Tuesday, May 24, 2016

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Today's Horoscope (Virgo): A dog without a scent to follow does nothing but lick its own anus.

After School

After a long, exhausting day of review, I decide I need a break. Although Twilight asks me to study in the library with her and some of the others, I tell her I just need some fresh air, and I'll see her back at the dorm.

"Okay, but...you really should take more time to study," she says doubtfully.

"I've been studying all day," I say. "My head hurts. Don't worry, I'll study when I get home."

I decide to head to Sterling Silver's shop. Silver Spoon is there, studying at the counter while she watches the register. She seems distracted...

"Hey," I say.

"Oh, hi!" She smiles, but it's a weak smile.

"Something wrong?"

Sil sighs. "Flash..." She swallows heavily. "I...I think Diamond Tiara and her new posse are texting crap about me and my friends, and...and it bothers me."

"Her new posse?"

"Yeah," Sil says. "She's hooked up with a couple of other girls at school. One of them's Apple Bloom's cousin Babs." Sil frowns and looks down. "Babs has been...acting out lately. Has Apple Bloom told you about the falling out they had?"

I shake my head.

"Well, it was...bad. And now Babs spends all her time with Diamond Tiara and this other girl." She frowns. "Babs is a bad girl, Flash. Maybe worse than Diamond Tiara. I caught her smoking in the bathroom last week."

I grimace. "I've known a few kids like that."

"Anyway, it's..." Sil shakes her head. "The other day, when I passed out in the pool? I had this weird dream about Diamond Tiara texting all these hateful things to her new friends, and..." She takes off her glasses and pinches her nose. "And being chased by this horrifying monster." She looks up at me. "Funny thing is...I think you were there. And you...protected me." She giggles. "That's pretty crazy, huh?"

I shrug.

"I think I know...why I dreamed about you," she says. "It's...it's because you helped save me from what I used to be. Made me see what an awful person I was." She sighs. "I wonder...if I had never met you, would I even have real friends? Or would I still just be following Diamond Tiara around, laughing at every mean, bitchy thing she says?"

I reach across the counter and take her hand. "You're a good person," I say. "You just...you just needed a little help choosing the right path."

Sil smiles. "Yeah." She squeezes my hand. "Thanks."

She frowns. "Don't you have finals to study for?"

I laugh. "You sound exactly like my girlfriend." I stretch. "You're right, though. I should be getting back to the dorm and studying." I wave. "Later!"

"Later!"

Evening

Everybody's doing their own thing for dinner tonight. I stopped on the way back from town to pick up some take-out.

While I'm eating dinner, I get a video call from Mom.

"Hi hon," she says. "How's it going?"

"Hey Mom," I say. "Sorry I didn't call this weekend. We had a busy couple of days here."

"Oh? You had that big school dance Saturday, right?"

I nod. "Yeah, and Apple Bloom's birthday party on Sunday."

Mom smiles. "Well, that is a busy weekend."

"Yeah." I pause to swallow a huge bite of hamburger. "Sorry to eat and chat."

Mom laughs. "That's alright."

Dad walks in behind her. "Hello, Son!"

"Hi Dad."

"So, school's almost done for the year, right?"

I nod again. "Three more weeks including this one." I grimace. "Should've been two and a half, but we lost some bad weather days."

"So you must be busy studying for exams right now," Mom says.

"Yeah."

"Well, listen," Mom says, "we've been talking it over, and we've decided—if it's okay with you—to come down the week of Father's Day."

"That'd be great," I say. "I think Twilight's parents might be coming down too. They'd love to meet you."

"Perfect!" Mom smiles. "Well, we'll let you get back to studying now. We just wanted to touch base."

"I'm sorry I didn't call this weekend," I say. "I really meant to, I just got so busy..."

Mom looks away. "Yeah..." She laughs weakly. "Well, after all the years we've pretty much done the same to you, we...can't really complain, can we?"

Well, this is awkward.

"Anyway, be sure to call us when you can! Study hard!"

I nod. "I will. Talk to you later."

"We love you, Son," Dad says.

"I love you too," I say.

They hang up. I finish eating dinner, go to the bathroom to wash my hands, then take my laptop down to the lounge.

The others are spread out around the lounge, snacking and studying. I join them for a little while. Around seven, we're all feeling the strain of overstudying, even Twilight. We decide to take a break to play video games for a while.

While we're relaxing, I tell Twilight about my parents' plans to come down.

"Sounds good," she says. "I'll mention it to Mom and Dad. I'm sure they'll be coming down around then." She smirks. "Mom's definitely going to be throwing Cadance a baby shower."

Before any of us know it, it's past eleven...

I say goodnight to the others and head up to my room.