> My Little Life: The Beginning
>  by Kind_Of_A_Rarity
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chance Encounters
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Normally, I would get out of bed and hop straight into the shower. Normally, I would watch TV while I wait for the bus to come get me for school. Normally, I would listen to music on the bus ride. This morning, however, went a little bit differently than normal.

After I woke up and washed the dreadful morning breath out of my mouth with a glass of water, I spent longer than usual looking for a clean outfit to wear to school. That was about all I could look forward to those days, anything to change the usual routine, I suppose. I also took longer in the shower than usual, causing me to miss the first couple of minutes of the show that comes on in the morning, which wasn’t a good change, but a change nonetheless.

I could never help but hope for a change in my life. Being a normal, anti-socialite certainly
wasn’t helping my case at all. I used to be fun and interesting, but I could never be quite sure where everything went down. I suppose I could base it around the grades where most kids go into middle school: 4th, 5th, and 6th. Those weren’t very good times for me. I fell “in love” and got rejected by the first girl I ever asked out, I got into a fight with someone who was twice my size and two years older than me, and I always got hurt in one way or another and ended up crying. While these situations didn’t exactly add up to someone like me, I wasn’t a very outgoing person to begin with. So, everything that happened just kept eating away at me until, finally, I decided that I would rather be alone than deal with other people.

The only thing I have to look forward to now is change. I lived in the constant fear that if I ever tried to change anything about myself, I would mess up again and make things worse. So I waited for things to change on their own.

‘Maybe the bus will be late,’ I thought to myself as I walked down the road to the bus stop, where I was the only person who ever waited. Taking out my iPod as I arrived, I stood alone, waiting for the bus that normally was on time. I switched to my music app and hit shuffle just after putting my headphones over my ears.

It wasn’t long until I saw the bus appearing around the corner, not even the first song had finished playing yet. I boarded the bus and took a seat, hearing somebody, who I sometimes talk to, go on and on about some pointless topic, even over the sound of music in my ears. How can he complain so much about never getting any sleep and be so energetic in the morning?

I do a lot of thinking with my headphones on. Mostly about life and things that are going on that day. But, oddly enough, I couldn’t keep my train of thought moving that morning. So, instead, I focused on the music flowing into my ears until we reached the high school.

I couldn’t believe this is what people found suitable for teenagers, like me, to be doing day in and day out. ‘At least it’ll be over next year,’ I thought as I took the headphones off of my head. Wrestling with my ear buds had gotten annoying far too quickly, so I switched over to headphones. I saw many people get in trouble with them, though, so I put mine into my bag in order to avoid any trouble. At least, that’s what I tell myself. The real reason is to avoid as much contact with other people as possible, including the teachers. I almost never spoke to people unless they spoke to me first or unless I felt like I needed to and, judging by the other people I’ve talked to, they always seemed to find a reason to say or act like they were better than me.

Finding my spot at a nearby lunch table, I sat and played on my iPad until the bell for first block rang. Don’t think that just because I had an iPad and an iPod that I was rich, in fact, I was the opposite. My dad bought my iPod the year before for my birthday, which I still used every day, just like I told him I would if he got me one. The school gave us all iPads for “educational uses.” Stupid things, really, the teachers hated it when you used them in class. I used mine for games and nothing more, so did everybody else. Either the school didn’t notice or didn’t particularly care, but I think it was the latter of the two, in all honesty.

Tucking the “educational device” under my arm, I headed to class. Music Appreciation was certainly the highlight of the day for me, we did nothing except listen to music from the decades we learned about all day. Every Friday was Music Friday, where everyone got to bring in music of their own to play during class. But that day was the dreaded Monday, so I would’nt be able to play my music until the end of the week.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a girl who I had never seen before. Her hair was pink and curled a little at the ends. She was wearing a bright yellow, long-sleeved shirt that looked a little big on her around the neck, revealing a bit of her shoulders. It also had three pink butterflies just above the right side of her hip. She also wore a pair of cargo shorts that appeared to be slightly worn down. I never forget a face, so I could tell that she was either new or we had simply never crossed paths until now, but I don’t think I had ever seen this girl around school.

She seemed to be trying to get somebody’s attention, putting her hand up to try to stop most of the people who passed by. Most of them didn’t notice and the ones that did continued to pass her by. I could’ve simply ignored her and went on to class, but I was always a few minutes early to class anyways, I could afford to be a little late, just this once. Plus, she looked like she really needed help.

I pushed my way through the crowd and towards the girl. She didn’t notice me, especially since she was still trying to ask for help. ‘How can these people just ignore her?’ I thought as I got closer and closer. When I reached her, I saw that she didn’t notice me walking up to her. “Excuse me?” I spoke up. She whirled around, surprised to hear someone so close to her. “Sorry,” I quickly apologized, “but you looked like you needed help with something, do you?”

She quickly took a step backwards and nodded. She handed me an orange slip of paper, which I recognized as a schedule. ‘So she is new,’ I thought as I looked over the schedule. “You need help finding your class?” She nodded again. I looked back at the paper and saw that her first class was Music Appreciation. “Music Appreciation... That’s where I’m going now, why don’t I walk you there?”

I handed the sheet of paper back to her and motioned for her to follow, she did. By then, the hall was mostly clear of students, who were in class or still crowding the cafeteria. About half way to the classroom, I noticed that she still hadn’t said anything. I turned around to confirm that she was still there, she was. “You’re pretty quiet, huh?” No response. Not that I really expected one. “So, what’s your name? Since we’re gonna be in the same class and all.”

I heard her say something under her breath, but I wasn’t sure what. “I’m sorry?”

She spoke louder this time, but not by much. “Flutt...”

“One more time, please?”

“Fluttershy...”

Her voice was soft, soothing, even. She seemed to be very shy, I’ve never met anybody who is as shy as she was. “Fluttershy, huh? It’s a pretty name. Everybody just calls me Sky,” She didn’t say anything after that. It’s not that I felt she was ignoring me or brushing me off, but I could tell that she was really uncomfortable talking to me, so I kept quiet the rest of the way.

When we got to the classroom, there weren’t many kids in there. I looked at the clock and saw that I wasn’t as late as I thought I would be, after all, I only stopped for about a minute to see what Fluttershy needed help with. “This is it,” I told Fluttershy, “A lot of the seats are taken, but I’m sure anybody would let you sit by them if you asked.”

“Is anybody sitting beside you?” Her question took me by surprise. Although it was barely audible, I could still make out what she said. It took me awhile to come up with a reason for why she would ask me of all people. I just assumed it was because she didn’t know anybody here and we were already talking.

“Uh, on one side, but the other side is free, if you want to sit there,” I was still a little shocked that she asked to sit by me, but it subsided soon enough.

I led her to her seat and sat down in my seat next to hers. Since there was nothing else to do until class started, I grabbed my tablet and started playing some game I found the Friday before then. I was stuck on a certain level and couldn’t seem to figure my way around it.

I was only able to start it when I noticed a certain girl watching me. I looked up at her and she immediately turned away. I smiled a little and said, “It’s all right, I don’t mind if you watch.”

She looked back at me and smiled enough to say a polite “thank you.” I smiled back and continued my game.

Soon after, the bell rang again and the teacher started teaching. Almost immediately after, the door opened and a student came in. ‘Of course, he’s late. He’s always late,’ I thought as I watched him walk in.After a warning and a tardy from the teacher, he took his rightful seat next to mine.

The lesson wasn’t very long today, we still had about thirty minutes or so left in class. “So why were you late this time, Henry?” I said to the kid next to me with a dry, sarcastic tone in my voice. I was known for my sarcasm, especially towards Henry.

“People kept stopping me and talking to me about random crap,” he said a little too excitedly. I never could believe a word that came out of his mouth. He would lie about the simplest of things, things that didn’t even make a difference.

“I see. Well, if you keep having problems with people, be like me and don’t talk to them,” That’s what made Henry and me different. He felt like he had to talk to every person on Earth, even if he didn’t know them. I didn’t feel the need to talk unless I felt like I absolutely had to.

“Whatever, so who’s she?” Henry said nodding towards Fluttershy, who was standing at the teacher’s desk. He called her up to talk to her since she was new. I assumed it was about work or something.

“That’s Fluttershy, she’s new here,” I said looking towards her.

“She’s cute,” I turned towards Henry and then back at Fluttershy.

“Yeah, I guess she is. But she’s really shy. I barely got her to tell me her name.”

“The shy girls are always the best in bed...”

I turned towards him with a raised eyebrow and asked a sarcastic, “Really?”

“Yeah, dude. It’s like a universal law, if they aren’t good in public, they’re good in private!” He smiled at his own little joke.

“Shut up,” I said, shaking my head and smiling a little. I turned back towards Fluttershy, who was now making her way back towards her seat. I’ll admit, I was a little curious about what she and the teacher were talking about, but I didn’t want to intrude.

Henry tried to introduce himself, but she just tried to hide behind her hair. I looked at him and shrugged.
-----
After the class ended, I pointed Fluttershy towards her next class since it was out of my way. She didn’t seem to mind, though. It wasn’t hard to get there anyways.

This time I went straight to my next class with no interruptions. In my opinion, the next class was pointless. However, the other students questions had made me realize just how good the class must be for them. I didn’t need the class, but apparantly they did, which was no big deal. I didn’t think I was smarter than they were, in fact I know some of them are smarter than me, it was just that I’m better at retaining information than a lot of people.

Anyways, my next class was an SAT prep class for math, which I was good at anyways. I made my way there and took my seat. I didn’t talk to many people in this class, so most people left me be. I sat mostly apart from everyone. It didn’t bother me since I didn’t talk to them anyways.

This time, however, a girl I had never seen before finds a seat next to my own. ‘Weird, another new girl?’

She pulled out a pencil and placed it neatly at the front of her desk. I noticed that she had neat, straight, dark purple, almost black, hair. She also had two stripes of lighter shades of purple running down one side of it. She wore a dark purple jacket, several shades lighter than her hair, but still dark, with a purple, six-sided star over her right pocket. She was also wearing a black and white, plaid, ruffled skirt that went about halfway down her thigh.

I thought it was a little weird to have two new girls at our school on the same day, but stranger  things have happened.

The bell rang and the door was closed soon after. The teacher handed out work sheets, which was, basically, all we did on any given day, and told us to turn them in when we finished.

I looked at my sheet; it didn’t look too hard. Simple algebra is all that was on it. I could’ve easily finished it in about ten minutes or so.

As I was finishing up, however, I noticed the new girl walking up to the teacher with her paper. I watched her hand it in. And I watched her walk back to her seat. That caught me a bit by surprise. I didn’t think she would take the entire class to finish it, not by any means, but I certainly didn’t expect her to finish within the first ten minutes!

Even though the work sheet wasn’t hard, she must have been really smart to have finished in such a short amount of time. I pushed my thoughts out of my head as I realized that I may have been a little jealous, seeing that I usually finish mine first.

I continued to think about it until I finished my own work sheet. ‘What do I have to be jealous over?’ I thought as I sat down in my seat, ‘It’s not like this was a contest...’

I looked back towards her as I reached for my iPad. She was reading a book. She seemed really interested in it too. I tried to forget about her. I didn’t even know why I was so hung up on her. All she did was finish a dumb work sheet before I did, what was the big deal?

I decided that I would talk to her. I didn’t know what to say to her, though. “Hey, I saw that you finished your work sheet before I did, you must be pretty smart, huh?” That makes me seem like a jealous, stuck-up jerk!

“Excuse me, but are you okay?” My thought were quickly brought to a halt as I heard the sudden question.

I quickly turned towards the direction that the voice came from. I was surprised to see that it was actually from the girl next to me. “Uh...  yeah... yeah, I’m fine. I was just thinking about something is all.”

“Alright, I just saw you staring out into space, so I didn’t know,” She seemed to be genuinely concerned for me. ‘Great, now she thinks I’m crazy.’

“It’s nothing, I do that a lot. So what book are you reading?” I figured that since we were already talking, I might as well make a conversation out of it.

“Oh, it’s just some book I got from the bookstore about a year ago,” She turned the book over to reveal the cover. A girl swinging on a vine, trying to escape a couple of pursuers. She wore a pith hat and had gray and black hair, but she seemed to be about our age.

“Cool, are you just now getting around to reading it?”

“No, this is probably the fourth time I’ve read it.”

“Four times? Wow, it must be a great book to have read it four times!” I was not expecting that as an answer, but I probably should’ve expected something similar.

“It is, I can lend it to you if you want,” She closed the book with a bookmark and was practically handing it to me.

“No thanks, I don’t really read much.”

“Really? Why not? It’s great to be able to escape into the world of your choosing every now and then!”

I smiled at her. I could tell that she was extremely passionate about books. Maybe that’s why she’s so smart. She reads a lot so she must be excellent with studying.
-----
We talked the rest of the class about what books she liked to read most. She was a really interesting person, but she seemed like the kind of person who likes to have her alone time, especially if she had a great book to read.

I learned that her name is Twilight Sparkle. I barely got my name in before she started up again about another book she had read. Not that it was annoying, it was really fun, actually.

After class, we said goodbye and headed off. I was lucky and happened to have the first lunch, but Twilight still had another class before her lunch.

I found my spot at the end of a table, which I sat at alone. Well, others sat there with me, but we never talked to each other. I dropped my stuff off and went to go stand in the lunch line for whatever it was they were serving us that day.

I got my food and went back to my spot and ate my food in peace, or rather, in as much peace as you can get in a crowded lunchroom.

Not too long after I sat down, somebody walked up to me and asked, “Is this seat taken?”

I looked up to see a slightly tanned face looking back at me. She was smiling at me with bright green eyes. I noticed that she had some freckles and long, sandy blonde hair that was tied back in a ponytail. She wore a brown Stetson and had on a brown tank top under an orange and brown plaid, collared, button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. She was also wearing light blue jeans with a brown belt, which was probably more for style than function in this case.

“Um, no... it’s not. Help yourself,” I said motioning to the seat across from me.

“Thanks,” she said as she sat down. “There aren’t many open seats and the ones that are open’re around a bunch’a jerks,” She looked at me. “You ain’t one’a those jerks are ya?”

“Uh...” I didn’t really know how to respond to a question like that. I couldn’t tell if she was joking or not. Her face was so serious.

Suddenly she smiled and started laughing. “I’m just messin’ with you! You seem plenty nice,” She smiled as she started eating her food.

I couldn’t help but smile, she just seemed so friendly. “Thanks, I guess. So are you new here?”

“Yep,” she said after she finished off a bite of food, “I’ve never been here before in my life, but it seems like a nice little place as far as I can tell.”

“Yeah,” I said, “it is a nice little town. I just wish there was more to do here,” There really wasn’t much to do. The only things around were a couple of small restaurants and a public library, which was barely a library at all. It was a single story and was smaller than some of the restaurants.

“Yeah, I noticed how small it was as soon as we got here,” She seemed a little disappointed, but she perked up soon enough. “But, hey, I’m sure it’s got some great fields, right?”

I chuckled, not really sure why she would mention something as simple as farming land. “We do have some nice little bits of land, but most of it is sold around the nation, so we don’t get too much out of it,” That wasn’t a lie. Most of the fields were sold to giant retailers who sold to super-stores, even though there’s a grocery store less than a mile away from most of the fields that would gladly pay for locally grown goods. But I suppose money really does make the world go ‘round.

“Well that’ll change soon. My Granny Smith just bought a plot of land not too far down the road for plantin’ an apple orchard. We had some nice trees back on the old farm, but we had some competition move in on our land and just couldn’t keep up,” She looked like she really missed her old home. It must have meant a lot to her.

“I’m sorry,” I was no good at this kind of stuff; I always seemed to make it worse by saying the wrong thing. “How long did you live there?”

“A couple’a years after I was born was when we moved in there, but that’s the only place I ever remember livin’ at,” That probably wasn’t the best question to ask someone who was forced to leave her home. “But I guess it’s alright, everybody’s gotta make a livin’ somehow, right? So, what’s your name?” It didn’t take a genius to see what she was trying to do.

“Everybody calls me Sky. How about you? What’s your name?”

“Applejack, or AJ for short,” She reached out her hand. I grabbed it and shook.

“Nice to meet you, Applejack.”

We spent the rest of the lunch talking about what we liked to do in our free time. She was a very hard worker, which made me feel like a lazy bum in comparison.

The bell rang not long after that, so we each said our goodbyes and went on our ways. My next class was Culinary Arts and, although I realized that it wasn’t what I wanted to do in life, I was stuck with it for the rest of the year.

I immediately noticed something was different as I walked into the room, because there was, yet another, new face!

Her hair was pink and poofy, which looked a lot like cotton candy. But she was wearing her chef uniform, so I couldn’t tell what she was wearing underneath. With a couple of quick glances over at her, I donned my own uniform and took my seat, which just so happened to be next to where she was sitting.

“Alright, guys!” Chef started announcing what we were making that day, cupcakes to sell at a football game the next day. I didn’t mind making cupcakes, really simple and not a lot of work, but then she told us that we would be working in partners, as we weren’t making enough for everybody to work on their own recipe.

She then said that we were just going to work with the person sitting next to us to make things simple. ‘That figures,’ I thought to myself. It wasn’t that I didn’t like the girl, but more so that I didn’t know her or how she works and acts.

I looked over at the new girl, who looked back at me with a great, big smile. I smiled back, a little half-heartedly, I’ll admit.

She then set us loose to gather equipment and ingredients. “I can get ingredients if you get the equipment!” the girl said in a rather cheery, upbeat tone.

“Alright,” I said quickly before brushing past her towards the bowls and pans. ‘I should probably get to know this girl a little more, since it’s likely that we’ll be working together on a lot of things.’

As soon as I got the last few things to our station, she was back with the ingredients. We started mixing everything in a mixing bowl and I decided that that would be the best time for me to introduce myself. “So-”

“What’s your name? My name’s Pinkie Pie! I love making cupcakes, it’s so much fun! Are you gonna help sell them tomorrow? ‘Cause I was gonna go help out to see if I can meet anybody and make a lot of friends! Do you have a lot of friends? Why am I even asking? Of course you do!...”

I just listened to her go on and on, talking about selling cupcakes and making friends, waiting for a moment that I could tell her my name, the one thing I wanted to do.

“... So are you gonna help sell cupcakes? And what’s your name?” She looked at me with wide eyes, waiting for an answer. I hesitated, not knowing if she would continue talking or let me get two words in.

“My name’s Sky, at least, that’s what everybody calls me. I don’t think I’ll help sell cupcakes; 
I’m not really a ‘people person.’”

She looked a little disappointed that I wouldn’t be there and, for some reason, I didn’t want to see her sad. I didn’t like to see anybody sad, but I especially didn’t want to see her sad. So I did the only thing that I knew would cheer her up. “But I guess I could, since I’m not-”

She smiled from ear-to-ear. I didn’t know why, but it made me happy just to see her smile.
-----
The class finished baking just before the end of class, but still about twenty minutes after we were finished. Pinkie was telling the truth when she said that she loved to make cupcakes! She must’ve done it a million times!

We all changed out of our uniforms and I could then see what Pinkie Pie was wearing, a white blouse that ended just above her hips and was open in the front covered her light pink dress, which went to just above her knees and was tied at her waist with a hot pink bow in the front.

After I was able to see her outfit, the bell rang and everyone was out the door. My final class of the day was P.E. and I could finally see why high-schoolers always skipped P.E. in the movies.

I made my way to the gym, which wasn’t easy to do, as there were always a lot of students crowding the hall that the gym was on. As soon as I got there, I dropped my stuff in the locker room and changed into my gym clothes.

I walked into the gym and sat down to wait for the coach to tell everyone to warm-up. It wasn’t strange that I was one of the first kids in there. Everybody normally hangs out in the locker rooms for a few minutes longer than they need to. I never really understood why their favorite place to waste time was in a room that was built for guys to get naked.

I looked around to see who else was there. It was normally the same people, a blonde prep, a nerdy wimp, a rainbow-haired girl stretching by a wall, a brunette... I had to do a double-take on the girl with long, rainbow-colored hair. She was new, if she wasn’t then I certainly would’ve at least heard about someone with rainbow hair!

Her gym clothes were the normal for the girls, black shorts and a white t-shirt. Other than her hair, nothing else stood out about her except for a rainbow wristband. She continued stretching until some more people came in, so she took a seat and began to make sure her shoes were properly tied.

I realized that I was looking at her a little longer than I should be and forced myself to look away. She was pretty and, obviously, athletic. I wondered how the “athletes” would take her when they saw her. Our sports teams, especially football, were well below average in terms of performance.

After the rest of the people got into the gym, the coach began the warm-ups. We all stretched, the guys on one side facing away from the girls for obvious reasons. Afterwards, we started doing laps around the gym.

I looked over at the new girl to see a few guys giving her a hard time. The usual kind of jock stuff, thinking they were “big and bad” and thinking they could hook up with her. They were trying to talk to her, but she had ear buds in and obviously didn’t want to talk to them. They started to pull her ear buds out to try to get her attention, but she ignored them, or tried to, at least.

I would have done something if it weren’t for the fact that there were three of them and they were all twice as big as I was. Besides, I didn’t even know this girl and she looked like she would snap at any moment.

Luckily, the coach blew his whistle and told everyone to grab a basketball. As always, the guys, save for me and a couple others, started up a game on one side of the gym. The girl took a ball and went to an empty goal on the side of the gym.

Like every other time, I was stuck with a flat ball because people liked to sit on them. I took it anyway and looked around to find an open goal. I certainly wasn’t going to join the game, besides, the teams were already even. Every other goal was full of people, most of whom I didn’t like, except for one.

I approached the goal and, just before she made her shot, the rainbow-haired girl turned to look at me with a look of disgust. But instead of trying to make a move on her, like she apparently thought I would, I simply asked, “Mind if I shoot with you?”

Her face returned to normal as she shrugged and continued shooting, making almost every shot. I took a stance and made a shot of my own, which bounced off the rim and fell to the floor, bouncing a single time. I sucked at my teeth, somehow thinking that would make it less embarrassing to miss such a simple shot.

She must have heard how flat my ball was when it hit the ground, because as I reached down to pick it up she asked, “You wanna play one-on-one?” I picked up my ball and was about to turn down her offer before she added, “Your ball sounds really flat and the others don’t look much better,” She looked behind me towards the cart, I followed her gaze.

I turned back around to weigh my options, keep shooting with a flat ball for an hour-and-a-half or play with the new girl and use a good ball. It wasn’t a very difficult decision. “Sure, I’m not very good though.”

I tossed my ball to the side and stood between her and the goal as she moved behind a makeshift three-point line, which was the boundary line of the actual court. “What’re we playing to?” she asked as she dribbled the ball between her hands.

I shrugged. “Five sounds good for now,” She then checked the ball and I bounced it back.

She immediately took off to my left. I tried my best to block her, but she was too fast and raced around me towards the goal, making a lay-up as she passed under it.

“You’re gonna have to keep up!” she called with a smirk.

I couldn’t help but smile back at her. “I wasn’t ready yet!” I grabbed the ball and took it behind the line as she took her spot. I checked it and she tossed it back to me. I tried to do the same thing as she did, rushing past her left side, but she expected it and blocked my path.

I bounced the ball behind my back and quickly changed my path, slipping her up in the process. I jumped into the air and shot, making a basket.

I raised my arms and shrugged at her with a smile across my face. She smiled back as she picked up the ball and took it behind the line.
-----
The rest of the class passed by more quickly than usual, probably because I actually had fun that time. She won with five points to my three, afterwards we just made some shots until the class was over.

We all went to go change out and get our stuff. Of course, I was one of the first out and back into the gym. I sat down in my usual spot and looked down at my shoes, tired and sweaty. It had been a while since I worked out like that.

I was soon interrupted by the very girl who bested me in basketball. “You know,” she began, “you’re not as bad as you said you were.”

I smirked. “Yeah, but it was still fun,” At that moment, I didn’t care how corny that sounded.

“How did you have fun if you lost?” She let out a victory laugh.

I smiled at her. “Yeah, whatever. What’s your name anyway?”

She took a seat next to me. She was close enough for me to see her eyes, they were magenta, a very pretty shade at that. “Rainbow Dash, what’s your name?”

“Sky,” The bell rang right after I got my name out.

“Well, Sky, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow!” She got to her feet and began to walk towards one of the pairs of double doors.

“See you, Rainbow!” I watched as she left. I hadn’t paid attention before then, but she was wearing a  cyan, zip-up hoodie and a pair of gray jeans. As she turned to go out the door, I noticed that she had an emblem of a rainbow lighting bolt on the front of her jacket.

After she left, I stood and began to walk out the same doors she did. I was soon interrupted by one of the other guys of the class. “So, what was it like?”

I gave him a funny look. He was one of the guys in class who felt like it was his business to know everything that went on. “What was what like?”

“You know!” He sighed and rolled his eyes. “Playing with that girl! What was it like? Did you get to touch her?” He was also a little creep.

“No! I did not get to ‘touch her.’ We just played basketball, nothing else,” I got the feeling he knew that already, since he obviously watched us.

“Don’t hold out on me!” He pushed his glasses up on his face. “What did she smell like?”

“Alright, I think it’s time for me to go. I need to catch the bus,” I quickly grabbed by bag and started towards the door. He was smaller than me, but he had a temper and a fight was the last thing I wanted.

“Just wait!” he called out behind me. I completely ignored him and continued out the door. I knew he wouldn’t be able to catch up, especially since he hadn’t even changed out yet. Still, I made sure that there was distance between us before I slowed down. ‘That kid really needs to learn when to shut up.’

I finally reached the doors that let out at the bus loop and headed towards my bus. It wasn’t long before I was stopped again, this time by a voice I didn’t recognize. “Hello, boys!”

I stopped and looked towards the voice. What I saw was a few guys rushing towards a girl who was standing in front of a brick wall that held up a small roof. She had dark purple hair that was styled into large curls that fell to one side of her head and sat upon the opposite shoulder. She also wore a clip with three light blue diamonds attached to it. She was wearing a white top that was loose around her neck and fell below her hips along with a black, knee-high skirt.

The guys were practically swarming around her, but, somehow, I was able to hear what she was saying. “Would any of you lovely gentlemen be so kind as to point me towards P14?” I then heard one of the guys say that it was closer to the end of the line and everyone else agreed with him.

She then thanked them and went on her way. While the guys were busy ogling her, I made my way towards her after I had seen the bus at the front of the line. “Hey, hold on,” I tried to call to her.

She stopped and turned towards me. “Yes?”

“P14 isn’t that way. It’s actually at the front of the line.”

“How do you know that?” she said with a questioning look in her eye.

“Because I ride that bus and she’s always at the front of the line,” She looked past me towards the group of guys who had, apparently,  found something better to do by then.

“But those boys told me it was this way,” She looked genuinely confused as to why those guys would ever lie to her. To me it was really simple.

“If you flirt with them like that, they’ll tell you anything you want to hear. It might not be right, but they’ll give you an answer.”

She looked back at me with a slight smile across her lips. “I feel a little silly now.”

I smiled back at her. “No worries. Come on, I’ll walk you to the bus.”

I turned around and began walking in the right direction, she made her way to my side and walked with me. “May I ask your name?” she said as she glanced in my direction.

“It’s Sky. What’s yours?”

“Rarity. May I ask another question?”

I was a little shocked but told her that she could. “Why did you stop to help me?”

“Well,” I began, thinking about the answer myself, “if I needed help, I would hope somebody would stop to help me. You know, the golden rule and all that,” That sounded like a good enough answer to me.

“I see,” she said, facing ahead once again.

I stopped as we reached the bus. “Here it is,” I said as we arrived at the front of the bus just before getting on. I went straight to my usual spot towards the back of the bus. Rarity followed and sat in the seat across from me.

She smiled at me when she saw me looking at her and slipped a couple of ear buds into her ears. I smiled back and put on my headphones, mostly to show Henry that I didn’t want to talk, but also to drown everything else out.
-----
It didn’t take long to reach my house, I wished it would take longer because I liked to just sit on the bus and listen to my music for as long as possible. When I walked into my house, I dropped my stuff off in my room and went to the living room to watch some TV. Nobody was going to be home for about a week because my mom was working. But there was plenty of food and I didn’t mind being alone, so it wasn’t so bad.

That was pretty much all I did for the rest of the day, watch TV and eat. I always wished that I had other things to do, but I wasn’t much of a gamer and I didn’t have many friends, so my options were limited.

I brushed my teeth and got ready for bed. I typically went to bed earlier than most people, while they go to bed at eleven or twelve, I went to bed at around nine o’clock. Some people picked on me about it, but I wasn’t the one falling asleep in class, so I just ignored them.

I thought about the events of the day, meeting six new girls in one day, one in every part of my day. Sure, it was really weird, but I wasn’t going to question it. They all seemed like nice people, even Fluttershy, who I had hardly talked to. It would have been a lie to say that I didn’t want to see them again, in fact, I was hoping that we could all become friends, perhaps maybe even more than that. That would be a great change, making five new friends and even a girlfriend! How could my life change much more than that?

But sleep soon had me in it’s grasp and I found myself taken away into my dreams. I got a good sleep that night. I wasn’t sure why, but I felt a lot more comfortable that night than any other night that I could remember...

> Pre-Game Jitters
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I remember having a strange dream that night. I found myself standing on a stage, as if I was in some kind of rock band. I turned around to see that I was, in fact, standing with rest of “my band.” Looking back at the crowd, I noticed a microphone on a stand that hadn’t been there before. The crowd was roaring like the crowds at any other rock concert. Of course, everything felt normal, like I knew exactly what I would do and when I would it. It felt as though I had done this a million times before and that this time would be no different.

The only strange thing was that I knew it wasn’t normal. I knew this wasn’t my normal life and I knew I wasn’t supposed to be here. But before I could do anything about it, the drummer began banging his drumsticks together to set a beat. I remember quickly glancing behind me to get a look at my band-mates. To my surprise, there were only black shadows where the people should have been. There was a drummer, a lead guitarist, a backup guitarist, and a bassist. But they were all the same: black shadowy figures. My body didn’t seem to be shocked by this fact like my mind was, so I continued on with what I knew I was supposed to do.

The guitarist began pounding on his strings. It was heavy, like one would hear in a rock song. The melody was simple and sounded rough, but I felt as though I had heard it somewhere before. It seemed so familiar, yet I knew that I had never heard it before in my life.

The backup guitar joined in, playing a more complex riff, but still simple enough to follow along. It, too, seemed familiar. I couldn’t understand how I knew the song, nor could I figure out how I knew what was coming next.

The drummer began playing an even more complex beat on his set. Again, the piece felt more familiar to me. Then I remembered the microphone in front of me. I had no idea what I was to sing or how I was to sing it. Was it a screamo song? Or was it a song of the more gentle rock genre? My mouth opened before I was able to think about what I would say.

“My nights of sin this, the cult of indignation, they always look here, I feel their lacerations!”

Where did that come from? More importantly, what does it mean? I had little time to think about it before the next line burst from my lips.

“I’ll never be enough! I’ll stumble back again, but I don’t care enough... I wish I had a friend...”

I then remember opening my mouth to sing the next verse, but being interrupted by what I thought were fire sirens. The noise grew and grew until it was unbearable and I was forced to cover my ears with the palms of my hands, as was everyone else.

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

I opened my eyes and found myself back in my own bed. I reached towards my nightstand and flipped the switch on my alarm clock, turning off the annoying siren.

I stayed in bed for another minute or two, trying desperately to reverse time so I could sleep longer, but to no avail. I rose to my feet and walked into the kitchen to get something to drink. ‘What a stupid dream,’ I thought to myself.

I went about my usual morning without another thought of the dream, since it was, after all, just a dream. As I was in the shower, though, my mind wandered off to the girls I had met the day before. ‘I wonder if Rarity rides the bus in the mornings,’ I thought to myself as I stepped out of the shower and reached for the towel that hung on the wall. I hoped she did.

I dressed myself and brushed my teeth, making sure to get every little crevice as I did so. After grabbing my bag and iPad, I walked into the living room, only to drop them onto the love-seat as I sat down on the couch. I watched TV for the last half-hour before it was time for me to leave for the bus.

I made my way to the stop at the end of my road and took my usual spot to wait for the bus. I began to let my mind wander as I began to think about the girls. They seemed like great people, but I knew better than to let myself get attached too easily. I’d been betrayed too many times to let it happen again.

Every “friend” I’ve ever had has stabbed me in the back at one point or another. In second grade, I knew some kid who would lie about anything and everything for no, apparent, reason. He would also steal and get me into trouble every other day. I learned quickly to ditch him and never look back.

Then there was the time in fourth grade. I thought I had made some new friends who would be real friends, but turned out to be jerks. Since we liked the same girl, it made things complicated since we were always fighting over her. Of course, she enjoyed every bit of it. We ended up letting our jealousy get the better of us and stopped being friends. What happened to the girl? She chose to be with the other kid.

Then there’s Henry. There’s a bit of information that I haven’t mentioned about Henry. He lies like the kid in second grade, but Henry’s is so much worse. One time, I was visiting him at his mom’s house and we were playing some snow-boarding game. His mom called us out into the living room so she could talk with us, specifically me. She sat us down and looked at me and simply said that she knew what I did and that if it happened again, I wouldn’t be welcome at her house anymore.

I, of course, had no idea what she was talking about. Luckily, Henry decided to speak up and said that it wasn’t me who he had done it with. They then began arguing about who said “this” and “that” and how she almost punished me for something I didn’t even know about. Eventually, she let us go back into the room, where Henry told me what happened.

Somehow, Henry and his mom got onto the topic of what Henry did a few days before he went got to his mom’s house. Apparently, he went to some party full of beer, drugs, and slutty girls with his cousin and, not only tried to keep his cousin out of trouble, but tried to put me into the picture in his cousin’s place. So, I told him the same thing his mom told me: if anything like that happens again, we couldn’t be friends.

I should’ve knocked him out right there, but I’m too calm a person for that. I didn’t react the way most people would have because, honestly, it takes a lot more than that to make me angry. Most people think it’s great to be able to control your anger like that, but I think it’s worse than losing control of it. It makes me feel inhuman, like I have no emotion. I didn’t freak out, yell, hit him, or anything. I just kept playing the game and calmly told him that we wouldn’t be friends if he ever did that again. To this day, I regret not knocking him down then and there.

I heard the bus off in the distance, just around the corner. I had known the girl who got on there. She and her cousin would get on and we would usually talk to each other on the bus, but not really anywhere else. So when she got a car, we stopped talking completely. I still saw her around school, so I knew she was still here, but she never spoke to me and, in return, I never spoke to her.

I checked my watch and saw that it was already seven-fifteen. ‘She must have gotten another new bus,’ I thought as I looked back up to see the bus pulling around the corner. Whenever one of the other buses broke down, they would take our bus and give us the old, crappy ones. For what reason, no one knew, but once our bus driver almost quit because of it.

I reached into my pocket to feel the space of nothingness that was where my iPod usually was. ‘Great,’ I thought to myself as the bus came to a stop just in front of me, ‘she’s late and I don’t get to listen to any music.’

I boarded the bus to be greeted by dozens of filled seats. I sighed. Normally, the bus didn’t have this many people on it, but sometimes people ride the bus instead of taking a car, or whatever else they usually do to get to school. I thought that they should just choose one or the other, but that’s just my opinion.

I searched the seats for an empty spot, to no avail. I then saw Henry at the back of the bus, waving at me and pointing to his own seat. I rolled my eyes, since I was too far away for him to see, and began walking towards him. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of purple. I looked at the being that intruded my vision and was happy to see none other than Rarity, sitting in her own seat. I immediately dismissed Henry and approached her seat.

“Mind if I sit here?” I said when I saw that she didn’t have her ear buds in.

She turned to me and delightfully smiled, as if she was happy to see me. “Not at all!” I smiled back and sat down after she had moved her bag to her lap.

I pressed my forehead against the back of the seat in front of us. “Thanks, there weren’t really any other places to sit,” I tried to situate my bag in my lap so that it was more comfortable to sit with.

She turned to look around the bus, then back at me. “Is it always like this?”

I picked up my head and looked around the bus, as if I hadn’t already noticed the massive amount of people. “Not usually. A lot of these people have other ways to school, but I guess they didn’t today.”

“Oh, I see,” She turned back to look out the window. I wondered if she had already gotten a chance to look around town. For a split second, I thought about asking her if she wanted to do anything that weekend. But the reality of having nothing close enough to do hit me and I dismissed the thought. “May I ask a question?” She turned back to face me.

I was a little shocked that she wanted to ask me something, more than a little, actually. “Uh, sure,” I said, not knowing what to expect.

“Why did you sit with me? I saw that boy in the back waving at you and he looked like he could be your friend,” She looked genuinely confused as to why I chose to sit with her instead of Henry.

I turned back around to see that Henry had already found something else to busy himself. “Well, you looked a little lonely.”

She tilted her head a little to one side. “Did I?”

“Yeah, you were just sitting here, staring out the window.”

She smiled and laughed a little. I didn’t know how to respond, so I found myself laughing along with her. “Come now, Sky. You aren’t a very good liar.”

“Oh, you saw through it, huh?” I smiled and continued laughing. “Alright, the real reason is that I can’t stand sitting with Henry. He’s only interested in talking about himself and always thinks his ideas are better than everybody else’s.”

Rarity turned around to look at Henry, who was too occupied to notice. “I could see how that would get annoying. But isn’t he your friend?”

I thought about it a moment. Was he my friend? I real friend wouldn’t lie to me. “Not really,” I admitted, “We don’t really talk much,” I wanted to change the subject. “What about you? Have you made any friends yet?”

She looked up as if she was thinking really hard about it. “Only one,” she said while continuing to think.

I gave in. “Really? Who?”

She simply looked back down at me and smiled. “You, of course.”

Honestly, I was taken aback. She really thought of me as her friend? But we had only just met the day before. Noticing my slight recoil, Rarity asked, “What? You don’t think of me as your friend?”

I thought for a brief moment. Did I? “Yeah, of course I do. It’s just that I figured a girl like you would have more friends, that’s all.”

She smiled and let out a chuckle. “I haven’t really talked to many people here, except for you.”

She had a really cute smile. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t noticed it before. I loved seeing her smile; it was better than any accessory she ever could have worn. I looked behind her and out of the window to see that we were nearing the school. I smiled back at her before grabbing my bag and throwing it on my back. “Don’t worry. I girl like you will make plenty of friends in no time.”

She looked out the window and put her bag on after seeing how close the school was. “Would you mind, too terribly, if I sat with you at your table when we get there?”

“Yeah, no problem. No one really sits around me anyway,” There were a few kids who sit at the opposite end of my table, but I, honestly, didn’t know any of their names.

“Thank you. I sat with group of ruffians yesterday and they were very loud and rude, so it’ll be nice to sit with some well-behaved people,” As she finished her statement, the bus came to a stop, much harder than anyone would have like, but no one cared enough to complain.

The other high-schoolers began crowding off the bus before I was able to get to my feet. As such, I was shoved and bumped over and over again as the kids rushed past me to get into the school. Why anyone would want to get into school that fast was beyond me.

I was finally able to stand and let Rarity out before me, to which she smiled a polite “thank you.” I could kiss up if I needed to. We got off the bus and the door closed behind me just before the bus took off.

We had just walked into the building when Rarity spoke up. “Um, where, exactly, do you sit, Sky?”

I pointed towards to the 300 Hall. “Over there, it’s where my first class is, anyway.”

There are four different halls: the 100 Hall, the 200 Hall, the 300 Hall, and the 400 Hall. The gym was actually part of the 500 Hall, but that was just an extension of the 400 Hall, so everybody just considers it a part of that one. Each hall had a set subject. Math was in the 100 Hall, along with anything else that was like math. The 200 Hall had English and any of the other languages my school offered. Any kind of elective was down the 300 Hall and the 400 Hall had all of the sciences and physical activity classes. It wasn’t a big school, but there weren’t a lot of kids, so it didn’t need to be.

I dropped my bag, after having reached my table, and took my usual seat. Rarity made her seat across from mine. I looked towards the hall that my first class happened to be down and saw a certain, pink-haired, girl standing alone at the opening of the hallway.

I turned back towards Rarity. “Would you mind if I asked someone else to sit with us?” I noticed that she had taken out her iPad while I was looking at Fluttershy. She must have gotten it sometime the day before. I briefly considered messaging Fluttershy and asking her to sit with us, but decided against it, since it would have been to easy for her to say “no” that way.

She looked up from her iPad and shook her head. “Not at all! I love meeting new people!” I thought about why that attitude hadn’t won her any friends already. I got to my feet and began to make my way towards Fluttershy.

I was quickly interrupted by the annoying kid from gym class. “Quite the lady’s man, aren’t we?” His voice was scratchy and annoying, like a can opener opening a can of food.

“I guess, Jingle,” His real name was “Brandon,” but there were a lot of kids with that name at my school, so a lot of them got called by their last names.

“First that ‘Rainbow Dash’ girl and now her?” He gestured towards the table where Rarity was seated. “How many girlfriends do you have?”

I looked at him with a disgusted look on my face. “They aren’t my girlfriends, all right? I’m just trying to make them comfortable here, nothing else.”

He rolled his eyes, with a bit too much emphasis on the “rolling” part. “Yeah, right. Maybe comfortable snuggled up to you in your bed, but, certainly, not here at school!” He wasn’t very good at come-backs, either.

“Whatever, just go away. I didn’t come over here to talk to you,” I tried to walk around him, but he quickly blocked my path. He was small, but he could really move.

“No! I’m not going anywhere until you say I can have one of your girlfriends!”

I sighed. “They aren’t my girlfriends! And they aren’t mine to give! If you want to date them so badly, go talk to one of them.”

“Really? Awesome! Now where’s that ‘Rainbow Dash’ girl?” He looked around the cafeteria, failed to find her, and then looked back at me for help.

“How should I know? I don’t keep track of her every second of the day,” He then scowled at me and went on his way. I wasn’t worried about it; I knew Rainbow Dash would put him in his place.

I turned back towards Fluttershy and continued my way towards her. She must have noticed me approach, as she looked up at me and smiled. “Hello, Sky,” Although she was still very soft-spoken, she seemed to have warmed up to the idea of talking to me.

“Hey,” I replied as I returned her smile. “How come you’re just standing over here all alone?” Of course, I already knew the answer to that, but I needed an excuse to get on the subject.

“Well,” she began as she looked down at the ground, playing with her hair as she did, “I don’t talk to anybody, really, except for you.”

“Why don’t you come sit with me and some of my friends?”

Her eyes grew as she looked back up at me in shock. “Huh?”

“Yeah, it’ll be fun. They’re really nice and I’m sure they’ll like you,” Although it was just Rarity and me at the table, I thought she might enjoy the thought of meeting a few new people, even if they weren’t really there.

“I don’t know,” She looked away from me and back towards the ground.

“Don’t worry,” I said, “I know they’ll like you,” I reached out my hand, hoping it would soothe her, if ,even, just a little.

She glanced down at my hand and then back up at me. “A-alright,” she said as she placed her hand in mine. Her hand was soft and gentle to the touch. I almost wanted to hold her hand forever; it was just that relaxing.

I smiled at her and led her back to my table. We dodged our way through the crowd of people and finally arrived. I didn’t want to let go, but forced myself to. Rarity was still enthralled in her iPad when I sat down across from her. Fluttershy found a spot just on my right.

Rarity looked up when she noticed us. “Oh, hello. I’m Rarity and you are?”

Fluttershy immediately hid behind her hair and silently whispered her name under her breath. I was only able to hear because the faced my direction. I turned to Rarity, who had a slightly confused expression across her face. “This is Fluttershy,” I explained. “She’s a little shy, but I’m trying to help her make some friends here.”

Rarity’s expression faded into one of understanding and she looked back at Fluttershy, who was now coming out from behind her hair. “Oh, so you’re new here too? Wonderful! We can be new together!” I wasn’t entirely sure what that meant, but it seemed to help Fluttershy come a little bit farther out from her shell.

They began talking a bit, of course, Rarity doing more than Fluttershy, but progress is progress. I then glanced up at the clock on the wall and saw that we still had about fifteen minutes before the first class started. I looked back down at the girls and simply said, “I’ll be back,” before getting up and walking away from the table.

I began searching the cafeteria for a certain girl. I didn’t know which group she fit in best with, so I wasn’t entirely sure where I should have been looking. There were a few separate groups of students at my school: the jocks, the popular crowd, the nerds, and the country boys.

The jocks were mostly in the center of the cafeteria and a few were scattered around the edges. By far, they were the biggest group, since they had to take multiple tables. They were just what one would expect from a bunch of muscled-up football freaks; they were big and rude. They didn’t care who they upset and would constantly mess with the other kids, but they weren’t, by any means, bullies. Everybody who knew any of the jocks knew that whenever they messed with anyone else, they were only kidding and didn’t mean any of it seriously. It was hard to mistake it for anything else.

The popular kids weren’t like they were in movies or TV shows. They were actually pretty nice and fun to hang out with. They didn’t bully anyone else for being less popular than they were. These guys were just sprinkled around the entire cafeteria. They didn’t have a single spot that they liked to hang out in or a specific group of people that they liked to hang out with. They talked to everybody from the jocks to the nerds. They weren’t stuck up like the popular kids people always hear about in movies, which is probably the reason so many people like them.

The nerds were just your average group of weird kids who didn’t fit in anywhere else. They were all alone in their own little spot by the front of the cafeteria, just beside the stage. The one thing that set them apart from other nerds like you see in TV shows is that they weren’t very smart and I should know, considering I’m near the top of my class. The few goth and emo kids we had in our school like to hang out with these guys, for some reason. But they all got along pretty well, so there was never any drama.

The country boys were the real problem at my school. They thought they were all big and bad since the school was in a rural area. Sure, they were big and strong, but they were dumber than a bag of rocks, even combined. As such, they were the real bullies in my school. They would pick on anybody who got in their way and always got in fights for some dumb reason or another, which were mostly between each other.

I didn’t fit in with any of these groups. I didn’t play sports, so jocks were out, I’m anti-social, so I had no popularity, the nerds were far too weird for my taste, and I was certainly no bully... that and I hate camo colors. I was in a group of my own creation and, as far as I knew, I was the only one in it, which didn’t bother me.

I continued to look around the cafeteria for the girl and soon found her sitting alone, reading a book, her dark purple hair having stood out to me. ‘Of course,’ I thought to myself as I approached her. I sat down across from her and said, “Hey.”

She looked up from her book and smiled. “Oh, hello, Sky.” She certainly looked happy to see me, but I was able to see past that. I could tell that her smile wasn’t real, but I wasn’t able to figure out why. “How are you?”

“I’m fine,” I considered asking her what was wrong. After all, we had talked quite a bit the day before and, as far as I knew, I was the only person she had really spoken to. But then again, I had no way of finding out if she had spoken to anybody else. “How about you?”

“I’m doing well, just tired,” Her smile died a bit and her eyes softened.

“Yeah, moving can be pretty annoying,” I couldn’t tell if she was really tired or not. She certainly looked it, but, even if she was, there seemed to be something else bothering her. I decided against bringing it up to avoid sounding too intrusive.

She closed her book and held the page with the attached bookmark, which was little more than a piece of fancy red yarn. “Yeah. But it isn’t so bad. I do like going to new places and meeting new people,”

“Oh, speaking of that; why don’t you come sit with me and my other friends? You look lonely all by yourself.”

