Chapter 11: Trying To Figure Out How To Stop WHAT?!
“This isn’t good. This isn’t good! THIS AIN’T GOOD AT ALL!!” Apple Bloom panicked as she paced around the CMC’s clubhouse, “Of all the people to get curious about us, it has to be HER!”
“Well, it was bound to happen at some point,” Sweetie sighed, “I was just hoping that we wouldn’t have to deal with her so soon.”
Sweetie, Scootaloo, and Dinky were sitting inside the clubhouse in a small circle. Despite the air conditioner operating at full blast, the heat still managed to radiate through the walls. While everyone had gotten Sweetie’s alarm message the day prior, only Scootaloo responded with the idea of holding a meeting. Pinkie backed out of today’s meeting so that she could help the Cakes with a massive order before taking Pound and Pumpkin to Comedy Land.
Miss Cheerilee also declined showing up, explaining that this meeting was beyond her jurisdiction as club supervisor. That left Sunset, who also bowed out because she wanted to spend the day with Twilight. She did, however, say: “I’m sure you girls will come up with something.”
That left the CMC and Dinky to try and figure something out. They wanted to settle matters at CHS, but they quickly realized that the doors were locked on Sundays. Therefore, they decided to hold the emergency meeting at the clubhouse.
Unfortunately, even after an hour of debating, none of them could come up with a solution. This was Sweetie’s second worst nightmare. She would have been freaking out right now, but Apple Bloom was doing enough panicking for everyone within the room.
“What if she sends Snips and Sails into the club party this Friday?” Apple Bloom asked, “We can’t just turn them down because that would clearly be a case of discrimination. That’s an instant scoop for DT right there!”
“There’s also the problem of her recruiting another club to spy on us.” Dinky added, “Like the Audio Visual Club.”
Apple Bloom paled. “Wait. Do you mean like the A/V Club?”
“Well, they do handle video and camera technology. It is possible for them to …” Dinky started. She never got a chance to finish that sentence.
“That uppity, no good—grrrrrr!” Apple Bloom growled, “What are we gonna do? They’ll rig every room in the Student Union Center! That’ll allow them to see everything that goes on! And then they’ll give it to Diamond, and she’ll print it in the papers, and the principals will find out!”
Sweetie held her tongue, trying her hardest to avoid an “I told you so” moment; though to be fair, she surrendered that point when she signed on to this club. Now as Club President, it was going to be her job to alleviate this issue. The only trouble was, finding out a way to do so. Sweetie pondered the most rational way to handle the situation.
Even after a while, nothing was coming to her. Sweetie leaned back and gently tugged at her shirt. She was sweating, even with the AC on full blast. While she wanted nothing more than to shed her sweaty clothes, it would have been inappropriate. In fact, she was certain that if all four of them stripped, it would only serve as a distraction. While she sat there, the girls argued while they tried to figure out the answer.
“Can we just ask the A/V club not to hardwire the cameras?” Scootaloo asked.
“But then they’d ask why and if they don’t believe our answer, they may try to go behind our backs.” Dinky answered.
“Okay then, we could tell A/V the truth; maybe get a cross over party.” Apple Bloom commented anxiously.
“Not possible. The A/V club may be small, but they’re easily swayed by DT’s influence. No offense to Button Mash.” Scootaloo answered.
“That’s ok, none taken.” Sweetie sighed.
“How about we just ban the use of cameras?” Dinky asked.
“Can’t do that either, that would instantly get the Principal’s attention.” Apple Bloom answered.
“Fine. Let’s just forget about the A/V club for now,” Sweetie said, “DT did mention that she wanted to grill your informants. Dinky, you think any of them will crack under pressure?”
Dinky shook her head proudly, “Not a snow ball’s chance in Tartarus! They really enjoyed Friday’s party and I highly doubt they’ll want to give something like that up.”
That calmed Apple Bloom’s nerves, as well as everyone else’s. But then Dinky expression darkened, “I can’t speak for their network chain. That’s the problem with using a network in the first place, someone’s gonna listen in from time to time.”
Sweetie grimaced. “How can we be sure?”
Dinky winced. “You can’t.”
“I suppose there’s a little bit of a silver lining in there.” Apple Bloom shivered. Just then her phone buzzed, “It’s a message from AJ. She needs me at the orchard. I guess I’d better get going.”
“You know, I think we should all probably get going,” Sweetie said, “We’re not coming up with anything right now anyway. Let’s just take the rest of the day off, clear our heads, and meet back at school tomorrow.”
