Same as Her, Please

Chapters

1.) Caramel
2.) Every Little Moment
3.) A Walk in the Park
4.) Binary Sunset
5.) Friendly Advice
6.) Meet The Flares

1.) Caramel

Sunset sipped at her coffee, lightly humming along to the beat in her ears. As she placed the cup back on the saucer, her breath was now deliciously pungent with its bitter taste.

Americano with two sugars, the way she always had it.

She never used to enjoy coffee, but it often worked to get the job done and years of that mindset caused it to become a required part of her day. After another day at CHS, she and her friends had ventured straight to the mall to help Rarity with one of her seasoned shopping trips. But now that day had drawn to a close, the sun had set and her friends all split off in their own directions home. Normally she'd be tucked up in her snuggle uniform on the sofa by now but with her bus schedule being each one an hour, that left her with twenty minutes until she could even begin her journey back. This was often a café she visited, but it was her first time doing so this late into the afternoon.

“Excuse me,” she asked politely, grabbing the attention of a young waitress, “could I have one of those muffins please?”

The blonde-haired waitress smiled and nodded.

“Sure thing. Two bucks please.”

They did their exchange and soon a glazed caramel muffin sat on a plate in front of her. She liked it here; it was a good middle ground between price and quality. It couldn't be considered super-expensive, but in tangent, the food and drink quality suffered. Not that it was terrible, it just… wasn’t the best, either. It was her go-to place to recharge without making a huge dent in her wallet.

Taking a delicate bite of her muffin, careful not to smear her face with the glazed caramel, she glanced down at her phone screen.

5:46 p.m.

The sign on the door marked the closing time as 6 p.m - convenient for her - less convenient for the store owner, who would have to wait for her to leave before she could lock up. Sunset knew this but found her excuse in the reasoning that any annoyance felt by the store manager's wouldn’t be nearly as bad on them as the cold weather would have been on her. And it wasn't as though the café was empty apart from her with, and a lone girl sat a few seats down.

And then Sunset frowned.

Slowly, her eyes drifted back down to the girl she had spied a second ago.

“Is… that?” she thought to herself.

Deciding to risk it, Sunset angled her head to the side enough to get a full view of her without being obvious.

Two seats down sat a pale girl in a purple Crystal Prep uniform. A number of bright accessories kitted out her uniform, including a Daring Do pin, a rainbow flag and a sun-shaped piece clipped into a head of short purple hair. Sunset immediately recognized her as one of the girls she'd competed against in the Friendship Games - but for the life of her couldn’t remember her name.

She opened her mouth to catch the her attention, but closed it again, suddenly unsure. Where did she even stand with her? After what happened at the Friendship Games, were Canterlot and Crystal Prep friends now? Them teamed up at the end to nip things on Principal Cinch, but the two schools hadn’t made any attempts to resolve previous conflicts… Not that any of those conflicts actually affected Sunset. But what if they affected this girl? It didn’t matter if she didn’t have any negative feelings towards her; what if she wasn’t on good terms with Sunset?

“I can see you staring."

Sunset's eyes widened in alarm and her lips smashed together, trying to form a response.

“I, er… wasn’t sure if I recognized you or not. Sorry,” she tried to hide her face in her hair

“It’s okay,” the girl looked in her direction, “I wasn’t sure if it was you or not either.”

She looked back up to see the girl smiling at her and released a breath of tension. She returned the smile.

“I’m Sunset; Sunset Shimmer. I don’t think we’ve met properly.”

The girl smiled and nodded upwards.

“I’m Sunny Flare. Nice to meet you, Sunset.”

Sunset pulled out her music pods and twisted her upper half in Sunny Flare’s direction.

“You were one of Twilight’s friends from Crystal Prep, right? One of the Shadowbolts?” she asked for politeness, already knowing full well who the girl was.

Sunny Flare nodded with a definite grimace.

“Yeah I am… sorry about that, by the way. The whole evil she-demon thing.”

Sunset scoffed lightly and dismissed her apology.

“Happens all the time."

Sunny Flare scoffed herself.

“You must live a more exciting life than me then."

“You’d be surprised, actually,” Sunset beamed harder.

Just then the waitress returned from the back and made her way over to Sunny’s seat. She placed down a coffee and a muffin on separate saucers in front of Sunny, greeted her with a smile and then made off with the payment.

“Glazed caramel muffin, nice choice,” Sunset nodded proudly.

Sunny shrugged again, shaking her head.

“I always come in here at this time to wait for my parents to pick me up. First time I've seen you here, though,” Sunny began to unfold the wrapping off her muffin.

“Same,” Sunset nodded. “But usually like an hour earlier. Guess we must have just kept missing each other."

"Guess we have."

The Shadowbolt inhaled some of her drink, chugging it back like a champ. Sunset took the break in conversation to do the same.

"So..." she breathed, "what brings you to Canterlot?”

“I don't live too far from here. I get the bus in and out of the city for school. My dad drives me to the stop, so I have an hour to wait before he can get me tonight.”

Sunset nodded, “Why don’t you just walk home?”

Sunny frowned and gestured out the window.

“Would you walk home in this weather?”

Point taken.

“Besides,” Sunny Flare took another sip of her coffee. “Prices are good here. Food’s not great… good balance I suppose.”

Sunset’s lip turned into a thin smile. As she began to respond, she was cut off by an angry voice from the back.

“I heard that!” the waitress snapped in their direction.

Sunset's eyes widened in shock, while Sunny struggled to repress a guilty laughter. Sunset lifted her muffin back up to her chin and took a second bite. Sunny followed suited and they placed their confectionary back on the surface in rhythm.

“So, how’s Twilight doing?” Sunny asked.

“She’s been good. She’s really come out of her shell recently.”

Sunny Flare nodded slowly.

“Yeah, she was always quite quiet at Crystal Prep. Kept to herself usually. She ate lunch with us occasionally… But I kinda got the impression she didn’t like us all that much.”

Sunset nodded with a definite sympathy, “She’s just shy, don’t take it personally. She doesn’t really like anyone that much.”

“Does she, er…” she tried looking for the right words, “… talk about us, at all? About Crystal Prep?”

“Ermm…”

Sunset racked her memory for a time when Twilight had talked to them about the goings on of Crystal Prep, but none came to mind. Nothing at all, in fact. It seemed like as soon as Twilight had started she’d completely forgotten about any time she’d spent at the other school.

“Yeaaah, all the time,” Sunset tried. “She misses you guys.”

Sunny Flare looked knowingly down into her coffee, deflating a little.

“What’s wrong?”

She sighed.

“You’re lying.”

Sunset was taken aback. She thought she was a better actor than that. As she opened her mouth to retort, Sunny Flare cut her off.

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it. Didn’t really expect her to, we did give her a pretty rough time,” she gave a small chuckle at the memories.

Sunset cocked an eyebrow.

“What kind of rough time?”

She nodded.

“Well aside from, y’know, forcing her to become a magical she-demon so we could beat a high school in a friendly competition thing..." she gave a lifeless smile, "there was an odd prank here, the old gossip there… the usual stuff.”

Sunset couldn't help but have a empty laugh at Sunny’s wording.

She did find it odd, though, thinking about it. Twilight never had mentioned any sort of friendship's with the girls of her school. But from the way they’d treated her in the Friendship Games, Sunset assumed they barely knew each other as anything more than classmates. She made a mental note to tell Twilight one of them was asking about her.

“I’m sure she does miss you guys, just in her own way... ” Sunset offered in a reassuring tone.

Sunny played with the handle on her cup, and looked to be genuinely mulling over her words.

“As long as she’s happy, I guess,” she shrugged.

Sunset felt bad, noticing the obvious deflation in her mood.

“Why don’t you try texting her? Seeing how she is?” Sunset put a chipper note in her voice.

“Don’t have her number,” she said plainly, eyes still focused on her drink.

“I could give it you?” Sunset offered.

Sunny gave a small and appreciative smile in recognition of Sunset's enthusiasm, but didn't look up from her drink.

“I could give you mine, too!” Sunset took out her phone, “I mean, if you want.”

This brought Sunny Flare out from her own head, as she looked Sunset up and down with an air of curiosity, followed by a smile of pleasant surprise.

“Sure, what’ is it?”

Sunny Flare brought out her own cell phone, unlocked it and pushed it down the bar toward Sunset. As she took the phone into her hands, she slowed down.

"Oh, I love your phone case! Mine's just like it!"

Placing her own next to it, indeed, the cell phone's were almost identical. The same model and even had the same stylized cartoon sun on the back, only ever wavering in colour.

“What are the odds?” Sunny Flare laughed.

Sunset quickly added her number and sent a text to herself to insure she'd typed correctly. Once the text was sent and received, she handed the phone back to Sunny Flare, and thought not a moment longer about the unusual coincidence.

“What would I say to her, though?”

Sunset gave well-meaning, but admittedly rather useless shrug, “Whatever you like! What did you guys usually talk about?”

Sunny screwed up her face like she's just smelt something foul.

“Ermm… school work, usually.”

A wave dismissed her answer.

“What else did you guys talk about?”

She thought for a moment longer before shrugging.

“You guys… didn’t talk about anything else, just school work?” Sunset asked slowly, unsure if there was a punchline coming or not.

Sunny Flare nodded.

“I mean, what else… What do you guys talk about?” she asked.

As Sunset opened her mouth to answer with an incredulous tone, a small bell rang throughout the shop, alerting its occupants that a third party had joined the room.

Sunny Flare’s head looked in the direction and her eyes lit up. She quickly hopped off her seat, chugged what remained of her coffee like a lukewarm shot and took her muffin with in.

“Dads here! Gotta shoot, thanks for your number! We should do this again!” she offered Sunset a smile.

“Oh! Er, yeah, you too, Sunny Flare,” Sunset tried to rush her goodbye.

“Let’s get you home, pumpkin.”

