When the last bell rang on Friday afternoon, everyone at CHS more or less rushed to the exit, even the teachers happily left their classrooms for the weekend. Seven girls tarried behind in one of the hallways though, talking about their plans for the weekend.
Pinkie Pie rattled down a number of ideas how they could pass the time and the others chipped in. Even Sunset Shimmer was kind of excited to spend some time with her friends again, after being stuck in the hospital for so long. She was one of the reasons why the Rainbooms were in no rush to leave, as Sunset would have to wait for Principal Celestia to take her back home. Sunset had shared her new living situation with her closest friends, and they all could see how much better Sunset was doing with that kind of support in her life. She was smiling along with the others and laughed at Pinkies antics like she always used to.
Only Blue didn’t look that happy. She would not get home in time today, as she had detention once again. However, instead of sitting in detention hall or doing pointless chores, Vice-Principal Luna had something else in mind for her today. What that was, Blue didn’t know. She didn’t like surprises in general, so surprise-detention was more than enough to put her in a grumpy mood.
Fluttershy quickly picked up on that, as usual, and reached out for Blue’s hand. A quick but reassuring squeeze later, and Blue’s frown faded into something calmer. She threw a thankful smile towards Fluttershy who returned it from behind her veil of hair that covered most of her face. The others noticed and made more of an effort to include Blue into their chat, putting weekend plans to the side for now. Blue told them they didn’t have to just because of her.
Despite of how much Blue had changed since her first day in CHS, detention still was a very regular thing for her. Even though Trixie had wisely stopped teasing her after their first run-in, some resident troublemakers in seek of the next thrill had made a sport of challenging her. Sadly, Blue’s latent anger and short fuse were two of things that hadn’t changed, so ticking her off wasn’t very hard. On the bright side, Gilda Gryphon seemed to like that the black eye made her look more badass.
Blue sighed and leaned against the wall of the school building while the others sat down on the stairs of the side entrance. She knew she deserved that detention, so she couldn’t really be mad at Vice-Principal Luna. She also couldn’t be mad at the girls for making weekend plans when she couldn’t. That left only herself to be mad at, and she had a lot of practice at that.
The doors opened and the girls jumped back on her feet. Principal Celestia pulled Sunset in for a quick hug and even though Sunset blushed, all the girls could see her smile and how much she enjoyed this kind of affection, after years of loneliness. If anything good had come out of Anon-A-Miss, it was that Sunset had found a family in Celestia, even if it was a little odd.
On a normal day, Vice-Principal Luna would probably tease her almost-niece now, but today she was busy glaring at Blue instead. Blue should know better, but she still glared right back, not willing to back out that easily. The girls left with some goodbyes and Celestia took Sunset to the faculty lot, but Blue and Luna were still glaring at each other.
Like always, Blue dropped out first with a sigh
“Okay, so what is this ‘special idea’ you had?”
When Luna’s glare only intensified, Blue added a meek “Miss Luna” at the end of her question. She rolled her eyes when Luna had that evil smirk then. She hated it when Luna pulled the ‘figure of authority’ card on her, but Blue knew better than to complain. She already had enough detention as is.
“You’ll find out soon enough, Miss Shore. Did you bring your gym clothes?”
Blue nodded, but with a groan
“Can’t you take a break from playing Miss Mysterious just once? It’s Friday, for fuck’s sake.”
“Maybe if you could hold your temper for a change, we wouldn’t have to do this on a Friday.”
Blue rolled her eyes and sighed deeply
“Whatever.”
Blue followed Luna when the teacher started moving, but to her surprise, they didn’t go to the gymnasium. Instead, Luna headed to her car in the parking lot and motioned for her to get in. Wordlessly, Blue climbed into the passenger seat and threw her bag to the backseat. Blue was already in a bad mood, driving halfway through town on a Friday night to some fucking place only Luna knew didn’t help. She could really do without all this secrecy bullshit. I just hope it’s over soon.
When Luna finally parked the car, Blue climbed out immediately. From the drive, she knew they had to be in the central district of Canterlot, but the street was unfamiliar to her. While Luna locked the car, Blue glanced around to get her bearings. At least, that was what it was supposed to look like. After a few months of working with Blue, both as her teacher and her social worker, Luna noticed what Blue was really doing. Blue had shifted her weight on one leg with her body tensed up for a running start and she probably didn’t notice anything of the street except possible getaway routes. Luna sighed silently. Blue had made a lot of progress, and in school she had managed to let go of this tension, especially when she was with her friends. But as soon as she left school grounds, Blue was still the same nervous, mistrusting, and ill-tempered girl who had arrived at CHS late fall. Hopefully, this trip would help her loosen up a bit more.
Blue, of course, didn’t know of Miss Luna’s hopes. She was checking out the buildings, wondering why she had been brought here, until she noticed a small sign. This had to be what Miss Luna was going at, since she had asked her to bring gym clothes, but just the thought alone seemed absurd
“Martial Arts School? Are you fucking serious?”
Undeterred, Luna went straight towards the door with the sign, expecting Blue to follow, which she did of course
“All ballet classes were booked out, so this was the only place I could find on such short notice.”
Luna said this with such a straight face that Blue just stared at her in shock for a whole minute, before she finally caved in and chuckled as Blue slowly caught up on her joke
“Ha ha. But seriously, what the fuck do you think is going to happen here?”
Luna only had a sideways glare for her
“I expect you to keep an open mind while here, Ocean Shore. Instead of complaining like a young child, maybe you should be grateful that I give you this chance when I could have just locked you up in detention hall.”
