The Truth About Girls (Vol. 2)

by TheMareWhoSaysNi

Disappeared (part 1)

It asked her a lot of courage to make that call. Yet, Fluttershy knew that if she didn’t do it, something could remain obstructed. And she didn’t want this. Pinkie Pie was her friend, she simply adored her. It was clear what was happening wasn’t her fault at all.

She exhaled deeply before patting the small green phone on her screen. A couple of seconds after this, first rings started to resound in her ears.

A part of her hoped the young woman wouldn’t pick it up. This cowardly part she hated about herself but which she couldn’t help. Often, she was thinking to herself that the best thing to do would be to curl up in a cocoon where nothing could filter. Anything but clashing with the world.

It wouldn’t help her much, of course, and that was the reason why she decided to handle things. This, plus the fact her behavior of last morning had been very impolite and this was a no-no.

Despite this unconscious and instinctive wish, Pinkie Pie’s voice finally resounded at the end of the line.

“Oh, Fluttershy, are you feeling better?”

“Better?” she asked, surprised by the question.

“Yes, girls told me you rushed towards the toilets before you disappeared so I came to the conclusion that maybe you were sick. You know, it’s no big deal, everyone has gastroenteritis one day. Or more than one day, if you’re under a high-fiber diet. Are you under a diet with a high-fiber food? You know, like eating a lot of cabbages…”

“Uh… What?”

It’s been more than a year now she had met her group of friends, yet, she was still puzzled by some of Pinkie Pie’s lines. It was as if each time she thought she had finally explore all of her eccentricities, she discovered new ones.

Really, it wasn’t always easy for her to fit in. Never, when she used to dream about how it would feel like to have friends, she’d envisioned talking about intestinal diseases.

Nonetheless, she had to admit that the whole “sickness” matter was a good thing. This way, she didn’t need to find an acceptable excuse for her sudden fled in the middle of her friend’s move.

“Weren’t you sick?” Pinkie Pie asked with a hint of astonishment.

“Well… I was. But the thing with cabbages lost me!”

Pinkie Pie burst out laughing at the end of the line, and Fluttershy had to hold herself back from asking what was so funny in what she’d just said.

Because, out of her cowardice side that she didn’t like, she had another facet, which this time she feared for being cruel and mean. It revealed only in certain circumstances, rare circumstances, but it was there, concealed inside of her, and since her argument with Big Macintosh and what she had seen last morning, it was starting to go up to the surface in a way the teenage girl didn’t really like much.

Like a salvation, the signal of a second call displayed on her phone, forcing her to shorten her conversation with her friend.

Pinkie Pie, obviously in great shape, assured her there were no problems, and that she could understand her urge to go back home if she was feeling sick. After they told each other goodbye, the young woman hurried to answer that second call.

She wasn't particularly at ease with this one as well… Indeed, the name on her screen was Big Macintosh’s. Like each time they got in touch with each other since their ‘argument’ (but did they really argue?), her hands started to shake and her heart to throb.

Even gulping was painful. When she answered “hello?” with a tickle of voice, Fluttershy thought she could hear her boyfriend sighing in the receiver. But maybe it was only her imagination…

“So, you were sick last morning?”

Truly, they all had spread the word. She would have liked not everyone thought she got home because of this disgusting disease. It was nothing to be ashamed of, and obviously, it embarrassed no one much, but she didn’t really understand why a part of her didn’t like what it implied and the impact it could have on the image the others had of her.

She was feeling the same way each time she had to buy sanitary napkins at the grocery…

“Yes”, she answered, hoping her shame couldn’t be guessed over the phone.

“Are you feeling better now?”

“Yes, I am.”

Silence. It seemed that, out of those commonplaces, they had nothing to say to each other. Yet, when they were together, they were able to have conversations. Not free-flowing ones, of course, since none of them were the chatterbox kind. But they talked, even so.

What had happened for them to be in such a situation? Right before, everything was perfectly fine, and Fluttershy thought she had been at least able to make him attached to her, and suddenly, without warning, everything had crumbled down, and she still didn’t understand why.

All it would take would be to question him about this… Yet, she kept her mouth shut, waiting for him to add something. Anything. After all, he was the one who called, wasn’t he?

“Ah have to tell ya sumethin’.”

“You do?”

