A Trip Down Memory Lane
“Darnit!” Sunset exclaimed, hitting her hand on the passenger side door.
Twilight glanced warily at her from the driver’s seat. “What is it, Sunny?”
“It was right there the whole time! If I could just have seen it when I used my empathy last week, we could have caught the guy right away and we could have avoided the last five days of endless searching.”
Twilight’s hand took hers and Sunset felt her anger and guilt ebbed away. She looked up to see her girlfriend’s eyes fixed on the road.
“It’s not your fault that he was able to hide the location of his hideout from you, Sunset,” she said in that soothing voice that never failed to calm Sunset whenever she got angry or frustrated. "Besides, we got him in the end, and no one got hurt. That's what really matters."
“I still could have done more,” she said quietly, squeezing Twilight’s hand gently. “If only I learned how to control my power, I could do so much more.”
Twilight smiled softly at her. “Well, I can’t argue with that. When I first got my powers, they were super unreliable. But after a lot of practice, I learned how to control them and focus them in ways I hadn’t imagined.”
Sunset scoffed. “That’s the problem. I can’t exactly practice this thing without risking seriously invading someone’s privacy. I don’t want to do that to any of you girls, and I definitely don’t want to do that with any of the people we’ve been going after.”
Twilight’s expression turned pensive, but she didn’t say anything.
“What is it?” Sunset asked, stroking her thumb over the hand still held in hers. “I know that look. Tell me what’s on your mind.”
Twilight glanced at her briefly before turning back to the road. “I was just wondering if I could help you practice. I don’t exactly need to hide anything from you. And I trust you.” Another squeeze, and Sunset felt her heart swell at Twilight’s reassurance.
“That may be, but I still don’t think you’d want me rooting around in that cute little head of yours,” she said, separating their hands so she could poke her girlfriend in the temple.
Twilight giggled at the touch. “Mom already showed you my baby pictures, how could this be any worse?”
Sunset burst into laughter. “Aww, but you looked cute as a baby!” She pinched Twilight’s cheek, then quickly retracted the hand before Twilight could swat her away.
Twilight’s mouth made a thin line. “Yeah, that was what made it so embarrassing!”
Sunset noticed her cheeks flushing and decided to let up. “You’re really serious about this? About letting me read your thoughts?” She asked, her serious tone returned.
Twilight nodded, then shrugged. “Hey, it wouldn’t be the first time.”
Sunset crossed her arms. “True, but it wouldn’t just be one more time. You’d be letting me in again and again until I got the hang of my abilities. You’d be exposing so much of yourself to me,” she finished quietly.
Twilight visibly struggled to hold back a smile, then shrugged. “Hey, it wouldn’t be the first time.”
Sunset snorted, then playfully slapped her on the shoulder. “Cut the jokes, Twi.”
Twilight chuckled as she weakly put up a hand to defend herself. “Okay, okay. No more jokes.” She pulled the car over in front of their apartment building.
She turned to face Sunset fully. “I honestly want to help you with this, and I really, genuinely don’t mind you seeing my memories.”
Sunset eyed her for a moment, wondering if she should take up her offer. Would it change things between them? Would it mess with their dynamic if she saw something that changed how she saw her girlfriend? Would it bring them closer?
She took a deep breath and let out a big sigh. “Okay. If you’re really sure,” Twilight nodded firmly. “Then let’s do it.”
Twilight beamed. “Great! In that case, I have a little something I need to take care of tonight. You head on up and I’ll be back before you know it!”
“What do you need to take care of now? it’s already dark out.”
Twilight smiled mischievously at her. “You’ll find out later. I don’t want to ruin the surprise.”
Sunset wanted to argue further, but she could tell by Twilight’s twinkling eyes that there was no way she’d change her mind about telling her. Sighing, she unfastened her seat belt and opened the car door. “Fine. But I want you home by midnight, okay?”
Twilight smiled dutifully at her. “Yes Mom,” she said in a singsong voice.
Sunset gave her a kiss on the cheek before exiting the car. “Alright, good luck with your mysterious plans.” She shut the door and headed into their apartment building. When she heard the car drive away, she stopped to watch it disappear down the street.
“Alright, let’s do this!” Twilight clapped her hands firmly. She picked up her pencil and held it over her notebook. “First, what are we trying to accomplish with this experiment?”
Sunset stared blankly back into her girlfriends eyes, half her mind still distracted by longing thoughts of coffee. Twilight had dragged her into her office the minute Sunset was awake and on her feet.
