Four blocks away from Canterlot High, on a crisp wintry evening christened by a rosy red sunset...
A beat-up old red SUV rolled down the road and pulled into a parallel parking spot. As the engine settled, the first of three teenage girls stepped out of the vehicle.
Applejack slapped her hat on, adjusted the sleeves of a thick jacket, and squinted towards the western skyline with a smile. "Sure is purdy out," she murmured, her breath making vapors in the chilly air. "Should be dang near perfect." Checking the road for traffic, she gave the interior of the SUV a thumb's up.
With a click of the door, Rarity shuffled out next. Clad in a thick shiny white overcoat, she did a little jig in place upon feeling the sharp nip of the cold air. "Brrbrbrbrrrr! Mercy me!" She hugged herself with a nervous smile. "Well, think of it this way—the weather will excuse any goosebumps!" A wink, and she held a friendly hand out towards the vehicle. "Come along, darling. We mustn't keep beautiful company waiiiiitiiiiing!"
A mitten'd hand—somewhat shaky—took hers. Rarity hoisted with surprising strength, and a slightly wobbly Twilight Sparkle practically fell out of the vehicle. "Whoah—!" She had to lean into Rarity's body, trembling in a velvety black overcoat with a furry trim. Her teeth instantly chattered from the cold, and she had to spend more than a few seconds straightening her glasses—and her body in turn. "The m-meteorologists certainly w-weren't incorrect when they made their forecast!" She bit her bottom lip, legs instantly swiveling pigeon-toed beneath the hint of a violet skirt poking out beneath her coat. "M-m-maybe we should j-just postpone—?"
"Perish the thought, dear!" Rarity practically gasped. As she spoke, she fluffed the furry collar of Twilight's coat and tugged at her sleeves. "Tonight's occasion was practically destined in the stars! Besides..." She reached to Twilight's neck and repositioned a set of ear muffs so that they delicately covered the jittery bookworm's lobes. "...I do believe that your exquisite company will swiftly warm things up before long."
"I said I do believe that things will warm up before—"
Twilight plucked one ear muff free, squinting. "What?"
"Hey!" Applejack peeked over the top of the SUV. "Y'all done over there? I thought we did all the sprucin' up back at the house! We're late enough as it is!"
"Ahem." Rarity helped Twilight to the sidewalk. "Very well. Onward!"
Applejack slapped the top of the SUV. Th-Thunk! "Thanks a million, Big Mac! Can ya come back to pick is up in about two hours?"
"Eeeeyup!" The young man winked back, gripping the wheel. As the girls departed, he revved up the engine and cruised down the road, spitting exhaust and dwindling into the suburban distance.
Applejack swiftly joined Rarity and Twilight as they strolled briskly into the heart of downtown. Here, many of the buildings and structures were relatively old, and it showed in their brickwork. Half of the stores were antique shops, and most were decked out in holiday decorations for that time of year, complete with colorful flicking lights, tinsel, holly, and extravagant window displays. As they rounded a major street corner, they passed by a nativity scene where the Baby Jesus had fallen off a cradle of hay.
Applejack darted aside briefly to place the swaddling plastic infant back into place, and as she rejoined the group she frowned at Twilight's stumbling figure. "Dang it, Rarity?" A wave of the hand. "Didja have to put her in heels?"
The fashionista in question upturned her nose while she nevertheless used her hands to steady their meek friend's march. "This is a very special occasion, Applejack. And a lady most certainly doesn't scrimp on presentation—"
"It's only dinner at Sugarcube Corner!" Applejack shrugged, taking up the rear. "Why can't we just let the moment be special?"
"Oh, but we are!" Rarity's cheeks flushed slightly as they passed by a family of shoppers. After waving, she squeaked aside: "I've just added some extra trimming."
"It ain't too late to call Big Macintosh back," Applejack said. She patted a cell-phone-shaped lump in her jacket pocket. "Reckon we've got some galoshes in the trunk that we can fit Twilight in—"
"Heavens, no!" Rarity frowned over Twilight's earmuffs. "Of all the things we could slip Twilight's adorable little body in—it shall most assuredly not be galoshes! Besides, she's handling herself just fine!" She smiled at Twilight, giving a squeeze to her shoulders. "Aren't you, my dear?"
Twilight was hugging her arms around her coated chest, shoulders hunched as she chanted and chanted through chattering teeth:
"The heck is she ramblin' on about?" Applejack asked.
"I... uh..." Rarity cleared her throat. "I do believe she likes to recite Carl Winslow whenever she's nervous."
"Wrong Carl," Twilight Sparkle managed. As they crossed the street, she gulped hard and leaned into Rarity's grip. "And I'm n-not nervous! I'm just cold—EEEEP!" Her heel'd feet tripped on the curb.
Both Applejack and Rarity caught her this time. Applejack sighed, then smiled tiredly. "Reckon I should just carry her there?"
"Twilight, darling, you mustn't allow the butterflies in your stomach to hold sway!" Rarity smiled as the three picked up their pace once more. Sugarcube Corner loomed within sight, its pastel exterior turned extra rosy in the setting sun. "It's perfectly okay to feel a little bit nervous—but that is merely the flutter of anticipation for a most sublime evening!" She winked. "Let us not forget that this is Sunset Shimmer we're talking about. If you stood any risk of somehow impossibly, inconceivably disappointing her, why would she even agree to this rendezvous to begin with?"
"Yer not the only person who's been lookin' forward to this date, Twilight." Applejack gave a thumb's up with an accompanying smile and wink. "Why, I imagine Sunset's all perked up like a Rottweiler in a cat store. Just burstin' with anticipation... like ripe fruit hanging from the apple trees just beggin' to be plucked and—"
"Applejack, darling, please save the countryisms for when we're in the country."
"Long story short..." Applejack placed a hand on Twilight's other shoulder. "...yer gonna do just fine, sugarcube. Sunset's lookin' forward to seein' ya. And let's not forget—all yer friends have got your back!"
Twilight clenched her eyes shut, spectacles rattling:
Applejack whistled. She rolled her eyes in Rarity's direction.
Rarity sighed vapors, then gazed longingly towards their fuchsia destination ahead. "Well, I'm sure Rainbow and Fluttershy at least have Sunset's nerves under control..."
Sunset Shimmer stood in a black hoodie and blue jeans, repeatedly banging her head against the front doors to Sugarcube Corner.
"I should kill myself." Thunk! "I should kill myself." Th-Thunk! "I should kill myself." Thunk!
Fluttershy cupped her gloved hands to her chest. "Oh... m-my..." She trembled in her turtleneck and long thick skirt, glancing aside at Rainbow Dash. "I-I don't think my motivational speech is working."
"Mmmmm..." Rainbow Dash yawned, lazily leaning against the wall in a sports jacket and sweatpants. "Ya think?"
"I should kill myself." Sunset Shimmer clenched her eyes tightly shut. Her forehead formed a welt from the repeated light-pummeling. Thunk! "I should kill myself." Thunk-Thunk! "I should just friggin' kill myself."
A little kid inside the cafe stared out a window at the young woman, sipping from a straw. After Sunset's fifteenth headbang in a row, a motherly hand protectively yanked the child out of viewing range and back into their eating booth.
"Ahem..." Fluttershy girl-stepped over to Sunset, placing a dainty glove on her shoulder. "Now now, Sunset... uhm... think of it this way...!" She smiled crookedly. "...if you died, then who would get to take Twilight to the movies on your next date?"
"I should drink some arsenic, jump off a bridge, plug a bullet into my skull, shove a lion fish into my uterus, feed myself to a pack of lions, and then killll myselllllf..." Thhhhhump! At long last, she leaned her head limply against the fogged-up glass of the cafe door, whimpering. "Mmmmmmrrrgh..."
"Well..." Fluttershy gulped. "...maybe not all of those things. That poor lion fish..."
"Dang it all." Rainbow Dash angrily marched forward, brushing Fluttershy aside. "Leave this to me." She grabbed Sunset's shoulders and practically spun her around until she was spitting vapors into her face. "Get with the program, girl! This is Twilight Sparkle's very first date! Do you really wanna ruin it with all this self-mopey emo garbage?!"
Fluttershy winced hard. "Oooooh... ouch. Rainbow? Are you sure you wanna trigger all of that—?"
"But I've had nothing but a horrible history of dating people!" Sunset Shimmer wheezed. "Seriously! I'm a burning zeppelin with boobs!"
"Flash Sentry!" Rainbow Dash snarled. "All you've ever dated is Flash Sentry! Flash Sentry is not people!"
"Mmmmm..." Fluttershy twiddled her gloved fingers, eyes dancing with flickering holiday lights across the street. "She has a point."
"Besides..." Rainbow drew Sunset into a softer side-hug, smirking. "You're friggin' lucky as heck!"
Sunset blinked. "I am?"
"You've got all that cruddy history behind you," Rainbow said, fingers gesturing sharply in the wintry air. "Take it from an athlete! There's no better lesson to learn from than one's mistakes!" A beat. "I mean..." Rainbow's eyes rolled. "...not that I've ever made mistakes myself, but you? Hoooooooooooooooooooooooo boy have you made a poop-ton of them!"
"You're right..." Sunset sighed.
"I'm talking like Chernobyl levels of boo-boos!" Rainbow Dash charaded a mushroom cloud with her hands. "Fukushima levels of shit-bricking!" She slapped at a randomly flittering moth in the sunset. "Three Mile Islands of epic fu—"
"You're right!!!" Sunset snarled, pushing Rainbow away. "Thanks, Rainbow, I get it!" She brushed the wrinkles of her hoodie smooth and sighed. "I just don't want to repeat any of them with Twilight..."
"Oh Sunset..." Fluttershy stepped forward with a gentle smile. "Don't you care for your friends?"
"What?! Absolutely!"
"And do you—possibly-maybe—care for Twilight just a teeeeeeeeeeeensy bit more?"
Sunset gulped... then nodded.
"Mmm-hmmm..." Fluttershy smiled rosily, clasping her gloved hands together. "Well, if you're the same Sunset Shimmer I've had the pleasure of getting to know, then you wouldn't possibly let yourself do anything to hurt Twilight." She shook her head. "You're one of the most thoughtful and empathetic people that I know. You would do anything to protect your friends, and someone like Twilight even more so." A coy wink. "And even if you do hit a few bumps along the road tonight—let's not forget—Twilight thinks the world of you."
"Mmmmm..." Sunset ran a shaky hand through her scarlet bangs as a crooked smile graced her lips. "...she d-does, doesn't she?"
"This evening can only go well for the two of you." Fluttershy giggled. "Just have fun and enjoy yourselves! Get to know each other!"
"Just remember the advice I gave!" Rainbow Dash leaned in with a smirk, poking Sunset's shoulder. "Be suave! Be dashing! And—when it doubt—just talk about yourself! Heck... it's what I do!"
Sunset squinted at her. "I've never seen you go on any dates, Rainbow."
"Pffft, yeah, well..." Rainbow Dash folded her arms as she leaned against the buildingside again. "I can't treat my adjustable shower nozzle to dessert on the town."
"You don't have to wait for long!" Fluttershy perked up, pointing at three teenage figures strolling down the festively-lit sidewalk. "Here they come now!"
"Ah jeez..." Sunset Shimmer winced slightly. "I forgot Rarity was with them. Damn it."
"Pffft!" Rainbow Dash waved a hoof. "Big whoop! I seriously doubt Rarity would have gone overboard for a first date—"
"Oh..." Fluttershy's breath vaporously left her as she teetered backwards, almost falling. "...my."
Sunset Shimmer's eyes turned to turquoise pinpricks. She stood dead in place—paralyzed. Her ears tickled with the sound of awkwardly clicking heels.
Soon a resplendent young bookworm stood before her, a couple of inches shorter—yet a few more on account of her trembling pigeon-toe'd stance. Holiday lights from a store front adjacent to Sugarcube Corner caused luminescent spots along her black velvet overcoat to twinkle like starlight—much like they did in the darker hues of her silk-smooth bangs. The girl's tiny hands were swallowed up in woolly mittens, and the combination of thick-rimmed glasses and fluffy earmuffs framed her button-nosed face like some sacred shrine to lavender adorableness.
Rarity bit her smiling lips, eyes darting back and forth between the lady of the evening and the lady of the evening.
Fluttershy looked at Rainbow Dash. She had to reach over and silently close Rainbow's gaping mouth with a gloved finger.
Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle lingered, separated by vapors and trembles.
"A-Ahem..." Applejack finally broke the silence, coughing into her jacket's sleeve. Smiling, she stood between the two and gestured. "Sunset Shimmer? Twilight Sparkle. Twilight Sparkle? Sunset Shimmer." Her hands rested on her denim'd hips. "Reckon y'all know each other?"
"Do I...?" Sunset Shimmer wheezed. She winced, coughed, and smiled. "Do I!" She attempted bowing—winced, then attempted curtsying—winced again, then attempted to bow once more—
"Uhm..." Twilight Sparkle wrenched a hand out from hugging herself and waved the mitten high in the air. "Hi."
"Hi!" Sunset gladly reflected the gestured. She stood up straight with a grin. "Hiiiiii..."
"Heehee." Twilight hugged herself again. "Hi."
"Yeah." Sunset nodded and nodded and—"Hi."
Silence.
"Alright. Screw this." Rainbow Dash stepped behind the girls and shoved both of them at once towards the cafe entrance. "In you panties go!"
"Hey!" Sunset wheezed.
"Eeep!" Twilight nearly tripped on her heels.
"Uhm... Rainbow?" Rarity pointed. "I do believe it's 'in you pixies go'—"
"I know what I said!"
The doors swung open as if automatically, jetting the young couple with a comforting blast of warm air. As their eyes adjusted to the light, they saw a slyly grinning Pinkie Pie standing in the doorframe, holding the panels open as she gestured inward with an elegant hand.
Once Rainbow was done pushing them, Sunset and Twilight easily stumbled inside. The petite athlete cupped her hands over her mouth, hollering inwards: "Easy on the whipped cream, Pinkie! It's their first date, after all!"
"No promises, Dashie! Heehee!"
"We won't be far off!" Applejack called in.
"Absolutely, darlings!"
"Enjoy yourselves!" Fluttershy added with a wave.
At long last, the doors shut. Applejack could be seen glaring at Rainbow Dash.
"What?" the speedster's voice cracked.
"Didja really have to shove them so much, RD?"
"Pfft! It wouldn't have been a problem hadn't one of them been squeezed into some painful heels!"
"Weren't my idea! Blame Rarity!"
"Unf! Hmmph! Why, of all the nerve—!"
"Shhhhhhhhh..." Fluttershy gestured at the others, murmuring low. "Let's give them some space, everyone."
"They're inside a building, Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash droned.
"Even still." Fluttershy gently took Rainbow by the arm and shuffled away from the entrance. "We made a promise."
"Yeah, so?"
"Fluttershy's got a point, there, varmint." Applejack tipped her hat and scooted off with Rarity. "Let's go, Rares."
"We're only a text awaaaaaaaaaaaay!" Rarity sing-song'd as she and Applejack walked in the opposite direction of the other two.
"Oh Rarity..." Fluttershy scolded softly from a distance. "...let's not give into gossip tonight."
"Hah!" Rainbow scoffed as she and her friend kept walking. "What is there even to gossip about?"
"Stop staring at her butt. Stop staring at her butt. Stop staring at her butt," Sunset repeatedly whispered to herself, wincing at every other step across the lobby of Sugarcube Corner. "Stop staring at her adorably cute perky lavender virgin butt." She reawoke to the moment at hand, her right side peripheral being entirely and beautifully filled with velvet and pigeon toes. "Whewwwwwwwww... stop whispering to yourself. Stop whispering to yourself. Stop whispering to yourself..."
"Hmmm?" Shaking the cold off her shoulders, Twilight removed her earmuffs and blinked innocently up at Sunset in mid-step. "What was that?"
"Uhm..." Sunset gulped, cracking a smile. "You're all bundled up like a winter elf!"
"Oh... uhm... th-thanks?" Twilight tittered.
"Er... not like Will Ferrel in a Christmas movie elf, but more like Link in Breath of the Wild elf... or maybe even like Level Seventy Druid in Northrend elf!"
"... ... ...?" Twilight merely gaped at her.
"Ha-HA! Alright...!" Sunset clenched her teeth, looking aside. "Don't talk about video games. Don't talk about video games. Don't talk about video games..."
At long last, Pinkie Pie guided the two to a lone booth at the far end of the eatery. It was seated by a window that overlooked the heart of downtown. In the distance, storefronts glittered with holiday mirth. Families and shoppers shuffled across the street. Even further—the remote treetops and mountains flickered with the last kiss of the sunset, winking the shadow of evening into a soft collapse. Inside Sugarcube Corner, the air was warm and toasty, and the speakers overhead crackled with easy-listening romantic ballads from the past four decades—skipping the last ten years, of course.
"Here ya goooo!" Pinkie Pie pointed at the booth with sparkles in her eyes. "Reserved just for you two!"
Sunset nodded. "Thank you, Pac-Man—ER—" She winced. "Pinkie Pie!"
"Yes..." Twilight Sparkle nodded, her voice remarkably tranquil despite her settling shivers. "Thank you so very much."
"You're welcome so very much!" Pinkie gestured. "I'll fetch you some menus!" She skipped off across the eatery, grinning. "Wakka wakka wakka...!"
Sunset was about to sit down—when she froze. She looked up to see Twilight fumbling with the thick overcoat that Rarity had gifted her. There was a brief moment of fidgeting, and then—"Here..." She stepped graciously forward, hands extended. "Allow me."
"Hmm? Oh!" Twilight let out a breath and relaxed her limbs. "Why, thank you..."
"No problem." Sunset fulfilled the gesture, removing the heavy article from Twilight's petite frame. "It's my pleasure—!" Her eyes bugged out as soon as she held the coat loose in her hands.
Beneath the winter gear, Twilight Sparkle had been garbed in a glittery purple shoulder-less cocktail dress. The skirt was long, trimmed with sequins at the end, and evidently filled with flattering—and undoubtedly warming—dark black petticoats underneath. It gave the entire constellatory ensemble a full, confident look, like a violet comet forever shooting upwards, capped off by Twilight's angelic visage.
"You look nice tonight," spoke the cherub in question, punctuating it with an adorable push of her glasses up her cream-lavender nose.
Sunset Shimmer stood dead in her drab hoodie and jeans. "Uhh... Totally! Thanks!" She turned around, pretending to hang the velvety overcoat over the back of the booth, when in fact she was whimpering under her breath:
At last, both sat down, heads whipping towards each other and settling on plastic grins.
Sunset Shimmer stared.
Twilight Sparkle stared.
A breath.
A twitch.
Sunset held her finger up and prepared to say something—
"Here ya go!" THAP! A pair of menus landed loudly in the middle of the table, making both girls jump. Pinkie Pie stood beside the booth, whipping out a notepad. "Hellooooooo, ladies! My name's Pinkie Pie! I'll be your server for this evening! Server?! I hardly even know her!" She giggle-snorted, giggle-snorted again, then cleared her throat. "Soooooooo... while you both think about what you'll be wanting to EAT tonight..."
Sunset gulped.
Twilight squirmed in her seat.
"...what can I get ya to drink?" She leaned forward, twirling a pen in her fingers. "Hmmmmmmm?"
"Uhhhhm..." Twilight slipped off one mitten after another. "Oh!" She perked up. "I would like some Dr. Pepper!"
"The doctor... is in...!" Pinkie Pie scribbled on her sheet. "Check!" She looked over at Sunset. "How about you, Red?"
"Got any vodka?"
"Nopereeno!"
Sunset Shimmer smiled. "I'll have a Dr. Pepper too."
"Whew!" Pinkie Pie scribbled and scribbled. "Must be a bug going around, what with all these prescriptions! Okie-dokie-lokie!" She stuck the notepad into a pocket and the pen behind her ear. "You just wait right here and Auntie Pinkie Pie will be back with those whistle-wetters!"
"Thank you kindly, Pinkie," Twilight said softly.
"It's my pleasure!" Pinkie smiled. Pinkie blinked. Finally—she burst—and performed a little jig in place. "Ohmygosh! You'rebothsocute! You'rebothsocute! You'rebothsocute!"
"Pinkiiiiie!" the unmistakable voice of Mrs. Cake warbled from a distance. "We need your help behind the counter!"
"Coming!" Pinkie giggled and skipped away, leaving the two ladies alone...
"Whew!" Rarity sat down at the table across from Applejack, cradling a fresh cappuccino. The interior of a coffee shop buzzed around them, complete with recycle stock Christmas muzak channeling through the speakers. The fashionista slipped her gloves off and warmed her fingers around the cup containing her beverage. "I thought we'd never escape that insufferable cold!"
"Eh..." Applejack stifled a yawn and leaned back in her seat. "I've had colder."
"Oh bother..." Rarity rolled her eyes. "Not another anecdote of past winters slaved away on the grueling frost of the farmstead."
"Eh. Not this evening." Applejack casually stared out the window, her green eyes reflecting the bright pastel shape of Sugarcube Corner across the street. "Reckon I've got my mind on somethin' else."
"Mmmm. Quite." Rarity took a cautious sip of her drink. "And your eyes too, I gather."
Applejack squinted at her friend. "Reckon we're shadowin' them a bit too close-like? I'd hate to suffocate the two."
"Applejack, honestly..." Rarity sat up prim and proper with a smile. "You and I both know these two. The two dears are so absolutely skittish about this evening together that they're liable to implode!" She brushed her bangs aside and glanced at the cafe across the street in turn. "They need all the support they can get. What kind of friends would we be to abandon them?"
"Abandon them?" Applejack's freckled face contorted. "For the love of okra, Rarity, it's not like they're performin' open-heart-surgery!"
Rarity merely batted her eyelashes. "Aren't they, though? Hmmmm?"
"Eugh..." Applejack folded her arms and stared up at the ceiling. "I dun understand this so-called 'romantic' hogwash one bit. Sunset and Twilight are already friends. Ain't that a good enough foundation to get movin' on?"
"See? This is why you should simply trust my feminine intuition, Applejack," Rarity said. "I assure you, this night is a most delicate situation for our two most precious lovelies." She took another sip. "Once they're sailing on their own—a most beautiful thing, undoubtedly—we must stand here vigilantly by the shore." A wink. "It's the only true way to cast off a ship, if you catch my drift."
"Hrmmm... if ya say so..." Applejack scratched the back of her neck, gazing down the street. "Now just where in the heck did RD and Fluttershy go?"
Blue fingers twisted a knob on the car's dashboard until the vents were jetting royally warm air onto the two teenage passengers.
"There. Full blast." Rainbow Dash slumped back in her driver's seat with crossed arms. "You happy now?"
"Eeeeeeeeeee...!" Fluttershy gladly slipped her gloves off and warmed her fingers before the air-conditioning unit. "Very!" She sighed as her trembles lessened inside the tightly-sealed parked vehicle. "Some people remember fireplaces and candles fondly. Me?" A smile. "I'll gladly take a radiator decked with holly."
"Yeah. Uh huh." Rainbow craned her neck, gazing towards Sugarcube Corner. "I can't see Sunset and Twilight from them."
"They're in the furthest window from us, facing the street."
"They are?"
"Mmmmhmmm." Fluttershy nodded, rubbing her hands together before the vents. "You mean you can't see them?"
"Uhhhhhhhhhh..."
"... ... ...want me to grab the phone book for you to sit on?"
"What—NO!" Rainbow's cheeks reddened. "Besides... w-we're not driving home yet."
"Heeheehee..."
"Gawd..." Rainbow huffed, slumping back again. "What's wrong with people, Flutters?"
"Uhm... what do you mean—?"
"Why does everyone have to get so hung up over a stupid little date? I could be off shooting b-balls through the hoop in the gym uptown, but noooooo. Instead I'm here having to hand-hold my two nerdiest friends over a silly sit-in at Sugarcube Corner."
"Wow, Rainbow. I didn't know you hated supporting your friends that much."
"It's not hate! Just..." Rainbow shrugged. "Twilight's super smart! And Sunny's one of the most confident people I know! Heck, back when she was a total friggin' bully, she looked like she could take over the entire world! She almost did too!"
"I'm... h-having a hard time grasping your point..."
"These chicks are strong!" Rainbow's voice cracked. "They're cool! They're awesome... well... awesome-ish. What's more—they've helped us save the day time and time again!"
"Uh huh..."
"So why do they gotta crumble into weak little blubbering babies whey they suddenly wanna hold hands with one another?"
