“Why did you wake me up at 6AM?” I asked half asleep while Sky drove us to school. This morning, he came banging on my door and ranging my doorbell. At first, I thought that either Pinkie was trying to wake me up or someone was pulling a prank.
“Because it’s Wednesday,” he said.
“What’s so important about Wednesday and why does it mean I have to get up early?”
“You don’t pay attention to your friends do you? I mean, I know she doesn’t like to call attention to herself, but come on.”
“Okay, so I’m going to help Fluttershy today?”
“Exactly,” he said with a smile.
“What could she be possibly be doing at 6:30 in the morning?”
“Well nothing yet, but she’s going to need help. For now, we’re going to get coffee.”
“I’m not going to have to wear another dress, am I?”
“Not unless you want to. Besides you looked cute in that dress.”
“Wait,” I said as I realized that he wasn’t in the room while I was wearing the dress. “How do you know I ‘looked cute’?”
“Rarity sent me some pictures.”
“Delete them!” I shouted. “Delete them right now!”
“I’m driving, Sunset,” he said without taking his eyes off the road. “It’s not exactly legal for me to be on my phone right now.”
“Then give me your phone! I’ll do it!”
“It’s password protected.”
“Then tell me your password! You’re not keeping those pictures. What are you even doing with those pictures, you creep?”
“Look, Rarity just sent them to me. I didn’t save them and I delete all of my texts at the end of the month.”
“Okay…” I said. “Just promise me you won’t show them to anyone.”
“I won’t, but why not? You look really good in that dress. You’ll turn some heads if I post the pictures on Facebook.”
“You are not posting anything to Facebook!” I shouted.
“Just calm down, Sunset. I’m not going to show anyone the pictures and you should be proud of your looks.”
“I’m not that pretty,” I said under my breath.
The rest of the car ride was silent, except for the radio. I didn’t want to hear some morning talk show, so I started to cycle through the stations I can never find anything and just usually turn it off, but there was one thing I can’t bring myself to turn off. For whatever reason, I just can’t turn off Maroon 5. It’s a little embarrassing because I’m supposed to be into bands like National Avengers or Imagine Dragons. I could probably get away with Hozier, but not Maroon 5. Unfortunately, one of the morning DJs decided to play Animals and I still couldn’t turn it off. I started to quietly sing to myself, but I knew Sky could hear me.
We pulled up to Sugar Cube Corner and I considered waiting in the car. This place is usually filled with high school students, so I would stay away from here. Sky reminded me that anyone from Canterlot High is probably just now waking up or doing something else and the odds of them being here are slim to none. We walked into the coffee shop to find the place mostly empty. Mr. and Mrs. Cake were behind the counter preparing a drink and pastry for Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna. I tried to cover my face in hopes that they won’t see me.
“Good morning,” Sky said to the administrators.
“Good morning, Sky Light, Sunset Shimmer,” Principal Celestia said. “I didn’t know you two were friends.”
“We found out we are neighbors,” I said trying to fake a smile. “Sky has been driving me to and from school.”
“School doesn’t start for another few hours,” Vice-Principal Luna interjected. “Why are you wake so early?”
“We’re here to pick up breakfast for Fluttershy.” I looked past Principal Celestia to see Mr. Cake give Sky a small nod and put a pastry into a toaster oven.
“Here you go, Principals,” Mrs. Cake said as she handed the two women coffee.
“Thank you Mrs. Cake,” Principal Celestia said. “We should be going. Have a good day,” She said to us. “Oh, and Sunset, my door is always open if you ever need to talk to me about anything. I know you’ve been having a hard time since the Fall Formal, but I’m willing to put the past behind us.”
“Thank you.” We stepped aside and let the women walk past us. Usually, any mention of the Fall Formal would make me hang my head in shame, but I didn’t this time. It might have been because of how mature Principal Celestia was with the whole thing or because there was only six people in the room when it was mentioned. Whatever the reason, I wasn’t too ashamed of the whole thing.
