Sonata and I made it back to our place, where along the way, I felt much more calm and collected. Sonata intermittently threw light smiles in my direction and I greedily caught them. Being around her made me feel a lot better. To be honest, I really wanted another kiss, but I bit those thoughts back. The last thing I wanted was to seem thirsty. All I needed right now was an anchor down to earth, and even with her head-in-the-clouds attitude, Sonata definitely helped my psyche. With her cute act and little smiles, she set my mind at ease. I mean, let’s be honest, she actively tried to help me and succeeded. It was almost as if she radiated warmth.
I made it my goal to apologize to everyone I had affected with my outburst once we returned. It's not like you see that kind of violence everyday. I didn’t know how they would react to my outburst, especially Fluttershy. If she—this innocent, shy, peaceful, nature-loving girl—just saw me brutally lay someone out with just a fist, how could I know how she would react? The main thought running through my mind was that I hoped beyond hope that they would still see me as a friend and not some animal, because I'm not. I had a short temper, and just wanted to defend Sonata. That’s it.
We made our way to the door of our house. Turning my key in the lock, I opened the door to the peaceful environment I’ve always known. I turned on the lights and kicked my shoes off, laying back on the couch. It had been a slightly long day and there were so many thoughts of how this could have turned out. If I called my friends to just talk about what had happened, how would I handle that? Say sorry, they’d reply “apology accepted,” and hang up? Or will there be this kind of fear of me and I’d keep them on the line for hours blabbering about my feelings? Pushing a hand onto my chest to take a deep breath, I focused my mind on the positives in my life. I stayed that way, breathing deeply and calming myself, until a knock at the door jolted me out of my zen. Sonata was sitting on the chair next to me, eating a taco.
"Come on in!" she shouted loudly, a mouthful of taco meat muffling her voice.
The door opened and revealed Sunset Shimmer. I had a feeling she'd be the last person to see me, but the second I saw her red and orange hair in my doorway my entire theory was defenestrated.
"Hey guys," she spoke, raising her hand and doing a slight wave. She saw me lying on the couch, resting my head on a pillow. Her mouth worked silently for a moment, presumably thinking of something to say, but only a slight croak came from her throat. I rolled my eyes and spoke for her.
"Hey Dusk,” I said, putting on my best impression of Sunset’s voice, “what the hell happened earlier when you smashed Aria and Adagio in their faces and then disappeared?" Damn, I actually did a good impression...
Sunset put her hand down, mouthing something before walking up and sitting on the couch beside my legs. Sonata swallowed and leaned forward, listening in.
"Well, yeah, that's… exactly what I was going to say," she said, brushing a strand of red hair out of her eyes. "But really, why did you run off?” Noticing my look of confusion, she laughed slightly. “I kinda get the beatdown part, considering how they treated Sonata." My eyes travelled over to the aforementioned girl, noticing the deep bruise on her cheek. I cringed, taking a deep breath.
"I… I thought you guys would think that I was a monster," I admitted, voice laced with regret. "You got front row seats to me laying out one girl and almost another. I think you know how scary that can be to experience, right?"
I pulled my legs back to my chest and sat up beside Sunset. She put a comforting hand on my shoulder.
"I did that once to a bully,” I continued, “and my friend, even though I punched the person who was bullying him, was scared of me. More than he ever was scared of the bully. It was because of my actions and attitude, and... it was rough. Back at the mall,” I turned my attention to Sonata, “when you got slapped, I almost lost it right there. But I held it back." I cracked my neck slightly, looking down at my feet. "Back there, it wasn’t possible. It just... got to me, and I was afraid of you guys thinking the same thing my friend did. Especially you, Sonata."
Sonata looked at me and smiled, instantly setting my worries aside. I smiled back.
"Oh, don't worry," Sunset laughed. "There's no lasting impact of what you did. Sure, I mean, it was violent, but it's not like you killed someone. Besides, the reason you did that was because you were standing up for a friend. Like at the mall, when you stood up for me by standing in front of Adagio, that was pretty rad..."
Sonata was by my side as well now, and she rested her hand on my shoulder.
"You're not a monster," Sunset finished, smiling softly.
"I know," I replied, smiling. "Sonata told me so." Sunset looked with an unreadable expression at Sonata.
