I’d gone home a few minutes after Sunset had run off, leaving me in a rather uncomfortable position of deciding what I needed to do next. I couldn’t get the sight of those bloody, battered marks all across her arms, some half-covered beneath her shirt and making me wonder if there were more hidden out of sight. It was such an unbelievable incident that I wasn’t really sure how to cope with it, much less react to it.
OK, let’s try looking it over again, I said to myself, running through my thoughts on the matter once more. She swears it’s nothing, but some of those wounds were definitely knife-inflicted and looked like they really hurt. She wants me to just drop it but she could be seriously damaged if those cuts are left unchecked, and I KNOW she’s leaving them unattended even if she won’t say why. So… what do I do?
I know a lot of people would’ve found this sort of dilemma a preposterous one with a relatively simple answer. But for me, for someone who’d grown up in the ghettos, truth and confrontation was a different animal than it was for most others. We’d all been brought up with the adage of “No Snitching” and “F**k the cops” and a whole host of other things that essentially made dealing with these sort of predicaments a bit of a bind, maybe more than it should be. We didn’t snitch, we didn’t rat brothers out, and if someone walked up looking a little worse for wear than we didn’t say a word about it. That’s how it always was.
Key word being “was,” at least in my case. I’d started spending less time over here, less time in the gang culture Jester and the rest of Wanyama had practically brought me up in. If I had to be honest, I was a strange amalgamation of gangster and normal schoolkid, thanks to AJ and the others. Now, I wasn’t sure which to side with.
I was sure Sunset would be mad if I ended up telling the others, but I was worried she wouldn’t be able to make it if I didn’t say anything. I’d been part of and witness to enough nasty fights to know when someone had been seriously injured, and Sunset had marks across her neck and wrists- not a good sign. If she let them keep going unattended, it was entirely likely she’d die from infection if not blood loss. But then again, she might die of shame if I spoke up- that fearful look she’d had before she’d gone wasn’t great either.
I aimed a kick at nothing in particular as I walked, pausing as I heard someone yelling a fair distance away. I looked over across the street and saw a frazzled black man –one of the Diamond Dogs, if I was right- ragging on his girlfriend. I could hear every curse he uttered, all the obscenities and fury with every punch and slap he dealt; she was helpless in his grip. For a moment, I thought she looked over my way and saw me, but another punch and she was back focusing on her persecutor.
As I walked away, I found myself wondering why it was so easy for me to just keep moving and ignore that woman’s need for help. Why was it so simple to just up and walk off, doing nothing to fix the situation? Out here, it was commonplace, but was that the right thing to do? The smart decision perhaps, but the correct one? Was it the right thing to do to just let those in power stay in power? Canterlot High had done just that when Sunset Shimmer had been tyrant. Just silently taken the abuse until that girl Twilight had come in and stolen the crown away from her. After that Formal, they rose up and started giving her all the hell she’d dealt out. Was it revenge, or something even deeper than that? Was it a desire to hit someone who they knew couldn’t hit back?
I hated this place, sometimes. All the violence and gangs and poverty and problems out here, and everyone just ignored it. Sure, people knew it was bad and some stayed away, but almost nobody came in to help make it better. No one said a word about it at school. It was like they didn’t even know; I wondered if they even cared to know, or if they’d do anything about it if the truth was right before them.
Why had they put up with Sunset’s cruelty for so long, just silently taking all the brunt of her anger? Why had I followed suit and done nothing? We’d all just accepted her as the overlord and done nothing, and yet the moment she stopped, we decide to beat her senseless. None of it made sense in my head.
I’d hated Sunset ever since I stepped foot inside that school- I would’ve joined in with the others and humiliated her if AJ and Pinkie hadn’t tempered me a little and held me back. They chided me and pushed me to relent and let it go, and I know they’d been trying to tell others to do the same? What was the difference between me and them, what had convinced me to listen?
A flash of a memory went across my brain: my first fight in the boxing ring; I was the one who dealt the most hits that match, even though I ended up losing. I’d given it everything I had and I went out with some measure of pride. I hadn’t been afraid. And that was the answer.
We were cowards and poor sports, the lot of us. When Sunset Shimmer had ruled, they’d all been too scared to do a thing about it and stand up to her; instead of pushing back and helping one another, they’d chosen to just lay down and get trampled. But now, with the power in their hands, they were sore losers. They knew they could get their licks in without reprisal. The moment Sunset had become a decent person they’d turned on her like a pack of wolves.
It was disgusting, behavior I assumed they’d know better than to descend to. It was scummy and weak bullcrap I’d seen in Wanyama, and I’d been lucky enough to be around good people like Manny, AJ and the others to avoid it in this situation. It could’ve been me, maybe even should’ve been me. But I wasn’t and I knew Sunset was seriously hurt.
The choice was mine. I could go along with the flow and do nothing or I could be the one who changed things for the better. No one was gonna do it for me.
