Under the Blue Moon

Chapter 7 – Blue Moon Confessions

It was lunchtime at school, and this gave everyone a chance to talk about what they did during the weekend.  But not everyone wanted to remember what happened during the weekend, because it was filled with two terrible events.

Rarity, Clyde, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Swift, Fluttershy, and Sunset Shimmer were sharing the same table, waiting for Rainbow Dash and Rivet to show up.  They were also hoping that Lyra, Bonbon, and Tidal would join them again, for Tidal has been feeling sore since he came to school.  Rarity only heard that Tidal had a rough weekend and injured himself in the process and explained it to the others.  But their attention would change when Rainbow Dash and Rivet join the others feeling uneasy.

“Um, you OK, Rainbow?” asked Fluttershy.

“I’m…fine, Flutters,” Rainbow Dash quietly responded.

Applejack raised an eyebrow and asked, “Ya sure?”  But Rainbow Dash didn’t respond.

Before she could push the issue, Lyra, Bonbon, and Tidal finally joined them, in which Tidal struggled sitting down.

“Tidal dear, I hear that you got hurt over the weekend.  Does it still hurt?” asked Rarity.

“I’ll be fine.  It’s just…sore, that’s all,” replied Tidal.

Applejack raised an eyebrow again.  First, she felt like something wasn’t right about Rainbow Dash, and now Tidal Blue.  She was one who was honest, and knowing when someone wasn’t telling the true was like a sixth sense to her.  But she didn’t want to pressure either one at this time.

“Speaking of the weekend, did you guys hear about the bookstore being robbed?” asked Swift.

“Swift, you were messaging us about it when it happened,” replied Clyde.

“Maybe so, but not everyone was in the group,” said Swift.  “Plus I didn’t know if Rivet heard about it or not, since he didn’t reply.”

“What do you mean?” Rarity asked Swift.

“The used bookstore was robbed Saturday.  Heard that the guy took all the money from the store and a few others that were there and got away.  Haven’t heard if they caught the guy or not.”

“You mean there were others that were at the bookstore when it was robbed?” asked Applejack.

“Yea, but they didn’t release any names,” said Swift.

“They could have been teenagers,” replied Fluttershy.  “You know they wouldn’t release information on minors.”

“Swift, this used bookstore, do you know where it was?” asked Rarity.

“I think it was the local bookstore that’s owned by the old man,” replied Swift.

When Rarity heard the explanation of the store, she was able to understand why Rainbow Dash and Rivet were not themselves.  She got up and ran over to where they were sitting and hugged both of them.

“Are you two OK?  Did the robber do anything bad to either of you?” she asked.

“Rarity, what are you doing?” asked Applejack.

Clyde was able to catch on to Rarity’s reaction.  “It’s a used bookstore, where you could find a used copy of Daring Do, which is what Rivet has been using in our homeroom class.”

“You mean…oh boy.”  Swift just realized that the reason Rivet didn’t respond what that he was a victim in the robbery.

Pinkie Pie decided to join in on the hug.  “I can’t believe someone would do anything like that!”

No doubt Pinkie’s hug would be too tight for the trio to handle.

Rarity said, “Um…Pinkie…can’t…breath.”

“Oops, sorry,” replied Pinkie, and decided to let go.

“Gosh, I hope they catch the guy,” said Lyra.

“I wouldn’t worry about that,” said Sunset.  Everyone just stared at her.  “I don’t know if you heard about what happened outside the park?”

“I have,” replied Bonbon.  “There was a shooting over there and two people were sent to the hospital.”

“I heard about it too,” said Sunset.  “One of them was sent in critical condition.  There was also a large sum of money in a bag at the scene.  If I was to take a guess, with a gun and a bag of money, they might have the guy who robbed the store.  But they haven’t conformed the ID of either of them at the moment, last I check.”

This brought a bit of life to Rainbow Dash.  “You mean they caught the guy?”

“I didn’t say they did, but it looks like he could be the robber,” explained Sunset.

“Talk about bad karma,” said Clyde.

“You can say that again,” said Pinkie.

“Actually, that’s the second time I’ve heard him say it,” said Rarity.

“Oh, did I miss him saying it before?” asked Pinkie.

“No dear.  This was at my place Saturday when Clyde was over.”