“Good morning, Sky,” Mr. Cake said as the administrators left the building. “Just the usual today?”
“Actually, I’m also going to need salted caramel hot chocolate and whatever she wants.”
“You don’t have to do that,” I said.
“Need I remind you it’s six in the morning?” he said with a smug look on his face.
“Coffee,” I said to Mr. Cake. “Make it as dark and a large as you can please.”
“That will be fifteen dollars even,” Mr. Cake said after putting in our order. Sky pulled out his wallet and a twenty dollar bill out of that. Mr. Cake tried to give him his change, but Sky refused. Sky said he was more than willing to support a family owned business. There is no way this is the same guy Flash talked about.
We waited for our order, but it wasn’t too long of a wait. Mr. and Mrs. Cake work together like a dream. It was a little entertaining watching one of them start making a drink only to have the other finish it. The best part was watching them make coffee. The cakes had their own special way of making it. They moved way too fast for me to accurately describe it, but watching the process was mesmerizing.
We didn’t stay after the cakes gave us our order of four drink, a buttered croissant and a blueberry muffin. Sky left them another five dollar tip before leaving. There is absolutely no way this is the same guy that stole and sold Flash’s songs. The Sky I know cares about people too much. This Sky is generous, sweet, and everyone seems to like him. The Sky Flash described sounds sneaky and dishonest. I have to get his side of the story.
“Can I talk to you about something?” I asked as we got into the car.
“No we can’t go out. Not until we finish Operation: Friendship.” He said with a chuckle.
“Stop it,” I said, “this is serious. I talked to Flash the other day-”
“Let me guess,” he interrupted, “he told you that I stole the songs that we worked on and sold them to National Avengers.”
“I don’t want to believe him, but I need to get your side of the story.”
“There wasn’t any bad blood between me and Flash, it’s Ringo that really makes me mad. He was always late for practice and going off on guitar solos in the middle of a song. The final straw was when he suggested we become a cover band. I just couldn’t take him anymore, so I left the band. I was going to return the notebook with all of our songs to Flash, but I decided to stop and get something at Sugar Cube Corner. I guess I accidently left it there.”
“Then why does he think you sold them?” I asked.
“Because I started driving this car shortly after I told him I lost the notebook. This wasn’t a cheap car to put together and could probably sell for a good amount of money. I can’t really blame him for it. If I was in his shoes, I would think the same thing.”
“If you want, I can talk to Flash and tell him your side of the story.”
“Thanks, Sunset,” He said with a smile, “but we’re not looking for a mediator. If Flash ever wants to talk, he knows I’m willing to listen, but I think he already got all of that off his chest.”
There was an eerie silence in the car as he drove. I think it was because he was uncomfortable with the subject and wanted to get away from it. I should have never brought it up. It was hard for Flash to talk about, why wouldn’t it be any easier for Sky?
We pulled into Sky’s parking space and walked to the front of the school. Fluttershy was waiting for us. She was playing with her pet rabbit, which gave me a dirty look when it saw me. I guess I’m not even safe from animal’s judgment.
“Good morning,” Fluttershy said with her warm smile. I always liked her smile because it made me feel welcome. There was not hate or fakeness behind that smile. Only kindness.
“Morning Fluttershy,” Sky said. “Here is your freshly made green tea and a buttered croissants.”
“Thank you very much,” Fluttershy said as she took the drink from Sky. “I wish you would let me get you breakfast one morning.”
“You volunteer your time,” Sky said. “I could never ask you to give up a portion of your allowance when I can pay for my own.”
“Well then you have to let me do something for you.”
“I take it you help her every Wednesday?” I asked Sky.
“That, and we sat next to each other in our junior year Zoology class. We would always volunteer to feed and take care of the animals after school.”
“Wait, there’s only three of us. Why did you get four drinks?” I asked
“We’re waiting on somebody to deliver the flyers.” Fluttershy explained.
“Flyers for what?”
“Don’t you remember?” Fluttershy asked. “It’s fine if you don’t. I understand if you had other things to worry about.”
