Sunset's Obliviousness

Sunset was in no rush to reach her next class, the teacher had a miraculous way of always being late and most students at CHS knew they had some extra time before their classes with him. So Sunset took her time and eventually found herself standing with Applejack outside of the still closed classroom, the rest of their literature class milling about in the hallway.

“So how late do you think he'll be today?” asked Sunset, as she leaned back against the wall her farmer friend was using as a back rest.

“Well it's Thursday, so Ah reckon he'll be along about half way through,” answered Applejack, pushing her hat back up on her head so it no longer shielded her eyes. “You seen the others yet today, sugar?”

“Just Twilight, Rarity and Fluttershy,” responded Sunset as she looked down the hallway, trying to spot their wayward educator. Sunset enjoyed this class, even if it tended to be fairly short, human literature was something she'd discovered a great interest in since she'd embraced this world as her new home.

“Now that makes sense,” laughed Applejack softly, a grin spreading across her lips. Sunset wasn't quite sure what the farmer found so amusing and assumed it must be a human thing. “Is Twilight still chewing your ear off with magic questions?”

“Uh yeah, that's what we talked about,” lied Sunset, unconvincingly. “Just magic, magic, magic with that girl.”

“Riiight,” laughed Applejack. Twilight may not have asked Sunset to keep her crush a secret but Sunset wasn't going to tell anyone until the bookish girl was alright with it. Though the unicorn had a sneaking suspicion that Applejack knew already somehow. The stetson-wearing blonde seem to have a knack for noticing when people weren't giving her the whole truth and a way of making people want to tell her everything.

As Sunset could feel the farmer's gaze eating into her willpower she heard the sound of sneakers squeaking across the hallway, quietly thanking Princess Celestia, or whatever power determined good fortune in this world. The reformed villain turned to face the sound and spotted Canterlot Highschool's oddest teacher racing down the hallway. The tall man darted down the hall, his coat billowing out behind him, his sneakers squealing as he skidded to a stop outside the classroom.

“Sorry! Can't ever get the hang of Thursdays,” apologized the teacher as he opened the door for his class to enter, a pair of red and blue glasses falling from the top of his head to cover his eyes. “Always manage to end up late...”

“Y'all are always late Doc,” replied Applejack as she went through the doorway, chuckling softly. “Thursday's got nuthin' to do with it.”

“Oh now I don't know about that, Thursday's a tricky day Miss Jack, always seems to move in fits and starts,” said Dr. Whooves as he held the door for Sunset and the last few students to enter. “Thursday is a bit more wobbly than the rest of the week.”

Sunset could see Applejack rolling her eyes at their teacher as the pair took their seats. The man was brilliant when it came to history and literature, always seeming to have some insight that only someone that was there could have, but he was by far the strangest teacher at the school and could likely give Pinkie Pie a run for her title as strangest person in the school if he cared to. Applejack had once confessed to Sunset that she lived in dread of Pinkie and Whooves ending up in the same room, and Sunset couldn't fault her for her fear.

Literature class was fascinating for Sunset, not just because of the sheer variety of texts Dr. Whooves always had them reading, but because of Applejack's enthusiasm. Applejack was by no means unintelligent, and she was such a hard worker that her grades were always some of the highest in whatever class she was a part of, but she never seemed to think her studies were all that important. As long as she knew enough to keep the business side of her family's farm running Applejack was happy to never attend another day of class.

Except maybe to discuss books.

Literature was a secret passion of the farmer's that Sunset had great amount of respect for. Applejack had explained that after the harvest at her farm there wasn't all that much to do through the winter and so over the years the Apple family had accumulated the kind of library that would have make Princess Twilight swoon. Applejack had apparently taken to reading almost as quickly as she'd taken to farm work and had made her way through the entire Apple family collection at least twice. The farmer had even invited Sunset to see if there was anything she'd want to borrow for the winter break.

