//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Anon-a-Miss: Change Your Mind // by King_Again //------------------------------// “Principal Cinch? Do you have a moment?” Principal Abacus Cinch.  The name sent shivers down any spine. The name could freeze a person. A name so well known that one seemed to mess with the owner of it. The name that belonged to the Principal of Crystal Prep Academy; the name of the world’s strictest principal.  No one knew just how high the standards of the principal could be until they experienced a day in her school. Any mark lower than she desired and it was a warning to change it right away or you wouldn’t survive the year without being at the bottom of the foodchange or perhaps you simply wouldn’t continue on at the greatest school the state had ever seen. Any uniform is less than perfect and you would be ordered to make it so. Anyone late would be given a warning, any class skippers would be punished accordingly, and any no-showers would be expelled.  If you were an athlete and in any of the school’s sport teams, you had to maintain perfection. You had to be fast, on point, scoring goals like your life depended on it. You simply had to be perfect at everything. The same went for any type of school club, for any class.  Now of course not everyone would follow the rules, twisting them. Teachers would do so too. If Principal Cinch was around, everyone would follow the rules; it was an unspoken law between the students and teachers; if Cinch was around, they did everything to her preference. There was no doubt she had her favorite students. It was clear Sugarcoat was one of them. Her and another student. When around her favorites, the strict woman would melt ever so slightly and consider whatever they suggested but that didn’t mean she would always bend to their will.  “Miss Sugarcoat,” Principal Cinch hummed, readjusting her glasses. “Please, come in and take a seat.” When Sugarcoat was seated across from her, she gave her precious student a smile, though the girl could tell it was fake. “What can I do for you?” “I need you to sign this,” Sugarcoat said as she placed the papers down. Principal Cinch’s eyes widened as she looked at the headline.  Transfer Request.  Her stomach dropped as panic set in. Did this mean Sugarcoat was wanting to transfer out of the school? One of her prized students who meant business? No. That couldn’t happen. She couldn’t afford to lose any of her students. Who knows what could happen to Crystal Prep’s reputation? “You wish to transfer?” she laughed nervously. Sugarcoat shook her head. “No, it’s not for me.”  “Then… who?” “A friend of mine,” Sugarcoat explained, a smirk forming. “One of Canterlot High’s students. A prized student, in fact.” Principal Cinch’s jaw dropped as a rush of anger coursed through her. She gritted her teeth in irritation. Now why would she take a student from that school? Crystal Prep Academy did not take students from a lesser school. Her eyes narrowed darkly as she prepared to explain this to Sugarcoat before the girl raised a hand. “Let me explain,” she added. “This could be an advantage for us. For one, the school is in chaos. It’s toxic right now. The students are at each other’s throats all because their secrets are coming loose on Mystable.” To prove her point, she pulled out her phone and pulled up the app on the account’s page. “They were quick to blame one person opposed to finding out who was behind it. Quick to accuse. No logic behind their decision except for the past actions of said person.” “Who’s the said person?” asked Abacus. “Sunset Shimmer. She’s probably a month or two older than me.” Abacus hummed as she leaned back, motioning for Sugarcoat to continue. She was beginning to see how this could work to her advantage. How much deeper she could ruin Canterlot High’s reputation straight into the ground while Crystal Prep was seen as the hero of this story. It was doing wonders for her ego. “Not only will you be taking her out from a toxic environment, you’ll be saving her life,” Sugarcoat pointed out. “She, uh, she attempted suicide earlier a few days ago. I stopped her from jumping.” Abacus’ eyes softened as she heard that. No doubt she was picturing her own daughter attempting to do such a thing and sucked in a harsh breath at the image, willing it away. There was no way Sunny Flare would attempt suicide but to hear Sugarcoat’s information about Sunset’s age, she couldn’t help but image Sunny attempting. It hurt her heart to think her own daughter, someone she raised since birth, would do such a thing. She couldn’t imagine what Sunset’s parents were going through. Sugarcoat licked her lips as she glanced at the paperwork. “It would be in her best interest to transfer from CHS. She’s the main target and I highly doubt she can last much longer. Principal Cinch, this would help CPA out. Save a student from suicide, a toxic environment, and you’ll be talk of the School Board for weeks.” Principal Cinch didn’t say a word as she reached for the phone on her desk, easily tapping a number as she brought the phone to her ear. Sugarcoat watched in confidence as her superior requested for Dean Cadance’s appearance. While she waited, she took a pen in hand and eyes roamed over the paper, signing the student’s name and which school she was transferring from and where she’d go.  Dean Cadance appeared right as the principal signed her signature at the bottom. Her eyes widened upon seeing Sugarcoat but gave a friendly nod as she glanced at what her boss was doing and held back a gasp. “You’re transferring?” Dean Cadance asked, shocked. “Not me. Sunset Shimmer from Canterlot High will be,” Sugarcoat explained tightly. “It’s a toxic environment and she needs to get away.” She looked at Cinch directly in her eyes, something the principal admired. “Put her in my classes, it’ll help her adjust.” “Of course. I’ll notify the secretary,” Principal Cinch nodded. “Dean Cadance, please sign the appropriate places.” “Yes, Principal Cinch.”  Sugarcoat held back a wide smile as the Dean gave the signed forms to her with a wink before leaning in to whisper in her ear.  “I have a feeling that’s not all there is to it,” Cadance whispered, “come and find me at lunch to tell me the rest of the story.”  