Playing Their Gameby Fifty Shades of YellowChaptersChapter 1: Don't be a TargetChapter 2: Stand Your GroundChapter 3: Busy WeekendChapter 4: The Strange TutorChapter 5: (Un)scheduled MeetingChapter 6: Returning Tyrant (and an Incomer?)Chapter 7: Staying ToughChapter 8: Out of the Frying Pan...Chapter 9: Desperate MeasureChapter 10: Heated AllianceChapter 11: Troubled Road AheadChapter 12: Bad BloodChapter 1: Don't be a Target"Give me some money, n-nerd." You raise an eyebrow at the yellow autist. Does she really think just because you are a loner makes you a push over? "What?" "I-I said give me money, p-please?" She's actually kinda cute, like from one of those gentle femdoms. Eh, guess you've got some spare change left over from buying cigs. It's starting to get annoying with it jingling in your pocket all day. You reach pull out a wopping 60 cents and hand it to her. "Oh no, I'm sooo scared. Here, take all I've got." "Thank you." She runs back to her friends, lmost skipping along the way. "Rainbow, your idea worked! It got Anon to make a donation to the animal shelter." Later that day.... You're walking out of the school and to car. On your way, you see that purple bookworm leaning on your car. "Hey. So Anon, I heard you like bad girls...." She lights a cig the wrong way. You shrug and lean next to her, lighting one with her. "Eh, they’re alright." "So this outfit doesn't make you want to do whatever I want?" She struggles to breath in a puff through her filter. You watch as she gets tobacco in her mouth. The odd girl turns away and fishes it out, spitting on the ground. Today really is a weird day. You breath in from yours. While doing so, you turn over to face her and blow a cloud in her face. "What do you want?" You bluntly ask. She coughs and clears her throat before looking at you. "I um... need a ride home." You slip your key around the knuckles of your hands and actually think about this. You take one more from your cig and put it out. "Is that a yes? It's just a long walk and--" "Get in." You unlock your car and enter the drivers seat. She approaches the passenger side and opens the door. "Ah! Put it out." "But, I bought this." "I don't want this car to smell like the rough end of a bar. Besides, you're using it the wrong way." Twilight examines her cigarette and eyes the correct end. "I assumed that meant 'keep away from smoking the incorrect part'." "You and Fluttershy have a lot to learn." She sighs and tosses it to the ground. Twilight tries to pull her skirt down when she enters your car. Just as you turn the key in the ignition, she starts to mess around with the radio. You turn it off and shake your head. "What?" "At least try." "But I am!" You lower the volume before turning the radio back on and play something else. The drive was awkward, but you managed to drop... Twi? Yeah, at least that's what some people call her. You dropped Twi off at her house. "Thanks, ignoramus." Was that an insult? You just shrug and pull away. It's the crack of fucking ass of dawn on the next day. The school's best soccer player, Rainbow Dash, is standing in your parking space. You wave at her, hoping that she gets the fucking message to move over. She holds her hand out for you to stop. You can't stop, and you certainly won't stop. Well you can, but you park here everyday, so she isn't going to stop you today. You lightly press on the gas pedal, slowly creeping into the spot. She still isn't moving. The car is getting really close to her, even though it's going at 1 mph. It eventually bumps her and she steps back. You get out as your car finally fits inside the parking spot. "Hey retard, what's the problem, too dumb to see me there?" This isn't cute, she is practically shouting at you. She keeps yelling and getting more in your face. "Why aren't you listening dumb ass?! I just need your money, so hand it over." The obnoxious bitch pulls her fist back. She wouldn't... but she does. The blabbering shit hits you right on the back of the head. That is where you declare that the fun is over. Also, fuck that hurts. Top athlete and top cunt. You sweep her legs out from under her and start walking to class. You're on the floor, somewhat dazed from the fall. You watch as Anon walks away, not giving a shit about you. How could you be so weak? Even fucking Fluttershy can push him around, why can't you? Already done three classes and now you're heading to the fourth one. To the side, you can see a country girl talking with that stubborn blue bitch from this morning. From what it looks, she doesn't look pleased when she notices you. The cowgirl puts a hand on her shoulder and says something to her before walking away. She starts to walk right into your path. You try to bank to the side, but she catches it by weaving back. You try to counter her movement, but clearly that isn't possible, ending it with an bump into one another. "Hey now, watch where you're going, will ya?" Her backpack 'slips' off her shoulder and falls to the ground. "Are you gonna pick that up?" You cross your arms. "Why?" You already can sense that most of the students are watching the two of you. "Because you, ya know, bumped into me." She falters while speaking. "That might be the case, but it isn't my stuff, is it?" Her eyes shoot open as she looks around. "But, you admit that it's your fault!" "So? It's not like I let my stuff fall down and expect someone else to pick up the slack." She moves closer, entering your personal space. "Fella, you're making this harder than it should." She mumbles to you. "Applejack, Mr. Mous, what are the two of you doing?" You look behind Applejack to see the vice principal standing at attention. "Just a bit of an argument, nothing much." "Does it need to continue it any further, because we can do so in my office." She notifies the two of you. Applejack eyes the floor before looking at you. You can see the regret in her eyes. "No Miss Luna." You slide your food tray away. "I can't believe that vermin didn't break." "You see? How could that be possible when Fluttershy is the one who makes him do something?" Rainbow Dash munches down on her pizza slice as she finishes off her rant. "The both of you are purely doing this in an irrational manner, that's why." Rarity says as she sits right beside you. "What do you mean?" "Isn't it obvious? You and Applejack here are demanding it out of a bold and harsh manner." You just sit by and watch them discuss it between themselves as the rest of your friends approach. "And it would have worked if Anon wasn't that much of a jerk." Rainbow blabs out. Rarity grabs her napkin and taps her mouth with it. "It's not that simple. Watch." She gets up and walks over to the green guy eating and looking at something on his phone. Fucking idiots. They will never understand that the first season was the best. You take a sip out of your milk carton and continue reading the fame war. "Hello Anonymous." You stop scrolling on your phone to look up and see the schools fashion designer is holding out her handbag/backpack monstrosity. "I seem to be having trouble with my homework, would you care to--" "Nope." You look down and continue reading. "But, I was going to ask if--" "Not interested, go away." What!? How could he refuse YOU!? Does he even know who you are? He should be, possibly he just needs a refresher. "You clearly do understand on how--" "I genuinely don't care, go away." He takes another sip of his milk carton. You clutch your fist but remember to keep your temper. Acting irrational isn't the proper way. You just need to lure him. So instead, you approach him and sit right beside him. He smells of the common male body wash that could be found anywhere. You ignore the plain stench and slide a hand on his arm. "It won't be long, it's--" He slams his phone on the table. "What part of 'go away' did you not understand. Here's a hint; fuck off." You flinch from his harsh response. What is his issue? What will it take for her to leave? There are already people eyeing you. It's bad enough that an hour ago you had some trouble with her orange friend, but this is getting out of hand. She still has her hand on your arm. Her grasp slowly tightens on your sleeve. "What are--" "Nobody refuses me." You leave your phone to see how pissed she is. "Too bad, your clean streak is now gone, just like how you should have been by now." She tugs on your sleeve and brings your head over to whisper something. "I am just politely asking you a favor and you refuse it? You can't even let me finish--" "Shit." She pushes you back and groans in anger. You watch her storm off while you bring your phone back on. Rarity sits right back beside you, clearly infuriated by something. "It didn't go as expected, sugarcube?" You ask her with a slight smug on your face. "He's so stubborn and immature, THAT'S his problem." Rainbow angrily comments. "I'm not entirely sure, he did give me a ride home." Twilight comments. "Seriously? How?" Rainbow asks. "I'm not sure, we just smoked for a while and I just asked him." Rainbow shifts in her seat to look directly into Twilight's face. Pinkie moves aside to let Rainbow Dash's intimidation to fully work. "Did you threaten him? Punch him?" "N-no. I just asked." Rainbow Dash throws her arms in the air and slams them on the table. "Alright, something's up." "I'll bet. Anyone has seen Fluttershy?" You say when looking around the table. These assholes just can't appreciate good taste. You grab your apple away from the tray to take a bite out of it, until it gets taken away be someone. "Hey, I--" It's that mumbling yellow awkward girl from yesterday taking your red delicious as hostage. She looks... different. What she has on is a black leather jacket and her hair does not have that nice swerve as it did before. "Do you have my m-money?" She really is trying. Maybe she is trying too hard. "Did you get a new designer?" "Sunset helped me last night. I mean, do you h-have it?" You hold your hands up. "Alright, let me see what I've got." You slowly bring your arm down to pull up your wallet to check that there is only a single five dollar bill in there. Shit, you forgot that you refilled you gas tank before going home last night and didn't go to the bank afterwards. "Well?" In an unfortunate position, you decided to hand over her the single item worth anything in your wallet. She just looks at you when your arm outreaches the cash. ”Um, t-this is it, right?” “Yes.” She clears her throat and takes the dollar bill out of your hand. ”O-okay, right. Thank you.” The ‘bully’ puts the apple back in your hand and backs away. She slides the five in her jacket and you notice that she shakes her arms in glee, even though she is facing away from you. Everyone just watches you, unsure if that just happened. On the farthest side, her friends just watch in awe of another successful attempt she just made. The white twat and blue asshole are mostly effected, since those two have their mouths agape. ”I got it! It’s even more than last time! This will really help me out.” While she goes back to sit down, a few of her friends talk to her as if she just won the lottery. When you go back to looking around, you wonder what the hell is everyone is staring at. You look behind you to see that it’s the vice principal once more, standing with her arms crossed. ”I think we should have a talk.” You sit down and look at the vice principal. The room is barely lit, but that’s how she likes it. Whatever the reason is, it can’t be that good. ”Assaulting a student, harassed by a few others and causing a few scenes in one day. I must admit, you’re becoming more of a problem than you’re worth.” She pulls out one of her drawers from the desk and pulls out a file. “You were watching me?” ”Oh yes. This morning was just perfect timing, just like your mishap in the hallway. Lunchtime was just a hunch, so I kept an eye on you from afar.” You slouch in your chair. She opens up the file and reads aloud your history. ”Your report is surly fascinating. ‘Unable to follow the rules properly, back talking, a short temper—“ “I resent that.” You point a finger at her. ”I rest my case.” She closes the file and puts it back. ”All I must ask is this; why are you doing this?” “You wouldn’t understand.” You plainly answer. ”At least lead me to it.” “Why? So you could try to ‘help’ me?” You mock out. ”It’s more than that. Your attitude is something that astonishes me. A strong reliance that barely is bounded by anything.” You cross your arms. ”For example; you refuse to let anyone to be their victim.” She brings back another file, decorated with some sort of emblem that is shaped as a butterfly. ”Except her.” She puts it down and opens it up. ”Fluttershy. Same grade as you. Has a history of absences over the years. Volunteers most of her free time at the local animal shelter. Victim of a few bullies from her childhood, but faded away in middle school, barely to recover to this day.” The vice principal closes the file. “Why give me a backstory about her?” ”You’re allowing her to harass you. One of the most stubborn, lawless students in the school, overcome by- forgive my rudeness but, a modest girl that couldn’t bare to be in public. Why is that?” She puts her hands together and looks at you, unamused. “It’s none of your business.” You try to lure her away from peaking into you. ”But it is. That’s my job, to keep students in line.” “You aren’t doing that much of a good job if you allow them to hit one-another.” You probably can’t tell, but she is squinting her eyes at you. “May I go now? I have an apple to bite down, since I couldn’t eat my lunch in peace.” She exhales while grabbing the file. ”You may go.” You stand up and hear the cabinet opening up. ”And Anon, try your best to stay out of trouble.” You hold the doorknob and think for a moment. “No promises.” And with that said, you leave the room. ”Alright Fluttershy, what did you do?” Rainbow hastily asks. "I just burrowed his apple just to get his attention. I have Sunset to thank for that one, she really does know her stuff.” You and the rest of your friends look at Sunset, idling by with a hamburger. ”What?” ”Why are you helping HER?” Rainbow angrily asks. ”She asked, none of you guys didn’t. Why are you guys even bothering with Anon in the first place?” Sunset asks. Pinkie Pie slams her hands on the table. ”Yeah, what did poor Nonny do to all of you?” Rainbow sits back in her chair. ”When I saw him hand over the cash, I thought; ‘Hey, why can’t I?” “And look at where that ended up.” You give out a crude reminder to her. ”You weren’t any better.” You sigh. “When Rainbow told me about how she messed up, I tried to prove her that she overdid it.” ”And when I’ve overheard about these two and their unsuccessful attempts, I went over with a more subtle approach.” Rarity joins in. ”Seriously? Are all of you loco for cocoa puffs or something!?” Pinkie almost shouts out. ”If it’s anyone that is crazy, it’s Anon. That guy would rather cause more problems instead of leaving them to do what we want.” Rainbow argues. ”Maybe you should just leave the guy alone, he already has other things to deal with.” Sunset tries to reason with her. ”Really? A guy hiding in the sidelines has it more than us?” Rainbow pressures Sunset Shimmer. The rest of the table stays quiet and watches the two talk. ”You don’t know, he could have family problems.” ”Right, whatever. You know him as much that we do. How about this, you try to pick on him and see how it goes.” ”No way, that isn’t happening.” Sunset states. ”Too much of a chicken to do it? I can’t believe you used to be the school bully for years and now you can’t even pick up the tab.” ”Rainbow, you’re crossing the line here.” Sunset grumbles out. ”What line? I thought the nice girl didn’t have one. It sucks that you forgot that you messed with the school and your so called ‘friends’.” Sunset slams her fist, causing you and your friends to jump in your seats. ”I’ll show you.” She gets out of her seat and leaves her food. “Annoying little….” Pinkie moves to the side and takes her tray with food. ”What? It didn’t look like she was going to eat it.” “Care to pass over her apple?” You wonder if your food will be left untouched. Maybe not, but now you’re going to find out where he is. He was taken by Vice Principal Luna, he must be still in her office right now. You take a bite out of your apple. The bell should be ringing any minute now, since most of your lunchtime was wasted by even more bullshit than before. At least you made that weird girls day again. But at what cost? Oh, right five fucking dollars worth. You can only hope that isn’t the new standard when paying her now. You bring out your phone and go back to see what you missed. Those stupid little sheep better wake up and figure out that the newer seasons are just utter shit. Just as you unlocked your phone, someone stops you in your tracks. ”Hey.” It’s the Jersey tanned girl with bacon hair. What does she want? ”Alright, I’ll make this quick and clean; you’re going to carry my stuff once in a while and I might punch you on the arm, got it?” When will you go back to trash talking to unknown jerks on the internet? “And here’s my counteroffer; we ignore that any of this ever existed and I just walk away.” You were about to walk past her, until she deliberately moves over to block you from moving up. ”That isn’t going to slide by me. Did you forget about who I am?” The bell rings, signaling everyone that lunchtime is over. “No, you’re that stiff-necked shit that fucked over the school and just so happens to be overtaken by friendship or whatever that was. I don’t know, I was paying attention to something else on that day.” ”You just want this, do you?” “Want what? I never asked for ANY of this. You and your group of outcasts just want to annoy the ever living fuck out of me for whatever reason.” She wags a finger. ”Pot calling the kettle.” “So? At least I am more than willing to admit who I am. It’s no wonder your boyfriend left you.” ”It was a mutual breakup!” She cries out. Another goddamn crowd forms around you. “Was it? You know, I’ve heard that he was the one who broke up with you. What was the reason? Yup, it was because of your stuck up attitude that only two lonely, pathetic Freshmen were able to kiss the pavement you used to stand on.” Speaking of which, they stand in the sidelines, debating amongst each other if they should say anything to the situation. You watch as her arm shakes and a tear slips out of her eye. ”I-I’m telling you to….” “What? Walk away before you embarrass yourself? Okay then.” You essentially shout out. Just as you walk past her, you can hear her sniveling before rapid footsteps sound the hallway. You walk past her friends. They just stand there, disturbed and shocked by your performance. You finally pull out your phone and continue with your business. ”W-what just happened?” Fluttershy asks. ”I think the impossible just happened.” Rarity answers. ”Forget her. I should have seen it coming from miles away.” Rainbow comments. “This isn’t right, none of this is.” ”What do you mean, Applejack?” Pinkie says when tugging on your sleeve. You straighten it down and guide her hand away. “Anon seems to be untouchable by any of us. How does Fluttershy have it.” You look at Fluttershy, who is grabbing her arm and wonders as much of what is going on. ”What does this mean?” She questions. “It seems that you have him fully wrapped around your finger, ‘Shy.” She rubs her thumbs together before realizing what you meant. ”I-I, can bully him?” You nod. She just smiles and looks around. The crowd of students just look at her, as if she is their new ruler. Just as she walks forward, the crowd separates, leaving room for her to walk through. She lets out a small chuckle before it spirals into a maniacal laugh. It end abruptly when she coughs. Fluttershy continues walking through before she enters class. “What just happened…?” You ask yourself out of confusion and fear. Chapter 2: Stand Your GroundSo far, it's been a good week. Nothing has been out of hand ever since you've thrashed bacon girl down with her past mistakes. She thought that it was that simple to pick up where she left off, what a laugh. You almost feel bad for making her cry, but she was looking for it. The biggest change is that weird yellow one, Fluttershy, is it? Ever since that day, people actually flinch or back away when she walks by. She doesn't even look that threatening, at least to you. Fluttershy would just ask for some money and walk away, nothing else. What in the fuck do these people see in that? Screw it, this is high school, so they're all strange freaks. Once in a while, you would give Twilight a ride, but she didn't have that pack of cigarettes or short skirt before. She does have that stupid hair cut, since that's what it is. Although, she will occasionally try to become a bully, even though it's basically nothing at this point. "See you tomorrow, Neanderthal." If you ever have enough of a shit, you would just dump her at the other side of the city and force her out of the car. That's not really much of the case, since she doesn't cause enough shit when it's compared to the rest of her friends. It's only a matter of time before they figure that out, let alone any of this ruse you've been going out on. For now, you play it cool before-- "Mr. Mous, please come to the vice principal's office." Damn. You knock on the door before opening it up. It fully swings open, showing Luna standing with that unimpressed look. "Come in." As if you have much of an option, you do so. "Sit." "No thanks, it feels like I won't be in here for too long." She sighs when taking her seat. "Do you know why I demanded you in here?" "Other than picking on one of your own students, no." She grabs a sheet of paper from the table and examines it. "Thursday, noon - Anonymous creates another outburst in front of the student body." She brings it down to glare at you for a moment. "Thursday, afternoon - Anonymous gives Twilight Sparkle another ride." "Is this how you get your sick kicks?" She slams the paper on the desk. "Now you listen here; I know you're up to something, so you may as well admit that." You grab the chair in front of you and spin it around before sitting in it. "Here's the thing; I have nothing to admit, but the strange disturbance that a lonely woman that is turning in her mid-forties gets her rocks off by eyeing her students." You can notice her anger by the sound of the paper in her hands being crumpled up. "Now can I leave?" Instead of waiting for a response, you stand up and head for the door. "This isn't over. If I catch you in anymore trouble with the students, I will have to do drastic measures." "Then I'll be sure to except the worst that you may have to offer. Maybe a date with a cougar doesn't sound so bad." You open up the door and leave without giving a second look at her. "I'm telling ya, there just isn't something right about that boy." "I get it Applejack, and we are going to find out." Rainbow Dash whispers. "You two, pay attention." Ms. Harshwhinny points out to you and Rainbow. "Yes, ma'am." She scoffs and continues her lesson. "I have an idea." Rainbow continues. "Dash, your ideas are shadier than a snake in the sand." "Just-- wait, what?" "They aren't that well that you think they are." You clarify. Ms. Harshwhinny clear her throat. You look over and sit straight up. "One more from the two of you is all I need." She turns back around and continues writing on the whiteboard. Moments later, a price of paper slides over. "What I'm trying to say is that all of us should gang up against Anon. He'll have no chance in heck when it's just him, without Twi, Flutters, Pinkie, or Sunset." Although, that's what you were able to read from when you fill in the grammatical problems. You write back, wondering about those four that is left out. Before Ms. Harshwhinny was able to turn around, you slipped the note back. When the teacher goes back to writing on the board, Rainbow slips it over. "Twi is possibly buddies with him. Pinkie doesn't want to be involved, and Sunset? Didn't you see how she snapped? Fluttershy is part of this problem, and we're going to find out." "You better know what you're doing, because we can get into a lot of trouble for this. And if we're going to do this, we may as well bring Sunset, she would want some payback for last week." You write down one last time. Ms. Harshwhinny is currently walking around the classroom, looking at the students work. Since she is at the other side, you pass it once more. Rainbow almost writes through the paper, just to write down her message back at the quickest convenience. "I'll text Rarity later today to get Anon into some trap. Let's see if Sunset is up for this." Before you know it, a shadow casts over you. "I'll be taking that." The paper slips by you and into Ms. Harshwhinny's hands. "The two of you will stay after school to make up for the time lost on your chitchat." You turn to the side only to show your anger at RD. She just smiles and shrugs her shoulders at you. "Darn you, Rainbow Dash." As you're walking to your car, Twilight so happens to be resting her plum butt on the hood. If the car wasn't a crummy secondhand vehicle with a damaged muffler, you would be pissed. Let's see what insult or fucked up song she'll try to play this time. As you approach her, she looks over and doesn't smile or even make an imitating look on her face. "Hey Anon." She casually greets you. "Alright, what's wrong?" "Hmm?" "No insult or anything, not even a cigarette?" "I ditched that stuff, it's not cut out for me." "Figures." You say when bringing out your pack. Twilight looks at you when a cigarette starts to hang out. From a strange urge, you push it back in and set the pack in your pocket. "You want that ride?" Her eyes bright up, astonished to what she just heard. "That would be great." For most of the drive, she only asked about certain questions relating to you. They weren't much, only the simple "How was your day" or "Anything new with you" stuff. It's almost as if she was treating you as a friend. Don't get too soft, you just want to finish this last year and get out. Besides, you won't see these people ever again when you're done. You stop by a house in a plain neighborhood, clearly sure that this is her house. "Thanks, and... Do you, want to study once in a while? I mean, I just thought that, all these rides that you've given me for the last few days was great, but I just wanted to repay the favor with a favor." You let go of the steering wheel and scratch an itch on your head. "You don't have to, I was just--" "I'll take it, I was just getting an itch done." She grabs out a sticky note with a pen stuck to it from her back pack and writes something down. "Here's my number, just in case of you want it ahead of time." You take it and stick it in the cup holder right beside you. "I'll see you tomorrow, you mongoloid." She jokingly says. You just shake your head and drive away. You're not sure if you want to do this. It's not that she's a girl, but you haven't come across to a decent friend for quite some time. Then again, you don't have a lot of options here. And you could get some help on Physics, because fuck all of that shit. You grab your phone and slip out the note she left in your car earlier today. "Hey, it's Anon. I'm up for a study session tomorrow, are you in?" You send it and wait. Just as you put the phone down, she responds. "Yes! Over lunch sounds fine?" "Sure, that's completely fine with me." You look over your book to see Twilight pointing out the obvious. "Okay, what is cold welding?" She asks you a different question. You read along the lines to see if there is a definition of it. When that fails, you turn the page over and speed read for it. She just sighs when moving a hand over your book to turn the page back. You refuse to let her do that by putting a hand on her own. "I can do it." "Anon, you clearly missed it." "Then how come I couldn't see it?" She exhales through her nostrils. "Let me put it this way; if two pieces of metal are floating in space and then touch one-another, they will merge as one. That is cold welding. Now, how come this doesn't happen on Earth?" "Because Physics is a shit?" She arches her head to the side. "Earth's atmosphere puts a layer of oxidized material between the surfaces that makes this process impossible." "Wait, how come our space shuttles and satellites aren't fucking with each other when they are in space?" "That's the tricky part. All of which are from Earth itself, so they are already coated with the material." "Goddamn, this shit is tricky." You say when grabbing your burger. "It's not, all it takes is time to--" There is a faint buzzing sound. "Is everything alright?" "Yeah, it's only a text message." She replies when typing on her phone. You take a bite out of the burger and watch her finish up. "Where is Fluttershy? Shouldn't you give her that daily ransom?" The phone vibrates again, allowing Twilight to continue typing to whoever it is that keeps on bothering her. "I did when passing her in the hallway this morning. She gave me a little bump on the arm to catch my attention." "Did it hurt?" Her phone vibrates once more. "Not really. It's weird, but it felt as if--" "No way!" She closes her book and stuffs it in her backpack. "What?" "The new Oxford Dictionary is out and the school's library has a copy!" Twilight slips out of her chair and almost slams onto the door. "What about me? How did--" "Just reread the couple of pages we went through. Practice does makes perfect. I'll try to come back as soon that I have a copy." Before you were able to ask on how she got informed about this, she slams the door shut, leaving you with a book you know barely know much about and your cheap meal. At least you have peace and quite this time. You take another bite out of your burger when getting out your phone. 'Practice makes perfect' What a hooey. That is a word, right? If it's added in the dictionary, then you're safe. As you scroll through your phone, you hear the doorknob turning. The door opens up, but you pay no attention to it. "That was fast. Did you by any chance manage to read if 'hooey' is an official word?" "I'm afraid not this time, my dear Anon." You stop scrolling to focus on that elegant voice. "And this time, there won't be any luck for you to refuse us." That one is coming with a snarky attitude. "Because from here on out, you're going to pay back for every problem you have caused for us." This one has a southern accent. "So you better stay put, and finally listen to our offer." The last one is plain, but you can sense the aggression from it. You finally look up to see four girls standing proud and eager to see you, as if you're some sort of prey to them. They walk in and split up, each taking a side of the room. The rainbow haired one moves to your left, while the southern hick moves to your right. "Are you daft? When I said I don't want to be a part of your shit, I meant it." "Can it, bud." The blue freak commands. "Sorry to say this, but we didn't ask for your input." Their white ring leader points out. "And I'm sorry to say this, but I'm out of here." Just as you're about to get up, the two on each side move on up to hold you down on the chair. The ketchup and mustard haired one locks the door. "Not this time. You're going to stay like the good little one you are and receive the punishment you rightfully deserve." The white one walks forward and puts a hand under your chin. "Afterwards, you'll learn to be under our control." You take the chance to spit at her face. "EAUGH!" She backs away and runs to her bag resting on the teacher's desk. "Just like how we rehearsed it, girls." The white one announces. The one standing from the doorway-- Sunset, right? "I'm going to take my time breaking you in." Yeah, that's her. She moves the table in front of you away and cracks her knuckles. Just as she moves closer, you lift your leg up to kick her in the chest, causing you to fall back and escape their restraint. You rush on getting your phone out to send a text message to Twilight. "Get help. Your friends arndienfusp" "Get him, Rainbow Dash!" Sunset shouts out from the floor. The two of you fight over the phone, until she flicks out out of your hands. In a fit of rage, you grab her and move closer to a vacant desk. "Hey! Let go of me, you--" Before she could finish, you open up the desk and throw half of her body in. You slam it down and back away as she gives out an agonizing scream. You get punched in the back of the head, followed by getting grappled by Sunset Shimmer. "You're messed up, you know that!?" You look over to see that Physics book is on your desk. In a swift move, you pick it up and slam it right across her face. She stumbles around and let's you go. Sunset extends her arms and lays her hands out to stop herself from hitting the floor. You ready your elbow to take her down, until something prevents you from doing so. When you take a look at your arm, there is some rope wrapped around your wrist. "That's enough there!" That redneck shouts out. As you try to pull away, she tugs even harder and reels you closer. In an instant, you have an idea. You pull once more and wait for her to tug. Just as she does, you end resisting and almost fly over to her. During this brief flight, you bring your free arm up and deck her before slamming into her. You push yourself off while she groans in pain, starting to roll around in the floor. Before you know it, you're being picked up and repeatedly punched across the face. During the punches, there is muffled screaming coming from your attacker. After the third punch, you eyes adjust to see a bruised Sunset Shimmer, furiously staring into your eyes. "And THIS one is for hurting my friends!" "What? I wasn't paying attention." You spit out. She brings you closer while pulling back her fist. Without hesitation, you headbutt her and throw her over a table. She rolls over it and stops when a chair 'cushions' her fall. From the farthest side of the room, a slow clap is made. The pearl fashion designer applauses your performance. "Bravo. If only you used it on the right people." "Apparently I just did." She goes through her bag while keeping eye contact with you. "I don't know what you see in Fluttershy or Twilight, but we do know is that you're certainly not being bullied." "I don't know what you're talking about. You see how much they taunt me." As she brings her hands out, her hybrid purse/bag horror clicks. "Please, neither of them have the spine to annoy anyone. Except the occasional 'asking for volunteers' from Fluttershy, or how Twilight proves that the simplest of things are off." "Your point?" She just gives a wicked smile at you. "You're either the most deceitful underdog I have ever seen, or you have a certain soft spot for them. Hm, it's almost as if the big tough guy actually has feelings." You'll show her how 'tough' you are when tearing her a new one. As you approach the desk that Rarity is sitting on, she swings her bag at you. Fortunately, you saw it coming, but not the taser darting for your chest. Before you know it, a shitton of volts flow through your body, freezing you in your tracks. After a few good seconds, she stops and kicks you away. You fall back and twitch on the floor, almost doing the dinosaur. "Had enough?" She proudly asks you with a smirk. You straighten yourself out and crawl back up. "You're insecure." You cough out. "What?" "Everything about you, it screams insecurity. From your appearance to that fucking thing, you're unsure about yourself. Trying to look better than others while avoiding the other pretty bitches around school. It makes me think; why?" The white one seems to be furious from your words. "Don't you dare say such a thing!" She gets up and lunges at you to give you a second helping. You back away and kick her arm to the side, causing the electrical box to slip out of her hands and falling to the floor. You grab her arm and flip her over to slam into the ground. Once that's done, you stumble over to grab her taser. "Ever heard of 'an eye for an eye'?" Rarity seems to be dazed, until she notices the taser is in your hand. "You wouldn't." But you did, and give her a couple of seconds worth of electrocution. She gives a high pitched squeal, followed by twitching her arms. Once that's done, you drop the taser and stumble over to bring the chair that you were sitting on from the beginning and rest. You take a breather and look at the destruction around you. The girls grieve on their injuries, with some slight movement from each of them. "Why does this shit happen to me?" You whisper to yourself. The door clicks and swings open. "Okay, what is--" Vice Principal Luna walks through the doorway and looks at the travesty that was arguably their fault. Okay, maybe it was partially done by you. The vice principal looks dismayed when seeing the girls flinching on the floor. "Anonymous--" "In your office, I know the drill already." You've been waiting in here for the better part of an hour. Seems like the school nurse had to bring over some help from the local hospital just to treat the girls bruises. It's their fault, not yours. The vice principal has to see it your way. Wait, you're getting too hopeful on this one. What if the four goes against you? That's not a possibility, it's the expected outcome. You sit back in your chair and think to the last few moments you have before the chances of being thrown into prison. Fuck being eighteen. You're still in high school and now you'll be thrown into the harsh part of the system. A rectangular light shines in front of you as the door behind you opens up. Someone walks in and heads for the chair behind the desk. "I should have expected this to happen." The vice principal comments. "I'm surprised you didn't keep a close eye on this one." "Anywhere you go, you leave a trail of destruction to someone or something!" "I had no choice on this one!" "For once, you're right." Before you yell out that they were sleezy shits, there was a slight realization to what she just said. "I was unable to see that you left the cafeteria very early. Once I did have the opportunity to do so, I looked around campus to see if you were to ditch school. When I made one last attempt by visiting the library, I was fortunate enough that Twilight Sparkle was there." "Did she ever find that book?" "I'm afraid that it never was there to begin with." "What?!" "Lower your tone, Mr. Mous. What she was looking for never existed. The school wasn't informed of this, and if it was, me or my sister would have. I asked Miss Sparkle if she had seen you lately, and that's when she pointed out to the classroom you were in." "It was a setup." "I'm afraid so. After interviewing each of the students, they said that you attacked first." "HORSESHIT!" "Settle down, Anonymous." "Why should I?! There isn't much that I can do, since you'll just side with them." "I'm not siding with anyone here." She clarifies. "Really?" She pulls out a sheet of paper from the drawer and give it to you. You read it over. It's a conversation between Applejack and Rainbow, plotting to go against you. "You knew?" She nodded to your question. "Something seemed peculiar when I interviewed each of them. It was the exact same story. You attacked them when they were just talking to you, when you just went into a fit of rage for little reason. It didn't make sense, not when I have that note from one of our teachers. What I am sure is that you were trapped, but the damage you caused was more than enough." "It's just a table and a chair, the school has those everywhere." "That doesn't excuse property damage and unnecessary violence. It's one thing about self defense, but what that was is certainly more." "What happens to me now?" She sits back in her chair, contemplating about your fate. "Just like the others; a three day suspension." "Anything else?" Luna just shakes her head. Is that it? You can do that. "We don't need to file this to the police. I've had more than enough evidence to hand you over, but this says otherwise." You sigh and sit back in the chair. "Thank God." "Once the weekend is over, you will be serving your time at home. Hopefully that will give you some realization about all of your shenanigans on the fact that they've gone too far." "Whatever you say, love." "Just go. I'll tell your friend that she will be dropping off your homework at the beginning of the following week. Right now, I have some parents that may want to know how their children are doing." She grabs the phone sitting on her desk and starts to enter a few numbers. You decided to leave the room without making a sound. Chapter 3: Busy WeekendThis sucks. No TV, home internet, they even had to take away your PC and Gamesphere. At least they left you with your phone. Not much that you could do with it, except play throwaway games and watch attention whores put plastic bags over their heads. And your car? They already know that you won't be going anywhere. Still, at least you have five days all to yourself. Just as you were getting comfy on the couch, your phone rings. It must be your parents checking on you, since this clearly isn't their phone number and they must be using the stationed phones at their workplace. You choose to pick it up since, you're already here and there is nothing else to do. "Hello?" "What are you doing?" Whoever it is, that isn't either of your parents. But it certainly isn't any one of those girls you defended against yesterday. "Who are you, and how did you get my number?" "You can't even recognize your own bullies voice, Anon." It had to be... "Buttershy?" "It's Fluttershy, you j-jerk!" You pull your phone away as she almost yells through your speaker. "I asked Twilight for your number just so that I could keep in touch with you. So, I've overheard that you made a commotion yesterday, and I wanted to check on my favorite chump." "Okay then. I'm not doing much, that's all I can say." You casually say. "Good, because what I need from you is more than a few dollars." "What are you getting at?" "I'm short by a hand and I need you to get here." You have an idea to what she's hinting at, but you're not completely sure if you want to do it. You don't have to worry about homework right now and you could use some fresh air. "Fine, I'll be there." "Thanks. I'll text you the address. The sooner that you can get your sorry b-butt here is the sooner we can all go home." "I get ya." She hangs up, followed with a text message sent to your phone. You get up and grab your car keys before heading out the door. You park down the street, since the rest is cluttered with cars, leaving no parking space anywhere. When you get out and lock your car door, you realize that all of these cars seem familiar. They must have been from the school parking lot that you would usually see from. You walk down the street to enter a local animal shelter. The walls are patted with paw prints over a green background. Right beside the wall is a row of cages, sized for dogs or birds. What is scattered across the floor is miniature bathtubs with used and unused towels everywhere. A crowd of students around, all of which are working on something. Some are washing the animals, while others are feeding them. "No, no, no! She needs to be pampered on the tail as well!" Fluttershy shouts at the female student. The student slowly backs away from her and drops the brush. "You like it when your tail is touched, don't you?" The pomeranian wags their tail as she speaks to them. "Do it again. From head to tail." Fluttershy commands the same student. The student picks up the brush and starts her repeated task. Screw it, you are better off being yelled at by her, rather than by your parents that are still butthurt on yesterday's fiasco. One of the students notices your presence and backs away. "What?" That causes the rest to look over, casing most of them to be alarmed. "Holy crap." One male student slips out. "Oh God, I don't want my spine to be broken!" A feminine voice panics. "Why is he doing here?" Another girl questions. Fluttershy walks past them and stand right in front of you. "I asked for his help." She still has the jacket and hair due that Sunset gave her. "Well forget this." The female student that questioned your presence announces. She drops her towel and gets up. Fluttershy moves over to stop her in their path. "Oh no. We need all the help we can get to finish this early. We all want to spend our Saturday's doing something other than being here, don't we?" "Not when I have to share it with this psycho." She rubs in. "Hey! If you have a problem with him or me, you can forget about all the hours that you made here." Fluttershy boldly states. The female student scrunches her face and bends down to grab the towel she dropped. "Good. As long that no one causes any trouble, me or Anon won't have to bring it any further, understand?" All but one of the students nods. Fluttershy takes notice of the one student that didn't not and walks towards them. "Understand?!" She tries to yell at them. The student backs away and almost hits his head on one of the metal doors to the cages. "Yes, yes!" He cries out. Fluttershy grabs the clean towel that he was holding and gives it to you. "Here. We're short by one and need someone to dry off the cats." "Sure, no problem." You automatically say. "Great. See here? At least someone can follow orders." She proclaims. Goddamn, what the fuck happened? Did she actually stole fear into these students? You kind of wanted to fuck the school over, but not like this. But this does seem entertaining on how they bought the fact that she's sort of a bully. Fluttershy really is selling it now. "Okay everyone, let's get this done! We have to wash through the stray cats before we can scrape off the crud on the bird cages." That. Sucked. Three cats clawed you and the last one just ran around the place. And the bird cages were no cakewalk, shit was harder than peeling an old sticker off of a 57 Chevy bumper. At least you're home, you can now get a decent bath for yourself without-- You see that two cars are parked in your driveway, meaning that your parents are home. Goddamn, this day is getting worse by the hour. You can only wish that they could understand. That is, if they bother to listen. You park in front of the house and leave your car. As you’re locking your car and walking on the path leading to your front door, you expect the worst from them. As you pick out your key, the door swings open. ”Son, get in.” Your father commands. “Shit.” ”What did we say about that tone of voice, mister?” Your mother almost shouts out. “I’m an adult, there is no reason for the two of you to worry about where I’ve been and about my language.” ”No, we have every right to be concerned about you. Suspended, fighting with girls, running off to God knows where without telling us!?” Your mom is now shouting at you. “So?” ”So!? You are our son! We have every right to be concerned about you, especially if you’re going to live in this house.” Your father yells out. You take a load off on the couch as they stand directly in front of you. ”Why do you look like as if you went through hell? Did you get into another fight!?” He furiously asks you. “Relax. I just went to the local animal shelter to wash a few cats.” ”Don’t you lie to me, young man!” Your mom barks at you. You sigh when bringing out your phone and pressing the screen a few times. ”Hey! Pay attention when we’re talking to—“ You put the phone on speaker and waive it in front of you. ”Hello?” “Hey Fluttershy, it’s me.” ”Yes? What is it?” Your parents look at each other as you’re having this conversation. “Tell them that I was at the animal shelter today, because the think otherwise.” ”Oh, y-yeah. Not a problem.” Your mother takes the phone and puts her off speaker. ”Hello? Yes, I’m his mother. It’s nice to meet you too, Fluttershy. Mmhmm… ah, he did? Okay, that’s great. You know, my husband and me have been trying to get him under control. I’m surprised he cared for animals. Uh-huh. Thank you and have a good night yourself.” She presses a finger down on your screen before handing it back to you. ”What did she say?” Your father asks. ”Apparently Anon wasn’t lying.” ”Huh, I guess you’re off the hook.” Your father clears you up. That was easy. ”But,--” Ah, fuck. ”--for the next four days, you will be helping her out. No exceptions.” Your father finishes. “Or what?” ”We’ll simply keep everything that we have taken from you for the rest of the school year.” “But that just started!” You point out, thinking that they've gone completely insane. ”Exactly.” He comfortably says. You swear under your breath. ”What was that?” Your mother quickly jumps. “I’ll do it.” You uncomfortably state to them. ”Good, now go and take a shower. You smell like you just rolled around at a subway all day.” What a terrible day. A fucking snake bit you, but it’s cool, Fluttershy said they weren’t poisonous. It is still fucking itchy, but like any other bite, you ignore the bite and pour cold water on it the moment you get home. You're not completely sure if any of this is worth it. You can only wish that she won't need you to do much for the next three days. Just as you prepare to take a shower, your phone goes off from a new number. “Hello?” ”You’ll pay for what you did.” That’s just great, it’s Rarity that called you. “The four of you tried and really did fuck it up.” ”We have unfinished business, do you hear me?!” “I hear you, and I still don’t care.” You hang up and throw the phone aside. Just as you’re taking off your clothes, you receive another call. It’s a different number, so you choose to ignore it. When it ends they send a text message. As you read it over, you get an idea to who sent it. ”Ur dead. Watch ur back nxt tme.” You received another message. ”You don’t know what true pain is until we meet again.” Once you finished reading it, someone calls you. “Leave me alone.” You announce when answering the phone. ”Not with what you’ve done.” “Applejack, right?” ”Yeah, and you’re gonna have to go through my brother eventually.” “Go fuck an apple pie, you’ll have a better chance doing that.” You hang up ~~ignoring the fact that she had you on speaker.