Chapter 89

Screaming in ecstasy with the window open while all of your friends are sitting outside is a great way to create some top notch awkwardness, and those of us who were sitting around the fire were certainly feeling it in spades.

It ended up taking Rarity and Fluttershy over fifteen minutes to get themselves cleaned up and dressed. Never once did they come near the window to close it —not that it would have mattered by then— presumably because they were not keen on making eye contact with any of us just yet, accidentally or not.

Several minutes had passed since they realised we could hear them, and the lot of us sat around the fire in anxious silence, unsure of what to say. I, in particular, was quite red-faced when my name was dropped in the heat of the moment, bringing all eyes in the yard onto me as the shy girl explained her idea of having me chug their ejaculate concoction from a glass.

It was pretty embarrassing indeed.

Applejack was the first to finally speak. “Er…them steaks sure do smell mighty fine,” she muttered.

“Thanks,” I replied, forcing a smile. After a glance her way, I was reminded of the night before and an idea for a joke came to mind, which would hopefully add a bit of levity to the situation. “It’s too bad you don’t get any,” I teased.

Applejack raised a brow in response. She sat up straight and placed a hand on her knee. “Oh? And why’s that?”

“I told you last night,” I explained, “you and Dashie weren’t getting any breakfast because you made fun of me for yelling at Sunny.”

By the time I realised I’d said it, it was too late, and the farm girl’s eyes had gone wide as she turned and stared slack-jawed at Sunset.

The colour had drained from the red-head’s face and her eyes were like pinpoints, darting nervously around the yard.

“I-I mean nobody,” I corrected, trying quickly to recover from my slip-up, but it was far too little, and much too late.

“Welp, that was counterintuitive. Smooth, Golds. Real fucking smooth.”

Applejack’s emerald-green eyes slowly made their way back to me, followed by an uneasy snort. “Sounds like uh…there was some crazy shenanigans goin on while you guys were gone, eh?”

Biting my lip, I searched my mind for a quick response. “Uh, well it’s uh…there was a fair bit of…uh, hey Twi?” I called out, leaning back to see past AJ.

Twilight was sitting in a lawn chair, slouched down, reading from her phone again. “Hm?” she replied, unmoving.

“What are the chances those biscuits are overdone?” I asked, watching the lavender girl.

“I’d say about a hundred percent or higher,” she answered dryly, keeping her eyes glued to the phone.

“Should someone go inside and check them?”

“Nope.”

“Shit,” I whispered as I leaned forward and peered into the pot to inspect the steaks. The group returned to its uneasy silence, listening to the crackle of the fire as we wondered if, when, and how Rarity and Fluttershy were going to return to the yard.

After several more minutes, we heard soft voices coming around the side of the house, speaking in hushed, but stressed tones.

“Come darling, we cannot hide from them forever! Sooner or later, we are going to have to face the music.”

“Oh...but they heard me saying all those naughty things, Rare! I can’t do it!”

“We don’t know that for certain, Fluttershy. Besides, we are all adults here. What we do together is our right, and whether anyone knows about it or not is simply de minimis.”

“Ohh! Knowing is one thing, but they actually witnessed it!”

There was a pause, followed by a defeated sigh.

“I-I know, darling, I know. Let’s just get this over with.”

At last, the pair emerged from the corner of the house. Rarity was walking on Fluttershy’s left, one hand holding Fluttershy’s elbow with the other slung around her shoulders, leading her along.

As soon as the sight of us met the shy girl’s eyes, however, she let a soft whimper slip and then spun out of Rarity’s arms, scurrying back to the front of the house.

With an exasperated groan, Rarity turned and gave chase, catching Fluttershy before she got too far and leading her back again—with a tighter grip this time. “Come now, Fluttershy! We can’t avoid this forever,” Rarity urged as she brought her girlfriend into the yard. Fluttershy was on Rarity’s left this time, being led —or pushed, rather— until they stopped beside the chair occupied by Twilight.

I glanced up from the pot to observe the embarrassed ladies, wondering what they were going to say. Rarity appeared surprisingly calm, though I could tell her neutral visage was a forced one. Fluttershy’s gaze, on the other hand, was downcast, with a curtain of pink hair concealing her from the group. I could practically see the trees rippling behind her, distorted by the heat waves emanating from her cheeks.

The rest of the group fared no better, save for Pinkie Pie, who was off in her own little world, staring at the two girls with that silly grin on her face. Twilight, whose chair Fluttershy was standing directly beside, hadn’t moved and was still slouched down, staring at her phone; her eyes, however, gave away the fact that she was acutely aware of the shy girl’s vicinity.

Rarity cleared her throat, then gave Fluttershy a nudge of encouragement.

Chewing furiously on her fingernail, the shy girl reluctantly brought her eyes up to scan the yard, finding most everyone looking elsewhere except for me, which did give her a small measure of comfort.

Rarity gave her another nudge.

At her girlfriend’s prompt, Fluttershy took her fingernail from her mouth and, wringing her hands nervously in front of her bust, forced herself to speak.

“Um-”

“AAAAH!” Twilight leapt from her seat when heard the soft voice, causing the shy girl to retreat a step. “I-I mean, AAAAYYI’m going to check on the biscuits!” she recovered, realising everyone was staring at her. Stuffing the phone in her pocket, she sprinted around the corner of the house.

“Uh, Twi…” I began, “I thought you said they were-“

It was no use. Twilight was long gone, leaving the rest of us staring at each other in surprise.

“WHOA!” Pinkie shouted, giggling at Twilight’s sudden break. “No more coffee for her!”

“Oh dear,” Rarity said softly, turning back to face us again. “Well,” she continued, looking around the group while chuckling nervously. “It certainly is…quiet out here.”

“Nope! Didn’t hear a fucking thing!” Rainbow Dash shouted suddenly, followed by a quick sip of her coffee, eyes darting around the yard.

“Oh…” Rarity nodded, taken aback by the reply. “Well that’s…er,” —she waved her hand around in a circle, speaking from one side of her mouth— “certainly…ehh…”

Applejack cut in, hoping to direct some attention away from the elephant in the…well, yard. “Steaks are comin along real nice,” she said, giving a smile and a nod.

“Ah,” Rarity replied, relieved by the change of subject. “Excellent news, darling. I trust you had a lovely time making them with Golds?”

