//------------------------------// // Chapter 17: Payback time // Story: The Tournament Of Friendship // by FourShadow //------------------------------// Afternoon in the city was pretty busy. Everyone was running around, doing jobs, running errands, or just doing whatever. And one former bully was wandering the streets on her way home. Her associates were busy otherwise, and she had nothing else to do. All that came to mind was just to go home and get some work done. Maybe get some more dresses done for her boutique? But then again, would anyone really come to her place considering her past? Doubting herself by the second, she stopped when someone familiar called her name. "Rarity?" Rarity's skin was cold. That familiar green spiked hairstyle, cherry red lips, punk outfit, it all came back to her. "Oh! C-Cherry Crash, um, uh... w-what's going on?" Rarity tittered. She was anticipating another small form of attack, more trash, or another drink to her face. "Rarity, let me talk," Cherry said, stopping her. "Look... as much as I loathe you and the rest of your Rainbooms, part of me has come to realize that neither one of us are going to be happy at the rate this is going. So..." She said, biting her tongue. "I was wondering if maybe... you... would... want... to talk?" "That looked painful," Rarity observed. "But really though, darling, I'm not sure... I mean--" "Rarity, look, I'm trying to be nice, please, just let me--" Cherry paused, realizing how rude she was starting to sound. "Look. I don't know if I'll like you or not, but I did think of something that we could do. There's a diner just on the other side, it's got good food, how about we just sit and talk?" All alarms went off inside of Rarity's head, telling her to turn the other way. She didn't want to go, but she did hear some form of sincerity from Cherry's voice. At least, she hoped it was sincere. "Um, I suppose we could," Rarity said, raising her shields a little bit. "Where is this diner?" "Oh, it's down on the other side, behind this set of buildings. I know a shortcut though, we just gotta go through this alleyway, make a right turn, and then turn left, and that will take us to the small diner on the other side. Come on!" Hesitantly, Rarity started to follow after. Cherry Crash turned to the right, vanishing from her eyes. But as Rarity turned around, a hand yanked her from off the side and slammed her against the granite brick wall. "It's payback time, Rarity," Cherry snarled, no longer looking happy. "W-What are you doing? Unhand me, please!" Rarity said, trying to get herself free from Cherry's grasp. "Ohohoho, no. You're not going anywhere. You['re not getting off the hook that easy." Months of torment and rage were seething through her breath as she held her down. "Do you honestly think I would just forgive you like that!?" Cherry said, holding her against the wall. "You and your so called 'friends' are nothing but the biggest bullies in this city. Oh, well now it's time you see how it feels when you're the one who suffers!" Rarity gulped. "W-What do you mean..." Cherry sneered. "You remember when you sabotaged our stage performance, humiliating us in front of the entire audience? Well, do you?" Rarity quivered but nodded. "You got me and my band disqualified, and my guitar smashed! Well now it's time you have a taste of your own medicine..." Reaching behind her back, Rarity was fearing what she was pulling out. She was hoping it wasn't going to be what she hoped, but it was much worse. Scissors, trimmers, clippers... everything needed to cut away hair. "Now hold still!" "No, no!" Rarity tried to fight back, but Cherry had a tight grip on her shoulders. And it was too late. Cherry started going psycho with the scissors making random cuts and snips into her hair. It was clear she had no barber skills based on her lunging like a wacko. "Agh! No! Please! Stop!" "We're not done!" Before Rarity could react, a cold splash of water hit her face, making her cough a bit. And she got sprayed again like one would do to a cat. "There we go, now we can begin the trim!" Rarity tried to resist as hard as she could, but once again, she had no luck. The trimmer came to her head, and she started to see big clumps of her once beautiful flowing indigo hair fall into the damp puddles in the alleyway. She cried and begged as loud as she could, but no one could hear her. She wasn't sure if anyone could see what was going on, and she felt as if the entire world had gone completely silent. "And this... is for everything!" Cherry snarled, ready to make her final marks. Rarity however decided that enough was enough. Remembering an old trick that Rainbow Dash had taught her when she was still a bully, she swung her knee up and hit Cherry in the stomach temporarily pushing her away. "OW!" Cherry immediately went to hold onto her stomach, almost getting the wind knocked out of her. Taking her chance, Rarity dashed as fast as she could, making her run. But when she ran out of the alleyway, her heels came to a grinding halt. The reality of the situation hit her like a bomb. She was going to have to run home with her hair now in shreds. But Cherry Crash was going to be chasing after her very soon! Knowing she had no other option, she high-heeled her way down the sidewalk and sprinted like a marathon runner. She blew by everyone in a flash, trying to avoid being caught as soon as possible. Only a few bystanders saw, some were confused. Some were pretty shocked. And a few fainted from the mere sight. But a good percentage of eyes were focusing on her and her messed up hair. The poor ex-bully threw herself over a bench, high-tailing it through a park and ran past a few kids who were playing on the playground. Tears were flying off her face