Chapter 16. Creative, Consistent, and Cruel.

Sunset slid her fingers through the hem of her shorts. She didn’t like how it felt, and she couldn’t understand why sports uniform was mandatory. They could just make a regulation for P.E. clothes.

She stood at the center of the gym. All the chairs had been returned to the storage room, and the stage was as bare as always. It felt like Trixie’s magic show hadn’t happened at all.

The loud yelling of sweaty teenagers took her out of her thoughts, and she moved to her left, barely avoiding three girls fighting for a basketball. She looked at her right and found Rainbow Dash near the basket, waiting for a pass. It was funny, how just two weeks ago, she’d just sit down away and look at the students get wild in their games. She always excused herself, telling the trainer that she had a problem with her legs.

Unfortunately, that same trainer had been at the Fall Formal. He had told her that since she was able to transform into a she-demon and literally blow the school’s entrance, then she was able to do some exercise. Sure, she could just ignore him and have P.E. as her only failed class. But then, she’d be a bother to the trainer as well.

So, there she was, pretending to play when the trainer looked her way, and just walking around when he wasn’t. She briefly considered asking Principal Celestia for a special permit, but then she would be bothering her, so she discarded the thought.

She sighed. Just one more month. She thought. She had to meet with Principal Celestia after classes to discuss about her detention. Maybe, if she played her cards right, she could convince her to lower her punishment’s time at least one week. The less she had to attend classes, the better.

Of course, following Princess Twilight’s orders, the girls would still want to befriend her. Sunset was sure that befriending those girls had to be some kind of test she had to pass if she wanted to return to Equestria. But even so, she didn’t need to keep going to Canterlot High. She could just make appointments with them. Preferably, as far away from the school as possible.

There was Trixie too, of course. Sunset honestly liked her. She was curious to know just how far their relationship would get. Her longest relationship had lasted thirteen weeks and two days. So, basically, if she was still girlfriends with Trixie by December’s second week, she could start going serious with her. Serious as in start calling her pet names, anyway.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden force against the right side of her face. Sunset fell to the ground, instinctively putting her arm in a failed attempt to protect herself from more harm. Her head spun wildly, and she could only hear a screeching sound hammering inside her head.

She tried to get up, but her balance was so off, she couldn’t even lift her torso without experiencing a violent wave of vertigo. She decided, then, that the best course of action now was to do nothing until she recovered her senses.

As seconds passed, Sunset started to catch on the voices of the students. There was a lot of yelling, a few thumps, and just general hustle. She remembered that she was still in the middle of a basketball game, and she feared that she’d make someone trip. She did another attempt at standing up, but a stinging pain appeared at the side of her head, making her hiss and fall again.

A hand appeared from the corner of her left eye, and she slowly looked up. It was the trainer.

“Can you stand up?” He asked.

Sunset tried to think on what was going on, but the pain was demanding all her attention. She hung her head, wanting to say no, but she could only mutter a groan.

“Alright,” he shifted. “I’ll have to take you to the infirmary.”

She briefly wondered why she should go to the infirmary again, but the thought was replaced by the concern of being a bother to the trainer. She took a deep breath and slowly stood up. She tottered a couple of times, and bit her lip guiltily when she had to use the trainer’s arm as a third balance point. But it was that, or falling again, and that would only mean she’d have to be carried, and that would only mean that she’d be bothering more.

She glanced around the gym. Everyone was looking at her, but she couldn’t see their expressions, as her vision was still a little foggy. But she knew that they were smiling. Of course they’d enjoy seeing her getting hurt.

Thankfully, she only had to endure this situation for just one more month.

As the trainer helped her walk out of the gym, she heard him yell something at the students, but she didn’t pay attention, as his voice only rang painfully inside her skull.

Sunset flinched when Nurse Redheart rubbed an alcohol impregnated cotton ball to her injury.