“Yep, right up ‘til…” the farm girl trailed off, realising she was about to back herself into a corner. “Er…shit,” she whispered, biting her lip. “You guys...um-”

“AJ!” Dash warned, sitting up to point at Applejack. “Don’t you dare!”

“What, Dashie?” Pinkie shrugged, cocking an eyebrow before realising what Dash was warning of. “OOHHH! You’re worried about how Applejack is super-duper honest and that she’ll just come right out and say we all heard Rarity and Fluttershy scissor-fucking through the window?”

“PINKIE!”

Pinkie gasped, wide-eyed. “Oops!” she said, covering her mouth as she looked at the mortified couple.

“Ohhh…” Fluttershy whimpered, covering her face as she sank into the chair that Twilight had just abandoned.

“Well then,” Rarity sighed, dropping her shoulders. “I suppose it’s all out in the open now, isn’t it?”

The rest of us nodded, avoiding eye contact.

Rarity steeled herself and stuck her nose into the air, placing her hand on Fluttershy’s shoulder. “Well, there it is. Fluttershy and I shared an intimate moment together, and it is our right to do so, however; had we known the window was open, we’d have been sure to close it, and we do apologise if anyone was made...uncomfortable...by what they heard.”

There was another short pause, followed by a chorus of ‘nahs’ and ‘nuh-uhs,’ accompanied by dismissive waves and the shaking of heads.

“Pppff, uncomfortable? No way!” Dash forced a chuckle as she sat back in her seat and turned to face Pinkie Pie. “We weren’t uncomfortable at all, were we, Pinkie?”

“Nope!” Pinkie shook her head with another big grin on her face. “No emotional scars to last a lifetime over here! No siree-bob!”

To be fair, Pinkie probably had built something of a tolerance to this sort of thing after what she’d witnessed the previous morning.

Sunset and I were exchanging laughs by that point while Applejack simply rolled her eyes, unimpressed by the one-eighty the others had pulled, wallowing in their own comfortable dishonesty.

“Oh...?” Rarity replied, dubious. “Are you...sure about that, ladies?”

Sunset sighed and put her hand up. “It’s fine, Rare. Don’t worry about it.”

Applejack nodded in agreement. “Sunset’s right, sugarcube. We’re all adults here, like ya said, so let’s just forget about it and move on with life.”

“Oh…a-alright then,” Rarity replied, wringing her fingers together nervously. “Well then, is there anything I can do to help with breakfast?”

“Uh…” I scanned my work area. The last steaks were just about finished, and Sunset was fluffing the scrambled eggs in the second pan. “Nah, I think we’re pretty good here. I’ll have the first plate ready in a minute or two.”

“Actually,” Sunset spoke up, giving me a pat on the back. “Golds here is pretty thirsty; I bet he could sure go for that drink right about now.”

Unprepared for her poorly-timed humour, Applejack and I both glared at Sunset as she laughed out loud by herself. She covered her mouth and pointed at us, clearly amused by our reactions.

Rarity stood with her hands at her sides, deadpanning at the red-head. “Very funny, Sunset,” she said flatly. “Pardon my confusion, but I thought we were all adults here?”

“I never said that,” Sunset chuckled. “That was AJ.”

I shook my head and leaned forward to peer into the pot. “God dammit, Sunny. You’re dead to me, ” I said, reaching into the hot oil to fish out the steaks.

“Call that karma,” she replied as she took her pan from the heat, giving the fluffy, yellow pile of eggs a final stir.

“Karma?” I replied, glancing at her as I set the steak on the platter.

“Um, duh?” she shrugged, holding the spatula to the side. “For outing me in front of AJ about the…you know…”

“Oh whatever!” I replied, scowling as I dipped my fingers in the hot oil again. “You want karma? Here’s some fuckin karma,” I said, flicking the oil in her face.

Hot droplets spattered across her nose and cheeks, sizzling loudly upon impact, causing her to recoil and cover her face with her forearm. “AHH! Hey, fuck off!” she hollered, swinging the spatula at me in retaliation.

The flat, plastic utensil caught my cheek with a loud slap, leaving a wet mark behind, along with a few bits of egg that stuck in my stubble.

“Oh shit!” Dash called out, sitting up in her chair excitedly. “Tussle! Tussle!”

“Hey hey hey!” Applejack shouted, grabbing my shoulder to yank me back. “Cut it out, you two! Ya can’t be goin around flingin hot grease and slappin each other with spatulas; the fuck’s wrong with ya’s?”

Sunset and I were both laughing by then, wiping our faces.

“We’re just messing around, AJ,” Sunset assured her. “We do stuff like this all the time.”

“Psshh.” Applejack shook her head. Unable to follow up with anything meaningful, she simply adjusted her hat and gave us a little smirk.

“In all seriousness though,” I said, reaching for a pair of paper plates from the package behind Applejack. “Everything’s pretty much ready; time for breakfast.”

AJ rubbed her hands together. “Hot damn, it’s about time! Mah mouth’s been waterin like a busted water pipe.”

With impeccable timing, Twilight emerged from the side of the house, carrying a tray of dark brown biscuits with a sheepish look on her face.

“How bad are they?” I asked, laying a crispy, golden steak on the plate as I looked up at her.

“Eh…edible, I think,” she grimaced. “Sorry guys.”

“No no, Twilight,” Rarity stepped in, “I accept full responsibility for that. I kicked you out of the kitchen, so it’s on me.”

“Bring ‘em over here,” I instructed, “They might not be too bad inside.” I turned to Sunset. “Throw some eggs on there, would you please, Sunny?”

“Sure,” she replied, scooping a fluffy, steaming pile of scrambled egg onto the plate, next to the steak.

Twilight was next to me by then, giving a friendly smile as a glowing biscuit levitated from the tray towards the plate.

“Could you tear it open, please Twi?” I asked, watching the dark, flaky pastry float before my eyes.

“Sure,” Twilight replied, after which the biscuit divided itself in mid-air, creating separate auras around each one as they lowered themselves onto the plate.

“Sweet,” I said, inspecting the pastry. “It still looks nice and light on the inside. I think they’ll be fine.” Removing the lid from the gravy pan and then using a small ladle, I drizzled a generous topping of the creamy, white sauce, dotted with black flecks of pepper over the steak, eggs, and even the biscuit.

“Dang, partner,” Applejack said, licking her lips. “That looks mighty tasty!”

“You want first crack?” I asked, offering the plate to her.