~~ ”Now you see why this hooligan needs a lesson, brother?” As you put your phone away, you look up to view your brother irritated by the simple phone call. ”Eeyup.” “And you’ll make sure he won’t walk away without a bruise?” ”Eeyup.” You nod. Anon will be more than surprised once Bic Mac visits the school later this week. Chapter 4: The Strange TutorWhat a dull day so far. With most of your things taken away, there is basically nothing to do for the next few hours. Twilight is still in school, no surprise there. The same thing with Flutershy, only it is different form what you might guess. She must be enjoying her new placement in the food chain. Or whatever they have in this unfair balance that is high school. On the upside, you don’t have to see four of her friends for the next few days. You should see that as a positive, but from their ‘threats’ it’s almost undetermined. At the very least they don’t know where you live, for the time being. Nothing to do now but to watch the ceiling fan spinning overhead. Someone knocks on your door before ringing the doorbell. It plays an annoying cheesy tune that gets on your nerve. At least it works, but wit more of a flaw You unlock the door to be greeted by that smart alec of the girls, Twilight. She is holding a file, almost as thick as— “Looks like we have a lot to go though, huh?” “My only regret was taking Physics.” She only answers you with a smirk and her head shaking. “Just get in.” Twilight playfully shuffles her shoes on the outside mat. ”You know, I don’t have to be here.” She teases. “For sweet merciful fuck, will you please get in?” You demand. ”Hm, only because you said please, I will.” Twilight brushes her shoes on the outside mat before entering. “Fuck you.” You whisper. ”What was that?” “Fon diu?” You quickly respond. She scans your face, possibly trying to read out your lie. “What? You didn’t know that I learned French?” ”Oh no. I’ve always known, since you didn’t take that class.” She catches your lie right off the bat. “Can we pretend that didn’t happen?” You dreadfully request. ”Sure, just like how it will never happen.” She taunts. “Can we please get this work done?” She has to drop this conversation by now. ”What’s the rush? I thought after Friday’s mishap you would have nothing in your spare time.” “It’s a long story. Anyhow, what do you know about Friday?” She shrugs her shoulders. ”Only that my friends hate you more than ever.” “Tell me something I don’t know.” ”They are planning to get revenge on you.” You turn your phone on and show her the messages. ”Never mind.” “Anything else?” You say, unamused by the information she has given you. ”I can’t tell you anything, not when you’re already up to speed. However, you’re the one who needs to tell me.” “Why?” They should have told her everything, but what would make her interested? ”After I left you, the story falls apart to what they told me.” Huh, maybe she isn't smart for no reason. “Who told you what happened?” ”I visited them at the hospital on Saturday. Most of what they said was bitter hatred towards you.” Twilight gloomily speaks out on the second sentence. “I can only imagine.” You sarcastically ”What is strange from their accusations is that you attacked them.” “I’m telling you that it is a fucking lie.” You start at making your stance. ”You aren’t wrong. From what I’ve assumed is that after Rarity sent that text message is just bizarre. How would she—“ “Hold up, Rarity was the one who texted you about the book?” She nods. ”It doesn’t make sense. The only reason on why she would say that is to get me out of the room, leaving you to face them all by yourself.” “My thoughts exactly.” You include. ”I guess that’s why all of you are in the same position as of right now.” “What about your friends, how are they doing?” You ask. They must be doing some time in healing, since they did receive more than they kind of deserved. ”After with what you did to them, they needed to stay at the hospital for a few more days. It was as if they weren’t themselves.” “Who stayed?” ”Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer were badly wounded, they needed certain treatment for their wounds.” At least two of the three girls that gave you a challenge are still out of the picture, Applejack will be kept as a heads up. The both of you walk into your living room, keeping the conversation alive. “What about the other two?” ”Rarity and Applejack? Not as severe as they had. From what I’ve told, they were released from the hospital just yesterday night.” “The time that they threatened me.” You bring up from the text messages and calls from earlier. ”It’s a mystery to how long they will stay in the hospital, but for Rarity and Applejack….” “I’ll deal with them. One problem at a time, right?” You sit down on the couch, Twilight doesn’t even move when she stands right beside you. ”That’s the issue, I think it’s time to stop making problems.” She speaks out of concern to your inscrutable problem. “Come on, Twi. I’m not doing this intentionally.” ”I know. It’s just that, you’re left out from everything else.” Twilight sounds She finally sits right beside you, still holding your homework. “What does that even mean?” Twilight plays around with the file by skimming her finger on the side. ”You haven’t adjusted to any friends around school.” Great, this hot topic. Why do people always jab at this? “I have some!” ”Anon, a person from the internet doesn’t count.” You sit there, overthinking on how to get this on your side. “It’s still human contact.” ”That may be, but do you really know these people? Have you ever gone out with them?” Now you’re overthinking on this, trying to prove that she has nothing to worry about. “No, I haven’t. In my defense, it’s better off that way.” ”You need some friendly human interaction, and I’ll be the first to do so.” She tries to say in a peppy attitude. “For once, I’ve never desired to be so alone in my entire life.” You say, making this as if it's a grim position. ”Oh, cheer up Mr. Sore Bottom. It’ll be a fun time.” Twilight keeps speaking in a lively way. “Can we at least have it later? I need this homework done before the day is over.” ”Right. It’s just like what you said - one problem at a time.” She cheerfully says when handing you the folder. This is more than one problem, but it is somewhere to start off. As long that she focuses on the homework and not you, everything should be fine. It has been three hours she has used up by tutoring you. Progress has been done, now all that is left is math, but this one has been a hassle when it's compared to everything else. Except Physics, that will always take the number one spot. ”And so, you take what’s left, and that’s...?” She leaves the sentence unfinished, expecting you to finish the equation. “Thirty-seven?” ”Right! Now, add it together and that makes it...?” Twilight leaves you to finish it off. “One hundred and thirteen?” ”YES!” She drops the pencil and claps. ”I knew you could do it! I mean, by yourself and all.” “Yeah, yeah. I now know how to get some math done. What’s the big deal?” ”Anon, you may not have noticed it, but math is universal.” “Come again?” ”It is an important concept to everything around you. From the measurements on your ruler to the blueprints of a structure, it is something that we need, even though we can’t clearly see it.” “Next time, why don’t you show me on how Calculus works, then you will have proven more than just a bunch of fake numbers.” Twilight has a smug little smirk when she reads off your remark. ”Is that a challenge?” Wait, cool it down. It's bad enough that you can get through some equations, but when all of the numbers turn into letters... “Ah shit. You caught my bluff.” As Twilight closes her textbook, she chuckles to herself. ”Next time, you should reconsider something before taking it as a task.” “I just so happen to manage four of your friends, a snake bite, and the vice principal in just two weeks.” She stops shoving her textbook in her backpack to look at you in wonderment. “You were bitten by a snake?” “Yeah, from helping Fluttershy out yesterday.” Twilight lets go of the zipper on the bag, giving you her undivided attention. ”You just went over and ‘helped’ her out? I’m not following—“ “It was on call, she was short handed by one person, and my parents are making me do this if I ever want to see any of my possessions ever again.” She jumps back in her spot, looking over your brief, but through report. ”Well, unless if they bought it, then they have the right to do whatever they want to your items.” You give out an upsetting groan. “Forget that. I’m stuck with cleaning bird shit and washing cats.” ”Anon, it doesn’t sound that—“ “Washing. Cats.” You highlight the worst of your experience. Twilight shifts her eyes around your body, scanning the cuts and bruises you have on your arms and face. ”You have proven your point. One thing; are you fine with this?” “Not really, but it’s not like I have a choice.” ”No, I mean with Fluttershy bullying you.” “Oh, here we go.” You upsettingly speak out on this issue. ”I’ve been thinking--“ “Don’t you ever stop and think that you’re overdoing it?” You try on turning this around, expecting her to fall for the trick. ”I... my excessive analyzation to certain subjects has nothing to do on the matter that you allowed this.” “Denying it doesn’t make it go away.” ”This isn’t about me, it’s about you.” “Right, because it is always about me. I’m starting to wonder on why would you want to become my friend.” ”I know that there is something more than a bitter, dejected person.” “How comforting.” ”It’s nothing to be ashamed of. You can get over this.” “Anything else besides me?” ”Yes - why Fluttershy?” Out of spite, you tighten your fists to asking that. “You know, curiosity killed the cat, so let’s just stop here.” Twilight just shrugs her shoulders. ”I would have taken that as a threat, but whatever.” She picks up her stuff and stands up. ”I’ll be heading off now.” “Do you need a ride home?” ”I’ll be fine. Besides, I need the exercise.” She walks over to the door and opens it. “I just expect for you to watch your step from now on.” As you watch Twilight leaving the doorway, she trips over from a loose shoelace and lands on the outside pavement. You get up and rush over to help her from the harsh fall. “Is everything alright?” She slowly gets up from the ground, still holding her face. ”I think so.” She doesn’t have any scratches on her face, but that’s from the fact that her arms took most of the damage. There is some scrapes and slight bruising, almost as if she will bleed from them. “I have a med kit inside.” ”No, I’ll be fine.” She repeats from her earlier statement. She just brushes it off and starts to walk away. “It wont even take five minutes!” ”There is nothing to worry about!” She shouts out when walking down the street. What the hell was all that about? Chapter 5: (Un)scheduled MeetingYou do some chores around the house and— Fuck, you are THAT desperate for something to do. You’ve been mindlessly sweeping this floor for a good twenty minutes now. You look at the broom before pushing it away. There must be something to do. Maybe unblocking the girls’ numbers might interest you. You take out your phone, look for the first four numbers in your block list and take them out of it. Now you play the waiting game. It has been two minutes since you’ve unleashed the hounds, and nothing has happened. No messages or calls, so you leave the phone on the couch and go back to the kitchen. You grab the broom from the floor and resume sweeping. After a few sweeps, your phone starts to ring. You go over and look at who it is. “Fuck...” You accept the call and see what she wants. “Hello?” ”Anon, I think we should talk.” Fluttershy says in an unsettling tone. “Wait, you aren’t pissed that I’ve missed out on helping you guys?” ”No, we didn’t do much. But I do need to talk to you in private.” “Why? What’s it about?” ”Something that I’ve should have done a long time ago. Please, just meet me outside of town.” “What? Did you just say—“ ”Yes! Make it fast, since I wont be here for long.” She hangs up and sends you an address via text message. You better go there, since you can count it as going out to help her for whatever reason. Before you grab your keys, someone starts to call you. Darn that Anon! He thinks he could just ignore your call and text messages, will he!? You aren’t letting him go without a harsh talk! ”What?” “Don’t you question me! Why did you keep on brushing away my calls or text messages!?” You shout over the phone. ”You left messages?” Oh no. You spent hours on creating those threatening messages. “Y-yes! You never listened to them?” ”Why would I? What’s the worse that you could do; paint my nails pink, give me a bad haircut?” Anon assumes. “...It was going to be pistachio.” ”Right, I’ve had more life-threatening comments from high school dropouts. Are we done?” “NO! We are most certainly not done here!” You bicker, demanding that he stays on the line. ”Too bad, because I have somewhere to go.” “Oh please, where do you need to go?” ”Helping out Fluttershy, okay? Bye!” He hastily says before leaving you. You stand there with your phone still pressing against your cheek, bewildered by what he just said. Helping Fluttershy? Your shakedown from last week’s fiasco is now turning into an authentic suspicion. What does Fluttershy want with him? This fifteen minute drive better be worth something. You park your car outside of a burger shack that is sitting on the side of the city. There is a settling orange glow over the gloomy clouds taking most of the sky right above you, while the sun in the distance still stands strong for the next few minutes. You walk over to the practically empty tables to see a lone girl in pink hair sitting all by herself with a tray of french fries sitting on the table. She looks around before noting your presence. You walk closer as she starts to waive. ”Hi, Anon.” She speaks in a low tone. She doesn’t have that leather jacket on and her hair is back to the way it was, curvy and elegant. You sit on the opposing side of the table that she’s facing. “What’s up?” You casually ask. ”Nothing.” She moves the plate of fries over to you. “Do you want some?” “I’m good, I just want to know what’s what.” She sighs when crossing her arms. ”I didn’t expect for you to be in so much trouble. I’m sorry for putting you in this mess.” You look around, making sure that this place is deserted. “Is that the reason on why you drag me out here?” Fluttershy shakes her head. ”I just wanted to have a talk about all of the things that’s been going on.” "We could have done that on the phone. You know, where no one else could hear us?” ”I just wanted to make sure.” “Paranoid much?” You ask with some sort of sarcasm. ”You don’t know the half of it.” She admitted with some unsettlement in her voice. “Lighten up, there is nothing to worry about?” She raises an eyebrow. ”Anon, you don’t know how many people want me gone now.” “And do you think it’s any better for me?” ”At least you didn’t have those that ruined your middle school experience.” You just sit there and cross your own arms. ”But that’s the thing – I kind of like it.” She sits straight up in her seat. ”People respect me now. No one ignores me or pushes me away at school. They all look at me when I’m walking down the hallway, wondering what terrible thing that I might do.” You let her drone on to whatever she’s talking about. ”Normally I would be afraid from people, thinking that if I do the slightest wrong step in my path, they will constantly tease me about it. But now, it’s completely different.” At this point, you can sense the aggression in her voice. ”I’m the one who looks down at them. I can get the smartest kid in class to do my homework, or shake down another for his money.” Flutershy is starting to speak up. ”Everyone in school now thinks that I’m in control, and I can’t be knocked down.” She settles down. ”And it’s all thanks to you.” You scratch the side of your neck, unsure on what to say. “Uh, that’s cool?” ”It is. But please, I ask this out of empathy; why?” “Why what?” ”Why are you allowing me to do this?” When will anyone drop this? “Why do you want to know so badly?” ”If I tell you, would you answer my question?” “Yes.” She rubs her left elbow with her right arm. ”It’s just, that I feel awful. Ever since from the beginning, that day that I asked you for a donation, Rainbow Dash instructed me to demand some money from... a loner. it felt good when someone did something for me, but it was short-lived. I never wanted to bother you, but I needed to start from somewhere. Now that I scare everyone else, I don’t have to be afraid. Maybe by you, since my friends did have to visit the hospital.” “You don’t have to worry about me.” ”I kind of have to. Now can you answer my question?” You take in a deep breath. “Fine. I acted along just to mess with the school.” ”Y... you just pretended to be picked on?” “Yes. I didn’t mind it at all, seeing everyone’s face was worth it.” ”Phew. I’m glad about that. I was afraid that it was something else.” “Like what?” She puts a finger to her bottom lip. ”Hmm. I don’t really know.” From the sidelines, you see something move around right behind the shack. It sops to where a part of. ”Maybe, if you—“ “Could you hold onto that for one second?” You get up and walk over to find out that it was Norman who was hiding. He gets off of the wall and appears to hide something. ”Hey Anon! How you’ve been?” You cut right through his fake greetings by grabbing his jacket and slamming him to the wall. “How much did you see?” ”Oh, no hello? Fine. I was on my way to get a burger and what do I see? Two of the schools most threatening students having a heart-to-heart conversation.” You shove him to the wall. “None of this happened, you hear me?” ”Tell that to the evidence.” He wields his phone and scrolls through it with his thumb. Norman smiles as he shows off certain pictures of you talking with Fluttershy, each one with a mood difference. You move your arm from his chest to get closer to his phone. He turns his screen off by pushing a button with the same thumb. ”Ah! Not so fast.” You grab it and turn it on, only to stare at a password lock. You type in 1234, 4321, and 0000, all of which failed. ”So, how do you feel, knowing that karma finally caught up with you?” “What do you want?” You ask out of shame. ”First, I want my phone back.” You give the phone back to him. ”Second, I want a part of the action.” “Fuck right off to whatever drug-of-the-week you’re on.” You snap at him. ”Fine, but I’ll send every photo to my friends, who will send it to everyone else.” Someone is approaching you from behind. "Anon, what’s going on?” Fluttershy asks as she stands right beside you. “This shitstain saw us.” Fluttershy puts on a threatening glare and looks at him. ”What do you know?” ”Nothing, really. But the two of you talking on the same table is more than enough.” ”No one would believe you.” Fluttershy calls him out on the bluff. ”Tell that to the pictures.” He gloats when holding his phone up. Fluttershy’s face quickly looses the momentum and she starts to panic. ”Oh no, no! What are we going to do?!” She sounds devastated by the situation. ”Relax. You let me pick on him, and we’re square.” You press him against the wall. ”Anon! Wait!” You ease up from Fluttershy’s demand. ”See? Like that. I can call the shots on what you do.” “I would rather shoot you—“ ”Leave him, Anon.” Fluttershy calmly asks. “What?!” She stands right beside you, keeping a straight face, regardless of how agitated she was. ”Just let him go.” You do, and watch him fix his shirt by brushing his hands around it. ”I’ll let you guys talk about it. I should get an answer when you get back to school this Thursday.” He puts his phone in the pocket of his jacket and walks away. ”What are we going to do?” “I don’t know, but we’ll think of something.” You and Fluttershy walk back to the table and awkwardly stare at the french fries. You decided to break the tension to asking her a small question. The two of you talked about your current situation with Norman. Every answer seems to have a drawback. Fluttershy suggests reasoning with him, but he really desires to be a part of this. You recommend smashing his phone, but clearly the phone that he carries isn’t the problem. It is synced with a cloud, meaning he could post it from a computer afterwards. ”Darn it!” She grieves over while grabbing her cheeks. You have one last idea, but it’s not a pretty one. It’s too vulgar, she would go against it. ”Anon, do you have any suggestions?” She sounds desperate, even more so than usual. “Yes, but it’s a work in progress.” ”What is it?” You look around, making sure that he isn’t around. Fluttershy’s paranoia might be rubbing off to you since you motion your hand for her to lean in while you’re already doing so. She does and turns her head to the side, allowing you to whisper into her ear. The moment that you finish whispering, she quickly jumps back and sits in her seat. ”Anon!” “There isn’t any other option.” ”But, resorting to that?” “Its been done before, it can sure as hell be done again.” ”No, Anon. Maybe it’s time we forget it.” “This will keep us safe. He won’t be a problem when it’s over.” ”Anon, this takes more than what you said.” “And there is, but the pieces are still trying to fit.” She shakes her head. ”You’re in enough trouble. We can’t go any further than this.” “Would you mind that he starts picking on me?” ”I... I guess I’ll just have to get used to it.” She tries to speak in a positive way. “What if he slowly takes over and fully replaces your position?“ ”Then... I guess you become my bodyguard?” “By then people will know that something’s up.” ”Anon, we should just let him. There isn’t any other choice.” You slam your fists on the wobbly table. “There is always a choice, damnit!” Fluttershy looks at you, then to your fists. ”Some are more comforting than others. If we let him, we would at least know what would happen.” “You’re just going to let him walk all over you?” ”It’s not like that.” She tries to correct you. “It kind of does.” She slams her hand on the table. From a reflex, you take your arms off of it. ”It’s one jerk compared to the ENTIRE school, and after the school learns about what’s going on, there are certain people that want to talk to me.” Her eyes show how aggravated she is. Even if she looks provoked, you noticed the slight detail of how afraid she really is. You stay silent and calm down by getting comfy in your seat. “We’ll think this over. For now, we just act natural for the next few days.” Fluttershy retracts her arms and sits back in her seat. "Y-yeah. I'm sorry about that. I'm just worried about this." "I know. Hey, what was that thing you were about to say before he bothered us?" "Hmm? Oh, that." She anxiously rubs her right forearm. "I was... afraid that, you liked me or something." Fluttershy mumbles out. You're not entirely sure on that. It's pretty conflicting, but you never really focused on her the entire time you've been around her. "D-do you...?" "In all honesty; not really." Fluttershy stops rubbing her forearm and grabs it. "But, it's not that you aren't pretty or anything. I just didn't pay attention all that often." Her hand clenches on her arm. "All I'm trying to say is that yes, you are attractive. It's just... forget it." Her fingers relax. "What? You can tell me." "It's just... I'm not really fit for girls." "Oh..." She moves her hand up her arm, stopping it by grabbing her shoulder. "I didn't know that you were... into guys." You almost jump in your seat, almost wondering if she actually said that. "What?" "I get it now, it's a secret. Don't worry, I pinkie promise to keep it between us." She uses her other hand to extend her index finger and presses it against her smile when winking at you. She is. "Fluttershy, I'm not gay." The hand that was resting on her shoulder tenses up, almost pulling off her sleeveless shirt. "Y-youre not?" "No, I'm not" You calmly say without any tension. "Listen, I'm just here to mess with the school, and I'm sure you're in it for the same thing. We don't have to make this anymore bizarre than it already is, okay?" "Y-yes, you're right." She lets go of her shirt and puts her hand under the table. "But, I'm still in charge, right?" She is trying, and she really wants to enjoy this. It wouldn't hurt to let her have this, seeing that she wants some control. "Yeah, you do." Fluttershy brings her hands up and gives a short but energetic clap. "Thanks. I mean, good." She tries to straighten up her tough voice. You couldn't help but crack a smile from her effort. The two of you stick around for a few more minutes before parting ways. When you get home, your parents were expecting a report. They don’t trust you, and you really can’t blame them for it. ”How was it?” Your mother asks as you’re going through the refrigerator. “I kind of expected it to be worse.” You pull out some slices of ham and swiss cheese. ”What do you mean by that?” You set it down by a plate with two slices of bread on it. “Just some trouble with what I’m doing, nothing else.” You’re trying to be vague with it so that she doesn’t have to catch on anything. The best part is that you aren’t lying. Not in any sense of it from where you can see it. ”What kind of trouble?” Shit, your mom is catching along this little ride. “Listen, I’ve already been helping her for the last couple of days, isn’t that more than enough?” Your mother pouts at you. ”Just tell me on what was troubling you. There is nothing to hide from me, is there?” You need to bullshit yourself out of this and fast. Make yourself the victim! You push the plate away and face your mother. ”It’s bad enough that I’m getting watched at school, the animal shelter, and now my own parents!?” You start to march away from the kitchen and head for your room. ”Anon Yankee Mous, wait!” You close the door and sit on your bed. Now you wait for results. Five anxious minutes have passed by. You’re worried about being too harsh or not enough on the matter. That all ends when you hear your door being opened. ”Anon?” Your mother subtly asks through a small creek. You just say nothing and sit there, staring at your sneakers. ”Anon, I just wanted to come by and say that, I’m sorry for putting pressure on you.” Hook line and sinker. She opens the door and enters your room. ”I know that being a teenager is stressful, especially when making friends is tough, but you can always look on the bright side.” “What bright side?” ”You have a chance. A future you can build, one where you can go or do without seeing these people or any of the troubles that you’re having right now. Sure, there will be some people who won’t like you for whatever reason, but that’s how life is. We can only try to make ourselves acceptable to as many people that we meet.” You bring your head up to see that she I currently holding a plate with a sandwich. ”You just eat up and relax. I’ll go and tell your father to stop as well.” “Thanks mom.” You give a weak smile as she leaves your room. From some regret in your chest, you almost didn't eat the sandwich. After a few minutes, you did. Clearly you weren’t going to waste food that was originally going to be made from the start. What makes it better is from the fact that someone making your food tastes wonderful when it’s compared to what you make. Even though you savored this small victory, something tickled your mind - how will it be when you finally get back to school? What would people think about you after your absence, ad how the fuck would Norman try to stand out as a bully? Even so, you’re more than prepared to meet him this Thursday. Chapter 6: Returning Tyrant (and an Incomer?)You slap the big button on the side of your clock. Thursday, finally it’s here. The last few days have been a pain on your ass, mainly because a Rottweiler bit you there at Tuesday. You have to partially stand just to ‘sit’ on the toilet since you were constantly tired from raising your ass cheek. At least the sleeping pills keep you through the pain. ”Anon, you’re going to miss breakfast!” Not again…. ”Hey son.” Your dad says when entering the kitchen, trying to brighten up your morning. “That bite is still bothering you?” “Every now and then. At least a couple of more days until I can sit right.” ”Something tells me that the animals don’t appreciate your help.” Your mother mocks at the topic. “It will take a few scratches and a bite to prove that.” ”Yesterday a bird ruined your shirt. Remember that it was your favorite one?” “It was my favorite shirt.” You brush it off by eating your eggs with bacon. ”I must say, you have been different for the last few weeks.” Your mom continues. “What can I say? I guess I’m growing up.” ”Maybe.” She finishes scrubbing the pan and sets it on the drying rack. “I’ll be going, and so should you, Anon.” She grabs her purse and leaves the room. ”You’re doing good, son. When you get back home, that Playbox 32 will be like it was never touched.” “Thanks, dad.” He gives you a light smack on the shoulder before getting up. “You’ve earned it.” And like that, he leaves the room. “I’ve earned nothing.” Throughout the drive to school, you’ve been thinking on what’s been going on. Twilight tutoring you was fine, but there isn’t something right. Word around the shelter is that the school has been talking on some shit about Fluttershy’s friends. These last few days have been weird, specially when they point fingers to you. Once you finally come back, you’ll get whatever’s going on, especially with what they have. As you pull into the parking lot, you see a familiar rainbow haired chick making the same mistake; standing in your parking spot. You plan on running her over when you start revving the engine. To your surprise, she backs away and stand on the sidewalk. As you’re parking your car, she keeps giving you the stink eye with her arms crossed. “Good morning to you, too.” You start when exiting your car. “Missed me?” ”Not as much as you missed that punch to the head.” “Good to see that we’re on the same page. Missed that beating that you and your friends had last week?” ”Wait until when it comes back around to bite you.” She walks like a stiff when approaching you. “We still have a score to settle.” “I wouldn’t bet on it.” She removes her jacket, then her shirt just to show you the bland bra she has. Oh, and the back brace she’s wearing. ”Are you happy with what you did!?” “Kind of, you still have a decent rack.” She grunts while throwing her shirt to the ground “Thank God I didn’t ruined those beauties. That would’ve been a true crime right there.” ”I have to wear this stupid thing and a few shots just to keep my spine aligned. Now I cant even run for over a month, Anon. A MONTH!” People start to crowd around and take pictures. “You know, you should at least do something about that bra. At least make it match with that accessory hanging around your waist.” She tries to kick your front bumper. “Maybe you should do something about that scratch.” Rainbow Dash takes her clothes and tries to put them on ash she’s walking away. “Hey, you - help me out.” She points out to a Sophomore when leaving the area. You go around to see the ‘dent’ on your car. Nothing much since it’s covered by the patchy paint all around it. You strap on your bag and head inside the school. The first class of the day went surprisingly well. The teacher was impressed with your sudden improvement by taking a glance at your homework. ”You didn't just take this by a classmate, did you?” “No, ma’am.” ”And you didn’t copy this from anyone else?” “No.” You say, irritated by her doubt. ”Well I guess this changes everything. Class - tomorrow’s test will now be postponed to today!” ”But we didn't get to review!” A classmate barks out. ”I’m sure that those who studied the material and payed attention to the worksheets for the last week will breeze right through it.” You don’t even have to turn around to notice that the majority of the class is staring at you right at this moment. Even so, you turn back around just to sit at your desk. On your way, Bulk snaps his lead pencil just by clenching his fist. ”Grab out your pencil and clean out your desk. Those who finish early can quietly do anything else.” You’re done. Twenty minutes in and you have completed the test. Physics doesn't seem so hard now, not when you have a good tutor as your ace. You bring up your test and start to head back, until your teacher stops you by calling out your name. ”Anon, come here.” You do so and wait as she scans your paper. ”Let me see your arms.” You sigh when rotating them. ”Just checking.” She flicks her wrist, signaling you to go back to your seat. As you’re walking past a few students, some of them glance at you before going back to ‘working’ on their test. ”Eyes on your own paper, class.” You sit back in your chair and try to keep the partially cracked smile hidden by leaning into your hand. As soon that it appears it vanishes when something hits you in the back of the head. It hangs around at the collar of your shirt, picking at your neck. You move your hand around it, pulling out a part of the broken lead pencil from Bulk. In a thoughtless motion, you turn around to look at him. He just scribbles something with the other half of his pencil. ”Eyes forward, Mr. Mous.” You spin around and sit there. The teacher goes back to reading some sort of novel. Not even a minute has passed by and something hits you, but it falls to the ground. It’s the remaining part of the lead pencil from Bulk. You shift back around to watch him point at his bicep. Whether he is trying to threaten you, showing off, or challenges you to who can lift the most is beyond your imagination. ”Mr. Mous!” You spin around, eyeing her dissatisfaction. “One more and I will automatically fail you.” You would yell out on how much bullshit that is if it wasn't an empty threat. After a few seconds of an unusual stare down, she goes back to reading her book. In the background, you can hear something being crumpled up, followed by some crackling from the floor right below you. As you reach down to pull out your folder, you snatch the paper ball from the ground. You unravel the smushed piece of paper and make out the scrunched up letters. “Remember our deal” is written in the wrinkled lines. You already know who this one is from, and you sure as hell will deliver before this day is done. This classroom is starting to become a more unnerving environment with each passing moment, making you wish for a miracle to happen. ”Mr. Mous, please come to the vice principal’s office immediately.” You’ve never been so satisfied to hear Luna’s voice calling you out of class until now. ”You heard the announcement, Anon - bad idea to keep her waiting.” With no time to waste, you quickly put your things together and head for the door. Right as you are closing it, you see a smug Norman sitting in the back when looking through the slit opening of the classroom. You walk down the empty hallway and stand in front of vice principal Luna's office. You wonder on why she excused you out of class, you truly do. You've only been in school for the bare minimum of two hours and the worst of it all is that you got Rainbow Dash to take off her shirt - and that wasn't intentional. She'll probably turn that around and make you as a perpetrator or something. You may as well get this over with. When you open the door and blindlessly enter her office, someone you'd least expect is there. "Twilight?" She turns around and gives you an innocent waive with a smile. "Hey, Anon." "Why is she here?" Luna seems more than annoyed from the usual. "I swear Mr. Mous, you make this too much of a challenge." "Thank you?" You weren't sure on what she meant, but you still take it as a compliment. At least, in your usual view of it. "I give you the one person that I can only dream that you wouldn't get into a fight with, but even then, you manage to defy it." You take a seat in the chair that's beside Twilight Sparkle. "What did I do? Okay, Rainbow Dash can't fight for a few weeks, so what? I didn't want her to take off her clothes!" "Oh, Rainbow...." Twilight mumbles in the background. "Erm, that's not the reason on why you're here." "Then why am I here?" "The reason on why I brought it up is because after the deserving 'break' that you needed, you just couldn't keep your temper in control." You shuffle in your seat, confused on why she brings that up. "After a few days, you got into a scuffle with Twilight here and she still bothers on coming over to deliver your homework." "WHAT!?" You stand up, almost pushing the chair over when doing so. "Settle down, Mr. Mous. Don't make me call the police." "I didn't do that! What makes you think--" "What keeps on going around campus is that you assaulted Twilight, but failed." "Anon, it's not what you think." Twilight stands up. "I didn't intend for this to happen!" "What's going to happen is that I will get more than a suspension!" "Just to be clear, it would be a school transfer at best." "What's the worst in this scenario?" "I'm not entirely sure. That depends on the police and if they're in a good mood. But," She shuffles some papers around. "I'm starting to wonder about your fight with the girls the other day." "We all know on what went down that day." "Yes, but I just know that the police wouldn't mind a skewed truth, only to keep you locked away for some time." Your heart races from the unbelievable spot that you're in. You sit back down and rub your hand around your forehead. "Vice principal Luna, Anon doesn't deserve this!" She raises her stance as she gets out of her chair. "Now I know you don't want to see him go, but this is for the best on everyone's part. Possibly not for Anon, but at least he'll use his brutality somewhere else." "No, I truly mean that he doesn't need this." She rephrases. "Why are you going so far on to defend Anon? He attacked you while he was serving his suspension." "It's because he DIDN'T attack me." "But, the scratches on your arms--" "Wasn't from him. It was from a bad fall when I left his house the other day." "What?" Luna asks. "I started the rumor, but it's not true about him attacking me." You and vice principal Luna look at her. "What?" You re-quote Luna's word. "Yes, I started it so that I could look more intimidating than Fluttershy." She lowes her head when sitting back down. "Well don't. It's not working and almost costed what little I had to this school." Your searing anger replaces your worried demeanor, but is somewhat reduced when you notice on how bad she looks about the situation. "I'm sorry, I really am." Twilight depressingly says for forgiveness. "Just don't pull that again. So Luna, where does that put me in?" The vice principal looks at Twilight for a couple of more seconds before jumping in shock. "Oh. Seeing that you didn't cause any harm and Twilight did issue an apology, I guess we can sweep this one under the rug?" "Sounds good to me." "But what about the rumor?" Twilight asks. "Ah, that. I would say that the two of you should go out and tell the truth, but that hasn't worked well in the past. I'll leave you two to talk about it. For now, just head back to class." Just as you're getting up, the bell rings. "Or head to your next class. Enjoy your day." As you stand in front of the door, Twilight stands right beside you. "Don't you want to wait a while before going outside?" "At this point, I don't care on what people think about it. I'll let their suspicion roll around and expect the worst from it." "Are you sure you don't want to keep being the one who stood from me and outlasted her friends? The damage has been done, who knows what crazy shit they will spiral out of this, especially Sunset, Rarity, and all the others." Chapter 7: Staying Tough"Well, did it impress you in any way?" "In a certain approach." You push the door open, unsure that Twilight followed you outside. Students are doing their usual shit, whereas others turn their head to have their slight glance at you. Some showed their disgust, anger, or fear at you. Blinded by that fixed view, someone bumps into your left shoulder. "Watch where you're going." Norman pushes you away and has a gesture in his eyes. "Going to do something about it?" You ready your fist, but restrain yourself from using it. He has a crooked smile when looking down, noticing that your fist is shaking. Twilight comes from the sidelines and pushes him away. "Why don't you watch it, bonehead?" He stops himself from falling by resting on a knee. "Stay out of this. It's only me and him right now." "You mess with him, you'll just have to mess with--" "Me." Fluttershy walks past a few students and stands at the other side. Norman looks at both of them. He gives you a menacing stare before walking away. Just when you thought that it was over, Fluttershy and Twilight stand in front of each other. One is giving the other a "terrifying" look, having their own standoff. You think that one is trying to get the other to back off, but it only pressures the other to stand their ground. Thankfully Luna is watching, but they haven't noticed her yet. She must have joined right after Norman left. You need to break this off and fast. "Leave him alone." Fluttershy threatens her. "Why should I? He was under my watch." Twilight retorts. "He's mine, go find some four-eyed loner." Speaking of which, that specific person in the crowd backs away and hides. This isn't looking good. A part of you wants to do something, but the other wants to watch where this will lead to. Fuck it. If you don't do anything, everything may collapse. Fluttershy is your original "handler", but she can be a bother. Twilight is something; she might be friendly, but there is just something that you can't get about her. "If it wasn't for me, that nobody would have done something." Twilight supports her standing. "I would have taken care of that myself." "Well, where were you? Hanging more flyers for unloved animals?" Just in that moment, you saw something in Fluttershy's eyes. It was a combination of fear, anger, and sadness. Even though people see her enraged, you know what's going on. You decided to turn around and push a part of the crowd away, the rest back up to let you through. If they are here for you, then you may as well leave. "Anon?" You hear Twilight's concern. You hear someone running up to you, but you decided to ignore it and head for the doors leading to outside. You slam the handle down, stepping out to sit on the grass. Instead of the doors closing, the loud clang from the door handle catches your attention. "What's wrong?" You hear Twilight's voice coming from behind you. The loud clang rings through once more. "What did I tell you about him?" Fluttershy heatedly asks. "Now's not the time, Flu-" "I asked you a question." You stand up and turn around, almost ready to yell. "Will you two stop this shit?" Fluttershy still has that "aggressive" act on, whereas Twilight is genuinely concerned to what is going on. "Fluttershy, drop the act already." "I won't, not after to what she said about them." "Fluttershy, that wasn't an insult." "It sure did sound like one." Twilight just shrugs while Fluttershy crosses her arms. You recall what Twilight said back in the hallway; unloved animals. "You're pissed that no one cares about the animals, isn't it?" Fluttershy fixes her stance by bending a leg and reaching into her backpack. "It's more than that." When she unzips the biggest zipper, a bunny pops out. "I'm practically the only one that does care about them." She carries him in her arms and puts her bag back on. "I would be lucky enough to get a few people to come by each week. But now, it's a lot more and they actually do something." Twilight points a finger at you and Fluttershy. "So, is that why...?" Fluttershy stops petting him to send off an unsettling stare. You would say yes, but you aren't sure on how well Twilight can be in on this secret. "It doesn't matter now, what does is how we are going to make this work." "We don't need to, Twilight can find someone else." "But I've had this planned out!" Twilight implores Fluttershy's bitter grasp on you. "Sure you did. You know, you can't think of everything to work out." Twilight is starting to grow impatient with how Fluttershy is acting. "Wait, can we just hear on what Twilight has to say?" Fluttershy sighs. "Fine, what is it?" "We don't need to be around each other when Anon is around, we can have certain times to when he is under our care, so to speak." Fluttershy thinks it for a few moments. "I guess, but why do you want him?" Twilight scratches her wrist. "Uhm, to get an understanding to how bullying works?" "It doesn't really go down to a negotiation, especially something that is this relaxing. What else are you hiding?" She was then saved by the bell ringing for the next class. Fluttershy quickly opens up her backpack to let the bunny hide inside. "I guess we'll find out later, we need to get back before--" "I'M GOING TO BE LATE!" Twilight shouts out as she runs through the doors. Fluttershy holds on the handle and looks at you. "Do you think that this'll work?" "Possibly, but we'll see." "What about... him?" You know who she is implying, but he'll probably back off for a while. "We'll deal with Norman when it comes back up. We need to work this weird pattern between you and Twilight." "I liked it better when I had you all to myself." She grumbles. The next few classes seemed relatively fine. A classmate or two eyed you once in a while, expecting you to do something irrational. It will take more than unsettling looks to get you all riled up. What did was the text that Norman sent to you. 