//------------------------------// // Chapter 18: Too Nice? // Story: Scars of Our Past // by JWolfSilver //------------------------------// The week of Halloween came and went with a flash. Sunset was still fretting about Thursday but that’s nothing new. She hated going to school and her only solace was her friends, but they couldn’t be there all the time to protect her, nor did she expect them to. Still, she was starting to think her friends and Principal Celestia were wrong; did she really deserve all of this? It had been almost three weeks since the formal, and no one was even loosening up. Trixie also returned to school Monday and she still insisted on being the one to punish Sunset for what she’d done. It also turned out that Snips and Snails had decided that they would rather be Trixie’s goons but Sunset was sure they were getting treated better by Trixie than they ever did by her. “Sunset!” Rainbow Dash called as she met Sunset at her locker, “Pinkie wants us all in the cafeteria to discuss last minute plans for tomorrow.” “Alright.” Sunset sighed but this went unnoticed by the sporty girl. They began walking to the cafeteria in silence, classmates giving Sunset various glares and insults but Sunset was too lost in her own, insecure thoughts as she hugged her bag tightly to her chest, the contents of which were weighing down on her subconscious as much as her feelings of fear when thinking; what if she sunk back into old habits? They weren’t far from the cafeteria when she heard someone say; “She has to know that they just feel sorry for her.” Sunset stopped walking and focused on the voice in the hall, “Who would want to be friends with a demon. She should go back to where ever she came from.”            “Principal Celestia is just too nice to expel her.” Another voice replied Sunset hugged her bag tighter to her chest and looked to the ground. “Who said that?” Rainbow yelled angrily, trying to find the offender in the crowd. Out of all the things Sunset had heard over the past three weeks, people taking pity on her was never something she considered. The selling point for her was, in Sunset’s eyes, that Principal Celestia was just that; too nice. “Are you OK, Sunset?” Rainbow asked as she noticed Sunset backing away. “I have to go.” The flame haired girl muttered and she took off running. Of course, Rainbow followed her, trying to get her to slow down but they were both in a full-on sprint. Rainbow saw Sunset duck into the library but by the time she got there herself, Sunset had already disappeared among the books. Even to herself, Rainbow could admit that she did not really have the skill set to make Sunset feel better the way she needed. So, she did the next best thing; texted her friends. When they arrived, Rainbow told them the situation and what she had heard the other students say. They asked Cheerilee if she had seen where Sunset ran off to and she pointed them to the second floor of the library, the place where no one really went. They split up and scanned the aisles. It didn’t take long until Pinkie Pie heard sniffling and went to investigate. When she rounded a corner, she could see Sunset hugging her knees, shoulders shaking as she cried silently. Pinkie, for once, walked quietly as not to scare her but still managed a bright smile. “Hey, Sunset! We’ve been looking all over for you.” Sunset looked up at Pinkie with red puffy eyes, “Just leave me alone, Pinkie.” “Nope!” Pinkie said as she sat down beside Sunset, despite the other girl’s wishes, “You’re crying and you don’t leave your friends alone when their sad.” “Right!” Rainbow Dash said as she and the others came out from the shelves, having heard Pinkie’s voice, “It’s what friends do.” They all sat in a little circle in front of Sunset, Rarity sat on her other side and rubbed her back comfortingly, something Sunset stopped herself from flinching away from. “Are you guys trying to be friends with me just because you feel sorry for me?” Sunset asked bluntly. “If we didn’t honestly wanna be your friend, why would we include ya in Halloween?” Applejack asked, “We could have just as well told ya nothin’ and you wouldn’t have even known.” “Yeah,” Pinkie Pie agreed, “It would have been super easy too, because you don’t eat lunch with us very often.” “Look,” Applejack said, “Yes we felt sorry for ya, but it’s not why we want to be your friends. Fluttershy told us about when you helped out at the shelter and meeting that dog you saved again. Sunset, you are a good person.” “Yes, Darling.” Rarity added, “You never really showed it in the past but now, it’s all we see.” Sunset sighed, “I know you guys want to be my friends, my real friends, I just have a habit of letting