Same as Her, Please

by CGPH

First published 27th of April, 2017

Waiting for the bus, Sunset uncovers a shocking truth about herself.

Every time Sunset was waiting for the bus she'd go into the coffee shop and order her usual. Little did she know that this time, that simple act was about to result in her discovering a shocking truth about herself.

1.) Crossing the Streams

Sunset sipped her coffee, humming lightly along to the music in her airpods. She placed the cup back down on the saucer, her breath now pungent with its bitter taste.

Americano with two sugars, the way she always had it.

Sunset never enjoyed the taste of coffee, but it worked to get the job done. After a long day at CHS, she and her friends had decided to unwind with a trip to the mall, helping Rarity with one of her seasonal shopping sprees. It had been fun while it lasted, but now the day had drawn to a close. The sun had set and her friends were all making their separate ways home. Sunset’s bus schedule was one each hour, which left her with twenty minutes until the next one. Luckily, just across from her stop was a coffee shop, and here she was. The day had really taken it out of her, meaning she’d need a little pick-me-up if she wanted to make it home without dozing off on the bus.

“Excuse me,” Sunset asked politely, grabbing the attention of a young waitress, “could I have one of those muffins please?”

The blonde-haired waitress smiled and nodded.

“Sure thing. Two bucks please.”

Sunset and the girl did their exchange and soon a glazed caramel muffin sat on a plate in front of Sunset. She liked this café; it was a good middle ground between quality and prices. It wasn’t super-expensive, but as a result the food and drink quality suffered. Not that it was terrible, it just… wasn’t the best, either. It was a good place to recharge without making a huge dent in her wallet.

Taking a bite into her muffin, Sunset glanced up at the clock.

5:46 p.m.

She still had fourteen minutes until her bus arrived. The sign on the door marked the café’s closing time was 6 p.m, which was convenient for her. Less convenient for the store owner, who had to wait for her to leave before she could lock up, Sunset knew. Her excuse was that any annoyance felt by the store manager wouldn’t be as bad as the cold weather Sunset would have to stand in outside. The café was nearly empty now, with only Sunset, the waitress who’d served her, and a lone girl sat a few seats down from her remaining.

Sunset frowned.

Her eyes drifted back down to the girl she had spied a second ago.

“Is… that?” she thought to herself.

Deciding to risk it, Sunset turned her head to the side so she could get a full view of the girl.

Three seats down was a pale blue girl in a Crystal Prep uniform. She had short purple hair with a bright orange accessory clipped in on one side. Sunset immediately recognized her as one of the girls she had competed against in the Friendship Games, but for the life of her couldn’t remember her name.

Sunset opened her mouth to catch the girl’s attention, but closed it again, unsure if that was a good idea. Where did she even stand with her? After what happened at the Friendship Games, were CHS and CPA friends now? Outside of teaming up against Principal Cinch, the two schools hadn’t made any attempts to resolve previous conflicts… Not that any of those conflicts actually affected Sunset. But what if they affected this girl? It didn’t matter if Sunset didn’t have any negative feelings towards her; what if she wasn’t on good terms with Sunset?

“I can see you staring,” the girl said blankly.

Sunsets eyes widened in alarm and she blushed.

“I, er… wasn’t sure if I recognized you or not. Sorry,” Sunset tried to hide her face in her muffin.

“It’s okay,” the girl looked in her direction, “I wasn’t sure if it was you or not either.”

Sunset looked back up to see the girl smiling at her. Sunset returned the smile.

“I’m Sunset; Sunset Shimmer. I don’t think we’ve met properly.”

The girl smiled and nodded.

“I’m Sunny Flare. Nice to meet you, Sunset.”

Sunset pulled out her airpods and twisted her body in Sunny Flare’s direction.

“You were one of Twilight’s friends from Crystal Prep, right? One of the Shadowbolts?” she asked for politeness, already knowing full well who the girl was.

Sunny Flare nodded. “Yeah I am… sorry about last time we met, by the way. The whole evil she-demon thing.”

Sunset smiled lightly and dismissed her apology.

“Happens all the time,” she half-joked.

Sunny Flare frowned.

“You must live a more exciting life than me then,” she joked.

“You’d be surprised, actually,” Sunset laughed.

Just then the waitress returned from the back and made her way over to Sunny’s seat. She placed down a coffee and a muffin on separate saucers in front of Sunny, greeted her with a smile and then made off with the payment.

“Glazed caramel muffin, nice choice,” Sunset nodded proudly.

Sunny shrugged again, shaking her head.

“I don’t come in here often, I’m waiting for my parents to pick me up,” Sunny began to unfold the wrapping off her muffin.

“Same,” Sunset nodded. “Waiting to catch my bus. What brings you to Canterlot?”

“I don't live too far from here. I get the bus into city for school. But my dad works, so I have an hour to wait before he can get me tonight.”

Sunset nodded before frowning, “Why don’t you just walk home?”

Sunny smirked and gestured out the window.

“Would you walk home in this weather?”

Point taken.

“Besides,” Sunny Flare took a sip of her coffee. “Prices are good here. Food’s not great… good balance I suppose.”

Sunset’s eyes lit up. As she opened her mouth to respond, she was cut off by an angry voice from the back of the store.

“I heard that!” the waitress snapped in their direction.

Sunset and Sunny eyes widened in shock, before they struggled to repress guilty laughter. Sunny Flare lifted her coffee back up to her face and took a second swig. Sunset followed suited, and they placed their cups back down on the saucers in rhythm.

“So, how’s Twilight doing?” Sunny asked.

“She’s been good. She’s really come out of her shell recently.”

Sunny Flare nodded.

“She was always quiet at Crystal Prep. Kept to herself usually. She ate lunch with us occasionally… kinda got the impression she didn’t like us that much.”

Sunset nodded in agreement, “She’s just shy, don’t take it personally. She doesn’t really like anyone that much.”

“Does she, er…” Sunny Flare tried looking for the right words, “… talk about us, at all? About Crystal Prep?”

“Ermm…”

Sunset racked her memory for a time when Twilight had talked to them about Crystal Prep, but none came to mind. None at all, in fact. After Twilight started it had been like she’d completely forgotten about the time she’d spent at the other school.

“Yeaaah, all the time,” Sunset lied. “She misses you guys.”

Sunny Flare looked down into her coffee, deflating a little.

“What’s wrong?” Sunset asked.

Sunny Flare sighed.

“You’re lying.”

Sunset was taken aback. She thought she was a better actor than that. As she opened her mouth to retort, Sunny Flare cut her off.

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it. Didn’t really expect her to, we did give her a pretty rough time,” Sunny Flare gave a small chuckle at the memories.

Sunset cocked an eyebrow.

“Rough time?”

She nodded.

“Aside from, y’know, forcing her to become a magical demon so we could beat a high school in a friendly competition thing... We did the odd prank here, the odd gossip there… the usual friendly stuff.”

Sunset chuckled at Sunny’s wording.

She did find that odd, though, Twilight had never mentioned that she actually had a relationship with the girls of her school. From the way they’d treated her in the Friendship Games, Sunset had always assumed they knew each other as classmates and nothing more. She made a mental note to ask Twilight about that later.

“I’m sure she does miss you guys,” Sunset offered in a reassuring tone, “you were her friends long before we were.”

Sunny played with the handle on her cup, as if mulling over Sunset’s words.

“As long as she’s happy, I guess,” Sunny shrugged.

Sunset felt bad, noticing the obvious deflation of Sunny’s mood.

“Why don’t you try texting her? Seeing how she is?” Sunset suggested, putting a chipper note in her voice.

“Don’t have her number,” Sunny said plainly, her eyes still focused on her drink.

“I could give it you?” Sunset offered. “Or, do you have MyStable?”

“Yeah I’m on MyStable.”

Sunset smiled and nodded enthusiastically.

“There you go then, add her on there and pop up!”

Sunny gave a small smile, trying to show she appreciated Sunset’s enthusiasm.

“You should add me too,” Sunset took out her phone, “I mean, if you want.”

Sunny Flare looked from Sunset down to the phone she had just brought out of her jacket pocket. She gave another shrug.

“Sure, what’s your profile?”

Sunny Flare took out a cell phone of her own and passed it to Sunset. As she took the phone into her hands she suddenly stopped.

It was identical to her own. Same model, same color, and even had the same phone case of a stylized cartoon sun.

“What are the odds?” she thought to herself.

Sunset unlocked the phone and quickly found herself on the MyStable app. Once the request was sent she handed the phone back to Sunny Flare, and thought not a moment longer about the unusual coincidence.

“What would I say to her, though?” Sunny Flare asked.

Sunset gave a shrug, “Whatever you like. What did you guys usually talk about?”

Sunny screwed up her face, “Ermm… school work, usually.”

A wave dismissed her answer.

“What else did you guys talk about?”

Sunny thought for a moment longer before shrugging.

“You guys… didn’t talk about anything else, just school work?” Sunset asked, as if she was unsure if a punchline was coming or not.

Sunny Flare nodded.

“I mean, what else… What do you guys talk about?” she asked.

