“You don’t know the extent,” Sunset Shimmer said after taking a sip of her coffee. The warmth comforted her but didn’t fully suppress the wistful sadness. Late at night inside Sugarcube Corner wasn’t exactly where Sunset wanted to be. If it were up to her she would be sleeping to just forget the subject.
However, the girl sitting across from her wasn’t going to let that happen. “You’ve changed so much, Sunset,” Twilight Sparkle said to her newest friend, putting her hand atop Sunset’s. “Everything you’ve done in your past is done. I know you don’t want to hurt anyone any more. So all you can do now is be good.”
Despite this bright outlook, Sunset wasn’t fazed. “Again, you don’t know the extent,” Sunset took another sip of her coffee.
It was about two weeks ago that Sunset began having anxiety attacks. At first they started late at night while she was in bed and by morning Sunset would forget about them. But eventually they got worse and appeared more frequently, sometimes as many as five a day. All those added up and Sunset’s friends noticed. When they attempted to help thought Sunset had managed to avoid their assistance. It was only until the princess of friendship herself, Twilight Sparkle, arrived that it got serious. Twilight wouldn’t allow her friend to be in such agony for long.
And with the upcoming Battle of the Bands, Twilight wanted to make sure that everyone was ready for it.
“Really?” Twilight asked with an amused expression. “You turned into a demon and wrecked havoc on the school. What could be worse than that?”
Almost as if taking offense, Sunset set her coffee down and scowled at Twilight.
“They’re called scars,” Sunset growled. “And not all of them are worn on the skin.”
She looked into Twilight’s eyes, searching for some kind understanding. She found none.
“Ah forget it,” Sunset sighed. “It’s not important.”
“It is to me,” Twilight insisted. She leaned on the table. “I don’t want you to feel anymore guilt over your past. If it makes you feel any better, just tell me what happened that’s giving you this pain.”
Sunset took another sip of coffee and discovered it was the last. She set the mug on the table and exhaled softly. Then she looked outside into the late night. The sun wouldn’t come up for a while. They had all night to talk.
“What do you know about bullies, Twilight Sparkle?” Sunset asked, still looking outside.
“They’re usually big, mean, and spoiled. They can’t see past their own faults so they insult others for their own primal gain,” Twilight answered.
Sunset cast an eye on Twilight and she quickly regretted her answer.
“N-no not like you,” Twilight stammered. “Alright you were mean but I didn’t mean to insult you. Maybe you had your reasons. You could’ve learned it from someone or maybe you did what you had to do to survive.”
Sunset grinned sadly. “You were right the first time,” she said. “It was for my own primal gain. That’s all it was for me. To gain control and power over some high school.”
She turned to Twilight.
“But did you ever think that I was the first bully Canterlot High has seen?” Sunset asked.
Obviously this question stumped the princess that was unaware of the history of Canterlot High. Other than that yearbook she found in its library, Canterlot High never seemed like a place where lessons could be learned in its history. In fact the most action the school has seen had been Sunset’s transformation and that was quickly forgotten amongst the students. Most were too preoccupied with their own lives to care. And to them it was just a big party in the end.
“I guess not,” Twilight murmured, not being able to come up with a good answer.
“Well the answer to my question is no,” Sunset said. “I wasn’t the first bully at Canterlot High. In fact when I arrived there was more than a fair share.”
Twilight leaned in as she listened to Sunset’s story.
“I started school at the end of the first semester during freshman year,” Sunset started. “The snow had melted and spring was coming in.”
***
Lockers hurt, that’s a fact. They hurt the most when being slammed into. Rumor has it they were designed that way. Hard cold metal and those vents that feel terrible when pressed against. Not to mention the similarities they share with coffins. Both are big husks and once inside either there is no escape.
The student known as Paper Thin got to experience the pain of a locker, again. His frail body slammed up against the vent on the locker. Paper Thin had found himself on the wrong part of Canterlot High. For whatever reason there was this one spot that had fallen into disrepair. As such it became a favored hunting ground for the school’s bully.
Paper Thin’s attacker had lifted him off his feet and was only inches from his face.
“Let’s get this over with,” the bully spoke with a deep voice. “How much are ya carrying on you?”
“I only have my lunch money today,” Paper Thin answered while quivering and flinching.
“Take it out. Or do I have to go looking for it again?” the bully asked.
“Last time you did you found a bit more than what you asked for,” Paper Thin replied, blushing a bit.
“I thought it was Chap Stick,” the bully said also a bit flustered. He let Paper Thin down and let the skinny boy get his wallet out of his front pocket. As soon as it was in view the bully snatched it and went through its contents.