stupid things get to me.” She hugged her knees tighter. “There’s something else bothering you.” Fluttershy said, “About what one of them said.” Rainbow Dash thought back to the hall, right before Sunset took off, and then a lightbulb went off in her head, “It’s that thing about Principal Celestia!” Rarity saw a small nod from Sunset and spoke, “You have been spending an awful lot of time in her office. What is the nature of your visits? I can’t see you being in trouble again.” Sunset thought for a moment as whether or not to tell them anything but ultimately, she knew that if she was truly going to be their friend, she had to show them a bit of trust as well. “You all know I live alone and I have for the past six years. About a week after the formal, Celestia called me into her office and she gave me…stipulations regarding how I am living.” “Stipulations?” Fluttershy asked. Sunset nodded, “Yes, the first one was that I needed an adult to contact in case I needed it so, Celestia asked to be my emergency contact. The second, was, well, she thought I needed a counselor and since we are trying to hide where I’m really from, Celestia told me, that she would make time for me after lunch if I needed it. It took me a week to do the second thing.” Her friends stared at Sunset blankly but Fluttershy was the first to speak, “Wow, I’ve never heard of any Principal that cared that much.” “The girls in the hall said she was just trying to be nice,” Rainbow thought out loud, “That doesn’t really sound like just being ‘nice’.” “I don’t know how it works where you’re from,” Applejack said, “But people don’t just do things like that to be nice. They do that ‘cause they actually care.” “Yeah.” Sunset said sadly. “If I didn’t know any better,” Rarity gave Sunset a one-armed hug, “I’d say that you see our principal as more of a mentor than anything.” Sunset smiled, “You don’t know the half of it.” “Yeah!” Pinkie cheered, “There’s that smile!” The group couldn't help but giggle at the over eccentric girl. “Now that we got that out of the way,” Pinkie pulled out a piece of paper with various small drawings on it, “Let’s go over the plan. So, we all come to school in our costumes and meet at Fluttershy’s and Sunset’s lockers.” “And Sunset is meeting me at my house early so I can help her with makeup.” Rarity said. “Don’t your parents leave like, super early?” Rainbow questioned. Rarity smirked and took out her wallet, showing the others the plastic card, she had inside, “That will no longer be a problem, Rainbow Dash.” “When did you get your license?” Fluttershy asked. “Monday after school.” She explained, “I never brought it up because I never had a reason to.” “Congratulations, Rarity!” Pinkie beamed, “I should throw you a party like I did for Maud! Anyway, at lunch I will give everyone super special Halloween cupcakes, so Sunset,” she narrowed her eyes at the red head, “be there.” “Alright.” Sunset nodded. “Then, after school, we all meet at my house.” Pinkie said, handing a sheet of paper with a chart to each girl, “Since Rarity has her license, we won’t all have to go with Maud or Big Mac. So, Maud will drive me, AJ and Fluttershy, and Rarity can take Sunset and Rainbow! It’s perfect! So, remember to bring you duffle bags! Halloween sleepover!” “Um, Pinkie,” Applejack said, “You think you could have mentioned the sleepover sooner?” “Oh, no!” Pinkie shouted at the realization, “I totally forgot to tell you guys!” They all told her it was fine and that they didn’t have any plans anyway. Sunset however froze at the thought of a sleepover. “Uh,” Sunset got everyone's attention, “What do you bring to a sleepover?” Pinkie’s eyes just about popped out of her head, “What? You’ve never been to a sleepover?!” Sunset shook her head, “Who was I supposed to have one with?” “Oh, right sorry.” She apologized then took out a piece of paper and quickly scribbled down a list, handing it to Sunset, “This is a list of everything you need and optional stuff too.” “Thanks.” Sunset said before Pinkie continued. “Now, first we play a few party games, then when the sun goes down, we go trick or treating and after that we’ll order pizza and watch a scary movie and we hand out candy until we fall asleep!” Everyone nodded in agreement for the plan as the bell rang for class and Sunset quickly rose to her feet grabbing her bag, “Sorry, I have a meeting with Principal Celestia. Text me if I missed anything.” Sunset didn’t wait for a reply and headed out of the library towards the office. She took a deep breath, That does make me feel a little better. I know I’m getting worked up over nothing. It’s nice to know they care so much though. She glanced at her bag, here goes nothing.