Hello, fellow readers! Welcome back to Calm after the Storm! Before we continue, what do we have:
johannvanguard: We shall see in time.
Thanks for the feedback! With that said, let's hop on in!
Chapter 7: Proper Motivation
The Crystal Five sat at the Food Court in the Canterlot Mall, sitting at a table with some food in order to discuss the new decision for the Games.
"Anyone got an idea as to why she changed her mind now?" Indigo is understandably confused by the principal's decision.
"Most likely, someone at school." Sugarcoat answers, "Though who is the better question."
"Obviously, Twilight didn't do it." Sour Sweet comments, "She's 'not the competitive type' anyways"
"Maybe one of those boys did?" Sunny suggests, getting their attention. "I doubt, who were they... Trenderhoof and Suri? Those two are just as competitive as us."
"Whoever it was, how can we have fun?" Lemon brings up, "All we know is how to win."
"Winning is fun." Sugarcoat bluntly said.
The girls weren't really going anywhere with this, leading to them to let out a collective sigh. Indigo then notices a familiar face hanging out near the smoothie kiosk nearby, which she points out:
"Hey, isn't that Stylite over there?"
The others look at where she was pointing and turns out, she was right. Stylite is at the counter talking with the country girl currently working there, possibly waiting for his order. Though, he obviously wasn't bored as she looks to be sharing a story he's rather enjoying.
"He recently moved here, but they look to be rather familiar with each other." Indigo recalls.
"He said that his brother goes to CHS. Maybe she goes there, too." Lemon guesses.
"Well, we won't know until we ask." Sugarcoat makes a good point there.
"All right. Watch my food." The four watch as Indigo gets up and walks on over.
"Tell us what you learn!" Sweet calls out before Sour mutters, "Since you're going through the trouble."
Indigo didn't hear the second part as she goes over to where Stylite currently is. Meanwhile, he was chuckling at Applejack's story as she was making his smoothie.
"So wait, you thought that Big Mac was playing charades when he actually had poison ivy on his back?"
"I wasn't sure if he was scratching or flying!" AJ weakly excuses herself as an answer, "Then again, I was laughing too hard!"
The two share a chuckle for a moment before Stylite hears his name, "Yo, Stylite!"
He looks in the direction of the voice to see Indigo walking over to him, "Hey, Indigo. What brings you around here?"
"I'm hanging with the winning team today." She casually answers, briefly gesturing to her table as she does. "But I wanna ask you something about Principal Cinch."
"Really? What's it about?" He was rather curious about this as AJ had finished mixing the smoothie.
"Get this. She wants us to 'have fun' at the Games." Indigo uses her hands for air quotes during her answer, "Crazy, right?"
"Seriously?" Stylite was actually surprised to hear that, "That's great!"
"Wait..." Indigo connected the dots from his reaction, "Then you're the one who told her that?"
"I mean, how else were she gonna get my cousin and his friends on the team?" Stylite casually retorts.
"Can't argue with that. About time we actually make the games fun." AJ agrees as he hands him his smoothie before looking at Indigo, "Ya go to Crystal Prep too, right?"
"Obviously. You go to CHS?" Indigo retorts.
"Heh, obviously." AJ shot right back.
The two stare each other down for a moment before Stylite calls it off, "Save it for the Games, you two."
Indigo simply smirks at this, "Gladly. See you two later."
She then walks away, leaving AJ and Stylite alone as the former spoke. "Rather obnoxious, huh?"
"A little bit, yeah." He admits before changing the topic, "So I heard that Visor is making music now?"
"Yup. That's why he brought that piano to the party." Applejack mentions.
"Sweet. Think he wants to make a band?" Stylite was rather interested in this.
"You too? Fluttershy and his mom also said that." She adds after hearing that.
He lets out a small chuckle after hearing that, "If you can play music, it's always a possibility."
One Hour Later...
The Crystal Five end their meeting and went their separate ways soon after. Lemon Zest decides to head to the electronics store to just browse at the moment, where she sees a familiar girl speaking with a boy with spiky hair. The girl notices her and actually recognizes who she was:
"Lemon Zest? What brings you here?"
Lemon walks on over as she answers, "Just looking around. I'm sorry, do you go to Crystal Prep?"
"Both of us do." The boy answers, "Name's Levin Reed, and this is Twilight Sparkle."
