My Little Pony: New Generation Girls

Chapters

Chapter 2: Hated
Chapter 3: Principal’s Pet
Chapter 4: Brewing Storm
Chapter 5: Shine Bright
Chapter 1: The New Girl

Chapter 2: Hated

By the time Sunny and Izzy arrived at the classroom the rest of the class was already inside and seated. Most of the students were talking amongst themselves until they noticed Sunny standing in the doorway and the room fell silent. Ignoring the glares everyone was giving her Sunny scanned the room for empty seats, then groaned when she realised that the only two unoccupied seats were the two at the desk right in front of the teacher’s desk. She entered the room, Izzy following behind her.

As Izzy followed Sunny towards the front of the room she noticed a lot of the other students were staring at her, some of them even pointing. Izzy let out a nervous laugh and gave a small wave. As she and Sunny took their seats she heard one student say “Great. Starscout’s already gotten to the new girl.”

Trying her best to ignore the other students Izzy turned to Sunny, who had a tense look on her face. No doubt she had heard the student’s comment. Izzy leaned over and whispered into Sunny’s ear “Where’s the teacher?”

Sunny’s face relaxed slightly and she turned to face Izzy. “Our regular teacher is on maternity leave, so we’ll be having another one to fill in” she explained.

Izzy nodded, then realised there were heavy footsteps coming from the hallway. Everyone else clearly heard them too, as every head turned to face the door.

A well built man entered. He had navy blue skin and dark grey hair that laid flatly on his head. He was wearing business pants and a leather jacket over a buttoned shirt that had the top two buttons undone. His greyish blue eyes gave a piercing look over the room and the students. Black, Izzy thought, shivering. Black sparkles meant cruel and ruthless personalities.

A lot of the girls blushed at the sight of the teacher, though some of them clearly weren’t interested. Sunny was one of the latter, as she sighed before turning to face the front of the room.

“I have several questions before we start.” He spoke with a cold and harsh voice. “First, where is Sunny Starscout?”

Sunny let out a barely audible groan before slamming her head into the desk. Izzy looked at her in alarm.

“Sunny?”

Izzy tapped Sunny’s shoulder. She didn’t respond.

The teacher’s eyes fell on the duo’s desk. “Ah, good. Right at the front, where I can keep an eye on you.”

Most of the students burst out laughing. The teacher let them laugh at Sunny’s expense and waited for them to stop before speaking again. “Next question. Where is the new girl?”

Izzy looked down at Sunny before raising her hand. “Here.”

The teacher’s eyes narrowed as they moved from Sunny to Izzy. “Oh, fantastic. Starscout’s already got her hooks sunk into ya.”

“Sir?” a male voice interrupted.

Sunny’s head shot up, startling Izzy. Sunny turned her head to look at the source of the voice and Izzy followed her gaze to find a boy with aqua green hair that stood up slightly, amber eyes and light amber skin. He was wearing a dark green hoodie with matching sports jeans. Yellow, Izzy thought.

The boy continued. “You’re being offensive to Sunny and the new girl.”

The teacher’s eyes moved away from Sunny and Izzy to look at the boy, who didn’t even flinch at the teacher’s gaze.

“Oh, we’ve got a wise guy here” said the teacher, who looked as if he was about to punch the boy into next week.

Suddenly the school intercom clicked on, and a voice Izzy recognised as Beautiful Heart’s echoed through the school. “Can Sunny Starscout and Izzy Moonbow please come to my office.”

Everyone in the room turned to look at Sunny and Izzy. Izzy gave a nervous chuckle.

The teacher huffed. “Saved by the bell, it seems.” He pointed to the door. “OUT!” he yelled.

The two didn’t need telling twice. They quickly grabbed their bags and headed out of the room. Sadly the teacher wasn’t done with them yet. As Sunny walked past him (as he was making his way to the front of the classroom) he shoved Sunny sideways into the desk of the boy who called the teacher out on his verbal abuse. Sunny let out a cry of pain as her hip collided with the table before she fell to the floor.

Another boy sitting next to the kind boy laughed unkindly at Sunny’s misfortune. He had slicked back blond hair, red skin and green eyes. He was wearing a black leather jacket with matching leather trousers. Red, Izzy thought. Red sparkles weren’t a sign of danger on their own, but it was the shade of red that scared her. His sparkle made her think of a raging wildfire.

Unfortunately Izzy was so distracted she didn’t notice the teacher coming towards her until he collided with her, knocking the poor girl off balance and sending her to the floor. Another round of unkind laughter from their fellow students.

Sunny let out an annoyed sigh before crawling over to Izzy and standing up, pulling Izzy with her. Izzy was starting to wonder if she and Sunny would make it to the end of the year.

After making sure Izzy was alright Sunny started walking towards the door again, leaning down as she passed the kind boy and whispering “Thanks, Hitch” in his ear. The boy nodded in response.

As Izzy followed Sunny out the door the mean boy shouted “Hey. Look at her bag. She must be poor.”

Sunny grabbed the door handle and slammed the door shut before anyone could say anything else. Izzy glanced over her shoulder at her bag.

“But… I made it myself” she said weakly.

“Really?” Sunny asked curiously.

Izzy nodded, smiling slightly. “Yeah. I’m great at arts and crafts. And I’m not half bad at sewing either.”

Sunny smiled back. “Huh. My thing’s culinary science. I even own the smoothie business in town. Anyway, want me to show you the way to the principal’s office?”

Izzy nodded her head eagerly. Sunny pointed to a side hallway just ahead of the two. “Follow me” she said.

Author's Note

So, I was originally going to include Sunny and Izzy’s meeting with Beautiful Heart in this chapter but the classroom scene ended up being so long I decided to make the meeting it’s own chapter.

Also, something I meant to address last chapter but completely forgot to. You may have noticed I’m writing Sunny and Izzy a bit… out of character. Izzy seems depressed and withdrawn as opposed to bubbly and energetic while Sunny is guarded instead of open. There is a reason for this. As I maybe made a bit too clear in this chapter, the residents of Maretime Bay hate Sunny and as hinted in the first chapter Izzy is in a similar situation in Bridlewood. All that hostility would take it’s toll on the two, though I’m trying to write it as their cannon personalities are still present just buried under all the hurt.

