Sunset Shimmer glances at the clock at the corner of her computer screen. It shows 1:45 PM.
It’s time, Sunset realized. She took a deep breath to try to calm herself down. The moment she dreaded had finally arrived, but it is important.
On her computer, she signs into a program that was dedicated to CHS which was invented by Principal Twilight Sparkle. Both faculty members and students use it (as a cell phone app) to access the internet and private server for this school which is, of course, limited to educational content. In addition to posting things like homework and showing results, it allows faculty and students to communicate to each other in a very modern way. Using this program, Sunset contacts the student ID of Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Silver Spoon, and Diamond Tiara. With it, she types the following message:
Sunset Shimmer: Please meet me in my office in five minutes. You are excused from class for the duration of this summons.
Sunset leans back in her seat and gathers her hands in front of her lips as she looks at the text she sent a bit nervously. Now all she had do was wait for the students to arrive. In the meantime, she attempted to gather her thoughts in preparation for what was to come. She mentally reviews what she knows about the situation so far, but finds herself disappointingly lacking from Diamond, Silver, and Sweetie. Between these three, Sunset was the least concerned about Sweetie. Sunset suspects that Sweetie merely got involved out of concern for Diamond which was first stimulated by the fight that occurred the day before yesterday.
Sunset waits patiently for them to arrive. She had a feeling that Silver would arrive first because she was closer to Sunset’s office. Of course, time would tell.
About two and a half minutes later, the very student she expected to arrive first does indeed arrive. Silver steps into her office then wiggles her fancy phone with a diamond-studded phone case at Sunset as she said, “Got your text. Now, do you mind telling me what this is all about?”
“Please, Silver Spoon, have a seat,” Sunset bids while gesturing to one of the four chairs she had in her office. Normally she had two, but she brought in an extra pair in preparation for this meeting.
Silver Spoon politely moves to sit. While she does so, she notices the extra chairs in the office which make this space a little more cramped. She lifts a gray eyebrow at Sunset curiously but otherwise doesn’t say anything. Since it seemed like she had a little time, she went ahead and started typing on her cell phone to help her pass the time. Glancing up at Sunset’s desk for a moment, she reaches forward to grabbed a few pieces of cinnamon candy which were wrapped up in their own individual wrappers. Without a word, Silver unwraps it, pops it in her mouth, then throws away the wrapper in an adjacent, accessible trash bin.
“Yeah. Help yourself,” Sunset casually invites idly.
“I just did,” Silver said flatly while continuing to text on her phone.
One minute later, there was a knock at the door.
Sunset looked at the door, and called “Come in, the door is open!”
The doorknob twisted, and the door swung inward.
Scootaloo appears in the doorway, looking around the office. She smiled at Sunset, but her expression immediately turned sour upon viewing Silver Spoon.
“Oh. It’s time for this already?” Scootaloo said with a sigh.
Silver looks over her phone in astonishment at Sunset then turns around to gaze at who entered the office. When she saw who it was, she immediately exclaimed, “What are you doing here?"
Scootaloo waves her own phone, raising an eyebrow. “Um… I was summoned, dumbass. Same as you. Apparently.” Scootaloo found a seat furthest from Silver and sat down. The chair was situated in the walkway between the desk and the wall.
Silver Spoon widens her eyes in astonished realization, then whips her head to look at Sunset as she said, “This is about that fight we had two days ago, isn’t it?” Her look shifts to a confused one. “But, if that’s true, who are the two remaining seats for?”
Sunset replies, “You’re about to find out in a few minutes, I suspect. In the meantime, please wait patiently.”
Silver Spoon glances at Scootaloo for a quick moment, then huffs as she picks up and uses her phone again, only this time more fervently than before.
“Gossiping to your brainless friends? Oh, wait, there’s only the one, isn’t there? Or is there? You two done?” Scootaloo asked as she slouched back and kicked a leg out to support her weight.
“None of your fucking business,” Silver sneers spitefully as she continues to type on her phone while she tries, and fails, to ignore Scootaloo. “Just leave me alone!”
“Language, ladies,” Sunset lightly scolded. “Let’s please try to be dignified and polite in a public setting. Thank you.”
