With only the hollow sound of her own footsteps to keep her company, Fluttershy spun her gaze around as she walked through the empty corridors of the school. ‘If nobody is in sight, they all must be in class already,’ she thought.
Not wishing to be late, she hurried her pace and headed to her locker. But turning over the corner, Fluttershy found her girlfriend facing away from her.
Remaining still and supporting herself with a shoulder over one of the lockers, her arms folded in front of her chest, Sunset looked like she was waiting for someone.
Assuming that she was waiting for her, Fluttershy slowed down and approached Sunset with a growing anxiety inside her. Too intimidated to speak, Fluttershy raised her hand in front of her and aimed to tap Sunset’s shoulder…
SLAP!
With her head jerking backward, Fluttershy felt a bolt of pain spreading from her cheek as that sharp sound echoed over the silence of the building. She took a step back in order to regain her balance and looked Sunset with puzzlement. She didn’t understand what had just happened.
Fluttershy was about to reach Sunset with her hand when her girl suddenly spun around in a blur.
Then, there had been that sound.
Fluttershy touched her cheek with the tips of her finger and a burning sensation of pain spread from it. But it couldn’t be… her Sunny would never…
Fluttershy looked in front of her and found that Sunset was now staring at her in a silent grave, her arm extended in a backhander. Searching over the face in front of her, Fluttershy didn’t recognize the kind girl that she had grown accustomed to love. The Sunset that was standing silently in front of her didn’t have those bright eyes that Sunny had, they didn’t have that spark of life inside them. No, the glare that this Sunset was giving her was just cold and cruel.
Although, she was familiar with those eyes. And even if she hadn’t seen those eyes for months, they still had their frightening effect.
With her eyes burning in pain, Fluttershy tried her best to speak without starting to tear up. “S- Sunny…?”
Sunset, slowly massaging her wrist, with a nonchalant tone said, “Oh, now it would come handy to you if I were your girlfriend, right?”
“W- what?” Fluttershy’s heart sank by hearing those words. “Sunset… you are my girlfriend.”
“Really? That’s odd… last time I checked, I was sure that lovers weren’t used to–” Sunset narrowed her eyes and menacingly leaned forwards “–stab each other in the back.”
“Sunset, that’s not…” With the pain climbing to her eyes, Fluttershy felt unable to defend herself. “The girls were worried, and I was worried. I- I just thought that we could have helped you.” Only when Fluttershy’s heel touched the locker behind her did she realize that she was moving backward, pressed by Sunset’s presence alone.
“Well, you failed. And it still wasn’t a good excuse for telling everybody the secrets of my life, especially if they’re not of your concern.”
“It did concern me.”
“Excuuuse me?” Sunset’s arms shot to either side of Fluttershy’s head, and the sound of her girlfriend’s palms striking the metal echoed through the lockers and into Fluttershy’s ears. Fluttershy trembled as Sunset towered over her with a stern and threatening face.
“N- n- nothing,” muttered Fluttershy as she sunk down, sliding over the locker.
“That’s what I thought,” said Sunset, rolling her eyes with a disgusted grimace on her face. “Gah, you really are pathetic, I can’t believe that I allowed you to be my girl for this long.”
“But… but…” From her sitting position, Fluttershy looked up and tried to tell her girl that it wasn’t true. That they were happy together, and that everything was going to be all right. But fear was crumbling her heart, forbidding her to do so. Tears were freely falling over her cheeks at this point.
“But what?!” shouted Sunset with strength as her face was getting red. “All I ever gained from you was pain, I was even run over by a truck on our first date, just because of you!”
Fluttershy barely held a desperate sob. “But I love you!”
A wicked grin grew over Sunset’s face as the cruelty inside her eyes became more obvious. “Oh, is that so?” she mocked.
Then, her green irises suddenly glowed as the white of her eyeballs turned black.
Fluttershy finally stopped crying and shot her eyes open wide. She couldn’t believe what she had just seen… no, what she was seeing.
Not only were the colors of her skin and eyes different, but even Sunset’s hair was inexplicably lighting up. Fluttershy ducked her head and trembled in fear while a considerable amount of sweat started to form all over her, her breath more heavy and slow as well due to the rising temperature. She barely had time to ask herself why the room was getting hotter before the metal pressing against her became incandescent, making her squeal for the pain as she jolted away.
She reached the floor with her palms and looked up with her face covered in tears. Searching over the locker she saw that Sunset’s hand, which was red too, was still pressed against it. Near that zone, the color of the metal was slowly changing from green to a more reddish one.