I walked into my house and saw my Mom hard at work, stranded at the kitchen table with a stack of bills spread out before her. I thought back to the days when Dad lived here, when I’d see the bruises and marks all over her body and I hated that I was too small to do anything about it. I hated the thought of her being that helpless, of the one good person I knew as a little kid being damaged and that I couldn’t fix it-
The reality took my breath away.
“Something wrong, dear?” Mom asked, looking up at me with concern.
“No, Mom, I’m fine,” I replied. “Just thinking about something at school, that’s all.” I paused for a moment, mulling my words over in my head before I said, “Mom?”
“Mhm?”
“Can I ask you something kinda personal?”
“Of course, what is it?”
I hesitated. “When Dad was still here… all those times he’d hurt you…”
“I remember,” she said placidly. “The worst was when he threw me into the couch and put a pillow over my face. He swore he was going to choke the life out of me and he might’ve if he hadn’t passed out from being so drunk. I remember I could hear you crying in your room and I hoped and hoped that someone would come in through the front door and take you away from this mess.”
That was a strange thing to say. “Why just me? What about you?” I inquired.
“That didn’t matter to me yet,” she answered. “I’m your mother and all I cared about was keeping you safe. I was scared I was going to die, yes, but that was because if I was gone then there wasn’t anyone who would take care of you.”
“… Thanks, Mom,” I said quietly. “Sorry if that was uncomfortable.”
“It’s alright, dear,” she said. “I’m going to be busy for a while, so please make sure to be quiet when you’re in your room.”
I nodded and walked down the hall, getting out my papers and staring at the scratchwork Sunset had given me. I think I had my answer.
Late! I’d woken up fifteen minutes late and missed the bus and Mom was too busy to drive me over in her old Chrysler. As I brushed my teeth at the speed of light I could hear her yelling at me in a smattering of Spanish, furious that I had made such a dumb mistake. Truth was, I’d been up half the night trying to figure out a way to speak to AJ and the girls about Sunset Shimmer. Now, I’d probably have to wait until lunch to speak about Sunset Shimmer in front of Sunset Shimmer. This was setting up to be a fun day.
I of course was unable to make it to class in time, and therefore I had no chance to say anything for a while. AJ and I didn’t share second period and I wasn’t certain that Pinkie and Rainbow would be very smart about the whole thing. Nice girls, both of them, but had poor timing.
What bothered me most was that Sunset Shimmer seemed to be trying to keep herself nearby wherever I went. Not saying much of anything, but just looking at me with a worried look on her face, like she knew what I was planning to do. Every time I’d catch her eye I’d see a strange pleading glance; she was desperate for me to keep this a secret, though I couldn’t imagine why. The very thought of those horrific scars made my stomach churn. I’d seen worse one be dealt, but to see them on a girl here in a supposedly safe school and part of town was shocking.
“Hey, how are you two?” Pinkie greeted us at lunch, Sunset keeping a short distance behind me. “How was class?”
“Uh…” I hadn’t paid attention to a word, Sunset constantly blocking my thoughts from connecting to reality. “The usual, I guess.”
“I know, isn’t it great?” the abnormally cheerful girl replied with a beaming smile. “It’s so nice to have routines and everything be cheerful and happy because sadness is awful and I don’t know what I’d do if one of you was sad- I know, I’d throw a party to make you feel better! Are you sure you’re fine, do you need a Pinkie Party-”
“Pinkie, chill!” Rainbow Dash said, waving a hand to silence her. Turning to me with a sympathetic look, she added, “Sorry, you know how she gets.”
“Wouldn’t be Pinkie if she wasn’t insane,” I replied good-naturedly (“Hey! I’m funny, not insane!” Pinkie protested).
“So, how’d it go with you two yesterday?” Applejack asked, giving me a marked glance. “Ah hope things went alright.”
“It went great,” Sunset responded instantly. “Things went great. Right?” she asked of me.
I glanced up from my drink at her to see that same, desperate expression. “Yeah, great,” I said slowly. “Sunset’s really helpful.”
They stared, Rarity and AJ with airs of frustration so obvious I was surprised they didn’t start jumping on me.
“So now that you’re getting some help, you gonna stop being an idiot in English?” Rainbow sniggered.
“Sure,” I said. “Pity no one can help you with your boxing skills.”
Rainbow flushed, remembering our time at the ring with distaste. Despite all her best efforts, she simply hadn’t improved during our visit and I had trounced her thoroughly. “Still can take you down on a soccer pitch,” she retorted.
“But not much of anywhere else,” I countered. Rainbow frowned and shoved back her food. Things were about to get serious.
“Oh please, must we do this every week?” Rarity groaned, her face in her hands. “Please, dears, it’s not even amusing half of the time.”
Rainbow deftly ignore the fashion diva. “I could take you out anytime I wanted and you know it,” she said. “You’re just too much of a wimp to keep up, I’ve got to have mercy on you.”
“Like when I had mercy on you and didn’t KO you at Manny’s gym?” I asked all too sweetly.
“Please, I was easing up!”