As Sunset opened her mouth to answer, a small bell rang through the shop, alerting its residents a third party had joined the room.

Sunny Flare’s head looked over in the direction and her eyes lit up. She quickly hopped off her seat and chugged what remained of her coffee like a lukewarm shot.

“Dads here, gotta shoot, was nice talking to you though!” she offered Sunset a smile.

“Er, you too, Sunny Flare,” Sunset tried to rush her goodbye.

“Let’s get you home, pumpkin.”

Sunset’s world thundered to a sudden and abrupt halt.

That voice was familiar to her, but she hadn’t heard it in a long time. A very long time. Not since Equestria… and even then the voice was a million miles away. She didn’t hear that voice in Celestia’s Palace, or the School for Gifted Unicorns. The voice was from before even then.

This voice was from home.

"No.."

As a whitewash of anxiety and disbelief crashed over Sunset, she found it within herself to push against the counter and turn herself around.

It was him.

He was human and a lot had changed. He stood upright, his mane was shorter and he lacked his orange horn. He wore a burgundy suit with a brown tie, his hair was slicked back and his style of glasses were different to what she was used to, but it was still definitely him.

Sunset’s voice was barely a whisper.

“Dad?”

The man in the doorway didn’t hear her. Or notice her at all, in fact. Instead his attention was focused solely on the other girl now approaching him. Sunny Flare greeted her father with a warm hug and then turned back. She offered Sunset a brief wave, one which Sunset was too dazed to return.

With that the two left and the bell rang obnoxiously loud behind them. Sunset’s eyes followed the two through the store window until they disappeared entirely out of view.

Frozen in place, Sunset sat there for what felt like hours, staring blankly at the area her father had just been.

“Let’s get you home, pumpkin.”

“My dad’s here, gotta shoot.”

“Let’s get you home, pumpkin.”

“Dad’s here, gotta shoot.”

“Dad’s here.”

“Dad.”

She replayed it over and over again, hoping each time something would suddenly click and make sense.

That was her dad. Unmistakably her dad. But… Sunny Flare’s dad? There was no way he could look that similar to her Equestrian father and it be a coincidence. Did her dad have a second daughter in this world? Or did he have a twin? Was Sunny Flare her inter-dimensional cousin?

A door creak signaled the waitress re-entering the room. She stopped short of Sunset.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

2.) Gathering Evidence

The classroom was alive with activity. Students wrapped up in white lab coats busied themselves with test tubes and Bunsen burners, weaving in and out of the tables and engaging in conversations. Tucked away in the corner of the class were CHS’s two leading students, Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle. As the rest of their classmates joked and played with each other, these two remained stone-faced and focused on their activity.

Or at least, one of them did.

While Sunset’s hands re-enacted the well-rehearsed science experiment, her mind couldn’t have been further away.

“Dad's here.”

Since getting on her bus last night, that scene had been on repeat in her mind. It had been what she’d thought about in the shower, the last thing that crossed her mind before bed and the first thing to greet her when she woke up.

It was so alien. Sunset had faced sirens and she-demons, yet none had left her as clueless as this. It had looked too much like him not to have been him. It was her father. Or her father’s human counterpart, at least.

Upon arriving in this world it hadn’t taken her long to figure out everyone here was a mirror image of the ponies in her world. One of the first things she did was try and seek out her human self so she could enlist her help with her revenge plot, but the search had come up short. If there was a human Sunset Shimmer in this world, she didn’t live in this country, she was sure of it.

But the counterpart of her dad did, apparently.

And her dad was also… Sunny Flare’s dad?

It just didn’t seem possible.

Her first hunch was the only logical explanation: that in this world he fathered three children instead of his Equestrian counterpart, who just had Sunset and her brother. But if that was the case, why didn’t Sunny Flare mention Sunset looked identical to her sister? And what happened differently in this world that made him have the extra kid? She had noticed before that, as similar as the two worlds were, they did have their differences. In this world Twilight was never Celestia’s pupil and didn’t move to Canterlot like her Equestrian self did

... but then she remembered the reason Twilight became Celestia’s pupil was because of Sunset’s exile, which complicated things so much that it took her all the way back to square one.

She build a theory on what she had, she needed more information.

But what could she do?

She had Sunny Flare on MyStable now, but she could hardly pop up and strike a casual conversation with her about her father. She’d have to worm her in if she wanted answers. And she knew just the place to start.

“Twiliiiiiighht?”

Twilight had become so engrossed in her work Sunset’s sudden voice caused her to flinch.

“Erm, yes?” she gave a shy smile.

How did she even approach this?

Come straight out with it?

Strike up conversation and try to steer it from there?

“Errr….” she spluttered, ”soo… How you doing?”

Twilight squinted at her for a second, before pointing at the lab equipment.

“I’m reversing the density of the hydrogen–”

“I mean how are you feeling, Twilight?”

“Ohhh,” Twilight returned to her work, talking while she fiddled with instruments, “I’m okay. Why?”

“Just askin',” Sunset smiled sweetly.

Catching the smile from the corner of her eye, Twilight looked up.

“How… are… you?” she asked cautiously, sensing Sunset’s anxiousness.

“Oh, I’m good… Just thinkin’ about stuff.”

Twilight blinked again, as if waiting for a cue card to tell her how to proceed.

“What… stuff?” she finally settled on.

“Well, actually,” Sunset placed her lab equipment down, “I was thinking about your old friend, Sunny Flare?”

Sunset noticed how Twilight deflated at the mention of her name.

“What about her?”

Sunset shrugged.

“Seen anything of her recently?”

“No, why?”

“You never mention her,” Sunset thought for a second. “Or any of the Shadowbolts, actually. I thought since you spent three years with them they’d probably have made a bigger impact.”

Twilight shrugged awkwardly, avoiding eye contact.

“I didn’t really like them that much… I mean, they were my friends, still are, I suppose… but…”

Sunset frowned.

“They were your friends, but you didn’t really like them that much?” she scoffed. “Twilight, that makes no sense.”

Twilight shrugged and gave a sad smile. “I just mean, like, in comparison. They were the only friends I had, we tolerated each other, but I enjoy hanging around with you girls way more.”

Sunset gave a slight chuckle at Twilight’s words.

“Tolerating someone doesn’t mean you’re friends, Twi.”

Her words came out harsher than she’d intended, but it was too late. Sunset noticed Twilight’s face drop, but as she opened her mouth to correct her mistake she was beaten to it.

“Why’re you asking, anyway?”

Oh yeah, she had a point to this uncomfortableness.

“I bumped into her last night, and she seemed nice. But… she made me realize that you never talk about them, that’s all. We never really got introduced to them when they visited… or got their names, for that matter.”

“Well…” Twilight thought for a moment, before holding out her hand and ticking off each of her fingers. “There’s Sugarcoat, the one with the big hair. She says some harsh stuff but she never means it. She has Apsergers, so we usually let it slide.”

Twilight lowered a finger.

“Then Indigo Zap, the short-haired one. She’s… fun…” Twilight didn’t sound convinced, “…to be around, I mean. Not really my cup of tea, she can be quite loud.”

“Yea, I kinda picked up on that,” Sunset nodded.

“Lemon Zest is a music student, she’s the one who always wears headphones. She normally keeps to herself, but sometimes we’d eat dinner together... in silence… it was more pleasant than it sounded; we could be ourselves without feeling the need to socialize.”

“That’s nice… I suppose.”

Twilight lowered another finger.

“Everyone is friends with Sour Sweet… We kinda didn’t have a choice; Principal Cinch made us so she wouldn’t feel left out, cause… well, y’know...”

Then she gasped.

“Oh, that was a horrible thing to say, wasn’t it?”

Sunset gave a gentle laugh and placed her hand on Twilight’s shoulder.

“Lil’ bit,” she nodded. “And Sunny Flare?”

“She was in charge. She didn’t like it when she was left out of things, and when she was, she got quite mean. But she also kept the bullies away from us, which was nice," then Twilight laughed, "All in all you’re a better leader than her, though.”

Sunset could have sworn she heard a record scratch on those words.

She frowned.

“I’m not the leader.”

Twilight’s eyes skirted round the floor.

“O-okay.”

“Am I the leader?” Sunset seemed to be asking herself this more than Twilight.

“N-No. I mean… do you want to be?”

“I’m not the leader,” Sunset shook her head. “I’m just… very friendly. Yeah. I’m approachable.”

Twilight nodded in agreement.

“Okie-dokie.”

With that the two awkwardly returned to their work. Or Twilight did, anyway. Sunset’s mind went back to its usual theorizing and overthinking.

What Twilight just said about Sunny did line up with the way she acted last night.

Sunny did seem quite defensive, and she mentioned that she would give Twilight a hard time sometimes. Which showed that she knew some of the teasing was wrong, at least, and if she was aware of that then the leap could be taken to assume the fact she asked about Twilight at all meant she actually care about her, deep down.

But Twilight didn’t seem to particularly miss Sunny (or any of the Shadowbolts for that matter), which intrigued Sunset to know how she’d react if Sunny Flare did indeed pop up to her MyStable. Because if one thing had made itself clear from this conversation, it was that Twilight really didn’t understand friendship before coming to CHS. The way she talked about the Shadowbolts made them sound more like nuisances than friends.