She glanced down at the page where Twilight had written ‘Experiment: Empathy practice’ at the top in large letters and below that the word ‘Goals:’. After another beat of silence, it clicked.
“Oh! I see. You want to go full scientist on this one,” Sunset smirked. The fog of sleep started to fade from her mind as she recalled their plans to have her practice her empathy magic. She also knew that if she wanted to keep Twilight happy with this experiment, she’d need to really focus.
Twilight smiled excitedly at her. “Of course I do! It’ll be so much fun to properly test the range and limitations of your empathic abilities. I want to find out exactly how you tick.” She emphasized the last word by tapping Sunset on the temple, smiling excitedly.
Sunset laughed. “Alright, I’ll play along. What was the question again?”
“What are we trying to accomplish with this experiment,” Twilight repeated, impatiently tapping her pencil on the notebook.
“Hmm,” Sunset leaned back in her chair. “I guess it’s like you said. We want to learn the boundaries of how my empathy magic works.”
Twilight nodded at her, but didn’t write anything yet. “Right, but we need to establish what we mean by that. What boundaries do we want to test?”
Sunset scratched her head. “Well, the main thing I’d like to be able to do is seek out specific memories, rather than having to hope that the person I read is thinking about just the right thing at the right time.”
Twilight nodded and wrote down ‘Can desired memories be targeted’. She looked up and gave Sunset a smile that made her feel like she’d correctly answered a difficult question in front of a whole class at school.
“Anything else?” Twilight continued.
“I guess we could try to see how far back I can see things.”
Twilight perked up, pointing the eraser of the pencil at Sunset. “I wonder if you can reach memories that the subject doesn’t consciously remember. And if so, would bringing them up cause the subject to remember them as well?”
“That would certainly be interesting if that’s the case.”
Twilight quickly wrote down the idea. “What about duration? How long was the longest memory you’ve seen?”
Sunset shrugged. “I don’t know. It sometimes feels like a few minutes of memories squeezed into just a second or two. And it’s usually pretty difficult to absorb even those. I can’t imagine what it would be like to experience an entire hour in an instant.”
Twilight wrote it down anyway. “I suppose we don’t have a good way of measuring the exact length of the memories you experience, since they already happened and weren’t measured. Unless you see a memory of watching a movie or something and can then find the first and last scenes of the movie you saw in the memory and we figured out exactly how much time that was.”
Sunset crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. “That would be doable. Though we’d have to get step one down first. If I can’t reliably target the memory of that movie, it’ll be hard to get any kind of consistent results.”
Twilight nodded. “I agree. If you can get the targeting down, it’ll make all other testing much easier.”
“So we should start with that one, then?”
“Yes, that’ll be the first test.”
“Okay,” Sunset nodded. “So, uhh…. How exactly do we test that?”
Twilight tapped her pencil on the notebook while she thought. “I’m going to think about a specific memory when you read me, directing you to that one. But you’re going to try to instead see what I did while I was out last night.”
Sunset narrowed her eyes. “What did you do last night while you were out?”
Twilight smirked and tilted her head. “The whole point of the test is for you to figure that out. I might give you a hint if you end up needing more to go on than just when it happened.”
Sunset crossed her arms. “You planned that part of this right from the start? How very clever of you.” She saw Twilight’s smile light up in the way it always did when she was proud of herself. Celestia, it was cute when she did that.
Twilight started writing another section of the experiment in the notebook. After a brief glance at Sunset, she moved a stack of books between them to block Sunset’s view of the notebook.
“I don’t want to influence the result by you seeing anything about what memories I’m calling up,” she explained.
“Naturally,” Sunset giggled.
After a few more seconds of scribbling, Twilight turned her chair to face Sunset fully. She straightened her back, put her hands in her lap and then turned all her attention on Sunset.
“Okay. Remember, you want to find out what I was doing last night between ten and eleven pm.”
Sunset put on her amulet, which Twilight had helpfully placed on the table next to them in preparation for the experiment. She nodded, "Okay,".
Twilight nodded back. “Alright,” she said. “When you’re ready.”
Sunset reached out with her hand and tapped into the power of her amulet.
Twilight took a nervous breath. She stuffed her hands into her hoodie pockets. They were getting cold from how long she’d stood out here. Hesitating.
She looked again through the window of the diner to see the five girls sitting in one of the booths. She didn’t remember all their names yet, but she remembered each of them from the Friendship Games. She remembered clearly the terror in each of their eyes when she had transformed and lost all control.
She couldn’t go in there. She couldn’t face those girls after what she had done. She could barely face herself in the bathroom mirror each morning. It was stupid of her to think that she could possibly have friends after what she’d done.
