SunZap, SunZest, SunSweet, SunCoat or SunFlare?
When describing the five girls known as the Crystal Prep Shadowbolts “friends” probably wouldn’t be one of the words you would use; rather something like rivals or acquaintances or “group of random girls that were unwillingly bound to each other through the horrible machinations of a broken system known as school”. But still, after getting involved into the transdimensional, magical problems of their partner school, Canterlot High, they tried to take their advice by heart and become exactly that. Because of that they decided to regularly go out together to eat something tasty, or fast food from Hayburger when it was Lemon’s turn to pick.
“Oh great, another tasty hamburger, another potential heart attack,” Sour Sweet was as joyous as always.
“Come on, Sour, they’re not as bad as you make them out to be,” Lemon Zest replied.
“Each of our meals has more calories than half a dozen chocolate bars,” Sugarcoat quickly added.
“See, you’d have to eat six full chocolate bars to get the same energy.”
“Lemon, I don’t think she’s on your side.” Sunny Flare looked down on her burger. “Let’s just get this over with, and next time I’ll pick something... healthier, right Indigo?”
“To be honest, I don’t mind this that much. I mean it is cheap, has a decent enough taste and as a sportswoman I’d say…” Indigo Zap never finished her sentence and decided to just blankly stare ahead.
Sunny Flare was the first to voice concerns. “Is that the heart attack Sour talked about?”
“Isn’t that perfect, Lemon’s plan to kill us to become Crystal Prep’s new star student has now officially started.”
“If it was a heart attack, she probably would’ve gripped her chest in pain,” Sugarcoat cleared up.
Sour Sweet finally looked where Indigo was staring. The others turned around to do the same and now all of them saw the girl that just entered.
In short, she was a gorgeous angel.
In long, she had beautiful flowing red and golden hair. Her face held shining blue eyes and a wonderful smile. She had the body of a supermodel and perfect yellow skin. She wore a cool leather jacket with fitting boots over a nice cyan dress and jeans. That was what they dubbed the mysterious beauty of CHS, also known as Sunset Shimmer.
All five stared at her for at least a full minute. Indigo was the first to catch herself; she looked at her fellow still-staring Shadowbolts. “Am I right that we are all having crush on the same girl.”
All of them started blushing at that statement.
Lemon was the first to answer. “It’s pretty hard not to. I mean look at her–” Sunset chose that exact moment to turn her backside to them. “–dayum!” –The others put their hands on their foreheads– “I’ll call her over to us!”
Lemon stood up, but before she could get any sounds out Sunny grabbed her, pulled her back into their seat and covered her mouth. “Pssst! Do you want to humiliate us?” she half-whispered to Lemon.
Sunny released Lemon’s mouth for an answer. “Why would I want to humiliate us?”
The others gave her flat stares. Sugarcoat decided to say it, “Quote unquote ‘dayum’.”
“Well, that was just my personality. But I’m sure she wouldn’t mind such a praise, I mean she’s–” Sunny shut Lemon’s mouth again and decided to keep it shut.
“We know she’s nice and beautiful, but we also know that you and the rest of the world have different definitions of what counts as a compliment,” Sunny cleared up. Meanwhile she was mentally debating whether the embarrassment she prevented was worth Lemon licking her palm.
“Come on, five friends crushing on the girl is something out of a bad comedy,” Indigo took the word. “Are you all even… you know... into girls? I know I probably am... and Lemon obviously is on first, second and third glance.”
“Maybe…”, Sunny said with a blush.
“At least for her,” Sugarcoat added precisely.
“I’m bi in nearly every way.” All looked at Sour Sweet with wide-eyes. “I said nearly,” she grumpily added.
“Ehh...Now that we cleared that up, what are we gonna do? I mean, we can’t share her, or can we?”
“Definitely not,” Sugarcoat quickly replied. “This is not some harem-anime. How about we go by who fell for her first? It’s a bit hard to admit, but my crush probably started way back when she turned into this magical angel to save us during the friendship games… and judging by your red faces you did the same.”
The others nodded.
