The Trick to Growing Up

by Hakuno

14- Solution

Chapter 14: Solution

Sunset yawned.

The first three times, she had done everything she could to stifle it, to avoid opening her mouth. But after an hour, she was now unable to control it. She was just so bored she thought she could fall asleep at any point. Fortunately, or unfortunately, the crowd’s cheering didn’t allow her that luxury.

Why did all these ponies get excited watching a bunch of pegasi fly around? All pegasi could fly, so Sunset could not see the appeal to go to a specific place to watch them do their thing. It was like ponies lining up just for a chance to watch a unicorn levitating stuff. Completely pointless.

And yet, Princess Celestia had insisted on attending this Wonderbolts show. She had said something about their anniversary or something, but Sunset had already forgotten all about it. At least Cadenza had looked excited enough, and so the princess hadn’t bothered Sunset about her attitude. Sunset thought of thanking the pink alicorn, but that’d only make her want to spend more time with Sunset, and that would only mean wasting more time. Her alicornification research was slow enough already.

Three of the Wonderbolts’ pegasi flew close by and generated a strong gust of air that ruffled Sunset’s mane. She frowned. On top of being bored to death, she was now being personally aggravated. Had Princess Celestia not fixed her mane right on the spot, Sunset would have shot those birdbrains out of the sky.

