Rarity's a fashionista who wants to help run the school, Rainbow's an athlete with a small temper, AJ's a farm girl who keeps to herself, Fluttershy's the quiet one, Pinkie's the glue holding them together, and- Who's Sunset Shimmer?
I'll be honest, I never really liked the EG movies that much. They were fine, but just had too many plot holes. Also, they just didn't have the same level of wonder as the show. So, here's how I would have done it. Blog explaining hiatus: http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/681852/hiatus (Cover art available here)
Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, AppleJack, and Rainbow Dash are five acquaintances. Each walk a different path of life and have drastically distinct personalities, but one unexpected event brings them all together. Perhaps some friendships transcend dimensions, right? Or are they just going to fall apart?
In the land of Equestria, a young brilliant amber coated mare stealthily slips through the eastern hall of Canterlot Castle. Her cyan eyes glow with a mixture of bitterness and brokenness. She hugs the shadows as she easily slips past the guards. Stopping only for a moment to slip a letter under Princess Celestia’s chamber door that reads:
Dear Princess Celestia, I want to say that I’m sorry, but I’m not. I’m tired of this. I’m tired of you telling me that I’m not ready to move on in my studies. I’m going to find out more about the universe, beyond this realm. I feel trapped here, as if I have peaked in my potential. I need to challenge myself. And I want to follow my dreams. I don’t know when or if I’ll ever come back, but don’t bother following me. Nothing you can do or say will change my mind. Besides, by the time you read this, you won’t be able to reach me for another month at the least.
~Sunrise Glitter
As the sound of metal on marble reached her ears, she dashed back into the shadows and down the hall. She would have just teleported, but Celestia had grounded her for practicing “unstable magic” and thus taken her teleportation abilities away.
Leading to Sunrise Glitter now having to silently race from shadow to shadow. Luckily, she could still do some other magic and was thus able to put a silencing spell on her hooves.
She followed the trail that she had memorized through the castle. Up and up and up the stairs. Until, at last, she reached the top. The double doors opened up into an elegant round planetarium. A small one, but a planetarium nevertheless. Sunrise Glitter carefully inspected the ceiling until she found precisely what she was looking for, a hidden door that Celestia believed she knew nothing of. She silently opened it and lowered down the latter. Carefully climbing up and closing the door. She shook off the hood of her black cloak and lit her horn.
She found herself looking at her reflection in a full length mirror. For a moment, she hesitated, looking behind her at the door. Her eyes fell to the floor and a frown slipped onto her lips. Sunrise shook her head and set a look of determination on her face. She was going to do this. She had to. She couldn’t be stuck in this place anymore, being told what she was and wasn’t allowed to learn. There was a whole world to study, a world that Sunrise knew more than she was supposed to know about.
Sunrise Glitter bowed her head and walked through the mirror. Feeling space and time warp around her. She had a strange tickle feeling on her hooves. She looked at them and saw them evaporating into sunset red dust. She began to panic as the dust overtook her whole body. Then, she fell onto stone. It took her a minute to realize she hadn’t been turned dust for more than a moment and now had a solid being. But, what exactly was she?
Sunrise pulled herself up and looked around. It was dark there too. Her black cloak still hugged her new form, but her saddle bags had been turned to messenger bags. She had studied the hidden tomes on this other Equestria, but nothing could have prepared her for her new body. She looked at her hooves, no. The book had called them...What was it? HANDS! That was it! And her back hooves were now...What do they call it? Feet! Hands and feet. Hmm, odd things. Although, they did feel more practical. Especially since she now lacked a horn.
It was rather dark, only the light of the full moon. She instinctively wanted to illuminate her horn, but then she remembered that she didn’t have one. Instead, she reached into her bag and pulled out her flashlight. She had brought one bag full of a three days supply of food and a couple other necessities. The other was full of bits she had been saving for nearly six months now. She knew she was going to need it to start her new life there. She began to, very slowly, walk down the streets. Getting accustomed to her new limbs.
