Canterlot High school, why did it have to be here?
This was the thought that had kept going through Sweetie Drops’ head ever since she had been given the assignment. She had thought it when she read through her papers, when she was driven out here, and she continued thinking it as she walked down the streets to her first day at the school.
It being busy was her only consolation as she made her way through the crowd of people. She could easily blend in with her white dress after finding it didn’t take much effort not to stick out in such a… let's say ‘diverse’ crowd.
This was good for her because, while she was considered by her peers to be exceptional at hiding in plain sight, she was putting more effort than usual into making sure her breathing and mannerisms were normal.
It wasn’t as though she was worried—that’s too strong a word. She was merely nervous due to the fact she wasn’t expecting to return to her home town so quickly.
Granted, every spy has to go back to their old home eventually; it would have happened to her sooner or later. She just hoped it would be the latter. But she couldn’t complain that much, as this mission was too important.
Not the mission in general per say—it was a generic, low level, magic sighted, make sure it’s not a security threat mission—but it was very important that Drops, personally, could do it.
Whenever a mission pops up that happened to be in a spy’s hometown, they were usually shipped there immediately. The higher-ups say it’s because they have a better understanding of the area already, but Drops knew, just as everyone else did, that it was to make sure you’ve severed all personal ties.
If you could get through the mission without getting emotionally involved or risking its success for someone you cared about, then you were fit to be trusted fully with the responsibilities of spywork.
This mission could end with her being put on the shortlist towards moving up the ladder of authority, or leave her perpetually as a go-to for low stakes missions for many years to come. So, she considered a little nervousness to be understandable.
To get her mind off from the consequences of her mission, she examined the crowd that she was currently part of.
For the most part, it seemed like a very friendly school. All around were groups of friends walking and talking together, seemingly happy to be in one another's company, and most people were with at least one companion.
This did raise a little concern for Sweetie Drops, as her being one of the few people alone could draw some attention. But that was nothing a bit of posture shrinking and confident walking couldn’t fix.
She was always taught that as long as you walk confidently, people will assume you know what you’re doing and, by extension, not pay much attention to you. A combination of many other subtle tricks was the art of staying out of sight.
As she continued to walk, a group that had not mastered any of these tricks caught Sweetie Drops’ attention. There were three people sitting on a bench opposite to the bulk of students walking into school. All male, late teens, quite athletic, and presenting themselves with a tough guy act.
While they were being very loud and obnoxious, Sweetie had initially done her best to ignore them. That was until she noticed they had started to become even more distracting, laughing and making funny faces in a particular direction.
Following their gazes, she could see they were directing this behaviour at a particular blond haired girl who had just started to pick-up in speed, trying her best to ignore their loud slurs.
Drops had noticed her before. She was one of the few girls who was without a companion.
Ignoring any sensible thoughts going through her head, Drops found herself sliding through the crowd to get closer to the girl. She couldn’t see her face, but she was obviously distressed, something that only seemed to just encourage them.
As the shouts got louder, Drops found herself getting angrier despite them not directing anything at her personally. With every passing “dipstick”, “crosseyed”, and “retard”, she got increasingly hopeful that someone would tell them to shut up or comfort the girl at least.
But, to her ever growing disappointment, no one did any such thing. A couple huffs and quiet jeers were the most the crowd could muster. To be fair, she couldn’t do anything for her either, only wait for them to get out into the school and feel bad for her.
But as the girl got close to the gate, she, without noticing, entered a clearing without anyone else within a couple of meters from her.
Sensing an opportunity, one of them—the shorter of the three—stood up with his football in hand and raised it above his shoulder.
He yelled “eyes on the ball!” and threw it with a laugh.
The girl turned and, upon seeing the ball, flinched, covered her face with her arms, and shut her eyes.
She stayed like that for a couple of seconds, but nothing happened to her. There was no pain from getting hit by the ball, or any laugh from her flitching so violently at a ball that missed her.
