Chapters Author's Note
This is just the beginning part, I plan to finish it if you guys like it
A Shining Start
On a small hill overlooking over looking the city of Canterlot we find a boy about 16 years of age. He of average height and weight with spiky hair that hung down in his eyes and was colored with varying shades of red. His skin was a sort of dark grey color with patches of white here and there and he wore brass circular glasses as well as jeans, black shoes, and a black long sleve shirt depicting a crescent moon with a star in the center of it. "Well... here it is, Cantorlot City," he said to himself "Time for my new start... no one here knows me and I intend on keeping that way as long as possible". As he started to make his way down the hill towards the city he said to himself, "I've heard this city has a great high school for someone like me, despite all the unusual events that have apparently took place there," he thought back to the story he had read on the quote-on-quote demon girl "all I've got to is get there and...". He stoped dead in his tracks as he came to realization "I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE ANYTHING IS IN THIS BLOODY CITY!" he shouted. "Great job self-" he slapped a hand across his forehead "- haven't even reached the city and you're already being stupid". He looked out at the city and for the first time, he realized how big the city was, "This place is so huge I'll never find it," he said with a cry. "I guess I'll just have to wing it," he stated as he continued his walk down to the city.
"Man," the boy thought to himself "this place is even bigger up close and personal. How am I ever gonna find the high school in this mess?" He stood in place for a bit trying to think of something, he said out loud "I guess I could... I probably have to. Um, excuse me," he said as he stopped a girl on the street, before asking his question he was able to get a good look at her. She had yellow skin, purple eyes, and brown hair that, for some strange reason, was rainbow colored at the ends. She was wearing a black shirt that depicted a trophy with a red lightning bolt through it with a grey jacket over the shirt and pink tight pants that went just below her knees as well as blue Nike sneakers. "Do you know how I can get to Canterlot High from here?" he asked as calmly as possible.
"Huh, oh sure... you just go down to the end of this road and take a left, you'll see it," the girl responded happily.
"Thanks," he said as he said as he walked off in the direction he'd been pointed. He couldn't believe it, he was so close to it and he still had to ask for directions... he felt like an idiot.
He kept walking and after he turned the corner he saw it there, a tall building with a small statue in front. Actually it didn't different that what he had seen in the newspaper. He out front for a bit just admiring the building before he heard someone come up behind him.
"Excuse me," he heard and turned around to see a woman, much taller than him, she had white skin and hair that had reminded him of the Aurora Borealis. She was wearing simply just a yellow button up shirt and brown pants. She continued "I don't believe I've seen you around here, you wouldn't happen to be here to sign up for classes?"
"You saw right through me," he replied sarcastically
"Well your just in time," the woman said with a slight smile, "classes start tomorrow, if you come with me we can fill out the appropriate paperwork. I'm the principal by the way, principal Celestia, and you are?"
"StarDust," he said holding back the pain that came with that name "StarDust Shine"
Stardust began following principal Celestia through the school to her office though his mind was on other things so he wasn't able to fully take in what the school was like. After just a few minutes they had arrived at her office but before entering the principal turned around with a look on her face like there was something she didn't quite understand.
"Is there any reason you came to this school specifically?" She had asked Stardust because to her there was something that didn't quite add up.
"Well I had read about this school and it seemed a lot better than my old school, it was only two towns away so it was an easy walk," he responded only half lying.
While this statement wasn't the full truth it wasn't actually a lie, comparing this school to his old one was like comparing the empire state building to a genaric Indian teapea. Not only was it a lot bigger it had a lot more to offer.
Though something still didn't seem right to her, the principal didn't question it as she opened the door and lead Stardust into her office. Then a couple hours later, which was a couple hours more than Stardust initially thought it was going to take, he had signed all the appropriate paperwork and was officially registered for his classes.
"Ok, now I just need to file these and alert the teachers. Also before you go I need to show you where your is locker and the combination... you know how to use a padlock, right?" the principal asked while getting up from her desk and walking towards the door. Stardust responded by just nodding slowly, "Alright, follow me," she sated while walking out the door with Stardust behind her. This time around he was able to focus on the school itself and he realized how different it was from his last school. For one the school had multiple stories to it plus it had a huge library that he got a glimpse of when walking to his locker making a mental note to check it out later, the closest thing to a library at his old school was a cart of books everyone was always stealing from. Yeah... he didn't go to the best of schools.