“Oh sure, that’s why you only managed to get eight body shots on me all day,” I replied. “Sorry, not even I can be that intentionally bad.”
“Ha! You’ve never seen me really try! I can be the worst person ever!”
“I’m not entirely sure that means what you think it means, Dashie.”
“Don’t call me Dashie!”
“Aw come on, you know you like it! You’d miss it if I weren’t being a nuisance.”
“I don’t know if I’ll ever… ever…” she faltered, her fervor dying out like a broken lightbulb.
“What’s that? Is that the sound of defeat? Why Dashie, I never would’ve guessed!” I declared.
Rainbow grabbed hold of my face, a fire positively burning in her eyes. “Why you-”
“Jeez, shut up and bang already!” We all turned to see a kid in glasses wearing a leather jacket staring at us with an expression of supreme irritation. “My gosh, you have no idea how annoying it is to sit next to you all every week. Please, either learn to shut up or get it on.”
Reactions were split across the board. Rarity was appalled, Fluttershy blushed red, Pinkie was confused, AJ was angry, Sunset buried her face in a book, and Rainbow Dash looked absolutely mortified. I, however, roared with laughter, tears springing to life in my eyes.
“Will you two just sit down and eat?” AJ asked irately, eyeing the two of us as if she couldn’t decide which of us to slap first. “It’s not funny, it’s just annoyin’, please stop. Why does everything have to be a contest with you two?”
I laughed even harder, slapping my hand on the table. “AJ, you and Rainbow have been trying to outdo one another for years, you’re just mad I’m one-upping you, too.”
“Please, just- just stop this nonsense,” Rarity scolded. “Such a coarse thing for him to see, really. Uncivilized talk.”
“Come on, have a sense of humor, imagine the thought: me and Rainbow actually hooking up, that itself is pretty funny,” I chuckled.
Sunset shifted and buried her face even deeper in her book; AJ and Rarity shot one another a glance and looked over at me. “What?” I asked, ignoring a small whimpering sound that came from Rainbow Dash.
“Just sit down,” AJ said firmly, a look in her eye so serious that I felt compelled to listen. I went back to my meal in quiet. I glanced up at Rainbow across from me, noting she seemed really pale for some reason. She looked up at me, noticed I was watching, and turned away.
We all sat there in an unusual quiet for several minutes, each one of us persisting in being occupied with only ourselves. Fluttershy sang quietly to her pet bunny Angel, who she’d brought along in her backpack today; Rarity became absorbed in a design for a new dress; AJ was writing down figures for work on Sweet Apple Acres. Pinkie was staring at the rest of us with a perplexed look on her face, her features screwed up in concentration. She sat there and brooded for minutes on end until finally, unable to take it any longer, she cried, “Is nobody going to tell me what that guy was so mad about?!”
All pretenses dropped instantly. I fell out of my chair laughing hard as I could, almost choking when I saw Rarity was having the hiccups. A couple tables around us gave us annoyed looks, but we ignored them. Like we could’ve said anything even if we tried, so great was our mirth.
“What? What did I say?” Pinkie Pie asked.
“Pinkie, you are so random,” Rainbow sputtered, flashing me a quick smile when no one was looking.
Our usual banter returned as normalcy was resurrected by Pinkie’s shenanigans, the ease and comfort through which we dealt with one another resuming instantly. It would’ve gone on for the rest of the period if it hadn’t been for one unpleasant incident.
Sunset was just setting down her book when suddenly a spattering of spaghetti sauce went dribbling down her head, soaking her hair and staining her clothes. I could hear folks around us laughing at the sight, Sunset’s normally crimson hair now filled with noodles and meatball fragments. At first I thought she was just quietly accepting it until I heard a small sniff and she bowed her head. She was crying.
“Hey!” I stood up and faced Brad, Sunset’s usual tormentor, standing above her with a malicious smile.
“Sorry, I lost my grip on the tray,” he said all-too-innocently. “At least it’s not a big deal, no one’ll tell the difference.”
“You did that on purpose, ah was watching!” Applejack said furiously, rising to her feet to stand beside me.
“Aw, you can’t prove that,” he sneered. “Just your word against mine. I’ll bet you’re not even sure.”
“Applejack doesn’t lie,” I said coldly. “And we all know you did that on purpose.”
Brad gave me a look of surprise. “What’re you doing defending her? Stupid cow’s always hated you.”
“Piss off you little gangster wannabe,” I snarled, a pulsing sensation starting to rise in my forehead. “You ain’t worthy of licking her boots, now buzz off before I make you!”
Brad and his gang of friends gawked at me, completely taken aback by this newfound attitude. He glared right at me for a while before going off and muttering insults under his breath. I watched him stalk away and to my surprise, saw a studded diamond on his collar. I couldn’t believe it; either the guy had genuinely joined up or he was the biggest idiot I’d ever met.
I slowly returned to my seat, my breath coming in rapid chunks. I could barely eat correctly I was so angry. If I was right, and my instincts were screaming that I was, I think I knew what was really going on. I looked up and found all of the girls were staring at me in utter astonishment. “What?” I asked.
