After school is when all the magic happened; not like the kind of magic that Sunset brought with her from her other world, but the kind of intangible magic that you could only feel inside your chest. Then again, every moment that you spent with her seemed magical, from her confident attitude to the adorable red hue of her cheeks whenever she got mad, but nothing matched the atmosphere the two of you shared every day after school, sitting on the bleachers by the football field and talking about everything and anything in particular.
It had been two weeks since the whole Fall Formal Fiasco, as the kids at CHS called it, and during that time, Sunset Shimmer had completely immersed herself in her new pursuit of understanding friendship. Of course, after almost four years of being the tyrant of the school, most of the students at Canterlot High were a little hesitant about making friends with someone who had only ever made connections with the students to use them for her own gain.
Then, there was you. For some odd reason, even through all of the mean things she did or said during her reign as the school tyrant, you could see beneath that and view her as the soft, gentle girl she was on the inside. Even though she may have acted tough, narcissistic and uncaring, you knew that deep down, she was a regular person that had her own personality, just like anybody else. Well, maybe not a person as much as a pony, but honestly, it wasn't the worst skeleton you've seen come out of the closet at CHS.
Of course, once Princess Twilight recommended she make friends, you were the first person to jump on board, making you the first boy she felt like she could confide in. Ever since then, the two of you have spent every day after school sitting on the bleachers, helping Sunset learn to make friends while you got to spend time with the girl of your dreams.
“And then she just ran away!” Sunset yelled angrily, finishing another one of her indignant stories of the day. “Seriously! Who runs away after dropping her pencil?! What does she think I'm gonna do? Jam it up her--”
“Easy, Sunset,” you said, putting your hand on her shoulder to calm her as much as you could. “It's going to take time, but they'll come around eventually.”
“Yeah, right! It's been two weeks so far, and I still haven't made a single friend!” Instead of answering her, however, you fold your arms with a stern stare, making her scoff and roll her eyes. “I meant besides you.”
“OK. Is there anyone in particular you want to be friends with?”
After giving her a minute to think, Sunset's glare softened as she looked down at her feet with sadness, tracing circles on her pantleg. “I guess… there might be one person, but I doubt he would ever want to talk to me again.”
Great. It just had to be a boy, and judging from her tone, you already had a pretty good guess as to who that boy might be.
“It's Flash Sentry, isn't it?” you asked, secretly hoping it wasn't, but to your dismay, Sunset slowly nodded her head, making your heart sink in the process.
“He's probably the one I want to make up with most, but I treated him so bad when the two of us dated. It's no wonder he broke up with me.”
Hearing her honest thoughts made you cringe slightly, but being the good friend that you were, you couldn't just ignore her feelings out of jealousy. As a question came up in your mind, you debated as to whether or not you even wanted to hear the answer, but if it helped Sunset Shimmer in any way, it would be better to ask than to spare your own feelings.
“Do…” you began, trying to force the words out of your mouth. “Do you still love him?”
“Love him? I never even liked him! I mean, it's not that I didn't like him, but I never really had feelings for him or anything like that.”
You sighed in relief, but that didn't mean you were in the clear just yet. “How about now? Do you think you might want to try things out with him now?”
“I don't know.” Sunset Shimmer wrapped her arms around her legs as the two of you silently gazed down at the vacant football field. “I mean, I feel worse for what I did to him than to anyone else at school, so if I owe anyone an apology, I owe him the most.”
You couldn't help but laugh. “I think you owe everyone an apology.”
“Not helping.”
“Right. Sorry.”
After that came a long pause. You wondered what Sunset could have possibly been thinking about after a conversation like that. Was she still thinking about Flash Sentry? Was she thinking about love? Was she thinking about you? Your heart began to race at twice the normal pace as you began praying that your body would stop shaking and that Sunset would just break this silence and say what she was thinking about already!
“Hey…” Sunset said, calming you down at least for the moment. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Yeah, sure. What is it, Sunset?”
Sunset paused again, still looking down at the football field until finally, she breathed in and looked you in the face with her beautiful puppy dog eyes. “Am I cute?”
Then, your heart stopped completely. Where did that come from? Was she asking for herself, or was she asking what you personally thought? Why did she suddenly care about something so trivial? Of course, you wanted to write her a poem with all the details about just how cute you thought she was, but you couldn't exactly spill out your feelings until you knew for sure what was on her mind.
“Uhh, yeah,” you said nonchalantly, scratching the back of your head. “How come?”