What an utter waste of time.

~~~~~~~~

Studying human society had been a very interesting prospect. It was, after all, a whole different world that had evolved and developed without the guidance and foundation of magic. As such, they were complete opposites to ponies. In her almost two months since arriving, Sunset hadn’t heard any impromptu musicals or even a quiet solo. Truly a weird phenomenon worth studying.

However, Sunset found herself unable to focus on humans as a whole. Instead, she couldn’t stop thinking about Trixie’s huge change in attitude while at school. She was normally quiet, sure, but she also got excited about things she liked and had strong opinions on things she disliked. She laughed when she had fun watching T.V. and got angry whenever she died while playing video games.

But, as soon as she got to school, she stopped talking altogether. Her eyes were always cast down as if constantly looking for something she might’ve dropped. She kept her arms close to her body and her shoulders hunched as if trying to make herself look smaller than she already was. She never participated in class unless a teacher explicitly called her, and even then, she’d either give the shortest answers or outright say she didn’t know.

In normal circumstances, Sunset wouldn’t have given her a single thought. But Trixie had lent a helping hoof -hand- to her and hadn’t asked anything in return. She had been there when Sunset had thought she’d die, as silly as the thought was in hindsight. So, as much as Sunset didn’t want to care, she did.

So, as soon as the last class was dismissed, Sunset decided to accompany Trixie to her locker.

“Why do you let everyone isolate you?” She asked as Trixie reached for her locker. “You can’t possibly be ok with it.”

Trixie stopped for a moment and slowly turned to her. “Uhm…” She looked this way or the other, then back at Sunset. “I… Uhm… I don’t…”

Sunset observed Trixie hesitate and interrupt herself for a whole minute before speaking up. “Ok, I think I understand,” she said. “This has been going on for years, so you’re just used to it, aren’t you?” She didn’t let Trixie reply. “Alright, I’ll help you.”

For a while, Trixie only stared back at Sunset. “Uhm… Huh?”

“You just need to have an attitude change,” Sunset explained. “The only reason everypony keeps ignoring you is that you let them. Stop being silent and meek and be loud and obnoxious.”

“That’s easy for you to say,” said Sunflower, who approached from behind Sunset, stopping right beside Trixie.

Sunset frowned. “It is easy.”

But Sunflower shook her head. “Maybe for you. But it’s not easy to be loud when no one wants to hear you.”

Sunset gave her an exaggerated eye-roll. “That’s exactly my point! If you’re being ignored, then you just have to make it too difficult for them to keep it up.”

Sunflower placed her hands on her hips, a gesture Sunset wasn’t familiar with yet. “Sunset, Trixie’s been treated like that for years. Sure, you can come and speak your mind and not be bothered if people ignore you, but we aren’t like that. We can’t just do whatever!”

“Why not?” Sunset asked, starting to feel tired of this conversation. “Who’s going to stop you?” She gave Sunflower a few seconds to reply, and when she didn’t, Sunset looked at Trixie and continued. “You have a very unique opportunity here, Trixie. Normally, speaking your mind would get you several reactions from everypony around, but right now, they will simply go on with their day.”

Trixie sighed but said nothing as she opened her locker. In her place, Sunflower spoke up. “That’s not really helping, Sunset.”

“Hey, I just want Trixie to be more assertive. To stop letting people step on her. She just needs a crash course on self-confidence and I bet that nopony’s ever going to want to ignore her again.”

Sunflower grabbed the bridge of her nose with two fingers and closed her eyes for a moment. “Sunset, I get that you want to help, but it’s not easy to make a person have a change of personality. Besides, even if you did do it, as soon as Diamond sees Trixie acting differently, she’s going to do something about it.”

Sunset blew through her lips angrily. “She won’t, I already told her what’ll happen if she tries to bully her again.”

“Yes, and that’s nice and all, but all she has to do is find a way to get to you first.” Sunflower shook her head. “Seriously, I’m actually surprised she hasn’t started nasty rumors about you or photoshopped you in embarrassing pictures or something.”

Photo… what? Sunset thought. She dismissed the thought for the moment and crossed her arms. “Look, any kind of petty bullying Diamond Rush can think of is going to be useless. As I said, I’m not here to be popular, I’m here to study.”

Although, she had to admit, being popular was a natural thing for her. It still irked her that these humans weren’t kneeling to her and praising her, hanging on to her every word. But she could ignore that. She was only going to be in this world for twenty-eight more moons, then she’d be back and finally earn her wings and rule over Equestria for decades, maybe even centuries!