Sunset’s world thundered to a sudden and very abrupt halt.

That voice was familiar to her, though she hadn’t heard it in a long time. A very long time. Not since Equestria… and even then, the voice was a million miles away. That wasn't a voice she recognised from Celestia’s Palace, or even from the School for Gifted Unicorns. It was from before them both.

It was the voice of home.

"No.."

As a whitewash of anxiety and disbelief crashed over Sunset, she somehow found it within herself to push against the counter and turn her neck around.

It was him.

He was human and a lot had changed - now he stood upright, his mane was shorter and he lacked his orange horn. He wore a burgundy suit with a brown tie, his hair was slicked back and his style of glasses were different to what she was used to - but it was all still definitely him.

Sunset’s voice was barely a whisper.

“Dad?”

The man in the doorway didn’t hear her. Or seem to notice her at all, in fact. Instead his attention was focused solely on the only other girl in the room right now. Sunny Flare greeted her father with a warm hug and then turned back. She offered Sunset a brief wave, one which she was too dazed to return.

With that, the two left and the bell rang obnoxiously loud behind them. Sunset’s eyes continued to followed them through the store window until they disappeared entirely out of view.

Frozen in place, she sat for what felt like hours, staring blankly at the area her father had just been.

“Let’s get you home, pumpkin.”

“My dad’s here, gotta shoot.”

“Let’s get you home, pumpkin.”

“Dad’s here, gotta shoot.”

“Dad’s here.”

“Dad.”

She replayed it over and over again, hoping each time something would suddenly click and make sense.

It did not.

That was her dad, it was unmistakably her dad, but also… Sunny Flare’s dad? There was no way he could look that similar to her Equestrian father and just be a coincidence, could it? Did he have a second daughter in this world? Or did he have a twin? Was Sunny Flare her inter-dimensional cousin?

A door creak signalled the waitress re-entering the room. She stopped short of Sunset.

“Right, kick-out time. Do you want a take away cup... woah, you look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”

2.) Every Little Moment

The classroom was alive with activity, students wrapped in white lab coats busying themselves with test tubes and bunsen burners, weaving in and out of the tables as they enjoyed their conversations. Tucked away in the corner of the class were Canterlot High School’s upper-most students, Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle. As their classmates joked and played, these two remained attentive and focused.

Or at least, one of them was.

While Sunset’s hands re-enacted the well-rehearsed science experiment, her mind couldn’t have been further away.

“Dad's here.”

Since their chance encounter last night, that scene had been on repeat in her mind, staying with her as she was in the shower, being the last thing to cross her mind before bed and the first thing to greet her when she woke up.

It was such an alien experience. She had face sirens and she-demons, yet none that had left her as clueless as she was now. It had looked too much like him not to have been him. It was her father. Or her father’s human counterpart, at least.

Upon arriving in this world it hadn’t taken her long to deduce everyone was a mirror image of the ponies in her world and one of the first moves she took was attempting to seek out her human self and enlist her help, but every search had come up short. It appeared that though the two dimensions were similar, there was a subtle number of differences that stopped them from being an exact translation. And a human Sunset Shimmer was one of these deviants.

But now she'd discovered her dad did have a counterpart, apparently. What about the rest of her family? Could she have been expecting to meet human versions of her mother and Sunburst? That was the logical explanation - and that in this world, for whatever reason, there were three sunsiblings instead of two. But if that was the case, wouldn't Sunny Flare mention that Sunset was absolutely identical to her sister?

And speaking of Sunny Flare - where the hay did she fit into all of this!?

None of this made any sense. And she hated when that happened.

She could build a case on based on the evidence she had, but she'd need more information before she'd feel comfortable deducing any sort of theory.

But what could she do? She had Sunny Flare's number, but could hardly pop up and strike a casual conversation about her father. She’d have to worm answers out of her if she wanted them.

“Twiliiiiiighht?”

Twilight had become so engrossed in her work, Sunset’s sudden voice caused her to flinch.

“Erm, yes?” she gave a shy smile.

How did she even approach this?

Come straight out with it... ?

Strike up conversation and try to steer it from there... ?

“Errr….” she spluttered, ”soo… How you doing?”

Twilight squinted at her for a second, then pointed at the lab equipment.

“I’m reversing the density of the hydrogen–”

“I mean how are you feeling, Twilight?”

“Ohhh,” she returned to her work, talking while she fiddled with instruments, “I’m okay. Why?”

“Just askin',” she smiled sweetly.

Catching the smile from the corner of her eye, Twilight looked up.

“How… are… you?” she asked cautiously.

“Oh, I’m good… Just thinkin’ about stuff.”

Twilight blinked again, as if waiting for a cue card to tell her how to proceed.

“What… stuff?” she finally settled on.

“Well, actually, since you mention it,” Sunset placed her lab equipment down, “I was thinking about your old friend, Sunny Flare?”

She noticed how Twilight deflated at the mere mention of her name.

“What about her?”

Sunset shrugged.

“Seen anything of her recently?”

“No, why?”

“You never mention her,” she thought for a second. “Or any of the Shadowbolts, actually. I thought since you spent three years with them they’d have made a bigger impact.”

Twilight shrugged awkwardly, avoiding eye contact.

“I didn’t really like them that much… I mean, they were my friends, still are, I suppose… but…”

She frowned.

“They were your friends, but you didn’t really like them that much?” she scoffed. “Twilight, that makes no sense.”

The girl shrugged and gave a sad smile. “I just mean, like, in comparison! They were the only friends I had... we tolerated each other, but I enjoy hanging around with you girls way more.”

Sunset gave a slight chuckle at her choice of words.

“Tolerating someone doesn’t mean you’re friends, Twi.”

Her words came out harsher than she’d intended, but it was too late. She noticed Twilight’s face drop, but as she opened her mouth to correct her mistake she was beaten to it.

“Why’re you asking, anyway?”

Oh yeah, there was a point behind all this uncomfortableness.

“I bumped into her last night! She seemed nice, but… it made me realize that you never really talk about them, that’s all. We never got introduced when they visited… or got their names, for that matter.”

“Well…” Twilight thought for a moment, before holding out her hand and ticking off each of her fingers. “There’s Sugarcoat, the one with the big hair. She says some mean stuff sometimes but doesn't intend it in a insulting way. She just can't read tone of voice."

She lowered a finger.

“Then Indigo Zap, the short-haired one. She’s… fun…” Twilight said, not sounding convinced, “…to be around, I mean. Not really my cup of tea because, well... she can be quite loud.”

“Yea, I kinda picked up on that,” Sunset nodded.

“Lemon Zest is a music student. She normally keeps to herself, but sometimes we’d eat dinner together... in silence… but it was more pleasant than it sounded! We could be ourselves without feeling the need to socialize.”

“That’s nice… I suppose.”

Twilight lowered another finger.

“Sour Sweet, everyone is friends her… we kinda didn’t have a choice - Principal Cinch made us so she wouldn’t feel left out, cause… well, y’know...”

Then she gasped.

“Oh, that was a horrible thing to say, wasn’t it?”

Sunset gave a gentle laugh and placed her hand on Twilight’s shoulder.

“Lil’ bit,” she nodded. “And Sunny Flare?”

“She was in charge. She didn’t like it when she was left out of things and when she was, she got quite mean. But she also kept the bullies away, which was nice," then Twilight laughed, "All in all, you’re a better leader than her.”

Sunset could have sworn she heard a record scratch on those words.

She frowned.

“I’m not the leader.”

Twilight’s eyes skirted round the floor.

“O-okay.”

“Am I the leader?” she seemed to be asking herself this more than Twilight.

“N-No. I mean… do you want to be?”

“I’m not the leader,” she shook her head. “I’m just… very friendly. Yeah. I’m approachable.”

Twilight nodded in agreement.

“Okie-dokie.”

With that, the two slowly returned to their work. Or Twilight did, anyway. Sunset’s mind returned back to it's realms of theories and analysis.

What Twilight said about Sunny did line up with the way she acted last night. She seemed quite defensive, and she mentioned they'd give Twilight a hard time sometimes. Which showed that she knew some of the teasing was wrong, at least. And if she was aware of that ,then the leap could be taken to assume the fact she asked about Twilight at all last night meant she actually cared about her, deep down.

But Twilight didn’t seem to particularly miss Sunny (or any of the Shadowbolts for that matter), which intrigued her to know how she’d react if Sunny Flare did indeed drop her a text message. Because if one thing had made itself clear from this past few months, it was that Twilight really didn’t hadn't had true exposure to friendship before coming to Canterlot. The way she talked about the Shadowbolts made them sound more like nuisances than friends.

But none of this was helping her get any closer to any answers.

“Odd question…” Sunset carried on with her work, not looking up. “Does Sunny Flare have any siblings?”

“A younger brother, I think. Why?”

Interesting.

That throws at least four of her theories out of the window, but opens up several more. Dang it, she needed more.

“No reason… Heeeyyy,” Sunset suddenly twirled back around, smiling, “I think we should have an all-girl get-together sometime!”

Twilight cocked her head, intrigued.

“What’d you mean?”

“The Shadowbolts and Wondercolts! You never know? Now we don’t have that silly competition between us we might end up liking each other’s company.”

Twilight didn’t seem entirely comfortable with that prospect. Nor could she blame her. She'd only just gotten accustomed to the six of them. The girl pulled a painfully see-through smile and swapped her attention to the wall behind them.

“That sounds… fun.”

Sunset felt bad.

But Sunset needed answers.

And when Sunset needs answers, she gets them.

“Awesome!” she smiled brightly. “I'll send you a text and we’ll arrange something!"

With a plan now in mind, the rest of their Friday passed by Sunset like a blur. Soon the school day came to a close and the Rainbooms were spread out across in the band practice room, hot in debate.

“Darling, I know your intentions are solid but I just can’t shake the feeling that it’s an awful idea, begging for trouble!”