Upon opening her eyes, she was greeted by the ball, staying stationary a couple inches away from her face. Examining the situation, she quickly realised it had been stopped by a pale yellow hand that had caught the ball.
Sweetie Drops was looking at the girl, making sure she was okay, when their gazes met. Her expression was a mix between confusion and shock, and when Drops noticed her crossed eyes, she found herself filling with even more rage.
She turned, shooting a look at the boys who were all staring at her in a stunned silence. Narrowing her eyes, she, almost instinctively, pelted the ball back.
The boy’s face flashed with shock, as his arms desperately tried to flinch upwards to block the ball. It was too late. He was hit square in the face, knocking him off balance and backwards where he tripped over the bench and fell, head first, onto the pavement.
All Drops heard was a faint whimper of pain.
The other two, who Sweetie Drops was happy to see were no longer laughing, exchanged looks between their newly injured friend and the menacing glare of Sweetie Drops.
With almost no hesitation, they quickly helped their friend up, who seemed confused and wobbly, before running off down the street.
Drops glared at them the whole time, making sure they didn’t say anything they’d soon regret. But—as they went out of sight, and her anger calmed down—she quickly realised she had probably just messed up. Messed up badly.
Turning around slowly, she found that not only was the girl she helped staring at her with an amazed expression, but almost everyone else that had just seen what happened had stopped walking and were staring as well.
Drops paused, but before she thought of something clever to say or do, she received a loud cheer from the students.
Crap. Despite her best efforts to stay unnoticed, she had failed miserably. And despite her best efforts not to blush at the sudden attention, she had failed just as miserably.
If all that wasn’t bad enough, as everyone continued walking they felt obliged to give her even more unwanted attention.
“Great job standing up to those bullies. They had it coming.”
“Erm, thanks, but it’s wasn’t that big of—”
“Nice throw. You’ve got one hell of an arm.”
“Well, that’s, uh, thanks, I think, but—”
“I’ve always wanted to teach those ass-holes a lesson myself, but I’ve never had the courage. You’ve got guts.”
“I’m not really sure if that’s it, I wasn’t—”
“That was great! I can’t wait to tell my friends about this!”
“That’s really not necessary.”
This, regrettably, continued until the street was left with only Sweetie Drops, the girl—who had been standing there awkwardly—and a handful of stragglers who continued to walk past them.
Drops went silent. This was, potentially, a major setback, and it was so early in. She normally had a good understanding of the situation before she did something stupid, or, at the very least, had started the investigation.
“... I, er… Thank you.”
Drops turned to face the girl again, this time with a modest smile. She took a second to take in her finer details, noting that, even without her eyes, she seemed to be a unique character.
Her dress sense was, in the least mean way possible, messy. The wrinkled blue shirt clashed with her green skirt, and her yellow tie wasn’t done properly. Again though, not in a mean way, she genuinely thought she still looked pretty. Her long blond hair, especially, looked surprisingly good messy.
But her mannerisms seemed a bit timid, never quite facing her directly and noticeably scrunched in posture. She obviously didn’t know what to do in the situation she found herself in.
Drops decided to try and ease her nerves as best she could.
“Oh, don’t mention it,” she chuckled, waving off any amazement thrown her way. “Pretty good at sports, happened to be close by, no big deal. Anyone else would have done the same.”
The girl gave her best attempt at a chuckle. “Well, it kind of was, ‘cause they normally don’t.”
Drops frowned. “They don’t come here often, do they? If so, I can walk on that side of the road to make sure they stay well away. Give me enough time and I’m pretty sure I can get you a written apology.”
The girl gave Drops a genuine giggle. “It’s fine, really. I don’t want you going ‘round beating people up for me.” She smiled. “Thanks for the offer, anyway.”
Drops let out a little giggle at the girl’s innocent ‘thank you’, happy to see her smiling.
“Fair enough,” Drops said. “Though, I don’t usually resort to violence initially, it just kind of happens sometimes.” And, on occasion, at times when she probably shouldn’t have. A fact her mentors have often scolded her for.