“Uh, three dollars,” the bully gagged. Lunch was two fifty. The bully quickly looked Paper Thin up and down before handing the wallet back. “You need this more than me,” the bully grimaced, clearly displeased. “You’re skinny enough as it is.”
“Um, thanks,” Paper Thin wearily took the wallet back.
“Don’t thank me!” the bully scolded. “Just get out of here, alright?”
Paper Thin hustled away but not completely out of the bully’s sight. He turned to say one last thing. “Hey Badger,” he said getting the bully’s attention. “You’re not that bad, compared to the others.”
“Aw shucks,” the bully grinned and rocked his heels on the floor. He quickly realized he was showing his softer side and went back to scowling. “I mean, leave now!” he roared and Paper Thin ran off.
Badger was left alone in the hallways and was quickly starting to regret letting his prey get away. Sure he did it because it was the right thing to do but now he had to find somewhere else to get money for food. Luckily next period would allow him to prey on some of the rich kids. They would have plenty of money to go around.
For the moment he decided to rest against the lockers instead of heading to his class.
The bully’s name was Badger and the name taunted him. It wasn’t his real name of course but it had stuck since freshman year. Freshman year had been the start of his career in being a school bully.
Innocently enough it started as a name to mock him. In the beginning he was known to have a loud mouth and a personality that annoyed people. He couldn’t help it but other students found him annoying. Always badgering people, and once someone pointed it out the name stuck.
Immediately Badger had rejected the name because it hurt his feelings to be called something he wasn’t. But as the days went on and the name calling worsened, something changed inside the student. He lashed out, not with words but with fists, and people got hurt. In that moment Badger took on the more animalistic approach to his name. And it seemed to suit him, he being a tall and naturally grisly looking kid.
In the coming weeks after his outburst Badger had found a new role in his high school career. With nobody wanting to be around him, he quickly adopted the role of a loner. And then when the pain couldn’t be kept in any longer, he unleashed it to the school. The role of bully fit him well as it did others that would eventually rise in similar ways to how he did. Finally he was able to take the hate he felt for his name and the mocking, and point it outwards to the student body.
However in the weeks after he started to bully he realized he couldn’t bring himself to be cruel to every student. Some of them deserved it but others were like him except they were small and frail. Badger quickly learned that preying on the weak and exploiting them made him feel awful. He quickly learned to pick his targets and only go after prey that was able to fight back or could take the abuse. And thus Badger made himself known as a confusing character to Canterlot High, but a profound one nonetheless.
After a minute of just standing still Badger decided it was time to head to class. His current class was a study, which was a free period to do whatever a student desired, so there was no rush. The only catch was he wasn’t supposed to be roaming the halls after the bell rang, which it did about a minute ago. Badger had no intention of getting in trouble with the teacher so he set out to hopefully sneak into study without anyone noticing.
He went halfway down the hall when something caught his eye. A girl was coming towards him and he didn’t recognize her at all. Her hair was this flurry of red and yellow and she wore a black leather jacket. She was carrying a bunch of books and had a backpack slung around her. The sight instantly raised Badger’s suspicion. She must be some sort of new girl. And she was hot as hell.
The new girl didn’t seem to see Badger standing there, and continued to walk forward with her eyes looking to the side. Badger sensed this and took this opportunity to exploit her neglectfulness. He stepped right in front of her as to block her path.
“Unf,” the new girl collided with Badger’s body and fell to the ground. Instantly everything she was carrying fell to the ground with a loud clatter. Badger just smiled and put his hand against the wall, leaning to the side leisurely.
“Have a nice fall?” he asked mockingly. The saying had bad timing because it was spring and autumn had been two seasons ago. Winter was left out. Good thing Badger had no idea it was spring time.
The new girl got up immediately and glared at her obstacle. “Who are you?” she asked with the angriest face Badger had ever seen on a girl. It rivaled Rainbow Dash’s angry face which he once saw after she was beat at a game of basketball. Afterwards Rainbow’s game of choice was soccer.
Back to the new girl. Badger for some reason was greatly amused by the ferocity. She wasn’t a pushover which meant she could be bullied without taxing his conscience.
“Who am I?” Badger looked surprised. “Lady I’m the guy that’s going to make you hate life in a few seconds.” Badger approached the new girl, his form towering over hers. He held out his hand and tilted her head under with a finger underneath her chin. “Now how about you get that backpack over there,” Badger motioned with his eyes to one of the objects the new girl had dropped on the ground. “And get your wallet, and give me about tree.”