But none of this was helping her get any closer to any answers.

“Odd question…” Sunset carried on with her work, not looking up. “Does Sunny Flare have any siblings?”

“A brother, I think. Why?”

Drat.

Well there goes that theory.

“No reason… Heeeyyy,” Sunset suddenly twirled back around, smiling, “I think we should have an all-girl get-together sometime.”

Twilight cocked her head, intrigued.

“What’d you mean?”

“The Shadowbolts and Wondercolts. You never know, now we don’t have that silly competition between us we might end up liking each other’s company.”

Twilight didn’t seem entirely comfortable with that prospect. She pulled a see-through smile and began paying attention to the wall behind them.

“That sounds… fun.”

Sunset felt bad.

But Sunset needed answers.

And when Sunset needs answers, she gets them.

“Awesome!” Sunset smiled brightly. “We’ll arrange something!"

3.) A Walk in the Park

It was after school and the Rainbooms were spread out in the band practice room, hot in debate.

“I just can’t shake the feeling that it’s an awful idea.”

“It’ll be fine, Rarity.”

“Nah, Sunset, I gotta agree with her, it’s pretty lame.”

“Oh leave it, Rainbow.”

“Won’t they have something against us because of the Friendship Games?”

“Fluttershy, I’m sure they won’t, they’re more mature than that.”

“Ah’ dunno, I reck-”

“Look, if everyone has such a problem with this then we don’t have to go! I’m not forcing you into this!” Sunset snapped.

The group all inched back from her.

Sunset was pitching her idea for a playdate between the Wondercolts and Shadowbolts to her friends, and to say things weren’t going as smoothly as she’d have liked would have been a pretty accurate statement.

It was a week after her chance encounter with Sunny and she still couldn’t get the image of her father out of her mind. Each morning she’d rush to school with bags under her eyes from being kept up all night by her theorizing. But even after her hours of guesswork, it had remained exactly that: guesswork. She simply could not figure out what was happening without more information.

“All I’m saying is,” Rainbow perked up again, “we didn’t give the Dazzlings a second chance.”

Sunset had neglected to tell them her real reason for wanting to meet up with the Shadowbolts, or Sunny Flare specifically, but found their reasoning about the situation quite frustrating.

“That’s because they were evil, Rainbow, not just misguided. These were Twilight’s friends! Twilight, they weren’t evil were they?”

Twilight didn’t answer immediately. Instead she gave a small wince and shook her hand, indicating the answer wasn’t going to be in her favor.

“Ehhh,” Sunset waved Twilight off. “The point is, this will be good for everyone! I bet you’ll all have loads in common with them!”

Rainbows face clearly disagreed with her, but reluctantly the girl fell silent.

Sunset turned to Twilight.

“Twilight and I have already arranged something. Whitetail Wood, today after school. I didn’t say how many people were coming, so not all of you need to be there. But it’s only fair that we offer them the same second chance you guys offered me.”

Rainbow scoffed.

“You were different! We totally don’t owe them anything, you can count me out.”

“Rainbow Dash,” Sunset growled.

“What?!”

Sunset waved her off.

“Fine, whatever. So Rainbow’s out. Anyone else coming?”

Applejack stepped forward.

“Ah’m sorry, sugarcube, but the only thing we know about these fellas is how awful they were to Twilight, they really ain’t give us no reason to give ‘em a chance.”

“I think, as well,” Fluttershy spoke up for the first time, “with something like this, peoples’ nerves get to them. Meeting a full group of people we don’t know is awfully different from taking one girl in like we did with you.”

Sunset sighed.

“So that’s a no from both of you?”

Applejack nodded firmly while Fluttershy sank away from her disappointed gaze.

“Sunset, darling,” Rarity interjected quickly. “I have to agree with Applejack… or, ahem, while I don’t agree that the girls don’t deserve a second chance, I definitely think some caution should be exercised. You demonstrated a wanting to change, but everything we know about these girls just… well… indicates they aren’t very nice people. We can't go accepting in every mean person we meet on the street.”

Sunset scoffed.

“Why are you guys so against this?”

“Why are you so adamant about it!?” Rainbow Dash shot back.

“Because this is what we do! We’re all about friendship and magic!”

“Our friendship!” Rainbow gestured to the group. “I don’t give a damn about anyone else!”

“Rainbow Dash!” Rarity turned to her.

“What?” Rainbow sneered.

“Not wanting to meet up with a group of bullies is one thing, but I’d hardly say our friendship is exclusive to our group!" Rarity stressed. "We’re friendly girls, all of us are, but it’s not like we isolate ourselves from others.”

“Well it’s certainly what you guys are doing right now,” Sunset said bluntly.

Applejack rolled her eyes.

“Pinkie Pie, you haven’t said anything?”

Pinkie Pie, who up until this point had sat in silence watching her friends exchange points, perked up.

“Well…” She winced. “Like Applejack said, if it was anyone else you guys know I would be positively absolutely be a hundred and ten percent up for making new friends! But these guys have been kinda mean to us… I just don’t think we should do anything they wouldn’t be willing to do for us. If they were sorry for the way they were towards us, you’d have thought they would have apologized by now…”

Sunset shook her head with a sigh.

“You guys are meant to be the Elements of Harmony.”

“Our ponyselves were the Elements,” Rainbow stated. “If we had some legal requirement to make the world a better place than sure, but we don’t, we’re just teenagers. I really don’t see why any of us should go out of our way for some girls who clearly don’t give a damn about us.”

Rarity jumped in before Sunset could respond.

“Okay, that's enough. Whether or not we’re the Elements of Harmony, we are friends and this isn’t something we should let escalate into an argument.”

The group relaxed their shoulders and fell silent. Rarity turned to Sunset.

“You’re still going with or without us, I presume?”

Sunset nodded.

“Right, then I think we have a opportunity to compromise. One thing we I'm sure we can agree on is if they come to us and showed a willingness to make up for how they were to us, we’d be a lot more open to the idea of meeting up with them, yes?”

“I guess.”

“Yes.”

“Aye.”

“Yep.”

“Okay then. So if Sunset meets up with these girls and they aren’t as bad as we think they are, then I think as good people and, as Sunset said, people with a reputation for being all about friendship, then we should give them a chance. If they want the help we should give it to them. We just... don’t know right now if they want the help.”

Sunset smiled, sensing a feeling of relief wash over her.

“Thank you, Rarity.”

Rarity turned to her.

“You have our blessing, but you be careful with them, Sunset Shimmer. The second they say anything mean or derogatory you let one of us know and we’ll be there pronto.”

“To give them a good butt-kickin!’ ” Rainbow exclaimed.

“Yes, erm, that,” Rarity smiled.

An hour had passed and Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle found themselves alone in a cold gazebo. The Whitetail Woods was conveniently halfway between Crystal Prep and Canterlot High, making it a good spot to meet up with Twilight's old friends. The plan had been to meet here and then head onto further activities, but a sudden heavy rain looked like that might not be an option.

Thunder struck in the distance, causing the two girls to shift in closer together.

“Well, this is off to a great start,” Sunset said begrudgingly.

Twilight sighed heavily.

“Do you think we should call them and cancel? They were already supposed to be here by now...”

Sunsets shook her head, “No it’s fine, they shouldn’t be too far away. We can always all go somewhere drier when they get here.”

“If they get here.”

“You really think they might not show?”

“I don’t know… you spoke to Sunny Flare, did she sound positive about it?”

“I couldn’t really tell over text,” Sunset thought a little. “Is she the kind of person to stand someone up?”

Twilight shrugged.

“Not usually… but then again, I didn’t really know her that well. She was usually the one making plans.”

It was okay. This could still work. She would make it still work.

It wasn't ideal, she was well aware. The reason she wanted them to meet in a large group was so that she and Sunny Flare could spend some alone time together, it now wouldn't be as easy with all the Shadowbolts attention on her.

Mentally, Sunset had a checklist prepared of the stuff she wanted to ask her about Sunny's family background. She made special care to make sure it wasn't anything wouldn't come up naturally in conversation. She had decided to take the quantity approach as opposed to quality; she would try and find out as much generic information for her investigation as she could instead of focusing all of her attention on one aspect. That way she could cover a large amount of ground without… ahem… scaring her away.

But this was all of course, relying on the hope she actually turned up.

“Sunset Shimmer?” A third voice entered the gazebo.

Almost magically on cue, Sunset and Twilight turned to see Sunny stood in the doorway, with a handful of the Crystal Prep girls stood behind her.

“Sunny Flare!” Sunset said a little too eagerly.

Sunny dropped her umbrella, smiled and stepped inside.

“Hey...” she noticed the number of the girls, “oh, we er, kinda expected more of you guys.”

“Oh, they didn’t wa-”

“They didn’t really feel like coming after such a long day,” Sunset interrupted Twilight. “In school, I mean.”

As Sunny Flare moved inside, the other girls made their way in also. Unless Sunset’s memory failed her, not all of the group they competed against at the Games was here, but taking a scan over the girls, the ones who had turned up definitely seemed familiar to her.

