Sunset sputtered as she was dunked into the water again. Though she was used to the cold water, the fact that the dunks were few and far between (40-something dunks out of about 300-or -so tries) meant she could never be truly prepared for the more annoying splash.
For some reason, pulling herself out of the water this time was more of a chore then it had ever been before. She felt somewhat tired, but not in the "rest your head" kind of way.
"Maybe all the dunking is making me tired", Sunset thought to herself as she reached for the ladder in a daze.
"OK everybody," Sprint said into the microphone. "We're gonna be taking a break for lunch. You can all dunk the demon in an hour." The students began filing out, a small smile on everyone's faces.
"Finally", Sunset thought. For some reason, she wasn't feeling excited. Maybe she was just so tired. Sunset got off the collapsible seat and lowered herself to the floor of the gym.
"So how much did she make?" Sprint asked Quick Pace as Sunset walked up to them.
"Well, according to my tallies," Quick said, pulling up some paper with tally marks written in pencil, "about 329 throws have been made. We charged 5 dollars a throw. So that would be about..."
"About 1600 dollars?" Sunset asked, feeling her voice hoarse.
"Yeah, that's about right," Quick said. "You've paid off about three-quarters of what you owe us."
"Don't we have to subtract it from the cost of renting this thing," Sunset asked, her voice a little hoarse.
"That's the good part," Sprint said with a sly grin. "The guy I rented this from said since this is being done for a non-profit organization, he can loan it to us for free and get a tax dedication."
"Really?" Sunset said with a small smile. "That's-," she felt herself cough.
"Sunset," Quick asked with concern. "Are you OK?"
"Yeah," Sunset said, feeling like her throat was being cut with glass. "I'm-," she let out another cough. She started to wheeze.
"No, you're not fine," Sprint said in a serious tone. Sunset felt Sprint put his hand on her forehead. "You're getting a fever," Sprint said with more alarm. "You've been dunked for so long, you're probably getting a cold."
"I'm fine," Sunset insisted in her wheezy voice. "I can handle a few more dunks in the-,"
"No you need to go to the nurse!" Sprint said in a serious tone. "Trust me Sunset! That cold is small now. But it could easily become pneumonia. That happened to me after I fell into a frozen lake during a skiing trip and I nearly died."
"I still have to pay you guys-," Sunset protested, before she descended into a coughing fit. For some reason, she began to feel dizzy.
"You can pay us back later, I don't want you to get sick," Sprint said. "Quick!"
"Come on Sunny," Quick said, "I'll take you to the nurse." Sunset reluctantly let Quick take her hand, who led her down the hall.
"Where's your schedule?" Quick asked.
"Why?" Sunset asked the redheaded freshman in a daze.
"So I can get your homework from the teachers," Quick said. "You're probably gonna be sent home today."
"Sure," Sunset said, handing him the slip of paper. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it," Quick said. "You're risking infection and death to pay us back."
"I'll do anything to get everyone's trust back," Sunset said.
Quick gave Sunset a proud smile as the two made their way to the nurse's office. Applejack, meanwhile, looked this scene with no small amount of joy.
"Sunset's finally making some friends",Applejack thought happily.
3 DAYS LATER
Sunset returned to Canterlot High after a few days. The worst of her fever had passed and despite feeling drowsy, she still felt healthy enough to return to school.
Her mood improvement significantly as she entered school, because the mood around her changed for the better.
For the first time since her suspension ended, no one was glaring at her or shoving her in the hall. Whenever she walked by someplace, nobody was dropping what they were doing to sneer at her or make some nasty remark.
I mean, no one was going out of their way to wave at her, or ask her how she was. But for the first time in weeks, no one was wasting their energy showing her hatred.
For Sunset, that was a step in the right direction. Sunset felt a small smile return to her face as she walked down the halls.
Sunset entered Cranky's classroom, and prepared to pull her chair to the front to face everyone like she usually did.
"Sunset," Mr. Cranky said. Sunset looked up. His once cold look was replaced with something...resembling approval. "You can sit wherever you like now."
"Really?" Sunset said.
"After what you did, you've proven to me that you can be trusted," Cranky said, a ghost of a proud smile on his face. For Sunset, the feeling was worth more to her than any of the praise he gave her for her grades.
"Thank you sir," Sunset said in a small voice, suppressing a sob of joy.