Blue looked away from Luna’s glare and clamped her teeth shut before she could blurt out an angry quip. Miss Luna didn’t use her full name very often, but when she did, Blue knew that she was on thin ice. Instead of risking the teacher’s wraith, she went for a meek question instead
“Do you really think this will help with anything?”
“I do. You’ll find that sport can be a good outlet for all that anger you carry with you all the time.”
Blue rolled her eyes and mumbled
“Now you sound like the counsellor in juvie.”
She noticed a blur to her right but wasn’t fast enough to duck from the blue hand that smacked the back of her head
“Ow! Hey!”
“And perhaps you will learn that sometimes it’s better to stand down and be quiet, instead of talking with your fists.”
Blue glared at Luna for that not very subtle hint at her last trouble in school
“I didn’t start that fight! I wasn’t going to let anyone beat the shit out of me, so I fought back.”
Luna nodded with a long, defeated sigh
“I know, Blue. I know. And I hope that, if nothing else, at least you’ll learn how to defend yourself without causing injury to your opponents. Or yourself.”
At this, Blue’s frown faded almost instantly. The way Miss Luna said that made her feel weird, somehow. She wasn’t really used that anyone would care if she got hurt, except maybe her sister. That Miss Luna seemed to care about her that way… Blue didn’t really know how to feel about it.
She didn't get much of a chance to think about it since Luna pushed her into a room after climbing a set of stairs. Blue took a step inside and, as always, immediately checked her surroundings. The room was nearly square, probably big enough for twenty people, and the floor was covered with judo mats. Besides the door she had just come in from, there was only one other door at the far end of the room, but Blue could see that it was just a storage room or something. There were no real windows either, just some small slits right under the ceiling, like bathrooms sometimes had them. Which meant her only escape route would be back through the door Miss Luna was now guarding. Great. I'm really stuck here.
In the room, there was a man waiting for them and he was watching Blue with appraising eyes. He was tall and muscular, and he didn't look at all like Blue would imagine a martial arts teacher. Instead of the lean, wiry guys she had seen in ninja movies, this guy was bulky like a bodybuilder. On steroids. Blue had to guess that he was in his forties, but she couldn't really tell since his hair was naturally grey, except one broad stripe of red in the middle, almost like a Mohawk. He had yellow-brownish skin that reminded Blue of sandstone, and the way he just stood there and watching her, he might as well be just a statue.
Blue instinctively glared at him as she walked up towards him. She didn't know this guy or why Luna had brought her here, but she wasn't going to let some dude in a karate outfit intimidate her. When she reached the middle of the room, she stopped and waited for the guy to say something. Which he didn't. Something about him gave Blue military vibes, from the way he just stood still and stared. If it wasn't for the karate outfit, Blue would have never guessed that this guy had anything to do with martial arts.
As if he had read her thoughts, the guy finally talked with a deep, chesty voice
“Who did you expect? Mister Miyagi?”
Blue involuntarily let out a snorting laugh, trying to cover it up with a snarky comment
“Oh wow, he can talk.”
It didn’t come out nearly as snarky or witty as Blue had hoped, and the guy was now grinning at her. Not an improvement really.
“From what Luna told me, I thought you were taller.”
Blue’s glare dialled up a few notches and her hands balled to fists. She hated people who judged her before they even got to know her, especially about her size. Her reply was only an angry growl
“I’ve taken down a guy twice my size during my first week in town, so you better watch what you say.”
She didn’t care that she had never met this guy before. She didn’t care if he looked like he could lift her up and throw her through the room with one hand. She didn’t care that Miss Luna was behind her and watching, or that she might have just insulted one of Miss Luna’s friends. Blue wasn’t going to take shit from nobody, and especially not from a jerk like that guy.
The guy moved and walked closer to her. Blue didn’t realize that she shifted her weight to one leg and instinctively tensed up her upper body, but he noticed, even if he didn’t show it. Blue wouldn’t back away, even when he was so close that she had to tilt back her head and glare up at him. She almost expected him to throw a punch at her, but he still had that stupid grin on this face. And then, he surprised her
“Show me.”
Blue’s glare faded for a moment and made room for her surprised expression
“What?”
“Show me how you did it. Try to take me down, like you did with that guy.”
Blue only responded with an angry snort
“Yeah, right. I’m going to punch a stranger and then I’ll check for the bus to the nearest police station. How dumb do you think I am?”
The guy just had a throaty laugh for her at that
“Don’t worry, you won’t get into trouble for it”
He probably thought he would lighten up the mood with that, but Blue’s frown returned with full strength
“Oh, so you’re just looking for an excuse, huh? You let me punch you and then you’ll get to beat me up for it. Is that something that turns you on? Beating up girls like a sick perv?”
That finally worked and shook the guy out of his cool. His grin faded and now he really looked angry
“Has that ever happened to you?”
“What?”
The guy leaned forward and looked like a pissed drill-sergeant
“What you just said. Has that ever happened to you before?”
Blue would have been confused by how much this guy seemed to care, but she didn’t really listen now that she had an opening. When he leaned towards her, Blue had a perfect angle again and her fist smashed into his upper body, just below his ribcage.
His eyes opened wide from surprised and he staggered backwards with a pained grunt. Suddenly his face went pale and he looked like he had trouble breathing. And while he tried to get his breath back, he was staring at her with pure disbelieve.
Blue would have enjoyed that sight way more if her hand didn’t feel like she had just punched a massive stone wall
“Ow, what the fuck? Do you keep fucking bricks under that shirt?”
Behind her, Luna just broke into laughter. The sight of the tall man struggling to stay on his feet while Blue was shaking her hand to get the pain out of her fingers was just too good. Blue glared at her as she tried to get feeling back into her fingers, and Karate Guy was still panting, although his face turned back to normal colour.
