You're Anonymous Tip, a member of the Canterlot High Journalism Club that may be in over her head.
Canterlot High School is full of secrets, and you happen to have the knack and gut instincts to lead you to the right scoop. However, with the climate of the school these days, prying your nose into the business of high priority targets could be a very bad mistake.
If only your curiosity didn't get the better of you.
Being an only child, I don't have any siblings I could ask about this being the typical high school experience. I had heard and seen from TV and cartoons that it would be very cliquey, but they always seemed so... exaggerated. Everyone sticking to the same little groups, one popular mean girl that ruled over everyone and everything that the teachers either didn't know or care enough to do anything about. Nerdy kids stuck with nerdy kids, jocks stuck with jocks, dramas stuck with dramas, everyone seemed to know where they belonged and never crossed that line. Coming to Canterlot High School I learned that it all seemed to be pretty much true, everything I saw in teen dramas growing up.
But then again I've never known a High School without Sunset Shimmer.
First day of freshman year. The first thing I can't help but wonder is if all high schools smell like this. I couldn't quite place it, the strange scent of rubber from everyone's shoes, the musty, stale air that most libraries seemed to have, and the overpowering scent of male body spray that does not substitute a proper shower... Lord only knows how bad the boys locker rooms were. My cheeks flush red at that brief detour in thought, clutching my schoolbag tighter and keeping my head low. I felt like any of the students around me could read my thoughts if we made eye contact. Looking at all the other students only made me feel somehow under and overdressed at the same time.
My blue sweater and loose jeans held up by an unstylish and thankfully hidden belt wouldn't exactly be turning any heads... but at the same time everyone at the school seemed to have a sense of style that seemed to belong. Sure the nerds were dressing geeky and stereotypical but they weren't alone. The nerds could spot each other from a mile away, here it was a good thing, everyone could spot where the others and the ones that dressed alike naturally flocked to each other. But not me.
I don't talk to anyone, I just file in and follow the flow of students till I break off at the stairs, only slightly less crowded as students filed in for first period. It wasn't a very crowded school, only two floors, but there were plenty of students just milling about, sitting on stairs or just hanging around the lockers and blocking up precious lane space. I wasn't sure why they weren't hanging out in the cafeteria like most of us before the bell rang, it was aggravating, but like hell I was actually going to approach any of these strangers and tell them to get a move on.
Thankfully this seemed to be relegated to the first floor and the second floor was free of much traffic with half the student body getting to their first period classes on the first floor. A sigh of relief escapes me as I pull out my class schedule again; 216, Algebra 1. That causes my brow to narrow. So there was an Algebra 2? Or 3? Why was there a sequel? Why couldn't it just be Algebra?
Distracted, I reach out for the door and grasp at nothing. I look up in surprise and the door was already open... it had been open since I got here, but I was too distracted looking at the number above it and my schedule. There were students both in and outside the classroom looking at me now, my face flushes with heat yet again and I feel an uncomfortable prickly sensation along my skin at all of the stares as I hurry inside and just take a seat. The heat reaches my ears when I hear a few students snickering. My bag is in my lap as I just wait for the minutes to pass for class to get started.
Once I start to calm down and the heat starts to face I dare to raise my head and look around the rest of the classroom; It was only about half full of students and the teacher wasn't in sight. Some students that sat next to each other were chatting and making jokes, others were reading or checking their phones while they waited for first bell to ring or the teacher to arrive. No one was paying attention to me anymore and I could take another breath of relief.
As I observed the class I noticed one girl seemed to be just as wary of everyone around her as I was. She was in a seat right next to me... was she already there when I sat down? I couldn't remember hearing her take a seat when she was very occupied with her desk. Her teal.. or cyan? Some kind of light blue eyes were narrow as she took note of each and every other student, maybe out of worry or paranoia? I wasn't sure why, this girl looked like a stereotypical cool girl, she wouldn't have any problems fitting in. A black leather vest over an orange shirt and a stylish purple skirt and black boots with purple flame-like designs, even her hair was striking, a vivid red streak with yellow like a fire.
I may have been staying for longer than intended because her eyes quickly focused on mine and I quickly turned my gaze back to my desk, fidgeting with the bag in my lap, my eyes looked away, scanning the room and the other students that sat next to each other and seemed to be having fun. The cold, sinking feeling in my gut was replaced by something hotter as my eyes narrowed at them. How could they make it look so easy...?
I want that...
A few deep breaths, my left hand gripping the edge of the desk as I turn to face the girl on the right.