“Hey, Twilight!”
Startled, Twilight turned around to see Sunset walk up to her.
“Sunset! Hi.”
“I’m so glad you came,” Sunset said, smiling brightly. “I was worried you’d chicken out last minute.”
Twilight laughed nervously. If Sunset only knew how long she’d been out here, debating that very option.
“C’mon,” Sunset continued. “I’m sure the girls are waiting for us before they order.”
Twilight nodded and dutifully followed Sunset inside, glad to have her decision made for her.
As soon as they entered, the rest of the girls looked their way, smiling and greeting them cheerfully.
Twilight was a little taken aback by their enthusiasm. She smiled and gave them a nervous wave.
Sunset sat down first, and Twilight immediately took the empty spot next to her.
“It’s so good to see you again, darling,” Rarity said. Twilight nodded, but didn’t say anything.
Sunset turned to look at her. “Hey, did you get everyone’s names before? I know things were pretty hectic when we met.” She smiled beatifically, almost making Twilight forget all the horrible memories from their meeting.
“Uh,” she cleared her throat and shook her head. “I only remember a couple of your names, so a refresher would be helpful.” She kept her eyes on Sunset while she spoke. The girl radiated confidence, and Twilight could feel her own increasing just by her mere presence.
The girls all introduced themselves again and this time Twilight made sure to commit each of their names to memory. After that, they continued the conversation that Twilight and Sunset had apparently interrupted with their arrival.
Twilight didn’t really care about the big sale that was currently happening at the mall, or about what stores these girls just had to visit this weekend, but she found the mundane conversation oddly comforting.
She didn’t say much herself, except when one of the girls asked her opinion on the topic. She probably couldn’t have gotten a word in even if she wanted to, which was perfectly fine as far as she was concerned.
Sunset looked at her, smiling. It wasn’t a quick glance though. Sunset held her gaze and Twilight smiled back.
Sunset then put her hand over Twilight’s on the booth cushion. “I’m really glad you came,” she whispered.
“Me too,” Twilight whispered back. She realized that she was smiling wider than she had in years.
Sunset stared blankly for a second as she processed the memory.
“What did you see?” Twilight asked, biting her lip.
Sunset rubbed her temple. “Uhm. It was a couple of days after the Friendship games. When you first came to hang out with me and the rest of the girls.”
Twilight nodded, and scribbled something in her notebook. “I saw it too. That was the memory I was leading you to.”
"Right," Sunset shook her head. “Wow.” She caught Twilight’s gaze. “I knew you were nervous to hang out with us back then, but I had no idea it was that bad.”
Twilight shrugged. “Well it wasn’t, really. Not once you were there.”
Sunset smiled at her, feeling a warm rush of pride and adoration. Twilight looked so cute when she was blushing like that. “I’m glad I showed up just in time,” she said.
Twilight chuckled. “So am I.”
Sunset sighed. “Well, in any case, I failed. Didn’t even catch a glimpse of last night.”
“You’ll get there. I’m sure of it,” Twilight smiled encouragingly.
Sunset nodded. “So, why'd you show me that that memory anyway?”
Twilight tilted her head, smiling mischievously. “Oh, no reason.”
Sunset crossed her arms. “That memory is important to you. I could feel it. It had been a while since you’d had any friends before us, hadn't it?”
Twilight fidgeted with her pencil, not meeting Sunset’s eyes. “Six years. And yeah, that memory is important to me. I had trouble sleeping that night, ‘cause I kept thinking about it. About finally knowing that feeling of belonging with a group. And about how I finally had someone who actually wanted to hang out with me. Who kept inviting me to stuff outside of school. Someone who smiled just cause I was next to her. And who made me smile just by being next to me.”
Sunset saw unshed tears glistening in Twilight’s eyes. “C’mere,” she cooed, pulling her into a tight hug. “You meant a lot to me from the first day too, y’know. Although my reasons aren’t entirely as innocent and precious as yours,” she added in a sultry voice.
Twilight pushed her away with a chuckle. “Down, Sunset.”
Sunset giggled, enjoying the blush blooming on Twilight’s cheeks.
“Did you really like me even back then?” Twilight asked softly.
Sunset nodded, thinking back to her burgeoning crush. “Not right away. During the Friendship Games I was too stressed about all the magic shenanigans to really consider what my first impression of you was. But once we started hanging out in a normal, casual setting, I could immediately tell that I was gonna like you.”
