Chapter 1: Getting Started
"Rainbooms rule! That was amazing!"
Sunset Shimmer watched as her ex-boyfriend, Flash Sentry, ran over and hugged Twilight Sparkle after the Rainbooms freed the entire school from the influence of the Dazzlings once and for all. If it hadn't already been clear how enamoured they truly were with one another, it was certainly clear now, seeing the two embrace. Sunset giggled with the other girls as they watched the blush on Twilight's cheeks become more apparent. All of a sudden:
"You may have vanquished the Dazzlings, but you will never have the amazing, show-stopping ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie!"
A poof of smoke filled the air. After it cleared up, they saw Trixie clumsily trying to escape. Sunset was actually quite disappointed at Trixie's intrusion on the moment. Sunset was somewhat fascinated by this side to Twilight, as it was a quality that she didn't see in herself. While Sunset had dated Flash and a few other guys in the past, it was really only for personal gain. She was only using them either to have them buy her things, stroke her ego, or boost her power. The more she thought about it, she realized that she had never been in a proper relationship with a guy before.
When Sunset dated Flash, it gave her a bigger payoff than any of her other exploits. For a start, Flash was a good deal more popular than any guy that Sunset had "dated" before. He was the face of the rocker clique, the most popular and influential clique at Canterlot High. The rocker clique also included the school's DJ, Vinyl Scratch, who had just helped the Rainbooms defeat the Dazzlings after Spike found out that her headphones gave her immunity from the spell that the sirens cast on everyone else on the school. By dating Flash, Sunset incorporated herself into this clique, and reaped the benefits of being in it. Her hot-headed attitude intimidated everyone else in the clique, even Flash's band members, but Flash just insisted that it was her interesting way of communicating with people. Flash was also wealthier than any other guy Sunset exploited. Sunset could use Flash to get her expensive items she couldn't otherwise get without blowing her budget. He was also friendlier, more forgiving, and more trusting. He even helped her to learn how to play the guitar.
Even the best of guys had those limits, though. While Flash was mustering up the courage to say "I love you" to Sunset, he overheard a conversation she had with Snips and Snails.
"It takes way too much effort to keep up this facade of a relationship. Plus, I don't think I'll be needing him for much longer anyway," Sunset said.
"Are you sure 'bout this Sunset?" Snips responded.
"He gets us lots of cool stuff!" Snails exclaimed.
"Have you been using me all this time, Sunset?" Flash asked.
Sunset made a small attempt to explain herself, but it really didn't matter. That was the end of Flash and Sunset's relationship. Sunset didn't care that much at the time. The rest of the school was already afraid of Sunset, so she was able to rule the school with an iron fist. But when she tried to steal Twilight's element of magic in an attempt to get the power she was truly after, Twilight was able to step in, defeat Sunset, and win her crown back. In retrospect, Sunset was very grateful for what Twilight did. Without Twilight, Sunset would never have discovered the value of friendship.
The crown wasn't the only thing Twilight had won, however. In the human world, Twilight bumped into Flash Sentry several times. After bumping into each other at Sugarcube Corner, they became infatuated with one another. After Sunset had Snips and Snails ruin the Fall Formal decorations so she could frame Twilight, Flash helped to prove Twilight's innocence to Vice Principal Luna, allowing Twilight to run for Fall Formal princess so she could win her crown back. At the dance, he even danced like Twilight did when Twilight danced in a ponylike fashion.
Even though Flash and Twilight's relationship wasn't particularly deep, it was still a more legitimate relationship than anything Sunset's ever experienced. After Twilight returned to Equestria, Sunset continued to dwell on this fact. She found it very alarming that she has never dated for the sake of getting to know someone. She needed to write to Twilight about this. She picked up her magic book and pen and began writing:
Dear Princess Twilight,
Missing you already, and I hope you'll be back soon. Things are definitely looking up for me here at Canterlot High. But I know I still have a lot to learn about friendship. Hope you don't mind if I write to you for advice when I need it.