“I honestly prefer to settle things maturely and in a state of calm,” Drops continued. “I just don’t have a long enough temper to achieve that all the time.”
“Then I’ll do my best not to anger you,” she said, smile still wide.
“I’m sure you’ll do a good job at that, and I can be fairly certain I won’t resort to violence with you.” She held out her hand. “I’m Bon-Bon, by the way, this is my first day here.”
The girl stared at it for a split second, but then shook it with a surprisingly firm hand and confident look. “I’m Derpy. It’s nice to meet you.”
“It’s lovely to meet you too… You can stop shaking my hand now.”
“Oh, sorry,” Derpy said quickly, releasing her hand with an apologetic look.
“It’s perfectly fine.” She let out another giggle, but then quickly realised all the other students had long gone. “Oh, I think we may be a bit late.”
“Don’t worry, it’s the first day back. They only have introductory assemblies in the mornings, which aren’t too important,” she said nonchalantly. “Anyway, didn’t you say you’re the new girl? You should be having a guided tour right now.”
“Oh, really? Alright.” Drops had been unaware of this. She probably should have payed more attention to the transfer arrangements. “Where should I go to get this tour?”
“The principal's office. I can show you there if you’d like. I could also, probably give you the tour. They normally just use a volunteer, so I’m sure that’d be fine. If you want me to, that is.”
Drops gave her a warm smile. “That would be nice, thank you.”
She considered a tour a good way of getting some much needed information anyway. And maybe Derpy could pose a good source of help for info and secrets.
Perhaps she could salvage something useful from this early mess-up.
After a quick walk to the principal’s office, Derpy was indeed allowed to give Drops the tour. She did think it was a bit too easy for her to simply change her schedule for the day, and was surprised at how laid back the school system was.
That being said, Drops had an education that was most likely harsher than others. A quick look at the school timetable made her realise how different the school was to her seven to nine training days. Sure that sounds bad, but weekends and fridays it was only nine till five.
Derpy was a surprisingly good tour guide. Drops found herself giggling like a small child every time she overenthusiastically explained details about each individual classroom, something that only seemed to encourage her.
She especially enjoyed Derpy’s explanation on the detailed movement patterns and actions she used to get muffins at the canteen before anyone else. It came complete with a demonstration on how she moved through any crowd without annoying or bumping into people, which she did admit was easier in theory than practice—a fact made evident when she almost knocked over a metal barrier.
While Drops did see several ways it could be improved, she decided against saying anything. It was fine as is. Infact, it made her realise that despite her outwards appearance, she was actually a really smart girl. Not the most coordinated, but smart nevertheless.
It was during one of these events that something caught Drops’ eye.
“Who are these pictures of?,” Drops asked, motioning Derpy over to her.
“Oh, those. That’s, er, Sunset Shimmer.”
Drops stared inquisitively at the pictures. “What kind of event did she win?”
“That’s, erm.” She started scratching the back of her head. “The end of year prom, I think.”
“Why does she look more and more… evil year to year?”
“Heh, does she?” she replied awkwardly.
“Yes, cartoonishly so.”
Derpy looked off to the side. “Does she? I’ve never really noticed.”
“How? She’s genuinely doing an evil laugh in the last one. That’s pretty noticeable.”
“T-that’s probably just a bad picture.”
Drops turned to look at Derpy for a second, but then forced a smile on her face. “Fair enough,” she said, making a mental note of the girl’s name. “Is there anywhere else you need to show me?”
Derpy, happy to move on to a different subject, showed Drops around the remaining classrooms upstairs, taking the time to show her which seats had the best views.
Drops must have lost track of time though—something most unlike her—as, before she knew it, the bell to signal lunch had begun.
They decided to make their way down to the cafeteria, with Drops excited to see the quick muffin technique in action.
Drops had noticed just how much Derpy’s physicality had changed since she first met her. Her posture had got better, hands no longer fiddly, and she even spoke a lot more confidently.
