Rocky Start
“This whole helping Coalstone out sounded a lot easier when I actually knew where to find him. Probably should have planned this out a little better.”
Sunset quietly grumbled to herself as she paced through the progressively empty halls of Canterlot High. With her classes over, she had every intention to seek Coalstone out and try her best to live up to the promise she had made to herself during their first encounter, namely to try and befriend the stone worker.
Naturally, the first step to that little mission would be to find him and establish some kind of dialogue…. Unfortunately, Sunset failed to consider one little fact.
“Well, Coalstone was right about one thing, I don’t know where or what everybody is doing at this school.”
Finding Coalstone wasn’t easy, as he and Sunset didn’t share any classes and the only place Sunset knew for sure she had a chance of finding him was the art room. Of course, that was the first place she tried and, wouldn’t you know it, he wasn’t there. Thus, her only lead pretty much crumbled up like one of Coalstone’s statues.
The fiery teen continued to stalk the hallways of the school, her eyes quickly darting past any window she came across for a possible sign of Coalstone’s whereabouts. “I kind of figured this wasn’t going to be easy, but I didn’t think I’d have trouble just finding the guy.”
“Okay, let’s think for a second. School let out about a twenty minutes ago, and most of the classrooms are locked up. The only places still open are the gym, the fields, the music room and the library. I’ve already checked the gym and fields, and he doesn’t exactly strike me as the music type.”
Her eyes quickly zeroed in on the only other possible location near the end of the hallway. “So I guess that means the library is my best bet. Either that or he went home already, which if that’s true, I’m gonna be a little annoyed.”
With a huff, she started to make her way toward the library….
“Hey, Sunset, hold up.”
Sunset stopped cold and quickly stiffened in place as the sounds of several parties running towards her. With a quick turn of the head, she quickly spotted her friends Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie.
Not wanting to appear like she was up to anything, Sunset quickly mustered up a smile and offered a wave. “Oh, hey, girls. Didn’t see you there, I figured you’d all left for the day.”
“That was the plan, but we figured we’d all stop by Sugarcube Corner and grab a snack. Rainbow and Fluttershy are already there, so we went looking for you.”
Pinkie quickly started to show her excitement as she casually bounced around her friends. “Yeah, we all had SOOOO much fun over the winter break, we figured, why stop just cause we’re back in school? We’ll just keep partying until the end of time!”
Sunset actually frowned at the request, and her eyes dropped to the floor somewhat. "As fun as that sounds, I’m a little busy right now and won’t be able to make it.”
“Whatever do you mean, darling? School just started back up; surely you couldn’t have accumulated enough work that a little time with your friends is out of the question.” Rarity looked over Sunset with a quizzical gaze, making Sunset feel like she was being interrogated.
“Don’t forget, Rarity, I’ve got Miss Harshwhinny in math class. I believe the last thing she said before the holiday was that breaks make you lazy and being lazy makes you sloppy in life. So she’s trying to make up for all the time we missed with some extra work and I was just heading to the library to give it a head start.”
Rarity let out a mild look of disgust. “That woman can be such a slave driver sometimes. I honestly don’t know how you can even put up with that kind of work, Sunset!”
“Well, I was already kind of a bookworm back in Equestria. Really, studying and me go together like Rainbow and soccer or Pinkie and cake.”
Pinkie quickly shot up and actually started to drool a little. “Cake.”
“Best get Pinkie to Sugarcube Corner before she starts drooling all over the hallway.” Applejack quickly began to push her pink friend towards the exit, while Rarity offered one last glance at Sunset.
“Are you certain you can’t come with us, darling? Surely with your grades you can afford to take a day off?”
Sunset only shook her head. “Sorry, but if I don’t at least get started on this, it’ll drive me nuts for the rest of the night. Don’t worry, I’ll catch you guys later.” With another wave, Sunset quickly made her way towards the library, while Rarity quickened her own pace to catch up with AJ and Pinkie.