After walking a fair distance, considering the size of the school, the principal stopped in front of a set of lockers. Looking at them they were indistinguishable from the other lockers in the school though it still raised a concern in Stardust's mind.
"This," she knocked on the locker to the far right edge of the set, "is your locker, the combination is 03-21-35." Looking around Stardust found it wasn't actually too far from the main entrance, it would be easy to remember the location. "Get here tomorrow morning at 7:30," she continued, "classes start at 8:00 when the main bell rings, tomorrow you will find the text books you need as well as your schedule inside your locker, if you need help finding the classrooms just ask some of the students, any questions?" she asked now leaning on the lockers.
"Yes one actually," Stardust answered with a concerned look, "is there anyone occupying the locker next to mine?"
"Um... yes there is, why do you ask?" she answered returning the look of concern.
"I just wanted to make sure I wasn't put next to someone who'll I'll end up hating," he lied. Well his statement was partially true but in the end he was hoping to not be near anyone.
"Oh well you don't need to worry about her, everyone in school just loves her, I think you two will get along,"
"Well thanks for the reassurance, I guess I'll see you tomorrow," after finishing this statement Stardust started walking towards the entrance. A thousand thoughts were racing through his mind, while Celestia through this girl, whoever she was, was a good choice it might end up not being so good for him. There was no way to tell at the moment so he would just have to wait for tomorrow.
Stardust had arrived the next morning at 7:20 am and was quite shocked by the amount of people there considering how early it was, he was so used to people trying to stay away as long as possible. He got over the initial shock and started making his way to his locker, along the way a couple people had asked him if he was new here but he pretended not to hear them, after all the hallway was fairly loud, eventually he reached his locker.
"3... 21... 35" he said under his breath as he punched in the combination, he had a fairly good memory. Opening the door to his locker he saw exactly what he was expecting, 4 text books stacked there with two pieces of paper on top of them. He picked up the papers, one was his class schedule the other was a detailed map of the school he guessed it was to help him find his way around. "How thoughtful..." he said sarcastically. He was about to close the locker after grabbing his chemistry text book, chemistry was his first class, when suddenly.
"OH MY GOSH, ARE YOU NEW HERE? I DON'T EVER REMEMBER HAVING SOMEONE USING THE LOCKER NEXT TO MINE, THAT THING'S BEEN EMPTY FOR YEARS. I CAME HERE EXPECTING TO SEE IT EMPTY AGAIN BUT, TO MY SURPRISE YOU WERE HERE SO I HAD TO RUN OVER AND SAY HELLO!!!!" a very high pitched voice, talking faster that an Italian plumber on shrooms can run I might add, practically yelled this at Stardust from the other side of his locker door.
After hearing this Stardust leaned his head forward a bit as he thought to himself "Oh please don't let this be...". He closed the locker door, keeping a glum look on his face, to see a girl standing there, about as tall as him. Her hair was pink as was her skin but a lighter shade. She was wearing a purple and white shirt with a small pink heart on it and a light blue jacket type thing over it, a light purple skirt with a depiction of three balloons on it, light blue wrist bands, a purple ribbon around her waist, as well as light blue knee high boots each with their own little pink bow. Her hair itself looked as though it had just went through a cotton candy machine but, with this kind of person who knows maybe that's what she actually did. Her overall appearance practically screamed "Excitement".
"Hey... what's with the long face?" her beaming face slowly turned to a blank stare.
"Don't worry about it," he responded. He turned away from the girl only to immediately jump back as somehow the same girl was right there standing directly on the opposite side she previously was. He didn't understand it but he didn't question it either, he's seen weirder things.
"I am going to worry about it, cause at this school it's my job to make sure everyone is smiling," she said with a smile about as wide as a kilometer.
"Uh huh, and how's that working out for you so far miss... um..." saying this Stardust realized she hadn't yet stated her name.
