Cinematic Adventures: Carrie

The very next day, the Mane Six and Spike awake with a series of splitting headaches. Groaning as they sat up from their beds, they massaged their aching, throbbing temples. Last night felt like a blue for all of them, they weren’t sure if what they experienced was real or simply a figment of their imaginations due to the stress of the situation. However, one look upon their wrists and they realized what happened the night before was absolutely true. For the very same cuffs remained, placed for the purpose of counteracting any and ‘all’ of their magic.

“Aww buck!” Rainbow groaned. “Here I was hoping this was just a bad dream… the like I actually ‘don’t’ like.”

“Well it ain’t,” Applejack responded. “We was about tah be killed last night!”

“I’ve never felt so weak and helpless in all my life,” Rarity shuddered, frightened. “When I was shoved under that water, my entire life flashed before my eyes. I was worried I’d never see my family or husband ever again.”

“I was worried I’d never see my Cheesy or my sweet Lil’ Cheese again,” Pinkie added tearfully.

“I was worried I’d never see the greatest friends I’ve ever had in my life!” Spike cried out, hugging himself.

“That was the most terrifying, awful moment I’ve ever experienced!” Fluttershy sobbed.

Growling under her breath, Rainbow stood up on shaky legs, stumbling her way through the door to their room. Everyone noticed her leave, quickly gained their bearings, and made their way after her.

“Rainbow, what are you doing?!” Spike yelled after her.

“What’s it look like I’m doing?!” Rainbow yelled back. “When I find those stupid brainwashing creeps, I’ll tear them smack dab in half!”

“Have you gone completely mad?!” Rarity asked, shocked. “So long as we have these cuffs on, we’re powerless! You’d be walking right into a slaughter if you do this darling.”

“I don’t care! I’m sick and tired of people who think they can run around kidnapping and torturing people all in the name of this ‘higher purpose’ they keep blabbing about. I’ll show ‘em a higher purpose after I send them flying to the moon!”

Applejack quickly ran up and tackled her girlfriend to the ground, all while Rainbow struggled in her grip.

“Let me go!” She yelled. “You can’t stop me! Let me go!”

“Yah ain’t thinkin’ straight sugar cube!” Applejack grunted. “Believe me, ah wanna take the fight tah them varmints mahself! But we gotta be patient. We walk in there without our abilities, we’d be dead in seconds. Ah ain’t losin’ ya, now or never.”

Rainbow struggled for a few moments more before eventually she started calming down, allowing her girlfriend’s words to sink. It was clear Applejack was right: They walk into Eden’s Gate territory with nothing but the clothes on their backs, no question they wouldn’t be walking out again. As she took a few deep breaths, Applejack got off her and helped her up.

“Ah girls… Spike… what’ll we do now?” Rainbow asked. “We can’t just let these wackos get away with all of this!”

“Not to worry Rainbow, I’ve got a plan,” Twilight told her.

“What you got Twi?” Spike asked.

“First things first, we need to get to the school and warn Carrie of all this,” Twilight explained. “No doubt Eden’s Gate will be coming for us, so there’s no doubt they’re gunning for her too.”

“I hope she’s alright,” Fluttershy said worriedly. “I know we just met, but still I can’t help but worry for the poor dear. She’s so young…”

“Don’t worry Fluttershy,” Pinkie assured, placing a hand on her shoulder. “We won’t let those big meanies do anything to her or my name isn’t Pinkamena Diane Pie. Or if Gummy’s full name isn’t Gummy Julio Ricardo Montoya Delarosa Ramirez!”

Everyone turned toward Pinkie Pie, each with a quirked eyebrow.

“Is that really his full name?” Spike asked.

“No, but could you imagine?” Pinkie giggled.

Everyone once more rolled their eyes and groaned over Pinkie’s randomness before they piled into Twilight’s car. They soon made their way toward Ewan High, and they knew the time had come to put some holes in the plans of Eden’s Gate. If they had ‘any’ hope of doing so, they needed to warn their new friends immediately.

<>

Outside the school football field, Chris Hargensen and all her Ultras friends stood outside waiting for gym class. Miss Desjardin blew her whistle drawing the girls’ attention. The boys races off the field as the girls lined up. Miss Desjardin seemed pleasantly cheerful today.

“All right stand up, line up please,” Miss Desjardin ordered. “You have a big week coming up. A big month, actually! Probably the biggest month of your lives! Prom and then graduation. Are you excited?”

