Tense silence reigned in the classroom as the day crept ever closer to its conclusion.

Around twenty pairs of eyes constantly drifted up to glance at the clock resting on the wall, counting down to four o’ clock gradually. They would quickly glance back again at their teacher, a prim woman in her thirtys by the name of Ms. Harshwhinny. She was currently listing off the details for their weekend assignment, her stern, somewhat snooty voice accompanied by the scratching of pens by those actually noting it down.

Sunset was one of those students, but she was still anxious to leave. She had somewhere to be tonight.

In unison, the clock struck the hour and the school bell rang. The class let out a sigh of relief, and began packing up to leave. Joining them, Sunset noted with amusement that Ms. Harshwhinny looked just as relieved as her students. It couldn’t be easy being a teacher.

She shared this class with Fluttershy, and the two of them walked out of the classroom together, on their way to the lockers.

“Man, not looking forward to doing all these assignments this weekend.” Sunset complained. “If it was just one it would be fine, but the teachers all give assignments at the same time! I swear they do it on purpose.”

“Oh…well, I’m sure they’re not doing it to be mean.” Fluttershy offered softly. “But it is pretty hard to deal with, especially since so many of us have part time jobs at the weekends. And you have that research with Twilight these days.”

As she stored some of her stuff that she didn’t need in her locker, Sunset had to agree. Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy in particular had quite a workload at the farm, boutique and animal shelter respectively. And she had her own obligations this weekend.

“Hey guys!” Called a voice loudly from the end of the hall, causing Fluttershy to speak in surprise. “Relax Fluttershy, it’s just us.”

‘Just us’ turned out to be the rest of their friends, including the offending Rainbow Dash, with her trademark cocky grin. Like the rest of the school population, they were on their way home.

“Darlings, we were just on our way to Sugarcube Corner to grab a drink and go over our homework before heading home.” Rarity explained in her classy tone. “Would you care to join us?”

“If you’re lucky, I might be able convince the Cakes to give you a discount on your favorite milkshake!” Pinkie offered excitedly, before frowning. “Uh, keywords ‘might be’.”

“Oh, I’d love to!” Fluttershy exclaimed happily, recovered from her previous fright.

“What about you, Sunset?”

Sunset shook her head. “Sorry girls, I’m visiting Twilight tonight and I need to get ready.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Get ready? What’s the rush?”

“Yeah, how much do you need to ‘get ready’ to go do egghead stuff?” Rainbow asked, puzzled.

Rarity however, had a mischievous, suspecting look that made Sunset a little nervous. “Hmm…that’s assuming, of course, that you are going to Equestria to study.”

Applejack and Rainbow still looked confused, but Pinkie and Fluttershy seemed to have cottoned on to what was being implied, and looked intrigued. Pinkie looked especially excited.

Sunset knew she had to come clean. “Well…no. I’m not going there to study.” She smiled sheepishly. “I’m going there…on a date. With Twilight.”

“Called it!” Pinkie Pie shouted joyfully, bouncing up into the air. “You owe me ten dollars, Fluttershy.”

Said girl winced, but still smiled. “Oh, that’s wonderful Sunset. I hope you have a good time.”

While shocked at first, the two most athletic members of the group recovered quickly.

“Huh…you and Twilight? Didn’ see that one coming, gotta admit.” Applejack mused. “Still, I’m happy for ya Sunset.”

“Me too, but I have to ask,” Rainbow was frowning lightly. “Were you like…trying to hide it or something? You know we’ve always got your back, right?”

“I…was a little nervous, yeah.” Sunset admitted. “I know same gender relationships…aren’t treated quite the same here as in Equestria a lot of the time. Plus, it’s our first proper date.”

“Really?” Rarity looked genuinely surprised. “Forgive me darling, but I’d been under the impression the two of you had been seeing each for months, given how close you are.”

Sunset blushed. "Heh...yeah. i guess we have been kinda...affectionate. I'm still kinda new to this- relationships in general, really."

"Didn't you date Flash for like, a year?"

"Well, yeah." The group continued to converse as they made their way towards the main entrance. "But I was exactly, you know- sincere in my feelings." She took a deep breath. "He's a great guy, but he didn't mean anything to me in the same way that Twilight does, you know? If it weren't for her, I'd still probably be a pretty awful person. She literally changed my life."

"Ahhh, it truly is so romantic!" Rarity gushed, a goofy grin on her face.

Rainbow looked like she disagreed, going by the green tinge to her cheeks. "Blech, it sure is!"

Sunset rolled her eyes. "I thought you always had my back?"

"I do. But that doesn't mean I'm into all that mushy stuff." She turned to look at Sunset. "Seriously tho, good luck and all that."

"I'm sure ya'll will have a great time!" Applejack added with a tip of her hat.

