Smell that? Love was in the air throughout Canterlot City! Though, for Sunset Shimmer, it looked more like the end of the world as she knew it! For a long while now, the poor Sunset was left an anxious mess, fearing the future that laid dead ahead, and it was all due to a thought that has been gnawing on her mind for ages now.
It was no surprise that Sunset was a huge disaster when it came to romance. After her redemption, romance for credibility was not much an option anymore, so she moved on and now pursued those she had genuine emotions for. Around her, friends, foes, and those who hadn't an opinion (because they didn't really know her all that well) could see from a mile away that the bacon-haired girl had her eyes set on a particular someone.
With her gorgeous blue and purple ponytail, to her brilliant mind, to even those large frames sitting atop her nose, making her look all the more adorable, Sunset was crushing hard on Twilight Sparkle.
It was Sunset's mission to ask the most intelligent girl at her school out on a date, but every time, right as she is about to finally make a move, her mind draws a total blank and backs out at the last second.
But no more!
After many attempts only resulting in her being a total wuss, Sunset came to the conclusion that she couldn't possibly do this on her own. She needed help, desperately! So, she went to her friends for advice, hoping at least one of them could give her a solution to power through her struggles. It seemed like a genius idea!
So why was she now at a sleepover with her friends looming over her shoulder?
"Are you guys sure this is necessary?" Sunset asked, sitting at the edge of Pinkie Pie's bed. She barely had room to breath with how close everyone's heads were to hers. There were an extra few pairs of eyes glued to the one phone screen. "Feels a bit weird scheduling a sleepover just for this."
"Sunset, we've been waiting months for this moment. We are not missing this," Rarity answered, not even giving Sunset the decency of looking at her when she spoke.
"Besides, it's spring break. What else are we gonna do?" Pinkie Pie said. Her feet bounced on her bed in excitement.
Sunset's eyebrows furrowed in annoyance. "I pictured maybe revising for exams, seeing as they start right as the break finishes?"
Pinkie shook her head. "Well, that's just ridiculous."
"Don't worry, Sunset, we only want what's best for you and Twilight," Fluttershy said in a comforting manner, resting her hand on Sunset's shoulder. However, her grip was surprisingly tight. "Just be sure to follow our advice closely, and we won't have any problems, okay?"
Not going to lie to herself, Sunset felt a bit uneasy. This probably wasn't such a good idea after all. She wondered what would happen if she tried to leave right now. Most definitely, she'd never hear the end of it from Rainbow Dash. She could probably just power through it; if her friends really knew what they were doing, it would certainly be better than doing it alone. Hopefully.
Sunset gave a relieving sigh. "Okay, okay. So, what do I do first?" she asked.
"Well, first you gotta open MyStable," Rainbow Dash pointed out, pushing everyone's heads out of the way to point at the app's icon on Sunset's home screen.
Sunset followed her first orders and opened the app. She had a plethora of conversations with different friends, but scrolling down a bit, she found Twilight's page. There was a look of concern between everyone when they realised just how far below everyone the science-wiz was.
"Sunset, have you... not messaged Twilight for near two months?" Applejack asked.
A visible blush appeared on Sunset's face. "I've been building up to this for a while now, okay?!" she shamefully blurted out. "Now, just tell me what to say!"
Pinkie Pie put her hand up, clearly wanting to go first. "Start with just a casual, 'Hey Twilight.' Short and sweet. You'll have her reeled right in immediately."
Sunset typed out the message and was ready to hit send, but she was suddenly stopped by a critique from Rarity, "It's definitely short, but I haven't a clue how that's considered 'sweet'. You'll want to add a little more. Try 'We need to talk.'"
"Kinda cryptic, doncha think?" Applejack commented. "We don't want 'er thinkin' somethin's wrong. Needs a more natural segway, somethin' like asking how she's been. Kinda cheesy, but it doesn't reveal much and gets 'em talkin', then when the time's right, you can swoop in for the kill!"
The other girls murmured agreeingly, so Sunset typed out the rest of the message and, with a confirming nod from everyone, it was officially sent.
However, unbeknownst to Sunset, a certain animal lover turned away and sent a message of her own to an unknown recipient.
