Three Little Words

Thankfully, nothing had actually caught on fire. Unfortunately, the charred remains of the waffles in the waffle maker told the girls that breakfast had been delayed.

"Where have you two been?" Rainbow asked casually from her seat at the island, "You missed all the fun."

"I was just taking some notes on human culture. Sunset was helping me, since I still can't quite write with these... Hands."

"Be thankful Pinkie didn't rope ya into helping cook." Applejack drawled with a lazy smile, "Adding magic to the equation might've made the waffle maker explode."

Pinkie, meanwhile, was mourning the loss of said device. If Sunset had to take a guess, she would think that the wires had somehow short-circuited. She wasn't a professional, though.

"Is there anything else to eat?" Twilight asked, rubbing her stomach. Sunset's own stomach growled loudly at the thought of food, and she blushed as the others laughed.

"We could go to WeJump!" Rainbow grinned, "They have the best pancakes."

"I don't have any money, and I doubt Twilight does either." Sunset pointed out, and Twilight nodded.

"We'll split the cost of your food." Rarity said coolly, "Everyone can chip in to help buy breakfast."

When everyone agreed, they all set about getting ready for the day. An hour later, they were out the door.

"I can't eat another bite." Rainbow groaned.

"Ya shouldn't have eaten a whole Funny Face by yerself." Applejack chastised her, having zero sympathy.

Sunset chuckled and leaned back in her seat as Rainbow groaned again. The waiter, a handsome boy not much older than them, came by with the check, and Rarity began flirting with him. Because he was cute or to get a discount Sunset had no idea.

  She glanced over at Twilight out of the corner of her eye, and froze when she saw the other girl staring at her. The two paused for a moment before quickly turning away, blushes on their faces. Rarity misinterpreted the moment, however, and commented on it when the boy left.

"Isn't he adorable?" Rarity giggled as she watched the boy leave.

"He's cute." Twilight nodded. Applejack and Rainbow agreed as well. Fluttershy merely shrugged.

"Not really my type." Pinkie said off-handedly, and Sunset nodded at her in agreement.

"What's your type?" Rainbow looked at Pinkie.

"Fun! Like me!"

"It would take someone like Pinkie to... Well, like Pinkie." Rarity giggled, and Pinkie nodded.

"Exactly! They have to be on my level."

"Same for you, Sunset?" Applejack teased, "Gotta find someone as crazy as you are?"

"More or less." Sunset smiled.

"But, specifically, what's your type? Band groupies?" Rainbow took a jab at her, and Sunset fell for it.

"Uh, no. Flash was a one time deal."

"The younger kind?"

"Button was flirting with me." Sunset insisted, blushing madly.

"What about DJs?"

"...You mean, like Vinyl?"

"You two do seem to chat a lot." Rainbow wiggled her eye brows.

"Yeah, because I'm one of only a few students that knows sign-language. And she's a friend."

"Mm-hm." Rainbow smirked.

"Just what are you trying to say, Rainbow?" Sunset's eyes narrowed. Her face turned pink and she could feel her heart beat in her temples. She did not want to have this conversation... In public... With Twilight right there. Fear and anger made her tone bitter.

"Nothin'."

"Please don't start a fight at WeJump." Rarity pleaded, "It'll be all over school..."

"Rainbow, quit questioning people's sexualities." Applejack said dryly, obviously having had to say that before, "We understand that people do that to ya all the time, but that doesn't mean ya have to do it back."

The entire table was forcing back laughter as Rainbow went red in the face. Sunset felt relieved by Applejack's honesty and bluntness. And seeing Rainbow get what was coming to her wasn't bad, either.

"I'm straight, Faust dammit!"

It was Twilight that meekly said, "...Gilda?"

The table broke out in a laughing fit as Rainbow sputtered and tried to defend herself. "That was a one time thing! We're just friends now!"

"A likely story." Sunset winked at Twilight, who wore a huge grin. When they had all settled down they got up to leave, each still giggling (except Rainbow.) Sunset excused herself to go to the restroom, and told the others she would meet them at the car. They walked back to the parking lot in a large group, and after a moment Applejack whispered something to Rainbow.

"Why should I apologize?"

"Ya know damn well why. How about asking her privately next time, at least?"

Rainbow huffed. Their conversation was ignored by the other girls, who were still talking about the cute waiter. They all stood idly around the Fluttershy and Rarity's cars for a while before they began to wonder where Sunset had gotten to.

"Maybe someone should go check on her?" Fluttershy offered quietly. The others nodded in agreement. Twilight and Rainbow set off back into the resturaunt. They checked the bathroom, however, and found that their friend was not inside.

"Where could she have gone?" Twilight asked, a bit worried. A nagging part in the back of her mind wondered if she had gotten in trouble, or hurt, or...

"Relax," Rainbow said calmly, trying to soothe the girl who was beginning to panic, "She's a big girl. We probably just passed her on the way in. Let's go back to the girls."

Rainbow turned and began walking towards the door, calmly but quickly. She herself was wondering where Sunset had disappeared to, though she was less worried than Twilight. She had seen Sunset deal with people before, and she knew the girl probably hadn't been kidnapped or anything like that. She was about to point this out to Twilight when she realized she wasn't following her any more.

"Uh... Twi?" The purple girl was no where to be seen.

A loud bang that echoed in her eardrums nearly knocked her to the ground. People around her began panicking, and she found herself pushed to the side as managers and waiters alike stumbled around.

"What was that sound?"

"What was that light?"

"Are we under attack?"

"I just don't know what went wrong!"

Rainbow grit her teeth and began walking towards the source of the noise.