She smiled and began to reach for it, but then a look of uncertainty came over her and she paused to look over her shoulder at Fluttershy. “Ya know what?” she said, turning back to me. “I think Fluttershy should go first.”

Sitting in the chair with her hands folded in her lap, the shy girl had been staring at the ground the whole time, never really recovering from the embarrassment. Upon hearing her name, however, she brought her eyes up to find the rest of us watching her with friendly smiles on our faces.

“Hm?” she asked, looking at each of us one-by-one.

“You can have the first plate, sugarcube; I insist.”

“Me?” Fluttershy asked, placing her fingertips to her chest.

“Of course, you!” Rainbow Dash chuckled loudly from Fluttershy’s left, drawing the shy girl’s attention. “You’re the guest of honour!”

Fluttershy blinked. “I…I am?”

“But of course you are, darling,” Rarity interjected, making Fluttershy turn the other way to face her girlfriend. “This is our first meal together since you came home, and no one is more deserving of the first helping than you.”

“Oh! Well, th-thank you, everyone,” she said quietly, looking forward again as I stood and brought the plate to her.

I squatted in front of her chair and set the plate on her lap, then handed her a fork. “Bon-appetite, Flutters.”

She paused momentarily to gaze at me with those big, teal eyes of hers as a proud smile grew across her lips. “Thanks Goldie,” she whispered, before leaning forward with her lips puckered.

I placed my hands on her knees and leaned in to accept the kiss, after which she paused again, her cheeks flushing as she began to look around the group. “Everyone: thank-you,” she said, “I’m so glad to have you girls in my life, a-and you too, Goldie,” —she glanced at me, smirking— “I missed you all so much when I was gone. I couldn’t think of anything else the whole time I was there; in fact, it was the thought of all of you that gave me the drive to fight, to get myself out of there, and I couldn’t have done it without you.” She paused once more to let out a content sigh, then concluded her little speech with: “I love you, girls.”

“Oh darling,” Rarity cooed, resting her hand on Fluttershy’s shoulder as she bent down to plant a kiss on top of her head.

“Aw,” Rainbow Dash replied, leaning over in her chair to reach out and give the shy girl’s shoulder a firm, but affectionate nudge. “We love you too, Flutters,” she said with a warmth uncharacteristic of her personality, her voice cracking unintentionally.

“OOOH!” Pinkie squealed, shaking her fists excitedly beneath her chin. “Dashie’s breaking up!”

“What? No I’m not!” Dash argued, turning to Pinkie with a scowl.

“Aw Dashie! You need a hug?!” the party girl squealed, darting from her chair to wrap her arms around the rainbow-coloured head of her friend, mashing her soft, massive breasts against the side of Dash’s face.

“Pinkie!” Dash hollered, her voice muffled as she tried to peel her head from the other girl’s grip. “Get your big tits out of my…um…” she trailed off quite suddenly, her eyelids dropping as she stared vacantly into the fire. The fight had left her, creating somewhat of an eerie sight; not unlike a mouse that’d been constricted by a snake and was having the life squeezed from it. “Uuuhh…” she exhaled slowly, “those are really warm, Pinkie; I’m not gonna lie, this is actually kind of...nice.”

The rest of us let a few quiet giggles slip, which were suddenly interrupted by Applejack slapping her knee impatiently. “Come on Fluttershy, let’s get this show on the road! How’re them steaks tastin?”

“Oh!” Fluttershy snapped herself from the scene in the next chair and brought her attention to the plate. “Um...don’t I need a steak knife?” she asked, picking up the fork and looking inquisitively at me.

I shook my head. “Not for these steaks.”

“Oh…OK then,” she mumbled to herself, “I’m just gonna…” Fluttershy trailed off as she pressed the edge of the fork against one end of the crispy, golden treat. To her surprise, the fork broke through the breading and cut through to the plate like butter. “Goodness!” She stabbed the fork into the severed piece and mopped up a bit of the white gravy, then brought it up to pop it into her mouth.

The rest of us watched her eyes drift up to the treetops as she chewed, testing the flavour and texture of the rustic meal.

I had to admit, I was a bit nervous about it. After all, I hadn’t made this exact meal in this exact way for well over a century. Relief came quickly though; Fluttershy’s eyes widened and she stopped chewing, then she looked down at me before placing a hand over her mouth.

“Oh my goodness...” she muttered, her words muffled by a full mouth.

“Huh? HUH? How is it?” AJ pleaded for an answer.

Fluttershy shifted her eyes to her blonde friend and nodded, then gave a thumbs-up.

Applejack clapped her hands together excitedly. “Hot diggity-dog!” she cheered, “who’s next?”

“Why don’t you help yourself, darling?” Rarity offered.

“Me? Nah, best ta get everyone else served first,” AJ replied.

“No no, your enthusiasm speaks for itself, Applejack. Go ahead,” the fashionista insisted. “Besides, you helped prepare it, so you deserve to enjoy the fruits of your labour.”

Applejack paused. “Now wait a sec, Granny always taught me that it’s rude for the cook to serve themselves first, and I-“

“Oh Pish-posh!” Rarity waved her off. “You needn’t worry about rudeness, darling; certainly not after what you witnessed through the bedroom window.”

The farm girl stopped for half a second to consider Rarity’s logic, then she snatched up a plate. “Point taken, sugarcube,” she said hurriedly as she picked out one of the cooler steaks with her fingertips and plopped it onto her plate, then held it out to Sunset. “Egg me, Sunset; I’m starvin!”

“You got it,” Sunset replied, scooping a pile of eggs onto the plate, just as two halves of a biscuit floated down from above and came to rest on the plate.

“Ah, thanks Twilight!” AJ chuckled, glancing over her shoulder at the lavender girl, who stood behind her, giggling.

“No problem,” Twilight replied. “Why don’t you go sit and enjoy your breakfast? Sunset and I will fill the rest of the plates.”

“Sure thing, partner,” Applejack said as she drizzled her entire plate with country gravy, then got up to find a chair.

And with that, Twilight and Sunset continued building plates and handed them out one-by-one until everyone was sitting quietly, enjoying their crispy, saucy breakfast. The meal was enjoyed immensely by all, including myself, and everyone licked their plates clean, with the exception of Rainbow Dash; who enjoyed it, but found it too rich to finish completely.

Applejack scolded her nonetheless; saying it was her own fault for downing a glass of orange juice on an empty stomach, followed by a coffee, which surely didn’t help matters.

