The Big Secretby StolenMemesChaptersThe Importance of FriendsThe Importance of MemoriesThe Unimportance of FearThe Importance of FriendsThe halls of Canterlot High were filled with awkward teenagers trying to get to whatever classes they needed to get to, just like any other day. And just like any other day, there were the usual happenings in any high school on a normal day. Canterlot High is and was just like most other high schools, you had the popular crowd, the artsy-hippie types, the rednecks and the quirky kids, all of which were doing their own day-in and day-out things. The popular kids were either at practice or roaming the halls like they owned the place. The rednecks were talking amongst one another, half of them talking about nothing interesting, the other half bringing up their political beliefs. The hippies of course were doing whatever made each of their lives a little easier. Some were practicing theatre or letting their creative juices flow while others were sneaking off into the bathrooms in large groups, thinking they’re fooling everyone with what they’re doing in there. The quirky kids were also doing various activities. The nerds were being nerds and talking things too complicated for anyone else to follow, while the outcasts were busy scaring everyone else off, and the emo kids were brooding amongst themselves. Amongst all the chaos, one girl skipped through the halls without a care in the world. All she cared about was helping others find their laughter. Her name was Pinkie Pie. Pinkie was… not your average teenager. She didn’t necessarily belong to any cliques or even thought negatively about anyone (the exception being her friend, Sunset Shimmer, for the longest time because she was Queen Bee at Canterlot High and used her social power to humiliate others until she was shown the error of her ways). Pinkie Pie skipped her way into 3rd period, sitting down in her usual seat next to a good friend of hers, Rainbow Dash, the school’s top athlete. She turned to her friend and the two began a pleasant conversation that neither could recall the topic of by the end of the day. 3rd period was the entry level theatre class, and since it was required that everyone take at least one Fine Arts class to graduate, it was somewhat of a blow-off class. One of those classes that had seniors mixed in with freshmen and everyone in between. “NO!!!” A shriek was heard from the back of the class. Everyone including Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie turned to the source of the scream. Diamond Tiara. This freshman girl had a history of bullying their friends’ sisters and generally being a spoiled brat, so whatever it was most assumed it was something petty, but that didn’t stop Pinkie Pie from seeing the obvious distress coming from a younger kid, so her and Rainbow Dash went over to the kid, despite Rainbow Dash having her doubts. The two made their way over to the now crying Diamond Tiara, who was now gaining more attention. “Hey there, are you alright?” Pinkie Pie asked the underclassman, but couldn’t understand the response behind her wall of sobs. “What’s wrong? You can tell me.” Pinkie continued to kindly try and get the girl to answer her, but Rainbow Dash noticed the girl’s phone laying flat on the table next to her. It was opened to a MyStable page. Rainbow Dash looked closer and what was on the page became more clear. Suddenly what had made the girl so upset made more sense now; one the phone was a picture of Diamond Tiara being a little too intimate with an upperclassman on the football team. “Uhh… Pinkie?” “What?” “This might be a little out of our control…” ... By 6th period most knew what was going on. Since Diamond Tiara, a new secret had been posted about someone every period on an anonymous account on MyStable. Many people started getting nervous while others began getting desperate and started accusing one another. Many teachers didn’t take the account seriously, while others were calling Principal Celestia nonstop. Amongst it all were the few who felt they had nothing to hide. Rainbow Dash had U.S. History in 6th period. With her was Applejack and her best friend, Fluttershy. Applejack got along with the rednecks, but some of them were a little too rude for her taste, while Fluttershy mostly kept to herself. On a normal day, Coach Side Sweeper would be teaching them about how there was not multiple shooters in the Zapruder Film. Today on the other hand, nobody could focus and their easily distracted history teacher was no exception. “Listen gals, we’ve got nothin’ to hide, so it’s best we shouldn’t be too nervous ‘bout this online feller.” Applejack strategized amongst the three friends. “Now who would want to do this?” “Probably some incel to be honest.” Rainbow Dash almost immediately responded. “Rainbow, that’s not a very nice word.” Fluttershy interjected. “I mean, yeah. But think about it,” she retaliated. “Of the three leaks today, all of them were girls unless you count the creep in the first picture. So it’s probably some kid who got upset after being rejected.” “I don’t know about that, Rainbow. I don’t think that’s enough evidence.” “Wait what’s an incel?” Applejack stated. “Okay we’re getting off topic here, we need to-” Rainbow Dash was cut off by commotion nearby. Another post. The three girls checked their MyStable accounts to find another person’s secret revealed. This time, a video of one of the most pristine girls in school passed out drunk with beer cans surrounding her. But what caught Fluttershy’s eye was a follow up post immediately after. Soon, others began to notice. “For the finale, I will take down someone big. Prepare yourself, you have one hour.” One of their classmates, a hippie named Burning Bush read aloud. With the statement, followed an image. Six images put into one to be exact. ‘Oh no…’ the three friends thought. The post contained the yearbook photos of Sunset Shimmer, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash in that order. The class went silent as they all turned to the three girls in the room. In Physics, Rarity and Sunset Shimmer felt the same types of glares as well as Pinkie Pie in Algebra. “Well it can’t be me, I don’t have any secrets!” Applejack called out. “None of us do! Right gals?” She turned to her friends, snapping Rainbow Dash out of her initial shock. “Yeah!” She answered snappily. “I don’t have any secrets! And I’ve known Fluttershy since we were in pre-school. There’s no way I don’t know something about her.” She defended. Fluttershy was still frozen. Her friend walked over to her and put her hand on her shoulder. “Fluttershy, are you alright?” This finally snapped her out of her trance. “Y-yeah I’m fine… I don’t have any secrets either.” She shyly said. ... When the bell rang and everyone began shuffling out of class and onto 7th period, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy made their way out, wishing Applejack good luck. The two walked down the hallway in silence for a moment before the rainbow athlete spoke up. “It’s probably gonna be something about Sunset.” “Hm?” “Well it’s kinda obvious, she was kinda doing everything behind the scenes for years, I’m sure whoever this is dug up something on her that she probably forgot about.” “Are you sure?” “Well yeah, I’m positive this guy just wants revenge.” “But what if it isn’t?” “I dunno something about Rarity?” Rainbow Dash laughed. “Trust me, Fluttershy. I guarantee it’s not you or me, so quit worrying, bud.” “If you say so…” “Alright well I’ll see you after school! Whatever it is, it can’t be that bad.” With that, she dashed off to the soccer field as Fluttershy made her way into her final class of the day. Once inside, Fluttershy sat down at her usual spot in the corner. Rarity finally came in a few seconds before the bell like she always did. Being the popular girl she was, she had a lot of friends around campus and a lot of them often stopped to talk to her. Rarity was probably the only one in their group more popular than Rainbow Dash. Despite this, Rarity still had a great heart and had so much love to give. It also helped that she gave Fluttershy tips when it came to her love life on rare occasions, something not even Rainbow Dash was very good at helping her with. Rarity sat down next to Fluttershy and before they said anything, they both gave one another a look they both understood. A few seconds of silence filled the space between the two before Rarity finally spoke up. “So we’re about to find out some sort of secret this class, aren’t we?” “...Yeah…” “Well no matter what it is, I’ll still love you like a sister, darling. I can expect the same?” “Of course, Rarity!” Fluttershy spoke louder than usual. “Nothing will change that! I’ll always be here for you.” “Thank you… Fluttershy, I- I needed that.” Rarity finally showed her worry. Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie and Sunset Shimmer were sitting in Art, painting to distract themselves. “Pinkie I’m just so worried about this whole thing. What if this person brings up something that-” “Sunset.” Pinkie Pie stopped her friend. “Why do you care?” “Huh?” “Whoever is behind all this is just some meanie who wants to fill us all to hate each other, so why bother. We’ve all got secrets and embarrassing stories, so why do we care if somebody likes to write fanfiction or sleep around? We’re all people and as long as we can make eachother laugh, I think we’ll be fine. Besides, you’re good now. I know that, you know that, and our friends know that. So why does it matter, in 20 minutes, the secret will come out, and in 45 when class is over, we’ll all go to the shop, eat and hang out. Only today we’ve got something interesting to talk about.” The pink girl smiled at the red one before going back to her painting. Sunset went back to her painting, this time even deeper in thought. ‘Maybe she’s right? Is Pinkie Pie right? The girl thought to herself. She looked around the class and thought about her new friends. She thought about everything going on in her life and then all the things she’d done and those she’d hurt in the past. ‘Maybe…’ ... Applejack opened her phone. 2 minutes ‘till the next post. She wasn’t much of a social media person (one thing her and Fluttershy had in common), so this wasn’t really up her alley in terms of problems. She cared about her friends and knew next to nothing could change that. She felt this person wasn’t much of a threat and more an annoyance. She didn’t get social media the way everyone else did with all the countless emojis and Snapchats amongst other things. She only got it after everyone had told her to. She preferred basic text messaging to most other media and used it to communicate with her friends. With that, she opened their group message and sent one; AJ: Love yall whatever this jerk throws at us we can handle. I know it yall know it God knows it. Pinkie Pie responded within seconds, quickly followed by Rarity. PP: ^^ R: I couldn’t agree more, darling. Sunset Shimmer and Fluttershy joined the conversation just moments after, with the only absentee being Rainbow Dash, who was probably amidst a workout. R: One more minute until one of us is RUINED by some secret spreading FIEND!!! SS: I promise no matter what you guys hear about me, I love all of you and would never hurt any of you. PP: o gurlz u crack me up were still gonna be friends after this ;) FS: It’s still scary tho… AJ: Fluttershy itll be alright. Your gonna be OK. R: 30 seconds. I can’t take the suspense SS: Let’s get this over with… AJ: Love yall PP: <333 FS: I wish Rainbow was with us right now. Seconds after Fluttershy’s text was sent, each of them opened MyStable and waited for the post with varying levels of worry and anticipation. The seconds came and went. No post. Rainbow Dash finished her jog around the track and looked at her phone and saw multiple notifications. ‘Oh no…’ She thought. Relief came to her as she noticed it was just the group chat. She popped in and got a comment in. RD: Bring it on, anonymous asshole! AJ: Language Rainbow Dash laughed at her friend’s immediate response. She noticed the time to see no post yet. RD: lmao they didnt post!? WEAK FS: Maybe their connection is bad RD: Doubt it, they probably realized who they’re dealing with! XD A few seconds went by and nobody responded. RD: Anyways I gotta get back to practice. See you guys after school Rainbow Dash set her phone down and jogged over to the rest of her team. Just then a notification popped up her phone, as well as everyone else’s phone. Everyone around the school opened their phones to see that the post was finally up. The big secret. One by one, everyone in school knew, whether by actually seeing the post themselves or by the word of their fellow classmates. But the ones closest to the secret couldn’t believe their eyes, nor the awkward situation presented at them. Author's Note I've been out of the game for a few years, but I felt like I might give writing a shot again. Sorry for the cliffhanger y'all. Hope you guys enjoyed! Constructive criticism is very welcomed! The Importance of MemoriesThere was two posts, each coming within three minutes of one another. The first of which being a yearbook with the name "Rainbow Dash" scrawled across the top surrounded by various doodles of lightning bolts and other Rainbow Dash-esce decorations. The second post contained that actual secret- what was in the yearbook. There it was, right in front of everyone; the big secret. The post was that of a yearbook open to the Junior section. At first glance, it seemed normal, but with closer inspection, one could easily see a heart drawn around an individual: Fluttershy. … It was a warm summer afternoon. A young, six year old girl named Rainbow Dash was kicking around a soccer ball in her front yard. She wasn’t very amazing, but she knew with practice, one day she’d go pro. She was better than most kids her age and could usually dribble well. Today however, she’d gotten tripped up when another girl knocked her out of the way. “Hey what’s your problem!” Rainbow Dash got up to look at who would dare interrupt her soccer time. She saw the girl before her, a cute girl with bright hair with a beret in covering one of her eyes. The other girl’s demeanor seems aggressive but only for a short moment as she regressed into that of a shy mouse. “I-I’m sorry… Y-ou were about to run over Angel…” Before Rainbow Dash could lay into the girl more, she noticed the bunny the meak girl was holding. It was a cute little thing; and it was still a baby. The girl held her bunny close as she practically cowered at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash looked upon the girl and for one of the first times in her young life, felt something she couldn’t explain. She didn’t know why, but she knew this girl would be her best friend forever, but it’s not like she understood complex, indescribable emotions at the ripe age of six. But to her, it was something of a gut feeling, and Rainbow Dash trusted her gut more than anything on Earth. “Sorry I almost killed your bunny. Wanna be friends?” Silence. Rainbow Dash didn’t get it. She apologized and asked a straightforward question. She wondered why this girl was being so odd. The two girls stood in awkward silence for a moment before Rainbow Dash spoke up again. “I’m Rainbow Dash! What’s your name?” More silence from the cowering girl. Thinking it would help, Rainbow Dash held out her hand to be shook, but was met with the other girl cowering even lower. Rainbow Dash didn’t understand this girl. She even used the handshake introduction for pete’s sake! Suddenly, a man walked up behind the girl. “Hey Fluttershy, is this your friend?” He said while crouching down beside her. “Can you make her talk, mister?” Fluttershy’s father laughed. “Well aren’t you just adorable.” “Hey, I’m not adorable!” Rainbow Dash threw up her arms in anger. Her reaction was even more vivid once the man patted her head. “Hey, quit it!” Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash became neighbors that day, and (while it wasn’t immediate) the two became best friends. They grew up together, going through various adventures and getting involved in many kinds of wacky hijinks over the years. Sometimes, Rainbow Dash invited Fluttershy to play soccer (which she’d almost always say no to), and other times Fluttershy would ask Rainbow Dash if she wanted to go to the animal shelter with her (which she would almost always say no to). Fluttershy was far too shy to say so, but she had a deep love for animals and taking care of things. She was quite motherly towards all creatures she came across. She took care of animals no matter what shape they were in. When she was thirteen, she had asked her parents if she could take in ANOTHER puppy that she’d found roaming around the neighborhood, despite already being responsible for one dog, a bunny, and a kitten as well as a family of racoons that liked to stop by their home every night. “Fluttershy, you already have multiple animals you take care of?” Fluttershy stood before her parents pointing towards a stray australian shepherd sitting outside their back door on the patio. “B-but-” “Your father said no, and no means no.” “What it-” “Oh dear,” Fluttershy’s mother crouched down. “Listen, as amazing as it is that you wanna take care of every animal you see, you can’t take care of all of them at once. It’s too much for a thirteen year old girl.” “Your mother is right, Fluttershy, you’re thirteen. You should be out having fun with your friends. Not taking care of-” He stopped as his wife gave him a glare. “I mean, you’re doing a great job sweetie, but maybe you should consider taking it easy. You’re still