Sunset didn’t understand the big deal about spring in the human world.

In truth, she’d never understood the big deal about spring in general. It had just seemed like there was even less to understand while she’d been a unicorn back in Equestria; there was certainly no magic to the way pegasi handled the weather, the way the earth ponies coaxed the animals out of the burrows, the way unicorns helped the snow melt and water run free from ice. It was all business, and Sunset had helped out with the procedure once before swearing it off. If anything could kill enjoying a season for her, it was actually having to work to make it happen.

She could almost understand the fascination with spring in the human world, in comparison. Almost. Certainly, what the planet managed to do on its own was impressive, considering that it had to accomplish all of it without magic and the animals had to figure out when to wake up and begin resuming their lives on their own.

Still, spring in the human world wasn’t any more magical than spring in Equestria; it just required less help to get going. Sunset hadn’t been terribly impressed by it the first time she had seen it happen (and if anyone asked, she absolutely hadn’t nearly had a breakdown trying to figure out how all of it happened without magical assistance), and that opinion hadn’t changed much over the years she had spent as a human.

Humans, likewise, continued to consider spring a season of change and rebirth, and while the former unicorn would never understand it, she could accept the thought easily enough.

What she could never, ever accept in any capacity was the thought of spring cleaning. That was even more work than actually making spring happen, and it didn’t have nearly the same feeling of satisfaction.

So of course, because Sunset knew she hated spring cleaning and avoided it at all costs—she was forever thankful for how small her place was, it made cleaning of any sort a breeze—she had ultimately ended up being the one roped into Rarity’s grand spring cleaning project for their usual band room. Out with the old and in with the new, she’d proudly proclaimed before dragging Sunset off by the back of her shirt, and the room certainly wasn’t going to clean itself.

Sunset suspected that more than cleaning, her friend simply wanted the free space to start on her new spring-inspired designs even though the season had just started. She didn’t dare speak the thought out loud, though, especially when the ivory girl was in the same room as her.

“I appreciate you offering to help, Sunset,” Rarity said as she opened a window to clear out the scent of cleaning supplies. She leaned against the frame for a moment, basking in the warm sunshine and mild breeze, before she turned back to face her friend. “I really wanted to clean this place up before we went to camp, but the others said they were already busy and I didn’t want to impose.”

You grabbed me before I could think up an excuse like they did, was what Sunset thought with tired amusement as she finished packing up their last box of clothing. What she actually said as she straightened up and pushed her hair out of her eyes was, “Always happy to help, Rarity. Is this camp really going to be such a big deal? I didn’t think everyone would be so excited for it.”

Rarity chuckled as she stepped away from the window and picked up a box, resting it carefully against her hip as she headed for the door. “It should be a big deal, considering how much we had to raise to afford visiting in the first place,” she said, and Sunset hummed in agreement as she followed after her. “But in all seriousness, the principals swear by it since they went there when they were younger, and it’ll be our Twilight’s first real experience as a student at Canterlot High! I don’t blame everyone for being a little excited about it.”

Sunset hummed along encouragingly, following after Rarity and then falling in step beside her as they walked; she balanced her box in both hands as they headed out for the local pick up spot for the clothing donation in town. That apparently wasn’t enough for her friend, because the fashionista glanced at her with a small, curious smile. “And you, darling?” she asked. “Are you excited about it?”

The Equestrian tried to ignore the way her chest warmed slightly at the friendly nickname; tried and failed, and she bit back a sigh as she remembered the real reason she hadn’t put up nearly as much of a fight to get away from Rarity as she probably could have if she hadn’t wanted to be roped into this. Instead she breathed in the warm spring air, enjoying it in contrast to the chill of fall that had haunted her for so long.

“I’m not sure,” she admitted at last. “I’ve never been on an event like this before, we didn’t really do anything comparable back in Equestria. I guess I’m going to wait and see what happens before I decide, so… I’m not excited about it. Curious, maybe that’s the better word?” She shifted the weight of her box, never once slowing her stride. “I’ve seen movies about this kind of thing, but uh…”

“Oh dear,” the purple-haired girl laughed at that. “Movies might not be the best reference for this trip, Sunset.”