"Oh yeah, the nerds!" Now she knows who they are before casually pointing at Levin, "I know your cousin Stylite, he's a cool dude."
"I'm sure he appreciates the compliment." He smiles upon hearing that before feeling his phone vibrate in his pocket and pulls it out to see a group text:
ST: Principal Cinch has decided to have fun!
That surprises him and even shows Sci-Twi, who was just as surprised. "Is that true?"
"Is what true?" Lemon is a bit confused on what they're talking about.
Levin then gets two new texts, both from Shade and Visor respectively:
S: Are you serious?
V: Dude, you better not be joking about this.
L: Me and Twilight are just as skeptical.
Good to see the four are on the same page as the next text answers their question:
ST: I just heard from Indigo Zap earlier that Principal Cinch decided to have fun at the Games this year. The rest of the team just had a little meeting discussing this earlier.
The two then look at Lemon Zest, who is still rather confused at what they're doing.
"Principal Cinch loosened up?" Levin bluntly asks her.
She now gets what's going on, "Oh! Yup, that's what she told us."
Levin's phone then vibrates, indicating new texts:
S: I'm rather impressed that you actually went and did that, dude.
V: You're telling me! Way to go, Sty!
"Then we're entering the Games without having to worry about pressure?" Sci-Twi asks for reassurance.
"Depends." Levin looks back at Lemon, "Are you guys on board with this?"
"Uh... about that." The two didn't like the sound of that, "We're not really sure what counts as fun anymore."
Levin and Sci-Twi were kinda surprised, but not at the same time. When competition is the norm, it's easy to forget just simple fun. With that in mind, he delivers the next text:
L: Lemon Zest just told us that they forgot how to have fun.
ST: I'm not surprised at all.
S: Let me guess, you want us to help them.
V: What's the plan?
L: Simple, we have fun.
"Don't worry, we got you covered." Levin suddenly said to Lemon, who was taken aback by this. "W-Wait, really?"
"Yup." Sci-Twi reassures her, "We just gotta find what makes you happy, right?"
"And I think I have an idea to help you in particular." Levin mentions before leading the way with the two in tow.
Elsewhere in Canterlot Mall (Sporting Goods)
"Still kinda sad that those girls forgot how to have fun." Visor said as he was hanging out at the Sports store with Rainbow.
"Well, sports is one of the easiest ways to experience it." Rainbow points out as she held one of the many soccer balls.
"True, but it's also easy to get competitive in sports." He retorts before he sees Indigo Zap enter the store.
She recognizes the two and raises an eyebrow, "So, it isn't just Stylite who's friends with CHS."
"You say that like it's a bad thing." Visor didn't like the way she said that.
"Anyways, you looking for something?" Rainbow asks as she is an employee there.
"New shoes. Mine are getting old." Indigo gestures by pointing out her feet, showing that her current shoes are quite worn down.
Visor knows the feeling, being reminded of the Dazzlings' trip here back then before speaking. "Alrighty. What do you have in mind?"
It took a bit for her to pick out the ones she wants, even with Visor and Rainbow helping her out. During this, the two try to find out something about her hobbies.
"You do anything else other than sports?" Visor was straight to the point with his words.
"Duh, of course I do. Whenever I need to relax, I sometimes ride my motorcycle around the city." Her answer got their attention.
"You own one too?" The two asked at the same time, which caught themselves off guard.
"OK, I've seen yours." Indigo points at Visor saying that before moving her finger to Rainbow, "But, you also own one?"
"Yup! Proud of it, too." The rainbow athlete brags in response before getting an idea, "We should ride together sometime."
"Really?" Indigo was honestly surprised to hear that and tries to decline, "I-I doubt you two can-"
"Oh no, we're riding!" Visor denies her attempt, "I barely know anyone who even has friends that own a motorcycle! We're doing this!"
Rainbow eases him a bit, "OK. Cool down, dude."
Indigo's surprise then turns to being impressed at his passion, "All right, I like your style!"
Once the three finally found a pair of shoes she likes, Rainbow got an idea to test them out and picks up one of the soccer balls.
"Wanna practice breaking them in?" She asks her with Visor catching on quick.
"Bring it!" Indigo isn't one to deny a challenge. Plus, what better way to see what her competition is capable of?