“Sunset, this is Sugarcoat, Sour Sweet and Lemon Zest, you’ve all met before,” Sunny gestured a hand to each of her friends.

Sunset smiled at the girls and offered a friendly wave, “Hey! I’m sorry we didn’t get chance to properly hang out during the Friendship Games.”

The girl Sunset recognized as Sour Sweet scoffed.

“Oh, don’t worry about it! We should be the ones who are sorry!”

She swore she heard the girl mumble something under her breath after that, but didn’t quite catch what it was.

“Where’s Indigo?” Twilight asked.

“She didn’t want to come,” the one who was obviously Sugarcoat said quite blankly.

“Ah.”

It was not lost on Sunset that Twilight had yet to greet her old friends with a hug, smile or any kind of traditional friendly greeting. Instead, she had remained routed to her spot and shifted around uncomfortably.

“Yanno it’s a bit suspicious that out of your friendship group only two of you could be bothered coming to meet us. Actually kind of offensive,” Sugarcoat added, cocking her hip.

Sunset went to leap to her friends defense but was beaten to it by Sunny Flare.

“Sugarcoat.”

Sugarcoat merely rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

Sunny Flare turned to the Sunset and Twilight.

“She’s only joking. It’s good to see you again Twilight. How’ve you been?”

“Yes.”

“Yes?”

“Ahh-! I mean, I’ve been well, thank you. A-and yourself?”

“I’ve been good,” Sunny smirked, seemingly amused by Twilight’s awkward behavior. “Shame about the weather though, forecast said it was going be dry.”

“I kinda like it!” Sunset said, “Rain always was my aesthetic. But this cold isn’t great, we could try and find somewhere more warm if you guys want?”

“We can’t stay long, actually,” Sugarcoat said quick and matter-of-factly.

“Oh, I’m sorry… If you guys have other plans you don’t have to stay,” Sunset suddenly felt a heavy weight on her.

Sunny, seemingly noticing Sunset’s uncomfort at this, merely waved her friend off.

“We’re fine for staying, Sugarcoat is just shy.”

“I am not shy.”

“She just doesn’t like meeting new people.”

“I do too!”

“Then why don’t you introduce yourself properly and stop being such a baby?”

Sugarcoat gave a loud ‘hmph!’ and crossed her arms, turning away from Sunset. It didn't do anything to settle Sunset’s nerves.

She had definitely accounted for the atmosphere being awkward, but ideally, that's what she was bringing her friends over for. Having a large group of them would not only ease the tension but provide a good distraction for the other girls while she got to spend time with Sunny Flare. Thinking about it, they probably would have come along with her if she was honest about her intentions.

But, she’d come this far and wasn’t about to give up now.

“So!” she clapped her hands together, startling the girls. “What is it you guys normally do outside school?”

Quick as a beat, Sugarcoat responded.

“I play World of Warcraft.”

Sunset nodded. “That’s cool, me and the girls have Dungeons and Dragons nights sometimes! Maybe we could all go back to mine and have a game?”

“Why would we do that?”

“Because… it’s similar? And something to get us out of the rain?”

“World of Warcraft is an online RPG, DnD is tabletop RPG, gameplay-wise they’re completely different.”

“Sugarcoat!” Sunny Flare snapped again.

Sugarcoat held her arms up defensively.

“Not my fault she’s trying to start a conversation about stuff she clearly doesn’t know about...”

The glare sent to her from Sunny Flare was enough to make Sugarcoat fall silent.

“Oh! I erm, do a few different sports,” Sour Sweet interjected. “I come from a military family, so like, I do horse-riding, shooting, archery... If it wasn’t raining I’d say we could have gone down to the range, you seemed pretty skilled with a bow during the Friendship Games. Hehe… erm…” Sour turned to Twilight, “sorry for shouting at you, then, by the way. No offence.”

Twilight smiled politely.

“None taken.”

“But yeah we could, I don’t know, maybe look for a bowling ring? Something to do inside? Swimming works too? I mean, I don’t have anything to change into, but we’re all girls, I’m sure we wouldn’t mind swimming in our undies?” Sour Sweet laughed.

An air of silence hung over the group for a second.

“Don’t think we’re quite there yet, Sour Sweet,” Sunny Flare told her friend.

Sour huffed.

“Not like I wanted to go swimming anyway.”

“I’m a Soundcloud artist,” Lemon Zest said out nowhere, still not having taking off her headphones. “We could all go back to mine, listen to some tunes?”

Sugarcoat sneered. “Why would anyone wanna do that?”

Sunny Flare groaned.

“At least she’s making a contribution, Sugarcoat!”

“Yeah!” Lemon Zest groaned, “So just shut up being negative!”

“Why don’t you come over here and make me?”

“Maybe I will!”

“I’m waiting.”

An fair of silence hung over the group for a second as Lemon Zest very noticeably showed no sign of moving.

Until one by one, each of the girls let out a quiet chuckle.

“You are such a jerk!” Lemon Zest laughed.

Sugarcoats face broke into a smile. “Thanks for the newsflash, Captain Obvious.”

As she watched each of the Shadowbolt girls start laughing, it occurred to Sunset that all of what she just witnessed was their groups form of banter. That, or when it had stopped being serious and had become light-hearted banter, she wasn’t entirely sure.

She let out the breath she didn’t know she had been holding.

Something gave her a sneaking suspicion that she would struggle to find out any of the things she'd set out for today.

Today had been fun. A complete and utter failure of her mission, but… fun?

Sunset sat in her reclining gaming chair, staring at her map of theories and ideas.

She had discovered nothing new of any significance about Sunny. The whole day had been in fact, mostly spent just watching the Shadowbolt girls interact with each other. Their friendship group was, frankly, fascinating to her, so much so that it had (at least at the time) distracted her from her investigation of Sunny's father.

They argued, quite brutally insulted each other, but then just… forgot about it?

Small niggles that Sunset's group would usually spend 20-30 minutes having a friendship lesson about, their group just seemed to... skip over? At first Sunset thought she was watching a genuine argument, only for the group to then laugh about it and move on, and then immediately dive into another fake argument… Unless, they were serious arguments, and their group were just putting on a good face so they didn’t argue in front of her? Normally, if Rarity and Applejack disagreed on something, they would argue, then talk about it, and then usually settle on some kind of compromise and resume being on good terms. But these girls… just never seemed on good terms in the first place?

But... were still all friends?

She was definitely starting to see why Twilight was so confused about friendship before coming to CHS.

She huffed. She needed to stay determined, and focus on the investigation at hand.

She wasn’t able to talk to Sunny Flare privately at all today, and she doubted if they met up again under the same circumstances that that would change. If she wanted the information she needed out of Sunny, it would have to be in private.

Taking out her mobile, she opened her MyStable app.

After glancing over the conversation that had arranged today's meetup, Sunset began to type a new message.

SUNSET: Hey, you up?

After a few seconds of staring at the open message, she saw Sunny Flare begin typing.

SUNNY: I am!

As Sunset typed her next message, a second one came through instantly.

SUNNY: Was good seeing you guys today!

Sunset smiled. Why were her friends so turned off against meeting up with these girls again?

SUNSET: Awh, you guys too! Sorry we didn’t really do much

SUNNY: Don’t worry silly! We all had fun! Sorry if everyone came on a bit strong,

they’re like that haha xD

SUNSET: It’s ok! I get it, we did have fun! We should do it again sometime!

SUNNY: I’m up for that :)

SUNSET: Are you doing anything next weekend?

SUNNY: Was just going to study, wbu?

SUNSET: I don’t have plans, do you want to do something, just me and you?

Sunset pressed send but then winced at her choice of wording, hoping it wouldn’t be taken wrongly. After a moment, a response came.

SUNNY: I’d like that :)

Mentally, Sunset found herself grinning.

SUNSET: Awesome! We could catch a movie or something?

SUNNY: Yes, cool :) Meet at the coffee shop? Around five?

SUNSET: Sounds great :)

Sunset placed her phone down on her makeup table and glanced back up at her investigation process.

“Course corrected,” she thought, smirking to herself.

4.) Girls Night

The rest of the week passed uneventfully and before Sunset knew it the weekend was quickly upon her. Unlike the planned Rainboom/Shadowbolt play date, she had deliberately neglected to inform her friends of tonight's plans, and furthermore had kept quiet about her suspicions of Sunny Flare. At this point between her father, their conflicting histories (and friends clashing personalities), she knew it would be a long talk, and frankly, it was one Sunset couldn’t be bothered doing, especially when she wasn’t hurting anybody. That, and she knew how negatively her friends would react to her hanging around with a Shadowbolt.

Throughout the week Sunset maintained contact with Sunny Flare via MyStable and the two had rapidly become good friends. Sunset was surprised how much friendlier the girl was over text -not that she was ever directly unfriendly towards her- but she never expected her to be the kind of person to send multiple emojis at the end of a message. They had already escalated to tagging each other in memes and cat videos, talking their favorite TV Shows and yes, even discussing politics. Truth be told, Sunset was looking forward to this weekend for more reasons than just her investigation pf her father.

