Band Geeks.

— ☽ —

The sky above was an impossible blue; not a cloud to be seen, only the Sun and her ravaging heat. The baseball field turned to blistering rock under her scorching rays, with cracks snarling underfoot as players tore across the stretch between bases. Sunset Shimmer took position at home plate, adjusting her hat to keep the sun from her eyes. She squinted out at the field, running her tongue over her chapped lips in contemplation. It was the bottom of the sixth. All bases full; two batters out; and they were four points behind.

Sunset clutched the bat in her hands tighter, letting the material of her gloves squeak against the rubber handle. This was it; the last run. It all depended on her now.

She let out a deep breath as she readied herself, raising up her bat and keeping her feet shoulder-width apart. Her dad had told her that was best for maintaining her balance. She didn’t need to scan the stands for her family; she’d already spent most of the game staring in that direction anyway, whenever she was sat on the bench. She shot them a quick glance and grinned, flashing her signature wink.

The pitcher took their stance, pulled back their arm, and pushed their whole body into their throw. The ball tore its way to home plate, a deafening crack punctuating the air once it collided with Sunset’s bat, stealing all breath from the stadium. Sunset dropped the tip of her bat to the ground, raising her hand up to shield her eyes as she squinted against the harsh light of the sun. The space was silent as the opposing team scrambled desperately in the outfield.

And then, as the ball soared high over the back fence, the crowd erupted. Sunset let out a relieved breath as her team rushed her from all over, cheering her name and tackling her in wild bouts of excitement. She laughed, and cheered, and screamed, even as her team hoisted her into the air.

She’d done it. She’d taken home the championship!

• ☀ -

Sunset Shimmer gulped down a hearty portion of her water, wiping the excess from her mouth with the back of her hand. She let out a whistle and crouched lower to the ground, offering up her bottle to the smaller girl who lay sprawled out against the grass. “Want some?”

“Mh,” Twilight groaned.

Sunset chuckled and leaned over to dribble some into the other girl’s open mouth.

Twilight swallowed and let her slowly dribble more in, grateful for Sunset’s generosity and patience. “Gah,” she huffed, finally finding the strength to open her eyes, “you’re a saint.”

“And you’ve been slacking.” Sunset set her hand on her hip and she stood up again, smirking down at the other girl who gave her a pout in return. “C’mon,” she offered out her hand, “lets go get a slushie or something. The sun’s melting today.”

Twilight let Sunset pull her to her feet with another agonised grunt and watched as the other girl fetched their bags from beside the running track. Usually, the bookworm would have sat out on Sunset’s weekly track workout, but once summer had ended the other girl had been adamant on Twilight getting in her own exercise. It was almost as if Sunset knew that most of her time was spent cooped up in the library, or tucked away reading sheet music in the band room. It would have been infuriating if Sunset wasn’t so endearing.

“You ready to hit the showers?” Sunset asked, tossing Twilight her backpack.

Twilight fumbled but caught it. “W- huh?” she blinked, finally coming back to reality.

Sunset arched a brow, once again setting her hand on her hip as she gave a lopsided smirk. “The showers, Twilight,” she jabbed her thumb back towards the school building, “are you ready?”

Twilight’s brow creased as she pinched her lips, drumming the tips of her fingers together as Sunset led the way towards the school’s back entrance. “I don’t- do we have to?”

“Mmmh,” Sunset pursed her lips and tapped at her chin. She glanced over her shoulder at Twilight, “Yeah. Unless you want your clothes to stink. I mean, I don’t judge, but if people ask me I’ll say I don’t know you.”

“Whuh- hey!” Twilight frowned and jogged to catch up, finally falling into place beside the other girl. Sunset had longer legs than her, so she had to make double the effort to keep her stride. “Are we even allowed after school hours?”

“Yeah! I use ‘em all the time. The school doesn’t really lock up ‘till the after school clubs are all over anyway, so just don’t take too long.”

Twilight huffed and adjusted her glasses before folding her arms over her chest. “I won’t.” Sunset smirked again and tried to suppress a snort. “What? What’s so funny?”

“Twi, I’ve known you since 7th grade. You always take forever in the shower.”

“Wh-” Twilight blushed, “no I don’t!”

“There was that one summer we went swimming with Pinkie and couldn’t get ice cream afterwards because you took too long-”

“-I wanted to make sure I washed all the chlorine out of my hair!”

