//------------------------------// // 7- Garden Grove Junior High // Story: The Trick to Growing Up // by Hakuno //------------------------------// Chapter 7: Garden Grove Junior High Sunset wheezed and coughed as she fell to the floor. Maids, guards, and dozens of other ponies hurried this way and the other aimlessly. She could barely hear the screams under the sound of her thundering heart. What had she done? She felt something envelop her, and soon, the heat, the terrible heat, disappeared from her body. She huffed raggedly and looked up. Madame Stern Feather, headmistress of the royal palace’s maids, glared at her. The disapproval on her gaze was enough to quell any excuse Sunset might have thought of. It probably was better this way; Sunset had screwed up big time, and every single pony knew it. She hugged the blanket around herself. “Princess Celestia will arrive shortly,” Madame Stern said, looking away from Sunset and directly to the room that was still burning. “You will accept her punishment, and you will not get away this time. I have had enough of your recklessness.” Sunset was going to retort, she wanted to, but the smoke still filled her lungs and she could only cough. “The princess expressly told you not to practice these spells indoors. What were you thinking?!” Sunset coughed some more. She had been so sure she could control her magic, that her barriers would make it safe enough for anything. “You could have killed yourself!” She almost had. The spell had exploded and caused a fire. Sunset could almost feel where her mane and tail had stopped burning, and her entire coat was covered with black patches. “Princess Celestia will be disappointed. I hope you are satisfied.” Somehow, disappointing the princess did not worry Sunset as much as the idea of having failed. She had wanted to impress Celestia, but now she risked being expelled. Sunset laid down and looked at the ceiling and the smoke covering it. Maybe she should have placed an extra barrier. ~~~~~~~~ “Alright, everyone. Settle down,” the teacher said as she placed a stack of documents upon a small desk. “Good morning. I trust you all did your weekend homework.” There were a few grunts and nervous giggles here and there. That seemed to be a constant for students in any universe. Sunset shook her head. “But before we get started, I’ve got some news!” The teacher exclaimed chirpily. “We have a new transfer student today!” She looked toward Sunset, who stood by the door. “Sunset, please come in.” Sunset walked in. From outside, she had taken a glance, but now she could completely see the classroom. It was very similar to that of Elementary School back in Equestria. Small desks lined in columns and rows, all facing toward the blackboard. When Sunset reached the center of the front of the room and faced the rest of the students, the teacher casually sat on her own desk and offered her a smile. “Can you introduce yourself to the class?” Looking up, Sunset briefly studied the faces of those who would be her classmates for the next years. Most looked at her with curiosity. She supposed, even in human society, a transfer student was not common. She quickly spotted Trixie, who was sitting at the far end of the classroom. Trixie gave her an odd glare, then looked down at her desk. “The name’s Sunset Shimmer,” Sunset said with half a smile. Storms, was it difficult to act like she was looking forward to this. “I just moved here from Vanhoover, so I don’t know anyone.” At first, Dandy had wanted Sunset and Trixie to tell the story of them knowing each other because their parents were friends. But Sunset had declined. She wanted to be a completely new element, to start as someone a hundred percent foreign. And according to Trixie, no one from the school was from or had family members living in Vanhoover, and the city was pretty far away. So that became her story. “You heard her, everyone,” the teacher said. “Be kind to her, and help her adjust. Sunset, there’s an empty seat next to Trixie.” Sunset began to walk to where the teacher pointed. “But boy did you come at a fun time. We have a surprise test today!” The whole class groaned. Some at the front pleaded and begged, but the teacher only grabbed her stack of paper and began handing them out. Sunset sat down and accepted hers. And for the first time in her life, she felt nervous. She had read and studied Trixie’s textbooks as much as she could, but she only had a couple of days, and had barely grazed them. She had to trust her memory and that this surprise test was not very difficult. “Alright, class,” the teacher said as she returned to her desk. “You can begin.” Sunset grabbed a pencil from her bag, that she had bought the day before, and flipped the test sheets. She was, indeed, surprised. The test was of math problems and conundrums. The whole three sheets. And they were so easy, so incredibly, outstandingly easy, that she had time to carefully write so that her handwriting would not be totally hideous. She smiled and hummed. If this was the level of a human Middle School, then she had nothing to be afraid of. This was going to be a breeze! ~~~~~~~~ “How old are you?” Asked the pale yellow-skinned girl of deep brown hair. Her name was Sunflower Dust. “Thirteen,” Sunset replied.  