> It's Not Love! .....But is it? > by Sunset Awesomness17 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > One > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I wake up into a beautiful field of wild flowers. All are beautiful, bright, big and they all seemed to be facing me. It is really breath taking. A light breeze blows through the air and hits my face with its warmth and it carries an interesting scent. It smells like Sunset’s perfume that she sometimes wears when she's feeling "dressy". Though I took it as me just making something out of nothing. I have done that before. I take my mind off of Sunset and I look back to the flowers which...were gone now..? Then a huge gust of wind swoops in, making me loose my balance and I fall down to the ground. Which ended up being a much longer fall then expected and I find myself laying down on a different field. This one more like the park near the school. I get back up to see a Beautiful bluebird looking at me. It's face changes and it starts to look like a very faded Sunset Shimmer. I think I may be losing my mind at thus point, but it really did! She looked even cuter as a bird. Not that I'd admit it to her, but right now I was enjoying the sight of her. That cute belly, tiny legs, little red and yellow wings, a tiny beak, and a cute little red and yellow puff on her head. I don't know how she does it, but she makes everything look so good, even when it's not. Then the bird starts to evolve into more of the human version of Sunset. This time she is wearing a set of kinda revealing clothing. Not too much but, her sweater opens right at the chest right above her perky breast and it also has some little slits on the side. I start to stare at her chest, and I find myself unable to look away. Then, Sunset’s mouth opens as if she is going to speak, but what comes out of it is not what I expected. “Chirp, chirpity, chirp, chirp!” Confused, I ask her what she is talking about. But she doesn't seem to even notice me there, her eyes appear to be looking into space, but her mouth opens again. “Chirp, chirpity, chirp, chirp!” “Chirp!” “Mmph?” I hear a chirping sound go off somewhere in my sleep. It keeps going, and going until I realize that it is not in my dream. I am no longer asleep, and that the sound is coming from the waking world, not my dream. I wanted to sleep a little more, but I knew that was a fruitless thought since the sound was not going away. I twist from my position on my bed and open my eyes. My vision is a little blurry at first, but after a few moments it clears a little more, just enough for me to reach my hand out and grab my phone off the nightstand beside the bed. Immediately, I squint my eyes shut at the bright light glaring at me through my screen. "Oh! Auto brightness.." I remember turning it down last night, but I also have the auto brightness on, so it does it on its own. I like it, but sometimes it's not my best friend. My eyes adjust to the light quickly and I tap the snooze bottom on my phone for another five more minutes. I glance around for a second just to look outside. The sun was barely coming out, it was still behind the mountains, but I could see the soft pink light painting the sky. I lay back down and fell back asleep instantly for a only a few moments before the thing went off again. "Mmm...maybe I should've turned that thing off." I say while staring up at the ceiling. Again, another thought that couldn't happen even if I wanted to. The second alarm was followed by the feeling of something fluffy rubbing up against my cheek. I blinked my eyes open again, and turn my head to the little white bunny that was now on my bed. His fur was like that of the lamb in "Mary Had a Little Lamb", he is the light if my day, no matter how much he can be a little "brat" at least according to some of my friends. Sunset hasn't called him that. In fact she may be the only one he isn't such pain to. He seems to like her more than the others surprisingly. Even though he is the way he is, I couldn't ask for another bunny. I love him too much. I sighed a long sigh because I knew that I wouldn’t be getting anymore sleep, but nevertheless I smile at him anyways. Reaching up with my hand again, I turn off the alarm, off completely this time. I stretched out a little bit of the sleepiness out of my system and let out a soft yawn before I proceed to get myself into a sitting position on my bed. I look back down to the little bunny on my lap. He was looking right at me with that sort of ‘Feed Me!’ Kind of look. “Oh, okay Angel Bunny, I’ll...” I pause in mid sentence as I felt another small yawn come on.” ... feed you.” Suddenly, a loud bang followed by the sound of something hitting the floor above me could be heard. I sighed again. “Zephyr Breeze.....ugh couldn’t he at least be a bit more quieter in the mornings?” My brother, was not the most quietest, nor the most respectful person in this world. He’s kind of far from it actually. I love and care for him of course, but sometimes he can be a real pain. I am not the bravest, the boldest, or even the most confident person. I am very quiet, I keep to myself a lot, so I usually don’t express what I really feel or what I really want to say half the time. It’s nothing really, I’m just pretty private. I keep things to myself, sometimes it’s a good thing, and other times it’s a curse. But my brother, he is just so loud and can be very disrespectful, he always finds a way to disrupt the world....well both worlds for that matter, though I'm sure that Sunset would tell me otherwise. But between me, myself, and I, he does. He can be very careless, it's not really a secret. He cares of course to some degree, but it’s a really rare characteristic for him. This morning though, as I’m getting my clothes together for my morning shower, I could hear drawers being slammed, things being shoved, and even him talking loudly on the phone with one of his gaming buddies. He does this every morning, but this morning he just seemed to be more obnoxious then usual. I can even hear him rushing down the stairs. I shake my head, choosing to ignore it as I continue to get ready, and as I am about to open the door to my bathroom, I feel something grab my nightshirt from behind and pull me back. “Fluttershy! The best sister ever! Can I use your shower?” “Zeph—...” I didn’t even get to finish saying his name before he interrupted me. “Okay, sounds great! Thanks, Sis!” Then he opens the door and locks it before I could say anything else. I rolled my eyes a little bit at this. Again, I really do not voice my thoughts or what I really feel, so I let it go, and I huffed a small curse under my breath. I walked to my parents room. I could hear my mother’s voice from the hall as I get closer to the room. Golden light dances its way through the doorway and onto the white carpet. It's brilliance mingles with the sun’s morning light. When I get to the door, I knock on the it, before I walked in. Then I enter the room to see my mother smiling at me. “Hello dear, is your brother taking over your bathroom again?” I let out a long sigh, “He is.” “Oh, I'm sorry honey. No worries, you can use my shower. I don’t mind. I know your brother can be a little difficult sometimes so it’s all right with me.” Mom said, pointing her eyes to the bathroom. I nod. I walk over to my mother’s bathroom, open the door and close it behind me. I always feel weird sharing my mom's bathroom. There's nothing wrong with it, I just feel that since I have my own shower, that I shouldn't be using my parent's. Plus, I have more privacy in my own shower. Which means no singing, no humming this time. I hate doing it in front of my parents. How did I get myself into a band? I have no idea. Dash talked me into it and kinda begged me until I finally agreed. I glance at myself in the mirror to see the bags under my eyes. I stare for a little bit, thinking of how terrible I look, and how Rarity would be asking me some questions today, then I shake my head of my thoughts and proceed to prepare for a shower. As I let the nice warm water rush down I start to think more about someone else. Someone that has been the subject of my thoughts, someone who has now become a good friend of mine, Sunset Shimmer. I haven’t told anybody yet, but lately she has been on my mind a lot now. At first, it was just little bits and pieces and usually at random. I didn’t really take notice at first because it didn’t really seem like anything to me. I mean it was literally just little bits, and I have never fallen for anybody before. I mean I used to have something for Rainbow, like a very tiny crush, but I lost that when she dated Gilda. Like really?! You choose that awful little wasp over me! Ugh! I wasn’t even surprised when Gilda ditched her to be in a gang. Why she chose her? I will never know nor will I understand. I never said anything of course. I’d die before that ever happens. Not literally, but metaphorically, yeah. Anyways, I haven’t fallen for anyone like this, and it was just like “normal” thoughts like, “She looks nice today.” Or “She seems in a better mood today.” But it just was little bits and pieces and randomly. I didn’t really take notice at first because it didn’t really seem like it was anything to take notice of, but then I started to think about her more often. Like instead of just thinking about her as a friend would, at least in my definition of what a friend should think of another friend would, I thought of Sunset Shimmer of something more? Like a crush. I can’t put my finger on it, whenever I’m around her it’s like I’m different. She makes me.... Ugh, I can’t put my finger on it. It’s hard to explain really. Whenever I’m around her it’s like I’m different. She makes me...... stronger, confident, and she just makes me..... she makes me....well, different. Ugh! I can’t really describe it, but it’s like she makes me happier, and makes me proud to be alive. As if she gives me a reason to wake up in the morning, and to give the new day a try. It’s as if she gives me a reason to live. She has saved me in a way. She doesn’t know it, but a few weeks before the fall formal, I bumped into her. She was angry, and I started to cry because of what had happened earlier that day, and because I was scared of what she might do to me. Nothing came, in fact I felt a pair of strong arms wrap around me. I’m not even sure she knew who she bumped into, but she heard me crying and she was comforting me. She spoke to me in such a soft, caring voice that it shocked me out of crying. “Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry! Please don’t cry! It’s okay, don’t cry. Then she looked around as if to check to make sure no one saw, then she moved my hair from my face and said, “I don’t know what you’re going through, but it’s going to be okay. Just be strong.” Then there were noise coming down the hall and she immediately moved away from me. Trixie appeared from the corner. Sunset didn’t waist time, she left the hallway without a second glance. I don’t know what Trixie did, but I didn’t care about her, my mind was on Sunset. I have had a crush on Sunset before this, but this just made me fall for her even more than I’d like to admit. She doesn’t know it, but she saved me from hurting myself that day. She is just an amazing person in and out and there’s nothing that can make me change my mind about that. Yeah .... she used to be hard to understand. Hard to be around, a hard person to like, still is to some, and even though she hasn’t said anything I have a feeling that even before the fall formal she was a lot more than what seemed to be. Like, she put on such a brave, confident and determine face, as of nothing could defeat her. Even after the fall formal, when I knew she was hurting, she never showed it. Haha, it was as if she’d rather die than to let anyone see that weaker side of her. And I admire her for it. I know it’s not easy for her, it must be so hard for her, I can see it in her eyes every time she walks up to that school she always gives it such a horror filled look. But that look does not stay there long, it last for maybe 30 seconds? I know she works hard every day to put on a brave face, fighting every day with every ounce that she has and I want to be there every step of the way for her. I want her to know that she’s not alone in this world. Yeah, she has us as friends, But I want to be there by her side, I want to shelter her. I’m not the bravest one out there, but I want to give all I have to give to her. But I know that’s wishful thinking, for I know she would never think of me in that way. She’s too good for me, and although she was harsh with me a couple of times, but that.....that was only because she was fighting her own battles and didn’t know her how else to take those battle other than to take it out on others; I will never be enough for her. She deserves somebody more. So I have to suck it up, give up all my feelings that I have for her so that she can have somebody else better suitable for her. I’m not the one for her. I shook my head again to clear it from my inner thoughts, and stepped into the shower, finally embracing all that nice warm water, rushing down my back calming my nerves as it did so. I always love morning showers. It’s like I have some sort of magic to calm down whatever traveling thoughts I have in here. And it is just such a relaxing experience really and I appreciate it, I am so very thankful to have this little bit to cope and to think about my daily struggles. Once I finish with my shower, I go downstairs to grab my things and head to the kitchen for breakfast. I check my phone for any new messages and saw one from Pinkie Pie on their group chat. Pink Party Girl: Good morning girls! I just thought I should let you know that I won’t be going to school today. I have to help Mrs. and Mr. cake with a really important, special delivery. I have already told the principals about it. I’m so sorry girls, but I really have to help the cakes. I frowned at the text. I knew that Pinkie Pie helped the cakes a lot, and even worked with them, and that sometimes meant going on special