"Well, Rainbow..." Fluttershy relaxed her fingers and leaned back in her seat. "...when you confess your love and appreciation for someone, it's an act of sacrifice."
"I don't see Sunset chopping off her leg or Twilight offering an eyeball."
"What I mean is—to open yourself up is to make yourself vulnerable," Fluttershy said. "It's letting someone else know that you need them in your life and that you feel incomplete without them." She gulped. "From what I can imagine, it's very frightening and... e-exposing."
"Yeah, but they're Twilight and Sunset! They're just fine with each other!" Rainbow Dash snorted. "I don't see why they can't just get it over with."
"Not everybody can 'get it over with,' Rainbow Dash. Life isn't always like a game of soccer or basketball. Delicate things take more than just skill. They take time and experience and—"
"Blah blah blah... yeah, I get it." Rainbow stifled a yawn. "They gotta slow dance their way through it. Well, fine. To each their own, I guess."
"Hmmmm..." Fluttershy propped her chin up against her hand. She gazed at the cafe with a drunken smile. "Did you see how timid they were? I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but I think it's absolutely adorable. What I wouldn't give to be listening in on whatever fluffy conversation they're having right now... melting away the ice between them... learning what they each enjoy and treasure in life..."
"Pffft! You kidding me?" Rainbow Dash smirked. "You've seen those two eggheads go at it! Hell, they're probably chatting up some nerdy storm or another right this very moment!"
"... ... ..." Sunset Shimmer repeatedly stabbed her half-empty glass of Dr. Pepper with her straw.
"... ... ..." Twilight Sparkle twiddled her thumbs.
"... ... ..." Sunset's eyes traced the edges of the window frame.
"... ... ..." Twilight gazed at the families and random patrons gathered at the far end of the cafe.
Silence...
Even more silence.... ... ...
Slowly, Sunset lowered her face to the glass. Her lips pursed around the straw and she sluuuuuuuuurped at the sugary soda. Immediately, the booth resonated with an obnoxious bubbling noise. Sunset winced, and she swiftly removed her mouth from the straw, sitting back up with a parched expression on her face.
Twilight hummed quietly to herself. She picked up her mittens, unfolded them, refolded them, then placed them back on the tabletop. Fingers drummed on the edge of the table—instantly regretted the thumping noise they made—then retracted to a demure spot in Twilight's skirted lap.
"... ... ..."
"... ... ..."
Sunset Shimmer's eyes swept a daring path across the table-top, settling on one of the many glittering spots along the upper hem of Twilight Sparkle's dress.
Twilight Sparkle's gaze courageously sliced its way up until it traced the golden "lightning bolt" majestically ribboning its way through Sunset Shimmer's scarlet hair.
A twitch of the pupils, and turquoise met violet.
"!!! !!! !!!" Twilight looked at her hands.
"!!! !!! !!!" Sunset looked at her Dr. Pepper.
Silence.
The speakers overhead switched tracks—from pop music to country pop music.
Sunset winced.
Twilight squirmed.
At long last, there was a breath...
...a shuffle...
...and Sunset looked up.
And then Twilight.
A smile crookedly formed between them...
...until Sunset dared to open her mouth first—
SWOOOOOSH! "Hi, again!" Pinkie Pie slid back into view, forcing both ladies to lock-up in their seats once more. "Refills?"
Twilight wrung her hands together.
Sunset gripped the table.
"Yes?" Pinkie smiled and blinked, blinked and smiled. "No?"
Shaking heads.
"Okie dokie lokie!" She glided off on invisible roller skates. "Keep on keepin' on, you two Juliets!"
As she drifted away, Twilight Sparkle suddenly smiled. "Heehee..." Her voice lilted slightly. "'What's in a name?'" She gazed over the rim of her glasses. "'That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.'"
Sunset looked at her blankly. "Huh?"
Twilight blinked. "Oh..." She blushed, looking guiltily away as she pushed her glasses back up. "That's right..."
Sunset's eyes darted left and right. She thought and thought and thought—"Iambic pentameter?"
Twilight nodded. "Mmmhmmm."
"There's..." Sunset winced, rubbing the back of her neck. "He has a name..." Gulping hard, she bravely threw a guess across the table. "Flankspeare...?"
"Heeheehee..." Twilight drew a violet bang over her ear. "Close enough."
"I..." Sunset shrunk a little in her seat. "I pay way more attention to my math and science classes."
"Uh huh. It's okay."
"I-I-I mean, English is fun, but... b-but having to cram nine and a half entire grades' worth of culture and literature into a single semester in between school days just to fit in and look sane is hard enough—"
"It's alright, Sunset!" Twilight exhaled. "I understand. It's just a quote."
Sunset bit her lip. Her eyes darted again... and at last she murmured: "'And every little bitty choice you make sends you down a path to who you are today. So let's take a little trip down memory lane and see just what the past has to say.'"
Twilight cocked her cute head aside upon hearing that. "That's... kinda poignant, actually. Who wrote it?"
Sunset leaned back with a relaxed smile. "Sir Duke Jump Saltlicky," she said. "From his magnum opus: 'A Hearth's Warming Tail' It's a holiday favorite back home... I-I mean back in Equestria." She gulped, then gestured at the wintry world darkening outside. "Guess I couldn't help myself..."
Twilight smiled. "You celebrate Christmas back in Equestria?"
"No. Well..." Sunset rubbed the back of her neck. "...admittedly, there's a lot of haunting similarities. But whereas your winter holiday is very religious-based, ours is more like a snow-capped July Fourth."
"Equestrian Independence?"
"Kinda, yeah." Sunset nodded. "Hearth's Warming is all about the various races of ponies coming together in friendship to found Equestria. There's a whole lot of singing." She snorted, breaking into a smile as her eyes rolled. "And I do mean a lot of singing."
"Singing ponies." Twilight nodded. "I would love to see that."
"Heh. No you wouldn't."
"Awww..."
And, at last...
...silence returned.
Sunset looked aside, biting her lip slightly. The moment had passed so swiftly, and yet the warmth of it remained, trailing off her shuddering limbs. In a desperate attempt to sustain it, her voice lunged: "I... uhhh... uhm..." She pointed a shaky finger. "I like the mittens."
"Huh?" Twilight sat in her shiny dress with petticoats and sequins. Her eyes darted down to the discarded articles in question. "Oh! Yes! I... uhm..." A trailing smile. "I guess they are pretty... pretty."
Sunset was already wincing. "N-not to say that the rest of it isn't... y'know... wow."
"Uh huh—"
"And I mean..." Sunset sported a goofy grin, waving jazz-hands. "WOW."
"Heeheehee...!" Twilight giggled, curling a wrist up to her chin.
"It's just that... erm... not to knock it or anything... cuz that would be a crime... and... uhm... but... er..."
"Rarity outdid herself," Twilight said firmly.
"Yeah." Sunset wheezed with relief, slumping. Her eyes glued themselves to the glitter. "She kinda did."
"No way around saying it." Twilight fidgeted slightly in the cocktail dress. "I only have myself to blame, I suppose."
Sunset raised an eyebrow. "What the heck for?"
"Well, when I first showed up at her place, I... erm..." Twilight squirmed some more, avoiding Sunset's gaze. "...I-I asked that she make me look nice... b-because I wanted to look 'nice.'"
"Oh..." Sunset pulled the edges of her hoodie down and slumped even further in her seat. "...yeah."
"And—well—you know Rarity." Twilight gulped. "I should have told her to stop at least three ensembles back. I guess part of me was hoping that Applejack would... but that didn't happen." She looked up with glossy eyes. "I hope you don't mind—"
"Not-at-all!" Sunset shot back up, sitting straight. "Er... what I mean is..." She gulped and waved a hand. "You look absolutely gorgeous." Another breath. "Gorgeous-er."
"Hmmmm..." Twilight toyed with a loose strand of violet hair. "Th-thanks."
"Heeheehee..." Twilight pointed at Sunset's top. "I dig the swell hoodie."
"Pffft..." Sunset looked at herself. "No you don't."
"I do! It's very... you..." Twilight's pupils immediately shrank. "And b-by that I don't mean that you're simple or anything! I mean, sure, you're simply wonderful... but I wouldn't say the word 'handsome', because that's a word you use for guys... but if it wasn't a word to use for guys, I'd totally use it for you and... and-and-and-and..."
Sunset stared at her.
"Mmmm..." It was Twilight's turn to sink in her seat slightly. "...I-I'm really overdressed and I'm sorrrrrrrry."
"No! Don't be sorry! It's... uh... uhhhh..." Sunset swiftly reached over and held up the partially-folded velvet coat. "I especially loved this... thing that Rarity chose!"
Just like that, Twilight shifted back up. "You did?"
"Yeah!" Sunset exhaled, smiling suavely. "I'll have you know I especially love winter wear."
"You do?"
"Yup!"
"... ... ...since when?"
"Since... well..." Sunset rubbed her hand pleasantly across the furry trim and neatly folded the coat back down over the booth's edge. "...since coming here, I guess."
"Do ponies not... uh... wear clothes back in Equestria?"
"Oh we do..." Sunset Shimmer shrugged. "On occasion."
Twilight blinked. "'On occasion?'"
"Uh huh." Sunset looked across the table at her. "For parties. Formal events. Dances... that sort of thing. And, of course..." She gestured out the window. "...for when the weather gets chilly."
"Right."
"But in Equestria, pegasi control the weather. So... at least in the magically civilized parts of the continent... we can plan exactly when and where to put on bundled clothes." Her mouth lingered open after saying that, and there was a noticeable flicker of something in her eyes. Like melancholy or regret. In an attempt to hide it from Twilight, Sunset took a sip of Dr. Pepper, swallowed, and gestured. "That's different in this place, though. People don't control the weather here."
"Heehee. Well..." Twilight rolled her eyes. "We actually do, albeit slowly and disastrously downhill—"
"Oh. Right. That." Sunset snapped a finger. "But what I mean is, you can predict the weather but you can't make an inclement blizzardhappen or not happen. So... from what I gather... humans have no choice but to bundle up. And in that chaos, they've... created some really really cute fashion statements, considering the circumstances." She smiled. "But it's more than that, I guess. Humans... bipeds have a fashion that's waaaaaay different from ponies. And they also have this stickler for covering their entire bodies to avoid the nude. It just... it just makes for a different canvas of expression than what I'm used to. It's far more complex and fascinating and... I guess I can't help but love it."
"Heehee..." Twilight folded her hands together. "I'm surprised you haven't talked to Rarity about this before."
"Are you kidding?!" Sunset Shimmer cackled. "I'd never hear the end of it!"
"Heehee!"
"Heh—and worst of all, she'd end it with an excuse to dress me up!" She pointed under the table. "Then she'd put me in some goddess-awful painful heels!"
"Ugh! I know, right?"
"Why didn't you ask her for some flats instead?!"
"I didn't w-want to ruin this evening—"
"Pfft! How?!" Sunset Shimmer snicked, eyebrow raised. "I don't care what you wear on your feet so long as you're comfortable!"
"Well, I'm glad to hear that. Still, though..." Twilight hunched over a bit to take another sip of her soda, all the while avoiding Sunset's direct gaze. "They do... sorta make me feel taller... so I-I can see your face more clearly."
Sunset Shimmer blinked. The front of her hoodie fluctuated slightly in cadence with two or three pronounced heartbeats.
"N-not that it matters..." Twilight sighed defeatedly. "...my stupid knees are always standing inwards."
Sunset giggled warmly at that, a relief for her lungs and other organs. "I love the way you stand when you're acting all pensive, Twilight."
"You d-do...?"
"Yeah." Sunset nodded. "It makes me want to hug you all the..." Her lips trailed. "...harder."
"... ... ..." Twilight stared at her.
"... ... ..." Sunset stared back.
In one swift motion, both girls retreated to their Dr. Peppers, slurping away as they stared at random locations away from one another.
"How's it lookin', Rarity?" Applejack asked, leaning in over the table and staring out the coffee shop's window.
"Hmmmmmm..." Rarity squinted one eye shut while she peered through a bejeweled spyglass with the other. Adjusting the lens with a painted finger, she focused on the two girls seated at the furthest table within the cafe. The fall of evening made it difficult to get a good bearing across the street much less through two separate plates of glass. "Hard to tell..."