“Oh, that’s alright. I’ve got my book, so I’ll be okay here,” She tapped her book for emphasis.

I could see that she wouldn’t change her mind, she just had that kind of look about her, but I decided to try again anyway. “Are you sure? I’m sure they’ll all like you.”

She shook her head just enough to emphasize her point. “I don’t think I’ll be very good with conversation right now, Sky. I’m really tired,” I must have let my disappointment show, because the next thing she said was, “Maybe tomorrow.”

“Alright,” I said, simply. I rose to my feet and stepped away from the table. “See you in class,” I began the walk back to my table through the maze of people. I took one last look back at her and saw that she was opening her book back to the page she had left it on. I just couldn’t seem to figure her out.

As I arrived back at my table, which, I suppose, had then become our table, I noticed that Rarity and Fluttershy had stopped talking. Not because they had gotten on each other’s bad side; it was simply one of those things that you can tell. I assumed it was because they had gotten back into their “new” iPads. They weren’t new, not anymore. The students had gotten them when I was in ninth grade, which was two years before then. Well, to be more accurate, we had gotten them around the middle of that year. So, I suppose, it would have been closer to one and a half years, as it was only a couple of weeks into my junior year.

Rarity looked up at me as I sat down. “Well, where did you run off to, Sky?” It wasn’t long before she was looking back down at her iPad, but Fluttershy had stopped messing with her’s and looked up at me, awaiting my answer.

“I was just trying to find someone else I know, but she was...,” My voice trailed off before I was able to stop it. “...busy.”

“You’re rather popular here, aren’t you?” Rarity said, not even acknowledging my loss for words.

I smiled a little. “Not really. I’m actually more of a loner,” I raised my hands to “shrug off” my previous comment. “If you can believe that.”

Rarity simply “hmm”-ed, eyed me suspiciously, and continued her game. I noticed that Fluttershy had resumed whatever it was that she was doing too. I looked up at the clock and saw that class was starting in a couple of minutes. ‘Wow,’ I thought just as the bell had begun to ring, ‘I didn’t realize how long I was looking for Twilight.’

Fluttershy and I got to our feet, having said our goodbyes to Rarity, and began our walk down our hallway. The walk was longer than it was to my other classes, since Music Appreciation was in the chorus room, which happened to be at the end of the hall along with the rest of the music rooms.

The walk was quiet, neither of us speaking a word. Not because of anything negative, but for the simple fact of not knowing what to say. I really was a loner; I liked to be alone. Some days I prefer to be alone and others I like to hang out and talk with other people; the feelings come and go.

As we passed the orchestra room, I could hear the faint sound of a cello. It was being played wonderfully and I was almost forced to stop and listen a bit longer. I didn’t know many people who were in the orchestra, but I did know one girl who played the cello. I couldn’t be sure, but I thought her name was “Octavia,” but I had only heard it once before. Everybody who knew her said that she was an amazing musician, even having moved some students to tears with her symphonies.

I also knew of one other talented musician at school. Well, “musician” doesn’t seem to suit her properly. She was more of a DJ, which, personally, I considered to be a different, yet equally brilliant, musical performer than what a musician is. Her name was Vinyl Scratch, but a lot of people called her by her stage name, which was DJ PON3. Again, I had never met her, but I had heard that she, too, was incredibly talented.

The two of us entered the room and sat down at our spot. Henry, for once, showed up a few minutes afterwards, but before the late bell had a chance to ring. “What’s up?”

“Nothing much,” I replied simply. “How come you’re here so early?” I tilted my head towards him to better hear what story he had come up with this time.

“I was late getting to school because my dad decided not to wake me up,” He leaned his head back against his chair and looked up at the ceiling. “I just got here a few minutes ago and didn’t know what time it was, so I just came straight here.”

“You don’t have an alarm clock?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t have any money for one.”

“Ask someone for some money or, better yet, ask them to get you an alarm clock.”

“I don’t ask for money,” He picked his head off of the chair and looked ahead at the front board.

I let out a sigh. “Then I don’t know what to tell you, Henry,” Sure, he could have been telling the truth, but how was I to know?

He turned back in my direction and looked behind me. “How’s it going Fluttershy?”

She simply smiled a bit and whispered something along the lines of, “I’m fine.”

Henry chuckled, saying, “Still kind of shy, huh?” At that moment, the bell rang and the teacher began class.

Nothing interesting happened throughout the class period. We finished early, as always, and talked or played games for the rest of the time. Fluttershy and I talked a bit, but not about any one thing. She seemed to become more interested when I told her about how there’s a stray dog that sometimes sleeps in the middle of my road, but the conversation quickly ended when Henry decided that he needed to be involved in it.

The bell rang and I told Fluttershy goodbye. I’ll admit that I was a little anxious to see Twilight and see how she was doing. I was a little bit worried about her. She did seem tired, but there was something that was a little... off about the whole thing; I just couldn’t put my finger on it.

I walked into the classroom and set my things down at my desk. Twilight walked into the room soon after and dropped her things on the floor beside her desk. I could tell that she wasn’t as attentive as she had been the previous day. Perhaps it was that she was tired and I was over-analyzing everything. I tended to do that. Sometimes I would make a normal day into a terrible one, just by thinking about a “bump in the road” over the course of the day.

Soon after, we were handed our worksheets and told to finish them by the end of class. I finished mine just as quickly as I had the other ones, but I noticed that Twilight was moving a little more slowly than she had been. I was finally able to convince myself that she was tired and that there was nothing more to it. I remembered what I had said to her before, “Moving can be pretty annoying.”

She finished a few minutes later and returned to her seat. She took out her book and began reading at the spot that her yarn told her she had left off at. I thought about talking to her, but told myself that it would rude to interrupt her reading. So, instead, I took out my iPad to play a game. I couldn’t help but glance back up at her one more time, though. Something didn’t seem to be right.

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

Later that day, I found myself eating the food that the lunch ladies provided. This meal proved to be much better tasting than any of the other meals they had prepared for us. It was a simple chicken tender meal, but it was far beyond anything they had actually took the time to prepare. I always said that whatever they didn’t make themselves was, almost, always better than anything they did.

“Hey there, Sky,” I heard from just out of my field of vision. I looked over to see Applejack nearing the table with a tray of her own in her hands. She had gotten the same thing I had: chicken tenders. She also had some apple wedges to go along with them, which I didn’t care for myself.

“Hey, Applejack,” I replied just before taking a bite out of the tender that I had already grabbed. “What’s up?”

“Nothin’ too much, how about yourself?” She sat down across from me and began munching on her apple wedges, eating about half of each one in a single bite.

“Just bored is all,” I knew what I looked like at the time: distant and as if I wasn’t completely there, because I wasn’t. I was still thinking about Twilight and how she was acting. I couldn’t seem to push it from my mind.

Suddenly, I was ripped away from my thoughts as I heard a loud, practically shouting, voice from behind. “Hey, Sky! Hey, Applejack!”

I turned to see Pinkie sitting down beside me with a lunch box covered in multicolored balloons in her hands. “Hey, Pinkie,” Applejack said as she took another bite of her apple slice. “What’cha been up to?”

“Nothing, really...,” She began to look a little distant herself. “Except having an amazing day!” I should’ve known. “Last class was so much fun! We made some kind of bubbly chemical in Chemistry! It was green, but then it turned blue and I was like,” She made a surprised face, which included putting her hands on her cheeks, and gasped. “Everybody else thought it was boring, but I loved it!”

I couldn’t resist myself. “You two know each other?”

“Yeah,” Applejack replied, “We’re in the same Algebra class,” She smiled a bit. “Pinkie certainly livens things up in there!” Having finished her apples, she began to reach for her chicken strips. “How about you? How do ya’ll know each other?”

“We’re-”

“Sky is in Culinary Arts with me!” Pinkie blurted, barely giving me a chance to get a single word out of my mouth. “He’s the one who helped me make cupcakes yesterday!”

“Oh, yeah. Pinkie told me about that earlier today. She said you were pretty good in the kitchen,” Honestly, I think some blood went into my cheeks. It had been a while since anybody had given me a compliment.

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

Since we had finished all of the cupcakes, Chef having frosted them all in some of her free time, that day was pretty slow. We simply read a chapter out of our textbooks and finished all of the work in about an hour. It was rare that we ever got free time, since we were always so busy in there, so everybody took advantage of it, including Pinkie and I.

“So, how come the football game is today? I would’ve put it on a Friday, like lots of other schools do,” Pinkie said as she sat back down at her seat with her small, foam cup-full of water. We had an ice machine in the room, so Chef got some little cups for us to get water if we ever wanted it. We also had a bathroom in the room, which was nice, but a little uncomfortable to use, since everyone could hear almost every sound that came from inside.

“Actually, it was supposed to happen last Friday, but it got rained out. Then there was a bad storm on Saturday and, I guess, nobody wanted to have a game on Sunday or Monday, so now now it’s supposed to happen today, but I think it’ll just rain again,” The weather was never nice there, but I liked it that way. I liked the rain, I liked the storms, and I even liked when the TV went off because of all of the clouds. It’s a little strange, but I just felt so much cozier inside of my house because of how bad it was outside.

“What about this Friday?” Pinkie asked before taking a sip of her water. A drop or two fell on her chef jacket, but she didn’t notice. It didn’t really matter, though. After all, water doesn’t stain a lot of things. Chef always stressed about how important it was to have a clean uniform every day, which was true, since a lot of germs and stuff like that can easily get picked up on a uniform.

“There’s another game this Friday, but it’s an away game, so we aren’t making anything for it,” I never really knew the schedule for the games until I got involved in Culinary Arts. I just knew that there was a game. I didn’t know who it was against, what the theme was, or if it was going to be at home or away. “But that reminds me... Do you have a ride to the game?”

“Of course, silly! Why wouldn’t I?” She talked like she was offended, but didn’t imply it or act like it.

I laughed under by breath. “I don’t know. I was just wondering because I don’t have one and I wanted to know if you could give me a ride to the game. Would you?”

She smiled. “Yeah! No problem! I’m sure AJ wouldn’t mind driving the both of us!”

I wasn’t expecting Applejack to be her ride. I mean, I knew that they knew each other, but I didn’t think they were that close. “Oh, Applejack’s taking you?”

“Yep! I asked her earlier today and she said okay!” She didn’t sound surprised by Applejack’s answer in the slightest.

“Just like that?”

“Well,” There it was. “she did seem a little shocked, but then she said she was going anyway and that she could drive me. So I think she could take you too!”

I didn’t see how that added up to Applejack being able to take both me and Pinkie, but I went with it anyway. “Alright. Well, here’s my phone number.” I pulled out a piece of scrap paper and scribbled down the ten digits that made up my number, handing it to her afterwards. “Just text me or something when you ask her and tell me what she says.”

She took the piece of paper and examined it, making her own little scribbles on it with a pencil that I was sure she didn’t have before then. “Okey dokey lokey!”

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

Gym was boring that day. We didn’t do much except learn about what a racket was and the different parts that it had on it. Afterwards we were let loose to try our hands at badminton using the nets that had been set up earlier in the day.

Rainbow and I paired up again for the simple fact that she didn’t know or particularly like anybody else there. The same went for me. The class was full of all of the big jerks who thought they were better than everybody else because they were stronger and better at sports than most of the others. It works in the same way as me thinking they were stupid because I was better at math than they were.

“So what exactly are we gonna do in this class?” Rainbow asked as the birdie left her racket.

“It’s supposed to be basketball, badminton, and bowling, but it’s better than the other choices for a gym credit,” The other choices were a yoga and Junior ROTC, which was basically a military class.

“Can’t argue with that,” she said as the birdie hit the ground after I failed to swing at in time. “That’s game!”

I chuckled. Her competitiveness was almost contagious. “Oh well, I’m getting kind of tired anyway. I think I’ll take a little break,” Rainbow let out a short laugh, but followed me to the bench.

I sat down and rested my arms on my knees. It might not seem like it, but badminton is exhausting , especially with someone like Rainbow as an opponent. “ So are you going to the game tonight?” I asked as she sat down beside me and almost mimicked my position. The only difference was that she wasn’t leaning as far as I was and her hands were held together.

“Yeah, I thought about it and I think I’ll go. Only to see what the team is like. Are they any good?” She turned to me and I saw her rainbow-colored hair fall just over her far shoulder.

“Not really,” I simply said. I may not have been to many of their games, but I knew that much about our team. “I almost never go, but everybody says they suck. I’m only going tonight to help sell cupcakes for Culinary Arts.”

“Oh,” She looked back ahead and I heard her let out a sigh. I looked up and saw Jingle making his way towards us.

“What’s the matter, Sky? Tired already?” He smiled that toothy grin of his and looked at Rainbow. “Why do you play with this guy? He’s not good at anything.”

“He’s better than you,” she said simply. ‘Ouch,’ I thought to myself. ‘She hardly even defended me.’

“You think so?” He crossed his arms and looked back at me. “Fine. I’ll play you in a game and the winner gets to spend the rest of the semester playing with Rainbow Dash,”

I looked up at him with a look that said, “Are you an idiot?” 

But before I had a chance to actually speak, Rainbow spoke up instead. “Deal,” I then looked at her with a raised eyebrow. ‘Is she sure about this? What if I lose?’ Then I thought rationally for a moment. ‘Wait, this is Jingle. What are the odds of me losing?’

“Alright,” Jingle said as he tossed his racket into the air and watched it fall back into his hand. “Let’s play to five. Rainbow can judge,” He pointed to her with the tip of his racket. He then walked back towards the net that Rainbow and I had been playing at.

I looked back towards Rainbow as I stood up. “Don’t worry. He stinks at sports.”

She nodded. “Oh, I know. I was kind of watching him while we played. It was a little sad.”

I smiled and walked to the side of the net opposite of Jingle, racket in hand. “Ready?” He asked in a tone that implied that he was going to start regardless of whether or not I was ready to. Just as I thought, he didn’t wait for an answer before serving.

I watched the birdie fly towards the ceiling, which was twenty-five feet in the air, I might add, and fall back down, practically straight at me. I simply raised my racket and bumped it just hard enough to fall back on his side. It sailed just over the net and fell to the ground, bouncing once and then rolling in a small circle. That wasn’t a bad tactic. Hit the birdie hard enough to make it hit the ground as close to the net as possible, but not so soft as to let it fall on my own side.

Jingle grumbled and walked towards the birdie that sat on the ground. He picked it up and leered at me as he turned around and walked back towards his serving position. I looked towards Rainbow and shrugged. She grinned, shrugged back, and held up her left finger to show the score.

He tossed the birdie into the air and swung at it. This time hitting it in a straight line to my left. It was a little harder to get to, but I was able to make contact with it after taking a step in that direction. I knew I wouldn’t have been able to bump it over the net again, so I swung harder this time. The birdie sailed off to the far side of the court: my right.

Expecting it, Jingle quickly walked towards that area and bumped it over the net, just as I had done. My eyes opened a bit as I quickly jumped towards the birdie. But I was too late. The birdie bounced against the ground and landed beside my foot. I sighed as I saw Rainbow hold up her right hand and extend a finger out of the corner of my eye. She didn’t seem at all phased by the fact that Jingle scored a point.

“You’re a little off your game, huh?” Jingle said as he “swaggered” back towards his starting position. It was more of a stumble, really.

“Whatever,” I said simply as I picked up the birdie and stepped back to serve. I tossed the thing into the air and swung, aiming for his far left. I watched as the birdie flew closer to the out-of-bounds line than I had wanted, but it was as close to the line as it could possibly get, so I couldn’t complain.

Jingle went straight for it, just like I wanted him to. He swung and sent it back towards me. It was a little risky, as he could have simply tapped it over the net again, but I knew he wouldn’t be able to do that. He was forced to backhand it, which meant it would be harder than usual to simply tap it.

The birdie came flying in my direction. I grinned and immediately swung for the side of court opposite of where Jingle was. He tried to run for it, but was far too late. He had barely made it halfway across the court before it hit the ground. It was as simple as the trick before: force him on one side of the court then hit the birdie on the opposite side. It was very difficult to run across the court in enough time to hit it well enough to send it back over the net.

He sighed and grabbed the birdie in his hand. I could see him squeeze the rubber tip as he walked. Yes, I could have taunted him, but I like to think of myself as above that.

He held the birdie in front of him in his left hand with the rubber piece facing downward. His racket swung towards the rubber and sent the thing flying into the air once more. ‘He’s making this too easy,’ I thought as I shot it back towards him.

He swung and hit the birdie almost perfectly. It flew onto the side of the court opposite of where I was. Luckily, his first shot was closer towards the middle, so I was barely able to make contact before had a chance to hit the ground. But I had already prepared for what he was planning. I jumped back towards the center of the court before the birdie even met his racket. As soon as he made contact, I was at the net, ready to send the rubber tip into the ground. He, being a little frazzled because I was ready for his trick, screwed up the shot and sent it straight for me. I simply held up my racket and watched as the birdie bounced off of it and fell to the ground.

“Fine!” he shouted as he swung his racket towards the ground. “I give up! You win!” He scowled at me before marching away in defeat. I watched him head back towards his little group before I turned back towards Rainbow Dash, who was only smiling.

“What?” I asked as I walked back towards her and took my spot beside her.

“I knew you would win. I’ll admit I didn’t think he would forfeit, but I knew he couldn’t beat you,” She simply smiled as the coach ordered everyone into the locker rooms to change.

---------------
I boarded the bus and walked back towards my usual seat near the end. I was surprised to see that Rarity had beaten me there. “Hey, Rarity,” I said as I sat down in the seat across from her.

She must not have noticed me until I said something because her eyes were wide when she turned towards my voice. “Oh, hello, Sky.”

“How’d you get here so fast?” I asked with a raised eyebrow as I placed my bag in the seat next to me to keep other people from sitting with me, namely, Henry.

“Oh, my last class is just down this last hallway, so it doesn’t take much time to get here,” She pointed back towards the doors that lead back into the 200 Hall.

“Oh, cool. My class is, literally, at the farthest end of the school, so it takes a bit of time for me to get here,” I smiled a bit at my own expense. Rarity giggled under her breath. “So are you going to the game tonight?”

“I don’t think so. Football just seems so... rough and... dirty,” She squinted her eyes for effect.

“Yeah, but it’s fun! Plus, it’s a great way to meet new people,” I didn’t know why I was so interested in the game. The day before I wasn’t even phased by it and then I was trying to get people to change their minds and go to it!

“I suppose. Will you be there?” She raised an eyebrow at me and stuck out her lips. Why should me being there make a difference to her? We were friends. Could that be it?

“Y-yeah. Well, I think so. Someone is supposed to drive me there, but I haven’t gotten an answer yet, so...”

“Hmm,” She took a couple of moments to think about the situation. “Alright, I’ll go. But only if you can go too. After all, I don’t want to be all alone there!” She pulled a piece of scrap paper out of her bag and scribbled something down on it. She handed it to me saying, “Tell me if you’re able to go once you find out.”

I took the piece of paper and saw that it was her phone number. I felt my heart jump. Two days and I had already gotten her phone number! Sure, it was for a reason other than just talking, but I still got it! “Alright, I’ll text you when I find out.”

She smiled and put in her ear buds. I remembered that I had left my iPod at home, so no music for me. But it was alright. I had a lot to think about anyway.

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

I put the key into the lock and twisted. I felt the click and twisted the knob, which turned with a grunt. I walked into the house and dropped my stuff off in my room before going into the living room, phone in hand.

I flipped on the TV and watched some dumb show about a bunch of idiots doing idiotic things for about an hour until I heard my phone go off. I looked down to see that it was an unknown number. ‘Pinkie, no doubt,’ I thought as I opened up the message and read it. “Hi! It’s Pinkie! AJ said she could pick you up, but she needs your address. Here’s AJ’s number: ----------.”

I dead-panned at no one in particular. Of course she would need my address. How else was she to get me? I responded, “Ok, thanks,” and programmed both their numbers into my phone. I then opened up a new message to Applejack saying, “Hey, it’s Sky. Thanks for the ride to the game! Here’s my address: -- O-- rd.”

I waited a few minutes and got a response from Applejack, who simply said, “Alright and don’t mention it!”

I shot a message at Rarity to tell her that I was going to the game after all. She replied, “Ok, then I’ll see you there!”

I got up to make something to eat before I starved myself. The only thing I had eaten that day was the barely-edible chicken that I had gotten for lunch. I grabbed a tiny bowl of un-cooked macaroni and filled it with water. I liked eating macaroni and cheese, I didn’t understand why more people didn’t like it. It went with almost anything and was awesome!

I glanced up at the clock: five-fifteen. I still had about an hour or so before I would have needed to get ready, so I spent that time watching TV, eating my macaroni, and thinking about how great the game was going to be now that I had some friends to hang out with there. Or, at least, I would have had the TV not gone out...
> The Game
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I sat there, doing absolutely nothing productive despite having homework that needed to get done. I read the message on the TV screen one more time, although I was already familiar with what it said. “No signal. Please make sure there are no obstructions blocking your satellite’s signal such as tree limbs, clouds, or any such object.”

I had already checked outside to see that there were a few clouds forming in the distance, but nothing major. I shrugged it off as terrible connection and looked at the clock for what must have been the twentieth time. Although it only read six o’clock, it felt much later. I let out a sigh and got to my feet, deciding that I might as well start getting ready for the game.

I walked back into my bedroom and flipped on the light. What I saw was nothing more than a simple bedroom set: a bed, a small dresser, and a small TV that stood on a nightstand. It wasn’t much, but it was mine and I liked spending time there so that no one bothered me.

I pulled open my dresser drawers and pulled out a white t-shirt, a red and gray plaid button-up shirt, and a pair of blue jeans along with a set of boxer-shorts. I took my outfit, brought them into the bathroom, and set them down onto the counter beside my sink. I sometimes worried they would get wet if I left them there, but, seeing as nobody would be using the sink while I was in there, I got over it.

I closed the door and locked it behind me out of simple habit. Some people would say that I took too many showers and that I was a clean-freak. I argued that, if it was such a big deal to them, I could stop taking showers and walk around smelling like a dirty gym sock that had been dipped in cat pee. They stopped pestering me soon enough.

I turned on the water and stepped inside after I had prepared a towel. I liked to take long showers. It gave me time to think and relax before I started my day or, in this case, before I left for somewhere even semi-important.

I thought about who was going to be there or, at least, who I knew would be there. I knew Rarity was going, but only because I would be there. Pinkie Pie and Applejack are going to be there, Pinkie to help sell cupcakes, but I didn’t know the reason for Applejack’s attendance. I assumed that Rainbow Dash was going to get a look at the football team to see how good they were, but since I had already told her they weren’t that great, I was no longer sure she would be there.

I recalled Rarity saying that she was only going because I was, which still confused me. I already knew I was one of her only friends at that school, but why would she want me to be there so badly? Perhaps I was over-thinking the whole thing. It must be uncomfortable being the new kid at school, so going with someone you know might help ease the tension.

Pinkie Pie was going to help me sell cupcakes, well, it was more-so the other way around, since I wasn’t even going before she asked. If I wasn’t mistaken, she and I were the only ones who volunteered to help. Not only that, but Chef couldn’t be there either because she had a meeting to go to that took place during the game, so it was only going to be Pinkie and I selling cupcakes that night.

Applejack was our ride to the game, but I had no idea what her reason was for wanting to go to the game. Maybe she was only going to make some new friends like Rarity. She knew Pinkie Pie; maybe Pinkie had convinced her to help us sell some cupcakes, though that wasn’t very likely since they hadn’t known each other for very long.

I knew Rainbow Dash was going to check out the football team... In a non-sexual way, of course... Maybe. Anyway, I knew she wanted to see how well the team played. For what reason, I had no idea. Perhaps she wanted to join the team as a kicker or something like that. I knew of one girl at my school who was a kicker for the football team, but I didn’t know her name.

I stepped out of the shower and dried myself off before putting on my clothes that I had laid out on the counter. I felt a wet-spot on my t-shirt just above my left thigh. I let out a sigh and began to apply the blue toothpaste to my brush.

After I had finished, I reached into my closet to get my deodorant. When I replaced it, I noticed my small bottle of cologne that I hadn’t used in a year. I briefly thought it over and decided to use a bit, but just that one time. I grabbed the thing and sprayed a single mist across my chest.

I’d forgotten how it smelled. It was sweet, but at the same time, it was strong and sophisticated. I began to miss using it solely for smelling it throughout my day. Nobody had ever said anything about it or noticed it, for that matter. I had decided not to waste it if nobody even cared if I used it or not. No one’s said anything since then.

I replaced it on the shelf beside my deodorant. ‘Maybe I should start using it again,’ I closed the door and opened the one that led to my hallway. As I walked back into my room, I noticed the clock that sat beside my bed. It was only a few minutes before six-thirty, when I assumed Applejack would be here since the game began at seven o’clock.

I quickly slid my feet into a pair of socks and then into my shoes before grabbing my wallet. I slid it into my back pocket as I made my way back into the living room. Opening the front door so I could see outside, I noticed a car pull into my driveway. It was red and slightly run down. It looked like some kind of sports car, but I was no good with cars, so I didn’t know what kind of car it was.

I watched it pull all the way in front of my screen door, where I was able to see into the driver’s window. My thoughts were confirmed when I noticed Applejack reach for her door handle. I quickly flipped off the light and opened the screen door. I shut and locked the door behind me before making my way down the stairs.

By then, Applejack had opened her car door and was watching me descend the staircase. I looked towards her and waved as I quickly walked around the car to the passenger side. Opening the door and sitting myself inside, I said, “Thanks, again, for taking me,” before shutting the door behind me.

She shut her own door and said, “Don’t mention it,” She then shifted into reverse and backed up in a way that she could easily pull out of the driveway. The inside of her car was neat. Much more so than I would have thought from looking at the car from the outside. The seats were black and leather, while everything else matched in color and style. “So, you live pretty far out here, huh?” she said as she got onto the road that lead to my house.

“Yeah, I just wish we didn’t have to live on these dirt roads. They’re so bad,” The roads got really rough after it rained, so, at that moment, they couldn’t have been very good.

“Yeah, I hear ya’,” She seemed to be a good driver. She had both hands on the wheel and holding a conversation wasn’t her top priority. I had to respect someone who gave driving the attention that it deserved. After all, the driver is the only thing keeping the passengers from death.

“So, you haven’t gotten Pinkie yet?”

“Nah,” she said, easing back into her seat a bit. “I figured it would be easier to pick you up first, much quicker that way.”

I slumped in my seat. It was a little strange that she hadn’t gotten Pinkie by then. I wondered how long it would take before we got to her house as we pulled into a driveway.

“This should be it. I’ll be back,” Applejack said as she pressed the button on her seat belt, pulled the handle and pushed on her door. I watched her as she stepped up onto the front porch and tapped the door with her knuckles.

The door opened and a man stood inside. He had a narrow face along with a tall, slender body. He wore a yellow-orange shirt with an apron covering the front of his body. I watched his orange hair bob as he nodded to something Applejack had said.

He held up a finger, said something else, and walked back inside. Applejack simply stood there and looked around, as did I. There wasn’t very much to see. The yard was nicely kempt with short green grass and a few small decorations scattered around the area near the house. A sign stuck out of the ground near the front porch: Sugar Cube Corner. I wasn’t sure what it meant or why it was there, but I didn’t have long to think about it. I saw Pinkie walk out of the door with a huge grin across her face.

I opened my door and got out. Applejack’s car, being a small sports car, only had two doors. I pulled the lever on my seat and it quickly leaned towards the dash, leaving room for a person to crawl in behind.

I turned back around and was immediately greeted by Pinkie. “Hi, Sky! This is gonna be so awesome!” She then crawled into the back seat of the car before I had a chance to tell her that she could sit up front.

I let out a small chuckle as I leaned the seat back and returned to my spot. “Do you think we’ll make it before the game starts?” I asked after seeing what time the clock read.

“Yeah,” Applejack said as she turned the key in the ignition and started the car. “We’ll get there in time!”

She pulled out of the driveway and I got a chance to see where we were. Strangely enough, we weren’t very far from my own home. I had a split-second to wonder why Pinkie didn’t ride the bus before my thoughts were interrupted. “Are the football games any fun, Sky?” Pinkie asked from in between Applejack and me.

I made an attempt at a shrug. “It depends. Sometimes we play well and everyone is happy, but if we don’t then everybody mopes around until it’s over.”

“Is the team very good?” Applejack asked as we pulled out onto the main road.

“Not really,” I said plainly. “They like to think they are, but football is our worst sport,” Each of the school’s teams had at least one award, except football. They were probably the worst in the league. I know it’s bad to say that sort of thing about my own team, but every word is true.

“I’m sure we’ll do great today!” Pinkie said, rather optimistically. She seemed to be so cheerful.

The rest of the ride was mostly full of me telling Pinkie and Applejack about our sports teams. Well, I told them what little I knew about them. We soon pulled up at the stadium with about five minutes to spare.

We all got out of the car and made our way into the stadium. Pinkie and I were able to get in for free, as we were helping Chef with sales. Although I told Applejack that she could just say that she was with us, she said that that would be dishonest and paid her admission fee anyway.

It was a bit more crowded inside than I thought it would be. Pinkie said that we were playing a rival team, so I figured that made sense. Pinkie and I told Applejack that we had to get some things from the Culinary Arts room and asked if she wanted to join us, but she politely declined.

As I began to make my way towards the gate that led to the back of the school where the room was, I noticed that Pinkie was still talking to Applejack about something. I decided to stop and wait for her, since I didn’t want to just leave her.

I watched as Pinkie turned back towards me and waved back to Applejack, who made her way through the crowd of people and into the stands. Pinkie caught up with me and we began to make our way towards the room.

She was a bit more quiet than I remembered her being in the car ride, so I decided to speak up. “So what do we have to get from the room?”

She put her finger up to her chin in thought. “Umm... I think it’s just the table and the cupcakes. But there are a lot of cupcakes!”

I sighed. “Then we’ll have to make more than one trip,” We continued on in silence, which I normally wouldn’t have minded, but it was a bit strange that Pinkie wasn’t talking. “So what’s up?”

She turned to me with a blank expression on her face. “Hmm?”

“You seem kind of... far away,” I began to wonder what she and Applejack had talked about. Before, she was just fine, but after they spoke, she became distant.

“Oh,” She turned back ahead and smiled. “It’s nothing. I’m just a little nervous is all.”

I turned to her and raised an eyebrow as we approached the door to the room. “About selling cupcakes?” It was a little strange for her to be nervous over something she, obviously, cared so much about.

“Not exactly,” Pinkie said as she reached under the mat for the spare key Chef kept underneath it. Yes, it was a cheap method of hiding a key, but Chef didn’t trust anyone with her set of keys and there was too much equipment inside to leave the door unlocked.

She inserted the key into the lock and twisted. The door groaned, but opened with a quick jerk. Inside, the room was almost black. There were no windows and the lights were on the other side of the room, where the doors to the hallway were located.

We walked inside and the door shut behind us. I couldn’t see an inch in front of my face. I sighed and reached into my pocket to pull out my phone only to realize that I had forgotten it at home. ‘Today is, seriously, not my day,” I thought as I put my hands out in front of me and began feeling around for something to grab onto. “Pinkie, can you pull out your phone or something? I forgot mine,” I heard rustling in front of me as a response.

I continued to feel around, trying desperately to find something, anything to hold onto. I wasn’t very comfortable in the dark. I wasn’t afraid of it, not by any means, but I still didn’t like the idea of not seeing anything. Suddenly, I felt something come into contact with my left hand. Almost instinctively, I reached for it with my other hand. It wasn’t until I had both hands on it that I could actually feel what it was. I felt two round things that took up most of the area of my hands and a squeeze revealed that they were actually quite squishy, yet firm at the same time. I was confused for a second, but then felt them rise and fall a single time. ‘Oh, please no,’ I thought as I opened my mouth. “Pinkie?”

I light appeared in my face as I was able to see her face in front of mine. She held her phone in her right hand and her eyes were closed, almost tight enough to make me think she was in pain. Her teeth were clenching as I looked down to see my hands holding her breasts. “Gah!” I quickly withdrew my hands and looked back at her face to see her open an eye just enough to see me. “Pinkie! I am so sorry! I didn’t mean to...,” My voice trailed off as I lost my train of thought.

She remained silent. Not that I blamed her. “I’ll j-just go get the table!” I quickly walked around her and was immediately covered in darkness again. This time, however, her phone was bright enough so that I was able to partially see my way towards the light switch. I hesitantly reached for the switch and flicked it on, flooding the room with light.

I turned around to see Pinkie standing a few feet away from me, her arms folded across her chest as she faced down towards the rough, tiled floor. I began to make my way towards the storage room door, where the table awaited me. Opening the door, I saw little more than the blackness that had previously filled the Culinary Arts room. I flicked on the lights and found the rectangular, white table standing against one of the walls and immediately grabbed for it, placing it under my arm. It wasn’t very heavy, but, having little in the way of grip, I was forced to use both hands to hold the thing.

I walked back out into the main room and shut the door behind me after fumbling with the light switch. Pinkie was still standing where I left her. “Um... Why d-don’t you grab a couple of stools? We can come back for the cupcakes. Heh, don’t wanna leave those down there all alone, huh?”

She looked up at me and made an attempt at a smile, almost as if to say, “Okay,” I watched as she stacked one stool on top of another before I made my way towards the door that lead back outside. After having made it out of Pinkie’s view, I stood the table against a wall and did the same with myself. ‘This is not how I saw my first time going,’ I thought to myself as I leaned against the wall. I had never had any kind of sexual experience before. I had never even kissed a girl before. A lot of people saw this as a little pathetic, as I was a junior in high school, but it didn’t bother me as much as one would think. I had been kissed before, but only on the cheek and it was in fourth grade. I soon learned that the girl was just being “easy” and wanted the same thing I did: a partner.

I slowly beat the back of my head into the wall for a few seconds before Pinkie emerged from the doorway holding a few stools. I noticed that she had about three or four in her arms, but did little in the way of asking for clarity. I grabbed the table, tucked it under my arm, and walked with Pinkie back towards the stadium.

It was silent for a minute or so. I simply ran scenarios in my mind of how much worse she could have reacted, which brought back the thought of she and Applejack talking before we left. Could it have been that Pinkie planned it? What if she was planning on trying something, but didn’t know how and ended up doing this? ‘That’s ridiculous!’ I thought as I physically shook my head. ‘What kind of person would do that?’

I turned my head towards Pinkie, who was then looking straight-forward with little emotion evident. “Hey, Pinkie?”

She turned her head towards me. “Hmm?”

“Sorry about... you know... back there,” The words were barely able to fumble out of my mouth.

She smiled much more cheerfully than she had before. “It’s alright, Sky! Accidents are accidents! But, um... let’s not mention this again, ‘kay?”

I smiled back at her with a bit of unease. “No problem.”

We arrived back at the front of the stadium and set up the small stand for the cupcakes to sit on. I was just finishing up with positioning the table (Chef claimed that having the table at a certain angle attracted more customers) when I felt a sudden clasp on my shoulder. I spun around to see a pair of magenta eyes staring back at me. “Hey, Sky! Whatcha up to?”

I smiled and took a step back. Personal space was something that I valued. Not that she was annoying or intruding, but it was more of a reflex than anything. I also wasn’t a fan of touching other people or them touching me. I wasn’t a germaphobe, not by any means, but there was just something about physical contact that set off an alarm in my head, as if something bad were going to happen at any moment. “Hey, Rainbow. We’re just setting up this stand so we can sell some cupcakes for Culinary Arts.”

I turned back around to see Pinkie, who was still occupied with setting up the stools because she had helped me with the table. “Pinkie!” She turned to face us. “This is Rainbow Dash. She’s in my Gym class.”

Pinkie smiled bigger than I had seen her smile for what seemed like ages. “Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie! Sky and I are selling cupcakes! Are you helping us?” A little straight-forward, but an introduction is an introduction.

Rainbow inhaled through her teeth as she examined the display before her. “I guess I could. Do you guys need any help?” She turned back towards me with a raised eyebrow.

She almost looked as if she wanted me to say, “No,” but I wasn’t letting her off the hook that easily. After all, she still owed me for making me play against Jingle earlier. “Actually, there are still a lot of cupcakes that we need to get from the room. You could help us carry them back down here, if you wanted to help.” I raised an eyebrow back at her, daring her to turn me down.

She smiled. “Alright. I guess I could help you guys with that. I mean, it’s not like I’m here with anyone else,” I mentally thanked her for agreeing to help, mostly because it would have been awkward going back up there with just Pinkie.

After setting the stools, (I didn’t know how Pinkie knew that we would need more than two) we headed back towards the room. Pinkie did most of the talking on the way there. It was mostly about how she just “knew” that we were going to win the game because her knee was feeling funny.

We grabbed the boxes full of cupcakes, which were divided up to about three per person, and locked up the room, as we wouldn’t have been back for about three or four hours. There were about two dozen cupcakes in each box, but I wasn’t even sure there were that many people in the stadium! It wasn’t a very big stadium, which suited our school’s size, but we normally sold out despite the amount of people who attended.

Having arrived back at the table, we set up shop and took our seats, awaiting our first customer of the night. The game wasn’t set to start for about fifteen more minutes, but for some reason, the game was scheduled to start at seven o’clock. Our busiest times were just before kick-off and half-time, which made sense.

I watched the gates in front of us, waiting for someone to head towards our table. To my surprise, I saw none other than Henry walk through the gateway and make his way towards our stand. As a “friendly” greeting, we always poked fun at each other. “You here to buy something or just to scare customers, Henry?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Pinkie practically burst from her seat and rush around the table shouting, “Henry!” while reaching towards him. She had been sorting cupcakes when he first approached, so she must not have noticed him until I said something. I simply watched on as Pinkie squeezed him in a tight hug. I found myself unable to look away. How could she be so close to Henry? It was like they were...

“Hey, Pinkie! I told you I’d be here!” He returned the hug and embraced her tightly.

‘So they are...,’ I thought as I watched on in what felt like horror. I couldn’t help but watch on until I felt a sudden jab at my side. I reached for it in pain before glaring at Rainbow, who smirked back at me with an accusing expression across her face. I turned back towards the couple, who were then practically cuddling with each other. “Someone’s jealous!” Rainbow whispered just low enough to keep them from hearing, not that they would’ve anyway.

I turned back to her in shock. “No I’m not. I’m just... surprised. She hasn’t even been here that long and she’s already with someone. And Henry, at that!” I didn’t like the thought of Pinkie dating Henry. I knew he was going to hurt her. That’s how all of his other relationships go: he gets sick of the girl then dumps her after he gets what he wants. That sounds harsh, but, more times than not, all he wanted was a girlfriend to avoid feeling lonely. He never put it in those words, but that’s what I got out of what he would tell me.

Rainbow simply smirked again and turned back towards the pair of “lovers,” who were then completely distracted by each other. I had only a few seconds to think before I was interrupted by a familiar voice. “Sky?” I turned towards the voice, almost in shock, to see that Rarity was looking at me with a bit of concern in her eyes.

“Oh, uh, hi, Rarity,” I barely blurted out before I turned back towards where I had last seen the couple, who had apparently run off somewhere. A quick look around the stadium turned up empty.

“Are you alright, Darling?” Rarity said as she straightened herself. I realized that she must have leaned closer in towards me to amplify her voice. “I called to you a number of times before you said a word.”

“Yeah! Yeah, I’m fine,” Just then, a sudden thought popped into my mind. “Oh!” I turned towards Rainbow. “Rainbow, this is Rarity. She rides my bus,” I turned towards Rarity. “Rarity, Rainbow Dash. She’s in my Gym class,” I motioned towards each of them as I introduced them.

They smiled and made their own little introductions. “So, Sky,” Rarity said after turning back in my direction. “What’s all this about?” She motioned towards the table with a free hand. The other held a small, purple purse, which looped around her shoulder.

I looked down at the table full of pastries. “Oh, this is something I’m doing for Culinary Arts. Pinkie and I were selling cupcakes, but,” I nodded back towards the crowd, which had, by then, thinned out. “Pinkie kind of ran off. So Rainbow’s helping me instead.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow added for effect. “Sky talked me into it.”

“I see. Well then,” Rarity began as she took a seat to my left, putting me in between the two of them. “I suppose I could help as well. After all, I wasn’t planning on watching the, so called, game!”

Rainbow eyed her. “So, then why did you come?”

Rarity tilted her head towards Rainbow, who simply raised her eyebrow in response. “To make friends, of course!”

I turned back towards the crowd as they continued talking, which sounded, to me, more like bickering, though it was clear they weren’t really arguing. The crowd was beginning to dissipate, as the kick-off time was nearing, which meant sales would stop, at least for a few minutes. “Um, I’ve gotta go to the bathroom. Could you guys take over for a bit?”

They both nodded. “Of course,” Rarity said.

“Yeah, no problem!” Rainbow said just before I walked away towards the bathrooms after having thanked them.

There was a small area under the bleachers that served as a small “commons” area. The snack bar was there, along with the bathrooms, which I had no intent on using. The amount of people in this area was still small, but it was significantly larger than the amount near the gate. I assumed that it would be easier to find Pinkie with the help of the mass of hot pink hair that sat atop her head.

After a couple of minutes of searching, I came up empty. I was going back around for a final search of the place when I ran into Applejack. “Hey there, Sky! Whatcha doin’ down here? Ain’t you and Pinkie Pie supposed to be sellin’ cupcakes?”

I glanced around her, hardly even acknowledging her presence. “Pinkie kind of wandered off, so I’m trying to find her.”

“Alright, but maybe you should slow down a bit. You seem awful... irritated,” She cast me a worried glance as she adjusted the drink she had in her hand. I hadn’t even noticed it before.

“Yeah, I guess I am,” I was finally able to see the couple off in the distance, nearly at the end of the stadium. I tried to make my way around Applejack, but was quickly cut off.

“Now, Sugarcube, what’s got you actin’ funny?” She wasn’t any taller than I was, but she stood firm on the ground. She seemed completely confident that she would be able to stop me from moving, if I chose to try.

For a reason I wasn’t able to explain, I felt the need to tell her what was happening. It was as if I could just tell her and she would make everything better. I held out an arm towards Pinkie and Henry, which forced Applejack to turn around in their direction. “That,” I said simply.

She turned back around to face me. “Pinkie’s got a boyfriend? There ain’t no reason to be upset of that, Sugarcube. You should be happy for her!”

“I know that, but I also know the guy she’s with and he’s not good for her!” I threw my arm back towards the couple, who were still oblivious to what was going on around them. “I’m just trying to help her!”

“How d’you know he’s not gonna treat her right?” She raised her eyebrow at me.

“Because I’ve known him since sixth grade and he tells me every detail of his life, including the girls he’s been with!”

“So, he’s your friend?”

I sighed and let my vision drop to the ground as I shook my head. “No, not exactly,” I admitted. “But he’s only in it for himself!” My eyes rose to meet Applejack’s, which, as I had only then noticed, were a deep shade of green.

“Look, Sky,” She laid her free hand across my shoulder, to which I didn’t even flinch. “You gotta let Pinkie make her own mistakes. She ain’t gonna learn if you’re always trying to ‘save’ her from trouble,” Her eyes softened and, in return, eased the tension that I knew was showing in mine.

“But what if she gets hurt?” I asked as if I was trying to prove my point to her, which I hardly believed in anymore, myself.

“Then she’ll know to be a little more careful when she meets new people. It’s like a little kid playin’ with fire: if he never gets burned, he’ll never know it’s bad,” She lowered her hand from my shoulder and hinted at a smile as she watched my expression shift.

I smiled back at her. “Yeah, you’re right. But,” Her expression firmed up a bit in response to my sudden outburst. “can you do me a favor?”

Her head tilted as if she was saying, “What?”

“Will you just keep an eye on her for me?” Her face shifted towards the ground, but her eyes stayed focused on mine as I watched a smirk creep across her lips. “Just so I know he doesn’t pull anything.”

She let out a chuckle and replied, “Alright, Sky. I’ll watch her as long as you promise not to worry ‘bout her,” She placed her hand in the space before her.

I smiled and grabbed her hand in my own, noticing it was firm, yet comfortable. It assured me that I could trust that she would keep an eye out for Pinkie, just as she promised. “Deal.”

I waved a goodbye in her direction and began making my way back towards the table, where I found that Rainbow Dash had, apparently, wandered off into the stands. “Where’s Rainbow?” I asked Rarity after having made myself known.

“I believe she mentioned something along the lines of, ‘checking out the team,’ before she rushed into the bleachers,” she said before handing a cupcake to one of a couple of people standing in front of the table and thanking them for their business afterwards.

I took my seat on the stool that sat next to Rarity’s. We sat there a moment in practical silence, our minds having been occupied on, nearly, the same subject. “I don’t mean to intrude, but who was the girl you were speaking to just now?”

I felt my head dart towards her as my eyes widened far more than they should ever have. “Oh, she’s, uh... just a, uh, friend... of mine,” I mentally kicked myself for stumbling around on something as simple as the truth.

“I see,” Rarity said. “She looked like a nice person. Would you mind introducing us sometime?” She turned to me and lifted on one end of her mouth, thanking me in advance.

I smiled back before noticing that her smile was not as happy or thankful as I had thought. Her brow was, almost unnoticeably, furrowed. “Sure,” I said, despite seeing through her rouse.

The rest of the game passed with little in the way of events. A few touchdowns were scored, almost none of which by our own team, and the end of the game drew nearer and nearer. Rainbow had returned just after half-time, which she apologized for by saying that she just had to see how the team was playing and that I was right when I told her that they weren’t any good.

The game continued on until there were only seconds left on the clock, at which point our team forfeit, seeing that there was no way they could have possibly scored three touchdowns in twenty-nine seconds. In my opinion, that’s still quitting and it’s still worse than having lost to the other team.

The bleachers began to empty, so we began to pack up our things and make a few last-minute sales. Rarity, clearly having been the best salesperson out of the three of us, was finishing up a sale of her own when Pinkie Pie, accompanied by Applejack, found their way towards us.

“Sky!” Pinkie called to me, although she was only a few feet away from me at the time. “I’m so sorry I left you all alone! I was with Henry and we had so much fun and I lost track of time! Please don’t be mad!” Her eyes widened and her lips puckered as she stared intently at me.

I couldn’t help but smile. “It’s fine, really. Rainbow and Rarity helped me, so I wasn’t alone,” I made introductions after we had all circled into a small group and when Rarity finished her sale. “Okay, now that that’s done, would you all mind helping bring this stuff back to the school? It’d be a lot faster than doing it all alone,” I said to no one in particular, but everyone agreed to help anyway.

We had just finished grabbing all the stools and boxes (empty and cupcake-filled, alike) when I felt a drop on my hand. My eyes looked up towards the sky in the distance and I saw a streak of lightning before hearing the booming thunder only moments behind.

“Uh... Maybe we should hurry and get this stuff inside,” Applejack said after a moment of stunned silence. No one objected, so we made our way towards the back of the school, at which point the rain fell with sudden intensity, pelting us and everything we held.

After a few minutes of shouting and fidgeting under the black sky, the five of us made it inside the door after I had fumbled around with the single key. We dropped our items in any spot they would fit and took a moment to catch our breath. Afterwards, Applejack peeked out the door, only to slam it shut as a crack of thunder made itself known to us.