“Don’t we forget someone? What about Sunset? What do we know about her exactly?” Sunny finally released Lemon and wiped her hand with a napkin. Lemon’s tongue wiggled for a few more moments before she puffed up her cheeks in a pout.
“Well, she’s smart and athletic.”
“She looks pretty awesome on a bike.”
“She’s an alien from another dimension filled with magical rainbow-horses.”
The group thought about that for a moment… and then dismissed it.
“Why don’t we take the easy route,” Indigo suggested. “The one that makes Sunset fall in love with her first will get her, obviously. Do we have a deal?”
“But to make one thing sure, as much as we enjoy our company we won’t sabotage each other. That would be cliche enough.”
They all looked at Sunset, who just took the food she ordered and left the restaurant.
“Deal!” they said in unison.
“So… does anyone have a plan?”
All girls shook their heads.
When in the summer the sun burns and the air is so humid that standing around makes you break a sweat, there is only one solution: Spending a day at the beach. That’s what Sunset and her friends decided to do on this hot day. Sunset and Rarity were currently sunbathing, Rainbow and Applejack played volleyball and Twilight, Fluttershy and Pinkie were enjoying the water. Of course the Shadowbolts followed them and set up camp in a safe distance.
“Alright, everything is ready for my master plan,” said Indigo Zap, who until now had watched the CHS-girls. “And don’t forget, we promised to not sabotage each other.”
“Don’t worry, Indigo,” Sunny answered first. “It’s way too hot for me to do anything. I’ll just stay here and chill.”
“I’m with Sunny on this one.” Sour agreed. “Maybe I’ll build a cute little sandcastle or a sand monster that will crush all these other puny castles.”
“I’m quite content sitting down here and reading a manga about mythical dragons working as maids,” Sugarcoat spoke up from under an umbrella in her typical, slightly monotone voice. “Oh hey, the beach chapter, what a funny coincidence. I wonder who’ll be funnier to watch.”
Indigo chose to ignore that. “And where’s Lemon?”
“Right when we put down our stuff she threw off her clothes and ran into the water.” Sunny pointed at the ocean where Lemon was currently splashing with Pinkie. “Luckily, this time she didn’t forget to put on her swimsuit before.”
“She isn’t very subtle.”
“At least she won’t be able to disturb my master plan from there.”
“Will you finally tell us your ‘oh so perfect’-plan, pretty please?"
“If you insist, I think I have enough time for that,” Indigo started to explain. “As you may have noticed already, I intentionally chose this place when we came to the beach.” –Sugarcoat raised her hand– “Yes, also because it’s close to the toilet. But if you may look to your right, you’ll see that my future girlfriend...ahem, I mean... Sunset Shimmer currently lies directly between us and the closest food shack. I’ll go there, buy something she’ll probably like and on the way back I’ll ‘randomly’ walk past her, offer her something, we’ll start to talk and BAM! we’re girlfriends. What do you say? Perfectly foolproof, huh?”
The other three looked at her for a moment. Finally Sunny spoke up, “This is… surprisingly simple, yet effective.”
“To be honest, this might even work, though I’m sure you’ll still find a way to mess this up”
“This is an actually good plan you have. I expected you’d try to save her from drowning.”
“Save that for plan B.” Indigo started to walk towards the shack.
Roughly 20 minutes later Indigo was on her way back carrying two paper plates of inky spaghetti.
Which food shack offers squid-ink spaghetti as their specialty? she wondered.
She walked past the volleyball-game of Rainbow and Applejack and got closer to Sunset.
“Oh hey, Sunset Shimmer, long time no see,” Indigo tried her best to sound casual.
“Hmm?” Sunset looked up at her visitor. “Oh yes… Indigo Zap from Crystal Prep. What’re you doing here?”
“I was only spending some time at the beach on a hot day; just got something to eat.”
“Yeah, I smelled it already. And it does look tasty. Can I maybe try a bite?” Sunset asked.
Yes, it works. We’re talking. Now nothing can go wrong. “Sure you can–”
“WATCH OUT!”
