As one would expect of a lunch break, pretty much every student in Canterlot High was present, chatting amongst their friends and various groups, creating a veritable buzz of noise all throughout the place. Many of the schools more notable students could be seen about doing their things. Bulk was out doing his usual flexing stuff, much to the chagrin of his friends. Adagio and her sisters were laughing about some joke one of them had told. Lyra and Bonbon were discussing some upcoming outing of theirs, each with a friendly smile upon their faces. All-in-all, things were very pleasant today, and there was nowhere one looked where that didn't seem like a nice place to be. So it was too with the school's local heroines, collectively known as the Rainbooms, who were currently at their usual table, and, like everybody else, talking amongst themselves, especially Rainbow Dash.
"I tell ya, you wouldn't believe how much milkshake spurted out of Lemon's nose after Fluttershy told her joke!"
A blush crept onto the face of the girl in question, and, after nervously poking her fingers together, she started to speak up in that quiet and meek manner of hers.
"Oh...um...I'm not sure it was that funny."
But Applejack, who was sitting close by, let out a hearty chuckle before slapping her hand down on Fluttershy's shoulder in a friendly way.
"Shucks, sugarcube! After that match, pretty much any joke woulda set her off. But yeah, it was pretty funny."
Again, Fluttershy blushed, even going so far as to try and cover her face with her long pink hair, which, as most would expect, caused her friends to giggle in a good-natured manner. However, while it was safe to say that this was a pleasant moment between the girls, it was, sadly, short-lived. For it was mere moments later that Sunset, who had been staying silent throughout most of this, looked up from her lunch and noticed somebody entering the cafeteria. It was none other than Derpy, another of her friends who, rather recently, had gone through a rather uncomfortable surprise. The effects of that were, at this point, even noticeable to those who weren't in the know, as the girl had, just under her shirt, the tiniest semblance of a bump. Now, to the eternal credit of the other students of CHS, none of them who glanced in her direction ever bore the slightest degree of mockery or disapproval over this. But, even so, the girl nevertheless looked uncomfortable.
"You think she'll be okay?"
Sunset turned, hearing the distinct sound of Pinkie's voice, and saw her with an almost-uncharacteristically concerned look upon her face. Letting out a sigh, Sunset watched as her other friends also began to look to her on this, eventually culminating in her turning to gaze upon Derpy once more.
"...I hope she will."
As for Derpy herself, she had just got herself a tray of food and was currently making her way towards a nearby table. However, as she approached it, Sunset noticed that there was another figure walking to the girl. Flash Sentry, her ex, who, upon reaching Derpy, gave her a small smile before pulling out a chair for her in a typically gentleman-like way. Derpy, for her part, seemed to appreciate this gesture, and gave the boy a smile before sitting down, leaving Flash free to go his own way. Having seen all of this, Sunset smiled in a clear display of approval.
"Well...at least one person is treating her right."
There was a general murmur of agreement amongst the girls at that, which was only interrupted when Rarity spoke up.
"Indeed. It's actually rather nice to know that dear Flash has maintained his ways...even after so much has happened."
At that, many of the other girls started to look quite down, but Sunset, by contrast, looked to them with a degree of confusion.
"I know he's probably still upset about...you know...not being with Twilight anymore, but...well...look at him. He seems to be doing pretty well right now."
To emphasise her point, Sunset turned, gesturing to the boy in question, who, at this point, had found himself a table of his own, and was wolfing down his lunch. Looking back to her friends, however, Sunset noted that each of them were gazing at her in a somewhat serious manner, after which they glanced at one another. It was as if they had some big secret that they had not elected to share with her, but, after almost a full minute of silence between them, it was Rarity who finally decided to speak to the former unicorn.
"Sunset, darling...I know he may appear to be as composed as ever, but...you have to understand, Flash isn't the kind of boy who really lets others know if he's upset."
Sunset raised an eyebrow at that, which prompted Applejack to speak up.
"It's true, sugarcube. Ah know ya probably had other things on yer mind at the time, but back then...when the two of ya broke up...he weren't doin too good. He'd be quieter than normal, he'd play his guitar with less fire. All the signs were there."
For a moment, Sunset let those words sink in, considering well what her friends had just said to her.
"Well...I know he always tries to make others feel like there's nothing wrong, but...but was he really that upset when we split up?"
A round of nods followed that, after which, Pinkie spoke up.
"Yep! And it's the same now that Twilight's done it too. Sure, he'll smile...but it's not a real smile. And believe me...I know."
To that, Sunset had little argument, and so found herself looking over her shoulder. Once more, she was gazing to Flash, and here, she saw one of his friends, Sandalwood, walk past him, offering a smile and a wave, which prompted Flash to return it. It was only for a moment, but in that instant, Sunset saw what Pinkie had meant. That smile was a forced one, and the moment she realised that, she let out a long sigh.
"I...I guess I figured he could be fine on his own, but...maybe he just, I don't know...needs somebody to talk to."
Concern and hesitancy were now the order of the day on her friends' faces, showing that they weren't quite sure if that was the correct path to take. However, after a few silent glances to each other, they seemed to at least be willing to let Sunset try, if nothing else. Giving them an appreciative smile, the former unicorn got up from her chair, making her way over to where Flash was sitting. The boy, for the most part, didn't notice she was approaching, that is, until she was just a few feet away, lifting her hand to her mouth and deliberately clearing her throat. Turning, Flash saw her, and immediately put on that same smile.