As the sun rose higher in the morning sky, the yard became warmer and with the added comfort —along with satisfied bellies— the conversations became louder and full of energy, punctuated by laughter, whoops and hollers; the kind of racket that could only be created by a group of friends like this.

I had returned to the fireside in the midst of it all to enjoy the warmth, while Fluttershy and Rarity found themselves snuggled up in a lawn chair together, listening to the rousing and often funny stories being told by their friends. A couple of the other girls had joined me by the fire, lured in by the comforting warmth; despite the rising temperature outside, there was still a persistent, nagging chill that hung in the autumn air.

Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were sitting close to me, reminiscing about the time they shared that house with their friend, Vinyl Scratch.

“Aw fuck, I miss living there with you guys,” Dash was saying as she poked at the coals with a long twig. “And I still really appreciate you guys letting me stay rent-free until I got on my feet, Pinkie.”

“No problem, Dashie!” Pinkie giggled. “We were happy to have you; the last thing we wanted was for you to have to leave town!”

I glanced at Dash, raising a brow. “Leave town?”

“Yeah, uh, it’s a long story,” Dash said, jabbing at one of the fire logs with the stick, chipping away at the blocks of charcoal stuck to its underside. “See, when I was still in high school, my parents were planning on moving away and going into early retirement, and I was gonna stay in Canterlot and go to College, but when I lost my scholarships, I had to either: move away with them or find a job and a place to live if I wanted to stay in Canterlot.”

“Hm.” I shook my head.

“Yeah!” Pinkie shouted, “But me and Scratchie said she could stay with us, right Dashie?”

“That’s right, you old softie!” Dash said, gnashing her teeth as she put Pinkie in a headlock and gave her a noogie, drawing a fit of giggles from the chubby, pink girl—giggles that sounded unnervingly similar to that of a newborn baby. Dash ground her knuckles through the sea of strawberry-scented curls until something hard struck her hand, prompting her to pull out. “Ow! What the hell was that?” she winced, peering into the messy, pink depths atop Pinkie’s head.

“Huh?” Pinkie replied, her eyes shifting upwards, perplexed. “Oh!” she giggled, “that’s probably my stapler!”

“Your stap- WHAT?” Dash exclaimed, befuddled by the response. “Why in the sweet name of FUCK do you have a stapler in your hair, Pinkie?”

“Why not?” Pinkie countered, following up with even more giggles as Dash released her from the headlock. “You never know when you might encounter an emergency in which there is a dire need to affix separated documents into one convenient, orderly package!”

“Ugh!” Dash groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose, “That makes so little sense, it actually hurts.”

“One day, Dashie; it’s gonna happen, you’ll see!” Pinkie warned, wagging her finger at the rainbow-haired girl.

Applejack’s voice sounded from behind us next, prompting the three of us to turn around. “Pinkie, why don’t ya go take your looney-bin, wacked-off, mind-fuckery someplace else?” she shouted, waving Pinkie away with a lit cigar cradled between her fingers.

Pinkie laughed hysterically in response. “HAHAHA! You’re so funny, Applejack!”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at the exchange. “Oohhh Pinks; you are just one ‘soy sauce mini-freezie’ away from being totally crazy, you know that?”

The pink girl’s laughter halted in an instant and she turned to face me with an eyebrow raised. “Yeah, and?”

I put my hands up in defense. “OK, whoa! Relax, I was just kidding.”

Pinkie burst into laughter again, and then slapped me on the shoulder. “I know, silly!”

“Ya see, this is what I’m talkin ‘bout!” Applejack bellowed from her chair like someone’s grumpy old grandfather, a cloud of cigar smoke bursting from her mouth as she spoke. “The three of yas shoulda never been allowed ta live in that house on yer own!”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Ugh, here comes ‘the heat’ again.”

“Dammit, Dash!” AJ pointed the cigar at the rainbow-haired girl. “Now, I know I told ya ta quit callin me that!”

Dash simply shook her head and resumed poking idly at the fire.

“I’m tellin ya, Golds,” Applejack continued, “them three girls, alone in that house were a legitimate threat ta humanity.”

“Oh, COME ON!” Dash fired back. “It wasn’t that bad. Why do you gotta be such a grumpy-cat when you’re full?”

“Not that bad, eh?” Applejack replied, ignoring the question. “Need I remind you of ‘the blanket?’”

“UUUGH!” Dash tipped her head back, letting out an exasperated groan. “Again with the blanket!”

“What blanket?” I asked, glancing from one girl to the next.

“OOH! I love this story!” Pinkie piped up. “I’ll tell it! Can I tell it, Applejack? PLEEEEE-HEE-HEEASE LET ME TELL IT!”

“You can tell it, but it’s NOT a good story, Pinkie Pie! Just remember that,” AJ scolded, her words muffled by the cigar as it hung loosely from her lips.

“OK, here it goes,” Pinkie announced, before bowing and inhaling deeply, letting her head raise slowly as her lungs filled with air, ready to release a tale of calamity that I was sure I wouldn’t be prepared for.

“Oh shit…” I thought to myself as the verbal diarrhea began to spill from the party girl’s mouth.

“So one day I was in the basement doing laundry when I found this weird blanket stuck in the dryer; it was kinda pink, but kinda blue —I don’t really know— but I DO know that I didn’t know where it came from. So anyway, I was trying to pull it out and just then, Dashie and Applejack came downstairs for a jam session and asked me what I was doing, so I says to Dashie, I says: ‘Hey Dashie, is this your blanket?’ And she was like: ‘No, it’s not mine. Where did you find it?’ So I said: ‘It was stuck in this other compartment in the dryer; I don’t know who put it there, but it sure is jammed in there tight!’ So that’s when Applejack came up and said: ‘Holy shit! I reckon you guys need ta clean yer lint trap more often!’ And I was all like: ‘Say whaaaaaaaat?’ And then Applejack sa-“

“Whoa, wait a minute!” I was waving my hands around by then, overwhelmed by the bombardment of nonsense and utterly confused. “That blanket was buildup from your lint trap?”

An incredulous and very frustrated Applejack leaned forward suddenly and gripped the arms of the chair, biting down on the cigar with her teeth as she spoke. “These numbskulls didn’t empty the fuckin thing fer over a year!”

