Under the Blue Moon

by Trader_Jack

Rating: teen
Tags: Equestria Girls, Slice of Life, Drama
Length: 49915

Tidal Blue has struggled at his old school and is trying to make a new life at CHS. Can two girls find out what he's really like and help him open up?

Tidal Blue has had a hard time at his old school after being bullied a lot. Now his aunt, Celestia, has helped him moved to Canterlot and enrolled him at CHS, hoping that the damage to his mental state isn't severe. Can two girls help him understand what he's been missing out in life and make him open up to others?

Takes place between Equestria Girls and Rainbow Rocks.

Part of the PoME universe.

Thanks goes to Ragga_Muffin, Celtic Fire, BRyeMC, and the rest of the PoME Group

"Clyde" from Amor Fati belongs to BRyeMC.
"Swift" from The Pie of my Eye belongs to Azure_Shadow.
"Rivet from Come Out of Your Shell belongs to CogWing.

Credits go to ransom username and A random person for their proofreading help.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2017-05-13 18:06:31 UTC

Ch. 2 - Blue Moon Walking

Chapter 2 – Blue Moon Walking

Rarity was busy giving Tidal a tour of the school while there was still a delay for classes to start.  This also allowed Principal Celestia to work on his class schedule and hopefully get his schoolbooks for his classes.  Rarity pointed out various rooms that would help Tidal know his way around.  But whenever she checked to make sure he understood, it was always with a nodded or a simple “Yes”.  Rarity knew that this was going to be a challenge than she thought.

“And right here is the cafeteria, where we go to eat.”  Rarity looked through the window doors.  “Oh, there’s Lyra and Bonbon.  They must be helping out with breakfast for the other students when they get here.”

“That’s because they came with my aunts over here.  Said something about someone needing some help, I think,” said Tidal.

‘At least he can speak in sentences,’ thought Rarity.  “Applejack must have asked them for their help.  Her grandmother is in charge of the cafeteria staff, and she hates it when the roads get to be this bad.  She’s a nice lady, that’s for sure.  Now come along.”

As they started to walk away, Tidal came across a pair of light blue eyes if front of his face.

“Hiya!”

This surprised him and caused him to fall backwards onto the floor.  When he regained his focus, he saw a pink girl with puffy dark pink hair.  She was wearing a white shirt with a pink heart on it, a pink skirt with three balloons on the side, and blue boots.

“Pinkie!!!  Do you have to surprise every new student like that?” asked Rarity.

“Well dud.  It’s not a surprise if you don’t see it coming,” replied Pinkie.

“You do know this is the Principal’s nephew, right?”

“I do know that it’s her foster nephew.”

Rarity glared at Pinkie.  “And what makes you think that?”

“Oh, just a hunch.”  Pinkie smiled.  Rarity just rolled her eyes.

Tidal laid his head on the floor in disgust.  “Don’t tell me you know my father?”

“Nan.  That’s just Pinkie being Pinkie.”

Tidal looked up to see a country girl with orange skin and blonde hair in a ponytail.  She was wearing a white and green shirt, denim skirt, brown boots, and a Stetson hat.  Behind her was another girl with yellow skin, and pink long hair.  She was wearing a white tank top and a green skirt and boots.  She was acted a bit shy.

“Here, let me help you up.”  The country girl extended her hand to Tidal, which he accepted, and helped him get back on his feet.  “Name’s Applejack, by the way.  And this is Fluttershy.”  She pointed to the shy girl behind her, who just gave a small wave back.

“I’m Tidal.  Tidal Wave Blue.  And for the record, she’s right.  My father was adopted by Aunt Tia’s parents.”

“Aunt Tia?” said Pinkie.

“I think he means Principal Celestia,” Rarity clarified.  “By the way, how were you able to get here soon?”

“Bulk Biceps was able to pick us up in his all-wheel drive truck after picking up Fluttershy,” said Applejack.

“Oh, I just ice skated over here,” said Pinkie.

“Were the roads that bad?” asked Rarity.

“Oh the roads were fine.  I just skated on the icy sidewalks.”

“Seriously Pinkie?  You could have just walked on the snowy grass instead,” said Applejack.

“Or drove here,” added Rarity.

“But where’s the fun in that?”

“Well, I’m sure we would like to stay and chat, but the cafeteria ain’t going to serve itself,” said Applejack.

“I just saw Lyra and Bonbon in there already,” said Rarity.  “I’m sure they are waiting for you to help out.  I need to continue showing Tidal the school before classes start.”

Applejack, Pinkie, and Fluttershy started to go into the cafeteria, while Rarity and Tidal went to continue their tour.  It was then that Rarity remembered something.

“Applejack, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.  What is it?”

Rarity went up to Applejack and whispered, “Have you seen Sunset lately?”  Applejack just shook her head.  “Well, just keep an eye out for her.  Tidal’s had a hard time at his old school, and it’s much worse than what Sunset did back then.  I’ll explain later.”  Applejack nodded and followed the others into the cafeteria.

While Rarity continued giving Tidal the tour of the school, the other girls were able to join up with Lyra and Bonbon in the cafeteria.

Bonbon saw them walk up and yelled, “Hey Applejack.  I see that you and some of the others were able to make it.”

“Besides Pinkie’s strange way of travel, we had some help from Bulk Biceps,” said Applejack.  “How are we doing on serving breakfast?”

“Almost ready,” replied Lyra.  “Just need to make sure the sausage and biscuits are warmed up.”

“I’m on it!” singed Pinkie and zipped off into the kitchen.

“Any sign of Rainbow Dash or Rarity?” asked Bonbon.

“Or even Sunset Shimmer,” Lyra added with disgust.

“Oh, we just saw Rarity give the new student the tour of the school,” replied Fluttershy.

“You mean Tidal Blue?  We just met him while Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna transported us over here,” said Bonbon.

“He doesn’t seem much of the talkative type,” said Lyra.  “Maybe he’s just not used to the move that he had to make over the winter break.”

‘Or maybe he hasn’t made any friends at all, if Rarity’s right about his problems being worse than what we’ve faced,’ Applejack thought.

“I just hope Sunset doesn’t decide to use him as her new…OW!!!”  Applejack slapped Lyra in the back of her head.

“Now listen here.  We know that Sunset did some bad things in the past.  But it’s our responsibility to watch over her and help her make a change for the better.  That’s what Twilight wanted us to do, and we plan on doing it.”

“Then how come we don’t see her with you girls,” asked Lyra.

“I hate to say it, but she’s right,” Bonbon added.  “She’s been hiding a lot and trying to avoid everyone else in the school.  It’s like she doesn’t want anyone to help her.”

“Maybe she’s just scared,” said Fluttershy.  “She was a bully once before the Fall Formal.”

“Well, at least she can experience what it feels like to be mistreated,” said Lyra.

“Lyra, I should just slap you again for saying that.  But I’ll let it slide for once.  Besides, it makes me wonder…”

Rarity continued showing Tidal the school and came up to her favorite room.

“And this here is what I like to call my fashion room.  It’s where I’m in charge of the fashion club, and design various dresses and costumes in my free time, when I’m not at home.”

Tidal rolled his eyes, and Rarity was able to notice that he wasn’t interested in any of it.

‘There has to be a way to open him up,’ she thought.  That’s when she noticed his shirt.  ‘Ah ha!’

“You know, I noticed that your shirt has the moon over the waves at night.  You wouldn’t happen to know where you got it?”

“It was a Christmas gift from Aunt Lulu,” he replied.

“You mean Vice-principal Luna.”  Tidal nodded.  “It’s really nice.”  Rarity placed a figure on her chin.  “I’ll have to keep that design in mind,” she said as she pointed at his shirt.

Tidal just shrugged his shoulders.

“All right then.  Let’s move on-AAAHHHHH!!!!!”  Rarity was grabbed by a boy behind her and swung her around 360 degrees before setting her back down.  She noticed that he had gray skin and black hair, and was wearing a black shirt with a basketball on it.

“Clyde!  You know better than to sneak up on me like that,” Rarity said as she lightly tapped her fist on his chest.

“I figure that I surprise you, since I knew you would get here before I would,” replied Clyde.

“And why is that?”

“Because I called your house to see if you needed a ride.  But you were already gone.”

“AHHH, how sweet of you to check up on me this morning.”

Both of them started at each other for a moment, before someone else decided to clear his throat.

“Oh, excuse me,” Rarity said as she regained her focus.  “Clyde, this is Principal Celestia’s nephew, Tidal”

Clyde extended out his hand to Tidal and said, “Nice to meet you.”

“Same,” he replied as he quickly shook his hand.

“He just transferred here over the winter break,” explained Rarity.

“I’m sure you’re going to like it here,” said Clyde.

Tidal just shrugged his shoulders.  Rarity wasn’t pleased with the response, but kept her composer.

“Clyde dear.  I need to finish up giving him a tour of the school.

“I’ll see you later in gym class?”

“You know it, dear.”

Clyde gave Rarity a kiss on the cheek and went on his way.  Once Clyde was out of view, she turned her direction to Tidal and looked straight at him.

“Now look here.  So far, I have kept my cool while you have been more…more anti-social!  What is wrong with you?”

“Why should you care,” replied Tidal.

“Why?  WHY!  Because your aunt worries for you.  Didn’t you have any friends at your old school?”

“Like I need any.”

“Everyone needs friends in their life.”

“All everyone needs is to be better than everyone else.”

“Now that’s not true.  Maybe that school doesn’t even care, but here, we always care for each other.  Now if you never made any friends before, then that’s going to change.  I know some friends of mine that would be glad to be friends with you.”

“Like the ones that I saw before?  I doubt they want to be friends with me.”

“Well, sure they might be different from each other, but that’s what makes us special.  We’re always there for each other.  And if you want, you can join us for lunch later on and get to know them better.  I guarantee that you will like them.”

Tidal just shrugged his shoulders again.

“Well, come on,” said Rarity.  “There are still places of this school that you need to know if you plan to get around.”

They continued their tour until they came across a darken area.  Tidal looked and saw what looked like a girl with fiery hair and a dark leather jacket.  Rarity noticed what Tidal was looking at and recognized who the girl was.

“Can you excuse me for just a moment.”  Tidal just stood there while Rarity walked over the where the girl was at.  “Sunset Shimmer.  What are you doing over here?”

“Staying in the shadows, what else,” replied Sunset.

“Now that’s no way for you to show the school that you can change.  Twilight gave you this chance, and all you are doing is avoiding everyone all together.”

“Have you seen the students lately?  No one is willing to let me help out, or at least sit next to me.  I don’t even know why Twilight left me here in the first place.”  Sunset looked over Rarity’s shoulder and saw Tidal leaning on the lockers where she left him.  “Who’s that?”

Rarity looked over for a moment and said, “That’s Tidal Blue.  He’s the principal’s nephew.”

“Looks like he doesn’t want to be here,” said Sunset as she saw him just staring at the floor.

“He’s had it rough at his old school.  It might be best to keep your distance from him at best…until we can find out what’s really wrong with him.  And do me one favor.”  Sunset raised an eyebrow as to what she wanted.  “At least join us for lunch one day.”

“So you can keep an eye on me?  There’s no more magic around, so I can’t harm anyone else.”

“I don’t mean it like that.  Perhaps others will be willing to give you a chance if you are with us for once.  Well, I better finish up with his tour.  I’ll see you later.”

Rarity walked back to Tidal and decided to finish up with the tour.  Sunset was wondering about what Rarity said about him and for her to try to make an effort to change for the better.

‘Could he have been treated badly at his old school?’ she thought.  ‘What if there was someone who was just as bad as me at his old school?’

“He’s had it rough.”  Sunset was surprised to hear the voice nearby.  “My sister knows that he’s been picked on, and she hopes that she can change, but I worry that it could be too late for that to happen.”

Sunset knew that it was Luna who was talking to her.

“So you want me to keep my-”

“No,” interrupted Luna.  “I want you to help him.  I know you were once a bully, and now your more of a victim to everyone.  You’ve experienced both sides.  Maybe you can help find out what’s really wrong with him.”

“I think Rarity has that covered,” replied Sunset.

“I’m not so sure she or her friends can do this alone.  You want to learn the meaning of friendship is, right?  Then maybe the best way is to teach it to him.”  Sunset stayed silent.  “I know that the school is still against you for what you did in the past, but I feel something bad is going to happen to him if he doesn’t get better.  If you have to help him in secret, that’s fine by me.  Just help him before it’s too late.”

Sunset can hear the footsteps of Luna walking away.

“How can I help him without the school knowing what I’m doing?”

Ch. 3 - Blue Moon Learning

Chapter 3 – Blue Moon Learning

Rarity just finished giving Tidal the tour of the school and was returning to Principal Celestia’s office.  It was at that time that Celestia was finished with Tidal’s class schedule.  Rarity knocked on the door and slowly opened it.

“We’re back.”

“Good timing.  I just finished with Tidal’s class schedule.”  Celestia handed Tidal a piece of paper.  “Make sure you know where you need to go.  I’ll escort you to your first class so I can explain to the teacher that you will be in his homeroom class.”

“OK.”  Tidal went outside to look over his schedule and a map of the layout.

“Rarity, can I talk with you for a moment.”  She nodded and made sure the door was closed.

“I can already see that you want to know about Tidal from my point of view,” said Rarity.

“And?”

Rarity let out a sigh.  “This might be tougher than I thought.  The boy has never made any friends, and feels like he never will.  I’m hoping that he will join us one day for lunch, but I’m not certain I can break through him.  Do you know any hobbies or interests that he has?”

“All I know is that he’s into anything fantasy, and has a love for dragons.”

“Dragons and fantasy.  If only Twilight and Spike were here.  Perhaps they could reach out to him.”

Celestia placed a hand on her chin.  “Maybe Sunset Shimmer could help.  She’s from the same world as Twilight.”

“I doubt that.  I already found her in the dark hallway.  She’s too worried about how the school is treating her since the Fall Formal.  I’ve already requested that she keep her distance from Tidal for now.  I don’t know what else I can do at this time.”

“Well, I thank you for at least trying.  I just hope things can get better for him somehow.”

“Well, if you need any help with him, you know where to find me.”  Rarity opened the door, waved at Celestia, and walked out, closing the door.

Celestia went to finish up on a few things before heading out to escort Tidal to his first class.  As she was leaving her office, she noticed Ms. Raven working at her desk.

“Ms. Raven, can you meet up with Miss Cheerilee and see if you can get the keys to the book storage room.  I need you to get the books that are used for these classes.  I need to escort Tidal Blue to his first class.”

“Certainly, Principal Celestia.  I’ll get right on it.”  She took the list from Celestia and made her way to Miss Cheerilee’s classroom.

Celestia and Tidal started to make their way to his first class, Geometry.  Tidal was really good in his math classes that he already started with Algebra I for his freshman year.  When they arrived at the classroom, Celestia walked in and explained to the teacher about the new student.  Tidal also walked in and looked at the students in the classroom.  While all he saw were new faces, he recognized two of the students in the back, Lyra and Bonbon.

The teacher got up from his seat and said, “Class, we have a new student here.”

Celestia took over.  “This is my nephew, Tidal Wave Blue.  He will be attending our school, so please be supported with his time here.”  Celestia was able to see Lyra pointing to an empty desk next to her.  “Miss Heartstrings, can you share your book with Tidal for today.  I have yet to get his books ready for him.”

“Yes, Principal Celestia,” replied Lyra.

Celestia motioned to Tidal to take the empty seat in the back.  Tidal walked down and sat next to where Lyra was.  As he was getting some of his supplies out, Lyra decided to scoot her desk next to his so that they can share the book together.

“Looks like we get to share homeroom together,” whispered Lyra.  Bonbon looked over at them and gave a wink to Tidal.

The bell rang, signaling the start of classes.

“Alright students.  Today we will be reviewing what we learned from last semester before we move forward.”

As their first class was coming to an end, everyone was getting ready to leave the classroom.  Lyra moved her desk back to where it was and asked Tidal, “So what do you think about the school so far?”

“It’s OK.”

“Oh there is so much more to experience, that’s for sure,” said Bonbon.

“Whatever.”

Lyra and Bonbon knew that he wasn’t much of a talkative person.  They looked at each other and nodded.

“Say Tidal, would you like to join us for lunch later one?” asked Bonbon.

“Yea, we can introduce you to some of our friends,” added Lyra.

“I’ll think about it,” replied Tidal plainly.

The class bell finally rang and everyone was leaving the classroom.  Tidal grabbed his book bag and made his way out.  That was when Principal Celestia and Ms. Raven were waiting for him with his books.

“We already have your books for your classes, but I’m still working on finding a locker for you to use,” explained Celestia.

“That’s fine,” replied Tidal and took the books and placed them in his book bag.  He had a side carrying book bag that he carried around his shoulder and body.  He took his book bag and made his way to his other classes.

It was lunchtime, and the five girls decided to sit together and talk about what they did for the winter break.

“I can’t believe you finally got yourself a boyfriend, Rarity,” said Applejack.

“Yea, and in such a short time,” added Rainbow Dash.

Rarity sighed.  “I know.  It’s like a match made in heaven.”

“Yea.  Just don’t get carried away with him.  We need him on our basketball team,” said Rainbow Dash.  “Besides, I want to know who this new student is that you were showing around the school earlier.”

“His name is Tidal Blue,” explained Rarity.  “And from what I have noticed, he’s had a hard time at his old school.  Never made any friends.  I was hoping that he would join us, but I don’t know where he is.”

“Let me see.”  Pinkie stood on the chair and placed a hand over her eyes like a sailor and started to rotate around a few times, scooping out the area.  After she stopped and sat down, she said, “Nope, no sign of him anywhere.”

“Maybe he’s with Lyra and Bonbon,” said Applejack.  “I’ve ask them to help him out in making some friends if they see him again.”

“I’m surprised that you would do that so soon,” said Rarity.

“Well, after you told me how rough it was at his old school, and the fact that the girls have already met him on his way over here, I figure they could help us out,” explained Applejack.  “Besides, it might be hard to help both him and Sunset at the same time.”

“Speaking of which, look who’s coming to join us,” said Rainbow Dash and she was looking at the fiery haired girl walking towards them.

“OK if I join you?” asked Sunset.

“By all means,” responded Rarity.  Sunset took a seat next to the other girls.  “It’s nice that you took my advice and join us.”

“Just so you know, everyone has been glaring at me this whole day,” said Sunset.  “I don’t think anyone is willing to accept me anymore.”

“Nonsense,” replied Rarity.  “You just need to give it some time and it will happen.”

As they were about to have their lunches, Lyra and Bonbon were walking by them and stopped for a moment.

“Hey Applejack, you’ve seen Tidal anywhere?” asked Bonbon.

“Yea, we were hoping that he would join us,” added Lyra.

“Nope.  Haven’t seen him around here,” answered Applejack.

“Rarity was hoping that he would join us for lunch as well,” said Fluttershy.

“Maybe Sunset scared him off,” said Lyra.

Applejack stared straight at Bonbon.  She saw this and responded by smacking Lyra in the back of the head.

“OW!  Why did you do that, Bonbon?”

“Because I ordered her to do so,” replied Applejack.

“Now that’s just mean,” said Lyra.

“Hey, at least give Sunset a chance,” said Rainbow Dash.  “Unless you want to be like her.”

Lyra opened her mouth to say something, but decided to keep quiet.

“Actually, I saw him walk outside and sit on the front steps,” said Sunset.  “That’s where he’s having lunch.”

“Oh my.  Wouldn’t he get cold out there?” asked Fluttershy.

“I think he’s used to it.  He did say that he was from New Hampshire,” said Bonbon.

“Then maybe what Principal Celestia said was true,” said Rarity.

Lyra and Bonbon decided to sit down next to them.

“What you mean?” asked Applejack.

“She told me that Tidal was bullied at his old school, but it was nothing that Sunset did,” explained Rarity.  “No offense.”

“None taken.”

“Somehow, they got the whole school on their side against him.”

“They?  You mean more than one bully?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“I think so.  I didn’t have time to get all of the details, but I think this became someone’s personal vendetta.”

Lyra said, “Yea, just like-” Everyone was glaring at her.  “Never mind.”

“If only we can help him out.  Make him see that we’re not like that other school he was in,” said Bonbon.

Pinkie Pie stood up and pointed up a finger.  “I know.  Let’s give him a ‘Let’s be best, best, best, best, best friends for life’ party!”

“Pinkie dear.  I know you like to throw parties, but I don’t think he’s a party person,” said Rarity.

“He has to be one.  Everyone loves parties.  Even on birthdays.”

That’s when Sunset had an idea.  “Pinkie, do you know when his birthday is?”

“Nope.  But I can find out.”

“Well you better make it fast, because I think it’s during this month.”

“How do you know that?” asked Applejack.

“I’m sure that Principal Celestia has put you up to the task, Rarity, because Vice Principal Luna did something like that to me.  And she said that his 16th birthday is in a few weeks.”

“Oh my gosh!  Sweet sixteen!” said Pinkie with a wide grin.  “Oh wait, that’s for girls.  What would that be for guys?”

“Well, it would be that he can get his driver’s license, that’s for sure,” said Applejack.

“Then let’s make it a-”

Rainbow Dash covered Pinkie’s mouth.  “Let’s just hold up on the title until later on.  For now, we need him to join us for once.”

Rarity looked at Lyra and Bonbon and said, “Say, do you two plan to walk home after school?”

“As long as the sidewalks are fine, which is looking that way,” answered Lyra.  “Why?”

“See if he’ll walk with you two back home, since his house is along the way.  Maybe you can get him to open up, since you have a class with him.”

“We can do that,” replied Bonbon.

“I’m just wondering, but how can we get him to join us for lunch.  I mean any of us,” said Fluttershy.

“Let me deal with that,” answered Sunset.  “Since I’ve seen where he likes to go to for lunch, I’ll make sure he comes over here instead.”  She looked at Lyra.  “And I’ll make sure I don’t do anything bad to him, OK?”

Lyra just stared and blinked.

Applejack looked at Lyra and Bonbon.  “Listen.  If we can get him to join us for lunch, it might be best that you two sit with us as well.  As long as we can learn more about him, the better we can help him, right?”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

As the girls finished up lunch, the bell rang, and everyone went to throw away their trash and head on back to their classes.  Sunset decided to speak with Rarity for a moment as they walked out.

“Rarity, I have a confession to make.”

“Sunset, you are willing to talk to me if it makes you feel better.”

“I know.  But I was just thinking of this today.  What I did before the Fall Formal was to end friendships so that I can take over the school and use them to take over my own world.  I know that Twilight was able to rebuild the friendships that I destroyed, but I would have never thought that someone could get others on their side just to bully one kid.”

“I understand, dear.  There are some bad things out there that don’t even need magic to get what they want done.  All they need is to share a common goal.  I think once we can understand Tidal’s past, maybe we can get a clear picture as to what he’s gone through and how we can help.”

“Then I guess our goals are clear.”

“Indeed they are, my dear.”  Rarity placed her arm around her shoulder and said, “I think you might be starting a new path to friendship.  If Twilight was here, she would be smiling right now.”

Sunset just replied with a small grin.

As school came to an end, Tidal went to Principal Celestia’s office to wait for her and Luna to go home.  As he was looking over some of his assignments, Lyra and Bonbon walked in.

“Tidal, we were wondering if you would be here,” said Bonbon.

“We were hoping that you would like to walk with us on home,” explained Lyra.  “Your house is along the way, and you don’t have to walk by yourself, or wait some time before your aunts are ready to head home.”

Celestia hear this and made her way to the opened doorway.  “I think that would be a good idea.  You do have the key to the house.  And we are going to be here a while.”

“I guess.”  He got up and grabbed his book bag and placed the strap over his shoulder.

Bonbon noticed that it was heavy and asked.  “Principal Celestia, does he have a locker he can use?”

“I’m still looking into that, since your homeroom teacher didn’t have any that were not in use.  And I’m trying to find one that he can work with between classes.

“He can share with mine for the time being,” said Bonbon.

“You sure about that?” asked Lyra.

“Better mine than yours.  You have a lot of stuff in yours.  I got more space in mine.”

“True,” replied Lyra with a nod.

“You don’t have any problem with sharing, do you?” asked Celestia.  Bonbon shook her head.  “Then you can share lockers until I find one for him to use.”

“Come on.  Any books you don’t need for today, you can leave them in my locker.”

They went to their lockers, which were next to each other.

“You know the combination setup, right?” asked Bonbon.  Tidal nodded.  “26, 10, 2.  That’s the combination.”

Tidal went to the dial and turned it right for three full turns and stopped at 26.  Then he turned it left for one full turn and stopped at 10.  Then he finally turned it right and stopped at 2.  He lifted the handle and opened the locker door.

“See, that was easy.  You can put your books on the bottom.  I always put mine on the top shelf.”

He started to place the books he didn’t needed for today and kept the ones he needed in his book bag.  As he placed it on his shoulder, it felt lighter than before.  As he was about to close the locker door, he saw some pictures of Lyra and Bonbon together.

“We’ve been besties for a long time,” said Lyra.

“Tidal, did you ever had any friend before?” asked Bonbon.

Tidal was quiet for a moment as he looked down.  “No.”

“How come?”

“I…rather not talk about it.”

“That’s OK,” said Lyra.  “You don’t have to tell us if you don’t feel like it.”

Tidal closed the locker door.  “I’m ready to go.”  He started to walk away.

Lyra and Bonbon started to follow, knowing that this was going to be a challenge.  But they were willing to make an effort to be his first friends.

Ch. 4 - Blue Moon Talking

Chapter 4 – Blue Moon Talking

It was Tuesday, and the roads were better than before.  Most of the snow melted off, but there was word that snow would return at the end of the week.  But for today, it was a usual day at school.  Bonbon’s mother was able to take Lyra and Bonbon to school this morning.  They arrived at the same time Rarity’s ride pulled.  As they all got out of their cars, Rarity’s sister, Sweetie Belle went on ahead to join her friends.  Rarity saw Lyra and Bonbon and decided to talk to them.

“So, any luck in getting Tidal to open up yesterday?” asked Rarity.

“Not really,” answered Lyra.

“We tried normal conversation, but he didn’t respond much,” added Bonbon.

“Looks like it’s up to Sunset to bring him over for lunch,” said Rarity.

“She’s not going to cause any trouble, is she?” asked Lyra.

“She might have to rely on drastic measures for this,” answered Rarity.  Lyra wasn’t pleased with the idea while Bonbon was concerned as to what would happen.  “Now hear me out before you judge her.  She has to rely on her past mistakes and where she stands now.  She thinks that Tidal could be heading down the same path that she went through.  And it has to do with what he faced at his old school.  The main thing we have to do is gain his trust with us.  And Sunset’s the only one who can get in his way if he decides to keep to himself.”

“You sure this is a good idea?” asked Lyra.

“I don’t think we have much of a choice.  It was Vice-Principal Luna who wanted her to help him, so we have to trust her judgment in this.  If Tidal is going to act this way, then he needs to look at an image of what he could become if he keeps this up.  And Sunset is the best image that we have to work on.”

“Let’s just let her do her part and see if it could help us,” said Bonbon.

It was lunchtime, and Tidal had his coat with him and was walking to the front of the school to have lunch alone.  Lyra and Bonbon invited him to join them again, but he felt better by himself.  But as he was at the front lobby of the school, another student was standing next to the wall, staring at him.  And it was someone who he saw before.  The fiery hair and black leather jacket was proof enough.

“Going somewhere?” she asked.

“Yea.  Outside to eat,” replied Tidal.

“I don’t think so.”  She started walking towards him until he was in front of him.

“What are you, some kind of hall monitor?” he responded.

“No.  Something much worse.”  She started to walk around him while staring at him.

“Then just leave me alone.”

“And let Vice-Principal Luna throw you in dentition?  Not going to happen.”

“Why, she put you up to this?”

“You could say that.”

“Look, you don’t know me, so-”

“I may not know you, but I know what you will become,” she interrupted.

“And that would be?”

She stopped in front of Tidal and stared straight at him.  “You’re looking at her.”

He looked away and said, “What makes you say that?”

“Because long before you came here, I was the queen of this school.  I took over everyone and destroyed friendships in the process.  I had it all.  But I wanted more.  And it was a magical crown from another world was all I needed to complete the process.”

Tidal just stood there, listening.

“But one girl came along, trying to stop me.  One girl who forged the friendships that I once destroyed.  One girl who got the entire school on her side.  And still I was able to acquire the crown I needed to control all the students and staff of this school.  And still, she and five of her friends banded together to stop me, exposing the demon for who I was.  Now I’m left here while the entire school treats me like trash.”

“Good for you,” he responded.

“You don’t understand.  From what I’ve been told, you followed the same path that I went through.  You dealt with some students, and they got the entire school on their side to take you down.  And now you’re here.”

“The only difference between you and me is that those students had their future lives destroyed doing so, and they deserved it,” he explained.

“And yet, you try to keep everyone away from being friends with you.”

“Because no one is willing to accept me for who I am.  I’m different from everyone else.”

“So what.  Everyone here is different, but they are willing to accept everyone else for who they are.”

“Then why won’t they expect you?”

“Because I still dealing with the demons that I faced!!!” she yelled.  She regained her composure.  “But I’m lucky that five girls are willing to give me a chance to prove that I can change for the better.  And those girls are willing to do the same for you.”

“So?”

“So, you’re coming with me to the cafeteria to join them.”  She started to walk away from him and towards the cafeteria, but stopped for a moment.  “Or you can spend some time with your aunt Luna in detention, along with some other troublemakers.  Besides, she doesn’t go easy on anyone at school.  Even you.”

