Thursday, 3:30 PM.
The school day was coming to an end, with most students who didn't have clubs heading home and walking out the main entrance. A certain quintet walked in the opposite direction, heading toward the detention room. They ignored the noise around them, having a somewhat heated debate.
"Why can't we tell June the truth," Sunny asked her friends. The Shadowbolts didn't have any spy equipment they could use on Canterlot, and they didn't think they could get any equipment by tomorrow. So they decided to see if Juniper, who had a background in broadcasting, had anything that could help them.
However, Sunny felt that, since Juniper might help them out, the blue-green haired girl deserved to know the truth about what really happened at the Friendship Games. The conspiracy so far had been kept under wraps. The code of silence that existed in CPA had a strange benefit for once, especially since it had helped rid them of their selfish principal.
Sunny felt that Juniper shouldn't be lied to, but she was up against the cold pragmatism of her friends.
"Telling the truth could backfire, as Juniper could reveal magic to the world, causing mass chaos and panic among world governments," Sugarcoat replied. "Not to mention revealing Cadence's conspiracy, thus costing the pink woman and a lot of our teachers their jobs." Sunny's exasperation faded a bit at Sugarcoat's harsh summation of what could go wrong.
"June's our friend now. Do you really think June will fink to the government," Sunny asked pleadingly.
"I trust June," Sour said happily. She then frowned. "It's her big mouth I don't trust!"
"She does still run her mouth a bit," Indigo muttered. While Indigo had gained a lot of respect for June, that didn't mean she wasn't still annoyed by her techobabble. "And she's a nerd like Twilight. She could end playing with the magic as well." Sunny shook a bit at another hapless person dying because of messing with magic
"She could be a narc for all we know," Sour said. "She could be the kind of person who snitches on us for having pot."
"Look, the less people who know about this the better," Sugarcoat said. "We're lucky someone hasn't spilled the beans."
"I guess," Sunny said. "But I just think since we are asking her to do a lot-,"
"We can take her out shopping as a reward," Indigo said. "But this is one thing we talk the least about." Sunny sighed, reluctantly accepting that bringing too many people into the truth was too risky. They approached the detention room.
They noticed that since Cinch was gone, the room had the bars removed. This signaled Cadence's plans to turn detention from a punishment to a rehabilitation program. Full of trust exercises, group therapy, and all that other mushy junk. They opened the door, and saw a group of troubled students sitting around some dude in a circle. The man had rose skin, brunette hair in a ponytail, sandals, a green suit, and beard.
He was the environmental science teacher named Gentle Wind. Like many of CPA's teachers, he had been more then just a teacher. He had also worked as an environmental activist, lobbying for wetland conservation. Despite being somewhat at odds with Cinch, his experience made him valuable as a professor. Like Cadence, he was a reformer, although he often behaved like some spiritual guru/hippie.
"Now, lets get to know one another," the man said in a chill and compassionate voice. "Forget about the pain and misery, and see how we can rise above to be something better." He looked at Gilda. "Let's talk about why you punched that poor kid."
"The idiot tried to hit me Mr. Wind" The muscular girl growled. "He was waving some stupid paper in my face."
"Are you sure he was trying to hit you," Mr. Wind asked, holding up the paper. "It looks like some petition related to wildlife protection. Are you sure he wasn't trying to get your signature?"
"Uh, well, maybe," Gilda said, looking slightly remorseful.
The Shadowbolts looked at the group in question, but didn't see Juniper anywhere, to their confusion.
"Mr. Wind," Sunny asked. The rose-skinned man looked toward the group. "Where's Juniper?"
"Juniper," Mr. Wind asked. "Well, Principal Cadence called and said she was being given 'special detention'. I don't know where that is, but she was excused."
"Lucky," Gilda muttered. She turned her neck to face the Shadowbolts with a warm smile. "Tell June I said hi."
Sunny silently nodded with a smile of her own. Gilda was quite a character.
She had been suspended from CHS for a fight, and Cinch had let her into CPA because of her physical fitness on the basis.
Gilda was one of the oddest people in CPA. She was one of the school's top athletes, and she had the temperament of a rhino. Yet she was not a member of the school's social elite (not enjoying shopping or seeking social status) nor was she a bully. She was more or less a wild card, with her talent making her indispensable at athletic competitions. What she admired was true strength, and thus she, of all people, could find a friend in someone like Juniper.
