"Oh no oh no oh no," Twilight muttered, pacing back and forth. Sunset had a feeling that if it weren't for the fact that her wrist was still in a sling, she'd be flailing her hands.

"I'm stressed too," Sunset agreed. "Just two hours until our first exam."

"The two of you should do just fine!" Rainbow Dash assured them. "You two always score the highest marks out of everyone! I believe in you both- well, I believe in all of us."

"We've all done our best," Applejack added. "Now how about we take a break and eat something. Rarity, do you wanna come help me get everyone's food?"

Rarity stretched her arms, then stood up. "Sure, why not. We'll be back with breakfast, okay?"

"Thanks," the rest of them chorused.

While they waited, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were busy explaining a concept to each other, Twilight continued looking through her notes, Pinkie sat there impatiently, and Sunset went on her phone, feeling tired despite it only being morning.

Soon, Applejack and Rarity were back with sandwiches, and they all began to eat.

"I can't wait for exams to be over," Sunset said.

"Me too," Pinkie agreed. "When they're over, we're gonna have a party!"

"Your birthday's in two weeks, right Sunset?" Rarity asked.

Sunset nodded. "Oh yeah, it's getting close now. I've lost track of time."

"Your birthday's in two weeks?" Twilight asked. "I can't believe I didn't know that."

Sunset shrugged. "Huh, guess I never mentioned it. Guess since we haven't actually known each other for a year yet, it's never come up."

"It hasn't even been a year yet?" Twilight asked, looking thoughtful. "It feels like I've known you all for much longer."

"I'm not great with tracking the passage of time," Sunset said.

"Me too," Pinkie agreed. "Sometimes feels super slow, and other times it goes really fast!"

"Speaking of the passage of time," Fluttershy said. "It's nearly time to leave for school."

Rainbow looked pained at those words, closing her eyes before she looked up and sighed. "Wish me luck. I believe in us but let's hope luck's on our side anyway. "

Sunset was the first to stand up. "Time to pack up."

•~•~•~•~•~•

"Well, I never wanna do that again," Rainbow Dash said, sitting down at the lunch table.

"Oh, agreed. It was way too stressful," Rarity agreed. "I'm not quite sure how I'll be able to deal with the one this afternoon." She turned to Applejack. "AJ, darling, do I look tired?"

"Honestly Rares, a little. I don't think it's really evident from far away though, if that makes you feel better."

Rarity gasped, raising a hand to her forehead dramatically.

Rainbow slumped, resting her head in her arms. Fluttershy pat her head gently. "At least we've got one of them dealt with."

"Y'know, you two have been a little closer lately," Sunset remarked. She knew that being affectionate didn't mean that much, especially in their friend group, but there was something about the way they'd spent most of their study sessions with each other, and Fluttershy's gentle smile that made it feel like something had changed. "Did I miss the news of a couple within my friend group getting together for the second time now?"

"We're not a couple," both Fluttershy and Rainbow said in unison.

"We've decided to try out a queerplatonic relationship, cause Shy's more comfortable with that than a romantic one," Rainbow explained. "It's a new development, and we're just seeing how things go. That's why we haven't said much yet."

"Ooh, that's fun!" Pinkie said.

"Yeah, congrats on that!" Sunset said to them. The others joined in agreement.

Soon, lunch ended, and they went to go do their next exam. It was stressful, and she got stuck a few times, but she managed to finish all the questions, and she was too tired to stress over it.

"Hey Ray," Sunset murmured, staring at her pet. "How've you been?"

Ray made a clicking noise.

"That's fun. You've got enough food, right?" Reluctantly, she got up, and fortunately there was still enough food for him. "Well, at least I'm too tired to be thinking about other things. Y'know, like Twili- okay, I'm not making this better for myself."

•~•~•~•~•~•

"Hey Sunset," Twilight began. "But is there anything specific that you want for your birthday?"

Sunset hummed. "I... don't know, to be honest. Haven't really done many birthdays. I've done big parties, but they were mostly just for show."

"How long has it been since you left Equestria?"

"It's been a while actually. A few years, at least."

"Oh, wow. I hope that I can help make this birthday your best. And every year should be even better, actually."

That light, fluttering feeling inside her was still there, even when she told herself that there was no point having a crush now. But still, the idea that they'd be with each other, even so many years later, it felt warm and pleasant to think about.

Sunset smiled. "I'll have to hold you to that one. Can't wait to see what you and the others have in store for my birthday. Though I'm probably gonna end up forgetting its my birthday, let's be realistic."

"It'll only just make the memory more unforgettable."

The thump-thump of her heart sounded a little too loud in her ears, and she tried to make the noise quiet down out of sheer willpower. Maybe she just had to take this one step at a time. Get used to Twilight showing affection, learn to control her feelings enough that while there, it'd become something she could ignore, and then from there, let her romantic feelings fade away.

Maybe it'd take a long time for it to go away entirely. That was something that she'd need to accept, instead of trying to jump from a huge crush to no feelings at all. Maybe that's how getting over a massive crush worked.

"I'm looking forward towards it."

"And well, I've told you this a lot recently, but thank you. For everything. Without you, I don't know where I'd end up at."

"Everton, probably," Sunset said dryly.

Twilight snorted. "Oh yeah, I had wanted to go there. Seems like a distant memory, now. I probably would've been miserable there, actually. The studying would've been fun, but the loneliness would have eventually got to me. Spike wouldn't have been blessed to speak if it weren't for Fluttershy."

"Learning about the magic of friendship has really been a lifesaver."

"Yeah, it really has. Thanks for walking with me home, we should do it more often."

"It was no problem. Good luck on your final exam tomorrow. I'll see you soon."

Twilight smiled, big and bright. "You too! I'll see you tomorrow!"

Y'know, I'm realizing that there's not that many more chapters until the fic's over (well, assuming that I go minimal with my vague planning). I'm thinking probably close to 4-6 more chapters? (Which feels so odd, probably because this is the first multi-chap fic I'd be completing)

Also. Flutterdash but it's a qpr. I love shipping them a lot, but I also love their friendship