> Summer Twilight
>  by Sunset_Sparkles
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The Decision 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunset gazed at the moonlit sky, wondering about her best friends. After the Fall Formal, when she thought she had lost everything, they appeared and guided her, even though she had hurt almost all of them in the past.

However, one of them didn't have anything to do with that event. Her name was Twilight Sparkle. Not the purple pony princess, but the human.
The day they met, she knew it wasn't the Twilight from Equestria. She was fairly different, not only in appearance, but also in her way of thinking. "Human Twilight" was what Princess Twilight would have been, hadn't Celestia sent her to Ponyville. That's what she told Sunset, at least. After a while, Twilight opened up to them, little by little. The hardest part was explaining the whole "Magic of Friendship" thing. She was highly skeptical of it, but a quick peek at the portal helped convince her. Now they were just like childhood friends; Twilight was now Sunset's closest friend.

However, now that their summer vacation started, she hadn't seen any of her friends for a while. Applejack was busy helping her family at Sweet Apple Acres. Fluttershy was taking care of pets for some families that were travelling, so she didn't have much free time to meet her friends. Rainbow Dash was training as always, and was even more focused now that she didn't have classes to "interrupt her training schedule". Rarity was taking care of her sister while designing her new clothing line. Pinkie Pie was traveling with her family, but Sunset didn't know where to.
"I wonder where she is by now," Sunset said. "The only thing she told us was the trip would 'rock'."
As for Twilight, she was at home as always. "Never leaves her 'nest', that girl."
Sunset then looked at her phone. "What? 03:27 AM already?" she said, surprised. "At least I don't have classes tomorrow." Sunset yawned and lowered herself into bed. As soon as her head touched the pillow, she fell asleep.

The next day, she woke up and started making herself breakfast. As always, she put bread in the toaster, cracked some eggs, fried them, retrieved the now-toasted bread, got the juice out of the fridge and started eating. Even though it was routine, she never got tired of it.
After eating, she had nothing to do for the rest of the day. Her vacations were always like this. Except now she had her friends.
"Hm, I think I'll call Pinkie and see if we - goddammit, Sunset, wake up!" she told herself as she noticed her mistake. "Why am I always like this at mornings?"
After some time thinking, she realized something.
"Wait... Twilight isn't doing anything today. Well, hopefully not. Maybe I can come over so we can do something."
Sunset decided that she would call Twilight after lunch, so it wouldn't seem like she was just desperate for food. As time passed, Sunset ordered lunch, and immediately gobbled it up like a parasprite when it arrived.

After lunch, she called Twilight.
"Hey Twilight," said Sunset.
"Hi, Sunset, how are you?" replied the voice on the phone.
"I'm fine, thanks. Just bored. I was wondering, maybe I could come over to your house right about now, so we could maybe do something?"
"Actually, that would be great! I don't have anything to do right now, so if you could come now, that would be appreciated."
"There's no need to be so formal, Twilight. I'm heading out now, so I should be there in about five minutes."
"Okay, see you then!"
"Bye Twilight." Sunset started to walk to her friend's house. Fortunately, it wasn't raining and Twilight lived close by, so she wouldn't need to ride her car to reach her destination.

Sunset knocked on the door when she arrived, and much to her surprise, a guy she didn't know opened the door instead of Twilight.
"Can I help you?" asked the man. He looked just a bit older than Twilight, but he couldn't have been Twilight's dad, whom she had met before.
"Erm, I'm Twilight's friend, and we...we kind of-"
"Oh, hey Sunset," said Twilight from behind the man. "She's the friend I told you about, Shiny."
He let Sunset through the door.
"You don't know my brother, right?" Twilight introduced her friend to her brother. "Sunset, this is Shining Armor. He's my BBBFF. And Shiny, this is Sunset Shimmer. She was the one I was on the phone with earlier."
"Nice to meet you...Mr. Shining," said Sunset, unsure of how to address him and unsure of what a "BBBFF" was exactly. She'd have to ask Twilight about it, but she decided she would do it later.
"Twiley does talk a lot about you." Shining Armor shook Sunset's hand in a firm albeit gentle way. "And you don't have to be so formal, just Shining is fine."
Sunset thought that was actually funny, in a cosmic sort of way.
"Okay then, Shiny, if you need anything, we'll be in my room," said Twilight with a smile on her face.
