THUD.
Sunny frowned. She couldn’t exactly remember what had happened during the last minute or so. She felt… strange. Sunny wanted to say it felt like she was dreaming, but… that wasn’t exactly true. Whatever was going on, it did feel like a dream. Not quite. Maybe it felt more like she was out of her own body?
Yeah, that sounded better. In a normal dream you would still be able to feel things like usual. Wait, a normal dream? Aren’t dreams supposed to be very… not normal? Whatever. It wasn’t important. She knew this didn’t feel like a dream anyways. Instead it felt kind of…numb, she supposed. Her senses all felt strangely dulled. Her vision was blurry, every sound was muffled like she was underwater, her limbs were cold and detached. She couldn’t even sense time anymore. Everything around was frozen, like she was looking at a picture of someplace instead of being somewhere.
“Sunny?”
And suddenly, the world was in motion again. Everything started coming back to Sunny, though not all at once. The first thing she noticed was that her friend Hitch was there. He was looking at her with a strange look on his face, like he couldn’t understand what he was seeing either.
Next she noticed that she was in the playground behind her school. Her classmates were there too, also looking at her. Actually, no. They weren’t looking at her. They were looking at something else, something in front of her.
It was then Sunny saw her. She was a filly, about Sunny’s age, and she was laying on the ground, whimpering. Whimpering as she cradled her bloody nose in her hooves. Her nose, which was bleeding, because Sunny had just hit her in the face.
“There she is! Look!”
Sprout. Sunny grimaced as the colt trotted into view, an insufferable grin on his tiny red muzzle.
“See! I told you! They were fighting and… um, uh…” Sprout trailed off as he noticed the look Sunny was giving him. She opened her mouth to lambaste him when she felt a shadow loom over her.
“What is going on here?” Sunny’s blood ran cold. She turned around and looked up to find the scowling face of a teacher above her.
“Eh heh,” Sunny said with a sheepish grin before taking off running.
“Get back here this instant!” The teacher cried. Sunny paid her no mind, instead opting to run past her, towards the wall of students blocking the entrance to the school. Fortunately for her, the sight of the filly coming straight for them made them scatter like a flock of seagulls.
Everypony except for Sprout, that is. Maybe he thought he could stop her, maybe his reaction time was a little slow. Either way, the colt’s eyes were the size of dinner plates, the image of Sunny barreling towards him mirrored in both pupils. Sprout then made a small, strangled cry and crumpled up into a ball. Without time to change direction, Sunny simply leapt over him. She landed in the hallway with a loud ‘clunk.’ The teacher behind her was not as lucky and tripped over Sprout with an undignified squawk.
Sunny kept going, running down the hall as fast as her little legs could carry her. Her eyes locked on the set of double-doors ahead of her: the exit. She was so close.
Suddenly Sunny skidded to a halt. Her saddlebag! She couldn’t leave it behind! Sunny then made a sharp right turn, now heading to her classroom. Once inside she immediately narrowed in the cubby where everypony had placed their belongings before going to recess. Where was it… there! Sunny nabbed her saddlebag, quickly swinging it on her shoulder. Maybe her luck was turning around?
She then poked her head out the door. The teacher from before was coming down the hallway, nearly foaming at the mouth with rage. Sunny jumped away from the door. So much for luck.
Sunny frantically searched the room for any to escape. The only other way out of the classroom she could find was a small window. Beggars can't be choosers, she thought. She grabbed a desk, pushed it up against the wall, and scrambled on top of it. Then she hesitated. Sunny frowned, peering out the window. It wasn’t exactly a high drop, she could make it without hurting herself or damaging her saddlebag. Probably. Right?
“STARSCOUT!”
No time like the present. Sunny swallowed, and leapt out the window. She landed with a grunt, her chin hitting the ground first. She took the time to mutter a quick ‘ow’ before scrambling back onto her hooves. Sunny didn’t bother looking back as she ran. She just kept going, not towards anywhere in particular, just away from the school. Luck, once again, seemed to be on her side, as there seemed to be no adults around the building to try and stop her.
