Rainbow Dash chuckled as she looked at her phone. Each group chat for the sports teams she was in was exploding with activity.
She had taken the baseball team aside during practice and alerted them to what was going on with Sunset, letting them in on Scoot's plan (leaving her name out of it) and asked if they would join. She had worried that she’d need to convince or even strong arm some of her teammates, but to her surprise everyone agreed. Though, whether or not they’d get cold feet when it got close to graduation, who could say.
Regardless, she ran the idea with her other teams and they seemed receptive, now they’re all arguing over what kind of chant to use to support Suns-
“So you ready to go?”
Rainbow stopped and looked over. She saw Sunset leaning against the wall looking at her expectantly. “Um, what?”
“For tutoring. I had to give up seeing my clothes again for the next few days just to wait for you.”
“Oh, uh, I guess? We just never discussed what we were doing.”
“Yeah, sorry about that. Had a situation with AJ.” Sunset pulled herself off the wall. “If you’re free tonight I can tutor you, though I need to get home by 7:30 as I’m having a sleepover with AJ.” Sunset said as she began walking towards the parking lot.
Rainbow's eyes widened in surprise and she ran after Sunset. “For real?”
“Don’t get too excited, it’s just a sleepover.” Sunset said dismissively.
“Just a sleepover? Sunset, this is huge! You’re hanging out with one of us and having a sleepover. It shows you’re starting to… you know… work through your issues with us.”
An awkward silence fell between the girls as they made their way to Rainbow's car. “Just Applejack right now.”
“Yeah, I get that. She deserves it. But she did tell me that you still considered us friends, and the fact you’re willing to tutor me shows you don’t hate me too much.”
“I don’t hate you Dash.”
“Yeah you do.”
“I don’t!”
“Just a little bit?”
“No! Being angry with you is not the same thing as hating you.”
“What about Fluttershy?”
Sunset stopped suddenly and turned to Rainbow, who realized she probably wasn’t supposed to reveal she knew. “How do you-”
“AJ told me.” Rainbow admitted. “I was with Flutters and was about to tell her that you still think of us as friends. AJ… knew that would’ve been problematic so told me you had an issue with Flutters to prevent me from telling her.”
Sunset stared at Rainbow for a few seconds. “You really should just tell her. You’re just stringing her along.”
“We can’t just tell her-”
“Then I will.” Sunset answered casually. “I’ll go up to her tomorrow.”
“What? No no no no! You won’t tell her anything!” Rainbow grabbed Sunset and forced her to face her. “I don’t know what happened between you two, but telling Flutters you hate her and there’s no hope for the two of you will destroy her. She’s dealing with this harder than any of us already.”
“Not my problem.”
“Yeah? And what would Twilight say?”
“She…! I… kinda already know, we talked about it earlier.”
Dash smiled in victory. “And if there is hope for you and Flutters you wouldn’t want to sabotage it would you?”
Sunset said nothing, staring off to the side. “If she asks, I’m telling her. Ok? I’m not going to lie to her.” She turned to Rainbow. “And you shouldn’t either, it’ll just hurt more the longer you wait.”
Rainbows smirk disappeared and the two stared at each other quietly. “Fine. That seems… reasonable. I’ll tell AJ.” Rainbow let go of Sunsets shoulder and continued walking, unlocking her car remotely. “So, how much do I owe you?”
“You’re not going to like it.” Sunset said, climbing into Rainbow's car. “I’ll tell you when we’re done. That way you have to do it.”
“You’re not going to punch me in the face again are you?”
“Are you offering?”
There was another awkward silence. “... No.”
“Then no.” Sunset nodded. “We should get going.”
Rainbow looked a little concerned but turned her car on, driving from the school. Another incredibly awkward silence fell between the two girls, Rainbow racking her brain on what to talk about.
“So what part of science do you need my help with exactly?”
Rainbow breathed a sigh of relief that Sunset broke the silence first, letting out a relieved sigh. “Uh, everything really. We’re on like… chapter fifteen?”
“Are you asking me or telling me?”
“Uh… telling you?” Sunset continued to stare at Rainbow Dash expectantly. “Telling you.”
Sunset nodded and pulled out her science book. “We both have Mr. Neigh right?” Rainbow nodded, Sunset opening up the book to chapter fifteen to read it over. “Alright, I should be able to come up with something. I’ll have something more comprehensive for next time, you free tomorrow?”
“Yeah, after practice.” Another awkward silence. “So, what’s up with you and Scoots?”
“I… I don’t know. Like I said, it’s complicated.” Sunset shifted uncomfortably. “Like, I’m angry with her for what she did, but she also apologized to me first and is the only one actively seeking me out. Even during the Anon situation, we were… friendly? She must’ve felt guilty. I guess somewhere along the line we just… clicked.”
“... Is it like me and her? Does she… you know, consider you a sister?”
“I haven’t asked and I’m not sure I want to know.” Sunset huffed. “I’m still really angry with her, so I’m not sure I could accept a declaration of sisterhood. Honestly, I think she’s trying to fill a Rainbow sized hole in her life.”
“Yeah, I know.” Rainbow looked guilty at that. “It’s complicated for me too, you know. I love the kid but what she did really… It really hurt. I mean, not as bad as what she did to you but… she called me stupid and manipulated me into abandoning you. Being the Element of Loyalty, that particularly hurt. Betraying me then manipulating me into betraying my friend… that make any sense? I’m not any good at this emotion thing.”
“Yeah I get it.” Sunset nodded. “She really misses you though.”
“Believe me I know.” Rainbow huffed. “She visits my house more than my friends do these days. Literally every day since her involvement was revealed, she’s gone to my house or tried to ambush me at lunch.” She briefly looked at Sunset. “But at least she’s got someone looking out for her.”
