Art is easy. Art class is not.
Pinkie Pie has always enjoyed drawing and playing her drums, painting with her fingers and coloring books with crayons, making artistic things weren't exactly her forte but she did it anyway because it’s fun! That’s why she thought taking Art as her optional class this year could be a world of fun! As she stared at the blank canvas she realized that it might have been a mistake.
Some guys were working on a series of statues trying to emulate the Canterlot Wondercolt while the younger members occupied themselves with drawings of animals or flowers. With a discreet look, Pinkie saw some other girls working on their own paintings; a particular one caught her eyes before returning them to the white space in front of her.
While Pinkie struggled with the nothingness that filled her mind, the other students were finishing their projects, and that thought alone was enough to make Pinkie freeze. Any unaware student that passed through the classroom could have thought that the pink girl with a frown was a true masterpiece of sculpture!
“Pinkie?” asked a voice, a voice the pink girl knew too well. “Are you okay?” the voice was tainted by a sad, kind of worried tone well hidden by a cute smile in the girl’s lips. Pinkie turned her head to see the girl with white apron next to her.
“Yeah, I’m fine, Sunny.” She replied forcing herself to smile, maybe she tried a little too hard because the girl with hair of fire gave her a plain look.
“Oh really now?” asked Sunset, a raised eyebrow and arms crossed. That look! That amazingly cute, yet strict looking look! Pinkie felt her brow wet, her knees weakening by the second. She didn’t know why, the only thing she knew was that as long as Sunset Shimmer gave her that look, as long as those brilliant eyes were fixed on her nervous self, Pinkie was defenseless.
“Pinkie,” said the owner of Pinkie’s will with a sweet tone that announced disaster.”If you’re not telling me, I may find a way to find out.” said the fiery haired girl a smirk in her face while she extended her hand.
The pink girl knew that it was an empty threat; she knew that Sunset will never use her powers against her friends if they didn’t want to, but that was the thing: Sunset didn’t need to. There was something about her, maybe it was her confidence, they way she acted as if she was the boss of the world or her cute face that was capable of making almost every guy in the school a living puddle with little to none ability to talk, maybe it was the fact that Sunset was able to read anyone like an open book, summarized and explained by the author himself!
“Uhg, you win!” groaned Pinkie, her voice a little higher than usual as she forced herself to look away from Sunset’s hypnotizing gaze. “I have a problem,” confessed Pinkie lowering her head as her hand rubbed the back of her neck, still trying to avoid Sunset’s eyes.
“I figured that” replied the fiery girl with a sweet, compressive smile upon her face. “Should I try to guess or are you going to tell me?” questioned Sunset, the slightly worried frown making its way up to her face again.
Pinkie wanted to smile, to fake not being not-so-well, but she couldn’t. She could never lie to Sunset, and still, that was exactly what she was trying to do moments ago. Why? She didn’t know. But, to be honest, she didn’t know a lot of things when she was with Sunset, or in the middle of a sugar rush. It was hard to make a difference between those feelings; both made her feel mind-numbed, weak-kneed and still, with the energy and strength to conquer the multiverse, twice.
“I don’t know what to do!” screamed Pinkie raising her arms to the sky in shame, as if she was asking for divine advice, but the celestial beings seemed to not be available at the time because all that Pinkie got was a bunch of weird looks from her classmates.
“What do you mean, Pinkie?” asked Sunset as she touched her friend’s shoulder.
“I mean that I need to think of something to paint and I don’t know what to do…”
“Again?”
Pinkie nodded.
“Well, why didn’t you say so? You know I’d be really glad to help my friends in their times of need.” It sounded so cheesy… Spending so much time with the pony princess across the mirror was starting to affect Sunset. Still, that made Pinkie smile for real this time.
“I appreciate it, I really do!” There was a sad smile on Pinkie’s face, which is weird because not even Pinkie knew for sure if she was sad for the lack of inspiration or happy for her friend being so supportive. “Thanks, Sunny!” exclaimed Pinkie as she trapped Sunset in a ribs-crushing hug.