“It’ll be fine, Rarity.”

“Naaah, Sunset, I gotta agree, it’s pretty lame.”

“Oh leave it, Rainbow!”

“... b-but won’t they have something against us because of the Friendship Games?”

“Fluttershy, they’re more mature than that! The only one in the wrong that night was Principal Cinch and we all know it!”

“Ah’ dunno, I reck-”

“Look, if everyone has such a problem with this then we don’t have to go! I’m not forcing you into this!” Sunset snapped.

The group all inched back from her.

“All I’m saying is,” Rainbow perked up again, “we didn’t give the Dazzlings a second chance.”

After careful consideration, Sunset had neglected against informing them all of the real reason why she wanted them to meet with the Shadowbolts, or with Sunny Flare specifically. A watched boil never kettles, as the humans often said. She needed everybody acting completely natural in the environment if she wanted accurate data.

“That’s because they were evil, Rainbow. These were Twilight’s friends! Twilight, they weren’t evil were they?”

Twilight gave a small wince and shook her hand, indicating the answer wasn’t going to be in her favour.

“Ehhh,” Sunset waved her off. “The point is - this will be good for everyone! Don't you think it's a bit weird that none of us have friends outside of this specific group?"

The group broke out into a chorus of retorts immediately.

Rainbows face scrunched into something ugly in front of her.

"We do too have other friends!"

"Oh yeah? Like who?"

"Majorette!"

"Who the f... Who in Celestia's name is Majorette?"

Rainbow scoffed.

"She leads the marching band, duh!? I've been friends with her for years! We did a whole choreographed musical number together at the rally?! The one with the two buns in? You must know her!?"

"Ohhh.... her."

"Yes, her - wait, why are you saying it like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like her her."

"That's now how I said it."

"That's exactly how you said it!"

"Well, I wasn't expecting it okay? We thought you guys were dating and frankly RD, we were starting to feel a little offended you hadn't introduced us to her yet..."

"BAHAHAHA! What!? Me and Majorette!? Why would anybody think that?"

Before Sunset even chance to answer, Rarity took over from the side.

"Rainbow, darling... you were kind of all over each other during that performance."

"We so were not! And I told you guys, I don't even like girls that way!"

BA-DUM-TISS

"PINKIE!"

"Sorry!"

Sunset rounded her arms round to close in the groups attention, drawing the conversation to a close. Rainbows face clearly disagreed with her, but reluctantly the girl fell silent.

“Twilight and I have already arranged something," she gestured to the purple beside her. "Whitetail Wood, this Sunday. I realize it's last minute but I didn’t say how many people were coming, so not all of you need to be there. But I'd appreciate if as many of you could make it as you can. It’s only fair we offer them the same second chance you guys offered me, right?”

Rainbow scoffed.

“You were different! We totally don’t owe them anything, you can count me out.”

“Rainbow Dash,” Sunset growled at her

“What?!”

“Fine, whatever. So Rainbow’s out. Anyone else coming?”

Applejack stepped forward.

“Ah’m sorry, sugarcube, but the only thing we know about these fellas is how awful they were to Twilight, they really ain’t give us no reason to give ‘em a chance. Am sorry but ah just see it bein' more trouble than it's worth."

“I think, as well,” Fluttershy spoke up for the first time, “ ... with something like this, peoples’ nerves can get to them. Meeting a full group we don’t know is awfully different from taking one girl in like we did with you. They have friends that they're happy with already, you were completely alone."

Sunset sighed.

“So that’s a no from both of you?”

Applejack nodded firmly while Fluttershy sank away from her disappointed gaze.

“Sunset, darling,” Rarity interjected quickly. “I have to agree… or, ahem, while I don’t agree that the girls don’t deserve a second chance, I definitely think some caution should be exercised. You demonstrated a wanting to change but, everything we know about these girls, just… well… indicates they aren’t very nice people. We can't go accepting in every mean person we meet on the street.”

Sunset scoffed.

“What's making you guys so against this?”

“Why are you so adamant about it!?” Rainbow Dash shot back.

“Because this is what we do! We’re all about friendship and magic!”

“Our friendship!” Rainbow gestured to the group. “We don’t give a damn about anyone else!”

“Rainbow Dash!” Rarity turned to her.

“What?” Rainbow sneered.

“Not wanting to meet up with a group of bullies is one thing, but I’d hardly say our friendship is exclusive to our group!" Rarity stressed. "We’re friendly girls, all of us are, but it’s not like we isolate ourselves from others.”

“Well it’s certainly what you guys are doing right now,” Sunset said bluntly.

Applejack rolled her eyes.

“Pinkie Pie, you haven’t said anything?”

Pinkie Pie, who up until this point had sat in silence watching her friends exchange points, perked up.

“Well…” She winced. “Like AJ said, if it was anyone else you then guys know I would be positively absolutely be a hundred and ten percent up for making new friends! But these guys have been kinda mean to us… I just don’t think we should do anything they wouldn’t be willing to do for us is all. And if they were sorry for the way they were towards us, you’d have thought they would have apologized by now…”

Sunset shook her head with a sigh.

“You guys are meant to be the Elements of Harmony.”

“Our ponyselves were the Elements,” Rainbow stated. “If we had some royal legal requirement to make the world a better place than sure, but we don’t, we’re just teenagers. I really don’t see why any of us should go out of our way for some girls who clearly don’t give a damn about us.”

Rarity jumped in before Sunset could respond.

“Okay, that's enough. Whether or not we’re the Elements of Harmony, we are friends and this isn’t something we should let escalate into an argument.”

With that, the group consciously relaxed their shoulders and fell silent. Rarity turned to Sunset.

“You’re still going with or without us, I presume?”

She nodded.

“Then I think we have a opportunity to come to a compromise. One thing I'm sure we can agree on is if they come to us and showed a willingness to make up for how awful they were to us, we’d be a lot more open to the idea of meeting up with them, yes?”

“I guess.”

“Yes.”

“Aye.”

“Yep.”

“Okay then! So if Sunset meets up with these girls and they aren’t as bad as we think they are, then I think as good people and, as Sunset said, people with a reputation for being all about friendship, we should give them a chance. If they want the help we should give it to them. We just... don’t know right now if they want the help.”

Sunset nodded, feeling a definite sense of relief wash over her. Rarity always knew what to say in larger group discussions. In a different world, she'd have made a wonderful politician or lawyer.

“Thank you, Rares.”

Rarity turned to her.

“You have our blessing, but you be careful with them, Sunset Shimmer! The second they say anything remotely questionable to you, you let one of us know and we’ll be there pronto.”

“To give them a good butt-kickin!’ ” Rainbow exclaimed.

“Yes, erm, that,” Rarity smiled.

3.) A Walk in the Park

Come the weekend, Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle found themselves in a gazebo in Whitetail Woods, which was conveniently halfway between Crystal Prep and Canterlot High, making it a fair neutral zone. The plan had been to meet here and then head onto further activities, but a sudden heavy rain looked like that might not be an option.

Thunder struck in the distance, causing the two girls to shift in closer together.

“Well, this is off to a great start,” Sunset said begrudgingly.

Twilight sighed heavily.

“Do you think we should call them and cancel? They were already supposed to be here by now...”

She shook her head, “No it’s fine, they shouldn’t be too far away. We can always all go somewhere drier when they get here.”

“If they get here.”

“You really think they might not show?”

“I don’t know… you spoke to Sunny Flare, did she sound positive about it?”

“I couldn’t really tell over text,” Sunset thought a little. “Is she the kind of person to stand someone up?”

Twilight shrugged.

“Not usually… but again, I didn’t really know her that well. She's usually the one making plans.”

It was okay. This could still work. She would make it still work.

It wasn't ideal, she was well aware. The reason she wanted them in a large group was so she and Sunny Flare could spend some alone time together in a comfortable environment for them both. It now wouldn't be as easy with all the Shadowbolts attention on her.

Mentally, Sunset had prepared a checklist of the information she wanted about Sunny's family background and made special care to ensure it wasn't anything that wouldn't come up in conversation. She'd decided to take the quantity approach over quality; she'd try and discover as much generic info for her investigation as she could, rather than focusing all of her attention on one aspect of it. That way she could cover a large amount of ground without… ahem… scaring her away.

But this was all of course, relying on the hope she actually turned up.

“Sunset Shimmer?” A third voice entered the gazebo.

Almost magically on cue, Sunset and Twilight turned to see Sunny stood in the doorway, with a handful of the Crystal Prep girls stood behind her.

“Sunny Flare!” Sunset said a little too eagerly.

Sunny dropped her umbrella, smiled and stepped inside.

“Hey...” she noticed the number of the girls, “... oh, we er, kinda expected more of you guys.”

“They didn’t want -”

“They didn’t feel like coming after such a long week!” Sunset interrupted Twilight. “In school, I mean.”

As Sunny Flare moved inside, the other girls made their way in also. Unless Sunset’s memory failed her, not all of the group they competed against at the games was here, but taking a scan over them, the ones who had arrived definitely seemed familiar to her.

“Sunset, this is Sugarcoat and Lemon Zest, you’ve all met before,” Sunny gestured a hand to each of her friends.

Sunset smiled at the girls and offered a friendly wave, “Hey! I’m sorry we didn’t get chance to properly hang out during the Friendship Games.”

“Where’s Indigo?” Twilight asked.

“She didn’t want to come,” the one who was obviously Sugarcoat said quite blankly.

“Ah.”

It was not lost on Sunset that Twilight had yet to greet her old friends with a hug, smile or any kind of traditional friendly greeting. Instead, she had remained routed to her spot and shifted around uncomfortably.

“Yanno it’s a bit suspicious that out of your seven-person friendship group only two of you could be bothered coming to meet us. Actually kind of offensive,” Sugarcoat added, cocking her hip.

Sunset went to leap to her friends defence but was beaten to it by Sunny Flare.

