Personal Space

Author's Notes:

WARNING:

These will probably make little to no sense. Characters will be OOC. This will make fun of cliches. This may make fun of some people's OTPs.

THIS IS PURELY FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES AND IS IN NO WAY MEANT TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY.

Ponies are very social creatures. They live in large communities with many generations all living together. Humans are usually very similar, though some civilizations are more 'touchy-feely' than others. However, in the part of the human world that she was in, humans generally were not very close.

Twilight Sparkle was not aware of this fact.

Twilight and Sunset Shimmer had agreed to meet at the statue one Saturday so that Sunset could teach Twilight about some human things. Twilight had been ecstatic about the older girl's offer, and Spike had agreed that they had nothing better to do. So, there they were, all three of them leaning against the side of the marble piece of art, when Spike noticed some passers-by giving them strange looks.

"Uh, guys?" Spike whispered, covering his mouth with a paw, "Why are people staring?"

Twilight and Sunset looked up from the lesson on automobiles. Sunset was leaning against the statue with one arm holding her laptop and one arm wrapped around Twilight's shoulders. Twilight herself was leaning on Sunset's side, her legs folded up and leaning on Sunset's lap.

"I'm not sure, Spike. Sunset, do we stick out somehow? Are we doing something wrong?" Twilight's voice was innocent, and maybe a bit hurt. She felt embarrassed that everyone seemed to be staring, and hadn't felt like that since her first day in the human world.

Sunset felt the same, and mentally panicked and wondered what she may have done wrong. She glanced down at the position they had found themselves in and something clicked in her mind. "Uhhhh..." Her face went bright red, and Spike snickered at the look on her face. This had to be good.

"We seem to be in an interesting position..." Sunset chuckled nervously. She wondered how to tell Twilight without being too awkward, or without the other girl thinking she had done it intentionally.

"Hm?" Twilight, too, looked at their position. "How so? We're very close, do humans not get close like this?"

True, in the pony world such physical displays didn't necessarily mean as much as they were in the human world. Ponies cuddled and hugged all the day long and no one would bat an eye or question anything. But in the human world that was different, and that was a point Sunset had to make to her friend.

"Well, imagine if instead of my arm, this--" She wiggled her arm gently, making Twilight giggle, "--was a wing?"

"Well that would be--" Twilight stopped, realization dawning on her. "Ooooohhh, that would be an intimate gesture."

"So that's what everyone else sees this as."

Twilight straightened up and looked around, a slight blush now on her face. People looked away when she made eye contact, but the damage had been done. "Oops." Sunset herself blushed deeply and cleared her throat.

"Eh, no big deal." Sunset waved her off, "Humans are strange. Besides, you said you wanted to learn about their culture."

"And first-hoof experience is always the best." The princess grinned. Sunset returned the grin.

"Exactly. Now, back to..."

Spike tuned them out as they started talking about cars again. Honestly he had no interest in such devices, though they were kinda cool. He had stopped listening after trying to understand how they run on horse power, though, and had taken to watching the people around them. After a while he noticed people had begun to stare again, and hesitantly looked back at the girls.

He face-pawed as he saw Sunset and Twilight back in the same position.

Greetings From Planet Twilight

"Ready, Spike?" Twilight Sparkle looked down at her assistant. The young dragon smiled up at her as he positioned his backpack over his shoulders. They were about to jump through the portal to the human world once again, and both were excited to see their friends on the other side.

"Ready, Twilight!" Spike said with a thumbs up.

With a shout they both jumped through and landed on the other side. Twilight giggled as she stood uncertainly on her legs. It seemed she could never quite get used to them, or traveling through that portal. It felt like being sucked through a straw that was spinning around at top speeds, and wasn't exactly pleasant. Though it wasn't unpleasant either, just uncomfortable.

"Hi Twi!" Twilight turned and saw Sunset Shimmer walking towards her. Her heart beat faster in her chest at the sight of her, and she smiled widely. Spike saw the obvious display and rolled his eyes good naturedly.

"Hey Sunset! How are things?" She reached out her arms for a hug, which Sunset accepted. They both melted into the hug, and Twilight felt her face heat up a bit. Stay cool, she warned herself, don't freak out like you did last time.

"Things are good! The others will be here soon." The two nuzzled cheeks, and old Equestrian greeting, before Sunset realized what they were doing.

Rainbow's laughter surprised them both, causing them to jump apart. Twilight looked torn between being irritated and mortified, while Susnet looked embarrassed and indignant.

"You gals need a moment?" Applejack teased, which caused them to blush and glance at each other.

