I was walking to the bus when I saw AJ standing alone on the bus stop.
"Where's Apple Bloom?" I asked.
"She's sick today." AJ said.
We stood waiting for a few minutes when I decided to talk,
"So, who could've raped Sunset?" I asked.
What I got was a jolt from AJ and I turned to her.
"I was at the library. Who could've raped her?" I asked.
"No-one. Rainbow was just overreactin'." AJ said.
"You want me to protect her? Protect her from what?" I asked.
"Well, back in the year, she was a bully. The biggest one, in fact." AJ said.
"But she's better now?" I asked.
"Yeah. But others don't believe it." AJ said.
"And they're trying to hurt her?" I asked.
"Yeah. I wouldn't be asking, but can you, I don't know, walk with her when she goes home?" AJ asked.
"When?" I asked.
"We could start this Friday." AJ said as the bus drove up.
"Sure." I said.
My third day was when things started going academic. We started talking about what we needed in class. Notebooks, textbooks, the works. The Free-Time was short, with Apple Bloom gone and all. Remember when I said I didn't have a crush on her yesterday? Weeell I kinda lied.
Okay, okay. So I had a crush on her since 6th grade, so what? What else can I say? Spend about 7 years with someone of the opposite gender and you'll understand. After the day, I decided to walk over to AJ's house.
"Hey, Big Mac!" I called.
"Hey, Jason!" Mac waved back.
Me and Mac were friends since middle school. We got along well, despite him being 9 years older than me. He was always looking after AJ and Apple Bloom so much, I wonder why he wasn't chosen to guard Sunset, or any other one of the seniors. I decided not to ask.
"Hey, Jason." AJ said.
"Hey, AJ. How is she?" I asked.
"Sunset's okay. She's at home taking care of her bruises, last time I called." AJ said.
"And Apple Bloom?" I asked.
"She has a sore throat. She should feel better by the end of the week." AJ said.
End of the week?! Sure, she was sick, but these things usually go by the end of the day. I clearly was mad about this, but I hid it.
"Really? That long?" I asked.
"Yep. She said so, at least. But I think she'll be okay sooner."
Oh, thank God.
"Sooo, how is she?" I asked.
"She's okay. There wasn't much damage to her, just some cuts and scrapes. Nothin' that she can't fix." AJ said.
"So, I think we should meet sooner. You know, just so I can get to know her." I recommended.
"I'll see what I can do. Maybe tomorrow's Free-Time could do." AJ said.
"It's a deal. Tell Apple Bloom I said... 'howdy'." I joked.
I got a chuckle as I walked out the door. I walked home and my mom shot me a worried look.
"What?" I asked.
"Celestia gave me a call. I don't approve you guarding a complete stranger." Mom said sternly.
"Mom..." I said.
"You know what happened last time." Mom said.
"She'n not a stranger! She won't be by tomorrow. AJ planned a meeting for us. I don't wanna do this either. But Sunset doesn't seem like the person who deserves things like this." I said.
"That's what they show you, but they make you see it when it's too late to turn back." Mom said.
"Mom, Sunset's not Dad." I said.
"... I know. I'll talk to Celestia about it tomorrow." Mom said.
I couldn't beleive this. I won't let my mother compare Sunset, one of the kindest people I've met in a year, to my father, a drunken idiot who hurt her.
I woke up after 5 hours of sleep, as usual. I got dressed and I packed my bags. My mom then came out.
"Be safe." She said as she kissed my forehead.
Be safe? She never said that before. I shouldn't worry about it right now. I got on the bus and AJ told me about Sunset.
"She's nice, but de-la-cate. Whatever you do, do NOT mention the Fall Formal." AJ whispered.
Fall Formal? Didn't she win that 3 years in a row?
"Didn't she win those?" I asked.
"Yeah, but she..." She leaned into my ear.
"She won them by force."
The bus pulled to a stop along with my shock. BY FORCE?! How can you win a school competition by force?! I decided not to worry about. Yet. The day went by slower as we started taking notes today. When it ended, I went to the library and found AJ, her friends, Pinkie, and Sunset on one of the tables with Celestia. I took a seat and waved.
"You must be Jason. I'm Rainbow Dash, this is Rarity, Fluttershy, and--"
"Pinkie Pie. She's the one who nearly gave me a heart attack yesterday." I said.
"Yep! That's meeee!" She said jumping at my side and back to the seat.
Best not to question her.
"So, you asked me to protect her?" I asked.
"Yeah. Applejack said we can trust you. Where are you from?" Rarity asked me.
"Um... Pennsylvania."
"What?! How did you end up here?!" Rarity freaked.
AJ put her hand on her shoulder and shook her head.
"Umm... hehehe. Sorry." Rarity said.
"No, it's okay. I came from... another school up there, which was hell for me." I lied...
"Well, from Rarity's words, how did you end up in the big city?" Celestia asked.
"Applejack's grandmother, Granny Smith, is an old family friend of my mother's. She told her to move here." I said.
"Nice." Rainbow said.
"So, you're Fluttershy?" I asked the girl biting her hair.
"Yes, my-my name's Fluttershy."
"I'll take that as a yes. So, Sunset, right? You need a bodyguard?" I asked.
"Bodyguard's a strong word, more like 'one of several escorts'." Celestia said.
"You already have people?" I asked.
"Yes. Big Mac and Flash Sentry applied for the job. Now Rainbow wants to join and Applejack said you should too." Celestia said.
"Okay, and who you have isn't enough?" I asked.
"Flash has a questionable history with her." Luna said.
"Questionable history?" I asked.
"Flash is her ex-boyfriend." Rarity said.
"...Oh." I said.
"We don't trust him around her alone yet. We need you to go with them this Friday and keep an eye on him. Look for signs that he should be removed." Celestia said.
"Okay, now I wanna know why we're doing this." I said.
Everyone fell in silence before Celestia stood up.
"Sunset wasn't always the nicest student." She said as she and Sunset walked away.
"I'll contact your mother later into the day." Luna said.
I nodded and the Free-Time continued normally. I found Sunset sitting on a table and I sat with her. We said nothing for a while until I decided to speak.
"Look, I'm sorry if anything I said offended you. It's just... you know, being from where I'm from, I know the difference good people from bad people." I said.
That one wasn't a lie... I do know that difference well because I've been both, before.
"It's alright. You wanted to know." Sunset said.
"So, you weren't always who you are now?" I asked.
"...No, I wasn't. I was rude, arrogant, and ten other things I can't say." Sunset said.
"Look, I don't care what you did before, in fact, I think it would be best if I didn't know." I said.
"What are you saying?" Sunset asked.
"I'm saying if you wanna forget it, that's fine by me." I said as I got up to the bell ringing.