Before Indigo could react, she got hit right in the back of her head by a stray volleyball and fell face-first in the sand. Luckily she got no injuries and raised only a few seconds later. Indigo looked up and saw absolute horror before herself. The plates of spaghetti fell right on Sunset and Rarity, covering both in inky noodles. Sunset faced it with dignity. Rarity did not.
“IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MY SWIMSUIT!! MY SWIMSUIT!!! IT WASN’T SUPPOSED TO GET DIRTY… OR WET!! AND NOW IT’S BOTH!!”
“D-Don’t worry, Rarity, it was an accident and Indigo didn’t do it intentionally,” Sunset tried to diffuse the situation. “Now that it’s already wet, we can just wash it off in the ocean. Come on, I’ll even hold up your hair.”
Sunset helped Rarity stand up, quickly formed a “sorry” for Indigo with her mouth and started walking her friend to the water. Indigo silently watched this play out.
“Hey, Indigo, can you throw back the ball?” she heard Rainbow shout.
Her chances with Sunset rapidly sinking Indigo was faced with a tough choice. She looked at Sunset who supported a shaky Rarity in walking to the ocean. She looked at Sour and Sunny rolling in the sand laughing (she couldn’t see it, but she was sure even Sugarcoat was smiling). Finally she looked at the volleyball beside her. And she made a decision.
“Hey Rainbow, can I join in?” She started playing with Rainbow and Applejack and avoided Sunset and especially Rarity for the rest of the day.
The “Running of the Leaves” was a famous event that happened every fall in Canterlot City. During this event the participants would race each other along a set course through the forests around the town.
Sunset Shimmer was standing at the starting line between Rainbow and Applejack attempting to keep these two competitive rivals apart from each other before the race begins. At the other end of the line four of the Shadowbolts were getting ready for their next plan to win Sunset’s heart.
“I’m gonna beat you!” Except for the highly competitive Indigo and Lemon, who had to be held apart by Sour Sweet.
Sunny Flare sighed. “Did you forget why we’re participating? This race is the perfect chance to get Sunset alone, because her only two friends here will race ahead in no time. You, Lemon, were the one who found out she participated here in the first place.”
“That may be true, but she challenged me and I won’t back down from a challenge.”
“I hate to be the voice of reason,” Sour spoke up. “But could you please look at the bigger picture?"
“Why are you even worrying? Without us you should have better chances at Sunset.”
“It’s not like you’d have a chance at winning even if you tried.”
And the sparks were flying three-way.
“It. Is. On. I will beat both of you into submission. And I’m so serious about this that I won’t even say something sweet.”
Sunny Flare sighed again. She saw Sugarcoat approaching. “There you are. Looks like it's gonna be only the two of us and Sunset. Where’s your starting-number? Aren’t you running?”
“The ‘Running of the Leaves’ was once a sacred tradition in our town, because the people believed the running would help the trees lose their leaves for the winter,” she answered. “But because humans don’t care about history, today it’s nothing more than a dumb charity marathon for hobby joggers and competitive athletes, and we two are none of those. Which is why I’m passing on this one, too. I’ll be watching from the sidelines and maybe wait until you collapse to tell you how dumb you were.” With that she walked away.
“At least I’ll have Sunset for myself.” Sunny Flare got into position to start the race.
“Get into position everyone!” came the announcement. “Ready… Set… GO!”
At that exact second Lemon, Indigo and Sour charged straight ahead leaving everyone else to eat their dust. On the other side Applejack and Rainbow did the same. A moment later all other racers started. Sunny Flare kept Sunset in her view, though she had to run faster than she was comfortable to keep up.
After a few minutes the other runners had dispersed enough for Sunny to finally approach Sunset.
“Hey, Sunset Shimmer, didn’t expect to see you here,” she tried to sound casual.
“I could say the same thing about you, Sunny Flare. I’ve already seen Lemon and Indigo and Sour, but I haven’t thought you’d participate in something like this.”
“Yeah, it’s mostly because of those three,” she lied. “They kinda dragged me into this. Though I can’t deny I’m interested in the history and tradition behind this race.”
“I’ve to admit that it really is interesting how the ‘Running of the Leaves’ developed over the years.”
“Hey, would you mind running together so we can talk about it?” Sunny suggested.