Their initial plan for the evening was to see a movie, but when it occurred to her sitting in silence probably wasn’t the best way to get to know her new friend, that had developed into going out for dinner afterwards as well. They settled down into a nice Indian Restaurant in Canterlot's upper district, spirits still high off the movie.

“You ever been to the Tasty Treat before?” Sunny Flare asked.

“A few times with the girls,” Sunset nodded. “The sea bass here is amazing.”

Minutes later they were sat down at their table and having their order taken.

“I’ll have the Chilean sea bass and a red wine please.”

Sunny Flare gestured to Sunset and nodded.

“Same as her, please.”

The young waitress finished writing down their order and left the two in privacy. Sunset had to admit, Sunny Flare cleaned up good. Since they were going out for dinner, they had prearranged a smart/casual dress code for the evening. Sunny Flare had brought out a nice purple and black dress, one that admittedly, was not dissimilar to her Crystal rep uniform, but she still made it work. It certainly made Sunset feel self-conscious about deciding to bring her leather jacket.

“So…” Sunset plucked the first question out of her mind. ”What’d you think of the movie?”

“I actually liked it!” Sunny Flare perked up. “And I really didn’t care for the last one so… it was a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.”

“Same,” Sunset nodded in agreement. “And I did like the last one... as far as sequels go. I just feel anything set after the originals kind of ruins them."

“Yes!” Sunny Flare gasped. “That’s exactly what I’ve been saying! Episode 7 renders the original trilogy completely pointless because it just resets the Galaxy to the same point it was at the end of Episode 3!”

“Thank you!” Sunset laughed. “It’s a relief to hear that come from someone else's mouth. Rainbow Dash does nothing but defend Episode 7.”

“Which is your favorite one?”

“I know it's everyone's answer, but Episode 5. I think it’s definitely the high point of the franchise.”

Sunny scoffed.

“You haven’t seen the tv shows, have you?”

Sunset shook her head, “I saw bits of the old one… Wasn’t a huge fan of the animation.”

“Right well, finish that, and then watch the new one. Trust me it’s worth it. The season two final will have you shook… that’s all I’m saying.”

“Okay, consider it on the list,” Sunset laughed, “What about you?”

“Oh Episode 3, without a doubt.”

“Seriously?”

“It’s the most important one.”

“But it’s…soo....” Sunset failed to keep a straight face, “it’s… pretty bad, be honest.”

“It’s the best of the prequels. And it’s the most enjoyable of all of them.”

She couldn’t help but shrug. Sunny Flare wasn’t wrong, but...

This was pretty much what their conversations had been been like for the past week. Casual, unimportant topics, mainly used as excuses to talk to each other. It was surprising how close the two had become in such a short amount of time.

Sunset couldn’t put her finger on it, but there was something she really liked about Sunny Flare. Maybe it was her brutal -yet not harsh- honesty, or the fact that they had an unusually large amount of stuff in common... she didn’t know, but she wasn’t complaining.

As their food arrived, paining her to do so, Sunset forced her enjoyment onto the back burner so she could focus on her original objectives.

“So,” Sunset said, cutting into her food. “What's your family life like outside of Crystal Prep? I don’t actually know that much about you, personal life-wise.”

“There’s… ehehe… not really much to know,” she shrugged, and if Sunset wasn’t mistaken, tried to hide a blush.

“ I live with my Dad, Mom and little brother. I wanna try and get into film-reviewing. Go Crystal Prep… soooo that takes up most of my time, but when I’m not studying I like movies… as erm, you could probably guess by the film-reviewing stuff… ehehe. I’m a bit of a cinephile. You?”

Sunset made a mental note to jot all of that down.

“Same, actually. With the family, I mean. Or rather, I used to. I moved away from them a few years ago.”

“Really? Ahh man, that’s so cool,” Sunny marveled. “Wish I could do that at this young, I hate living with my folks.”

Sunset shrugged. “It’s not as great as it sounds, I miss them like heck sometimes.”

“Could you not go visit them?”

“It’s a…” Sunset thought for the right choice of words. Something told her it was a little early to reveal her past as a villainous horse from another dimension. “Kind of a long distance thing,” she settled on. “That... and I wasn’t really on the best terms with any of them when I left.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Sunny Flare’s tone noticeably changed, grabbing Sunsets attention. “I didn’t mean to-”

“No, no, it’s okay!” Sunset jumped in. “I’m completely over it now, I just had a pretty rough patch a year or two ago, but everything's good now.”

“Yeah? It’s okay, I get that. Same, actually.”

Sunset cocked a brow.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I was like a different person not too long ago. But…” Sunny Flare laughed nervously. “That’s a deep story for another day.”

Sunset wanted desperately to follow that up, but decided against it. She'd gotten Sunny to talk about her family, things were moving in the right direction.

An silence began to settle over as the two dug into their meals. As the seconds ticked over Sunset could feel a nagging ball of anxiety in her throat. The last thing she wanted was either of them feeling awkward, not merely because it would ruin her investigation, but because she had also grown to like Sunny Flare and didn’t want the girl thinking badly of her.

“So how have things been in Crystal Prep?” she broke the tension.

“Pretty good!” Sunny Flare instantly perked up. “We just found out we might be able to have the Spring Fling on a yacht this year, if we can raise the money. And CHS?”

"We all have a trip to Camp Everfree coming soon. I love camping, me and the girls have been meaning to go for a while.”

“Aww, I like camping! Definitely don’t think I could go with the girls from my school, though,” she laughed. “We’d kill each other before nightfall.”

Sunset laughed.

“Here was I with the impression you guys secretly liked each other, under the bickering?”

Sunny Flare nodded. “Oh no, yeah we do -I mean I love Sugarcoat, but she can be a real pain in the neck sometimes.”

“Ah…” Sunset’s smile lessened.

The gears in her head began to turn.

“I thought you said you loved her?”

“I do,” Sunny shrugged, “she’s still a bitch though.”

The lump in Sunset's throat returned as she couldn't tell if her friend was being serious or not. The way Sunny Flare spoke about her ‘friends’ behind their backs... really unnerved her.

When Sunset’s response didn’t come immediately, Sunny looked up from her plate. Noticing Sunset’s confusion, she laughed.

“You can be friends with someone and still think they are a bitch,” Sunny Flare dismissed Sunset’s continued unease with a giggled. “And I tell Sugarcoat she’s a bitch to her face. You telling me none of your friends do anything that annoys you?”

Sunset tried to avoid Sunny's gaze.

“Well…”

“Come onnnnn,” she smirked, “Honesty is the best policy.”

“I mean, they’re my friends… I really shouldn’t talk about them behind their backs…”

“Sunseeeeet,” Sunny Flare teased. “It’s okay, I'm not gonna tell anyone! You can be honest with me.”

After a few seconds hesitation, Sunset eased up.

“Rainbow Dash can be really stubborn sometimes….” she admitted, and then quieter said, “Pinkie Pie can get really annoying…”

“There you go!” Sunny's grin was almost mischievous. “You’re not being mean, you’re just being honest, there is a difference. How can anyone ever improve themselves if nobody ever tells them what’s wrong with them?”

Sunset blinked.

“...Huh.”

“What? “

“Nothing that’s just… really straight forward logic, actually. I’m surprised I’ve never really thought of it like that.”

Sunny Flare nodded, understanding. “Friendship is supposed to be one of those things that’s the highlight of your life, so why should anyone ever compromise with something like that? I hold myself to a higher standard than that, if my friends are being stupid I’ll tell them,” she explained. “Being brutally honest like that works; tells them they have something to improve on. They can either take that advice or get lost.”

Sunset squinted, thinking.

“That sounds a bit mean though, like…” she frowned, “who determines what’s a good or bad quality?”

Sunny Flare shrugged.

“The times, and times change, I get that. I just never go out of my way to sugarcoat or be overly polite to anyone -especially my friends- when all that does is avoid getting stuff done. It's a necessary evil, since there’s so many snowflakes in the world today.”

“Snowflake?” Sunset asked, confused at the term.

Sunny nodded. “People who cry over the smallest bit of criticism. It’s ridiculous we live in a world where grown adults are such cry babies they can’t bare to have their opinions challenged. The world isn’t rainbows and unicorns all the time.”

Poor choice of wording, but Sunset kept listening.

“Like, nothing gets on my nerves more than people who don’t do something because ‘it’s too mainstream’. Like, “ugh, I’m not going to watch Game of Thrones because it’s too mainstream.” Like, of course it’s mainstream, you idiot, that’s because it’s good. People are so fragile about their individuality that they willingly trade something they know is good just for their own delusion of being special.”

“But… isn’t everybody special in their own way?” Sunset tried.

“No! Nobody is special and-”

Sunny Flare caught her words as she felt her voice rising. She blushed.

“Oh... Gosh, I’m sorry, I’m getting all worked up…”

She winced, and began tugging at a loose strand of hair.

Up until tonight, Sunny Flare had seemed pretty confident in everything she talked about with her. But between this and tripping over herself talking about her aspirations, this was Sunset’s first time seeing a shyer side of her.