a kid.” Fluttershy sunk into despair before her mother spoke up. “Listen Fluttershy, we can take him in tonight-” “REALLY!?” Fluttershy and her father reacted. Fluttershy being one of hope and joy while her father being of confusion and deep concern. “...but tomorrow, we’ll drive him to the shelter. She’s still a puppy so I’m sure she’ll find a good home. Are you alright with that, sweetie?” Rainbow Dash on the other hand, liked all things fast-paced and exciting; sports being her favorite of them all. Her love for these things all stemmed from her natural ability to do good in sports (probably genetic as her parents were both excellent athletes in college). Despite this, she was shocked when her best friend and next door neighbor asked her if she wanted to take in a turtle when they were sixteen. “Please Rainbow Dash? My parents won’t let me take in any more animals.” “It’s a turtle, Fluttershy! Who would keep a turtle as a pet!?” Fluttershy pretended not to act offended at this. “Please, Rainbow Dash? Tank doesn’t have a home to go to and the local shelter is full right now. Won’t you take him in?” Fluttershy shot her friend a pair of puppy dog eyes. Rainbow Dash could never tell if she could do that intentionally or it was a natural accident, either way, by now Rainbow Dash had gotten an understanding of how she felt deep down about her best friend and (despite not really wanting a pet) would gladly help out her best friend. “Fine…” She sighed as her friend squeed in excitement. “But you’re gonna have to help me learn how to take care of…” She hesitated. “His name is Tank.” “Help me take care of Tank, I haven’t really had to take care of a pet before.” “I’d love to, Rainbow!” Rainbow Dash warmed up to her new pet pretty soon, and despite her mother wanting to get rid of him, she kept it and took great care of Tank, not just because she developed a love for the animal, but also because at this point in her life, Rainbow Dash understood herself more and started noticing how she truly felt about her best friend. During her freshman year of high school, Rainbow Dash had gotten home from a long jog around the neighborhood. Once she got upstairs, she accidentally got a glimpse into Fluttershy’s blind-less window in which she saw her best friend, having just gotten done bathing, taking her towel off, giving her a full view of what lay beneath. Quickly, Rainbow Dash averted her eyes, before opening them again, this time taking in what she was unintentionally viewing. The eyes lingered for just a few seconds more before she buried her face in her pillow. Again, Rainbow Dash found herself trying to take a peek, but by now, Fluttershy had become more decent and slipped into bed, finally turning off her lamp once Rainbow Dash could see into her room once more. ‘What’s wrong with you? Why would you do that!?’ She thought to herself. ‘That’s your best friend and you’re violating her privacy!’ Rainbow Dash felt disgusted with herself. She slammed her pillow over her head and clutched it tight before flipping over and looking up at her ceiling. “This is not happening… I can’t be-” She paused. ‘I’m fucking Rainbow Dash! I can’t be a fag! That’s just…’ Rainbow Dash sat up the entire night contemplating and contemplating her situation. She was disgusted and confused, but most of all- she was scared. Very scared. She feared what her friends might think of her. What her mom would think. What her teammates would think. This was new territory to her. ‘No.’ It came to her. ‘I’m not gonna tell anyone. Not mom, not Pinkie, not coach Spitfire, and especially not Fluttershy…’ Rainbow Dash thought back to her friend’s seemingly nonchalant nudity in front of her window. Her window was on the second story, covered by a room that jut out in front and the fact that the only thing behind their houses was nature, so the only people that would be able to see would be Rainbow Dash and anyone looking through her window. Even then, she had forgotten why the girl would leave her blinds up when she remembered Fluttershy’s twelfth birthday. Fluttershy was a very shy girl, so she didn’t make a lot of friends growing up, because of this whenever her birthday came every year, it was usually only Rainbow Dash there. Her twelfth birthday was no different as the two girls had a sleepover and spent the day watching movies and playing games in Fluttershy’s room. “What do you wanna do now?” The two girls were gazing at the ceiling, Rainbow Dash was starting to become bored while Fluttershy seemed to be in a state of zen. “Hm… I dunno.” “Well it’s your birthday.” “Well, I guess we could gossip? Is that what girls our age do?” “I think so?... I’ve never talked any gossip, though.” Rainbow Dash sat up and faced her friend, who was still lying down and gazing upward. “I think I’ve overheard some of the other girls in the locker room talking about boys.” “Well um… I guess we could do that.” “Alright! Uh…” The two sat in awkward pre-teenage silence not knowing what to say. “Anyone you like?” Rainbow Dash finally spoke up. “N-no… I don’t think so…” Fluttershy stated. “Huh… I don’t think I like anyone either.” Rainbow Dash replied. The two stared at each other for a moment before they began giggling, their giggles soon turning into pure laughter. The two enjoyed the rest of the night as two young pre-teens would before they eventually went to bed around 2 A.M. A few hours later, Rainbow Dash woke up. She sat up and saw her friend staring out the window. “You up?” Fluttershy turned to her friend and nodded. Rainbow Dash decided to come closer and see what her friend was looking at. Upon reaching the window, she could now understand and appreciate the view. Outside the window was a perfect view of town, and past that, the forest beyond. It looked so peaceful to her. “I like the view.” “It sure is a nice one.” “It’s better on the roof.” The two girls went up on the roof and looked out into the world and up at the stars. Taking in the beauty around them. The quiet, nature-filled summer air. Everything about it was wonderful. “This is why I took my blinds down.” “Well I don’t blame ya.” “I know a lot of scary things happen at night, but everything else about it so… beautiful. The stars, the sounds of nature, everything! And a view like this makes it perfect. Sometimes, I wish it could stay like this.” For a brief moment, Rainbow Dash looked at her friend with wonder. As they grew older, she could understand this deeper side of her friend. She wasn’t just the shy girl next door, she was the nature-loving kind-hearted girl she loved spending time with. “You know what, Fluttershy?” “Hm?” “I don't want things to change between us ever! I wanna become a Wonderbolt when I grow up and you're gonna be the... best animal person alive, like that guy who got killed by a Sting Ray!" "Oh my..." "And we're gonna be best friends forever! We'll be next door neighbors and we'll get old and die together!" Fluttershy giggled. "I hope so too." The two looked back into the night sky, having gotten closer to one another and optimistically thinking about their futures. The Unimportance of FearRainbow Dash entered the locker room with a sense of relief. Whoever was running that account was obviously too much of a coward to actually post anything about her or her friends- or so she thought. Her life was going to change in about 5 minutes and she didn’t even know it. The world can be a cruel and uncaring place. Throughout one’s life, they will see many major changes and shifts in tone due to forces that may or may not be within their control. Whether or not they make the most of it however, completely is. Some of these changes can be because of little, minute things that build into bigger things or total hit-by-a-train-type events that immediately mold the rest of someone’s life. In Rainbow Dash’s case, though it wasn’t as hard as getting hit by a train, was about to go from in the closet to unwillingly out and about. From that day forward, she would see a major shift in her life. Confronting her fears at full force, once and for all. When she entered the locker room with that over-confident relief followed by a typical speech from Coach Spitfire about their good work at practice and how they would “destroy” the other team at their next game, she did not expect what she would hear whispers and a few snickers from her team-mates. Feeling a little more investigative than normal, she went to go talk to a sophomore on the J.V. team named Vapor Trail. Vapor Trail was a little shy, which Rainbow Dash guessed was what she liked about her, seeing as it reminded her of Fluttershy. She liked giving her pointers and helping her get better at soccer. She was sure Vapor Trail would make varsity with flying colors next year if she could just work on her confidence. “Hey Vapor, what’s everybody talking about?” Vapor Trail seemed