Since humans didn't have magic to occupy them as their society had grown many of them had turned to writing and if Sunset had to guess she would have said that a single year in the human world would see more new stories published than a decade in Equestria. Humanity had an almost desperate need to fill their world with an entirely different kind of magic through the written word, and Sunset loved them for it.

Sunset was pulled from her ruminations on human creativity when she heard Dr. Whooves asking her about the state of literature in Questria. The man had taken the existence of an alternate world filled with magical ponies in stride and had been eager to discover any correlations between the two worlds' fictions.

“Well we don't have as much fiction as you do here Doctor,” answered Sunset simply. “With so much time dedicated to magic and keeping the world running right there just weren't as many writers in our history.”

“Oh I'm so sorry Sunset, I know how much you seem to love a good book,” the Doctor laughed as he turned back to the rest of the class. “Now I want the rest of you to think about that for a moment, imagine a world that just doesn't have your favorite tales and discuss how you think that would change things...”

As the class began to pair off to discuss the type of world the Doctor had describe Sunset decided to take the opportunity to ask Applejack about something that had been nagging at the back of her mind lately.

“Hey Applejack, have you been seeing much of Rainbow Dash lately? I feel like she's been missing half the times I usually see her...” asked Sunset with a touch of worry in her voice. The unicorn hoped she hadn't accidentally offended the sports star.

“Ah have no idea what ya mean sugar,” stammered Applejack as she quickly looked away. “Ah mean she's been at our lunches, when we run in the mornin's, when the lot of us go out...”

“Not what I mean AJ, it's like she's avoiding me specifically, I know she's there when everyone else is, just not when we'd usually hang out alone,” pondered Sunset, not noticing Applejack's horrible attempts at deception, something for which the farmer was very glad.

“Uh now why would she be doin' that sugar?” asked Applejack, trying to get Sunset talking more so the honest farm girl wouldn't have to.

“I have no idea... maybe I did something... I am still really new at having friends,” muttered Sunset, so focused on her thoughts she didn't see Applejack sweating. “I suppose I could ask her at lunch...”

“And speakin' of...” said Applejack as the bell for the end of class sounded and Dr. Whooves sent his students off to lunch, promising to see them all next week, and closer to on time.

As the pair made their way off to CHS's large cafeteria Sunset remained so focused on thinking through her every action for the last few weeks, looking for some error she'd made that had sent her rainbow haired friend running, that she didn't see the tension slipping off Applejack's shoulders, the red head's questions having nearly forced the inherently honest girl to spill everything she knew. Applejack did all she could to keep her friends' secrets. She just wasn't good at it.

On Thursdays Sunset and Applejack were often the last of their group to make it to lunch and so the pair weren't surprised to see their friends having already claimed the group's favorite table. The normalcy of a chattering Pinkie Pie, a smiling Fluttershy, laughing Rainbow Dash and a sketching Rarity was broken by the sight of the group's newest friend banging her head against the table softly. Sunset shot Applejack a look of confusion as the pair took their usual places with their friends.

“Y'all alright there Twilight?” asked Applejack as she looked over the purple haired girl. Twilight responded with a brief thumbs up before continuing her head banging.

“Oh Twilight's fine AJ, she just made an oopsie during class and dropped something in our cake batter!” laughed Pinkie and she bounced in her seat. “It didn't do anything to the cake and it just got all gooey and we couldn't read what was on it anymore but Twilight said it wasn't important so it was just a silly moment that I can't stop giggling over, I mean it was meant to be a banana cake and what happens but everyone in the room goes slipping and sliding 'cause we were using real bananas and just like in the cartoons someone slipped and we all went tumbling around and cake went flying and people got splattered and Vice Principal Luna got a banana peel right on top of her head! And since there weren't all that many cakes left to be baked after all the fun there was sssooooooo much icing left over that we all just sort of gobbled it all up!”