"Well, is it rainin' cats and dogs?" Applejack asked, struggling and fumbling to see better. "Can ya at least see if Twilight's thrown her drink in Sunset's face or somethin'?"
"Good grief!" Rarity spat, lowering the spyglass to scoff at her country friend. "Nothing of the sort! How could you predict something so horribly disastrous for our friends?"
Applejack merely shrugged. "You ain't givin' me much else to glean from."
"They're sitting and talking, Applejack."
"Just givin' the gab?"
"Yes. Quite." Rarity looked through the spyglass again. "If you ask me, they're engaging in a simple, friendly conversation. As intended."
"For real? No lurvin' or cuddlin' or any of that smoochin' nonsense?"
"Oh A-A-Applejack..." Rarity chuckled, spyglass rattling in her humored embrace. "Don't be such a silly cowgirl! This sort of thing takes time, darling!"
"Pfffft. Shoot..." Applejack leaned back, kicking her boots up onto the table. Cl-Clank! "Ain't how I learned to do a proper romantic outing!"
"Uh huh..." Rarity twisted the lens of the spyglass in and out. "And just what, pray tell, is your concept of a 'proper romantic outing,' Applejack?"
"It's not that complicated!" Applejack tilted her hat back and folded her arms. "All Sunset Shimmer's gotsta do is seal the deal as early as possible!"
"You don't say..."
"She's gotta take control, y'know? Show who's really pullin' the plow! After all, Sunset's the big'n of the relationship." Applejack gestured. "Just lean over to Twilight and go 'Now listen here, ya little scamp! I ain't takin' no more of yer sass no longer! Pucker up, y'all!' And she scoops her petite lil' figure up, cradlin' her all nice and gentle... so that she knows that even though she could very easily run away with them lil' athletic legs of hers, ain't nowhere else on God's green earth that'll be even half as comfy-like as bein' right there in Sunset's arms." Closing her eyes, Applejack smiled and charaded a "cradling" motion with her forelimbs. "And then Sunset scoops her up super close... runs a hand through her short silky hair... and swings sweet-nothings into her ear—y'know, songs taught on the farm since the beginning of time—until the varmint's raspy voice's been reduced to a lil' cooing sound, and then the kissin' begins... and boy howdy does it go on for a long time." Applejack sighed dreamily. "Gotta drown them stubborn colors out, y'know?"
Throughout the course of this monologue, Rarity gradually and icily turned her gaze from the spyglass to her drawling companion.
"Applejack, darling..." Rarity's lips pursed. "...since when does Twilight have a raspy voice?"
Applejack's eyes popped open. "Uhm..." She adjusted the brim of her hat, overshadowing a fresh curtain of sweat. "...I-I might have heard the lil' librarian let out a sq-squeak or two."
"... ... ..." Rarity glared at her.
"Ahem..." Applejack leaned towards the spyglass. "...how are them cats and dogs rainin' now?"
"Time for din-din!" Pinkie Pie sang, sashaying over the table with a full tray. She placed a steaming hot plate down before Twilight. "Here ya go, Miss Sparkle! Shrimp alfredo! Just like you asked!"
"Oh! It smells great!" Twilight was already unrolling her utensils from her napkin in anticipation. "Thank you so much, Pinkie!"
"Thank Mr. Cake! He had his hand in the whole thing—well, not literally his hand, cuz that'd be super-duper gross and then our establishment would be sued for sanitary negligence and—"
"The fruit salad, Pinkie?" Sunset Shimmer droned.
"Whoops!" Pinkie reached up and deposited the last bowl from the tray. "Here ya go!" Blue eyes sparkled. "Mamma Mia—that's a lot of watermelon!"
"Just the way I like it." Sunset smiled and nodded. "Thanks a bunch."
"NOW do you want some refills?"
"That'd be great."
"Coming right uppppp!" And Pinkie naruto'd off at full speed. "Woosh!"
"Heehee..." Twilight managed between several swift eager bites. "Mrmmff... talk about service with a smile!"
Sunset poked gingerly at her bowl of randomly assorted fruit. "Whoah-ho! You hungry, girl?"
"Oh! Uh... I-I'm sorry!" Twilight immediately dropped her fork into the alfredo. "Was I pigging out? I was pigging out, wasn't I? I-I can eat slower or—"
"Hey... easy..." Sunset waved a hand. "This isn't some sort of long distance marathon."
"Right. Sorry."
"And stop saying 'sorry,'" Sunset said with a wink. She took a bit of grape and cantaloupe bits, swallowing the sweet morsels down. "My bad. I was just making an observation. I didn't mean anything weird by it."
"I'm sorr—er... I mean..." Twilight sighed, then picked the fork back up with a meager grin. "I kinda sorta didn't eat all day."
Sunset nearly choked, grasping her own throat. Swallowing the latest bite down, she wheezed: "You starved yourself for this date?!"
"What? No!" Twilight shook. "I was just... so b-busy preparing. And then I went to Rarity's. And she put on dress after dress after dress..."
Sunset sighed, glaring out the window. "I gotta have a talk with her after this..."
"Oh, please don't be mad. She only means well. How could she have known that I missed lunch... and breakfast..." Twilight shuddered with a mouth full of noodles. Slurping it up, she looked aside. "And a full night of sleep?"
"What was that?"
"Uhhh..." Twilight jolted in place. She skewered a piece of shrimp with her fork and held it up. "This stuff is so delicious to eat!" She leaned the fork across the table. "Here! Have a bite!"
"... ... ..." Sunset looked nervously at the morsel of seafood. She brandished an awkward smile, nonetheless squirming.
"Hmmm?" Twilight blinked. "Oh... Ohhhhhhh..." By now she was wincing. The girl leaned back in her seat, lowering the shrimp back to her plate. "Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh—I-I should have ordered something else."
"No you shouldn't have—"
"It's not too late! I'll... uh... I'll ask Pinkie Pie for a salad instead!" Twilight turned and waved towards kitchen. "Hey! Pinkie!"
"Twilight—"
"If you could just—!"
Sunset reached across the table and lightly grasped Twilight's wrist. "Just. Relax. Please."
Twilight locked up. Her eyes landed on Sunset's fingers clasped gently around her arm.
Sunset took a breath. "That's right..." She smiled, giving Twilight's wrist a slight squeeze as she lowered it back to the table. "It's okay. Look at me... please..."
Twilight's glossy eyes demurely met hers.
Sunset struggled to maintain her cool. "It's okay. I am not offended by it. I am not some tiny scrumptious crustacean being caught in a fisherman's net. Neither am I a tiny magical horse who faints at the sight of meat right now." A prolonged smile. "Vegetarian or not, I happen to be a young woman who's very much enjoying herself at this moment."
Twilight's lower lip quivered. "You are?"
"Absolutely!" Sunset leaned back. "Toasty warm atmosphere! Delicious watermelon fruit salad!" She lifted a pink-and-green clump of fruit with her fork and let it linger besides a coy wink. "The company of a beautiful young lady..."
Twilight Sparkle exhaled through pursed lips, producing the tiniest of squeaks. Warmth returned to her cheeks, and her shoulders shimmied slightly as she smiled and said: "I love how womany your voice sounds when you say that."
"Heheheheh..." Sunset hid her own blush by taking another liberal bite of her fruit salad. She picked and prodded, waving her fork between stabs. "Mrmmfff... what does that mean?"
"What does what mean?"
"You use 'womany' a lot when complimenting me."
"I do?"
"Well, to me it stands out."
"Why? Cuz it's silly?"
"It just makes me curious." Sunset took a few more bites, chewed, then swallowed. "What makes me more 'womany' than... say..." She pointed nebulously out the window. "...Applejack, Fluttershy, and the others?"
"Well..." Twilight picked at her own plate with just as much random gusto. "It's... it's how I see you..."
"And how you 'hear' me, apparently."
"Heehee. I... uh..." Twilight looked up. "I guess it goes back to when I was a little girl."
"Oh?"
"My mother was a writer. Although she worked out of the home, she was constantly going back and forth in between meetings with her publishers. But since I was the youngest and dad was mostly away at the office, I had to tag along with Mom on most of her errands. It's how I learned really fast how to be proper and polite while in public. I didn't want to embarrass her by being a brat or nothing."
"Yeah, I guess I can see that."
"And I remember my mother's chief editor. She was a tall blonde lady... about middle-aged. If Rarity was here, she'd use the word 'voluptuous,' I bet. Deep, authoritarian voice... yet a smile that dazzled with femininity whenever she greeted me and Mom. She always dressed sharp—jet black pantsuits and a slick hairstyle. Even her purse was big and dark—a no-nonsense leather. She looked every bit like a person 'in control,' yet not afraid to be beautiful and... and even a bit vain as well. Not in some hollow, selfish way... but in a way that exhibited confidence."
"Heh..." Sunset smirked, leaning her chin against her wrist. "For a little girl who likely had her nose in a book all the time, you certainly stole many a glance at this person."
"Ohhhhhh yes. Heeheehee. I was instantly fascinated. 'Ms. Comstock' was her name. Very... 'womany' woman. Even as the years grew by and I grew older, she always stayed ageless in my head. And timeless. What it means to be a woman. What it means to be beautiful."
Sunset took a deep breath. "She was your first crush, wasn't she?"
Twilight Sparkle blinked, her eyes focusing on a far-off thought, as if it was blooming freshly for the first time in her comprehension. "Yes." A determined nod. "She was." A contemplative breath. "It makes a lot of sense now, I suppose..." Her words trailed off.
Sunset smiled just as thoughtfully. "Well... I'm very much flattered, Twilight."
Twilight shook slightly. "I-I mean... I-I don't care where she is or what she's doing now!"
"Heheh, Twilight, don't—"
"Sh-she's probably in her sixties! I'm sure a lot of older men Filthy Rich's age would be interested in her, b-but not m-me—!"
"It's okay...!" Sunset waved a hand. "Like I said—I'm flattered." She bit her bottom lip, struggling to contain the smile. "Just... kinda thrilled to think I'm 'womany' for someone."
"Why?" Twilight shrugged, taking another bite of the alfredo. "It's the truth!"
"I just haven't spent much time being a woman."
"So?" Twilight giggled. "You fill it well—!" She grimaced. "Er, you know what I mean."
"Hahaha—I'd be flattered by that too!"
"Heeheehee!" Twilight giggled some more, positively shaking in her dress as a red warmth spread up through her lavender features.
Sunset gazed at her... and gazed and gazed. She took another bite of watermelon, and her lips curved slightly. It wasn't because of the sugary taste...
"And so..." Fluttershy's eyes twinkled as she gestured in the warm air of the parked car. "...the male seahorse takes the female's eggs in his pouch and carries them throughout the gestation period, releasing them over the course of two weeks—per average. And after thousands of baby seahorsies are born, the male will actually repeat the mating cycle once again! Ensuring more young are hatched into the surrounding waters!"
"Eeeeeeeeugggggggghhhhhh..." Rainbow Dash moaned, splayed out in driver seat's fully-reclined chair. She grasped at her prismatic bangs with two gnarled sets of fingers. "Isssss thatttt soooooo—?"
"Hee-hee! Yes!" Fluttershy cupped her hands beside her smiling cheeks. "Isn't it incredible? I just think it's the most adorable thing. The male in the seahorse relationship is such an active and caring participant in the mating cycle!" Her eyelashes fluttered. "Could you imagine if the guys you and I know were capable of such attentiveness?"
"It'd certainly put the military draft into question," Rainbow muttered.
"I just love talking about amazing facts about the animal kingdom!" Fluttershy purred. She brushed a silken pink bang away from her eyes and grinned wide. "Hey! Want to know how swans make love?"
"Guhhh!" Rainbow Dash sat up straight with a frown. "How long has it been?"
"Huh? Oh—you mean since Sunset's and Twilight's date began?" Fluttershy looked at her cell phone. "About an hour."
"Uggggh..." Rainbow slumped back again. Fwomp! "How long does it take for two people to just smooch anyways?"
"Uhm..." Fluttershy toyed her fingers together. "I... don't think either Sunset or Twilight are looking to get kissing out of tonight."
"That's the whole point of this... this... thing, isn't it?" Rainbow stood up, gesturing limply towards the eatery far beyond the windshield. "Chipping away at all the stiff pretense and getting to the action!"
"Romance isn't like a Twitter feed, Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy remarked with folded arms. "Some things in life you just have to wait for."