“I hope not, considering this trip is usually the premise of a horror movie! Though, I did have one question, actually…”

Sunset’s line of thought was cut off as they reached the drop off point for their boxes; she and Rarity were both silent as they carefully set the boxes down and double checked everything inside, making sure it was all sealed and that nothing had fallen out or gotten loose along the walk. With that done, the room the Rainbooms used was officially clean and empty, and all it needed now was the moment when inspiration struck the group to get filled up again.

But that was still a ways off. At least, the former unicorn hoped it was; if not, she was going to loop all of her friends into clearing out the room when it became too crowded, no matter how much they complained or claimed they had other plans.

The alone time with Rarity had been nice, but still.

“You didn’t finish your thought,” the other girl murmured as they began to walk—there was no reason for them to go back to school now that the room had been cleaned, and Rarity’s family would be starting to wonder where she was at this hour. Sunset fell in step easily with her friend to accompany her home, and blinked at the reminder.

“You really care that much about my thought?”

Rarity shrugged and smiled, “You have interesting thoughts. I was curious to see where this one was going to lead.”

That made Sunset flush faintly, sheepishly rubbing the back of her neck. “It was a question instead of a thought, but fair enough. I was just wondering, going from those movies, isn’t this kind of camp visit usually done in the summer? I know it’s right around the corner, but it’s technically still spring.”

And it still showed, too; as the two girls walked down the sidewalk the flowers and trees were in full bloom despite the late hour of the day, the light breeze carrying petals off of their branches and into the air. It made for a beautiful sight, and nicely complimented the warm, but not too hot feel of the whole day.

If there was one thing Sunset could admit, it was that spring certainly looked beautiful. The look and feel of it all fit with the idea of rebirth, even if she personally couldn’t make the connection to it like humans could. It was certainly a pretty sight, and she couldn’t deny that.

Rarity giggled and looped her arm through Sunset’s—the former unicorn jolted slightly at the unexpected contact, but the other girl pressed warmly into her side and it balanced out. “Wherever did you get that idea?” she asked. “From watching movies and reading novels?”

She was right on the money there, but Sunset wasn’t about to admit it no matter how pretty her giggle sounded, or how warm she felt with their arms entwined and pressed into her side as they walked. She was a former magical student of Princess Celestia, she who raised the sun and moon of Equestria, and she would not break and admit to anything from such simple distractions, especially over a friend who had dragged her into spring cleaning that she could have quite easily managed on her own when it was all said and done.

She would not admit that she had in fact gotten that idea from her slasher movies and cheap horror novels, especially when most of them kept her up at night. Even around Rarity she had her dignity.

Then Rarity leaned her head against her shoulder, tilting upwards slightly to look up at her under her lashes, and smiled.

Well, Sunset thought.

“… Maybe,” she admitted, cyan meeting dark blue in a gaze that was both nervous and sheepish as her free hand rubbed the back of her neck.

It was worth it just to hear the ivory-skinned girl giggle again, and she gave the redhead’s arm a friendly squeeze. “I give you credit for admitting it, at least.”

“I didn’t admit anything.”

“You said maybe, and that’s as good as a yes in my book when it comes to admitting something because it isn’t a no.” Her smile became teasing as she gently tapped the other girl’s nose, letting out a third giggle at the way Sunset wrinkled her nose in response to the touch. “And I can see into your eyes. They don’t lie.”

Sunset sniffed, tearing her eyes away from Rarity’s and hoping the heat she felt rushing into her face wasn’t as obvious as she thought it was. “I’m sticking to that maybe.”

“Of course you are, darling.” Rarity gave her arm another squeeze, her hand sliding down to find Sunset’s.

“So, camp?” Sunset asked again, if only to distract herself from the warmth of her friend’s hand in hers. “You distracted me from my question with your own question.”

“And I do appreciate you indulging me with my question, darling, it showed an amazing amount of patience on your part.” Rarity brushed loose strands of dark violet hair out of her eyes with a free hand. “To answer your question, however, well… for one thing it would sort of defeat the point of calling this a school trip if we did it during the summer.”

That made the former unicorn frown. “School programs? Those run during the summer.”

“They do, but not every student is going to be in those programs. It wouldn’t be the same thing if we did it during the summer. This is supposed to be a bonding exercise for the class, according to the principals.”