Once in the canteen, Drops started making sure she was standing in places that wouldn’t draw the eye. Mainly because someone noticed her and congratulated her for the morning’s display. The last thing she needed was to be treated like a celebrity.
While in the line, she made pleasant small talk with Derpy—who had decided against quickly getting a muffin and stood with Drops instead— which was mainly about muffins. But, all the while, she kept half her mind on observing the students.
Again, it was very evident how friendly and tolerant the school was. People seemed perfectly happy leaving this dorky kid with his curly haired boyfriend in peace, and a handful of their friends later joined them at the table.
It was a nice sight to see, and it actually made her job slightly easier. She still hadn’t quite lived down the mission she had to leave after breaking the arm of some ass-hat, who was picking on a young girl with some rainbow armbands.
“Excuse me Derpy, where do you normally sit?”
“Hmmm, Wha, Sorry?” She turned away from the muffins she had been examining for a good minute.
“Well, it’s just I’ve got all my food.” She showed Derpy her full tray. “So I was just wondering where you were going to sit. Do you normally sit with other people, or is there a specific place you like to sit?”
Derpy stiffened up slightly. “Wherever there’s a spare seat really. I normally sit on my own.”
“Oh, I’ll find us both a seat then,” Drops said with a smile.
Derpy seemed only too happy to return a smile of her own, a much bigger one. “Thanks, I’ll catch up. Just need to decide between these two muffins.”
Drops nodded before turning to find a seat. After a couple seconds looking, she found two seats she concluded were sufficient. Good vision of the cafeteria, unlikely to be noticed, a handful of available contingency plans. Yeah, they’d work.
While she sat and waited, Drops couldn’t help but find herself looking at Derpy, standing by herself, trying to decide on a muffin. It seemed odd to her that in a school so tolerant and friendly, Derpy sat alone.
There seemed to be no end of weirdly dressed, slightly odd people in this school, no offence to them, so why was Derpy the only one of them seemingly friendless? It wasn’t as though anyone was being mean to her.
But Drops managed to pull herself away from those thoughts. No time for distractions. She was on the job, after all.
Continuing to examine the crowd, her person of high interest entered the cafeteria: Sunset Shimmer. And she looked nothing at all like she’d expected.
Well, not exactly, she physically looked the same as in the picture, but her mannerisms didn’t fit the image at all. Maneuvering through the cafeteria awkwardly, doing her best not to get in anyone's way, almost scared of being noticed. She didn’t exactly seem like someone who’d laugh evilly after being voted prom queen.
Now that she thought about it, how on earth was she voted prom queen? There was not an air of confidence about her or the evident carisma that you’d expect of someone that popular.
It couldn’t have been from shy adorableness that people tend to universally like; that didn’t make sense either, as she didn’t seem to be that well liked. Infact, Drops picked up on a handful of people giving her a little glare when they noticed her.
So much for a friendly and tolerant school.
Once Sunset got her food, she quickly made her way to a table with a pink fluffy haired girl sitting there already. It was definitely weird. Finding out what was going on with this Sunset character was definitely priority number one.
Before too long, Derpy came and joined her by the table. She had two muffins on her tray, which Drops thought was probably the best decision. With a little “hello” from both parties, they ate their lunches with some pleasant small talk.
“So why did you move to this school? What happened to your last one?” asked Derpy.
“I got kicked out of my old school after getting into quite a bad fight.” She was still annoyed about being given that backstory. She knew it was one of her mentors poking fun at her. “Wasn't my fault though; he didn’t give me any other option.”
“Oh.” Derpy gave her an almost concerned look.
She was gonna kill that mentor… Well, she wasn’t, because she’s not prone to violence. “I’m really not like that,” she persisted. “I spent years at that school without getting into any fights.”
Derpy nodded. “I mean, you don’t seem like someone who uses violence without a good reason.”
A look of genuine gratitude appeared on Drops’ face. “Thank you.”
Granted, that response may have seemed a bit weird for Derpy, but sometimes she was just happy to hear a bit of reassurance. Luckily, the conversation promptly moved on.