As soon as the surprise test was over, the teacher had deemed it appropriate to give the students the last fifteen minutes of class to get to know Sunset while she graded some of the tests. “You’re from Vanhoover, right?” Zephyr Skies, the slightly overweight blue-skinned boy, asked. “They say it’s super cold there. Is it true?” Sunset nodded. She couldn’t know for sure, but Dandy had told her as much about the city as she knew. It was Sunset’s job to try not to give too many details, lest the lie be discovered. “Yeah, but you get used to it.” “Why did you transfer?” Another girl asked. This one had yet to introduce herself. Sunset shrugged. “Mom said we needed a change of scenery. Her best friend lives in this city, so we came here.” It wasn’t the most original story, but they seemed to buy it anyway, which suited Sunset just fine. She hadn’t really finished rehearsing the rest of it. Sunset spent the rest of the class time answering questions and trying, for the first time in ages, to be likable to them. She already had noticed the boys found her attractive, or so she thought, so she needed to make an extra effort with the girls. So far, the novelty of being a new student was what kept them interested. Sunset would have to exploit that for as long as it lasted, and then she’d have to come up with different strategies. The next class was Physical Education, or P.E. as Trixie called it. Sunset was baffled that humans needed to be taught to keep a healthy body. Or was it just a cultural thing? She supposed she could just study how it all worked. They reached the locker room. Sunset looked around. She had never been inside one of these places. They were exclusive of professional sports back in Equestria. Sunset read the numbers of the lockers until she reached 202, the one assigned to her. She put her bag on a nearby bench and opened it, taking out her sports uniform. Trixie had made a list of all the things Sunset would need after the class. She had bought whatever Trixie had suggested and practiced how to use the products at home. She began putting everything into her locker. “What do you think, Sunset?” Sunset blinked and turned. Who had talked? Several of the girls were already in the process of changing to their gym clothes. “What?” Sunflower, one of the girls that had seemed more interested in her, held two small objects, one in each hand. They looked like rings made out of cloth. One was red, the other was black. Sunset remembered seeing those in Trixie’s room, but she had never seen Trixie do anything with them. What were they for? “Red or black?” Sunflower asked. “Uh… red,” Sunset replied. Choosing one, even though Sunset didn’t know what for, seemed to be the correct move. Sunflower put the black ring thingy down and used the red one to tie her hair into a ponytail. So that’s what those things are for, Sunset thought. Back in Equestria, most mares and fillies would just use a clip, and only those dexterous enough or unicorns would tie their manes or tails with a string. Those cloth rings looked a lot easier to use. They seemed like another thing Sunset could profit from upon her return. Once she had placed her possessions inside her locker, Sunset began changing. She had to be fast or she’d arrive late for class, and that would be unforgivable on her first day. Fortunately, she had been practicing for weeks! She had even managed to watch Trixie change clothes, then she timed her and practiced so much that she had managed to beat that time! “Whoa.” Sunset turned to see Sunflower staring at her. The girl immediately averted her eyes and returned to changing. What? Sunset shrugged and continued changing. They entered the gymnasium as soon as they finished donning their sports uniforms. Sunset noticed most of the boys were already there, talking to each other. It seemed that the boys were even faster at changing clothes. Why would that be? She’d have to ask Trixie later. “Good morning, guys!” a voice echoed throughout the gym. A tall, muscular man marched towards the group. He had deep green hair and his skin was a lighter shade of green. “Let’s start with stretching. Follow my lead.” Sunset supposed this was the teacher, since everyone began copying his movements. She did so too, although a bit less gracefully. Looking around, Sunset noticed she wasn’t that off with her movements, as half her classmates were as uncoordinated as her or worse. She sighed