All the girls smiled and laughed in agreement, as Miss Desjardin smiled toward them.

“Probably all have your dresses, have your dates by now.”

Miss Desjardin walked over toward Chris till they were able to see each other eye to eye.

“What about you, Chris?” She asked. “Who’s the lucky guy?”

“Billy Nolan,” Chris responded. “You don’t know him; he doesn’t go to this school.”

But all at once, Miss Desjardin’s expression shifted from cheerful to accusatory in a matter of seconds.

“Are you gonna get him a boutonniere?” She asked. “Or are you just gonna pin a bloody tampon to his lapel?”

“I so don’t need to hear this!” Chris sighed with an eye roll.

Chris turned to walk away, clearly in no mood for a lecture. But she hadn’t gone far when Miss Desjardin blocked her path.

“You’re not going anywhere.”

Miss Desjardin walked Chris back in loon, then walked toward Sue.

“What about you, Sue?” She asked. “Are you and Tommy busy campaigning to be prom king and queen? I would have voted for you… not now.”

Without waiting for Sue’s response, the teacher backed away to address the entire line-up of girls. The fury was plain to see upon her eyes.

“You all did a shitty thing yesterday,” She addressed them all. “A really shitty thing. And one you had the audacity to post a video. Somebody made a video of it?”

“This is bullshit!” Chris yelled out.

“That’s it!” Ms. Desjardin declared. “Thanks to Miss Hargensen, you can run suicides!”

The groaned over the idea of doing suicide drills for a punishment. Basically, for those not familiar with the ‘suicide drills’: It began with a sprint from one cone to the next. Once there, the object was to kneel down and touch the cone. Then it was a matter of running back to the first, then running to the next farthest away till all the cones are touched. And as if that wasn’t enough… they’d have to do the ‘whole’ obstacle course all over again!

“I’m not doing it!” Chris argued back.

“That’s up to you,” Miss Desjardin smirked. “That’s up to all of you, but anyone who stops running is ‘suspended’, and if you’re suspended… you don’t go to prom.”

The other girls faced each other in horror over what was just heard. Either they partake in the suicides, or they can refuse and miss their one chance to make high school memories ‘forever’. And all because of ‘one’ prank. Miss Desjardin soon turned and looked straight into Sue’s eyes.

“While you’re running, I’d like you all to think long and hard… about what it would be like to be Carrie White.”

All the girls began to run the suicides, as Miss Desjardin drilled them along the way. While they were in the midst of doing so, Twilight’s car pulled up along the parking lot with a skid. The Mane Six and Spike soon jumped out with Twilight taking the lead. They ran as fast as they could onto the football field, passing the girls along the way, and raced straight toward the gym teacher.

“Miss Desjardin!” Twilight called out.

The teacher in question quickly turned when she heard her name called out. She smiled upon seeing the six familiar girls and one teenage boy.

“Well hello kids,” She greeted. “What are you doing out here today?”

“We came looking for Carrie,” Twilight continued. “Have you seen her? It’s important we talk to her.”

“I don’t think she’s arrived yet,” Miss Desjardin shrugged. “But when she does, my best guess is she’ll be in study hall at the library.”

“Okay, thanks!” Twilight thanked her. “C’mon guys!”

The girls and Spike start to turn heel for a run toward the school. But they quickly stopped in their tracks the moment Sue Snell ran in front of them.

“Wait a minute!” She said.

“Oh, what do you want?” Rainbow spat at her.

“Look, I feel really bad about what happened with Carrie. But I just want to say…”

“Oh… ya mean when you and all yer little ‘friends’ were makin’ fun ah Carrie?” Applejack retorted. “Or when ya were y’all throwin’ stuff at her face? Hasn’t she had enough!”

“I know that was wrong. And I feel really bad about it, but…”

“Look darling, if you’re looking to apologize you’re talking to the wrong girls,” Rarity told her. “Apologize to Carrie… then we can talk. Now if you’ll excuse us, the rest of us have work to do… and apparently you do too.”

The girls and Spike quickly walked around Sue to continue their way towards the school.

“I saw what happened last night!”

This made everyone freeze in place, like a pack of deer in front of headlights. Slowly, they all turned back toward Sue with wide eyes.

“So you saw…”

Sue didn’t let them finish and just nodded her head. Everyone faced each other, then back toward Sue.

“How much did you see?” Twilight asked.

