“Hey, everyone!” Gloriana’s voice burst from the PA system, ”If you could start heading to the parking lot, the bus is waiting to take you back home. It sure has been a blast, and Timber and I would like to thank you for making this the best week of camp ever!”
“Yeah, and remember to come back and see us sometime” Timber chipped in, “Especially if you want to join in the fun!”
“Because old friends are always welcome” added Gloriana, giving her brother a hug.
Sci-Twi, who had been stood next to Sunset, suddenly ran off to begin the longest farewell she could manage with Timber before being called to the bus. Sunset looked on, a benign smile across her face and shaking her head gently.
“I’ll take care of your cases then …?” she asked the empty space where her friend had just been standing.
“Hey, let me help” came a familiar male voice approaching from behind her.
“Oh, hi Flash” she greeted, finally tearing her eyes away from Sci-Twi who was getting to grips with her fond farewells.
“You were right” he admitted, “When I see her with someone else now, I don’t keep stopping and thinking she should be with me any more. In fact, I’m pleased for her.”
“Way to go” she congratulated him, punching him lightly on his shoulder, “It’s a tough call, but once you’ve made it, life just gets easier.”
“Hey” he hesitated, “The auto shop has dropped my car off here, so I’m going to be driving back instead of taking the bus. I don’t know if you might … what I mean to say is … would you like …?”
He stuttered to a halt, blushing brightly and rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. Sunset just looked at him, watching as his self-confidence began to evaporate and raised an eyebrow, completely silencing him. She found him so adorable when he got flustered and could feel a smile wanting to break out across her face, but fought to suppress it, not wanting to give the impression she was prepared to fall for him so easily.
“So, you’re serious about this starting over thing, then?”
“As friends?” he asked hesitatingly, desperate not to feel the soul-crushing pangs of rejection if he overreached himself by asking for too much, too soon.
She could tell exactly how he felt; he was simply dreadful at trying to hide his feelings. It was however true that he had dumped her when they were last dating and even though she had come to recognise how awful she had been back then, there was still that point of pride to overcome – he had dumped her. In fairness, she couldn’t blame him; it hadn’t been much of a relationship, the old her had just been using him all along, yet here he was lining up to give it another go.
She looked at him, the nervous expression in his eyes telling her all too clearly how much a poorly chosen word could hurt him now. She had changed; once upon a time she would have taken delight in crushing anyone who dared to bare their soul to her, but now she looked upon him with genuine kindness and understanding.
He was so painfully transparent it would have been obvious to any girl he made a pass at that they could take advantage of him; not only that, but he was handsome and kind too, and would make the perfect trophy boyfriend. She cared deeply about him and although part of her, a large part of her, wanted to make a go of it, she didn’t want to risk losing him as a friend.
What finally tipped the balance for her was the thought that if she rejected him, then the next girl he took a fancy to could take advantage and hurt him more than she would, and she did not want to see that. She at least trusted herself to consider his feelings and protect him from what she knew were her own worst excesses.
“As friends” she confirmed, a faint smile just lifting the corners of her mouth, “As friends, OK?”
“Yes!” shouted Flash, punching the air in celebration, a broad smile clearly evident for a second before he forced himself to regain an outwardly cool composure, even though he was bubbling with excitement on the inside.
“As friends” she reminded him, unable to stop a smile forming on her own face as she could see him wrestling to control his own happiness, “Hey, how about helping with Twilight’s bags then?”
He almost tripped over himself trying to show how eager he was to please her, grabbing everything in two big handfuls.
“I hope I’m worth it” she thought to herself as she watched her smitten ex rush to follow her request to the letter.
A tooting on the bus horn announced to everyone that it was time to depart and Flash held the passenger door of his shining midnight blue sports coupé open for his guest. She turned to take one last look at Sci-Twi and Timber as they held hands on the stage, still staring deeply into each other’s eyes, and turned back to see the other girls looking at her and Flash excitedly from the bus windows, waving, blowing kisses and Pinkie making a heart shape with her hands. Sunset dismissed the insinuations with a cheerful wave and slid herself into the comfortable leather seat, hearing the door shut behind her with a deep satisfying clunk.
