//------------------------------// // Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures // Story: Seven Days in Sunny June: Broken Down in Sunny Town // by Deverer //------------------------------// “You can’t be serious, little brother.” Capri Pants looked at both Quibble and Rundown with a glance of disdain. “Why not?” Quibble and Rundown were currently at the former’s place, talking to the former’s older sister. Capri, unlike her brother, was popular, and she took pains to keep it that way. “Well, for starters, most of my friends already have boyfriends,” Capri began, “with the exception of Riverbank—” Quibble grinned. “She’s the one with the big tits, right?” Rundown’s response was to facepalm. “And that’s the other reason why I’m not going to bother. Quibble, you seriously need to get your head out of your ass, stop playing video games and… oh, I don’t know, maybe meet a real girl? One that isn’t made of pixels?” “Girls are more likely to be made of polygons nowadays,” Quibble pointed out unhelpfully. Rundown fought the urge to facepalm again. Capri turned and looked at Rundown. “Why do you hang out with this loser?” she told him. “Oh, that’s right - you’re both losers. Well, at least you’re less of a loser than my brother.” “Uh, thanks?” Rundown stated. “Look, guys, I get it. You all like your Ogres & Oubliettes shit—” “Dungeons & Dragons,” Quibble corrected, and Rundown merely gave him a glare that said it all. “The fact that you corrected me makes it clear you’re a lost cause,” Capri sighed. She turned to Rundown. “And you’re not much better. Look, guys, I know you two are teenage boys, and teenage boys want to spread their sperm far and wide, because you think with your lower head, not your upper one. But let me lay some reality down for you two: we live in Sunny Town. The slums. We don’t have the luxury of living in a nice area like Bella Vista, Everfree Glades or Eastwick. And we sure as hell don’t live in San Palomino or Northside. So you can’t get away with the ‘I have money, therefore date me’ shit. “No, what you guys need is personality. And hanging around with other no-lifes, watching your Japanimation—” “Anime, sis. It’s called anime,” Quibble pointed out. She buried her hands in her face. “¡Ay, Dios Mio! For fuck’s sake, Quibble, would you listen to yourself sometime? Little brother, I love you, but if we weren’t related, I wouldn’t give you the time of day. As it is, you’ll note that none of my friends came with me to talk to you when I told them you wanted to talk to me during lunch. That’s a clue.” “So I guess this means you’re not going to try to fix me up with Riverbank?” Quibble asked. “Look, my friend Dandy Candy is a slut, okay?” Capri turned to look at a girl with poofy, swirly rainbow hair talking with some other ones at a table on the other side of the cafeteria. “She’s admitted she’s gone down on guys on the first date and even slept with one by the end of it. And she’s dated some real losers, in my opinion - but I doubt she’d even go out with you.” Quibble thought about it for a second. “If it means getting laid, maybe you could put in a good word with her for me?” Capri slumped in the chair, sighed and said something under her breath. She finally just shook her head and got up from the table, saying nothing more. “Hey, if you’re going to hook me up with Dandy, maybe fix RD here up with River?” Quibble asked her as she left the room. “Can’t forget about him!” After a few minutes, Quibble made a satisfied face, then turned to his friend. “I think that went well, don’t you?” All Rundown could do was sigh. *** Seated in the corner of the lunch room at Canterlot High, Debonair tried to avoid the stares. She knew word had gotten out about the pictures, and though she hadn’t seen them yet, the leer from a couple of guys - and even one girl - made it clear that she’d been forced to do things she didn’t remember but would never have done sober. “Still thinking about it, huh?” Freestyle asked her. “I’m thinking about quitting the design club,” Debonair told her friend. Freestyle looked at her as though she was insane. “What? Oatmeal, are you crazy?” “No, I’m serious, Free. And quoting lines from Saturday Night Live is not going to help. Even though Rarity asked the others to stop, I can still feel their stares today. And I got a note in my locker asking me what my prices are.” Free gave an awkward smile. “Your answer should’ve been ‘nothing you can afford’. That’s what I would have said, at any rate.” “And then in Geometry I got approached by someone from the basketball team. And I know he was going to say something, but then thankfully Flash Sentry stepped in to make him go away.” “Flash, huh? Heard he’s a nice guy,” Freestyle said. “Although he can be kinda naive; he did date the alpha bitch until she dumped his ass when he wasn’t any use to her anymore. I even heard he helped that one exchange student the week she was here and upstaged the queen bee.” Freestyle took another bite of her sandwich, then continued. “But I see you’re desperately trying to change the subject.” “Look, the design club isn’t the right fit