"I'm not saying they should bump uglies," Rainbow said. "Maybe just... y'know... bump pretties first."
"Oh." Fluttershy tapped her chin. "Well..."
"Who do you think's gonna make the first move?"
"I... don't think... either of them are planning to make amy 'move,' Rainbow."
"I bet it's gonna be Twilight."
"Whoah. Uhm... really?"
"Yup!" Rainbow Dash gripped the dormant wheel of the car, smiling devilishly. "And if I was her, I'd know just how to do it too."
"And just how would you?" Fluttershy gulped. "Although... I-I shudder to ask..."
"Well, Sunset Shimmer's the bigger and stronger of the two, right?"
"She is?"
"So, if I was Twilight, I'd know that intimidating Sunset would be out of the option. But seducing her? That's another thing altogether!"
"Uhm..."
Rainbow's fingers tightened around the wheel. "I would just play it cool... lean my awesome body against hers... let her feel every saucy curve and breath. I'd tickle her shoulder a bit—playing with my fingers while I played with my words. Us girls love to be tickled."
"Personally, I don't really—"
"And I'd be like 'Hey babe, how would you like me to rock your world? Cuz I've got a whole lotta rock and you've got a whole lotta world.'"
"Snrkkk..." Fluttershy covered a goofy grin. "Uh huh...?"
"And then..." Rainbow Dash's eyes fluttered shut as she traced loving circles around the steering wheel with her petite fingertips. "...I'd wrap my arms around her awesomely-toned muscles... kiss my way up her neck... relishing in the day-old scent of sweat and hay. And finally—when my fingers have got her gasping my name over and over again—I'd kiss her over and over again on the cheek... one kiss for every freckle..."
"Uhm..."
"...call me a 'varmint,' will she? I'll show her. I'll make that self-righteous workaholic see stars. THEN who's the 'lazy one,' huh? HAH! Hah hahhhhhhh..."
"Rainbow Dash...?"
Rainbow's eyes flashed open under a bead or two of sweat.
"Since..." Fluttershy squinted. "...when did Sunset Shimmer have freckles?"
"Uhhhhm..." Rainbow squirmed in her seat. "Uhhhhhh..." She bit her bottom lip until it nearly bled. "Ssssssssshe's a redhead!" her voice cracked. "Don't all redheads h-have freckles?"
"Uhm. Not that I know of."
"Uhhhh... uhhhhhhhh..."
"Rainbow, are you certain we're talking about—?"
"Oh look!" Rainbow pointed out the window and proceeded to fling the driver's side door open. "A squirrel!" She leapt out completely. "Zoop!"
"Funnily enough, I remember the conversations they'd have behind my back in the middle of class," Twilight Sparkle said in a quiet, unemotional tone.
"Oh?" Sunset Shimmer leaned into the tabletop, gazing over their empty plates and loose utensils. "What conversations?"
"Oh... silly, pointless little bits of dialogue," Twilight said, neatly folding and unfolding the discarded paper cover of her straw. "The boys would ask each other things like 'Who would you rather go on a date with? Twilight Sparkle? Or Helga the Lunch Lady?' Naturally, ten times out of ten, 'Helga' would be the answer."
"Yeesh..." Sunset Shimmer brushed her bangs aside. "This 'Helga' must be a smoking hot goddess who squirts Steam Gift Cards out her armpits." A smirk. "Even then, she'd be a far-distant hundredth place in my book."
Twilight briefly smiled at that, but her expression went back to neutral as she rambled forward: "But the girls were worse. Unlike the guys in my class, they didn't care that I was overhearing them. In fact, I think they knew it. They'd share pictures on their phones of Google Image searches for 'ugliest dog in the world' and then say 'Oh look! The new Twilight Sparkle fashion is in! Better put your head in a blender!' Which... I always thought was ridiculous, because if you put your head in a blender—it wouldn't just rip your hair out by the roots but it would cause irrecoverable tissue damage to your face and scalp as well."
Sunset nearly teetered from how heavily she blinked at that. "Why in the Hell would you say that?!"
Twilight shrugged, avoiding her date's gaze. "I used to be a real snob. An intellectual snob. I'd nitpick my classmates on the most ridiculous and trifle of factoids. I'd play teacher's pet like it was a professional sport, and when I started getting amazing grades I'd rub it in all their faces."
"Twilight, I seriously doubt you've ever had the faculty to rub anything in anyone's faces."
"Regardless, back at Crystal Prep, I was never really... 'I wanna make friends with this person' material. It's... uh... it's been different with you and the girls." She gulped, looking up finally. "But that's only because I found an equilibrium, y'know? I came to a point where I wasn't obnoxious... and... uhm... the other students weren't punishing me for it."
"I... don't understand."
"They stopped bothering me, and I just... sorta... learned to hang out by myself. All on my lonesome. And... it wasn't so bad! I liked spending my days at home and school alone!" A blink, and she giggled. "I mean, I had Spike of course... but for the last few years, I talked to almost nobody but Dean Cadance. And... I was fine with that. At least... I thought I was fine with that. But then recently I learned just how great friendship is again anddddddddd... ta-daaaaa... h-here I am!" She smiled nervously, toying with a loose strand of violet hair. "Heheheh..."
Sunset's mouth was contorted in an iron-wrought grimace. "Twilight..." She exhaled breathily. "That's... that's horrible."
"N-no it isn't!" Twilight shook her head. "I ended up with you, didn't I? Er... I mean..." She blushed, gesturing out the window. "You and the girls. Although... hmmmm..." A toasty smile. "Sitting here with you is a real good bonus... t-too... eheh..."
"All those years... spent alone?" Sunset shook her head vigorously. "Nopony deserves that!"
"Don't you mean 'nobody'—?"
"I know what I said!" Sunset palmed one fist, causing the knuckles to crack. "Man, if those stupid snotty-nosed Shadowbolts were here right now, I'd—"
"No no no no no no no!!!" Twilight waved her hands dramatically. Wincing, she pushed her glasses back up her nose and stammered: "That's not why I told you about all of that!" A hard blink. "Actually..." She drifted back in her seat, like she was melting. "Why did I tell you all of that...?"
"Well..." Sunset glanced at the table between them. "...you told me about that one stint you had in Crystal Prep's chess club, and I asked you if you were in any other clubs—"
"Aaaaaaaaaand then I proceeded to ramble on and on and on about all the ways that I was bullied, shunned, and made fun of by students back at my old school." Twilight sighed, hugging herself and staring aside. "Thusly sinking the mirth of this lovely evening down into the chilly, depressing, arctic depths."
"It... it's fine, Twilight," Sunset stammered. "I'm proud that you're willing to share these sorts of things with me."
"Still, though, not the sort of way I wanted to harpoon an evening I looked forward to so much. Way to go, Twilight." She gulped dryly, then chanted under her breath while twirling a loose thread of hair:
Twilight Sparkle gasped. She sat straight like a rod. "You know Carl Sagan?!"
"Why..." Sunset giggled lightly. "Of course! He's one of the most provocative, outspoken speakers in modern human astronomy."
"Yes! And he's so quotable t-too!" Twilight beamed and beamed. Nearly bounced.
"Is that from his speech at Cornell University in 1994—?"
"Mmmhmmm!" Twilight's teeth were positively bursting. "Based on the photograph of Earth taken in 1990 by the Voyager 1 space probe! Eee-hee-hee... uhm..." She clasped her hands together, sitting bird-thigh'd in her seat... if that was even possible. "...I-I may or may not have had a poster with that entire quote plastered against my bedroom wall."
"I see." Sunset nodded. "No doubt you had plenty of time to read it... spending all those years alone without a fellow set of ears to share it with."
"Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... yeahhhhhhhhhhhh..." Twilight sighed, her smile fading into a bittersweet shadow. "Still... you have no idea how... happy it makes me feel to know you've heard of it."
"Heh... I may have read Carl Sagan's stuff before," Sunset said, folding her arms. "But I've never memorized any of it. That's pretty impressive, Twilight."
"No it isn't."
"Twilight..." Sunset smiled slyly. "Will you please accept a compliment?"
"How long did it take you to brush up on human astronomy?" Twilight swiftly asked.
"Heh... you kidding?" Sunset leaned back, chuckling. "The first thing I ever did was study all I could find on the constellations!"
"Wow... really?"
"Uhm... I've got the word 'Sun' in my name."
"Heehee! Yes, you do! Yes, you do!" Twilight hugged herself tighter, grinning again. "Oh gosh... I love all the sciences, but astronomy has always... always thrilled me like nothing else."
"No friggin' kidding." Sunset pointed. "Don't you volunteer at the planetarium over at the Learning Center?"
"Uh huh! Going on three years now—" Twilight Sparkle froze in place. "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh gosh! I should totally take you there for a private screening!"
"Really? You can do that?"
"Yes! Yes I can!" Twilight's teeth glinted. "I'm fully trained to operate the projector! Ohhhh, I just bet there are some star formations you still haven't heard about yet!"
"Heh... if anyone can teach me new stuff, it's you, Twilight."
"Wow... I'm already drumming up notecards in my head—"
"That could make for a great second date—" Sunset blurted before her wide-eyed self could stop.
"Duaaaaah!" Twilight gasped, clutching her own cheeks. "IT TOTALLY COULD! Heeheehee!"
"Hah... heheheh..." Sunset Shimmer exhaled long and hard, relaxing against the seat cushions behind her. "Yeah... totally..."
"Heehee! A date among the starsssss! WoooOooOoooOoo..." Twilight giggled, pausing to fan herself. "Oh goodness! I'm starting to sound like Pinkie Pie!"
"Heheh... yeah..." Sunset rubbed the back of her head—a gesture meant to hide an undeniable set of tremors rushing up her body. She wasn't certain if it was joy or trepidation, but it felt throttlingly stronger than both. In a desperate attempt to reclaim her nerves, she rambled on: "I dunno about you, but I really really miss my old solar system."
"Heehee... awwwwwwwwwww... me too." Twilight sighed through a childish pout. "I mean, I understand the scientific basis for the reclassification, but I really wish they'd induct Pluto back into the fold. It's just... just too nostalgic to let go. And ever since New Horizons took those photographs of—"
"No, I meant my old solar system." Sunset gestured. "Y'know... back through the mirror."
"... ... ...?" Sunset raised a genuinely inquisitive eyebrow. "What?"
"You mean..." Twilight's lips moved, but not her body. "...it's not the same?"
"Huh? Oh—you mean Equestria's solar system? No. Not even remotely."
"You don't have eight planets?"
"No. We've got fourteen."
SLAP! Twilight gripped the table like it was the safety bar of a roller coaster. "FOURTEEN?!?"
"Uhhhhhh..." Sunset Shimmer scooted back into her seat cushion, sweating. "...yeah?"
Twilight was practically hyperventilating at this point. "Why. Didn't. You. Tell. Me. This. Before?!"
"Becaussssssse..." Sunset shrugged with a helpless smile. "...it never came up in conversation?"
"Omigosh! Omigosh! Omigosh!" Twilight slumped back upright, struggling for breath. "You have... you h-have... you have t-to tell me all about it!"
"Okay okay okay!" Sunset waved. "But you have to promise me to breathe!"
"Eeee-heeeee-Eeee-heeeee—" Twilight grinned and nodded and grinned and nodded.
"So... uhm..." Sunset cleared her throat, searching the ceiling with her eyes. "Equus, Equestria's home world, is the fifth in rotation..."
"Oh wow!" Twilight's eyes beamed as she propped her chin on two sets of knuckles. "Fifth from the host star—!"
"Actually, modern pony astronomers theorize that the gravitational eddy our planets orbit is a black hole."
Twilight's chin almost hit the table-top. "Buh?!"
"Yes. Possibly a collapsed star. You see..." Sunset gestured with her knuckles, as if briefly forgetting she didn't have hooves. "...some cataclysmic event several eons ago—most likely magic-based—sucked all the photonic energy from it, but the star still contains a great deal of mass... slightly greater than your sun. That's why Equestrians had to come up with a way to light up Equus. Eventually, the alicorns discovered a method, which is what resulted with the sun and moon that we have today. Although... most theoretical physicists believe that the 'sun' and 'moon' in Celestia's and Luna's spells aren't literal cosmic bodies, but rather photonic projections that are manifested through the gravitational waves that encase Equus and the other planets."