Applejack stared at Rarity and said, “I can guess the obvious.”

“Actually, we were talking about Tidal,” replied Rarity.

Tidal, who was staring at his food since he sat, looked up.

“Tidal, I heard something about a group project that led to the bullying you went through.  Care to explain?”

“You’ve been talking to Aunt Tia about myself, right?” asked Tidal.  Rarity nodded.  “Seriously!?  Why can’t you stay out of my past life?  It’s my life and I like to keep it to keep it that way.”  His anger created a sharp pain where he was shot, and he expressed the pain coming from it.

“Tidal, you OK?” asked Bonbon.

“It’s…nothing.”

Applejack wasn’t buying it and said, “Nothing my rear.  You’re in pain.  Perhaps you should see Nurse Redheart and have her look at it.”

“I SAID I’M FINE!!!”  This cause more pain in the same area.

“Lyra, Bonbon, Pinkie.  I think we need to do this ourselves,” said Applejack.

All four girls grabbed Tidal and took him to the nurse’s office with the rest of the group following behind them.  When they arrived, Applejack explained what Tidal could be experiencing and see if she could check on him.  Redheart knew what it could be and tried to get the others to leave, but they believe that Tidal was being stubborn and wanted to make sure he would be fine.  Redheart knew that they would have to know the truth and decided to go forward with the examination.

She told Tidal to lie down and lift up his shirt to expose the patch that was on him covering the bullet wound that was fixed up.  She saw some blood coming from it and learned that he was pushing himself too hard.  She took off the patch and began to clean up the wound.  The rest of the group saw the bullet wound and was in shock.

“What in tar-nation happened?” asked Applejack.  “And don’t tell me it was a slip and fall injury.”

“He was shot,” said Redheart.

“SHOT!?”

“You mean like the two that were shot in the park over the weekend?” said Pinkie.

Redheart sighed and said, “Why does this happen to me?”

“Nurse Redheart, I know you work at the hospital on the weekends.  Do you know anything about this?” asked Applejack.

Redheart sighed again and said, “Yes.  And it involves Rainbow Dash and Rivet.”

“Wait, what did we do to make this happen?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“I think I know,” said Sunset.  “Tidal saw what happened during the robbery and decided to confront the robber personally.  How else would he know someone with rainbow hair?”

“My sister decided to go rainbow with her hair,” said Rivet.

“But would she go to a bookstore with you?” asked Sunset.  Rivet shook his head.

“Tidal was following the robber when it happened.  When he saw the guy make his way to the park, he had to act,” explained Redheart.

“By risking his own life?  Now that’s just crazy,” said Applejack.

“You want him to pick on another person?  Be my guess,” said Tidal.

“Well, you don’t have to worry about it, because he died from complications after surgery last night,” said Redheart.  “I just heard about it this morning from Doc.  The detectives ID’ed him as the robber from the bookstore.”

Nurse Redheart finished applying a fresh patch on Tidal’s wounds, allowing him to get back on his feet.

“Good,” said Tidal.

Rarity started at him.  “Good?  GOOD?  You almost got yourself killed doing so.  How do you think any of us feel about it if you were dead?”

“It’s not like you’re my friends anyway, so why should you even care?” said Tidal.

“Because we ARE your friends, Tidal,” responded Applejack.  “We know you didn’t have any friends at your old school.  We just don’t know why.”

“Because everyone thinks I’m weird,” replied Tidal.

“Well welcome to the club,” responded Rarity.  “Everyone here is different.  Take Pinkie Pie for example.  She has a tendency to…defy the laws of physics, if you want to call it that.”

“And Fluttershy has a way with animals that even we can’t understand,” said Applejack.

“If you want weird, then Sunset Shimmer is the true definition of weird,” said Lyra.  “She tried to take control of the school with magic and turned into a demon in the process.”

“And she would have won if it wasn’t for Twilight who stopped her,” added Bonbon.

“Seriously?” said Tidal.

“They’re right,” replied Sunset.  “Tidal, I come from another world, one that you would hardly believe.  I came here to destroy the friendships of others so that I can take control of the school and build my own army to take over the world that I come from.  But it was another girl from my world that stopped me in doing so.  And it was all because of a magical crown that I took from her so I could have the power I needed to succeed.  But all that did was reveal the demon that I truly was.  Now the entire school is against me.”