in relief. “Alright, that’s enough!” The teacher said. “Ten laps around the gym. I want you jogging, not walking!” Everyone began to do just that. Sunset followed their lead. This jogging was a lot like trotting. Was the difference because humans were biped? She soon realized that walking didn’t translate well to jogging, and felt like she was doing something wrong. Were her feet supposed to go to the sides? Most of the boys were in front of her, so she decided to try to copy their techniques. She straightened her back instead of leaning forward. That alone improved her pace a lot, and her feet stopped going everywhere. Ten laps later, the teacher blew his whistle. “Very good! Now make teams, it’s dodgeball day!” Sunset stood and looked around. She was in really bad shape, it seemed, to be out of breath after such exercise. Had she really neglected physical activity that much while at the castle or was it a result of her human body? “Wait, what is dodgeball?” As she asked the question, Sunset noticed most of the girls were just catching up to her. Half of them seemed to be about to faint. What had happened to them? Sunset just realized she had stayed in front of them, following the boys. Sunflower especially looked like she had run an Iron Pony marathon. Sunset went to the girl and helped her sit down at the bleachers. She didn’t really care if the girl blacked out or not, but she figured she could squeeze some information about human customs out of her if she befriended her. “Thanks,” Sunflower said as she accepted Sunset’s hand. “You’re really out of shape,” Sunset said. She had thought she was bad, but these girls looked like they lived their lives walking to the fridge and back. Well, at least she didn’t feel bad for feeling winded any longer. “Yeah... “ Sunflower replied. “At least the teacher lets us play after the boys.” So the boys played first. They did look in better shape. Sunset supposed she could take this moment to study how they played so she wouldn’t be regarded as a complete recluse. She had to be seen as moderately physical if she wanted to avoid any of the unwanted tags that came from being so naturally smart. As Sunflower recovered her breath, Sunset observed the game. It looked simple enough. Grab the ball, hit someone from the other team, then either dodge it or catch it. She could do that. By the time the boys’ match ended, the girls had recovered enough to play. They were divided into two teams by the teacher and the first team to throw the ball was decided with a coin toss. As fortune had it, Sunset, who was at the center of her team, got to be the very first one to throw the ball. She felt everyone’s eyes on her. This game was relatively permissive when throwing, as hitting someone depended as much on the one throwing as on the one dodging. If she did a good enough job, even if she didn’t manage to take someone out, she wouldn’t be thought of as incompetent. The only thing she had to do was aim somewhat accurately and throw with as much force as she could muster. The latter would be easier than the former. She still wasn’t completely used to her human body. She wasn’t confident her aim would be as good as anyone else’s, so she had to compensate with sheer brute force. As the teacher blew his whistle, the girls on the other team prepared for the throw. Sunset looked at them. To her surprise, Trixie was right in front of her on the first row, and she looked like she’d rather be anywhere else. They looked at each other’s eyes, and Trixie immediately looked down. Was she giving Sunset a chance to at least hit someone? She was close, and she wasn’t paying attention. Trixie clearly wanted to help Sunset. Sunset frowned. She was going to obtain victory and acknowledgment by her own means! So she turned slightly to her left and threw, hitting the girl right next to Trixie. Ha! First throw, first one out! Sunset thought. This game wasn’t that bad! The boys’ game looked like mayhem, but this was different. She was in control! She could already feel the praise she’d get once she’d manage to win this game on her own! She was hit in the stomach. Maybe she should have kept paying attention. ~~~~~~~~ Trixie had been right. After P.E., they were required to take a quick shower, and although they were in the same room, each small cubicle was covered well enough to prevent anyone from seeing each other. They weren’t completely blocked off, however, but the steam did make it difficult. Sunset had done some research on the subject, though. It turned out that most schools, regardless of academic level, had open showers, similar to the ones back in Equestria, and Garden Grove Junior High was an exception. Sunset couldn’t find out a reason why it was like this, but she supposed it wasn’t that bad. Each cubicle was a bit bigger than the shower portion of the bathroom back