Day: Wednesday
Weather: Sunny
Time: 3:29pmRainbow Dash wanted new uniforms for the various Wondercolts teams. The ones they currently used were outdated, so Rainbow figured that they should get new ones in time for something she called the Friendship Games. My idea involved holding a fundraiser, as the school budget couldn't accommodate spare money. It took some convincing to get her to agree, but Principal Celestia gave us the go ahead. Yet, there was one problem I didn't take into account. My friends were contributing something based on their talents, yet I lacked any special talents. So I decided on helping them along while getting them to help me. The magic problem was still an issue, and I needed to figure it out quickly before something happened. Rainbow Dash and Applejack have questioned my ethics, and I sensed Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity doing the same when I saw them. Nothing could possibly go wrong, right? Maybe I should have listened to my inner voice, who was telling me that everything would fall apart.
The Other Journal
By Ganondorf8
January 15, 2015
Chapter 42: Helping Disaster.
Twilight had been spending the last few minutes glossing over the photos I had taken. Each featured one of our friends staring at the disaster which ruined their contribution to the fundraiser all because I had to saddle them with the burden of helping me figure out how the magic worked in this world. While my blunder hadn't caused any property damage, nor did it place anyone under the power of dark magic, it was still viewed as a problem. If there was any positive that could be taken from this, it was Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie not being in any of the photos. I never got a chance to "help" Pinkie with her contribution, and Rainbow had merely been practicing. The others? They were harmed by my interference.
" I can't believe all this happened, all because you wanted to do too much at once." Twilight said.
" The burden of figuring out the magic problem was mine alone to deal with. Our friends had nothing to do with it. I should have had more patience and waited for the appropriate time to address it, but I was blinded by my own ignorance. Part of me wanted to contact Princess Twilight for help, but that would have involved dragging her back here not long after she returned home to Equestria." I said. In hindsight, maybe I should have sent a message to Her Highness to ask her opinion. Doing that instead of what I would eventually do could have prevented the problem from taking place. After all, she had more experience with magic than I did. Why did I not ask for help? Her Highness was needed in Equestria, and taking her away to fix the mess I made would have been unfair to her.
" Is that... a photo of animals running loose?" Twilight asked.
" Not one of my better moments."
" And that one features a kitchen covered completely in dough and machine parts." Twilight said.
" It took the janitors several days to clean that up."
" Sunset..."
" No need to show any sympathy towards me, Twilight. What happened here was my own fault, and I didn't try to pass the blame onto someone else. I would accept my punishment with my dignity intact. To be honest, I actually expected Principal Celestia to suspend me at the very least." I said. I knew she didn't have the heart to expel me; she knew that would have resulted in a downward spiral for me. At the very least, suspension should have been considered. Instead, she gave me a verbal lashing. Those words would really sting for quite some time, and my friends began to lose faith in me. Faith... That had been a problem that continued giving me nothing but grief. I pass myself off as being trustworthy and responsible, only to blow it a short time later.
" You're not thinking of punishing yourself again, are you?" Twilight asked.
" No, but the thought was there." I answered.
" Surely, what Principal Celestia said wasn't the worst thing that happened."
" Then you have a lot to learn."
" What do you mean?"
" I'll get more into that later, but first let me explain what happened when I went to see the others after leaving Applejack." I answered.
Things were progressing better than expected. Despite their hesitation, Rainbow Dash and Applejack agreed to help me figure out how magic worked here. At first, I felt overwhelmed because I was essentially trying to figure out the problem on my own. With my friends helping me--only slightly willingly now--it shouldn't take long to find some answers. Why were we capable of ponying up? Why did it involve playing instruments? Why did the magic decide to remain here and not go back to Equestria? Those were just a few of the questions plaguing my mind. Answering them wouldn't guarantee an acceptable outcome. No. Instead, it would just lead to more questions, which would require doing further research. I didn't deny that magic, as a field of study, was one that had become lost to me over time. Prior to stealing Princess Twilight's crown, I had to do things without magic. It proved difficult and unbearable, yet I managed to pull off some kind of existence here. Now that magic was here, I felt like I now had a purpose. As a magic investigator, my job was to make sure that no one succumbed to what I had brought here.
Was it wrong to get my friends involved in something I caused? Perhaps, but I knew they wouldn't refuse my requests. I knew they had the fundraiser to work on, but they could take some time out of their busy schedules to provide me with the data I needed for my research. Rainbow Dash would provide me evidence through physical activity, and Applejack would provide a more hands-on approach, courtesy of my equipment.