'You're lucky that she came in.' You leave the message alone and walk to an empty table. It's almost over, just two more hours and you are out of here for the day. Just don't do anything and you'll be fine. You drag out your phone to start another flame war, until a shadow casts over you. "Ahem." Damn, there goes your plan to call someones taste shit. "Any lunch money you have left?" Fluttershy demands. You get the routine by now, so you bring out your wallet and take out all the bills that you have. It's just a clump of six ones. Without any hesitation, she snatches it out of your hand. It does take you by surprise, but you remember that this is how it will be from now on. You really should move the cash in another pocket for situations like this. Better yet, you should strap it to your thigh. No one would dare to try that. "Thanks." She rolls it in her hand and walks back to her table. The usual girls are looking at you, judging it all from afar. They move on to some sort of conversation, most likely a plan to make your death to look like an accident. They stop when Fluttershy sits right beside Rainbow Dash and Applejack. Something bothers you when they start to eat. Pinkie Pie and Twilight are not there. Where could they be? You look around, noticing Norman staring at you before he goes back to eating his hamburger. Fucking jackass. The moment he sends those pictures is the moment he loses that phone, and you know how in a couple of ways. Someone taps your shoulder. "We should talk." Twilight's voice catches you off guard. There are those that can't help but look at you being escorted out of the cafeteria. What does bother you is when you turn back to see Fluttershy watching. You may regret this, judging by that look of dissatisfaction on her. "We need to talk." "You couldn't do this later?" She leads you away from the cafeteria. "It couldn't wait, especially texting it to you." "What is it?" "Something big is going to happen." "Care to tell me what it is?" "I can't, they were talking about this way before our hallway mishap. Now they are keeping me away from it." "So now you're out of the loop? Fucking wonderful." "What I can tell you is that they were planning to go after you or Fluttershy." You contain the frustration by scraping your fingernails in the palm of your fist. "It's one thing that I get the flak, but if it goes down on her, they are asking for a new world of pain." "You may want to slow down there, Anon, you've already had your time with them." "Apparently it wasn't enough." "Anon--" You exit the school and stand once more at the grassy field. "If they think that going after her will stop me, they have another thing coming." "Listen, Anon, there is nothing to worry about." "Why?" Someone else exits the school. "Told ya we'd need to wait him out, brother." Applejack's voice catches you off guard. You spin around to see Applejack with a self-satisfied look on her. In a intimidating stance, Big Mac is standing right beside AJ. You haven't met him in person, but he is slightly taller by an inch or two. "Applejack not only showed me how bad that you hurt her, but also showed me on how terrible you really are." He talks in a rough voice. Somewhere, deep down inside of you, a chunk of you wants to cower. Applejack quickly changes her look when she notices Twilight standing right next to you. "Twi, why are you here?" "I was talking to Anon, but I think it's time that Anon tells his side of the story." Wait, what? "Twilight, what are you doing?" You whisper to her. "He only listened to Applejack's story, you should tell your part." Twilight whispers to you. "Are you crazy? This is his sister that we're up against." "Aren't you tired of this? For once, don't you want to put down your fists and just use your words?" "All I know is how to intimidate and insult." "I meant reasoning with him. Just try it." "Twi, why are you helping him out? You know how awful he is." Applejack tries to persuade her to stand her guard down. "Not a chance. His problem is my problem." "But--" "I know that he may have those moments, but he isn't ruthless all the time. Let him tell you his side of the story, Big Mac." Twilight cuts Big Mac off. He gives a slight nod. "You're helping me out." You whisper over to Twilight. "Fine." "So?" AJ asks. "Look, Big Mac, I know that what I did to AJ wasn't the best thing, but do you know why I did that?" "From what I've heard, you attacked her." "Bullshit. Applejack and her friends tried to take turns on beating me up. They were the ones that tried to start it off." "Is that true, AJ?" You have a feeling that she would lie through her teeth just to see you suffer. "Sort of." "What a load of--" "Hold up, we can still do this." Twilight says to you in a low tone voice. "Sort of? It's either a yes or no, Applejack." "Why should I bother to answer any questions? This is Anon we're talking about!" "Getting a little defensive? If it wasn't that much of a problem, you would simply just answer them." Applejack is starting to look heated. "I'm sure Big Mac doesn't even know that you and the rest tried to bully Anon beforehand." Big Mac looks authentically surprised. "Is that true, sis?" Applejack stays silent. "Let's not forget about what you and the rest were planning on Fluttershy." "What?!" AJ shouts. "You dare go against your own friend just because she has 'control'? Seriously?" Big Mac looks at you, lost at what you just said. "Too soon, Anon." Twilight mumbles. "What's going on?" "Just forget about this, let's go." AJ admits defeat, trying to dodge the entire conversation now. "Oh no, you dragged me into this and now I want the truth." Big Mac demands from Applejack. "I'd rather not." She cowers. "Well I'm not doing this, Applejack. In fact, you owe Anon an apology." "Are you serious?!" He stares down his own sister, causing her to back away in fright. "I'm sorry." She forces herself to say while looking away. "We're going to have a talk when we get back home." He nudges her back into the school. "Come on! Are you really going to do this to your own sister!?" "Yup." They enter the school, leaving you and Twilight alone. "I can't believe that worked. Good job there." She rubs the back of her neck. "Thanks, I did learn from you." "That's a surprise. I guess we can learn from each other." You sit back down. "That really was a close call. Let's hope you can keep yourself out of trouble for a while." "I'm not so sure about that." She sits right beside you. "Okay, who is it and how can I help?" "You know me so well." You lay on the grass and stare at the sky. "Knowing you, I would have to tell you every detail about it." "Not necessarily. Give me the general idea of it and I just might be able to give you some sort of solution." You're having doubts on trusting her. Not only is she catching on to your antics, but also the fact that she might turn this around. "I'm not sure, what do you want out of this?" She crosses her legs to get more comfortable. "How about you let go any grudge you have on me from what almost happened back in Vice Principals' office, seems fair to you?" "Looks like a steal for the girl who almost got me expelled, or worse for that matter." She crosses her arms, starting to look irritated from your reminder. "If it completely works, then you'll leave it alone?" "Maybe." "You won't get a better deal than this." She teases. "Fine, let me hear it." "That's silly, you dunce." "What?" "Tell me first, then I can try to help you." Twilight jokes with you. "Okay, this guy wants to be a part of the action by blackmailing me." "Hm, interesting." She sticks the tip of her thumb in her mouth. "Something tells me you can't reason with him, nor bribe him." "Gee, thank you for limiting my options." Her eyes narrow at your somber expression. "Hold on, I'm getting somewhere." She sits there, pondering some sort of idea. "Actually, there might be one solution that just may work." "Really? I just thought about punching the fucker." "No, no. That's just pointless violence. But, we can use your skill to use." "Alright, I'm listening." After some discussion with a debate here and there, you go through Twilight's plan. "Honestly, this is insane, but I like it." "All we need is for you to meet up with him." You pull out your phone. "I can promise you that he would want some sort of arrangement soon. I'll meet up with him later today and see about it." The two of you get up and head back into the school. "Have you seen Pinkie? In a way, I'm terrified if she'll do something to me." You notice a white piece of paper sticking out of your locker. "I haven't seen her the entire morning. Even so, I wouldn't worry about her." As you approach the locker, you grab the paper out of the locker. "Great, I love getting hate mail." You sarcastically say to Twilight. She just rolls her eyes when you read the paper. 'Hiya Nonny! Sorry about my friends and it really is a drag on how most of the school doesn't like you, but I don't! Well, I mean I don't hate you. You get what I mean. I left something inside to show that! Enjoy! -Pinkie Pie' "What does it say?" You ignore Twilight's question and unlock the locker. A dozen cupcakes in a decorative pan sits on top of your schoolbooks. "We don't have to worry about Pinkie Pie." You agree to Twilight's statement from earlier. You and Twilight bite down and relish in the sugary goodness. "You have to admit, she does know her way on baking some delectable sweets!" Twilight mumbles with her mouth full. You finish up your third cupcake. "Yeah, yeah. Listen, we'll catch up later, okay?" She nods and gives a slight waive before taking off. You enter the cafeteria and notice that the table you were sitting at only has a tray. In an angry suspicion, you look over to the group that took your food, only to find out that Fluttershy's tray is the only one that does not have anything in front of her. You march over and stand right beside Rainbow Dash. "What do you want?" She waives around your hamburger. "Give me a good reason on why you shouldn't choke on that." "It's quite simple; our dear friend Fluttershy here wasn't hungry, so she gave it to us out of the kindness of her heart." Rarity answers. You look over to Fluttershy, who is sitting in an awkward position during this discussion. "Is that true?" "Yes." She might have said yes, but her eyes say something else, almost as if she's worried. "You heard her, now leave." Rainbow complains. This isn't right. You can't leave her here. "I just remembered; I need to give her my homework." "Then go get it." Sunset bickers. "The last time I gave her a fake, she slapped me." They look at each other, questioning it by raising their eyebrows. "She wanted to watch me grab out the actual homework from now on." Fluttershy stands up. "He's right." She tries to say in an menacing way. They just watch as you are being led out by Fluttershy. "How did you--" "Wait until we're out of here." Aside from the usual people watching, Norman discreetly points a finger at you. You and Fluttershy made it outside, but continue to walk away from the cafeteria doors for safe measurement. "What the fuck happened in there?" "It wasn't my idea! They pushed me to do it." "How?" She itches the back of her hand. "They wanted to see how far I can take this by proving to them that you belong to me." "So taking my food when I left was enough?" "I had my doubts on grabbing it, but I didn't have much of a choice." "Why did they take it?" "I was already full, but the rest weren't." "And you just gave it to them?" "Well, they sort of asked." "How?" You take all of Anon's food and place it on your tray. This is bad, but Anon should jump on the idea of what's going on, right? You walk back and sit right back down. All of your friends look at you, waiting for you to do something. "So?" Rainbow asks. "What?" "Aren't ya going to eat any of it?" Applejack suggests. "I'm not hungry." It's true, you just ate a small meal a few minutes ago and don't feel like eating anymore. "Care to share some of his stuff?" Sunset encourages you to give up Anon's meal. "Sure, I guess." "Thanks." Rainbow Dash swipes the hamburger right off of your tray. One by one, your tray starts to come into view. Sunset takes the pudding cup, whereas Applejack grabs the apple and Rarity snatches his milk carton. At the end of it all, you're left with nothing. "That's when you came back and noticed--" "That my shit was jacked." You stop by your locker and play around with the lock. "I'm sorry, Anon." "It's fine, you couldn't do anything. HOWEVER, we can string this to our advantage." "How?" With a good tug, you take off your lock and open up your locker. "Follow my lead." "So, how's the cupcake?" She munches down on the fluffy dessert. "Bretty good." The bell rings. "Okay, here we go." She finishes it up and rolls the paper into her leather jacket. You crouch down and shuffle some of your things inside your locker, pretending as if you're looking for your homework. In the distance, there is people walking down the hallway; all of them chatting away about what they're going to do tomorrow and the following weekend. "Hurry up, slowpoke!" Fluttershy shouts out while smacking the back of your head. "Okay, ow." You comment when rubbing the back of your head. "Sorry." She whispers. "Enjoyed your lunch, Anon?" Rarity calls you out from behind. You pull out a sheet of paper filled with chicken scratch and an offensive image on the bottom right corner. "Aside from starving, it could have been better." You get up to hand the paper over to Fluttershy, but notice Rainbow Dash and Rarity standing right beside her. "But really, it's nice that the most powerful girl in the group proves it by feeding the rest." Rarity and Rainbow Dash instantly drop their smirks and replace them with a rather upsetting frown. "It not only shows how dominant she is from all the rest, but how charitable she is to help others." That frown is now much worse, especially with the fact that they are showing some teeth. "Here, Fluttershy." You hand over the paper. "What class is that?" Rarity asks. "English, why?" Fluttershy answers while holding the paper. "I just think that it would be wonderful if you would allow us to have a look at it, wouldn't you agree, Rainbow Dash?" "Uh, yeah!" She follows Rarity's lead. "Fine, just give it back to me after class." Fluttershy then hands over the paper to Rarity. Rarity gains that smug look back, but as quickly that came by, the same could be said as it vanished when she took a look at it. "What is that?" Rarity holds the paper close to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash giggles. "Dick butt." Rarity was so disgusted that she crumpled up the paper and tossed it at the ground. "I couldn't even make out any of that gibberish. It would as if Anon gave you a fake." Once again, she has that smile from before. "What are you going to do about it, Fluttershy?" To their surprise, Fluttershy grabs you by the shirt and pushes you right into the set of lockers. "What did I say!?" She nearly shouts, but it was good since the metal clang is still ringing in your ears. You rub the side of your head and look around, noticing that the people passing by stop for a moment to look at your suffering. Rarity and Rainbow Dash are the ones that are mostly shocked by the outcome. "I don't have it! I thought that you needed math!" Fluttershy grabs your shirt and pulls you in. "Next time, I WON'T be so forgiving." She lets you go. You fumble around, but you manage to keep your balance. "Alright, I'll get it to you--" "Now, Anon." You go back and take out some old math homework. Fluttershy doesn't even bother to look at it as she stuffs it into her jacket. "Is everything fine, Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash asks. "Just Anon here needs some discipline one in a while, isn't that right?" "Yes, Fluttershy." "Sorry, I didn't hear that. What was it?" You rub your thumb around your fingers, trying to focus your fury on something else. This is the part on where you need to swallow your pride, only to keep this going. "Yes, Miss Fluttershy." She has a fiendish smile crawling on her, whereas her friends look disturbed by the whole scene. "We'll, erm, be going now." Rarity uncomfortably says to Fluttershy. "Yeah, don't want to be late for class, do we?" Rainbow Dash slides in a weak excuse. "You never gave a shit about class, Rainbow--" The bell rings. "Welp, now I do. Later, asshat!" She takes off. Rarity follows right behind her and the crowd scatters everywhere. When the hallway checks out to be clear, you and Fluttershy walk around. "When I said make it look convincing, I didn't mean it literally." "Next time, clarify it." "Fine. Maybe next time, I'll give you a glass bottle and we'll go from there." "You really do have a weird sense of humor." Fluttershy states her view on you. "You're not wrong, but that's not the case." You hold the part of your head that slammed into the flimsy, yet hard metal. "Christ, I didn't know you had that much of a throw." You lead Fluttershy to turn left in the upcoming corridor. "Sometimes you shouldn't judge a book by its cover." As the hallway comes into view, Vice Principal Luna is standing right around the corner. "Listen to your friend, Anon, there is a lot in every single one of you." The two of you scoot back from Luna. "Do you need to be creeping up like that?" "Not necessarily, but it comes with practice." "H-hello, Vice Principal Luna." Fluttershy sounds as if it was her usual "frail" self. "Good afternoon, Fluttershy. How's everything at the shelter lately?" Luna shifts her voice into a much more positive manner. You idly stand by, listening to their mundane conversation. "Very well, Anon has greatly improved it for the last few weeks." "I see, I wonder on why that is." Luna subtly mocks. "You seem different, Fluttershy." "Uh, I have been using a new conditioner?" "I suppose so." Luna quickly replies. "This has been an enjoyable conversation, but the two of you need to head for class. I'm sure Anon wouldn't mind going back to doing some physical education, wouldn't you agree?" You know what she's doing, but this isn't the right time or place. You never know if there is someone else watching from the sidelines. "No, I wouldn't mind at all." "That's good. Let's go, Anon. I most certainly wouldn't want you to get lost." She puts a hand on your shoulder and guides you away from Fluttershy. "You want to explain to me on what are you doing?" "Just sending my students back to class." You tried to turn around, but Luna shoved you forward. "Oh no, you're going back to class. I'm sure the rest are eager for another player." Oh shit. As long that it's football, you should be safe. "Spitfire expects you to be outside in four minutes. Get going." You step into the boys locker room, debating if you should just wait in here or possibly bail. They are good ideas to you, but you should stay on Luna's good side for a while. With a half-assed effort, you find your locker and take out your P.E. clothes. You quickly jog outside and stand by a set of cardboard boxes. "What took you so long? You just missed warm-up." Spitfire points to the students who just finished stretching their legs. "Either do some real quick or get in there." You couldn't care less for that, so you joined along with the others. Spitfire takes a box from the small stack and drops it. "For most of you know, we will be playing flag football." She takes out a familiar shaped pig skin and spins it around in one hand. "Rules are the same as the original, only one thing," She reaches into a box and pulls out a belt covered in flags stapled to the sides. "Pull down the flags to stop them IF they are the opposite gender! If they are the same gender, you are clear to tackle them down." Fuck, you expected the other kind of football, not this one! "The team that wins gets full credit for the day. Now, let's get this going. Lightning, Soaren; you two are team captains." She kicks two boxes towards their direction. They take their own box and walk into the open space. For a few moments, they look at you and then to each other. Some of the students begin to chatter, whereas Bulk focuses on his muscles. Spitfire blows her whistle. "Alright, get your teams and lets see some action out there!" She shouts out. "Rock, paper, scissors for who get to choose the advantage." Soaren throws rock, whereas Lightning tosses scissors. "Who do you want first?" Soaren scans over the group and smiles. "Bulk, you're with me." He points at him. "I'll take Coco." Lightning Dust calls her out. You were normally picked out somewhere in the middle, but this time is different. Today, you were the very last to be selected. "Come on, Anon." Lightning Dust says in a low voice. When you walk over to her, she tosses you a worn out belt. "You have a spare?" "Sorry, we're all out." She hands the box back to Spitfire. Fucking bitch. If she was on the other team, you would drag her down, regardless of the rules. They start to huddle up, but Lightning pushes you away. "Wait a minute, we'll tell you what to do later." "This better be good." "It is, trust me." You allow her to share whatever plan she has to the rest of your team. In the pit of your stomach, you sense a bad feeling to what's going on. It might just be a hunch, since she is hiding the game plan away from you and you see that Bulk has a ominous smile over at the other team. "Alright, break!" Lightning chants. "Anon! You stand over at the farthest left side." "Hold up, what am I really doing." "Glad that you asked; when we toss the ball at you, catch it and run towards the goal post." It just can't be that simple. "That's it? No details?" "That's all on you." She slaps your shoulder. "No pressure, we have faith in ya." You stand at your position, quickly stretching your arms. You'll need them prepped for when the football comes over. You can never be too sure on what they have in store for you. You're not ready to let your guard down, and you won't for quite a long time. "Blue, 24!" Lightning shouts out. She scans the crowd, but takes some time when looking at your general direction. "Blue, 24! Hut, hut, hike!" You watch as they work their magic. A good chunk are holding their position. The rest run around, almost as if that they were chickens with their heads cut off. At the corner of your eye, something brown was approaching, and at an alarming rate. You swipe your arm up and bring it down, successfully catching it. "Heh. Wait..." You look around and notice three guys starting to charge at you. "Motherfuckers." "Run, Anon! RUN!" Lightning Dust shouts out, almost as if she was cheering you on. You jump to the side as one leaps over to take you down, but ends up eating the dirt below the grass. As the other one tries to do the same, you run past him and weave to the side. The third one snags your arm, but you counter it by pushing him away. You hear a whistle blowing in the sidelines. "What was that!? I said tackling, not hand-holding!" Spitfire shouts at the other player. "But I wasn't--" "Paying attention!? You TACKLE them down!" Spitfire grunts while walking away. The other player goes back to his team, looking rather heated when he looks directly at you. "Good going there, Anon!" Lightning says in a positive manner. "Looks like we're getting a kickoff for that." "If I didn't push him away, he would have damaged my arm." "Quit complaining, you're being useful for once." She insults you. You'll somehow get her back. "Fuck... this..." Six minutes in and you're sweating like a fat girl at her sisters wedding. Lightning Dust will toss you the football at any chance that she gets, and it's practically non-stop. You've already been tackled down twice and you're not really up for a third time. "Hey, cheer up! We're winning!" Lightning gloats. "How about you give the ball to other people, sounds like a nice idea?" "Ever heard of a phrase; if it ain't broke, don't fix it?" "That has nothing to do with this!" "Tell that to the scoreboard." Okay, that does it. You can either take a few more falls, or play this your way. The former already hurts, including the possibility that you might have a broken rib as of right now. Still, that won't stop you from taking a few of these pricks down. "19! 32!" You prepare yourself in a starting position as Lightning finishes her countdown. "Hut, hut, hike!" She ready's her throw, and so does a small group of guys to take you down. In the far back of it all, Bulk Bicep is set to finish you off. The moment the football flew over, you knew it was game time. You grab the football and go head on to the charging group. After speeding by the first guy, you elbow him in the stomach. When you're speeding past the second guy, you "mistakenly" kick him on the shin. The third and forth did their best to tackle you down from each side, but crashed into one another. Bulk wasn't stopping; in fact, he was speeding up. You tuck the football in your arm and-- Spitfire blows into her whistle. "Hold it, hold it!" She walks over and stands right in between you and Bulk. "This is football, not battle royale!" She snatches the football away and points at the group of guys that are groaning in pain. "Anymore of that and I will take you to the Vice Principal." There's just no way you can win this. She hands the football to Bulk. The group of injured guys get up and sit on the side of the field. "What the heck was that!?" Lightning smacks you upside the head. "Improvising." "Well don't, now they get to start off!" "Too bad." She grunts in anger. "Don't mess this up, Anon, especially when we try to turn this around, you got it?" You're ready to call her out, but stop when something comes to mind. "Yeah, I got it." If she wants a game plan, you're going to give her one. "27! 42! Hut, hut, hike!" Soaren yells out. You try to go between two guys, but they keep you from passing through. Spitfire doesn't even struggle on passing to two girls who barely did much to keep her away. Thunderlane passes by to get Soaren, but he passes it to Coco. Lightning slips the football away from Coco and is more than ready to toss it at you. You back away and run off to get some distance, noticing Cloudchaser is clear and out in the open at the far side of the field. Irregardless of Cloudchaser's existence, Lightning still tosses it to you. Almost immediately, everyone in the opposing team is turning their attention to you. Cloudchaser still waives her arms, demanding for the football. As multiple people run over to take you down, you throw that shit back at Lightning Dust. She fumbles it around, but does catch it and was about to toss it right back, only to rethink that idea when you were tackled down by Nightingale. A part of the opposing team starts to chase her down, but she speeds pass them and heads for the touchdown. The only person that was in her way was Bulk Biceps. She manages to dodge him, but he starts to chase her down. Lightning pushes herself to leap for the touchdown. Bulk follows her by doing the same thing while reaching over to pull down a flag. She manages to score the touchdown and stands up, raising the football to bask in her victory. "AHA!" She gloats. "Not so-- fast?" Bulk questions as he holds out her gym shorts. Everyone, including herself, looks down to see a pair of blue and white striped panties. She covers it by moving the football over her frilly crotch, embarrassed as she takes them back. Spitfire just stares until she snaps out of it when Lightning puts on her shorts. A loud whistling sound blares through your eardrums. "You two; we're going to the vice principals office!" She orders them. "The rest of you; do something active until I get back." You feel proud, ashamed, and flaccid. All of this from watching the two of them leave the field. From where you're standing at, you can see that Lightning is beyond pissed and Bulk is purely ashamed. You slightly cough out of pain from the tackle. Lightning hears it and points at you. "I swear, you'll pay for this!" She screams. You respond by brushing off some grass clippings and showing her the bird. Chapter 8: Out of the Frying Pan...The bell rings. You leave the changing room and head straight for your locker. Someone shoves you inside, but they didn't close the door. "I will beat you to a fucking--" You jump out and raise a fist, but hold it back when you see Twilight is the one who pushed you. "Pulp." "Nice to see you too." You close the locker. "Something that you need?" She looks around, making sure that most of the people aren't focusing on you. "We should move around, just for safety's sake." You follow her down the hallway. "Norman texted me while I was in the locker room. He wants me to meet him later today, right after sunset." "Remember the plan. After that, there's no turning back." "I got it. Anything else?" "Yeah, I wanted to ask if, you wanted..." You see Fluttershy way down the hallway, tossing in a book and grabbing a different one out. In a quick reaction, you push Twi the other way. "What the--!"? "Flutters was down the hallway." You mutter. "Ohh. As I was saying; do you still want to study later today?" "Yeah, the usual?" "Yup." "Fine, I'll bring over my Physics book." "One last thing; was there any chance that you had something to do with getting someone suspended?" "Already, that fast?" "So it was you?" "Hey, I didn't motivate him to pull down Lightning's shorts." "Wow. What did you expect?" You were expecting her to eat a nice batch of fresh soil, but you certainly won't tell Twilight that. "Let her pick up the slack. You would hate it when other people piggyback your success, wouldn't you?" "Fine, you do have a point there. Some people call it ludicrous on the fact that he's suspended by an honest mistake. Looks like the school might be focused on this for a while before they pay their attention right back to you." "A breather for us? Finally." "I'd better head off, I'll see you later." She purposely bumps into you to start a show. "Next time, I want your answers to be PRECISE, I don't care how 'accurate' they are, I demand the exact answer next time!" The students are utterly confused, but it doesn't matter as they shrug it off almost immediately. She walks off, threatening to hit a student with her history textbook. It manages to work as he backs away and raises his own book to cover his face. You enter the living room with two cans of soda. "Lightning vowed to get you back after her undergarments were exposed?" You pass one of the cold cans of soda over to Twilight. "Yup, all I did was give her the middle finger as she was being pushed out of the field." Twilight laughs. "Anon, you're a madman." You swivel the can in your hand. "It's not like she can do anything. Rules and all of that shit keeps me safe. Plus, if she wants to keep that scholarship, she better stay clean." Twilight opens up her can, but ponders a thought. "Aren't you worried about yourself?" "If you want a straight answer, not really." You open up your can. "Why?" You set your can down on the table and sit beside her on the couch. "Aside from mediocre grades and a messy record, I'm not really the type of person who will amount to anything in life." "You could become a wrestler." "The shit I do isn't staged." "What about some sort of fighter?" "I'd like to keep my teeth and bones intact, thank you very much." "So, what will you do after high school?" You never considered that for years. It was always 'I can't wait to get out of high school' but never the afterthought. "I wish I knew." "Hey, it isn't so bad. You can always start off at a community college, do some general classes before working for a career." "Heh, if you haven't noticed but I prefer to stay away from any form of education right after high school." "But, don't you want a better and easier life?" She does have a point. Life can only be hard if you make it that way. There must be something out there for you, but nothing if it involved some sort of degree. "I'll take my chances." You open up your textbook and flip to the current chapter. "Suit yourself." Twilight says when getting out her own textbook. Its been hours since you've started studying with Twilight. Four long, painstaking hours reading and you're exhausted. Hold on, four hours? "I got to go." You slam your book close and stand up. "You have a test tomorrow!" She shouts when you grab your keys. "I know, but I'll be late!" "For what?" You yank the door open. "Norman." "Ohh." She nods. "We'll study later." "When is later?" Twilight asks when you close the door. "Tomorrow!" You run over to your car and start it up. Twilight waives her book around. "Is it necessary to run off like this!?" "I've been waiting all day for this!" You yell with enthusiasm though the window before driving off. "But I-- need a ride home." Twilight says to herself. It's dark, but that won't stop you. You pull up by the closed burger shack and shut off the car. "Took you long enough." Norman appears from the back of the shack. "I was studying and lost track of time." You get out and close the door. "That's a surprise. Was it with that purple girl? Come on, we both know with what you're doing with them." You keep your temper in control from his implications. "Will you stop, there's nothing that's going on between me and them." "Don't mess with me, I know that you're doing this just so that you can get with them." Great, this shit. "Dude, I'm not doing anything like that." "Come on, what other reason are you to being their attack dog?" You have your intentions, but you sure as hell won't tell him. "Nothing to say? Figured." "Just what the hell do you want?" "We can still make this work, and I know how." "Okay then, lay one on me." "I intend to." "Say what now?" "I punch you, go around and gloat about the bruise that you have and that'll make me the one who is in control." "That's crazy." "But it'll work." "You'll get suspended!" "So? I need a vacation. Plus, I might get that purple girl to tutor me during it." You crack the knuckles in your left hand by using nothing but your thumb. "I mean, since you're not interested in her or anything like that, right?" He slightly mocks. "Unless, if you have something against it, I'm sure we can discuss about your other friend." He pulls out his phone. "So, what'll it be?" Okay, you're done with negotiation. You snag the phone out of his hand. "HEY!" He reaches for it, but stops when you grab his arm. "Wha--" You yank him to the floor and pin him down. As Norman is laying on the asphalt, he squirms around, trying to break free. You set your foot over his left leg and prepare yourself. "You better stop or--" With all of your might, you send your foot down and stomp on his thigh, smashing right through the femur. As he lets out a painful scream, you let go of him and watch Norman grab his damaged leg. "What in the fuck is wrong with you!?" He cries out. "It's simple, either you give me the passcode to unlock the phone, or it's going to be your kneecap next." You approach him, but he quickly puts up his hand up to stop you. "Okay! Okay, the code is three-one-three-one." You press in the code and you are greeted with his home screen. "How do I delete the photos out of the cloud?" "I swear, I'll--" You bring your foot up and set it on the side of his knee. "ALRIGHT! Just, give it to me, and those photos are gone, okay!?" He tears up, trying to hold it back from sliding out of his eyelids. It was practically icing on the cake for you, all you need is for him to get rid of these photos. It took him a while for him to do his part, what with all the wincing and leg holding that he constantly did. In the end of about a minute, he managed to delete it all. You swipe around his phone, making sure not one photo is saved anywhere. Aside from a stash of porn, he had nothing. "Are we square now!?" He shouts. "Yeah, we're fine." You lower his phone, but keep it away at an arms reach. "But, not just yet." "Come on, what more do you want!?" "It's not what I want, but rather, what you want." "The fuck are you going on about!? I'm not going to call the police!" "I know. You just need to follow everything that I say, and both of us will get away scot-free." "Fine, whatever! Tell me already so that I can get to the hospital!" You put the phone in your pocket and help him up. "What are--" "Just get in my car and I'll drive you to the intersection." "Are you going to finish me off!?" He panics. "The fuck is wrong with you? I'm not going to do that. I'm going to drop you off, you call nine-one-one, they come to pick you up, you claim that it was a hit-and-run, and we call it a night." "What if they ask details?" You slowly guide him to the backseat. "Say that you were on your way for a burger, but someone hit you and ran off. It was all a blur and happened too fast for you to get anything." "This is insane!" "It's not. Just say that you couldn't get a good look at the license plate and it was too dark for you to see the color." You set him down. "I can't believe you did this, just for a set of pictures." "Hey, you wanted to be something and now you are." "I'm going to use a fucking crutch for the next few weeks!" "But, people will give you sympathy points." "What?" "You have a broken leg; girls normally feel bad when a guy gets into an accident. When no one knows who did it, they even feel more sad for you. The sadder they get, the closer you are to any of them." He scratches his chin. "Yeah, I can work with that." "Hey, they can also write down their numbers on that sweet cast that you'll have." "Oh ha-fucking-ha!" "What? I'm just looking at the positives." "Just drop me off already!" "Suit yourself." You close the door and hop into the drivers seat. The noisy alarm on your phone goes off. You slam the button on your phone and sit up. What a night. Norman's screaming stayed in your mind, keeping you up for what had seemed like hours but it was only twenty minutes. Ever since Twilight told you her plan, you were excited to snap his leg into two, but it has been a disappointment from last night. It will eventually pass, besides, he was going to ruin your hard work. At least it's a Friday, so today should be a damn good day. You throw your blanket on the side and slide out of bed. Norman, Bulk, Lightning, even Applejack and her friends should step off now. After your performance from yesterday, there is no way that they can come back. As the day passes by, it slowly becomes the best day out of this week. The Physics test didn't seem like a problem, Norman's screaming is fading into obscurity, not that many glares passed by, even Fluttershy's friends haven't said anything for the last four hours. You close your locker and walk, heading for your next class, wondering about what kind of pizza you'll get in the cafeteria in an hour from now. Pepperoni, extra cheese... that's pretty much it. Still better than Taco Tuesday, you still wonder on how Sonata can stomach those tacos. Out of nowhere, Rainbow Dash grabs you by the shoulder and stops you. "Do you still think that we're going to back down and give up?" "If you had common sense, you would have a long time ago." "Well let me tell you something - we're not going to stop. Don't even think for a minute that you're untouchable." Great, now people are watching you get talked down by Rainbow. So much for a perfect day. "Here's what you need to learn; if you stop with this shit, you'll be able to keep your spine aligned." "Do you want to toss in another broken chair?" Sunset asks when approaching you. "You know that it'll be more than a broken chair next time, Sunny." "Don't you dare call me that." She threatens in a low voice. "Whoops, sorry. Forgot that the only person that ever loved you said that." She lunges at you, but stops when Rainbow Dash grabs her by the waist. "Hey, hey!" "Say that one more time and I'll--" "Cry? It almost looks like you're tearing up." She tries to push herself forward, failing as Rainbow Dash keeps her down with the aid of Applejack that has her holding back. "He isn't worth it, Sunset!" Shimmer stops to straighten her shirt. "D-darn you..." Applejack rests a hand on her shoulder and guides her away from you. "You'll have your comeuppance, ya hear me!?" Rainbow Dash shouts at you. "Oh great, you learned a word that has three syllables. Nice to know that you're actually learning in class now!" She hides her anger by turning back around, walking away with her friends. "I swear, you're becoming even more of a brute than before!" Rarity blocks you from entering the cafeteria. "I just want my pizza, damnit." You complain. "Too bad, you'll--" "Get what I deserve, feel the wrath of you and your friends, so on and so fourth. Are we done?" "Uh, not yet." "What else do you have to say?" Rarity raises a finger and takes a deep breath, but takes a pause. She scratches her cheek. "You win this one." She moves to the side. "Wait! Don't you dare continue with insulting my friends!" You leave your hand on the door. "Why? I'm having so much fun." You taunt before entering the cafeteria. You grab a tray and plate. Without any hesitation, you grab one slice of each. Fuck choosing, no purpose on starting now. You can burn some cash for another slice. The only downfall is what might happen when she comes over. You head over for the usual