The Shadowbolts left, and the group went back to their group exercise.
"OK class," Mr. Wind said. "Let us now deal with our aggression." He pulled out a pillow. "By punching this pillow." He handed it off to Gilda. "Gilda why don't you..."
Gilda didn't so much punch the pillow as maul it. Each punch slowly push feathers out. Other students began squirming in their chairs, trying to move as far away as Gilda as possible. Mr. Wind, however, watched with joy.
"Glad to see I'm making a difference," Mr. Wind.
******
Juniper sat in the science lab, assembling a power box. She was so focused on her work, she barely noticed the door opening up.
"Hey June," she heard Sunny's voice call. Juniper looked up, and saw the Shadowbolts approaching her.
"Hey guys," she greeted them warmly. They flinched a bit, seeing her face still bruised and swollen.
"How's the face," Indigo asked with a sheepish smile.
"Still throbbing," Juniper said with a pained smile. "But not as bad as this morning."
"That is the pain worthy of a champion," Indigo said, raising her fist into the air, which Juniper repeated.
"How did you get out of detention," Sour asked. "Did you threaten to break the Principal's legs!"
"No," Juniper said with a smile. "I'm still in detention, but Cadence said I can be in any room I want in the school. She doesn't want me to get into another fight, but she thinks I did the right thing, and is going easy me."
"What are you working on," Sunny asked Juniper.
"Trying to connect the AC motor and the battery, in order to provide adequate power to the radio-,"
"June," Indigo warned. "You have to stop sounding like an encyclopedia! You don't sound smart, you just sound obnoxious."
"Sorry," Juniper said with a flinch. "I'm just building a remote control car."
"Cool," Indigo said.
"Uh June," Sunny asked. "We're here because we need your help with something."
"What," Juniper asked.
"Uh," Sunny stammered, "well..."
"We think CHS is pulling a prank on us," Sour said kindly. "And we want to catch them with their pants down!" Calling a feigned death "a prank" was a bit odd, but it technically was true.
"Then why not report them," Juniper said.
"Because," Indigo said, putting on a sly smile, "we...want to get them back too. And knowing the plans of the enemy is the best way to deal with them."
"Sure," Juniper said, putting on a devious smile of her own. "I'd love to help my fellow criminals and their evil plot." Sunny let out an honest smile. She liked that Juniper, while a good person, wasn't so much of a square not to enjoy a good prank.
"Do you have something that we can use to spy on them," Sugarcoat asked. "I mean, you do want to work in broadcasting, so we figured you have some cameras."
"Say no more," Juniper said. "I actually built my own spy drone."
"Really," asked Sour.
"Yep. I took a hobby class, and my drone was the final result," Juniper asked. "So what time should we be spying on them?"
"Tomorrow morning," Indigo said. She did a double take. "Wait, what do you mean we?"
"Well, can't I join in," Juniper asked. "I mean, I want in on whatever prank you guys are pulling."
"Uh, well..."
"Sure," Sunny said with a forced smile, ignoring the cold looks her friends were giving her. "We'd love for you to join in."
"Sure," Juniper said. She noticed the unhappy looks on their faces. "Is everything OK?"
"Everything is fine," Indigo said with a forced smile. "You'll have the drone by tomorrow?"
"Sure," Juniper said, her smile kind of forced. "Alright, we'll I'll see you tomorrow." The girls walked out of the room, with some giving her a friendly wave. Just as they left, Sour's frustration boiled over.
"WHY DID YOU INVITE HER," Sour bellowed as they left. "YOU KNOW SHE MIGHT NOT KEEP HER MOUTH SHUT!" She was so lost in her anger, she was unaware that Juniper heard her words, with a small frown.
"You do realize the risk," Sugarcoat said, unhappy with Sunny.
"Look," Sunny said looking down, trying to think of an excuse. "The odds are that all this is...nothing and Twilight Sparkle is really dead. If that is true, then June can't possibly find out the truth. If Twilight is alive, we don't have any secret to keep, because she didn't really die. The ball is in Twilight's court." The Shadowbolts heard this, and reluctantly accepted the answer.
"Fine," Sugarcoat said. "But please ask us before you play with fire." Sunny nodded. She felt a bit heavy with what they were about to do. She dreaded that whatever answer she got, if Twilight was really alive or not, she wouldn't like the result.