But we kept Running into Each Other
The students crowded around me turned to stare at me as if I was some vile phantasm from a horror story. As the crimson-haired girl came stomping towards me they parted like the Red Sea, desperate to avoid the conflict brewing before them.
“I thought,” She said viciously, “I told you to keep away from me or else!”
“Oh come on, how was I supposed to know you go here?” I asked, thoroughly exasperated by what was starting to unfold. “Our last conversation wasn’t exactly a very prolonged one!”
She came to a halt right before me, her blazing gaze boring straight into mine. All around me students were doing their best to avoid being anywhere near her. Even Octavia had disappeared, running off somewhere and leaving me to fend for myself. I finally came to realize that, seeing as this girl seemed disinclined to leave, there was no easy way out of this: I was in, for all intents and purposes, a war of intimidation, whether I wanted it or not.
“What’s the matter, got nothing to say?” she said tauntingly. “That worthless tongue of yours get cut out?”
“Nah, still there,” I replied, “just having trouble deciding whether or not you’re even worth talking to. After all, who wants to talk to a whore?”
That got her attention, if anything. Her phoenix-colored hair gave the impression she was on fire and she was practically boiling with anger already. “Excuse me?” she said, her voice becoming velvety soft in her fury.
“Oh, you didn’t hear that? Huh, you must be one of those deaf whores,” I remarked. “I’ll bet your customers wish they were deaf when they hear that voice of yours.”
She looked about ready to pop and I fired a grin at her. This was just getting started and I was having fun already. I could see her looking me over for something she could attack. She settled on my clothing. “At least I have money, you look like you go dumpster diving for your next pair of pants,” she said scathingly.
“That’s your best zinger?” I asked with a laugh. “Holy Hell, I’ve heard better comebacks from the dead.”
“Keep talking and you WILL be dead,” she said forcefully, pushing ever closer.
“Ooh yes, I’m so scared of your little spells you got from a book at Quill & Ink,” I countered. “Guess I shouldn’t expect much from a girl whose hair looks like a half-cooked pack of bacon.”
She was seething by now but seemed to have gained a little more control, as evidenced by her next words. “Least I’m not a convicted felon. How was that trip to the slammer, by the way? See your Dad in there?”
I took a step back and she gave a sneer, knowing she’d just made her mark. “Aw, did I hurt your little feelings?” she asked derisively, looking up at me with big eyes. “What’s the matter, did Daddy leave when he saw you were a pussy?”
It was my turn to get angry. I felt my head pulsing and I was having trouble seeing straight but I forced myself to look right at her. “Shut up you effin’ psycho or I’ll punch you so hard you’ll be feeling it for the next twenty years.”
“Is that how long you’ll get if you get arrested again? I almost think it’s worth getting punched if I can rid us normal people of your presence.”
“Normal? You read on the occult and you call yourself normal? Keep talking and I will effing kill you.”
“Whatever it takes to be rid of you,” she said, stepping back with a satisfied smirk. “Now please get out of my face, your breath is almost as toxic as your presence.” She turned on her heels and began walking away with an air of superiority so infuriating I couldn’t keep my mouth shut.
“You ever run into me again,” I roared, “And I will send you straight to Hell. You hear me, bitch?”
She paused to glance over her shoulder at me and gave, yet again, another satisfied smirk. “I hear you,” she said sweetly. “And so did she.”
“She?” I asked, thoroughly nonplussed. “What are you talking about?”
“I believe she’s referring to me,” said a new voice, a voice far deeper and softer than I’d hoped. I gave a sigh and turned around to see none another than one of the staff staring down at me disapprovingly, arms crossed. “Do you have anything to say?” she asked of me.
“F*ck, Mom’s gonna kill me,” I said.
“Not the words I was hoping for,” she replied smoothly. “To my office, if you please.”
I soon found myself in the principal’s office, waiting anxiously as Principal Celestia examined my file she had grabbed from a nearby cabinet. My heart began to beat a little faster when I saw that the file was rather bulky and appeared to contain a couple mugshots of mine from a year or so ago. She hadn’t said a word since we had arrived, simply leafing through my records and taking notes on a nearby clipboard.