“No, no, it’s okay!” Sunset reassured her, genuinely interested. “I just guess I never really thought of it all like that before. Me and my friends kind of have the idea of accepting each other for who we are.”

“I get that, it’s cool don’t worry, most people have that mind set too! And I’m not saying mine is better, or anything,” she reassured. “At Crystal Prep we just don’t really see the point in settling, though. I’m perfectly fine on my own, friendships at this point are just like icing on the cake. I could live without them just fine, so why compromise for something I don’t even want?”

“You don’t want friends?” for the first time Sunset felt her defense rise slightly.

“No, I like having friends. But I don’t need them to survive.”

Sunset stabbed at the food on her plate. She found herself disagreeing with Sunny Flare, but respected the girl enough not to argue.

“I don’t know what I’d do without my friends…” she said quietly.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah...” Sunset nodded. “That rough patch I went through, it was them who helped pull me out of it. I don’t know who I’d be without my friends.”

“No that’s cool, you are who you surround yourself with, I get that too! But I definitely couldn’t develop an attachment to them like that.”

“Why not?”

“Just sounds unhealthy.”

“I don't see how friendship could be unhealthy... Please, explain what you mean?”

Sunny Flare smiled, appreciating Sunsets sincerity and then continued, albeit less passionately than before.

“Well, like I said, you don’t need friends to make you happy. If you can be one hundred percent happy on your own first, then even during the bad times -and there will be bad times- you’ll never truly feel alone. And it’ll just make things like friendship… or relationships… even better, because yeah, icing on the cake. Like, okay tell me, what would you do if your friends all suddenly moved to the other side of the country tomorrow and you never got to speak to them again?”

“I’d be…” Sunset looked for the words. “Distraught. I don’t know if I could do that.”

“Exactly! Me? I’d be sad sure, but... I’d get over it,” she gave a sad smile. “I just think developing an emotional dependency on somebody like that is putting you and them in an unfair position, especially when it’s not a necessary ingredient for a friendship to work.”

Sunset nodded, thinking.

“That’s… I mean that’s… Well, I definitely understand your point.”

Agreeing with the point was a different matter, but Sunset wouldn’t lie, Sunny Flare had successfully thrown her through a loop on something she had thought she was basically an expert on now.

“And yours too!” Sunny Flare chimed in. “Trust me, I get that I’m in the minority opinion on this. People are allowed to disagree, it doesn’t make them not friends! In my group, we just focus on enjoying each other’s company and that’s it. We don't try and change each other, but we’re also not afraid to call each other out on our shit. You seem pretty happy living your life the way you are, so who am I to tell you your way of living is wrong?”

Sunset smiled.

“I am happy. That’s pretty respectful of you.”

Sunny Flare nodded.

Sunset thought carefully about Sunny’s words. She was sure something she just said was some kind of contradiction to her earlier point, but Sunset wasn’t confident in herself enough to challenge her on it.

After moving off the apparently touchy subject of friendship, the two girls spent their night chit-chatting about different subjects. The topic of Sunny's father had not crept into conversation again, but Sunset hadn't minded, as they soon found themselves laughing at each others anecdotes, and just in all, having a really fun night.

It amazed Sunset how much she enjoyed Sunny’s company. In the back of her head, she couldn't help but feel a building of annoyance towards her friends attitudes over the Shadowbolts. Their stubbornness had not only prevented themselves from experiencing the same joy Sunset was feeling, and also made her feel like the fool for trying.

Yet here she was, enjoying herself perfectly fine without them.

Once the meals were finished, the two girls packed up and moved on from the restaurant. The sun had disappeared behind the horizon, and both girls decided to call it a night. As they prepared to go their separate ways, they came to a stop outside the coffee shop they had met at two weeks prior.

“I had a really good night tonight, Sunset.”

Sunny Flares tone was different, and she wasn’t making eye contact. Instead, she twiddled her thumbs, staring off into the distance and drawing circles on the floor with her shoe. She almost looked… embarrassed? Had Sunset done something to make her shy again?

“Me too!” Sunset enthusiastically patted the girls shoulder, hoping to cheer her up. “It was great getting to hang out properly, we should totally do it again sometime!”

Sunny Flare peaked out from over her shoulder.

“Yeah?”

Sunset repressed frowning at the girl's sudden strange behavior.

Sunny Flare was probably just tired, or desperate to get home, she thought.

“Absolutely! I gotta get home, but I’ll text you, kay?”

Sunny nodded, smiling. The two girls hugged goodbye. As Sunset took to make her exit, she noticed Sunny was still where she stood and showed no signs of moving.

Weird, but okay.

“See you later!” Sunset waved.

Taking the lead, she turned on her heels and walked away.

5.) Friendly Advice

“You went on a date with Miss Shadowbolt?” Rainbow snorted.

Sunset rolled her eyes.

“It wasn’t a date. And I had a great time, actually. I really do think you guys are judging the Shadowbolts over nothing.”

Deciding to tell her friends about her and Sunny’s night out was something she was beginning to come to regret.

It was gym class, and as the girls were warming up by the side of the field, Sunset’s Saturday night had cropped into the conversation.

“Whatever,” Rainbow stretched out her back. “Twilight says when you met with them they were really awkward.”

Twilight, who was sat on the grass tying her shoes, looked up.

“Rainbow Dash!” she snapped. “I did not... I said it was an awkward exchange.”

“That’s…” Rarity coughed, “not really much better, dear.”

Sunset rolled a football over to their direction.

“At least they turned up. They showed more willingness to get along than you guys did,” she said, an unusual sourness in her voice.

She kicked the ball to Rainbow, but Applejack intercepted.

“Hang on now, don’t you go bringin’ all that back up again. We already said we hav’ our reasons,” she returned the ball.

“They sounded like pretty stubborn reasons if you ask me, but whatever” Sunset kicked the ball back.

“Geez, what is it with you?” Rainbow asked. “Why are you so determined to get us to like them?”

“You haven’t hung around with them properly!” Sunset exclaimed. “You don’t know what you are missing out on and you have no reason not to give them a chance… I had a great night, and I’m sure you guys would too! Honestly, I don’t get why you’re all being so stubborn about this.”

“An we don’t get why you’re bein’ so pushy!”

Applejack kicked the ball a little harder, making Sunset have to run to intercept it.

“I guess I just expected more from you all, I guess.”

With force, the ball came back in Applejack’s direction. The cowgirl lazily reacted, stomping her foot down and stopping it in place like it was nothing.

“An’ just exactly what do you mean by that?”

Sunset cocked her hip, her attitude leaking out.

“Exactly that. I expected more. You girls are being unnecessarily stubborn towards them. It’s half got me thinking that if Princess Twilight hadn’t have forced you to, you wouldn’t have even accepted me as a friend.”

“Sunset!” Rarity gasped. “That’s an awful thing to say!”

“And it’s not true at all!” Pinkie popped up. “You’re one of the girls! We’re all bosom buddies!”

“Then what makes me and them any different?” Sunset asked, “Or me and the Dazzlings? Who I’d like to point out, we made no effort to get to know either. Twilight made you help me, and the only reason we helped this worlds Twilight was because she looked like the Princess.”

“You said it yourself, the Dazzlings were evil!” Rainbow snapped.

“Girls, I really don’t think we should be arguing over this...” Fluttershy spoke up from her spot on the grass.

“Fluttershy is right, this is neither the time nor the place to get into an argument!” Rarity stood up, standing in place between the three girls. “It’s obvious we all disagree on the subject, so how about we not talk about it, hmm?”

Sunset crossed her arms.

“I’m just saying, you guys should trust me enough to know I know what I’m talking about. You’re making a mistake.”

"Stop dragging it out."

“It;s our mistake to make!” Applejack gestured to the group. “An’ just because you think somethin’ is good for us doesn’t mean you have the right ta tell us what to do!”

“I’m not telling you what to do, I just think you’re being stubborn!”

“And then you’re lecturing us about it every opportunity you get!”

“You brought up Sunny Flare, not me!” Sunset snapped back.

“Girls, I reeeally hate it when we fight!” Pinkie Pie pouted. “And look, you’re making Fluttershy and Twilight uncomfortable.”

“I really don’t want to be involved in this…” Twilight said quietly, her head firmly pointed at the ground.

“Rainbow, Applejack, Sunset!” Rarity waved her hands for attention. “I won’t have another word about this off any of you! You are all in the wrong for pushing your opinions on others. Now, please let us get back to class.”

“But me an’ RD just wanna be left out of it!”

“Yeah, it’s Sunset trying to make us do something we don’t wanna!”

“Enough!” Rarity shouted. “This conversation is over!”

With the girls not quite on bad terms, but on less-good-terms-than-normal, gym class had passed relatively quickly. So had most of the day in fact, and soon Sunset found herself taking her things from her locker and getting ready to head home.

She didn’t know where her sudden surge of aggression had come from earlier, but truth be told, it had felt good to call her friends out like that. They were in the wrong, not her. She was standing up for what she believed in and her friends were being the arrogant ones.

But had she made a mistake by coming on too strongly?

