//------------------------------// // Careful Steps // Story: Seven Days in Sunny June: Broken Down in Sunny Town // by Deverer //------------------------------// Keep it together… keep it together… Rundown told himself for what must have been the eightieth time this hour. Thursday night had arrived and after slogging through his classes and managing to drag Quibble along in a timely manner, the two of them were now on the bus toward the library in South Canterlot. “Ey, what’s gotten into you man?” the friend in question whispered to him. “You getting nervous already?” “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe it’s the fact we’re two perverts from Sunny Town High suddenly volunteering for some charity work so we might be walking right into a disaster?” Rundown shot back, almost raising his voice too loud. “Well this was your idea! And why did you even have this idea again?” “‘Cause we’re losers who need to show we’re actually not and this is a good chance to show that.” He looked out the window, scratching his head. “Plus who knows? Maybe actually getting some sunshine apart from when we go to school could help.” “Well so far el sol need to turn the brightness down.” Quibble smirked as he added. “Then again it allows us to really look at some girls.” Rundown growled, spinning back to face him. “See? That’s the problem! We’re – well mostly you right now – are thinking with our dicks! And what just happened with all these shitbags who thought with their dicks just a while ago?” The black haired teen lost his smug smirk as those words seemed to actually pierce through his head. “Well… shit,” he admitted. “But it’s not like we’d ever do that,” he mumbled. “And we’re proving that to all them, starting with this!” Rundown however felt a knot in his stomach as he said that. An image of Debonair flashed in his head, followed by of one of that particular photo he remembered looking at. Suddenly next came one of an orange-haired devil that was his father and— “Hey, dude?” Quibble’s voice came, making Rundown jump. “Stop’s almost here.” Rundown looked at the overhead at the front. Sure enough, their stop was displayed. Quickly hitting the button to tell the driver to indeed stop in case there wasn’t any new riders, he resumed the futile task of trying to get himself together. Now though it was made more difficult by the fact that devil-spawn of a father was now on his mind. He thought back to his computer and those photos on it. He wasn’t his father. He had them for a good cause! His father possessed them for his own twisted desires, while Rundown had them for… for… There is no reason to have them you dipshit, a voice that he guessed was only his conscience speaking. Well there were reasons, but none that actually helped his case for being on the right side of morality and perhaps the law. He decided to deal with that with extreme prejudice later as he and Quibble got up from their seats and made their way off the bus. Already he could tell they weren’t in Sunny Town anymore. For one, the sun cast over them revealed actual color around them instead of a place that felt like just went through a dust storm which reminded him of the irony of his unfortunate home. What was also different was the people walking around cheerily and without a thought of being jumped – or at least didn’t show considering the Vibe incident. The two teens simply made their way up to the main doors of the library, Rundown keeping his head down in case somehow his clothes gave away they weren’t from around here. As both of them made their way to the front desk, he straightened himself out to make himself at least presentable. As they approached, the lone woman at the desk turned from her computer to look to them. “May I help you?” she asked. “We’re here for the… um, volunteer work?” Rundown spoke. “The material preservation?” “Oh! Sure! Just head toward the computer section and meet with Mrs. Clearscan. I believe she’s now just waiting for all those who signed up to come there.” The receptionist pointed them toward their destination, and both teens thanked her with a nod and started their walk. “Sheesh, Canterlot people are too cheery,” Quibble whispered. Rundown resisted the urge to groan audibly and instead whispered back, “What the fuck are you talking about now?” “C'mon man, don’t tell me you don’t see it? I mean, yeah, they got us beat in the quality of what they actually have. But you put a Sunny Town first year jock against a senior Canterlot jock? That first yearer is gonna earn themselves bragging rights!” “Well the uppity part I get, but I don’t think street survival translates to sports. You got any proof?” “Hey, first hand experience!” Quibble stopped in his tracks and spun around, smiling wide. “I remember one day I