“Not very much I’m afraid,” Sue responded. “My boyfriend Tommy and I were out there last night when we saw those cultist guys drive up and pull you guys from the vans. We left shortly after to tell the police. They just brushed it off as us seeing things, and all they cared about was why ‘we’ were out in the middle of the night.”

“Did you tell ‘anyone’ else?” Spike asked.

“I’ve tried, but no one in this town believes me. Not even my own mom. That’s the problem: These people don’t want to admit groups like this exist.”

“Well we do believe,” Twilight responded. “More importantly, we’ve seen what they can do. That’s why we must help Carrie because we know for a fact they want her.”

“Then let me help,” Sue suggested. “This is my ‘one’ to chance to make it up to Carrie after all the horrible things I’ve done to her. I’ve got to do this.”

The girls and Spike looked at each other for a moment, considering the possibility. On one hand, they were extremely skeptical of Sue after what she and her friends did to Carrie the other day. Naturally, they weren’t sure if Sue could be trusted. On the other hand, they could clearly see she was feeling remorse for her part in it all. Even though Applejack lost her strength, she could still sense the honesty in others and Sue was being one hundred percent honest. And so, a decision was made.

“Alright, you can help us,” Twilight concluded. “But please be careful. Eden’s Gate are already after us, we don’t need them coming after you too.”

“Thank you!” Sue thanked them. “I promise you won’t regret this.”

“Sue!” Miss Desjardin yelled from the sidelines. “You got time to talk, you got time to run!”

Sue looked over her shoulder toward her teacher then back toward the others.

“Okay guys, I have to get back before Desjardin puts my head on a stick,” Sue said quickly. “Before I go, you guys have anywhere to stay?”

“We were staying at a motel outside town,” Applejack answered. “Don’t reckon we’ll be stayin’ though. Eden’s Gate came and snatched us in the middle of the night.”

“Well, why don’t you guys come stay at my place for the time being,” Sue offered. “Mom won’t mind at all. We’ve got a few guest rooms that we’re not doing anything with at the moment. I’ll meet up with you guys after school and we’ll all go over together.”

Suddenly Pinkie popped right next to her, and the poor girl nearly jumped out of her shoes. But Pinkie soon had Sue in her grasp, wrapping her arms around her with a bone-crushing hug.

“Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!” Pinkie exclaimed. “That’s the kindest thing anyone’s done for us since we got here. When we get back to Equestria, I’m throwing the biggest ‘Thank You Sue’ party. It’ll be so much fun with games and cake and…”

Sue struggled for life in Pinkie’s tight grasp till eventually her friends pulled the party girl off her. Sue finally took some much needed breaths before running back to the field. Everyone turned with a glare toward Pinkie, who just smiled sheepishly.

“Too much?”

“Yep!” Everyone nodded.

<>

Outside the school, the bell rings as Margaret White’s car pulled toward the curb. Margaret kissed Carrie upon the cheek, the latter dressed in a multitude of layers. A jacket, a flannel shirt, a skirt, her hair tied in a braid, and wearing a cross necklace. Clearly, Margaret wanted her to dress as conservatively as possible. And on that note… she succeeded.

“I’ll be okay, Mama,” Carrie insisted.

“I’m going to leave work early today and pick you up after school,” Margaret replied.

Margaret kept close watch on Carrie, who slowly walked inside the school feeling as though her mother was watching her every step of the way. Soon as Margaret finally pulled away, Carrie turned back and breathed a sigh of relief. Due to her experience the night before and Jacob implanting the idea in her head that she wouldn’t remember anything, she was completely clueless as to what actually happened. Thankfully, she turned around just in time to stop herself from running into a certain boy she’d already run into before. Derick Collins looked toward her with the same hypnotizing sterling eyes, and she was immediately hooked.

“We really must stop meeting like this,” Derick chuckled.

Carrie gave an awkward chuckle before going around Derick, continuing on her way. Before she could get too far, she felt the hand of the teenage boy on her shoulder. Immediately, she stopped in place.

“Whoa, whoa! Where are you going in such a hurry?” Derick chuckled again.

Carrie just stood there without another world, and neither was she moving a muscle.

“Everything okay?” Derick asked.

“Please just leave me alone,” Carrie whispered.

“Huh?”

“I said, please leave me alone!” Carrie said a bit louder.

Derick immediately retracted his hand to his side.