Tidal shrugged his shoulders and said, “Fine.”

“Good.  By the way, my name’s Sunset Shimmer.  And I know you’re Tidal Wave Blue, so we can skip the introductions and join up with the others.”

Tidal walked with Sunset to the cafeteria, but stopped right before the entrance.  Sunset looked back at Tidal and said, “Best that we go in at separate times.  I don’t want others to get the wrong idea about us together.  I’ll go in and tell Rarity that you’re here, and she’ll come up to meet you.  Once you see her in sight, come in and she’ll escort you to our table.”

Tidal just stood there as Sunset walked in.  As she was walking through the cafeteria, she was getting some looks that she didn’t like to see, but when she made eye contact with Rarity, they each exchanged nods and Rarity got up and made her way to the entrance.  Tidal was able to see her and went in as she told him to.  He joined Rarity and both of them walked to the table where the others were.

Tidal saw Lyra and Bonbon next to each other and sat next to Bonbon.  Rarity sat on the other side of Tidal, with her boyfriend, Clyde next to her.  Tidal noticed some faces from yesterday, but some new ones as well.  Applejack was next to Lyra.  On the other side was Pinkie Pie at one end, and Fluttershy on the other.  Next to Pinkie Pie was a cyan skinned boy with short black hair, who was wearing a white shirt that have a gray shield with scales on them and a blue hoodie.  Next to him was another boy with tan skin and brown hair, and was wearing a gray shirt with a cog that had wings on it and a green jacket.  Between him and Fluttershy was a cyan girl with rainbow hair, and was wearing a white shirt with a rainbow like thunderbolt and a blue jacket.  It wasn’t long before Sunset Shimmer was able to join the table and sat next to Fluttershy.

“Well, now that everyone’s here, I think introductions are in order,” said Rarity.  “I’m sure you know Lyra and Bonbon.”  Both of them smiled at Tidal.  “And you already met my boyfriend Clyde.”  He waved his hand to Tidal.

“And just to be sure that you remember some of us, I’m Applejack.  You met Pinkie Pie before.”  She gave out a big grin and waved.  “That’s Swift,” as she pointed to the cyan boy, “Rivet,” who was next to Swift, “and Rainbow Dash” what was next to Rivet.

“And you remember Fluttershy,” said Rarity.  Fluttershy just gave a small nod.

“And last but not least, our troublemaker, Sunset Shimmer,” said Lyra.

**SMACK**

“OW!  All right, all right AJ.  I get the message.”

“Sounds like someone’s been watching NCIS a lot,” said Swift.

“Darn right I have,” replied Applejack.  “Even catching the older seasons when I can.”

Each one of them were eating lunch in silence, hoping that one of them with help Tidal break the ice.  It was Rainbow Dash who spoke first.

“So Tidal, I heard that you live up north, right?”

“New Hampshire to be exact,” replied Tidal.

“Did you parents come here or stayed behind and planned to move later,” asked Rainbow Dash.

“They stayed behind.”

“Tell me, Tidal.  What do your parents do for a living?” asked Rarity.

“Me dad’s a meteorologist. For the national weather channel.”

“He is?” said Applejack.  “What’s his name?”

“Sky Blue.”

Everyone at the table stopped and looked at Tidal.

“You mean the winter weather expert Sky Blue?” asked Rivet.

“Yes.”

“The one who has taken part with the sport science crew Sky Blue?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“Yes.”

“The one who was on the scene of a snow storm in the northeast when five thunder-snows took place Sky Blue?” asked Pinkie Pie.

Tidal just slammed his head on the table.  Then he looked back up and said, “YES!!!”

“Well I’ll be.  You’re father was the talk of the town in our science classes last year,” explained Applejack.

“We learned a lot about the weather at times, and the thunder-snow event was the biggest event to learn when it happened,” Swift added.

“Plus my soccer team was able to watch videos on how weather conditions and wind can have an effect on a soccer ball, which have helped our team improved and get to the semi-finals last season,” explained Rainbow Dash.  “This season, we plan to go all the way.”

“Oh great,” Tidal responded as he rolled his eyes.

“Tidal dear.  Your father’s videos have helped us learn new things that we have never knew existed.  You should be proud of him,” explained Rarity.

“Yea.  I think I remember hearing that he was married to some athlete that helped him get with the sport science crew for their videos,” said Rainbow Dash.

“That would be my mother, Ocean Blue.  She even gave me her maiden name as my middle name, Wave.”

Rainbow’s jaw dropped for a moment before she asked, “You mean your mother is Ocean Wave?”

“Yes.”

Rainbow Dash went ecstatic.  “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!!!  I can’t believe it.  Your mother is AWESOME!!!”

“Um, care to explain to us how you know his mother?” asked Applejack.

“You mean you never knew?” said Clyde.  “She’s the three time Olympic gold medalist in the 1500 meter freestyle swimming event.  That happened long before any of us were born.”

“Not to mention that she broke the world record in the finals when she won her first gold medal,” Rainbow Dash added.  “It was the first time it happened since they started to keep track of all timed records.  And no swimmer has yet to break it since that day.  It’s been brought up at times when the Summer Olympics happen as that event comes up.  There have been some that came close to breaking it, but fall behind after finishing two-thirds of the race.  It’s how I learned that having a lot of endurance could help go a long way in sports.  She even works as the swimming coach when the Olympics come around these past years after retiring from the sport.”

“Sounds like your parents are famous,” said Sunset.

“I never wanted to think of it that way,” replied Tidal.  “It’s something I would rather steer clear of.”

“Oh come on dear.  You should be proud of them,” explained Rarity.

“Yea.  Being popular should be great for you,” said Pinkie Pie.

“Um Pinkie, in case you haven’t noticed, I tried to be that way once, and look where it gotten me into,” explained Sunset.

“Yea.  You turned into a de-OW!!!”  Lyra received another slap at the back of her head from Applejack.

“Lyra, you really need to watch what you say in front of others,” explained Applejack.

“Sorry,” replied Lyra as she was rubbing the back of her head.

“The main thing is that your parents experienced things that most students our age have started getting in to,” explained Bonbon.

“She’s right,” added Applejack.  “My family runs our own apple farm, and we have started to learn more about the weather so that we can see the signs when something good or bad happens.  It helps our family be prepared for anything.”

“And most of the students here who take part in outdoor sports have used what they’ve learned to improve their game,” said Rainbow Dash.  “Plus woman’s sports have become more popular these days.”

“You see.  There are some people who are able to motivate others to the things they love to do,” said Bonbon.

“I already am working to become a famous fashion designer in the future,” said Rarity.

“And I plan to be a veterinarian in the future…as long as I can get used to seeing blood when I’m helping others,” said Fluttershy.

“Does everyone have their future planed out?” asked Tidal.

“Not everyone,” said Lyra.  “Me and Bonbon have yet to figure out what we want to do after high school.”

“That goes the same for me,” added Rivet.  “I like to play my guitar, but there’s no telling what I would like to do after high school.  And my sister always likes to try something new, hoping it would be something that she would like to do.  But she changes interests all the time.”

“Our younger sisters are like that as well at times,” said Swift as he was pointing to Applejack and Rarity.

“What about you, Tidal?  Have you made any plans for your future, or are you still undecided?” asked Rarity.

Tidal sighed and said, “I just want to get through my life one day at a time, that’s all.”

“So you’re just…winging it, aren’t you?” said Rainbow Dash.

“Yep.”

“Kind of risky, if you ask me,” said Sunset.  “There’s no telling what would happen if the choice you make is the right one of the wrong one unless you think about it.”

“Well, that’s my life and not yours.”

“Well still, it always helps to plan ahead for anything.  If things don’t work out, then look for something new,” explained Rarity.

“Right now, I just want to finish up with high school and move on with my life.”

Before anyone could respond, the bell rang and everyone was now starting to leave the cafeteria, throwing away any of their trash in the trash bins along the way.  The students at Tidal’s table decided to do the same.  As Tidal started to leave their view, Rarity and Sunset looked at each other for a moment.

“Well, we learned a bit about his family,” said Rarity.

“But we have yet to learn much of his past expect for the fact that he hates being…well known,” added Sunset.

“We just have to keep on trying, and hope that he finally opens up to the problems that he’s been going through in his past.”

Ch. 5 – Blue Moon Falling

Chapter 5 – Blue Moon Falling

It’s been a week since Tidal attended CHS, but his progress in opening up has been slow.  Very slow.  And everyone who tried to help him open up were left confused by his behavior.  Celestia was worried that she might have come to his aid too late for him to change for the better.

Rarity was busy drawing some new fashion designs for her friends to wear at the Spring Fling, which was months away.  She always wanted to get a head start when it was to help out her friends.  But she was distracted with Tidal’s behavior over the week, and Clyde, who started to spend his weekends with her, could see it in her face.

“You still worried about him?” asked Clyde.

Rarity snapped her pencil in two.  “Of course I am,” she yelled.

Clyde was taken aback by her remark.  “I’m sorry I asked.”

Rarity realized what she just did and regained her composer.  “I’m sorry, Clyde.  It’s just…I’ve never seen anyone like him keep to himself all the time.  And it’s not just the fact that he’s the principal’s nephew, but the son of a famous female swimmer and a well-known weather man.”

“Well, he’s not the principal’s nephew by blood,” Clyde corrected Rarity.  “Were you able to get the whole story about Tidal’s problems?”

“Well, I-”

Before she could fully answered, they heard the bell ring from the front door.

“Oh, excuse me Clyde.”  Rarity got up and walked to the main room to visit her latest costumer.  “Hello.  How may I help you?”  She stopped to recognize the fiery haired girl with the leather jacket who entered the building.  “Sunset Shimmer.  What brings you here?”

“Needed help clearing my head.”

“Tidal Blue, I presume?”  Sunset nodded.  “Welcome to the club.  Why don’t you join me in the back.”

Both of them walked to the back room where she was working earlier.  When they came in, Sunset was surprised to see Clyde in the back as well.

“Oh, I’m sorry.  I didn’t me to…I’ll just come back some other time.”

“No, no, no.  It’s fine.  We were just talking about the same thing,” responded Rarity.  “Clyde dear?  Can you help me in fixing some hot coco for all of us?  I have a feeling that this is going to be a long day.”

Clyde went with Rarity to the kitchen.  Rarity went to grab some mugs and coco packs while Clyde started to warm up some water to help serve.  They returned to the back room and began to fix some hot coco for all three of them as they took seats near each other.

“So, any ideas on how we can help Tidal open up?” asked Sunset.

“Well, I was about to answer Clyde’s question about Tidal’s past before you came in,” responded Rarity.  “So far, I only got the short version about his past from Principal Celestia.  And you all know about that.”

“And he turns sixteen in how many weeks?” asked Clyde.

“In about two weeks,” answered Rarity.  “Pinkie plans to have a party for him the following Friday, if we can get him to open up first.”

“Have you ever thought about asking Principal Celestia in better detail?” asked Sunset.

“I’ve thought about it, but I didn’t feel like intruding her in the matter,” responded Rarity.  “But now that you mention it, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to ask.”

Rarity got up and walked to the phone and placed a call.  Once she dialed the number, she made sure the phone was on speaker for the others to hear.

“Hello.  This is Miss Luna speaking.”

“Vice Principal Luna?  This is Rarity.  Is Principal Celestia there?”

“She is, Miss Belle.  Let me get here.”

There was some slight noise in the background before Celestia responded.

“Rarity.  I’m assuming you’re calling me about Tidal, right?”

“Why yes, principal.  I was hoping that you could tell us more about his problems that he encounter last semester.”

“Us?”

“Clyde and Sunset are here with me, and I have you on speaker, just so you know.”

“Well…I was hoping you would finally ask me for the long version.  And I can also guess that you and Clyde are dating anyway, so I’m glad that he’s helping you out.”

“I’m surprised that you knew about that.”

“Let’s just say that it was…obvious.”

Sunset covered her mouth to let out a quiet giggle.  Rarity turned and glared at Sunset, but that didn’t stop her from giggling.

Sunset regained her composure and asked, “Principal Celestia?  We know about Tidal’s parents being somewhat popular.  And yet, the students at the school picked on his for some reason.  Can you explain us what happen that led you to bring him here?”

There was a sigh on the other line and a brief pause before Celestia could respond.

“When Sky called me, he said that his son, Tidal, was being placed in detention every time he got into a fight with another guy.  And this happened for over a month with the same guy.  This never was a problem for him, but because of their jobs, they couldn’t find the time to look into the problem personally.  So I took the week off to head over there and look into it myself.  I had a talk with their principal over there and see what he had say about what Tidal was doing that got him into trouble.

“It wasn’t easy getting an answer at first, but on the second day watching over him from afar, that’s when things got worse.  The guy who was bullying him threw a crunch-up can at the back of Tidal’s head, which lead to some students laughing at him.  Then I see Tidal take the same can and threw it hard back at him, only for him to duck and have it hit the girl behind him in the eye.  The bully sees this and decides to confront him face-to-face.  That was when I ran up and grabbed both of them and dragged them to the principal’s office to report what I saw.  Turns out that this guy was the same one who’s been picking on him for over a month.”

“Was there a reason for this boy to do this?” asked Sunset.

“There was.  Turns out that he was the starting quarterback for the football team.  Or more likely, WAS the starting quarterback.  He kept getting into detention with Tidal every time.  And that lead him to getting benched because he had to miss out on practice.  Then Tidal brings up the boy’s girlfriend and the reason for that was because he was able to ruin her perfect grades, which I found it odd.  I requested that she be brought over to the office, and turns out that it’s the same girl who had the can hit her eye.  And to make matters worse, she received a “B” in the same class that he’s in on some group project.  She complained that she’s never gotten a “B” in her life.  That’s when I decided to have a private chat with the principal on the matter and how they were not doing enough to fix the issue and send a message to the rest of the school about bullying.”

“So you mean to say that some straight-A student gotten a “B” in the same class that he’s in and decides to bring her boyfriend in to teach him a lesson, only for both boys to get sent to detention?  That still doesn’t explain how they got the school into all this,” explained Rarity.

“That’s because they were starting the playoffs with home field advantage throughout the playoffs, only to lose in the first round.”

“Talk about bad karma,” said Clyde.  “Hate to see that happen in person.”

“So, was there any punishment handed out to others?” asked Sunset.

“Tidal was given detention like before, but the other two were handed a five day suspension.  And they would be returning when exams start.  I had to request that Tidal take his exams in private for his safety.  And the fact that the school would have to deal with a bad image to repair if word was to get out on how they fail to deal with bullying.”

“Well, that does clear up some details about what he’s gone through,” said Rarity.  “Now if we can get him to understand that we are nothing like those guys at that awful school over there before his birthday comes up.”

“Let me guess.  Pinkie Pie wants to give him a big birthday party when it comes up.”

“Already in the works.  I just hope he gets to feel better when that time comes,” said Rarity.

“Is there anything that he likes to do during his free time?” asked Clyde.

“He would usually go to the indoor swimming pool where his mother works when no one is around and just lay on the water.  Otherwise, he would just take a walk by himself around town.  That’s what he’s doing at this time.  He wanted to get a layout of the city.”

“Let’s hope that once he sees the city, he can finally open up to us more,” said Rarity.

Tidal was walking around the city, wearing his winter clothes and holding an umbrella open due to the slight rain going on.  He took his time to see the surroundings of the city.  There were places where teenagers were talking to each other, sharing a laugh or exchanging stories.  But some of the images that he saw brought painful memories from his old home, memories of distrust and betrayal that he witnesses months ago.  He can still remember that time when everyone in the school started to show their true colors and go against him.  All because of some group project that was given to his class who didn’t want him in any of their groups.

As he walked on, he saw an old, used bookstore across the street.  But it wasn’t the store that caught his eye, but who was inside the store.  There was an old man behind the counter, but the other man on the other side of the counter had a gun drawn at him.  Tidal saw a dark alleyway, closed his umbrella, and went into the alleyway to watch.  He could see the robber look towards the shelves and make his way there.  The next thing Tidal saw was a couple of teenagers scared for their lives.  But Tidal was able to make out who it was.  It was Rivet and Rainbow Dash.  He could definitely make out Rainbow Dash because of her rainbow hair.

As he was watching in the shadows, he saw the robber hit Rivet to the ground.  Then after getting the money from the old man, he noticed the robber pull on Rainbow Dash’s hair hard before leaving the store.  He knew what he saw and was furious that a bully like him would go that far to get what he wanted.  He’s seen it before.  Heck, he’s experienced it head on.  He knew that this man needed to be stopped.  He figured if he could find out where he was staying, he could notify the cops and see to it that he would be put away for his actions.  So he kept his distance and made sure he knew where the guy was going.

As he was following the robber, he noticed that he was making his way to the park. Tidal knew that he could loss the guy in the park if he wasn’t fast enough to get there first.  Without hesitation, he decided to take the matter into his own hands.  He crossed the street and bumped into the robber hard, knocking his bag that he was holding to the ground.

“Hey watch it, jerk.”

“Why don’t you watch it,” Tidal said as he kicked the bag that was on the ground.  This caused the money in the bag to spill out.

“Now you asked for it.”

The robber began to reach for the gun in his pocket, but Tidal saw this as his opening to strike.  He took his umbrella and swung it at the robber’s arm just as he pulled the gun out, knocking it to the ground.  The robber went down and grabbed the gun, but Tidal was able to do the same and started to struggle with the robber and his gun.  It wasn’t long before a shot went out, followed by a second shot which stopped the robber in his tracks.

The robber fell to ground, barely breathing.  Tidal was trying the gather his breathe and focus when an officer came running up to them with his hand on his holster.  He was able to hear the shots nearby and made his way over.  But before he could say anything, he saw the guy on the ground bleeding with a gun next to him.  He was about to ask Tidal what happened when he was shocked to see blood dripping from Tidal’s side.

Tidal didn’t realize that he was also shot until the adrenaline rush that went through him went aside.  That was when reality set in and he started to collapse to the ground.  The officer grabbed his walkie-talkie and made an emergency call for help to police and medics.  Tidal couldn’t make it out what the officer was saying because he was losing blood.  It wasn’t long before he blacked out.

Ch. 6 - Blue Moon Reality

Chapter 6 – Blue Moon Reality

Celestia and Luna were running to the lobby of Canterlot Hospital when they got a call that Tidal was shot.  Celestia just got off the phone talking to Rarity before the call came in.  She was worried that the worst has happen to Tidal that she wasn’t sure what to tell Sky Blue what happened.  Luna was able to keep her composure and made sure that Celestia didn’t panic as they made their way inside.

Luna went up to the front desk and asked the lady, “Excuse us, but we’re looking for a relative of ours, Tidal Blue.”

Before the lady could respond, a voice nearby called their names.  They looked to see and nurse with white skin and pink hair walk up to them.

“Nurse Redheart!  Is Tidal-”

“It’s OK Celestia, Tidal’s going to be fine.  He just got out of surgery.”

“Do you know what happened?” asked Luna.

“Come with me and I’ll have Doc Top explain.”

They arrived in another part of the hospital where a doctor with brown skin and curly orange hair was talking to one of the nurses at her station on a patient.

“Doctor, this is Celestia and Luna, who I work for at CHS,” said Redheart.

“Yes.  I’m glad that both of you came,” responded Doc Top.  “She tells me that you’re looking over Tidal for your brother.”

“Yes,” replied Celestia.  “How is he?”

“Nothing serious.  Just some nerve damage and loss of blood, but he’ll be fine.  He just needs some rest, that’s all.”  Just then, his pager went off.  He looked at it and recognized the call sign on it.  “Forgive me, but it looks like I’m needed in surgery again.  Nurse Redheart can fill you in on anything else for now.  Speaking of which, have you heard from the detectives as of yet?”

“Not yet, but I’ll let you know if they come in,” replied Redheart.  Doc Top left the group to respond to the call.

“Detectives?  Did he do something wrong?” asked Luna.

“Let’s go someplace private and I can explain what I know.”

Nurse Redheart took Celestia and Luna to a prayer room where no one was around at the time.  They sat down on some chairs in the room.

“First off, Tidal’s lucky to be alive.  If it wasn’t for the officer’s actions, he might have lost a lot of blood.”

“How did he get shot?” asked Luna.

“He confronted a robber trying to get away at the park.”  Celestia and Luna were shocked.  Redheart continued.  “There was a struggle and both of them were shot.  Doc must have been called to help with the robber’s injuries, since they were listed as critical.”

“Why would he do something so stupid?” asked Luna.

***Few Hours Ago***

Two ambulances pulled up, each carrying a patient.  Doctors and nurses ran up to assist the medical workers unloading the patients; the group was lead by Doc Top and Nurse Redheart.

“What do we have, Nurse Redheart?”

“Two victims, Doc.  One is in his mid-thirties with a bullet wound to the chest, loss of blood and listed in critical condition.  The other is in his mid-teens with another bullet wound through the side of his chest, also loss of blood and is unresponsive at the moment.  No ID on both victims.”

As the staff was getting out both patients, they saw an officer applying pressure to the wound on the teenager.

“Officer?”

“Both victims struggled with a gun, setting it of twice, Doc.  I need security to help monitor the other guy just in case.”

“Any reason?” asked Doc Top.

“We believe he robbed a store earlier today.  No positive ID at the moment,” the officer replied.

“I’ll contact security about the matter.  Nurse Snowheart, get a team prepped for surgery.”

“Yes doctor.”  The yellow lady with the blue hair took her team and took the older patient to surgery.

As the others were about to check on the teenager, Nurse Redheart was able to ID the boy.

“Oh my…that’s Tidal Blue.”

“You know the boy?” asked Doc Top.

“Yes.  He’s Celestia and Luna’s nephew.  He just transferred to CHS over the winter break.”

“Then I take care of his injuries myself.  Nurse Tenderheart, take over for the officer.  Nurse Redheart, see to it that the officer is cleaned up and notify Tidal’s guardian.”

The blue lady with the green hair took over and applied pressure to Tidal’s wound on the side of his chest and went with Doc Top to the second surgery room.  Nurse Redheart escort the officer to a cleaning area to have the blood washed off of his hands and have his jacket bagged until it can be fully cleaned.  Nurse Redheart placed a call to Celestia’s home and explained what just happened.  After she hanged up, she went to check on the officer, who was finished cleaning up.

“Forgive me for asking, but you said that the older guy might have robbed a bank?” asked Redheart.

“Yes, but we’re not sure he’s the one we’re looking for.  We’re only guessing that because he was carrying a large bag of money, plus there was a gun next to him.  I couldn’t get the boy’s side because he just passed out when I arrived on the scene.  I swear this has been a rough day for everyone involved.”

“And to think I’ve seen everything at CHS,” Redheart responded.

“You also the school nurse over there?” the officer asked.

“School nurse and counselor.  I work here on the weekends to help out my fellow nurses.  Did you see the boy at the store that was robbed?”

“No,” the officer replied.  “First time I saw him was outside the park where the shooting took place.  Besides, there were two other teenagers that were at the store that was robbed.”

This raised Redheart’s curiosity.  “I know you can’t give out names, but do you know whom they looked like?” she asked.

“Well, I never did get their names at the time, but the owner knew who they were and helped called their parents.  There was a girl with cyan skin and rainbow-like hair; easy to remember.”

Redheart was shocked at what she just heard.  “That’s Rainbow Dash.  She’s one of our best athletes at CHS.  What about the other teenager?”

“Young boy, tan skin, brown hair, was wearing a green jacket,” the officer explained.

“Not sure I know the boy, but I do recall Tidal hanging out with Rainbow Dash and a few others, from what Celestia has told me.  Maybe there’s a connection to this and the robbery.”

“You might be right.  Can I borrow your phone?  I want to call the detectives that are on this case.  Maybe they can ID the robber and close this case on the spot.”

Nurse Redheart nodded and pointed to the phone at the desk.

“And I’ll double check on the names for the teenagers that were at the store,” the officer said.  “The owner said that the robber pointed the gun at the boy’s face.  A sight like that can do damage to a kid’s mental state.  I’m sure he could use a counselor to get him through this.”

***Current Time***

“So he saw Rainbow Dash at the same place that was robbed and decided to follow the robber?” asked Luna.

“Yep,” replied Redheart.  “And I looked it up online and found out that it was a used bookstore that was robbed hours ago.  They had a brief description of the subject they were looking for.  I think it’s the same guy who’s in surgery right now.  I wouldn’t expect Rainbow Dash to be in a bookstore like that unless she was helping out the boy that was with her.”

“I think the boy’s name is Rivet.  He’s in the homeroom class that I’ve been subbing this year.  He asked me if he can use stories from A. K. Yearling for the class assignments,” explained Luna.

“Rarity has told me that Rainbow Dash has become a big fan of Daring Do, so it would explain why they were together in the first place,” explained Celestia.  “But why would Tidal do something like this?”

Luna stood up and said, “Tia, what Tidal did was stupid and reckless.  He could have gotten himself killed for all that we know.”

Redheart stopped Luna and said, “Wait a minute.  Wasn’t Tidal bullied at his old school?”

And that’s when it all came together in Celestia’s mind.  “Dammit!!!  What was I thinking!  He must have thought that the robber was like another bully to him.”

“What are you talking about?” asked Luna.

“I’ve seen it in the news…about other teenagers and young adults causing trouble.  Crime on the rise, suicide rates from bullying victims.  You think he’s seen this stuff on TV?” asked Redheart.

“Maybe so,” responded Celestia.  “I knew he had it bad, but I never thought he would go this far.”

“Dammit Tia.  I swear I going to-”

“Stop it Luna!  Just getting mad at him isn’t going to solve our problems,” explained Celestia.

“I hate to say it, but she’s right,” explained Redheart.  “Listen, he’s still asleep, and it will be hours before he can come around.  I’ll stay here overnight and watch over him.  The two of you go back home and rest.  Let me worry about his problems for now.  I’ll let you know when he’s awake, OK?”

“Thanks, Nurse Redheart.”  Celestia got up and hugged Redheart.  “Please do me a favor and see to it that it’s kept on the low key, OK?  I don’t want the rest of the school catching on to his actions until we can figure out how we can help him.”

“If he’s doing well in the morning, I can see if Doc can release him to your care by then,” said Redheart.

Celestia and Luna left the room and the hospital and made their way home.  Nurse Redheart also left the room and made her way to the room where Tidal was sleeping.

The sun started to shine through the hospital window Sunday morning, enough to wake Tidal from his sleep.  As he tried to get up, he felt a sharp pain on the lower right side of his chest.

“You might want to take it easy for a while, since they just patched you up yesterday.”

Tidal looked over to his side to see a nurse with pink hair sitting next to him.

“At least you’re now awake.  Principal Celestia will be glad to hear that.”

“Was she here?” asked Tidal.

“Yesterday.  But I told her to go home and rest.  By the way, I’m Nurse Redheart.”

Tidal looked around and noticed that he was in a hospital and not at school.  “So Aunt Tia decided to have you stay and watch over me?”

“Actually, I work here on the weekends.  Otherwise, I’m working at the school,” replied Redheart.

“So…what happened?” asked Tidal.

“You got shot.”

“Really?” Tidal sarcastically replied.

“You and the robber that you confronted yesterday,” Redheart answered.  “What I would like to know is why?”

Tidal looked away, not wanting to answer the question.

“Would it have to do with what happened to Rainbow Dash and Rivet at a used bookstore?”

Nurse Redheart was able to push the issue, causing Tidal to respond.

“How did you know?”

“I was able to get the info from the officer who saved your life.  The teenagers that he described were easy for me to point out, with Celestia and Luna’s help.  But I still don’t understand why you risked your life to do this.”

“If he made his way into the park, I would have lost him at that point,” replied Tidal.

“So you just went up to him and start a fight?” asked Redheart.

“More like causing a scene,” replied Tidal.  “Besides, you said that he was shot.  Bully got what he deserve.”

“So he was a bully, right?  What makes you say that?  Is it because he pulled a gun in front of Rivet?  The owner told the officer that it happened.”

“That, and that he pulled Rainbow Dash’s hair and knocked them down,” answered Tidal.  “I hope the bullet that hit him pierced his heart.  He doesn’t need to bully others like her did them.”

“So the end justifies the means, right?”

“Yep.”

“Is that how you think of every bully?”

“Yep.”

“You be careful about that in the future.  Otherwise, you may not get another chance to live,” explained Redheart.  “Now if you will excuse me, but I need to take care of a few things.”

Nurse Redheart left the room and went to see Doc Top to look into him and see if he was cleared to leave.  After several hours, Doc was able to clear Tidal and requested Nurse Redheart to look into him each day after school for the next two weeks.  Redheart was able to call Celestia and explain what she just now learned and decided to take him home personally, since her extended shift just came to an end.

Ch. 7 - Blue Moon Confessions

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.”

Ch. 8 - Blue Moon Rumors

Chapter 8 – Blue Moon Rumors

After yesterday’s events, Tidal decided to walk to school with Lyra and Bonbon instead of driving with Celestia or Luna.  He decided to give them a chance, after all that he’s gone through.  The girls decided to ask him things that they could compare to, either with them or the others that he’s met.

“So Tidal, is there anything you like to do for fun?” asked Bonbon.

“Well, I do like to swim during the summer, but nothing like my mother.  Floating is how I like it.  Just trying to clear my head.”

“Then what do you do when you can’t swim?” asked Bonbon.  “Go see movies?  Play video games?”

“Video games.  I like to play role-playing games.  Most of them are on my computer.  And they’re more of the older titles that my parents grew up on, just re-mastered.  The current ones can be too complex to work on.”