Finally I want to address Hitch and Sprout’s sparkles. As far as I can recall the only characters who’s sparkle colours were said in cannon were Sunny and Pipp. If Hitch and/or Sprout have cannon sparkle colours and I’m just not remembering please let me know so I can correct it. Hope you all enjoy.

Chapter 3: Principal’s Pet

The side hallway Sunny had pointed to ended up containing a pair of double doors leading outside and a staircase that led to the second floor.

“This is the back staircase,” Sunny explained as they began to climb the steps. “Trust me, when you have to travel from one floor to another between classes, use the back staircase. The ramp gets so swamped with foot traffic it becomes a total gridlock.”

“Wait,” Izzy said, raising her hand. “Wouldn’t students just use the back staircase if the ramp became a total gridlock?”

“You’d think so, but must students don’t seem to even know the back staircase exists. The only other students I’ve seen use it other than me is Hitch and some girl from Zephyr Heights.”

Suddenly Sunny let out a hiss of pain as her hand went to her hip. Izzy looked at her in concern.

“Um, shouldn’t you see the school nurse? I mean, you did hit that desk pretty hard” Izzy asked.

“I’ve suffered worse than this. My hip will be bruised by tomorrow but I’ll be fine” Sunny responded. “So, anything else you want to know about the school?”

Izzy had a feeling Sunny was just trying to change the subject but on the other hand she believed Sunny when she said she had suffered worse, given how most of the student body seemed to treat her. Deciding to make use of the fact that Sunny wanted to answer questions about the school, Izzy decided to learn more about their fellow students who were so quick to laugh at them.

“Who were those two boys?” Izzy asked as the two girls came to a stop at the top of the stairs.

Sunny smiled. “The boy who stood up for us was Hitch Trailblazer. He’s a close childhood friend and the closest thing I’ve ever had to a brother. He’s kinda the only family I have now.”

That fact surprised Izzy. “You’re on your own, too?”

Sunny nodded again. “My father passed away, and I never knew my mom.” Then Izzy’s words properly registered. “Wait, you’re on your own?”

Izzy nodded slowly, biting her lip. “Yeah. My parents… “ Izzy hesitated. If there was anyone she could trust, it was Sunny. Heck, Sunny probably understood her like no one else could. But it was still hard to talk about the fact that her parents just… left.

Suddenly Izzy felt a hand on her shoulder. She knew it was Sunny, but when Izzy tried to look at her she found her eyes were too watery to see clearly. She was… crying. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she found Sunny giving her a warm smile.

“Don’t answer,” she said gently. “It’s clearly too painful for you.”

Izzy nodded, then without warning buried her head into Sunny’s chest. Izzy felt Sunny stiffen in surprise, but then the other girl’s arms rapped around her, hugging her. The two just stood there for a while, neither of them moving.

“Thank you” Izzy whispered when she finally pulled her head out of Sunny’s chest.

Sunny simply smiled. “You’re welcome” she whispered back. Then Sunny gently took Izzy’s hand and started leading her down the hall, like a parent guiding a lost child.

Letting herself be led, Izzy’s mind wondered back to the event in the classroom. “Who was that other boy?” she found herself asking.

“The jerk?” Sunny growled slightly. “Sprout Cloverleaf. The school’s resident bad boy and bully.”

“Then why was Hitch sitting next to him?” Izzy asked. None of this made sense. Sure she and Sunny didn’t get to choose their seats because there were no other options left, but everyone else seemed to have chosen the seats they were sitting at. If Sprout got to the table first Hitch could have just gone somewhere else, and if Hitch got there first surely he would have saved the seat for Sunny. Hitch had no way of knowing Izzy would be coming to the school or that she and Sunny would become friends.

“Because Hitch and Sprout are ALSO childhood friends,” Sunny answered, surprising Izzy. “The three of us hung out a lot as kids, but I wouldn’t really call Sprout a friend. We were both just hanging out with a mutual friend. We never really got along, and we get along even less nowadays.”

The two came to a stop and Sunny let go of Izzy’s hand, the latter realising they had stopped in front of what appeared to be a doorframe, only there was no door. Sunny walked through and Izzy followed. In front of them was a door and to their right was a staircase leading down.

Sunny pointed to the staircase. “That’s the staff only staircase.” She leaned towards Izzy and whispered in her ear. “Don’t tell anyone, but I’ve actually used it a few times, and apparently so has the Zephyr Heights girl.”

Izzy giggled. Sunny turned to the door. “And this is the principal’s office.”

Izzy noticed Sunny seemed oddly cheerful for someone who was just called to the principal’s office. “Um, Sunny?” she asked, slightly nervous. “We’re not in trouble, are we?”

Sunny turned to look at her. “Hardly” she said, before opening the door and walking inside. Izzy followed her in.

Inside Izzy was surprised to find that the room was rather bland. There was nothing hung up on the walls and the only furniture was a large table and three chairs. The furniture all looked new, but was clearly generic and just bought at a local store. The table didn’t even have any personal items on it, just a bunch of generic school stuff. The room had no sense of character, like the person who owned it could just be changed around without making a huge difference.

And speaking of the room’s owner, principal Beautiful Heart was sitting in the chair behind the table.

“Oh, Izzy,” she said as the two entered. “I’m so sorry. I always give the new first years a tour of the school myself so I picked out a student to show you around, but then completely forgot to have them with me outside the school for when you arrived.”

“It’s okay,” Izzy said quickly. “I already have someone to show me around.” She nodded her head towards Sunny.

“Sunny?” Beautiful Heart asked, apparently only now registering that Sunny was in the room. “Oh, thank goodness you’ve already met each other.”

“Wait? You picked me to show Izzy around? Why?” Sunny asked, surprised.

“Because you’re one of only two students in this whole school who has their head on straight, Sunny.” Beautiful Heart answered. “Anyway,” she continued. “What’s the new teacher like?”

“He’s mean” Izzy said before Sunny could respond, so she simply nodded in agreement.

Beautiful Heart sighed. “What did he do?” she asked, covering her head with her hand.

“Shouldered me into a table, knocked Izzy to the ground and verbally abused both of us” Sunny summarised, taking her bag off.