Your friend, Sunset Shimmer.
P.S. I've seen how you and Flash get along, and that got me thinking. I've never been in a legitimate relationship before. I was wondering if you could give me some advice on that too.
When Twilight received the message, she was startled. She wasn't qualified to give relationship advice. That was more for Princess Cadence, the princess of love, and not for Princess Twilight, the princess of friendship. Twilight and Flash weren't even officially girlfriend and boyfriend or fillyfriend and coltfriend or whatever their inter-dimensional connection could be called. She had only been to the human world twice and spent only a small percentage of that time with him. Then an idea popped into her head. Her friends at Canterlot High were high school students. Naturally, they should be able to give high schooly advice to Sunset. She wrote back:
Dear Sunset,
I'm glad things are brightening up for you back there. You can write to me anytime you want, and I'll try to respond as soon as possible. You can also visit if you need my help with a problem you need to solve.
Your friend, Twilight Sparkle.
P.S. Why don't you try asking the other girls to help you with relationships? I'm sure they'll be able to give you plenty of help on that. In a way, I'm just as much a learner on this subject as you are.
And with that, Sunset began her journey to learn all about what it means to be in a proper relationship.
Author's Note
This is my first story, so feel free to tell me if there are errors that need to be fixed or elements that need to be improved.
Chapter 2: Pinkie's Lesson
Ready and willing to learn about all the things that a relationship involves, Sunset took out her notebook from her backpack, turned to an empty page, and wrote “How to Date Well” at the top. She then drew a data table with five rows and two columns. In the first column was the names of the other Rainbooms: Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash. In the second column was where she would write the advice that each of her friends would give her. She knew she would have to arrange a time to meet with each of her friends to discuss the subject. She texted Rarity, saying:
Hey Rarity, do you have any free time tomorrow? I want to talk to you about something in person.
Almost immediately, Sunset received a reply, saying:
Sure thing, darling. Tomorrow at 5:30 P.M. is when Sweetie Belle goes over to Applejack’s place to have a sleepover with her friends, and I won’t have to look after her. You can talk to me then.
The next day, Sunset woke up and rejoiced that Saturday had finally arrived after what she felt like had been one of the longest weeks of her life. She hoped to gather as much advice from her friends as possible that weekend. She had a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast, and then proceeded to finish her homework as fast as she could. Calculus homework was no problem, physics homework was a breeze, and history homework was a piece of cake. She was one of the most intelligent and diligent students at Canterlot High, after all. After she finished her homework, all she had to do was wait until it was time to visit Rarity. Then suddenly her phone rang with a call from Pinkie Pie. She picked up the phone, and heard Pinkie say:
“Hey Sunset, wanna hang out and play video games together for a while? I just bought the new Kingdom Hooves game. It’s got even more characters from Filly Fantasy this time around. ”
“I don’t know if I have time, Pinkie. I’m visiting Rarity at 5:30.”
“It’s not even noon, silly! Trust me, you’ll have plenty of time. Plus, I’ll make a nice lunch for the both of us!”
“Okay, Pinkie, if you insist. I’ll be there in just a sec.”
While Sunset had intended to ask Rarity first, since she felt Rarity knew the most about romance, she still knew this was a chance to ask Pinkie about the topic. She biked over to Pinkie’s house bringing her notebook and pencil. She rung the doorbell, and then was told to enter by Pinkie. As soon as she opened the door, Pinkie trapped her in an extremely tight hug.
“How’s now one of my bestest friends doing?” Pinkie asked.
“Can’t...breathe,” Sunset said.
After Pinkie released Sunset from her squeeze, she presented the lunch she had prepared for the two of them: sweet potato soup decorated with marshmallows.
“Enjoy!” Pinkie exclaimed. “I have to admit, it was a daunting recipe at first, even for me.”
“Uh, are you sure this is good for you, Pinkie?” Sunset asked.
