Fiery hair.
Aqua eyes.
I'll never forget the girl I fell in love with.

Over the years, Sunset Shimmer had developed quite a reputation as a tyrant, a miscreant, an all-around bitch... and a friend. Perhaps, she was also a lover; I'd hoped to add that title; I held onto hope for so long.

"But, life doesn't work that way, right?"

She taught me that. She's taught me so many things, but despite all that, I'm still an idiot. I'm such an idiot for leaving her behind, for never chasing after her, for giving up.

I traced the edge of the stone, following the chips and cracks that came with years of aging. I suppose, in a way, that stone and I shared something in common; after all, the years have been rough for me as well. I rubbed my chin, feeling the grey bristles scratch my withered fingers. It was unusual to be here at the cemetery, but while I was on my walk back home, I had felt compelled to do so. I've been so busy all these years that I'd forgotten to pay my respects.

Slowly, I kneeled down, facing the tombstone. As grim as I felt, I feigned as strong of a smile as a could, though it likely looked goofy as hell. Then again, she'd probably laugh at that too.

"Hey, Sunset! It's been a while." I nervously scratched the back of my head, searching for words. "Sorry I haven't visited in a while! It's been pretty hectic these past few years. My jobs have been keeping me busy everyday, and it's easy to get caught up drawing."

I felt my grin waver, and the lack of authenticity made my cheeks ache. "Not to mention, my sister has grandkids now; can you believe that? Their parents work a lot during the day, so I do what I can to help out. Oh, that reminds me of when my sister came by to help me babysit, but one of the boys was still running around without his pants on! I've never seen my sister turn so red before!" The chuckle was sincere, but ultimately weak at lightening the mood.

"I... I miss you. I miss you so goddamn much."

Combing through my memories, I tried to find something, anything to tell her. Finally, I could only focus on one - one of a girl whose face lit up when she saw me in the school hallways, whose reflection beamed at the winner screen at the arcade, and whose strong determination inspired me to also chase my dreams and become a famous artist.

And yet, this dirty, unkempt tombstone was also her: old, dilapidated, and forgotten. How could such a bright girl become... this? Still, the memory of Sunset remained.

The lunch bell rang, indicating the end of the break period. The cafeteria was a cacophony of bags, trays, and farewells as students left their tables and began walking to their next class until only a handful of people remained.

Two feral-looking students remained at a table in the corner. Of the two, I shivered as I hurriedly discussed biology.

"Wait, you're absolutely sure that's the answer?" My jet black hair had long since been ruined from numerous attempts to pull them out, the faint bags under my eyes also evident from my all-nighter. The study guide sitting on the table was covered in faded graphite smudges from where answers had been repeatedly erased until the paper was completely wrinkled, and it was still very much incomplete.

"How the hell do you know that the chloroplast is the powerhouse of the cell?"

"Uh, duh, the internet?" Flash Sentry tapped his head and rolled his eyes. His hair was also messy - not from stress but because of my tendency to attack him when frustration boiled over.

"The chloroplast?"

"Yeah."

"The chloroplast?"

"Did I stutter?"

Unfortunately for Flash, the empty cafeteria feigned ignorance to his initial pleas for mercy when I pounced on him again.

"That bad, huh?"

With comical speed, we whipped our heads towards the cafeteria's entrance. A girl chuckled and walked over, her fiery hair bouncing in stride as we ashamedly returned to our seats. Upon looking at the paper on the table, she let out a low whistle. "Biology again? The teacher always lets us use the study guides during tests, so you'd think you'd get the memo and actually do them every now and then."

Finally, the gears clicked.

Sunset Shimmer.

As she sat down, she twirled a curl of her hair around a finger, looking around the cafeteria. As she played with those beautiful red and yellow locks, I found myself enamored. Memories of the constant bullying - nay, the mental fucking torture - flooded my senses: the fake puppy eyes as she begged for help, the fake smile when I agreed to help fix her locker, the fake blush when she took me to the locker room... the very real flash of the camera, the very real grin that slowly formed on her face after the fact, and the very real months I spent branded a perv-

Snap!