“I must say, I always pegged Sunset as a bit of a bookworm and perfectionist, but I never imagined she’d be so dedicated.”
Applejack, however, frowned as she took a quick glance back at Sunset. “I don’t want to be the one pointing any fingers or anything, but I’m getting the feeling Sunset’s keeping something from us.”
“Oooh, like a secret. Maybe it’s magical secret, or maybe an embarrassing secret. Oh! Oh, maybe it’s an embarrassing magical secret.” Pinkie hopped up in down with her usual enthusiasm.
Rarity, however, didn’t seem as convinced of the implications. "Come now, Applejack. I know you’re probably the best at spotting dishonesty, but Sunset has no reason to lie to us.”
Applejack’s frown quickly became melancholy as she started staring at her boot. “Pretty sure after how we treated her during the whole Anon-A-Miss situation, she’d have plenty of cause not to trust us.”
Both Pinkie and Rarity seemed as though they’d been splashed with a good, cold hit of reality, with Pinkie’s hair actually deflating somewhat at the prospect.
“But we know it wasn’t her that was spreading all our secrets back then. The entire school knows she didn’t do it!”
“Maybe so, but that didn’t stop us from all jumping on her the second we had the chance.” AJ let off a huff as the three exited the school, though not before taking a quick glance at the hallways, near where the group had all but renounced Sunset as their friend.
Just remembering what they’d done and said at that moment still felt like being dunked in ice water after getting slapped in the face.
“Honestly, after the way we treated her, wouldn’t surprise me if she wasn’t still a little sore about what happened.”
Pinkie’s hair deflated further, looking more like a pink deflated beach ball than its usual poofy self. "Suddenly I don’t feel in the mood for sugar, you guys.”
Rarity’s face, however, quickly hardened somewhat as she gave Pinkie a light shake. "Come now, girls, we shouldn’t go jumping to conclusions. I regret my actions during that dreadful affair as much as you do, but we shouldn’t let ourselves be dragged down by our past mistakes. The best thing we can do for ourselves and for Sunset is to put it behind us.”
Pinkie seemed to perk up, with her hair regaining some of its bounce, but Applejack still didn’t seem as assured, casting another glance at the school, as they continued to walk away.
Unknown to the trio, Sunset watched the girls exit the school. "Sorry about the lie, you guys. I’ll make it up to you later when I get the chance.”
Quickly straightening herself out, Sunset entered the library, quickly scanning across the towering shelves of books that occupied the space.
“Okay, now if I were a somewhat anti-social teenager with a penchant for carving scary looking stone statues, where would I be.”
“SHHHHHH”
Sunset quickly cringed at the loud shushing sound. She quickly spotted Miss Cherilee, both the homeroom teacher for the younger students and the librarian, who frankly seemed a little high-strung at times, if the glare she was currently giving Sunset was any indication.
All Sunset could offer was an awkward smile and a nod to indicate she got the message and continued onwards with her search, scanning the library for a possible sign of Coalstone.
“I’m starting to think this might not be the best spot to look for him. I mean, I’ve been here a few times and most of the books here are just study aids, which, while they were helpful for me to learn about this world, don’t exactly strike me as something Coalstone would be interested in.”
She took another quick scan of the room and noticed that, like the rest of the school, the library was pretty empty. Other than Cheerilee, there were maybe three other students currently seated at tables, each with books in place.
Two of them clearly seemed like the reading was more for work than pleasure, with one student practically shoving his face into the pages in a vain attempt to better absorb the information, while the one two tables down was writing down notes while her eyes scanned over the pages.
The other person, however, wasn’t visible, as they were leaning back in the chair while holding the book up to hide their face. However, Sunset quickly became excited as she spotted a familiar black jacket and wild grey mohawk.
“I can’t believe it; I actually managed to find him. Was worried I’d have to go over this school with an electron microscope or some of that CSI stuff in order to find him.”