"Pinkie Pie!! But my friends just call me Pinkie and, so far it's worked great every one is always smiling around here thanks to yours truly. And you are?" She leaned back against the lockers now with a cocky smile on her face.
"Stardust Shine, but you can call me Star," he started leaning back on the lockers same as she did "Answer me this Pinkie pie, what is a smile?" his eyes were now closed and his head pointed toward the floor.
"Pfft, well that's easy, a smile is what's on someone's face when they're happy. How could you not know that star?!" she stood up giving him a look as if he had just murdered someone.
"Hmm, A smile, in essence, is one of two things," he looked up towards the ceiling, "either a way of showing joy or a way of covering up sadness," he stood up and started Pinkie directly in the eye, "Just because I don't hide it doesn't mean I want people trying to make me feel better about it. So even though your thing is making people smile, I hate to break it to you, but I don't think you'll make me smile so if you could please just stop trying,"
"That's silly, I can make anyone smile," she then pulled a cupcake out of seemingly nowhere, although if I had to guess I'd say she was probably hiding it in her hair, "How about a cupcake?" While Star was initially shocked by this that shock quickly turned into anger.
"I don't want your damn cupcake!!" he yelled as he smacked the cupcake out of her hand, he looked back to her seeing she was on the verge of tears and immediately felt bad for what he had done, "Listen, I'm sorry for getting mad. I appreciate what you're trying to do for me, I really do, I just don't want anyone wasting their time on me, my wounds are too deep to deal healed," everyone stopped for a second as a loud bell sounded overhead, " I gotta go, it was nice meeting you," Stardust turned around and started walking away leaving the pink girl to ponder what it was exactly that he meant.
Stardust couldn't believe it, for one he gets a locker next to, probably, the most hyperactive person on the planet and, if that weren't bad enough he made her cry. Why? Because she was trying to give him a bloody cupcake. Even thinking about this made Stardust feel terrible, he didn't even see what happened to her but he felt like she probably broke down crying, he was a terrible person. He didn't have time to worry about it now though, he only hoped that his first day would go a little more the way he expected from this point on.
He started making his way to his first class which that in itself was no easy task. Although he had been given a map of the school it was still fairly difficult to navigate but, he eventually found his way to the class just before it began. Once he got in the classroom the teacher apparently was expecting him as he was immediately directed to his seat. The classroom was set up so there were 15 tables with two to a table and Stardust was seated at one of the middle tables. Looking around the room is was very bland, white walls, white floors, white tables, white chairs, basically it was a whole lot of white. Something else he noticed while looking around was that every seat in the classroom was filled except for the one next to his, 'Finally' he thought 'maybe this time I'll be able to go without any further interruptions' though this thought was short lived as Stardust noticed a girl walk into the classroom and up to the teacher. She was talking with the teacher a bit, presumably explaining her tardiness, and quickly walked over to the table Stardust was seated at.
He looked away hoping to not be noticed, but a quick glance back to her revealed that she had something to important on her mind and didn't take notice to Stardust's presence. He used this chance to get a good look at her. The first thing he noticed was her hair, it was colored purple and was very smooth and curly. Her skin was white and she was wearing a shirt with poofy sleeves that he couldn't necessarily tell if was white or light blue. She had a light purple skirt adorned with a picture of three light blue diamonds and purple high heeled knee high boots again with the blue diamonds. The last thing he noticed was the gold bracelets around her wrists, he thought these to be a little excessive but that was his opinion.
She seemed to either not be noticing him or out right ignoring him. 'huh, maybe not everyone at this school shares that one girl's particular brand of crazy' right as he finished his thought she glanced up and seemed to notice him for the first time.
"Oh my apologies, I didn't see you there. Are you new?" She asked turning so her whole body was facing Stardust.
'Nevermind, they're all insane!' he turned away "I am, but I don't like to make a big fuss about it," things just kept getting better and better.
"Well let me be the first to welcome you to CHS, my name is Rarity. Everyone says I'm chic, unique, and magnifique," she said smiling and with her eyes half closed
'Yeah that doesn't sound pretentious at all' he thought sarcastically, "It's nice to meet you," he said hoping that conversation would end there, but alas things cannot be that simple for this character.