"Like... like..." Twilight gasped yet again. She pointed. "Hooft, Thorn and Susskind!"
"Uhhhhhhh..." Sunset blinked. "Hoof-who?"
"Earth theorists!" Twilight exclaimed. "There's a proposed idea in string theory that reality as we know it is simply a projection of information against a gravitational horizon! We've yet to prove such an idea to be remotely true, but—from the sound of it—everybody in the Equestrian dimension is actually living it!"
"Ehhhhhhhh... maybe?" Sunset cleared her throat. "Look, there's a lot of magic at play in my... uh... 'home dimension.' Sooooo it's kinda sketchy to compare it equally to all of the natural laws in this one."
"Has any of your kind ever been to outer space?"
"What, you mean like a cosmonaut?"
"Or an astronaut! Mmmhmm!"
"Well... maybe... maybe not..." Sunset shrugged. "Most scientists think that our entire civilization probably came from Eoh or the the fifth moon of Ashva..."
"Huh?"
"Eoh. Ashva," Sunset repeated. "They're the closest planets to us. Eoh's a barren rock with a thin atmosphere that's in closer orbit to the gravitational eddy. And Ashva—a large gas giant beyond the Green Gallop Belt—has several moons, the fifth of which is almost the size of Equus. Both that moon and Eoh contain visual evidence of massive artificial constructs, suggesting that sprawling civilizations once populated their surfaces, and—perhaps—still do."
"Mmmmmmmmmm...!" Twilight covered her mouth as her eyes teared up. "Your neighboring planets... c-contain life?"
"Well, quite frankly, yeah." Sunset chuckled slightly. "In fact, I was kinda depressed when I came here and raided the libraries... only to learn that this planet and this planet alone has been scientifically proven to harbor living things. Back home, at least five planets in our solar system are known to have once been populated... at least as far as our magically-imbued telescopes are able to tell."
"Oh wow wow wow wow wow—!" Twilight practically bounced in her seat before pounding the table like a drum. "Tell me more tell me more tell me more—!"
"Okay okay! Settle down! Hahaha!" Sunset chuckled breathily. "I mean... there's only so little I can tell! Like... too bad we never developed an advanced form of long-distance communication back home. There are hundreds of thousands of ponies absolutely dying to make contact with our celestial neighbors, only we can't because we haven't the means—"
"Still!" Twilight squirmed and smiled and squirmed some more, eyes locked on Sunset's. "Tell me anyway!"
"Heh... I'll do my best!" Sunset cleared her throat. "So... the furthest planet in our solar system is called Sedneigh."
"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..." Twilight almost melted. "'Sedneighhhhh...'"
"And so..." Applejack smiled, arms folded behind her neck as she stretched in mid-walk across the sidewalk. "...that's when the apple farmer says to the pear harvesters: 'No, y'all have chicken mouth!'" She slapped her knee and bent over, laughing "Ha ha ha ha!"
"Mmmmmm..." Rarity tongued the inside of her mouth, bundling up in her shiny coat. "...I suspect you must be of a specific flavor to appreciate that."
"Hahah-yuup!" Applejack dried the edge of her eyes. "The best flavor!"
"Rnnngh... mother spare me..." Rarity rubbed her temples. At the sound of approaching footsteps, she looked up and beamed. "OoOh!" a musical exhale of vapors in the nightly air. "Will you look at that! Familiar company!"
Rainbow Dash sauntered up, hands stuck deep in her sports jacket's pockets. She glared in Applejack's direction. "'Sup."
Applejack glared back at the smaller athlete. "Reckon I could ask the same of you. Ya done brooding like a vulture?"
"Uhhhh..." Rainbow squinted sharply back at her. "...only because we were asked to hang tight. By Sunset. What's your excuse?"
"Chaperonin' all the same." Applejack smirked, gesturing at Rarity. "See, 'cuz I've got Rarity, I can say it all fancy-like."
"Oh yeah?" Rainbow pointed back at Fluttershy. "Did you have to endure two full hours of National Geographic ASMR?"
"Did you have to suffocate on the smell of coffee grinds and French perfume?"
Fluttershy bit her lip, wringing her gloves together. She threw a pensive look at Rarity.
Rarity threw just the same awkward look back. Before the moment could get any more awkward...
...they heard the jingle of Sugarcube Corner's front door.
"Ah!" Rarity rocked back on her stilettos. "Here they cooooome!"
"Oh goodness..." Fluttershy brought her hands nervously to her chin, breathing vapors into the pale starlight. "I-I sure hope they enjoyed themselves!"
"Pffft..." Rainbow waved a hand. "Let's be real here. Twilight's a basket-case and Sunset's still wrestling with villain's guilt."
"Eeyup." Applejack tilted her hat back. "Hate to say it, y'all. But things probably went as swimmingly as a hay ride through a car wash—"
At long last, Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle emerged, shoulder-to-shoulder, grinning and giggling with enough mirth to light up the entire township for miles.
"That's unbelievable!!!" Twilight Sparkle gasped, hugging herself joyfully beneath Rarity's velvet overcoat. "But... if there's an actual spectral signature of oxygen detected on Hisan, then how can chlorophyll conceivably photosynthesize on a planetoid that's situated so far from the royal sisters' photonic spell?!?"
"It's on account of the reflective spatial debris," Sunset explained as the two strolled onto the sidewalk and straight past their friends. "Remember the ring that I said orbits Hisan?"
"Yeah...?"
"Well, experts believe that the orbiting rock particles are comprised of ninety percent mananite, which is a magical compound that absorbs and emits light over a prolonged period of time. So—in theory—the ring is projecting ancient solar light from back before the star collapsed into a black hole. Over the course of at least three million years, something on Hisan could conceivably have evolved to adapt to the dimmer sky. But if photosynthetic plants do exist on Hisan—"
"They must exclusively dwell along the orbital equator of the luminescent rings!" Twilight hopped in place, nearly tripping on her heels, but not caring. "It's like a forest of green bacteria and fungae dwelling in a solid stripe along the center of the planet!"
"Or off-center, based on the tilt of its axis in relation to the gravitational eddy!"
"Still! It's really really really cool!"
"You're right! Estimated at a constant negative one hundred and fifty degrees Celsius, year-round!"
"Brrrrrrrrrrr! Heehee!"
"Heheheheh..."
"Uhhhhhhh..." Rainbow Dash stretched both arms out by her sides as she spat vapors into the wintry night. "...Hello?!"
"... ... ...?" Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle scuffled to a stop. They spun in place, blinking absent-mindedly at the four girls. "... ... ...Oh!" Sunset was the first to pipe up.
"Hi there, g-girls!" Twilight waved, trying not to shiver.
"Hello yourselves," Fluttershy said, stifling a playful grin.
"Y'all... uh..." Applejack scratched her blonde scalp beneath her hat. "...enjoyin' yerselves?"
Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle looked at each other. A few blinks later, and both were giggling like idiots.
Rarity clenched her lips shut to keep from squealing like an ecstatic banshee.
"Heeheehee..."
"We... uhm..."
"We sorta started nerding out..."
"Yes..."
"Nerding out hard..."
"Super hard!"
"Hehehehe... what she said."
"Heeheehee..."
"Uhm..." Sunset gazed at the downtown area—which had thinned out considerably over the past two hours of nightfall. Christmas lights and festive decorations bespeckled the urban splotch with a consistent glittery glow. "...say AJ. Is your brother... here yet?"
"He's... runnin' a bit late, actually," Applejack stammered. "Emergency gas refill. I just got a text from him before we left the coffee shop—"
"Hmmmf!" Rarity slapped Applejack hard on the shoulder.
"OW! Er... I-I mean..." Applejack touched both fingers together. "...the dress boutique... across from town... which is totally not across the street from Sugarcube Corner where we could spy on y'all."
Rarity facepalmed, groaning.
"Why, Sunset?" Fluttershy craned her neck. "Is everything okay?"
"Err... yeah! Totally! Just..." Sunset pointed across the street. "...figured we'd go for a little walk, y'know?"
"Soooooo much shrimp," Twilight said, patting her tummy.
"And watermelon!" Sunset patted hers. "Hope you guys don't mind."
"Dude!" Rainbow frowned, waving her arms. "It's frickin' cold out here—Mrmmmff!!"
Fluttershy had reached around, covering the athlete's mouth. "Please! Go on!" Fluttershy smiled beautifully. "Enjoy each other's company for a little while longer."
"Yes, please go, darlings." Rarity waved a hand, eyelashes fluttering. "We can most definitely bide the time!"
"Uh... thanks!" Sunset Shimmer gave a thumb's up as she hooked her arm with Twilight's. "You guys rock!"
Twilight also gave a thumb's up as they walked across the street. "Positively geological!"
The other four were left alone, baptized by the warm vapors coming out of Rarity's and Fluttershy's combined sighs.
"Awwwwwwwwwwww..." Fluttershy cooed.
"So... perfectly... exquisite..." Rarity spent a good few seconds staring at the two strolling teenagers. She turned and smiled elegantly at the other three. "I just want to say... I'm so very proud of each and every one of you ladies pitching in to help make this evening shine for those two."
"Pfffft... whatever..." Rainbow Dash waved a hand. "It's just a date."
"Yeah..." Applejack nodded. "What she said!"
"As if their entire lives are going to start at this very moment just because we let Pinkie Pie sit them down to dinner and conversation."
"Not like anythang's changed now, either," Applejack said. "All a stroll's good for is stretchin' muscles."
"Yeah! And I-I do plenty of stretching on my own!" Rainbow declared, folding her arms.
"No need to stretch 'em with anybody else!" Applejack added, folding her arms.
Fluttershy bit her lip, looking at Rarity.
Rarity looked back and forth. Back and forth. Backandforthand—"RRRRGH! I CANNOT STAND IT ANYMORE!" Marching forward, she grabbed Applejack and Rainbow Dash fiercely by the shoulders and yanked them both together. "There!" A collective kick to both their rears, and she huffed: "And don't you dare split yourselves up until you've walked three laps doing nothing but talking!"
"What in tarnation—?!" Applejack wheezed.
"But—!" Rainbow Dash shivered in place. "We have no desire to—"
"Eeep...!" Rainbow Dash shrank from her, clinging with both arms to Applejack.
"... ... ..." Applejack felt Rainbow's weight on her. Her freckles swam in a fresh sea of scarlet, and it produced a sound from the back of her throat. "Uhhhh... reckon goin' for a good ol' friendly walk with Rainbow Dash—instead of a race—would be a really... cute change of pace for once..."
"...awesome change of p-pace!" Rainbow Dash stepped forward.
A pair of nervous smiles mirrored each other, and soon the two girls were several storefronts away, walking side by side, leaning gently into one another.
"Mmmmmmm..." Fluttershy shuffled until she stood next to Rarity, gazing. "Will you look at that?"
"About blasted time," Rarity said. "Although, somehow I doubt they'll let us chaperone them."
"Heehee..." Fluttershy giggled into her gloved hand. "Are you kidding? They'll pretend to keep it secret for another year."
"Two, at least."
"Even still... we'll be there to support them."
"Of course we will."
Silence.
Rarity looked at her friend. "You look lovely, darling."
Fluttershy did a tiny curtsied. "Thanks to someone even lovelier."
"Oh... pfft... pah!" Rarity waved a dainty hand. "It's merely something I threw together! It's Twilight I spent the most time on today! You know that!"
"Yes, well, whatever you 'throw together' is superb all the same."
"Only when it lands on something beautiful."
"... ... ..."
"... ... ..."
"So then..."
"Mmmmmm..." A musical sound, and one hand extended towards the others. "...shall we, darling?"
"Heeheehee... we shall." Fluttershy's cheeks flushed red as she grasped Rarity's hand in her glove.
Rarity led the way, and the two gently walked down the sidewalk, opposite of Applejack and Rainbow Dash.
In the center of town, there was a tiny splotch of green—a park. Tonight, that splotch was baptized in a gold aura—courtesy of dozens upon dozens of antique light bulbs hanging from the spreading branches of multiple oak trees. This—combined with the festive colors that flickered across the multiple storefronts along the town square's periphery—made for a little square of holiday heaven, through which two nerdy teenagers merrily walked.
"No, I'm afraid... as of yet... there's been no attempts made by the Equestrian Science Committee to create a Space Exploration Division," Sunset Shimmer declared.