Looking down to her, Sunset’s mocking grin only grew… along with her teeth, which were turning into long fangs.
“Do you love me now, sweetheart?”
Still looking up, Fluttershy groped along the floor behind and pushed with her feet, crawling away from that frightening vision. “No, n- no… please…”
Sunset retrieved her hand and stomped her foot a few inches from Fluttershy’s leg, the floor cracking under its weight. Sunset’s fingers were now talons, her jacket was eroding away for the heat of her skin. “Come on, Fluttershy.” Her voice was grotesque. “Tell me how much you love me. Take me. Hug me. Give me a kiss!”
“Stay back!” cried out Fluttershy.
Sunset laughed and raised one arm, which was immediately engulfed by fire from to elbow onwards. “What’s wrong? I thought you said your love burned for me?”
Then, she lunged at Fluttershy with a feral snarl.
And accompanied by the dry sound of a snap, Fluttershy felt those sharp teeth digging into her flesh before everything turned black.
* * * * *
The last thing that Fluttershy could see were those fangs, coming straight to her, while the flaming talons held her powerless to the ground and she could feel the pain inflicted on her as the flames burned her skin.
She held her eyes closed and tried to shout out loud, but the only thing about her that wasn’t stuck in fear were her tears. She heard herself sobbing and gasping for air as she was waiting it to end.
Except it didn’t. When Fluttershy opened her eyes she didn’t see Sunset ripping her off. She was met by the sight of her plushies, placed in their usual spot. In her hands, she was holding the sheets of her bed.
Fluttershy started to breathe again when she realized it had been all a dream. But then, why did it feel so real? Why was her flesh still aching in pain? And why was she so scared?
“I- it was just a nightmare,” said Fluttershy to herself. “Just a nightmare.”
Fluttershy held herself tight, cringing under the blanket as her body was shaking with cold chills. She couldn’t stop the tears from falling over her cheeks, but she quietly held her sobs. She didn’t want to wake up her family.
She didn’t want to be an annoyance.
She really didn’t want to get up that morning. Her bed felt so comfortable and warm, and her body felt so tired and heavy. Besides, did she even have to go to school anymore?
Keeping her face pressed against her pillow, Sunset tried to ignore the light coming from her window and the buzzing of the alarm clock. She was seriously considering if skipping the day would have affected her in some way. ‘I’m already ahead of the schedule, and I’m not even considering that I should have finished with school already,’ she thought. ‘On the other hand, among all the despicable thing that I did, skipping class never was one of them. And to be honest, I’m kinda proud of my attendance record.’
Sunset raised slightly her head and gazed forward, briefly hating herself for being such a praise-addicted maniac. Nevertheless, she gave herself a push to stand up from the mattress and started her morning rituals, getting fed and clean in no time. She only met an obstacle when it came to dressing since she couldn’t find her new leather jacket anywhere. But after a quick search through the house, she remembered tossing it to Rarity the day before.
She hit her forehead and snarled, before searching for a substitute inside her closet. Opening it, she found her old leather jacket with the studs preserved inside a box and still in good condition. She had stopped wearing it shortly after starting to hang out with Fluttershy because the girl didn’t like it.
In any case, it was too cold for her liking to go outside without a jacket and this one fit her perfectly. Sunset wore it with a swift movement and beheld her own image by the mirror, nodding with a smug smile. ‘I’m back in black.’
Fzzt… fzzt…
Right in front of the school, Micro Chips and his friend Wiz Kid were fiddling with the remote control of Rocky, their newest creation. It was a little robot on wheels which they had designed to move on every solid surface in order to collect rocks from any environment, and they were now working on its autopilot. Unfortunately, Rocky could be quite stubborn about where it wanted to go, but Chips and Wiz knew that they would get somewhere soon.
Maybe not that morning, the bell was just about to ring, but soon. And one day, little Rocky was going to be sent to Mars on a mission for study and discovery. Chips closed his eyes and took a proud breath, listening to those little wheels as they rolled around.
Fzzt… fzzt…
Wishing to run one last test, the two boys started the driving macro once again while Sunset was arriving at the school entrance, walking with a steady pace.
She was searching around her for something as she was heading for the stairs and, preoccupied with her search, Sunset startled in surprise when her boot hit an alien object with a thud. Looking down, Sunset saw Rocky bumping against her right foot. She cocked an eyebrow as she examined the thing until Micro Chips and Wiz kid came along.