Twilight smiled. “On that front, we were clearly on the same page.” Her eyes glinted with excitement. “So, ready for attempt number two?”
Sunset nodded. “Ready as ever.”
Twilight recognized the enthusiastic knocking at her bedroom door as coming from Cadance.
“Come in!” she called, smiling. She hadn’t gotten much chance to talk with Cadance over dinner, since her brother and father had dominated the conversation with talk of local politics.
She set aside her math homework and looked up.
“Hey, Twily. You sounded like you really needed to talk about something. Everything alright?”
Twilight nodded. “Yeah. Could you close the door?”
Cadance did so, then took a seat on the bed, facing her. “What’s up?”
While she thought about how to bring the subject up, Twilight noticed that she was biting her fingernails. She frowned and tucked her hands between her thighs, safe from her fidgeting.
“I… I really like someone. And I wanted your advice on how to ask them out.”
Cadance’s eyes shined. “Really?” Twilight nodded. “That’s great! Who is she? Is it one of the girls you’ve been hanging out with recently?”
Twilight balked. Cadance knew she was gay? She hadn’t told anyone that yet, so how could Cadance know already? Did she dress gay? Or act gay?
“H-how did you know it’s a girl?” Twilight asked tentatively.
Cadance smirked. “Educated guess. If it was a boy, you wouldn’t have used ‘them’ to obfuscate their gender, you’d have just said ‘him’.”
“Well, it could have been someone non-binary,” Twilight argued.
Cadance tilted her head. “Yeah, but it was more likely that it would be a girl. Hence the educated guess.”
Twilight huffed. “Fine. Yeah, it’s a girl. It’s Sunset. You remember her?”
“How can I not,” Cadance chuckled. “I don’t think I’ll ever forget her after what happened at the Friendship Games.”
Twilight felt a pang in her chest. “Yeah. Me neither.” She looked away, pulling her legs onto her chair and hugging them to her chest.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Twily. I didn’t mean it like that,” Cadance rubbed her knee soothingly.
Twilight pushed down her guilt and regret. “It’s fine. I’m okay. Besides, that’s not what I wanted to talk about right now.”
Cadance’s expression brightened. “That’s right! You have a hottie to ask out!”
Twilight cringed. “Could you please not word it like that.”
“Fine, fine.” Cadance hummed thoughtfully. “How about this; You have a smokin’ babe to lure to your bed,” she smirked, patting the bed she was sitting on.
“That’s even worse!” Twilight squealed. She pulled her feet up onto the chair and hid her blushing face behind her knees. “Could you please take this seriously?”
“Nope,” Cadance replied cheerfully. She hopped off the bed and squeezed onto the desk chair with Twilight. “Alright, I will lay off the jokes a bit, but I’m not going to take this as a serious matter. Because it’s not. Having a crush and being in love is a wonderful, fun and exciting thing.”
Twilight looked up at her. “What if she says no?” she asked quietly.
Cadance rubbed her back. “You’ll live. And from how adamantly Sunset defended her friends back at the Games, I fully believe that even if she does reject you, she won’t stop being your friend.”
That thought made Twilight smile. She thought about how loyal Sunset was. Cadance had only seen her at the games, but Twilight had seen that loyalty shine again and again since they became friends. “Yeah, I think you’re right.”
“Do you know if she likes girls?” Cadance asked.
Twilight nodded. “Yeah, she does. That’s the only reason I’m even considering asking her out now. I went to a party with the girls last weekend and we ended up talking about all sorts of… Uhm…”
“Girl talk,” Cadance supplied helpfully.
“Yeah, that,” Twilight giggled. “Rarity asked us what our celebrity crushes were, and Sunset said hers was Songbird Serenade.”
Cadance smiled gleefully. “And what did you say yours was?”
Twilight blushed, her mind immediately going to the image of Daring Do on the big screen. “Nothing, actually. Thank goodness. The girls got distracted when a new song came on and Rainbow wanted to go dance. She insisted we all come with her.” She laughed at the memory.
“You danced?” Cadance gasped. “How was it?”
Twilight blushed. “It was really awkward and embarrassing. That is, until Sunset took pity on me. She started dancing with me and showed me how to do it.”
“Awww,” Cadance cooed, pushing a strand of Twilight’s hair behind her ear. “You two are going to be so cute together. When are you going to ask her out?”
Twilight stiffened. “Uhh. I don’t know,” she replied quietly.
Cadance, hummed in thought. She reached over to the desk and grabbed Twilight’s phone. Holding it out she said, “How about now?”
“Uhh, I’m not sure,” Twilight recoiled.