“Jeez,” Rainbow said over the rain that beat against the ceiling. “Why’s it so dark in here?” I tensed up and could nearly feel Pinkie do the same. I only eased when she had taken out her phone to see with.

I pointed when I knew she could see me. “The light switch is over there,” I said as I watched her spin around in the direction I had shown her.

The lights flicked on and I noticed that everyone was soaked beyond what I had thought. Pinkie’s dress was weighted with water and was dripping on the floor, forming a small puddle. Applejack was soaked to the bone, almost shivering in her wet outfit. Rarity’s white dress made little effort to fend off water, as it had become almost see-through. Although Rainbow wore a light jacket over her shirt, it was open in the front, as it had been a slightly warmer-than-usual night, and allowed the front of her shirt to become drenched. I looked down at myself and saw that my arms had instinctively wrapped themselves across my body, which was covered in wet cloth.

“Well, this is wonderful,” Rarity said, dryly. “I’m soaking wet and there’s a storm outside!”

“Um, Rarity?” Applejack spoke up. “We’re all soaking wet.”

“What now?” I said, mostly to keep things from getting any worse. “Do you guys want to try to make a run for it?” My answer was a resounding “no.”

“Why don’t we just stay in here until the rain stops?” Pinkie suggested. “I don’t think Chef will mind, especially since it’s storming. Plus, we almost sold out!”

I wasn’t sure what that last part had to do with anything, but I agreed with the first part. “Yeah, she probably won’t mind,” I said, referring to Chef.

“What about our clothes?” Rainbow mentioned before crossing her arms over her chest to fend off the cold.

I looked around the white room and found little in the way of help. “Uh,” I began before turning back towards the girls, “There isn’t much to help with that. Sorry,”

“Wonderful,” Rarity said through a pout. “What are we supposed to do now? I am not going back out there!”

“It might be warmer in the theater,” I mentioned. There was a small theater (simply called the “Little Theater”) that was behind the stage in the cafeteria. I didn’t know when it was built, but I supposed it may have been made to make the school look more professional when they held performances.

“What makes you say that?” Pinkie said, almost as if the cold didn’t bother her in the slightest.

I shrugged. “It never gets used, so the school never turns on the air conditioner in there. It’s always a little warm whenever they hold a meeting there,” Meetings are generally a rare occurrence, but, on the slim chance one is held, everybody always complains about how hot it was. It was most likely because of the large amount of people in an area meant to hold no more than a hundred people, but nobody ever seemed to do anything about it.

“What about the cameras?” Applejack pointed out. “Won’t we get in trouble if they see us?”

Looking back, it reminds me of planning a robbery. Watching out for cameras and sneaking into the room where the good stuff is, in this case, warmth. “We don’t have any,” I replied, “Never did. I think there are a few in the front of the school, but no where else.”

“Why not?” Rainbow questioned.

“I really don’t know. The kids here really aren’t that bad, so, I guess, the school decided not to waste any money on them. Just another way to try and save money, I guess,” I did know that the school had a tight budget. In fact, I’ve never used a textbook that was less than a few years old, at the minimum.

“Then let’s go!” Pinkie shouted, practically bouncing out the door towards the hallway.

As we walked out the door, I made sure to place the wooden door-stopper in place between the door and its frame. The door locked from the inside and only locked the outside handle, and, seeing that that was our only way back out, I confirmed the stopper’s position before catching up with the girls.
> Inside The School
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The five of us made our way through the dark hallways of the school, still being guided by the faint light of cell phones. Each of us continued to drip with water from the sudden downpour of the storm. Every few minutes, a loud clap of thunder could be heard from outside and each time seemed to grow louder and louder.

I led the four girls, seeing as I was the only one who knew the way around school. I’ll admit that it was a bit scarier than I would have liked. Walking through a place you thought you knew so well in utter darkness seemed to pick at a person’s nerves. I knew the way around well enough, but not being able to see more than a few feet in front of me was slowly beginning to take its toll.

“It’s even colder out here than it was back in the Culinary Arts room!” Rainbow said from behind me as we emerged from the hallway and into the cafeteria. A wide open space wasn’t much better than a confined hallway, though. There were some windows in the front of the school that normally would have let in some light, but the storm made sure that there was no way any moonlight could get through them.

“Well, we’re here now,” I said, simply, as I opened the door that was immediately to our right. I was greeted by the warm flow of semi-stale air, which tempted me to rush inside, but, of course, I knew better than to do that.

I stood there with the door held open and allowed the girls to enter before closing the door behind myself. It was pitch-black inside and I felt as if I was going to be attacked by some unknown monster. I quickly laid my hands on the wall beside me in search of the light switch.

“Help me find the lights,” I said in a hurried tone as my hands ran across the stone wall. I continued in this way until a light shone from behind me and I whirled around to see Applejack holding her phone up as a source of light. “Thanks,”

She shrugged. “Don’t mention it,” She followed me along the wall as we both searched for the switches.

“So,” I began before turning to look at the others, seeing the one I was looking for on the far side of the room near a couple of side exits. “Did you see anything funny? You know, with Henry?”

She sighed and shook her head. “Nope. As far as I could tell, Henry seems perfectly fine and Pinkie really likes him.”

I couldn’t explain why, but knowing this bit of information made my heart skip a beat. I didn’t want to hear that they were doing well together. “He isn’t.”

Applejack turned from the wall to face me. “Pardon?”

I turned back towards her as I felt my feet come to a halt. “Don’t worry about it,” I said through a half-hearted smile at the sudden realization of what I just said.

Suddenly, just as Applejack began to open her mouth to respond, the lights flicked on with a loud click, causing the both of us to look up at them. Although all of the lights were on, the room was still dimly lit. I supposed it was because this room was a theater and, more often than not, theater productions were done in dim light.

I looked around at the room that I had quickly grown accustomed to within my first year at the high school. It was about half the size of the cafeteria, maybe a little smaller. The entire room was on a downward slope towards the stage, except for, of course, the stage itself. There were about fifteen rows of chairs with two aisles separating the three sections of chairs. A small area in the back of the room was where the sound and lighting equipment was held.

I quickly walked past Applejack before she had a chance to continue the conversation, my destination being a nearby seat. Sitting down in the chair, I slouched a bit and got comfortable, despite being soaking wet. I laid my hands across my lap in front of me and twiddled my thumbs. The girls soon took surrounding spots: Applejack to my left and Rarity to my right. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash soon found themselves in a couple of chairs in front of me.

“So,” Rainbow began as she twisted around in her seat to be able to face everyone, “What now?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know. Talk until the storm clears?”

“Alright, but what about?” Rarity put in.

“How about Sky?” Pinkie suddenly chimed in. “Who is Sky? What is his story?” Her wide, puppy-dog eyes stared me into submission.

“Alright, what do you want to know?” I said, my attention having been peaked.

Applejack began speaking next, I hoped she wouldn’t bring to the table what I thought she would. “How long have you been goin’ here?”

“Um, my whole life.” I said a little uneasily. “Well, that’s not technically true. I went to another school in fifth grade, but as soon as my grades starting falling, we moved back here and never left.”

“So you do pretty well in school?” Rarity said, her chin resting on her fist as she spoke.

“Yeah, I mean, I guess. I’m making As and Bs in all of my classes.”

“What were you making at your other school?”

“Terrible grades.” I physically grimaced at the remembrance of that awful school. “I started making Cs, Ds, and I was even failing one of my classes. I hated it over there.”

“Do you like it here?” Rainbow Dash chimed in.

I squeezed my eyebrows together in thought. “Yeah, I do, actually. I mean, I don’t really talk to anybody, but it still beats failing and being a loner, I guess.”

Pinkie spoke up. “But, you talk to us! You’re not a loner, Sky!”

I hadn’t been looking at anybody in particular up until that point, when I looked at Pinkie. “Thanks, but being a loner isn’t a bad thing. I like being alone; it gives me time to think.”

It was quiet for a few moments after that. I’ll admit, it bothered me a bit more than I would have liked, but it was over soon enough thanks to Applejack. “So, who do you live with? I didn’t see anyone else at your house when I got you.”

“Just my mom.” I said quickly. The envelope clawed its way into my thoughts. “I don’t have any siblings and my parents split up a long time ago.”

“Where’s your dad?” Rarity said, her chin still resting.

“He’s in the hospital. He has cancer,” I said without little emotion in my voice.

“Oh,” Rarity slowly raised her head off her fist and placed her hand in her lap, glancing away from me. “I’m sorry,”

“Don’t be,” I still looked at no one. “We never got along very well, so...” I trailed off, but finished the thought with a shrug.

The silence returned once more, but this time, I was ready for it. “Any other questions? I don’t mind, really.” No one spoke. “Alright, then it’s my turn. What do you guys do for fun?”

Pinkie was, immediately, the first to speak up. Waving her hand around in the air, she shouted, “Ooh, ooh! I love to bake and throw parties for all of my friends! Applejack already said I could plan her birthday party!”

“Really?” I looked from Pinkie to Applejack. “When’s your birthday?”

“In eight months,” Applejack dead-panned. 

I managed a smile and chuckled as I returned my gaze to Pinkie. “It’s gonna be here before we know it!” Pinkie added.

“As for myself,” Rarity spoke up. “I like to think of myself as a fashion designer, though I’m far from good enough at it to be called such.”

“Well, do you design fashion?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Why, of course, I do!” Rarity furrowed her brow and squinted at my, seemingly obvious, question.

“Then you’re a fashion designer. It doesn’t matter how good you are, but I’m sure you’re great at it. If you do what the “professionals” do, then you’re one of them! Maybe not as widely-known, but still!” I quickly realized how much I wanted to speak about this subject. It was something I had always thought about myself. My guitar sits in my room all day, doing nothing other than sitting in its throne. I’m not a musician, not because I’m not good at it, but because I don’t play it.

“I suppose,” Rarity said, suddenly raising her gaze in thought.

I felt the side of my mouth raise in what was a smile of accomplishment. “What about you two?” I said, directing the question towards the two who hadn’t yet given an answer.

“You should already know what I do,” Rainbow smirked at me. I let out a weak laugh in response. “I play sports. Well,” She raised her eyes to the ceiling. “I did... before I came here, anyway.”

“Yeah,” I said. “I think softball and basketball are the only teams we have other than football.” Rainbow let out a sigh that made me feel sorry for her. “Actually, there’s also a volleyball team, if you want to check that out.”

Rainbow perked up at the mention of volleyball. “Yeah,” she said, resting her chin on the back of her chair. “I think volleyball could be cool. I’ve never played much, but it sounds better than the other teams!”

I smiled before looking towards Applejack, who quickly began her turn. “I don’t do much, ‘cept work on the farm.”

“You don’t do anything?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at the girl.

“Nope,” Her answer seemed absolute, until she added, “Well, I do things with my friends, but that’s it.” I can’t say I was surprised. She seemed like the kind of person who was an honest worker and kept good on her work. She just wasn’t a “hobby” kind of girl.

I was about to open my mouth to speak, but was soon interrupted by a crash from one of the nearby doors. We all quickly turned our heads to look towards the loud crash. “What was that?” Pinkie broke the silence.

“I don’t know,” I responded soon afterwards. My mind wandered towards the rumors, but decided not to share them, just in case one of the girls was fearful of that sort of thing. I looked back towards the others, two of whom were more curious than afraid.

“Let’s check it out!” Rainbow said as she stood from her seated position.

“Let’s not!” Rarity said from her spot beside me. Her face was nearly as white as her dress. She tried to put on a brave face, but her raised brows betrayed her.

“C’mon!” Rainbow begged. “Maybe it’s a ghost!” She was heading towards the door before she had even finished her sentence.

“And what if it is?” Rarity said before her face became one of complete terror. “Or what if it’s a burglar?” She said in a hushed tone.

“I doubt that,” I said quietly. “There’s nothing worth stealing here.”

“Well, either way,” Rainbow said before laying a hand on the door handle, “I’m going to check it out. You guys coming?”

“I am!” Pinkie shouted before jumping out of her seat and quickly making her way towards Rainbow. “Let’s go ghost hunting!”

“Well, I’m staying right here!” Rarity said, crossing her arms in her seat.

“Rarity’s right, y’all. It’s best not to mess...” Applejack wasn’t able to get the words out of her mouth before the door swung open and we had two less in our group. “...with it. Well, now what?”

We sat in silence for a moment or so, contemplating our position. “Well,” Rarity began, breaking the silence in the process, “I’m staying here! Those two can get themselves hurt if they want to!”

“You shouldn’t say things like that,” Applejack said simply.

“Well, it’s their own fault for rushing out there into the darkness to find some noise!”

“It’s probably nothing,” I said as I turned myself back into the proper position.

“But, something had to make that sound,” Applejack said before doing the same.

I didn’t want to tell the rumors in front of Rarity. Just hearing the noise had frightened her nearly to the point of fainting, it seemed. “What should we do then?” I asked no one.

“Maybe we should go after Pinkie and Rainbow Dash,” Applejack suggested, much to Rarity’s dismay. “Even if it was nothin’, I’d feel better if we were all together.”

“Yeah, I think you’re right,” I said. Although it was against my better nature, I decided to support Applejack’s plan. I was never a “go-getter.” I was the guy in the back who just went along with whatever happened, except in extreme cases, but this wasn’t one of those times.

“I’m not taking a single step out there!” Rarity pouted, her lips sticking out ever-so-slightly.

“Alright,” Applejack said, “You can stay here by yourself. Sky and I’ll go find the others on our own,” In all honesty, that was the last thing I expected Applejack to say.

Rarity groaned before letting out a single word: “Fine,” Ah, I thought to myself before Rarity slowly got to her feet and began following Applejack out of the room, Reverse psychology. Nice.

The door pushed open easily, letting out a small amount of light, allowing us a momentary view of the cafeteria before sealing shut and trapping the light inside. Both Applejack and Rarity pulled out their cell phones, Rarity barely able to hold her’s without shaking it.

We stood still a moment, waiting for any kind of noise to show us the way to the other two. After a brief number of seconds, I broke the silence. “Which way did they go?” Neither girl answered, but I didn’t need them to. It was clear that they were just as lost on the matter as I was. “So, which way do we go?”

“Splitting up would be faster, but...” Applejack glanced over at Rarity, who was busying herself by looking uneasily at her nearly pitch-black surroundings.

“She could just come with me,” I suggested. “It’ll be quicker and I don’t have a phone to see with.”

“Yeah,” Applejack agreed. “We could also call each other that way.”

An idea sparked in my mind, quickly making me feel dumb for not thinking of it sooner. “Wait, don’t you have Pinkie’s number?” I asked Applejack.

She shrugged. “No, she never gave it to me. She just wrote down her address on a sheet of paper and asked me to pick her up.”

I sighed. “I guess it isn’t in Pinkie’s nature to make things easy, huh?”

Applejack chuckled. “Hey, Rarity.” Rarity turned to look at her. She seemed under better control of herself by that point. “Text me. Just so we have each other’s number.”

Rarity was a bit taken back. “Whatever for?” It seemed as if she didn’t want to have Applejack’s phone number, for whatever reason.

“We’re splitting up to find Pinkie and Rainbow faster and you’re going with Sky.”

“Huh?” Rarity seemed to fall back into her previous state of panic. It was then that I realized she hadn’t even been listening to our conversation before. “But-”

Applejack didn‘t give Rarity enough time to respond. “Come on, Rarity. You wanna find the others don’t you?”

“Well, of course, I do! But-”

“It’ll be faster this way. ‘Sides, you’ll be with Sky. I’m the one who’s looking for them alone.”

Rarity took a panicked glance towards me and seemed to calm down just enough. “I suppose...” She muttered before programming Applejack’s number into her phone and shooting a text to her, which Applejack then programmed into her own phone. As this display took place, I took the liberty to look down a nearby hallway. It was too dark to see the number, but I was familiar enough to know that it was the 300-Hall.

I squinted as I looked down it, trying to make out any detail. I managed to make out one silhouette, but little more. It seemed to be a white figure, but it didn’t move in the slightest. It was distant and blurry, but I could still make out that it was human. I was about to shout towards the figure, but was quickly quieted when the spectre dissipated into the air. They can’t be true, I thought as a chill made its way up my spine. I’m just seeing things. But still, maybe this isn’t the best idea...

“There,” Applejack said after having put the number into her phone. “I guess that’s it. I’ll go this way,” she said, pointing towards the farthest hall away from where we were standing. “Might as well get the farthest one out of the way first, right?”

I forced a chuckle. “Yeah. Then, I guess we’ll go that way,” I said, my direction being the hall to the right of Applejack’s.

“Alright,” Applejack said before heading towards her path. “Call if you find’em!” she shouted from over her shoulder.

Rarity and I then began our trek down the hallway of our choice. One quick glance back towards the 300-Hall supplied me with enough fear for the both of us, as, for a split-second, I saw the white spectre watching us.

I wonder why I hadn’t thought of shouting for the others. I wonder why the others hadn’t thought of it. Looking back, I wished that I had thought of it. I wish that I had shouted my lungs out before going into that school that night. I might have a bit more of my sanity left if I had..
> Unexpected Encounter
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Rarity and I continued our trek through the empty hallway, checking the doors on our left as we passed by. Many of them were locked, but there was the occasional door that pushed open easily, whether because it hadn’t been locked or because it hadn’t been closed all the way before. Either way, we looked inside to see nothing but empty desks.

Admittedly, I wasn’t entirely comfortable with this scene that took place before me. An empty school with pitch black hallways, only being lighted by Rarity’s phone and the occasional lightning strike, which followed with an unnerving crack of thunder. I had seen far too many scary videos to know where this would go.

I should have been used to this place, known my way around, but I could barely see my hand before my face and I wasn’t a fan of the dark. I wasn’t much more calm in this situation than Rarity had proven to be, much less helpful.

We continued towards the end of the hall, where we came face to face with the glass doors that led outside. We could have simply left, called Applejack and told her we were losing it in the darkness, but that never even crossed my mind. Besides, I wasn’t the kind of person to just leave a friend. But, then again, were we friends? We had only known each other for two days and many of the girls had only met each other a few hours earlier! We couldn’t have been friends, not yet, anyway.

Rarity spoke up, breaking my concentration on my thoughts. “Sky?”

“Yeah?” I replied simply, not looking in her direction. My eyes were practically popping out of my head as I scanned the rooms that had been on our right when we first entered the hall, checking the occasional door for movement or noise inside.

“What if they left?” She hadn’t made any eye contact with me since we began our adventure. It hurt me a bit, but I blamed it all on her nerves. Too nervous to focus, I thought.

But this comment made me look at her. “What makes you say that?”

“I mean, what if they are just playing a joke on us? I wouldn’t put that sort of thing past them, would you?” She returned my gaze.

“No,” I began, “I think that sounds like something they would do, but I don’t think they left. They said they wanted to look for whatever made that noise, right?” I wanted to believe myself, but this had been something I hadn’t thought about and it did sound like something they would do.

“Yes, but what if that was just an excuse for them to leave? Rainbow was in a hurry to leave, after all.”

She did rush out of the theater, “But we don’t really know each other yet,” I pulled my thoughts out of my head, trying desperately to convince both her and myself. “Even if she did like to pull pranks, we aren’t really friends. She might be worried that she’ll make us mad or something.”

“You don’t think of us as your friends?” The question took me by surprise. It was a mistake to bring up our friendship.

“It’s not that. It’s more-so that we don’t really know much about each other yet. Y’know like how we would all react to a prank like this.”

She looked towards the ground. “But you said we aren’t really your friends,” She returned her attention to me. “Do you not like us?”

“No, I do. But,” I couldn’t believe I was about to tell her this, if only to calm her down. “I’ve had some bad experiences with... friends,” I was still skeptical to call them friends.

Rarity continued to look at me, expecting me to tell her. Of course, I was going to. It would be rude to bring something like that up and then speak nothing of it. “One time, when I started going to a different school, I met this guy who was a grade higher than me. He was the only one who was in third grade at our bus stop. Everyone else was in second grade, like me.

“Anyway, I looked up to him. We would hang out together outside of school and just goof off, like little kids did. But my idea of fun and his idea of fun were two different things. He wanted to do things that we weren’t allowed to, like go far back into the woods where nobody could see us, play games we weren’t supposed to like Grand Theft Auto, and other things like that.

“He was also a chronic liar, lying about anything and everything. So, one day, I got tired of him. We started arguing after he had gotten me into trouble one too many times and I told him that I never wanted to see him again,” I looked straight ahead. I didn’t want her to see my face, even though there wasn’t much to see.

“Where is he now?” Rarity asked, her voice seemingly calm despite the situation that we were in.

I thought a moment. “The last time I heard, he was on weed and, I’m not entirely sure about this, meth.”

“So it was a good thing you didn’t keep in touch with him?” Rarity asked. I detected a hint of teasing in her voice. It made me smile.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Well, it certainly a good thing,” Rarity began, “Otherwise we would never have met.”

I thought about it a moment and came to realize that she was probably right. I couldn’t see her making acquaintance with a person like that. The thought turned into a smile as I figured that I wouldn’t have met any of the girls if I had continued to talk to that kid.

By that time, we had found our way out of the hallway. We debated a moment on which hall we should look down next, but our talk was cut short as Applejack emerged from her hallway.

“Y’all find’em?” A sigh and shake of the head was her answer. She sighed in return. “Well, I’ll check down the way we came from,” she said, tipping her hat in the direction of the hallway. “Maybe they went back to the CA room.”

I nodded. “Then we’ll check down in the gym. If we find them, we’ll call you.”

She nodded, assured she would do the same, and left, leaving Rarity and me alone.

“Did we really have to volunteer to look in the gym?” Rarity sighed as we began towards the hall.

“Well this hall is bigger and there are two of us, so it’ll be faster.” I assured her.

Rarity mumbled something under her breath or, at least, I thought she did. We continued the way in silence, peeking into any open door we came across. This hallway seemed to be longer than the last had been. I knew it was’t, but it was difficult to be sure of that fact when everything is hidden in the dark.

We then came to the doors of the gym and I could hear noise from the inside. “Do you hear that?” I asked Rarity.

“Yes, I do,” I replied as we pulled open the doors only to find darkness and laughter inside.

I cupped my hands around my mouth, although it wasn’t needed, but my quiet voice deemed it be done, and shouted. “Pinkie! Rainbow! You guys here?”

“Hey guys!” Pinkie shouted after turning on her phone and waving it about in the air.

“Did you miss us?” Rainbow added from her spot beside her.

I sighed a sigh more of relief than aggravation. “We just thought that it would be better for all of us to stick together, so we came to find you guys.”

“If you thought we should all stay together,” Rainbow began, “then why did you let us leave in the first place?”

“You darted out before we had a chance to say anything!” Rarity nearly shouted. She must have figured out that they were the reason she was wandering around in the dark.

“But look what we found!” Pinkie yelled as she bounced across the gym floor towards us. She held something in her hand, but we were too far away and it was too dark to see what it was.

“What is it?” I asked as she came to a sudden halt just in front of us.

She held the object in front of my face and it dangled from her hand. “It’s a necklace!”

I took the pendant and let the string fall from my hand. It was very pretty. It was deep blue and shaped to form what looked like a teardrop. I didn’t understand why it looked like a tear, but it was still beautiful, especially under the light of Rarity’s phone as she shone it on the object to get a better look at it herself.

“We found it in the hallway,” Rainbow added from beside Pinkie. I noted that she moved quickly. Even though I was also distracted by the pendant, I knew it didn’t take her very long to get across the room. “I didn’t want it, so I let Pinkie hold onto it.”

I nodded before a thought burst into my head and I handed the necklace back to Pinkie. “Oh, right. We have to tell Applejack that we found you guys. She’s off on her own looking for you.”

Rarity looked into her phone and squinted a bit against the light as she searched for the contact. Pressing the dial key, she placed the phone up to her ear. The light illuminated her face from the perfect angle. It was at that point that I realized just how beautiful she truly was. Her violet hair swayed delicately in the dark and her sapphire eyes shone under the beam of light her phone emitted. I found myself longing to be alone with her once more.

I hadn’t even realized she ever spoke before she hung up. “She wants us to meet her back at the cafeteria. We’ll leave if the storm has passed.”

It suddenly occurred to me that I didn’t really want to go and began wishing that the storm hadn’t passed yet. I was having fun with the girls. In addition, I didn’t want to return home alone. I didn’t like to be lonely and being home alone was the loneliest thing I could think of at that moment.

Despite my wishes, I agreed to go back to the cafeteria with the others. I couldn’t exactly refuse, right?

We began our walk back towards the cafeteria. It would have been a quiet one, if not for Pinkie recalling her and Rainbow’s journey through the “deep, dark bowels of the school,” as she called it.

She continued on for about a third of the way down the hall, when she was interrupted by a less than enthusiastic Rarity. “How did you do all of that in such a short amount of time?”

Pinkie began giggling. “Oopsie. I think I got confused with the other time I got lost in school!”

Rarity sighed. I couldn’t help but smile. “Wait, this isn’t the first time you got lost in a school?”

“Of course not, Silly!” Pinkie laughed it off as if she couldn’t believe that nobody else had ever gotten stuck inside of a school before.

We didn’t have time to respond before we heard a shout coming from ahead in the hall. I couldn’t make out what it said, but it was clearly, “Applejack!”

Rainbow reacted before I did, rushing ahead in a sprint towards the cafeteria. I followed in suit after her, leaving the other two behind without turning around to see if they followed or not.

We quickly made it to the cafeteria to see Applejack being grabbed by some guy, attempting to wrestle her to the floor. I dared not think for what reason. I realized that there was another guy standing off to one side, holding the side of his face and shouting unintelligible orders at the other goon.

“Applejack!” Rainbow shouted, causing both guys to stop what they were doing and turn towards us. She didn’t hesitate before charging the man who had been rubbing his face in a failed attempt to comfort it.

I turned my attention to the guy who still had his arms wrapped around Applejack. I rushed towards him and shoved my palm into his shoulder, forcing him to release his grip and fall back, but keeping his balance. The first thing I noticed was that he wore a black mask over his face, concealing his idea.

He retaliated by throwing his fist into my cheek. I stumbled back a step, but quickly regained my composure and connected my shoulder to his stomach and brought him to the floor. I brought my fist into his face once, then twice, then for a third time. I’m sure I would’ve continued, if not for his fist, once again, hitting my cheek.

I fell off and expected him to drive his fist into my face as I did to him, but instead, he rose to his feet. I attempted to grab his collar and drag him back to the ground, but he managed to evade my grasp... mostly. I missed his collar, but grabbed something of more importance: his mask.

I ripped the thing from over his head and was greeted by short, blonde hair. “Henry?” He panicked and glanced back towards his accomplice, who I assumed was still battling Rainbow Dash. He took one final glance at me and darted out of the front door of the building. I was far too stunned to try and stop him.

I watched the door a moment after he left. It may have been dark, but my eyes had adjusted enough to know Henry when I saw him. I was brought back to reality by the shouting of what sounded like the other man.

I turned around to see the man’s hand across his face once more as he shoved past me and darted out the same door Henry had left from.

“I don’t wanna see your faces ever again!” Rainbow shouted after them despite not having seen either of their faces. “You alright, Applejack?” She turned her attention to Applejack, who appeared to be slouching a bit and holding her side.

“Yeah,” she replied easily enough. “One of’em got me in the side, but I don’t think it’s too bad.”

By that time, Rarity and Pinkie Pie had emerged from the hallway, their faces full of worry. “Is everyone alright?” Rarity asked after having made her way towards the three of us.

“I think so,” Rainbow said after a moment. “They didn’t get me too bad. What about you, Sky?”

I thought about it a moment. Should I tell them what I saw? Who I saw? Pinkie needed to know, but would she just think I was jealous? Would Applejack think badly of me for “making it all up?”

“Hey, Sky!” Rainbow said a bit louder than before.

My attention was suddenly jerked back to reality. “Uh... Yeah... yeah, I’m fine. He hit me in the cheek a couple of times, but it’s not bad,” I reached my hand up and began scanning my cheek for any bruises. They were beginning to form.

Everyone was silent for a few moments, reflecting on the events that just took place, possibly even thinking about what might have happened if we weren’t around to hear Applejack’s shouting. 

“What’s that, Sky?” Applejack pointed her now free hand at the mask I was still holding. “Did you get his mask?”

“Uh... yeah, but I didn’t see his face,” I hated lying. If they bought this, I would hate myself. “It was too dark.”

Applejack stared at me for a moment, but the others went back to what they were doing previously, which wasn’t much. She still watched me as Rainbow spoke up. “We should probably leave. Y’know... in case they come back.”

Nobody objected. We all walked back towards the Culinary Arts room where I had propped open the door. My mind buzzed with the image of Henry’s face even as I took one last look into the blackened school. The white spectre seemed to mock me from afar, watching us leave with unmistakable concern.

“The rain didn’t last as long as I thought it would,” Rarity said through the heavy silence. I hadn’t even noticed that the rain was gone. The storm was still there, but it was off in the distance, still visible over the horizon.

“Do you need a ride, Rainbow? Rarity?” Applejack said, having released the grip on her side.

“Nah,” Rainbow said, pointing towards the parking lot, “I’ve got my car over there.”

“I suppose I could call my mother,” Rarity said, “She may still be awake.”

“I could give you a ride back,” Rainbow said.

“Oh, that’s quite alright. I wouldn’t want to impose.”

I stopped listening, my thoughts having traveled to Applejack’s face after I said that I didn’t see Henry’s face. She knew I was lying. It wasn’t difficult to tell. But what if I turned out to be telling the truth? It was dark and I was in the middle of a fight. Could I have been seeing things?

“Sky,” I heard Applejack’s voice over the ramblings of my thoughts.

“Huh?”

“You sure you’re alright? You’re actin’ a little... funny,” She squinted her eyes at me.

“Yeah. I’m sure,” But I wasn’t sure. My hand shot up to my cheek as soon as there were no eyes on me. It was beginning to swell.

We arrived at the car before I noticed, having said our goodbyes to Rainbow and Rarity, who had, apparently, decided to pool together while I was lost amidst my thoughts.

The ride home was mostly quiet. Every so often one of the girls would say something purely to break the silence. I only spoke words in response if something was directed towards me. Applejack had, apparently, caught on to my act not long after we had left the school.

“Sky,” she said as I reclaimed my seat in her car after having let Pinkie out at her house.

“Hmm?” was all I gave in the way of a response.

“What’s wrong?” She didn’t move. The car didn’t move. We only sat there in Pinkie’s yard.

“Nothing,” As if she would believe that.

“You’re lyin’,” She turned a bit in her seat to be able to face me better. I knew she wouldn’t let it slip by, but, for some reason, I still felt the need to try.

“Yeah. I am.”

“We ain’t movin’ ‘til you at least give me somethin’,” I didn’t doubt it.

“Fine,” I turned in my seat to be able to face her. Instead of the stoic expression I was expecting, she met my gaze with an unusual amount of compassion and worry. It was new to me. The only way people had ever tried to make me feel better is by forcing me to talk about the problem. Applejack did it too, but she actually cared. “I did see who it was when I pulled off that guy’s mask, but you’ll never believe who it was,” I laughed at my self-deprication.

“Try me,” she said simply. I began to wonder about her methods.

I sighed and drew a breath. “It was Henry.”

She didn’t say anything for a moment, only shifted into reverse and backed out of the driveway. We drove down the road and found our way to my house, where I was to get out alone.

“You ain’t lyin’,” She turned to face me once more. “Are you?”

I shook my head and my eyes landed upon my feet by pure coincidence. “I wish I was,” But why was I? He was awful... to me, to his friends, to everyone. Why shouldn’t I wish I was fibbing?

“Well?” Applejack said, interrupting my train of thought.

I was so shocked that I had torn away my eyes from my shoes and locked eyes with her. “What?”

“What’re you gonna do about it?” Again, she was actually concerned for me. I couldn’t say why. This wasn’t her problem.

“I... I don’t know. What should I do?” I wanted to be sure my plan of action was a good idea before I followed through.

She looked ahead, in thought I presumed, before turning back to me once more. “Tell Pinkie now, before she gets too attached,” She seemed to have read my thoughts. She knew my first thoughts weren’t on what Henry was doing or why he was doing it, but of how Pinkie would respond.

“Yeah,” I pulled the handle on the door and clambered out of the car before shuffling my way towards my front door.

“Sky!” Applejack called from behind over the roar of her car. I turned and waited. She seemed to hesitate, but it was difficult to tell in the dark. “You might wanna put some ice on that!” She pointed to the side of my face and smiled.

I reached up and clasped it onto my face. It had swollen quite a bit on the ride home. I couldn’t help but smile in return. “Thanks! I will!”

We waved and went on our separate ways. Inside was darker than outside. I corrected this by flicking on one of the nearby lights and headed towards my room, but not before noticing the clock that hung on the wall. It was nearly midnight. I hoped that none of the girls would get into any trouble for being out so late.

I climbed into my bed without changing out of my clothes. I was far too exhausted from the day’s activities. I was on my side, so I had a perfect view of the white envelope that sat so delicately on my desk before I fell into a soft slumber.
> Bad News
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The next morning, the side of my face didn’t bother me as much as I knew it should have. It hurt a bit, but it wasn’t a binding pain shooting across my face or anything of the sort, so I went ahead to school.

The bus ride was quiet. I owed that much to an absent Henry. ‘Coward,’ I thought as I took a seat alone, thankful that there was an open seat. I set my headphones over my head and allowed myself to slip into the comforting embrace of the music.

The morning was just as quiet as the bus ride. Rarity, Fluttershy, and I were the only ones at my table. Rarity and I mostly stayed quiet, to each other anyway. Rarity would sometimes speak with Fluttershy, but not extensively. I thought a moment and realized that I didn’t want to be with anyone at the moment. I told the two of them that I would be back later, no more and no less, and left to find a more suitable location. If Fluttershy had noticed anything amiss, she surely didn’t mention it.

I found myself wandering the cafeteria. It was strange. The tables, people, and light, which seemed to make the biggest impact of all, switched everything around, made it... normal. I knew that this was the spot where my... encounter took place, but I couldn’t imagine it happening where I knew it did. There was nothing on the floor where it took place, not that I expected to find anything, but my point stands. I knew it happened, but there was no evidence of it.

My wandering eyes came to a stop as I noticed a familiar face sitting in a familiar spot. Twilight sat alone, of course, reading her book. It looked to be a different one than she had had the day before, but I couldn’t be sure. ‘Something’s up with her,’ I found myself thinking. I began to walk through the crowd towards her. Things couldn’t get much worse than they were then, so why shouldn’t I try to cheer her up? “Hey,” I said through a false smile as I took the seat across from her.

She looked up from her book, a bit surprised to hear someone from right in front of her. “Hello, Sky,” Her eyes closed and both ends of her lips raised in the form of a smile. Her lavender hair sat delicately on her forehead.

“Still reading all alone?” As if I couldn’t already guess her answer.

“Yes, but this book is much more interesting than the one before,” She placed her thread of yarn into the book and shut it, lightly tapping the cover for emphasis. The cover seemed to be blank of any words, only a small emblem of what appeared to be a horse? Perhaps a unicorn?

“Be that as it may,” I began with one of my favorite phrases. It had a certain... playful tone to it. Something that I hoped would rub off on her. “You don’t have to sit here all alone, you know. You should come sit with us.”

She shrugged and her smile faded into a frown. “I don’t really think that would be a good idea at the moment, Sky.”

“Why not?” I tried my hardest to keep things light. I tried not to make myself look overly concerned, just a friendly enquiry about why she wanted to be alone.

She shook her head, causing her long, straight hair to flow over one of her shoulders a bit. “I just... prefer to be alone right now,” That confirmed it. There was clearly something wrong with her. I knew she didn’t act this way on her first day here and I was fairly certain this wasn’t how she was any other time. Was she being bullied? There aren’t very many bullies here, but it was still a possibility.

I sighed. I didn’t want to press the matter. “Alright, but if you don’t sit with us today, then you’ve got to tomorrow, okay?” But I did anyway.

“Sky-”

“Promise me,” I refused to take “no” for an answer.

She looked at me a moment. It was at that moment that I noticed her deep, purple eyes. They seemed to be indefinite, as if I could see the entire universe and all of the stories of the world if I looked into them long enough. She sighed. “Alright... I promise,” I knew that she immediately regretted the decision, but she would forget that regret soon enough. She needed friends and the only way to make friends is by talking to people.

A smile returned to my lips. “Good. See you then!” I stood before she had a chance to change her mind. I thought I noticed a hint at a smile on her face as I turned to leave, but I couldn’t have been sure.

Back at my own table, Rarity must have noticed my expression. “Well,” she began, “what are you so happy about?” The tension must have left along with me earlier.

I couldn’t help but let out a chuckle. “It’s nothing. I was just talking to someone. You’ll meet her tomorrow if she keeps her promise,” I had confidence that she would.

The bell rang not long afterwards. Fluttershy and I went ahead to class, where I half expected to see Henry sitting in his usual spot like nothing had ever happened. Of course, my gut feeling was wrong, as Henry was still nowhere to be seen.

Class continued as it usually did: papers beings passed out as we watched some video about the music genre we were studying, which was the 80‘s. Fluttershy and I spoke for a bit after the lesson had ended, but of little more than our hobbies and just, generally, getting to know one another.

I began my journey across the school to get to SAT Prep. The long walk only added to the list of reasons I hated the class. It was pointless, really. Twilight and I had already proven that point. But by the time I had finally arrived, most of the class was already in their seats, chatting away at one another. None of them even noticed me walk into the room, except for one girl. She didn’t look for long, though, turning her attention back to whatever it was that she was otherwise occupied with on her iPad. I couldn’t be sure what was on the screen, but it didn’t look like she was actually paying attention to whatever it was. I dropped my bag and took my seat, still unable to clearly see the screen, but it made little difference to me.

The worksheet was simple algebra, nothing special. I finished it within the first ten minutes, as did Twilight. We returned to our rightful spots and sat in silence, but only for a few moments before she spoke to me. “Sky, do you have a phone?”

The sudden question surprised me a bit, but I complied. “Yeah, I do. Why?” I presumed she asked for my number, yet I felt compelled to ask anyway.

I watched as she tore a small piece of paper out of her notebook and scribbled her own number onto it. She then outstretched the thing towards me. I, of course, took it and slid it into my pocket without a second glance. She looked as if she didn’t want to give it to me, but forced herself to. It was strange. I began to question her expression aloud, but was quickly cut off by a shout from a nearby student. “Uh oh! Sky’s got the new girl’s number!” It was quickly followed by an uproar from the class.

I tried to contain it, but I felt my lips form a smile as I listened to the number of “congrats” and “nice ones” that filled the room. I felt my cheeks warm at the sudden attention, but did little in the way to suppress it. I watched as Twilight shied away from the shouts and, knowing how being the center of attention felt at that moment, didn’t try to bring her back into our conversation. The attention died off soon enough, but Twilight didn’t speak to me for the rest of the class, not to say that I expected her to.

Lunch wasn’t very eventful, but it was more exciting than the earlier parts of my day had been. Pinkie Pie was to thank for that. She had gotten involved with some other kids’ conversation and drew a crowd with her laughter. Her laugh wasn’t loud or annoying, but there was a certain joy to it that made everyone that much happier. It was hard to keep my sour mood when I was around her, that is, until I noticed the crowd of people that had gathered around us. It wasn’t large, but it was enough.

Applejack had, apparently, noticed my discomfort, because she suggested that I accompany her to the vending machines that were nearby. Or maybe it was so she could talk to me in solitude. Either way, I was happy to get out of there. She asked if I had told Pinkie yet, I told her that I hadn’t had a chance yet, and that was the end of that. When we arrived back at the table, Applejack holding her new bottle of water in her hand, the crowd seemed to have vanished without a trace. Pinkie was still there and Applejack might have been able to help me explain it, but I convinced myself that it would be too public and dropped the notion.

In Culinary Arts, Chef was out with some kind of business meeting or something, so we had a substitute. I didn’t know what it was she was out with, but it made little difference to me and, I’m sure, anyone else. We were left to our own conversations for the entire class.

Pinkie and I spoke a bit, but not about anything serious. My plan was to slowly build to the news, so that’s exactly what I did. Well, I tried to. After a few minutes, another kid named Julie called Pinkie over to play a game with her and some others. Of course, I wasn’t asked to follow, so I stayed put.

I couldn’t help but glance at her every so often. She was always laughing and smiling every time I looked. How could I break the news to her? She would have been devastated by the fact that it was Henry who not only broke into the school, but also hurt Applejack.

But there was another option. Pinkie would never have to know, and I was determined that she never would. I couldn’t handle seeing her in pain. It was something I had never seen, nor did I ever wish to. She was such a joy to be around, even if she wasn’t happy or joking around. That kind of emotion can only mean that her sadness would be just as powerful.

So that was exactly what I would have to do: deal with Henry myself. I could do it, convince him that what he’s doing is wrong. We were “best friends” after all. He had no other option than to listen to what I had to say, unless he wanted to throw that all away. But by that point, that was looking like a real possibility.

Pinkie returned from her game to accompany me and my thoughts, a bit to my surprise, in all honesty. “What’s up?” A simple question, but one that her expression confirmed was sincere. I had a sudden awareness that I wasn’t looking particularly happy at that moment.

I quickly adjusted to, hopefully, get rid of any doubt at my next statement. “Nothing, just bored is all,” That was true. Pinkie hadn’t been gone thirty minutes and I was already feeling the effects of being alone.

“Oh,” Her face betrayed her words. “Well, did you want to come play with us?” She motioned back towards the, now, single pair of girls. “We kind of need a fourth,” She smiled, albeit a little awkwardly. She must have noticed how flat the statement sounded, as if I was a last resort.

But it didn’t bother me. It never did and I was certain it never would, no matter how many times it came up. “Uh, sure,” I really didn’t, but Pinkie needed an extra player. How could I disappoint her?

We spent the next hour or so playing some card game one of the other girls learned from her grandfather. It wasn’t very difficult, but it was fun and it passed the time until the bell rang.

I wandered through the halls to Gym, where I was surprised to see none other than the culprit himself. Henry was walking around like a little, lost puppy. He didn’t even notice when I passed him, though the crowd might have assisted in that aspect. He must have come in late, or avoided me during the first parts of the day, though that wasn’t very likely. I wasn’t the most intimidating of people.

I did, however, notice that his face was bruised. My hand went to my eye. His face looked like my eye used to: swollen and slightly discolored. Then I thought I did that. That changed my entire attitude on the matter. It wasn’t just a game of “I’m gonna...” or “If he ever does this, I’ll...” Now it was clear that I could do something if I needed to, both to him and myself.

My thoughts were discontinued by the sudden noises bursting from the locker room. It wasn’t different from any other given day, but it was enough to break my concentration. I quickly changed and found my way back into the gym.

I was a bit surprised to see Rainbow sitting next to my spot. By no means was I against it, but it still came as a shock. I sat next to her and she nudged me with her shoulder. “So, last night was fun,” She was well aware of how it sounded, because she began to laugh after she said it.

I couldn’t help but do the same. “Yeah, I guess it was. But I could’ve gone without getting hit in the eye,” She seemed to have no trouble talking about it, unlike the others. Was I taking this whole thing too seriously?

The whistle blew, so we began warm-ups. We did our laps together and played badminton together. I got the oddest feeling that this was how it would be from then on. I couldn’t complain, though. What did I have to complain about? I had fun and I had a friend, a true friend. We both jumped in to help Applejack. That could only mean that we were all friends...

I couldn’t explain it. I still can’t. It was a feeling that couldn’t be compared to any other feeling in the world, knowing that your friends will be there for you when you need it. But still... there had to be some kind of limit. She had to have her own reasons for doing what she did. Like many other things that happened, it was far too good to be true. After all, we had only just met.

Our game continued until the time came to get ready for dismissal. I don’t know who won. I lost track, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if she told me the same thing.

I changed and waited in the gym until the bell rang. We never mentioned the previous night, perhaps because it simply never came up in conversation.  We did, however, exchange phone numbers. She claimed it was so she could have something to do instead of sit home all day. But I was certain there was more to it than that. Friendship, perhaps? Doubtful, but possible nonetheless.

I stepped onto the bus with little grace. In fact, I tripped a bit over my feet, but I can’t say it bothered me. Any other day, I would have been incredibly embarrassed, but I wasn’t. My cluttered mind was surely to blame.

I dropped into my seat across from Rarity’s, which was empty. I paid little mind, as she stepped on only a moment later and occupied it. But then she turned to me with what looked like pain in her eyes. “Sky, can I ask you something?”

I raised my eyebrows. “Y-yeah, sure,” This could only go in so many different ways, but my mind wandered to all the ones that I was sure couldn’t happen.

“Do you think I’m pretty?”

I’ll admit it any day, that she was pretty. But I couldn’t stop there. She was beautiful, gorgeous, even. But would I tell her that directly? Not a chance. “Y-yeah,” I couldn’t go any further. My social withdrawal seemed to get the better. “Why?”

She struck a smile. “Just curious,” It may have been the suddenness of the question, or the look she had in her eyes, but she wasn’t “just curious.” But I couldn’t pursue the subject. I was like any other socially awkward guy on the planet; pretty girls make me uncomfortable. We sat in silence for the rest of the ride, until I got off. But even then, it was nothing more than a “goodbye.”

After only a half-hour of sitting at home alone, I took out my phone, deciding to see if I could get something out of Twilight. She had been in the back of my mind all day. It didn’t seem that she was the type of person to seclude herself like this.

“Hey, what’s up?” It was simple, but it didn’t need to be fancy.

It took a bit longer than I had wanted, but after about ten or so minutes of waiting, I finally got a response. “Reading. But it can wait.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to bother you.”

“Yes, I wanted to talk to you, anyways.”

A bit less of a shock than I thought, but, I suppose, I saw something like this coming. She wouldn’t have given me permission to text her had she not wanted to speak with me. “What is it?”

I could have handled anything in place of the response she gave me. She could have told me that she was a runaway, or some kind of a lost cause. But what she said was something that I could never deal with. I was once in that position. I knew people who were in that position. But I will never be prepared for those words, not in my life. They’ve left too many scars on the world.

“I think I’m being bullied.”
> Betrayal
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I could barely muster a response out of myself. How could she have been bullied? There weren’t any bullies at my school, right? But who would want to be mean to such a nice and quiet girl? None of it made any sense, but then again it made no sense why bullies do what they do in the first place.

“What? What do you mean?” It’s all I could manage. Of course I knew what she meant, but not how I should be taking it in.

“I just started answering questions and they all started teasing me...” That’s ridiculous. Nobody should be bullied on anything, especially their intelligence.

“Who?”

“Jenna. I don’t know her last name. Whenever she starts, other people just join in,” I really didn’t need to know her last name to know who she was talking about. Jennifer Opal, the meanest girl I’ve ever known. She would always tease other people, especially other girls. She would say a couple of mean things to them, but would stop about a week afterwards.

I could never understand why she would just stop, but it always stopped so, of course, nobody ever asked any questions. But anybody who she messed with would still avoid her at all costs, probably because they are still a little fearful of her. But what could I say to Twilight? I couldn’t just say that she needed to deal with it for the next week. That wouldn’t turn out well for anyone. “Have you told anyone besides me?”

“No. You’re the only one who’s asked,” Not particularly thrilling information.

