Bottled Feelings
I wake up every day the same way. I hit the snooze button on my alarm, make my way to the bathroom all grumbly and sleepy, brush my teeth, and then go flop back onto my bed until the alarm goes off again.
Then I eat breakfast, eggs—sunny side up, of course—toast, and tea. I used to have coffee, but Dashie says that I can’t sit still when I drink it.
More than usual.
Then I go to school! It’s alright. I gotta memorize a bunch of stuff for tests so I can forget it right after. High school, am I right?
It’s not all bad though. Lunch is always a blast. I get to hang out with my friends. There’s Dashie and Fluttershy and Twilight and all the girls. And Sunset.
She makes things extra bright when she’s around.
She’s smart and super brave and she never takes any guff from anyone! Especially when her friends are in danger.
She makes my tummy go all squiggly sometimes, and I smile a lot more because of it. Sometimes I think I catch her smiling at me, but I’m pretty sure that’s what I want to happen.
I asked my boss, Mrs. Cake, why that was. She says I like Sunset.
But I like all my friends! I don’t want to play favorites. Then I might end up hurting someone’s feelings and they’d be all sad and I don’t want that to be my fault.
The girls are making plans to go to the mall after school. Rarity wants to go see the new fabric store. She says she’s looking for inspiration for her winter line.
Dashie says that’s boring, though. Then she says we should see a movie. I think it’s a fun idea, and I let her know. Dashie gives Rarity a smug look and says that I agree that it’s a boring idea.
I tell her that the movie’s a good idea, but we should still go to the store for Rarity. They agree, but Dash gets all frowny for a moment. She hates shopping. I don’t blame her, though. Shopping is boring. Unless you’re getting party supplies, of course.
The lunch bell rings and it’s back to class. Dash groans loudly, and I kinda agree in my head.
It’s not that I don’t like class, it’s just I get all distracted and stuff. Rarity says I don’t think of the important stuff enough. She doesn’t mean it in a mean way, though.
I think it’s because I think too much. ‘Cause there’s like one thing the teacher says and that makes me think of another thing and then that thing makes me think of another thing and then before I know it I’m thinking of a whole bunch of stuff and—
Miss Cheerilee calls my name and I realize I wasn’t paying attention again. I tell her I’m sorry and ask her what the question was. Everyone laughs. Not Miss Cheerilee, though. She just sighs and continues the lesson. I think she understands how I think.
The bell rings and class is over. I skip out to the front of the school to meet the girls, and I’m the first one out. I wait for a bit until I get a text message. It’s Rarity saying that we’ll all meet at the mall at five because some of us are busy.
I pout a little, ‘cause I wanted to go to the mall with everyone at once. Still, it could be worse I guess. We’re still going, after all.
I head home and try to do some homework before I go to the mall. It’s super boring, though. I keep changing positions to get comfy, but nothing’s working. I try sitting at the kitchen table, and that’s worse. Finally, I sigh and give up. I’m too excited to do homework.
I roll to the side so I’m not sitting upside-down on the couch anymore and go get ready.
It’s cloudy while I walk to the mall. I think about how funny it is that the sky can be all weird and go from clear and sunny to cloudy and gloomy in a few hours. Twilight says it’s because of pressure fronts and evaporation and stuff like that.
I usually stop paying attention when she starts lecturing.
Speaking of Twilight, my phone buzzes. Twilight’s texting me. She can’t make it to the mall tonight. She’s in the middle of an experiment and she can’t leave it.
I’m a little bummed now, but I get it. Twilight’s always talking about the pursuit of science and stuff. It’s fun to listen to when she’s not turning it into a lesson.
Sunset’s waiting out front, and my tummy does a backflip down a waterslide that shoots off a cliff. Lucky for me, it gets back by the time I get to her. I say hiya and she says hey, and then we wait.
And wait.
And wait some more.
Then both our phones buzz at the same time. It’s Applejack and Rainbow Dash. They can’t make it because there’s a sick cow at the farm and Dashie’s helping Applejack take care of her. I ask if they need help and they both text no back really fast.
That just leaves Fluttershy and Rarity to show up. It doesn’t take long before Fluttershy calls.
She tells Sunset that she can’t make it. Angel Bunny is sick and Fluttershy can’t leave him alone. Sunset sighs, tells Fluttershy she hopes Angel Bunny gets better soon, and hangs up.
We talk a little bit about school and stuff while we wait for Rarity. Well, Sunset talks. I just listen. My mouth goes all dry when I try to talk to her, like that time Dash dared me to eat a cotton ball.
It didn’t taste like cotton candy.
It starts to rain so me and Sunset go inside. I kick myself for not bringing my coat. Not literally. That would be weird.
We wander around the mall for a bit. There’s a few people, but not too many to make it hard to walk. It gets a bit easier to talk to Sunset as we go, but my tummy still wants to do more backflips. I ask if we can stop at the food court.
Maybe nacho fries will help?
They don’t, but they taste good. I share some with Sunny and she shares some of her drink with me. It’s like a date, I tell myself. Then my brain crashes and I can’t believe I thought something like that! Why would I think that? Sunset doesn’t think about me like that. Besides, she likes boys ‘cause she dated Flash that one time when she was evil and—
Sunset reaches over the table and puts her hand on my shoulder before she asks me if I’m okay. She looks worried, so I tell her I’m okay and that I was spacing out. She puts her hand on my forehead and says I look red. The mall gets a million degrees hotter.