The big question still hangs in the air, why’d she do it? Why leave a lavish life as Celestia’s prized pupil? Well, Sunrise didn’t want to talk about it, but lately she had been feeling useless. Celestia was forcing her to study slowly, to take her time. To learn all this other stuff aside from magic. She wanted to be a leader, she wanted a life where she could actually do something. In her eyes, she was going to be a leader. But in reality, she was going to be a dictator. And a cruel one at that. As Sunrise is a tad bit controlling.
However, Sunrise couldn’t focus on that right now. No, she needed to focus on building a life in this new dimension. She would then slowly work her way up, until she was in charge of everything. After all, so many things in the world would be running so much smoother if she were to be in charge.
Sunrise spent the next two days observing the pon- people around her. Learning more about them and their culture. One day, she observed a couple of boys about her age being escorted back to school by an officer. That’s when she realized that if she was going to stay in this place, she needed to blend in. Even more so since people seem to take a liking to those they can relate to. Which meant going to school, blech. Sunrise loved to study magic, but she knew none of her studies at this worlds school would be anywhere near as interesting.
She figured out that she was in Ponyville, which meant that she would likely never run into her counterpart as long as she stayed away from Canterlot. She would have to deal with her alter-world self at a later date.
Sunrise took the time to study the history of this new place, as it was the only drastic difference between her Equestria and this Equestria. Next she had to figure out a way to build herself a life, which meant she needed to somehow be allowed to live alone and under a new identity. Sunrise took the next train out to Manehatten, where she knew of just the counterpart to find. She quickly explained her situation to him and told him she could pay if he could get all necessary paperwork.
“Alright, some basic info,” Secrets began. “Date of birth?”
“Uh, 4/3,” Sunrise lied, already having chosen a date.
“Place of birth?”
“Everfree.” All part of the backstory.
“Age?”
“15.”
“Height?”
“5’3”.”
“Weight?”
Sunrise wrote down her response. She had a perfectly healthy weight and was satisfied with her figure, but she didn’t want to have to say it. It was so much higher than when she was a pony, it made her feel self conscious.
“Parents?” Secrets said after reading the numbers.
“Mother: Witch Tree,” Sunrise made up quickly. “Father: Unknown.”
“Name?”
“Uhm,” Sunrise Glitter looked out the window at the setting sun, it seemed to shimmer with life. She smiled softly to herself. “Sunset Shimmer.”
“Alrighty, meet me back here in the morning with the money.”
“You’d better not double cross me.”
“You bring the money and you ain’t got nothin’ to worry ‘bout.”
Sunrise collected her fake paperwork and headed back to Ponyville the next morning. She then went to Town Hall with a fake story of escaping some crazed cult in the middle of the Everfree. She was granted permission to live on her own, but she would be checked on by Child Services once a month. By the next month she was expected to be in school and have a part time job. They provided her with an apartment that she would have to pay for once she got a job.
“Thanks for dropping me off,” she told the Child Services lady, a kindly woman by the name of Gentle Heart.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay and help you get some more clothes and a job?” Gentle Heart said worriedly.
“I’ll be alright.”
“Okay, you start at Ponyville High School on Monday. The principle has already been informed.”
“Thanks, I’ll have a job by then. Bye.”
“Goodbye, Sunset Shimmer.”
Sunrise turned around and took in the fully furnished apartment. She set her bags on the couch and started putting everything away. She’d have to go clothes shopping tomorrow while putting in applications for a job. She turned on the computer they had provided in the apartment (they taught her how to use one at the office) and began typing up her resume.
Sunrise Glitter
No, not Sunrise. She wasn’t Sunrise Glitter anymore. She quickly erased (or, rather, awkwardly erased, as she was still getting used to this strange new object) her old name.
Rarity twirled in front of the mirror looking at her newest ensemble. It was a mid-thigh length pleated black skirt, a royal purple business tank, a black blazer, and her signature three diamonds as a pin buttoning the blazer closed. The white toned girl slipped on a pair of royal purple flats, she needed to look as professional as she could. As Rarity exited her room, she paused to glance at her reflection. Her shining purple hair was up in a loose bun, her azure eyes sparkled, and her light blue eyeshadow was perfect.
