Bury the Hatchet

by SapphireStar98

Chapter 3: And the Other's Gold

“This had better be it…” Autumn whispered to herself, checking the room number aside of the door for the third time in a row. She couldn't afford to be careless, especially when one slip-up could cost her favor with the myriad of students that populated the school. Although, now that she thought about it more…maybe she was overthinking things a little much.

Reaching to knock on the door was a little more difficult than she thought, as she had to force herself from freezing in place when the teacher inside opened it and motioned for her to come in. As Autumn did so, the teacher spoke to the class about her, where she came from, to be nice to her, all the usual garbage she expected to hear. What she didn’t expect was to lock eyes with a girl with pale blue hair and contempt-filled violet eyes, sitting not too far from where Autumn stood in front of the chalkboard.

Geez...maybe I wasn’t overreacting after all. Although, nobody else seems to care too much, save for a few of these kids. Autumn took a deep breath as the teacher directed her to her seat, heading over to her desk to search for unspecified paperwork. Screw it, all I gotta do is ignore them...

Shaking her head to clear unwanted thoughts, Autumn took her seat next to a girl with long, light pink hair. On closer inspection, she noticed the girl in question had a sketchbook sprawled out on her desk, reminding her of Starbreeze as much as she didn’t want to be. All she could do was hope the poor kid was doing alright in whatever class she was in. Hell, maybe she could approach this girl and make a new friend…if she wasn’t too afraid to talk to someone from Crystal Prep. Pretty damn likely, given how most of the student body wanted nothing to do with her, but it was worth a shot.

Small talk began to surface from groups of students, chatting away about how weekends were spent, upcoming sports events, and other such nonsense. As soon as the coast was clear, Autumn turned her head toward the girl to get a better look at who she was about to talk to. Long pink hair flowed down over her back, complemented by a butterfly-shaped hairclip. The white tank top she wore, along with the light green skirt and boots, went together nicely with the shade of her hair. She looked...stunning, really.

Autumn couldn’t help but get a little jealous as she swirled strands of her vermillion hair on a finger. It was about time she said something, before the thoughts and questions swirling through her mind stopped dead in their tracks. Her head subconsciously rested on her hand as she looked ahead at the teacher, slowly approaching her desk with a textbook and a small stack of papers in her arms.

“U-um...excuse me…” A serene, yet shaky voice rose from the spot next to Autumn, causing her to search for the source instead of spacing out even more. It was the same girl she was planning on talking to. What were the odds?

“Y-You must be that new student that people keep talking about, r-right?” She whispered, barely audible among the rest of the class’ chatter.

How comforting. Information spread like wildfire around high schools, that was for certain, but Autumn never thought she and Starbreeze would be the direct center of all that gossipy nonsense. Sure, they got brought into it sometimes, but…whatever. It wasn't too surprising that people knew about them already, what with them moving here two weeks ago, but a gut feeling told her that things weren't going to be sunshine and rainbows for the next several weeks or months, especially with the fact that a pair of familiar violet eyes bored holes into her from across the room. What the hell’s her deal? If she wants to start something, she might as well say something to my face instead of acting like that...

“Uh, yeah, that’s me…” she replied to distract from her thoughts, glancing around the room only to notice several pairs of eyes meet hers for split-seconds before turning back as the teacher strode to the front of the classroom. “So...what's your name?” Autumn asked, slightly more wary of the people around her than ever, their whispers slowly cracking through the facade she tried to put up.

Taken aback by the question, Autumn noticed that the girl speaking to her looked…scared. So much so that Autumn began to feel a pang of guilt well up inside her;she could only wonder if Crystal Prep really had a bad enough history with CHS to simultaneously anger and scare most of the student body. Knowing some of the people that attended that glossy, reputation-obsessed school, however…no wonder the poor girl was terrified to even speak to her.