Sigh. It was probably going to be of a very little comfort, but at least it seemed not to be something easy to say.

“Ah think we should take a break.”

“A break? Why? What have I done?”

Fluttershy was struggling not to show anything. Inside, she was in ruin. As if a storm had come and shattered everything upside down in her body. If she stared at the walls carefully, she was sure she could see them shaking.

“Ya didn’t do anythin’. It isn’t like this. Ah thought Ah could do it but now Am not that sure…”

“Of what are you not sure? I don’t understand, especially if I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“Am not sure Ah can understand mahself… Hence the break. Ah need to think about you and me. Ah need to know where Ah wanna go. Would ya prefer me to force mahself and lie to ya? Ya would suffer even more.”

“But I’m already suffering! My heart’s in pieces!”

“Sorry. Ah always been sincere with ya. Ah can’t tell ya a lie now. Trust me, ya won’t be feelin’ any better if Ah did.”

“So, what? Why can’t you have me anymore?”

Her voice was broken. There was no way she could keep on holding back her emotions. She felt as if she had never been so hurt. Tears were scorching her eyes, and all her body seemed to be burning in flames.

It was so unfair. She’d always been kind and affectionate with him. She had done anything for him to end up loving her, and yet, despite all her efforts, she had failed at everything. The only thing she had been good at was making him want to take a break which she hated.

“It’s more complicated than that, Fluttershy. Ah still mean everythin’ Ah told ya about yar qualities, but Am not sure Ah can handle such a thing. It’s better that we part for some time, it will help the both of us. Ya’ll see.”

“I won’t see anything!”

And out of rage and desperation, she hung up on him and threw her phone at the other side of her room. The phone bounced against her closet before falling on the ground in a crash of plastic.

She would never be able to stop crying. Because no one had ever made her feel as miserable as she was right now. And she had school on the next day. Applejack would probably know and ask her how she was feeling. She didn’t want to talk about it. Especially not in front of Pinkie Pie.

For a short while, she even wished that Pinkie Pie had never existed…

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What a weird day! Fluttershy had been constantly sullen, spending most of her time lost in thoughts, and had refused to tell them what was wrong. No one knew anything. Pinkie Pie, glad to be able to stay in Canterlot with her friends, was a busier bee than ever, proving it was something possible. Sometimes it even felt a bit too much, as if she was trying to conceal something that made her feel uncomfortable.

With Applejack and Twilight, they had spent some time trying to find theories to explain both behaviors, but had drawn no satisfying conclusions. And now, because of this, she was going to be late for her volleyball club.

Without tooting her own horn, Sunset Shimmer thought she was pretty good. Maybe she wasn’t at Rainbow Dash, Applejack or even Pinkie Pie's levels in their respected discipline, yet, she was doing well enough to get encouragements from their team coach on a regular basis.

What a pity she’d waited twelfth grade before subscribing to one of the school’s clubs! When she had chosen to study here in CHS rather than in Crystal Prep where she had been accepted as well, it also had been for all the activities offered by the school. Then, she had first been so busy bullying the others, only to be too busy trying to make amends by Adagio, Sonata et Aria’s side that she had completely neglected the rest!

Often, she wondered where she would be right now if Adagio hadn’t ordered her to steal Rainbow Dash’s gym bag and then strongly suggested her to take part in this silly revenge. Out of this very bad thing had only come out wonders.

Finally, she was happy to go to school every morning when she woke up.

She was in a hurry to reach the gymnasium, jogging in order to warm up before practice, when she felt someone softly putting a hand on her shoulder.

Who could try to get her attention this way? Usually, when it was required, her name was shouted…

When she turned around, however, Sunset Shimmer understood. Vinyl Scratch, also known as DJ Pon-3, one of their local celebrities, had another particularity out of her precocious talent for mixing… She was born mute. It was the reason why music was so important in her life. For her, it represented a very efficient way to communicate.

On the previous year, she and Sunset Shimmer were in the same class. When everyone else was ignoring her, the young woman, always in a sunny mood, had been the only one still greeting her with gentle waves, while shaking her head to the sound of the electro music she almost listened to all the time.

“Is everything OK?” Sunset Shimmer asked her, while taking a look at the clock on the wall.

If she didn’t hurry, she would be extremely late, and practice would start without her…

Yet, her eyes widened in some sort of shock when she saw her schoolmate answering by a negative nod.

