Inferno

by DrakeyC

Rating: teen
Tags: Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle, Profanity, Human, Drama, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Romance
Length: 2316

Twilight won't settle for anything less than a perfect gift for her girlfriend. They have very different ideas about what that entails, 2nd place, Iron Author EFN 2018

Twilight won't settle for anything less than a perfect gift for her girlfriend.

They have very different ideas about what that entails.

Entry to Everfree Northwest 2018's Iron Author contest, won second place. Prompt: Fire, Palpable, Brooch.

Published 2018-05-21 15:10:08 UTC
Last updated 2018-05-21 15:10:08 UTC

Inferno

Every store sign Twilight laid her eyes on made her veins fill with ice. A bookstore? Perhaps something for herself, but she had no time for such frivolities. An electronics store? There were options there, video games or some new technological device, but that was uninspired and lacking. Twilight had no need of such things.

What Twilight needed was a match, kindling, perhaps some shreds of paper. Something to make her girlfriend feel the way she made Twilight feel. The sight of her gold and crimson hair, the gaze of her jeweled eyes, the smile of small strawberry lips. It lit an inferno in Twilight’s heart that rose to consume her the more she thought of her. Never had she known such passion, such intensity.

Did her girlfriend feel the same way? Twilight liked to think so. A fire like the one that was stoked in her heart every time they met was one that could not be confined to just one of the two. And yet, there was doubt. Who was Twilight to be with such a woman? She was a bookish wallflower, an asocial nerd. She was more comfortable in bed with a book than in a café on a date.

Her girlfriend had become the exception to that rule, since the first time their lips touched and Twilight felt a spark between their hands as their fingers intertwined. She had been out of breath when they parted and yet she wanted to kiss again, to have her breath stolen from her by the lovely thief standing on the doorstep with her.

“I… had a great time, Twilight.”

Such simple words. Kind, sincere, but simple. Twilight would have responded by telling her how she felt about their evening, but the night only had so many hours in it. She had settled for returning the words and leaning in for another kiss. Her heart had skipped when it was returned.

To find someone who saw all her flaws and shortcomings, who saw her as pretty and thoughtful and worthy of love. Twilight would say she had never imagined such a thing, and it would be true in a purely literal sense – she had never bothered to entertain the thought of romance, assured that it would never find her.

And then she did. With all the illumination and warmth of a summer sun.

Twilight’s eyes fell on a display of golden letters. Crystal Memories. For a moment the ice in her veins defrosted. She lowered her eyes from the sign to the shop. Jewelry. Such a traditional, almost clichéd gift. Perhaps that was a good thing, then? To fall back on such an obvious solution and in it find a fitting gift in spite of the simplicity of the source.

The display cases of the store were her greeters, the grey and brown tiles her red carpet. The store clerk behind the counter gave a pasted-on smile and a recorded offer of aid. Twilight politely nodded and turned her attention to the cases.

Rows and rows of necklaces hung from gold and silver chains, draped down cases and hanging from black plastic busts. Twilight surveyed each carefully before turning her eyes to the next in line. She would spend five minutes examining them for a suitable gift if it took so long. What was time against the heat that burned her heart when she imagined the look on her love’s face when she opened the box?

Dissatisfied with her search in the first case, Twilight stepped over to the next case: earrings. Most of them displayed the same totems as the necklaces and were just as uninteresting. Hearts, animals, letters. The same kind of dull and boring shapes that were surely dominating the store’s cases years ago when it opened and would likely fill them for years to come. There was no warmth to be found here, just chilling and empty mediocrity.

She passed each display case in turn, giving each one less time than the one before as she kept finding the same designs over and over with minor variations, no intensity to be found but plenty of inanity. Dull and ordinary would not do, could not do. She needed a gift to match its future owner.

Twilight looked at the clerk. “Do you have anything more unique?”

The clerk’s serviceable fake smile only slightly faltered. “Unique?”

“Yes.”

“Could you define what you mean by ‘unique’?”

“Special, unordinary.” When Twilight saw the clerk was still confused, she amended, “something not mass-produced a hundred times a day. I want something different.”

The clerk stopped and stared. “You could try there.” She gestured to a standing case closer to the middle of the room. “Those are single run items, only a hundred of each produced and every one by hand.”

Twilight came closer to look over the items. This side had earrings. True to the clerk’s word they were much more distinct and interesting to look at than the horizontal cases. Still, she saw nothing that satisfied her. She slowly spun the case to the next wall, necklaces. Another failure. A third turn to the next side.

As she looked up and down the racks, hand already on the edge of the case to turn it to the final side, she paused. Her heart leapt into her throat and made her lose her breath in an instant. She took a step to the side and thrust a finger at the glass.

“That one.”

The clerk leaned over the counter. “Are you certain, miss?”

Twilight frowned. “Why would I not be?”

“Well, that item is a bit out of your price range, I should think. We have several similar-looking items over here at considerably lower—"

“That won’t be necessary, thank you.” She looked back at the case and knelt to bring the case into eye level. “She deserves this one.”

Twilight looked down at her phone’s selfie screen and used it to fix her bangs. She wanted to look as good as her modest purple dress and hand-me-down earrings and necklace would allow her. Still unsatisfied but accepting it was the best she could do, Twilight raised her hand and knocked sharply.

The door swung open immediately.

“I was wondering when you’d knock. I heard the cab pull away five minutes ago.”

A sun goddess incarnate stood before her, wearing naught but black jeans and a red T-shirt. Her teal eyes ignited the familiar flames in Twilight’s chest and instantly made her short of breath. How her girlfriend had such an effect on her, science would never be able to explain.

Her girlfriend looked her up and down, eyes wide. “Twilight… um, wow…”

The flames inside her flickered. “Do you not like how I look?”

