That's Not How You Spell "Cinnamon"
Sunset Shimmer hurried through the bustling halls, trying to get to where she needed to go as quickly as she could. She was running late to lunch, and someone would probably steal her seat if she didn't hurry. Flash and his friends always seemed to need more seats and, while Sunset had no real problem with her ex-boyfriend, she'd much rather sit with the Rainbooms.
As she moved around a corner, she collided with another person, knocking them both to the ground.
“Hey! Watch where you're going, jerk!” said the girl that had fallen. Her long, tidy hair was a brownish-red, much like her eyes. She had a small, rounded face, her features tiny and splayed with freckles. She stood up, dusting off her skirt with a glare or two directed at Sunset.
“Sorry about that,” said Sunset. “Didn’t see you there. Are you o—”
“Whatever, Horse Girl,” she snorted. “Just watch where you're going!”
“Uh… Sorry?”
“You should be. If I'm late to tutoring because of you, you're gonna hear from me, Horse Girl.”
“Could you maybe not—”
“Move it! I got places to be, I'm sure you understand. You probably have a nice, big bale of hay waiting for you, so let's get out each other's way.”
“Er… sorry?” Sunset stepped to the side. “No, but seriously, could you cool it with the—”
The girl was gone almost before Sunset started talking. Sunset shook her head, confused and a bit offended, then continued along her path. As she entered the cafeteria and traversed the line, she pondered the girl.
Who was she? Why was she so nasty? Could she still be upset about the whole “brainwashing the student body” thing? Because Sunset had publicly apologized for that, and she had assumed that saving the school from extradimensional threats three times over would have the one bid for power stricken from her record. Still, Sunset reasoned that maybe she had somehow offended this girl. If that were the case, the right thing to do would be to find her, apologize, and hope she accepts. In order to do that, Sunset needed to know who she was.
As soon as Sunset had her lunch, she quickly zipped over to her table. Luckily, her seat was free, saved no doubt thanks to Rarity, who were sitting just opposite of it.
“Hey, Rares,” said Sunset. “You got a lock on the others?”
“Rainbow and AJ have tests to make up, Fluttershy is sick, Sci-Twi wanted to catch up on studying, and Pinkie is on her way,” listed Rarity. “But let's not worry about them right now. Are you okay, darling? You look upset.”
“Eh, I've been worse. Just had a run-in with some girl,” said Sunset, poking at her salad. “I accidentally bumped into her and she was really mean about it.”
“Mean in what way?” asked Rarity.
“She was acting like I bumped into her just to inconvenience her. Then, when I tried to apologize, she kept calling me ‘Horse Girl’. It's not the worst thing I've been called, but still.”
“My, that's unfortunate. What do you intend to do about it?” asked Rarity.
“Well, I wanna find out why she doesn't like me so I can apologize,” said Sunset. “But I don't even know her name. I was hoping you knew her. Dark red hair, freckles, tiny face?”
“Oh, that sounds like Kinnamon with a K.”
“Okay then, now I just gotta find her and—” Sunset only just then realized what Rarity had said. “Wait, what?”
“Kinnamon with a K,” said Rarity again. “I have Fashion Merchandising with her third period.”
“I'm sorry, what's her name?”
“Kinnamon with a K, darling. Are you alright?”
“Okay, so you are still saying that,” said Sunset. “Why?”
“Because… That's her name?”
“Her name is Kinnamon.”
“With a K, yes.”
“Her parents named her Kinnamon.”
“With a K, yes.”
“Okay, so let's start at the top of the list of issues I have with that,” sighed Sunset, pushing herself food to the side. “Cinnamon is not spelled with a K. Kinnamon with a K is a slap in the face of phonics.”
“Well, that's how her name is spelled,” said Rarity with a shrug. “You should know, names don't have to follow the typical rules of English.”
“Why specify that it's Kinnamon with a K?”
“To differentiate between her and her sisters.”
“Sisters?” asked Sunset.
“Mh-hm. Cynammon with a Y, Sinnamon with an S, and Xinnammon with an X. “
“How…?” Sunset wasn't even concerned with apologizing at the moment. Now, she just needed to figure this out. “Alright, I think I might be misunderstanding this. How do you spell her name? The girl I bumped into?”
“K-I-N-N-A-M-O-N-W-I-T-H-A-K,” spelled Rarity.
Sunset took in a deep breath, burying her face in her palms. She then let out a long, tired groan. Now that she had gotten it out of her system, she looked to Rarity and spoke as calmly as she could.
“WHY DO YOU KEEP SAYING ‘WITH A K’?!” snapped Sunset.
“That's just her name, darling, calm down!” said Rarity, holding her hands up defensively. “I'm sorry, darling, but I can't change her name.”
“‘With a K’ cannot be a part of this girl’s name!”