secluded table and enjoy a few bites out of your pepperoni slice. Over at the girls table, it looks like there is some trouble. You can't hear their conversation, but whatever it is, it doesn't look good for them. "What do you mean you quit!?" Rainbow Dash almost screams. "Shh!" Rarity tries to keep her quiet. "I'm done, I have no intentions on continuing with this shtick." "This isn't a shtick, this is more than that, and you know it." "Yeah, but I'm calling it quits before it gets worse." "Psht, what caused you to coward out?" You rub your still sore bottom when she asked that question. "My plan backfired, that's all you need to know." "Seesh, AJ. So much for you never quitting. I expected better from you." Rainbow further insults you. "Rainbow Dash!" Rarity exclaims. "Don't even bother, Rarity, I don't see you trying anything." RD turns her aggression on her now. "I am! It's not exactly easy to plan with a pepper spray and a bra." Rarity defends herself. "Why do you want to humiliate him so badly?" Sunset asks. "Humiliation is the first step on breaking him." Rarity reveals her plan. "Yeah, must be great for you to pick out a training bra in the worst color you can possibly think." Rainbow rags on her idea. Rarity slams her hands on the table. "I'll show all of you! It will be more than that!" She grabs her bag and leaves the table without saying a word. "What's happenin' party people?!" Pinkie Pie enthusiastically says when sitting down with Twilight. "Nothing, but I think I'll need a walk." Rainbow gets up and leaves. "Rainbow, what's wrong?" Pinkie asks. "She probably needs some time to herself." Sunset talks for Rainbow. "She looks mighty steamed. It's not our fault that she can't play for squat now." "You're right. I'll go and try to talk to her." Sunset stands up. "But you haven't even touched your food." Twilight informs her. "You keep it." She brushes it off and goes away with Rainbow. "But--" "Leave her, Twi." You grab Shimmer's apple. "Sunset will take care of it." "I should throw a small party for the seven of us this weekend. You know, try to get this silly thing about Nonny out of everyone's mind." Pinkie tries to brighten the mood. "I think it'll take more than a party to get them to move on, Pinkie." Twilight highlights. "Then I'll have to bring something strong." Pinkie Pie says in a more serious tone. Twilight scoots away from her. "I need to use the restroom." Since you haven't used the bathroom for the entire morning, you really aren't lying. "Oki then. Has anyone seen Fluttershy?" Pinkie wonders. You watch as they slowly disband. Must be some trouble in paradise. You take a sip out of your milk carton and wonder what's up with them. Whatever. It looks like they will focus on each other, meaning that you might be right; they might back off with everyone else. You keep on drinking until someone steals your milk carton. In a rapid reaction, you get up to threaten them, but stop when it was Fluttershy who is testing you. "Not so fast." She holds the milk away from you. "Where's my money?" You've prepared for this; hide the actual cash by strapping it to your leg and the chump change in your pocket. You pull out two dollars and a few cents. With a shred of regret, you hand it over to her open hand. "This isn't much." She balls it in a fist. "I'm starting to get angry, Anon." "L-look, I bought some pizza. I couldn't help myself." She stuffs it into her jacket and then grabs you. "You're starting to disappoint me. First the homework, now with giving me scraps?" She gives you a ghastly stare that is actually unsettling. "Are you're trying to play with me!?" "N-no! I'm--" She pours the carton of milk over your head. "Stalling. You better give me a lot more the next time." She tosses the empty carton at you. "Enjoy your pizza." She takes your pepperoni pizza and heads back to her table. You're confused, conflicted~~, and somewhat aroused~~ with what she just did. You wipe the milk off your face and sit down. "What in the fuck..." You mumble to yourself. You take the nearest napkin dispenser and use up a few napkins to dry yourself off. You're aware of the people looking, but you don't care. At this point, you don't even mind it. The more that they watch Fluttershy tightening the collar on you, the more that they will know that she means business. But this is more than that. This was over the line, at least by her. Although, you should have hinted that when she hit your head into the lockers yesterday. Something must have changed and you need to know soon. For now, you're dragging some people down by shit talking them on an image board. You take out your phone in one hand and grab the other slice of pizza with the other. Let's see on what you can stir up with these-- "Hey! Hey, you!" Some kid with glasses runs up to you, all out of breath. "What do you want?" ”You’re the one who owns a rundown gray sedan?” “Yeah, what about it?” ”It’s on fire.” “WHAT?!” You run out, speeding through the hallways. He must be joking. If not, then what are the chances of it being your car? There are other cars like yours out in the parking lot. Maybe not, but still, it could happen to anyone else. When you barge right through the doors, you gaze at your own car, set aflame from all others. Other students come right out to watch as you slowly approach it, unaware of the sirens off in the distance. "Everyone, back up!" Vice Principal Luna shouts at the onlooking students. You just stand there, watching as your car is torched by someone who finally had their revenge. Vague thoughts flow through you, such as who did it, why, and is this more than just revenge? Is it a message? Faint sounds of high heels rapidly clicking on the pavement suddenly gets louder and louder until someone grabs you by the arm. "Let's go, Anon." Luna commands. You don't even fight it and mindlessly walk with the vice principal. Chapter 9: Desperate Measure"The longer you're here, the more I question on why I haven't taken precautions earlier." Luna says while pacing the floor. "Because you watch as if the school was a jungle instead of a zoo?" She stops to eye you. "If this place was such, it would at least be under control!" "That's what I--" "I know what you said!" She infuriatingly says without shouting. "I can't believe this, any of it!" "Hey, you're not the only one who is surprised that someone firebombed my car!" "For any reason." She adds on. "You have made a lot of people upset, so it may as well be anyone in the school." "Tell me something new." "How about this; I think it's time to look at some alternatives." She opens up a drawer and rifles through it. "Like...?" "A different school." Your heart jumps. "So what, are we talking about Crystal Prep?" "I don't think they will appreciate a student like you." You brush off her blatant insult and rest easy in your chair. She pulls out a set of papers. "You're going to Fairbailey." "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!?" You jump out of your chair. "Settle down, Anon." "That's a trade school! No way am I going there." "Anon, the fire department is still trying to remove your front bumper off of the pavement." "This will be an interesting talk with my parents." "Speaking of which, I have called them to talk about today's catastrophe." You rub your hands on the sides of your forehead. "This isn't good." "Don't look at it so badly. We can get you out of this environment filled with hostility and go somewhere that you might be more suited to." Someone knocks on the door. "That must be them." When she opens the door, your mom and dad walk in. "What did you do this time, Anon?" Your father sounds unsympathetic. "I didn't do anything this time." "Then why are we here?" Your mother questions. "Mr. and Mrs. Mous, you may want to sit down for this." Luna informs. After some explaining overtime... "WHAT!?" Your father shouts in shock. "B-but, it can't be." Your mother includes her thoughts on the fact that your car was the charred car that the firefighters are loading onto a flatbed truck. "I'm afraid so. There are multiple students that have a certain type of hatred on him, so it could be any one of them." Luna informs your parents about the chances of any suspects. "Then start an investigation with the police!" Your mother panics. "I'm afraid not." "Why not!?" "Because Anon would be in as much trouble as the rest." Luna exposes. "I have covered Anon from the police because it would drag down our most favored students. They could be serving jail time." "This is absurd! What kind of vice principal are you!?" Your mother insults Luna. "Tell me about it." You mutter. "Will you give me a chance to speak!?" Luna sounds defensive. "We can fix this, for all of us." "How!? Our son's life is on the line!" Your father highlights. "It doesn't need to be when he is attending a different school." Luna says. "Honey, we can't afford Anon to go at Crystal Prep Academy." Your mother grabs your fathers arm as she says this. "You don't need to, we can send him to a trading school." Luna tosses her idea in. Your parents seem devastated by the idea. "Isn't there any other school he can attend?" Your dad wonders. "Not in this school district. If you want, I can get you the paperwork to transfer over." Your parents look at each other. "I--" "Dad, you seriously can't be thinking about this." You interrupt. "They burned your car to the ground, what else are we supposed to do!?" Luna pulls out a set of papers that is three times the size of the previous set. "This is the transfer papers for Anon to enter the district. We can start on it and when it's done, I can send it imme--" "Mom, you don't need to--" "Stop. Anon, you were attacked." "By girls!" Wait... "I mean, they ganged up on me!" "That's how dangerous it is for you to stay here! At least you'll be somewhere safe." Your mother ended calmly. "My thoughts exactly. At least Anon will be somewhere safe and filled with a school that might tolerate him a bit more." You've heard about this school, but thought it was a rumor about its existence. The students here were failing beyond recovery, along with some thugs and pregnant girls. The type of students that were tossed into a hidden environment. This is bad, but not as bad as it'll be when you're gone and Fluttershy is left without her bouncer. They will chew her up -- and by they, it may as well be the entire school. She has them locked in fear back in the animal shelter, but with you gone, they might grind her into dog food. Well, the one person who turned your car into a BBQ. They are practically a guarantee. Luna pushes the papers over to your parents, along with a pair of pens. You need a reason to stay here, at any cost. Your mom's pen clicks. "Wait," She holds it in midair. "I can't leave." "Anon--" "Are you insane!?" Your mother nearly screams while interrupting your dad. "You're not safe here." "I knew that ever since the beginning!" You shout back at her. She is taken aback by your outburst. "Son, you better calm down now." Your father slowly but intently spells it out for you, almost as if he is trying to reason with a criminal. "I've worked too hard for this, and I'm not going to leave it." "What are you going on about? There is nothing that you've done here!" Your mother urges on. "That's not true. Vice Principal Luna, can you pull up my grades?" Just like your parents, she is dumbfounded by your request. "Why do you need them?" "To show that I have done some improvements." A minute goes by of Luna going through the school records to find you. "There," She spins the laptop around. "I hate to admit this, but Anon isn't lying. He has been improving ever since he was getting tutored by one of our students." Your mother fiddles with her pen, whereas your father squeezes his. "It even shows that he aced his test from earlier today." Your mother sounded astonished from viewing your Physic's report. "It's going to take more than a recent grade spike." Your father isn't moved by this. This might get measured real fast when you bring it up, but there isn't any other choice. "Dad," He looks at you, expecting a good explanation for you to stay here. "I can't leave her." Your mom and Luna snap their heads over to you. "Her?" Your mother emphasizes. "Yes. I've been focused on so much just so that I could impress her, and I don't want to lose it all just for whoever has a grudge on me." Your parents gaze at each other, unsure about their choice. "I'm not sure." Your father is still unnerved. "Honey, remember on how motivated you were when you saw me?" "But that's different." "It still doesn't excuse the crazy stuff that you did for me." Your mother puts the pen back on the desk. Meanwhile, your father still stares at the pen in his hand. "I can't take away Anon's chance of finding someone." He puts it right beside the other pen sitting on the desk. "If that's what you want, then fine." Luna takes the paperwork and pens back. "But," Your mother raises a finger. "We're still going to do something about this." "Believe me, I'll do everything in my power to--" "Oh no, we're going to get the police involved." "Mrs. Mous, I'd advise you not to do that." "I'm afraid to say that I have made my choice. It's clear that you cannot manage this situation." "Mom--" "Don't patronize me, Anon. If you're going to stay, we should prevent this from going any further." Your mother gets off of her seat. The moment that she stands by the door, she looks at Luna. "We're going to put a stop to this by placing it in the right authorities." "Even if it will risk your son serving jail time?" Luna questions. "That's a risk I'm willing to take." She turns the doorknob and heads out. You start to stand up, only to stop when Luna interrupts. "No sense in leaving, Anon, the police will be here shortly to interrogate you, and then the rest." "What makes you say that?" "Just a wild guess if your mother is going to head into the parking lot to discuss about this matter. You may as well wait." You do, since who know what might be happening around school about the whole event. Three minutes pass by to find out that the vice principal was right. Two officers enter the room and they keep you in the corner of their eyes. "Vice Principal Luna." The much taller officer addresses her. "Officer Monroe." She replies. "May we have the room for the next half hour?" You just noticed that he is carrying a folder in his hand. "A few minutes is all you'll need after getting it from him." She heads on out of the room. Officer Monroe nods to his buddy and walks out with the vice principal. "Okay son, mind telling me on who in the right mind would burn your car?" "Am I a victim or some sort of suspect?" "Depends on how we go from here on. Not that many people do these sort of things without a good reason." He pulls a chair and turns it over to face you. "Just like you, I'm here to find out who would do this, and to do that we need to go from the beginning." He flips open the folder and takes out a pen. "We would have to go back by a few weeks." "We have the rest of the day to tell your story." "But what did my parents tell you?" "Nothing much, except that there is a certain group of individuals that have a certain type of interest for you." You sigh. "It started off at lunchtime..." Six minutes have passed by. You just told him the very simplified version of your side of the story, but you were sure to include any segments involving the girls and nothing else that might get you into some serious problems. "Anything else?" "Nope." You reply with confidence. Monroe clicks his pen. "This will be off the record -- why?" "Why what?" "Why do any of this?" He closes the folder. You certainly aren't going to tell him it's all for shits and giggles. With a burning sensation sitting in your chest, you look him in the eye. "It's for this girl, that's all." He briefly pinches his nose before scratching the side of his head. "I swear, you kids and your hormones these days." Monroe adds his thoughts on your reason. "In the end, this better be worth the price that you've made." He starts to get up. "Wait, that's it? You're not going to slap the handcuffs on me?" "Not as of this moment. We need to get the rest to talk about their sides of the story. We also need their statement about today's matter," He turns the doorknob. "We'll talk to you soon." He walks outside. "You were right, a few minutes was all I need." Judging by the tone of his voice, you can tell how warming this will turn out to be. "Next time, vice principal, don't let anything go by." You hear him try to keep it between the two of them. Luna enters with a sickening stare and just blows right past you. "Your parents are waiting outside, Anon. They want to talk before you head back into class." She sits on her chair and rotates to face the wall. You head for the hallway containing nothing but your parents. Your mother runs up to hug you. It stops when you complain in pain. "Was the hug too rough?" "Just a football injury, nothing else." Your father smacks the side of your right arm. "That's my boy." He relishes his son standing against the pain. "Trying to stand tall for your purple friend, I see." "Hold on, I had the impression that he would be doing it for Fluttershy." "What makes you say that?" Your father asks. "I've seen on how his tutor has been for the last few days." "But Anon did visit the animal shelter even before we gave him the punishment." Your mother reminds him. "Anon, who are you interested in?" Author's Note Who do you think it will be? Chapter 10: Heated AllianceYou struggle with yourself, deciding on who it should be. Twilight seems to be friendly, helpful, and trying something with you aside from being a study partner. Fluttershy isn't herself, not from what you can reflect on. She was nervous, anxious about the whole ordeal with being framed and what she felt on bullying you. Now she's practically vile and malicious with it all. In the end, you couldn't care less for either one, but you may as well go for the one that seems probable to your parents. "It's Twilight." "I knew it," Your dad boasts. "I knew it in my gut, and it's never wrong." "I'm still waiting on how that investment you made months ago will pick up." Your mom tries to provoke him. "The stock market is very fickle, it'll pick up." "If you say so, dear. I swear, Fluttershy sounded like a nice girl over the phone. I wish I had the chance to meet her in person." You're not so willing with the idea of your parents meeting the person that's bullying you. Better off to stay with Twilight. At least, for now. "Sorry mom, Twilight's just compelling in her own way." "So, what makes her attractive, specifically speaking?" Your mother asks. "Erm, it's hard to think right off the bat." "I can wait until it comes right back to you." Damnit, you're better off heading back to class rather than dealing with this. "She's smart and I like the purple streak in her hair." "Even though that is obvious, I can't control your taste in girls," Your mother adjusts the strap on her purse. "You should get back to class, me and your father still have work to do." You head off to-- "And Anon," Your father stops you in your tracks. "We'll talk about your car later." "Sure, that's fine." As you travel through the hallways, it feels lackluster in conversation between people. Just whispers going through three people at its highest and the rest are not talking at all. Today must have put a spook throughout the school, knowing that someone is out for you and intend on doing more. You slightly worry on the idea and wonder on who it might be. That wonderment ends when you receive a text message by Fluttershy. 'Meet me across the street, we need to talk.' You exit the school and look over the groups of students to spot Fluttershy leaning on a stop sign across the street. You don't waste any time to meet up with her, the last thing that you probably want is for her to walk over here and cause another scene. "Hi, Anon." "Hey, you sound upset." She shrugs when standing upright. "I didn't give you an apology about my recent outbursts." "Forget it, some shouting and a slight headache isn't much to me." "It's just that, I wanted to do that to everyone else, but with what you said back in the hallway, it still bothers me." "Just stick to the plan. If people see you beating me down, they are sure as hell don't want to feel any of it. Keep that in mind." "They deserve it, not you. It's time that I start to put it on them." She really is getting fussy about this. "Isn't it enough at the animal shelter?" "It is. I tell them to do something and they do it without a second thought. I just feel like they get what's coming to them." "Maybe, but we don't want to start an uprising." "Then what was that during lunch, right after I left with the donation?" You almost forgot that this entire thing was also for the animals instead of your amusement. At least it's for a good cause. Oh, right. Her question. "A setback." "Anon, they turned your car into a bonfire." "I know. Whoever it was must have finally made their revenge." "What if they want more? What if I'm next?!" "Relax. If they were after you, they would have done that a while ago." "I can't relax! I don't want anything to happen with the animals!" "Slow down, what are--" "If they are after you, they might be after me later! I mean, if they can go for your car, they might go for the shelter!" She's starting to get loud. Anymore and the people across the street will hear her. You grab her by the arms and pull her in. "Listen to me very carefully; they won't go for your animals, and I'm more than sure that they will only go for me. Okay?" You don't even need to think twice about what you're doing, you just thought up an idea. "Now, I want you to slap me--" She then moves her left arm out to slap you across the face. You let go, nearly jumping back in the process. "Ow." You say when rubbing your cheek. "Uh, sorry?" "You couldn't let me finish my sentence?" "T-they were looking, I swear!" "It's fine. We should go somewhere else." She nods. You and Fluttershy stroll away from the campus, passing by any of the people that are from your school. There's no question that you need to find somewhere else to do anything private, now that your car is gone and the outskirts of town isn't an option. Since it is Friday, everyone will be at the movies, mall, arcade, even the restaurants will be packed. You sure as hell do not want to head over to your place, since you marked Twilight as a person of interest and it would be hard to explain why Fluttershy is there. Fluttershy's place isn't viable. Her parents aren't too keen with the idea of having a guy at her place. The shelter is handled with a few people, one of which is scheduled to be Lightning Dust, so that's a no-go. Only one place that you can think that they wouldn't go to, the park. Hidden in plain sight, just what you need. "Are you sure about this, Anon? What if anyone sees us?" "Trust me on this. Only old people and unattended children visit parks nowadays." "I'm not sure if that was a joke, Anon." You decided to stay silent and keep walking until a birdbath catches your eye. "Look on the bright side, birds will come by once every while to take a bath." "You didn't answer my question." She didn't buy it. No point on trying to avoid it. "It depends on how you look at it. Everyone has their sort of humor." "I guess." You and Fluttershy find a suitable bench to sit on. "I wanted to say that I'm sorry about what happened to your car." "That wasn't you who did that, so you don't have any reason to apologize." She shuffles around on her side of the bench. "I feel as if this is all my fault." "How?" "The fights, the suspensions, your car is now gone, all of it." You can tell that she sounds awful about this realization. She sounds like her old self. You're tempted to ask what she was over the last few days, but do you want to risk breaking her back into that state of mind? You will hold onto it for now and make use of what is left of her. "You can live with it." "I can't!" She breaks. "I just can't keep going on with this, not if you're in danger." "I'm not in danger of anything. I barely have anything to lose." "Barely. What do you have left?" "My health, my family, a roof over my head, and you." Fluttershy brights up when you mention her. "M-me?" "Yeah. I mean, there are those that sort of like me." "O-oh," It dims down. "Who?" "There is Pinkie Pie and Twilight." She gets irritated at the moment that you mention Twilight's name. "Right, her." She leans back, trying to shove off the topic by looking at the fountain. Great, she's in that mood. Now you're completely unsure to ask about her attitude. It's either that or whatever is around here, and it isn't much. There is the fact that your parents now know that you prefer Twilight, but do you really want to try messing around with fire? Still, as long that she doesn't ask, you should be in the clear. "Hey Anon, how come we couldn't go to your house?" Fucking hell, should you tell her the truth or spin off a lie? Better off to spin off some truth. Your parents definitely want to have a chat with you about the car, so there's that. "My family is pretty upset about the car, I don't want to risk talking about it if there is the slightest chance of them staying at the house." "Hm, can't we just walk over to check?" "Oh no, the moment that they look past the curtains is the moment that they'll drag my ass inside." "Fine, you've made your point." Few, now you just need to stall some time and have her relax. "Anon, do you want to do something later?" "I don't want to help out the animal shelter. At least, not for the weekend." You seriously need to catch up in something, one of your dipshit friends is catching up in the leaderboards and you need to spawn kill another. "I was going to ask if you wanted to go somewhere and just talk, but if you need some time to yourself, then fine." "But, we are doing that. As of right now." "I mean, in a different term." You might be spotting something differently, but she's hinting at it for you quite clearly. "Oh." "So, we could do it maybe tomorrow or Sunday. We can just meet up somewhere and talk over--" "Anon!" You turn around in your seat to see Twilight jogging down the stone path. Shit, shit, shit! This is the very last thing that you needed. "Anon, what's--" "Hey, Twi!" You get up and walk away to try and talk with Twilight in private. "What the hell are you doing here?" "You never responded to any of my messages, so I followed you to the park." She waives her book around. "It is later, so I thought that you wanted to get a crack for next week's test." You should have been more detailed about the whole "later" aspect. That's not much of a concern, what is a concern is how Fluttershy will react if Twilight doesn't leave soon. "Can we do it tomorrow? Today isn't good for me." "Anon, I know. Your car is gone, but those tests won't stop until the end of the school year." "It's more than that. It's Fluttershy." You whisper. "It's what?" Fluttershy intrudes your personal space. "Fuck! It's a day to relax?" You fib out. "You need to practice on your lying, Anon." Fluttershy stand in front of you and looks directly at Twilight. "What did Anon say, Twilight?" You shake your head and word out 'Don't tell her a goddamn thing'. Twilight notices, but so does Fluttershy. In the nick of time, you stop before she was able to see a glimpse of it. "Tell me, Twilight. What did Anon really say?" Twilight is clearly wedged between you and Fluttershy, but she breaks down and unravels it. "It was you, Fluttershy." "Me?" She questions. "What's so bad about me that you need to keep quiet, Anon?" She keeps her eyes focused on you. Her threatening stare numbs you. "I-I'm terrified of you?" She starts to smile and laughs. "Anon, we were acting in school." "The back of my head and stained shirt says otherwise." "You know I needed to make it look good." "Wait, did she really hurt you, Anon?" Twilight asks. "This doesn't involve you, Twilight." "Just like you, Anon in my friend. If anything happens to him, I want to know." Fluttershy turns back to Twilight. "Did you forget that I got to Anon first?" "No, I didn't. But what you're doing to him is a bit extreme, don't you think?" You jump in between them. "Hey, we should go for some shaved ice, huh? I'll buy, how does that sound?" "Stay out of this, Anon. Extreme? I barely did anything to him!" "The bruise on the back of his head is a different story." "It was a push! Do we need to over exaggerate it?" "STOP!" Twilight holds her breath. "It doesn't even matter, I'm fine and still walking. Stop making a big deal out of it and let's go." Both of them look off to the side, avoiding to look at the other. "I could go for a snack." Twilight grabs on to your suggestion. Fluttershy is tempted, but still irritated from the argument. "I want cherry." Chapter 11: Troubled Road AheadYou mix the ice that is settling in the plastic cup. Twilight stirs her around, mixing the flavored juice with the shaved ice so that it can even out. Fluttershy started out the same way but she’s now smashing it into bits by jabbing the spoon down. Judging by the way she looks, Fluttershy lost her mind over a chunk of ice. “Hey, hey!” She ends it and gives you the look. “It’s just ice.” Twilight chews on hers in the sidelines. ”It’s more than just ice, Anon!” The guy starts to push his cart away while holding the bell, trying to stay unnoticed. Twilight finishes her spoon. ”What’s wrong?” “What’s wrong? YOU’RE what’s wrong, Twilight!” The guy starts to speed walk away. Twilight was close to dropping her cup. “What did she do?” ”Yeah, what did--” ”It was suppose to be me and Anon, no one else.” Fluttershy interjects. “We can do that another day.” ”Are you sure Twilight won’t butt in like she did?” ”It was an honest mistake! How was I supposed to know that you and Anon were going to be alone?” You are more than ready to put the blame on yourself. Seeing Twilight like this is starting to worry you. Shit, you really are getting sensitive. Worry about that later, Twilight is under some heavy fire for ruining Fluttershy’s day. ”Didn’t Anon tell you anything?” Fluttershy asks. They look over, both irritated by your ignorance. So much for Twilight getting the heat. “After the first five or so messages that Twilight spammed, I knew that putting my phone on silent wasn’t enough, so I fazed out any message that came from her.” ”You didn’t bother sending me a message, at all?” “No disrespect, Twilight, but I have other things to do!” ”Is it so hard to send one simple message?!” “You’re talking to the guy who barely knows how to do basic elimination in equations!” Twilight and Fluttershy are startled from your outburst. “Why do you think I make snarky remarks every now and then?” ”For the fun of it?” Fluttershy answers. “That, and the fact that I do not think any of it through.” Twilight and Fluttershy look at each other and nod. ”We should have figured that out ages ago.” Twilight comments. “Hey!” ”At least we have each other.” ”Yeah…” Fluttershy complains. You toss your empty cup inside the nearest trash can. “Now what?” ”Now we try to figure out on who is insane enough to burn your car.” Twilight tosses hers away. Fluttershy has been looking at Twilight and her cup. ”Are you done?” ”Huh? Oh, yeah.” She crumples up the cup before tossing it away. “Who would do it to Anon, Twilight?” ”Who wouldn’t is the better question.” ”I hate it when you do that.” Fluttershy mutters to herself. ”It’s a good question, the entire school is hunting Anon down.” ”Most importantly, our friends.” Fluttershy emphasizes. ”Right, them as well. Anon, we need to talk about everyone that hated you.” “From the beginning?” You sigh. “Let’s get this done.” You told them each and every person so far. Applejack tried to get her revenge with her big brother, but that Sunset is still upset over on how you not only tugged her heartstrings, but basically ripped them out by now. No question on the fact that Dash is still pissed over the fact that you test her intelligence. Rarity does what little she can to impose as a threat, even though the worse has already happened a long time ago. Bulk must be clueless about what you lured him into. You do hope that he has a set of weights at his home, only to keep him busy and away from school for his suspension. Lightning is a mystery - she did say that ‘you’ll pay for it’ even though she damn well knows that she can kiss her ticket into a university goodbye. If Norman’s smart enough, he should be out of the game by now. At least for the next few days to weeks. You might pay him a friendly visit, just to see on how he’s dealing with the painkillers. As for the rest of the school, you haven’t done anything bad to them directly, excluding the few guys back in football, but they shouldn’t matter. ”Quite a list you have there, Anon.” Twilight says as she writes in her notebook. "I can’t believe that you were able to bother so many in such a short time.” “I tell ya, I’m making more friends each day.” ”You always knew how to rile them up, Anon.” Twilight smirks. “With this extra information, and today’s commotion at lunch, I should start knocking down some names.” “What was that? You and your friends made some sort of show back there.” After some explaining, it’s all clear to you. “I’m betting 50 big ones on Rainbow.” ”Now hold on! Don’t jump into conclusions just yet. It still could be anyone.” Twilight still follows through her strategy. ”I’m not sure, you know how easy it is to set Rainbow off.” Fluttershy reminds Twilight. ”Did you forget on how Sunset reacted to Anon after he mentions about Flash?” Twilight compares Sunset’s temper problem with Rainbow Dash’s. ”I haven’t, but we know how Rainbow can be.” Fluttershy holds on to Rainbow for being the hot headed one. ”And there’s Rarity.” Twilight moves on the list. “How she acted was more than the usual melodramatic way.” “What did she say?” ”Something along the lines of ‘I'll show all of you! It will be more than that!‘ after Rainbow Dash mocked Rarity’s plan.“ “What was it? Something about me wearing some clothes, wasn’t it?” ”It was nothing but you and a bra.” “That’s it?” ”It may as well be just that and nothing else on you.” Twilight goes into her own ideas of what Rarity might do. ”There’s no way it could be Rarity, could it?” ”I don’t know, she was awfully passionate about her animosity for it all.” “We can’t rule out anyone that might have done it. Even by the slightest threat, they count.” Twilight nods as she continues writing down some notes in her notebook before closing it. ”That’ll be it for the day, I should go.” “But it’s only five o'clock.” ”I know, but I need to leave you and Fluttershy doing… whatever you guys did before I arrived.” She tosses her notebook inside her backpack before getting up. ”We were having a private conversation.” ”Now you can resume whatever it may be. If it was that important, you should pick up on where you left it.” Twilight leaves Fluttershy with an obvious insult before waving to you. ”I--” Fluttershy stops when she sees you waving back. “What?” Chapter 12: Bad BloodShe glares at you for some time before walking off. “I was just waving to her.” You catch up and walk with her. Fluttershy stays silent until she snaps. ”Why did you!?” “It was a wave! What’s rattling your cage?” ”It’s Twilight.” “You keep on saying it’s her but what’s so bad about it?” She stops walking. ”I’ve told you everything that’s wrong about her, do I need to say it again?” “Sort of, you know how stupid I am already.” "Argh, I hate repeating over the same stuff. I’m just ready to put up with my brother’s shit now.” “Wait, you have a brother?” ”Yes!” “How come you’ve never mentioned him, like at all?” You cross the street and follow Fluttershy. ”He’s been staying over ever since he dropped out of college. He just watches TV and leaves his junk all over the place.” She sits by the curb and rests her head in her hands. “Need some help?” Fluttershy drops her hands and raises her head. ”There’s no reasoning with him, Anon. We’ve talked to him for days and tried to subtly nudge him up.” “Thank goodness subtly and talking isn’t my strongest suit.” She sighs. “Please, for the sake of my parents, don’t hurt him.” “Not unless it’s necessary, right?” ”This is a bad idea.” “When have I ever let you down?” Fluttershy ignores you, and continues to walk away. You follow her, leading up to her house a few streets over. There is a women of age that is no question her mother just by the looks of her early 40’s that is pulling out weeds in her garden. She stops when Fluttershy pulls out her keys that is clumped up with plastic animals dangling on the ring. ”Fluttershy!” She joyfully says when standing up, brushing off the dirt on her jeans. ”Darnit,” Fluttershy grumbles as she is still looking for the right key. “Hey mom.” ”My, my. Aren’t you going to introduce me to your handsome friend?” You almost want to blush by her comment. ”This is Anon, and he’s here to help us with our problem.” ”Really? I do wish you the best of luck. We’ve been trying to help him up and he’s doing nothing about it. We give him options, but he just shoves it off and continues watching those foreign cartoons with subtitles on.” Fluttershy grabs the right key and unlocks the door. ”Your father is still out for another hour, so you might want to hurry. Sorry Anon, but my husband acts up when there is a guy right beside Fluttershy.” “Understood, I won’t be here for long.” She nods and goes back to her garden. “How should we do this?” ”I don’t know yet. We’ll have to improvise.” She turns the key and opens the door. What awaits you and Fluttershy is a dark living room with the only light emitting is from the TV. You and Fluttershy follow the light to see a guy with messy hair and stubble, wearing shorts and a single stripe on his T-shirt. He lays on the couch, still focused on the television. ”Hey sis.” ”Come on, Zephyr, we need to talk.” ”Can we do it on the break? I’m in the middle of my show.” Fluttershy grabs the remote from the table and turns the TV off. ”Hey!” He pushes the bag of chips aside to stand up. From the looks of it, Zephyr is the same height as you. Fluttershy waives the remote around before giving it to you. ”It can’t wait. We need to talk about your living arrangements.” ”I’m still in a bit of a slump, it will take some time. And who’s this? You know how dad is when you’re around with guys.” “I’m just a third party trying to help out, that’s all.” ”That's funny,” He scoffs. “What are you, her boyfriend?” As the moment that you were about to deny his implication, Fluttershy steps up. ”Yes, he is.” ”Ohh, that explains it all. ‘Third party’ my ass.” He rubs in. “You do know how dad is going to react, right?” ”I can already imagine it, why else did I keep this a secret?” “I can only wonder.” Fluttershy gives you a brief glare. “Understand that if you don’t try on finding something to do with your life, we’ll do something that you won’t like.” ”Really? From the looks of things, you don’t have any sort of an advantage.” He taunts. ”What?” ”With this, dad will be focused on you like crazy.” ”So? You should be more afraid of what Anon will do to you, rather than me being afraid of dad.” You can hear her frightened voice at the end of her sentence. ”As if, what can he do?” That tears it. You get in front of him and give him a well coordinated headbutt. ”My nose!” When you look up, you see him holding it. “What the hell is wrong with you?!” ”A couch potato that won’t get off his ass and make everyone happy by getting a job or going back to school.” He rubs his nose. ”Argh, fine! I’ll do it.” Fluttershy gets in front of him and points a finger on his chest. ”Mom and I went out to find some applications for you, how could you not send one of them in?!” Zephyr looks at a trash can. You walk over to find an empty bag of ramen noodles, old photos of himself, and a stack of applications hidden beneath it all. ”How could you give up that easily!?” She pushes him away. ”A guy needs to relax! Do you think he wants to keep on studying for the rest of his life?” He moves his hands aside to point at his bleeding nose. “And how am I going to explain this?!” ”First off, you won’t be in school forever.” “Second, just say you rolled off the couch and landed on the remote.” ”My nose better be okay after this!” ”It will be fine, if you can get a job.” You dig out the applications and hand it over to him. Fluttershy’s mother holds a towel over Zephyr’s nose. ”Thank you for helping us out, Anon.” Mrs. Shy says when guiding Zephyr into a sedan. “It’s nothing, really.” She closes the door. ”Don’t be so modest, this is much more. I haven’t felt this relieved since my son was accepted into a college.” “Just tell him to do the general classes since he’s still thinking about his future, that’ll give him time.” ”Will do! Can you believe that a simple fall could break his nose?” “The human body is a sensitive one.” She nods. The moment Mrs. Shy opens the driver's seat, Fluttershy lets out a sigh of relief. ”Oh! I almost forgot,--” ”No, no, no, no.” Fluttershy mumbles to herself. ”Zephyr tells me that you two have been seeing each other?” You look over to Fluttershy as she does the same to you. Both of you are petrified and apprehensive to the current situation. ”Don’t worry, I won’t tell you father.” She winks before entering the car. The two of you watch her back out of the driveway. ”I can’t believe that worked.” “Why in Buddha’s name did you say that!?” You begin to flip your shit. ”What? I said improvise. It’s not like you’re going out with Twilight.” You tug the collar on your shirt. She takes notice, along with you beating a sweat. Fluttershy approaches you, raising an eyebrow at your anxiety. ”Are you?” You start to scratch your right hand. “Sort of.” At first, Fluttershy was surprised, but she was inflamed later when she realized something. ”Sort of? What is that supposed to mean?” You wipe the sweat off your forehead. “I told my parents that I had an interest for Twilight.” Even though that she’s still pissed, something changed. You catched the shift in her eyes and how she flinched the moment you mentioned Twilight. ”What does she have that I don’t?” This is unbearable. You’d rather take the chance of crossing a highway rather than answering her questions. “It’s not like that!” ”Then explain yourself; why would you prefer Twilight over me?” “Because she isn’t on a total power trip!” Fluttershy is disturbed by more than your outburst. By what you expect, she must be horrified at the realization. ”I-it’s for the animals!” “Is it really for them, or aren’t you enjoying this way more than you expected?” Her eyes shoot all over the place. When she stops, the right side of her face twitches. It stops before she turns around to walk back to the front door. “You’re not going to bother with saying anything else? Not even a goodbye?” Fluttershy leaves her hand on the doorknob. She tilts her head forward, refusing to look at you. ”It’s true.” Her hand slips away. ”I enjoy this. All of it now.” Now? That explains the suspicion you made from earlier today back in the cafeteria. ”I can’t help but take it even more than I should have.” She finally looks at you. Her woeful eyes and frown shows you the Fluttershy you once knew before this bully persona. ”I didn’t mean to hurt you -- I really didn’t -- but, a part of me just took over.” “What about wasting my milk earlier today?” She sits by the door. ”I… I probably did take it too far. I was blinded by the control and satisfaction that I had, wanting to do that to others.” You should have figured that Fluttershy had some some sort of inner demon inside, waiting to be used on someone. Sucks that the someone had to be you. You walk over to sit by her. “If you want to talk about it, I’m here.” She rubs her left arm, somewhat skeptical on your offer. ”I appreciate it, Anon, especially with what you had to put up with for the last few weeks, but I don’t want to. Not right now, at least.” You lay back, almost hitting the back of your head on the door. ”Does it still hurt?” “Not as much.” ”I’m starting to realize that this is possibly a mistake.” “It’s not. You’re doing this for the animals, remember that.” ”But--” “No; It is for them and it will stay that way, you hear me?” She nods. It stays silent for a few moments, until Fluttershy brings up a topic that you wanted no part of right back up. ”About Twilight, why did you pick her?” “I don’t know, I mainly said it since my parents could buy it more.” ”Huh. What did you say about her? “It was mainly crap. Twilight being smart and the coloured streak in her hair, nothing else.” ”Ohh.” She scratches the side of her head. “So, I can still keep about what I told my brother?” “Sure, I guess.” ”Oh thank goodness. I mean, about them thinking...” “Don’t overcomplicate it.” Just as you said that, a thought came to mind. “But what if my parents have ‘assumptions’ about us?” Fluttershy raises an eyebrow and shrugs. ”Did they ever brought it up?” “My mother did think that.” ”So, she’s sort of right?” “But I already told them about Twilight, I’m not sure on how they will take it.” ”I don’t care, just figure out something. You always do when you’re around her.” Fluttershy gives you a snappy reply. Great, she’s in that sort of mood. You should just leave since you’re done here. “I’ll see you later this weekend, okay?” ”Yeah, bye.” You stand up and start to walk down the path, leading to the pavement. ”And Anon,” You stop, wondering to what does she want now. “We did this long before she did.” “Anything else?” ”Not really, just know that I prefer that you help me out when the time comes.” You walk away, pondering over what she meant by that.