“Sorry Sunset,” said Wiz kid, smiling sheepishly, “we’re still working on Rocky’s auto pilot. It tends to bug and keep bumping on some the surfaces in front of it.”
Sunset barely deigned them of a look before focusing back on Rocky, which was pulling back and smashing against her right foot again. Chips assumed that she was interested in it. “It’s actually a sweet toy,” he eagerly explained. “One webcam on the front with a proximity sensor for auto pilot,” – fzzt… thud – “six wheels that adapt to any surface,” – fzzt… thud – “solar panels on it’s top,” – fzzt… thud – “a robotic arm that can lift little rocks and–” fzzt…
CRACK!
Micro Chips and Wiz both startled as their expression morphed with horror. In front of them, Sunset had heavily stomped on Rocky. The little robot was now caved inwards around Sunset’s boot, its wheels making one last spin before dying off completely. Then, Sunset raised her foot… just to kick Rocky in the air.
It landed inside the nearest trash can with a beautiful parabolic trajectory.
The boys simply gaped speechlessly, spinning their bewildered faces between Sunset and the can multiple times. They were so shocked that they didn’t even try to stop her when she went through them.
“Nerds,” muttered Sunset with all the disdain she was capable of.
Flash Sentry walked through the halls of the school and between all the other students, nervously rubbing his hands against each other. ‘This is the day,’ he thought to himself. ‘Today I’m going to make amends with Sunset.’
When Flash was dating Sunset, he was truly convinced that his partner was a beautiful girl. And it wasn’t just her appearance; he trusted that Sunset was kind and sweet. Even when his friends warned him that she was a liar and a bully he was unwilling to change his mind, but as the two were getting more and more acquainted Flash discovered what kind of tyrant she really was.
Nevertheless, he tried to stay by her side for a period. He still believed that the nice girl he had fallen for was hidden under a dense layer of ice, and he did his best to melt that ice and bring that girl out.
Unfortunately, with time Flash realized that he couldn’t tolerate how his ‘nice girl’ was acting behind his back and, shortly before the Fall Formal, he decided to dump her.
Then there was the Fall Formal… and things got complicated. Way too complicated for a teenage boy to make a sense out of it, between his new crush being from another world and his ex turning into a she-demon among the other things. But even after all that, he wished for Sunset to become a nice person.
And finally, Sunset lived up his expectations. Everybody knew her story of redemption from that crater in front of the school to whatever happened during the battle of bands, and she had managed to retrieve the friendliness of all the students that once feared or despised her.
And she also got into a new, more honest relationship.
Which was good; Flash was truly happy for Sunset when he found out about them. And surprised too, once he knew she was dating Fluttershy. Nevertheless, maybe for that reason or maybe because he felt bad about how he behaved during the battle of bands, he still felt uneasy around them and hadn’t yet mustered the courage to have a proper conversation with Sunset.
But that day his patience had reached its peak. Flash had decided he would go talk with her, wishing to be in good terms with his ex.
As he thought about all that, walking inside the school, he pumped his fist against his open hand and took a big breath in order to fire up. Just as if called on cue, the figure of Sunset appeared at the end of the hall walking in his opposite direction.
As she approached, he smiled warmly and waved his hand. “Hi, Sun–”
Before he could react, Sunset planted her hand between his ribs, squeezing the air out of his lungs and shoving him to the ground. Then, as she walked away without even paying him a look, he heard her saying, “Get out of the way, loser.”
Frozen in surprise, Flash didn’t even consider complaining as his butt was getting cold and all the other students simply walked around him. Except for a gray skinned, blond haired girl who reached him and soberly patted his shoulder.
In the end, his first words before standing up were, “What did I do?”
Resting her feet on her desk, Sunset sat in class and listened to music with one earphone while fiddling with her pencil. She had spent the last two hours drawing many lines following random spurts of inspiration, but now she started to see a regular pattern as she looked down to her notebook.
“Sunset Shimmer, are you following my lesson?”
Sunset raised her eyes to follow the voice. Mrs. Harshwhinny was standing in front of the chalkboard with her usual severe glance pointed right to her, making her situation quite undesirable for any other student of that class.
Instead, Sunset’s look was neutral and sassy. “Sort of,” she answered.
Harshwhinny thinned her lips into a line. “Well then,” she said, “I guess you won’t have any problem repeating what I just finished explaining.”
Sunset didn’t falter in spite of the provocation. She simply took a brief look to the chalkboard and, without even straightening up, said, “So, I guess from the scratches on the chalkboard that we’re studying photosynthesis–”
Harshwhinny folded her arms and snorted. “Very witty.”