“Well, I guess I just got to thinking… I'm giving friendship a shot. Maybe I could give love a shot too, just so I can see all the ways I messed up before.”
“Did you…” You gulped, visibly scared of how she would answer the question you were about to ask. “Did you have anyone in mind in particular?”
Sunset blushed, making your heart do jumpingjacks at an even quicker pace. “Yeah, but I mean, I never see him with many other girls or anything. If I'm cute enough, though, maybe he'll notice me if I just put myself out there a little bit more.”
That was it. The nail in the coffin. The period on any feelings that you had for her, closing the book and destroying whatever perfect ending you had envisioned the two of you sharing at the end. You wanted to support her and tell her how much you believed that any guy would be lucky to have her, but in that moment, you were using all the strength you had not to tear up in front of her.
Suddenly, though, Sunset collapsed sideways, leaning her head on your shoulder as the two of you sat silently, watching the sun go down over the horizon. “You know something?” she said, hugging your arm in a tight squeeze. “I'm really glad we're friends.”
“Yeah,” you replied with a trembling lip, unable to hold back a tear from traveling down your cheek. “I'm glad we're friends too.”
Then, the sun finally disappeared behind the horizon, turning the day into night with the light of the sky disappearing completely.
The next day, as you made your way to your locker, you noticed who else but Sunset Shimmer, leaning against your locker with her arms folded, giving you her signature smirk. She was dressed as usual, but her hair was extra wavy today, she wore sun-shaped earrings and smelled like fresh sunflowers, which on any other day would have been intoxicating. Sadly, though, you knew that she was going through all these lengths for someone else, and if you were lucky, you would never have to figure out who.
“Hey,” she said casually, moving out of the way for you to get out your books. “Are we still good for lunch today?”
“Wouldn't you rather spend lunch with that boy you like?” you asked rudely, hoping that your emotions wouldn't get the best of you.
“Hang on! I never said I liked him. I just… wanna try things out. Besides, that's kind of the point that I'm getting at here.” Rather than reply, however, you just raised an eyebrow, pulling out your books and closing your locker as you waited for her to continue. “Right. Anyway, I was going to try introducing myself to him today, and it would be a big help if you could be there to support me.”
Again, she gave you her puppy dog eyes, making it next to impossible to stay mad at her. Sagging your shoulders with a sigh, you said, “Fine, but can you at least tell me who it is?”
Sunset Shimmer blushed uncharacteristically, making you doubt further the idea that she didn't have feelings for him, especially as she twisted her curly hair with that adorable smile. “His name is Big Macintosh. Word around the school is that he's single, and I thought that maybe since his sister and I are friends now, he would trust me more than some of the other boys here.”
“What?!” you asked incredulously, making Sunset jump in surprise from the newfound change in your temper. Then, hoping that you didn't go overboard with emotion, you took a deep breath and tried your best to smile authentically. “I mean, the redneck? You really want to go out with him?”
“What's wrong with Big Mac?” Sunset asked with her hands on her hips. “He's caring, genuine, handsome…”
“He lacks proficiency in the English language other than two words.”
Sunset Shimmer wanted to retort back, but all she could do was scoff, shaking her head in disbelief. “What's gotten into you? I thought you would be happy for me and that you'd support me. We're friends, aren't we?”
There was that word again. “Friends.” In Sunset Shimmer's mind, it was her ultimate goal as she tried to find out what it really meant by separating herself from her past, but to you, it was the ultimate way for her to reject your feelings. Still, though, you had no right to be angry at her when all she wanted to do was express her feelings without being berated.
Sighing again, you squeezed the bridge of your nose and said, “You're right, Sunset. I'm sorry. I'll be there to support you, and for the record…” You pushed back a tear before it could build up behind your eyes. “...I think the two of you will make a great couple.”
Finally, lunchtime arrived, which you wished would never come despite how much you wanted to just get it over with already. You reserved a spot at your regular table, waiting for Sunset Shimmer, who sat down next to you, looking over her shoulder and searching for Applejack's older brother.
“Do you see him anywhere?” Sunset asked.
“Nope,” you replied, biting into a ham sandwich.
“Ohh, I'm so nervous! Do I still look alright?”
“Eeyup.”