got roped into watching one of my cousin’s swim relays, and while we were waiting for her to finish up I happened upon some CHS jocks. I remember seeing this one loser, Flash Magnus or maybe it was Frantic Sentry or something. He had that Sunny Town creep look in his eye, but compared to who we got on the teams? Guy’s a noodle.” Rundown shook his head, “So… how’d you learn his name exactly?” Qubble suddenly lost his smug smile. “Well… I sort of… laughed at the way he was actually flexing for his mates. When he tried to confront me about it, I couldn’t resist pointing out that he would fit the perfect TvTropes definition of a Gary Stu given how he looked so completely boring and way too much like the ideal jock. Seriously, the way looked felt like he was made for just being the perfect boring person right out of some movie.” “Wait, is this how you ended up with that bloodied shirt you showed off?” Rundown asked. “Oh hell no! That shirt was because of… well, why I ended up watching my cousin’s thing in the first place! Look, point is, these Canterlot guys think they’re on top, but they wouldn’t last a day in Sunny Town. They’re The Enemy don’t forget!” Quibble smiled again for a second, before he brought his hand to his chin in thought. “Well, except for that one jock I met there. This dude named Soarin’. Don’t know why, but him and I just really seemed to get along.” “You know you never told me about what got you in trouble that day,” Rundown mentioned as they passed into the computer section that was mentioned to them. Both of the stopped and looked as they saw chairs arranged around in a semicircle with a silver haired women standing at the helm. Said women took notice of them, a small smile appearing. “Hello, are you two here for our preservation project?” Rundown took the lead, “Yeah, are you Mrs. Clearscan?” “I am,” she confirmed. “May I ask your names?” “Rundown, and this is Quibble Pants.” Clearscan’s eye quirked, and Rundown resisted the urge to show he noticed. “Ah, you’re the two from Sunny Town, yes?” Before either could answer, her gaze returned to normal as she added, “Well any help is appreciated. If you two could take a seat, we’re just waiting for the rest of the group. You’re actually the first to arrive.” Releasing a breath, Rundown hastily took the nearest seat with Quibble following suit. “So… do you know who else’ll be here?” “Including myself, there should be twelve us total. My main organizer did tell me she would be running a tad late, so if need be we can start without her and the ones she will be bringing.” Clearscan explained. She looked over toward the entrance of the area, “Ah! Are you here for the program?” The two teens looked behind them and saw two girls walking in. Both of them looked like they were more easy going than your typical Canterlot student, but they both seemed to carry a hint of upper class about them. One had dark gray hair while the other had white with a highlight of lime green. “Yeah! Name’s Gabriella, but like, everyone just like to call me Gabby!” the one with dark gray hair answered, that color betraying how bubbly she was. “Greta,” said the other, more straight to the point than her apparent friend. “Welcome! Please, have a seat while we wait for the others,” Clearscan greeted. Both girls nodded, taking seats on a side of the circle away from Rundown and Quibble. “More like sugar and spice, am I right?” Quibble whispered. “Dude,” Rundown growled as low as he could. “Not. Now.” “What? Dude, c'mon, you hate fun all of a sudden?” “Just don’t say anything you think would make you end up with a bloody nose.” “I know you’re thinking the same, man.” Rundown eased up. It was true. Gabby seemed like she was the one girl that no one except the most stuck up people hated. Meanwhile Greta seemed to really be hitting the gene lottery and would turning into one of those 'if you got it flaunt it' types that— He twitched as he stopped that train of thought. He wasn’t winning any integrity awards any time soon if he kept this up. “Excuse me?” a new voice spoke up. All eyes looked to see a teen boy now entering, his light sea green hair making him stand out. “This the volunteer work? Name’s Sky Stinger.” A second look told everyone that he for sure seemed to be from more upper class area, which made Rundown wonder what a guy like him was doing here. “You’re in the right place!” Clearscan, confirmed. “Please have a seat.” “Hmm, competition?” Quibble whispered. Rundown was about elbow him, but he saw Sky Stinger immediately move toward Gabby and Greta. The former immediately seemed to be interested in him - or perhaps she did that with everyone - and on that observation Rundown merely decided to stay still. Though now he was noticing something. So far it seemed like none