“Every Wednesday morning, Fluttershy passes out flyers for the animal shelter.” Sky said.
“I’m so stupid. How could I forget? I am so sorry Fluttershy.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Fluttershy said with her warm smile. “You had other thing to worry about.”
“So, how long until the flyers get here?” I asked after taking a sip of coffee.
“Derpy should be here any second,” Fluttershy said.
“Derpy?” I asked in confusion. To me, Derpy always seemed…well…derpy. Her eyes are always a bit off and a little dumb. She would either be in the back of the class with a confused look on her face and she never asked questions. She would just keep her head down and tried to hide her face. Don’t get me wrong, she’s a nice girl, but not really the person you would trust to deliver something.
“Here she comes,” Sky said. Derpy and smaller, younger girl were walking towards, both of them were carrying large stacks of papers. Sky handed Fluttershy the muffin and the drink and ran over to help and took the papers from the smaller girl.
“Good morning Derpy, Dinky,” Sky said. “How have you two been?”
“Good,” Dinky said, “Derpy made me the best mini-muffins last night.”
“It was just grandma’s old recipe. I make them for you all the time.”
“Yeah, but these were the best.”
“Sounds like you two are close,” I said. The four of them looked at me with blank faces. “Hi, I’m Sunset Shimmer.”
I stuck out my hand to shake Derpy or Dinky’s hand, but then something strange happened. There was no doubt in my mind that they had heard of what happened at the Fall Formal. I expected sour looks or Derpy putting herself between me and Dinky, but neither of those things happened. Instead, Derpy hugged me.
“Sorry,” she said when she realized I wasn’t hugging back. “I hugged you without even knowing if you liked to be hugged. I just thought you needed it after everything that happened.”
“It’s fine,” I said. “I did need it a little.”
Derpy hugged me again and I hugged back this time. She introduced me to her sister, Dinky, and the two of them took their breakfast. I looked over the flyers as the other four talked. They were just asking people to come into the animal shelter and help out. The flyer even promised that volunteers would get to play with puppies.
“Are you sure you want me to hand these out?” I asked. “It would probably drive people away.”
“To be honest,” Fluttershy said, “I don’t think it would really matter. No one ever really takes any of these. I usually have to take these back to the shelter.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, Fluttershy.”
I joined in on their conversation. As students started to arrive, the five of us tried to give away the flyers. Dinky and Derpy had to leave part way through because Derpy was helping Dinky with a few of her classes. Sky had to leave too. He said something about helping Rarity with something. For the most part, Fluttershy was right. Most people walked past us, but they didn’t give me any death glares. There were a few people who took a flyer, but I imagine they’re going to find their way to my head.
We handed out flyers until about five minutes before the first bell rang. We talked for a little bit longer and she asked me how I met Sky. I told her about what happened on the bridge. Normally, I would be a blubbering mess about the whole thing, but there was something different about Fluttershy. Just by standing by her, you can feel the acceptance and love in her heart. She just smiled and hugged me.
Class went on pleasantly. There number of death glares and stink eyes were cut in half and no one was throwing papers at me. For the first time in a long time, I walked into the cafeteria with a smile. I got my lunch from Granny Smith and found Fluttershy by herself, smiling the entire time. Was I actually happy?
“Excuse me,” Coco said as I sat down. “Do you mind if I sit with you?”
“You don’t have to ask,” I said. Coco sat down across from me. I was looking for Sky, but then I got a text from him saying he was still helping Rarity.
“Sunset,” Coco asked towards the end of lunch. “I know we just became friends, but can I ask a favor?”
“Of course,” I said. “What do you need?”
“Well, the fashion club is having a fashion show in a few weeks and we don’t have many models. I was hoping that you would be my model.”
“I don’t think you want me to do that,” I said. “Why don’t you ask someone prettier?”
“Well, I already have your measurements, so it would be a little easier for me to make clothes for you. And all those people on Facebook said you were pretty.”