As Sunset and Twilight were heading to her room, Sunset saw someone else she didn't know. She was a woman with pink skin and an aura that seemed to fill the room with love. Not wanting to seem rude, Sunset waved shyly and decided to ask Twilight about her.
But now wasn't really the time for that. They had to decide what they would do first.
> Afternoon at Twilight's
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Arriving at Twilight's bedroom, Sunset decided to go directly to the point.
"Twilight, can I ask you two questions?"
"Of course, what do you want to know?" replied Twilight.
"First, what is a BBBFF? Why did you call your brother that?" asked Sunset, with a confused look on her face.
"Oh, yeah. I forgot people don't usually hear that. It stands for 'Big Brother Best Friend Forever', and I call him that because it's exactly what he is to me," said Twilight, blushing.
"Hm. That makes sense. The other question is: who was that pink woman? She didn't look like she's related to you," asked Sunset.
"That was Cadence, Shining's fiancée and my sister-in-law. She's a really nice person, and used to babysit me," replied Twilight happily, remembering all the good times she spent with Cadence.
"Well, she really seems to be a nice person. Now, let's get to the main point of this visit: what will we do?" said Sunset with an eager look.
"Well... want to study a bit?" suggested Twilight, blushing.
"Twilight. I came here because I AM bored, not because I want to BECOME bored. Seriously, studying? It's summer, for Celestia's sake!" said Sunset.
"Celestia? Why did you use the school principal's name? She isn't a goddess," said Twilight, confused.
"Remember when I told you I came from an alternate dimension, and the whole 'Princess Twilight' thing?" Twilight nodded, so Sunset continued. "In my world, Celestia isn't a school principal. Well, technically she is, but that's another story. She is actually another princess. Princess Celestia is the almighty ruler who controls the Sun's movements. She is kind of a goddess. She was also my teacher." As she said that, she remembered the times when she was Celestia's student.
"Sunset? Are you alright? You seem kind of sad. Did I say something wrong?" Twilight said, worried about her friend, who was looking sad now.
"No, it's alright. I was just remembering all the mistakes I made in the past. Running from Equestria, driving everyone at Canterlot High apart, stealing a powerful magic artifact, literally becoming a winged devil-" Sunset would go on, but when Twilight put a hand on her shoulder, she stopped.
"Don't worry Sunset. That is all in your past. Your past should not define you. It isn't today. We should learn from the past in order to have a better future," Twilight said as she tried to cheer her friend up.
"Thanks Twilight. I really needed that." Sunset was almost crying, but she managed to hold it.
"Besides, you're not the only one who committed mistakes in the past. Remember how I used to be, before you came? I never knew what friendship was, until you and your friends came and shared its magic with me." Twilight was now starting to laugh. "I can't thank you enough for what you did. When I transferred to Canterlot High, I didn't expect to learn something apart from what the teachers taught inside the classrooms. If it wasn't for you, I'd probably still be alone."
"Yeah, I'm kind of awesome," says Sunset with a smug grin.
"Wow, Rainbow is really rubbing off on  you. Either way, what I just said helps prove what I said earlier. Your past is not today. If it was, you wouldn't have befriended me." Twilight was now smiling more than ever.
==============
Somewhere else
==============
Pinkie Pie and her family were now on a volcano, inspecting its basalt. As she was walking, she felt something different in her heart.
"Wow. What did Sunset do to get a smile so big out of Twilight?" Pinkie said, just being herself.
==============
Back to Sunset and Twilight
==============
Tired of talking about the past, the girls decided to play a game called "Trivial Pursuit", a trivia game with varied themes.
" So, Sunset. You fell in a blue square, so it's Geography. What category will you choose? Opera, Homer, Harry Potter or Maps?" asked Twilight. She was really enjoying playing with Sunset. She proved to be a worthy adversary in this game, as she only needed a blue wedge to earn the rights for the winning question. However, Twilight already had all six wedges, so if she got the next question right, she would win.
"I choose Maps. I've got a good feeling about this one." Sunset was determined to win this game just to rub it in Twilight's face.
"Okay then, Maps, Blue question... OH COME ON!" Sunset looked at Twilight with a confused face, so she just said the question. "What is the official name for a mapmaker?
