Chapter 16: Oh Great, Time Again To Plan For WHAT?!
“Wait, she did that?” Button asked as he walked with Sweetie Belle from his previous class.
“Yeah,” Sweetie nodded, “It was almost scary. I never felt so….scared.”
“I can only imagine, and then again I never imagined Diamond Tiara being the abusive type.” Button answered, “Did you mention this to either of the principals?”
“I tried, but you know Diamond, she’ll just come up with an excuse or find a way to blackmail the principals to get them to back off.” Sweetie sighed shaking her head. Plus, she’s already investigating us so I have no doubt she’ll try to throw us off as well. Sweetie thought to herself.
Button sighed as well, “Interesting situation, you want me to look into it?”
Sweetie smiled sincerely, “Thanks but no. I don’t want Diamond to go after you too.”
Button scoffed, “Oh, I can handle little Miss Priss. She’s got nothing on me that the school doesn’t already know about. I just don’t want to see you hurt.”
Sweetie hugged Button, “Thanks Buttons, but I’ve got this.”
Button smiled as he returned Sweetie’s hug, “Are you sure that you don’t want me to look into anything?”
Sweetie shook her head, “The less you have to deal with Diamond Tiara, the better. I’ll see you after school, okay?”
Button nodded, kissed Sweetie on the cheek, and departed. Sweetie sighed as she watched him leave; blissfully unaware of the grave implications that were taking place around her and the club. Diamond was positively livid about yesterday. And while Sweetie wasn’t entirely sure why Diamond forcefully pulled Silver away, the possibility of it being seen as an attack upon her support base was now on the table.
That meant that nothing was going to hold Diamond back now, and if she found out the truth about the NLAC…
Sweetie shoved that problem into the back of her mind. It was far better to just deal with one problem at a time. Her mind still managed to shift towards Silver Spoon. After the incident in the library, Sweetie had to force herself to read the newspaper. And what she found was something rather disturbing: Diamond was credited for every article in the newspaper. Even for stuff that she clearly hadn’t written. If Silver Spoon was a writer for the newspaper, then Diamond was blatantly plagiarizing her cohort’s word.
Clearly, this was either Silver’s attempt to get Diamond off of her back or it was simply blackmail material. But Sweetie wasn’t entirely sure if she should go through with her plan. She had seen something… different about Silver Spoon yesterday. The girl displayed a vulnerability that Sweetie had never seen before. It was as if she was actually remorseful for all the harm she caused everyone while under Diamond’s boot heel.
A week ago, Sweetie would never have even considered saying these words: but Silver Spoon might actually be a decent person. The past month leading up to the final days of school were a whirlwind of insanity, surprises, and revelations for the young Sweetie Belle.
With the fantastical elements of her life put aside for now, there was other business to attend to. It was Wednesday after all, and that meant they were going to have a club meeting to discuss what exactly was going to happen with this Friday’s party. Club hour hadn’t actually started yet, as Sweetie was in the middle of her own free period, but she had intended to go to the Student Union Center early just to sneak in some nude time.
Sweetie found that shedding her clothing was an excellent stress reducer, in addition to all of the other perks the lifestyle afforded her. And right now, she desperately needed to relax. A thick cloud layer obscured the sun above. Sweetie was well aware that she could tan while it was cloudy, but she didn’t want to overheat herself. Going to the clubroom was really her best option at the moment. It didn’t take long for her to descend the steps and get inside the student union center.
When she arrived, she was greeted by an empty center. Closing the door behind her, Sweetie made her way over to the office and began to shed her clothing. Once that was done, she headed over to the lobby and sat down on the floor to relax and collect her thoughts. She felt better sitting on the floor rather than on a chair because she could easily stretch her legs there.
As she sat on the floor, her mind wandered. Many things had happened over this previous month: she had discovered a new lifestyle she actually enjoyed, gotten her friends involved in it, started a club to support it, and now had gotten her first boyfriend. Everything was looking up for Sweetie Belle.
A knock came at the door. “Sweetie, are you in there?” Miss Cheerilee asked.
“Yes Miss Cheerilee, you can come in.” Sweetie answered.