Chapter 1: Don't be a Target"Give me some money, n-nerd." You raise an eyebrow at the yellow autist. Does she really think just because you are a loner makes you a push over? "What?" "I-I said give me money, p-please?" She's actually kinda cute, like from one of those gentle femdoms. Eh, guess you've got some spare change left over from buying cigs. It's starting to get annoying with it jingling in your pocket all day. You reach pull out a wopping 60 cents and hand it to her. "Oh no, I'm sooo scared. Here, take all I've got." "Thank you." She runs back to her friends, lmost skipping along the way. "Rainbow, your idea worked! It got Anon to make a donation to the animal shelter." Later that day.... You're walking out of the school and to car. On your way, you see that purple bookworm leaning on your car. "Hey. So Anon, I heard you like bad girls...." She lights a cig the wrong way. You shrug and lean next to her, lighting one with her. "Eh, they’re alright." "So this outfit doesn't make you want to do whatever I want?" She struggles to breath in a puff through her filter. You watch as she gets tobacco in her mouth. The odd girl turns away and fishes it out, spitting on the ground. Today really is a weird day. You breath in from yours. While doing so, you turn over to face her and blow a cloud in her face. "What do you want?" You bluntly ask. She coughs and clears her throat before looking at you. "I um... need a ride home." You slip your key around the knuckles of your hands and actually think about this. You take one more from your cig and put it out. "Is that a yes? It's just a long walk and--" "Get in." You unlock your car and enter the drivers seat. She approaches the passenger side and opens the door. "Ah! Put it out." "But, I bought this." "I don't want this car to smell like the rough end of a bar. Besides, you're using it the wrong way." Twilight examines her cigarette and eyes the correct end. "I assumed that meant 'keep away from smoking the incorrect part'." "You and Fluttershy have a lot to learn." She sighs and tosses it to the ground. Twilight tries to pull her skirt down when she enters your car. Just as you turn the key in the ignition, she starts to mess around with the radio. You turn it off and shake your head. "What?" "At least try." "But I am!" You lower the volume before turning the radio back on and play something else. The drive was awkward, but you managed to drop... Twi? Yeah, at least that's what some people call her. You dropped Twi off at her house. "Thanks, ignoramus." Was that an insult? You just shrug and pull away. It's the crack of fucking ass of dawn on the next day. The school's best soccer player, Rainbow Dash, is standing in your parking space. You wave at her, hoping that she gets the fucking message to move over. She holds her hand out for you to stop. You can't stop, and you certainly won't stop. Well you can, but you park here everyday, so she isn't going to stop you today. You lightly press on the gas pedal, slowly creeping into the spot. She still isn't moving. The car is getting really close to her, even though it's going at 1 mph. It eventually bumps her and she steps back. You get out as your car finally fits inside the parking spot. "Hey retard, what's the problem, too dumb to see me there?" This isn't cute, she is practically shouting at you. She keeps yelling and getting more in your face. "Why aren't you listening dumb ass?! I just need your money, so hand it over." The obnoxious bitch pulls her fist back. She wouldn't... but she does. The blabbering shit hits you right on the back of the head. That is where you declare that the fun is over. Also, fuck that hurts. Top athlete and top cunt. You sweep her legs out from under her and start walking to class. You're on the floor, somewhat dazed from the fall. You watch as Anon walks away, not giving a shit about you. How could you be so weak? Even fucking Fluttershy can push him around, why can't you? Already done three classes and now you're heading to the fourth one. To the side, you can see a country girl talking with that stubborn blue bitch from this morning. From what it looks, she doesn't look pleased when she notices you. The cowgirl puts a hand on her shoulder and says something to her before walking away. She starts to walk right into your path. You try to bank to the side, but she catches it by weaving back. You try to counter her movement, but clearly that isn't possible, ending it with an bump into one another. "Hey now, watch where you're going, will ya?" Her backpack 'slips' off her shoulder and falls to the ground. "Are you gonna pick that up?" You cross your arms. "Why?" You already can sense that most of the students are watching the two of you. "Because you, ya know, bumped into me." She falters while speaking. "That might be the case, but it isn't my stuff, is it?" Her eyes shoot open as she looks around. "But, you admit that it's your fault!" "So? It's not like I let my stuff fall down and expect someone else to pick up the slack." She moves closer, entering your personal space. "Fella, you're making this harder than it should." She mumbles to you. "Applejack, Mr. Mous, what are the two of you doing?" You look behind Applejack to see the vice principal standing at attention. "Just a bit of an argument, nothing much." "Does it need to continue it any further, because we can do so in my office." She notifies the two of you. Applejack eyes the floor before looking at you. You can see the regret in her eyes. "No Miss Luna." You slide your food tray away. "I can't believe that vermin didn't break." "You see? How could that be possible when Fluttershy is the one who makes him do something?" Rainbow Dash munches down on her pizza slice as she finishes off her rant. "The both of you are purely doing this in an irrational manner, that's why." Rarity says as she sits right beside you. "What do you mean?" "Isn't it obvious? You and Applejack here are demanding it out of a bold and harsh manner." You just sit by and watch them discuss it between themselves as the rest of your friends approach. "And it would have worked if Anon wasn't that much of a jerk." Rainbow blabs out. Rarity grabs her napkin and taps her mouth with it. "It's not that simple. Watch." She gets up and walks over to the green guy eating and looking at something on his phone. Fucking idiots. They will never understand that the first season was the best. You take a sip out of your milk carton and continue reading the fame war. "Hello Anonymous." You stop scrolling on your phone to look up and see the schools fashion designer is holding out her handbag/backpack monstrosity. "I seem to be having trouble with my homework, would you care to--" "Nope." You look down and continue reading. "But, I was going to ask if--" "Not interested, go away." What!? How could he refuse YOU!? Does he even know who you are? He should be, possibly he just needs a refresher. "You clearly do understand on how--" "I genuinely don't care, go away." He takes another sip of his milk carton. You clutch your fist but remember to keep your temper. Acting irrational isn't the proper way. You just need to lure him. So instead, you approach him and sit right beside him. He smells of the common male body wash that could be found anywhere. You ignore the plain stench and slide a hand on his arm. "It won't be long, it's--" He slams his phone on the table. "What part of 'go away' did you not understand. Here's a hint; fuck off." You flinch from his harsh response. What is his issue? What will it take for her to leave? There are already people eyeing you. It's bad enough that an hour ago you had some trouble with her orange friend, but this is getting out of hand. She still has her hand on your arm. Her grasp slowly tightens on your sleeve. "What are--" "Nobody refuses me." You leave your phone to see how pissed she is. "Too bad, your clean streak is now gone, just like how you should have been by now." She tugs on your sleeve and brings your head over to whisper something. "I am just politely asking you a favor and you refuse it? You can't even let me finish--" "Shit." She pushes you back and groans in anger. You watch her storm off while you bring your phone back on. Rarity sits right back beside you, clearly infuriated by something. "It didn't go as expected, sugarcube?" You ask her with a slight smug on your face. "He's so stubborn and immature, THAT'S his problem." Rainbow angrily comments. "I'm not entirely sure, he did give me a ride home." Twilight comments. "Seriously? How?" Rainbow asks. "I'm not sure, we just smoked for a while and I just asked him." Rainbow shifts in her seat to look directly into Twilight's face. Pinkie moves aside to let Rainbow Dash's intimidation to fully work. "Did you threaten him? Punch him?" "N-no. I just asked." Rainbow Dash throws her arms in the air and slams them on the table. "Alright, something's up." "I'll bet. Anyone has seen Fluttershy?" You say when looking around the table. These assholes just can't appreciate good taste. You grab your apple away from the tray to take a bite out of it, until it gets taken away be someone. "Hey, I--" It's that mumbling yellow awkward girl from yesterday taking your red delicious as hostage. She looks... different. What she has on is a black leather jacket and her hair does not have that nice swerve as it did before. "Do you have my m-money?" She really is trying. Maybe she is trying too hard. "Did you get a new designer?" "Sunset helped me last night. I mean, do you h-have it?" You hold your hands up. "Alright, let me see what I've got." You slowly bring your arm down to pull up your wallet to check that there is only a single five dollar bill in there. Shit, you forgot that you refilled you gas tank before going home last night and didn't go to the bank afterwards. "Well?" In an unfortunate position, you decided to hand over her the single item worth anything in your wallet. She just looks at you when your arm outreaches the cash. ”Um, t-this is it, right?” “Yes.” She clears her throat and takes the dollar bill out of your hand. ”O-okay, right. Thank you.” The ‘bully’ puts the apple back in your hand and backs away. She slides the five in her jacket and you notice that she shakes her arms in glee, even though she is facing away from you. Everyone just watches you, unsure if that just happened. On the farthest side, her friends just watch in awe of another successful attempt she just made. The white twat and blue asshole are mostly effected, since those two have their mouths agape. ”I got it! It’s even more than last time! This will really help me out.” While she goes back to sit down, a few of her friends talk to her as if she just won the lottery. When you go back to looking around, you wonder what the hell is everyone is staring at. You look behind you to see that it’s the vice principal once more, standing with her arms crossed. ”I think we should have a talk.” You sit down and look at the vice principal. The room is barely lit, but that’s how she likes it. Whatever the reason is, it can’t be that good. ”Assaulting a student, harassed by a few others and causing a few scenes in one day. I must admit, you’re becoming more of a problem than you’re worth.” She pulls out one of her drawers from the desk and pulls out a file. “You were watching me?” ”Oh yes. This morning was just perfect timing, just like your mishap in the hallway. Lunchtime was just a hunch, so I kept an eye on you from afar.” You slouch in your chair. She opens up the file and reads aloud your history. ”Your report is surly fascinating. ‘Unable to follow the rules properly, back talking, a short temper—“ “I resent that.” You point a finger at her. ”I rest my case.” She closes the file and puts it back. ”All I must ask is this; why are you doing this?” “You wouldn’t understand.” You plainly answer. ”At least lead me to it.” “Why? So you could try to ‘help’ me?” You mock out. ”It’s more than that. Your attitude is something that astonishes me. A strong reliance that barely is bounded by anything.” You cross your arms. ”For example; you refuse to let anyone to be their victim.” She brings back another file, decorated with some sort of emblem that is shaped as a butterfly. ”Except her.” She puts it down and opens it up. ”Fluttershy. Same grade as you. Has a history of absences over the years. Volunteers most of her free time at the local animal shelter. Victim of a few bullies from her childhood, but faded away in middle school, barely to recover to this day.” The vice principal closes the file. “Why give me a backstory about her?” ”You’re allowing her to harass you. One of the most stubborn, lawless students in the school, overcome by- forgive my rudeness but, a modest girl that couldn’t bare to be in public. Why is that?” She puts her hands together and looks at you, unamused. “It’s none of your business.” You try to lure her away from peaking into you. ”But it is. That’s my job, to keep students in line.” “You aren’t doing that much of a good job if you allow them to hit one-another.” You probably can’t tell, but she is squinting her eyes at you. “May I go now? I have an apple to bite down, since I couldn’t eat my lunch in peace.” She exhales while grabbing the file. ”You may go.” You stand up and hear the cabinet opening up. ”And Anon, try your best to stay out of trouble.” You hold the doorknob and think for a moment. “No promises.” And with that said, you leave the room. ”Alright Fluttershy, what did you do?” Rainbow hastily asks. "I just burrowed his apple just to get his attention. I have Sunset to thank for that one, she really does know her stuff.” You and the rest of your friends look at Sunset, idling by with a hamburger. ”What?” ”Why are you helping HER?” Rainbow angrily asks. ”She asked, none of you guys didn’t. Why are you guys even bothering with Anon in the first place?” Sunset asks. Pinkie Pie slams her hands on the table. ”Yeah, what did poor Nonny do to all of you?” Rainbow sits back in her chair. ”When I saw him hand over the cash, I thought; ‘Hey, why can’t I?” “And look at where that ended up.” You give out a crude reminder to her. ”You weren’t any better.” You sigh. “When Rainbow told me about how she messed up, I tried to prove her that she overdid it.” ”And when I’ve overheard about these two and their unsuccessful attempts, I went over with a more subtle approach.” Rarity joins in. ”Seriously? Are all of you loco for cocoa puffs or something!?” Pinkie almost shouts out. ”If it’s anyone that is crazy, it’s Anon. That guy would rather cause more problems instead of leaving them to do what we want.” Rainbow argues. ”Maybe you should just leave the guy alone, he already has other things to deal with.” Sunset tries to reason with her. ”Really? A guy hiding in the sidelines has it more than us?” Rainbow pressures Sunset Shimmer. The rest of the table stays quiet and watches the two talk. ”You don’t know, he could have family problems.” ”Right, whatever. You know him as much that we do. How about this, you try to pick on him and see how it goes.” ”No way, that isn’t happening.” Sunset states. ”Too much of a chicken to do it? I can’t believe you used to be the school bully for years and now you can’t even pick up the tab.” ”Rainbow, you’re crossing the line here.” Sunset grumbles out. ”What line? I thought the nice girl didn’t have one. It sucks that you forgot that you messed with the school and your so called ‘friends’.” Sunset slams her fist, causing you and your friends to jump in your seats. ”I’ll show you.” She gets out of her seat and leaves her food. “Annoying little….” Pinkie moves to the side and takes her tray with food. ”What? It didn’t look like she was going to eat it.” “Care to pass over her apple?” You wonder if your food will be left untouched. Maybe not, but now you’re going to find out where he is. He was taken by Vice Principal Luna, he must be still in her office right now. You take a bite out of your apple. The bell should be ringing any minute now, since most of your lunchtime was wasted by even more bullshit than before. At least you made that weird girls day again. But at what cost? Oh, right five fucking dollars worth. You can only hope that isn’t the new standard when paying her now. You bring out your phone and go back to see what you missed. Those stupid little sheep better wake up and figure out that the newer seasons are just utter shit. Just as you unlocked your phone, someone stops you in your tracks. ”Hey.” It’s the Jersey tanned girl with bacon hair. What does she want? ”Alright, I’ll make this quick and clean; you’re going to carry my stuff once in a while and I might punch you on the arm, got it?” When will you go back to trash talking to unknown jerks on the internet? “And here’s my counteroffer; we ignore that any of this ever existed and I just walk away.” You were about to walk past her, until she deliberately moves over to block you from moving up. ”That isn’t going to slide by me. Did you forget about who I am?” The bell rings, signaling everyone that lunchtime is over. “No, you’re that stiff-necked shit that fucked over the school and just so happens to be overtaken by friendship or whatever that was. I don’t know, I was paying attention to something else on that day.” ”You just want this, do you?” “Want what? I never asked for ANY of this. You and your group of outcasts just want to annoy the ever living fuck out of me for whatever reason.” She wags a finger. ”Pot calling the kettle.” “So? At least I am more than willing to admit who I am. It’s no wonder your boyfriend left you.” ”It was a mutual breakup!” She cries out. Another goddamn crowd forms around you. “Was it? You know, I’ve heard that he was the one who broke up with you. What was the reason? Yup, it was because of your stuck up attitude that only two lonely, pathetic Freshmen were able to kiss the pavement you used to stand on.” Speaking of which, they stand in the sidelines, debating amongst each other if they should say anything to the situation. You watch as her arm shakes and a tear slips out of her eye. ”I-I’m telling you to….” “What? Walk away before you embarrass yourself? Okay then.” You essentially shout out. Just as you walk past her, you can hear her sniveling before rapid footsteps sound the hallway. You walk past her friends. They just stand there, disturbed and shocked by your performance. You finally pull out your phone and continue with your business. ”W-what just happened?” Fluttershy asks. ”I think the impossible just happened.” Rarity answers. ”Forget her. I should have seen it coming from miles away.” Rainbow comments. “This isn’t right, none of this is.” ”What do you mean, Applejack?” Pinkie says when tugging on your sleeve. You straighten it down and guide her hand away. “Anon seems to be untouchable by any of us. How does Fluttershy have it.” You look at Fluttershy, who is grabbing her arm and wonders as much of what is going on. ”What does this mean?” She questions. “It seems that you have him fully wrapped around your finger, ‘Shy.” She rubs her thumbs together before realizing what you meant. ”I-I, can bully him?” You nod. She just smiles and looks around. The crowd of students just look at her, as if she is their new ruler. Just as she walks forward, the crowd separates, leaving room for her to walk through. She lets out a small chuckle before it spirals into a maniacal laugh. It end abruptly when she coughs. Fluttershy continues walking through before she enters class. “What just happened…?” You ask yourself out of confusion and fear.
Chapter 2: Stand Your GroundSo far, it's been a good week. Nothing has been out of hand ever since you've thrashed bacon girl down with her past mistakes. She thought that it was that simple to pick up where she left off, what a laugh. You almost feel bad for making her cry, but she was looking for it. The biggest change is that weird yellow one, Fluttershy, is it? Ever since that day, people actually flinch or back away when she walks by. She doesn't even look that threatening, at least to you. Fluttershy would just ask for some money and walk away, nothing else. What in the fuck do these people see in that? Screw it, this is high school, so they're all strange freaks. Once in a while, you would give Twilight a ride, but she didn't have that pack of cigarettes or short skirt before. She does have that stupid hair cut, since that's what it is. Although, she will occasionally try to become a bully, even though it's basically nothing at this point. "See you tomorrow, Neanderthal." If you ever have enough of a shit, you would just dump her at the other side of the city and force her out of the car. That's not really much of the case, since she doesn't cause enough shit when it's compared to the rest of her friends. It's only a matter of time before they figure that out, let alone any of this ruse you've been going out on. For now, you play it cool before-- "Mr. Mous, please come to the vice principal's office." Damn. You knock on the door before opening it up. It fully swings open, showing Luna standing with that unimpressed look. "Come in." As if you have much of an option, you do so. "Sit." "No thanks, it feels like I won't be in here for too long." She sighs when taking her seat. "Do you know why I demanded you in here?" "Other than picking on one of your own students, no." She grabs a sheet of paper from the table and examines it. "Thursday, noon - Anonymous creates another outburst in front of the student body." She brings it down to glare at you for a moment. "Thursday, afternoon - Anonymous gives Twilight Sparkle another ride." "Is this how you get your sick kicks?" She slams the paper on the desk. "Now you listen here; I know you're up to something, so you may as well admit that." You grab the chair in front of you and spin it around before sitting in it. "Here's the thing; I have nothing to admit, but the strange disturbance that a lonely woman that is turning in her mid-forties gets her rocks off by eyeing her students." You can notice her anger by the sound of the paper in her hands being crumpled up. "Now can I leave?" Instead of waiting for a response, you stand up and head for the door. "This isn't over. If I catch you in anymore trouble with the students, I will have to do drastic measures." "Then I'll be sure to except the worst that you may have to offer. Maybe a date with a cougar doesn't sound so bad." You open up the door and leave without giving a second look at her. "I'm telling ya, there just isn't something right about that boy." "I get it Applejack, and we are going to find out." Rainbow Dash whispers. "You two, pay attention." Ms. Harshwhinny points out to you and Rainbow. "Yes, ma'am." She scoffs and continues her lesson. "I have an idea." Rainbow continues. "Dash, your ideas are shadier than a snake in the sand." "Just-- wait, what?" "They aren't that well that you think they are." You clarify. Ms. Harshwhinny clear her throat. You look over and sit straight up. "One more from the two of you is all I need." She turns back around and continues writing on the whiteboard. Moments later, a price of paper slides over. "What I'm trying to say is that all of us should gang up against Anon. He'll have no chance in heck when it's just him, without Twi, Flutters, Pinkie, or Sunset." Although, that's what you were able to read from when you fill in the grammatical problems. You write back, wondering about those four that is left out. Before Ms. Harshwhinny was able to turn around, you slipped the note back. When the teacher goes back to writing on the board, Rainbow slips it over. "Twi is possibly buddies with him. Pinkie doesn't want to be involved, and Sunset? Didn't you see how she snapped? Fluttershy is part of this problem, and we're going to find out." "You better know what you're doing, because we can get into a lot of trouble for this. And if we're going to do this, we may as well bring Sunset, she would want some payback for last week." You write down one last time. Ms. Harshwhinny is currently walking around the classroom, looking at the students work. Since she is at the other side, you pass it once more. Rainbow almost writes through the paper, just to write down her message back at the quickest convenience. "I'll text Rarity later today to get Anon into some trap. Let's see if Sunset is up for this." Before you know it, a shadow casts over you. "I'll be taking that." The paper slips by you and into Ms. Harshwhinny's hands. "The two of you will stay after school to make up for the time lost on your chitchat." You turn to the side only to show your anger at RD. She just smiles and shrugs her shoulders at you. "Darn you, Rainbow Dash." As you're walking to your car, Twilight so happens to be resting her plum butt on the hood. If the car wasn't a crummy secondhand vehicle with a damaged muffler, you would be pissed. Let's see what insult or fucked up song she'll try to play this time. As you approach her, she looks over and doesn't smile or even make an imitating look on her face. "Hey Anon." She casually greets you. "Alright, what's wrong?" "Hmm?" "No insult or anything, not even a cigarette?" "I ditched that stuff, it's not cut out for me." "Figures." You say when bringing out your pack. Twilight looks at you when a cigarette starts to hang out. From a strange urge, you push it back in and set the pack in your pocket. "You want that ride?" Her eyes bright up, astonished to what she just heard. "That would be great." For most of the drive, she only asked about certain questions relating to you. They weren't much, only the simple "How was your day" or "Anything new with you" stuff. It's almost as if she was treating you as a friend. Don't get too soft, you just want to finish this last year and get out. Besides, you won't see these people ever again when you're done. You stop by a house in a plain neighborhood, clearly sure that this is her house. "Thanks, and... Do you, want to study once in a while? I mean, I just thought that, all these rides that you've given me for the last few days was great, but I just wanted to repay the favor with a favor." You let go of the steering wheel and scratch an itch on your head. "You don't have to, I was just--" "I'll take it, I was just getting an itch done." She grabs out a sticky note with a pen stuck to it from her back pack and writes something down. "Here's my number, just in case of you want it ahead of time." You take it and stick it in the cup holder right beside you. "I'll see you tomorrow, you mongoloid." She jokingly says. You just shake your head and drive away. You're not sure if you want to do this. It's not that she's a girl, but you haven't come across to a decent friend for quite some time. Then again, you don't have a lot of options here. And you could get some help on Physics, because fuck all of that shit. You grab your phone and slip out the note she left in your car earlier today. "Hey, it's Anon. I'm up for a study session tomorrow, are you in?" You send it and wait. Just as you put the phone down, she responds. "Yes! Over lunch sounds fine?" "Sure, that's completely fine with me." You look over your book to see Twilight pointing out the obvious. "Okay, what is cold welding?" She asks you a different question. You read along the lines to see if there is a definition of it. When that fails, you turn the page over and speed read for it. She just sighs when moving a hand over your book to turn the page back. You refuse to let her do that by putting a hand on her own. "I can do it." "Anon, you clearly missed it." "Then how come I couldn't see it?" She exhales through her nostrils. "Let me put it this way; if two pieces of metal are floating in space and then touch one-another, they will merge as one. That is cold welding. Now, how come this doesn't happen on Earth?" "Because Physics is a shit?" She arches her head to the side. "Earth's atmosphere puts a layer of oxidized material between the surfaces that makes this process impossible." "Wait, how come our space shuttles and satellites aren't fucking with each other when they are in space?" "That's the tricky part. All of which are from Earth itself, so they are already coated with the material." "Goddamn, this shit is tricky." You say when grabbing your burger. "It's not, all it takes is time to--" There is a faint buzzing sound. "Is everything alright?" "Yeah, it's only a text message." She replies when typing on her phone. You take a bite out of the burger and watch her finish up. "Where is Fluttershy? Shouldn't you give her that daily ransom?" The phone vibrates again, allowing Twilight to continue typing to whoever it is that keeps on bothering her. "I did when passing her in the hallway this morning. She gave me a little bump on the arm to catch my attention." "Did it hurt?" Her phone vibrates once more. "Not really. It's weird, but it felt as if--" "No way!" She closes her book and stuffs it in her backpack. "What?" "The new Oxford Dictionary is out and the school's library has a copy!" Twilight slips out of her chair and almost slams onto the door. "What about me? How did--" "Just reread the couple of pages we went through. Practice does makes perfect. I'll try to come back as soon that I have a copy." Before you were able to ask on how she got informed about this, she slams the door shut, leaving you with a book you know barely know much about and your cheap meal. At least you have peace and quite this time. You take another bite out of your burger when getting out your phone. 'Practice makes perfect' What a hooey. That is a word, right? If it's added in the dictionary, then you're safe. As you scroll through your phone, you hear the doorknob turning. The door opens up, but you pay no attention to it. "That was fast. Did you by any chance manage to read if 'hooey' is an official word?" "I'm afraid not this time, my dear Anon." You stop scrolling to focus on that elegant voice. "And this time, there won't be any luck for you to refuse us." That one is coming with a snarky attitude. "Because from here on out, you're going to pay back for every problem you have caused for us." This one has a southern accent. "So you better stay put, and finally listen to our offer." The last one is plain, but you can sense the aggression from it. You finally look up to see four girls standing proud and eager to see you, as if you're some sort of prey to them. They walk in and split up, each taking a side of the room. The rainbow haired one moves to your left, while the southern hick moves to your right. "Are you daft? When I said I don't want to be a part of your shit, I meant it." "Can it, bud." The blue freak commands. "Sorry to say this, but we didn't ask for your input." Their white ring leader points out. "And I'm sorry to say this, but I'm out of here." Just as you're about to get up, the two on each side move on up to hold you down on the chair. The ketchup and mustard haired one locks the door. "Not this time. You're going to stay like the good little one you are and receive the punishment you rightfully deserve." The white one walks forward and puts a hand under your chin. "Afterwards, you'll learn to be under our control." You take the chance to spit at her face. "EAUGH!" She backs away and runs to her bag resting on the teacher's desk. "Just like how we rehearsed it, girls." The white one announces. The one standing from the doorway-- Sunset, right? "I'm going to take my time breaking you in." Yeah, that's her. She moves the table in front of you away and cracks her knuckles. Just as she moves closer, you lift your leg up to kick her in the chest, causing you to fall back and escape their restraint. You rush on getting your phone out to send a text message to Twilight. "Get help. Your friends arndienfusp" "Get him, Rainbow Dash!" Sunset shouts out from the floor. The two of you fight over the phone, until she flicks out out of your hands. In a fit of rage, you grab her and move closer to a vacant desk. "Hey! Let go of me, you--" Before she could finish, you open up the desk and throw half of her body in. You slam it down and back away as she gives out an agonizing scream. You get punched in the back of the head, followed by getting grappled by Sunset Shimmer. "You're messed up, you know that!?" You look over to see that Physics book is on your desk. In a swift move, you pick it up and slam it right across her face. She stumbles around and let's you go. Sunset extends her arms and lays her hands out to stop herself from hitting the floor. You ready your elbow to take her down, until something prevents you from doing so. When you take a look at your arm, there is some rope wrapped around your wrist. "That's enough there!" That redneck shouts out. As you try to pull away, she tugs even harder and reels you closer. In an instant, you have an idea. You pull once more and wait for her to tug. Just as she does, you end resisting and almost fly over to her. During this brief flight, you bring your free arm up and deck her before slamming into her. You push yourself off while she groans in pain, starting to roll around in the floor. Before you know it, you're being picked up and repeatedly punched across the face. During the punches, there is muffled screaming coming from your attacker. After the third punch, you eyes adjust to see a bruised Sunset Shimmer, furiously staring into your eyes. "And THIS one is for hurting my friends!" "What? I wasn't paying attention." You spit out. She brings you closer while pulling back her fist. Without hesitation, you headbutt her and throw her over a table. She rolls over it and stops when a chair 'cushions' her fall. From the farthest side of the room, a slow clap is made. The pearl fashion designer applauses your performance. "Bravo. If only you used it on the right people." "Apparently I just did." She goes through her bag while keeping eye contact with you. "I don't know what you see in Fluttershy or Twilight, but we do know is that you're certainly not being bullied." "I don't know what you're talking about. You see how much they taunt me." As she brings her hands out, her hybrid purse/bag horror clicks. "Please, neither of them have the spine to annoy anyone. Except the occasional 'asking for volunteers' from Fluttershy, or how Twilight proves that the simplest of things are off." "Your point?" She just gives a wicked smile at you. "You're either the most deceitful underdog I have ever seen, or you have a certain soft spot for them. Hm, it's almost as if the big tough guy actually has feelings." You'll show her how 'tough' you are when tearing her a new one. As you approach the desk that Rarity is sitting on, she swings her bag at you. Fortunately, you saw it coming, but not the taser darting for your chest. Before you know it, a shitton of volts flow through your body, freezing you in your tracks. After a few good seconds, she stops and kicks you away. You fall back and twitch on the floor, almost doing the dinosaur. "Had enough?" She proudly asks you with a smirk. You straighten yourself out and crawl back up. "You're insecure." You cough out. "What?" "Everything about you, it screams insecurity. From your appearance to that fucking thing, you're unsure about yourself. Trying to look better than others while avoiding the other pretty bitches around school. It makes me think; why?" The white one seems to be furious from your words. "Don't you dare say such a thing!" She gets up and lunges at you to give you a second helping. You back away and kick her arm to the side, causing the electrical box to slip out of her hands and falling to the floor. You grab her arm and flip her over to slam into the ground. Once that's done, you stumble over to grab her taser. "Ever heard of 'an eye for an eye'?" Rarity seems to be dazed, until she notices the taser is in your hand. "You wouldn't." But you did, and give her a couple of seconds worth of electrocution. She gives a high pitched squeal, followed by twitching her arms. Once that's done, you drop the taser and stumble over to bring the chair that you were sitting on from the beginning and rest. You take a breather and look at the destruction around you. The girls grieve on their injuries, with some slight movement from each of them. "Why does this shit happen to me?" You whisper to yourself. The door clicks and swings open. "Okay, what is--" Vice Principal Luna walks through the doorway and looks at the travesty that was arguably their fault. Okay, maybe it was partially done by you. The vice principal looks dismayed when seeing the girls flinching on the floor. "Anonymous--" "In your office, I know the drill already." You've been waiting in here for the better part of an hour. Seems like the school nurse had to bring over some help from the local hospital just to treat the girls bruises. It's their fault, not yours. The vice principal has to see it your way. Wait, you're getting too hopeful on this one. What if the four goes against you? That's not a possibility, it's the expected outcome. You sit back in your chair and think to the last few moments you have before the chances of being thrown into prison. Fuck being eighteen. You're still in high school and now you'll be thrown into the harsh part of the system. A rectangular light shines in front of you as the door behind you opens up. Someone walks in and heads for the chair behind the desk. "I should have expected this to happen." The vice principal comments. "I'm surprised you didn't keep a close eye on this one." "Anywhere you go, you leave a trail of destruction to someone or something!" "I had no choice on this one!" "For once, you're right." Before you yell out that they were sleezy shits, there was a slight realization to what she just said. "I was unable to see that you left the cafeteria very early. Once I did have the opportunity to do so, I looked around campus to see if you were to ditch school. When I made one last attempt by visiting the library, I was fortunate enough that Twilight Sparkle was there." "Did she ever find that book?" "I'm afraid that it never was there to begin with." "What?!" "Lower your tone, Mr. Mous. What she was looking for never existed. The school wasn't informed of this, and if it was, me or my sister would have. I asked Miss Sparkle if she had seen you lately, and that's when she pointed out to the classroom you were in." "It was a setup." "I'm afraid so. After interviewing each of the students, they said that you attacked first." "HORSESHIT!" "Settle down, Anonymous." "Why should I?! There isn't much that I can do, since you'll just side with them." "I'm not siding with anyone here." She clarifies. "Really?" She pulls out a sheet of paper from the drawer and give it to you. You read it over. It's a conversation between Applejack and Rainbow, plotting to go against you. "You knew?" She nodded to your question. "Something seemed peculiar when I interviewed each of them. It was the exact same story. You attacked them when they were just talking to you, when you just went into a fit of rage for little reason. It didn't make sense, not when I have that note from one of our teachers. What I am sure is that you were trapped, but the damage you caused was more than enough." "It's just a table and a chair, the school has those everywhere." "That doesn't excuse property damage and unnecessary violence. It's one thing about self defense, but what that was is certainly more." "What happens to me now?" She sits back in her chair, contemplating about your fate. "Just like the others; a three day suspension." "Anything else?" Luna just shakes her head. Is that it? You can do that. "We don't need to file this to the police. I've had more than enough evidence to hand you over, but this says otherwise." You sigh and sit back in the chair. "Thank God." "Once the weekend is over, you will be serving your time at home. Hopefully that will give you some realization about all of your shenanigans on the fact that they've gone too far." "Whatever you say, love." "Just go. I'll tell your friend that she will be dropping off your homework at the beginning of the following week. Right now, I have some parents that may want to know how their children are doing." She grabs the phone sitting on her desk and starts to enter a few numbers. You decided to leave the room without making a sound.
Chapter 3: Busy WeekendThis sucks. No TV, home internet, they even had to take away your PC and Gamesphere. At least they left you with your phone. Not much that you could do with it, except play throwaway games and watch attention whores put plastic bags over their heads. And your car? They already know that you won't be going anywhere. Still, at least you have five days all to yourself. Just as you were getting comfy on the couch, your phone rings. It must be your parents checking on you, since this clearly isn't their phone number and they must be using the stationed phones at their workplace. You choose to pick it up since, you're already here and there is nothing else to do. "Hello?" "What are you doing?" Whoever it is, that isn't either of your parents. But it certainly isn't any one of those girls you defended against yesterday. "Who are you, and how did you get my number?" "You can't even recognize your own bullies voice, Anon." It had to be... "Buttershy?" "It's Fluttershy, you j-jerk!" You pull your phone away as she almost yells through your speaker. "I asked Twilight for your number just so that I could keep in touch with you. So, I've overheard that you made a commotion yesterday, and I wanted to check on my favorite chump." "Okay then. I'm not doing much, that's all I can say." You casually say. "Good, because what I need from you is more than a few dollars." "What are you getting at?" "I'm short by a hand and I need you to get here." You have an idea to what she's hinting at, but you're not completely sure if you want to do it. You don't have to worry about homework right now and you could use some fresh air. "Fine, I'll be there." "Thanks. I'll text you the address. The sooner that you can get your sorry b-butt here is the sooner we can all go home." "I get ya." She hangs up, followed with a text message sent to your phone. You get up and grab your car keys before heading out the door. You park down the street, since the rest is cluttered with cars, leaving no parking space anywhere. When you get out and lock your car door, you realize that all of these cars seem familiar. They must have been from the school parking lot that you would usually see from. You walk down the street to enter a local animal shelter. The walls are patted with paw prints over a green background. Right beside the wall is a row of cages, sized for dogs or birds. What is scattered across the floor is miniature bathtubs with used and unused towels everywhere. A crowd of students around, all of which are working on something. Some are washing the animals, while others are feeding them. "No, no, no! She needs to be pampered on the tail as well!" Fluttershy shouts at the female student. The student slowly backs away from her and drops the brush. "You like it when your tail is touched, don't you?" The pomeranian wags their tail as she speaks to them. "Do it again. From head to tail." Fluttershy commands the same student. The student picks up the brush and starts her repeated task. Screw it, you are better off being yelled at by her, rather than by your parents that are still butthurt on yesterday's fiasco. One of the students notices your presence and backs away. "What?" That causes the rest to look over, casing most of them to be alarmed. "Holy crap." One male student slips out. "Oh God, I don't want my spine to be broken!" A feminine voice panics. "Why is he doing here?" Another girl questions. Fluttershy walks past them and stand right in front of you. "I asked for his help." She still has the jacket and hair due that Sunset gave her. "Well forget this." The female student that questioned your presence announces. She drops her towel and gets up. Fluttershy moves over to stop her in their path. "Oh no. We need all the help we can get to finish this early. We all want to spend our Saturday's doing something other than being here, don't we?" "Not when I have to share it with this psycho." She rubs in. "Hey! If you have a problem with him or me, you can forget about all the hours that you made here." Fluttershy boldly states. The female student scrunches her face and bends down to grab the towel she dropped. "Good. As long that no one causes any trouble, me or Anon won't have to bring it any further, understand?" All but one of the students nods. Fluttershy takes notice of the one student that didn't not and walks towards them. "Understand?!" She tries to yell at them. The student backs away and almost hits his head on one of the metal doors to the cages. "Yes, yes!" He cries out. Fluttershy grabs the clean towel that he was holding and gives it to you. "Here. We're short by one and need someone to dry off the cats." "Sure, no problem." You automatically say. "Great. See here? At least someone can follow orders." She proclaims. Goddamn, what the fuck happened? Did she actually stole fear into these students? You kind of wanted to fuck the school over, but not like this. But this does seem entertaining on how they bought the fact that she's sort of a bully. Fluttershy really is selling it now. "Okay everyone, let's get this done! We have to wash through the stray cats before we can scrape off the crud on the bird cages." That. Sucked. Three cats clawed you and the last one just ran around the place. And the bird cages were no cakewalk, shit was harder than peeling an old sticker off of a 57 Chevy bumper. At least you're home, you can now get a decent bath for yourself without-- You see that two cars are parked in your driveway, meaning that your parents are home. Goddamn, this day is getting worse by the hour. You can only wish that they could understand. That is, if they bother to listen. You park in front of the house and leave your car. As you’re locking your car and walking on the path leading to your front door, you expect the worst from them. As you pick out your key, the door swings open. ”Son, get in.” Your father commands. “Shit.” ”What did we say about that tone of voice, mister?” Your mother almost shouts out. “I’m an adult, there is no reason for the two of you to worry about where I’ve been and about my language.” ”No, we have every right to be concerned about you. Suspended, fighting with girls, running off to God knows where without telling us!?” Your mom is now shouting at you. “So?” ”So!? You are our son! We have every right to be concerned about you, especially if you’re going to live in this house.” Your father yells out. You take a load off on the couch as they stand directly in front of you. ”Why do you look like as if you went through hell? Did you get into another fight!?” He furiously asks you. “Relax. I just went to the local animal shelter to wash a few cats.” ”Don’t you lie to me, young man!” Your mom barks at you. You sigh when bringing out your phone and pressing the screen a few times. ”Hey! Pay attention when we’re talking to—“ You put the phone on speaker and waive it in front of you. ”Hello?” “Hey Fluttershy, it’s me.” ”Yes? What is it?” Your parents look at each other as you’re having this conversation. “Tell them that I was at the animal shelter today, because the think otherwise.” ”Oh, y-yeah. Not a problem.” Your mother takes the phone and puts her off speaker. ”Hello? Yes, I’m his mother. It’s nice to meet you too, Fluttershy. Mmhmm… ah, he did? Okay, that’s great. You know, my husband and me have been trying to get him under control. I’m surprised he cared for animals. Uh-huh. Thank you and have a good night yourself.” She presses a finger down on your screen before handing it back to you. ”What did she say?” Your father asks. ”Apparently Anon wasn’t lying.” ”Huh, I guess you’re off the hook.” Your father clears you up. That was easy. ”But,--” Ah, fuck. ”--for the next four days, you will be helping her out. No exceptions.” Your father finishes. “Or what?” ”We’ll simply keep everything that we have taken from you for the rest of the school year.” “But that just started!” You point out, thinking that they've gone completely insane. ”Exactly.” He comfortably says. You swear under your breath. ”What was that?” Your mother quickly jumps. “I’ll do it.” You uncomfortably state to them. ”Good, now go and take a shower. You smell like you just rolled around at a subway all day.” What a terrible day. A fucking snake bit you, but it’s cool, Fluttershy said they weren’t poisonous. It is still fucking itchy, but like any other bite, you ignore the bite and pour cold water on it the moment you get home. You're not completely sure if any of this is worth it. You can only wish that she won't need you to do much for the next three days. Just as you prepare to take a shower, your phone goes off from a new number. “Hello?” ”You’ll pay for what you did.” That’s just great, it’s Rarity that called you. “The four of you tried and really did fuck it up.” ”We have unfinished business, do you hear me?!” “I hear you, and I still don’t care.” You hang up and throw the phone aside. Just as you’re taking off your clothes, you receive another call. It’s a different number, so you choose to ignore it. When it ends they send a text message. As you read it over, you get an idea to who sent it. ”Ur dead. Watch ur back nxt tme.” You received another message. ”You don’t know what true pain is until we meet again.” Once you finished reading it, someone calls you. “Leave me alone.” You announce when answering the phone. ”Not with what you’ve done.” “Applejack, right?” ”Yeah, and you’re gonna have to go through my brother eventually.” “Go fuck an apple pie, you’ll have a better chance doing that.” You hang up ~~ignoring the fact that she had you on speaker.~~ ”Now you see why this hooligan needs a lesson, brother?” As you put your phone away, you look up to view your brother irritated by the simple phone call. ”Eeyup.” “And you’ll make sure he won’t walk away without a bruise?” ”Eeyup.” You nod. Anon will be more than surprised once Bic Mac visits the school later this week.