"Might I ask your name?" Rarity asked batting her eyelashes, "it's much easier to talk to someone when you have something to call them by,"
He was intending on ignoring her as she gave both a good and bad reason as to tell her his name and ignoring her would most likely lead to the end of the conversation, but something within him strangely compelled him to say, in a tone slightly above a whisper, "Stardust Shine," and now that he said it there was no way things could get better from there.
"Oh that's such a beautiful sounding name," Rarity said with a tone of wonder to her voice, "why just thinking about gives me all sorts of wonderful ideas for different styles and designs I could use," she pulled out a notebook, presumably to write down these "ideas".
"So that's who you are," Stardust gave a slight smile, "you're a stylist. You like style and design things, interested in cloths and jewelry. If ask me all that stuff seems way
"Oh that's simply not true, for one I know plenty of guys who wear jewelry..." before she could continue her thought she was cut off.
"Well," he pulled out a necklace hanging around his neck that had, up to this point, been concealed by his shirt, "add me to the list" the necklace had a charm that was a white crystal in the shape of a circle pressed into a gold ring hanging from a gold chain. The longer Stardust looked at this necklace the memories it brought to him. Though he did not realize what kind of memories they were.
"Oh, oh my are you alright? You're... you're crying," Rarity asked worried. It took Stardust a second to realize the tear streaking down his cheek.
"Ah!" he hurriedly wiped his cheek "I'm fine, look shouldn't we be paying attention
"Oh we don't have to worry about that darling, the first day of each week in this class is just used to review notes from the previous week. Although usually everyone just ends up getting caught up in their own conversations," she gave him a cute little smile, "Anyway, I was hoping you could tell me more about that necklace of yours. Like you gave it to you and what it's supposed to be?"
"Well..." he held the charm in his hand, "it's supposed to represent the full moon. As for who gave it to me..." Stardust felt a tear welling up in his right eye, he wanted to wipe it away but instead allowed it to slide down his cheek, "it was given to me by someone I thought I knew" he stuffed the necklace back into his shirt as he felt more tears start to form in his eyes. He turned away not wanting to show this weakness.
"I see," she said with a slight amount of concern, "one more question I would like to ask. If that's alright," a worried smile was on her face while asking this although Stardust didn't notice this.
"Sure, ask away. It's not like I'm in much of a position to be ignoring you," Star responded with a great amount of distaste.
"Where do you get your sense of fashion?" Rarity asked wide eyed and hopeful
"Huh?" Stardust was confused, "What do you mean?" he had never been asked that question mainly because people most often showed hatred towards the way he dresses but this wasn't what confused him. What confused him was that she didn't know why he was wearing what he was.
"I mean the whole hair covering one eye thing along with the dark black jacket, why do you wear it like that, are you taking inspiration from someone maybe?" She smiled giving a look as if she expected this to continue like a normal conversation. What she didn't know was exactly what these words had done to Stardust.
"This is why I hate people like you!" his tone raised slightly, which this managed to startle Rarity making Stardust realize he was getting angry, "I'm sorry, but do you really think I wear my hair like this for 'fashion'?" he asked looking down at the table.
She responded "Why of course, I don't see any other reason why someone would do something like that," she had an look innocent on her face.
Stardust looked away at the wall next to him, "Sometimes people are forced to do things they don't want to just to protect themselves, I wear my hair like this to hide something. From myself and the people around me. Always remember there are people who you think you can trust but in the end they'll hurt you more than you can possibly imagine," he turned around to look Rarity dead in the eyes, " Always remember that," a bell sounded overhead signaling the end of class, Stardust got up and grabbed his backpack which he had on the floor next to the table, "Goodbye, I guess I'll see you around," he turned and got up to leave.
"Wait!" the word escaped Rarity's mouth as Stardust turned around to to see what she wanted, "What is it that you are trying to hide from everyone?" She had a worried look in her eyes.
Stardust looked away and closed his eyes, "An ugly reminder of a past mistake," he walked out of the room leaving Rarity to ponder what he meant.