Apparently, someone had thrown her a basketball, and it happened to hit her on the right eyebrow, giving her a wound. Thankfully, it wasn’t anything the school’s nurse couldn’t handle on her own.

“Is this because of the Fall Formal?”

“Wha-ouch!” Sunset was cut off by the already fading pain of the alcohol in her wound. She looked at the nurse with a frown. “You were there?” Her question sounded more like a guilty whimper.

Although their gazes could easily meet, Redheart kept her focus on her work. “I attend to every big event in this school. You’d be surprised how many students injure themselves while dancing. I’m still surprised how many refuse to go to the infirmary.”

Sunset looked away. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Redheart said, changing the cotton ball for a cleaner one. “It’s not an everyday experience to be mind controlled. I guess I can cross that one from my bucket list.”

Nurse Redheart’s little joke did nothing to enlighten the mood, as Sunset only let out a heavy sigh. “Not that… I mean, I am sorry for what happened at the Fall Formal, but… On top of that, I’m still being a bother to you…”

Redheart raised an eyebrow at that. “You do know it’s my job and chosen career to treat injured people, right?” Sunset didn’t answer, so Redheart decided to keep talking. “As a nurse, it isn’t my place to tell you what you should or shouldn’t do, if it’s not related to your health, of course. But as an adult, I can’t be quiet about this.” That earned a raised eyebrow, to which Redheart grimaced slightly. “Your P.E. teacher vaguely told me what happened. If it’s not him, or yourself, then I am going to report this to Principal Celestia.”

Sunset suddenly looked back at her, and Redheart had to move the cotton ball away to avoid rubbing it in Sunset’s eye. “Don’t do it!” Sunset cleared her throat. “I-I mean. You don’t have to. Rainbow Dash was there, I’m pretty sure she has already told the principal.”

“Rainbow Dash?” Redheart leaned back and looked at Sunset with a gaze of disbelief. “If I’m correct, that’s the name of the girl that broke your nose.”

“Well…” Sunset laughed nervously. “This and that happened… I can’t say we’re friends, but… We kind of solved our problems.”

Redheart made thoughtful face for a second before reassuming her work on Sunset’s injury. “Well, it doesn’t matter. Even if I didn’t want to, I’m legally obliged to report any kind of violence to the authorities.”

Sunset sighed through her nose as a sign of defeat, deciding to just wait in silence until the nurse finished her job.

The bell rang throughout the school, signaling the end of classes. Sunset was the last one to get out of her classroom, more out of tiredness than anything. Apparently, having a small gauze covering her eyebrow was some sort of shield that prevented the students to bombard her with paper wads and elastic bands. She was certain that tomorrow they’d start over again.

She made her way to her locker to offload her things. She really didn’t want to carry anything more than her wallet and phone to her house.

“Hey there,” Trixie’s voice came from her left. “Rainbow told me what happened, are you ok?”

Sunset couldn’t help but crack a smile. “‘Tis nothing. I once broke my four legs and a rib practicing a magic spell.”

“Ouch.” Trixie grimaced at that. “What kind of spell?”

“Teleportation,” Sunset replied as she closed her locker. “It probably wasn’t a good idea to do it in the castle’s roof tops.”

Trixie hummed. “From what you’ve told me, it seems that you have a lot of bad ideas.” She shut closed her mouth as her eyes widened. Having realized that she had said something stupid, she was ready to apologize, but Sunset interrupted her thoughts.

Sunset grinned, looking at Trixie with a mischievous glare. “I’m thinking something bad alright.”

Trixie’s jaw worked silently for a couple of seconds, she then let out a frustrated groan. Sunset chuckled, and Trixie couldn’t help but smile at her girlfriend’s carefree laugh. It certainly was a nice change, given that Sunset barely smiled when the other girls were around.

Sunset started to walk, making sure to keep a steady pace so that Trixie would always be besides her. “It must be nice,” Trixie began, placing both hands behind her body, “to be able to teleport wherever you want.”