“The fact you have to shower before you go to bed at night because otherwise you’ll be late for school-”

“That happened one time-”

“You never shower after gym class because you know you’ll be late for your next period-”

Twilight’s face flushed as she sputtered. “Wh- I- that isn’t-!”

Sunset gave a wide, knowing smirk and flashed the other girl a wink. “It’s okay Sparkles. You like being squeaky clean. It suits you.”

Twilight puffed out her chest as they finally made it inside, but let all the hot air out through her nose as the AC blasted her from above. She just needed to cool off; figuratively as well as literally. She knew she couldn’t out-wit Sunset when she was riled up.

Sunset gave her a playful jab on the arm and laughed at how flustered the other girl had become, Twilight dipping her head and rolling her eyes. As they turned into the P.E corridor both girls brought themselves to a sudden stop, so as not to bump into the blue haired girl that had just ducked out of the locker room in front of them.

Both girls knew her to be Sonata Dusk, vice captain of the cheer leading squad. Sunset kept her lips pressed together.

Sonata jumped, startled, and whipped around to press her back flush against the door. “Oh! Uhm- hey there,” she chuckled, “did you need to, uhm-”

Twilight and Sunset both shared a look before the smaller girl shrugged her off. “We just needed to use the showers. Is the cheer squad done with practice?”

“Oh! Y-yeah!” Sonata curled a section of her ponytail around her finger and nodded, a little too eagerly for Sunset’s taste. “The changing room’s packed. You should find another one.”

The tallest of the three looked the other girl up and down, inspecting her dishevelled uniform but choosing to say nothing. “Sure,” Sunset forced a polite smile and tugged on Twilight’s shirt to get her to follow after her as she continued down the hallway. “Go Wondercolts!”

“Y-yeah! Go Wondercolts!”

Twilight raised a curious brow and flashed a small smile of her own, nodding politely before she tried catching up to Sunset again. She waited until they were a few paces away and had turned the corner before she leaned up into Sunset’s ear. “What was-?”

Sunset couldn’t keep the smirk out of her eyes, even if she did manage to keep a levelled expression. “I guess cheer practice is more fun than I thought. Remind me to ask Pinkie Pie what those girls get up to.”

Twilight gaped and flushed, giving a solid punch to Sunset’s shoulder.

“Ow!”

“Don’t be mean.”

It didn’t take them long to find a free locker room; Twilight slipped her backpack off carefully and set it atop the bench closest to the showers, whereas Sunset merely tossed hers against the wall. The shorter girl slipped off her glasses with a harrumph.

She dipped her head and undid the buttons of her polo-shirt. “Nice to see you take care of your bag, as usual.”

Sunset slipped her vest up over her head and tossed her hair with a cheeky grin. “It’s not like there’s anything important inside.”

Twilight’s eye twitched. She shot a look Sunset’s way and sighed once the other girl stepped out of her sweatpants, stretching her arms above her head and leaning from side to side to pop the stiffness in her back and shoulders. “You’re so boorish.”

“Aw, thanks Twi.” Sunset shot her a finger gun and stepped into the shower, pulling the curtain closed before she tossed her underwear over the railing.

Twilight puckered her cheek with a frown, a faint blush dusting her skin. The water was already running before Twilight had even stripped herself down and stepped into her own shower, and she shivered at the cold air that wafted over from Sunset’s cubicle.

She clenched her jaw to stop her teeth from chattering. She knew Sunset would only tease her if they did. Twilight kept her limbs close to her body as she turned on her own shower, and stayed like that until she was warm enough to step under the water.

“You’re getting better by the way!”

“Hm?” Twilight raised a brow that Sunset couldn’t see, rubbing at her arms and skin. “What do you mean?”

“Your stamina! You didn’t pass out this time! Usually after about fifteen minutes you ask to sit down because you’re feeling light-headed.”

Sunset gave a hearty laugh and Twilight’s chest clenched. She knew the other girl was absolutely beaming, Twilight had memorised her expressions perfectly by now. It would be cheeky and lopsided, with a faint quirk to her brow. She’d probably have her hands on her hips. God, she was so cute when she—

Twilight shook her head. She thumped the thumb side of her fist against her forehead as she clenched her eyes shut. That was enough of that.

“Ugh… this sucks. I wanna run my head under the water, but it’ll suck even more if I catch a cold.” Sunset mumbled, complaining out loud. “I’m just gonna have another shower when I get home.”

Twilight hummed. “You’re going home tonight?”

“Heh, unless I can stay at yours?”