“It’s okay!” exclaimed the fiery girl with a groan as breathing was becoming more and more difficult “Just remember what I told you last semester: try to paint something that makes you happy.”
The girl in pink let Sunset free, with a big smile on her face Pinkie was fast to answer this time:
“Oh! There are a lot of things that make me happy. I don’t even know where to begin!”
Sunset couldn’t help but smile when the energy seemed to return to Pinkie’s self.
“Like sweet, creamy chocolate! Or warm cakes! I really like milkshakes, the strawberry ones always brighten up my days! Oh, and sandwiches! Or plush animals, they are so cute and cuddly! But now that I think about it, my family makes me really happy too. And baking! I love baking! And planning parties! Baking party cakes, inviting my friends to parties, partying in general always make people happy! And who can forget the adventures, if a little scary at times they always get to makes us closer as friends!” Sunset was a little dizzy with all the sudden information.
“I get it, Pinkie” sighed Sunset as she rubbed her forehead “There are a lot of things that make you happy. But for now, just try to concentrate”.
So Pinkie frowned a little, her eyes closed, a little shiver running through her body as she made the “I’m concentrated” face.
“Oookay, that’s progress, I guess” Sunset shrugged. “Now picture in your mind the first thing that comes to you when I say the word ‘happiness’”
So she did, and she didn’t know if she still had her eyes closed.
In front of her, or maybe it was inside her mind, she saw a nice girl. The girl had big eyes, like almost everyone in the school, but these eyes were… different. They were brilliant, blue ocean spheres with a shimmer of fire in them. The owner of said eyes was even more fascinating.
“Now tell me, what’s the thing that makes you happy the most?”
“That’s easy!” said Pinkie, a big smile starting to form on her lips. “That’d be you, Sunset Shimmer!”
Pinkie then opened her eyes, and the smiley girl in her mind was replaced by a confused looking Sunset. The fiery-haired girl was about to say something, but Pinkie Pie was faster.
“But I can’t keep making paintings of you!”
Sunset’s eyes widened, her shoulders dropped as she opened her mouth to say the only thing that came to her mind:
“What?!”
“I mean, my room is already full of those! Most of my works for this class are just portraits of you!”
Pinkie gasped, her eyes completely open “Did I say that out loud?” asked the cotton-candy-haired girl, eyebrows curves as she put a finger on her chin.
Her answer was a nod from Sunset, and the rest of her wide-eyed classmates.
“Oopsy” she shrunk, trying to avoid the shocked expressions of every single person that heard what she said as she left the classroom. A quick swing of the door and Pinkie was gone.
Sunset stared at the door still a little shocked. And she kept staring, thinking, trying to make sense of what her friend had just said. Sunset was slow to process the things she saw, but when she did a determined frown appeared on her face as she started to run, untying the apron she threw it before exiting the room.
A bunch of students watched with expectation when the girl with the leather jacket left.
“I bet you ten bucks they end up together.” murmured a little girl with red hair to the boy sited next to her.
Applebloom didn’t notice but the rest of the class nodded before returning to their projects.
Sunset wandered the corridors of the school for what felt like hours. Her breathing was irregular, her heart galloping as fast as a wild herd. She had looked for Pinkie everywhere she could but without luck. The music room was empty, save for a snoring Rainbow Dash with a Daring Do book covering her face. Pinkie wasn’t in the cafeteria either, that worried Sunset as she ran across the school.
This girl was known in Canterlot High for having little to none respect for rules before her “redemption”. So it wasn’t exactly a surprise for anyone to watch Sunset Shimmer bursting into classrooms, sweeping the place with a frowny face before slamming the door.
