//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Friday the Thirteenth // by BoredAuthor817 //------------------------------// Morning came over Canterlot City. Fluttershy drove the family van past the front of the school and honked at her friends who were hanging out at the courtyard statue. They ran up as she pulled into the parking lot and found a parking spot. “Sweet!” cried Rainbow, “You're dad is awesome for letting us borrow the van. Much better than us all going in separate vehicles.” Fluttershy let out a light laugh. “It took some time convincing him. Me being a new driver and all..” “Still,” smiled Rarity, “it was nice of him to let you.” Fluttershy walked to the rear of the vehicle and opened the trunk. “You can put your stuff in here, if you want. That way, we don't have to worry about it later.” “Good idea” nodded Applejack “Let me just grab mine from the truck.” She ran off to another end of the parking lot where a beat up red pickup truck was parked. “This is gonna be so exciting!” squealed Pinkie Pie, “Spooky-Extra-Scary Slumber Party!” “That does sound like fun” smiled Twilight, walking up with Applejack. She plopped her suitcase and sleeping bag in the trunk. “Somehow, you can't make anything sound scary.” “Scary is just another type of fun!” The pink girl grinned broadly. “Great,” said Rainbow, “now all we're missing is Sunset.” “There she is!” Pinkie Pie pointed to a figure on the sidewalk. “HEY, SUNSET!” she yelled, “OVER HERE!” She waved her arms so the other girl could see her. Sunset paused for a moment, before acknowledging that she had seen them. However, as the final member of the group approached, it was clear that something was very wrong about her. “Jeez, Sunset,” Rainbow stepped back, “did you get any sleep last night?” “No,” Sunset wiped the sleep from her eyes, “started doing research on superstitions as soon as I got home yesterday. When I thought I could finally get to bed, I noticed that it was ten till three.” “So?” asked Fluttershy. “Three a.m. is the witching hour! That's when evil spirits are at their height! Worse, not just on Friday the thirteenth, but every day! Then, when I thought I was safe, I remembered what I read about the Chinese and their deal with the number four (being a cursed number because of how much it looks and sounds like their word for 'death'), so I stayed up till and after four for:” and she counted off on her fingers “1) the fourth minute; 2) the fourth second of the fourth minute; 3) the forty-forth minute; 4) the fourth second of the forty-fourth minute (which is four fours—worse combination); 5) and the forty-fourth second of the forty-fourth minute. ” “Well,” marveled Rarity, “you're most certainly thorough.” Twilight face-palmed while Applejack, remembering the previous day's lunch conversation decided to get snarky: “Did ya also stay up to the sixty-sixth minute of the sixth hour?” “No, that doesn't exist—thankfully. But, I did stay awake for the sixth second of the sixth minute.” Rainbow gestured to Sunset. “Is she for real?” “Unfortunately...” Twilight said, flatly. “So,” Fluttershy said, “you're all good now, right?” “Sorta” replied Sunset, “We still have: 1) the thirteenth hour; 2) the thirteenth minute of the thirteenth hour; 3) and the thirteenth second of the thirteenth minute of the thirteenth hour. After that, I think we're good.” Applejack's narrowed her eyes with a smirk. “Ya gonna the hours of daylight, too? Ya know that's how the ancient people used to tell time. Ya also gonna use Equestrian time as well?” Sunset's eyes widened as she gasped. “Oh no! I didn't think of them! Should I have?” “Don't encourage her!” yelled Twilight. “Anyway,” continued Applejack, crossing her arms, “how can ya be sure that ye're on the right time? None of them clocks are perfect, ya know.” “That's why I downloaded this!” Sunset pulled out her phone and showed them the screen. “It's an app that displays the time of the most accurate atomic clock ever built.” “Okay” Rainbow crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, “Gonna say it right now: NERD!” “Sunset, darling,” Rarity put a gentle arm over her friend's shoulders, “maybe you should skip class this morning. Find a nice spot in the library and take a long nap. We'll wake you in time for lunch.” “I'll be fine” Sunset laughed awkwardly, “Plus, I don't think I'll be able to sleep. I downed two tall cans of energy drink and a large cup of coffee with lots of sugar before coming here.” “Breakfast of champs!” chimed Pinkie, taking a bite of what could only be a bowl of some sort of candy and chocolate milk. She held out her fist to be bumped by Sunset, but Rarity gently pushed it aside. The pink girl shrank away, dejected. Sunset rolled up her sleeve to show several stickers on her forearm. “I also have a few caffeine patches on.” Twilight suddenly became very concerned. “You are gonna crash so bad later...” --- “Just one more hour” Sunset looked anxiously at her atomic clock app at the lunch table. Twilight was beginning to get anxious herself. Throughout the morning, the girls sought to keep a close eye on Sunset. Despite showing obvious signs of hyperactivity, she seemed to be fine. From first period to lunch, they observed Sunset go from a glittery, manic girl to a bouncy one. Looking around, the other girls were beginning to share it, too. Even Pinkie Pie looked worried. “Sunset...” “Hang on...” “For cryin' out loud!” groaned Applejack, “Sunset, this is crazy.” “Almost there...” Twilight put a hand on Sunset's shoulder and two fingers on her wrist. She was alarmed by the rapid pulse. It was the same as when she first checked it back in the parking lot. “Just promise me you'll go see the nurse once this all done.” ---- By the time the last class let out. Sunset had burned much of the energy she consumed that morning. The girls made sure she drank plenty of water. Which, wasn't so bad, if not for the frequent bathroom runs. Twilight took Sunset's wrist in her hand and calculated her pulse. It was much slower than earlier, much to her relief. She noticed that the caffeine patches were also gone. “How do you feel?” she asked. Sunset rubbed her face with her hands. “Honestly, I don't know. Awake and alert, at least. Feel so weird, though. Like I just woke up from a crazy dream. The whole day it was like I was living life in fast forward. Definitely not gonna do that again! Pinkie's brain was more pleasurable.” Twilight handed Sunset a new bottle of water. “Did you get a chance to see Nurse Redheart?” Sunset shook her head. “Wasn't there. Called in sick, of all things.”