“Sweetie Belle!” Rarity called as she headed down the stairs. “Sweetie, darling, are you ready to go?”
“Coming!” Sweetie’s voice reached her elder sister.
Rarity pulled out two blueberry muffins. One for her and one for her little sister.
“I’m ready!” Sweetie said, hopping into her seat.
Sweetie Belle was sporting a soft green sundress that matched her eyes, along with a baby pink belt. She wore a pink and lilac striped arm warmer on her right arm, white tennis shoes and pink socks. Her baby pink backpack with her and her friends club logo on it never really went that well with her outfit, much to Rarity’s dismay, but her sister loved it. So Rarity didn’t say anything.
“When are Mommy and Daddy coming back from their trip to Los Pegasus?” Sweetie asked, her voice cracking as it always did.
“This weekend, Sweetie Belle, darling,” Rarity answered eating her muffin as she loaded up her notebooks into her royal purple backpack.
“Are you going to be late picking me up again today?”
“Sweetie you know I try not to but we get done at nearly the same time, I’ll be there as soon as I can. Alright?”
“Okay.”
“Are you ready to go?”
“Yeah, just let me grab my book!”
As Rarity met her little sister at the door she noted that Sweetie was hugging a copy of her favorite book. Ocean Storms & The Olympians: The Lost Thunderbolt by Uncle Rick. She had read the series half a dozen times, but she just couldn’t get enough of it. Rarity loved the books as well, but hadn’t read them in years. Then again, she hadn’t read any books merely for the enjoyment of reading since she started high school. Rarity shook herself out of her day dream about all the books she had been wanting to read as they arrived at Sweetie’s school.
“Be good for Miss Cheerilee,” Rarity instructed her. “I’ll be here as soon as I can after school. I love you.”
“Bye Rarity! Love you!” Sweetie yelled over her shoulder as she ran to catch up with her two best friends.
As Rarity walked to school, she soon found herself walking next to… Applejack! Sweetie Belle’s friends older sister. The Apple family was the heart of Ponyville, but Rarity didn’t know them all too well. At least, not anymore.
“Good morning,” Rarity said politely.
“Mornin’,” Applejack replied. “Droppin’ off your sister too?”
“Yes. She mentioned something about a sleepover or something tomorrow?”
“Apple Bloom wants to have a sleepover for her birthday tomorrow night, I hope it’s alright that she comes. Your parents said yes, but I didn’t know they’d be outta town.”
“It’s fine, I just wanted to be aware.” Silence ensued, a little too awkward for Rarity’s taste. “By the way, Apple Bloom is an absolute sweetheart.”
“So’s Sweetie Belle, always so polite,” Applejack replied. “See ya later.”
Rarity smiled and waved politely as the two parted ways at the entrance to the school. Rarity took a deep breath, taking in the one story school. Ponyville was a small town with a small school, but Rarity loved it. Sure she loved the big cities like Manehatten and Canterlot, but that was more for the fashion. She loved Ponyville because it was like one big family.
“Hi Rarity!” a high pitched voice said as she walked into school. Before she could react, the pink toned girl started talking at a speed almost too fast to follow. “Nice outfit! Why are you dressed so fancy?” Giant gasp. “Are you doing what I think you’re doing?! You’d be perfect! I have to tell everyone!”
She ran off in a pink blur and Rarity was left to try to register what had happened.
“Was that Pinkie Pie?” she whispered.
She then shook her head and walked over to Principle Crest’s office. She noted a girl sitting outside, a girl she had never seen before. She had amber skin, cyan eyes, and red and yellow hair. She was dressed in a pair of blue jeans, a white tank with a red and yellow sun symbol on it, a black leather jacket, and a pair of black, lace up, boots.