“And that’s cool,” Sunflower said. “But I’ve seen enough movies to know that Diamond won’t stop with being petty. If you cross her… Well, I don’t know what she’d do, but I know it won’t be pretty.” She turned to look at Trixie. “Come on, Trixie, back me up here.”

Trixie put her last notebook inside her locker and closed it, then turned around, very slowly, to look at Sunset. “Actually… I… want to change.”

“What?” Sunflower said. “I mean, that’s great, but… Did you hear a thing I just said?”

“Yes,” Trixie said, still looking at Sunset. “But… I don’t like feeling like this…” She looked down and took a deep breath. “I…” She pressed her hands into fists, and Sunset noticed she was shaking.

A loud sigh interrupted whatever Trixie was going to say next. She and Sunset turned to Sunflower, who was scratching the side of her head. “Well, if that’s what you want… I guess I can help you too.” She gave a nervous chuckle. “Not that I’m as confident as Sunset, but… yeah…”

Sunset smiled. “Well, we can start right away. First—”

“Wait,” Sunflower interrupted her, holding a hand in front of her face. “What I said is still true. If Diamond realizes we’re helping Trixie be more confident, she’ll definitely do something to us.”

Sunset pursed her lips. She did not care about Diamond. The girl was a simple snobby brat that held no real power over her. The only reason why Sunset had briefly been in the sole of her hoof was that she had used Rainbow Dash’s volatile nature against her, but now that… Sunset blinked.

“That’s it,” Sunset turned and walked away.

Both Trixie and Sunflower quickly followed her. “What?” Sunflower asked.

Sunset didn’t reply, she simply sped up her pace through the hallways, looking around until she spotted the short but unmistakable mane of the rainbow-haired brute. Rainbow was surrounded by a group of maybe twenty students, all wearing the same purple shirts. They were talking and laughing as they made their way to the school’s entrance.

“Hey, Rainbow Dash!” Sunset called, making the girl stop and look around.

When Rainbow spotted her, she lifted her head and cocked both eyebrows. The gesture was very odd. Sunset didn’t know how to interpret it, so she simply kept closing the distance between them. That’s when Sunset noticed that the group of students behind Rainbow was making very poor efforts not to look at her. Idiots.

“Hey, Sunset, what’s up?”

The fact that Rainbow actually replied earned several gasps from the group, but Rainbow either ignored them or didn’t notice them. Sunset wasn’t sure how far Rainbow’s self-centered bubble reached.

“I need to talk to you for a minute,” Sunset said, frowning at the brats behind the rainbow-haired girl.

Rainbow nodded and turned her head around. “See you guys tomorrow for practice!”

It took a whole minute of hesitant glances, whispers, and nudging for the soccer team minus the captain to cross the main entrance and leave the school grounds. They had most likely wanted to try and convince Rainbow Dash not to talk to Sunset, and honestly, Sunset would have understood it. She wouldn’t have appreciated it one bit, but she would have understood. After all, peer pressure seemed to be a strong constant in any dimension.

The fact that Rainbow did not even bat an eye to it was enough for Sunset to think better of the brute if only a little. Her arms were still sore, even if the bruises had disappeared.

“Alright, what’s up?” Rainbow said as she confirmed no one would overhear them.

Sunset turned to Trixie, but the girl was standing a whole hallway away with Sunflower. She frowned at them and waved to tell them to come. They looked at each other, then hesitantly walked to her.

“So,” Sunset began and paused for just a moment when she saw Rainbow giving Trixie a small frown. “You remember you owe me one, don’t you?”

Rainbow’s frown deepened, she then puffed out her chest. “Of course I do! I never go back on my word!”

“Uh-huh. Look, I’m going to try to get Trixie to be more assertive,” Sunset explained, placing a hand on Trixie’s shoulder. Trixie flinched a bit. “According to Sunflower, this will make Diamond try to bully her more than she already does. So, I want you to keep an eye on her.”

“What?” Rainbow said.

“Wait, what?” Sunflower continued.

“Uhm… what?” Trixie finished.

Sunset held Rainbow’s glare. “You heard me.”

“No, wait,” Sunflower interjected, placing herself between Sunset and Rainbow, and gave Sunset a frown. “I literally told you Diamond will do something to us, not to Trixie.”

“Precisely,” Sunset replied. “She will most likely try something, but it will fail. And when she fails, she’ll try to take it out on Trixie anyway.” She looked at Rainbow. “I know you and Diamond have a pact of non-aggression, but I need you to—”

“Woah, woah, woah,” Rainbow interrupted her, lifting her hands. “Diamond and I have a what now?”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “A pact of non-aggression?” Rainbow blinked. “An agreement not to annoy each other?”

Rainbow scratched the back of her head. “I don’t remember any agreement with her.”

It was Sunset’s turn to simply blink for a couple of seconds. “What?”