“Any games in particular?” asked Lyra.

“Final Fantasy.  I’ve played most of the series and its related games.  You can play them on the computer.  But I have to go with the ROM versions at times on games that have yet to be released.”

“So you like to play emulated games?” asked Lyra.  Tidal nodded.  “We learned about that from a classmate who’s big on computer programs.  His name is Micro Chip.  He’s in our Computer Science class.”

“Well, my parents kept their 8-bit and 16-bit systems and several good games, but they wouldn’t let me bring them.  That’s where I learned about some of the games worth playing,” explained Tidal.

“Ever played racing games?” asked Lyra.

“A couple of them.  It depends on the type of game,” replied Tidal.

“Just be careful when playing with either Rainbow Dash or Pinkie Pie.  They are that good in those,” explained Lyra.

“You might just get owned,” added Bonbon.

“Noted.”

As they arrived at the school and went inside, they noticed some of the students placing some looks at the trio ad whispering with each other.  This made all three of them curious.  When they arrived at their locker to put away their coats and make sure they have their select books for class, they were greeted by Clyde and Rarity.

“Well, you three look fine today,” said Rarity.

“That’s because we finally had a normal conversation with Tidal for once,” replied Lyra.

“Oh.  And what was it about?” asked Rarity.

“Video games,” replied Bonbon.

“That’s good.  Maybe you should discuss it with Rainbow Dash,” said Clyde.

“How’s she doing, by the way,” asked Tidal.

“Somewhat better,” replied Clyde.  “She’s still focused on the team, so that’s good.”

“What about Rivet?” he asked.

“I’ll know once I see him in class,” replied Clyde.

Rarity looked around and noticed the quick stares and whispers being displayed.

“Gosh.  I wonder what everyone’s talking about?”

“We noticed that as well,” said Bonbon.

Another guy walked up to the group.  He had light orange skin and blue slick hair.  He was wearing a white shirt with a crest and lightning bolt, blue jeans, black shoes, and a black jacket.

“Hello Rarity, Clyde, Lyra, Bonbon.”

“Hello Flash.  What brings you here?” asked Rarity.

“Well, I wanted to meet the brave Tidal Blue who was able to help us out,” replied Flash.

“Brave?  What are you talking about?” asked Rarity.

“Word has it that he was able to help out Rainbow Dash in stopping a troublemaker that hurt her,” replied Flash.

“Where did you hear about this?” asked Bonbon.

“It’s been all over social media this morning,” replied Flash.

Tidal started to worry and slammed his head on the open door of the locker.  Lyra started to get mad.

“If that girl is responsible for this, I swear…”

Just then, Rainbow Dash came rushing up to them.

“Guys.  I need your help.  Everyone’s coming up to me and asking me if I was OK, and I tried to keep calm, but…”

Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Sunset Shimmer came running up to the rest of the group.

“Rainbow Dash, stop running off in a panic when we’re trying to talk to you,” said Applejack.

“I can’t!  Everyone won’t stop asking me about it.  I just want to put that scene behind me,” explained Rainbow Dash.

“Yea, we just found out,” said Bonbon.

“Sunset Shimmer, did you tell the school about what happen over the weekend with Tidal and Rainbow?” asked Lyra.

Sunset was in shock.  “ME???  Why are you pointing the blame on me?  I’m trying to help him just the same as you are.”

“Because you always stir up trouble when it comes up,” replied Lyra.

“Now, now.  Let’s not point fingers at anyone until we find out where they are getting this info,” said Applejack.

Rarity looked at Flash and asked, “Do you know where online you found this info?”

Flash scratched the back of his head.  “Hard to say.  It’s just going around.”

“OHMYGOSH!!!  IT’S EVERYWHERE!!!” Pinkie Pie screamed and she was rapidly searching on her cell phone.  “I CAN’T EVEN FIND THE SOURCE!!!”

Tidal let out a sigh and said, “Why does this always happen.”

“I’m guessing that we weren’t suppose to know about this?” asked Flash.  Everyone else nodded.

“Look, we’ll deal with whoever telling the school this,” said Applejack.  “Lyra, Bonbon.  You go with Tidal and make sure it doesn’t get carried away around him.”

“Let’s just hope that Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna don’t find out about this,” said Rarity.

“HOW CAN YOU LET THIS HAPPEN!!!”

Those was the words coming from Vice Principal Luna’s office between classes as she was talking to Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Sunset Shimmer after learning about the story going around that involved Tidal from over the weekend.  When Sunset Shimmer went to see Celestia and Luna yesterday to make her confession, the other five girls decided to go with her to explain what they learned and promised to keep it private in order to help Tidal adept to his surroundings.

“All six of you promised to keep it secret,” said Luna.

“We didn’t just promise, we pinkie promise, and no one breaks a pinkie promise,” explained Pinkie Pie.

“I can understand that, Pinkie, but everyone’s talking about it.  How do you think Tidal’s handling it?”

“Hey, I have to deal with this as well,” yelled Rainbow Dash.

“Forgive me.  I forgot how hard it must be to be reminded about it,” said Luna.

“Look, we’ll find out who’s doing this and get them to stop it,” said Applejack.

“We just noticed Tidal showing some improvement.  And we hate for him to go back to his old self,” said Rarity.

“If you can find them, bring them here.  I want to have a stern talk with whoever done this.”

In the hallways of CHS, a girl with blue skin and streaks of blue and white hair, wearing her purple dress and blue jacket and blue boots, was walking to a snack machine.  She put some money in the machine and chose some peanut butter and cracker as her snack.  Little did she know was that she was about to have some company.

“Hello!” Pinkie Pie said as she popped out of nowhere, surprising the girl in front of her.

“How dare you surprised the Great and Powerful Trixie!”

“I doubt that being “Great and Powerful” is a reason for causing trouble,” said Applejack, who was now behind her.

Trixie looked at Applejack and saw Rarity and Fluttershy next to her.  She looked back at Pinkie Pie and saw Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer.

“Seriously?  What makes you thing that Trixie is causing trouble?  That’s a job for Miss Shimmer.”

“Trouble?” replied Sunset.  “I know too well that you’re one who likes to spread rumors around when you’re looking for an advantage.”

“If you are talking about that boy, Tidal, you are hardly mistaken,” replied Trixie.

Rainbow Dash went up to Trixie’s face and said, “Listen, do you know how much suffering I had to go through this morning.  How it feels like to relive the same painful memories again, having to be pushed down to the ground, or even have a gun to you forehead?  TELL ME!!!”

“I don’t know.  I’ve heard the same story that’s been going around that everyone else has been talking about,” Trixie replied in panic.  This confused everyone in her change of tone.

Rarity pinched the bridge of her nose, let out a sigh, and said, “She’s telling the truth.”  The other girls looked at her for an explanation.  “It’s rare for Trixie to talk this way unless she means what she says.”

“You were always one to know what someone is playing their part when they feel like it,” replied Trixie.  “But why are you concern about Tidal anyway?”

“He’s had it rough at his old school,” replied Rarity.  “We just got him to open up about his problems, and now we feel like this rumor is going to shut us out once again.”

Trixie placed her hand on her chin and thought for a moment.  “Sunset Shimmer.  When was the last time you talked to Snips and Snails?”

“Not since the Fall Formal,” she replied.  “Why?”

“I went to the library to check out some books, and they were there acting very strange at one of the computers.  They couldn’t keep quiet that Miss Cheerilee kept shushing at them.”

“You don’t think they were looking for some payback, trying to point the rumor blame at you?” asked Applejack.

“If they haven’t talked to me since then, then it is possible,” replied Sunset.

“They must have been listening behind the door to the nurse’s office after we dragged him over there,” explained Applejack.  “How much do you want to bet that they will be there during lunch today?”

“Only one way to find out,” replied Rainbow Dash.

“Thank you for your help, Trixie,” said Rarity.

“Trixie is glad to help.  And Rainbow Dash, Trixie hopes you stay strong through this.  It’s not easy to recover from such a tragedy like that.”

Rainbow Dash responded with a smile.

The girls went to the library doors during lunch to see if they were there.  And without a doubt, they could make out a slim boy with green hair and a short boy with orange hair, sitting in front of a computer, working on one of the social media sites.

“There they are,” whispered Rarity.

“So how do we bring them over here?” whispered Rainbow Dash.

“Good question,” whispered Applejack.

“I know,” whispered Pinkie Pie.  She looked at Fluttershy, who noticed that look.

“You don’t mean…me?” whispered Fluttershy.

At that moment, Pinkie Pie shoved Fluttershy into the library.  She looked back and saw the girls telling her with their hands to go on.  Fluttershy nervously walked up to them.

“Um, excuse me.”  Snips and Snails turned off the monitor and looked at Fluttershy.

“Y-y-yes Fluttershy,” replied Snips.

“Can you, um, help me with, um, something that I need, well, help on?”

“Oh we-we be happy to help,” replied Snails.

As they walked with Fluttershy out of the library, the other girls were waiting for them to walk past the doors.  Once they did, Applejack and Rainbow Dash placed their hands on the boys’ mouths and dragged them away from the library and straight to the darken hallway where Sunset hangs out.

As the two girls removed their hands from the boys’ mouths, they saw all six girls and were shocked when they saw one they wanted to avoid.

“S-S-S-Sunset Shimmer.  What a, um, pleasant surprise,” said Snips.

“Y-y-yea.  It’s been a while,” said Snails.

Sunset slammed her hand on the lockers, jolting the boys as she stared at them.

“Don’t play nice with me.  I know you’ve been spreading rumors about Tidal.”

“Us?” replied Snails.  “We haven’t been-”

“HEY!!!”  Rainbow Dash cut them off.  “Do you know what it feel like having everyone come up to you, asking the same thing you want to just forget?”  They both shrugged their shoulders.  “It feels like hell, that’s what.”

“Tell me, have you ever known what it feels like to get shot?” asked Sunset.  They shook their head.  “Well, that’s what Tidal has to go through each and every day.  And he will have to relive it whenever someone has to bring it up.”

“But we were just-”

“Trying to get back at me?” Sunset said, cutting off Snips.  Both of them nodded.  “I’ve already had it rough since that day, and if you want to share in my pain, I’ll be happy to do so.”

“So you are going to explain this to Vice Principal Luna and find a way to clear this up,” said Applejack.

As school was coming to an end, Sunset Shimmer brought Snips and Snails to Vice Principal Luna’s office to explain everything that they did.

“So, you listened in to what Tidal went through over the weekend and decided to post it on a false profile to be spread to everyone else?”  Snips and Snails nodded.  “And you were hoping that Sunset would take the blame in this?”  They nodded again.  “And you didn’t even think about Tidal’s or Rainbow’s well being from what happened then?”  They nodded a third time.  Before she continued, a knock came from the door.  Luna went over to see who it was and recognized whom it was.  “Then perhaps you can explain it to him.”  She opened the door wide to show Rarity with Tidal with her.

Tidal walked in, with Rarity behind him, closing the door.  He started at both of them before he spoke.  “I had my share of bullies at my old school, but to deal with a pair of cyberbullies, if you want to call it that, is a first for me.  And I’m not happy with it.”

“I’m sure Tidal would want to do some kind of harm in this,” said Sunset, “but I think it’s best that VP Luna handle this.”

“Agreed,” added Tidal.

“Then the two of you will stay after school so I can see to it that you clean up this mess,” said Luna.  “And you can serve the rest of this week with after school detention.”  Snips and Snails groaned.  “Would you like another week of detention?”

Both of them replied.  “No Vice Principal Luna.”

“Then go to the library and get started.  I’ll be there shortly,” said Luna.

“I’ll make sure they get there until you arrive.”  Sunset took Snips and Snails out of the room.

“Tidal, we’re sorry that you had to go through all this again,” said Rarity.

“I know,” replied Tidal.  “Lyra and Bonbon said there would be days like this.  And as long as I have friends around to get me through this, I guess I can live with it.”

“That’s what friends are for,” replied Rarity.

Ch. 9 - Blue Moon Friends

Chapter 9 – Blue Moon Friends

The second week of school was coming to an end, and Tidal was feeling better after the all the rumors went dead.  He would have to live with the fact that everyone knew that he was shot, but the students didn’t care about it anymore.

Tidal was walking home from school with Lyra and Bonbon, and all three of them were talking about video games.  Both Lyra and Bonbon started to play some of the games that they first talked about earlier in the week.

“So Edger says, first your beauty has amazed me.  Second, I’m wondering if you’re my type.  Then there’s a brief pause before he says, your talents are a distant third.  And I’m thinking…PLAYBOY!!!”  Lyra was playing Final Fantasy VI since she learned about it.  “And yet, Terra wasn’t phased by it.”

“Well, Terra isn’t your normal girl,” replied Tidal.

“That is true,” replied Lyra.  “She is a special girl to the Empire.  And I can see why the Returners want her along.”

“So where are you at now?” asked Tidal.

“Just where it splits to three paths,” replied Lyra.  “Is there a path I should take first, of does it even matter?”

“If you want to make it feel like an actual story, go with Locke path first, then Terra’s, then Sabin’s.  His is the longest journey, but it will display what characters have been added from the other paths, and you can get what gear you need near the end of that path before all of them get back together, because you won’t have any time to buy anything by then.”

“Best to be prepare, right?” said Lyra.  Tidal nodded.

“So, where do you stand on Final Fantasy IV?” Tidal asked Bonbon.

“Just finished with the octopus boss and stopped there,” replied Bonbon.  “But I must say, the 3-D like graphics are different from what Lyra’s playing.”

“Well, it was re-released on a dual screen portable system at the time, since it was the popular one in the series of the first six,” replied Tidal.  “The first three were 8-bit games, but as the third one was coming out in Japan, they finally released the first one here after getting it translated.  The second one came out when they started to re-release the older games with better graphics.  But they never released the third one until much later on because it was the first one to use a job system.  Then when they brought out a sequel to the fourth one, then re-release the original one with the graphic design that was used in the third one and added voice acting.  When they started to re-release the ones on PC, they decided to leave it as it is, but with the bonus places that were used on the portable systems, with a few add-on.  So-”

Tidal noticed that Lyra and Bonbon were staring at him.

“I got carried away, didn’t I?”

“Oh no, no, no,” replied Lyra.  “Keep going.”

“Yea, we’re curious about what you know,” said Bonbon.

“Sorry, it’s just…I get carried away that others can’t stand me talking about things that they don’t care about,” said Tidal.

“Well, we do,” replied Bonbon.

“Yea.  We’re just surprised that you know most of this stuff.  It clears up stuff that we wanted to know,” said Lyra.

“Well, thanks.  It’s nice to know that someone is willing to listen for once,” said Tidal.  “Just make sure I don’t get carried away next time.”

They finally came up to Tidal’s home.  As he was walking up to the house, he stopped and asked, “You two want to come in for a moment?”

“Sure!” they both replied.

Tidal grabbed his keys and unlocked the door, allowing Lyra and Bonbon to walk in first before he went in a closed the door behind him.  He placed his coat on the coat hanger next to the door and his book bag below it.  Lyra and Bonbon placed their coats and book bags on the couch.

“So, are they letting you sleep in the guest bedroom?” asked Bonbon.

“Yep.  In the back,” replied Tidal.

All three of them went to Tidal’s room, which the door was still open.  When they walked in, the girls saw several posters of dragons and mythical creatures on them.

“You already made it look like your own,” said Lyra.

“Well, I don’t have any intention of going back to that troublesome school anytime soon,” replied Tidal.

“That’s good to hear,” said Bonbon.

Their attention turned to a glass display case that was at the corner of the room.  In it were various dragon statues on display, each one a different color and design.

“I can see that you like dragons a lot,” as Lyra pointed at the display case.

“They’re the only thing that I like to believe in, at least,” replied Tidal.  “There’s the fire dragon, frost dragon, storm dragon, sand dragon, gold dragon…just about every kind of dragon that can be created so far.  It’s part of the Dragon-master collection.”

As Lyra was looking at each dragon statue, one of them caught her eye.  It was a blue dragon that stood on two legs and was standing in a bold post with its arms crossed.

“What’s this one?” she asked.

“That’s Bahamut, the king of dragons,” replied Tidal.

Lyra took a closer look and saw through the glass shelf the bottom of the statue with a label of “XXX of 100”.

“Why is it labeled triple X?”  Bonbon stood next to Lyra to look at the label.

“Only a hundred were made on that statue,” replied Tidal.  “My father wasn’t able to order it before it sold out.  Turns out that the creator of the Dragon-master collection was a classmate of my father’s.  He noticed that my father wasn’t listed on the orders received and decided to visit him personally with an extra version of Bahamut to give to me.  My father has ordered each dragon that comes out for me, and he has taken noticed of each one that was ordered.  Basically, that one is priceless.  He also included a letter of proof that he made it for me.  Something that I truly treasure.”

“Is there a story about this dragon?” asked Bonbon.

“It is said that Bahamut was a wise, brave, and loyal dragon.  They call him the king of dragons and lord of monsters.  It what makes him popular in the Final Fantasy series.”

Both Lyra and Bonbon responded with a smile.  After looking at each statue displayed, all three of them sat down on Tidal’s bed, with Tidal sitting in between both girls.

“So, any plans for your birthday next week?” asked Bonbon.

“Not sure.  I think my aunts are taking me to some place to for dinner when they get home from school,” replied Tidal.

“Then how do you feel about going out with us the day after for lunch?” asked Bonbon.

“We know a few places that you might like,” added Lyra.

Tidal looked at Bonbon, then at Lyra, and asked, “Just the three of us?”  Both of them nodded.  “Like…a date?”

“Oh no, no,” replied Bonbon.  “Just friends hanging out, that’s all.”

“It would be too soon to be dating, since we are already dating anyway,” added Lyra.

“You mean both of you have boyfriends?” asked Tidal.

“Not really,” replied Lyra.

Tidal was confused as to what they were talking about, but after looking at both of them, he had to ask.

“So, are you dating…each other?”  Both of them nodded.  “Then both of you are-”

“Bisexual,” said Lyra, finishing his sentence.

Tidal was more confused.  “Bi-sexual?”

“Yes, but only a few know of our relationship,” said Bonbon.  “Rarity and Applejack are two of them.”

“OK, now I’m lost,” said Tidal.

Lyra decided to explain.  “Well, you see…we have been best friends for a long time.  And we don’t have a problem dating boys.  But it’s just that…”

“It’s that we somehow just…clicked between each other, that’s all,” said Bonbon.

“Well, this is awkward.”  Tidal didn’t know how to make of all of this.

Bonbon then remembered that he never had any friends at his old school.  “I guess you never have been on a date before, have you.”

“Nope.”

“Then how about we make that your first date,” said Lyra.

“You mean…after my birthday?  A double date…I mean threesome date…I mean…”

The two girls giggled at his response.

“It’s just a practice date, that’s all,” Bonbon clarified.

“But, wouldn’t it be weird to go out with both of you?” asked Tidal.

“Well, if you want, we could have ourselves a threesome,” Lyra said in a sexy voice as she placed her hands on his shoulder.

Bonbon followed along and did the same on his other shoulder.  Tidal was really unsure how to make out their motives and became really nervous.

“We’re just kidding, Tidal,” said Bonbon as they lighten up and removed their hands off of his shoulders.  “We wouldn’t put you under something like that.”

Tidal gave a sigh of relief from all this.

“We can see that you’re not used to something like this.  So we’ll just use this to get a better idea on how you can handle it when you find someone that you’re interested in,” explained Lyra.

“We know there are some girls out there that are still single,” said Bonbon.  “Well, except Rarity.  We can see that she’s dating Clyde.”

“And don’t bother with Pinkie Pie,” said Lyra.  “Swift’s been trying to hook up with her, but doesn’t have the courage to do so.  Don’t know about Rainbow Dash, but she’s worth a shot, after what you did for her.”

“I don’t know, Lyra.  She has been hanging with Rivet at times,” explained Bonbon.  “And Applejack can be busy with the farm, not to mention you would have to deal with her older brother anyway, so I’m not sure about that.”

“Maybe Fluttershy,” Lyra recommended.  “I know she can be shy, but she’s easy going.”

“If you don’t have a problem with dating a vegetarian,” said Bonbon.

“Good point,” said Lyra.

“What about that one girl, Sunset Shimmer,” asked Tidal.

“NO!!!”

“She’s just trouble at times,” said Lyra.

“I wouldn’t go that far, Lyra.  But she does have a bad rep, so it might be best not to waste your time with her, until she can prove that she can be trusted,” explained Bonbon.

“I’m sure we can look into some possible girls that might be single, whenever you feel like you’re ready,” said Lyra.  Tidal nodded.

Just then, they could hear the front door open and close.

“Tidal, you home,” yelled Celestia.

“Yes Aunt Tia!”

“Are Lyra and Bonbon with you?” yelled Luna.

“We are!”

“We might as well head home,” said Lyra.

“Yea.  We can talk about this another time,” said Bonbon.

As all three of them got up, Tidal got out his new cell phone.  “Is it OK if we exchange numbers?”

“Sure.”  Bonbon got out her cell phone and exchanged numbers.  Lyra decided to do the same with her cell phone.

As all three of them walked out of Tidal’s room, the girls put on their coats and grabbed their book bags.  They waved goodbye to Tidal and waked outside, closing the door behind them.

“So, how does it feel like to finally have some friends around,” asked Luna.

“It’s…nice for once,” replied Tidal.

Celestia came close to Tidal and asked, “So, which one do you like?” and gave a sly smile.

“AUNT TIA!!!  SERIOUSLY?” replied Tidal in shock.

Luna let out a small giggle.  “I think he knows that they are lesbians.”

“Actually, they’re bisexual,” Tidal corrected Luna.

“Oh really.  Well, I better not see you in some kind of threesome with those two, OK?” Luna told Tidal.

“OK, Luna.  I think we embarrassed Tidal long enough,” said Celestia.  “How do you feel about having pizza for dinner and we can talk about your time with Lyra and Bonbon.”

“As long as you don’t make me look bad, then I’m fine with that,” replied Tidal.

Ch. 10 - Blue Moon Birthday

Chapter 10 – Blue Moon Birthday

It was Tidal’s birthday, and he was expecting it to be just a normal birthday for him, even if it was his sixteenth birthday.  But his new friends had other plans for him, because they wanted it to be special.  As all of the students were arriving at school, Rarity decided to visit Principal Celestia’s office to explain Pinkie’s plans for Tidal’s birthday.

“So, what does Pinkie have planned for my nephew’s birthday?” asked Celestia.

“Well, she wished she could have done it tonight, but it’s the first time she would be doing a belated birthday since we need some time to get everything made an arranged for him,” replied Rarity.  “Since you plan to take him out for dinner tonight, we will be working on getting the decorations made and ready for tomorrow.  Then Lyra and Bonbon will take him out for lunch while we make our way to your place to get everything in place.”

Celestia asked, “What about the cake?”

“Pinkie’s already talking to Vice Principal Luna about that and plans to fix it up tomorrow morning.”

“That’s good.  What about guest?  Who all do have coming over?” asked Celestia.

“Well, me, my friends, and a few of the guys.  Pinkie wants to bring Vinyl over as well for some music.”

“It better not be loud,” Celestia requested.

“Oh don’t worry, principal.  She plans to keep it easy, since this is your home and not some other building.  She’s even asked for Octavia to come as well.  I think it has to deal with a love for a certain kind of music that Tidal’s into.”

“Might be with some of the games he plays, I think,” Celestia explained.  “I think we should be fine for now.  Keep me informed if any changes are going to be made.”

“Certainly,” replied Rarity.  She started to leave the office, but stopped.  “Oh, there’s one more thing.”

“And what is that, Rarity?”

“Sunset Shimmer has decided to not attend Tidal’s party.  I wish she would change her mind, but she decided to let me deliver her present to him.”

“I think I can understand her reasoning, Rarity.  With the fact that there are others against her, it wouldn’t feel right for her to be there in front of Tidal,” Celestia explained.  “I do not have a problem with her decision, and I’m sure Tidal will understand the same as well.”

It was Saturday, and the gang had everything ready for Tidal’s birthday.  All that was left was for Pinkie to bake the cake and the others to step up the decorations.  But they had to wait for Tidal to leave the house first before they could move in.

Back in the house, Tidal was busy getting ready for his “play date” with Lyra and Bonbon, as they liked to call it.  He still couldn’t believe they wanted to go through with it, but he didn’t mind.  After getting dressed and grabbing his jacket, he started to make his way to the living room.  As Celestia and Luna were about to respond, the door bell rang.  Celestia got up and opened the door, revealing Lyra and Bonbon standing in the doorway.  Tidal saw them and put his jacket on.  He went on ahead and walked out the door to join Lyra and Bonbon.  After waving goodbye, Celestia closed the door and grabbed her cell phone, calling Rarity that Tidal has left the house and that they can come by to set up for the birthday party.

Tidal was walking with Lyra and Bonbon to a small cafe that they have picked out for him, since he has yet to try any of the places to eat.  As they were walking, the girls decided to ask how his day was yesterday.

“So, did you have a great birthday?” asked Lyra.

“We went out to a nice restaurant for spaghetti,” replied Tidal.  “So I guess it was OK.”

“Well, I hope you like burgers, because this place has the best burgers in Canterlot,” said Bonbon.

When they arrived, it was a small, local burger joint.  The tables had red and white checkered tablecloths on them and classic metal wire chairs with red cushions attached to them.  The booths next to the windows and walls were white with red cushioned seats attached to the walls.  The three of them decided to take one of the booths next to the wall, allowing Lyra and Bonbon to sit on one side looking at the window, while Tidal sat on the other side.  A waitress was able to come by and bring them their menus and dinnerware and went to attend other customers.  They looked over the menu and decided on what to order.  When the waitress returned, she was able to write down their orders and take the menus from them and went to place the order.  They decided to take the time to talk in hopes that Tidal can improve his commutation skills.

“So, what do you want to talk about?” Lyra asked Tidal.

Tidal started to think about what would be good to talk about, but he was drawing a blank.  He thought about video games, but he’s done that a few time before and after school.  He wasn’t sure what else to talk about, and Lyra and Bonbon could see it in his face.

“I’m sure there’s something that you wanted to talk about,” recommended Bonbon.

“Yea,” said Lyra.  “Anything that went on in school?  Any activities you did lately?  Did you make any friends?”

And that’s when it hit him.  With all the drama that has gone on the past few weeks, he hasn’t had time making new friends expect for the ones that Rarity was able to introduce him to.  But during his time in the hallways, he recalled seeing some interesting students along the way.

“Actually, I have been curious about some of the students in our school,” said Tidal.  “Are there anyone else that stands out, besides Rarity and her friends?”

When they heard him ask that question, they figure that it was a good time to know some of the friends that he was about to make later on at his surprise party.

“Well, there’s Vinyl Scratch.  She the girl with the blue hair, who wears the blue shades and headphones,” explained Lyra.

“I think I’ve seen her in the hallways at times between my third and fourth classes,” explained Tidal.  “Does she walk in some kind of rhythm?”

“Yea, that’s her,” responded Lyra.  “She runs the music at some of our school events, including the Fall Formal and Spring Fling that we have every year.”

“Oh, and there’s her friend that lives with her.  Her name is Octavia Melody,” explained Bonbon.  “Most of the students know her because she carries her cello every now and then throughout the school.”

“There’s Thunderlane.  He’s on the basketball team as Clyde and Swift,” explained Lyra.

“He even has a little brother named Rumble who also attends the school,” added Bonbon.

“Doesn’t Swift have a younger sister as well?” asked Tidal.

“That would be Scootaloo,” replied Bonbon.  “And Applejack has a younger sister named Apple Bloom and an older brother named Macintosh, but he likes to be called Big Mac.”

“And Rarity has a younger sister named Sweetie Belle,” added Lyra.  “Those three girls can be trouble sometimes.”

“Why is that?” Tidal asked them.

Bonbon said, “One day, we were on Applejack’s farm helping out, and I fell into a puddle of mud in the process.”

“I went to help her out and she pulled me in the same puddle as well,” said Lyra.  “We were both dirty in the process.”

“But we heard something click and saw those three girls nearby, taking a picture of us and running off,” explained Bonbon.  “We gave chase to them, but they were able to make it back to show it to Applejack.”

“When she saw the picture, we had to explain what happened, and her only response was ‘Have y’all been working out, Bonbon?’  I just laughed while Bonbon was embarrassed at the remark.”

“I didn’t think I was that strong, since Applejack is the strongest girl in our school,” replied Bonbon.

“Strongest?  As in how strong?” asked Tidal.

“Strong enough to lift a folded table by herself,” said Bonbon.

Tidal just blinked in surprise.

“Oh it’s true.  All that hard work on the farm is what has made her who she is now,” explained Bonbon.

“Wow!” was the only response that could come out of Tidal’s mouth.

“You can be surprised at how different we can be,” said Lyra.  “And we’ve learned that we can work together, even if we are different.”

“So you can see that we’re nothing like that old school of yours,” added Bonbon.  “If they can’t accept how different others are, then it’s their loss.”

Tidal wasn’t sure how to properly respond.  “Um, well, thanks, I guess.”

Bonbon decided to help reassure Tidal.  “We might have our own groups, but we learn how to work together whenever we need to.”

“Do both of you have your own groups to hang out with at times?” asked Tidal.

“Say, what about those girls that you’re friends with?”  Bonbon asked Lyra.  “What was that one girl’s name…Ah, Minuette.  You still talk to her, don’t you?”

Lyra started scratching the back of her head.  “Well…you see…”

Bonbon could see that Lyra was trying to avoid the topic and decided to press the issue.