“Of course not. I mean it’s only about finishing the race and not about who comes first.”
Yes! Sunny thought. Now I’ve got the whole race to impress her with my skills and personality and win her over. She didn’t notice the sweat that was already collecting on her forehead.
Ten minutes of straight running and Sunset explaining the historical background of this event passed and the race already took its toll on Sunny. She was breathing heavily and sweating all over her body. Although Sunset had already slowed down for her, Sunny had trouble keeping up.
“Sunny, are you sure you don’t need a break?” Sunset worried.
“No problem, *hah* it’s nothing…If I got through *hah* the friendship games… then I can *hah* win this, too.” I can’t show her my weakness now!
“Weren’t you on rollerskates there?”
“It doesn't *hah* matter.” She’s barely started to sweat, yet… Are that the horse genes?
“Alright, if you say so. I think the halfway-point should be coming soon,” Sunset observed.
“Halfway?” That was enough for Sunny and she collapsed on the ground.
“SUNNY!” Sunset shouted.
“Don’t worry about me,” Sunny weakly spoke up from the ground. She slightly raised her arm and pointed forward. “Go! Go forward and finish this race for both of us! I’ll be with you in spirit.”
“Ehh… Alright, I’ll go now, okay? I hope you get well soon,” Sunset answered slightly weirded out.
Sunny saw Sunset disappear behind the next hill. She decided the ground was comfortable enough to lie there a bit longer.
Then Sunny heard a familiar voice behind her. “And that’s why you usually train before trying a marathon.”
“Shut up and just let me die, Sugarcoat!”
“You’re also way to overdramatic.”
“Aren’t you needed somewhere else?”
“In fact, I am.”
After that Sugarcoat walked down the path a few meters. There Sour, Lemon and Indigo were lying on the ground, holding each other in a three-way death-grip.
“That’s not an efficient way to win a race.”
“Shut up… Sugarcoat! At least Sunset stopped… and smiled at us for a moment…” Indigo managed to squeeze out between breaths.
“That was probably polite curiosity.”
“Aren’t you needed… somewhere else?” Sour Sweet said.
“In fact, I am.”
After that Sugarcoat walked forward to repeat the same with Applejack and Rainbow.
When she was finally able to move again, Sunny walked straight home to avoid any more awkward moments. She later found out that Sunset managed to finish the race in 5th place.
Snow was falling and covered all of Canterlot City in a cool white blanket. Indigo, Sour and Sunny were on their way home from school. All of them were wrapped in heavy winter coats.
“I admit it looks pretty, but I hate the cold! Can’t we go faster?” Sour complained.
“It’s Sunny’s fault.” Indigo pointed behind herself where Sunny was lagging behind due to her stiff walking. “Are you still sore from the race?”
“Yes,” Sunny answered. “Yes, I am. And now let’s drop this and change the subject– Wait! Is that Sunset?” She slowly pointed forward where Sunset was standing in the snow.
“Sorry,” Indigo spoke up first. “I’m not ready yet after that debacle at the beach.”
“And I’m still too sore to try anything,” Sunny continued. “Let’s just ignore her and go home”
“What about me, girls? Don’t you think I have a chance?” Sour asked them angry.
The two couldn’t suppress some chuckles. Sunny decided to answer, “Sorry, but we just can’t believe something could work between you two, because you’re… well, you.”
“After you were so nice about it what exactly do you mean with that?”, Sour asked even more angry.
“Exactly that,” Sunny explained. “How is someone supposed to enjoy their time with you, when you’re constantly switching moods like that?”
“I’m not even sure if the sweet part is real or just sarcasm…”
“That’s your problem?! Of course you can enjoy time with me and have fun. Like…Like…” Sour looked frantically around and her eyes fell on the snow. “Like this.” She took some snow and formed it into a ball. “We can play… Ehh, I mean… We can play in the snow together. Isn’t that fun?"
Sunny and Indigo looked at her unconvinced.
“I’ll show you.” She turned to Sunset and shouted, “Hey Sunset, let’s play!" She then threw the snowball at her.