The group collectively took a moment to marvel at Pinkie Pie's lung capacity, the girl having spewed out her entire recollection without a single pause to breathe. Sunset took an extra moment to try and determine how she and Rainbow Dash were going to handle a Pinkie Pie that had consumed even more sugar than usual in their last class of the day. As the unicorn turned back to ask the sports star if she had an insight on how to handle a level five sugar crazed Pinkie she saw her friend staring. Rainbow Dash had a remarkably intense look on her face, the kind of look Sunset had only seen on the girl as she stared down some obstacle or opponent. It was a look of determination and Sunset turned around to see what her friend was looking at so intensely.

Sunset couldn't see a thing except for the cafeteria doors slowly swinging shut. Maybe the unicorn had missed whatever Rainbow had been looking at because when she turned back to her friend she was looking away with a hint of embarrassment about her. What had Rainbow been looking at?

“Rainbow, what in the world were you looki-” said Sunset before being interrupted by her sport loving friend.

“Sorry Sunny, love to chat but it sounds like I need to help Pinkie burn off the sugar before she drives the whole gym nuts,” said Rainbow rapidly as she grabbed Pinkie by the collar and started to pull her away from the table and out the same doors that Sunset had just seen close.

“Ooooo! What are we gonna do Rainbow? Run around the school? Climb around the school? Oh! Are we going to swing around the school on magic ropes?! That would be so neat!” Sunset heard Pinkie asking as the pair disappeared down the hallway.

“Oh dear who does Rainbow think she's fooling with that little explanation?” chuckled Rarity as she watched the pair go. “Why I'd be willing to wager that if we were to go and look behind the gym's bleachers we'd see the two of them burning off frustrations rather than sugar.”

Sunset blushed just a bit at what her friend was implying, and Twilight seemed to bang her head on the table a bit harder at the thought. Half the school knew that Pinkie was will to help almost anyone 'relax' but there were surprisingly few people that would take her up on it. Not after the Whip Cream Incident. Sunset blushed a bit harder at that thought.

“Like you're one to talk Rarity, I recall you and Pinkie fallin' out of my closet a few weeks back, barely a stitch between ya,” smirked Applejack as she nudged the now blushing Rarity in the ribs. Fluttershy quickly put a bundled up sweater under Twilight's still banging head, earning a mumble of thanks from the girl.

“Oh now that is hardly fair Applejack! It was midterm week and you know how stressed I can get!” blushed Rarity, looking away from the farmer and towards Fluttershy and Sunset. Especially Sunset. “A lady does have needs after all...”

“Whatever y'all say Rarity, but if we want to get to class on time we'd better scoot,” said Applejack as she took a final bite of her lunch, an apple of course. “Wouldn't want you to be late for your gossip session with Coco.”

“A lady does not gossip Applejack,” huffed Rarity as she, Fluttershy and Applejack made their way out of the cafeteria. “Though she may have some juicy discussions about the state of the school's affairs...”

With a laugh Sunset turned back to the only remaining occupant of the table, who thankfully was no longer beating her brilliant head against anything.

“So I'm guessing that talking to Pinkie didn't quite go like you were expecting?” asked Sunset quietly.

“No...” grumbled Twilight through Fluttershy's forgotten sweater. “I knew just what I wanted to say and everything... but then all that craziness happened and I lost my list...”

“And without it you got all flustered and unsure of what you were going to say and just let the moment slip by,” said Sunset knowingly.

“How did you know?” asked Twilight as she looked up.

“You kinda aren't the first Twilight I've tried to help out,” smiled Sunset as she went around the table to pat Twilight on the back. “So I know that if you just manage to actually talk to her about it she'll probably be happy to run off with you to 'relax'”

Sunset would have been lying if she said she didn't get a bit of amusement out of the rampant blush spreading across the face of her newest friend because of that sentence. As Sunset left the table to head off to her own class the unicorn hoped that Twilight would be able to get her brain working again in time to get to her studies and that the studious girl would work up the courage to talk to Pinkie soon.