“Lyra, when was the last time you talked to her?”

“Um, right before…we started…you know.”

Bonbon face-palmed at Lyra’s answer.  “You mean you haven’t talk to her since then?  What about the other girls?”

Lyra started to displayed a fake grin, wishing that they weren’t brought up.

“Seriously?  I can understand us, but I’m fine if you wanted to spend time with your friends if you wanted to,” responded Bonbon.

“But I wanted to make this work,” replied Lyra.

“You’re not thinking of hooking me up with her, or her friends?” asked Tidal.

“Oh, it’s nothing like that,” replied Lyra, shaking her hands in front of her.  “I think she’s interested in a friend of hers that she knows for a long time.  Night Chase, I believe.”

“You believe?” replied Bonbon.  “You haven’t even thought about helping her out in this, because I can guess that she hasn’t thought about confessing her feelings for him.”

Tidal let out a small giggle.  “Looks like someone hasn’t been helping their friends out when they need it the most.”

“You’re right, Tidal.  Maybe we should have Lyra meet her friends once again.  At least they don’t have any magical powers like the girls you’ve met,” explained Bonbon.

Before they could continue, their food arrived.

“Ah good.  Let’s eat,” said Lyra.

“Don’t think you can get out what we were talking about, Lyra.  We’re going to talk about this again later on,” Bonbon reminded her.

They each took a bite out of their burgers, which Tidal enjoyed.  Once they were finished with their meal, Lyra decided to excuse herself to the restroom so that she can send a text to Rarity that they were about to head back to the house.  A quick reply came back to her saying that they were ready for Tidal’s surprise.  When Lyra returned from the restroom, they paid for their food and left.

As they were walking back, Tidal decided to ask about another student he has seen.

“You know, there’s this one student that I have, well, crashed into between classes.  I never had time to help her or ask her name because I’m in a hurry to get to my next class.  She has these eyes that are, I think, crossed, and-”

“Oh, that’s Ditzy Doo, or as some like to call her, Derpy,” Bonbon responded quickly.  “She can be clumsy at times, but she’s really nice.  Just don’t let it become a problem for you.  It commonly happens to her a lot.  I’m sure she’ll understand the rush you have to go through.”

“OK.  I just didn’t want to feel rude for crashing into her without saying sorry,” replied Tidal.

All three of them finally arrived in front of Tidal’s home.  Tidal got the keys out of his pocket and inserted it into the door, unlocking it and opening it.  When he did, he saw that it was dark.  He walked in and was able to turn on the lamp nearby, bringing some light to the room.

“SURPRISE!!!!!”

Everyone jumped out of hiding when the lights came on, shocking Tidal backwards that Lyra and Bonbon had to catch him from falling.

“Happy belated birthday, Tidal!” yelled Pinkie Pie.

Tidal looked around to see the same faces that he has met around the lunch table: Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Clyde, Swift, and Rivet.  But he also saw some new faces as well.

Rarity walked up and said, “I hope you don’t mind us surprising you a day after your birthday.”

“Yea, we wanted to make it special for you, since we know you’re new here,” explained a younger girl next to her.  She had white skin and pinkish hair, styled almost like Rarity’s, not to mention Rarity’s fashion sense.

“Oh, this is my little sister, Sweetie Belle,” explained Rarity.

“Nice to meet you, Tidal,” replied Sweetie Belle as she extended her hand for Tidal to shake.  “These are my friends, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo,” as she pointed to two other girls next to her.  The first one was more of a farm girl with yellow skin and red heir with a red bow tied on it.  The other one was more of a tough girl with orange skin and purplish short hair.

“Hiya.  I’m Applejack’s sister, Apple Bloom,” replied the yellow girl.

“And I’m Swift’s sister, Scootaloo,” replied the orange girl.

“Who tries to give me a hard time,” explained Swift as he was able to put her in a headlock and rub his knuckles into her hair.  “Since she’s a chicken.”

“Hey, stop calling me chicken,” replied Scootaloo.  Swift let go of Scootaloo, which prompted her to start chasing him.

Tidal, Lyra, and Bonbon took off their jackets and Celestia was able to take them and hang them away.

Pinkie ran up to Tidal and took him over to meet two other girls.  One of them had gray skin and long black hair and dressed in classical attire.  The other girl had white skin and blue hair, and was wearing white clothes and had shades and headphones on.

“Tidal, I want you to meet a couple of friends of mine.  This is Octavia Melody and Vinyl Scratch.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” replied the gray girl as she extended her hand to Tidal.  “You can call me Tavi if you like.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Tavi,” replied Tidal as he shook her hand.

“Hey, I think I saw you in the hallways at school,” said Vinyl.

“I believe so,” replied Tidal.  “I was just talking to Lyra and Bonbon about you earlier.”

“Cool.  I hope you like the music that I selected for your birthday.  I had to search some indie sites to find what you like,” explained Vinyl.

“I’ll be glad when I hear it,” replied Tidal.

But before he could listen to the music, he felt a tap on his shoulder.  He looked to see Fluttershy looking at him.

“Um, Tidal.  I was, um, able to bring a couple of friends along that, um, I would like for you to meet.”

Tidal walked with Fluttershy to meet a boy and girl that he hasn’t met.  The boy had purple skin and dark red hair.  The girl had blue skin with blue and white hair.  Both of them were wearing normal clothes.

“This is Night Chase,” she pointed to the purple boy, “and his friend, Minuette,” she pointed to the blue girl.

“Minuette.  The girls were just telling me about you,” Tidal said as he extended his hand to shake hers.

“Is that so,” replied Minuette.

“It so is,” replied Bonbon, who was able to drag Lyra with her to join up with Tidal.  “It’s nice to finally meet you.”  Bonbon extended her hand to shake Minuette’s.

“So, what did Lyra tell you about me?” Minuette asked as she raised her eyebrow in question.

Lyra displayed a nervous grin as she looked at Tidal and Bonbon, who were displaying sly grins.  “Um…can we talk someplace private?”  Lyra grabbed Minuette and went to the end of the hallway so that they could talk.

“Um, what just happened?” asked Fluttershy.

“Looks like Minuette and Lyra are trying to patch up their friendship,” explained Applejack, who was able to catch the whole thing.  “Could explain why she’s attached to you by the hip.”  Bonbon nodded.

Just then, someone was able to hug Tidal from behind, without him knowing it was coming.

“Oh thank you for helping my brother out after what happened.”

Tidal tried to look at who was hugging him, but could only make out the rainbow hair she had.  But it didn’t sound like Rainbow Dash.  Applejack was quick to catch on.

“You must be First Light, Rivet’s sister.”

“That I am,” she replied and let go of Tidal.

Tidal was able to turn around to get a better look of First Light.  While she almost looked like Rainbow Dash, the only difference he could make out what that she had pink skin.

Applejack went up to First Light’s ear and whispered, “It might be best not to bring up what he did for your brother.  We’ve been trying to keep it under raps.”  First Light nodded and went on her way.

“I’m guessing Rivet is doing better after all that happened?” asked Tidal.

“Both him and Rainbow,” replied Applejack.

“That’s good.”

Music started to play in the background, and Tidal was able to recognize it.

Youtube Video

“Are you trying to start a battle on the bridge?” Tidal asked Vinyl.

“You betcha,” Vinyl replied.

“Wait!  Where’s the bridge?” said Pinkie Pie.

“It’s the name of the song,” Tidal explained.  “Battle on the Bridge.  It’s Gilgamesh’s theme song from Final Fantasy V.”

“Oooooooohhhh.  OK.”

Tidal’s birthday party was underway.  There was music, dancing, gaming, and so much more.  After an hour of fun, Luna and Pinkie Pie brought out the birthday cake.  Tidal blew out the candles and started to cut the cake for all of his guest.  Then the time came for Tidal to open his presents that were brought to him.  After going through each present, he came across the last present, which was from Rivet and Rainbow Dash.

“Here you go, Tidal.  We hope you like it,” explained Rainbow Dash.

Tidal opened their present and saw two music CDs.

“The Black Mages?  How did you find these?” asked Tidal.

“Principal Celestia told us that you liked the music from Final Fantasy and were able to find them online and ordered them.  They just came in yesterday,” explained Rivet.

“We weren’t certain that they would get here in time for your party,” Rainbow Dash added.

“Now this…is…AWESOME!!!”

Rainbow Dash looked at Rivet, and both of them exchanged fist bumps.

The party went on for a couple of hours before everyone decided it was time to go home.  Once everyone left the house, Rarity stayed for a moment while Clyde went to get the car.  Rarity had one last gift to deliver.

“Here you go,” Rarity said as she handed Tidal a small box.  “It’s from Sunset Shimmer.”

Tidal took the box and opened it, revealing a small gold coin with what looked like a unicorn on the front of the coin.

“She said that it’s called a BIT,” Rarity explained.  “It’s what they used as currency back in her world.”

“Where all the magic comes from, right?” asked Tidal.

“Yes.  I know she couldn’t come by today, but she was hoping if you were free tomorrow, then maybe you could come over and she can explain more about her world, if your aunts don’t have any problems with that.”

Tidal looked at Celestia and Luna before he could answer.  But Celestia decided to answer for him.

“I don’t see any problems with that.  You’re welcome to do whatever you want tomorrow.”

“Good,” replied Rarity.  “I’ll let her know and have Clyde pick Tidal up tomorrow and bring him to my place.  He knows where it is.”  Rarity was able to hear the car horn outside.  “Well, I don’t want to keep Clyde waiting.  We’re see you tomorrow.”  Rarity opened the door a walked outside, where her ride was waiting.

Celestia went to close the door and went back to the dinning room to help Luna clean up.

“So, how was your date with Lyra and Bonbon anyway,” Luna asked Tidal.

“It wasn’t a date,” Tidal clarify.  “But, it turned out fine.  I just need to work on my communication skills.”

“Well, I’m sure that spending time with Sunset Shimmer could help with that,” said Luna.

Tidal agreed with her aunts’ decision, but felt like something was bothering him.  “Was Sunset Shimmer really that bad before?”

Celestia and Luna looked at each other.

“It’s hard to say,” Celestia answered.  “We really didn’t know about it until the Fall Formal last semester.”

“I’m sure that spending some time with her can help both of you with the problems that each of you have faced in the past,” Luna added.  “Maybe it would help her if she had a friend that didn’t even judge her for her past actions, but for what she has learned from them to help her move on.”

Tidal thought about before agreeing to what Luna was saying and decided that tomorrow would be a new start, not just for Tidal, but for Sunset as well.

Ch. 11 - Blue Moon Magic

Chapter 11 – Blue Moon Magic

Just a day after Tidal’s birthday party, Tidal got up and did his usual morning routine.  But this time, he was going to see Sunset.  Ever since Rarity handed him Sunset’s gift, he was curious about the world that she was from.  To learn that her world is full of ponies was hard to believe, but he wanted to know who the pony on the coin was.

Clyde was able to pull up and honked his horn, letting Tidal know that he was there ready to go to Rarity’s.  Tidal grabbed the coin, told Celestia and Luna that he was leaving, and made his way out the door and into Clyde’s car.

As they started making their way to Rarity’s, Tidal asked, “Clyde, how did you and Rarity meet?”

“Would you believe that it was love at first sight?” replied Clyde.

“Doubt it.”

“Well, it was close to that.  Tried to save her from an attack in gym class on the first day…from dodge ball.”

Tidal tried to contain his laugh.  “Really?”

“Well, at least it wasn’t a bullet to the side.”

“OK, you win that one,” replied Tidal.  “So how did it all play out?”

“You remember about what happen at the Fall Formal?”  Tidal nodded.  “Well, it was afterwards that Pinkie Pie decided to have a balloon pop event to raise money for the damage that Sunset did, which was a lot.  I went and bought a balloon and popped it, and got a date with Pinkie Pie.”

“So, how did that relate to Rarity?” Tidal asked Clyde.

“Well, we were given slips of paper on where to meet our dates, and somehow mine got mixed up with a friend of mine who won a date with Rarity.  So our dates were switched and that’s how it all began.”

“So when did the two of you became an item?”

“I think Christmas was the turning point.  Then it fully began on New Year’s.”

“I guess she gave you her heart,” replied Tidal.

“Actually, she gave me something better.  Happiness and a family.”  Tidal just looked at him.  “It’s not just that I care for her, but she cares for me as well.  I lost my parents when I was young.  And my older brother is in the guard.”

“And he couldn’t make it home for Christmas, right?” asked Tidal.

“That’s right.  Rarity invited me over to her house, and that was when the wheels started turning.”

“And now both of you are an item,” said Tidal.

“Yep.  Maybe one day, you’ll find someone who can understand you and make you happy as well,” said Clyde.

They finally arrived at Rarity’s home.  Both of them got out of the car and started walking up to the door, only to be greeted by Rarity herself.

“You’re just in time, dear.”

As both of them went inside, the took off their coats while Rarity closed the door and took their coats and hanged them on the wall.  Tidal looked around to see that it was more like a store than a home.

“Is this place a home or business?” asked Tidal.

“Both,” Rarity replied.  “Our home is in the back and upstairs.  This part here is the boutique, where I do all my work.  Now come along.  Sunset’s in the back waiting for us.”

So all three of them went to the back and found Sunset Shimmer sitting at a table that Rarity had laid out for the group.

Sunset got up from her chair, extended her hand, and said, “Thanks for coming.”

Tidal replied while shaking her hand.  “Thanks for inviting me.”

Sunset and Tidal sat down next to the table.  Clyde just took a seat that was next to the wall.

Rarity asked, “Does anyone want something to drink?  Tea?  Coffee?”

“Coffee, with a bit of milk,” said Sunset.

“Coffee.  Extra milk and sugar,” said Tidal.

“Tea please,” replied Clyde.

“I’ll be right back.”  And Rarity went off to the kitchen to fix up some drinks.

Sunset looked at Tidal and said, “So where do you want to begin?”

“How about we start with this.”  Tidal took out the coin and showed it to her with the head facing up.  “Do you know who this is?”

“You might be surprised by this, but the pony you see there is an alicorn names Princess Celestia.”

Tidal’s eyes went wide open.  “You mean my aunt is a princess in your world?”

“Actually, both of your aunts are,” replied Sunset.

Now Tidal’s eyes really went wide open.

Rarity came back out with drinks on a tray.  She placed both coffee cups on the table, then headed over to give Clyde his tea and took her tea, then placed the platter on the table.

“So, would that make Tidal a prince in your world?” asked Rarity.

“I don’t think he exists in my world.  I’m sure that some of the people here don’t have a pony counterpart,” explained Sunset.  “Besides, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have lived for thousands of years, so Tidal could be part of another time line in my world.”

All of them said, “They’re that old?”

“Yep.  I’m not sure how old, but alicorns are almost immortal, if not eternal,” explained Sunset.

“What are alicorns?” asked Tidal.

Sunset thought for a moment, trying to think of the best way to explain this.  “Well, they’re like the symbol of the three pony breeds.  Earth pony, Pegasus, and Unicorn.  All three breeds were in conflict long ago, but a member of each breed were able to bring them together to work as one.  I’m not sure all the details because most of the ancient records were lost long ago, so I really can’t give you a detail story about it.  All I know is that the lead to Hearth’s Warming Eve.  It’s similar to Christmas in this world.”

“So what much can you tell me about the princess’ in your world,” asked Tidal.

“Well, before I came to this world, I was a mentor to Princess Celestia, who was the only alicorn princess in Equestria.  Over a thousand years ago, both Princess Celestia controlled the sun, and Princess Luna controlled the moon.  But there was a conflict between the sister princess.  This led Princess Luna to transform into Nightmare Moon, because she wanted the world to stay in darkness so that all ponies can notice her.  Princess Celestia had no choice but to banish her sister to the moon.

“Now, when I learned that the portal was open once again, I was able to return to find out if anything had changed, since I knew Nightmare Moon would have returned during my absence.  I knew the only way to stop her was with the Elements of Harmony, which I learned were turned to stone.  What surprised me was that not only did Nightmare Moon returned, but six ponies were able to revive the Elements of Harmony and change Nightmare Moon back into Princess Luna.”

“I’m guessing that the six ponies would be Twilight and our friends that defeated you back at the Fall Formal,” Rarity explained.

“Yes.  And Twilight wasn’t a princess back then.  She was just a unicorn, like myself.  I’m not sure how she became an alicorn, but she must have done something that I couldn’t do myself.  I mean, the portal in my world was located in the Crystal Empire, which never existed when I was there.”

“Forgive me for asking, but what did you mean by becoming a princess?” asked Rarity.

“There’s a school that was for gifted unicorns that Princess Celestia holds in her castle.  At times, she would ask one unicorn to be her pupil.  I was that unicorn at that time.  I studied hard, trying to be the best.  And one day, she took me to a mirror that would show me my destiny.  It showed me as an alicorn princess.  But I started to feel jealous, thinking that she was holding me back.

“So I ran away and went to the castle of the two sisters that was abandoned since Luna’s banishment.  I was hoping to find the Elements of Harmony, only to find them turned to stone.  So I went to the castle’s library to find a way to break the spell.  But instead, I found info that told me more about the mirror that revealed my destiny.  Turns out that it was also a portal to other worlds.  I decided to break back into the castle and make my way through the mirror, hoping that it could lead me to something more.  Instead, I ended up here.”

“And you found out that there was no magic in this world,” said Tidal.

“After doing some research,” replied Sunset.  “But the problem I had was that the portal was closed when I tried to go back.  So I had to adapt to living in this world, hoping I can find the portal open once again.”

“And it wasn’t a week before the Fall Formal that you found it open,” Rarity said.  “Could explain why you were missing from school a couple of days.”

“I was busy catching up on my world.  What else would you expect.”  Sunset laid her head on the table, feeling sad.  “Now, I’m stuck in this world, having to make up for my past mistakes.”

Rarity went over and set her glass of tea on the table and placed her hands on Sunset’s shoulders.  “So what.  You made a mistake.  That’s in the past.  Now’s the time to focus on the here and now.”

Sunset started to look up for a moment.  “I guess.”

“Good,” replied Rarity, as she went back to grab her glass.  “Now, if I recall, Twilight’s dog was actually a dragon in your world. Care to explain that?”

“Oh yea.  You’re into dragons, right?” Sunset asked, which Tidal nodded.  “Well there are dragons in my world as well.  Not to mention griffons, buffalo, yaks, diamond dogs…most creatures that exist in my world.  But I never got to encounter most of those creatures.  My world is just different from this world.”

“I would like to see this world myself,” said Tidal.

“Well, there’s no telling when the portal will open again,” Sunset explained.  “All I know is that it will take thirty moons before it could open again, which I have no idea how long that would be here.  Besides, I heard that you had a good time on your date with Lyra and Bonbon.  Maybe you’re better off living here instead.”

“It wasn’t a date,” replied Tidal.

Rarity leaned to Sunset’s ear and whispered, “Actually, Lyra and Bonbon are dating each other.  They just wanted to help Tidal with some dating experience.”

Sunset simply replied, “Oh.  OK.”

Rarity looked at her and said, “OK?  That’s it?  You don’t want to tell the school about it anyway?”

“Why should I?” Sunset replied.  “It’s not like a big deal to me.”

“Well, it is here,” Rarity replied.  “And we would like to keep it a secret for now.”

“Are same sex relationships common in your world?” asked Tidal.

“Just about,” replied Sunset.  “There are more mares than stallions in my world.  There have been a few…what’s the word…harmens from time to time just to help the population growth.  Maybe you should do the same.”

“Oh no, no, no, no.  We don’t need to put Tidal in that kind of situation,” replied Rarity.  He looked over to see Clyde thinking.  “CLYDE!!!  DON’T YOU DARE EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!!!

“I’m not, I’M NOT!!!” replied Clyde.

“I don’t think you have to worry, Rarity.  He might not have enough money to cover two girls,” explained Sunset.  “But still, have you ever thought about asking someone else out that you want to know?”

“I really don’t know,” replied Tidal.  “I’ve made some new friends yesterday, but I don’t know them enough to go that far.”

“Well, Valentine’s Day is a few weeks away,” Rarity said.  “Maybe you should look into it as a learning experience, right Clyde?”

Rarity stared at Clyde, making sure he got the hint.

“Oh yea.  YEA!!!  Maybe you should look into it.  I know I have to.”

“You know we have a holiday like that, but we call it Hearts and Hooves Day,” said Sunset.  “But I never focus on days like those.”

“Even if you were dating Flash?” asked Rarity.

“I was just with him just to become popular.”  Sunset face-palmed after saying that.  “Man do I feel terrible.”

“The main thing is that you’re starting a new life, that’s all,” replied Rarity.  “I’m sure when the school sees that you’ve change, then maybe that right boy will come and sweep you off your feet.”

“Oh maybe he’ll rescue you from getting hit in the face with a sports ball,” added Tidal.

“Maybe.”  Sunset looked at Tidal and asked, “Is there anything else you want to talk about from my world?”

“I think that’s all I can think of,” replied Tidal.  “I’m glad we had this chat.”

“If that’s all, the I hope you don’t mind, but there are some things I need to take care of,” said Rarity.

“Would you like some help?” asked Clyde.

“You can collect the glasses for me if you like,” Rarity replied, giving a few quick winks.

“You know, I think were going to step outside for a moment, right Tidal?”

Tidal looked at Sunset and started to get the hint.  “Oh yea.  Sure.  Just as long as Clyde remembers to take me back home when he’s ready.”

“Just give me a few minutes and I’ll be ready,” replied Clyde.

Sunset and Tidal left the room and grabbed their coats and walked outside to talk.

“I think our lovebirds wanted a moment alone,” said Sunset.

“Maybe so.  Just as long as Clyde doesn’t get carried away,” said Tidal

“You know, you really have made some improvement since we first saw you.”

Tidal started to scratch the back of his head.  “I guess so.”

“I’m sure you’ll find that right girl one day.  If not this semester, then maybe the next school year.”

“Well, I was wondering…that maybe…well…you know…”

Sunset could see that he was trying to say something and decided to stop him by placing a finger on his lips.

“Look, if you’re thinking of asking me out, don’t.  It’s not worth it.  I can understand that you don’t want to be alone on days like those, but right now, I’m just a broken pony in a human world.  You need someone who would accept you for who you are and is willing to heal your own wounds.  For now, I would like it if we can be friends, OK?”

Tidal replied, “Sure.  I can understand.”

“Good.  Because you might want to work on asking a girl out better than that.”

Both of them let out a small laugh.

The front door open, and Clyde walked out to join Tidal.  After saying their goodbyes for the day, Clyde was able to take Tidal back home.

Ch. 12 - Blue Moon Favors

Chapter 12 – Blue Moon Favors

It’s been a week since Tidal turned sixteen, and with Aunt Tia’s help, he was able to pass the test during the week on his first time.  Now this would call for celebration, but almost everyone that he knew were busy expect for Lyra and Bonbon.  So the three of them decided to hang out for the day at the sweet shoppe where Pinkie Pie works at after school hours, now that the weather was starting to improve from it’s winter style.  All three of them were able to find a booth next to the window so that they could talk about some topics of interest.

“So having same-sex relationships is almost as common in Sunset’s world than it is here?” asked Lyra.

One of them was related to Tidal’s discussion with Sunset about her world.

“That’s what she told me,” replied Tidal.

“Now I feel a bit sorry for how I’ve been treating her,” Lyra said.  “I never knew that her world would have more females than males.  It’s almost balanced in our world.”

“That may be true,” Bonbon added.  “Maybe our pony counterparts are in a relationship with each other.”

“And maybe Bonbon is really Secret Agent Sweetie Drops who’s trying to hide from some bug-bear that’s looking for her,” Pinkie Pie said as she appeared out of nowhere next to Tidal, who wasn’t surprised.

“And you might have a party cannon that you like to carry with you wherever you go, and a secret base where you keep tabs of everyone’s birthdays,” Tidal said.

“What makes you say that?” asked Pinkie Pie.

“Oh, just a hunch,” replied Tidal.

Pinkie Pie just shrugged her shoulders and left the booth in a flash.  Tidal has started to understand from Rarity that Pinkie Pie can be unpredictable at times and knew to be ready for that to happen when she was close by.

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” said Bonbon.  “But what if we all don’t have pony counterparts anyway?”

“That maybe true, since Sunset has no knowledge of a pony with my name,” said Tidal.  “But my aunts’ pony counterparts are thousands of years old, so maybe I exist in a different time.”

“Maybe so, but we may never know,” said Lyra.  “What I want to know is what car you plan to get, now that you have a driver’s license.”

“I don’t know.  My dad plans to surprise me on my car as my belated birthday present.”

“Maybe it’s a convertible,” Lyra said.

“Nah.  It has to be all-wheel drive like Vice Principal Luna’s caravan,” Bonbon said.  “His family does live up in snow-covered land most of the time.”

“Well, as long as it gets here before the Spring Fling.  Otherwise, he won’t be able to take his date there,” Lyra said.

“If I ever get a date,” said Tidal.  “And I just learned about this yesterday from Rarity.  She plans to have Clyde as her date there.”

“Just as long as Clyde keeps focus on the game.  Playoffs start on Valentine’s Day, and everyone’s talking about our school’s boys team as being the favorite to win the championship,” explained Lyra.

“That’s because we have Rainbow Dash on the boys team in the first place,” explained Bonbon.

“Speaking of which…”  Tidal nodded his head towards the person walking outside.  The others looked behind them and saw who he was directing them to.

“Isn’t that Rivet?” asked Lyra.

“Yea.  But he looked a bit down,” said Bonbon.  “I wonder what’s bothering him?”

When Rivet was close to them, Tidal tapped on the window to get his attention.  Rivet was startled at first, but noticed who it was on the other side of the window.  Tidal, Lyra, and Bonbon waved their hands, inviting Rivet to come join them inside, which he did.  Rivet sat next to Tidal, still looking a bit down.

Tidal asked, “You OK, Rivet?”

“Kind of.”

“Kind of?” questioned Lyra.  “Doesn’t sound like it.”

“Is something wrong?” asked Bonbon.

“Well…you heard about the Spring Fling, right?” Rivet said.  All three of them nodded.  “I was think about…asking Rainbow out, but…well…”

“You’re not haunted about what happened that night, right?” Lyra said.  Rivet slowly nodded.

“Rivet, that incident is in the past.  It’s over.  Dead even,” Bonbon said, then looked at Tidal and said, “no pun intended.”

“None taken,” said Tidal.  “But she’s right.  That guy’s no longer a threat to you and more.  So why are you still worrying about it?”

“It’s just…all of it happened in front of Rainbow, and now I just feel weak that I couldn’t do anything about it in the first place,” explained Rivet.

“So, you rather take a bullet for her in the first place?” Tidal asked Rivet.

“No…I mean…”

Tidal said, “Look, I had to take the bullet in the first place.  I thought I have nothing to lose after all I went through at my old school.  I now know that I have friends that care for me, even if I didn’t know them at all.  And right now, I was given another chance to live after what happen.  Be grateful that you and Rainbow are still alive and unharmed after what happened.”

Rivet took a moment to think about it.  “It’s just that…I don’t even know if I have the courage to ask her out after what happened.”

“It doesn’t matter what happened in the past.  If you want to ask her out, then do so.  She’s been doing fine at the games,” said Lyra.  “We already locked in the playoffs with the first round being held at our school.  That should be proof that she’s doing fine.”

“I don’t know,” replied Rivet.

Bonbon started to think for a moment, then had an idea.  “Hey Lyra, can you take Rivet outside for a moment?”

Lyra nodded to Bonbon and made sure Rivet followed her outside.  Once outside, Bonbon explained her idea to Tidal.

“How about we take him to the bookstore where it happened.  I’ve heard that the owner has been doing fine since the robbery, and maybe Rainbow Dash has been there since then.”

“You sure?” Tidal replied.  “I hate for him to be reminded about what happened that day.”

“Remind him, or remind you?”  Bonbon said, starring at Tidal. “That’s where it all begin for you.  And so far, you’ve overcome your past.  Maybe that will help him as well.”

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt to try.  I’m still stuck with the physical scars from that event, which will never go away.”

“Still dealing with the nerve damage?”  Bonbon asked Tidal, which he nodded.  “Well, maybe the physical scars won’t go away, but the mental scars should be gone for you.  Let’s just give it a shot.  Besides, I think you own him after what you did for him, so to speak.”

So Bonbon and Tidal joined Lyra and Rivet outside and made their way to the old man’s bookstore.  When Rivet saw where they arrived, he stopped and started to remember what happened that day when he was with Rainbow Dash.  But for Tidal, is was this place that everything changed for him, and left him with a bullet wound from a cold heart crook who is now dead.

Lyra saw where they were at and whispered to Bonbon, “You sure about this?”

“Yes.  We need to get them moving forward in all of this,” she whispered back.

“Both of them?”

“Yes.”

All four of them were just standing there looking over the place before Bonbon spoke up.

“Well, are we just going to stand out here, or are we going inside?”

So all of them went inside to see the store looking busy.

“I don’t think I’ve seen the store this busy before,” said Rivet.

“A lot of people have been coming by and buying some of the used books that we have and donated some of their old books as well.”  Rivet looked to see the old man behind the counter.  “I’d never thought I see you again since the robbery.”

“I’ve been…dealing with things,” Rivet replied while rubbing his arm.

“Well, that rainbow haired friend of yours has come by looking for the next Daring Do book that both of you were looking for.  I think a few Daring Do books came in just yesterday, so maybe you can find the one your looking for.”  The old man pointed to the shelf where the Daring Do books were at.  “Might want to hurry before someone else gets it.”

