//------------------------------// // Awkwardness and Amends // Story: Life Goes On // by hattafan2593 //------------------------------// "So, you and Rainbow Dash doing okay?" Sweetie Belle asked. Scootaloo sighed. "Not really. But at least she's speaking to me again." Apple Bloom just stayed silent, walking slightly behind her friends. The girls' parents had decided to give them a "probationary period" once their grounding was over, as the girls had taken their punishment without complaint and had exhibited model behavior ever since. Scootaloo was allowed to use the family computer, but only for an hour and only with permission. Her activities would also be monitored to see she wasn't getting on any inappropriate sites. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were allowed to have their phones back, but they were only allowed to call and text, so no extra apps, and especially no Internet. Lastly, the girls were allowed to go out in public without a chaperone, but they had to stay together at all times, and they had to call in every 30 minutes on the dot to let their families know where they were. In Scootaloo's case she had to have Apple Bloom or Sweetie Belle call for her, as her phone was currently in pieces in the town dump. Failure to comply with these rules would result in their privileges being revoked. Needless to say, none of the girls felt the urge to go behind their parents' backs. Today the girls were at the mall, just browsing. Somehow the topic of conversation had landed on their sisters. "Can't really say I blame her, though." Scootaloo continued. "I hurt her pretty badly. I guess....I guess I never realized she was a person, ya know? That she had feelings like everyone else." "I think we all messed up in that department." Sweetie Belle commented sadly. Again, Apple Bloom stayed silent, her eyes wandering around the various shops and people. She stopped dead in her tracks when she spotted a familiar face. Scootaloo and Sweetie noticed their friend had stopped, and followed her line of sight. Sunset Shimmer was behind the counter of the pretzel stand, wearing an apron and hat and smiling warmly at customers. "Is....that Sunset?" Scootaloo asked, surprised. "Yeah." Sweetie Belle nodded, looking only slightly less surprised. "I heard Rarity talking to Fluttershy about Sunset getting a job at the mall. Something about paying Fluttershy's parents back." Apple Bloom stared at the ground, biting her lip. Then, after a minute she made a decision. Squaring her shoulders, she took a deep breath, and walked forward. Scootaloo and Sweetie looked at each other, confused at Apple Bloom's action, but none-the-less followed her. "Thank you. Come again." Sunset called, waving to two departing customers. When she saw the girls approaching, she flinched slightly, but managed to school her features back into a smile. "Hi. What can I get you three?" "Sunset, we need to talk to you." Apple Bloom. Sunset raised an eyebrow and looked to the other two. Realizing Apple Bloom's intentions, they nodded in agreement. Still smiling, Sunset said casually, "Well. I'm afraid I'm kind of busy right now, so unless you three want pretzels-" "Sunset. Please." Sunset paused, her smile fading, as she looked into Apple Bloom's pleading eyes. Sighing deeply, she unfastened her apron and turned to another girl behind the counter. "I'm taking my break, ok Blue?" "Don't take too long." the girl replied, not even looking up from the register. Slipping off her hat and apron, she walked around the counter and stepped into a room next to the stand. After a minute, she came out, wearing her jacket. She nodded her head to the side, indicating to the girls to follow her, which they did. After walking for a while, the girls found themselves in a parking lot, devoid of people save for them. They realized that it must have been the employee parking lot, as it was smaller than the regular lot, and it was next to the wooded area behind the mall. Sunset sighed, then turned to face them, folding her arms. "So? Talk." Apple Bloom stepped forward, looking directly into Sunset's face. "Sunset, Ah wanna say Ah'm sorry. For everything. We all are. Ah know it don't change what we did, but ya still deserve ta hear it." "It was a crappy thing to do. We were jerks." Scootaloo added, looking at the ground. "But most of all, we're sorry for not apologizing sooner." Sweetie Belle concluded. Sunset said nothing. She stared at them, these three girls who were the cause of two months of pain and heartache. She contemplated what to say, weighing the words in her head. Finally, she spoke, softly but firmly. "I was horrible to you. To the other students, especially your sisters. I broke up their friendship, I lied, I cheated, I bullied, I even tried to murder them in cold blood. 