“Huh?” Sunset turned to Sour. The snowball hit her right on the forehead and she fell back into the snowy grass.
“See? We’re having so much fun playing in the snow, she’s already making a snow angel."
“Ehh… This doesn’t really look like making a snow angel,” Sunny pointed out.
“I think she doesn’t move,” Indigo worried.
“M-Maybe we should call an ambulance,” Sunny suggested.
“Of course this happens to me…” Sour Sweet grumbled.
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Please, please tell me the story again, Sour!”
“It’s not funny, Lemon. Our lovely Sunset really could have been injured.”
“But she wasn't, and, if I heard right, she doesn’t blame you. Therefore we’re allowed to laugh about it. Probably some rule of the internet.”
The snow has mostly molten and the flowers in Canterlot Park were blooming. Cherry blossom trees lined the path the three girls walked on, bathing the whole park in their pink petals. A typical picture for Canterlot Park during spring.
Whoever’s responsible for this clearly loves anime; not that I complain, Sugarcoat thought.
Sour Sweet insisted they take the longer route back home through the park to avoid accidentally running into Sunset again. That didn’t help, though. There she sat on one of the benches lining the only pathway. She put all her focus into writing in a brown book with an emblem on it that was a mix between a sun and a star. With the sunlight shining through the trees and the cherry blossoms flying in the wind it was beautiful sight to admire.
Sadly it was the last thing Sour wanted to see right now. “Alright, time to turn around and find another way!”
“Sorry, Sour,” Sugarcoat answered. “But I’m not in the mood to find Sunset-free spots around town. And, unlike you, I don’t have to be afraid of Sunset getting angry just by my sight.”
“Fine!” Sour spat. She grabbed Lemon by her arm. “But I’m taking Lemon with me!”
“Bye, Sugarcoat!” They then turned around and walked away. “Sour, you know we have to split up soon, anyway?”
Sugarcoat turned back to Sunset. Alright, Sugarcoat, you’re alone, she’s alone, no dangerous items close, now’s the perfect chance… Wait… One of the reasons the others failed was that they were to rash. You can't just walk up to someone, talk to them long enough and they will fall in love with you. I need more information first. And now’s the perfect time for that. What’s the perfect way to get information… Sugarcoat thought about secret government agents, ninjas and power-level scouters. What’s the perfect way to get information that is possible for me… The easy and direct way.
Sugarcoat walked over to the bench and sat down right beside her. “Sunset Shimmer, what are your romantic interests?”
It took a few seconds until Sunset had fully realized what was happening and answered, “ ‘Hello, Sunset!’ ‘Hi, Sugarcoat!’ ‘Mind if I sit down here?’ ‘No problem.’ ‘Can I maybe ask you something personal?’ ‘Sure, tell me!’ That’s how you normally hold a conversation.”
“You should know me enough to know that I don't operate that way.”
Sunset slightly chuckled at that. “Yeah, and I have to admit that I kinda admire your honesty. Though you should learn when it’s appropriate.”
Yes! Score! Sugarcoat thought.
“Now to get back to your question,” Sunset continued. “You’re probably asking, because I come from a world of ponies and you want to know if I’m attracted to horses, right? And the answer is no. I’m normally attracted to girls. Nothing wrong or weird about that.”
Sugarcoat’s eyes went a bit wider. Score two! I’m on a roll!
Sunset noticed that. “Oh yeah, I forgot that same-sex relationships are a bigger thing over here. But yes, I’m attracted to girls. In fact, I… have a girlfriend… sorta...” she admitted with a blush.
Sugarcoat was sure she heard glass shatter. “Sorta… have a girlfriend…?” Sugarcoat being speechless was a rare occurrence.
“Yeah… It’s kinda hard to explain. I’m not sure myself. I haven’t even told my friends, yet. Actually, maybe you can help and give me your honest opinion.”
ShadowboltSugarcoat.exe has stopped responding. Sugarcoat was silent.
“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’ and start… But where do I start? A few months ago we just bumped into each other on the street, started talking and we became an item…”
Please insert system-disc to start the rebooting-sequence.