"Thanks girls. I'm sure things will go great." Sunset beamed with confidence.

~~~

"Me and my big mouth." Sunset groaned, her confidence fading rapidly.

She was standing in front of the Wondercolt's statue later that night in a simple but alluring red dress Rarity had gifted to her, ready to dive into the portal at any moment. All it would take is one little step.

Why did she feel so nervous?

It had been about a week since she had asked Twilight to be her girlfriend. They had kissed and cuddled a bit, and Sunset had coming down from the high ever since. Now that she'd had time to think, she couldn't help but feel paranoid. Had she moved too fast? Did Twilight change her mind and want to break up with her this very evening? What would Equestria think of their newest Princess being in a relationship? Would she have to go to interviews?

...what would Princess Celestia think? Would she approve? Or...

She shook herself mentally. "Get a grip, Sunset. Things have been going great. All you have to do is...keep doing what you've already been doing!"

She checked the clock on her phone. "Actually showing up would be a start."

Composing herself, she ran into the portal before she had another chance to change her mind.

The disorienting transformation was still as odd an experience as always, but she had got used to it a little bit, managing a reasonably smooth landing. Twilight was waiting for her, dressed up in a lovely gown. Sunset noted with surprise that she was wearing her crown, and looked just as nervous as she felt.

"Hey." Twilight offered with a shy smile as she approached.

"Hey yourself." Sunset replied with a smirk, meeting her girlfriend halfway. The two nuzzled briefly, and Sunset felt her heart rate relax. Nothing to worry about, just act natural.

"Heh, I feel kind of silly." Twilight said bashfully as she pulled away. "I didn't know what you were going to wear so I went for something semi-formal but not too over the top, but I'm still overdressed."

Sunset blinked. "Huh? What are you-" She was suddenly incredibly aware of her pony body and it's outfit- or lack thereof. "I forgot that the mirror doesn't keep the clothes you were wearing!" She bemoaned, burying her face in her hoof, which she immediately regretted. "Ow...or that hooves are a lot more solid than hands."

"Are you alright? Do you need a bandage?" Twilight gushed with concern.

Sunset grimaced. "I...I'm fine. I just..." She sighed and looked downward. "Barely a minute and I've already made this date a disaster." She felt a hoof lift her chin up, and found herself gazing into Twilight's amazingly purple eyes.

"You haven't ruined anything," Twilight consoled. "Outfit or no outfit, you're still you and I want you here with me." She blushed fiercely. "Wow, that sounded a lot less cheesy in my head."

Sunset laughed, feeling a little better but still a bit guilty. "Alright Your Cheesiness, what's the plan?" The two of them made their way side by side through the castle halls. She could feel the softness of Twilight's coat against hers underneath the fabric of the dress, how their tails would occasionally brush up against each other-

"-and speaking of cheese, for the fifth course, a traditionally prepared lasagna, followed up with..."

Sunset snapped back to reality. "Uh, that sounds a lot. Are we going to a fancy restaurant?"

Twilight giggled. "No silly, we're having it in the castle dining room!"

"Oh, Spike is cooking for us? Thats nice of him."

Twilight's smile became a little too wide. "Actually ah, I'm cooking the meal."

Sunset blinked. "You can cook?" Seeing Twilight's affronted look, she hastened to clarify. "Not that I'm saying you can't! I'm just, a little surprised is all. I guess you're a mare of many talents."

That seemed to do the trick, as Twilight ruffled her feathers importantly. "Yes, well...admittedly I don't have a lot of experience, but I did my research and followed the recipes to the letter. Right now everything should be about ready to take out of-"

An acrid scent reached Sunset's nostrils. "Hey, do you smell burning?" She interupted.

"-the oven...oh."

~~~

10 minutes later and a liberal application of fire-extinguishing spells, the duo successfully managed to avoid burning down the castle. Or, at least the kitchen. Sunset was fairly certain being made of crystal made the majority of the castle rather flame resistant.

But right now she wasn't concerned about that. Twilight was sitting despondently in the middle of the room, glumly staring at the charred remains of her complicated meal.

"You ok?" Sunset asked softly, using her magic to clear away the detritus.

"I..." Twilight sighed. "Honestly, no. I messed up."

"Aw, it's ok. I messed up with the dress, and not everyone can cook-"

"It's not just that!" Twilight yelled, waving her hooves around wildly. "I was planning the perfect date, and now it's just...ruined!" Tears began to form as she resolutely looked anywhere but at Sunset. "I-if you wanna just go home, I won't blame you..."

"Hey."

Twilight looked up at Sunset, blinking away tears. She felt a sudden sense of deja vu.

"I'll be honest Twilight...I was kind of intimidated by the idea of a fancy, big, formal dinner." She reached down to pluck the crown off of Twilight's head, placing it gently on the floor. "I just want to spend time with you."

Twilight laughed, wiping her eyes. "Heh...sorry. I'm being silly."

Sunset smirked and kissed her briefly, causing Twilight to blush. "Well silly, what do you think we should do?"

"Get Spike to cook a load of junk food and read a big pile of trashy romance novels together?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

It's far from perfect. But right now, I wouldn't change it for anything in the world

Author's Note

Sorry this one took so long, real life got in the way for quite a while, and probably will continue for a while. Hope you like it! Not too sure about how I rounded it off to be honest.

In other horse news, how about those recent episodes and the movie? I loved Friendship Games and the triple Rarity episode special. (Can you say Sunlight: The Movie, Raridash: The Episode and Rarijack: The Episode?). Brotherhooves Social...was god-awful abysmal and I refuse to even acknowledge it as an episode of the show. Thankfully today's episode was a vast, vast improvement and a great 5-year celebration episode.

Not sure how I'll adapt Friendship Games canon into this story, but I'm re-planning some chapters to account for it.