Equestria World, Book 1: Surviving Canterlot High

by Gear Works

Ch. 7 - Making Friends

I was able to meet Twilight this Wednesday morning with Chrysalis at my side. After e-mailing her last night about Chrysalis, she was able to understand the true situation about her dilemma.

“I haven’t had a chance to talk to Principal Celestia last night, since you waited until 9PM to e-mail me,” Twilight said to me.

“Sorry. We were still finishing up our homework assignments,” I responded.

“Well, I can reason with that.” Twilight looked at Chrysalis and said, “If you need any help today, just let me know before free study, and we can go over it in the library.”

“Thanks, Twilight,” said Chrysalis. “I’m glad you were able to help me understand the problem last night.”

“Hey, that’s what friends do. Right, Jack?” I nodded.

“Well, I need to go to my locker on the other side. Is there someplace you want me to meet up after 4th period?”

I pointed to our lockers across the main office and said, “Just meet us over there where our friends are.” She agreed and went on her way.

Twilight and me went to our lockers where our friends were. All of them were just staring at us. “Why are you guys looking at us like that?” I asked.

Pinkie just went straight up to me, inspected me all over, and asked, “Did you get put under a witch’s spell?”

“PINKIE PIE!!!” Twilight yelled. “He’s not under any spell.”

“And how do you know, dear?” asked Rarity.

“Jack sent me an e-mail last night. I believe I forwarded it to all of you.” They all were confused in all this, causing Twilight to raise her hands in disbelief, saying, “For crying out loud. Were you all asleep when I sent it.”

“Well, I did send the e-mail to you after 9PM,” I added.

Fluttershy replied, “Here it is. You sent it around 10PM,” as she was holding out her cell. Everyone else grabbed their cells, looked for the e-mail, and read it.

“Well, I’ll be,” said Applejack. “And to think I had to deal with the loss of my parents.”

“And to think she would be living in such filth,” Rarity added. “This is uncalled for.”

“Then she must be a…OUCH!!!” I slapped my book on Pinkie’s forehead, shutting her up.

“Pinkie,” I said, “it’s you who’s acting like a witch.”

“Look’s like someone put Pinkie in her place for once,” said Applejack.

---

When 4th period ended, Twilight and me went to our lockers and saw Chrysalis waiting for us. All three of us went to the main office to see Principal Celestia, who was available at the time. We told her the complete story, explaining what happen to her mother, her living conditions, and why she didn’t want anyone to know about it. Principal Celestia understood the situation and called Miss Luna, asking if she can give her a lunch pass, which Celestia would happily pay for. After that, Twilight took Chrysalis to see Miss Luna while Celestia wanted me to stay to talk to me.

“Looks like you were able to solve one problem in one day, Jack.”

“You should be thanking the rain for making it happen,” I said laughing. “But thanks, anyway.”

“You haven’t heard anything from your father about her home.”

“Not yet, but the codes inspector should be there right now.” My cell just buzzed in my pocket, allowing me to pull it out to see if it was a text from my father.

Codes inspector came.
Said that house needs to be destroyed.
Nothing worth taking since yesterday.
Our home is her home now.

“Looks like her home is no longer safe to live in,” I said.

“Then I shall leave her in your care, so to speak.”

“I can understand that. Maybe spending some time with her can help me in finding a way to break down Sunset’s defenses, if I can find a way.”

“And maybe, if you can gain her trust, we might have a friend that can help make sure your ‘gift’ is kept secret.”

“You mean my soul powers,” I added.

“So you decided to give it an easier name to call it? I think that works better than before. Plus, some of those powers will have different names and meanings.”

“Powers that I have yet to discover.”

“I guess you still have a long way to go in finding all the answers.” I nodded. “I’ll see what ideas I can come up with that might help unlock your soul powers that you have yet to tap into. For now, you might as well enjoy the rest of the week. I might have something planned when club recruitment week happens next week.”

I agreed and started to walk out of her office, when I looked back and said, “You sure have a way in giving me tests to take. And you know what, I think it’s worth the effort.”

---

We were able to have Chrysalis join my friends and me for lunch. And for some reason, we were all getting strange looks all around. Even our friends were worried that she was with us.

“Does anyone think it’s weird that Chrysalis is sitting with us for lunch,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Um, it’s a bit…embarrassing to be stared at,” added Fluttershy.

“Let me try something.” Applejack got up and yelled, “Does anyone here have a problem with who sits with who around here?” At that point, everyone went back to doing their own business during lunch. Applejack sat down, saying, “That’ll shut them up.”