“Yeah, well,” Sunset’s smile didn’t leave her face, “it’s not like everyone can do it. Teleportation is one of the most difficult spells. Just being able to do it is a feat on its own, so a lot of unicorns don’t even bother.”

“So why do it then?”

“Because, once you get the hang of it, it gets progressively easier.” Sunset’s eyes rolled up as she recalled her memories. “My maximum is five hundred meters, and that’s pushing the limits of my magic.”

Trixie whistled. “Still, that’s a lot if you talk about disappearing in one place and reappearing in a completely different one.”

Sunset smirked. “Well, I wasn’t called a prodigy for nothing,” she said with a soft sigh at the end.

There it was, Trixie realized. That hint of homesickness in Sunset’s voice that erased any trace of the playful and teasing girl she was just seconds ago. Trixie couldn’t help but wonder what would happen when the time for Sunset to return home came. She decided to brush that thought off. They were still pretty fresh in their relationship, and it certainly wasn’t the time to be wondering about those things.

Sunset let out a heavy sigh of resignation as they got closer to Principal Celestia’s office. “Well, here goes nothing.” She knocked three times.

“Come in,” Principal Celestia called from the other side.

Sunset looked at Trixie, who only answer with a nod. She opened the door and stepped inside. “You wanted to see me?”

Celestia looked up from her papers and offered Sunset a concerned smile. “How are you feeling?”

Sunset shrugged. “Been worse.”

Celestia hummed, eyeing the gauze in Sunset’s eyebrow, and shifted a little. “Please take a seat. This won’t take long.”

Sunset closed the door behind her, giving one last glance at Trixie. She walked up to the chair and sat down. “So… I’m new to this whole detention thing, how does it work?”

Celestia leaned back, resting her hands on the desk. “Well, normally, you sit in a classroom for 2 hours after the end of classes doing homework or other written work the teacher assigned to watch over you decides.” She tilted her head. “The other option is to have you do some chores around the school. That usually takes more time out of you, depending on the chore.”

“And that’s exactly what I’ll do, isn’t it?” Sunset asked, not very surprised.

“That’s the kind of detention for students that vandalize the school’s property.”

“Figures.”

Celestia sighed, but kept a small smile on her face. “For today, you only have to clean your locker.” She leaned closer. “And don’t worry about it getting vandalized again, I’ll have the janitors keep an eye on there.”

Sunset could feel a small smile forming on her face. At least she wouldn’t have to keep reading insults anymore.

“You can go home after that,” Celestia continued, “and I’ll expect you to come everyday after school for the next month.”

“Alright,” Sunset replied as she got up. They shared goodbyes and Sunset practically leaped to the door.

“How did it go?” Trixie asked.

Sunset jumped a little and raised an eyebrow. “You’re still here?”

Trixie stepped forward and placed her hands on Sunset’s hips, producing a very fake frown. “You didn’t kiss me goodbye, how else am I supposed to know when to leave?”

Sunset hummed, placing her hands on Trixie’s shoulders. “Great, you’re clingy now.”

“Is that sarcasm?”

“Not one bit.” Sunset leaned forward, making their noses touch. “I prefer it this way.”

Trixie looked down at Sunset’s lips, and then up to her eyes again. “We should move someplace else.”

“Afraid of getting caught?”

“We’re in front of the principal’s office.”

Sunset’s grin grew. “So strange. You seem like the kind to love risks.”

“Sunset…”

Trixie was blushing, and was looking away. Sunset pressed her lips together before giving Trixie’s shoulders a reassuring squeeze. “I have to clean my locker. It won’t take more than a couple of minutes. Would you wait for me?”

Trixie relaxed, and managed a smile. “Of course.”

Sunset smiled, and after another squeeze, she freed Trixie’s shoulders and stepped back.

They walked to the concierge to grab a bucket, some soap, and a dishcloth. They made a stop at a nearby bathroom to fill the bucket with water and then headed straight to Sunset’s locker. Trixie had offered to help, but Sunset explained that it was her detention, and she had to do what the principal told her to do. If anything, she was glad she could erase all those insults with her own hand.

