“And that wraps up the last unit of the study guide. We’ll spend the next week or so playing review games and going over test material.”
It was the last period of the day at Canterlot High School on Thursday afternoon, and Mr. Discord the science teacher had just finished covering the blackboard with exam material. He wore a stained lab coat, a pair of yellow tinted safety goggles, and one rubber glove that was clasped around a stick of chalk.
“For homework, I would like you all to read up on the chaos theory and write me an essay on what you would do if you were me, to be turned in on Monday. That’s all, class dismissed.” Tossing the chalk into his mouth, Mr. Discord bowed and swept out of the room like a multicolored hurricane just as the bell rang for the end of the day.
Sunset Shimmer scrawled down the last formula and sighed. She stretched her legs out under her desk and began to pack up, a gloomy expression adorning her face. It had only been a couple of weeks since the Canterlot High musical showcase, but already the defeat of the Sirens was becoming old news. While Sunset was in many ways glad that school life was finally returning to some semblance of normalcy, she wished that this normalcy didn’t have to come in the form of midterm exams. Every teacher from Ms. Cheerilee to Mrs. Harshwhinny seemed to have had some kind of gear in their heads switched that put them on, as Rainbow Dash called it, 'full yawn-o-rama mode'.
She sighed and pulled out her phone, tapping Mr. Discord’s assignment into her planner and giving a little groan when she saw how much she already had to do that night. Thanks to the grueling amount of work everyone at CHS had been subjected to, the Rainbooms hadn’t been able to get together to practice for a while, something which many of its members lamented during the lunch period.
Sunset sighed and left the classroom for her locker. Rarity and Applejack were also there, each with a stack of books in their arms.
“Hello, Sunset,” greeted Rarity. “How was class?”
“Awful.” replied Sunset flatly. “Mr. D wants an essay about the chaos theory on Monday, on top of the studying and the fifty questions for Calculus.”
Her friends winced in unison. “Wow.” Applejack whistled. “Who’d a’ thought Mr. D would get caught up in all this, of all people?”
“I know exactly what you mean, Applejack. I have a poetry analysis due tomorrow too!” Rarity said. “Perhaps Fluttershy can assist me…”
The three girls stuffed their books into their bags and walked out the front doors, still comparing who had the biggest workload. The wind bit at their exposed skin, making them hurry along to Sugarcube Corner to meet up with the rest of the band.
By the time they got there, Sunset Shimmer was really missing her pony form’s fur coat. The gale had intensified, blowing in smudges of grey cloud as they walked. By the time Rarity pushed open the door to the sweet shop, the sun was completely gone.
After ordering their drinks, Sunset, Applejack, and Rarity quickly found Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy nestled in a corner booth crowded around a newspaper.
“Hey girls,” Applejack said, setting down her backpack with an audible crash. “What’re ya reading, homework?”
“Nope!” said Pinkie Pie cheerily. She was in the act of tearing open a sachet of sugar and emptying it into her drink, but missed and dumped it on the table. “Dashie’s been looking at it all afternoon!” Taking a straw, the puffy haired girl inserted it in one nostril and began to inhale the spilled sugar.
“Uh-huh. Rainbow? What’s up?”
Rainbow Dash lowered the newspaper, rubbing her eyes. She hadn’t had much sleep recently; none of them had. And since Daring Do was the only kind of literature that Rainbow found worth her time, the reading assignments that Mr. Cranky Doodle had given them to review were often left until late into the night.
“Nothing much.” replied Rainbow. “Just reading about a murder that happened in Trottingham two days ago. Some poor guy on the board of education or something.”
“Really?” Rarity asked, sitting down with her smoothie. “May I see that?” Nodding, the athlete slid the newspaper over and took a sip of her own drink. The article was short but to the point, with a blurry photograph attached that showed a pair of policemen covering something with a white sheet.
“Residents of Trottingham are saddened by the sudden death of Cobalt, a well-known member of the board of education. Cobalt, aged 27, was found dead in an alley near the west end of the city with a stab wound to the neck and severe cranial trauma. Trottingham police are still on the lookout for the killer, though all signs point to local gang violence.” Rarity read aloud. “Well, that’s dreadful business.” She concluded and returned the paper.
