Set A Dangerous Precedent
Flash Sentry went about his business, not realizing that, all the while, Super (SECRET!) Party Planner Pinkie Santa Pie was watching. At lunch, she sat at the table behind his, her puffy pink hair obscured by a pink (and therefore questionably obfuscating) wide-brim hat. While Flash Drive rehearsed in the auditorium, she hid in the sound booth, snacking on cupcakes and puff-pastry. (She was too busy spying during lunch-time, so she had to take her lunch then… While spying.) During P.E., she hid behind the bleachers, her pink trench-coat stirred by the occasional breeze.
When school let out, she skipped her way to the mall. The pink-clad P.I. - “Hah! ‘P.I.’ I get it! Like ‘Pie’. That’s pretty funny,” - The pink-clad P.I. had a meeting with her client. She stopped for a moment on the sidewalk. “Whoops, did I interrupt you? Sorry, I got excited.” She stood there for a moment.
The moment stretched a little too long, and it must be said that her apology was gracious, but unwarranted; the little jokes one stumbles upon in life bear remark. Perhaps more of us could afford to be a little more light-hearted about things.
The Mysterious Mistress of Mirth incognitoed her way through the mall - unseen, unheard, the very vision of stealth. Or perhaps, the very lack of vision? Eh? Eh?
“Don’t try too hard,” she said. But she said it around a mouth full of giggles; take that as you will.
Anyway, Pinkie P.I. strolled into Sushi Shack. The atmosphere thrummed with subaudible tension. The air was thick with aroma: spicy tuna, wasabi, uncontested melancholy. She produced a manila envelope (from nowhere in particular), passed patrons drowning their sorrow in yellowtail and smelt roe, and met her client in a corner booth.
Sunset Shimmer quirked an eyebrow.
Pinkie P.I. set the folder down in front of her and took a seat. “It’s all here, Sunset. All of it.”
Sunset Shimmer quirked-er an eyebrow. And smirked, let’s be fair. “What’s all here, Pinkie?” She laughed a comfortable, friendly laugh, “And what are you wearing?”
“Oh!” Suddenly, the context (or lack thereof) of the conversation seemed apparent to Pinkie Pie, “This is just my Pinkie Pie P.I. Super Sleuthing outfit!”
“And,” Sunset Shimmer flicked through the folder, “You have pictures of Flash Sentry…” She placed a picture on the table, “Rehearsing with his band.” She set down another picture, “Eating a sandwich.”
“Running track!”
Sunset Shimmer tried to maintain a bemused expression, but it was clear that she was also amused by the whole situation. “Is this… Because I asked you for advice about his Christmas gift?”
“Of course! When I realised that I didn’t know what to get Flash, I knew that I had to find out! How else would I call myself a disciple of the Marvelous Present Maker and Procurer Maud Pie!?”
“Huh. I didn’t realise that you put so much into gift giving, Pinkie.”
“Oh, yeah! I’ve got gift ideas for all of my friends for the big gift-giving occasions for the next five years. Plus some Just-In-Case Gifts!”
Sunset looked forlornly into the distance: “I should have known that. I guess I’m not making as much progress on this friendship-thing as I thought.”
Pinkie Pie’s expression became one of genuine worry and regret - for an instant. Then she plopped her backpack on the table and began exaggeratedly digging through it. “Let’s see… ‘Rainbow-Dash-Needs-A-Comeback-Pepup,’ no. ‘Sunset-Shimmer-And-Sci-Twi-Need-Some-Ambiance,’ closer. Here we go!” She set a box on the table. It was gift-wrapped.
“Is that... For me?”
“Well, duh. Open it!”
Sunset opened it and found a tiara. It was gold with a purple star-burst gem set at the peak of the arch. “This is...”
“An -” She took a deep breath - “Actually-I-Have-So-Much-Confidence-In-Our-Friendship-I-Would-Give-You-The-Superweapon-You-Tried-To-Steal-When-You-Were-Evil Gift.”
Sunset Shimmer held the tiara in her hands, and her eyes began to water. “Pinkie, I… I need to go.”