That near-burning desire was nearly extinguished when I realized she had been watching my awkward and silent panic the whole time. My eyes widen briefly, my mouth opens but for the first few seconds I can't get any sound out. And the first syllable was dry and raspy.
I bring my fist up to my hand and cough into it, my face heating up again. "Ahem... Um... h-hello! My name's Anonymous. Anonymous Tip! Guess we'll be neighbors for this class, eh?" I said with a chuckle, holding out my hand.
Dead silence.
I don't feel any else's eyes on me, but now that I'm awaiting her response it feels terribly quiet in the classroom. I we weren't two stories up I'd swear we'd be hearing crickets or something. It becomes harder and harder to hold up my smile and justify keeping my hand extended while Sunset just raises a brow and looks from me to my hand quizzically.
Oh god, oh god... is this not how you do it? Do people even shake hands like this anymore!? I think I'm sweating, I should pull my hand back, I look like such a weirdo like-
Time seems to slow for me as the girl in the leather vest slowly raises her hand... or maybe she's actually moving that slowly? She holds out her hand to mimic me. "Sunset. Sunset Shimmer."
I don't mind the limp grip as I quickly shake her hand. "Nice to meet you Sunset Shimmer!"
Sunset Shimmer, the Queen Bitch of the school I mentioned, both typical and atypical at the same time. I usually expected some pretty fashionista or drama girl to be the ruler of the school, but Sunset Shimmer fit in with the rockers with her guitar and leather accessories. but at the time she didn't know how to play and she wasn't the queen of the school just yet, she was just another nervous girl who wasn't sure what to do with herself.
It was the end of first period and I felt so much better now that I had someone to talk to. Sunset and I compared our schedules and we had a few shared classes. First period Math, homeroom English at third period, a free period for fifth period, lunch for 6th period, and sharing out lass class, Gym at 9th period.
"Free Period...?" Sunset asked as the other students started filing out after the bell rang.
"It's just filler so the schedules fit I guess? We don't have a class after fourth period, so I guess we can hang out in the cafeteria or the library room."
"Library sounds good... yeah." The... huh, I wonder if you would call Sunset a redhead or a blonde? Either way she gives an awkward wave and heads off to her history class, while I got to biology on the first floor.
I started to feel anxious as we broke off and I was back to traveling through the river of of far too much perfume and body spray. The walk to my science class was fast enough, but once I'm there I stand in the open doorway, gawking at the scene as the loudest hair I've seen being restrained by the teacher. There was another girl with very long pink hair sitting on the floor crying and some male student on the floor, blood on his face as well as on restrained girl's sneaker.
When I mean loud, the girl trying to get a second kick in had hair that went way beyond Sunset's two-toned style, tripling up on it with six bright colors going through her hair. It couldn't be a dye job, because that would take way too long for someone so... aggressive and, well, the type of person that seems to be going for a first-day suspension. And who wore suspenders on rolled up jeans?
I just take a seat and keep my head low while everyone else is focused on the chaos. This was a science classroom so it didn't have normal desks and chairs, instead there were this large cabinet tables built into the floor and walls of the classroom, with sinks and faucets built into them, and everyone was sitting on stools instead of the regular plastic chairs.
I was so focused on the scene that I jumped when the girl next to me whispered in a conspiratory manner.
"That brute of a boy asked out that rather timid dear over there. Didn't take a 'No' very well, and well... the other girl didn't take that very well." She told me with a hand covering half of her mouth while she leaned in close.
Good lord how did I not notice this girl? Okay, a bloody curb-stomping is super distracting, but while the blue girl getting dragged out of class by the Science Dean had the loudest hair I've ever seen, this girl had the most glamorous hair I've seen in real life. The meticulous curls of her long hair, the way the colors faded from a lighter shade to a darker one, definitely a dye job, but a very good one.
I started to feel anxious, this girl was way too pretty for me to sit next to her. The long lashes, makeup, the ivory skin, the pale blue dress with a brighter baby blue ribbon on the front and purple trim and sleeves that fit her perfectly... this girl was one of those fashionable, popular girls. I feel like I need to hate her just on the principal of the matter.
"Are you alright darling? You seem a tad... pale. And..." She makes a face. The girl looks like she wanted to say more, but bit her tongue.
"Oh! Uh... n-no, I'm fine...! Just... surprised by that whole thing." I take a deep breath and try to calm my nerves. I really should have expected something like this, everyone else seems to fit in with a group and look that part, even if it's the first day and all of us are just freshmen.
Guess this is what happens when you miss middle school.
"My, um... my name's Tip. Anonymous Tip." I introduced myself as best I could, since it seemed like class was going to be delayed for at least a few minutes, and I may end up spending the rest of the semester next to the girl. I lead with Tip because it's a lot easier to say than 'Anonymous' in casual conversation.