I twisted the side of my jacket with my fingers, sweat starting to soak my fingers. This rainbow-haired woman could ruin my life with a single phonecall and, without even knowing it, break my Mother’s heart. With so much riding on this meeting I was nervous beyond anything I had ever experienced before.
“It seems you’ve been in the principal’s office more than once,” she finally remarked, looking over what seemed to be a copy of my transcript. “Do you use it as a means of getting out of class or do you genuinely like causing trouble?” After a few moments of silence she glanced over the paper at me. “That’s a genuine question. I’m not going to hurt you, so please answer.”
“I- I don’t know,” I answered shakily, tugging self-consciously at the zipper on my jacket.
“Are you certain?” she asked. “Either way, it seems trouble certainly finds you. Two arrests, multiple academic infractions, accused of initiating gangfights, two months of community service and a 30-day sentence to a juvenile detention center. Do you want to tell me why?”
I hesitated before answering lowly, “I got caught selling drugs. And I was accused of assault.”
“I see.” She set down my file and looked straight at me, her serene expression the polar opposite of my terrified one. “Do you know why you are here at Canterlot High?”
“I was awarded a scholarship,” I answered.
“And do you know what happens if you violate the terms of that scholarship, such as being arrested for threats of bodily harm?” she inquired, and I shook my head. “No? You will lose your scholarship, be expelled from this school, and you will make your Mother rather unhappy, in that order.”
I froze. She couldn’t possibly know that. It must have been a coincidence that she said that, it had to be. All the same, it was enough to get my attention. “Am… am I going to be expelled?” I asked, my mouth as dry as sandpaper.
She stared at me for a little while longer and declared, “I don’t believe so. Our student Sunset Shimmer has been known to bring out some lesser natures in her fellow students, so you’ll be granted a reprieve.”
I sighed with relief and sank so deeply into my chair I gave the impression of having melted. “That does not mean, however, you are off the hook,” she added warningly. “You will begin your semester on academic probation and your behavior will be monitored during your time here. Do you understand?”
It wasn’t a pleasant thing to hear, but after lucking out I was willing to accept it. “I understand,” I murmured.
She looked down at me with a sympathetic smile. “You will also be given every access to whatever aid you require, whether it be tutoring or private sessions with your teachers. As a member of the Canterlot High student body, you will be allowed to utilize whatever tools you require to succeed. Just give me one thing in return.”
“What do you need?” I asked.
“Simply that you will stay out of trouble,” she answered. “You’re not the first hard case I’ve had, and I’ve seen many of them go on to succeed both academically and morally, and I would like to see you do the same, but that requires you to work for it. If you break the rules or threaten harm against my students again, I will be forced to handle the situation. Do you agree to my terms?”
“You’ve got a deal,” I said with a grin. “And thank you for not calling the cops.”
“You’re very welcome,” she replied warmly. “Now your first class started about thirty minutes ago, so I suggest you hurry up and get to it. Off you go.”
I didn’t say a word the rest of the morning but I found myself subject to a fair amount of stares from the other students. I wasn’t too surprised by the attention I got in my first class -after all, I came in really late- but when people were still gawking at me when I entered the cafeteria it began to get on my nerves. I knew my clothes weren’t exactly high style, but come on, they weren’t that bad.
“I heard the new kid got into a fight with Sunset Shimmer before class even started,” a girl whispered to her friend, her eyes darting between me and her posse as I passed by.
“Sunset Shimmer? The Sunset Shimmer? New kid’s gonna get creamed for sure!” murmured another student.
The remarks kept coming. “I could hear them all the way down the corridor-”
“–They went on for ages-”
“I heard her say someone got arrested!”
“-threatened to kill her- think it’ll happen?”
“She’d go for the kill first, she always has.”
So that was what the commotion was all about. I took a seat at an empty table, realizing far too late that in my hurry to leave this morning I forgot a lunch. Since I couldn’t afford to buy a lunch and the only way I could get some money was to steal it, I had no choice but to sit there and let my stomach growl. Seeing as the cafeteria lunch seemed far better than the fare I was used to, it was a rather unpleasant situation.
I heard movement next to me and I saw a familiar short skirt sitting down next to me, a hot lunch on a tray. “I thought you looked a little hungry,” she said plainly.