“Come on, let’s hurry and get that book for you.”  Lyra grabbed Rivet’s arm and took him to the shelves that had the Daring Do books.

Bonbon started to follow, but looked back to Tidal.  “You coming?”

“You go on ahead.  I’ll just wait for you to get back.”

Bonbon went on ahead to join the others, while Tidal stood next to the counter, waiting for them to return.

Tidal looked around the store and said, “I’m surprised to see a local bookstore this busy.”

“After news went out about what happened here, everyone want to chip in and help make up for what the guy stole from here.  I was surprised that some people would donate their used books to help cover the losses.  I’ve even allowed them to trade one book for another if they wanted to,” the old man explained.

“But the police was able to catch the guy, right?” asked Tidal.

“Well, that’s the strange part.  They were able to find him at the hospital after he and some kid were both shot.  I don’t know what he was doing to the kid, but when they found him, I was able to ID him while he was in surgery.  Found out later that he died from complications during surgery.  At least I head that the kid made it out alive.  I hope everything works out for the kid.”

Tidal started to wonder about the actions that he did that day, but decided to change the subject.  “What about the money that was stolen?”

“Police were able to return it to me a few days later.  Used some of it to add a security system to the place.  Might help keep robbers away should it happen again, which I hope never happens.”

“That’s…good,” replied Tidal.

Lyra, Bonbon, and Rivet returned with books in hand.

“Found it,” Rivet said while holding up the Daring Do book he was looking for.

“Good,” replied the old man.  “And I see you girls were able to find a few books as well.”

“Found a couple of mystery novels for me,” said Lyra.

“And I found a few romance novels as well,” said Bonbon.  “You should look for one yourself, Tidal.”

“Not sure if I can find one I might like.”

“We’re sure there’s some fantasy novels worth reading,” said Lyra.

“May I recommend something?”  The old man went to the shelf behind him and pulled out a book to show.  “The Soul Samurai and the Changeling Queen.  It’s a story about a samurai detective who possesses soul-like powers which he keeps secret from others.  He’s been assigned by the emperor to look into rumors about an assassination attempt on his life, only to find out that there are changelings hiding in the city who were sent by the changeling queen.  It’s been listed on the Top 10 in new authors last year, and the author is working on his second book.  Even A. K. Yearling commented on it, saying that it’s one of the best books for those who are looking for fantasy adventures to read, and is a change of pace from the Daring Do books that she’s written, since they are more pure adventure with puzzle like challenges.”

Tidal took the book from the old man and looked it over.  “I’ll give it a shot.”

The old man began ringing up each one’s purchases and gave them their totals, which each one paid for.  After bagging up their books and handing them back, Lyra, Bonbon, Rivet, and Tidal left the bookstore, waving back to the old man.

“Well, I’m going to head back home and start reading the next book.”  Rivet left the others and made his way home, waving back to them.

Bonbon looked at Tidal and said, “So…”

“So?  So what.  It looks like everyone is doing fine here.”

“That’s besides the point,” Bonbon replied.  “What do you think happened here since the robbery?  Everyone came together and helped out.  I was able to hear it from the old man.  And now we got Rivet feeling a bit better.  Maybe he and Rainbow Dash will come back here together one day.”

“And as for what the robber did, I’m sure the police would have found him soon without your help, and you wouldn’t have been shot in the first place,” Lyra added.

“And we wouldn’t have this conversation in the first place,” replied Tidal.

“Maybe, but we still would have become friends in a different way,” explained Bonbon.  “The main thing is that you don’t need to take risks to get things done.  If a robber gets away, then he gets away.  He’ll get caught one day.  And if a store gets hit, we come together and help out.  That’s what we do here, help others out.”

“So you don’t have to be alone to get by,” explained Lyra.  “You’ll always have friends around when you need them.”

“Like you two?” asked Tidal, to which Lyra and Bonbon nodded.  “I guess you’re right.  I just never had any real friends in the first place until I came here.”

Bonbon wrapped her arm around Tidal’s shoulder.  “Well now you do.”

Lyra wrapped her arm around the other shoulder.  “Now all you need is a girlfriend, and you’re set.”

Tidal let out a sigh.  “Well, if you think you can find me one, where do we begin?”

Ch. 13 - Blue Moon Valentine

Chapter 13 – Blue Moon Valentine

It was Valentine’s Day at Canterlot, and most people were spending their time with the ones they love.  And while Lyra and Bonbon would be on their Valentine’s date, that wasn’t the case this year.  The reason was that they didn’t want to leave Tidal hanging all alone.  So they decided to hang out at Canterlot High where the wooden table benches were located at the side of the school.  But it wasn’t just to hang out, but to keep Tidal’s new friend, Rivet, company until Rainbow Dash showed up.  And so far, she was running late.

“Where is she?” Rivet said.  “Did she decided to cancel at the last minute?  Maybe she’s caught in traffic.  Or what if it’s worse.  What if she-”

“It’s OK.  I’m sure she’s just running late,” Lyra said and she placed her hand on Rivet’s shoulder, trying to calm him down.

“Yea.  I’m sure nothing bad has happened to her,” Bonbon added.  “Besides, the boys basketball playoffs start tonight, and she’s their key player.”

“I know, I know.  It’s just… she wanted me to meet her here.  And she never even said why?” Rivet said.

“I’m sure she just need a distraction from tonight’s game,” Tidal said.  “You start thinking about it for so long that it can mess with your head.”

“OK, OK.  Just relax, that’s all.”  Rivet started to take slow, deep breaths.

Bonbon leaned over to Tidal and whispered, “How are you able to understand games like this?”

“Remember what I did to the QB last semester at my old school?” Tidal asked, which Bonbon nodded.  “That’s why the students were against me.  They were expecting big things in the playoffs.  Instead, it all fell apart thanks to me.  Competition can be crazy at times.  That’s why I wanted to avoid all that.  But this time, it’s different here.”

While all four of them were sitting and waiting, a little girl with purple skin and dirty blonde hair quietly came out of the school.  She was wearing a turquoise shirt and skirt that had a symbol of a little green dragon on it.  As she quietly walked up behind Tidal, she surprised him by wrapping her arms around his neck.

“Hi, cuz!”

Tidal looked to see who it was and recognized the girl.  “Hey Cynder.  How are you doing?”

“Oh, just getting by that’s all.”  She looked to see the others that were with him.  “Hi, Lyra.  Hi, Bonbon.  Hi… um?”

“Oh, this is my new friend, Rivet,” Tidal responded.

“Oh!  Hi, Rivet.  It’s nice to see my cuz making some friends this time.”

“So how are you doing at Miss Cheerilee’s home,” Bonbon asked Cynder.

“It… has it’s ups and downs.”

“I’m guessing that she’s making sure you go to bed on time and not play games all night,” Tidal said.

“Yea,” Cynder replied, feeling deflated.

“I’m sorry that I had to take the guest room from you when I came over,” Tidal said.

“Oh, that’s OK.  Mom told me that you needed some space to help you recover,” Cynder replied.  “I think it was mean that those bullies did to you at the old school.”

“Well, that’s in the past,” Tidal replied.  “Oh, your mother had to go check on the house today.  She hopes that you, Eclipse, and Aunt Lulu can move back in soon.”

Rivet has a confused look on his face.  “Was there something wrong with the house?”

Cynder replied.  “It started to show cracks in the foundation.  We had to move out and store everything away so that they can repair the foundation, which were going to take a couple of months, maybe more.  The weather didn’t help out that well.  I was to stay with mom while Eclipse was to stay with Aunt Cadence.  But unexpected company changed all that,” as she looked at Tidal.  “Mom wanted to make sure he got better after was she heard from Aunt Tia.”

“Speaking of which, how’s Eclipse doing at Crystal Prep?” Tidal asked Cynder.

“Trying to stay out of trouble, that’s for sure.”

“He better, or he could end up like me,” as Tidal started to rub where the bullet scar was at.

“I’ll make sure that you told him that.”

Lust then, four girls started to walk towards the group.

“About time you got here.  Rivet’s been worried that you wouldn’t show,” Lyra explained.

“Sorry.  I was waiting for the others to show up before coming over,” Rainbow Dash said, pointing out Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy.

“Hey there, Cynder.”

“Hey, Applejack.”

“I’m guessing that you wanted to see Tidal, since he’s gotten better,” Applejack said.

“Well, Miss Cheerilee is working at the library at the moment, so I figure why not,” Cynder replied.  “Oh, I forgot one thing.”  Cynder reached to her back and pulled out a small envelop that had a card in it and handed it to Tidal.  “Here you go.”

Tidal took the envelop and opened it, pulling out the card inside and reading it out loud.

“To my favorite cousin in the world.”

He opened it, to which a small paper fell out.  He read what was inside the card.

“Even if you can be a pain sometimes.  Happy Valentine’s Day.”  And hand written on it was, “and Happy Belated Birthday.  From Cynder and Eclipse.”

“Thanks, Cynder.”

“You haven’t even read the paper that was with it,” Cynder replied.

Tidal picked up the paper and unfolded it.

“A video game tournament?  You know that I don’t have gaming skills like you and the others,” Tidal explained.

“Dud.  You didn’t do well on Mario Kart early on when we were playing,” Pinkie Pie said.

Applejack slapped Pinkie on the back of her head.  “You’re not helping.”

“Just take a look at it,” Cynder said.

Tidal looked at it in detail.  “Not cut up for the big leagues?  Are you more 8-bit old school?  Then prove that the classics are more challenging than before.  What started all the tournament craze is back again.  Prove that you are an 8-bit champion.  Grand prize is… five thousand dollars?”

“That’s right,” Cynder replied.  “And me and Eclipse are willing to pay the entrance fee if you want to compete.  The tournament will be held late in June.  And will be at the same place as the tournaments that we are planning to compete in.  So, what do you say?”

“Well…”  Tidal thought for a moment, then had to ask Cynder a question.  “Do you know what games they would be?”

“Not sure.  All I know is that it will be a platform game, puzzle game, and racing game in one.”

“I bet that it’s going to be Street Fighter,” Rainbow Dash said as she displayed some karate moves.

“That’s a fighting game that started on 16-bit systems,” Tidal corrected.  “The puzzle game would likely be Tetris, which I’m good at.  The platform game could be a Super Mario game, but Castlevania could be another option.  That would be a challenge.  As for the racing game, Rad Racer is the most likely choice, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was R. C. Pro Am.  That’s a different story.  If you plan to cover the fee, then count me in.  Maybe all those times I played my father’s old system will come in handy.”

“Cool.  We’ll get you all set up,” Cynder said.

“Tidal, you really have changed,” Bonbon said.

“Yea.  And it’s all because you came to our school,” Lyra added.

Tidal let out a chuckle.  “I guess so.”

“Hey Cynder!”  The staff lady with light pink skin and purple hair walked outside from the school.

“Hi, Miss Cheerilee,” Applejack replied.

“Oh, I’m surprised to see all you here,” Miss Cheerilee replied to the group.  She looked at Cynder and said, “I just got off the phone with your mother.  She said that they finished with the house and that you can move back in next weekend.”

“YES!!!”  Cynder started to jump up and down in celebration.  “Now we can live back together again.”

“I can’t believe that it took so long to fix the house,” Fluttershy said.  “But it’s nice to see the family living together again.”

“Well, I just finished up in the library.  Ready to go home?” Miss Cheerilee asked.

“You bet!”  Cynder replied in excitement.  “You take care, Tidal.  And I’ll make sure that you’re entered in the tournament when we get the chance.”

Miss Cheerilee and Cynder started to walk to the car as Cynder started to wave goodbye to the others.

“It’s nice that they can finally live together again,” Lyra said.

“Yea.  Can you believe how much work Vice Principal Luna had to go through with the insurance company?  She really had to go through loopholes to get someone to pay most of the work,” Bonbon explained.

“At least she has enough money to cover the remaining expenses from all those tournaments,” Tidal added.

“And it won’t be long before you join the family of gamers,” Rainbow Dash said with excitement.

“Let’s not get carried away about that,” Tidal said.  “Besides, is there a reason that you wanted Rivet to come over here.  We had to keep him company until you got here.”

“Oh.  About that.  I was hoping that Rivet can teach me how to play guitar.”  She held up the guitar case that she was carrying.  “I need a distraction until the game tonight, and Clyde has gone to see Rarity.”

“Isn’t Rarity under the weather?” Lyra said.

“Eeyep,” Applejack replied.  “But that doesn’t stop Clyde from seeing her.  Gives in sickness and in health a new meaning.”

“Well, I would love to teach you, but I didn’t bring my guitar,” Rivet said.

“That’s OK.  I was hoping you can guide me so that I’m doing it right,’ Rainbow Dash replied.

Lyra, Bonbon, and Tidal, just stared at each other, knowing what all that would lead to.  But they were interrupted by their cell phones going off.  They all looked to see a group text from Rarity showing her holding some flowers.  And it had the text saying, “Look at what my bae did for me.  How sweet.”

“What did I tell ya,” Applejack said.

As Rainbow Dash put her phone away, she said, “So are we going or not.  I was able to get the key to the music room from Coach Iron Will so that we can practice.”  She grabbed Rivet’s hand before he could even replied and took him inside and towards the music room.

“I wonder if fireworks will go off between those two,” Pinkie Pie said, thinking about it.

“Speaking of fireworks, why don’t you two go on ahead and do what you wanted to do today,” Applejack said, referring to Lyra and Bonbon.

“Don’t worry.  We’ll keep Tidal company, won’t we?” Pinkie Pie said, grabbing Fluttershy who nodded.

Bonbon looked at Lyra and came to an agreement.  “OK.  We’ll see you later, Tidal.”

“Bye,” Lyra said, as they both left the area, waving back to Tidal until they were out of sight.

“About time those lovebirds left.  This might be the last time they have this moment,” Applejack said, which peaked Tidal’s interest.

“What do you mean, Applejack?”

“Well, with the Spring Fling coming up, Bonbon was talking to me about each of them asking a guy out to the dance.  They felt like they couldn’t keep having this kind of relationship while keeping it a secret from the school.  But they wanted to ask a guy out that understands what they are going through.  And would you like to know who Bonbon was thinking about asking?”

Tidal had a questionable look on his face.  “Who?”

“You, Tidal.”

This surprised Tidal.  “Really?”

“Eeyep.  But I’m not sure who Lyra would ask for the dance.”

“Oh.  I know, I know,” Pinkie Pie said waving her hand.

Tidal was curious again.  “Who?”

Pinkie went up to Tidal and quietly said, “You didn’t hear this from me, but she was thinking about asking Tidal out to the dance.”

Now, Tidal’s eyes went wide open.  “You mean she wants to ask me out as well?”

“It’s a secret!” Pinkie quietly said.

“Um, if both Lyra and Bonbon want to ask Tidal to the dance, wouldn’t that be a problem,” Fluttershy said.  “I don’t think he could take two girls to a dance… um, if you know what I mean.”

“Does Lyra know that Bonbon wants to ask Tidal out as well?” Applejack asked.

Pinkie thought for a moment.  “I don’t know.  Maybe she doesn’t know.  Or maybe she does know and is testing Bonbon out.  Oh maybe-”  Applejack covered Pinkie’s mouth until she stopped talking.

“I don’t think Bonbon knows the same thing,” Applejack said.

“So… Bonbon wants to ask me out to the dance.  But Lyra wants to do the same.”  Tidal was taking it all in before realizing what was going on.  “OH MY GOD!!!  I’m now stuck in a love triangle!”

Pinkie Pie said, “That’s a good thing, right?”

“If they don’t know it, then it’s a bad thing,” Applejack said.  “You might want to decide on who to ask before either one of them do it for you.”

“Well, is there a reason why they might be interested in me?” Tidal asked.

Applejack was the first to speak.  “Well, I asked Bonbon that, and she told me that she thinks you’re nice, but also thinks you’re somewhat damaged on the inside. She wants to be by your side and help you get through the hard choices in life.”

“OK.  And what about Lyra?”

Pinkie Pie decided to answer.  “Well, Lyra thinks you’re fun to talk to and might be full of energy.  She wants to help you enjoy the fun things in life.  Oh, and she likes it when you both discuss video games together.”

“That’s what Bonbon told me as well.  Didn’t think that would mean anything at the time,” Applejack said.  “Looks like you got your hands full on this.”

“Yep.  And about a week to decided before the dance,” Pinkie Pie added.

“Oh great.”  Tidal was stuck trying to decide who to ask before they ask him.  He looked to the girls and asked, “Who should I ask out?”

“Well, that might be hard to say,” Applejack replied.  “Maybe you should talk to Rarity about it Monday.  She has more know how about all this love stuff than any of us.”

Tidal asked, “Do you think you can explain what’s going on and ask her to see me Monday?”

“We can do that,” Pinkie replied.

“How can we if she’s under the weather?” Applejack said.

“Maybe she will show up to the game tonight.  You know she would love to see Clyde in action,” Pinkie Pie said.

Before Applejack could respond, Fluttershy said, “She might wear a surgical mask to the game, just so that anyone else doesn’t get sick.”

Applejack took that to thought.  “You might be right.  OK.  If we see her tonight, we’ll explain what’s going on and have her talk to you about what your going through.  I’m guessing this is your first rodeo, right?”

“Yea.  I have zero knowledge how love truly works, since everyone was always against me back home,” Tidal said.

Applejack placed her arm around his shoulders and said, “Don’t sweat it.  Rarity has helped you out since you got here.  And I’m sure she’s not going to let you down in this as well.”

“I hope you’re right, Applejack.  I hope you’re right.”

Ch. 14 - Blue Moon Problems

Chapter 14 – Blue Moon Problems

It was Monday, and Tidal went to school like usual.  But his mind was still stunned after learning that both Lyra and Bonbon were interested in asking him to the Spring Fling.  He wasn’t used to the idea of dating, and this would be the first.  But he never expected to be like this.  As he was walking down the hallway, someone was calling his name.  He looked to see who it was and saw that it was Rarity and Clyde that called him.

“Tidal.  Thank goodness that I found you,” Rarity said.  “The girls told me at the game what you just learned.  I would be grateful that you might have a future girlfriend.  But this, well…”

Rarity was having a hard time explaining what he was going through.  But Clyde decided to step in.

“What she’s saying is that having one girl is nice, but two would be a handful.  And since it’s two that have been… well, more than just best friends could destroy any friendships in the process.”

Rarity looked at him and said, “Thank you Clyde.  I couldn’t have said it better myself.”

“Thanks for understanding what I’m going through right now.  I would have been at the game, but my mind was distracted from this new experience,” Tidal explained.  “By the way, I’m sorry for what happened at the end of the game.  Aunt Lulu told me what happened.  I’m not used to basketball, but I can understand that every play matters.  I hope the team can make the run again next school year.”

“Well, we’re not sure if it was the right call that the ref made, but there’s nothing that we can do about it,” Clyde explained.  “The team was behind late in the game.  If we played better, maybe it wouldn’t have matter.”

“It’s nice to talk about the game, but we have a bigger issue to resolve,” Rarity said.  “Tidal, let me see if I can talk to them before they find out for themselves.  Maybe I can find a way to make it easier for you to deal with, OK?”

“OK.  We haven’t talked about it in class earlier, but somehow, one of them is going to bring it up.  And I hate to choose when they have been good friends in my time here,” Tidal explained.

“Don’t worry dear.  I got this,” Rarity said with a wink.

School was done for the day, and Lyra and Bonbon were walking out of the school together.  Both of them were wondering how they would attend the Spring Fling, but didn’t know that they would be thinking of the same guy.

“Bonbon, I’ve been wonder on who to ask out to the Spring Fling,” Lyra said.

“Same here,” Bonbon said.  “It would be weird to go together in front of everyone else.  And it would be nice to have a guy go with us for once.  I was thinking of one guy who I would like to ask anyway.”

“Me too,” Lyra said.  “Someone who understands us.”

“TIDAL!”

Both girls stopped in their tracks when they learned that they said the same name.

“Wait, you want to ask Tidal out?” Bonbon said.

“Yea.  He’s fun to be around with,” Lyra explained.

“But I was hoping to ask him out.  He’s nice to be with,” Bonbon explained.

“I can understand that he’s nice, but he needs to explore what is out there.”

“Explore?  He’s damaged goods.  He needs to be cared out there.  One mistake, and he might lose it.”

“Bonbon, you wouldn’t even understand what’s out there when he sees it.”

“I’m sorry, Lyra.  But I don’t want him to fall into that same hole that we helped him get out of.  He’s going with me.”

“No, he’s going with me, Bonbon.”

“I’m sorry, but I’m would be a better girlfriend for him then you, Lyra.”

“Excuse me, but you’re just too soft for him.  I’m a better girlfriend for him then you.”

The argument went on and on.  It was then that Rarity finally walked outside to look for them.  But what she was seeing was something that she didn’t want to see.

“Lyra!  Bonbon!  What is going on here?”

“Bonbon thinks that she would be a better date for the dance than me,” Lyra said.

“Well, I would be better than you, Lyra,” Bonbon replied.

Rarity tried to step in.  “Girls!  Can we just discuss this issue peacefully?”

“NO!”

“It looks like we have something that we can’t agree on,” Bonbon said.

“It’s looks that way,” Lyra said.  “If that’s the case, then I don’t need you as my girlfriend anymore.”

“Fine!”

“Fine!”

Both girls started to stomp away from each other.

“Girls, you both live in the same area,” Rarity said.

Both of them said, “We’ll take different routes!” and left in different directions.

“Oh dear.  Tidal isn’t going to like this.”

“Like what, Rarity?”

Rarity went into shock when she heard Tidal’s voice behind her.  When she turned around, she tried to keep a smile on her face.  A fake smile.

“Tidal, dear.  You see, I was just talked to them, and… well…”

………

“You WHAT?”

Tidal was beside himself after Rarity told him what just happened.

“I tried my best, but was too late to reach them in time,” Rarity said.

“Great.  How am I going to deal with this.  They might as well start competing for my love now,” Tidal said.

“Now, now dear.  I’ll talk to the girls and see if we can get this fixed.  We patched up our own friendships in the past.  We can do the same with them as well.  You just go home and rest for now.  This is my problem, and I plan to fix it.”

With that, Tidal decided to walk home alone.

“How do I plan to tell the girls about this.”  Rarity looked at the time on her phone and realized something.  “Oh my.  I need to deliver that suit for Clyde before he gets home.  I want to surprise him for the dance.  I’ll call the girls later tonight.”

Tidal was at home, laying on his bed.  He already finished his homework, or what little homework he had for the day.  Celestia saw that something was wrong with him, but didn’t want to invade his space, thinking it was just a phase.  But Luna decided to have someone help with what’s bothering him.

There was a knock at the door to Tidal’s room, but he didn’t answer.  The person knocked again and said, “Tidal it’s me, Sunset.  Can we talk?”

Tidal got up and opened the door to see Sunset at his door.

“Come on in.”

Sunset went in and closed the door behind her.  Tidal decided to lay back down and look up at the ceiling.  Sunset decided to sit on the floor next to the bed and try to talk to him.

“So, how are you doing as of late?”

“Fine.”

“Did you find a date for the dance?”

“No.”

“I figure you would have asked Lyra or Bonbon out.”

“Well, it doesn’t look like that would be happening.”

“Can you explain why?”

“What?  Rarity hasn’t told you yet?”

“No.”

Tidal let out a sigh.  “They both just found out that they wanted to ask me to the dance and got into a verbal fight.  Now they don’t like each other and could be fighting for a date with me.”

“I thought those two girls were joined to the hip,” Sunset said.  “I’m sorry that it had to happen.”

“Well, I doubt you can fix it.  You’re still trying to fix your image to the rest of the school.”

“You might be right about that.”

Tidal’s cell phone decided to buzz.  He decided to look at it and saw that he was being called into a group chat but his other friends.  So he joined in, hoping that Rarity told them about what has happened.  But he would learn that it was a different reason.

RD: Tidal, we could use your advice.

RD: Clyde is trying to get coach to change his mind about the training session.

Clyde: Problem is that it’s on the same day as the Spring Fling.

Clyde: I had to tell my boo about it.

Clyde: And she was feeling down about it.

RD: We have a plan to make it up for Rares,

RD: But we need to make coach listen and accept our request.

AJ:  All of us are on board.  We just need your help on a matter.

Tidal decided not to answer, feeling like he wasn’t going to get any help on the problem.  Then it buzzed again.

AJ: Tidal.  You there?

RD: Tidal.  Answer us.

Tidal didn’t want to answer, and Sunset saw how he was acting.

“You’re not going to answer?”

“Why should I?  It’s not like they plan to help me anyway,” Tidal said.

“Here.  Let me see it.”

Tidal handed Sunset his phone.  She looked at the messages that were being set and figure that she could piece together what was going on.

Tidal: This is Sunset.  Has Rarity tell you about Tidal’s problem?

AJ: No

RD: No

Pinkie: Nope.

Flutters: Not really.

Sunset went and message the reason Tidal was acting the way he was, learning that Rarity was never able to tell the girls in the first place.

AJ: So that’s why he’s not responding.

RD: Sunset, hand the phone back to Tidal.

Tidal: Sure.

Sunset handed the phone back to Tidal.  “You might want to read this.”

When Tidal looked at his phone, he was surprised at what he was seeing.

AJ: Look.  We know that things are not working out between you and the girls.

AJ: If you can help us with our problem, we can help you out.

Tidal: OK.  Explain what’s going on.

Clyde and Rainbow Dash explained that they were working on getting Rarity to the dance and make her win the crown there, with Clyde surprising her.  But they need to make sure that Coach Iron Will understands what’s more important, training for next season, or spending time with the one you love.  And the coach was hard to budge.  So Tidal decided to explained what he did back at his old school with the science project.

Tidal: You need to just stand up to him and make sure he understands that it’s your way or nothing.

Tidal: I did this when I explained to my science teacher last semester that I wanted to do things my way.

Tidal: This way, I know I can learn what I wanted to learn.

Tidal: I didn’t want to be left behind on what I wanted to learn with how the group was treating me.

Tidal: And I plan to take any punishment no matter what.

Tidal: So you need to tell coach that Rarity is more important than basketball.

Tidal: There are other ways and times to learn basketball.

Tidal: But there’s only one time to have this dance, and it can not be changed.

Tidal: So you need to make him know that, by force.

It wasn’t long before he got a response.

Clyde: OK.  I’ll do it.  I’ll tell him that I control what I want in life.

Clyde: If he doesn’t like it, that’s his loss.

RD: Now we’re getting somewhere.

AJ: Now we need to help Tidal out with Lyra and Bonbon.

Flutters: How do we plan to do that?

Pinkie: I know.

Pinkie: We need votes for Rarity.  So we get them to help out.

RD: How would that help Tidal out?

Pinkie: He can have both of them go with him.

AJ: You think that would work.

Pinkie: He’s the principal’s nephew, right?

Tidal: You want me to use that for leverage?

Tidal: I wouldn’t even go there.

Clyde: She might be on to something.

Clyde: Just see if your aunt can make an exception for once.

Flutters: Besides, we have one more dance before the end of the school year.

AJ: But that’s for Juniors and Seniors.  He’s a Sophomore.

RD: And Lyra and Bonbon are Juniors.

RD: Tidal will have time to decide who he wants between the two.

RD: And less than a week is not a lot of time.

Tidal: I can see if Aunt Tia can make an exception.

Tidal: Just see if you can work things out with Lyra and Bonbon.

AJ: Will do.

RD: On it.

Pinkie: Okey Dokey Loki

Flutters: I’ll try.

Tidal:  Thanks.  Along with Sunset, you girls are the best friends that I could ever have.

He put the phone away and said to Sunset, “Looks like I might have a date for the dance after all.  Or better yet, two dates in one.”

“I hope your aunts will make an exception to that, because that would look strange in front of everyone there.” Sunset said.

“I think the girls have a way of making that part happen as well.”

Ch. 15 - Blue Moon Plans

Chapter 15 – Blue Moon Plans

It was the next day at school, and with some free time going on, Applejack decided to wait at the steps with Bonbon.

“Is there a reason we’re here?” Bonbon asked.

“You’ll see,” Applejack replied.

It wasn’t long before Pinkie Pie came to them with Lyra in tow.  Lyra saw Bonbon and started to back away, but Pinkie stopped her and forced her to the others.

“Oh no.  I am not talking to her again,” Lyra said.

“Yes… you… will!” Pinkie replied while pushing Lyra.

Bonbon saw this and wanted to do the same, but Applejack made sure she didn’t go anywhere.

“Nice to see that both of you are here,” Applejack said.  “Now we’re going to make this right, whether you like it or not.”  She signaled Fluttershy to come over with Tidal.

Tidal walked up to them.  “Now I know that both of you wanted to ask me out to the dance.  I was surprised when I learned about this and was worried that it would damage our friendship between all three of us.  But we have an idea to make this work.”

Lyra and Bonbon said, “How?”

They waited for some people to come join them and give an update.  And it wasn’t long before Clyde and Rainbow Dash showed up.

“Just talked to the coach,” Clyde said.  “And he decided to plan our own training camp later on and help us out with our plan for Rarity.”

“How are we on this end?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Just waiting for that response.”  Tidal looked at Lyra and Bonbon.  “OK, my Aunt Tia is willing to make an exception and let me take both of you to the dance together.  But we have a couple of requests for you two to do.”

“We were able to get some people on board with voting for Rarity at the dance, with a few favors attached,” Clyde explained.

“But we need some help getting others on board, without Rarity knowing,” Rainbow Dash added.