“I know,” Rainbow Dash said through a mouthful of pastry. “I have friends in Trottingham who live near there, so I’m…y’know, worried.”
“I’m sure they’re fine.” Fluttershy said soothingly. “The police will make sure nothing like this happens again.”
“Yeah…”
Deciding it was time to change the subject, Sunset Shimmer plopped herself down next to Pinkie. “How are you girls getting on with the homework? I got a ton of it today.” She stuck her tongue out in mock disgust.
There was a general murmuring of agreement from everybody but Pinkie Pie, who was wearing an uncharacteristically concerned look on her normally carefree face. Then one of her legs twitched violently, shaking the table and drawing a few curious looks from adjacent tables and her friends.
“Wow,” said Sunset wryly. “I didn’t know that it was possible to be so opposed to homework that you got a seizure just at the mention of it.”
“No, it’s not that, though homework itself is pretty ugh. That was my Pinkie sense!” She pressed a hand on her twitching leg and gave the entire interior of Sugarcube Corner a careful look. “Twitchy leg, dry tongue…there’s someone hiding from us in here.”
As one, the rest of the girls gave the entire bakery a once-over. It didn’t take very long.
“Uh, Pinks? I don’t see anyone hiding.” Rainbow Dash pointed out. It was true. Aside from Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon texting on their phones, Flash Sentry and his gaggle of bandmates, Octavia Melody sitting on a bench with two of her friends, and the Cakes behind the counter, there was nobody else. And the furniture didn’t exactly leave a lot of places where someone could conceal themselves.
Applejack was just as confused. “You’re sure that someone’s hidin’ in here? Because there ain’t a lot of places to hide in here, jus’ saying…”
“Maybe you’re just tired.” Rarity suggested with an understanding smile. “I sometimes think I see things when I stay up working on dresses…and these days we’ve all been rather stretched.”
“Yeah…” Pinkie said as she sank back into her seat looking unconvinced. “Maybe.”
Rainbow Dash finished her drink with a loud slurp. “Well, I gotta run. Soccer practice.”
“M-me too. The animal shelter’s decorating for Christmas, and I said I’d help…”
One by one the girls trickled out of the bakery off to their own activities. Sunset Shimmer was the last to leave, hoisting her backpack onto her shoulders and waving to some classmates as she walked out into the chilling wind. Her spirits sank as she remembered the daunting amount of schoolwork that had to be done tonight. Pulling her leather jacket close around her body, Sunset bowed her head against the wind and headed home.
Precisely twenty seconds after Sunset was out of sight of Sugarcube Corner, Octavia started as a girl next to her in a white hoodie stood up and headed out the door. The cellist blinked a few times, surprised that she had not noticed the stranger earlier.
Lyra, who had been sitting on the other side of the bench, looked equally perplexed.
“Uh, did you know who that was?” asked the mint green girl. Octavia shook her head. Already details about the strange girl were fading from memory, almost as though there had never been anyone but her and Lyra on that bench all afternoon.
“How odd.” Octavia muttered. For a single, clear moment she had a suspicion that she had just missed something important, but then someone spilled coffee on her blouse.
The next morning was cold, grey, and every bit as unwelcoming as the previous afternoon. Sleepy students filed into Canterlot High, rubbing their hands together in appreciation of the school’s indoor heating and swapping answers about the previous night’s assignments.
Sunset Shimmer took her seat next to Applejack in Mrs. Harshwhinny’s homeroom just as the bell rang to start the day. Their teacher was in the middle of taking roll when there was a knock on the classroom door. With an audibly annoyed sigh, Mrs. Harshwhinny put down her clipboard and answered the door.
“Oh! Principal Celestia. What a surprise. What can I do for you?”
The principal of Canterlot High motioned for Mrs. Harshwhinny to step outside, which she did but not before telling the class to “behave while I’m gone.”
Which is why Sunset was not in the least bit surprised when, as soon as the door shut, everyone started talking, some getting out their homework to fill in some answers at the very last minute, others simply lounging around with their feet on the table.