to be startled by this. She looked at her upperclassman friend, then to everyone around them. She leaned in and whispered to Rainbow Dash. “Uhh… you should check MyStable…” Rainbow Dash’s heart skipped a beat. “Listen, I don’t really care…” Vapor Trail’s voice seem to fade into background noise as Rainbow Dash quickly turned and opened her phone to MyStable. A quick scroll down and she saw the post. Rainbow Dash’s pupils shrank to the size of atoms and her blue face now matched the same shade Rarity’s. A sudden sense of Vertigo came over her before she lost all feeling in her body. Every one of her senses but her vision seemed to fade away in an instant. Dropping her phone, she shoved past the girl next to her and fell into a full sprint out the locker room, still drenched in sweat from practice. … Fluttershy found herself paralyzed in fear, her friend Rarity trying to bring her back into reality. “Fluttershy? Fluttershy darling speak to me!” “I- I…” Fluttershy’s eyes darted around the room. Everything around her seemed to get bigger to the point of surrounding her. She felt small and miniscule, as if everyone around her were monsters ready to pounce. She was afraid- very afraid. And what did she do when she was afraid of something? Sure, cowering in fear was one thing, but when she was surrounded? “Are you alright?” Fluttershy darted out of the classroom and into the hallway with her hands over her eyes, tears flowing down her cheeks. She was in full panic mode. Rarity tried to follow suit, but quickly realized Fluttershy was much faster than her. She had already lost her around a corner. In her teary-eyed panic, Fluttershy didn’t notice the other when they ran into eachother and fell to the floor. The two made eye contact and realized who one another were- Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy sat in silence for a short moment before Rainbow Dash broke the silence. “I-I’m so sorry…” Rainbow Dash found herself breathing heavily and getting teary eyed before getting back up and running away, leaving her best friend behind. Fluttershy staring at her friend as she ran out the door and into daylight. Suddenly, she noticed she wasn’t crying anymore. The bell rang. Students poured out of their classes when Rarity finally caught up to her. “Fluttershy darling, you ran off! Are you alright?” “Y-yeah I just…” Fluttershy was at a loss for words. “I think I need some time to think about everything…” Rarity watched as Fluttershy walked into the crowd. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see Pinkie Pie and Applejack. “Oh hello, are you girls ready to go to Sugarcube Corner?” She paused. “Do either of you happen to know where Sunset Shimmer is?” … Sunset found herself walking through the halls, having told Applejack and Pinkie Pie she’d have to meet them later, telling them she had somewhere to go. Sunset Shimmer was a leader. Not a formal leader of any kind, but she was the defacto leader amongst her new friends, and she couldn’t stand to see anyone bully her friends. So when she exited class and heard Principal Celestia remind students over the intercom about a “Police Cadet after-school training course”, she couldn’t resist. Sunset entered the gymnasium with confidence that this would help her catch the mysterious online entity, quickly taking not of everything and everyone in there. First, she noticed about five students sitting in chairs facing the other way and a podium in the center. Surrounding the gym was various obstacles and other items for physical training. The students in the center looked a little different from one another. Upon reaching the seats, she got a better view and possible judgement about each. In the front row was two meat-head looking dudes. They both had very stereotypical buzzcuts and stood up strait as if they’d been military their whole lives. A few seats down from them was a scrawny-looking boy with glasses and bad acne, trying to hide the fact that he was very nervous. Sitting on the end was a lad in a hawaiian shirt and ripped jeans with a devilish smirk on his face. And somewhere in the middle of it all, one of the other students stood out; mainly because she knew him. “Hey Flash, what are you doing here?” Sunset looked down at the boy she found herself sitting next to. “Oh hey, Sunset. I should be asking you the same thing.” Sunset playfully rolled her eyes before looking at her feet and dawned a more serious look on her face. “I wanna try and find out who’s running that MyStable account.” She started. Flash raised an eyebrow at this. “What they did to not only my friends, but those other kids… was just cruel, and I’m gonna put an end to it.” “Geez, Sunset. That’s pretty noble of you. You’ve got me beat.” “Oh really, huh? Try me.” “We-” Before Flash Sentry could finish, a man dawning a blue police uniform entered the room. “Attention, new cadets! I’d like you all to sit in the front row!” The man commanded. He looked to be in his twenties. He had an white-blue head of hair and pale orange skin. He looked down the row at each cadet, getting a good look at each one before stopping on Sunset. “My name is Sargeant Steel Sentry!” He announced. It took her a moment, but Sunset Shimmer realized what he had just implied and looked to Flash. “I am going to be training you cadets for the next eight weeks. By the end of these two months, you all will be in the best shape you’ve ever been and hopefully, I will have inspired your career path.” “Flash is that-” “No talking, cadet!” Sgt. Sentry leaned towards her. He leaned back and looked at everyone once more. “As some of you may have figured out by now… Flash right here…” He put his hand on Flash’s shoulder. “...is my younger brother.” … Flash Sentry and Sunset Shimmer walked out of the gym with some fresh paperwork in their bags and headed towards the sidewalk. “So… your brother is-” “Yeah, my older brother is a Sargeant for the Canterlot PD. He’s a pretty great guy, though I’m not sure I wanna…” “Hm?” “I just don’t know if I’m good enough be a cop, you know? Steel is so cut out for it but I’m not, you know? He’s always been so cool and awesome and I’m just me…” “So you’re telling me that you, the guy who drives a sports car, plays lead guitar in a band and has loads of girls fawning over him is worried he’s not cool?” “Okay when you say it like that…” “Come on… I’m meeting the girls down at Sugar Cube Corner if you wanna come with!” … Rainbow Dash didn’t stop running. Her feet carried her far, far away from the school without looking back. Before she knew it, she was beyond the city limits and out of energy. She looked around her to see nothing but trees, a dirt road and a familiar farm house about a half a mile away. The sound of a car coming to a stop behind her made her turn around. A red pickup truck turn it’s engine off and the driver hopped out to reveal Applejack. Applejack walked around to the front of the car and leaned against the front engine, crossing her arms looking Rainbow Dash dead in the eyes with a straight, blank face. “You need a ride, sugarcube?” The ride back was silent for the first minute or so. “So Fluttershy, huh?” Applejack playfully asked. She looked away from the road and noticed her friend sinking deeper into herself. Applejack pulled over and placed the truck in park. She turned to the girl in the passenger seat and sighed. “Listen, sugarcube…” She started, Rainbow Dash finally having the courage to look at her made eye contact. “God made you the way you are. That doesn’t make you any less of a person than you actually are. Nobody’s perfect and if they are, they’re lyin’ to ya.” “Yeah but this is disgusting!” Rainbow Dash finally spoke up waving her arms around. “I beg yer pardon?” “Fluttershy is my BEST FRIEND and I’m attracted to her! I’m supposed to be Rainbow Dash! The hottest, most daring girl in school! I should have guys drooling over me like Rarity but no, I’m into girls…” “I might not look it, but there’s nothin’ wrong with that. So maybe you don’t like dicks-” “Just drive me home, Applejack…” Rainbow Dash interrupted. Applejack sighed and put the car in drive, then drove forward. The drive home was silent. The two girls never spoke a word to one another the whole trip. There was the occasional glance over from one another, but otherwise it was dead silent. Upon arriving at their destination, Rainbow Dash opened the truck door and stepped out, but not before Applejack turned to her. “I love you, sugarcube. All of us do, and I hope you know that.” Rainbow Dash looked at her friend. “Thanks, Applejack.” Rainbow Dash stepped out, shut the door and went inside. Applejack watched her walk in and shut the door behind her, then drove home. Author's Note Hey guys! Sorry I've been kind of slow with the updates! School is over now so I should have more time to write. Hope you guys enjoy the content, please recommend this story! I'd very much appreciate it!