“Yeah, I mean, I don’t talk to Diamond, but that’s because I don’t like her,” Rainbow said. “She tried to ‘recruit’ me last year, but I don’t hang out with bullies. I just told her to never try anything with Fluttershy and I’d leave her pretty doll face unbroken.”

Sunset frowned. “That mule,” she muttered.

In hindsight, Sunset shouldn’t be as surprised as she was. Canterlot nobility was notorious for their empty threats and bluffs, and Sunset had been an expert in calling them out. But Diamond was just a human girl with no power beyond a supposed rich family. Sunset had simply lowered her guard and completely believed her.

Well, the pact being a complete lie only empowered Sunset to continue with her plan.

She passed a hand through her face and breathed deeply. “Alright, it doesn’t matter,” Sunset said. “Look, just do me this favor ok? At least until Trixie can stand up for herself. Then you won’t owe me anything.”

Rainbow crossed her arms and looked at Trixie, who hunched over herself. Why did she always do that? After a while, Rainbow shrugged. “Sure thing.”

“Really?” Sunflower asked. “Just like that?” She laughed nervously when Sunset glared at her. “I-I mean, thanks!”

“Heh, no problem,” Rainbow said. “I do it for Flutters already, anyway.” She scratched the back of her head. “By the way, you should know Diamond already started spreading rumors about you.”

Sunset cocked an eyebrow.

But it was Sunflower who spoke first. “Really? It must be because of what we did at the cafeteria.”

“Seriously?” Sunset asked. “All we did was eat lunch,” she said, then looked at Rainbow. “What stupid thing is she saying?”

“That you’re bullying Fluttershy,” Rainbow said with a shrug.

Sunflower rose a shaking hand. “And you don’t believe that, do you? ‘Cuz I can vouch for Sunset’s innocence.”

“Well,” Rainbow replied, looking away. “I might’ve believed it if Sunset and I hadn’t talked yesterday.” She gave Sunset an apologetic chuckle.

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Gee, thanks for the vote of trust.” Not that she cared about it, but at least Sunset was glad Rainbow wasn’t so stupid as to just up and believe everything she was told. She sighed. “Well, it’s not like it matters. Just make sure Diamond or her lackeys don’t do anything to Trixie while we teach her to stand up for herself, we can handle ourselves.”

“We can?” Sunflower asked.

But Sunset ignored the question and walked away, outside school.

With that taken care of, Sunset could begin Trixie’s self-confidence boost training program. Sunset owed it to Trixie, and she wasn’t one to leave debts unpaid. But how to go about it? Sunset had always been confident in herself, and she had never taken anypony’s nonsense. She didn’t know where to start.

“Alright,” she said as the trio reached the corner of the school grounds. “How do we start this?” She pressed the palms of her hands together and hummed.

Sunflower looked over Trixie. “Well, first of all, you need to start talking more.” She tapped her chin with a finger. “I guess you can start by talking more about yourself.”

Trixie’s eyes darted from side to side, much like her own body. “Uhm… M-Me?”

“Yeah!” Sunflower said. “For example. Is there a T.V. show that you like?”

Trixie looked at Sunset, then at Sunflower, then down. Sunset noticed that her cheeks turned a bright red. “Uhm… I-I like… Elementians…”

Sunflower blinked. “I don’t think I’ve heard of that one.”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “It’s just a car—”

“At, at, at!” Sunflower interrupted her by placing a finger to her mouth. “Let Trixie do the talking.”

Sunset frowned at being interrupted so rudely but didn’t say anything. This had been her idea, after all.

It took Trixie ten whole seconds and one deep breath to speak up, although her eyes were still cast down. “I-It’s a cartoon about… Y’know… People who can control the elements.”

“Uh… Ok?”

“Come on, Trixie,” Sunset said. “You spent hours telling me all about it. Why does she get the short version?”

Trixie stuttered for a few more seconds before finding the words again. “W-Well, you see… It’s a world where, you know, some people are born in magical clans…”

Sunset tuned her out. She had already listened to the whole thing. Once Trixie got started, she had not shut up until she had finished. Now, even though she was speaking a lot slower, she was still explaining everything to Sunflower. Meanwhile, Sunset decided to instead think back on her real duties.

Now that the issues with Diamond Rush had been largely resolved, Sunset could return to studying the human world. Since her social studies were now interrupted, for the time being, Sunset decided to find something else to focus on. Technology was something she was especially interested in, with how much it made humans’ lives easier, and how it could improve ponies’ lives too. There was also the lack of magic, which had forced everything to evolve in strange ways. Like the sun and moon moving on their own. She still needed to know how that worked.