As Sunset slowly made her way over to Coalstone, she quickly observed something rather odd about him.
“Is it just me, or does he seem a lot more relaxed than when I saw him in the artroom?”
During their first meeting Coalstone had a stance and posture that was, for lack of a better term… stone-like. His arms and body seemed extremely constricted, acting like he was on edge during the entire conversation. Same with his seemingly rigid facial expression, neither of which changed, even while he was working on his statues. By all accounts, Coalstone’s movement made him resemble an actual statue, if it had the option to move.
Here however, he was considerably more relaxed, if his shoulders and arms were anything to say. It was actually making Sunset briefly consider if maybe she had the wrong person.
“Better make a quick check to make sure.” With a few tentative steps Sunset carefully walked around another table that was two down from Coalstone’s apparent position. Gradually she crept forward until she was behind the teen from about twenty feet away.
The view was sufficient as she could now see through the backrest of the chair. "Yep, that’s Coalstone, alright: nobody else has a jacket with a hammer and chisel design.”
Having finally found her target, Sunset quickly realized she’d traded one incomplete plan for another.
“Okay, now that I found him, how exactly should I approach him? Could always try striking up a conversation, but I’d need something to talk about.”
She zeroed in on Coalstone again, this time taking note of the fact he was clearly focused on the book he was reading. Taking another step or two to reposition herself to see the cover, she found the book in question to be a classic fantasy story.
She took another step or two forward, with nothing but the desk separating her and her shadow now reaching over the book Coalstone was reading… And he still didn’t react. He was still completely glued to the book he was currently reading.
“Wow, and I thought I got sucked into reading. It’s like he’s completely tuning everything out. Meaning I either have to actually talk to him or perhaps tap him on the shoulder.”
As Sunset contemplated her options for her next course of attack, she didn’t notice a smaller shadow appear before her.
“Uh, Sunset? Y’all okay?”
She practically bit her tongue to keep herself from screaming as she all but leapt into the air at the sound of a voice behind her.
With a snap of her head, she found herself staring into a familiar amber pair of eyes. "Applebloom, what’re you still here? Didn’t the middle school close like an hour ago?”
Apple Bloom frowned, her bow actually dropping like a pair of dog ears. “Yeah, but Miss Cheerilee is having Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and me help out her in the library as part of our detention.”
Sunset peered over Apple Bloom, and sure enough, she caught sight of Sweetie and Scootaloo helping place books on the various shelves throughout the library under Cheerilee’s watchful eye.
Apple Bloom’s frown grew heavier as she looked away from Sunset. "Course, we aren’t gonna complain about it. After everything we did to you and everyone else in this school, stacking books on shelves is nothing, least compared to getting chewed out by our folks.”
Sunset offered a calm smile to the girl as she patted her head lightly. "Don’t worry too much about it, Apple Bloom. I told you guys I forgave you a while back, so don’t beat yourself up over your past mistakes. Trust me, it doesn’t do you any good.”
The little girl seemed to perk up, her ribbon actually jumping up as well, though she quickly found herself peering behind Sunset.
“Say Sunset, just what were you looking at, anyway? Didn’t seem like you were searching for a book.”
Sunset quickly started to panic a little. She jittered slightly trying to think up some kind of lie, only for that hope to die quickly when Apple Bloom caught sight of Coalstone at the table, and then proceeded to point him out.
“Oh, you were looking at him.”
Sunset quickly slapped her hand over Apple Bloom’s mouth. "Would you mind being a little more quiet? I’d prefer to keep this discreet, and also not have Miss Cherilee chew me out about it.”
After receiving a nod, Sunset took her hands away. Apple Bloom took another glance at Coalstone. "So what’s going on, Sunset? You interested in that guy or something?”
“In a way, I guess. Right now I’m just trying to learn a little more about him is all.”
“Well if it helps, he comes in here pretty much every other day after school’s let out and sticks around for about two hours reading in the same spot.”
