My body freezes I get to the front doors, I really don't want to have to ask the question that I know I have to and I have to force myself to keep going. Shit, this might go very wrong..
"I got this, I have to.. It's for my own good." I mumble and walk inside, the school is unsurprisingly empty this early in the morning so I won't have to deal with their empty platitudes, thank Celestia. I make my way to the main offices and go inside nervously, principal Celestia is at a fax machine and she turns around to greet me.
"Ah, hello Sunset, how are you this morning?"
"I'm.. I'm okay principal Celestia, I just have to ask you something really important." She frowns, I guess she heard how nervous I sounded.
"Of course Sunset, but my office would be a better place to have this conversation."
I nod. My heart is racing now and I feel like I've made a huge mistake by going to her. I follow her to her office and I sit down in a chair in front of her desk.
"I.. Principal- I just was wondering if.." I can barely get the next words out, why the fuck was it so hard to ask for help?
"I was wondering i-if you knew of any decent therapists because I.."
"You need someone to talk to?"
I shake my head yes, "I do.."
"Of course, I can print out a list of mental help professionals. It includes their email addresses and phone numbers so you could choose who you want to go to." She looks at me, she doesn't look disappointed or angry.
She looks worried.
"Thank you." I'm staring at my legs, I can't take her worried looks. It reminds me too much of princess Celestia whenever I pulled an all-nighter. "I'm sorry."
"It's no problem, I'm proud of you for asking for help. I know how difficult it can be to ask for it."
"Yeah.." I say in a near whisper, "It's almost impossible."
"I really hope that one of the contacts on the paper I'm printing out for you is able to help you. I'm incredibly sorry Sunset, I failed to protect you during the Anon-A-Miss situation.."
Upon hearing her words I grip the armrests so hard my knuckles turn white, she had failed me. She and Luna failed me badly and I feel myself start to shake in rage.
How could she apologize so casually?
"Sunset? Are you alright?"
I nod and stay quiet because I don't trust myself not to snap at her if I start talking. I remember the breathing technique princess Celestia taught me for when I got upset, I take a deep breath and hold it for a few seconds before exhaling. I repeat that process a few times and when I feel calm enough I look up to the principal.
"Sorry.. Got a little overwhelmed. It's part of the reason why I need a therapist." I lie and hope she buys it.
Celestia nods and walks over to the printer as it spits out the paper I need. She picks it up and comes back over to her desk, handing it to me right before she sits down.
"Thank you. And thank you for meeting me before school, I know it must've been annoying to have to leave your home earlier than normal."
"Oh it's no problem, I'm glad you felt comfortable enough to ask for help. My door will always be open for you, I want to make sure you know that."
I bite my lip so hard I taste blood, I want to tell her that she failed me, and I think she'd deserve it but I hold it back and nod. "Thank you. I really should get ready to get to class, I don't want to be late."
I get up and give her a small smile before leaving, I don't wait for her to reply, I just dip. Once I'm at my locker I look at the paper in my hands and skim over it, I'll email some of them once I'm home but for now I need to focus on my education.
I get everything I don't need stowed safely away in my locker and I go out and sit on the front steps, I look at Rarity's car and she's still in there but now she had a facemask on.
I can't help myself and I start laughing so hard that I start snorting, the fact Rarity had a whole ass spa kit in her car was hilarious to me. Because of course she has a mini spa in her car just ready to go.
She must've seen me laughing at her and she rolled her window down, keeping her facemask on the entire time, "It's not that funny darling! This is just part of my morning routine."
Her statement only serves to make me laugh harder, Fluttershy had apparently arrived while I was laughing at Rarity and walked over to me to say hello. I was wiping my tears of laughter on my sleeve when I noticed her.
"Oh hey Fluttershy, nice weather isn't it?" Oh, I'm so dumb, I can't think of anything better so I resort to the weather, how cliché.
"Mhm, it's nice to see you again Sunset. I've missed you and the school's been less lively without you."
I smile and roll my eyes I've really missed her, I would've texted her but I deleted her number from my phone when Anon struck. "I missed you too 'Shy, I'm back now and I'm not going anywhere."
"What were you laughing at anyways?"
"You seriously missed Rarity's spa session in her car?"
"What sp- Ohhh. Oh wow." She starts cracking up once she spots Rarity, "Wow she's always really prepared isn't she?"
The fact that Fluttershy found the sight funny only made it funnier for me, I started laughing again and she also began to laugh.
I doubt Rarity would be amused if she noticed that we were still laughing at her pulling a facemask out of seemingly nowhere. But oh well, this shit was funny and I'm not gonna try and hide my amusement.
I get myself under control eventually and I tap her shoulder to attempt to calm her as well. "Alright, alright. I think we've laughed at poor Rarity for way too long now."
She snorts and puts her hand over her mouth to stifle her giggles and it an incredibly adorable thing to witness.
