Conflicts of a Fairytale's Friendship

Chapter 2

Dull Outset

A medical anomaly. That's what she had heard the medical staff call her in those three consecutive weeks she was hospital bound. They were kind and patient enough when they knew she could hear them. It was when they didn't know she was listening that she was given a clear indication of just how strange her case was. Despite her severe amnesia, the physicians couldn't explain her outright puzzling behaviors and strange mannerisms. She became visibly confused when doors wouldn't open for her or utensils didn't gravitate toward her just because she stared at them for an extended period of time. Her instinct was to walk on all fours, despite how awkward it felt, and her first attempts at trying to walk “normally” were met with the clumsiness of a newborn that had never even seen legs before. She didn't, in the first week, thinkto use her hands over her mouth for picking up items or utilizing tools. An anomaly, the doctors said that she almost seemed like she belonged in another world. The chuckles that followed such insinuations led Fairytale Lyric to believe they were no more than passing humor, but she wasn't always so sure how wrong they were.

The abnormalities of her existence only proved to increase when she tried to start public school after a year of homeschooling, a year of assimilating. Her first day at Canterlot high had gone disastrously for reasons she could never find the right words to explain. The school doors had been open only a short period of time when she felt the first...something. It felt like a force had infiltrated her spine, traveling up her neck, into her skull, and concentrating with a ticklish yet uncomfortable heat in the center of her forehead. Her head ached terribly after that, distracting her from the meeting she was supposed to be paying attention to between her temporary guardian, Nurse Tourniquet, and the vice principal of the school. She felt the sensation of “infiltration” a second time when the meeting ended. She had just stepped into the hall when it hit her a third. This time, the energy twisted with the sensation that was already boiling inside her. Between the heated haze throughout her body and the pain throbbing in her cranium, her consciousness gave up. She collapsed before the her first day of classes even started and had to be taken home.

The doctors couldn't explain why she had fainted so suddenly, at first attributing it to stress, but it happened again the following night while she was at home alone, idly washing dishes. This time, however, the force that struck her was so potent that it didn't travel through her like before, it enveloped her down to her very marrow and burned. There was excruciating battle going on in her head that put her on her knees and not matter how she pleaded in those next few minutes for the tug-of-war to be severed, there was no relief, just more pain and more layers of pure energy crushing her and forcing its way into her body until, graciously, she fainted. Tourniquet found her early the next morning when she returned home from a night shift at the hospital.

The doctors felt it wise to return Fay to a homeschooling regiment for the time being, until they could decipher the cause of her fall outs. They couldn't find anything diagnostically to pinpoint why it had happened. By all means, she appeared normal for some weeks until she began getting frequent headaches and somethings she dared not tell the physicians began occurring. There were two more instances in which she was overwhelmed and spiraled into unconsciousness, each arising after what seemed to be periods of rest in which she had almost been cleared to return to school, the third instance being much worse than the first and both being met with a plethora of migraines so severe Fairytale wasn't sure she could survive them, but it was the things she couldn't tell the doctors that were happening, increasing after these events, that truly disturbed her.

After the third “event,” a period of silence aside from arguably minor headaches as compared to before allowed her clearance to return, finally, to school. She had just started her second week at Canterlot High. She was there earlier than most, stowed away in a corner of the library that she had deemed a sanctuary of sorts. Unless the past week had lied to her, virtually no one ventured to that particular area aside from the librarian, Miss Cheerilee, and that meant that no one was likely to see what a mundane hobby had turned into.

Despite having at first insisted on using her teeth rather than her hands and how appalling her handwriting was, it didn't take long for Fairytale to discover the written word. As the doctors agonized her through a series of rudimentary tests to gauge the scope of her strange amnesia, it became apparent to her that forming words into tangible images came to her naturally and something about that sensation, about creating descriptive images, was familiar. Writing became a welcome comfort to outlet her stress and sort out her discomforts, until shortly after she collapsed the first time.

In the silence of the library, she wrote tentatively in what was supposed to be, strictly, her math binder. The imagery was specifically docile, for the sake of  an anxiety that dwelled in her heart every time she picked up a writing utensil. It was a butterfly, just a butterfly. It was just a silver winged insect that had appeared to her in a dream that she wanted to document on paper. That was all. She just wanted its image scripted in graphite on lined paper. She didn't want anything more, but as soon as her pencil scratched in the last period, the paper began to glow and that light morphed into wings before her eyes. When it faded away, there sat an organic butterfly with silver wings tasting the paper it had come from with its proboscis.