A Shimmer in the Distance
Ok, so quick recap. Boy goes to town, boy goes to school, boy meets very hyperactive person, boy makes hyperactive person cry, boy goes to class, boy meets fashionista, boy hates fashionista. Overall not the best start. Although the next few hours were significantly better. He went through his next three classes with everyone blatantly ignoring him which he was fine with, then after that it was time for lunch which he should have no trouble with. Stardust made his way to the lunchroom, which was easy to find considering the posters depicting food all around the entryway, inside it looked pretty normal. Tables and chairs set around for people to sit and eat, an area at the front for students to get school lunches, windows opposite the front area, and people about the place some eating school lunches, others eating lunches brought from home, some not even eating. Stardust was one from the middle. Although, for him, it wasn't exactly a lunch rather just an Apple he picked from a nearby apple tree. It might not have been a lot but it was all he needed. Stardust looked around the room and saw a table right in front of the window that no one was sitting at. It made sense considering it was still summer and the sun was shining right through the window, regardless he made his way to table and sat sideways in a chair at the edge of the table that was facing its back toward the window and pulled the apple from his backpack and started eating. For some unexplained reason while he was eating his mind started wandering back to that girl he met in his first class. "Maybe I should have told her, she looked like the kind of person who would be able to help with this, but if she couldn't help that would just bring me back to square one... except worse. In the long run it's better I didn't tell her so it's easier to keep my mind off it... he thought while his mind was on that exact thing." his thoughts were quickly interrupted as he was pulled back to reality by a slightly shrill voice.
"Excuse me," Stardust heard a voice from the side and looked over to see who the voice belonged to. A girl, who appeared to be a bit taller than him, with light orange skin and teal green eyes, she wore a purple shirt emblazoned, pun intended, with a red and yellow depiction of the sun covered by a black leather jacket, her skirt was mostly orange with a stripe of light yellow and purple down to one corner, finally she wore black and purple high heeled boots. The last thing Stardust noticed, surprisingly, was her hair. Much like the emblem on her shirt her hair was colored red and yellow, the colors of the sunset. Already he could tell he might end up liking her much more than anyone else he's met. Anyway she continued on "is it alright if I sit here?" She asked politely.
"I don't see why not, besides it's not like there's any way I can stop you. By the way, I like the red in your hair," he said taking another bite of his apple.
"Oh thanks, I like the many reds in your hair," she smiled as she sat down "you must be new here,"
"What gave it away," he retorted "I mean I can imagine that I stand out amongst every other weirdo here but I mean other than that," he said with a sort of sarcastic tone.
"Call it a hunch," she responded in a snarky tone, "but if you are new then let me be the first to welcome you to Canterlot high," she was going to say more but was then cut off.
"Yeah, I hate to burst your bubble but you're a little late for that band wagon. Two other people have already 'welcomed' me" Stardust didn't look at her while saying this.
"Oh, well then that brings me to the next question," she leaned on the table with her arms crossed in front of her, "tell me, why did you come to Canterlot High? If you don't mind me asking," she asked apparently not knowing how to sit down and be quite.
Stardust sighed, "It seemed like a good way to forget the past," he closed his eyes and took another bite of his apple, "by the way I don't think you've yet stated your name,"
"Oh right, my name's Sunset Shimmer and I don't think you've said your name either," she gave a look that just said 'you're one to talk'
"I've given my name out today twice and both times I regretted it, I apologize if I'm not too eager to tell you," he turned to look at her, "Although if you wanna know, my name is Stardust Shine or Star for short"
"Well it's nice to meet you Star," she smiled "let me just say, if you're trying to avoid the past this is a great place to do it. The students aren't going to know you for how you acted in the past but rather for attitude in the present," her smile quickly faded and looked down at her hands "but that is only if they don't know about your past," Stardust turned around to look out the window.
"You'd know running from the past better than most, wouldn't you?" he turned around once more to look at her.
"Huh?" Sunset's face transitioned from sad to confused very quickly, "What do you mean?" her face then turned to that of worry.
"About a month ago, before coming to this town, I read stories in the news about a 'demon-girl' that nearly destroyed this school," he closed his eyes "that demon... it was you, wasn't it?"