“Where did that come from?” Rainbow asked incredulously. “You’ve never stood up for Sunset Shimmer before!”
“Yeah, well I do now,” was all I could manage. I flashed Sunset a reassuring smile, and after a few moments, she gave me a small smile in return. Better than nothing.
We soon packed up to leave, lunch coming to a close. Sunset hurried off to the next class, eager to get away from the scene and clean herself up. AJ got up to help Granny Smith cleanup for lunch, saying she owed Granny a favor today. As she got up, the miasma that had been this lunch cleared away and I finally remembered. “AJ, wait a sec!”
“What’s actually wrong?” she demanded instantly. “You’ve been actin’ funny all day and ah really wanna know why.”
“It’s about Sunset,” I said hurriedly. “When we were having our tutoring session yesterday…”
“What’d you do now?”
“No, AJ, wait a minute- you haven’t seen her take her jacket off in a while, have you?”
She paused. “Uh, no. Why’s that important?”
“That’s important cause she’s got cuts and bruises all over her friggin’ body!” I said. “She’s got a freaking bruise the size of an eggplant going halfway up her arm!”
That got her attention. “Are- are you serious?”
I gave her a revolted look. “Yes, of course I’m serious! Why would I make something like that up? We need to talk to her, all of us.”
AJ nodded seriously, watching the others file out and head off to class. “Yeah, we do. What were you thinking of doing?”
“Hey, where are we going?” Sunset protested, stiffening as I grabbed her arm and tugged her along down the hall.
“Just trust me, OK?” I said assuredly. “Relax, it’ll be fine.”
“Please, just stop,” she whispered to me. “I know what you’re doing. Just drop it, I’ll be fine.”
“Nah, don’t think I will,” I said, tightening my grip just in case she tried to split.
“Please, that hurts,” she objected. “Let go of me, I swear I’m fine.”
I found the classroom and kicked open the door, pleased to see the others had already arrived, Fluttershy carrying the emergency kit in her hands.
Sunset gave me a scandalized look and I shrugged. “I’ll live, you’ll live. Get in or else I’ll push you in.”
“You said you’d keep it a secret,” she said, sulking.
More gently this time round, I grabbed her hand and pulled her in, closing the door. “I said no such thing,” I reminded her. “You left before I could say a word at all, thankfully.”
“Let’s see ‘em, darlin,” AJ said with a tone of finality. “We’re gonna git this done sooner or later, so just play nice and we can all go home happy.”
Sunset gave a sigh and tenderly shed her leather jacket, revealing the horrific handiwork that was her body. Rarity gave a gasp and both AJ and Rainbow winced, while Fluttershy and Pinkie immediately watered up with tears. All her scars and bruises and marks were just as fresh and foul as they had been yesterday, though thankfully no new additions.
“What on earth have you been doing to yourself, dear?” Rarity asked quietly. “Why did you let this happen?”
“It’s nothing, really,” Sunset said once more. We all ignored her as Fluttershy walked up and began dabbing at the worst of her cuts with antiseptic and other meds. “Fluttershy, you really don’t have to-”
“We’re your friends,” Fluttershy said simply. “And that means we’ll always be here for you no matter what. Please, let us help.”
Sunset began to tear up and she collapsed onto a nearby table, submitting to Fluttershy’s gentle care.
I studied her for a few moments, examining certain cuts across her shoulders and neck. I noticed a fairly fat bruise on the back of her neck and I said, “This wasn’t you, was it?”
Sunset sighed. “No, it wasn’t,” she admitted.
Rarity gave a shrill scream that echoed horribly throughout the small classroom. “Sorry,” she said as we all winced. “But Sunset, why would you let someone do that to you? It’s awful.”
“Yeah, they’re using you as a guinea pig!” Rainbow said angrily. “What kinda sicko does that to another person?”
“A gangster,” I said, getting their attention. “Wanyama would do the same stuff to people who got out of line.”
“Huh?”
“An intimidation tactic,” I said. “A way to frighten people and make sure they don’t talk.” I turned to Sunset. “It was Brad and his buddies, wasn’t it?”
She looked over at me in shock. “How did you know?”
“That unbelievable IDIOT!” I roared, jumping up to my feet and nearly taking down a couple of empty chairs.
“Whoa, pardner, hold on a second,” AJ intervened, already predicting my thoughts. “Ah know what you wanna do and there ain’t no way it’s happ’nin- ever.”
“AJ, the kid’s being a complete moron, I’m probably doing him a favor by thrashing him!” I spat. “He’s wearing a diamond stud on his collar, it’s the symbol of one of the west end gangs called the Diamond Dogs!”
“He’s a gangster?” Rainbow spluttered, doing her best to hold in laughter. “That guy doesn’t have enough brains to fill an eggcup!”
“And that’s why I know he’s not actually a member,” I replied.
“I don’t follow,” Rainbow replied.