“If you two can get everyone on board and help them vote for Rarity, both of you can go out with me to the dance,” Tidal said.  “You in?”

Lyra and Bonbon looked at each other for a moment, then looked back at Tidal.

“And what’s the second request?” Bonbon asked.

“That you give me some time to know both of you better,” Tidal said.  “I’m still new to all this, and this just came up to me head on without knowing how to react.”

Applejack explained.  “Look.  We have one more dance at the end of the year, which is for Juniors and Seniors.  And while Tidal is just a Sophomore, he can go if he was with someone who’s part of the upper classmates.  There’s enough time to know each other better before it comes up.  So what do you say about that?”

Both of them looked at each other again before they responded to each other.

“Bonbon, I’m sorry that I got mad at you.”

“Same here, Lyra.  Best friends forever?”

“Best friends forever.”

Both of them hugged each other, then let go to give the others their answer.

“Count us in.”

It was the night of the dance, and while Celestia and Luna already left to get the school gym ready for the students’ arrival, Sunset was helping Tidal get ready for what would be the time of his life.  But he was about to get one more surprise in store for him.

Sunset was helping him with his white vest that matched his tux shirt from the back.  “That should do it.  It’s not tight, is it?”

“I think the only thing I’m feeling are the butterflies in my stomach.”

“Don’t worry.  I’m sure everything is going to fine over there,” Sunset said as she was handing his black tux coat to Tidal.  “I’m just wondering how everyone is going to react when they see you with two girls.”

“Oh, that’s easy.  Pinkie was able to spread a tiny rumor about how I wanted to pay them back for all that they did for me since I got here.  Besides, it’s the least I can do.”

“Good thinking.” Sunset said.  Then she thought of one more thing.  “I was wondering, how do you plan to get there with the girls.  I know that the others are taking Rarity by limo.  And you haven’t gotten a car just yet.”

“I don’t know.  Aunt Tia said that she had something in store for me soon.”  That was when he heard a honk outside.  “Maybe that’s my ride right now.”

Both of them made their way outside and saw a dark blue Firebird Trans AM car parked in front.  When the door opened, a pink lady came out.

“Aunt Cadence!”

“Hi, Tidal.  It’s nice to see you.”

Tidal went to Aunt Cadence and gave her a hug.  He let go and looked at the car behind her.

“Is this your car?”

“Actually, it’s yours,” Cadence said while handing Tidal the keys.  “It’s your birthday present from your father.  He was able to get this classic car and have it sent to my place so I can surprise you.”

“What model is it?”

“It’s a 1982 Firebird Trans AM.  I’m surprised that he was able to find a car like that and still in good condition.  It does have a lot of miles on it, but he said that the engine and parts have been tuned up and had a paint job on it years ago by the original owner.  He decided to sell it since he was no longer fit to drive, and also knew your father when he started working at the weather station, long before you were born.  Both of them felt that you would take good care of it since you turned 16, so you better not damage it.  It’s already in both your name and your father’s.”

“Looks like you got your ride after all,” Sunset said.

“Oh, Aunt Cadence, this is Sunset Shimmer.”

“Yes, Luna told me about you,” Cadence said as she stared at her.  “She has faith that you can make a change after what you did last semester.  Just make sure you don’t let her down.”

“I won’t Miss Cadence.”

“Well, I believe you have a pair of dates to pick up,” Cadence said.

“Wait, how do you plan to get back home?” Tidal asked.

It was then that another car came up to the curb.  In it was a white man with blue hair.

“That’s how,” Cadence replied.  “He’s a good friend of mine who graduated from Crystal Prep with me back then.  Well, I better be going.  Bye.”

Cadence went to where her ride was and waved goodbye before they left.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Sunset said.  “You have some girls to pick up.”

“Right.”

At the nearby apartment complex, Lyra and Bonbon was making sure they were ready for the dance.  Lyra was wearing a mint straight dress that went down to her knees and mint heels.  Bonbon was wearing a dark pink long flowing dress and blue heels.

“You ready,” Lyra asked Bonbon.

“You know I am.  But I’m wondering how we plan to get there?  Is he riding with one of his aunts?”

“I don’t know.  All that I was told is that someone would pick us up.”

That’s when they heard a honk outside.  They checked outside to see a car with its lights on.

“Get in, girls!  We’re going dancing!”

It was Tidal in a classic Firebird.  They went back inside and grabbed their bags before going outside and joining him.

“Wow!  Is this your car?” Lyra asked.

“Yep.  A birthday present from my father,” Tidal replied.

“Cool.  Can you open the trunk?” Bonbon asked.

Tidal pulled the level, unlocking the trunk.  The girls went to the back and placed their bags inside the trunk before closing it.  Then they both got inside and sat in the back seat.

“Does one of you want to sit in the front?” Tidal asked.

“Not really.  We didn’t want to fight for it right now,” Bonbon said.

“And what are the bags for?”

Lyra replied, “You’ll see.  For now, let’s go.”

So Tidal drove the girls to the school.  When they got there, he went straight to the parking lot to park the car.  He got out and pulled up the seat, helping Lyra and Bonbon out of the back seat.  He closed the door and took each girl by the arm, escorting them to the school gym.  As they got to the school entrance, they saw Rivet sitting in the front stairs.

“Hey Rivet.  You waiting for Rainbow Dash?” Tidal asked.

“Yea.  I haven’t received a text from her just yet that she was on her way with the other girls.”

“I’m sure they are trying to pressure Rarity in going,” Lyra said.

Just then, Rivet’s cell phone buzzed.  He looked at it to see a text from Rainbow Dash.

“She says that the girls are on their way.  They had to force Rarity into her dress and out the door,” Rivet explained.

“Rarity is going to be in for a big surprise when she finds out,” Bonbon said.

“Come on.  Let’s go inside and have some fun.”  Tidal looked at Rivet and said, “You can join us until she gets here.”

“Thanks.”

So all four of them went inside and made their way to the gym.  There was loud music, dancing, chatting, and even a few taking a break from the dancing.  The group was able to have some fun, exchanging dance partners in the process.  It was later on that Tidal saw the group of girls walk in.  The girls were able to join the others on the dance floor except for Rarity, who sat on the sidelines.

Rainbow Dash went up to Tidal and said, “Hey, you see Rivet anywhere?”

“I think he went to get some punch,” Tidal replied.  “How were you able to get him as your date?”

“It’s not really a date, but after those guitar lessons, I figure I repay the favor, just like you.”

“At least he understands that you had to help get Rarity here.  Lyra and Bonbon were taking turns keeping him company until you got here.”

“Cool.  I guess that might have avoided any stares from the others here.”

“I don’t think they even noticed.”

Rainbow Dash nodded and went off to find Rivet.  Tidal was looking at Lyra and Bonbon and signaled them that he was going to talk to Rarity, which they agreed.

“Rarity, you OK?”

Rarity was surprised when Tidal talked to her.  “Oh.  Hello Tidal.  Not really.  It’s just not the same without Clyde here.”

“So, you rather just stay home and sob on the couch while eating a tub of ice cream?”

Rarity was shocked at what he just said.  “What?  No.  I mean, I rather be home that here, but the ice cream part is going a bit too far, isn’t it?”

Tidal just gave her a questionable look.  “Yea.  Right.  Do you think Clyde would be happy if you didn’t enjoy yourself in his absence?”

“Well… I don’t think so.  He would be… well, I’m not sure what he would be, but he wouldn’t be happy with himself.  At least you got Lyra and Bonbon back together.  How were you able to make that happen?”

Tidal had to make something up so that Rarity didn’t know the real reason for bring them together.

“Um, well, Sunset came and visited me on Monday and I told her what happen.  So she was able to get the girls to help her out in getting them back together.”

Now Rarity had a questionable look on her face.  “And how do you plan to have a relationship with one of them?”

“We decided to take our time and get to know each other better before I make my decision.  All this was a bit too fast for me, and we never really discussed it in the first place.”

“Well, I’m happy for you that you got everything resolved anyway.  I’m sure one of them would make a nice girlfriend for you.  But whoever you chose, you will have to work on finding a boyfriend for the other.”

“That’s why I want to know them better.”  Tidal started to get up. “Well, I would ask you for a dance, but I don’t want the guys here to get jealous of me for doing so.”

“Well, that’s mighty nice of you to ask anyway, but I would have refused anyway.  It’s just not the same without Clyde.”

“I understand.”  Tidal started to walk away from Rarity and thought, “Because you are about to get the surprise of your life.”

Tidal rejoined the two girls on the other side of the gym.

“So, how’s Rarity doing?” Bonbon asked.

“Down a bit.  But that makes it much better when she sees him out of nowhere,” Tidal said, to which Lyra and Bonbon nodded.

They looked back to Rarity and saw Rainbow Dash taking to her.  There was a sound from the speakers, which told the crowd that the principal was able to speak.  Rarity joined her friends to listen to what was going on.

“Here we go,” Lyra quietly said to Tidal.

After all was said, there was a few murmurs going around when Celestia said that there were changes in the format.  Changes that even Lyra, Bonbon, and Tidal were able to make happen in secret.  Then, it was time to announce the princess of the Spring Fling.  Celestia pulled the card out of the envelope and announced that the winner was Rarity.  She was shocked that she won, but when she turned around to respond to the person behind her with the crown, she saw that it was Clyde and ran right towards him with tears of joy.

“You were right.  It was well worth it,” Lyra said.

“At least both of you were able to get the votes needed for her to win,” Tidal said.

“Well, we had to pull a few favors ourselves,” Bonbon said.  “One was that Lyra spend more time with her old friends every now and then.”

“That would be Minuette, right?” Tidal asked.

“Well, her, Lemon Hearts, Twinkleshine, and Moon Dancer,” Bonbon said.  “She’s been avoiding them since we started dating.”

Lyra rolled her eyes.  “Alright.  I understand already.  Can we just go now.  We do have something in store for Tidal anyway.”

Bonbon giggled and said, “I guess so.”

So all three of them started to leave the gym and make their way back to Tidal’s car.  But they were stopped when they heard Rarity calling them.

“Clyde and the others told me how you helped them out and how they helped you out as well.  I never would have expected Clyde to stand up to Coach Iron Will like that, choosing me over next year’s basketball season.”

“Well, I told him what I did in front of my science teacher last semester, and he took that to heart.  As for these two, Aunt Tia was able to make an exception and let me take both of them together.”

“And we promise that we would take our time with him and let him decided who he wants in his life,” Bonbon explained.

“But for now, we’re going back to his place for the night… in his new car,” Lyra said.

“You mean you finally have a new car?” Rarity asked.  Tidal pointed to the Firebird in the parking lot.  “Oh my.  Something tells me that Clyde’s going to be jealous when he sees that.  Well, I have to go.  I’m going to spend the weekend with my bae and make sure I enjoy every minute of it.”

“He better.  At least he doesn’t have to help Aunt Lulu move back into their own home,” Tidal said.

“That’s right.  Applejack told me about that.  Maybe these fine ladies can help you out as well, if they plan to… spend the night together,” Rarity said.  “You two better behave, OK?”

Lyra and Bonbon rolled their eyes and said, “We will.”

Rarity smiled and waved goodbye as she joined Clyde back to their limo.  Tidal escorted Lyra and Bonbon back to his car, opened the door and pulled the seat up, letting them sit in the back again.  He pulled the seat back and got in and drove the girls back to his place.

Celestia and Luna pulled up to the driveway, tired from hosting the Spring Fling.  They had to make sure that everyone left before they could lock up the school and leave the gym to the night crew.  We they pulled up, they saw a Firebird in their driveway.

“Is that Tidal’s new car?” Celestia asked.

“Yep.  Sky sent it to Cadence so that she can deliver it to him in person,” Luna explained.

Both of them got out of the car and went into the house quietly, not wanting to disturb Tidal in the process.  Luna decided to walk up to Tidal’s room and quietly open the door a bit so that she could see in.  She could see Tidal, Lyra, and Bonbon in their pajamas, quietly huddled in his bed with a small blanket over them, having their feet exposed.  Luna quietly closed the door, not wanting to ruin the moment.

“Are all three of them sleeping together?” Celestia whispered.

“Like three sleeping babies,” Luna whispered back.

“I knew that they would behave with him for the night.  One of them might be our next cousin-in-law.”

“I just hope that they understand that he needs time to work this out with them.  He’s been doing so well since you brought him here.”

“And after this weekend, it will be just the two of us.  You’ll have your foster kids back with you again, and I’ll have to watch over Tidal from here on out.”

“Looks like you will finally understand what I go through having Cynder and Eclipse in my life, Tia.”

“I guess so Luna.  I guess so.”

Blue Moon Special #1

Blue Moon Special #1

Tidal and Celestia were helping Luna and Cynder move back in to their old house.  With the renovations being complete and cleared by the codes inspector, it was time for Luna’s family to get back together again.

“Here you go,” Tidal said as he placed the box into the living room.  “That should be the last one.”

“Thanks.  We should be able to get it all unpacked ourselves as soon as Eclipse gets here,” Luna said.

“What’s taking him so long anyway,” Cynder asked.  “Aunt Cadence should have brought him here by now?”

“She said that they had to make a stop somewhere,” Celestia said.

“Seriously?” Cynder replied.

“Could explain why we have to do all the heavy lifting anyway,” Tidal said.

Just then, they heard another car pull up.  All four of them went outside to see Cadence and Eclipse pull up the driveway.  Cadence got out of the driver’s seat, while Eclipse from the passenger’s seat.

“About time you got her,” Cynder yelled at Eclipse.

“We had to pick someone up who wanted to help out,” Eclipse replied.

At that point, the back door opened, and a girl with light tan skin and dark blue hair came out of the back seat.  She was wearing her Crystal Prep uniform and goggles on top of her head.

“Well, this is a bit of a surprise,” Celestia said.  “At least you’re making some friends over there.”

“I’m just helping out after what Eclipse has done for me back then with some… boy problems,” The CPA student replied.

Eclipse decided to introduce her to the others.  “Mother.  Aunt Tia.  This is Indigo Zap.  She’s one of the best athletes at CPA.”

“Really.  Then what’s this about you helping out with her boy problems?” Celestia asked.

“Because some jerk wouldn’t leave me alone after trying to ask me out for the Nth time.  I’ve already lost count all the times Eclipse had to come to my aid,” Indigo replied.

“Are you kids going to just stand there and chat, or are you going to start unpacking,” Cadence said.

So all of them went to grab some of Eclipse’s items that he took with him to Cadence’s place and placed them into the house.  Once they finished unloading, Indigo was curious in Eclipse’s cousin.

“So, who are you?  I don’t think I’ve seen you around.”

Before Tidal could respond, Cynder ran up behind him and said, “This is our cousin, Tidal Blue.  He’s been staying with mother and Aunt Tia since the start of the year.  But you better be careful.  He can be trouble at times.”

“Cynder!”  Tidal tried to grab Cynder in a head lock, but she was able to get away before he could grab her.  “She just had to go there, didn’t she.”  Tidal looked back to Indigo and said, “Like she said.  My name is Tidal Blue.  I just transferred to CHS at the start of the school semester after dealing with some problems at my old school.”

“Maybe they didn’t like you at all,” Indigo responded in a mocking like manner.

“How did you know?”

Indigo was a bit surprised at Tidal’s response.  “Well… lucky guess, that’s all.”

“Well, the guys there were real jerks,” Tidal said.  “Especially their top student and their star quarterback.  They had no respect what-so-ever.  And they got what they deserved after how they treated me.”

Seeing how bold Tidal was, Indigo decided to back off with her attitude, since he was a student of CHS.  She realized that he was still new to the area, and may not understand fully what he went through back at his old school.  Not to mention the rivalry between CHS and CPA.

“Indigo.  You might as well take it easy on him,” Eclipse yelled from another room.  “He already took a bullet to his side after taking on a criminal weeks ago.”

Now Indigo was really worried.  While they had their rivalry between schools, the last thing they needed was some crazed student from CHS to cause some serious trouble for CPA.

“I’m… I’m sorry that you had to go through that.  Does it still hurt?”

“The bullet wound?  Just some nerve damage.  It can be sensitive at times.”  Tidal lifted up his shirt to show Indigo the wound that he was talking about.

“Ouch.  How did it all happened?” Indigo asked.

“I rather not explain right now,” Tidal replied.  “Let’s just say that I tend to have a grudge with bullies at times.  Besides, I figure you would be bragging about how your school is always better than ours.”

Now Indigo was in shock.  “How would you-”  Then she realized what was going on.  “You were testing me, were you?”

“Kinda.  I just caught on to how you were reacting when you started talking to me,” Tidal explained.  “Besides, I’m surprised that you would be willing to help out anyway.”

“Well, Aunt Goldie always tells me to always repay your debts,” Indigo replied.

“Aunt Goldie?”

“Golden Zap.  She’s my father’s sister, and a legend on the track.  I’ve always looked up to her and wanted to be the best athlete like her.”

When Tidal heard the name, he started to remember something that his mother told her during her Olympic years.

“Is she the three time Olympic gold medalist in the 1500 meter track?”

“Yea.  Earned those medals before I was born,” Indigo replied.  “And I believe that a friend of hers was also a three time gold medalist at the same time.  I believed they roomed together as well.  What was her name again?”

“That would be Ocean Wave, the three time gold medalist in the 1500 meter swimming event,” Tidal replied.

“Yea.  That’s her name.  How did you know?”

“Because she’s my mother.”

Now, Indigo was in disbelief.  “No way!”

Tidal nodded.  “Yep.  That’s my mother.  I’m just surprised that her old roommate would be your aunt.”

“Yea.  I guess so.”  Indigo started to look away in shame.  “Now I feel really bad.”

“Don’t be.  You didn’t know in the first place,” Tidal responded.  “I just don’t understand the fierce rivalry between both schools from what I have heard.”

“That’s because Principal Cinch expects the best from all of her students, academic and athletic.  Especially during the Friendship Games.”

“Friendship Games?”

“Yea.”  Indigo decided to explain.  “It’s an event that’s held every four years between both schools, just like the Olympics.  Best two out of three events, one based on academics and one on athletics, plus a tie breaker event from what I’ve heard.  And every time, CPA always wins the games in both events, so there hasn’t been the need to use the tie breaker event anyway.”

“I’m guessing that there are trophies lined up in the hallways at your school,” Tidal said.

“You have no idea,” Indigo replied.  “And the Friendship Games come up again this fall.  So I hope you’re ready to compete against us.”

“I hate to break it to you, but he won’t be able to compete in the Friendship Games this fall,” Celestia said as she joined the two.  “After what Tidal has gone through, I don’t think he would be fit to compete anyway.  Besides, we have enough students that are smart, skilled, and fit to compete anyway.  And only twelve students can be on the team as well.”

“That is true.  Eclipse doesn’t want to compete anyway, having to go against his mother,” Indigo said.  “But we have enough students that can fit the profile for the games.”

“And it’s Principal Cinch who decides who can compete anyway, or at least try out,” Cadence said as she and the others joined the group.  “Well, it’s time to go, Indigo.  They can finish up from here.”

“OK.”  Indigo started to walk to the door, but stopped and looked back at Tidal.  “Say, is you mother around?”

“Sorry.  She and my father live back up in New Hampshire.”

“Bummer.  I was hoping that my aunt would like to reconnect with her,” Indigo said.  “What does your father do anyway?”

“He’s a meteorologist for the national weather channel.  His name’s Sky Blue.”

“Did you say… Sky Blue?”

Tidal let out a sigh, knowing what was coming next.  “Yes.  The same Sky Blue who witnessed the thunder-snow event over a year ago.”

“Should have known,” Indigo replied.  “Sugarcoat, another CPA student, was obsessed with that event when it happened.  I know she likes to talk a lot, but I don’t think she’s ever been excited about an event like that in her life.  She’s like one of the smartest students at the school.  I think she might be obsessed with your father’s work.  You wouldn’t happen to have a girlfriend, do you.”

“He actually has two.”

“CYNDER!”  Tidal started to rub the bridge between his eyes.  “It’s… complicated.”

“I guess so,” Indigo replied.  “Well, it was nice meeting you, Tidal.  Hope we cross paths again before the games.”

So Cadence and Indigo went back to the car while the others were able to get together and see the two leave.  But before they could drive out, Indigo stuck out her head and yelled, “By the way.  Someone posted a video of how your boys basketball team lost at the end.  And all I can say is that I’m calling foul on that last call.  Where in the rule book does it say that you can’t do that?  Seriously!”

The group had blank stares on their faces from Indigo’s comment just as they were driving out of the driveway and leaving the area.

“I would have never expected her to side with us on that call,” Cynder said.

“Well, you never know if a call like that could happen to their school,” Tidal responded.  “Two sides to a coin, right?”

“If I didn’t know better, I would have thought that you just made a friend from a rival school,” Luna said.

“Well, she’s a friend of the family, right?”

Celestia looked at him and said, “Tidal, you might be right about that.  You might be right.”

Ch. 16 - Blue Moon Music

Chapter 16 – Blue Moon Music

Ever since the Spring Fling, Tidal’s life has started to look up.  As promised, Lyra and Bonbon took their time with him and made sure that they didn’t pressure him in making his choice until the last dance for the school year.  What’s better is that Tidal stared to get used to the pain from his bullet wound back then.  In fact, he started to get used to dealing with the physical pain that he’s dealt with in the past.

But today was a different day for the group.  The school was preparing for the first musical showcase to help fund raise the school’s after-school programs, since a good amount of the budget was lost from the damage that was caused after the Fall Formal.  And lots of students were in the gym working on posters to help get the word out.  Tidal, Lyra, and Bonbon were working on their poster, which had a bit of a video game based theme for the event.  But they were able to get some extra help from their friend, Rivet, who was able to bring some more material to help with the poster.

“Thanks for bring the extra supplies for our poster, Rivet,” Bonbon said.

“Sure thing.”  Rivet looked at the outline and had to ask.  “So what kind of poster are you making?”

“We’re going with a Final Fantasy based theme involving the bards and singers that were used in the games,” Lyra explained.

“The guy with the harp is Edward, the spoony bard from number four,” Tidal explained.

Rivet had a confused look on his face.  “Spoony bard?”

“It’s been a running gag since the game came out,” Tidal said.  “And the opera singer is Celes from number six.  She had to take on the role in order to lure out someone who had an airship that they need.  Music has been one of the big things in the series.”

“I’m surprised that you decided to help us out instead of Rainbow Dash,” Lyra said.

“Well, she wanted to help out her fellow Rainbooms on their poster,” Rivet explained.

“How did she get a group started in the first place?” Lyra asked.

Rivet explained.  “Well, she finally got herself her own guitar after dueling with Trixie.  Applejack had to get her bass guitar after her grandmother gave it to some thrift shop by accident.  Pinkie had a habit of banging on anything with her spoons.”

“So I have noticed,” Tidal added, rubbing the back of his head.

“Fluttershy used her tambourine with the animals.  And I think we all saw how Rarity was trying to get help in getting the piano up to the music room.”

“Now we know why Clyde can’t get enough of her,” Lyra said.  “But does she plan to use the piano wherever she goes?”

“Not really,” Rivet said.  “I think she now uses a… keytar, I think.”

“I see.  A portable keyboard,” Tidal said, which got a few curious looks from the others.  “It’s a small keyboard with a handle that helps change the octaves on the keyboard.  You might have two to three octaves, but you can extend it to maybe six to eight with the buttons on the handle.”  The others finally understood what he was explaining.

As they were working on their poster, Tidal was able to overhear Sunset ask to three younger girls if she could help them, which they said that they were fine.  That was when Pinkie called her over to the group.  But Sunset’s walk towards them got more dirty looks from the students in the gym.  Tidal knew the reason for their actions and could see that they were never going to put her past actions in the past.  Tidal already put his past behind him and wished the others would do the same.

“Tidal.  They are not going to forgive her for what she did last semester, no matter how hard she’s willing to try,” Lyra explained.

“Still, people make mistakes and learn from them,” Tidal said.

“And do you think your old school learned from what they did to you?” Bonbon asked.

“How should I know,” Tidal responded.  “I left before seeing the final outcome.  Besides, that was a group against me.  This is one person against a group.  Complete opposite.”

But before they could continue their conversation, Celestia decided to get the student’s attention.

“Good afternoon, students. I just wanted to tell you all how pleased I am that so many of you are going to participate in the first ever Canterlot High School Musical Showcase!”  This made all the students cheer.  “This is a wonderful opportunity to raise money for all our after-school programs here at CHS. So keep working on those signs and posters. I think it's going to be one of the most exciting events we've had at CHS since the Fall Formal.”

And that’s when everyone started to stare at Sunset, who started to hide her face in fear.  Tidal saw this and stared at his aunt with a look that said ‘Why did you have to bring that up?’  The only look that he got back was the ‘I don’t know’ look.  Tidal knew he had to do something.

“Think you three can finish up?  I need to take care of something.”

They had a feeling what he was about to do and just nodded their heads, letting him do what he felt like needed to be done.  So he got up and walked up to Sunset.

“Sunset.  Can we talk for a moment… in private?”

Sunset looked up and saw Tidal’s face.  She nodded and got up and walked outside the gym.

Rainbow Dash came up to Tidal and whispered, “Have her come by the music room afterwards.  We plan to practice once we finish here.”

Tidal nodded and started to walk towards the doorway, but stopped and started to rub the spot where he was shot back in… in front of the other students that were glaring towards him.  He gave them one glance back at them, and they quickly look away from him.  The story about what happened to him back then still lingered around the school.  And with his past history at his old school in their heads, they knew that they didn’t want to end up like that school.  Tidal gave out a small grin and left the gym to join Sunset.

“Thanks for getting me out of there,” Sunset said.  “I’m not sure if I’ll ever live that down.”

“One of these days, they’re going to have to put all this behind them,” Tidal said.  “Or it’s going to come back and bite them… hard.”

“I guess it explains why some now call you Karma.”

It was true.  Since the Spring Fling, students have started to refer Tidal as “Karma” for how he has a way of turning things his way, good or bad.  Some think he had a part in what happened back in the Spring Fling in letting Rarity win the crown back then because he’s the principal’s nephew.  But he didn’t care.  Right now, he planned to help out those that needed the help.  And Sunset was someone that needed it the most.

“Not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing,” Tidal said.  “But there was something that I wanted to talk to you about.”

“What’s that?”

“Aunt Tia just got word that three new students are transferring to this school and will be showing up sometime today.  How would you like to show them around the school?  Maybe you can make some friends that don’t know about what you did back then and understand who you are now.”

“That does sound like a good idea,” Sunset said.  “Do you think you can do that?”

“Who do you think you’re talking to?” Tidal said with a smile.

“OK, OK.  Just don’t let it go to your head.”

“Got it.  Now you go on to the music room and catch up with your friends and I’ll let my aunt know.”

It was lunch time, and Tidal was up in the library finishing up an assignment before his last class today.  He finally walked up to the main desk where Miss Cheerilee was working at when he heard signing and noises below them.

“I wonder what’s going on?” Cheerilee asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe it has to do with the musical showcase this weekend,” Tidal said.

“Last time I heard that going on was before the Fall Formal,” Cheerilee said.  “They were promoting a friend of theirs.  Twilight Sparkle, I believe.”

“Well, I’m finished with my work.  Thanks for helping me in finding the resources I needed to finish it.”

“Not a problem, Tidal.  Trying to find your way around this library must be different from your old school.”

“It sure is.”  Tidal waved at Miss Cheerilee and left the library onto his next class.

As school was coming to an end, Tidal was at Bonbon’s locker putting his stuff away.  With the musical showcase this weekend, he didn’t have any homework to worry about.  That was when he saw Lyra and Bonbon walk up to him.  But something looked a bit off about them.

“Hey, what was all that noise in the cafeteria earlier.  I could hear it from the library,” Tidal asked.

“Oh, you haven’t heard?” Lyra said.

“They decided to turn the musical showcase into the Battle of the Bands,” Bonbon added.  “And we plan to win all the way.”

“And nothing’s going to stop us,” Lyra added.  “So, are you going to help us or not?”

At that point, there was a green glow coming from their eyes for a moment.  Tidal just shook it off, thinking that he was seeing things.

“Um, you know I’m suppose to be setting up the stage for the weekend, remember?”

“Oh, so you don’t plan to help us win, do you,” Lyra said, taunting him.

“Don’t even bother,” Bonbon responded.  “He’s the principal’s nephew.  What else would you expect.  Besides, we need to head back and sign up before the spots are filled.  The competition's going to be fierce anyway.”

Lyra nodded and both of them put their things away and left Tidal by himself.

“Now what was that all about?”

Tidal was waiting in the principal’s office for her aunt to return to see what needed to be done for the weekend, and to confirm the change of the program as well.  It was a while, but Celestia finally walked in with some papers in hand.

“About time you got here,” Tidal said.  “What’s this about turning the showcase into a music battle?”

Celestia’s eyes emitted a green glow.  “Oh.  It was an idea that those new girls brought up.  When they saw the posters, they came to me and my sister and told us how they had a music competition at their last place.  It was a great idea that can get more students to perform in front of everyone.”

“So what do you want me to do for now?”

“Go home,” Celestia said to Tidal.  “I have to make some calls for some additional items for tomorrow.  So we won’t be able to get anything done today.  Just make sure you get some rest for tomorrow, OK?”

Tidal just agreed and left the office.  As he was about to walk outside, he was thinking about what was going on.

“First Lyra and Bonbon.  Now Aunt Tia.  What’s going on here?  And what’s with the glowing green eyes?”

But once outside, there were seven girls around the statue, to which Tidal knew six of them.  Some of them noticed that Tidal was distracted, to which Rarity ran up to see what was wrong.