“Sugarcoat.”

Sugarcoat merely rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

Sunny Flare turned to the Sunset and Twilight.

“She’s only joking. It’s good to see you again Twilight. How’ve you been?”

“Yes.”

“Yes?”

“Ahh-! I mean, I’ve been well, thank you. A-and yourself?”

“I’ve been good,” Sunny smirked, seemingly amused by Twilight’s awkward behaviour. “Shame about the weather though, forecast said it was going be dry.”

“I kinda like it!” Sunset said, “Rain always was my aesthetic. But this cold isn’t great, we could try and find somewhere more warm if you guys want?”

“We can’t stay long, actually,” Sugarcoat said quick and matter-of-factly.

“Oh, I’m sorry… If you guys have other plans you don’t have to stay,” Sunset suddenly felt a heavy weight on her.

Sunny, seemingly noticing Sunset’s uncomfort at this, merely waved her friend off.

“We’re fine for staying, Sugarcoat is just shy.”

“I am not shy.”

“She just doesn’t like meeting new people.”

“I do too!”

“Then why don’t you introduce yourself properly and stop being such a baby?”

Sugarcoat gave a loud ‘hmph!’ and crossed her arms, turning away from Sunset. It didn't do anything to settle Sunset’s nerves.

She had definitely accounted for the atmosphere being awkward, but ideally, that's what she was bringing her friends over for. Having a large group of them would not only ease the tension but provide a good distraction for the other girls while she got to spend time with Sunny Flare. Thinking about it, they probably would have come along with her if she was honest about her intentions.

But, she’d come this far and wasn’t about to give up now.

“So!” she clapped her hands together, startling the girls. “What is it you guys normally do outside school?”

Quick as a beat, Sugarcoat responded.

“I play World of Horsecraft.”

Sunset nodded. “That’s cool, me and the girls have Ogres and Oubliettes nights sometimes! We could all go back to my apartment and have an improv game?”

“Why would we do that?”

“Because… it’s similar? And something to get us out of the rain?”

“World of Horsecraft is an online RPG, OnO is tabletop RPG, gameplay-wise they’re completely different.”

“Sugarcoat!” Sunny Flare snapped again.

Sugarcoat held her arms up defensively.

“Not my fault she’s trying to start a conversation about stuff she clearly doesn’t know about...”

The glare sent to her from Sunny Flare was enough to make Sugarcoat fall silent.

“I’m a Soundclop artist,” Lemon Zest said out nowhere, still not having taking off her headphones. “We could all go back to mine, listen to some tunes?”

An air of silence hung over the group for a second.

Sugarcoat sneered. “Why would anyone wanna do that?”

Sunny Flare groaned.

“At least she’s making a contribution, Sugarcoat!”

“Yeah!” Lemon Zest groaned, “So just shut up being negative!”

“Why don’t you come over here and make me?”

“Maybe I will!”

“I’m waiting.”

An fair of silence hung over the group for a second as Lemon Zest very noticeably showed no sign of moving.

Until one by one, each of the girls let out a quiet chuckle.

“You are such a jerk!” Lemon Zest laughed.

Sugarcoats face broke into a smile. “Thanks for the newsflash, Captain Obvious.”

As she watched each of the Shadowbolt girls start laughing, it occurred to Sunset that all of what she just witnessed was their groups form of banter. That, or when it had stopped being serious and had become light-hearted banter, she wasn’t entirely sure.

She let out the breath she didn’t know she had been holding.

Something gave her a sneaking suspicion that she would struggle to find out any of the things she'd set out for today.

They eventually deduced that all interests considered, the Dragon's Lair board game café was probably the best suited for their group.

It wasn't much different to any other gimmick café Pinkie Pie had dragged them too before, except that it catered to a far larger number of people that she'd assume it would. The staff were all wearing uniforms that looked like cosplays; apparently, the Whitetail had a large underground geek population. Sunset felt like she should be impressed by how well everything came together, but really couldn't muster up anything beyond being surprised. She noticed that the Shadowbolts were looking around, too. Twilight was doing so excitedly, as though she just discovered something amazing.

"Oh my gosh, this place is amazing!" Twilight said in a low voice, unable to contain herself. "I've never been here before! I don't know why we didn't come before now!"

"My fault," Sunset said, trying to think of some way to make things right. "I didn't realize this would be your kind of place."

Twilight grinned at her.

"Are you kidding me!?"

An attendant met them.

"How're we doing ladies? Group of of five, is it?"

The attendant was a guy about their age, wearing a black t-shirt with a red dragon logo on it. His eyes flicked over them each, sizing them up.

"Yeah, five." Sunset glanced at Twilight. "This'll be our first visit."

"Great! Welcome to the Dragon's Lair. If you need anything, just let us know! You guys got an idea of what you're looking to play?"

She looked around, pointing at one game after another.

"We should go for something quick and easy," Sunset suggested. "Something not too complex, or won't lead to arguing when I whoop your flanks."

"Oh my gosh, look what they have!" Twilight pointed at a board game, "It's Daring Do and the Call of Count Hulu!"

"I like that one," Sunny Flare stated. "We'll go for that."

The attendant led them to a table, where he dealt out various pieces for them to use. Each got their own character card with stats of health points, mana, and movement speed. Apparently a pawn represented the player's avatar, while two gold coins marked the start of the treasure chest.

Sunset turned her attention to Twilight, who seemed to be having trouble getting started.

"So how do we -"

"You have three cards and you can apply any of them to your pawn to see where you can move along the map. At the end of each turn, you can either pull a replacement card or do a coin flip to see if you can open a treasure chest."

As Twilight's autopilote kicked in, Sunset seized the opportunity. She'd spent enough time observing the Shadowbolts as a group, now she had chance to talk to Sunny Flare directly.

"So, Sunny Flare, what do you think of it here?" she asked with a smile.

Sunny had been watching Twilight intently as she explained the game, but now she turned her gaze to her. Her expression was calm, almost neutral.

"It seems cool... do you - "

"I have a question about the game," Sugarcoat cut her off.

"O...kay ?" Twilight asked, confused.

Sugarcoat raised her hand, and sat forward.

"What is our drive to win?"

She blinked. "Uh..."

"Why are you playing it? Do we get a reward?"

Sunset winced internally.

"Well, obviously, because it's... fun?"

"World of Horsecraft is fun. This seems like portfoilo of rules and maths."

"Uhh..." Twilight stammered.

"Hey Sugarcoat, how'd you like to get swallow my fist?"

It took a full moment for Sunny Flare's words to actually occur to Sunset and only when they did, did she choke.

"I'd like to see you try."

"I bet you would. Shut up and let her explain the rules."

Sunset could feel her face turning scarlet. She knew that Sunny Flare wasn't serious, yet there was no denying what she'd said. It was true; Sunset had never seen a friendship dynamic quite like theirs. The fact that it was so apparent to everyone else was only making it worse.

"Fine. So... um, the goal is to open treasure chests."

" - and if you open treasure chests, you get gold coins and more cards, yeah, we got that bit."

"And you might also find magic items in chests which grant bonuses to the players. And you can use gold coins to buy stuff from stores on the board..."

Sunset couldn't help but notice that Sugarcoat was becoming more and more irritated by Twilight's explanation.

"...and there are enemy characters lurking on the board, who will attack if you get too close, and if they defeat you all, you lose the game. So as long as one player stays alive, the game isn't over. That's basically it."

"Sounds good Twi," Sunny Flare replied, nodding at Twilight before turning to Sunset. "You say you've played this before?"

"Yes. But only ever online. I'm looking forward to trying it out with real people."

"Aha. That makes sense."

Sunset looked around cautiously around her surroundings. Lemon Zest had not spoken, nor seemed particularly interested in the game at all. Sunny Flare was staring at the board with what Sunset could only describe as a passive optimism. Twilight was lost in the rule book and Sugarcoat appeared to be trying to destroy the board game with her eyebrows. There was enough going on for her to try again.

"So, you... say you like the place?" she asked Sunny.

Sunny leaned back into her chair, folding her arms over her chest and tilting her head to stare at Sunset thoughtfully.

"It's alright! Not really my scene, but it's pretty chill. How about you?"

"Yeah! I like it! Pinkie Pie drags us to a lot of novelty stores like this..." Sunset glanced at her for a moment, as though considering something "... what is your usual scene, then?"

Sunny shrugged.

"Movies. Clubs and bars, I guess."

"So who want's to roll first?"

"I do," Sugarcoat said instantly.

"... Ahh. You don't look very club-like."

Sunny quirked an eyebrow at Sunset's comment, which made the other girl blush.

"I play in a band, we do a few shows occasionally here and there."

"Oh, that's badass! Us girls are a band too! What do you play?"

"Guitar and sing, but mostly just backups. I'm far from amazing, but it's fun."

Twilight turned to Sunset again, looking exasperated.

"Girls, are you listening?"

"They're not listening," Sugarcoat accused.

Sunset's brow furrowed at the girl.

"Sorry, Twi... just having a chat," she said, shrugging again.

"Right, well, do you want to do your first roll? I'll explain how the scoring works while you do."

Sunny nodded.

"Sure, I'll go first."

Today had been fun. A complete and utter failure of her mission, but… fun?

Sunset sat in her reclining gaming chair, staring at her map of theories and ideas.

She'd wanted to spend the day studying the differences and similiarities between herself and Sunny Flare, but the whole day had mostly been spent just watching the Shadowbolt girls interact. Their friendship group was, frankly, fascinating to her, so much so that it had (at least at the time) distracted her from her investigation.

They argued, quite brutally insulted each other, but then just… forgot about it? Small niggles that Sunset's group would usually spend 20-30 minutes having a friendship lesson about, their group just seemed to... skip over? At first Sunset thought she was watching a genuine argument, only for the group to then laugh about it and move on, and then immediately dive into another fake argument… Unless, they were serious arguments, and their group were just putting on a good face so they didn’t argue in front of her? Normally, if Rarity and Applejack disagreed on something, they would argue, then talk about it, and then usually settle on some kind of compromise and resume being on good terms. But these girls… just never seemed on good terms in the first place?