“Oh. Oka - ” No. Don’t let the moment slip away. The gesture was a potent one - more so than her background of solitude and villainy has trained her to be comfortable with. Sunset Shimmer rose to leave. She’s not leaving because you did something wrong; she’s leaving because you did something right. But, you’re her friend. She doesn’t have - “It’s okay, Sunset.” Pinkie Pie giggled nervously and said, “We’re friends. We can share moments like these.”
Sunset sat back down. She kept her eyes averted. “Yeah, I guess I...” She brought her eyes back to Pinkie. “Thank you, Pinkie.” Sunset laughed. She shook her head, smiling, and said, “I’m going to go get a California roll. I’ll be right back.”
In the privacy of the booth, Pinkie said, “Wow! Now that was a party. Say, Steven, when did you get so sappy? And, now that I think of it, have you changed style? Hmmm?”
Heh. I’m not Steven. Though, I did try to mimic his style some. Doesn’t seem to have worked out too well, though. Shrug
Pinkie Pie’s eyes opened wide. “Not Steven!?”
Right. I’ve hijacked some of his work to write this for him. I’m his Secret Santa. Imitation and flattery and all that.
“Oh. Oh! OHH! Wait a minute! You mean that I’M IN A GIFT RIGHT NOW!?”
;-)
And that was the moment that Sunset Shimmer returned - the exact moment that Pinkie Pie’s head exploded. It inflated like a balloon, and burst with a hollow pop, showering Sunset in cotton-candy hair and felt-matter.
Okay, Pinkie, pull yourself together. We’ve got a word-count to reach and a story to finish.
Pinkie Pie reassembled herself, laughing, and Sunset casually pitched her tray into the nearest waste basket.
“Uh, Pinkie… Are you okay? That seems like the kind of thing you’d only do in a song or something.”
“Uh huh; I’m great! Let’s wrap this gift!”
“Hm? Oh, right. I guess we still haven’t picked out a gift for Flash.” Pinkie Pie deflated.
Sigh. Pink - “Wait,” Sunset took the tiara back in her hands and looked at it meaningfully, “I have an idea.”
Flash Sentry parked in front of the gymnasium, not knowing that Super (Secret) Party ~~Pony~~Person Pinkie Pie had worked tirelessly (and with the help of some friends) to redecorate the building’s interior for the evening’s festivities. He walked in and found himself surrounded by streamers - soft lights and the slow rotating illumination of a disco ball. The Rainbooms were playing slow, inoffensive music on a stage at the back of the building. This was a dangerous gambit, playing on harsh memories. Flash looked around. His eyes found Sunset and then narrowed. He strode purposefully toward her. “Is this a joke?” the conflict of emotions in his words is difficult to describe.
“No,” Sunset said easily. She would have to be gentle here. “It’s the Sadie Hawkins dance.”
“I noticed,” sorrow there. Then confusion: “I don’t - ”
“It was our first date. You were the most popular guy in school. We walked through those doors - ” She looked past him to the doors he had just walked through - “And I looked out to everyone looking at us -”
“I’ve already forgiven you for that - if this is about...” He couldn’t quite articulate farther than that. “You don’t have to...” He shook his head.
Suddenly, the context of the conversation seemed apparent to Sunset, and her expression lightened. “No, she said. Look. I remember - you told me - do you remember? You said, ‘Thank you for a night to remember.’” She moved past him - her back to the doors; his to the stage.
“Yeah,” he said, putting a hand through his hair. “Kind of dumb.”
She laughed, “but honest.”
“Yeah, heh.”
“But it’s not a night to remember anymore.”
He sighed. “Yeah.”
“I took that memory from you, so I wanted to give you another one.” She extended her hand to him. The signal.
“Look, Sunset, I know you feel guilty. And this must have taken a lot of work and all, but we’re not - ”
“Ladies and Gentlemen!” said Pinkie from the stage. Sunset shifted her extended hand to gesture toward the stage. “Her Majestic Royalness, Princess Twilight Sparkle!”
Flash turned to see Twilight emerge onto the stage. He turned back toward Sunset who shrugged uncomfortably and smiled. He turned back to the stage. He turned back to Sunset. “Merry Christmas,” she said. Flash hugged her. She hugged him back. Then they broke, and he made for the stage.
Sunset watched him go. Then she looked up to Pinkie Pie. She thought about how happy she was to have Pinkie in her life. And so did I.