Across town could be found the residency for none other than Twilight Sparkle. At the moment, the egghead looked over her notes in preparation for her final exams, because Spring Break is nothing but a lie. Twilight knew she was more than prepared, but she could see Rainbow Dash and Pinkie from a mile away begging for help with only a few days left, so she worked on more simplified notes so they would get the gist.
But at the other side of her room in a small, velvet bed laid her lifelong companion, Spike. He watched readily as he awaited for the plan to unfold. It was then that a small vibration was felt beneath his bed, of which he reached under and dragged out a tablet.
He received a message from a fellow partner in crime under the secret name 'Shutterfly'. It read, "The first domino has fallen. How is Supernova?"
Spike glanced up towards Supernova, who hadn't moved an inch for ages now. Come to think of it, he never noticed the domino fall either. He began typing a message back.
"Supernova didn't hear the signal! It must be on silent!" He awaited a response, which came very quickly after.
"Then do something about it! A lot is on the line tonight!"
Spike tried to think of a solution fast. If Twilight's phone really was on silent, there was no way he could just tell her to look at it without it seeming suspicious! He had to give her a reason!
The dog gulped and trotted his way over to his owner's desk, sweating through his paws. He put on the most innocent smile he could and proceeded with the plan.
"Hey, Twilight! Could you check something on your phone for me for a sec?" he asked.
"What for, Spike?" Twilight replied in an apathetic manner, not even looking up from her notes.
"Oh, it's uh..." He realised now he never actually thought of a reason. The dog began to make something up on the spot. "It's just that a friend of mine gifted something through this game we play, but it needs confirmation through the email first, and I made the account with your email. So, I need you to accept it for me." He knew for a fact that wasn't at all how that worked, but he still prayed for his chances.
And by some miracle, he garnered a sigh from Twilight, and she then moved her hand towards her phone. Turning the screen on, she was caught off guard as soon as she saw the newest notification from Sunset!
In Twilight's excitement, she quickly opened her MyStable app to read Sunset's message. A stupid grin formed on her face as she contemplated what to reply. However, she looked up to the clock above her desk; her study session wasn't over yet, and she decided she would reply something the moment she was done. So, she placed her device down and went back to work.
And it was at this moment that Spike's face fell with dismay, being fully aware of the irreparable damage Twilight just made.
On the other end, the six girls watched as Sunset's message gained a little blue tick in the corner of it, indicating that it was read. This was only known as the dreaded read receipt! A mark that exposed anyone who dared enter the conversation! One click of a notification, and a person is trapped unless they can respond... or, in the worst case scenario, ghost the knowing sender completely!
They waited to see if the bespectacled girl would write something back. But after a few minutes of nothing, despite the fact that Twilight's profile appeared as online, everyone was beginning to get worried.
"Oof, you just got heck-a ghosted!" Pinkie Pie proclaimed.
"I-I don't get it. Why isn't she replying? Did I lay it on too thick!" Sunset panicked. "I'm gonna call her!" She quickly went into her contacts, but her phone was then taken away by Rarity, holding it away so that Sunset couldn't take it back.
"Absolutely not, darling! Do that and you start a frenzy! Just calm down and follow what we say. Maybe she was just called away as she opened it," Rarity theorised.
Sunset thought of the possibility. It made her feel somewhat better in believing it, so she nodded and took a few deeps breaths. "You're right. Just... called away is all."
"Good girl." Rarity handed back her phone and all seemed to return to normal. But while Sunset's mind was fixated on her phone, Rarity turned to Fluttershy and mouthed 'Fix this!' to her.
Fluttershy complied and texted her accomplice. 'What's going on over there? Things are turning bad here fast!'
Within a minute, she got a reply from the dog with the username, Snoopy. 'She's still studying and won't use her phone until she's finished! I don't think she'll listen to me anymore, not without it seeming suspicious. You gotta get her attention!'
Upon reading the message, Fluttershy fearfully shifted her head back towards Rarity, who had a look of her own that said, 'Please, God, tell me you have a solution!'
Fluttershy moved towards her and whispered, "It's all on us now; we have to get her attention somehow."
"How on earth are we supposed to do that?!" Rarity silently shouted. Fluttershy returned with a shrug. Nevertheless, they had to do something. They returned to Sunset's side with suspicious looking grins on their faces. "Okay. This is fine! We just have to... reel her in with something else."