“I know it sounds like the coward’s way out or whatever, but maybe you should tell a teacher or something,” What else would I suggest?

“I thought about that, but my teacher is always there when it starts. She doesn’t do anything,” It didn’t surprise me. There was always a teacher that didn’t do anything to stop a bully except for slap him on the wrist.

“Who is your teacher?”

“Mrs. Harrison,” Unfortunately, that was the one teacher in the school who wouldn’t even give him a warning. She was possibly the worst teacher I’ve ever seen. She can’t teach, I’ve seen her flirting with a student, and now she won’t do anything about a bully.

“Yeah... She’s not going to help you. Tell someone else. I know that Mrs. Kneece would do something about it,” And that she would. Mrs. Kneece was possibly the greatest teacher I’ve ever seen. She was the exact opposite of Mrs. Harrison.

“Yes, but even so, they would call students into the office to confirm it. Most of the students there are friends of her’s and they would all defend her. It would be worse than what I started with,” I couldn’t deny that. for whatever reason, Jenna was one of the most popular girls in school, despite her attitude towards basically every other person. It was just one of those things that nobody could make any sense out of.

So that left me with only one option, the one that I had been trying to avoid at all costs, but now it seemed there was no other solution. “I know someone who could help, but you’ve got to trust me on this,”

“Oh, no. I would never ask you to get involved.”

“You told me about this when you could have easily told me to get lost. I’m not going to just sit by and let this happen.”

“Sky, I don’t want to get you mixed up in my problems.”

“I know, but I can help. You’ve just gotta trust me.”

I sat there a few minutes afterwards, waiting for a response from her. But the message finally came. “Alright.”

There were only a handful of people in the school who hadn’t been touched by Jenna’s influence. I was one of those people and, among others, Henry was too. I didn’t know why I was one of the few who she left alone, but I knew why Henry was.

Back in ninth grade, Henry and Jenna were a couple. They started dating around the beginning of the year and split up when Jenna moved to a different school for the rest of the year. When she came back the next year, she just wasn’t the same. Before the move, she was kind, sweet, and just an all around great person to know. But after she came back, she had somehow became the person I knew her as then. Something happened at that other school, but, as far as I knew, nobody knew what, save for herself.

One day, when we were hanging out in the cafeteria before the bell rang for class, Jenna stopped by our table. She called Henry over to talk to her for a minute or two, but they were still close enough for me to hear their conversation. It was casual, but flirty. Every time I looked over, one of them would be messing with the other. Tickling, lightly pushing, laughing, it was always something. When he came back, he was notably happier. He also wouldn’t stop talking about her for the next fifteen minutes before class started.

So I knew that Henry still wanted to be with Jenna, for whatever reason. She was pretty; that’s about all I could say about her since she came back. Of course, Jenna could have been dating someone else, or possibly moved on with her life. But, hopefully, neither of those things would make a difference.


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


The next day at school, I was rather anxious. I didn’t know how Henry would react to my proposition, or if he would even be willing to listen to me. But I had already figured out exactly what I would say to him, if I did, somehow, manage to get him to speak with me.

But what reason did he have to ignore me other than the fact that he broke into the school and hurt one of my friends? If he really wanted to make it up to me, then he would at least listen to what I wanted him to hear.

A bit to my surprise, Twilight was already sitting at our table before we had even gotten to school. Rarity was a bit concerned, but only for the fact that there was a new person at our table. She calmed a bit after I made the proper introductions. Fluttershy soon made her way towards us to complete our little group. She, of course, was a bit wary of the newcomer, but became more at-home after a few minutes of speaking.

Twilight seemed a bit... happier, now that she was with other people. Well, people she could talk freely to without fear of harassment. She didn’t seem to be the type of girl who liked to be the center or attention, not by any means, but she had a certain aura about her. She was just the kind of person that you wanted to be friends with, even if you felt like being alone at any given moment.

Any thoughts I had about her were quickly pushed away when a certain someone found his way towards our table. “Hey,” Henry said, a bit more cautiously when he recognized Rarity. “Could I talk to you?” Seems as if I wouldn’t have to beg him after all...

We made our way away from the table, off to one side of the cafeteria. There were still a number of people around, but none of whom would give any attention towards us. “Look, I’m really sorry about the other night. I don’t know what got into me,” He looked as if he was genuinely sorry. It was a shame I wouldn’t stand for any more of his deceit.

“Yeah, well that’s not going to cut it this time. What would you have done if Pinkie had seen you? Don’t you care about her at all?” I didn’t plan on holding anything back. He had to feel the guilt boil inside. He had to suffer with the knowledge of what he had done.

“Of course I do!” His eyes narrowed and he stood a bit taller, but faltered when he realized the position he was in. “I just got carried away, is all. How was I supposed to know that you all were here?”

“That’s the thing, it doesn’t matter if we were here or not! What were you doing trying to sneak into the school anyway?”

He looked off to the side, towards the hallway, around us, anywhere but at me. “I needed some money, so we were going to steal some stuff and sell it.”

Shocked was not the word to describe my state of being at that point. I froze with my mouth hanging open, but only came to for enough time to muster the words: “What for?”

“I just needed the money, okay?” A few moments of silence followed. “You didn’t tell her... did you?”

I thought a moment. It would have been easy to lie to him, to tell him that she knew everything and that she never wanted to see him again. But I wasn’t that kind of person. “No. I can’t,” I watched his eyes dart towards the crowd of students.

“Then I don’t have anything else to say,” He turned to leave. I wouldn’t allow him to get away so easily.

“Well, I do,” I grabbed his arm and turned him around, so that he faced me. “You’re going to help me get something done. But first, break up Pinkie Pie. You don’t deserve her.”

“Why would I do that? I love being with Pinkie Pie!”

“Because if you don’t I’ll turn you in to the police for breaking and entering,” I kept my voice down. I didn’t want this getting out. I had no plans of turning him in. After all, we were in there too, but I had hoped he wouldn’t realize that.

“That’s seriously screwed up, Dude,” I didn’t care at that point. She deserved much better than Henry, anyone did.

I opened my mouth to tell him so, but was quickly stopped by the sound of a dropping bag. I turned to see Pinkie, standing with her arms by her side, a bag by her feet. Her normally cheerful eyes were full of tears, something I can say I never hoped to see. Her hair was noticeably less curly, and her attitude was the exact opposite of what it typically was, which was saying something.

But her eyes weren’t facing Henry, the culprit, the suspect, the wrong-doer. They were looking at me. “You were... t-threatening Henry to... break up with me?” Her voice was cracking and choking. I felt my heart drop to my feet.

“Pinkie! No, I-”

“Stop!” She physically backed away from me, as if I were going to do something to hurt her more than I already have. “I don’t want to see you ever again!” She turned and ran away, towards the crowd of people.

I was shocked, to say the least. I felt as though I had been shot with a stun-gun. I was hurt, surprised, confused, but most of all, I felt empty. I wasn’t the bad guy. I was trying to help Twilight. But... everything just got worse because of that. Was this just who I was supposed to be? The guy who takes the fall, it seemed, had always been me... The day at Henry’s mom’s house, fourth grade, every time something bad happened in my life, it was always happening to me.

I turned to face Henry, which was the biggest mistake I made. He was smiling. That twisted prick was actually smiling at what had just taken place. Anger surged in my veins. I wanted to beat him to a pulp. I wanted to smash his nose into his face, but I couldn’t. It would only worsen my position. “What the hell is wrong with you?!” That was all I managed to get out before I stormed out of the hallway.

I raised my hands and wrapped them around my head as soon as I was out of view. I wanted to shout, scream, punch, anything to get my mind clear. But most of all, I wanted to cry. I was furious, at Henry, at Jenna, even at Pinkie Pie, though I didn’t know why. But over all of that, I was angry at myself. How could I have been so wrong?

But... Was I wrong? These girls, and these feelings, were still so new to me. My past relationships didn’t serve in my favor. They only showed betrayal. It was all I had ever known. Had it somehow rubbed off onto me? I betrayed Pinkie... So it must have. I was the new betrayer, born to stab the backs of my friends, nothing more.

I sat there, hands covering my face as I felt the tears well up in my eyes. They would soon fall, but it didn’t matter then. Nobody would care about me after this anyway.

But they never left my eyes. They only formed. They never fell, never showed how I truly felt. A hand on my shoulder shocked me out of my state. I looked up into those magenta eyes of hers, even through my tears. “Sky, what’s wrong?”

The sleeve of my jacket jumped into my face, cleansing my eyes of any bitter drops. “Nothing.”

Rainbow disregarded my answer. I should have known it wouldn’t work. “Sky, you can’t get rid of me that easily,” She sat beside me on the stage, close enough that I felt the heat of her thigh on my own leg.

“It’s nothing, really,” I stood to leave, but it seemed she wouldn’t have any of that.

She lightly grabbed my arm and dragged me away. “It’s not nothing, and I’m going to get it out of you,” Where we were going, I didn’t know. But I followed, lacking any strength or will to pull myself away.

“Where are we going?” I asked as we turned the corner towards the doors of the parking lot. I suppose that was an answer enough. “We’re leaving school?”

“Well, n- you won’t be able to focus if you’re trying to tear your head off, right?” I felt my cheeks flush. That wasn’t meant to be seen, let alone happen. But, as I said, I lacked the will to resist.

“Fine. But where, exactly, are we going?”

I felt her grip tighten a bit, as if I would run away at any given moment. “I don’t know, any ideas?”

I, honestly, had no bright idea. There weren’t many places that a person could just hang out at all day. But there was one place that I knew would be empty. “My house?” Her grip tightened further, but I shrugged it off to the fact that the bell rang at that moment.

A thought of my bag being left in the cafeteria struck me when I noticed Rainbow Dash’s cyan bag strapped to her back. The office would find it and I could go get it. Hopefully, they wouldn’t put two and two together.

We strapped into Rainbow’s car, which was newer than Applejack’s. It seemed to be in better condition as well, if only by a little. Driving out of the parking lot was a lot simpler than I had originally thought it would be. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t this.

Driving in silence, save for Rainbow occasionally asking for directions and my following one-worded answer, we eventually arrived at my house. Rainbow Dash was a little less than enthusiastic about driving over the dirt road, for obvious reasons, but deemed it “too late to turn back now” and went on.

I unlocked the door and stepped inside, Rainbow following behind. “Here we are,” I said simply. It wasn’t the most grand of introductions, but it was plenty enough for the time.

“It’s... nice,” I followed her gaze to the occasional stray cup and bits of trash here and there. I began to feel a tinge of embarrassment. I picked up a few bits and tossed them in the trash as Rainbow made herself comfortable, dropping her bag beside her spot on the couch. I suddenly had the idea that it wasn’t the trash that she was referring to.

“Well...” I began. I wasn’t quite sure how to start. It’s a bit strange to be in the position I was in, skipping school to go home with a girl. It wasn’t something I can say I did very often.

She looked at me. “What?”

I shrugged. “This was your idea.”

She rolled her eyes, but more so in contemplation than annoyance. “Right, well, what was wrong with you at school?” Straight to the point, but I can’t say I was thrilled about that.

“Never mind. I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” I stood and walked into the kitchen, purely for the distance between us.

She wouldn’t let me have that pleasure. She stood and followed my steps, stopping across from where I stood. “Come on, Sky. We’re already here, so you might as well come clean.”

“No, Rainbow. Look,” I dropped my hand on the counter, allowing it to smack against the surface. “I appreciate the effort, but I really don’t want to talk about it.”

We stood in silence. It felt like ages, but I wouldn’t have been so lucky. “Alright,” It stuck with me. “Alright, I won’t ask you about it if you don’t want to talk about it,” The last person I expected to say that, was Rainbow Dash. She struck me as the kind of girl to never give up, never take “no” for a final answer. But it seemed I was wrong there too. “But now we’re stuck here. I mean, we can’t exactly walk back into school like we didn’t just leave. Besides, I had a test today and I didn’t study,” She walked back into the front room and dropped onto the couch.

Although a bit hesitantly, I followed. I sat in the chair nearby and grabbed for the remote, but I was too slow. Rainbow stuck out her tongue as I watched her hand retract to her body, remote tightly in its grasp. I wanted to smile, but didn’t. It wouldn’t have been appropriate.

We spent the next hour or so channel surfing. Well, Rainbow was doing all the surfing. I sat and watched a few minutes of whatever show she stopped on before she switched it again. She broke the silence with “Well, I’m bored. There’s never anything good on anymore.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, “there never is during school hours.”

“Oh,” She smiled, a bit menacingly, towards me. “So you skip school on a regular occasion, huh?”

I laughed a bit at her accusation. “No, but I always have to find something else to do when I get sick because,” I gestured towards the television, “there’s never anything on.”

Rainbow returned my laugh. “I know, I was just kidding!”

I smiled and got to my feet, partially to stretch, but mostly to find something to eat. “So what do you do when you get bored like this?” I walked into the kitchen, rummaging through cabinets and the inside of the refrigerator.

“Huh?” She stood and followed me as I walked towards the oven, a frozen pizza in my hands.

“You said you ‘always’ get bored, so that’s why you asked for my number,” I stopped. “Now that I think about it, that’s kind of mean,” I smiled at her as I switched on the oven.

She shoved my arm a bit in return. “Whatever,”

We returned to the living room, but this time, we sat together on the couch instead of separated. I looked at the clock. It was only nine o’clock. “Hmm,” I started, thinking of my first class of the day. “I’d still be stuck in Music Appreciation right now.”

“I’d be in Algebra,” Rainbow rolled her head in my general direction. “I guess we’re both lucky to get out of there, huh?” We shared a laugh. I had no disliking for music, quite the opposite, actually. But the class was so dreadfully boring when we were doing actual work. It was difficult to stand.

“So... what now?” I asked half-heartedly. It didn’t bother me what we did. I was in that state of mind where everything seemed entertaining, just because I was so bored.

“It’s your house!” Rainbow suddenly shot back. “What do you do when you get bored?”

I thought a moment. Oddly enough, however, little came to mind. Well, nothing I thought would interest her. “Just complain about being bored, really.”

She sat a moment before shifting onto her knees, still in her seat on the couch. I watched as she peeked through the blinds that covered a nearby window. “You’ve got an entire forest back here, you know,” Yes, that was true, but I had never explored it. It simply never crossed my mind, until then.

“Yeah, I know,” I twisted around to look out of a window of my own at the mass of trees. It was, by no means, a small area of trees. I wasn’t sure how far it stretched back, but I knew it was across the entire field of crops that grew behind my house, which was already massive to begin with. “So, what? Just go walking in the woods?”

“Beats sitting around here, no offense,” She returned to her normal, seated position and I followed her example.

“Don’t worry about it. It sucks living out in the country like this,” At that moment, I heard the light flick off on the oven, a sign that it was finished heating up. I rose to my feet and entered the kitchen.

“Yeah, it is pretty boring out here,” I suddenly heard from almost directly behind me. I slid the pizza into the oven and set the timer. Sure, it wasn’t the right time to be eating a pizza, but there were worse things I could have prepared.

Later, after having eaten the tiny excuse for a pizza, the pair of us left for the, currently unknown, set of trees just across my backyard. “How come you never came out here before?” Rainbow asked as we entered beyond the first row of trees.

“Well,” It didn’t take much time to think of an answer. “I never thought of it. Plus, I’m not really the outdoors-y kind of person.”

That seemed to be enough for her in the way of an answer, so we continued our entrance in silence. Eventually, we found our way deeper into the trees, finding different things along the way. It was odd what a person could find that deep into the woods. We found a lot of different things, differing in condition, size, and value, though nothing was worth keeping.

After about fifteen minutes of wandering, we saw something hanging high in a nearby tree. “What’s that?” I pointed towards the strange construction.

Rainbow squinted against the sun. “It looks like a tree-house,” She smiled a bit and quickly jogged towards the tree which held the thing away from the ground. I walked slowly behind as she found her way to the tree and peered behind it. “There’s a ladder!”

I quickened my pace and found that she had already begun climbing up the flimsy spokes. “Careful, it might break,” I said as she climbed onto the deck of the tree-house.

She poked her head out of the opening and looked back down at me. “Saying I’m fat?” She laughed.

I smiled and made my own way up. It felt as though it would break at any given moment and I would fall onto the hard ground below. But it held under my weight, a bit to my surprise.

I threw a knee onto the wooden planks that held us up. Rainbow had already made herself comfortable, as she was laying on her back, staring up into the sky, which was clear of any branches for the first time since we entered.

Unable to force myself to get to my feet, for fear I would fall off, I sat beside her, following her gaze up into the clouds. “I’ll hit you if you ever tell anyone this,” Rainbow suddenly said after a few moments of silence between the two of us. “But it’s always been a dream of mine to be able to fly, to just,” She reached a hand towards the sky, “be able to touch a cloud,” She was quiet a moment more, before letting out a dry chuckle. “I sound dumb, don’t I?”

“No,” I spoke surely. “I think that sounds really cool. Flying around all day without a care,” I lied down on my back beside her, “it sounds great.”

She again broke our silence with a threat. “Don’t forget, if you tell anyone, I’ll punch you.”

I smiled. “Don’t worry; I won’t,” We only stared for a few minutes more before the silence was once again broken. But this time, it was by me. “Rainbow?”

“Yeah?” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rainbow tilt her head towards me.

“This morning, before you kidnaped me,” I smiled at my own self-deprecation, “I was talking with one of my other friends. Well, I guess he’s not anymore,” I paused, expecting Rainbow to interject, but she never did. “Anyway, I actually saw one of the guys that was there that night at the school. It turns out, my fr- this guy was the one who broke into the school.

“I didn’t say anything because he’s dating Pinkie Pie and I didn’t want her to think I was jealous or anything like that. But when I talked to him about it, Pinkie overheard. She said that she never wanted to see me again, then ran away crying.

“That’s why I was acting the way I was this morning back at the school. But that isn’t even the worst part,” I paused, mentally preparing the words I would say next. “After Pinkie ran away, I turned around and saw him smiling. He’s glad that Pinkie hates me now,” I stopped, unable to continue without letting my emotions mix with my words.

Rainbow spoke up sooner than I thought she would. “Who is this guy?”

I didn’t know why I wanted to tell her, but I jumped at the opportunity. “Henry Wilson. We used to be best friends, but I don’t know where all that went.”

Silence seemed to be a common thing between the two of us. But I was tired of it. “We should probably get back,” I said as I got up and began my way down the ladder.

Rainbow stuck her head out from above me. “What? Why?”

I looked back up at her as I found the ground beneath my feet. “Because I’m pretty sure I left the oven on.”
> Opening Up
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Luckily enough, my gut was simply playing tricks on me, as the oven was no longer on when we found our way back to the house.

It didn’t take us long to find our way back. Rainbow seemed to have a precise memory of where we had gone, so I simply followed her tracks. Besides, I was willing to bet that I would’ve gotten us lost if I even attempted to lead the way back.

When we returned I found my phone, light blinking, signifying that I had received a text. I grabbed it and saw that it was Fluttershy, who made sure I knew that Rarity had given her my phone number. She continued to tell me that she had left my bag with the people in the front office, much to my dismay, though she could have had no idea, of course. I decided against texting her back, realizing that she would probably have been in class at that time.

Rainbow and I stayed there for the rest of the day, unwilling to return to the school both for the fact that we would have to face what we had done and that it was, well, school. The day crawled by at a pleasantly slow pace. I had begun to understand Rainbow Dash for who she truly was, not what she projected to the world around her: a real person with real thoughts, not that I thought of her as just another girl, not by any means.

She wanted to be free, to fly. Nothing tieing her to the ground of reality. Rainbow wanted to touch the clouds and soar beyond the worries of what was down here. I found myself wanting to fly high into the sky alongside her, but that dream would never come true. It wasn’t possible.

Even so, I found myself enjoying her company all the same. Being around her, I felt as though I was free of any of my worries, though I knew they would still be there the following day. They would have to be. They couldn’t simply vanish into thin air. And after a while, the good times faded away into the evening, when Rainbow and I were forced to part ways.


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


That night I dreamt of flying, being free from all the worries that held my soul on the ground. The wind blew through my hair, flapping through the threads of my clothing with ease. I flew through the clouds, over the rainbows that eloped the skies in their glow, fighting against the little resistance the air before me had provided.

The air was clean, cleaner than that on the polluted lands of my home. I inhaled as much as my lungs would allow before letting all of my fears escape my lips. For the first time in as long as I could remember I was happy.

But I wasn’t alone. Rainbow Dash was there, flying beside me, challenging me to a race across the skies. Without fear of failure, I accepted. We topped clouds and striped the skies in a rainbow trail, courtesy of my racing partner.

She shot ahead, like a bolt of lightning. I watched her disappear over the tip of a mountaintop, simple enough. I followed as closely behind as I could, determined to at least put up a fight.

What I saw made me regret ever having falling asleep. A black cloud loomed just ahead. It wasn’t gray, but black, and it was quickly approaching. It threatened me with occasional bursts of stray electricity, followed by the crack of thunder. I could do little to force my body to obey my commands. I could only watch as the growing black thing grew nearer and nearer with every passing second. I squeezed my eyes shut, preparing for the worst.

Then a sound. Thunder? No, it was too high. Rain, then? Couldn’t be, there was no rhythm. Then what? Crying.

My eyes darted open, searching the now blackened space around me for the source. There was nothing but the oppressing blackness of the clouds. But, even then, I wasn’t sure that it was the clouds that had overtaken me. This appeared to be a... void of some sorts.

Once again, there was the faint sound of crying and pain. I felt my feet come into contact with something hard. I dropped onto the ground with a tap on the bottoms of my shoes, nearly toppling over from the sudden change of weight.

The crying continued on and on even after I began searching for the source of the saddening tune. As if to make matters worse, it began to echo off of the non-existent walls. I turned around. No, not that way. Back around. No, no, I’ve been here before. Then finally...

I began to stumble towards it, the noise. It mocked me, growing louder and louder the closer I got. It was soft, but it was loud, and it only got louder the further I went. Louder, louder, I covered my ears with the palms of my hands, but it didn’t help.

Then I saw her, even through the darkness that surrounded me, Pinkie Pie. As soon as my sight caught her, the cries ceased. She stood about thirty feet away, staring. Her face was full of tears, having been the cause of the crying. “Pinkie!” A blink, then gone.

Then I wasn’t in the void anymore. I was in the middle of a field of grass, nothing around for miles, it seemed. The moon shone high against the sky, watching over me, ensuring my safety. I spun to ensure my solitude, but came to face my only other company in this plain.

Only a figure greeted me in return. Black, like the void, but human. “Do you understand?” Its voice was feminine, regal, powerful. It felt familiar, yet I was completely sure that I had never heard the voice in my life.

“W-what?” My voice came out stuttering and shaky. “What do you mean?”

“Do you understand why you are here?”

“N-no, I don’t.”

“Every dream is had for a reason,” She spoke in simple sentences, yet I was certain of what each word meant. “You must discover the reasonings for your dreams, Sky.”

“H-how do you-” Too late. She had vanished before I had a chance to ask her my questions, nothing left in her place.

Only a moment of peace resulted before the wind rushed against my body, threatening to blow me away at any moment. But it didn’t. It threw the tall grass around me around, forcing it to swirl in the new air, but I was left on the ground. For a brief moment I considered slapping myself across the face in an attempt to bring myself back into consciousness. Instead, I settled for covering my eyes with the palms of my hands, attempting to shield them from the sudden burst of air.

After only a moment of howling winds, everything was still, quiet too. I moved my hands, but only slightly before I caught sight of where I had been teleported to: my school. I finished my arms’ movement before I could see anything more than the blank hallways around.

I saw myself, along with Henry, talking near a hallway. It was the scene where I had hurt Pinkie, but she was nowhere to be found. I couldn’t hear anything more than faint ringings and swift movements, as if I had suddenly lost my hearing from some sort of blast, even though I was only a few yards away. It didn’t matter though. I didn’t need to hear any of it. I still remembered every word of it.

I watched in horror as I was the one in a rage, not Henry. I was the one who was furious, not Henry. Why was I so angry? so shockingly horrifying to look at? I had never meant to be, but it happened anyway. Why?

Pinkie then made herself known. I was so concerned with my expressions, I hadn’t even noticed that she had become present, just as before. Her bag dropped, the angry one turned, then she fled, tears falling to the ground. My face had since turned to the ground. She had every right to act the way she did, but did I? I threatened their happiness, for what? To help some girl I had only met a few days before.

I expected to awaken then, but there seemed to be more, for as the boy filled with rage stamped away, everything returned to darkness. I was left alone, nothing alongside me, save for my thoughts, which I wished were gone.

My expression twisted and gnarled into one of fury. But who was I angry with? Henry? I hadn’t been angry with him all day, even though he was in my mind for most of it. The strange, yet familiar lady from the field? She had no part in this. She was only a messenger of sorts. Then... it must have been myself. I was a fool for thinking I could ever have helped Twilight, or anyone else. What could I have done? I was just the quiet kid in the back of the classroom who did what he was told. I wasn’t a threat, or aid, to anybody.

Then the world swirled once more. I was fueled, ready for the next event that my mind could possibly force at me, except for one. I was in the treehouse with Rainbow Dash. She was lying on her back, the same as before, the other me on his back next to her.

The anger fled from my veins. Where it had gone I can never be sure, though I am infinitely happy for its departure. I watched as the two spoke, the ringing having found its home in my ears once more. Then the girl raised her fist in a mock threat. I smiled, so did the other me. Rainbow intrigued me. She seemed as if nothing would ever bother her, like nothing anybody could say or do could possibly get under her skin. I was jealous of that ability.

My thoughts were interrupted by the blaring of my alarm clock, which woke me from my slumber. I jumped up, my body soaked in sweat and my chest heaving. It still gets to me to this day, why I woke up in such a state, that is. I was by no means scared, or angry, after my last vision.

I cast any ill thoughts I had aside and went on with getting ready for school, though I was against going in every way imaginable. When I got on the bus, I decided to sit alone, away from Henry, and even Rarity, who decided it would be unkind of her to leave me be.

Not cushioning her intentions in the slightest, she forced me to the side of the seat and sat. “Hello, Sky. What happened yesterday?”

I looked at her and immediately thought about putting my headphones on, though I quickly realized how that would have impacted my situation. Instead, I settled for a simple, “Nothing. I just felt bad, so I asked a friend to take me home.”

She sat back against the seat a bit, her face scrunching just enough to show her disapproval of what I had just uttered. “Alright,” she said simply. “Well, I hope you feel better,” And with that, she went back to her own seat, though I hardly noticed.

I took the opportunity to put on some music, something loud and repetitive to drive away my thoughts. It did little to help, however, as a few glances in her direction revealed that I was under a certain girl’s watch.


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


The lady at the office was much more kind than I had figured she would be, giving me my bag and simply warning me against misplacing it a second time. I took it, thanked her, and went back to my table. Of course, Rarity and Fluttershy were there, but Twilight was also sitting there, eyes steadily running over pages in a book.

I sat beside Twilight, leaving Rarity and Fluttershy across from us. I must have broke Twilight’s concentration, because the next thing I heard was “Hello, Sky,” She didn’t seem at all concerned that I never returned the previous day.

“Hey, Twilight,” I looked towards Fluttershy and gave a simple raise of my hand to acknowledge her presence. From the smile she gave me afterwards, she didn’t seem to mind.

That was how the morning went, Twilight reading, Fluttershy and Rarity talking between each other, and me silently observing. I suppose it sounds a bit strange that my first thought was to observe my surroundings, looking back, but that was simply what I did when I was lost in thought.

First block went relatively slow. Fluttershy and I sat in our usual spots, leaving Henry to find a new spot. Of course, even looking at him sparked my anger, so I had no idea where he ended up sitting, nor did I particularly care.

Second block went even slower. Twilight and I spoke a bit, but not about anything in particular. We talked about the book she was reading that morning, but neither of us were planning on bringing up Jennifer, so neither of us did.

Lunch is what brought the highlight of the day. Applejack was already there when I sat down at the table. She had no food, so I simply assumed that anything in line wasn’t worth getting. “Hey, Sky. Have you seen Pinkie?”

She wasted no time in getting to the point. “No, but it wouldn’t surprise me if she didn’t come today,” I guess two could play at that game.

“How come?”

I thought about my answer carefully, but soon realized that any way I put it would sound terrible. However, I still withheld some information. “She overheard me talking to Henry. She heard me tell him to leave her alone, and I kind of... threatened him with it.”

“Sky...”

“I know, it was stupid. I just didn’t know what else to do! Henry is beyond hurting her, now Pinkie’s mad at me, and Twilight’s going to keep getting bullied, and-”

“Wait,” I hesitated, but stopped, only then realizing what I had just revealed. “What about a bully?”

My heart sank. I didn’t want anybody else to know. It was just supposed to be between Twilight and me, and she already didn’t want me to know. I sighed. “A friend of mine is getting bullied and Henry was supposed to help her get out of it.”

“Well, how is Henry supposed to help?”

“He used to date Jenni, the bully, and I told him that I’d turn him in if he didn’t break up with Pinkie and tell Jenni to leave Twilight alone.”

She paused, clearly thinking over her next choice of words. “I think your heart was in the right place, but what you did was the wrong way of doing things, Sky.”

I released another sigh. “I know, and now I...” I stopped, unsure of what to do, even in this situation.

“Look,” she started in a “matter-of-fact” kind of way, “I know you’re tryin’ to let everyone down easy, but if you want my opinion, you should just tell Pinkie the truth. The worst that could happen is that she won’t believe you, then you’re just back where you started.”

I’ll admit that it wasn’t going to be very fun, but she was right. The only thing I could do at that point was to tell Pinkie everything. It was her in the situation, after all. She had every right to know everything there was about Henry, and I didn’t intend to hold anything back. That is, until I became a bit uneasy about the whole idea, something that Applejack took notice of.

“Don’t worry,” she reassured me. “Pinkie’s a reasonable girl. She’ll at least listen to what you have to say,” And that she was.

After that was over and done with, we began talking about our classes, and general other happenings around the school. Applejack seemed to always be there when I needed someone to talk to. Albeit, many times I was forced to talk, but I didn’t mind it because I knew she would just listen, and only give advice where she knew to give it. I had to say that I admired that about her. Nobody else would do that for me.

The next class, I discovered that Pinkie really was at school. She was in her usual spot next to me, and, of course, it was very awkward sitting there. But there was no plausible explanation for me to sit anywhere else. Besides, I wouldn’t have wanted her to take any sort of offense to it.

Though I would have loved if it did, the world wasn’t going to stop on account of me. We had to work in partners that day, and with who else but with the person sitting next to us. We began in utter silence, something I can safely say I was far from comfortable with. After hearing her voice nearly every second of her company, it becomes a kind of routine, one that you never want to change. Sure, at times it could be a bit annoying, but in a good way, as in you would never ask for anything different.

We said little to each other throughout the rest of the class, only speaking when absolutely necessary. Of course, we were some of the first done, but that didn’t change anything. We simply sat there in silence until everyone else was done, at which point Chef pointed out the wrong-doings she saw, particularly that some of us didn’t communicate as much as we needed to, and I swore she looked directly at Pinkie and me as she said it.

The bell seemed to take its time with ringing, but I was one of the first out of the door, for a change.

So then came Gym. I went through the usual routine of changing and waiting in the gym, when I was surprised to see Rainbow come in and stride towards me. “Sky, please tell me you’ve already heard.”

I was, clearly, a bit shocked, as I was completely clueless as to what she was talking about. “Huh? Heard what?”

Rainbow groaned a bit and dragged me off to one side of the gym, almost literally, where nobody would hear us. “What is it?” I asked before quickly being cut off.

“You seriously don’t know?” she questioned before I shook my head. “Henry dumped Pinkie.”

My first thought was “That’s good, right?” However, I then remembered how Pinkie was acting only an hour before. “Wait, so how’s she taking it?”

Rainbow sighed. “Not well. But Henry kind of...” She trailed off.

“What?”

“He put all the blame off on you,” She broke eye contact for a second before admitting this, but our eyes quickly met again.

I was stunned for a moment, but I had to ask. “Well, how do you know all this?”

“Pinkie and I have a class together, and she told me. But don’t worry about it too much.”

I was taken by a bit of anger at that last comment. “How could I not worry about something like that?”

“Because Pinkie stood up for you,” I couldn’t believe what I heard. Why would Pinkie stand up for me like that? Luckily Rainbow caught on to my confusion. “I don’t really know all the details. She just told me the main points.”

I was, understandably, a bit taken back by this. Pinkie, the girl who only the previous day didn’t want anything to do with me, was now standing up for me. She was on my mind for the rest of class. I even lost by more than usual to Rainbow in our usual game, which happened to be basketball that day.

On the bus ride home, I was a bit happier than I had been all day. Rarity certainly took notice. “Have a good day?” She seemed to already know what happened.

I smiled. “Yeah, kind of. I just got some good news,”

Rarity smiled in return. “Oh, good,” She then proceeded to put on her headphones, completely blocking me out. It was a bit odd, but I ignored it for the most part, brushing it off to her having had a particularly tiring day.

I slept well that night, no strange dreams or anything of the sort, and being out of school the next day never hurt. After waking up, I took notice of the white envelope beside my alarm clock. It had been mocking me for nearly a week by that point, Sunday making it a perfect seven days. I left it alone, seeing as I was already in a good mood from the day before. I already suspected it was bad news, as there was no return address.

The day crawled by, at least until eleven o’clock, when my phone went off. I checked it, happy to see that Rarity and Fluttershy were out, and were curious as to whether or not I wanted to join them. I supposed it was a bit odd, as it sounded like just a girls’ day out, but, even still, they offered, so it would have been rude of me to decline, right?

I received another message a few minutes following that said, “Great! We’ll be there soon,” in addition to asking for my address.

‘Well, this is turning out to be a nice day,’ I thought as I prepared for my outing with the girls.
> A Day Out
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Rarity and Fluttershy arrived far sooner than I had expected them to, barely giving me enough time to get dressed. I watched them as they pulled into my yard. Fluttershy began to make her way out of the driver’s seat and towards my front door. After sliding my phone into my pocket, I decided it would be better if I met her half way, as my house was a mess and I refuted the thought of either of them laying eyes on it.

“Oh,” she peeped as she looked up from her shoes and met my eyes. “Are you ready to go?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I just had to get dressed.”

We walked back towards her car, a small-ish looking thing that hardly had enough room for the three of us. It was a dull blue color, something I would never have expected Fluttershy to be driving around.

I found the car to be much more comfortable than looks suggested, having room for all of us and possibly even two others, if nobody brought any “carry-ons.”

I heard shuffling and looked towards the source. Rarity was very awkwardly sliding around in her seat in order to turn to me. “Are you excited?”

I casually raised an eyebrow at her question. “What, exactly, are we doing?”

She giggled as Fluttershy shifted into gear and began the chore of driving. “Oh, right. I haven’t told you yet! First, we’re going to go to this lovely hair salon. I’ve heard wonderful things about it!” I assumed as much. “Then, we planned on doing some shopping at the mall!” I supposed that wasn’t as bad as sitting at the salon for an unpredictable amount of time. “And, after that, we haven’t quite decided. Do you have anything in particular you’d like to do, Sky?”

I thought a moment. Was there? I didn’t think so, and I told her as much. “I guess I’m just more of a home-body.”

Rarity smirked. “That comes as no surprise.”

I smiled. “And just what, exactly, is that supposed to mean?”

She shrugged and returned to her normal position in her seat. “Oh, nothing, Darling,” I would have been a fool to believe that, but I left the matter be.

Throughout the twenty-minute drive, Rarity did the majority of the talking, which neither she nor her companions seemed to mind in the slightest. And I had to admit that Fluttershy’s driving was a bit on the cautious side, but she handled the vehicle seemingly well, not that I had doubts, of course. In fact, it wouldn’t shock me for her to tell me that she was too focused on driving to fully engage in conversation. But, it was all too easy to attribute that to her natural personality.

“They seem a little busy...” Fluttershy mumbled on the sight of the building. Though there did seem to be a few others there, it hardly seemed busy.

“Nonsense, Fluttershy! They should have plenty of room for the three of us,” Rarity exclaimed, grabbing my attention in the process.

“Huh?” I, almost immediately, interjected, “I don’t really do this kind of thing. I thought it was just going to be you two, then I’d go shopping with you, or something.”

Rarity smiled at me. “Oh, come now, Sky. It’ll be fun! It’s my treat, and I refuse to take ‘no’ for an answer!” And with that, she practically dragged me out of the car, giving Fluttershy hardly enough time to come to a stop.

I decided there was no point in arguing, as she had me by the wrist and didn’t seem interested in letting me go. I simply sighed and walked alongside her, Fluttershy nearly being left behind.

As we walked inside, a small bell rang above the door, and we were instantly greeted by a pair of twins, which wasn’t very difficult to notice. One had pink hair, similar to Fluttershy’s, but a bit darker, and wore a blue top with blue-jeans. The other wore almost the opposite, with blue hair and a pink top, along with similar-looking blue-jeans. “Welcome to Lotus and Aloe’s Hair Salon!” I could only assume that one was Aloe, and the other was Lotus.

“Will it only be the two ladies today?” questioned the pink-haired woman.

I opened my mouth, but was quickly silenced by Rarity’s voice. “Actually, we would all like a wash, if you please.”

The twins smiled. “Of course!” They spoke in unison, which would have been strange enough without the fact that they were twins. Each of them then proceeded to grab for separate towels, but the blue-haired one grabbed an extra for me. “This way, please.”

We followed behind, with me in the very back, looking around at the small shop I managed to find myself in on a day that was supposed to be just for me to relax, but I supposed that fate had other plans. The place was quite small, with only, it seemed, enough chairs for the three of us. It wasn’t until we got farther back that I noticed the other voices coming from farther down the hallway. But before we could make our way all the way to the back, the twins stopped suddenly, nearly causing me to crash into Fluttershy, and directed the three of us into one doorway, which had three special chairs. Well, they were special in the sense that they weren’t normal chairs, anyway, but I suppose they were typical for a salon. They were leather, burgundy in color, and they also had pedals on the bottom for lowering or raising them.

The twins left us alone for a moment, simply saying that they would return shortly. Nearly as soon as they had left, I was the first to speak. “Well, this is turning out to be an interesting day.”

Fluttershy then spoke up. “Oh, are you not having fun?”

I quickly retaliated in an effort to not hurt anyone’s feelings. “It’s not that. It’s just that I hadn’t expected to be spending my Saturday in a hair salon. If it isn’t obvious, I don’t really come to places like this too often.”

“Well then, you’re in for a real treat!” Rarity, on the other hand, took no offense at all, and even seemed to be proud of herself for helping me experience this, though I still wasn’t quite sure what “this” was.

The twins walked back in, this time with a much larger man standing behind him. He had blonde hair and a strong face, almost to the point of it being unnerving. We had already taken our seats, so they simply walked to each of us and began work. Of course, I ended up with the wall of meat, himself.

The first minutes were practically torture, with this man grinding my scalp to the bone with his fingers, trying to work in the shampoo. With muscles like his, this job didn’t quite suit him as it did the twins. After only a few minutes more, however, I came to realize why they realized this man. His work was painful at first, but after a while, it felt as if my worries were melting away. It was simply that relaxing.

As he began rinsing my hair and preparing it for conditioning, I glanced to my right, seeing Rarity, her head still coated in shampoo, who was chatting away with the pink-haired twin, who happily conversed with her. Fluttershy hardly spoke at all, however, and the blue-haired twin didn’t seem offended in the slightest. In fact, I would have gone as far as to say that she was enjoying the silence.

I turned my head back to face the man washing my hair, who seemed to have a sculpted face, as his expression hadn’t changed since I first saw him. He glanced at me, and I quickly looked away, suddenly finding my position strange. I decided to simply sit there and enjoy the rest of my wash, mostly to keep from coming across any more awkward circumstances.

The last stage, drying, was my least favorite. I hated when my hair blew into my face, and now it was happening and I could do nothing about it. After the minute or so of hot wind, I was able to look in the mirror, and I was actually happy with what I saw. My hair fell in a way I had never seen it before. The dark brown waves covering the sides of my head and the top of my forehead, and it all looked shiny, smooth, and clean. Of course, I washed my hair regularly, but never this extensively.

I looked towards Fluttershy, who seemed to be finishing up as well. Rarity looked to still be getting conditioned, though. Her hair was thicker, though, and I’m sure she had a specific way she wanted it done.

Fluttershy and I were simply asked to wait in the front waiting room, which still seemed to be just as empty as when we entered the place. I hadn‘t noticed it before, but she wore something different from her usual school outfit. It was a similar yellow color, but she was wearing a simple dress that fell to her knees, with three small, pink butterflies dotting her hip. I redirected my eyes, mostly to avoid any more awkward encounters. “That wasn’t as bad as I thought it’d be,” I said, if only to keep the inevitable silence from coming upon us.

“Oh, no. It’s very relaxing,” Fluttershy then sat there, allowing the silence I had tried to stop to envelope us.

I tried once more. “Do you do this often, or did you just decide to come with Rarity?”

She turned to look at me, her teal eyes questioning my intent. “Oh, I’ve done things like this before with my, um... friends... back home,” She turned away, allowing her hair, which beautifully reflected the light, to drape over the side of her face.

“Hmm,” I sighed. “Do you miss your old friends?”

She turned back to me with wide eyes, apparently caught off guard by my question. “Well, I, um...”

“Are you two finished already?” I nearly jumped around at the sudden voice, only to find Rarity with a slightly confused look across her face.

“Yeah, we were just waiting on you,” I replied, forgetting completely about my earlier conversation.

“I’m sorry! Just let me pay and we’ll be off,” She turned to the pink-haired twin who had been doing her hair for the past half hour or so, and gave her some cash. “Thank you, Lotus. You did a wonderful job,” Lotus simply smiled and waved to us as we stepped out the door.

“Alright, next is... shopping, right?” I asked, walking alongside the girls back to the car.

“Yes, and don’t worry, we’ll stop by some shops you might like as well,” Rarity stated as we climbed into Fluttershy’s small car.

It was odd that I never thought about it sooner, that I was going shopping with a couple of girls, which likely meant I would be walking through Victoria’s Secret, or wherever it was women typically shopped at, getting stared at for being some type of pervert. “Great,” I sighed to myself, mindful of my volume.

Our trip to the mall wasn’t terribly long, only ten minutes or so. I decided to count the bit of money I brought along, sixty dollars. It wasn’t much, but it would do for the small things I would likely be interested in, I hoped.

As soon as we stepped into the place, we were hit with the musty air that had been filled with people for, surely, the past several hours, if not longer. It wasn’t my kind of thing to do, but if the girls wanted to do it, I had no problem with it. “So, where to first?” I asked no one in particular.

“I’m not quite sure,” Rarity replied. “I don’t very well know what is in here- Ooh! Let’s try there!” She pointed, wide-eyed, and I followed her gaze. It was a small shop, and looked as if it sold jewelry. Through the window I could see a few jewels hanging on pendents or attached to small rings.

“Alright,” I said in vain, as Rarity had already been heading towards the shop in her hypnotized state. I turned to Fluttershy and shrugged. We then made our way through the people behind Rarity and into the store.

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

It had been nearly two hours since we arrived, and Rarity had, by far, bought the most out of the three of us. In fact, I hadn’t bought anything, and Fluttershy had only a small bag from the first jewelry store we stopped at. Rarity hadn’t bought much, but it was enough to fill a couple of bags, which I offered to hold for her, but was beginning to regret.

The three of us stood in line at a clothing store, where Rarity saw a skirt that she just “had to have.” I didn’t mind walking around with her, but buying something from nearly every store was going a bit overboard. On top of that, this particular store was possibly the most popular in the entire mall. I groaned, looking around for an excuse to get out of there. I sighed as I saw a soda machine just outside of the store.

“Hey, Rarity,” She turned to me. “I’m going to get something to drink. Do you want anything?”

She raised her hand. In it was a small bottle of water. Smiling, she said, “No thank you, Sky. I’ve still got my water.”

“All right. You want to come with me, Fluttershy?” I figured she would probably want to get out of the crowd just as much as I did, if not more.

She turned to me, almost shocked I had addressed her, and said, “Oh, um okay.”

We left the store and headed for the machine, which seemed to be devoid of any people. “Alright, so what do you want?” I asked as I dropped Rarity’s bags and pulled a five from my wallet.

“Oh, you don’t have to... I mean, I can get my own,” Fluttershy began to pull out her tiny, pink pocket-book, but I insisted.

“It’s fine, really. I’ve only got a five on me anyway,” I slid the bill into the slot and asked once more. “So, what’re you in the mood for?”

Her eyes went wide, but slid away her wallet and said simply, “Oh, um, water... please.”

I turned back and made the selections; a water for her and a cola for me. After handing her the water, I turned back towards the shop where we left Rarity. The line seemed to have hardly moved at all. I looked back at Fluttershy with a sigh, but she was looking in another direction entirely. I followed her gaze to what looked to be a small pet shop. It didn’t look to be very popular, though, as the only people in there looked to be the employees. “You know,” I started, grabbing Fluttershy’s attention, “I don’t think Rarity would mind if we looked in there while she waited in line, do you?”

Fluttershy turned back at Rarity, who seemed to have made connections with another customer standing in line behind her. “... I...”

I didn’t think I would get a straight response, so instead, I waved to Rarity, catching her attention. I pointed towards the small shop, and she smiled and waved us on. “See? Come on,” I grabbed Rarity’s bags, took a step, and Fluttershy, although hesitant, followed behind.

This was one of the few shops with a door, the others being more “adult” stores. The bell rang as soon as we entered, and we were greeted by a surprisingly cheerful boy, not much older than myself. “Hi! Is there anything I can help you with today?”

I smiled and returned his greeting. “Thanks, but I think we’re just looking around for now.”

He nodded and proceeded to clean the small area around the cash register. The store wasn’t very big. As such, the only animals inside looked to be ones in cages, like birds, mice, snakes, and baby rabbits. I turned to Fluttershy, who looked like a kid in a candy store. She was going from display to display, smiling at each of the animals we passed by. “So, you really like animals, huh?”

She turned back to me, happier than I had ever seen her, more confident too. “Oh, yes! They’re all just so adorable!” She turned back to the cages and continued to watch mice scamper around their little home.

I, on the other hand, wasn’t very interested in watching small rodents scratch about their cages, and headed towards the back of the store, where some of the larger animals were kept. There were only two, however, and they were kittens and baby rabbits. Many of the kittens were sleeping, and the ones who weren’t didn’t look like they were too far from dozing off themselves, so I took to watching the rabbits run around their significantly larger cage.

One of them, being much smaller than all of the others, tried ever so desperately to play with two of the other rabbits, but was almost immediately pushed away. I thought of how I had been alone throughout most of school, pushed away by the cooler, more popular students. The tiny one, however, didn’t give up, and instead fought even harder to play with the others, even pushing one of the larger rabbits over just by rushing into it. “I guess that’s where you and I are different...”

Upon hearing footsteps behind me, I turned to see Fluttershy stepping up behind me, never breaking eye contact with the rabbits. “Aww, look at the little guy,” There was only one she could be talking about, and I turned back around to see that the two larger rabbits were pushing him around, not being at all phased by his aggressiveness.

“Yeah,” I agreed. “He’s trying so hard, isn’t he?”