All of us were left silent, trying to think of what to say to get Chrysalis to open up more. Twilight had an idea and whispered to Moon Dancer what to do. She agreed and said, “So, Chrysalis, how are your…classes going so far?”

“Really, Twilight. That’s the best you can come up with?” I thought.

“Classes are OK. Just…trying to…catch up on my…failed classes.”

“And we are back to the awkward silence…again. Think, think, think.” I was looking around, trying to think of something, and then I saw her notebook in her book bag, opened to what looked like a drawing of some person. “Chrysalis, what drawing is that in your notebook?”

‘Oh this?” as she was pulling out her notebook. “It’s just some drawing I was making.”

Rarity was able to see what was drawn on her notebook and said, “Can I see that, dear?” Chrysalis handed her notebook to Rarity, and she looked at the drawing, and then found a few more drawings that caught her eye. “This work is remarkable. Have you ever thought about fashion designing?” Chrysalis shook her head. “I can not believe this. This is talent that is just being…wasted.”

“Rarity,” said Applejack, “think ya can fill us in on what ya talking about?”

“This is designer quality art. Talent like this can be use for other artist to create in real life. I have done work like this when making my clothes line, and what you have here,” –points to Chrysalis- “is something that I can see a model wear down a runway. Can you sew?” Chrysalis shook her head. “Well, I might be able to help you make it happen, with enough practice. You need to join the fashion club next week. The designers that I’m with would love to see some of your talents in action.”

Trixie stepped in on the conversation. “And think about it, you can come up with costume designs that can help the theater club. The fashion club always helps out with creating our costumes; once we have selected what play we plan to perform.”

“Please say you’ll join the fashion club next week. PLEASE???”

Chrysalis looked back at her drawings and said, “I’ll…think about.”

Rarity was about to squeal until she heard her response. Then she just calmed down and replied, “OK. There’s no need to rush right now.”

“Wow,” said Twilight. “I never had seen you act like that. You always pressure anyone as much as you can.”

“Well, there comes a time when you can’t rush everything,” replied Rarity. “Plus, next week is recruitment week, so there’s time for her to think about it. But I better have an answer from you when it comes, dear.”

“Now there’s the Rarity we know,” Twilight responded.

“Speaking of which,” interrupted Rainbow Dash, “Jack, do you plan to join a club?”

“I don’t know,” I replied. “I only know there’s an athletic club, science club, nature club, fashion club, and theater club. Any other clubs that I need to know?”

“There’s the music club,” Octavia recommended. “Vinyl and me are part of that club.”

“And there’s the PARTY CLUB!!!” Pinkie responded. “That’s where we get to work on all the party events, like the fall homecoming later this semester.”

“I do know there’s also a computer club, math club, history club, and others out there,” said Twilight. “Maybe once next week comes along, you can get a look at what’s available.”

“I guess I’ll be the only non-freshman looking into clubs when that happens,” I said.

“Well, the only non-freshman that we know of, beside Sunset Shimmer, is Applejack,” said Rainbow Dash.

“OK, Applejack,” I asked, “how come you haven’t join a club?”

“I spend my free time either helping out Granny Smith or Miss Cheerilee,” said Applejack. “I prefer to stay active than hang out with other clubs. Plus I’ve never could find a club that be right for me since my freshman year.”

“I think I can understand that,” I said. “I prefer to be active than just sitting and listening.”

“I can see why,” Applejack replied. “You almost started to fall asleep in history class if it wasn’t for me poking you in the back before you went out.”

“And I should be thanking you for that. Professor River Song somehow caught on and decided to try a different approach, which helped me stay awake in her class last year. I’m surprised that Dr. Whooves hasn’t tried something like that.”

“What kind of approach?” Twilight asked.

“It’s hard to explain. If he’s still able to contact her, maybe he should just ask how she did it. But as long as AJ keeps poking at me, that would do. I’ve already gotten used to Pinkie Pie doing so in Music Lit…since that’s all she ever wants to do.” I stare straight at Pinkie Pie, getting a ‘Who, me’ look from her.

“Now you know why I asked her to sit behind you,” added Octavia.

“The only catch is that I don’t have Sunset poking me in science class.”

“Speaking of which,” Cadence interrupted, ‘how are you going to handle working with her when we start working on our science projects? I doubt that spending time with her during free study won’t be enough to get it done. I know Twilight and me will spend some time at one of our places. Getting Sunset to work with you after school will be a challenge.”

“I know,” Pinkie Pie said with excitement. “We can knock her out, tie her up, throw her in the trunk, drive back to your place, splash water on her to wake her up, and leave a ball and chain on her until you get the project done.”