Unlike Score who was out cold from one punch, this guy recovered far more quickly. Also unlike Score, he didn’t seem unreasonably mad either
“Nice punch. But I don’t think that will work if you don’t distract your opponent first.”
Blue crossed her arms in front of her chest, her glare wasn’t as seething as before
“I’ve got more than one trick.”
And there was his grin again
“Show me.”
Blue took a step forward, and the guy tensed up. Blue could see that his enormous muscles flexed in anticipation of her next move. He clearly wouldn’t underestimate her again. Blue didn’t notice the satisfied grin that sprang to her face. Her hands balled to fists, and she ran up to him.
It had only been a couple of minutes, but Blue was out of breath and sweat was running down her face as she still tried to hit the guy. High emphasis on trying. That guy was far too quick for his massive size. He had dodged or blocked every single blow from Blue so far and he didn’t even stop grinning. Blue got more and more angry and by now, she was just flailing at him in blind rage.
Then suddenly, he just took her hit. He just didn’t move at all and took it full force. Blue was so surprised when she just bounced off his massive form, and the pain in her fingers was back again. While Blue tried to catch her balance again, she noticed that he moved. Before she knew what happened, she was landing on the mat, butt first. She was so perplexed, she even forgot to be angry.
“Not much of a trick, huh? But we can change that.”
He reached out for Blue’s arm and pulled her back to her feet
“My name is Black Belt, and we’re going to train together. There’s a changing room at the end of the hall. Get changed and catch your breath, then get back here. You’ve got work to do.”
Blue glared but did as he said. She wordlessly walked past Luna to the door. She slammed it shut behind her, as she knew they expected, but instead of heading to the changing room right away, she stayed right behind the door. From here, she could hear the guy, Black Belt, and Miss Luna talking
“So that’s your special case, huh?”
“Special, in more than just one way.”
“I’ve never seen a girl this reckless. She just stormed at me with no fear, but no sense or reason either. What do you expect me to do with her?”
Blue gritted her teeth and slammed her fist against the door. ‘Special case’ was just another way to call her a lost cause. She was just pissed, but she wouldn’t back out now. She would show this jerk what she really was made of.
She changed into her gym clothes as quickly as she could and stormed back into the room, slamming the door shut again. The glare she shot as Miss Luna was enough to make the woman stay out of her way as she just lunged at Karate Guy again. Black Belt was surprised, but only for a second, because one moment later, Blue was slamming into the floormats again, face first this time. Before she even realized, Black Belt had her pinned down, so she was reduced to some pathetic wiggling on the floor.
And of course, he had that stupid grin again
“Hothead, are we? When we're done today, we'll talk again.”
Blue just screamed in rage and tried to pull free, which didn’t work at all, since she could barely move. Only after he let her go, she could get back on her feet.
Blue’s hands balled to fists and she clenched her teeth shut so she wouldn't scream. Black Belt watched her closely, and so did Miss Luna. Sneaking in a hit didn’t work. Charging at him didn’t work. I’ve already made an idiot of myself enough for one day.
She forced out a breath and let her fingers spread again. She even tried to stop glaring and slipped into that slightly bored expression she usually set up for her teachers at class. Luna recognized it and saw right through it, and so did Black Belt after a nod from the teacher.
Without even mentioning what happened before, he started the lesson.
They didn’t really get much done, as they only had two hours and Blue had no clue about martial arts besides what she’d seen in movies, which was mostly rubbish as Black Belt told her. So, Blue only scratched at the basics. She learned how to stand right, so she couldn’t be knocked over easily. She learned and practiced how to move and keep her body centred. Some of the things she had learned the hard way, during fights at school and outside of it, but not in the way Black Belt explained them.
She probably wouldn’t admit it, but it was actually kinda fun. Black Belt didn’t pull any Master Yoda philosophy bullshit with her or any of that new-age stuff with healthy body for a healthy mind or whatever. He didn’t treat her like a dumb child, and Blue could appreciate that a lot.
The best part was the end, when he brought something like a portable punchbag, and she could practice some of the moves he showed her. After the frustrating start, it felt really good to deck that thing with punches over and over.
When they were doing some stretching at the end, Blue was kinda exhausted, but it was okay. This was ways better than sitting in a classroom or carrying boxes from one office to another. Of course, that good mood didn’t stay very long. Miss Luna was throwing weird glances at her and Blue was about to ask what her problem was, but Black Belt beat her to it and started questioning her instead
“How often has that happened?”
“Huh? The fuck are you talking about?”
Blue glared and any trace of contentment just vanished. Black Belt had that look she had seen in other people, that kind of pity of someone who thought she was weak and lost in the world and only they could save her. Blue hated being treated like a little girl, and she didn’t need any saving, especially not from people like that.
“You getting into fights with people, how often has that happened?”
Black Belt faced Blue’s glare head on, which only made her angry again
“Why do you fucking care? That’s nothing to do with you!”
“Just answer the goddamn question!”
Blue pulled back a bit. Black Belt hadn’t shown any anger all night, not even when she was trying to punch him, but this time she could hear it very clearly. She shrugged and looked away, but did as he asked
“Lost count. Bastards couldn’t take it. They thought I was an easy pick, but they’re all wrong.”
When she looked away, her eyes fell on Miss Luna. She didn’t look angry, but there was that same pitiful expression Blue hated so much
“What the fuck is wrong with you? You drag me to a martial arts class but suddenly you care if I get into a fight or not? Make up your fucking mind!”
Luna sighed, and so did Black Belt behind her. Blue could almost hear their thoughts ‘Oh, that poor, poor, child’ and it pissed her off
“Stop treating me like a little girl. I’ve made it through half a dozen high schools without self-defence-classes and guess what? I survived.”