“Um...my name’s Autumn Dawn...what’s yours?” she replied and subsequently questioned with as warm a tone as she could muster without sounding forced. It wouldn't look to good on an already bad reputation if she made a shy girl like her cry, even though the only offense she committed was walking through several doors and down several hallways in the school with Starbreeze. Oh no. Call the cops.

She seemed to shrink back at the question as it left Autumn’s lips, leaving her with not a single clue what to do other than smile warmly like before.

“I-it’s...Fluttershy…” She responded, voice even quieter than before, if that was even possible. She could've guessed the ‘shy’ part immediately, if her body language had anything to do with it. It fit her personality rather well. Maybe too well.

“Well...it’s nice to meet you, Fluttershy,” Autumn responded, opting not to shake her hand in fear that she would freak Fluttershy out even more.

With how soft-spoken she was, it was a wonder how she even got through each day without straining her voice too badly. It almost reminded her of...no, damn it, she needed to focus. Her eyes darted around the room for a topic of conversation; there had to have been something...right? The sketchbook entered her vision after a moment of searching, along with several well-drawn, detailed clothing designs that caught her eye.

“So..um, Fluttershy?” Cyan eyes turned to her in response, causing Autumn to hesitate for a split-second. “I noticed the stuff in your sketchbook,” she mentioned. She noticed the tense rise and fall of Fluttershy’s shoulders and eyes glancing at her shoes, wondering if she was trying to calm herself. “I...I thought they were really well done.” A giant weight lifted off her own shoulders as she finished speaking, noticing the corners of Fluttershy’s mouth beginning to shift upwards. Just what she wanted to see.

“O-oh, um...thank you, Autumn,” the quiet girl responded in the same low volume, eyes shining with cheer. “Well, you see…they’re for a friend of mine…she owns a boutique here in the city and she needed a little help coming up with designs for the rest of the fall season.”

A fashion designer for a friend? It sounded almost too good to be true. She took a quick glance at her current clothing choices, mostly consisting of a dark purple and gray. Nothing special, really, but she wondered if it would benefit her and Starbreeze to take a visit to the place. It might get students off their back for once if they had a change of wardrobe. Wouldn't hurt to ask a little more about it, right?

“Hey, Fluttershy. Do you think you could introduce me to this friend of yours? I, uh, might need some help fitting in here a little better. Wardrobe-wise, I mean.”

“Oh, of course! Maybe…maybe I could introduce her to you sometime today if she isn’t too busy?” Fluttershy mentioned, beaming as her voice slightly increased in volume. That wasn’t saying much, but at least Autumn didn’t have to strain herself to hear her better.

For once in her time here feeling genuine relief, Autumn smiled again. Sounded good to her. All she had to do now was wait. The relief she felt was short-lived as she once again noticed the violet eyes that tracked her down, turning back to a paper in front of her now and again to divert attention from herself.

Autumn leaned on her hand, feeling dread course through her as she continued to study the odd girl.

I’d better keep an eye out for her, huh? Damn it, I hate being right sometimes…

---

A cacophonous bell rang through every hallway in the school, students pouring from their classrooms as soon as the shrill metal sound reached their ears. The teacher’s reminders of assignments being due fell on deaf ears as most of Autumn’s class headed to where they needed to be next. For her and the painfully shy girl she noticed was trailing her, it was the cafeteria.

Her stomach churned with hunger as she made her way there; coupling it with having to sit through several boring lectures about working hard despite the events from two weeks prior, even though she didn’t have a clue what anybody was talking about, left her feeling faint. The pairs of eyes that bored into during most classes didn’t help much either. Any more of it and she might of left then and there.

A burst of delicious scents wafted around the cafeteria as she opened and strode through the double doors, causing her stomach to growl in protest of being empty again. Her eyes scanned the room for any sign of a blue-haired girl in a purple jacket and jeans as Fluttershy disappeared to find her own friends without a word spoken to her. Guess she’s still afraid to talk to me too much. Can’t blame her, I guess.

