A Little Unexpected
Sunset's eyes opened slowly as a noise reached her ears. She stared at the pale violet wall across from her, working to process what the noise had come from as the memories of her dream rapidly faded. It had been a single, sharp sound, like a little bell ringing. She realized what the sound must have been after another moment, but she decided to check anyway, sliding out from under the covers and off her bed.
The slight chill in her apartment prompted her to snag her robe and slip it on as she left the bedroom, reminding her once again of how nice it could be to have fur. After rounding a corner, she found herself in the kitchen. To her lack of surprise, there was Flash Sentry pulling a cinnamon roll from the toaster oven, which was surely the source of the noise. He turned away from the counter, putting the pastry on a little plate, but he stopped as he caught sight of Sunset.
"Oh, hey, I didn't think you'd be up for a while." Flash held up the plate. "Want a cinnamon roll?"
Sunset nodded groggily and reached for the fridge, but her boyfriend got there first and opened it with a smile. She ignored the gesture and pulled out the box of cinnamon rolls, which Flash also opened for her. He then proceeded to put a roll into the toaster oven and start heating it, saving her the trouble. Sunset thought it was a little odd, but she just shrugged it off and put the box back in the fridge.
"How'd you sleep?" Flash asked, leaning against the counter near the little oven as it heated her roll.
"Well enough, I guess," she replied, her voice a little scratchy. She opened up the fridge and pulled out a carton of orange juice to wet her throat. "You?"
"Pretty good," Flash said, nodding. "So, you got any plans for today?"
Sunset stopped chugging the juice to respond. "No, not really. Why?"
"You wanna go get some ice cream this afternoon?"
Sunset's expression didn't change as she asked, "You buyin'?" He nodded, and Sunset simply said, "Yeah, sure. I haven't had ice cream in a while."
The toaster made its distinctive dinging sound at that point. Flash pulled out the roll with a pair of tongs and placed it on a plate for Sunset, who quickly grabbed it up and headed for her small dining table. Flash got there first, pulling out a chair as she approached it. Again, it seemed a bit odd, but Sunset was still too tired to care. She simply sat down with her pastry and orange juice.
A few hours later, Sunset was leaning back against the passenger seat of Flash's car, sighing as the heaters set to work warming her up. It had been a short walk to the car, especially with Flash opening the door for her, but the cold winds had given her a thorough chill before she'd gotten into her seat. The warm air flowing over her was quite relaxing in comparison, so much so that Sunset didn't much feel like going back out into the cold. She felt more like taking a nap, really.
Flash either didn't pick up on it or didn't care, because Sunset's eyes snapped open a few minutes later when the cold air hit her again. Flash stood just outside the car, holding the door open with his trademarked stupid grin. She groaned slightly as she climbed out onto the pavement and then followed him into the Ice Princess restaurant he'd parked next to.
"Hey, Sunset, it sure is cold out. Let's get some frozen food, that'll warm us up," Sunset commented as they entered the building, shivering slightly even with her leather jacket.
"Heh, uh, yeah, maybe not the greatest weather," Flash said sheepishly. "But still, you haven't had ice cream lately, right?"
Sunset just looked around at the interior. She'd never been inside the establishment before, but it seemed pretty typical. No lines, though, which Sunset liked. Flash walked up to the counter and placed an order. He glanced over his shoulder after asking for a chocolate ice cream cake, and Sunset nodded in approval. Flash paid without any fuss, and the clerk handed over a box he'd pulled from a tall freezer.
Flash turned around, holding the cardboard box in his arms. "Did you want to eat here, or back at your apartment?"
Sunset thought about it for only about two seconds before giving her reply. "It's more comfortable in my apartment."
Flash gave a brief nod and headed for the door. Once again, he held it for Sunset and jogged over to open the car for her as well. Sunset was a bit torn as she settled into her seat. It felt good to be treated with some respect and to have things done for her, but Flash didn't really do that sort of thing very much before. It was starting to weird her out a little, honestly.
The drive back to her apartment was less eventful than the previous, and neither of them said much aside from comments about the weather. It was more than a little cold, even for mid-autumn. The climate was highly irregular without anyone manually managing the weather, even from day to day. It was yet another thing she took issue with in this other world.
Flash placed the boxed cake down on the dining table once they were back inside Sunset's apartment. Sunset didn't even bother taking a step towards the kitchen, choosing to just sit down and wait for Flash to get her a bowl. He came back with two bowls and two spoons, placing one of each at either end of the table before sitting down opposite his girlfriend with a serving knife.
Sunset dug into her slice of cake as soon as she'd been served. She had to admit that Flash had made a good call with the whole "let's get ice cream" thing. The only thing that was bugging Sunset was why he was acting so nice that day, and she was just about to inquire about it.