But... were still all friends?

She was definitely starting to see why Twilight was so confused about friendship before coming to CHS.

She huffed. She needed to stay determined, and focus on the investigation at hand.

Private conversations with Sunny Flare had been scarce, but enough for her to piece together a rough outline of a theory. It was string-thin at this moment and considering how wild a proposal it was, she'd need more evidence before properly believing it herself, never mind proposing it to her friends. She doubted if they met again under the same circumstances much would be different, if she wanted the information she needed out of Sunny, it would have to be in private.

Taking out her mobile, she opened her text messages.

After glancing over the conversation that'd arranged today's meetup, Sunset began to type a fresh entry.

SUNSET: Hey, you up?

After a few seconds of staring at the open message, she saw Sunny Flare begin typing.

SUNNY: I am!

As Sunset typed her next message, a second one came through instantly.

SUNNY: Was good seeing you guys today!

Sunset smiled. Why were her friends so turned off against meeting up with these girls again?

SUNSET: Awh, you guys too! Sorry we didn’t really do much

SUNNY: Don’t worry silly! We all had fun! Sorry if everyone came on a bit strong, they’re like that haha xD

SUNSET: It’s ok! I get it, we did have fun! We should do it again sometime!

SUNNY: I’m up for that :)

SUNSET: Are you doing anything next weekend?

SUNNY: Was just going to study, wbu?

SUNSET: I don’t have plans, do you want to do something, just me and you?

Sunset pressed send but then winced at her choice of wording, hoping it wouldn’t be taken wrongly. After a moment, a response came.

SUNNY: I’d like that :)

Mentally, she found herself grinning.

SUNSET: Awesome! We could catch a movie or something?

SUNNY: Yes, cool :) Meet at the coffee shop? Around five?

SUNSET: Sounds great :)

Sunset placed her phone down on her makeup table and glanced back up at her investigation process, her eyes slinking over each piece individually. If her theory was wrong - at the very least, she'd gained a new friend out of all this.

4.) Binary Sunset

The rest of the week passed uneventfully and before Sunset knew it the weekend was quickly upon her. Unlike the planned Rainboom/Shadowbolt play date, she had deliberately neglected to inform her friends of tonight's plans, and furthermore had kept quiet about her suspicions of Sunny Flare. At this point between her father, their conflicting histories (and friends clashing personalities), she knew it would be a long talk, and frankly, it was one Sunset couldn’t be bothered doing, especially when she wasn’t hurting anybody. That, and she knew how negatively her friends would react to her hanging around with a Shadowbolt.

Throughout the week Sunset maintained contact with Sunny Flare via MyStable and the two had rapidly become good friends. Sunset was surprised how much friendlier the girl was over text -not that she was ever directly unfriendly towards her- but she never expected her to be the kind of person to send multiple emojis at the end of a message. They had already escalated to tagging each other in memes and cat videos, talking their favorite TV Shows and yes, even discussing politics. Truth be told, Sunset was looking forward to this weekend for more reasons than just her investigation pf her father.

Their initial plan for the evening was to see a movie, but when it occurred to her sitting in silence probably wasn’t the best way to get to know her new friend, that had developed into going out for dinner afterwards as well. They settled down into a nice Indian Restaurant in Canterlot's upper district, spirits still high off the movie.

“You ever been to the Tasty Treat before?” Sunny Flare asked.

“A few times with the girls,” Sunset nodded. “The sea bass here is amazing.”

Minutes later they were sat down at their table and having their order taken.

“I’ll have the Chilean sea bass and a red wine please.”

Sunny Flare gestured to Sunset and nodded.

“Same as her, please.”

The young waitress finished writing down their order and left the two in privacy. Sunset had to admit, Sunny Flare cleaned up good. Since they were going out for dinner, they had prearranged a smart/casual dress code for the evening. Sunny Flare had brought out a nice purple and black dress, one that admittedly, was not dissimilar to her Crystal rep uniform, but she still made it work. It certainly made Sunset feel self-conscious about deciding to bring her leather jacket.

“So…” Sunset plucked the first question out of her mind. ”What’d you think of the movie?”

“I actually liked it!” Sunny Flare perked up. “And I really didn’t care for the last one so… it was a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.”

“Same,” Sunset nodded in agreement. “And I did like the last one... as far as sequels go. I just feel anything set after the originals kind of ruins them."

“Yes!” Sunny Flare gasped. “That’s exactly what I’ve been saying! Episode 7 renders the original trilogy completely pointless because it just resets the Galaxy to the same point it was at the end of Episode 3!”

“Thank you!” Sunset laughed. “It’s a relief to hear that come from someone else's mouth. Rainbow Dash does nothing but defend Episode 7.”

“Which is your favorite one?”

“I know it's everyone's answer, but Episode 5. I think it’s definitely the high point of the franchise.”

Sunny scoffed.

“You haven’t seen the tv shows, have you?”

Sunset shook her head, “I saw bits of the old one… Wasn’t a huge fan of the animation.”

“Right well, finish that, and then watch the new one. Trust me it’s worth it. The season two final will have you shook… that’s all I’m saying.”

“Okay, consider it on the list,” Sunset laughed, “What about you?”

“Oh Episode 3, without a doubt.”

“Seriously?”

“It’s the most important one.”

“But it’s…soo....” Sunset failed to keep a straight face, “it’s… pretty bad, be honest.”

“It’s the best of the prequels. And it’s the most enjoyable of all of them.”

She couldn’t help but shrug. Sunny Flare wasn’t wrong, but...

This was pretty much what their conversations had been been like for the past week. Casual, unimportant topics, mainly used as excuses to talk to each other. It was surprising how close the two had become in such a short amount of time.

Sunset couldn’t put her finger on it, but there was something she really liked about Sunny Flare. Maybe it was her brutal -yet not harsh- honesty, or the fact that they had an unusually large amount of stuff in common... she didn’t know, but she wasn’t complaining.

As their food arrived, paining her to do so, Sunset forced her enjoyment onto the back burner so she could focus on her original objectives.

“So,” Sunset said, cutting into her food. “What's your family life like outside of Crystal Prep? I don’t actually know that much about you, personal life-wise.”

“There’s… ehehe… not really much to know,” she shrugged, and if Sunset wasn’t mistaken, tried to hide a blush.

“ I live with my Dad, Mom and little brother. I wanna try and get into film-reviewing. Go Crystal Prep… soooo that takes up most of my time, but when I’m not studying I like movies… as erm, you could probably guess by the film-reviewing stuff… ehehe. I’m a bit of a cinephile. You?”

Sunset made a mental note to jot all of that down.

“Same, actually. With the family, I mean. Or rather, I used to. I moved away from them a few years ago.”

“Really? Ahh man, that’s so cool,” Sunny marveled. “Wish I could do that at this young, I hate living with my folks.”

Sunset shrugged. “It’s not as great as it sounds, I miss them like heck sometimes.”

“Could you not go visit them?”

“It’s a…” Sunset thought for the right choice of words. Something told her it was a little early to reveal her past as a villainous horse from another dimension. “Kind of a long distance thing,” she settled on. “That... and I wasn’t really on the best terms with any of them when I left.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Sunny Flare’s tone noticeably changed, grabbing Sunsets attention. “I didn’t mean to-”

“No, no, it’s okay!” Sunset jumped in. “I’m completely over it now, I just had a pretty rough patch a year or two ago, but everything's good now.”

“Yeah? It’s okay, I get that. Same, actually.”

Sunset cocked a brow.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I was like a different person not too long ago. But…” Sunny Flare laughed nervously. “That’s a deep story for another day.”

Sunset wanted desperately to follow that up, but decided against it. She'd gotten Sunny to talk about her family, things were moving in the right direction.

An silence began to settle over as the two dug into their meals. As the seconds ticked over Sunset could feel a nagging ball of anxiety in her throat. The last thing she wanted was either of them feeling awkward, not merely because it would ruin her investigation, but because she had also grown to like Sunny Flare and didn’t want the girl thinking badly of her.

“So how have things been in Crystal Prep?” she broke the tension.

“Pretty good!” Sunny Flare instantly perked up. “We just found out we might be able to have the Spring Fling on a yacht this year, if we can raise the money. And CHS?”

"We all have a trip to Camp Everfree coming soon. I love camping, me and the girls have been meaning to go for a while.”

“Aww, I like camping! Definitely don’t think I could go with the girls from my school, though,” she laughed. “We’d kill each other before nightfall.”

Sunset laughed.

“Here was I with the impression you guys secretly liked each other, under the bickering?”

Sunny Flare nodded. “Oh no, yeah we do -I mean I love Sugarcoat, but she can be a real pain in the neck sometimes.”

“Ah…” Sunset’s smile lessened.

The gears in her head began to turn.

“I thought you said you loved her?”

“I do,” Sunny shrugged, “she’s still a bitch though.”

The lump in Sunset's throat returned as she couldn't tell if her friend was being serious or not. The way Sunny Flare spoke about her ‘friends’ behind their backs... really unnerved her.

When Sunset’s response didn’t come immediately, Sunny looked up from her plate. Noticing Sunset’s confusion, she laughed.

“You can be friends with someone and still think they are a bitch,” Sunny Flare dismissed Sunset’s continued unease with a giggled. “And I tell Sugarcoat she’s a bitch to her face. You telling me none of your friends do anything that annoys you?”

Sunset tried to avoid Sunny's gaze.

“Well…”

“Come onnnnn,” she smirked, “Honesty is the best policy.”

“I mean, they’re my friends… I really shouldn’t talk about them behind their backs…”

“Sunseeeeet,” Sunny Flare teased. “It’s okay, I'm not gonna tell anyone! You can be honest with me.”