deliveries like these, but school was never the same without her. But I also knew how important this was to her. Oh, well that’s okay, Pinkie. Captain Awesome: Yeah, it’s totally cool with me. Rare: I agree darling, just be sure to take good care of yourself. You’ll be missed! AJ: Be safe, sugercube! Sunny: Do you want me to get your homework for you? Pink Party Girl: Oh yeah, thanks Sunny! Sunny: Sure! Have fun! Pink Party Girl: Thanks girls! And I will! I’ll tell y’all all about it when I get back! After that the chat went dead. I turn off my phone and continue on my way towards the kitchen. I can see my mom already there making waffles and preparing breakfast. When she spotted me in the corner of her eye, she got a plate, filling it up with a good helping of waffles and gave it to me. I smiled as I got a nice whiff of the fluffy goodness in front of me and went to the the table to eat my breakfast. “Thanks, Mom!” I say after the first bite of deliciousness. Mom just smiles at me, “Of course dear!” A set a footsteps could be heard from the stairs. Mom turned to see Zephyr coming down the stairs. She piled another plate with waffles and handed it to him. “Here you go.” Zephyr nodded, before taking the plate and going over to sit by his sister. He finishes his meal quicker than me and got up from the table. “Alright mother, this guy’s got go. Goodbye!” He rushed out the door, not even bothering to put up his own plate. My mom just sighed a long, tired sigh and went to pick up his plate and put it in the sink. “Have a good day, dear.” Then she went upstairs. I stare up after her, thinking about how Mom seems to look tired. I couldn’t tell of what, but I knew that my mom and dad have been on edge lately. He works, and spends the majority of his time out of the house, but sometimes he has bad days and he’ll take it out on Mom. He hasn’t hurt her yet, but I can see the damage it has done to her. I shake my head and tell myself that I was just overthinking things. She probably is just sick of Zephyr’s disrespect. He didn’t put his empty plate in the sink after all, which was something my mom really hated. When I finished my breakfast, I walked out the door and into my morning nature walk before school. As I walk through the trail, my mind starts to wonder off back to Sunset. I think about her face, and the way that her smile seems to brighten everything and anything that ever gets the chance to see it. She doesn’t smile often, but when she does it is the most beautiful masterpiece in the whole wide world, in both worlds. The girl pretty much wears her name. She is like a beautiful setting sun with all of the beautiful brightest colors that have been chosen by the gods’ universe to paint the sky, each sunset is never the same they’re all beautiful and unique like her. Forget princess, she is more than that. At least to me she is. I check my phone to see the time, I see that I still have a lot of time before I have to continue in time to get to school, so I sat on a log to think. I may not be enough for her, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t think about her. I look at the sky and I see the sun in all it’s glory, and it reminds me of her again. She might have been going about it the wrong way but I do see her as somewhat of a princess or a queen. I know that she kind of took a darker path to proceed that sort of title or name, but to be honest, she does fit the title. Has a nice ring to it. Princess Sunset Shimmer. It has a nice ring to it, but I will never admit it. Even before the fall formal, when I was sort of deathly afraid of her, I would vote for her. She was scary, but for some reason I always wanted to vote for her. It's not because of her intimidation, well part of it was, but not entirely, some part of me wanted to vote for her. Even when Twilight was here to change that, I only voted for her because I knew it was the right thing to do. I think about her eyes, how they seem to always sparkle when you look at them. They can really put you in a trance if you’re not careful. They can be so soft, but so fierce, that they seem to burn a hole through your head. Her hair, how it shines in the light, like beautiful gold and rubies that are far more rare than an actual piece of gold and Ruby. Her face a light tan-ish orange skin tone, how it seems to glow in array of sunshine. Her cute nose with little tiny freckles on there, so tiny that you can’t even see them, but they’re there. And finally her beautiful full lips, my mouth begins to water as I think of them. I think about how they would feel against my own. I hear a bird in the distance singing along it’s morning song. It’s a very peaceful, comforting tone, and I listen to it. I continue my thoughts as I watch the birds dance along in the tree tops but not really seeing them, but I see no one else but her. I think about the first time I saw her. When Sunset Shimmer was wearing that same tough look on her face. And yet her eyes told a different story. She was scared, and I wanted to comfort her, but she was in a hurry to get out the door. She was upset that day, but then she turn back around. Not noticing me, again, she walked into the girls bathroom. I could hear what seemed to be the sound of a pained, muffled scream, but then Sunset reappeared back out of the bathroom and walked back the direction she originally came from like nothing happened. That image stayed in my mind all day....well the rest of that day. Then I think about how later that day she was back again by the statue, looking at it, mumbling to herself, and seeming to wipe tears from her eyes. I was curious to know what was wrong, so I approached her and tapped her on the shoulder. Startled, she whipped around to look at me and I saw the sadness in her eyes seconds before it was replace with sheer anger. Sunset shimmer backed up and stood up taller, straighter, as if to make herself look intimidating. In which she succeeded in, because that look in her face, in those eyes, really did scared me. “What do you want?!” Sunset asked in an irritated tone. She glanced around as if to see if anyone was around and then back at me. “Well?” “I.....I....well, I um....I” It was hard to say anything as she stared at me with those turquoise blueish green eyes. But I somehow mustered up enough courage to voice my intentions. “ I just wanted to know if you’re okay.” Her left eye twitched at that and she rolled her eyes. “Yeah? Well, I’m fine! Okay?!” She shook her head and started to walk away. “Ugh! Just stay out of my freaking way!” That was the first time that I met her, but I knew she was not all that she made herself to look. I would secretly watch over her, she would hide away from the rest of the students to draw or to read. She never read in the eye of anyone else, but she always did when she thought she was alone. She never ate at the cafeteria, she still doesn’t. She’ll come to sit with us every now and then, but she mostly eats on the rooftop or in the library. Another thing that was interesting about her, was that she secretly helped out in the library and would sometimes take time out of her day to go spend time at the orphanaI didn't I spy on her after school or anything like that, in fact I hardly ever really did it. I only did it just to see what the girl was hiding, which she never revealed even when she thought she was alone. But, I learned about that last part when I asked the librarian if I knew if Sunset did any kind of good deeds. Mrs. Page Marker, a middle aged woman, with light blue skin and yellow blonde hair smiled at the time and gave her a little chat about the things that the supposedly “tough, mean girl” at school was involved in. “Why yes of course she is! You may not believe it, but that girl is much more than what she appears to be. She helps me out in the library after school, babysits sometimes, donates to all kinds of charities, and even goes to the orphanage to read to the little kids over there. She even spends time in the lower grades tutoring the little ones on Wednesdays and Fridays.” The woman had told her. Every since then, she has always been on my mind. I look at my phone to check the time again and I see that only ten minutes has passed I still had plenty of time before I have to leave to go to school. Then an idea struck my mind as I look down at my phone. What if I call Sunset Shimmer to give me a ride to school? I stood up from the log, excitement running through my veins. A small smile appears on my lips as I dial her number. It rings for a few seconds, then I hear the other line come on. “H-Hello?” I could hear Sunset’s voice on the phone. She must have been on her morning jog because she sounded a little out of breath, which only made my smile grow a little more. “Hey Sunny, I....um....I was wandering if you could give me a ride to school?” I say to the phone bravely. I immediately embrace myself for impact. “Sure. I’ll come pick you up.” I smile even more, appreciating the fact how she didn’t even ask why. Fluttershy took a breath, “Okay, I’m over here by Rocky Park.” “Oh the park?” Sunset asked curiously. “Oh, well okay, no worries I’m on my way. Let me just finish up this lap.” “Thank you, Sunny.” I hang up the phone. I could not believe what I just did, and that even worked. I sat back down on the log and waited for my friend. At the same time thinking about a hot sweaty Sunny. The thought brings a giggle out of me. "Oh Sunny, don't be to long, hmhmhm!" > Two > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The morning sun greets me at the window as I wake to the sound of my annoying alarm going off. I poke my hand out from under the warmth of my covers and feel around the screen of my phone. I somehow manage to hit the snooze button on it without even bothering to open an eye. At least I think it was the snooze button. I wasn’t sure. All I knew was that the damn thing was off. I layed on my bed for what seems like a couple of minutes until I heard my phone vibrate over and over again. Groaning, I finally made myself sit up on my bed, curl my hands into fists to rub the sleep from my eyes, and I then finally open them to try and get them to adjust to the light again. I look up at the ceiling on last time before I finally decide to give my poor ears so much needed peace and quiet. I look over to my phone and I see about 4 to 5 text messages from the group chat on my phone. I picked up my phone and I looked at the messages, and I didn’t really read them because I am a lazy bitch at this time of the day. I call it my “just woken up” mood. I scan through most of them, but I did saw the message of which was about pinkie pie and that she wasn’t going to be at school for....A special delivery? I think that’s what it said. And then I’m not quite sure how exactly I responded, but I responded back to the group chat. Then I turned off my phone, curled up in a ball and went back to sleep. My phone went off again with my second alarm, which I always set up just in case I accidentally turned off the first one. Which in this case, I turned off the first one. I finally get myself out of bed and stretched out my body. I can hear several satisfying pops from my stiff joints. It feels good, and then I grab myself some clothes and head over to the shower. I didn’t even bother to look at myself in the mirror. I throw my cloths on top of the counter. I turned on the water, I threw off my night wear and just stepped into the shower. Really nice, scolding hot water rains down on my back and onto the shower floor. It feels so good, and as I am enjoying the water, I grab my shampoo and squirt that on my hair. It brings in a nice, clean refreshing scent of peaches and strawberries, with a little hint of coconut. I rub it in real good, then rinse it off , And then I get my conditioner and put that in my hair and while I wait a minute for that to condition my hair, I wash my body. I hum a sweet tune as I begin to wash my body. It’s a familiar tune, one that I should know, but for some reason I can’t put my finger on the name or where is it from at the moment. And just as I am rinsing off the remaining soap on my body, the name of the song finally struck my mind. “Got the music in my heart....”, that’s it! That’s the name of the song. “Huh...didn’t Fluttershy write that song?” I asked myself. She did, I remember she did because I remember her telling me, and showing me the song lyrics. She told me about how she felt when Rainbow wouldn’t listen to her, and would leave her out. She seem like she wanted to say more but, she didn’t. I was going to ask her about it, but then something came up and I forgot to ask her. Maybe some other time I guess. I turn off the water and stepped out of the shower to dry off. Then I finish getting ready for school. When I finish up in the bathroom, rush down the stairs to my kitchen, got a banana and rush to the door for a morning run. Just as I was walking out the door I remember that I need to get some coffee in my system. I turn on the coffee pot to have a cup of coffee before I leave for my morning run. I stretch out my legs a little bit I before start sprinting down the road of the empty street where my place is. Then I take off. I live in a small home with an older woman who comes around there every once and awhile. She goes by the name, Sister Mary Ann. She does not live in the house. No she lives in a different home, closer to her where her son lives. Who lives Las Pegasus, which is about a thousand miles from here. She once caught me one night while she was on her way home from a late shopping trip. She saw me cross the road and go into one of those old, run down, beat up abandon homes. She stopped by and asked me where my parents where. I could have told her to go away, but I knew that probably would have ended badly. So I told her the closest thing to the truth as I could manage. In reality, my parents saw me as a disgrace and have been separated since even before I crossed that mirror. They never spared me another thought. To have my own father tell me that I’m not worth his time? And then Momma I just going to play along with him and agree? I