The Importance of FriendsThe halls of Canterlot High were filled with awkward teenagers trying to get to whatever classes they needed to get to, just like any other day. And just like any other day, there were the usual happenings in any high school on a normal day. Canterlot High is and was just like most other high schools, you had the popular crowd, the artsy-hippie types, the rednecks and the quirky kids, all of which were doing their own day-in and day-out things. The popular kids were either at practice or roaming the halls like they owned the place. The rednecks were talking amongst one another, half of them talking about nothing interesting, the other half bringing up their political beliefs. The hippies of course were doing whatever made each of their lives a little easier. Some were practicing theatre or letting their creative juices flow while others were sneaking off into the bathrooms in large groups, thinking they’re fooling everyone with what they’re doing in there. The quirky kids were also doing various activities. The nerds were being nerds and talking things too complicated for anyone else to follow, while the outcasts were busy scaring everyone else off, and the emo kids were brooding amongst themselves. Amongst all the chaos, one girl skipped through the halls without a care in the world. All she cared about was helping others find their laughter. Her name was Pinkie Pie. Pinkie was… not your average teenager. She didn’t necessarily belong to any cliques or even thought negatively about anyone (the exception being her friend, Sunset Shimmer, for the longest time because she was Queen Bee at Canterlot High and used her social power to humiliate others until she was shown the error of her ways). Pinkie Pie skipped her way into 3rd period, sitting down in her usual seat next to a good friend of hers, Rainbow Dash, the school’s top athlete. She turned to her friend and the two began a pleasant conversation that neither could recall the topic of by the end of the day. 3rd period was the entry level theatre class, and since it was required that everyone take at least one Fine Arts class to graduate, it was somewhat of a blow-off class. One of those classes that had seniors mixed in with freshmen and everyone in between. “NO!!!” A shriek was heard from the back of the class. Everyone including Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie turned to the source of the scream. Diamond Tiara. This freshman girl had a history of bullying their friends’ sisters and generally being a spoiled brat, so whatever it was most assumed it was something petty, but that didn’t stop Pinkie Pie from seeing the obvious distress coming from a younger kid, so her and Rainbow Dash went over to the kid, despite Rainbow Dash having her doubts. The two made their way over to the now crying Diamond Tiara, who was now gaining more attention. “Hey there, are you alright?” Pinkie Pie asked the underclassman, but couldn’t understand the response behind her wall of sobs. “What’s wrong? You can tell me.” Pinkie continued to kindly try and get the girl to answer her, but Rainbow Dash noticed the girl’s phone laying flat on the table next to her. It was opened to a MyStable page. Rainbow Dash looked closer and what was on the page became more clear. Suddenly what had made the girl so upset made more sense now; one the phone was a picture of Diamond Tiara being a little too intimate with an upperclassman on the football team. “Uhh… Pinkie?” “What?” “This might be a little out of our control…” ... By 6th period most knew what was going on. Since Diamond Tiara, a new secret had been posted about someone every period on an anonymous account on MyStable. Many people started getting nervous while others began getting desperate and started accusing one another. Many teachers didn’t take the account seriously, while others were calling Principal Celestia nonstop. Amongst it all were the few who felt they had nothing to hide. Rainbow Dash had U.S. History in 6th period. With her was Applejack and her best friend, Fluttershy. Applejack got along with the rednecks, but some of them were a little too rude for her taste, while Fluttershy mostly kept to herself. On a normal day, Coach Side Sweeper would be teaching them about how there was not multiple shooters in the Zapruder Film. Today on the other hand, nobody could focus and their easily distracted history teacher was no exception. “Listen gals, we’ve got nothin’ to hide, so it’s best we shouldn’t be too nervous ‘bout this online feller.” Applejack strategized amongst the three friends. “Now who would want to do this?” “Probably some incel to be honest.” Rainbow Dash almost immediately responded. “Rainbow, that’s not a very nice word.” Fluttershy interjected. “I mean, yeah. But think about it,” she retaliated. “Of the three leaks today, all of them were girls unless you count the creep in the first picture. So it’s probably some kid who got upset after being rejected.” “I don’t know about that, Rainbow. I don’t think that’s enough evidence.” “Wait what’s an incel?” Applejack stated. “Okay we’re getting off topic here, we need to-” Rainbow Dash was cut off by commotion nearby. Another post. The three girls checked their MyStable accounts to find another person’s secret revealed. This time, a video of one of the most pristine girls in school passed out drunk with beer cans surrounding her. But what caught Fluttershy’s eye was a follow up post immediately after. Soon, others began to notice. “For the finale, I will take down someone big. Prepare yourself, you have one hour.” One of their classmates, a hippie named Burning Bush read aloud. With the statement, followed an image. Six images put into one to be exact. ‘Oh no…’ the three friends thought. The post contained the yearbook photos of Sunset Shimmer, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash in that order. The class went silent as they all turned to the three girls in the room. In Physics, Rarity and Sunset Shimmer felt the same types of glares as well as Pinkie Pie in Algebra. “Well it can’t be me, I don’t have any secrets!” Applejack called out. “None of us do! Right gals?” She turned to her friends, snapping Rainbow Dash out of her initial shock. “Yeah!” She answered snappily. “I don’t have any secrets! And I’ve known Fluttershy since we were in pre-school. There’s no way I don’t know something about her.” She defended. Fluttershy was still frozen. Her friend walked over to her and put her hand on her shoulder. “Fluttershy, are you alright?” This finally snapped her out of her trance. “Y-yeah I’m fine… I don’t have any secrets either.” She shyly said. ... When the bell rang and everyone began shuffling out of class and onto 7th period, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy made their way out, wishing Applejack good luck. The two walked down the hallway in silence for a moment before the rainbow athlete spoke up. “It’s probably gonna be something about Sunset.” “Hm?” “Well it’s kinda obvious, she was kinda doing everything behind the scenes for years, I’m sure whoever this is dug up something on her that she probably forgot about.” “Are you sure?” “Well yeah, I’m positive this guy just wants revenge.” “But what if it isn’t?” “I dunno something about Rarity?” Rainbow Dash laughed. “Trust me, Fluttershy. I guarantee it’s not you or me, so quit worrying, bud.” “If you say so…” “Alright well I’ll see you after school! Whatever it is, it can’t be that bad.” With that, she dashed off to the soccer field as Fluttershy made her way into her final class of the day. Once inside, Fluttershy sat down at her usual spot in the corner. Rarity finally came in a few seconds before the bell like she always did. Being the popular girl she was, she had a lot of friends around campus and a lot of them often stopped to talk to her. Rarity was probably the only one in their group more popular than Rainbow Dash. Despite this, Rarity still had a great heart and had so much love to give. It also helped that she gave Fluttershy tips when it came to her love life on rare occasions, something not even Rainbow Dash was very good at helping her with. Rarity sat down next to Fluttershy and before they said anything, they both gave one another a look they both understood. A few seconds of silence filled the space between the two before Rarity finally spoke up. “So we’re about to find out some sort of secret this class, aren’t we?” “...Yeah…” “Well no matter what it is, I’ll still love you like a sister, darling. I can expect the same?” “Of course, Rarity!” Fluttershy spoke louder than usual. “Nothing will change that! I’ll always be here for you.” “Thank you… Fluttershy, I- I needed that.” Rarity finally showed her worry. Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie and Sunset Shimmer were sitting in Art, painting to distract themselves. “Pinkie I’m just so worried about this whole thing. What if this person brings up something that-” “Sunset.” Pinkie Pie stopped her friend. “Why do you care?” “Huh?” “Whoever is behind all this is just some meanie who wants to fill us all to hate each other, so why bother. We’ve all got secrets and embarrassing stories, so why do we care if somebody likes to write fanfiction or sleep around? We’re all people and as long as we can make eachother laugh, I think we’ll be fine. Besides, you’re good now. I know that, you know that, and our friends know that. So why does it matter, in 20 minutes, the secret will come out, and in 45 when class is over, we’ll all go to the shop, eat and hang out. Only today we’ve got something interesting to talk about.” The pink girl smiled at the red one before going back to her painting. Sunset went back to her painting, this time even deeper in thought. ‘Maybe she’s right? Is Pinkie Pie right? The girl thought to herself. She looked around the class and thought about her new friends. She thought about everything going on in her life and then all the things she’d done and those she’d hurt in the past. ‘Maybe…’ ... Applejack opened her phone. 2 minutes ‘till the next post. She wasn’t much of a social media person (one thing her and Fluttershy had in common), so this wasn’t really up her alley in terms of problems. She cared about her friends and knew next to nothing could change that. She felt this person wasn’t much of a threat and more an annoyance. She didn’t get social media the way everyone else did with all the countless emojis and Snapchats amongst other things. She only got it after everyone had told her to. She preferred basic text messaging to most other media and used it to communicate with her friends. With that, she opened their group message and sent one; AJ: Love yall whatever this jerk throws at us we can handle. I know it yall know it God knows it. Pinkie Pie responded within seconds, quickly followed by Rarity. PP: ^^ R: I couldn’t agree more, darling. Sunset Shimmer and Fluttershy joined the conversation just moments after, with the only absentee being Rainbow Dash, who was probably amidst a workout. R: One more minute until one of us is RUINED by some secret spreading FIEND!!! SS: I promise no matter what you guys hear about me, I love all of you and would never hurt any of you. PP: o gurlz u crack me up were still gonna be friends after this ;) FS: It’s still scary tho… AJ: Fluttershy itll be alright. Your gonna be OK. R: 30 seconds. I can’t take the suspense SS: Let’s get this over with… AJ: Love yall PP: <333 FS: I wish Rainbow was with us right now. Seconds after Fluttershy’s text was sent, each of them opened MyStable and waited for the post with varying levels of worry and anticipation. The seconds came and went. No post. Rainbow Dash finished her jog around the track and looked at her phone and saw multiple notifications. ‘Oh no…’ She thought. Relief came to her as she noticed it was just the group chat. She popped in and got a comment in. RD: Bring it on, anonymous asshole! AJ: Language Rainbow Dash laughed at her friend’s immediate response. She noticed the time to see no post yet. RD: lmao they didnt post!? WEAK FS: Maybe their connection is bad RD: Doubt it, they probably realized who they’re dealing with! XD A few seconds went by and nobody responded. RD: Anyways I gotta get back to practice. See you guys after school Rainbow Dash set her phone down and jogged over to the rest of her team. Just then a notification popped up her phone, as well as everyone else’s phone. Everyone around the school opened their phones to see that the post was finally up. The big secret. One by one, everyone in school knew, whether by actually seeing the post themselves or by the word of their fellow classmates. But the ones closest to the secret couldn’t believe their eyes, nor the awkward situation presented at them. Author's Note I've been out of the game for a few years, but I felt like I might give writing a shot again. Sorry for the cliffhanger y'all. Hope you guys enjoyed! Constructive criticism is very welcomed!
The Importance of MemoriesThere was two posts, each coming within three minutes of one another. The first of which being a yearbook with the name "Rainbow Dash" scrawled across the top surrounded by various doodles of lightning bolts and other Rainbow Dash-esce decorations. The second post contained that actual secret- what was in the yearbook. There it was, right in front of everyone; the big secret. The post was that of a yearbook open to the Junior section. At first glance, it seemed normal, but with closer inspection, one could easily see a heart drawn around an individual: Fluttershy. … It was a warm summer afternoon. A young, six year old girl named Rainbow Dash was kicking around a soccer ball in her front yard. She wasn’t very amazing, but she knew with practice, one day she’d go pro. She was better than most kids her age and could usually dribble well. Today however, she’d gotten tripped up when another girl knocked her out of the way. “Hey what’s your problem!” Rainbow Dash got up to look at who would dare interrupt her soccer time. She saw the girl before her, a cute girl with bright hair with a beret in covering one of her eyes. The other girl’s demeanor seems aggressive but only for a short moment as she regressed into that of a shy mouse. “I-I’m sorry… Y-ou were about to run over Angel…” Before Rainbow Dash could lay into the girl more, she noticed the bunny the meak girl was holding. It was a cute little thing; and it was still a baby. The girl held her bunny close as she practically cowered at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash looked upon the girl and for one of the first times in her young life, felt something she couldn’t explain. She didn’t know why, but she knew this girl would be her best friend forever, but it’s not like she understood complex, indescribable emotions at the ripe age of six. But to her, it was something of a gut feeling, and Rainbow Dash trusted her gut more than anything on Earth. “Sorry I almost killed your bunny. Wanna be friends?” Silence. Rainbow Dash didn’t get it. She apologized and asked a straightforward question. She wondered why this girl was being so odd. The two girls stood in awkward silence for a moment before Rainbow Dash spoke up again. “I’m Rainbow Dash! What’s your name?” More silence from the cowering girl. Thinking it would help, Rainbow Dash held out her hand to be shook, but was met with the other girl cowering even lower. Rainbow Dash didn’t understand this girl. She even used the handshake introduction for pete’s sake! Suddenly, a man walked up behind the girl. “Hey Fluttershy, is this your friend?” He said while crouching down beside her. “Can you make her talk, mister?” Fluttershy’s father laughed. “Well aren’t you just adorable.” “Hey, I’m not adorable!” Rainbow Dash threw up her arms in anger. Her reaction was even more vivid once the man patted her head. “Hey, quit it!” Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash became neighbors that day, and (while it wasn’t immediate) the two became best friends. They grew up together, going through various adventures and getting involved in many kinds of wacky hijinks over the years. Sometimes, Rainbow Dash invited Fluttershy to play soccer (which she’d almost always say no to), and other times Fluttershy would ask Rainbow Dash if she wanted to go to the animal shelter with her (which she would almost always say no to). Fluttershy was far too shy to say so, but she had a deep love for animals and taking care of things. She was quite motherly towards all creatures she came across. She took care of animals no matter what shape they were in. When she was thirteen, she had asked her parents if she could take in ANOTHER puppy that she’d found roaming around the neighborhood, despite already being responsible for one dog, a bunny, and a kitten as well as a family of racoons that liked to stop by their home every night. “Fluttershy, you already have multiple animals you take care of?” Fluttershy stood before her parents pointing towards a stray australian shepherd sitting outside their back door on the patio. “B-but-” “Your father said no, and no means no.” “What it-” “Oh dear,” Fluttershy’s mother crouched down. “Listen, as amazing as it is that you wanna take care of every animal you see, you can’t take care of all of them at once. It’s too much for a thirteen year old girl.” “Your mother is right, Fluttershy, you’re thirteen. You should be out having fun with your friends. Not taking care of-” He stopped as his wife gave him a glare. “I mean, you’re doing a great job sweetie, but maybe you should consider taking it easy. You’re still a kid.” Fluttershy sunk into despair before her mother