By the time I reached the gym, I could tell that Pinkie Pie had certainly been busy. The ceiling--from what I could see through the windows on the double doors--was almost completely covered with balloons, streamers, confetti, and what looked like giant candy. If I had hoped to have helped her out, that option had flown away before I even had a chance to ask. Opening the doors, I entered the gym, only to become buried under a large stack of streamers. Pinkie had taken notice and rushed over to pull me out of the tangled mess.
" Sorry about that! I guess I wasn't expecting someone to come in through the main entrance until everything was ready." Pinkie Pie said.
" You've certainly done a lot of decorating for the fashion show." I said while brushing off excess streamer pieces.
" What can I say? I'm good at what I do."
" By the way, where's Rarity?"
" She's not here."
" I thought she'd be in here with you going over some of the preparations for the fashion show." I said. Rarity said she'd would be in the gym during her free time, so not seeing her made me suspect that something was amiss. Rarity was rather punctual and would only be running behind schedule if she had a fashion emergency. Now it looked like I wouldn't have any time to focus on the magic problem.
" You actually just missed her." Pinkie Pie said.
" Seriously!?"
" She said she needed to go to the art room to do some last-minute touches to the outfits she plans on showcasing for the fashion show. You know how Rarity is with her outfits." Pinkie Pie said. Rarity was one who made sure that every last detail had been addressed before presenting her outfits. If even a tiny bit of detail was incorrect, she wouldn't rest until it was resolved. I admired her dedication to something that fascinated her, but at the same time I had to question whether she was being a tad obsessive with perfection. I felt annoyed about having to go and find Rarity, yet I needed to see if she needed my help and if she could help me, as well. I was about to leave when I addressed something which bothered me about Pinkie.
" You know, you can ask for the other students to help you, right?" I asked.
" Nope!" Pinkie Pie answered.
" What do you mean 'nope'?"
" I'm perfectly capable of handling things on my own, Sunset. Besides, most don't seem to understand my creative vision. I don't know why. I just imagine something in my mind and do it on a whim." Pinkie Pie answered. I should have known she would say something like that. Thanking her, I left the gym and began making my way to the art room. I then began thinking about the magic problem and how it related to Pinkie. Her zany attitude combined with her ability to defy logic made me think that perhaps her magic was an embodiment of all that was unusual, or a representation of having the freedom to do what you wanted. I could have asked her to clarify, but I wasn't willing to sit there for who knows how long and listen to her chatter on and on.
As I arrived at the art room, I could hear the sounds of someone being dramatic coming from the other side of the door. Rarity must be inside! She was known for being melodramatic, which did get annoying at times. I could understand being frustrated, but acting out like everything had gone wrong in the world would raise eyebrows. Opening the door, I saw Rarity, who was running about, trying to accomplish several tasks at once. She looked incredibly stressed. When she noticed I was looking at her, she stopped what she was doing before walking over to me, pretending nothing was wrong.
" Sunset? I thought you would be in the gym." Rarity said.
" I was until Pinkie told me that you were here." I said.
" Oh my! I simply must apologize for giving you the run-around, darling. I wanted to make sure that the outfits I'm presenting for the fashion show were perfect, so I came here to do some last-minute touch-ups. These are, without a doubt, my best outfits yet! The athletes are going to look simply divine when they showcase these! Rainbow Dash certainly surprised me when she agreed to wear one. After all, she isn't known for wanting to wear anything fancy. The same applies with Applejack." Rarity said.
" What's with the papers on the table over there?" I asked, changing the subject. I walked over and saw that each paper had uniform designs on them. Was Rarity going to be making the new uniforms, or was this some other project she was working on?
" If you really must know, darling, they are some rough-drafts for uniforms in case the fundraiser doesn't work out. I'm really hoping that it does, as it would do wonders for school morale, but it doesn't hurt to have a back-up plan. They're not finished yet, so there's no need for you to fawn over them. Now, if you'll excuse me, I simply must get back to finishing off these outfits. I don't want Rainbow Dash and the others to wear inferior attire!" Rarity answered. She then walked back over to where her outfits were each hanging on plastic mannequins. They really were stunning. Once again, Rarity had outdone herself, but my attention was on the papers she left behind. From my perspective, they looked good enough, but she shouldn't keep them to herself. I'd bet she could get more attention for the fashion show if students saw these.