With Pinkie back on her mind Sunset's thoughts kept trying to drift off to a slumber party that Rarity had held not all that long ago... a party that Rainbow Dash had managed to acquire a bottle of whiskey for... a party that had seen Sunset and Pinkie pushed into a closet after a few too many shots had lead to a game of 'Seven Minutes in Heaven'... Sunset's growing blush almost match the color of her hair before she started to shake the thoughts of a very hands on Pinkie from her head. Sunset was only half successful and still had the showings of a blush as she almost bumped into the pink haired party planner as she bounced out of one of the closets next to the gym, the girl giggling happily.

“See you in the gym Dashie!” giggled Pinkie as she bounced by Sunset, the party girl's hand darting out to pat Sunset on the butt, winking as she went by. “You too Sunny.”

Sunset's blush returned with a vengeance, a disheveled Rainbow Dash sheepishly coming out of the closet Pinkie had so recently left. The blushing pair watch the party girl happily walking down the hall to the gym, singing a wordless song of joy and swaying her hips in a way that had to be deliberate.

“Pinkie Pie...” muttered Sunset, the unicorn desperately trying to control her blushing.

“Y-yeah, Pinkie...” Rainbow Dash muttered back with a smile and a blush of her own.

Silently the pair made their way to the gym and joined the students already there. Pinkie Pie had moved off to the bleachers and was cheerfully chatting Vinyl Scratch, though Sunset wasn't sure the DJ could hear a word Pinkie was saying through her headphones. Rainbow Dash had recovered a bit of her composure after whatever Pinkie had done to her in that closet, but just as the class was about to be split up into teams, Sunset noticed something she couldn't help but laugh at.

“Rainbow... your shirt's on backwards,” chuckled Sunset, having noticed that the rainbow colored lightning bolt was missing from her friend's shirt.

“Gyah!” yelped Rainbow as she quickly zipped shut the blue jacket that was her only shield from the cooling weather. Rainbow was blushing even more as Sunset tried to control her laughter.

As Mrs. Biceps, a hulking woman that somehow put her equally muscular, and much more sensitive, son Bulk to shame revealed that the class would be 'undertaking the age old rite of dodge-ball' as she put it, Sunset was surprised by Rainbow Dash not crying out in absolute joy. The athletic girl had adored the almost violent game for as long as Sunset had been going to CHS, and it had become expected that as soon as a teacher said the words 'dodge-ball' Rainbow would let out an enthusiastic 'Aww yeah!' in response. Sunset turned back to her friend, hoping for some explanation, only to be picked up by the back of her jacket and placed on one side of the room, as was Coach Biceps' custom when dividing teams.

As Sunset watched Rainbow be moved to the opposite side of the gym she saw that her friend was still blushing fiercely, and seemed to be trying to avoid looking at the unicorn. The red head was a little perplexed by Rainbow's sudden shyness over Sunset having caught her and Pinkie post-excitement, normally the group had to deal with Rainbow trying to give them all a play-by-play review of her numerous conquests, including when she and Pinkie would tempt fate by sneaking off at school.

With the teams divided Sunset was careful to survey the opposition she was facing, which today included a number of problem targets. Somehow Spitfire, Soarin and Bulk had all ended up on Rainbow's team, putting four of the class's most lethal dodge-ballers together. Meanwhile Sunset's team had such illustrious players as Trixie, Sandalwood and Wiz-kid, though at least she had Lyra and Bon-bon, both of which could be terrifying when pushed into the right mood. Sunset noticed that Pinkie and Vinyl were missing from either team...

Balls were passed out, players moved around the room seeking the best targets and angles, while Sunset tried to subtly move away from the dangerous Spitfire and get close enough to Lyra and Bon-bon to rally some kind of offense. Sunset need not have bothered, as Coach Biceps sounded the start of the game Bulk, Soarin, and Rainbow all launched rapid strikes right at the inseparable pair. Bon-bon made a desperate attempt to dodge the volley that had been launched at her only for the final shot made by Rainbow to connect with her midsection and double over as the wind was knocked from her. Sunset broke into a dash, trying to get closer to the now isolated and enraged Lyra, only to have Spitfire almost take her head off with a delayed throw. Too far to make an accurate shot Sunset hurled the ball that she'd been given in Rainbow's general direction, hoping to at least distract one of the three that had now moved to take aim at Lyra. Her throw bounced wide and Sunset watched Spitfire direct a green haired girl Sunset didn't know to retrieve the wayward ball.

