//------------------------------//
// Uncertain Friendships(?) 
// Story: Canterlot High Magic Club 
// by Luminous Comet 
//------------------------------//

Sunset stayed in the car while Applejack helped Rarity to the door. She didn't need to be carried or supported, but AJ had insisted to at least walk with her. From the car window, Sunset watched as Rarity was tackled by her sister first, then pulled into a tight hug by her father. They all exchanged brief words with Applejack, before she turned to head back over.

Before she disappeared into her house, Rarity looked over to Sunset and waved, smiling through her exhaustion. Before Sunset could decide whether she should smile or wave back, she had already disappeared.

They drove in silence down the road before AJ had to stop at a red light. "I don't even know where to take ya," she noted, like she realised for the first time. Maybe she actually did.

"There's a convenience store on 24th. Let's stop there."

Applejack set her indicator and they fell back into silence until they had arrived at the indicated store. Sunset quietly headed inside and went straight for the display fridge.

"Heya, Sunset." She glanced to the counter, from where a blonde girl was happily waving to her. She smiled back courteously. She was never sure which eye to look at.

"Just these," she said as she set down two cans of iced coffee. She paid for them and briefly said goodbye to the clerk to get back outside, where Applejack was leaning on the side of her pick-up. Sunset handed over one of the cans and sat on the floor, leaning against the wall of the store.

"So... you mind explainin' now?"

"Where do I start? I don't really know much myself." She looked down at the can after taking a sip. "And it'll sound crazy."

"Sugar, after tonight, I'm willin' to give crazy a try."

She leaned her head back and looked at the open sky. "I didn't know anything about this until a few weeks ago. Someone gave me all I needed to start learning. Until now, I only tried little things by myself. But today at school, I felt like something was off. I can't really explain it, it's a... sixth sense of sorts. So I wanted to look into it tonight. I thought maybe it would give me some clues."

Applejack took her time with her answer. "So, what exactly did happen? What was happenin' to Rarity?"

"My best guess is... the sewing machine was enchanted." She scratched the back of her head. By herself, thinking things through, it all made sense to her. But saying this kind of thing out loud still sounded ridiculous. "She couldn't stop, even though she wanted to."

"And you think smashin' it did the job?"

"I... I don't know. It all stopped moving, so, maybe?" She sighed heavily. "I better check on things first thing in the morning."

"Ya mean we are gonna check on things." AJ stepped over and crouched down next to Sunset, putting a hand on her shoulder. "No offence, Sunset, but it didn't exactly look like you had it handled when I got there."

She avoided her eyes and subconsciously rubbed her neck. "Right. Thanks, by the way."

"Of course. You're not the first person I'd choose ta have around, but I ain't gonna let somethin' like that happen. Besides, you saved Rarity tonight, so you're alright in my book."

She dared look up at her and was met with a smile more genuine than she had expected. She wasn't sure if she stared for just a second or much longer, but she finally pushed herself up. "I, uh... better go home. It's not far from here. I'll... see you at school."

"Right. You be safe now." With one more pat on Sunset's back, Applejack finished her coffee and tossed the can into the waiting bin on the way back to her car.

Sunset hesitated for a moment, before finally resolving to answer. "You too. Good night."


=====***=====


School had changed a lot for Sunset. Instead of striding in confidently as an announcement of her arrival, she quietly shuffled into the halls behind a crowd of other students. She preferred to not draw too much attention to herself now. Not that that was always feasible. No one just forgot what she used to be like and some students still regarded her with glares or avoided her in the hallways.

But no one followed her around and no one picked any fights, so she was able to make her way back to the Crafts rooms with no complications. When she rounded the corner, two students were already waiting in front of the door. She slowed her steps as they turned towards her.

"Mornin', Sugar. Told ya I'd be here." AJ smiled, a simple backpack sitting on her shoulders. But Sunset's attention lay more on the other, clutching her purse.

"You sure you wanna be here, Rarity? I mean, no offence, I don't know how much you remember..."

"Everything," Rarity said darkly as Sunset trailed off. She quickly shifted her tone and smiled. "And I am grateful, Darling, but I also need to know what is going on. And Applejack hasn't been too helpful as of yet."

"Yeesh. Sorry, Rares, I'm just really not sure where to start."

Sunset stepped up to the door and put one hand on the handle. She let her backpack slip off her shoulder on the way there, depositing it against the wall to have her arms free. "Well, first would be this. See what's left after last night."

She looked to the others. AJ halfway stepped in front of Rarity and seemed to brace herself. Sunset shook out her own hand, ready to light things up if she needed to. She pulled the door open and stepped into...

A perfectly clean room. Each desk but one was set with a sewing machine. Mannequins stood against one wall, shelves with rolls of fabric and boxes of ribbons against another. A single pair of scissors seemed to be the only thing out of its place.

"Uh, is this the right room?" Applejack asked carefully, as she peaked inside.

"Yes. It definitely is." Rarity stepped past both of them into the room and put her hand on the only empty desk. "This is where I sat down to work yesterday." She glanced around the room, then walked up to the closed shelf in the corner, checking inside. "And here are the costumes I made."

Sunset slowly walked into the room, her eyes scanning the floor while she tried to reach out to find that thumping feeling again that had nagged her so much the day before. She found it, but dull at the edge of her senses, a far cry from what it had been like previously.

"The machine should have been right here. It smashed on this floor. Cleaning that up is one thing, but where did all the fabric end up? It looked like there was enough to fill the room."