“Oh, what’s happening?”

Vinyl Scratch was already leaning over her tablet, busy writing what she wanted to tell Sunset Shimmer. Her wrist was moving at full throttle against the virtual keyboard, and judging by how long her text seemed to be, her problem was nothing trifling.

She turned the electronic device around, and Sunset Shimmer read out loud what was written on the screen.

“Do you know my girlfriend Octavia? She’s in your class. Brown hair, pretty, British accent, plays cello. It’s been a month since she’s stopped coming to school and no one, absolutely no one has news from her. She doesn’t pick up the phone and I believe she no longer leaves her home.”

Indeed, Sunset Shimmer didn’t have to think hard to notice the teenage girl hadn’t come to class since a little while. Everybody had first thought her to be sick, then with courses and worries, it had almost turned into nothing special to hear silence resounding each time her name was called by teachers during attendance.

She had never really thought about what could have happened for Octavia to stop coming so suddenly. If she remembered, she was really liked by other pupils, talking with everybody, and she was really gifted in her field of expertise, so much that she could see herself doing nothing else than playing cello professionally.

Her couple with Vinyl Scratch hadn’t really shocked, neither. Of course, two girls together were something titillated the boys’ imagination, but as a whole, their couple hadn’t provoked the expected scandal. It had to be said that they were quite reserved in their displays of affection, which helped.

Yet, here in CHS, like anywhere else, there were little hoodlums ready to do anything to establish their powers over the others.

All the same, it didn’t tell her what Vinyl Scratch was expecting from her by telling her this.

“I’m sad for Octavia, but… What does it have to do with me?”

Immediately, Vinyl started to write back on her tablet. Once she was done, just like before, Sunset Shimmer read out loud what was written.

“Maybe Octavia would accept to talk to you and your friends. She always says your friendship’s a good example for the others and is really inspiring. She used to have a group of friends back in Trottingham and you remind her of them. I’ve tried everything, and you’re my very last chance. Please, help me.”

Of course, it was satisfying to see some persons regarded their group as more than CHS’ noisy inseparable gang, always seeking attention, consciously or not.

Nonetheless, if Octavia refused to even talk to her closest friends, and even to the girl she loved, she couldn’t get what her and the others could do about it. They only were teenagers, after all, and they had their own problems to deal with.

It would be easy to say no, to tell Vinyl it was none of her business, and that it was her problem to fix. But something, which she just couldn’t explain, touched her deeply in this story.

“Well, I’m going to have a quick word about this with my friends, but there’s no guarantee. Alright?”

Vinyl nodded, wrote on her tablet that even just trying was very nice of her, and that she would owe her something in return.

When she fell on her neck for a quick hug, Sunset Shimmer told herself it was the kind of reward she really liked to get. And that even if the girls refused to help Octavia and Vinyl, she would do her best to know what was going on, anyway.

--------------------------------

During all her volleyball practice, Sunset Shimmer had troubles not to think about the favor Vinyl Scratch wanted her to do.

What was the most troubling was the fact everybody had put up with Octavia’s absence, without the least of questioning.

If it was this way for such a likeable student, so what was it like for those who were considered outcasts, or worse, who weren’t liked at all? Maybe there had been other desertions and no one had taken note of them.

By the end of practice, she had eventually realized she had the answer to her question. She didn’t even have to think really hard. The sudden absence of Sonata, Adagio and Aria after they've been arrested hadn’t stirred up enthusiasm. Since they weren’t really popular, almost no one had been shaken up by them no longer being there.

Their return, discreet after the events of the fun fair, had happened in the same indifference. Sometimes, even Sunset Shimmer forgot she could meet them around the corner, and each time it happened, her heart skipped a beat from fear and tension.

Pinkie Pie’s high-pitched laugh snapped her out of her reflections. Why was she laughing? Twilight had cappuccino cream on the tip of her nose. It often was enough to start such a reaction from the young woman. So it was nothing unusual, if it was not for Fluttershy’s jaded face, in the background since the morning of the move.

Since it seemed like none of the girls had noticed anything, Sunset Shimmer chose not to highlight this.

They were at their favorite table at Sugarcube Corner, sharing their usual after-club and afterschool snack, made of hot drinks and pastries (low-fat and low-sugar for some of them). Since it still was too cold to stay outside or behind the stadium’s bleachers, it was there they went every day without exception. Winter was especially rough this year.