home. After the shower, the girls would dry off within their cubicle and at the very least don their undergarments before going out to the lockers and finish changing. They all used a small space within the cubicles to store both their underwear and their hygiene products. Sure, not washing each other was still weird, but that didn’t stop them from talking while showering. And they talked a lot. They talked about classes, teachers, friends, and especially about boys. Holy Two Sisters did they talk about boys! It was like they had nothing else on their minds. They did seem to narrow the amount of boys they talked about to a manageable number, but since Sunset didn’t know any of the names, she was at a loss. All in all, it wasn’t as bad as Sunset had thought. It definitely wasn’t something she couldn’t get used to. The next class was English language. Sunset found it curious that they called the language that, while in Equestria it was called Equish, and yet, they were essentially the same. Once again, the subject was something Sunset had already excelled at back in Equestria. Sunset took notice that no matter the universe, most students would neglect something as essential as language. What was wrong with them? Not that it really mattered. At least now Sunset had one more subject she didn’t have to worry about, and thus could focus on her social studies. After English class, they had made a beeline to the cafeteria for lunch. The place was as big as the cafeteria in Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, and the layout was pretty much the same. “I hope they have pizza,” Sunflower said. The girl had been the one most interested in Sunset, talking to her every chance she got. It didn’t help that she sat right next to Sunset and tended to ask her everything during class, having realized that Sunset would easily get perfect scores. Sunset was starting to regret her decision to socialize for once. Sunset grunted as a reply. She had never had pizza. The thing was well known for being both delicious and prejudicial for one’s health. The fact that it existed, however, brought another similitude with Equestria. Why were both worlds so similar in so many small ways, but entirely different in others? “You don’t like pizza?” Sunflower asked. “Or are you on a diet?” How was she supposed to reply to that? Even knowing Sunset was from a different world, Trixie still found surprising how many things she hadn’t eaten. How would this girl react? Sunset sighed. “I just don’t like cheap cafeteria pizza,” she said. Fortunately, it seemed like a good enough answer as Sunflower nodded energetically. “I know right? But I’ll get a slice anyway. Pizza is pizza.” Sunset rolled her eyes and looked away. As she waited in the queue with Sunflower, she decided to take a look at the general behavior of students during idle time. It wasn’t that much different from what she had seen during her time as a student. Kids talking and laughing. Not much different from what she remembered. The queue moved at a relatively fast pace, and soon Sunset needed to make a choice of what to get for lunch. Sunflower groaned loudly when she discovered that pizza was not, in fact, a menu item for today, so she got a sandwich and an apple. Sunset decided to get the same, if only because she didn’t want to spend too long trying to figure out what was what. The duo walked to one of the back tables, which was relatively empty of people. Sunset didn’t much care for the cold, hard seats or the tasteless food, but Sunflower didn’t seem to enjoy them either, so she allowed herself to show her discomfort on her face. “So, how come you’re so good at math?” Sunflower asked. Sunset poked at her half-eaten sandwich. “I studied,” she replied and made a conscious effort not to add a 'duh'. “I don’t like math,” Sunflower said. “I don’t understand it. And I don’t understand why we are even studying it. What’s the point? I’m gonna be a botanist.” “It helps with the development of the brain and the abstract thought,” Sunset replied with a bored tone. “You may not need to use math, but you need to be able to handle abstract and complex concepts, no matter what you do. Neglecting the acquisition of these subjects is the reason why adults tend to struggle later in life.” Sunset blinked and realized she had just lectured someone again. She closed her eyes and prepared to be called a nerd or something of the sort. Not that she really cared if these humans liked her or not, but she had wanted to get information out of them. “Woah, you’re so smart!” Sunflower said. Sunset frowned, she hadn’t expected that response. “Maybe I should try a bit harder, huh?” Sunset looked at her and gave her a slow nod. “Would you help me out?” “Uh, sure…” Sunset replied. Now, this was a first. In the past, whenever her classmates learned about her genius, they