Sunset’s eyes practically jumped out at the girl’s insight. "How in the world do you know that?”
Apple Bloom smiled somewhat at the question. "Me and the other Crusaders pass by the library a bunch of times after school, and every time we do, he’s there in that same spot. Only difference is the book he’s reading. I figure he’s probably read dang near half the books in this library.”
“Okay, so apparently he likes to read… a lot, and from what I could glance from the cover, seems like he’s more into fantasy stories… Wonder how he’d react if I told him I’m actually a unicorn from a magic realm of dragons, griffons and pegasi. That’d get his attention.”
“So do you wanna talk to him or something?”
Sunset quietly nodded. "Talking is the overall goal if you could call it that. Really I’m just curious about the guy and want to learn a little more about him.”
Apple Bloom quickly became confused. "Okay, if that’s the plan, then why don’t you just go over and talk with him?”
“Because, Apple Bloom, you can’t just walk up to a random person and just start talking with them. Generally you need some kind of plan or at least an idea of what you’re gonna talk about.”
Apple Bloom stroked her chin at the thought of what Sunset was saying as she looked again at Coalstone. "Well, he likes to read, and you like to read if I remember correctly, so there, problem solved!”
“It’s not that straightforward, Apple Bloom; I need to…..”
A rather loud growl shook the library; and both Sunset and Apple Bloom promptly shut their mouths. More so, though, because the growl didn’t come from Cheerilee.
“Do you think perhaps you could kindly keep your voices down? I’m trying to read here, and contrary to popular belief, having noise in the background doesn’t make reading easier.”
Coalstone’s anger was evident: despite him still having the book in front of his face, Sunset could see his fingers tightening their grip on the book’s binding, with his arms actually tensing quite a bit in frustration.
Neither Sunset nor Apple Bloom spoke; they just looked at each other with some hesitation at what to do next.
“Well I managed to get him to talk, that’s step one out of the way. Now let’s see if we can do it without making him angry.”
Sunset quickly offered a wave to Apple Bloom giving her the signal to leave, which she was fairly keen to do, not especially crazy about being within arm’s reach of the clearly annoyed Coalstone.
With a quick calming breath to settle her nerves, Sunset quickly sat down across from Coalstone, who remained glued to his book, though his grip on the cover was still heavy. Letting out a small gulp, Sunset decided it was time to start the conversation.
“S-sorry about the noise,” said Sunset, sitting down in front of him.
Coalstone merely grunted in response.
Curious, Sunset leaned over to look at the cover of the book, while the cover seemed to lack a distinct title, the image of the dragon emblazoned on the cover made it rather obvious it was a fantasy story. “I think I’ve seen this book before. Though I don’t remember it being one of the books in this library?”
Quickly scanned over the various bookcases, recalling the endless hours she’d spent burning through every text she could get her hands on, “If it didn’t come from here, then maybe…”
“Oh, it’s you.” Sunset snapped up as she realized that he was now looking right at her with a mixed look of surprise and curiosity.
With his tone, Sunset didn’t know whether to feel offended or happy he actually remembered her, but quickly shook those thoughts aside.“You sound surprised.”
Coalstone let out a huff, set his book down, and looked back at Sunset. "People have brief encounters with each other all the time, exchange a little dialogue and move on. You don’t usually expect to run into that same person and then just casually start up a conversation.”
Sunset frowned at his words. "Well, seems the Winter Break didn’t help improve his mood.”
Coalstone looked Sunset over somewhat as he casually tapped one of his fingers on the book. "I heard you managed to make peace with your friends and put the whole incident behind you. Kind of figured you want to hang around with them instead of me.”
“Trust me, I enjoy hanging out with my friends and we did plenty of that over the holiday. But right now, I’d like to talk with you.”
Coalstone’s eyebrow rose, and his finger stopped tapping. "Why?”