“I’m not sure myself how exactly it happened. She’s smart, beautiful and always makes me laugh. I really enjoy every moment we two spend together. I know she’s not perfect… far from it probably… but in my eyes she is. That’s the most important thing, right? And I know she thinks similar about me,” Sunset smiled. “She’s not exactly subtle about it, but I appreciate it.”
Is that the universe’s punishment for being a deadpan snarker?
"Now the real problem is that I haven’t told my friends, yet. Not that I’m ashamed of her or something like that. I’m pretty sure they’d get along perfectly fine. It’s just… I think I’m just… scared. When I introduce her to my friends, I’ll finally have to fully accept that we officially are a couple… And I’m afraid I’m not ready for something that big. You might be surprised to hear that, but I’m still fairly new to friendship, too. Though I’m certain I’ve already learned enough to give a certain friendship-princess a run for her bits.” Sunset had to smirk at that.
Doesn’t she realize I’m saying nothing?
“To be honest, before I only had one boyfriend and even then I only used him to become popular. And I’m sure I didn’t even behave like a typical girlfriend back then… except when he broke up with me, that was very typical.” Sunset sighed. “But I also don’t want to risk losing her. I want to spend every second with her and her wonderful everlasting smile; even her pouts are adorable. She introduced me to so many cool things I never would’ve thought to try. I’m even thinking about taking her with me to Equestria if I should ever plan to return there. Not to mention that we enjoy making out way too much.” Sunset stopped and blushed. “Ehhh… Forget about that last one.”
I should seriously reconsider the harem thing…
“Now that I think about it, I just answered my question myself. I don’t want to lose her and I don’t want to risk losing her because of some dumb insecurities. It’s time to take our relationship to the next step, or however they say that. Thanks, Sugarcoat, you were a great help.” Sunset hugged Sugarcoat as a reward.
I literally said no words. Sugarcoat thought, a blush on her face.
A song of the Rainbooms started playing. Sunset immediately pulled out her phone and looked at the screen. “Speaking of the devil. You don’t mind?”
Sugarcoat shook her head, but decided to listen.
“Hello… I was just talking about you… I have great news, but I want to tell you in person. Can we meet?... How about tomorrow?... Of course I know Hayburger, it’s right by my school. In fact I’ve just been there a week ago… Yeah… Alright… No, I won’t say it…. I won’t say it… No… *sigh* Sun ya… Now you owe me one.” Sunset finally hung up.
“Sorry, Sugarcoat, is there anything else you want to know?”
“There’s no more I need to know. I have to go now, bye,” she replied hastily while standing up.
“Oh… Okay, bye Sugarcoat.”
Sugarcoat wasn’t listening, though. Instead all her focus was on writing a group message to her fellow Shadowbolts. Tomorrow was going to be an important day.
The five Shadowbolts sat together in Hayburger again. They all listened to Sugarcoat as she told them of the events of the previous day. They were shocked to find out Sunset already had a girlfriend.
When Sugarcoat finished Sunny was the first to speak up. “So… What do we do now?”
“It’s obvious,” Sour Sweet answered. “We’ll find her, capture her and then ask her very nice everything about Sunset so that she’ll be mine!”
“Didn’t I forbid you to play Yandere Simulator?” Sugarcoat glared at her.
“Why would they even meet at place like this?” Sunny asked.
“This place is easy to find and a good meeting-spot. They probably want to go somewhere else,” Sugarcoat answered.
“Well, Sour was right with one thing,” Indigo said. “We should definitely check out this mysterious girlfriend. So, Sugarcoat, how does she look like?”
Sugarcoat tried to avert everyone’s gazes. “I… I don’t know…”
“Ehh… Alright, what’s her name?”
Sugarcoat’s face turned slightly read. “I don’t know.”
“Did you at least hear her voice through the phone?”
Sugarcoat was silent.
“... So on the one hand we know nothing about her. On the other–” Indigo suddenly raised her arms triumphantly. “– I made Sugarcoat speechless. Woohoo! I don’t care what happens next, my day has been made!”
Her celebration was cut short when Sour pulled her arms back down. “Pssst. Sunset’s here.”