“Are you waiting to see Principle Crest as well?” Rarity asked as she sat in the open chair beside her.
“Yes,” she replied, “I’m Sunset Shimmer.”
“My name is Rarity, pleasure to meet you,” Rarity replied kindly. “Are you new here?”
“Yes, it’s my first day.”
“I hope you’re not nervous, it’s a wonderful school.”
“So, why are you here?”
“I’m going to sign up to run for Student Body President!”
“What’s that?”
“You don’t know what that is?” Rarity cocked her head at the new girl.
“No,” Sunset answered. “I’m not from around here…”
“Oh. Well, the student body president is the person who represents their fellow students. They help organize events, try to help solve problems, and are supposed to be a positive role model to their fellow students.”
“So, a leader?”
“In a sense.”
“Someone who helps make a change?”
“Precisely.”
At that moment, Principle Crest opened his office door, a grey toned girl with blonde hair walking out.
“Sorry again,” she said.
“It’s alright, just be more careful next time,” he smiled. “Ah, our new student! And Rarity, what are you doing here?”
“I just needed you for a quick moment,” Rarity assured him. “I want to run for Student Body President.”
“Are you sure? It’s a lot of responsibility.”
“I know, but I also know I can do it! Nobody else wants to step up, so I will.”
“Alright, I’ll announce it before the end of first period.”
“Thank you! Oh, and welcome to the school Sunset.”
“Huh?” Sunset looked up, deep in thought. “Oh, thanks!”
Rarity picked up her geography book and headed to first period. She listened to the teacher talk on and on, dutifully taking notes. Even though she didn’t really need to.
At last, towards the end of class, Principle Crest came over the intercom.
“I would like to announce the candidates for student council,” he said, going through all the names. “For vice president we have Octavia running against Lyra Heartstrings. And for president,” Rarity held her breath (she had been sure no one else had signed up yet), “Rarity running against newcomer Sunset Shimmer.”
Applejack was a simple girl. She wore faded blue jeans, brown cowboy boots, a black tank top, and a green plaid shirt. Her blonde hair was held together at the bottom by a brown hair tie and a red apple clip. Her green eyes shone with an underlying wisdom, freckles dotting across her cheeks. Her orange tinted skin showed the signs of someone who worked hard, with scratches and calluses bringing a front to just how much work went into a farm. She tucked her hat into her locker, since she wasn’t allowed to wear one in class.
As Applejack walked to first period, she waved to a few people who wished her good morning. Applejack wasn’t shy, nor was she unpopular. In fact, almost everybody in school knew who she was. However, she didn’t really have anyone she would consider a friend beyond her family. It wasn’t that she didn’t want friends either, she just didn’t think she had the time.
Talking to Rarity that morning is what brought up this thought. Her and Rarity had been very close as children, best friends even. Despite coming from drastically different worlds, the two loved to play together as little girls. But then, there was the accident…
Applejack shook the thoughts out of her head. She hadn’t thought about that in years, the stinging in her eyes was the reason why.
“Never mind that,” she told herself. “That’s in the past, no need to think about it.”
She took her seat in first period geometry, in the back of the room. Class didn’t start for another ten minutes, but she prefered to be early. Suddenly a pink blur ran past her and sat beside her. It was Pinkie Pie.
“Good morning!” she said in her overly hyped up, cheerful voice.
“Mornin’,” Applejack replied, pretending to look over her notes.
“Guess what?!”
“What?”
“You’re supposed to guess, silly.” Pinkie let out a giggle.
“You brought free cupcake samples for the cafeteria again?” Applejack half heartedly guessed.
“I only bring those once a month and that was last week.” Pinkie Pie was still grinning from ear to ear. “Guess again!”
“You got an A on the test in Home Ec?”
“I don’t know… Guess again!”
“Ugh, last time. You can’t wait for the next school dance?”
“Well everyone is excited for that! But, that’s not it. It’s-”
The bell cut her off.
“Awww,” her hot pink hair seemed to deflate a little.