Elsewhere in Canterlot Mall again (Pet Store)
"Have you done something long enough that you forgot why you did it in the first place?" Shade wonders out loud as he is currently hanging inside the pet store Fluttershy works at with Sunset.
She felt some painful memories surface for a moment upon hearing that before she answers, "Sadly, yes..."
He notices the change and was about to ask when he sees a cat looking at them from a cage nearby, leaning on it with its paw like it also sensed her mood. Getting an idea, he opens the lock and takes him out.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Shade asks as he held the cat near his face, making it look like he's talking from said cat with a different voice to boot.
Sunset looks with a mix of confusion and curiosity, though she says silent as he continues with the impression.
"If you talk about it, you'll feel meow-ch better." He even adds a pun, which honestly made her chuckle a bit. "Do you want to talk to Dr. Kitty?"
The two then hear a familiar voice clear her throat before turning to see Fluttershy have a stern stare towards them, though she has a small smile with it as she spoke:
"I think Dr. Kitty should go back to his office."
"...Dr. Kitty agrees." Shade said in his impression before putting the kitty back in his cage and locking it. He then drops the impression altogether before speaking again, "Sorry."
"Please ask first." Fluttershy warns him about, "Only volunteers can take them out here."
"Makes sense. This is a mall, not the shelter." Sunset agrees with her there before turning to Shade, "I appreciate it, by the way."
"You're welcome!" Shade quickly responds in his kitty impression before repeating himself normally, "You're welcome."
"Are you looking for an animal friend?" The two hear Fluttershy ask someone else who just came in.
"Just looking around today." A rather blunt response came out of the customer's voice, which Shade recognizes and turns to see Sugarcoat as Fluttershy went elsewhere in the store.
The ironically named girl goes to look around before her eyes notices Shade, "Shade, right?"
"From woodshop, yeah." He confirms for her, "What brings you here?"
"...I like animals." Straight to the point, as she usually is.
"I've yet to meet anyone who doesn't." Sunset casually said.
Sugarcoat notices her and deduces who she might be, "You're Sunset Shimmer that goes to CHS, correct?"
"You can tell at a glance?" Sunset was impressed at her deduction.
"It's not that hard. You stand out a lot." Not as impressed by her response. Not by much, anyways.
"I mean, she's not wrong." Shade sees her point before shifting the topic back, "Anyways, back to animals. Are you a fan of cats or dogs?"
"I grew up with both." Sugarcoat bluntly answers.
"Really?" He was a bit surprised to hear that, "Like a little puppy and kitty?"
"That's right." She casually confirms before pointing at something behind him, "That kitten was his breed."
Shade and Sunset looks to where she was talking about, only to find themselves looking at the cat he took out earlier.
"Wow, talk about coincidence." The latter comments that Shade couldn't help but agree with before something else came to mind, "What was the puppy?"
"I don't remember. I don't even think it's in here." Sugarcoat answers, glancing around as she does.
"You never know." She assures her, "Come on, there's more of them in the back."
The three go to do just that, Sugarcoat hanging back a bit wondering why she suddenly wanted to know. Then again, better than just looking around by herself again.
Elsewhere in Canterlot Mall once again (Fabrics Store)
"Fine, guess I'll go by myself." Sunny Flare mutters to herself as she walks towards her destination.
She wasn't sure why, but Sour Sweet was rather insistent to not go shopping with her today. She has always went before, so why now of all times to not go?
Shaking her head to get out of her thoughts, she finds herself in front of the fabrics store and enters to see the employee talking with a customer before she notices her and walks on over:
"Hello! Do you need help with something?"
"...No. Just looking around." Sunny simply said, not really having an idea of what she wants.
"Very well. Call if you change your mind." The employee said before introducing herself, "Name's Rarity, darling."
"OK." Sunny shrugs in response before Rarity went back to her conversation with the other customer.
While she goes on to window shop, she can't help but overhear said conversation.
"So, purple can match with a bunch of colors opposite and even next to it on the color wheel?" The customer asks Rarity.
"Yes! Though, it doesn't work like that for all colors. For example, various shades of blue work better with either bold colors or only complimentary colors." She briefly explains to him.