“Diamond Dogs are a bunch of thieves, not a group of butchers,” I clarified. “When I was with Wanyama we’d use them as a middleman to broker drug materials. The Dogs are about cash and cash only- Brad’s got a diamond stud cause he thinks he’s being all cool and “thug” when in reality he’s gonna get himself killed.”
“Cause they wouldn’t want an imposter pretending to be them,” Sunset guessed, gasping as Fluttershy dabbed medicine on a particularly deep cut on her right shoulder.
“Sorry, I’m doing the best I can,” Fluttershy apologized. “But some of these are really deep and have been left untreated for a while, you should have told us.”
“It’s alright, Fluttershy,” Sunset responded. “I’m sorry to make you go to all this trouble.”
“Oh, it’s fine, I’m glad I could help,” she said sweetly. “Are some of them starting to feel better?”
“Yes, definitely,” Sunset said happily, giving a deep, comforted sigh. “Oh, that feels so much better.”
“Why didn’t you tell us, darling?” Rarity inquired, gazing earnestly at her friend. “Why did you let Brad and his band of hoodlums do this appalling thing to you?”
Sunset’s gaze flickered between the floor and Rarity. “I- I dunno,” she said uncomfortably. “I’d been so terrible to everyone here I didn’t think I had…”
AJ shook her head in exasperation. “You thought that just cause you did all that horrible stuff to folks that it was fair for them to make mincemeat outta ya? How does that make any sense?”
“But- I literally turned into a demon, I made them a bunch of zombified slaves!” Sunset replied, giving me a quick look. I had no idea what they were talking about, was this some kind of code?”
“Sunset, that was who you were, not who you are,” Rarity stated firmly. “You are not worthless because of what you’ve done and when the dust had settled you acted the lady and apologized. Not just to us, but to everyone, even our good friend here,” she added, indicating me. “And ever since that day you have not once shown a hint of your old nature: you’ve changed through and through and that’s enough for everyone. No one has the right to take revenge on you.”
“She’s right, girl,” AJ agreed. “No one ain’t got the right to do this to you.”
Feeling a bit out of my element, I grabbed her hand and put it into mine. “Look, I’m not very good at this,” I said slowly. “But you can’t whip yourself. What’s done is done, all you can do is choose to keep moving. Are you the same girl I first met when I came here?”
“I… I don’t know…” she replied uncertainly.
“The girl I met wasn’t the girl who helped me with schoolwork yesterday,” I said. “Nor did she have friends who cared about her. We’re proof you’ve changed, just as these girls are proof I’ve changed.” I looked straight into her shining teal eyes and added, “So don’t let this ever happen again, OK?”
Unable to summon a word, Sunset wiped her tears away and gave a small nod. I gave her a smile and squeezed her hand reassuringly, hoping she got the message.
“GROUP HUG!” Pinkie exclaimed delightedly, a complete sobbing wreck. She rushed over to Sunset Shimmer and prepared to put her arms around her-
“Whoa! Pinkie, chill!” I said, blocking my overemotional friend from her goal. “Sunset’s pretty beat up, remember? Maybe not so crazy-”
Sunset cut through my words and wrapped the party-crazy girl in a tight hug, squeezing Pinkie Pie so tightly that she could barely managed to breathe. All of the girls put their arms around Sunset –albeit gently- as the group of friends came together, a reminder of their loyalty to one another.
I smiled, rolled my eyes and started walking to the door. My part in this was done, but there was unfinished business to attend to in the form of Canterlot High’s biggest moron.
“Ah said no,” AJ called out just as I wrapped my fingers around the handle.
“Oh come ON!” I cried, flaring up immediately. “I will be doing him a favor, the Diamond Dogs’ll probably kill him if I don’t go down and knock some sense into him!”
“Ah said no and ah meant it,” AJ said firmly. “You can’t just solve this through kicking his butt, even though he definitely deserves it.”
“But-”
“No,” AJ stated.
I gave a roaring groan and aimed a kick at a nearby chair. “Fine, but I’m gonna go make him stop.”
“Ah said no violence-”
“I heard you, jeez! I’m just gonna scare him to death, OK?” I said.
“How?” Sunset asked.
“I wasn’t one of Wanyama’s enforcers for nothing,” I replied, feeling my blood starting to churn inside of me at the thought. I pulled my hoodie over my head to shadow my face. “This is gonna end today.”
I found Brad and his buddies exactly where I thought I would- out in the school parking lot surrounding his car, all of them puffing away at cigarettes. The windows to Brad’s Dodge were down and gangster rap and hip-hop were amped up to maximum volume. The music, combined with the cigarettes, thug clothing and bling made their intention clear: we’re gangsters.
It would’ve been funny if it weren’t so pathetic.
“Well, look who’s come to visit,” Brad declared sneeringly, rising up from his position atop the car to glare at me. “West Side sucker’s come to apologize, I hope.”