“HAHAHA! What? Are you serious!?” I couldn’t help but burst into a fit of laughter when I looked back at the pair of girls, whose faces had become red with embarrassment.

“Well we didn’t know!” Dash defended, turning to face AJ with a shrug. “My mom always did my laundry for me!”

“Yeah, me too!” Pinkie added and then paused, rubbing her chin. “Come to think of it, she still does!”

“OK, so what happened?” I asked.

“OOH! Me!” Pinkie squealed, remembering there was more to the story. “So Applejack said: ‘Ya gotta empty yer lint trap or ya could end up startin a fire!' And I was all like: ‘Lord Jesus, not a fahr! I got bronchitis; ain’t nobody got time fo' dat!’”

“She actually did say that…” AJ said flatly, letting the cigar dangle from her mouth as Dash let out a hearty laugh.

“Did she really?” I chuckled, glancing at Pinkie.

“You bet yer Sweet Brown she did.”

“Wow,” I laughed, wiping a tear from my eye. “So…what, you never emptied it…like, ever?”

“Well, technically, yeah…I-I mean, no,” Dash replied, removing the stick from the coals to inspect the tip. “We’d only been living there for a year by then, and we didn’t know you had to empty it, so…”

“Ugh,” Applejack rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Yer lucky ya didn’t burn the goddamn house down.”

*****

The day continued on. Eventually, we moved into the house and settled onto the couch to watch a few movies and play a few games. It was a wonderful time, relaxing, laughing, eating, playing, snuggling; the day flew by in a heartbeat and before we knew it, it was after 4:00 pm.

I had gotten up from the couch to finally change out of my smoky clothes and was in Fluttershy’s bedroom when I heard someone enter through the front door.

A few seconds later, I heard Rainbow Dash greet someone.

“Oh, hey Maud.”

The greeting was followed by a span of silence.

After pausing briefly to listen, I finished putting a clean T-shirt on and decided to head back to the front room. When I emerged from the hall, I looked to the left and sure enough, there she was: the gray skinned, purple-haired, older sister of Pinkie, standing still as a statue.

I decided to joke around with her.

When I reached the end of the table, I stopped and then recoiled suddenly, putting my hand to my chest, pretending to be startled. After a bogus exhale of relief, I chortled and shook my head. “Oh! Jeez, I thought somebody was standing there; but it’s just Maud.”

She didn’t laugh. In fact, she didn’t respond at all—or even move, for that matter. Instead, she blinked one time…slowly.

“Very funny, Greg,” Maud replied finally, in a monotone voice.

I cleared my throat. “It..it’s Golds,” I said quietly. “…Golds.”

After a disappointed sigh, I made my way around the couch to snuggle in with my girlfriends.

“A swing and a miss, eh darling?” Rarity teased as I nuzzled in close to sniff her hair, which was giving off a strange, yet alluring mixture of vanilla and wood smoke.

“I won’t miss when I put a mushroom print on your forehead, Rare,” I countered, eliciting a giggle from the shy girl, who was snuggled up on the other side of the fashionista.

Fluttershy raised two fingers and then spoke softly. “Ooh, I’ll take two!” she giggled.

Rarity gasped. “Fluttershy!”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at the shy girl’s one-liner. She really did have a great sense of humour; it was a shame she was too shy to be able to flaunt it whenever she wanted.

Pinkie was up by then, gathering her things rather hastily to leave. Obviously, Maud had come to pick her up.

“Mom and Dad are waiting,” Maud said flatly.

Pinkie stomped her foot suddenly and faced her sister with clenched fists. “Yeah, I know Maud! I’m just getting my mini freezies, OK!? GOD!”

The rest of us remained on the couch, unable to see the Pie sisters exchanging words behind us as we sat there awkwardly, glancing around at one another. The whole thing struck me as odd: why would Pinkie blow her top so easily at her sister like that? She was so nice to everyone else, which made me wonder what kinds of things must go on in that house when no one is around.

Finally, after a tense few moments, we heard Pinkie’s voice from behind the couch.

“Bye guys,” she said, sounding rather dejected and quite uncharacteristic of the Pinkie Pie that I knew.

“See ya, Pinkie; bye Maud,” we all said, slightly out of sync, each farewell overlapped slightly by someone else’s voice.

After the door closed and the Pie sisters were gone, we sat in silence for only a moment before Rarity spoke up.

“Can you believe that? The way Maud spoke to Pinkie just now?”

I shook my head in confusion and looked at the fashionista. “Maud? Didn’t you hear Pinks yell at her?”

“Yes, but Maud provoked her,” Rarity countered.

“Oh, totally!” Dash agreed, from the far end of the couch.

I glanced back and forth at the two girls, confused.

“Yep,” Applejack added. “That Maud’s been a real handful lately. I just can’t figure what her blippin’ deal is.”

“Are you guys fuckin with me?” I asked, which earned a chuckle from Rainbow Dash. “All Maud said was: ‘Mom and Dad are waiting.’ I don’t really see the big deal there.”

Rarity shook her head. “No no, darling; you don’t know Maud the way we do. I know she comes off quite stoic when you don’t know her, but the subtle changes in tone and the look in her eyes makes her a very transparent person...once you get to know her, that is.”

“So…” I said, pausing briefly, “just now, Maud was being a dick to Pinkie?”

No one gave a verbal reply, but as I looked around the couch, all of them were nodding.

“Hmm,” I replied, resting my temple on Rarity’s shoulder. “Weird.”

“It’s cuz they’re all cooped up in that house,” Dash explained.

“Oh?” I replied.

“Yeah,” Applejack added. “Their dad; he doesn’t want them movin out. It’s like some kinda weird attachment ta parentin or somethin…I dunno. Them folks’ve never been good at dealin with change, y’know?”

“That’s why we couldn’t keep the house,” Dash explained. “Pinkie lived there with me and Scratch, but somehow, Pinkie’s parents convinced her to move back home, which left Scratch and I up shit-creek without a paddle cuz we couldn’t afford the rent without her.”

“Hm,” I mumbled as Rarity put her arm around me and stroked my back with her fingertips.

“Ingeous really is a sweet man, and a loving father,” the fashionista said, “but he does need to understand that he can’t keep those girls at home forever; it’s not good for them, and he’s certainly not doing their social lives any favours.”

“Definitely not,” Sunset agreed. “They were weird already, but lately, they’ve gone like... ‘next-level’ weird.”