“You certainly did. But was it really worth it?”
Blue glared even harder at Luna and screamed at her
“Fuck you! Those jerks had it all coming. I won’t let myself get beat up just so you can feel better. I’m not taking shit from nobody!”
Black Belt spoke up again, unimpressed by Blue’s rage
“Nobody asked you to do that. But maybe there’s a better way to it. You said you survived, but what else?”
Blue threw her head around to glare at him again
“What do you mean, what else?”
“You went from fight to fight and everywhere you go, you’re butting heads with everyone. Sure, you survived, but could you really call that living?”
“Fuck you! Who are you to judge my life? You know shit about me! You have no idea what I’ve been through! I always had to fight for myself, or nobody else would!”
Black Belt suddenly slammed his fist into the mats. Blue was so surprised that she flinched from the loud bang. She turned around and instinctively got ready to run for it. She knew she had no chance to fight back if Karate Guy wanted to go after her. Not even Miss Luna could save her now.
Instead of charging at her, Black Belt only glared
“Why are you doing this? You’re not an idiot. You know I only want to help you, but you treat me like an enemy. Why?”
“I never asked for your help! I don’t want any help! I don’t need any!”
“That’s bullcrap. Everybody needs some help eventually. Even a tough girl like you.”
“FUCK YOU! Stop treating me like a fucking pity case!”
Blue didn’t even wait for an answer and just stormed out through the door. She heard yelling but she just ran down the stairs, still in her gym clothes. She just couldn’t take this bullshit any longer. A minute later, she was out on the street and she just ran.
It didn’t take long before Blue stopped running, most likely because she’d spend the last few hours training. It also didn’t take long before she started swearing under her breath again. She’d left her clothes behind, including her jacket which she missed dearly now that the sun was gone, and the night turned cold. More importantly, along with her clothes, she also left her phone behind, so she couldn’t call her sister or anyone else. The only hope she had left was that she could make it into the building and wait for her sister to get back home after her night shift.
That was, if she’d find her way back before freezing to death.
Blue glanced around for anything familiar, but she didn’t recognize any of the streets she passed. Running off in just any direction when she didn’t even know where she was had been a stupid plan. Now she really had no idea where she was and all she could do was follow the street and hope she’d fine a sign soon.
She frowned and burrowed her hands in her pockets. Her gym clothes were worn out, like all her stuff, and barely held back the cold, but they had to be enough for tonight. How she would get her things back, she had no idea, but that would have to wait for tomorrow. Right now, she was just following the street somewhere and swearing, because at least that was something she could still do.
Blue had been wandering around for maybe an hour when a car drove by. It passed her and Blue noticed that it wasn’t a car, but an old truck by the size and sound of it.
Weird. What’s a truck doing around here this late on a Friday night?
Before Blue even finished that thought, the truck took a sharp break and started slowly pulling back in reverse. Blue immediately tensed up and looked around for a way to run, but then she heard the voices from the open window
“See, I told you she’d be around! I had a twitchy toe and a tingle in my left ear.”
“Alright, alright, I admit you were right all along, Pinkie.”
Blue froze in mid-run
“Pinkie Pie and Applejack?”
On cue, the passenger-door of the truck flew open and Pinkie Pie waved at her as if it was the most normal thing ever
“Hi Blue! Did you have a nice walk? We’re here to pick you up now!”
“You what? How? How did you even… and why…?”
Pinkie Pie just smiled her goofy smile at her, so Applejack tried to explain instead
“Pinkie sense. She just knows stuff somehow. Don’t try to figure it out, you’ll just hurt your head.”
Blue’s stare shifted between the two girls and slowly turned into a glare
“So Pinkie is acting weird, but that still doesn’t explain why you would be here right now.”
“We came to pick you up?”
“Why?”
Applejack and Pinkie Pie shared a confused look while Blue just kept glaring at them
“What do you mean, why? We don’t want you freezin’ your legs off, that’s why. Now hop on in!”
Blue didn’t move an inch. Even though she was shivering now that she had stopped moving and the freezing cold crept under her skin. The only thing that kept her somewhat warm was the anger that was building up inside her
“I thought you all have plans for tonight. Now you’re driving around in the middle of nowhere, and I want to know why.”
Pinkie Pie started to giggle and even Applejack had that stupid grin of her, all which didn’t help with Blue’s anger
“Silly dilly, we wouldn’t leave a friend out in the cold. That’s more important than a sleepover!”
Blue kept on glaring, but against Pinkie’s antics and Applejack’s stubbornness, her anger couldn’t compete. And it really was too cold to argue, so she finally climbed into the truck, even if the fire still grumbled in her tummy.
She toned out Pinkie Pie’s babbling and instead focused on the road ahead. This late, even the main roads were relatively empty, so they got along well. Applejack took the route back to the school, as far as Blue could tell, but there was no use to this late
“Take the next left, you can drop me off at the corner.”
Even if they were her friends, Blue had no intention of letting them know where she lived. They didn’t need the see the old, run-down house or the tiny apartment she shared with her sister. They would just worry, or even worse, feel like they had to save her. Blue just glared from the thought alone. She didn’t need saving from nobody. Bad enough that Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer knew where she lived.
Applejack nodded, but didn’t take the turn and just kept driving anyway
“AJ? What the fuck? Where are you taking me?”
“Don’t worry, partner. I know where to go.”
Blue grit her teeth and threw a glare that should incinerate her
“I’ve got enough of this secrecy bullshit! First Luna, now you, what the fuck is wrong with you? I don’t care where you want to take me, let me out now!”