spoke up. “Listen Fluttershy, we can take him in tonight-” “REALLY!?” Fluttershy and her father reacted. Fluttershy being one of hope and joy while her father being of confusion and deep concern. “...but tomorrow, we’ll drive him to the shelter. She’s still a puppy so I’m sure she’ll find a good home. Are you alright with that, sweetie?” Rainbow Dash on the other hand, liked all things fast-paced and exciting; sports being her favorite of them all. Her love for these things all stemmed from her natural ability to do good in sports (probably genetic as her parents were both excellent athletes in college). Despite this, she was shocked when her best friend and next door neighbor asked her if she wanted to take in a turtle when they were sixteen. “Please Rainbow Dash? My parents won’t let me take in any more animals.” “It’s a turtle, Fluttershy! Who would keep a turtle as a pet!?” Fluttershy pretended not to act offended at this. “Please, Rainbow Dash? Tank doesn’t have a home to go to and the local shelter is full right now. Won’t you take him in?” Fluttershy shot her friend a pair of puppy dog eyes. Rainbow Dash could never tell if she could do that intentionally or it was a natural accident, either way, by now Rainbow Dash had gotten an understanding of how she felt deep down about her best friend and (despite not really wanting a pet) would gladly help out her best friend. “Fine…” She sighed as her friend squeed in excitement. “But you’re gonna have to help me learn how to take care of…” She hesitated. “His name is Tank.” “Help me take care of Tank, I haven’t really had to take care of a pet before.” “I’d love to, Rainbow!” Rainbow Dash warmed up to her new pet pretty soon, and despite her mother wanting to get rid of him, she kept it and took great care of Tank, not just because she developed a love for the animal, but also because at this point in her life, Rainbow Dash understood herself more and started noticing how she truly felt about her best friend. During her freshman year of high school, Rainbow Dash had gotten home from a long jog around the neighborhood. Once she got upstairs, she accidentally got a glimpse into Fluttershy’s blind-less window in which she saw her best friend, having just gotten done bathing, taking her towel off, giving her a full view of what lay beneath. Quickly, Rainbow Dash averted her eyes, before opening them again, this time taking in what she was unintentionally viewing. The eyes lingered for just a few seconds more before she buried her face in her pillow. Again, Rainbow Dash found herself trying to take a peek, but by now, Fluttershy had become more decent and slipped into bed, finally turning off her lamp once Rainbow Dash could see into her room once more. ‘What’s wrong with you? Why would you do that!?’ She thought to herself. ‘That’s your best friend and you’re violating her privacy!’ Rainbow Dash felt disgusted with herself. She slammed her pillow over her head and clutched it tight before flipping over and looking up at her ceiling. “This is not happening… I can’t be-” She paused. ‘I’m fucking Rainbow Dash! I can’t be a fag! That’s just…’ Rainbow Dash sat up the entire night contemplating and contemplating her situation. She was disgusted and confused, but most of all- she was scared. Very scared. She feared what her friends might think of her. What her mom would think. What her teammates would think. This was new territory to her. ‘No.’ It came to her. ‘I’m not gonna tell anyone. Not mom, not Pinkie, not coach Spitfire, and especially not Fluttershy…’ Rainbow Dash thought back to her friend’s seemingly nonchalant nudity in front of her window. Her window was on the second story, covered by a room that jut out in front and the fact that the only thing behind their houses was nature, so the only people that would be able to see would be Rainbow Dash and anyone looking through her window. Even then, she had forgotten why the girl would leave her blinds up when she remembered Fluttershy’s twelfth birthday. Fluttershy was a very shy girl, so she didn’t make a lot of friends growing up, because of this whenever her birthday came every year, it was usually only Rainbow Dash there. Her twelfth birthday was no different as the two girls had a sleepover and spent the day watching movies and playing games in Fluttershy’s room. “What do you wanna do now?” The two girls were gazing at the ceiling, Rainbow Dash was starting to become bored while Fluttershy seemed to be in a state of zen. “Hm… I dunno.” “Well it’s your birthday.” “Well, I guess we could gossip? Is that what girls our age do?” “I think so?... I’ve never talked any gossip, though.” Rainbow Dash sat up and faced her friend, who was still lying down and gazing upward. “I think I’ve overheard some of the other girls in the locker room talking about boys.” “Well um… I guess we could do that.” “Alright! Uh…” The two sat in awkward pre-teenage silence not knowing what to say. “Anyone you like?” Rainbow Dash finally spoke up. “N-no… I don’t think so…” Fluttershy stated. “Huh… I don’t think I like anyone either.” Rainbow Dash replied. The two stared at each other for a moment before they began giggling, their giggles soon turning into pure laughter. The two enjoyed the rest of the night as two young pre-teens would before they eventually went to bed around 2 A.M. A few hours later, Rainbow Dash woke up. She sat up and saw her friend staring out the window. “You up?” Fluttershy turned to her friend and nodded. Rainbow Dash decided to come closer and see what her friend was looking at. Upon reaching the window, she could now understand and appreciate the view. Outside the window was a perfect view of town, and past that, the forest beyond. It looked so peaceful to her. “I like the view.” “It sure is a nice one.” “It’s better on the roof.” The two girls went up on the roof and looked out into the world and up at the stars. Taking in the beauty around them. The quiet, nature-filled summer air. Everything about it was wonderful. “This is why I took my blinds down.” “Well I don’t blame ya.” “I know a lot of scary things happen at night, but everything else about it so… beautiful. The stars, the sounds of nature, everything! And a view like this makes it perfect. Sometimes, I wish it could stay like this.” For a brief moment, Rainbow Dash looked at her friend with wonder. As they grew older, she could understand this deeper side of her friend. She wasn’t just the shy girl next door, she was the nature-loving kind-hearted girl she loved spending time with. “You know what, Fluttershy?” “Hm?” “I don't want things to change between us ever! I wanna become a Wonderbolt when I grow up and you're gonna be the... best animal person alive, like that guy who got killed by a Sting Ray!" "Oh my..." "And we're gonna be best friends forever! We'll be next door neighbors and we'll get old and die together!" Fluttershy giggled. "I hope so too." The two looked back into the night sky, having gotten closer to one another and optimistically thinking about their futures.
The Unimportance of FearRainbow Dash entered the locker room with a sense of relief. Whoever was running that account was obviously too much of a coward to actually post anything about her or her friends- or so she thought. Her life was going to change in about 5 minutes and she didn’t even know it. The world can be a cruel and uncaring place. Throughout one’s life, they will see many major changes and shifts in tone due to forces that may or may not be within their control. Whether or not they make the most of it however, completely is. Some of these changes can be because of little, minute things that build into bigger things or total hit-by-a-train-type events that immediately mold the rest of someone’s life. In Rainbow Dash’s case, though it wasn’t as hard as getting hit by a train, was about to go from in the closet to unwillingly out and about. From that day forward, she would see a major shift in her life. Confronting her fears at full force, once and for all. When she entered the locker room with that over-confident relief followed by a typical speech from Coach Spitfire about their good work at practice and how they would “destroy” the other team at their next game, she did not expect what she would hear whispers and a few snickers from her team-mates. Feeling a little more investigative than normal, she went to go talk to a sophomore on the J.V. team named Vapor Trail. Vapor Trail was a little shy, which Rainbow Dash guessed was what she liked about her, seeing as it reminded her of Fluttershy. She liked giving her pointers and helping her get better at soccer. She was sure Vapor Trail would make varsity with flying colors next year if she could just work on her confidence. “Hey Vapor, what’s everybody talking about?” Vapor Trail seemed to be startled by this. She looked at her upperclassman