Author's Note

In this world Sunset was never a bully.

Her First Day

November 5th

Twilight bolted upright in her bed, breathing heavily as she did. Her eyes darted around the room, her blurred vision showing nothing out of the ordinary. All she could see was her room, illuminated by the rising sun that passed through her blinds. She slowed her breathing, drawing in long deep breaths until calm. For the whole of the night, she had the same nightmare. She was in the hallway again, running the same as before, her legs and chest burned the same as she remembered them.

Something was chasing her, she knew this because whenever she stopped, something would catch her. She knew this because she felt something grab her neck, causing her to wake. The first time she screamed, sending her parents into the room with concern. The same dream came back as she fell asleep, this time she tripped and face-planted, again waking up stifling, her scream and replacing it with a quiet sob. The alarm clock next to her rung with a metal clanging, causing the girl to jump in shock.

She silenced the alarm and jumped out of bed, going about her morning ritual. She left her room and into the living room, Spike following behind her, she swung the door open and let the dog out. She spun around and slammed face first into a wall, she had forgotten her glasses, how she had made it to the front door in the first place was a mystery as bad as her eyes were.

She felt her way to the bedroom and grabbed her glasses, taking them off almost immediately when she entered the bathroom for her shower. After a quick shower and brushing her teeth, she returned to her room and threw on a purple and white sweater with jeans. She left her room, grabbed her backpack off the couch, and threw her shoes on before finally letting Spike back in and locking the door knob.

She went and stood beside the black mailbox at the end of the driveway. It wasn't long before her bus, an old International, pulled around the curved coming southwest and stopped before her house with a hiss. The near seventy-year-old driver opened the door with a low groan.

"Mornin'," He said in a raspy voice, Twilight nodded and boarded the bus, settling on one of the faded brown leather seats near the front. She rested her head against the window and closed her eyes, hoping to get some sleep before school. The bus set off, and even as her head bounced against the school bus window, she managed to get maybe an hour of sleep. She stayed in a half awake half asleep state until she felt the bus stop for a final time, the engine silencing.

She opened her eyes and stretched, finding the bus in a parking lot filled with other yellow buses, some newer and some older. Twilight joined the mass of kids leaving the bus and exited the parking lot behind numerous spaces for cars ahead of the bus lot. They sat across the road from the school, an imposing red brick building lined with tall winds, a blue-domed bell tower atop the roof. It looked like a town hall rather than a high school.

She crossed the street between lines of waiting cars and other buses to the grassy courtyard where the statue of a rearing horse stood. Past that were the metal doors leading into the school's foyer, hanging open by chains. The foyer was crowded with students as they made their way to the hallways. Twilight plopped down on one of the chairs next to the office door, as she was told by her mother.

A moment later, Principal Celestia stepped out of the office to greet her:

"Good morning Twilight," She said with a warm smile "I hope you slept well,"

"Not really, unfortunately," Twilight responded yawning "Nightmares, ya know,"

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that, I'm assuming you're waiting for Sunset, Yes? She'll meet up with you after the first bell so that you can tour the school with more ease,"

"That sounds great," Replied Twilight with enthusiasm. Celestia returned to her office and a moment later the first bell rang. All of the students that had been crowding near the foyer cleared out. A minute later, Twilight felt a tapping on her shoulder, she turned and found herself facing a fiery-haired girl in a leather jacket standing next to her.

"I assume you're Twilight," She greeted with a smile.

"Yeah," She replied nervously.

"Good, let's begin the tour," the two got up and left, walking down a hallway lined with lockers. "Sorry about the mess," Sunset said as they passed by a ladder and stacks of equipment "The school's undergoing some renovations right now," they continued on through the school, looking around at the many rooms that were all squeezed into the one building until they finally reached the library on the school's second floor. "And this is the library," Sunset said opening the door.

Twilight was blown away at the size of the rotund library. Amid all of the ladders and equipment in use by hardhat-wearing contractors were shelf upon shelf of books, many more in stacked boxes. At the center of the library were old desktop computers, and sitting at one of these was a short girl with long pink hair.

"Hey Fluttershy," Sunset said, to which the girl jumped in her seat, the girl turned to face Sunset and said meekly:

"Oh... Hi Sunset," she looked at Twilight "W-who's this?"

"This," he gestured to Twilight "Is Twilight Sparkle, she's the newest student at CHS," Twilight stuck out her hand to shake Fluttershy's, to which she lurched back "Fluttershy... Isn't too fond of folks,"

"Oh, sorry," Twilight said blushing with embarrassment.

"I-it's fine," Fluttershy said with a meek smile, shaking Twilight's hand.

"So what are ya workin' on?" asked Sunset

"I'm trying to finish my Psychology paper,"

"That sounds rough, where's everyone else?"

"I think Applejack and Pinkie Pie are in the gym, and Rainbow Dash is late again, and I don't know where Rarity is,"

"Typical Rainbow Dash," Sunset replied "C'mon, let's go meet the others," She said to Twilight.

"I'll come with you," Fluttershy said as she closed the computer down. A few minutes later, the trio found themselves in the basketball gym, a simple one with a court and bleachers, with a stage at one end lined with all sorts of junk. The gym wasn't empty, there were tables piled with boxes of some kind of supplies. There was also a ladder with more equipment below it in the center of the court. Nearby were two girls, one being a tall blonde-haired girl wearing a brown Stetson hat, standing before her was a shorter girl with pink poofy hair.

The two were discussing something important.