The quartet nodded and one by one the others left until Sweetie Belle was the only one left in the clubhouse. She would eventually return home, but right now her sister was in the middle of creating a dress, and Sweetie had no desire to anywhere near the house.
Rarity had the tendency to “conscript” anyone who happened to be standing around when it came to making dresses. That meant that Sweetie would inevitably be dragged into another four hour session pretending to be mannequin.
As she walked out of the now vacated clubhouse, she slowly pondered what exactly to do. Despite the heat, it was a beautiful day and she wasn’t about to let Diamond Tiara keep her from enjoying it.
Regardless of the threat she posed to club, Diamond was relatively easy to fool. It was well within Dinky’s capabilities to come up with a way to circumvent the pampered parasol parading prissy pants pseudo princess. While misinforming Diamond through back channels was easy, it was a far more difficult to curb her usual bribes and threats directly.
As unlikely as it was, the prospect of the A/V club spying on the NLAC was a conceivable one. One unaccounted for camera, or one member disguised as a party goer, could spell disaster for NLAC. However, Sweetie did have one way to keep an eye on A/V club.
She reached into her pocket and dialed Button Mash. After two rings, he picked up, “Oh, hey Sweetie Belle, what’s up?”
“Not much Button, I just wanted to see what you were doing.” she answered.
“I’m actually out with my friends from A/V right now. We’re setting up some cameras to record a concert at Westbun’s theater.” He answered.
That makes sense, Sweetie thought; A/V usually does that sort of thing. She paused for a moment, “Sounds like fun.”
“Eh, it’s a pretty tedious job. Sorry, but I can’t really hang out today.” Button lamented.
“That’s okay,” Sweetie assured, “I understand that you’re busy. I actually wanted to ask you a question, but since you’re with A/V I think it’d be better if I asked your president directly. Can you see if he’s free?”
“Sure, one second.” Button answered.
There was a long pause.
“Yes?” Featherweight spoke.
“Hey Feather. It’s Sweetie Belle. I hope I’m not interrupting.” Sweetie greeted.
“Oh, don’t worry; I could use a break anyway. What’s on your mind?” Featherweight asked.
“I was just wondering: does A/V club work on the security cameras at school?”
Featherweight paused, “Does this have something to do with Diamond Tiara and that club of yours?” Sweetie felt a knot form in her gut. But before she could answer; Featherweight spoke, “If you’re asking about it, then I’m pretty sure it has to do with the club. Don’t worry Sweetie, A/V doesn’t allow spying on other clubs. It’s against our charter.”
Sweetie sighed, “Oh thank you, I hope that didn’t break your code?”
“Nah, it’s a commonly asked question. I just assumed that since your club is the talk of the school right now. If she approaches us about it, I’ll try my best to hold her off.” Featherweight said, “We gotta get back to work. Talk to you later, Sweetie.”
“Thanks Feather.” Sweetie said and hung up.
It was a good omen for things to come at least. Sweetie slipped her phone back into her pocket, mounted her bike, and headed off for home. While she made her way home, she paused for a moment. She didn’t really feel like going home just yet.
She had dismissed her friends, but going to any of them right now and brining up Diamond Tiara might stress them out. She had, at least temporarily, solved the A/V problem, but there were other ways DT could launch her attack. And right now, Sweetie wanted to take her own advice to heart: clear her head.
As she rounded a corner, she felt the heat weigh her down. Boy I wish I could be naked right now, she thought, It would do wonders against this heat. But Whitetail was a long ride away. This heat was going to kill her before she even gotten within spitting distance. She had no privacy at home, with Rarity possibly needing her for dress designs.
She could turn back towards the clubhouse, which was still on the Apple property, and thus a safer bet. Applejack and Big Mac rarely came by the clubhouse to pick for apples, and even when they did, the treehouse was elevated enough for their view to be obscured.
Having little other option, Sweetie turned back to the clubhouse. It didn’t take long, especially since she was only a half a block away. However, the heat became worse and made the trip feel especially longer. Yet, no heat could stop Sweetie as she pedaled her way back to the club house. Soon enough, she arrived and walked back up the ramp to the door. It was then that she heard the air conditioner still running.
At first, Sweetie feared that she had forgotten to turn off the air conditioner. Then she had remembered that it was on a sensor and would shut off automatically if it didn’t detect any movement in the room. Why was it still running? It was possible that a book fell over, triggering the sensor, which had actually happened once or twice.