Silver sighs irritably, but otherwise holds her tongue.
“Hmph.” Scootaloo smirks. It felt good to land a solid hit like that.
Sweetie walked through the halls, in somewhat of a trance. She’d received the text earlier, and couldn’t fathom what it was about. Diamond had made it clear that if she told about what she’d seen, Diamond might do worse. She was scared to death of what Diamond might do.
Sweetie Belle took a shuddering breath, looking at her phone and contemplating sending a reply asking about the purpose of the meeting. Ultimately, she knew she’d be going, so it didn’t really matter what she did. Sweetie sighed and pocketed her phone, walking smack into something.
That something was Diamond Tiara, who fell backward. Sweetie reacted quickly to catch Diamond by her arm and keep her from falling down.
“Diamond! I’m sorry! I wasn’t paying attention,” Sweetie gasped.
Diamond yanks her arm back while she gasps at Sweetie in shock, then exclaims, “Watch where you’re going, you klutz!” Her look shifts to a questioning look. ‘Also, what are you doing here?”
“Oh,” Sweetie began, a little flustered, “I-I was called to Sunset’s office for something… I don’t know what though.”
Diamond widened her eyes in horror as she asked, “Wait! You have been summoned to her office too?”
Sweetie nodded. “Yeah… um… Don’t worry, I won’t tell your secrets. I promise. I pinkie promise.”
Diamond grabbed Sweetie's shirt and yanked her close, almost close enough to kiss her, as she cried in outrage, although soft enough not to be heard by the adjacent classrooms next to the hallway, “You better keep your promise, peasant, or I’ll make sure you regret it!”
Sweetie gasped as she was yanked forward, and blushed slightly at the sudden closeness to Diamond. “Um… It’s okay. I promise, you can trust me…” Sweetie said as she suddenly decided to try something. She wrapped her arms around Diamond and hugged her gently. “I’m… I’m your friend.”
Diamond veers her head so far back that she momentarily makes a double-chin with a disgusted look on her face. She asked, “What the hell is your problem!? Get off of me!” she complained as she attempted to push Sweetie Belle away. She also spoke more loudly than she intended, so she spared a nervous look at the other classrooms. So far, she saw no noticeable response . . . yet.
Sweetie sighed as she let go of Diamond and backed away. “I’m sorry… But… I know that you aren’t this… this person you pretend to be. I know you’re better than these attacks on status and that…”
Sweetie swallowed as she stiffened up. “I guess we’d better get to Ms. Shimmer’s office, then?”
Diamond passed Sweetie a hard and suspicious look. “How the hell do you know who I am inside? Also, when the hell did we ever become friends?” she asked with a hard, pained, but just a hint of a hopeful tone.
“You’re hurting, Diamond… If you were what you acted like, then you wouldn’t be hurting like this… and does it matter when we became friends? I mean… I guess you never agreed to it, but I think of you as my friend now. It’s… hard… Scootaloo is really angry at me… but… I just… I know this is right,” Sweetie said.
Diamond narrowed her eyes at Sweetie as she said tightly, “I think you are mistaking ‘friendship’ for ‘pity’.”
Sweetie shakes her head, “Not pity. Never that. I care about you, whether you believe that or not. I don’t want to lose my other friends, but I’ll stand up for you. You’re worth that much to me.”
“Why?” Diamond asked emptily. “All I’ve ever done was hurt you, and . . . and . . .” As she trailed off, she tightly clutched the folds of her skirt.
“I forgive you. That was… a long time ago. You haven’t attacked me for a long time, Diamond,” Sweetie said softly, “I don’t see a point in holding on to the past like this. Let’s… just move on from that, okay?”
Diamond shook her head in disbelief as she said, “I don’t see how you can forgive me so easily. I was such an awful person to you and your friends before.”
“I didn’t know you ever saw that… I’m glad though,” Sweetie approaches Diamond again, “It proves that I’m right about you.”
A boy with pale blue skin, and blue and yellow hair that doesn’t appear to have been introduced to a comb in quite some time, passed them by.
“Oh, hey Sweets,” the boy greeted as he started to pass by the two girls.