Undoubtedly, this was the perfect moment to tell them about what had concerned her for two hours. They all were here, in familiar surroundings, and in the best relaxation conditions possible. And this, although Fluttershy kept on seeming even more uncommunicative than usually.

“Since we’re all here, I want to tell you guys about something”, she started innocently.

Immediately, five heads turned around. It was a bit intimidating, to be honest. They knew each other quite well now, true, yet Sunset Shimmer kept a slight anxiety inside of her, telling her she still was expected to do something bad.

“It’s no government matter, don’t worry”, she said with a slightly embarrassed laugh, scratching the back of her head.

“Come on, what’s this all about?”

“Yes, we’re all listenin’ to ya”, Applejack added.

“Well… How can I start? Earlier, before volleyball, Vinyl Scratch has “talked” to me. There’s no sign of life from her girlfriend Octavia since something like one month. She won’t reveal herself to anyone, not even to Vinyl. It also seems like she no longer get out of her home. She asked me to talk to it with you.”

Seeing the lack of reactions from her friends, Sunset Shimmer couldn’t help being disappointed. She had expected this mystery to intrigue them a little more, especially Twilight and Rainbow Dash, fond of whodunit novels with conundrums to see through. If asked, she would have bet such a real-life plot would have immediately catch her attention.

“What does it have to do with us?” Fluttershy asked.

It seemed to each of them they heard her voice for the first time today. And finally, they noticed that, maybe, something was wrong with their friend. But it was almost sure she wouldn’t tell them anything if they ask her what was happening to her.

“Nothing, in theory, I admit but Vinyl Scratch explained me Octavia had a real admiration for our friendship. It reminds her of her former group of friends from Middle High School, back in Trottingham. And so, the girlfriend thinks there might be a chance Octavia would agree to talk to us.”

“Alright, that’s clearer, but if she doesn’t talk to her GF, Ah can’t see why she’d tell us anythin’.”

“That’s exactly what I thought, but I promised I’d try.”

Of course, in reality, she’d only promised to tell them about it, not to try to start a dialogue with Octavia. It was a white lie she thought was necessary. Not sure of why it mattered so much to her, she had to try. And she deeply hoped it would at least move one of her friends.

“I’d be happy to help, but I’m not sure I’m the most appropriate kind of person for this kind of mission”, Pinkie Pie said, acting serious, which didn’t match at all with the cupcake’s crumbs she had all over her mouth.

Yes, obviously, although she had her loads of bumps on her road to life, the teenage girl maybe wasn’t the perfect fit for this kind of mission, as she called it. Depending on what happened to Octavia, her overwhelming energy could happen to be irrelevant.

However, it was nice of her to, at least, have the will to help.

“Well, I… I can check out whether Octavia has an activity on social networks. It could enlighten us about her real situation.”

“You would really do this, Twilight? You’re the best!”

Without further thinking, Sunset Shimmer took her in her arms. Twilight whispered a weak ‘I haven’t done anything yet’ but had no other reaction, silently waiting for the young woman to loosen her embrace.

Why had she done such a thing? She had no idea. To see that at least two of her friends were ready to assist her with this matter, it moved her. Especially as Applejack claimed that if she could be of any help, she would do it with pleasure.

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were the only ones who hadn’t said anything yet. The first girl didn’t show any interest. As far as the second girl was concerned, after looking lost in thoughts for a few minutes, she declared that she would help as well, depending on what Twilight would discover. She had been away from school for months herself and would have been glad if someone outside of her gang had worried about her like this.

Maybe she was mistaking, but it seemed to Sunset Shimmer that she didn’t talk about people from her former school, but about one person in particular.

Author's Note:

Yes, Vinyl Scratch is mute, although it's a cliché. But I think it's always a good thing for people with disabilities of any kind to be represented.

Comments

[Midday Giggle]

5:59

Well, I wasn't expecting the mute thing. Nice touch.

I see things are getting bumpy. What will wait our dear girls i this arc?

Good Chapter!

[Dusk_Writer]

I stand by what I said last chapter:

Damnit Big Mac! If I were him I would run and HIDE…far, FAR away…

(Seriously bro, R-U-N)