for me anymore--” “Bullshit.” Freestyle gestured to the sweatshirt she was wearing. “You made me this sweater, and the design looks exactly like Tuttomundo’s art. You made this, and it looks almost exactly like that $300 one we saw at that boutique in Olde Towne! So don’t say it’s not the right fit for you. You were made to be a fashion designer, Deb!” “I’m going to agree with that.” The two girls turned to see someone new standing there: Sunset Shimmer. “Sunset? This … is a surprise,” Debonair said. The look on Freestyle’s face also showed the same reaction, though not as pleasant. “May I… join you two?” Sunset asked her gently. Freestyle said nothing, but instead signaled towards the empty seat next to Debonair. Debonair, at the same time, nodded, and Sunset sat down. “Look, I’ll be honest. For one, I have to apologize to you both for how I was in the past. I’m not that person anymore, but I still have a lot to make up for. I hope you can both forgive me for what I did.” Debonair looked at Sunset oddly, while Freestyle was more succinct: “You told everyone that I was taking hormones so that I could win in swim meets. Thankfully while no one believed you, it caused me a lot of grief, especially amongst others on the team.” “Free….” Debonair pled. Freestyle sighed. “But since Deb is my bestie and I really don’t feel like kicking your ass in the middle of the cafeteria right now since I just finished eating lunch, I’ll let it slide.” “Uh, thanks. I think,” Sunset said. “Anyway, Debonair, I heard about what happened to you and I want to offer my help. If you feel someone’s picking on you and you don’t think you can go to the teachers, let me know. I’ll see what I can do to stop it.” Freestyle crossed her arms. “I thought you said you changed your ways, Shimmer.” “I did… but there’s more than one way to deal with troublemakers.” The red and yellow-haired girl sighed. “The Club nearly got to my best friend, my cousin, and most importantly my kid sister; all because I wasn’t paying enough attention when I should have. I can’t let that happen again.” “Yeah, well, last time I checked, you were the school’s queen bee, not the sheriff,” Freestyle told her. “I know. But I still feel responsible for it. I wasted my popularity for years over petty things, and when something important came up that I could have helped with and I blew that. That’s on me, and I need to make up for that.” She turned to Debonair. “If you feel uncomfortable with my offer, I’ll understand and back off. But the offer is there, regardless. Rarity told me and she wouldn’t have if it she didn’t think you didn’t deserve the help.” “We’ll think about it,” Freestyle said. “That’s all I ask,” Sunset said as she got out of the chair. “Either way, what happened to you and so many other girls should never have happened. I can’t make that go away, but I can do what I can to stop anything else from getting out of hand. Anyway, think about it. I’ll talk to you later.” WIth a friendly wave, Sunset left the two alone. “Think she was telling the truth?” Debonair asked her friend as they watched the retreating girl’s form. “I don’t trust that skank,” Freestyle admitted. But then she sighed and said, “But I do think she was telling the truth. Maybe she did have a change of heart when that exchange student kicked her ass, maybe she didn’t. But if her kid sister got fucked up by the Club? Man, I wouldn’t want that on my worst enemy… and until now, Sunset Shimmer definitely qualified as that.” *** Quibble continued to watch one girl as she walked on, then winced as she flipped him off just before she ran over to her boyfriend. “Man, why do girls like Hotpants there fall in love for muscle-bound morons like Turf Slam?” he groaned. “Quibs, for one, Turf Slam is the football team’s star quarterback, and despite the fact that we’re here in Sunny Town, has gotten scholarship offers from all kinds of schools. Secondly, guy’s not some dumb jock: he’s actually got the grades to earn those scholarships academically. He’s actually going places, unlike us.” A guy who knew them both walked past and said, “That’s because you’re both losers!” Shaking his fist, Quibble called back, “I prefer to think of myself as a not-yet-founder, thank you very much!” “He’s right, though,” Rundown told his friend. “We really need to think of a way to raise our social profile.” The two walked down the hall of their school towards the bulletin board, to see what was there. “Maybe something here should help?” “Ugh. That would mean stepping outside where the day-star burns instead of staying home with the comforts of my controller in my hands,” Quibble complained. “Yeah, well, beggars can’t be choosers, Quib,” Rundown reminded him. “What do you want more, a girlfriend and a life, or the high score on Call of Duty?” “Call of Duty doesn’t have a high score,” Quibble reminded him. “In fact, high scores are an artifact from the prehistoric era of video games, where one actually had to leave the comforts of ones own home and head to these arcane, forgotten places called ‘arcades’ in order to achieve graphical perfection. It was a dark and