Title:           Week22 - GreentextSavant
Author:          AlexanderGrey
Pastebin link:   http://pastebin.com/BRyP5rLy
First Edit:      Monday 22nd of August 2016 02:40:26 PM CDT
Last Edit:       Monday 22nd of August 2016 02:40:26 PM CDT

SUNSET SHIMBER:
>All six of the mane 6 head over to the local Hooter's in one car.
>Rarity gazes out the window the whole time, bored, while the other simply chat for the entire way there.
>They make it there, and Sunset notices their car outside in the parking lot immediately.
>She can't duck and cover with a tray of food in her hand. She looks around to find no method of escape.
>Luckily, she passes behind a wall by the time the mane six enter through the front doors. They're seated and are told their waitress will be right with them.
>GUESS WHO IT IS?
>"H-hi... welcome to Hooter's! My name is Sunset and I'll be serving you today!" Sunset does the best she can to pretend not to know them in front of everyone else.
>She's pretty much dying a little on the inside at this point.
>And the stares the mane six give... boy, are they ever-damning. They have never been so red in the face and pale in the face at the same time.
>Except for Pinkie, of course. She's facing in the completely opposite direction so Sunset doesn't see her mile wide smile.
>But she shoulders jolt up and down from the laughter, and the reflection in the polished window gives her involuntary squinting and toothy smirk.
>Trained to do so, Sunset swallows the humiliation and forces her own smile to remain on her face JUST a little bit longer until she's done taking the order and scurries out of sight.
>Everyone just ordered lemonade for starters. Nothing else could come to mind.
>"You mean you know all of them?" Sunset's manager questions his employee.
>Sunset silently nods.
>"Well, I'm sorry. You should have told me this earlier before I officially assigned you to serve them. We can't just swap waitresses out of the blue like that." He lowers his tone. "Tell you what. Just deal with it this one time, and you can head home a little bit early. You still get full pay for the extra shift. I'll get Trixie to fill in for ya."
>She has to go back to the table.
>What happens next?
>"Alrighty... so are we all ready to order." Sunset saw her friends hastily whispering to eachother before she got very close to the table.
>They all awkwardly exchange glances, not having opened their menus.
>It's clear what it was they were whispering about before Sunset returned to within hearing range.
>"C-can we have more time?" Twilight blushes heavily, but nowhere nearly as much as Rainbow Dash.
>No one in the entire town is blushing as much as Rainbow Dash at this moment.
>"Sure thing!" Sunset clicks the pen and heads off to another table she's assigned to.
>"Pinkie! Stop it!" Twilight sharply scolds the giggling girl at the window.
>"She probably saw already. So ah suggest you apologize at some point, Pinkie."
>Pinkie Pie wipes a tear from her eye. "Sorry, girls. It's just..." She chortles a little more. "I totally didn't see this coming!"
>Rarity straightens her back and hops onto her high horse. "I see nothing wrong with this. Working here was Sunset's choice, and I wholeheartedly respect that."
>"Exactly!" Twilight agrees. "Sunset's our friend. And we have to support her decision no matter what. I mean, there's nothing wrong with working in a place where... well, you know..."
>Rainbow Dash quietly grunts with her legs crossed.
>Fluttershy stares at the table, and keeps her eyes glued there with no intention of looking up for even a half a second.
>"It's a great place to work. The food here is great, there's a very positive atmosphere, along with a very specific theme, is all." Twilight continues, trying not to compare herself to the other waitresses who are clearly more developed than her. "I'm happy for Sunset. And we should tell her so once she comes back. There's no sense in dragging this out and not breaking the ice."
>Rainbow Dash also finds herself checking out the waitresses, but for different reasons.
>The reasons why she came here in the first place.
>"Just figure out what y'all wanna order so we can get through this." Applejack brings up.
>Everyone chooses their dishes.
>Steak for Applejack, footlong subway sandwich for Rarity, salad for Fluttershy, soup for Twilight, burger and fries for Pinkie Pie and buffalo wings for Rainbow Dash.
>Sunset writes it all down, getting the vibe that there's something Twilight wants to tell her.
>"Erhm..." Nervousness overcomes Twilight. "Nothing. Thanks."
>Sunset nods and walks away once more with the paper in her hand. Now the mane six have more time to converse.
>"Listen, one of us has to tell her it's okay." Applejack tries to convince one of the other girls to address the elephant in the room.
>"Why can't you?" Twilight asks.
>"Ah can't help it. It's just that... I'm not used to being in restaurants like this one where the waitresses are so... revealing, is all. I don't think there's anything wrong with it, but it's just too awkward for me."
