Twilight and Sunset Shimmer go on a summer road trip.
Summer has arrived for the students of Canterlot High School, Twilight had planned the perfect summer trip for her and her new friends. However, when she learns most of them have other things planned only Sunset Shimmer joins her in the grand adventure. Of course down the road and in summers heat things might just become more complicated than Twilight perceived. [Sunlight Road Trip!AU]
Twilight stared out the window watching the blur of trees, houses, and signs pass by. Her purple hair with the single pink streak blew in the breeze from the open windows. Looking down a notebook sat in her lap. She brought it along to record all the adventures she and her six friends were going to have for the next two months of their summer vacation. Yet, most of them expressed their sediments about having to miss it due to their own plans. Twilight nodded in understanding, but was also a little disappointed. At first girl thought it was because they didn't like as much as she thought. They all had a legitimate reason, but that didn't stop the voice of doubt to whisper in her ear. Thankfully, her newest friend Sunset Shimmer didn't have anything to do. She gratefully volunteered to go every place with Twilight.
She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, and glanced over at the girl. The fresh air blowing through her orange and red hair. Sunset wore her typical leather jacket, a pair of purple sunglasses covered brilliant emerald green eyes. Noticing her nerdy and shy friends gaze, a half smile curved her lips. “Are you enjoying the trip so far, Twi?”
Staring down at her feet, she replied, “Yeah, thanks again for doing this, I really do appreciate it.”
“Not a problem at all, we're friends after all, and that's what friends do.” Wow, that was cheesy. The influences friendship can have on a person, she sighed internally.
“I have to admit, it does seem strange for me to have such nice and wonderful friends after spending years alone,” Twilight whispered, still looking down at the floorboard.
“I know how you feel, one day you're the most feared girl in the school. The next you got six companions who are willing to see you get back on the path of good,” Sunset chuckled. She had the school in the palm of her hand. Everyone feared her, until a certain pony princess came and gave her a massive reality check. “You'll get used to it though, I can promise you that,” she assured giving the girl a small smile.
Twilight looked up returning it. Turning her head back to the window silence filled the space once more. Twenty minutes outside their hometown, Sunset noticed they were getting closer to a bigger city.
“So, navigator, where are we heading to first on this summer adventure?”
Pushing her glasses up once again, she opened the notebook to the first page. Skimming her finger down the paper passing several crossed out ideas. The official list had been shot to hell upon talking to each friend, and once they revealed their already set plans. The first stop was supposed to be one of those tourist traps Pinkie Pie loved so much. The World's Largest Yarn Ball. Twilight failed to see the appeal in such a waste of time and yarn, but she figured the seven of them could have enjoyed it if one understood the idea. “How do you feel about the Space Museum?” she asked shyly.
“Sounds like a blast, actually. Just tell me when to turn, and we'll enjoy a day nerdy fun.”
Twilight nodded informing Sunset to take the next turn and follow it until they reached the marker. “Since we have some time on our hands, how about a road game? I've done my research on several.”
Sunset obligated, “Sure, we can play a game.”
(Line Break)
The trip to the Space Museum took little more than an hour. Parking in the crowded lot, Twilight got our rubbing her left shoulder. "When I did my research on that game I don't recall reading about punching a person in the arm every time a different license plate came into view."
With an apologetic smile, Sunset placed a hand on the girl's other shoulder. "Sorry, but you're lucky Rainbow isn't here. Your arm would look and feel far worse."
Lifting up her sleeve, Twilight didn't see any discoloring, it just hurt. "I see your point, lesson learned though. We'll only play safe car games from now."
Sunset walked by, threw a coy smirk over her shoulder, "Good thing too, 'cause I know there's a Coltswagon car lot near here."
Twilight didn't understand what red and golden hair meant. Judging by the devious smile, though it couldn't have been anything good. Ignoring a strange feeling in her chest Twilight carried on heading towards the museum. Entering, she was greeted by a huge dangling solar system composed of all nine planets. Twilight stood there awestruck by the beauty the stunning display offered. They each rotated around Celestia's sun at their own pace like they do in space itself. She saw the details put onto each once from the various ridges, crevices, and flat barren areas. They even went so far as to include all the moons circling each one.