Blue reached over Pinkie Pie to get a grip at the door, but Pinkie Pie grabbed her wrists with surprising strength
“Don’t do that! Don’t you know it’s dangerous? Also, why would you want to leave and miss the party?”
“Party? I didn’t ask for a fucking party… ugh, shut up!”
Blue stopped Pinkie Pie from saying something stupid about a surprise party
“I don’t fucking care! I just want to get home now! So you either take me home now, or…”
“Or what? You gonna jump out of a driving car? You’re crazy, but you’re not stupid, Blue.”
With a yell of pure rage, Blue finally pulled free from Pinkie’s grip and now turned to Applejack, trying to make her pull over by force. For a moment, she managed to pull the wheel towards the right, way too fast, and Applejack almost lost control of the truck
“Watch it! Are you trying to get us all killed?”
“PULL OVER NOW!”
The girls glared at each other, but Applejack finally stopped at a corner
“Get the hell out of my truck, now!”
“Fuck yeah you crazy bitch!”
Pinkie looked between the two and shrank down scared in an almost perfect imitation of Fluttershy, but Blue was far to angry to notice. She just threw the door open and jumped out, just in time before Applejack hit the gas and drove off as fast as the truck would allow, with Pinkie Pie shrieking through the still half-open door.
At this time, Blue couldn’t give less of a fuck. She was back in the freezing cold, but at least she knew where she was now. Angry as she was, she just ran all the way home.
What the fuck is wrong with me?
Blue sat in the dark of her room, no music or lights, and asked herself the same question over and over, without finding any answer.
Why the fuck did I do that? What the fuck is wrong with me?
Blue had been angry at Karate Guy, but not so angry that it would explain the way she just exploded at Applejack. At Applejack and Pinkie Pie. And why? Because they wanted to help her.
What the fuck is wrong with me?
They were supposed to be friends. This was supposed to be easy. Blue knew they had their quirks and she had hers, but why did this all turn into this fucking mess?
They had been so close right after Anon-A-Miss, but right now… Blue didn’t know where they stood anymore. Everything was just a giant complicated mess right now.
Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Applejack still walked on eggshells around Sunset. Sunset tried to act like everything was okay, but surprisingly, or maybe not, Fluttershy was so protective around Sunset. Pinkie Pie was just oblivious as always. Blue didn’t want to pretend she was happy, but she also knew that she shouldn’t be the one who starts a big argument, because most likely, she would blow up on them.
Like I just did anyway. Why does stuff like this happen whenever things seem to be turning for the better?
Blue glared at the opposite wall, but in reality, she was more angry at herself than anyone else. She couldn’t even call and try to explain herself (not that she had any good explanation), because her phone was still in Miss Luna’s car, along with her schoolbag. She couldn’t borrow her sister’s phone either, since Spring Meadow worked the night shift and wouldn’t be back until the next morning. It wouldn’t matter if she was here anyway, since she didn’t know any of the girl’s numbers out of her head…
What the fuck is just wrong with me?
Blue flinched when she heard a sound she didn’t expect. She got up, still in the dark, and opened the door to her room. There it was again, and this time she was sure: Somebody was knocking at her door this late, and she had no idea who it could be.
“Come on Blue, we know you’re in there!”
Blue gritted her teeth when she heard the voice from the other side and stormed to push open the door with all her force. Rainbow Dash, who was of course at the other side of the door, must have expected something like that, because she immediately jumped out of the way and held her hands up defensively
“Whoa, easy there! We come in peace! I promise!”
Blue glared at her but then noticed Sunset Shimmer standing half-behind Rainbow. She had a large bag from a fast-food-joint and held it out towards her
“Peace offering?”
Before Blue could even think of something to say, her tummy gave out an almighty roar. She hadn’t eaten anything since lunch at school and between the workout from earlier, combined with running halfway through town, and the empty fridge…
Her tummy grumbled again, and Blue felt her face go all red from blushing. Rainbow and Sunset just laughed, but it somehow broke the awkward tension. With a roll of her eyes, Blue just stepped aside and let the two in.
Two-and-a-half burgers later, and Blue finally looked up at her maybe-not-so-much-unwanted guests. Rainbow was busy with a burger of her own, but Sunset was watching her, waiting until she was ready
“Why are you here? Let alone this late?”
Sunset sighed and rolled her eyes
“Geez, I wonder. Maybe because you just ran away from Luna and left all your stuff behind? Or maybe because you blew up on Applejack and nearly made her crash into a wall with her truck.”
“I did not make her…”
Blue just barely stopped herself from saying something stupid and took a deep breath instead
“That was not intentional. I was just… angry.”
“Angry, huh? Sound more like freaking mad to me.”
Blue shot a glare to Rainbow Dash, but compared to the ones from early tonight, this one was harmless
“What do you care anyway? That’s between Applejack and me, if anything.”
“That's not how it works, and you know it, Blue.”
Blue balled her hand to a fist under the table
“No, I don’t fucking know. I don’t know why Applejack and Pinkie suddenly appeared out of nowhere, I don’t know where they wanted to take me, and I don’t know why any of you should care. If I’m just fucking crazy, shouldn’t you be with them right now?”
Sunset and Rainbow looked at each other, before the latter sighed
“Either you really don’t have a clue, or you’re just being stubborn right now. Applejack and Pinkie Pie are at Rarity’s place right now, where they wanted to take you too. Fluttershy managed to calm Applejack down by now, so they are taken care of. But you’re sitting here in the dark all by yourself.”
“So what? Why the fuck would you care?”
Sunset shook her head in disbelief
“We’re worried because we’re friends, Blue. That’s what friends do. We want to be there for you.”
“Yeah, we don’t want to leave you hanging like…”
Rainbow caught herself from finishing the sentence, but the way she looked at Sunset told everything anyway. She doesn’t want to let me down like she let Sunset down?