I said nothing, sizing the gang of seven up: five guys, two girls who looked to be nothing but hanger-ons, here to get some attention from the “cool kids.” Brad’s right-hand man, a kid named Will Walker, had the buckle of a small pocket knife sticking out of his belt loop, but the others seemed to be unarmed. If I had to guess, only three of these guys had any guts whatsoever, and Brad was not one of them. This wasn’t going to be hard.
Brad slid off of his car and sauntered up to me, knocking against my head. “Hey, you deaf? I’m waiting for my apology; now cough it up, you poor piece of garbage.”
I again said nothing, settling for a look that had been perfected over five years of brutal enforcement for the city’s most dangerous gang. Brad took notice and immediately backed away, realizing that he had picked a fight he wasn’t going to win.
“What do you want, huh?” he asked shakily, glancing over at his guys. “We ain’t got no problem with you.”
“You’ve been attacking Sunset Shimmer,” I said. It wasn’t a question.
Brad shrugged, regaining some of his composure. “Who they gonna believe, me or you?” he taunted. “Just your word against mine, you can’t prove nothing.”
“Yeah, man, we don’t answer to nobody,” Will added. “We’re Diamond Dogs, we can do whatever we want! If some ho is in our way, we can do-”
“You’re an idiot,” I said scathingly, cutting through his pathetic attempt at a monologue.
“Excuse me?” Will hissed.
“Diamnond Dogs are a bunch of low-life thieves, not butchers,” I said. “If you were legit you’d have just stolen everything Sunset had, not beaten her to a pulp.”
“Yeah? What makes you so sure?” Will asked, trying to bluff his way out of this mess. But any fool could see that his face was draining of color.
“Because,” I said slowly, lifting up my right hand and revealing the Wanyama mark branded into my palm, “We’d order them around.”
Brad and his friends were stupid, but they had enough brains to recognize the ‘W’ could only belong to only one group. Brad recoiled and slammed into the side of his car, and the two girls gave screams and ran.
“You all stay!” I snarled, catching two of the guys before they could scarper. “You may fool some of the people here but you don’t fool me. You’re a bunch of wannabe gangsters playing around without knowing what trouble you’re getting in to. I came out here to beat you all senseless and leave you struggling to breathe. Trust me, it’d save your life.”
“How w-would that s-s-save us?” Brad stammered.
“The Diamond Dogs are thieves,” I said, “but any gang will kill posers or else they lose face. Their old head, a guy named Rover, killed a bunch of teenagers who were cutting into their funds by posing as his cronies. You wanna guess what they’d do to you?”
It was evident by now that all their swagger was gone: they were nothing but a bunch of kids who were getting scared out of their minds by the gravity of their stupidity. “You said he was the former head,” Brad remarked. “What happened to him?”
“He tried to buck Wanyama and Jester had him killed,” I said. “We stole everything he had and some of the guys sold his family on the black market.” Brad looked weak enough to faint; it had been enough. “You’ll be leaving Sunset alone from here on out,” I ordered. “You will walk on the opposite side of the hall whenever you see her. If she is going through the same door as you, you will stop and wait for her to get out of your way. You will not look at her, talk to her, or make any contact with her whatsoever. You will act in the same manner towards Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash, as well as I.”
The last remainder of Will’s fight rose to the surface. “Hey, what a minute, what gives you the right-”
“If you do not comply,” I interrupted loudly, “I will come to your houses in the middle of the night, gag you with duct tape, bind you to the floor and saw off your fingers one by one. Wanyama caught a kid trying to steal heroin and he lost his hand. Unless you wanna follow in his footsteps, you will do as I say. Are we clear?”
Brad was soaked in sweat and he was fumbling for his keys, desperate to get away as quickly as he could. Will had silently inched over to the passenger door and was pulling at the handle so fiercely I half-expected it to tear off.
I gave a satisfied grin and said, “You do not want to hear from me again,” and I walked off. There would be no more violence out of them again.
The rest of the weekend flowed fairly smoothly, all things considered. Fluttershy went over to Sunset’s place Wednesday and Thursday to perform more cleaning on her wounds and was pleased to report that Sunset was “healing up very nicely.” None of the cuts were infected and she’d make a full recovery.
Sunset herself was far happier as well, the stress and physical trauma of being continuously assaulted no longer burdening her. She was still struggling, but her friends were helping her to continue pressing forward. She’d get there eventually, even if it took some time.
Brad stayed true to his word, fear for his life keeping him in line. Once or twice he caught sight of me or one of the others and panicked, usually resulting in him crashing into a wall or tripping over himself. I never missed an opportunity to laugh at him though Applejack kept reprimanding me and saying I was being a poor sport. She was right, but it sure was fun.
But best of all was Friday in second period, when Miss Cheerilee handed out a practice quiz for English class, the first sort of test I’d had in the class since I’d started getting tutoring from Sunset. It was hard going at first, anxiousness and low confidence threatening to pull me back into old habits of poor guessing and illogical thinking. But Sunset’s reminders and pointers started coming through near the end and I was able to finish rather well from my own estimation, and used the last bit of time to change some of my earlier answers. When we handed our papers forward, I turned towards Sunset and gave her a quick thumbs-up. She smiled and handed me one in return.