She had searched the entire place. And she didn’t find any trace of Pinkie. While Sunset walked a corridor she wished there was a trail of pebbles to follow. She closed her eyes for a moment as she landed on the floor, tears bursting from her eyes. The fiery-haired girl started to think, what had just happened? It was only minutes ago that she and her friend were in class, talking about trivial things… They talked about what Sunset had considered trivial, but for Pinkie, it was more difficult and Sunset had failed to notice that.
Maybe she felt guilty because she hadn’t been able of helping a friend. Maybe she was sad, because the tears in her eyes said so, but also because her fast beating heart was increasing its pace as if it was crying. She might as well be happy because a friend of hers, that friend of hers had come to really love her. Still, the thing that she felt the most, the only thing she was sure she felt in that moment, was anger.
Sunset had always been a little tiny bit temperamental, if anything, that was one of her greatest weaknesses. She could get angry with the sun for being so bright one day or with the idiot in the street that walked too slowly when she was right behind. She got mad because of people, weather, sometimes even with inanimate objects. But if there was one thing that could really make Sunset angry it was Sunset herself.
She felt bad because she hadn’t been able to talk. When Pinkie said that weird thing in front of the whole class Sunset didn’t move, she didn’t say a thing, she did nothing! Maybe it was because Pinkie Pie was the one saying the weird thing, and that was becoming a habit for Sunset to hear, but this? It was so frustrating! One of her best friends was technically lost and she couldn’t do anything!
As her tears fell to the floor a hand landed on the leather covered jacket.
“Are you okay?” asked the last voice Sunset had expected. The fiery girl raised her gaze, watery eyes suddenly shining with renewed energy.
“Yeah,” she said as she wiped her tears. “I was a little worried for you.”
Pinkie Pie sat down next to Sunset.
“Aw, don’t worry Sunset! I’ll never leave without saying goodbye first!” answered the pink girl with a smile. In her hand Pinkie hold a brown paper bag, Sunset watched as her friend took something out of the bag.
“Where did you go then?”
Pinkie wiped a single tear of Sunset’s cheek before responding.
“I went for some cupcakes, the chocolate ones always make my creative juices flow!” exclaimed Pinkie as she handed a cupcake with orange frosting to Sunset.
“Thanks,” said Sunset as she accepted the mini cake in her hand and gave it a bite.
They stared at the lockers across the corridor in awkward silence while both girls ate their sweet baked goods. Neither said anything, they just stayed on the floor with a paper bag between them until Pinkie finished her cupcake and spoke:
“Why were you crying, Sunset?” Pinkie’s eyebrows curved a little as she asked.
Sunset swallowed.
“I told you, I was worried for you,” answered Sunset trying to hide the slight shiver in her hands. “To be honest, Pinkie,” sighed Sunset before her lips formed a little smile. “Those were angry tears.”
“Oh, were you angry?” now Pinkie wore a frown. “Did I do something to upset you?” she asked, a little worried.
Sunset answered with a dismissive gesture of her hand, quick to speak before that escalated even further.
“No, Pinkie! All this is my fault.” Sunset then turned to see the blue eyes of her friend. “I was a little shocked when you left the classroom and thought it was my fault.” She sighed once more.
“Oki! But it wasn’t your fault, Sunny!” the pink girl tried to cheer her up. Sunset smiled a little smile with a trace of sadness. “ If anything, I was the one who couldn’t stop doing those portraits of you, I’m sorry if that made you mad. I promise I’ll get rid of them if you want to, I know a lot of people who’d love to have a painting of you in their homes!”
“Eh, I don’t think that’s a good idea, Pinkie,” whispered Sunset; the idea of people having pictures of her decorating their homes suddenly became disturbing.
“Oh, well,” said the pink girl before taking another cupcake from the bag. Sunset watched the movement and couldn’t help doing the same. Before biting her cupcake, Sunset turned her head towards Pinkie and murmured.
“May I ask you why?”
Pinkie was mid-bite when she heard Sunset; she turned her gaze to look at Sunset with eyes wider and shrunken pupils for a second.
“Why do you ask if you can ask why?” exclaimed Pinkie before devouring the cupcake in her hand with a single bite.