“You know, girls aren't going to like you very much if all you can respond with are one-word answers.” You couldn't figure out which pissed you off more, the fact that she was being as blatantly hypocritical as she was, or the fact that you were receiving romance advice from someone who had never been in a two-sided relationship before. Before you could decide, though, she looked over her shoulder again, tugging at your sleeve. “There he is! Should I go over there now? Would it be too soon? Actually, now that I think about it, maybe lunch time isn't the best time to--”
“Sunset, you're going to be fine.” She looked back into your eyes cautiously, communicating just how much she didn't want to get hurt, but even though those eyes made you fall in love with her even more, you knew that this was not the time to be selfish. “Just go talk to him. I'm sure you'll be fine.”
“Go up to him and say what, though? How do I even get a conversation started with him?”
How would anyone get a conversation started with Big Mac?
“Just…” you began, searching for any kind of helpful advice you could give her, but no matter how hard you thought, the only advice you could think to give her was the same advice that you had been given time and time again. “Just be yourself. You'll be OK. I promise.”
With a smile that broke your heart, Sunset Shimmer rose from her seat and made her way over to Big Mac's table, immediately striking up a conversation with Applejack. As she sat down at the table across from the farm boy, the message sunk in that everything was going smoothly, and as you looked back down at your ham sandwich, you realized that you weren't hungry anymore.
Once the bell rang to send you to your next class, you quickly made your way out of the cafeteria, taking extra detours just to make sure that Sunset couldn't talk to you at least until the day was over. Of course, you'd see her after school in the bleachers, the same place you two always met, but until then, you couldn't let her see how pathetic you looked, all just because she decided to talk to some guy who wasn't you. You felt worthless and narcissistic as the pain of being passed over for another boy sunk in deeper while the embarrassment of feeling depressed at all guilted you into feeling even worse.
Finally, you made it to your next class, and just so long as nobody bothered you, you could be as depressed as you wanted to be. Of course, you hoped deep down that nobody would look over and see the pain written on your face, but if what everyone had told you was true, they would be too busy worrying about their own lives to pay any attention to you. Unfortunately, however, that advice was wrong.
As you sulked in your chair, you felt a folded up piece of paper tap you between your shoulder blades. Quickly realizing the situation, without turning around, you held out your palm to your side and allowed the student behind you to place the note in your hand without either of you being seen by the teacher. As soon as the coast was clear, you pulled your textbook up to your face and unfolded the note, spreading it out underneath the book and reading it as quickly as you could.
“What's wrong?” the note said without any clear indicator of who the author was. Peering over your shoulder, you met eyes with Bulk Biceps, but knowing his penmanship, there was no way he could have written this note. As you looked around further, however, you couldn't make heads or tails as to who might have written to you, especially since you were the only one not paying attention to your teacher's lecture.
With no idea as to who your audience was, you simply wrote down, “Just a bad day. It doesn't matter.” You then slipped the note into your hand, brought it to your side and waited for Bulk Biceps to pass it along. Less than a minute later, though, you felt a tap on your shoulder and held your hand out again.
“It's about Sunset Shimmer, isn't it?”
What?! Who was sending you this letter?! How did they know?!
“What do you mean?” you wrote, wondering if this person thought she was tormenting you or if they knew how you really felt about her. You then handed the note to Bulk Biceps again while hoping he wasn't getting too annoyed being your messenger pigeon, but once again, you had barely begun allowing Mr. Doodle's lecture to sink in by the time the next message had found its way into your hand.
“You like her, don't you? What happened? Did the two of you break up?”
How did this person know so much about you?
“She can't break up with me if we were never dating.”
…
“Have you at least told her how you felt yet?”
“Why would it matter? She likes some other guy anyway.”
…
“Have you ever thought she might like you too? Look, you'll never know unless you try, and if she's looking for a relationship with someone else anyway, what do you have to lose by telling her the truth? Besides, it sounds like you already know what you'll lose if you keep lying to her.”
“I'm not lying to her!” you wrote in a rage, nearly snapping your pencil as your pressed down on the paper with all your strength. Before sending the message back, though, you looked it over and thought about what they wrote, and as much as you hated to admit it, he or she may have had a point. In the entire time the two of you had been friends, you always kept your feelings to yourself, even though she always told you everything. What would happen if you told her the truth?
Erasing the message you wrote before, you calmly replied with, “I'll tell her, but I think she really hit it off with that other guy today.”
