A Dazzling Reformation

A Dazzling Reformation

by Miffles

Emerald Blaze, a girl who'd only just started school, as everyone else had.  The first day of school, the most dreaded day of all. Nobody wanted to go to school, unless of course you were Twilight Sparkle. Everyone knew that girl. She saved Canterlot High School--what?--twice now. Emerald had been amazed, but by now all of the excitement about Twilight's latest visit had died down. It was now a part of CHS's monthly routine. A few weeks pass, Twilight Sparkle appears, then the month ends. But a select few have been, and always will be excited about all of the girl's visits. Emerald had never personally met the mysterious Twilight, but she figured she seemed nice enough. After all, she'd saved their school twice. That required a lot of niceness, Emerald figured.

~.~.~.~

Emerald sighed. Yet another day of seemingly endless school. Even though it was only the second week of school, she was already tired of it. She flopped down on her bed, snuggling into her green comforter. She knew that she still had forever to go until the last day of school came, and she would have to manage survival until the end of senior year.

And then she graduated. Oh, wow. Even as that thought came upon her, she still remained unenthused. She hated school. Gym was a nightmare...Seriously? Soccer? She sprained her ankle last time she played soccer and now she hesitated every time she kicked the ball. Then her team blamed it all on her when they lost.

She figured she'd better start her homework, seeing as it was, like, five pages long. She probably should've just gotten it over with. She knew she had to, she knew she should've.

So why didn't she? It never got her into too much trouble before, so, why would it now?

~.~.~.~

"Late homework on the second week of school?" scolded Emerald Blaze's English teacher. Same thing always happened. The mean girls in the back giggled. The obsessed-with-sports kids ignored it, slumping in their undersized chairs. The geeks stared hard at the board, presumably correcting mistakes and soaking up information--as if they didn't already know it all. A few undecided people had blank, bored looks on their faces. The usual stuff for the second week of school.

In the middle of the teacher's lecture, the bell rang. Every student scrambled out of the room, rushing, as if they had somewhere important to be. "Emerald," began her teacher, Emerald bracing herself for "the Lecture, part two". "I know you can do better than this. I've seen your work, you have potential." Her voice was surprisingly soft and comforting. Emerald didn't fall for it. Teachers did this all the time here. Have you? Have you seen my potential? What potential? Emerald thought, scowling at the floor. It's only the second week of school. How could you see it yet? "You're right," came her teacher's voice.

Shoot! she thought urgently. Did I say it all out loud? She winced. What if she did? "And you can't be failing already. I'll see you at lunch today." Emerald walked out of the room, not uttering a single word.

~.~.~.~

After math, Emerald trekked to the lunch room. She got an egg salad sandwich and an orange, her usual lunch. She put a big, gloppy yogurt sundae on her tray and walked off to Mrs. Shaleta, her English teacher's room, her heels scuffing the floors. She sat down grudgingly at an empty desk. She plopped down her tray, and sat, waiting for Mrs. Shaleta's instructions.

"Here is a worksheet," she said, putting a piece of paper in front of Emerald. Emerald stared at the nearly endless worksheet, the kind you'd get in fifth grade. What am I,  a child? "You are to complete it this period. If you don't finish, that's it. This won't count toward your actual grade, I just want to see exactly where you're at." For Emerald, this was like a test. Would she send Emerald to extra-help classes? What if she didn't do well? She answered the questions extra carefully, making sure to read over them thoroughly so she missed nothing. She scribbled down her answers in scrawly handwriting, then wrote her name at the top of the paper, barely legible. She put the sheet on Mrs. Shaleta's desk. Now, all she had to do was wait.

~.~.~.~

Twilight surprised Adagio, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Sonata, Sunset, Pinkie Pie and Aria when they found her leaning againsts the mirror in front of the school. They all (excluding Aria, Adagio and Sonata) gave her a group hug. Emerald walked out of the school, eyeing the strange group. She knew the cause of the commotion was probably this girl Twilight. She sat herself down on a step, plunking her backpack down next to her and searched through it frantically. Where is it? she thought, panicked, I didn't forget it, did I? The sighting of the paper calmed her, but she yanked it out of her bag.