Flash got in to the drivers side and as soon as he shut the door all the sound was locked out, leaving the two of them together in silence.
“I think Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna are going to have to separate those two with a crowbar at this rate!” she joked.
“Hey, you don’t think they’ll leave without her, do you?” he replied, a concerned look on his face.
“No. You’re good. C’mon, let’s go” she urged, the growing intensity of her friends’ attention from the bus windows beginning to make her blush.
Flash turned the key and Sunset was impressed by the subtle understated roar of the engine as he gave her one last look to see if she was alright, then slid the gearshift into drive. They inched forward, the cheering of the girls on the bus even louder to them than the sound of the engine, in spite of the excellent soundproofing.
“Great crowd” commented Flash as Sunset slid down in her seat, trying not to be noticed by all her friends cheering her on.
Flash drove slowly and carefully along the track that led away from Camp Everfree so as not to kick up any stones, then turned out onto the deserted highway and allowed the car a little more leash as he set the needle exactly on the speed limit.
“Nice car” she said, approvingly, stroking the dashboard.
“Thanks. I didn’t have it when we … when, er …”
“When we were last together?” she prompted. She could tell that he was blushing, but spared him the embarrassment of looking.
“Er, yes” he agreed, “It’s last year’s model, but I like it. Even had that custom paint job done.”
“When I get a car, it’s going to have a custom red and yellow paint job – everyone will know it’s me.”
“Hey, I can help you learn to drive” he offered, then added as an afterthought, “If you like.”
As the mile markers marched past in a steady procession, the two of them started to grow more at ease together and conversation drifted easily from one thing to the next. He couldn’t believe how much she had changed, whilst she couldn’t believe what a catch she had let slip through her fingers before.
“You know” he enthused, “You’re such a cool guitarist and a great singer. If you ever want a change from the Rainbooms, you make sure you come across to Flash Drive – we would totally rock!”
“Thanks, I’ll bear that in mind, but my place is with the Rainbooms – we’ve been through a lot together.”
“Hey, I was there! Do you remember ponying up when you defeated the Dazzlings? That was so awesome!”
“Hey, take it easy; you’re starting to sound like Rainbow Dash!”
“That’s no bad thing, she’s really cool” said Flash admiringly as he reached over to the glove box to get out his cell phone charger, but failed to realise that Sunset had crossed her legs and brushed her knee by mistake.
“Oh, I’m so sorry!” he flustered, totally embarrassed, “That’s not the reason I offered you a lift …”
“Pull over” said Sunset softly.
With the prospect of all his dreams suddenly crashing down around his ears, Flash slowed down, wishing that he had been more careful and dreading the backlash when Sunset walked out and got picked up by the bus as it came past. He turned off the highway onto some firm ground and switched the engine off.
“I’m so, so sorry” he apologised, dreading what would happen next and bracing himself for a hard slap across the face.
Sunset undid her seatbelt and leaned over.
“Here it comes” he thought to himself, “No less than I deserve.”
She placed her hands on either side of his head and pulled him towards her, locking lips and kissing him deeply. He was startled, but quickly responded as she ran her fingers through his hair, refusing to let go of him. When eventually she released her hold, she pulled back and looked him straight in the eyes, taking in his stunned expression.
“I … I thought …” he started.
“Enough thinking” she purred softly, putting a finger to his lips and silencing any further half-formed explanations before moving in for another kiss.
Just then the bus pulled up alongside to see if they needed any help, but a glance from Vice Principal Luna in the front quickly confirmed that at that precise moment they did not need any assistance, and instructed the driver to continue.
As the bus passed, the students all erupted in loud cheers that penetrated into the car. Sunset heard, but this time she wasn’t in the least bit embarrassed and made no attempt to hide; in her mind, they were now more than just friends and she didn’t care who knew.