"Awwwwwww..." Twilight clung to her jacket with one hand while she kept the other arm hooked with Sunset's. Disappointed vapors leapt from her cute pouting lips. "Why not?"
"Pffft... where in Goddess' name do I begin?" Sunset Shimmer shrugged as the two strolled under rows and rows of gently flickering bulbs. The scent of frost and tree sap tickled their noses. "It's more than the fact that we're technologically inferior to human society. Equestria... Equus as a whole simply hasn't globalized like people on earth has."
"Uh huh. So what?"
"Twilight—hahaha..." Sunset scuffled to a stop and turned to smile at the shorter girl. "I appreciate your optimism. But you simply can't send an earth ambassador to Equestria and just... flip the technology switch. You and I are familiar enough with social theory to take a hard guess where that would lead pony civilization."
Twilight sighed vaporously. "Yeah. I guess you're right. But still..." She winked mischievously. "What if a tiny serendipitous cabal of like-minded scientific geniuses happened to... mmmmmm... I dunno..."
Sunset Shimmer droned. "What? Friggin' smuggle rocket fuel through the mirror and attempt to fire a space probe beyond the orbit of Equus all on their lonesome?"
"Heehee—who knows! It could work!"
"Twilight, come onnnnnn..." Sunset playfully shoved Twilight's shoulder. "Powermongering is just as dangerous with technology as it is with magic." A gulp. "You and I—of all people—should know that."
"Hey..." Sunset tilted Twilight's chin back up. "I know you're only being facetious. Fact is, we've both learned our lessons. There's nothing to fret about anymore, okay?"
"Yeah..." Twilight nodded, smiling sweetly. "New leaves, turning over..."
"Absolutely." Sunset Shimmer leaned back, shivering noticeably in the gold light. "Couldn't have said it better myself."
Twilight blinked. She looked at the thick jacket and skirts she was wearing... then at Sunset's relatively flimsy jeans and hoodie. "Oh gosh. Oh gosh, you must be freezing."
"H-hey..." Sunset shrugged, her teeth nevertheless chattering. "I'm just fine—"
"No you're not! Your hands are shaking."
"I can handle a little bit of cold, Twilight—"
"Not when it's on my account! Here..." Twilight used her teeth to bite off her mittens and then shoved them into her coat's pocket.
Sunset arched an eyebrow. "What are you doing—?"
"I don't want my friends suffering because of me." Twilight reached with her hands out and rubbed Sunset's shaking palms vigorously. "Never again!"
"Awwwwwww... Twilight..." Sunset sighed, but didn't fight it. Sure enough, after merely half-a-minute, she felt a warmth returning to her upper body.
"You're a living piece of something very special," Twilight said. "A world with other worlds... all with the potential for life and harmony and... ... ..." The bookworm stopped suddenly, soaking up the reality of the finger contact she was making with her absolute bestest of best friends. "... ... ...magic."
Sunset watched.
Slowly, Twilight looked up from where their hands clasped one another, as if she was lifting off from the starting point all over again. Her lips moved in the gold frosty air, but she was suddenly at a loss to pronounce anything.
So, Sunset pronounced it for them... through vapors and a smile. "You really like hands, huh?"
"I... I like yours," Twilight rasped, almost choking. Her fingers squeezed the other woman's palms for emphasis. "You know what."
"I think it's very cute," Sunset said.
"Mmmm... if by 'cute' you mean 'silly,'" Twilight eventually muttered.
Sunset squirmed slightly. She looked at one empty street... then another. "I like feet," she blurted.
Twilight blinked at her.
"I mean..." A nervous chuckle, and Sunset's eyes traced the dangling light bulbs above. "...I don't like like feet. I... I know that must sound gross."
"Heheheh... if you say so."
"I've been around your Internet a few times and—lemme tell you, from what I've seen? Ewwwww..."
"Heeheehee..."
"I just... think feet are interesting. Maybe it's because I'm from a land full of ponies." Sunset shrugged. "I dunno."
"Why not hands?"
"Huh?"
Twilight looked at her straight. "Ponies don't have hands either. Why do you just find feet cute?"
"Because... they j-just are!" Sunset squeezed Twilight's hands back. "They're so... goofy-looking and squishy..."
"Heeheehee!"
"And they're so sensitive too. I mean, ponies' hooves can be sensitive on occasion, but not like human feet. And you've got to stand on them! I mean... my Goddess! My first week spent walking on this side of the mirror was absolute torture!"
"Yeesh... you poor thing," Twilight cooed. "I can't even... imagine..." Her eyes trailed off, as did her smile.
Sunset cocked her head to the side. "What's the matter?"
"Mmmmm... nothing..."
"You look like you want to ask me something."
"Yes... but... I-I'm afraid to."
"Hey..." Sunset covered Twilight's hands entirely with hers, warming her this time. "I'm here... and I'm not going anywhere. Ask away."
Twilight gnawed on her lip for a while. Then: "What... brought you over here to begin with?"
"What, you mean through the mirror?" Sunset sighed out the side of her mouth. "Well, you know Twilight. I used to be super evil. So one day I stole the Princess' crown and brought it over here so I could harness it's magic for stupid reasons—"
"No, I mean... before that." Twilight looked up, her glossy eyes shimmering in the gold bulbs. "From what I understood, it took several... several months for the portal to reopen—at least before the other Twilight fixed things on her end."
"Right..."
"So... you must have first arrived long before you ever went back to steal the crown." Twilight leaned her head to the side. "What made you come in the first place?"
Sunset's throat tightened.
"Why'd you give up on Equestria, Princess Celestia, and being an apprentice of magic to begin with?"
Silence. Somewhere in the distance, a brief chorus of Christmas muzak could be heard from the radio of a passing vehicle. Then all was still again.
"Oh no..." Twilight shrank back, wincing. "I... f-forget I ever asked that!" Her hands wriggled, squirming guiltily to escape Sunset's grasp. "I should know b-better than to pry about your—"
"No..." Sunset held Twilight's fingers in place. "It's okay. You deserve to know. Someone deserves to know."
"You mean..." Twilight blinked. "None of the other's...?"
Sunset shook her head slowly. "You're not just any 'someone' Twilight."
Twilight stared at her.
Sunset looked behind them. She found a bench and gently escorted the two of them over to sit down. Once they were seated, she continued holding Twilight's hands—gentler this time.
"I... was very mad at Princess Celestia," Sunset declared. "And in my madness and desperation, I sought to find the most powerful magics conceivable. I thought I might find them beyond the portal, so I leapt on through. I was too thick-headed to heed the warning about the closure between portal openings... and so... I was initially stuck here."
"Is that... uhm... when you 'became evil?'" Twilight asked.
Sunset laughed. "Oh Twilight, there's no lightswitch for that either." She gulped. "Who I was... what I became... was a result of several mistakes made over time." She breathed heavily, producing gold vapors between them. "If you must know, I wasn't always mad at Celestia. In fact, I loved her dearly... I loved her like a mother because... well..." Her eyes darted over. "...in many ways, she pretty much was."
Twilight gasped. "Princess Celestia is actually your—?!"
"I mean she adopted me," Sunset declared. "Took me under her wing—literally and figuratively."
"Then... did you ever know your real parents?"
Sunset's eyes darted aside. "... ... ...they passed away when I was age four."
"!!!" Twilight slapped a hand over her mouth. "Oh Sunset..."
"Hey now, let's not go there, okay?" Sunset Shimmer chuckled. "I mean it. I've already had a lifetime full of sobfests over the matter. Sure, I miss my parents—what little I remember about them—but all things considered I was pretty lucky. I was taken in as Celestia's student and given a life of luxury and boundless intellectual enlightenment. I could perform feats of magic at a young age that even the Princess of Friendship herself couldn't even pretend to emulate. For a long time there, I was headed towards greatness."
"What..." Twilight lowered her hand until it was once again resting in Sunset's grasp along with the other. "...what happened?"
"Well, the reason—I've always believed—that Celestia adopted me is that she felt somewhat responsible for my parents' fate."
"Really?! How so...?"
"The Summer Sun Celebration was scheduled to be in my town the year that they both died. The local pegasi were setting things up—kicking the clouds and affecting the weather ahead of schedule. Problem is—none of them were officially-licensed weather fliers. They were just a bunch of noponies with wings being pressured by the local city council in order to cut costs on hiring experts from Cloudsdale and... well..." A sideways sigh. "One thing led to another, and they spawned a tornado that blew over half of my town... including my home." Sunset swallowed. "My folks weren't the only ones to bite the bullet that day. It was a huge deal... made the papers everywhere."
"That's so terrible, Sunset..."
"Yeah, well, I didn't think twice about it until I became a young adult. Around that time, I got... really obsessive and brooding about it." Sunset freed a hand to rub the back of her neck. "I started asking really far-out question that no sane apprentice should even bother contemplating... like why aren't unicorns controlling the weather? Or alicorns for that matter? Surely a steady horn would be far better than a pair of unpredictable wings! Maybe pegasi shouldn't control the weather at all! Why can't we just have a spell for that? Why can't we have a spell for everything?" She rolled her eyes and slumped in her bench's seat. "Eventuallllllly... I started writing up this really big, long, manic manifesto about how unicorn magic should necessarily be used to control every iota of nature... enforcing order on every square inch of Equestrian civilization. It made sense to me at the time... even if I didn't bother to stop and think about the social and ecological ramifications of a system that was so Or... Orvil... Owen..."
"'Orwellian,'" Twilight Sparkle supplied. "Er..." She winced apologetically. "I-I do believe that's the word you were looking for."
"Oh, you're not wrong. And Celestia saw it too—which is why she talked me down several notches the moment she began grading my paper. She said that I was dabbling with 'very dangerous ideas.'" A deep breath. "I blew up at her. Told her that she was threatening the future of Equestrian foals living everywhere."
"Ouch," Twilight winced.
"And th-then I told her that she was the real reason for why my parents died to a tornado all those years ago."
"Double ouch," Twilight winced harder.
"Aaaaaaaaaaand shortly after that, I galloped off like a whiny little brat... and threw myself through the mirror." Sunset shrugged, sporting a bittersweet smile. "Tadaaaaa. Prologue Complete."
"Whew..." Twilight brushed a strand of hair over her ear. "And... ever since...?"
"I've been learning—day by day—a grueling life's lesson in humility and restraint," Sunset said. "With more or less bumps along the road."
"Yes, well, I think you're cruising over those bumps."
"Oh Twilight..."
"You totally are!" Twilight leaned forward with an emphatic look in her eyes. "A sniveling power-hungry brat couldn't have saved me from the magic that Principal Cinch wanted me to unleash! Well?" She smiled proudly. "How could a corrupt pony have shown me such goodness? Or the power of friendship?" She squeezed Sunset's fingers. "And so much more...?"
Sunset breathed in and out. "I only wished I had learned my lessons sooner..."
"If you ask me, you learned them just in the nick of time." Twilight sniffled slightly. "And I couldn't be happier."
"Heh... well, that's better than any crown, I suppose."
"You suppose?!" Twilight cackled.
Both girls laughed.
"Heeheehee..." Twilight breathed through a smile, gazing warmly at the other woman. "...do you think you'll ever go back?"
"Well..."
"I mean go back back." Twilight blinked. "To see Celestia."
"I..." Sunset glanced aside. "I dunno..."
"I'm sure she'd love to see you."
"Pffft... after that tantrum I threw? Blaming her for my parents' death after all she's done to raise me proper?"
"She did raise you proper. Sunset, look at me..." Twilight tilted Sunset's chin.
Sunset reluctantly looked at her, eyes thin and glossy.
Twilight smiled. "You're a good pony, do you hear me?"
"Please, Twilight—"
"Yes! And you're welcome." Twilight leaned forward. "Have you ever stopped to think that Celestia allowed you to leap through the portal because she knew there was a lesson for you to learn? Well, you learned it... and because of it, I found you... I found this... marvelous magical unicorn... and... a-and I'm thankful for what Celestia did. Maybe you should be too... and also understand that she would love to see you come back... when you're ready."
Sunset bit her lip. "Twilight..." It was her turn to lean forward. "Twilight, I—"
"OH WOW!" Twilight suddenly sat up straight, startling the other girl. "Ha HA! I just remembered!"
"Oh gosh oh gosh!" Twilight reached a mile deep into the fwoof of her jacket and skirts, finally producing her cell phone. With tingling fingers, she proceeded to swipe through her photo gallery at a million blinks per second. "I knew I took a photograph of her! I just had to."