Beautiful Heart let out a barely audible groan. “I didn’t like his attitude, but he was the only teacher in the area available to cover the classes. I’m so sorry you two.”

Sunny simply shrugged. “I’m guessing you want to talk to Izzy?”

Beautiful Heart nodded. “Yes. Though you’re more than welcome to stay.”

“I know.” Sunny said. “I just want some fresh air. I’ll be out on the track if either of you want me.”

Waving to both of them Sunny left the room, closing the door behind her.

“She’s a sweet girl,” Beautiful Heart commented. “I wish she was my daughter.”

“Do you have a daughter?” Izzy asked, taking off her bag and sitting across from Beautiful Heart.

Beautiful Heart nodded, then sighed sadly. “Her name’s Posey Bloom. She’s the same age as you and Sunny, though she’s nothing like you two. She’s your typical leather jacket wearing bad girl. If the school were to have a contest for who had the most rotten personality she’d come second only to… “

“Sprout Cloverleaf” Izzy finished, realising where Beautiful Heart’s sentence was going.

“You’ve met him, then” Beautiful Heart said grimly.

Izzy nodded. “You said Sunny was one of only two students in the entire school who had her head on straight. I’m guessing the other is Hitch Trailblazer.”

To Izzy’s surprise, Beautiful Heart shook her head. “Hitch is alright, he just needs to learn to abandon Sprout. That boy is far past redemption, but Hitch just can’t see that. No, the student I’m thinking of is Zipp Storm. She’s the school’s most academic student, though Sunny sits in a comfortable second.”

Izzy thought about it for a second. She had never heard the name ‘Zipp Storm’ before, meaning the girl was likely from Maretime Bay or Zephyr Heights and not Bridlewood. Then another question occurred to Izzy.

“Why does everyone hate Sunny so much?” she asked. Izzy knew perfectly well why she was hated in Bridlewood. She never thought she’d meet someone else like her, yet everyone in Maretime Bay hated Sunny as much as everyone in Bridlewood hated Izzy. She was curious if the reason their respective towns hated them were similar.

Beautiful Heart suddenly appeared nervous when Izzy asked the question. “Y-you’ll haaavvvee to ask Su… Sunny about that. I haven’t got a clue. Hahaha” she said quickly.

It was clear as day that Beautiful Heart didn’t want to answer the question, so Izzy didn’t push it.

“Do you mind if I go catch up with Sunny?” Izzy asked, sitting up.

“Just one quick thing” Beautiful Heart said, suddenly back to her cheerful self. The sudden attitude switch may have been alarming to some, but Izzy barely noticed. After all she was the same, often going from bursting with energy to depressed over the course of a single sentence.

Beautiful Heart opened a drawer in her desk and reached inside, pulling out a card. “This is a pass so you can get out of class whenever you want to. Sunny and Zipp both have them too,” she explained, handing it to Izzy. “Personally I think it would be better for peoples’ development if they didn’t come here, but you have to get your education somehow.”

Izzy stared down at the card, then smiled at Beautiful Heart. “Thanks. Now I gotta go find Sunny.”

“Don’t worry. She won’t have gone far,” Beautiful Heart said. “In fact, knowing her she’s out there dragging her feet in the hallway waiting for you to catch up.”

Izzy nodded before skipping over to the door.

“Izzy,” Beautiful Heart said suddenly as Izzy was opening the door. The girl turned back to look at her. “For the record, there’s now three students in the school who have their head on straight.”

Izzy was shocked, but then smiled at Beautiful Heart before running off to find Sunny.

Author's Note

AND I RETURN

I’m so sorry this chapter took so long to come out. I didn’t intend for it to happen and don’t really have any reason for why it happened. I took a small break after the last chapter to brush up on what the characters’ personalities were like, since like I said last time I was worried I was writing them a bit out of character. I did that, but then took forever to get around to actually writing this chapter. But it’s here now and the longest one yet.

So two things I wanted to address,
One: the teacher from the last chapter will not be a recurring character, hence why I didn’t bother giving you his name. His purpose was simply to make it clear to Izzy (and the readers) that Sunny is hated by the residents of Maretime Bay to the point that some of them will even lash out at her. You may see him again briefly, but he wasn’t important enough to the story to come up with a name for.
Two: Posey’s inclusion. I know she and Sprout were both reformed at the end of A New Generation and Make Your Mark respectively, so featuring them both here as leather jacket wearing bad kids might seem a little odd, but since both were antagonistic to the Mane 5 at first I think it works.

But yeah. This chapter was to show that our two heroines do have some people in their corner, since Beautiful Heart is playing favourites with Sunny. Wait, did I just say two heroines. Let’s fix that shall we.
Beautiful Heart: Miss Storm, enter stage left.

Chapter 4: Brewing Storm

After Izzy left Beautiful Heart’s office it wasn’t hard to find Sunny, since it turned out Sunny was dragging her feet in the hall waiting for Izzy to catch up.

“There you are,” Sunny said as Izzy ran up next to her. Then she noticed the card in Izzy’s hand. “So, Beautiful Heart gave you a pass too, uh?”

“Yep” Izzy said. She looked down at the card in her hand. “So where should I put this?”

“My advice,” Sunny said, pulling her own card out of her pocket. “Is to keep it on your person. Bag theft is surprisingly common in this school. In fact, last year they even ran a poll. On average, fifty bags are stolen every week.”

Izzy was suddenly wondering if they should have brought their bags with them. “Did you ever get your bag stolen?” she asked.

Sunny laughed bitterly. “Oh, in my first year I was every bag thief’s favourite target. Then they got bored of me.”

Izzy nodded, then took a deep breath. Sunny glanced at her out of the corner of her eye.

“You don’t have to answer, but why does everyone hate you?” Izzy asked.

Sunny didn’t answer for a few seconds, and Izzy was starting to worry that she had offended Sunny when Sunny suddenly burst out laughing.

“I’m sorry,” Sunny said as she tried to get herself under control. “That just came out of nowhere.”

Truthfully Sunny had never been asked that question. For years her social circle had consisted of only three people, all of whom already knew why she was hated. And even around town everyone knew why, so being asked a question everyone seemed to know the answer to caught Sunny off guard. That, combined with Izzy’s bluntness in approaching the topic, and Sunny couldn’t help but laugh. But if Izzy didn’t know the reason, or even who Sunny was, then that could only mean…

“You’re not from Maretime Bay, are you?” Sunny asked, regaining her normal tone as the two reached the top of the back staircase.