Diamond regards the boy a little guardedly. She holds her tongue for the moment as she waits for him to pass. She noticed that the boy seemed to deliberately avoid eye contact with her even though she knew that he should know her, at least as Student Council President. Although it’s true that she wanted to avoid his attention for the moment, she also felt a bit stung that he did so of his own accord as if afraid of her.
“Hey Skeedaddle! Everything okay? You and Kettle Corn still doing okay?”
“Oh we’re better than ever,” he says with a goofy smile on his face as he barely misses slamming his face into the door frame of the boys’ room.
Sweetie turned her attention back to Diamond, willing Diamond to look back at her eyes. “Diamond… Everything is going to be okay. Ms. Shimmer doesn’t know about you, not like that. I won’t tell her if you don’t want me to, that’ll be a secret safe with me. But please, try to be open with her, okay?”
Diamond quickly regarded Sweetie as she crossed her arms across her chest as she asked, “Just how do you know that random boy, anyway?”
“Who? Skeedaddle? I helped him to talk to Kettle Corn last year, and before that me and the other girls helped me build his confidence just to talk to anyone around here. So, we’re kinda friends?” Sweetie replied.
Diamond lifted an eyebrow at Sweetie as she said, “Well, aren’t you Miss Popular? Perhaps even more so than the Student Council President!” She rolled her eyes. “Sheesh.”
Sweetie raised an eyebrow at this, “You… you’re stalling, aren’t you?” If Diamond’s comment stung, Sweetie gave no indication of it.
Against her better judgment, Diamond looked down a bit sheepishly, and also in a bit of surprise as if she just realized that herself.
Sweetie sighed, gently taking Diamond’s right hand in her own. “It’s okay. You don’t have to be scared. Ms. Shimmer is really nice, and really helpful. But she doesn’t know about what you were doing yesterday, or last night, okay? She doesn’t have to. So, this will be okay. And… And you’re not going in there alone. I’ll be right there with you.” When Sweetie said that last part, she squeezed Diamond’s hand.
Diamond sighed and shook her head, then said, “I still don’t get why you are being so nice to me. Why do you care?”
“I… I just… I believe everyone deserves a second chance… I can’t speak for Scootaloo, but I think she’ll come around… I mean… If you apologize to her… and it… looks like you really need a friend… What happened between you as Silver?”
Diamond looked down with a very pained look in her eyes, then said, “I, ah … Silver and I just . . .” She closes her eyes. “I don’t want to hurt her with the truth.” She opened her eyes and looked back at Sweetie. “I mean, just look at you and how you’re reacting. Imagine if my very best friend had to endure this as well.” She looked off to her side and rubbed her upper left arm in discomfort. “I don’t want to put her through all of that, especially if I really do take myself out. If I get her to hate me now, it will be easier for her later to let me go without any further pain,” Diamond explained in a wavy and unsteady voice.
Sweetie blinked, before sighing. “Diamond… that’s pretty dumb… She’s hurting now. Even Scootaloo can see that, but I don’t think she really cares about it. Think about this… The truth now is much smaller to take in, but finding out later, from someone else? That’ll be a lot to take in, and it’ll hurt even more because you didn’t tell her yourself when she’s, like you said, your very best friend. I don’t really know how you guys work. You just sort of teamed up against whoever looked weaker than you when we were all growing up… But in the last 2 years? It’s… Well, you’ve been distant… You’ve left us all alone. At first? It was a relief. I was glad. I didn’t feel like I had to look over my shoulder anymore.
“But then I noticed you were getting quieter. Even after winning the election, you were still withdrawn. You didn’t talk to people, barely even Silver. Where did you go?
“Well… I guess I kinda have an answer to that now, but before? I thought you were just so tired from all the work. Then you started missing classes. We don’t have many of them together, but the few we do have… I noticed, and I noticed that Silver couldn’t concentrate anymore, either.”
“Sweetie,” Diamond sighed and shook her head as she looked down, “you don’t understand what Silver and I went through, and I don’t want to drag her through any more pain. If she knew everything that I’m going through, it would only depress her more. It’s better to cut off all ties now to prepare her for … for … You know.”
