//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3 
// Story: The Butterfly Effect 
// by ManaMinori 
//------------------------------//

Getting to class was one thing. Focusing on the lesson the teacher was explaining was a different matter entirely. 

Sunset Shimmer had been staring a hole through the notepad in front of her. Much to her dismay, every line remained blank. Perfectly clean! She had fished the pad out of her pack no sooner had she gotten into class. She had hoped to jot down notes that could perhaps serve as clues to explain the leery feeling that she had been having, but not a single smudge had been made on the page. The teacher's lesson that had been going on for almost twenty minutes had fallen upon deaf ears. 

Sunset's teeth gnashed angrily at the tail end of a pen that was trapped in the vicegrip. Some part of her mind, perhaps the part more rooted in the human world and its reasoning, insistently tickled at the back of all logical theory that her magically trained unicorn mind tried to come up with. It had dismissed every possibility of potential threats once again rearing their ugly heads in the human world with compelling mental arguments of the feeling of being watched was in no way basis to jump to the conclusion of the world being endangered by any magical threat. 

After an additional ten minutes of engaging in mental warfare with herself, the crimson-haired female finally sighed in defeat. She allowed the dismissive mentality to win the battle. But, she had decided, the war was far from won. 

With several more minutes still left on the clock until class was over, Sunset Shimmer thrust her hand high into the air, in order to get the teacher's attention. 

"What is it, Miss Shimmer?" the pewter-haired professor asked. With a hardened glare to her student, she made it evident that she was none too happy about having her lesson so abruptly interrupted.

"May I be excused, Mrs. Do?" the teenager inquired, offerring a friendly smile that she had hoped would allow for an easier exit. 

In no mood to care for the reason as to why Sunset needed to be excused- she had no interest in the going ons of students outside her class, when she wasn't attempting to educate them; instilling her love of geographic location and various treasures of ancient civilization and treasure into hungry, young minds- She only waved a hand through the air. "Just go." 

Nodding, Sunset reigned in her over-eager desire to jump out of her desk and bolt from the class, like Rainbow Dash when she had been sitting still for far too long for her liking. Instead, she calmly but quickly stood, maneuvering past rows of desks and watchful classmates, and slipped out the door. Long legs carried her swiftly down the long, white hallways to her destination. 

Reaching the restroom, the crimson-haired girl wasted no time in twisting the silver knob on the faucet over the sink, with more force than necessary. Freed from the pipes that contained it, a torrent of water gushed out like a waterfall. Immediately regretting her thoughtless actions, and preferring not to be sprayed with stray droplets that shot out far beyond the bowl, she turned the knob in the opposite direction until the water was distributed af a medium flow. Hands cupped under the tap, and raised to splash the cool, wet liquid over her face attempt to cool her head. 

'Simmer down.' she mentally instructed herself, while trying to appreciate the sensation and contrast of cold water licking at her heated cheeks. 'You're in class to focus on studies, not to decode dreams or leery suspicions." She was trying hard to be more observant about her temperament, and be mindful of dousing the fires of frustration, rather than stoking them until they consumed her, only to lead to angry outburts and actions that she would later regret. She had failed to demonstrate control over her emotions with the Twilight Sparkle of this world, back when the Friendship Games were taking place. So too, Sunset recalled, she had lost herself to her own frustrations and fierce, explosive lashing out at the pony who so lovingly used to mentor her; Princess of Equestria, Her Royal Highness and awe-inspiring alicorn, Celestia. 

A loud flush from a closed stall two spaces down from the door directly behind her snapped Sunset Shimmer out of her head and alertd her to the fact that she wasn't alone. Shaking her head, she sought to rattle the unnecessary thoughts right out her ears, grabbed a handful of paper towels, and dried the moisture from her face. 

"Hey, Sunset!" the cheerful voice of Amethyst Star alerted the turquoise-eyed occupant to the presence of her peer. A light lavender hand raised in greeting, though- for the momeng at least, physical contact was avoided as Amethyst made her way to the neighboring sink to wash her hands. 

"Oh," Sunset Shimmer smiled in response, trying to be polite. "Hi, Star. What's up?" She attempted to mask the tone of frustration and anxiety in her voice, hoping Amethyst wouldn't think that she had a problem with her. A misunderstanding was the last thing she wanted to deal with. No, she had other matters to apply her energy and time toward. 'But there's a time and place for that.' again the reasonable part of her brain reminded her, in spite of her desires. 

"I should be asking you that question." Amethyst Star answered, a look of concern momentarily scrunching her features. "You've got stress written all over you."

At the honest observation, Sunset couldn't help but to expel a quiet sigh. A wearisomesome groan sounded shortly after. "Is it really that obvious?" Shoulders sagged ever-so slightly from the weight of trying to keep an image of composure in the eyes of onlookers. After the attacks on the student body and her friends by magical Equestrian hippocampi, and the more recent events of overly curious humans helping themselves to collecting magic, ripping open dimensional wormholes, and hindering the realities of two worlds- all of which needed her own intervention to rectify, Sunset knew that her friends and all of the students at Canterlot High were counting on her to lead the pack. Leaders needed to be the very image of reliable fortitde before the troops stationed under them; with shoulders square and spine straight, in order to bear the weight of the ones they commanded and carry them to victory. 

'Like Princess Celestia...' she idly thought to herself. An image of the royal alicorn in splended golden regalia, large wings stretched to their full span over countless, faceless earth ponies, unicorn ponies, and pegasi ponies, reminiscent of a mother hen. Balanced between jutted shoulderblades were legions of her armored pegasi and unicorn battalion; pegasi on the right, unicorns to the left of them. And above the battle-ready army carried on Celestia's strong back, a gleaming sun hung high overhead, square in the middle so that it aligned with Celestia's head; golden rays dancing gloriously over her crown. The splendid image was conjured to her mind's eye. The image of perfection. 

"Uh-huh." the purple-haired teen nodded as she dried her hands. "Lemme guess.....another late night studying?" 

"Not quite." Sunset frowned. Before Amethyst could attempt to pitch another guess, she continued, " I really appreciate the concern, but I just had a rough night's sleep. Nothing to worry about." she shrugged, offerring the white lie in hopes that Amethyst would just accept it without prying further than necessary. 

An eyebrow arched. Amethyst didn't buy it. She was smart enough to tell that when someone said that something wasn't worth worrying about, that's when it usually was. Especially, she noted, on the campus of Canterlot High. Her lips pursed momentarily as doubt began to settle in her stomach. However, she reasoned, Sunset Shimmer and her friends were far more knowledgeable and capable of handling any strange occurrence, when something did happen at their school. Why shouldn't she trust Sunset, if she said that there wasn't anything to fret over?

"If you say so." she replied, folding. A hand reached out, lightly squeezing the shoulder of the lighter-skinned female in front of her in a comforting gesture. "Fluttershy and I are going to meet up at the animal shelter after school. She came to me looking for someone to organize an awareness campaign to get people in the community interested in adopting some pets. Why don't you come along? Animals are miraculous mood enhancers." she winked. 

In spite of herself, Sunset found herself laughing. Amythyst Star was far from an ace organizer for many events that took place on and even off campus but, like Fluttershy, was knowledgeable on caring for furry, feathered, and scaly creatures of all kinds. Without a doubt, the redhead had faith that Amethyst knew what she was talking about, and was prescribing just what she needed.

"Alright." she agreed, taking the hint. "Count me in!"