Long Week
A new day at Crystal Prep, and Sunset ...
"Can you repeat that for me?" Sunset asks cautiously.
Principal Cinch remains impassive, sitting behind her desk while watching Sunset sitting on the small chair in front of her. "I did not stutter, Miss Shimmer. Our school will be hosting an annual sporting event against Trottingham College next week, and I want you to be part of our team."
Everything remains silent, while the former equine processes the information. She turns slightly to look at Dean Cadance, who smiles back comfortingly.
Sunset tried to make sense of the situation.
She could not.
She had arrived at school that morning, and before she could do anything, Dean Cadance had approached and brought her to the principal's office, where Cinch thrusted this upon her.
"Principal Cinch, I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I don't understand,” Sunset says uncertainly.
"Come on, it’s simple, Sunset," says Indigo Zap, standing next to Sunset’s chair. "Every year, we have a sports competition against Trottingham College. It's a way to unite the school and raise some funds."
Sunset nods, understanding that part. Or at least, she thinks she does.
"This year, we’re having a soccer game," continues Indigo. "The team has been putting in their best work training all month, but there’s a problem. One of our star players had a tear, and he won’t be able to recover before the game, so we need a substitute."
Sunset looks at Indigo, waiting for more. Indigo looks at Sunset.
Sunset blinks. Indigo blinks.
Sunset blinks. Indigo blinks.
"I mean you, Sunset," Indigo explains finally.
"Yeah, I know!" says Sunset, smiling animatedly. After a pregnant pause, her smile turns nervous and she asks, "What?"
Indigo facepalms. "I need you to join the team, just for this game."
"That part I get it, but... What?!"
Cinch leans on her desk and says, "Is there a problem, Miss Shimmer?"
"You tell me!" Sunset responds, confused. "Why do you want me to play? What makes you think I can even play soccer? "
Indigo is the one who answers. "I already told you, we need another player."
"Don't you have substitutes for cases like these?"
"Yes, but none of them can stand up to Trottingham. We need someone who can handle their strength."
"But why me?"
"Sunset, I've seen you in gym class! You're agile, fast and strong, you practically mastered all the exercises of the class, and you don’t even sweat!"
"Of course, I sweat. What kind of person doesn’t—?"
"The point," Indigo interrupts, "is that you're a natural athlete. Maybe you can’t replace our injured player, but you can fill the space and give us a better chance than any other player would."
"This is ridiculous…"
To everyone’s surprise, the principal suddenly stands up. "In any case, Miss Shimmer, you will join the school's soccer team, and I hope that, with your help, we can deal with this problem."
"Do I even have a choice?"
The principal's gaze remains grave.
"I didn’t think so." Sunset lowers her head, defeated and frustrated.
Indigo gives Sunset a look, then says, "Being such an important event, Principal Cinch has allowed us to use the afternoon to practice. We meet after lunch from one-thirty to five o’clock."
"... I can't stay that long. I have... things to do at three-thirty."
She wasn’t about to tell them about the band.
Indigo looks questioningly at the principal, who simply returns the stare with a raised eyebrow. After an internal struggle, Indigo says, "... Okay, fine, since we kind of blindsided you with this. That should be enough for you to at least catch up with the team."
Cinch comes around to the front of her desk, standing in front of the newest student at the school. Her posture and the effect of the shadows and lights on her make her look extremely intimidating.
Sunset had faced evil demons and sirens, and that only here in this world, so the view of the imposing woman did not have much impact, although it did give a slight chill.
"I'm counting on you, Miss Shimmer," The woman says gravely. "To play—and win—on behalf of our school."
Sunset knows what manipulation was; she had used it hundreds, maybe thousands of times. She knows perfectly well that those emphases had a meaning.
But she is not sure what it could be...
"Dismissed," Cinch announces.
Sunset hurriedly leaves the principal's office.
The day did not start well. Sunset just hoped that nothing else would happen.
*S*A*S*
No such luck.
Sunset could not help but feel confused by the sight of the girl shivering in the chair in that small, dark room.