"Hey, Twi I got the tickets,” Sunset called. Finding Twilight still standing there she chuckled lightly, upon seeing her friend enamored with the display above. Walking over she placed a hand on Twilight's arm.
Jumping from the touch Twilight fixed her glasses. "Sorry, Sunset I got, um, distracted by this. I've never seen anything quite this scientifically accurate and pleasing to the eyes."
That isn't all that's pleasing to the eyes, Sunset thought, noticing the way Twilight's lavender eyes light up and a beaming smile curved her lips, whenever she talked science. Feeling her cheeks heat up at her thoughts, Sunset asked, "Ready?"
Twilight nodded and the pair began their journey through the wonders of space. They started off the very beginning of the stars themselves, the various planets making up the galaxy, they lived in, the sun, moon, comets, meteorites, and other aspect the cosmos could offer.
Next, they wandered down sections explaining and showcasing how ancient civilization's documented the stars creating their own calendars. Some theorizing two sister goddess controlled the night and day. From the philosophers of yore dreaming of going beyond the stars. Following the timeline, Twilight corrected a few things about she noticed that were inaccurate about Aristrawtle and Plato. The invention of the first telescope discovered in the 1600s to the man who improved it: Galileo and how it revolutionized the view of space.
After making their way through centuries of astronomy and theories about space. They arrived at one of Twilight's favorite moments of history for the sake of science and exploration: the Great Space Race. Whoever reached the moon first would bath in history changing glory. Two great Equestrian nations building to reach the stars. From there they gazed at the miniature display of Neil Hoofstrong landing upon the moon. "It really would be remarkable to see the entirety of Equestria from the moon," Twilight said amazed. "I just wish the others were here, I'm sure they would be fascinated by all this wonder.”
"Yeah, it would be nice," Sunset agreed. Sunset glanced around seeing a large hanging version of Equestria. "Hey Twilight, get a picture of this and sending it Rainbow. Unsure why Rainbow Dash would something like this pleasing Twilight obligated. Snapping the photo, she looked at it before sending it. Sunset looked as if she had the entire world in the palm of her hand. "Did you get it?" Sunset asked, standing beside her.
"Done and sent."
They left the Space Race Exhibit and ended up near the food court. Sunset looped her arm through Twilight. "Let's grab some food before we to do anything else, okay?"
"I could a drink and it is time for lunch," Twilight nodded, a light blush coating her cheeks feeling Sunset pulling her along.
"Great my treat today."
Getting their lunch, Twilight grew curious about a package with the words Space Ice Cream. Purchasing it, the pair sat down with their salads and water. She poked at her salad glancing at her friend. "Sunset, are you having fun?" she asked concerned.
"Yeah, I am. I'm more into chemistry that astronomy, but seeing you enjoy yourself is making this worthy wild."
Twilight smiled and started to eat her lunch. Her phone buzzed, checking it, she had received a reply from her earlier text to Rainbow Dash. Tapping it, she handed it over, "Rainbow replied with a text."
Taking the phone Sunset rolled her eyes: Hey, looks like you finally got the world in the palm of your hand!
"I take it, what she said was hurtful and insensitive."
"Just forget about it. The past is behind me,” she stated casually deleting the text. Seeing the foil package, she asked, changing the subject.
"Oh, this space ice cream peeked mg curiosity, and figured we could try it."
"Sure, why not?" Reaching in taking a pink and white cube, Sunset bravery tried it. "Wow, that is awful."
"Really?" Examining a brown cube, she popped it into her mouth and frowned at the taste. "Taking into consideration that alterations had to be made to simulate what ice cream would taste like in space this really nasty."
The two exchanged half smiles and a quick laugh. Twilight unzipped her backpack expecting to see Spike's head to pop out tongue lolling out, but he wanted to stay with Candace and Shining Armor. Pulling out her notebook checking the time and comparing it to her schedule. "The planetarium should be restarting soon."
