Have you ever woken up and thought that maybe some part of the day before was part of your dream? The whole bridge thing yesterday seemed like a dream or something out of a book. A vulnerable girl about to take her life, saved by a mysterious boy and doesn’t want to sleep with her. Only in a book. It was a little nice knowing at least someone here cared about me, even if he is a stalker sent by Princess Celestia. He’s probably going to want to talk me to school today. Maybe I can wait him out too.
“I know you’re in there Sunset,” Sky said from my front yard. I really wish I didn’t sleep with the window open. “Might as well come out. I’m willing to skip school.”
I got out of bed and looked out the window. Sky was sitting on my porch with his backpack draped over one arm
“You know, some people might think you’re stalking me,” I said leaning out the window.
“Whatever,” he said looking up at me with a smile, “get dressed and come down here.”
I rolled my eyes at him and pulled myself back into my room. Part of me just wanted to wait him out, like I did with Princess Twilight’s friend. He is persistent, however, and I think he’s willing to wait. I got dressed and grabbed my school stuff. I opened the door and Sky stood up and smiled at me. He then walked towards a car parked outside my house.
“Is that yours?” I asked as I walked towards the passenger side door. If I knew more about cars, I could probably name the model, but I can tell it looked restored.
“Yeah,” he said unlocking my door, “I bought it last year. It was a complete wreck, so I was able to get it pretty cheap. I spent a good amount of time and money fixing it up.”
“Wow,” I said getting in and being even more impressed on how new the interior looked. “Where did you get the money for all of this?”
“Princess Celestia gave me a few bits when I came here,” Sky said as he started driving. “I got a job a few months into sophomore year. What about you? How have you been getting by?”
“One of the bags I took here was full of bits. Who knew that those things were worth so much here?”
Sky chuckled a little, but never took his eyes off the road. For someone who grew up with hooves, he was a pretty good driver. It was also the first time I got a real good look at him. He was a bit taller than most eighteen old boys and a noticeably thinner. His skin was a bit darker than Rainbow’s and his hair was pale blond. There were no real distinguishing features on his face, besides his eyes. His eyes were a bright red and almost reflective. There this gentleness about him that I found odd. You never get that feeling from a guard, as they need to portray that tough exterior.
We didn’t say much the drive there. Part of it was because I thought he could use the extra concentration, but it was mostly because I have no idea what to talk about. I really don’t want to talk about yesterday. We can’t really talk about our lives in Equestria. I was a student and he was a guard. If anything, he has more stories than I do. All I did was keep my hands to myself and played with the radio a little.
“So,” I said as we pulled into the school’s parking lot, “do you actually have a plan or are you just going in blind?” Sky had paid for one of the owned spots. At first I thought who would waste money on that, but then I realized he had the perfect spot, not too far away from the school and not too far away from the exit.
“I have a plan,” He said, putting the car into park.
“Care to tell me? It is my reputation after all.”
“Okay…my plan is to…”
“You don’t have a plan, do you?” I asked, opening the door and getting out of his car.
“Okay, I don’t have a plan, but I have an idea.”
“Alright,” I said rolling my eyes again. “Let’s hear it.”
“Let’s start with something small and get you a group of friends. And I know just the people.” We started walking towards the school and I could already hear the whispers and gossip.
“You’re talking about Princess Twilight’s friends aren’t you?”
“They’re the closest thing you’ve got to real friends. Besides, I saw the six of you having a good time fixing up the front of the school.”
“You have been stalking me,” I said scowling at him.
“Yeah because going to the Fall Formal and walking by the six of you is stalking. Anyway, they seem to like you and all we really need is for you to hang around them more.”
“There’s only one problem,” I said, “They don’t want to hang around me. I can never get all five of them to sit with me at lunch and it’s usually just Fluttershy who walks home with me.”
“Alright, so we-” Suddenly, Sky’s phone suddenly went off. “I’ve got to take this. Meet back up at lunch?”
“Sure…” I said, fearing what would happen once he’s gone.