Sunset frowned at the teen’s blunt response, but quickly reminded herself of just who she was talking with. "This might be hard to believe, but people do interact with others outside of their usual circle of friends. That’s typically how friendships are made.”
“I know that much, but why me specifically? We talked for maybe five minutes, and it’s not like what we were talking about was especially pleasant subject matter.”
Sunset awkwardly tried to choose her next words as carefully as she could. "Like I told you before, when I first came to this school, I didn’t have any friends, and even though I didn’t let it bother me in the beginning, it didn’t take long for me to realize just painful being alone all the time can be. Then when I got kicked off my proverbial throne and the whole school was against me, things were so bad, I honestly wonder how I kept myself from just running away.”
As Sunset spoke, Coalstone simply sat there, though with each word his eyes softened. He could tell Sunset was being honest with him.
“No one deserves to be alone, Coalstone.”
Coalstone continued to sit silently for a moment. He found Celestia’s own words from earlier echoing in his mind and found himself sighing in defeat. "Assuming I’m even somewhat interested in humoring you, you can’t just stick two random people together and expect them to be friends.”
Sunset, however, quickly smiled as she casually pointed towards the book he currently had in hand. "Well, for starters, I noticed you seem to really be into that book. I’m surprised; I never pegged you for an avid reader.”
“You know, if you’re trying to make friends with someone, probably helps not to insult them to their face.”
Sunset quickly waved her hand in a panicked state. “I didn’t mean it as an insult or anything, just that when we first met, you seemed more interested in doing things with your hands as opposed to reading.”
“Don’t misunderstand, I do enjoy working with my hands, but I like having a plan or an idea laid out for what I want to make before I do it. So I look to books for what inspiration I can get.” His face quickly softened as he glanced down at the book with a smile. "Of course, I also enjoy just getting lost in the pages when I’m reading. Even when things get bad sometimes, when you read, you become so engrossed in the text it’s like you’re a part of the story itself.”
Coalstone’s smile quickly seemed to grow as he described the experience, with Sunset now being somewhat mesmerized.
“There’ve actually been times when I get so invested that I can feel every sensation, smell every scent and hear each sound as it’s vividly written down before me, as if I was standing right there with the characters.”
Coalstone slowly held up his hands and held them in a manner reminiscent of his hammer and chisel. “Once I have those feelings in mind, I can guide my hammer and chisel in ways I doubt I could on my own, and that gives me the inspiration I need.”
Sunset herself nodded somewhat vigorously at his description. "I know exactly what you’re talking about. I’ve always been a bit of a bookworm, and I’ve spent days in the library, eyes glued to every book I could get my hands on, eager just to get to the next page.”
Coalstone’s smile actually seemed to grow somewhat at Sunset’s declaration. “Really? then tell me, do you have any particular stories or genres you’re fond of?”
“Honestly, most of the reading I did was more for knowledge’s sake or research. I wasn’t as into reading stories as I was looking for knowledge. Though I did quite enjoy the Daring Do series. Ever hear of it?”
Coalstone’s smile quickly shifted to a frown, lightly blowing some of his hair from his face as he cupped his chin in his hand. "Oh, you mean those overrated stories. Yeah I read the first two; nothing especially engaging. Just your standard adventure books.” His words were quickly halted by Sunset practically leaning into his face with an offended look on her visage.
“Overrated? How can you even say that about Daring Do? Her books are amazing adventures!”
“It’s your standard adventure story plot. Hero wants to find random treasure, finds map to random treasure, fights a few bad guys, survives a few boobie traps, gets treasure and goes home. Rinse and repeat.”
Coalstone casually blew some hair out of his face as he spoke matter of factly towards Sunset. "At least with fantasy stories, you don’t necessarily know what to expect and can get a few interesting storylines.”
Sunset by this point was quickly holding herself back from launching into a massive tirade in order to defend the stories she’d come to enjoy but quietly held herself back.
Still that didn’t mean she couldn’t still get in a few shots of her own. A smirk began to stretch across her face.