Sour Sweet smiles and says sweetly, "I present you, the digital stalker~." Her tone shifts, and she growls, "The creator of the blog!"pointing to the girl in the chair.
The girl in question is younger than them, about two, maybe three years younger, wearing the same school uniform, her purple hair adorned with a yellow-white ribbon, her soft, brown eyes full of fear as she looks at her ‘captors’.
Sunny Flare, standing next to Sunset, places a finger on her chin. "Are you sure about this, Sour Sweet?"
"Very sure. I followed the link's data in the school’s page, and I found the point from where it was created: this twerp's personal computer."
She presents a small, pink laptop. The younger girl bites her lip worriedly when she sees her computer in Sour's hand.
"You can see it yourselves,~" Sour says in her sweet voice. "The twerp left the username and password in the boxes."
Sunny takes the laptop and examines it, staring at the blog access screen. A click makes it open. "Hm, I see."
Sunset keeps her poker face, still not convinced it’s all a big deal.
The door opens, flooding the room in light, brightening the janitor’s closet the girls commandeered.
"Here we are!" Sonata exclaims, entering the place, pulling Twilight in with her by the wrist.
"Close the door! I’m trying to make this dramatic!" exclaims Sour.
Startled, Sonata slams the door closed, bathing the room once more in darkness.
"Um... What's going on here?" asks the scientist, fearful about the situation.
Sunny replies, "Sour Sweet has found who created the blog to defame Sunset."
"Who was it?!" Sonata asks angrily. "I'll make him eat rancid broccoli to teach him a lesson!"
The president points to the girl in the chair, who jumps backwards into the backrest when the blue-haired siren leans to face her.
"So, you're the guilty party, huh?!" Sonata says in a tone that’s almost threatening.
The accused does not respond, but small tears form in her eyes.
"Well, I only have one question for you!" Suddenly, Sonata opens the blog on her phone. "Why’d you just use normal photos? Don’t you know how to photoshop? You could do so much more to make Sunset look bad! If you're going to bully someone, do it right, girl!"
Silence falls on the group. Sour Sweet facepalms, Sunny grabs the bridge of her nose, Twilight sighs, and Sunset glares at Sonata.
Sour pushes Sonata's face away from the accused and stares at her. "Well, twerp, you’re trapped here. Confess your crime, and maybe the principal will have pity on you."
The defendant tries to speak, but her fear makes it impossible. "I-I-I…"
Sunset finally decides to speak up. "Okay, who is this?"
"This is—" Sonata pauses. "Uh… What's your name?" she asks the girl.
"Su-Su-... Suri..." she responds fearfully.
"This is Sususuri!” Sonata pauses again. “That’s a weird name. Is it French?"
Sunny massages her forehead before speaking, "Ugh, her name is Suri Polomare. I know her from my art class; she may be a freshman, but she’s already taking some advanced classes."
Sunset looks at the girl, now known as Suri Polomare. "Why would she do this? I don’t even know her."
Sour Sweet looks accusingly to Suri. "You heard the girl, twerp! Confess!"
"N-No... I didn't want..." She trails off, unable to say more.
"You won’t talk, huh?" Sour says, scowling.
"Oh! Leave her to me!" Sonata says suddenly. "I know sixteenth-century torture techniques that’ll make her talk."
Suri hugs herself in terror.
"That's not necessary," Sunny responds. "Let's just take her to the principal. She'll fix this matter."
"No, please!" Suri shouts.
"Aww, but I never get to use them!" protests Sonata. "Ever since they became illegal in the eighteenth century. Stupid humanitarians."
Although the phrase leaves all them a little confused, none seems to want to go down that particular rabbit hole.
"Alright, twerp, stand up," Sour orders. "The principal will want to see you and know what you did."
"No! It wasn’t me! I—"
"Don’t lie. Your computer has all the evidence we need."
"B-But—"
Sunny steps forward and crosses her arms. "If you want to talk, start by explaining your reasons."
"I-I wasn’t... I..." Suddenly, young girl starts crying. "I didn't want to do it! Someone made me create the blog and upload those photos!"