"Rarity, darling-" She said, planing a hand on her petite chest and flashed a charming smile as if she'd practiced it a hundred times. "-truly a pleasure to meet you, Tippy dear."
Tippy?
Well if I didn't feel small already, that would have done it. I haven't been called 'Tippy' since I was 12.
"Uh... nice to meet you, Rarity. So, um... what do you know about those two girls?" I asked sheepishly, letting my own curiosity guide the conversation.
This seemed to be the right conversation, as Rarity's eyes lit up at the opportunity for idle gossip. We spent the next few minutes talking about the two girls and their potential relationship with each other. The girls were apparently named Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.
Guess which one is which.
"-Rainbow and that boy will both no doubt be suspended. That's the usual rule for any sort of fight in schools. That Fluttershy girl probably won't though..." Rarity added shortly before the teacher returned and told us to grab a textbook from the shelves. I offer to get Rarity's as well when I get up from my stool and head over there with the other students.
Rarity was surprisingly easy to talk to, but perhaps it was due to the fact that we both had a very interesting subject matter to talk about? I doubt it would have gone so well if Rarity had shifted the topic to fashion of hair-care. Thankfully that bullet was dodged, but not for long given the look of the fashionable girl, so my only hope is that she'll take pity on me and know enough not to ask for my opinion on clothes.
I grab two textbooks from the shelves and hurry back to my seat, setting Rarity's and taking a seat before actually giving the cover a good look at it.
Confusion takes hold of me and I look over at Rarity's book to double check.
Then I look at the books everyone else is holding.
"This is our textbook?" I ask, feeling that awkward sensation taking hold as Rarity looks at me with a raised brow, then looking around at everyone else's textbooks.
"Of course it is dear... why wouldn't it be?"
This was the exact same textbook I had been provided when my mom started home-schooling me. I open the book up and go to a random chapter. Yup, it's the same. Were all my textbooks like that? I didn't get an Algebra textbook in first period, but a paperback book, certain pages of problems would be our homework when assigned.
"I... think I've already read this book? Like... all of it." I mumble quietly as the teacher tells us to turn to page 394.
Rarity gives me a funny look, eyes narrowing briefly as we both turn to the page. I stay quiet as the class continues.
I did my best to focus on the pages in front of me during class, but my mind kept straying to the idea of all of my textbooks being high school level. Soon enough the bell rang and I gave Rarity a wave before hurrying off to my homeroom class, English. I breath a sigh of relief when I see Sunset Shimmer sitting down, and even better there was an empty seat next to her. It was a little awkward at first, but I was two for two on school social situations, so the morning was looking good!
I also spy that I'm not the only girl with going with the sweater, jeans and sneakers look, we even had the same green skin, we almost looked like sis-
-The bell rings and I put away my copy of the book 'A Midsummer's Nightmare' in my bag. The class as surprisingly awkward at first but at least Sunset was there and the time passed fast enough. I suppose that's how it goes when you're with an... acquaintance? Was friend too soon? Rarity already seemed weirded out and I didn't want to push too hard with Sunset.
Huh? Why did you want me to stop? ... ... 'What about the other girl?'
Well like I said earlier, Sunset Shimmer was just another student at first. There was another Queen that ruled the school... Queens? Well, it was one group that was in charge. Not a specific clique, but in a funny way that harmony and school spirit is what united everyone against Sunset Shimmer, the former girls in charge all worked together to stay on top, even if they were from different cliques. I've learned that Canterlot High has never had a shortage of bitch queens over the years, but big difference with Sunset Shimmer is that she ended up ruling alone.
I couldn't help but wonder about Sunset Shimmer as I found her sitting alone, pouring over a history book with surprising intensity. At the very least the school library looked a lot nicer than I had expected, and there were even computers to use. Soon enough I was sitting next to her and recounting the incident during my second period science class. For some reason it had slipped my mind in English to tell her about all of the drama and the apparent first blood of the school year.
"Does... this happen often in the schools here?" Sunset asked with a raised brow, her lips curled upward in a small smirk, head resting in her hand with her elbow propped up on the table.
"I, uh... I wouldn't know. I'm kind of new to this stuff." Thinking back on the incident, I shifted in my seat uncomfortably. The blood pouring down the boy's face brought back an all-too unpleasant memory that was the reason for my inexperience.
"New? To School?" Sunset blinked, eyes narrowing as she stood up straight, looking be over skeptically. "Explain."