Chapter 4: The Strange TutorWhat a dull day so far. With most of your things taken away, there is basically nothing to do for the next few hours. Twilight is still in school, no surprise there. The same thing with Flutershy, only it is different form what you might guess. She must be enjoying her new placement in the food chain. Or whatever they have in this unfair balance that is high school. On the upside, you don’t have to see four of her friends for the next few days. You should see that as a positive, but from their ‘threats’ it’s almost undetermined. At the very least they don’t know where you live, for the time being. Nothing to do now but to watch the ceiling fan spinning overhead. Someone knocks on your door before ringing the doorbell. It plays an annoying cheesy tune that gets on your nerve. At least it works, but wit more of a flaw You unlock the door to be greeted by that smart alec of the girls, Twilight. She is holding a file, almost as thick as— “Looks like we have a lot to go though, huh?” “My only regret was taking Physics.” She only answers you with a smirk and her head shaking. “Just get in.” Twilight playfully shuffles her shoes on the outside mat. ”You know, I don’t have to be here.” She teases. “For sweet merciful fuck, will you please get in?” You demand. ”Hm, only because you said please, I will.” Twilight brushes her shoes on the outside mat before entering. “Fuck you.” You whisper. ”What was that?” “Fon diu?” You quickly respond. She scans your face, possibly trying to read out your lie. “What? You didn’t know that I learned French?” ”Oh no. I’ve always known, since you didn’t take that class.” She catches your lie right off the bat. “Can we pretend that didn’t happen?” You dreadfully request. ”Sure, just like how it will never happen.” She taunts. “Can we please get this work done?” She has to drop this conversation by now. ”What’s the rush? I thought after Friday’s mishap you would have nothing in your spare time.” “It’s a long story. Anyhow, what do you know about Friday?” She shrugs her shoulders. ”Only that my friends hate you more than ever.” “Tell me something I don’t know.” ”They are planning to get revenge on you.” You turn your phone on and show her the messages. ”Never mind.” “Anything else?” You say, unamused by the information she has given you. ”I can’t tell you anything, not when you’re already up to speed. However, you’re the one who needs to tell me.” “Why?” They should have told her everything, but what would make her interested? ”After I left you, the story falls apart to what they told me.” Huh, maybe she isn't smart for no reason. “Who told you what happened?” ”I visited them at the hospital on Saturday. Most of what they said was bitter hatred towards you.” Twilight gloomily speaks out on the second sentence. “I can only imagine.” You sarcastically ”What is strange from their accusations is that you attacked them.” “I’m telling you that it is a fucking lie.” You start at making your stance. ”You aren’t wrong. From what I’ve assumed is that after Rarity sent that text message is just bizarre. How would she—“ “Hold up, Rarity was the one who texted you about the book?” She nods. ”It doesn’t make sense. The only reason on why she would say that is to get me out of the room, leaving you to face them all by yourself.” “My thoughts exactly.” You include. ”I guess that’s why all of you are in the same position as of right now.” “What about your friends, how are they doing?” You ask. They must be doing some time in healing, since they did receive more than they kind of deserved. ”After with what you did to them, they needed to stay at the hospital for a few more days. It was as if they weren’t themselves.” “Who stayed?” ”Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer were badly wounded, they needed certain treatment for their wounds.” At least two of the three girls that gave you a challenge are still out of the picture, Applejack will be kept as a heads up. The both of you walk into your living room, keeping the conversation alive. “What about the other two?” ”Rarity and Applejack? Not as severe as they had. From what I’ve told, they were released from the hospital just yesterday night.” “The time that they threatened me.” You bring up from the text messages and calls from earlier. ”It’s a mystery to how long they will stay in the hospital, but for Rarity and Applejack….” “I’ll deal with them. One problem at a time, right?” You sit down on the couch, Twilight doesn’t even move when she stands right beside you. ”That’s the issue, I think it’s time to stop making problems.” She speaks out of concern to your inscrutable problem. “Come on, Twi. I’m not doing this intentionally.” ”I know. It’s just that, you’re left out from everything else.” Twilight sounds She finally sits right beside you, still holding your homework. “What does that even mean?” Twilight plays around with the file by skimming her finger on the side. ”You haven’t adjusted to any friends around school.” Great, this hot topic. Why do people always jab at this? “I have some!” ”Anon, a person from the internet doesn’t count.” You sit there, overthinking on how to get this on your side. “It’s still human contact.” ”That may be, but do you really know these people? Have you ever gone out with them?” Now you’re overthinking on this, trying to prove that she has nothing to worry about. “No, I haven’t. In my defense, it’s better off that way.” ”You need some friendly human interaction, and I’ll be the first to do so.” She tries to say in a peppy attitude. “For once, I’ve never desired to be so alone in my entire life.” You say, making this as if it's a grim position. ”Oh, cheer up Mr. Sore Bottom. It’ll be a fun time.” Twilight keeps speaking in a lively way. “Can we at least have it later? I need this homework done before the day is over.” ”Right. It’s just like what you said - one problem at a time.” She cheerfully says when handing you the folder. This is more than one problem, but it is somewhere to start off. As long that she focuses on the homework and not you, everything should be fine. It has been three hours she has used up by tutoring you. Progress has been done, now all that is left is math, but this one has been a hassle when it's compared to everything else. Except Physics, that will always take the number one spot. ”And so, you take what’s left, and that’s...?” She leaves the sentence unfinished, expecting you to finish the equation. “Thirty-seven?” ”Right! Now, add it together and that makes it...?” Twilight leaves you to finish it off. “One hundred and thirteen?” ”YES!” She drops the pencil and claps. ”I knew you could do it! I mean, by yourself and all.” “Yeah, yeah. I now know how to get some math done. What’s the big deal?” ”Anon, you may not have noticed it, but math is universal.” “Come again?” ”It is an important concept to everything around you. From the measurements on your ruler to the blueprints of a structure, it is something that we need, even though we can’t clearly see it.” “Next time, why don’t you show me on how Calculus works, then you will have proven more than just a bunch of fake numbers.” Twilight has a smug little smirk when she reads off your remark. ”Is that a challenge?” Wait, cool it down. It's bad enough that you can get through some equations, but when all of the numbers turn into letters... “Ah shit. You caught my bluff.” As Twilight closes her textbook, she chuckles to herself. ”Next time, you should reconsider something before taking it as a task.” “I just so happen to manage four of your friends, a snake bite, and the vice principal in just two weeks.” She stops shoving her textbook in her backpack to look at you in wonderment. “You were bitten by a snake?” “Yeah, from helping Fluttershy out yesterday.” Twilight lets go of the zipper on the bag, giving you her undivided attention. ”You just went over and ‘helped’ her out? I’m not following—“ “It was on call, she was short handed by one person, and my parents are making me do this if I ever want to see any of my possessions ever again.” She jumps back in her spot, looking over your brief, but through report. ”Well, unless if they bought it, then they have the right to do whatever they want to your items.” You give out an upsetting groan. “Forget that. I’m stuck with cleaning bird shit and washing cats.” ”Anon, it doesn’t sound that—“ “Washing. Cats.” You highlight the worst of your experience. Twilight shifts her eyes around your body, scanning the cuts and bruises you have on your arms and face. ”You have proven your point. One thing; are you fine with this?” “Not really, but it’s not like I have a choice.” ”No, I mean with Fluttershy bullying you.” “Oh, here we go.” You upsettingly speak out on this issue. ”I’ve been thinking--“ “Don’t you ever stop and think that you’re overdoing it?” You try on turning this around, expecting her to fall for the trick. ”I... my excessive analyzation to certain subjects has nothing to do on the matter that you allowed this.” “Denying it doesn’t make it go away.” ”This isn’t about me, it’s about you.” “Right, because it is always about me. I’m starting to wonder on why would you want to become my friend.” ”I know that there is something more than a bitter, dejected person.” “How comforting.” ”It’s nothing to be ashamed of. You can get over this.” “Anything else besides me?” ”Yes - why Fluttershy?” Out of spite, you tighten your fists to asking that. “You know, curiosity killed the cat, so let’s just stop here.” Twilight just shrugs her shoulders. ”I would have taken that as a threat, but whatever.” She picks up her stuff and stands up. ”I’ll be heading off now.” “Do you need a ride home?” ”I’ll be fine. Besides, I need the exercise.” She walks over to the door and opens it. “I just expect for you to watch your step from now on.” As you watch Twilight leaving the doorway, she trips over from a loose shoelace and lands on the outside pavement. You get up and rush over to help her from the harsh fall. “Is everything alright?” She slowly gets up from the ground, still holding her face. ”I think so.” She doesn’t have any scratches on her face, but that’s from the fact that her arms took most of the damage. There is some scrapes and slight bruising, almost as if she will bleed from them. “I have a med kit inside.” ”No, I’ll be fine.” She repeats from her earlier statement. She just brushes it off and starts to walk away. “It wont even take five minutes!” ”There is nothing to worry about!” She shouts out when walking down the street. What the hell was all that about?
Chapter 5: (Un)scheduled MeetingYou do some chores around the house and— Fuck, you are THAT desperate for something to do. You’ve been mindlessly sweeping this floor for a good twenty minutes now. You look at the broom before pushing it away. There must be something to do. Maybe unblocking the girls’ numbers might interest you. You take out your phone, look for the first four numbers in your block list and take them out of it. Now you play the waiting game. It has been two minutes since you’ve unleashed the hounds, and nothing has happened. No messages or calls, so you leave the phone on the couch and go back to the kitchen. You grab the broom from the floor and resume sweeping. After a few sweeps, your phone starts to ring. You go over and look at who it is. “Fuck...” You accept the call and see what she wants. “Hello?” ”Anon, I think we should talk.” Fluttershy says in an unsettling tone. “Wait, you aren’t pissed that I’ve missed out on helping you guys?” ”No, we didn’t do much. But I do need to talk to you in private.” “Why? What’s it about?” ”Something that I’ve should have done a long time ago. Please, just meet me outside of town.” “What? Did you just say—“ ”Yes! Make it fast, since I wont be here for long.” She hangs up and sends you an address via text message. You better go there, since you can count it as going out to help her for whatever reason. Before you grab your keys, someone starts to call you. Darn that Anon! He thinks he could just ignore your call and text messages, will he!? You aren’t letting him go without a harsh talk! ”What?” “Don’t you question me! Why did you keep on brushing away my calls or text messages!?” You shout over the phone. ”You left messages?” Oh no. You spent hours on creating those threatening messages. “Y-yes! You never listened to them?” ”Why would I? What’s the worse that you could do; paint my nails pink, give me a bad haircut?” Anon assumes. “...It was going to be pistachio.” ”Right, I’ve had more life-threatening comments from high school dropouts. Are we done?” “NO! We are most certainly not done here!” You bicker, demanding that he stays on the line. ”Too bad, because I have somewhere to go.” “Oh please, where do you need to go?” ”Helping out Fluttershy, okay? Bye!” He hastily says before leaving you. You stand there with your phone still pressing against your cheek, bewildered by what he just said. Helping Fluttershy? Your shakedown from last week’s fiasco is now turning into an authentic suspicion. What does Fluttershy want with him? This fifteen minute drive better be worth something. You park your car outside of a burger shack that is sitting on the side of the city. There is a settling orange glow over the gloomy clouds taking most of the sky right above you, while the sun in the distance still stands strong for the next few minutes. You walk over to the practically empty tables to see a lone girl in pink hair sitting all by herself with a tray of french fries sitting on the table. She looks around before noting your presence. You walk closer as she starts to waive. ”Hi, Anon.” She speaks in a low tone. She doesn’t have that leather jacket on and her hair is back to the way it was, curvy and elegant. You sit on the opposing side of the table that she’s facing. “What’s up?” You casually ask. ”Nothing.” She moves the plate of fries over to you. “Do you want some?” “I’m good, I just want to know what’s what.” She sighs when crossing her arms. ”I didn’t expect for you to be in so much trouble. I’m sorry for putting you in this mess.” You look around, making sure that this place is deserted. “Is that the reason on why you drag me out here?” Fluttershy shakes her head. ”I just wanted to have a talk about all of the things that’s been going on.” "We could have done that on the phone. You know, where no one else could hear us?” ”I just wanted to make sure.” “Paranoid much?” You ask with some sort of sarcasm. ”You don’t know the half of it.” She admitted with some unsettlement in her voice. “Lighten up, there is nothing to worry about?” She raises an eyebrow. ”Anon, you don’t know how many people want me gone now.” “And do you think it’s any better for me?” ”At least you didn’t have those that ruined your middle school experience.” You just sit there and cross your own arms. ”But that’s the thing – I kind of like it.” She sits straight up in her seat. ”People respect me now. No one ignores me or pushes me away at school. They all look at me when I’m walking down the hallway, wondering what terrible thing that I might do.” You let her drone on to whatever she’s talking about. ”Normally I would be afraid from people, thinking that if I do the slightest wrong step in my path, they will constantly tease me about it. But now, it’s completely different.” At this point, you can sense the aggression in her voice. ”I’m the one who looks down at them. I can get the smartest kid in class to do my homework, or shake down another for his money.” Flutershy is starting to speak up. ”Everyone in school now thinks that I’m in control, and I can’t be knocked down.” She settles down. ”And it’s all thanks to you.” You scratch the side of your neck, unsure on what to say. “Uh, that’s cool?” ”It is. But please, I ask this out of empathy; why?” “Why what?” ”Why are you allowing me to do this?” When will anyone drop this? “Why do you want to know so badly?” ”If I tell you, would you answer my question?” “Yes.” She rubs her left elbow with her right arm. ”It’s just, that I feel awful. Ever since from the beginning, that day that I asked you for a donation, Rainbow Dash instructed me to demand some money from... a loner. it felt good when someone did something for me, but it was short-lived. I never wanted to bother you, but I needed to start from somewhere. Now that I scare everyone else, I don’t have to be afraid. Maybe by you, since my friends did have to visit the hospital.” “You don’t have to worry about me.” ”I kind of have to. Now can you answer my question?” You take in a deep breath. “Fine. I acted along just to mess with the school.” ”Y... you just pretended to be picked on?” “Yes. I didn’t mind it at all, seeing everyone’s face was worth it.” ”Phew. I’m glad about that. I was afraid that it was something else.” “Like what?” She puts a finger to her bottom lip. ”Hmm. I don’t really know.” From the sidelines, you see something move around right behind the shack. It sops to where a part of. ”Maybe, if you—“ “Could you hold onto that for one second?” You get up and walk over to find out that it was Norman who was hiding. He gets off of the wall and appears to hide something. ”Hey Anon! How you’ve been?” You cut right through his fake greetings by grabbing his jacket and slamming him to the wall. “How much did you see?” ”Oh, no hello? Fine. I was on my way to get a burger and what do I see? Two of the schools most threatening students having a heart-to-heart conversation.” You shove him to the wall. “None of this happened, you hear me?” ”Tell that to the evidence.” He wields his phone and scrolls through it with his thumb. Norman smiles as he shows off certain pictures of you talking with Fluttershy, each one with a mood difference. You move your arm from his chest to get closer to his phone. He turns his screen off by pushing a button with the same thumb. ”Ah! Not so fast.” You grab it and turn it on, only to stare at a password lock. You type in 1234, 4321, and 0000, all of which failed. ”So, how do you feel, knowing that karma finally caught up with you?” “What do you want?” You ask out of shame. ”First, I want my phone back.” You give the phone back to him. ”Second, I want a part of the action.” “Fuck right off to whatever drug-of-the-week you’re on.” You snap at him. ”Fine, but I’ll send every photo to my friends, who will send it to everyone else.” Someone is approaching you from behind. "Anon, what’s going on?” Fluttershy asks as she stands right beside you. “This shitstain saw us.” Fluttershy puts on a threatening glare and looks at him. ”What do you know?” ”Nothing, really. But the two of you talking on the same table is more than enough.” ”No one would believe you.” Fluttershy calls him out on the bluff. ”Tell that to the pictures.” He gloats when holding his phone up. Fluttershy’s face quickly looses the momentum and she starts to panic. ”Oh no, no! What are we going to do?!” She sounds devastated by the situation. ”Relax. You let me pick on him, and we’re square.” You press him against the wall. ”Anon! Wait!” You ease up from Fluttershy’s demand. ”See? Like that. I can call the shots on what you do.” “I would rather shoot you—“ ”Leave him, Anon.” Fluttershy calmly asks. “What?!” She stands right beside you, keeping a straight face, regardless of how agitated she was. ”Just let him go.” You do, and watch him fix his shirt by brushing his hands around it. ”I’ll let you guys talk about it. I should get an answer when you get back to school this Thursday.” He puts his phone in the pocket of his jacket and walks away. ”What are we going to do?” “I don’t know, but we’ll think of something.” You and Fluttershy walk back to the table and awkwardly stare at the french fries. You decided to break the tension to asking her a small question. The two of you talked about your current situation with Norman. Every answer seems to have a drawback. Fluttershy suggests reasoning with him, but he really desires to be a part of this. You recommend smashing his phone, but clearly the phone that he carries isn’t the problem. It is synced with a cloud, meaning he could post it from a computer afterwards. ”Darn it!” She grieves over while grabbing her cheeks. You have one last idea, but it’s not a pretty one. It’s too vulgar, she would go against it. ”Anon, do you have any suggestions?” She sounds desperate, even more so than usual. “Yes, but it’s a work in progress.” ”What is it?” You look around, making sure that he isn’t around. Fluttershy’s paranoia might be rubbing off to you since you motion your hand for her to lean in while you’re already doing so. She does and turns her head to the side, allowing you to whisper into her ear. The moment that you finish whispering, she quickly jumps back and sits in her seat. ”Anon!” “There isn’t any other option.” ”But, resorting to that?” “Its been done before, it can sure as hell be done again.” ”No, Anon. Maybe it’s time we forget it.” “This will keep us safe. He won’t be a problem when it’s over.” ”Anon, this takes more than what you said.” “And there is, but the pieces are still trying to fit.” She shakes her head. ”You’re in enough trouble. We can’t go any further than this.” “Would you mind that he starts picking on me?” ”I... I guess I’ll just have to get used to it.” She tries to speak in a positive way. “What if he slowly takes over and fully replaces your position?“ ”Then... I guess you become my bodyguard?” “By then people will know that something’s up.” ”Anon, we should just let him. There isn’t any other choice.” You slam your fists on the wobbly table. “There is always a choice, damnit!” Fluttershy looks at you, then to your fists. ”Some are more comforting than others. If we let him, we would at least know what would happen.” “You’re just going to let him walk all over you?” ”It’s not like that.” She tries to correct you. “It kind of does.” She slams her hand on the table. From a reflex, you take your arms off of it. ”It’s one jerk compared to the ENTIRE school, and after the school learns about what’s going on, there are certain people that want to talk to me.” Her eyes show how aggravated she is. Even if she looks provoked, you noticed the slight detail of how afraid she really is. You stay silent and calm down by getting comfy in your seat. “We’ll think this over. For now, we just act natural for the next few days.” Fluttershy retracts her arms and sits back in her seat. "Y-yeah. I'm sorry about that. I'm just worried about this." "I know. Hey, what was that thing you were about to say before he bothered us?" "Hmm? Oh, that." She anxiously rubs her right forearm. "I was... afraid that, you liked me or something." Fluttershy mumbles out. You're not entirely sure on that. It's pretty conflicting, but you never really focused on her the entire time you've been around her. "D-do you...?" "In all honesty; not really." Fluttershy stops rubbing her forearm and grabs it. "But, it's not that you aren't pretty or anything. I just didn't pay attention all that often." Her hand clenches on her arm. "All I'm trying to say is that yes, you are attractive. It's just... forget it." Her fingers relax. "What? You can tell me." "It's just... I'm not really fit for girls." "Oh..." She moves her hand up her arm, stopping it by grabbing her shoulder. "I didn't know that you were... into guys." You almost jump in your seat, almost wondering if she actually said that. "What?" "I get it now, it's a secret. Don't worry, I pinkie promise to keep it between us." She uses her other hand to extend her index finger and presses it against her smile when winking at you. She is. "Fluttershy, I'm not gay." The hand that was resting on her shoulder tenses up, almost pulling off her sleeveless shirt. "Y-youre not?" "No, I'm not" You calmly say without any tension. "Listen, I'm just here to mess with the school, and I'm sure you're in it for the same thing. We don't have to make this anymore bizarre than it already is, okay?" "Y-yes, you're right." She lets go of her shirt and puts her hand under the table. "But, I'm still in charge, right?" She is trying, and she really wants to enjoy this. It wouldn't hurt to let her have this, seeing that she wants some control. "Yeah, you do." Fluttershy brings her hands up and gives a short but energetic clap. "Thanks. I mean, good." She tries to straighten up her tough voice. You couldn't help but crack a smile from her effort. The two of you stick around for a few more minutes before parting ways. When you get home, your parents were expecting a report. They don’t trust you, and you really can’t blame them for it. ”How was it?” Your mother asks as you’re going through the refrigerator. “I kind of expected it to be worse.” You pull out some slices of ham and swiss cheese. ”What do you mean by that?” You set it down by a plate with two slices of bread on it. “Just some trouble with what I’m doing, nothing else.” You’re trying to be vague with it so that she doesn’t have to catch on anything. The best part is that you aren’t lying. Not in any sense of it from where you can see it. ”What kind of trouble?” Shit, your mom is catching along this little ride. “Listen, I’ve already been helping her for the last couple of days, isn’t that more than enough?” Your mother pouts at you. ”Just tell me on what was troubling you. There is nothing to hide from me, is there?” You need to bullshit yourself out of this and fast. Make yourself the victim! You push the plate away and face your mother. ”It’s bad enough that I’m getting watched at school, the animal shelter, and now my own parents!?” You start to march away from the kitchen and head for your room. ”Anon Yankee Mous, wait!” You close the door and sit on your bed. Now you wait for results. Five anxious minutes have passed by. You’re worried about being too harsh or not enough on the matter. That all ends when you hear your door being opened. ”Anon?” Your mother subtly asks through a small creek. You just say nothing and sit there, staring at your sneakers. ”Anon, I just wanted to come by and say that, I’m sorry for putting pressure on you.” Hook line and sinker. She opens the door and enters your room. ”I know that being a teenager is stressful, especially when making friends is tough, but you can always look on the bright side.” “What bright side?” ”You have a chance. A future you can build, one where you can go or do without seeing these people or any of the troubles that you’re having right now. Sure, there will be some people who won’t like you for whatever reason, but that’s how life is. We can only try to make ourselves acceptable to as many people that we meet.” You bring your head up to see that she I currently holding a plate with a sandwich. ”You just eat up and relax. I’ll go and tell your father to stop as well.” “Thanks mom.” You give a weak smile as she leaves your room. From some regret in your chest, you almost didn't eat the sandwich. After a few minutes, you did. Clearly you weren’t going to waste food that was originally going to be made from the start. What makes it better is from the fact that someone making your food tastes wonderful when it’s compared to what you make. Even though you savored this small victory, something tickled your mind - how will it be when you finally get back to school? What would people think about you after your absence, ad how the fuck would Norman try to stand out as a bully? Even so, you’re more than prepared to meet him this Thursday.
Chapter 6: Returning Tyrant (and an Incomer?)You slap the big button on the side of your clock. Thursday, finally it’s here. The last few days have been a pain on your ass, mainly because a Rottweiler bit you there at Tuesday. You have to partially stand just to ‘sit’ on the toilet since you were constantly tired from raising your ass cheek. At least the sleeping pills keep you through the pain. ”Anon, you’re going to miss breakfast!” Not again…. ”Hey son.” Your dad says when entering the kitchen, trying to brighten up your morning. “That bite is still bothering you?” “Every now and then. At least a couple of more days until I can sit right.” ”Something tells me that the animals don’t appreciate your help.” Your mother mocks at the topic. “It will take a few scratches and a bite to prove that.” ”Yesterday a bird ruined your shirt. Remember that it was your favorite one?” “It was my favorite shirt.” You brush it off by eating your eggs with bacon. ”I must say, you have been different for the last few weeks.” Your mom continues. “What can I say? I guess I’m growing up.” ”Maybe.” She finishes scrubbing the pan and sets it on the drying rack. “I’ll be going, and so should you, Anon.” She grabs her purse and leaves the room. ”You’re doing good, son. When you get back home, that Playbox 32 will be like it was never touched.” “Thanks, dad.” He gives you a light smack on the shoulder before getting up. “You’ve earned it.” And like that, he leaves the room. “I’ve earned nothing.” Throughout the drive to school, you’ve been thinking on what’s been going on. Twilight tutoring you was fine, but there isn’t something right. Word around the shelter is that the school has been talking on some shit about Fluttershy’s friends. These last few days have been weird, specially when they point fingers to you. Once you finally come back, you’ll get whatever’s going on, especially with what they have. As you pull into the parking lot, you see a familiar rainbow haired chick making the same mistake; standing in your parking spot. You plan on running her over when you start revving the engine. To your surprise, she backs away and stand on the sidewalk. As you’re parking your car, she keeps giving you the stink eye with her arms crossed. “Good morning to you, too.” You start when exiting your car. “Missed me?” ”Not as much as you missed that punch to the head.” “Good to see that we’re on the same page. Missed that beating that you and your friends had last week?” ”Wait until when it comes back around to bite you.” She walks like a stiff when approaching you. “We still have a score to settle.” “I wouldn’t bet on it.” She removes her jacket, then her shirt just to show you the bland bra she has. Oh, and the back brace she’s wearing. ”Are you happy with what you did!?” “Kind of, you still have a decent rack.” She grunts while throwing her shirt to the ground “Thank God I didn’t ruined those beauties. That would’ve been a true crime right there.” ”I have to wear this stupid thing and a few shots just to keep my spine aligned. Now I cant even run for over a month, Anon. A MONTH!” People start to crowd around and take pictures. “You know, you should at least do something about that bra. At least make it match with that accessory hanging around your waist.” She tries to kick your front bumper. “Maybe you should do something about that scratch.” Rainbow Dash takes her clothes and tries to put them on ash she’s walking away. “Hey, you - help me out.” She points out to a Sophomore when leaving the area. You go around to see the ‘dent’ on your car. Nothing much since it’s covered by the patchy paint all around it. You strap on your bag and head inside the school. The first class of the day went surprisingly well. The teacher was impressed with your sudden improvement by taking a glance at your homework. ”You didn't just take this by a classmate, did you?” “No, ma’am.” ”And you didn’t copy this from anyone else?” “No.” You say, irritated by her doubt. ”Well I guess this changes everything. Class - tomorrow’s test will now be postponed to today!” ”But we didn't get to review!” A classmate barks out. ”I’m sure that those who studied the material and payed attention to the worksheets for the last week will breeze right through it.” You don’t even have to turn around to notice that the majority of the class is staring at you right at this moment. Even so, you turn back around just to sit at your desk. On your way, Bulk snaps his lead pencil just by clenching his fist. ”Grab out your pencil and clean out your desk. Those who finish early can quietly do anything else.” You’re done. Twenty minutes in and you have completed the test. Physics doesn't seem so hard now, not when you have a good tutor as your ace. You bring up your test and start to head back, until your teacher stops you by calling out your name. ”Anon, come here.” You do so and wait as she scans your paper. ”Let me see your arms.” You sigh when rotating them. ”Just checking.” She flicks her wrist, signaling you to go back to your seat. As you’re walking past a few students, some of them glance at you before going back to ‘working’ on their test. ”Eyes on your own paper, class.” You sit back in your chair and try to keep the partially cracked smile hidden by leaning into your hand. As soon that it appears it vanishes when something hits you in the back of the head. It hangs around at the collar of your shirt, picking at your neck. You move your hand around it, pulling out a part of the broken lead pencil from Bulk. In a thoughtless motion, you turn around to look at him. He just scribbles something with the other half of his pencil. ”Eyes forward, Mr. Mous.” You spin around and sit there. The teacher goes back to reading some sort of novel. Not even a minute has passed by and something hits you, but it falls to the ground. It’s the remaining part of the lead pencil from Bulk. You shift back around to watch him point at his bicep. Whether he is trying to threaten you, showing off, or challenges you to who can lift the most is beyond your imagination. ”Mr. Mous!” You spin around, eyeing her dissatisfaction. “One more and I will automatically fail you.” You would yell out on how much bullshit that is if it wasn't an empty threat. After a few seconds of an unusual stare down, she goes back to reading her book. In the background, you can hear something being crumpled up, followed by some crackling from the floor right below you. As you reach down to pull out your folder, you snatch the paper ball from the ground. You unravel the smushed piece of paper and make out the scrunched up letters. “Remember our deal” is written in the wrinkled lines. You already know who this one is from, and you sure as hell will deliver before this day is done. This classroom is starting to become a more unnerving environment with each passing moment, making you wish for a miracle to happen. ”Mr. Mous, please come to the vice principal’s office immediately.” You’ve never been so satisfied to hear Luna’s voice calling you out of class until now. ”You heard the announcement, Anon - bad idea to keep her waiting.” With no time to waste, you quickly put your things together and head for the door. Right as you are closing it, you see a smug Norman sitting in the back when looking through the slit opening of the classroom. You walk down the empty hallway and stand in front of vice principal Luna's office. You wonder on why she excused you out of class, you truly do. You've only been in school for the bare minimum of two hours and the worst of it all is that you got Rainbow Dash to take off her shirt - and that wasn't intentional. She'll probably turn that around and make you as a perpetrator or something. You may as well get this over with. When you open the door and blindlessly enter her office, someone you'd least expect is there. "Twilight?" She turns around and gives you an innocent waive with a smile. "Hey, Anon." "Why is she here?" Luna seems more than annoyed from the usual. "I swear Mr. Mous, you make this too much of a challenge." "Thank you?" You weren't sure on what she meant, but you still take it as a compliment. At least, in your usual view of it. "I give you the one person that I can only dream that you wouldn't get into a fight with, but even then, you manage to defy it." You take a seat in the chair that's beside Twilight Sparkle. "What did I do? Okay, Rainbow Dash can't fight for a few weeks, so what? I didn't want her to take off her clothes!" "Oh, Rainbow...." Twilight mumbles in the background. "Erm, that's not the reason on why you're here." "Then why am I here?" "The reason on why I brought it up is because after the deserving 'break' that you needed, you just couldn't keep your temper in control." You shuffle in your seat, confused on why she brings that up. "After a few days, you got into a scuffle with Twilight here and she still bothers on coming over to deliver your homework." "WHAT!?" You stand up, almost pushing the chair over when doing so. "Settle down, Mr. Mous. Don't make me call the police." "I didn't do that! What makes you think--" "What keeps on going around campus is that you assaulted Twilight, but failed." "Anon, it's not what you think." Twilight stands up. "I didn't intend for this to happen!" "What's going to happen is that I will get more than a suspension!" "Just to be clear, it would be a school transfer at best." "What's the worst in this scenario?" "I'm not entirely sure. That depends on the police and if they're in a good mood. But," She shuffles some papers around. "I'm starting to wonder about your fight with the girls the other day." "We all know on what went down that day." "Yes, but I just know that the police wouldn't mind a skewed truth, only to keep you locked away for some time." Your heart races from the unbelievable spot that you're in. You sit back down and rub your hand around your forehead. "Vice principal Luna, Anon doesn't deserve this!" She raises her stance as she gets out of her chair. "Now I know you don't want to see him go, but this is for the best on everyone's part. Possibly not for Anon, but at least he'll use his brutality somewhere else." "No, I truly mean that he doesn't need this." She rephrases. "Why are you going so far on to defend Anon? He attacked you while he was serving his suspension." "It's because he DIDN'T attack me." "But, the scratches on your arms--" "Wasn't from him. It was from a bad fall when I left his house the other day." "What?" Luna asks. "I started the rumor, but it's not true about him attacking me." You and vice principal Luna look at her. "What?" You re-quote Luna's word. "Yes, I started it so that I could look more intimidating than Fluttershy." She lowes her head when sitting back down. "Well don't. It's not working and almost costed what little I had to this school." Your searing anger replaces your worried demeanor, but is somewhat reduced when you notice on how bad she looks about the situation. "I'm sorry, I really am." Twilight depressingly says for forgiveness. "Just don't pull that again. So Luna, where does that put me in?" The vice principal looks at Twilight for a couple of more seconds before jumping in shock. "Oh. Seeing that you didn't cause any harm and Twilight did issue an apology, I guess we can sweep this one under the rug?" "Sounds good to me." "But what about the rumor?" Twilight asks. "Ah, that. I would say that the two of you should go out and tell the truth, but that hasn't worked well in the past. I'll leave you two to talk about it. For now, just head back to class." Just as you're getting up, the bell rings. "Or head to your next class. Enjoy your day." As you stand in front of the door, Twilight stands right beside you. "Don't you want to wait a while before going outside?" "At this point, I don't care on what people think about it. I'll let their suspicion roll around and expect the worst from it." "Are you sure you don't want to keep being the one who stood from me and outlasted her friends? The damage has been done, who knows what crazy shit they will spiral out of this, especially Sunset, Rarity, and all the others."