“Tidal, is everything OK?”

Tidal just noticed Rarity in front of him.  “Oh.  Sorry.  It’s just… I don’t know.  Maybe it’s just nothing.”

The other girls came up to him, to which most of them were concerned about Tidal.  But it was Sunset that started to notice something different about him.  Or more likely, something that she wasn’t seeing from him.  She held his face and started to look at his eyes.

“Um, Sunset.  What are you doing?”

She had to ask.  “Tidal, where were you at lunchtime?”

“Up at the library. Why?”

“Have you met those three new girls today?”

“Not really.  But since you brought that up, how was the tour with them?”

Sunset blew a sigh of relief.  “I’m glad that you haven’t been affected by them.”  She turned to the new girl in the group with lavender skin and purple hair.  “Twilight, take a look at him.”

She looked at Tidal and noticed the same thing.  “You’re right.  His eyes don’t have that green glow like the others.”

Tidal was really confused and wanted some answers.  “Can someone please tell me what’s going on here, because this day has been really weird right now.”

Sunset was the first to answer.  “I’m sorry, Tidal, but I had to make sure.  Those new girls are not who they seem to be.”

“They’re sirens from our world.”

Now Tidal was really lost at what the lavender girl was saying.  Sunset saw this and explained.

“Tidal, this is Princess Twilight Sparkle.  She’s from the same magical world that I’m from.”

“You mean from Equestria?” Tidal asked.

“Yes.  And those three girls have the power to control anyone to have them fight against each other,” Sunset explained.  “Have you seen anyone with glowing green eyes as of late?”

“Well, first it was Lyra and Bonbon as school was ending.  Then it was Aunt Tia just minutes ago.”

“Aunt Tia?” Twilight said.

“He means Principal Celestia,” Rarity said.

“Oh.” was Twilight’s response.

“Are you saying that they are under these girls’ control?  How?”

“It’s a long story,” Sunset said.  “But right now, we need to do something to stop them.”

Rarity went into her purse and pulled out some money.  “Tidal, do you know where Pinkie’s house is?”

“If you can send me an address, I can find it.  Why?”

Rarity handed the money to Tidal.  “I’m going to see to it that we order some pizzas for tonight.  If you can pick them up and bring them over, I’m sure we can explain it to you.”

“That might be a good idea,” Sunset said.  “Since he lives with Principal Celestia, we might want to make sure that he stays safe so that he doesn’t come under the siren’s control if that was to happen.”

“If that’s what you want me to do,” Tidal said.  “But she will be expecting me to help out tomorrow with the competition.”

“That’s fine.  Just be careful around her for now,” Sunset explained.

Tidal was in his bedroom, waiting to hear from Rarity.  It was more quiet than before since Luna moved back into her home with her foster children.  But this time, it was a bit too quiet.  And it had to do with what those three girls done to the school.  He finally heard his cell phone ring, so he looked and saw that it was Eclipse calling instead.  So he answered it.

“Hey Eclipse.  What’s up?”

“I don’t know.  Mom and Cynder have been acting… strange.  They’ve been heavily competitive on a lot of video games.  It’s just that… it’s not like them to be this way.”

Tidal knew what was going on.  “So, it’s happened to them as well.”

“What are you talking about?”

Since Eclipse attended Crystal Prep, Tidal needed to make sure that he was careful around them until more was learned about what was going on.

“Listen.  Three new girls just started attending CHS today.  And for some reason, the school has been acting very strange since then.  Now they’ve changed the musical showcase into the Battle of the Bands.  I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m waiting to hear from Rarity so that I can get a better picture on this.”

“So what do you want me to do?”

“Just go along with them for now and be careful.  As soon as I know more, I’ll let you know.”

“OK.  I hope you know what you are doing.”

Eclipse hanged up, leaving Tidal by himself again.  It was then that he started to get a text from Rarity.  It had the place to pick up the pizzas, what they ordered, and where Pinkie’s house was at.  So Tidal grabbed his keys and jacket and started to walk out.

“Aunt Tia, I’m going out for a drive.  Need to get some fresh air.”

“OK.  Just remember that we have to get up early tomorrow for the contest,” Celestia said from her bedroom.

“I know, I know.”

Ch. 17 - Blue Moon Sirens

Chapter 17 – Blue Moon Sirens

Tidal arrived at Pinkie’s place with the pizzas that were ordered.  He walked up to the door and rang the doorbell.  When the door opened, it was Pinkie Pie who answered the door, wearing her blue pajamas with balloons on them.  “Thanks for bringing the pizzas.”  She grabbed the pizzas very fast and slammed the door before Tidal can do anything.

“Pinkie!  You’re supposed to invite Tidal in!” Rarity said behind the door.

“Oh!  OK!”  Pinkie opened the door again and yanked Tidal inside so fast before slamming the door shut again.

“Pinkie, can you at least show some respect for our friend here?” Rarity said as the rest of the girls came down to join them.

“But where’s the fun in that?” Pinkie replied after taking a bit of pizza.  Rarity just placed her hand on her face.

Applejack responded, “Typical Pinkie.  Hope you don’t mind us dressed like this.”

“After having Lyra and Bonbon staying with me after the Spring Fling, I don’t see why it can’t be a problem,” Tidal said.

The girls just stopped in their tracks and stared at Tidal.  It was Rainbow Dash who broke the silence.

“By any chance that you-”

“No,” Tidal quickly responded.  “If I did, I would have expected the same between Rarity and Clyde.”  Rarity went beat red on her face.  “Wait.  You did, didn’t you.”

“Rarity panicky responded.  “Me?  No, no, no.  I would never do something like that to my boo at that time.”

“Your what?” Twilight responded, feeling confused.

“She means her boyfriend,” Sunset explained.”

“You mean Rarity has a boyfriend?”

Tidal looked down to see a purple dog with the group.

“Wait, did that dog just talk?” Tidal asked.

“Tidal, this is Twilight’s assistant, Spike,” Sunset explained.

“Oh, so you’re the dragon that I’ve heard about,” Tidal said.

“That’s right,” Spike said proudly.  “Sunset said that you like dragons.”

“She also told us about the problems that you had to deal with as well,” Twilight said.  “I’m sorry that you had it hard for you.  I am grateful for you helping Sunset out the way she’s help you with what you had to deal with.”

“I’ve gotten used to it,” Tidal replied.  “But I have a feeling that being a princess must be tough.”

“Try being the princess of friendship,” Twilight replied.  “I mean, I had to surrender the element of magic back to the Tree of Harmony along with the other elements, and in return, I get a new castle and new rainbow powers.”

“Wait, when did this all happen?” Sunset asked.

“Weeks after you were defeated,” Twilight replied.  This caused Sunset to look down, reminded of her past actions.  “Not to offend you or anything, but if I didn’t have the crown back, then Equestria would have been covered in evil vines that were left in place over a thousand years ago.”

Sunset’s eyes were wide open.  “Wow!  Sounds like you had your hands full since last we met.”

“More than I bargain for,” Twilight replied.  “But dealing with these sirens might be a bigger challenge than we first thought.  I just hope this music counter-spell will work, once it’s ready.”

Pinkie decided to open the remaining pizza boxes and grabbed another slice of pizza.  Everyone else decided to do the same, but Twilight was a bit hesitant to grab one.

“I guess you don’t have meat in your world,” Tidal said.

“Oh it’s not that,” Twilight said, but then corrected herself.  “Well, maybe it is, but I’m still trying to get used grabbing things without my magic horn.”

Fluttershy decided to she Twilight how to grab a slice of pizza from the cheese pizza that was ordered.  “At least I’m not the only vegetarian here.”

“Thanks, Fluttershy.”

As they were eating pizza, Tidal decided to bring up the topic.  “So what are these sirens that you were talking about?”

“You mean those three girls that showed up?” Rarity said.  “Bad news, that’s for sure.  Clyde won’t even talk to me today.”

“Rivet was the same way,” Rainbow Dash added.  “He wanted to compete against me, but he couldn’t get a band together for the contest.

“So was Swift,” Pinkie added.

“Same with Night Chase,” Fluttershy said.

“I just got off the phone with my cousin, Eclipse before coming over,” Tidal said.  “He said that Aunt Luna and Cynder were acting the same way.”

“About everyone been acting like that,” Applejack said.  “Expect for us.”

“Maybe it’s because we’ve been exposed to Equestrian magic,” Sunset explained.  “I mean, you girls were able to grow pony ears and such.  And so far, Tidal has yet to come across them.”

Twilight decided to explain the situation.  “The only thing that I’ve learned so far was that they were sent here long ago.  How they were able to stay alive this far without magic is beyond me.  But somehow, they must have had some magic left in them to keep using absorb the negative energy to keep them alive.”

“Do you think they saw what happened when you… well… blasted that rainbow on me?” Sunset asked.

“With how big the blast was, no doubt they were able to see it from afar,” Applejack said.  “But why wait until now to come here?”

“Didn’t Applejack said something like that back home?” Spike said.

“You’re right,” Twilight said.  “Maybe they needed time to set everything up before coming to the school and finding the ones with the magic they need.”

“If they did that, they would have to go through Mr. Discord, the school board director,” Tidal explained.

“Well, however they did so, if we can defeat them, then maybe that will release everyone form their control,’ Rainbow Dash said, to which everyone agreed.

“But for now, I think it’s best to be careful if you come across them,” Sunset said to Tidal.

“Maybe you can tell me more about them,” Tidal said.  “Like, what do they look like?  How do they act?  I haven’t seen them, and your the only one that was able to show them around the school,” as he was referring to Sunset.

Rarity was the first to speak.  “Well, I can already see that the one with the puffy orange hair is the one in charge of the group.  I mean seriously, who styles their hair like that?”

“That would be Adagio Dazzle,” Sunset responded.  “And you’re right.  She did show signs of keeping the other two girls in line with her plans.”

“Could explain why they called their group ‘The Dazzlings’ for nothing,” Applejack said.  “Anyone who would use part of their name for their band name would be willing to take charge of the group.”

That’s when all eyes were on Rainbow Dash.  When she saw this, she wasn’t sure what Applejack was talking about until it finally clicked.  “Hey!  The Rainbooms is a cool for my band.”

“You mean OUR band,” Applejack corrected.

“Whatever.”

“Maybe it is a good name.”  All eyes were now on Twilight.  “I mean, the Rainbow Dash from my world was able to create a sonic rainboom, which lead to me and my friends earning our cutie marks at the same time.”

Rainbow Dash responded.  “See.  I knew that… Wait.  A sonic rainboom?”

“Yep,” Twilight replied.  Rainbow Dash’s jaw just dropped.  “It’s kind of a long story.”

“Maybe we should hold off of that story and get back to the topic at hand,” Sunset said.  “There are the other two girls that were with her, Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk.  Aria has the purple pigtails, and might have somewhat of an attitude from what I was able to see.”

“Well, she did look a bit mean to me,” Fluttershy responded.  “I don’t know if I can deal with her.”

“Well, the girl with the blue ponytail is Sonata, who seem a bit off from the group,” Sunset explained.  “For some reason, if the girls were given a script to follow, she would be one who would forget what to say.”

“Like someone who might have been forced into the group?” Tidal asked.

“Maybe?  But it’s hard to figure out what their true motive is.  Not to mention how they were still able to keep using their magic in the first place.  But our best bet right now is defeating them and breaking the spell during the Battle of the Bands.”

“Well, so far, I’ll be busy getting the stage set up for the show,” Tidal said.  “What happens after that depends on what Aunt Tia wants me to do for the show.  All I can say is that I wish you luck in defeating them, and anyone that you have to face in the process.”

The group had a few more slices of pizza before Tidal decided to make his way back home.  While the girls went back up to Pinkie’s bedroom, Sunset walked with Tidal to the door.

“Thanks for coming over.  If you haven’t made me give the tour to those girls, I wouldn’t have raised my suspicions about them in the first place.”

“Right now, you girls have a job to do.  Just be careful, OK?”

“We will.”  Sunset gave Tidal a kiss on the cheek.  “You do the same as well.  I don’t want to lose a friend that has been by my side through all of this.”

As Tidal went outside, he looked back and waved to Sunset, who waved back to him, before closing the door.  Tidal went to his car and said to himself, “If they decided to cross paths with me, I’m going to see to it that they regret it.”

Principal Celestia was looking over Tidal’s work on the stage before the contest began.

“What do you think?” Tidal said to his aunt.

“Move that light a little bit to… your left.”  Tidal took the light in front of him and moved it a bit to the left.  “Good.  That should do it.”

Tidal started to make his way down the rafters and onto the ground.  “Where’s Aunt Luna anyway?”

“She’s suppose to be here by now.”  At that point, Luna finally showed up.  “About time you got here.”

“Well excuse me, Tia.  But I do have two kids to take care of.  And Eclipse had other things to do that he wouldn’t even bother telling me.”

“At least he’s staying out of this,” Tidal thought.

“Whatever.  Tidal’s got the stage set up.  Now we just need to get everything ready for the groups to show up.”  Celestia pulled out a key from her pocket.  “Tidal, we need you to make sure the outdoor stage is ready for the finals tonight while we handle the earlier rounds here.  Take this key to get into the room under the stage if you need anything.  Most of the stuff is there.  We just need you to get it ready for tonight.  You can come back here when you are finished.”

Tidal took the key and made his way to the outdoor stage.  “Maybe I’ll be able to stay out of the siren’s way so that the girls can work their magic, if they are able to do so,” Tidal thought.  He made it to the outdoor stage and saw the door had a deadbolt lock on it.  He took the key and used it to unlock the door.  When he opened the door, he could see that the knob to the deadbolt was broken.  “They could at least look into a new lock,” Tidal said.  “Oh well.  Maybe it’s to make sure no one tries to lock themselves in.”

Tidal began getting the equipment out for tonight’s finals.  During that time, he could hear the music from the gym where the prelims were being held from one of the bands.  And it was one that he was able to catch on.

Shake your tail 'cause we're here to have a party tonight

Shake your tail, shake your tail

“Well, I doubt it’s the counter-spell they have in mind.  But maybe they need time to have it ready.”  Tidal started to look around the stage.  “Now that I think of it, if the counter-spell was done here, then…”  He could see the hill from behind the seats.  “Maybe it could.  But they’re have to be in the finals to do so.  Might as well have it as a last resort.”

Tidal continued working on the stage until he heard another song coming from the gym.

Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh

You didn't know that you fell

Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh

Now that you're under our spell

“Under your spell?  That must be the Dazzlings that the girls were talking about last night.”  Tidal listened to the song and realized something.  “If they have the power to control others with their music, how come I’m not affected?”  He looked around to see if their music was emitting anything.  “I know I couldn’t make it out yesterday while I was in the library.  Maybe their victims have to be close by to do so.  Or maybe…”

Tidal started to rub where he was shot back then and couldn’t feel the pain that it was making in the past.  “I’ve gotten used to the pain from this wound.  I wonder if that has anything to do with it.”

Tidal has gotten used to the pain that came from his wound that he was able to handle most hits and mild shocks that happened to him in the past few weeks.

“Their music is supposed to make others fight against each other so that they can absorb the negative energy that comes from them.  But they can’t control the girls because of some kind of magic of their own that protects them.  If they were to take their energy, they would have to find a way to get them to fight each other without the use of their music.  I hope that doesn’t happen.  But still, how would they affect me if I can’t get angry unless I’m pushed to my limits.”

Tidal started to realized what he was talking about.  “Man, I really have changed since the Spring Fling.  Being wounded, having friends that care for me, standing up for Sunset, being immune to regular pain.  A lot has really happened since then.  If only my old classmates could see me now.  They would have never seen me like this.”

With the fact that he was talking to himself out loud, it made his throat feel dry.  So he decided to take a break and get a drink from inside the school.  He found one of the vending machines and put some money in so he could get a cola.  After taking a sip, his throat starting to feel better.  But his attention turned to a group talking farther down the school hall.

“Did you feel that?  Now that was a performance worthy of a meal.  And there’s nothing that Sunset can even do to stop us.”

“The Dazzlings,” Tidal thought.  “And they’re coming this way.  Perhaps it’s time to see if their magic is real enough to get what they want.”

Tidal was aware of the risks for what he was about to do.  But if he was lucky enough, he might be able to get some answers that were needed for the girls.  He went to the nearest door between the lockers and hid behind the side of the lockers, waiting for the sirens to pass him by.

“But how long do we have to wait for the main course, Adagio?”

“Patience, Aria.  The time will come.  They got by when they performed.  But how long do you think they can keep it together?”

“Well, it was no contest with who they faced.”

“Sonata, that’s because most of the groups are the worst.  The only others that are worth the challenge are Flash Drive and Trixie and the Tricksters, and those Rainbooms won’t be facing either one in the next round.”

“You might be right, Aria.  But they will break before the finals come around.  Trust me on that.”

The three girls started to laugh, enough that they didn’t notice what was about to come.  As they got close to Tidal, he stuck out his foot in front of them, causing each one of the girls to fall on top of each other.  The orange puffy girl names Adagio fell flat on the floor.  Aria, the girl with the purple pigtails, fell on top of Adagio, and Sonata, the girl with the blue ponytail, landed on top of Aria.

“Aria!  Will you get off of me?” Adagio ordered.

“I would, but Sonata’s on my back,” Aria replied.  “Get off!”

“I can’t reach the floor,” Sonata replied.

“Sonata, you are truly THE WORST!” Aria yelled.

Tidal was enjoying was was in front of him and displayed a slight grin.  “I’m sorry.  I didn’t know that you… fell.”

Aria was able to make eye contact with Tidal.  “Why you little.  When I get on my feet, I’m going to… Sonata, get you hand off of my face.”

“But I’m trying to get on my feet again.”

“Let me help.”  Tidal went to grab Sonata and got her on her feet again.

“Thanks,” Sonata replied.

“Good.  Maybe you can help me as well?”

Tidal decided to help and pushed Aria to the ground with his foot.

“You did that on purpose,” Aria said and she got on her feet.  “I going to-”

“That’s enough!”  Adagio got on her feet and dusted herself off before looking at Tidal.  “If you’re trying to make a first impression, you could do better than that.”

Tidal leaned back on the door behind him and crossed his arms.  “Whatever gave you that idea… sirens.”

When the girls heard them being called sirens, Aria was ready to beat him up.  But Adagio had something better in mind.

“This must be the first time we’ve met.  How about we show you how to make a… first impression.”

All three girls grinned and started to sign to Tidal.  As their pendants emitted a red glow, releasing a wave of mist, it started to wrap around Tidal.  But somehow, Tidal just stared at the girls and yawned.

“Seriously?  If you’re trying to put me to sleep, you might want to do a better job on that.”

The girls stopped singing and stared at Tidal, wondering why their powers were not working.  So they decided to gather in a huddle.

“Why isn’t our magic working on him?” Aria whispered.

“How should I know,” Adagio whispered back.

“You’re supposed to know these things,” Aria whispered back to Adagio.

“Maybe because he’s the principal’s nephew?” Sonata whispered.

Adagio and Aria started at Sonata.

“How do you know this?” Aria whispered.

“Because I came up to two girls who were talking about him,” Sonata whispered.  “Told me that his name was Tidal, I think.”

“That’s right,” Tidal responded.  “And you know I can hear you.”

The girls looked up and back at Tidal, to which he waved at them.  Seeing this, they stood back up and faced him.  Adagio decided to fool Tidal.

“Do you think that the three of us are sirens?  Whatever gave you that idea?”

“Cut the act, girls,” Tidal responded, not taking the bait.  “I know what you did to Aunt Tia, not to mention the rest of the school.  So I hope you have a good reason for doing so.”

“That’s it.  You’re working for the Rainbooms,” Aria responded, punching her fist on to her other hand.  “You’re going down.”

“You sure you want to mess with me?” Tidal said with a straight face.

“He does have a point,” Sonata said.

“And what makes you say that?” Aria asked Sonata.

“Well he did get shot by some robber that he faced, killing the guy in the process.”

Aria’s face went from anger to shock.  She slowly turned her head back to Tidal, worried if what she heard was true.  But this made Adagio curious.

“If you got shot, let’s see the wound.”

Tidal did what Adagio asked and lifted up his shirt, revealing the bullet wound on the side of his chest.  All three girls were surprised and decided to get a closer look.  As they were looking, Aria decided to poke at the wound.

“What are you doing?” Adagio asked Aria.

“Seeing if it’s real.”

“Of course it’s real, miss girl with an attitude,” Tidal responded.

Aria stood back up and got into Tidal’s face.  “What did you just say?”

“That’s enough, Aria.”  Adagio stood back up and started to think.  That’s when she had an idea.  “Girls.  Leave us.”

Aria and Sonata looked at each other, which prompted Aria to responded.  “Did you just… tell us to leave?”

Adagio quickly turned around to the girls and yelled, “DID I JUST STUTTER!!!”  Aria and Sonata panicked and ran into each other, before Aria pointed the other way for Sonata to take.  It wasn’t wrong until the ran around the corner of the hallway and out of sight.  Adagio started to pinch the bridge of her nose, feeling a bit stressed at the moment.

“Are they always like that?” Tidal asked.

Adagio stared at Tidal and said, “You have no idea.”  She walked over to lean on the lockers across where Tidal was.  “So.  You know who we are, right?”

“Yes.  Is that a problem?

“Maybe.”

Tidal raised an eyebrow.  “Maybe?  Care to explain?”

“I was about to get to that.”  Adagio looked around to make sure no one was listening.  “I hate bringing this up in front of the others after we experienced this happen, but there was one boy, a bit younger than you, that we came across long ago who was also immune to our magic.”

“I’m listening.”

“We came to an old, simple town, looking for more energy to absorb.  We did what we normally do, and got everyone, even the younger ones, to worship us, and fight against each other for us.  But I saw this one boy sitting next to a house.  Looked like he was homeless from the clothes that he was wearing.  But later on, some of the boys were picking on him.  We started to absorb more energy from that, but the boy didn’t respond.  At first, I was wondering if he had some magic from Equestria that protected him.  But I needed to know why our magic never worked on him.  So, I chased the kids away and approached the boy, looking for some answers.  Only problem was that he never talked.  I even asked Sonata to use her cute charm to open him up, but he didn’t even budge.”

“I’m guessing that the other two girls were wondering why you were curious about the boy,” Tidal said to Adagio.

“Yea, they were.  It was something that we never do.  But with the limited magic that we had back then, better safe than sorry.  So we took the boy along with us, trying our best to control others to bring food for the boy.  Took a while, but he started talking.  Told us that his parents kept punishing him for no reason what-so-ever.  He even showed us the whip marks on his back.  Said that he started to get used to being whipped until he found a way to escape from his parents.  Been on the streets for a few years.  Somehow, he gotten used to being beaten and hurt, which could explain why our magic didn’t have an effect on him.  He never got angry or felt pain.  He just… blocked it out.”

“And that’s why your magic didn’t have an effect on me, right?”

“That’s what I was thinking,” Adagio responded.  “Which comes to our problem.  You know who we are, and are also immune to out magic.  Plus, you’re friends with those Rainbooms, am I correct?”

“That’s right,” Tidal responded.  “And you know that my aunt is the principal of this school.”

“That is true.  But I could get the entire school against you.”

“But you can’t because your magic isn’t strong enough.  And the school does know about what led to the bullet wound that I have, which could scare them off unless you have a strong grip on the school.”

“A smart one.  I’m starting to like you,” Adagio said, pointing at Tidal.  “But I could cause some kind of problem with those close to you.  So basically, I can’t stop you, but you can’t stop me either.”

“Which means that we are in a stalemate.”

“Exactly what I was thinking.”

“So, how should we resolve this?”

Adagio started to think about it and had an idea.  “How about this.  You stay out of our way throughout the contest, and I’ll make sure that no harm will come to your aunt, and those two girls that Sonata brought up.”

Tidal, realizing this, decided to keep on his poker face and see if she can get Adagio to drop some kind of hint of what her plans really are.  “Come on.  You can sweeten the pot.”

“Well, most people would break down to something like that.  But you’re different.  Now I really like you.  I could have you as someone to… be with.  But seeing that you have two girls already, I hate to get caught up in your own love triangle with them.  So how about this.  Stay out of our way, and you can have both girls personally.  Plus, you can have control of the city, while we control everything else.”

Tidal was able to understand her plans and decided to make his move.  “You have yourself a deal.”  He stuck out his hand for Adagio to shake, sealing the deal.  But Tidal was able to glance down the hallway to see Aria and Sonata taking a peek around the corner.

Adagio stared at Tidal, asking, “They’re at the corner, right?”  Tidal nodded.  Adagio, letting go of Tidal, quickly looked at the corner with a mean stare, causing the girls to panic and hide again.  She looked back at Tidal and said, “I better make sure they don’t cause any more trouble.”

But as Adagio was starting to leave, Tidal asked her, “What happen to the boy anyway?”

“Him?  We came across an old couple outside of a city and were able to let them take care of the boy like it was their own.  No magic needed.  Just needed to unload the weight from us.  Besides, old couples like them never have enough energy for us anyway.  As long as they took care of the boy, I’m fine with that.”  Adagio started to walk away to rejoin the girls.

Tidal, now getting some questions answered, returned to the stage outside to finish up. Seeing that this would be his only chance to inform Sunset, he took out his cell phone and text Rarity.

Tell Sunset I came across the sirens.

Immune to their magic.

Plans to take over the world, maybe Equestria.

Might be needing the girls’ magic to do so.

Can guess they have an idea to do so.

Once he sent the text, it wasn’t long before he got a reply.

Sunset here.

Very risky move, but good job.

Now we know their plans.

Still working on counter-spell.

Reading this, Tidal decided to add one more hint.  After taking pictures of the stage for the finals and sending it to her, he text another message.

Stage for finals.

Might help with counter-spell.

Use as last resort.

Be careful.  You’re on your own.

A reply came back to him.

Thanks.  I’ll do what I can here.

Seeing that, he put his phone away and finished up before leaving the area.  It was in the girls hands as of now.

Tidal told his aunt, Celestia, that he was finished with the stage and was going back home, feeling tired.  He only said this so that he would stay out of the way so that the girls can do their work.  But when he came up to his car, someone was calling his name.  He looked to see that it was Twilight’s partner, Spike, running up to him.

“Tidal, I need your help.”

“What is it Spike?”

“It’s the girls.  Trixie opened a trap door on the stage, and the girls fell in and are trapped.  They can’t get out, and I can’t help them like this,” as Spike held out his paws.

“Why would Trixie do something like that?” Tidal asked Spike

“Well, Rainbow Dash started to pony up, and Sunset panicked and ran onto the stage to stop her.  The girls thought they wouldn’t make it to the finals, but somehow they did.  But now the entire school is against them.  I don’t even think they are even working together in the first place.  Rainbow Dash is trying to show off, Rarity is focused on the band’s fashion, and I don’t even think anyone else agrees with these choices.”

“No doubt the sirens already planned this.  What about Twilight’s counter-spell?”

Spike looked down.  “I really don’t know.  But we need to get them out.”

“I already made a deal with the sirens that I wouldn’t interfere.  And with the fact that they can control Aunt Tia and Aunt Luna, not to mention Lyra and Bonbon, it’s too much of a risk for me to make.”

“But there has to be a way.”

Tidal started to think how he could help without the sirens knowing.  That’s when he saw Vinyl strutting down the sidewalk with her headphones on.  An idea came to mind.

“I might know someone that could help.”  Tidal pointed to Vinyl.  “See that girl?”  Spike looked and nodded.  “She never takes off her earphones.  And with the way she’s walking, no doubt the sirens don’t have control of her.  If you can get her to help, then maybe the girls have a chance.”

“OK.  I’m on it.”

Spike started to run to the girl, but Tidal stopped him for a moment.

“Hold on, Spike.  You’re going to need this.”  He took out the key that Celestia gave him to use, and placed it around Spike’s neck.  “I never gave this back to Aunt Tia, but this will unlock the door.  It’s can only be unlocked from the outside.  Don’t even ask me why.”

“OK.  Thanks.”  Spike started to run off and get Vinyl’s attention.  When she saw him, she followed him to the main stage.

“So far, so good.  I just hope they can bring it together before it’s too late.”  Tidal gt into his car and drove back home.

Tidal was resting in his room, just waiting for the end result to the concert.  Just then, he heard a car drove up.  He got up and left his room.  That was when the door opened and Celestia.

“Tidal!  There you are.”  Celestia ran up and hugged Tidal.  “Thank goodness that you are safe.”

Tidal was surprised.  “Aunt Tia, are you OK?”

“I am now.  I didn’t think I would encounter another magical attack, but the girls were able to stop those three new girls in the process.”  Celestia looked at Tidal and asked, “Have you eaten yet?”

“Not really.”

“Well, how about I fix us some grilled cheese sandwiches for us, and maybe I can tell you what all happened.”

“That would be nice, Aunt Tia.”

The next day, Tidal drove up to the school to see if there was any damage done.  But it looked like that nothing had ever happened.  When he was close to the school grounds where the statue was at, he could see all seven girls and Spike nearby.  Spike saw Tidal and ran towards him.  Twilight and Sunset went to follow Spike.

“Tidal.  Thanks for helping us out without the sirens knowing,” Sunset said.

“Spike told us that you gave him the key to unlock the door and used the girl with the headphones to help out,” Twilight explained.  “I know it was a big risk before with what you did, but it all came out good in the end… with Sunset’s help of course.”  Twilight handed the stage key back to Tidal.

“So what happened to the sirens?” Tidal asked.

“Well, with their pendants now shattered, they’re just three harmless teenagers,” Twilight explained.