I chuckle and pull my phone out of my pocket to check the time, there's only maybe about ten minutes until the start of class. I look up and see the students start to gather on the front lawn like they normally did before school.
"Should we go tell Rarity that school's going to start soon?"
I shrug. "Probably? Let's maybe wait five minutes so she has more time to do her little spa ritual thing."
"You're right, but we should at least tell her that school's going to start soon."
"Ah. Yeah. We probably should."
She nods and we both get up at the same time to go tell Rarity she needs to hurry up. I get to her car first and start speaking before even Fluttershy gets to the car. "Hey Rares, school starts soon and you might wanna hurry otherwise you'll be late."
"Right, I've finished just in time- Ah Fluttershy, good morning darling how are you?"
"Hi Rarity, good morning. I'm good, Nova hurt her paw earlier and it took a long time for me to figure out what happened."
"Nova?" Me and Rarity both ask, it was perfectly synchronized and kinda funny.
"Oh! Nova's the Rottweiler my parents got last weekend, my parents think that our house could use some extra security. She's supposed to be a big scary guard dog but she's such a sweetheart."
"Ohh. You did tell me about that 'Shy, but you never told me her name or breed."
She shrugs and smiles, "Sorry. But now you know."
"Yeah, it's nice. Now I don't want to rush you guys but we really need to hurry."
Rarity gets out of her car and locks it, the sudden chirp of the car locking startles Fluttershy. I start walking to class, I wanted to wait for them but I don't think I had the time to. I get to my locker and unfortunately Applejack is there waiting for me. My annoyance is impossible to hide as I try to put my things away without her bothering me too much.
"Sunset.."
"What?" I snap, more so annoyed that she'd pick such an inconvenient time to try and talk to me than annoyed that she would even try to talk to me again in the first place.
"Ah just wanna apologize, please just hear me out."
"Can this wait? I don't intend to be rude but I have class and so do you." I slam my locker shut and turn to look at her, waiting for her reply.
She hesitates for a moment and nods. "... 'Course, are ya open to talkin' at lunch?"
"Mhm."
I don't wait for her to respond, I walk away and make my way to the class I'm supposed to be in and unfortunately I'm greeted by the sight of Rainbow and Pinkie who have the same class this period. I internally scream.
Sweet Celestia, I forgot that I shared a lot of classes with them. I go to my desk and sit down, ignoring the stares I get from my classmates. Thankfully miss Cheerilee walks into the room and everyone's attention is directed towards her, including mine. The rest of the lesson is incredibly boring and I was barely paying attention, I was worrying about how the talk with AJ would go.
The bell rings and I get up to leave and go to my next class. I ignore Rainbow who's calling out to me, I'm not ready to talk to her and I'm already taking a massive risk by agreeing to talk to Applejack again. I use the breathing technique I was taught and leave the room, passing by multiple students who attempt to grab my attention so they could apologize.
I made it to math class just in time, I sat my ass down on my chair right as the late bell rang and I breathed a sigh of relief, I didn't need or want to get detention right now. Mr. Doodle walks in and gets straight to the point, there was a pop quiz. We all groan and make obvious sounds of disapproval at the surprise quiz.
"Celestia damn it. Fuck's sake I don't need to deal with this shit right now." I think to myself and stare down at the paper that's been placed in front of me as the teacher hands it out to everyone.
"You have ten minutes to answer the yes or no questions on the paper. Once the time is up I will come collect your papers. Begin."
I grumble and swear under my breath but I pick up my pencil and begin my quiz. It's surprisingly easy and I'm done in maybe five or six minutes, I decide to use this time to plan what I'm going to say to Applejack so I don't end up screaming at her when I wanted to have a civil conversation.
Once the time is up Mr. Doodle comes and collects the papers everyone has and goes back up to the front. "Alright, now onto the lesson."
I hear Hoops protest from somewhere towards the back. "Aw come on man, can't you give us a break? We just took a test."
"It's a quiz, not a test, now please quiet down so I can get on with the lesson."
Hoops doesn't reply so I assume he isn't going to press the matter, I'm tempted to speak up and try to convince him to let us spend this period doing other things but then I remember these are the same people who're too stupid to not attack me until they know for certain that I was the culprit.
They totally need more education, maybe it'll raise their IQs by a few points miraculously.
Class goes by painfully slow, it always seems to go by slower than the rest of my classes but the bell does eventually ring and mercifully sets us all free. I get up a little too quickly so my body yells at me for my mistake, I happily speedwalk out the door as it's lunch now and I'm hungry as fuck.
I get to the cafeteria and grab my food, I go find an empty table to sit down at. I'm enjoying my rather crappy institutional food when Applejack sits down across from me. I stop eating and look up to see who had so rudely interrupted my peace, when I see it's Applejack I sigh with a mouthful of food and swallow.
This was going to be hard, but I'm going to try to get through it with my sanity and emotional wellbeing in tact. "Right. Applejack, you said you wanted to apologize?"