Sunset pulled her hand back from my face, turning to Flash. "He's really lost it, huh?" she lamented, scanning my face with a frown. Realizing I'd gotten distracted, I looked back to my paper, though staring at those blank lines did little to fight off the scowl that had formed on my face.

Flash nodded in agreement. "Yup, he's gone off the deep end. I've been trying to help him finish his study guide for the biology test you guys have later, but nothing's sticking."

"Well, maybe you just suck at tutoring," Sunset said, flashing a mischievous grin. A flash of anger flashed across Flash's face, but she spoke again. "It's mitochondria, by the way."

I glanced up at Flash, scowl still present, who rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, before I erased my writing once more. As much as I hated the bitch, the report cards don't lie, and she's proven herself to be an ace student at pretty much any subject. Plus, she had good work ethic, meaning she always took the notes and finished all the homework. After all, while I'm no expert, I would think planning to turn into a she-demon and enslave the world takes a lot of work.

Suddenly, the warning bell rang, jolting me out of my thoughts.

"Shit!" I swore under my breath, scanning each blank line to write down any last-minute answers while cursing all kinds of depraved insults and threats towards Flash's mother.

Snap!

"Hey, calm down, okay?"

Sunset stared straight at me, lips pursed in supposed concern. For an instant, I contemplated slapping her hand out of my face, but instead, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"Man," I sighed, furrowing my brow, "what I'd give if you could just take the test for me."

I gave her a dirty look as more words escaped. "Would be a great start for your alleged redemption tour."

She winced, her eyes darting towards the cafeteria wall to guiltily avoid my glare.

Believing I had said my piece, I shifted my weight to get off the bench, but Sunset returned her gaze to me, eyes brimming with what looked like worry - though its authenticity was lost on me.

"Look... I know I said some bad stuff-"

"You didn't just say some bad stuff." I couldn't believe the audacity of this bitch. "Said?" It felt increasingly impossible to stay still, so I shot up out of my seat, pointing an accusatory finger. "You ruined my life is what you did!" I snatched up my pencil and paper, carelessly shoving them into my bag before slipping one backpack strap on.

As I exited the cafeteria, I quickly glanced back, noticing that Sunset hadn't moved.

Serves her right.

"... do you have a minute, son?"

Awoken from the daze of calculus, I met eyes with Mr. Whooves, who stared back from over his computer with an indistinguishable look - it was hard to pinpoint, but I had a feeling he knew something that I didn't. "Uh, sure."

I rose from my seat and walked to the door as he beckoned me out into the hall. As he closed the door behind me, I felt the familiar sensation of classmates staring at me disappear.

It was nice.

Turning back briefly, though, my heart dropped when I saw those same classmates continuing to peer through the tiny window on the door.

The feeling returned.

"Listen, son," Mr. Whooves's reading glasses had made their way on top of his head, something he did to let the class know he was being serious, "do you know Sunset Shimmer?"

Uh oh. Trying my hardest to pull off a poker face, I remained silent.

"The junior?"

Nothing.

"Fiery hair?"

Nothing.

He sighed, grabbing the bridge of his nose. "She-demon?"

That sounded vague enough. "Uh, yeah, I guess," I mumbled, rubbing the back of my neck.

That bitch must've sold me out! My stomach did flips, and my face started heating up. That was her plan all along, and now I'm gonna be the bad guy so she can pull some sympathy points!

My heart sank, and my stomach was an Olympic gymnast by this point.

People would be more inclined to believe her from when...!

I wrestled that thought away. It won't happen as long as I didn't let it get to that point. All I need to do is argue my innocence... Oh, Flash! He can help back me up!

"Son, I, um..."

Oh, who am I kidding? I'm fucked! F-u-c-k, fucked!

"Ineedyoutohelpherwithpapers!"