Turning to Applejack, Sunset jerked a thumb at the door and asked, “So what do you think Principal Celestia and Mrs. Harshwhinny are talking about?”
“Maybe cancelling the midterms?” joked Rainbow Dash, sauntering over. “You two get any sleep last night?”
“Not as much as I’d a’ liked,” admitted Applejack. “Big Mac and I had to start winter proofin’ the farm yesterday, and then I had reading on top of that so I’m plumb tuckered out.”
“Think you’ll get it done on time for the snowfall?” Sunset inquired. Sweet Apple Acres was a sizable farm, and winter proofing the entire place was no small undertaking. The farm girl smiled though, and reassured Sunset that they would have it done by Monday, although it would definitely mean a few more sleepless nights.
“How about you, Sunset? Got any plans for the weekend?”
The sound of the doorknob turning brought a swift end to the chatter as Mrs. Harshwhinny came back into the classroom, followed by a girl Sunset had never seen before.
She slouched in after the teacher, hands in the pockets of her jeans and surveying the room with an air of bored disinterest from under the hood of her white jacket. The girl stopped at the front of the room, glancing at the teacher for further instruction.
Mrs. Harshwhinny cleared her throat for attention. “Attention everyone. This is Velvet Breeze,” she announced, gesturing to the hooded girl. “She’ll be joining our class from today onwards.”
Velvet Breeze gave a little bow to the class, sweeping her orange eyes over each and every student there. Sunset suddenly felt very self-conscious under those eyes, as though she was a mouse caught in the sights of an eagle. She gulped and sank lower in her seat, trying to look anywhere but at the new girl. The feeling passed as quickly as it had come, leaving Sunset with sweaty palms and a newfound interest in the new girl.
“Pleased to meet you all.” Velvet reached up and lowered her hood, revealing a dusky blue face framed with shoulder length hair in shades of teal and grey, held out of her eyes with a hairclip that was shaped like an inverted letter ‘V’. “I look forward to getting to know each and every one of you.”
Even to Sunset it sounded rehearsed, but Mrs. Harshwhinny simply smiled and guided Velvet over to an empty seat next to Trixie at the second last row of the room. Ignoring the surreptitious stares of her new classmates, the new student sat down and retrieved a pen and notebook from her bag, looking at the teacher expectantly.
“Erm, yes. Anyway, I want you all to do your part in making Miss Breeze feel as welcome as possible here at CHS…now please take out last night’s assignments and pass them up to the front.”
The rest of the class passed in a slightly uncomfortable manner, with Mrs. Harshwhinny droning on about what would be on the literature exam and how to best prepare for it, but no one really was paying much attention, instead finding more sport in sneaking looks at the new kid rather than copying down everything the teacher was saying.
Halfway through the class, Sunset chanced a look over her shoulder at Velvet. There she was, sitting two rows behind her and writing in her notebook with one hand while resting her head on the other.
Nothing unusual there, thought Sunset. She glanced across the room and caught Rainbow Dash waving at her, mouthing something unintelligible. The athlete was leaning out of her chair and had her legs wrapped around her desk to keep herself from falling off.
“What?” Sunset mouthed back.
Rainbow repeated the silent message, exaggerating the movements of her mouth to no avail.
“What is it?” hissed Sunset, keeping her voice as low as possible while keeping one eye on Mrs. Harshwhinny. The literature teacher had her back to them and was in the process of outlining an essay draft.
The rainbow haired girl frowned and slowly slipped out of her seat, stealthily making her way to the box of tissues at the other side of the room near where Sunset and Applejack sat. Rainbow made a small spectacle of blowing her nose and disposing of the tissue, and after she was sure no one was looking, stopped by Sunset’s desk on her way back.
“What is it?” asked Sunset Shimmer again, looking concerned. She kept her voice low and bent over in her seat in case anyone was listening in.
Rainbow Dash swallowed, smiled sheepishly and said, “Can I borrow your blue highlighter?”
Failing to keep the deflated look off her face, Sunset wordlessly reached into her bag and handed over the highlighter.