Izzy shook her head. “No. Bridlewood. Is that a problem?”

“It would be to some people in town, but not to me” Sunny answered.

“Why would people have a problem with where I’m from?” Izzy asked as she started to walk down the stairs.

“It has to do with the reason I’m hated,” Sunny said as she started to follow Izzy down the stairs, only to stop and cry out in pain as her hand went to her hip. Izzy stopped and turned around, looking at her friend concerned.

“I’m fine, really,” Sunny said, trying to reassure Izzy. “Like I said, I’ve dealt with worse. I just gonna take it slow.”

Sunny started slowly down the stairs, coming to a stop as she reached Izzy.

“See,” Sunny said smiling at Izzy. “I can handle this.”

Izzy looked up at the taller girl. Part of her didn’t quite believe Sunny, but the girl did seem to know how to handle herself while injured. So she decided to get back on topic.

“So why does everyone hate you?” Izzy asked as she continued walking down the stairs, slower this time. “And why would the reason make everyone hate that I’m from Bridlewood.”

“It’s a bit of a long story,” Sunny said as she started following Izzy down the stairs. “And I don’t know all the details.”

“Tell me what you do know” Izzy responded.

Sunny sighed. It felt weird, telling this story to someone. “I guess it all starts back when Maretime Bay was being built years ago. Back then there were four friends: my father, Hitch’s father, Sprout’s mother and Beautiful Heart.”

Sunny looked sideways at Izzy, who nodded to show that she was following the story.

Feeling slightly more comfortable, Sunny continued her tale. “The four were close friends growing up, but in their mid teens Sprout’s mother changed. She started becoming… a tyrant, for lack of a better word. Hitch’s father and Beautiful Heart eventually severed ties with her. She and my dad maintained contact, but their relationship became strained, and they were rarely civil with each other.”

Izzy glanced over at Sunny. “I think they may have rubbed off on you and Sprout a little” she said.

“Oh they definitely did,” Sunny admitted, before continuing her story. “By the time they reached their early twenties my dad was an archaeologist and an investigative journalist on the side. Hitch’s dad became the town sheriff. Beautiful Heart was entering the world of teaching. And Sprout’s mom became founder and CEO of Canterlogic.”

“Canterlogic?” Izzy asked as the two girls reached the bottom of the stairs. She had never heard the name before.

“It’s a local company,” Sunny explained. “When you were coming into town did you see a massive factory on a hill overlooking the town?”

Izzy nodded. She had been wondering what that factory was when she arrived at Maretime Bay.

“That’s Canterlogic,” Sunny said. “They build most of the tech in Maretime Bay, from the street lights to the TVs. If it runs on electricity in Maretime Bay, chances are it’s made by Canterlogic. They also own the local news agent and control the local electricity.”

“It sounds like Canterlogic controls everything in Maretime Bay” Izzy commented.

“They do,” Sunny confirmed. “One day Hitch’s dad discovered an illegal crime ring operating in Maretime Bay, Bridlewood and Zephyr Heights and asked my dad to help look into it. He uncovered that Sprout’s mom was involving Canterlogic in some ‘unethical business’. My dad exposed her, but she had the resources of Canterlogic behind her. By the time the investigation was over she not only didn’t have a scratch on her reputation but she had also turned everyone against my dad.”

The two reached the bottom of the stairs and walked out the double doors. Izzy was thinking over what she had just been told.

“How?” she asked. “How did… er, you never mentioned any names.”

Sunny face palmed as she realised her mistake. On the few occasions she had ranted about the situation to Hitch or Beautiful Heart she hadn’t had to use names because they both knew who she was talking about.

“Sorry Izzy. Force of habit” Sunny explained. “My dad’s name was Argyle and Sprout’s mother’s name is Phyllis.”

Izzy nodded. “So how did Phyllis get everyone to hate Argyle?”

Sunny sighed. “Through subtle brainwashing tactics. She still does it to this day, even though my dad has been gone ten years.”

Izzy looked at Sunny as the latter stared off into the distance, her arms folded.

“So now Phyllis gets everyone to hate you?” Izzy asked. “Why?”

“Because I stood by my dad. Still do” Sunny explained. “Phyllis also encourages distrust towards residents of Bridlewood and Zephyr Heights, apparently because her ‘business partners’ abandoned her after my dad exposed her. That was her petty way of getting revenge.”

Sunny started walking around the side of the school building. Izzy followed her.

“You said you didn’t know all the details,” the blue haired girl pointed out. “Yet you seem to know the whole story.”

“Not quite,” Sunny responded. “I don’t know exactly what unethical business my dad discovered Phyllis was taking part in. Beautiful Heart and Hitch’s dad both know, but neither of them will tell me.”

Well that explains why Beautiful Heart reacted the way she did, Izzy thought as the two arrived at the back of the school. In front of them was an oval shaped soccer pitch with a running track going around it.

“The pitch and the track should be self evident,” Sunny explained, switching back to tour guide mode. “And over there,” Sunny pointed to a building that was separate from the main school building. “Is the gym building. It’s relatively new, only opened two years ago after being under construction for eight years. And on the hill behind it is a basketball court.”

Izzy nodded, then spotted someone at the opposite end of the grounds to them.

“Who’s that?” she asked, pointing.

Sunny glanced over to where Izzy was pointing.

“Don’t know” she answered. “None of the teachers are that short, so it must be a student. But you and I are the only ones with passes to leave class.”

Recalling what Beautiful Heart said when explaining the passes, Izzy shook her head.

“Actually there is a third student with one. Zipp Storm. Does the name ring a bell?”

Sunny thought about it for a second. The name did sound familiar.

“Zipp Storm? Oh, I remember now. She’s the only student smarter than me.” Then something clicked in Sunny’s mind. “Wait, she’s the girl from Zephyr Heights I mentioned earlier.”

Well that answers my question about where Zipp is from, Izzy thought. Then something occurred to her.

“If she’s from Zephyr Heights then she won’t have been exposed to Phyllis’ brainwashing” Izzy pointed out.