Pause. I opened my mouth but couldn't find the words. I looked at Mr. Whooves; his glasses were back on.

"Sunset emailed me for help scanning next week's worksheets, but I'm so close to beating my record in Dr. Mare-io!" He whipped his head back towards the door, as if he could hear a siren's call from the computer. "I offered to send someone over, and your name came up!" He clasped his hands together, interlocking the fingers, and gave you the biggest puppy eyes a balding, middle-aged man could give. To have a teacher plead you for help was... unusual, though for Mr. Whooves, it was significantly less so.

I sighed in relief, feeling the stress-induced bile slowly falling back down into your stomach. "Okay, yeah, it's no problem."

"Oh, thank you so much!" he exclaimed, eyes sparkling with atypical glee. Running inside quickly, he reemerged with a hall pass. "She's using the scanners in the library." He chuckled sheepishly. "Also, don't worry about today's work; I already gave you full credit," his glasses flipped back up, "though I recommend you finish the worksheet when you can anyway."

I took the slip of paper, reading its contents. Looking back at the teacher, we both nodded, and I made my way down the empty halls.

Upon arriving, I pulled the library door open, slowly peeking in. Beyond the endless rows of bookshelves peppered throughout the extravagant room, one of the doors in the back was wide open, and in it, I saw that familiar pattern of red and yellow streaks hunched over the handful of printers. As I approached, a fist quickly came down upon one of the printers, a soft "Shoot!" leaking out from inside. Sunset groaned at the errors beeped back at her, but when she noticed my presence, she exhaled her anger, replacing it with a small smile.

"You'd think that for all the money Canterlot threw here, they'd be able to buy better printers," she joked, though I didn't feel even the slightest tug of amusement at my cheeks. My skin crawled with distrust. I searched her face, looking for any clue that would confirm my suspicions.

Her eyes: I waited for any unusual looks, any sideward glances.

They looked faintly glossy and red, like she had been crying a while ago.

Her mouth: I figured she couldn't hold it in forever. A slight imperfection or tremble in her smile might not shoot red flags for most, but I knew better; she's too narcissistic to let herself look bad, not even to herself.

Her lip quivered, and a quick sigh escaped, like she could break down any moment.

It was then my turn to worry. I kept looking for patterns - a twitch of the finger, an unusual shift in body weight, a tilt of the head to the left. There had to be at least one sign she was bullshitting.

Nothing. There were signs alright - signs that maybe she really was being genuine, meaning I really was an asshole earlier. I recalled my outburst at the end of lunch, recoiling at the venom in my words.

Noticing my silence, Sunset shuffled nervously. "Bad joke?" she asked sheepishly.

I cleared my throat, letting a slight grin of my own form.

"Nah, just thinking about about a world where CHS bought better printers."

"Oh?" she raised an eyebrow, "and what do you see?"

"Flying cars, fully-glass buildings, world peace, y'know the usual," I shrugged.

As she chuckled in response, I redirected my attention towards the room. Long tables bordered every wall. On one end, two computers sat, case fans whining as the login screen awaited a password, and the adjacent table was empty aside for a backpack and binder, which had been lazily tossed onto the chair and table, respectively. On the other end closest to us were three printers, all of which had copies of the same math worksheet still spewing out of them. The faint smell of heated machinery and paper entered my senses as the three units groaned from overuse, seemingly begging for mercy. Under the printers, a recycling bin overflowed with failed prints, of which there seemed an endless. Sunset, following my eyes, glanced at printers too, and upon seeing more misaligned and faded copies, muttered something unidentifiable before tossing them in the recycling bin.

She turned back to me, crossing her arms. "Flying cars, huh? I'll be sure to pass it along to the librarian."

I exhaled sharply in amusement. Shifting my weight, the hall pass in my pocket crinkled in response, and I was reminded of my purpose for being there. "So, um, you asked for help?" I walked towards the printers. "What do you need done?" Peeking back over my shoulder, Sunset smiled timidly.