His words were cut off by a blow to his abdominals. If he had seen it coming he would have braced for it but because he didn’t the air was knocked out of him. Another blow hit him in the chin and he staggered back. It didn’t take him long to understand what was going on. This wasn’t the first time someone had fought back against him, neither was it the first time it was a girl. But it was the first time the attack was so surprising and so swift. Still he quickly regained his composure to fight back.
He looked to see the girl was now charging at him. In those seconds he realized he was too late. The girl had moved like lightning and was now clinging onto him. Normally he would have simply ripped her off but this girl knew her stuff. Badger felt himself start to lose balance as the new girl drove a boot into his lower leg. Down Badger fell and soon found himself on the ground with the new girl’s boot on his neck. He knew he was defeated because he was at her mercy now but that didn’t bother him so much. From his position down on the ground he got a good look up new girl’s skirt, and that was worth an ass whopping.
“Again, who are you?” the new girl said now with a menacing tone.
“I’m Badger,” Badger answered not wanting to cause anymore trouble. “Who are you?”
The new girl grunted. “Sunset Shimmer,” she said and looked at Badger, still very angry. “What were you trying to do to me?” she asked.
“Oh,” Badger murmured to himself as he gazed up Sunset’s leg. “I was trying to get tree fiddy.” He felt Sunset’s heel push town on his throat. “I mean I was trying to get money to buy lunch,” he winced.
Sunset let pressure off a bit. “So what you’re saying is you were trying to take my lunch money? Like some kind of schoolyard bully.” She grinned wickedly at that. “How pathetic.”
Something about her tone made Badger take offense to that. “Hey,” he retorted. “It’s a living. Unless you actually like to pay for you own lunch?”
Sunset seemed to take Badger’s words to thought, even lightening the pressure on his neck some more. “So you’re the school bully?” Sunset said, looking down at her victim. “And your name’s Badger? What kind of dumb name is that?”
Badger also took offense to that, although he didn’t know why. “It’s a nickname, I didn’t name myself that. And I’m not the only bully at this school.”
“Hm what?” something Badger said had caught her attention. “How can you not be the only one? That makes no sense.”
“Well it’s complicated,” Badger felt the pressure increase on his throat. At least the view was still good.
“We bullies don’t usually have money to buy our own lunches. So there are days where we might have to go home hungry. Our only way to get food is to take lunch money from other students. But there are only so many kids we can take from so there’s always that situation where a kid already got his money taken from another bully. If he doesn’t have money to take then we don’t eat that day. Simple. Eventually it got so bad that we bullies arranged an agreement to avoid fighting each other. We split the school and only take when we need it.” Badger grinned nervously, hoping his explanation was good.
“Pathetic,” Sunset rammed her foot down hard on Badger’s throat. He soon felt like he wasn’t going to be able to breathe and started to struggle. “You share the prey instead of taking it all for yourself. You let yourself be swindled from what could be rightfully yours. If you got rid of the competition than you’d be better off.”
“Ack!” Badger choked. Sunset’s panties were the only thing keeping him from trying to really struggle and break free. “What’s the big deal? We aren’t trying to hurt anybody.”
Sunset kept a steady pressure on Badger’s neck. She lost herself in thought. “No, you’re not,” she mused. She then looked at Badger in the eyes. “How is it that someone your size is not already king of the school?” Badger didn’t answer and this annoyed Sunset. “I asked you a question,” she fumed. “Why aren’t you answering? What are you staring at?” Sunset followed Badger’s gaze and soon found a startling discovery.
“You girls really outta be careful about those skirts you all love to wear,” Badger smirked. “You never know who’s watching.”
This prompted Sunset to deliver her boot directly to Badger’s face. He yelped in pain and brought his hands to face as soon as Sunset’s boot left his throat. Sunset in turn pulled her skirt lower and turned around so that Badger wouldn’t see the flustered blush forming on her face.
Badger, after suffering a quick coughing fit, got up on his feet and shook himself off. Never before had he been bested by a girl. Although technically he let her win this was still a new one for him. What wasn’t new was the trouble she spelled. Badger, as well as the other bullies, had a rule. That rule was never go after someone that is too much trouble. This wasn’t an official rule, just a trick of the trade but it was important. If someone was dangerous enough for a bully to stay away, then that meant other students should stay away too. Whoever Sunset Shimmer is, she was trouble for the school and Badger knew it.
Still, she was hot. So all that was excusable.