“Hey, Autumn! O-Over here!” The voice belonged to the girl she searched for, who currently sat next to Sunset at a table a decent ways away from Fluttershy and a group of girls she didn’t recognize. Sunset shot a lazy wave and a smirk Autumn’s way while she took her seat next to Starbreeze, careful to avoid eye contact with anybody at any nearby tables, as she fidgeted in her chair slightly in an attempt to get comfortable.

If only calming Starbreeze down was as easy to do to myself, she mused, attempting to ignore the ever-present whispers that tried to make her crack under pressure. Why the hell am I letting these guys to get to me so much? I’ve gotta stay strong and try to ignore them...all for Starbreeze.

“Um...Autumn? Are you alright?” A voice sounded from her right, quiet and calming yet shaking Autumn from her thoughts like a strong storm. She glanced up into worried cobalt eyes, the same look that was given when they both stood in front of the school, wary of seeing what might happen if they entered. She snapped back to the present when Starbreeze gave a weak, warm smile, speaking volumes more than words could ever say.

This is for her, after all.

“Yeah...I am now. I guess,” Autumn replied, aware of eyes taking glances at her from all over.

“Alright...if you say so,” Sunset added, resting a hand in her chin as she glossed over a line of people waiting to grab lunch. “You sure it’s nothing too serious?” she asked, slowly standing up to head over to the shortening line.

A nod from Autumn signaled her to speak up again. “Okay, suit yourself,” she muttered, standing up rather suddenly. “I’m gonna go grab something from the line; I’ll be back as soon as I can, got it?”

The duo waved as she left, letting a few seconds of silence fall between them before Autumn spoke up to break it.

“S-So, uh…how was your day so far? Hopefully it wasn’t too bad without me around…” Autumn tentatively asked, a far cry from her usual tone of voice.

“It was…okay, I guess?” Starbreeze responded, looking lost in thought. “I mean, I felt like eyes were constantly trained on me no matter what I was doing or what class I was in, so that wasn’t too fun…” Her eyes widened for a second as she seemed to remember something else. Hopefully it was some good news…

“Oh yeah! I actually managed to meet someone that didn’t hate my guts as soon as I walked in a room, so…that’s good, I guess. We actually managed to talk a bit too, so hopefully I gave her a good first impression…”

“Yeah, I guess so. All we can do is hope that you did.” Autumn smiled as she remembered meeting Fluttershy just three periods before as a small smile was brought forth. “Pretty much did the same on my end, although she was pretty scared to talk to me…”

“Not too surprising, to be honest. I’m just more shocked that we actually managed to make some friends...well, sort of.” Starbreeze’s eyes glanced over her shoulder when the sound of footsteps reached her ears, noticing a pink-haired girl with a spring in her step and a tray of food in her hands. Autumn looked back as well when she swore she heard a voice attempt to call someone back, but it didn’t seem to be any help as the girl reached their table.

“Speaking of…” Starbreeze muttered under her breath.

Pink hair that seemed to defy gravity, an infectious smile, and a sickeningly pastel-colored outfit caught Autumn’s attention the most, and she didn’t know what to think of the girl until she opened her mouth. Didn’t she see her somewhere before?

“Oh my gosh, you must be the other new girl I helped this morning, right?” she said rather quickly, setting her tray of food across from Autumn and grabbing her hand to shake it. Autumn didn’t even know what to say as a puzzled expression stuck on her face; Starbreeze let out a barely-audible chuckle behind her as the girl continued, letting go of Autumn’s hand in the process.

“U-uh…yeah, that’s me…I-I guess that means you know Starbreeze already is, right?” Autumn managed to say even as her words seemed to catch in her throat.

“Well, duh! I just met her three periods ago, after all! Besides, you looked kind of upset and there were a lot of people staring at you and whispering about you two, so I decided to come by to cheer you up! I did ask my friends if they wanted to come with, but…” She jerked a thumb in the general direction of the table she came from as an annoyed expression crossed her face for a moment. “They ended up turning it down, the bunch of party poopers, so I decided to come here and just meet you myself!”

