Flash Forward

“Okay.” Rainbow Dash grinned. “That was pretty awesome.”

“And look what you managed to accomplish,” Sunset Shimmer pointed out. The dock was finished! It looked just like the designs.

Rarity was thrilled. “Please, please, please, can we do a run-through for the fashion show on it right this minute?”

“Thought you weren’t finished with the stitchin’ on your poncho.” Applejack sighed.

Rarity made a quick stitch. “I am now!”

Sunset Shimmer was happy for her friends, but there was one more thing she had to attend to. “Get started without me. I gotta go find Twilight. Seeing what we’ve been able to do here might make her embrace this new magic, too.” She gulped, realizing she’d made a mistake. “Uh, not that she has any.”

Sunset Shimmer headed back toward camp, past the boathouse, but stopped. The door was shut, but she could hear someone yelling. Someone was very angry.

“I just wish you hadn’t told them that ridiculous story.” It was Gloriosa.

Curious, Sunset Shimmer pressed her ear against the door to listen better.

“This is all too much for you,” said Timber Spruce. “You have to let it go.”

What were they talking about? Oh, she realized, he wanted his sister to sell the camp! He wanted her to get rid of it.

The door swung open and Sunset Shimmer barely missed being hit by it. Gloriosa stormed out. Timber Spruce followed his sister. When they were gone, Sunset Shimmer stepped out from among the shadows.

“Sunset Shimmer?” Flash Sentry had spotted her. “What were you doing behind that door?”

“What? Um… n-nothing,” she stammered. “I, um, lost an earring. Um, there it is!” She bent down and pretended to find something.

Flash fell for it. Something else was on his mind. “Hey, listen. I’m glad I ran into you. I really wanted to thank you.”

“For what?” Sunset Shimmer wasn’t listening very carefully. She was thinking about what she’d heard.

“For the tough love,” said Flash Sentry. “Telling me I should get over Twilight. I needed to hear it.”

“Sure,” Sunset Shimmer said distractedly. “No problem.”

“Is something wrong?” Flash noticed.

“What? No, why?”

Flash smiled at her. “Come on, Sunset, we used to date; I know when something’s bothering you.”

Sunset decided to confide in him. “Okay, here’s the deal…” she said. “My friend really likes someone, but I think that someone isn’t who she thinks he is. I don’t want to upset my friend by telling her what I think, but I also want to protect her, because if what I think is happening is really happening… then she deserves to know. You know?” She took a deep breath.

Flash was thoroughly lost. “No.” Now Flash was distracted—by how the sun picked up the gold highlights in Sunset Shimmer’s hair. “What I do know,” he said, “is that your friend is lucky to have someone like you to look out for her.”

“Really?” Sunset Shimmer was surprised by his compliment.

“Yeah,” he said. “You know, you’ve changed a lot since we went out. You’re so much… nicer.”

Sunset Shimmer was surprised. When they had dated, she had been different. All she’d wanted was power. She didn’t know anything about friendship and how much magic there was in it. But it meant a lot to her that Flash had noticed. “Thanks.”

Flash looked down at his feet, a little embarrassed. “You know, maybe you and me, we could start over… as friends…”

But before Sunset Shimmer could answer, she spotted Timber Spruce sneaking into the forest. What was he up to? She had to find out. She had to protect Twilight. “Sounds great,” she said distractedly. “I gotta go.” She took off in the opposite direction.

Poor Flash Sentry watched her disappear. “Cool.” He sighed in disappointment. “I wanted to start over later, too.”