"But what about the other guys?” I asked. Sunset raised an eyebrow. “I mean, think about Fluttershy. You think that girl is going to be fine after she saw me hurting someone?" Sunset giggled.
"Well, my friends were actually people treated like trash back when I was in Adagio and Aria‘s position. Surely, you might remember when I was... well, you know..." Sunset trailed off, pulling at her collar.
"She-demon?" Sonata bluntly said. I nudged her with my elbow, but Sunset laughed.
"Yeah, that thing. But hey, I tried to take them over, but look, they’re my friends now. Real friends." Sunset told me, then getting up. "You wanna head back to the stage? You can if you want." I did want talk to the rest of them, standing up as well and slipping my shoes on as another question came to mind.
"Wait, about the Dazzlings?” I asked, turning around. “What happened to them, you know, afterward?"
"Just ran off,” Sunset deadpanned. “Aria got up a minute after the beatdown you gave her and she sprinted." I grimaced.
“At least they might not mess with Sonata anymore…” I trailed off. Sonata blushed and giggled slightly.
As we walked outside, I cursed inwardly as I realized I had left my car at school before running off. Not letting it dissuade me from facing the other girls, Sunset, Sonata and I walked along the sidewalk on the mile-long road back to school.
Finally back on school grounds, we walked towards the stage, seeing from far away that the Rainbooms were already there. The group was fiddling with their instruments, tuning and detuning them again until Rainbow Dash looked over the lawn and saw us walking towards them.
"Hey guys," she shouted, giving us a wave. I walked a little closer so I could speak up to them. "Oh... h-hey Shine. What's up with the running earlier, man?" All my friends looked toward me, and I took a deep breath.
"It was just... anger and attitude. Before I met you guys, I hurt a bully assaulting my friend.”
“How bad?” Rainbow asked. I shook my head.
“Really bad. My friend saw it as something to be afraid of, and he turned tail out of my life, like he was more afraid of me than the bully. And after knocking out Aria like that... I thought that you would see me as a monster as well." I wiped my nose, finding it beginning to run. "So, I ran off. Just lost my cool there, and thought that maybe you wouldn't want to be my friend anymore. You'd think I was too dangerous... or something."
I looked at Fluttershy, who was holding her tambourine. I decided to ask her the question first. "Fluttershy, do you think I'm a... monster?"
She took a moment. "No. You're not a monster. You did what you needed to, just so you could help a friend. And for that, I don’t think you're a monster, Shine."
Rarity stepped up. "Yes, darling, I'm with Fluttershy. You are no monster, you just did an action to defend and help out a dear friend. That's what a true friend is."
Rainbow coughed. "Yeah, man. I totally respect you, but not your past friend though. I don't get why he would just back off and be afraid of you. You did what you had to, man. You’re not a monster."
She gave me a smile and everyone else did the same. I smiled back at them. Suddenly I felt a pair of arms wrap around my chest. I looked down to find that they were Sonata’s, squeezing me into a hug. But then everyone joined in, making it a big, friendly group hug.
"You know, you guys are right," I admitted. "I'm not a monster. I'm a... friend." I felt tears running down my cheeks. It felt really strange for me to say something like that, but I just accepted it. I felt happy and grateful for these guys. Or girls... who cares. These people were my friends. True friends.
"So... do you guys want to head out somewhere?" I asked. They all nodded and we decided to head out to a diner in Canterlot. Heading to the parking lot, Sunset and Sonata decided to ride with me there. I opened the passenger door for Sonata, who gave me a quick peck on the cheek, causing my face to heat up. Everyone saw this and giggled.
"Aw, how cute!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, clamping her hands together. "To be totally honest with you two, I knew this kind of stuff was going to happen." Sonata had rosy cheeks, too, and was swaying back and forth, smiling at me.
"Oh… ah… okay," I said, not expecting that Rainbow would be into cute relationships. But I kinda felt the same way, too. Sonata and I moving into a relationship together, being more than friends... That was something I thought about.
I followed Pinkie Pie’s minivan out of the parking lot, the red lights guiding my turns towards Canterlot Central, Sonata’s hand resting on mine as it hovered over the shifter.