"Oh, yeah? Who was it?" Sour asks incredulously.
"… I can't say…"
"Why not?" Sunny asks, annoyed.
"... He told me that if I didn't do what he said... he would tell my teachers that I cheated on the exams two weeks ago..."
Twilight, a little surprised, asks, "You did?"
Suri shakes her head and clears her tears a little. "No! I know I'm not always fair in class... but I wouldn't cheat on an exam. That would get me expelled. I can't risk that..."
"Then why do you let him intimidate you?" Twilight asks, puzzled. "Just say he's lying."
Suri starts to sniffle again. "I can't... It would be his word against mine... and mine has no value because I’m still really young! No teacher in my advanced classes would believe me."
Sour Sweet lost the little patience she had left. "Just stop crying and tell us who you’re talking about!"
"I can't! He’ll know if I tell someone, and he’ll get me expelled."
Sour smiles at her. "Aww, that’s so sad~!” Her smile falls. “but I don't believe a word of it!"
"But... But I—"
"Forget it!" shouts Sour. "You, Blue, grab the twerp and take her to the principal."
"Yes, boss!" Sonata was used to the orders, so there was no complaint from her.
"Please! I didn't want to—"
"Tell it to the judge!" The siren takes the girl and forces her to her feet.
Sunny talks impatiently. "Whether your story is true or not, it's no excuse to do such an act. You deserve to be punished."
Suri can only lower her head and start crying. Sour Sweet and Sunny Flare glare at her with serious expressions, unconcerned with her crying.
Sonata keeps a deep frown, as if wanting to look rough. Twilight looks somewhat sympathetic.
Sunset, on the other hand, remains impassive, expressionless as she watches the young girl cry, defeated.
"It wasn’t me. Please..."
"You can say it until you’re blue in the face, but we won’t believe you," Sour says.
Suri surrenders, sniffling quietly. Sighing, Sunset approaches and looks at the little girl. "I believe you."
Suri opens her tearful eyes in great surprise, as do the other four girls in the room. Sunset ignores the others and just smiles softly at the youngest of those present.
Suri has trouble finding her words. "Y-You... Really...?"
Sunset just smiles encouragingly. "Sure. Sonata, let her go, okay?"
"Um, are you sure?"
Sunset just nods. The siren looks at the accused for a moment, before she lets go. "Well, if Sunsite says so."
"Sunset Shimmer, what are you doing?" Sour Sweet demands.
Sunset does not respond, keeping her attention on Suri. "You can go now. I'm sorry about all this."
Suri keeps staring at Sunset. "I... Seriously...?"
"Yeah. I know it's not your fault," Sunset answers.
"But... what do I do now...?"
Sunset doesn’t drop her smile. "Keep doing what that guy tells you."
"What?! B-But—"
"If you don't, he's going to lie about you, right?" Sunset extends her hand and wipes the tears of the young girl, who is more surprised. "Don’t worry. We'll fix this, and we won’t get you in trouble."
Suri begins to cry again, throwing herself at the older woman and wrapping her in a hug as she sobs. Sunset is surprised, but soon regains her smile and returns the hug.
The others are still surprised by the scene, though Sour Sweet also looks upset.
Soon, Sunset removes the girl from her waist and smiles again. "Come on, go to class, and don't worry about this anymore."
Suri can only smile through her tears. A snarl makes her turn around, looking in terror at Sour Sweet’s furious visage. Suri shouts in fright and runs out of the room, bathing the room in light for the brief moment the door is open before once more casting everything in darkness.
Sour Sweet looks at Sunset with a sweet smile. "Oh Sunset, dear companion, could you please explain~whatthe hell you just did?!"Her question ends with a growl.
"... You don't need to yell," says Sunset without flinching.
Sour opens her mouth to speak, but Sunny covers her mouth before she gets the chance and takes the floor. "I'm sorry, Sunset, but I agree. Why did you let her go?"
"Because it's not her fault," Sunset replies simply. "If someone is forcing her, I can't blame her."