I immediately grabbed hold of it and took a bite, savoring the sweet deliciousness that lay before me. This act of kindness, combined with her sultry accent, was starting to make this girl devastatingly attractive. “Thank you so much,” I said through a mouthful of food.
She smiled, but said nothing, as it seemed something more important was on her mind. “So the whole school’s talking about your little spat with Canterlot High’s leading lady,” she remarked politely.
“In passing,” I replied. “All of you like this? This- gossipy? They’d get themselves killed back at my old school.”
“They’re talking because they think you’re playing the fool,” she replied. “You’re new here so I’ll warn you- Sunset Shimmer’s not a friendly person. Ever since she came here three years ago she’s been a nightmare for every student here. They’re all afraid of her.”
“So what’s the big deal about me fighting back, then?” I countered. “You’d think they’d be hailing me as some sort of hero.”
“You threatened to kill her,” she answered harshly. “These are good people and they may hate Sunset but keep talking like that and they’ll consider you to be just like her.”
“Just like her?” I spluttered, accidentally spewing chicken onto the table. “She’s some crazy witch who hates my guts because of an accident! Stupid whore needs a good ironing out.”
“All the same, I’d be careful of what you say and do,” Octavia warned. “Sunset Shimmer’s probably going to be trying to get at you for the next couple days, so watch out.”
“Whatever, forget that psycho hosebeast,” I said dismissively. “She’s nuts. What about you? What’re you here for?”
“Here, at this table? Or here at school?” she asked curiously, her head cocked to the side causing strands of her hair to fall across her face.
This girl- holy Hell, I thought to myself. “Whichever you prefer to answer,” I replied pleasantly.
“Well I’m here at this table to help try and save your neck, at the moment,” she answered. “I’m here at school because I love music and want to be a professional cellist.”
“Wow, you must be pretty talented, then,” I remarked.
“I certainly think so,” she replied. “If you’ll excuse me, I see some friends of mine and I’d like to go and say hello. See you around, perhaps?”
“Or this Friday night, if you’re game,” I offered with a sly grin. “I’d certainly like to know if I get to see your fine self again.”
“Already taken,” she responded instantly, swerving past me with a brutal simplicity. She began walking away, paused, and turned around to add, “Oh, and you’d be best served by not staring at all the girls’ skirts. They’ll think you’re a pervert.”
She disappeared into the crowd and left me there at the table trying to salvage what I could from what had already been a long and trying day. I eventually just gave up and groaned aloud, taking another stab at my chicken breast. “This day can go to Hell,” I muttered. “And so can Sunset Shimmer.”
The remainder of the week passed by, for the most part, as a rather dull blur of flitting from one class to the next, my schedule beginning to appear more and more intimidating as the week went on. Canterlot High was showing every shred of proof it had that it was the best school in the city and was hammering me with it across the skull. Compared to the rest of the people around me I felt like a big fat idiot and I always dreaded the teachers calling on me.
True to my word with Principal Celestia, I managed to keep myself out of trouble, though many of the students pushed my patience to the limit. A particularly dull-witted duo of younger students known as Snips and Snails spilled hot soapwater all over me when they were helping the cafeteria staff clean up the kitchen. They didn’t watch what they were doing and somehow caused the sink to spew water across the entire floor and almost halfway up my pants. To say that it was painful is an understatement as it felt someone had just assaulted me with hot lava.
“Oh jeez, I’m really sorry, are you alright?” Snails asked apprehensively when he saw that I had suds well above my knee. “We didn’t mean for that to happen, honest!”
“Yeah, honest!” Snips added.
“We were just trying to help Granny Smith clean up and we saw that there were leftover apple turnovers and we started thinking about how hungry we were and- aw, what did we do!?” Snails moaned.
He could barely keep himself from talking, darting between ground zero and the splash zone where I had unluckily found myself. I, on the other hand, could barely string a syllable together for fear of verbally assaulting him with a volley of curses. I eventually fled to the nearest bathroom where I was able to scream myself out in peace.