mysterious time, so I’m told.” “Bro, will you be serious for a moment?” “Not if I can help it. That way lies madness.” Rundown rolled his eyes and instead fixated on the board, looking over various things that might catch his attention. “So far nothing that would make us look cooler,” he mused to himself, ignoring whatever his friend’s immediate and inevitable comebacks were. Finally, though, he found something on a yellowed piece of paper towards the back. “Hey, Quibs, check this out.” HIs friend went over and they both looked it over. “You serious?” “Why not?” Rundown asked. “It’s more along the lines of the stuff we do, so it shouldn’t be a problem, right?” “Except...that’s the place of the enemy.” Rundown sighed and gave his friend an askance look. “Seriously? ‘The enemy’? Melodramatic much?” “It’s gotten me through this far in life. Illegal alien, remember?” Rundown took the piece of paper off the board; given that it was half-buried, no one was going to notice if it was gone or not anyway. “Knock it off. You in or not?” Quibble shrugged. “Honestly? I’d rather not, but if you’re hellbent on this crazy, insane plan, yeah, then okay. You and I go together like fire and explosives, my friend.” “Because that’s such a great combination.” *** “Well, that’s great,” Freestyle sighed. “I’m sorry, but that’s just how it is, Freestyle,” Cheerilee told her. “I’ve spoken to the district swim federation, though and they assured me that the dissolution of the team won’t impact anything you may want to do, such as if you want to try out for the Olympic Swim Team.” “Except that it does, Ms. Cheerilee, and you know that.” Cheerilee sighed. “I do. I know it’s going to be harder for you to practice if you’re not at swim meets or working out regularly. But I will still help you whenever I can. You have my word.” “I know,” Freestyle said dejectedly. “I just didn’t think….” “Nobody did. That’s the tragedy of it, Freestyle. No one ever considers what happens to the girls after the crimes have been committed.” The look on the young teacher’s face was sad. “Regardless, the offer is open. You’re a promising young athlete and you don’t ahve to give up now.” “I’m not,” Freestyle said. “I’m just….” “I understand.” Freestyle walked outside of the classroom, and looked out the windows across from it. Rain came down in sheets as if the sky itself was crying for her lost opportunities. She couldn’t blame the other girls for quitting. She was practically the only girl from the Swim Club that didn’t get caught, and she knew the only reason she hadn’t was because she’d been sick the day they’d been invited to the Co-Ed swim party. The one where several boys on the team had access to the Vibe, and had used it on the girls. The party where much fun was had afterwards… well, fun for the short-sighed idiots that thought a drug would get them any girl they wanted, and that chemical brainwashing meant they got to live out their sexual fantasies. Now, those fantasies had turned into nightmares. For the girls on the team, her best friend Debonair, and so many others. And the ones who were unharmed but still impacted? They were unwillingly along for the ride, because they had no choice. Already there was a rumor that due the sheer amount of student athletes involved, Ms. Celestia was going to have the rest of the sports calendar year cancelled. There was nothing said officially, but given that the varsity and JV basketball teams had all but imploded over the scandal, it wouldn’t have been surprising. “Free?” Freestyle turned to see Debonair looking at her sadly. “You waited for me?” Freestyle asked, surprised. “You’re my best friend; of course I did,” she said with a smile. “Yeah. Thanks,” Freestyle said, moving over and putting her head on her friend’s shoulder. “The whole team quit today. Said they couldn’t get over the ‘ice cream’ pictures.” “Ice cream pictures?” “Apparently some pictures and video got leaked over the net today on some website that made the rounds. Do you remember what I told you? That the swim team pretty much shaves off all the hair on our bodies except our eyebrows and what’s on our head?” “Yeah.” “It’s true. Moreso for the girls than the guys. Well, the girls used to joke about how we were as smooth as ice cream down there, because we shaved. And then the pictures and video came out. I’ll spare you the details, but….” The sad look on Freestyle’s face became one of anger. “Splish Splash. She was the youngest on our team, just a freshman, hadn’t even turned 15 yet. And yet….” Freestyle turned and punched the nearest locker. “GODDAMMITT!” The look in her eyes was one of rage. “Splish was just a kid! We used to tease her because her parents hadn’t even explained the Birds and the Bees to her and that at the team sleepover we had back in November, she actually brought the teddy bear she slept with! And now those bastards have ruined her! Ruined you! Ruined everyone!” “Come on, let’s get you out of here,” Debonair told her. “Let’s head to Brews & Bakes, okay? You need to talk and I need to listen.” “Isn’t that supposed to be the other way around? You were the one who--” “It