Without Rarity noticing, I pulled out my cellphone and took several photos of the designs before quietly leaving the room. I then logged on to the internet and uploaded the photos onto the Rainbooms website. It wasn't the most glamourous site out there, but it was useful in expressing our thoughts and letting everyone know what each of us were up to. Once I finished uploading the photos, I left the building, as Fluttershy was at the local animal shelter; she was a regular volunteer whenever she had any spare time. Because of how much she loved being around so many animals, she sometimes felt like one of them. She always felt at ease whenever she found herself surrounded by animals.
It didn't take long for me to reach the animal shelter, and when I walked in through the main entrance, I could see that things were pretty quiet. Fluttershy was busy attending to each animal, so I waited until she was finished. I knew that making an announcement while she was concentrating would just scare her. The animal shelter was a pretty impressive facility: clean, plenty of space for various animals, fully qualified veterinarians, and easily accessible. One could easily work in such a well-kept place, plus there were the animals, though some did cause problems.
" Sunset!" Fluttershy said when she finally noticed me. " How long have you been here for?"
" I just arrived." I answered.
" I'm guessing you came all this way to see how the animals are doing?" Fluttershy asked.
" You sure do love looking after them."
" Uh-huh. Nothing pleases me more than seeing an animal happy. They often aren't able to take care of themselves, and that's why so many end up here. When kind-hearted people come through those doors to adopt one of these critters, I just know things will be better for everyone involved." Fluttershy said.
" Are those some of the animals that will be in the pet parade?"
" Yes. Each of them have been fully trained, so there won't be any accidents or anything like that. Um, I should let you know that none of the exotic animals are permitted to be included in the parade. The doctors don't want them to be surrounded by prying eyes." Fluttershy answered.
" Fair enough."
" You should volunteer here sometime."
" I'd love to, but I have a lot on my mind right now."
" Oh, yes. The events for the fundraiser must be coming along very nicely by now."
" That's not all that's been bothering me." I said. Fluttershy tilted her head slightly in confusion, so I then explained to her about the magic problem. I also realized that I didn't get a chance to explain the magic problem to both Pinkie and Rarity. While explaining things, Fluttershy continued tending the animals, which didn't bother me. It was actually rather adorable seeing those little guys smile at her. " So you see, I've been wracking my brain trying to make sense of how magic works in this world. I've got both Rainbow Dash and Applejack helping me, although it took a little convincing to get them on board."
" Um, I could help you with your magic problem." Fluttershy said.
" What about the animals?"
" My shift is just about done, so I can go back to school with you."
" Doesn't it feel weird that you come here during the middle of a school day?"
" Not at all. Principal Celestia knows how much taking care of animals means to me, so she allows me to come here so long as I don't neglect my studies. You know, I've actually been thinking about something, as well. Um, I'm not sure how to best explain this, but I'll try. You, um, come from another world, right? A world filled with talking ponies? Equestria, wasn't it? What do you miss about it?" Fluttershy asked. I was taken aback by her question. Throughout all my years of living here, no one had ever asked me how I felt about being away from my true home. Granted, no one ever knew about it until the Fall Formal, when I became a demon. No one born in this world would have the ability to become a horrifying creature.
" What did you say?" I asked.
" Do you miss your pony friends there?" Fluttershy asked.
" My friends? To be honest, I don't miss them, because I didn't have any friends. I was a much different person back then. When I was growing up, I was ignored by my parents in favour of my siblings. No matter how hard I tried to impress them with my magic, they never took notice of me. I had resented them for doting over them and leaving me to find my own path, yet I still do think of them on a rare occasion. Their neglect towards me reflected itself when I eventually left home to study at Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. Many ponies wanted to become friends with me, but I didn't want to be hurt like I was with my family. Rather than accept them as friends, I scorned them by calling them weak for thinking that friendship was important. I told them they would never amount to anything." I answered.
" You never told this to any of us before." Fluttershy said.
" It was a long time ago."
" That does explain why you acted the way you did when you first came to CHS."
" If not for Princess Twilight, I wouldn't have the friends that I do now."
" Then it's good that she came after you." Fluttershy said. I wished she hadn't brought up the theft of Her Highness' crown. That was the catalyst which caused all of this insanity with magic to happen in the first place. Had I chosen to not steal her crown, this world would have carried on like normal. I could have lived a relatively peaceful life while battling an urge to return home. " Sunset? If you'd like, we can drop the subject. I don't want to sound like I'm, um, intruding on your private life." Fluttershy said. My past was something that I didn't like talking about. It was a reminder of all my failures in life.