“What’d I say?” He asked confused. “Did I do something wrong?”

“P-Please…” Carrie plead.

Derick was beyond confused right now, yet he could hear the trepidation in her voice. He backed away with his hands raised in defense.

“Alright, I can take a hint,” He spoke. “Sorry for bugging you.”

He turned to walk away, when suddenly he felt a much smaller hand on ‘his’ shoulder.

“Wait, I didn’t mean that!” Carrie said quickly. “I’m sorry, I’m just not very good at being social. I haven’t exactly had very much experience.”

Derick chuckled a bit before turning back around, looking toward the nervous girl.

“Don’t worry about it,” He assured her. “I understand more people around here would sooner throw tampons at you than talk to you.”

Carrie flushed red with embarrassment and tried to turn around before Derick stopped her.

“Sorry, bad choice of words,” He apologized. “I mean you don’t have to worry about being so shy and closed up around me. I’m not here to hurt or make fun of you. Actually, I always thought you were… cute.”

Upon hearing this, Carrie blushed harder and tried to hide her face away. Of this which only made Derick laugh.

“Anyway, I’m really glad I ran into you,” Derick confessed. “I was wondering if you wanted to hang out after school later.”

“I can’t!” Carrie shook her head. “Momma would never let me go anywhere with a boy. She’d never let me go anywhere at all.”

“We’d only be going to the church at the Eden’s Gate compound with a few of my friends, so I’m sure she wouldn’t mind,” Derick assured her. “The Father says that trust amongst our brothers and sisters is one of the most important things we can have. So what do you say?”

Carrie thought for a moment, considering his words. If she and him were going with a group of teenagers from Eden’s Gate at their church compound, what was the harm? After all, Margaret started taking Carrie to the church to get her in touch with God for the longest time.

“Okay,” She smiled. “I’ll go, but so long as I can meet you there. Momma is picking me up after school and she’d rather take me than have me go with anyone else.”

“We can work with that,” Derick nodded. “I look forward to hanging with you later.”

Derick gingerly reached forward and brushed a single strand of hair from Carrie’s face and behind her ear. He then smiled at her before turning around and making his way to class. And the whole time, Carrie watched him feeling the butterflies in her stomach fluttering inside her like hummingbirds. And for some unexplainable reason, she felt a slight… attraction to this mysterious man.

<>

Meanwhile…

Miss Desjardin blew her whistle, pressing the girls to keep going. The whole time the girls sprinted across the field. They were sore, tired, and panting for breath, clearing having been at this for a while. The girls eventually broke into pairs while they continued their suicide drills.

“She can’t do this to us,” Chris grunted.

“Just let it go, Chris,” Sue insisted. “We’re almost done.”

“Then every day this week? All because of Carrie White?! Like hell I will!”

“Keep moving, Hargensen!” Miss Desjardin ordered. “Keep moving or you’re not going to prom.”

“Fuck you!” Chris snapped. “This is child abuse!”

Miss Desjardin stopped in her tracks, she glared toward the girl. Even Sue, Chris’s closest friend, was shocked by her choice of words. Sternly, Miss Desjardin approached Chris, who merely got right up in her face.

“What did you just say to me?!” Miss Desjardin asked.

“I’m not gonna move another goddamn inch because Carrie White had her period and was too stupid to know what it was!”

“What?” Sue asked, in disbelief.

“You’re suspended, you’re outta prom and you’re out of my class, now!” Miss Desjardin shouted, turning to leave.

“No!” Chris snapped.

“No?!” Miss Desjardin whipped around.

“You can’t decide that!” Chris declared, facing the girls for support. “She can’t do this to us!”

“Goodbye, Chris. The rest of you, keep at it.”

“Someone could die of dehydration. Tina, you have a heart condition, right? If we all stick together, they’re not going to suspend all of us, they’re not going to keep us all from prom, there would be no prom! Nick? Lizzie?”

But sadly, the other girls didn’t appear convinced at all.

“Let’s go, ladies!” Miss Desjardin called out.

“Heather, this is bullshit!” Chris insisted. “We didn’t do anything wrong!”

It was then Chris started to realize she’s truly alone in all this. Not another girl among the group was budging an inch.

“Alright, let’s go!” Miss Desjardin shouted again.

“Right, Sue?” Chris begged, taking her arm. “You’re with me on this, right? Come on.”

“Sue…”

And almost immediately, Sue pulled her arm from Chris’ grip. Her facial expression was more than enough to tell Chris, ‘No!’.