guess that’s where I began to fall from whatever golden cloud had a hold of me, and into a cold, darkened room. Leaving home to go live in the castle was a blessing as much as it was a curse for me. It freed me from all the hatred and the darkness that ever went through that home, but it also made me lose the one thing I ever loved. Even if they never treated me right, they are my parents, and leaving them was like the first time I knew that I was in for a dance with the devil. In other words, I knew that I was going to run into a lot of trouble, and I dared to not show it, but that scared me. “Their gone from this place.” She seemed confused at first, but then she seemed to understand what I meant, and she nodded her head. “Oh dear! I am so sorry to hear that! Do you perhaps have someone who could take you in?” She asked. I just shook my head and looked away from her. I had already had a very rough school day. Make that a rough school year. I didn’t know what the hell I was getting myself into half the time, and I just jumped for it. What was that “it”? Honestly, I don’t even know anymore, all I know is that it was like fighting a never ending battle with life. I still am, but its more bearable now. Now I have friends. I....still really do not know what the meaning of “friends” is, but I think I have a pretty good idea of it now. Now will these friends be with me through thick and thin? I don’t know... I slow down my sprint into a moderate jog, and I check my watch on my wrist to check the time. Its been a about four minutes. I have been running for four minutes, which isn’t long really, but the way that my brain seems to be moving makes the idea of running any further makes my head hurt. So, I decided to slow to a walk and take a breather before I continue. That’s when I felt a buzzing in my pocket. I grab my phone from my back pocket and I look to see who it is. ”Shy”, is what I read on the screen, and it immediately makes me smile. I answer it and I take a deep breath to slow my breathing sense I was still panting from my fresh sprint. “Hey Shy.” I breathe out, slightly breathlessly. It is not as intense as it was in the beginning of my walk, so it was an improvement. At least for me it was. I can hear her soft, quiet voice through the line. ‘Hey Sunny, I....um...I was wandering if you could give me a ride to school?” It was a rather interesting request, sense the shy girl usually did not make requests like this. At least that’s what Dash tells me. I’m not calling Rainbow a lier, but the way Fluttershy has been acting, if I were to tell a stranger she didn’t usually do this, they would probably think that I don’t know what I’m saying. “Sure.” I tell her. ‘I’ll come pick you up.” I don’t mind it, never had. I think it is great that she has grown a little more braver, and strong. I like that about her. I like to see her come out of her shell. Fluttershy’s voice breaks me out of my trance, “Okay, I’m over here by the Rocky Park.” “Oh the park?” I asked. The Rocky Park is a littly city park that is by the school, and not far from the school. Shy’s place is a blocks from there, and she usually walks to school in the mornings. So this made her request a little more weird, but I don’t hold it against her. Maybe she just wants to get on the Motorcycle again. The thought makes me giggle, and I have to bite the inside of my cheek to keep it from escaping. I take a deep breath and respond. “Oh, well okay, no worries I’m on my way. Let me just finish up this lap.” “Thank you, Sunny.” She responds and then the line went dead. I am glad she did, because after she said my nickname, a giggle found its way out and escaped through my lips. If it were anyone else, they would not have the same effect. But Fluttershy was a different story. It was....cuter when she said it. Why is that? I don’t know, it just is. I wrap up my morning run with a one minute light jogging. Then I hurry on home to get my bag, my keys, and head over to the park. I get near my home, and I notice a little black car sitting in front of it. This also brings a smile to my face. It was Mary Ann’s car, and she likes to check up on my sometimes. Especially after Celestia told her about what I had done. If you’ve never seen a grown woman cry, well let me tell you just how lucky you are. It is the most awful thing I had ever seen, and to know that it was because of me, it scared me. She didn’t talk to me for a while. She just sat there on the couch crying. I didn’t understand why at first. In fact, I was very confused. Like why was she crying? That’s when I realized that she, of all beings that I have ever met in both worlds, that she actually care about me. She cared about me enough to cry. She loved me enough to pull me into her arms and hold me tight while I bawl my eyes out on her shoulder. I felt so weak and broken that day, and she could see it. She hadn’t seen me in a little over two months and a lot had happen within those months. I really did not know that she care that much until that day. It was so shocking, and so overwhelming that I couldn’t hold back my tears anymore. I just let them all out. I was embarrassed to, because Celestia didn’t think to leave. Nope, she just stood there like a statue watching me at one of my most vulnerable moments. I don’t hold it against her, but I felt it was a little rude of her to not have at least let us deal with the situation in private. I don’t think she would use this for anything, but it just felt really uncomfortable. Eventually Mary Ann felt her presence becoming an awkward one, because she looked up at her with a bit of an annoyed look and said,” I don’t mean to be rude or seem unfair, but do you mind giving the two of us some space?” Celestia seemed to have woken from a trance and blushed in embarrassment. “Oh! Yes, sorry. Yes you may.” She nodded and then she went into the kitchen. Maryh Ann then held me tight and told me that even though I wasn’t her own child, that I deserved someone to love me. So she decided to take on that roll. She said that little by little, she and I developed a close relationship. How could I have been so blind to not have seen her love, I have know idea. But the point is that it happened. Ever since then she makes an effort to come see me more often. She attempts to come once every week, but sometimes that’s just not possible for her. I get to my door and I see her standing a little ways from it, waiting for me with her arms open. “Hello beautiful sunshine, how are you?” I give her a warm smile and I allow myself to be wrapped around her aging, yet strong arms. I can smell a bit of cinnamon from her sweater. She loves to bake, especially in the cold months. I close my eyes and just enjoyed her company. “I am good Annie " That’s what I call her. She is like a grandmother that I never had. She is even put down in the adoption papers as my grandmother. In return I will sometimes help keep her old home in good shape, and send her post cards, and plants, and keep in touch with her on the phone. She may not be my grandma by blood, but she is mine. “I missed you.” I tell her. She rubs my back and gives it two gentle pats. “Hehe, yeah? Well I miss you more. I am happy to see you again, Sunset. How is everything?” I finally let go of her so that I good look at her better. “It has been good as it will ever be.” I respond. I check my watch to check the time and I realise that I need to go pick up Fluttershy. “Oh! I have to go Annie. I told Fluttershy that I would go pick her up. Mary Ann looks at me funny. “Fluttershy? Asked you for a ride?” Then she smiled. “Oh, how interesting.” I cocked my head to the side a little and not understanding why she was smiling in that weird way. “Annie, what is it?” This made her laugh and then she looked down at me (since she happens to be a tall woman and I’m only like five foot two inches.) “Oh its nothing, dear. Now, don’t let me keep you here. You need to get to school and pick up your friend so you go on ahead. I need to go run some errands and see some of my old friends over here as well.” I still did not know why she had that weird smile on her face, but I put it out of my mind, and focus on what she said. I nodded in response and gave her one final hug before I let her go. “Be carful deary. Be safe. I love you, always!” She continued on as I start to back away. I don’t want to leave her, but I know that I have to. “Okay Annie, I will. Love you too!” I then ran up the steps to the front door. I run inside to grab my stuff and then rushed back out the door. I pass by Mary Ann, blew her a kiss, and waved her goodbye. Then I start towards the back of the house where my bike is parked on the side. I hope on and turned the key. The beautiful object roars into life, and I can feel the vibration of the motor from where I sit. The sound, the feeling of adrenaline pumping through my blood, and now that I was in a much higher mood after seeing Mary Ann, it was as if that feeling in my blood was fueled and it made me squeal with excitement. It mad eme glad that Flutterhsy wanted to ride along with me. It would be such a bore to have to enjoy this much goodness all to myself. Not really, I love to be alone sometimes, but today, I wouldn’t mind to share this with someone. And what better person was there to share it with then Fluttershy? I kicked the stand and I was off. “Fluttershy, here I come.” > Three > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I arrived at the park that Fluttershy told me to pick her up from. She was waiting for me on a nearby log. I turned off the power on my motorcycle and waited for her to get on, patting the seat behind me for her to sit. She smiled back at me with a genuine smile, but she didn’t move. “Hey Sunny, g-glad you were able to come. I-I-I hope it wasn’t too much to ask.” She said in a bit of a worried tone, casting her eyes to the ground. “Pfft, no not at all. It’s all good, I could use a friend to share this beautiful morning with anyways.” I say to her. She smiles brightly as the sun seems to shine down on her, causing her light yellow skin to glow in its brilliance. “Ah, too bright! I think I might go blind.” I say in a playful tone, bumping her on the shoulder. Which in return she let out a soft giggle and bumped me back. “S-so are you, heeheehee!” She tells me. I smile at her and then glanced at my watch. “Well we have a minute to spare before we have to go to school. So do you want to do anything before we leave?” I ask. Her face goes blank for a moment as if she wasn’t expecting this kind of question, but as if she got an idea, her eyes brighten. “Can we walk around the park?” “Sure” I knew how much she loves nature stuff, so I did not mind this. Besides, I appreciate nature as well, so it’s not much of a downer for me. I nod and motion my hand toward the path a few feet away from us. “Lead the way.” She gets up from the log and we start down the little path through some trees. As we round a corner I somehow manage to accidentally trip over a pine cone and fall face first. I nearly face plant into the ground, but I immediately throw my hands in front of me, human instinct kicking in, and I catch myself. I pick myself up off the ground, patting down my jeans and wiping off my hands. “Oh my goodness! Are you okay!” Said a voice. I look up to see a very concerned Fluttershy looking at me. I smile at her and nod my head. “Yes, don’t worry, it was just a little fall.” “And it was all my fault, I’m so sorry! I-“ I didn’t even let her finish. In one stride I was by her side. I put my hands on both her shoulders and gave her a very stern look. “Fluttershy! Calm down! It is fine, it is not your fault. Okay?” She nods. “Please do not think that it was your fault. If anything, it was my fault for not looking at where I was going. A typical thing I’ve been doing lately actually.” She slowly starts to calm down and gains back a small smile. “O-okay. Well, if you say so.” She looked genuine, but there was something in her eyes that made my next words push through without warning. “It was not you’re fault. Everything will be okay.” I gave her a smile to reassure her. I don’t know why I felt like making sure she knew that it wasn’t her fault, but I just felt a need to. She nods, “Okay.” We continue our walk through the park. I then spot a little robin on the ground not far from where we were. “Check out that robin.” I whisper. She looks at where I was looking and smiled. “Awww, she’s looking to feed her little ones.” She commented. She glanced at her phone and panicked. “Oh dear, I-I think we’re going to be late!” I glanced at my watch and notice that she was right, but me, being the school bitch (still kinda am), I was not worried. I have always had a way out of situations like this. “Eh, we’ll be okay. We can leave now and be late, or we can finish this walks and still late.” “B-b-But wouldn’t we get in trouble?” Fluttershy said. I shrug. “Ehhh.....not really. Maybe a scolding, but not really much trouble.”I say to her. “I-I have never been late before.” She says, thinking to herself. She has never been late to school before?! Oh no, no, no, this is changing today! Poor girl has not lived. “You have never been late to school before?” I ask. She nods. “Alright, you’ll be fine. Let’s finish this walk first and then we can get to school.” She looks in the direction of the school for a long moment, then faces back at me. “Okay.” She gives me a brave smile, but I knew she was low-key panicking inside. I grab her hand and take her a little further down the path. “Oh, look at that turtle.” I say as I gesture toward the ground. An odd shaped rock poking its way through the ground. She giggles, “Um, that’s a tortes.” I blushed at that. I should have known that, heck Rainbow’s pet is a tortes. “Oh, hehe, right.” I laughed it off. We keep walking, watching as the sun shines bright against the trees, feeling it’s warmth around us. A cool, light breeze joins the sun in its nature dance. Every now and then a bird will sing a little tune as well. The park also smells of freshly cut grass and mist. A nice combination in nature. Coming up to our spot, we take