“–which is a process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy into chemical energy. This chemical energy is stored in carbohydrate molecules, such as sugars, which are synthesized from carbon dioxide and water. Usually, oxygen is also released as a waste product. Most plants, algae, and cyanobacteria perform photosynthesis and such organisms are called photoautotrophs.” Sunset did a little pause as all the attention of the room was aimed at her. “Basically, photosynthesis is what supplies our atmosphere with the good old oxygen and allows us all to breath. Do you want me to write the equation for the type of photosynthesis that occurs in plants?”
After her explanation, the class fell into a brief pause disturbed only by the light giggling of few students as Harshwhinny stoically kept staring Sunset. Probably, she was considering if she had something to lecture Sunset for. “Well,” she said, turning again to the chalkboard, “at least you brought yourself ahead with the program.”
Sunset returned her focus to her notebook and her music, or at least tried to until she heard the student next to her right whispering to her.
“Psst, Sunset.” That girl had green hair and was pink skinned, and if Sunset remembered correctly her name was Watermelody. Sunset considered ignoring her, but she had already made eye contact and that was enough for Watermelody to start the conversation. “Hi. I hope I’m not bothering, but I’ve heard that you’ve been helping other students with their homework recently and… would you like to study biology together sometimes?”
Sunset puffed and rolled her eyes in annoyance. “Why?” she asked without hiding the irritation in her voice.
Watermelody lowered her gaze and blushed. “Ehm, because I’m not doing very well with this subject while you look to be–”
Sunset raised out a hand and put on a fake smile. “My mistake, I meant why should I care?”
Watermelody flinched as if she had just spat on with a bewildered look on her face. She had to open her mouth a couple of times before finding the words. “I just hoped–”
“Look,” cut short Sunset, “if you’re too dumb to understand why planties give you air it’s fine.” As she spoke, she took her bag and slid her things inside. “But at least try to not waste others’ valuable time.” Without waiting for a reply, Sunset tossed the bag over her shoulder and took off.
As she made it half the way to the door, Mrs. Harshwhinny spun her head and shot a glare even harsher than the usual. “Where do you think you’re going?” she roared.
Continuing to walk, Sunset said, “Lunch.”
Harshwhinny pointed to the clock. “There are still three minutes before the break, young lady.”
“Report me.” Without even turning back, Sunset opened the door and left the class under the bewildered stare of all her classmates… and even more of her teacher.
There were many things that Valhallen liked about Thursday.
On Thursday, he attended his favorite subjects, he had the meeting with his rock band, and it was also when his favorite show aired. But what he liked the most about that day of the week was the cafeteria.
Not only because Thursday had the best menu but also because his class was the nearest to get in line, giving him and his friend a huge advantage for the food and allowing them to save a big amount of time.
That Thursday like any other, Valhallen could sit with his classmates at the empty table inside the almost-empty cafeteria. They had been so quick that most of them had already retrieved their meals and the big stampede of students had yet to arrive, but it was just a matter of seconds now before the other students would arrive en masse.
As he was about to dig into his food, the doors slammed open and Sunset Shimmer came in. She took a tray and went to the end of the line, where there was Norman.
Wasting no time, she not-so-gently poked his shoulder. “Step aside.”
Norman turned around with a surprised look. “Uh? Why?” he asked, furrowing his eyebrows.
Her answer was blunt and sharp. “Because I said so.”
Norman’s eyes showed true bewilderment when he realized that Sunset wanted to simply go over him. He was about to just obey, but then memories of the old Sunset Shimmer bullying him came back to surface. ‘Not this time,’ thought Norman as he swelled his chest and took a stand. “Well, I don’t think I’m going to move until you stop using that tone.”
Bulk Biceps, who was in the line next to Norman, turned over Sunset as well. “Yeah.”
The three teenagers stayed like that for a couple of seconds, staring each other in a dreadful silence. Seeing that Sunset wasn’t going to do anything, Norman slowly turned his mouth into a smug smile. Besides, what could she do otherwise? He knew he had it under control.
Right then, keeping her expression bored and her voice casual, Sunset asked, “Tell me, how is it going with TrolleyHearty98?”
Norman abruptly morphed his expression from smug to panicked. Sweat drooled copiously from his forehead as he looked to Sunset with dread.