Once she finished, and after a full minute of admiring her own job, Sunset took the things she borrowed back to the concierge.

“Well, that was fast,” Trixie said, “only fifteen minutes.”

Sunset stretched her arms, feeling a few pops in her joints. “Yeah, well, I’m sure it won’t be this fast the next days.”

Trixie grinned. “Then, let’s take advantage and go out on a date today.”

“It sounds like you’re inviting me,” Sunset said with a wide smile.

Trixie smiled guiltily. “Once I start earning money for real, I promise I’ll take you out someplace nice.”

Sunset chuckled. “I like that idea.”

The next day came faster than Sunset expected. As usual, her date with Trixie had been marvelous, as hours felt like minutes. Yes, she had a couple of nightmares when she went to sleep, but at least, this time, they woke her up just ten minutes before her alarm clock started ringing loudly.

After getting ready for another miserable day at school, Sunset put on her coat and went out to face the music. She had to take the bus to get there. She wished she had a car or something like that, but she didn’t even know how to drive. But, maybe, after her punishment ended, she could go to a school and get a driver’s license. And perhaps even buy a car. She had her savings, but she’d still need to work a little harder. Maybe Flim and Flam had other jobs she could do. And thinking about it, it was time for her to get a raise.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sight of her girlfriend, leaning on the school’s statue. Trixie smiled when she realized that Sunset was coming her way. And Sunset could feel a warmth in her chest. She really liked that girl.

“Sup, Trix,” Sunset greeted. She wanted to give her a kiss, but there were people around them, so she bit her tongue to stop herself.

“Hey there, Sunny,” Trixie called back. “How are you?”

Sunset shrugged. “Can’t complain. And you?”

“Pretty good.”

They walked alongside each other, talking about trivialities as they climbed up the front stairs. They didn’t share any class, so they had to use any time they had to talk or just hang out, being lunch period the longest during classes.

Since they still had fifteen minutes before the beginning of classes, they decided to accompany each other to their lockers to pick up their stuff. Trixie’s was the nearest, so they headed there first. Sunset noticed the confused stares she got, and she couldn’t blame them, since she never took this path in the mornings.

Once Trixie had taken a notebook and a textbook, they headed towards Sunset’s locker. Once they got to the right hallway, the students there looked at Sunset, and then looked away, some even leaving the area. Sunset didn’t have the chance to think of what was going on, because once she got closer to her locker, it became pretty obvious.

There was water leaking from the sides and bottom of her locker. It didn’t take a genius to know that someone had poured at least a bucket of water into her locker.

Trixie gasped in horror. “What- How… Who did this?!” She asked to no one in particular.

“I had my textbooks there… They were pretty expensive…” Sunset said and then sighed in defeat. “I’ll go for a mop.”

“No, no, no, no, no,” Trixie said, grabbing Sunset from the shoulder. “We’re going to tell Principal Celestia about this.”

“What for?” Sunset replied with an even voice. “It’s not like she can find whoever did this.” She didn’t wait for a response, as she was already on her way, carefully avoiding to bump into one of the few students there.

Trixie, for her part, had an idea. She grabbed her phone and started to tap on the screen.

Lunch time was just getting started. Sunset carried her tray of food to the table where Trixie, Rainbow, and Rarity were sitting. Her back and arms ached a little, as she was unused to mopping floors

She let herself fall on the chair, letting a half sigh, half groan in the process. “Are you ok, darling?” Rarity asked.

“She’s obviously not,” Trixie huffed, turning to glare at Sunset. “You didn’t have to mop that mess. That’s why we have janitors.”

Sunset groaned again, more out of tiredness than anything. “My detention basically consists on playing janitor. All I did was lighten up my workload.”

