//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Future Card Buddyfight: Seeker of a New Dawn // by Darkened Paradise //------------------------------// Chapter 3 The walk to infirmary was short and painless, yet Sunset found it odd that Sweetie was reluctant to let go of her hand when she turned to leave. She ignored Rainbow’s glare on her back as she left, and followed Vice-Principal Luna to her office. “So, Miss Shimmer,” Luna started, slowing slightly, letting the redhead catch up. As her student approached her, she continued. “Where have you been over the winter break? My sister and I have been worried sick ever since you had left that day and we found your belongings in the trash bin.” “I was in the Big Apple,” Sunset said with a shrug. “I had enough of the whole Anon-a-mess for the time being, and with everyone so dead set against me, I needed a change in scenery. I made a few friends there, and they let me stay with them until the break was over.” “I see?” Luna said, sounding concerned. Looking at her student, she also noticed how she had grown over a mere two weeks. Sunset barely managed to reach her shoulders, but now she stood eye to eye with herself. The two continued on in an awkward silence, walking past a few late students who was rushing to get to class. “How about you and Principal Celestia? This whole Anon-A-Mess aside, how were you two?” Sunset asked, casually putting her arms behind her head. Her blue poncho rolled back over her shoulders, revealing her sleeveless arms and fingerless gloved hands. “Well, we could have been better,” Luna replied with a sigh. “The winter break was a small reprieve, yes, but I fear my sister has been slowly losing her mind.” “What do you mean?” Sunset asked, sounding concerned. “Did something happen?” “Well, she’s letting this whole Anon-A-Miss incident get to her,” Luna said. “She’s actually gone to an, shall we say, old acquaintance, to get this whole thing resolved. Granted, I don’t necessarily approve of the methods, but any resolution at this point would be appreciated.” “What, is this ‘old’ acquaintance’ an ex of hers or yours or something?” Sunset said with a small chuckle. When Luna didn’t say anything but blush and look away, her smile slowly morphed into  a look of horror. “Wait, wait! I was just joking!” The Vice-Principal continued to say nothing, but walked further ahead. After a few minutes, she stopped in front of the administration's office, coughing into her hand to compose herself. “Miss Shimmer, no, Sunset,” Luna started, making Sunset stop. “When you left that day, you had left behind your journal. Thankfully, my sister was able to recover it, but due to a written language barrier between us and Princess Twilight Sparkle, we could not respond to any nor all messages she had sent.” “How many did she send?” Sunset asked after a pause. “Well, she almost filled the whole journal,” Luna replied dryly. “The book has been buzzing nonstop since the holiday break. I’m going to hazard a guess and say she’s been worried about you these past two weeks.” “I never really thought about it,” Sunset said, bring her arms under her poncho. “I mean, I was been writing to her for several days nonstop, but I never got a response. I had just assumed that-” “What have I always told you about ‘assumptions’?” Luna asked, cutting her off with a raised eyebrow. Sunset said nothing, but looked down. Taking that as her cue to continue, Luna did. “Regardless, the if the journal’s non-stop buzzing has been any indication, let alone what the Princess did just a few days ago, well; I’d say she’s been quite the worrywart as of late.” She opened the door, standing aside to let Sunset enter first. “Wait,” Sunset started, going in. “What did she do?” She froze in her tracks at the sight of the secretary sitting at her desk, looking serene yet deeply troubled at the same time. From the look of her immaculately clean desk, she was all caught up with the paperwork and such. That in itself was an oddity; for the entire time that Sunset knew her, the secretary Raven Quill was always behind with her paperwork. “Miss Quill?” Sunset asked, getting the secretary’s attention. “Ah, Miss Shimmer!” the secretary exclaimed, getting up, walking over to Sunset and giving the still shellshocked girl a tight, but not quite bone shattering hug. “It’s so good to see you again! Do you know how worried we all were!?” “Miss Raven! I have the documents for Princes-I mean, Principal Celestia!” called out a familiar voice. Sunset looked around, spotting a large dog holding onto a batch of files with its mouth. She couldn’t tell what kind of breed it was at a glance, but the purple body and green ears gave it away. Before she could react, the dog dropped their