Tricks of the Heart

by Spyder27

Checkmate

Chapter I: Checkmate

The fall semester is always a time where students are stressed out and overworked, depending on which classes they are enrolled in. Some professors are pretty lax about their assignments and what rules they enforce, but this seems to be pretty rare the farther along you get. Money is another issue, but I qualified for enough scholarships to attend Canterlot City University, thankfully. After the Battle of the Bands at Canterlot High, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life. I mean, what was a siren supposed to do…? I either had to adapt or suffer. So, I decided to enroll and try to get some sort of degree… To my surprise, Sunset Shimmer was also enrolled in this university, which made things… difficult. At least for the first couple of semesters.

Today, I almost find it humorous that I hated her back then. I’m currently in my junior year and I probably wouldn’t have made it this far without Sunset’s help. She was always pushing to get to know me more and to take some of our general education requirements together. I guess she sort of… rubbed off on me. She seemed genuinely sorry that she took our magic away and she was always trying to lend a helpful hand. She became someone I could rely on. Even with our bad history, she was willing to help where she could and didn’t seem to let my spiteful attitude keep her from smiling. Maybe that’s why we became friends in the first place. Her curious optimism and her positive outlook on life, convincing me that even a siren can find her place in this world without magic.

Now, the two of us spend nearly every day together. I admit that Shimmer is a little… annoying at times. With her constant pressure to be good rather than bend the rules a little bit. That’s something I find humorous to mess with though. To try and make Sunset break a few rules. She successfully “reformed” me, so I should have some fun in making Sunset be the bad girl in exchange, right? Regardless, Sunset is a… good friend. She and I are planning on playing chess tonight if everything goes well. Until then, I have to study my physics textbook.

Walking down the hallway, the vague smell of dust and dirt reminds me of the state of the dorms. This university doesn’t really invest much into the lower dorms, leading to the carpets being reduced to shreds and the paint on the walls chipping off. My classes for the day have ended so far, but that doesn’t mean my night will be any less stressful. I don’t look forward to studying all the material assigned for my classes, but it has to be done. At least Sunset and I can spend some time together to relax before the weekend. Actually, I should probably call the girls tomorrow… It’s been way too long since we’ve talked. They’re attending a different college, but at least they can look out for each other. We can see each other during Christmas too, so we’ll have quite a bit of time to catch up, but a call would still be nice.

Quickly making my way up the stairs, the echo of my footsteps bounces around the walls. The thing I’m looking forward to the most is getting to sleep tonight. All I have to do is write notes down for a few chapters, play a couple games with Sunset and then I can let myself shut my eyes under my blanket. Opening the door to my floor, a slight smile comes to my lips, thinking about how good it will feel to finally go to sleep. I’ve been awake for close to sixteen hours now, so I will definitely enjoy a good night’s sleep after all of this. As tempting as it is to take a nap in the middle of the afternoon, I know I wouldn’t end up getting to my notes before tomorrow. That’s something I can’t afford.

Bringing my keys out of my bag, I quickly slide my dorm key into the door, unlocking it with ease. To my surprise, the lights in my room are already on, making me raise my eyebrow. Looking towards my bed, the reason for the lights immediately becomes clear to me. Lying down, her fiery hair spills out all across my pillow, her eyes looking towards me with a smirk, holding a box on top of her chest. Despite her restful position, she’s still wearing her shoes, looking like she either just came in or she just didn’t care to get more comfortable. “I told you that you could make yourself at home, you know,” I tell her with a slight roll of my eyes, amused at the whole situation. Just because she has a key to my room doesn’t mean I expected her to use it. Well, under emergencies, sure. I would hope she uses it.

“I know, but I just got here,” Sunset responds with a giggle, sitting up on my bed with slightly messy hair. “I didn’t really expect you to be home so quickly, though.” Locking the door behind me, I shake my head with a smile, putting my textbook down on my table.

“You should know my class schedule at this point,” I tease her with a smirk before pulling my coat off, kicking my shoes off and feeling relieved to finally be free of them. “What’s with the box?” Despite my curiosity, I actually want an answer as to why she’s here. We’re supposed to hang out later tonight, making now the optimal time to get some studying done.

“It’s just a chess kit,” Sunset explains, putting the box down on the bed before brushing her hair away from her face. “About tonight…” Her previously happy and smug demeanor is now replaced by a nervous expression, a slight chuckle coming from her lips. “My plans have changed.” Changed…? Raising my eyebrow, I slowly approach the opposite side of the bed, sitting down in front of Sunset with a weary look.

“Care to elaborate?” My question only seems to make Sunset a little more nervous, her eyes avoiding mine for a few moments.

“Well, Flash wants to go to a party and he asked if I could go with him.” Without wasting a second, a small sigh leaves my lips, already knowing exactly where this is going. Her boyfriend often takes up a lot of her time, so I shouldn’t be surprised, but she and I planned this a week in advance. He couldn’t have asked her before the day of the party? Damn it… “I know, I know. I’m sorry… But I know how much this means to you since we’ve both been pretty busy.” Busy is kind of the wrong word. It’s actually due to her spending her time with Flash that we haven’t been able to hang out for two weeks, but I digress. “So, I thought that maybe we could play chess now and all? That way, we can still hang out before I go to the party.”