" I knew I'd get lucky! It's a Cartographer!" Sunset shouted at the prospect of winning. But it was too early to celebrate, since if Twilight got the next question right, it would be Game Over. "Can you give me the blue blue, please?"
"Okay then, just let me roll the dice and end this game now." Twilight picked the blue wedge and gave it to Sunset, then picked up the dice and rolled it. When her piece fell on a green square, she could already feel the taste of victory. "YEAH, SCIENCE!"
"Okay, so now we have Opera, Homer, Harry Potter and..." Sunset made a pause to replenish the card she chose earlier. "Diamonds."
"Diamonds, I choose you!" Twilight shouted like an anime character. "Go on, read the question.
Sunset shaked her head and tried not to laugh at Twilight's reaction. "Okay. What element are diamonds made of? OH GODDAMNIT!" Sunset was almost flipping the board, but if she did that, she would be a bad sport.
Twilight tapped her chin in thought with a tiny smile she attempted to hide. However, Sunset shot her a frown, and with a smile, Twilight recited, "Diamonds are an allotrope of Carbon, the sixth element in the Periodic Table, with an Atomic Mass of 12 units, which means that One Mole of Carbon has a weight of 12 grams"
"Come on Twilight, you know perfectly that saying "Carbon" would be enough. Why do you need to show your knowledge so much?" Sunset was annoyed, but she found it kind of funny. "Anyway, has anyone ever beaten you on this game?"
"Well, I haven't really played this game that much. Most people refuse because they know they'd lose," Twilight said, looking like Rainbow. "But, from all the people who played with me, you're the one who got closest to winning."
"That's actually a relief. One of my favorite sayings is 'If you're gonna lose, then at least lose to a champion', and that's just what I did," Sunset said pridefully.
"So, what are we gonna do now? That game only lasted 10 rounds, and I don't want to play again. Losing once is acceptable, but twice, even if against a champion, is too much." Sunset was now thinking about things they could do, when Twilight interrupted her thoughts.
"How about we just talk a bit? I kind of need to relax after thinking so much. I was actually worried I'd lose against you." Twilight's words surprised Sunset so much that her eyes widened just like two soccer balls. 
Sunset bowed as if she was in front of a monarch. "Why, I'm flattered, O Great and Almighty Twilight the Wise." Sunset stuck out her tongue to show Twilight she was joking.
After that, Shining Armor appeared on the door. "Hey Twily, Cadence made a snack for you and your friend. She asked me to come here and call you two. Want to go now?"
Twilight's stomach growled. "I think we'll go now. Let's go Sunset?"
"Alright. We don't have anything to do, and we could think about it while eating," said Sunset.
When they arrived at the kitchen, she found Cadence waiting with some sandwiches.
"So, you're Sunset, the girl Twilight talks about so much," said Cadence while the girls sat down at the table.
"CADENCE!" Twilight's face was getting red as she heard that.
"What? You do talk about her. Anyways, I'm Cadence. Nice to meet you, Sunset," she said looking at Sunset, as if evaluating her.
"You too. Twilight told me you used to be her babysitter. How did you manage to be friends with a girl so antisocial? No offense, Twilight," said Sunset, smiling.
"None taken. I know I used to be really reserved, but inside my family, I was just like I am with you and the others nowadays. Anyways, Cadence was already Shiny's girlfriend, so she was already part of the family," said Twilight.
"But don't act like you didn't have any weird moments." Cadence was now looking at Sunset again. "Once, I took her to the park to meet other people and she ran off to hide under a bench. It was really funny to see her thinking nobody could see her there."
"I can imagine that happening. But seriously Twilight, under a bench? You could think of lots of other places to hide. Anyway, I think we should eat now. These sandwiches are looking delicious." Sunset picked up one of the sandwiches and took a bite. "Not only looking, but tasting as well. Did you make them by yourself?" she asked Cadence.
"I don't wanna brag, but yes. I made them from scratch. However, Shining bought the ingredients, so I think he should get some of the merit too," answered Cadence.
Twilight also picked up one of the sandwiches, and once she took a bite, she started eating one after another.
"... What are you doing? Are you that hungry?" Sunset asked, confused.
"Whoops. Forgot you were here. Sorry, but I can't hold myself when it comes to Cadence's food. She's just too good." Twilight then slowed down, but continued eating lots of sandwiches.
