Sunset and Sonata arrived at Canterlot High early once again the next day, waiting for Pinkie and Photo Finish to arrive.
“Are you sure you’re going through all this?” Sonata asked worriedly. Sunset nodded.
“I have to”, Sunset replied firmly. “There’s no telling what else Inspirio might do. Bribing is one thing, but I think he has more in mind than just that.”
“Will you skip classes again?” Sonata wondered, but Sunset shook her head.
“I can’t afford to be absent for two days in a row”, she said. “I guess I’ll just have to work overtime after classes at home. We need to know more about Sophia though”, she added in. “It feels strange that someone unknown is running.”
“But Inspirio is just a new student”, Sonata pointed out.
“That’s true”, Sunset answered, “but at least he’s trying to make himself known, even if his means of doing so are dubious. Sophia so far has not come out with anything yet.”
“That’s true also”, agreed Sonata. Just then Pinkie came, smiling and waving at them when she saw them. Sonata waved back at her and went over to greet her. Sunset smiled as Pinkie and Sonata came over to her.
“Ready to cover more of Inspirio today!” declared Pinkie enthusiastically.
“We should also cover Sophia, I think”, Sunset mused. “People need to know her as well. I don’t think she has even come out yet with anything at all.”
“Yeah, that is strange”, Pinkie commented.
“I agree that we should cover Sophia as well”, said Photo Finish as she arrived.
“All right”, Sunset noted then. “I think we are in agreement that she should be covered as well. We’ll just have to set the time when we can see her.”
“We need to cover Inspirio as well”, Sonata reminded them. Sunset looked thoughtful for a moment.
“I think we’ll just have to schedule when we can meet Sophia”, she finally decided.
“I will go and try to find out”, Photo Finish volunteered.
“I think we have our day settled then”, Sunset remarked, though she thought that she would have a very busy day, trying to keep up with classes while also going around after Inspirio and Sophia.
It was a busy day for Sunset. She could barely keep up as she had to attend classes, then look up on bothInspirio and Sophia’s schedules to see who they have to work on first. It would be easier for them to work on Sophia as they don’t have any issues about her, so far. Inspirio would be much harder to deal with, as she knew that he most likely have marked them down already, and would be guarded in whatever he says and do whenever they’re around. She was banking on Pinkie and Sonata to be creative in getting recordings of him.
She then checked on her smart phone to see what development Photo Finish has on Sophia. She was gratified when she saw her message, but then frowned when she read that Sophia would be available after Recess.
Which means I have to skip classes again at that time, she thought ruefully. She sighed. Keeping up with lessons wasn’t much of a problem for her though, since she could do her research online. She was worried more about her attendance, since she wanted to keep it as perfect as possible.
Guess I’ll have to forego on a perfect attendance for this year, she thought. She was thinking if she’s making too much sacrifices for her crusade, but then she also thought that there were some things that should be done, even if it meant a few absences in classes. She then put her mind to what they’d be doing, barely listening to what was being discussed in the class.
Looks like I’ll be doing another batch of research and reading online, she decided as she put all her focus on what would be going on later in the day.
So this is Sophia Riddle, Sunset thought as she entered a classroom, with a girl seated in the middle, wearing glasses and looking rather intimidated by the presence of a number of people, most of whom were unfamiliar to her.
Sunset took a seat near her while she continued to assess her. She had quite long hair, reaching up to the middle of her back. She almost looked like Fluttershy, Sunset realized, but with glasses and her hair a dark brown. Her personality also seemed almost like Fluttershy, although she noticed that Sophia seemed much more wary of people than Fluttershy was. She wondered how she could even hope to compete with Inspirio on the campaign.
Sunset saw Sonata and Pinkie come in and waved at them. They saw her and headed to where she sat, getting seats next to her. Sophia remained quiet, seated in front and center of the room, her back towards the white board. She continued to look down, her eyes at her hands. Sunset could see she looked nervous.
Photo Finish came in, and then closed the door behind her. Sunset looked around and noticed that aside from her, Pinkie, Sonata, and Photo Finish, there were only two other people in the room, and they were part of the school paper covering the campaigns.
This doesn’t look promising, she thought as she turned her attention back to Sophia. Sophia still looked down, playing with her fingers, before finally looking up and giving a tentative smile. Sunset felt sorry for her then for some reason, and wanted to reach out to her, but then she remembered that she had to keep a professional level of decorum.
“Hello there, everyone”, Sophia said almost hesitantly. “I am sorry if I haven’t really introduced myself until now…I am Sophia. Sophia Riddle. I am here to run as Class President.” Sunset noted that with each word, Sophia seemed to get a little bit more confident, which was a good sign. As Sophia spoke, Photo Finish took pictures while the two school paper staff wrote on their notebooks. Sunset nodded to Pinkie and Sonata, and both nodded back, indicating to her that they both had the recording device on.