"Any suggestions now would be pretty nice," Sunset said, furiously tapping the side of her phone.
"Right. Umm... Hmm." The surrounding girls tried to think of a follow-up that seemed natural. Somehow, nearly all of them turned up empty, except for Rainbow Dash.
"Tell her that you see she's online," she suggested. She was then shoved aside by Applejack, who had an annoyed expression on her.
"Oh yeah, nothin' sinister 'bout that all. Really settin' the mood there, Dash," Applejack sarcastically quipped.
Rainbow Dash climbed back onto the bed with a grunt and got up into the cowgirl's face. "I don't see you coming up with any ideas to fix this!" The two then growled at eachother, as if an all-out brawl was imminent.
"Is this a bad time to say that I sent that?" Sunset nervously asked. The rest of the group fell silent as they all tried to look at Sunset's screen at once. She had sent another message in the chat alright, 'I know you're online.'
"Sunset..." Rarity groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Why did you send that? You sound like you're threatening her."
"That period you put really doesn't help either," Pinkie chimed in. "Ain't a more passive aggressive piece of punctuation than a period in a message. Is she replying, at least?"
Unfortunately, despite how Twilight was clearly still online and had seen the message, no indicator of her replying appeared. Sunset was left on silent yet again, though, it may have been for the better this time.
But then, the second-born of the Pie sisters entered the room with boxes of pizza in tow, Maud Pie. She wore a look of annoyance, not that anyone but Pinkie could recognise. "Pinkie, you need to listen out for the door. You were lucky I caught the delivery guy before he could leave," she flatly said.
"Oh! Maud! Quick! What's a good response to text if the person you initially texted clearly opened and read the message, but didn't reply and is still open on the chat?" the younger sister asked.
Maud took a second before speaking again. "Well, if it's been more than a few minutes, I would ask if right now is a good time or not. After that, I would just wait for them to reply. They have to say something eventually," she said blankly.
Then, Sunset stuck her hand in the air. "What about if you've already sent a second message in haste, and it comes off kinda threatening?" she asked.
Maud just stood completely still. It fell so silent between everyone that they could maybe hear Maud blinking if they listened out. "I've already given all I can. The rest you have to do on your own. Good luck." The blank slate then turned and left the room.
The six were left with a new option to choose, though, Sunset wasn't sure if she should go forward with it. "What do you guys think? Do we go with Maud's idea?"
"It can't be much worse than the other message," Fluttershy said.
"I'd say go for it! Maud always knows how to lend a hand," Pinkie praised.
"Well... if everyone else is in agreement," Rarity warily agreed.
With a round of nodding heads, Sunset typed the newest message out, and after approval from the other girls, she sent out number three, 'Sorry if it's a bad time right now. Message me back when you can.'
The text received the same blue ticks as the other two. They were all being seen, but none prompted a reply from the receiver.
"Okay, what do I do now?" Sunset asked, growing evermore impatient. Her knee bounced near a hundred miles an hour.
Applejack rubbed the back of her neck. "Guess we just wait for her now, sugarcube."
Sunset figured there couldn't be anything worse than asking Twilight out, but this constant delay of the inevitable, very much, proved to be a worthy rival. Despite the fact her phone still had more than half the battery remaining, she was regretting forgetting her charger at home. It was unlikely, but not impossible that her device may not live to see Twilight reply.
Speaking of, back at Twilight's house, the near sighted nerd remained blissfully unaware of the ongoing trouble caused by herself. It was only a couple minutes left until her dedicated study time was over for the night. Afterwards, her plan was definitely to get back to Sunset.
As for Spike, he watched from afar, trying to think of any possible solution to make things a little better. Based on the messages from Shutterfly, things had gone from bad to worse! While he looked, however, he noticed that Twilight's facedown phone glowed from underneath. Had she accidentally left her phone open? If that's the case, and she left it open on the conversation, then that could only mean...
His small dog heart sank upon realising just what Twilight had done. "Uh, Twilight? I think you accidentally left your phone on." He tried to be as casual as possible, when in reality, the canine was about ready to fall apart from his owner's clumsiness.