Cadance frowned at her. “I know what you’re like, Twi. If you don’t do it now, you’re going to hesitate and agonize over it for weeks. And then it’ll be a hundred times harder for you to actually do it.”
Twilight fidgeted uncomfortably.
“Am I wrong?” Cadance asked.
“...No.”
“Then call her now. You’ll be happy you did,” Cadance encouraged.
Twilight took the phone tentatively. “O-okay. I guess it shouldn't really be that hard…”
Cadance rubbed her back soothingly. “Remember, Twily, this isn’t a serious matter. It’s fun and exciting. All those nerves you think you’re feeling? That’s actually just excitement.”
Twilight laughed. She wished it were that simple., but Cadance’s words still eased her worries. A little.
She unlocked her phone and went through the familiar motions of calling up her best friend.
“So?” Twilight asked.
Sunset shook her head. “I saw you talking to Cadance and working up the courage to ask me out.”
Twilight nodded. “Right. I saw it to, so it looks like the person you read will always see the same thing you do.” She wrote a little more in her notebook.
Sunset nodded. “Y’know, I knew you had been really nervous about that, but actually getting to see it,” Sunset tisked, smirking. “It’s downright flattering.”
Twilight blushed. “You say that as if you weren’t just as nervous for our first date as I was,” she teased.
Sunset laughed. “Oh, remind me to buy Cadance a bottle of wine or some chocolates next time we see her. She is seriously awesome.”
Twilight nodded. “Yeah, she is.” She fidgeted with her hands sheepishly. “So, how did you feel when I asked you out? I mean, you said you’d liked me even before then, so…” She trailed off, letting Sunset fill in the blank.
“I felt elated,” Sunset replied, smiling wide. “Thrilled. Terrified, too. I had butterflies in my stomach all day leading up to the date. It wasn’t until after the date, when I’d gotten back home, that I realized I had barely eaten anything all day and was starving,” she added with a chuckle.
Twilight narrowed her eyes, grinning. “Hmm, doesn’t that sound familiar.”
They laughed together for a few moments. Once she’d settled down, Twilight wrote another paragraph in her notebook.
“So, ready to go again?” She asked.
Sunset groaned. “This is gonna get exhausting pretty quick. Do you mind if we take a quick break?”
Twilight pursed her lips. “We can stop once you’ve found out what I was doing last night. I know you can do it if you just try a few more times.”
Sunset sighed. While Twilight often had trouble keeping up with her on hikes or at the gym, she always pushed hard on her research projects, especially when Sunset was working with her.
“I know you want to get the first part of this done today, but I don’t think I’ll be able to do many of these without rest. So I’ll make you a deal. I will push myself as hard as I can today, so long as I get a ten minute break after every two attempts.”
Twilight glanced at the notebook, thinking. “Alright, that’s fair. Why don’t you go lie down? I’ll make you a cup of tea.” She closed the notebook and stood up, taking it with her to the kitchen.
Sunset smiled, rolling her eyes. Clearly, Twilight really didn’t want Sunset to sneak a peek at whatever she was planning.
By the time Sunset finished her tea, she was feeling mentally refreshed and ready to try again.
“Okay, I think I know what I’ve been doing wrong,” she said, retaking her place next to Twilight, who had already sat back on her desk chair and was waiting patiently for her. “I don’t think that it's enough to just think about a time or date and see what the person was doing at that moment. I have to find something connected to the memory, like an object, a place or an emotion.”
Twilight nodded, touching her pencil to her lip. “That makes a lot of sense. That’s usually how people recall memories in the first place. I suppose it’s not a stretch to guess that your empathy works in much the same way.”
Sunset beamed with pride. “Exactly!”
“Although, by that logic, a specific time of day, like nighttime, could also be used to connect to a memory, so technically thinking about a certain time would still work,” Twilight said, giving Sunset a teasing smile. “And in some cases a specific date might have a special meaning to a person and bring up an important memory from that day.”
Sunset frowned and crossed her arms. “Now you’re just being deliberately obtuse. Those methods would be unreliable at best for finding a target memory and you know it.”
Twilight smiled. “Just making sure you’re keeping up,” she winked.
Sunset sent her a mock glare.
“So, with this new strategy, what are you going to think about to target the memory you want?” Twilight continued, scribbling in her notebook.
Sunset wracked her brain. She hadn’t thought that far ahead. Was there an object that Twilight took with her that might relate to the memory? All she had with her, as far as Sunset knew, was her clothes, keys and phone. All of those were likely to connect to other memories before last night.