The frown stayed in place as she thought about that, before the redhead finally relented and nodded. She could follow that idea easily enough; she didn’t exactly agree with it, but she could see the point if the whole thing was supposed to be a bonding exercise. “I guess that makes sense. So that’s why it’s happening during the spring and not the summer?”

Rarity shrugged. “Partly that, yes. Also because, well… you know what spring is. New beginnings, rebirth, all of that. Being able to strengthen the relationships we already have, maybe start some new ones before the school year ends that we can continuing building on over the summer before school starts again.”

And there it was again; Sunset had to resist the urge to sigh. She probably should have just left it alone, but they both still had a ways to walk (was she taking Rarity home? Was Rarity walking her home? She really didn’t know, and a part of her was afraid to ask and end the moment), and she had never been one to keep her thoughts to herself when she was comfortable and confident, for better or for worse.

So she said what was on her mind at that moment, what had really been on her mind for most of the season if she was being completely obvious with herself.

“I… don’t get it.”

That slowed their pace down as Rarity processed that, her thumb absently rubbing the back of Sunset’s hand as she thought about those words. The redhead wasn’t sure when the other girl had started doing that, but she wasn’t going to complain and risk it stopping; it felt nice, and it made her smile slightly at the warm, gentle sensation.

“I don’t understand,” the fashionista said at last. “What don’t you get?”

Sunset shrugged. “How spring is viewed here, I guess. I was never all that impressed by the seasons in Equestria to begin with, but here in the human world… I don’t get why you all seem to associate spring specifically with that kind of thing. Rebirth, changing things, building something that wasn’t there before. It seems like a weird thing to associate with a season, and I don’t get it.”

“You don’t associate seasons with concepts like that in Equestria?”

“Seasons are…” Sunset trailed off and hummed in thought, before she gave Rarity’s hand an absent squeeze; she was so lost in her mind at that moment that she missed the blue-eyed girl’s quiet smile at the affectionate gesture. She smiled sheepishly, “I might ruin Equestria for you if I go into detail about how we handle our seasons.”

Rarity puffed out her chest and turned to Sunset with a radiant grin, “I’m sure I can handle whatever you throw at me, darling. You should know by now that I’m far tougher than I look.”

That’s an understatement, Sunset thought fondly, remembering all too well the many times since they had become friends—and frankly, some of the times even before then when she had been at her worst and tormenting the other girl—that Rarity had demonstrated exactly how tough she could be when the moment called for it.

They still had a bit of time yet left in their walk, whenever they eventually decided where they were going to. And there was plenty of light still in the sky, the sun warm and gentle overhead.

“Okay, so.” The former unicorn rolled her shoulders as she remembered her time in Equestria. “Seasons are basically kind of work, back in Equestria. The pegasi handle the clouds, which means they also handle everything that comes with the clouds—the wind, rain, snow in the winter, all of that. The unicorns and the earth ponies handle everything on the ground. So for the winter that means they’ll melt or remove the snow going into spring, waking the animals up from hibernation, stuff like that.” Sunset paused, grimacing at the memories the conversation had brought back to the surface. “I had to do snow removal duty in Canterlot one year because the unicorn staff was short and the princess thought it would help my attitude to do some work and interact with other ponies my age.”

“… Did it help?” Rarity asked delicately, in the way of someone who already knew the answer to their question but felt like they had to ask anyway for the sake of being polite.

“I’m going to let the fact that I planned to storm back into Equestria with an army of teenage zombies as a raging she-demon speak for itself,” Sunset said. “The destruction of all seasons in the wake of my invasion was implied but not stated.”

There was a long moment of silence as Rarity processed this thought, turning it over in her mind and thinking about all of the possible responses one could have to that statement.

“You must have really hated that job,” she said at last, if only because it seemed like the best thing to say.

Sunset shuddered. “I did. I never helped out with another season after that, and I was relieved when I came to the human world and saw seasons were handled differently here. After, uh, I got over my… minor freak out that everything with the seasons here happened on its own.”

Rarity chuckled. “Of course.”

“Only a minor freak out.”

“You already said that, Sunset.”

“I know. I just wanted to be completely clear that it was minor.”

The purple-haired girl squeezed the redhead’s hand. “I’m sure it was, darling. I don’t doubt it for a second. Back to the actual topic on hand, though… that’s really how the seasons are for you in Equestria? Er, were?”