"A photo of who—?"
"Ah-Ha!" Twilight held the phone out victoriously. "Take a look!"
"Uhhhhh..." Sunset blinked repeatedly, squinting at an indiscernible snapshot of fluff and stitches and pink felt. "...what am I taking a look at?"
"Fluffy Butts!"
"Oh. Okay." Sunset cocked her head aside. "Are they hiding beneath the stuffing?"
"No, silly! Fluffy Butts is the stuffing! Look..." Twilight scoot-scoot-scooted over in the bench, practically draping herself against Sunset so that the taller girl could get a better look at the digital photo. "...sooooooooo maybe she looked a bit more recognizable thirteen years ago... mmmmm... before I hugged and cuddled her on an almost nightly basis for all my childhood."
"So... wait..." Sunset's eyes darted back and forth. "Fluffy Butts was a stuffed animal?"
"She was THE stuffed animal!" Twilight exclaimed. "Even Shining says that I used to bawl my eyes out if he ever tried to take her from me. We were inseparable as young kids... er... when I was a young kid. But Fluffy Butts? She was always a full-aged space horse."
"Wait... do you mean—?"
Twilight pointed at a noticeably pointy stretch of fabric. "See that right there?"
"Is that... a horn?"
"Fluffy Butts was a unicorn!" Twilight grinned wide. "For years and years, I had a unicorn best-friend snuggle buddy to keep me company at night! Isn't that just soooooooooo ironic?! Heeheehee! After these last few years, I almost completely forgot about her! Then—a few nights ago, while preparing for this date—I got a bit nostalgic and so I began digging through a few old things. That's when I found her! Er... what's left of her. She still smells soooooo niiiiiice... just like I remembered! Well... maybe a bit more dusty... but still!"
"Hmmm..." Sunset smiled. "Fluffy Butts. I wonder what her cutie mark is."
"Hahaha! Beats me! But she kept me nice and snuggly and warm for a long time. I used to even draw sketches of us having astronaut adventures together in Crayon!"
"Soooo... she was an imaginary friend?"
"Yeah, I guess you could say that. I'm so sorry; I almost forgot to share that with you. Our time tonight just... got so unbelievably mesmerizing..." Twilight turned to smile at Sunset, eyes dancing with gold. "So much in my life has turned out for the better. Happiness... actual friends..." A soft, fragrant exhale—warm and innocent against Sunset's nose. "...not so 'imaginary' anymore, huh?"
Sunset stared at her. She lived. "Twilight..." A hard swallow. "...good Goddess, I think I'm falling in l—"
Honkkk Honkkk!
Both girls flinched. They looked over their shoulders, beyond the bench.
A beat-up red SUV screeched around the street corner, coming to a hard stop by the curve.
In the distance, two figures scampered over, accompanied by Applejack's voice. "Howdy! Big Mac, is that you?"
"Eeeeeyup!"
"Whew! Thank goodness! Rainbow and I were... uh..."
"We were racing!"
"Yeah! Rainbow won, of course!"
"Uh huh! What she said!"
Another pair shuffled over from an adjacent sidewalk.
"Oh, for goodness sake, darlings!" Rarity's voice echoed over the rumbling of the SUV's motor. "Give it up with the pretense already!"
"And just what were y'all doin' with yer hands together, huh? Arm wrasslin' on the go?"
"Okaaaaaaaaaay!"" Fluttershy sing-songed as her distant figure clasped her hands together. "Time to go home!"
"Sunsetttt! Twilightttt!" Rarity's voice warbled. "Where are you two preciouses?"
"Well..." Sunset stood up.
"Uh huh..." Twilight stood likewise.
"I guess... uh..." Sunset stared down at her "...this is where we call it a night."
"Yeah. I... guess so..." Twilight looked up at her, squirming in place, pigeon-toe'd.
Sunset kept staring. Her lips pursed.
Twilight's did too—but she was the first to lean back. "Uhm..."
Sunset winced. "Sorry, I—"
"Don't be." Twilight smiled. "Just... something I was always taught as a kid..."
Sunset shuddered to say it, but she did anyways: "'Never kiss on a first date.'"
Twilight gulped and nodded. "Worked for my parents, at least!" A sheepish smile. "Twice, even!"
"Heheh...." Sunset rubbed the back of her head.
"Still..." Twilight clasped her hands together, her lower body twisting from side to side in a subdued dance. "...doesn't mean I-I don't want to."
"Right..." Sunset looked off into the distance. Christmas lights danced off her eyes in an inspiring kaleidoscope. Soon, she was smiling goofily. "...but maybe there's something better."
Twilight mouthed those last two words in blank confusion.
"Twilight, I promise..." Sunset held a hand up. "It... it might seem a little weird at first... only in a silly way. But—you have my word—I won't do anything to make you feel uncomfortable."
Twilight merely nodded, her eyes full of warmth and trust.
Sunset held her breath. Then—gently, with the grace of falling snow—she leaned over until she was neck-and-neck with the bookworm. Feather-soft, without saying a word, she rubbed the side of her cheek against Twilight's, repeating the motion no less than three times. She finished with a soundless sweep of her neck against the top of Twilight's head... done in such an expert way as to not even remotely disturb the girl's pristine hair. Before long, they were standing tall once again, facing each other as if nothing had happened.
But something most definitely did. Twilight Sparkle still tingled from it. Lips parted, and she reached up to stroke her fingers across the cheek in question. The girl blinked several times into the frost and gold, exhaling through a smile.
"Did..."
She looked back up at Sunset, eyes narrowing.
"...did you just nuzzle me?"
"Mmmmm..." Sunset's face lingered adorably between a smile and a grimace. "...maaaybe?"
Twilight giggled. And then she giggled once more. When at last she composed herself, she stared straight at Sunset with steely authority, girded with a coy smile. "Do it again."
Sunset Shimmer blinked. Nevertheless, she did as she was told, leaning forward slowly.
This time Twilight leaned forward as well, utilizing the damnable heels that Rarity had gifted her. Soon, both girls were rubbing their cheeks together, then their necks. Their hands squeezed each other's shoulders throughout the entire gesture, until their knuckles felt the tickle of their dangling hair.
Sunset choked on something. Despite the heavenly nature of the moment, she fought hard to keep from whimpering. Twilight's desperate spritz of lavender perfume touched her nose for the first time that evening. So innocent, so there. When she leaned back, she had fought the tears away in time to smile.
"Let's do this again sometime... please," Twilight murmured. "But... until then... c-can we possibly maybe hang out more in school?"
"Absolutely."
"P-perhaps..." Twilight touched two fingers together. "...hold h-hands some more? Even if o-others are watching us?"
Sunset nodded and nodded.
"Okay!" Twilight did a tiny bird hop in place. "Okay okay!" And soon she was scampering across the street—nearly tripping once, maybe twice. She nevertheless turned to wave dramatically as she reached Big Macintosh's car, rejoining Applejack and Rarity. "So long!"
Sunset waved limply back. "G-good night..." Her hand crept down, clutching at the gold-tinged air. "...Twilight."
Big Mac's engine revved, and—in a red blur—the SUV tore off down the road. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash stood in the distance, but they weren't rushing anyone.
Sunset stood in place, breathing vapors into the magic of night. A stupid grin crossed her mouth, followed by an even stupider chuckle.
"Heheheheh..." She dug her hands into her jacket's pockets and sprinted off... practically skipping. "Move over Fluffy Butts! Ha ha... ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
Rainbow and Fluttershy could be seen in the distance, waving and cheering as Sunset came near...
...soon, the three girls made their way across the lot to Rainbow Dash's car.
All of this... reflected in the glossy blue eyes of Pinkie Pie... the same sapphires that had seen Applejack and Rainbow Dash returning from their walk... or Rarity's and Fluttershy's hands folded together.
"Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm..."
Pinkie Pie sniffled, leaning against a window frame inside the mostly-emptied Sugarcube Corner. She sighed, fogging the glass between herself and the three couples retiring for the night.
"Jee whizz..." She mewled, melancholic and melodic all the same. A pair of knuckles squished her pale pink cheeks together. "It sure must be super swell having a special somebody to spend chillytimes with..."
The bell above the front door jingled just then.
"Well then..."
"???" Pinkie spun around in a fuchsia blur.
A young man stood in the entrance, undoing his hood while gripping a guitar case. "...better stop relying on the heat so much."
"H-hey there, Pinks." Flash Sentry stepped in, shaking the frost out of his blue hair with a bashful expression. "Sorry I'm late. Boss wouldn't let me go...."
"I'll show you who's late!" Pinkie sprinted across the tile. "Wuh-oh—!" She suddenly locked in place, eyes derping as her clockwork body lurched spastically towards him in mechanical robot jerking motions. "Error! In! Loading! Flash! Page!"
"Goshdarnit, Pinkie!" Flash laughed, almost dropping his guitar case. "How many times do I have to tell you?! I'm not Newgrounds!"
"No!" She raspberried, then smiled. "But you sure help me break 'em!"
"Just hug me already—"
"Wakka-wakka-wakka!" She pounced on him, limbs ensnaring. "Mmmmm—!" She suddenly "chewed" on his exposed wrist. "Grrnnnngh—Get it?!" She lifted her face, smiling dumbly at him as she pointed at the fresh teeth marks. "Yellow! Like a Pac-Pellet!"
"Rrgh... yeah... uh huh..." Flash struggled to carry both her and the guitar case. "...ease up on the Gummy snacks, will ya?"
"Whoopsies!" Pinkie leapt clean off, landing straight like an apologetic chess figure. "Wuh oh! I awmost bwoke da Sentwiiie!"
"Hey, no pink, no gain." Flash shrugged, marching over towards a table. "Soooo... did I miss everything?"
"Yup!" Pinkie skipped over to the front door, locked it, and swiveled the dangling "Close" sign around. "Turns out we didn't need an emergency impromptu guitar solo anyways!"
"Awwww..." Flash sighed. "Guess it's my lot in life to be useless... even as backup."
"Pffft!" Pinkie bounced and bounced and bounced over to join him at a lone booth. "Not to me, you're not!"
"So... it went well, I take it?"
"Yup yup yupperoonies!" Pinkie nod-nod-nodded. "Operation Sci-Set-Sparkle-Shimmer..." She charaded two airplanes flying into one another. "Nyeeeeeeurrrhhh—BOOM! We done MKUltra'd them together!" She burped a bassline out the side of her mouth. "Lovealityyyyyyy!"
"Well... cool beans!" Flash opened his case and pulled his guitar out. "Then that just leaves you here to sample my latest song..."
"Pfffft..." Pinkie rolled her eyes. "Get with the program, Flash! You missed the oneshot by about a gazillion paragraphs—"
He smirked. "It's a song written by a person who's very near and dear to my heart." Chords lit the room, reverberating playfully. "Pinkamena Diane Pie."
"DUAAAAAAH!" Pinkie pivoted towards him at thirty sharp degrees, and all of them laced with smiles. "You wrote a melody to my lyrics?!"
"Maybe I did..." He upturned his nose. "...unless it's too late in the evening for some silly ballads."
Pinkie Pie frog-leapt up and squatted—THWUMP—directly in front of him on the table. "Serenaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaade meeeeeeeeee!"
"Uhhhh... sure thing...!" Flash cleared his throat, avoided looking at the area of her skirt, and began strumming more chords. "Mmmmmm... this one's called 'A Song of Icing and Fruit Snacks.'"
"Heeeeeeeee..." Pinkie cupped her chin on two hands, rocking back and forth with anticipation. "I can't wait! I can't wait! Move over, NSP!"
"And it goes a little something like th—" Suddenly Flash's body locked up as his eyes derped. "Uh! Oh!" He jerked in place with mechanical robot motions. "Error! Loading! M! P! 3! FILE!"
"Noooooooo!" Pinkie leaned forward and playfully "pummeled" his shoulder with little pink fists. "Refresh! Refresh! Refresh! You Dumb-Point-Oh jerk!"
"Hahahahaha!" Flash cracked up.
"Here..." She grabbed his hoodie's collar and leaned in, eyebrows wagging. "...let's upload a patch shall we?"
The two kissed on the lips.
As they teetered over—guitar and all—Pinkie randomly kicked her leg out, tilting an invisible camera upwards so that it panned tactfully to the stars.