Fluttershy nodded. Eventually, the little guy gave up, and went towards the water spout to get something to drink. Afterwards, he simply went into a corner and curled up all alone. I turned once more to Fluttershy, who seemed to be digging through her pocket-book for something. “What’re you doing?”

Without looking up at me, she replied, “Well, I can’t just leave him here. He looks so sad,” I looked up at the price tag; thirty dollars. Suddenly I heard a sigh from Fluttershy. “I knew I shouldn’t have let Rarity talk me into that necklace...”

She didn’t have enough. I thought a moment, then stood up. “Hang on a second,” I said, leaving Fluttershy, who looked saddened to tears, alone. I returned a few moments later with the boy who greeted us at the door. Pointing at the small rabbit, I said simply, “That one.”

Fluttershy nearly jumped back to her feet. “Oh, but Sky, I don’t have enough money...”

“I know,” But I did. The boy handed me the bunny, who looked at me with wide, frightened eyes.

The boy suddenly spoke. “I’ll have you ready when you finish up, sir,” I smiled, thanked him, and watched as he walked back down the aisles. I immediately turned to Fluttershy and turned over the fuzzy thing. She slowly took him from my arms, and the rabbit, almost instinctively, stopped squirming and got comfortable in her arms.

Fluttershy looked back up me. “Sky, you really don’t have to-”

I cut her off. “Think of it as my thanks for getting me out of the house for a while. Now it needs food, right?” And with that, we continued on to the food pellets. Fluttershy looking ever-so pleased with my gift, and me feeling great about having given it to her. It was a small favor, but one that will go a long way.

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

Eventually, we finished up with all of our shopping. I think it had something to do with the fact that many of the stores wouldn’t allow Fluttershy in with the rabbit, so Rarity and I began to feel bad about constantly leaving her outside as we went in and shopped.

We headed back to the car, after grabbing something quick to eat, and decided to call it a day. “Alright, Angel Bunny, you’ll have to sit with Sky while we go home, okay?” Fluttershy had only recently named him, after verifying his gender to the slight dismay of those around us, but she didn’t seem to notice. Angel didn’t seem to thrilled with her plans, however, and noticeably shook about in her hands.

“I guess he doesn’t like me very much,” I joked, but Fluttershy ignored me entirely.

“Oh, it won’t be that bad,” She handed him to me, and he stared at me, only for a moment before squirming around, trying to break free. I held him long enough for Fluttershy to get comfortable in her seat, at which point he broke free, making a mad dash to the front seats, where he found Fluttershy and curled up in her lap. Fluttershy looked at him and smiled. “Alright, you can stay up here with me. Okay, Angel?” Angel, satisfied with himself, dropped his head and closed his eyes, preparing for a comfortable sleep.

“Well, this was a fun day,” I said as we exited the parking lot.

“I couldn’t agree more!” Rarity agreed. The pile of bags beside me confirmed that she had had fun. “And next time will be even better!”

I froze a moment. “What? Next time? How often do you do this kind of stuff?!”

The girls apparently thought it funny, as they began laughing at my outburst. Even Angel seemed to mock me as he glared at me from Fluttershy’s lap.
> The Letter
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I awoke the next morning feeling more refreshed than I usually did. I thought about what I had done the previous day, spending it with Fluttershy and Rarity. Perhaps it wasn’t so bad to hang out with some friends every once in a while.

I crawled out of bed and stretched my arms towards the ceiling, being a good few inches away from making contact with the white surface. Yawning, I glanced down towards my nightstand, where I had left the white envelope.

I stood there, watching it as it glared back at me. I had to read it eventually, and it didn’t feel like there was much that could break my spirit, so I grabbed the thing, feeling it crumple a bit in my hand.

I brought it with me into the living room, where I decided to open it after breakfast. I poured a bowl of cereal and began munching on it as I clicked on the television. There wasn’t anything on, nothing good, anyway. That’s just how it was on Sunday mornings. It was all just a bunch of church shows, and I wasn’t a particularly religious person.

Turning the TV off, I stood to walk towards the bathroom to take a quick shower, dropping my bowl off in the sink as I did so. I noticed the small pile of dishes that had begun to pile up over my week alone, and noted to wash them as soon as I could. Stepping into the bathroom, I made the same note, as the bathroom hadn’t been cleaned in a while, and it was about time it needed it.

I shook the thoughts of cleaning away and focused on my shower, which I made especially warm that day. As I got out, the steam from the water fogged up the bathroom, almost to the point of blinding me. Luckily, it cleared up fairly quickly after I turned off the water, and I made my towards the towel and dressed myself.

“I’ll clean up in a bit,” I muttered to myself as I left the bathroom. I couldn’t explain it, but I was just full of energy that day, likely from the fun I had the day before, but at that time I had no idea what made me that way. It didn’t last long, however, as I caught sight of the letter I had set down on the small table in front of my couch. It was an eyesore, just sitting there, even more so than the bits of wrappings and trash I had left around the room.

I reached for it, but stopped when my phone went off. I turned to look at it. Still plugged into its wall-charger, it began blinking with a light, telling me that there was a message awaiting my eyes. I saw it as an excuse, and reached for my phone far more quickly than I had the envelope.

The message was from Applejack. It seemed she had finished her little bit of chores for the day and wanted to know if I wanted to hang out with her for the day. I happily accepted, reminding myself of the fun I had felt with my other friends.

I found myself wondering what we would spend our time doing, or even what she wanted to do. I never thought of her as doing much other than farm-work, and somehow the thought felt odd to me. But it was then that I remembered the oddity right in front of me: the letter.

I grabbed for it, ripped it open, and began to read:

Sky, since that is what you want to be called,

You’re almost a fully-grown adult, and I think it’s about time I’ve started treating you like one. So, I’ve decided to move in with my boyfriend, Mike. This is what you wanted, right? For me to leave, give you the respect you “deserve?” Well, now it’s done, and I won’t be coming back. Good luck fending for yourself in the real world, Sky. I’ve informed the land-lord of my leaving, and he will be going to get the trailer ready at the end of the month. You have until then to get your own place and leave, or you’ll be arrested for trespassing.

Don’t bother trying to contact me. I changed my number, so now you’re completely on your own. I just can’t deal with living with you anymore, and since you think you’re ready for it, good luck.

Just remember: this is what you wanted. This is what we both wanted, and you know it. I wish you the best...

Your mother, Jane

I read it, re-read it, turned it over, there was nothing. “She’s... gone?” First the sadness of being lost, all alone. There was nobody for me to turn to. My family was across the country, and now my mother was in some unknown guy’s house. I wanted to cry, but I couldn’t. How could she leave me like this? Like some kind of animal she didn’t want to have to deal with anymore? Yes, we fought, who didn’t?

The rage hit me next, the unstoppable fury of what I had just read. I balled the paper in my fist, throwing it in some random direction. I didn’t feel better. I suddenly felt my fist come into contact with something. I looked down to where I saw my hand against the armrest of the couch. Nothing changed.

And nothing would change, just like when my mother put the hole in the wall. Just like when I threw a baseball though my window, it would never change the fact of what was just true. My anger, my fury, every ounce of rage that filled my being; it couldn’t change the fact that my mom abandoned me. No... Jane abandoned me. My mother would never do anything of the sort.

I remembered my mother. She was so sweet, so caring, so... loving, motherly. I remembered her reading to me before I went to bed at night, checking for monsters in my closet and under my bed. She was the greatest mother in the world, even after the divorce.

I couldn’t remember much of the divorce, except for fear of being alone. I remember thinking that neither of them would want me, but they would both tell me not to be scared. Each told me that they would do everything in their power to make sure I went with them.

My mother won custody, and I was so happy, until I saw my father walking out of the courtroom, tears filling his eyes. Not only had my mother gotten the right to keep me, but it was said that my father was to pay child-support, but I had no idea how much. My mother stopped him, barely keeping him there to listen to what she had to say. She told him that he didn’t have to pay as much as the judge told him, and that he would be allowed to see me every other weekend, for as long as he wanted to see me.

Not long afterwards, maybe a year or so when I had just turned seven, there was an accident. My mother was killed on her way to pick me up from my father’s home. A drunk driver, I was told, caused the accident.

Being so young, I didn’t entirely understand. I only knew that I would never see my mother again. I was sad, but I never cried for her. I never cried at all.

My father gained custody over me, he and his new girlfriend, Jane. Jane contrasted my mother in every way imaginable. She was cruel, commanding, and even hit me on occasion. Even still, she demanded that I call her my mother, and scolded me if I didn’t. Eventually, it became habitual to call her “Mom.”

My father did nothing about it, as he fell into hard drinking and gambling following my mother’s death. He stayed away from me as much as he could, leaving me to be with Jane for the majority of my time there.

Eventually, my father was diagnosed with cancer, about four years after I first moved in with him and Jane. Since he was considered unfit to care for me due to his condition, Jane officially became my guardian.

For six years, I lived with her here. I was neglected almost every day, either physically or mentally. We moved out as soon as my father was admitted into the hospital. Jane told me that it was because my father would likely pass away very soon, and she didn’t want any haunting memories of the house after he was gone.

But I wasn’t as stupid as she thought I was. I knew she had been looking for any reason at all to get away from him. She was heartless, especially to leave him like that. She took “her” things from the house when we left, which also happened to be some of the most expensive items in the house.

Years of working in the carpentry business had left my dad with a decent amount of money, which, luckily, he was smart enough to keep in his own bank account. So, Jane had no way of getting that money, which I have no doubts she would have gotten the first chance she found.

My father got better and worse at seemingly random times. Sometimes it would look like he was getting a little better, and others it seemed the cancer would go away completely, but it never did.

He tried his best to make it up to me for all the times he left me to drink or gamble. Every time he was allowed to leave the hospital, he took me somewhere. The mall, the movies, the zoo, it never mattered to me where we went. I was only happy to spend time with him. Every Christmas and on my birthday, he would ask me what I wanted. It didn’t matter what I wanted, he would always find a way to get it for me, until last year, anyway.

His condition had recently taken a turn for the worst. It was to the point where he was almost always on pain medication so powerful that he was barely conscious at times. The last time I had ever had a real conversation with him is when he gave me my iPod. I hugged him and thanked him, just like any kid would when he got something he really wanted.

I now regret that my last words with him weren’t more sincere. Jane, on the other hand, wasn’t as sorrowful. She made my father’s cancer seem like a joke, constantly showing up to visit, only to “cry” and take pictures with him, despite his constant pleas to not be seen by anyone other than me. I hated her, and I still do.

But now, she was gone, and I felt worse than ever before. I had never been alone before, but now I felt as though I was. My father was still alive, but his condition seems to worsen every day. I was certain it wouldn’t be long before I truly was all alone.

A knock on my door stirred me from my internal ranting. I looked at my surroundings. Broken shards of a lamp, glass from a broken cup, and random bits of furniture were scattered about the room. It seemed I had destroyed the room in my fit of rage.

Another knock. “Sky?” I heard from the other side of the door. “Are you here?”

I felt weak, and dropped back onto the couch, my head falling into my hands as I ignored the sound of the knob turning. Suddenly, the room was filled with light, and I heard footsteps. “Oh, sweet lord!” I heard through the muffling of my hands.

All was quiet, until I heard the crumpling of paper. “Sky...” I heard moments later. Then there was a sudden weight beside me on the couch. “Sky, it’s all gonna be okay,” I felt an arm wrap around me, and a warmth press against my right side. I looked up to see Applejack watching me with concerned eyes.

“She’s gone, you know,” I simply said. She gave a single nod.

“I’m sorry, Sky. She must have had other reasons, right?”

I decided I didn’t care anymore, and told her everything. I told her about my real mother, how my father fell ill, about Jane, everything. She sat in silence, listening quietly to my story. “And now that’s it. There’s no where else for me to go. I’m all alone, and I don’t even have a home anymore.”

Quiet. “That’s not true, Sky.”

I turned to her, my throat cracking a bit from the dryness of the air. “What?”

She repeated herself. “You ain’t all alone, Sky,” She was quiet for a moment again. “Tell you what,” she began, “You can move in with me and my family,” I sat there, motionless, unspeaking. “There’s plenty of work to be done on the farm, and I’m sure Granny Smith wouldn’t mind paying you a little something for your work.”

I wasn’t sure what to say. Was she serious? I just stared like a fool, unsure of what to do. Then it suddenly hit me: what have I got to lose? “So, what do you say?” She was looking at me with a smile across her face. She was completely serious.

I was barely able to stutter the words out. “You... would let me live with you? Why... why would you do that?”

“Well,” I still stared as she looked away for a moment. “I still kind of owe you for saving me last week,” She turned back towards me, a serious expression across her face. “And because we’re friends, and friends help friends, right?”

I was stunned, but I nodded. The next thing I knew, I was packing what little belongings I had. I had very few clothes, and what I did have was old and raggedy. Applejack helped me with what she could. “I hate to say this, Sky, but don’t you think these clothes are a little... old?”

I dropped a folded pair of jeans in a bag and turned to her. “Yeah, but I don’t exactly gave money, you know?” She nodded and continued folding the clothes I had piled up for her.

Once we were finished, I threw my couple of bags into the trunk of Applejack’s car and climbed in myself, awaiting her to get in the driver’s seat. “You’re ready to get out of here, huh?”

I nodded as I turned to look at the trailer once more. “You have no idea,” I felt the rumble of the car as Applejack turned the key and drove off, leaving the trailer to disappear behind the trees for the final time.

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

We arrived soon after at Applejack’s house. It wasn’t nearly as far away as I would have liked, but, as they always say, beggars can’t be choosers. “Here we are,” Applejack said proudly. “It ain’t nothing special, but it’s home.”

And, as she said, it wasn’t much that met my eyes. The was a large farm house, which happened to be a simple shade of a dull yellow, with a black-tiled roof. Across the yard, which was more like a small field than anything, was a red barn, which was only a bit smaller than the house, itself. A few wooden fences could be seen stretching across the field here and there, all connecting to the barn in some way. Each fence held a couple of animals; chickens, pigs, horses, everything one would expect to see on a small farm such as this one. Past the barn was what this family was known for before they moved here: apples. There were fields of trees, some fully-grown, others were barely older than a sapling, and others still were between these two ages.

“This is actually really amazing,” I said as I admired the landscape before me. “I’ve never actually been on a farm before, so I have nothing to compare this to, but from what I can tell, this is very cool.”

Applejack smiled as she stood from her car. “Well, thank you. But it’s nothing compared to the old farm,” She turned and headed for the pale house. “You coming?”

I turned back towards her and began following behind. “Are you sure it’s okay if I stay here?”

She answered without turning back towards me. “Well, there ain’t no guarantee of it. But I don’t think Granny Smith would mind if you helped out around the farm, at least until you get back on your feet.”

I smiled at her reply. I didn’t understand how people could be so kind. I watched the back of Applejack’s hair as it bobbed up and down as she climbed her porch stairs. “Applejack.”

She twisted around to me with her hand on the doorknob. “Yeah?”

I met her gaze. “Thanks. For offering to let me stay here, I mean. It means a lot to me.”

She smiled. “Don’t mention it. I’m sure you would have done the same for me.” That was the thing, though. I don’t know if I would have.

We stepped through the door and a pair of eyes met us. “Well now, Applejack, I thought you said you were gonna be gone for a while?” It was an older lady sitting in a rocking chair. Her hair was bright gray, almost white, and pulled up into a loose bun. She wore a bright green dress that hung down to about her ankles.

“I know, Granny Smith. But we kind of ran into a snag.”

Granny Smith turned her attention to me. “Well, who’s this? Is this that boy you were telling me about?”

“Granny Smith,” Applejack said a bit hastily, “this is Sky. He’s one of my friends from school.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Sky. I’m Granny Smith, and yes, as in the apple,” I hadn’t made the connection until she pointed it out to me.

“Hi. It’s nice to meet you, too.”

“Granny Smith, if you don’t mind, could I talk to you for a second?” Applejack wasted no time, I found.

“Of course! Go ahead, dearie,” Granny Smith then proceeded to simple sit in her chair, patiently waiting for Applejack to begin speaking.

“Uh, Granny...” Applejack motioned towards a nearby room, which, from the looks of it, was the kitchen.

“Oh!” Granny Smith suddenly rose to her feet, if with a little difficulty. “I see. Alright, then,” They proceeded to walk towards the room Applejack had pointed out. After motioning for me to wait there, they went through the door. I couldn’t help but peek through, and it was, in fact, the kitchen. I only had a chance to see the old, country-time stove, but that was enough proof.

After a few moments of waiting, I heard light footsteps coming from upstairs. Nearby there was a set of stairs, and rushing down them was a small girl who wore a pale yellow sundress. She also had a large, hot pink ribbon in her bouncing, red hair. “Granny Smith!” she was calling on her way down. “Granny Smi-” She stopped suddenly when she reached the bottom and caught sight of me. “Oh... who are you?”

I stood with my hands in my pockets. “Uh, I’m Sky, Applejack’s friend,” I wasn’t sure what else to tell her.

“Oh, you’re Sky!” She began smiling. “My sister’s told me so much about you!”

How much could Applejack have possibly told her? We only met last week. “Like what?”

“Like-” Suddenly a large hand found its way across her mouth.

“Nope,” A large man walked out from the corner where Applejack’s sister had come from.

“Oh, Big Mac,” she said as she removed the hand from her mouth. “You’re no fun,” She then began pouting, which I thought was adorable.

The man turned towards me. He wore a red shirt and loose jeans. His hair was blonde, like Applejack’s, but it was much darker than Applejack’s was. I made a note not to get on his bad side, as he looked like he could pound me into the dust with his massive arms. “I’m Big Mac, and this is Apple Bloom. Applejack’s our sister.”

“Oh,” I said simply. “Well, it’s nice to meet you both.”

“What’re you doing here, anyway?” Apple Bloom suddenly spoke. “Applejack said she was going to hang out with you at your house today, right, Big Mac?”

Big Mac nodded. “Eeyup.”

I stood as the two siblings patiently awaited an answer. “Well, uh... See, there’s a, um...”

There was suddenly the sound of a door opening, and Applejack stuck her head through the kitchen door to get a view of what was happening. What she saw looked to be an interrogation. “Big Mac, Apple Bloom, would you mind coming here a second?”

Luckily, they both nodded and went with her through the door. A sigh of relief left my lips as soon as I was sure they wouldn’t hear. I began to look around at my surroundings. There was some simple furniture nearby, a navy blue sofa, equally-blue reclining chair, and Granny Smith’s rocking-chair. There also seemed to be a set of tables around; two end-tables and a coffee table in from of the sofa. Their were several pictures around the room, both on tables and on the wall. I began to look more closely at some of the pictures, when I heard more footsteps rushing through the house.

I turned around to see a dog, no taller than my knees, walking towards me. It was covered in fur, which was mostly brown, with several spots of white. She was coming closer and closer as I stood there, showing her I wasn’t to be feared. I knelt down as she grew closer, holding my hand out for her to sniff, and she did. She immediately began panting and knelt down, as if I was to play with her. I had no mind to, and instead settled for petting her. “At least you won’t question me.”

It wasn’t long before Granny Smith re-entered the room. I assumed that the others would come out behind her, but they did not. “Sky,” Granny Smith began. “I understand what you’re going through, and that you’re lost right now,” I felt my heart sink into my stomach. “But,” I raised my eyes once more. “What kind of family would we be if we turned down someone in need?”

My eyes lit up and I stood there in awe for a moment. “Really? So you mean...”

“Yes, you can stay here with us Apples for as long as you need to.”

I felt the urge to hug her, and I nearly did, before Applejack and her siblings stepped through the door in enough time to see the massive grin across my lips. Applejack returned my smile.

I couldn’t remember a time when I felt as happy as I did in that moment; with my mother, maybe. They accepted me, a total stranger, into their home with very little prior knowledge about me or my past. I remember feeling comfortable, accepted... loved.

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

As part of the agreement to live with them, Granny Smith expected me to help out around the farm, just as Applejack had said she would. Of course, I didn’t mind. Heck, I was even grateful for the fact that she was even willing to pay me a little something for all my work, since I was a guest.

Just as I had finished unpacking my things into the guest room, well, my room, I heard a knock on the door. A moment later, Applejack peeked in. “Getting settled, Sky?”

I grinned. “Yeah, just finished unpacking.”

She smiled. “Good. Well, supper’s ready downstairs,” I nodded, and with that, she turned to leave.

I stepped down the stairs, not long after Applejack told me about supper. I was surprisingly hungry, but then I remembered that the last time I ate was the cereal I had for breakfast.

I walked into the kitchen just in time to see everyone finish setting up the dinner plates and pots of food on the dining table. Apple Bloom looked up at me and announced my presence. “You’re just in time! Granny Smith makes the best pork chops!”

Granny Smith brought over the final dish of food and everyone took a seat around the table, including me. I was on the end opposite of Granny Smith, just beside Applejack and Big Mac. I waited until somebody else got something first. I dreaded being the first to grab for food, especially being the guest. “Well, Sky?” I looked up at Granny Smith’s voice. “The guest always gets the first plate!” I smiled and nodded, grabbing for several different foods. Everything looked wonderful, and it all tasted even better.

I looked around. Everyone was smiling, happily talking to one another, telling each other about how their days went. It was different from what I was used to. I would always get my own plate and hide away in my room, only coming out when I was finished. This was strange to me, but I liked it. It felt... right, somehow. I smiled, and slowly began joining the conversation, which I was happily accepted into.
> Back To School
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The next morning was a bit of a stretch from what I was used to. I had been getting ready for school all alone for the past... ever. I had never had to battle for the shower, or race for food so I could get some of it before it was just crumbs left on a plate. It was the most exciting thing I had done in a long time.

Big Mac had already graduated high school, of course, but he still had a lot of work to do around the farm, so he got up just as early as we did, if not earlier. Applejack drove Apple Bloom to school in the mornings, and offered to give me a ride, in order to avoid the bus. I accepted, deciding it faster and less uncomfortable than the bus-ride would certainly be. I would miss listening to my music on the way to school, as listening to it on the ride with Applejack would be rude, but the pros outweighed the cons of the situation.

Apple Bloom offered to ride in the back, with a bit more than a push from Applejack, since she would be getting out first at the middle school, anyway. I briefly considered declining and allowing her to ride front-passenger, but her logic did make sense, so I just went with it.

The ride to school was mostly quiet, save for Apple Bloom telling us (mainly Applejack, but I was addressed from time to time) about what she and her friends had done over the weekend. They climbed trees, went adventuring around the woods, and found something she described as a rusty, old piece-a junk.

After dropping Apple Bloom off and saying our goodbyes, Applejack and I headed towards the high school. “Your sister has a lot of energy,” I said, if only to start a quick conversation for the minute-long drive from the middle school to the high school.

“Yeah,” Applejack began, “You should see her friends.”

I smiled. “I think I’ll pass on that one for now, thanks,” I looked up to see the school rising over the hill it sat atop. “Hey.”

Applejack turned away from the road for long enough that her eyes watched my expression. Nothing odd, but I had gotten a bit more serious. “Yeah?”

“Where do you sit at in the mornings?”

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

I tossed my bag to the floor behind my respectful spot around the table. The cafeteria was fairly empty, considering Applejack and I arrived about fifteen minutes before my bus usually got there, which already came very early. The few people inside consisted of a few nerds in the corner of the room, a couple of the popular kids, a couple of others scattered about the room, and myself. Applejack simply dropped me off at the door, saying she would find me after she had a chance to park her car.

I sat down and pulled out my iPad, barely able to get started on my game before a familiar, but entirely unwanted, face appeared before me. “None of your girlfriends showing up today, Sky?”

I barely lifted my eyes to the source. “We’ve been over this, Jingle; they aren’t my girlfriends.”

He leaned back on his heels and crossed his arms, as if he was threatening me. “Well that’s no surprise, I guess.”

“Why?” I half-heartedly questioned. I only aimed to entertain him until Applejack arrived, at which point I was certain he would leave for one reason or another, possibly to go look for my other “girlfriends.”

“After what you did to Henry, who would want to be friends with you?”

He had gotten my attention. “What?” I felt my body tense up, threatening to rise on my feet at any moment. “What did I do to him?”

“Well, you know,” he began, arms coming unfolded as he began to rub the back of his head. “You, kind of, threatened to turn him in to the police if he didn’t break up with his girlfriend, and it was about something he didn’t even do, no less...”

I stopped. It wasn’t a lie, most of it, anyway. But... “How would you know that?”

“Well, Jenna’s going around telling everybody.”

That figured. “They’re together again, huh?”

“Yeah...” Jingle stood there, waiting for me to ask my next question.

“You know that’s not entirely true, right?” I sat, hardly moving a muscle. I didn’t want to move, or breathe.

“Sky, I’ve known you for a long time. I think I would know better than to believe that...” Jingle had known me for a long time, since middle school. I was one of the first people he talked to after moving there. He always was a strange kid, and after some time, he began to play with other kids like him; the nerds and weirdos.

“Yeah, I guess,” We sat there for a while, each of us waiting for the other to start talking. I decided it would be best if I started again. “I suppose you want to know what really happened?” He nodded. I sighed in return. “Most of that is true, but not all of it. I did actually tell Henry I would turn him in if he didn’t break up with Pinkie, but it wasn’t over nothing. You can’t tell anyone this, alright?” Jingle nodded once more, and I brought my voice down to a whisper. “A couple of friends and I were trying to dry off in the school after the football game last Tuesday, because it rained, and we ran into Henry and some other guy inside. They had on some ski masks, for the cameras out front, and saw one of my friends as a threat, I think. Well, they started grabbing her, hitting her, all that stuff. The rest of us rushed there after hearing the shouts, and we started fighting, all of us. I pulled off Henry’s mask, and saw that it was him. At the time, he was dating Pinkie, so the next day I told him that he needed to break up with her, or else I would turn him in to the police. It was only to protect her, I swear. Anyway, Pinkie overheard and ran away, crying. When I turned back towards Henry, he was smiling, like he was happy. Well, not long afterwards, Henry broke up with Pinkie and tried to convince her that it was my fault he did. I still don’t know why, but Pinkie stood up against Henry, for me,” I stopped myself, realizing I was losing myself in my own mixed feelings on the matter. “Whatever, that’s how it really happened.”

We were quiet for a bit longer before Jingle broke the silence. “Uh, Sky?” Jingle began before pausing for a moment, waiting for me to acknowledge his words. “I know we aren’t really friends, but...” He trailed off.

I felt the corners of my mouth turn... up, this time. “Brandon,” I quickly motioned back towards his group of friends. “Get lost, you little creep.”

He smiled, and laughed. “Put in a good word with Rainbow Dash for me, alright?”

“Maybe, if I’m in a good mood,” He then ran off to his friends, who graciously accepted him back into the group. We had always been mean towards each other, even when he first moved to my town. It was just how we acted towards each other. Even if we didn’t talk every day, and I didn’t necessarily consider him my friend, he considered me to be his friend. The thought hurt me, and I shoved it to the back of my mind, where I hoped it would get lost.

Applejack came not long after, possibly just under a minute. I didn’t tell her about Jingle, though, I know I should have. I don’t know how I knew, but she would have enjoyed hearing about me opening up to somebody.

Applejack and I began our idle conversation, which lasted long enough for the bus I once rode to arrive. I looked on as Rarity walked through the hallway from the doors leading to the buses, and, upon catching sight of me, she began towards our table with a stride to her steps. “Sky, you’ve got some explaining to do!”

My heart dropped. “Rarity I-”

“Why weren’t you on the bus today?” She stopped dead in her tracks in from of me with her arms crossed, rather impatiently awaiting my response. “Well?”

I let out a breath, at which point I realized I had been holding since Rarity began speaking. “Well, Applejack gave me a ride to school,” I pointed to the girl sitting across from me, who waved at Rarity awkwardly.

“Oh,” Rarity simply said, dropping her arms, but quickly rising a finger into my face. “You still should have told me! I thought you’d gotten sick again...”

“Huh? Oh... Sorry,” With that, Rarity took her typical spot at the table and struck up a conversation with Applejack, which I paid little attention to.

A few moments later, another presence made itself known. “Hi, Sky...” I turned to see Fluttershy standing behind me. I instantly took notice of her condition. She had bags under her eyes, her voice seemed to be weaker than usual, and her hair looked to be a bit of a mess.

“Uh, hey, Fluttershy... Are you alright?”

She took a seat next to me before giving a reply, which was slow and soft. “Oh, yes... I’m just tired... Angel kept me up all night, because he wanted me to play with him...”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” I wasn’t sure of what to say. Fluttershy really seemed to want the bunny, but then it looked like it was overwhelming her.

“Oh, don’t be!... I’m just glad he’s happy at his new home...” Fluttershy began to close her eyes, and I heard a soft snoring coming from her lips.

“Uh, Fluttershy?” I tapped her shoulder.

She jumped a bit at my tapping. “Huh?” She turned to me again, her eyes wide in surprise before allowing them to drop once again. “Oh, did I...?”

I nodded. “Yeah, you fell asleep. Are you sure you’re alright?”

She nodded in return. “Yes, I’m fine... I just need... to...” I watched as she slowly dropped her head onto her folded arms and rested on the table.

I was conflicted with what I should have done. Telling her to go home and get some sleep made me sound like a parental figure, but being tired wasn’t exactly a reason to go home in the first place. Besides, what would her real parents say? I decided to leave her to her own decisions, and let her rest for the next few minutes before the first class started.

The bell rang, and everybody got to their feet and began their way towards friends or to their classes, except one girl. I tapped her again. “Hey, Fluttershy.”

She slowly opened her eyes. “Hmm?”

“Come on. We have to go to class,” She gave little more than a barely noticeable nod before slowly rising to her feet. I threw my bag on my back and grabbed her small, light green backpack before walking alongside her to the end of the hallway where Music Appreciation was held.

We walked in silence, as always, but this time it was for a different reason, which could easily be discovered with one glance towards the girl beside me, who seemed only seconds away from nodding off, even as we walked. Luckily, we made it into the room without incident, and each of us took our respective seats. I gently placed Fluttershy’s bag beside her chair, which she thanked me for, if only barely, and began a game on my iPad. Somehow, Fluttershy was able to stay awake until the teacher began class.

We learned about the same things we always did in that class: music and its history. And, as always, it ended rather early, leaving us students to do as we pleased. I played my game for a few minutes before feeling a light weight hit my right shoulder. Glancing down, I saw Fluttershy’s head resting gently on my arm. Her pink hair flowed down my side, covering almost my entire upper arm. From that position, I could feel the warmth radiating from her body, and her hair was soft and smooth, even despite its unkempt appearance.

I watched her a moment, debating on whether or not I should wake her. I didn’t, as to allow her to get as much sleep as she possibly could. After all, she had a car, and I assumed she drove to and from school. At least, that’s what I told myself...

I quickly glanced around the room. There were a few heads turned in my direction, but none of which I particularly cared for, except one. I looked towards Henry, who was sitting across the room from me, and was practically scowling at the scene before him. I quickly turned away, hoping he didn’t see me look in his direction, though I feared he had.

At the end of class, Fluttershy awoke on her own, hardly realizing the position she was in before letting out a yawn. She certainly seemed more rested than she had been, as she rose to her feet far more easily than she had before. I took a bit of pride in the fact that my arm was what allowed her to sleep so comfortably.

On my way towards my next class, I passed a face I hadn’t seen in a while, and was rather dissatisfied with seeing at the same time, but I knew I would have to confront her eventually. I stopped, just after passing her, and held my breath, only releasing it as I turned after her. This wasn’t like me, and I knew it. I was the kind of person to sit idly by and simply watch, letting things unfold however that might. I knew that this would only drag me deeper into the drama that was high school, but I didn’t care, and I did it anyway. “Jenna,” I said, after having gotten close enough for her to hear me.

She turned around, and instantly seemed to regret her decision to do so. “Sky...” She stopped, only aiming to mock me. “This is a surprise, isn’t it?”

“More or less, after what you’ve been doing,” I was staring her down, not breaking eye contact for any longer than it took to blink.

“Oh, my, and what, pray tell, might that be?” She crossed her arms and leaned towards me.

“Look,” It would have been best for me to be clear and to the point with her. “There’s a girl you’ve been messing with, and I want it to stop, alright?”

Her eyes widened in shock. Her light brown hair swung with her head as she leaned back on her heels. “Oh, is that what this is about? Not about what you did to my boyfriend?”

I caught my breath. Of course I wanted that to stop, as well. I gritted my teeth together before opening my mouth. “No, not about what I did to Henry.”

“Wait,” Jenna held up a hand, practically demanding I shut my mouth. “What girl are you talking about, exactly? There are a lot of ‘girls’ in this school, you know.”

Did she really bully that many girls at school? “Twilight Sparkle.”

“Oh, that girl. Yeah, I don’t think I can do that,” She brought her finger up to her chin in mock-thought.

“Why?” I stood still, mentally preparing myself for her unreasonable answer.

“Well, because she’s the new girl, and she’s just drawing too much attention to herself. So I have to, well, ‘take her down a notch,’” She produced air quotes using her fingers.

I groaned at her pointless reasoning. I quickly realized, however, that in order to beat her, I would have to play by her rules. “Fine then. What can I do to make you stop?”

Jenna smiled. “Oh, now we’re talking!” She took a step towards me, close enough to whisper in my ear. “Meet me after school tomorrow, out back in the parking lot. I’ll have a way for you then.”

She turned and began on her way towards class. “Wait!” I grabbed her shoulder to stop her. She dropped her gaze to my hand, then turned back toward me, her eyes stabbing through mine. I removed my hand. “I’ll go, but only if you stop messing with her entirely, starting today.”

Jenna instantly turned away from me again and raised a hand as she walked. “Fine, whatever!”

I stood there a moment longer, watching as the black-jacketed figure disappeared among the crowd. I didn’t know whether to be glad or depressed. I asked myself over and over, “What did I agree to?”

After stepping through the door, one of the first things that met me was the ringing of the school bell. I had barely made it to class on time, and avoided the teacher’s scolding in the process. I sat in my desk beside Twilight, who looked towards me for only a moment before the teacher began passing out papers.

Twilight and I finished at about the same time. As we sat back in our seats, she turned to me. “Sky?”

I looked back at her. “Yeah?”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t at your table this morning,” The way she began speaking caused me to think it was something vitally important. Of course, it wasn’t in the slightest. “I kind of slept longer than I had meant to.”

I laughed it off. “It’s alright. Don’t worry about it. But, hey,” I convinced myself there would be no better time to tell her the good news. “Jenna shouldn’t be bothering you anymore, okay?”

Twilight’s eyes grew as she stared at me. “Huh? Why not?”

“Well,” I began, before realizing that flat-out telling her wouldn’t be the best course of action, as not even I knew exactly what reason Jenna had for agreeing to leave Twilight alone. I smiled instead. “Don’t worry about it! Just know that she won’t be a problem anymore, alright?”

That sounded worse than I had intended, but I didn’t think Twilight caught on. “Oh, alright. Thanks, Sky,” She didn’t seem too emotional over it. Instead, she took out her book, beginning on the page she had left off on.

I frowned. I’ll admit that I expected some kind of reaction, even if it wasn’t exactly “jumping for joy.” I tried to ignore it as well as I could, and played my games.

Applejack and I talked about little more than my new arrangements at lunch. I was told that I would have my list of chores by the next day, and, despite my persistence, she told me that I shouldn’t do anything that afternoon but relax and get comfortable.

I made case after case, but Applejack heard none of it, simply saying, “What Granny Smith says goes,” and leaving it at that.

Pinkie Pie still wanted nothing to do with me in Culinary Arts, and she made it almost blatantly obvious by her distance from me. She sat almost as far away as she could, hiding her face behind her straightened hair. It was strange seeing her with hair that wasn’t poofy or bouncy, but instead long, and flat. It was almost as if something had changed, inside of her. I began to feel a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, all from knowing that I was the cause of her misery.

We worked out of our books that day, luckily. I didn’t know how I would have handled working in partners again. I barely managed to get by the last time, and now Pinkie seemed worse than ever before. I didn’t know what to say. I could have apologized, but she would never have gone for something so painfully simple.

I finished packing my bag and was one of the first out of the room as the bell rang. I didn’t want to be stuck in there with her any longer than I had to be.

Rainbow Dash met me in the gym after I finished changing. “Hey, Sky, what’s up?”

I didn’t want to ruin Rainbow’s day with my own negativity, so I went with the corniest thing I could think of at the time. I glanced up towards the rafters. “The ceiling.”

After a moment’s silence, I looked back down towards Rainbow Dash, who almost looked to be in pain over how bad my joke was. “Thanks for clearing that up...”

I stood as the coach blew his whistle. “Don’t mention it!”

We finished with warm-ups and began our sport for the day, which happened to be basketball instead of badminton, since the basketball players were supposed to practice in the gym after school on Mondays. Rainbow Dash and I took the same goal we had on the first day we met, and decided to play a small game of one-on-one.

After a shameful defeat by none other than that sports-star herself, we took a small break, where Rainbow decided to question me. “So, still nothing new with Pinkie, huh?”

I sighed, too tired to do much of anything else. “Nope,”

“You know,” Rainbow began, taking the basketball from me and dribbling it between her knees. “I could talk to Pinkie for you. Maybe I can get her to try to talk to you again.”

I glanced towards her. “Thanks, but I get the feeling that would only make things worse.”

“Yeah,” She spoke softly, which was a strange thing to hear from her, but welcomed nonetheless. “So, what are you gonna do?”

I dropped my head to face the ground beneath my feet. “I don’t know... I guess I’ll just have to wait until it all blows over, then try to talk to her,” I’ll admit it wasn’t the best of plans, but it was the one I went with, seeing as Rainbow didn’t have anything better in mind.

“Well, anyway,” She stood back to her feet, throwing the ball at my face, leaving me hardly any time to react to her actions. “Let’s start game two!” I didn’t object in the slightest.
> Confrontation
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Despite my several requests to help Applejack and her family, I did as I was told and attempted to make myself comfortable in my new home. The dog that had helped to keep me company on Sunday, Winona, also decided to stay with me the following Monday. At least, she did until she had to go to work on the farm as well.

I did enjoy my time to myself, though. I was alone from the time I got home until about eight o’clock or so, when it got dark outside. Granny Smith was there, of course, but she seemed fairly busy the whole time with her cooking and napping. She had baked an apple pie for us to have as soon as the work on the farm was done. I was never very fond of cooked apples, or any kind of fruit, for that matter, but that pie almost made me regret not trying pie sooner.

The rest of the night was spent chatting with the family, and getting to know everybody there. Big Mac seemed to be the man of the house. Even though he hardly ever spoke, his voice came across as law. Even Granny Smith obeyed him every now and then, I was told. Apple Bloom was the energized one of the group, always rushing around from here to there, despite having been working for the past four hours. Granny Smith, obviously, was the parental figure of the family, but had a certain tone that made her seem different from a typical parent. She was always involved in what happened on the farm, although her frail appearance might suggest otherwise. Applejack, from what I could tell, was the backbone of the family, providing the voice of reason whenever she needed to, no matter how harsh it might sound.

I struggled to know what my place would be in the household, or even if I would ever have a place. Perhaps I would only ever be thought of as the servant-boy, only sticking around to help with the problems and work on the farm. I doubted I would ever be thought of as more than simply that, but I didn’t mind much.

The next morning went along roughly again, but, at the same time, much more smoothly, since I had an idea of what to expect. After arriving at school, Applejack and I took our seats and began our typical bit of idle conversing until somebody else arrived, who just so happened to be Twilight.

“Hello, Sky,” Twilight said before turning her attention to the new face. “And who might this be?”

After making proper introductions, the two began a conversation of their own, which I was unintentionally kicked out of. It didn’t make much difference, however, as two others found their way to the table not long afterwards. Rarity and Fluttershy took their respectful seats, Rarity deciding to join in on the conversation that was taking place. Fluttershy didn’t seem quite as tired as she was the previous day, and I made a note of it. “Get some sleep, Fluttershy?”

She smiled at me. “Oh, yes. Angel was so worn out last night; it was quite easy to put him to bed.”

“That’s good to hear.”

The girls continued their conversation, while Fluttershy and I decided to take the quiet road and play on our iPads until the bell rang.

My day crawled by without any issues, none that I knew of, anyway. At lunch, Applejack informed me that she would be a little late after school, as she volunteered to help out in one of her classes. Of course, I didn’t mind. I didn’t know whether or not I should have told her about my “meeting,” anyway, and this was just one way to get around that.

I hadn’t been particularly worried over talking with Jenna after school, but the thought about what it would be about had crossed my mind, admittedly. I had never had any kind of interaction with her, before that week, so I had no kind of clue as to what we would be doing. I didn’t want to linger over the thought too much, though, so I left it be and continued my talk with Applejack.

Culinary Arts was, again, a painful experience, seeing Pinkie upset. Still, though, there wasn’t much work to be done, so we did textbook work for the class. I caught a glimpse of Pinkie Pie every so often, however, and I began to notice that she would occasionally look towards me. It was difficult to tell, but I could have sworn she was looking at me. Even so, I didn’t pursue it, and left her be, deciding it best to let things happen at their own pace.

Gym with Rainbow Dash was no different than any other day. We played basketball, she beat me, celebrated, then we got changed and talked until class ended. Once the bell rang, I exited the gym before Jingle had a chance to pester me about her.

The crowd was no different than it was every other day: massive and unmoving. I, somehow, forced my way through, and managed to make it to the parking lot with time to spare.

There weren’t very many people who drove to school, but there certainly were enough to block my field of vision. I looked left and right for Jenna, but there was no sign of her anywhere. I was forced to wait for the crowd to die down, but before I even had the chance, I ran into a couple of familiar faces. “Sky!”

I turned towards the sound and was greeted by Rarity, and not far after her was Fluttershy. “Oh, hey! I thought you rode the bus home?”

Rarity pouted. “Oh, is it suddenly a crime to change my mode of transportation?”

I stopped in my tracks. Had she taken offense to that? “N-no, of course not! I just-”

Suddenly Rarity began laughing, and I understood what she was doing. “Oh, I’m just joking with you, Dear! Fluttershy offered to take me home, and it would have been terribly rude of me not to accept,” She motioned towards her companion, who looked as if she would pass out at any given moment. She held her head down and was rubbing her shoulder. I looked around to see that the junction of students hadn’t died down much.

I made a quick deduction, and mentally thanked Fluttershy for her shy personality. “Fluttershy, are you okay? You don’t look so good...”

Rarity turned to Fluttershy and barely managed to gasp, “Oh, Fluttershy! What’s the matter?”

Suddenly Fluttershy’s cheeks grew red at the sudden attention and she mumbled, “Oh, it’s nothing. I-I’m fine...”

I, of course, blew off her claim. “Maybe you guys should go ahead and get home, huh?”

Rarity jumped at my idea. “Yes, we should, indeed. Come on, Fluttershy! We should get you home, now!” The pair then turned to leave, Fluttershy looking back towards me one final time and scrunching her eyebrows. It was difficult to tell whether she was thanking me or cursing me, but either way, I made a note to myself to apologize to her later about drawing the attention to her.

I had to make sure that nobody knew about this encounter other than the people involved: Jenna and myself. I just wanted everything to go away, and to go back to the way it all was.

I sat down on a nearby bench and waited. Eventually, after more time than it should have taken, the remaining people dispersed, and I was one of the few people left. The doors to the school opened one last time, and Jenna walked out. After scanning the area for me, she motioned for me to follow her around a wall. I did so.

I froze as soon as I passed around the corner. I saw another person there; someone I had no interest in seeing at that point, or ever again in my life: Henry. He stood there with his arms crossed and faced the ground. Jenna continued to walk, and stopped only to lean on the wall in between the two of us. “What is he doing here?” I asked her, not wishing to speak to him directly. I should have never asked. Instead, I should have turned and walked away right then. But I couldn’t. I was there for Twilight’s sake, and I couldn’t abandon someone and risk hurting them again.

“I want you to apologize to Henry. And after that I’ll stop messing with Twilight, and never talk to her again,” Henry didn’t budge. He didn’t even look up at me, as if he wasn’t expecting anything out of me.

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Good,” She spoke matter-of-factly as I turned to leave. “Now-”

“That’s not going to cut it, Sky,” I turned back towards Henry’s words. He was suddenly looking straight through me. “Some things just can’t be forgiven so easily.”

“You’re a fine one to talk,” I mumbled back, just loud enough for him to hear.

“You threatened me, and now I’m going to do a lot more to you,” Henry charged at me, fist drawn back for a swing. I had little time to react, and quickly found myself on the ground, blood dripping from my nose, splattering on the pavement in front of my face.

I prepared myself for the next blow, but was appreciative to hear a new voice. “Stop!” It was high-pitched, and sounded sweet, but strong. I looked up through my tears that had accumulated from the punch, and saw a pink blur through it all. She shouldn’t be here... I thought to myself. She’s going to get hurt.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Henry shouted at Pinkie Pie.

But Pinkie ignored the question entirely. “Why are you doing this, Henry?” Her voice cracked, and it wasn’t long before her words became jumbled and disoriented. “W-why are you hurting Sky?”

I began to rise to my feet, only to be kicked back down to the ground. Pinkie gasped and shouted again for him to stop. He refused to listen. “Because he deserves it! He’s a filthy rat who deserves nothing less than death, and he knows it!”

I squeezed my stomach and writhed in pain. Henry’s hits hurt a lot more then than they did the previous time we fought, that was for sure.

Jenna quickly joined the conversation. “Henry! That’s enough!” Pinkie then ran to me, doing all she could to make sure I was okay. I looked past her in time to see Jenna place her hand on Henry’s shoulder, only for him to bat it away and shout her down.

Pinkie lost all feeling as she realized the magnitude of pain I was in, and backed away in horror. I could only assume it was from the blood still dripping from my nose.

Then Pinkie was thrown to one side by Henry, who stood over me, shouting some unintelligible garbage as Pinkie looked up in terror at him. I suddenly found the energy I desperately needed, and began to rise to my feet. “Oh, now you’re going to be the hero, Sky? Save the damsel in distress?”

He laughed and tapped his chin, which he had put right in front of me. I took the invitation and swung, much harder than he had apparently expected. He was forced back, grasping at his chin in pain before lifting a foot and kicking me backwards.

My gut hurt even more, but I was able to stand my ground, and look up in time to see Henry reach down the back waistline of his pants. I was quickly brought face-to-face with the end of the dark barrel of a gun. I heard Jenna gasp and Pinkie immediately scramble to her feet, even over Henry’s voice. “What are you going to do now, Sky? Are you going to try to be the hero again, huh?”

My voice was shaky, but I managed to spit out, “Henry, you don’t want to do this.”

“Shut up!” He squeezed his eyes shut and clenched the gun even tighter, causing my heart to drop. “You don’t know what I want, and you can’t tell me what to do anymore! I’m the one in charge now, and I say that you need to go!”

He shoved the gun into my face, and I froze. “Henry, whatever I’ve done to you, I’m sorry, okay? Please, don’t do this!”

“Whatever you’ve done to me? You don’t even know?!” He turned around, shouted at the ground, and turned the gun back on me, all within a second. “You’ve always turned your back on me! Mocked me! And whenever I need to talk to you, you blow me off!” He stomped hard at the ground. “Nobody ever just talks about me! I’m always compared to you! It’s always ‘do you know Henry? You mean that shy kid’s friend? Yeah, that’s him!’” He stopped a moment, only staring at me before continuing. “I can’t exist on my own, as long as you’re around. And I can’t continue to be made fun of by the quiet kid at school!”