It was kinda strange, now that Sunny thought about it. Like, weren’t the adults supposed to stop the foals from escaping or something? Maybe they decided that once she was outside she was somepony else’s problem? Or maybe they just assumed that she could out run all of them. Her father always said she was a fast runner after all.
Dad.
Sunny felt her chest tighten. She slowed to a trot before stopping completely. Sunny stood there for a moment, trying to catch her breath. With a start, Sunny realized where she had been going. Muscle memory?, she thought, unable to come up with a better explanation. Well, she was already nearly there, and since it was probably not a good idea to go back to Sprout's home, she decided to head back to her old home. Sunny took extra care to take the back-roads, lest any adult find her and start asking questions. Eventually she found herself on the familiar peninsula, the lighthouse almost seeming intimidating as she approached the door.
She grabbed the handle with a hoof and twisted it. Locked. Of course it was. Sunny frowned, her gaze shifting downward. Beneath her hooves was a mat, the words “Welcome Home!” written in a cheerful cursive font. Besides that was a stone. Sunny picked it up and took the key hidden underneath it.
The door groaned like a dying stallion as Sunny opened it. She stepped inside, her hoofsteps like cannon fire inside the empty building. Her vision was murky, her eyes not yet adjusted to the darkness. She placed a hoof on the wall, feeling around for the light-switch.
Click.
Sunny blinked as the light came back on. She then took a moment to look around, as if she had never been in that room before. It was almost funny, or at least Sunny thought it was. Everything was… more or less the same as she had left it. Some books her father had been reading sitting on the table in front of the couch. A clock on the wall, ticking the seconds away. A collection of potted plants in the windowsill, only now beginning to turn a little yellow. A spider building a web in one corner of the ceiling.
Well, that last one was new, at least. Sunny decided she should probably do something about it. She opened her saddlebag and began rummaging through it, searching for anything that she could throw. She didn’t have much, a few pencils, her notebook, a pair of textbooks… Wait. Sunny grabbed the strange book and looked at it closely. Suddenly, she remembered. It was earlier that day:
"Oh come on," Sunny said to herself as she saw her locker. There, in big red letters, was a word that she wouldn't dare say within earshot of any adults. Somepony had wrote on her locker. Again.
Sunny closed her eyes, hoping that the word would just magically disappear when she opened them. She open her eyes. No such luck.
With an annoyed grunt Sunny turned around and started walking to the janitor's closet. She had really been hoping that this year would be different. Normally the filly liked to get to school a little early, before too many foals had arrived, and do some homework. But no, apparently that wasn't going to happen. She still had to deal with this stuff. And now she had to worry about getting her locker clean before a teacher noticed. Great.
Lucky, the closet door was unlocked. Sunny looked around inside, quickly spotting a rag and spray-bottle. Well, maybe I could at least do some homework before class, Sunny thought as she stepped out of the closet.
“Sunny?”
Oh no. The filly slowly turned around. “H-hitch?” she stammered.
“Sunny!” Hitch beamed in an annoyingly chipper voice as he trotted towards her.
"Hey Hitch," Sunny said, mentally calculating the fastest way out of this conversation.
"Hey yourself," Hitch replied with a chuckle. "Geez, it feels like we haven't talked in forever."
Sunny winced. The two hadn't really spoken very much over the summer and while they did have a couple of classes together, Sunny had been sort of... well... avoiding him.
"So, what are you doing?"
"Oh, uh... nothing much," Sunny said lamely. Hitch raised an eyebrow.
"Really?" he said, pointing at the bottle Sunny was carrying. "Cuz it looks like you're gonna clean something."
"Well aren't you a little detective," is what Sunny wanted to say. Instead she said: "Yeah... there's a smudge or...something on my locker. Figured I should clean it up.
"M'Kay," Hitch said. He was still smiling when he said that, and he continued to smile at Sunny for an uncomfortably long time afterwards.
"Yeah... uh, I think I should get going so..."
"Sunny wait!" Hitch cried as Sunny turned around. Worryingly, his happy grin had shifted to a look of concern. "Listen, I... I heard what happen t-to your Dad."