"Ha, ha, very funny." Sunset pouted as she crossed her arms. Twilight thought she looked cute, but cleared her throat nervously and smiled brightly.

"Hi girls!"

Sunset smirked a bit as she watched her greet the others. She wasn't willing to say it, but she liked that she was special enough to get the Equestrian greeting. She liked being close to Twilight, close enough that the boundaries between their worlds seem to blur and seem unimportant.

Spike coughed to get Sunset's attention, and smiled slyly. "She did that on purpose, you know."

Sunset didn't respond verbally. Instead she grinned and looked back to her friends as they decided to go to Sugar Cube Corner for lunch.

That makes two of us.

Linking Fingers

"Y-you want to what?" Sunset's face turned bright red as she looked in disbelief at her friend. She glanced around them nervously. People milled about inside the mall, a mall that was very close to the school where anyone could see them. Then, of all times, was when Twilight wanted to bring this up?

"For research purposes, of course!" Twilight's face was a bit too smug for Sunset to believe what she said. The scientist was plotting something, that was sure, and Sunset felt in her gut that following along would be a bad idea. However, Sunset wasn't one to turn away a bad idea. Especially one that involved Twilight in any way.

"F-fine." Sunset's upper lip curled up in something between a pout and a sneer as she offered her hand to her friend. She could never say no to Twilight, and the other girl knew it. She wanted to keep her tough girl look up, though, and made it seem like she did it against her will.

"Of all the things about humans," Twilight gently grabbed the other girl's hand, "Linking fingers has always looked the most interesting."

"Holding hands impresses you more than cars or non-sentient animals?" Sunset linked their fingers together and pulled Twilight along to the next shop with a scoff, hoping that no one from school--or worse, their friends--saw them and assumed things. She blushed at the very thought of it.

"Uh... Yeah..." Twilight blushed and ducked her head slightly. Sunset saw her opportunity, and smiled widely.

"...Or holding hands with me?"

"Mh... Yeah..."

Sunset laughed as Twilight's whole face went bright red. To be honest, Sunset found Twilight to be really cute. The princess seemed so naive and innocent at times, it made Sunset, with her bad-girl attitude, want to protect the girl. Common sense told her that Twilight didn't need her to do so, but she still liked to imagine herself as Twilight's knight in shimmering armor.

She did not mind holding hands with the princess, to say the least.

"Well, you can hold my hand any time." Sunset boasted, though she did glance around suspiciously once again. Twilight noticed both the words and the action, and smiled a bit.

"If it makes you uncomfortable, we don't have to." Her grip loosened, "I understand it's a more romantic gesture..."

Sunset was quiet for a moment before she tightened her grip and quietly said, "You can hold my hand any time."

She could already tell by Twilight's grin she would regret it, but at the moment, she didn't care, and they wore matching blushes and grins for the rest of the shopping trip.

They're Called What?!

Twilight stared in confusion as her friends laughed around her. Was Equestrian language really so strange to them? Even Sunset giggled and gave Twilight an apologetic smile.

"S-s-say it again!" Rainbow begged, holding her sides in mirth.

"Fillyfooler?" Twilight said, quiet and hesitant. She was afraid that her friends were making fun of her, though she wanted desperately not to believe so. It had taken a lot for her to finally say it, and even Sunset had seemed to drift away from her after it had been done. She wasn't sure why they were laughing, and it made her feel awful.

This set the girls off again, which made Twilight pout as she tried not to cry. "Sunset!" She whined, "Why are they laughing?"

"It's a pony term, and they're humans." Sunset chuckled as she saw the look of distress on her friend's face, "Why would a human be called a fillyfooler?" She pulled a face that made Twilight giggle. She hadn't thought of it like that, and supposed the term wasn't exactly meant for humans to understand.

"Oh, good point."

The fact that they were laughing at how it sounded and not that she had just come out as one made her feel a lot better. When Pinkie had opened the perfect door for her to admit it, she had her heart in her throat but Sunset's hand on her shoulder. She felt safe admitting part of herself that even her friends in Equestria didn't know.

"Told you they'd be fine." Twilight smiled at her friend despite her own previous doubts.

"You did." Sunset conceded with a small, shy smile.

"You're still you, Darling." Rarity said, later, when everyone had calmed down. "And we love you."

"Even if you have a funny way of labeling it." Pinkie giggled, and Rainbow high-fived the party girl.

"Thanks, girls. Glad I could make you guys laugh, at least." Twilight shared a look with Sunset. She had wanted her friend to come out as well, but the older girl was against it. She was still afraid of rejection, something Twilight couldn't find in her self to fault her for.