" I appreciate that."
" What you said to me... I won't tell anyone else."
" Thanks."
" By the way, what did you say Rainbow Dash was doing?"
" She's using a monitoring device to check on her heart rate and caloric burn. It's my way of having her provide me some information on how magic works. Applejack is also helping me out, and you did say that you'd help as well." I answered.
" Um, what do you want me to do?"
" I'll think of something when we get back to school."
" I, um, suppose that's fair."
" Why don't you go on ahead? I need to check this place out for research purposes anyway. After all, you could be using magic here and not even realize it. I'll probably take a few minutes, as I need to get back in time for class." I said. Fluttershy nodded before turning around and leaving after she slipped a time card into a slot, indicating that her shift had concluded. Taking out a small notepad and a pencil from my pocket, I began to look around to see if there was any magical essence from Fluttershy. There had to be a magical reason why the animals were so attracted to her. The looks on their faces when she comforted them must have something to do with her magic. What started out as a few minutes quickly turned into almost half-an-hour. When I noticed how much time had passed, I panicked and left the animal shelter. I was going to be so late! I was sure I closed the door behind me as I left. Yeah. I was sure of it.
That was all of my friends accounted for, yet I was disappointed that Pinkie and Rarity didn't need my help with their contributions. I was able to help Fluttershy briefly when she needed me to help feed the animals while she listened to what I had to say about my past. I felt uncomfortable just thinking about how my life had once been filled with nothing but contempt for everyone around me. That was the old Sunset Shimmer. The new me had everything under control! Once I got a little closer to the school, I slowed my running down to a brisk walk, confidant things would only get better from there.
" You do realize that was an oversight on your part." Twilight said.
" About leaving the door to the shelter open?" I asked.
" No, not that!"
" Oh... What I said to Fluttershy about my childhood."
" You said that none of our friends knew anything about your past, yet you mentioned that little tidbit to Fluttershy." Twilight said. I quickly looked in the journal to see if I had written something down, and sure enough there it was in plain sight. How could I have forgotten something like that? Had my mind tried to make me forget because it would remind me of the pain I endured during those days? Twilight had since been looking at me with her hands on her hips, an angry look spread across her face. I had been telling her a lie all this time and never realized it until now. " Well, what do you have to say for yourself?" Twilight asked.
" My mind may have blocked that incident from my memory. I don't ever recall telling Fluttershy about my childhood, but the proof is there in the journal. I wrote that entry down late last year, so it's been some time." I answered.
" That's not a very good excuse."
" No, it really isn't."
" But I'm not going to scold you for it. I know you must have had a lot on your mind when you wrote that down, and you most likely repressed that memory. You were just as shocked as I was when you read that part." Twilight said. She really was sweet for not putting me on the spot, but were there other instances of this? Had I blocked out other memories out of fear? Or, was I suffering from memory lapses? I pray that there are no more unexpected twists like this one. " Now, onto the fact that you left the door to the animal shelter open. Did you even know that you did that?"
" I was running behind schedule and my only thought was to get back to class." I answered.
" I'll bet those in charge of the shelter were pretty irate about it."
" They weren't the only ones."
" Principal Celestia?"
" Yep."
" When did she find out what was going on?"
" That afternoon when an explosion happened in the kitchen." I answered. Twilight's eyes lit up in shock. I knew she would react to the word explosion, so I told her the school was still intact. The equipment I left behind with Applejack malfunctioned and blew up, but it wasn't as bad as initially suspected. " It blew off some steam before exploding, which did cause some slight damage to the surrounding area. However, Applejack tried to figure out what was wrong, and didn't pay attention to what she had placed in the oven." I then pointed at the photo that featured Applejack looking at the destruction of the kitchen. When Twilight took a closer look, she noticed that much of the kitchen had been covered with cake batter. While it did look cartoonish, she was clearly devastated. " When news of the explosion reached Principal Celestia, she immediately summoned me to her office."
Several hours passed since I got back from the animal shelter, and I continued feeling good about myself. At first, I thought that being in charge of planning the fundraiser would be nothing but misery, but it was a lot more fun than I initially expected. If it were this easy, then perhaps I should volunteer more often. The magic problem was still proving itself a daunting task, however. Hopefully, my friends would be able to give me some worthwhile results that would help me figure it out.