>"Well, if you're not going to say anything, then I will." Rarity offers, hardly blushing at all at this point.
>Applejack continues to make her case. "I'm sorry, y'all. If this were Texas Roadhouse like I'm used to, then it would be a totally different story. But... ah guess I'm out of my element. I'm more of a traditional girl who focuses more on modesty. And ah know that at least most of y'all are a little awkward about this too!"
>Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy stare straight down at the table.
>"Oh, I'll apologize. Promise!" Pinkie reassures. "I want Sunset to be happy with her job, and I want her to know that I'm happy for her too. You've got my back, Rarity."
>Several minutes of discussion later, and the group falls silent.
>Rainbow Dash keeps her legs crossed, noticing Trixie across the aisle serving another table. All of the mane six see her.
>A watered down version of the awkward moment ensues, but not for Trixie.
>She just kindly waves to them.
>35 more minutes later.
>Dinner is served...
>And heeeere... you... go." Sunset carefully loads the dishes off of the tray.
>Twilight looks over at Rarity, who's more than ready to speak once Sunset is done serving the table.
>"Sunset, I would just take a moment to say that I think it's wonderful that we have a friend working here. What a coincidence you were assigned to out table, is it not?" Rarity calmly sparks a short conversation.
>Pinkie Pie joins in immediately. "Yeah, uh, sorry I was giggling earlier. I was just so excited to see you here."
>"Oh..." Sunset lowers her shoulders and sighs in the beginning of relief. "I uh... thanks. And it's no big deal, Pinkie. I know you mean well."
>She prays that they say more. Something to at least show that they can put this past them and move on.
>That's all Sunset wants at this point, after this amount of time that has felt like literally hours.
>"So how long have you been working here?" Rarity persists. "This place looks like it gets a lot of business." She scans the packed tables and booths.
>"Oh, uh... couple of months."
>The very atmosphere in the room warms up little.
>This was all it took for everyone except for Fluttershy to comfortably converse for a little bit before Sunset has to go to the next table she's serving.
>It isn't hard for the group to work in a chance for everyone to speak.
>"G-good job, Sunset." Fluttershy stutters quietly before her friend walks away.
>That was it.
>Sunset expected some sort of trainwreck to happen, but this whole thing didn't take much at all.
>The mane 6 enjoy their meals and head off once they're done with dessert.
>Sunset waves them off as they go out the door, getting ready to tell her manager that she's okay with staying for the rest of her shift anyway.
>"You sure?" Sunset's manager responds after being informed.
>"Yeah, I was just having a bit of an awkward moment. Nothing too big. So any tables for me to do next?"
 
COGNITIVE DISSONANCE:
>Trixie always saw herself as the biggest star out there.
>Ever since she was a little girl, her aspirations rose to heights even too high for those of a child.
>She actually planned out her success on paper, mapping out what gigs she would imagine herself doing decades into the future.
>Call it arrogant, but this meant the whole world and then some to the girl. And that was years before now.
>Trixie’s hands these days shake at the very thought of her success. The feeling compels her to walk through the chilly breeze every morning to the theater to attend her daily performing arts club she signed up for.
>It’s always right before school, and Trixie has to be careful not to wake her stepsister Sugarcoat on the lower portion of their bunk bed. She won’t have to do this anymore once she starts raking in more money for herself so she can move out.
>Everyone notices her approach the theater, but mostly because of the walkways being on the opposite side of the building from the parking lot.
>The girl knows her entrance electrifies everyone in the room as she steps through the door. She just KNOWS it.
>Ignoring the looks on everyone else’s faces, Trixie sets her mind free of distractions and pulls out her glorious equipment.
>She walks to the center of the stage to ensure that everyone can watch her practice.
>It feels like an eternity before Trixie is done going over her act, and the other people around her reluctantly clap to avoid another… episode.
>Trixie thanks them and basks in the encouragement they give her. The carefully crafted fake smiles reinforce Trixie’s ego as she packs up at the end fo the session and gets ready to go to school.
>The confidence sticks with her in each desk she sits in as the classes go by.
>…
>Sugarcoat sits at her desk in her room at 3:10 in the afternoon, planning to finish all of her homework by 5:00.
>She’s too used to hearing the footsteps going up the stairs to flinch when Trixie comes bursting through the door.
>”The talent show is still a whole week away! Why can’t it just be here already? Trixie is far beyond excited!” The magician girl throws her backpack onto her top part of the bunk bed, staring at Sugarcoat.
>It takes Sugarcoat a few seconds to give into the pressure to answer. She can’t ignore her stepsister for much longer.
>”Why are you so excited? It’s just another talent show that your school does every year. What makes this one any different?”