After a few seconds hesitation, Sunset eased up.

“Rainbow Dash can be really stubborn sometimes….” she admitted, and then quieter said, “Pinkie Pie can get really annoying…”

“There you go!” Sunny's grin was almost mischievous. “You’re not being mean, you’re just being honest, there is a difference. How can anyone ever improve themselves if nobody ever tells them what’s wrong with them?”

Sunset blinked.

“...Huh.”

“What? “

“Nothing that’s just… really straight forward logic, actually. I’m surprised I’ve never really thought of it like that.”

Sunny Flare nodded, understanding. “Friendship is supposed to be one of those things that’s the highlight of your life, so why should anyone ever compromise with something like that? I hold myself to a higher standard than that, if my friends are being stupid I’ll tell them,” she explained. “Being brutally honest like that works; tells them they have something to improve on. They can either take that advice or get lost.”

Sunset squinted, thinking.

“That sounds a bit mean though, like…” she frowned, “who determines what’s a good or bad quality?”

Sunny Flare shrugged.

“The times, and times change, I get that. I just never go out of my way to sugarcoat or be overly polite to anyone -especially my friends- when all that does is avoid getting stuff done. It's a necessary evil, since there’s so many snowflakes in the world today.”

“Snowflake?” Sunset asked, confused at the term.

Sunny nodded. “People who cry over the smallest bit of criticism. It’s ridiculous we live in a world where grown adults are such cry babies they can’t bare to have their opinions challenged. The world isn’t rainbows and unicorns all the time.”

Poor choice of wording, but Sunset kept listening.

“Like, nothing gets on my nerves more than people who don’t do something because ‘it’s too mainstream’. Like, “ugh, I’m not going to watch Game of Thrones because it’s too mainstream.” Like, of course it’s mainstream, you idiot, that’s because it’s good. People are so fragile about their individuality that they willingly trade something they know is good just for their own delusion of being special.”

“But… isn’t everybody special in their own way?” Sunset tried.

“No! Nobody is special and-”

Sunny Flare caught her words as she felt her voice rising. She blushed.

“Oh... Gosh, I’m sorry, I’m getting all worked up…”

She winced, and began tugging at a loose strand of hair.

Up until tonight, Sunny Flare had seemed pretty confident in everything she talked about with her. But between this and tripping over herself talking about her aspirations, this was Sunset’s first time seeing a shyer side of her.

“No, no, it’s okay!” Sunset reassured her, genuinely interested. “I just guess I never really thought of it all like that before. Me and my friends kind of have the idea of accepting each other for who we are.”

“I get that, it’s cool don’t worry, most people have that mind set too! And I’m not saying mine is better, or anything,” she reassured. “At Crystal Prep we just don’t really see the point in settling, though. I’m perfectly fine on my own, friendships at this point are just like icing on the cake. I could live without them just fine, so why compromise for something I don’t even want?”

“You don’t want friends?” for the first time Sunset felt her defense rise slightly.

“No, I like having friends. But I don’t need them to survive.”

Sunset stabbed at the food on her plate. She found herself disagreeing with Sunny Flare, but respected the girl enough not to argue.

“I don’t know what I’d do without my friends…” she said quietly.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah...” Sunset nodded. “That rough patch I went through, it was them who helped pull me out of it. I don’t know who I’d be without my friends.”

“No that’s cool, you are who you surround yourself with, I get that too! But I definitely couldn’t develop an attachment to them like that.”

“Why not?”

“Just sounds unhealthy.”

“I don't see how friendship could be unhealthy... Please, explain what you mean?”

Sunny Flare smiled, appreciating Sunsets sincerity and then continued, albeit less passionately than before.

“Well, like I said, you don’t need friends to make you happy. If you can be one hundred percent happy on your own first, then even during the bad times -and there will be bad times- you’ll never truly feel alone. And it’ll just make things like friendship… or relationships… even better, because yeah, icing on the cake. Like, okay tell me, what would you do if your friends all suddenly moved to the other side of the country tomorrow and you never got to speak to them again?”

“I’d be…” Sunset looked for the words. “Distraught. I don’t know if I could do that.”

“Exactly! Me? I’d be sad sure, but... I’d get over it,” she gave a sad smile. “I just think developing an emotional dependency on somebody like that is putting you and them in an unfair position, especially when it’s not a necessary ingredient for a friendship to work.”

Sunset nodded, thinking.

“That’s… I mean that’s… Well, I definitely understand your point.”

Agreeing with the point was a different matter, but Sunset wouldn’t lie, Sunny Flare had successfully thrown her through a loop on something she had thought she was basically an expert on now.

“And yours too!” Sunny Flare chimed in. “Trust me, I get that I’m in the minority opinion on this. People are allowed to disagree, it doesn’t make them not friends! In my group, we just focus on enjoying each other’s company and that’s it. We don't try and change each other, but we’re also not afraid to call each other out on our shit. You seem pretty happy living your life the way you are, so who am I to tell you your way of living is wrong?”

Sunset smiled.

“I am happy. That’s pretty respectful of you.”

Sunny Flare nodded.

Sunset thought carefully about Sunny’s words. She was sure something she just said was some kind of contradiction to her earlier point, but Sunset wasn’t confident in herself enough to challenge her on it.

After moving off the apparently touchy subject of friendship, the two girls spent their night chit-chatting about different subjects. The topic of Sunny's father had not crept into conversation again, but Sunset hadn't minded, as they soon found themselves laughing at each others anecdotes, and just in all, having a really fun night.

It amazed Sunset how much she enjoyed Sunny’s company. In the back of her head, she couldn't help but feel a building of annoyance towards her friends attitudes over the Shadowbolts. Their stubbornness had not only prevented themselves from experiencing the same joy Sunset was feeling, and also made her feel like the fool for trying.

Yet here she was, enjoying herself perfectly fine without them.

Once the meals were finished, the two girls packed up and moved on from the restaurant. The sun had disappeared behind the horizon, and both girls decided to call it a night. As they prepared to go their separate ways, they came to a stop outside the coffee shop they had met at two weeks prior.

“I had a really good night tonight, Sunset.”

Sunny Flares tone was different, and she wasn’t making eye contact. Instead, she twiddled her thumbs, staring off into the distance and drawing circles on the floor with her shoe. She almost looked… embarrassed? Had Sunset done something to make her shy again?

“Me too!” Sunset enthusiastically patted the girls shoulder, hoping to cheer her up. “It was great getting to hang out properly, we should totally do it again sometime!”

Sunny Flare peaked out from over her shoulder.

“Yeah?”

Sunset repressed frowning at the girl's sudden strange behavior.

Sunny Flare was probably just tired, or desperate to get home, she thought.

“Absolutely! I gotta get home, but I’ll text you, kay?”

Sunny nodded, smiling. The two girls hugged goodbye. As Sunset took to make her exit, she noticed Sunny was still where she stood and showed no signs of moving.

Weird, but okay.

“See you later!” Sunset waved.

Taking the lead, she turned on her heels and walked away.

5.) Friendly Advice

“You went on a date with Miss Shadowbolt?” Rainbow snorted.

Sunset rolled her eyes.

“It wasn’t a date. And I had a great time, actually. I really do think you guys are judging the Shadowbolts over nothing.”

Deciding to tell her friends about her and Sunny’s night out was something she was beginning to come to regret.

It was gym class, and as the girls were warming up by the side of the field, Sunset’s Saturday night had cropped into the conversation.

“Whatever,” Rainbow stretched out her back. “Twilight says when you met with them they were really awkward.”

Twilight, who was sat on the grass tying her shoes, looked up.

“Rainbow Dash!” she snapped. “I did not... I said it was an awkward exchange.”

“That’s…” Rarity coughed, “not really much better, dear.”

Sunset rolled a football over to their direction.

“At least they turned up. They showed more willingness to get along than you guys did,” she said, an unusual sourness in her voice.

She kicked the ball to Rainbow, but Applejack intercepted.

“Hang on now, don’t you go bringin’ all that back up again. We already said we hav’ our reasons,” she returned the ball.

“They sounded like pretty stubborn reasons if you ask me, but whatever” Sunset kicked the ball back.

“Geez, what is it with you?” Rainbow asked. “Why are you so determined to get us to like them?”

“You haven’t hung around with them properly!” Sunset exclaimed. “You don’t know what you are missing out on and you have no reason not to give them a chance… I had a great night, and I’m sure you guys would too! Honestly, I don’t get why you’re all being so stubborn about this.”

“An we don’t get why you’re bein’ so pushy!”

Applejack kicked the ball a little harder, making Sunset have to run to intercept it.

“I guess I just expected more from you all, I guess.”

With force, the ball came back in Applejack’s direction. The cowgirl lazily reacted, stomping her foot down and stopping it in place like it was nothing.

“An’ just exactly what do you mean by that?”

Sunset cocked her hip, her attitude leaking out.

“Exactly that. I expected more. You girls are being unnecessarily stubborn towards them. It’s half got me thinking that if Princess Twilight hadn’t have forced you to, you wouldn’t have even accepted me as a friend.”

“Sunset!” Rarity gasped. “That’s an awful thing to say!”

“And it’s not true at all!” Pinkie popped up. “You’re one of the girls! We’re all bosom buddies!”

“Then what makes me and them any different?” Sunset asked, “Or me and the Dazzlings? Who I’d like to point out, we made no effort to get to know either. Twilight made you help me, and the only reason we helped this worlds Twilight was because she looked like the Princess.”

“You said it yourself, the Dazzlings were evil!” Rainbow snapped.

“Girls, I really don’t think we should be arguing over this...” Fluttershy spoke up from her spot on the grass.

“Fluttershy is right, this is neither the time nor the place to get into an argument!” Rarity stood up, standing in place between the three girls. “It’s obvious we all disagree on the subject, so how about we not talk about it, hmm?”