Perhaps she could think of think about nighttime drives. Although Twilight didn’t go out that late very often, it was by no means a guarantee, but it could be worth a shot. After all, if it didn’t work Sunset would simply try something else. That’s what practice was for, after all.
“I have something in mind,” Sunset smirked mysteriously, giving off more confidence than she felt. “You ready?”
Twilight nodded, and Sunset reached her hand out to her once again.
Twilight took her eyes off the road for a split second to look at the clock.
2:34am
Each minute felt like an eternity as her heart beat a frantic rhythm. The rain pounded on the windshield, making it difficult to see anything on the darkened streets.
Through the darkness and the rain, she saw the streetlight ahead turn yellow. For a split second, she considered continuing through the red light regardless, but at the last second she hit the brakes.
Feeling impatient, she pulled out her phone to see if Sunset had sent her another message. She hadn’t. The string of messages that had awoken her still stared Twilight in the face, causing her anxiety to rise even higher.
rarity hates me
all the girls do
do you hate me
Twilight had sent one message in reply before rushing out the door.
Never. I’m on my way.
The light turned green and Twilight hit the pedal again. She sped down the street, counting the seconds it was taking her to reach her girlfriend.
Finally she reached the university campus apartments. She parked hastily and rushed out, giving no heed to the rain soaking her clothes in seconds. She pulled out her key ring, feeling a rush of relief at being Sunset’s backup key holder.
She took the stairs three at a time and burst through the door to Sunset’s apartment.
“Sunset!” she called out, searching the living room for her. The light’s where out, but she could clearly see Sunset’s form on the couch.
She was hyperventilating. Her breathing was coming out in shallow rasps. Twilight rushed to her side and put a hand on her shoulder. “Sunset, what’s wrong?”
Sunset didn’t look up at her though, she was staring blankly at nothing. Tears were running down her cheeks and her whole body shook and shuddered. Twilight recognized the signs of a panic attack. She’d had a few herself, but she’d never expected to see Sunset — perfect, beautiful, confident Sunset — in the midst of one.
Twilight wrapped her girlfriend in a hug, and started to stroke her hair, knowing that she always found that to be comforting and hoping it would help calm her down now.
“It’ll all be okay, Sunset. You just need to breathe, and everything will be okay. In and out. In and out.” She repeated the mantra, and Sunset’s breathing started to follow it, albeit still frantic.
They sat there for a few minutes. Sunset buried her face in Twilight’s shoulder and sobbed into her t-shirt. Twilight continued to soothe her as best she could, and eventually the tears stopped. A few minutes passed, and Sunset’s breathing started to return to normal.
Sunset pulled away and wiped her cheeks on the sleeves of her pajama shirt. “I’m sorry, Twi,” she said, without meeting her eyes. “You shouldn’t have to see me like this. I don’t even know what came over me,” she chuckled humorlessly.
Twilight put one hand on Sunset’s thigh while the other continued to caress her hair. “Don’t apologize. It looked to me like you were having a panic attack,” she replied softly. “Are you feeling better now?”
Sunset nodded, then closed her eyes and leaned into Twilight in a half hug, half cuddle. “You’re a good friend, Twi.”
“So are you, Sunset,” Twilight giggled. “You’ve helped me a bunch when I got overwhelmed by the girls and ended up pushing them away. The only reason why I even know how to comfort you right now is because I learned from watching you do it.”
Sunset hummed contentedly and the two of them fell into a comfortable silence. Twilight continued to stroke Sunset’s hair, watching the creases on her face fade as she relaxed.
“Do you want to talk about what happened?” Twilight asked after a few minutes of quiet.
Sunset stiffened and her voice took on a shakiness. “I found out that Rarity had lost a chance to intern with a local fashion designer a couple of years back because of something I did. I sabotaged her without even knowing what I was sabotaging. All because of some stupid sense of spite.”
Twilight didn’t reply right away. She pulled Sunset closer and started to idly massage the back of her neck. “I’ll admit that is pretty bad. But Rarity already forgave you for that, even if you only just now found out about it. Rarity will be fine, professionally speaking. She’s much to driven to let any single setback stop her.”
Sunset didn’t respond. She simply leaned into Twilight’s touch and closed her eyes. Twilight decided not to say anything more either, and instead just be there for her girlfriend.
Sunset gasped. She blinked rapidly as the memory settled itself in her mind.
“That was intense,” she said, chuckling softly.
Twilight nodded. “Yeah it was.” She leaned forward and brought her hand to Sunset’s cheek, wiping away tears that she didn’t know were there.