It wasn't a request, it was a command. Sunset's tone had changed and her tone was harder, she seemed suspicious for some reason. I could only take the intense eye contact for a few seconds before I look down at the algebra workbook in front of me.
"... Well?" I winced as dared to glance up at her, the girls arms now folded across her chest and glaring at me expectantly.
"I... uhm..." I swallow hard, looking back down to fidget with the book in my hands. "I... used to be home-schooled, for the last three years. My mom taught me everything... I haven't been in an actual school since I was a kid." I admitted, not looking up at her.
"Your... mom?" Sunset Voice's sounded surprised.
"Uh-huh... in between work. Giving assignments to do before leaving, taking her days off to teach me more closely. The state provided textbooks and stuff..."
"... Huh."
I wasn't sure what to make sure of the sound that came from the rocker girl. I let out a small sigh of relief when I saw Sunset softened. The silence seemed to stretch on for a long time while I fidgeted with my book, my nail dragging a long the pages of the now closed book, my nail and the fanning sound from the pages being the only sound between the two of us.
"... Yeah, me too." My eyes widened as I turned my gaze up to Sunset, who was now the one avoiding her gaze.
"My mom taught me everything I knew." Oh...
"And... well she's not exactly around anymore..." Oh shit!
"I, uh... I'm sorry Sunset..." I felt increasingly awkward about the situation, even though Sunset was the one that had forced this subject in the first place. Her expression was difficult to read, her eyes narrowing and keeping her head low. She looked more... angry than sad, but the last thing I wanted to do was pry after that bombshell, even if I was super curious.
"It's fine." The other girl focuses on her textbook now and let's the silence continue until the bell rang and we could go to lunch.
Again I tried to analyze this girl, before she was just the first person I had spoken to at school and that we sat together, but the odds that both of us were home-schooled? I wanted to know more about her, but now things seemed awkward between the two of us... or maybe she just wanted to get back to reading? I just take a deep breath and continued doing problems our algebra teacher had assigned to us. I preferred to do my homework when I could while I was at school, leaving me with nothing to get in the way of enjoying the rest of the afternoon and evening.
I had finished my math and was halfway through our Science assignment when the bell rang, and my books were back in my backpack while Sunset put away the history book. I watched her head towards the exit as the others who spent their free period here were already heading off to their next classes. She walks away with them and I grip the straps of my backpack tighter, a heavy weight settling in the pit of my stomach.
Right. We're still basically strangers to each other, it hasn't even been one day.
"... Well?" that familiar tone called out. Sunset paused, looking back at me with a questioning look. "Lunch, right?"
"Uh... R-Right." The weight in stomach lifted somewhat and I give an awkward smile before I follow after her.
The lunchroom looked the same as when I arrived before first period, and even now most kids stuck to their same groups, but this time I spied two or three small groups of students sitting together that didn't look like they belonged with any real cliques that I could guess. I felt a little more at east that I again wasn't the only girl around in simple jeans and a sweater... and after the fashion disaster that was Rainbow Dash with her rolled up jeans and suspenders over a tucked in shirt, I figured I didn't look too bad.
My gaze look focuses on all the tables, noticing a good amount of them had were still vacant on one half of the long tables while students lined up for their lunch. I reposition myself to Sunset's side instead of following behind her, jerking my thumb at the tables. "I'll get us a spot to sit, you go on and your lunch." I said while starting to walk off, not looking back at her. I do make a detour to quickly nab my own lunch, but not from the the lunch cafeteria, I noticed the vending machines when I first walked into the school lunch room. Sure the school lunches looked okay, but I were a little more than apprehensive about them, and with what was in the bending machines she just had to go with the option I knew.
With a grin I approach the vending machine.
"So... Pop-Tarts, Tippy dear?" We had found Rarity, or more that she found us, and was thankful that I was sitting with someone that seemed to have some degree of fashion-sense, and so she joined our little group at the end of one of the tables.
"Mmph! S'moorsh!" I answered happily, holding up one of the two s'more flavored pop-tart I had gotten from the vending machines, enjoying the taste of chocolate and marshmallow in a graham cracker pastry. Rarity across from me had some kind of salad on her lunch tray while Sunset beside me had a rectangular cheese pizza with a few big pepperonis on it and some classic lunchroom crinkle-cut french fries.
"I see. It just seems rather like a... breakfast food?" Rarity said, though she was making that face again like she was holding back from saying something.
"...'Breakfast food'?" Sunset eyed at the S'more toaster-pastry skeptically while I swallow my last bite.
"Ah. Um... yeah. I also had them for breakfast too! They're really great!" I respond, attempting to defend delicious, if unchanging, choice in food. I go to take a bite from my pop-tart but an orange hand grips my wrist and Sunset leans in way too close for comfort.