That got Twilight to look to the side of her notes and actually pick her phone up! "Oh! Looks like I did. Thanks for noticing, Spike! And I got a few more messages from Sunset, too."
"And, umm, you wouldn't have happened to leave your phone open on that convo, right?" Spike asked the make or break question.
"Yup, sure did."
It was true. By leaving her phone on, Twilight Sparkle had not left one, not two... but three instant read receipts in a row! Spike goes pale! Sunset goes crazy! Twilight stretches! Coincidentally, so does Maud...
The dog could only stare in bewilderment, sounds leaving his mouth as only quiet, strained cries. Twilight turned her happy little head to her pet in confusion.
"Are you okay, Spike? You don't look too good," Twilight deduced.
Spike couldn't believe what he was seeing. Did she really not notice? "D-Do you not realise what you've done?!"
Twilight could be seen trying to put the pieces together of this apparent catastrophe. She showed Spike her phone. "What? Leaving my phone on the chat? It's fine, Spike. It's not like Sunset can see when I've seen her messages or anything."
Spike remained silent for a moment, which only prompted for Twilight's face to fall with concern. "She... doesn't know I've seen the messages, right?" Hoping for an answer, all she was given was her dog's difficulty to even look at her anymore. "Spike?"
It was then that Twilight turned back to the chat, looking for any clues of her careless viewing. Her eyes were drawn to the blue tick that appeared under every message. Before now, she never paid much mind to it. She never knew they even served a function. And finally, Twilight jumped in her seat as she felt Spike's paw on her leg.
He stared at her with disappointed eyes. "Twi, I think it's time we finally talked about read receipts."
At Pinkie's place once more, Sunset had just about reached her limit. If she had to wait another minute, she would surely go insane! She had to take a stance, now! "I'm gonna call her!"
"No!" Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Rarity exclaimed in unison. As Sunset opened her contacts, an extra five pairs of hand attempted to rip her phone from her from all sides. In every girls' own haste to steal the phone, it became a free for all, rather than a five on one.
Rainbow Dash managed to slip the device out of everyone's grasp, only to be tackled by Sunset, but Applejack was quick to interfere, and dragged Sunset by the ankles off the flattened RD. In her moment of freedom, Rainbow tossed the phone over to Fluttershy, who would not prove to be much of a fight as Sunset managed to knock the farmgirl off her and swipe back her phone. Clearly, Sunset was no longer safe her, so she took off towards the open bedroom door. But before she could make it, she was abruptly pulled back by the arm. Sunset turned to see Rarity giving her everything to bring her back in. However, out of Sunset's gaze came crashing down Pinkie Pie, who resorted to leaping off her bed, and landing on top of her enemy!
Sunset was pinned to the floor, but she kept her phone safe beneath her, regardless of all the prying hands.
"You can't do this, Sunset!" Fluttershy cried.
"Why not?!" Sunset asked, not breaking free of her turtle formation.
"Do you want to look desperate? Give us that phone!" Rainbow Dash tried to dig her hands through Sunset's guard.
"Darling, we're in far too deep already. You must let her come to you now," Rarity instructed.
"We only want what's best for you guys," Pinkie said, still laying on top of Sunset.
It was now that Sunset peaked her head out and glared at each of her friends. "Really? Because it seems like every idea you guys have given me has only made things worse! Be real with me right now, do you care more about watching me ask out my crush, than me actually asking out my crush?"
Sunset's friends all fell silent at the question. They each reeled themselves back and guiltily looked at one another. The weight of everyone's actions suddenly settled in. Mentally, they finally asked themselves what they were even doing.
Applejack rubbed her arm. "Ah... guess we got a little carried away, huh? Sorry, Sunset. We were just so happy that you finally built up the courage to do this, we just wanted to make sure it turned out perfectly, but Ah guess our plan didn't work out as well as we'd hoped."
Sunset hummed. "Well, I appreciate you trying to look out for me, but there's really no need to make such a-" But then Applejack's apology fully processed in her head, and her eyes widened. "Wai-wait. Plan? How much of this have you all thought out?"
Everyone turned to Applejack with a scowl, and the lone girl could only reply with a sheepish smile. It would seem she was a little too honest.
Before Sunset could interrogate her friends further, she felt her phone beginning to vibrate on her chest. Everyone took a step closer and they each saw who was contacting her. It was Twilight! Coming in with an actual call!