“Did you mean to show me that one?” Sunset asked.
Twilight shook her head. “No. You found that one yourself.” She cleared her throat, putting up her professional mask again and raising her pen. “What were you thinking of to bring up that memory?”
Sunset shrugged. “A late night drive. I knew it was a long shot, but I figured it’d be worth a try.”
Twilight nodded, scribbling in her notebook some more. “It’s definitely a step in the right direction. Assuming this wasn’t just a fluke, I think this confirms that you can seek out specific memories so long as you know what you’re looking for.”
Sunset huffed. “But if I don’t know what I’m looking for, then I’ll end up finding something completely different instead.”
Twilight looked up from her notebook, smirking. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”
Sunset rolled her eyes. “C’mon, can’t you give me one tiny little hint?” she pleaded.
Twilight shook her head. “You’ll have to figure it out for yourself.”
Sunset blew a raspberry at her. “Fine. Gimme a minute to think of something.”
Twilight nodded and sat patiently while Sunset tapped her fingers on the armrest, deep in thought.
Her last attempt was a partial success, but she needed something to narrow down the parameters of her search. The setting alone wouldn’t be enough. She thought back to Twilight’s emotions last night. She’d been visibly excited and a bit more playful than usual. And since Twilight had been trusting her with something this big, it seemed like a good bet that there was some love and loyalty thrown into the mix.
Sunset took a deep breath, clearing her mind. She then brought up these feelings one at a time and let them swirl and mix within her. Once she felt she had a good grasp on them, she imagined herself in the car at night.
She opened her eyes and looked at her girlfriend. “Okay, ready.”
Twilight nodded and reached out her hand, and Sunset met hers, interlocking their fingers.
Twilight let go of the wheel and turned in her seat to face Sunset fully. “I honestly want to help you with this, and I really, genuinely don’t mind you seeing my memories.”
Sunset narrowed her eyes. Twilight looked deeply into her girlfriend's eyes, willing her to see the love she felt for her and trust that she meant with every word.
Eventually, Sunset took a deep breath, her brow deeply furrowed. “Okay, if you’re really sure.”
Twilight nodded, excitement bubbling over in her.
“Then let’s do it,” Sunset finished with a small smile.
“Great!” Twilight smiled her most charming smile. “In that case, I have a little something I need to take care of tonight. You head on up and I’ll be back before you know it!”
Sunset’s brow furrowed in confusion. “What do you need to take care now? it’s already dark out.”
For a brief moment, the courtyard outside of Canterlot High flickered through her mind. Twilight felt a rush of excitement and nervousness war within her. “You’ll find out later. For now, I don’t want to ruin the surprise.”
Sunset blinked rapidly as she processed what she had seen and felt.
“Ooh, you’re getting close,” Twilight whispered. “I think you might get it next time.”
“You went to CHS?” Sunset asked. She felt invigorated at having finally gotten close to her goal.
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “You caught that, did you?” she wrote down more notes in her notebook. “I guess you’ll find that out after we take another break.”
“What?!” Sunset exclaimed. “What do you mean after a break?”
Twilight gave her a somber look. “Well, you insisted I let you take a break after every two attempts. That was attempt number four, so we have to take another break now.”
Sunset noticed a small upturn of Twilight’s lips, confirming her suspicion that her girlfriend was teasing her. “Oh no, you don’t,” she growled quietly. “I’m so close now. I’m going right back into your head and finally catching that pesky little memory of yours.”
She leaned forward in her chair, seeing Twilight’s eyes widen and her posture shift slightly.
Sunset’s eyes narrowed, and Twilight’s body stiffened in reply.
After a few silent heartbeats, Sunset lunged at her, her growl met by Twilight’s startled giggles.
Twilight smoothly parked the car in front of CHS. This place had so many memories for her. A few of them bad but the vast majority were good. She had so many memories of making friends here, with each of the girls, but especially Sunset.
She remembered at the start of each term when she’d get together with Sunset to compare schedules and see how many classes they had together. She remembered sitting out on the front steps after after school, waiting for Sunset’s final class to finish. And just as many times, leaving the school to find Sunset waiting on the steps for her. She remembered sneaking furtive kisses with her in the hallways when no one was around. She remembered gazing lovingly at the girl when she should have been listening to the teacher, instead daydreaming about how she wanted to spend her future with Sunset.
Twilight sat down next to the pedestal that still served as a portal to Equestria. Sunset still visited it sometimes, and Twilight had even gone with her a couple of times. But it had become a rare occurrence in the past few years.