"Then, let's get going." Throwing their trash away, the two friends entered the dimly light room, taking a seat, Twilight reached out for the armrest. She found herself suddenly touching Sunset's arm. Pulling away, she averted her gaze, and twirled her hair around her finger. The room was cloaked in darkness and the light show began. In the reflection of beaming lavender eyes the stars of the night sky light up before her.
(Line Break)
The pair arrived at the hotel three hours behind schedule. Twilight looked through her notes a little miffed to how it happened. They did everything she had listed for that day. Sitting on one of the beds, she tapped the pencil eraser against her bottom lip. Sunset walked out of the bathroom wearing a purple shirt and pants. "Sunset," the girl began. "How is it possible that we spent an extra threes at the museum?"
Sunset thought about her answer. When she spent her days alone time the minutes felt like hours, and hours felt like days. The ticking of a clock annoyed her, she gritted her teeth with every movement of the second-hand. After the events of the Fall Formal, becoming a raging she-demon a single hand came down from the heaven lifting her from hell. Princess Twilight Sparkle opened and brighten her world to the magic of friendship. She came to enjoy the days, every second became filled with laughter and Sunset earned redemption.
Taking a seat on the bed, she reached out taking the studious girl's hand. "Pinkie once told me time flies when you're having fun. That's what we did today, have fun and the hours seemed to fly by, right?"
"Yes, despite having to fix my original plans to compensate for the missing parties, I did take lots of pleasure in spending time with you." Twilight hugged her legs, placed her head upon them, and sighed, "I just hope the rest of the trip is like this first day."
Offering her sincere smile, Sunset replied, "I guess we'll just have to see where the road takes us." Standing up, she placed a gentle kiss upon her friend's head, "I'm hitting the hay. Night Twilight."
Setting her things Twilight relaxed on the bed. Covering she glanced at Sunset Shimmer glad to have such a decent friend to spend time with. "Goodnight Sunset." Closing her eyes, she was glad the first turned out great and hoping the unforeseeable future days would be just as good or better.
The next morning Twilight and Sunset were getting ready to hit the road once more. Checking the clock on her phone, she noted they were making good time, but the list of activities had been dwindling down to practically nothing. Scratching her head with the end of her pencil the studious girl was growing more frustrated by the second. Tearing out a scrap piece she had been using for further notes, Twilight crumbled it up, and tossed it across the room.
Sunset finished buckling up her boots, standing up, she retrieved the ball of paper. She found Twilight's scowl kind of cute. Cute? Really Sunset, what are you thinking? Holding out the ball, she asked, "Want to talk about?"
"None of this working,” Twilight groaned, placing a pillow over her head to hide her shame.
A soft half smile curved her lips finding Twilight predicament similar to own when she was trying to figure out magic in the human world. Though, this is a bit different as well. This is a vacation, not an earth shattering, life altering event. Taking a seat on the side of the bed Rarity's words echoed in her head just before she left for her internship with Photo Finish. “Now, remember darling, make sure Twilight has fun.”
An idea popped in her head. "Mind if I make a suggestion?"
Under the pillow Twilight shook her head.
"How about instead of worrying about what might come next. We could just always go along with wherever the road may take us?"
Peeking out from her hiding place, she asked, "What do mean? Vacations take planning, weeks in advance more often than not. We can't possibly just go down the road, being at the mercy of whatever may show up miles ahead."
"This isn't science, it's a road trip, not everything that might happen will be part of the plan or predicted.”
"Actually," she pulled out the notebook. "I did have a point and time when the car would either break down or we get a flat tire. By then tension should be at its peak and we have a fight-"
Sunset placed a finger on her lips. "Again something, like that can't be foreseen." she sighed, "This is just as new to me as it is to you."
"I know," she looked down, playing with the helm of her nightshirt. "I just thought maybe after the magic fiasco all of us could use this trip so I could prove I'm a better person. If everything was planned out to the letter, then maybe I -I. . ."
"Twilight, you have already done enough to redeem yourself to everyone at the school.”
“Yeah, 'cause the other world Twilight already befriended them making my redemption easy for them to accept. I sometimes think they would rather have her than me shy old me.”