"I actually don't need any help with that. The printers handle everything, and there'll be enough that misprints won't matter." I cocked an eyebrow, so she continued. "I was studying for the biology test next period," it dawned on me, "so I figured we could help each other." She paused, scanning my face while leaning in. "Would you... like to study with me?"

I stared down at her, meeting her gaze. Her teal eyes shimmered (pun intended) as she awaited my response, and I became aware of a faint whiff of some indistinguishable but pleasant flowery scent coming from her hair. I nodded without realizing it, and her face lit up before moving over to the table with her belongings with near-super speed and beckoning me over to the chair next to her. I followed her over, dropping my bag beside the chair and pulling out the study guide, which had become increasingly crumpled as it jostled around loosely in there. Her attention shifted over to the wrinkled paper, though surprisingly, she remained quiet, quickly looking back to her own stuff.

"Here."

She handed me her own study guide. I flipped it over to the back, noting the final lines were filled in.

"Thanks."

"Anytime."

I quickly filled in the blanks on my study guide before handing hers back. I grabbed my notebook and hastily flipped through until I found my biology notes while Sunset pulled out a labeled folder, opening it and scanning the various papers' neatly-written headers. Without a word, we both focused on our own notes, though I struggled to focus while I pondered the circumstances.

What're her intentions? I contemplated the possibilities. Handing me her study guide... to accuse me of cheating off her? A bead of sweat formed on my forehead.

But the study guide is pretty much objective, and I doubt she'd think I'd copy word-for-word.

Maybe she'll call me out for leeching?

Nah, that'd be pretty useless, people like Flash do it all the time and no one really cares.

I tapped my chin.

"Hey."

Jerked out of my thoughts, I whipped my head towards Sunset with a quiet "Hmm?"

"Could you help me with these practice problems? My friend still had her test from last year so she rewrote the questions for me."

I nodded, leaning over to read the paper she had taken out of the folder.

Lavender.

I pushed that thought away.

"What are the two processes located within the mitochondria?"

"Oh, that's easy!" I flashed a toothy grin. "It's the Krebs cycle and oxidative phosphorylation."

"Ah, thanks! How about this one?"

"How can pyruvate be used alternatively when oxygen is not present?"

"Is it fermentation?" I glanced at Sunset, but she looked back blankly. "There's the two types depending on if it's muscles or yeast. Y'know, like, ethanol or lactic acid?"

"Hmm, I think I remember something like that..."

A handful of questions later, I had managed to help her through all of them. She scribbled her answer as well as a few notes onto the study guide.

The study guide...

Respiration was the final section, and it was pretty much the only one I was still uncomfortable with. Despite this, after only a brief amount of time studying, I was able to help Sunset with her practice questions... which were coincidentally only about respiration.

"Very sneaky."

The words left me mouth before I realized it.

"Who, me?" She put a hand on her chest melodramatically. "I would never do such a devious thing!"

I snorted. "You could've just asked to quiz me."

"You also could have just been responsible and studied early," she countered. A frown formed, though it quickly fizzled out, a cheeky smile replacing it. "Besides, would you have agreed if I had asked?"

I smiled back, shaking my head.

Ulterior motives be damned, maybe she just wants to help.

Author's Note

It feels weird to be here. Truly, it's been so long since I'd last invested myself into this website. To be entirely honest, I left the fandom shortly after the first EqG movie (hence my lack of knowledge beyond it).

However, stumbling upon this site again and looking at the stories I had left unpublished (or rejected) on my profile inspired me to write again, around six years later. I would have never imagined this happening.

Yet, here we are.

I suppose you, the reader, could say the same, in which case: thank you for taking the time read my story. Any and all feedback is appreciated. I can almost guarantee that I made mistakes that I can't identify (though not out of laziness, I promise), and I hope you all can guide me to fix them.

Although only a hobby, I strive to improve my prose, and I hope some of you will join me on this journey.