Sunset turned back around and found Badger was still standing there with her. Unbeknownst to her, Badger has found something else to admire on Sunset’s backside. After a prolonged silence, Sunset was the first to speak.
“Well,” she said. “Do you want to carry my stuff, or what?”
Badger didn’t know what to say. “What?” he grunted.
“Pick my stuff up!” Sunset ordered.
Badger awkwardly bent over and began picked everything up. He thought about it and decided he actually did want to carry Sunset’s stuff. But he also wanted more. He wanted to walk with her to class, be with her in class, and sit next to her at lunch. He also wanted to hold her hand, walk down the hall, and hold a conversation with her. Then after that he wanted to hold her in his arms and press his lips against hers. Now Badger couldn’t deny he was falling for the new girl.
He grabbed one of the textbooks that had fallen. He looked it over quickly and found it was like the one he got in his math class. “You’re taking algebra too?” Badger asked.
“Go faster!” Sunset ordered again and Badger picked up the pace.
As he was grabbing the last bit of Sunset’s stuff he heard snickering. It wasn’t him so of course it was Sunset Shimmer. Badger was a bit nerved by this and stood up with her pile of stuff in his arms.
“What’s so funny?” Badger asked cautiously, almost afraid.
“You,” Sunset giggled in a mocking way. “You’re supposed to be a big tough bully and you even looked the part.” She flicked her head, waving her hair around. “But you’re really just this big, dumb,” Sunset tossed her head to the side and sneered, “perverted, scared, little loser freak.”
Badger was confused. “How can I be big and small at the same time?”
Sunset laughed. “And there’s more proof. You’re weak.” With a quick swipe of her palm she knocked everything Badger was carrying onto the floor. Without hesitation Badger went to pick everything up again and this pleased Sunset.
Sunset grinned in this evil way that made Badger’s neck hair stand on end. She knelt down and looked Badger in his eyes. “Growl,” she said.
“Huh,” Badger gasped.
“You heard me,” Sunset nodded her head. “Growl. If Badger’s your name then you ought to act like one. Do you even know what they are? They’re vicious little creatures that hate everything. Now growl.”
Badger hesitated and looked at Sunset’s piercing eyes. Their color was so mesmerizing; aqua is such a pretty color. Badger gritted his teeth, wanting to do his best.
“Grrrrr?” he tried. Sunset smirked and placed a hand over her mouth, trying not to laugh. “Grrrrr. Grrrrrrrrr. Garrrarrrr. Rarrarrrrrrr.” Badger tried to make his growl deeper and deeper but it all sounded forced.
Sunset let out a quick laugh, stood up, and shook her head. “And you are what this world considers a bully?” Sunset looked him in the eyes again. “You aren’t a bully.”
That sent shivers down Badger’s spine. Of course he is a bully. It was an occupation he had earned all by himself and he was proud of it. In fact he was one of the more successful bullies at the school. But this new girl was destroying everything he ever knew. She was so scary to him. Almost evil.
Badger stood up, and as he did he began to tower over Sunset. From up high he was reminded how small the people around him are. It made this new girl less scary and he regained some confidence.
“I-I’m a b-b-bully,” Badger stuttered out. He was surprised that he was still nervous and it affected his speech. He tried to fight the urge to be afraid.
“Sure you are,” Sunset remarked sarcastically. She turned around and began walking down the hall. “This world will be easier to conquer than I thought,” she rubbed her hands together. “I’ll start at the top and topple the hierarchy until I become the queen of this school. No one will stand in my way.”
She held her hands in the air in a maniacal pose. Badger stood there for a while, listening to her monologue, until their eyes met. He didn’t understand what Sunset had said but he didn’t really care.
Sunset looked annoyed. “Well,” she said. “Are you going to come or not?” She continued walking down the hall.
Badger quickly realized he was still holding all of Sunset Shimmer’s belongings. He dashed down the hall to keep up with her. When he did finally catch up with her she reached into the backpack Badger was carrying and took her class schedule out.
Badger looked over her shoulder and glimpsed at it. “Hey we have the same study together,” he observed out loud.
Sunset quickly crumpled her schedule up so Badger couldn’t see it. “And I’m assuming you’ll show me where it is?” she asked.
“Of course,” Badger nodded. “It’s actually in the direction we’re walking right now. You’re pretty smart.”
Sunset seemed to take the compliment well which was good. What was also good was Badger now had an explanation to why he’s late to study. He’ll tell the monitors that he was showing the new girl to her class. It would save him from having to serve a detention. Also he got to spend more time with the new girl.