"Wha," the worry in Sunset's face deepened as her fear had been realized, "but how did you..." she was cut off.
"There are ways to look at someone beyond what is immediately visible from there outward appearance. But you need not worry that I know what your past holds, I don't care about what you did," Stardust looked up towards the ceiling "I've done something much worse," this last part was spoken barely above a whisper.
"What do you mean something worse?" Sunset asked, although her thoughts asked a much different question "what could he have done that was worse than what I did? It could be... no it can't be that! Could it?!" she looked straight at him trying to wear a more cheery face then stated sarcastically, "I can't of anything much worse than turning into a demon, enslaving everyone at the school, then using everyone to try and take over a different dimension,"
"I'm not able to disclose that to you, so if we could please get off that subject," Stardust replied to her with a solemn look planted on his face.
"Well it doesn't really matter what you did cause I'm sure you can find some friends can help you through it, at least, that's what my friends did," Sunset smiled, hoping to make the situation a bit more cheery.
"Friends, huh... these friends of yours, would one of them happen to be a pink lunatic and another a purple haired fashion freak?" Stardust asked, his tone being a bit on the sarcastic side.
"Oh, so you've met them?" Sunset was finally relived that the conversation was going a brighter direction.
"More or less," Stardust said with a shrug, "but be honest, when things were at their worse were your 'friends' there to help you or were they just part of the problem?". Sunset was utterly confused about this question.
"Umm, what do mean? My friends were never a problem," she said with a look as telling him that he was insane.
"Think about it, were they really never an issue?" this time Stardust had an more solemn look about him. Now this made Sunset think harder about his question which ended up leading her mind to an incident involving a certain Anon-a-Miss.
"Well... I guess they were a problem sometimes, but that doesn't..." Sunset was going to say how it didn't change anything before she was, once again, swiftly cut off by Stardust.
"When these so-called friends became the problem, what was the solution?" Stardust was clearly losing his patience.
"I guess the solution was getting them to be my friends again, but I don't..." again being cut off by Stardust she was going to say that she didn't see how it related to their current situation.
"That's my point," Stardust stood, "I'll agree that friends can help you through some situations but in the end they end up causing more problems than they fix," he turned once more to look out the window "You have to be careful Sunset, choose your friends wisely. Very few can be there forever, most will turn their backs to you or stab you in back and most of the time leaving you with a scar, a horrible reminder of your mistake," he grabbed his bag that had been placed on the floor next to him and turned toward the exit, "No one can be trusted, remember that Sunset... remember that," Stardust started walking off to the exit before being stoped once more.
"Wait!" Sunset practically yelled this in the overly loud cafeteria and luckily it was enough to get Stardust's attention as he stopped but didn't turn to look at her, "I'll agree with you that your friends can't always help you, and will often times cause problems for you, but I really think that people like me could be your friend and help you with your problem, whatever it may be. Please, just let me help," she said these last words with tears forming in the corners of her eyes.
"I don't think you get it Sunset," Stardust looked down, "What I've done, what's happened to me... it can't be helped. I'm sorry, I really appreciate what you want to do, but I don't want anyone else being hurt because of my incompetence," he turned to get one last look at Sunset, "goodbye Sunset," he continued walking and exited the cafeteria into the hallway leaving Sunset with a feeling of loneliness, a feeling that both her and Stardust knew all to well.
Stardust walked through the halls reviewing the previous situation in his head "So let's see, I have to add her to the list of people I need to avoid. Heck, I might need to start avoiding the cafeteria all together, pretty much everyone in school is in that one room all at the same time, yeah, no thanks. Besides I don't need to eat, do I? Well I've gotten this far, I think I'll be fine," he kept walking and turned a corner, not necessarily having a goal he was working towards just... walking. Although on the very next corner he turned something interesting caught his eye, and when that happens normally nothing good comes of it.
