On the other side, after Photo Finish finished taking her coronation photos, Trixie discovered that Sunset Shimmer was nowhere to be found in the gymnasium, so she knew that there was nothing left here that could make The Great and All-Powerful Trixie continue to linger.
She casually took the autumn formal princess crown she had worked so hard to get off her head to avoid affecting her next move, then pulled a smoke bomb from her pocket and threw it on the ground.
"She's gone!"
Looking at the empty stage after the smoke cleared, Pinkie Pie grabbed her hair and shouted in disbelief.
"Oh, wait, she's over there."
But immediately after, she seemed to catch a glimpse of something, looking speechlessly at Trixie, who was sneaking toward the gymnasium door.
Realizing her tracks had been exposed, Trixie immediately slipped out of the gymnasium door, disappearing completely from everyone's sight.
Since Sunset Shimmer wasn't in the gymnasium right now, and she hadn't gone straight home, Trixie could only think of one place where Sunset Shimmer might be.
"Wow, wow, look who we have here—a transfer student sitting all alone, feeling so emo?"
"...Aren't you going to continue enjoying your coronation? Why come over here to bother me?"
The familiar school gate, the familiar horse statue, the familiar dialogue.
Trixie hadn't found Sunset Shimmer in the teaching building earlier, but she guessed she had 'respawned' at the statue. She didn't know why Sunset Shimmer was so obsessed with this statue.
Trixie spun the autumn formal princess crown on one finger, walked slowly to Sunset Shimmer's side, and casually placed the crown on her head.
"Hey! I don't care for this thing at all!"
Ignoring Sunset Shimmer's protest, Trixie continued to do things her own way, lifting her skirt to sit next to Sunset Shimmer. She then took out her phone, switched to selfie mode, wrapped her arm around Sunset Shimmer's shoulder, and took a photo that wasn't exactly in sync.
"Has no one ever told you to smile when taking a picture?"
Looking at the photo where she was happily making a peace sign, in stark contrast to Sunset Shimmer's disgusted expression, Trixie thought this person really didn't know how to appreciate the mood at all.
Sunset Shimmer didn't pay attention to Trixie's jab either. She reached up to take the light, flimsy crown off her head, wanting to return it to Trixie, but Trixie didn't reach out to take it.
"What's wrong? Isn't this the autumn formal princess crown you've been pining for?"
Seeing that Trixie was completely indifferent to the honorary prize that she had pulled strings all over the place to get, Sunset Shimmer asked suspiciously.
"Do you know that the school bought this on Temu for $1.99?"
"So what?"
"So it's just a cheap toy that costs less than the shipping fee. Being the autumn formal princess this time is just one part of the grand plan of The Great and All-Powerful Trixie."
Hearing Trixie's tone, which showed such disregard for the hard-earned item, Sunset Shimmer resisted the urge to smash the plastic crown in her hand onto her face, but she still forcefully snapped the crown back onto Trixie's head.
"Ouch!"
Trixie covered her head and looked at Sunset Shimmer with a complaint, only to see her nervously focusing on the notebook in her hand, which was printed with a red and yellow sun emblem.
"By the way, do you hate being around others that much? Instead of attending the dance, you'd rather hide here... doing homework?"
"This isn't a homework notebook! I'm not as boring as you say! I'm just... figuring out how to write a letter home."
Sunset Shimmer rolled her eyes at Trixie.
However, Sunset Shimmer didn't know that Trixie was saying that on purpose. She certainly knew it wasn't a homework notebook, but if she didn't say that, she felt that Sunset Shimmer probably wouldn't respond to her.
Who told Sunset Shimmer to be such an incredibly tsundere person?
"Oh, am I bothering you?"
"If I said yes, would you leave?"
"Nope."
Sunset Shimmer clicked her tongue softly and turned her head away, not wanting to deal with her anymore, then heard Trixie suddenly say something quite seriously.
"Trixie wouldn't let a friend hide away from everyone all alone and be sad."
"...I never said I wanted to be friends with you."
"Heh heh, that's not up to you~"
Glancing at the smug smile on Trixie's pretty face, what a waste of a good face.
Sunset Shimmer suddenly felt that whenever she had to deal with these people who just talked over others, all her denials seemed to become a joke.
In the end, she could only mutter under her breath:
"Annoying blue color scheme..."
Although Sunset Shimmer's voice was very soft, she was so close to Trixie that it naturally and inevitably reached Trixie's ears.
"Come to think of it, you're so unwilling to talk to me—is it because your old friends were similar to me?"
Sunset Shimmer immediately cast a resentful gaze, then regretfully looked away.
"Not that stupid..."
"Tsk!"
A vein popped on Trixie's forehead, and she couldn't help but wonder if giving Sunset Shimmer a friendly face was the right choice.
"Ah, ah... yeah, if you mean the thankless task of insisting on being friends with you, then that person who dumped you directly was indeed smarter."
"I've said it many times, it's not what you think!"
"Oh? Then you dumped her."
"..."
Watching Sunset Shimmer fall into silence after being caught off guard by her casual remark, Trixie knew she had probably guessed right.
Good grief, she really was just guessing; she didn't expect to actually get it right.
"Anyway, I don't want to talk about this with you. I've already decided to forget about those things."
"I see. Then can I interpret your words as meaning that ever since you separated from her, you've been thinking about her every moment?"
Sunset Shimmer looked at Trixie in surprise, and this time, Trixie wasn't just guessing.
What people want to forget the most is always what they care about the most.
"At least before you had a falling out, she was once your best friend."
It was rare for Trixie to be this serious.
Seeing that she didn't seem to be joking, and considering they had gone through "hardships" together, Sunset Shimmer was finally caught off guard by Trixie's sincerity.
"...I used to think we would be best friends forever."
Sunset Shimmer sighed.
Seeing her looking so lost and dejected, Trixie didn't immediately speak words of comfort.
Trixie had only just pried open Sunset Shimmer's mouth, which was harder than a diamond, and she didn't know what had actually happened between her and her mysterious significant other.
But arguments were nothing more than both parties saying things the other didn't want to hear. And looking at the lingering effect Sunset Shimmer still had even after they had separated, it showed that this person didn't really want to cut off contact with the other person completely.
And Sunset Shimmer herself didn't want to admit it.
'What a wishy-washy person.'
Watching Sunset Shimmer looking so half-dead, Trixie made a judgment about her in her heart.
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