But through that whole week I kept finding myself thinking over Octavia’s warning about Sunset Shimmer, who had been remarkably subdued towards me ever since our altercation upon my arrival. I’d been waiting for her to make a move. It wasn’t until the end of school on Friday that she did, waiting until the bell had rung to ensure an audience. I was rushing back to my locker to grab a paper that was due -I’d accidentally left it there and Miss Cheerilee had offered to let me go and grab it- when I saw that mane of half-cooked bacon hair walking a ways ahead of me. I immediately slowed my pace so as not to catch up with her, watching as she silently slithered her way through the crowd. For once, she wasn’t bullying someone.
I reached my locker and began fumbling with the lock, punching in the code to unlock it. Instead of the door opening, however, I pulled and was greeted with immediate restraint: it was stuck. “Stupid piece of junk!” I snarled, slamming it again for good measure. “I know that’s the code so why - (slam) - won’t – (slam) - you – (slam) - WORK?!”
Either the lock gave way to my frustrations or it had simply been jammed, as the door finally swung open- and I was instantly greeted with a foul-smelling deluge of garbage that exploded from my locker, splattering me from head to chest. People all around me backed away in an effort to avoid me and the stench, many of them realizing –just as I had- that Sunset Shimmer had probably caused this. I could hear students all around me laughing as I stripped a rotten banana peel from my head, my blood absolutely boiling.
“Why, you smell almost as bad as your attitude does!” I heard her say, that sarcastic tone of voice belonging to only one person. “Maybe next time you’ll think twice about getting angry with your superiors.”
I slammed my locker door so violently that one of the latches snapped. I could feel the locker handle beginning to warp in my grip and something right behind my eyes was causing my entire body to shake with fury. I heard the students laughing start to quiet down and even take a step or two back, the crowd preparing themselves for another showdown.
I felt a presence hover over my shoulders and Sunset began to whisper into my ear. “Do you hear me, trash? If you ever stand up to me again I will get you sent straight to prison. This is my school and I can talk to anyone however I want, understand?”
My chest was heaving as each breath was filled with complete wrath towards this girl. I’d had rivalries before but never so dearly had I hated another person in my life. I was about to wheel around and deliver a bone-breaking punch to her nose when Principal Celestia’s reminder crept back to the forefront of the mind: expulsion, prison, crushing Mom’s hopes. I would be playing right into her hands if I attacked her and she knew it. I forced myself to remain stationary until everyone watching had left. When I felt that it was safe, I unleashed a string of curses so abhorrent that I was surprised the Earth didn’t open up and swallow my depravity forever. “I’m never gonna be able to do this,” I whispered.
I decided to go to the bathroom and get myself somewhat cleaned off before I slinked back home. However, when I turned around, there stood a blonde girl wearing a Stetson with a damp towel in her outstretched hand. “Ah figured you may be wanting one,” she explained.
I stood there in silence, my eyes darting between her and the towel. I didn’t know what to do. Was it a joke? Some prank of sorts?
“Well, you gonna get yerself cleaned off or what?” she asked with a smile. “Ah doubt you wanna wear all that garbage forever.”
I took the towel and wiped my face and arms off, deciding I could worry about my shirt when I got home. “Thanks,” I grumbled through the cloth, dabbing at a ketchup stain that had taken root in my ear.
“Don’t mention it, happy to help,” she replied, bending down to sweep up the garbage I was shaking off.
“What are you doing?” I asked, feeling even more confused than before.
“Well someone’s gotta clean it up,” she responded cheerfully, shaking the contents of her dustpan into a nearby garbage bag. “Come on, help me take this out back.”
I followed her compliantly, the last bits of trash in my hands. I felt thoroughly perplexed by this girl. A country gal, if I had to guess. I remembered seeing her help Granny Smith occasionally in the kitchen but had never talked to her.
“Why are you helping me out?” I asked her finally. “Aren’t you afraid of Sunset Shimmer?”
“Aw, that gal will be mean no matter what any of us does,” she replied dismissively. “Ah can’t let her rudeness get the best of me.”
“But why even help me out? Come on, you and I don’t know each other at all.”
“So?” she countered pleasantly. “That ain’t no reason to let you sit there covered in gunk.”
“’So?’” I had no means of arguing with that. Her argument was so stunningly simple it couldn’t be fought against. “I- I don’t get it,” I said plainly.