When he turned the corner what immediately grabbed his attention was a girl, nothing good ever coming of that either, who seemed to be having difficulties with a wooden crate. Stardust walked up to get a better look at the girl. Looking at her she appeared to be about the same height as him with with blonde hair tied at the bottom by a red rubber band, light orange skin, green eyes, and three white freckles under either eye. As for her clothes, she was wearing a button up shirt that was completely white, except for a bit around the chest and neck, with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, along with a blue jean skirt with two pockets on the front, something you don't see on skirts very often, held up by a belt with design of an Apple on the belt buckle. Speaking of apples, she had on a pair of brown, heeled, cowboy er... cowgirl boots each one had three apples on the front. Finally, sitting atop her head was a cowboy hat. As Stardust drew closer he was able to hear the girl ramble something in a country accent.
"Now, I coulda sworn this thing was lighter just a minute ago. Then I look away for one minute and it gains 100 pounds. Ah well, when life hands you apples, make apple juice, even if that apple weighs more than you," she then began to push the box along the ground making a very annoying, very high pitched squeak.
Stardust could tell she needed help and although he had told himself to keep to himself he was always taught to help people in need, so he walked up and, in the most monotone voice possible, "Um, do you maybe need some help with that?" Much to his surprise, the girl was not at all phased by his question, she answered and kept pushing as if she had expected him to ask it.
"Now I don't want you to go and trouble yerself with me," she stoped pushing to take a good look at Stardust, "Right here yer looking at the strongest person in all of Canterlot High. If I can't lift it I have reason to doubt that you can. After all you actually seem a lot weaker than me... oh uh, no offense," she looked at him and smiled.
Stardust being... well Stardust, of course responded very sarcastically, "Oh none taken, and believe you me little miss country, looks can often be deceiving. Now lets see," he knelt down beside the box to examine, "I'd say it's made of pure oak wood, the box itself can't weigh more than 50 pounds, plus the weight of whatever's inside,"
The girl had a look of doubt upon her face, "Now look here, I'm as sure as sugar no one, at this point, can lift that," she turned away from Stardust, "but if you want to try then be my..." she wasn't able to finish her statement as she was interrupted by the sound of a wooden box leaving the ground, "...guest,"
"Hmmm... it feels like it weighs about, I'd say, 350 pounds. Not really hard to lift at all," Stardust put the crate down and looked back at the girl to find her dumbstruck, "What can't you lift 350 pounds that easily miss 'strongest person in Canterlot High'," he then started leaning on the crate.
"Well shoot, I don't think I know anyone who can do something like that. What's your name stranger" the girl walked up to him and reached her arm out.
"Um, Stardust... Stardust Shine," he shook her hand, "you can just call me Star," Stardust looked back down at the crate, "If you need help moving this I can help get it," he knocked on the crate, "where it needs to go,"
"Mighty kind of ya there Stardust, pick it back up and follow me. It's not to far from here," the girl started walking the opposite direction then quickly turned around, "Oh, by the way my name's Applejack,"
"Nice to meet you Miss Jack" Stardust responded as he picked up the crate and followed behind Applejack.
"Uh, just Applejack is fine," she continued walking while also continuing the conversation, "So Star huh, is that what yer friends call you?" she asked intently.
Stardust being being the arrogant idiot he was answered her question truthfully but sarcastically, "Actually... no," he kept his face about as blank as possible.
At this time Applejack's face slowly turned from that of intent to curiosity, "Oh... Well then what do your friends call you?" She was very curious.
Stardust, at this point, became a bit more snarky, "I'll let you know when I get some friends," he paused, "and when they start calling me stuff,"
"So, you don't have any friends. I bet it's just cause you're new, no one's had a chance to know you," Applejack said with a bright smile that Stardust couldn't see.
Stardust sighed, "You know what, I'm getting real tired of this," at this point he was more annoyed then ever.
"Uhh, tired of what exactly?" Applejack turned around and started walking backwards showing she knew this place to well and didn't even have to look where she was walking. Luckily the halls were relatively deserted so there was a low chance of her bumping into anyone.
"The reason I have no friends is cause I don't want any. I had a friend at one point and she hurt me so much that I didn't want anything to do with anyone," Stardust was being very hostile towards Applejack without trying to, this happens to him on occasion.