After everyone finished eating, Sunset and Twilight decided they would stay in the kitchen with Cadence chatting for a while.
"So, besides that park incident, what other shenanigans did you have to deal with as Twilight's babysitter?" Sunset asked Cadence, who was now trying to remember something.
"Oh, there was that time we created a 'Joke Contest" between the two of us and Shining Armor. The best one she could come up with was 'Why is the corner hot? Because it's 90 degrees!' and she couldn't stop laughing." Cadence was now trying to hold her laughter.
"I was young! I didn't know many other jokes!" said Twilight, angrily.
"Hey, you know what? Why don't we have another joke contest now? We don't have anything better to do, and it's a fun way to pass time," said Sunset.
"Yeah, it's a good idea. Maybe this time you can win, Twilight. Shining, wanna participate?" asked Cadence.
"I think I'll just watch. I don't think I can win against you," said Shining as he sat down on the sofa.
"Okay. We have 5 minutes to think of the best joke we could have, then we will tell them in alphabetical order, so it's Cadence, Sunset and then me. Whoever gets more laughs wins."
With the rules established, the girls started thinking of the jokes they would say. Passed the five minutes, Cadence started telling her joke.
"Which of the American presidents was the least guilty?" When none of the others tried to guess anything, she completed the joke. "Lincoln, because he was in a cent. Get it?"
Sunset laughed slightly, and so did Twilight. Shining, however, was laughing like a hyena.
"Well then, I guess it's my turn. How do you make Apple Pie? You get 3.14 apples and bake them!" Twilight and Shining were laughing nonstop now, while Cadence was only a bit.
"I guess it's my turn now. What do you call a weapon made of NaCl?" said Twilight, trying to stop laughing.
"And of course, she makes a science joke. Who could guess?" Sunset said sarcastically.
"Don't interrupt me. Do you want to hear the joke or not? Anyways, what do you call it? A-salt rifle!" Only Twilight was laughing at that one. "Hey, it was a good joke!"
"Well, better than the 'corner' joke at least," said Sunset. "So, I guess I won."
"Yeah, your joke was really better than mine. Not even Shiny laughed when he heard it," said Twilight, glaring at her brother.
"Can't blame me, it was a weak joke. But Sunset really won. What should be her prize?" asked Shining Armor.
"We can think about that later. Either way, it was a fun contest. Now, what shall we do, Twilight?" said Sunset.
"Well, if it's OK with you, can we go back to my room? I have something to ask you," said Twilight, shyly.
Sunset agreed and they started heading towards Twilight's room. Little did she know, what she was about to hear would change her life.
> A Day to Remember
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As they reentered the bedroom, Sunset noticed Twilight was behaving strangely. First, she was fidgeting with her hair too much. Second, she was sweating, and it wasn't even hot. Third, she locked the bedroom's door.
"Okay Twilight, why are you acting so weird? What has gotten into you?" asked Sunset.
"Sunset, I need to ask you a question, and I need you to be completely serious about it. No laughing, no ignoring and most importantly, no running away. This is really important," affirmed Twilight, her eyes focused on her friend.
"I promise I won't laugh, ignore or run away. Why would I run away anyway?" inquired Sunset, really confused about that last bit.
"Okay, here goes nothing. Sunset, have you ever fallen in love with someone?"
"What? Can you repeat what you just said?  I couldn't hear it." Sunset was getting really nervous, because even though she couldn't hear it well, she had heard the word "Love".
“Have you ever fallen in love with someone? There, I said it." Twilight's face was now red like a tomato, and she looked even more nervous after asking that question.
At first, Sunset was speechless. She didn't expect this question coming from Twilight. And worse, she didn't know the answer. "I... I don't really know, Twilight. I mean, I dated Flash, that's a fact, but I don't think I had fallen in love with him. Why do you ask?" she said, worried about what she thought was the answer.
"Neither have I, Sunset. And after so much time alone, I don't even know how it really feels to be in love with someone. I don't know how I could discern between liking someone as a friend and loving that person." Sunset tried to speak, but Twilight continued. "I tried asking Cadence, and what she described was a feeling that I only got when I talked to you. Of course, I like talking to the others, but it's totally different when I talk to you. It's like I wanted to stop time, just to keep talking to you, and make that moment last forever."
Sunset didn't know what to do. She was trying to understand everything that was happening. Her best friend just confessed her feelings to her. It was too much for her, especially when she wasn't expecting any of this. "Twilight..."