of them were actually from Canterlot, which only furthered his previous thought on why they were all the way over here? If anything, despite it being… it, Sunny Town was the closest so it made the most sense so far for them to be here. It didn’t seem like they were frequent visitors if Mrs. Clearscan didn’t recognize them. Was it really just others looking for a chance to do good in some way? “Cinco, quatro, tres, dos, uno…” he heard Quibble whisper. “It’s over here!” yet a new voice sounded. “Yep, I knew it!” he cheered to himself. Rundown ignored him as he took a look at who was talking before. Another girl, but this one seemed like she wasn’t as high class as the others - or at the very least was completely lax given the way her pink scarf was hanging down. Of all the others she looked the most at place here given her glasses and how he managed to see she had braces on. “Ah, Plaid Stripes, it’s good to see you again,” Clearscan greeted. That confirmed to Rundown she was definitely the one who fit in most here as she eagerly took a chair. Unlike the next arrival, which almost caused Rundown to fall out of his seat. At first he thought it was an adult, but then he saw a school uniform and realized that she definitely was not an adult. She towered over everyone else, and her goldenrod hair really accentuated her. He took a quick glance to Quibble, whose mouth was open slightly and he didn't want to begin to imagine what was going through his head. She had a passive face on her, but that quickly turned to a bit of aggression as she looked right to the two of them. “Got something to say?” she asked. He turned away, almost ducking in his seat as he realized his own mouth was hanging open too. Flashes of Debonair were in his head where she was his goddess and the two of them— With slight force he bit his tongue to try and get himself under control. Looking to Quibble, he actually seemed to get the hint not to try his luck and was ducking down in a vane effort to appear less noticeable. One look to each other and they both wordlessly agreed that she was an ‘avoid at all costs’ one. “Now, miss, let’s just remain calm,” Clearscan lectured. “Allow me, Mrs. Clearscan.” Rundown dared to look back up, seeing yet another arrival standing there. Though he didn’t know if it eased the tension as she was dwarfed by the tower of rage standing there still. “She’s my cousin, and I did encourage her to come, so let me take responsibility.” She had one hand on the other’s arm, and she seemed to be more calm compared to before. “Very well, Bon-Bon. I assumed Trixie and the rest of you are here as well?” “Er… sort of. There was an issue with transport, so they told me to go on ahead.” She stepped away from her cousin, composing herself and adjusting her glasses. “They told me they’ll be here in a few minutes, but they’re aware of all the details from me. We can work out the ‘wheres’ and ‘whens’ once they get here.” “Very well, I suppose then we can get started. If there are no issues from anyone, let’s just all be seated.” Rundown turned back forward, but as he did he heard from behind him from Bon-Bon’s cousin, “I’ll stand, thank you.” He shivered a bit. They didn’t even get to the creep accusations and already he felt like he was running naked into a blizzard. “I swear, mom, you make me wish sometimes I could actually disappear,” Trixie grumbled as she turned out of the driveway. “So… she somehow managed to flood the car?” Free asked. “Isn’t that like… impossible these days?” “Oh it’s very much possible when you have a mother who can’t let go of old trends, such as this old van here until she gets one of those electric cars that she so wants,” Trixie explained. “That and trying to remind me of ‘driving safely’ despite me acing my written and driven test. Delayed us so much that I think we could have caught the next train and gotten there faster.” “Isn’t the library just a couple stops away?” Deb asked from the backseat. “Yeah, but point still stands.” Trixie looked into the rear-view mirror, right to Deb. “How are you holding up?” “I’m feeling fine. Did Bon-Bon reply yet about those guys?” “Dunno yet,” Trixie answered. “Free, can you check my phone? Gotta watch the road. Should be unlocked still.” Free nodded as she held the device up. With this delay, Trixie had offered up the idea to Bon-Bon to case out the three guys that would be with them for Deb’s sake. “Erm, oh!” Free exclaimed. “She says that so far things look okay. Apparently though the worst that’s happened though is her… cousin causing a scene?” Trixie snickered. “Oh man, I completely forgot. Bon-Bon actually convinced her to come try this just to perhaps loosen up, I knew she wouldn’t make a good first impression if she wasn’t there.” Deb and Free exchanged looks