Math class was going the same as it always did: dull and boring. Most of what was being taught posed little to no challenge for me, and sometimes, I felt like I should just stop attending because of how much I knew. But, I chose to stick around, as some students were struggling, yet none of them ever asked for my help. I was seen as one of the smartest in school, so why avoid me in the first place? Were they afraid that I would be too harsh of a tutor? That was something else which I had been thinking about. While I had been accepted by the students, they still showed signs of not wanting to speak to me, other than the occasional 'hello'. Did I frighten them? Nah. Perhaps I was just overstressed; there was a lot on my mind. I chose to ignore such things and focus on what was important. Namely, the fundraiser and the magic problem.
All of a sudden, everything started to vibrate due to an explosion which could be heard throughout the school. My first instinct was that another problem that had to do with magic had show up, but I was surprised when Flash Sentry opened the door to the classroom five minutes later. Judging from the sweat dripping down his face, he ran here looking for something, or someone. The teacher at first didn't appreciate him interrupting her lesson, but she quickly changed her tune upon realizing the gravity of the situation.
" Why are you so exhausted Flash?"
" I need Sunset Shimmer to come with me." Flash answered.
" And why do you need her?"
" Principal Celestia asked me to tell her to report to her office." Flash answered.
" If that's the case then why not make an announcement over the P.A. system?"
" I just happened to be walking by her office, and she was too busy trying to deal with anything but the explosion. Sunset, you really should go and see her right now. She's really frustrated with what's been happening all afternoon." Flash said. Something didn't seem right about all of this, but I decided to see Principal Celestia to understand why I was needed. In hindsight, I should have suspected a problem, but I remained ignorant of the whole thing. Rather than accompany me, Flash said that he was needed elsewhere in order to calm some of the students down. That made no sense at all. Why would students be frustrated about anything but preparing for exams? CHS was a pretty good school these days, especially after my reformation, so what was going on?
It didn't take long for me to reach Principal Celestia's office, and I had to quickly duck out of the way to avoid a group of athletes who were leaving angrily. What was up with them? They looked like they were about to have a temper tantrum. Before I could think about it any further, Principal Celestia noticed me standing outside her office door, and ordered me to come inside. She had a furious look on her face, and I had a feeling she was directing her anger specifically at me.
" What is going on here?" Principal Celestia asked.
" I don't know." I answered.
" You should, considering that you broke your promise to me."
" What!? I did no such thing! Everything is still on track for the fundraiser."
" That's not what I've been hearing in the past hour, Sunset."
" I don't understand."
" The cafeteria kitchen is in shambles, and the art room is littered with fabric. I've got athletes coming into my office telling me there is no way they want to do a fashion show, and I just got a call from the animal shelter telling me that all the animals have somehow escaped. Perhaps I placed too much faith in you. Perhaps the fundraiser was a bad decision on my part, given all of these disasters." Principal Celestia said. My heart felt like it had been shattered to pieces. All of my friends' efforts had gone completely wrong. How could this have happened? Everything was going so smoothly. Did I make a mistake? As I tried to come to grips with what I had just been told, Principal Celestia asked me to come with her so that I could see the disaster with my own eyes. " First, we will go to the kitchen, where I suspect you had something to do with the explosion that just happened."
" I had everything under control." I said.
" I'm sorry to say, Sunset, but I think you may not have been the best choice to be in charge, after all. Your friends did insist on you being given such an important job, so what has happened will also be placed on their shoulders." Principal Celestia said. My friends had nothing to do with this! She couldn't pin the blame on them. I would soon learn that her words had a lot of truth to them.
The kitchen was completely covered in dough, the source of it being the oven. The device I had left behind for Applejack had indeed exploded, causing some slight damage around the immediate area. Applejack herself just stared at everything before turning towards me in utter shock. She wasn't the only one feeling that way. I couldn't believe what I was looking at. I felt compelled to take out my cellphone and take a photo of this mess, so I did before Principal Celestia asked me to follow her to the art room. When we arrived there and walked through the door, my jaw dropped upon seeing so much fabric littered about. In the middle of the room was Rarity and, once again, she was being overdramatic, although there appeared to be a reason behind it, for once. She noticed me standing by the door and rushed over to me, tears gushing from her eyes.
" I'm ruined! Absolutely ruined!" Rarity shouted.
" What do you mean?" I asked.