Sunny could see where Izzy was going with this.

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean she’s gonna want to be friends with us” she said.

“Come on, Sunny,” Izzy pleaded. “Beautiful Heart said Zipp was the only person besides us in the whole school who had her head on straight.”

Sunny looked over at Izzy to see that her friend was giving her puppy eyes. She smiled slightly.

“Alright then,” she relented, nodding her head in the direction Zipp was going. “Come on. It looks like she’s heading to the basketball court.”

Sunny and Izzy found Zipp on the basketball court shooting hoops. The Zephyr Heights girl had seemingly gelled up hot pink hair aqua and pink streaks, turquoise blue eyes and white skin. She was wearing a white hoodie and dark blue ripped jeans. She was slightly shorter than Sunny, though still taller than Izzy. Her nails were painted with silver nail polish. sky blue, Izzy thought as the two walked over.

“Hey” Sunny called over.

Zipp looked over and saw the two, catching the ball she was playing with.

“Hey,” she said, walking over to them. “Sunny Starscout and Izzy Moonbow, right?”

“Yeah,” Sunny responded. “And you must be Zipp Storm.”

“That’s me,” Zipp said. “Hey, are you two alright? The new teacher was pretty rough.”

Sunny and Izzy were surprised.

“You were in our geography class?” Sunny asked.

Zipp nodded.

“I was sitting at the back of the room with my sister” she explained.

“I’m fine, he only knocked me over,” Izzy answered. “It’s Sunny I’m worried about.”

“I told you I was fine” Sunny countered.

Zipp laughed.

“So, what are you doing here anyway?” she asked.

“We came to talk to you” Sunny admitted.

“Looking for another friend?” Zipp guessed.

“That obvious, huh?” Sunny asked.

“It’s kinda common knowledge that you don’t really have friends, Sunny,” Zipp said apologetically. “And Izzy is new here…”

“So is it a yes or a no?” Izzy chimed in.

Zipp smiled at her.

“I think I can handle friends so long as they aren’t meathead idiots. And you two clearly aren’t, so…”

Sunny and Zipp were momentarily deafened as Izzy squealed with delight before wrapping her arms around the two’s necks and pulling them to her sides.

“This is so great,” she said happily. “Now we can all be best friends, and then we can spend every moment of everyday together for the rest of our lives.”

Zipp laughed nervously.

“Hehe. What?”

Sunny simply smiled at Izzy’s antics.

Author's Note

A month and a half… a month and a half… what kind of readership deserves that… thanks three and a half weeks worth of writers block.

If you’re still following one of the least frequently updated stories on this site, we’re back, and as teased last time we have the introduction of Zipp. Now we just need Pipp and we’ll have the whole group until it’s time to introduce Misty anyway.

So last chapter I was originally going to only have Sunny mention a ‘girl from Zephyr Heights’ and leave it ambiguous as to whether it was Zipp or Pipp she was referring to, but I decided to have Beautiful Heart say her name to set up Sunny and Izzy trusting her here (given how they’re both used to being treated).

I was originally going to have Sunny act somewhat hostile towards Zipp when the two first met her and have Zipp put off by this until Izzy breaks the ice, but realised Sunny really wouldn’t be hostile unless you pushed her buttons.

And on the topic of Sunny we finally touch on the reason she’s so hated. And this where I changed things from the source material. While in A New Generation/i] Sunny was hated due to her attempts to reconnect the pony tribes here I’ve changed it to tie into the rivalry between Phyllis and Argyle that was hinted at in the movie’s prologue.

I’ve also made Phyllis way more antagonistic than the original, though I do have a reason I did this. I can buy Alphabittle and Haven ultimately siding with the Mane 5 during the final act because aside from them being kind leaders deep down Alphabittle is a bar owner so the tribes reuniting means more business for him and restoring flight for all Pegasi would be the only way for Haven to redeem her family. Phyllis on the other hand had a lot to lose if Sunny won since she was able to profit off all the fear by having Canterlogic build defences against possible Unicorn and Pegasi attacks. So I’ve made her into a full on villain, which I feel she really should have been.

Chapter 5: Shine Bright

The next day Sunny was roller skating through the streets of Maretime Bay on her way to school. Everyone was staring at her as she sped past, and it wasn’t just because she was a local celebrity (for all the wrong reasons). Sunny didn’t even notice the stares, she was having too much fun.

“Gonna be my day. GONNA BE MY DAY!” she sang happily as she grabbed a street lamp to take a turn at speed.

Sunny was known to use her roller skates to get around town faster but when going to school she rarely bothered with them. She wasn’t really in a hurry to go to a place where most people were keen on using her as a punching bag. Now though, things were different.

As Sunny rounded a corner and the school came into view she spotted a familiar boy walking towards the school gates.

“Hey, Hitch” she called as she sped towards him.

“Sunny?”

Hitch turned around only for Sunny to grab onto him to bring herself to a stop. Poor Hitch was forced to spin around to kill Sunny’s momentum without the two ending up on the ground. When they stopped spinning, Hitch was holding Sunny bridal style.

“Hey” she said teasingly, before climbing out off his arms, completely oblivious to the blush on Hitch’s face.

“Sunny,” he exclaimed, his voice unnaturally high as Sunny started skating slowly beside him. “You’re using your roller skates to get to school. You haven’t done that in… years now that I think about it.”

“Well that will happen when my friend circle expands beyond just you” Sunny quipped.

Hitch glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. The cheerfulness, the sarcasm, the teasing… it was all how Sunny normally acted, except Sunny hadn’t been acting normally for awhile now.

Ok, truthfully she’s been acting differently ever since Argyle died, but during our second year she suddenly became so… withdrawn. She didn’t shut everyone out completely, but it was like she had set up walls around her heart. Now suddenly she’s outgoing again, Hitch thought.

Sunny noticed him staring at her.

“Is there something on my face?” she asked.

Hitch quickly turned away, his blush returning.

“No. You’re good. Everything’s fine” his voice was still unnatural high.

Sunny was confused about the way Hitch was acting, but decided not to pursue the matter as she stopped just before the gates. Hitch noticed this and turned to her.

“You go on ahead, I was planning on waiting for Izzy anyway” she explained.

Hitch nodded and continued walking.

