Diving Deep

Sighing, Shoeshine stepped into the school. She shifted her weight slightly to adjust her backpack. In her right hand was a bunch of coffees for her group and Sunset's friends. She wasn't really sure she could call them her friends but after that sleepover, she was more inclined to do so. She rarely did fun activities in front of others, but Pinkie had a way of bringing that out. She carefully weaved her way around the students holding the coffees above her head. She found the room where the Rainbooms were practicing. She rolled her eyes at the name. She had no clue how Rainbow managed to convince them to name it the Rainbooms, but she did.

"We're better than ever." She watched as the Rainbooms finished their song and the pony ears and tails disappeared. She set the coffees down and gave a wave at Sunset. She stepped up to Sea Swirl and gave her a kiss.

"This musical showcase is gonna be awesome!" Rainbow pumped her fist eagerly. Shoeshine groaned and rolled her eyes.

"Great, just what we need. Our school turning into a High School Musical movie." She grumbled. Rarity raised an eyebrow at her.

"I have a sister." Shoeshine mumbled defensively at Rarity's expression. Rarity clapped her hands excitedly after setting down her keytar.

"I still can't believe that happens when we play. I need to get some cute clip earrings for when I grow those adorable pony ears." Rarity gushed.

"I just wonder why it happens. Princess Twilight took her crown back to Equestria. Shouldn't that mean she took all the magic back with her?" Applejack asked.

"Who cares why it happens? It makes my band totally awesome!" Rainbow exclaimed enthusiastically. Shoeshine rolled her eyes at that.

"Your band?" Rarity scoffed and looked at her.

"Duh, it was my idea to start the Rainbooms so we could be in the Showcase. Plus, I'm the lead singer and guitarist." Rainbow pointed out. Berry rolled her eyes.

"Here we go with the ego." She softly muttered. A knocking sound got all our attention and Flash walked in.

"Hey uh, just checking. You guys don't know if any out of town guests are coming right? It being a charity event and all." He shrugged and I internally gagged. He was doing so bad at hiding his feelings for Twilight.

"Sorry Flash, I doubt Twilight is coming for this. She's busy in Equestria." Applejack explained and he sighed.

"Okay, thanks." He shuffled out the room and shut the door.

"Well someone is a smitten kitten." Rarity chuckled and shot an apologetic look at Sunset.

"I forgot you two dated at one point, I'm sorry."

Sunset shrugged.

"We never actually dated. I threatened him into saying we did so we could gain more influence and leeway." She admitted and I nodded.

"It was my idea. We weren't gonna have her cheat on Berry. Especially we are her friend and did everything for her." Shoeshine explained. "Kinda stupid we stopped, we had so much power."

The Rainbooms looked at each other nervously.

"But we were hurting people." Sunset admitted.

"So were they." Shoeshine gestured around the school.

"But we weren't." Pinkie mumbled. I glanced over at them and stared at Applejacks narrowed eyes.

"Okay fine not all did."

"Sunset Shimmer, report to the office." Principal Luna called over the intercom. Sunset slid off the desk and picked up her coffee.

"No one has said this yet, but thanks for the coffee, Shoeshine." Sunset said, shooting a look at the Rainbooms.

"Uh yeah, thanks darling." Rarity mumbled and she gave a curt nod.

"I volunteered to show some new students around the school. Figured they should get to know the new me before they found out about the old me." Sunset rubbed the back of her head.

Rainbow gave an awkward wave and Shoeshine narrowed her eyes slightly. Sea Swirl seemed to have the same feeling because she looked at them the same way. Rainbow turned back to her group and shrugged.

"We still got a few momenrs before lunch starts. Whaddaya say we do awesome as I wanna be?" She asked. Fluttershy held up a book and Berry raised an eyebrow.

"Uhm, Rainbow Dash I was wondering if we could maybe play the song I wrote." She mumbled. Rainbow waved a hand.

"Yeah, yeah we'll get to it." She turned to her guitar.

"Oh okay." Fluttershy shrank down and mumbled. Sea Swirl and Shoeshine shared a concerned look.

"I'll go with Sunset." Shoeshine announced, kissing Sea Swirl as she grabbed her coffee and took off out the door.

"Hey, are you the girls I'm supposed to show around?" Sunset asked three girls in the shadows. They stepped forward at the same time.

"We are." The one with poofy orange hair said coldly.

"Canterlot High is a great school, you're really gonna love it." Sunset continued talking.

"Oh yes, we sense there's something magical about this place." Orange hair smirked at her two friends.

"It's okay here." Shoeshine mumbled and Sunset smiled at her.

"Hey, Shoeshine."

"Hey Sunset." She greeted, sipping her coffee. Sunset sped walked to a poster and tapped it with her knuckles.

"We're having a musical showcase this week. The whole school is pretty much rallying around it."

"A musical showcase?" Orange hair asked with a smile.

"I'm sure since you're new, Principal Celestia will let you join if youre interested." Sunset reassured her.

"We have been known to sing from time to time." Pigtails spoke, looking at her fingernails.

"Hello? We sing like all the time. It's how we get people to do what we want." Blue hair announced eagerly. Orange hair spun around and made a growling sound at her.

"What? What did I say?" She asked with a smile.

"What you meant to say was that being in a musical showcase sounds like a great way to meet other students." Orange hair said pointedly.

"Oh yeah. What she said I meant to say, that's what I meant." Blue hair replied.

"And what you would have said if you weren't the worst." Pigtails snapped.

"You are." Blue hair announced.

"You'll have to excuse them, they're idiots." Orange hair stood in front of the two. Sunset and Shoeshine stared at them, growing uncomfortable. Sunset's eyes flicked down to three red pendants around each of their necks. She reached out a hand.

"Those are pretty." She said. "Where did you?" She flinched as orange hair slapped her hand away and gave a nervous laugh. Shoeshine tensed up and gave a growl. Blue hairs eyes flicked over nervously to her.

"Sorry, these pendants mean an awful lot to us. We would just hate if anything were to happen to them." Orange hair told them as she and pigtails walked off. Blue hair stood there blinking at the two girls. Shoeshine raised an eyebrow as a hand grabbed blue hair and yanked her forward. Sunset rubbed her chin in thought.

"That was kinda weird, right?" She asked turning to Shoeshine. Shoeshine gave a slow nod.

"It was a bit awkward." She admitted. "It's almost lunch time, we don't wanna keep Sea Swirl or Berry waiting. Especially in a hostile environment such as our school right now." She and Sunset started walking to the lunch room as the three girls they had just shown around watched them leave.

"It's so adorable you want to rush and spend time with Sea Swirl." Sunset teased with a grin.

"Shut up, Sunset."