with each other. “Is there something we should know?” Free asked. “Well aside from the fact that she and I happen to have similar hair styles when we don’t do anything with them? And I only bring that up cause my mom, ahem, ‘suggested’ that she was my soulmate because of that.” Free rolled her eyes at that comment. “Yeah, aside from that.” “You’ll see. Just whatever you do, do not freak out.” “I didn’t know Bon-Bon had a cousin,” Deb chimed in. “They have the same grandmother. You don’t see her ‘cause she’s all the way up in San Palomino. Only met her in person once, which happened to be when my mom also met her.” Trixie shook her head. “Since then it’s only been face-timing between her and Bonnie I’ve heard.” Deb leaned back to process this info. This was certainly shaping up to be an interesting meet up. “So… nothing about those guys?” she asked. “Nothing yet,” Free confirmed. “Bonnie says that so far none of the guys have tried anything. In fact the only one making a scene - aside from her cousin - is one of the Everfree girls who won’t keep quiet.” “Oh… I see…” she mumbled. Free turned to look back at her friend. “Hey, I won’t let anything happen. They won’t get a chance to try anything. And they’ll be on their asses if they do.” “Before you try anything illegal,” Trixie chimed in, “because you still can’t just punch them unless they actually get physical, let’s wait and see. But we could just keep her separated from them for now. This is just the first day and we need to actually see what rolls best with who’s on what and where.” “Idea still stands though.” Free turned to sit herself back down, and then she looked at her phone again. “What the fuck? Quibble is there?!” That caught Deb’s attention. “Quibble… as in your cousin Quibble?” “Quibble and Pants, so it’s him!” Free put down Trixie’s phone, bringing both hands to her forehead. “What the fuck is he doing there?! He’s good with tech, but a library might as well be a gas chamber to him!” “But… doesn’t that mean we got at least one guy who we can keep under control?” “Only if he knows I’m there! He has to be there to try and hit on girls! That’s the only reason he ever goes outside if it’s not work, school, Best Buy, or a Gamestop!” Free yelled. “Alright before your screaming causes me to pull over, mind explaining some things to me?” Trixie asked. “Quibble Pants is one of my cousins, and he does nothing but think with his dick except when he’s at his job. He does basically nothing but try to look at girls or play his video games or both.” “Both?” Trixie questioned. “Yes!” “Okay, but that just sounds like he’s just… well, stupid. It’s not like he’s actually done anything dangerous, right?” “Trix, Bonnie’s handling her cousin, so lemme handle mine. Quib wouldn’t ever come here on his own, so I’m more worried that somehow this other guy managed to convince him to come along. Quib’s from Sunny Town you should know.” Trixie’s eyes widen in realization for a split second. “Well we’ll be there in a minute, so we can find out what’s going on ourselves.” She glanced over to Deb in the back. “In the meantime, just stick with me for now.” Deb gave a slow nod. “Alright…” Bon-Bon sighed, finally getting her cousin to calm down and focus on the computer and scanner for the task at hand. Stout Spirit may be hard to push around, but being family Bon-Bon knew certain buttons she could push to get around that barrier. The one pushed being a nickname that Spirit absolutely despised and merely uttering the words ‘keep calm and’ got Spirit to clam up lest Bon-Bon finish that. Though that was all the more reminder that this first impression didn’t go so good when Spirit entered the scene, so things were awkward right from the start. After having everything explained to the rest of the volunteers, they all got split up into varying groups. Right now she was still in the main computer area with Spirit and Plaid Stripes, while the rest had been divided up and brought into some of the back rooms of the library where there would be more equipment to use. She still wondered about those two Sunny Town boys, especially because she suddenly recognized that one of them was Quibble Pants. Even though she didn’t really spend time with Free, she did hear about a certain skinny dipping spying that he did. She wasn’t sure if his buddy was one of the ones involved in that, but regardless she did some tactical planning and separated them so that Free could watch Quibble and Trixie could keep an eye on the other along with that Bella Vista boy when they arrived. She decided it would be best to have Debonair with all girls so Bon-Bon would supervise this group and she would be guaranteed safe hands with her and Spirit. She only hoped that there wouldn’t be any trouble on the horizon.