Author's Note

Made a minor change in the dialogue. A certain part of the original implication just felt too implausible. Special thanks to Lofty Withers for the suggestion, which you’ll see soon.

Chapter 03: Mistrust

“Hey, Beef Stew!” A student called out to the young man storming out of the cafeteria. “What’s the matter, breaking up with your girlfriend?” A sparse chorus of laughter erupted throughout the cafeteria.

“Oh, goddess, why?” Sunset cringed, placing her hands over her face in embarrassment and frustration.

“Well, that could’ve gone better,” Pinkie said sullenly as she rejoined her friends. “I was really hoping I could at least get a grin out of the poor guy.”

“It’s not your fault, Pinkie,” Rarity replied. “His reaction was totally unacceptable!” She punctuated her statement by placing her palm out in the general direction where he had walked off. “I shall have to speak to him after our class together."

“No, no. It was totally acceptable,” Sunset spoke up, still covering the upper portion of her face. “I shouldn’t have even mentioned him. Maybe this wouldn’t have happened.”

“What’d you mean it’s acceptable? What’s his problem?” Rainbow Dash asked, sitting directly across from Sunset. “Pinks just went over to have a nice, friendly chat with the guy, and he totally bites her head off! Not cool!”

“It’s because you girls are friends with me.” She quickly balled her fists and slammed them against the table. “Shit, I can’t believe I forgot about him!”

“What do you mean, darling?”

Applejack decided to join in. “Is this another one of those fences ya need to mend?”

Sunset looked towards her new friends. Her eyes seemed heavy with guilt. “Yeah, but I have a feeling this one’s going to be especially difficult.”

Fluttershy spoke up, luckily sitting right next to Sunset so she could be heard. “That boy said something about beef stew. What could that mean, I wonder?”

“Mm-mm,” AJ casually hummed out as a response, sitting across from her. “Only thing that comes to mind is the occasional dinner at home.”

“It’s a testament to just how awful a person I really was,” Sunset answered. “I’ve done a lot of bad things, broken up friendships and relationships, blackmailed and intimidated students, I even played the occasional prank to embarrass someone when I didn’t get my way.” She looked up in the general direction of the student that had called out the name. “But what I did to him was beyond even my usual style of bullying.” She plopped her head down onto the table and covered the back of it with a feeling of shame. “And I was so self-absorbed through all of that, and even caught up with this friendship thing, I actually forgot about him. At least until I bumped into him earlier.”

Before anyone could ask for further information, Pinkie immediately blurted out the most poignant thought on her mind. “How could you possibly forget about him? We each see practically everyone here, everyday!”

“It’s just timing, I guess. It looked like he stayed late in his class, and I just bumped into him as he was walking out the door. I must just usually be a few minutes behind him for lunch.” She raised her head and sighed heavily, with a hint of annoyance. “I was really hoping that whole thing had died out already. But obviously, it’s alive and well.”

“So, what exactly did you do?” Rainbow asked.

“Hmm, as I keep thinking on it, the name does sound vaguely familiar,” Rarity said. “But for the life of me, I can’t recall why.”

“Believe me, right now, it’s much better that way,” Sunset responded. “If I tell you girls, I’d rather it be alone, and not over food,” she stressed.

“Maybe ya can tell us after school,” AJ offered. “Seems like a decent time as any.”

Sunset just closed her eyes and sighed, not for the first time during the lunch period. “Okay. Just… Do me a favor, girls?” They all looked at her quizzically. “Don’t judge me too harshly, please? Remember I’m really trying to make up for what I’ve done and prove I can be a good person.” She looked at each of them with a remorseful gaze. They hadn’t seen her this rattled in weeks.

“Sunset,” Fluttershy was the first to answer, placing her right hand on Sunset’s left, and offering a consoling smile. “I promise, whatever you have to say, we’ll listen, and we won’t judge you as long as you’re trying to prove you’re a better person.”

“Indeed, dear,” Rarity joined, grasping Sunset’s opposite hand. “We’re your friends now, and we shall not let you suffer this burden alone.”

“Don’t worry, we got your back!”

“Won’t nobody put down one of my girlfriends!”

