By the time she left her classroom for lunch, Sunset’s nerves were beginning to fray. Not only had Mr. Cranky Doodle decided to keep them after the bell, he had also added a whole chapter of extra reading for the weekend. Clenching her fists around the straps of her schoolbag, Sunset lamented the lack of magic in this world; her back felt like it was going to telescope from all the books she was carrying.
As a result, Sunset was all too happy to be able to join her friends in the cafeteria. She freed herself from the burden of her backpack and dug into her plate of mashed potatoes and celery with gusto as the rest of the girls chattered about their plans for the weekend.
“Think we could get in some practice on Sunday?” Rainbow Dash asked no one in particular. “My parents are going to be at their friends’ house, so I’ll have my place to myself.”
“Maybe you should visit a stationery store instead,” Sunset suggested dryly.
Taking the hint, Rainbow sighed good-naturedly and tossed over the borrowed highlighter. “Thanks for that; I left my pencil case at home today.”
“Hey, it’s no big deal. I just thought you wanted to talk about something more urgent than not being able to do your notes properly.”
“You mean like tha’ new girl?” Applejack asked. Sunset nodded, impressed as always with the farm girl’s ability to cut to the chase.
There was a clatter as Pinkie Pie dropped her spoon. She practically bounced forward in her seat with glee. “Did you say new girl? Where?”
“Our homeroom,” Sunset said, washing down the last of her lunch with a swig of juice. “Name’s Velvet Breeze.”
“Yep. Just transferred in or something.” Applejack agreed. “Must be from out a’ town, I reckon.”
Rarity snapped her compact shut, having just finished touching up her lipstick. “At this time of the year? But the only thing we’re doing now is exams! Do you know where she’s from?”
“Nope.” Rainbow said, shrugging.
“And you didn’t think to ask?”
“Hey, I had bigger things to worry about!” Rainbow said defensively. “And if you’re so curious, why don’t you ask her yourself?”
Rarity resisted the urge to roll her eyes at her athletic friend’s lack in inquisitiveness and was in the midst of getting up when she realized she was missing a crucial detail.
“Ahem, Sunset, dear,” she said delicately, sitting back down. “What does Velvet Breeze look like?”
“Oh, oh!” Pinkie exclaimed, her poofy curls bouncing in time with her outbursts. “Is she wearing a white jacket, blue jeans, and a silver hairclip?”
Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Sunset Shimmer exchanged looks that verged on disturbed. “Actually, yeah, but how did you-“
“Duh! I know everyone in Canterlot High! All I had to do was look for someone I didn’t recognize. She’s right over there, by the way.”
The rest of the table followed Pinkie’s finger to the far left corner of the cafeteria. Sure enough, there was Velvet Breeze. She sat alone, a half-eaten apple in one hand and a pen in the other, scribbling furiously in her notebook. Every now and then she would glance up and look around the cafeteria, almost like she was waiting for something.
“She looks lonely.” Fluttershy ventured.
Sunset was about to agree, but ‘lonely’ somehow didn’t seem appropriate. She knew what it was like to be lonely, especially after the Fall Formal. To be excluded from everyone’s social circles, to be longing just a bit of attention, of acceptance. Even as they watched, a trio of students from Sunset’s class walked past, waving to Velvet who gave them a smile and a nod in return.
No, not lonely. ‘Solitary’ was a more fitting term.
And then there had been that moment of unease when Velvet had introduced herself…
Although she felt guilty about suspecting this new girl over nothing more than a brief moment of the shivers, Sunset couldn’t deny that her intuition had come in handy before.
“Say, Applejack, Rainbow, did you notice anything…off about Velvet when you first saw her?” She tried to keep her voice casual, but in retrospect there really was no ‘being casual’ about something like this.
“You mean like the Sirens?” Rainbow deduced her meaning instantly.
“Yeah.”
Rainbow’s face scrunched up as she tried to remember. “I don’t remember feeling like anything was off…”
“What about you, Applejack?”
“Not really, other than thinkin’ it was kind of strange to wear a hood indoors. Why, did you feel somethin’ unusual?”
Sunset squirmed in her seat. “Well, not really…” she lied. “It was probably just me being overly cautious. You know, this school has a history of unusual new students.”
Everybody had a good chuckle at that. They all remembered, with mixed degrees of fondness, just what each of those students had brought to Canterlot High. From Sunset’s arrival from Equestria all those years ago to the Battle of the Bands, no one could deny that sudden additions to the student body tended to herald…interesting events in the school’s history.
“But still, it’s kind of weird that someone would transfer in so close to the end of the year. Why not wait until the end of winter vacation?”
“Maybe it’s a personal matter.” Rarity said. A sharp look came into her eyes. “Although if you do find out the reason, make sure you tell me.”
“Mhhm.” Sunset had been planning to find out more anyway. It wasn’t as though it was a crime to ask the new kid a few questions anyway, right?