Izzy, he thought to himself. Are you the reason Sunny is acting like herself again?

A few minutes after Hitch left, Sunny spotted Zipp amongst the sea of students heading into the school. She was walking next to another girl who had her eyes glued to her phone.

“Hey, Zipp” Sunny called out, waving her arm.

Zipp saw her and walked over.

“I see someone’s bounced back well from the their terrible first day ” Zipp said.

The tomboy looked awful. Her eyes were half closed and had bags under them, and she was swaying on her feet slightly.

“Zipp, you alright?” Sunny asked, frowning.

“I‘m fine,” Zipp answered, her voice laced with tiredness. “Just need to get back into the school schedule. What are you doing here anyway? Shouldn’t you be heading inside?”

“I’m waiting for Izzy” Sunny responded.

Zipp nodded, then walked over to the wall and leaned her back against it, sliding down to the ground. Sunny looked at her with a mix of confusion and worry.

Sunny was pacing (if you call it that, considering she was still wearing her roller skates) outside the school gates. Zipp had fallen asleep. The bell inside the school went off to signify the start of second class, and still no sign of Izzy. Sunny was beginning to curse herself for not asking for Izzy’s number yesterday. She was just considering skating to Bridlewood to try and find Izzy when she heard a bicycle bell ring behind her. Sunny turned around to find Izzy approaching her. Izzy came to a stop beside Sunny.

“You’re here” Sunny said in relief, pulling Izzy into a hug before the latter could even get off her bike.

Izzy was taken aback. She was no stranger to surprise hugs (though normally she was the one giving them) but it was the reason behind the gesture that surprised her. People worrying about her wasn’t something she was used to.

“Sorry. Overslept” Izzy apologised as Sunny let go.

Some muttering behind them told them Zipp was stirring. The sleepy girl looked around and saw that Izzy had arrived.

“Hello, Izzy” Zipp waved, barely awake.

Izzy gave a small smile.

“Don’t tell me. You’re one of those people who needs coffee in the morning to properly wake up” she guessed.

Zipp nodded slightly, staggering to her feet.

Sunny face palmed. How’d I not realise that? Hitch always needs coffee in the morning, and I’ve seen him in the same state Zipp is in more times than I can count.

“Hey, Sunny. Are there any places in town that sell coffee?” Zipp asked.

Sunny removed her hand from her face and nodded.

“Several” she answered.

“Then can we make a detour?” Zipp asked. “I can’t stay awake.”

Sunny and Izzy nodded in agreement. Zipp started walking down the hill toward town. Izzy leaned over to Sunny.

“Personally I’m more of a hot chocolate person” she whispered.

“Me too” Sunny responded.

Later the three were standing outside a cafe on Maretime Bay’s sea front. Zipp had drunk most of her coffee and was feeling much better. Sunny and Izzy meanwhile were having a drinking contest to see who could finish their hot chocolate first. Then Izzy remembered the three were currently supposed to be in school.

“We’re definitely going to be in trouble now,” she said. “We’ve missed three classes already.”

Izzy stopping to speak allowed Sunny to win their contest.

“Don’t worry,” Sunny said. “I’ll take care of it.”

Sunny rolled away slightly and took out her phone. Unlocking it she saw several text messages from Beautiful Heart. Ignoring them she dialled the principal’s number.

“Sunny!” Beautiful Heart’s voice came through the phone, sounding frantic. “Where are you? You didn’t show up to class.”

“Relax,” Sunny said calmly. She knew why Beautiful Heart was acting this way. Her relationship with her daughter Posey was… rather unhealthy, so Beautiful Heart tried to fill the void in her heart by treating Sunny like a daughter. And while Sunny enjoyed having a mother figure, she wasn’t Beautiful Heart’s daughter. “I’m at a cafe on the sea front with Izzy and Zipp.”

“Wait a minute…” Beautiful Heart said, now sounding confused. “You’re saying you decided to skip school to go hang out with friends?”

“It wasn’t planned,” Sunny explained. “Izzy overslept and turned up late and Zipp needs coffee to be able to function properly.”

Beautiful Heart sighed.

“Should I expect you three to show up to school at all today?” she asked.

Sunny hummed, pretending to think it over.

“Nah” she said.

Beautiful Heart laughed.

“And how exactly is Izzy supposed to get her education?” she pointed out. “I’m not worried about you or Zipp, but Izzy…”

“Zipp and I are the smartest students in school, remember?” Sunny reminded her. “We can just tutor Izzy.”

“Okay,” Beautiful Heart said, sounding unsure. “Are you sure you’ll be alright?”

“I’m sure,” Sunny reassured her, glancing over her shoulder at Izzy and Zipp. “I’m not alone anymore.”

“Alright then,” Beautiful Heart said, sounding cheerful again. “You have fun with your friends.”

“Bye, mom” Sunny responded sarcastically before hanging up.

While Sunny was on the phone Izzy and Zipp had finished their drinks and Zipp was now detaching a skateboard from the front of her bag.

“So you live in Zephyr Heights. What’s it like?” Izzy asked.

Zipp paused for a moment to think about it.

“Loud” she settled on. “What about you? Where are you from?” she asked as she placed her skateboard on the ground.

“Bridlewood” Izzy answered.

“And what’s it like?” Zipp asked, unzipping her bag compartment.

“Soul crushing” Izzy responded without hesitation.

Zipp paused again to glance over at her.

“Please tell me you’re joking” Zipp asked, slightly concerned.

Izzy shook her head.

“I wish I was,” she sighed. “Most of Bridlewood’s residents are like animatronics, they have the same routine day in, day out. Aside from me, the only people who act alive there are a local bar owner and his two daughters. The bar owner almost seems amused at how lifeless everyone is, and the daughters…” Izzy trailed off, shivering as several memories came back to her. “So many water balloons… all the damn time.”

“They bully you?” Sunny asked, rejoining her two friends.

“Yeah, but only me,” Izzy said sadly. “And the only time the other residents show any signs of life is when they laugh at me. They hate me.”

“If I had a dime for every time everyone laughed at me…” Sunny muttered darkly before turning to Zipp. “What about you? You the outcast of Zephyr Heights?”

