Sunset and Principal Celestia got off the SUV after it was parked at the school faculty lot. Sunset turned to walk towards the Wondercolt statue but Celestia called her.
“Sunset, are you sure you can work today? You look very tired. Are you even sleeping well?” She asked noticing the bags under her eyes.
“Yeah don’t worry. I can manage.” Sunset said. She actually didn’t sleep well last night because of those horrible nightmares but she decided to not tell about them to Celestia.
“If you are sure. But if it gets hard for you, please come to me. Even though this is your punishment, I don’t want you to be sick.”
“Yeah, sure,” Sunset said. With that, they walked their separate ways.
Living with the principal means you have to come to school very early. Which means the school is devoid of any students. Sunset walked towards the tree she sat on the previous day when Fluttershy brought her lunch. Smiling at the pleasant memory, Sunset sat beneath the tree and opened her sketchbook and began to draw in it. First, she had no idea what to draw, so she began by drawing small lines. The lines slowly turned into a face. Then a long hair with a curl at the end. And before she knew it, she drew the face of the only girl that showed her any kind of kindness, Fluttershy.
“Um… Sunset-”
“Ahh!” Sunset yelped at the sudden voice and quickly closed the book. She saw Fluttershy standing there, with a slight frown on her face.
“Oh… um… sorry, Um… what were you drawing? I-if you don’t mind me asking.”
“O-oh! It’s n-nothing. J-just doodling… ye know… to p-past… time.” Sunset stammered with a blush on her face. She silently thanked herself for closing the book before Fluttershy see what she drew. She didn’t want her to assume things. Not that Fluttershy would think of things like that. After all, she doesn’t have any kind of feelings towards her like that right... Right?
“Oh… okay. Um… Are you okay? Have you eaten anything?”
“Y-yeah, don’t worry.”
“But, y-you said, you don’t have money, s-so… how did you… have something to eat?”
“Th-that’s um… well… I… I… I can’t tell. Not yet anyway. Please don’t ask me about that and don’t worry, I’ll tell you later.” Sunset knew she can trust Fluttershy, but she didn’t know if Principal Celestia would like that. So until she asks her about that, she can’t tell anyone about what happened yesterday.
“Okay… um… would you like to meet my other friends today?” She asked slowly.
“What?”
“Um… they want to talk to you. We did promise Twilight to help you.”
“B-but… they aren’t going to l-like me. What if they-”
“Sunset, look… I know they are angry at you… but they won’t harm you. They want to help you. And, if it makes you feel better, I’m going to be with you the whole time. So what do you say?” Fluttershy asked looking at Sunset with soft eyes filled with kindness and a small smile. Sunset thought about what to say. She could reject to see them easily. But looking at the bluish-green eyes of Fluttershy, she couldn’t make words to say no. Instead, she agreed.
“Okay. Promise you won’t go away?”
“I promise,” Fluttershy said smiling.
“Okay then, lead the way.”
Fluttershy walked into the school building with Sunset right beside her. She looked at Sunset and saw that Sunset have a face of uncertainty. Sunset on the other hand can’t help thinking why she agreed to this. Rainbow’s already against her because of a misunderstanding. What would she do when she saw her? However, any more thoughts vanquished when she felt someone grab her hand. She looked down and saw it was Fluttershy that was holding her arm. Fluttershy was looking away but she could swear that she saw a slight tint of red on her face.
‘Fluttershy? Is she- no… that can’t-... why would-… no… surly she wants to comfort me. She is the element of kindness after all. Nothing else, yeah.’
By now, students are slowly filling in the school. And they all gave her bad looks whenever they passed by. Sunset thought of turning back, but the hand holding her made a stop to her thoughts. And before they knew it, they arrived in the band room. Fluttershy’s friends were all already there and they were talking about something. Sunset picked up a few lines when they got closer.
“So, do ya have a name for it?” She heard Applejack say.
“Yeah, It’s Rainbo-” Rainbow stopped mid-sentence when she saw Sunset and her eyes narrowed. “What are you doing here?” She asked dangerously and started to walk towards them.
“Rainbow wait-” Rarity called her but she kept walking forward.
“Get away from Fluttershy. I told you if I see you near her ag-” Rainbow suddenly stopped with wide eyes as she saw Fluttershy stepping in front of Sunset as if defending her.
“Rainbow, I brought her here,” Fluttershy said in a stern, confident voice surprising everyone. “And she’s my friend; she can be with me if she wants.”
“What… Fluttershy… are you insane. She’s-”
“That’s enough Rainbow, you heard her.” Applejack said putting a hand on Rainbow’s shoulder.
“What Applejack you too?”
“Rainbow, I know you don’t like Sunset, so are we. But if Fluttershy of all people is willing to give her a chance, we might as well give her a chance too.”
“You are all insane. Do what you want, I’m out of here. Don’t crawl back to me when you all mess up big time.” Rainbow angrily said before stomping her way out the band room. Sunset looked at the whole scene in astonishment. She watched as Rainbow left the band room and talked for the first time.
“M-maybe I shouldn’t be here,” Sunset said and turned to leave but Applejack stopped her.
“No Sunset wait, don’t mind Rainbow.” She said. “Look, we don’t like you at all, but Princess Twilight asked us to help you. And she’s the princess of friendship so maybe you can change. And Fluttershy already being friends with you say something.”