Sweetie snapped. “No! No there is none of that! I won’t let it happen! I don’t care what I have to do, I’m going to make sure you come through all of this. You won’t be alone. And Silver? She’s depressed as it is. I hope someday you’ll rethink things, and figure out that it’s okay to tell her. For now? You have me. I know, and I’m not going anywhere. I know Applebloom will come around, but until then? You have at least one friend. I know it’ll hurt me so much if you…,” Sweetie shudders as she drags an arm across her eyes, wiping away a sudden onslaught of tears. She speaks through a sob next, “I can’t even… I won’t say it. It’s not gonna happen. That’s final!”
Diamond sighed again then gave a listless expression to Sweetie as she asked, “Is this one of your tactics to try to recruit me into your little Cutesy Mark Dorksaders club?”
Sweetie chuckles through her tears. “Okay, first… I don’t think you have any chance of being brought in. Scootaloo wouldn’t hear of it now. Applebloom might not even go for it. I mean, I’d be happy to invite you in. And… I guess it kinda might be a good tactic, but, no. It’s not that. I care about you, Diamond. I mean that.”
Once again, Diamond sighed as she looked down, then said begrudgingly, “Fine! Let’s just get this meeting over with.”
The door to Sunset’s office swung open, and Sweetie poked her head in and looked around. “Ms. Shimmer? I-” She stopped talking when she noticed Silver, and then noticed Scootaloo at the other side of the room.
Scootaloo grunted as she looked up at Sweetie. “Oh? Not too good for Sunset? Just me? Can’t be bothered to show up for me?”
“Scootaloo, this is why I have invited you all,” Sunset said to Scootaloo then smiled and waved happily for Sweetie Belle to come in as she added, “Come in, Sweetie Belle. Have a seat.”
Sweetie nodded and stepped into the office, taking a moment before consciously choosing to sit next to Scootaloo.
“I’m sorry, Scootaloo,” Sweetie said, but didn’t elaborate.
Scootaloo scoffed and turned away, “Whatever.” Whether that has been directed as Sweetie or Sunset wasn’t clear.
The door to Sunset’s office started to close again but, at the last second, a delicate hand stopped it then pushed it open again. Somewhat nervously, Diamond Tiara finally stepped into the office and said, “I’m here, Sunset Shimmer. Now what do you want with me.”
“Huh?!” Silver exclaimed in shock when she noticed that Diamond had now entered, then she grunted as she stood up from up from her seat as she cried out, “Oh, that’s IT! I’m leaving.”
Sunset objected, “Silver, please return to your seat again.”
“LOOK!” Silver slammed both of her hands on the front of Sunset’s desk. “I’m sorry that I’ve been such a pain to Sweetie and Scootaloo, but that is no excuse for you to start digging into my private life! What I do on my own time is my business and nobody else's! You got that?”
Scootaloo rolled her eyes, “Ah… Will you get over your fucking self? Jeez, you’re a damn drama queen.”
Scootaloo’s reaction causes Sweetie to wince, “Scoots, please-”
“No! You don’t get to play that card with me! You stood me up! You ditched me for that selfish, self-involved, stuck-up BITCH!” Scootaloo nearly screamed at Sweetie.
Everyone in the room widened their eyes at Scootaloo for a moment, but it was Sunset that was the first to find her voice, “Scootaloo, watch your language and please calm down.” She looked over at Silver, “And you … please take your seat again.” She waved her hands outwardly by twisting them from her wrist. “Now I want to assure everyone here that nobody is in trouble, but certain members of the faculty in this school are concerned. If you’ll all kindly remain and take a deep breath, we can get to the bottom of this issue and find out just what the heck is going on. Sound fair?” For a moment she glanced at everyone, then settled her look on Silver with a pleading look.
Silver looked sympathetic for a brief moment, then rolled her eyes as she said, “Oh … fine! Have it your way.”
When Silver Spoon sat down once again, Sunset cast an inward sigh of relief and privately thanked Twilight for her foresight in assigning her to this mission. It may be painful, but it was unlikely these students would open up to anyone else on the faculty considering that the situation may be more intrinsically deep than any of the adults had thought.