Not exactly,” Zipp explained. “My family are local celebrities, but unlike my mom and sister I hate the attention. I’m kinda a loner by choice.”

Zipp took a helmet out of her bag. Sunny and Izzy stared in amazement.

“Wait. If you carry your riding gear in your bag, where do you keep your books?” Sunny asked.

“I leave them in my locker,” Zipp explained as she pulled out knee pads and started putting them on. “I memorised all my books over the summer.”

Once Zipp also had her elbow pads on she put her bag back on before stepping on her skateboard and rolling out onto the sidewalk.

“So where do you guys want to go?” she asked.

Izzy walked her bike over to Zipp.

“We could have a race” she suggested.

“Ok, but to where?” Zipp wondered.

Sunny joined her friends on the sidewalk.

“We could go to my place” she said.

“That wouldn’t be fair,” Zipp pointed out. “We don’t know where your house is.”

Sunny smiled.

“Trust me,” she said, pointing to a lighthouse on a cliff overlooking the town. “It’s difficult to miss.”

“You live in a lighthouse?” Izzy asked, amazed.

Sunny nodded, then turned to Zipp.

“Sound fair to you?” she asked.

Zipp shrugged.

“Good enough for me,” she said. Then she raised her voice slightly. “Now, start your engines.”

Izzy hopped on her bike as the three lined up.

“Ready,” Zipp began.

“Set,” Izzy continued.

“Go!” Sunny shouted, before the three took off.

Sunny raced up the hill towards her house, Zipp right on her heels.

“I win” Sunny cheered as she came to a stop outside her gate.

“Barely” Zipp pointed out as she also came to a stop.

Sunny rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, yeah” she said.

The two glared at each other half heartedly for a second before breaking down into laughter.

“Okay, rematch some other time?” Sunny asked as their laughter subsided.

“You’re on” Zipp said competitively.

Sunny then noticed Izzy wasn’t there. She rolled forward slightly and spotted the blue haired girl sitting at the bottom of the hill with her bike lying on it’s side. Concerned Sunny rolled down the hill.

“You okay?” she asked as she came to a stop in front of Izzy.

“You two… are way more athletic… then I am” Izzy panted, before lying backwards onto the grass and closing her eyes.

Sunny laughed slightly as she shook her head, before skating over to Izzy’s side.

“Everything alright?” Zipp asked, having walked down to see what was happening.

“Izzy pushed herself too hard trying to keep up with us” Sunny answered, kicking off her roller skates.

Zipp laughed, then addressed Izzy.

“Need a hand?” she asked.

“Yeah, if you two don’t mind carrying me” Izzy said weakly.

Sunny pulled Izzy to her feet then slung Izzy’s arm over her shoulder. Zipp took Izzy’s other side and them helped her up the hill.

“Thanks,” Izzy said when they reached the top. Then she looked at the lighthouse. “So this is your house?”

“Yes,” Sunny responded. “Welcome to the Maretime Bay lighthouse. Or as I like to call it, the Brighthouse.”

Author's Note

Wow, this chapter didn’t take as long to get out. Maybe I’m finally getting the hang of this (knock on wood).

Something that was brought to my attention in the comments of the last chapter is that when I mentioned that Sunny’s social circle consisted of only three people they took that to mean Beautiful Heart, Hitch’s father (two characters I created from this story) and Hitch’s grandmother, who appeared in Winter Wishday. When I wrote that line I actually meant Beautiful Heart, Hitch’s father and Hitch himself. I freely admit I’m not as caught up on G5 as I should be. When the Christmas special came out I didn’t watch it due to being at a emotional low point because of stuff going on in my personal life. The only things I knew about the special were that the group suddenly had a flying RV that Zipp somehow knew how to pilot and that Izzy decided to cosplay as a raindeer by having stick antlers be part of her winter wear. I didn’t know Hitch’s grandmother was a character when I wrote the last chapter, and for that I’m sorry.

Moving on to this chapter the cafe scene was heavily rewritten last second. Originally it was going to start with Zipp commenting that to a casual observer Sunny and Izzy could be mistaken as sisters due to how similar they act and the two thinking about what it would be like to have siblings, given how lonely they were growing up. This was meant to be a reference to the fact that some fans theorise that the two might be sisters and just not know it given their similar personalities and the fact Izzy more closely matches Argyle colour wise than Sunny does (even though in concept art you can see that Argyle was originally supposed to more closely match his daughter in terms of colour). Personally I’d be fine if the show did this, but I am a shipper at heart and these two are my favourite G5 ship, hence why I decided to have them end up a couple in this story. And it’s because I’m planning that that I realised when I was proofreading that it might not be a good idea to include a line saying the two act like sisters in a Sunny X Izzy story.

This chapter was also originally going to be longer, with a conversation between the three inside the lighthouse, but I decided to save that for next chapter since this one was already pretty long and I want to post chapters as often as I can.

Chapter 1: The New Girl

A teenage girl walked up the hill towards her new high school. She had waist length cerulean blue hair with indigo ombre tips that she let flow free along with magenta eyes and lilac skin. She wore light blue ripped jeans and a hoodie that matched the colour of her hair. She fiddled with the straps of her school bag, which seemed to be made of the same material as her jeans.

“Come on, Izzy,” she said to herself. “Maretime Bay isn’t gonna be like Bridlewood, right? I mean, it can’t be. No, don’t think like that. Be positive. I’m away from all those bad vibes now. My parents gave me a fresh start”. Her face fell. “That’s about the only thing they ever gave me.”

Izzy arrived outside the school gates. To the left of the gates there was a slightly worn golden plaque that read, WELCOME TO MARETIME BAY HIGH SCHOOL. Underneath it a much newer, smaller bronze plaque read FOLLOW THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD.

Izzy stared through the gates. Sure enough, there was a path leading up to the school made of yellow bricks. The girl sighed. Someone has a sense of humour, she thought to herself. She pushed open the gate and started walking towards her new school.

As she arrived at the front doors Izzy discovered there was a young woman standing there who seemed to be waiting for someone. Then her eyes fell on Izzy and the girl realised this must be a teacher who was waiting for her, the new girl. The woman wore a plain violet short dress and was holding a folder in one hand and a pager in the other. She had soft yellow skin, bright hazel eyes and dark blue hair tied back into a ponytail. Golden, Izzy thought. Huh, I’ve never seen a golden sparkle before.