“Au contraire,” Rarity said. “The culprit was caught. Her punishment was going to be cleaning the mess she caused, but you already beat her.”

Sunset paused a second, blinked, and then raised an eyebrow. “She? Wait, how did they catch her?”

“Yes, she,” Rainbow said with a grin. “Apparently, Suri Polomare thought it was a good idea to mess with Trixie’s girl.” Sunset glanced over at Trixie, who looked away with a blush. “Trixie here told us what happened,” Rainbow continued, “but before we could do anything, she was already investigating. Someone saw Suri walking ‘round school with a bucket. I got there just when Trixie found Suri alone in a hallway.” She threw her head back with a laugh. “You should’ve been there! She cracked like a withered leaf under Trixie’s death stare!”

“It didn’t happen like that,” Trixie muttered, her blush deepening.

“You kidding?!” Rainbow laughed some more. “She almost peed herself!”

“Ew! Rainbow Dash, that’s disgusting!” Rarity exclaimed, scrunching her nose.

“Still true,” Rainbow answered. “Vice Principal Luna came after that, and she took Suri with her. Beats me what she did to her.”

Trixie snorted angrily. “And what about the girl that hit Sunset yesterday?”

“I noticed that Bonbon was looking at Sunset with a weird stare. But I didn’t think she’d actually do that.” Rainbow said and then smiled. “Fortunately, me and the trainer were looking her way when she threw the ball. I think she got suspended, but I’m not sure.”

Rarity huffed after taking a sip of her apple juice. “I just can’t believe this school is full of ruffians.”

“Teenagers,” Trixie huffed. “They can do so much harm when they are together…”

Rarity looked between Trixie and Sunset for a moment, and then reached Sunset’s shoulder with her hand. “Don’t worry, darling. We’re here for you, and we won’t let them bully you anymore.”

Sunset cracked a small smile, her gaze drifting to Trixie. “Thanks.”

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Aside from the constant bombarding of paper wads, the students were reluctant to even look at Sunset. They probably had heard of Trixie intimidating Suri. On the other hand, however, Sunset was sure that they’d only become stealthier. So she had to be more cautious with her surroundings while at school.

After classes, since Sunset had cleaned the mess created by Suri, Principal Celestia decided to make Sunset only dust the trophies’ shelves at the entrance. She also wanted to help Sunset buy new school material, but Sunset had lied, saying she had enough money to do so herself in the following week. Of course she wasn’t going to buy anything, but she wasn’t going to let Celestia buy things that Sunset wasn’t going to use anyway.

The dusting took Sunset only half an hour. Once she finished, Sunset headed home. It was becoming harder each day to decide if she was looking forward to another day where she could see Trixie again, or if she didn’t want to keep getting bullied. At the end, it didn’t matter, as she still had to endure detention for a month.

Once again, the next day came faster than expected.

Sunset was in front of her locker. It was completely bare; not a single mark or scratch, but it was also completely empty. She had thrown her stuff away; notebooks, textbooks, her bag, and some make up. She was currently trying to decide whether or not to keep using her locker.

Sure, she had bought a new notebook to take notes during classes, but it wasn’t like she was going to stay in the school after her detention, so even that was pointless. At the end, she decided to carry her notebook everywhere, and leave her locker alone. That way, the students wouldn’t try to vandalize it again.

As always, the first class was so boring, Sunset felt like the minutes were hours. It wasn’t hard to notice that she hadn’t gotten hit with any paper wad, or elastic band, or eraser piece, or anything else. The students were either tired of it, or their ammunition had finally run out. Maybe they were planning something else, or maybe they were scared to get caught and be punished like the other girls the last few days. Either way, Sunset didn’t complain.

She got out from class, and noticed with relief how good it felt to not have to clean her hair from her classmates’ immaturity. She got to the gym, as P.E. was next, and headed straight to the locker room. There were just a few girls there, getting ready for the class. They were failing really hard in their attempts to not look at Sunset. As always, their stares were of anger, but this time, with a mix of hesitation, and a pinch of fear.