our time getting there. Enjoying the beauty that surrounds us. “This is pretty.” I say. “Yeah it is.” Fluttershy agreed. “Alright, I think we should probably head back now.” I tell her. She frowns a little, seeming to be disappointed with my words. Though she nods and says a simple, “Okay.” We get on my motorcycle, her arms wrapped around my waist tightly, and her head out of the park. But we do not head in the direction of school. Instead to Sugarcube Corner. “Um, why are we here?” Said a soft voice next to my ear. “To grab something before we go to school. We’re already late, might as well make it worth being late.” I say to her, smiling at over my shoulder. Then we get off of the two-wheel vehicle and go inside. “Hello Mrs.Cake.” I say as I walk through the door, holding it open for Fluttershy. “Oh! Hello girls!” She looks at a clock near the counter. “Uh, shouldn’t you be in school?” She asked both of us, but she was looking at me with a raised eyebrow. I let out small laugh, “Well, yes , but we’re running a little late today. So, since we’re already late, might as well make it worth.” Mrs. Cake smiles, “Oh, well I suppose that’s a good explanation. What would you like?” Giving Fluttershy some time to look over the menu or anything that she might want, I decided to go first. “I’ll just have a hot coffee with three shots of vanilla, and 1/2 a cup of sugar and cream, and a glazed donut. Mrs. Cake nods and retrieves the items. Then she looked at Fluttershy, whose eyes went wide, “Oh I’m good, I don’t have any money to pay....” She says with reddening cheeks. “Oh, don’t be silly, I’ll pay.” I tell her. “N-No, I cant let you do that, you’ve already done so much.” She says. I shake my head, “Nah, really, I’m offering, it’s kinda rude to refuse an offer you know.” She sighs and rolls her eyes. “Okay, w-well, then I’ll take a green tea and a glaze donut for me as well please.” Mrs.Cake gets the items and rings them. I pay the total and we head out the door. When we get on the motorcycle, I can hear Fluttershy’s voice through my ear. “I’ll pay you back when I get my pay check.” I glance over my shoulder. “Eh, Fluttershy, I appreciate your concern, but I’m alright. Don’t worry about that.” I tell her. “Oh, a-are you sure?” She asks. Feeling like I might have to agree to this, I decide to approach the conversation a little differently. “Yes, I am sure, but if you insist in paying me, you can pay me half when ever you have the chance.” “Okay!” I can hear the relief in her voice. She relaxes her muscles a little bit, but kept her grip as we had toward the school. When we arrive on school grounds, it is pretty clear from the looks of the parking lot that we are most definitely late. Fluttershy gets off first, and then I shortly follow her lead as she picks up her backpack and slings it over her shoulder. My bag was already slung over my shoulder, so I just had to wait until she was ready to go inside. Once she was ready, we both head in the direction of the school building. As we near the school doors, she pauses, let’s out a sigh and keeps going. I don’t think she knows that I noticed her hesitation, but I decide not to question it and hold that thought for another time. But I wouldn’t blame her for giving the school a dreadful look because I also am feeling the same way right now. I take a look at the tall white building and sighed inwardly, so that Fluttershy doesn’t hear. I did not want to dampen hers or my day so I let out a breath, puffed out my chest, stood up taller, my lips forming a firm line. “Come on, let’s hurry to your class.” She looks up at me, “What? B-but what about yours?” She asked. “Eh, I know the way there, plus what’s a few more minutes late? Come on let’s hurry.” I grab her wrist gently and I quicken my pace, hurrying across the school yard to her classroom. It’s actually quite a ways away from the school, but I don’t let that discourage my intentions. When we arrive at the door, I turned you Fluttershy. “Alright, here we are.” “Thank you for walking with me here.” She smiled up at me. “I know it’s pretty far from your class. Thank you though.” I nod, “Sure, no problem.” She nods and then heads into her class. Once she has gone through the door and closes it, I run as fast as I could to gym class. I ran as if I had an angry moose was chasing me. Getting to gym class, there is a bit of a steep hill from Fluttershy’s classroom and the gym and the school. So when I got close to the door of the gym, I did my best to slow down but I slipped on a small rock, “whoooah!” and crashed into the door. “Oohf!” Suddenly there was laughter, lots of laughter. “Oh.......no.....” I have one idea of where it’s coming from, but I have a feeling that I’m probably not going to like it. I get up off the ground, and looked up to see almost the whole gym class saw me crash into the door. My face getting a little heated, I open the door that I crashed into and finally stepping into the gym. A girl with tan skin and white and grey fluffy hair named, Gilda came up to me. “Hey Sunset, that was quite the splAt you took!” Then she bursted out laughing, as so did everyone else around me. “Yeah, you were like, Whoooah! Splat!” Derpy put in, giggling afterwards. “Hahaha, yeah, are you sure you didn’t leave your face in the door?” Said a certain rainbow-haired athlete laughing hard at my expanse. Not wanting to show any weakness toward this little fiasco, I decide to just brush it off and laugh with them. “Haha, yeah, I guess I was.” I looked at the door and notice I had left a bit of lip gloss on the glass. Which made my face turn a little bit more red. Gilda saw what I was looking at. “Oh! You did left a bit of your face on the glass! Haha haha! Sunsplat.” I gave her a deadpan look, “Please don’t call me that.” Gilda rolled her eyes, “What you’d rather me call you Sunbitch?” This time I laughed. I couldn’t help it, it was too funny to me. “Yes, I most definitely would actually.” She glanced at the others in the group and then looked back at me with a smirk, “Eh, I think I like Sunsplat better, besides...” She gets a little closer to me and lowers her voice. “It’s kinda fun watching you squirm.” Eh....lets just say that me and her are not on the best terms.... I scoffed at that. “Oh, ha, well then. What are we standing around her for, anyone up for a quick volleyball game?” I say to the crowd. They all cheered. Rainbow smiled at my suggestion. “Yes! What do you guys think? Want to play some volleyball?!” She said in a motivational tone. “Yes!” They all day. “Alright then, let’s get out there in that gym and play some volleyball!” All of the girls cheered once more and we rushed inside the small gym. The boys had the big gym today. The coach came in as the last girl got inside the gym. She was a young lady in her mid 20’s. She had yellow skin and short orange fire-like hair. Her name is Ms. Supermarine. Aka Spitfire, but we don’t call her by either name. We call her Coach Fire. Alright ladies!” She said in a loud voice. “I heard you all wanted to play a few games of volleyball today, is that right?” Everyone have a chorus of yeses. “Okay, but first we have to get everything else done. “Run 10 laps on the floor! GO!” Like is a switch went off, everyone immediately went into action and began jogging the laps. “I SAID RUN!!!” She said, causing us to pick up our pace. “If I see you walk, ILL GIVE YOU ALL TEN MORE!” No one wanted extra laps, so we made sure to keep running. The ten laps was not so bad, but we started getting a little tired on the last lap. “Good! Now give me ten bleacher laps! GO!” There was a bunch of groans from everyone in the gym, but we did as we were told and ran the ten laps around. As I was nearing the end of my seventh lap, I felt a shiver go up my spine. “Hey Sunsplat, watch where you’re going!” Said a rough voice behind me, then I felt a leg collide with my own, causing me to lose my balance and fall face forward. Luck for me I was at the end, meaning to the floor of the gym as for bleacher laps we also had to run along the visitors side, but there was a few steps to get off of the main bleachers and onto the floor which I fell down. Thank goddesses for human instinct, because I saved my face from getting in contact with the floor at rapid speed with my bare hands, and managed to catch myself. I scraped my right knee a little bit, not enough to draw a little bit of blood. Just a little bit though, nothing too severe or even close to being bad. It made it sting though. I did not let the pain get to me, I made sure not to let anyone see the pain that it caused me, and I just got up quickly and continued running faster than when I started. It hurt to push myself like that, but I ran like some crazy bitch. “Alright girls! Good work! I think that will do for now, you may get to a stop and walk a lap around before you join us in the middle to start playing volleyball.” Couch Fire said. Once we all finished are walk, we met our couch at the center of the gym. “Alright let’s see, there’s twelve of you today, since Surprise couldn’t come to school today. She broke her leg this Sunday. It’s only Monday, so she may not be back for a little while. Which means there’s an even number of you today. Each team gets a number of six. Who wants to be team captains?” “Oh, me!” Gilda said. “Me too!” Derpy said. Coach Fire nodded. “Alright, pick you teammates. Derpy, you go first.” Derpy picked Lyra, Bonbon, Misty Foot, Octavia, and me (cause I was the last to be picked, as always.) While Gilda picked Rainbow, Speedy (an athlete with pale skin , blue eyes, and black and white hair), Cloudchaser, and some other girls in the class. We split up on either side of the net. Coach Fire blew a whistle and Gilda started the game. First game went alright, Gilda’s team won. Second game, it was Derpy’s team. I was not ready for what was coming to me on the third game though. So far I had been able to dodge and hit every time the ball was spiked and smacked at my face. Rainbow tried not to, but when ever Gilda had the ball, she always tried to spike the ball towards me. I would fight back and make sure to hit it. Not this time though. As the game began, Derpy’a side started it up again. The girl pitched the ball and it went straight towards Gilda. Gilda smiled widely, jumped up and spiked the ball toward me. I happened to be in the front row, in the middle of the court. There was barely any time to act, I tried to act fast. I hit the ball, but I hit it on my arm leaving it red and stinging. “Ah! Shit!” I cussed under my breath. Though I said it under my breath, this is a gym, everyone heard it. Gilda snickeredas she catch the ball. “Hah, you’re week Sunsplat.” I rolled my eyes at her. I opened my mouth to say something back, but Coach stopped me. “Good work girls, go get dressed.” I didn’t need to go changed since I never did cause I was late, so I just grabbed my stuff and went to go wait for the bell on the on the built in blench in the wall next to the doors that lead to the other buildings of the school. I waited there for a minute until I heard footsteps coming my way. I looked up in time to see Gilda coming toward me. “Hey Sunsplat. Does your arms still hurt?” She said with laugh. I rolled my eyes at her again. “Stop calling me that.” I said back. “Alright fine, I won’t call you that anymore.” I nodded my head. “Thanks.” “I’ll call you Boogar Bear.” She said, smirking. My face went red, my blood starting to boil. “Oh hell no! I don’t fucking care who told you that...”I shot up from where I was sitting and grabbed the collar of her shirt and tugged it hard so that I had my face all up on her. “...but if you EVER call me that again, I WILL RIP YOUR FUCKING HEAD OFF!” Gilda face had a wide eyed look to it for a moment before it softened into a smirk. “Alright, how about Little Miss Sunny.” I righted my grip on her shirt, and snorted air through my nose like an angry bull. It did not phase her at all, she laughed and was about to say something when the gym door opened. “U-um, Sunset?” I let go of Gilda and turned around to see Fluttershy standing in the door way. “Oh, Fluttershy? What are you doing here?” She looked down at the ground and pulled out something from her pocket. It was a hair tie. My eyes went wide as I remembered that I didn’t tie my hair. Putting sudden attention to my hair, I realized that it was now all messy. “Ugh!” I groan to add to my dismay. “Thanks, Shy. I must have dropped it.” She nodded. “Mhm, well that’s all I needed. I’ll see you later, Sunny.” She smiled up at me before she left. She not even once looking Gilda’s way. I watched her leave, completely dumbfounded. Gilda chuckled beside me, bringing my attention back to her. “That’s perfect! From now on that’s what I’ll call you.” She said with a smirk. I glared at her. “Don’t you even dare!” She took a step closer to me, getting al up on my face this time, giving me a bit of my own medicine. “Ssssssuuuunnyyy! Oh, Sunny! You forgot your hair tie!” She said, stretching out my nickname. I squinted my eyes at her. “I fucking hate you.” She laughed. “And I hate you.” She laughed harder as the bell rang, signaling for us to go to our next class. After gym was......ugh math. I don’t like the subject, eh never really had. I mean I don’t totally hate math, I just don’t have a great relationship with numbers. Yeah, I totally actually do hate it, haha! Math is a bitch to me anyways, I’d rather just read instead of boring myself with numbers. But since I come from gym, I luckily will have a bit of a high for a few minutes, long enough to get what I need out of the class for the day before I my eyes start to glaze over with a film of boredom. Then my eyes start to get heavy, so I make myself get up from my seat to grab a tissue, pretend to blow my nose, and throw it away. Then I returned to my seat with a little bit more light in my head. Not much though because I’m still in the dream world.... All I can think of is Fluttershy’s warm breath against my ear when she sits behind me a-..... Woah! Where did that come from? Maybe I’m more out of it than I thought..... “Ding! Ding! Ding!” Luckily for