“Come on,” Sue told the girls.

Soon Sue and the other girls kept with their sprints, while Miss Desjardin encouraged the group to keep going. It didn’t take long for Chris to realize what she had gotten herself into. It wasn’t enough that she got suspended from school, but now she won’t be going to the prom. And all because of one practical joke against Carrie White.

“This isn’t over…” Chris shook her head. “This isn’t over by a long shot.”

Chris soon stormed off the field, shedding Veruca Salt tears while the other girls kept exercising. But brewing deep within that sadistic mind of hers, a plot of revenge was slowly developing.

<>

Carrie shuffled through the halls quietly and calmly. Everyone looked toward her, and she could hear them laughing. She soon passed a row of lockers where the janitor scrubbed off the graffiti which read, ‘CARRIE WHITE EATS SHIT’. Humiliated beyond measure, she hurried away as every student looked after her, laughing their heads off.

Carrie ducked straight into the girls’ restroom. She put down her book bag and looked herself in the mirror. Disgusted by how she looked, she quickly unbraid her hair still upset over everything. The whole time she stared at herself in the mirror, she could hear Joseph Seed’s words ringing in her ears.

“Cull the herd… weed out the weak… purge the sinners…”

Her anger caused her telekinesis to crack the mirror. She channeled her anger toward the mirror, causing more cracks till the whole mirror shattered, sending shards of glass into the sink in front of her. Wide eyed, it dawned on Carrie she was truly causing things to move on their own… and she could control it! She looked around to make certain she’s alone, then tried again. She stared toward the shards of glass in the sink, and they started to vibrate. Carrie focused with visible effort and several shards floated a few inches in the air. Carrie, in disbelief, smiled at her new power.

The sound of a door opening drew Carrie’s attention, and the glass dropped. Carrie stood over the sink, hiding her actions as someone came in. Carrie quickly grabbed her book bag, set to avoid any trouble.

“Carrie!”

Carrie jumped upon hearing her name called and when she turned around the Mane Six and Spike walked towards her. Recognizing some familiar, friendly faces, she calmed down immediately.

“Hello everyone,” She greeted casually. “What can I do for you all?”

“We need to speak to you,” Twilight told her.

“It’s really important darling,” Rarity added.

“Well, I was just on my way to the library for study hall,” Carried told them. “You can come if you want.”

<>

At a table in the school library, the Mane Six and Spike sat on one side of the table with Carrie White sitting by herself reading a book. Among the group, Fluttershy felt bad for the girl. A child bullied her entire life just for being socially awkward, so different compared to everyone else. Something Fluttershy could relate with personally, like watching a mirror of her past playing out before her eyes. Eventually, she approached Carrie’s side at the desk and casually sat next to her.

“What are you reading?” Fluttershy spoke.

“Nothing!” Carrie replied awkwardly, hiding the book. “I mean… you guys wouldn’t be interested anyway. Just some research for homework—”

“Oh, I’m into research myself,” Twilight Sparkle replied. “Can we at least have a look?”

At fist Carrie didn’t know how to answer the question. It felt so unreal: These girls and a boy, a group she only met a few days ago, were speaking with Carris as if they’ve known each other for years. Slowly Carrie turned her head toward Fluttershy.

“I don’t normally get these conversations,” Carrie spoke quietly. “I mean… who’d hang out with a girl who can’t even have a normal life… or even be good at ‘anything’.”

The majority of the group stared toward Carrie sympathetically. Fluttershy gently placed her hand upon Carrie’s, the latter releasing a heavy sigh of sadness.

“I know what you are going through,” Fluttershy said sympathetically. “Growing up, I didn’t have many friends. Even when I had one, I still felt like I had no pon—no one to rely on… I felt alone most of my life.”

“She’s not exaggerating kiddo,” Rainbow replied. “I was there through it all when Fluttershy and I were at school together. All those kids, picking on her just because she wasn’t… strong as they were. I couldn’t stand that behavior… so we know how you must feel.”

Carrie was rather surprised for several reasons. The first was clearly Fluttershy’s own confession, and the next was how they all seemed to understand Carrie’s upbringing. The young girl in general couldn’t even imagine what the pink-haired teen had gone through, or if her condition were any worse than hers. Yet somehow, it felt exactly the same as the path Carrie had gone through.