And it was then that Sunset noticed the grim elegance of Spitfire's plan.

Sunset's team were throwing haphazardly at random targets, dodge-balls thrown as fast as they were grabbed, or in the case of Sandalwood not thrown at all. Spitfire's team however had become dangerously organized, students were darting around the room to retrieve balls and pass them off to one of Soarin, Bulk or Rainbow, who were systematically working their way across the room, knocking out anyone they caught in their sights, while Spitfire was carefully aiming her shots to either remove members of Sunset's team she deemed dangerous, or to herd people together to make easier targets for Rainbow's group.

Every time Sunset tried to move for a ball, or get her team in order, Spitfire was there with distracting throws that forced Sunset further and further from the rest of the students on her side of the gym. As the game played out Sunset managed to pick off a few of her opponents, as did her team, but in the end it came down to just the unicorn facing Soarin, Spitfire and Rainbow Dash. These were not good odds in Sunset's eyes, and worst of all Spitfire had managed to arrange the flow of the game so that as Sunset stood alone she also found herself without a single dodge-ball. Sunset stared down her impending doom, determined to at least take one of them with her.

“Now!” shouted Spitfire as she, Soarin and Rainbow burst into motion. Sunset ducked Spitfire's first shot, feeling the breeze the ball made as it whizzed over her head, lifted her leg to avoid Rainbow's low ball, and finally turned, desperately throwing her hands forward to catch Soarin's throw.

“You're out boy!” barked Mrs. Biceps as Sunset barely held on to the dodge-ball she'd managed to snag, sending out Soarin to the bleachers, and before their coach had even finished her announcement the unicorn launched the ball back into the chest of an off balance Spitfire.

The odds had suddenly evened, with only Sunset and Rainbow staring each other down from across the gym as the rest of their class watched from the side of the room. There was a tense moment as both girls worked out where the nearest ball was, that tension snapping as the both darted for their weapons. Sunset was forced to dive for a ball just out of her reach, her front sliding across the floor of the gym grasping at the red sphere. But as she turned her head and chest, her arm cocked to throw, she saw Rainbow already had her dodge-ball, and a clear shot at her. But the rainbow haired girl didn't throw, instead hesitating as a blush rages across her cheeks.

“Oh wow...” Sunset just barely heard Rainbow say as the unicorn sent the dodge-ball she had grabbed flying into Rainbow's chest, and knocking the sports star flat on her butt.

“Looks like I win Dash,” smiled Sunset as she walked across the room to help her fallen friend up.

“Uh yeah...” stammered Rainbow as she took Sunset's hand, not letting go for just a moment too long as she got up.

“Woooo yeah Sunny!” came the ecstatic scream of Pinkie Pie as she came running across the gym, pulling Sunset and Rainbow into a tight hug. “That last bit was so amazing how you both dashed everywhere and Sunny was all 'Whoosh!' and diving across the floor!”

As the three friends gathered up their bags and made their way out of the school together Pinkie Pie insisted on recapping the entire game for the both of them, with abundant sound effects thrown in for good measure.

“How did you even see all of this Pinks?” asked Rainbow curiously. “I didn't even see you in the gym after the game started.”

“Oh I was under the bleachers with Vinyl, I had a great view of everything!” said Pinkie with a huge smile. For a brief moment Sunset was wondering what Pinkie had been doing under the bleachers but the party girl's next words ended her train of thought and sent a blush to the unicorn's cheeks...

“I especially liked the part where Sunny flashed you her butt at the end!”