Fay stared at the butterfly, not half as surprised one had should have been when a paragraph came to life. Ever since she collapsed the first time, anytime she wrote something down, she had started running the risk that it wouldn't stay locked inside her paper. It started out with things so small and so translucent and short lived that she swore that she had been hallucinating due to the “stress” her doctors always alluded to, but after the second time the energy assaulted her, the things that pulled free become bigger and more solid, they lasted longer. After the third, it was almost a garantee that something would come out if she wasn't careful and, even she was, it was happening more often than not now. Her outlet was becoming something increasingly frightening and potentially dangerous and she had no idea why.

The girl took a deep breath then started counting, watching the butterfly as it explored the table, timing how long the creature would remain before disappearing. The longer it stayed, the more anxious she felt that her greatest fear might come to fruitation; It might not go away at all.

“Fairytale.”

The sound of her name being called gently startled her with a strangled yelp. Her cry frightened the silver butterfly into flight.  Entirely on reflex, Fay snatched up her notebook and slammed it shut on the poor, unsuspecting creature just as the owner of the voice rounded the nearest bookshelf.

“There you are. I keep forgetting how far out of the way this table is,” the girl commented, pleasantly with the back of her hands on her hips, examining the corner nook, casually.

“U-Uh, good morning,” Fay managed as her moment of panic subdued. She leafed through her binder. The butterfly was gone.

“Good morning to you too,” the girl replied, then frowned. “What...happened to your face?”

Fay touched the sore stop on her cheek that had gotten scrapped on Sunday when some unkind gaggle of girls tripped her. “I-I fell...” She didn't want to bother the other girl with the details of her encounter. Truth be told, the event confused her. Words had been spoken that just didn't make a lick of sense at any angle. She wasn't even entirely sure what all it had entailed, only that it was odd, not at all very nice, and unnerving.

We'll be in touch.

The echo of the vaguely amused promise made her insides quiver uneasily.

“If you say so...” the other didn't seem at all convinced and even a bit disappointed by the obvious evasion.

As she took the seat next to Fairytale, Fairytale edged to the opposite side of her chair, putting a splayed hand's width between them. She always hoped that this purposeful additive of distance, however small, would go unnoticed, but she knew by the drop in one corner of the other girl's smile that it didn't. How could it after that first time? Fay hadn't exactly left the best impression...

It was no question that Fairytale Lyric was not in a position where assimilating into a bustling school atmosphere was going to be easy. Her condition and prior isolation to those close to her age left her socially handicapped and the anxious personality that Celestia had felt radiating off of her the first day they had met months before only enabled such a challenge even more. Then, there was the matter of her schooling. A homeschool curriculum had not caught her up to the other students of her age. Academically, she was almost crippled. Without help, she would lag behind her peers and, the principal and the girl's guardian both feared, eventually lose sight of them. On the day of Fairytale's return to school, this was the heated topic as they worked out a timetable for her.

“I don't think we'd have any trouble placing her in at least an advanced Literature class,” Celestia noted, her head propped on one hand in a business-like manner. “That is, if it weren't for her other subjects being so weak by comparison. Advanced classes require a lot more work. It is my belief that the load, given the outstanding circumstances, would be a bit too much.” She leafed through the paperwork spread out before her, documenting the new students grades and progress throughout her short, known academic career. “It's unfortunate. Your grades are remarkable in that one subject.” Celestia glanced from the papers to the teen sitting across from her, fidgeting with the hem of her knitted, peach dress. The principal rested her elbows on the desk and folded her hands, regarding the nervous girl, kindly. “What do you think?”

Fay's eyes snapped reflexively to Tourniquet, who gave her an encouraging smile, then at Principal Celestia, who was doing much the same. “Uh...” she fumbled before quickly shaking her head. “I-I think...I should just take regular classes. I...” She shrank into her shoulders. “I don't think I can keep up with anymore than that.”

“It's true...You are quite behind,” Celestia noted, looking now to her computer. The clicking of a mouse accented her thought process as she worked to outline the girl's class schedule. “We keep coming back to that very issue. I think I might have a solution, however.”

“Anything to help her,” Tourniquet confirmed.