Sweetie turned to look at Diamond, searching for any trace of fear. “Diamond? Please? It’s okay, I promise.” Somehow Sweetie sounded entirely calm.
Scootaloo gawked at this display.
“Fine! Whatever,” Diamond said with a roll of her eyes as she moved to sit in the last remaining seat between Silver and Sweetie Belle. “I don’t see why I have to come to this dumb meeting anyway. It’s just a waste of time if you ask me,” Diamond said in an aloof manner.
Sweetie sighed, visibly relieved as she relaxed a little more into her seat. “What’s this about, Ms. Shimmer?” she asked, attempting to get the ball properly rolling.
“That’s what we’re here to find out,” Sunset replied. “Now, there are several things that I know of on the table. That is, you two,” she pointed her right finger to Scootaloo on her far right and her left pointing finger at Silver to her far left, “had an altercation just outside of school two days ago.” She folds her hands in front of her while resting them on her desk. “Witnesses say the altercation started when Sweetie Belle bumped into Silver in the hallway.”
“To which I just said I was sorry!” Silver reminded with a biting tone. “What more do you want from me?”
“What I want from you is the truth!” Sunset said with a brief pound on her desk. “Look, obviously there is something more going on here beneath the surface. You two,” she briefly pointed between Silver and Diamond, “have not been on speaking terms in quite some time, but you used to be best friends. What happened? Also, what is it about all these absences from Diamond?” she asked while looking directly at Diamond who, in turn, averted her gaze. “Something important is going on beneath the surface and I want to find out what.” Sunset then looked at Sweetie Belle. “Whatever is going on, I have a feeling that you,” she nods at Sweetie Belle, “might be able to provide some of the answers.”
Sunset pauses there, waiting for any of the others to respond, but she was looking at Sweetie Belle in particular at that moment.
Sweetie blinked, then sat up, “Diamond’s been having trouble with her studies! I’ve just been helping her with the things she’s having trouble understanding, like history and maths! I guess it’s been taking up a lot of her time, and mine, so… yeah,” Sweetie finished lamely.
Sunset and Scootoaloo both noticed that Diamond Tiara gave a sharp and withering stare at Sweetie Belle for a moment, but her reaction softened when she heard what Sweetie had to say.
Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. First, Sweetie pleaded with Diamond to sit down, and now… whatever this was? “Uh… If you’re gonna go with that stupid excuse, why don’t you help me with my homework?”
“You need help? Why didn’t you say anything? Of course I’ll help you too!” Sweetie replied smoothly.
“Is all of this true, Diamond? You just wanted help with your homework?” Sunset asked Diamond skeptically.
That question evoked a humph from Silver Spoon along with a roll of her eyes.
Diamond hesitated to answer at first. She glanced at Silver Spoon to her right, then Sweetie Belle to her left, then directed her gaze forward at Sunset as she lied, “Ah .... yeah. Some of my private tutors that my mother hired have been a touch incompetent lately, so I figured I’d give the student in the honor roll a try. She seemed so ‘concerned’,” she said with actual finger quotes around the word ‘concerned’, then continued, “so I figured I’d appease her concerns by openly revealing nothing is wrong. Also, it is true that I’ve fallen behind on some of my assignments and I didn’t want my mother to notice, so I hired Sweetie Belle as my secret tutor, for which I will promptly pay her, of course,” she finished with a sly wink at Sweetie Belle.
Inwardly, Sunset shook her head. She didn’t buy that story. If that was all it was, why would Silver Spoon be so upset?
“Um, so Scootaloo, tell me when’s a good ti-” Sweetie was cut off by a venomous Scootaloo.
“Why? So you can stand me up again? Fuck that.” Scootaloo spat.
Diamond reacts with a snide attitude to Scootaloo by saying, “Well fine then! More for me, I guess. It’s not like your education is all that important anyway. You’ll probably grow up flipping hamburger patties, probably with one of my family’s owned restaurants.” She rethought this, then adds, “On second thought, you’re probably not classy enough for any of the restaurants owned by us!”