“You’re right, Coalstone. What was I thinking? Clearly, the story of a random hero saving a random princess from a castle with a random fire-breathing dragon is the absolute height of creative storytelling!”
The condescension in Sunset’s voice was so thick, it was like she was slapping Coalstone in the face with it. He all but slammed his fist against the table in a rage and practically shot up from his chair.
“FANTASY STORIES HAVE FAR MORE COMPLEX PLOTS THAN THAT AND YOU KNOW IT!”
Naturally such a show of anger from someone like Coalstone should have been intimidating, especially with him currently breathing heavily from his nose like an angry bull ready to charge. Sadly, any kind of intimidation or rage factor he might have had effectively crumbled up and blew away when Ms. Cheerilee all but stomped over to his table and glared at the stoneworker with such a piercing look.
“Mr. Coalstone, given the extensive amount of time you’ve spent in this part of the school, I had hoped you’d sufficiently acclimated yourself to the rules. However, apparently you’ve forgotten that in the library we do not shout… ever!” She quickly began wagging her hand matter-of-factly in the young man’s face. “One more outburst like that, and I’ll be forced to remove you from the library. Is that understood?”
Coalstone’s head pretty much became a bobblehead, shaking up and down so fast it was a miracle his head didn’t fall off. “I understand, Ms. Cheerilee, I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.”
Almost immediately, Cheerilee’s normal smile returned to her face. “I’m glad to hear it.” As she turned away, her gaze quickly narrowed to Sunset, who proceeded to sink into her seat in response.
“The same applies for you, Ms. Shimmer. I expect you to show this facility the same amount of respect I expect from all other students.”
Sunset quickly nodded. “Not a problem, Ms. Cheerilee.”
With another smile, the librarian quickly returned her attention to the Crusaders, letting out an anguished sigh when she caught Scootaloo attempting to use one of the mobile bookshelfs as a makeshift scooter.
Once she’d left, Coalstone quietly slid back into his seat, putting his hand into his palm. Sunset was by this point giggling at what had just transpired. Coalstone responded with another flat look.
“What exactly was funny about that? We just got chewed out by Ms. Cheerilee, and I managed to make a complete fool out of myself.”
Sunset, however, only chuckled some more as she waved his anger off. “Sorry, I’m not laughing at what just happened. Really, it was more at your reaction to what I said. When we first met, well, I didn’t think I’d actually see you yell or get so emotional.”
Sunset leaned forward onto the table. “Honestly, when we first met, I figured you were a little…”
“Hard-edged, scary, intimidating. Something along those lines, I imagine?”
An awkward paused came over the table as Sunset diverted her eyes. “I wasn’t going to put it that way, but--”
“It’s fine if you think that way.” Coalstone leaned back into his chair, taking a quick glance at the few other students still in the library, a few of whom took a quick glance at him and then turned their attention elsewhere. “I know I don’t exactly come across as the friendliest or most approachable person. I know I look a little scary to the people, especially given what I like to make, but if people are not even gonna talk to me because of something as petty as me looking a little intimidating, then why bother trying in the first place?”
Coalstone rested his chin on his arms and looked away at the table. “I like who I am and the things I enjoy. If people have a problem with that, well, fine. I’d rather be alone.”
“Hey, I get that. Making friends has never been easy. Trust me, I know that from wayyy more experience than I’d like to mention. And it’s fine if you don’t want to change; I don’t want you to change, either.” Sunset looked at Coalstone again with a smile. “Right now, I’d just like to be friends with you, Coalstone, interests and all.”
Before Coalstone had a chance to respond, the sound of the intercom in the schools caught his and every other student’s attention.
“Attention, students, it is now 4:30 pm. The school will be closing for the night. All students are expected to leave school grounds promptly before 5:00 pm. Thank you, and have a nice rest of the day.”
Coalstone. frowned at the intercom, but looked again at Sunset who seemed rather eager for his response.
