll go first. Flash, back up at Camp Everfree, those things you said to me, did you mean it?"
Flash raises an eyebrow, "we talked to each other a couple of times up there," he says, "you might need to clarify."
"You know what I'm talking about," says Sunset with some irritation, "you told me about how much I've changed and how you liked this new side of me, did you mean it?"
Flash looks down for a moment, raising his hand to his chin, trying to recall that conversation. "Yeah, I meant every word," he answers nodding, "you are a completely different person from when we used to date. It's actually kind of refreshing to see you be nice again."
"Did you also mean what you said before I ran off," Sunset asks, then adds, "which I do apologize for by the way."
"Hey, if you hadn't I'm sure we'd all still be stuck in Camp Everfree," Flash responds, "and yes, I really do want to start over as friends, that is if you're willing?"
"You're being 100 percent serious, no jokes?" Sunset asks in disbelief, "even after how I treated you when we dated?"
Flash leans forward and puts his hand on her hand, "Sunset, that was the old you," he tells her, "I don't want to be friends with her, I want to be friends with you, is that so hard to believe?" Sunset's eyes widen and she feels her heart flutter as she hears the words of her friends repeated.
Sunset's eyes look down and dart across the floor, trying to think of something to respond with. She then looks up at Flash, nods and says, “Okay, I would like to try again."
The front door of the shop suddenly opens and Mrs. Cake walks out with a large to-go cup of coffee. She walks over to their table and notices the two having a moment. "Excuse me," she says, Flash leans back into his normal seating position and looks up at the waitress, "sorry to interrupt this intimate moment but here's your large black coffee sir." She places the drink in front of Flash. He and Sunset both look at each other blushing at the comment Mrs. Cake made.
Not wanting to revert back to their awkward state, Sunset breaks the silence. "You take your coffee black as well," Sunset says, “Funny, I guess I never noticed.”
Flash chuckles. "Of course," he says with a grin, "it's the only way to properly drink coffee."
Sunset slams her hands on the table and spreadsboth of them in Flash's direction. "Thank you!" she says in a louder voice, "Finally someone who understands! Do you have any idea how long I've been trying to convince my friends of the superiority of black coffee?"
"I'm going to bet just as long as I have with my friends," Flash says while laughing, "I mean it's healthier, it tastes better, and the energy comes from the caffeine and not the sugar."
"I can think of one friend who would definitely not like to hear that," she says, "although I think I'd be terrified to see her on caffeine instead of sugar." The two of them begin to laugh over this small connection. Any awkwardness that was originally between them disappeared over a simple similarity. "So why do you need so much?" she asks, "I can only drink the small, otherwise I get the jitters."
"I've got a paper for Mr. Turner," Flash explains, his voice conveying some stress, "and coffee really helps me concentrate."
"Wait, you're taking AP World too?" asks Sunset
.
"Yeah, I am," says Flash with a nod, "I didn't know you're taking that class."
"Huh, how did it take us this far into the semester to realize we're in the same class together?” says Sunset.
"Yeesh," Flash says, exhaling through his teeth, "I knew things between us were bad, but I didn't think it took us literally running into each other in order to figure it out."
"Well we're starting over," Sunset answers, "a lot should hopefully change from this point." An idea then pops into her head. "Hey, since we're in the same class, do you wanna meet up tomorrow, around 1:30 at the Pour Jons library and work on this paper together?"
Flash places his hand on his chin and thinks about that idea. He slowly begins to nod and says, "yeah, I like that idea."
"Oh I'm so glad," Sunset exclaims with relief, "because I really need some help on this paper."
"Of course, it's a date then," Flash's eyes suddenly open wide as the realization of what he just said sinks in, "Uh, what I mean is--what I meant to say is...um...it's not a date. It's a purely platonic meeting between two friends with the purpose of working on a mutual class assignment...yeah."
Sunset lets out a laugh, "Don't worry Flash, I know what you meant."
Flash nervously chuckles as he takes a look at his watch on his left wrist. "Hey, um, I've gotta go," he says, "I need to pick up my little sister from soccer practice." He grabs his coffee and gets up from his seat. Sunset gets up from her seat and walks by Flash's side to the door.
"So I guess I'll see you tomorrow then," Sunset says, her arms folding around her torso and her feet point towards Flash's direction.
"Yeah, I'll see you later...alligator," Flash says with a smirk and a playful wink.
Sunset closes her eyes and shakes her head with a grin. "I am not responding with the crocodile one," she says.
Flash chuckles, "Alright, then I'll just say ‘see you tomorrow’." With that, Flash turns around and begins walking up the street towards his car.
Sunset waves to him then turns to face the door. Before she walks through, she turns back to see Flash. "Hey Flash," she shouts, he stops and turns back to face Sunset, "you don’t drink decaf, do you?"
"Nope, only caffeinated," he shouts back, "decaf is just water that's lying about being coffee."
"Right answer," she shouts with a big smile across her face. The two wave goodbye. Flash turns back around to walk towards his car and Sunset faces the door and walks back into the shop. She enters the shop and walks back over to her group of friends, who are all looking at Pinkie Pie as she rubs her hands against her temples.
"Come on Pinkie," Rainbow Dash says with a groan, "you've been thinking of an answer for the past ten minutes, just pick one already!"
"I can't," Pinkie shouts, "do you have any idea how hard it is for me to pick my favorite kind of cupcake!?"
"Why don't we just move on to another question?" Rarity suggests.
"NO!!" Pinkie snaps, "I will answer this question even if it's the last thing I do!"
"Uh, girls," Twilights says, pointing her finger at Sunset. The girls break their focus on Pinkie and turn their attention to Sunset.
"Oh hey Sunset," says Applejack, "did everything go okay?"
Sunset shimmies between her friends and sits back down her original seat. She lets in a deep breath and then lets it out. She looks at her friends and smiles. "It went really well,” she says.
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Nice
This was really cute. I got a kick out of Sunset's friends all being there - especially Twilight and the freaking note cards. XD
And of course, seeing Flash and Sunset talk about starting over (this time, for real) was sweet too.
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Thanks guys
A great chapter to show that things are going well. Nice work.
Wow dude. You work quick. And another great chapter. I love the ice breakers.
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Heh, yeah, I've already chapter three awaiting to be proofread. One of the benefits of finally being allowed a few days off from work.
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Yeah. I've also got a chapter ready. I'm gonna proofread it today and have it up before I start back to classes tomorrow.
They're already getting close!
Also, gotta say. I loved those note cards, Twiggles.
<3
I laughed aloud for some time at Twilight's attempt to be 'helpful' for Sunset with Flash. It was so amazingly in-character and I can just see Twilight's broad, beaming "I'm being helpful" smile (with just a touch of frizzy stress hair) as Sunset and Applejack just started at her in astonishment. I'll bet that her 'phone was full of notes and instructions she'd brain-stormed when she and Timber went on their first date!
Sunset...? You aren't over Flash yet. Not by a long shot. That's the only reason why this is such a major thing for you; I can't see you having a panic attack over someone for whom you didn't have a thing!
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Someone's on a reading binge.
Hope you're enjoying the story so far.
Way to fumble on your words there sentry
What's wrong with Rigatoni? Aside from it might mean Sunset is dating the wrong person?
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Some questions are best left unanswered.