“Just work? Yeah. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it could be really pretty work, especially for the spring or the summer. But nopony—sorry, no one ever put any special meaning to it like humans seem to do here. Especially the special meaning of spring you’ve attached to it.”

“Well…” Rarity trailed off into silence as she thought how to word the topic she wanted to broach, dark blue eyes absently scanning the area for a better place they could have this discussion; she had the feeling things were about to get a little deeper than they could cover in a walk, regardless of who was going home first at the end of it.

And either way, she certainly wouldn’t say no to more time with Sunset after the day had been going for them so far. Even if the tan girl was taking a little too much time to get the hint, but that was fine. She prided herself on being patient, and this discussion had been an interesting insight into her Equestrian past.

She finally spotted a place that seemed good for them to continue speaking and changed course, giving Sunset’s hand a gentle tug and squeeze along the way. Sunset blinked, briefly startled by the feeling, but she figured out what Rarity was doing easily enough and followed her from the sidewalk onto the grass, heading for a tree. Much like the other trees in the area, it was still in full bloom for spring and wouldn’t start the shift to summer for some time. It was a beautiful sight to see and it would provide good shade against the late day sun.

To go along with the sun, a late day breeze was starting to pick up in elemental preparation for nightfall; petals were pulled free from the tree branches as the two girls approached, swirling and dancing in the wind before being carried away to parts unknown. Some didn’t get very far, as evidenced by the small collection of them directly under the tree and scattered around it, and the wind guided more than a few of those loose petals towards Sunset and Rarity.

Most people would have brushed the petals aside or out of their hair and off their clothes when they landed on them, and that was what Rarity did as she gave Sunset’s hand another tug and settled down under the tree, folding her legs gracefully under her as she sat down. In comparison, Sunset paid the petals no mind and as a result, more than a few of them ended up settling on her shoulders and caught in mixed golden and red strands of her hair as she sat down next to her friend. The sight of the redhead sitting next to her, petals on her shoulder and tangled in her hair, made the fashionista giggle and she let go of Sunset’s hand, gesturing to her hair and shoulders. “May I?”

Cyan eyes blinked back at her, briefly confused, before Sunset realized why Rarity was asking and laughed sheepishly, shifting so she was closer and to make it easier. “Sure. You still owe me an answer about spring, you know.”

Rarity hummed. “Patience, Sunset.”

Sunset snorted softly at those words, but she leaned in to close the distance. Her eyes drifted shut as Rarity gently brushed petals from her shoulders and picked them out of her hair, smoothing out the strands she disturbed along the way. With the exception of the wind and any people passing by—and not many of them were out and about at this time of the day—it was completely silent between the two of them.

“Done,” the purple-haired girl murmured, and the silence ended like that and seemed to take the moment with it.

Or at least it felt that way at first, but when Sunset let her eyes flutter open Rarity lingered for a moment longer, just enough that they were close enough to share breaths. But neither one of them dared to close the final distance between them—though Sunset definitely considered it and, judging by the look in Rarity’s eyes, she was either waiting for her to do it or considering it herself since the other girl was taking too long—and the moment truly ended when Rarity pulled away and cleared her throat.

“Right, so.” If her voice was just a little bit breathless, she seemed to be in no rush to address it. “You wanted to know why spring is such a big deal to us humans.”

Sunset swallowed and nodded, leaning back against the tree and running a hand through her hair. “Yeah. You said something about patience, and I think I’ve been pretty patient.”

An ivory hand reached out quickly and tugged lightly, teasingly on a red strand of hair before pulling away; Rarity was smiling, though. “I appreciate the patience, darling. I was trying to think of the best way to approach the topic.”

That made the redhead frown, confused. “Is it really that complicated?”

“Well, the simplest answer honestly might be that we don’t have to do as much work as your poor pony friends have to do in Equestria to make the seasons work.” Rarity wrinkled her nose. “Though the leaves can get pretty bad around our house when they start dropping during the fall… and don’t even get me started on when the dandelions begin blooming once it gets warm enough.”

Sunset bit her bottom lip to swallow the laugh. “I’m not getting you started on anything, Rares. You’re the one who started yourself.”