For a second it felt like Sunny had been stabbed with an icy dagger. Then the feeling went away. "Ugh! This again," Sunny grumbled. "How many times are ponies gonna keep saying that?"
"What?" Hitch said in utter confusion.
"My dad's fine. I don't know why ever pony keeps bringing it up."
"B-but I thought he was i-in the hospital an-"
"So what!? Lot's of ponies go to the hospital!" Sunny snapped, glaring at Hitch.
Hitch swallowed nervously. "O-oh. Well, I uh, I just wanted to know I uh, bought you a book."
Sunny blinked. “You… what?”
Hitch smiled proudly. “I brought you a book!” Hitch repeated with a proud smile. He paused for a moment, cleared his throat, and continued: “I… I went to the bookstore with my mom, and… and I saw it and uh, knew you’d love it!”
Hitch then reached into his backpack and pulled out a small book, which he then gave to Sunny. Sunny took the book and quickly read the cover. She frowned.
“Hitch?”
“Yeah?”
“You saw this and thought I would love it?”
“Yeah!” Hitch said. “D-do you like?”
“Uh…” Sunny swallowed. “It’s perfect. Thanks.”
Hitch smiled again. “Hey, that's what friends are for."
Sunny turned the book over and read the title:
GO OUTSIDE AND MAKE SOME FRIENDS!
All of the “O’s” had been replaced with little smiley faces.
Sunny tossed the book at the spider. She missed, but the sound the book made when it hit the floor was at least a little satisfying. Sunny allowed herself a smirk as she reached for her saddlebag and…
Wait.
No. Sunny frantically checked the bag again, as if she had somehow missed it the first time.
It wasn’t there.
Her saddlebag had only two buttons. Not three. Just two.
It wasn’t there.
She had made those buttons one weekend with her father. They made one for each of the Guardians of Harmony. Sunny painted Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack’s cuitemarks for her father.
It wasn’t there.
Her father had painted Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight’s cutiemarks for her. She only had Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash.
She had lost Twilight’s.
Sunny threw her bag as hard as she could. She swore with the foulest word she knew at her age. And then she did it again. And again, each cry longer and louder than the last. There wasn’t much use being quiet. After all, it wasn’t like any adult could hear her.
Defeated, Sunny laid back down on the couch. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hoof. Her throat hurt, raw from screaming. The spider continued building its web, paying the filly no mind.
"Dad?" Sunny said, poking her head around the door frame. She grimaced. If there was one thing that she had learned over these last few weeks, it was that she really, really hated hospitals. She thought it was because of the smell. It was... too clean, unnaturally so. Until it wasn't.
That was something else Sunny had learned about hospitals: no matter clean they seemed at first, there was always a mess hiding somewhere. Heck, Sunny could spot a few in the room she was looking in: scuffles behind the desk next to the bed, a collection of stains near the center of the floor, some smudges on the window.
"Hello Sunny."
The sound of his voice was enough to snap Sunny out of her thoughts. "Dad!" Sunny then trotted over to the bed and with a hop and skip landed right beside her father. It was then she realized that he wasn't smiling.
"Your late," Argyle said bluntly.
“W-what?” Sunny stammered,.
“I said you’re late. You've never been late before."
“Oh,” Sunny was Sunny's reply.
“Did something happen at school?”
“What? No! No, I… I just had a lot… homework? Yeah, lot's of homework!”
"Really? I thought it was still only your first week."
"Yeah... I know! Isn't it crazy?" Sunny lied.
"Hm," Argyle said, stretching his chin like he always did when he was in deep thought. "So... that's why you were late?"
"Yep."
"And nothing happened at school, aside from getting a lot of homework?"
"N-no. Just typical first week stuff."
“I see," Argyle said. It took all of Sunny's will power not to squirm. "So, when exactly did you get that bruise on your cheek.”
“I… I have a what!?” Sunny instinctively brought a hoof up to her check. She winced; the area was still tender. She then realized Argyle was still looking at her. “Oh, I…I guess I musta… fell… on the way over here. Because I was… running late! That's why I fell.”
Phew, Sunny thought. She hated to think it, but she was kind of proud of her lie.
