//------------------------------// // A ditzy apology // Story: In the wake of Anon-A-Miss // by General Alduin //------------------------------// The bell rang and soon everyone packed up their bags and rushed to the door, Lyra among them. Soon the halls were packed to the brim with students either rushing to the exit, rushing to clubs, greeting friends, or taking their sweet time going to detention. Lyra however was keeping an eye out for a certain blonde haired girl with misaligned eyes. She strained her head over the crowds and searched high and low for her, hoping she hadn’t taken off already. She finally found Derpy standing near the exit, giving her boyfriend Time Turner a kiss and wave goodbye as he left with the other students. Lyra wasn’t sure why Derpy didn’t go with him, but she was thankful for this admittedly small win. “Derpy!” Lyra called out, gaining the other girls attention as she ran over. “Oh, hello ex friend.” Derpy crossed her arms and turned her head the other way with a harrumph. Lyra cringed but stopped a foot from Derpy. “Derpy… can we talk?” “Why? You gonna accuse me of giving your secret to Sunset again?” Derpy said as she puffed out her cheeks angrily. “I just… I wanna apologize.” Lyra said nervously. “Oh, now you want to apologize. Where were you, Bon-Bon, and Octavia for the last few weeks? Might’ve been nice to have my friends let me know they were actually sorry for kicking me out.” “Yeah, I know, we fucked up.” Lyra said desperately. “I’m sorry.” “Sorry ain’t gonna cut it.” Derpy said, squinting her eyes at Lyra. “You’re right, it’s not, you deserve more, a lot more.” Lyra reaches into her bag and pulle out a small brown paper bag. “More than I can give you, but this is a start.” Derpy looked at the bag with interest, taking it from Lyra and looking inside. There she found six different kinds of muffins squeezed in the bag. “Ok, you got me my favorite food. So?” “I baked them.” “You mean Bon-Bon baked them.” Derpy said skeptically. “Nope, it was all me. I bought all the ingredients and spent a few hours baking them. I had to follow directions and everything.” Lyra said with a nervous smile. “I did use her kitchen though.” She admitted. Derpy hummed and put the bag of muffins to the side. “While your muffin gift is appreciated, it’s barely enough and I’d like something more than a half hearted apology. Now if you’ll excuse me.” Derpy picked up her bag and began walking away. Lyra panicked and her mind raced with what to do next. “I was a shitty friend.” Derpy stopped and stood still for a second, looking back at Lyra after a minute. “Excuse me?” “I was a shitty friend, we all were shitty friends to you, but me most of all.” Lyra approached Derpy meekly. “I was the one who accused you of revealing my secret, I said nothing as Octie proposed kicking you out, and I refused to even consider that you might be right.” Derpy stood there with her arms crossed, her fingers pattering against her forearms as she deliberated whether or not to continue listening. “... Go on.” “I was the worst friend ever to you Derpy.” Lyra got closer. “I was too ashamed of myself to seek you out when the CMC confessed, I just… I didn’t know how I could ever approach the sweetest, happiest, and most optimistic girl after I made her cry. And I know that’s not an excuse, you deserved an apology right after it happened, you deserve a hell of a lot better than me.” Derpy's angry expression had faded significantly, but she still looked off to the side awkwardly. “... and?” “And… Well, I want to be friends again. I want to make things right, I want to see you smile, I want to be the friend you deserve. But I understand if you never want to talk to me again.” Lyra said sadly. “So, If you give me a chance, I promise I won’t waste it. I’ll do anything you want to prove how serious I am to being the friend you deserve.” The two girls stood staring at each other quietly. Derpy took a long moment to think things over, finding some satisfaction in how nervous Lyra was. “... Ok. We can be friends again. You’ll have to work to get in my good graces though.” Lyra wasn’t entirely sure what Derpy was going to make her do, but she smiled regardless. “That’s understandable.” “And, to commemorate the occasion, I’ll eat one of your muffins.” Derpy reached into the bag and pulled out a blueberry muffin. “To being friends.” Derpy smiled and took a bit from the muffin. Her eyes widened and she recoiled, her face scrunching up as she continued to chew the muffin. Lyras face fell. “Is something wrong?” “N-Nope!” Derpy said with a strained smile. “Th-this muffin is g-great! I’m gonna have some more of it!” She gingerly took a very small nibble of the muffin, grimacing again as she tried eating it. Lyra stared at Derpy as she suffered eating the muffin. Her eyes almost immediately welled with tears and she let out an involuntary sob, quickly placing a hand to her mouth as tears began falling. Derpy seized up in surprise and began freaking out. “Hey Lyra, it’s ok.” “N-no, it’s not.” Lyra declared as she wiped her eyes.  “Hey, it’s ok. I love the muffin you made me, honest.” Derpy noticed that some of her fellow students were gawking at Lyra. “What’re you looking at!? Buzz off!” They all backed off and began walking away, Derpy staring down anyone who stared at Lyra for more than a few seconds. “Look, I’m gonna take another bite, see?” Derpy through the muffin to her mouth and was about to take another bite. “Derpy, stop it.” Lyra reached over and pushed the muffin away from her. “You don’t have to force yourself to eat the muffin just to spare my feelings.” “Well… maybe it’s just that one muffin!” Derpy offered as she brought out the bag prominently. “They can’t all be winners.” Lyra didn’t respond, sliding down against the lockers. “I’m such a shitty friend, I can’t even bake a stupid muffin for you even when there’s directions… you deserve so much better.” Derpy stood there awkwardly as Lyra cried on the ground, eventually sitting down next to her. “Hey, it’s alright. You can get something else for me.” “God, why are you just… so forgiving? I failed at making an apology gift for you, you shouldn’t be trying to comfort me…” Lyra cried harder. “I didn’t comfort you...” “Well I-I dunno. I just don’t like seeing people sad.” Derpy ruminated on what to do next. “The other day at the bank, a lady asked me to help her check her balance. So I pushed her over.” Lyra blinked in confusion, looking up at Derpy. “What?” “You ever try to eat a clock? It’s time consuming!” Derpy offered with a smile. “Are you... making jokes?” “What kind of streets do ghosts haunt? Dead ends!” Derpy said with an excited grin. “Not even a snicker? Damn.” Derpy looked off the side, deep in thought. “... You remember the Freshman Halloween party ?” “The one where you dressed up in paper bags?” “That’s the one.” Derpy nodded. “Remember when I went bobbing for apples, but I was leaning over too much and I busted the water tank, and the green sugar water went everywhere?” Lyra couldn’t help but smile. “Then Bon-Bon slipped on an apple and dragged me down, and I dragged Octie down, who dragged Vinyl-” “Which turned into everyone dragging everyone else down, so we were all soaked with sticky sugar water and everyone was annoyed with me, while I had an apple in my mouth.” The two girls shared a laugh. “But because Sunset was hanging out near the wall, we decided to blame her since she was the only one not wet?” The two girls shared a long drawn out laugh, slowly petering out after a minute. “Thanks Derpy… I feel bad that an embarrassing story of you was what got me to feel better.” “Hey, it’s a funny story. I don’t even feel embarrassed by it anymore.” Lyra huffed in amusement and wiped her eyes. “Sorry for crying like a baby, I just felt awful for fucking up your apology gift. I didn’t mean to make this about me.” “Eh, it’s ok. You always sucked at baking anyway.” Derpy said with a teasing smile. “I know you'll get something else for me.” “Yeah, just no more baked goods.” Lyra sniffled and got up, offering a hand to Derpy and helping her back up. “Hey, I know you just forgave me, but you want to go to Sugarcube Corner?” “Oooh, Sorry, I can't. I’m gong out with Sunset.” Derpy said cheerfully, quickly realizing what she had implied. “Not in that way of course, I don’t swing in that direction.” “Really?” Lyras eyes widened in surprise. “And… why would that be?” “Oh, well, she wants to become my friend. Which is ridiculous because we’re already friends, but we decided we could be closer. So, I’m taking Sunset to my house.” Derpy explained. “Maybe another time though?” Lyra stared at her dumbly for a few seconds. “Oh… oh! Yes, another time. You two have some fun.” Derpys face fell, her eyes aligning with great effort as she stared at Lyra.  ‘Uh oh.” Lyra began sweating nervously. That was Derpy's suspicious look, she only did that when she knew someone was hiding something. “I know that look… you’re up to something.” Derpy squinted her eyes. “And it involves Sunset.” “Wha? Me? Up to something? Come on Derpy, don’t be silly!” Lyra said with a nervous grin.  Derpy just studied her intensely, Lyra impressed with how long she was keeping her eyes straight. Finally her eyes returned to their normal derped state and Derpy leaned in close. “I know your heart’s in the right place, but whatever it is your planning, really think it over.” “I-” “You need to sit down and think of every possible thing that could go wrong, but ultimately you need to figure out whether you’re doing this for Sunset's benefit, or your own.” Derpy warned. “Any plan of yours is doomed to fail if it’s not purely to help Sunset recover from… this.” Lyra stood there quietly, annoyed that two people had figured out she was planning something and wording it in a way that gave them plausible deniability if everything backfired.  “Anyway, tell Bon-Bon I want to speak to her next. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Derpy pulled away and smiled brightly.  “Yeah, I’ll see you later Derpy. You have fun with Sunset.” Lyra gave Derpy her own smile and turned to leave. Derpy gasped. “I forgot!” Lyra had the air knocked out of her as Derpy ran over and wrapped her in a tight hug from behind. “Hugs!” Lyra smiled and awkwardly hugged Derpy back. “You never realize how much you miss something until it’s gone.”  “Mmm, Yeah… still mad at you though.” Derpy finally pulled away and waved as Lyra began walking off, Lyra waving goodbye to her back before disappearing into the crowds. Scootaloo pushed the bathroom doors open with a small sigh, green paint dripping from her face. She marched over to the mirrors and took off her backpack. She reached for a wad of paper towels and dampened them, beginning to clean her face off. She seized up as she heard sobbing come from one of the stalls, followed by a pained wail. Scootaloo briefly thought on what to do and gingerly put the paper towels down. She made her way to the occupied stall and rapped her knuckles against the door. “Hey… is everything alright in there?”  