Sunset Shimmer was having a terrible day. Not just terrible, but terrible. The sort where just saying the word wouldn't suffice and you needed to add the extra inflection to show your disgust with how things were going. The coffee shop had been out of her preferred flavor this morning, leaving her drinking dark roast instead of mocha; she had stepped in a puddle and so one sock had been wet all day; and her boss had yelled at her because a customer had complained about an imaginary problem.
All in all, a crappy day.
But it would get better, and she knew how.
Her fingers flew across her phone, firing off a quick text to her girlfriend.
Bad day. Need a pick me up. My place?
It took an agonizing minute before the phone responded. Not with words - just a single balloon emoji to signal agreement.
Half an hour later, Pinkie Pie arrived at Sunset's apartment with a broad smile and a paper bag that smelled of fresh cookies. "Guuuuuess who!"
"Pinkie!" Sunset was quick to embrace her girlfriend. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you."
And of course Pinkie Pie hugged her right back. "I can make a guess!" She pinched Sunset's cheek. "Somebody's a grumpy gus today, aren't they?"
Sunset rolled her eyes. "It's been a bad day, yeah, I said that."
"Wanna talk about it?" Pinkie still hadn't let go, only giving enough space between them to meet Sunset's gaze.
The answer was a no - a shake of the head. "I've been thinking about it way more than I want to already. No point in dwelling on it when there's an alternative, right?" Sunset winked and reached up to the geode pendant around her neck.
Pinkie Pie clicked her tongue in a manner far too motherly for her age. "Ah ah ah! You know how this works, Sunny! Only the first hit is free." She stuck out her tongue, easily shifting from mothering to flirtatious. "If I give you what you want, what do I get, hmmm?" Her eyelashes fluttered, Rarity-like.
Sunset laughed, smiling enough that you'd never know she'd had a bad day. "Dinner and a movie?"
"Dinner, a movie, and cuddles afterwards," countered Pinkie.
"Deal." Sunset kissed her girlfriend's cheek - then her eyes flashed white as her geode activated.
In an instant, she was enveloped by Pinkie's unique mental world: a land of candy and singing and cheer, tiny little creatures floating by on balloons amidst a confetti rain, and a parade that marched to upbeat pop tunes through the middle of a sugary town. Pinkie was there beside her, gleefully cheering and dancing. It was just like she had first seen it at Camp Everfree and just as liberating.
Sunset's worries faded away, melting like ice cream in the summer sun. None of the rest of the day mattered. She was here, she was surrounded by joy, and she was at ease. Even the looming spectre of eventually having to return to the real world didn't bother her - the memory of this place would stay and bolster her for hours.
Here, inside Pinkie Pie's mind? Sunset Shimmer was happy.
Sunset Shimmer was having a terrible day. Not just terrible, but terrible. The sort where just saying the word wouldn't suffice and you needed to add the extra inflection to show your disgust with how things were going. She had dropped and chipped a plate while washing dishes; every game she'd tried online had garbage matchmaking where she was the only one on the team who was any good; and there was an itch on the bottom of her foot she just couldn't get rid of.
All in all, a crappy day.
But it would get better, and she knew how.
Her fingers flew across her phone, firing off a quick text to her girlfriend.
Bad day. Need a pick me up. My place?
It took an eternity for the response to come. But it came: a single balloon emoji. Sunset sighed with relief.
It took Pinkie Pie nearly an hour to arrive at the apartment this time. By then, Sunset was pacing, caged by her impatience. The moment the door opened? "Pinkie!"
Pinkie Pie waved, smiling sheepishly from the door. "Heeey Sunny. Sorry, I, um." She hesitated, not fully coming inside. "I had… I was doing something."
"It's okay. I'm just glad you're here." Sunset hugged Pinkie - who hugged her back after a moment's hesitation.
The two moved into the apartment proper and dropped onto the couch. "Sooooo…" Pinkie shifted slightly. "Bad day, huh. Want to talk about it?"
Sunset sighed heavily, flopping backwards and banging her head against the wall. "No. I'd rather forget it all. My past is not today and all that."
Pinkie laughed nervously. "Ha ha. Yeah. Yeah."
Sunset reached over.
Pinkie shifted away slightly. "Sunny?"
"Yeah?"
"Sunny, are we…" The pink girl hesitated. "Is this all we are?"
The question made Sunset jerk back. "Wait, you think I'm– that I'm using you or something?"
Pinkie Pie winced at the accusation and the hurt in Sunset's voice. "No! Sunny, it's just…" She paused, lips pursed as she tried to find the right words. "This is the fourth time in the last week alone you've asked to do this. I worry about you, that's all."
Letting out a long, heavy sigh, Sunset hugged Pinkie Pie. (This time, there was no retreating away.) "I get it. And I'm sorry if I've been leaning on you too heavily lately. It's just been rough for me and I know how much you enjoy making others happy."
"It's my love language," Pinkie observed with a smile.
"It's your every language," Sunset countered with a little laugh - before sobering again. "I'll tell you what: after this? I won't ask again. For a week." She gave her girlfriend a little playful hip-bump. "Just a week of us doing fun stuff together and being chill. We can even hit up the Odeon on Friday night! Su-Z's supposed to be doing a show to promote her acoustic solo album."
Pinkie Pie hesitated. But in the end, she couldn't help but smile. "Okay Sunny. That sounds great to me."
Sunset kissed her cheek. "Love ya." And then her eyes went white as the geode activated.
And Sunset Shimmer felt the hell of her day to day life disappear, overwhelmed by the pleasure of Pinkie's internal world of unending joy.