Sunny Flare’s words on friendship lingered in the back of her mind.

We focus on enjoying each other’s company and that’s it, we wouldn’t try and change each other, but we’re also not afraid to call each other out on our shit.

That’s what she was doing, wasn’t it? Doing what Sunny’s friendship group did, and calling out her friends when they were in the wrong? This was a small example, and she hadn’t consciously planned to test it out, but if how hostile Applejack and Rainbow had responded towards it was anything to go on…

Perhaps it was best that the Rainbooms and the Shadowbolts didn’t meet, after all.

Sunset didn’t enjoy being confrontational, but had sadly developed a good habit at it. Just as she was debating seeking out her friends to apologize, she suddenly realized she had company.

“Hello, Sunset.”

“Hey, Rares. Look, about earlier…”

Rarity held her hand up, silencing the girl.

“Before you say anything, I want to say I agree with you that we may have been too hasty to say no to meeting the Shadowbolts.”

“Thank you, I-”

“But at the same time,” she interrupted. “You were in the wrong earlier, I hope you realize that.”

Sunset frowned. In the pit of her stomach a ball of anxiety began to well up.

“How was I?”

“You were pushing your opinions on Applejack and Rainbow Dash. They may have made a bad decision, but as quite rightly said earlier, that was their decision to make. I feel, and I suspect they do as well, that you owe them an apology.”

Sunset huffed, crossing her arms.

Rarity always had a much clearer head when it came to things like this. She often worked as the voice of reason and referee in the group. Everyone respected her level-headed opinion, and Sunset was no exception.

“I’m sorry,” Sunset muttered. “It just really bugged me how stubborn they're being. If they got to talk to Sunny like I did...”

Rarity nodded.

“Maybe so, but it is well within their right to be stubborn. And I think if you properly examine the situation you’ll find that by constantly pointing out how stubborn they were being, you were being rather stubborn yourself. What you were saying wasn’t wrong… it’s how you were saying it.”

Sunset rolled her eyes, but couldn’t find it in herself to argue further.

“Okay, then... I guess I’m sorry. I’ll apologize to them later.”

Rarity smiled.

“Good! I know you would be the one to see the mature side of things. But I am curious as to why this subject is so sensitive to you? Why, I haven’t seen you disagree with anybody so passionately since Applejack ordered hawaiian pizza during my house party!” she laughed.

“Pineapple does not belong on pizza.”

Rarity chuckled again. “Agreed. But, you see my point?”

Sunset shrugged and leaned against her locker.

“I don’t know. I guess when looking at it, the situation the Shadowbolts are in was really similar to the one I was in, so seeing you guys reject them now hits a little close to home for me. I’m getting on with Sunny Flare the way I’d get on with any one of you, Shadowbolt or not. Especially when I realized we rejected the Dazzlings the exact same way and nobody batted an eye… me included.”

Rarity nodded, thinking. A moment passed before she responded.

“And… you’re sure that’s it?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Tell me, do you plan on seeing… what was her name, again?”

“Sunny Flare.”

“Do you plan on seeing Sunny Flare again?”

“I’m invited to her house this Thursday. Why?”

Rarity pursed her lips, and leaned in closer. The conversation suddenly felt a lot more personal, something which unsettled Sunset.

“Promise me you’ll be mindful around her, Sunset?”

Sunset cocked an eyebrow.

“Yeah… of course. Why? You don’t think she wants to hurt me or anything? Because I can tell you now that she-”

Rarity shook her head.

“Nothing like that, I assure you. I simply say because… how many times is it that you’ve seen each other now?”

“Erm, three, I guess? One of them was with Twilight and the other Shadowbolts, though.”

“And you’re already picking fights with Rainbow Dash over her?”

“I was not picking fights!”

Rarity held her hand up.

“Sunset, I am glad that you are making new friends, but you’re getting protective. Suspiciously so, I might add. You’re reacting very defensively whenever she or the other Shadowbolts are brought up. Somebody might think you’re up to something.”

Sunset shrugged.

“I’m just sticking up for her. I’d do the same if anybody was talking bad about one of you guys…”

“I’m sure. Just, be careful what you do. Sometimes actions can be misinterpreted in ways never intended. Like you sticking up for your friend, Sunny Flare.”

Sunset chewed her words, looking for the right response.

She couldn’t explain her reasoning behind her interest in Sunny Flare to her, at least, not until she had some logical reasoning behind it. Even though Rarity was the most understanding of the group, Sunset doubted explaining the mismatch of information she had gathered would do anything other than unnecessarily involve her and further scramble her own investigation.

Once Sunset had some kind of rough theory or plan on what to do, then she would involve her friends. Until then, they had made it perfectly clear they hadn’t wanted anything to do with the Shadowbolts.

Then again, Rarity had said they were in the wrong about rejecting them...

“I’ll apologize to Rainbow Dash and Applejack. And I guess.. I’ll also try and think about my actions, and not act solely on instinct.”

Rarity smiled and took a step back.

“That is all I ask. Thank you for listening Sunset, I really appreciate it.”

Sunset gave an empty laugh.

“No problem Rares. Thank you for talking with me about it like an adult, I guess. You know, you’d probably get on really well with Sunny Flare!”

“Sunset.”

“Hehehe… sorry.”

6.) Meet The Flares

“Sweet Celestia…” Sunset muttered.

Sunny Flare’s house was huge. And it was definitely the right address, Sunset had followed the directions the App gave her exactly, and then recalculated the route once she arrived to be sure. This was definitely the house address her friend had given her, but a mansion address would have been a better description.

Sunset approached a pair of large steel gates. They weren’t automatic, as she had hoped. So… how did she get in? She could call Sunny Flare… but that wasn’t really a great impression to leave. Calling her because nobody was answering the front door was understandable, but not even being able to ring the doorbell...

‘Doorbell!’ she thought.

Just as Sunset had suspected, on the brick wall attaching the two gates was a small electronic buzzer. She pressed the button, and was ready to state her name and reason for visiting, but was surprised when the gates immediately came to life and opened on their own.

It was a short walk to the front door, but the fact the distance between her gate and front door was considered a ‘distance’ at all was vaguely intimidating.

Sunset mentally shook her head.

What did it matter that Sunny belonged to a rich family? It was unexpected, sure, but Sunset couldn’t afford to over think herself. She had fought against demons and super villains, she could handle the upper class. Back in Equestria, Sunset herself came from a reasonably wealthy family, so she knew all the manners and customs that were expected from her.

Taking hold of a knocker the size of her head, Sunset could only manage two bangs on the door before it was instantly pulled open.

“Hey, you must be Sunset!”

As if the ground below her suddenly gave way, a flood of memories hit her like a raging torrent. Guilt, nostalgia and just about everything in between. If there was any doubt left inside her mind, it was instantly swept away and drowned.

Her father… her real, biological father -from Equestria- stood before her, beaming brightly.

“I… I…”

She had expected to see him today, but…

Imagining him was one thing, but to have him physically standing in front of him…

Sunset caught her herself.

“Hey!” she half-shouted. “Y-yeah, I’m Sunset. Sunset Shimmer.”

When the mention of her name didn’t instill any kind of response in him, Sunset couldn’t help but feel a shot of pain in her stomach. Instead, he stood aside and outstretched his arm, welcoming her into his house.

Trying her best to disguise the fact she was shaking, Sunset stepped forward.

“Nice to meet you Sunset, I’m Sundance. And it’s absolutely typical, Sunny has just popped into the shower. If you wanna come into the kitchen to wait for her?”

“O-okay.”

Sunset silently followed her fa… Sundance, into his house.

“Hey, you alright? You look a bit shook up?”

“I’m fine, thank you. But... could I have a glass of water or something?”

“Of course you can,” Her father crossed the kitchen and began to pour her a glass.

Sunset perched herself on a seat by the kitchen island. He place a glass of water down next to her.

“Yanno, you’ve got nothing to be nervous about,” he said as she took a swig.

“I’m not nervous,” Sunset lied, “what is there to be nervous about?”

He laughed, nodding.

“Meeting the parents for the first time is always a bit daunting. Sunny never brings people home, so, you should feel quite special.”

Sunset forced out a laugh.

“Thanks, I’ll remember that.”

“Oh, bloody hell,” he lightly slapped himself on the forehead. “I should probably go let her know you’re here. She’s probably nearly done now, but I know she wouldn’t want to keep you waiting.”

With that he was gone, leaving Sunset alone in the kitchen.

She hadn’t been here too long, but this place was already starting to unnerve her.

She started noticing things in the house. Slight details, invisible to the naked eye if you weren't looking for them.

When ponies traveled to this world they underwent a physical transformation, and it looked like her childhood house had done something similar. There was some hints of stuff she recognized, but at the same time, some stuff she had never seen before in her life. Like returning to a childhood location as an adult and seeing how much it’s changed. It was both familiar, yet alien. She wondered if perhaps, considering how long she’d been away from home, if she did return to Equestria would she find her family house looking identical to this place?

Even now in the kitchen, a room which was usually sterile in most houses, had an odd sense of surrealness to it. The alien architecture of this home created a distorted version of the nostalgic memories she had held so dear once.