"A human being a fillyfooler would be a totally different thing." Sunset said with a wink. Rainbow and Applejack guffawed, while Rarity and Fluttershy blushed. Pinkie just giggled, and Twilight looked mortified, which added even more to the situation.

Twilight gazed at Sunset for a moment and wondered when the other girl would be honest about herself. Sunset caught her stare and smiled at first, but that smile turned hard once she realized what Twilight was thinking. Sunset turned away, a frown on her face, and Twilight felt a little down.

She has to live in this world, Twilight argued to herself, She probably has to be more careful about it than I do.

She still wished, though. The sooner Sunset was honest, the sooner... Well, she still wished.

Discovery

Author's Notes:

This happens a good deal after the last chapter, probably about a month later. The time-line for this is practically non-existent, so sorry if it causes any confusion.

Also, this reveals some of my EG headcanons :) Yay!

Also also--This chapter is so random that I apologize. This idea just came to me, and I had to get it down!

"Humans have so many labels for their sexualities." Twilight smiled as she looked at a list of said sexualities on Pinkie Pie's laptop.

"They go a bit overboard," Sunset agreed, "But in a way, it's better than back in Equestria."

"What do you guys use? Just filly fooler?" Rainbow Dash asked over her shoulder. Her and Pinkie were playing a game on the Z-Box. Just the mention of fillyfooler had them all giggling again.

"Filly fooler and colt cuddlers. 'Queers' as it would be said here." Sunset winced as Twilight said this, though either the others didn't notice or didn't want to comment on it. The term struck a cord with her, and she felt shame and heat rise to her face.

"Here, though..." Twilight went on, "Bisexual, pansexual, cupiosexual..." She made a gesture in the air to show that the list went on and on, and the others nodded, though some looked confused at the terms.

"What's that one?" Though cupiosexual sounded interesting, Sunset pointed to a link that was purple, showing that Pinkie had been to it before.

"Asexual. Let's see..." Twilight furrowed her eyebrows in concentration as she read the information on the page. "One who doesn't experience sexual attraction." She glanced over at Pinkie, who had lost the round of the game but was smiling nonetheless. "You know about this, Pinkie?"

"Yup!" Pinkie grinned with a glance at Fluttershy before she quickly looked away. "It's when someone doesn't feel sexual attraction for anyone, like the page says."

"Is it a disease?" Rainbow asked, a bit weary. Sunset saw embarrassment flash across Fluttershy's face and felt sympathy for the other girl.

"No, silly!" Pinkie giggled, but slapped Rainbow with a bit of force, "It's like... Well, a lot of people use a cake story. Like some people like chocolate cake, some like vanilla, and some like both. Then some people like all cake, like chocolate and vanilla and german chocolate and strawberry--that's me, for real and for the story--and some people don't like any cake!"

"So you're--" Twilight thought for a second "--pansexual?"

"Yup!"

"And I'm asexual." Fluttershy said softly.

"Huh." Applejack looked around at her friends, "Guess ah never noticed how many labels humans have."

"But Sunset's right. This sounds better than just having 'queer' or 'straight'. Right Sunset?"

Sunset, however, was busy reading the asexual page on the website. Her face would go from curious to confused to amazed before repeating again, almost like she was caught in a loop. The girls saw her look of concentration and giggled.

"Looks like Sunset found her label." Rarity quipped, making the others nod in agreement.

"Now we have two aces!" Pinkie cheered, causing Sunset to look up.

"What?" She asked, confused. Twilight laughed beside her, and the others did, too. They didn't answer her question, though.

"So, what's cupiosexual, anyways?"

As the other girls began chatting about the strange term, Twilight turned to Sunset and smiled. "I love you."

"Love you, too." Sunset blushed, looking at the group of girls in front of them as Twilight leaned on her shoulder. Rainbow had made a comment about Pinkie being too into cakes, and Pinkie had giggled out an explanation.

"Actually, Pinkie being pansexual ain't all that surprisin'. Think about it; it's Pinkie!" Thankfully Pinkie took that as the complement Applejack meant it to be.

The others agreed. Loving 'just because,' as Pinkie put it, seemed so, well, Pinkie!

Humans are strange.

Figure of Speech

"It was rude, Rainbow." Applejack scowled, "How come yer tha element 'o loyalty, but you're usually the one ta start trouble by pickin' on others?"

The group trudged down the street as the gloomy sky became darker and darker. They weren't sure if they would make it to Pinkie's by the time it started raining, but with the way Applejack and Rainbow had been arguing some of them were wondering if they'd all even be alive by that point.