Then, without a word, he gripped his empty tray over his chest and moved aside. Past him, Bulk Biceps darted his head in confusion between Norman and Sunset but a glare from the latter was enough to move the bulky guy as well.
Valhallen and the other classmates saw everything from the table nearby, and they were all speechless save for Sandalwood. “Oh, boy…” he muttered scratching his green dreadlocks, while his classmates exchanged dubious looks.
Seeing how all the others were hesitating in front of that overbearing display was enough for Valhallen, who felt a brave emotion grew inside, giving him the strength to rise from the table. Sandalwood tried to calm him down, “Dude, let it slide.”
But Valhallen was deaf to the advice and walked, aiming straight to the bacon-haired girl. “Hey, Sunset Shimmer.” Sure that the girl had heard him, he pointed a finger at her and continued walking. “You have to–”
Sunset slowly turned towards him, and he immediately halted as her eyes fell upon him. He felt the words dying inside his mouth as shivers run through his back, her calm face was somehow so dreadful he was being covered in cold drops of sweat. That wasn’t a person, he was facing a predator. “You… you have to try the ravioli. They’re to die for.”
A mocking smile crept between Sunset’s sour expression. “Good boy,” she said, to then give him her shoulders.
Bowing his head low, Valhallen turned around and slowly walked to his table. Utterly defeated, he collapsed over his chair and let his forehead fall against the table. His friends silently gave him light pats on his back, honoring their fallen comrade.
From there, Valhallen saw Sunset tasting the dish he had just recommended her, instantly repelling it away with a disgusted face at his mockery. As she settled for a simple pear and went away, the girl with rainbow hair followed Sunset out of the cafeteria.
“What was that?” Chasing her alleged friend, Rainbow Dash burst the double doors open and quickened her pace. “Hey, Shimmer!”
Sunset, who was at first ignoring her, finally stopped getting away and turned around with a bored expression. “What?”
“What? I saw what you did, girl, that’s what.” Rainbow Dash stomped every step until she was three feet away. “You can’t go around and behave like that, you have to–”
“Or what?” After Dash was interrupted by a snarl, Sunset moved to make slow circles around her. “I’m done doing what others tell me to do, and I don’t see why I should follow your judgment in particular. What are you going to do now, force me?”
“I just want you to stop you being a big immature bully,” said Dash, feeling the blood pumping under her skin.
At that reply, Sunset tossed her head backward. “Ha! That’s rich, coming from you.”
Rainbow Dash froze, feeling like an iron grip around her heart as the words did their effect. Unwilling to show it, she took a cocky pose and avoided the eye contact. “W- what is that supposed to–”
“Oh, save it. You and I both know that, if I don’t behave like a good little girl as you expect me to, you’re going to hit me until I’m weeping down at your feet… either using rainbows or fists, they’re both good for you aren’t they?”
“Sunset–”
Sunset shot her a piercing glare, cutting off her sentence. “You know it’s exactly like that. It has always been like that. Thinking about it, I bet that when you all first approached me with the excuse of ‘being my first friends’ all you were just thinking about was being some sort of guardian. No, don’t tell me, something along the lines ‘Let the others help her, I’ll strike her down as soon as she betray us’?”
With horror, Rainbow Dash finally managed to lay her eyes on Sunset, but she didn’t have any breath to reply. Her mouth was uselessly hanging agape as her mind desperately grasped on one thought. ‘That’s not true.’
“Well, you got what you were waiting for.” Sunset turned her back and walked away. “Now, as much as I would like to let you have what you want, I don’t think you want troubles while we’re at school.”
With her heart aching, Dash extended one hand towards her friend while her silhouette shrunk. ‘That’s not true,’ she repeated again and again inside her mind as she pushed her breath through her throat to speak. And yet, those words wouldn’t come out. ‘Why don’t you say it?’ she thought. ‘What the heck is your problem? Just say it!’
Driven by impulse, Rainbow Dash locked the nearest item, a bin for the trash, and unleashed all her anger with a powerful kick. Following a loud sound, the bin fell over and poured out some of its content.
‘That’s not true.’
“Ah’m tellin ya, sis. She kicked us out,” angrily said Apple Bloom, dragging Applejack behind her as she walked through the hall. “The three of us were just usin’ the computer inside the library when Sunset came and shooed us away like pests.”
“And you’re sure that y’all weren’t bein’ annoying?” asked Applejack, holding her sister’s hand while also keeping her pace.
“We were just surfin’ on MyStable!”
Apple Bloom stomped her way until they reached the glass doors of the library, where she finally let go the grasp of Applejack’s hand and pointed inside. “She’s there!”