Her eyes bore through it, at first barely understanding the words her teacher put at the top of her paper. She was in disbelief. She hadn't had a chance to even glance at it before the last bell of the day rang and she had to shove it into a backpack. It was a surprise that the paper hadn't ripped yet. The neat handwriting at the top of the page said it all, and calmed her anxiety.

100% Handwriting is too messy. Good job, otherwise!

Emerald basically died. She bounced up in down in excitement, her grin practically splitting her face in half. She felt eyes on her all of a sudden, immediately halting. She didn't dare open her eyes, but she cracked one open anyways. Emerald saw the group of girls in front of the mirror staring at her incredulously. A girl that she knew of as "Pinkie Pie" grinned at her, while the rest of the girls simply stared at her as if she'd gone insane. "Heh," Emerald chuckled awkwardly, slinging her backpack over her shoulder, paper in hand. She shuffled away as quickly as she could.

~.~.~.~

"Who was she?" questioned Sunset.

"She's Emerald Blaze," said Pinkie, "But she doesn't usually get that excited. She probably got a good gift or something!" Pinkie giggled, and then proceeded to skip around the mirror. "Hey!" the pink-haired girl suddenly yelled out, startling the rest of th girls. "Why don't we have a sleepover like last time?!"

"What a great idea, Pinkie! I haven't had one of those since..." Twilight pondered, then half-smiled, "Well, since last time I was here!" The rest of the girls agreed.

~.~.~.~

Sunset sat on the floor, gazing at the game of Mario Kart Wii that was currently being played by Applejack and Rainbow. They did this every sleepover, gaming until something exciting happened. "Ha!" cheered Rainbow, jumping up and dancing in a circle. Rainbow's half of the screen read, "You Win!" and Applejack's said, "You Lose!"

"Good game," Applejack said, putting her Wii-mote down. "So, who wants to go up against me?!" challenged Rainbow, smiling smugly in Applejack's general direction. Sonata immediately jumped up from the bed, where she was sitting with Pinkie, who was previously braiding her hair. She grabbed AJ's Wii-mote and grinned at Rainbow, who grinned back. Sonata switched her character to Toad, and Toad and Yoshi did their race. Adagio watched silently, Aria sitting grudgingly next to her.

Sunset's nails were currently being done by Rarity in a hot pink, while Twilight tried to figure out phones (with help from Pinkie).

"You guys are so advanced with technology!" Twilight exclaimed in amazement, closely examining the device in her hands. "We've only just invented the TV back in Equestria."

"Oh, yeah!" yelled Sonata, cheering.

"No way! I demand a rematch!" Rainbow said, "You cheated!"

"Sore loser," accused Sonata, sticking her tongue out, which earned a scolding from Adagio. "Sorry, Rainbow," Sonata apologized. The Dazzlings, while in the process of being reformed, were having a hard time getting used to the friendly lifestyle of the girls who befriended them. "Wanna go again?"

"You bet!"

Eacher girl nearly jumped out of their skin when they heard a huge, booming explosion.

"What was that?!" screamed Twilight, looking frantically around at the other girls. Everyone was too stunned to move.

~.~.~.~

Emerald shrieked, and bolted up out of her bed. She peered out the window cautiously, seeing a small building go up into flames. "Donut Joe's..." she murmured quietly, her expression being one of sadness. She sprinted down the stairs and threw a coat around her shoulders. She ran out into a summer-fall night barefoot. She looked into the distance, whipping her phone out of her pocket. She dialed 911 as fast as possible, holding her phone up to her ear. She told them the address, and they were there within minutes.

~.~.~.~

"You girls stay here!" commanded Twilight, but the girls didn't listen. They each grabbed some form of coverings for their arms, Sunset's being a blanket. They, once out there, gazed at the emergency vehicles pooling around the blazing building, obscuring their view.

"What happened?" asked Rarity, bewilderment painted on her face.

"I have no idea..." said Twilight.