The three of them stood in silence, suddenly interrupted by Applejack's hand hitting her forehead. "Last night! There was someone else here! I forgot all about it!" She pulled the door halfway closed and lowered her voice a little as the others stepped closer. "I was lookin' for Rarity, when I saw someone runnin' up the stairs. She was wearin' a sweater with her hood up, so I have no idea who she was, but maybe she knows more."

"A single girl wearing a hoodie in autumn. That narrows it down to about half the school," Sunset commented drily. Another few moments passed before the bell sounded.

"Something for later, then," Rarity said quickly, making for the door. "But I'm not letting either of you off the hook yet."

Applejack exchanged an uncertain look with Sunset before they both headed to class as well.


=====***=====


It kept coming back to Sunset during class. She glanced over at the other girls in the room, like any of them would obviously be the mystery girl. But every time she saw Applejack or Rarity, her thoughts shifted, to something a lot more mundane. And especially when she spotted two other students in the crowd between classes. A short, athletic girl, her multi-coloured hair and blue varsity jacket easily standing out, with her arm over the shoulder of one much taller, but walking just a little hunched, like she was trying to hide in her knitted vest.

She stood and stared for a few seconds, before realising that she didn't have the courage in that moment. She had to secure a way in that didn't involve just walking up to her.

So when lunch came, she was relieved to see that Applejack and Rarity were already there, but she had beaten the others. She put her tray down next to AJ's and sat herself down, starting into her explanation before even any greeting.

"Applejack, I... need a favour." The weight on her chest doubled. This was a lot harder than she had thought. "You know I made a lot of mistakes. I mean, of course you know." She cringed at herself. "I, uh, I've been meaning to do something about that. I mean, to do better. But, I can't until I, um... fix some things first, so..."

She had been rambling for the entire time it took Applejack to swallow her bite and she finally cut her off. "Slow down, there. Just be straight about it."

"Just cut to the point, Darling," Rarity added, though not unkindly.

Sunset took a breath, her eyes glancing over to the doors. "I... need to apologise. To everyone. So, for everything I said about your work before, Rarity, I'm sorry."

"It's forgiven. But not forgotten." Ouch. "Go on?"

"Well, most of all... I need to apologise to Fluttershy. And I have no idea how to start. You're her friends, so..." She trailed off, hoping the thought was complete enough. But when no answer came, she added the rest quietly. "...please help me."

The next few seconds were agony. After how the two of them looked at each other, she half expected them to tell her off.

"Look, Sugar, I'll do my best. You wanna set things right and that's great, but you did a number on that girl."

"I know! And I feel awful about it. I just want a chance to tell her without Rainbow Dash threatening to beat me up."

"Alright, well, here comes your chance."

She tensed. She wasn't really ready yet, but as she followed AJ's gesture, sure enough, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were heading for their table and just as she looked up, she locked eyes with the tall, skinny girl, who seemed to try and hide behind her friend, letting her hair fall into her face.

Rainbow was far less subtle about her feelings. She set her tray down so hard part of her stew skipped from its bowl. "What is she doing here?" she asked sharply, looking straight at Sunset but clearly not addressing her.

Sunset felt herself tense up. All previous confrontations with the athlete had either led to a physical fight or at least threats to that effect.

"Now, Rainbow Dash," Rarity started, putting a hand on her arm, "Let's not start a fight. At least listen to her."

Rainbow's glare remained, but she bit her tongue. Sunset shifted in her seat and tried to relax, but the tension remained. Why was this harder than fighting animated ribbons trying to strangle her?

"The way I behaved in the last school year was terrible. And... before that, too. I don't want to do that kind of stuff anymore. I really want to be better. So..." She firmly countered Rainbow's look. "I'm sorry for all the times we fought. It was my fault. And I'm sorry I almost got you kicked from the soccer team. And most of all, Fluttershy..."

She looked past her at Fluttershy, who was still standing, holding on to her tray. She couldn't hold Sunset's gaze but seemed to desperately try to not just look away, either.

What could she even say? Sorry I humiliated you. Sorry I made you break down in the middle of the hallway. Sorry you were so scared you didn't come to school. Her shoulders slumped and now she was the one who couldn't look at her anymore. "I'm sorry for everything."

The next seconds stretched to infinity, as all the shame that had suddenly collapsed onto her that day came rushing back.

"...okay."

Fluttershy's answer didn't release the tension. Sunset bit the inside of her cheek and quickly got up, taking her tray full of probably cold food and stepped over the bench. "Right, I'll... see you girls later."


=***=


Dash finally sat down, watching Sunset Shimmer head towards an empty table. Fluttershy came to sit next to her and just silently started eating.

"Is she for real?" Dash asked finally, looking up at her other friends.

"Seems honest to me," Applejack said with a shrug. "She helped out last night, too. Looks like she's makin' a real change."

"Believe that when I see it," she said under her breath, then looked to her side. "You okay, Flutters?"

"Yes." She didn't look up from her food, peeling off more of her bread than she was actually dunking into the stew.

"You know you don't have to forgive her just because she says sorry. Just forget about it."

"I know. Don't worry about me." She smiled at Dash, but it was short-lived.

Rainbow shared a glance with AJ and Rarity, but they were interrupted again when their missing member bounced up, somehow not spilling anything.

"Hey, you guys! I was sooo busy all morning that I couldn't talk to Miss Harshwhinny before class, so I had to do it after class, and then saw a bunch of flowers on the way here and I thought 'Oh, hey, sugar flowers on that cake!' so I sat down to draw the flowers and I completely forgot it was lunch, but now I finally made it! Please tell me I didn't miss anything important!" Pinkie looked between her friends before her expression dropped. "Aww, dang it!"