//------------------------------// // Hibernation // Story: Bloody Ether // by Northguard //------------------------------// The fifth day came, and Sunset no longer had to be scared of the day ahead of her. It was a breath of fresh air for her. No need to worry about someone beating her within an inch of her life because that damned MyStable account put out an embarrassing secret. Not like she cared anymore. She was finally free from that, she could put all behind her and move on. She was walking down the street towards the school when she suddenly bumped into someone. After recovering from the fall she looked up to see Twilight sitting in front her. "Is this going to be our way of meeting each other or what?" Sunset jokingly said as she helped the bookworm up on her feet. Twilight blushed in embarrassment. "I hope not." The two walked together the rest of the way while trading jokes and talking about interests and other things. You know, what friends do. The two had become friends quickly and it was beginning to be common to see them sitting together during class, lunch, etc. Sunset must have had some form of influence on Twilight, since the girl now styled her hair in a ponytail. No one knew why exactly the girl decided to do it, Twilight herself would shrug and say that a little change now and then never hurt anyone. On their way to school the two never noticed a girl behind them going the same way, but staying out of sight. "It's good to see you happy again Sunset. I just hope you and I can bury the hatchet when we meet again." the girl said to herself as she headed in a different direction to avoid being seen by the fiery haired girl. Gym class wasn't the most fun thing, especially when it was Sombra that decided activities, but Sunset managed to keep herself on her feet. Twilight on the other hand had a harder time keeping up. Sunset helped where she could, but most of the problems were because of Twilight's lack of training. One student in her class by the name of Indigo Zap reminded Sunset a lot of Rainbow Dash, just with an even more extreme competitiveness and an even bigger ego. How that was even possible, Sunset had no idea, but neither did she want to find out. The day continued on an even pace and Sunset was really starting to feel at home with her new school. It was like going into hibernation to wash off her sins and wrong doings to come out as a completely new person. It felt good to finally be free from the chains of her old school, she could finally breathe at last. Science class came and it was here that Twilight really was at her best. She and Sunset were almost equally good, with Twilight being slightly better. The two were put together for a group experiment where they would test for four different substances. There were four different cups with white powder-like substances in them. If it turned brown by heat it was sugar, if nothing happened it was salt, if it began making a hissing noise and bubbled when a drop of vinegar was added it was baking soda, and if it turned a very dark blue when iodine was added it was potato flour. Twilight and Sunset were quick to finish and offer explanations as to why the reactions happened. The teacher (Discord) wasn't surprised about Twilight being good at it, but he was mildly surprised at how equal Sunset was in knowledge. After lunch Sunset was heading for the classroom when Twilight stopped her. "What is it? Isn't this where the next class is?" Sunset asked curiously. "Yes, but Discord told me that you and I should head for my personal room for advanced math study as he is also the math teacher, and after seeing how equal we were in science he decided that normal math would be too easy for you." Twilight explained. "You have a classroom for yourself only?" Sunset asked with a raised eyebrow. "Well, no. It's more of a laboratory." Twilight answered as she led Sunset down the halls to a door that she opened to reveal a room that had multiple machines and other contraptions standing on a table by a cork pinboard full of pictures of different things connected to a picture of CHS. "It was originally a group room, but when I excelled at multiple topics they decided to give me this room for personal use. And they switched the standard door with one that had a key lock on it, so no one else could get in." Twilight continued to explain as she sat down by one of the open desks in the room. Sunset walked up to the pinboard and looked at it close. There were multiple energy readings and statistics showing energy spikes over time. If she was to guess, it was probably the magic that had been used there. "That place is weird, I've been trying to find out what these energy spikes are, but I have no explanation so far." Twilight said, now standing beside Sunset looking at the pinboard before she redirected her eyes towards Sunset. "You went to that school before, didn't you?" Sunset merely sighed. "I don't want to talk about it, there are too many bad memories." she said as she turned around and sat down by the desk Twilight had put her math books on. Twilight looked at her with a confused look as she came back to the desk. "Now that we're on topic. We bumped into each other two days before Christmas and you looked like a mess. What happened?" Twilight asked, wanting an answer. "Twilight, please. Let's just continue on with our studies." Sunset said with a slight hitch in her voice. "Sunset, I may not be a social girl, but my family has taught me that bottling something up for too long can lead to disaster. Just tell me, let it out." Twilight said, trying her best to get an honest answer. "Twilight, stop-" "No, Sunset. I can tell you're hiding something that is eating you up on the inside. Whenever you see one of the Shadowbolts your eyes get cloudy and you avoid eye contact. In class you would look down if anything about CHS or a topic you had learned about at that school was brought up. Please Sunset, just tell me-" Twilight tried her best to sound understanding and kind, but she was suddenly interrupted by Sunset slamming her fists onto the desk. "I SAID I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!!!" she almost roared, but just as quickly as it happened her anger disappeared and her eyes watered in an instant as she stood up and leaned on the wall before sliding down into a seated position. From there she just started to cry rivers worth of tears. "I-I'm so-sorry..." Sunset said between sobs as she continued to cry into her hands. "You weren't ready to tell me were you?" Twilight said as she mentally slapped herself for pushing her new friend like that. "No, i-it's okay. Y-you saw through me. You deserve a-an answer." Sunset said as she tried to halt her tears. Twilight shook her head a little as she sat down beside Sunset. "You can have my shoulder to cry on if you need it." she said and no sooner was she in a tight embrace from Sunset who was crying her eyes out. After Sunset's tears ran dry she told Twilight all she needed to know, minus the whole "pony from another world" thing. How she used to be a bully until someone helped her see the errors of her ways. She told of the good times she had with her new friends before it happened. How a user on MyStable had exposed a ton of secrets and dumped the blame on her. Leading to her getting harshly disowned by her friends and getting beaten almost bloody every day. "I was originally going to excuse my teary situation as a break up with a boyfriend if you ever brought it up, but I guess I'm just not that good at masking my emotions." Sunset chuckled half-heartedly. Twilight chuckled slightly in response. "I've heard of those situations. People seeing a source for information and only believing that and their own opinions. I like to call it "Trojan", because it almost works like the Trojan Horse. So unassuming on the outside, but inside lies a dark secret that will destroy everything. Like a disease it spreads and turns everyone against each other." Twilight said with insight. "If you weren't so anti-social when I first met you, I would've thought you've experienced it yourself." Sunset chuckled. "No, I've seen it happen to some of my classmates a few times, but that was usually not as bad as you had it." Twilight answered as the two just sat there in silence for some time. "Should we get back to our studies?" Twilight asked as she looked at Sunset who was sitting with an arm around her in a friendly embrace. "Please, just a few more minutes." Sunset said in a fake sleepy voice as if she was being woken up by her parents on a Monday morning. Twilight couldn't help but laugh.