Sour removes Sunny's hand from her mouth. "How can you say it's not her fault?!" she exclaims angrily.
Twilight says, "Sunset, do you really believe what she said?"
Sunset takes a few seconds, but answers confidently, "Yes, I believe her."
"Why?" Sunny questions, more curious than angry.
Again, Sunset takes a few seconds and closes her eyes a moment before answering, "Because I could see it in her eyes. She reminded me of myself..."
The answer leaves everyone more confused than satisfied.
"When CHS accused me of being Anon-a-Miss, it didn’t matter how much I cried or how much I begged. No one believed me. They were all convinced that I was the guilty party."
Twilight and Sonata look at Sunset with sympathy, and Sunny relaxes her somewhat accusatory expression.
It's Sour Sweet who stays confused. "'Anon-a-Miss'?"
Sunset continues, "Seeing her like that... It reminded me of how I was when they accused me of something I didn't do... Those tears can't be faked."
To her surprise, Sunset feels a strong hug as Sonata wraps her arms around her waist, and she smiles.
Twilight looks at her too, with a sympathetic smile. Even Sunny smiles after a moment of doubt.
Sour Sweet, however, says, "Alright, I feel like I'm missing something."
"I'll explain it to you later, Sour," Sunny replies.
"Ugh... Back to the point, we know that girl made the blog and is updating it!"
"Yes, but it's not her fault," repeats Sunset. "Someone’s manipulating her. We have to find out who. If you want to kill a snake, cut off its head."
Sour Sweet smiles. "Oh, and how do you expect to do that~?"
"Actually, Suri gave us a couple of clues," Sunset replies with a smirk.
Sour gets curious looks. "What clues?" Sour asks, frowning.
"I'll tell you, but first, can we get out of here? All this darkness is bothering me."
Once out of the janitor's closet, Sunset begins, "Well, first of all, we know it's a 'he', so Lighning Dust is out. I doubted it was her to begin with, but now, I'm sure."
The four watch and listen attentively, with different expressions.
Sunset continues, "More importantly, the person who is forcing Suri is doing so under the threat of lying to her teachers. Sunny,"Sunny snaps to attention as Sunset says, "you said that Suri has some advanced classes for her age, right?"
"Um, yes," Sunny responds. "She’s smart and has some contacts that allowed her to take a couple of higher classes."
Sunset says, "Okay. Taking into account that she said that she was too young for her word to have value, it can only be an older boy who knows her from her advanced classes."
Twilight meditates on that. "That makes a lot of sense. A teacher would only believe a lie like that if he knew both students from the same class."
"Precisely," agrees Sunset. "Therefore, the culprit—"
"Is a boy about our age who attends one of Suri Polomare’s advanced classes," Sunny finishes. "Right."
Sour Sweet considers that. "Hm, if that's true, what we should do is see what classes that girl takes and find out which male students take that same class. Even so, that could give an extensive list of suspects. How are we supposed to catch the culprit?"
Before anyone could answer that, the school bell sounds.
"We'll think about it after school," Sunset says.
With that, the five girls go their separate ways. Suddenly, Sunset stops and turns. "Sunny, Sour Sweet!" Both turn, and Sunset smiles at them. "Thank you."
With that said, she resumes her way, as do Twilight and Sonata, leaving Sour and Sunny, who watch the fire-haired girl leave.
Sunny smiles. "She's an interesting girl, don't you think?"
"I would say strange. Very, very strange," replies Sour. Sunny does not respond but maintains her curious smile, which Sour notices. "Oh no... I know that smile. What are you plotting this time? No! Don't say it! I'd rather not know."
Sour quickly scurries away. Sunny does not stop her; she just stays steeped in her own ideas.
*S*A*S*
"Here we go!" exclaims a happy Lemon Zest as she takes out a roll of paper from her purse, which turns out to be a small poster as she unfolds it.
On the poster is an image of an electric guitar. In the background is what looks like the sun hiding on the horizon, and around it are waves of dark colors, as if they were shadows in the illusion of movement.
