Night Under the Stars (Updated 1/20/2023)
It was a bright and sunny day in Canterlot City. But as beautiful as it was Sunset and Twilight were bored out of their minds. They had nothing to do all weekend and weren’t sure what to do. All their friends were busy with plans of their own for the weekend that they had made days prior.
Rarity and Applejack were spending the weekend up in Manehattan, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were attending a soccer game, and Pinkie Pie was spending some quality time with her boyfriend Cheese Sandwich. For once, the couple wished they had something to do other than just sit in utter silence and listen to the quiet of their apartment.
“I wish we had something planned ahead of time Sunset. There’s nothing to do!”
“Tell me about it, Twilight. Do you have any ideas on what we should do?”
“Hmm, let’s see. We could go to the beach?”
“Done that already.”
“We could go to an amusement park?”
“They’re closed for maintenance.”
“The park?”
“Been there more times than I can count. Especially when we go there for our monthly picnic dates.”
“Darn! I haven’t felt this bored since our trip to Camp Everfree!”
“Wait… That’s it!”
“We go to Camp Everfree?”
“No, why don’t we go camping? I know a good place deep in the forest we can spend at weekend at.”
“That does sound interesting, Sunset. You have my interest. Let’s do it!”
“Good to know, Twilight. Let’s get packing and load up to spend the weekend in mother nature.”
“I’m right behind you Sunset!”
After packing up their supplies, and dropping off their pets with Twilight’s parents for the weekend, they were on their way to spend their weekend camping.
Following a half-hour-long car ride and a walk through the forest, they found a perfect spot near the river to set up camp for the night.
But unbeknownst to Twilight and Sunset, they're camping trip, would not be how they'd wanted it to turn out.
The first sign was that neither of them knew how to set up a tent. They could've just called quits and used just their sleeping bags to sleep under the stars. But, they were determined to have a nice camping trip together, with nothing getting in their way. Even if they get mad at each other and began yelling.
“What do you mean you’ve never set up a tent before!?” Asked Twilight.
“I just never went camping a lot in Equestria. Nor was I ever shown how to set up a tent!”
“Then why do you even own one, to begin with!”
“It was on sale and I thought it would come in handy if we ever went camping with our friends!”
“Great, just great. I’m gonna search it up on my phone to see if I can find out how to set up a tent. Since neither of us knows how to set one up.”
While their arguing had come to an end, there was another serious problem they forgot about.
“I wouldn’t think about doing it Twi. The reception here is terrible.”
“I’m sure I’ll be fine. If I just find a good area t-”
‘No service’, her phone said, causing Twilight to get red in the face with anger.
“Hey wait for a second, there are some instructions in here! Huh, would you look at that Twi? Looks like we won’t have to search for it after all... Twilight?”
“Are. You. KIDDING ME!”
After Sunset helped calm Twilight down, they decided to explore the hiking trail to see the wonderful sights of the forest they’d be exploring for the next two days.
“I must say Sunset, this sure is quite a beautiful hiking trail. How did you find it?”
“Um, you might not like the story Twilight. Or want to hear it?”
“Oh come on! It can’t be that bad?”
“Are you sure?”
She got a nod from Twilight and decided to just get the moment over with by telling her girlfriend how she found it.
“It was around the time when I learned about my family’s passing. I thought coming here would maybe help clear my mind as it was in the middle of nowhere. But I was wrong, which of course led to us nearly drowning in the river. I thought about coming back since we had nothing to do this weekend which leads us to now. I’m sorry if I disappointed Twilight.”
“You didn't Sunset. I'm not upset. It’s water under the bridge now. Besides, it’s still a nice hiking traillllllllllll!”
"TWILIGHT!"
Before Twilight knew it the rocks underneath her had given way! Sunset luckily grabbed her at the last second but had to act fast or she'd be next in line!
“Hang on Twilight, I got you!”
“Sunset pull me up now! Pull me up!!”
“What do you think I’m doing!? Oh, whatever, just hang on tight. I’ve got you!”
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Twilight was safe once more. She was back on the trail they were on with no serious injuries.
“Thank you Sunset! Thank you!” Twilight said as she immediately hugged her girlfriend for saving her.
"I'm just glad you're safe."
"I'd be a goner if you weren't there to save me."
"Yeah. It seems like this path isn’t safe. I saw we head back.”
“Yeah it’s getting pretty dark, and I'm starting to get hungry.”