me, I was saved by the bell. My next class is art, one of my favorite classes of the day. As I walk in the class, I spot Pinkie Pie in the room next to my station. “Hey Pinkie.” “Hey Sunset!!!” She shouts from where she was, which was only a few feet away from me. It’s Pinkie Pie, don’t even bother to question it. “ARE YOU READY. TO......” She thinks for a moment. “ART!” I let out a little laugh. “I am, are you?” I respond. She nods. “Yep!” I roll my eyes and shake my head, then I picked up a pencil pack, a big eraser, a piece of paper, a clipboard and searched for my brain to decide what it is that I want to draw. That’s when the teacher came by. “Hey girls, are you doing alright?” We nod and tell her that we’re fine, she nods and then goes to help another student with their piece. Our art teacher is Mrs. Palette. She is a nice middle aged white mare with a black and pink hair and a tattoo of a paint palette on her shoulder (which is usually hidden), but today it was poking out of the black shirt she was wearing. I search through my now blank brain and decided to just go with something random and hope that an idea would struck. As I pick up my phone and earbuds to play some tunes while I work, a thought comes to mind. My favorite animal is a phoenix, aside from cats and lizards, I finally came up with an idea to draw. “How about a phoenix listening to music?” I ask myself under my breath. I grab a light shade pencil called a 4H and start to sketch out the body of the phoenix. Glancing at an image once or twice just to make sure that I was getting the structure of the bird right.....and also to be sure it was going to actually look like a phoenix and not a buzzard. (Those ugly birds that like to eat the rotting flesh of the dead.) Then I sketch out the earbuds, but then I unfortunately ran out of time.... UGH! When something in class ACTUALLY gets even a little bit good, something just HAS to ruin it. Though I can take my art home, so I pack it into my bag. Not that I’ll work on it, cause knowing me I’ll forget it’s even there, but still, just in case I do happen to remember it. Then I rush out the door to my next class. “Bye Sunset! See you later!” Pinkie Pie shouts as she also hurries to her next class. “Bye Pinkie!” I shout back over my shoulder. My next class is history, which went by pretty fast since we were watching a documentary about....well history. Honestly I get we need to know this stuff but that don’t make it anymore easier. Then lunch came around, which I always am happy for. I usually eat in the balcony, so that’s where I went. I grabbed an apple from my bag, set my yoga mat down and sat down on the mat. I quickly finish it, just laid down and put my hair over my eyes. I always love basking in the sun, it’s always been my favorite place to be. I turned on my music on my phone and laid back down, stretching all the way out. Suddenly I felt the presence of another being near. I did not want to move from my comfort zone yet, so I decided to just lay there a little longer. Unfortunately I’m not the greatest at keeping a straight face because as soon as I smelt a VERY familiar sent, my lips started to perk up on the ends. The smell of cucumbers and kiwis is the perfume that’s a fluttershy wears. I could hear the sound of feet shuffling and movement as if she moved to sit next to me. I kept my little half held down half escaped smile on like a dumb foolish girl until I heard what sounded like crying. It was very soft and almost silent, but I could hear the sniffles and the abrupt exhale of breath. My face falls and I get up immediately, “Fluttershy?” My eyes find a very distraught Fluttershy beside me, crying, no....sobbing silently. She doesn’t look up at me, she just cries and cries, her body shaking, her face a bright red, her eyes closed, her lips tight, her front teeth biting into her lower lip as if to try to lessen the sound of her cries. Her head was tilted toward the ground. Her hair was starting to get soaked from the tear, she even had a strand sticking to her lips. This made me angry, I know that I’ve made Fluttershy cry a few times, but that was because she was in my way in the wrong times. I do not do well with emotions. But I have not seen her like this, and even though I wasn’t the one crying, I felt like even I was hurt a little. Not thinking AT ALL about my next move, I wrap my arms around her and held her in my arms while she cries. I run a hand up and down her back gently, occasionally bringing up a hand to her hair and playing with it gently, trying to give her some my strength. “I-I’m ssssssorry!” She whispered. At first I didn’t think I heard her correctly. “W-What was that?” I asked. She brings her face out of my chest and looks up at me. “I-I am sssso sssorry!” I look at her with a confused expression on my face. “What? What are you sorry for?” She doesn’t look up at me, “I am sorry for this.” She gestured to herself and then to my soaked shirt. “Oh you mean crying?” She nods, then she looks up at me. I shake my head and smile at her. “Don’t know what your sorry for, please don’t apologize for that.” Fresh tears ran down her face and she tries to wipe them away. “What happened?” I asked her. She looks up and let’s out a heavy sigh. “You know how I have gym class before lunch?” I nod. “Well, we were playing a game of volleyball, and Blade Heart smacked the ball really hard at my face. It hit me hard and knocked me off my feet. It was so embarrassing and she laughed at me! Then everyone else started laughing WITH HER!!!” “Yeah, that’s tough.” I said, bringing her chin up so that she was looking at me. “But she.....she is not as strong as you.” She looked up at me. “Really?” She asked. I nod my head. “Really. She has to make someone else hurt in order for her to feel better, but you don’t. That’s why you are stronger than her.” She looked down and then she looked back up, a trace of anger gleaming within them. “Rainbow didn’t think so...” “What?” I asked her. She looked out over the balcony. “Rainbow Dash? Before you came here, she told me that I’m just a weakling. That I didn’t fit in with her and her group. She chose Gilda over me, she.....she didn’t think like you.” She looks back at me. “None of my friends have ever told me that I was strong. Yeah, they’ve all helped me and been there in their own ways, but none of them ever said that I was strong. Not like you. I tried to tell R-Rainbow what happened, but she just told me to ignore it and that it’s no big deal. I tried to forget about it, but I couldn’t! I-I didn’t want to go into the cafeteria with the other girls, so I came here. Do......d-do you really think I’m strong?” I smiled at the last question, “Well, I may not be like the others, and I’m not.” I looked up at the ceiling, “but I do think that you are very strong.” Then I thought for a moment. “And brave for even telling me this.” Me of all people...... Thats what I thought, but I didn’t voice that last part. Her face brightens. “Y-you think I’m brave?” “Yeah you are, shit I don’t think I have the same guts that you have to tell such raw stuff.” I tell her. She smiles and wipes her tears, the water works finally coming to a complete stop. “Oh, but you are brave. And strong. And confident.” I scoffed at that, “You give me too much credit, Shy. I am not that brave or strong. Confident? Heh, well I have nothing to say about that other than I suppose that part may be true.” She shakes her head, “No you are, really. No one would be so strong to come out of a crater and not crack under the weight of the student body or even be strong enough to keep going forward. But you do. For that, I say you are very strong and brave. And you are always so confident in everything you do, it’s incredible.” I could feel my face heating. This made me look the other way, hiding my face like Fluttershy does. Then I heard her giggle. “Are you blushing?” This made my face get warmer as I refuse to look at her. “N-no.” Then I felt a hand force my chin toward her, making my face become cherry red, and I gave her an eye squint. “I think you’re cute when you blush..” As much as I tried to hold it in, my lips immediately perk up and a giggle escaped my lips. I brought a hand up covering my mouth with wide eyes, getting another giggle from Fluttershy. “Don’t mention this to anyone.” She laughed again. “Don’t worry, you’re secret is safe with me.” Then she looked down and back at me. “Thank you for being there for me.” “Of course.” I smiled. Then the bell rung and we quickly head to our afternoon classes. When I enter my 5th period class, Rarity noticed my red cheeks and asked me about it. “Umm....Darling, would you care to explain your red cheeks?” She asked. I rolled my eyes, “Um, I crashed into the gym door this morning when I was rushing to get in and I haven’t fully recovered from the event.” I said. Which wasn’t a lie. I did still had people say “Sunsplat!” And then burst out laughing. But it wasn’t the full truth because that wasn’t why I was blushing. She looks at me with concern, “Oh my, well hopefully it only lasts for today.” Yeah me too. Because although it wasn’t the reason I was blushing, it wasn’t exactly fun to have your name twisted into a joke. > Four > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “I can’t believe I did that!” I said out loud to myself, although Sunset was actually so kind and just so amazing to me. I hate having to throw my own problems on to others, and that’s what I just did to her! Ugh, I am so pathetic! I wish I could be as strong as her but I’m not! ‘But she makes you strong.’ Said a voice in my head. My inner voice was right though. She does make me stronger, I feel like I can do anything with her and she doesn’t even know it. My thoughts started to change directions and they started to focus more on Sunset. ‘She’s such a great friend. A great friend. Someone I can actually tell her things and I know that she isn’t going to freak, she isn’t going to laugh, she isn’t going to blabber about it and share it to others, she isn’t going to think I’m crazy. She understands me. She gets me.’ My lips unknowingly start to perk up. ‘She cares, and yet she’s carefree. And she loves animals. She hasn’t said it, but when she looks at Angel, I know that deep down she is a true animal lover at heart. That’s another reason to like her. Angel, ANGEL BUNNY of all creatures even likes her, and she likes him. She I-‘ Suddenly two fingers snapped in front of my eyes causing me to jump up out of my seat with a squeak. I could hear the reactions of the classroom go from quiet whispers about the day to gasps and then silence. As I land back into my seat the room irrupted into little fits of giggles and laughter, while I clamped down on my seat and threw my head down on my desk, trying my best to stay calm. “Oops! Sorry Fluttershy!” Said a familiar voice. I picked my head up to look to my side to see Rainbow Dash giving me a wide look which switched to an expectant expression. “So are you coming?” “Uh, w-what?” I asked confused. She then gained an annoyed look. “Where you even listening?!” ‘Oooooh no. What should I say?!’ “Well I didn’t quite understood what you asked. Um....c-can you repeat it for me?” I forced myself not to cringe at my terrible choice of words. She sighed and rolled her eyes. “The game Friday? Are you coming?” ‘Oh.....that.’ “No.....I” I really was not very fond of the games, and although I like to cheer for Rainbow, she can be really arrogant in the games. Also, I’m just not much for going to them. There’s just so many people there and it’s boring when you don’t really know what’s going on. “I promised Sunset I’d help her out with something.” Rainbow frowned at that but she smiled at me. “Well, I know the egghead is....well an egghead, probably doing some sciency thingie right?” “Y-Yeah, something like that.” I said, my stomach was turning at the prospect of me lying to her. Applejack would have really not liked what I did. ‘Oh how would Sunset feel about that?’ Well, I might as well make that true. Guess I’ll be spending Friday night at her house. ‘What does her house even look like? Would....would she even let me stay over?’ I really hoped that she trusts me enough to share her house with me for a night. “Well okay, that’s fine. Applejack, Pinkie, and Rarity will be there anyways.” She said. “Oh and Gilda too.” She added. That struck a nerve in me. For some reason, the mention of Gilda’s name just made me really angry. “Oh well that’s nice.” I said with a forced small smile, she smiled back and while she had her eyes turned toward Thunder, who had just walked into the classroom, I dropped my smile and replaced it with gritted teeth and cursed under my breath. Before she could look back at me, I replaced my gritted teeth with my fake smile. Thankfully the teacher walked in saving me from anymore.....aggravating conversations. As the day rolled on, nothing else really happen, until the last hour that is. I usually finish my work pretty quickly, and since the teacher is really nice to me, she lets me get out eight minutes earlier usual. Sunset Shimmer has a free period this hour, but she usually stays late to finish her homework or to help out in the library. Something only I know about. I rush out the door and hurry to the library hoping she was still there. To my luck she was. She was reshelfing books. “SUNSET!” ‘Oh that was too loud.’ I felt a bad too. My shout accidentally caused her to jump, throwing the book she had in her hand over her head; which in turn cane back down and gave her a good smack on the back of her head. “Oh my!” She gasped, “Shit!” She said as she fell to the ground. She got back up and stuffed the book back onto the shelf before she looked at me with a slightly unimpressed look. “Hehe, uh sorry.” I said, blushing a little bit. She smiled and laughed it off. “Well I guess it’s okay, I was just about to finish anyways.” She puts away one more book before she continued. “And I guess I forgive you for throwing a book on my head.” “What I wa-“ She burst out laughing. She then walked over to me and patted my back. “Hey, don’t worry about it, I was just kidding.” I quickly relax and smiled back at her, the weight felt as if it were lifted off my shoulders. “Heh, okay, well I’m sorry.” I added, letting her know that I really was sorry. I didn’t tell her it was because I got excited when I saw her. I could feel the butterflies swell up in my stomach. But I pushed them down and just forced out what it was I needed to ask her. “Um, so.....I was wandering if you were free this Friday?” —————— She seem to think it over and then gives me a nod. “I am actually, why? Did you needed help with anything?” “W-well, not exactly but I was wandering if I could stay the night at your house....” I trailed off on the last word, I could feel the heat rising to my cheeks. ‘Fluttershy you need to give her a good reason to sta-‘ “No.” She says almost instantly and kinda harshly. “W-What?” I asked. “I can’t let you stay at my house.” She says glaring at me. That was the first time she had ever looked at me that way. I could feel the sudden change of the atmosphere. It was ice cold and hot at the same time. “P-please, I-I....” ‘Should I lie? How would she react if she learns about it? What i-‘ I hear her blow a breath of air out passed her lips. I look up to see her changing between on expression to another as if battling between thoughts in her mind. Then she let out a heavy sigh before she spoke. “Alright! Fine, you can come over.” I brighten at that, “R-really?” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Yes. But only you, and you alone.” She says. “You will not speak of it to anyone. Got it!” “Y-Yes, of course.” I say, nodding my head. 'I could always tell Rainbow that we stayed at my house anyways. She nods her head and visibly relaxes, gaining a small smile back again. “Why don’t we go to Sugarcube Corner? You up for a milkshake and fries?” This makes me also smile. “Oh! Yes please!” She grabs her bag, and we head out to her motorcycle. It’s beauty glistening in the sunlight. Even though the bike was a jet black color, the sun made it a beautiful orangey color that seems to just fade into the blackness. It sparkles with every step closer I took towards it. Sunset grabbed one of the spare helmets and gives it to me before she gets onto the motorcycle. I put mine on as she does the same and climb on behind her. “Ready?” She asks. “Mhm!” I say, and we take off to Sugarcube Corner. Once we get there, I get off and allow for Sunset to get down from the motorcycle too. She grabs my hand, I don’t even think she realizes it either, gives it a light squeeze and tugs me toward the entrance of the little restaurant. It was so interesting to see her this way, but funny at the same time. She was so focused on me that she forgot to look where she was going. “Oh uh, Sun-“ “Ah! Shit!” Too late, she crashed into the door before I could finish my warning. She brings a hand to rub the spot that she hit and winced a little bit. “O-oh dear. Are you okay?” I asked her. She looks at my and smiles. “Tssh! Yeah, I’ll be fine.” She opens the door and holds it open for me to go in. Giggling a little under my breath, I walk through the door way. “Thank you.” I say to her, letting her know that I appreciated it. We take a seat in somewhere in the back, away from the windows, but not close to the front. We always enjoyed the privacy of each other, and did not really like to be bothered by anyone else. That is another thing a like about her, Sunset is also a pretty private person. Just like me! Once we get settled in a booth, a waitress takes our order, mine being a strawberry and banana milkshake, and Sunset’s being of strawberry and banana, like mine, but with hot fudge on top. When the waitress was gone, I still had little bouts of giggles that somehow escaped passed my lips, then after a while I could not hold it in any longer. I just could not get over Sunset banging her head on that door BECAUSE SHE WAS LOOKING AT ME!!! Sunset on the other knew why I was giggling and I could see her cheeks becoming a little red. “It’s not exactly nice to laugh at another for bumping into a door.” She says. “No...*heeheehee!*.....but it is funny...*heeheeh.” I say through another round of giggles. She looks to the side. “No it wasn’t.” “Well, I guess you are right about that.” I said, deciding to let it go for now. She may have not even meant to look at me at the moment, I did remember that there was another person behind us, she could have been looking at them. That did not feel well with the fact that I may have gotten the wrong idea. Now it was my turn to blush as I start to have a panic with my inner self. “I’m sorry for laughing at you.” I said as the weight of it all started to sink in with me. She gives me a confused look. “Well, it was my fault anyway, you don’t need to apologize for that. And I guess from another’s point of you it may have been funny. Even for someone like you. Don’t worry about It. If anything, I’m being sensitive.” “B-But I-“ She reaches over and covers my mouth with her hand. “Shhhh, it’s okay. Heh, I forgive you.” She says with a soft, calm smile. She rubs her thumb over my lips. I could feel it’s warmth, her gentle touch sending soft, ticklish tingles through my whole body. And suddenly it was as if everything froze. Time was endless, long and short, it was timeless, but then it felt like a thousand minutes had gone by. She brings her own face closer to mine, her eyes never leaving mine. I could feel her so close to me, that I could smell her spear-minty breath from the gum she had in her mouth before we came here. Her thumb keeping a slow, gentle rhythm, rubbing across my lips. Without even realizing it, our nose barely touched. “HEY GUYS!!!” We immediately jumped back in our seats, pulling away from each other and quickly looking anywhere else but at the other girl across the booth. We both look to see Pinkie Pie smiling at us with a big huge grin. “HEY GIRLS!!! What are you two doing?” ‘HOW?! WHAT?! UGH!!!!!’ I never wanted to hurt anyone in my life as much as I did right now with Pinkie Pie. I don’t even know why. Why was I mad at Pinkie Pie? Maybe it was because of the position me and Sunset were. Or maybe it was because she had just shattered what may have been a very lovely and the best moment of my life? I don’t know but I was so angry at her. Like how could she not see that this was not the time to go yelling at a pair of girls.....um intensely looking at each other? Was that what we were doing? I glanced at Sunset and I noticed how red her cheeks were. Heh, they gave her hair a run for its money. But I could not tell if it was from the moment or because she was also angry at Pinkie Pie. Unlike me, Sunset did not held her anger in as well as I did, but this was Pinkie Pie we are talking about, Pinkie brings Pinkie would not even give it another thought. “Pinkie!” Sunset starts out, she then let’s out a deep calming breath. “We are just here to have a milkshake.” “Oh? Are you sure? Cause it kinda looked like you were going to kiss her.” Pinkie pie says. “WHAT?!” I blurted out. I could not hold it in. My sanity ship had sailed and my mind was freaking out, my mind going a hundred miles a minute, and my brain was having a very hard time processing everything. It could have been both anger and shock at the same time, or maybe I just wanted to deny that Pinkie Pie of all people were right, but I could not hold in my emotions. Sunset on the other hand, her face exploded into a million different expressions before it lands on an expressionless look. “W-What? Why would you think that?” “Well you were looking pretty intense for a whole ten minutes.” She said. “PINKIE PIE!” I shouted. “THAT IS NOT WHAT HAPPENED!!!” I wanted to say more, but luckily for Pinkie Pie, Sunset steppes in. “Pinkie Pie, we were just playing a......reallyyyy.......uh...... intense staring contest.” Pinkie blinked and then smiled. “Oh! Wow, THAT WAS INTENSE!” She says. I could not be any happier that she took the bait. I was so conflicted and frustrated at the same time, I could not get a handle on my emotions. After that, Sunset dealt with Pinkie Pie, telling her that we had to go and order foam cups for our milkshakes to take them home with us. We left Sugarcube Corner in an air of silence. When we got to my house, I climbed down quickly. “Thanks for the ride home.” I said quickly, taking my milkshake and starting to head towards my house. “Sure, no problem.” I hear her say before she turns on the motorcycle and rides on home. I ran inside in tears, stuck my milkshake in the fridge to save for later, and run to my room, shutting the door behind me. I was glad that I was the only one home. For the remainder of my evening I sat up thinking about what had just happened. Before I went to bed, there was only one thing that was on my mind. “Why did we get that close? And why did I....I mean we....why did we get so angry at Pinkie Pie?” Leaving those thoughts to be unanswered, I lay down in bed and fell into a dreamless sleep. > Five > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Just barely getting home at about nine o’clock, I walk in, taking off my helmet, jacket, gloves and tossing them onto a chair in the living, the kind that are soft and cozy. I take out the keys for my motorcycle and hang them on a key holder on the wall. Then I cross the living room and into my bedroom, closing the door behind me before I plopped myself onto that nice, cool welcome of my bed. I feel so conflicted, my feelings are unable to be detected. I could not tell how I felt. My mind is racing with so many unanswered questions. I could not concentrate. But I needed to numb myself. I need my fucking brain to slow down, so I grabbed a pill bottle from my bedside table and popped in an ibuprofen. Then I just lay there, staring up at the ceiling with a blank stare, unable to understand why I was feeling so.......confused. Like why did I react so harshly? Fluttershy and I weren’t even doing anything. Nothing was going on between us. I thought about it for like an hour or two and came with the conclusion that maybe it was because she was being a little more obnoxious tonight than usual. Like sometimes Pinkie Pie can really give you a headache if you’re not careful. I decid to call Fluttershy and hopefully help her feel better about what happened. Fluttershy as well as myself value Pinkie Pie as our friend and the way we acted towardS her was not okay. Besides I was sure that Fluttershy may be really upset for her actions too. She did seemed very aggravated at Pinkie Pie and then I could tell that she regretted it immediately afterwards. I needed to be sure that she was okay too. Dialing her phone number, I waited a few moments for Fluttershy to answer. For a moment I didn’t think that she was going to pick up, but then on the last ring the line finally came alive. “H-h-hello?” My heart instantly went out to her, already starting to feel bad for her. “Hey, it’s okay Fluttershy. I know that how we reacted to Pinkie Pie was unusual, but it was not that bad. Okay?” There was a pause, and then a sniffle. “A-are you sure?” She asks. Her voice is shaky and higher pitched. “Yes, of course. Look, if it makes you feel any better, we can take her out to eat some time as an apology for how we acted towards her.” That seem to calm Fluttershy down. I could literally hear her breathe a sigh of relief through the phone. She took like another two more calming breaths before she spoke. “Okay, sounds good.” She said in a much more confident voice. “Thank you.” I could clearly hear her start to become more comfortable on the phone. “Sure, Fluttershy. Anytime. We could probably even take her out tomorrow (since tomorrow was a student holiday.) or Saturday.” I suggested. “What do you say?” The excitement was clear in her voice. Gone was the horrified voice of Fluttershy. “Yes, tomorrow. Maybe lunch time we can do it.” She says. “We could tell her tomorrow morning. ————————————- The sun rose the next morning in it’s beautiful glory for a Saturday morning. I was already up and getting myself into the shower. I needed to freshen up before I go to meet Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie for a nice breakfast. I had called up Pinkie Pie and included Fluttershy in a chat last night. We apologized to Pinkie Pie and had decided that having a good brunch would be a nice apology thing to give to Pinkie, whom had happily agreed to it. I quickly turned on the water, making it the perfect temperature before stepping into its embrace. When the water was just right, I dropped my bath robe to the floor and stepped inside. I breathed in a sigh of relief as I relax myself into the warm water. Welcoming the pidder-padder of the wet clear liquid running down the top of my head, drenching my wild bed hair, down my back, all the way down to my feet. I made sure to soak every inch of my body, enjoying the water before I reached for the shampoo bottle and began to wash my hair. After my shower, I hurried downstairs with my phone, my wallet, and my keys in hand. I picked up my jacket from the table and rushed out the door, snatching a pair of winter mittens in the process just in case. I also made sure to grab my biker helmet as well. Running out the door, I closed it shut, locked it, and rush out toward my bike. “Oh! I need to be there on time!” Although it was early, it does take me a while to get into town, so I could very easily be late if I’m not careful. Plus I had to do some things before I got to the cafe. We had planned for breakfast, but Pinkie can only do 12:00. I put on my helmet and my gloves. Then I start the motor and finally allowed myself to breathe for a moment. I looked up at the sun to see it still climbing up the mountain tops, shinning it’s brilliance in my direction. Although it is a pretty sight, this kind of beauty also a blinding one. So I put down the shaded part for the eyes of the helmet to block the sun, which made it a whole lot better and easier to see. I have two helmets, one for the summer and one for the winter, the one I have on is the one I use for winter, and it has the sun visor with it so it works out nicely. I also have another helmet which is