Argyle sighed. “Sunny, you know I have a phone here, right?" he added, gesturing towards the nearby desk. "You know, in case somepony needs to make a call."
Sunny froze. “Uh…”
“The school called earlier."
"...they did?"
"They did. Do you have any idea why?"
"...nope."
"Really? Because I thought they said something about a filly getting a bloody nose."
“Oh,” was Sunny’s reply. A silence then fell over the family, with Sunny pointedly staring at the hospital floor.
"Sunny, what did I tell you about lying?"
More silence.
“We could do this all day, you know.”
“It wasn’t my fault…” Sunny grumbled under her breath.
Argyle raised an eyebrow. "Sunny..."
“It wasn’t!” Sunny snapped. “I told him not to make a big deal out of it!”
“Who?”
"Hitch!"
"So this is all his fault?"
"Yes!" Sunny snapped. "I told him I don’t care what she writes on my locker! That he should just drop it and leave it alone for once in his stupid life! But no, mister ‘I wanna be a sheriff’ decides to tell her off right in the middle of recess, riiight in front of everypony! So they could all laugh at me f-for tattling on her, because I-I’m too much of a baby to handle a s-stupid j-joke…
Suddenly, Argyle leaned forward and pulled Sunny into a hug. Sunny then buried her face into his chest, sobbing loudly. “Shhh,” Argyle said “It’s okay… it’s okay…”
Sunny sniffled. “I hate that stupid colt…”
“Sounds to me like he just wanted to help.”
“I don’t need his help,” Sunny hissed, gritting her teeth. “I don’t need him. I don’t need anypony…”
“Not even me?” Argyle said. Sunny did not reply, instead deciding to lay there as her father's hoof rubbed her back. A pregnant silence fell over the two for a moment, until Argyle decided to speak again:
“Just so you know, your suspended for next week."
Sunny sighed. “Figures.”
“...and Miss Cloverleaf already knows what happened.”
“Oh,” Sunny added, grimacing.
“Yeah. We had a little chat on the phone just before you got here. She said something about how my ‘radical ideas’ have turned my daughter into a delinquent who jumps out windows.”
“Ugh, it was on the first floor!” Sunny said. Argyle then gave her an incredulous look, and the two shared a laugh.
“Aw geez, wish I had my skates. That woulda one heck of an exit.”
“You know, I still owe you a trip to the roller-ring.”
Sunny sighed. "I know..."
"I'm serious. I'm telling you, we're doing it first thing after they let me out of this place."
Sunny smiled. "Thanks Dad."
"Anything for my little Sunny-bunny."
"Daad, I told you, I’m too old for that name!”
“I know,” Argyle said with a chuckle as he hugged her tighter. “I know.”
Sunny frowned as she tried to concentrate, the words on the page turning into a blur. She was sitting up against the couch in the Cloverleaf’s living room, doing some homework. Sure, she wasn’t allowed to go to school the next day, but it wasn’t like she had anything better to do either.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang.
“Mom! Get the door!” Sprout shouted. He was watching television, sitting on top of the couch like a king on his throne. Sunny knew that, because that is exactly what Sprout had told her earlier when she had tried to sit on the couch.
The doorbell rang again. “Mom! MOM!”
“Oh, for the love of…” Sunny said, deciding that she could use a break anyways. She then slammed her textbook shut, got up, and opened the door herself. Her eyes widened once she saw who it was.
“H-hitch?” she said.
“H-hey Sunny,” the colt said, sounding unsure of himself.
“What… what are you doing here?”
“I uh, I found something at school. I thought… I thought you might want it.” Hitch then held out his hoof towards her. Sunny’s eyes widened once she realized what he was holding.
“Is… is that my Twilight Sparkle button?”
"Yeah. They were gonna throw it away, but I said you should have it."
Sunny then took the button. She gave it a quick inspection and, much to her relief, it didn't seem to be damaged.
"Yeah, listen. It's getting late, and my parents are probably gonna start wondering where I am so..." Hitch then turned around, beginning to head back home.
"Wait!" Hitch froze mid-step and turned around. "Thank you," Sunny said.
Hitch smiled. “Hey, that's what friends are for."