" Students have been ridiculing my outfits after seeing photos of my uniform designs on our website. Sunset! Why did you post those? No one was meant to see those. They were still in the planning stages! No one will ever take me seriously again! I'm ruined!" Rarity answered. She then ran back to the middle of the room before bursting into more tears, and I took another photo with my cellphone for no reason. I was about to go over and comfort her, but Principal Celestia beckoned me to follow her outside. A group of athletes were shouting at Rainbow Dash, and I barely heard her say that she didn't get in enough practice. I knew right away she was talking about the monitoring device I placed on her wrist earlier. I slapped my forehead upon realizing that I forgot Rainbow Dash and the soccer team were having a practice session for tonight's game.
" I am very disappointed in you, Sunset." Principal Celestia said.
" I'm so sorry things spiraled out of control." I said.
" Once all of this has been sorted out, I'll need to find someone else to be in charge of the fundraiser."
" It's still happening?"
" I'm not going to cancel it just because of all these mishaps, but again, I must reiterate that perhaps you weren't the best choice." Principal Celestia.
" Please give me another chance!" I said.
" And why do you think you deserve one?"
" Because I can fix all of this in time for the fashion show tomorrow. I just need to be given a chance to prove myself worthy of your trust. I know I really messed up and my friends are sure to tell me how things went wrong. But, if I don't fix this, then it means I've failed in my job as overseer." I answered.
" Very well, Sunset. I'll give you another chance. Your determination to fix your mistakes shows me that you're taking this very seriously. I do hope that you will get everything back in order before long." Principal Celestia said. As she walked away, I slumped down to my knees and began to cry. There was no doubt about it. I never should have forced my friends into helping me figure out the magic problem. They should have focused on the fundraiser instead. How could I have been so blind? I had to fix all of these problems before they snowball further out of control. My friends may not be willing to forgive me straight away for my blunders, but I hoped they would find it in their hearts to forgive me a later date.
The first thing I needed to do was gather my friends and apologize to them. Luckily, we were all meeting in the library later, as was discussed yesterday. That would happen in roughly an hour, so for the time being, I returned to class, thinking of how to fix this mess.
" You must have been so heartbroken." Twilight said.
" I truly messed up." I said.
" Did they ever round all the animals up?"
" They did, which was very fortunate." I sighed. " I shouldn't have focused on solving the magic problem. That alone was the reason why everything fell apart. Our friends couldn't concentrate on their own contributions while having to do some extra work just to give me research. I should have been honest with them from the start by explaining my true motives. That would have made things a lot easier, and it would have prevented the mistakes from happening." I said.
" At least everyone forgave you and all was well." Twilight said. She wouldn't have said that had she known what would happen several weeks after the fundraiser. I wasn't looking forward to telling her about that incident, but I knew that it was coming up very soon. My mental anguish during the Battle of the Bands was nothing compared to what happened during those four days before the winter break. I shuddered at the thought of having to relive that experience again. Twilight took notice of my sudden reaction, but chose not to say anything about it. She had gotten used to seeing me drift off into my own subconscious by this point.
" I'm not going to say how wrong that statement was until later." I said.
" Fair enough."
" Anyway, we would all meet at our favourite spot in the library where no one could hear us."
" Where was that?"
" On the second floor, at a small table past rows A through J." I answered. Heh! It had just occurred to me that we were past rows A through J--AJ, our seldom-used nickname for Applejack. I was surprised that Twilight wanted to know where we sat in the library. Perhaps she desired to see our favourite spot for herself one day. I should make a mental note to do just that. After all, she was part of our group now.
My friends and I met in the library at our favourite spot. While there were much better locations for us to hang-out, we found that this exact location just spoke to us, as though it wanted us to convene here whenever we had an emergency and our regular music room was unavailable. I had been pretty nervous confronting them. After all, I had a lot to answer for, given that I had caused so many mistakes all at once. I ruined Rainbow Dash's practice, I ruined Applejack's baking, I ruined Rarity's reputation as a fashion designer, and I allowed animals under Fluttershy's care to run loose throughout Canterlot. Pinkie was the only one whose contribution hadn't been tainted by my hands. Worst of all, my promise to Principal Celestia had been broken. She had lost faith in me to be a good leader.
For the first few minutes, everyone was silent, apart from the occasional cough. I felt stressed beyond belief. I was waiting for someone to say something, because I knew they had much to say. It felt like I was standing before a jury in a courtroom and nervously awaiting the inevitable guilty response. Eventually, Rainbow Dash, as expected, would finally break the silence.