Autumn thought she saw another pair of eyes, cerise in color, track her down when the girl mentioned her friends, but she decided it wasn’t too important. She’d probably have to deal with her soon anyways, and she certainly wasn’t looking forward to that point in time. No need to worry about that right now.

The energetic girl grasped Autumn’s hands again, derailing her train of thought, an even wider smile getting rid of all prior traces of annoyance crossing her face as light blue eyes met her own emerald ones. “My name’s Pinkie Pie! What’s yours?”

“I-It’s Autumn…Autumn Dawn,” she replied, forcing herself to speak instead of letting awkward silence fall. Luckily, Sunset finally came back, eyes narrowing in irritation when she noticed Pinkie taking her seat.

"What are you doing here, Pinkie?” She asked, quickly noticing Autumn and Starbreeze shaking their heads back and forth slightly with wide eyes as she took her own seat next to Starbreeze.

She sighed for a moment. “Whatever, it’s not important,” she muttered as the duo headed for the lunch line to get some-much needed food, leaving her alone with an all-too excited Pinkie Pie.

Silence that creeped up slowly was soon extinguished by Sunset. “So...Pinkie,” she began, smirking when Pinkie revealed to have a piece of lettuce sticking out from her mouth when she looked at her.

“What?” she asked, her voice muffled by another mouthful of salad she took.

“Why did you even do this to begin with?” Sunset prodded, unfazed by how ridiculous Pinkie sounded as someone with a mouth full of lettuce would.

“Well…” she began after swallowing her food. “I just figured they could use a little cheering up, that’s all! Besides, nobody deserves being sad and lonely all the time!” Pinkie pointed her fork at Sunset as she slowly picked at her own food. “Not even someone who tried to take over the world by becoming a magical she-demon!”

Don’t call me that, you annoying little…

Sunset stopped herself mid-insult, realizing that Pinkie’s words didn’t seem malicious in intent after all, if the wide smile she gave afterwards was any indication. It didn’t mean the innocuous jab hurt any less, but…

She’s right though…isn’t she? Maybe there’s some truth to it after all, as much as I hate to say it…

Her thoughts scattered when Autumn and Starbreeze returned with trays of food in their hands and satisfied smiles on their faces.

Silence reigned for a while as the duo took their seats and began to pick at their food. Pinkie’s eyes widened moments after they did, a wide smile again crossing her face.

“Hey, Starbreeze!” Pinkie exclaimed, startling her enough to make her jump and stop eating.

“Y-yes! U-um…what’s the matter, Pinkie?”

A giggle escaped her lips before she replied. “Oh, nothing much…I just got a super amazing idea, that’s all!”

“Shoot.”

“Do you three want to come to Sugarcube Corner with me and the girls after school?” She asked, waiting for a response as Starbreeze looked up into her cerulean eyes with a confused expression and a fork in her mouth.

Autumn beat Starbreeze to responding, crossing her arms and shooting a smile her way much to her friend’s chagrin. “I’m not really sure if I could make it because of some stuff I gotta do after school, but I’m sure Starbreeze would love to go…” Autumn, leaning closer to her friend with narrowed eyes and an all-too familiar smirk, muttered, “Isn’t that right, Starry?”

The sounds of Starbreeze struggling not to choke on her food emerged a split-second later as her eyes narrowed, mouthing a single word.

“What?”

Starbreeze didn’t have enough time to call Autumn out on her obvious bullshit before Pinkie spoke up in excitement. “That’s great to hear! Omigosh, I can’t wait to see you two later, okay? I’m gonna go tell the girls; I’ll be back in a jiffy!” She exclaimed, getting up from her seat to do exactly that.

Starbreeze slouched in her chair with an aggravated glare and tightly pursed lips shot in Autumn’s direction. Mumbling something Autumn couldn’t hear caused her to lean closer to her friend.

