Happy Hearths warming, Sunset

   When Sunset woke up, her mind instantly locked onto one sense. Smell. The delicious smell of freshly brewed coffee wafting through the house. Sunset stood and followed the scent of coffee to the kitchen. Rarity was sitting at the table sipping coffee and sketching out new designs on her notepad. She saw Sunset enter and looked up.

"Good morning, dear. How'd you sleep?" She asked lightly.

"Fine" yawned Sunset. "Can I get some coffee?"

"Sure, help yourself. The mugs are in the top cupboard, go ahead and pick one" said Rarity, gesturing to the coffee pot. Sunset used her magic to grab a large purple mug and poured in the nectar of the gods. She then added cream and sugar and stirred it.

"So, about the gems you wanted, I would be willing to give them to you for free" said Rarity.

"Free!?" Gasped Sunset. "Really Rarity, I couldn't. I think I can afford 20 bits for 10 of the smaller gems" she said while digging in her saddle bag.

"I wouldn't dream of charging a friend 2 bits per tiny gem. If you insist on paying me, give me five bits for ten small gems" sighed Rarity.

"Deal" said Sunset, knowing it's as high as she'd get Rarity to go. She levitated out seven bits and gave them to Rarity.

"Darling, I said five" stressed Rarity, trying to give two back.

"Consider it a tip"

"Ugh, fine"

Sunset smiled triumphantly and sipped her coffee.

"What time is it?" She asked Rarity.

"About eight thirty"

"Okay. I think I'm going to go see Twilight later"

"Oh. Do you want me to go with you?"

"No, it's fine. I can go alone. But, I did say I'm going later. What is there to do around here?"

"Well, I was going to go to the spa with Fluttershy soon, would you care to come with?"

"Sure, when are you going?"

"Eleven o' clock"

"Sounds good. I'm going to go shower"

                                                                                                   ***

         Sunset stood behind Rarity as they entered the large spa. Rarity told the mare standing behind the counter that they had an eleven o' clock appointment for three ponies. The blue mare with with a pink mane led them back into the spa where they met Fluttershy.

"Oh, hello dear" said Rarity, giving Fluttershy a hug.

"Hello Rarit-" began Fluttershy, but stopped speaking abruptly when her eyes fell on Sunset.

"Hi!" Said Sunset brightly. "I think we met at the train station. You're Fluttershy, right?" In response, the yellow Pegasus lowered her head and hid behind her bright pink mane.

"Fluttershy, this is Sunset shimmer. She's from... erm... wherever the portal at the crystal castle leads to" Rarity explained.

"Oh, um, he-hello" said Fluttershy, which for any other pony was a whisper. She still hid behind her mane, but poked her muzzle out a little.

"Ladies?" Called the blue mare from the door. "We're ready for you"

"Well girls, shall we?" Said Rarity and led them through out of the waiting area.

                                                                  ***

      "Wow, that felt amazing. I guess I haven't realized how sore I've been. Thank you so much, Rarity" said Fluttershy quietly. In the time that they had been in the spa, Fluttershy had begun to come out of her shell and Sunset began to see more and more of her friend.

"Yeah, thank you so much Rarity, but I can't believe you wouldn't let me pay at least part of the bill" grumbled Sunset.

"Oh, you should never try to pay for anything like that with Rarity around" giggled Fluttershy.

    "Well," huffed Rarity. "Excuuuuse me for being so generous. I mean, this IS a time of the year to be generous and kind to every pony, isn't it?" Said Rarity, extending the word ‘excuse’. Sunset and Fluttershy started giggling, and soon, even Rarity couldn't keep a straight face and laughed along with them. When Rarity and Sunset got back to carousel boutique, Sunset quickly picked up her saddle bags and excused herself. She made her way to the crystal castle once more and knocked. This time she only had to wait a few seconds before the door was swiftly opened by Spike.

"Sunset!" He cried. "Where did you go? We were so worried about you!"