doesn’t work that way, Free. When I need you, you’re there. And when you need me, I’m there,” Deb reminded her. “That’s what best friends do. Now come one, let’s go while there’s a break in the rain.” *** Several minutes later, two soaked bodies appeared at Brews & Bakes. “Here you two go, on the house,” a young man with tan skin and ivory-colored hair told them as he brought their drinks. “Really, Aff?” Debonair asked him. The young man gave her a smile. “I just wanted to show you that not every guy is a jerk, Deb.” She blushed. “Thanks.” He smiled and headed off. “Who’s that hunk and why aren’t you sleeping with him?” Freestyle asked appreciatively, then realized that was the worst thing she could say. “Shit. Look, Deb, I’m sorry--” “No, it’s okay. Affogato’s the son of the owner and in college. He knows me because he used to be my babysitter when I was a kid. He’s always kinda been like a big brother to me. And even if I felt that way about him, he’s got a girlfriend.” “Shame; you two look great together.” “Oh, I dunno, I thought he and I looked better,” a voice said from behind them. Freestyle turned. “Oh, hey, Trixie. Decided to be straight today?” Trixie Lulamoon frowned. “One day that mouth of yours is going to get you into serious trouble, Freestyle.” “Hey, you know I’m just kidding. Seriously, where’s your usual two buddies?” “Well, Lyra’s working today, and….” A thoughtful look crossed Trixie’s face. “Hey, maybe you two can help with something. Bonnie should be here in a few moments, and she can explain the details on it; I’m still a bit fuzzy.” Debonair gestured to the seat adjacent to her. “Well, have a seat and we’ll listen. Can’t be any worse, right?” Freestyle wordlessly shrugged and nodded. A second later, Bon-Bon came in, carrying a huge stack of papers. She was also wearing eyeglasses and it gave her the look of harried Asian librarian rather than the elegant girl she was usually known as. “Sorry I’m late. Ran out of disposable contacts and had to remember where I put my glasses,” she apologized as she dropped the papers on the desk with a sizable thump. “What are these?” Debonair asked. “You got us some volunteers! I didn’t think we were going to get any,” Bon-Bon mourned. “And the library’s been pretty good about trying to get volunteers, too.” “Library? What’s the library got going on?” Freestyle asked. “Oh, glad you asked!” Bon-Bon answered. “Back in December, the central library here in Canterlot had water damage to its archives when the sprinkler system broke. They don’t have the manpower or money to have it all professionally scanned, so they put out a request for volunteers to the schools. I’m the main girl organizing the project, although there’s a librarian who’s going to supervise.” “Really? Didn’t know you cared about that all that much,” Trixie said. “Well, originally I was just supposed to be the assistant to some girl that goes to Zacherle’s, but she got chickenpox during Spring Break and had to drop out, so they asked if I would step in. But unfortunately, we haven’t really had many takers. Apparently this Twilight Sparkle girl, whoever she is, was practically going to single-hand this thing, I don’t know why.” Both Debonair and Freestyle looked at each other. “This sounds interesting,” Debonair told her. “Tell us a bit more, okay?” “Sure! All we do is take the worst damaged magazines, etc. and scan them. There’s nothing so old that it’s worth keeping a physical copy of, yet the library wants to make sure they have a digital copy in case people want to read them in the future. So we’ll be spending a couple of weekends scanning. The first meeting of the group is on Thursday night with Mrs. Clearscan at the South Canterlot library branch.” “South Canterlot? That’s kinda close to Sunny Town, isn’t it?” Debonair asked. “Seriously, it’s not as bad as the news makes it out to be. Sure, it’s more than a bit run down, but there’s not shooting in the streets like if it was Afghanistan or anything,” Trixie explained. “Look, if you’re feeling uncomfortable about it, you can catch a ride with me and Bonnie when we go down on Thursday. We’ll be taking my mom’s van, so we won’t have to ride the subway.” “In that case, sure, I’m in,” Debonair told them. “I’ve always wanted to see some of the old magazines and get some fashion ideas from them. Free?” “Sure. With the Swim Team now defunct, I’ve got lots of time on my hands, and I may as well put them to good use. Who else do we have?” “Mostly girls - one from County High, two from Everfree Glades High and one from San Palomino High. We also have three guys, one from Bella Vista High and two from Sunny Town High.” “Well, if nothing else, we know we’ll be safe around those guys,” Freestyle commented. “If they’re so desperate that they’re volunteering for something like this, then we know we can just run them over if they get too pervy on us.” “Free! Be nice, okay? I’m sure they’re three nice guys and that’s really what I could stand being around right now.” “Okay, okay, but just watch: they’ll be complete dorks. I just hope they’ll be dorks worth working with,” Freestyle mused.