Twilight looked down as if unable to meet the other girl’s eyes, guilt settling in her stomach. “Sunset I-... You know you’re always welcome, but—”

She heard Sunset sigh, and she could already tell the other girl was straining a smile. “I know, I know, you’ve got plans with Timber,” she let out a light chuckle and turned off her water, “I didn’t forget, I was just teasing. I think it’s time I finally talk to my mom anyway.” Sunset let out a sigh and Twilight heard her pull her underwear down from the shower wrack.

“How are you guys anyway? Thats been, what… three months now?” Sunset fished out her clean clothes from her discarded bag and sat on the bench to pull on her socks. “You guys must be getting pretty serious.” Twilight could hear the goading in her tone.

Still, she bit her tongue. “Uh, yeah. He wants to come over tonight to watch a movie.”

“Is that allll the two of you are gonna do?” Sunset giggled and pulled on her shirt, eyeing up Twilight’s curtain with a fiendish smirk.

Twilight cleared her throat. “We’ll probably, like, make out. And stuff.”

Sunset snorted and clutched her stomach in laughter, wiping a tear from her eye before she finally wiggled into her clean shirt and pulled on her shoes. Twilight felt the lump in her stomach churn.

“You know, Twi, if we want to go get slushies, you’re gonna have to pick up the pace.”

“I know, I know! Just—... wait.” Twilight paused and thumped her head against her palm. “I don’t have clean clothes. I didn’t think-...” she sighed, “I didn’t have gym today.”

Sunset rose to her feet and smiled, not that Twilight could see it though. “That’s okay, I have a fresh polo shirt in my locker you can borrow. Just wait here and I can run and grab it for you?”

“T-thanks.”

Once Twilight was sure Sunset had left the locker room, listening for the click of the door behind her, the book worm let out a heavy breath. Her cheeks were flushed and she nibbled at her lip, gazing up at the shower head above her. She reached out and flicked the water to a colder temperature and let it run over her face, careful not to soak her hair. Sunset wouldn’t let her hear the end of it if she did.

After a few minutes, and she was certain the cooler temperature had mellowed out the red in her cheeks, Twilight switched the shower off and rested her forehead against the cool, dampened tiles. She knew it wouldn’t be long, but she was grateful for the reprieve from her best friend, tugging at her heart strings.

Water dripped from both shower heads and Twilight listened to the water as it drained away. She had to stay calm. Had to keep herself in check. She had to smile, and face the other girl as best she could without…

Twilight swallowed.

She turned and fetched her own underwear before she sat on the bench beside Sunset’s bag, waiting for the other girl to return. She puckered one cheek, then the other, twiddling her thumbs and dropping her head with an agitated huff. Twilight pulled her head up to stare at the locker room lights, squinting at the way they buzzed. She drummed her fingers against the bench and turned her feet inward, shivering once the cold of the room finally settled on her still-wet skin. Sunset had better hurry up, she groaned.

Twilight eyed the other girl’s bag, still open from when Sunset had fetched her own clothes. She peered inside and smiled, pulling the other girl’s varsity jacket out and around her shoulders to keep herself warm.

“Awe. That’s cute,” Sunset smirked at her from the doorway.

Twilight puckered her lips with an annoyed scowl. “Now you come back.”

Sunset chuckled and passed her her shirt. “Sorry I took so long. I ran into Flash out in the hall. He asked me if I wanted to come over and play video games later. I might just crash at his place tonight.”

Twilight felt her throat tighten as she slipped off Sunset’s jacket to pull on her top. “O-oh?”

Sunset took her seat on the bench again and waited for Twilight to finish getting dressed. She inspected her nails and crossed one leg over the other. “Yeah. His dad’s usually super chill with me staying over, so it should be fine. If not I’ll give you the play by play of my show down with my mom,” Sunset snickered.

She slipped her bag strap over her shoulder and eyed her jacket for a moment, where Twilight had set it down on the bench. Sunset’s eyes then rested on the back of Twilight’s head as the other girl re-adjusted her ponytail. Sunset smiled. “You can wear my jacket if you want. I know you get cold easily.”

Twilight spared her a glance over her shoulder. “Huh? Are you sure? Don’t you need it for volleyball?”

Sunset looked at her, brows wrinkling as she once again gave her dopey, lop-sided smirk. “Only when I’m playing an away game. The coach won’t kill me if I let you borrow it for a day,” she chuckled. Twilight watched Sunset’s back as she walked over to hold the door open. She plucked the jacket from the bench and slipped her arms through the sleeves before the slung one bag strap over her shoulder, ducking her head low as she passed by Sunset on her way out.