“Cool, see you later Sunset,” he said answering his phone and walking away.
Part of me wanted to follow him just so I wouldn’t be alone. However, I didn’t want to ruin his reputation too and make people think he has a clingy girlfriend. People would probably think I put him under some spell or something. Looks like I’m going to have to go into this alone, again. Sometimes I wish I followed Princess Twilight back to Equestria. At least they’re more forgiving there.
Class was more or less the same. No one wanted to sit by me, but at the same time, everyone whispered just barley loud enough so I could hear them. However, they weren’t talking about me. Okay, they weren’t talking about just me. I heard they say something about Sky and Fluttershy. People were saying that Fluttershy thinks of me as a pet and that’s why she’s been nice to me or they were talking about Sky driving me to school. Thankfully, no one was talking about how I wasn’t there yesterday.
I struggled to get through to lunch. It seems that all missing a day really did was let them build their hatred. I got more hurtful notes thrown at me during class. These were some of the worst. I would rather not repeat them, but trust me, they were bad.
I tried to avoid the cafeteria in hopes of avoiding more death gazes, but I promised to meet Sky for lunch. I waited a while before walking in. When I decided it was time, I reluctantly walked into the cafeteria and tried to find Sky. I got a few stink eyes here and there, but most people were minding their own business. I found Sky sitting by himself eating his lunch. I walked over to him trying not to draw attention to myself. The stink eyes didn’t help as it felt like the entire school was watching me.
“Hey,” Sky said as I took a seat next to him. “How was your day?”
“Not any better than before. Why did you make me come back here?”
“Because you can’t just live your life being hated. Have you thought of anything to help with our Operation: Friendship?”
“Operation: Friendship?” I asked, almost completely annoyed.
“I thought it made the whole thing seem fun.”
“Dork,” I said rolling my eyes.
“It’s a mystery why you don’t have any friends,” he said sarcastically. “So I take it you didn’t come up with anything?”
“I was too busy ignoring the people who go out of their way to make sure I know they hate me.”
“Lucky for you I’m here. I’ve got an idea that could boost your reputation so quickly those stink eyes you’re getting right now become friendly smiles.”
“How do you plan to pull off that miracle?”
“You didn’t hear it in the morning announcements?”
“I don’t pay attention to those things.”
“Then meet me outside of room 107 after school. You’re going to love this.”
“Wait, what are you going to do to me?”
“I’m not going to do anything. Maybe you should play attention to the morning announcements like a good student.”
“What if I don’t show up?”
“That’s fine, but then you’ll continue being hated by the school.”
“You’re not giving me a choice, are you?”
“Not really. Anything else you want to talk about? Seen any good movies or heard any good songs lately?”
“Not really. I don’t get out much and I don’t think you’ll like the music I listen to.”
“What about your time in Equestria?”
I didn’t want to think he wanted to hear about my time with Celestia. Why would he? It was mostly studying and learning spells, which are now useless. My life before Princess Twilight was all work and no fun, so I didn’t have anything to talk about.
“Why would you want to know that?” I asked in complete shock.
“I just want to get to know you, Sunset. If I’m going to hang out with you and give you rides to and from school, then I want to know who you are.”
“All you need to know is that I really want to be seen as a normal person, not necessarily liked, but not hated. I just want you to know, the only reason I’m here is because I don’t want to be hated and that’s it.”
“Alright,” he said with a smile. “You can tell me more when you’re ready. The bell is going to ring soon and I need to go to my locker. See you after school?”
“Yeah…” I said, feeling the same way I did this morning. I watched him walk away wanting to follow him again.
“Hey,” A voice said from behind me, “we need to talk.” I turned around and saw Flash Sentry behind me.
“Okay…what do you want to talk about?”
“First off, where did he go?” he asked as he sat across from me.
“Who?”
“Sky Light. Where did he walk off to?”
“He said he’s going to his locker.”
“Good, he’s probably not coming back.”
“What do you want Flash? Class is starting soon.”
