You Raise Me Up

There was no one better at throwing a party than Pinkie Pie. There was also no one who threw parties as often, for any reason, from actual holiday events to a ‘Sunset’s No Longer Evil Anniversary’.

Thankfully, tonight's party was for an occasion both more usual and less personal. The school was due to break up for the Easter holidays, to the huge relief of students everywhere. After heavy bartering with Principal Celestia, Pinkie had managed to wrangle control of the school hall to arrange a night of fun and relaxation to celebrate.

The only large-scale party Sunset had been to before was the Fall Formal, and each time she attended she had simply accepted her prize and promptly left. Now that she was actually taking the time to enjoy herself, she had to admit it was pretty fun.

A huge crowd of students were present, a great number of them dancing enthusiastically under the expert of supervision of Vinyl Scratch, the school’s go-to DJ for events. She never spoke a word, but by the huge grin on her face as she spun disks and operated the complex equipment, she was having a blast.

A row of tables were set up against one wall, overflowing with party food. Several students had volunteered to help provide their own homemade dishes. Sunset was currently eating happily from a plate of broccoli and spinach quiche prepared by Fluttershy. Most other students turned their noses up at the unpopular, bitter vegetables, but it reminded Sunset a lot of Equestrian cuisine- not to mention a lot of the other foods contained meat. That was one aspect of humans that still unnerved her, though she tried not to think about it too much. Thankfully they didn’t eat anything sentient, but it still gave her a queasy feeling.

There were tables and chairs arranged around the central dance floor, and it was at one of these that Sunset sat in solitude. Pinkie was devoted to overseeing everything, and the rest of her friends had gone to dance. They had asked her to join them, but she declined, preferring simply to people-watch. She’d managed to perfect most human movement over the years in order to adapt, but dancing was a recipe for disaster- not that she’d been that great in the first place.

She’d forgone her signature jacket for tonight (she insisted many times to Fluttershy that it was faux leather), wearing a simple but pretty black cocktail dress from Rarity’s boutique- the fact that Rarity run her own successful business almost entirely by herself while still in high school was something that continued to confound her.

Relaxed as she was while watching the goings-on of the party, she almost jumped out of her seat when a pair of purple hands obstructed her vision.

“Guess who?” She heard a familiar voice giggle.

“Twilight?” She exclaimed in surprise, though not without a measure of excitement. She instinctively reached up and pried Twilight’s hands away, and titled her head back in her seat to look at her would-be-assailant. “I didn’t know you were coming!”

Twilight wore a cute little blue dress with a star pattern, and she wore her hair in a bun. Though her view was inverted, Sunset was stricken but how beautiful her friend was. She felt her heart rate increase, and realised she was still holding Twilight’s hands.

If Twilight noticed the reddening of Sunset’s cheeks, she didn’t say anything. “I wasn’t doing anything tonight, and I wouldn’t miss a Pinkie Pie party for the world.” She looked a little embarrassed. “Even if it’s a different Pinkie…and even though I’m technically not a student here.” Her hand’s remained entwined with Sunset’s. “Plus, I wanted to spend time with you outside of work.”

Sunset had to agree there. The research on the mirror was going well, even after the first, emotional night of discussion. They were close to a breakthrough on replicating the mirrors properties on a smaller scale- Twilight was confident the same kind of magic could be used not just to visit other dimensions, but to create pocket dimensions of your own. It could quite possibly revolutionise certain aspects of current magical theory.

But such work was difficult, and required full concentration. Though they were together often, they didn’t really get many chances to just talk or hang out like on that first night. Neither one of them had said anything to the other about falling asleep together- Twilight was too mortified, and Sunset didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable.

Though she wasn’t entirely sure that the incident was an isolated case. Twilight was often quite physically affectionate with her these days- quick to nuzzle assuringly as a pony if Sunset was frustrated by something, or eager to hold hands when they both had access to them.

Sunset accepted the contact, though she wasn’t sure how to feel about it. Ponies, she had noted, were naturally more physically affectionate than humans- they had got a few odd looks when walking around town holding hands. But she couldn’t help but feel Twilight’s actions weren’t strictly platonic.