“Absolutely!” Pinkie replied. She then listed all the nutrition facts off the top of her head without any hesitation. Sunset was impressed, even though she knew what Pinkie is capable of.
After lunch, they proceeded to play Kingdom Hooves for a while. After that, Sunset felt it was time to ask her question.
“Hey Pinkie, I know this may sound like an embarrassing question to ask, but…”
“Aw, don’t be afraid to ask me anything. After all what are friends for?”
“Can you give me some info on your dating experience?”
An awkward feeling filling the air around them. It was enough to render the talkative Pinkie speechless for a moment. Then she broke the silence with:
“Well, from what I’ve noticed, Marble has totally got the hots for Big Mac!”
“I don’t need to know about that. And wait, isn’t she just a few minutes younger than you? Why is she crushing on a senior? And aren’t the Crusaders already trying to get him to ask out Ms. Cherilee? Never mind, it’s not important. I don’t need to hear about anyone else right now. I want to hear about YOUR experience.”
“Oh, so that’s what you were going to see Rarity about. And after you talk to me and her, you’ll be asking the others as well!”
“Wait, how did you know?”
“I’m kind of psychic.”
“Really?”
“It’s like I have ESPN or something.”
“First of all, it’s ESP, which I don’t think is actually a real thing. Second of all, please just tell me your story.”
“Okie dokie lokie. So, did I ever tell you the story of how my parents met?”
“No, I don’t think you ever did. What does that have to do with anything?”
“Okay, let me tell you. Long story short, they were paired together by a choosing stone, and eventually they got married and had me, as well as Limestone, Maud, and Marble! So one day, a couple of years ago, I decided to look into the choosing stone. Dad said it wouldn’t function properly since I was too young, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to try. I ended up being paired with a guy named Jade Green.”
“And what was this ‘Jade Green’ like?”
“He wasn’t a bad guy in way, shape, or form. But we just didn’t seem to click as I hoped we would.”
“Why is that?”
“Whenever I got excited about something, like a cool new movie or video game or anything of the sort. Even if it was critically acclaimed and hyped-up for years, he would act jaded, like he didn’t care.”
“Really?”
“Even if we went on this super duper ultra mega awesome roller coaster ride, he would just kind of shrug his shoulders and say ‘meh’. It kind of ruined the excitement for me. Like, even though my family can come across at a bit cold and distant to you guys, I can generally tell if they are enjoying something. But with Jade, it always seemed like he wasn’t enjoying anything.”
“Oh damn, that’s kind of sad.”
“Yeah. I would repeatedly try to get him to lighten up, but it would never work. So in the end, I decided to call it quits. I kept debating to myself whether I should. The dilemma was so real it made me sick to my stomach. It was hard for me to even eat a small scoop of ice cream. But I just wasn’t happy with our relationship, so one day I went up to him and told him that we should break it off. It didn’t seem to hurt him much. He just shrugged his shoulders like he usually did when anything happened and moved on.”
“And what about you?”
“Well, I would’ve been more hurt, but deep down I knew he would react the way he did. It didn’t really emotionally affect me.”
“And now you’re crushing on that famous parody artist, Cheese Sandwich.”
“I am not! I just happen to really like his parodies of Sapphire Shores and Countess Coloratura, that’s all!”
“Sure, Pinkie. Sure.”
“So anyway, that’s my story. For me, dating’s gotta be about going out and having a good time. If you don’t have fun, then why bother in the first place? That’s why me and Jade didn’t work out. I’m not an expert at dating or anything, but I hope my advice helps you out.”
“Thanks, Pinkie, I really appreciate it.”
“No problem. Oh look, it’s almost 5:30 already! I think it’s time for you to go visit Rarity!”
“Holy shit, you’re right! See ya, Pinkie, I gotta go!”
Sunset grabbed her pencil and notebook as she went, jotting down a few notes in her data table. Next to Pinkie’s name, she wrote:
Dating means having a good time and enjoying yourself.
She then looked up the directions to Rarity’s house on her phone, and began biking.