"Hey there, Sunset. How are you?"
Sunset smiled, and soon gestured to a chair just opposite of where he was sitting.
"May I join you?"
Flash looked over to the other chair and, just for a moment, seemed hesitant to give her permission. But, in the end, he did, smiling to her and nodding. With consent granted, Sunset took her place on the other side of the table from him. Now, as one would expect, Sunset already had a slew of things in her mind that she planned on saying to him once she was here. But, now that she was here, all of those cleverly-thought things were suddenly not there anymore, leading to a long and uncomfortable silence between the two youths. After simply staring at her and waiting for something to happen, Flash finally just up and broke the silence himself.
"So...is everything okay?"
To this, Sunset looked to him before cracking a smile and chuckling slightly.
"You know...I was actually going to ask you that."
It took a while, but, in the end, Flash began to gain a look of realisation. He now knew full well why Sunset was here, and what she wanted to talk to him about. There was a flash of discomfort in his eyes for just a moment, but, as ever, he covered it up with that same smile of his.
"If this is about Twilight, you needn't worry. I know why she did it and...and I've accepted it. She had good reasons to do what she did and I respect her decision."
Sunset looked to him, never saying a word, which prompted Flash to let out a nervous chuckle of his own before carrying on.
"Really. I mean, obviously I would have wanted us to stay together, but...but I realise now that it's exactly what Twilight said. It couldn't last. And...I've come to terms with that."
Here, Sunset narrowed her eyes.
"Flash...I didn't come here to see if you understood or accepted this. I know you would. You're not the kind of guy to want to push something if someone else wants to end it."
Leaning forward Sunset reached out, gently placing her hand upon his.
"I came...to see if you were okay."
Silence fell between them, and while the rest of the cafeteria was still abuzz with activity, for them, the only sounds that could really be heard was that of their own breathing. In their minds, all there was right now was the two of them and this one conversation. Flash looked to her, at the seriousness in her eyes, and, after a long while of just waiting, let out a long sigh, slumping his shoulders before speaking up.
"You're...you're not gonna leave until this is sorted out, are you?"
She shook her head, prompting Flash to continue.
"And you'd probably know if I wasn't telling the truth, right?"
Another nod from Sunset. Flash, for a time, looked away from her, as if her gaze was some terribly uncomfortable thing to him. But, after a moment, he looked back to her. The smile was gone from him now, and what Sunset saw upon him was an honest face. So too was his tone, as he spoke slowly.
"I...of course I'm not okay. Twilight, she...she was...special. I know we weren't together long. I know it's a high school romance, and those rarely ever last long. I know she and I come from two different worlds. I know all of those things."
Slowly, sadness filled his eyes.
"But if you were to ask me, right here and now, if I wanted her back in my life, to know that we could have actually made...made us work...I would say yes."
To that, Sunset's own expression softened.
"I know there's nothing I can say that'll make you feel better, Flash, but...I'm sure that, eventually, you'll be able to move on from this."
Flash nodded.
"I know I will, Sunset."
Gradually, he looked her right in the eye.
"I mean...I moved on the last time, right?"
It took a few moments, but eventually, she understood, and in that moment, she took her hand off his, leaning back into her chair before starting to look rather uncomfortable herself.
"Did it really bother you that much? You and me breaking up?"
Flash nodded yet again.
"It did. I'll be the first to admit that what we had wasn't the happiest relationship. Far from it in fact..."
For a moment, Sunset looked away with a guilty expression on her face, only to look back as Flash continued.
"...but...in the days after we split up...I still wanted us to get back together."
To that, Sunset looked to him with incredulity.
"Really? But I was a terrible girlfriend."
Hearing that, Flash, for the first time in all of this, let out a hearty laugh.
"So you said before. And I'd be lying if I said you were the easiest girl to get along with. But...even so..."
He didn't finish that, but then, for whatever reason, he didn't need to. Sunset sat there, simply astounded by this new knowledge, and looked as if she was struggling to take it all in. To think that, even after everything she had put him through back in the day, the difficult attitude she'd given him, that he still might have pined for her in some way, it was not something she'd been expecting to say the least. As one would expect, the conversation had taken an awkward turn, and both teens now simply took to staring at one another for a time. But, as the minutes rolled on, they began to notice that a lot of their fellow students were starting to make their way away from the cafeteria and back to their glasses. Taking this as a sign from the universe, Sunset let out a sigh at this point.
"Flash...I...thank you, for trusting me enough to want to tell me that."
To that, Flash gave a smile and a nod.
"And thank you for trying to come and cheer me up. I...I appreciate that."
Sunset returned the smile, and so started getting out of her chair. But, before she began to make her way over to her friends again, she paused, looking over her shoulder to her ex.
"Are...are you sure you're going to be okay?"
Chuckling slightly, Flash once more gave her his honest answer.
"Not yet...but I will be."
To this, Sunset finally turned away from him, making her way back to her friends' table. As she did this, Flash got up from his own chair, having finished his meal, and now set about heading over to whatever class he had next. Making sure that she was out of earshot from the boy, Sunset eventually reached her friends, who all looked to her expectantly.
"Well?" Rainbow asked.
Letting out a sigh, Sunset folded her arms before answering.
"I think, for the moment...things are as good with him as they're going to be."