"Let me taste it." It wasn't a request, a firm grip on my hand that didn't hurt, but kept it there as she took a bite from my s'more treat, and then another. She didn't even bother to bit an the untouched corner of the pop-tart...
I just stare blankly while Rarity watched with her mouth hanging open. Sunset just chews and pulls back when she was done, releasing her grip on my wrist and acts like what she did nothing out of the ordinary. "She's right, they're pretty good. And convenient."
And that was all she said on the matter.
Rarity covered her now closed mouth with a hand, looking from Sunset and me now with a gaze that felt uncomfortable in its intensity. My face flushes as I avoid her gaze and try not to think about what Sunset just did as I start eating the rest of the poptart while I try to figure out the rocker girl beside me and desperately hoping Rarity wouldn't turn the topic towards whatever that just was.
We were similar in our upbringing but we couldn't be more different; Sunset was confident, shameless, demanding, and a little pushy, when she saw something she took it without regard. I on the other hand was... the opposite of all of those things.
Fortunately Rarity decided not to comment on that bit of weirdness. Unfortunately, she went back to the topic of my eating habits instead with a hesitant little titter.
"Well... regardless, it seems a bit... I mean, you could eat something a bit more substantial than pop-tarts, Tippy." She gives a gesture to Sunset's own meal. It was true, a pepperoni pizza with french fries was definitely more than two pop-tarts, but something was nagging at me as I looked to the ivory girl's own lunch.
"But... you're just eating a salad." I point out with the quarter of my pop-tart that was left.
The fashionable girl puts a hand over her chest and lets out a more confident laugh that last time.
"Well of course! I'm on a diet, Tippy darling. You obviously aren't." She dismissively waves a hand in my direction.
... Oh.
There was a familiar, lingering silence at our table as Rarity realized her own words.
"... Wow, Rarity." I could hear Sunset's voice, but her voice sounded distant as Rarity's words sunk in. I just put down the pop-tart on top of the wrapper and keep my head low. I don't make eye contact with other of them, my jaw clenching.
"W-Well, what I meant to say darling, is that.. .er... it's not a bad thing really, I mean, all body types have their own... unique appeal. Even the... heavier ones."
"Rarity..."
My face turns red again and my eyes start to get watery. I try to hold it in, speaking or doing anything would just make it worse. Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry don't cry don't cry don-
"There's nothing wrong with being plus-sized if you wear it w-"
"Rarity!"
"Oh! Shutting up now!"
I grip my bag and stand up from the table, wiping my face as the hot streaks start flowing down my cheeks. I move away from table and hurry to leave the cafeteria. I needed to find a nice, quiet place like an empty stairwell or a bathroom where noone could see me! I wasn't running for long before I ended up slamming into someone bigger than me, and I'm on my ass on the floor next thing I know, hearing my bag hit the cafeteria floor with a heavy THUD beside me
"Oof! Hey, watch it freshman!" An older girl's voice spoke up while I tried to clear me vision. The cafeteria was quiet again, uncomfortably so. Once my gaze has lifted I notice four girls looking down at my like I was something they had to scrape off their expensive shoes. No, wait, they'd probably have people to do that for them. That or maybe just throw out the shoes entirely and buy new pairs.
Instead, I ran headfirst into the girls I never wanted to run into.
The one I had smacked into looked like the two girls behind her had caught her from falling and she was brushing the invisible dust off of her shoulders, while the smaller of the four hung in the back.
Now Rarity was pretty, but this girl who was obviously a senior had the fabulous girl beat on several points. Two of them being what I ran into. She was tall and curvy, with pale lilac skin with long curtains of silky curtains of red hair, even if it was slightly tousled now it made my own redhead look like a rats nest in comparison. Her hair didn't stay that way when a shorter pink girl with golden hair in braided pigtails fixed her up, a similar figure but just a little more top-heavy than the first, and in a dangerously short and pleated little miniskirt. At the redhead's other side was a girl of similar height, but while the other two were curvy, this tan-skinned girl had a smaller chest and a more fit build, and the only one not wearing a skirt. Blue jeans and and a black shirt under a denim vest with torn sleeves. I try to make myself smaller as she glares down at me.
The last of the girls was far less threatening, only a little bigger than me and far more slender in comparison, blue hair that had a curl to it apparently given the strand bangs that had escaped from the tight bun on top of her head. But as I thought that a grin started to spread across her face while she adjusted the sleek black glasses on the bridge of her nose.
The redhead was Prima Donna current queen of the school. And the other three were her entourage.