“That's not true, Twilight, you have made many friends while at CHS, and no one has ever compared you to Princess Twilight.” Well, besides Flash, but does he really matter? “However, even after you do all that you still have to convince one more person: yourself." Are you talking about her, or yourself, a tiny voice spoke. She looked down at her right hand. "Someone once gave me a hand, when I thought all hope was lost. In return I helped out someone else, a dear friend, who also needed a guide towards the right path. I'm here for you though wherever this road-trip takes, we're friends until the end.”
“'Cause we pretty much experienced the same draw to power from another world turning us into monsters of own insidious desires'?”
“Yeah, that being the shortened version of what happened,” she replied, rubbing the back of her head. “Of course, that's not the entire reason why we're friends.” For starters, I still feel kind of awful for making you cry during the games. I didn't like seeing my friends almost getting hurt because an introverted, genius who wanted to learn about magic. Only to end up being tempted by the power and if felt like looking I was looking into a mirror when I did that. “Getting back on point, though, what do say, can we give it try”
“We will see where your hypothesis goes for today since I have absolutely nothing in our itinerary to do today.”
“Excellent, well, you need to get ready and I'll put our stuff in the car, then we'll see what kind of trouble we can get into,” Sunset smiled, slipping on her leather jacket.
Twilight looked up at her, violet eyes wide in shock. “Trouble?”
At the door with most of their bags in hand, Sunset chuckled lightly, “I'm joking with you Twi.”
“Right, joking.” Once the door was shut, Twilight stood up a skirt, blouse, and leggings in her hand. Glancing out of the windows a sad thought crossed her mind, “You never did explain why we're friends.”
(Line Break)
Twilight knelt down on the fake grass, staring down the dreaded windmill on hole five of an out of the way putt-putt course Sunset spotted while they were driving down a back road. It wasn't on the schedule, but after this morning's conversation Twilight agreed to give it a try for her. With her final calculations of where the ball ought to go completed, Twilight lined up her putter with the purple ball, exactly the way Sunset had showed her back at the first hole. A light coat of blush stained her cheeks upon recalling the closeness the pair had shared during a few practice swings. Sunset's warm breath ghosted along her cheeks and ear, and her hands were over top of her hers along the handle of the putter. It felt different than all the hugs her friends gave her. No, this was indeed different it was . . .intimate.
Shaking her head, Twilight went back to concentrating on the task at hand. Focusing once more on the windmill, she waited until the time was right, and hit the ball. It rolled down the grass, easily past the windmill's blades, and sank into the hole. Pushing up her glasses she said, "That's two under par for me," she said, writing down the score for the hole. Examining the scorecard they were pretty evenly matched. There were still thirteen holes, though, so anything could happen. "You're up Sunset."
Setting the red and orange swirled ball on the green padding. Sunset lined up her club, watched the windmill just the same as did Twilight, inhale deeply, and took the shot. Entering the hole, the ball slowly rolled along the green, and fell into the hole with a soft clunk. "Yeah, now that's what I'm talking about!" Sunset exclaimed, twirling her putter between her fingers. Rejoining the girl, she glanced at the card. "I'm down by two. It's still early though, shall we keep going?"
"Yes," pushing her glasses up, the two arrived at the next hole. "It seems the sixth hole is a par four due to a few sand-traps and a hill with a steep slope."
By mid-afternoon the two friends had made it to the eighteenth hole. Twilight lead by negative three points, while Sunset was only down by one. Facing the hole there were two obstacles to pass. The first a large tower with a rising and falling drawbridge. The second a large red dragon blocking the path ensuring that a player couldn't go around it. The goal is to hit the ball up its spiky tail, where it will roll up, then down its back, where hopefully the ball will come out of the beast's mouth, and go into the hole.
Setting her ball down, Twilight gazed at the layout before the tower. She counted the time between the opening and closing of the drawbridge. Also, she included which corner would be better to bank the ball off, so it could easily glide into the structure. Sunset was doing the same calculating what would be the best angle of trajectory to hit the ball from. Judging from the position of the entrance and where we are standing. Factor in the light wind, roughness of the grass colored carpet, and finally, the time between the drawbridge. So, that means the answer is. . .