“Why are you helping me?” Carrie asked. “I know I asked the first time, but…”

“My dad told me helping someone in need is like caring a flower,” Fluttershy explained. “You can either ignore it and let it suffer… or you can take care of it to ensure it has a better future. And… well, I’d like to help my S.S.F.F.”

“S.S.F.F.?” Carrie asked confused.

“Super Shy Friends Forever,” Fluttershy translated. “And I’d like to be your friend… forever.”

“We’d all be willing to, darling,” Rarity added. “You look just like the type of dear who can sure use some friends right now.”

For whatever reason, the way they were speaking to him, Carrie felt this warmth she hadn’t felt her whole life. It was like a pack of angels had come to her aid, seeking nothing more than mere companionship.

“Sure!” Carrie smiled happily.

“That’s the spirit!” Spike smiled.

Then she saw Fluttershy clench her hand into a fist, raising it slightly into the air. Carrie also clenched her fist and slowly raised it toward her level.

“Super…” Fluttershy spoke.

“Shy…” Carrie added.

The group smiled as two fists collided with each other, and in the midst of their ‘fist bump’ the girls in question declared:

“Friends forever…”

<>

Later that day…

Carrie stared toward the window in class, not paying much attention to the course. Yet she couldn’t remove the smile that was growing on her face. On one hand, she was getting the knack of her newfound gift performing some as simple as making a flag flap. On the other hand, a group of kids and one mysterious teenage boy all wanted to extend a hand of friendship toward her without reason to judge her. As if for the first in a while, she suddenly felt the way almost every other student felt when they’re surrounded by friends. Seemed perhaps things were slowly starting to look up.

“Alright, who’s next?” Mr. Ulmann the teacher spoke. “Uh… Carrie?”

Soon as her name was called, Carrie turned to face the teacher.

“Favorite poem. Did you bring one?”

All the kids turned toward her, several of them laughed. The only ones not laughing were Twilight and her friends, who had taken seats along the back of the class to keep tabs over Carrie. To even suggest that Carrie was nervous was without question an understatement.

“Yeah…” Carrie murmured.

“Why don’t you come to the front of the class and share it with us all?” Mr. Ulmann beckoned.

Carrie slowly got up from her seat and cautiously made her way down toward the front of the class. Sue and Tommy, whose desks are next to Carrie’s, could see how uncomfortable she appeared to be. The other students quietly snickered as she approached the front. Soon as she stood at the front of the room, facing the entire class, she kept her eyes on her book and read her poem of choice.

“This un…

“’This unfrequented place to find some ease, ease to the body some, none to the mind. Times past, and what once I was and what am now o wherefore was my birth from Heaven foretold. Twice by an Angel, who at last in sight of both my parents all in flames… ascended.’”

Soon as Carrie was finished, the whole class just stared in surprise and confusion. Even Twilight and her friends seemed surprised, though whether they understood the meaning remained to be determined.

“Uh… did you get that?” Spike whispered to Rainbow.

“Do I look like a poet to you?” Rainbow whispered harshly.

“Okay, uh, that was, uh…” Mr. Ulmann stammered. “Disturbing.”

The other kids laughed, especially Tina, who clearly had Mr. Ulmann’s ear. Derick, sitting between the students, merely glared toward Mr. Ulmann angrily.

“This is the most you’ve said all year,” Mr. Ulmann continued. “Anything else you wanna add or are you done scaring us for the day?”

“Asshole…” Derick muttered, under his breath.

The other students turned and gasped toward him. There was no doubt everyone heard him, especially the teacher.

“Excuse me, Mr. Collins,” Mr. Ulmann spoke up. “Did you say something?”

“I said ‘awesome’!” Derick lied. “Thought what Carrie read was awesome. Didn’t you, Mr. Ulmann?”

Carrie hurried back to her desk, trying to avoid further trouble.

“All right, who’s next?” Mr. Ulmann asked, looking around. “Uh… Nikki. Uh, I mean, Lizzy~”

Carris sat back down, keeping her head as low as possible. She pushed some hair in front of her face hoping to stay hidden. She peeked over toward Derick, who just smiled at her with an assuring wink. Spike and the other girls spotted this right away, immediately realizing what was going on.

“Girls,” Spike spoke up. “I think Carrie has a crush on that boy.”

“I reckon so,” Applejack nodded. “He’s got a name?”

“I did hear someone speak his name in passing,” Twilight confirmed. “Derick… Collins…”