With near-perfect timing, Flash broke the shared silence in the apartment. "Happy birthday, by the way."
Sunset stopped eating, the spoon halfway between the bowl and her mouth. She stared over the table at Flash, who was just sitting and smiling at her. After a good eleven seconds, she spoke. "What?"
Flash leaned forward over the table, speaking a little more loudly. "I said, 'happy birthday.'" He leaned back and spooned out some of the cake in his bowl.
Sunset turned her gaze to the cake. "Is that why you did all this today? You think it's my birthday?"
Flash swallowed a mouthful of cake and raised one eyebrow. "Isn't it?"
Well, that certainly explained why he'd been acting so weird that day. Sunset's eyes moved over the ice cream cake, trying to remember if she ever mentioned to him when her birthday was. She didn't recall ever doing it, so why did he think that today was the day? Slowly, Sunset said, "Maybe, but I don't think I ever told you. How did you find out?"
"I saw it on your ID card," he said simply, spooning more cake into his mouth.
"And when did you see that?" she asked, furrowing her brow.
"Remember when you lent me your wallet so I could run to the store and buy you some cough medicine a few months back?"
"Right, of course, my ID is in my wallet." Sunset raised up a hand, propping her head up as she poked at the slice of cake in her bowl. "Shoulda' remembered that." She also should have remembered the date she'd claimed to be her birthday in this world. It was a detail she'd assumed would be unimportant, but perhaps she was wrong. She'd been wrong about this world before. She didn't really expect to be dating anybody, for one thing.
Flash just shrugged. "How's the cake? I wasn't sure what kind you liked."
"It's good," she said dismissively, taking a spoonful into her mouth.
"Is, uh, something wrong?" Flash inquired.
"No, the cake tastes fine. You just...." Sunset took in a sharp breath and let out a quick sigh. "You just caught me a little off guard. I didn't expect you to do anything for my birthday, that's all."
"Is it a bad thing?" he asked slowly. Sunset just shook her head, eating some more of her slice of cake. Flash followed her example, and ate his own slice quietly.
She hadn't even thought about when her birthday was since she had to tell that lady what to put on her ID. She'd just picked a day, not wanting to associate her persona in this new world with her old pony self too much. The last time anything special happened on her real birthday was back when she was being taught by Princess Celestia, and that hadn't been much, likely due to their relationship becoming strained just before they went their separate ways.
"I haven't done anything special on my birthday in five years," Sunset finally explained, smashing the silence again. "It's just been another day, really."
Flash's voice brought her back to the present, as it often did. "Really? Your parents didn't even get you a cupcake with your name on it or anything?"
"My parents are dead," Sunset said with nonchalance. The clatter of a spoon hitting the table brought her eyes away from her bowl of cake.
"Sunset, I had no idea. I'm sorry, I didn't—"
She just waved a hand as if it didn't matter in the least. "Don't worry about it."
Flash picked up his spoon again, but hesitated as he held it over his bowl. "Do... do you wanna talk about it?"
Sunset's voice grew a little lower. "I said 'don't worry about it.' I got over it a while ago." She paused as she took a bite of her cake again, surprised by the thought she'd just had. Suddenly, she'd had the compulsion to say, "Besides, I've got you now, right?" She'd held her tongue, of course, but the fact that the idea had crossed her mind at all left her feeling a little strange. Despite that odd sensation (or perhaps because of it) Sunset found a smile forming on her face.
She expected him to push the issue further, but he didn't. When she looked up at him, he was just sitting there with a big, goofy grin, eating ice cream and staring at her.
"What are you smiling about?" she asked.
Flash shook his head, still grinning. "I just.... I love you when you smile." His own grin faltered suddenly, and he quickly corrected, "I mean: I love to see you smile. I love it when you smile."
Sunset laughed ever so slightly, turning her gaze to her bowl again to spoon out more food. "I know what you mean, loverboy."
Flash laughed a little too. "I don't get to see you smile very much, that's all. I wish I saw it more often."
Sunset tried to fight it, but her own smile was widening all by itself as she looked back at Flash. Somehow, for reasons she couldn't quite grasp, seeing that Flash was happier at the very idea of making her happy made her, well, happier. She couldn't put her finger on why, but she just dismissed it as another of the day's oddities. She was enjoying herself, and she could hold back her curiosity for the time being.
Flash leaned over the little table and planted a kiss against her forehead. "Happy birthday, Sunset."
It was barely audible, but it made Flash's smile just a touch bigger when he heard her say it. "Best one in years. Thanks, Flash."