True to her sister’s words, Applejack could see Sunset sitting in front of one of the tables as she was absorbed in reading a book.
As Applejack checked on the girl inside, a sweet and shrill voice from the other end of the hall caught her attention. “Come on, Rarity. This way.”
Turning over, Applejack had a view of Rarity as she was being dragged by Sweetie Belle in a way similar to theirs.
Nevertheless, Applejack deadpanned as her friend came close. “You too, huh?”
Rarity thinned her lips and returned the coldness. “Apparently.”
“Now, y’all oughta go in and kick some sense into that bully.”
Applejack sighed and rolled her eyes. “We’ve been over this already, Apple Bloom. Sunset ain’t a bully… she just has to adjust being friendly.”
“Well, she wasn’t friendly today. At all,” objected Sweetie Belle.
Rarity gently rested her hand on her sister’s shoulder. “Don't judge her for today, little marshmallow. She’s having a hard time.”
“And her best was when, precisely?” asked Apple Bloom. “Perhaps the time she went she-demon and brainwashed everyone?”
Applejack turned a stern glare over her sister, putting her hands on her hips. “Apple Bloom!”
Apple Bloom startled and looked up apologetically. “Sorry, sis.”
Applejack kept her look firm. “You two get outta here. We’ll take care of this, and then” – she pointed a finger to her sister – “we’re gonna have a little talk.”
Apple Bloom intensely looked at the ground, puffing out her reddened cheeks and clenching her fists before walking away just as angry as she had arrived. Sweetie Belle spun her head between the two older siblings before following her friend, leaving behind two friends looking each other in an awkward silence.
“So…” said Rarity.
“So,” said Applejack.
Rarity snorted from the nose and folded her arms. “It would seem that things with Sunset have gotten worse.”
“Eeyup.”
“We should do something.”
“In fact, Ah was going to.” Applejack promptly pointed to the library’s doors, only for Rarity to step in between.
“Shall I say, darling, I don’t believe you have the required tact for something like this.”
Applejack gave her friend a neutral look but said nothing. She only raised her palms to yield. “She’s all yours.”
“Thank you.” Rarity put her hand over one of the doors, ready to go in and reach their friend. And then…
Then…
“Well?” asked Applejack.
Rarity, who still had to open the door, narrowed her eyes and retorted, “Give me a moment, please. I’m thinking.”
Behind her, Applejack grinned smugly. “Here’s one thought. To go inside, ya have to go inside.”
Rarity puffed her cheeks. “I need to plan this out before I begin a conversation with Sunset, ok?”
“Plannin’, sure.” Applejack looked up and scratched her chin, humming loudly…
…for a couple of seconds. “Alright, done.”
Pushing a vexed Rarity aside, Applejack walked right between the doors and didn’t stop until she was right in front of her target.
“Howdy, Sunset.”
The girl on the other side of the table didn’t move a muscle, keeping her focus on reading.
“We have to talk,” insisted Applejack.
Finally, Sunset turned her head up. But instead of replying she placed her index next to her mouth and whispered, “Shh.”
Applejack narrowed her eyes and lowered her voice. “Don’t hush me. Ah–”
“Shhhh.” Applejack spun her head and exchanged a brief gaze with an angry Miss Cheerilee, who was working in the middle of the library. She smiled sheepishly and, in response, Cheerilee the librarian pressed two fingers under her eyelids and then pointed them to Applejack menacingly.
Returning her focus on Sunset, Applejack could almost read the words ‘I told you so’ from that complacent face of hers. Had it been a common bickering, Applejack could have even considered to give up. But this wasn’t a minor argument they were talking about.
If she couldn’t talk, Applejack was resolute to stay there until she’d got what she came for. She supported herself with her hands on the table and gave Sunset an immovable look, bringing her smirk to slowly fade.
Sunset tried to get back on her book, but it took her a minute to accept that she wasn’t able to ignore her friend. “You can come to my apartment, after school,” she reluctantly muttered.
Applejack nodded, keeping her face stern, and turned around to leave. “Can bet on it,” she said before walking away.
Even before getting out the library, Applejack could already see Rarity through the glass doors.
Knowing already what her friend was going to ask, Applejack answered as soon as she opened the doors. “She didn’t wanna talk yet–”
Rarity rolled her eyes and groaned.
“–but she’ll wait for us to her place, later.”
Rarity looked her in silence, squeezing her lips into a thin line. Then, she spun her head to her side and admitted, “Well, that’s something.”