“But it is. It's like Alexander the Great, or A Tribe Called Quest, or A Pimp Named Slickback. You have to say the whole thing.”
“Hiya, girls!” Pinkie bounced over, dropping her tray down next to Rarity and taking a seat. “We talking about Kinny with a K?”
“You know her?” asked Sunset, still baffled by the complete and utter disregard for English that Kinnamon with a K’s parents must have.
“Puh-lease, sister. I know everyone at least a little,” said Pinkie, immediately shoving a forkful of spaghetti into her mouth. “So? What’s up with Kinny with a K?”
“No, seriously, this cannot be her name,” said Sunset. “Her name cannot be Kinnamon with a K.”
“Er… Sunset?” said Rarity softly. Sunset didn’t even notice, she was so annoyed.
“I kinda understand Cynnamon with a Y and Sinnamon with an S, but Kinnamon with a K doesn’t make any sense at all!”
“Sunny?”
“I mean, I know some people these days have some colorful and creative names, but Kinnamon with a K has to be the absolute dumbest name I’ve ever heard!”
“Sunset!” Rarity buried her face in her palms.
“What?”
“Just… Turn around, darling.”
Sunset turned around, visibly paling at the sight of Kinnamon with a K looming over her. Kinnamon with a K snarled angrily before turning around and stomping off, muttering angrily about “the stupid Horse Girl” as she went.
“Whoa. You totally just Beetlejuiced Kinny with a K!” said Pinkie. “Lemme try! Cotton candy, cotton candy, cotton candy!: She held out her hands expectantly, frowning slightly when nothing happened. “Darn, I thought for sure that would work!”
“Pinkie Pie, you keep cotton candy in your hair at all times,” remarked Rarity flatly. Pinkie reached into her transdimensional hairdo, returning with a stick of bright blue cotton candy.
“Cool! I forgot about this stuff,” she said, immediately latching her jaws onto her snack. “Nhh hghn, Fhnfmt?”
“Don’t talk with your mouth full, darling,” said Rarity. Pinkie quickly swallowed her candy, stowing the rest of it back into her hair.
“Sorry. You okay, Sunset?”
“Great. I didn’t know why she hated me before. Now she double-hates me,” groaned Sunset.
“Well, at least you know the second reason she hates you,” said Pinkie. Rarity elbowed Pinkie in the ribs. “What? It's true!”
“How am I gonna fix this?”
“Well… And I don't mean to sound, as Pinkie would say, itchy-twitchy, rhymes with witchy…” said Rarity. “But… who says you have to?”
“Huh?”
“Well, do you really care if Kinnamon with a K likes you?” asked Rarity. “From what I gathered, you found her to have a rather nasty personality. And, speaking as someone who knows Kinnamon with a K, I can confidently say that you probably wouldn't get along with her anyway. So, perhaps you should quit while you're ahead.”
“So you want me to just be mean to this girl and not apologize?” asked Sunset. “That's not very ‘Magic of Friendship’ of you.”
“Well, darling, you're going to have to understand that you simply can't make friends with everyone. Sometimes, people just don't click. So, instead of forcing things and making the whole situation worse, maybe you should cut your losses and leave her be.”
Sunset hadn't thought of that. Rarity did make a fair point. Even if she did apologize, and Kinnamon with a K did accept it, Sunset very much so doubted that they would hang out after school or anything of the sort. She just felt a compulsive need to be liked, no doubt thanks to her little stint as the most hated girl in CHS. But Rarity was right. Sunset didn’t need Kinnamon with a K.
“Popcorn balls to that!” said Pinkie suddenly, slamming her hands against the table. “Sunny, how many friends do you really have here?”
“Uh… Seven?”
“Flash doesn’t count and you can only count Twilight once.”
“Six...”
“Exactly! You can’t afford to miss out on another friend!” said Pinkie. “So you absolutely, positutely, without a doubt, have to make things up with Kinny with a K!”
“Actually, I’m starting to lean more towards what Rarity was saying,” said Sunset. “Why do I really need to be friends with this girl who obviously doesn’t like me?”
“How else are you gonna escape your horrible, terrible, reputation of being the worst person in the whole school?”
Sunset was about to respond, but she realized something. She had known Pinkie Pie for quite a while by this point, which means they’ve had many a debate. All this time, Sunset couldn’t pick a single time in which arguing with Pinkie resulted in her being better off than when they started.
“Fine. Let’s make this up to Kinnamon with a K,” said Sunset. “How do we do that?”
“I’ve got an idea,” said Pinkie, rubbing her hands together mischievously. “And it’s gonna be awesome.”
“This is terrible!” shouted Sunset, clutching onto the banner for dear life. “Oh my god, I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die!”
“Relax, silly, a fall from this height won’t kill you,” said Pinkie. She looked down at the roof of Kinnamon with a K’s house, which they were several feet above. “It’ll hurt a whooooooooooooole heck of a bunch, but you’ll be fine once you get over the full-body paralysis.”