*****

Evening arrived, and as with every Saturday dinner, the time came for the others to head home, with the exception of Rarity, who ardently refused to leave mine and Fluttershy’s sides. Before they left, each friend was sure to give Fluttershy a tight hug or a high-five—or whatever gesture happened to be that particular individual’s cliché.

Twilight and Sunset were the first to leave, due to Twilight needing a ride back to the city.

“Ugh! Twilight, are you sure you can’t just stay here tonight so I can take you back in the morning?” Sunset asked as she burst into her apartment, tossing her keys on the table.

“I’m sorry, Sunset,” Twilight replied, following the red-head inside and slipping out of her shoes. “But I’m already pushing it as it is; I have a fairly large lab report due this week that I thought I’d be working on this weekend, but when you and Fluttershy came home, coming down to visit became top priority. But now I need to get back ASAP so I can get caught up after missing the past day and a half.”

Sunset flopped down on the couch, rubbing her forehead. “Fine,” she replied, sighing. “Just let me sit for a minute first, K? I’ve been home for two days now, and I’ve barely had any time to relax in my own apartment.”

Twilight sighed and rubbed the back of her neck for a moment, watching her best friend sit back with her eyes closed, trying her best to unwind. “OK, fine,” she agreed, finally. “You win, Sunset. We can hang out here for a bit.”

“Thanks Twi,” Sunset replied, keeping her eyes closed.

“Anything for you,” Twilight said, sitting down next to the red-head. “You’ve been through a lot lately; I think it’s fair to say you deserve a break.”

“Mm-hm.”

Unable to relax fully, Twilight sat forward, folding her hands on her knees as she glanced idly around the apartment. Finally, she turned to look at her friend, who was still sitting back, eyes closed and motionless.

“Sunset?”

“Mm?”

Twilight paused to chew her lip, then drew a breath to speak. “If you had to, would you do it again?”

Sunset turned her head slightly, peeling one eye open to look at the lavender girl. “The rescue mission?”

Twilight nodded.

Sunset closed her eye and faced forward again. “In a heartbeat.”

Twilight’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Really?”

Sunset nodded. “Yeah…I mean, yes, it was stressful and scary, but getting to spend time with someone like Golds was…it was amazing, Twi.” She opened her eyes and faced her friend, tapping an index finger against her temple. “The secrets that guy has locked up in here...l mean, it’s nothing short of mind-blowing.”

“I can imagine,” Twilight mused, looking down at the carpet.

“I mean, he really is something else,” Sunset continued, then paused to bite her lip, followed by one of her signature smirks. “Even if he IS a huge goof sometimes.”

Twilight smiled and shook her head. “Well, to be fair, your constant teasing probably didn’t help matters much.”

“My teasing?”

“Uh, yeah!” Twilight chuckled. “I’ve known you for a long time, Sunset Shimmer; I know better than anyone how much of a pain-in-the-butt you can be.”

Sunset tilted her head and looked at the floor, pursing her lips. “Yeah…” she replied absentmindedly.

“Actually...” Twilight finally sat back on the couch, allowing herself to relax a bit. “The simple fact that Golds was able to survive being alone with you for over a month straight is a true testament to his resilience. Honestly? I’m surprised the scientific community hasn’t come up with some new unit to measure the amount of snark that comes out of you.”

Sunset laughed and shook her head. “Oh come on, Twi! Golds is no angel either, just so we’re clear.”

“Yeah, he can be pretty sarcastic too, sometimes,” Twilight giggled. “I have to admit, I do find it amusing to watch him and Rarity wind each other up.”

“Oh fuck,” Sunset rolled her eyes, “those two…” she trailed off, then chuckled softly. “Seriously though, he is a lot of fun to riff with, but being with him for that long could be a drain at times, not to mention he has a tendency to whine about stuff quite a bit.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “Golds? Really? What does a person like him whine about?”

Sunset shrugged. “Just stupid shit, mostly.” She paused momentarily, then turned to Twilight with another smirk. “That’s alright though, all you gotta do is give him some pussy. That usually shuts him up.”

The lavender-skinned girl snorted. “Wow.”

“It’s a small price to pay,” Sunset added as she folded her hands behind her head and crossed her feet, letting out a smug sigh.

“Hm, well it’s good to see that you haven’t let your recent accomplishments go to your head,” Twilight said sarcastically. “Besides, that’s hardly a solution for everyone else.”

“Meh,” Sunset shrugged. “Golds’ll fuck anything on two legs.”

Laughing, Twilight shook her head. “What about four?”

The red-head paused, letting her eyes shift to the ceiling. “Hm…I don’t know. Maybe?”

After a short spell of laughter, Twilight reached up to adjust her glasses, forgetting once again that they weren’t there.

Sunset noticed this and shook her head. “I can’t believe you still do that, Twi. Seriously, it’s been fucking months.”

“I know, I know,” Twilight waved her off. “Old habits…you know?”

“Yeah.”

Twilight let out a long sigh, drumming her fingertips on her thigh. “So…what’s on the agenda for tomorrow?”

“Umm…” the red-head shifted her jaw back and forth, staring at her lifeless TV. “Well, first off: I need another phone so I can talk to your brother about his job offer, and if that falls through, I’ll have to look for some other shitty job to get me by for now.”

“Like where?”

“I don’t know, like at a restaurant or coffee shop?”

“Hm,” Twilight rubbed her chin, deep in thought. “Hey, isn’t there a sushi place just around the corner from here? You could apply there.”

Sunset cocked an eyebrow. “Me? No, that’s not a thing.”

“It was just a suggestion,” Twilight shrugged. “Oh, wait! How about this?” She paused to pull her phone out. “We could call my brother right now; you can talk to him about the job, and if it sounds promising then you can stay with me when you take me home and then you can meet up with him this week to discuss things in person.”

“Ugh…” Sunset rubbed her face.

“What?”

“It’s just…like I said, I’d like to have some time to be at home for a bit. I miss my apartment, Twi. I don’t wanna take you home and then have to stay away for a few days just yet. How about I just take you home and then go back during the week to meet him?”

“But then you’d be making two trips,” Twilight argued. “How about,” —she paused to think, tapping her knuckles to her bottom lip— “OK, what if I stay here with you tonight, then you take me home tomorrow evening and you can stay with me tomorrow night? Then you and I can hang out here for a day, and you can meet up with Shining Armor as early as Monday.”