On the one hand, he was very tempted to simply say no and move on with his life. He’d gotten along fairly well by himself, and more importantly, he’d heard this same rehearsed speech from other people in the past. Each one said the same thing, and it always ended with them turning their back on him maybe a year or two later. Really, saying no should have been a reflex by this point.
However, for some reason, there was a part of him, a voice, calling out, so loud that it actually seemed to drown out the doubts he’d been feeling up to this point.
“Perhaps Sunset’s different from the others. She seems sincere enough….I do want to trust her.”
It was not an easy decision to make; Coalstone could feel his mind in a literal tug of war with itself. However, one side managed to win out, and he let out another sigh.
“I’m very tempted to believe you, Sunset, part of me wants to…..Maybe we could be friends.” Coalstone actually felt the need to jump back somewhat, as Sunset’s smile seemed to explode into a massive grin. She seemed ready to say something else.
“However, let’s take this friendship thing slowly. We aren’t gonna act like best buddies or anything.”
Surprisingly, Sunset’s grin didn’t deflate at his declaration. Instead, she simply nodded. “That’s perfectly fine. I wasn’t expecting us to become best friends overnight. We can just, I guess, meet here in the library and just talk about books and stories if you want. Perhaps I can even get you to read a Daring Do book or two.”
At that point, Coalstone had stood up and picked up his backpack. “Yeah, good luck with that last one. Pretty sure even A.K. Yearling herself, threatening me with that Sunstaff thing in one of her books, couldn’t convince me to like her series.” As he quickly placed his bag onto his back, he turned around. “Though if you do want to meet here and talk for a bit, I’m game. Don’t really have much else going on after school.”
Without another word, Coalstone headed for the door. Sunset quickly became rather giddy in her seat and had to restrain herself from jumping up and down in her chair.
“Looks like Phase 1 is complete. I managed to make contact with Coalstone and set up a time for another meeting. Hopefully I can move things along to Phase 2, introducing him to the rest of the girls...Though that may prove a little more difficult, especially with Pinkie.”
Sunset, however, didn’t lose her smile as she proceeded to get up and retrieve her backpack., “Still, like Coalstone said. If we take one step at a time, things should work out in the end.”
~~~~~~~
Having left school, Coalstone quickly made his way home, opening the door to his garage while unslinging his backpack from his back.
“Well, that was certainly a more active day then I’ve had in awhile. Get called to the principal’s for a friendship pep talk, get my hand mauled by a rabbit and somehow end up spending close to a hour talking with that Sunset girl. Who’d have thought.”
After tossing his backpack down near the door to his house, Coalstone quickly flipped the light switch, illuminating the entire room and more specifically the numerous statues he kept in the garage, both finished and unfinished all around him. Along the wall were various tools of his trade: hammers, chisels and the like, along with more than few uncarved stones.
Picking up a small rag, the teen made his way over to the largest statue, a fierce looking dragon, its wings and claws spread wide and its mouth filled with knife-like fangs wide open.
As he began rubbing away the dust, he looked at the dragon’s face. “I suppose Sunset coming back to talk with me wasn’t the most surprising thing in the world, given how she acted in the art room. But then again, when she made up with her friends, it seemed like she’d spend her time with them or the hundred other students in this school that seem to at least know her name for some reason.”
Moving the cloth to the statue’s teeth, Coalstone’s mind continued to ponder his conversation with Sunset. “It was kind of nice to talk with someone besides my teachers about something not related to school. And having someone to actually talk with for more than a collective hour every day would be nice…Don’t you think?”
He turned and spoke those last lines as if he were addressing all the other statues in the room as he spoke.
“Then again, for all I know this could just be another recipe for disaster and disappointment. Suppose we start talking for a couple of days and everything’s starts out alright. Then maybe I say something to annoy her, or maybe she just realizes her old friends are more fun to be around then me… But then if I start thinking that way, I just start sounding like I’m paranoid, huh?”