The two girls headed for the hall, side by side. “We should all go,” said Applejack.
“I agree. Besides, I still find the idea of you two alone slightly uncomfortable”
To say that those words were unpleasant would be an understatement. Applejack abruptly stopped in place, her face twisting into a grimace for a moment. Until Rarity stopped as well and turned around, and Applejack narrowed her eyes and clenched her jaw. “Now listen to me, gal, Ah’m tired of this treatment,” she said with a low tone of voice. “Ah may have lost my temper before, that’s true, but Ah didn’t hurt Sunset in the slightest.”
Rarity copied Applejack’s eyes and voice, not intimidated in the slightest. “But you came pretty close to it, did you not?”
Distanced only by a few inches of thin air, a bolt of electricity ran between their eyes. Until, at the same moment, they both broke the eye contact and spun their head in the opposite direction.
“Truce?” asked Applejack.
“Truce. For Sunset.”
“We’re workin’ on the same field, then.”
Buried the axe of war, Aj and Rarity went to the cafeteria together. A bit because they were hungry, and also because they wanted to meet with the girls.
“So… how did things go yesterday?” asked Applejack as they were on the way.
Rarity sighed. “Quite bad, if I must be blunt. She started spitting fire from her mouth as soon as you went away. Figuratively, of course.”
“What did she say?”
“That I’m a terrible friend, I try to buy friendship with gifts, she doesn’t stand the way I behave…”
“Aw, shucks…”
For the first time that day, Rarity gave her a smile. “It’s fine, really. She was angry, and she had to… pour out, we can say.”
“Glad to know that ya still wanna help her, despite all. You took it pretty well.”
“Oh, I was on the verge of tears at the moment… and probably I would still be sour if it wasn’t for Pinkie.”
Applejack smiled briefly before a thought came to worry her. “Sunset jumped on her throat too?”
Rarity nodded.
“Is she alright?”
“I think so.”
“Ya think?” asked Applejack, frowning her eyebrows.
“We’re talking about Pinkie Pie,” said Rarity, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “She’s unable to hold grief or bitterness.”
Five minutes later they joined the rest of the Rainbooms at their table, finding a couple of meals already ready for them. “Thanks for thinking about us, Pinkie,” said Applejack.
“No problem,” said Pinkie, smiling. “It’s not like you’re ripping me off my second meal, after all.”
Applejack and Rarity stopped eating and looked down to their plates. Normally, they would have estimated that proportion to be one full meal. But since it was Pinkie Pie… “This was your second?” asked uncertainly Rarity.
Pinkie Pie giggled. “Of course not. I just knew beforehand that you were going to arrive too late to get your own food from the line.” All of sudden, Pinkie Pie’s face became all serious. “Because I’m a psychic.”
Applejack and Rarity gave Pinkie a dubious look. “Was that sarcasm?” asked Applejack.
Pinkie Pie chuckled and rolled her eyes. “Just eat.”
Applejack and Rarity gave Pinkie a dumbfounded look before they shook their heads and complied. Everybody remained silent, just savoring the moment of peace.
Until Fluttershy, who was trying to be as small as possible, quietly asked. “So… uh, have you seen Sunset today?”
“We’ve… heard that she’s spreading quite a ruckus,” added Dash, shifting in her seat uneasily.
Rarity confirmed with a nod. “She’s taking it badly.”
“Reckon it could be worse,” said Applejack. “Anyway, Ah had two words with her before gettin’ here.” Applejack paused, to make sure that Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Dash were paying attention. “We’re going to pay her a visit in the afternoon.”
Applejack was expecting the others to heat up, or make a plan for later. She had even prepared herself for witnessing Pinkie Pie taking random items out of nowhere. Instead, Pinkie and Dash froze, staring at her with wide eyes.
Applejack darted her eyes between the two of them, a little worried. “What?”
Rainbow Dash spoke first. “You mean… this afternoon?”
As Applejack nodded, Dash bit her lower lip and hissed. “Aw, too bad… I have to practice with my soccer team. Sorry, really. But I know you’ll do great.” Then, she stood up to walk away.
Before Applejack or Rarity could say or do anything to stop her, Pinkie Pie said, “Yeeeah, and I’m kinda super-duper busy.”
“Doing what?” asked Rarity.
Instead of answering, Pinkie Pie took two phones and pressed them against her ears. “Oh, look at that. I’m so busy. Omygosh really, June? This sounds so urgent!” Holding the phones, Pinkie stood up and run away. “Sorrytoobusytoreply byeeeee…”
And so remained Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy.