“First, I wanted to tell you there’s no hard feelings between us. I didn’t have the same feelings for you like when we went on our first date.”
“Okay…”
“Second, you need to stop hanging around Sky Light. He’s bad news and I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“He was in my band when we first started. We wrote all of our songs together and switched off between singing and playing the guitar.”
“Sounds like the two of you were friends.”
“We were, but then he started to change. He wanted to take the band one way and I wanted to go another. The second we started to argue, he spit taking all of our unfinished songs with him. He sold off the songs to someone and they somehow got to National Avengers and they went platinum with them.”
“I’m sorry Flash,” I said. “I had no idea.”
“I don’t like to talk about it. Anyway, just try to stay away from him. Okay?” He said standing up.
“Okay…”
“Take care of yourself, Sunset.” Flash walked away leaving me to think about what Flash said.
Sky had always been nice to me and it seems like he just wants the best for me. It’s almost impossible to believe that he would steal something and then sell it. Not only that, something really seemed off about him. He sounded depressed, like something was eating away at him.
I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t realize how much time I spent sitting there thinking. The bell rang and snapped me out of my trance. Classes were the same, no one sitting next to me, people giving me glares, people throwing notes at me. Nothing new, nothing old. When the final bell did ring and all of the students started leave, leaving the school empty. Part of me wanted me to just walk home. I would have too, but room 107 is down the same hallway as the front entrance. In order for me to leave, I would have to walk right by him.
There was nothing I could do, so I walked to the room. Sky was outside waiting for me, leaning on the lockers on the other side of the hall. He was looking down the hallway for me and smiled when he saw me. I couldn’t help, but to smile back.
“Hey,” I said walking towards him.
“Hi,” he said standing up straight. “Are you ready for this?
“What exactly am I doing?
“You,” he said as he opened the door, “are modeling.” Inside the room, Rarity and another, smaller girl were working on dresses on separate mannequins.
“Sky!” Rarity said, with her attention to the door. Sky entered the room and hugged Rarity and the smaller girl.
“You two know each other?” I asked as I entered the room.
“We worked together on a Language Arts project sophomore year,” Rarity said letting go of Sky. "What about you two, darling?”
“We’re neighbors. Hello,” I said to the other girl. She seemed scared or nervous and was almost cowering in a way. Exactly what I need.
“Don’t be rude, Coco,” Rarity said to the girl. “Come say ‘Hello’.”
“Hello,” Coco said softly.
“I’m sorry, she’s a little shy,” Rarity explained. “So, are you here to model for us?”
“She’s your girl,” Sky said.
“I don’t think you want me to model your dresses,” I said. “Besides, I’m sure one of you would look much better in them.”
“Coco is here,” Sky whispered to me, “if you can be nice to her, maybe she’ll spread the word that you’ve changed.”
“I’m your girl,” I said with a nervous smile.
“Wonderful,” Rarity said grabbing me by the arm. “Sky, darling, can you please give us some privacy?”
“Sure,” Sky said as he started to leave the room. “Oh and Sunset, if you wanted to leave, you could have gone through the soccer field.” Sky closed the door behind him, leaving me to kick myself for not thinking of that.
“Thank you so much for doing this,” Rarity said. “Coco, is your dress ready?”
“Y-yes.” Coco continued to shake as she talked.
I walked up to the dress and started examining it. It was a strapless dress that flurried like a flower the closer it got to the knees and stopped just under them. I spun it around to see if the pattern followed all the way around and it sparkled as it moved, which was a beautiful touch. The color was something like a sunrise, golden orange towards the bottom and transitioning to purple towards the top. The irony of me wearing something with a sunrise color scheme wasn’t lost on me either.
“You did this Coco?” I asked her.
“Yes…” Coco said. She seemed like she calmed down, but was still scared of me.
“It’s really pretty,” I said to her. “Are you sure you want me to wear it?”
“Of course, darling,” Rarity said. “I was actually hoping you would be here, Sunset.”