“Henry, I don’t make fun of you,” By that point, I was practically gasping for air, both from the hits to my stomach and from the fear of being shot. “Is that what you see it as? It’s just joking, right? You do it to me all the time!”

“No, Sky. It’s not the same! When you do it, it hurts.”

“You don’t think it hurts me sometimes? You lied to your mother, Henry! You threw me under the bus over something stupid you did with your cousin! Something that I had no part in! And you expect me to just laugh that off?”

He stopped, loosened his grip, but quickly seized the handle once more. “Just shut up! Let me talk for one damn time!” He paused, but quickly continued again. “Just leave me alone!” He raised the gun at me, and I clenched my entire body for the inevitable. But instead, I saw Pinkie rush forward and grab for the gun, trying to throw the thing from his hands.

I lost myself for the moment, but quickly realized that Pinkie wouldn’t win without help, and I surged forward as best as I was able to and grabbed the gun. I heard the shot, the loud clap of thunder, but ignored it as I finally twisted the gun out of Henry’s grasp.

I held it towards him. He backed away in horror, and quickly turned back and ran towards the nearby trees, disappearing from my view after a few seconds of sprinting.

I lowered the gun, then dropped it to the ground. I followed, barely feeling my body collide with the cement before Pinkie and Jenna rushed towards me. “Sky!” I heard Pinkie call to me.

I looked towards her as she began examining my stomach, holding back her screams with her hands over her mouth. I followed her gaze, and found the cause of her distress. On the side of my body was a massive blood stain, and it was quickly growing. The pain suddenly hit me, and I felt the burning of the blood as I lay there in agony.

Pinkie shouted something back towards Jenna, but I couldn’t tell what. I was growing weaker by the moment. I watched Jenna manage to bring out her phone and dial something before putting it up to her ear. Pinkie took off her over-shirt and applied it to the wound. It looked like she was pushing on it, but I couldn’t feel anything anymore.

The last thing I remember was Pinkie shouting something at me, before everything faded away...
> Hospital Room
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I opened my eyes, only to see the grassy plains that had been in my mind before, when I met her. I looked down at my feet. I wore a pair of jeans and a simple t-shirt underneath an unbuttoned over-shirt--my usual attire. I turned around once, only to be greeted by seemingly miles of open fields full of golden blades of grass that were waving about in the wind, like an ocean current. Despite any effort I made, I could never see anything other than the plains of grass. I looked towards the sky, and saw nothing but black, spotted with white along with the gray sphere that lit up the night sky ever-so delicately.

A feeling of calmness washed over me, and I looked back towards the fields. This time, there was a new sight; one that I was unsure of how to feel about. There was a woman standing near me. She wasn’t much shorter than I was, possibly about five-and-a-half feet tall or so. She wore a deep blue dress, though it was slightly unsaturated in color and trimmed in a richer navy blue, with a white crescent moon on one side at about her hip. Her hair was the most notable thing about her. It was a deep, beautiful blue, outlined by a lighter shade of blue with white dots throughout. It, no... she reminded me of the night sky.

“Hello again, Sky,” Her voice was soothing, and familiar. It was soft, yet firm, and I wanted nothing more than to listen to her speak once more.

“Again?” I blurted out in a far less appealing tone. “Who are you?”

“Oh, perhaps I am mistaken. Do you not remember me from your previous nightmare?” She tilted her head to one side and raised an eyebrow at me.

I felt my body tense, and found myself standing straight. “Nightmare? No, I don’t remember any nightmare...” I looked down, but quickly brought my attention back to the figure. “But how would you know about any of my dreams?”

The woman straightened herself and smiled. “That is because I am your dream guide, Sky. My name is Princess Luna. We’ve met before, I can assure you.”

I paused. Wait... “I’m dreaming?” I looked around at my surroundings, as if I hadn’t already surveyed them.

Luna spoke as I turned around. “In a sense, yes,” She paused, allowing me to bring her back into my sight. “You are wounded, Sky, in the waking world,” My eyes widened as I remembered, and my hands instantly reached for my side, only to find my flesh still intact and without injury.

I slowly brought my gaze back towards Luna. “What’s happening now, then?”

She spoke softly, almost without emotion. “You are being taken to the hospital. I do not know any more than that,” I supposed that made sense. If she really was my dream conscience, then how would she have known more than I did?

I stood quietly for a moment before asking her, “Why am I here? Couldn’t I have just been left to dream whatever I wanted, or nothing at all?”

Luna smiled. “That is what I am going to show you,” As she spoke, my surroundings began to fade into nothing, and I soon found myself in a world of black.

It wasn’t long before I found myself to be back at the school, just around that familiar corner. I looked around, before being distracted by shouting just outside of my field of vision. I stepped around to see myself being threatened by Henry, just before he threw me to the ground. I heard a quick step, and turned just in time to see Pinkie jump to my aid. “Stop!”

I suddenly felt a presence beside me, and listened as it spoke. “She stood up for you, Sky,” I didn’t have to look to know who it was, and even still, Luna continued. “She could have left you, seeing as you hurt her the way you did, but she did not. Why do you think that is?”

I watched as Henry kicked me back to the ground. “I don’t know.”

“Surely you must, Sky.”

I became quiet, but only for a moment. “She’s still my friend, isn’t she?” I turned to Luna with wide eyes.

She smiled and let out a small chuckle. “That is for you to decide, is it not?” I only stood quietly, watching on as I was beaten, then threatened with death. “Do you want her to be your friend, Sky?”

I said nothing, instead watching the grapple for the gun. Finally, I decided on an answer. “I do,” The gun fired, and all returned to black.

Another scene was revealed to me by my guide. This time I was standing in a hallway, speaking with a girl. It was Jenna. We stood there, simply talking as the people around us pushed by and stepped around. “This is...”

“This is where you made the decision that would lead to your suffering,” I turned towards Luna, my eyes filling with emotion, and mouth only slightly agape.

I watched on as the other me began to strike the deal with Jenna, which, for all I knew, could have turned out to be fatal. “If I...” I trailed off.

“If you knew,” Luna picked up my thought, which came as more of a surprise than it should have, “would you still have agreed?”

I looked back towards her. What kind of a question was that? Twilight, a girl I had never known only a couple of weeks prior, was being picked on, and I would have had to get shot in order to stop it. Why should I have risked my life for something like that? “I...” I sighed, and dropped my head. “Probably not...”

Luna spoke softly once more. “Does that make you a bad person, Sky?”

I felt like it did. But, logically, “No, I guess not...”

I watched as Luna turned towards me out of the corner of my eye, and I looked towards her. “Why, then, do you suppose you agreed to this meeting? You could not have had any sort of idea of what would occur, yet you still chose to go, if it meant helping a girl who you simply share a class with.”

She was right. I could have walked right past Jenna, went on with my day, and not be in the condition I was in. “Because... she needed me, and she had no one else to turn to,” I stopped myself, as my mouth caught up with my mind. I had been in a similar position numerous times, more than I could count. I related to her, and I felt sorrow for her. I understood Twilight.

Luna smiled, and I looked up to find myself immersed in the void I had quickly become familiar with. I glanced away for a brief moment, and when I returned my sight to where she had been standing, I was met with more darkness. I began to search in the nothingness that surrounded me, only to find just that.

Suddenly, I heard a voice, deep and strange, echoing off the non-existent walls. “Sky! Sky, wake up!” I looked up. There was nothing. “Sky! Sky!” The voice grew louder, almost deafening. “Sky!” I was forced to cover my head to shield my ears from the piercing onslaught of sound waves. I forced my eyes shut, trying to hide from the voice as best as I could.


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


My eyes opened again, slowly this time, as the light that met them was painful to look at, even though there was a man standing over me, blocking out much of light’s painful rays. I blinked once, then again before the man spoke. “Good, you’re awake. That’s a relief.”

I didn’t recognize this person, though his white coat told me who he was. His head was round, and his hair fading quickly. He wore a pair of glasses that I was certain would fall from his face at any given moment. I heard a moan come from somewhere in the room, and I felt as if I could fall asleep and never awaken. I tried to turn my body, but quickly felt a hand on my chest as the doctor persuaded me, “Please don’t move. Your body is still very weak from blood-loss.”

I silently obeyed, convinced that any movement would result in even more pain. But I couldn’t resist asking, “W-what happened?”

“You were shot. That’s all I know, not that I need to know more,” The man chuckled as he began to insert a needle into my arm. “I’m here to fix people, not get involved in their personal lives.”

Nearly forgetting the man’s previous warning, I reached my free arm towards the covers and pulled them back, revealing a section of my body that was wrapped in, what seemed to be, multiple layers of bandages. Even still, a bit of crimson liquid could be seen staining the outer layer of wrapping. The man simply glanced in my direction before continuing his task, which consisted merely of tapping keys on a computer. “A-am I going to be okay?” I stammered.

The doctor took a moment from typing, and his expression turned sour. “That’s hard to say,” he mumbled. “From the looks of things, the bullet passed through completely without damaging any major organs in the process,” He paused a moment, recollecting his thoughts. “With that said, however, it still did a lot of damage to the surrounding muscle tissue, and we won’t be able to tell the lasting effects of the damage until it begins to heal. If all goes smoothly, you’ll be up and moving like normal within a couple of weeks, maybe a month or so. If not...” He sighed. “You might be facing a permanent physical ailment.”

He stayed quiet a moment, but quickly resumed his work, noting, “But that’s only if things don’t go like we plan. You shouldn’t worry about it too much, Sky,” He continued typing as I lay there, lightly pressing my hand onto the area where I found the blood, as if it would make everything better.

After a brief moment, I heard the doctor press a final key with much more force than he had been using, and rise to his feet. “Well, that’s all I’m here for. Now, you have a couple of visitors waiting outside while I performed my little tests. Would you like to see them?”

I nodded, thinking it would be rude to turn them away after waiting all that time, even though I wasn’t sure how much time had actually passed. “Alright,” The doctor began towards the door. “I’ll let them know you’re still tired, though. Just so they don’t get over-excited,” I thought that they would likely get excited, regardless of what he told them.

I then realized that I didn’t even know who was outside, but quickly concluded that it didn’t matter. Any visitors were appreciated.

The door opened moments later, and a Stetson-wearing girl slowly made her way in, followed by a pink-haired girl that practically refused to look in my direction. It was then that I realized I had been laying down the whole time, and attempted to right myself, much to Applejack’s dismay. “Sky, don’t strain yourself,” she said, while raising a hand towards me.

“Don’t worry,” I gritted, just before a jolt of pain surged through my body, forcing me to wince and fall back against the bed. I barely managed to sit myself up, even if I wasn’t in a very comfortable position. “See? I’m fine...” I didn’t believe myself, and I was certain they didn’t.

Applejack glanced back towards Pinkie, who barely made eye contact with her, and led the way towards a pair of chairs set aside for visitors, where each of the girls took a seat.

We merely sat that way, each of us unsure of what to say. Finally, I decided to break the tension. “How long have you been waiting?”

Applejack responded, “Oh, it hasn’t been too long. Only a couple of hours,” She made an attempt to smile. I glanced quickly around the room, finding a clock that read 11:26 pm.

“I guess I’ll have to miss those chores now, huh?” I smiled, unsure of what else to do.

Applejack chuckled. “Don’t you worry yourself about any of that, Sky. We can take care of the farm.”

I looked towards Pinkie, who had hardly moved at all since sitting down. She looked to be staring at the ground, unwilling to look in any other direction. Applejack caught my gaze and turned to the girl beside her, but said nothing.

There was no more avoiding the elephant in the room, and I made note of it. “So, what happened after I blacked out?”

Pinkie darted her eyes up at me, but quickly looked away as soon as we made contact. “Well,” I turned to Applejack just as she began speaking, “I rushed outside as soon as I heard the ambulance. I hardly had any time to figure out what was going on before Pinkie, here, found me, trying to tell me what all had happened,” She paused, but quickly picked up again. “She told me everything that she could about what happened with...” She stopped again, this time looking up at me. “You know...

“Anyway, we got in my car and followed the ambulance to the hospital. We had to wait for an hour or two so they could” -she motioned towards my bandages- “fix you up, then they let us see you after they made sure you were in stable condition,” Silence blanketed us once again, but Applejack broke it this time. “What did the doctor say about it?”

“He-” I caught Pinkie’s gaze out of the corner of my eye, but she didn’t look away as I turned towards her. This time I looked away. “He said that the bullet did a lot of damage,” I turned back towards Pinkie, despite my mind’s will to look anywhere else. “But I should be fine.”

“That’s good to hear,” Applejack said quietly.

After a few more moments of silence, I decided I didn’t want to be surrounded by the awkward attention any longer. “You know, it’s getting pretty late, and you shouldn’t really be driving while you’re tired, Applejack.”

She darted her eyes towards me, but nodded. “Yeah, I guess we should be getting home to let everyone know you’re okay. Everybody back on the farm was real worried about you.”

“Y-yeah,” was all that left my mouth.

The girls stood to leave, Applejack being the first to walk towards the door. “Well, I guess we’ll be seeing you later, Sky,” She opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, Pinkie following behind.

But Pinkie suddenly stopped, and turned in my direction. “Sky,” she began, forcing her eyes to meet mine, “I’m glad you’re alright,” I was shocked at first. Those were the first words she had actually spoken to me since the day I threatened Henry. But I nodded, and with that she smiled and followed behind Applejack, gently closing the door behind her.

It wasn’t a very long visit, but one I was happy I accepted. It was good they left when they did, though, because as soon as the pair left I realized how exhausted I was, and began the task of adjusting my body to a more comfortable position. Passing out was not the same thing as sleeping, and I quickly came to understand that fact as I slowly dozed off.


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

I awoke after what seemed to be only a couple of hours to find that I had slept until nearly ten o’clock in the morning. I looked down at my body, unsurprised to find it still in the same position I was in the night before, lying directly on my back.

I groaned. What else was I supposed to do? My question was soon answered as I felt the pressure of my bladder become a bit overwhelming, and glanced around the room. There was another door, besides the one that led to and from my room, and I guessed that it must have led to the bathroom. Another search of the room revealed a small, metallic pan just beside my bed. I refused to even think about using a bed-pan, and instead tried to force myself to sit-up.

It was still painful, but it was more of an aching pain than a sharp one as it had been the night before. My hand found its way towards my side before I winced in pain. But still, I continued to rise. Eventually, I sat straight up, though my body was practically begging me to lay against the bed once more.

Turning to place my feet on the floor was easier, but just as painful as sitting up. My feet were planted on the ground quickly, and most of the pain stopped, leaving only a throbbing pain that reminded me of my previous efforts. The tiled flooring was cold, but unwilling to stop, I began the labor of standing. Although just as painful as everything else I had done, it was becoming easier and easier to perform these feats, which came as a bit of a surprise to me.

My sheet fell from my body and to the floor as soon as I was on my feet. Ignoring the fabric, I took a step towards the bathroom, holding onto the bed as I did so. I realized how easily I had it before, without the hole in my torso.

A couple of steps later, I was forced to release my grip of the bed, and found walking to be a much easier task than I thought. Balancing was a bit tricky, and even a bit painful, but it was nothing compared to getting to that point. I found my way to the door in a few more steps, and grasped the handle, twisting it down with more force than I had intended.

It easily pushed open, the automatic lights flickered to life, and I surveyed the white room before me. Everything was white. I had expected it of the toilet and possibly the sink, but not the entire room. The walls and flooring seemed to be made up of the same white tiling, and the counter-top looked almost as if it were made of pearls swirled together.

I forced myself to stop examining the blank room, and planted a hand firmly onto the counter-top. The way to the toilet was fairly easy to navigate, and I was even able to balance myself on the counter as I “did my business.”

The way back to my bed was much easier than the path from it, as moving about was becoming easier the more I did it. I flopped back onto my bed, and fell back against the mattress before painfully fixing my sheets over my body.

I groaned as I felt my body release all of the tension that it held, along with much of the pain, then found myself sighing. What now? I found myself asking. I looked around the room a third time, my eyes coming to a stop on the night-stand to my right.

There was a plastic pitcher on a tray with a small cup next to it, and a handful of straws were tossed about next to the pitcher. I sat up, forgetting about the condition I was in for just long enough to make it to that position, but ultimately forcing a jolt of pain through my abdomen. I winced, but it wasn’t as difficult to overcome as I had expected it to be.

After the pain had subsided, I reached towards the cup. I picked it up, only to find it empty. The pitcher, however, was far from empty, and I somehow managed to pour myself a cup of water despite my awkward position.

The drink washed down my dry throat, which I hadn’t very well noticed until it was back to normal, with relative ease. After replacing the small cup on the tray, I noticed a remote controller on the stand next to the tray. Looking towards the opposite wall, I found the television, which was hardly big enough to see clearly. I grabbed the remote and clicked the TV on.

What appeared on screen was nothing more than the news station, and they seemed to be reporting something about a shooting, from what I could tell. I was about to click the remote again, until I heard a familiar name come through the speaker. “We now turn to our corespondent, Dan Welder, who is live on the scene at Pelion High School,” How did they already find out? I thought.

The picture quickly changed to a live shot in front of my school, which looked to be taking place in the middle of a class change. I looked towards the clock, and discovered that it was time to change classes. “Thanks, Jane,” I turned back towards the TV. “I’m here live at Pelion High School, where a shooting took place just yesterday. Now, I’ve spoken with the principal of the school, Travis Barry, and he’s assured me that he has made certain the students’ parents are aware of the issue. Students and faculty that were on the school grounds at the time feared for their lives and hid after the first, and only, gunshot until police officials arrived on the scene after an unknown caller dialed 911,” An unknown caller? “Here is what we have regarding the call,” After a moment, a recording of the 911 call was played, and I easily recognized the voice of the caller.

“Help! We need help! Somebody was shot!” Jenna was shouting over the phone.

“Ma’am, could you please calm down? Where are you?” The responder sounded calm, but with a sense of urgency.

“W-we’re at Pelion High School! Please hurry!”

“We’ll send someone right away. Can you stay on the line, please?” There was a click immediately following this statement, and the woman on the phone was repeatedly asking if anyone was still there.

The video then cut back to the reporter, who quickly began requesting that anyone who had any information on the shooting to call the police, and that any information would have been helpful. “Although we have no knowledge regarding any injuries or fatalities involved in the shooting, we will continue to report on this situation as we receive more information,” The normal news anchors were shown once again, and they began discussing the next story as if nothing had changed.

I was stunned. Of course, I already knew about it. After all, I was the one who was directly involved in the shooting; I was the one who got shot. But seeing it on the news made the whole event seem that much more real, almost like it never happened before I saw it on TV.

There was little time to think about it, as a knock on the door quickly jarred me from my thoughts. I clicked the remote to turn down the volume on the TV a couple of notches before the door swung open, allowing Jenna to step into the room.
> Resolve
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I could only watch as Jenna slowly entered the room, glancing in my direction every so often. She turned around and softly shut the door behind her before uttering a quiet “Hey, Sky.”

I couldn’t respond, although I knew my mouth attempted to. My throat felt as if it had swollen shut, never to open again. What did she want now? She stood at the door, her hand resting on the handle, eyes hidden behind a mess of dark brown hair, a bit lighter than that of my own. She stood there a bit longer, awaiting an answer that would never come.

After removing her hand from the doorknob, Jenna slowly stepped across the room, no faster than she had entered through the door. She paused when she reached the chair that Applejack had been sitting in the previous night, but only for a moment. She gently lowered herself onto the chair’s less-than-comfortable looking seat, eyes down towards the ground, though I tried to make eye contact with her.

I still can’t describe how I felt that day. How should I have felt? She was the reason I was there, the reason I was shot, but... There was something about her that seemed odd, almost as if this was an entirely different person sitting before me. The other Jenna was confident, cool collected. This one seemed... broken, and defeated.

We merely sat there, which I had no qualms over. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to talk to her, or if I was even ready for it. But that didn’t seem to have any impact on her. “H-how is it?” She looked up at me, after what felt like an eternity of silence.

Before I could stop myself, “There’s a hole in me,” I hadn’t meant for my words to be so harsh, but they certainly had an effect on Jenna, who looked away after clenching her eyes shut.

“Sky-”

“Why would you want this?” I suddenly found strength, along with a million questions, but I would never have all of them answered.

“I didn’t think this would happen...” She looked helpless, almost in fear.

“You didn’t think...? What did you think was going to happen if somebody brought a gun to school?” The anger began to fill my soul, forcing me to say things I never would have said otherwise.

“I-I didn’t know...”

“You didn’t know what? That your sociopathic boyfriend brought a gun to school?” I was nearly shouting by that point.

She said nothing in response, but looked at me for the first time since walking into the room. Her deep green eyes were filled with tears, threatening to fall at any given moment. At that moment I knew that she truly didn’t know what Henry had planned. Almost instantly, the anger that had built up inside me vanished, and all that was left was empathy. I felt sorry for her, and I couldn’t explain why. Jenna was the bully, the mean girl that everybody wants to get back at, and there she was, crying right in front of me.

I sighed once I felt I could do nothing else. “Jenna...”

“I just don’t know what to do, Sky!” I tensed at her sudden outburst, quickly realizing that the tears had begun flowing down her cheeks. “I can’t go back to school, not when everybody’s asking questions about what happened! I didn’t know, Sky, you have to believe me!” She dropped her face into the palms of her hands, which muffled her sobs.

Whether she was telling the truth or not, I could tell that she was afraid, and truly regretted what had happened. Why else would she have visited me? “I do.”

Jenna slowly picked up her head as she heard my words, then turned her eyes up towards me. “You... do?” Her mascara had stained the area surrounding her eyes, and was quickly beginning to drip down her cheeks.

I simply nodded in response, my eyes facing down towards my sheets.

Almost instantly, I found myself in the embrace of her arms. Jenna had jumped up from the chair, almost pushing it away, and wrapped me in her arms, almost shouting, “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” And I could almost believe that her tears began to fall harder than before.

Although I wanted to get out of her hold, I forced my body to stay still. I didn’t hug back, and I wasn’t happy about our embrace, but it seemed to make her feel better, so I sat there, paralyzed.

After a quick moment or two, I felt her push me away, and she stood back away from the bed, wide-eyed in shock. She quickly returned to her normal state, and let out a soft, “O-oh, s-sorry,” before taking her seat once again.

I began to feel even worse for the girl. Of all the other people she could have gone to seeking help and advice, she came to me, the very person she had “betrayed,” and I found myself wondering why this was the case. It soon dawned on me that she might not have had any friends of her own to turn to, no close ones anyway. I was the same way at one time. But, there were a lot of differences between the two of us. Jenna was the popular girl, the one with all the friends, the first one to hear about events, while I was the shy, quiet kid in the back of the room that nobody ever talks to, or even about. But why, then, would she have ever even considered coming to talk to a person such as myself?

I turned back towards the girl that sat in the chair next to me. She was looking down at her hands, fingers interlocked and shaking ever so slightly. “Jenna,” I began softly, as if I would startle her if I spoke any louder. She looked up at me, and her face lit up at my voice. “what happened?”

Her mouth opened, and a slight sound made its way out of her lips, but she quickly stopped herself. After a brief moment, she tried again. “W-what do you mean?”

“I mean...” My voice trailed off. I knew what I meant, but how was I to word it without upsetting or offending her? “You just haven’t been the same since you came back from that other school a couple of years ago. You used to be nice, kind, and just... fun to be around, but now...” I hoped that this was the right way. “You’re mean, and cold to basically everyone you meet,” I turned to face her. “And I want to know why. What happened at that other school that made you turn out this way?” It was a long shot, but one that I hoped with all my being would connect. It had been a question that plagued my mind for the longest time, because the three of us had all been friends once, Jenna, Henry, and I. We used to be the best of friends, laughing and always hanging out together. When I found out that they had started dating, I was elated. I couldn’t have possibly been happier for the two of them. Then Jenna moved away, and Henry and I were left with just each other, but even that faded after time.

She remained still, and breathless, before letting out a sigh. “I just wanted to make some friends...”


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


Almost immediately after the move, I was forced to start attending school. The first thing I noticed was how big the place was compared to our own school. The hallways looked like they would continue on forever, and there were so many classrooms that I got lost trying to find my first class.

Luckily, I met a girl who helped show me around the school. Her name was Avery, and she was nice at first; she really was. She showed me how to get to all of my classes, and it just happened that our lockers were right next to each other, so it was only natural that we would have begun talking eventually.

Anyway, after a while she introduced me to some of her friends, even this one really handsome guy named Joey. He was tall, looked really strong, and we hit it off as soon as we met. We even continued to talk for the next few weeks. I told him everything about myself from where I was from to who I wanted to be, and I thought he cared.

A few weeks passed, and Avery invited me to a party at Joey’s house for a New Year’s Day celebration. She told me that his parents would be gone for the weekend, and I thought it would be a good chance to get to know Joey better, so I accepted. When the night came around and I finally got there, the party turned out to be much bigger than I thought, with beer and a crowd that I could barely move through.

I didn’t want to drink anything. I just knew I would have done something stupid that I would have regretted. After a little while though, Avery found me, and she was stumbling around, barely able to get out any words. She shoved a plastic cup into my hands. I smelled the liquid inside the cup, and instantly wanted to throw up. It smelled like something you would find in the locker room after a football game. Still, Avery and a couple of other people cheered me on, and I didn’t want to let down my only friends, so I drank it, all of it. It burned on the way down, but it was good. Avery and I wandered off into the crowd to find more, and I drank more than I ever thought I could, then I started talking to a bunch of people and doing things I never would have done sober. I eventually lost Avery to the crowd, and began to lead my own way.

Joey found me, and we started talking. He told me that, if I wanted to, we could go somewhere else, where there weren’t as many people. I was so happy, and wasted. There was a boy who wanted me, who would I have been to turn him down? He said we couldn’t go upstairs because there were too many people up there already, but he told me that there was a shed outside in the woods that we could go to, that his family used it to store tools. Looking back, it didn’t make any sense at all. But, like an idiot, I didn’t think anything of it.

We went out the back door while nobody was looking. It was dark, almost pitch-black, and the ground was covered in a thick blanket of snow, almost enough to swallow my foot whole, and it was still coming down. I didn’t have more than a coat, since I didn’t very well expect to be outside, but I didn’t feel much of the cold at first.

Joey took my hand and we began towards the tree-line, finding our way through a small path that led through the trees. I remember that his hand was warm in my own, and that we started kissing somewhere along the way, but I don’t know when. We walked much farther than any shed of his could have possibly been, but I don’t think I noticed, and if I did, I didn’t care.

Suddenly, he threw me on the ground into the snow. He quickly followed, and we started kissing again, but this time his hands started exploring the rest of my body. I began doing the same, before he started to unbutton my coat. After he finished, I tried to do the same with his jacket, but he grabbed my hands and moved them away from his body. I didn’t think much of it, and just wanted things to go smoothly, so I went with his lead.

After he had gotten my coat off, he threw it away, somewhere in the darkness. He started feeling everywhere on my body then, and I was enjoying it. He reached down, and pulled my shirt over my head between our kisses. His hands went to my breasts, and he started kissing down my neck. I let out a quiet moan before I felt movement around my waist. Looking down, I noticed that he was undoing the button on my jeans. I didn’t want him to stop.

He pulled off my jeans, and quickly followed with the rest of my clothes, throwing all of them away into the dark. I was fully naked then, and the snow was cold against my bare skin, but I didn’t care. I just wanted him to make love to me, but he never did. Instead, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He pointed the camera at me before shouting at seemingly no one, “Alright, guys, you can come out now!”

I heard lots of movement around me, and slowly began to make out several outlines of the people that surrounded me. They all began laughing, and chanting things like, “Dude, nice!” and “She’s so fucking tiny!” Among the crowd, I made out Avery, who was laughing alongside Joey and everyone else that I thought to be my friends.

I didn’t know what to do, and my first instinct was to cry, so that’s what I did. That only made them mock me more. “Look, now she’s crying!” “See what you did now, Joey?” I looked up for just long enough to see that a couple of the guys in the group were going through my clothes, smelling and touching all over them like the dirty pigs they were, before bringing my head to my knees and silently crying to myself.

I still don’t know how long it all lasted. It felt like forever, but I know it wasn’t because everyone left after a while. They all left me alone, and the dirty perverts took my clothes with them. Once I was sure they were gone, I started to look around for something I could wear, just to avoid walking around completely naked. Of course, there wasn’t anything except sticks and snow, the latter of the two nearly hiding the footsteps back towards the house, forcing me to quickly follow the steps before I would be left lost in the woods.

I suddenly realized how cold it was outside, and how cold I was. All I had were my shoes and socks, but that did little to shield the rest of my body. I looked down at my bare body, shivering harder and harder the longer I was out there. I looked at my fingers, and they looked to be turning an icy blue, so I wrapped them under my arms, which didn’t help nearly as much as I’d hoped.

After a nightmare-ish walk back, I was finally met with the sight of that bastard’s house. Instead of going back inside, I did my best to cover my body, and began walking towards the nearest neighbor’s house, which was about half-a-mile away.

I arrived at the door, still freezing and, by that point, barely able to move. I knocked, and an old man answered the door a few seconds later. He instantly went into a panic and rushed me inside, bringing me a thick blanket and something hot to drink. After I was much warmer, I told him that I simply got locked out of my house. The alcohol inside me, along with the fact that I was still shivering, had impaired my ability to think clearly. He asked questions about how I managed to lock myself out of my own house, while naked, but I shrugged them away as best I could. I was so afraid that I would get caught drinking, and that I would make the situation with my “friends” any worse than it already was, I didn’t tell anyone about what happened, except for my mother. The kind, old man let me use his phone to call her, and she was there within a few minutes to get me.

Over the course of the next few days, I stayed away from Avery and Joey, and anyone who was friends of theirs. The next few months were torture, as practically everyone in the school had seen Joey’s video of me, and I was the most hated and mocked person in school, and the teachers did nothing about it.

Eventually, my mom decided that it would be best to move back here, where I wasn’t being harassed every day or made fun of. Just a month or so before the school year had ended, we moved back, and that’s when I started coming back to school.


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


“I didn’t want to be bullied, or made fun of ever again. I thought that if I was on top, then nothing like that could ever happen again...” She looked down for a brief moment before glancing back in my direction. “You’re the only other person who knows about this, Sky, and I want to keep it that way.”

I was stunned, but was able to muster the strength needed for a weak nod. “Jenna, I-” A knock at the door interrupted my thought, and I turned towards the sound as the door was pushed open.

Two men dressed in blue uniforms with golden badges walked into the room. They immediately brought their attention to Jenna, and the leader of the pair, a short, stout looking man, spoke in a firm tone, “Ma’am, we need to ask Mr. Asher some questions, if you would please...” and gestured towards the door, which was left wide open.

I looked back towards Jenna, who’s mouth was slightly ajar, just as she had turned back in my direction. She quickly regained herself, however, and rose to her feet. With a final glance towards me, she made her way towards the door, leaving without a single word of goodbye.

The second officer, a much taller man than the other, shut the door, rather forcefully, behind her. His companion began speaking as he walked towards Jenna’s chair. “She seemed pretty upset, Sky- oh, can I call you Sky?” I simply told him he could, knowing it was only to get on a personal level with me. “Good, anyway, she acted distressed. Is she a friend of yours?”

I spoke as the other officer took his seat beside the first, “Something like that...”


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


The police officers and I spent hours discussing what had happened. They wanted to know every detail about it, no matter how tiny or minute I thought it might have been. I told them everything I could, from how Henry and I were once friends to what led up to the shooting. I made certain to leave Jenna out of the explanation. Instead, I told them that I just so happened to be waiting for a ride when Henry found me, which wasn’t exactly a lie. They asked if I knew who called 911, and I told them that I had no idea, that it could have been Pinkie, since she was the only other person there.

After they had gotten all that they could out of me, they packed up and left. They said that they might be back in the future with more questions if anything else came up, finished jotting down some notes, and took their leave.

I was glad that they left when they did. Being interrogated was oddly draining, and I found that I could have taken a nap until nightfall. However, the doctor that had awoken me burst through the door just as I began to doze off. “Hello there, Sky! Sleep well?”

The sudden noise had shocked me enough to bring me to full attention, and I immediately responded, “Yeah, even though this bed isn’t exactly ‘comfortable.’”

I chuckled and began making his way towards the monitors and machines beside my bed. “That’s what everyone says,” He proceeded to make several adjustments to some of the switches and knobs before holding his hand out towards me. “Could I see your arm a moment?” I pulled away the blanket and placed my wrist in his hand. He placed the black, velcro band around my arm and started pumping the rubber ball that was connected by a tube. He read the results, wrote them down, then continued on to the next test.

After several other tests, many of which I didn’t understand, the doctor assured me that I was recovering properly. “It’s only been a day,” he said, “but you’re making excellent progress already. At this rate, you’ll be out of here in no time!” He then claimed there were other patients to tend to, and darted out of the room, leaving me connected to several tubes and wires. The continuous beeping of the heart monitor made me want to rip the wires off of my chest, but I knew that that would only make my situation much worse, as several nurses would likely rush into the room to see why my heart had suddenly stopped.

Luckily, about fifteen minutes later a nurse walked into the room asking if I needed any pain medicine. I told her that I was fine for the time being, but that the monitor was driving me insane. She sighed, “He forgot to turn that thing down again?” and flicked a switch on the machine, which quickly became silent.

I sighed in relief when the nurse left the room, telling me she would get me a bit of the weaker medicine just in case I started feeling pain when she wasn’t around. I felt my eyelids grow heavier, and the quiet of the room lulled me off into a sleep.

At least, it would have, had my door not been thrown open for the twentieth time that day, and a certain, rainbow-haired, girl rushed inside. “Sky, Pinkie Pie told me what happened! Are you alright?” She quickly jogged towards the side of my bed and stood over me, eyes wide and breath quick.

“Yeah, Rainbow,” I sat up much more easily than I had earlier in the day. “I’m fine. There’s nothing to worry about.”

“Nothing to worry about?” I suddenly heard from the doorway, which Rainbow had left open for anyone to come in through. That “anyone” just so happened to be Rarity. “You’re in the hospital, telling us there’s ‘nothing to worry about?’”

“Yeah,” I said as two more people, Twilight and Fluttershy, wandered in behind Rarity. “I’m fine now.”

Rarity glared at me before turning to face Rainbow Dash. “And what do you think you’re doing, rushing ahead of the rest of us like that?”

Rainbow turned towards her for the first time since entering the room, and quickly made her case. “Well... you guys were just going too slow!”

By that time, Fluttershy and Twilight had made their way towards the side of my bed opposite Rainbow. “Sky, are you sure you’re okay?” Twilight questioned.

I nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure. It hurt last night, but I’m a lot better now. It doesn’t hurt nearly as much.”

Both girls let out a breath almost simultaneously before Fluttershy spoke up. “That’s good to hear. I wouldn’t know what to do if anything bad ever happened to you,” Her eyes quickly lit up, and a red tint flashed across her cheeks. “B-because we’re friends! Uh, I-I mean...” She looked away, but it seemed to help her calm down. “We are friends, right, Sky?”

I couldn’t help but laugh. I had forgotten how introverted she was, even if it had only been a day since I had last seen her. “Yeah, we are.”

After a brief moment of silence between the three of us (Rainbow Dash and Rarity were still bickering on the other side of the room), Twilight spoke up. “So,” Her voice was soft, and sincere. “What happened, Sky? Rainbow Dash told us the main points, but that was it.”

Rainbow turned at the sudden mention of her name. “Well, that’s all Pinkie told me, that Sky was...” he turned towards me, unwilling to say what we were all thinking, “here.”

I was sick of the silence that constantly befell me wherever I went. “Well, there’s a lot to tell,” I sighed, deciding where would be the best place to start at. “When we were at the football game, putting all of the Culinary Arts stuff up, we were forced to stay inside the school to keep from getting drenched in the storm,” I turned towards the two girls that weren’t there, having no idea what I was referring to, Twilight and Fluttershy, “there were these burglars inside. When they saw Applejack all alone, I guess they saw her as a threat, and started attacking her. Rainbow and I ran ahead and started fighting the guys, trying to keep them off of Applejack. Well, I managed to pull off one of the guys’ masks, and saw that it was Henry-”

“Wait,” Rarity stopped me, “isn’t Henry that boy on the bus? The one you said was your friend?”

I sighed, but nodded. “Yeah, that’s him. Anyway, after I pulled off his mask, he and the other guy ran off. This all happened when Henry and Pinkie were still together, and that was when I figured out that Henry was bad news, so I tried to break them up by threatening Henry, telling him that I would turn him in if he didn’t break up with Pinkie,” I paused, but only for a moment to recollect my thoughts. “Pinkie overheard, and told me that she never wanted to see me again, which was bad enough, but after I turned back around to Henry, he was smiling, like he knew it was coming, and was happy about it. That’s when I flipped. And that’s when you found me and brought me home, Rainbow,” I gestured towards the rainbow-haired girl.

“After a few days, I heard that Henry and Pinkie had broken up, and Henry had started dating Jenna, a girl that was bullying-” I quickly brought myself to a halt, noticed that Twilight had tensed up out of the corner of my eye, and refocused myself, “-uh, one of my other friends. Anyway, I thought that if I talked to Jenna, I could convince her to leave my friend alone. She said that if I met with her the next afternoon, she would leave my friend alone, and never mess with her again. As it turned out, Henry was there too, waiting for me. One thing led to another, and he threw me to the ground and started beating me. That’s when Pinkie showed up, and started defending me. Then Henry pulled out the gun. He was just about to shoot-” I stopped, realizing the magnitude of the situation that Pinkie had put herself into. Not only did she stand up to someone twice her size, but she even threw herself at a loaded gun. “Pinkie grabbed the gun before he could, and I jumped in to help her. The gun went off somewhere in the fighting, and I guess it hit me,” My hand moved towards my wound, and I simply allowed it to lay there. “And... now we’re here.”

The five of us remained in silence to collect our thoughts. However, I was still concerned with Pinkie’s bravery in that situation. Would I have thrown myself at a gun? One that was loaded and ready to fire? I wish I could say that I would have, but that was one of those times when you couldn’t really argue anything without having been put into the situation yourself. I would never know what ran through Pinkie Pie’s mind as Henry aimed at me, ready to pull the trigger and end my life, or if anything did at all. Maybe it was all just instinctive, to protect someone you care about. But that brings other questions to light...

Rarity suddenly spoke through the blanket of silence. “Well,” she began, drawing everyone’s attention in the process, “I’m glad that you’re alright now.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow agreed, “It definitely could’ve been a lot worse.”

I chuckled, mostly from the awkward attention that was brought upon me. “Yeah... The doctor said that I should be better in a couple of weeks,” My mind was brought to the after-math of this wound. How would my life turn out after this was all left behind me? I would be left with a scar, sure, but would we all act like it never happened? Would it be a part of conversation? Should it be something I tell people about? I had no idea, and it worried me.

“That’s...” Twilight spoke softly. She quickly raised her gaze to meet my eyes, but left her own shut tightly. A smile had plastered itself across her face. “That’s wonderful to hear, Sky.”

Rainbow continued her thought. “Yeah, none of us knew what to expect when we heard the news.”

“To be honest,” Fluttershy, oddly enough, made herself known, “we weren’t even sure if you would be awake.”

“Indeed,” Rarity, this time, “let alone be able to hold a conversation, with all the medicine we assumed you would have taken.”

I chuckled once again. “You guys worry too much. Trust me, I’ll be up and moving around in no time.”

We spent the rest of their time there chatting about school, sports, and whatever else would help pass the time. It was nice to have a pleasant conversation for the first time in what seemed like ages, but I couldn’t help but notice that Twilight kept her distance. I knew she wasn’t exactly a “social” person, but the only time she would even acknowledge anyone else was when they spoke directly to her. She was constantly tuning the rest of us out of her mind, focusing on other, more pressing matters, and I was afraid I knew exactly what those matters were.

The girls began to leave only an hour or so after they had arrived, which I could well understand. With our goodbyes said, they began to take their leave. However, I managed to grab Twilight’s hand before she had a chance to get away from the bedside. I wasn’t going to just let her leave while thinking this whole thing was somehow her fault.

The other girls walked out of the room, but not before realizing Twilight was still standing by my side. “Uh, you coming, Twilight?” Rainbow questioned, leaving the other two to stop in their tracks.

“Y-yeah,” she spoke hastily. My grip tightened around her hand, just to ensure she wouldn’t try to twist out of my grasp. “Just... wait for me outside...”

The girls looked between one another, then back towards Twilight. Again, Rainbow spoke, “Uh, alright,” And with that, they left, quietly clicking the door shut behind them.

I turned to Twilight, who was still looking towards the recently closed door. I could only assume she wanted it to open again, or to be able to leave herself. But I would allow no such thing. “You know this isn’t your fault, right?” Her eyes darted towards me, and it was then that I noticed that the tears were welling up in her eyes. This whole time she had been holding it all inside, and I suddenly felt a twinge of guilt for having been the cause of her emotions. “This was going to happen sooner or later. I’m just glad that it’s all over now,” I hoped it was, anyway.

She used her free sleeve to wipe away her tears, then nodded. For a brief moment, she reminded me of a little kid, and I felt like her parent, telling her that everything was going to be okay after her pet hamster died. Only, this was much more serious than a pet dying. Even so, I did what any parent would do in that situation. I moved my way towards her, and pulled her into my embrace. She didn’t react, but I still whispered to her, “I don’t blame you for any of this, and I don’t want you to blame yourself. Promise me that you won’t beat yourself up over something stupid like this, alright?”

I felt her head move ever-so slightly on my shoulder, and I let her go. “There is some good that came out of this, you know.”

She looked at me, with noticeably less force than she had been using. Her voice was soft and pleasant, especially so after spending most of the afternoon without hearing it. “What’s that?”

I smiled. “Jenna won’t be bothering you anymore.”
> Amends
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

    It had been a couple of hours since the girls left. I fell asleep during that time, but I’m not sure when. All I remember is being awoken by the light of the television. An oddly bright scene was being shown, and I couldn’t help but squint as I opened my eyes. I mentally chastised myself for forgetting to turn the thing off, and immediately reached for the remote that sat on the corner table beside my bed.

Instead of clicking the power button, I began going through the channels, seeing as it had only just gotten dark outside. I didn’t want to oversleep like I did that morning. It had always been a nuisance of mine to sleep too late into the morning, as if I were wasting away the day.

I continued to search the channels for anything of interest, finding nothing but news and reality TV shows. I sighed and dropped the remote once I had gone through all the channels that were offered to me, allowing the news to play quietly from the speakers. I tried my best to pay attention, but always found myself to be zoning in and out of reality, and trying my hardest to recall whether or not that nurse ever brought my medicine. It’s a good thing I didn’t need it, I thought to myself.

Luckily for me, a tap on the door broke me from my boredom, and grabbed my attention almost instantaneously. “Come in!” I said, just loud enough for the person standing on the opposite side to hear. I knew it would be the doctor, coming in to perform more tests and take down more notes about my condition. Or maybe it would have been the nurse, finally arriving with my medicine, apologizing for her delay.

Instead, the door stayed closed. I began to suspect that whoever was there didn’t hear me, and opened my mouth to repeat myself. I was abruptly stopped at the creaking of the door that echoed in the room. The door opened slowly, and a pink-haired girl stepped into the room, shutting the door behind her. Her hair was as straight as ever, and fell to just below her shoulders, concealing the majority of her face. She turned towards me, and forced a smile across her lips. “Hi, Sky.”

I sat there a moment, unable to bring myself to speak. Finally, I felt the words utter through my lips, “Hey, Pinkie,” Quite honestly, she was the last person I would have ever expected to visit me on her own accord. She was with me the previous night, but only to ensure my well-being, or so I assumed.

She moved across the room and took a seat next to my bed, just where everybody else had before her, and there she sat. Occasionally I would catch her looking towards me, or at the television, but it was never for very long, almost as if she couldn’t focus on anything, like something else was bothering her, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out what that something was. It fell nearly silent in the room, the only sound coming from the TV, which also happened to be the main source of light. “I’m sorry,” she suddenly spoke.

“You’re... what?”

“I’m sorry,” she spoke louder this time, “for everything I put you through...”

“You’ve got nothing to apologize for,” I spoke surely of myself. I knew exactly what I wanted to say to her, and I meant every word of it. “I’m the one who should be sorry. I went behind your back, and held you over Henry’s head. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen, and I never meant to hurt you,” I turned to face her. “I should have gone to you, and told you everything. Then, none of this ever would have happened,” I turned and shifted my eyes towards the ceiling once again. “So... I’m sorry, for everything I’ve put you through.”

“But,” I heard Pinkie object from the bedside, “if it weren’t for me, you and Henry would still be friends...” I didn’t understand what she meant, and it must have been clear by my expression. “If I never asked you to go to the football game that night, we never would have gone into the school in the first place. Then, you and Henry never would have fought...”

I eyed her, “You knew that was Henry?”

Pinkie nodded. “He caught me after Dashie and I ran out of the theater room. We were going down a hallway when Dashie heard something from ahead of us, and she ran ahead, trying to catch whatever it was before it could get away. That’s when he found me...

“He asked me what I was doing there, and I told him what had happened. But then I asked him why he was there, and why he was wearing black clothes and a mask. He said, ‘I’m just here looking around, that’s all,’ I knew he was lying, but it just came as a shock to me that he would be breaking into the school to do who-knows-what, and I didn’t know what to say.

“Then he got serious, and grabbed me hard by my shoulder, pulling me closer to his face. I tried to break free, but he wouldn’t let me. He started whispering, ‘Just make sure none of your friends get in my way, alright? And don‘t tell any of them I‘m here,’ I tried to ask why, but he pushed me away and ran off in the opposite direction from Dashie. It took me a few seconds, but I got a hold of myself and began rushing towards where Dashie had gone.

“After a while, I found her looking around the gym room. She was so busy searching for the sound, she didn’t even realize that I was there until I made myself known, but by that point I had already wiped away my tears. And that’s where we found this,” Pinkie reached into her pocket and pulled out the blue, teardrop-shaped pendant that she had shown me that night. “I don’t know why, but it helped comfort me. Dashie told me that she didn’t want it, so she gave it to me, and I kept it this whole time.”

I eyed the pendant as she held it in her palm. She was so happy when she found it, but then, after knowing why it made her happy, I could understand. Had she really been holding onto it this whole time? It looked like any other necklace to me, but it meant so much more to her. “Pinkie,” I began, unsure of where else to go, “you know you still could have told us about-”

“No, I couldn’t,” she interrupted. “He was serious when he told me not to tell anyone, and I’m sure he would have hurt me if he found out I told any of you...”

The comment blindsided me. I knew Henry was an awful person, especially after our last moments together, but this was beyond cruel. “But then, when you heard me threaten Henry...”

“I was hurt that you didn’t come to me first, and at least try to tell me what was going on... You just went straight to Henry and tried to solve everything yourself, without thinking about anyone else that was involved...”

“But that’s exactly what you did,” I couldn’t stop myself. “You tried to handle everything yourself, without getting any of us involved, right?” I paused a moment, only to see whether she would retaliate. She didn’t. Instead, she sat there, and looked away from me. “We could have helped you, but you didn’t want us to even know what was going on.”