“Wait,” Sunset rubbed her chin, “what about your school work?”

“Don’t worry, Sunset. I’ll find the time to finish it. This is more important.”

“You’d do that for me?” the red-head asked, surprised, but flattered at the same time.

Twilight smiled. “Of course I would.”

“Wow…I don’t know what to say. Thanks Twi,” Sunset said, smiling as she gave her friend’s shoulder a shake.

“No problem.” The lavender girl held her phone up and jiggled it. “So, you wanna call Shining Armor, or what?”

Sunset bit her lip and smiled, feeling a surge of energy. “Sure.”

“OK then!” Twilight navigated through her phone, looking for her brother’s contact.

Sunset, admittedly, was a bit apprehensive about talking with Shining Armor. She hadn’t spoken to him for over a year, mostly because she and Twilight had been quite busy during her final year of university together.

When they first left Canterlot for the big city to attend school, Sunset had spent a great deal of time with Twilight’s family. They were a very friendly and hospitable bunch, and invited Sunset along to family dinners on weekends and holidays on a regular basis. Over time, Sunset inevitably began to find her friend’s older brother attractive, especially after breaking off her relationship with Flash Sentry for the second and final time. Little came of the infatuation, however; one night, during the winter of their third year in school, Shining Armor brought a date to dinner with him:

Cadance.

And the rest was history. Their relationship flourished —despite her being three years his senior— and they became engaged soon after and were married within the next year and a half, thus obliterating any chances of Sunset hitching a ride on her best friend’s brother.

It was probably for the best, in all honesty. As Sunset already knew, she merely lived in a human body, but she was not human, making genuine, romantic love towards a human impossible in her eyes. It didn’t happen with Flash, and it probably wouldn’t have happened with Shining Armor. The attraction was merely a sexual need. Nothing more.

Nevertheless, those memories of watching Shining Armor at the table with Twilight’s family, the lewd thoughts about him; they never went away completely and were still lingering in the back of her mind, resurfacing only when she interacted with him—like she was just about to do.

Sunset chewed the inside of her cheek while keeping an eye on her friend, who had found her brother’s contact and was now about to press the ‘call’ button.

”Come on, Sunset! This is no big deal; it’s just Twi’s brother. Twi’s hot brother. TWI’S MARRIED BROTHER! Ugh! You really need to get past this if you expect to be working for hi-”

“Here.”

The single word snapped Sunset from her thoughts and she focused on Twilight, who was now holding the phone out to her.

“Oh, thanks,” Sunset said, standing up to pace back and forth in front of the couch as she held the phone to her ear, listening to it ring—which it did several times, adding an extra level of unneeded tension to the situation.

At last, there was a click, then a familiar male voice: ”Hi, just a sec,” followed by the same voice talking farther away from the phone. ”Hey, sorry guys, I gotta take this.”

Sunset stopped pacing momentarily and raised an eyebrow, listening to the sounds over the phone as her heart rate began to pick up; there were a number of voices, punctuated by the clinking of glasses and silverware, as well as the sound of easy-listening music playing in the background. All at once, however, the noise faded away, ended by the click of a door closing.

Then, Shining Armor’s voice. “Sorry about that, Twily; Cadance and I were just having a dinner party with some friends tonight. What’s up?”

“Oh, uh…hey, it’s Sunset Shimmer calling…actually,” she replied, adding a nervous chuckle. “I’m just borrowing Twi’s phone. Um…how are you, Shining Armor?”

There was a short pause. “Oh…Sunset Shimmer, what an unexpected surprise! Uh, I’m good. REAL good. Ha! How are you?”

“I’m doing good, and you?” Sunset grimaced immediately. Like a dumbass, she’d just asked the same question twice.

Twilight snickered, shaking her head as she looked at the floor.

Silence for a moment. ”Um…I’m doing great, Sunset, thanks; doing real good.” He followed up by clearing his throat. Awkwardly.

Sunset was at a momentary loss for words, her mind flustered with embarrassment after the display of air-headedness on her part.

Shining Armor must have been able to sense the uneasiness —as if the silence wasn’t clue enough— and he decided to push the conversation forward. “Uh…s-so I take it you’re home from your…um, trip? And everyone’s OK?”

Sunset glanced at Twilight, surprised that her brother knew about the mission. “Uh, sorry…the trip?” she replied, barfing out whatever words came to mind first.

He paused briefly before answering. “I thought Twily said you and your friend were gone looking for the missing girl? Fluttershy, is it?”

“Yeah,” Sunset rubbed the back of her neck. “I uh, I didn’t know you were aware of that whole thing; how did you hear about it?”

“Uuh, it was…when was that?” he thought aloud to himself, “Oh! Thanksgiving weekend. Cadance and I drove Twily out to her friend’s house in the woods for a visit, and-”

“Fluttershy’s house?”

“Yeah, that’s right,” he replied. ”So anyway, Twily invited us to stay for a bit, so we did, and we roasted wieners and marshmallows over the fire, which was a lot of fun, I gotta say. Those friends of yours and Twily’s are a great bunch. Uh, but anyway, we got to asking about whose house it was, which, they said it was Fluttershy’s, and obviously she wasn’t there, so they ended up telling us about her disappearance and about you and your other friend going to find her…what was his name again? I can’t remember.”

“Golds…er, Golden Arrow.”

“Yeah, that’s it. Supposedly he’s some kind of expert at finding people? Your friends said he’s like a hundred times tougher than Liam Neeson, or something like that.”

Sunset snorted, momentarily abandoning her apprehension. “What? No way, Liam Neeson’s a badass. Golds is just…well, Golds.”

Shining Armor chuckled. ”HA! Well, I’ll take your word for it. So everyone is home again, safe and sound? Fluttershy’s OK too?”

“Oh, yeah. Everyone’s doing great. Flutters was a bit messed up at first, but she snapped out of it once she got home and saw everybody.”

”Oh, I can imagine; something like that can be pretty damaging to a person…you know? But hopefully she’ll be able to move on before too long and, uh…you know, heal from it…without too much trouble.”

“Oh…yeah,” Sunset nodded. “She’s doing great already. Me and Twi actually just came from her place. Everyone was there, including Golds, and we had a fire just like you guys did; ate some food, played some games and watched movies…you know, all the fun stuff.”

“Well that’s great to hear. I’m glad it all worked out in the end for you guys. Although, historically, nothing much ever stood in your way, did it?” he chuckled.