Sunset walked out of Mr. Discord’s class that afternoon with a considerably lighter heart than she had expected, not to mention a lighter workload. The eccentric science teacher had accidentally incinerated his lesson plan with a Bunsen burner midway through his lesson on exothermic reactions, and in exchange for keeping it from Principal Celestia he had agreed to give them a weekend free from homework.
“Our little secret, all right?” He smiled nervously as his class filed out of the room.
As she dropped her heavy science textbook in her locker, Sunset saw a familiar flash of white at the corner of her eye.
Turning around, Sunset was just fast enough to catch sight of a hooded person duck back around the hallway corner. She frowned. There had been no mistaking that jacket, or the gleam of orange under that hood.
Sunset frowned. It was one thing to attribute an odd feeling as paranoia, but peeking around corners at people was not normal behavior, even for a new student. Something was up.
Grasping her bag, Sunset pushed gently through a group of oncoming sixth graders and toward the same corner. She slowed down as she prepared to turn. With luck, Velvet would be caught by surprise if she was still there. And even if she wasn’t, the adjacent hallway was a dead end; there was nowhere to go.
She stopped just short of the turn. Perhaps if she waited here, then Velvet might decide to peek around again, which would confirm her suspicions that the new girl had something to hide. However, if she waited too long, Velvet would have time to conceal herself, or maybe even make up an excuse.
Well, that wasn’t happening. If her experience with the Dazzlings (and in hindsight herself) had taught her anything, it was that if you stopped the problem early it meant a whole lot less hassle and heartache later. And there was no way she was letting another crisis hit Canterlot High so soon after the last one.
“All right, Velvet Breeze,” Sunset smiled self-assuredly to herself. “Time to spill the beans.”
Stepping out from her hiding place, Sunset Shimmer barely had time to throw herself to the side as a crowd of jersey-clad teenagers stampeded past her and toward the soccer pitch, leaving behind a miasma of deodorant and air freshener.
After she peeled herself away from the wall, the amber girl shot a glare at the retreating backs of the soccer team and scanned the hallway for Velvet Breeze’s hooded form.
But the hallway was completely empty.
A gust of cold wind and the tinkling of the bell announced Sunset’s arrival at Sugarcube Corner.
“What took you so long?” Asked Applejack as Sunset joined them with a steaming mug of coffee.
Sunset, still lost in thought, didn’t immediately answer. She raised the mug to her lips and drank, gazing at her reflection in the inky liquid as if hoping to find the answer to life’s questions in its depths.
Fluttershy looked at her, unsure of what to do. “Um, Sunset? Did something happen?”
“…I think I saw Velvet Breeze.”
“You think you saw her.” Rarity repeated. “You don’t sound very sure.”
Fortifying herself with another gulp of coffee, Sunset recounted the afternoon’s events, carefully leaving out the part where Mr. D had almost set off the fire alarm with his shenanigans. She’d spent a good half hour banging around the hallway, searching for a locker that someone her size might have hidden themselves in and it had only been after Vice Principal Luna had come out and told her to head home that she had stopped.
“It just doesn’t make sense!” Sunset finished moodily. “People don’t just disappear like that!”
“Except me!” piped up Pinkie, her head appearing out of Fluttershy’s backpack.
“Except you.” Sunset conceded. “You’re not related to her, are you?”
“Velvet? Nope, but she’s good at hide and seek! I wanted to talk to her after lunch earlier, but I lost her right outside the cafeteria. Hey, I know! You’re in her homeroom, right? Can you pass her this?”
Reaching into her voluminous hairdo, Pinkie retrieved a peppermint lollipop and a glittery pink envelope. The treat she stuck into Sunset’s mouth, the envelope into the now-silenced girl’s hand.
“It’s an invitation to her ‘Welcome to Canterlot High Party’ that I’m throwing! Can you give it to her on Monday?”
Sunset nodded. She could have taken the lollipop out of her mouth to answer, but the candy was surprisingly good.
“You’re invited too!” Pinkie addressed the entire table. “Friday afternoon, next week in the gym.”
Swept away by a chorus of cheering, Sunset soon forgot about the afternoon’s incident. After all, it was the weekend. There was no reason to believe she would see Velvet Breeze until Monday.
Shelving her worries for another day, Sunset spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying herself with her friends.
As the sky began to darken, the six girls reluctantly parted ways to return to their respective homes. The wind had intensified, the chill cutting at any exposed skin like a knife. Although the weather report had predicted that snow wasn’t due for two weeks at least, Sunset was sure she saw a flake or two drift past her face on the way back to her apartment. Perhaps it was time for a change of wardrobe; if it really did start to snow, her skirt and jacket ensemble wasn’t going to be much protection from the elements.