Celestia nodded, distractedly. “I think a tutor would do her some good. Perhaps one of our better students, someone to make sure Fairytale Lyric doesn't fall too far behind in her classes and who she can go to if she needs a little extra help.” Seeing the hesitation on Fairytale's face, the principal tacked on. “Of course, if the arrangement were to cause any issue for the other student, we'd have to alter our strategy. For now, if you'll agree, I think this will be our best course of action. I'll find a student to fill the position before the day is out.”

There was something entirely final in Celestia tone that made Fairytale realize that this had already been decided before it was even verbalized, but even if she had the gumption to go against the idea, she couldn't think of a single good argument. She was terrified and knew very well that she was going to need all the help she could get to survive.

Tourniquet checked her watched. “I hate to cut this short, but I'm going to be running a tad late getting to the hospital if I don't leave in the next few minutes.”

Celestia stood up behind her desk and offered Tourniquet her hand. “Don't you worry. Fairytale is in good hands.”

Tourniquet stood herself and shook the principal's hand. “Thank you so much. I'm counting on you to take good care of her.” Celestia gave an 'of course' sort of smile. Tourniquet then turned to Fay, who was trying her best not to look like her foothold on the rock face was about to crumble away. She kissed her charge on the forehead. “Call if you need anything and go straight to the nurse if you feel like your going to have one of those episodes. Nurse Red Heart should be well informed on your condition.”

She forced a timid smile. “Yes, ma'am.”

They bid farewell and, suddenly, Fairytale was alone with Principal Celestia and the pressure that was the public academic system. Her nerves were twisting uncomfortably in her stomach as Celestia, gently, made conversation with her about basic school rules and the temperaments of the individual teachers while finishing up her timetable. When the schedule had finally been perfected and printed, Celestia pressed a button on an intercom system at the corner of her desk.

“Vice Principal Luna, would you come into my office for a moment please?” she requested.

There was a small wait before the door to the office opened, revealing the Vice Principal. Fay remembered her from the last time she had been inside the building months back, but only realized then how uncannily similar the Principal and Vice Principal were in appearance, despite the drastic difference in their color scheme. They could have been related. Maybe they were.

“You wanted to see me, Sister?”

Despite having the thought, it would be a lie to say she wasn't surprised that they really were of blood relation.

“Yes, I need a favor of you, if you don't mind.” Celestia handed Fairytale her timetable. “Would you mind showing Miss Lyric where her locker is located and to the class she has this hour?”

Luna's teal hues glanced to Fairytale, whom she offered a smile that was not near as magnetic as Celesta's but soft nonetheless, then back to her sister. “I would be happy to escort our new student.”

“Also” Celestia added. “Would you pull Sunset Shimmer from her class and have her come to my office? I have something I need to discuss with her.”

Luna nodded. “Of course.” She turned her attention to Fairytale then. “If you're ready.”

“Y-Yes,” Fay fumbled. She stood and picked up her heavy messenger bag, laden heavily with all of her school materials she and Tourniquet had gone out and bought the day before. She awkwardly stumbled, to her embarrassment, at the uneven weight distribution. Already, she was getting the sense this day was going to have at least three bad elements to it. She smiled, awkwardly, at the concerned expression the Principal gave her. She, reflexively for reasons she couldn't begin to outlined, bowed to her. “Th-Thank you for everything.” Realizing how queer she must of looked, she quickly straightened back up, her cheeks feeling increasingly hot. Make that at least seven bad elements.

“You're very welcome,” Celestia replied with a tone that eased some of the awkwardness Fairytale felt looming like a poison cloud over her. “I hope your second official day at Canterlot High is a good one.”

Fairytale wasn't sure that her 'first day' could even be called a day, considering she hadn't even seen the face of her first teacher, but she thanked Principal Celestia once more. Vice Principal Luna led her out of the office and to an alcove by one of the gym doors that was eerily dark because of a busted fluorescent light. The vice principal waited patiently while Fairytale deposited the bulk of her bags contents into the locker aside from what she need that particular hour, then led the girl to said class, outlining the school conversationally along the way in hopes that the information would serve to keep her from getting too lost later on. Luna had a few words with Fairytale's teacher before leaving her to the prying, curious eyes of her peers at the front of her first class. Fairytale was sure she was going to throw up before the day was out.