Sunny then glances over to who she is talking to, only to faintly recall seeing the boy from somewhere before a memory suddenly resurfaces:
Flashback, 4 weeks ago
Sunny Flare was just leaving the Sweet Shoppe with Lemon Zest in tow, the latter casually listening to her music on loud with the former nibbling on a bagel before she sees her friend moving pass her.
"Aw yeah!" Obviously, she is in her own little world as usual.
Unbeknownst to the rocker girl, she didn't notice someone was riding their bike down the sidewalk towards the two as Sunny notices he was looking behind himself for whatever reason. Due to this, she did the sensible thing:
"Look ahead, idiot!" And calls out the biker.
Said biker turns his head to face forward to see who was yelling at him, only to realize who he's about to hit as Lemon Zest has the song finish and opens her eyes to see him. In a split second, he slams the brakes that actually send his bike forward so suddenly that it raises itself on its front tire as it stops just before her feet. He managed to balance himself for a moment right before the bike fell back to land upright, quickly placing his foot on the ground to prevent falling over.
"S-Sorry about that." He manages to say.
Sunny wasn't ready to accept that as she walks over, "That's all you have to say after that!?"
"W-What!?" The boy was flustered at this point before Lemon steps in, "It's fine! Really!"
The two simply look at her in surprise, Sunny speaking up to respond. "Fine!?"
"Yeah, you know! No one got hurt!" Lemon defends her decision to forgive and forget.
"And you would say the same thing if he had a car!?" Sunny brings up a good point.
"I'm still standing, aren't I?" Lemon could only retort with in response.
Before she can continue, she sees something at the corner of her eye and looks to see the boy riding off. "HEY!"
Her shout only encouraged him to speed up his escape, making her let out a frustrated sigh.
Flashback ends, back to the present day
"Hello?" Rarity's voice calls out to get her attention.
Turns out, the two saw that she was looking in their direction. The boy points this out, "You've been staring for a good minute."
"I was." Sunny Flare finally said as her eyes focused more on him, "Your face reminds me of someone."
"...Really?" He didn't like where she was going with this.
She then starts walking over as she spoke, "Yeah. You look like a certain reckless boy that almost hit my friend with his bike."
The two were quiet after hearing that before Rarity spoke, "A-Are you sure?"
"Oh yeah. I remember faces very well." Sunny brags a bit about that.
"...You're the bagel girl." The boy mutters as he held his hand over his mouth.
"You say something, Ven?" Rarity didn't hear what he said as the two girls now have their attention on him.
Ven shifts his eyes between the two before suddenly bolting for the exit, only to trip over the steps a moment after and gets his head slamming against a corner wheel of a mobile hanger rack that had clothes with said hangers hanging on it.
"AAAHHH!" To no surprise, it hurts very much.
"Ven!" Rarity was quite concerned as she grabs the small medical kit they had out on the desk for situations like this, "Are you all right!?"
She ran over to him as Sunny just walks over, mainly wondering why he even ran in the first place as he was now laying on his back while holding his forehead in pain. Rarity helps him sit up as she tries to examine the wound, "Here, show me the damage."
Ven was rather hesitant before removing his hand, revealing a rather long and deep cut going across the right side of his forehead over the eyebrow. His blood is mostly on his right hand while drops was rolling down his head from said cut.
"Oh dear." Rarity mutters before going into the medical kit.
Sunny simply watches as she tends to his wound, processing the current situation. Comparing what happened with her and Lemon to now, this guy probably has a habit of running away over confrontation. Before she knew it, his wound was now getting wrapped up in bandages after being cleaned up.
"Why did you do that?" That is a good question as Rarity finishes wrapping said bandages.
Ven stayed quiet before he lets out a small chuckle and answers, "Habits die hard."
"That's a habit?" Sunny questions as she puts her hands on her hips.
"Yeah." He starts with before explaining his answer, "I've done it since I was a kid. Whenever I get overwhelmed with emotion... I just run. I just wish I remembered how it all started, though..."
He then slowly turns his head towards Sunny, "To be honest, I was already running when I ran into you two. And if you didn't call me out... I-I wouldn't-"
His sentence was cut off as he winces at his fresh wound, placing his hand over it instinctively.
"You need to relax, Ven." Rarity advises him, "Just stay put for now, OK?"
"All right..." He simply said before she gets up to put the medical kit away.
Sunny Flare stood there after listening to his words, getting a strange feeling inside that made her felt something. It felt kinda like... guilt? It's been quite awhile, but everyone has it at some point.