“The girls ran off,” Sunset said.  “We don’t know where they went off to, but they shouldn’t be any threat to us anymore.”

“At least everything’s fine now,” Tidal said.

“That’s right.  But I have to ask, how come you were immune to their magic?” Twilight asked.

“I guess getting used to the bullet wound played a part in all of this,” Tidal explained.  “So I’m guessing that you’re going back?”

“That’s right,” Twilight said.  “I have a lot to do back home.  But now that I can open the portal at anytime, I can come whenever I want to.  So it’s not goodbye, but just goodbye for now.”

“Besides, I think you have to work on choosing one of two girls before the end of school,” Sunset said as she pointed behind Tidal.

Tidal looked back to see Lyra and Bonbon walking towards their way.

“Thanks for reminding me,” Tidal said, rolling his eyes.

“Don’t worry.  I’m sure that whoever you choose, it won’t hurt the friendship that you have with both of them,” Twilight said.

Tidal nodded and ran up to join Lyra and Bonbon so they could talk about what happened yesterday.  Sunset and Twilight smiled and went back to their friends so that Twilight could say her goodbyes before returning to her home.

Ch. 18 - Blue Moon Sonata

Chapter 18 – Blue Moon Sonata

It’s been a week since the Battle of the Bands, and for once, Tidal didn’t have to worry about any problems, magic or not.  This time, he was going to do something for a friend who wanted to enjoy what it was like to have all your worries washed away.  A chance to really feel new in themselves.

Tidal was floating in the pool that was indoors by himself.  It felt like a long time since he did this after all that has happen back at his hometown.  But now, it gave him a chance to fully clear his head while waiting for a few girls to show up and join him.

“Now this is what I needed,” he thought to himself.  “After all that has happen since I got here, it feels like a new experience for me.”  Then his thoughts changed.  “Magic.  I wished I’ve seen it in action.  But it was better to stay out of the way when it happened.  Still, I would like to see the girls, what was it, pony up.  I’m sure it will happen one day.”

He heard a splash nearby and decided to to straighten up in the pool.  “About time.  Ready for your le-”  But he was cut short when he saw a blue girl who was floating in the pool, causing him to turn around, looking away from her.  “SONATA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?”

“Oh hi.  Tidal was it?  I just saw you in the pool by yourself and figured I join you.”

“Naked!?”

“Dud.  Dagi has done that in the past whenever were were near a lake.”

“You might want to get out of the pool and get dressed.”

“Why?”

And it was when three girls were able to come out of the locker room, only to be shocked at what was in front of them.

“SONATA DUSK!  YOU GET OUT OF THAT POOL RIGHT NOW!!!” Sunset yelled.

“That’s why,” Tidal said.

“Tidal, you better not even look at her,” Lyra yelled.

“You don’t have to tell me twice.”

Tidal started to hear some splashing and could only guess that Sonata was finally out of the pool.

“Come on, Sonata.  You’re coming with me,” Sunset said, and took her back into the locker room with a towel wrapped around her.

“It’s safe to look again,” Bonbon said, causing Tidal to look at the Lyra and Bonbon.

Tidal saw both girls in one piece swimsuits.  Lyra’s was a simple mint swimsuit, while Bonbon was wearing a blue and pink striped swimsuit.  Tidal swam to the edge of the pool where the two girls decided to sit at.

“What’s she doing here anyway?” Bonbon asked.

“Good question,” Tidal replied.  “I don’t think her siren sisters are even around.”

“Maybe Sunset can get some answers out of her,” Lyra said.  “Besides, did you get a good look at her?

Tidal just stared at Lyra.  “You’re not helping.”

“Oh come on.  We know you had a peek at that body of hers to look away,” Bonbon said.

“I must say, she does have a nice body,” Lyra said.

Tidal just shook his head.

Sunset finally came back out with Sonata behind her.  Sunset had a red one piece swimsuit, while Sonata had her hands behind her back, wearing a red two piece.  Lyra, Bonbon, and Tidal were stunned when they saw Sonata in a swimsuit, causing Lyra to let out a catcall whistle.

“Sunset, you had two swimsuits with you?” Tidal asked.

“I wasn’t sure the one piece would fit me,” Sunset replied.  “So I came prepared.”

“Maybe you should have worn the two piece.  Because with a body like hers, she doesn’t need any magic to get any boy to fall for her,” Bonbon said.

“I have to agree.  Any boy would fall head over heels for her with those curves.”  This gave mixed looks from the girls as they stared at Tidal.  “What?  I’m just saying from a boys point of view.”

“He does have a point,” Lyra said.

Sonata wasn’t sure how to react.  “Well, um, thanks?”

Sonata and Sunset went to sit down at the edge of the pool next to Bonbon.

“So, care to explain why you decided to show your face after what you and your sisters did to the school a week ago?” Bonbon asked.

“Yea.  And where are those two?  Watching us in hiding?” Lyra added, looking around the pool.

“I… came by myself,” Sonata sadly replied.

“How come?” Tidal asked.

Sonata was having a hard time answering that, so Sunset decided to answer.  “Somehow, there seems to be some division in the group.  But she wouldn’t say why.”

Tidal decided to swim up to Sonata and place his hand on hers.  “You can tell us.  We won’t judge you for what you did.”

“Unless it was something bad,” Lyra said.

Tidal went on the defensive.  “Lyra, it was Adagio who was pulling the strings in the group.  I don’t think that she had any choice in the matter.  And I’m sure Sunset would agree with me as well.”  Sunset nodded.

Sonata explained.  “Well, after we lost our pendants and ran, we no longer had a place to stay.  So, we found an empty building to for us to hide.  We did our best to get by.  But we started to feel hungry in out bellies and did our best to find food.  Then, Aria started to argue with Adagio about how her plans have failed and that we could no longer go home.  And, well, I just decided to get away from them so I could be by myself.  When I saw Tidal in the pool by himself, I figure he could use a friend, since I heard about what he went through in the past.”

“That was old news,” Bonbon said.

“So, Adagio and Aria are divided about what just happened, and you just… wanted to find a place that felt like home?” Tidal said, which Sonata nodded.

“Man.  That must really suck,” Lyra said.  “If all you wanted to do was go back home, why didn’t you ask?”

“I think because they were once sirens from a thousand years ago, they would have wanted their powers at full before returning.  Maybe an army to follow as well,” Sunset explained.  “I once had those thoughts back then.”

“I guess you have a point there,” Lyra said.

“But, how did you get the pool by yourselves,” Sonata asked.  “All the doors were locked except for the back door.”

“My mother was able to talk to the manager of the pool and let us use it so that I can teach Sunset how to float on the water,” Tidal explained.  “Lyra and Bonbon wanted to join us as well.”

Sonata was surprised.  “Wow.  You’re mother must be really special.”

“She is,” Tidal said.  “She did win gold three times in a row and holds the Olympic and World records in the 1500 meters in swimming.”

That was when Sonata’s eyes went wide open.  “You mean… your mother is Ocean Wave?”

“You heard of her?” Tidal asked.

Sonata nodded.  “All three of us saw her perform on those TVs that were on display back then.  What she did all three times made us wonder if she was a siren like us.  It gave us hope that we could find a way home.  Or at least have someone who would be willing to help us out in this world.  I would have even wanted to try out in those events, but Adagio said that we couldn’t give ourselves away for who we were.”

“How are you able to watch them when any of us weren't even born?” Bonbon asked.

“Remember.  They were sirens, which meant that they were almost immortal, as long as they were able to gather negative energy from others,” Sunset explained.

Sonata started to look down again.  “And now… we’re just… some silly human girls.  We don’t even know how we plan to get by anymore without our magical singing voices.”

“Maybe my aunts can help out,” Tidal said.  “They are in charge of Canterlot High, so maybe they could get you settled in.  I heard that they were able to do so for Sunset last year after learning that she was from another world.  You might be able to attend CHS and learn something from it.  Cooking, fixing, reading, even singing.”

Sonata’s eyes lit up.  “For realsies?”

Tidal gave a hearty laugh and said, “For realsies.”

Sonata jumped into the pool and hugged Tidal, thanking him so much so many times.  Tidal started to show some red in his cheeks from the tight hug.

Sunset giggled and said, “I think that’s enough, Sonata.  You don’t want his girlfriends to be jealous at you.”

Sonata let go of Tidal.  “Oh.  I forgot.  You have two girlfriends.  Can I be your third girlfriend?”

Lyra and Bonbon yelled, “NO!”

Sonata giggled.  “I’m just kidding.”

The other three girls got into the pool.  Lyra decided to swim up to Sonata.

“So, can you swim?” Lyra asked.

“Dud.  I was a siren.  Of course I can swim,” Sonata replied.

“Then how about we race and see what you’re made of.”

“You’re on.”

Lyra and Sonata went over to the other side of the pool, leaving Bonbon, Tidal, and Sunset to themselves.

“Lyra has been known to be a good swimmer,” Bonbon said.  “Not as good and Ocean Wave, but good enough.”

“Well, seaponies have been known to be excellent swimmers back in my world,” Sunset said.  “And since sirens are seaponies with evil magic, Lyra might regret challenging her.”

“Well, while they’re busy swimming, let’s get to work on your lessons,” Tidal said.

While Lyra and Sonata raced each other on one side of the pool, Tidal and Bonbon decided to help teach Sunset how to float.  Tidal told Sunset what to do, and with Bonbon’s help, they got Sunset in position with her arms spread out, while the other two held her up from below.

“Alright, we’re going to let you go,” Tidal said.  “Your lower body might sink for a bit, but that’s common for first timers.  Just take normal breaths and you’ll be fine.”

Tidal and Bonbon started to let go of Sunset.  She felt herself sink a bit, but started to float on the water.

“You got it,” Bonbon said.

“Just about,” Sunset said.  “Just… trying to… make sure… that the water… doesn’t get into… my mouth.”

“Just relax and breath,” Tidal said.

As Sunset was floating, she could see the bars on the ceiling.  Laying down on land was one thing, but in the water felt different from before.

“I can see why you like to do this,” Sunset said to Tidal.  “It’s… relaxing.”

Both Tidal and Bonbon grinned at each other, seeing Sunset’s progress.  It was almost quiet.  Well, except for the splashing from the other side.

“I WIN!” Sonata yelled.

“Aw come on,” Lyra replied.  “Best two out of three.”

Bonbon giggled.  “I guess you were right.  She’s a better swimmer than Lyra.”  But her mood changed.  “How are you going to be able to get her back to attending school?  No doubt the rest of the school would be against the idea.”

Tidal had a smug grin on his face.  “If I can send a message about how they were treating Sunset back then, I think I can do the same with the other three.  All they need to do is give them a chance.”

“Well, Sonata would be willing to come back, but what about the other two?” Bonbon asked.  “One of them has sass, and the other has an attitude.”

Sunset decided to get back upright from floating.  “Let me deal with that problem.  I just want to hear what Principal Celestia has to say about this first.  And I might need to have the girls with me, just in case.”

“So you’re saying that you want Sonata and her sisters to attend school?  After all that they did a week ago?”

Celestia was sitting on one side of the kitchen table with her hands together, thinking about what Tidal had to offer.  Sonata was sitting across from her, what Tidal, Sunset, and the rest of the Rainbooms were there, watching over them.

“Sonata was merely a… pawn in the group,” Tidal said.  “I think she, alone, deserve a right to have a second chance.”

“How do you think the students would react when they see her there?” Celestia said.

“She does have a point,” Rarity added.  “They had a hard time giving Sunset a chance since the Fall Formal.”

“That’s true,” Applejack added.  “But Twilight wanted us to help her.  And after what she did to stop the sirens, she’s finally getting some proper respect that she needed in her life.”

“Plus, they didn’t do any damage to the school like Sunset did,” Pinkie added, then looked at Sunset, seeing the irritated look on her face.  “No offense.”

“None taken.  Somehow I’m never going to stop saying that.”

But Rainbow Dash had her own view.  “Well the only damage they did was more emotional than physical.  They tried to get the students against each other with their magic.  Not the mention what they were trying to do to my… I mean, our band.”

“Rainbow Dash, we were almost divided before they showed up,” Applejack corrected.  “They just pushed us over the edge.”

“Fluttershy, dear.  Don’t you have anything to say about this,” Rarity asked.

“Um, well, I now what they did was wrong, but I’m willing to get Sonata a chance.  I think she’s more of the nicer ones in the group.  I’m… not so sure about the other two.  I mean, Aria can bee mean, and Adagio can be, well…”

“Rude?” Rarity said, finishing Fluttershy’s sentence, to which she nodded.

It was Sonata’s turn to defend herself.  “I know what we did was wrong.  All we wanted to do was find a way home.  We all thought Adagio’s plan was going to be easy.  But now…”

The room went silent, until Tidal spoke.

“I think they deserve this chance.  If they were hopeful when they saw my mother in action, then I think we need to give then this hope to make a better life for themselves.”

Celestia took a moment to take it all in.  The she made her decision.

“I’ll make an exception.”

Sonata started to feel glad for Celestia’s decision.

“But on one condition.”

Sonata’s expression slightly changed.

“The girls will have to take extra classes, under our guidance.  This includes summer school.  They will also have to do some volunteer work for the school in order to pay for housing.  My sister can set you up with that.  If they can do well in their classes and hold up to their end of this deal, then there can be a chance that they will graduate from CHS with some knowledge that can get them by in the real world.  I can’t guarantee they would enter college, but that’s for them to decide.”

Sonata stood up and started to bow saying, “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” until she banged her head on the table.  “Ow.”  She started to rub her hand on her forehead.

“Sunset Shimmer.  Can you see to it that these terms are given to the other two.  Then report back to me on their decision,” Celestia requested.

“I’ll do my best,” Sunset replied.

The girls started to head out of the house.  Sonata started to join them, but was stopped by Tidal.

“Tell them about my mother,” Tidal whispered.  “I’m sure that would help them understand why I’m doing this.”  Sonata nodded and joined the group outside.

With the girls making their way to see Adagio and Aria, Celestia looked at Tidal and said, “You really starting to use the family status to get what you want.”

“I’m using it to give others a chance to do something good for once,” Tidal said.

A smile broke out on Celestia’s face.  “I’m grateful for that.  I just hope I don’t regret this decision that I just made.”

“Don’t worry, Aunt Tia.  I’m sure I can keep those girls in line… with Sunset’s help if I need it.”

Ch. 1 - Blue Moon Rising

Chapter 1 – Blue Moon Rising

The radio clock started to go off, and a sea green hand slaps the snooze button. “Is it that time already?”  A pair of hazel eyes looks at the clock next to his bed.

5:00 AM

The sea green boy started to wake up and sat on his bed, scratching his messy dark blue hair.  He was still trying to get adjusted to his new home.  Well, new to him at least.  As he turned on the lamp next to his bed, the door cracked opened, revealing a blue lady with purple hair sticking her head out.

“You awake, Tidal?”

“Yes Aunt Lulu,” he replied, still feeling sleepy.

“You better be,” said Luna.  “You’ll be starting at Canterlot High from this point forward.  And we still need to make sure everything is ready for you.”

“As long as Aunt Tia is up and ready.”

“NOT UNTIL I HAVE MY MORNING COFFEE!!!” yelled Celestia, who was in the hallway walking to the kitchen.

“I better make sure breakfast is ready for you.  You wash up and meet us in the kitchen.”  Luna closed the door so that Tidal can get ready.

His name was Tidal Blue, Celestia and Luna’s “foster” nephew.  And by foster, we mean that Celestia and Luna’s parents adopted his father, Sky Blue, when they were young. He moved from a small town up north to Canterlot after bullying issues went on at his old school.  Celestia learned about this and felt like he would do better at Canterlot High, since she had started to take a stance on bullying ever since the Fall Formal.  Now Tidal is continuing his sophomore year at Canterlot High while living with his sister aunts.

Luna was in the kitchen fixing cinnamon rolls to put in the toaster oven, while her sister, Celestia, was waiting at the coffee pot, waiting for the coffee to brew.  Both of them were still wearing their morning robes.  They already heard the door to the bathroom close and water starting to run in there, telling them that Tidal was in there taking his shower.  Luna saw the toaster oven ready and placed the small pan inside for the rolls to bake.  She set the timer so that it would go off when the rolls were ready.  Still worried about her sister’s decision, Luna decided to ask.

“Are you sure this is the right thing to do for him?  I mean we just had the Fall Formal months ago.  And we saw what happen after-”

“Don’t even say it,” Celestia interrupted.  “Princess Twilight decided to leave her here so that the other five girls can watch and help her understand the meaning of friendship.  She’s not going to be a problem while he’s there.”

The coffee pot was brewed and ready, so she pulled it out and poured a cup for herself before placing it back on its warming pad.  She added and bit of milk and sugar and stirred it before taking a sip.  She was finally more awake and aware of what was around her.

“Besides, this was two classmates who crossed the line and got others on their side just to cause him problems.”

“But did they even use magic to make it happen?” Luna asked.

“You don’t need magic to cause trouble, which is what Sunset Shimmer did before she got the crown.  The only reason she needed magic was to control us for whatever she had planned.  Now she’s just a harmless student in the school.”

“A student that the entire school hates,” Luna added.  “I mean she’s trying to prove that she can change, but I have yet to see her make an effort.”

“All in good time, Luna.  All in good time.”

They heard the bathroom door open, and then the bedroom door close.  Tidal was finished with the bathroom and went to his room to get dressed.  Celestia decided to turn on the TV to see if there were any updates on the weather and school.

“What I don’t understand is why wait until the middle of his second year of high school to do this.  Why couldn’t Sky Blue catch this sooner?” Luna asked.

“Because it was during last fall that it all went down,” explained Celestia.  “I spent a week up there to get to the bottom of this and was lucky enough to stop it before it got a lot worse.  And all because of some group project that didn’t go as planned.”

“From what his wife told me on the phone days ago was that he always keeps to himself.  He never even bothers to make any friends,” explained Luna.

“Because he doesn’t even know how to communicate with others.  His life is spent around dragons and fantasy worlds.  It’s all he ever believes in.”

“At least he knows how to focus on what he needs to learn in his classes.  I’m guessing you got his grades from the school, right Tia?”

“I should have heard from Mr. Discord by now, unless he sent it to my work e-mail without telling me.”

Just then, Celestia’s cell phone rang.  She knew it was hers because she had “I’m walking on sunshine” as her ring tone.  She picked it up and looked at who was calling.  The name “Discord” was displayed on the screen.  So she answered it.

“I hope you have those records I requested sent to me.”

“And good morning to you too, Celestia,” replied Mr. Discord.

…

“Fine.  I already sent them to your work e-mail last night.”

“You had to wait until the last minute to send them, didn’t you?”

“Don’t blame me,” panicked Discord.  “I just got them from the school on Friday.  No wonder you pulled him out of that school.  They can’t get anything done right when you need them to.”

Celestia sighed.  “I should have known.  I guess they all were against them.”

“Now, now Celestia.  You did what you had to do.  That’s all that matters.”

Celestia had a confused look on her face after hearing that last statement.  “I never expected you to say something like that before.”

“Please.  I might be chaotic at times, but I’m not that evil.  By the way, how are the roads out where you live?”

Celestia walked up to the front window to look outside.  “Roads look fine to-” She stopped to see a salt truck go by.  “Change that.  Just saw a salt truck drive by.  Did Fluttershy call you?”

“Yes.  The roads where she lives have some ice around them.  They must still be on the main roads before going to the secondary roads.  I’ll issue a one-hour delay on the start of school.  Best they get to school safe than get hurt trying.”

“Good idea.  Maybe Principal Cinch will understand for once about the downside of the winter weather.”

“As long as she’s not giving me some useless lecture about the importance of education.  I already know about that.  And Celestia.”

“Yes?”

“I hope he does better at your school instead of his old one.”

“Thanks Discord.  I hope so too.”  Celestia ended the call and placed it back where she had it before.  She walked back to the kitchen and said, “School’s starting one hour late.  They should be getting the announcement soon.”

“And Tidal’s grades?” Luna asked Celestia.

“He got them Friday and just sent them over last night.  I’ll have to print them out and go from there.  Getting his classes ready at the last minute will be a challenge.”

“I can understand that.  We couldn’t get to the school the past few days due to the bad weather.  And for them to send them to us this late is-”

“I know,” Celestia said, cutting Luna off.  “I think they didn’t even cared about his well being in the first place.  Let’s just hope that he can get better in his life from here on out.”

They heard the door open from Tidal’s room and saw him enter the kitchen.  He was wearing a dark blue t-shirt with ocean waves on the bottom and a small crescent moon near the left shoulder, blue jeans, and gray shoes.  He went to the fridge to grab the orange juice and pour himself a glass that he got from the cupboard.  He then placed the jug back into the fridge and took a seat at the table.

“I see that you’re wearing the shirt I got you for Christmas,” said Luna.  Tidal just looked at Luna and gave a small smile.  The timer went off, so Luna took the rolls out of the toaster oven so that they could settle.  “How many do you want, Tidal?”

“Three please.”

“I’ll have two, Luna.  You can have the other three,” Celestia told her sister.

Luna began placing the rolls on the plates and added the icing to them.  Celestia picked up her plate, while Luna grabbed hers and Tidal’s plates to the table.  As they were having their breakfast, they heard on the TV about the delay of the schools.

Celestia said, “Well, that should give us some extra time to get everything ready for you, Tidal.  We shouldn’t have any problem getting there while in Luna’s caravan.”

“OK,” replied Tidal.

Celestia and Luna still noticed that Tidal wasn’t as talkative as they hope he would be after the move.  He was never a conversation starter anyway.  After they finished breakfast, Tidal elected to clean the dishes and place them in the dishwasher while Celestia and Luna went to their bedrooms to get changed for work.  Tidal then fixed his own lunch, got his book bag and made sure he had his basic school supplies ready to go.  He was always organized with just about everything, which was one of the problems that the students from his old school couldn’t stand.

Celestia and Luna came out of their bedrooms, fully dressed for work.  All three of them grabbed their winter coats and made their way to the garage where both of their cars were parked.  They decided to take Luna’s dark blue caravan for today.  She got in the driver’s seat while her sister sat in the passenger’s seat.  Tidal sat behind Celestia in the back seat.  Once they were buckled in, Luna started the caravan and pressed the garage door opener in front of her.  She pulled on out to the driveway, which was deiced last night with some salt melt.  She made sure the garage door was closed before they left.

Just as they were about to get on the road, two girls were walking on the snow-covered grass.  One had mint green skin and cyan hair with white highlights.  The other had beige skin and blue and pink hair.  Both were wearing their winter gear as they were walking towards the school.

Luna rolled down her window and said, “Lyra, Bonbon, trying to get to school early?”

“Yes Vice Principal Luna,” responded the beige girl.  “Applejack called and asked if we can get there early to take care of the cafeteria for her grandma.  Their driveway is iced and they are having a hard time getting out on the road.”

“That’s right,” Celestia said.  “Ms. Smith hates to travel in weather like this.  I hope the rest of the lunch crew are able to pick her up for lunch later on.”

“Say, maybe they can ride with us to the school,” said Luna and she was motioning to Tidal.  Celestia knew what she was trying to say and nodded back to Luna.  “Hey girls, you want a ride there?  It would make it easier to get there without being in the cold.

Both girls looked at each other and nodded.  “Certainly,” responded the mint girl.  Both of them got in the back seat of the driver’s side and placed their book bags on the floorboard.  They noticed Tidal sitting in the back seat with them.

“Oh, this is our nephew, Tidal Blue,” Celestia responded.  “He’ll be attending CHS from here on out.”

“Nice to meet you.  I’m Lyra.  Lyra Heartstrings,” said the mint girl who sat in the middle of the back seat.

“And I’m Sweetie Drops.  But everyone calls me Bonbon,” said the beige girl who sat next to Lyra.

“Hello,” Tidal responded.

As they started to make their way to Canterlot High, Luna and Celestia were worried that Tidal wasn’t making an effort to make some new friends.  Luckily, it was Bonbon who broke the ice instead.

“So…where are you from?” she asked Tidal.

“Up north in New Hampshire.  It’s a small town that you wouldn’t have heard of.”

“What grade are you in?” Lyra asked.

“Sophomore.”

“Oh, we’re juniors,” Lyra responded.

“So what brings you here?” Bonbon asked.

“Just some problems with his old school,” Celestia responded.  “Our brother felt like he would do better here at CHS than his old school.”

“We never knew you had a brother,” said Lyra.

“He’s…not actually our brother,” explained Luna.  “Our parents took him in when we were teenagers after his parents died in a plane crash.  So he’s been like a brother to us.  Tidal is their only child.”

“So you’re more like a foster nephew?” Lyra asked Tidal.

“More or less.”

“Well, we know you’re going to like Canterlot High,” said Bonbon.

“As long as-” Celestia gave a quick glare at Lyra, knowing what she was about to say.  “-As you don’t encounter any problems that you went through at your old school.”

“If you ever have any problems, we’ll be happy to help,” Bonbon said with a smile.

Celestia knew that most of the students remember what Sunset did at the Fall Formal, and she wants to make sure that Tidal knows nothing about it.  All she wants is to make sure he can finally live a good life.

“So, how was your winter break?” Celestia asked them.

“It was great,” replied Bonbon.  “We really had a good time.”

“Even on New Year’s,” Lyra added.

Celestia asked, “How so?”

“Let’s just say that the sparks were flying that night,” replied Lyra.

Lyra and Bonbon have been more than just best friends.  Much more.  But only a few know of their relationship.  Celestia and Luna knew about it as well, but decided to keep quiet, since times were changing, and they didn’t want it to be a big distraction for the school, not to mention the magical incident that happened at the Fall Formal.

They finally arrived at the school and noticed that they were the first ones there.  All of them got out of the caravan and made their way to the front of the school.  Celestia got out her keys and unlocked the school’s front doors so that they can get inside and warm up.

“Well, we need to head to the cafeteria and get some food ready for the other students,” Bonbon said.

“I’ll go with you, since the cafeteria doors are locked,” Luna said.

“It was nice meeting you, Tidal.  I hope we cross paths again,” Lyra said as she and Bonbon waved backed to him.

Tidal went with Celestia to her office so that she can get his classes arranged for the semester.  When they arrived, she unlocked the door and made their way through the secretary’s office and into her own office.  Tidal took off his coat and laid it and his book bag on the seat nearby.  Celestia booted up the computer and started to look through her e-mail and found the files that Discord sent to her.  As she was getting them printed, there was a knock at the door.

“Come in,” Celestia commanded.

In walked a white girl with smooth violet hair.  She was wearing a light blue blouse and a purple skirt and boots.

“Rarity.  I see that you were able to make it safely,” Celestia said.

“Oh please.  The roads that we travel to get here were clear as ever.  By the way, how was the Christmas party that you went to?”

“It was great.  The ‘ugly’ sweater that you made me got everyone’s attention…and made my sister jealous.”

“Well, I can see how the ugly sweater craze has become a new thing this time around.  You can thank my mother for knitting the sweater.  I just made the design and added some ‘bling’ to it.  We’ll have to do the same for Vice Principal Luna when next Christmas comes around.”  Rarity noticed the new student in the room.

“Oh, this is my nephew, Tidal.  He’ll be attending our school from here on out.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Tidal,” Rarity said and she extended her hand out for a handshake.

“Hello Rarity.”  Tidal extended his hand out and simply shook her hand.

“Say Rarity, do you think you can give Tidal a tour of the school, since we have an hour delay before classes start.  I have to get his schedule fixed up for this semester.”

“Oh I’ll be happy to do so, Principal Celestia.  Tidal, if you will follow me please.”

As they were about to leave the office, Celestia said, “Oh.  Rarity, can I talk to you for a moment.”  She nodded.  “Tidal, can you wait outside, please?”  He nodded and left the office, closing the door.

Rarity knew what Celestia wanted to talk to her about.  “It’s about Sunset, isn’t it?”

“Yes.  Has she made any attempt to make a change for herself?”

“Not really.  She’s been keeping to herself all this time since the Fall Formal.  I’m not sure she’s making an effort in trying anyway.”  She looked at the door and remembered that Tidal was outside waiting.  “If you want me to make sure that she stays away from your nephew, then-”

“That’s not it,” Celestia said, cutting Rarity off.  “Tidal has had it rough at his old school.”

“Oh dear.  How bad is it?”

“You want the long version or short one?” Celestia asked Rarity.

“The short version please.”

“Tidal had to deal with some bullies, and I think the whole school was on the bullies’ side against him.  So I had to pull him out of that school and bring him here.”

“Almost like the opposite of what Sunset tried to do here.”

“I know.  And I think it’s done some damage to his mental state.  I hate to ask, but is it possible that you and your friends can get him to open up to others?  I know you’re busy with Sunset, but-”

Rarity raised her hand and said, “Say no more.  We’ll do our best to help your nephew.”

“Thanks Rarity.  You’ve been so generous to us and the school.”

“Please.  If I recall, Princess Twilight mentioned that I represented generosity.  And I’m always willing to help out whenever I can.  Now if you will excuse me, but your nephew is in need of a tour.”  So Rarity left the office to show Tidal around the school.

Celestia hoped that things would get better for Tidal, but needed someone to find out what’s truly wrong.  She took out her cell phone and sent a text to her sister.

“Sunset is staying in the shadows, scared.  Rarity is giving Tidal a tour of the school.”

It wasn’t long before she got a reply.

“I’ll look for Sunset and see if she can help Tidal.”

All she can hope is that Sunset can learn the meaning of friendship by helping Tidal find the same meaning himself.