Chapter 7: Staying Tough"Well, did it impress you in any way?" "In a certain approach." You push the door open, unsure that Twilight followed you outside. Students are doing their usual shit, whereas others turn their head to have their slight glance at you. Some showed their disgust, anger, or fear at you. Blinded by that fixed view, someone bumps into your left shoulder. "Watch where you're going." Norman pushes you away and has a gesture in his eyes. "Going to do something about it?" You ready your fist, but restrain yourself from using it. He has a crooked smile when looking down, noticing that your fist is shaking. Twilight comes from the sidelines and pushes him away. "Why don't you watch it, bonehead?" He stops himself from falling by resting on a knee. "Stay out of this. It's only me and him right now." "You mess with him, you'll just have to mess with--" "Me." Fluttershy walks past a few students and stands at the other side. Norman looks at both of them. He gives you a menacing stare before walking away. Just when you thought that it was over, Fluttershy and Twilight stand in front of each other. One is giving the other a "terrifying" look, having their own standoff. You think that one is trying to get the other to back off, but it only pressures the other to stand their ground. Thankfully Luna is watching, but they haven't noticed her yet. She must have joined right after Norman left. You need to break this off and fast. "Leave him alone." Fluttershy threatens her. "Why should I? He was under my watch." Twilight retorts. "He's mine, go find some four-eyed loner." Speaking of which, that specific person in the crowd backs away and hides. This isn't looking good. A part of you wants to do something, but the other wants to watch where this will lead to. Fuck it. If you don't do anything, everything may collapse. Fluttershy is your original "handler", but she can be a bother. Twilight is something; she might be friendly, but there is just something that you can't get about her. "If it wasn't for me, that nobody would have done something." Twilight supports her standing. "I would have taken care of that myself." "Well, where were you? Hanging more flyers for unloved animals?" Just in that moment, you saw something in Fluttershy's eyes. It was a combination of fear, anger, and sadness. Even though people see her enraged, you know what's going on. You decided to turn around and push a part of the crowd away, the rest back up to let you through. If they are here for you, then you may as well leave. "Anon?" You hear Twilight's concern. You hear someone running up to you, but you decided to ignore it and head for the doors leading to outside. You slam the handle down, stepping out to sit on the grass. Instead of the doors closing, the loud clang from the door handle catches your attention. "What's wrong?" You hear Twilight's voice coming from behind you. The loud clang rings through once more. "What did I tell you about him?" Fluttershy heatedly asks. "Now's not the time, Flu-" "I asked you a question." You stand up and turn around, almost ready to yell. "Will you two stop this shit?" Fluttershy still has that "aggressive" act on, whereas Twilight is genuinely concerned to what is going on. "Fluttershy, drop the act already." "I won't, not after to what she said about them." "Fluttershy, that wasn't an insult." "It sure did sound like one." Twilight just shrugs while Fluttershy crosses her arms. You recall what Twilight said back in the hallway; unloved animals. "You're pissed that no one cares about the animals, isn't it?" Fluttershy fixes her stance by bending a leg and reaching into her backpack. "It's more than that." When she unzips the biggest zipper, a bunny pops out. "I'm practically the only one that does care about them." She carries him in her arms and puts her bag back on. "I would be lucky enough to get a few people to come by each week. But now, it's a lot more and they actually do something." Twilight points a finger at you and Fluttershy. "So, is that why...?" Fluttershy stops petting him to send off an unsettling stare. You would say yes, but you aren't sure on how well Twilight can be in on this secret. "It doesn't matter now, what does is how we are going to make this work." "We don't need to, Twilight can find someone else." "But I've had this planned out!" Twilight implores Fluttershy's bitter grasp on you. "Sure you did. You know, you can't think of everything to work out." Twilight is starting to grow impatient with how Fluttershy is acting. "Wait, can we just hear on what Twilight has to say?" Fluttershy sighs. "Fine, what is it?" "We don't need to be around each other when Anon is around, we can have certain times to when he is under our care, so to speak." Fluttershy thinks it for a few moments. "I guess, but why do you want him?" Twilight scratches her wrist. "Uhm, to get an understanding to how bullying works?" "It doesn't really go down to a negotiation, especially something that is this relaxing. What else are you hiding?" She was then saved by the bell ringing for the next class. Fluttershy quickly opens up her backpack to let the bunny hide inside. "I guess we'll find out later, we need to get back before--" "I'M GOING TO BE LATE!" Twilight shouts out as she runs through the doors. Fluttershy holds on the handle and looks at you. "Do you think that this'll work?" "Possibly, but we'll see." "What about... him?" You know who she is implying, but he'll probably back off for a while. "We'll deal with Norman when it comes back up. We need to work this weird pattern between you and Twilight." "I liked it better when I had you all to myself." She grumbles. The next few classes seemed relatively fine. A classmate or two eyed you once in a while, expecting you to do something irrational. It will take more than unsettling looks to get you all riled up. What did was the text that Norman sent to you. 'You're lucky that she came in.' You leave the message alone and walk to an empty table. It's almost over, just two more hours and you are out of here for the day. Just don't do anything and you'll be fine. You drag out your phone to start another flame war, until a shadow casts over you. "Ahem." Damn, there goes your plan to call someones taste shit. "Any lunch money you have left?" Fluttershy demands. You get the routine by now, so you bring out your wallet and take out all the bills that you have. It's just a clump of six ones. Without any hesitation, she snatches it out of your hand. It does take you by surprise, but you remember that this is how it will be from now on. You really should move the cash in another pocket for situations like this. Better yet, you should strap it to your thigh. No one would dare to try that. "Thanks." She rolls it in her hand and walks back to her table. The usual girls are looking at you, judging it all from afar. They move on to some sort of conversation, most likely a plan to make your death to look like an accident. They stop when Fluttershy sits right beside Rainbow Dash and Applejack. Something bothers you when they start to eat. Pinkie Pie and Twilight are not there. Where could they be? You look around, noticing Norman staring at you before he goes back to eating his hamburger. Fucking jackass. The moment he sends those pictures is the moment he loses that phone, and you know how in a couple of ways. Someone taps your shoulder. "We should talk." Twilight's voice catches you off guard. There are those that can't help but look at you being escorted out of the cafeteria. What does bother you is when you turn back to see Fluttershy watching. You may regret this, judging by that look of dissatisfaction on her. "We need to talk." "You couldn't do this later?" She leads you away from the cafeteria. "It couldn't wait, especially texting it to you." "What is it?" "Something big is going to happen." "Care to tell me what it is?" "I can't, they were talking about this way before our hallway mishap. Now they are keeping me away from it." "So now you're out of the loop? Fucking wonderful." "What I can tell you is that they were planning to go after you or Fluttershy." You contain the frustration by scraping your fingernails in the palm of your fist. "It's one thing that I get the flak, but if it goes down on her, they are asking for a new world of pain." "You may want to slow down there, Anon, you've already had your time with them." "Apparently it wasn't enough." "Anon--" You exit the school and stand once more at the grassy field. "If they think that going after her will stop me, they have another thing coming." "Listen, Anon, there is nothing to worry about." "Why?" Someone else exits the school. "Told ya we'd need to wait him out, brother." Applejack's voice catches you off guard. You spin around to see Applejack with a self-satisfied look on her. In a intimidating stance, Big Mac is standing right beside AJ. You haven't met him in person, but he is slightly taller by an inch or two. "Applejack not only showed me how bad that you hurt her, but also showed me on how terrible you really are." He talks in a rough voice. Somewhere, deep down inside of you, a chunk of you wants to cower. Applejack quickly changes her look when she notices Twilight standing right next to you. "Twi, why are you here?" "I was talking to Anon, but I think it's time that Anon tells his side of the story." Wait, what? "Twilight, what are you doing?" You whisper to her. "He only listened to Applejack's story, you should tell your part." Twilight whispers to you. "Are you crazy? This is his sister that we're up against." "Aren't you tired of this? For once, don't you want to put down your fists and just use your words?" "All I know is how to intimidate and insult." "I meant reasoning with him. Just try it." "Twi, why are you helping him out? You know how awful he is." Applejack tries to persuade her to stand her guard down. "Not a chance. His problem is my problem." "But--" "I know that he may have those moments, but he isn't ruthless all the time. Let him tell you his side of the story, Big Mac." Twilight cuts Big Mac off. He gives a slight nod. "You're helping me out." You whisper over to Twilight. "Fine." "So?" AJ asks. "Look, Big Mac, I know that what I did to AJ wasn't the best thing, but do you know why I did that?" "From what I've heard, you attacked her." "Bullshit. Applejack and her friends tried to take turns on beating me up. They were the ones that tried to start it off." "Is that true, AJ?" You have a feeling that she would lie through her teeth just to see you suffer. "Sort of." "What a load of--" "Hold up, we can still do this." Twilight says to you in a low tone voice. "Sort of? It's either a yes or no, Applejack." "Why should I bother to answer any questions? This is Anon we're talking about!" "Getting a little defensive? If it wasn't that much of a problem, you would simply just answer them." Applejack is starting to look heated. "I'm sure Big Mac doesn't even know that you and the rest tried to bully Anon beforehand." Big Mac looks authentically surprised. "Is that true, sis?" Applejack stays silent. "Let's not forget about what you and the rest were planning on Fluttershy." "What?!" AJ shouts. "You dare go against your own friend just because she has 'control'? Seriously?" Big Mac looks at you, lost at what you just said. "Too soon, Anon." Twilight mumbles. "What's going on?" "Just forget about this, let's go." AJ admits defeat, trying to dodge the entire conversation now. "Oh no, you dragged me into this and now I want the truth." Big Mac demands from Applejack. "I'd rather not." She cowers. "Well I'm not doing this, Applejack. In fact, you owe Anon an apology." "Are you serious?!" He stares down his own sister, causing her to back away in fright. "I'm sorry." She forces herself to say while looking away. "We're going to have a talk when we get back home." He nudges her back into the school. "Come on! Are you really going to do this to your own sister!?" "Yup." They enter the school, leaving you and Twilight alone. "I can't believe that worked. Good job there." She rubs the back of her neck. "Thanks, I did learn from you." "That's a surprise. I guess we can learn from each other." You sit back down. "That really was a close call. Let's hope you can keep yourself out of trouble for a while." "I'm not so sure about that." She sits right beside you. "Okay, who is it and how can I help?" "You know me so well." You lay on the grass and stare at the sky. "Knowing you, I would have to tell you every detail about it." "Not necessarily. Give me the general idea of it and I just might be able to give you some sort of solution." You're having doubts on trusting her. Not only is she catching on to your antics, but also the fact that she might turn this around. "I'm not sure, what do you want out of this?" She crosses her legs to get more comfortable. "How about you let go any grudge you have on me from what almost happened back in Vice Principals' office, seems fair to you?" "Looks like a steal for the girl who almost got me expelled, or worse for that matter." She crosses her arms, starting to look irritated from your reminder. "If it completely works, then you'll leave it alone?" "Maybe." "You won't get a better deal than this." She teases. "Fine, let me hear it." "That's silly, you dunce." "What?" "Tell me first, then I can try to help you." Twilight jokes with you. "Okay, this guy wants to be a part of the action by blackmailing me." "Hm, interesting." She sticks the tip of her thumb in her mouth. "Something tells me you can't reason with him, nor bribe him." "Gee, thank you for limiting my options." Her eyes narrow at your somber expression. "Hold on, I'm getting somewhere." She sits there, pondering some sort of idea. "Actually, there might be one solution that just may work." "Really? I just thought about punching the fucker." "No, no. That's just pointless violence. But, we can use your skill to use." "Alright, I'm listening." After some discussion with a debate here and there, you go through Twilight's plan. "Honestly, this is insane, but I like it." "All we need is for you to meet up with him." You pull out your phone. "I can promise you that he would want some sort of arrangement soon. I'll meet up with him later today and see about it." The two of you get up and head back into the school. "Have you seen Pinkie? In a way, I'm terrified if she'll do something to me." You notice a white piece of paper sticking out of your locker. "I haven't seen her the entire morning. Even so, I wouldn't worry about her." As you approach the locker, you grab the paper out of the locker. "Great, I love getting hate mail." You sarcastically say to Twilight. She just rolls her eyes when you read the paper. 'Hiya Nonny! Sorry about my friends and it really is a drag on how most of the school doesn't like you, but I don't! Well, I mean I don't hate you. You get what I mean. I left something inside to show that! Enjoy! -Pinkie Pie' "What does it say?" You ignore Twilight's question and unlock the locker. A dozen cupcakes in a decorative pan sits on top of your schoolbooks. "We don't have to worry about Pinkie Pie." You agree to Twilight's statement from earlier. You and Twilight bite down and relish in the sugary goodness. "You have to admit, she does know her way on baking some delectable sweets!" Twilight mumbles with her mouth full. You finish up your third cupcake. "Yeah, yeah. Listen, we'll catch up later, okay?" She nods and gives a slight waive before taking off. You enter the cafeteria and notice that the table you were sitting at only has a tray. In an angry suspicion, you look over to the group that took your food, only to find out that Fluttershy's tray is the only one that does not have anything in front of her. You march over and stand right beside Rainbow Dash. "What do you want?" She waives around your hamburger. "Give me a good reason on why you shouldn't choke on that." "It's quite simple; our dear friend Fluttershy here wasn't hungry, so she gave it to us out of the kindness of her heart." Rarity answers. You look over to Fluttershy, who is sitting in an awkward position during this discussion. "Is that true?" "Yes." She might have said yes, but her eyes say something else, almost as if she's worried. "You heard her, now leave." Rainbow complains. This isn't right. You can't leave her here. "I just remembered; I need to give her my homework." "Then go get it." Sunset bickers. "The last time I gave her a fake, she slapped me." They look at each other, questioning it by raising their eyebrows. "She wanted to watch me grab out the actual homework from now on." Fluttershy stands up. "He's right." She tries to say in an menacing way. They just watch as you are being led out by Fluttershy. "How did you--" "Wait until we're out of here." Aside from the usual people watching, Norman discreetly points a finger at you. You and Fluttershy made it outside, but continue to walk away from the cafeteria doors for safe measurement. "What the fuck happened in there?" "It wasn't my idea! They pushed me to do it." "How?" She itches the back of her hand. "They wanted to see how far I can take this by proving to them that you belong to me." "So taking my food when I left was enough?" "I had my doubts on grabbing it, but I didn't have much of a choice." "Why did they take it?" "I was already full, but the rest weren't." "And you just gave it to them?" "Well, they sort of asked." "How?" You take all of Anon's food and place it on your tray. This is bad, but Anon should jump on the idea of what's going on, right? You walk back and sit right back down. All of your friends look at you, waiting for you to do something. "So?" Rainbow asks. "What?" "Aren't ya going to eat any of it?" Applejack suggests. "I'm not hungry." It's true, you just ate a small meal a few minutes ago and don't feel like eating anymore. "Care to share some of his stuff?" Sunset encourages you to give up Anon's meal. "Sure, I guess." "Thanks." Rainbow Dash swipes the hamburger right off of your tray. One by one, your tray starts to come into view. Sunset takes the pudding cup, whereas Applejack grabs the apple and Rarity snatches his milk carton. At the end of it all, you're left with nothing. "That's when you came back and noticed--" "That my shit was jacked." You stop by your locker and play around with the lock. "I'm sorry, Anon." "It's fine, you couldn't do anything. HOWEVER, we can string this to our advantage." "How?" With a good tug, you take off your lock and open up your locker. "Follow my lead." "So, how's the cupcake?" She munches down on the fluffy dessert. "Bretty good." The bell rings. "Okay, here we go." She finishes it up and rolls the paper into her leather jacket. You crouch down and shuffle some of your things inside your locker, pretending as if you're looking for your homework. In the distance, there is people walking down the hallway; all of them chatting away about what they're going to do tomorrow and the following weekend. "Hurry up, slowpoke!" Fluttershy shouts out while smacking the back of your head. "Okay, ow." You comment when rubbing the back of your head. "Sorry." She whispers. "Enjoyed your lunch, Anon?" Rarity calls you out from behind. You pull out a sheet of paper filled with chicken scratch and an offensive image on the bottom right corner. "Aside from starving, it could have been better." You get up to hand the paper over to Fluttershy, but notice Rainbow Dash and Rarity standing right beside her. "But really, it's nice that the most powerful girl in the group proves it by feeding the rest." Rarity and Rainbow Dash instantly drop their smirks and replace them with a rather upsetting frown. "It not only shows how dominant she is from all the rest, but how charitable she is to help others." That frown is now much worse, especially with the fact that they are showing some teeth. "Here, Fluttershy." You hand over the paper. "What class is that?" Rarity asks. "English, why?" Fluttershy answers while holding the paper. "I just think that it would be wonderful if you would allow us to have a look at it, wouldn't you agree, Rainbow Dash?" "Uh, yeah!" She follows Rarity's lead. "Fine, just give it back to me after class." Fluttershy then hands over the paper to Rarity. Rarity gains that smug look back, but as quickly that came by, the same could be said as it vanished when she took a look at it. "What is that?" Rarity holds the paper close to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash giggles. "Dick butt." Rarity was so disgusted that she crumpled up the paper and tossed it at the ground. "I couldn't even make out any of that gibberish. It would as if Anon gave you a fake." Once again, she has that smile from before. "What are you going to do about it, Fluttershy?" To their surprise, Fluttershy grabs you by the shirt and pushes you right into the set of lockers. "What did I say!?" She nearly shouts, but it was good since the metal clang is still ringing in your ears. You rub the side of your head and look around, noticing that the people passing by stop for a moment to look at your suffering. Rarity and Rainbow Dash are the ones that are mostly shocked by the outcome. "I don't have it! I thought that you needed math!" Fluttershy grabs your shirt and pulls you in. "Next time, I WON'T be so forgiving." She lets you go. You fumble around, but you manage to keep your balance. "Alright, I'll get it to you--" "Now, Anon." You go back and take out some old math homework. Fluttershy doesn't even bother to look at it as she stuffs it into her jacket. "Is everything fine, Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash asks. "Just Anon here needs some discipline one in a while, isn't that right?" "Yes, Fluttershy." "Sorry, I didn't hear that. What was it?" You rub your thumb around your fingers, trying to focus your fury on something else. This is the part on where you need to swallow your pride, only to keep this going. "Yes, Miss Fluttershy." She has a fiendish smile crawling on her, whereas her friends look disturbed by the whole scene. "We'll, erm, be going now." Rarity uncomfortably says to Fluttershy. "Yeah, don't want to be late for class, do we?" Rainbow Dash slides in a weak excuse. "You never gave a shit about class, Rainbow--" The bell rings. "Welp, now I do. Later, asshat!" She takes off. Rarity follows right behind her and the crowd scatters everywhere. When the hallway checks out to be clear, you and Fluttershy walk around. "When I said make it look convincing, I didn't mean it literally." "Next time, clarify it." "Fine. Maybe next time, I'll give you a glass bottle and we'll go from there." "You really do have a weird sense of humor." Fluttershy states her view on you. "You're not wrong, but that's not the case." You hold the part of your head that slammed into the flimsy, yet hard metal. "Christ, I didn't know you had that much of a throw." You lead Fluttershy to turn left in the upcoming corridor. "Sometimes you shouldn't judge a book by its cover." As the hallway comes into view, Vice Principal Luna is standing right around the corner. "Listen to your friend, Anon, there is a lot in every single one of you." The two of you scoot back from Luna. "Do you need to be creeping up like that?" "Not necessarily, but it comes with practice." "H-hello, Vice Principal Luna." Fluttershy sounds as if it was her usual "frail" self. "Good afternoon, Fluttershy. How's everything at the shelter lately?" Luna shifts her voice into a much more positive manner. You idly stand by, listening to their mundane conversation. "Very well, Anon has greatly improved it for the last few weeks." "I see, I wonder on why that is." Luna subtly mocks. "You seem different, Fluttershy." "Uh, I have been using a new conditioner?" "I suppose so." Luna quickly replies. "This has been an enjoyable conversation, but the two of you need to head for class. I'm sure Anon wouldn't mind going back to doing some physical education, wouldn't you agree?" You know what she's doing, but this isn't the right time or place. You never know if there is someone else watching from the sidelines. "No, I wouldn't mind at all." "That's good. Let's go, Anon. I most certainly wouldn't want you to get lost." She puts a hand on your shoulder and guides you away from Fluttershy. "You want to explain to me on what are you doing?" "Just sending my students back to class." You tried to turn around, but Luna shoved you forward. "Oh no, you're going back to class. I'm sure the rest are eager for another player." Oh shit. As long that it's football, you should be safe. "Spitfire expects you to be outside in four minutes. Get going." You step into the boys locker room, debating if you should just wait in here or possibly bail. They are good ideas to you, but you should stay on Luna's good side for a while. With a half-assed effort, you find your locker and take out your P.E. clothes. You quickly jog outside and stand by a set of cardboard boxes. "What took you so long? You just missed warm-up." Spitfire points to the students who just finished stretching their legs. "Either do some real quick or get in there." You couldn't care less for that, so you joined along with the others. Spitfire takes a box from the small stack and drops it. "For most of you know, we will be playing flag football." She takes out a familiar shaped pig skin and spins it around in one hand. "Rules are the same as the original, only one thing," She reaches into a box and pulls out a belt covered in flags stapled to the sides. "Pull down the flags to stop them IF they are the opposite gender! If they are the same gender, you are clear to tackle them down." Fuck, you expected the other kind of football, not this one! "The team that wins gets full credit for the day. Now, let's get this going. Lightning, Soaren; you two are team captains." She kicks two boxes towards their direction. They take their own box and walk into the open space. For a few moments, they look at you and then to each other. Some of the students begin to chatter, whereas Bulk focuses on his muscles. Spitfire blows her whistle. "Alright, get your teams and lets see some action out there!" She shouts out. "Rock, paper, scissors for who get to choose the advantage." Soaren throws rock, whereas Lightning tosses scissors. "Who do you want first?" Soaren scans over the group and smiles. "Bulk, you're with me." He points at him. "I'll take Coco." Lightning Dust calls her out. You were normally picked out somewhere in the middle, but this time is different. Today, you were the very last to be selected. "Come on, Anon." Lightning Dust says in a low voice. When you walk over to her, she tosses you a worn out belt. "You have a spare?" "Sorry, we're all out." She hands the box back to Spitfire. Fucking bitch. If she was on the other team, you would drag her down, regardless of the rules. They start to huddle up, but Lightning pushes you away. "Wait a minute, we'll tell you what to do later." "This better be good." "It is, trust me." You allow her to share whatever plan she has to the rest of your team. In the pit of your stomach, you sense a bad feeling to what's going on. It might just be a hunch, since she is hiding the game plan away from you and you see that Bulk has a ominous smile over at the other team. "Alright, break!" Lightning chants. "Anon! You stand over at the farthest left side." "Hold up, what am I really doing." "Glad that you asked; when we toss the ball at you, catch it and run towards the goal post." It just can't be that simple. "That's it? No details?" "That's all on you." She slaps your shoulder. "No pressure, we have faith in ya." You stand at your position, quickly stretching your arms. You'll need them prepped for when the football comes over. You can never be too sure on what they have in store for you. You're not ready to let your guard down, and you won't for quite a long time. "Blue, 24!" Lightning shouts out. She scans the crowd, but takes some time when looking at your general direction. "Blue, 24! Hut, hut, hike!" You watch as they work their magic. A good chunk are holding their position. The rest run around, almost as if that they were chickens with their heads cut off. At the corner of your eye, something brown was approaching, and at an alarming rate. You swipe your arm up and bring it down, successfully catching it. "Heh. Wait..." You look around and notice three guys starting to charge at you. "Motherfuckers." "Run, Anon! RUN!" Lightning Dust shouts out, almost as if she was cheering you on. You jump to the side as one leaps over to take you down, but ends up eating the dirt below the grass. As the other one tries to do the same, you run past him and weave to the side. The third one snags your arm, but you counter it by pushing him away. You hear a whistle blowing in the sidelines. "What was that!? I said tackling, not hand-holding!" Spitfire shouts at the other player. "But I wasn't--" "Paying attention!? You TACKLE them down!" Spitfire grunts while walking away. The other player goes back to his team, looking rather heated when he looks directly at you. "Good going there, Anon!" Lightning says in a positive manner. "Looks like we're getting a kickoff for that." "If I didn't push him away, he would have damaged my arm." "Quit complaining, you're being useful for once." She insults you. You'll somehow get her back. "Fuck... this..." Six minutes in and you're sweating like a fat girl at her sisters wedding. Lightning Dust will toss you the football at any chance that she gets, and it's practically non-stop. You've already been tackled down twice and you're not really up for a third time. "Hey, cheer up! We're winning!" Lightning gloats. "How about you give the ball to other people, sounds like a nice idea?" "Ever heard of a phrase; if it ain't broke, don't fix it?" "That has nothing to do with this!" "Tell that to the scoreboard." Okay, that does it. You can either take a few more falls, or play this your way. The former already hurts, including the possibility that you might have a broken rib as of right now. Still, that won't stop you from taking a few of these pricks down. "19! 32!" You prepare yourself in a starting position as Lightning finishes her countdown. "Hut, hut, hike!" She ready's her throw, and so does a small group of guys to take you down. In the far back of it all, Bulk Bicep is set to finish you off. The moment the football flew over, you knew it was game time. You grab the football and go head on to the charging group. After speeding by the first guy, you elbow him in the stomach. When you're speeding past the second guy, you "mistakenly" kick him on the shin. The third and forth did their best to tackle you down from each side, but crashed into one another. Bulk wasn't stopping; in fact, he was speeding up. You tuck the football in your arm and-- Spitfire blows into her whistle. "Hold it, hold it!" She walks over and stands right in between you and Bulk. "This is football, not battle royale!" She snatches the football away and points at the group of guys that are groaning in pain. "Anymore of that and I will take you to the Vice Principal." There's just no way you can win this. She hands the football to Bulk. The group of injured guys get up and sit on the side of the field. "What the heck was that!?" Lightning smacks you upside the head. "Improvising." "Well don't, now they get to start off!" "Too bad." She grunts in anger. "Don't mess this up, Anon, especially when we try to turn this around, you got it?" You're ready to call her out, but stop when something comes to mind. "Yeah, I got it." If she wants a game plan, you're going to give her one. "27! 42! Hut, hut, hike!" Soaren yells out. You try to go between two guys, but they keep you from passing through. Spitfire doesn't even struggle on passing to two girls who barely did much to keep her away. Thunderlane passes by to get Soaren, but he passes it to Coco. Lightning slips the football away from Coco and is more than ready to toss it at you. You back away and run off to get some distance, noticing Cloudchaser is clear and out in the open at the far side of the field. Irregardless of Cloudchaser's existence, Lightning still tosses it to you. Almost immediately, everyone in the opposing team is turning their attention to you. Cloudchaser still waives her arms, demanding for the football. As multiple people run over to take you down, you throw that shit back at Lightning Dust. She fumbles it around, but does catch it and was about to toss it right back, only to rethink that idea when you were tackled down by Nightingale. A part of the opposing team starts to chase her down, but she speeds pass them and heads for the touchdown. The only person that was in her way was Bulk Biceps. She manages to dodge him, but he starts to chase her down. Lightning pushes herself to leap for the touchdown. Bulk follows her by doing the same thing while reaching over to pull down a flag. She manages to score the touchdown and stands up, raising the football to bask in her victory. "AHA!" She gloats. "Not so-- fast?" Bulk questions as he holds out her gym shorts. Everyone, including herself, looks down to see a pair of blue and white striped panties. She covers it by moving the football over her frilly crotch, embarrassed as she takes them back. Spitfire just stares until she snaps out of it when Lightning puts on her shorts. A loud whistling sound blares through your eardrums. "You two; we're going to the vice principals office!" She orders them. "The rest of you; do something active until I get back." You feel proud, ashamed, and flaccid. All of this from watching the two of them leave the field. From where you're standing at, you can see that Lightning is beyond pissed and Bulk is purely ashamed. You slightly cough out of pain from the tackle. Lightning hears it and points at you. "I swear, you'll pay for this!" She screams. You respond by brushing off some grass clippings and showing her the bird.
Chapter 8: Out of the Frying Pan...The bell rings. You leave the changing room and head straight for your locker. Someone shoves you inside, but they didn't close the door. "I will beat you to a fucking--" You jump out and raise a fist, but hold it back when you see Twilight is the one who pushed you. "Pulp." "Nice to see you too." You close the locker. "Something that you need?" She looks around, making sure that most of the people aren't focusing on you. "We should move around, just for safety's sake." You follow her down the hallway. "Norman texted me while I was in the locker room. He wants me to meet him later today, right after sunset." "Remember the plan. After that, there's no turning back." "I got it. Anything else?" "Yeah, I wanted to ask if, you wanted..." You see Fluttershy way down the hallway, tossing in a book and grabbing a different one out. In a quick reaction, you push Twi the other way. "What the--!"? "Flutters was down the hallway." You mutter. "Ohh. As I was saying; do you still want to study later today?" "Yeah, the usual?" "Yup." "Fine, I'll bring over my Physics book." "One last thing; was there any chance that you had something to do with getting someone suspended?" "Already, that fast?" "So it was you?" "Hey, I didn't motivate him to pull down Lightning's shorts." "Wow. What did you expect?" You were expecting her to eat a nice batch of fresh soil, but you certainly won't tell Twilight that. "Let her pick up the slack. You would hate it when other people piggyback your success, wouldn't you?" "Fine, you do have a point there. Some people call it ludicrous on the fact that he's suspended by an honest mistake. Looks like the school might be focused on this for a while before they pay their attention right back to you." "A breather for us? Finally." "I'd better head off, I'll see you later." She purposely bumps into you to start a show. "Next time, I want your answers to be PRECISE, I don't care how 'accurate' they are, I demand the exact answer next time!" The students are utterly confused, but it doesn't matter as they shrug it off almost immediately. She walks off, threatening to hit a student with her history textbook. It manages to work as he backs away and raises his own book to cover his face. You enter the living room with two cans of soda. "Lightning vowed to get you back after her undergarments were exposed?" You pass one of the cold cans of soda over to Twilight. "Yup, all I did was give her the middle finger as she was being pushed out of the field." Twilight laughs. "Anon, you're a madman." You swivel the can in your hand. "It's not like she can do anything. Rules and all of that shit keeps me safe. Plus, if she wants to keep that scholarship, she better stay clean." Twilight opens up her can, but ponders a thought. "Aren't you worried about yourself?" "If you want a straight answer, not really." You open up your can. "Why?" You set your can down on the table and sit beside her on the couch. "Aside from mediocre grades and a messy record, I'm not really the type of person who will amount to anything in life." "You could become a wrestler." "The shit I do isn't staged." "What about some sort of fighter?" "I'd like to keep my teeth and bones intact, thank you very much." "So, what will you do after high school?" You never considered that for years. It was always 'I can't wait to get out of high school' but never the afterthought. "I wish I knew." "Hey, it isn't so bad. You can always start off at a community college, do some general classes before working for a career." "Heh, if you haven't noticed but I prefer to stay away from any form of education right after high school." "But, don't you want a better and easier life?" She does have a point. Life can only be hard if you make it that way. There must be something out there for you, but nothing if it involved some sort of degree. "I'll take my chances." You open up your textbook and flip to the current chapter. "Suit yourself." Twilight says when getting out her own textbook. Its been hours since you've started studying with Twilight. Four long, painstaking hours reading and you're exhausted. Hold on, four hours? "I got to go." You slam your book close and stand up. "You have a test tomorrow!" She shouts when you grab your keys. "I know, but I'll be late!" "For what?" You yank the door open. "Norman." "Ohh." She nods. "We'll study later." "When is later?" Twilight asks when you close the door. "Tomorrow!" You run over to your car and start it up. Twilight waives her book around. "Is it necessary to run off like this!?" "I've been waiting all day for this!" You yell with enthusiasm though the window before driving off. "But I-- need a ride home." Twilight says to herself. It's dark, but that won't stop you. You pull up by the closed burger shack and shut off the car. "Took you long enough." Norman appears from the back of the shack. "I was studying and lost track of time." You get out and close the door. "That's a surprise. Was it with that purple girl? Come on, we both know with what you're doing with them." You keep your temper in control from his implications. "Will you stop, there's nothing that's going on between me and them." "Don't mess with me, I know that you're doing this just so that you can get with them." Great, this shit. "Dude, I'm not doing anything like that." "Come on, what other reason are you to being their attack dog?" You have your intentions, but you sure as hell won't tell him. "Nothing to say? Figured." "Just what the hell do you want?" "We can still make this work, and I know how." "Okay then, lay one on me." "I intend to." "Say what now?" "I punch you, go around and gloat about the bruise that you have and that'll make me the one who is in control." "That's crazy." "But it'll work." "You'll get suspended!" "So? I need a vacation. Plus, I might get that purple girl to tutor me during it." You crack the knuckles in your left hand by using nothing but your thumb. "I mean, since you're not interested in her or anything like that, right?" He slightly mocks. "Unless, if you have something against it, I'm sure we can discuss about your other friend." He pulls out his phone. "So, what'll it be?" Okay, you're done with negotiation. You snag the phone out of his hand. "HEY!" He reaches for it, but stops when you grab his arm. "Wha--" You yank him to the floor and pin him down. As Norman is laying on the asphalt, he squirms around, trying to break free. You set your foot over his left leg and prepare yourself. "You better stop or--" With all of your might, you send your foot down and stomp on his thigh, smashing right through the femur. As he lets out a painful scream, you let go of him and watch Norman grab his damaged leg. "What in the fuck is wrong with you!?" He cries out. "It's simple, either you give me the passcode to unlock the phone, or it's going to be your kneecap next." You approach him, but he quickly puts up his hand up to stop you. "Okay! Okay, the code is three-one-three-one." You press in the code and you are greeted with his home screen. "How do I delete the photos out of the cloud?" "I swear, I'll--" You bring your foot up and set it on the side of his knee. "ALRIGHT! Just, give it to me, and those photos are gone, okay!?" He tears up, trying to hold it back from sliding out of his eyelids. It was practically icing on the cake for you, all you need is for him to get rid of these photos. It took him a while for him to do his part, what with all the wincing and leg holding that he constantly did. In the end of about a minute, he managed to delete it all. You swipe around his phone, making sure not one photo is saved anywhere. Aside from a stash of porn, he had nothing. "Are we square now!?" He shouts. "Yeah, we're fine." You lower his phone, but keep it away at an arms reach. "But, not just yet." "Come on, what more do you want!?" "It's not what I want, but rather, what you want." "The fuck are you going on about!? I'm not going to call the police!" "I know. You just need to follow everything that I say, and both of us will get away scot-free." "Fine, whatever! Tell me already so that I can get to the hospital!" You put the phone in your pocket and help him up. "What are--" "Just get in my car and I'll drive you to the intersection." "Are you going to finish me off!?" He panics. "The fuck is wrong with you? I'm not going to do that. I'm going to drop you off, you call nine-one-one, they come to pick you up, you claim that it was a hit-and-run, and we call it a night." "What if they ask details?" You slowly guide him to the backseat. "Say that you were on your way for a burger, but someone hit you and ran off. It was all a blur and happened too fast for you to get anything." "This is insane!" "It's not. Just say that you couldn't get a good look at the license plate and it was too dark for you to see the color." You set him down. "I can't believe you did this, just for a set of pictures." "Hey, you wanted to be something and now you are." "I'm going to use a fucking crutch for the next few weeks!" "But, people will give you sympathy points." "What?" "You have a broken leg; girls normally feel bad when a guy gets into an accident. When no one knows who did it, they even feel more sad for you. The sadder they get, the closer you are to any of them." He scratches his chin. "Yeah, I can work with that." "Hey, they can also write down their numbers on that sweet cast that you'll have." "Oh ha-fucking-ha!" "What? I'm just looking at the positives." "Just drop me off already!" "Suit yourself." You close the door and hop into the drivers seat. The noisy alarm on your phone goes off. You slam the button on your phone and sit up. What a night. Norman's screaming stayed in your mind, keeping you up for what had seemed like hours but it was only twenty minutes. Ever since Twilight told you her plan, you were excited to snap his leg into two, but it has been a disappointment from last night. It will eventually pass, besides, he was going to ruin your hard work. At least it's a Friday, so today should be a damn good day. You throw your blanket on the side and slide out of bed. Norman, Bulk, Lightning, even Applejack and her friends should step off now. After your performance from yesterday, there is no way that they can come back. As the day passes by, it slowly becomes the best day out of this week. The Physics test didn't seem like a problem, Norman's screaming is fading into obscurity, not that many glares passed by, even Fluttershy's friends haven't said anything for the last four hours. You close your locker and walk, heading for your next class, wondering about what kind of pizza you'll get in the cafeteria in an hour from now. Pepperoni, extra cheese... that's pretty much it. Still better than Taco Tuesday, you still wonder on how Sonata can stomach those tacos. Out of nowhere, Rainbow Dash grabs you by the shoulder and stops you. "Do you still think that we're going to back down and give up?" "If you had common sense, you would have a long time ago." "Well let me tell you something - we're not going to stop. Don't even think for a minute that you're untouchable." Great, now people are watching you get talked down by Rainbow. So much for a perfect day. "Here's what you need to learn; if you stop with this shit, you'll be able to keep your spine aligned." "Do you want to toss in another broken chair?" Sunset asks when approaching you. "You know that it'll be more than a broken chair next time, Sunny." "Don't you dare call me that." She threatens in a low voice. "Whoops, sorry. Forgot that the only person that ever loved you said that." She lunges at you, but stops when Rainbow Dash grabs her by the waist. "Hey, hey!" "Say that one more time and I'll--" "Cry? It almost looks like you're tearing up." She tries to push herself forward, failing as Rainbow Dash keeps her down with the aid of Applejack that has her holding back. "He isn't worth it, Sunset!" Shimmer stops to straighten her shirt. "D-darn you..." Applejack rests a hand on her shoulder and guides her away from you. "You'll have your comeuppance, ya hear me!?" Rainbow Dash shouts at you. "Oh great, you learned a word that has three syllables. Nice to know that you're actually learning in class now!" She hides her anger by turning back around, walking away with her friends. "I swear, you're becoming even more of a brute than before!" Rarity blocks you from entering the cafeteria. "I just want my pizza, damnit." You complain. "Too bad, you'll--" "Get what I deserve, feel the wrath of you and your friends, so on and so fourth. Are we done?" "Uh, not yet." "What else do you have to say?" Rarity raises a finger and takes a deep breath, but takes a pause. She scratches her cheek. "You win this one." She moves to the side. "Wait! Don't you dare continue with insulting my friends!" You leave your hand on the door. "Why? I'm having so much fun." You taunt before entering the cafeteria. You grab a tray and plate. Without any hesitation, you grab one slice of each. Fuck choosing, no purpose on starting now. You can burn some cash for another slice. The only downfall is what might happen when she comes over. You head over for the usual secluded table and enjoy a few bites out of your pepperoni slice. Over at the girls table, it looks like there is some trouble. You can't hear their conversation, but whatever it is, it doesn't look good for them. "What do you mean you quit!?" Rainbow Dash almost screams. "Shh!" Rarity tries to keep her quiet. "I'm done, I have no intentions on continuing with this shtick." "This isn't a shtick, this is more than that, and you know it." "Yeah, but I'm calling it quits before it gets worse." "Psht, what caused you to coward out?" You rub your still sore bottom when she asked that question. "My plan backfired, that's all you need to know." "Seesh, AJ. So much for you never quitting. I expected better from you." Rainbow further insults you. "Rainbow Dash!" Rarity exclaims. "Don't even bother, Rarity, I don't see you trying anything." RD turns her aggression on her now. "I am! It's not exactly easy to plan with a pepper spray and a bra." Rarity defends herself. "Why do you want to humiliate him so badly?" Sunset asks. "Humiliation is the first step on breaking him." Rarity reveals her plan. "Yeah, must be great for you to pick out a training bra in the worst color you can possibly think." Rainbow rags on her idea. Rarity slams her hands on the table. "I'll show all of you! It will be more than that!" She grabs her bag and leaves the table without saying a word. "What's happenin' party people?!" Pinkie Pie enthusiastically says when sitting down with Twilight. "Nothing, but I think I'll need a walk." Rainbow gets up and leaves. "Rainbow, what's wrong?" Pinkie asks. "She probably needs some time to herself." Sunset talks for Rainbow. "She looks mighty steamed. It's not our fault that she can't play for squat now." "You're right. I'll go and try to talk to her." Sunset stands up. "But you haven't even touched your food." Twilight informs her. "You keep it." She brushes it off and goes away with Rainbow. "But--" "Leave her, Twi." You grab Shimmer's apple. "Sunset will take care of it." "I should throw a small party for the seven of us this weekend. You know, try to get this silly thing about Nonny out of everyone's mind." Pinkie tries to brighten the mood. "I think it'll take more than a party to get them to move on, Pinkie." Twilight highlights. "Then I'll have to bring something strong." Pinkie Pie says in a more serious tone. Twilight scoots away from her. "I need to use the restroom." Since you haven't used the bathroom for the entire morning, you really aren't lying. "Oki then. Has anyone seen Fluttershy?" Pinkie wonders. You watch as they slowly disband. Must be some trouble in paradise. You take a sip out of your milk carton and wonder what's up with them. Whatever. It looks like they will focus on each other, meaning that you might be right; they might back off with everyone else. You keep on drinking until someone steals your milk carton. In a rapid reaction, you get up to threaten them, but stop when it was Fluttershy who is testing you. "Not so fast." She holds the milk away from you. "Where's my money?" You've prepared for this; hide the actual cash by strapping it to your leg and the chump change in your pocket. You pull out two dollars and a few cents. With a shred of regret, you hand it over to her open hand. "This isn't much." She balls it in a fist. "I'm starting to get angry, Anon." "L-look, I bought some pizza. I couldn't help myself." She stuffs it into her jacket and then grabs you. "You're starting to disappoint me. First the homework, now with giving me scraps?" She gives you a ghastly stare that is actually unsettling. "Are you're trying to play with me!?" "N-no! I'm--" She pours the carton of milk over your head. "Stalling. You better give me a lot more the next time." She tosses the empty carton at you. "Enjoy your pizza." She takes your pepperoni pizza and heads back to her table. You're confused, conflicted~~, and somewhat aroused~~ with what she just did. You wipe the milk off your face and sit down. "What in the fuck..." You mumble to yourself. You take the nearest napkin dispenser and use up a few napkins to dry yourself off. You're aware of the people looking, but you don't care. At this point, you don't even mind it. The more that they watch Fluttershy tightening the collar on you, the more that they will know that she means business. But this is more than that. This was over the line, at least by her. Although, you should have hinted that when she hit your head into the lockers yesterday. Something must have changed and you need to know soon. For now, you're dragging some people down by shit talking them on an image board. You take out your phone in one hand and grab the other slice of pizza with the other. Let's see on what you can stir up with these-- "Hey! Hey, you!" Some kid with glasses runs up to you, all out of breath. "What do you want?" ”You’re the one who owns a rundown gray sedan?” “Yeah, what about it?” ”It’s on fire.” “WHAT?!” You run out, speeding through the hallways. He must be joking. If not, then what are the chances of it being your car? There are other cars like yours out in the parking lot. Maybe not, but still, it could happen to anyone else. When you barge right through the doors, you gaze at your own car, set aflame from all others. Other students come right out to watch as you slowly approach it, unaware of the sirens off in the distance. "Everyone, back up!" Vice Principal Luna shouts at the onlooking students. You just stand there, watching as your car is torched by someone who finally had their revenge. Vague thoughts flow through you, such as who did it, why, and is this more than just revenge? Is it a message? Faint sounds of high heels rapidly clicking on the pavement suddenly gets louder and louder until someone grabs you by the arm. "Let's go, Anon." Luna commands. You don't even fight it and mindlessly walk with the vice principal.