friend, then to everyone around them. She leaned in and whispered to Rainbow Dash. “Uhh… you should check MyStable…” Rainbow Dash’s heart skipped a beat. “Listen, I don’t really care…” Vapor Trail’s voice seem to fade into background noise as Rainbow Dash quickly turned and opened her phone to MyStable. A quick scroll down and she saw the post. Rainbow Dash’s pupils shrank to the size of atoms and her blue face now matched the same shade Rarity’s. A sudden sense of Vertigo came over her before she lost all feeling in her body. Every one of her senses but her vision seemed to fade away in an instant. Dropping her phone, she shoved past the girl next to her and fell into a full sprint out the locker room, still drenched in sweat from practice. … Fluttershy found herself paralyzed in fear, her friend Rarity trying to bring her back into reality. “Fluttershy? Fluttershy darling speak to me!” “I- I…” Fluttershy’s eyes darted around the room. Everything around her seemed to get bigger to the point of surrounding her. She felt small and miniscule, as if everyone around her were monsters ready to pounce. She was afraid- very afraid. And what did she do when she was afraid of something? Sure, cowering in fear was one thing, but when she was surrounded? “Are you alright?” Fluttershy darted out of the classroom and into the hallway with her hands over her eyes, tears flowing down her cheeks. She was in full panic mode. Rarity tried to follow suit, but quickly realized Fluttershy was much faster than her. She had already lost her around a corner. In her teary-eyed panic, Fluttershy didn’t notice the other when they ran into eachother and fell to the floor. The two made eye contact and realized who one another were- Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy sat in silence for a short moment before Rainbow Dash broke the silence. “I-I’m so sorry…” Rainbow Dash found herself breathing heavily and getting teary eyed before getting back up and running away, leaving her best friend behind. Fluttershy staring at her friend as she ran out the door and into daylight. Suddenly, she noticed she wasn’t crying anymore. The bell rang. Students poured out of their classes when Rarity finally caught up to her. “Fluttershy darling, you ran off! Are you alright?” “Y-yeah I just…” Fluttershy was at a loss for words. “I think I need some time to think about everything…” Rarity watched as Fluttershy walked into the crowd. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see Pinkie Pie and Applejack. “Oh hello, are you girls ready to go to Sugarcube Corner?” She paused. “Do either of you happen to know where Sunset Shimmer is?” … Sunset found herself walking through the halls, having told Applejack and Pinkie Pie she’d have to meet them later, telling them she had somewhere to go. Sunset Shimmer was a leader. Not a formal leader of any kind, but she was the defacto leader amongst her new friends, and she couldn’t stand to see anyone bully her friends. So when she exited class and heard Principal Celestia remind students over the intercom about a “Police Cadet after-school training course”, she couldn’t resist. Sunset entered the gymnasium with confidence that this would help her catch the mysterious online entity, quickly taking not of everything and everyone in there. First, she noticed about five students sitting in chairs facing the other way and a podium in the center. Surrounding the gym was various obstacles and other items for physical training. The students in the center looked a little different from one another. Upon reaching the seats, she got a better view and possible judgement about each. In the front row was two meat-head looking dudes. They both had very stereotypical buzzcuts and stood up strait as if they’d been military their whole lives. A few seats down from them was a scrawny-looking boy with glasses and bad acne, trying to hide the fact that he was very nervous. Sitting on the end was a lad in a hawaiian shirt and ripped jeans with a devilish smirk on his face. And somewhere in the middle of it all, one of the other students stood out; mainly because she knew him. “Hey Flash, what are you doing here?” Sunset looked down at the boy she found herself sitting next to. “Oh hey, Sunset. I should be asking you the same thing.” Sunset playfully rolled her eyes before looking at her feet and dawned a more serious look on her face. “I wanna try and find out who’s running that MyStable account.” She started. Flash raised an eyebrow at this. “What they did to not only my friends, but those other kids… was just cruel, and I’m gonna put an end to it.” “Geez, Sunset. That’s pretty noble of you. You’ve got me beat.” “Oh really, huh? Try me.” “We-” Before Flash Sentry could finish, a man dawning a blue police uniform entered the room. “Attention, new cadets! I’d like you all to sit in the front row!” The man commanded. He looked to be in his twenties. He had an white-blue head of hair and pale orange skin. He looked down the row at each cadet, getting a good look at each one before stopping on Sunset. “My name is Sargeant Steel Sentry!” He announced. It took her a moment, but Sunset Shimmer realized what he had just implied and looked to Flash. “I am going to be training you cadets for the next eight weeks. By the end of these two months, you all will be in the best shape you’ve ever been and hopefully, I will have inspired your career path.” “Flash is that-” “No talking, cadet!” Sgt. Sentry leaned towards her. He leaned back and looked at everyone once more. “As some of you may have figured out by now… Flash right here…” He put his hand on Flash’s shoulder. “...is my younger brother.” … Flash Sentry and Sunset Shimmer walked out of the gym with some fresh paperwork in their bags and headed towards the sidewalk. “So… your brother is-” “Yeah, my older brother is a Sargeant for the Canterlot PD. He’s a pretty great guy, though I’m not sure I wanna…” “Hm?” “I just don’t know if I’m good enough be a cop, you know? Steel is so cut out for it but I’m not, you know? He’s always been so cool and awesome and I’m just me…” “So you’re telling me that you, the guy who drives a sports car, plays lead guitar in a band and has loads of girls fawning over him is worried he’s not cool?” “Okay when you say it like that…” “Come on… I’m meeting the girls down at Sugar Cube Corner if you wanna come with!” … Rainbow Dash didn’t stop running. Her feet carried her far, far away from the school without looking back. Before she knew it, she was beyond the city limits and out of energy. She looked around her to see nothing but trees, a dirt road and a familiar farm house about a half a mile away. The sound of a car coming to a stop behind her made her turn around. A red pickup truck turn it’s engine off and the driver hopped out to reveal Applejack. Applejack walked around to the front of the car and leaned against the front engine, crossing her arms looking Rainbow Dash dead in the eyes with a straight, blank face. “You need a ride, sugarcube?” The ride back was silent for the first minute or so. “So Fluttershy, huh?” Applejack playfully asked. She looked away from the road and noticed her friend sinking deeper into herself. Applejack pulled over and placed the truck in park. She turned to the girl in the passenger seat and sighed. “Listen, sugarcube…” She started, Rainbow Dash finally having the courage to look at her made eye contact. “God made you the way you are. That doesn’t make you any less of a person than you actually are. Nobody’s perfect and if they are, they’re lyin’ to ya.” “Yeah but this is disgusting!” Rainbow Dash finally spoke up waving her arms around. “I beg yer pardon?” “Fluttershy is my BEST FRIEND and I’m attracted to her! I’m supposed to be Rainbow Dash! The hottest, most daring girl in school! I should have guys drooling over me like Rarity but no, I’m into girls…” “I might not look it, but there’s nothin’ wrong with that. So maybe you don’t like dicks-” “Just drive me home, Applejack…” Rainbow Dash interrupted. Applejack sighed and put the car in drive, then drove forward. The drive home was silent. The two girls never spoke a word to one another the whole trip. There was the occasional glance over from one another, but otherwise it was dead silent. Upon arriving at their destination, Rainbow Dash opened the truck door and stepped out, but not before Applejack turned to her. “I love you, sugarcube. All of us do, and I hope you know that.” Rainbow Dash looked at her friend. “Thanks, Applejack.” Rainbow Dash stepped out, shut the door and went inside. Applejack watched her walk in and shut the door behind her, then drove home. Author's Note Hey guys! Sorry I've been kind of slow with the updates! School is over now so I should have more time to write. Hope you guys enjoy the content, please recommend this story! I'd very much appreciate it!