" What were you thinking!?"
" I know I really messed things up." I answered.
" More like you caused several disasters!"
" Y'all don't need to overcomplicate things." Applejack said.
" We shouldn't have agreed to help you deal with the magic problem." Rainbow Dash said.
" I know, and it's my fault that I didn't come clean when we had our discussion last night. When I saw all of you talking about what you wanted to contribute, I really wanted to bring up the issue regarding the magic, but my heart just couldn't do it. I didn't want to ruin the moment. Before we all came here, I quickly sent Princess Twilight a message explaining what happened." I said, Her response was exactly what I had expected from Her Highness. She showed utter disappointment in how I allowed myself to get overwhelmed by trying to do so much all at once. She even scolded me for not being honest with our friends. I would have really gotten an earful from her had she witnessed the blunders I made in person. My friends could tell that I was really upset, but I raised my hand to stop them from showing me any kind of pity. " I'm not about to pretend that nothing went wrong and that everything is perfect. I screwed up, and nothing can be done to change that."
" If you had told us, darling, I am sure we could have come up with a reasonable compromise." Rarity said.
" We're your friends, Sunset! You can always rely on us to be there to help you. Now, I know none of us are as experienced with magic as you, but I reckon that don't mean nothing at all. We can still give our own input whenever y'all need it." Applejack said.
" Guess I wasn't being a good friend." I said.
" You're still learnin'." Applejack said.
" You'll have it mastered, easy-peasy!" Pinkie Pie said.
" However! We ain't about to forgive you straight away for almost ruining the fundraiser. You don't want any pity fer your actions, so we won't be giving you any. I'd say it'll take us a few days for us to get over it. None of us could ever hold a grudge against you, Sunset." Applejack said. The smile on her face told me she and the others were serious about forgiving me, so I smiled back at her in response. I'm glad they weren't going to go easy on me; I wouldn't learn anything about friendship if I'm easily forgiven for making even a small mistake. Sometimes you had to experience hardships, which, in turn, could result in stronger bonds being forged.
" Um, so how do you plan on helping us out?" Fluttershy asked. We then looked at one another before everyone turned their attention towards me. While I had been nervous about being chewed out, I had come up with ideal solutions to help resolve any issues. Principal Celestia had given me a second chance to prove myself of her trust, and I wasn't about to squander the opportunity.
" Just tell me what to do and I'll do it." I answered.
" You think you can persuade my teammates to model in the fashion show?" Rainbow Dash asked.
" Can you repair my style status?" Rarity asked.
" Can you do some real cooking if I show you how?" Applejack asked.
" Can you blow up some balloons?" Pinkie Pie asked.
" Can you help me bring the animals here for the pet parade?" Fluttershy asked.
" I can do it all." I answered. While it did sound like a pretty tall order, I was going to give it my all to fix my mistakes. This time, I was going to do the smart thing and ignore the magic problem. At least, for the time being. The fundraiser was the more important thing. " While I help each of you with your contributions, I'd also like to apologize for my mistakes and for making you do something you weren't comfortable with."
" We accept that." Applejack said.
" What about the uniforms? Have you figured out a way for people to realize their potential, as you claim?" Rarity asked.
" I've been thinking about that, and I do have something which should prove effective. It'll take me until late tonight before I finish it. You can relax, Rarity. I know what needs to be done to ensure the right responses are heard." I answered. Rarity hugged me, followed by the rest of my friends, and I smiled in response to their loving embrace. It felt wonderful knowing that I was experiencing friendship instead of wandering about alone. There was still the matter of selling enough tickets for the fashion show, though Rarity said that she would handle that. At least that was one thing I didn't need to worry about. Things were starting to turn around for the better once again, but I couldn't help but feel that something could still cause a problem.
Should I be worried about that? Yes. You never know when something could come along and hinder any chance of progress.
" Nice to see that you managed to get things under control." Twilight said.
" I made sure to do exactly what our friends told me." I said.
" No doubt it all worked out."
" In fact, it went much better than any of us expected. Granted, I did have to do a lot of convincing to get the athletes to want to be in the fashion show. They were still being pretty stubborn, but Rainbow Dash was on hand to get them on board." I said.
" Did something else go wrong?"
" It did, and I wasn't surprised about it."
" What happened?"
" Trixie happened."