Parting ways with Fluttershy at the traffic light, Sunset stood under the pole and crossed her arms to keep the cold out. She was just making a mental note to ask Rarity just which fabrics would be best suited to deal with the upcoming snowfall when a shiny black car pulled up to the curb. It was clearly a foreign model, as Sunset didn’t recognize the brand or the name of the city on the license plate. She stepped back expecting someone to get out, but no one did.
Instead the driver’s window buzzed down, revealing a grey-skinned man in his middle ages, his face partially hidden behind a pair of tinted glasses and a dark blue trilby hat. There was another person seated on the passenger side but before Sunset could get a good look at them, the driver crooked a finger in her direction, motioning for her to come over. After a second’s hesitation, Sunset warily made her way to the edge of the sidewalk.
“Excuse me, young lady.” The driver said with a half-smile. “Do you know where Canterlot High School is? I’m meeting someone there and I’m afraid I have gotten a little lost.” He had a slight accent, but not enough for Sunset to pinpoint what exactly.
“Uh, yeah, yes I do.” Replied Sunset. Were they new members of the staff or parents scouting out the school for the next semester? “It’s just off Rider Street, three blocks that way,” She briefly unfolded her arms to point in the appropriate direction. “Turn left at SugarCube Corner, then follow the road down, you can’t miss it.”
“Rider Street, eh? I must have missed it on the map. Do you go there?” The driver peered at Sunset over the top of this glasses, his eyes shining in the shadow of his hat. There was something in that look; not exactly hostile but not just friendly curiosity either. Sunset found her legs tensing up, ready to run.
“Uh, yes.” she said.
The driver, seemingly oblivious to her discomfort, gave her a slightly wider smile and began to buzz the window back up. “Thank you, Sunset Shimmer. Have a nice day.”
And with a purr of the engine, the car sped off down the road, leaving Sunset in the dust with a frown on her face and a question in her mind.
She hadn’t told him her name…so how had he known who she was?
As fate would have it, Sunset was not the only one wondering that.
High above the crossing, a figure dressed in hooded white robes leaned against an old chimney, having just finished listening in on the whole conversation.
Velvet Breeze’s gaze jumped between Sunset Shimmer’s retreating form and the black car. It had a head start on her, but it was late afternoon traffic; the streets were packed with commuters leaving their workplaces.
After using the soccer team as a convenient smokescreen, Velvet had doubled back around and waited for Sunset to show up at Sugarcube Corner, as she suspected she would. For three hours she had waited, waiting for the moment to make her move. And had it not been for that car, Velvet would have followed through with her original plan and trailed Sunset home.
But now…
Sunset was still within striking distance, her head bent down against the wind. She’d never see her coming. The car was at a junction, stopped at a red light but that would change in a minute or two. Velvet had to decide now.
Casting one last look at Sunset Shimmer, Velvet Breeze spun around and took off after the black car.
She broke into a run, leaping from rooftop to rooftop as the gusts of wind that threatened to throw her off balance whipped the ends of her robes around. Her legs burned with familiar exertion, but she didn’t slow down one bit. She loved running, the feeling of flying high above the ground.
Her quarry made a left turn at Sugarcube Corner just as Sunset had instructed. Velvet skipped down to an overhanging balcony and leapt off the railing. Her hands caught a hanging planter and she used her momentum to swing ninety degrees and up.
Smirking under the shadow of her hood, Velvet poured on the speed as the car accelerated into the bus lane. Whoever was driving seemed to be in a hurry to get to Canterlot High, if indeed they were going there. Velvet vaulted over a ventilation duct and ducked around a chimney. She had to keep the car in her sights no matter what. She had to-
And suddenly there was no ground beneath her feet and an awful lurch of disorientation as the open sky was replaced by a rush of bricks and mortar, followed by the feeling of something hard and unyielding slamming into her back, accompanied by a stinging in her right arm.
For a moment, the girl could do nothing but lay still, her hood askew, staring up at the slice of sky that taunted her from between the two buildings that she had fallen in.
Panting more from shock than anything else, Velvet Breeze painfully picked herself up off the ground and staggered to her feet. Her ribs and spine were throbbing and she would have some lovely bruises in the morning, but as she glanced down she realized how lucky she had been. A foot or more to the left and she would have landed on a rake.
The rumbling of a passing car jolted Velvet out of her trance and she half ran, half limped out to the road looking around wildly for the black car, but almost immediately she knew that there was no point. Even if the car had still been in sight there was no way she was going to be able to catch it at this distance.
Mentally berating herself for not watching where she had been running, Velvet briefly contemplated going back for Sunset but another stab of pain from her mouth nipped that thought in the bud. Somehow she’d managed to bite her tongue in the fall and blood was oozing down her chin, ruining any chance of blending in normally.
With all her plans for the day shot, Velvet could only imagine what the rest of her brotherhood would say if they had seen her today. As she slunk back into the shadows, there was no doubt in her mind that it would not have been anything good.