“So, what’re we gonna do tonight?” Pinkie Pie asked us at lunch that day. “It’s a special night and we need to make it count in the annals of history!”
I looked up from my lunch, feeling confused. “Uh, what’s so important about tonight? I’ve been a bit busy here.”
Pinkie looked scandalized. “It’s Halloween!” she said passionately, her expression giving the impression she was on Cloud Nine. “All sorts of pranks and candy- the glorious candy, the wonderful sweet delicious magnificent candy-”
“Ah think we get the point, Pinkie Pie,” Applejack said, intervening before Pinkie continued on with one of her typical speeches. “Sorry y’all, but ah promised Apple Bloom ah’d take her trick r’ treatin’ tonight, so ah’m booked.”
“I’m afraid I’m the same way, dears,” Rarity added, “Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo are over at my place for the evening and I was appointed their babysitter. I wish I could be with you all but I did promise…”
“What about you, Fluttershy?” Pinkie Pie asked, beginning to look somewhat deflated at the rejection of her favorite night.
Fluttershy, as was her normal response, became suddenly fearful and murmured, “I, um… I’m not a big fan of Halloween. I don’t like scary things very much.”
“You get scared when a leaf accidentally falls on your head,” I remarked, shaking my head. “You have got to get over some of this, you know this.”
“Give her time, she’ll get there,” Rainbow Dash said, coming to the defense of her oldest friend. “She used to be way more timid, if you can imagine.”
My imagination failed me in an instant, I just figured saying it aloud would be unwelcome. “So what’re you gonna do, go around pranking folks? You’ve been pretty active round school all day,” I remarked.
“You bet!” she replied enthusiastically, a devious smile playing across her lips. “And I’ll polish it off with a super terrifying movie at the end of the night. You wanna come along?”
“Umm…” I thought back to my criminal record, among many other things. “I’ll probly have to pass.”
Rainbow looked rather disappointed but said, “No worries, not a big deal. But now you won’t see me coming!”
“What about you, Sunset? Anything planned?” Pinkie Pie asked, looking desperate for a companion with whom to roam the night.
Sunset shook her head. “I think I’ll just stay home. Sorry, Pinkie, but it’s been kind of a long week.”
Pinkie Pie looked crushed and she sagged back into her chair. AJ, perhaps feeling sorry for her sugar-addicted pal, offered her a place walking around with her and Apple Bloom.
“So what are you going to be doing tonight?” Sunset asked me as we walked to our next class. “You said that your Mom’s away at Filthy Rich’s house tonight, right?”
I nodded. “Yeah, helping to work some party of their daughter’s,” I said. “Just be me at home for the night. Wonderful night to be in the West End.”
Sunset looked down at her feet for a few seconds, biting her lip, “Would you like to… I dunno- would you like to come over to my apartment for the night, then? If you’ve got nothing to do-”
“Wait a second,” I said. “You want me at your house?”
“Well you made it sound like you didn’t want to be at your place tonight,” she explained rapidly, “and I know it’ll just be me there tonight but in case you wanted to have somewhere to go and relax a bit…”
I thought it over. It was true that Halloween was a historically bad day to be in the West End, especially since Jester usually cooked up a lot of ghoulish stuff for Wanyama to get up to. I’d been worried I was going to run into Suds or one of the others for a while now, and tonight was as good a night as any for that to happen. Maybe Sunset was giving me a great way to avoid that.
“Sure,” I said quietly. “I could do that. Yeah, I’ll come on over.”
“Really?” Sunset asked, positively beaming. “That’s great, how about meeting up at around 8:30?”
“Yeah, sure, whatever works,” I replied.
Sunset gave a small squee of happiness and gave me a quick hug. “I’ll see you tonight! Don’t worry about bringing anything, I’ll have it covered!”
“OK,” I said distantly. I liked this school a lot and my friends were great, but sometimes they could be very strange. Both she and Rainbow Dash had been acting really weird lately.
Out of all the things I had expected, a simple two-room apartment wasn’t what I had expected. Sunset’s place was fairly neat, though she had a pile of mail and homework sitting on her kitchen table. But the size! Everything here was so small, so packed in, confined! It was like, like…
“Like you live here alone,” I finally managed to spit out.
Sunset, who had been rubbing her arm for the past few seconds, grinned sheepishly. “Yeah, well, umm… I kinda do. My parents and I didn’t get along for the longest time, so I moved out and left them back at home.”
“So you’re not from here?”
“It’s a bit more complicated than that, but… yeah,” Sunset admitted. “About the time freshman year came along was when I moved here.”
I gawked at her. “You’ve been living on your own since you were fourteen,” I said, utterly flabbergasted.
“Umm… yes?”
I shook my head in amazement. “How did you take care of yourself? How do you pay for this place?”