>Trixie rolls her eyes to the ceiling and scoffs, climbing up to her throne that is the higher bunk bed. “Because Trixie is going to dominate it this time!”
>Sugarcoat doesn’t humor the girl by answering, only waiting for her to dish out more material before she starts shooting it down again.
>”You see.” Trixie continues. “The last year or so has seen Trixie learning many new methods on creating illusions. Unlike last year, so many hours have been spent on practicing. The competition will have no idea what hit them.”
>”Unless you convince me otherwise, I seriously doubt it.”
>Trixie watches Sugarcoat cross her arms, having expected her to not be easily swayed.
>”Trixie was hoping you’d say that.” She pulls a deck of cards out of her backpack.”
>”Another card trick, huh?” Sugarcoat squints at the girl on top of the bunk beds. “You should try to come up with an original act sometime. Because doing a card trick isn’t going to help you stand out. Tons of magicians or what have you do card tricks. And they all end up with them choosing a card you didn’t expect or something. It gets really uninteresting after seeing enough of them.”
>”How do YOU know this is going to be uninteresting?” Trixie’s grin still becomes smug regardless. “Trixie already knew that. Which is why she added a new twist to the act to make it more interesting.”
>Sugarcoat turns back to her desk, wishing she could make of for the wasted two and a half minutes she spent talking to Trixie. “I’m not interested. Go show dad or something.”
>With a furrow of her brow, Trixie slides off the edge of the bed and lands right behind Sugarcoat. “You’re just afraid that you’ll actually be impressed this time.” She insists.
>”Um, no. I’m not.”
>Trixie sets up the card trick while Sugarcoat has her back turned, slipping a couple of cards up her sleeves in advance.
>”You sure? Trixie would have guessed that you think it’s impossible to…” Trixie pauses for emphasis. “Juggle cards.”
>Sugarcoat would have laughed had she not been annoyed. She spins around on her chair and fixes her glasses. “I guess I’d like to see what your idea of “juggling” is, then.”
>Determined to change Sugarcoat’s mind as quickly as possible, Trixie begins to toss the card around in front of her, spinning them vertically.
>It’s already obvious that this trick wasn’t well thought out in any way, even though Trixie put a lot of time into learning how to catch them easily.
>”Pretty sure you can’t do this.” Trixie starts to boast.
>”Nope. But I’m also pretty sure I don’t give a-”
>”I hasn’t even begun yet!” Trixie lets all of the cards land onto her hand face up in a stack. “Pick one.” She fans them out in her hand to reveal the five cards revealing the numbers 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10.
>Sugarcoat’s glare is more than enough for the girl to have to verbally answer “no”.
>”Pick… one!” Trixie repeats, a little more insistently. “More importantly, pick a card with a number that you DON’T see.”
>And that’s the last thing Sugarcoat needed to know that Trixie has the other five cards up her sleeves. She sighs in the wake of something far from surprise. “One.”
>Trixie commences the “oh so exciting” juggling of the cards once more, showing how much she practices using one hand to catch the cards as she starts to toss them around her back at the same time.
>Sugarcoat watches her do it quickly as well, noticing the precision it takes in order to pull something like this off.
>Until… she’s able to clearly see where Trixie slips the card with the 1 on it out from her sleeve. It wasn’t anywhere near subtle enough.
>Trixie finishes juggling and produces the deck of cards in her hand, all face down. The card numbered 1 on top, of course. She swipes it off the top and shows it to Sugarcoat, at least expecting her eyebrows involuntarily rise.
>Nothing.
>”In shock?” Trixie asks, straightening her back. “Trixie’s original and innovative act was epic and you know it! When have you ever seen someone juggle cards?”
>”I saw you get the card from out of your sleeve.” Sugarcoat points out. “And your hand movements don’t resemble traditional juggling. You were literally just throwing the cards into the air and catching them one at a time. I’ll admit that learning how to catch them so fast takes memorization, but it’s not interesting enough to put into a talent show.”
>”Oh, please!” Trixie responds. “You only knew that because I showed you that song I wrote.”
>”Which is what made it even more obvious that you were going to have “tricks up your sleeve”. Not only did I figure out you were going to do that before you even did it, but it’s one of the oldest tricks in the book. You should expect over half of your audience to figure it out even if they don’t see it, which I wouldn’t hold my breath on. I bet they know about your song too, by the way.”
>”Don’t lie to your sister! Trixie knows she’s not invisible. There’s no way-”
>”I saw it. And I’m not impressed, and I’m sure that no one else will be either.”
>”You’re just jealous that Trixie can do something you can’t! Again! All you do is waste your time on school work because you’re too used to living a boring life going to the boring school that doesn’t even have talent shows!”