“We’ll stick with ya tighter than a herd o’ cattle in winter!”

Sunset just looked down, deep in thought. “I sure hope so…”

The bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch period. The girls got in line to return their trays, and said their brief goodbyes while preparing for the rest of their classes.

_________________________ * * * _________________________

“And that, boys and girls, is how you work out sine, cosine, and tangent for any portion of a triangle!” The trigonometry teacher, Mr. Vector, stood in his stupid-looking “victory pose,” as we’d come to name it, with his left hand on his hip, right hand pointing towards the board with the stick of chalk in hand, head held high with a cheesy grin, and, despite his exceedingly plump abdomen, trying to puff out his chest like he’d just won some kind of battle. He might actually look somewhat impressive if he didn’t also sport a bowl cut, comical square glasses, and an absolutely laughable tracksuit.

On the chalkboard were three diagrams of triangles, each with various lined and bowed arrows pointing between different portions, the definitions of each of the three terms, and at the right end of the board, a large set of abbreviations written in three lines: “SOH, CAH, TOA.”

I sat at the left edge of the class, staring at nothing in particular and letting my mind wander. Occasionally I’d look down and write something on my note paper to avoid suspicion. I noticed I’d been doing that a lot lately. I just couldn’t seem to pay attention in any of my classes.

“Now, as long as you all can remember these simple rules, the next section should come very easily for you.” He turned back to the board, erasing select bits of diagrams as well as the terms and definitions. He started going on about some new set of information that might as well have been Greek to me.

I decided to take a look at the opposite side of the room, stealing a glance at two of the girls: Rarity, and sitting behind her, Fluttershy. They both had their heads down, copying the information Mr. Vector had been spewing.

While he was going on, Fluttershy decided to glance up in my direction. I just moved my head a bit so it wouldn’t seem like I was staring. Quickly enough, she’d returned to her paper.

Mr. Vector continued his onslaught of mathematical nonsense, turning his attention to us occasionally, making sure we were paying attention. After one such moment, I noticed Rarity stealing a glance in my direction as well. I figured they must have been upset with me for yelling at Pinkie earlier. In all honesty, I started feeling kind of guilty myself after a few minutes. I mean, all she did was come over to say “hi” because she… they probably thought I looked like I needed company.

Maybe I did. But something about them just accepting Sunset’s company so casually, so readily, just bothered me in ways I couldn’t explain.

The bell rang in the middle of Mr. Vector’s tangent. “Oh man, and I was on a roll, too.” He turned towards the students, all eagerly packing away our materials. “Alright kids, remember, sections one through three, even-numbered questions only! I don’t want any cheating by looking in the back of the book.” We all filed out the door as he returned to a couple of books on his desk. As I neared the door, without even looking up, I heard him call my name. “Ryan, a moment please.”

Great, I couldn’t help thinking. Ready round two.

I just stood at his desk wordlessly as the rest of the students left. “Young man,” he reached into the top-right drawer of his desk, and pulled out a familiar sheet of paper, then stood straight and turned his attention to me, practically dangling the paper like it were on a fish hook. “Tell me, what do you see here?”

I steadied my breath through my nose as I answered, “My math homework.”

“And, uh, what exactly are the contents of said homework?” He now had a smirk on his face.

I gently pinched the bridge of my nose and closed my eyes. “Only about half of the assignment you gave us yesterday.”

“That’s right,” he responded with an unfittingly gleeful tone. “Only half of the assignment. And you know what that means, right? It means--” his expression pulled an immediate 180. “-- only half the credit!” He slammed the paper on the desk. “I don’t know what the problem is, Buster Brown, but if you want to pass this class,” he pointed at me with his opposite hand, “you’d better get your rear in gear and focus!” He placed his hands together and paced by me towards the front corner. “I will not have one of my students flagrantly disregarding their work.” He stopped and turned his head back to me. “We have standards at this school, a reputation to maintain, and we strive to abide by them both. And you?” He turned his body as well to face me fully. “You’re not abiding. I don’t believe you’re even trying!” He rushed up to me, grabbing the paper, and scanning it quickly, then began flailing wildly to emphasize his point. “Honestly, even only doing half the work, you’ve still gotten several of these wrong! What happened? You started this year out so well, you hardly ever even got a question wrong, let alone turned in assignments unfinished. And now this?” He slapped my paper with the opposite hand. “This is just sloppy!”