“I was scared,” I heard her mumble. “I didn’t want anybody to get hurt because of me,” She spoke louder now, and more surely of herself. “There’s a difference.”

“And I couldn’t sit by and watch Henry hurt you,” I bit my tongue, forcing myself to stop talking. But it was of little use. I sighed, “Like he’s hurt me...”

We were quiet for a while, neither of us moving or speaking to the other. I didn’t want to talk anymore. I just wanted to go back to sleep, or wake up from this horrible dream. I didn’t care which. “Sky...” I threw the sheets off of me, and allowed my legs to fall over the opposite side of the bed, sitting myself up. “Sky-”

“I’m fine,” I said as I rose to my feet. A jolt of pain shot through my stomach, and my hand surged towards my wound, my face twisting in pain. I heard shuffling behind me, and soon found Pinkie by my side, reaching towards me. “I don’t need any help. I’m fine,” I stepped around her, which sent another jolt of pain through my body. I winced, and Pinkie grabbed my arm once more. I shrugged away from her and continued towards the door on the far side of the room. “I’m just going to the bathroom,” I stated.

Another step, and another jolt of pain. I squeezed my eyes shut, gritted my teeth, and held my side to fight the pain, but to little avail. When I opened my eyes again, I was met with Pinkie’s clothes. I looked up, and saw her face for a split-second before she wrapped her arms around me, pushing herself closer to me. My eyes went wide, and pain shot through my stomach, but I ignored it. I raised my arms behind her and brought her closer, holding her tightly to my body.

She was warm against my chest, and I didn’t want to let go. In that moment, I didn’t care that we were arguing. I didn’t care that she kept Henry’s threat secret, or that I had betrayed her. I didn’t care what Henry had done to me. I just wanted that moment to last as long as it possibly could.

But, like all great things, it came to an end. I still don’t know who pulled away first, but it didn’t make a difference. Our eyes met, and we smiled, then we laughed. She looked at me again. “Do you need help getting to the restroom?”

I chuckled. “If you don’t mind.”


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


My eyes opened, and I was met with the bright light of the sun outside. I squinted and looked towards its source, the window. I cursed the person who had opened the blinds, and shifted about in my bed, trying to shield my eyes from the awful rays.

I tossed about, only to find myself uncomfortable in any position I happened to come across. I sat up instead, looking straight ahead for a few minutes as I tried to blink away the sleep from my eyes before I turned towards the chair where Pinkie sat, sleeping. Her neck was craned to rest on her shoulder, and her back was arching to one side. She looked painfully uncomfortable, and I warned her so the night before. Yet, she insisted on staying through the night, no matter how much I tried to reason with her. “You’ll miss school tomorrow,” I told her. She simply shrugged, and replied, “It’s okay. I don’t mind missing a day of school! After all, you missed a day too, right?” I laughed it off, saying, “Yeah, but for entirely different reasons.”

I looked at her a bit longer. Her clothes were full of wrinkles, and her hair had become messy through the night. It almost looked to be curling back to its former state, as it was when I first met her. Even with her “less-than-presentable” appearance, she looked peaceful, and seemed to be in a soft slumber. I didn’t want her to stay and miss school, especially over me, but I was glad she did. It helped me sleep knowing that things were better between the two of us, and having her continue to stay there by my side throughout the night helped confirm that fact.

It was odd, though, how simple and easy the solution came to us. All that was needed was an apology to make everything right again, and I still wasn’t even sure that needed to be said. In the end, though, it didn’t matter to me why we were friends again, or even how it all happened. I was just happy that we could finally move past everything, and start over from the beginning as friends, not as the painful memories of our pasts.

I had to force myself to look away from her. My eyes settled on the television screen that, by that point, must have been on for at least a full day. The news was on again, just it like it always was, and just like always, it was about something I had little interest in. I reached for the remote and shut the thing off.

I heard movement coming from the chair beside me, and turned to see Pinkie adjusting herself, trying desperately to get comfortable in the chair. I began to feel bad, allowing her to sleep in such an uncomfortable spot. I wondered if it would have been better to offer her the bed, rather than let her sleep there. Her eyes slowly opened, much in the same way mine had, trying to hide from the light. She yawned, then stretched her arms out in front of her before noticing my gaze. “Good morning, Sky,” Although her voice was still overwhelmed with sleep, there was a certain tone in her voice that told me that she was happy to see me.

I smiled, then made an attempt at a reply. “Morning, Pinkie,” I’ll admit that my voice didn’t sound nearly as enthused as Pinkie’s did, but I was just as happy nonetheless. I began to eye the chair she had slept in. “Sleeping like that couldn’t have been comfortable.”

She smiled. “It wasn’t that bad. It’s actually pretty cozy if you sit in it just right!” She pulled her legs up and tucked them against her body, wrapping her arms around her knees. Somehow I doubted what she was saying.

I returned her smile just before my mouth stretched as wide as it could, letting out a yawn that was far overdue. “I’m tired of sitting in this room all day. Wouldn’t they have some kind of entertainment other than TV here?” Of course, I already knew the answer to that. It was a hospital; nothing more, nothing less. Entertainment wasn’t one of their concerns, and rightfully so. I just wished that it were.

I heard a sigh utter from Pinkie’s lips. “I knew I should’ve brought a game to play...”

I turned to her. “You mean, you were expecting to stay the night?” I placed a hand across my chest and smiled at her. “Am I really that predictable?”

She let out a laugh. “No, of course not, silly! I just wanted to be prepared for anything!” I began to laugh alongside her. It was then that I remembered how contagious her laughter was, and how enjoyable it was to laugh with someone.

I sighed, and felt a rumbling in my stomach. “I’m starving, actually. The last thing I ate was what they brought me just before you got here,” I turned towards Pinkie once more. “I guess you’re probably hungry then too, huh?”

She placed a hand over her stomach, then nodded with a kind of shy grin, almost as if she were embarrassed by the fact that she was hungry. “Yeah, I haven’t eaten in a while, actually.”

I returned my gaze to the ceiling tiles. “Well, I guess I could call someone,” I tilted my head just enough to be able to see the buttons that ran along the side of my bed. I reached for the button that said “nurse,” but was clearly labeled for non-emergencies only. It was made clear by the label that stuck just above the line of colored squares.

After just a minute or so, a short, thin woman walked into the room. She was blonde, and wore a white coat, suitable for a nurse. “Yes, Mr. Asher?”

I froze a bit at how she addressed me. I had never been called anything other than “Sky” before, and it was strange, but in a good way. “Uh, yeah. Do you think it would be alright for us to go down to the cafeteria to eat? I’d prefer not to sit around all day again.”

The lady smiled and nodded. “It shouldn’t be a problem at all, Mr. Asher. Of course, you’ll have to use a wheelchair,” I was about to interject when she added, “It’s hospital policy.”

I nodded, and she left for a chair. I turned to Pinkie, who was giggling softly as I grumbled to myself. “This is demeaning,” I uttered as the nurse walked back into the room with the wheelchair.

She set the chair beside my bed, and helped me into it, despite my objections that I was more than capable of sitting in a chair. Soon after, she told the two of us where the cafeteria was, and left the room. I was no expert on hospital policy, but I was fairly certain that the nurse was supposed to be the one who wheeled the patients around. I didn’t say anything, though. I was more than happy that I would be able to wheel myself around.

I made it to the door, and no further. I had never realized how tiring it would be to use a wheelchair, not to mention the fact that it caused me great pain to constantly roll myself around. It was almost as if I would have re-opened my wound if I continued on that way. Luckily, Pinkie came to my aid after realizing that I never would have been able to make it all the way to the cafeteria on my own, and offered to push me, which I reluctantly agreed to.

It was more difficult to get to the cafeteria than I had thought, but after about ten minutes or so longer than it should have taken we were able to find our way there. Through the double doors, the room was much larger than that of my own, but not a bit more comfortable to be in. Everything was an eggshell white, save for the people themselves. The smell had nearly knocked any hunger I had previously felt out of my system entirely. I could smell the food cooking in the back room, but it smelled nothing like anything I would ever find myself wanting to eat. “I would rather be in my room,” I whispered quietly to Pinkie.

She suddenly charged the chair forward. “Oh, it’s not that bad! It just looks a little...” She paused, glancing about the room and all its monotonous glory. “... plain. Anyway, I’m sure the food will be good! There are a lot of people here, after all.”

She was right about that. For whatever reason, the cafeteria seemed to be a popular point in the hospital, despite the atrocious surroundings. It didn’t surprise me much though, seeing as this was probably the only place patients could actually get to socialize and interact with one another.

We got a spot in the line, which wasn’t very long to begin with. From what I could tell, the cooks behind the counter would simply take whatever was in front of them and throw it on a plate, claiming that was the meal. We simply waited for the cook to make a couple of plates with whatever they happened to put on them before we found a couple of seats near the back of the room, where I could just roll up to the end of a table.

“See?” Pinkie claimed as we took our seats. “This doesn’t look so bad!”

I glanced down at the food that sat in front of me. “Yeah,” I picked up a spoonful of the white, runny substance on my plate. “But how can someone mess up... mashed potatoes, I think?”

Pinkie giggled. “Oh, come on, Sky! You’re being too picky! It’s gotta be much better than it looks, right?” She picked up a spoonful of the mashed potatoes and stuck it in her mouth, almost immediately regretting her decision. I watched on in horror as she gagged down the stuff. She then stuck out her tongue, quietly declaring that it was the worst thing she had ever eaten in her entire life, and that she had eaten rocks that were tastier than this.

I looked down at my plate once more. There was the soft pile of mashed potatoes, a couple of meat patties (I dared not ask what they were made of), and sweet peas, which wouldn’t have been so bad, if I didn’t hate peas in the first place. “I can’t eat this,” I claimed. “This is worse than the lunch at school, and that’s saying something,” I sighed, slouching down in my seat. “I wish there were some other way to get some real food.”

Pinkie hummed for a moment, before suddenly exclaiming. “I know!” A couple of people turned to look at the two of us, with confused expressions. One man even looked offended that we disturbed his “meal.” I quickly suggested that Pinkie not shout, and she blushed. “Sorry, but I could call Mr. and Mrs. Cake to see if they could bring us something!”

I raised an eyebrow. “Mr. and Mrs. Cake? Are they your parents or something?”

Pinkie giggled. “Something. Now come on!” She suddenly jumped from her seat and began rushing towards the door.

I grabbed the wheels of my seat and called to her. “Uh, Pinkie?”

She quickly turned back and blushed. “Oops, uh, sorry,” She walked back towards me and began rolling me out the door, leaving our plates on the table. I could have sworn I heard somebody call after us on our way out.

Luckily for me, Pinkie knew my room number, since she had been able to visit me in the first place. I, of course, had no idea where my room was, save for the general idea I had from back-tracking our path to the cafeteria.

“Are you sure they won’t mind coming all the way out here to bring us food?” I asked as I was being wheeled at a remarkably fast pace. Some people were even forced to dodge us as we raced down the hall.

“Of course not! I do this kind of thing all the time! Well, I did before I moved here, anyway.”

We continued on, and I felt we were nearing my room, when I suddenly slowed, rolling to a complete stop. “Uh, Pinkie?” I turned around to see her staring at one of the doors. “I don’t think that’s my room, right?” I did my best to turn the chair around, and slowly maneuvered myself towards her.

“Sky...” Her voice was quiet, barely loud enough for me to hear.

“Yeah? What’s up?”

“Isn’t your... Isn’t your dad in the hospital?”

“Yeah, but-” My voice caught in my throat as I stopped next to her, staring at the door alongside her, at the label on the door that read “Marvin D. Asher.”
> Reunion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I hadn’t seen my dad in so long. It was almost as if I would be able to see him for the first time in my life. I had no idea as to what sort of condition he would be in, just that it would ultimately be hard to see, regardless of what kind of relationship we had in the past. I didn’t know what I should have expected. Chemotherapy would likely have taken away his hair, something I could never have imagined him without. He would be weak, hardly able to move a muscle, let alone have the ability to speak to me.

I stood up. Pinkie simply watched as I stood there, staring at the label on the door. I reread it over and over again, ensuring it said what I thought it had.

I could still remember how I found out about my father’s illness. I was in class, doing nothing productive, and I felt my phone buzz in my pocket, which was odd, seeing as I didn’t talk to many people who weren’t in school with me. I pulled it out and saw that Jane, my step-mother, had sent me a message. In the text, she had simply told me that my dad was in the hospital with cancer. That was it. We never directly talked about it.

Luckily, I was at least able to visit him once in the hospital, right after I heard about everything that was going on. He had still looked normal then, just like he always had. His hair was very short, almost buzzed completely off, and black. He also had a short beard and mustache, which I had never seen him go without. He was a bit tan, and his hands were rough and always dirty from his work as a carpenter. He would always come home with injuries from his work, but continually insisted that they weren’t a problem, and continued his work as usual. Once he even cut the majority of his toe off after he had dropped a buzzsaw. The doctors were able to re-attach it, but he refused to take the time off of work that he was allowed.

The only times I saw him after that first visit were when he was allowed to leave the hospital for about a week or so, and it was never for longer than that. Every time he got out, he took me somewhere, or we did something together. And he would always get me a present, no matter what it was I wanted.

His condition worsened over the past year, and he was put into a constant chemotherapy cycle, going in as much as his body could handle. After that, he was never allowed to leave the hospital, and Jane didn’t care enough to let me visit him. Every time I questioned her about it, she would shrug me off and change the subject, or give me some ridiculous reason as to why we couldn’t be bothered to drive the half-hour trip to the hospital he was staying at to see him. Once she even told me that he might have been on some powerful medication, and that it would have been a waste of everyone’s time if that were the case.

But now, after just over a full year, I would be able to see him again. There was nothing more that I wanted in the world than to see my father, even for just one last time before he was gone. I raised my fist to the door, allowing my knuckles to rest against the hard wood of the door. I squeezed my eyes shut, then tapped against the door once, twice, then a third time before I twisted the knob.

Inside, the room was dark, with the only light leaking in through the shut curtains of the window. The air was still, as if nobody had been in or out of this room in the longest of times. I began to feel a knot twisting and turning in my stomach, begging me to leave the room and never turn back. But I knew I couldn’t do that, not now that I was already in there.

Then I saw a figure underneath the sheets on the bed. It was small, almost puny. As I inched closer, I could see his head poking out from under the covers, resting gently on the pillows. The closer I got, the more I thought this man to be someone else. He looked nothing like my father ever did. My father was strong, but this man had almost no muscle on his bones. My father was tan, this man was as pale as the rest of the hospital room. No matter how I denied it, I couldn’t help but understand that this was my father, and he could never be the same as he once was.

I stopped beside him, looking down at his face. His eyes were closed, and he was breathing softly. “Dad...” I whispered quietly. If he was awake, surely he would have heard my voice.

His eyes twitched for a brief moment, then slowly opened. He squinted against the almost nonexistent light in the room before turning towards the sound of my voice. “Hey, Boy...” As collected as ever, almost as if we were just having a normal conversation. “I ain’t seen you in a while...” He sounded weak, like it was a strain for him to even be talking to me. I could only stare on, trying to comprehend who this man was, and why he was pretending to be my father.

“Yeah, I’ve... just been busy, that’s all,” No matter who this man was, the last thing I wanted was to worry him. He had enough issues to deal with at the moment. I didn’t want my problems to be any of them.

It took him a moment to continue. “I wish you’d have visited me sooner, Boy. We might have been able to do something...” I felt something catch in my throat, and I clenched my teeth together. “But now, they’re tellin’ me I can’t even get out of bed...” He returned his attention to the ceiling, and shut his eyes once again.

“It’s okay,” I managed. “I just wanted to see you.”

He opened his eyes again and turned his head back in my direction. But something caught his eyes, and he looked just behind where I was standing. “Who’s that there...?”

I whipped my head around, unsure of what to find. I quickly realized it was Pinkie, who I hadn’t even noticed until then. “That’s, uh...” I turned back towards him. “She’s just a friend of mine...”

His mouth twitched, before one side of it turned up. “She’s cute...”

I smiled, then turned back to Pinkie, who smiled as thanks, though I doubted he could tell. “Yeah...”

“Whatcha wearin’ that for, Boy...?”

I turned back towards the sudden voice, then looked down at the hospital clothes that I was still dressed in. “I just... messed up my elbow at school, during basketball in Gym class...”

He sighed. “I told you to be careful with them kids... They’ll hurt ya’...”

I smiled again. “Yeah...” I didn’t know what else to say. To him, this all seemed like a normal, everyday conversation a father is having with his son. But in reality...

“Jane ain’t here...?” I heard him mumble just under his breath.

“Ah- No... No sir, she’s not...” The day I read the letter replayed itself in my mind. Her betrayal, my fury... Applejack.

Dad took a deep breath before continuing. “That’s good...” I felt my heart leap into my throat. The last thing I expected him to say was that he was happy she wasn’t around. He was always admiring her. I always thought that love truly is blind. “I’m glad she visits me so often... But she can be a damned pain when she wants to be...”

The words slipped out before I had meant for them too. “She visits you? Every time I asked, she would always give me some excuse, that there was no gas, or she had to be somewhere, or you might not even-”

“Hush, Boy... I don’t want to hear none of that...” He spoke as matter-of-factly as he was able. Still, his point got across, and I shut my mouth almost instantly, almost regretting what I had said. “How’s school goin’...?”

“Fine...” I couldn’t help but be a little down from being called out. “I told you I made some friends,” I nodded my head back towards the third presence in the room.

Dad turned his attention back towards her. “I can see that... Be sure to take care of him, now...” I heard Pinkie giggle from behind me in a polite tone, rather than a cheerful one. “He ain’t very good with people...”

“Don’t worry,” I turned towards Pinkie’s voice, staring as she spoke to him. Before that moment, I could have honestly said that I didn’t think any of the girls would meet him. “We’ll keep a sharp eye out for him,” But I was happy that Pinkie did.

I heard my father let out a dry chuckle before turning back in his direction to see him gently drop his head back onto the pillow below it. “That’s good to hear...” He closed his eyes, only for a moment before a soft snoring came from his throat.

I looked back at Pinkie, who merely glanced at me before she understood. We both began towards the door, which I was hardly aware had even shut behind us as we stepped out into the hallway.

I turned the corner and began towards the direction I had thought my room to be, leaving Pinkie to push the empty wheelchair behind me. If she had attempted to persuade me to sit in the chair again, I hadn’t heard her. In all honesty, I didn’t care at that point. I was able to walk, and that’s what I intended to do.

We had made it to my room within a few minutes, and gone inside, me sitting back on the hospital bed and Pinkie taking a seat in her chair. After a few moments, Pinkie wondered if she should still have called Mr. and Mrs. Cake to ask if they would be able to bring us anything to eat. “I’m not hungry anymore,” I told her.

We sat there for a long time, neither of us saying anything to the other. I was consumed with what I had just witnessed, and I could only assume Pinkie was trying to give me the time and space that I needed. After a while, though, she had apparently decided that enough was enough, and aimed to put an end to my moping by changing my thoughts. “When do you think they’ll let you out of here? It shouldn’t be too much longer, right?”

I convinced myself to at least humor her. If anything, I thought that it might relieve the tension in the room. “I have no idea. I once heard something about a guy get shot with a shotgun, and he was out in five days.”

I saw Pinkie cock her head to one side out of the corner of my eye. “Do you think you’ll be getting out that soon?”

I turned towards her. “I hope it’ll be sooner, but better late than never,” I hadn’t meant for my statement to have such a somber tone, but Pinkie didn’t seem to catch on. “But I doubt it’ll be today-” A knock on my door interrupted me, and I announced that whoever this interruption was could enter.

The doctor walked into the room, glanced at Pinkie, then back down towards the clipboard that he held in his hand. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware you had a visitor. But it’s no matter,” He stepped towards the side of my bed that was connected to the many machines in the room. “If you don’t mind, Miss, I’ll have to ask you to step out into the hallway for just a moment. I need to take a look at Sky’s wound to see how it’s healing,” The man dotted something down on his clipboard as Pinkie rose to her feet, heading towards the exit with a nod.

I turned back towards the doctor as he finished his notes. “Did she really have to leave? You’re just looking at my side, right?”

He dropped his clipboard on the nearest surface, the end table, and turned his attention towards me. “That has nothing to do with it. If I find something, then I’ll tell you right away. If she were in here when I did, it would violate doctor-patient confidentiality, you see,” His grim tone made me think the worst was happening, but I convinced myself that he had possibly just been in a very serious situation, as doctors tend to be in. “Now, let me see your wound.”

I lifted my shirt, feeling his cold, gloved fingers press against my side, sending shots of pain through my body. He had tried his best to avoid touching the wound directly, but he often got close enough to send a jolt of pain through me, causing me to wince and jerk a bit. He apologized each time it happened. “All right,” he finally straightened himself and removed his glove, which had a distinct lack of blood. “It looks to be healing normally. If you’re ready, I think we’re ready to let you go. I’ll prescribe you something for the pain, of course, but after that-”

“Wait,” I interrupted. “You’re letting me go now? After just a couple of days? I was shot! Shouldn’t you at least perform an x-ray? Or something?”

The doctor smiled. “An x-ray is for bone damages, and no, we don’t need to perform any other tests. Your torso seems to be healing quite well, and you should be back in school by next week, so long as nothing else happens between now and then.”

I was still in disbelief. How many days had it been? Two? Three? A bullet had gone through me! Shouldn’t they watch it until it healed completely? “What am I supposed to do now, then?”

He laughed. “You go home, get some rest, and don’t do anything too laborious. You’re still very weak, and heavy lifting could injure you permanently at this stage,” The man glanced down at his wristwatch, apparently having been late for another meeting somewhere, as he quickly grabbed his clipboard and headed towards the door. “I’ll have a nurse come soon with your prescription and discharge you. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to ask her any other questions you have,” And with that, he was gone.

Pinkie walked back into the room afterwards, staring at my still-shocked expression. “What happened? What did he say?” Her voice was concerned, almost as if she believed the worst was happening.

I turned towards her, my face hardly changing. “I’m going home today.”


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


The nurse was there a bit later than I had expected her, though I didn’t mind much. I was just happy to be out of that awful place. After signing some papers and receiving my prescription for some rather powerful medication, along with my belongings, Pinkie called Mr. and Mrs. Cake and asked if they would be able to come and pick the pair of us up.

“Do you want to stay at the bakery until school is out?” Pinkie had asked me as I was being wheeled out of the front doors. “We can bake some cupcakes for the front! It’ll be fun!” I agreed, and told her that I would love to, especially since I would have been stuck with Granny Smith again if I had gone back to Applejack’s house, which wasn’t bad, just boring.

Mr. Cake had come to pick us up. He was a tall, almost lanky man with orange, short hair. I noticed that he was still wearing his apron and paper hat, I assumed from working at the bakery, but decided against pointing it out.

The ride consisted of Mr. Cake asking me questions about where I’m from and what I like to do; just general “who are you” kind of stuff. Pinkie seemed interested as well, and I realized that I hadn’t really told her much about myself. 
The pair looked nothing alike. Before, I had thought that Mr. and Mrs. Cake were Pinkie’s parents, but after seeing them next to each other, I couldn’t tell. Maybe Pinkie takes after Mrs. Cake? That notion was quickly discarded after I stepped through the door to Sugarcube Corner. Mrs. Cake was significantly shorter than Mr. Cake, a little shorter than average height, and had blue, almost swirling hair.

“Oh, hello there!” Mrs. Cake greeted me, almost like I was any other customer. “You must be Sky, right?” She stepped around the counter, despite the fact that a couple of people were looking around the shop, to properly introduce herself. “I’m Mrs. Cake. It’s wonderful to finally meet you!” She reached towards me with an open hand, so I grabbed it and shook.

I forced a smile. I was never good at greetings. “Yeah, it’s nice to meet you, too.”

“Excuse me, Mrs. Cake?” A customer had made her way to the counter in the time it took us to make our introductions.

Mrs. Cake turned around. “Oh, of course!” She turned back towards Pinkie and me, while Mr. Cake quickly made his way towards the back of the bakery, where I could only assume the kitchen was located. “Pinkie Pie, why don’t you give Sky a tour? I’m sure he’d love to see everything.”

“Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie exclaimed before grabbing my hand and pulling me away towards a set of stairs.

“Ah!” I shouted as Pinkie tugged at my arm. “Pinkie! My side!”

She immediately let go, smiling as if she had forgotten. “Oh, sorry!” She quickly continued her way up the steps, and I followed as quickly as I was able.

There I was met with a hallway, which bore several doors and another set of stairs leading up. “This,” Pinkie began, drawing my attention back towards the pink-headed presence, “is Mr. and Mrs. Cake’s room. I’m not allowed in there,” I could have assumed as much. “Next,” Pinkie moved on to the next door in line, “is the bathroom,” She tip-toed towards the last door in the hallway. Her voice became a low hush instead of its usual, high-pitched tone. “This is the baby Cakes’ room. It’s their nap-time now, so we have to be quiet.”

I smiled and nodded. How could the Cakes handle running a bakery and raising children? Pinkie moved towards the stairs, and I followed. The door at the top of the steps was bright pink, with several colored balloons glued to its surface. “This is my room!” She threw open the door before I had a chance to respond. Inside, the room was bright and colorful. The walls were a light pink, with several colored decorations hanging from them. Her bed was a much darker pink, with blue sheets that were striped with yellow. A couple of objects were scattered around the room as well, like a ball or two, balloons, and a small, blue cannon. I had no idea why Pinkie would ever need a cannon, but I wasn’t about to ask.

Pinkie stepped inside, grabbed a ball, and tossed it in my direction. I was barely able to smack the thing away in time before it hit me. “What was that for?”

“How’d you like my tour? It’s not much, but it’s home!” She flopped down on her bed and stretched her arms out.

“Well,” I began, stepping into the room with some final glances, “it’s small, but cozy, I guess. Didn’t you say we were going to make cupcakes, though? Where’s the kitchen?”

Pinkie sat up. “Oh, it’s downstairs. But I don’t think we’ll be able to do any baking, not right now, anyway. We might get in Mr. Cake’s way.”

“Oh, alright,” I looked around the room once more. “So, what are we gonna do then?”

Pinkie fell back again, her face scrunched in thought. “Hmm... Oh, I know!” She jumped from her bed and rushed towards her closet. She opened the door and began rummaging through some of the things inside. After a moment or so, she stepped back, holding a white box. “We could play Monopoly!” She instantly looked to regret her choice, though, looking down at the box with a curious expression. “Hmm... actually, I don’t like this game,” She tossed it to the side and continued her search.

After about ten different games, including Chutes and Ladders, Risk, Candy Land, and some other family games, Pinkie finally decided on Battleship, since there were only two of us. We set up the board, me putting my ships in random places. Pinkie, on the other hand, had apparently thought long and hard about her choices, as she took about five minutes longer than I did to place her ships. “You’re going down, now! You’ll never find my ships!” Pinkie exclaimed after she had placed her final ship on the board.

“B-5,” I stated simply.

Pinkie instantly looked defeated. “Aww, you hit my battleship...”


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


We worked our way through a couple of other games, all of which I won. I may have gotten a big head without meaning to though, because the next game Pinkie pulled out was Twister, and I had completely forgotten about my injury, as did she.

Whoever was able to was in charge of flicking the spinner, which was generally Pinkie. She was much more flexible than I was, which isn’t saying much in itself, but she seemed to be made of rubber. My hands and feet were seemingly as far apart as they possibly could be, and I was having trouble. Pinkie, on the other hand, seemed to be having no trouble at all, as she was unintentionally showing off. Every time we had to flick the spinner, she would somehow manage to work her way around me in ways I never thought possible.

Eventually, we were both hardly able to move a muscle. My leg was under her’s, even though I was standing like a table, my back towards the ground, and she was forced to move under my body to get her hand on red. The next spin told me to do the same. I tried to reach around and place my hand on any open red spot, but by that time, the medication had apparently worn off, and I was beginning to feel the pain in my side once more. It was growing with every stretch, and I couldn’t hold on any longer. I collapsed on top of Pinkie, who fell to the floor with a thud.

My attempt to reach over my own body had put my stomach towards the ground, and Pinkie was laying under me, facing the ceiling. She began laughing, and I did the same. “I finally won!” She said, reaching an arm across the floor.

“Only because my side started hurting!”

She rolled her eyes. “Excuses, excuses... you’re just sad that I’m better than you at Twister,” We laughed for a little more before the moment passed, and we were simply left in each other’s presence, both of us looking at the other.

I had never noticed before, but her eyes were a baby blue color. They were bright, and very pretty. She had a cute nose too, small, but cute. Her lips were similarly sized. They looked smooth, and a bit plump at the same time. And her expression had quickly changed, as I noticed. It wasn’t a laughing, happy one anymore, but rather a blank slate. Her eyes were wide, and they were staring directly into mine.

I didn’t know what to do, or what I should have done, but my neck was getting tired, so I began lowering my head towards her, and she moved towards me as I did her. It was almost as if neither of us were moving at all, but I knew we were. Our faces were growing closer and closer, and it was almost as if time was standing still around us. As our lips inched together, I could feel her warmth on my mouth. The rest of my body suddenly felt colder, and I wanted desperately to feel the full warmth of Pinkie’s lips against my own.

I don’t know when our lips touched. All I knew was that I had made contact, and I closed my eyes at some point. She was warm, and I wanted nothing more than to stay there for the rest of my life, with her. I felt my body suddenly tense, then quickly relax. Underneath my body, I felt Pinkie’s do the same. The rest of her body felt just as warm as her lips did, and I found myself longing to wrap her in my embrace.

My eyes shot open as a knock on the door stole my attention. Pinkie’s eyes were just as wide, and we looked at each other for a moment before the disruption began speaking. “Pinkie? Are you two alright? I heard something fall.”

I scrambled off of Pinkie, and soon found myself sitting on her bed, my arms by my side, and my legs crossed on the floor. The door opened afterwards, allowing Mrs. Cake to enter the room. “What happened?”

Pinkie turned to her from her seated position on the floor. “I-It’s nothing, Mrs. Cake! I was just, uh...” She quickly glanced around the room and found her stack of board games near the closet. “I was looking for something in my closet, and I dropped something.”

Mrs. Cake glanced towards the pile of games near the closet door, then looked back towards the pair of us. “Oh, well be careful then, Pinkie. I don’t want you two getting hurt again, okay?”

Pinkie smiled. “Okay! We’ll be careful!” And with that, Mrs. Cake left, shutting the door behind her. The room was quiet for a few moments, as we waited to ensure that she wouldn’t return.

Pinkie and I finally looked at each other, her expression just as confused and worried as mine. I still wasn’t fully aware of what had just happened. I had never kissed a girl before, and I got the feeling Pinkie’s situation was similar, just by looking at her. How are you supposed to act after it happens? Does everything go back to normal? I didn’t know, so we sat there, neither of us saying anything for a long time.

Eventually, Pinkie rose to her feet, straightened her skirt, and began towards the closet to begin setting everything back in their proper places. I began folding the Twister mat and organizing the box. Then after a while, I began worrying. Had I done something wrong? She had leaned in towards me too, or I thought so. Could I have been mistaken? “Sky,” Pinkie broke my train of thought. “I’m sorry. I knew I shouldn’t have, but I couldn’t help it...”

“No, it’s okay. I just... don’t know what to think... is all...” Things were quiet again, and I finished packing the box, handing it off to her to place inside the closet. A glance at my phone showed that it was only a little after two o’clock. We had only left the hospital about three hours before, and school wouldn’t let out for another hour. I tilted my head in Pinkie’s direction, who had found a spot beside me on the bed. “Should we... talk about it?”

She only sat there. “I don’t know... I’ve never kissed anyone before... I don’t know what to think...”

I turned back towards the ground. “Me neither...”

After a while of sitting together in silence, Pinkie suddenly rose to her feet. “Well, why don’t we make those cupcakes now? Mr. Cake shouldn’t be too busy in the kitchen!”

I rose after her, happy that the situation was finally over. “Alright, sounds fun,” I followed closely behind as Pinkie made her way back towards the bottom floor of the bakery. I constant thought was nagging at the back of my mind, though. Why can’t things just go back to the way they were...?
> Discovery
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I called Applejack once school had let out, telling her about how I had been discharged from the hospital and where I was. She agreed to stop by the bakery and pick me up on her way home from school, though she didn’t sound quite as excited as I had hoped she would. Just like my father, Applejack talked as though everything was normal, like I had never been shot. I supposed it was probably for the best anyway, since thinking about it too much wouldn’t help anybody.

Applejack arrived soon after, and Pinkie and I said our goodbyes. The ride home was full of questions, which I should have expected. She was curious about how I was feeling, what kind of medicine I was put on, and the like. She also asked me about a question about what happened that day, “if you’re okay with tellin’ me, of course,”

Apparently, Pinkie was in too much shock to say anything other than that I’d been shot, and that they had to follow the ambulance to the hospital. Applejack didn’t know who was there, who did it, or any of the other details of what happened, so I told her. It didn’t feel right leaving her in the dark after everything she’d done for me. I answered whatever questions she had, but there were, surprisingly, not that many. Her main concern, of course, was who did it, and I told her exactly who it was.

“Really? Honestly, I never thought things would go that far,” She hardly showed any expression, eyes locked on the road as if we were driving through a hurricane.

“Yeah, neither did I,” I shifted in my seat, laying my head against the seat behind me. “But it doesn’t matter now. The police came asking, and I told them everything that happened. They’ve probably already caught him.”

Applejack turned in my direction for a quick moment before facing the road once again. “Doesn’t it make you mad?”

My head rose, turning to face her. “No, why? Should it?”

“Well,” I saw her hands adjust their grip on the wheel, “if my so-called ‘friend’ turned a gun on me for no good reason, it’d probably get under my skin, even just a little.”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Getting angry wouldn’t really help anything, especially not now,”

Applejack turned the wheel, and we pulled into the driveway of Sweet Apple Acres. “I guess,” was her final thought on the matter. She spoke up once more, however, as she pulled the key from the ignition. “So, you and Pinkie are friends again, huh?”

I pulled myself from the car, turning back around to face her as she did the same. “Yeah, things are finally,” I paused, but only for a moment, “back to normal.”

“Well, I’m happy for ya, Sky,” Applejack exclaimed as she grabbed her bag from the backseat and threw it over her shoulder, apparently having missed my momentary lapse in thought.

As I stepped inside the house, I was greeted with the sweet smell of Granny Smith’s homemade apple pie. It was nice being able to smell something so good after so long. The only smell I ever got in the hospital was the one of sterilized syringes and cleaning supplies.

Granny Smith walked through the kitchen door just after Applejack had shut the door behind us. “Oh, Sky! Applejack told me you’d be back today!” She began her way towards the pair of us, moving as quickly as she was able. “I even made a pie for the occasion!”

I smiled. “Thanks, Granny Smith!” I then noticed there was a distinct lack of half the family. “Where are Big Mac and Apple Bloom?”

Applejack spoke from behind me. “Apple Bloom rides the bus home with her friends, and Big Mac’s probably in the field. Right, Granny Smith?”

“Absolutely!” Granny Smith said, after finally having reached us.

“Well then,” Applejack began, walking back out the front door, “I’ll go see if he needs a hand. I’ll be back in a little bit,” She waved a hand over her shoulder, shutting the door behind her.

Granny Smith turned back to me. “Say, why don’t you go wash up there, Sky? I could use another pair of hands in the kitchen. Shouldn’t be too hard on ya’.”

I nodded. “Sure, I can do that,” And with that, I was off to clean myself up, as I soon discovered that I was still covered in flour and frosting from making cupcakes.


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


I slept restlessly that night. So much had happened, and I had no idea how I should have felt about any of it.

I saw my father for what seemed like the first time in my life. It was barely even the same person, let alone my father. He was strong, and had a deep voice, but this man was puny and soft-spoken. He had said that Jane visited him a lot, even a bit too much. How could she have gone to see him so many times, but leave me alone every time I asked to see him? I’m his son, and he’s my father. That’s almost incomparable to what she was: some useless piece of trash, not even worth his time. It made me angry just thinking about it all, so I didn’t.

Instead, I thought about what happened after I was discharged from the hospital... with Pinkie Pie. We had just made up, and were friends again, then I had to go and do something stupid. I kissed her. How can things be like they used to be after that? She said that she had wanted to as well, but I couldn’t believe her. It was probably just something she said to relieve the tension, but it wasn’t helping; far from it. I was stupid to even agree to playing Twister, especially with my wound. Things can never go back to the way they were, not after that moment. No matter how hard we try, it’ll always be there in our minds, forcing its way into the forefront of our thoughts. At least, that’s how it seemed to be working in my head.

And what was going to happen with Henry? The police will probably arrest him, but what then? Life can’t go back to the way it was after I had been shot. I’ll always be weaker, even if I heal completely, and I’ll always have the knowledge that somebody tried to kill me. How does a person continue living a normal life after going through something like that? They can’t. At least, I can’t.

Eventually, I was able to push away my thoughts for long enough to allow my mind to drift into a deep sleep, which I was in desperate need of.

The following day I stayed home from school. My wound was still painfully reminding me of how fresh it actually was, and it would have been foolish of me to put any undue stress on it, and as such, I was allowed to help Granny Smith around the house, and nothing more. There, surprisingly, wasn’t much for me to help with, besides making lunch for Granny Smith, Big Mac, and me, and, of course, cleaning up afterwards. I cleaned up a bit around the house until Granny Smith dozed off in her chair, at which point I decided to work on a bit of homework, that I would surely have been expected to do, even with my injury.

After a while, Applejack got back from school, announcing herself, much to Granny Smith’s surprise. I could hear her jerk awake from upstairs in my own room. I walked downstairs to greet Applejack myself, and she seemed happy to see me. “Hey there, Sky! Feelin’ better today?”

I nodded. “Yeah, much better,”

Applejack smiled at me. “Good. In that case, follow me. I got somethin’ I could use your help with!”

Granny Smith quickly interjected. “Now Applejack, don’t you put him through anything too much, y’hear? Wouldn’t want him gettin’ hurt again.”

“Don’t you worry none, Granny Smith,” Applejack turned back around in the doorway. “It ain’t nothin’ too bad.”

The walk across the orchard was fairly quiet. I tried to ask Applejack what it was we would be doing, but she just told me, “Don’t you worry about it. It’s easy!”

There was a lot more land than I was expecting. Even though I knew that it was an apple orchard, I had never even considered how much land they could possibly have owned, but it was a lot, as it turned out. We walked for half-an-hour, or at least, it felt that way, before we finally found a spot atop a hill. I looked around, finding that I could barely see the tiny farmhouse, let alone the edge of the orchard.

“Are you sure we didn’t need to bring anything?” I asked before turning back towards the farm girl.

Applejack stepped behind one of several nearby trees and knelt down, pulling a wooden bucket into my field of vision. “Nah. I knew we’d be back up here today, so I just left everything we needed from yesterday.”

“Oh,” I took a step closer to the bucket, which was filled with several tools, some of which I had never seen in my life. “So, what exactly are we going to be doing up here?”

“Well,” she began, reaching into the bucket and yanking out a pair of clippers, “a lot of the trees aren’t in their best shape. So we need to trim’em, check the ground around’em, and make sure they’re as healthy as they can possibly be. You see, we bought this orchard from somebody who thought the land had run its course, but as it turns out,” she tossed me a set of clippers, followed by a trowel, “they just didn’t know how to keep up the land properly.”

“So now we have to fix what they thought was a lost cause?”

“That’s the gist of it, yeah,” Applejack began clipping some stray twigs and leaves off of one of the nearby trees.

“That sounds simple enough, I guess,” I took to a tree of my own, cutting off anything that seemed out of place. After a while, Applejack found her way over to where I was, and began watching me work. “What?”

“You do know you’re cutting off some of the buds, right?” She pointed down to the ground, where several white flowers lay.

“Oh,” I looked back up at her, an awkward smile across my lips. “Sorry.”

She laughed. “Don’t worry ‘bout it none, Sky. Just be sure to avoid them from now on, ‘kay?” She began cutting off some of the branches I had missed. “Pinkie was back in school today.”

“Was she?” I had expected her to be.

“I hope it ain’t a big deal, but she told me what happened, you know.”

I stopped cutting the leaves. “She did?” I felt a lump swell up in my throat. What could have possibly made Pinkie want to tell anyone about that kiss? Surely she couldn’t have thought that kiss meant anything between us. I mean, it did, but nothing I knew how to feel about. And from the way she acted afterwards, she was just as lost as I was on the matter.

“Yeah,” She cut a final leaf off the tree before moving on to the next tree in line. “I can’t imagine what you’re feeling right now, but I just want to let you know that I’ve always got an open ear for you.”

She hit the nail on the head with that one. I had no idea what to feel, or even what I should be feeling. “It’s a little hard to hear that she already told someone about it,” What else was I to say? It was already hard enough with Pinkie, the girl who was just as confused about the whole situation as I was, but now I was supposed to talk to Applejack about it?

Applejack stopped cutting as I arrived at the same tree she had been trimming. “Why’s that?”

“Well, I still don’t even know how to feel about any of it. I never even meant for it to happen.”

Applejack lowered her clippers, placing a fist on her hip and staring straight through me. “You didn’t mean for what to happen?”

I stopped as well, looking back towards her. “You know, the kiss, like Pinkie said... right?”

Applejack’s eyes grew. “You kissed Pinkie Pie?”

I felt my heart drop in my chest. If that wasn’t what she was talking about then... “What did Pinkie tell you?”

“She told me about your dad, and how you saw him yesterday for the first time in years! But nothing about any kiss!”

“Oh... W-well, uh...” I couldn’t muster up the words I wanted to say, even if I knew the words to say. So, I settled for an excuse. “T-there’s been... a lot on my mind... lately...”

“That much is clear...” Applejack whispered to herself. It was just loud enough for me to hear, although I don’t think she meant for me to. “I didn’t know y’all had gotten that close.”

Neither did I. “We aren’t... I think. It was just something that... happened. I never even thought about Pinkie like that until after the, uh... kiss,” I stood there a moment, my hand slowly losing grip on the clippers, before I snatched the tool back into my grasp and continued cutting stray leaves. “But I don’t even know what to think right now, so I really don’t want to talk about it...”

Applejack watched me for a moment before continuing her own work. “You know, talking about it might help you figure things out, Sky.”

“What am I supposed to figure out? How I feel about Pinkie Pie? I can figure that out on my own, thanks.”

I saw Applejack glance at me for a brief moment before she went back to trimming the tree. She had already finished and moved on to the next one by the time she spoke again. “Well, how’s seeing your dad go? It’s been a while since you last saw him, right? How’s he doing?”

“Fine,” I stated a bit more aggressively than I had intended. I forced my eyes towards her, and our eyes locked for a moment. Her’s were stern, almost like a mother’s to a child when he did something wrong. “Sorry... He could be doing better. I don’t know all the details, but I could hardly recognize him when I saw him.”

“Did you get a chance to talk to him? There must’ve been a lot to talk about, huh?”

“Not really,” I admitted. “Pinkie was there, and I told him she was one of my friends at school. That was about it,” Thinking back on it, we didn’t talk much about anything, even before my dad was diagnosed with the cancer. I shouldn’t have expected to talk about much else. “He fell asleep before we had a chance to talk about anything else.”

“Well, at least y’all had the chance to talk,” Her voice was still stern, but in a way I didn’t fully understand. She seemed... bitter, and she stopped looking at me, only watching the leaves she had cut and the clippers at work.

“Did I-” A clap of thunder echoed across the orchard, and my attention was ripped away towards the blackening sky. Rows of clouds had accumulated since we had arrived on top of the hill, and were threatening rain at any given moment. I looked back towards Applejack. “Was it supposed to rain today?”

Her eyes were still pointing towards the sky. “Not that I know of, but we should get back to the house before it gets any worse. The trees can wait another day,” She tossed our tools back into the bucket and lifted the thing with ease.

Despite her obvious strength, I felt compelled to ask, “Need a hand?”

“Nah,” She started back towards the direction we had come from. “Besides, you can’t carry anything too heavy, remember?”

“Oh, right,” I felt bad about not being able to help, but only for a moment before a strike of lightning in the distance caught my attention. It was quickly followed by the crashing of thunder.

Applejack turned towards the sound, letting the bucket drop to the ground. “Ain’t this just great? C’mon! Hopefully the rain won’t mess up the tools too bad.”

She started back towards the house at a hustle, with me following closely behind.


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


The rain began long before we had ever returned to the house. As we stepped through the door, Apple Bloom almost bowled the pair of us over, almost throwing me to the side in order to get to Applejack. “Applejack, are you okay?” She almost immediately pulled away from the dripping girl, regretting her decision. “Oh, yeah... you’re all wet...”

Applejack smiled. “We’re alright, Sugarcube. Just got a little wet is all.”

Apple Bloom turned her attention back to me. “Oh, hey there, Sky! I’m, uh, glad you’re alright too.”

I couldn’t help but smile at her innocence. Applejack quickly began towards the stairs before anyone had a chance to stop her. “I’m gonna go change before I catch a cold. You might wanna do the same, Sky,” She continued up the stairs until she disappeared from our vision, shutting a door soon afterwards.

Apple Bloom stopped me before I had a chance to follow Applejack up the stairs. “Is something wrong with Applejack?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. I think I might have said something to her in the field, but I was only talking about my dad.”

Apple Bloom’s brow lowered, and she looked down at the floor. “Oh, that’s what it is, then.”

“That’s what what is?”

“Well-” Apple Bloom was cut off by Granny Smith, who had just entered from the kitchen. “If Applejack didn’t say anything, then it ain’t our place to, Apple Bloom.”

Apple Bloom’s expression quickly changed to match Granny Smith’s blank slate. “Oh, yes ma’am...”

Granny Smith quickly turned back towards me. “Now, why don’t you go ahead and change, Sky. Wouldn’t want you catching anything, you hear?”

“Oh,” I looked back down at my still-soaking clothes. “Yeah,” I made my way upstairs as quickly as my dripping jeans would allow, shutting myself in my own room to change into something dry and comfortable.

Afterwards, I tossed my wet clothes into a hamper I had brought from my old house, claiming that I would wash them later that night, and stepped back out into the hallway, where I found Applejack patiently awaiting me. “Oh, hey.”

“Uh, hey. Would you mind if I talked to you a minute?”

I felt a lump swell into my throat. “Uh, yeah, sure...” These kinds of “talks” always made me uneasy. There was never any way to tell what they wanted to talk about, and it was typically never anything good.

Applejack motioned for me to follow her, and I did. We didn’t go very far, just across the hall to her own room. It was simply decorated, with almost everything being made of wood. There was a dresser, bed, a nightstand, and not much else. The most color in the room was in her orange comforter that was neatly sprawled across her bed.

I stepped inside, and Applejack shut the door behind me. I stood in the middle of the room as she walked past me, taking a seat on her bed. I sat next to her. “Sorry about earlier. I didn’t mean to act the way I did.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I assured her. “Sorry if I said something that offended you.”

“It ain’t that,” Applejack stopped a moment before sighing. “I ever tell you about my parents?” I shook my head. “Well, it’s kind of a long story...”

“I don’t have any plans.”