"Fifteen degrees," they both said in unison. The girls lock eyes, a light blush coating their cheeks, and they laughed nervously.
“Do you know how long it takes the drawbridge to close?" Sunset asked coyly.
"Why, yes, it's every twenty seconds on the close and thirty during the open.” Placing her ball on the white marker, Twilight once again lined up her putter with the ball. She intently watched the door while it was closed. Exactly ten seconds later, she took the shot, watched it hit the bank at fifteen degrees, entered the tower, and popped out the other-side. “I'll meet you at the dragon,” Twilight voiced heading off.
Sunset quickly took the shot hitting hers a little harder, causing it to roll a little farther than Twilight's. “Well, I guess this it, huh, these final shots will determine who wins.
“Quite, and I must admit for this not being a scheduled event this game is actually fun.”
“See, I told you, sometimes the best things aren't the things we plan, but what we find along the way.” Ugh, there I go again with the cheesy philosophy. “Now, let's finish this game.”
Twilight's ball started to roll up the dragon's tail, making it over, it built up momentum on the downhill slide that it completely bypassed the hole hitting the wooden barrier on the other side. Noticing this Sunset figured she might have a chance at winning this, though she didn't really care since it was meant to be a fun game. “You go ahead and finish this hole, okay Twi! Just don't forget what I showed you.” A mischievous smile curved Sunset's lips recalling Twilight become flustered when she was teaching her how to play putt-putt. She hadn't meant to get to so close, but Sunset felt at ease with the adorable science dork. Sunset stop thinking about your friend in more than friendly manner.
“Alright,” she called back, suddenly thinking about what Sunset had showed her. Lining up with the ball, she inhaled deeply, and upon the exhale, she putted. The ball barely rolled two feet becoming mere inches away from the hole. “It seems I miscalculated how rough this patch of grass is.” Checking the balls position from the hole, Twilight nudged it hoping that it would be enough. Yet, to her surprise and sort of disappointed the ball hit the outer ring of the hole before circling around to the other-side. “Well, that was rather particular,” Twilight said, miffed about what happened.
Sunset's orange and yellow ball rolled up next to hers. The girl jumped down from the high platform, joining Twilight. She glanced, and said sympathetically, “Ooh, it seems you choked on the last shot.”
“Choked? My airways are perfectly clear.”
Sunset withheld a small chuckle, “No, Twi, it's another term for you doubting yourself due to the pressure of either winning or losing at the last possible chance.”
“Oh, I see. That's does make some sense considering the roughness of the grass threw off my calculations.” Then again I was distracted by Sunset's advice and the memory of it still circling around my mind.
Only you Twilight would come with a logical answer ignoring what might be in front of you. “So, you are you going to finish this game?”
Glancing down she noticed Sunset's ball was firmly in her hand, Twilight nodded, tapping the ball and it went into the hole. She marked down the score. “It looks you are the winner of this game, Sunset.”
“Well, for this being your first game of putt-putt you didn't do so bad yourself there, Twilight Sparkle,” she praised.
Playing with her hair, Twilight replied meekly, “I did have a good teacher back at the first hole. Plus, this game has element's of science and math that made it quite enjoyable as well.”
Sunset causally placed an arm on the girl's shoulder. “See, wasn't it nice to take a break from lists and schedules and have a little fun?”
“Yes, this idea of yours worked nicely actually,” she admitted.
“Good, now how about I buy you a drink?”
“Sunset,” Twilight began, “you won. I should be the one to buy drinks since it is customary for the loser-”
The slightly older girl cut her friend off, “It wasn't a competition, this was just a simple, fun game between two friends are grand adventure. Besides, I'm thirsty, consider it my treat.” Sunset outstretched her hand, “Come on that's what friends are for, right?”
Twilight took her hand and the pair walked side-by-side towards the concession stand. Twilight offered Sunset a warm half smile. I'm still so new to everything being shown to me on this trip, but I'm enjoying spending time with you.