“Why did I let you talk me into this?!”
Sunset Shimmer and Pinkie Pie were floating in the air, several dozen of Pinkie’s special balloons tied around their waists. The plan was for them to decorate a large banner that read “Sorry For Being A Jerk, Kinnamon With A K”, which they were supposed to hold up high in the air above Kinnamon with a K’s home.When Sunset first heard Pinkie explain how it would all work, she assumed that Pinkie had been joking. When Pinkie insisted, Sunset went along with it, if to do nothing more than humor Pinkie so that they could get to work on an actual plan. Sunset didn’t even have time to be angry at the sheer disregard for physics before she was being hoisted into the air by balloons that definitely should not have been able to lift her up.
“Because this is rad!” squealed Pinkie. “C’mon, Sunny, hold your end up higher! And keep it steady!”
“I’m trying, but it’s hard to keep my hands steady when I’m fearing for my entire life, you poofy pink psychopath!”
“Look, there’s here car!” said the poofy pink psychopath. Just down the street, a red sedan cruised up the road. Slowly, it pulled up to the house, parking beneath the shade of a lone tree. The door opened and Kinnamon with a K slowly, cautiously stepped out, staring up at the two flying girls above her.
“Horse Girl?” she said. “What the hell are you doing above my house?!”
“I’msorryforbeingajerk!” muttered Sunset, too quickly for anyone to understand.
“Sunset, calm down,” said Pinkie. “I know you’re scared, but you’ll be fine. Just breathe, take your time, and try again.”
Sunset took in a deep breath through her nose, and let it out through her mouth. In through the nose, out through the mouth. In, out. In, out. She sighed. Pinkie was right. All she had to do was calm down and focus on not falling.
“Okay, okay,” said Sunset. “I’m sorry for—”
A wild gust of wind blew through, catching Sunset off guard. She sailed through the air, smashing into the tree. Several balloons popped, dropping Sunset tumbling down. She hit branch after branch as she fell, eventually dropping directly onto Kinnamon with a K’s car.
“Owwww….” groaned Sunset, clutching her ribs.
“You moron!” shouted Kinnamon with a K. “That’s my car! You wrecked my car! You are literally the worst person ever, which makes sense, cause you’re not a person at all! You’re just a stupid, clumsy Horse Girl!”
“Sunny, you okay?!” asked Pinkie, still floating in the air.
“Ugh… I’m fine,” said Sunset, gingerly rolling out of Kinnamon with a K’s ruined windshield. “Look, Kinnamon, I—”
“First, you steal my parking spot with your ugly bike, then you bump into me hall,” snarled Kinnamon with a K. “Then, you call my name stupid, and now you trash my car! How am I supposed to pay to get this fixed?!”
“I’m sorry, I’ll help you,” said Sunset, grimacing in pain.
Suddenly, her pain vanished, replaced threefold by fury.
“You better, Horse Girl, or else I’m calling the police and having you kicked right back to your horse planet!”
“Wait just a second!” Sunset stomped over to Kinnamon with a K, clutching her fists angrily. “Are you trying to tell me that this whole thing is because I stole your parking spot once?!”
“It was more than once, Horse Girl,” hissed Kinnamon with a K. “It was a daily thing! I loved that spot, and I was there first, and you stole them!”
“You know what? Rarity was right. I don’t need you as a friend,” said Sunset. “I’m glad I took your spot! I’m glad I knocked into you in the halls! I’ll do it twelve times a day from now on!” Sunset kicked the car angrily, denting the door. “To hell with your car! Hope you have good insurance, bitch, cause I’m not paying a dime!”
“You better cool it, Horse Girl!” snapped Kinnamon with a K. “If you don’t pay for this, I’ll—”
“And, you know what else? Your name is stupid! All of your sisters have stupid names, but I hate yours the most! It’s dumb! It makes no sense! Cinnamon does not start with a K! But you know what does?”
“What’s that, Horse Girl?”
Sunset punched Kinnamon with a K directly in the face, knocking her flat on her back. Sunset cracked her knuckles, watching with a dark sort of contentedness at the unconscious girl at her feet.
“Knock-out,” she said. She shoved her hands into her pockets, angrily stomping off. She wasn’t proud of her actions, but it felt good to get all of her anger out, justified or otherwise. She reasoned that, the next day, she’d send over a check for Kinnamon with a K’s windshield, send her a proper apology, and put this whole thing behind her. For now, she just wanted to enjoy the moment.
“Uh… Sunset?” said Pinkie, dangling in the wind from her balloons. “Can you help me… Aaaaaaand she’s gone." Another gust of wind came along, causing Pinkieto drift slowly through the sky. "Oh, popcorn balls...”