Sunset had never been proud of being a bully, but thanks to that, she had developed a sharp intuition when it came to bullied people. Formerly, she had used that skill to manage them as she wanted, but this time, she could use it to help herself, because those stares meant anticipation.

They were definitely scheming something, and by the looks of it, the five girls inside were involved.

Sunset walked up to her gym locker. When she opened it, she half expected it to be filled with something nasty, poured from the slits as it had been done with her other locker. But, to her surprise, it was just as she had left it. She shrugged and picked her uniform. Maybe they were planning to just hit her again. She’d have to be very cautious then.

She changed fairly quickly, not wanting to have her body exposed for too long. Not because she was embarrassed, but because her bare skin was very sensible at the cold.

She really missed having fur.

After she offloaded her perfectly folded clothes into her locker, amongst with her notebook, phone, wallet, and emergency make up, Sunset got out of the room and into the gym.

She glanced around. The trainer wasn’t around. It wasn’t strange that he got a little late every now and then, so Sunset didn’t put much thought into it. She walked following the red line on the floor for just a minute, and then she caught sight of one rainbow haired girl jogging to her.

“Hey, Sunset! Wassup?” Rainbow asked, panting slightly. She was already dressed with the P.E. uniform, and was carrying a big bag.

“Not much,” Sunset said. “Did you have soccer training?”

“Yeah,” Rainbow answered, walking towards the locker room. “It took a little more time than expected. I was just gonna put this thing in my locker. Be back in a minute.” Sunset nodded and resumed her walk on the line.

It wasn’t long before the trainer arrived. He was already apologizing for being late, when he glanced at Sunset and walked directly at her.

“Sunset!” He exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”

Sunset looked at him with confusion. “Uhh… Attending to class?”

“No, no,” he said, shaking his head. “You got a nasty wound on your face, you oughta rest. Go get changed and sit on the tiers. You can come back to exercise with your classmates next class.”

Sunset was about to retort, saying that her injury wasn’t that bad, but the smarter part of her brain told her that it was a perfect opportunity to do nothing for two hours straight. She could spend the whole class thinking on anything, instead of worrying to be hit again.

She nodded and walked again into the locker room. It was empty, except for Rainbow Dash, who was in front of her locker, reading something from her phone. She noticed Sunset’s presence and looked at her, raising an eyebrow.

“What are you doing here?” Rainbow asked.

“The trainer said I should rest from my injury,” Sunset answered, walking to her own locker. “I don’t like P.E. anyway, so I don’t complain.”

Rainbow laughed. “Your loss.” She tapped the screen of her phone a couple of times and then put it inside her locker. Sunset opened her locker once again, holding the heavy lock in one hand. “Anyway, I can hear the trainer’s yelling already. I better get going,” Rainbow said, closing her locker and walking towards the door. But when Sunset didn’t answer, she turned around. “Sunset?”

Sunset was staring inside her locker with a blank gaze. She grabbed something and pulled it closer to her. At first, Rainbow thought that Sunset was holding a dishcloth, but upon closer inspection, she realized that it was Sunset’s signature magenta shirt with a golden and red sun.

It was completely shredded.

Rainbow stepped closer to Sunset. “What the heck?!”

Inside the locker was the rest of Sunset’s clothes; her skirt and jacket, in the same state as her shirt. At the side, her phone had a nasty crack along the screen, and her wallet had been emptied; her ID card cut in at least six pieces.

Sunset couldn’t remember the last time she had been stunned like this. Her jaw worked silent words as she tried to process what was going on. Not content with spoiling her very expensive textbooks and other school stuff with water, the students had also destroyed her clothes and phone, and stole the ten bucks she kept in her wallet.

“They won’t get away with this!” Rainbow yelled.

Sunset lowered her head. “Who?”

“What?”

“Who?” Sunset repeated. “Who’s not going to get away? Do you know who did this? Can you even find them?”