“I’m fine by my own. I’ve always been fine by my own.”
“That’s not the point!”
Rainbow looked between Sunset and Blue, gathering the courage for what she wanted to say
“Sunset was fine by herself for years, but when we became her friends, we should have made sure she doesn’t have to be by herself anymore. And now you shouldn’t have to do everything by yourself anymore!”
“What do you want to say with that? That you’re helping me because you feel guilty about Sunset? That you think I’m just a fucking pity case for you? Who the fuck do you think…”
“It’s NOT about that!”
Sunset slammed her hand on the table to interrupt Blue’s rant before she could talk herself into another raging fit
“It doesn’t matter if the girls let me down, right now it’s about not letting you down, that’s all there is!”
“I never asked you to ‘be there for me’ or anything! I’m not a fucking baby who needs to be treated like she’s made of paper! I don’t need anyone to come and save me!”
“WE KNOW!”
Blue just stared, baffled when both Sunset and Rainbow just yelled at her
“We fucking know, okay? You’re a tough girl and you can handle yourself, alright? But that still doesn’t mean you should. That’s all there is.”
“We don’t think you’re weak. We didn’t come to rescue you. We just want to do what friends should do, okay?”
Blue slumped back into the cheap plastic-fold chair and stared from one to the other and back for a couple minutes
“So, what now?”
“I dunno. Obviously, we’re not dragging you to Rarity’s sleepover. But if you want, we can stay and just, you know, hang?”
Blue tilted her head to the side, looking at Sunset now who just gave her a noncommittal shrug
“Up to you, Blue.”
She sighed, kinda defeated but more confused really
“Okay. Sure. Let’s hang. I mean, you brought food, so it would be fucking rude if I just kicked you out like that.”
The three girls chuckled. It felt kinda awkward, but it beat the tension from before by miles. Rainbow looked around the kitchen, searching
“I was gonna say maybe we could watch a movie but…”
Blue just shrugged
“Yeah, we don’t have a TV. But I can turn on some tunes if you want.”
“Sure.”
“Sounds cool.”
The girls lounged in Blue’s room for a couple more hours. In a weird déjà-vu, Sunset was sitting on the bed with her back against the wall while Blue had just sprawled out on the floor. Rainbow had scanned through Blue’s humble collections of CDs and found something ‘awesome’, which was still playing in the background, though at a far more manageable volume than the last time the three girls had been in Blue’s room. Sunset and Rainbow chatted about this and that while Blue, now that she had gotten back her phone from Sunset, tried to apologize to Miss Luna via text. She sucked pretty hard at it, and she didn’t even try texting Applejack. She saw the number of missed calls from the girls and frowned at the giant mess she had caused. Again.
At some point Rainbow slipped out to the bathroom, and Sunset looked at Blue who was still staring at the phone
“You okay?”
“No.”
Sunset sat up straighter when Blue looked up from her phone
“I’m in the middle of bomb sight and I have no idea how to get out.”
Blue bit her lip when the words slipped out faster than she wanted. Somehow, talking about stuff like this was just easier with Sunset. Maybe, because Sunset usually knew what to say, when Blue didn’t
“Well, maybe you can figure out how you got into the mess first and start there.”
“What’s there to figure out? I lost my fucking shit, that’s what always happens.”
“Maybe, but why? What was so different today?”
Blue shrugged and said nothing. Just because it was easier to talk with Sunset didn’t meant it wasn’t still fucking hard.
Sunset waited for a minute, testing if it was safe for her to keep pushing
“Luna said you blew up in that martial arts school as well.”
“She told you about that?”
Sunset just shrugged
“We live in the same house, so yeah, we talk about stuff. So what went wrong? Did you get mad that the guy was stronger than you?”
“No! Why the fuck would you think that? That guy was like a marine on steroids.”
“So what was it?”
Blue shrugged again, but this time she actually talked
“I dunno… just, the whole thing, Luna dragging me there without telling me, all this mystery bullshit. I hate that.”
Sunset nodded and muttered under her breath
“Memo to Pinkie Pie, no surprise parties in the near future.”
Blue chuckled tonelessly
“Yeah, probably for the better.”
“Okay, so you don’t like surprises. But Luna said you looked like you enjoyed yourself after the rough start, so why did you run away then?”
“Geez, how much do you guys talk about me. It’s fucking weird.”
Sunset didn’t fall for Blue’s obvious attempt to change the subject and just kept staring at Blue, demanding an answer with her eyes. Eventually, Blue caved in and sighed
“I mentioned that I got in a lot of fights and suddenly, he acted like I was just a little girl. Like, he had to come and save me. I don’t need fucking saving from anyone, especially from a jerk like him. But he wouldn’t let it go, so I just… I got angry.”
“By which you mean, you blew up on him and then ran away so you could throw a tantrum.”
Blue glared at her for that but couldn’t really argue
“Sensitive, much?”
“Hey, I call ‘em like I see ‘em”
“Shut up.”
Sunset chuckled again, but wouldn’t let it go yet
“And when Applejack picked you up…?
“I told you, I don’t need saving from fucking nobody. That includes Applejack. I don’t need people going out of their way because they think I can’t handle myself. I can handle myself just fine.”
“If by ‘just fine’ you mean ‘blowing up at any occasion’, then I guess that’s true.”
“Fuck you, Red. You made plans for the night before I left. Without me. So what reason could there be that you guys cancelled everything except that I’m just a fucking pity case for all of you.”
Sunset held Blue’s glare with a neutral expression
“Maybe we felt bad for excluding you and we changed our plans. Maybe I knew where Luna would take you and told the girls, so Applejack and Pinkie volunteered to pick you up, but you ran away before they had a chance, so they drove around to find you.”
