//------------------------------// // Accidental Chemistry // Story: In the wake of Anon-A-Miss // by General Alduin //------------------------------// “So, what exactly is this big news about Sunset?” Fluttershy asked as she and Rainbow Dash walked through the mall. “I feel like a full car ride is long enough to keep me waiting, Dash.” “Always so impatient.” Rainbow teased. “But fine, turns out Sunset offered to help out at Sweet Apple Acres today. AJ said Sunset wanted to eventually start talking and everything.” “That’s… unexpected.” Fluttershy hummed in thought. “Was it unprompted?” “As far as I know, yeah. She went up to Apple Bloom and offered to help at the farm today.” “She went to Apple Bloom?” Fluttershy looked confused. “Why didn’t she just go to Applejack?” “Not sure, I guess she might be too… awkward to talk with AJ. She probably thinks working with AJ will make it easier.”  Fluttershy didn’t say anything, just following Dash. “What if she wants to reconcile with Applejack alone?” “What?” Rainbow Dash asked, looking behind her.  “She probably has the least problems with Applejack, so it makes sense why she’d approach her first. It would also make sense if Sunset just wanted to reconcile with Applejack.” Fluttershy crossed her arms.  “AJ would never let that happen Flutters.” Dash turned around and grabbed Fluttershy's shoulders. “She’d be trying to get Sunset to reconcile with us forever.” “And what will happen if Sunset refuses?” Fluttershy questioned. “Is Applejack going to stop being her friend? How would you feel if they could no be longer friends because of us? What right does Applejack have to force Sunset into reconciliation? H-how will she ever see me as a f-friend again?” “Of course she will! You’re in the best position to be friends with her.” “N-no! She h-hates me!” Fluttershy's eyes began watering as she started shaking. “Flutters, come on, be reasonable.” Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “The only person she would hate is me. I mean, really think about it: I betrayed my Element better than everyone else, punched her in the face, yelled at her multiple times, pushed her, and…” Rainbow Dash began fidgeting nervously. “Accused her of blackmailing Scootaloo.” “She wasn’t there for that.” Fluttershy pointed out, wiping her eyes “Twilight told her.”  “Oh.” The two stood there awkwardly for a few seconds. “I… I guess you’re right. Socking her in the nose is a lot worse than anything I ever did.” “Gee, thanks.” Rainbow rolled her eyes again but couldn’t help but smile, proud she had stopped her friend from crying. “Speaking of Scootaloo...” Fluttershy said carefully, gauging Rainbows reaction.  Rainbows smile dropped and her grip around Fluttershy's shoulders tightened. “What about her?” “Have you talked with her at all since Anon-A-Miss?” Fluttershy stared at Dash, waiting for an answer. All she got was a mixture of guilt and anger on her friend's face. “Dash.” “It’s not easy, ok?” Rainbow snapped. “You think I don’t want to? I want to talk to Squirt every day, I love that kid. But whenever I think about her I just… I can’t believe she did that to us, did that to you. Did that to me. And I can’t trust myself to not punch her in the face too.” “Well, now that Sunsets seeking us out, maybe it’s time you did the same for Scootaloo.” “Easy for you to say.” Rainbow Dash groaned and let go of Fluttershy's shoulders. “You don’t have a sister who stabbed you in the back, framed your friend, and revealed to the whole school that you’re stupid.” “You’re not stupid Dash.” Fluttershy sighed. “One bad grade on a test doesn’t mean you’re stupid.” “Yeah, well, try telling her that.” Rainbow Dash said bitterly. “She wrote that post, you know. I think her exact words were ‘OMG! What a dummy! Perhaps she could’ve written about the buoyancy of her head, seeing that it’s mostly filled with air!’” Fluttershy winced. She’d probably kill Zephyr if he wrote something like that about her. “She only wrote that because it was in character for a stereotypical bully, she doesn’t think you’re actually stupid Dash.” “And that’s the thing. Stereotypical bully.” Rainbow sighed and braced her back against the wall. “It was so clearly a frame job, it had Sunsets face on the profile for God's sake! Sunset was smarter than that, she was more than some run of the mill cyber bully or petty bitch. She used secrets for blackmail, not to humiliate people. Yet I fell for it…” Rainbows face fell. “She used to call me a dumb jock all the time before the Formal, now I can’t help but wonder if she was right.” Fluttershy frowned “You're not a dumb jock Dashie.” She brought her friend into a tight hug. “You just… have a hard time sitting still is all. If you really applied yourself to studying, I bet you’d be as smart as Sunset. You’re in Honors math class with her aren’t you?” “Is it bad to say that’s only because I thought math would be helpful in sports?” She asked with a sheepish smile. “Mostly because I don’t understand physics.” “Regardless, you’re in more Honor classes than me.” Fluttershy said, pulling away, putting on her brightest smile, knowing Rainbow couldn’t resist her charm. “You’re not stupid Dashie, no matter what Sunset or Scootaloo may have said.” Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but smile at her friend's words, her mood made brighter by Fluttershy's smile. Her smile faltered however when she remembered something. “But I still have to worry about Science this year. If I don’t get at least a B+ on my next test, I’ll be put on academic probation.” “What?” Fluttershy's eyes widened and her smile disappeared. “But you’re our best player Dash, you're captain of half the school's sports teams!” “I know, but the school doesn’t care. Believe me, I’ve tried begging.” Rainbow grumbled bitterly. “My parents, surprisingly, agree with the school. They say being good at sports won’t be helpful all the time in life, and a bad GPA could affect college applications.” “But, if you’re on academic probation, you’ll be barred from the Friendship Games…” Fluttershy looked down in thought. “Isn’t Sunset good at Science?” Dashes eyes widened. “No. I am not being tutored by her.” “Dashie, you can’t be put on probation for your and the school's sake. You need Sunset's help.” “And how would I do that?” Rainbow challenged. “Go up to her out of the blue and ask super nicely for her to tutor me? Pay her a no doubt obscene amount of money? Fall to my knees and beg her pitifully?” “I’d prefer you not to humiliate yourself like that and I don’t think Sunset would either.” Fluttershy said firmly with her hand on her hips. “Look, she offered to do chores for Applejack, so that means she isn’t against helping us out. So you’d be stubborn to not at least try to ask her.” Rainbow Dash grumbled. “I’ll think about it. Maybe after I bomb another assignment I’ll ask her.” “That’s all I ask.” Fluttershy lifted her hands from her hips and smiled. “Now, What about some Froyo? I want to see you get scammed again by putting three cookies in your cup.” “It’s not a scam if it’s totally worth it.” Dash said with a smirk as the two started walking. “I’d fit four if it wouldn’t leave me with barely any ice cream.” “It’s Froyo, Dash.” “Same thing.” Dash rested her head back against her hands. “They’re both unhealthy, no matter what those ads in the store say.” “Woah nelly.” Applejack declared as she and Sunset walked out of Mario and Luigi’s, carrying a styrofoam container. “Ah’m stuffed. Ah don’t recommend eating half a plate of pasta and Grannies cooking within two hours.” “Me neither.” Applejack squeaked as Sunset slapped her on the butt as she walked by her. “I’d hate to see the day this is more fat than muscle.” Applejack gave Sunset a half playful glare. “Ah would’ve broken the arm of any boy who dared try that.” “It’s a good thing I’m not a boy than.” Sunset said getting in her car.  Applejack followed after her and buckled in. “Ah’m not sure if being bi is much better.” “It’s only weird if you make it weird Applejack.” Sunset smirked as Applejack glared at her and she began driving off. “Now how about some tunes?” Sunset reached over and pulled out a CD, pushing it into the CD player and cranking up the volume. “Hey! Hey! Everybody! We’ve got something to say!’ Applejack turned her head towards Sunset with a scrutinizing look. “Ain’t this the song we performed to get the school to vote for Twilight?” “It is.” “And yah... have a CD to listen to it?” Applejacks asked in a confused tone. “It’s a good song.” Sunset shrugged. “Honestly I think it’s one of your best.” “Perhaps, but we were singing this in an attempt to dethrone you. Ah’m surprised yah’d just listen to it casually.” “Ok, it’s not like you girls were singing ‘Fuck you Sunset Shimmer’, the song only bothered me when it happened. It’s grown on me since then.” “Well, Ah dunno about that, Ah myself was thinking ‘finally, we’re gonna take that bitch down’ while we were performing.” Applejack held up her hands defensively when Sunset snapped her head towards her with an unamused look. “Ah didn’t like yah then, and Ah had no idea we were gonna be friends at the time.” Sunset merely hummed in response and looked back at the road. The two sat quietly as Sunset drove, listening to the rest of the song.  “... How do yah have a license anyhow?” Applejacks asked out of the blue. “I took a driving test.” Sunset answered like it was obvious. “Well, Yeah, duh. But what Ah mean is, Ah can’t imagine yah have any documentation when yah came here. Yah came straight from Horseworld didn’t yah?” “I came from Equestria, and you’d be right that I didn’t have any official record of my existence when I arrived.” Sunset explained. “Just how do you think I managed to apply to CHS and have my own apartment?” “Well, how did yah get documentation?” “It’s a… long story.” Sunset sighed. “When I first got here, I tried walking on all fours before realizing that’s not how your species evolved. After figuring out how to walk on two feet shakily, I went to the school's library and started researching everything I could about your world.”  “Did yah use a computer?” “Well… no. Not at first anyway. I didn’t know what that was or how to use it. I had Ms. Cherilee guide me through the process when I realized the books could only help so much. When closing time came around, I hid in the back of the library and slept there for the night.” “But yah weren’t a student than, why did no one try to kick yah out?” “It’s amazing what you can get away with if you act like you’re supposed to be there.” Sunset said with a smirk. “After learning basic knowledge about your world and what I needed to survive in the Country, State, County, and City, I went up to a teacher and asked him how old he thought I was.” “That’s a bit… weird, why did yah ask that?” “I had just turned fifteen at the time and I wanted to see if that carried over, just in case I said something wrong. He said fourteen, so I figured I was in the early months of fifteen. Than when I tried to buy food, the taco guy refused to take my Bits.” “Bits?” Applejack questioned. “It’s the Equestrian currency.” Applejack nodded and Sunset continued. “He was super rude about it too, said I was some scammer running around with fake golden coins. I may have utilized my new found knowledge of hand gestures to flip him off and try to find a pawn shop.” “Wait, if yah researched how to survive in a totally different world, why did yah think people would just take your ‘Bits.’” “I thought it was fine, gold is supposed to be valuable right? I thought people would be thrilled I was giving them gold coins.” Sunset said defensively. “Anyway, I eventually found a pawn shop, and he too thought I was a scammer since I was a fifteen year old with a bunch of golden coins and a gem or two. He called some expert or something who came over and he determined they were real. Took a bit of time to convince them the coins were from an obscure Greek City State.” “The pawn shop guy give yah a good price?”  “He tried giving me eighty thousand dollars for a hundred thousand dollar value. I told him that since he had made such a hassle for me I was taking my business elsewhere. He freaked out and gave me the full price, and I managed to sweet talk him into a hundred and ten thousand dollars because I batted my eyelashes and men are stupid.” “A h-hundred and ten thousand dollars!?” Applejack reeled back at the price. “Yah just have that kind of money?” “More like had. Two years without a job and having to pay for bills, rent, food, supplies, furniture, etc. can be a bit of a drain. I have enough left to live comfortably till graduation, so don’t worry.” “Well, Ah Guess that explains yer money issue, but what about documentation?” “Hold your horses, I’m getting there.” Sunset couldn’t help but smirk as Applejack rolled her eyes. “After I got paid, I went to the Canterlot Records Hall and met with one of the bureaucrats. I had planned to either seduce or bribe them to get my records, but after noticing the picture of his daughter who was about my age, I decided to go for a different approach.” “What’d yah do?” “I spun him this sob story that I was from a bad home life, needed a fresh start, knew they were out looking for me so I couldn’t give him prior information, and that I was scared for my life.” Sunset said with some regret. “To seal the deal, I cried harder than I ever cried before, all his coworkers were looking at us. It was embarrassing but it worked, he helped set up my most important records and guided me through the process of setting up others. I hugged him and said his daughter was lucky to have him and she probably doesn’t tell him ‘I love you’ enough. Which is probably true.” “What exactly does it say? Yer still a minor.” “The official story is my parents died a few years back and I had enough money and was deemed independent enough to be an emancipated minor free from the state. Afterwards I found a cheap apartment, applied for the next school year, started a garden to cut down on my food costs, and spent the next few months studying all I could so I wouldn’t be caught unprepared when School started up.” “Were Guitar and Video Games included in yer ‘studying.’” Applejack teased. “They kind of were at first. I needed to train my Hands, so I used Video Games to train my Hand Eye coordination and Guitar to train my Finger dexterity.” Sunset snickered. “But I decided to keep up with it since they’re fun and streaming Video Games got me extra money… admittedly because I was hot and I was pretty much every Boy’s fantasy.” “Ah thought Rarity was every Boy’s fantasy.” “More than a hot gamer girl?” “If we get Rarity into Video Games then she’ll be exactly that.” “No.” Sunset said raising a finger towards her friend. “Rarity’s beautiful, not hot.” “What’s the-” “I’m hot, Rarity’s beautiful, you’re pretty, and Fluttershys… '' Sunset grimaced, gripping her steering wheel tightly. “Fluttershys cute. There’s a difference between them all.” Silence reigned over the car as the next song started up. “... Yah think Ah’m pretty?” “Don’t let it go to your head. I only said that as your friend.” Applejack noticed that Sunsets smirk began to grow wider, and she braced herself for what her friend was about to say. “But just so you know, you totally would be able to bed dozens of ‘guys and stuff’ as you claim.” Applejack seized up and blushed heavily. She looked out the window with her arms crossed as Sunset began laughing.