She looked up at me, made an awkward attempt at a smile, then proceeded to tell her story. “I was real young when it happened, ‘bout five or six or so...”
> Abandoned
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ma and Pa were wonderful parents to Mac, Apple Bloom, and me. They treated us right when we earned it, and punished us rightly when we didn’t. We grew up on a nice piece of land not too far from here. Sure, it wasn’t anything compared to what we got now, with acres and acres of apple trees and chickens and pigs and horses, but it was my home. There were only a small field of apple trees, but not much else to look at. Heck, I don’t even know why we called it a farm, but it sure made the work that much easier.

Both my parents wanted to continue the Apple traditions and run an apple orchard, but starting out, things were tough. Unlike our namesake, money didn’t grow on trees and it was hard to come by. We tried selling what little produce we could manage around to the folks at the local farmer’s market, but that usually only brought in enough to keep the farm running for the next season or so. There wasn’t much left for anything other than the necessities. Ripped, hand-me-down clothes doesn’t earn you many friends. Apples can only last a family for so long, despite what Granny Smith might tell ya’. When your breakfast, lunch, and dinner are just… apples… in different shapes… you tend to get sick of it.

Then, when you’re forced to eat part of your product, you notice it the next time you get back from the farmer’s market. We were forced to cut back; eat less, work more. Ma and Pa were to proud to ask anybody for help. I could see the pain in their eyes every time we sat down for a meal. Knowing there wasn’t much you could do to ease the pain except… keep working. “If we just work hard, things’ll turn around, you’ll see!” Pa was always to optimistic about everything, but he couldn’t hide it from us any better than Ma could.

During lunch one day, a classmate of mine saw me open an apple-themed lunch for the hundredth day in a row. “Hey Applejack,” he said. “Why don’t you try something other than apples for once? I know that’s basically all you know, but look at this!” He pulled out an orange from his lunch bag and waved it in my face. “They call this an orange!” Between laughs from himself and other kids around him, he began peeling it before taking a huge bite. “Mmm… Delicious!” The juice dripped from his mouth, and I began to feel the tears well up in my eyes.

“And look at this thing!” He reached into his bag a second time and pulled out a sandwich. “It’s called a turkey sandwich! Do you know what turkey is?” I nodded, and felt my lips begin to quiver as the first tears began to lead the way down my cheeks. “Oh, I’m sorry, that’s rude of me!” I looked back up at him as he began to tear away the crusts of his sandwich and toss them towards me. “Why don’t you try this? Be careful though! There’s no apple in it!” And just like that, the kids began laughing all around me. The tears started dripping from my face, but all I could do was clench my eyes and face the floor, trying to tune everything out.

I knew it was just teasing from the other kids, but everything they said just tore at me more and more until I thought I would snap at any second. I was about to shout back at them, to tell them to leave me alone, but I heard another voice step in before my own. “That’s enough!” My head shot up to see Big Mac standing in front of me through my tears. To this day I don’t know where he came from, but to be honest, it doesn’t really matter none to me.

“What are you gonna do about it?” A couple of the boys got to their feet and made their way through the others towards Mac. “You’re just an apple-eater too! I bet you’ve never eaten anything that isn’t an apple!”

Big Mac was a couple of grades ahead of us, but he still wasn’t much bigger than we were at the time. Some of the bigger boys in the group quickly realized this and began surrounding him, but it didn’t seem to faze Big Mac a bit. “That ain’t got nothin’ to do with anythin’! Y’all just go on and leave my baby sister alone!” I always hated it when Mac called me his baby sister, but that day I took pride in it.

The boys started laughing at him. “These guys probably eat apples all day and roll around in mud, just like pigs! Hear that? You’re both nothing but pigs! And so is your family!” Big Mac stood firm, not letting anything those rotten kids said get through to him. I wish I could have done the same, but the tears hit again. They hit hard this time, running down my face through my cries and sobbing. But Mac just eyed the boys down.

“Come on!” One of the boys said. “These pigs aren’t worth it!” Luckily the other boys started agreeing with him and slowly started making their way towards another group of kids, oinking back at us the whole way.

My crying didn’t let up at all, even after the boys had left. I didn’t want to eat apples anymore, not because of those kids’ insults, but because they were the ones who brought my own thoughts out into the open. I ate apples for every meal, every day. Truthfully, it had been a long time since I’d eaten anything else. The last sandwich I’d had was probably at a family reunion the year before, and I couldn’t even remember what an orange tasted like, it’d been so long. ‘Are we really that much better than pigs?’ I found myself thinking. ‘All they do is eat apples and roll around in mud, and all we do is work through the mud and dirt just to grow more apples to eat,’

I suddenly felt a weight on my shoulder and I looked up through my sniffling to see Big Mac staring back at me. Even through my own tears, I could see his eyes welling up in the same way mine had. I’d never seen Big Mac cry before, and I haven’t since that day, but seeing him like that pushed away any hope I had at regaining my composure, and I just threw my arms around him as he had always done for me.

That night, I sat down with my parents. I asked, “How much longer do we have to eat apples? When can we get new clothes?” I felt the tears find their way back into my eyes. “How long do we have to live like pigs?” And I started crying all over again, just like that. It hurt to say, but at the time, I felt like it was true.

Ma gasped and pulled me into her embrace. Pa took a second to muster up a response. “W-we don’t-! We aren’t...” he sighed, “We won’t for much longer, Applejack, I promise,” He held Ma and me tight. It was the first time in a long time that I truly thought they were being honest with me. I knew their pride got in the way. What parent wants their kid to know they’re struggling? But we were a family, and family’s gotta stick together.

I guess that’s what we all were thinking, because the next thing Mac and I knew, our little piece of land was sold and we were living with Granny Smith back on the old farm. Of course, Granny Smith was ecstatic. She could finally have some real help on the farm and get rid of the farmhands that, as she put it, “aren’t worth the buds they snip off the trees!”

Anyway, we all settled in and began giving Granny Smith the help she deserved on her farm. The work itself wasn’t any different from what it was on our farm, but there was a lot more of it. Granny Smith had better connections that we had too. That, in addition to all of the different kinds of apples she had and apple products she made, brought us more money in a month than we’d seen in a year. People would order our pies and cider months ahead of time, just to make sure they got some of it before it was all gone!

We were finally able to afford new clothes, and we could eat things other than apples for a change. I finally felt… good about working on the farm. For once, I could tell my classmates with pride that I worked on an apple orchard with my family. I didn’t have to explain why my lunch was always the same, or why I wore the same clothes a couple of times a week. I could tell Mac felt the same, and I could swear little Apple Bloom was excited to eat something other than applesauce at feeding time.

My parents, however, didn’t seem to be quite as excited for this change in pace. They both were… quiet most of the time. They didn’t talk much at dinner, or at breakfast, and they would always find a way out of the conversation if you wanted to start one with them. I’d begun thinking that it was all my fault, that all that stuff I’d said just before we moved hurt their pride and their feelings. They always changed the subject when I tried to bring it up, though. Mac tried to talk to them too, but he couldn’t get any more out of them than I could.

This went on for quite a while, until one day, they were gone. Apple Bloom had just started walking, and they left not long after her first steps. I’m surprised she still remembers what they look like. All they left behind was a note that just said, “We’ll be back as soon as we can. We’re so sorry,” Granny Smith always said she didn’t know anything about it until the day they decided to leave. Mac and I were in school, so we didn’t know anything until we got home.

It took us all about a week to realize that “soon” meant much longer than what any of us had thought it meant. We asked Granny Smith every day what had happened the day they left, but she just kept insisting that they didn’t say anything to her. They just packed up their things and left.

Even after years, we heard nothing from them. They just… abandoned us, without so much as a goodbye.

Eventually, Granny Smith decided it would be best to get a fresh start. We packed up our things, sold the farm to a nearby rival, and found a spot here, where we settled down and… well… you know the rest…


----------


“Nobody says it, but,” Applejack paused a moment and glanced away from me, towards the ground, “I don’t know if anybody thinks they’re coming back...”

Her eyes stayed focused on the floorboards. I felt like I should’ve said something, but how does somebody respond to something like that? When your friend says they lost a relative, it’s usually met with the usual rounds of, “I’m so sorry to hear about your loss,” and, “If there’s anything I can do to help, just let me know!” But I knew from experience that none of that ever made anybody feel any better.

After a few moments, I decided that being honest with her had already gotten me this far, so why should my response be any different? “I… I’m not sure what to say…”

“There ain’t much to say,” was all she muttered.

Even still, I felt like I had to try. “I’m sorry that talking about my dad brought back those memories. I can’t imagine how you must feel about all of that...”

“Actually,” she lifted her head to meet my gaze, “I think you’re the first person outside of my family that understands what I’m going through. Reading that note from your stepmom reminded me of the note that my parents left for me. They left both of us with nothing, without caring for whether or not we would find our ways,” Suddenly, she spoke with such certainty that I couldn’t help but agree with her, even though I found her situation to be much worse than I thought mine ever was.

My parents didn’t leave me by choice. My mother died in a car accident, and my dad had been bedridden for the past year. Applejack’s parents seemed to leave them on their own accord. My stepmom had left me in the same way, sure, but I never cared for her in the way that I cared for my real parents, like Applejack did.

Things quickly grew quiet once more, neither of us knowing what we should say next. Applejack finally broke the silence with a soft sigh. “Well, I guess we should get downstairs to dinner,” I politely agreed, rising to my feet, Applejack silently following behind. “But...” I heard from behind as I reached for the doorknob. I turned to see Applejack glance from the ground up to my eyes. “Thanks for listening, Sky...”

She made an attempt at a smile, which I easily returned. “Anytime.”


----------


The weekend passed slowly, with nothing in the way of events. Applejack tried to convince me that it would do me some good to get out of the house, especially since all of my friends had the time, but I convinced her that I was just too tired to do much of anything except help out around the house with Granny Smith, since the three siblings would be out working on the farm for the majority of the weekend.

I did, however, get the chance to meet Apple Bloom’s friends. Applejack was right about them too; they certainly were a handful.

It was Sunday, and Apple Bloom had just recently finished her chores. I happened to be in the kitchen helping Granny Smith prepare for Sunday dinner when Apple Bloom burst into the room. “Granny Smith!” She yelled, nearly scaring the both of us out of our skin.

“Good lord, Apple Bloom!” Granny Smith exclaimed, hand over her chest, “Ya gotta announce yerself if yer gonna be shoutin’ like that!”

“Oops,” Apple Bloom squeaked, “Sorry...”

Granny Smith let out a sigh. “That’s alright, dearie. Now what’s so gosh-darn important?”

Apple Bloom brightened up once more. “Oh yeah! Can Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo come over today? Can they, please?” I happened to glance back in her direction in time to see the biggest eyes I’ve ever seen, and her lips were puckered out and almost quivering. I wasn’t even sure who Sweetie Belle or Scootaloo was, but I had almost felt the need to give her permission myself.

“Well, I don’t see why not!” Granny Smith interrupted my trance. “So long as you got yer chores all done.”

Apple Bloom beamed. “Yes, ma’am! They’re all done!”

Granny Smith chuckled, continuing to chop the apples that lay in front of her. “Alrighty then, you go ahead and-” Apple Bloom had already hurried out the door before Granny Smith could finish her sentence. “That child...” she laughed between cuts.

I suddenly felt the need to continue the conversation. “Who are Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo?”

“Oh, they’re just friends of Apple Bloom’s. I’m glad she’s making friends,” she slid the sliced apples into a mixing bowl, “but they can certainly be a handful at times.”

“Yeah,” I continued cutting the apples on my cutting board. It almost seemed that Granny Smith was already expecting two more mouths to show up that day. She had planned to bake another pie and several more servings for dinner. “Applejack said they were energetic.”

I heard a chuckle from behind me. “Ain’t that the understatement of the year.”

After about a half-hour or so, I heard a knock on the front door. Granny Smith perked up. “Why don’t you go ahead and let them in, Sky? I’m sure they’d like to meet you. I’ve got everything taken care of from here,” Assured I wasn’t going to be missed, I made my way towards the front door.

I noted that Apple Bloom was nowhere to be found. After assuming she was getting ready in her room, I opened the door to reveal two girls, both about a foot shorter than myself.

One had light pink curls with bright purple curls running throughout it and a pink headband to keep them all in place. She wore a simple white dress, about knee-high, with a purple jacket covering the top portion of the outfit.

The other wore an orange hoodie with a black undershirt and blue jeans. Her hair was purple, and was a short, rough style.

They both looked at me a moment before the girl in orange spoke up. “Is, uh… Apple Bloom here?”

I suddenly realized that I was a stranger who had just answered the door to their friend’s house. Luckily, a certain red-haired girl decided to make her presence known. “Yep!” She exclaimed, darting around me. Once again, I jumped at the sudden outburst.

“Oh, hey, Apple Bloom!” the same girl spoke up. I stepped aside to let the two enter.

It was the girl with the white dress’s turn to speak up. “Um… aren’t you going to introduce us to your… um… friend?”

Apple Bloom’s eyes widened. “Oh, right!” She looked at me first. “Sky, this here’s Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle,” she motioned at the two of them before turning to face them. “Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, this here’s Sky!” She leaned in towards them and began whispering, “He was the one who uh...” Her voice trailed off as she made a finger gun and began shooting it in my direction.

I deadpanned, “You know I can see and hear you, right?”

The girls didn’t seem to notice my remark. Instead, their eyes lit up as they eyed me down. “That’s so cool!” They practically shouted in unison.

“Well, I wouldn’t really say-” I was cut off by a barrage of questioning.

“Did it hurt?”

“Did you pass out?”

“How long were you in the hospital?”

“Does it still hurt?”

“Are you-”

“Hey!” I shouted at them, careful not to sound too upset. “Okay, so I didn’t actually feel it at first, but it started hurting after a minute. Yes, I passed out. I was only in the hospital for three days. And thanks to pain medicine, it only hurts when I do this,” I tapped the wound through my shirt and winced at the small jolt of pain it sent through my body.

They both stared at me, wide-eyed, as if I were some kind of superhero standing before them. Suddenly Sweetie Belle snapped herself out of her daze, “Oh, that means you know my sister, right?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Who’s your sister?”

“Rarity!” Apple Bloom chimed in. “Rarity and Sweetie Belle are sisters! You didn’t know that?”

I shook my head. “Rarity never said anything about having any siblings,” Sweetie Belle almost began to pout, while the other two girls started snickering at her expression. I quickly turned back towards Apple Bloom. “Applejack never mentioned you either before I met you.”

Apple Bloom stopped laughing with a high-pitched, “What?” before Sweetie Belle took her turn to giggle. “Oh, she is so gonna get it!”

I started laughing, but was quickly cut off by a shout from the kitchen. “Sky! Could I get a hand  in here? There’s more goin’ on in here than I thought!”

I suddenly caught a whiff of burning apple, and shouted, “Coming!” I turned back to the girls before making a quick getaway to the kitchen. “Alright, well it was nice meeting you girls! It looks like I’m needed, so I’ll see you three later!”

A trio of goodbyes left me alone with Granny Smith and a couple of nearly burnt pies. It was at that moment, through the attempts to save dessert, that I realized that my next day at school might be filled with more people questioning my… condition than I would’ve liked. The girls asked questions, but they were on more of a personal level than I knew the other people’s questioning would be. I suddenly grew a little nauseous, and reminded myself to apologize to Fluttershy for making her feel this way on that day.
> Return
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I prepare for my first day of school in over a week, dressing myself and racing to the shower, which I am fortunate enough to find empty. I briefly thought a moment that the others might have simply let me take the first shower, as a way to start the day off on the right foot, but brushed the thought from my mind.

As I dress and return to the hallway, I find Applejack rubbing her sleep-filled eyes. “Mornin’, Sky...” she barely says, through a yawn. “Ready for your first day back?”

I nod quickly, the shower having filled my body with energy. “Yeah, I am. I think it’ll be… interesting, at least.”

Applejack smiled. “Good to hear,” she mumbled before brushing past me on the way into the bathroom.

I passed a barely-conscious Apple Bloom and Big Mac, who seemed no different from his usual self, on the way down the stairs towards the kitchen, where Granny Smith had already prepared breakfast. “Mornin’, Sky! My, don’t you look chipper this mornin’?”

I felt a bit of blood rush into my cheeks as I smiled. “Yeah, I guess I’m just a little anxious to go back to school,” I took a seat at the kitchen table, happily helping myself to the stack of pancakes that still steamed.

I slept better than I ever had the night before. No tossing or turning, or any strange dreams kept me from my peaceful slumber. It was a bit unusual for me to feel so awake and refreshed in the mornings, especially after getting up as early as the Apples did on a regular basis. I almost felt excited to be returning to school after such a long hiatus.

“I think it’ll be good for ya’ to get back to school after all this time,” Granny Smith stated from her spot in front of the stove. “It ain’t good for a young fella like yourself to stay cooped up in a house all day.”

I blushed again. “Yeah, sitting around most days gets old, fast,” I returned to my pancakes, which were already in the process of absorbing the fresh cinnamon apple syrup. ‘It’ll be nice to see the girls again too,’ I thought to myself as I picked through the sticky syrup. It hadn’t been terribly long since the last time I’d seen them, but over the past day I began realizing how much I missed spending time with each of them. I didn’t realize how much of my everyday life was spent with at least one of them at any given time. Applejack was there most of the time, but she always had a lot of work to do on the farm, and was always exhausted after the long day’s work. It made “hanging out” almost impossible, not that I could blame her.

It wasn’t long before Applejack made her way into the kitchen and helped herself to a stack of pancakes. “Well now, Sky, you must’a been starvin’! Barely left any for the rest of us!” I looked down at my empty plate for glancing a sheepish grin in her direction. She just laughed. “That’s alright, there’s always plenty more where that came from, right Granny?”

Granny Smith simply raised her spatula in the air. “That’s right, Dearie! You kids eat as much as you like!”


----------


The four of us filled up on pancakes before continuing on with our days, with Big Mac immediately heading out into the farm, and the rest of us piling into Applejack’s car. As always, Apple Bloom was full of life for the entire ride. After letting her out at her stop, I turned towards Applejack. “I don’t see how you get through that every day.”

She chuckled. “I guess you’ll just have to figure that one out for yourself, seein’ that you’re part of the ride now.”

My response was caught in my throat as we drove towards the school. My heart dropped almost at the sight of the building. The reason for my absence had entirely slipped my mind, and I still wasn’t prepared for the responses of the other students when they saw me. Would there be questions? Would they surround me and start asking me who did it? Would they want to see it? I was afraid of anything they might want to say to me.

“You alright, Sky?” I almost jumped at Applejack’s voice, who was just putting the car in park as I came to my senses. “You’re lookin’ a little pale. Are you sure you’re ready to be back here?”

I swallowed to clear the sudden dryness that had taken over my throat. “Y-yeah. I’ll be fine,” I turned back towards the school as I left the vehicle, almost instantly being hit with another wave of anxiety.

Fortunately, my fears proved to be very different from reality. Upon entering the school, a few students glanced my way, but did little in the way of asking any questions or even acknowledging my return. I had a quick sigh of relief. ‘I guess it makes sense,’ I thought to myself as Applejack and I rounded the corner. ‘It’s not like my absence made much of a difference in any of their lives.’

Suddenly the thought left a bitter taste in my mouth. ‘It’s not like I made much of a difference in any of their lives.’

The pair of us continued towards the table, and my eyes widened as I turned back to face the spot. I was met with the smiles of all of my friends. Well, all of them except Twilight’s, who seemed to be nowhere in sight. “Oh, hey you guys. What’s up?” I poorly tried to hide my excitement at seeing all of their faces again after what seemed like forever.

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “That’s it? ‘What’s up?’ You’ve been gone for a whole week! All we had to go on was Applejack saying, ‘He’s doin’ just fine. He’s helpin’ get some work done around the farm,’ every day.”

“Well,” Applejack took a seat next to the girl, “that’s really all that was goin’ on. Nothin’ too excitin’,” I almost interjected, but realized she was right. Nothing too exciting happened while I was away from school. I hadn’t even heard from the police who were supposedly investigating everything that happened that day.

“Oh, none of that matters now anyway, girls,” Rarity spoke towards the pair.

“Yeah!” Pinkie jumped in. “We’re just happy to finally see you back on your feet!” She beamed from ear to ear.

“Oh, yes,” Fluttershy squeaked. “We were all so worried about you.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow turned back towards me. “We knew you’d be coming back today, but we still didn’t know if you were feeling any better.”

I decided to jump in, seeing as I was the topic of conversation. “I’m fine. I can hardly feel it anymore, honestly,” I placed a hand over my wound and glanced towards it. “It almost feels like it never happened, but…” I looked back up to meet everyone’s gaze. “Thanks for worrying.”


----------


The rest of the morning was spent talking; not so much about what had happened to me, but about normal things: what life was like, how things were going, classes we were in, and everything in between. It was admittedly pleasant to go back to the way things were, almost as if nothing had ever happened in the first place.

All of my classes were as normal as ever, save for one where a particular girl was absent. Nobody seemed to make a big deal over my absence. I began questioning if anybody even knew what had happened, but pushed away the thought. ‘That’s ridiculous,’ I told myself, ‘How could they not know about it?’

Jingle was the only one outside of the girls that even seemed to question me. He darted towards me as soon as he took a single look in my direction. “Sky! I heard about what happened! Are you alright?”

I deadpanned, “Not really, but I’m better now.”

He let out a sigh. “That’s a relief,” A smirk spread across is face, and a glare met my eyes in return. “After all, you’re my only competition with you-know-who,” he said, nodding towards Rainbow Dash, who had just walked into the gym.

“Wait,” I turned back towards Jingle, brow furrowed in thought, “Why is that a relief, then? Wouldn’t that make things easier for you? Not that you have any chance, but I’ll humor you this time.”

He let out a mocking laugh in my direction before turning back towards his crush. “You should know by now that winning by default isn’t my style. But,” He glanced towards my stomach, searching for the bandages still covering my wound, “I guess it won’t be too hard beating you now,” A toothy grin emerged from his lips.

“Yeah, you’re right,” I nodded. “I’m sure Rainbow will take one look at me, laugh at how pathetic I am, and fall straight into your arms,” A chuckle escaped my mouth.

“You’re probably right,” Jingle agreed. By his stoic expression, I wasn’t entirely sure if he understood my sarcasm.

But Rainbow decided to take the moment to jump into the conversation. “Hey, Sky,” She turned towards Jingle. “Hey, Creep.”

Jingle’s face dropped instantly. “That’s not fair! I’m just over here checking on my best buddy, Sky, and you’re coming to take cheap shots at me!”

Rainbow opened her mouth in response, but was sharply cut off by a whistle. “Alright, start your warm ups!”

I glanced towards Rainbow. “I guess you’ll have to find a new jogging partner, huh?”

She shrugged. “No big deal,” She rose to her feet and pushed Jingle ahead of her towards the court before leaning closer to my ear. “Jingle’s not so bad once you get to know him,” I was suddenly hit with the realization that Rainbow and Jingle had probably been pairing up for the past week. I smiled a bit at the thought.

The rest of class was as boring as the rest of the day. All I could do was watch Jingle and Rainbow smack a birdie back and forth over a net. In the entire hour-and-a-half of watching, I never figured out how anybody could find badminton to be so interesting.

After packing up and waiting for everyone else to finish changing, we all said our goodbyes and parted ways. I began my way towards the car parking lot, but quickly found myself coming to a stop after seeing a familiar face. “Hey, Jenna,” I was sure to only speak loud enough to catch her attention. I noted that she was walking alone, which was something that I’m certain nobody was accustomed to seeing.

She quickly turned at the sound of my voice, and I suddenly saw the surprise disappear from her face as she realized who it was. “Oh, hey, Sky.”

I wanted to be upset that she wasn’t excited to see me up and well again, but I was able to push any thought of it aside in light of the circumstances. “Do you think we could talk for a second?”

Her eyes glanced towards mine, and her brow furrowed a bit in question. “Uh, sure.”

I motioned for her to follow as I led the way towards a secluded hallway. It wasn’t very busy, since it only led to a fire exit. “So, is everything okay?”

She shrugged. “I mean, I guess they’re as okay as they’ll ever be, right?” She looked up towards me and made an attempt at a chuckle.

“Alright,” I said as I pulled off my backpack and reached inside, finding a random sheet of paper along with a pencil. I scribbled down my phone number as neatly as I could manage and handed it to her. “Well, things can only get better from here, right? At least, that’s how I’m trying to see things.”

She eyed the sheet for a few moments before looking back up at me. “Sky, I don’t think I can ever forget what I did to you.”

I kept her gaze. “You didn’t do anything to me. You had no idea what he was planning. I completely believe you when you say that. But either way,” I put a hand on her arm, “I forgive you. It’s okay. You don’t have to forget, and I won’t ever forget it either. But I’m trying to move past it and let things go back to the way they were before,” I motioned towards the paper, tapping it lightly. “Just let me know if you want things to go back to the way they were before everything.”

She glanced down, then back towards me, tears welling up in her eyes. “Sky...” I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close. I felt her arms slowly do the same.

“It’s okay,” I breathed softly into her ear. “You don’t have to say anything,” I let her go and looked into her eyes. “Just think about it and let me know when you’ve decided,” Her lip quivered ever so slightly, but she nodded, tucking the sheet of paper into her pocket before turning back towards the crowd and disappearing into the madness.

After a moment, I headed back towards the car lot, where I found Applejack waiting for me. She tilted her head towards me, a grin across her lips. “Sky, don’t you know better than to keep a lady waitin’?”

I let out a laugh before muttering an apology. We both packed up our things in the car and were off towards the farm. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket and pulled it out to be met with a single text message from an unknown number. I opened it to read, “That’s all I want, Sky,” Suddenly the number wasn’t unknown to me anymore.
> Party
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

    A few weeks passed with little incident. Most days were the same as the first, when nobody really talked to me or asked me any questions. I still hadn’t heard from the police, although I felt that I should’ve heard something by that point. Of course, Henry wasn’t in school, not that I expected him to be. I’m certain it caught the attention of some of the other students, but still, nobody said anything about it. Maybe they already knew, or maybe they just didn’t care. Either way, my life continued on as though nothing had ever changed, but I was beginning to appreciate the monotony of everyday life.

    Although school was the same thing, day in and day out, working on the farm with Applejack and her family had begun to grow on me. The simplicity of growing your own food and raising your own livestock seemed to peak my interest. I would find myself asking question after question about why we do things a certain way, or how long any given chore would take to do properly. I had actually found that most of the time, I would take my time to do things correctly rather than rushing through the tasks to get them over with as quickly as possible. Maybe it was because I felt like a guest in their home, like I needed to earn my keep, and if I did a bad job, then I would be tossed out onto the street. I knew this wasn’t the case, obviously. Applejack would never do that to me. But still, I tended to lean on her more than I would’ve liked to at that time. Most of my questions were directed towards her and, though she assured me countless times they never bothered her, I sometimes felt like a lost child. I had no idea what I was doing the majority of the time, so Applejack often volunteered to guide me through the process. I enjoyed her company, but sometimes I felt like a burden. I could only hope that she was being honest when she said she enjoyed mine as well.

    Twilight had returned to school every day following my first day back, but refused to give me any explanation for her absence, always redirecting the question or changing the subject completely. I wasn’t a fool, though, and could see as clear as day that it was because she still blamed herself for what had happened. ‘If she had never asked for help,’ I thought, ‘Then none of this ever would have happened, right?’ Maybe. Or maybe not. There was no way to tell now. I wished I could break through to her and tell her that I don’t blame her for anything, but every time I tried to tell her I would be met with, “I know, Sky.”

    How long would it be until everything truly returned to normal? Would things ever go back to the way they were? Probably not. There was only the future to look forward to, but that was looking brighter and brighter, as long as I could bring Twilight into the shining sun’s warmth.

    “Sky?” I heard a voice suddenly break through my thoughts. “Are you even listening?”

    I blinked to clear the dryness from my eyes, and was met with the return of several gazes. “What?”

    “Pinkie was saying that we should throw a Halloween party, and we all thought it was a marvelous idea!” Rarity returned, excitement filling her voice. “I would absolutely love to design some costumes!”

    “And all the party games are going to be super-duper fun!” Pinkie cheered from the other side of the table.

    “Yeah!” Rainbow interjected. “Don’t forget the food Pinkie and Sky are making for us!”

    “Wait!” I jumped into the conversation. “When did I get volunteered for that?”
    “You kind of deserve it for blankin’ out like that, Sky,” Applejack stated simply, and was met with a murmur of agreement from the rest of the table.

    “I don’t think that really means I should be in charge of food, but okay,” I sighed. I figured there was no point in trying to worm my way out of it at that point, since all of the girls seemed to be on board with it.

    “Oh, you won’t forget Angel Bunny’s dessert, will you?” Fluttershy stared at me with the greatest puppy-dog eyes I had ever seen.

    I sighed again. “Don’t worry, I won’t forget about him,” A bright smile lifted my spirits on the matter. I glanced towards the end of the table where Twilight was sitting quietly, simply reading a book she had pulled from her backpack. We had all spent the first few days trying to initiate a conversation with her, but rarely received more than a few words or a blank smile in response. There were a handful of times that I caught her looking in our direction as we talked, but her eyes quickly darted away as soon as they met mine.

    Rarity seemed to catch my eyes and followed my gaze to the girl. She quietly spoke towards me, as to not disturb the conversation going on around us. “Do you think she’ll want to join us?”

    I shrugged. “I don’t know, but there’s not really any harm in asking, right?” She simply nodded in response as I lifted my head towards Twilight. “Hey, Twilight,” I spoke loudly enough to catch the attention of the girls around us, who each turned to face the purple-haired girl as she lifted her head towards my voice, face as blank as ever. “Do you want to come to our Halloween party?”

    “It’ll be lots of fun,” Applejack added.

    Twilight opened her mouth in response, but was quickly cut off by Pinkie. “Yeah! There’ll be cake and ice cream and games and costumes and-”

    “I think she gets it, Pinkie,” Rainbow stated.

    “I’ll help design your costume, if you like, Dear,” Rarity smiled at her.

    Twilight stayed quiet for a moment before Fluttershy spoke up. “It won’t be the same without you...” We all turned to face Fluttershy, who sheepishly hid behind a wall of hair. “I mean… not that we-”

    “Sure,” Twilight spoke up to catch our attention. “I’ll go. I… don’t really have anything better to do, anyway,” Her face was as blank as when we first caught her attention, and it quietly turned back to face her book after stating her answer.

    We all stared for just another moment before turning back to our own conversation. “Well,” Rarity began, “I didn’t think she would say ‘yes.’”

    “Yeah, me neither,” Applejack agreed.

    “At least we finally got her to talk to us,” Rainbow started. “I mean, it’s been weeks!”

    “Yeah, I know,” I flatly assured. “But now we have to make sure this party is perfect. Hey, Pinkie?” The pink puff perked up to my voice. “Do you mind if I invite a couple of other people?”
----------

    The night had finally arrived, after only a couple of weeks of anticipation. I’ll admit that I was rather excited about the party. It would be fun to actually get a chance to do something fun with the girls, since the only time I got to see any of them, apart from Applejack, was during school. But even if I lived with her, our chores tended to keep us preoccupied the majority of the time.

    Rarity had generously offered to help make my outfit, as I soon learned she offered to everyone. I tried to avoid her assistance, stating that a store-bought costume would be just fine, but she insisted that a handmade costume is the “only way to truly experience the joy of Halloween.” So she helped me design a simple pirate costume. Well, I thought it would have been simple, but Rarity had a way of making absolutely everything to sheer perfection. It was complete with an eye patch, which I had flipped onto my forehead at every other moment, a bandana, captain’s hat, trenchcoat, boots, belt, and even a holster and sheathe for a toy flintlock and sword I bought, because I refused to let her do everything.

    After questioning her about it, Pinkie confessed that she refused Rarity’s help, stating that she already had the perfect costume for the occasion. Thinking on her cooking skills and interests, I assumed she might have a gingerbread costume, or maybe even a chef’s outfit. But after arriving to help make some of the food for the party, I was met with a Pinkie-sized chicken. She was feathery, and her outfit was completed by her skintight chicken legs and her beak, which nearly poked my good eye out at first sight.

    It didn’t take long to finish most of the food. Pinkie admitted that she got excited and did most of it beforehand. I didn’t mind, especially since there appeared to be more than we all could ever eat in one sitting.

    Pinkie and I were putting some of the finishing touches on some of the cakes and desserts when the door to Sugarcube Corner let out a jingle as the first guest stepped into the building. I dropped my icing bag and peered around the corner to see Fluttershy and Rarity make their way into the room, Angel Bunny sitting snugly in Fluttershy’s arms.

    I noted that Fluttershy was in a blue bunny costume, with a bunny-eared hood over her head. It was simple, which suited her. Rarity, on the other hand, was dressed in a seashell top with a long, fishtail dress, which was ornately decorated with more shells and starfish, and her hair was neatly decorated with another shell holding it in place.

    “Oh, hey!” I shouted towards the pair as they made their way towards me. “We’re just finishing up some of the food, but everyone else should be here soon,” I stepped back into the kitchen as the two followed.

    “Oh, I hope we aren’t too early...” Fluttershy mumbled.

    “Nonsense!” Rarity exclaimed, “If anything, we can- good heavens! How much did you two think we would eat?” Rarity’s expression on the mere sight of the buffet would have been enough of a sign of her shock.

    “Don’t look at me!” I stated. “Pinkie started on most of it before I even got here!”

    “Yep!” Pinkie seemed more cheerful at their surprise than I was. “I didn’t know what everyone liked, so I tried to make everything!”

    Fluttershy made an attempt at a response, but was quickly interrupted by Angel Bunny trying to pry himself from her arms towards a cake sitting nearby. It had a carrot crudely drawn on the top with icing. Fluttershy’s eyes furrowed. “Oh, is that…?”

    “Yeah, that’s Angel’s dessert,” She seemed to look at me rather crossly for someone as softspoken as she was. “Don’t worry, we did the research and made sure to make it safe and healthy for him,” Her expression softened.

    “Well,” Rarity spoke up, “Now that we’re here ahead of schedule, is there anything that still needs to be done?”

    I turned towards her voice and smiled. “Actually, there are just a few things...”
----------

    It wasn’t long before the other girls had arrived, Twilight being the last to show up. All of their costumes were well thought out and well designed, and I was certain that Rarity at least had a small part in all of them. Rainbow Dash wore a rainbow-themed soccer uniform, with “Dash” written across the back. Applejack dressed as a scarecrow, with jeans and a flannel shirt that looked to be overflowing with hay and straw. Her hat was replaced by a similar-looking one made of straw. Twilight was dressed as a bearded wizard in starry robes, along with a similarly themed wizard’s hat. When none of us recognized the name of the character, she said simply, “He’s from a book I read a while ago.”

    After almost everyone had arrived, Pinkie officially declared that the party had started, but my eyes were fixed on the clock. “Yeah, it’s starting at six,” But the clock read almost six-thirty.

    Through all the commotion, I heard Applejack speak up behind me. “Do you think they’ll really come?”

    I turned at the sudden voice that ripped me away from my thoughts before shrugging. “I thought they would.”

    “Maybe they-”

    The ringing bell of the door cut her off. We all turned to see a girl wearing black, striped, victorian-era pants, covered by a black and white top of the same style. On her head a sat a mini top hat with a pair of goggles wrapped around it. At the sudden attention, she gripped the cane in her hands tight against the frills on her skirt, compressing them to her thighs.

    Rarity was the first to speak up. “Uh, hello there. Do we-”

    “This is Jenna!” I quickly spoke up and made my way towards the suddenly timid girl. “She’s one of the other people I mentioned I wanted to invite. She’s one of my other friends and I’m trying to help her… you know… make more friends.”

    Everyone, save for one girl in particular, seemed to be satisfied enough with my excuse. “Oh!” Rarity broke the silence. “Well then, allow us to introduce ourselves!”

    Through their introductions, I looked towards Twilight, who had made her way towards the back of the room towards a seat, hat tipped down in front of her face. Deciding that Jenna had suddenly made five more acquaintances, I excused myself to talk to Twilight.

    I brushed through the sudden crowd that had gathered around the new face, and towards Twilight. “Hey, uh,” I tried to make myself known before getting too close. “Everything okay?”

    She looked up at me, eyes narrowed, staring through my own. “No, Sky, everything is not okay. How could you invite her here? Why would you even bring her here?”

    I stood firmly, my feet shifting a bit on the wooden floor. “Look, she’s not really as bad as-”

    “As bad as what? As bad as I made her out to be? You were the one who told me about everything she’s done to everyone!” She tried to keep her voice below a shout, but it was quickly building to that level. I didn’t have to turn around to know that the others had already begun noticing the argument. “And now you think just because you bring her to a party that I didn’t even want to go to-”

    “If you didn’t want to come, then why did you?” My voice slowly began raising to match Twilight’s, although I couldn’t be sure why.

    “I don’t know, Sky!” She jumped up to meet me face-to-face as her body tensed beneath her starry robe. “Maybe it’s because I wanted to give friendship another chance, or maybe because my mentor told me I shouldn’t be so hard on everyone, including myself, but now I see that we were both wrong! Do you have any idea what she said to me? What she did to me?”

    My expression softened. It was then that I realized that Twilight had never actually told me what Jenna had done to her. The only thing that she told me was that Jenna was bullying her, but she never specified how. “What did she do?”

    She rolled her eyes in response. “Oh, now you want to know, now that you realize that you’re in the wrong, now that you’re the bad guy, not the victim. Now that everyone looks down on you for even a second, you act like you actually care about me. All you want is to make yourself look good, Sky, just like everybody else. Just like all the other ‘friends’ I’ve ever had!”

    I didn’t respond. Was she right? It never crossed my mind to think about what Jenna had ever actually done to Twilight. No, that couldn’t be it. I was perfectly happy living my life of solitude. If I never talked to Jenna… The anger began to fill my veins once again. “Twilight, I got shot because I was trying to help you!”

    Twilight reeled back, her expression instantly changing into a wide-eyed shock. However it wasn’t until the tears began welling up in her eyes that I realized what I had said, and at that moment I would’ve given up anything to take those words back. But there was nothing I could do. “Twilight, I...”

    She backed away from my touch, and hid her face again as she pushed by me, sliding through the spectators as she made her way towards the door, the bell ringing as she pushed past a lanky Pikachu in glasses. “Uh, what did I miss?” Jingle said as he turned back to the group, which slowly looked back in my direction. A mixture of sorrow and disgust filled each of the girls’ faces.

    I looked back in horror at each of them. “I… I didn’t…” But the words never came out. I could only hide my face in my hand as my body slid limp onto the chair that Twilight once sat in.

    There was a moment of silence before I heard Jenna speak up. “I’ll try to talk to her.”

    “Quite frankly,” Applejack spoke sternly, “From the sounds of it, right after Sky, I think you’re the last person Twilight wants to talk to right now.”

    “Don’t worry, I know exactly what to say,” Following the tapping of boots on the floor, I heard the bell ring once again. After a few brief moments that seemed to last ages, I heard the girls try to continue whatever conversations they had before our outburst.

    I tried to tune them out. I knew I was the topic of their conversations, specifically what I had said. I hadn’t meant it, but in that moment, it was all I could say in my own defense. How could she stand there before everyone and try to tell me that I wasn’t really her friend? Of course I was her friend. At least, I tried to be. But ever since that day, she made it a point to have nothing to do with any of us. The party was the only chance I had at making things better between us, and I had gone and blown it all away with a simple screw-up.

    That was one of the few moments in my life that I could truly say I was lost. I had no idea what to do, where to go, who to turn to, or what to say. I felt like everyone hated me, not just Twilight. They all knew what I said was wrong, just as much as I did, but if any of them were in that same situation, would they have done the same thing? I told myself they wouldn’t have. They would have found a way out, and even made up with Twilight. Twilight would have been best friends with every single one of them by that point, but all I could do was prove her right to have ignored me for the past couple of months.

    I felt like I wanted to cry, but nothing would come out. Twilight could say what she wanted, but deep down I knew we were friends, even if she didn’t think so. But I couldn’t be sure about that anymore.

    “Sky,” I nearly jumped at the sudden voice next to me. I looked through my hands to see Rainbow Dash sitting next to me, trying to make eye contact, but quickly glancing away every time our eyes would meet. “Uh, you sure have a way with words, huh?” A little chuckle filled the silence, but was quickly followed by a “Rainbow!” from nearly everyone else in the room.

    Applejack spoke up in her place. “Sky, look up at us,” I begrudgingly complied. “Look, obviously the rest of us know you didn’t mean it like it sounded, but sittin’ in here mopin’ isn’t going to convince Twilight any more than Jenna out there talkin’ to her for you is.”

    “That’s right, Darling,” Rarity said, “Why don’t you go out there and try to apologize?”

    I felt a pressure on my leg and glanced down to see Angel bunny sitting on my lap staring up at me through my arms. His expression seemed to match that of everyone else.

    “Sky,” I looked back up to see Jingle looking at me, but he quickly turned away at the attention. “I still don’t really know what’s going on here, and I feel a little out of place right now, but it’s not really like you to give up like this.”

    “Yeah!” Pinkie exclaimed. “If Twilight’s sad about not having any friends, shouldn’t you go out there and prove to her that not everybody is like her other, mean friends?”

    “I don’t really-” I was quickly cut off.

    “You know,” Rainbow spoke from beside me. “We’re not going to let you off the hook until you at least try to talk to her, Sky,” The others nodded and murmured in agreement. Somehow I knew they were telling the truth.

    I sighed, wiping any wetness from my eyes with the palm of my hands. “Fine, but I just want you all to know,” I rose to my feet. “I really don’t like any of you right now for making me do this.”

    “Well,” Fluttershy said as I brushed past the small group, “What kind of friends would we be if we didn’t push you out of your comfort zone every now and then?” She sheepishly smiled, as did everyone else.

    I smiled back as I pushed open the door, the little bell ringing above my head once more.

    I heard Jenna talking softly to Twilight as I stepped out of the building. Looking towards the road, I could see several of the girls’ vehicles. The setting sun coated each of them in a warm glow, and made distinguishing them difficult from color alone. I turned towards the pair and noticed that Twilight was avoiding eye contact. Even so, Jenna was trying desperately to meet her gaze to no avail.

    Deciding it a good time to intervene, I stepped forward and made my presence known. Jenna turned to face me, yet Twilight barely budged at the sound of my voice, which suddenly felt weak and shaken. “Hey Jenna, do you mind if I try to talk to Twilight a bit?”

    Jenna nodded as she rose to her feet. She had been kneeling beside Twilight as I went outside, who was seated on the grass just beside the building. Jenna spoke quietly as she walked by me towards the entrance. “I don’t know if what I said made any difference, but at least she heard me out.”

    I nodded as I waited for the ringing of the bell, then took the moment of silence to seat myself beside Twilight, who still hadn’t so much as glanced in my general direction.

    I simply waited for just a few moments, hoping Twilight would be the first to speak, although every ounce of me knew there was no way she would say more than a word to me after what had just happened. Still, I waited.

    I stared off into the sunset, watching the flaming mass slowly disappear over the horizon. After a couple of minutes, I heard shifting from my side, and glanced over to see Twilight look up from the ground, following my gaze towards the vanishing sun. Even from the second that I saw her face, I could tell that she had been crying. I could only imagine that she had just managed to dry her tears as I made myself known.

    She knew what I wanted to say, I was certain. She knew that I would apologize, and tell her that I didn’t intend for what I said to hurt her the way it did. I knew that she expected me to say that I still thought of us as friends, although we hadn’t had more than a passing greeting in the couple of months prior.

    I found my lips moving before I had finished deciding what would be the best way to say what I had been thinking about. “Twilight, I’m sorry about what I said. The last thing I want is for you to think any of that was your fault.”

    “I know. But I can’t help but think that it is,” She spoke so calmly, as if we were having a normal conversation about anything else. I could only wish I was mimicking her demeanor.

    “Even if I had never talked to Jenna that day, she would have found me out and confronted me herself. Did she tell you about her, and me, and… Henry?” She simply nodded, still keeping her gaze towards the fading light. “Well, she wanted us to all be friends again, but that could never happen now. She would have found me, then tried to get us to make up in the same way, then Henry would be there and… shoot me… Just like how it happened the first time,” I turned my head to face her. As I did, I noticed a slight quiver in her lip. “But you know what?” She turned towards me suddenly, and I could see the wetness returning to her eyes in the setting sun. “Somehow I’m happier that things happened this way. I feel proud knowing that I was trying to help a friend when all of this happened,” I smiled a bit before letting out a chuckle. “Regardless of what you or anyone else has to say about it, I know that I did it to help somebody in need.”

    She giggled before wiping the tears from her eyes. She turned back to face the sun, as did I. “I’m sorry too, Sky. I didn’t really mean that you were only being nice to show off. But… I do wish you’d have told me that you were inviting her.”

    “Would you have come if I did?” She stayed quiet, but I knew her answer. “I think Jenna decided to try and change her ways, especially after what happened. I think…” I paused, trying to piece together my own thoughts. “I think she realized that… it’s better to be with friends, and people who care about you through the hard times… than it is to be alone and numb to the world,” I looked back at Twilight, who turned back to face my eyes. “Don’t be mad, but I think you and her have a lot in common, from the sound of it.”

    She smiled. “You know, after talking to her for the few minutes that we were out here, she really doesn’t seem so bad. Just… lost,” Her eyes faced the ground once again. “But you’re right. It’s better to be hurt with friends than to feel nothing by yourself,” Twilight paused, recollecting her own thoughts. “It reminds you that you’re alive.”

    “Exactly,” I agreed.

    We were quiet for a moment more, simply caught up in our own thoughts on the matter. Twilight broke the silence. “Sky?” I turned towards her once again. “Do you think people can change?”

    I shook my head. “No, I don’t think anybody really changes. I think people are who they are, but sometimes they wear a mask to hide who they are. You might go your whole life thinking you know a person, only for them to take off the mask and prove you wrong,” She looked back at me. “And people only take off the mask if they’re scared.”

    Twilight’s eyes darted towards the ground, and I watched her brow twitch before returning her attention to the horizon. I followed her lead. We sat that way a while, looking at the quickly vanishing sun. It had nearly gone for the day by that point. I wasn’t sure why Twilight had asked me such a strange, seemingly random question. Did she think Jenna might be truly changing? Did she think it was for the better, or possibly for the worse? Was Jenna still wearing her mask, or was this her true self? Was it even about Jenna at all? Maybe Twilight was afraid she didn’t really know me, or maybe she wanted to try to change herself and be our friend. As much as I would have liked, Twilight’s mind was the one thing I could never make any sense of. Maybe it was best that way.

    “I think we should go back inside now,” Twilight said suddenly.

    “Oh?” I rolled my head towards her. “But I was just getting comfortable.”

    She smirked at me. “Very funny. But I would hate for everyone to continue thinking I’m upset over something so stupid.”

    I smiled. “Yeah, I’m sure everyone wants to get a chance to talk to you after all this time. You might not believe it, but,” I rose to my feet, and grabbed Twilight’s outstretched hand, pulling her up as well. “We all really missed talking to you. It was just like you were a totally different person.”

    Although she tried to hide it, I watched her cheeks turn rosy. “I know. I’m sorry.”

    I nudged her arm to catch her attention. “Trust me when I say that it’s okay,” I led the way towards the door. “I just think everyone will be glad to have you back.”