“… And you’ve been very patient, yes. My apologies.” Rarity did laugh, something warm and sheepish, before she focused back on the topic. “But to make a long story short, yes, it kind of is that complicated, depending on who you ask. Spring is a pretty important season in some human religions because of their beliefs.”

That was a surprise, and the former unicorn took a moment to process this thought. She supposed it made sense, from her own experiences in Equestria; she’d known some ponies who had associated such things with the sun and the moon, because of Celestia’s influence over both. She had never seen the appeal of it, but she had also been the princess’s student. It had been hard to see her in that kind of light when she had known Celestia pretty much her whole life. A common point between humans and ponies, then—she hadn’t quite expected it, but there was something comforting in the thought that the two races weren’t so different in such things.

“Long story?” Sunset asked, realizing that Rarity was looking at her expectantly.

“Long story,” Rarity said with another chuckle. “Outside of that, though… well, I think we just associate spring with rebirth and such because to us, that’s what it looks like every time winter ends and spring begins.”

“… I don’t follow.”

The confusion in Sunset’s tone made Rarity smile and she shifted, leaning back against the tree like her friend was. She reached out, gently catching a petal from the air. “Think of it this way,” she said. “Everything you described from your experiences, it made sense because you saw other people—other ponies, excuse me—doing it. Right?”

“Right,” Sunset said, nodding. She could follow that train of thought well enough.

“But you’ve already seen that here in the human world, no one handles the seasons like that. We certainly get work from the seasons and what they do to us, but we don’t control them like that. Just… seeing the snow melt, the flowers bloom and the grass grow, seeing all of the animal return or wake up of their own accord for spring again, makes it look like to use that the planet is essentially being reborn.”

She’d certainly seen the human version of spring herself for several years at this point, and Sunset supposed that from that alone she could understand the connection; she just had wondered if it was more complicated than that, if she was being totally honest with herself. It was almost disappointing to be told that no, it was every bit as simple as what she had imagined.

Maybe that was what she got for asking.

“You seem disappointed,” Rarity teased gently after a few moments had passed and Sunset still hadn’t spoken yet. She let go of the petal she’d been holding on to, and the two girls watched it dance away in the wind with the others.

Sunset shrugged sheepishly, shifting a little bit against the tree to get comfortable; her shoulder brushed against Rarity’s, and after a second or two of thought the redhead leaned against her friend completely, feeling her face warm up when the fashionista smiled at the close contact. “A little bit,” she admitted. “I guess I already saw the logic of that myself, I was just wondering if there was more to it since it wasn’t enough for me.”

“Well, I could always give you a run down on the history of human religion and how spring factors into certain beliefs like I mentioned earlier if you really want to make it more complicated than that.”

“Please don’t, I got enough of that when I was in Equestria with the princess.”

“… That sounds like another long story, darling.”

“Maybe one day I’ll tell you about it.” Sunset nudged Rarity gently, grinning when the other girl giggled and leaned into her, resting her cheek against her shoulder.

“Promises, promises,” Rarity sang as her giggles subsided. She didn’t pull away from the redhead after she had calmed down, instead glancing up at her from her place nestled into her shoulder. “So what were you looking for? Now you’ve made me curious since this is clearly bothering you so much.”

“I mean, I don’t know, honestly.” Sunset glanced down at her, cyan eyes meeting dark blue. “I guess I just have to accept that it’s one of those things that’s not going to make sense to me, even though I’ve been living in the human world for a few years now.”

Rarity hummed quietly. “I must admit, I find that pretty funny,” she said.

Sunset blinked, confused. “Really? Why?”

“Well, I suppose I just thought of all people you’d see the appeal of a season of rebirth.”

It only took a second for the dots to connect; Rarity had the pleasure of seeing the moment it all clicked flicking across Sunset’s eyes, and not even another second later the other girl groaned and closed them. “No,” she said.

“What?” Rarity asked, all innocence with a smile and fluttering eyelashes.

“No,” Sunset repeated, opening her eyes and glancing at her friend. “I know where you’re going with this. You’re going to tie it back to the Fall Formal and how I pulled myself back together after the crown transformed me.”

“… Well, yes.” Rarity was beginning to pout now.