Sunset's mind brimmed with anxiety once again, but she took some slow breaths to keep her composure. Before answering, though, she looked at her friends one last time with a frightening stare. "I'm going to handle this on my own. You all stay out of this. Comprende?" In unison, the wingwomen nodded, allowing Sunset to answer the call with her mind at relative ease.
As soon as she hit answer, her face lit up again. "Hey, Twilight! How's it going?"
"SUNSET, I AM SO SORRY!!" everyone could hear coming out of Sunset's phone. Sunset held her phone far away in fear of becoming deaf in one ear.
She brought her phone back towards herself when she figured her ear was in the clear. "Woah, Twilight! Are you okay?"
Twilight almost sounded like she was crying over the speaker. "I'm so sorry! I didn't know about the read receipt!"
"Hey, hey. It's okay. Try to calm down, alright? We'll talk this through."
Sunset could hear quiet sniffling on the other side. "Okay."
And for the next while, Sunset and Twilight just talked away. Twilight calmed down and explained her conundrum with the texts, and Sunset waited and waited for the perfect transition into asking her out. While they conversed, Sunset watched as everyone in the room mouthed 'Do it!' to her. While speaking, Sunset nodded assuringly, as though she was just about to do it, but her obvious forced smile told them how unlikely it seemed tonight was the night.
For as long as Sunset was sure she liked Twilight, there was never time she didn't feel scared just being around her. All this time, she was letting her fear eat her alive, and it only caused for months of agony! But now, her patience was worn all too thin. If it was ever going to end, she needed to nip it in the bud, right here and now.
At the moment, the call was silent. The two had gotten through everything they could talk about. Sunset gulped. If she really wanted this, she should just do it. She opened her mouth to speak.
"Hey, umm, can I tell you something?" suddenly asked Twilight.
And immediately Sunset's mouth was shut again, her moment silenced by Twilight's query, and she was so ready too! "Yeah, sure. What is it, Twilight?"
It was another few seconds of silence until Twilight blurted out, "Okay, so I've kinda, maybe been thinking about you a lot lately and I've been too scared to talk about my feelings, and to be honest, I still am, but I figured that nothing's going to happen unless I just act on it, so here I am getting it out of the way now: I think you're really smart and pretty; do you want to go out with me?!"
Twilight couldn't see it, but everyone at Pinkie's place had their jaws practically on the floor. Sunset had to shake her head out of the shock before she could respond.
"You... you like me?" Sunset asked.
On the other end, Twilight blushed a beet red, barely able to restrain herself from kicking her desk. "For a long time now, yes. So... what do you say?"
There were so many things Sunset wanted to say, but right now she was being forced to pick just one. She weighed her options, and finally settled on what felt the most right. "Twilight... more than anything!"
The girls celebrated in silence, giving Sunset a thumbs up and waving their hands excitedly. On the other end, Twilight felt she was amidst a panic attack from her sheer happiness. And Sunset felt like she could cry tears of joy. Despite how messy things got, it all turned out well in the end.
But things weren't over just yet. After taking a second to regain her composure, Sunset spoke once more, "So, uh, I don't suppose you'd like to go out sometime?"
"I-I'm free Saturday, if that's okay?" Twilight suggested through shaky breaths.
Sunset nodded, despite her newfound other not being able to see. "Saturday's perfect!"
"Great! So... I'll talk to you again soon?"
"Definitely. Talk to you soon."
And then, the two hung up the phone, returning to reality. The other five just waited to hear what Sunset had to say now, but she just stared off into space with the biggest smile on her face, with Twilight doing the exact same and Spike waiting for her to do something. After a straight minute of letting everything settle in, Sunset turned towards her friends. They were all eager to hear how it all went, their sparkling eyes being major signifiers.
Sunset opened her mouth, but a light chuckle escaped her before she could talk. "I got a date!" she announced.
In the end, a major lesson was learned in this chaotic trial of love: if you let your fear own you, you may just find yourself holding off what you desire forever. Nothing starts until you take action. But as well as that, when you receive a message, be sure you have a reply... lest you not submit one to the terrors of the read receipt!
Author's Note
Where are my Kaguya-sama fans at?