Blue gritted her teeth, trying to push back the bitter taste she suddenly felt
“Is that what happened?”
“What if it was?”
Blue swallowed, hard
“Then it would just prove I’m nothing but a fucking pity case to you.”
“And so what? Are you telling me that I wasn’t some sort of pity case for you, too?”
Now it was Sunset’s turn to glare, but Blue couldn’t hold it
“That’s different. You had real problems and nobody to turn to, and you… you…”
“I tried to kill myself.”
Blue winced and nodded
“Yes. Compared to that, what’s me getting Friday night detention?”
“So you think it’s okay to pity me for Anon-A-Miss, but it’s not right that we pity you for having it rough?”
“Yes… no… I don’t fucking know. It’s different.”
“Why is it different? If you can’t give me a reason, then…”
“IT’S DIFFERENT BECAUSE I’M NOT WORTH SAVING, OKAY?”
Blue screamed at the top of her voice and breathed hard
“DON’T YOU FUCKING GET IT? EVERYTIME SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPENS, IT’S ALL MY FUCKING FAULT ANYWAY! NOBODY SHOULD SAVE ME, BECAUSE IT’S NOT WORTH THE EFFORT! I’M JUST GOING TO MESS UP AGAIN ANYWAY, SO WHY EVEN BOTHER?”
She felt a hand, probably Sunset’s, on her shoulder, but she pushed her away
“Stop. Stop wasting your fucking time on me.”
“I can waste my time however I want. You can’t tell me not to. We’re friends, and that means we care about each other, and that includes you. If we want to go out of our way to do something nice for you, then that’s what we do. And you have no right to stop us.”
Blue felt the hug and wanted to ram her elbow into Sunset’s guts, but at the same time, it was the very last thing she wanted to do. She even leaned in a little. She was so angry at herself, all the time, that she couldn’t tell the difference anymore. But somehow, Sunset could.
“And just for the record: You’re worth saving to me.”
“And to me.”
Blue groaned when Rainbow suddenly joined in. She really was deep in shit when even Rainbow Dash thought she needed a hug. Either that, or she just really needed one right now.
“You guys are crazy. I hope you know that.”
“Yeah, whatever. I can live with that.”
“At least we’re crazy together, right?”
Blue laughed and just leaned in a little more
“Right.”
Days always started early at Sweet Apple Acres, even on Sundays. On a farm as big as theirs, there was always something to do for the Apple family. So it was no surprise that Applejack walked out of the house in her work clothes right at sunrise, eager to throw herself into another day of work.
Something did surprise her though and had her freeze on the door.
Blue stood awkwardly in the middle of the driveway, in some worn clothes that had seen better days. She clearly had been waiting for Applejack a while, but now that she was here, Blue didn’t dare to meet her eyes. Applejack pulled her hat a little deeper to hide her face behind it
“Morning. What the heck you think you’re doing here?”
Blue didn’t flinch at Applejack’s harsh greeting, in honesty, she had expected far worse
“Um, Rainbow mentioned you could use a hand today, and I thought… you know.”
Applejack’s frown, mostly hidden behind the hat, turned a little deeper
“I can handle my own work. We Apples have been running this farm for generations now.”
“I know, I know! I don’t mean to say you can’t. But I thought, maybe if you had a bit of help, you might get things done a little faster today.”
Applejack stepped down the two stairs that led to the farmhouse, so that she now was standing in front of Blue. Which meant Blue had to look up to her now, since Blue was the shortest of the friends, and Applejack the tallest.
“Why are you really here, Blue?”
Blue still didn’t meet her eyes and let out a deep sigh
“Come on, AJ. You know why.”
“Either I’ll hear you say it, or you can just leave right now, Ocean Shore.”
Blue bit her tongue so she wouldn’t lash out. She hated it when people used her full name, but Applejack had every right to make her wiggle a bit
“I came here to apologize for Friday. I yelled at you for no good reason. And I nearly caused a crash.”
Blue looked up and this time met Applejacks eyes
“I’m sorry.”
Applejack held her gaze for a while, testing Blue’s eyes for any dishonesty it seemed, but far too soon she smiled and put a hand on her shoulder
“Apology accepted, partner. And you don’t have to slave yourself through some farm work to make up for it. I hate dragging my friends into my chores.”
Blue smiled back, which was a rare sight by itself, but what she said surprised Applejack even more
“I kinda guessed as much. But I’m not here to punish myself. I have a friend who could use some help, so I came to help. Somebody told me that’s something friends do sometimes.”
Applejack stared at her for a whole minute, before a large grin split her face
“Well, in that case, how could I refuse? And to be honest, I really could use an extra set of hands today, but it’s going to be hard work.”
Blue just shrugged unimpressed
“I don’t mind. I’m not made of paper.”
“I know. In some ways, you’re stronger than the rest of us.”
She didn’t really know how to react to that, so Blue decided to better say nothing and just nod. Apparently, that was the right thing, because Applejack just grinned on
“But don’t think I’ll go easy on you just because of it.”
“Do your worst, cowgirl.”
They both shared a laugh, and with that, the tension between them seemed to melt. It wasn’t completely gone, but it was by no means as constricting for Blue anymore. As they walked over towards the barn, Applejack put her arm around Blue’s shoulders, and Blue knew they’d be fine, in time.
The doorbell rang and was answered by a call from inside
“I’m coming!”
Rarity practically flew down the stairs and opened the front door. As expected, Blue was standing there, with her arms crossed in front of her and a sleeping bag sitting at her feet
“Ocean, Darling, so wonderful you could make it! We finally get a chance to catch up after last weekend, um… turned out a tad unexpected.”