Sweetie slowly opened the door to the club house. Only to find the cause of the air conditioner still running: Dinky Hooves. She was sitting in one of the chairs near the work table where the CMC used to plan their crazy schemes, reading something on her phone. And she was naked as the day she was born.
Sweetie was slightly surprised, and made her presence known by closing the door behind her. “I hope I’m not interrupting.” She smiled.
Dinky looked up from her phone. “Hey, Sweetie!”
“I thought you were going home.” Sweetie said as she walked over to the air conditioner to cool off.
“I was, but the heat made me turn back.” She giggled, “I guess you did the same?”
Sweetie nodded. “Yeah, I actually wanted to hang out nude. Home’s not an option at the moment and Sunset’s place is too far away.”
“Why can’t you be naked at home?”
“Because of Rarity,” Sweetie answered as if it was obvious. After answering, she began to undress.
Dinky tilted her head. “You’re afraid she might walk in on you? I’m sure she’d understand.”
“No, she really wouldn’t,” Sweetie sighed as she set her clothes aside and joined Dinky at the table, “Rarity... can be really judgmental sometimes. She’s always been obsessed over her image above all else. I mean she is a very generous person, but…”
Dinky stopped Sweetie mid-sentence, “Sweetie, I think that you’re not giving your sister enough credit. But then again, it isn’t really my place to pry, so I won’t.”
Sweetie nodded, thankful to get off the conversation about Rarity. She pulled out a small book and began to read it, though she wasn’t done talking to Dinky. “Do your parents know about you being a nudist?”
“Oh, I’ve already told them,” Dinky smiled, “They’re okay with it, just so long as I have a robe handy. Personally, I can’t believe I haven’t tried something like this sooner!”
Sweetie giggled. “I know. It is kinda fun enjoying the day without clothes on.”
Dinky shook her head, her mood becoming slightly serious, “No, I don’t think that’s it for me.”
Sweetie looked up from her book, “Well, what’s it like for you?”
Dinky shrugged for a moment, “I don’t know… I guess it’s more the fact that I’ve actually made some real friends this time.”
That got Sweetie to put her book down and look at Dinky slightly confused. “Wait, I don’t follow.” Sweetie said. Dinky looked up at Sweetie Belle with a slightly pouty face. Sweetie leaned back in somewhat shock, “Dinky, are you saying you’ve never had a real friend? But you’re such a socialite, a butterfly….”
“Everyone’s got walls Sweetie Belle; everyone’s got a secret to hide. At CHS, it’s my job to either make sure secrets get out….or stay hidden. And with that, I’ve learned to pick up on certain cues. There are those who build walls around themselves, and they don’t like letting anyone else inside.
“There are also people who have weak walls. They let everything come out at the slightest push, even if don’t mean to. The rest…they don’t know they have those walls up it’s just something they do.” Dinky explained.
“Those are the three kinds of people out there. For most, those walls could be a smirk or snide comment, or it could be the way the way they act around people: be it aggressive or be it timid. But when all else fails, those walls can even be the clothing they wear.
“When I was at the party, I noticed something. After the bowling tournament began and people were starting to have fun, I saw those walls start to come down. My classmates were mingling with each other, with me, with you, and with your friends…. naked.
“I don’t mean that in just the literal sense, but mentally as well. They had nothing on. They had no walls left to hide behind. There was nothing holding them back. They were simply people.” Dinky finished, a slight tear of joy forming in her eye.
Sweetie was sure that if her jaw wasn’t attached to her face, it would be on the floor. She had certainly read that naturists make the truest friends, even if she hadn’t given it much credence. But then there was the fact that Pinkie and Sunset hadn’t told the others of their new lifestyles, and how she and Apple Bloom still had yet to inform their own sisters. Dinky, in some strange way, was right.
And yet, that all didn’t matter during Friday’s party. The person who was used to getting information anyway she could, the person who trained to get around every walls, the person who was used to breaking defenses and undermining authority finally found some genuine friendship.
“I-I never thought about it that way….” Sweetie said meekly.
“Sweetie, if you could only hear from all the party goers there, hear their stories, they were enjoying themselves more than I could have ever expected. All of those people and the ones who are coming to the next party….I know that they’ll have a wonderful time.” Dinky smiled.
Sweetie nodded. “And we’ll make sure they keep having a wonderful time, no matter what.”