"Now sit down before I change my mind!" Mr. Cranky barked to Sunset. Sunset let out a small snort, sensing that Cranky was just barking at her because he barked at everybody, and felt a bit of playfulness in the order.
"Hey Sunset," Sunset turned to see Applejack sitting next to her with a genuine smile. "How are you feeling?"
"A little tired, but OK." Sunset said.
"Mr. Cranky is letting you sit where you want now?"
"Yeah," Sunset said. "Its...its incredible. I let myself get dunked in water, and suddenly...everybody isn't treating me like public enemy #1 anymore."
"You know why?"
"Why?"
"Well...it was like when you worked on my farm," Applejack said with a reassuring smile. "Big Mac and Granny didn't trust you at first. But once you did the work of an apple farmer... they saw it was pointless to still be mad at you." Applejack paused, as the meaning sunk in for Sunset. "You humiliated yourself just to pay those jocks back. That proves to everybody you want to change." Sunset was about to comment, but Mr. Cranky began his lesson on polygons.
Sunset didn't pay attention to the lesson. She already knew about polygons. She dreaded that what was happening was too good to be true. That someone was going to attack her when her back was turned. Yank on her re-growing hair. Throw spitballs. Whisper something nasty in her ear.
But after 45 minutes, no one did a thing to her. Or said anything nasty. Using her mirror, she saw no one behind her was paying attention to her.
When the bell rung, she waved Applejack goodbye, and walked out of the room with a spring in her step.
She saw Sprint opening his locker.
"Hey Sprint," Sunset said in a joyful tone. The athlete looked up from his locker.
"Hey Sunset," he greeted cheerfully. "How do you feel?" The genuine warmth in the smile contrasted sharply with the vicious sneer she had been given her since she got back. Sunset felt the joy in her stomach grow even more.
"A little dizzy," Sunset said. "Look, I still owe you money so how about-,"
"Sunset you don't have to do anything," he said kindly. "You've done enough."
"Really?" Sunset said.
"The fact that you were willing to let yourself get dunked after getting sick is enough for me," Sprint said kindly. Then he looked down, his smile turning to a frown.
"Sprint are you OK?" Sunset asked with some concern.
"I'm sorry for treating you like shit," Sprint said, his voice trembling with remorse. "I'm sorry we pulled all those nasty pranks-"
"Sprint," Sunset said with a small smile, "you don't have anything to be sorry for. I was horrible to everyone. I...kind of had it coming."
"Maybe...but," Sprint said, the remorse in her voice clear. "I should've at least given you a chance before...throwing stuff at you."
"Well, if it makes you feel any better," Sunset said, "you already made it up to me by giving me a chance. Thanks to you, I can walk around without everyone treating me like garbage." She gave Sprint her own reassuring smile.
"Well you suffered enough," Sprint said in a quiet voice. "Truth is, I only did it because Rainbow Dash asked me too."
"Really?" Sunset said, warmth returning to his voice.
"Yeah," Sprint said. Before he could continue, the bell rung. "I got to go," Sprint said, before running to class. Other students began marching to their classes. Sunset, however, stood there, feeling butterflies form in her stomach.
Rainbow Dash walked out of her gym class, feeling energized by the good workout she got. As she walked out, she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and saw Sunset giving her a happy look.
"What do you want Shimmer?" Rainbow Dash said, her voice somewhat frosty.
"Thank you so much Rainbow," Sunset said happily.
"For what?"
"For getting Sprint to give me a chance," Sunset said, not noticing Rainbow's disgust. "It means a lot-,"
"I'm not your friend Shimmer," Rainbow barked, interrupting Sunset's spiel. "I did it because Applejack and Fluttershy...tolerate you." Sunset's smile, for some reason, didn't waver.
"Look...even if we don't become friends," Sunset said warmly, "I want to say that you're a wonderful person. The fact that you still hate me but still are friends with Applejack and the others proves that you really do deserve the Element of Loyalty." Rainbow Dash was taken aback by Sunset's words.
"Anyways," Sunset said, the happy grin still on her face. "I'll see you around." Rainbow saw that Sunset ran with such joy that she was practically skipping like Pinkie.
Rainbow Dash looked at Sunset with confusion. Despite Rainbow being less than nice, Sunset still acted...well Sunny. To Rainbow, Sunset was becoming like Pinkie Pie of all people.
"How can she make me like her," Rainbow Dash thought with mild annoyance as she walked away. While she wasn't ready to call Sunset a friend, maybe she could try and sit next to her one day.