“Are you for real? You look great! I just thought we were spending tonight inside.”

“We are. I just wanted to look good for you.”

“Okay then.” Her girlfriend smiled and leaned in to kiss her. Twilight’s heart skipped three beats, one for every second their lips touched. She returned to consciousness when they parted. “Now get in here already, it’s cold out there and you’re in a dress.”

“Thank you.” Twilight let her step aside and make way for her before coming in, faded purple heels clicking on the hardwood floor. She sat down on the sofa behind the coffee table and placed a small box wrapped in red paper beside her. She looked down at it and let all her doubts and hesitations well up from her gut and fill her head. There were a million possible reasons why her gift would be rejected; it was just a matter of which one fate picked.

“Did you want to watch the movie first, or order dinner?” Her girlfriend held out a couple flyers and pamphlets. “There’s a new place that opened down the street, apparently has great seafood.”

“Let’s open gifts!” Twilight blurted. She instantly regretted her decision. She ought to have delayed the opening until the end of the night, when her girlfriend’s disappointment could not sour future prospects on the evening, when Twilight could go home and reflect on events leading up to it and her girlfriend could toss her gift in a drawer and forget about it to do the same.

“Sure. Hang on a sec.” She left the room and Twilight. Twilight sucked in a breath and steeled her nerves as best she could. She had spent nearly a month shopping for this occasion. She had taken the utmost thought and care with her gift. If she put forth her best effort and failed then there was no shame in it, right?

“Here we go.” Her girlfriend returned with a plastic purple gift bag. “Sorry I didn’t have time to wrap it…” She sat down on the other end of the sofa, rubbing the back of her neck. “I may have picked out what to get you last week and forgot to actually buy it until this morning.” She held the bag out with a small smile.

Twilight took the offered bag and pulled out the crumbled-up bundle of white tissue paper obscuring its contents. She reached inside and withdrew a book. “A Glimpse Into Causality.” She swallowed heavily. “The new Star Swirl book.”
Her girlfriend let out a breath. “Good, it’s the right one. I don’t follow that series and I’m not sure which ones you had, so I went with the most recent release.”

“Thank you.” Twilight set the book on the table, her chest burning. The latest novel penned by her favorite science fiction author. Of course it was lovely, it was something she had wanted and would enjoy for a week or more before placing it on her shelf with the prior four books in the series preceding it. “Here.” Twilight extended her hand, her gift in her palm.

Her girlfriend took the box, untabbed the tape, and peeled the paper off. When the small felt grey box was exposed she lifted the lid. At the sight of what was inside she snapped her hands back. The box, its lid, and its content, fell to the floor with a series of three thuds.

“I’m sorry!” Twilight blurted, shutting her eyes so she couldn’t see the disappointment in her girlfriend’s eyes. “I thought it looked nice and you would like it and nothing else in the store fit you and—"

“Twilight.” Her girlfriend’s voice stopped her. “It’s lovely.”

She slowly cracked open her eyes to see her girlfriend picking up her gift and setting it back in its box. “It is?”

“Are you kidding me?” A shake of the head sent fiery gold hair waving in the air. “It’s beautiful. But…” She looked at Twilight, her lips pressed together. “You shouldn’t have bought it.” Twilight made to respond but her girlfriend interrupted again. “I mean no, literally, you shouldn’t have bought it. I recognize it from that jewelry store in the mall, Crystal Memories, right?”

“Yes.”

“And did it cost as much now as it did a month ago when Rarity took me there and showed it to me?”
“… How much did it cost then?”

She huffed and slapped a hand to her forehead. “Twilight, you just bought me a shiny piece of metal with some rocks set in it, that costs more than the table it’s sitting on right now. Probably more than this sofa, too. I can’t accept this.” She put the lid back on the box.

The box was offered back. Twilight took it with a small sniff, her fingers cold and numb. She fought back the tears that welled up in her eyes. Worse than a failure: a rejection.

Her girlfriend noticed. “Are you crying?”

“I’m sorry.” Twilight felt the tear roll down her cheek. “I-I just wanted to get you something nice, a-and that was…”

“It’s beautiful, it really is. But I can’t wear this knowing what you paid for it.”

“Yes, you could,” Twilight said weakly. “I wanted something to make you feel nice.” She looked down at her gift, a book she would cherish and reread for years to come. “I wanted a gift as good as the one I knew you would get me.”

“And how was I supposed to feel wearing this on my jacket every day when all I got you was a book?”

Twilight swallowed the lump in her throat. “I just wanted to make you feel the way you make me feel.”

Her girlfriend looked into her soul and shifted closer on the couch. “Is that all?”

Such simple words. “Yes.”

“How do I make you feel, then? Show me.”

Twilight opened her mouth to begin to explain and found her words caught under the lump she had just swallowed. Unable to find the strength or will or words to speak, she settled for leaning forward and kissing her girlfriend.

An inferno that could rival the coals of a volcano roared to life beneath Twilight’s skin. She put her focus into funneling the flames into her lips, to try and make her girlfriend understand with her kiss what her voice couldn’t articulate. She felt her girlfriend’s hand cup her cheek; her palm was hot. Twilight felt her tears running from her eyes to meet her fingers and surely evaporating on contact.

When she had no breath left in her to continue, Twilight pulled back, panting. When had they fallen back on the sofa? She shifted back to her corner and licked her lips, still hot. Her girlfriend put a hand on the cushion to push herself up, her eyes wide.

Twilight looked in them and almost fainted when she saw a familiar blaze behind the teal.

“I’d say that’s a hell of an anniversary gift. Cost a lot less too.”

Twilight slowly smiled, her face burning.

“I guess… Happy anniversary, then.”

Sunset returned the smile.

“Happy anniversary, Twilight.”