The new student left to the terribly frightening task of assimilating into teenage culture, Luna opened the door to a classroom at the end of the hallway. The lesson immediately stopped all progression. The teacher who had been writing notes on the board for the class on how to properly graph some kind of elongated equation without a calculator while jabbering on about the consistency of butter, look over at the door with, at first, a stern and insulted expression that melted away quickly to a smile that wasn't exactly kind, just accepting of the disturbance to her ramblings.

“Vice Principal Luna,” the math teacher greeted. “What can I do for you?”

“My sister wishes to see one of your students, Variable Tangent,” Luna responded. Her attention turned to the seat of the student in question. “Sunset Shimmer, would you come with me please?”

Sunset, who had diligently been taking notes despite already having a grasp on the material, looked up from her work with a quizzical expression. Old habit immediately made her heart skip a beat as she sped through her memories for anything she could have done wrong that would land her a visit to the principal's office. Nothing came to her mind. In fact, she was positive that she had done absolutely nothing bad to warrant disciplinary action. The whispers that started up throughout the classroom did nothing to make her feel any less unnerved, despite the rationale that such a commotion would have started up even if she wasn't the reason for the VP's visit.

“Yes, ma'am,” Sunset replied after taking a reflexive moment to make sure that the whispers weren't adverse assumptions about her.

After gathering her things, Sunset joined Vice Principal Luna out in the hall. Having sensed the students discomfort, Luna assured her, “You are not in trouble, Sunset Shimmer. You can be at ease.”

The exhale of a breath Sunset didn't know she was holding animated just how worried she was. “That's good.” Her relief was quickly struck away by curiosity. “Wait, then why does Principal Celestia want to see me?”

“She'll fill you in on the details,” Luna replied as they began walking back to the office.

When they reached the office, Luna gestured for Sunset to go on inside before returning to her own office space. Despite being assured that she wasn't in any trouble, Sunset still felt irrationally uneasy. Despite how far she'd come since the Fall Formal and knowing she was in a much better place now, there was always in itch at the base of her neck that nagged her that all of that could falter and topple down with the twitch of a hand. Her fretting made her hesitate a few seconds before she rolled her eyes at herself and knocked on the door.

“Come in!”

Sunset opened the door and edged inside, closing it behind her. “You wanted to see me, Principal Celestia?”

Celestia nodded, not lifting her head from the paper work she was signing. With her free hand, she motioned to one of the two chairs positioned in front of her desk. “Please, take a seat.”

Sunset, promptly, did as she was told and then waited with a hidden impatience to be properly addressed. A good two minutes felt like two hours before Celestia finished signing the pile of paperwork she had neglected earlier that morning. She pushed it aside, finally turning her eyes to her student.

“I have a favor to ask of you,” Principal Celestia got right down to the reason for calling Sunset into her office, not wanting to keep her away from her lessons any longer than necessary.

Sunset's eyebrow quirked, inquisitively. “A favor?” All her residual nerves fell away. “What is it?”

Celestia leaned back in her chair, her hands neatly pressed together at the fingers tips. “We have a new student.”

After the battle of the bands, Sunset felt a moment dread that she immediately deemed as silly. If she weren't sitting right in front of the principal, she would have rolled her eyes at herself again for being so suspicious.

“A new student?” Sunset parroted to urge the woman on.

“Yes. Her name is Fairytale Lyric. She started classes this morning,” Celestia went on. “I'd like it if you would agree to take her under your wing. Due to some...circumstances, she's drastically behind the other students in her studies and a bit ill-equipped socially. As one of my best students and, seeing how far you've come yourself by social standards, I can't think of anyone who would be better for the task.”

“Circumstances?” Sunset asked with a slight tilt of her head.

Celestia had known that Sunset would ask, though she had hoped that she wouldn't. The principal had to think carefully over what information would be too invasive into her newest student's privacy.

“You see, Sunset Shimmer,” the principal began, carefully considering her boundaries where privileged information was concerned, “Fairytale Lyric suffered from a very serious case of amnesia a little more than a year ago. I can't go into too many details, you understand, but she's coming to us after a long period of trying to adjust to her memory loss from the ground up. Her academics, as a result, are rather poor in most subjects, leaving myself and her guardian worried that she'll fall too far behind on her own. As well, she doesn't necessarily have the skills to interact with the other students. I think it might be safe to say that she's in a strange new world without a cornerstone. It might be asking a lot of you, but I'd like to ask you to be that for her; A cornerstone. Someone she can go to when things get...difficult and to help her gather her barrings.”