She gave an exasperated sigh and shook her head, smiling at me with a sympathetic look in her eye. “Well, we Apples have always helped folks whenever they needed and ah couldn’t just let you stand there. What are friends for, after all?”
I was more confused than ever, her simple ways confounding my hardlined way of thought. I didn’t quite know what to make of her. She wasn’t asking for a kickback, a reward, nothing. She had done this to help me out and that was that. Her lack of duplicity astonished me.
“Uh, right,” I managed lamely. “So… what’s your name, anyway?”
“Ah’m Applejack,” she said with an outstretched hand. “Me and mah brother, Big Mac, and mah little sister, Apple Bloom, all go here. If you ever need anything you just ask one of us, y’hear?”
“Sure. And thanks again,” I said, taking her outstretched hand and shaking it. As I walked away, trying not to dab at a grease spot on my chest, I realized that something rather extraordinary had occurred. I had just, whether intentionally or not, made my first friend here at Canterlot High.
Maybe this place isn’t so bad after all, I thought mildly, walking out into the sun and back home.
And then I ran back in, remembering I still hadn't delivered my paper.
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So is this a girls point of view or a guy's point of view? Or either one?
6319388 Unknown. I'm deliberately writing neutral. It's a "you-perspective" story written in 3rd person cause I can't stand writing in 2nd person.
Ok cool i like 3rd person better to ill give this story a shot since im a girl i mean i read a lot of romances with both genders:: its just Sunset shimmer is my favorite character
6319404 Excellent, I hope to live up to your expectations.
Nice story so far, keep going.
Title looked interesting on my feed. Then clicking in and seeing my art ... ;) Will have to give it a read this weekend.
6319498 Wait, this is your artwork? I hope you don't mind me using it, and I hope to do the story justice.
6319468 Thanks! I hope it comes out well.
6319666 Should be fine, yep. Looks like you found it from someone else's favorites gallery. ;) Here's the real source link http://skycatcherequestria.deviantart.com/art/Inner-Beauty-489023275
6319694 Oops, looks like that favorites box was mine. Sorry!
Hmmm...premise has me intrigued, as does your inclusion of gender-neutral writing. Sure, I'll follow this and see where it goes.
6320197 Thanks! Hope you like it!
6320263
Well, I did upvote and fave it...
I like it! Does it take place in the first movie? Since Sunset Shimmer is acting like this.
6320973 Actually no, I just love the term.
Come to think of it, I don't even know where I first heard it.
6320968 Aye, starts before Twilight comes in.
Generally speaking, mane is a strange word to use when describing a human, using a head of half-cooked bacon hair would be better.
I really like the story overall, I expect Moar.
6322304 True, but I like strange. I thrive on strange.
And thanks! I hope you enjoy the rest!
6323241 Hope I do your idea justice, friend. Thanks!
6321651 okay, thanks!
6325392 Didn't have Cartoon Network when it was on and actually have never watched an episode. Sorry!
As a hispanic I love love love our narrator's mom. I just wanted to say how much I appreciate including her, and her tendency to lapse into spanish like my own mother would.
So for me peraonally, that makes a hundred times easier to insert myself into the atory, and man oh man I love that so very much. Thank you.
Haha this reminds me of the scene in longest yard nice start
"You think you're so big, don't you? So strong. So scary. You're a monster that makes the weak shake in their boots and hide. But you're a fool, Sunset Shimmer. You don't even know the meaning of the term Monster."
A week later, Sunset's home has burned down under questionable conditions, but there's no clear evidence of foul play. Her beloved pet dies in the flames. A week after that, her identity is stolen and used in a robbery. Her already negative reputation quickly falls lower. Soon she's ostracized by everyone.
Then she's caught by surprise by an unknown assailant and knocked out. The weapon is discovered, but only her fingerprints are on it. The police rule the injury as self-inflicted and she's put in an asylum, never to be heard from again.
Why didn't the protagonist just mention to Celestia that Sunset framed him for theft.
Hell, why didn't hell call the police, and mention that he found the girl who framed him.
9771860
He's got a criminal record. Trust and mercy is not on his side. Nor does he particularly like cops.
I’m sorry, but they gonna have to expel me.