“But don’t expect us to be friends with you instantly like her. You did do some nasty things.” Rarity said.
“Yeah, I know. And I’m sorry for everything I did. I know words can’t change what I did, but I’ll do anything to make up for what I did. I really want to change.” Sunset said, looking down.
“Really! That’s great! If you really did change, we can be the bestest friends FOREVER!! And I will throw you the biggest ‘Yay you changed and we are now the best friends’ party. What do you say huh, huh, huh…” Pinkie suddenly appeared; more like teleported, in front of Sunset giving her a heart attack and began to spurt-out the whole sentence in one breath. Sunset on the other hand was frozen in place like a deer in the headlight, looking at Pinkie, eyes wide.
“I think you scared her Sugercube.” Applejack said.
“What! I did! Sunset are you okay. Sorry if I scared you.” Pinkie suddenly said to Sunset, panicking. Sunset then snapped out of her shock and replied to her.
“Uh- N-no, it’s okay.” She said with a forced smile. Pinkie then kept staring at her for a few seconds with the same panicked face and,
“Okay.” She suddenly said smiling like nothing ever happened. Sunset looked at her dumbfounded.
“You’ll get used to her.” Applejack said patting Sunset’s back. Then the warning bell rang. “Well, time to go to the classes. What do you say, see you at the lunch?” She asked Sunset.
“Y-yeah. I’ll meet you, I guess...” She said, muttering the last part.
Vice-Principal Luna’s gaze shifted from her computer screen to her phone, when suddenly it started to ring. She picked the phone up and looked at the caller’s name and a slight smile crept into her face. She slides the answer icon and brought it to her ear.
“Hello Chrys, what’s up?” she answered.
“Hello Lu, I just called you to inform you that the paperwork are ready. All I need is the signature of both Celesia and the kid and I can take care of the rest.” came the voice of a woman from the other side of the phone. “Would you like me to take them to you?”
“No no I’ll meet you.”
“Why? I like to meet the ‘pony’ myself.” said the woman, emphasizing the word pony.
“Well, not yet. Apparently, Tia hadn’t told the girl about all this yet. Let’s just wait till everything’s over shall we?”
“Okay, but you have to explain everything later okay? It’s not every day that someone calls me for paperwork for a pony turned human; especially when that someone is my girlfriend.” Luna’s face turned red at that.
“W-well I’ll meet you this Saturday Chrysalis, bye.” She said before hanging up.
The rest of the day for Sunset went without any more incidents, other than the occasional glares she received from the students. But Sunset kept working on the wall, ignoring them, until the time for the lunch neared. Soon the bell for the lunch rang and Sunset was dismissed for the lunch. ‘What do I do now? I can’t rely on Fluttershy every day for lunch. And Applejack did invite me to lunch with them.’ She kept thinking before deciding to make her way to the cafeteria. Halfway to the cafeteria, she met Fluttershy.
“Oh, Sunset… are you going to the cafeteria?” She asked. “I can bring a tray outside if you like.”
“No, it’s okay. And Applejack invited me for lunch, so…”
“Okay then.”
They made it to the cafeteria in a couple of minutes, under the constant glares of the students towards the fiery-haired girl. They saw Applejack already there, waiting for others to arrive.
“You should go take a seat with Applejack. I’ll bring you a tray.” Fluttershy said, eying a certain golden-haired girl. Sunset slowly nodded before walking towards the farm girl. Upon getting close to Applejack, she addressed her.
“H-hi… Applejack.” She timidly said. Applejack looked up at her.
“Oh, Sunset. take a seat would ya?” Applejack said, pointing at the chair in front of her. Sunset nervously walked over to the chair and sat on it. “Aren’t you going to get lunch?” She asked noting the lack of a tray with her.
“Um… Fluttershy said she’d bring me a one because of what happened with Lighting Dust.” Sunset said. No later than she said it, Fluttershy came over to them with two trays in her hands. She gave one to Sunset before taking a seat next to her. Sunset thanked Fluttershy taking the tray and Fluttershy smiled at her with a slight blush, which Applejack quickly noted. Silence spread between them for a few seconds before it was broken by,
“What is she doing here?” a yell from Rainbow Dash. Applejack, Fluttershy, and Sunset turned their heads towards her and saw Rarity and Pinkie were right behind her.
“Now now, Rainbow Dash, be nice to her.” Rarity said before taking a seat.
“What! Be nice to her?”
“Come on Rainbow, you think you are the only one that’s pissed at her. We all are. But we made a promise and we have to keep it.” Applejack said.
“Yeah, don’t be such a grumpy pants Dash.” Pinkie said.
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean we suddenly have to be friends with her,” Rainbow said.
“Yeah we don’t,” Applejack said. “So Sunset, as we said this morning, we won’t be your friends instantly. So first, you have to get our trust. Then, we can really be friends.”
“Yeah, I know. I’ll do anything. I really need to change.” Sunset said looking down.
“Huh, change? I highly doubt that a she-demon like you can change just because we blasted you with a rainbow laser and turned back in a couple of seconds.” Rainbow said in disgust. Sunset looked at her in shock, at what she heard.
“A-a couple of seconds?” She whispered.
“What was that, sugercube.” She heard Applejack say.
“Uh- nothing…”
“Okay…” Applejack said, looking at the girl in question with narrowed eyes.