The phrase 'Sunset Among Shadows' is written on the top, accompanied by some musical notes.
Sunset stares impassively, Twilight seems confused, and Sonata smiles, impressed. "It looks great!" Sonata says.
"Heh heh, thanks! I designed it myself!" Lemon says with pride. "Of course, I asked a graphic design house to do it put it on the poster, but the drawing was one hundred percent my idea."
Sunset is curious but smiles, in the end. "It's nice."
Twilight matches the smile. "Yes... Um... What is it exactly?"
"It's the new poster for our band!" Lemon cheers. “The one we’ll use to announce ourselves when playing in front of an audience!"
Sonata starts jumping excitedly in place, clapping her hands.
Twilight does not get quite so excited, but she smiles. "Well, it's pretty, striking, and quite original."
Lemon smiles broadly.
Sunset looks at the name. "Wath is, 'Sunset Among Shadows'?"
"The name of our band, duh," Lemon responds.
"When did we decide on that name?" Twilight asks.
"We didn't," answers Lemon, "but I did! It’s based on what we are! Twilight, Sonata and I are Shadowbolts, since we’ve been studying here for a while, but Sunset is still new. ‘Sunset Among Shadows’." She points first to Sunset, then to the rest. "Get it?"
Twilight asks, "Shouldn’t you have consulted us before making such a choice?"
"Can you think of a better and cooler name than this one?" Lemon challenges.
"Ah... I... Uh..."
"I think it's great!" Sonata exclaims with joy. "'Sunset Among Shadows'! I love it!"
Sunset is very confused. "Why’s the emphasis on me?"
"Well, you're the leader of the band," Lemon responds, as if it were obvious.
"What?! But it's your band!" Sunset exclaims.
"Well, I'm the founder, but the band only came together thanks to you. According to Duskie, you helped her sing again, and I would never have known about Sparkle’s hidden talent without you. Besides, you already have experience in bands, and you know how to play the guitar, which I still have to practice. You have more experience than me, and it doesn’t bother me to say that you’re smarter, and you probably make better decisions than I do. And that’s why you’re the leader."
The long and descriptive explanation leaves Sunset mute for a while, until she finally says, "Why do I feel like you're just making excuses not to do the job?"
Lemon's smile becomes a little nervous. "Anyway, I still haven’t told you the most exciting thing!"
"Oh, my God!" Sonata exclaims. "Can it even get more exciting?!"
"It sure can!" responds Lemon, smiling more widely. "You see, there’s this club that I usually go to on Fridays, and there's this guy I know. He works there, and I have a couple of drinks with him sometimes—"
"You’re underage," interrupts Twilight.
"And guess what!" Lemon continues, ignoring Twilight. "He got us a gig for next Friday!"
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAY!" the siren screams gleefully.
"What?!" Sunset and Twilight exclaim in unison.
"We’re playing in front of a real audience!" exclaims Lemon. "What do you think?"
Smiling, Lemon waits for the response of her companions. Sonata jumps in excitement, but Sunset and Twilight are stunned.
"This is a joke... right?" Sunset asks, still surprised.
"Nuh-uh!" Lemon answers. "It's true. We're having our first concert!"
"Hurray!" exclaims Sonata, her face becoming dreamy. "I'll be able to sing again in front of people! How much I missed that!"
Sunset stares at Lemon, her temper rising. Lemon's excited smile almost made Sunset want to hit something. In fact, she does just that, slapping herself to force herself to react. "Lemon, that's crazy!"
"I know! And I love it!"
"We can't play in front of people! We’ve only been a band for a few days! What about the trial period? I haven’t even decided if I want to be in the band. We don’t have any songs! You don't even know how to play yet!"
"Pffff, learning a song or two will be like giving a taco to Duskie!"
As if she wanted to prove her point, Lemon pulls out a taco (from where, no one knows) and holds it out to Sonata, who stares at it as if hypnotized. Lemon gently throws the taco into the air, and Sonata catches it in her mouth, wolfing it down in one bite.
