When Lightning Strikes

by Necrogen Lord


Chapter 6

Sunset sank into the chair as the other girls started to talk of the first day back at school, each one enjoying a small treat and a drink.

"So then apparently Hoops ran into the new guy, Trevor," Rainbow said, "and said he got a shock like Sunset did! He said that Trevor freaked out and ran away, same as Sunset!"

"Oh my, he must have been terrified to see all those jocks staring him down," Fluttershy said as she sipped a cherry milkshake. "I remember when Rainbow first introduced me to Track and Field, and... well, it was quite frightening."

"Maybe he was bullied wherever he came from?" Applejack suggested as she scarfed an apple tart. "Could have been expectin' all the jocks to act alike."

"Though I must say," Rarity said, "it is rather perplexing that both incidents involve static shocks. He mustn't have a proper method of drying clothes, then."

"What do you think, Sunset?" Pinkie asked.

Sunset hummed in thought as she slurped her strawberry shake, her eyes wandering about as she thought of the new student.

"He seemed really freaked out when that happened," she said. "And I don't know if you girls noticed, but all those big cars in the parking lot this morning? They left after he did and were going slowly down the road... right behind him."

The group sat in silence for a moment, processing the information, before Rainbow started to chuckle.

"Okay, what are we saying here?"

"I don't know, Dash," Sunset said. "I really don't know."

\\\\\\//////

"So that's what happened?" Charles said.

Trevor nodded.

"Yes, sir. I-I had to refuse, I just... I don't know..."

"Don't know how to interact at a party, how to interact with them, or how to go on from here?"

"... yes?" Trevor said.

Charles chuckled before patting Trevor's head.

"Trevor, you need to calm down. All this is is a bunch of kids that want to be friends with you."

"But why me, though? I haven't done anything to show-"

"Maybe not yet," Charles interrupted, "but maybe it's because they want to get to know you. You won't know unless you let them in."

"So... d-do I avoid them?"

"No, no no no no no, Trevor," Charles said, shaking his head. "You need to open up a little bit and talk with them. I'm not saying to just flat-out tell them everything, but start off small with maybe... Gah, I don't know what kids talk about these days. But they're willing to give you a chance. This is what you've been talking about for months. Do you really want to waste it on a bunch of 'what ifs'?"

\\\\\\//////
The Next Day
\\\\\\//////

Pinkie bounced in place as Sunset checked her phone, no messages in her inbox, and checked the time.

"Seven eighteen," she said.

"So do you think maybe he's running a bit late?" Pinkie asked. "Or maybe he went to school earlier?"

"Let's just wait for a few more minutes and see, Pinkie."

Pinkie began humming to a tune in her head as Sunset looked around the area. To the East and West roads, there were small houses and a few small renovated shops, including a barber shop and a family-run clinic, and very few houses. The ones further South were more plentiful, but were in relatively bad conditions. She could see the paints peeling off the mold-laden walls even from where she stood, one house's foundation being uprooted by a massive oak.

'He said he lives further South,' Sunset thought, 'but is there any place livable down that way?'

The streetlight near the Amber Road sign flickered and sputtered, Sunset looking towards it. When she turned her head, she saw Trevor approaching with his hat tilted slightly higher up on his face, allowing a less obscured view of his face, though his blonde bangs still curved somewhat over his eyes. He wore the same getup as he did yesterday, but she could see a white shirt poking out from beneath the jacket.

"H-Hey, Sunset, Pinkie," he greeted, slowly waving to them. "Um... g-good morning?"

"Hey there, Trevy!" Pinkie said, spinning on the spot. "It is a good morning, isn't it?"

Trevor seemed to flinch from Pinkie's erratic behavior, but Sunset still smiled and waved back.

"Hey Trevor," she said. "Moving in to the town alright?"

"Uh, y-yeah, sure am," he said, adjusting the strap on his bag.

"Good. Just so you know, if you ever need help finding anything, just call me or one of the other girls and we can show you around town."

"Thanks, but I... I-I think I've got everything I need."

"And if you ever get an achy-breaky sweet tooth, my parents share a building with an amazing bakery!"

"Oh, um... s-sure, thanks."

Sunset and Pinkie stayed quiet for the rest of the walk up to school, neither of them noticing a trio of vans following a block behind.

\\\\\\//////

"And I want to make it one hundred percent clear," Principal Celestia said, "that you are not to address me as such again, Mr. Daughtry."

"Right, of course, sorry 'bout that, ma'am," Henry said as he went back to mopping the hallway. "Just... thought I'd-"

"Mr. Daughtry, please, let's try and keep things professional, alright? We both have jobs to do and you especially can't afford to lose focus on anything."

"Course, sorry Ce-Principal, Celestia."

Celestia nodded and walked down another hall, leaving Henry to sigh as he leaned on the mop. He reached into a pocket and pulled out a photo of a young girl, about six or seven, with a smooth, thick wave of brown hair with bright amethyst eyes gleefully looking into the camera. Behind her, a younger Celestia wrapped her arms around the child, resting her head on the girl's own as she smiled into the camera as well. Along the bottom of it was a scrawl in pen; 'For Them'. Henry shook his head as he tucked it away, returning to his mopping duty before the school day could begin.

"Seventy-three days," he said to himself. "Just another seventy-three days, and I'll get to see her."

\\\\\\//////

"Working on Mr. Cranky's assignment?"

Trevor turned from his notebook to see Sunset approaching his nearly empty table, smiling as she set her tray down.

"Uh, y-yeah," Trevor said, "just... working on Sine and Cosine formulas, I... I'm not very good at Math."

"I used to be the same way," she said, scooting next to Trevor as she pulled out a textbook.

She flipped through the book to a folded corner of a random page, placing it on the table between herself and Trevor. As she traced a finger down the page, she started to explain the formulaic difference between the two. While she did, though, Trevor felt his heart beat a bit faster as she leaned close to him.

"So Sine is the length of the Opposite side divided by the length of the Hypotenuse, while Cosine is the length of the Adjacent side divided by the Hypotenuse. Just remember, Sine is O over H while Cosine is A over H. Got it?"

"Why do you care, Sunset?"

Sunset blinked in surprise as she reeled back from the question.

"W-what?" she asked.

"Why do you care about me?" he said.

"I... why are you asking?"

Trevor shifted in his seat, looking towards the window to avoid eye contact.

"I... I-I always thought that... in the world, I'd have to be on my own for everything. I didn't think that anyone would care. Why do you? Why do you care about me? I'm just... some guy."

Trevor flinched from the feeling of a hand on his shoulder, and looked to see Sunset giving him a gentle smile.

"Why shouldn't I?" she asked. "Why think that way?"

"I..." Trevor took in a deep breath. "I... I-I don't know... social, anything. I can't... I'm a freak. I don't know how to talk to others, just... sitting here with you right now is making me feel like..."

"I know how you feel."

Trevor looked to Sunset, finding her with a warm, welcoming smile.

"When I first came here, I didn't know anyone or how things around here worked. It was awful, and I can understand how you'd be afraid of getting lost in everything happening, but you're not alone. I want to make sure that no one went through what I had to go through. That's a feeling that no one should have."

Trevor looked into her eyes, the weight of her words reaching through to him. He felt as though he should trust what she said, and he felt slightly at ease.

"Thank you, Sunset," he said.

Sunset nodded as she pat his shoulder.