They were taking a test that morning, which Applejack didn’t mind. She focused on the problems in front of her, trying to remember everything from her notes and from the lectures. Once she finished, she turned it in and went back to her seat. Pulling out a book to read while she waited for the rest of the class to finish.
By the time the test was done and that night's homework given out, Principle Crest was coming over the speakers to make an announcement. As he announced who would be running for positions in student council, Applejack understood now why Rarity was dressed so fancy.
“Aww, I wanted to tell you,” Pinkie Pie quietly muttered.
Applejack shrugged. For her, this stuff wasn’t really a big deal. She didn’t really care who was on the student council, she was only at school because she had to be.
The students bustled from room to room, pausing at lockers or to talk with friends. In it all, one girl would have hardly been noticed. It wasn’t because of her appearance, though. She had pastel yellow skin and petal pink hair that flowed down her back, her bangs swept to the side and hanging over her right eye. Speaking of her eyes, they were a thoughtful teal and never hid her gentleness for a moment. She dressed in a pastel green sundress with a pink butterfly print, her white sandals were perfectly clean despite the ordinarily easily dirtied color.
She hugged her textbooks to her chest as she walked quietly to second period. Nobody noticed her, but she liked it that way. She wanted to make friends, but her extreme shyness and social anxiety made it hard for her to get to know others. A lot of the teachers wouldn’t even call on her in class because they knew how bad it made her feel and didn’t want to do that to her.
Fluttershy entered study hall and pulled out some homework to do. All of the other students were basically just talking, though some were talking and working. However, Fluttershy was fully focused on the geography homework she had just been given.
“Hey, Fluttershy,” a voice said as the person it belonged to sat beside her.
“Oh, h-hi, Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy whispered back, barely audible,. Rainbow Dash was the closest thing she had to a friend, but even they barely knew each other.
“Did you hear the announcements?”
Fluttershy nodded.
“Do you know who the new girl is?”
Fluttershy shook her head.
“Oh. Are you heading to Cloudsdale this weekend?”
“Next.”
“Mind if I tag along?”
“No.”
“Wait, your brother isn’t going to be with whoever picks you up, right?”
“No, Zephyr will be at home. Just my mother is coming.”
“Good, does he still have a crush on me?”
Fluttershy nodded.
“Ugh!” Rainbow Dash facepalmed. “That’s probably the best part of this student exchange program that we’re both in, I don’t have to have him hanging off of me everyday.”
Fluttershy just nodded as Rainbow Dash went back to her seat, putting on a pair of headphones and laying back to take a nap.
Oh yeah, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash are from Cloudsdale. Which is how they both know each other. More on Rainbow later. Fluttershy is in the program because she was being bullied a lot in her old public school and, unfortunately, her parents couldn’t afford a private school. But then the option for the exchange student program came up, and they took it. They chose Ponyville because it’s very close by, so she can visit home a lot. She stays with the local vet and her family, which she enjoys because she gets to help her take care of the animals.
Fluttershy could never talk to other people, but animals? Easy peasy lemon squeezy, she never felt a moment of shyness or unease around them. She just felt peaceful and happy. She heard Rainbow Dash wake up and come back beside her, study hall was nearly over.
“What are you doing?” Rainbow asked.
“Studying for French class,” Fluttershy whispered.
“Pfft, you don’t need to study.”
“Rainbow, studying is important to-”
“No, I mean you don’t need to study for French.”
Fluttershy cocked her head.
“Fluttershy, you speak, like, what, twelve different languages?”
“Ten.”
“Whatever, one of those being French and each one being fluent!”
“I wouldn’t say fluent…”
“It’s fluent. How did you learn all of these anyway?”
Fluttershy shrugged.
“Seriously, how?”
“I don’t know, I just kind of have a knack for it. Like you and sports.”
“But even I have to practice, you don’t even really need to practice. You just do it because you think you do.”
Fluttershy shrugged, her cheeks flushing at all the attention. She wasn’t used to it.