Rainbow huffed angrily. “Are you serious?! There were a lot of girls here when I arrived! Somebody had to witness!”

Sunset laughed weakly. “And you think they’ll talk? Come on, Rainbow Dash, they won’t tell who did it. It’s useless.”

“Sunset,” Rainbow called. When Sunset looked at her, Rainbow slapped her with enough force to make her totter. “What the hell happened to you?! You should be angry! You have the right to be angry! Besides, it’s obvious someone saw who did it. If no one will point at the guilty, then all of them are guilty!”

Sunset looked away, the pain of Rainbow’s slap increasing progressively. “You’re wrong, I have no right to be angry.”

“What, are you going to pull the Emo card?!” Rainbow said. “You might have bullied them for years, but you never hit them, or destroyed their things! You don’t deserve this!”

“I blackmailed them. It’s as bad.”

Rainbow grunted. “Fine! You want to be a wannabe-victim? Go ahead for all I care!” She slammed a fist against a locker. “But I’m still telling the trainer, whether you like it or not!” She turned around and walked outside the lockers room, slamming the door behind her.

Sunset just stood there, hearing some yelling from outside.

She didn’t want to admit it, she wanted to tell herself any excuse, any ridiculous reason as to why she deserved this. The pressure in her chest told her that she deserved a payback. She had been trying too hard to behave, to let them do as they pleased, to let them get even with her. And yet, deep inside her, she knew that the students were going too far.

She leaned on the locker next to hers, gazing at her ruined clothes. Maybe, this was their last revenge stunt.

As Rainbow had said, when she told the trainer what happened, and none of the girls pointed at the culprit, all of them were deemed responsible, and thus sent to the principal’s office, most likely to get detention. Sunset wanted to feel bad for them, but after clearing her thoughts and realizing she didn’t have any money left to even get home, she decided to think that they all deserved it.

Also, she had to wear the sports uniform for the rest of the day until she could get home and change clothes, and they were really uncomfortable.

It was lunchtime already, so she got in the cafeteria. Of course, word of what happened had spread like wildfire, and everyone was staring at her with smug grins. She decided to ignore them and get her food.

Once she was done, she took her tray and walked up to the table where Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight were already sitting.

“Are you ok, sugarcube?” Applejack asked as Sunset sat down. “Rainbow told us what happened.”

Sunset sighed. “I’m alright. I just have to buy a new phone, and get another ID card… And a new jacket.”

“I can’t believe they did that to you,” Twilight said. “Don’t they realize they are just completing the circle of bullying?”

“It’s ok, really,” Sunset said. “The teachers were already keeping their eyes on them, and after this, I don’t think they’ll want to risk again.” She leaned on the backrest of her seat and let out a heavy sigh.

“Besides, y'all got us covering yer back,” Applejack assured with a friendly wink.

“Yeah!” Pinkie exclaimed. “I got my eyes on them! There’s nothing that can evade my pinkie vision!” She said, mimicking binoculars with her hands.

Sunset couldn’t help but smile. So this is what it was like to have friends. She sure wouldn’t mind their company some more.

The rest of lunch went by really fast. After the rest of the girls showed up, they started talking about their newfound anger against the students, and how they needed to support each other. They even joked about Trixie being Sunset’s personal bodyguard.

Classes were uneventful. By the looks of it, Sunset was sure that the students wouldn’t try anything else on her. At least for a day or two.

For detention, Principal Celestia had told her to only sweep the entrance. Celestia had put it like it was a very difficult task, unable to hide her true intentions. While wanting to maintain herself as an authority, Celestia couldn’t bring herself to make Sunset do more laborious or heavy tasks, since she was already being bullied so much.

Of course, Sunset didn’t complain. She wanted so bad to go home already to change clothes. The hem of her shorts was really getting on her nerves.

Author's Notes:

There has been a lot of stuff going on these last chapters, and it all leads to next chapter.