Dusk sighed as he took his books out of his locker. All around him, students were walking about with their heads held high, never bothering to look at anyone else. Not that it surprised him; student at Crystal Prep High School usually focused on their own success, and rarely ever cared about helping others.
“Out of my way!”
Dusk yelped as his face was pushed into the locker, causing him to drop his books. He pulled himself out and glared at the person who'd pushed him. He then groaned, closed his locker, and bent down to pick up his books. Before he could grab them, however, he heard a voice.
“Here! Let me help you!”
To Dusk’s surprise, a peach-colored hand reached out and grabbed his books. As he turned upwards, he saw that the speaker was a girl with red hair who was wearing glasses similar to his.
“Are you okay, Dusk Shine?”
Dusk blinked. He was sure he recognized the girl from somewhere, but he couldn't remember where. As he straightened himself back up, he tried to remember the girl’s name.
“Um… I’m fine? I mean, thanks? I mean, not too many people here care that much about anyone else.”
“I know,” the girl said. “I don't complain much, though. I'm not good with people.”
Dusk stared at the girl in confusion. She was very much unlike anyone else he'd seen it the school.
“Yeah, me neither,” he said. “…Anyway, I kind of have to go to class.”
“Yes, I know,” the girl said. “We both have the same history class, remember?”
We do? Dusk thought to himself. He then remembered something.
“Oh, yeah we do! Um… Noon Trance?”
The girl rolled her eyes. “Moondancer.”
Dusk blushed. “Sorry.”
The girl sighed, but quickly smiled back. “It's okay. Just don't forget next time.”
Dusk smiled sheepishly, and began to make his way towards his class. As he did, he realized that Moondancer was following him closely with a smile on her face. Frowning, he turned back towards her.
“So… can I help you?”
“Oh, I'm good,” said Moondancer.
Dusk raised an eyebrow, but continued to allow her to follow him.
“YOU WHAT?!”
Sunset winced as Sonata yelled out. While she wasn't surprised that Sonata would be reluctant to go along with her plan, she still wasn't happy about her yelling so loudly.
Not to mention that everyone else was now staring at them.
“It's okay!” Sunset called out loud for everyone else to hear. “We just had a bit of a disagreement! Nothing to get worked up over!”
The other students gave her a dubious look, before turning back to their lunches. A few of them gave Sonata angry glares, however, causing her to look downwards.
“Sorry,” she said.
“It’s okay,” Sunset said with a smile. “I thought you’d be a bit worried about my idea.”
“Of course I’m worried!” Sonata said worriedly. “I mean, you just want to tell Dusk everything about us! How is he going to take that?! He’s going to freak out! And then he’s going to kick me out of his house, and-”
Before she could continue, Sunset placed her hand on Sonata’s.
“Sonata, please calm down. I know it seems crazy, but he’s a smart guy. Sooner or later he’s going to figure out that something weird is up with you. So isn’t it best if he finds out about this from you instead of from someone else?”
Sonata tried to answer, but she realized that she had no idea what to say. She then sighed and looked down at the remains of her lunch.
“Well, when you put it like that, I guess you’re right,” she said. “But what if Dusk freaks out?”
“Then we’ll snap him out of it,” Sunset said jokingly. “Don’t worry, Sonata. You just follow my lead, and everything will fall into place.”
At least, Sunset was reasonably sure it would. She still wasn’t completely sure she could make everything work out, but she was determined to find a way to succeed.
She was then pleasantly surprised when Sonata looked up to her with a smile.
“Okay! If you think this will work out, then let’s do it!”
Sunset returned the smile joyfully. “Great! Let’s meet at the statue after school!”
Sonata nodded, and then got up to throw her trash away. As the blue-haired girl walked away, Sunset heard someone clearing her throat behind her. As she turned around, she saw two of her friends, Rainbow Dash and Rarity, looking at her with concern.
“Darling?” Rarity asked. “Are you sure it’s a good idea to be spending so much time with her?”
Sunset smirked. “Are you girls really missing me that much?”
“Oh, no!” said Rarity, only for her eyes to widen. “Oh dear! I mean yes! I mean, it’s not that we don’t like having you around, or-”
“What Rarity is trying to say,” Rainbow interrupted, “is that we’re worried about you being all friendly with her. I mean, she tried to take over Canterlot High!”
“Well, so did I,” Sunset pointed out. “And you forgave me. So what’s the difference?”
Sunset watched as her two friends struggled to find an appropriate response. They then turned towards each other, hoping that the other would have an answer. When neither of them could find an answer, they both sighed and turned back to Sunset.
“Just try not to get in trouble,” Rarity said.
“Yeah, we don’t want her to use her freaky singing magic on you,” said Rainbow.
“Don’t worry,” said Sunset. “She lost her singing voice, remember?”
At that, the other two girls began to look guilty, although they tried to hide it behind a pair of awkward smiles. Sunset, for her part, chuckled to herself as she got up to throw her trash away.
As the final bell rung, Dusk made his way towards his locker with a smile on his face. He had no idea what Sunset was planning, but he was nevertheless excited to find out. And even if whatever plan she had didn’t work out, it was still a chance to find out more about the strange occurrences at CHS.
Upon reaching his locker, however, he was surprised to see a familiar face standing next to it.
“Moondancer?”
The red-haired girl smiled and waved. “Hi Dusk!”
Dusk raised an eyebrow, then reached for his locker. As he put his books back in, Moondancer kept watching in fascination. Finally, as he closed the door, he turned to her with a slight irritation in his eyes.
“Can I help you?”
“Well,” said Moondancer, “I was wondering if you wanted to hang out.”
Dusk raised an eyebrow. “Hang out?”
“Yeah,” answered Moondancer. “I’m doing a little get-together with some friends of mine, and I was thinking that, you know, maybe you could come. I mean, if you don’t have anything to do…”
The red-haired girl gave him a hopeful smile, though it quickly faded when he began to speak.
“Um, thanks, but I’m doing something today. Maybe some other time?”
Moondancer frowned. “Okay.”
With that, Dusk began to walk away. As she watched him walk away, Moondancer sighed and looked downwards.
Maybe next time.