They arrived at the cafeteria which served as the study hall for the current period. Sunset quickly picked a table to sit at and prompted Badger to put her things on it. He did and attempted to sit down with her. But Sunset waved him off and told him to get lost. Badger obeyed, sensing hostility and he figured he could see the new girl later. After all they did have algebra together.
From a farther distance Badger observed Sunset sitting alone at her table. He too sat alone but it was different for Sunset. While he simply watched the clock or just slept to waste time, she stayed attentive and was always doing something. Even as Badger watched her she was going through her notebook and writing things down. Hardly did her eyes ever leave the paper.
In a way Sunset reminded Badger of the nerds of the school. They too were so studios and always occupied their time with work. But Sunset was too attractive to be a nerd. And since no one stereotype fit her, Badger decided she must be a special type of person. A hybrid of some sort. Part nerd and part something else.
His mind told him she was part bully. She definitely looked the part but Badger convinced himself otherwise. Something told him that she didn’t have what it takes to be a bully. Bullies aren’t smart and Badger knew this most of all.
Still Sunset was unlike anything Badger had seen before. A person that with the odds stacked against her could flip them over to her side with ease. Badger knew that anyone that could subdue him wasn’t an ordinary student. She was miraculous.
And he liked her. He liked her a lot.
***
“So what happened after you got to your first class?” Twilight asked.
Throughout the story, Sunset had trouble with a couple details. Some were too hard for her to remember, causing her to cringe at the memory. Others she simply didn’t remember, like they had been erased from her memory.
“Hold on,” Sunset held her hands on her head and gritted her teeth in concentration. “It’s hard to remember those days. Back then I was so driven that time flew me by.” She gave up trying and returned to a more relaxed mode. “Did you ever come across the situation when there just wasn’t enough time in the day to finish a book or finish studying an entire subject?”
Twilight looked at Sunset with a face of pure understanding. “Almost every day of my life.”
Sunset smiled at her and Twilight’s strange way of connecting but the smile quickly disappeared to a more morbid state.
“Well imagine that except replace it with effort to drive people apart,” Sunset muttered. “Every day was just another day to further my control of the school. It had become routine and I worked very hard to get where I was. Then it all came tumbling down.”
Sunset was trembling at this point with something Twilight was trying to decipher. Was it anger or was it regret? She got the feeling that Sunset was trying to forgive herself. But the skeptic in Twilight told her something different. There could still be a bit of the old Sunset Shimmer left, waiting to come back.
Finally Sunset calmed down enough to continue. “But in the end it was for the best.” She relaxed her shoulders. “Remember when I told you that I didn’t know there was another way? I meant it. I didn’t know how bad I was making other people’s lives. I needed you to stop me. And I’m thankful for it. I’ve never been happier.”
Twilight let out a sign of relief, glad to know Sunset was trying to make amends. “I’m happy that you’re happy,” Twilight smiled at the other girl. “Now tell me more about how you took control of Canterlot High.”
Truthfully, Twilight was very interested in this. How Sunset managed to become the queen of the school eluded Twilight’s understanding. It seemed a bit of a stretch to believe that Sunset came from nothing and quickly took over the student body. But beneath Twilight’s curiosity was compassion. She wanted to make sure her newest friend was going to be alright.
“Alright fine. Where was I?” Sunset said.
“You mention you got some bozo to carry your stuff to your first period class,” Twilight helped, quoting Sunset’s terminology.
“Oh right him!” Sunset exclaimed and put her head in between her arms. “What was his name? I can’t remember his name. Something animal sounding. Aargh,” Sunset laid her head on the table. “I forget.”
“Sunset,” Twilight said sternly but gently. “You’re never going to feel better until you get this thing off your chest.”
Sunset raised her head. “You’re right,” she replied. “It’s just so awful thinking about these things. You don’t know the extent.”
“You already said that,” Twilight told Sunset.
“Well it’s true,” Sunset answered. “The lengths I went to, the hoops I had to jump through, all of it was so bad at times.” Sunset paused to exhale. “Listen Twilight. I’ll tell you everything. Just be prepared to know that some of this gets pretty gruesome. I can’t remember all of the details such as the victims’ names but know that everything I say is what I know.”
“I believe you Sunset,” Twilight said, placing her hand of Sunset’s. “And I want you to know that no matter what you tell me tonight, nothing will stop me from being your friend.”
Sunset beamed. “Thank you Twilight,” she said in a soft whisper.
After a brief moment of pause, Sunset gained the confidence to tell her story.
“The first part of my plan was to learn about the social groups of Canterlot High. From there the strategy was divide and conquer.”