Looking up at Sunset, her hands now hold the box up, smiling as well as she can to try and appease me. As much as I support her relationship with Flash, I can’t help but feel slightly annoyed that he takes up all the time of the one friend I have in college. The least he could have done is tell her about it before today so that both of us could have planned around it. Now, I’m basically told that if we don’t play now, we won’t be able to later. If I do play with her now, I will be up half the night studying. “You’re sure you can’t skip the party…? Just this once?” I ask her with a sigh, averting my gaze to the blanket. Bringing my hand to my hair, I can’t help but feel a bit… upset. I know that a relationship is supposed to be a lot of give and take and I respect Sunset for that, but I also feel like I’m at the losing end of this whole situation. I mean, god… She’s my only friend. I know I hated her before, but is it so wrong of me to want to spend time with her? I guess Flash doesn’t even think about that aspect.

“Flash and I haven’t really been seeing eye-to-eye recently, so I kind of need to go. I want to spend time with him so that he knows I still care about him,” Sunset tells me with a tender voice, trying to be caring about both my needs and his. “I miss hanging out with you too, so I decided to come here a bit earlier. I hope we can still play…?” Despite how easy it is to feel rotten about the whole ordeal, it’s hard to stay angry when I look at her, clearly trying to do her best. I guess it’s a good thing in the end that she can even spare this time. If I play now, then I will be a lot more tired when I finally go to bed… But it would be worth it, I suppose… I mean, being able to play at all is a good thing.

“Fine. But next time, you need to cancel on Flash instead of me.” Taking the box out of her hands, I open it with a small smile, happy that we can spend this time together.

“Deal~”

Comments

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

The fall semester is always a time where students are stressed out and overworked, depending on which classes they are enrolled in. Some professors are pretty lax about their assignments and what rules they enforce, but this seems to be pretty rare the farther along you get. Money is another issue, but I qualified for enough scholarships to attend Canterlot City University, thankfully. After the Battle of the Bands at Canterlot High, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life. I mean, what was a siren supposed to do…? I either had to adapt or suffer. So, I decided to enroll and try to get some sort of degree… To my surprise, Sunset Shimmer was also enrolled in this university, which made things… difficult. At least for the first couple of semesters.

I wasn't sure college would be difficult at first until I began my first semester and I still am getting stressed over it with my third semester I'm in.

Now, the two of us spend nearly every day together. I admit that Shimmer is a little… annoying at times. With her constant pressure to be good rather than bend the rules a little bit. That’s something I find humorous to mess with though. To try and make Sunset break a few rules. She successfully “reformed” me, so I should have some fun in making Sunset be the bad girl in exchange, right? Regardless, Sunset is a… good friend. She and I are planning on playing chess tonight if everything goes well. Until then, I have to study my physics textbook.

She's still a good person Adagio, regardless of her past.

Walking down the hallway, the vague smell of dust and dirt reminds me of the state of the dorms. This university doesn’t really invest much into the lower dorms, leading to the carpets being reduced to shreds and the paint on the walls chipping off. My classes for the day have ended so far, but that doesn’t mean my night will be any less stressful. I don’t look forward to studying all the material assigned for my classes, but it has to be done. At least Sunset and I can spend some time together to relax before the weekend. Actually, I should probably call the girls tomorrow… It’s been way too long since we’ve talked. They’re attending a different college, but at least they can look out for each other. We can see each other during Christmas too, so we’ll have quite a bit of time to catch up, but a call would still be nice.

Wait, so Sunsets six friends are all attending the same college, or do you mean separate colleges?

“Well, Flash wants to go to a party and he asked if I could go with him.” Without wasting a second, a small sigh leaves my lips, already knowing exactly where this is going. Her boyfriend often takes up a lot of her time, so I shouldn’t be surprised, but she and I planned this a week in advance. He couldn’t have asked her before the day of the party? Damn it… “I know, I know. I’m sorry… But I know how much this means to you since we’ve both been pretty busy.” Busy is kind of the wrong word. It’s actually due to her spending her time with Flash that we haven’t been able to hang out for two weeks, but I digress. “So, I thought that maybe we could play chess now and all? That way, we can still hang out before I go to the party.”

If I was in this situation I'd just go with it from here.

“Flash and I haven’t really been seeing eye-to-eye recently, so I kind of need to go. I want to spend time with him so that he knows I still care about him,” Sunset tells me with a tender voice, trying to be caring about both my needs and his. “I miss hanging out with you too, so I decided to come here a bit earlier. I hope we can still play…?” Despite how easy it is to feel rotten about the whole ordeal, it’s hard to stay angry when I look at her, clearly trying to do her best. I guess it’s a good thing in the end that she can even spare this time. If I play now, then I will be a lot more tired when I finally go to bed… But it would be worth it, I suppose… I mean, being able to play at all is a good thing.

That's the spirit!

[Spyder27]

11408695
Yeah, I'm in my sixth semester of college so far and I'm planning on going for a PHD, so I still have quite a few years ahead of me. College is still difficult, but it can be done~ Hang in there~ You'll get the hang of it and even if life kicks you down, it's not the end of the world~ I know you can do it~

Also, by "girls" I was referencing the fact that Aria and Sonata are attending the same college as each other. XD The other Mane 6 have all sort of gone different directions in life, but they keep in touch~

I'm glad to see you're liking the story so far~ I hope you enjoy the other chapters in this story!