And what of her own feelings?

That was something she had no reference for, or understanding of. Twilight was her first and closest friend, of that she was certain. But ‘best friends’ didn’t get these bizarre sensations in their chest or stomach when they saw each other, or stayed up all night writing to each other, or fall asleep cuddling…did they?

All these thought’s plagued Sunset’s mind as Twilight sat down next to her, staying there throughout the evening as they talked about nothing in particular. She made sure to pay attention to their conversation and put in an effort to not make it one sided, but she kept getting distracted by the fact that one of Twilight’s hands was still holding hers…

Her aloof behaviour didn’t go unnoticed. Twilight broke off her story about a creature known as ‘Tantibus’ to look at Sunset with worry. “Hey…are you ok? You seem kind of distracted.”

Sunset shook her head, and flashed Twilight what she was fairly sure resembled a confident smile. “Yeah...I’m ok Twilight. Just, been thinking about some stuff lately.”

“…do you need to talk about it?”

Sunset wasn’t sure how to answer. Thankfully, she was spared the decision by the arrival of a certain poofy-haired pink individual.

“Hey Sunset! Hey Twilight!” Pinkie happily bounced over to them, carrying a serving tray of food in one hand. How exactly she was moving so quickly and not dropping anything was a mystery. “Are you enjoying the party?”

“It’s great Pinkie, thanks!” Twilight replied, a big smile on her face. “How have you been?”

“Busy busy busy!” Pinkie wiped her forehead with a hankerchief in her free hand. “Parties are no picnic, you know. And I’ve got a whole load more parties coming up over Easter!” Despite her complaints, Pinkie looked excited at the prospect. Like any passion, the effort you had to put into it only made the reward that much more satisfying.

“…Easter?” Twilight asked, her face scrunched up as if trying to solve a rather difficult puzzle.

Saving herself from being distracted by said cute expression, Sunset explained. “Human holiday- all to do with Spring and rebirth. We don’t really have an Equestrian equivalent.”

Pinkie gasped in shock, almost dropping her tray. “Ponies don’t celebrate Easter? That’s awful! You don’t get to have chocolate eggs?”

“Lots of our holidays are different Pinkie, even if some of them are similar. Though I must admit I am curious about these...chocolate eggs.”

Pinkie laughed. “You’re curious about everything, Twilight!” The party planner glanced around. “I can’t stay too long- places to be, other guests to greet!” As she turned to leave, she tilted the tray towards her seated friends, revealing it’s contents. “Quesadilla?”

Twilight blanched at the sight of the cheesy tortilla snack. “I ah, I’ll pass.”

“Suit yourself!” Pinkie shrugged, and left.

The duo sat in a comfortable silence for a minute or two as Twilight recovered from the sight of all that cheese.

“Hey um, Twilight?”

“Yes, Sunset?”

“I, ah…” Sunset fumbled for the words. “I do wanna talk to you about…stuff I’ve been thinking over lately.” She swallowed nervously as she met Twilight’s piercing, inquisitive eyes. “I just…don’t think this is really the time or the place. It’s nothing bad!” She hastily clarified as Twilight looked worried. “It’s not really a good or a bad thing. It’s just…a thing.” She sighed as Twilight visibly relaxed. “So um, I was thinking maybe we could meet up over Easter, and like…spend a day together, and talk about it then maybe?.” Her cheeks became heated. “It’s as you say…we really haven’t been able to just hang out with all our work. And…I really like spending time with you, Twilight.”

Twilight smiled softly. “I think I can clear my schedule for the next few weeks, providing nothing urgent comes up. I like spending time with you too, Sunset.”

“Heh…thanks.” Sunset glanced over at the dance floor, and noticed it was a lot less crowded now. “Sooo…up for some dancing?”

“Maybe…I should warn you though,” Twilight looked mischievous. “I’m notorious for being the worst dancer to ever come out of Canterlot.”

Sunset narrowed her eyes. “I accept your challenge to my title.”

Laughing, they made their way to the floor. What followed was quite possibly the most awful dance performance in recorded human history, but neither of them cared.

All that mattered was that they were dancing together.