Miss Cheerilee opened the door and stepped through the threshold into the club room, “My apologies if I am a bit early, but the library was very quiet today so I decided to leave early.”
“It’s okay,” Sweetie answered, “I’m kinda early myself. I just wanted to relax a little bit.”
“Oh okay, I’m sorry if I’m disturbing you.” Miss Cheerilee said.
“No, no it’s okay,” Sweetie answered, “I could use some company.”
Miss Cheerilee smiled, “Very well, if you’ll just let me get comfortable I’ll join you.”
Sweetie nodded and Miss Cheerilee was off. Sweetie lay down fully on the floor and looked up at the ceiling. Part of her had actually wanted to be alone until club time. But Miss Cheerilee was a welcome respite as she was someone of seniority and experience to speak to, though Sweetie was going to keep the business with Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara away from Miss Cheerilee’s ears. Plus, Sweetie figured she’d get bored rather quickly without someone around.
In no time at all, Miss Cheerilee came out of the changing room with a towel wrapped around her waist. She sat down across from Sweetie Belle, “Oh thank the goddess for times like these. It has been one heck of a day.”
“Tough huh,” Sweetie smiled, “Well it’ll be nice to finally calm down and relax.”
“Oh, I completely agree,” Miss Cheerilee smiled, “How has your day been?”
“Not entirely bad.” Sweetie answered.
“That’s good to hear, especially considering that we’re coming down to finals week.” Miss Cheerilee sighed, “I still have to put together the final exam for my classes.”
“You still haven’t put together the finals?” Sweetie chuckled, “Isn’t that something you usually put together before the school year starts?”
“That’s what you’re supposed to do, but most teachers wait until at least Midterms so that they can judge where the class will be at the end of the month.” Miss Cheerilee answered.
“Well. what kept you from putting one together?” Sweetie asked.
Miss Cheerilee grimaced, “Ehm… this club was a good distraction.”
Sweetie rolled her eyes with a smile, “If this club ends up being responsible for students not passing this semester, I think Diamond Tiara exposing this club will be the least of our worries.”
Miss Cheerilee brushed off the comment, “I’m sure I’ll have them ready in time. I’ll probably work on them during the weekend. Just as long as everything goes okay this week. I’m sure we’ll be fine.”
Sweetie shook her head, “I’m sure we’ll be fine. This club has been a smashing success, so I don’t think we have much to worry about.”
Miss Cheerilee nodded, “Switching gears for a moment, have you gotten all your summer projects?”
Sweetie nodded, “And I’ve finished most of them. I thoughtI would have had all them all done by this weekend, but Mr. Ginko just gave out my final one.”
“What did he assign?” Miss Cheerilee asked sincerely.
“We have to do a research paper on a particular sub-culture of society.” Sweetie answered flatly, “And I got assigned the Otaku culture.”
Miss Cheerilee nodded, “Assigned? I thought he was going to allow students to pick.”
“I thought so too, but he changed it at the last minute so that students wouldn’t end up picking the same topic. Otherwise, I would’ve talked about the naturist subculture. At least that one I have some experience with.” Sweetie giggled.
That got a laugh from Miss Cheerilee, “Why Miss Belle, I do believe that is correct!”
The two laughed for a moment before Sweetie asked, “So, may I ask then, since we’re talking about experience here: how long have you been a naturist?”
Miss Cheerilee smiled with a look of nostalgia, “I actually started back when I was around your age. I was going through puberty and wasn’t exactly having a good time with it. I hated my appearance outright, so much so I couldn’t even look at myself in a mirror. Finally, my boyfriend at the time had had enough of my self-depreciation. He ended up taking me to a nudist resort that his uncle owned.”
Sweetie raised an eyebrow, “That seems a little extreme. Are you sure he didn’t just want to see you naked?”
Cheerilee chuckled, “Jury’s still out on that one. Regardless, going to that resort helped me see that there was more to life than fretting over what you looked like, and it helped me gain the confidence I needed.
“While the confidence to become comfortable with myself drew me in, what kept me around was the social interaction. Something I’m sure you’ve noticed, Miss Belle.”
Sweetie nodded, “Everyone seems much friendlier now, and maybe finally CHS can be the harmonious school we’ve always wanted.”