She didn't know he reacts like that, though. He did that to himself, she was only confronting him on his recklessness. And yet...
"Well, she was able to let it slide..." Sunny recalls what Lemon did back then before looking at him, "Just watch where you're going next time."
Ven has his eyes closed, but a simple slow nod was enough to respond. Not one to stay in silence, she realizes that she didn't even introduce herself.
"Name's Sunny Flare, by the way."
"Ventus Vivacity." He returns with a slightly muttered voice, feeling a headache coming on. "Ven for short."
Rarity then comes back with a question, "Sorry about that. Did you want to shop still or do you have something else in mind?"
Sunny was here for some time, might as well not go empty-handed. "What do you recommend?"
And one more time! Elsewhere in Canterlot Mall earlier...
"Every single time we pass by a clothing store! It's always 'Sour Sweet, come help me pick a new dress!' or 'Sour Sweet, I need new clothes!' How about we DON'T go in because it's always the same thing!"
As you can tell, Sour Sweet is currently in a sour mood after a little disagreement with Sunny Flare. Stomping off in a random direction to get away from her, she was mumbling to herself rather intensively. It happens from time to time, though very rarely.
During this, she then suddenly bumps into someone that knocks them both off their feet. Shaking off her dizziness, she sees the person and decides to make sure who's at fault for it:
By blaming the other person.
"Watch where you're going!" She scolds him for, despite it being a different story.
"Ow..." He mutters before sitting up, "Says the one who ran into me..."
His tone hid a hint of sass, which she isn't having right now as she got to her feet. "Did you say something?"
"Yeah." He got to his feet soon after as he answers back, "You heard me."
"No, PLEASE tell me what you said! I'd LOVE to hear EXACTLY what it was!" At this point, she's just livid that this boy is getting on her nerves now.
Behind his glasses, his eyes widen in shock at the sheer hostility she's showing right now. It was enough for him to just freeze, mouth open to try and say anything as she stares him down.
"Hey, step off!"
The two then look at the new face that was seeing what was going on, which the boy recognizes from CHS. He had pale light amberish skin with his moderate sapphire hair in a swept back style as his cornflower blue eyes was focused on Sour Sweet. He wore a black jacket over a white t-shirt that has a symbol of a blue shield behind a yellow lightning bolt, blue jeans, and black shoes. He also had a guitar case worn on his back.
"You clearly bumped into him, so apologize or leave!" He continues, revealing that he witnessed what happened.
Sour Sweet just had enough of this as she lets out a huff and turns around, "Whatever..."
She then takes her leave, leaving the two guys alone as the one who just showed up talks to the other.
"You all right?"
"U-Uh, yeah. Just froze a bit..." The boy then points out something, "You go to CHS, right?"
"Yeah. Name's Flash Sentry." He introduces himself, holding out his hand for a handshake.
"...Pixel Stellar." The boy returns the gesture, shaking his hand in the process.
Pixel adjusts his glasses before continuing the conversation, noticing the guitar case on his back. "You play?"
"Yeah. I have my own band, but I don't remember you at the 'Battle of the Bands'." Flash recalls, "You a transfer student?"
Pixel does a simple nod yes for his answer.
"Oh, cool. Well, don't be afraid to talk with us at school. Making friends is our motto at this point." Flash makes a good point.
"Is that right..." Pixel mutters, honestly relieved to hear that. "I'll keep that memorized, then."
The two then had a small moment of silence before Pixel spoke up, "So... you play video games?"
And DONE! We have reached the end of the FIRST season, of Calm after the Storm! Sorry for the wait, I just had to take some time to adjust to what I currently have on my plate:
Shadow of Harmony is now moved up to one of my main projects, as I have most of what I want to do with it. So expect that to have more attention.
The EG OC series is still up there for main projects, but I've been into daydreaming more than writing lately for it. I'll work on that, don't worry.
Shining Rainbows also moved up as I got increased motivation for that now, having some great ideas I want to use for it too.
Persona EG is getting a reboot and that's currently being worked on at the moment.
I also have two very special projects I want to get out before the end of the year, so I hope you guys are looking forward to that.
With that said, I'll see you guys with the next story of this series named:
Distorted Desires!
Thanks for reading and I'll see you all next time!