She looked up to the sky and took a deep breath. Honestly, now that she didn’t need to worry about Rainbow Dash beating her up again, she felt so much lighter. It was weird how much could change in just a couple of days. She was still irked that she had been forced to endure this whole situation like a peasant. But, on the other hoof, she could force herself to use logic and feel proud that she had managed to get out of it relatively fast.

How did others do it?

“So the Aqua clan has this lifelong rivalry with the Ember clan,” Trixie rambled on. “But they don’t dare war with each other because it could facilitate the Great Void to return to the world.”

“So sorry to interrupt you, Trixie,” Sunflower said hastily, “but I gotta get home.”

Sunset blinked and looked around. They had gotten to the bus stop she always passed to go to school and back. Sunflower’s house was crossing the street, and Sunset could see its pretty front lawn, with all the different flowers arranged on display.

Trixie looked down. “Oh… Ok…”

“You can keep telling me about it tomorrow,” Sunflower added. “It does sound interesting.” When Trixie simply nodded, Sunflower looked at Sunset. “Uhm… Oh!”

Sunset raised an eyebrow when Sunflower dug into her bag and produced a small rectangle thing. It was very similar to the objects Diamond’s friends had been pointing at her when she had threatened the bully leader.

“We should take a group photo!”

So it is a camera, Sunset thought. Never mind the strange shape. It was really small! How did it even print proper polaroids?

“Come on!” Sunflower said. She pulled Trixie to her side while getting close to Sunset. She then pointed the camera away and up. Sunset was about to ask what the hell she was doing but then noticed that the camera had a mirror the size of the entire thing. What? “Say cheese!” And with that, Sunflower tapped her finger on the mirror. It blacked out for only a second, then she lowered the camera.

“What the…”

But she didn’t have to ask. Sunflower tapped on the mirror again and it quickly showed them a perfect picture of them, looking up at it. Sunset could not hide her surprise. A mirror that took photographs and could show them on it? Was it really just technology? It was incredible to think that there was no magic anywhere in the whole thing.

“I think it came out good!” Sunflower said. She then put her camera away and turned to face Sunset and Trixie. “Well, gotta go. See you tomorrow!” And with that, she crossed the street and went into her house.

Sunset stared at Sunflower’s house for a while. She then turned to Trixie. “What was that camera thing? How does it work?”

Trixie looked at her with a small frown, as if she hadn’t expected Sunset to address her. “Uhm… It’s a smartphone.”

Smartphone? Why did she feel like she had heard that word before?

Trixie seemed to have noticed her confusion, so she started to explain. “It’s, uhm… So, you know what a phone is, right?”

“Yes.”

“Well, it’s the same, but you can also do many more things with it,” Trixie said as she and Sunset started walking back to the apartment. “Like taking pictures, or playing games, or using the internet…”

“Internet,” Sunset repeated the word. She had read about it, but the information the encyclopedia had given her was confusing. Some sort of surfing place?

“Uhm…” Trixie looked this way and the other. “Boy… Ok… Uhm… See, it’s like, everything put together.” Sunset raised an eyebrow at that. “Not helpful. Right. Uhm… Oh! Like a library! But, in your phone. Also, you have, like, the T.V. there, too. And news, and social media, and…”

Sunset narrowed her eyes. “Are you pulling my tail?”

“Uhm… Your… tail?”

Sunset huffed. Stupid idioms. “Are you messing with me?”

“No!” Trixie replied hastily. “It’s really all those things! Uhm, you can ask mom when she comes home tonight.”

Sunset brought up a hand to her face and sighed. Once again, Trixie was a completely useless source of information. Even when trying to explain something, all she really did was raise more questions. Sunset had no idea how a library and a phone could exist in the same artifact, but if it was true, she wanted to have one.

She wondered if Dandy had one of those and if she’d lend it to Sunset.

Author's Note:

It lives... It lives!

All feedback is appreciated!

Comments

[crowscrowcrow]

The triumphant return! Woo!
Somebody give Trixie a baseball bat and a bottle of jack for courage... well, boosting her self-image is cool too, I guess.

[Finifugal]

Super happy to see this update! Your Sunset is honestly really refreshing and fun to read. Also, I'm not sure how much time has passed since the last chapter, but I remember Sunflower was weirded out when Sunset said ponies, but in this chapter whenever Sunset said 'anypony' and similar stuff, she doesn't blink an eye. Is that intentional like she got used to Sunset's mannerisms or is that accidental?

[Hakuno]

11211194
It is intentional! :3 I would say more, but as my favorite writer likes to say: RAFO!

[Finifugal]

11211195
Cool beans, wasn't sure if it was all in my head. Thanks!

[Prince Leviathan]

Can't believe i missed this updating...where was I??

Oh right finishing the show.