It was a task that Sunset knew she wouldn't say no to, especially when she imagined just how alone this Fairytale Lyric girl must have felt just from the short, vague description that Celestia had given her. Sunset felt a kinship toward the bitter cold of being alone, physically and metaphorically, and it was a chill that she hated to know other people felt, albeit in fashions and degrees that were more than a little diverse. She wanted to help anyone and everyone she could if they were in the shadows, whatever those shadows were made of, because of her personal experiences and her ongoing mission to both prove and improve herself. Despite these desires, however, the outright weight of the task being set out for her was not light. It wasn't so heavy as saving the school from being ripped to shreds by holes in space, but it still had a good bit of weight, and that fact alone made the reformed student feel apprehensive, though perhaps she shouldn't judge the weight until she had actually met the girl Celestia wanted her to become a pillar for.

“I'll do it,” Sunset responded before her uncertainty could take up a noticeable moment of silence.

Celestia smiled. “I know I'm asking a lot of you...”

Sunset shook her head, knowing the speech a bit too well at this point as one she had heard too often as a filly in Equestria when it was made by the woman's counterpart, and knowing as well that it would only put a bigger knot of hesitance in her stomach than she already felt. “I'm happy to her.”

The principal nodded. “This will involve taking some of your time after school. To keep Fairytale in pace with all the other students, I'll need you to make sure she grasps the criteria. Are you prepared for that?”

“That's fine,” Sunset replied, taking a slight glance at the clock. The bell signaling the class change would be going off in less than a few minutes.

Principal Celestia took notice of the clock on the wall herself. “If you would come back here during your lunch hour, I'll introduce you and we'll all discuss the arrangement.”

Sunset nodded. “Alright.”

A moment later, the bell sounded and she was dismissed to her next class.

By the time the lunch hour came around, Fairytale had fallen over nothing but her own feet multiple times, collided with at least a dozen people while trying to navigate the crowded hallways, and went into the wrong classroom her third hour. The notice that Principal Celestia wanted her to come by her office was entirely a god send to her at that point. She was frazzled, overwhelmed, and wanted nothing but a little quiet to let her swollen mind air out. She didn't even care why she was there, she just knew that it would be far less chaotic than anything the cafeteria could offer her.

It had taken her two wrong turns to finally get herself to the principal's office. Standing in front of the door of some heavily stained wood, Fay hesitated, caught between whether or not she was meant to knock or if she was supposed to just walk right in, considering Principal Celestia had instructed her to come. In the end, the fear of intruding won over. She rapped her white knuckles against the reddish surface twice, then retracted her hand. She wondered if she had knocked hard enough, considering how thick the door appeared to be from this side, but her worry was canceled by a muffled voice instructing her to enter. She'd have felt better if someone had come and opened the door to let her in, but she shook the thought away. She turned the handle and walked into the room.

Just as the door clicked shut behind her, Celestia greeted her. “Miss Lyric, how has your day gone so far?”

Fay didn't have the tongue for lying outright and saying it had been going exceptionally well but also didn't have the courage to animate why she wanted to retreat. “It's...been an adventure,” she decided after taking a second or two to decide on the best, nutreul answer she could offer.

“I'd expect it has been, all things considered,” the principal replied, motioning for Fairytale to take a seat.

Fay, reflexively, sat in the same chair she had that morning. “Why did you...want to see me?” she ventured. The question, if her voice didn't have a perpetual edge of uncertainty, would have been rhetorical, in truth. Fairytale could guess.

As if on cue, her guess was confirmed by knocking on the door that she was sure rung out with a more solid note than she had offered. Celestia called for the person beyond the door to come on in. That was the first time Fairy laid eyes on Sunset Shimmer's burning but contrarily cool and gentle aesthetic. It was also the first time Fay felt the aura that Sunset brought with her into a room. It was faint, but it radiated off of her like a pale mist and familiarly tickled Fairytale's skin, raising hundreds of peeks on the back of her neck. It felt like a modicum of the energy she had been assaulted by so many times in the last months had trickled into the room with her. It was such a faint sensation, though unyielding, that Fairytale threw it to the back of her mind. It had be a result of her nerves. No more, but more nerves was truly the last thing the pig tailed girl needed.

“This is Sunset Shimmer. She's agreed to be your tutor,” Celestia introduced informatively as Sunset closed the door behind her.