“Too bad there’s only so much I can do about the bullying.”
“She’s being bullied?” Rainbow turned her head towards Sunset before looking back at the road.
“Yeah.” Sunset lifted an eyebrow. “Surely you knew, it’s not exactly a secret and what did you expect? She was behind Anon-A-Miss.”
“I… Yeah it seems obvious now but… I guess I never really thought about it.” Rainbow seemed somewhat ashamed at her words. “How bad?”
“Probably much worse than what happened with me, but at least it’s divided amongst the three of them.” Sunset looked back to her textbook. “They’ve got eachothers backs. Scootaloo told me Bloom has a bit of a martyr complex though.”
“Certainly sounds like something Squirt would say.” Rainbow said with a small chuckle. “So, you and AJ. You two having a sleepover or are you two having a ‘sleepover.’” Rainbow said, puckering her lips and wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.
“Dash.” Sunset couldn’t help but smile, hiding it behind her textbook. “No, I like AJ but not in that way. We won’t be having the kind of sleepovers boys think girls have.”
“Speak for yourself. My sleepovers with my much cooler friends can get pretty crazy.” Rainbow said with exaggerated nods.
“Really?” Sunset said disbelievingly. “With those itty bitty titties?”
“Hey!” Rainbow seized up, blushing furiously, and awkwardly tried to cover her chest. “What good are boobs anyway? They just get in the way during sports! Besides, girls aren’t as into them as guys are.”
“You don’t like girls.”
“I experiment.” Rainbow said with a shrug.
“I’ve seen you flirt, you are not experimenting.”
“You’re mean!” Rainbow said indignantly. “I want to speak to your manager!”
“I’m my own manager and this isn’t retail, I can be as mean to you as I want.” Sunset said with a smug smirk. “You need me.”
“Now I remember why I didn’t ask you to be my tutor before Anon.”
“Too late to turn back. You’re mine to torture.” Sunset's eyes lit up and she looked at Rainbow with a sadistic grin. “I want to play a game.”
Rainbow groaned, wondering what horrors Sunset was going to unleash on her and growing to regret her choice in tutor.
Bon-Bon sat stock still, staring ahead of her with a thousand yard stare, quietly staring forward, as if she’d been through a traumatic experience (And in a way, she had).
“Bon-Bon?”
Bon-Bon yelped and jumped from her seat, cowering underneath her desk, causing Octavia to jump back in surprise.
“Bon-Bon! Love, what is up with you?” She said, staring down at the girl.
Bon-Bon looked up and looked embarrassed. “Sorry.” She stood up and awkwardly looked at Octavia. “Derpy… that’s it, just Derpy.”
“Ah.” Octavia nodded, starting to understand. “I take it she ‘talked’ with you earlier?”
“Lunch to be precise. She was… she’s scary. I didn’t know someone like her could be… she swore Octie. A lot.”
“Derpy swore?” Octavia said disbelievingly.
“She did! Like a hundred times in fact. All in my face while she screamed at me.” Bon-Bon shuddered. “I’d hate to see what would’ve happened had I intentionally framed her.”
“Well, for starters you’d have lost all your friends.”
Bon-Bon looked hopeful. “Does that mean-?”
“You’re on a probationary period with me.” Octavia interrupted, crossing her arms. “And since you’re not crying, I can only assume the same for Derpy.”
“And Lyra.”
“Really? You two aren’t broken up?” Octavia said with some surprise. “You were crying about it yesterday.”
“Wellllll…” bon-Bon rubbed her arm. “Turns out she was trying to ‘punish’ me and make sure I don’t do that again. Derpy talked some sense into her and she uh… well, we aren’t broken up at least.”
“She what?” Octavia’s eyes widened in shock. “I’m pretty sure that’s abuse.”
“I mean, probably.” Bon-Bon shrugged. “When things settle down, I’m going to talk about it with her. I mean, I get she was angry, but that was kinda too far.”
“Well, to add to the good news, Vinyl is talking to me again.”
“Oh really?” Bon-Bon looked happy. “Well that’s good, what changed her mi-?”
“She knew it was you.” Octavia said suddenly. “She knew the whole time. Figured it out by process of elimination, she’s been waiting for you to confess.”
“Oh.” Bon-Bons smile disappeared. “Why didn’t she rat me out?”
“Had no evidence and knew we wouldn’t believe her.” Octavia answered. “I think you two should talk, I doubt she’ll yell at you like Derpy did.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Bon-Bon asked uneasily.
“I think she was just waiting for you to confess, you’ll need to talk to her at some point anyway, might as well get it out of the way.” Bon-Bon still looked uneasy. “I understand if you want to… recover from your talk with Derpy. I’ll tell her to leave you be, just in case she tries seeking you out first.”
“Thanks Octie.” Bon-Bon flashed Octavia an appreciative smile. “And I’m really sorry I got you involved.”
“You didn’t get me involved, I got myself involved.” Octavia said stubbornly. “Yes you revealed Lyra's secret, but everything else is on me. You have nothing to apologize for.”
“Still, none of this would be happening if it weren’t for me.”
“Fair enough.” Octavia’s phone began vibrating, causing her to take it out and look it over. “I’ll see you later Bon-Bon, I’ve got practice.”
The two said a small goodbye as Octavia walked out of the room and into the hallway.
Halfway to her destination, someone grabbed her and began dragging her away. “What the hell!? Let me go you brute!” Octavia flailed about in an attempt to escape.
It didn’t work, and she was dragged into a dark janitor's closet. She made a move for the door, but stopped when the light suddenly came on, revealing a certain gray skinned blonde haired girl with misaligned eyes.
“Hi Octie!” Derpy greeted happily, giving a small wave.