Growling in frustration, he pulled the cloth back and proceeded to start pacing around the room. “I guess the main thing to ask is whether or not I even want to be friends with someone, Sunset or otherwise. I mean, I’ve tried to do this since kindergarten, and it always blows up in my face.”
He quietly paused as he looked at the statues around him. “Though I suppose it is true that Sunset is the one who approached me as opposed to the other way around. And she didn’t seem like she was lying… That at least gives me a little more reason to trust her, right?”
Looking again at some of the statues in his garage as if hoping for an answer, he was met only with silence. He simply sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Maybe things could be different this time. Of course, I know there’s no guarantee, and this could just end as badly as everything else.”
As he continued to mull in silence staring into the vacant and empty eyes of his stone pieces, Coalstone’s hands tightened. “I do want to trust Sunset, if only a little, but I don’t know if she can be trusted.”
Again being met with silence, he sighed once more and he picked up his cloth eyeing another statue to clean. “I suppose giving her a chance or at least attempting it couldn’t hurt in the end. Won’t mean that we’re friends, but it’s not like I can’t at least give her a shot. I suppose everyone deserves at least one. Besides...”
He silently mulled over the unchanging expressions of the works he’d compiled, quickly being reminded of the fact he was currently the only living thing within his entire home and the silence was slowly becoming suffocating.
“...I’m already starting to miss listening to her conversation.”
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I really like this story. Keep up the good work :)
Yay update. Have to say, enjoying this story a lot.
6476467
I appreciate that, feel free to like and share the story with others if possible.
Would've been more surprising if he had said 'no' and carried on with his life.
But I'll give this story a shot.
Well well, I like where this is going :D Keep it up!
6479247
Uh, there's no romance plan in this story at all. And this doesn't have anything to do with Coalstone having emotional problems from his childhood.
He's tried making friends with people for years and it just never ends well. It's effectively made him unable to believe that any friendship is true or genuine, though it's a mindset that took a fair amount of time to develop.
I'm sorry if that's the vibe you got but I can tell you that isn't my intention.
I'm usually cautious of OC stories, so I was pleasantly surprised when I saw how you handled Coalstone. He does seem like the cliched angsty teen who doesn't believe in friendship until a friendly woman melts the stone around his heart, but you're handling it well, so far, from what I've read. I'm glad Coalstone's outburst in the was met with proper consequences, rather than Cherilee being too afraid to approach or something as stupid. It didn't really seem fair that he blamed Fluttershy for her rabbit biting him; it's not like she commanded the rodent to do so. Finally (and this is a small thing, I admit), I like how Coalstone didn't like the Daring Do books. That always seems to be a common interest among any two characters who like to read, and it gets somewhat stale after a while.
As for criticism, I don't have much, other than some grammatical errors here and there. I'll be keeping an eye on this story.
6494227
He didn't actually blame fluttershy for her rabbit biting his hand, that was more him complaining about his rotten luck at the time. Sorry if that wasn't clear.
Also Coalstone might look or at least act intimidating, but none of the teachers are scared of him. So don't worry about something that like happening.
With the Daring Doo thing, I figured it would be a funny little thing to throw in there.
Glad you liked the story so far.
6554412
Eh figured it would make sense. People know the stuff exists but rarely use it, just how things are some times.
6554412
So what do you think? Of the story I mean.
I'm really enjoying the story so far. Everyone's character has been handled rather well.
Keep going! And I believe that this song may fit the story... Well imo, Idk why:
Whens the next chapter coming?? O_o
update soon please
7496178
Why don't you wait until the stories over before passing judgment.
https://www.fimfiction.net/group/211585/reviewers-caf/thread/308771/reviews#comment/5942259
Unfortunately, some "mistakes" take a lot longer than a few months to bury
When are we getting an update?
5989348
Well, I think it sounds good enough to qualify.
Para ser en teoría un corazón encerrado en "piedra" es bastante blando.