In an awkward attempt at being polite, Fay stood up from her seat and offered a courteous nod. “It's nice to meet you, Sunset Shimmer. My name is Fay—er, F-Fairy--” Somewhere, her tongue got twisted. Her neck colored as she exhaled the knot in her mouth. “Fairytale. My name is Fairytale Lyric.” The small smile she wore was apologetic as she brushed her bangs out of her averted eyes. “B-But I guess you can just call me whatever you want.”

The smile Sunset offered her in return was a kind one which that fire haired girl hoped would help her new acquaintance to relax. “It's nice to meet you too.”

Sunset came over and sat in the seat next to Fairytale, prompting the other to drop back into her chair. She fidgeted with her hands in her lap, chastising herself for being such a jittery bug. She was certain she hadn't made one good impression all day. Like with Sunset, she had blundered every introduction and managed to exhibit one clumsy flare or another in every class. She was far above the mark of seven bad elements popping up. There had to have been at least two dozen and the day was only half over. Fairytale never liked thinking so, because she could never rationally classify something as entirely bad, but maybe she was really just destined to have rough day without enough smooth edges to cushion it.

The next fifteen minutes were spent discussing, between the three of them, a plan that would ideally insure that Fairytale eventually caught up and keep pace with the other students. In the end, it was decided that Sunset and Fairytale would meet three times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, after school. On Mondays, they would also meet before school to do an overview of the week before. If Fay felt like she needed extra help, she was to confide in Sunset directly.

“If we're all in agreement, I'd like make sure you girls have time to eat your lunch before your next lessons begin,” Principal Celestia concluded.

Sunset and Fairytale exchanged shallow glances. Sunset's gaze asked if Fairytale needed anything more while Fairytale's eyes questioned whether or not Sunset really wanted to put so much time and effort into her. Neither said anything, so Celestia dismissed them.

Fairytale followed Sunset out into the hall, feeling like she should say something, but struggling to find exactly what she wanted to articulate. “Um, thank you in advance for everything.”

“You're welcome,” Sunset assured her. “Would you like me to show you to the cafeteria? If you want, I'm sure my friends wouldn't mind you sitting with us.”

Fay smiled sincerely at the offer but softly shook her head. “Thank you, but I'm...I'd like to go sit somewhere quiet. Vice Principal Luna pointed out the library to me earlier and...Today's already been a really big adventure.”

“I think I understand where you're coming from,” Sunset replied, her smile twitching empathetically at one corner. Coming back to school after the Fall Formal was like starting school all over again, only with a lot of uneasy glares and an overwhelming amount of whispering. She'd wanted to retreat a few times herself then. While the circumstances were different, Sunset could respect the need to desensitize. “I'll see you there after school then, but don't be afraid to look for me if you need anything at all before then.”

“Right. Thank you. Again.”

Sunset gave a partial wave before turning and heading for the cafeteria. Fairytale returned the wave with a small one of her own before going to opposite direction. Lucky for her, the library was fairly large and accented with wide open double doors. For the first time that day, she didn't have to back track to find what she was looking for.

That afternoon, Fairytale had gotten to the library first. She lingered by the front desk near the door to wait for Sunset. She worried, as the halls thinned out to a rivulet of students, that maybe she had been forgotten. She felt at ease the moment the bright contrast of red and yellow caught her eye.

“Sunset Shimmer!” she ventured to call out, waving to get the other's attention.

Sunset looked over at her name being called. She smiled as she came over. “Hey. I hope you weren't waiting too long, I lost track of time talking to my friend Twilight.” She rubbed the back of her neck apologetically.

Fay shook her head. “It's not like you're late or anything.”

“How was your first day at Canterlot High?” Sunset asked, conversationally.

“Would...it be bad to say I'm glad it's over?” Fairytale replied, shuffling her feet.

Sunset offered an encouraging smile. “It'll get easier. I promise.” Her tone had a tinge of humor toward Fairytale's honest joke that made the corners of her lips quirk upwards. “Why don't we find a table?”

“I found a table I kind of like during lunch,” Fay offered, “if you don't mind.”

The other girl shrugged permissively. “Lead the way.”

The table Fairytale led her to was in the farthest corner of the library that, compared to the front part, seemed a bit aged. Perhaps that was the fault of the light coat of dust on the books that indicate most of them hadn't been touched in quite a while.

“I didn't even know there was a table back here,” Sunset commented as she plopped into one of the chairs.

“I'm not sure many people do.”