“What people on Facebook?” I asked, fearing the answer.
“All those people on Facebook commented on those pictures of you in my dress. Someone of the boys said something I wish I never read, but all the girls said they would kill to have your looks.”
“I’ll be right back,” I said as I stood up.
I walked as quickly as I could to room 107. I barged my way into the room and saw Sky and Rarity looking at a computer. I didn’t care what was on it, I was just furious at Sky.
“Why did you do it?” I shouted.
“Sunset, darling, what’s wrong?”
“Sky lied to me.”
“What did I lie about?” Sky asked.
“You promised me that you wouldn’t post those pictures. Coco just told me that they somehow found their way to Facebook.”
“Sunset,” Rarity said.
“Not now, Rarity. You know, I wanted to be less hated, but this isn’t what I meant. I didn’t want to be eye candy or anything like that.”
“Sunset,” Rarity said again.
“Rarity, please not right now. I should have known you would have done something like this. You probably also stole Flash’s songs. Just fess up and this will go a lot eaiser.”
“I posted those pictures,” Rarity said.
“What?”
“You are a priceless gem, darling. The world needs to see your beauty. That’s why I want you to be a model for Coco. Please Sunset,” Rarity said.
“Fine,” I said with a sigh. Rarity jumped up and hugged me. She told me that I wouldn’t regret it, but I have a feeling I would.
The bell rang and the three of us left the room. Rarity’s class was on the other side of the room, so she left Sky and I by ourselves.
“I’m sorry Sky,” I said as we walked. “I should have trusted you and known that you wouldn’t have posted those pictures.”
“It’s alright,” he said with a smile. “I would have blamed me too if I was you. I get that you might not completely trust me yet, but I promise I only want the best for you.”
“Okay, for now on, I’m going to trust you.”
“Thanks Sunset.” He said.
“My class is down this hall. I’ll see you after school?”
“Actually, I’m helping Rarity with planning the fashion show, so I have to help her when class gets out. Unless you want to hang out in the room while we work, I won’t be able to drive you home.”
“Oh, okay. Well then I’ll see you tomorrow I guess. Bye Sky.” I walked down the hall to my class. Most people ignored me, but I got something worse than death stares: creeps checking me out. I was able to brush them off just as easily, but not without a shiver up my spine.
I took a seat in class and opened my notebook to star doodling. Derpy took the seat next to me shortly after.
“Hi Sunset,” Derpy said.
“Hey Derpy. I didn’t know you were in this class.”
“I usually sit in the back and don’t say anything. How have you been since this morning?”
“Good. I’m actually really happy right now.”
“It looks like my hug worked then,” she said with a giggle. “I was wondering if you wanted to come to a club with me after school.”
“Sure,” I said. “It’s not like I have anything better to do.”
“Great. Come to room 203 right after school. I promise you won’t regret it.”
“I’m not going to have to model anything am I?”
“No,” she said with another giggle. “It’s not that type of club.”
Class started, but it just seemed to go on. All the classes did for that matter. It might have been because no one was really harassing me or because I wasn’t making any plots. Whatever the reason, I’m just glad class was moving quickly.
I didn’t wait when the bell rang. I headed straight for the class Derpy mentioned. Derpy and Dinky were waiting outside the class for me and they both gave me another hug when she saw me. The three of us walked in and took a seat towards the middle of the class. Most of the students here are some of the brightest this school has to offer. It didn’t cross my mind until now, but I started to wonder what club this was.
“Alright everyone,” a boy standing in the front of the class said, “it’s time to start this meeting of the Science Club.” Science Club? I had absolutely no idea that Derpy was in Science club. “Today’s discussion, Veritasium posted a video a few days ago where he took a standard size basketball and a five kilogram medicine ball. He then asked which will hit the ground first and why?”
The students started to debate with each other. Some said the medicine ball would hit the ground first because it’s heavier and has a higher force of gravity. Some said the basketball would hit the ground first because it has less air resistance, the grooves in the ball made it move faster and because it was lighter. Derpy wasn’t saying anything. She was just writing something in a notebook and saying something to herself. This debate went on for some amount of time.
