Birds chirped high above, making Twilight feel like someone was playing the flute in her ear. She sat on a park bench, her knees drawn up to her chest as she watched the other kids play and run around.
There was the occasional sound of a car driving by, or the tune of the local ice cream truck making another one of it's mid-spring rounds. She heaved a heavy sigh. She didn't know why her babysitter insisted on bringing her here. All it did was make her feel depressed. She didn't have any friends to play with and it showed.
She looked over at the kids running around on the playground climbing, laughing, pretending and having fun.
Without her.
She turned away from the display, frowning.
It's not like she really cared. So what if she didn't have friends? She didn't need them. Everyone in her class already thought she was a freak. Why would she want to associate herself with people who wanted nothing to do with her?
She jumped when she felt a hand touch her, but relaxed when she saw it was the pink hue of her newly appointed babysitter, Cadence. Her brother had gotten a new position at his job and wouldn't be home to watch her anymore. That was where Cadence came in.
She was nice, she went to Shining's school, and she was really, really trying hard to understand why Twilight refused to go play with the other kids, but she still wasn't getting it.
Twilight didn't blame her. She looked like a social butterfly. The one to be head cheerleader, (which she was), while being class president, (which she was), and doing community service all at the same time. (Which she did.)
"You don't talk much, do you?" Cadence asked.
Twilight shook her head.
Cadence smiled fondly at her. "That's alright. We don't need to talk. Your parents told me you were shy,"
Twilight scoffed. "Shy is an understatement. More like geeky, awkward, boring and pathetic." she said, pushing her glasses up on her face.
Cadence frowned slightly. That had been the first thing Twilight had said to her besides grunts meaning 'yes' and 'no'. Suddenly, she got an idea. "Hey, do you wanna go on the swings for a bit?"she asked, nodding towards the empty area where the swings were.
Twilight sighed. "Sure, why not. Not like I have anything better to do," she got up and followed the older girl over to the swingset and sat down next to her, looking forward as she swung slowly.
"Hey," Cadence said, getting her attention. "Why do you put yourself down so much?" she began to swing too, matching Twilight's pace.
The younger girl shrugged. "I dunno. I guess when you hear stuff enough times you start to believe it."
Cadence's eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean enough times? Who has been telling you things like that?"
Twilight turned to her with a dull look on her face. "Look, you're popular and all, so you don't know about this little thing called bullying. It happens to me. Everyday."
Cadence's face fell. "Oh, I'm sorry Twilight, I didn't know..."
"It's fine. It's not like you care anyway. I'm just some dumb kid you babysit for extra cash. You don't have to worry about me being teased on a regular basis," Twilight's voice dripped with sarcasm.
"Hey now, you are not some dumb kid," Cadence protested. "You're a pretty cool kid who's probably smarter than half the people I go to school with," she ruffled Twilight's hair fondly.
Twilight gazed up at her with hope filled eyes. "You really think so?" she asked softly.
"Of course. And I'm not being paid to say that," The older girl replied. "This is the first time I've ever babysat you, and I'm absolutely sure it won't be the last. But I'm here for you, Twilight, and if there's anything you ever need to talk about, I'm all ears."
"You mean it?" Twilight asked excitedly.
Cadence smiled. "Heck yeah. I may not look like it, but I've been where you are now. When I was in grade school, I was the smart dorky weirdo that knew way too much about astrophysics and Greek mythology for her age and didn't get when girls called boys in their class cute." her smile grew. "I tried to fit in, but it made me unhappy, being a carbon copy of everyone else," she continued. "But then I decided that I was who I was, and that no one and nothing could change that,"
The swing sqeaked under her weight as she picked up speed. Twilight tried to keep up with her as much as her shorter legs could push her into the air.
"And when I entered middle school, I decided that I was going to forge my own path and do my own thing. And I discovered that I wasn't the only pretty girl into science and philosophy." Cadence slowed down and turned to Twilight. "My point is, kids are cruel. But you can't let them win. Don't shut yourself out because other people don't like who you are. Flaunt your likes. Be proud of who you are. Because you never know what equally dorky guy might come along and sweep you off your feet."
Twilight nodded thoughtfully, taking everything that Cadence had said in. "That dorky guy is Shining, right?" she asked with an amused smirk.
Cadence winked. "The one and only. And you know what, who knows? Maybe you'll find your dorky guy some day too." She smirked when she saw a boy about Twilight's age with blue hair approach them.
"Hey Twilight," He said nervously, twiddling with his thumbs.
"Hi, Flash," Twilight greeted back with a faint smile.
"I was wondering...I mean me and some other kids wanted to know, I mean if you want to, do you um, wanna play tag with us?" He finally blurted, a blush rising to his orange cheeks.
Cadence let out a quiet guffaw at the adorable display. She nudged Twilight when the younger girl hadn't said anything in response.
"I...uh...." Twilight tried, blushing herself. She looked to Cadence for help.
Cadence playfully rolled her eyes and whispered in her ear, "Go get your dork, Twilight."
Nodding, Twilight took a deep breath. "You know what? Yeah. I'll play tag with you guys," she said sliding off the swing. "You don't mind, do you?" she asked, turning to Cadence.
"Oh, pfft. You two go on ahead. I'm having way too much fun swinging here," The other girl answered cooly. "You can go on without me!"
"Sweet!" Twilight cried. She cleared her throat. "Uh, I mean, thanks Cadence. For everything."
Cadence ruffled her hair again. "Anytime, kiddo. Have fun."
"Will do!" Twilight said, before pulling Flash off in the direction of the other kids.
Cadence smiled as she watched them off.
Yup, she was going to be just fine.