As the bell rang Fluttershy collected her things and headed to French class. On the way there, she accidentally ran into a girl she didn’t know. She had white skin and curled, purple hair. Wait, no, they were in geography together… Rarity!
“Sorry,” Fluttershy squeaked.
“Oh, my apologies,” Rarity said quickly. “My head is just in another place right now, I am so sorry, darling.”
“It’s okay,” Fluttershy basically just breathed.
“You’re Fluttershy, correct? We’re in geography together?”
Fluttershy nodded. “I thought so. Oh, class is about to start!” Rarity said, handing Fluttershy her French book. “Sorry again, perhaps we can talk later?”
Fluttershy just shrugged softly before heading off to French.
The light filtering into the room was just another reminder to Rainbow Dash that instead of sitting in Earth science at that moment, she could be outside. Dash didn’t mind school, but she just wished it didn’t last all day. Back at Cloudsdale High, sports were a huge deal. Half of her day there was spent outside doing sports. Then her parents had told her she was going to be a part of the exchange program…
She hated it, but her grades were slipping and she was getting into a lot of fights. Sure, all of them were against bullies, but her parents were concerned for her future. No college would take someone who got into a fight every other day and had low grades, no matter how many games of track she won. This left her with now having to attend Ponyville High, where she thus far hadn’t been in a fight and her grades were slowly improving.
The blue toned girl had her rainbow colored hair hanging loosely just above her shoulders, her magenta eyes were focused on the scrap of paper she was doodling on rather than the whiteboard in front of her. Her faded, blue jean shorts had one or two grass stains on them, they were accompanied by the grass stains on her white sneakers. Even her black t-shirt with the Wonderbolts graphic was rather wrinkley. However, the dog tag she wore around her neck was still in perfect condition.
Why? Well, she had won this in a competition. It was a one of a kind Wonderbolts dog tag with their cloud and lightning bolt symbol, only this symbol was a tri-colored lightning bolt (red, yellow, and blue) rather than the usual yellow. It was both her good luck charm and a reminder that she could achieve being a Wonderbolt someday.
As the class finally ended, Rainbow was the first one out of the room. Once she dropped off her books, she quickly headed to the cafeteria for lunch. Picking up her tray of food and sitting with the other members of the track team.
“Hey Rainbow, did you hear about the show next weekend?” Quickstep asked.
“You mean the one in Cloudsdale?” Dash replied.
“That’s the one.”
“My dad’s takin’ me to it, you going?”
“With my mom.”
Yep, Rainbow thought, just a normal day.
After lunch, Rainbow had P.E. Her favorite time of day. She headed down to the track and began stretching. While she was doing this, she noticed Rarity arguing with the new girl. What about, she wasn’t sure. But, she decided to find out. Yeah, maybe Rainbow needed to leave people alone and let them work out their issues. But, she never listened to herself.
As she got closer, she realized they were arguing about student council. Fluttershy, who was also in general P.E. was standing nearby.
“Why are they fighting about student council?” Rainbow asked.
“Not sure,” Fluttershy replied honestly.
Too curious for her own good, Rainbow approached the pair.
“Why are you guys fighting about student council?” Rainbow Dash asked, receiving a death glare from each of them.
“I was just asking my opponent here why she decided to run for president on her first day of school in a new town,” Rarity replied calmly.
“And I told you that I have my reasons,” the new girl snapped.
“Yes, because that explains everything.”
“What is going on with ya’ll?” Applejack suddenly jumped into the conversation. “Can’t you just welcome some friendly competition?”
“Competition I can handle,” Rarity replied, brushing her hand under her bangs. “But coming to a new school and immediately deciding to run for council, without even meeting anyone except for your opponent? That’s suspicious, isn’t it?”
“Can’t you just leave it alone?” the new girl huffed.
“I would, Sunset, if you would just give me a straight answer.”
“I don’t have to!”