“Oh,” she said softly. “I- I have a few things tucked away to take care of myself, and I’ve got a weekend job that pays fairly well. I’ve been doing computer and phone application work for the past couple years.”
“Jeez, you’re pretty self-reliant,” I commented. “It’s pretty impressive how you’ve managed to take care of yourself.”
“Oh yes, certainly,” she muttered darkly. “After all, I only spent most of it being a complete monster to people. I’ve taken care of myself very well.”
I frowned, watching her go to her fridge and grab a bottled water, a morose expression on her face. I couldn’t quite get her; she was smart, talented and kind, but she could be so utterly defeated at times. It was like she couldn’t get over all her failures and they would just drag her down into a pit.
“You don’t have to be that way, you know,” I said awkwardly, not used to the role of teacher. “You’ve got good friends, they’re willing to help you out.”
“Friends I did a bunch of horrible things to,” she countered grimly.
“They don’t care,” I replied. “Come on, I’ve been arrested for assault and proliferating drugs, you can’t do worse than that. Besides, these friends of yours don’t care what you did- didn’t this week prove that to you?”
Sunset dipped her head, unable or unwilling to respond. “Why did you make such an effort for me?” she asked, looking me straight in the eyes. “When you saw all the cuts and bruises on my arms, it was like you’d seen a ghost…”
I hesitated. Mom and I had been pretty quiet about the whole thing to pretty much everyone we knew, including our family. Word had never really gotten out about the condition of our home when… “It was my father,” I said with a sad sigh.
“Huh?” Sunset’s expression of confusion changed instantly to horror as she understood. “Oh my…”
I gave a series of small little nods. “He used to beat on my Mom when I was little. There were plenty of times I’d be huddled up in my room and I’d hear him just wailing on her. I’d get up in the morning and see she had a black eye, or a scar across her lips. Whenever I’d see it, I’d get so angry that I was so small and helpless and I swore I’d make him stop someday.”
“And did you?” Sunset asked softly.
“No, I didn’t,” I answered. “One day he got drunk early in the morning and attacked my Mom while she was out working. He’s gonna be in prison for the next twenty years.” I looked up at Sunset Shimmer, looking right at her. “When I saw those scars… it was like being a little kid, I didn’t know what to do. I just- just- I just didn’t want to see someone get hurt like that again. I don’t care what you’ve done, just don’t… don’t let anything like that happen again, alright? Please?”
Sunset bowed her head, her shoulders shaking ever so slightly. She slowly reached for my hands and wrapped her fingers in mine, holding onto them as if they were the very lifeline that was keeping her afloat. “Thank you,” she managed to whisper. “No one’s ever stood up for me like that, it really meant a lot.” She managed to regain her composure and turned to face me. “And I promise, that stuff isn’t ever going to happen again. You’ve got my word.”
I smiled, squeezing her hands just as I had the other day. I looked into her teal eyes, finding a softness I had never seen there before. All the anger and abrasiveness that I’d come to expect from her was gone, leaving an uncertain young lady with a willing heart and a beauty to match. I hadn’t truly noticed, but the more I gazed into her eyes, the more I began to find them some of the loveliest things I had ever seen-
And that was when I realized I’d been staring at her for a good two minutes. I promptly let go of her hands and backed away slowly, coughing slightly. “So, umm, whad’ya got to do around here?” I asked quickly, looking anywhere but at her. “What’s your idea of fun?”
“Well, I’ve got…”
For the next couple hours, she and I sat down in front of the TV and played video games, the first time I had in a while. She had a couple horror-themed games that I was keen on trying out, and she was experienced enough to help guide me through. We had a pretty good time just the two of us; I came to find she was encouraged by interest- the more people expressed eagerness to learn and listen to her, the happier and more comfortable she became. She was a good teacher and I was an (perhaps overly) enthusiastic student, so we worked well when it came to gaming. We popped open some food, relaxed and watched some TV, and then returned to more gaming. It was the most fun I’d had in ages. Of course, as the night stretched out, we started getting rather tired and even I, one who was used to late nights, found myself getting sleepy…
I was so warm, so comfortable. I hadn’t felt this relaxed since I was a little boy, tucked in and loved by a caring mother. It was so exquisitely wonderful that I didn’t want to open my eyes even for a moment…
I felt something shift beside me and I could bear it no more. I slowly opened my eyes and saw I was still at Sunset’s apartment, the clock above the TV reading 3:45. I must’ve fallen asleep! I looked over at my phone, sitting on the couch a bit out of reach, and saw it was aglow: Mom must be texting me for something, perhaps wanting to know where I was and how I was doing. I was just about to reach when I felt a bit of weight on my left side. I paused, turned and saw Sunset was right next to me, sound asleep and using my shoulder as a headrest.
I bit back an urge to laugh, touched by her show of implicit trust of me. She was utterly knocked out, her breathing so gentle and calming that I couldn’t help but smile. I felt a strange sensation warming me, and I ceased my attempts to grasp my phone. Mom could wait till morning.