“That’s not going to work by your own logic. Sure, I don’t get the whole rebirth thing, but I don’t get why it’s connected to spring beyond some religious implications and the way humans interpret the things the planet does.” Sunset paused. “My own experience doesn’t apply. I went through all of that during the fall. That doesn’t really tie in to the whole idea of spring being the season of rebirth or anything, at least not for me personally.”

The silence that followed Sunset’s statement was broken only by the sound of the wind and the occasional echo of bird song, though as the day was starting to get late the birds were beginning to quiet down.

Rarity’s pout was in full effect at this point, and she gave a dramatic sigh as she slumped against Sunset’s shoulder. “You never let me have any fun,” she complained.

Sunset fought back the urge to smile, even as she felt the edges of her lips twitching dangerously. “I’m sorry.”

“No you’re not. If you were truly sorry you would have at least let me finish with my speech before you shot me down.”

“I could always let you say it anyway and pretend I didn’t shoot you down in the first place, if you want? I’m willing to do that. I’m totally willing to do that for you.”

“Shot me down in flames,” Rarity sighed dramatically a second time, because apparently one dramatic sigh about the situation hadn’t been enough for her. “I don’t think I’ll ever recover from this, Sunset. No matter what you say or do to try and make it up to me.”

Sunset finally smiled, if only because she couldn’t hold it back anymore and it seemed like the better alternative to laughing at her friend’s dramatics. “Never recover from it, huh? Ever? There’s nothing I can do to make it better?”

“Well…” Rarity drew the word out as she glanced up at Sunset from her shoulder, her blue eyes slightly watery despite the smile that was beginning to match her friend’s. “You may have ruined the train of thought I was trying to get started on, but you could at least let me finish it.”

The laugh finally won out, though the redhead managed to keep it to a short, warm chuckle that made the other girl snuggle into her side even more tightly. “Sure, why not. It can’t hurt.”

“Even if you ruined how I was going to transition into it.”

“I’m sorry. Again.”

Rarity flipped her hair back behind one shoulder, “No worries, darling. I’m slowly but surely getting over it. Anyway, before you ruined my perfect transition to the point I wanted to make…”

“I’m sorry. Last time I’m saying that, though.”

“The point I wanted to make is that the season still applies to you, both in spring and in rebirth.”

“Rarity, I already explained to you why that logic doesn’t work. I explained it to you seconds ago. Literally seconds. Possibly minutes, tops.”

Sunset would have gladly gone on, but a white finger rested against her lips as Rarity shifted them both, turning the redhead to face her. “You told me you would let me do this,” she teased.

Cyan eyes rolled, but she nodded. It was worth it for the brilliant smile the purple-haired girl gave her as she pulled her finger away from her lips.

“Now, without any further interruptions,” Rarity began, and when Sunset snorted she swiped up a handful of petals and flung them in her face without missing a beat. “I’m going to explain why what I was just trying to explain to you earlier still applies, even though you so ruthlessly tore me down before I could even get started.”

The redhead sneezed as the petals tickled her nose, releasing a breath to blow them out of her face and shaking her head. A few settled in her hair, but she left those alone for the moment; they weren’t as immediately annoying as the ones that had been ticking her nose and brushing her lips. “Go ahead,” she said. “I’m waiting.”

Rarity, however, seemed bothered by the petals that had tangled in Sunset’s hair, and she scooted closer as she began to talk, reaching up to run her fingers through mixed red and gold strands as she fished out the petals. “You’re right,” she said. “Everything that did happen to you happened in the fall.” She paused, then giggled. “You had your fall in the fall.”

Sunset groaned. “That was awful. You’re awful.”

“You love me.”

The breath thought painfully in her throat for a moment, and the words she had planned to say didn’t come out even as she opened her mouth; she couldn’t manage a response, so all she did was swallow hard and go silent as her mouth closed, simply looking into Rarity’s eyes as if her life depended on it and hoping she wouldn’t say anything about the obvious silence.

“Anyway,” Rarity’s voice was light as she glanced away to look up and catch some petals in the palm of her hands, and Sunset could breathe again. “In the fall, you transformed and everything that could go wrong for you did. You spent most of the rest of the season and winter rebuilding yourself and your reputation around the school.”

“And then I…” Sunset trailed off as it all finally clicked, and she groaned again. “No.”