Sophia looked around for a moment before continuing, “I am sorry if I have not really come out to announce my candidacy until now. To be honest, I don’t even know how to proceed…” She again bowed down. Sunset was touched by how she was. Somehow she could see part of herself in her, especially after the Fall Formal and how Canterlot High in general treated her. She wanted to know more about her, though, so she cleared her throat first to let Sophia hear her before she spoke.
“So what do you plan to do if ever you become Class President?” Sunset asked her.
“Oh, I have some plans”, Sophia beamed when she heard that. “You see, I have noticed some things about our school…” and she began to launch on a few short overview of what her program would be if ever she would be President. Sunset nodded, seeing that now Sophia seemed to have more confidence in her as she began to become animated, and described some of her plans. After talking about her plans, she fell silent again. For a moment no one spoke. Sunset decided to ask her some more.
“Why did you decide to run?” she asked this time.
“Well, I would like to help out in school”, Sophia began. “I think that there are still some things that need to be improved.”
“How would you do that if you’re still unknown?” Sunset followed up.
“I do need help there…” Sophia admitted, and she looked down again after she said that. Sunset looked at her in pity. She knew that Sophia will have a tough battle against Inspirio.
It took more than an hour for that meeting with Sophia, but afterwards, as Sunset, Pinkie and Sonata walked through the hall, they discussed about her.
“So what does her name mean?” Sonata asked as they walked.
“’Sophia’ means ‘wisdom’ in Greek”, Sunset explained briefly. “It does suit her—she seems intelligent, but she can be shy at first.”
“Just like Fluttershy”, Pinkie added in.
“Actually, I think she’s much more shy than Fluttershy”, Sunset observed. “I’m not even sure if she could win, but she seems to have good plans.”
“Maybe we can help her out”, Sonata suggested. Sunset also thought of that, but she had also said that the group should not get involved with the campaigns, though Applejack did mention that they’re more than willing to help out.
“We’ll have to talk to the others to see what they think of it”, Sunset just said. They continued walking to their classes when they saw Inspirio and some of his staff walking toward them. Sunset tensed a bit, preparing for whatever might happen when the two groups come closer.
“Well, look what we have here”, Inspirio smirked when he saw them. Sunset stopped walking, as did Pinkie and Sonata. The two groups faced each other now in the hallway, still mostly empty as classes were still going on.
“Why are you wandering around?” Sunset asked them.
“Campaigning, naturally”, Inspirio replied. “I still have much to cover, even though I really don’t need to do it, as there doesn’t seem to be much competition around”, he continued with smug confidence.
“You really aren’t hiding how you really are anymore”, Sunset simply remarked.
“To you, I don’t have to”, Inspirio said. “So you found me out, but the whole school don’t know about that, and I intend to keep it that way.”
“So you wear different personalities with different people to suit your purpose”, Sunset said in a very factual tone.
“That’s how it is in politics”, Inspirio said in reply. “You are not the same to different people. You have different personalities, depending on who you talk to.”
“And let me guess—your real personality is the one you’re showing me right now”, Sunset said.
“My, how smart you are”, Inspirio mocked, but Sunset remained unfazed by it. “Make no mistake about it”, Inspirio now said, changing tack, “I will have this school under me one way or the other!”
“We’ll see about that”, Sunset said firmly. She could see his staff cowering behind him—whether because of her or because of him, she can’t exactly tell yet, but she knew that what they’re seeing had an effect on them. Inspirio looked at them for a few more seconds, then with a smug smile on his face walked past them, his cowering staff right behind him. When they were safely away, Sunset turned to Pinkie and Sonata.
“Did you get all of it there?” she asked them. Pinkie and Sonata smiled gleefully and nodded.
“Good”, Sunset answered. “I think we’ll need that little incident. It just might come in handy…”
“I think so, too”, Sonata said in agreement. Sunset looked at the way Inspirio and his staff went to for a moment more, then they all walked on to their classes.
That afternoon Sunset went home early. As much as she wanted to stay with the Rainbooms, she wanted to also see what Pinkie and Sonata just recorded. Sonata as usual went home along with her. Sunset decided it was much better than each of them going alone. Although Inspirio was unmasking himself slowly, she still wasn’t sure if the other students would see through it.
I’ll have to find a way to reveal it somehow, she thought. The recordings could come in handy in some way, she decided. When they got home she went to her room and got out her laptop. For a moment she just stared at it. She’s been carrying it even in school, though she never thought of anything happening to it until that time.
Why haven’t I even thought of buying a computer for the home? she wondered. For the moment she set that thought aside as she listened to the recording. After listening, she then turned her attention to getting a computer for the home. She decided to have a desktop PC. She figured that she could build a good one. She then began to search for its parts, carefully noting those that fancied her. After sometime searching and noting them, she was satisfied and turned off her laptop. Election time was almost near, and she knew that she has little time before she could expose Inspirio’s true nature.