“Ah, hello there,” she said cheerfully as Izzy came to a stop in front of her. “You must be the new girl. Izzy Moonbow, right?”

Izzy opened her mouth to speak, only to realise there was a large lump in her throat preventing her from talking. Unable to use her voice to respond, she simply nodded.

The woman smiled at her kindly. “Nervous, huh? Understandable on your first day. I’m sure it’ll pass. Oh, silly me. I got carried away again & forgot to introduce myself. I’m Beautiful Heart, school principal.”

Before Beautiful Heart could say anything else, the pager in her hand went off. She looked down at it, startled.

“Oh I’m late,” she cried out. “I completely forgot I’m supposed to give a speech to the new first years. Terribly sorry to cut this short Izzy, but I gotta dash.”

With that parting remark, Beautiful Heart spun round and ran into the building, pushing the door open with her shoulder. Izzy just stood there, extremely confused.Well that was weird, Izzy thought to herself. Realising class was probably about to start Izzy quickly followed Beautiful Heart in.

Once inside, Izzy found herself in the school’s entrance hall. To her right was a cafeteria which seemed shockingly small given the number of students there must be at a school this large. To her left was reception which was currently unattended. In front of her were two ramps, one leading down to a slightly lower level while the other led up to the second floor. To the left of the ramps was a hallway. Izzy quickly pulled out her timetable. It said her first class was geography in room 14, a place she realised she didn’t know the location of. And having been homeschooled up to this point in her life, she was clueless as to the layout of a school building. Gingerly, Izzy started forward.

I HATE THIS SCHOOL! a girl thought to herself. She had magenta hair tied back into a braid that stopped just above her waist along with emerald green eyes and apricot orange skin. She was wearing an orange hoodie, dark blue jeans and a bright red bag with dark red highlights. I’ve been attending this school for years and coming to it hasn’t gotten any easier, the girl thought as she looked around at all the students glaring at her.

“HEY! STARSCOUT!” a voice yelled out behind her. Knowing what was about to happen, the girl ducked her head and a soccer ball flew over her. She straightened up and looked over her shoulder back at the jock who tried to hit her.

“Nice try, buddy” she called back.

“Fuck you” the jock responded.

The girl rolled her eyes.

Meanwhile Izzy was walking down the opposite end of the same hallway. A lot of the students were staring at her.

“Look at her,” one girl said, pointing at Izzy. “She must be a new girl.”

“Uh, and look at her bag,” the girl’s friend responded. “She must be dirt poor.”

Izzy held her shoulder straps tightly, looking nervous and trying to appear small.

“You know, this school really has gone downhill since Beautiful Heart became principal” another girl said to her friend.

The friend nodded. “Yeah. She’ll let anyone attend, even if they really don’t deserve it.”

Izzy sped up slightly. Just block them out, Izzy. Just block them out, she thought, though a small voice at the back of her head was telling her that Maretime Bay wasn’t any different than Bridlewood after all.

Suddenly Izzy was distracted by a soccer ball rolling down the hall.What in the… Izzy thought as she watched the ball roll past her. All of a sudden Izzy felt herself collide with someone else. She let out a cry of surprise as she started to fall backwards before the person she walked into wrapped their arms around her and pulled her into them.

“Ah. I’m so sorry!” Izzy cried out, her eyes closed tight.

“Wait, you’re… apologising?” said a female voice, sounding confused. Izzy opened her eyes, only to find them looking into a pair of emerald green ones.

“Um, yes? Why wouldn’t I?” Izzy said, now confused herself.

The girl let her go, allowing Izzy to step back back and get a proper look at her. Lavender,Izzy thought.

The girl looked Izzy up and down. “You’re new here.”

Izzy stared at the girl. “You didn’t answer my question” she simply said.

The girl smiled slightly. “Didn’t actually think you wanted the answer. You’re the first person to apologise for walking into me. Then again, you’re probably also the first person who didn’t crash into me on purpose.”

Izzy was surprised. “You mean people do that all the time?”

The girl nodded. “Yep. I’m Maretime Bay’s resident hated girl.”

Izzy could relate. Everyone in Bridlewood despised her.

While the two had been talking they failed to notice that every other student had left the hallway. Suddenly the bell went off.

“Ah!” Izzy shouted. “I’m late. And I don’t even know where my classroom is.”

The girl raised her hand to get Izzy’s attention. “Hey, calm down. Where are you supposed to be right now?”

Izzy took a second to calm down before answering. “Geography, room 14.”

The girl smiled- a full smile this time. “Hey, me too. Come on, I’m show you”.

The girl turned and walked back the way she came. Izzy stared for a second, then quickly ran to catch up. Falling into step beside the girl, Izzy hesitated before speaking up.

“Hey, new friend. My name’s Izzy.”

The girl turned to look at her surprised, but then the surprised look morphed into a smile- a warm, genuine smile, something Izzy had never seen before. Or at least, not in relation to her.

“I’m Sunny.”

Author's Note

So the first Chapter is FINALLY done (I kid you not this one chapter somehow took me six days. SIX DAYS). The writing probably screams ‘first story’ but part of the reason I’m writing this is to improve my writing skills in anticipation of a larger project I’m planning, though I’ve had the idea of this story for a while. A few changes were made to the last section on the story on the fly. For example Sunny was originally going to grab Izzy’s hand before pulling her to the classroom, but I changed it because I don’t want the shipping to start happening until a few chapters in (yes this is a Sunny X Izzy story, hence the romance tag, they will not be the only couple in this). Also Izzy was originally going to ask “Hey new friend, what’s your name?” with Sunny’s response being “Sunny Starscout” and the chapter ending with Izzy saying “I’m Izzy Moonbow” but as I was writing it I realised I had a perfect opportunity to reference A New Generation so I went with that instead.

So, yeah. This is the first arc of this story, entitled ‘the Mane 5 arc’. And one final thing before I go, Beautiful Heart’s design was inspired by this picture of Fluttershy by CharlieXe
https://derpibooru.org/images/2214973?q=artist%3Acharliexe
Hope you all enjoy (now I should seriously go to bed it’s half three in the morning right now as I’m writing this)