“Yes,” Rarity declared triumphantly. “You’ve been reborn into the spring season as your new, happier self. My logic wins.”

“Okay, that’s… I wasn’t reborn during the spring though, that’s not…” Sunset trailed off again as she realized she had nowhere to go with her argument and sighed heavily. “Fine. Fine. I can’t completely argue with your logic, as much as I really want to.”

“You love me,” Rarity sang out as she fished the last petal from her friend’s hair.

“I’m beginning to suspect I tolerate you, at best.”

“Love me. You didn’t deny it the first time I said it, therefore it’s true.”

One of these days, the former unicorn knew, she was going to have a proper response to the blue-eyed girl saying things like that. Today was apparently not going to be that day, as words once again failed her. Sunset finally cleared her throat and tore her eyes from Rarity’s, looking out over the horizon. “Maybe,” she said at last.

She didn’t know what she was expecting, really, even as she saw a purple eyebrow quirk at her statement out of the corner of her eye. For Rarity to pull away again maybe, or for them to part ways at this point; it was getting late, with the sun dipping along the sky and the spring warmth seeping away into an evening chill. It would have been around the right time for them both to go home for the night.

She didn’t know what she was expecting, but somehow the feeling of Rarity’s fingers brushing her cheek was still enough of a surprise to send a shiver down her spine. She could have let her friend guide her all the way back, but she nuzzled into her palm and turned her gaze back to dark blue eyes of her own accord.

“Well,” Rarity murmured, and she didn’t pull her hand away. “That’s a better response than last time.”

Sunset swallowed. “I didn’t say anything last time.”

“Exactly.”

That made her laugh softly and she gave Rarity’s hand another nuzzle, shifting slightly so tan fingers brushed against white. “So you proved your point about spring and rebirth,” she said at last. “I’m still not entirely sure why you wanted to tie it to me specifically.”

Rarity shrugged, a relaxed gesture that completely contrasted how dark and intense her eyes had gotten. “You aren’t? I thought I was beginning to get rather obvious about it, honestly. A rebirth is technically a new beginning, you know.”

Sunset chuckled. “A new beginning, huh? And what do you think about me having a new beginning?”

“It’s less about what and more about who I think you should be having a new beginning with.” Rarity smirked, and somehow it was still warm. “If you get my meaning, darling.”

And then it all clicked—Rarity grabbing her specifically for spring cleaning to get her alone, dismissing the other girls’ excuses with a surprising grace. Rarity walking her all this way when it had become clear they weren’t going in any particular direction. Rarity pushing the whole idea of rebirth and its ties to spring, even if it had taken awhile to make the point she wanted to make.

It probably all should have clicked sooner, in hindsight.

Sunset sighed and laughed, guiding Rarity’s hand down from her cheek so that she could lace their fingers together and give her hand a squeeze. “You,” she said, “are incredibly patient.”

Rarity’s smirk became a smile. “Only as patient as you were while I was trying to make my point, Sunset.”

“No, I’m pretty sure that you even had to go so far to make your point in the first place proves you’re way more patient than I could ever be.”

“You got it in the end though, didn’t you? I’d say that makes it worth the wait.”

Sunset leaned in, bumping her forehead gently against Rarity’s, and hesitated only a moment before she finally closed the last bit of distance between them and kissed her. She knew seconds later that she had made the right decision when Rarity hummed happily against her lips and leaned against her fully, tightening her grip on her hand as the kiss deepened.

The kiss lasted longer than a moment, and yet still felt like it ended too soon when they finally parted because they needed to breathe. Rarity’s eyes shone brightly as she kept her forehead resting against Sunset’s, and it seemed like nothing in the world could have made her let go of her hand.

“So.” She was still smiling, and Sunset suspected that she wouldn’t stop smiling any time soon; she certainly didn’t seem ready to stop smiling until they parted ways for the night. “What do you think about my explanation of spring?”

Sunset laughed, running her fingers gently through Rarity’s hair, and realized she was finally starting to see why spring was so appealing to humans.

“I think your patience has finally paid off, Rarity.”

Author's Notes:

I will never say no to the chance to write more RariShimmer. Never ever.

If that's not your thing, go check out the other contest entries for more Sunset shipping goodness.