Fairytale sat down next to her, depositing her bag on the floor. The close proximity made her aware with a tingling of her skin of the energy Sunset emitted, but she continued to try and disregard the sensation as a figment of her imagination. They conversed for a while about where Fairy thought she had the most trouble academically so Sunset could better gauge what she was dealing with, occasionally throwing in tangents of friendly dialogue that made the atmosphere much more at ease than Fairytale had initially imagine it would be. They moved on, eventually, to the homework that she had gotten that day, maintaining the spin off of friendly conversation between the questions and corrections passing between them.

Fairytale had decided in those thirty minutes that she really enjoyed Sunset Shimmer's company, even with the ethereal air that came with her that the pastel girl couldn't seem to shake. She was easy to be around and didn't seem to be passing any adverse judgments toward Fay's quirky behavior, let alone her struggles in Chemistry. She displayed a lofty patience toward every simple question that was hesitantly offered. All around, she was nice. There was nothing bad to be said about her. In fact, she was someone Fairy expected she would want to be around. Until they touched.

It was simple and no more than a brush. Sunset had just leaned over to point out where Fairytale had miscalculated in balancing an equation and their shoulders just barely met. It was like small volts of electricity had just invaded Fairytale's body, penetrating her pale skin and traveling from her shoulder, up her neck, into her forehead. It wasn't painful like anything she had felt before. More than anything, it startled her so fiercely that she yelped and jerked back, toppling out of her chair haphazardly in the process.

“W-What...?” she clamored out, inaudibly. There was no mistaking it then. The energy on Sunset's person was real and it was the same as the massive power surges that had infiltrated her body since the first time she tried to start attending school.

Sunset, who was jolted in surprise by Fairytale's left field outburst, had jumped to her feet about the same time the other girl fell over. “Are you okay?” The orange toned girl frowned when she didn't receive an immediate reply from a baffled Fairytale. She came around her chair and began to reach out to pull the other girl up. “Here, let me help yo--”

Fairytale's hands shot up before she could think. “No!” The word came out in such an abrupt panic that Sunset retracted her hand as though it was two seconds from being burned. The confusion and mildly hidden hurt that Fay didn't have the time to question made Fairytale flounder for an explanation to her behavior. “I-I...I didn't...uh...uh...um...” She clumsily sat up and used the table to stand, all the while babbling incoherent stutters. “I-I don't...I don't like...being touched?” It was the only lame excuse that came to her mind and it was so vague that she couldn't help how it came out with the edge of a question. She didn't believe it and, by the suspicious, quizzical look Sunset was giving her, she was positive the other girl didn't believe her either. “I-I'm so sorry...” Fay shrank into her shoulders.

Sunset, entirely taken aback by whatever switch had suddenly been flipped between them, didn't pry further. Out of respect for Fairytale Lyrics discomfort or to break the tension, she steered them back toward the atom count that made Fairy's equation remain unbalanced.

After the hoopla the pale girl had made their first session together, how could Sunset not notice how Fairytale so blatantly kept distance between them? They hadn't know each other long, but Sunset expected it. She waited for it and Fay received the same hurt expression every time that made guilt coil inside her. Fay didn't think the hurt was so simple as to just be because she, supposedly, has some issue with physical contact. She wasn't good at reading people, but the masked injury was complex, which only made Fairy feel even worse. Whatever that aura was, Sunset was kind and had taken quite a bit of time out of her life to help her. It made Fairytale frustrated with herself beyond all reason, but no matter how many different ways she imagined explaining the real reason she didn't want Sunset to touch her again, none them made her sound any less than crazy.

“Um...” the pastel girl flipped open her math binder, purposely avoiding the page that had recently sprouted an insect, to her notes on the different types of algebraic equations. “So math. I...still don't really understand how to do...any of it.”

“You were doing well last week,” Sunset assured her. “You don't give yourself enough credit.”

Sunset leaned against the table, breaking into the space Fay had put between them as she pulled the binder toward herself. Fay stalled her muscles, refusing to retreat as the splayed hand became no more than two fingers of distance. The hurt drained away from the brighter schemed girl's expression as she patiently began going over linear equations and the steps it took to solve them. Not once had she let her misgivings toward Fairytale's behavior change how she treated her so far, aside from being noticeably careful not to fully encroach the avenue that kept them out of physical contact. The thoughtfulness was much appreciated, especially after Fairytale learned later in the week that Sunset wasn't the only one steaming that aura...