Sunset laughed. “No. Not really,” she replied, then licked her lip, followed by an uneasy sigh when she became aware that another bout of silence had developed. “Uh, so…the reason I’m calling, Shining Armor, is that I hear you have a possible job offer for me?”

A quick inhale could be heard through the phone, followed by his reply. “Oh! Yes, that’s right. OK, so…I don’t know if you’ve heard this, but I recently wrote my bar exam…and I passed.”

Sunset’s eyebrows rose. “Oh! No shit? That’s awesome, Shining Armor; good for you!”

“Heh, thanks. Yeah, it’s been crazy ever since. I keep getting calls and texts every time someone finds out about it…” —he paused to snicker— ”It’s finally just staring to slow down now.

“So uh, anyway; yes, the job offer: so what’s been happening here is I’ve gotten a hold of some office space and I’m planning to open my own firm, and I’ve been looking for a few ‘team members,’ as I like to call them, to fill some roles that I need looked after; secretary, accountant…you know, things like that.”

“Right…” Sunset said flatly, making the assumption that Shining Armor was offering her an entry level job.

”And I have those filled,” he continued, ”the only other important position I need filled is an investigator: someone who can dig up some dirt if need be, or if I need to know if a client or clients are being completely honest with me about their case. Anything like that.”

Sunset’s eyes lit up with excitement, her skin tingling. This was her chance!

“You want me to be an investigator for you?”

“Absolutely. If you want the job, I’ll make it yours right now. No interview needed.”

Giggling, Sunset covered her mouth in disbelief. “Wow! Really?”

”Yeah. I mean, I know you did exceptionally well in university with the forensics and all that; graduated at the top of your class, did you not?”

“Third highest, but yeah.”

”Oh, well still, that’s pretty good. Plus, you’ve got the uh…” —he lowered his voice near to a whisper— “You still have that mind-reading thing, right?”

Sunset smirked. “Yup. And trust me; it came in very handy during the past few weeks.”

”I bet!” he chuckled. “What sort of shenanigans did you and Golds get yourselves into, anyway?”

Sunset paused for a moment, chewing the corner of her mouth. ”Oh, how about treason, murder, bribery, espionage; just to name a few,” she thought to herself. “Uh, actually I’d rather not…you know…over the phone,” she replied.

Shining Armor understood. ”Ah. Say no more.”

“But I’d be willing to tell you all about it in person,” Sunset offered.

”Oh?”

“Well, I was thinking: I have to bring Twi home sometime before tomorrow night...and I was wondering if you wanted to meet up this week to talk about the job...and maybe if there’s time, I can ‘regale’ you with stories from my little adventure-” Sunset paused unintentionally just then, realising her nervousness had been shed and was speaking without reservation to Shining Armor, a feat she’d never been able to accomplish until just now.

“Yeah, sure, that sounds like a great idea!” Shining Armor replied enthusiastically. ”We can meet up for coffee and talk about the firm, what your role will be…oh! And I can take you to see the office. It’s still being renovated, but it’s coming along nicely; the drywall is up and painted, but they still have to do the trim, wire the lights and put in the carpet, then furnishings have to go in: desks, blinds, chairs, file cabinets…you know, ficus plants.”

Sunset chuckled at his elation. He sounded like a kid at Christmas, and she couldn’t help but think this move was going to be a good one for her. “Oh yeah, you gotta have ficus plants,” she giggled.

“So when did you want to meet?”

“Oh, well I’m gonna be in town by tomorrow night, soooo…are you free Monday?”

”You betcha. Monday it is!”

There were some audible noises in the background that sounded like the stomping of feet, followed by what sounded like hands clapping and then a hoot from Shining Armor.

”Woo! Wow, this is amazing!” he cheered, helpless to contain his giddiness. ”Man, everything’s been coming together so perfectly! The office will be ready probably within the next month, I’ve got the business licence and all the permits prepped, radio spots ready to go, and now, I’ve got the best investigator money can buy on board, too. This is perfect! When opening day comes, we’ll be ready to rock! We’re gonna unlock the door, turn on the lights, flip that ‘open’ sign around and we’ll be ready to hit the ground running!”

Sunset’s eyes immediately rolled back in her head, and she let her arm flop down to her side, taking the phone with it. ”UGH!” she groaned silently, shaking her head. “Well at least that killed what was left of the crush I had on him…”

Twilight had noticed her friend’s irritation and was watching with concerned features. “What?” she mouthed silently when the red-head looked at her.

Sunset shook her head and waved Twilight off, then brought the phone back to her ear just in time to hear the tail-end of another ecstatic rave.

”…TO SOAR ON THE WINGS OF AN EAGLE!”

Sunset was only mildly curious of how the rest of it might have gone.

“Yeah yeah, wings of an eagle. Got it,” Sunset replied quickly. “So Shiny, what kind of hours are we talking about here?”

Shining Armor paused briefly, then hissed somewhat nervously through his teeth. “Well, actually…that’s the only catch, really…”

Sunset paused, worried. “Uh-huh…”

“I can’t keep you on full time, unfortunately. At least not at first; to be realistic, there won’t be anything for you to do, not until we get our name out there and build some clientele.”

“Oh…OK. Yeah, no; that’s...that’s understandable. I get it.”

“Is that gonna be OK? I mean, it’ll kind of just be…like, free-lance for now, so…”

“Uh…yeah, that’s fine. It’s the only offer I’ve had since finishing school, so I’ll gladly take it,” Sunset replied, trying her best to hide her disappointment. It was starting to look like she was still going to need a job on the side to be able to pay the bills.

”Right. Sorry I can’t offer you more, but…I mean, like I said: once we get busier I can probably move you up to full time, or even part time; and in the meantime you’ll be gaining some experience that you can add to your portfolio, you know?”

Sunset nodded. “Yeah. No, it’s great, Shiny. I really appreciate the opportunity. Thank you.”

”No, thank YOU, Sunset,” he replied. “Anyway, I should get back to my guests here. So, uh…Monday then?”

“Yeah,” Sunset nodded again, “we’ll text you either tomorrow night or Monday morning and we’ll go from there. Sound good?”

”Sounds great. I look forward to seeing you again, Sunset, and I’m excited to have you on the team with us.”

Sunset chuckled. “I’m excited to be on the team. I’ll see you Monday then, K?”

“See you then. Bye, Sunset.”

“Bye.”