“Well, it sounds like you got what you deserve, but the whole magic thing I can hardly believe,” said Tidal.

“Oh, everything she said is true,” replied Lyra.  “And she got the punishment that she deserved.”

“Lyra, take it easy there,” said Bonbon.

“Hey, I’m just agreeing with the rest of the school.  Besides, at least we’re all still alive after what she did, and she doesn’t deserve to die either for what she did,” explained Lyra.

“If that’s the case, why is she still here, and where is this Twilight person anyway?” asked Tidal.

“She’s here to redeem herself and finally learn the meaning of friendship,” said Rarity.  “And we plan to help her through it.”

“As for Twilight, she’s back in her world with the crown that Sunset stole from her,” said Applejack.

“And the portal at the statue is now closed, which I so want to experience going through,” said Pinkie.

“And just so you know, not everyone was there when it happened,” said Clyde.  “I was at a friend’s house when it happened.  When I came to school afterwards, there was a hole in the wall of the front of the school and another on the ground.  I couldn’t believe what happened, but everything changed in the school after that.”

“We’ve all become friends, and while we have our differences, we learned how to overcome them,” said Applejack.

“Perhaps, it would help if you could explain why everyone at your old school went against you,” said Rarity.  “I was told that it started with some group project.  Perhaps it would help if you could explain what happen.”

“Your not going to give up, are you?” asked Tidal.

“Even if we have to tie you up in a chair and place you in a dark room with the spotlight on your face,” Pinkie replied as she went to Tidal’s face with an evil grin.

Applejack grabbed Pinkie and pulled her back.  “Let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that.”

Knowing that they were not going to give up, Tidal gave in and told his story.

“It started a few of months ago.  My science class was assigned a group assignment, where we were to be in groups of four.  The only problem was that I was the odd man out, so one group had to have five, and no one wanted me in their group.  So my teacher put me in one of the groups.”

“Did this group involve a smart student?” asked Rarity.  Tidal nodded.

“Sassy Smarts.  Straight-A student.  Perfect attendance.  Best of the best, and with a mouth to prove it.  I was placed into her group.  Best thing to do was learn what was going on and get the assignment done in two weeks.  We worked on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on the group assignments.  I didn’t have any problems on Monday, but when Wednesday came around, they did more work that I didn’t know.  I wasn’t sure what the deal was, but I was out on a walk Thursday evening and saw the same four students in my group sitting together in a cafe.  I wasn’t sure what was going on, so I went up to the roof of the building across it to see that they were working on the group assignment without me.  The books and paper was proof enough that they didn’t want me in their group.

“So Friday, I spoke to the teacher before class about the problem in my group, and that I wanted to be another group.  He though that it was too late to change group assignments, so I asked to do a solo assignment.  I felt better working alone than in some stupid group, and he said that the best I would get would be a “B” if I went through it.  I agreed and went on from there.”

“Why do I have a feeling that’s when it all went downhill from there?” said Applejack.

“It did.  After we got our grades from the assignment, I got a 72, which I didn’t have a problem with.  But the class found out that the highest grade was a 90, which was a “B”.  You can guess who got that.”

Rarity said, “Sassy Smarts?”

“Yep.  She complained that her group should have gotten an “A” on the assignment.  Well, the teacher decided to set an example to the class the meaning of “group” assignments and deducted ten points to the entire class.”

“And they blamed you for doing so,” said Applejack, which Tidal nodded.

“So where does this all-star athlete come in?” asked Clyde.

“Brutus Beefcake.  Sassy’s boyfriend and star quarterback.  He started getting on my case when he heard about the “B” in his girlfriend’s class and decided to get on my case.  It was just words, which I tuned out, but then it started to get physical, and I fought back.  Both of us served detention in the process.  But the more it happened, the more the football team would suffer.  The school’s team already clinched the playoffs with one game to go, and it was also homecoming in the process.  Thanks to detention, Brutus was benched in the final game because he missed out on practice.  The team lost big time there.  But he kept bugging me and the same result happened again.  And with that, he was benched again and the team was eliminated from the playoffs.”

“They must have thought they could go all the way,” said Rainbow Dash.  “Turns out that the bullying cost them any chance in doing so.”