Principal Cinch ignored the way the two interacted as her eyes darkened behind her glasses as a smile took over her face. “Due make sure these get to Miss Shimmer will you? I wish to have them back before the break starts.” Sugarcoat nodded as she stood up. “Of course, Principal Cinch. Thank you for your time.” As she left the office, she felt a wave of hope wash over her as she took out her phone to text Sunset. Meet me at the bridge after school. … Sunset tried ignoring the way everyone’s eyes followed her everywhere but it was becoming increasingly hard. She just had to survive until the break. It wasn’t that far away, just a couple more days and she would be free. She wouldn’t have to worry about this place for the rest of the break.  She never did walk around during lunch or break anymore. She stayed firm in her class, ignoring the outside and played on her phone instead. There was the desire to text Sugarcoat but she knew she was probably with her friends. She couldn’t steal that precious time away from her. To pass the time, Sunset helped the teachers with anything they needed help with and did her unfinished homework. It would save her the trouble of completing them after the break. While she was working on her English homework, her phone buzzed with a simple text from Sugarcoat. It made her blink as she set down her pencil and stole a look at the message. A simple message but it made Sunset’s stomach turn in all the directions as she read through it. Meet me at the bridge after school. The nervousness must have shown on her face because the teacher glanced up at her with concern. “Are you okay?” he asked. Sunset took a deep breath as she sank in her chair. “A, uh, a friend asked me to meet them after school. I just met them a few days ago and to suddenly have this texted to me,” she glanced down, “I can’t help but feel like she’s going to end our friendship.” But Sugarcoat had said she would change her mind about the world. She would give her a reason to continue living. She wouldn’t go back on her word, right? “You will never know if you don’t meet her,” the teacher pointed out gently as he stood and walked over to her. He squatted down next to her and placed a hand comfortingly on her shoulder. “If I’m honest, you’ve been more lively since meeting this mysterious friend of yours. It’s a fresher. I hate seeing you so down in the dumps because of this stupid online mess.” “But it just ends all the same. I was friends with the Rainbooms and they immediately left me behind the moment this started, all because of my past. Why can’t they see I have nothing to gain from this? Why would I throw everything I wanted all away?” “Losing a friend is better than keeping a fake one.” Sunset glanced at him, surprised but couldn’t argue with that statement. Unfortunately before she could reply, the bell rang and students began to trickle back into the classrooms. The teacher went back behind his desk, shooting her a small smile and she couldn’t help but give a weak one back.  Applejack and Rarity were the last ones to arrive and her gaze fell right back down to her English homework. Ignore them and she would be alright. She could see Sugarcoat soon and everything would be okay; she would be with the one person who actually wanted to be around her. Who she wanted to be around. The one person who actually succeeded in making Sunset feel again.  With Sugarcoat on her mind, Sunset picked up the pencil and carried on where she left off. If she had glanced around she would have seen the looks shooting her away, but she didn’t. She had long since learned to ignore them. She also would have seen the looks her former friends were giving her.  One a look of dislike and the other… a look of doubt. … “What did you need me for?” Sunset asked as Sugarcoat came into view. The school day was finally over.  Sugarcoat handed her a cup of steaming hot chocolate, smiling softly when Sunset lit up at the sight of the drink. She bit her lip as she watched the girl hum happily as the warmth entered her mouth and shifted. Was she always this cute? “Anyway,” Sugarcoat coughed awkwardly, “I have something for you. Something important.” Sunset nodded, mouth still full. The Shadowbolt handed off the papers and watched as Sunset glanced over them, eyes going wide in realization and quickly locked their gazes together again. Sugarcoat shrugged innocently as if it was nothing. “I get you might not want this, but… Sunset, I  honestly think you’d be better off somewhere else than staying at Canterlot High. No one will turn their backs on you like those Wondercolts did. Not at Crystal Prep unless you give a legitimate reason and enough proof to go along with it.”  The transfer papers were staring directly at her with temptation. They were almost filled out completely. The two most important signatures of Crystal Prep were inked forever on the dull sheets; Dean Cadance and Principal Abacus Cinch. Two more spaces were left where Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna’s signatures would go to complete the paperwork for the transfer. She swallowed thickly. “How did you get Principal Cinch to sign this?”  Sugarcoat nervously tapped her own cup. “I told her what she wanted to hear. Simple as that. She didn’t put up much of a fight,” she explained with a hint of guilt. Sunset gave her a look and she crumbled. “I told her this would help her ego. The most important thing is that she signed.”  “This won’t go well with my principals,” Sunset sighed. “They’ll be losing a student to CPA and will worry the school will prove to be too difficult for me. They know how strict the school is.” “And yet they want to risk your life!” Sugarcoat hissed. Sunset nearly jumped at her tone but found herself rooted to the ground. “Sunset, from what you said, they didn’t do shit for you when this started. They didn’t step in to help you at all. They left you on your own and claim to be working on it. But how often does that prove true? Adults let bullying slide so often and yet get more worked up on shoulders being seen, physical fights being fought. They blame the victim more than the committer. That’s you. They blame you more than the one who started this. I guarantee they haven’t done anything to solve this.” “Sugarcoat, I—“ Sugarcoat’s eyes fell shut. “They almost lost you because they’re just sitting on their asses doing nothing! I almost saw you commit suicide! I—“ “Sugarcoat!” Sunset yelled, pulling her in close as she saw tears swell in the Shadowbolt’s eyes. Her heart was pounding. “I’ll get this signed. I’ll get them to sign it, okay? Please don’t cry, especially not over me. I’ll get away from them.” “You will?” “I will,” she promised as they came out of the hug. “Now, tell me about your day at school and what I can expect at Crystal Prep.” With a watery nod, Sugarcoat began talking. Just because they’re rivals didn’t mean they couldn’t be nice to each other. That they couldn’t be friends.