Twilight tucked her legs underneath her and pulled out her phone. As soon as she unlocked it, Sunset’s radiant smile stared back at her. She had taken that picture a few months ago, for their anniversary. Sunset had planned romantic activities for the entire day and even though Twilight was exhausted by the early afternoon, it had still been one of the most perfect days in her life.
“Hey, Sunset.” The words came out quietly, Twilight’s throat hoarse from recalling many of her happiest moments.
“I’ve wanted to do this for a while, but I knew I’d never be able to get the words out if you were actually here in front of me,” she chuckled. “Which, as I’m sure you can imagine, made it a bit tricky for me.”
Her heart hammered in her chest and she took a deep breath.
“I love you so much, Sunset. I’ve felt that way for a long time and I hope that by the time you see this, you will have seen and felt firsthand just how much you matter to me.” She wiped a stray tear from her eyes before she continued.
“I-” she cleared her throat. Even without Sunset in front of her, this was harder than she’d expected. She chuckled at the thought. “I’ve wanted to ask you this since we moved in together. I’ve been hoping things would eventually go here since long before then, too.”
She pulled a small black box from her purse and held it next to her phone. Her eyes flicked between it and the image of Sunset while her thumb caressed the soft fabric of the box.
“Sunset…”
She took a deep breath and peeled the box open. The dim lighting gleamed off the ring inside.
Sunset gasped as she processed the memory. Her lunge left her sprawled on top of Twilight. Her eyes focused on her girlfriend’s face, which was filled with anticipation. Twilight was biting her lower lip and her eyes gleamed with unshed tears.
Sunset felt Twilight shift underneath her. She lifted herself up to give her some breathing room and saw Twilight pull out a small, black box. The same small, black box.
Sunset’s voice caught in her throat and her eyes snapped back to her lover’s.
Quietly, hoarsely, Twilight pushed out the words that Sunset knew were coming.
“Sunset… Will you marry me?” She opened the box but Sunset’s eyes had already filled with tears, blurring her vision so she couldn’t see the ring.
Her lips turned up into the biggest grin she’d ever felt. “Oh my gosh, Twilight,” she giggled. She took hold of her girlfriend’s cheek and pulled her in for a kiss. It was just a peck on the lips, and when she pulled back, Sunset brought her hand up to wipe the tears from her eyes. “Yes. I’ll marry you. Of course I’ll marry you.”
Twilight sighed in relief and leaned in for another kiss, this one deeper and more passionate.
Sunset couldn’t keep the smirk off her face. “Wow, you actually planned all that? Last night, the experiment, the memories you showed me… All of it?”
Twilight nodded. “I’d been trying to come up with a romantic way to ask for a while. And I thought, ‘hey, I’m sure no one has done that before’.”
Sunset burst into joyful laughter. “I love you so much.”
Twilight smiled that adorable proud smile of hers. “Here,” she pushed Sunset back onto her own chair and then held the ring out for her to see.
Sunset could see it more clearly in the brightly lit office than the brief flash she’d gotten in the memory. It was an elegant silver band set with three stones. Two round blue gemstones were placed either side of a purple heart shaped stone.
“The blue ones are sapphires,” Twilight provided. “And the purple one is tanzanite.”
“They’re your colors,” Sunset said, not taking her eyes off the beautiful jewel.
“I thought it would be sweet if our rings matched each other. So you could get me a ring in your colors,” Twilight fidgeted in her seat. “What do you think?”
Sunset looked up at her. “I think that’s a great idea.”
Twilight beamed, tears once again glistening in her eyes.
Sunset started to lift up a hand before hesitating. She burst into another wave of chuckles. “I don’t know which hand it’s supposed to go on.”
“Left,” Twilight helpfully provided.
Sunset nodded and presented her left hand for Twilight. She watched, transfixed, as her new fianceé slowly placed the ring on her ring finger.
“I love you, Sunset,” Twilight whispered, placing a kiss on each of the knuckles of her hand before letting go.
“I love you too, my future wife,” Sunset smirked, relishing in the very thought of this wonderful woman one day being her wife.
Twilight giggled. “I’m glad you like it. I can’t tell you how many hours I spent agonizing over which ring to get. Eventually I decided to get that one custom made.”
“It’s perfect,” Sunset replied, pulling her in for another kiss. “Although,” she took another look at the ring, putting on a show of scrutinizing every detail. “I can’t help but wonder how much it cost.”
Twilight blushed, cleared her throat and looked away. “I’d rather not think about that part. But I can promise you,” she smiled, locking eyes with her lover. “It was well worth it.”