Sunset turned to leave, but Rarity grabbed her hand to stop her. In the process of jerking her hand free, Sunset pulled Rarity straight towards the water. As Applejack and Rainbow Dash tried to stop Rarity from falling into the water, the momentum ended up pulling them both into the pool with her.
“Ugh!” Rarity huffed. “Are you girls alright?”
“I’m fine,” Applejack sighed in an annoyed tone.
“Me too,” Rainbow answered.
As they were about to get out, some pink girl Rainbow had seen around school (Pinkie Pie, maybe?) ran and jumped into the pool, pulling Fluttershy in with her. They created a huge splash that left the P.E. teacher dowsed in water, along with the area surrounding the pool.
As the girls tried to explain what had happened, the teacher didn’t want to hear any of it. Thus, they were sentenced to after school detention, in which they would have to clean the entire pool area. Except for the pool.
Pinkie Pie didn’t understand why everyone was so moapy. Wasn’t jumping in the pool supposed to be fun? She guessed she should have remembered that they weren’t allowed in until their teacher said so, oops. But, at least she got to spend some quality time with friends!
She skipped out to the pool after school. She was dressed in cyan jean shorts covered in gold glitter, hot pink and white striped socks, glittery gold ballet flats, and a white tank top covered in sky blue and yellow party balloons. Her blue eyes glowed joyfully in the afternoon sun, her hot pink hair an untamable mess, and her baby pink skin was as bright as her smile. Pinkie Pie was known for her happy and fun personality, and she was much smarter than anyone realized.
When she arrived at the pool, the others were just getting there.
“Sorry about pulling you in the pool,” she said, bouncing over to Fluttershy. “I was just caught up in the fun. Don’t worry, I’m sure this will be fun too.”
Fluttershy just tossed her an annoyed look, which went completely unnoticed by the pink girl.
“I suppose we’d better get started,” Applejack sighed.
“Yes, the sooner we get this done, the sooner we can head home,” Rarity agreed, her eyes suddenly went wide and she gasped. “Oh no! I’ve forgotten about Sweetie Belle!”
“Don’t worry, I asked Big Mac to pick her and Apple Bloom up,” Applejack assured her.
“Thank you.”
“Are we gonna get started?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“I’ll clean out the pool!” Pinkie offered, jumping up and down with her hand in the air.
“Alright, darling,” Rarity answered. “I’ll get started on the floors.”
“I’ll clean the bleachers,” Applejack offered.
“I’ll help you,” Rainbow said.
Fluttershy didn’t say a word, she simply grabbed a broom.
They worked in silence for a while. Nobody saying anything to anyone, much to Pinkie’s dismay. She dashed around the pool, picking out leaves, bugs, and grass. It was tedious, but she enjoyed it. It was like playing ISpy! When the pool was almost cleaned, she noticed the other girls were just kinda moping. Her eyes lit up and an invisible light bulb went off. She ran off and was back in a flash, a pitcher and stack of cups in her hands.
“Anyone want some lemonade?” she asked, already pouring five drinks.
The other four girls came and sat on the newly cleaned bleachers. They sat in silence with awkward so strong, they could practically touch it.
“I’m sorry,” Rarity finally breathed. “If I hadn’t been arguing with Sunset, none of us would be here.”
“Hey, it’s not totally your fault,” Rainbow offered. “I mean, I’m the one who chose to stick my nose in your business.”
“And it’s not like Fluttershy and Pinkie were involved neither,” Applejack added.
“It’s just, it’s so odd,” Rarity went on, smiling at their kind words. “This girl shows up out of nowhere, has only exchanged a few words with me and the principle, and suddenly decides that she’s ready to run the student council? I mean, who does that?”
“Maybe she just wants to make friends?” Pinkie offered, bubbly as ever.
“But how does she expect to make any real friendships and run for president?” Rainbow said.
“Especially since people only know who she is and her name because it’s such a small school,” Applejack added. “Nobody knows a thing about her.”
“I don’t know why she’s running, but I want to actually help the students,” Rarity said aloud, not meaning to but glad that she had.