Sunset crossed her arms.

“I’m just saying, you guys should trust me enough to know I know what I’m talking about. You’re making a mistake.”

"Stop dragging it out."

“It;s our mistake to make!” Applejack gestured to the group. “An’ just because you think somethin’ is good for us doesn’t mean you have the right ta tell us what to do!”

“I’m not telling you what to do, I just think you’re being stubborn!”

“And then you’re lecturing us about it every opportunity you get!”

“You brought up Sunny Flare, not me!” Sunset snapped back.

“Girls, I reeeally hate it when we fight!” Pinkie Pie pouted. “And look, you’re making Fluttershy and Twilight uncomfortable.”

“I really don’t want to be involved in this…” Twilight said quietly, her head firmly pointed at the ground.

“Rainbow, Applejack, Sunset!” Rarity waved her hands for attention. “I won’t have another word about this off any of you! You are all in the wrong for pushing your opinions on others. Now, please let us get back to class.”

“But me an’ RD just wanna be left out of it!”

“Yeah, it’s Sunset trying to make us do something we don’t wanna!”

“Enough!” Rarity shouted. “This conversation is over!”

With the girls not quite on bad terms, but on less-good-terms-than-normal, gym class had passed relatively quickly. So had most of the day in fact, and soon Sunset found herself taking her things from her locker and getting ready to head home.

She didn’t know where her sudden surge of aggression had come from earlier, but truth be told, it had felt good to call her friends out like that. They were in the wrong, not her. She was standing up for what she believed in and her friends were being the arrogant ones.

But had she made a mistake by coming on too strongly?

Sunny Flare’s words on friendship lingered in the back of her mind.

We focus on enjoying each other’s company and that’s it, we wouldn’t try and change each other, but we’re also not afraid to call each other out on our shit.

That’s what she was doing, wasn’t it? Doing what Sunny’s friendship group did, and calling out her friends when they were in the wrong? This was a small example, and she hadn’t consciously planned to test it out, but if how hostile Applejack and Rainbow had responded towards it was anything to go on…

Perhaps it was best that the Rainbooms and the Shadowbolts didn’t meet, after all.

Sunset didn’t enjoy being confrontational, but had sadly developed a good habit at it. Just as she was debating seeking out her friends to apologize, she suddenly realized she had company.

“Hello, Sunset.”

“Hey, Rares. Look, about earlier…”

Rarity held her hand up, silencing the girl.

“Before you say anything, I want to say I agree with you that we may have been too hasty to say no to meeting the Shadowbolts.”

“Thank you, I-”

“But at the same time,” she interrupted. “You were in the wrong earlier, I hope you realize that.”

Sunset frowned. In the pit of her stomach a ball of anxiety began to well up.

“How was I?”

“You were pushing your opinions on Applejack and Rainbow Dash. They may have made a bad decision, but as quite rightly said earlier, that was their decision to make. I feel, and I suspect they do as well, that you owe them an apology.”

Sunset huffed, crossing her arms.

Rarity always had a much clearer head when it came to things like this. She often worked as the voice of reason and referee in the group. Everyone respected her level-headed opinion, and Sunset was no exception.

“I’m sorry,” Sunset muttered. “It just really bugged me how stubborn they're being. If they got to talk to Sunny like I did...”

Rarity nodded.

“Maybe so, but it is well within their right to be stubborn. And I think if you properly examine the situation you’ll find that by constantly pointing out how stubborn they were being, you were being rather stubborn yourself. What you were saying wasn’t wrong… it’s how you were saying it.”

Sunset rolled her eyes, but couldn’t find it in herself to argue further.

“Okay, then... I guess I’m sorry. I’ll apologize to them later.”

Rarity smiled.

“Good! I know you would be the one to see the mature side of things. But I am curious as to why this subject is so sensitive to you? Why, I haven’t seen you disagree with anybody so passionately since Applejack ordered hawaiian pizza during my house party!” she laughed.

“Pineapple does not belong on pizza.”

Rarity chuckled again. “Agreed. But, you see my point?”

Sunset shrugged and leaned against her locker.

“I don’t know. I guess when looking at it, the situation the Shadowbolts are in was really similar to the one I was in, so seeing you guys reject them now hits a little close to home for me. I’m getting on with Sunny Flare the way I’d get on with any one of you, Shadowbolt or not. Especially when I realized we rejected the Dazzlings the exact same way and nobody batted an eye… me included.”

Rarity nodded, thinking. A moment passed before she responded.

“And… you’re sure that’s it?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Tell me, do you plan on seeing… what was her name, again?”

“Sunny Flare.”

“Do you plan on seeing Sunny Flare again?”

“I’m invited to her house this Thursday. Why?”

Rarity pursed her lips, and leaned in closer. The conversation suddenly felt a lot more personal, something which unsettled Sunset.

“Promise me you’ll be mindful around her, Sunset?”

Sunset cocked an eyebrow.

“Yeah… of course. Why? You don’t think she wants to hurt me or anything? Because I can tell you now that she-”

Rarity shook her head.

“Nothing like that, I assure you. I simply say because… how many times is it that you’ve seen each other now?”

“Erm, three, I guess? One of them was with Twilight and the other Shadowbolts, though.”

“And you’re already picking fights with Rainbow Dash over her?”

“I was not picking fights!”

Rarity held her hand up.

“Sunset, I am glad that you are making new friends, but you’re getting protective. Suspiciously so, I might add. You’re reacting very defensively whenever she or the other Shadowbolts are brought up. Somebody might think you’re up to something.”

Sunset shrugged.

“I’m just sticking up for her. I’d do the same if anybody was talking bad about one of you guys…”

“I’m sure. Just, be careful what you do. Sometimes actions can be misinterpreted in ways never intended. Like you sticking up for your friend, Sunny Flare.”

Sunset chewed her words, looking for the right response.

She couldn’t explain her reasoning behind her interest in Sunny Flare to her, at least, not until she had some logical reasoning behind it. Even though Rarity was the most understanding of the group, Sunset doubted explaining the mismatch of information she had gathered would do anything other than unnecessarily involve her and further scramble her own investigation.

Once Sunset had some kind of rough theory or plan on what to do, then she would involve her friends. Until then, they had made it perfectly clear they hadn’t wanted anything to do with the Shadowbolts.

Then again, Rarity had said they were in the wrong about rejecting them...

“I’ll apologize to Rainbow Dash and Applejack. And I guess.. I’ll also try and think about my actions, and not act solely on instinct.”

Rarity smiled and took a step back.

“That is all I ask. Thank you for listening Sunset, I really appreciate it.”

Sunset gave an empty laugh.

“No problem Rares. Thank you for talking with me about it like an adult, I guess. You know, you’d probably get on really well with Sunny Flare!”

“Sunset.”

“Hehehe… sorry.”

6.) Meet The Flares

“Sweet Celestia…” Sunset muttered.

Sunny Flare’s house was huge. And it was definitely the right address, Sunset had followed the directions the App gave her exactly, and then recalculated the route once she arrived to be sure. This was definitely the house address her friend had given her, but a mansion address would have been a better description.

Sunset approached a pair of large steel gates. They weren’t automatic, as she had hoped. So… how did she get in? She could call Sunny Flare… but that wasn’t really a great impression to leave. Calling her because nobody was answering the front door was understandable, but not even being able to ring the doorbell...

‘Doorbell!’ she thought.

Just as Sunset had suspected, on the brick wall attaching the two gates was a small electronic buzzer. She pressed the button, and was ready to state her name and reason for visiting, but was surprised when the gates immediately came to life and opened on their own.

It was a short walk to the front door, but the fact the distance between her gate and front door was considered a ‘distance’ at all was vaguely intimidating.

Sunset mentally shook her head.

What did it matter that Sunny belonged to a rich family? It was unexpected, sure, but Sunset couldn’t afford to over think herself. She had fought against demons and super villains, she could handle the upper class. Back in Equestria, Sunset herself came from a reasonably wealthy family, so she knew all the manners and customs that were expected from her.

Taking hold of a knocker the size of her head, Sunset could only manage two bangs on the door before it was instantly pulled open.

“Hey, you must be Sunset!”

As if the ground below her suddenly gave way, a flood of memories hit her like a raging torrent. Guilt, nostalgia and just about everything in between. If there was any doubt left inside her mind, it was instantly swept away and drowned.

Her father… her real, biological father -from Equestria- stood before her, beaming brightly.

“I… I…”

She had expected to see him today, but…

Imagining him was one thing, but to have him physically standing in front of him…

Sunset caught her herself.

“Hey!” she half-shouted. “Y-yeah, I’m Sunset. Sunset Shimmer.”

When the mention of her name didn’t instill any kind of response in him, Sunset couldn’t help but feel a shot of pain in her stomach. Instead, he stood aside and outstretched his arm, welcoming her into his house.

Trying her best to disguise the fact she was shaking, Sunset stepped forward.

“Nice to meet you Sunset, I’m Sundance. And it’s absolutely typical, Sunny has just popped into the shower. If you wanna come into the kitchen to wait for her?”

“O-okay.”

Sunset silently followed her fa… Sundance, into his house.

“Hey, you alright? You look a bit shook up?”

“I’m fine, thank you. But... could I have a glass of water or something?”

“Of course you can,” Her father crossed the kitchen and began to pour her a glass.

Sunset perched herself on a seat by the kitchen island. He place a glass of water down next to her.

“Yanno, you’ve got nothing to be nervous about,” he said as she took a swig.

“I’m not nervous,” Sunset lied, “what is there to be nervous about?”

He laughed, nodding.

“Meeting the parents for the first time is always a bit daunting. Sunny never brings people home, so, you should feel quite special.”

Sunset forced out a laugh.

“Thanks, I’ll remember that.”

“Oh, bloody hell,” he lightly slapped himself on the forehead. “I should probably go let her know you’re here. She’s probably nearly done now, but I know she wouldn’t want to keep you waiting.”

