Thursday, February 11, 2016
Thursday, February 11, 2016
Today's Horoscope (Virgo): Returning to your normal routine after a terrible ordeal is the best way you can help yourself heal.
Early Morning
I wake up with Twilight still lying next to me. I feel...relaxed. Calm.
Everything that's happened this week...
I want to move past it and enjoy the upcoming special day with Twilight.
I get up, take an extra-long shower, and get dressed. I head down to the lounge and turn on the news.
//—unanimous vote, Chrysalis was removed from her position as CEO. CFO Sombra will replace her as head of the company. Chrysalis could not be reached for comment. Returning to our top story, the search continues for a missing Canterlot teen who disappeared Sunday when his family was visiting relatives in Derbyville.//
The photo on the screen is Snips...
I turn off the TV and head to the kitchen to make coffee.
It's not long before everyone else starts filing downstairs. Everyone except Fluttershy, who apparently has stopped eating with the rest of the dorm altogether.
"Is Fluttershy not well?" Luna asks. "I've seen very little of her all week."
"She's been...acting pretty weird lately," Rainbow says, frowning. "I think I heard her crying last night." She sighs. "She won't talk to anybody..."
"Perhaps I should check up on her," Luna says. Her phone beeps. "Ugh. Not right now, though. I'm supposed to be at the school early today." She frowns. "I'll speak to her this evening."
"Something wrong?" Twilight asks.
Luna shakes her head. "Faculty meeting." She rises. "Have a good day at school, everyone."
After breakfast, Twilight and I walk Spike.
"How...how are you feeling?" she asks.
"Better," I say. "I...I think I'm good."
Twilight frowns. "Flash..."
"I mean it," I insist. "More than anything, I'm just...pissed. But...I'll be okay." I shrug. "Besides, we've got more important things to worry about. Like Valentine's Day. And the dance. And the fact that Snips is missing."
"Yeah," Twilight replies. "So...you really think he was the victim and not Cadance?"
"It's looking that way." I shrug. "We'll see for sure on Sunday."
Lunch
Surprisingly, it doesn't seem as if what happened to me entered the rumor mill. The morning is as normal and routine as ever. The only real gossip seems to be the fact that Snips has gone missing.
When lunch approaches, I feel a sense of dread. She will be in the cafeteria...
I'm tempted to just avoid the cafeteria entirely, but I can't let the bitch control me. Besides, I'm hungry.
When I sit down with my friends, I look around the cafeteria.
"She's not here," Twilight says. "She has lunch detention with Vice-Principal Luna."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah," Rainbow says with a grin. "Me an' AJ complained to Luna about Suckset Shitter forcing her way into our lunch table, and next thing we know, BAM! Baconator's got lunch detention."
That's not the real reason she has lunch detention, but only Twilight and I know that...
Oh well. At least she's out of my face.
I glance over at Fluttershy. She's sitting two chairs down from Rainbow and is picking at her food. She has an unhappy frown on her face...
After School
I head to Music Club after school. I have a good time chatting and playing guitar.
After Music Club, I remember I need to do some shopping. I'm running low on food and drinks in my room...
At the small corner store near CHS, I run into Chrysalis! She looks tired...
She notices me and smiles wryly. "We meet again."
"I heard...on the news," I say.
She laughs bitterly. "Yes, it's true. I'm..." She sighs. "I'm done. Of course, that bastard Sombra couldn't stop the rest of the board from giving me a hefty severance package. Money won't be an issue for some time." She shrugs. "But...I was never really worried about the money. That was never as important as...as what I'd built for myself and my family." She looks at a shelf of canned pasta without really seeing it. "For so long, I've been the queen. Now, I'm...I'm nothing."
"That's not true," I say. "You've worked so hard, and raised all those children by yourself. Do you think they'll think any less of you?"
Chrysalis sighs. "That's...really what I'm most afraid of," she admits. "No...that's not true. What I'm really afraid of is...is starting over." She shakes her head. "I'm too old to start over. Hell, my oldest is twenty." She picks up a can and looks it over. "But the private schools, the fancy things...I'm going to have to get rid of all of that, and I'm afraid my children might not adjust well." She snorts. "Papillon, Cricket, and Katydid are going to transfer to Canterlot High starting next month. I'm...I'm getting rid of our condo, moving into the suburbs. I need to lower our cost of living wherever I can. Like I said, we're not hard up for money, but...right now, it's best we...adjust."
I wince. "Yeah, they're not gonna like that." I grab a couple cans of ravioli and throw them in my basket. "So what're you gonna do?"
She shrugs. "I don't know. I don't want to retire. I don't want to sit around the house all day feeling sorry for myself. But...after everything that's happened, and considering my age..." She sighs again. "I don't really see what else I can do."
The Disgraced Executive Social Link of the Tower Arcana has reached rank 3!
Your power to create Personas of the Tower Arcana has grown!
"Well...I'd better get going. It was nice talking to you." She puts a few cans in her basket, then walks off. I finish up my shopping and head home.
Evening
After dinner, I help Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle with their homework.
"So, are things any better with the bullying situation?" I ask.
Apple Bloom shrugs. "Silver Spoon seems t' be tryin' t' make Diamond Tiara behave. It's...actually made it worse. Kinda. But...Ah'm jes' ignorin' her. Nobody pays any attention to her."
"Yeah, it's kinda sad." Sweetie Belle brightens. "Oh! I took your advice. I set Truffle Shuffle up with this girl named Twist. She..." She gestures wildly. "Well...the boys weren't exactly lining up to ask her out."
"Cool. And Button Mash?"
Apple Bloom starts giggling. Sweetie Belle slaps her upside the head. "It isn't funny!"
"Yes it is!" Apple Bloom cries, howling with laughter.
"What...happened?" I ask.
Sweetie Belle looks down at her homework, her cheeks red. "He...he freaked out and started trying to find a FAQ to tell him what to do."
Hooooooooly shit.
"And...when he couldn't find one...he called his mom. He was really freaking out."
Apple Bloom is about to die if she doesn't calm down.
Sweetie Belle ducks her head. "Finally he ended up giving me his phone to talk to his mom, and she said she'd make sure Button was ready on time and...and she'll pick me up here."
Apple Bloom has now completely lost it, and is rolling around on the floor.
"Oh, QUIET YOU!" Sweetie Belle snaps. "Or did you forget about that 'boy' you asked that turned out not only to be a girl, but your distant cousin?"
Apple Bloom immediately stops laughing. "Can Ah help it if Babs looks like a guy?"
I raise an eyebrow.
"So what time is Babs picking you up again?" Sweetie Belle asks in a sly, teasing tone.
Apple Bloom ducks her head. "Ah didn't know she was gay neither!"
Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn!
Listening to these two girls talk about their weird, messed-up dating misadventures does wonders for my mood. By the time I'm ready to go to bed, I feel like the last of the dark cloud hanging over my head has washed away.
I've also come to a realization:
Sunset Shimmer is pathetic, and doesn't deserve another moment's thought.
Now if we can just figure out one way or another if Fluttershy is Eris...