Sunset gets over her disgust and says, "Ugh, Twilight, help me here." There’s no response. "Twilight?" When Sunset turns to look at her companion, she sees that Twilight is gone.
The three of them look around, and finally, they find the scientist lying on her side, hugging her legs in a fetal position and trembling with a gaze of pure terror on her face.
"... Live... Play... People... Watching... Bad..." Twilight trails off, her words becoming incomprehensible.
Sonata leans a little to see her better. "... I think she broke."
Sunset approaches and kneels down, shaking Twilight. "Twilight. Twilight, what's wrong with you?"
"Ma-Ma-Many people... watching... Baaaaaad..."
"Ugh!" is the only thing Sunset manages to say.
Lemon is surprised, but tries to keep her smile. "... Okay, a bit of stage fright. Nothing that can’t be fixed, and I can practice and learn to play a couple of songs before next Friday, no problem."
Sunset rubs her face and lets out a moan. "Lemon, I'm sorry, but this isn't going to work."
"Oh, come on Sun-Shim. It's just a club. Nothing’ll happen if we fail!"
"I'm not talking about playing live, I'm talking about the band."
"... Wh-What...?"
"Look, I agreed to this, mostly because you wanted it, but I'm not really interested in having concerts and things like that. I'm sorry."
With that said, Sunset closes her eyes, and, with a serious, though sad, expression, walks towards the exit.
"Sun-Shim, wait!" Lemon exclaims.
Sonata hugs Sunset from behind and holds her in place. "Sunsite, don’t go! Please!"
"Sonata... I'm sorry, but... I can’t... I can’t do something like that..."
Twilight somehow leaves her fear behind and sits up hurriedly. "Sunset, wait!" Everyone turns to look at the scientist. "It's okay! I'm fine! I can do it. Let's play!"
"What?" That leaves Sunset more impressed than annoyed.
"Yeah! Please, Sunsite!" Sonata pleads. "I want us to play, all together! We're frie—partners!"
"Yeah, Sun-Shim, play with us!"
The three looks intensely, pleadingly at the former equine. Sunset could not be more surprised.
In the end, Sunset just sighs. "Alright..."
A squeal escapes from Sonata, and the siren tightens her embrace, crushing Sunset a little. Twilight smiles animatedly, but not as much as Lemon, who celebrates with her fist held high.
Sunset sighs again and lowers her head.
Why couldn’t she stop pampering these girls?
Calming down a little, Lemon says, "Alright, Sunset Among Shadows, we have a lot to practice and not a lot of time, so let’s get started!"
Sonata and Twilight rush to take their places. Sunset allows herself a few seconds to rub her face tiredly. "This is gonna be a looooooong week..."
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Great filler chapter.
So Sunset has an idea on who the jackass is that's actually posting the blog, she has to be in soccer match, & she, Twilight, & Sonata (Lemon too, I guess) got a gig for next week.... Good luck Sunset, you'll need it.
9045468
Thanks, the next one will be a very interesting chapter, I assure you
9045623
ha ha, she will need more than just luck
9045767
No doubt, she will!
Man Sunset is getting strung along hard in here, like a beta male protagonist from a harem anime.
i.pinimg.com/736x/23/d6/ae/23d6ae24f2fbef84c7a81efeeac4b6b7--movie-titles-the-movie.jpg
She did it! She said the thing! XD
It's very great and interesting upon seeing the story title in a chapter.
It's very great and interesting upon seeing the story title in a chapter.
Good chapter, but to much errors.
There are much less mistakes regarding random changes of genre "he" instead of "she". Would be good to go over them in the past chapters at some point, but I still enjoyed quite a lot the story!
Sonata Dusk, teaching history since 18th Century.
"Sunset Amount Shadows" ROLL CREDITS .
Say it how you want it's still her being a glorified harpy who thinks that the whole entire school is hers to friggin own and is a publicity-seeking perfectionist
Sunset: What is, 'Sunset Among Shadows’?
Sunset: And why does it have 137.000 words scribbled on the back of the logo?