'Bitch' doesn't even begin to describe me. Heck, I think 'she-demon' is too nice. "So yeah, I get it. You thought I got off too easy. I thought I got off too easy. So I don't blame you for wanting revenge for all the crap I put you through." Sunset narrowed her eyes as her voice became more stern. "Here's the thing, though. You didn't just go after me. You went after my friends. Your own flesh and blood. Rainbow Dash may as well be with you, Scootaloo. You posted things that you knew would hurt them." Her gaze shifted to Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. "Things that were personal and meant to be private." Then to Apple Bloom. "Things they trusted you to keep in confidence. "But that wasn't enough for you." Sunset said, her voice growing slightly. "You then went after the entire school. There were students crying in the bathroom, students who stayed home because they were too embarrassed to show their faces. I know, because they made sure to tell me while I was being screamed at! And yes, I know that those secrets came from other students," Sunset interjected as Apple Bloom tried to interrupt. "But it doesn't change the fact that you could've stopped it. And you didn't." Sunset sighed, then glared at them, staring right through to their very souls. "What on Earth, could I have possibly done, that was so horrible, you had to drag your own sisters through the mud just to get back at me?" The girls looked painfully at each other, before Apple Bloom closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and opened her mouth.... On the other side of the mall, patrons were shopping, talking, going about their business as usual. When suddenly..... "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" The mall became quiet as the patrons looked about in bewilderment for the source of the voice. Then, slowly, they all shrugged and went back the their business. One tomboyish looking teen with blue hair smirked and nudged her friend, "Looks like they forgot to clean the bathrooms again, huh Zest?" However, based on the green-haired girl's rigorous head-bobbing to the music blasting from her headphones, she had obviously not heard what she'd said. The blue-haired hair simply rolled her eyes and muttered, "Never mind." Sunset stared at the three girls in front of her, blinking rapidly, completely dumbfounded. This had to be a joke. It just had to be. "A slumber party." she muttered. She looked from one girl to the other, who all looked like they had just swallowed an entire carton of spoiled milk. "A slumber. Party." She said it several times. She used different inflections. And no matter how she said it, how many times she said it, it still made no sense. The girls stayed silent. There was nothing they could say. Sunset's expression said it all. "I - I just - I don't - WHAT?!" "In hindsight, our reasoning was....very flawed." Sweetie Belle said awkwardly, rubbing her arm. "YA THINK?!" Sunset screamed. She groaned in exasperation, running her hands through her hair, taking deep calming breaths. Then, she gave out a laugh and smiled at them.....the same smile they had gotten from Princess Twilight when she had chewed them out. "Okay....I am just going to assume you three all sustained brain damage when you came up with this half-assed scheme. Because that is the only justifiable reason I can think of for all three of you to completely forget about the Christmas party!" The girls furrowed their brow in confusion. "Christmas party?" "You know! The Apple family Christmas party? The one the Apples throw every single year, and would only call it off during the apocalypse? The one that all of my friends were going to, including your sisters? The one with all those fun activities, like apple-bobbing and building snowmen, something I know for a fact Applejack and Rainbow Dash love to do? The one you three were still invited to after all the shit you caused?!" It began to sink in just what she was implying, and the girls felt worse than they had after the break. Sunset folded her arms, her grimace-smirk still on her face. "So just to recap. Instead of being patient, and waiting til the end of the week to hang out with your sisters at the party, you decided to throw a temper tantrum because your sisters told you, 'no'. And since you didn't get your way, since you each missed out on one slumber party, you decided to take it out on me and your sisters. Hell, you don't even have that excuse!" she pointed to Scootaloo. "You just went along with it because!" Scootaloo didn't even bother to say anything. She wasn't wrong. Sunset wiped her hand across her face, taking her grin with it. "This has got to be, the most petty, stupidest thing I've ever heard of. And coming from someone who's done her fair share of petty and stupid things, that's saying a lot!" Letting out a deep sigh, Sunset pinched the bridge of her nose, willing herself to calm down. "I would've at least understood if this was about revenge. I'd still be pissed, but at least it would've made sense!" "If it's any consolation," Apple Bloom spoke, looking at the ground. "We weren't exactly let off easy." Sunset said nothing. She knew that the three were bullied in retaliation for Anon-A-Miss. Even now, the majority of the student body wanted nothing to do with them. But though she sympathized with them and their situation, she couldn't bring herself to forgive them. Not yet, and especially not now. "I gotta get back to work." she said quietly. Before she walked away, she felt compelled to say something. "Listen, I'm sure you've already heard this countless times already but, don't do this shit anymore. You have a problem with me, you say it to my face, okay?" And with that, she turned and walked back inside. Apple Bloom stared at the door for a minute, then pulled out her phone. The time said 3:29. As she scrolled for her brother's number, Sweetie Belle got her own phone out and called her mom. "Hey Mama, it's me. Just calling to let you know we're still at the mall. I'll be home soon okay?" Hanging up, she searched for Scootaloo's dad's number while Apple Bloom left a message for Big Mac.