The sun was only just starting to set beyond the horizon by the time the girls made it to Sunset's apartment, and ever since, they'd been getting themselves comfortable. The weather had been warm lately, which was a relief after the long cold-spell they'd been enduring for the last few days. As such, many of the girls who wore some form of outer jacket, like Sunset, had discarded it, and in addition to this, most of the girls had left their shoes at the door, electing to go barefoot while within their friend's home. As time went on, each of them had occupied themselves with some discussion or other activity with one or more of their other friends. Pinkie and Fluttershy were chatting to each other on the couch. Applejack and Rainbow were having an arm-wrestling contest upon one of Sunset's coffee tables, and Rarity was using her phone to take a photograph of the impressive colours of the sky as the sun set. As for Twilight, she sat next to Sunset, looking to her with a degree of curiosity.

"So, when's he coming?"

A knowing smile came to the Equestrian.

"Oh, don't worry, he'll be here."

And just like that, there was a knocking on the door, one that Sunset responded to with a wider smile than before. She got up, heading straight over to the thing, while a few of the other girls look on. Opening the door, Sunset gained a loving look to her.

"Hey."

"Hey," the new arrival replied.

Flash entered, carrying a big case of what appeared to be soda in his arms. With her boyfriend occupied, Sunset did him the honour of closing the door behind him, and soon after, she walked alongside him as he carefully placed the case on the table in the middle of the room. Having finished their aforementioned contest, Rainbow and Applejack moved over, with the former reaching down and picking the first of the sodas.

"You made it just in time, bro! I've been parched for ages now!"

And with that, she opened up her can, taking a good long swig of it, before letting out a contented sigh.

"Ah! Now that’s the stuff!"

Applejack followed suit, and after taking her first gulp, she tipped her hat to the boy.

"Mighty kind o' ya, Flash."

Putting his hands into his jacket pocket, the boy smiled and nodded back.

"No problem. Glad I could help."

Placing her hand upon his arm, Sunset smiled sweetly to him.

"You know, you could stay, if you like."

To that, Flash scratched the back of his head.

"Appreciate the offer, Sunset, but I don't want to butt-in on your time with your friends."

Hearing that, Rarity let out a brief giggle, sweeping aside some of her hair before adding her voice to matters.

"Oh, you needn't be so concerned, Flash! We're all friends here! By all means, relax!"

Flash thought on that, looking over to his girlfriend, who promptly gave him a nod of consent. After this, the boy smiled, reaching down and picking up a can for himself.

"Alrighty then. Guess I'm staying."

Sunset, naturally, was pleased to this, but as she watched Flash move over to the sofa, she halted as she heard the distinct sound of Twilight's phone. Turning, she watched as her spectacled friend pulled it out of her pocket, looking to the screen and breaking out into a smile.

"It's from Timber. He says he wants to invite me over to join him and his sister at a favourite restaurant of theirs later next week."

Sunset nodded, placing her hand on her friend's shoulder.

"Well, I hope you have a good time there."

Twilight smiled back to that, sending a reply on her phone to that message, before swiftly getting the device back into her pocket. Meanwhile, Flash had reached the sofa, sitting down and looking over to Fluttershy and Pinkie. Curiosity took hold of the boy, and after a moment of hesitation, he finally broke the silence.

"So...I hear you two are going out?"

Looking over to him, both girls started to practically beam.

"Yessir! We were just planning our next date!" Pinkie announced.

Fluttershy nodded, clasping her hands in front of herself.

"We're really hoping we can make this work. Neither of us have really dated anybody before...so we're a little nervous about it."

Flash nodded, understanding.

"I'm sure you can work well together, Fluttershy. You two are already so close. And I just want you to know, I'm happy for you both."

The two girls gave him wide and appreciative smiles at that, with Pinkie especially leaping forward and giving him a friendly, not to mention tight, hug. Fluttershy giggled as she watched Flash struggle to breathe under the crushing force of Pinkie's embrace, and indeed, many of the other girls also took amusement in this. But then, as the laughter died down, Rainbow sat down in one of the armchairs of the apartment, only to find that her own phone now started to buzz. Though taken aback, the young athlete soon took it out, but as she glanced at her screen, she let out an exasperated grunt. Seeing that, Twilight looked to her with a deadpan expression.

"Lemon?"

"Lemon," Rainbow confirmed.

Sunset looked to them both.

"Problem?"

Rainbow sighed.

"Lemon likes to send me links to whatever new fanfic of hers she thinks I'd like. Usually sends me the...you know...steamy stuff."

Sunset nodded.

"Ah...understood."

Still holding onto her phone, Rainbow started texting a reply, speaking it aloud as she did so.

"Lemon...thanks for the link...but I do not...want to...read...your...sex-fics right now. I still...need to finish...the last lot you sent me."

And with that, the message was sent, and afterwards, Rainbow slumped into her chair, clearly somewhat tired right now. Pinkie, seeing her, raised an eyebrow.

"You know, those stories sound pretty fun, Rainbow. There's no need to be grouchy about it."

Rainbow looked to her, more than a little incredulous.

"Pinkie...no offense...but sex isn't something you just...you know...talk about!"

But Pinkie just snorted to that.

"Pfft! Yes it is!"

Rainbow frowned.

"No...it isn’t!"

Pinkie frowned back.

"Yes...it is!"

Rainbow rolled her eyes.

"Look, would you feel comfortable talking about sex and sexy stuff when you're around us!"

Placing her hands upon her hips, Pinkie gave a confident nod.

"Yep!"

Rainbow slapped her forehead in frustration.

"Of course you would!"

Fluttershy looked over to her childhood friend.

"You know...it wouldn't be so bad, taking about it."

Rarity turned to the animal-lover, somewhat surprised by that.

"Why Fluttershy! I would never have expected you to be so comfortable discussing such matters!"

Sunset spoke up next, her tone one of certainty.

"Don't be that surprised, Rarity. Fluttershy's been pretty confident lately."

Fluttershy blushed at that, and afterwards, Applejack chimed in.

"Ah agree. Y'all are mah friends, an' ah feel no trouble whatsoever talkin' bout private stuff like that."

Twilight nodded.

"Same here. We're all mature teenagers, right? We can talk about these topics with the kind of grown-up manner they deserve. No adolescent giggling or anything."

All eyes turned to Rainbow, who appeared to be the last girl standing on this issue. So, after seeing all those eyes upon her, she let out an irritated sigh.

"Ugh! Fine! I guess we're talking about this now!"

Flash, who had been silent for some time now, made a rather loud and nervous-sounding gulp, before slowly starting to get out of his chair.

"You know...maybe being here wasn’t a good idea. This is clearly a private thing for you girls and..."

But, he lost his chance, as Rainbow reached forward, taking hold of his jacket and dragging him back down to his chair.

"Oh no you don't, big brother! If I’m going to have to sit through this, then so are you!"

Flash looked over to Sunset, hoping for some reassurance, only to find her smirking slightly and shrugging her shoulders. Taking all that in, in the boy sighed, slinking further into his chair.

"Right...sure."

Next Chapter: Rules and Scores Estimated time remaining: 39 Minutes