files and ran at Sunset, jumping into her arms and knocking the girl over. As she recovered, she felt the dog’s tongue licking every part of her face. “Spike, it’s nice to see you too, but get off!” Sunset said, laughing as she pushed the heavy dog off of her. The former dragon, now dog, got off and sat in front of her, tail wagging wildly. Ignoring Luna’s and Raven’s laughter, Sunset pulled herself back to her feet. “So...I remember you being a lot smaller before. Hit a growth spurt or something?” “Ha ha, very funny,” Spike said with a deadpan. “Twilight fixed me with a spell that would me change my size at well, seeing as my little puppy self could barely traverse the snow. Oh! That reminds me!” Spike ran off to the other room, coming back with a leather bound moleskine notebook that had a dark purple feather quill nestled in a small compartment built into the book’s spine. “Twilight asked me to give you that, and to stay with you for a while,” Spike said, wagging his tail. “Wait, why stay? Is something happening?” Sunset asked, looking concerned. “Nope!” Spike replied. He gave Sunset a cheeky grin, in the way only a dog could. “She just wants me to watch over you.” Sunset rolled her eyes and just scratched the back of his ears. “Well this is all nice and well,” Raven started, “But-” “Oh, I already did all the filing and sorting of the miscellaneous files you told me about,” Spike said, nuzzling into Sunset’s hand. “And I already notarized those statements, sorted out the mess that was the budget for the rest of the school year, and mailed out those letters you mentioned.” “Oh, well, thank you, Spike,” Raven said, sounding hollow. “What kind of world do I live in where a magical talking dog is more efficient at my own job?” She took her seat and looked rather pensive. Sunset blinked at the sight; if she squinted, she could see a spot light over the secretary, shadows cast over her face. “Did you really do all that?” she asked Spike, who let out a low whimper as she removed her hand. “Yep! This was actually pretty easy, compared to what I do for Twilight,” the dog replied, casually scratching the back of his ears. “As interesting as this discussion is, Celestia will want to meet with you,” Luna interrupted. As she turned to the Principal’s office, Spike sprinted in front of her. “I wouldn’t go in there right now,” he said, looking worried. “She’s seeing someone right now.” “Why is that an issue? I’m sure she’d love to see Sunset right now,” Luna said, sounding confused. “No, she’s seeing someone right now,” Spike repeated, looking a bit uneasy. “She forgot to put a hat on her door.” Luna stared for a moment, then blushed at the implication. “Wait, what?” Sunset asked, looking a bit lost as she looked in between Spike and Luna. “Lets just say there’s a reason we moved the intercom from her office to mine,” Luna said lowly, looking annoyed as she blushed. Sunset stared, still confused, but eventually understood as she too blushed and looked away. “Anyways!” Luna said, coughing into her fist as she walked away from Celestia’s office. “My sister’s deviancy aside, we still have the matter of dealing with your sudden disappearance from the school.” She raised a hand, cutting off Sunset. “I understand why you did it, but the fact of the matter is that you left school grounds during school hours without any notice, nor was it approved by any of the teachers, myself or my sister.” Sunset looked down, lowering her head. Spike made a low whining sound and walked over to her, rubbing his head against her hand. “Your punishment for truancy and your attack on Miss Gilda Grimmfeather (you did go beyond what is a reasonable amount of force when dealing defending yourself) is as such; effective immediately, you are placed in in-school suspension for the rest of the week,” Luna said. “You will receive your classwork here, and do everything in my or (if she ever finishes) my sister’s office, but you may take your lunch in the cafeteria if you so desire. Furthermore, you will serve detention with me after school is over until the end of the week. Is that understood?” “Yes, Vice-Principal Luna,” Sunset said, looking down. Deep down, she knew this was coming; the administration couldn’t afford to play favorites after all. With a sigh, she looked back up, but noticed that Spike and Raven were trying to hide their snickering. She looked at where Spike was pointing, the calendar, and saw that it was a Friday. “Now with that out of the way, let me be the first to welcome you back, Sunset,” Luna said, her serious facade dropping as she smiled. It took a bit, but Sunset felt a smile creep on her face as she laughed with Spike and Raven. Rubbing a tear from her eye, she said, “Its good to be back.”