pretty old, but I save it for potential passengers. Anyways, I put that on and finally drove away, making my way to the place. I made quick on my errands, paying some bills and checking out some potential job offers. I tried not to take too long as I do not want to be late.Though it seemed that was not going to be an easy thing to achieve as every place I went seemed slow and behind today. Once I finished, I continued on my way to the cafe. We had thought about going to Sugarcube Corners, but Pinkie Pie decided against it. She loves working there, but wants to try out something new, so Fluttershy suggested that we go to the new little cafe on the other side of town. Pinkie agreed to it of course for she has also been wanting to go eat there, and so I agreed to it as well. I wanted them both to have a good time, meaning no matter what the option was I would go to it, no questions asked. Once I get there, I notice that I am the last one to show up. I quickly shut off the engine on my motorcycle so that I don’t end up running it into the wall. Then I pressed the power button on my smartphone to check the time, 12:04. “Shoot! I’m 4 minutes late!” I hopped off of the vehicle and walked quickly into the cafe. As I get to the door, I see a sign that says, “Welcome to Coffee Bean’s Cafe!” In big wood-carved letters, the wood around it was a nice dark brown oak color. I push open the door and head inside the building. “SUNSET SHIMMER! OVER HERE!” Was the first thing I heard when I got inside. I looked up and smiled as I see Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy sitting in a ruby red booth with a dark brown wooden rectangular table with “Coffee Bean’s Cafe” in the middle. I walk myself over to them, taking a quick look around at the place before I took my seat on the opposite side of them. Seeing as they already had their menus in front of them, I figured that they had already picked out what they wanted. “Did you girls already decided on what you wanted?” I asked. Fluttershy shook her head, she opened her mouth to respond, but Pinkie beat her to it. “Nope! We just got here and decided to wait for you.” She said. It was at that moment that the waiter came by with some menus in his hand and a platter of two drinks in the other. “Hello ladies.” He said in a casual voice. He handed me a menu, and reached for one of the glasses. “Piña Colada, no alcohol.” He passed the drink to Pinkie Pie. “The Coffee Bean Strawberry Lemonade with mint leaves.” To which he gave the drink to Fluttershy. “Thank you.” They both said. He then turned his attention to me. “...and what can I get for you to drink for you lovely young lady?” I opened the menu and scanned through it. Looking at all of the drinks, making sure to skip the alcoholic beverages since in both worlds we are too young for it, and checked out the smoothie side. I was in for something nice and fruity and one definitely caught my eye immediately. “Hmm, I’ll take the Coconut Strawberry and Mango smoothie.” He nodded and wrote it down. “Alright then, I’ll have that out for you in a moment, my name is Kaleb and I will be serving you today. I will be back for your orders shortly.” He wrote his name down on a piece of paper and then continued on to the next table. We nod our heads and looked at our menus. I saw some nice lasagna with a salad bar. “Ooh the lasagna sounds good.” I voiced my thoughts. Fluttershy nodded, keeping her attention towards the menu before she spoke. “Hmm yes, and so does the baked spaghetti squash with potato wedges.” She closed her menu and turned her gaze toward me. “Ooh! I’m thinking of getting the the Chicken Alfredo! Mmm-mmm!” Pinkie Pie chirped up. Fluttershy nods, giggling. We are okay with meat. Of course Fluttershy and I don’t really eat a lot of meant, and if we do it’s mainly poultry or fish. When she first found out that I liked meat, it came as a shock to her, but as a human, the diet here changes and she understands that. Plus, while unicorn are mostly beloved to not eat meat, that is actually false as they do eat whatever humans eat. As for her, she was raised into eating meat as her family LOVES meat. She does too, but when she learned where it came from, it changed her views on meat. Now the only meats she may eat are fish and seafood and the rare occasion chicken or turkey. (They are human okay. Don’t question why. Humans are animals and we eat animals, they are humans in this world and while they can like animals they can also eat them. It’s not creepy or weird it’s just how the circle of life goes. And it’s only logical that their diet is different as a human. Anyways, just don’t question why they eat meat lol.) We waited a little bit for the waiter to come back and he took our food orders and left, Pinkie Pie settled on a spicy buffalo chicken sandwich, Fluttershy settled into the spaghetti squash and potato wedges, and me I decided on something a little bit light, so I went with garlic and Parmesan with a salad on the side. I took a sip from my coconut strawberry and mango smoothie that the waiter brought back to me. “Mmm! This is really good!” I loved the taste of the sweet and tangy flavors that were on my tongue. It even had a nice refreshing feeling to it. “Yeah! Thank you girls for bringing me here!” Pinkie Pie pitched in. “I love my cafe, but it’s fun to go somewhere different!” Fluttershy smiled. “Yes, it is nice here.” She took a sip of her own drink before speaking. “The waiter seems nice too, and not like the last one....” She trailed off as she looked to the side. It was true though, the last time that they went to a new place, a waitress had purposely spilt tea onto her. We have no idea why anyone would do that to Fluttershy, but for some the girl was not nice at all to begin with. Fluttershy was not the only one that she bullied, she did little things like that to all five of my friends and myself. But it was the fact that she took it far enough to do that to Fluttershy that was really not cool. Rainbow made sure to give her a piece of her mind, I would have too, but Rarity was already pushing me out of the booth. Needless to say, we may not ever go back to that place. I gave her my best smile. “Well that’s good. I am s-“ It was at this moment that my stomach decided that it was a great idea to start making whale sounds. My stomach started to growl and it was loud. Loud enough that both Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie heard it. Pinkie Pie busted out laughing. “AA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHA! HAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHA!” Fluttershy tried to hide her laugh behind her pink hair, but I could hear her soft giggles before they became a little louder and louder. Not as loud as Pinkie Pie’s ,but a definite good hardy laugh. Me on the other hand, I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks. I did not have to suffer for long though. The waiter came to my rescue as he came back with our food. We began to eat in a comfortable silence, each of us happy with getting something to eat. “Mmm-mmm! This is so good!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “Oh yes, I like the spaghetti squash, it is perfect.” Fluttershy nodded. “Yeah, this pasta is good.” I said in agreement. “Hey Fluttershy, did Flower ever had her babies?” Pinkie asked her. One of Fluttershy’s pet rabbits that is expecting a liter of baby bunnies. Fluttershy’s eyes immediately brightened up and she began to tell Pinkie Pie all about the latest update on the mother rabbit. “Oh y-yes. She had four. They are so cute, even Angel can’t help but love them as well.” Fluttershy said. She put a fork full into her mouth, chewed and swallowed before she continued. “Angel is so protective over them.” As they spoke, my mind began to loose itself in its usually craziness. I began to think of how nice it was to see Fluttershy so happy and so engaged in something that she loves so much. It is not an everyday thing to see her so confident. It is a rarity for her. Her eyes sparkled with such compassion. My eyes found their way to her lips, and I unknowingly licked my bottom lip and bit down on it. “Clink!” In my zoned out state, I seem to have even forgot that I was holding a fork in my hand. My eyes shot down to where I felt my fork drop to see it still clattering on my plate. I looked up to see all eyes of the cafe on me. “Oops, sorry.” I said as I picked up my fork back up and resumed eating, blushing heavily. Did I really just did that? Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie both looked at me. Fluttershy with concern, “Sunset, Are you alright?” I nodded. “Yeah, I just dropped my fork, heh.” I said. Pinkie Pie though, she was giving me that knowing look. She giggled. “Did you get distracted there, Sunny?” Now although I am sure that I was already as red as a tomato, I could feel my face become increasingly heated even more! “W-What? No, what makes you say that?” I say, trying to cover my red cheeks. Pinkie Pie giggled again. Pinkie took one last bit of her food before she got up. “Well, that was totally delicious! Thanks, girls!” She said as she drank the last of her drink as well. “You’re welcome!” Fluttershy said smiling up at our friend. “Mhm!” I nodded. “Of course, Pink.” She smiled. “WellThankYouForEverythingSorryToHaveToLeaveSoQuicklyIGotToGoNow * Lowers her voice as she gets to this part.* “SunsetShimmerlikesFluttershy” *Then she raised it back up just as quickly and she started to walk away. “OKAY NOW BYE!” Then she zipped out of the cafe somehow managing to leave a few bucks for the tip. “Huh?” Fluttershy said as she stared at the door that Pinkie Pie rushed out of. “What was that all about?” “I don’t know.” I lied, glaring at the same spot that Fluttershy was looking at. When she returned her gaze back to me, I quickly dropped the look. “Hmm, I don’t know either.” She said in a confused tone. I shrugged.“Eh, it’s Pinkie Pie. Don’t question it.”Fluttershy sighed. “Mmm, maybe.” She said, though she sounded unconvinced. “So Flower’s babies are doing good?” I said going back tot he topic of the mother rabbit. “O-Oh yes.” Fluttershy brightened up once more and she began to tell me more about the little rabbit and her new liter of kits. (Which are what baby rabbits are called.) I do love animals. I never really let it show before because it is viewed as a weakness when you’re trying to be the queen of a school......but now that I have been spending more time with Fluttershy, the more I have learned about animals and the more interest and the more my liking for animals have been revealed. It’s kinda funny because the first time Fluttershy heard that I may have liked animals a little bit, she dragged me to her little animal shelter. She showed me all around and somehow managed to convince me to become a volunteer there. We finished our meal and we soon parted ways. She wants to go to the park and go bird watching tomorrow. I said yes of course. I have nothing else better to do anyways. I don’t mind hanging out with her though, and I think it will be a nice day to go out. Hopefully. I got on my bike and rode it home with high hopes for tomorrow. “Hmmm, what would we do tomorrow?” I said to myself, thinking out loud of what I could possible take with me that I may need or could use tomorrow. “Hmmm, maybe some snacks.” Nodding is satisfaction, I focused my attention on the road. Little did I know, that I was blushing the whole way. But I swore that I caught Fluttershy looking my way as I rode off into the distance. > Six > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ______________Dream_____________ THE SOUND of the cool morning breeze brushed against the smooth, tanned skin of my face. My hair was whipping behind me, away from my face. I noticed that I was not wearing my usual clothing. I had on a long sleeve, long lacy dark turquoise color dress with black leggings or as Rarity likes to call them tights. I wore black leather boots that reached my ankles and white socks. I also wore my leather jacket. I was sitting on the cool fresh ground, with fallen yellow, red, and brown leaves. Hearing birds up in the trees, I looked up to see some sparrows and doves tweeting away to each other. Just above the trees was the morning sun, just as bright and beautiful as ever. I moved my right hand to a different area to shift my weight on it. I felt another hand. I look down to see a butterscotch colored hand touching mine. I looked up at the possessor of the hand to see big beauty bright forest greenish eyes looking back at mine. “Hey, Sunny, thank you for coming to watch the birds with me.” She said in that sweet, soft voice of hers. I nod. “You’re welcome.” I said. She looked at my lips and then back at me. Me copying her actions, as I glance down at her lips. She blushes and then hides her face behind her hair with a soft giggle. I giggle back and moved to gently lift up her chin. I glance down at her lips again, looking at how luscious they were, so soft and a very light baby pink. I look back at her eyes one last time before focusing back on her lips and then I slowly moved in to close the gap between us. Just as I am about to touch her lips with my own, a very loud, horrifying shriek goes off in the distance causing me to open my eyes to see her no longer there. Nothing is, it is only darkness. Not even the trees could be visible. That was all I could see for one split second before I fell, screaming at the top of my lungs into a burning fire pit. I close my eyes just before I hit the flames. _______________end dream_____________ I shot out of bed, panting and breathing heavy. I put a hand to my chest when I realize that it was only a bad dream. “Huh, it’s just a dream. That’s all. It’s just a dream.” Although it was a dream, it made me a little........confused. If the dream had kept on going, would I have.........would I have kissed her? Why? Why would I- I stopped mid thought as another one came rushing in. No. It can’t be. Can it? Surely I don’t have a crush on her. Do I? I tried to reason with myself, trying to convince myself that it’s just my imagination. The more I think