But instead of being uplifted, Sweetie frowned. It was a peaceful existence to be sure, and a happy one. Yet it was nothing more than a thin veil, for Diamond Tiara still lurked around the corner.
Miss Cheerilee caught the frown on Sweetie’s face, “Sweetie, striving for achievement isn’t always a bad thing.”
“It is when the means in which you use to gain could end up costing you more.” Sweetie sighed.
“Sweetie Belle, you know as well as I that naturist culture isn’t anything to be ashamed of.” Miss Cheerilee responded.
“But we’re hiding it! Even when I first discovered it with Sunset, she made me swear to tell no one about it. I hate being a part of something so awesome that is so…” Sweetie started.
“Indeed, this lifestyle is often misunderstood. Most people can’t put aside the fact that nudity and sex are so closely intertwined. Hell, when I told my parents I was a naturist, they grounded me for two months thinking I was some sexual deviant. And according to other members at my club, that was the nicest thing that could’ve happened.
Miss Cheerilee answered somberly, “And this isn’t something that people can be won over with in a single day. You know that, and so do I. The important thing is that you have friends who will stand with you. Don’t ever forget that.”
Sweetie nodded, feeling slightly better, “Thank you, Miss Cheerilee.”
Around that exact moment, the others arrived.
“Well, it looks like we’re late to the party again,” Scootaloo said as she, Dinky, and Apple Bloom walked in.
“Not at all,” Miss Cheerilee answered standing up, “We weren’t waiting long.”
“Give us another moment, and we’ll get this meeting started.” Apple Bloom answered.
“Are Sunset and Pinkie coming?” Sweetie asked.
“Not this time. Pinkie’s kinda dragging Sunset and the others to a bake off she’s having with Sugar Bell.” Dinky answered.
Sweetie rolled her eyes as her friends went into the changing room, “Pinkie Pie at her finest.”
It didn’t take long for the club officers and supervisor to be sitting in a circle in the lobby discussing the plan for this Friday’s party.
“Are we going to do another bowling competition or are we going to have a pool tournament?” Sweetie asked.
“I think this time let’s do a dance off,” Apple Bloom said, “People seemed to really like that little dance number we all got into last time.”
“That would also help Vinyl Scratch out. She did tell me she wanted to introduce some new tunes.” Dinky added.
“Okay that’s one dance party, and a yoga session that Tree Hugger wants to lead.” Sweetie commented, “I think Trixie might also do a small magic show, so that’s something we can put on the schedule. Anyone object to another body painting session?”
The collected group shook their heads no.
“Alright then, are we sure we’re not going to have any unnecessary interruptions?” Sweetie asked turning to Dinky.
“My network’s got everything hunkered down, no one unwanted is gonna show up.” Dinky smiled and gave the thumbs up.
“Fantastic,” Miss Cheerilee said, “I would also like to announce something. I got the approval for this club to become an addition to our summer club roster!”
The rest cheered. This was huge for the NLAC as it meant that they could continue with their parties un-interrupted throughout summer vacation. Even better, that left the door open for possible club field trips should they get enough funding.
“With our agenda finished, I bring our third meeting to a close. I’ll go type this up into a schedule and that’ll be it for today.” Sweetie answered brining the meeting to a close.
A little while later, Sweetie Belle finished her work. She had originally intended to get it done after club hour, but had unfortunately miscalculated the time. Before she could get to the library, the school bell rang. That meant she had to run to class and that her next free time was going to be once school was over.
She stuck around and waited until most of the student body had left before she went to the library. This time, unlike yesterday, she had managed to catch the library empty. She took a seat at the first computer she came across, booted it up, and began to work on the schedule. No one was around this time, so she didn’t have to worry too much about being private. Sweetie hummed a gentle tune, thinking to herself that this Friday was going to be awesome.
Then, after she had finished the schedule, Sweetie got a feeling. It was a chill than ran down her spine, as if it was a precognition. Sweetie suddenly had the feeling that she was being watched. A gentle click from behind alerted her that someone was indeed watching her. Sweetie snapped around and spotted Silver Spoon, standing in the library door frame, camera in her hands, and a look of shock on her face.