as she ran, trying not to break down in the middle of the park. No one could even say hi or ask if anything was wrong because by the time they did, Rarity was long gone, out of their sights. Some time had passed since Rarity ran from the alleyway. Now she had made it to her home, quickly unlocking the door and rushing inside before slamming it hard. She quickly locked it back up and ran upstairs to hide in her room. Flipping the lock to her room, back against the door, she felt her heart about to jump out of her chest. Her legs became wobbly, and she slowly slid against the door all the way down onto the carpeted floor. She didn't have the strength to try and stand back up. Her arm steadily reached to the desk that was nearby, her fingers managing to wrap around the handle of a small hand-held mirror. Her mouth became dry and her eyes watered as she looked back at herself in the reflection. A good portion of her hair had been ripped, sheered, or cut straight out. It was a miracle that any hair was remaining at all, she could practically see her bald spots. Her hand felt the top of her head, feeling the loss of her hair follicles. She dropped the mirror onto the floor, her eyes watering up even more. Lips began to quiver, until she buried her face in her arms. Soft whimpering emitted before she started to ball her eyes out. She threw herself straight onto her 'drama couch', burying her face into the fuzzy cover. How could she have been so blind? How did she not see her true intentions? The small splash at the Welcome Crystal Prep party should have been an indication, but she was so sure she wanted to open up! But everything stopped when she heard a knock on the door. "Um, Rarity? Is everything alright in there?" "Everything is fine, mother!" Rarity called out, trying her hardest not to show her true state. "Are you sure, because you just--" "JUST LEAVE ME ALONE, PLEASE!" "... well, alright. Just come down if you need anything. I know things are hard for you, but... you know your father and I are always there for you, right?" Rarity stopped. She almost took her own parents for granted. But she wasn't in any shape or desire to show them what had happened. Instead she just let out a soft 'yes', hoping that her mother would leave her alone. Eventually she did leave, allowing Rarity to be by herself. She tossed herself onto her bed, crying and clenching her knees. Meow. Looking down, she saw a small white kitten bounce up onto her bed and walk towards her. It sat up, looking towards her owner. A purple color was around it's neck, accompanied by a single diamond in the middle, showing this cat belonged to something of royalty. The kitten's tail swished side to side, focusing on the disheveled girl. "Oh, Opal..." Rarity sobbed, picking up the small kitten. The kitten meowed as it got picked up by Rarity's tender arms. Another soft meow came out of it's mouth before Rarity held it close to her body, hugging it. Opal was a gift from Fluttershy, a pet that she offered to take from the animal shelter. But over the course of time, Rarity found that owning a cat was one of the best decisions she ever made. The cat always greeting her to say hi when she got home, or rubbing up against her wanting to be close, or even on her most gloomy of days the cat always came to her to snuggle up and be greeted by Rarity's attention. "What is wrong with me, Opal? How could I have been so stupid!?" Rarity wailed, hugging her cat. Opal could feel Rarity's sadness and started to snuzzle Rarity's cheek, purring contently. "How can I go back to school like this? I'm a laughingstock!" Rarity bawled. "My friends can't see me like this!" Rarity had no idea what to do. All she did know was to hold the kitty close, hugging it with as much comfort as she could while it purred, rubbing against her. Cherry gave up on trying to pursue Rarity the moment she cut through the park. Part of her was still seething with rage, albeit thankful she got some form of revenge on that fashion caring bully. She cut back through to the main streets of the city, wandering around for a moment or two. But she stopped when she looked to her left and her skin went cold. Flash Sentry, Brawly Beats, Sandalwood, Micro Chips, Sweet Leaf, Teddy Touchdown. All of them were sitting together at the cafe she was in front of, sitting in the outside area underneath an umbrella, sipping drinks and sharing a few laughs. Now was not the time to be talking to them. Slowly turning around, she started to tip-toe away-- "Cherry?" Cherry's shoulders tensed up. Slowly spinning around, all eyes from the table were on her. "Cherry? What are you doing here, I thought you were hanging with someone else," Brawly Beats asked. "And why do you look like you ran a marathon?" Sweet Leaf asked. Cherry blinked. "I ended up playing in traffic just trying to make it across the street. ... Okay, I had to do that seven times in a row, truthfully speaking--" "--What's that on your boot?" Sandalwood asked, looking down. Cherry's eyes sunk as she looked down. Clumps of Rarity's hair had stuck to her boots, still in small hairballs. There was no way she was going to hide it. If there was anything she wasn't, it was a good liar. But maybe she could twist the truth? "Okay. I'm going to level with you. I... I ran into Rarity as I was walking through town." "Uh-huh," Sandalwood said, not convinced by her tone. "And while I was hesitant, I gave her some help when she needed it, that was it, and I really need to--" "Wait one second..." Flash said, stopping her. "What were you doing with Rarity?" "Oh she needed my help--" "--With what?" Flash continued. Cherry was a little startled by his interruption, but she kept talking. "She had something stuck in her hair, and as much as I