//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 // Story: Ocean Blues // by TalkingToMyself //------------------------------// Blue groaned when she finally walked out of Vice-Principal Luna's office. It was the last day of detention for skipping classes the week before, and as usual Miss Luna had found 'something productive' for her to do. Normally she wouldn't complain about that, but this time Miss Luna had her sort out the school's archives and it had taken forever to finish up. Nobody was in the school building any more, of course. Even the late clubs had left already and none of the staff was around either. Blue checked her phone and saw that she probably wouldn't have enough time for a trip home. There was some big test coming up and the girls had decided to meet up for a study session. Blue sent off a message to her sister to tell her she'd go right to Pinkie's instead. Not only did Pinkie Pie have a large room all to herself, her family had also made sure that it was completely soundproof, so Pinkie wouldn't have to hold back with her volume when she was planning (or hosting) parties in there. As a nice side-effect, it also made for the perfect place to study without getting disturbed. After a quick stop at her locker, Blue walked towards the front doors, when she heard voices. That late after school, she didn't really expect anyone to be around, especially by the doors. On top of that, although she couldn't make out any words, she clearly heard angry shouts and one high-pitched voice already crying or at least very close to crying. Blue immediately started running and rushed outside. She saw a group of six students gathered around a girl on the ground, who was the source of the crying. They were middleschoolers but also two freshmen, and by the looks of it, they weren't finished with their victim yet. Before she even recognized the crying girl, Blue rushed forward with an angry shout “Leave her alone you assholes!” The six bullies turned around and the younger students backed away. Blue shoved one of the freshmen out of her way and then planted herself firmly between the crying girl and the remaining one. Since Blue wasn't very tall, the other student still towered her, but he backed away when he saw Blue's angry glare “Why do you defend her? She's just...” Blue cut off his pathetic attempt to justify with another angry yell “I don't care, shit-stain! You gang up on someone, you got a problem with me!” She let her gaze wander around to the others to make sure they got the message and only saw frightened kids. Good. I can still scare the crap out of them. They knew of course that Blue didn't back out from a fight and that she had taken down two seniors by herself on earlier occasions. Let's make sure they get the message. “Get lost! And if I find out you're pulling shit like this again I'll kick your sorry asses into next month. Now beat it!” The six of them didn't need any further encouragement and ran off into different directions. Blue took a deep breath and only now turned to Sweetie Belle who was still cowering behind her on the ground. Sweetie Belle still had tears running and shivered all over, especially with Blue glaring at her, but she tried her best to look up and say something in her shaky voice “T-thank you...” “Shut up!” Sweetie Belle's mouth clamped shut immediately and she crawled a bit further away from Blue who was still throwing angry glares at her “I don't like you. I don't forgive you a single lousy thing you did. And a really big part of me wishes I'd been here five minutes later.” The young girl shrunk more and more into herself but didn't protest to anything Blue said. She did however whimper out one question “But... but why did you stop them? You could have just watched, but instead you saved...” “SHUT UP!” Blue turned away from Sweetie Belle, more angry at herself than the girl on the ground right now “I didn't save you. But as much as you deserve it, six against one just isn't right.” Sweetie Belle, unsure on how to take this, looked away from Blue. She made no effort whatsoever to get up from the ground, which just ticked Blue off more “Geez, how long are you going to sit there in the dirt? Don't you have to get home or something?” Sweetie Belle gave out a meek pout and finally scrambled back on her feet “Oh no, if I'm not home soon, Dad's going to be so mad at me!” “Then stop whining and get the fuck moving.” Sweetie Belle winced and ran off. Blue didn't mean anything with what she said, even if she sounded harsh. That was just the way she talked, but Sweetie Belle didn't know that. Blue watched as the girl disappeared in a street and walked down the same street, though at a slower pace. This was the first time she'd talked with any of the Anon-A-Miss-gang since the day in the hospital. It made her feel weird. She was still angry at the three girls, for obvious reasons. At the same time though, she was best friends with their elder sisters. Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash hadn’t said anything, but Blue knew that they would expect her to at least try and be civil around the three skunks. Since Blue knew she wouldn’t be able to do it, she had just avoided them. Until now. Even though she didn’t lie with what she said to Sweetie Belle, it didn't feel right that... “No, let me go!” Blue's train of thought was abruptly broken by a high-pitched cry. Of course, Blue recognized the voice right away as Sweetie Belle, and that she had to be close by. What the fuck is going on today? She wasn't ever going to ignore that call, so Blue sprinted off towards the voice. As she passed a corner, she saw one of the guys from before, pinning Sweetie Belle against a wall this time. Oh, now you've done it you little fucker. Without any warning, Blue ran over and tackled the boy to the ground. He screamed out in surprise first, but then in pain and Blue twisted his arm on his back in a wristlock. When he started shouting out obscenities, she only tightened her grip “Shut it you little fucker. I told you what would happen if you tried that shit again. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just break your arm now!” The boy screamed out in pain and started whining “I was just trying to get back at her!” “Oh yeah? For what? What did she do that you have to assault her twice in one night?” “She's Anon-A-Miss!” Blue growled from rage and pulled at his arm more “Anon-A-Miss is over, dumbass. The three rats got their punishments from school and from the cops. There's no reason for you or your shitty little friends to get involved!” “OWW! But she barely got punished! For everything she did...” “Oh yeah? What did she do to you? What was so terrible that you need to beat her up personally to get even?” The boy almost started crying, but he whimpered out “She made a post about how I have a crush on Roseluck!” Blue yanked him up on his arm and then shoved him away so she could glare at him “Seriously? That's it? Are you fucking stupid? People post stuff like that on the net every fucking day, and you were going to assault a girl for that? What if the cops saw you, dumbass? You could get arrested for that.” “I... um...” Blue stepped up and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt when he just kept stammering “Listen closely, dumbass. You better run home as fast as you can unless you want me on your case. And maybe you think about if that post is really worth all this trouble.” As soon as Blue let go, the boy ran off without looking back. She gritted her teeth when she thought about how much this guy overreacted in comparison to some really nasty posts that had been made. Speaking of overreacting, Blue turned around and saw that Sweetie Belle had not moved away from the wall, she had only dropped to her knees and started crying. Blue was already angry, so all she could do was shout at her “Fuck's sake, how can you be such a crybaby! Get up already!” Sweetie Belle quickly got up but wouldn't stop crying, not even when her phone started ringing. She looked at the screen and only cried more. Blue, running out on patience, snatched the phone out of her hand and saw an incoming call from 'Dad'. With a frustrated groan, she took the call “Hello? Mr Hondo Flanks? This is Ocean Shore, Rarity's friend?” “What? Why are you on the phone? Where is Sweetie Belle?” “She's fine, sir. She got into some trouble on the way home and...” “Trouble? What kind of trouble? Did those kids bully her again? I swear if they hurt my little girl, I'll...” “Sir! Nothing happened. I'll take Sweetie Belle home right away.” Blue looked at the phone to check the time “We'll be there in about 10 minutes.” “Alright, Ocean Shore. I'll be waiting.” The call cut out and Blue went back to glaring at Sweetie Belle “Come on, let's go. Hurry up!” Sweetie Belle quickly ran up to Blue as she stared moving. She knew the way to Rarity's house well enough, so she marched ahead and left Sweetie Belle struggling to keep up with her. Of course, that didn't stop her from crying and whining “Dad's going to be so mad... Mom is going to yell at me again... and Rarity will be angry and...” “For fuck's sake, SHUT UP!” Sweetie Belle whimpered and looked at Blue all frightened, but when the angry girl didn't make any attempt to attack her, she whined out a question “W-Why are you doing this? You helped me and now you