“I’ve had this conversation already, you know,” I commented once I found a sizeable pause in his rant.

He gave me a quizzical look. “You have?” He blinked for a second. “Then I’m sure you know the stakes of your predicament, and the consequences of failing! Oh, sure, you’ll be held back a year, reprimanded perhaps, but your grades, your behavior,” he suddenly pointed to himself with both hands, “they will also reflect on us! And I will not have my reputation tarnished by some hooligan who thinks he’s above doing his schoolwork.” He walked back to the other side of his desk, returning my paper to the drawer. “Now, go on to your next class, but remember: you will begin turning in completed assignments from now on, is that clear?”

My eye began twitching. “Yes,” I deadpanned.

“Good. Now, shoo! I have to get ready for the next class,” he said as he turned to erase everything on the chalkboard.

I began walking out the door again, and stopped as I reached it. I didn’t want yet another run-in with someone, so I peered around the corners. To my right, I swear I saw tufts of purple and light pink hair disappear around the corner.

_________________________ * * * _________________________

My last class for the day was P.E. I was thankful I had the chance to get this class out of the way before the cold of winter really had a chance to set in. We did our usual stretches and calisthenics with nothing out of the ordinary. I hadn’t really noticed throughout the day, but it was pretty cloudy, and we were warned of the possibility of rain, meaning at some point we may have to finish class in the gym.

As we did our exercises on the track, Rainbow Dash continued to outpace everyone as usual, including as we did laps. However I noticed that despite her usual athletic focus, she would break her attention every so often for just a moment to look at me. She moved too quickly for me to be sure, and maybe my conscience was getting to me, but I was certain she was giving me the stink eye.

When the class was finished, I tried to catch up to Rainbow to talk to her, but as soon as she looked in my direction, she practically sprinted back to the gym. I knew there was no way I was going to catch her, so I decided I’d let it go, and stroll up at my usual pace.

Mr. Smith’s words had been swimming around my head since lunch. As had my verbal attack on Pinkie, and the regret I felt over it. I had been avoiding it, thinking it was a waste of time and energy, but maybe I really did need a friend. And despite how socially awkward I had always been, Pinkie was the type to go out of her way to make friends with everyone.

I decided I needed to look for her after the last bell rang, and try to apologize.

_________________________ * * * _________________________

It had taken several minutes to stop sweating and get dry before I was ready to change back to my normal clothes. Most of the other students had already left the locker room and were getting ready for the busses, driving, or walking home in their own groups. But it was common knowledge these girls liked to hang out in front of the school for a while, usually around the Wondercolt statue.

Luckily, this allowed the presence of other students to thin out, which meant less chance of anyone else being around to interrupt when I tried to get Pinkie’s attention. I stayed around the foyer for a few minutes longer, until the busses had finished pulling in and I knew anyone who wasn’t driving or prepared to walk home would be boarding. I looked through the doorway, seeing the last of the students stepping onto the busses. What I didn’t see were the girls in front of the statue. I pushed through the door and stepped out into the open to look around. I couldn’t see them anywhere.

This was when I felt the first sprinkles of rain starting to fall, but I wasn’t going to let that deter me. I already had enough on my mind, and I wasn’t going to let a guilt trip over yelling at Pinkie add to it. I pulled the hood of my jacket up and started checking the corners around the school. I’d checked all around the front, looked through the sides, and I ran to check the back of the school with the track. They weren’t anywhere in sight.

I entered the building through the gymnasium again, hoping they were still here. I ran out into the hallway, nearly bumping into Ms. Cheerilee. “Hey, be careful! This is why we don’t run in the halls, you know!”

“Sorry, Ms. Cheerilee,” I tried to apologize sincerely. “I’m looking for someone.”

“Well, you’re unlikely to find them now, pretty much everyone else has gone home already. Uh, why are you still here, anyway?”

“I was hoping for a chance to talk to her alone, so I waited out the crowd.”