With that he was gone, leaving Sunset alone in the kitchen.

She hadn’t been here too long, but this place was already starting to unnerve her.

She started noticing things in the house. Slight details, invisible to the naked eye if you weren't looking for them.

When ponies traveled to this world they underwent a physical transformation, and it looked like her childhood house had done something similar. There was some hints of stuff she recognized, but at the same time, some stuff she had never seen before in her life. Like returning to a childhood location as an adult and seeing how much it’s changed. It was both familiar, yet alien. She wondered if perhaps, considering how long she’d been away from home, if she did return to Equestria would she find her family house looking identical to this place?

Even now in the kitchen, a room which was usually sterile in most houses, had an odd sense of surrealness to it. The alien architecture of this home created a distorted version of the nostalgic memories she had held so dear once.

“What on earth are you doing here?”

Sunset’s eyebrows shot into her hairline.

She knew that voice.

She span around, all feelings of nostalgia vanishing in an instant.

Cinch, the ex-Principal of Crystal Prep Academy, stood in the doorway of the kitchen. She stared at Sunset with an expression of shock and confusion that she could only imagine was reflected on her own.

“What are you doing here!?” were the only words Sunset was able to find.

"Me!?” Cinch half-shouted. “What do you mean, doing here!? I live here!”

Wait.

What?

“Hey, hey, hey!”

Her father hopped back into the room. He obviously heard Cinch’s shrieking, and dove between the two. “What, er, what’s the problem?”

Cinch turned to him, fury in her eyes.

“What on earth is this girl doing in our house?”

“What do you mean?” He asked, his voice squeaking in confusion. “This is Sunny’s friend, Sunset Shimmer. We talked about this, Abacus.”

Cinches expression changed from confusion, to shock, to anger, all within the space of a few seconds. Settling on the final emotion, she turned to Sunset, pointing an accusing finger at her.

“There is no way any daughter of mine is spending time with the likes of her! I lost my job because of this little minx and her friends!”

Wait.

What?

“Sunset!” a fourth voice entered the room.

Sunny entered the room behind Cinch, hair wet and towel wrapped around her body. She pushed past her parents and moved quickly to Sunset’s side.

She gave an uneasy smile, blushing.

“I should have told you about this sooner, I’m sorry.”

“I…” Sunset struggled, “I don’t get….?”

“Sunset, Principal Cinch is my mom,” she said flatly, followed by a wince. “I… erm... didn’t want to put you off by telling you.”

“Whatever do you mean by that?” Cinch’s voice snapped. “I am an absolute delight to be around!”

“I agree!” Her father sounded in again, placing his hands on Cinch’s shoulders. Sunsets stomach churned at the indication of the two being married.

“But honey, I think we should leave the girls alone now.”

Sunny took Sunset by her hand.

“We’re gonna go upstairs now, it’s fine.”

“She’s your mother!?”

Sunny pushed open the door to her room and lead Sunset inside. She pulled her into the middle of the room, grabbed her by the shoulders and then manually turned her so she was facing the other direction.

“You’ve said that three times in the walk upstairs,” she laughed.

“It’s a long walk up those stairs, oh but I guess that makes sense, you being so loaded, it’s because you’re the daughter of the Principal!”

“Ex-Principal now, actually. And like I said...” Sunny paused. “I didn’t want to scare you off. A lot of girls at Crystal Prep get intimidated by who I am. It doesn’t scare you off, does it?”

Sunset didn’t respond.

She was too busy looking at Sunny Flare’s room.

Or her room, which was a more accurate description. From the bed, to the wallpaper, to the makeup mirror, she was stood in a mirror image of her own childhood bedroom. Or actually... maybe not a mirror image. The closer Sunset looked, the finer details made themselves present.

The makeup mirror was on the opposite side of the room to where Sunset kept hers. The walls were painted lavender, instead of mauve, even though there was only a few shades difference. In the corner of her room was a violin stand, where Sunset usually had her base guitar.

“I… I…”

She felt herself going light headed. This was getting too much.

A light tapping on her shoulder caused her to turn.

Sunny Flare had gotten changed into a pair of pajamas. She had concern written across her face.

“Well… does it?”

Sunset shook her head, but couldn’t find her words.

Sunny Flare gave a reluctant smile, and crossed to sit on her bed. She pulled a hairbrush out from her bedside cabinet and began tidying her hair.

“Make yourself comfortable, by all means.”

Sunset dove down onto the bed next to her. The speed at which she did cause Sunny to retract a little.

“You... okay?”

“Actually I…” Sunset forced the next words out, “I’ve had something on my mind for weeks and I really need to talk about it. I didn't want to be so straight forward with it, but being in your house has really done a number on me. It’s about me and you."

Sunny’s eyes grew wide.

“Oh… okay,” she gave a nervous smile. “Say whatever you like.”

Sunset wasted no time.

“So, we’ve got the chemistry, right? Frankly I've never gotten on so well with somebody so quickly in such a short amount of time. Part of me feels like I've known you my whole life."

“Sunset,” she shook her head, smiling. “I think I know where you’re going with this and… it’s okay. I’ve picked up on it too.”

For the third time today she found herself unable to find her words.

“You have!?”

“Yeah, erm…” Sunny laughed, blushing, “it hasn't exactly been subtle.”

Sunset blushed as well.

“I’ll be honest, I’ve been waiting for you to bring it up,” Sunny set aside her hair brush and faced the girl head-on. “I thought you were going to at the end of the other night, but I just guessed you were still figuring it out. Which I’m totally cool with, by the way! I’m not exactly an expert at this kind of thing... We can take it as slow as we need,” she laughed.

Sunset nodded, taking a deep breath.

“Thank you for understanding. It’s been a confusing time for me…” She drew a blank on how to explain herself. “I’ve been through a lot before, but this kind of thing..." she tried. "This has never happened before, it’s just so alien… and I haven’t really been able to talk to my friends about it.”

“I thought you guys were all about supporting each other?”

“It’s more I just haven’t told them… They wouldn't understand. Heck, I'm not sure I even understand. I think they’d probably support me, but as well… they can get pretty protective."

“Well… then don’t worry about them. Me and you are doing pretty fine on our own.”

Sunset smiled.

“Yeah… we are!”

Sunny Flare giggled.

“It’s difficult seeing people in school because most girls are scared of me. I guess that’s one of the reasons why we work so well, because you don’t know me as the Principal’s daughter. I mean, obviously my mom isn’t thrilled about it, but I really couldn’t care what she thinks.”

“You told your parents?” Sunset cocked an eyebrow.

“Well, not exactly but… well, they both know why you’ve come over today. You can guess how my mom feels about it… but, Dad is pretty supportive,” Sunny then caught onto her wording and made haste to correct herself. “Not that I talk about you constantly to them, or anything! I rarely talk to them about this kind of thing, but I mentioned why I was going out the other night and that I was bringing somebody home today to meet them and... well, Dad thought it was way too early for that, but I figured… yanno…”

She blushed again, moving her face away from Sunsets.

“If this was gonna be a recurring thing you might as well get comfortable with coming to my house… so… yeah…”

Sunset chuckled.

She didn’t understand why Sunny Flare got these random spouts of shyness, but she’d be lying if she said she didn’t find them to tiniest bit cute.

“I’d love to come round more often, Sunny Flare.”

“You would?”

“Yeah, I would.”

A stillness set over the room, as the two shared a wholesome moment. Behind her cool exterior, Sunset’s mind was buzzing with ideas.

How did they move forward from here?

Sunny Flare had caught on there were some weird parallels going on between them, but now that was out of the way, what could they actually even do about it?

They could do assessments of each other’s lives, find out what’s different and what’s not. Perhaps maybe compile all of their data and write a thesis to submit to Princess Twilight? Sunset got the feeling she would be able to lend her magical mind to understanding her scenario. The situation she was in hadn’t actually changed, but now aspects of it were definitely easier.

Her thoughts are interrupted when a pair of lips pressed against her own.

Sunsets eyes shot open, only to see Sunny Flare… kissing her?

The space between them had sealed, and Sunny Flare had leaned forward just enough for their lips to be gently touching. She had her eyes closed, which was lucky, so she didn’t have to see Sunsets horrified expression.

Sunset pulled away.

Sunny Flare pulled back too, blushing.

“Sorry!” she yelped, and hid her face. “I know you wanted to take things slow... I’ve just been waiting to do that.”

Sunsets mouth hung open, her lips still tingling.

“I...I…”

Things began to make sense.

Things began to make way too much sense.

“Was… that… okay?”

Sunset stood up. Her mouth opened and closed like a goldfish. Had it suddenly got very hot in here or was it just her?

The constant texting.

Their night out.

Meeting her parents.

Sweet Celestia.

“I’m… I’m sorry I… I don’t…”

“S-Sunet?”

Sunny Flare looked like a baby who’d had its candy stolen.

“I need to go, I’m sorry."

Sunset leaped up and made for the door. Sunny Flare shot up beside her.

“I’m sorry, I… Sunset!” she tried.

“N-no! I’m sorry, it’s not you!" Sunset backed up. "I just-I just I need to go now. Again, I’m sorry.”

The second her back hit the door, Sunset span around and practically tore it from its hinges.

And with that she was gone.

Gone down the stairs. Gone through the front door. Even gone over the gates... as it turned out Sunset was surprisingly gymnastic when panicking. As she jumped the fence, she swore she heard one of Sunny Flares parents shout to her, but didn't stop to acknowledge or respond.

She’d messed up.

Oh man, had she really messed up.

She should have listened to Rarity. She should have listened to Rainbow Dash or Applejack. She should have had enough common sense to see herself and what she was doing.

Only when Sunset's legs began to quiver with each step did she finally stop running, and she leaned back against a sign post to catch her breath.

Just exactly how long had she been unaware she was dating Sunny Flare?