Indigo looked to the entrance where Sunset was standing, clearly waiting for someone.
“Oh, that means we’ll just have to wait.”
Lemon, who was surprisingly silent up to this point, suddenly spoke up, “Come on, this can’t be all. We’re the Shadowbolts! You know what, I’ll go over to her now. I’m the only one who hasn’t tried yet.”
“And what do you want to do exactly? And did you forget the whole ‘she has a girlfriend’-thing?” Sunny tried to reason with her.
But Lemon didn’t know reason. “I see, you don’t believe I can do it.”
“Here we go again,” Sour mumbled under her breath.
“In that case let’s make a bet! If I can make Sunset… let’s say, kiss me before her girlfriend walks through the entrance, you’ll all owe me a meal. Otherwise I’ll owe each of you one.”
None of them could resist the prospect of a free meal (even if it was Lemon’s definition of a meal) as well as Lemon failing embarrassingly, so they let her go.
The four Shadowbolts watched as Lemon approached Sunset. The two greeted each other. They talked. Sunset started laughing. Suddenly they embraced each other. And then they… kissed.
Four jaws hit the floor.
“Looks like we owe her a meal.”
“I don’t know anymore what’s right or wrong.”
“Did we underestimate Lemon’s sex appeal?”
“Is it possible, and I’m only saying that to cover all possibilities, that Lemon is Sunset’s girlfriend?”
Realization hit the girls like a monster truck. Unable to form any more words they just sat there with wide eyes and open mouths. They watched as Sunset and Lemon sat down in a close booth and decided to listen in on their talk.
“Did you notice the weird weather lately? We went through all four seasons in, like, one week. Although it was cool to go to the beach and have snow right after,” Lemon said.
“Yeah, maybe a magical friendship-problem we should solve soon… or climate change,” Sunset replied. “And sorry again that you had to pretend we weren’t together.”
Lemon waved it off. “Don’t worry. You said you aren’t ready to tell them and I respect that. What a girlfriend would I be if I wouldn’t respect that? And I still enjoyed the last week. So, what was it that you wanted to tell me?”
Sunset took Lemon’s hands and held them in her own. “Lemon Zest, I’ve made a decision. Let’s make it official. Let’s tell my friends we’re together.”
Lemon beamed with happiness. She quickly freed her hands and then held Sunset’s hands in hers. She was jumping up and down as much as their table allowed. “That’s great, Sunset! I’m so happy, I could take you right here.”
Sunset tried to suppress a blush. “Ehh…Yeah... Maybe let’s not do that here. I’m certain our kiss already pushed the boundaries of this place.”
Lemon gave a silly grin and scratched her head in response. “Uhh… Yeah, you could be right about that. But what made you change your mind so suddenly?”
“Let’s just say I had help from a friend. Though I’m curious about one thing, did you tell your friends about our relationship? I saw them surprisingly often during the last week and couldn’t help but notice that they were very interested in me. Did they try to check if I’m good enough for you?”
Lemon lazily fell back into her chair. “Nah… They never really gave me a chance to tell them.” A smug grin appeared on her face. “But I think they figured it out by now.” She looked over to the table of the others for a moment.
The remaining Shadowbolts decided to drop out of the conversation at this point. Embarrassing silence reigned over their table. The silence was broken by their phones notifying them of a group message from Lemon.
Take this, suckerz!
That’s what ya get for not letting me finish!
Go Lemon Go Lemon Go!
<(*-*<) ^(*-*)^ (>*-*)>
Four faces planted on the questionably clean table.
“Everything we did was for naught…” Sour said, voice muffled by the table.
“My day has been un-made…”
“We might have to acknowledge that Lemon is smarter than us…”
“I shouldn’t have let her lick my hand…”
They finally raised their heads again.
“You know, guys, maybe we should move on with our lives,” Indigo offered.
“Even if they break up, our chances are pretty low after all that,” Sour continued.
“We should be glad for these two that they found each other,” Sunny said.
“Let’s just forget these dumb crushes and focus on something else,” Sugarcoat suggested.
.
..
…
“Dibs on Twilight Sparkle!” they all shouted and raised their hands at the same time.