“There are times when I wonder how that brain of yours work,” I responded. Pinkie Pie just gave a big smile.

“If you ever feel like doing brain surgery on her, let me know because I want to find out the same thing,” added Moon Dancer. “But seriously, how do you plan to get her to work with you on your terms?”

That was a good question. She’s not going to be easy to convince. I started to think about how I was going to pull this off when I remember what Celestia told me earlier.

“I might have something planned when club recruitment week happens next week.”

I responded, “We’ll just cross that bridge when we get there. There’s still time before it comes up. I just need to get an idea of getting through to her, if I can.” I only said this because I had a feeling that Celestia might have something ready for me that would involve the clubs and Sunset.

After saying that, the bell rang. We put up our lunch trays and decided to part ways to our next classes. This time, Chrysalis was able to join Pinkie Pie, Vinyl, Octavia, and me to Music Lit class.

---

When we got home from school, Chrysalis and me went up to my room to work on our homework. This was going to be done more often, now that she was living with us. Plus, I was the only one with a cell that had my friend’s contacts on them, since she didn’t have a cell of her own.

As we were studying, she decided to bring something up. “I’m glad you were able to help me make some friends, even if it felt a bit weird. But how were you able to realize that I was struggling on my own?”

I had a feeling that she was going to want some answers, since we told Celestia the whole story about her and what we discovered. But I knew at some point, I was going to need allies to help out with my soul powers, and since she’s still new in making friends, and started to open up to me after getting her out of the mess she was in, she might be the best bet I have to getting somewhere on keeping my powers a secret…and finding a way to break through Sunset Shimmer.

“If I tell you, can you keep it a secret from everyone?” She nodded. “Tell me, before you started to live with us, did you felt afraid about what would happen if they knew you were living by yourself with your mother was gone, no way to pay the bills or live in the house?”

“I knew that if others found out, I would be taken to some orphanage, or at least thrown out of the house. I was scared that no one would be able to help me. That was until you stepped in.”

“The reason I’m asking you that is because I felt it inside you, without you showing it on the outside.” She gave me a confused look on her face. “I have this ‘gift’ that has helped me in my last school. Whenever someone tries to hide any feelings that people can’t see on the outside, I get this strange feeling. It could be anger, sadness, or in your case, fear. I use my gift to help others open up, or let the teacher look into that person to see if something is wrong. And I wasn’t alone in this. I had a few friends who helped me keep it a secret from others for my own safety. Since I’m new here, I was hoping you could help me in making sure no one knows about this. Can I trust you in this?”

“If you can tell me one thing. Does this gift have a name?”

“From what I just now learned, I call it my soul powers. I know there’s more to it than what I have experienced, maybe something that I haven’t discovered. All I know is that it involves with a person’s soul.”

“And to think people call me a witch. But with the gift you have, and the so-called rumors about me, I think I can provide a good distraction away from your soul powers, if it ever comes up. No sense in letting you have all the fun.” Both of us laughed.

“Now that we can agree on.” I was glad to finally have a friend that can help me keep my soul powers a secret. I knew that I would have to fill Celestia and Luna in on our new ally, even if they like it or not. Then I just remembered something. “Chrysalis, I have to ask you something.” She looked at me, wanted to know what I was about to ask. “Do you know Sunset Shimmer?”

“The fire demon? I’ve heard about her and what she did back in the spring.”

“Now that’s new to me. Why do they call her the fire demon?”

“Because she’s a bully, and has a fiery look to her. Is there something special about her?”

“That’s what I’m trying to find out. Just like I sense fear from you, I sense something strong from her, but I can’t understand what it was. It was like a wall was over her soul, trying to come out. It’s the first time I felt something that strong from someone.”

Chrysalis started to think about what I said. “That would be a challenge. And if I heard correctly, you have to work on a science project with her later on. Sounds like you have your hands full.”

“I know. And who knows what else will show up.”

“Well then,” she said as she was getting up and getting close to my face, “it’s a good thing that you were able to fill me in on all this. All you need is a woman’s touch to help you win her heart…and soul.” She planted a kiss on my check.

“What was that for?”

“A real thank you…for what you have done for me. I’m glad to have you as a friend.” She sat back down on the floor and grabbed her book that she was studying on.

“Same here. Just one thing, how would know what I need to do to win her heart?”

“My mother did raise me well, and that would include what to look for in a true man. And for the record, I’m not sure you would be the idea guy to go for, with my past and all. Just saying.”

“I guess I can agree with that…for now.”

Comments

[Amathaeon]

Keep going im really enjoying this.