“I’ll help you out!” Pinkie said. “We can paint signs, and make buttons, and bake cupcakes! I know tons of recipes since I live with the Cakes! Strawberry swirl, peanut butter cup, cherry mousse, …” Pinkie rattled off several different names of recipes for sweets.
“Would you really be willing to help?” Rarity asked, surprised. “It is my fault you’re in this mess.”
“Why not? I like to make others happy, and it sounds like you hope to do the same.”
“Thanks…”
“I’ll help too,” Rainbow pipped up. “I’d rather have someone I know will do a good job than some girl I’ve never even really met.”
“Thanks girls, that means a lot,” Rarity said sincerely. “Oh, hey, Fluttershy, you volunteer at the pet shelter, right?”
The yellow toned girl simply nodded.
“Think we could do a fundraiser event for it?”
“Really?!” Fluttershy blurted out, her eyes wide.
“I just thought it could use some help,” Rarity shrugged, “there never seems to be any fundraisers for it anymore.”
“Oh, that’d be nice,” Fluttershy whispered, she was so quiet they barely heard her. She covered her face with a curtain of pink hair, embarrassed at speaking up so rashly before.
“Applejack?” Pinkie leaned in extremely close to the blonde haired girl, her eyes seeming to bug out and peer into hers closer than possible.
“I’ll help, if there’s something I can do,” Applejack shrugged, backing away from the strange pink girl. “We can talk about campaign stuff tomorrow afternoon at my place.”
“Why are all of you girls so keen to help me?” Rarity asked. “I hardly know any of you.”
“I don’t know,” Rainbow shrugged.
“We trust you, duh!” Pinkie said. “How can we trust Sunset when we haven’t even had a real conversation with her?”
By the time Rarity had picked up Sweetie from Applejack’s and gotten home, it was time for dinner. She heated up some leftovers and ate with Sweetie. Explaining how she had ended up in detention.
Once her little sister was off to bed, she went to her room and sat at her laptop. She opened it and her website loaded up.
Welcome to Carousel Boutique Where everything is chic, unique, and magnifique!
The page finished loading up her greeting page for her online store. She checked on her sales, she was up two percent! Sales hadn’t increased in a few months, she was getting worried. She jumped over to vlog and saw her subscribers had increased a little as well!
“At least things are finally looking up,” she sighed.
She minimized those and brought up her pre-recorded video. Herself sketching her latest design. All she needed was the audio. She turned on her microphone and pressed play on the already edited footage.
“Hello, everyone!” she said in a crisp, clear tone. “Rarity here, with a new design. It’s part of my business chic line, which I’m sorry I haven’t been getting up faster. But these are already available on my store - Carouselboutique.com - so you can check them out there…”
Things for Rainbow weren’t going very well. The moment she got home, her parents called. Sighing loudly, she fell on her bed and answered the phone.
“Hey, Mom,” she said, her voice half muffled by the pillow on her face.
“Don’t you “Hey, Mom” me, young lady!” her mother said sternly. “You got detention again?!”
“To be fair, it was a misunderstanding.”
“It still goes on your permanent record! How do you expect to go to school on an athletic scholarship if detention is all over your records?!”
“Mom, I wasn’t trying to get into trouble. A friend of mine fell in the pool, I tried to grab her before she fell, but she had leverage and we both fell in. That’s all that happened.”
“You weren’t in a fight?”
“No, Mom. I told you, I haven’t gotten in a single fight since coming here, and that’s still true.”
“Rainbow Co-”
“Don’t say it! I promise you, I’m telling the truth. You can even call and ask the school, it wasn’t a fight.”
“Alright. Sorry I got mad.”
“It’s alright. I gotta go do homework, tell Dad I said goodnight.”
“I will, love you.”
“Love you, too.”
As Rainbow hung up, she retraced her conversation with her mother.
“Did I just call Rarity my friend?” she cocked her head, her rainbow hair falling over her shoulder. “Hmm, guess so.”
She wasn’t sure why she had said it, but it felt right.