I tell her I’m okay again and she starts to take her hand away—No, come back! Kiss her, Pinkie!—I don’t do that part, but I think it really loud. Sunset gets a funny look on her face like she’s gonna say something, but then she sits back down.
Things get quiet after that. Sunset looks like she’s thinking about stuff, and she keeps checking her phone. Maybe it was something I said? Or maybe she’s not feeling good because of the nacho fries?
Sunset finally says something; that Rarity can’t make it. Something about a fashion emergency. We sit there for a few more minutes before I clear the table and we start walking again.
We check out a few stores, but neither of us sees anything we want. We’re leaving Trot Topic when Sunset asks if there’s anything special I want to do since the others aren’t gonna show up.
I can’t think of anything.
Lucky for me, Sunset suggests a movie. There’s a new adventure-y movie about a board game that turns into a video game that she’s kinda wanted to see, but doesn’t know if anyone else wants to see it. She says it’s supposed to be funny, too, and that it has a doctor’s mother-in-law in it.
The theater is almost empty, so we get super good seats right in the middle. I bought popcorn, and we’ve got drinks and stuff, too. We get all comfy as the movie starts. Sunset doesn’t put the armrest down between us, so we’re almost touching. My heart starts beating super fast.
I can’t focus on the movie anymore. Sunset’s right there, next to me, in a dark movie theater. She reaches over and takes some of my popcorn like it’s no big deal. It’s not a big deal, is it? Have we shared popcorn before? I can’t remember.
I try to watch the rest of the movie, but I keep looking over at Sunset. She’s really pretty, even in bad movie light. She seems like she’s having fun. The movie is really funny, and she’s smiling. She glances over, sees me looking, and smiles. I smile back and then work really, really hard at watching the movie.
The movie ends with the good guys winning and stuff, and we leave the theater. The mall is a lot more empty now, and we start to leave.
It’s super cold out now that the sun is down. I can see our breaths in the air, like poofs of cloud. I feel like a dragon when it’s cold out.
Sunset’s talking about the stuff in the movie she liked when she sees me shivering. She doesn’t even hesitate to take off her coat and put it over my shoulders. It kinda smells like oranges, like Sunny. I think it’s her shampoo.
I try to tell her that it’s okay, but she insists. She says she likes the cold, but I can see goosebumps on her arms. I try to step a bit closer to warm her up and she puts her arm around me. I’m pretty sure I almost explode as we start walking home.
We don’t really talk while we walk like that, but that’s okay. I’m pretty sure I can’t talk right now, anyway. I’d probably just squeak like Fluttershy does when she’s nervous.
I live too close to the mall, I decide when my house comes into view. Sunset’s phone buzzes and she frowns at it. I ask her what’s wrong, and she says Rarity wants to know if we’re having fun.
I say that I’m having the bestest time with Sunset, and that we should do this more often. I think She’s blushing in the streetlight, but that’s probably my imagination again. Sunset just kinda nods as we get up to my front door.
I don’t know what to do now. Do I invite her inside? Maybe we can watch a movie—no, Pinkie, we just did that—I frown in my head at myself. Maybe I can… I’ve got nothing.
Sunset says she had fun, and that reminds me that we’re still here on my porch in the cold. I don’t want to, but I give Sunset her coat back. She looks really cold now and she thanks me when she puts it back on.
Now we’re back to standing there all awkward and stuff. I open my mouth to say something but the words get stuck in the back of my throat and I’m just standing there with my mouth open all silly and stuff.
“So, I have a confession.” Sunset rubs the back of her head and looks away from me. “I kinda, sorta, accidentally read your mind at the mall.”
“That’s okay—” I start to tell her.
“In the food court.”
I frown and my face scrunches up while I try to remember. Sunset was checking my forehead for a fever and I think I thought about… uh-oh.
“I-had-fun! Bye-Sunset!” I yell a little louder than I mean to, and the words are all squished together like a smore. I turn to go inside as quick as I can so I can go hide under my covers but Sunset grabs my hand to stop me.
“Pinkie,” she says, and my heart feels like it’s going to pop with how fast it’s beating, “listen, I was wondering...“ She’s chewing on her lower lip now. “You want to do this again sometime?”
“Do what?” The words fall out of my mouth before I can catch them.
“This,” Sunset shrugs, “where we go do stuff together.”
“But we hang out all the time.”
“Yeah, but now I know you like me, and I kinda like you if I’m being honest.”
Error 404: Pinkie not found. My brain freezes up. Sunset likes me? But I’m me! And Sunset’s Sunset! How would that even work? Would we go on dates and stuff? Together?
“You don’t have to say yes.” Sunset says, and my brain thaws. “I didn’t mean to put you on the—”
I wrap my arms around Sunset and squeeze super tight. “Of course I wanna do more of this, silly. I just didn’t know what to say.”
“Yes is good.” Sunset’s chuckle sounds shaky.
“Then yes! I say yes.” Sunset’s hugging me back, and I can feel her relax a bit.
“Alright, then,” Sunset’s smiling at me, and it’s really hard for me to not stand on my tiptoes and kiss her. That’s moving too fast, right? “You wanna do dinner tomorrow night? There’s this restaurant up the street from my place I’ve been wanting to check out.”
I smile back at her and don’t kiss her. “It’s a date.”