about it though, the more that it may be likely that I might actually like her. I checked the time to see that it was only three in the morning. I slumped back under the covers and tried to go back to sleep. The last thoughts on my mind being all about Fluttershy. ——————— I woke up to a very cold morning. Mom had just left for work and Zephyr had gone to stay the night at a friends house last night. I did my usual morning routine, making sure to throw on a sweater before I walked out the door. A cold nasty wind hit my face as soon as I got out the door. I turned to lock it and then I began walking my way to the park. I was supposed to wait for Sunset at the park for a little bit of bird watching. It was a little chilly out, so we probably won’t be there for long, but I want to try and spend more time with her before we get to school. I paused for a moment to send her a text, just to make sure she was still up for it. It was cooler outside, she may not want to be outside. Shy: “Hey, Sunny, do you still want to go bird watching?” I sat on me front porch steps for a moment. I looked up at the sky to see the sun coming up from behind the mountains, some how managing to shine so beautifully even in the grayish sky. Sunny: “Of course. Be there soon.” I smiled down at the message and got back up. I continued to walk down the path toward the park, which is not that far from the school. It does not take me long to get there, so I decide to take my time. I look around just to look at everything as I go. As I do this, I noticed a little bird down on the ground. At least I think it’s a bird, it was hard to tell with the crazy wind and how far away I was. It could have been anything really. When I get closer to it, I was able to confirm the it was a little bird. It keeps trying to fly back up to its nest, but the poor thing was not able to fly yet. Being very careful, I picked up the little bird, and gently placed it back into its nest. Once it was in the safety of the nest, it seemed to tweet a thanks to me as I continued down the path with a smile on my face. I love to help animals. Especially when the animals were in need of my help. With a little more heart in my step, I walked on to my destination, hoping that Sunset would not be long. Soon, I got to the park. When I got there, I caught sight of a little squirrel in a tree. With very quiet steps, I moved closer to the squirrel to get a better look at it. Just as I was about a foot away from the animal, I heard another set of footsteps, followed by something else. In the blink of an eye, I saw a huge rock hit the squirrel, scaring it half to death, and sending the poor thing running back into its home. I turned around sharply to see who it was that threw the rock. My eyes was met with dread and disbelief when I saw Gilda smiling at me with that nasty smirk of hers. It makes me angry when someone treats an animal like that, and I just couldn’t for the life of me, keep my mouth shut. “H-Hey, that wasn’t very nice!” I asked in slightly harsh tone. “Eh, life isn’t about being nice.” She said nonchalantly. “Why would you do such a thing? What did that squirrel did to make you want to do that to her?” I kept on. “I did it because I felt like it.” The mean girl said. “Well, you shouldn’t treat animals like that. How could you treat a harmless little squirrel like that?” Gilda shrugged her shoulders. “Eh.” “You could have also hurt her really badly.” I continued on with my speech. A not so smart idea that I made. “Does it look like I fucking care?!” She raises her voice and spat at the ground. Then Gilda picked up another rock, threw back her hand to throw it at the tree in which the poor squirrel had just ran into, but changed direction, and threw it at me. I gasped at the action. Did not have much time to react, and unfortunately I am not that fast. The rock hit me on my side. “H-hey!” She laughed. “Tss, shut up, loser.” She picked up another rock and threw it at me. This time I managed to move out of the way. I backed away and tried to walk away, but then she came at me, and grabbed my wrist. “Where are you going, huh? We’re just friends aren’t we?” I gasped and tried to push her away. “N-no, please. Don’t touch me!” I said, the pressure in my chest starting to build. “Aw, but I thought I was you’re friend.” She said in a sarcastic tone. She laughed before she brought her hand and hit me across my face. “You’re right. We’re not friends. But it is so much fun to hit losers like you.” She swung her hand back to hit me again. I began to cry, silently praying for help. Suddenly there was the sound of rapid footsteps coming our way. I panicked at hearing them because I wasn’t sure if they were one her buddies or someone else. So I embraced myself for impact if anything happened. “HEY! GET THE HELL OFF OF HER!!!” Before I could even try to acknowledge who it was, I felt something knock Gilda off of me. I looked down in time to see Sunset punch Gilda very hard at her jaw. She punched her one more time before she reared back a leg and shot a knee into the other girl’s crouch. “Ooo!” I said in my head, scrunching up my face because it looked painful. After that, Sunset got off of the bully and looked at me. “Hey, are you okay?” I nodded, tears still streaming down my face. “Okay. Come on, we need to get to school. We can go bird watching later today.” I nod again. “HEY SUNBITCH! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU GOING?!” Gilda shouted as she got up off the ground. She came charging at Sunset, who rolled her eyes. She let go of my hand and looked back at the other girl in time to get a fist to the face. She stumbled back, before she cocked back her own fist and threw it at Gilda. The mean girl dodged and strikes, Sunset in the jaw. The red head changed hands and hit Gilda in the stomach. Gilda clenched her stomach in pain and fell to the ground, but not before grabbing a hold of red and golden blonde locks in her fist and taking them down with her, cause Sunset to go down as well. This made Sunset very VERY angry. Without a second though, her hand shot towards the bully and grabbed her by the hair and with incredible force dragged her a few feet on the ground with her own bare hands. Then she picked the much heavier girl up and had her feet dangling off the ground just a little bit, supporting her with a knee. “DONT YOU EVER! Let me repeat that for you. DONT YOU EVER GRAB ME BY MY HAIR EVER AGAIN! That is childish and I will not tolerate such fucking behavior! If you want to act like a damn wild cat that’s been possessed by demons, then take your bitchy ass and your cruel actions elsewhere. Your attitude fucking stinks and I hate it.” She finally let go oh her hair, letting her fall to the ground with a thud. Sunset then backed up from the scene and walked away. “Pathetic dumb bitch.” Sunset said under her breath, but loud enough for both me and Gilda to hear. I hid behind Sunset as I followed her. I still had tears coming down my face from the ordeal. I wish I could have done more to help her, but I just know that I’d get hurt if I tried. I heard her take a deep breath and clear throat, making me look up at her. “I am sorry for how I reacted back there.” I looked up at her surprised. “S-S-Sorry” I said in a high pitched, squeaky voice. I took a deep breath to calm myself . What, w-what do you mean? Why?” She looked over her shoulder at me. “Because I reacted pretty negatively right there.” “Y-You were just protecting yourself.” I said. “Yeah, but do you think I went to harsh on her.” Sunset asks. I thought about it for a moment. Although, she may have been a little bit physical, Gilda did created that problem for herself. She came at Sunset even when she stopped fighting. “Um, w-well, even if you were a bit physical with her, I don’t think it could have been avoided. Maybe if you hadn’t punched in the face in the first place it would have been different, b-but you did stopped, and you did tried to walk away. Even if it was a bit much, you can’t really do much about it now. It has happened. It will be okay, if anything, you could try to apologize.” I said. She nodded and seemed to thinking about what I said. “I see what you’re saying. Okay, I’ll think about it. Right now, let’s just get to school.” I nodded in agreement and we continued to make our way to the motorcycle. Without another word, Sunset grabbed my hand again and walked me out of the park. She hoped onto the motorcycle and I followed on after her. I hold onto her waist as we prepare to leave. As she started the engine, I tapped on her shoulder, wiping another tear from my red, puffy eyes. “Th-thank you.” I whispered. She looked over her shoulder and nodded. “Of course, Fluttershy.” Then I wrapped my arms around her waist, rested my head on her shoulder and then we were off. My tear drops soaking the back of her shirt. When we get to school, I could feel Sunset release a heavy breath before she got off of the bike. “How are you feeling?” She asked. I gave her a weak smile. “A little better.” I said in a shaky tone. She gave me an apologic look before she embraced me into a hug. “Hey, it’s okay. It’s over now. If it she becomes an issue, I’ll make sure to help you get through it.” She said softly. I hugged her back tighter. “Th-thank y-you!" I said as tears continued to flow down my face. “P-please ‘hic!’ d-don’t tell the othersss ‘hic!’.” “I won’t.” She hands me a handkerchief. “Here, you need it.” I took it, wiped my tears and blew my nose. I tossed it into a near by trash can. She held me tight. “Just take a deep breath okay?” I nod, taking in a deep breath and letting it out. “Good, now again.” Once more, I take in another deep breath and let it out. “That’s right, now one more time okay.” I take another deep, calming breath, and exhaled as I could feel myself start to feel better and my tears come to a stop. “Good job.” Sunset said, patting my back. I nodded. “Thank you.” She gave me one more final hug and sat back on the bike. “We have a minute before we have to go in. Just take this moment to try and collect yourself before class starts.” I nod once more and gave her another smile. “Okay.” After a moment, I looked up at her. “Okay, I think I’ll be fine.” She nodded and then got off the motorcycle. “Alright, lets go.” She said. We got to the doors, Sunset walked up and opened the door for me. I thanked her and walked in to see Principle Celestia and Vice-Principle Luna looking unhappy. They completely ignored that I was even there and threw some very disapproving looks at Sunset. “Sunset! Did you not go to detention with Rainbow Dash Monday?” Vise Principle Luna asked in an unpleasant voice. My eyes went wide as I remember Luna mentioning that at Pinkie’s party last Friday. I never saw her go to detention. I looked towards Sunset as I was also now curious to know as well. “I did? What for?” Luna face palmed. But then Celestia became confused too. “Actually, I don’t know either. Why is she in detention Luna?” “She and I made a bet. If I won and she lost she gets to go to detention. She lost.” It was Celestia’s turn to face palm. “And she also went skipped a few classes Friday.” “Sunset!” Celestia said sternly. “We do not skip classes. What were you doing that was so important to miss school?” Sunset looked straight at her unflinchingly. “Oh yeah sorry, I had to help Mrs. Oranges to the store to help her deliver some stuff. She didn’t have any help, so I offered. I didn’t think it would take so long, but by the time I got to school I had missed three classes.” She frowned. “I know I should have said something, but I was carrying some heavy stuff, I could not reach my phone. Sorry.” I had no idea that she helped anybody Friday, but that would explain why she was no where to be found in school Friday. The others didn’t notice, but I did. “Oh! So that’s why you weren't in English Friday.” I voiced. Sunset looked at me and smiled. “Yeah.” Celestia nodded. “Well as you may have had good intentions, you did not tell us or let us know. So for that you still have defamation today after school.” Sunset Shimmer nodded. “Yes ma’am. She nodded as well, satisfied in the result of Themis conversation. “Good, now get to class girls. Then both adults walked away into a hall. Suddenly the front door behind us was thrown open wide, hitting Sunset on the side. “Ah fuck!” She cussed out under her breath. “You’d probably want some don’t you?” Said an unkind voice. Sunset turned to see Flash Sentry entering the building. She rolled her eyes at him. “Do I? Hmm, sorry I’m not interested.”She said. “Ha! Whatever!” He walked up to Sunset. Then her puckered his lips and made kissing sounds. Sunset pushes him away, totally annoyed by his first words. “Ugh, go away!” He laughed and then walked away. “Okay, fine, I’m going, Sunsplat.” Flash said before he disappeared into the halls, leaving Sunset even more irritated then before. She slapped her palm to her face and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I swear. It will be a miracle if I get through this whole day without losing any more brain cells.” She shook her head as if to clear her thoughts. She shrugged her shoulders then looked at me. “Come on Fluttershy, lets get to class.” I nodded and followed her to my class. Once we got there I asked if she was alright. “Oh me? Yeah, I’m fine. It happens to me a lot. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. Thanks for the concern though.” She said with a small smile. I smiled back. “W-well, okay. I’ll see you later then.” “You too, Shy!” She said before she left. I watched her leave, watched how her legs moved in quick flues motions. My eyes go up, eventually landing on her butt, it bounced and jiggled, causing me to end up trying not to giggle suddenly in front of everyone in class. Realizing why I was so amused in the first place, I immediately stopped my train of thought and looked at the board. I could feel my face heat up. “Darling, why are you cheeks red?” I turned to see Rarity had just walked in and sat next to me. I looked at her. “O-Oh it’s just the cold.” I lied. She looked at me but shook her head. “If you say so.”