Scootaloo roars as she springs from her seat, tearing right past Sweetie and lunging at Diamond. Sweetie crashes to the floor, her chair skittering away after cleaving her back and leaving her groaning. Scootaloo snarled as she gripped Diamond’s shirt and moved in closer with a balled-up fist.
“SCOOTALOO, STOP IT!” Sunset roared as she stood up. “GET OFF OF HER THIS INSTANT!”
Sweetie grunts as she pushes herself up, struggling for breath but moving quickly with determination. She stood up just in time to take Scootaloo’s fist in her own face as Scootaloo wheeled back to strike Diamond. Scootaloo’s eyes widened as she turned to see Sweetie fall to the floor clutching her eye and groaning.
“Sweetie!” Scootaloo gasped, all the fire gone from her voice and body language as she stooped to help Sweetie up.
“Get away! Get out of here!” Sweetie cried at Scootaloo, actual tears trailing down her cheeks.
Scootaloo swallowed as she stepped back, then turned to Diamond. “This? This isn’t over. I’m coming for you, so you watch your fucking back!” Scootaloo growled as she turned to the door of Sunset’s office.
Sunset Shimmer sighed in defeat as she looked down at her desk for a moment, then looked back up again as she said, “Silver, Diamond, the two of you are excused. Go back to class, or better yet … go home for now. Last period will soon be over anyway. I think we all need some time to cool off.
“As for you, Sweetie,” Sunset went around her desk to pick help the teenager rise from the floor, “come with me. I’ll escort you to the nurse’s office right away.” Her look shifted to sharp concern. “You okay, Sweetie Belle?”
For a moment, strong concern was on Diamond’s face as well, but then she remembered herself and squashed it down with a false look of arrogant pride. Then she said, “Fine! Whatever. I don’t need all this drama now anyway. I warned you that this was a waste of time.”
With that, Diamond stomped off from the room in a huff.
“It’s been a while since I agreed with her,” Silver agreed with a snooty voice as she rose from her own seat. “I thank you for your concern, Shimmer, but I can take care of my own private business from now on.”
With that, Silver also departed from the office.
Sweetie sniffled as she watched Diamond leave, then Silver. Finally, she turned to Sunset, still holding her hand over her eye. “Um… No... I’m not feeling so great,” she said as more tears came and she collapsed into one of the still standing chairs.
“What am I gonna do? Scootaloo’s so angry… and it’s my fault!” Sweetie cried. A trickle of blood became evident on her cheek, just below her covered eye.
“Sweetie Belle, please listen to me very carefully,” Sunset urged as she took Sweetie’s right hand and squeezed it affectionately. After that, she asked, “Do you trust me?”
Sweetie nodded, “Yes, Ms. Shimmer. With my life.”
“So, if I tell you that anything you tell me will stay confidential if you want it to, you believe me?” Sunset pressed further.
“Um. Yes. I believe you,” Sweetie answered. I… I can’t tell you. It’s too serious, you won’t be allowed to keep it to yourself. I’m sorry.
“In that case, please tell me the truth, Sweetheart. Just what is going on between you and Diamond?” Sunset asked earnestly.
“I… I…,” Sweetie swallowed, “I can’t tell you… I’m sorry.”
Sunset Shimmer looked pained to hear that response, but she nodded to Sweetie to show that she acknowledges her choice to keep this to herself, for now.
“In that case, I want you to know something,” Sunset pressed as she affectionately squeezed Sweetie’s hand again. “If you ever feel ready to tell me later, you let me know. Also, if you ever get into any sort of trouble, you give me a call and I’ll come riding over to you right away. You hear me, Honey? Anytime, day or night, I’ll come running over. I promise!”
Sweetie nodded mutely. She had no words left, she was feeling rather foggy.
“Now, come on.” Sunset stood up and helped Sweetie to her feet again. “Let’s get you to the nurse’s office right away. I’ll be with you every step of the way.”
“Mmhm,” Sweetie replied as she stood up, hanging on to Sunset. It seemed like Sweetie was having trouble holding herself up. As she did so, Sunset continued to cling to Sweetie softly and supportively every step of the way, just as she promised.