“Well then, let’s head down the mountain and get dinner ready.”
“Sounds good to me. Better down there than up here.”
When they got back to their campsite nightfall had come. There were also some dark clouds visible in the sky. It was a sign they might have rain later.
“Hey Sunset, do you think those clouds mean rain is coming?”
“I’m sure they’re just passing, Best to not worry if I were you Twilight.”
Twilight was still worried but decided to press on as Sunset had told her. “If you say so.”
To get her mind off of the storm clouds Twilight began deciding on what to have for dinner.
Following a few struggles to get their campfire lit with the lighter Twilight brought, she finally got it going.
“Finally! I’m glad this thing still works after all this time.”
“How so? Is it special?” Asked Sunset, coming out of the tent with a bag of marshmallows.
“My brother gave it to me before he went off to college. I often use it for situations like this whenever I need a lighter handy. It may be old but it’s still useful. Most of the time it doesn’t always work or give me a spark I still carry it with me everywhere I go.”
“That’s pretty nice of him. Kinda reminds me of something my father once gave me when I was a filly. But it’s not as special as your lighter.”
“Oh come on Sunset, it can’t be that bad. I’d to see it. Please?” asked the curious Twilight.
‘Alright then Twilight, just let me go get it, I left it in the tent.”
About a minute later, Sunset came back with her bookbag, showing off her cutie mark on its side. She often uses from time to time to carry her books at school and store her magical journal she uses to talk with Princess Twilight, so this just made her more confused than ever.
“Your book bag, what’s so special about it?”
“It’s not any ordinary book bag Twilight. It may look like one, but it’s the saddlebag I used when I was still a pony in Equestria. My dad gave it to me the day I left for Canterlot to be Princess Celestia’s student. Even after I became cruel, mean, and wanted nothing more to become a princess I still kept it as a reminder of the life I left behind. While I’ve since found a place I can call home now if it wasn’t for you girls, it's a reminder of not only my old life but also the family I once had long ago.”
“Wow. I didn’t realize it was that special to you Sunset. If my lighter is as special as your bag, I think we’re even with our prized possessions.”
“Yeah, and one more thing, Twilight. You're the first person I’ve told about this, so is it ok if you keep it a secret? Just for a little while.”
“Don’t worry Sunset, your secret is safe with me.”
“Thanks, Twilight, I- sniff sniff Wait! Do you smell something burning?”
Twilight knew what the smell was, and realized their food was burning
“Oh no!”
Twilight had forgotten about their food cooking over the fire and had to get them fast! But after she put them onto paper plates, they were burnt to a crisp!
“Great, now our dinner is ruined!”
“What exactly is that even supposed to be?”
“They were supposed to be veggie dogs. I think I overcooked them because your story was distracting me.”
“It’s ok Twilight. They may look a little burnt, I’m sure they’re still edible.”
But after poking the veggie dog with her finger, it incinerated into dust.
“Oops.”
“It’s not a big deal. I should have paid more attention to them instead of listening to your story. I wish I brought more. Those were the only ones I packed. Looks like we won’t be having those veggie dogs for dinner now.”
“Don’t worry Twilight, we still have the smores. Why don’t we have those instead?”
“Alright, But no more stories until they’re done. I don’t want to get distracted again and end up getting our food burnt!”
“Deal.”
After their not-so-healthy dinner consisting of smores, they decided to spend the rest of the evening stargazing huddled together under a large warm blanket.
“I’m sorry our camping trip hasn’t gone how we wanted it, Twilight.”
“It’s fine Sunset. These things happen whether we like them or not. I’m just glad I’m getting to spend it with you.”
“Me too.”
They decided to go for a kiss to make their night better, till the sound of thunder spooked them from doing so.
“Holy crap!”
“Was that thunder?”
“I think so? Hopefully, we’ll be fine. I hope…”
“If you say so Sunset. But I think I’m ready to call it a night.”
“Me too. Let’s get ready for bed.”
After putting out the fire and changing their clothes the two girls went into their tent and went to sleep. But their sleep would be short-lived to their disappointment.
Just over an hour after they went to sleep, it started to rain very hard, which in turn woke them up.
“What was that!?" Twilight wondered.
“It must be raining? And it sounds like it's pouring hard out there!?!!?” Sunset worried!
“Can the tent stand handle this rain!?!”