“What on earth are you doing here?”

Sunset’s eyebrows shot into her hairline.

She knew that voice.

She span around, all feelings of nostalgia vanishing in an instant.

Cinch, the ex-Principal of Crystal Prep Academy, stood in the doorway of the kitchen. She stared at Sunset with an expression of shock and confusion that she could only imagine was reflected on her own.

“What are you doing here!?” were the only words Sunset was able to find.

"Me!?” Cinch half-shouted. “What do you mean, doing here!? I live here!”

Wait.

What?

“Hey, hey, hey!”

Her father hopped back into the room. He obviously heard Cinch’s shrieking, and dove between the two. “What, er, what’s the problem?”

Cinch turned to him, fury in her eyes.

“What on earth is this girl doing in our house?”

“What do you mean?” He asked, his voice squeaking in confusion. “This is Sunny’s friend, Sunset Shimmer. We talked about this, Abacus.”

Cinches expression changed from confusion, to shock, to anger, all within the space of a few seconds. Settling on the final emotion, she turned to Sunset, pointing an accusing finger at her.

“There is no way any daughter of mine is spending time with the likes of her! I lost my job because of this little minx and her friends!”

Wait.

What?

“Sunset!” a fourth voice entered the room.

Sunny entered the room behind Cinch, hair wet and towel wrapped around her body. She pushed past her parents and moved quickly to Sunset’s side.

She gave an uneasy smile, blushing.

“I should have told you about this sooner, I’m sorry.”

“I…” Sunset struggled, “I don’t get….?”

“Sunset, Principal Cinch is my mom,” she said flatly, followed by a wince. “I… erm... didn’t want to put you off by telling you.”

“Whatever do you mean by that?” Cinch’s voice snapped. “I am an absolute delight to be around!”

“I agree!” Her father sounded in again, placing his hands on Cinch’s shoulders. Sunsets stomach churned at the indication of the two being married.

“But honey, I think we should leave the girls alone now.”

Sunny took Sunset by her hand.

“We’re gonna go upstairs now, it’s fine.”

“She’s your mother!?”

Sunny pushed open the door to her room and lead Sunset inside. She pulled her into the middle of the room, grabbed her by the shoulders and then manually turned her so she was facing the other direction.

“You’ve said that three times in the walk upstairs,” she laughed.

“It’s a long walk up those stairs, oh but I guess that makes sense, you being so loaded, it’s because you’re the daughter of the Principal!”

“Ex-Principal now, actually. And like I said...” Sunny paused. “I didn’t want to scare you off. A lot of girls at Crystal Prep get intimidated by who I am. It doesn’t scare you off, does it?”

Sunset didn’t respond.

She was too busy looking at Sunny Flare’s room.

Or her room, which was a more accurate description. From the bed, to the wallpaper, to the makeup mirror, she was stood in a mirror image of her own childhood bedroom. Or actually... maybe not a mirror image. The closer Sunset looked, the finer details made themselves present.

The makeup mirror was on the opposite side of the room to where Sunset kept hers. The walls were painted lavender, instead of mauve, even though there was only a few shades difference. In the corner of her room was a violin stand, where Sunset usually had her base guitar.

“I… I…”

She felt herself going light headed. This was getting too much.

A light tapping on her shoulder caused her to turn.

Sunny Flare had gotten changed into a pair of pajamas. She had concern written across her face.

“Well… does it?”

Sunset shook her head, but couldn’t find her words.

Sunny Flare gave a reluctant smile, and crossed to sit on her bed. She pulled a hairbrush out from her bedside cabinet and began tidying her hair.

“Make yourself comfortable, by all means.”

Sunset dove down onto the bed next to her. The speed at which she did cause Sunny to retract a little.

“You... okay?”

“Actually I…” Sunset forced the next words out, “I’ve had something on my mind for weeks and I really need to talk about it. I didn't want to be so straight forward with it, but being in your house has really done a number on me. It’s about me and you."

Sunny’s eyes grew wide.

“Oh… okay,” she gave a nervous smile. “Say whatever you like.”

Sunset wasted no time.

“So, we’ve got the chemistry, right? Frankly I've never gotten on so well with somebody so quickly in such a short amount of time. Part of me feels like I've known you my whole life."

“Sunset,” she shook her head, smiling. “I think I know where you’re going with this and… it’s okay. I’ve picked up on it too.”

For the third time today she found herself unable to find her words.

“You have!?”

“Yeah, erm…” Sunny laughed, blushing, “it hasn't exactly been subtle.”

Sunset blushed as well.

“I’ll be honest, I’ve been waiting for you to bring it up,” Sunny set aside her hair brush and faced the girl head-on. “I thought you were going to at the end of the other night, but I just guessed you were still figuring it out. Which I’m totally cool with, by the way! I’m not exactly an expert at this kind of thing... We can take it as slow as we need,” she laughed.

Sunset nodded, taking a deep breath.

“Thank you for understanding. It’s been a confusing time for me…” She drew a blank on how to explain herself. “I’ve been through a lot before, but this kind of thing..." she tried. "This has never happened before, it’s just so alien… and I haven’t really been able to talk to my friends about it.”

“I thought you guys were all about supporting each other?”

“It’s more I just haven’t told them… They wouldn't understand. Heck, I'm not sure I even understand. I think they’d probably support me, but as well… they can get pretty protective."

“Well… then don’t worry about them. Me and you are doing pretty fine on our own.”

Sunset smiled.

“Yeah… we are!”

Sunny Flare giggled.

“It’s difficult seeing people in school because most girls are scared of me. I guess that’s one of the reasons why we work so well, because you don’t know me as the Principal’s daughter. I mean, obviously my mom isn’t thrilled about it, but I really couldn’t care what she thinks.”

“You told your parents?” Sunset cocked an eyebrow.

“Well, not exactly but… well, they both know why you’ve come over today. You can guess how my mom feels about it… but, Dad is pretty supportive,” Sunny then caught onto her wording and made haste to correct herself. “Not that I talk about you constantly to them, or anything! I rarely talk to them about this kind of thing, but I mentioned why I was going out the other night and that I was bringing somebody home today to meet them and... well, Dad thought it was way too early for that, but I figured… yanno…”

She blushed again, moving her face away from Sunsets.

“If this was gonna be a recurring thing you might as well get comfortable with coming to my house… so… yeah…”

Sunset chuckled.

She didn’t understand why Sunny Flare got these random spouts of shyness, but she’d be lying if she said she didn’t find them to tiniest bit cute.

“I’d love to come round more often, Sunny Flare.”

“You would?”

“Yeah, I would.”

A stillness set over the room, as the two shared a wholesome moment. Behind her cool exterior, Sunset’s mind was buzzing with ideas.

How did they move forward from here?

Sunny Flare had caught on there were some weird parallels going on between them, but now that was out of the way, what could they actually even do about it?

They could do assessments of each other’s lives, find out what’s different and what’s not. Perhaps maybe compile all of their data and write a thesis to submit to Princess Twilight? Sunset got the feeling she would be able to lend her magical mind to understanding her scenario. The situation she was in hadn’t actually changed, but now aspects of it were definitely easier.

Her thoughts are interrupted when a pair of lips pressed against her own.

Sunsets eyes shot open, only to see Sunny Flare… kissing her?

The space between them had sealed, and Sunny Flare had leaned forward just enough for their lips to be gently touching. She had her eyes closed, which was lucky, so she didn’t have to see Sunsets horrified expression.

Sunset pulled away.

Sunny Flare pulled back too, blushing.

“Sorry!” she yelped, and hid her face. “I know you wanted to take things slow... I’ve just been waiting to do that.”

Sunsets mouth hung open, her lips still tingling.

“I...I…”

Things began to make sense.

Things began to make way too much sense.

“Was… that… okay?”

Sunset stood up. Her mouth opened and closed like a goldfish. Had it suddenly got very hot in here or was it just her?

The constant texting.

Their night out.

Meeting her parents.

Sweet Celestia.

“I’m… I’m sorry I… I don’t…”

“S-Sunet?”

Sunny Flare looked like a baby who’d had its candy stolen.

“I need to go, I’m sorry."

Sunset leaped up and made for the door. Sunny Flare shot up beside her.

“I’m sorry, I… Sunset!” she tried.

“N-no! I’m sorry, it’s not you!" Sunset backed up. "I just-I just I need to go now. Again, I’m sorry.”

The second her back hit the door, Sunset span around and practically tore it from its hinges.

And with that she was gone.

Gone down the stairs. Gone through the front door. Even gone over the gates... as it turned out Sunset was surprisingly gymnastic when panicking. As she jumped the fence, she swore she heard one of Sunny Flares parents shout to her, but didn't stop to acknowledge or respond.

She’d messed up.

Oh man, had she really messed up.

She should have listened to Rarity. She should have listened to Rainbow Dash or Applejack. She should have had enough common sense to see herself and what she was doing.

Only when Sunset's legs began to quiver with each step did she finally stop running, and she leaned back against a sign post to catch her breath.

Just exactly how long had she been unaware she was dating Sunny Flare?