Sunset gave Pinkie a flat look.
“Why, Pinkie?”
Pinkie Pie swallowed before she spoke again.
“I don’t know! I just like to paint you, Sunset.” The cotton-candy-haired girl shrugged.
The fiery-haired girl rolled her eyes “Yeah, I get it, but don’t you think that you should paint other things?”
Pinkie’s gaze looked away from Sunset’s.
“Maybe flowers, or animals. Making portraits of other people can be a good exercise for your skills too. Heck, if you want you can just paint a cupcake!”
“Sorry, Sunset,” Pinkie said as she curled up and hugged her legs refusing to look at her friend’s eyes again. “But cupcakes aren’t as cute as you are,” murmured the pink girl with her teeth close tight.
“What did you said?”
“I said that cupcakes aren’t as cute as you, Sunny”
Sunset felt a little shocked. Again, the same weird feeling she had in the art classroom was invading her heart.
“Well then, I guess I can’t stop you from painting me, right?” said Sunset with a sheepish smile.
“Not really,” said Pinkie as she raised her head a little, just enough to look at Sunset. “I can’t help it! It’s as if the only thing I’d want to see was you, Sunset!” After hearing that, the fiery-haired girl touched her friend’s shoulder.
“Any idea of why is that?” asked Sunset, a shy smile decorating her already cute face making it-at least for Pinkie- even cuter.
“Gummy has a theory,” answered the pink girl, sitting herself a little closer to Sunset she murmured in her friend’s ear. “He thinks I might have a little tiny crush on you.”
When Pinkie moved off she was waiting to see Sunset shocked again, but what she saw actually shocked her more. Sunset was smiling. A cute little and comprehensive smile was planted on Sunset’s face.
“And what do you think about that theory, eh Pinkie?”
The pink girl didn’t know how to answer, so she simply nodded.
“I guess he’s got a good point, why else would I have so many portraits of you collecting dust back at home?”
Sunset laughed and Pinkie joined. They both kept laughing until they ran out of breath. When silence fell once again it was quickly broken by a high and excited voice.
“Now you know it, Sunset,” said Pinkie, her eyebrows low as she spoke. “So, what should we do?”
Sunset thought about it. She really did. Sunset remembered every moment she spent with Pinkie Pie. The way that sugar-rushed girl made her angry when she had just arrived at CHS, how that anger faded with time as she learned to love that random behavior. How most of her good-normal moments were with Pinkie. How this cotton candy girl always made her smile with her sheer presence. Pinkie was a cute, energetic girl that could make her feel like all the mistakes of the past were nothing but a bad dream.
“I don’t know Pinkie” Sunset sighed while she shook her head. “We might as well give it a try,” added Sunset before raising her head to look directly at Pinkie.
The pink girl let out a little yelp as she rose from the floor and pulled Sunset with her. After spinning for five seconds Sunset was starting to feel dizzy, fortunately, Pinkie stopped just in time.
“Do you really think we should do it?” asked the pink haired girl, hope in her voice and a sparkle in her eyes.
Sunset nodded. Pinkie was a pretty girl, she hadn’t paid any attention to that, but now that she thought about it, now that she really took the time to appreciate the sweetness of Pinkie’s features, Sunset noticed just how beautiful Pinkie really was.
Sunset didn’t realize she was blushing when she returned the hug to Pinkie
“Well, I think we both know that there’s no way I’ll let you being unhappy ever again.”
“Thank you so much, Sunset!” exclaimed Pinkie as she planted a kiss on her girlfriend’s cheek.
Author's Note
Some time ago I wrote a story called You Know You Want to. Where I kind of shipped Sunset and Pinkie, but not necessarily. After watching “The Art of Friendship” I started to really like this ship, blame Hasbro he makes it too easy! 
So... What do you think? Did you like it? Did you not like it? Why?
Also, I’m almost certain there are some spelling and/or grammar errors, so if you find one please tell me! 
