Expectations of Reality

The news was spreading fast.

No. Not the news about Bini defending Sunset. That got easily pushed aside for the video that showed someone taking a video, from one of the houses across the street from CHS, about what happened at the Fall formal.

They got everything.

They got Sunset turning into a demon, destroying the front of the school and finally, the Rainbow beam to save them all. Oh, damn. It was trending on every social media platform. Most people thought it was bad CGI. Other people thought it signalled the end of the world. Then there were other people claiming to have seen the beam from across the city.

Bini was sweating as she sat staring at her phone with big eyes. For once she was alone at Sugar Cube Corner. Chocolate and Rocky had gone earlier to the hospital to pay Arone a visit. Bini wanted to stay back a little while longer to finish her Hot Chocolate. As she scrolled through her Facebook to see her wall flooded with theories and conspiracy theories on whether the video was real or not.

What Bini didn't understand is how it took until Wednesday for the video to get out. It had been out for less than an hour after school ended. Why then? Why today?

Maybe the world was working against her. Yeah. That made sense. Everyone from CHS, from what Bini could tell, was freaking out in the fear that the government would come and take them all away for testing for even being near the strange event. Everyone was practically yelling at each other on the CHS Facebook group page to either "Chill out and not act so guilty" or asking them if they have a "death wish" and actually want to be experimented on.

Bini didn't want to be experimented on. She knew that for sure. Bini looked around Sugarcude Corner to see everyone from CHS huddled in their own after-school groups with scared expressions. Whispering secrets to each other as outsiders watched every student carefully.

Bini thought Monday was bad, Bini thought she was going to die on Tuesday, now she thinks Wednesday might be the end of CHS as she knew it...Not counting the Fall Formal...It's only Wednesday. How could it possibly get any worse than this? Bini groaned in despair and took another sip of her warm drink. Which, unfortunately for her, did nothing to smooth her nerves.

Her phone started to vibrate rapidly. She glared at the name that popped up on the screen. She was in no mood to talk at the moment but knew if she didn't answer she was going to get a lecture so she hesitantly accepted the call and held it up to her ear with a defeated expression.

"Hello. This is Bini Filters. How may I help you?"

"Bini? You know damn well who this is!" The angry tone of Chocolate snapped back, followed by the mumbled of agreement from Arone and Rocky somewhere in the hospital room with her. "By the way, you are on speakerphone."

"Why are you angry at me? I just live in this stupid world." Bini snapped back with equal, if not, more hostility.

"You are right. I am sorry. I am just angry about...The news from school. The video. I assume you saw it."

"Yeah. I sure did." Bini said as she took another long sip. "The government is going to get us. We are going to find ourselves in Area 51 soon. Better say your prayers."

"Bini!" Arone called out. "Don't be an idiot. Rocky already thinks that. You know how he is."

"I am right here." Rocky barked. "I can hear you just fine."

"Area 51?" Chocolate repeated. "Isn't that where they keep Aliens? We aren't aliens."

"That is a myth. There are no aliens in Area 51" Arone argued.

"Oh, really? Then explain all those UFO sigh-"

"I swear to the sun, if you bring up UFO sightings again, I will punch you in the stomach so hard that your spirit flies out of you and you end up in that weird pony world that Sunset Shimmer comes from." Arone threatened.

...

"I got you...You son of a bitch."

"Dear Lord, did Bini just quote the Alien franchise?" Chocolate complained with a loud slap to the forehead. "This world is a disgrace."

"Hell yeah! Great delivery, Bini!" Rocky said. Bini chuckled as Chocolate yelled at Rocky to not encourage Bini in the background.

"Can we please focus?" Arone snapped, breaking the playful mood. "We might be dead soon."

"Now you are just overreacting," Bini said with a wave of her hand from dramatic effect despite none of her friends could see her. "The only way we would be dead from this is if the government somehow got involved and decided we were all aliens and needed to die."

"...I can see that happening." Chocolate said after a short pause.

"NOT HELPING!" Arone yelled back.

"Dude, eat a snickers. You aren't yourself when you are hungry."

"SHIT!" Luna swore loudly, enough to make Sunset drop her phone in her room and Celestia to run out of her room in worry, followed by Sunset to meet in the living room to see Luna. Luna was standing in the middle of the living room, one hand was on her video game controller while the other was holding up her phone that had caught Luna's attention.

"Luna?" Celestia said slowly as she approached her sister with caution. "Are you alright?"

"They know..." Luna muttered. Luna raised her phone for Celestia to see the video of the fight from the fall formal playing on-screen from inside one of the houses from around the school. "They know everything."

---End of Chapter Seventeen---