After that, you didn't receive a letter back from the mystery kid throughout the rest of the class period. You wondered if your constant pessimism had turned them off to the point where they just wanted to ignore you, but those thoughts were being drowned out by all the scenarios of what would happen once you talked to Sunset Shimmer. Would she tell you what a great friend you are and how she doesn't want to ruin what the two of you have? Would she get angry at you for putting her in an awkward situation even though she had clearly communicated that she had feelings for someone else?
Before you could dwell on it for too long, though, the bell rang, ending class as the entire class all got up at once and walked towards the door. In the throng of kids, though, you could see someone holding a piece of paper in his hands, and even though you couldn't see his face very well in the sea of students, you could still make out a small smile stretching across his freckled cheeks.
Once school was over, you slowly made your way over to the school bleachers, taking as much time as you could while you rehearsed what you would say when you got there. Of course, by the time you arrived, Sunset was there waiting for you, resting her chin in her hand until she finally noticed you approaching.
“There you are!” she said, standing up. You were expecting her to be angry at you after you had been so avoidant all day, but instead, when she folded her arms, she just looked confused. “I tried finding you after lunch, but you kinda disappeared on me.”
“Yeah,” you said, taking a seat and allowing her to join in next to you. “I guess I had a lot on my mind.”
“Like what?” You opened your mouth to speak, but the words just wouldn't come out, leaving you with an awkward silence and leaving Sunset to figure things out all on her own. “Is there something you're not telling me? I may not have a good grasp on this friendship thing yet, but I do know that when I was trying to hurt people, I had a lot of secrets. You're not… going to hurt me, are you?”
“No!” you exclaimed loudly, inadvertently grabbing onto Sunset's hand, but as the two of you looked down, you quickly released her from your grip, looking away and blushing sheepishly. “I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just afraid that I might get hurt.”
Following your words was an unexpectedly long silence, and once you finally looked up to see Sunset's reaction, your heart fell apart. Tears were streaming down her face, and she looked like you had just tossed her heart to the ground, shattering it into a million irreparable pieces. “No…” she cried softly. “Please, not you too!”
“No!” you exclaimed again, realizing how badly she was misinterpreting your vague explanations. “I didn't mean it like that!”
“Then what do you mean?!” Sunset was now shouting, her face growing as angry as it used to before you became friends. “Just spit it out already!”
“I'm afraid to get hurt because… because…” You gulped. “Because you're so dang cute!!”
Suddenly, Sunset Shimmer's tears stopped, her eyebrows softened, and she couldn't help but tilt her head to the side in confusion, further proving the claim you just made.
“Wait… what?”
“Sunset Shimmer,” you said, grabbing her hands again, “you're the cutest girl I've ever met! I want to tell you how I really feel, but I can't because everytime I try, your adorable smile takes away my ability to speak! I wish I could tell you that you're all I ever think about, but how can I do that when you're just so dang perfect?”
Sunset began blushing, but she did not separate her eyes from yours once the entire time. “I'm… perfect?”
“Yes, and it kills me seeing you with another boy, so just this once, can I be completely selfish and ask you to try this love thing out with me instead?”
Again, silence. Sunset never dropped eye contact, but for several moments, all she could do was stare at you while her mouth obviously searched for words that she could use in this situation. Finally, though, she pulled her hand out of your grip and brought it to her mouth as she began laughing hysterically, making you feel embarrassed and idiotic.
“Sorry,” you said, pushing back humiliated tears and looking away just in case the floodgates opened up. “That was pretty stupid.”
“No, it's not that,” she said between giggles. “It's just…” Then, pulling her hand off of her face, you could see her beautiful white teeth as her lips curled upwards and her eyes shimmered. “You really think I'm cute?”
“Uhh…” You still weren't sure if she was going to humiliate you after this, but at least then you'd know for sure. “Yeah, I do.”
With a seductive smirk, Sunset scooched closer, putting her hands to her hips confidently. “Weeeell, I guess I could try things out with you, if you really think I'm cute.”
“Rub it in, why don't you?”
Then, your eyes went wide. As you suddenly felt Sunset's hand caressing your left cheek, you felt the gentle touch of her lips tenderly placing a kiss on the other, making your whole face grow bright red. You then did the only logical thing that came to mind and placed your hand around her waist, pulling her in closer as she leaned her head onto your shoulder.
You couldn't help but question whether or not this was really happening, but just because it was perfect didn't mean it was too good to be true. With a smile on both of your faces, the two of you stared at the horizon, watching the sunset beyond the football field. Nothing else in the world mattered at that moment besides you… and your cute girlfriend.