Chapter 9: Desperate Measure"The longer you're here, the more I question on why I haven't taken precautions earlier." Luna says while pacing the floor. "Because you watch as if the school was a jungle instead of a zoo?" She stops to eye you. "If this place was such, it would at least be under control!" "That's what I--" "I know what you said!" She infuriatingly says without shouting. "I can't believe this, any of it!" "Hey, you're not the only one who is surprised that someone firebombed my car!" "For any reason." She adds on. "You have made a lot of people upset, so it may as well be anyone in the school." "Tell me something new." "How about this; I think it's time to look at some alternatives." She opens up a drawer and rifles through it. "Like...?" "A different school." Your heart jumps. "So what, are we talking about Crystal Prep?" "I don't think they will appreciate a student like you." You brush off her blatant insult and rest easy in your chair. She pulls out a set of papers. "You're going to Fairbailey." "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!?" You jump out of your chair. "Settle down, Anon." "That's a trade school! No way am I going there." "Anon, the fire department is still trying to remove your front bumper off of the pavement." "This will be an interesting talk with my parents." "Speaking of which, I have called them to talk about today's catastrophe." You rub your hands on the sides of your forehead. "This isn't good." "Don't look at it so badly. We can get you out of this environment filled with hostility and go somewhere that you might be more suited to." Someone knocks on the door. "That must be them." When she opens the door, your mom and dad walk in. "What did you do this time, Anon?" Your father sounds unsympathetic. "I didn't do anything this time." "Then why are we here?" Your mother questions. "Mr. and Mrs. Mous, you may want to sit down for this." Luna informs. After some explaining overtime... "WHAT!?" Your father shouts in shock. "B-but, it can't be." Your mother includes her thoughts on the fact that your car was the charred car that the firefighters are loading onto a flatbed truck. "I'm afraid so. There are multiple students that have a certain type of hatred on him, so it could be any one of them." Luna informs your parents about the chances of any suspects. "Then start an investigation with the police!" Your mother panics. "I'm afraid not." "Why not!?" "Because Anon would be in as much trouble as the rest." Luna exposes. "I have covered Anon from the police because it would drag down our most favored students. They could be serving jail time." "This is absurd! What kind of vice principal are you!?" Your mother insults Luna. "Tell me about it." You mutter. "Will you give me a chance to speak!?" Luna sounds defensive. "We can fix this, for all of us." "How!? Our son's life is on the line!" Your father highlights. "It doesn't need to be when he is attending a different school." Luna says. "Honey, we can't afford Anon to go at Crystal Prep Academy." Your mother grabs your fathers arm as she says this. "You don't need to, we can send him to a trading school." Luna tosses her idea in. Your parents seem devastated by the idea. "Isn't there any other school he can attend?" Your dad wonders. "Not in this school district. If you want, I can get you the paperwork to transfer over." Your parents look at each other. "I--" "Dad, you seriously can't be thinking about this." You interrupt. "They burned your car to the ground, what else are we supposed to do!?" Luna pulls out a set of papers that is three times the size of the previous set. "This is the transfer papers for Anon to enter the district. We can start on it and when it's done, I can send it imme--" "Mom, you don't need to--" "Stop. Anon, you were attacked." "By girls!" Wait... "I mean, they ganged up on me!" "That's how dangerous it is for you to stay here! At least you'll be somewhere safe." Your mother ended calmly. "My thoughts exactly. At least Anon will be somewhere safe and filled with a school that might tolerate him a bit more." You've heard about this school, but thought it was a rumor about its existence. The students here were failing beyond recovery, along with some thugs and pregnant girls. The type of students that were tossed into a hidden environment. This is bad, but not as bad as it'll be when you're gone and Fluttershy is left without her bouncer. They will chew her up -- and by they, it may as well be the entire school. She has them locked in fear back in the animal shelter, but with you gone, they might grind her into dog food. Well, the one person who turned your car into a BBQ. They are practically a guarantee. Luna pushes the papers over to your parents, along with a pair of pens. You need a reason to stay here, at any cost. Your mom's pen clicks. "Wait," She holds it in midair. "I can't leave." "Anon--" "Are you insane!?" Your mother nearly screams while interrupting your dad. "You're not safe here." "I knew that ever since the beginning!" You shout back at her. She is taken aback by your outburst. "Son, you better calm down now." Your father slowly but intently spells it out for you, almost as if he is trying to reason with a criminal. "I've worked too hard for this, and I'm not going to leave it." "What are you going on about? There is nothing that you've done here!" Your mother urges on. "That's not true. Vice Principal Luna, can you pull up my grades?" Just like your parents, she is dumbfounded by your request. "Why do you need them?" "To show that I have done some improvements." A minute goes by of Luna going through the school records to find you. "There," She spins the laptop around. "I hate to admit this, but Anon isn't lying. He has been improving ever since he was getting tutored by one of our students." Your mother fiddles with her pen, whereas your father squeezes his. "It even shows that he aced his test from earlier today." Your mother sounded astonished from viewing your Physic's report. "It's going to take more than a recent grade spike." Your father isn't moved by this. This might get measured real fast when you bring it up, but there isn't any other choice. "Dad," He looks at you, expecting a good explanation for you to stay here. "I can't leave her." Your mom and Luna snap their heads over to you. "Her?" Your mother emphasizes. "Yes. I've been focused on so much just so that I could impress her, and I don't want to lose it all just for whoever has a grudge on me." Your parents gaze at each other, unsure about their choice. "I'm not sure." Your father is still unnerved. "Honey, remember on how motivated you were when you saw me?" "But that's different." "It still doesn't excuse the crazy stuff that you did for me." Your mother puts the pen back on the desk. Meanwhile, your father still stares at the pen in his hand. "I can't take away Anon's chance of finding someone." He puts it right beside the other pen sitting on the desk. "If that's what you want, then fine." Luna takes the paperwork and pens back. "But," Your mother raises a finger. "We're still going to do something about this." "Believe me, I'll do everything in my power to--" "Oh no, we're going to get the police involved." "Mrs. Mous, I'd advise you not to do that." "I'm afraid to say that I have made my choice. It's clear that you cannot manage this situation." "Mom--" "Don't patronize me, Anon. If you're going to stay, we should prevent this from going any further." Your mother gets off of her seat. The moment that she stands by the door, she looks at Luna. "We're going to put a stop to this by placing it in the right authorities." "Even if it will risk your son serving jail time?" Luna questions. "That's a risk I'm willing to take." She turns the doorknob and heads out. You start to stand up, only to stop when Luna interrupts. "No sense in leaving, Anon, the police will be here shortly to interrogate you, and then the rest." "What makes you say that?" "Just a wild guess if your mother is going to head into the parking lot to discuss about this matter. You may as well wait." You do, since who know what might be happening around school about the whole event. Three minutes pass by to find out that the vice principal was right. Two officers enter the room and they keep you in the corner of their eyes. "Vice Principal Luna." The much taller officer addresses her. "Officer Monroe." She replies. "May we have the room for the next half hour?" You just noticed that he is carrying a folder in his hand. "A few minutes is all you'll need after getting it from him." She heads on out of the room. Officer Monroe nods to his buddy and walks out with the vice principal. "Okay son, mind telling me on who in the right mind would burn your car?" "Am I a victim or some sort of suspect?" "Depends on how we go from here on. Not that many people do these sort of things without a good reason." He pulls a chair and turns it over to face you. "Just like you, I'm here to find out who would do this, and to do that we need to go from the beginning." He flips open the folder and takes out a pen. "We would have to go back by a few weeks." "We have the rest of the day to tell your story." "But what did my parents tell you?" "Nothing much, except that there is a certain group of individuals that have a certain type of interest for you." You sigh. "It started off at lunchtime..." Six minutes have passed by. You just told him the very simplified version of your side of the story, but you were sure to include any segments involving the girls and nothing else that might get you into some serious problems. "Anything else?" "Nope." You reply with confidence. Monroe clicks his pen. "This will be off the record -- why?" "Why what?" "Why do any of this?" He closes the folder. You certainly aren't going to tell him it's all for shits and giggles. With a burning sensation sitting in your chest, you look him in the eye. "It's for this girl, that's all." He briefly pinches his nose before scratching the side of his head. "I swear, you kids and your hormones these days." Monroe adds his thoughts on your reason. "In the end, this better be worth the price that you've made." He starts to get up. "Wait, that's it? You're not going to slap the handcuffs on me?" "Not as of this moment. We need to get the rest to talk about their sides of the story. We also need their statement about today's matter," He turns the doorknob. "We'll talk to you soon." He walks outside. "You were right, a few minutes was all I need." Judging by the tone of his voice, you can tell how warming this will turn out to be. "Next time, vice principal, don't let anything go by." You hear him try to keep it between the two of them. Luna enters with a sickening stare and just blows right past you. "Your parents are waiting outside, Anon. They want to talk before you head back into class." She sits on her chair and rotates to face the wall. You head for the hallway containing nothing but your parents. Your mother runs up to hug you. It stops when you complain in pain. "Was the hug too rough?" "Just a football injury, nothing else." Your father smacks the side of your right arm. "That's my boy." He relishes his son standing against the pain. "Trying to stand tall for your purple friend, I see." "Hold on, I had the impression that he would be doing it for Fluttershy." "What makes you say that?" Your father asks. "I've seen on how his tutor has been for the last few days." "But Anon did visit the animal shelter even before we gave him the punishment." Your mother reminds him. "Anon, who are you interested in?" Author's Note Who do you think it will be?
Chapter 10: Heated AllianceYou struggle with yourself, deciding on who it should be. Twilight seems to be friendly, helpful, and trying something with you aside from being a study partner. Fluttershy isn't herself, not from what you can reflect on. She was nervous, anxious about the whole ordeal with being framed and what she felt on bullying you. Now she's practically vile and malicious with it all. In the end, you couldn't care less for either one, but you may as well go for the one that seems probable to your parents. "It's Twilight." "I knew it," Your dad boasts. "I knew it in my gut, and it's never wrong." "I'm still waiting on how that investment you made months ago will pick up." Your mom tries to provoke him. "The stock market is very fickle, it'll pick up." "If you say so, dear. I swear, Fluttershy sounded like a nice girl over the phone. I wish I had the chance to meet her in person." You're not so willing with the idea of your parents meeting the person that's bullying you. Better off to stay with Twilight. At least, for now. "Sorry mom, Twilight's just compelling in her own way." "So, what makes her attractive, specifically speaking?" Your mother asks. "Erm, it's hard to think right off the bat." "I can wait until it comes right back to you." Damnit, you're better off heading back to class rather than dealing with this. "She's smart and I like the purple streak in her hair." "Even though that is obvious, I can't control your taste in girls," Your mother adjusts the strap on her purse. "You should get back to class, me and your father still have work to do." You head off to-- "And Anon," Your father stops you in your tracks. "We'll talk about your car later." "Sure, that's fine." As you travel through the hallways, it feels lackluster in conversation between people. Just whispers going through three people at its highest and the rest are not talking at all. Today must have put a spook throughout the school, knowing that someone is out for you and intend on doing more. You slightly worry on the idea and wonder on who it might be. That wonderment ends when you receive a text message by Fluttershy. 'Meet me across the street, we need to talk.' You exit the school and look over the groups of students to spot Fluttershy leaning on a stop sign across the street. You don't waste any time to meet up with her, the last thing that you probably want is for her to walk over here and cause another scene. "Hi, Anon." "Hey, you sound upset." She shrugs when standing upright. "I didn't give you an apology about my recent outbursts." "Forget it, some shouting and a slight headache isn't much to me." "It's just that, I wanted to do that to everyone else, but with what you said back in the hallway, it still bothers me." "Just stick to the plan. If people see you beating me down, they are sure as hell don't want to feel any of it. Keep that in mind." "They deserve it, not you. It's time that I start to put it on them." She really is getting fussy about this. "Isn't it enough at the animal shelter?" "It is. I tell them to do something and they do it without a second thought. I just feel like they get what's coming to them." "Maybe, but we don't want to start an uprising." "Then what was that during lunch, right after I left with the donation?" You almost forgot that this entire thing was also for the animals instead of your amusement. At least it's for a good cause. Oh, right. Her question. "A setback." "Anon, they turned your car into a bonfire." "I know. Whoever it was must have finally made their revenge." "What if they want more? What if I'm next?!" "Relax. If they were after you, they would have done that a while ago." "I can't relax! I don't want anything to happen with the animals!" "Slow down, what are--" "If they are after you, they might be after me later! I mean, if they can go for your car, they might go for the shelter!" She's starting to get loud. Anymore and the people across the street will hear her. You grab her by the arms and pull her in. "Listen to me very carefully; they won't go for your animals, and I'm more than sure that they will only go for me. Okay?" You don't even need to think twice about what you're doing, you just thought up an idea. "Now, I want you to slap me--" She then moves her left arm out to slap you across the face. You let go, nearly jumping back in the process. "Ow." You say when rubbing your cheek. "Uh, sorry?" "You couldn't let me finish my sentence?" "T-they were looking, I swear!" "It's fine. We should go somewhere else." She nods. You and Fluttershy stroll away from the campus, passing by any of the people that are from your school. There's no question that you need to find somewhere else to do anything private, now that your car is gone and the outskirts of town isn't an option. Since it is Friday, everyone will be at the movies, mall, arcade, even the restaurants will be packed. You sure as hell do not want to head over to your place, since you marked Twilight as a person of interest and it would be hard to explain why Fluttershy is there. Fluttershy's place isn't viable. Her parents aren't too keen with the idea of having a guy at her place. The shelter is handled with a few people, one of which is scheduled to be Lightning Dust, so that's a no-go. Only one place that you can think that they wouldn't go to, the park. Hidden in plain sight, just what you need. "Are you sure about this, Anon? What if anyone sees us?" "Trust me on this. Only old people and unattended children visit parks nowadays." "I'm not sure if that was a joke, Anon." You decided to stay silent and keep walking until a birdbath catches your eye. "Look on the bright side, birds will come by once every while to take a bath." "You didn't answer my question." She didn't buy it. No point on trying to avoid it. "It depends on how you look at it. Everyone has their sort of humor." "I guess." You and Fluttershy find a suitable bench to sit on. "I wanted to say that I'm sorry about what happened to your car." "That wasn't you who did that, so you don't have any reason to apologize." She shuffles around on her side of the bench. "I feel as if this is all my fault." "How?" "The fights, the suspensions, your car is now gone, all of it." You can tell that she sounds awful about this realization. She sounds like her old self. You're tempted to ask what she was over the last few days, but do you want to risk breaking her back into that state of mind? You will hold onto it for now and make use of what is left of her. "You can live with it." "I can't!" She breaks. "I just can't keep going on with this, not if you're in danger." "I'm not in danger of anything. I barely have anything to lose." "Barely. What do you have left?" "My health, my family, a roof over my head, and you." Fluttershy brights up when you mention her. "M-me?" "Yeah. I mean, there are those that sort of like me." "O-oh," It dims down. "Who?" "There is Pinkie Pie and Twilight." She gets irritated at the moment that you mention Twilight's name. "Right, her." She leans back, trying to shove off the topic by looking at the fountain. Great, she's in that mood. Now you're completely unsure to ask about her attitude. It's either that or whatever is around here, and it isn't much. There is the fact that your parents now know that you prefer Twilight, but do you really want to try messing around with fire? Still, as long that she doesn't ask, you should be in the clear. "Hey Anon, how come we couldn't go to your house?" Fucking hell, should you tell her the truth or spin off a lie? Better off to spin off some truth. Your parents definitely want to have a chat with you about the car, so there's that. "My family is pretty upset about the car, I don't want to risk talking about it if there is the slightest chance of them staying at the house." "Hm, can't we just walk over to check?" "Oh no, the moment that they look past the curtains is the moment that they'll drag my ass inside." "Fine, you've made your point." Few, now you just need to stall some time and have her relax. "Anon, do you want to do something later?" "I don't want to help out the animal shelter. At least, not for the weekend." You seriously need to catch up in something, one of your dipshit friends is catching up in the leaderboards and you need to spawn kill another. "I was going to ask if you wanted to go somewhere and just talk, but if you need some time to yourself, then fine." "But, we are doing that. As of right now." "I mean, in a different term." You might be spotting something differently, but she's hinting at it for you quite clearly. "Oh." "So, we could do it maybe tomorrow or Sunday. We can just meet up somewhere and talk over--" "Anon!" You turn around in your seat to see Twilight jogging down the stone path. Shit, shit, shit! This is the very last thing that you needed. "Anon, what's--" "Hey, Twi!" You get up and walk away to try and talk with Twilight in private. "What the hell are you doing here?" "You never responded to any of my messages, so I followed you to the park." She waives her book around. "It is later, so I thought that you wanted to get a crack for next week's test." You should have been more detailed about the whole "later" aspect. That's not much of a concern, what is a concern is how Fluttershy will react if Twilight doesn't leave soon. "Can we do it tomorrow? Today isn't good for me." "Anon, I know. Your car is gone, but those tests won't stop until the end of the school year." "It's more than that. It's Fluttershy." You whisper. "It's what?" Fluttershy intrudes your personal space. "Fuck! It's a day to relax?" You fib out. "You need to practice on your lying, Anon." Fluttershy stand in front of you and looks directly at Twilight. "What did Anon say, Twilight?" You shake your head and word out 'Don't tell her a goddamn thing'. Twilight notices, but so does Fluttershy. In the nick of time, you stop before she was able to see a glimpse of it. "Tell me, Twilight. What did Anon really say?" Twilight is clearly wedged between you and Fluttershy, but she breaks down and unravels it. "It was you, Fluttershy." "Me?" She questions. "What's so bad about me that you need to keep quiet, Anon?" She keeps her eyes focused on you. Her threatening stare numbs you. "I-I'm terrified of you?" She starts to smile and laughs. "Anon, we were acting in school." "The back of my head and stained shirt says otherwise." "You know I needed to make it look good." "Wait, did she really hurt you, Anon?" Twilight asks. "This doesn't involve you, Twilight." "Just like you, Anon in my friend. If anything happens to him, I want to know." Fluttershy turns back to Twilight. "Did you forget that I got to Anon first?" "No, I didn't. But what you're doing to him is a bit extreme, don't you think?" You jump in between them. "Hey, we should go for some shaved ice, huh? I'll buy, how does that sound?" "Stay out of this, Anon. Extreme? I barely did anything to him!" "The bruise on the back of his head is a different story." "It was a push! Do we need to over exaggerate it?" "STOP!" Twilight holds her breath. "It doesn't even matter, I'm fine and still walking. Stop making a big deal out of it and let's go." Both of them look off to the side, avoiding to look at the other. "I could go for a snack." Twilight grabs on to your suggestion. Fluttershy is tempted, but still irritated from the argument. "I want cherry."
Chapter 11: Troubled Road AheadYou mix the ice that is settling in the plastic cup. Twilight stirs her around, mixing the flavored juice with the shaved ice so that it can even out. Fluttershy started out the same way but she’s now smashing it into bits by jabbing the spoon down. Judging by the way she looks, Fluttershy lost her mind over a chunk of ice. “Hey, hey!” She ends it and gives you the look. “It’s just ice.” Twilight chews on hers in the sidelines. ”It’s more than just ice, Anon!” The guy starts to push his cart away while holding the bell, trying to stay unnoticed. Twilight finishes her spoon. ”What’s wrong?” “What’s wrong? YOU’RE what’s wrong, Twilight!” The guy starts to speed walk away. Twilight was close to dropping her cup. “What did she do?” ”Yeah, what did--” ”It was suppose to be me and Anon, no one else.” Fluttershy interjects. “We can do that another day.” ”Are you sure Twilight won’t butt in like she did?” ”It was an honest mistake! How was I supposed to know that you and Anon were going to be alone?” You are more than ready to put the blame on yourself. Seeing Twilight like this is starting to worry you. Shit, you really are getting sensitive. Worry about that later, Twilight is under some heavy fire for ruining Fluttershy’s day. ”Didn’t Anon tell you anything?” Fluttershy asks. They look over, both irritated by your ignorance. So much for Twilight getting the heat. “After the first five or so messages that Twilight spammed, I knew that putting my phone on silent wasn’t enough, so I fazed out any message that came from her.” ”You didn’t bother sending me a message, at all?” “No disrespect, Twilight, but I have other things to do!” ”Is it so hard to send one simple message?!” “You’re talking to the guy who barely knows how to do basic elimination in equations!” Twilight and Fluttershy are startled from your outburst. “Why do you think I make snarky remarks every now and then?” ”For the fun of it?” Fluttershy answers. “That, and the fact that I do not think any of it through.” Twilight and Fluttershy look at each other and nod. ”We should have figured that out ages ago.” Twilight comments. “Hey!” ”At least we have each other.” ”Yeah…” Fluttershy complains. You toss your empty cup inside the nearest trash can. “Now what?” ”Now we try to figure out on who is insane enough to burn your car.” Twilight tosses hers away. Fluttershy has been looking at Twilight and her cup. ”Are you done?” ”Huh? Oh, yeah.” She crumples up the cup before tossing it away. “Who would do it to Anon, Twilight?” ”Who wouldn’t is the better question.” ”I hate it when you do that.” Fluttershy mutters to herself. ”It’s a good question, the entire school is hunting Anon down.” ”Most importantly, our friends.” Fluttershy emphasizes. ”Right, them as well. Anon, we need to talk about everyone that hated you.” “From the beginning?” You sigh. “Let’s get this done.” You told them each and every person so far. Applejack tried to get her revenge with her big brother, but that Sunset is still upset over on how you not only tugged her heartstrings, but basically ripped them out by now. No question on the fact that Dash is still pissed over the fact that you test her intelligence. Rarity does what little she can to impose as a threat, even though the worse has already happened a long time ago. Bulk must be clueless about what you lured him into. You do hope that he has a set of weights at his home, only to keep him busy and away from school for his suspension. Lightning is a mystery - she did say that ‘you’ll pay for it’ even though she damn well knows that she can kiss her ticket into a university goodbye. If Norman’s smart enough, he should be out of the game by now. At least for the next few days to weeks. You might pay him a friendly visit, just to see on how he’s dealing with the painkillers. As for the rest of the school, you haven’t done anything bad to them directly, excluding the few guys back in football, but they shouldn’t matter. ”Quite a list you have there, Anon.” Twilight says as she writes in her notebook. "I can’t believe that you were able to bother so many in such a short time.” “I tell ya, I’m making more friends each day.” ”You always knew how to rile them up, Anon.” Twilight smirks. “With this extra information, and today’s commotion at lunch, I should start knocking down some names.” “What was that? You and your friends made some sort of show back there.” After some explaining, it’s all clear to you. “I’m betting 50 big ones on Rainbow.” ”Now hold on! Don’t jump into conclusions just yet. It still could be anyone.” Twilight still follows through her strategy. ”I’m not sure, you know how easy it is to set Rainbow off.” Fluttershy reminds Twilight. ”Did you forget on how Sunset reacted to Anon after he mentions about Flash?” Twilight compares Sunset’s temper problem with Rainbow Dash’s. ”I haven’t, but we know how Rainbow can be.” Fluttershy holds on to Rainbow for being the hot headed one. ”And there’s Rarity.” Twilight moves on the list. “How she acted was more than the usual melodramatic way.” “What did she say?” ”Something along the lines of ‘I'll show all of you! It will be more than that!‘ after Rainbow Dash mocked Rarity’s plan.“ “What was it? Something about me wearing some clothes, wasn’t it?” ”It was nothing but you and a bra.” “That’s it?” ”It may as well be just that and nothing else on you.” Twilight goes into her own ideas of what Rarity might do. ”There’s no way it could be Rarity, could it?” ”I don’t know, she was awfully passionate about her animosity for it all.” “We can’t rule out anyone that might have done it. Even by the slightest threat, they count.” Twilight nods as she continues writing down some notes in her notebook before closing it. ”That’ll be it for the day, I should go.” “But it’s only five o'clock.” ”I know, but I need to leave you and Fluttershy doing… whatever you guys did before I arrived.” She tosses her notebook inside her backpack before getting up. ”We were having a private conversation.” ”Now you can resume whatever it may be. If it was that important, you should pick up on where you left it.” Twilight leaves Fluttershy with an obvious insult before waving to you. ”I--” Fluttershy stops when she sees you waving back. “What?”
Chapter 12: Bad BloodShe glares at you for some time before walking off. “I was just waving to her.” You catch up and walk with her. Fluttershy stays silent until she snaps. ”Why did you!?” “It was a wave! What’s rattling your cage?” ”It’s Twilight.” “You keep on saying it’s her but what’s so bad about it?” She stops walking. ”I’ve told you everything that’s wrong about her, do I need to say it again?” “Sort of, you know how stupid I am already.” "Argh, I hate repeating over the same stuff. I’m just ready to put up with my brother’s shit now.” “Wait, you have a brother?” ”Yes!” “How come you’ve never mentioned him, like at all?” You cross the street and follow Fluttershy. ”He’s been staying over ever since he dropped out of college. He just watches TV and leaves his junk all over the place.” She sits by the curb and rests her head in her hands. “Need some help?” Fluttershy drops her hands and raises her head. ”There’s no reasoning with him, Anon. We’ve talked to him for days and tried to subtly nudge him up.” “Thank goodness subtly and talking isn’t my strongest suit.” She sighs. “Please, for the sake of my parents, don’t hurt him.” “Not unless it’s necessary, right?” ”This is a bad idea.” “When have I ever let you down?” Fluttershy ignores you, and continues to walk away. You follow her, leading up to her house a few streets over. There is a women of age that is no question her mother just by the looks of her early 40’s that is pulling out weeds in her garden. She stops when Fluttershy pulls out her keys that is clumped up with plastic animals dangling on the ring. ”Fluttershy!” She joyfully says when standing up, brushing off the dirt on her jeans. ”Darnit,” Fluttershy grumbles as she is still looking for the right key. “Hey mom.” ”My, my. Aren’t you going to introduce me to your handsome friend?” You almost want to blush by her comment. ”This is Anon, and he’s here to help us with our problem.” ”Really? I do wish you the best of luck. We’ve been trying to help him up and he’s doing nothing about it. We give him options, but he just shoves it off and continues watching those foreign cartoons with subtitles on.” Fluttershy grabs the right key and unlocks the door. ”Your father is still out for another hour, so you might want to hurry. Sorry Anon, but my husband acts up when there is a guy right beside Fluttershy.” “Understood, I won’t be here for long.” She nods and goes back to her garden. “How should we do this?” ”I don’t know yet. We’ll have to improvise.” She turns the key and opens the door. What awaits you and Fluttershy is a dark living room with the only light emitting is from the TV. You and Fluttershy follow the light to see a guy with messy hair and stubble, wearing shorts and a single stripe on his T-shirt. He lays on the couch, still focused on the television. ”Hey sis.” ”Come on, Zephyr, we need to talk.” ”Can we do it on the break? I’m in the middle of my show.” Fluttershy grabs the remote from the table and turns the TV off. ”Hey!” He pushes the bag of chips aside to stand up. From the looks of it, Zephyr is the same height as you. Fluttershy waives the remote around before giving it to you. ”It can’t wait. We need to talk about your living arrangements.” ”I’m still in a bit of a slump, it will take some time. And who’s this? You know how dad is when you’re around with guys.” “I’m just a third party trying to help out, that’s all.” ”That's funny,” He scoffs. “What are you, her boyfriend?” As the moment that you were about to deny his implication, Fluttershy steps up. ”Yes, he is.” ”Ohh, that explains it all. ‘Third party’ my ass.” He rubs in. “You do know how dad is going to react, right?” ”I can already imagine it, why else did I keep this a secret?” “I can only wonder.” Fluttershy gives you a brief glare. “Understand that if you don’t try on finding something to do with your life, we’ll do something that you won’t like.” ”Really? From the looks of things, you don’t have any sort of an advantage.” He taunts. ”What?” ”With this, dad will be focused on you like crazy.” ”So? You should be more afraid of what Anon will do to you, rather than me being afraid of dad.” You can hear her frightened voice at the end of her sentence. ”As if, what can he do?” That tears it. You get in front of him and give him a well coordinated headbutt. ”My nose!” When you look up, you see him holding it. “What the hell is wrong with you?!” ”A couch potato that won’t get off his ass and make everyone happy by getting a job or going back to school.” He rubs his nose. ”Argh, fine! I’ll do it.” Fluttershy gets in front of him and points a finger on his chest. ”Mom and I went out to find some applications for you, how could you not send one of them in?!” Zephyr looks at a trash can. You walk over to find an empty bag of ramen noodles, old photos of himself, and a stack of applications hidden beneath it all. ”How could you give up that easily!?” She pushes him away. ”A guy needs to relax! Do you think he wants to keep on studying for the rest of his life?” He moves his hands aside to point at his bleeding nose. “And how am I going to explain this?!” ”First off, you won’t be in school forever.” “Second, just say you rolled off the couch and landed on the remote.” ”My nose better be okay after this!” ”It will be fine, if you can get a job.” You dig out the applications and hand it over to him. Fluttershy’s mother holds a towel over Zephyr’s nose. ”Thank you for helping us out, Anon.” Mrs. Shy says when guiding Zephyr into a sedan. “It’s nothing, really.” She closes the door. ”Don’t be so modest, this is much more. I haven’t felt this relieved since my son was accepted into a college.” “Just tell him to do the general classes since he’s still thinking about his future, that’ll give him time.” ”Will do! Can you believe that a simple fall could break his nose?” “The human body is a sensitive one.” She nods. The moment Mrs. Shy opens the driver's seat, Fluttershy lets out a sigh of relief. ”Oh! I almost forgot,--” ”No, no, no, no.” Fluttershy mumbles to herself. ”Zephyr tells me that you two have been seeing each other?” You look over to Fluttershy as she does the same to you. Both of you are petrified and apprehensive to the current situation. ”Don’t worry, I won’t tell you father.” She winks before entering the car. The two of you watch her back out of the driveway. ”I can’t believe that worked.” “Why in Buddha’s name did you say that!?” You begin to flip your shit. ”What? I said improvise. It’s not like you’re going out with Twilight.” You tug the collar on your shirt. She takes notice, along with you beating a sweat. Fluttershy approaches you, raising an eyebrow at your anxiety. ”Are you?” You start to scratch your right hand. “Sort of.” At first, Fluttershy was surprised, but she was inflamed later when she realized something. ”Sort of? What is that supposed to mean?” You wipe the sweat off your forehead. “I told my parents that I had an interest for Twilight.” Even though that she’s still pissed, something changed. You catched the shift in her eyes and how she flinched the moment you mentioned Twilight. ”What does she have that I don’t?” This is unbearable. You’d rather take the chance of crossing a highway rather than answering her questions. “It’s not like that!” ”Then explain yourself; why would you prefer Twilight over me?” “Because she isn’t on a total power trip!” Fluttershy is disturbed by more than your outburst. By what you expect, she must be horrified at the realization. ”I-it’s for the animals!” “Is it really for them, or aren’t you enjoying this way more than you expected?” Her eyes shoot all over the place. When she stops, the right side of her face twitches. It stops before she turns around to walk back to the front door. “You’re not going to bother with saying anything else? Not even a goodbye?” Fluttershy leaves her hand on the doorknob. She tilts her head forward, refusing to look at you. ”It’s true.” Her hand slips away. ”I enjoy this. All of it now.” Now? That explains the suspicion you made from earlier today back in the cafeteria. ”I can’t help but take it even more than I should have.” She finally looks at you. Her woeful eyes and frown shows you the Fluttershy you once knew before this bully persona. ”I didn’t mean to hurt you -- I really didn’t -- but, a part of me just took over.” “What about wasting my milk earlier today?” She sits by the door. ”I… I probably did take it too far. I was blinded by the control and satisfaction that I had, wanting to do that to others.” You should have figured that Fluttershy had some some sort of inner demon inside, waiting to be used on someone. Sucks that the someone had to be you. You walk over to sit by her. “If you want to talk about it, I’m here.” She rubs her left arm, somewhat skeptical on your offer. ”I appreciate it, Anon, especially with what you had to put up with for the last few weeks, but I don’t want to. Not right now, at least.” You lay back, almost hitting the back of your head on the door. ”Does it still hurt?” “Not as much.” ”I’m starting to realize that this is possibly a mistake.” “It’s not. You’re doing this for the animals, remember that.” ”But--” “No; It is for them and it will stay that way, you hear me?” She nods. It stays silent for a few moments, until Fluttershy brings up a topic that you wanted no part of right back up. ”About Twilight, why did you pick her?” “I don’t know, I mainly said it since my parents could buy it more.” ”Huh. What did you say about her? “It was mainly crap. Twilight being smart and the coloured streak in her hair, nothing else.” ”Ohh.” She scratches the side of her head. “So, I can still keep about what I told my brother?” “Sure, I guess.” ”Oh thank goodness. I mean, about them thinking...” “Don’t overcomplicate it.” Just as you said that, a thought came to mind. “But what if my parents have ‘assumptions’ about us?” Fluttershy raises an eyebrow and shrugs. ”Did they ever brought it up?” “My mother did think that.” ”So, she’s sort of right?” “But I already told them about Twilight, I’m not sure on how they will take it.” ”I don’t care, just figure out something. You always do when you’re around her.” Fluttershy gives you a snappy reply. Great, she’s in that sort of mood. You should just leave since you’re done here. “I’ll see you later this weekend, okay?” ”Yeah, bye.” You stand up and start to walk down the path, leading to the pavement. ”And Anon,” You stop, wondering to what does she want now. “We did this long before she did.” “Anything else?” ”Not really, just know that I prefer that you help me out when the time comes.” You walk away, pondering over what she meant by that.