“I dunno Pinkie, ah think there might be such a thing as too many streamers,” the blonde girl said in a thick southern accent, to which the poofy-haired girl responded with:

“Are you kidding? You can NEVER have too many streamers!” In a hyperactive tone of voice. She then drew in a huge gasp, spotting Twilight with Sunset and Fluttershy. She charged Twilight and began bombarding her with questions. “What’s your name? What’s your favorite color, where’d you come from? Who’s your favorite player in the Dallas Cowboys? Why’d you come here?” Eventually, Sunset managed to stop the bouncing girl.

"This is Pinkie Pie," She began "She gets very hyper... Most of the time,"

"And Ah'm Applejack," The blonde girl said, facing the group.

"And you're?" She asked gesturing to Twilight.

"Twilight," she said nervously.

"Well, it's a pleasure t' meet ya Twilight,"

“It’s a pleasure to meet you too, Applejack,”. Applejack was about to continue when the side door leading outside of the gym swung up with a loud metal clang and screech. Stepping in through the glare of the morning light was a tall and thin teenage girl with mint green hair, her face molded into one of worry. She crossed the gym, almost bumping into the ladder. She reached the group out of breath and asked:

“Have… any of you… Seen Bon Bon?”

“N-no Lyra, we haven’t seen her today,” Fluttershy replied “Why? Is something wrong?”

“She hasn’t been answering my calls, we had a bit of a fight yesterday and I’ve been trying to apologize to her. She’s usually in here practicing in the mornings so I thought I’d check here,”

“She’s not here,” Applejack said “Ah don’t even think her car’s here,” The girl let out a dejected sigh.

“Okay…” She left with haste, nearly bumping into a rainbow-haired girl in a blue and gold letterman jacket as she entered from the hallway, hastily she asked “Rainbow Dash, have you seen Bon Bon?”

“N-no I haven’t…. She’s probably still at home,” she responded apologetically. Lyra nodded and dashed down the hallway. The short-haired girl crossed the gym and gathered with the others. “What’s her problem?”

“She and Bon Bon had a fight, and she’s worried cause she won’t answer her calls,” Sunset responded.

“Oh, who’s this?” she asked in her rough voice, gesturing to Twilight.

“This is Twilight, she’s new here, Twilight, this is Rainbow Dash” Sunset placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Ooooooooh," Responded Rainbow Dash "Well it's nice t' meet ya," The two shook hands.

"So why're you late today?" Applejack asked the rainbow-haired girl tauntingly, it seemed this was a normal occurrence.

"Well... My car wouldn't start this morning... And my dad couldn't get it to work, so I had to drive his truck... His old truck..." She seemed embarrassed. Applejack just bent over laughing "It's not funny," Rainbow Dash said through gritted teeth, growing red in her blue face. The door to the gym opened again and in strode a girl with flowing deep blue hair, dressed in warm autumn colors. She halted before the girls and looked right at Twilight, almost immediately criticizing her clothing:

"Hmm... These colors aren't really in season,"

"What are you talking about?" Twilight responded.

"It's..." She gestured to her whole body "The colors, violet isn't really an 'autumn color',"

"Rarity," Interjected Sunset, "This is Twilight, I think it'd be best that you know her before you criticize her fashion taste,"

"Oh..." Rarity politely extended her hand "It's great to meet you, darling," The two shook hands.

"I guess that's everyone," Sunset said, slapping her hands together, the muffled sound of the clanging school bell erupted from the hall outside, "I guess it's time for class," Sunset declared, and they all left the gym in a group.

Later in The Evening

Twilight's day had been a good one, she had stayed with her new friends for most of the day, she had been to basketball practice with Rainbow Dash, she spent a good chunk of time in the extensive library, and had even spent some time with Applejack after school, helping her around her family's large apple farm. Indeed, it had not been a boring day for the nerdy girl. Twilight was now in the large den connected to her home's kitchen.

It had one large sectional and a single recliner next to it, surrounding a round coffee table. Behind the sectional on the eastern wall was an ancient dusty piano. Behind the other part of the sectional, mounted into the south wall, was a painted-over and blocked-off closet door. Ahead of the section and into the northwest corner of the room was a flat-screen TV, which Twilight was watching, curled up on her couch in a blanket with a plate of cookies on the table before her.

Her parents had yet to hook up the satellite or internet to their TV, so right now, she watched one of the many local channels.

"Hello and welcome to Black County Number 6," said the brown-haired man on the TV, he sat before a white wall with a box to his left, "Your nightly schedule is M.A.S.H from 7:30 to 8:00, 8:00 to 8:30, 8:30 to 9:00, and 9:00 to 9:30, after that will be our nightly showing of True Grit, featuring John Wayne at 9:45," the box next to him portrayed what he had read, "But, before we show you that, now it's time for the nightly reports from Marvin Champ," The screen switched to handsome young blonde man "Tonight's top story is: A teenage girl from Wallaceville Mississippi has been reported missing as of 10:30 AM Central Time," The image of a young girl with pink and blue hair flashed onto the screen, she was shown in a selfie with the minty haired girl Twilight had met earlier in the day, "She stands at five feet seven inches tall and at around one hundred and fifteen pounds, her hair is a mix of pink and blue and her has a fairer complexion," He was reading off of a list "She was last seen at Wallaceville Grocery on November 4th, 2020 at 7:35 PM Central Time," The blurred monochrome image of a convenience store flashed on the screen, where she is seen standing at a checkout counter "She was last known to be wearing a blue Canterlot Wondercolts hoody, blue jeans, and white basketball shoes. She was known to be driving a 2009 red Dodge Avenger. If you have any information, please call the Canterlot County Sherriff's Office at 515-443-2229," Twilight clicked off the TV, her face had turned to one that could only be described as one of worry and shock. She didn't say anything, she simply got up and headed off to bed.