“I see.” She put on a thoughtful face. “Well, the last student I saw was Sunset Shimmer, just a few minutes ago.”

I struggled not to groan at the name, but it might be helpful at least. “Okay, did she say where she was going?

“She said she was meeting with her friends in the parking lot. Is she the one you need to see?”

“No, but maybe that’s where she’ll be.” I headed back through the gym, thanking her for the help.

I ran out the doors, and turned towards the parking lot. They were probably sitting in the sheltered bench station on the opposite side, if they had any intention of staying out of the rain. I rounded the corner, and with a few more vehicles gone, off in the distance, I saw all six of the girls, just as I expected. Even at this distance, I saw Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Applejack were sitting on the bench, with Rarity and Rainbow standing behind them. Sunset was standing in front, facing them, once again wearing her leather jacket.

I moved to the opposite side of one of the larger trucks, trying to calm myself as my heart raced. You’re just asking to apologize to Pinkie Pie, there’s nothing to worry about. They’ve forgiven far, far worse. The worsening rain didn’t do me any favors in calming my nerves. I took one last breath before walking past the truck and towards the benches. The cling-wrapped shielding on the side made it impossible to see in either direction, so I tried to take each second to help calm myself. As I got closer, however, I started to hear one of their voices.

I walked closer. It was Sunset’s voice. I shouldn’t be surprised. The way she was standing, she obviously had everyone else’s attention over something. It took a few more seconds before I got close enough to understand what she was saying to them. As soon as I did, my anxiety returned with full force. It felt like my heart was stuck in my throat and my blood suddenly ran cold.

“... running through the hallway with no pants, and leaving… the worst mess you’ve ever seen.”

Now, instead of being frozen in place, my anxiety drove me to run between the cars and up to the front of the group. Everything seemed to start moving in slow motion, but before I knew it, I was right behind Sunset Shimmer, breathing heavily.

I don’t know if it was the splashing of my steps or my breathing that caught her attention, but she turned around to face me. I saw her eyes go wide as she placed her hands over her mouth. I stared in shock for several seconds before my mind could get back on track, and realized she was telling this story, my story! Outloud to her friends! I looked at each of them, each with different expressions that I simply couldn’t process at the moment.

I looked back at Sunset, my breath getting heavier as I felt an overwhelming urge to just run. “You…” I barely managed to get out above a whisper. “You told them? You told them about that?!”

She tried to move towards me, reaching her hands out. “I’m sorry! I--”

Suddenly I caught my breath and started yelling. “It’s not enough you humiliated me in front of the whole school! Now you have to brag about it?!”

“No! That’s not what--” I cut her words short and I jumped towards her and wrapped my hands around her neck. Her friends reacted immediately, all jumping to separate us.

“You bitch! What... What gives you the right to..?” This was all my brain managed to form as my face burned. I felt my grip being pried open, my body being pulled away from Sunset, who just stared at me, clawing at my hands as well.

“Stop it this instant!” Applejack yelled, slowly prying my hands away.

“Let go!” Pinkie cried, helping Applejack with the task.

“Don’t hurt her!” Even Fluttershy managed to scream out, grasping Sunset’s body and pulling her away from me.

“Dude, don’t make me hurt you!” Rainbow yelled into my ear as she pulled me back by the chest.

“Ryan, stop this at once!” Rarity stepped to the side of my arm, grabbing my face and turning my head to face her. I remember seeing tears in her eyes.

It was only a couple of seconds before this group of girls managed to pry me off of Sunset. The moment they did, she fell back onto the bench, coughing and grasping her own throat, with Fluttershy checking her neck. Rainbow managed to sling me away before rejoining the rest as they all stood between me and Sunset.

I looked at them for a moment. There was a mix of emotions on each face, but one thing stood out above everything else: fear. They were afraid of me. I came to apologize, and I wound up attacking one of them. I felt a familiar burning sensation growing stronger in my eyes.