take me home, but you're still angry at me. I don't understand.” “Because you're such a massive crybaby and you're so helpless that it fucking ticks me off.” Sweetie Belle didn't dare ask anything else and just walked quietly next to Blue. At least the crying had stopped by now. After a few minutes of silence, Blue felt the need to say something, even if she didn't look at Sweetie Belle “You don't even realize how good you have it, kid.” “Huh?” Sweetie Belle just stared at her, so fucking oblivious that Blue couldn't help but get angry again “You pull of all this shit, all the lies and ticking off the whole school, you even got Sunset into the hospital, but what happened? You get detention and community service, big whoop. And even though you fucked up so hard, your family is still protecting you.” “What... what do you mean?” Blue sighed “Your dad wasn't mad at you. He was worried that something might have happened to you. He was about to come down hard on anyone who had hurt you.” “But... I... he...” “You're lucky, kid.” “Lucky?” Blue closed her eyes and her hands balled into a fist, so hard her knuckles turned white “I never had a dad who looked out for me! When I was getting breasts and some creeps started following me home, my dad didn't scare them off! I had to do that! I had to beat the crap out of them before they laid off. And then they called the cops on me.” Sweetie Belle was staring at Blue with wide open eyes now, but Blue couldn't see it as she talked herself more and more into rage “And guess what, I didn't have parents who would pick me up from the police station. I didn't have a mum who was in the PTA and who would talk to the principal for me. Nobody had my back, so they kicked me out of their fucking school! And in the next school, when everyone heard what happened, they all ganged up on me again from day one. But my sister didn't go to the same school as me, so I had to look out for myself. I had to smash in their faces to make them stop.” Sweetie Belle whimpered but didn't say anything, not even when Blue turned her head to glare at her “And what do you do? You fuck up big time, and all you do is whine and wallow in self-pity. Your parents are angry? They fucking should be! But did they really go mad at you? They even let you keep your phone, for fuck's sake. Your sister didn't talk to you for a couple of days? Buh-huh. You pulled her through the dirt. You targeted her over everyone else. And she still made a new outfit for you. People in school give you a hard time? Maybe that's because all they got from you is crying instead of a proper apology just once!” Blue breathed hard after her rant, burnt out of anger for now, and just kept walking. Sweetie Belle stayed by her side, in some distance. She needed a full minute before she found to courage to ask something “But... what am I supposed to do now? I’m doing all my detention and all my punishments, but nobody seems to care about it at all.” “Stop crying, for fuck's sake. Stop acting like a stupid kid, or people will keep treating you like one. Grow a fucking spine and stand up for what you did. Even if it was the biggest shitty fuck-up ever. Crying won't make it better, so you need to find something that works.” “Like... like what?” “Figure that out yourself, kid. If you don't, it's not worth a fuck.” Sweetie Belle didn't say anything more as they walked the last stretch to the house. Before they even reached the door, it flew open and Rarity rushed out towards her sister “Sweetie Belle, whatever happened to you? Oh dear, look at your outfit, it's all messed up! Are you hurt, Sweetie Belle?” “No, I just fell down. Please don't worry, Rarity.” Blue stayed behind and watched as Sweetie Belle didn't start crying for once. Instead, she wrapped her arms around her big sister for a hug “Thanks for always looking out for me.” Rarity, utterly surprised by Sweetie's behaviour, looked at Blue for an explanation, but Blue only shrugged and handed Sweetie Belle's phone over to their father “Here you go, sir.” Hondo Flanks stared at her for a moment. It wasn't too long ago that he would forbid either of his daughters to spend time with Blue, for obvious reasons. This time however, he just nodded and turned back to the house. Rarity's mother, Cookie Crumbles, was also fussing about Sweetie Belle now, so Blue just turned around to leave the family to itself for now, but Rarity called out to her “Ocean, please wait!” Blue turned around and Rarity came after her “You're going to Pinkie Pie's study party as well, correct? We can go together, I was just about to leave.” Blue glanced at the other three going back into the house, before she looked back at Rarity and shrugged “Whatever.” Rarity didn't seem any surprised by Blue's reaction and they walked off together. Blue noticed that Rarity kept glancing over to her, so she yelled at her “What's your fucking problem?” “Excuse me, Darling. You just seem deeply upset about something.” “Oh yeah? What do you fucking know?” “Well, for once, you're doing 'the face' again. And you’re swearing.” Blue was about to yell more, but she held back last second and took a deep breath instead “Sorry Rarity. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that.” “It's alright Darling. Did Sweetie Belle say something that upset you?” “No. Well, kinda, in a way. It's a bit more than that.” Rarity nodded and put a hand on Blue's shoulder “I think I understand, so I won't pry any further. But if you ever need somebody to talk, you can come to me anytime. You know that, right Darling?” Blue had a small smile as she nodded “Yeah. Thanks, Rares.” “Don't mention it, dear.” Blue walked out of the classroom with a mighty groan, just like Lyra Heartstrings next to her. Both of them were the last to finish their test and both of them looked equally exhausted “Man, that was brutal. How did it go for you?” Blue made a so-so gesture with her hand “Started out well, but the last questions just murdered me. Hopefully enough for a passing grade.” “Yeah, no kidding. I totally drew blank at the one about...” “Um, excuse me?” Blue turned her head around when she heard the voice, and instantly started glaring, just like Lyra next to her. Bon Bon, who had been waiting for Lyra, even rushed over when she saw who they were talking to. The three skunks, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, huddled up before them. From the corner of her eyes, Blue saw Bon Bon closing up on Lyra, so she took a step forward to stand between the couple and the three girls, just in case. She could really do without another fight in the middle of the hallway. Surprisingly, Sweetie Belle was the one up front for the skunks. Usually, she was always hiding in the back, but this time it was Scootaloo who half-hid behind her back. Apple Bloom stood by her friend's side, but it was clear that she also expected Sweetie Belle to take the lead here. Blue fixed her with a glare and an annoyed yell to match “What?” Sweetie Belle flinched, but her eyes met Blue “I... we just wanted to... you got into a lot of trouble. After all we did before winter break. It's, um, we never targeted you directly, but you still got caught up in it. And we hurt your friends. And I think we never really apologized, so.” Sweetie Belle took a deep breath and this time, the other two chimed in “We're sorry for all the trouble we caused.” Blue just watched them, as did every other student in the hallway. She didn't say anything for a minute. Lyra could see that she balled her hand to a fist, but just for a brief moment. “Was that it?” Everybody stared at her, just as surprised as Sweetie Belle. Blue wasn't really known for a calm demeanour, far from the opposite, but when Sweetie Belle had a baffled nod, she just shrugged “Kay. Whatever.” Apple Bloom looked like she wanted to say something else, but a quick glance from Scootaloo stopped her “Um, I guess we'll be going now. Thanks for listening.” “Yeah. Now get lost.” The three girls nodded and hushed away, but even they could tell that Blue had said that last part without any of her usual anger. Blue turned around to see Lyra and Bon Bon staring at her, to which she only shrugged “Come on, let's get some lunch. I'm starving.” Bon Bon was more than happy to leave that awkward moment behind. She nodded and pulled Lyra along towards the cafeteria. However, another girl from their class joined them right away “What was that all about?” “Nothing. Just forget it, Fuchsia.” Blue didn't want to elaborate, but the girl wasn't finished yet “I hear they've been pulling this stunt all day with different people. Do you think they're plotting something?” Blue gritted her teeth and was about to respond, but Lyra beat her to it “Are you trying to hype this up, Fuchsia? Sounds like you're just waiting for another Anon-A-Miss.” “Ah, no, of course not! I was just wondering...” “Well, you can wonder without turning that into nasty rumours!” Bon Bon shot a frown at Fuchsia for emphasis and Blue couldn't hide a small smirk. Any attempt of conversation fell apart when they reached the noisy cafeteria. After grabbing some lunch, Lyra and Bon Bon left of their usual table and Blue headed to sit with the girls. Applejack threw a suspicious look at her and Rarity had that same knowing smile as last night, but other than that, it was just a normal lunch break from then on.