“Derpy,” the boy in the front of the class said. “What do you think?”
“I think they would both hit the ground at the same time.” There was some murmuring and whispering among the other students. I think I even heard one person call her crazy.
“Interesting theory. Explain.”
“Well everything has inertia, or the tendency of matter to maintain its state of motion. Objects with a higher mass have higher inertia. So the medicine ball has a higher inertia and wants to resist motion. Because of this, it takes more force to move it at the same speed as the basketball.”
“That doesn’t make any sense, Derpy,” another boy in the class said, “The medicine ball already has more force pulling it to the ground. Wouldn’t just adding more force make it go faster?”
“Not necessarily. The important thing to remember is that it has more inertia, meaning it doesn’t want to change it state of motion. Because it doesn’t want to the change its state of motion, it requires more force to pull it to the ground. Likewise, the basketball has less inertia, so it takes less force. This also means that the ratio of inertia to force needed to move is always the same.”
“She’s right,” the boy in the front said.
I couldn’t believe it. This girl that everyone writes off as someone who just doesn’t understand the world just showed up some of this school’s smartest students. She sat there with a smile as every other student frantically searched through their notes and textbooks to check her work. The boy in the front of the class went on to describe inertia and the laws of motion.
I didn’t phase out either. I was paying attention to what was basically a science lesson. I think it might have been because someone I knew was able to explain it easily, whatever the reason, I was engaged.
The club meeting ended and the three of us started to walk home. Dinky split off from us, saying that she was going to volunteer at the animal shelter. I like to think she was really doing it to play with the puppies, which isn’t a bad thing, just cute.
“You’re a good sister,” I said to Derpy as we walked to her house.
“Thanks,” she said. “I kind of have to be. I’m all she really has.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I can’t find a job because I look like this, so our father is always working to make sure we have food in the fridge. As for our mom, well she…passed.”
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry Derpy. I had no idea.”
“It’s alright. I envy Dinky a little. She wasn’t old enough to remember our mother, but I do. She was a kind sweet woman who never meant any harm to anyone.” Derpy was on the verge of tears, so I hugged her.
“Thank you for sharing that with me,” I said.
“Thank you for being with me,” she said after letting out a few tears, “I guess it was somewhat of a blessing in disguise. I got closer with my Dinky and my dad and we’re one close family.”
“That’s really sweet. If you don’t mind, I have some other questions.”
“Ask away. Just help me with my emotions if it gets a little heavy. Deal?”
“Deal. Why do your eyes do that? Do you control it? Can you see straight?”
“I can see just fine, my eyes just look a little different. What happened was that a few bullies were really mean to me growing up. They decided to throw rocks at me one day and one of them hit me in the head and knocked me unconscious. I was out for about a day and when I woke up, I looked like this.”
“Okay, let me ask you something a bit more cheerful. How do you know so much about science? I mean, you practically blew everyone out of the water.”
“I have a friend who knows way more about science than I do. He usually runs the meetings, but he’s traveling right now.”
“What about Dinky? Does she like going to Science Club?”
“Actually, my friend started it for Dinky. She was struggling in her science class, so my friend started tutoring her. She started asking more question and he started explaining more. Soon, other students joined in and then Science Club.”
I asked her a few more questions and she asked me a few questions in return. She was surprisingly curious about Equestria and my life as a pony. I didn’t mind sharing with her because she opened up to me.
We reached her house and she asked me if I wanted to stay for dinner. I told her that I would love to. We prepared dinner for the two of us, her father, and Dinky, who came home just in time for dinner. I saw how close they were. There were no secrets or anger between them. One of them makes a mistake and the others were there to help them. They invited me to stay a little longer and play a game with them, but it was getting late. Derpy’s father drove me home and I thanked him for a lovely evening. I walked into my home with a big smile on my face. I was actually happy.