“And the entire school blames me for doing so,” said Tidal.

“Now that’s not nice,” said Fluttershy.

And it kept on going until Aunt Tia came along and intervened in a fight between Brutus and me after I threw a crushed can at Sassy’s eye, which they threw at me first.  After all the arguing about who was at fault, they finally did something that should have been addressed back then.  Both Brutus and Sassy were suspended the week before exams.  And it didn’t matter if there was a doctor’s note from Sassy for her eye, because the principal wouldn’t accept it anyway.”

“Well, they got what they deserved,” said Rarity

“Yea, but the rest of the school was still against me, and they didn’t get punished.  I had to take my exams in private because of the concern of my safety.  I think the entire school should be punished.  They’re nothing by a disgrace to the world.”

“And what kind of punishment should they deserve?” asked Sunset.  Tidal tried to think of an answer, but couldn’t.  “I thought so.  From how I see it, the ones in charged got punished and should deserve the blame.  The rest just followed their lead.”

“Well they didn’t have to use “Magic” the way you did.  They were popular enough to get them on their side.  They wouldn’t care what happens to me,” replied Tidal.

“So the best way to solve it is by taking your own life to remove them, just like you did with that robber?” asked Sunset, who was staring straight at Tidal.

“Whatever it takes,” responded Tidal.

“So…do you think I should be dead after what I did?” asked Sunset, still staring at Tidal.

“How should I know?  I wasn’t around when it happen, and I wasn’t a victim!”

“Then tell me why you did what you did with that robber that almost took your life?”

“Because he was a bully that needed to be punished!”

“NO!!!  Because you were trying to help Rainbow Dash and Rivet!”

“Because they were being picked on!”

“BECAUSE THEY ARE YOUR FRIENDS!!!” yelled Sunset.  “Friends are there for you, no matter what.  We always help out each other.  But we don’t go throwing our lives away because of the harm someone else has done to them.”

“She’s right.  Every life is precious, even your own,” explained Redheart.  Right now, Rainbow Dash and Rivet are alive.  And right now, they need friends to help get them through this.  If that robber were still out there, he would get caught one day.  Only time will tell.  But for now, you should be glad that you all are still alive.”

The bell finally rang, signaling the end of lunch.

“Well, there goes lunch,” said Applejack.

“Yea, we better make our way to our next class,” added Rainbow Dash.

Everyone else agreed and started to leave the nurse’s office.  Redheart stopped Tidal and said, “Remember what I just said, OK?”  Tidal nodded and left.  Rarity, Lyra, and Bonbon were about to leave, but Sunset stopped all three of them.

“Lyra, Bonbon, I know you can’t forgive me for what I did, but you two are the only ones that are closest to Tidal.  Can you help us, help me, watch over Tidal in some way?”

“I have to agree with Sunset on this matter,” said Rarity.  “Both of you share homeroom with her, as well as go by Principal Celestia’s home.  You two have a better chance to help him change than we did.  Plus after what’s happened over the weekend, Rainbow Dash and Rivet will need some support themselves.  And we can’t afford Tidal to do another stunt like that again.”

Lyra said, “Well, I can’t forgive you for what you did, but…”

“But what those two did to Tidal crosses many lines that we don’t see you crossing,” Bonbon finished.  “We’ll do what we can to help him.”

With that agreement made, Lyra and Bonbon left.

Rarity looked at Sunset and said, “It looks like you are starting to understand the meaning of friendship.”

“Well, after what happened today…I have to confess.  When I wanted to destroy friendships here, I would have never thought anyone would take their own life because of my actions.”

“Well, you did try to take Twilight’s life, and it could have cost us our lives when we went to protect her,” explained Rarity.

“But that was with magic,” Sunset corrected.  “Before and after that, there wasn’t a single ounce of magic that played a role in my actions.  The reason I’m saying this is…sigh…If someone ended their life, here, I wouldn’t be able to go on, bearing the regret for the lost of that person’s life.  I never think anyone would do something like that.  It makes me question what I’ve been doing all this time.”

“If you want to tell this to Principal Celestia, I can arrange for that after school,” said Redheart.  “I’m sure she would want to hear what you told us as well.”

“Thanks,” replied Sunset.  “I need to get the weight off my chest.”