She still kept an eye on her surroundings though. It made sense to every so often check if Sunset was doing anything noteworthy, which, she normally wasn’t. But she also kept an eye on those still entering the cafeteria, just in case.
While there was a wide array of people coming through the entrance, they were unimportant. Some girl with her headphones on made her question if there was any need to wear those sunglasses inside. She saw three kids walking around, and questioned why they were the only girls their age at the school. She also saw this mint haired girl with a lyre necklace who… wait... Oh crap.
“Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap,” Drops muttered, maneuvering her body so she was turned away from the entrance, with her hand obscuring the side of her head facing it.
“What’s wrong?”
“You see her?” Drops motioned towards the aforementioned girl. “The one with the Lyre necklace and light pink dress, who is she?
Derpy glanced at the girl. “That’s Lyra heartstrings. She’s—”
“Crap,” she groaned.
“She’s Crap?”
“What? No, that’s not what I meant.” She leant in closer to Derpy, changing her voice to a whisper. “I knew her when I was little. She was my oldest friend here.”
Derpy raised an eyebrow at her. “You lived here when you were little?”
Drops replied with an unintentionally patronising look. “Yes, I used to live here, but that’s not the point. The point is she can’t see me.”
“Why not?” she asked, getting more confused at Drops’ actions.
“I’m not ready for that,” she admitted. “It’s been years since I last saw her and, well, there is a very real chance she won’t be over the moon to see me.”
“Then you’re gonna have to get ready quickly. She’s coming this way,” Derpy said, turning forward. “I wouldn’t worry though, Lyra’s never been one to hold a grudge. I’m sure if you’re old friends, she’ll be more than happy to see you, Bon-Bon… Bon-Bon?”
She had gone. Derpy spun round on her seat, but there was no trace of her. She just looked around with a perplexed expression planted on her face.
“Hey Derpy. Didn’t see you there.”
“Oh, hey Lyra,” she replied, still trying to figure out what happened.
“So,” she said, moving a bit closer to Derpy, “I heard some mystery girl saved you from a bunch of bullies today. She apparently gave them a pretty strong argument as to why they should get lost.”
“Yeah, that’s about right.” She looked around again. “I think you just missed her actually.”
“Ah, that’s a shame. I’d have really liked to meet her.” She thought for a second. “I wonder if she’ll be up to teaching me how to throw a football hard enough to knock someone over.”
“I’ll have to introduce her to you at some point.”
Lyra chuckled. “That would be great, thanks. I’ll be knocking over bullies before you know it,” she said with an almost heroic pose. “I’ll see you later Derpy.”
“Yeah, see you later.”
Derpy watched Lyra as she walked off and joined the queue to get food. She sighed, unsure what exactly to do about the disappearing girl.
“That was close.”
Derpy almost jumped out of her seat. “Bon-Bon, please don’t do that,” she said, hand on chest to help her sudden heavy breathing.
Drops gave her an apologetic smile. “Sorry, I’ll try not to sneak up on you next time.”
“H-how did you even disappear like that?”
She had sat at the end of the table, meaning she could just slide out instead of wasting time and making noise moving the chair out from underneath. There was also a group of people standing behind of where they were sitting, so she could quickly walk behind them without being noticed. From there, she could just blend in with certain crowds or stand in corner out of their line of sight until Lyra had gone. It was a simple trick.
“That’s not important,” Drops stated. “What’s important is what she said to you.”
“To me? She just heard about you scaring off those people and wanted to meet you.”
Drops groaned, leaning over and onto the table.
Without any hesitation, Derpy began to pat her on the back. “There there. It’s okay.”
Drops sighed. “Thanks,” she said, not mustering any movement.
Derpy continued to pat until Drops pulled herself up slightly, at which point Derpy gave her an encouraging smile. “So what actually happened between you two?” She asked. “Was it bad?”
“You could say that. It certainly wasn’t good.”
Why did it have to be Canterlot High School