"It's okay Sunset, you don't have to say anything. I just needed to get that off my chest, it had been stuck there for a long time. But I want you to know, everything I said today was 100% true."
"No Twilight, I have to say something. I can't just let you say all this without replying. Like you, I don't understand love. Like you, I didn't have friends until long ago. But unlike you, I don't have a family. You were used to talking to people, and to liking people. It took me a blast from a magical artifact to understand what I felt." Tears traveling across her face now, Sunset's face, she continued talking. "But now I understand something. I understand that I indeed have fallen in love. I understand what love is now. Thanks to you, Twilight, I know that love is getting out of your comfort zone for the person you love. It is gathering courage to tell that person you love her, even if you fear those feelings aren't mutual. Loving someone means you like spending time with that person, it means you doing things you wouldn't do normally, but that for your loved one, you do them anyway."
Twilight's face full of happy tears, she started talking again. "It means you would face your fears if needed, just to protect the person you love, and - " Twilight was interrupted as Sunset kissed her on the lips briefly. Caught by surprise, Twilight didn't have any time to respond. When Sunset broke the kiss, Twilight was speechless. She didn't know what to do. After some time passed, she tried to speak. "Sunset... I really... I mean... Do you... Really love me? For real?"
"Yes Twilight. I do love you. I still don't understand much of this feeling, but I know I love you. Now I know it." Sunset, blushing heavily, kissed Twilight again. This time, she kissed back, and it was the best thing both girls had ever felt.
When they broke the kiss, Twilight spoke up. "I don't have words to describe what I'm feeling right now. All I know is I don't want to be far from you ever again."
"Neither do I, Twilight. Neither do I."
"There's still one thing I gotta ask you, though. Sunset, do you want to be my girlfriend?" Twilight asked, and even though she was sure of the answer, she wanted to hear it.
"Yes Twilight. I want to be your girlfriend. I want to be by your side when you need. One thing though, is your family going to accept this? I mean, we're two girls, and we..." Sunset didn't know what to say now. She was too excited to think.
"Don't worry, they're pretty straightforward when it comes to these things. I'm sure they won't mind it. Should we go back to the kitchen?"
"I think we should. Cadence and Shining could be getting worried now," said Sunset, helping her girlfriend get up.
Holding hands, the two went back to the kitchen, and when they arrived there, all they saw was Shining Armor handing 20 dollars to Cadence.
"Please tell me you didn't bet what I think you did." Twilight facepalmed at seeing Shining nodding his head.
"Wait, what did they bet?" asked Sunset, oblivious to what was happening around her.
"We bet whether you two would start dating or not. I still don't get why Shiny thought he could win against me in a bet related to love," said Cadence.
"I don't know, it's just... I didn't think Sunset would love Twily back because of the way she talked about her. But I guess I was wrong. Take care of her, please," said Shining, with tears flowing through his face.
"Really Shiny? Crying at a moment like this?" asked Twilight.
"I-It's liquid pride. Anyways, I'm serious when I say you should take care of her."
"I promise. I won't ever hurt her, physically or emotionally." Sunset was blushing from saying that line, and then Twilight called her out.
"Sunset, it's already 7:00 PM, shouldn't you go home before it gets too late?" asked Twilight.
"Wait, are you saying I should leave? I thought you loved me, how could you do this?"
"Nonononono, it's just... Why am I saying this, you're just messing with me!" said Twilight, annoyed by her girlfriend's attitude. "Don't forget I have my BBBFF by my side."
"Oops. Anyway, I guess you're right, it's getting late and I don't want any random encounters during the night. Bye Cadence, bye Shining."
"Aren't you forgetting someone? Your girlfriend, for example?" asked Twilight, staring deeply at Sunset.
"Ever heard of saving the best for last?" After saying that, she went for a kiss on Twilight's cheek. "Bye, Twilight. Shall I come back tomorrow?"
"That would be great. Come for lunch, though. I want you to meet my parents."
"Okay, see you tomorrow then." As she left the house, she couldn't stop thinking about what happened this day.
Arriving home, she took a shower and changed her clothes. "Well, I guess I know what I'll do for the rest of this summer now," she said to herself before going to bed. "Tomorrow will be another day, and I hope it will be better than today."