Sunset Shimmer was having a terrible day. Not just terrible, but terrible. The sort where just saying the word wouldn't suffice and you needed to add the extra inflection to show your disgust with how things were going. The laces on her boots had snapped when she was tying them before school; her phone wasn't holding a charge properly anymore and kept hovering at just under 50%; and she'd burned the roof of her mouth while eating a slice of cafeteria pizza.
All in all, a crappy day.
But it would get better, and she knew how.
Her fingers flew across her phone, firing off a quick text to her girlfriend.
Bad day. Need a pick me up. My place?
The answer didn't come. Not after ten minutes, not after thirty, not after an hour. Sunset sent the message twice more - and got no response.
After an hour and a half, Sunset did the only thing she could do: she went to Pinkie Pie's house.
A sense of relief flooded her when Pinkie answered the door - as well as dread when the door only opened slightly, held back by a security chain. Worse yet, there was a moment of fear in Pinkie's eyes that she tried to cover with a smile. "Oh, um. Hi, Sunny."
"Pinkie!" Sunset tried not to lunge for her. "I was worried. Your phone dead or something?"
"No… no, it's fine." Pinkie shifted on the balls of her feet. "I–"
Sunset let out a sigh of relief and trampled over the rest of the reply. "Well, either way. Hi, guess we're meeting at your place this time." She winked, trying to soldier past the obvious unease. (The cocksure grin was not returned.) Tthey both stood there awkwardly until Sunset realized that Pinkie wasn't undoing the chain. "Soooo…?"
Her leading half-question was answered with one of Pinkie's own. "A minute ago, Sunny - you said you were worried." Her eyes narrowed slightly. "What were you worried about."
A blink. "You… weren't answering your phone? And you never don't answer your phone?" Sunset shrugged. "That's pretty good reason to be worried."
Pinkie Pie shook her head. "Were you worried for me, or were you worried about me?"
Now the blink was much more confused. "I don't follow."
So Pinkie laid it out. "Sunset, were you worried something happened to me, or were you worried you wouldn't be able to get your fix."
"I–"
Pinkie Pie wasn't done, though, and gave Sunset's response the same treatment hers had been given a minute before. "Because it's almost every day now. You took that week off, but since then every time we see each other it's because you want to use your geode and go diving in."
Sunset grimaced. "Look, things have just been–"
"Just been tough lately," Pinkie completed sourly. "Every single day. For weeks. And when we're together, the only thing you want to do is use your geode on me." Her voice quavered, balancing on the verge of tears. "After we do that, you just stop caring and go along with whatever I suggest. Like nothing matters past that."
Sunset swallowed hard. "Pinkie, I… I'm sorry, okay? I didn't know you felt that way."
"I do," Pinkie said through the crack of the door. "And it makes me worry about you. Like, a lot." She took a deep, steeling breath. "That's why I don't think we should see each other any more."
The color drained from Sunset's amber face. "Pinkie, what are you… like for a couple of days? Let this all cool down? Take a break from dating and just chill?"
She shook her head. "No, Sunny." Pinkie barely held back the tears. "I mean we shouldn't see each other at all. Not for a long, long while. It's… it's for your own good."
Sunset's world cracked. "Pinkie Pie–"
"No."
The firmness of the word ended the budding debate and the reality of the situation slammed into Sunset. She took a step back from the door, turned as she tried to retreat with grace, failed, slumped to the ground, and buried her face in her hands. She sat there on Pinkie Pie's front stoop - unsuccessfully trying to hold back the tears - for several minutes. Then she heard the most blessed, beautiful sound: a door chain unlatching.
Pinkie sat down next to Sunset, moving with a wariness more like one of Fluttershy's animals than the party girl's usual self. She was just barely within Sunset's reach - too far for a friendly touch but in range for a lunge. But none came.
They sat, separate but beside each other - as Sunset slowly regained control. "I–" She stopped herself. Started again. "I'm sorry, Pinkie Pie. I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I'd never hurt you."
"I know, Sunny."
"But it's hard to resist, you know?" Sunset ran her hands over her face, then tipped back so she could look at the gray, cloudy sky. "You just want me to be happy, and I felt like it didn't hurt anyone. So I… I overindulged."
Pinkie's face scrunched up at that word. "Sunny, that's not what–"
Sunset shook her head. "I know, Pinkie, I know. I… I screwed up. I get that and I'm sorry. I know I can't undo what happened. It's going to be a long time before I can make it up to you, but I want to try."
The other girl inched closer. "It isn't even about that, Sunny. This is hurting you way more than it's hurting me. I don't wanna have things be this way, but they gotta be. To make you actually happy again." She lifted her hand, instincts demanding she go for a hug. But she stopped herself. "So I'm sorry too."
Almost imperceptibly, Sunset nodded. "Yeah. Yeah." She let out a heavy sigh. "If we're not gonna be together anymore, can we still be friends at least? Like… I can text you? Or video chat?"
There was a little hesitation on Pinkie's part - but at the same time, she was eager to grab at the lifeline and it made her smile again. "I'd really like that, Sunny. I don't want to lose you in either direction."
Sunset Shimmer was having a terrible day. Not just terrible, but terrible. The sort where just saying the word wouldn't suffice and you needed to add the extra inflection to show your disgust with how things were going. She'd missed dinner because she had been too stressed to eat; her last pocket change had been used to catch a bus across town; and her girlfriend had broken up with her.
All in all, a crappy day.
But it would get better, and she knew how.
Sunset Shimmer smiled and held out her hand to Pinkie Pie. "Friends?"
Without thinking, Pinkie took the hand and shook. "Friends."
Then Sunset's eyes blazed white as her geode's magic activated.
Everything on Sunset's mind - her worries, her fears, her problems - all dissolved into a smog of joy. She'd deal with the consequences later. Right now, she could be happy in Pinkie Pie's sugar-soaked mind.