“Ryan, wait,” Sunset gasped as she stood up and tried to move in front of her friends. She looked up at me with those same, shining turquoise eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean--”

“No,” I stopped her as I backed away. “No, I don’t want to hear it right now. You-- you don’t…” Suddenly, it felt like the world was spinning around me. I turned and ran towards the school, slipping a couple of times on the wet asphalt. I barely made it to the grass before falling on all fours and vomiting. I heard a set of footsteps running up to me, and felt a slender hand placed on my shoulder. “DON’T TOUCH ME!”

The next moment was just a blur and I was wrestling with the unrelenting anger I felt, so I wasn’t even paying attention as I twisted around to grab the wrist of whoever it was, rise to my feet, and run her into the brick wall.

“Was it funny, huh?! Did you all get a good laugh?!” It was only then I registered the face and rainbow of colors in front of me, but I couldn’t stop. I didn’t even notice I had pinned her with my forearm against her neck and the other twisting her arm in front of her. “How much did she tell you? Did she mention the laxatives? How about how she forced me out?!” I didn’t even notice the footsteps splashing behind me. “What about how she got Snips and Snails to record the whole thing and post it for the whole school to see!”

Once again the other girls came to the rescue, their combined strength grabbing between my jacket and my body, and dragging my feet through the muddy grass. I turned and swung blindly, not caring who might get hit next.

I felt my right hand make a solid contact with someone’s face. I looked just long enough to see that I had just broken Fluttershy’s nose. She was now lying back on the ground, hands covering her face.

It wasn’t until I was tackled to the ground that I started to comprehend what was happening. Just past Applejack’s head, I saw Pinkie helping Rainbow Dash to breath again, and Rarity leaning over a crying Fluttershy, probably to inspect the damage. And in the middle of it all stood Sunset, doing nothing but staring at me.

“Alright now,” Applejack spoke as calmly as she could, considering I’d just assaulted three of her friends. “I know you’re feelin’ hurt, but that’s no reason ta--”

“Hurt?” I interrupted. “You think I feel hurt? You don’t know what I feel!” I tried to grab her shoulders and push her off, but she held a firm grip on my jacket.

“Listen, Sunset told us what happened, and if you’ll just--”

I couldn’t help laughing. “Of course she did! I heard enough to figure that out! I’ll bet you even asked for all the details!” I looked up with a grin I couldn’t control, as she just looked away with a look of guilt.

It felt my heart catch in my throat again. I was hoping she had a response for that. Of all the things I could think of, all that had come out of my mouth, I was sure that angry accusation was wrong. It had to be!

“You…” I looked up at Applejack, feeling dread in my chest for the first time that day. “You did. You asked her to tell you what she did to me.”

“I’m sorry!” She was quick to respond after that. “We had to know what it was that made ya snap at Pink-- HOOOGH!”

I couldn’t be here anymore. I had to get away. So I fought. I slammed a fist into Applejack’s ribs, knocking the wind out of her and loosening her grip on my jacket. I did it a second time, and she released her grip entirely. Finally, I swung at her head, knocking her off of me so I could crawl back and get to my feet.

Finally, I had a chance to look at the scene around me. I had a chance to look at what I’d done. I had attacked this group of girls, drawn their blood and left them gasping for air.

Flashes of my last nightmare entered my mind again as I looked at each girl and noticed the unsettling similarities. Rainbow Dash, clutching at her neck and shoulder, gasping for air. Applejack, lying on the ground, blood trickling from her mouth as she held her ribs. Fluttershy, her beautiful, innocent face covered in blood. Rarity, looking between the others and me with a look of pain, fear… and sorrow. Pinkie Pie, her hair straight from the rain, trying to stand between me and anyone else I might attack next, angry and afraid, and ready to fight.

And finally, Sunset. She just stood in the center, with the rain pouring down and matting her hair around her face. The rain masked it well, but I could see the shock on her face, and the puffy, blood-shot look in her eyes. I couldn’t believe it. She was crying.

I stepped back, slipping on a slick patch of grass and landing on my butt. The perspective was even more painful to see from below. “I… I’m sorry,” I barely managed to gasp out before getting back to my feet and running full-speed in the opposite direction.

I didn’t think about going home. I didn’t know where I was going, or how far my legs could take me before giving out. I just knew, at that moment, I needed to be as far away from these girls as possible.