“Yeah, about that.”
Blue was glaring, but she was always glaring so Rarity thought nothing of it. Instead, she focused on her voice that seemed apologetic enough
“I like knowing what I get into. So next time, could you just tell me ahead of time what’s going on? I hate surprises.”
Rarity nodded and let her smile shrink down a little, as it was appropriate
“I promise you, we didn’t mean to set you up, it was a completely spontaneous idea.”
“Yeah, Sunset told me. Which brings me to the next thing.”
Blue’s voice turned a tad harder, and Rarity braced herself for some harsh words that were not meant as bad as they sounded
“I don’t need your pity. I can deal with a weekend by myself. I know you’re all about giving, but I can manage even without your favours if I need to. Okay?”
Rarity nodded and felt a sudden relief, now that Blue had the chance to vent her worries
“I understand, Darling. I never mean to be condescending. You did something very nice for my sister earlier, and I simply wanted to do something nice for you in return.”
“Okay. No hard feelings then?”
“Of course not! Now, come on in! We’ll make this a sleepover you’ll never forget!”
“Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of, kinda.”
Rarity chuckled along, but the laugh she heard from Blue was real. With the troubling parts out of the way, they could now start having some fun together.
The Friday night class was over and Black Belt was just putting away a few last things. His students had already left, now all he had to do was lock up before he could leave as well. As he turned for the door, he saw a short girl in gym clothes standing in the door. She had the same fire in her eyes as last week, but her posture didn’t really carry it. He crossed his arms in front of his bulky chest and waited, watching her.
Now that he had noticed her, Blue walked two steps into the room, but her eyes turned down towards the floor when she started talking
“Um, about last week, I just wanna say…”
“Stop.”
Black Belt didn’t really need to hear it
“You have every right to be angry. Last week, today, and in the future. But you don’t get to just run away anymore. Are we clear?”
“Yeah… but I…”
“Did you apologize to Luna?”
Blue glared when he interrupted her again, and he noticed her body tensed up a bit more
“Yes. Did that first thing Monday morning.”
“Good. Now get your ass in here, we’ve got work to do.”
Black Belt could see her mood change go through her muscles as her slightly slumped posture straightened up and the bounce in her arms now matched the fire in her eyes again
“Just one more thing. I really think we should have that talk from last week, but this time, you have to ask for it. Okay?”
Blue nodded after a moment’s hesitation
“Yeah. Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it. Now, show me what you kept from last time.”
Black Belt just barely managed to hold back a chuckle as Blue practically bounced into the room. Maybe Luna had been right all along, this Blue girl really was a special case.
“Hey Blue, over here!”
Blue turned her head walked over when Sunset called her
“Yo Red!”
They grinned and shared their fist-bump as usual, but Blue’s attention was drawn to Sunset’s newest possession
“I still can’t believe Miss Celestia hooked you up with a motorbike.”
Sunset laughed as Blue circled the vehicle with an impressed look
“Are you kidding me? She even taught me how to drive. Apparently, that’s something she and Luna used to do together.”
“For real?”
Blue clearly didn’t know much about motorbikes, but Sunset’s bike just had received a new paintjob and looked like new, so Sunset got why she would be impressed. Blue had one of her rare smiles as she let her eyes roam, and Sunset felt brave enough to start some small talk
“So, how’s your week been?”
“What do you mean?”
“I heard you’ve been pretty busy, helping Applejack, night at Rarity’s, that trip to the arcade with Rainbow and Pinkie… that’s more in a week than you did in your first month.”
“Huh. I guess. Never thought of it like that.”
Sunset nodded and of course sensed that Blue wanted to drop this conversation, but she had one more thing she needed to ask
“So what do you think, now that you gave friendship a try?”
Blue froze up for a moment and just stared, overwhelmed, and Sunset felt a smile creep to her lips
“I dunno… is it always this… this…”
Sunset now smiled, wondering which word Blue would end on. Rewarding maybe? Fulfilling?
“Is it always this hard?”
And just like that, Sunset’s smile fell off again
“Hard? I mean… I guess it can be a little challenging at times, but…”
“I don’t mean hard as in a lot of work… I just find it’s really, really difficult.”
Now more than a little worried, Sunset tried to keep a shiver out of her voice
“Why do you think it’s difficult?”
“It’s just… everybody expects you to be totally into their thing all the time, and the girls tell me to just be myself and be honest around them, but at the same time I can’t really say what I think sometimes because it might offend them. Then there’s them getting involved into my stuff even if I don’t ask them, especially if I don’t ask them. And of course all the hugging every freaking time. We see each other like 3 times a day in school, why are they making that big of a deal about that?”
In a wave of relief, Sunset laughed at that last one before she tried to answer
“It takes some time getting used to, that much is true. But if you want some time for yourself, you can just tell us, I’m sure the girls will understand. We don’t need to hang out at every chance.”
“Yeah, I might do that…”
Blue trailed off again and went back to admiring the bike, giving Sunset a chance to think about what she had just said
“But even if you think it’s difficult… do you think it’s worth it, in the end.”
“Yeah.”
Blue didn’t say any more, but to be fair, Sunset didn’t need anything more. As she knew well enough from her own experience, friendship was not something you could just turn on or off. Friendship needed time to grow. What was important was that Blue was giving it a chance.
Blue was soon done fawning over Sunset’s bike and was handed a helmet
“Ready to take this baby for a spin?”
“Bring it, Red!”
Blue climbed on the bike behind her, and Sunset drove off with a little more gas than was necessary, making her baby roar beneath her. Sunset grinned and she heard Blue whoop from behind her as they left the school and drove off into the city.