"All I said was that I didn't care to learn sign language!" Rainbow huffed with a sneer. She crossed her arms, "She has an app on her phone that--"

"That's not the point and ya know it! Vinyl wants to be able to communicate--why should it matter if it's sign language or not?! You're her friend, can't ya bother ta learn anything?!" While AJ didn't stop walking, her footsteps grew closer and closer to stomping. Fluttershy began walking slower, and soon found herself at the back of the group, behind Sunset. Said girl gave her a hesitant smile.

"But it's hard! And she has an app that talks for her, why can't she use that?"

"I think--" Sunset cut in, "You're missing the point. It's not whether she can, but if she wants to. Vinyl likes being able to communicate through her own language, and not just hear herself talk through an app. And you're her friend, so you should respect that."

AJ gave Sunset a nod, and smiled at Rainbow. "See?"

Rainbow snarled but didn't respond. AJ could see the pride, but also the shame, that covered her friend's face, and decided to drop the subject. Her friends behind her all sighed in relief.

Luckily it had only just begun to sprinkle by the time they reached Pinkie's house, though the gloomy mood between them didn't let up. They all trudged upstairs with dismal hellos to Maud, and threw themselves around Pinkie's room. Rainbow and AJ took the game station, Twilight and Sunset sat by them on the floor, and Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie sat on the bed.

Sunset ran the scene with Vinyl in her head over and over again. Vinyl and her had been signing, and Rainbow had come up to them to ask a question. When Vinyl made it clear she wanted to sign and not take out her phone, Rainbow had kicked up a fuss about it. Vinyl had been humiliated and left not long after that, and Sunset had wanted to punch Rainbow right then and there. Instead, AJ had taken over, and the rest of the group had watched.

Sunset considered sending a text to Vinyl, but she knew the other girl would probably just want to cool down for a bit first.

"Ah still can't believe ya did that." Applejack said not twenty minutes later. "You humiliated her."

"She was being stubborn--"

"She was defending herself." Applejack hissed, "You were being stubborn."

"Alright, alright." Rainbow said as she threw her controller in the air, "Fine, I get it! I was a jerk, as I always am! Can we stop beating the dead horse now? It's done! It's over with!"

Applejack looked ready to argue, but Sunset spoke first. "You okay, Twily?" The nickname slipped out casually, but Sunset's tone was worried as she eyed the other girl, who had paled and stared at Rainbow.

"Beat a dead horse?" She whispered, "Is that--is that some kind of joke?"

"No!" Rainbow hastily sat up and waved her arms, "No, no it's not a joke it's--it's a, uh, fi-figment of speech!"

"Figure of speech." Rarity corrected.

"An idiom." Sunset assured.

"What did you call me?" Rainbow accused.

"No, an idiom, a figure of speech. Beating a dead horse is an idiom." Sunset rolled her eyes, but Rainbow relaxed a bit.

"Yeah, that! It's an idiom, I swear!"

"But... Why?" Twilight said hesitantly, "I mean, what does it mean?"

"It means not to pursue a lost cause." Rarity said simply, "And, perhaps for our equine friends, we can leave it at that?"

Nods around the room, but Twilight still seemed unsure. Sunset grabbed Twilight's hand in her own gently. "Human figures of speech are quite different from pony ones. I'm sure there are all kinds of new sayings you could learn."

The light that lit up Twilight's face was worth the look Rainbow gave them before a jab form AJ brought her back to the moment. "Uh, sorry for the phrase, Twilight. Guess it got a bit, uh, lost in translation." She chuckled nervously, and Twilight forgave her.

Their hands didn't come apart, however, even as everyone went back to their own thing. Sunset felt uneasy, though she also didn't want to let go of Twilight's hand. Twilight gripped Sunset's hand and gave her a warm and understanding smile, one that made Sunset's doubts ease, but not disappear. With an apologetic whisper she got up and headed downstairs.

"Moved on to hand-holding, huh?" Rainbow snickered as her and Sunset stood in the kitchen. Sunset had a tray full of snacks and a smug look on her face despite her sudden intense fear. Her heart pounded in her chest at the thought that Rainbow might tell the others, but she only knew of that one instance of hand holding...

If she only knew.

"You say that as if it's any of your business." Her reply was harsh, a way of getting distance, and left Rainbow dumbfounded. The other girl seemed about to reply, but Sunset walked out of the kitchen and didn't look back.

If distancing herself was what she had to do, she would do it.

Author's Notes:

Mute/nonverbal Vinyl head canon B)