"Sorry, Spike. I...I just had to go. Is Twilight in?" Asked Sunset.

      "Yeah, Trixie actually just left. Um, Trixie is the mare who was in here when you were here the other day. Go ahead and come in. I'll go and find her" said Spike, moving out of the doorway and gesturing inside. Sunset walked in and sat at the same couch she had last time. The book she had read wasn't there, so she walked over to the shelf where she had found it before. After a moment of searching, she found it again and opened it again. She only made it about a paragraph farther than she had yesterday when she was again interrupted. When she looked up, Twilight was walking into the room.

"Hi Sunset, are you feeling okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, sorry about yesterday. I just felt, oh I don't know, embarrassed when I found out that you had a mare friend. So, I sort of panicked. Sorry." Finished Sunset.

"Uh, I don't have a mare friend" said Twilight.

"What about the mare who was here yesterday? Um, I think Spike said her name was Trixie"

"Trixie!?" Gasped Twilight. "No! No no no no no"

"B-but... you had lipstick on your face..."

    "Oh Celestia." Murmured Twilight, putting a hoof to her face. "Trixie, she... she came back into town for a quick visit. She stopped by, so I asked her if she wanted to stay for lunch. We had a nice, simple meal. When she was leaving, she just leaned in and kissed my cheek. Then she turned around and left. And I'm sorry I didn't recognize you. I hadn't seen you in so long, and I was just so flustered. But I never got to give you this yesterday."

         And with that, Twilight leaned in and gave Sunset a quick kiss on the cheek. The two mares made eye contact and blushed. Sunset grinned widely and planted a large kiss on Twilights lips. The two were interrupted a few seconds in when Spike came running in.

"Twilight, th- oh, uh, sorry to interrupt. But, uh, there are some stallions outside. They said they NEED to talk to you soon. Like, right now soon."

"Ugh" sighed Twilight. "Anything that urgent won't be resolved quickly. Spike, can you show Sunset to the kitchen and fix her up something to eat? I'll go deal with this."

"Sure thing, Twi. Follow me, Sunset." Said Spike cheerfully. Sunset got up to follow spike, but was stopped when Twilight held out a hoof.

"To be continued?" She asked with a small peck to Sunsets muzzle.

"Of course" whispered Sunset back. And just like that, Twilight was gone. Trotting quickly over to the front door and walking out. Spike cleared his throat.

"Sunset?"

"Oh, um, yeah. Sorry. Lead on." But he didn’t. He just stood there with a big goofy grin on his face.

“What’s got you so happy?” asked Sunset.

“Sunset and Twilight, sitting in a tree (literally, well, a crystal tree) K-I-S-S-I-N-oomph!” Twilight had poked her head back into the room and had thrown a light book at him.

“Oh, alright” he said and led Sunset to the kitchen.

                                                               ***

           Sunset had been sitting on the couch in the library of Twilights castle for the past forty-five minutes after a thirty minute lunch of daffodil sandwiches with spike. Sure, her legs were getting numb from sitting in the same position for so long, but she was still happy. She had been reading a great book that she found on the history of Equestria. It was a good, solid book that she knew would last her awhile. She was just at the part about Nightmare moon's banishment when the front door opened and closed again. Sunset quickly set her book down as Twilight came stomping into the room, covered in mud and dirt.

"Twilight!" Exclaimed Sunset. "What happened!?"

"Of course. They had to work on a farm, of all places. A farm. There was a mud-python. A full grown, bucking mud python. It was ruining their farm and eating their crops. And who did they have to call in to deal with it? Princess Twilight. I have the feeling none of the other princess' have to deal with this kind of thing. Ugh, I need to go take a bath. Would you mind?"

"No. In fact, I need to go grab all of my stuff from Rarity's" replied Sunset.