"Well, what do ya mean. What was it she did to ya that was so bad, and what do ya mean ya didn't want anything to do with anyone?" Applejack started to change her to that of worry.
"Applejack, let me ask you something. Do you enjoy living in this city? From the school, to your friends, to any family member that lives here, to just the place in general, do you enjoy it?" Stardust had to set the box down to fully concentrate on the question.
"Why, of course I do! I love my brother and my sister, I love all my friends at Canterlot High, and I especially love the farm. My family owns an apple farm just down the road from the school, in fact that's what's in that crate, apple juice I was going to restock the vending machines in the gym with," Applejack was the happiest Stardust had seen anyone at Canterlot High not to mention relieved that they got to talk about a brighter subject.
"So that was your farm I passed by on the way here. I hope you don't mind but I picked an apple off a branch hanging over the fence," Stardust started relaxing as he was being pulled astray from his initial question.
"Oh it's no problem, we normally like to offer free apples to anyone who needs it, and looking at how big that shirt is on you I can tell you really need it," Applejack didn't really mean much by this statement but it opened Stardust's eyes to something. For the first time Stardust had realized how skinny he actually was, in fact his shirt appeared to be about three sizes too big, but it was all he had. Really there was no one to blame but himself, after all it had been at least a couple of months since his last decent meal. Now he understood why Applejack was surprised when he lifted that crate with how weak and frail he looked. The more he thought about it the more visually disturbed he was by the sight of himself. Applejack took quick notice to this, "Oh, uhh... no offense," she smiled to try to make the situation better.
"What, oh no it's fine. Anyway," Stardust was mad at himself for getting so off track, although it was not unlike himself to do so, "For one reason or another, you like this town. Now imagine if by the actions of someone, who you once considered your friend, you had to leave this town behind. This town, every thing you love about it, you had to leave it all without saying anything to anyone and never come back, how would you feel towards that person?"
"Well gee, I guess I wouldn't think too highly of that person. Shoot what am I saying, I'd hate that person with all my guts, I'd tell you what I'd do to that person but I don't want any of the young'ins to hear, but let's just say they'd rue the day they messed whit me," Applejack didn't take it seriously though as she thought it was just a joke and therefore she wondered, "but uh, what does this have to do with you not wanting friends?"
"Being blunt, that happened to me. The person that did that to was the best and only friend I ever had and ever will have. So I guess you could just say I'm afraid to have anymore friends out of fear that it'll happen again. You could try to tell me that with people like you stuff like that won't happen but I won't listen, now let's just get this crate to the gym so I can be alone," Stardust picked the crate back up and stared at Applejack waiting for her to lead the way, Stardust still wasn't too familiar with the school.
Applejack hesitated a small bit before turning around and walking the other direction, what followed was an awkwardly silent walk to gym. When they got to the gym it looked like most other gyms, huge and bland with three different entrances, the one they walked in and one on the right and left sides. There was a vending machine on either side of the left and right doors, "Well, here we are," proclaimed Stardust, "can you open this yourself or do you need my help with that to?" he asked sarcastically.
"Nah, I... I reckon I can get it open," Applejack grabbed the lid of the box and lifted removing it with relative ease considering it was nailed shut. The moment she opened the crate she was pushed back as a very familiar, very pink face popped out of the box.
"Bet you didn't expect to find me in there did ya?" Pinkie pie stated as she jumped out of the box and stood next to a very furious Applejack.
"Pinkie pie! How in tarnation did you get in there and keep it shut?" Applejack asked confused and angry all at the same time. Before Pinkie could answer she heard a familiar voice.
"Hey, Pinkie, I didn't see you here... or anywhere," Stardust had very smugly started leaning on the, now open, box of apple juice. His statement caused Pinkie pie to turn around and look at him.
"Oh, Star, I heard what you said and I wanted to know, what did this 'friend' do to you to make you have to leave your town? Please tell me," Even though Pinkie had asked this very politely Stardust refused to answer.
In stead he turned, waved to them saying "Goodbye Applejack, Pinkie, I'll try not to see you again," and walked away
While he was walking towards the door back into the hall he could hear Applejack saying to pinkie, "That kid sure is a strange case,"