“Why me?” I asked.
“B-Because you were my inspiration for this dress,” Coco said softly. I was shocked that she, a complete stranger, did something nice for me. “My mom always told me it’s darkest before the dawn. I saw how the other students treat you and I thought I could help raise the sun.”
“Coco, I don’t know what to say,”
“You don’t have to say anything,” Rarity said. “Just try it on, darling.”
I didn’t hesitate because for the first time in my life, I was excited. The dress itself fit like a dream, almost as if it was made for me. There was a full size mirror in the room, which I’m guessing Rarity brought.
“You look stunning,” Rarity said as I looked at myself in the mirror.
“Thank you, to the both of you. I feel amazing.”
“So…how long have you and Sky been dating?” Rarity asked me.
“What? Who said we were dating? We are not dating!” I said quickly.
“Relax, darling. I was only joking. You are, however, as red as a ruby. You like him don’t you?”
“No,” I said crossing my arms, “he just did a favor for me and I feel like I owe him.”
“What exactly did he do for you?” Coco asked. “If you don’t mind me asking.”
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to tell what happened. I was at an all-time low and it’s something I would rather forget. On the other hand, Rarity and Coco have been so nice to me. I don’t want to ruin what we have going on by lying to them. Well if I tell them, it might ruin our relationship. Maybe they won’t think any less of me if I tell them.
I walked over to Rarity and hugged her. She was shocked at first, but started hugging me back when she realized what was happening. I started crying at just the thought of yesterday and Coco joined in and hugged me too.
“I did something stupid yesterday,” I said through my tears.
“It’s okay,” Rarity said as she started rubbing her hand up and down my back.
“You can tell us anything,” Coco said. Neither girl let me go nor did I want them to.
“Yesterday, I was at the bridge and I…I…” I started sobbing again, making me incapable of finishing the sentence.
“It’s okay,” Rarity said. “It’s in the past and you’re here now. That’s all that matters. Just let it all out.” The girls let me cry as long as I needed to, neither of them saying anything.
“Sky came at the last minute and saved me,” I said after calming down. “I felt so alone and I didn’t know what to do. Everyone has been avoiding me like the plague and I felt so alone.”
“First thing,” Rarity said as she gently pushed me away, “you can always come to me for anything. I don’t want you to bottle up anything anymore. Second, you were never alone. You have me, our friends, Sky, and now Coco.”
“It didn’t feel that way,” I said. “All of you always had some excuse for not eating lunch with me or walking home. I felt like you were avoiding me.”
“I am going to be honest with you, Sunset, I did make an excuse to not be seen with you. I see now that it was a mistake and I promise that I will never do it again. I promise.”
“Thank you, Rarity,” I said as I hugged her again.
There was one more group hug and the three of us were smiling again. Coco and Rarity cleaned me up and I changed back into my clothes and walked out of the room. Sky was waiting for me in the same spot when I first walked down the hall.
“Ready to go?” he asked me.
“Ready,” I said.
“You seem happy. I assume that everything went well,” Sky said as we started walking towards his car.
“It went better than well,” I said with a smile.
“Phase 1 of Operation: Friendship is complete,” he said with a cocky tone.
“You are such a dork,” I said with a chuckle.
“Call me a dork all you want, doesn’t change the fact that I’m going to make sure Operation: Friendship is a success.”
I was a little happy that we stayed after school because waiting in that traffic is a nightmare. The drive home was more or less the same as the drive there. I played around with the radio, but it was otherwise quiet. Every so often, I would look at Sky and think about what Flash said. Part of me didn’t want to believe Flash because he didn’t seem like the guy who would steal something. At the same time, I couldn’t think of a reason why Flash would lie to me.
“Here is your castle,” Sky said as he pulled in front of my house.
“Thanks for the ride,” I said as I opened the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Bright and early,” he said with a smile.
I smiled back at him and watched him drive into his driveway. I walked into my house and I caught myself still smiling. I looked around my house and realized something. I finally have a home.