“Judging by the fact that I can see a leak coming from the top no. We need to get out of here! Let’s pack up our stuff and get out of here! No time to lose!”
And like magic, they packed up and used their tent to get them dry as best as possible under the pouring rain. Eventually, they returned to Sunset’s car. They were soaking wet from the rain but pressed on til they were safe from the pouring rain.
Once their belongings were in the trunk they got into the car as quickly as possible before starting the car to leave.
“Well, that didn’t go according to plan.”
“And our camping trip is ruined now! What do we do now Sunset?”
“I think we should best head home Twilight. It seems like today just wasn’t the day to go camping.”
“Yeah, it seems like mother nature had planned ahead of us. As long as we're someplace safer than here, that's good for me. Let’s go home.”
“You said it."
They soon drove off home under the darkening sky as the rain continued to pour harder and harder into the night. While their camping experience didn't go how they wanted, all they wanted was to get home and sleep in their warm bed together.
After a half-hour drive home, they arrived back at their apartment, now tired and disappointed their trip was a complete failure.
“I bet the rest of the girls are doing better than we are?”
“Probably. You go inside and get warm while I put our stuff away?”
“Alright. Would you like to make some hot chocolate to warm us up?”
“Sure, but don’t overdo it with the peppermint this time.”
“I won’t,” said Twilight as she headed off to change out of her wet clothes.
As Sunset was putting away the supplies they brought for their camping trip she noticed that the tent was now completely dry. Which surprised her as everything else was still soaking wet. This gave her a brilliant idea that might make their weekend end on a positive note.
After Twilight changed out of her wet clothes she got started on their hot chocolate. While she was making it she could hear a lot of noise coming from Sunset. She wasn't too concerned about it as she didn't want to miss something and ruin their drinks. Once they were ready, she poured them into two mugs before going to find Sunset.
But just as she turned around to face the apartment she nearly dropped them. To her surprise, the tent was set up in their apartment just as Sunset come out of it.
“Sunset, why is the tent set up? I thought you were gonna put it away?” Twilight asked as she placed the two mugs of hot chocolate on a table.
“I was. But I know you wanted to spend the night camping, why don’t we just do it here.”
“Did you do this for me?”
“Mhm. You seemed disappointed that our trip ended on a bad note. So I thought I’d do this. A better way to end our night following a horrible day in the great outdoors.”
Twilight had tears of joy in her eyes now as she brought her girlfriend in for a hug.
“Thank you Sunset! Thank you for doing this!”
“Your welcome Twilight. I’ll do anything for you.”
After finishing their hot chocolate a little while later, they began to feel tired. It was very late now, and they needed their sleep.
“Yawn Can we head to bed now? I’m very tired.”
“So am I. Let's get into the tent and do some snuggling.”
"Right behind you.”
Sunset was soon next to Twilight in their sleeping bags within their tent before getting close and wrapping their arms around one another as they snuggled.
“Is there anything else you need Twilight?”
“Just one more thing, Sunset.”
“What is it?”
Sunset got her answer straight away when Twilight whispered it in her ear, giving Sunset a quiet laugh to let off.
“Of course, now come here you.”
Soon enough Twilight’s head was resting on Sunset’s shoulder as they slowly drifted off to sleep.
While they still wished their camping trip didn’t go off the rails they still had a fun little adventure. They still enjoyed the fun they had, even though it was mostly bad. All they wanted now was to be with each other and have a good night’s rest in their tent within their tent as they silently went off to sleep.
Author's Note
Oh yeah, another new story done and completed, yeah! I hoped you all enjoyed this latest story of mine, I know it was short but I've been busy with so many late-night shifts at work I've gotten these last few weeks that I haven't had much time or interest to get stories done. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it and I'd also like to mention that I put a reference to one of the recent movies that was released in theaters last month that I have seen and seen the ending several times (it is what you get when working at a movie theater and cleaning out theaters after the movies have ended), the only hint I'll give is that it's one of the two belongings Twilight & Sunset talked about and that the movie is based on a video game that's still playing in theaters around the time this is being written. Anyway, that wraps things up and just before I go I'd like to mention that the eqg finale that'll be out later this year will be a collab with another friend of mine who will be helping me and 13 Shades of Sunset when work starts and the person in question is my friend & editor Faded Echoes. That's all for now, make sure to like and comment on this story if you like it and I'll see you all on my next story that I'm looking forward to making next month. This is ScisetShimmerEvan signing off. 
