After the Autumn Formal, the five girls of the Rainbow Sonic Boom Band noticed that Sunset Shimmer would sometimes seem absent-minded.
It was now time for the Rainbow Sonic Boom Band's after-school practice. After finishing a few songs, they took advantage of the break to chat, and the topic of Sunset Shimmer came up again.
That mysterious and charming transfer student had one flaw: she seemed a bit withdrawn and melancholic.
And in the time they had spent together, her mood seemed to have become even more melancholic and conflicted.
"Isn't she always like that?"
Rainbow Dash recalled that ever since she first met Sunset Shimmer, the girl had always seemed to have this inexplicably fussy image in her mind.
"That is certainly not right, Rainbow Dash. That is not the spirit a high school girl should have."
Rarity replied, taking a moment to interject while touching up her lipstick in a hand mirror.
"Believe me, one look at her face and I know she is definitely lovesick!"
Rarity's words made Rainbow Dash roll her eyes. Listening to Rarity's suddenly passionate tone, Rainbow Dash knew that in just this brief moment, Rarity had already concocted a long, stinky, melodramatic soap opera in her head with Sunset Shimmer as the lead.
"How come 'Guiding Light' didn't hire you as a screenwriter?"
"Wasn't that show canceled ages ago?"
Applejack said. She remembered that Granny Smith had watched that show from childhood to old age, and by the time it ended, they were all still just little brats playing in the mud.
"Applejack, can't you tell I'm joking?"
Rainbow Dash suddenly felt like she couldn't connect with these people, so she turned around and buried her head in tuning her guitar.
"Maybe Sunset Shimmer is a magical pony from a parallel world who came to our world to study, but she had a falling out with her best friend before leaving, and now she is worrying about how to look at a past friendship that causes her pain but that she still can't let go of."
Out of the blue, Pinkie Pie began to showcase her linguistic ability to fluently rattle off long, complex sentences.
After hearing this bizarre story, the other girls looked at each other with indescribable expressions.
"Fine... if I had to choose one, I think Rarity's version is more logically realistic."
"After all, at least there won't be any Unicorn dragging a rainbow through the sky~"
Amidst the chorus of laughter, the rehearsal room was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.
It was a good thing Sunset Shimmer wasn't there; if she heard them making up such stories about her, who knows how embarrassed she would be.
But then again, this version from Pinkie Pie was based on first-hand information she had gathered from Trixie, combined with her own intuition and imagination, so it actually made some sense.
"Why don't we just go ask Sunset Shimmer...?"
During a lull as the laughter gradually died down, Fluttershy's voice was finally heard by the other girls.
It wasn't that they hadn't tried, but whenever they asked about Sunset Shimmer's past, she would become guarded and resistant, and it would always end up leading nowhere.
They just wanted to make Sunset Shimmer more cheerful, not embarrass her, so they didn't continue to press the issue.
And right now, the person in school who knew Sunset Shimmer best was probably Trixie.
However, Trixie was not someone who could be described as reliable. On the night of the Autumn Formal, her eloquence had been exceptionally sharp, giving her the upper hand over Sunset Shimmer.
But after that, as their partnership ended, Trixie returned to her usual elusive state, and the number of times she spent with Sunset Shimmer decreased.
And most of the time, it was just to borrow Sunset Shimmer's homework for reference.
"How about we find a time to ask her out and ask her together? Watching her continue to spiral internally like this makes me feel awful too."
Rainbow Dash suggested.
She was still thinking about getting Sunset Shimmer into her band. If Sunset Shimmer remained in such an alienated state, let alone joining the band, she might end up isolating herself from the entire school.
"I agree. Counting on this girl who pretends to be aloof to figure it out on her own is hopeless; we have to help her."
Applejack also had a straightforward personality and liked to cut through the Gordian knot; she and Rainbow Dash could always reach a consensus on many things.
"But we cannot scare her, as that would be counterproductive. We need to find a quiet environment, preferably with some premium tea and snacks... Oh! It would be even better to have a full-body massage. An environment that makes everyone relaxed is better for helping a wounded person reveal their secrets."
"Are you expecting some fresh flowers and aromatherapy as well, to make your lady's tea party look more authentic?"
"How did you know? Oh, Darling Applejack, it seems you are starting to get the hang of it."
Applejack covered her face; having known Rarity for so long, how could she not know Rarity's nature?
"I have to say, Rarity, your idea sounds too fancy and has too many steps. I reckon after going through all that, Sunset Shimmer wouldn't even have the energy to speak."
"Ha, then may I ask what 'better' ideas you have?"
"Ooh! How about we have a slumber party at my house?! We can play Truth or Dare! When Sunset Shimmer loses, we can just ask her the truth!"
"Uh... Pinkie Pie, that is indeed a good idea, but what if Sunset Shimmer chooses Dare?"
"Hmm... I haven't thought about that. Over! Next, Fluttershy, you go!"
"Huh? Me? Well... I think it might be better to just ask her directly. If she doesn't want to say anything, I think we can wait a bit longer; perhaps after some time, she will be willing to confide in us..."
"That won't work, Fluttershy! Doesn't that just bring us back to square one!"
"Ah, sorry..."
The five high school girls argued noisily for a long time without reaching a conclusion that satisfied everyone. Instead, they became parched and had to stop to hydrate.
Rainbow Dash looked at the other four with some distress; she always felt that they were currently like a pile of loose sand.
Although the five of them were very close friends, Rainbow Dash always felt something was missing, though she couldn't quite put her finger on what exactly.
As the captain of various school sports teams, she should have been the person most able to notice this, but their group of five couldn't apply the methods used by sports teams.
After all, the five of them had very different personalities and no shared hobbies, which might be the reason why they always had disagreements in their thinking, and forming a band was the only thing Rainbow Dash could think of that they could do together.
But even so, the fact that the five of them could hang out together was what Rainbow Dash thought was the coolest thing about this five-person group.
As long as they found what this team was missing, they could be 20% cooler!
"By the way, isn't it almost time for the Friendship Games?"
Someone suddenly brought it up, and everyone froze, followed by the scene sinking into an even more depressed atmosphere.
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