Despite the prominent stench of perspiration that seeped it’s way into the threads of Sunset’s jacket— more so from the overuse than anything else— Twilight tugged the material closer. There was a comfort to it. It mingled with the lingering smell of the older girl’s strawberry scented shampoo and, even though she knew Sunset hated it, there was a faint smell of cigarette smoke embedded deep within, no matter how much the other girl tried her best to get rid of it.

She let Sunset lead the way to the gas station down the road, only piping up to order her drink and thank the cashier. Then, she followed Sunset over to the baseball field across the street, where she took her place in the stands.

“And there you have it folks!” Sunset cupped her hands around her mouth, putting on an announcer voice as she yelled over the field, “Sunset Shimmer has single-handedly saved the Canterlot Junior High Unicorns from the jaws of defeat! The crowd is going wild out here tonight, ladies and gentlemen!”

Twilight scoffed and slurped down her slushie, watching the other girl as she stretched her arms out and ran in circles.

“It just does not get any better than this!”

As Sunset went on, Twilight couldn’t fight off her own smile, recounting that summer day so many years ago. She’d been there; watching her. Watching the way she took in steadying breaths as she readied up to the plate. Seeing the way her eyes tightened— focused— on the future ahead. Sunset Shimmer had been a marvel then, and Sunset Shimmer was a marvel now; even if she had given up the bat and mitt in exchange for a pair of knee-pads and a glossy, wooden volleyball court instead. The girl excelled in anything she put her mind to. Twilight hoped the crushed ice in her cup would help her reddening face.

Sunset hopped back over the fence and climbed the bleachers to side with Twilight, taking a long sip of her own slushie. She pulled it away with a wince. “Oooh- ah- brain freeze!” Sunset dug her palm against her forehead and clenched her eyes shut.

Twilight let out a giggle. “That’s what happens when you drink it that fast. I’d’ve thought you would have learned that by now, seeing as how you do this literally every time.”

“Mh…” she let her smile creep back into her features, “I need to keep a consistency.”

They sat quietly, watching the clouds drift by, pointing out any that had peculiar shapes and just generally enjoying the calm shared between them. Sunset was grateful that she didn’t have to speak to know Twilight enjoyed her company. The other girl reassured her in the form of nudging Sunset’s knee with her own, or dripping chilling condensation from her cup onto Sunset’s thighs. She returned the gesture of course, and made sure to attack the other girl’s sides once they were finished with their slushies, forcing ugly laughter from Twilight as she tried to wriggle free.

Time still found a way to pass by so quickly though, and Sunset made sure to walk Twilight home before it got too dark.

“Make sure Timber knows to keep his hands above the waist,” Sunset grinned, pointing two fingers at her eyes before pointing them back to Twilight’s. “If I don’t catch him and kick his butt, you know Shining will. And Shining’ll make it look like an accident.”

Twilight rubbed her neck and forced a laugh, “Y-yeah. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure we keep things PG-13.” She waved Sunset off as she walked backwards down the street, not even bothering to stop at her own house as she left. Once Sunset was out of sight Twilight’s heart dropped, like all the weight of the world came crashing down on her all at once.

She frowned and made her way up the drive to her front door. She kicked off her shoes, waved hello to her parents, and dragged her feet as she climbed the stairs to her room. The place was spotless as usual. Her books were neatly filed away in alphabetical order, tucked into the bookcase that took up the back wall of Twilight’s room. She flopped down onto her bed, removing her glasses only after they had uncomfortably scraped up the bridge of her nose. She sat them on her bedside cabinet and paused, eyes resting upon the framed picture that sat there too.

It was from freshman year of junior high. Her chess club tournament. Sunset had been there to support her. Twilight turned her head against the mattress and reached out to hold the picture closer. She stroked over Sunset’s face with her finger, taking in a deep breath before letting it back out in a heavy sigh.

“Twilight! Timber’s here!” Her father called from down stairs.

Twilight pushed herself to sit up and set the frame back down where it had been sitting previously and she plastered on a smile.

“Coming, dad!”

Sunset had been right about one thing: she did like to keep things squeaky clean.

Author's Note

can YOU see Twilight's coping mechanism? ;9

im really sorry for how long it took me to update this ashdkfjad my minds been all over the place and I just havent had time to sit down and write for this au BUT hopefully the next chapter wont take a million years to come out !!

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