"Okay, well, I'll see you in a bit." With that, Twilight turned around and walked through another door. Sunset also turned and trotted towards the front door, opening it and walking to carousel boutique. When she got there, Rarity was pacing in a large circle.

"Sunset! Where were you!? I got so worried!"

"I'm sorry, Rarity. I've been at Twilight's. I actually just stopped by to grab my stuff." Explained Sunset.

"Oh, so I take it things went well?" Asked Rarity.

"Yeah. I'm going to stay there for the rest of my stay, but we should go out more!"

"Oh, of course! Oh, I know just the place! Well, I presume that you're coming with us to Canterlot?"

"We're going to Canterlot? When?"

"Well, I think we're leaving in... Two days?"

"Why?"

"Well, for the Hearths warming pageant, of course!"

"Oh, are we going to watch it?"

"Oh no, we're in it. I am playing the daughter if the unicorn king, Princess Platinum"

"Oh, well, I think I'm going with you. I love seeing plays. Any type of play. Wait, will the Princess' be there?"

"Yes. The princess' love going to the pageant. You should get a seat right next to them."

"O-oh. Well, that's... good... well, I think I'll just go grab my stuff and get out if your hair." said Sunset, walking over to Rarity’s room and reaching under the temporary bed for her bags. She folded up the bed and tucked it in the corner and walked back out into the main room.

"Thanks so much, Rarity. You're really too generous."

"Really dear, I AM the element of generosity, so I can't be too generous" replied Rarity with a smirk.

"Oh, hahaha" grumbled Sunset. "Well, thanks"

Sunset turned and walked out of carousel boutique. When she got back to the castle, Twilight was sitting in the kitchen, eating a bowl of grapes. When Sunset walked in, Twilight looked up from her book and smiled.

"I see you grabbed your stuff. Are you hungry?" She asked.

"No, I'm fine. Spike and I ate a little under two hours ago. Thank you though. So, I heard from Rarity that you're going to Canterlot in a couple of days. Am I going with you?" Asked Sunset.

"Yeah! I'm sorry, I thought I told you. Are you okay with that?"

"Oh, um, yeah"

"What's wrong?"

"I-I'm just nervous about Celestia"

"What? Don't be. I promise, you have nothing to worry about" said Twilight as she got up and hugged Sunset tightly.

"It's late. Where am I sleeping?" Asked Sunset, changing the subject.

"Oh, well, we have plenty of guest rooms. There’s actually one right next to my room that I think you'll like. Shall we?"

"Yes, I'm exhausted" said Sunset with a small smile. Twilight led Sunset down a large hallway and stopped at large crystal door. Twilight opened it with her magic and the two mares walked in. Sunset gasped as she saw the room. It was completely different from how she imagined it. In fact, it seemed to be personalized just for her.

“Princess Luna has been teaching me how to open the portal. I figured that you could come and visit more often that way, or I could go and visit you. We’ve been working on adding carpets and such in here just to make it a little cozier. Do you like-“

Twilight got cut off by a large hug from Sunset.

“I love it. Thank you, Twilight. And I would love to come and visit more often.”

Their lips met and Sunset felt sparks once more. And, once more, they were interrupted by spike.

“Uh, Twilight? Can I eat this gem that was lying in the corridor from the re-modeling?”

“Sure Spike, go ahead.”

“Okay, thanks. Hey, are you going to bed soon, because if you aren’t, don’t turn on the lights when you walk in” said Spike, walking away.

“And that’s my cue” said Twilight, causing Sunset to giggle.

“Goodnight, Twilight” said Sunset with a quick kiss.

“Goodnight, Sunset”

Twilight left the room and Sunset jumped onto the huge, fluffy bed, trying not to giggle too loudly. She was so happy.

‘Oh gosh, is this how pinkie feels all the time?’ She thought to herself. ‘What an amazing way to live’ were the last thoughts sunset had before the warm blankets called to her and she fell asleep. A minute later, Twilight quietly poked her head in and extinguished the lights before leaving again.