either mocked her out of envy or tried to get her on group projects. Only now was a girl straight asking for tutoring. Sunset allowed herself to smile. Maybe it had been a good idea to let this girl follow her around. Loud laughter came from a few tables over, and Sunset straightened herself to look above the students. There was a group of girls wearing the same clothes, almost like a uniform, chatting loudly. Many students were looking at them, even though they didn’t seem to be doing anything noteworthy. “Who are they?” Sunset asked. Sunflower glanced to where Sunset was looking. “You mean the cheerleaders?” “Cheerleaders?” Sunset repeated. So this world had cheerleading as well. Back in Equestria, they were always at sports events, especially with the Wonderbolts. Just like with locker rooms, humans seemed to also have them in school settings. Interesting. “Are you thinking of joining them?” Sunflower asked. “I don’t think you should. I mean, sure, they’re super popular and stuff, but they’re also mean bullies. It’s best to avoid them.” Sunset hummed. She had never met a cheerleader before, but she had met ‘popular’ foals at school. Being the top student and also Princess Celestia’s protegé had protected her enormously against bullying, but she had seen what the populars usually did to those less sociable. She wanted information, but she sure was not going to lower herself to the level of the likes of them. “I don’t think I can be around braindead po-people, anyway,” Sunset said through her teeth. “Say, does this place have a library?” “Yeah,” Sunflower said. “Why? You have a paper to work on?” Sunset resisted the urge to sigh. “No, but I’d like to do some research for… a secret project of mine.” “Oh, that sounds cool!” Sunflower said. Was it Sunset, or was this girl a bit too enthusiastic? “We can go after classes, if you want.” “Yeah, let’s do that.” ~~~~~~~~ As it turned out, the last two classes Sunset had that day, History and Geography, turned out to be her downfall. For all the perfection of the previous classes, her knowledge had not translated at all to this world for these classes. She had barely managed to follow the lectures with what little she learned by reading Trixie’s books. That wouldn’t do. Sunset would not be a mediocre student in any aspect. She had mastered Four Dimensional Vector Enchantment at age ten, for Celestia’s sake! So, once the last bell rang, she followed Sunflower to the library. It was rather small, compared to the huge one at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, but it still was a lot more than the single half-full shelf back at Trixie’s. She felt excited to begin! The process of getting a book and sitting at one of the empty tables was pretty much exactly as she remembered, even the book sorting system was the same! She felt like luck was on her side as she opened the geography volume. Today’s class had focused on the country’s land, so she began there. Fortunately, she already knew all the principal terms. Unfortunately, the human world did not behave the same way, so, according to Trixie’s mother, Dandy, this world did not have cloud cities in the sky or rainbow waterfalls. She’d have to be very careful to only use human knowledge when answering tests. It wasn’t long before she had noted the main points in a notebook. If she thought of this world simply as a weird continent on the other side of Equestria, she could pretend it would be Princess Celestias’ next political destiny, and as her personal student, Sunset just had to know everything about them. Easy. She looked up, and noticed Sunflower looking at her. The girl immediately looked away. “Well, I think this is enough for today,” Sunset said. “Tomorrow I want to read about history.” “That’s odd,” Sunflower said. “You’re so good at math and English. I thought you’d also be very good at everything else.” Sunset shrugged. “I guess I had bad teachers.” Bad teachers did exist, but in Sunset’s experience, they were only half to blame for bad grades. She knew, though, that students would always blame it all on teachers, so that was to be her go-to excuse for now. And as always, Sunflower nodded in agreement. “Say, if you’re not so good at geography, why don’t I help you? Since you’re gonna help me with math. I’m not the best, but I have good grades.” Sunset blinked. She hadn’t considered being tutored simply because she was used to doing everything herself. Besides, Sunflower had just admitted she wasn’t the best, why would Sunset accept help from anyone but the best? She was about to turn her down but stopped. Trixie was also far from the best in many things, but Sunset had already paid for her help, why couldn’t she accept free help from Sunflower? Who knows, maybe she could end up getting info about many other things. “Alright,” Sunset said. “That’s a fair trade.”