Fluttershy tried to hide behind her hair. “Um…”
Without even hearing her, Applejack hit the table. “Consarnit.”
Distressed, Rarity supported her cheek over her hand. “Do you believe them?”
“Not in the slightest.”
“Me neither.”
The two girls used the next few seconds to think in silence while, unbeknownst to them, Fluttershy was desperately trying to gather the courage to speak.
Applejack turned to Rarity. “Ah take care of the jock, you take the baby?”
“Fine. Let’s meet in front of Sunset’s apartment, shall we?”
“Um…” Fluttershy tried to speak up again, only for her words to catch in her throat.
“Got it,” said Applejack.
“See you later then.”
“Bye Rarity.” Applejack left her seat to go away, but first, she turned to Fluttershy with a warm smile. “Oh, Fluttershy, are you gonna be able to get a ride for later?”
“Well, no, I...”
“No problem, I'll pick you up then. Bye, Shy.”
Applejack went away, waving and smiling to Fluttershy as her timid friend remained there. She didn’t notice that Fluttershy was slightly trembling, nor did she think much about her attitude which was more introverted than usual.
Fluttershy remained at the table for a while, hiding her eyes full of sadness behind her pink hair.
“…Okay,” she muttered.
After the last bell of the day, Sunset walked through the halls of the school with the gravest look she could manage. Nobody dared to cross her, and all the students that still had to leave their books inside their lockers hurried up or went home directly rather than risking her wrath.
Not that Sunset minded. Actually, considering her sour mood, being not surrounded by petty people she didn’t care about was a relief. Nevertheless, Sunset had an overwhelming feeling of loneliness as she opened her locker.
There was one person with which Sunset wanted to be nearby.
Before she actually started to reorganize her books, Sunset took her phone and turned it on. For the first time for a while, she had gathered zero calls and messages during the entire day. Not that she cared. She only had to open one chat.
It was maybe the private chat with the most messages. No, surely it was. Dozens of text were sent every day. Some were silly, but they were all precious to her. And yet, that chat had been silent for a couple of days now. Sunset sighed as she thought about that.
She was considering sending a text and breaking that wall of silence when somebody really annoying from behind said, “Well, well, well. Take a look at this. Apparently, everybody is still scared of you.”
Sunset Shimmer recognized that voice immediately. Besides, there was only one fool so full of herself that could even think of talking to Sunset with that tone of superiority.
Sunset put her phone away and glanced over her shoulder. The plain and vexatious Trixie was going to her locker, making sure to look down on Sunset on her way. Sunset started to put what she needed in the locker. “Little mice shouldn’t bug a lion,” she coldly pointed out.
Trixie stopped with her hand over her locker, her smile threatened to disappear for the surprise. Only to grin even more victoriously just a moment later. “Ah-ha! Trixie knew that all your act as a nice girl was a recital.”
“Uh-huh,” said Sunset, without even caring anymore. She simply finished her business and closed her locker.
Then she turned around and started to walk home, but Trixie appeared in front of her and raised a finger to stop her. “The great and perceptive Trixie told you already, you may fool others simpletons but you’re like an open book to her. And it’s plain that you still are and will always be that she-demon beast.”
Silence fell as the two girls remained standing one in front of the other, both of them sustaining a direct eye contact. Trixie’s face was the pure expression of gloating, while Sunset kept her appearance blank.
And with a neutral tone, Sunset asked, “You call yourself a magician, right?”
“Hm! How insolent,” said Trixie, pretending to be almost offended. Then, she raised a hand and switched to a theatrical voice. “The great and powerful Trixie IS a magician.”
“Do you wanna see a magic trick, then?”
Before Trixie could reply, Sunset grabbed her by the sweatshirt and shoved her inside her still-open locker. Trixie yelped in surprise and landed between her books before Sunset silhouette threw a shadow over her. Trixie looked up, with her eyes open at full, and bit her lower lip.
“Abracadabra…” Sunset looked down on Trixie for another second, then she slammed the locker closed. “An annoying windbag has disappeared,” she announced while raising her hand, mocking Trixie’s theatrical voice and gestures.
As Sunset walked away, Trixie pressed her face against the slot. “What the…? Hey!” Outraged, the locked girl started to slam her palms against her cage.
BAM! BAM!
“The great and powerful Trixie demands to be freed this instant!”
BAM! BAM!
Bam…
“…Pretty please?”