hated doing it, she asked me to help get it out of her hair, and I did." Flash and his friends still weren't buying it. "Now hang on, just a few hours ago, I saw you splashing punch in her face. Now suddenly you're helping her with her hair?" Flash asked suspiciously. "Flash, is it wrong to help when someone is in need?" "No. But I've known you for a long time, and you don't warm up to just anyone in a few hours," Flash said with a glare. "And I know how much you despise Rarity, more than any of the others." "So what if I do?" Cherry asked, trying to play it off calm. "You keep talking about wanting to exact revenge on her when you had the chance," Brawly pointed out. "I can't recall a single day that went by without you muttering something the moment someone has one mention of those girls." Cherry gulped. "Okay, so maybe I do, but..." "I think there's something that you're not telling us," Teddy huffed, getting up from the table, looking tough. Now Cherry wanted to run; Teddy Touchdown was a pretty tough athlete, he could tackle you down without getting a scratch on his skin. Linebackers were always the ones you never wanted to make mad. "Or not wanting us to know," Micro Chips added, crossing his arms. "Cherry, tell us the truth. What did you actually do?" Flash asked, insistently. Cherry's brows furled and she groaned louder than before. And without thinking, she blurted out the grim truth, making all of Flash and his friends gasp in shock. "Okay, I shaved her head!" A solemn row of silence hushed over the group of friends. "You did WHAT!?" Teddy exclaimed. "Why would you do that!?" Brawly asked, trying not to explode. "How could you?" Sweet Leaf pleaded, trying not to believe. "Rarity is just so... argh! She got me and my band disqualified at the Battle of the Bands, she always keep trying to push me down, she keeps making me look like a fool! I'm sick of being stepped on, and I was doing all of you a favor!" Cherry thrust her arms down straight. Flash's glare grew bigger. "And you thought assaulting her in an alleyway was the right thing to do!?" Flash yelled, not caring how many witnesses would be around. "You would have done the same thing, Flash!" Flash's teeth were grit. "No, I wouldn't. Those girls have done many things, but does assaulting them make us any better than they were? They're trying to be better people, and shaving their heads off isn't going to make them want to get better!" "I can't believe you, dude!" Sandalwood threw his arms up. "Walking away without saying a word is one thing. Being passive-aggressive is one thing! Assaulting them in an alleyway? ... That's... that's not cool, dude." "That's an understatement," Sweet Leaf shook her head. "And if this is just how she is with one of them, who's to say she won't try similar actions with the rest of the group?" Micro Chips inquired, making everyone else look with some concern. "I'm not going to do that to the others! It was just one, that's it! Besides, she'll grow her hair back, it'll be okay," Cherry huffed. Now Flash was even more disgusted. Someone he knew, someone he trusted, acted as if assaulting someone meant completely nothing. He was still trying to warm up to them being nice, but after this? If he hadn't been a lot nice before, oh he was going to be nicer to them for sure! Upset, no longer hungry, he pushed himself out of his chair and stood up looking at her with a disappointed/dismayed face. "No, Cherry. It's not. It was never okay, and it's not okay now. And you know what? If you think that taking petty revenge into your own hands is okay, then... I don't want to hang out with you anymore." Cherry was aghast. "What?" "Get out of here Cherry, I don't want to talk to you anymore, I don't want to hang out with you anymore, and you should go before I say or do something I'll regret!" "Fine! I will! But come on guys, you can't possibly tell me you all are on his side?" No one responded. Well, for a few moments. For a little bit, all of them just gave her harsh glares with folded up arms and disapproving faces. "You know something, Cherry Crash? I may not have liked the Rainbooms, but after what you did? I hope Rarity isn't so emotionally broken that she decides to change schools because of you!" Sweet Leaf barked. "Maybe I might want to start talking to her from now on. Does that mean you're going to try and shave my head the next time I'm alone with you?" Teddy asked, starting to back her up. Taller, more muscular, and a linebacker. A combination that Cherry knew she would not last against. With no choice, Cherry ran as fast as she could. Defeated, she ran for dear life, not looking back to see if an angry linebacker was going to chase her. But once she was gone, Flash slumped back in his chair, a heavy sigh escaping his lungs. His hands held his face as he tried to comprehend what he had just heard. Part of him was hoping that it wasn't true, he hoped it wasn't true. "I knew she wanted back but... I didn't think she would actually do it," Flash said, trying to process this new information. A soft hand patted his shoulder. Looking up, Flash saw Sweet Leaf offering a small heart-warming smile. "So... what do we do now?" Brawly asked. "It's not like we can just ignore this." "I don't know. I... I don't know." Flash's head raised. "I want to tell the principals, but... I don't know. But I know what I can do." Flash reached into his pocket, pulling out his cellphone. His fingers tapped on the digits, and then he held the phone to his ear, hoping the number he dialed would work. He waited a few seconds until the number he called finally picked up. "Hi, Rainbow Dash, this is Flash. I know it's weird I'm calling you out of nowhere but, there's something you and the rest of the girls need to know..."