Scootaloo hoped this had nothing to do with that dreaded ‘period’ she had heard so much about. She was already worried when it would come for her, she didn’t need someone to reinforce her fears. She was pulled from her thoughts as the stall was opened and Scootaloo was forced back, coming face to face with Sunset Shimmer. “S-Sunset!”  Scootaloo studied her face for a second. Her cheeks were wet with fresh tears and her eyes were red and puffy from no doubt excessive crying. “Uh is… is everything ok? You’re not having your period are you?” “W-What?” Sunset asked, confused. “No, I'm n-not on my period. That’s s-such an odd thing to a-ask.” Scootaloo let out a sigh of relief. “Well, what’s wrong?”  “I-it’s nothing Scootaloo, you w-wouldn’t understand.” Sunset declared as she walked to the sink and began washing her face. “W-why do you have p-paint on your face?” “Ah, some assholes threw a paint balloon at me and called me a bitch.” Scootaloo placed her hands in her pocket and kicked the ground. “nothing new.”  “Y-you shouldn’t let th-them get away with t-that.” Sunset said with a sniffle.  “Ah, I deserve it. I mean, it’s no worse than what we put you through.” “You don’t d-deserve to be bullied, n-none of you do.” Sunset turned to Scootaloo. “I-I got caught in the same trap as y-you after the Formal. I f-felt so awful for who I-I was that I felt I d-deserved all the shit the school put me through. It took me a l-long time until I realized I was d-deserving of more respect.” “Yeah... maybe.” There was an awkward silence in the air. “Hey uh, Bloom told me what she did. I just want to let you know I had no idea. Everything’s cool between us despite what she did, right? Scootaloo asked with pleading eyes. Sunset stared at her for a moment before raising a hand and gesturing for her to come closer. “Come here.” Scootaloo walked over and was surprised when Sunset wrapped her in a side hug. “I’ll take that as a yes?” “Yeah, nothing changed between us.” Sunset chuckled. “... You’re not a bad kid Scootaloo. You did a bad thing, but that doesn’t make you a bad kid. You’re just young, dumb, and short sighted.” “Heh, thanks Sunset…” Scootaloo smiled. It was nice to have someone be nice to her for once. “I just wish Rainbow didn’t hate me.” “Dash doesn’t hate you.” Sunset rolled her eyes. “Look, when I start talking to her, I’ll convince her to meet with you, ok?” “When will that be? The next ten years?” Scootaloo said bitterly. “Actually, I’ve been thinking about it since Saturday.” Scootaloo looked up at Sunset.  “Me and AJ talked things out, and now I’m thinking about reaching out to the other girls.” “So, Bloom's plan worked?” “Don’t get any ideas. It very nearly failed, we were lucky that AJ walked outside and I didn’t drive off yet.” “I won’t, I don’t even talk to Rainbow anyway.” Scootaloo looked into sunsets red eyes. “So, what’s really bothering you? Since we're being honest with each other and all.” Sunset was quiet for a moment, debating on whether or not to tell her. “Alright, fine. It’s probably gonna come out anyway, no use hiding it.” They break the hug and Scootaloo crosses her arms, waiting for Sunset to continue. “You know that after the Formal I was given a bunch of different punishments?” “I think Rainbow mentioned something like that once.” “Well, earlier I learned that Celestia had reinstated my privekage if going to the next Spring Fling.” Sunset took a deep breath, driving up the nerve to continue. “But, when I really looked over the list, I found that… I-I’m not allowed to be Valedictorian.” “What!?” Scootaloo recoiled in shock. “But, you’re like, the smartest person in the school! You’ve got like a million academic rewards! Rainbow claims you’re a straight A+ student! All honors!” “I know…” Sunset hugged herself. “And I've been working towards it ever since Freshman year. But the school board didn’t want someone with my past to be given such an honor.” You’re gonna fight them right? That’s not fair!”  Sunset sighed. “It is Scootaloo. I was a delinquent and got away with it for years. I’m lucky I’m not expelled or even arrested. It-” Sunset took a moment to compose herself. “It hurts. But considering I’ve got most of my privileges back and I’m still allowed to go to school despite everything, it’s more than fair to deny me the honor of being Valedictorian.” “Sunset…” Scootaloo was taken aback by Sunsets resigned acceptance. The Sunset she knew wouldn’t take something like this lying down. “I’m a big girl, I’ll still get a diploma and go to college. I’ll get over it eventually.” Sunset straightened her jacket out in the mirror and cleaned her face one more time. “Ijust hope whoever it is makes a Valedictorian half as good as mine.” Scootaloo was about to protest but Sunset's phone started ringing. “Look, I gotta run, I promised I’d go out with Derpy.”  Sunset went back to the stall and grabbed her bag, using the door open and walking out. “I’ll see you later Scootaloo.” Scootaloo stood there quietly, ruminating over what she had learned. ‘Wait, going out with Derpy? What did she mean by that?’