“Wait, what did you say, Starbreeze?” She asked, fighting the urge to laugh at her friend’s exaggerated annoyance. Sunset attempted to do the same with a hand over her mouth and a snicker escaping her lips, causing Autumn to smile even wider than before.

Silence lingered for longer than it had to before Starbreeze sighed in exasperation, slouching even further while opening her mouth to respond.

“I hate you so much right now.”

---

The rest of the day went on without much incident, aside from the usual awkward glance in Starbreeze’s direction as she waited for Sunset in the main foyer while reading the book she received from her English teacher. The words on the page didn’t even sink in, as her mind was preoccupied with other thoughts, as per usual. At least Autumn reminded me to text her mom before she left, she thought as she glanced at the simple ‘ok, have fun and stay safe’, followed by a smiley face that graced the lit screen of her phone. At least Autumn has a mom that gives a shit about her kid and her best friend, unlike mine.

Shaken from her thoughts and the words before her by Sunset, she stood up slowly after gathering her belonging to face Sunset with a weak smile.

“You alright?” Sunset asked, a hint of worry tinged in her voice.

“Yeah. I’m okay.” She wished she could be, anyway. Autumn wasn’t here, her mother was on her mind…

You wanna think of anything else, brain? Literally anything else would be better than thinking about…her. Not after what happened that day.

Thoughts that swirled through her mind stopped dead in her tracks as Sunset spoke up again after setting her backpack on the floor.

“Sorry I made you wait. Forgot something at my locker.”

Starbreeze held up the book she read prior with a smirk in lieu of saying anything.

“Yeah, that’s the one,” Sunset replied as she placed an identical book inside before zipping up the bag and getting back to her feet. “Guess you don’t mind reading this kinda stuff outside of school, huh?”

“Nah, not really. Always had a soft spot for things like that. ‘All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players’; stuff like that, y’know?” She quoted, waving her hand slightly for accentuation.

“Heh…yeah, I could maybe see the appeal to older works like that,” Sunset replied, glancing at the time on her phone. “Looks like we have a little time before we have to meet Pinkie, but-”

“You want to get going? Alright then…let’s go,” Starbreeze said, taking Sunset’s hand and leading her through the double doors.

Fallen leaves swirled around the sidewalk for a brief moment as a cool breeze swept them up, giving Starbreeze something to look at as she guided Sunset along. At least it was a better sight than that of the annoyed gazes of students passing them by, still unnerved by her presence as they were this morning.

One glare she couldn’t ignore was one directed at her by a girl with pale blue hair and violet eyes, a gaze that held so much contempt for her and Sunset that it stood out from the others by a fair margin.

“Hey, Sunset,” Starbreeze whispered as soon as she was certain the coast was clear from the girl and her violet glare. “Who…was that?”

Sunset apparently recognized the girl that Starbreeze mentioned, her eyes narrowing in annoyance soon after she realized who was glaring at them.

“Oh…Trixie? Honestly…” She paused, turning her gaze back toward Starbreeze. “I wouldn’t worry about her. She’s pretty harmless, but she’s pretty stubborn and kind of a nuisance. Just don’t worry about her and I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

“O-Oh…okay then…”

Even if Sunset said not to worry, that only made her mind race more. Why does this girl feel like she has it out for me? She doesn’t seem like she’ll be much of a threat, but still…I don’t think I’ll be forgetting those eyes anytime soon. She sighed, looking on ahead at the sidewalk that stretched beyond. I should tell Autumn about this then when I’m done here…let’s just hope you’re right about her, Sunset.

Author's Note:

EDIT 12/18/16 - Axed the original authors note, as it no longer applied to the rewritten chapter.

Constructive criticism is always appreciated!

Comments

[reader238]

“One month and forty-three days

this should be two months and 13 days just saying.

Anyway great story I hope to read more on it and I do hope that trixie can eventually become friends

[SapphireStar98]

7205487
This is actually more of a hint dropped by Starbreeze than a typo, although I can definitely see what you're addressing...
I'll put some more context in the conversation ASAP. Thank you!