>”No, I’m glad that I’m not as deluded as you.” Sugarcoat imagines all of the things she can do that Trixie isn’t aware of. “And you do realize that all Crystal Prep students have to know archery, right?”
>Trixie stifles an arrogant cackle. “Archery is easy! All you have to do is point and shoot! Far too below Trixie’s level of intellect!”
>”I can assure you that it’s a lot more than just a simple “point and shoot” type deal. But then again, I’m not surprised that you think otherwise. You’ve never even tried it, have you?” Sugarcoat actually can’t believe that Trixie is THIS clueless about archery.
>”Trixie doesn’t NEED to try it! She has more… interesting things to do.”
>”Again, I’m glad that I’m not ad deluded as you.”
>”Out of arguments, hmm?”
>”At least I had a valid one to begin with. I simply feel like it’s not worth my time to have this conversation with you again when I could be finishing up my homework. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” she spins the chair back around to her desk.
>”It’s YOU who is deluded.” Trixie raises her voice, but keeps the smug grin on her face. “You just don’t want to admit that Trixie has become a multi-talented genius who can do things that will not only rock the talent show next week, but win as well.” She starts to walk away to go back downstairs.
>”You’re going to lose that talent show.”
>”Whatever you say miss archery.” Trixie turns around. “In fact. To prove her point, Trixie will learn archery before the talent show and put it into her act in addition to her new card trick! You better get ready to eat your words!”
>”I recommend that you don’t make such stupid decisions so quickly.”
>”It’s not stupid if Trixie will be proven right!” The other girl trots down the stairs.
>”You’re in for an unpleasant surprise.” Sugarcoat keeps her eyes glued to her work.
>Trixie doesn’t answer her, going down to the basement to find the archery equipment.
>The door swings open with a swift kick of Trixie’s foot.
>The girl scans the concrete room in search for that purple bag she remembers Sugarcoat carrying around. She spots it next to a pile of boxes.
>She opens it and starts to fiddle with the contents inside; more equipment than she imagined. Much more than just a simple bow and a few arrows.
>Trixie doesn’t even know what to call these things, but in her mind, she doesn’t need to know the names. She marches outside with everything haphazardly put back into the bag and feels the breeze rush its familiar determination onto her face.
>There has always been that fence post that Sugarcoat had practiced with whenever she had to brush up in her archery skills. Trixie looks at all of the bullseyes that her stepsister got over the previous few years.
>How confident Sugarcoat must feel about herself that she got so many perfect shots.
>Trixie feels like she’s going to have to inform Sugarcoat that the new bullseyes on the little circles painted onto the fence are not hers, but by a new and much more versatile competitor.
>And so, the girl does what she saw in the movies so many times. She holds the bow in what she can only call a “shooting position”, places the arrow on the string and pulls in back.
>She squints at the target with aspiring eyes, trying to decide if she could afford to step further back or not.
>Trixie figures that it surely couldn’t hurt to do this with a little bit more difficulty. All it does is Prove Sugarcoat even more wrong. Just the thought of pulling off a bigger stunts excites Trixie’s ego with each modification she makes to her plan to get a bullseye the first time she fires an arrow.
>Getting a bullseye the first time… who else can even say that? Trixie just might be breaking a record here.
>The girl steps back again, getting ready to draw a line in the dirt when she notices a certain girl staring at her from a certain bedroom window.
>Perfect.
>Trixie’s smug grin returns.
>The fact that Sugarcoat’s head is so low on the window can only indicate that she swiveled over to the window in her chair, too lazy or uninterested to even stand up.
>Trixie knew that her rummaging through the basement was loud enough to be heard from upstairs.
>With the wind picking up behind her, she stand in place, huffing out her chest as she basks being in plain sight. Sugarcoat does not even look the slightest bit impressed, none to Trixie’s surprise.
>The bow makes the quietest creaking sound as Trixie pulls the arrow back, and the girl expects the sound of the arrowhead hitting the designated center of the bullseye following.
>There is not a doubt in her mind.
>Sugarcoat crosses her arms a little bit tighter as she waits for the truth to give Trixie a well-deserved uppercut.
>…Whoosh!
>The arrow didn’t even hit the fence at all. It flies all the way over into the next yard, and hits something discomfortingly fleshy sounding before a high pitched screech can be heard.
>Even Sugarcoat’s eyebrows shoot up in shock. Trixie freezes in place, still in her confident position of “being such an excellent archer”.
>A dull silence following the high pitch screech does little to nothing for the girl to feel at all relieved.
>Sugarcoat thought she would be the one silently snickering to herself, turning away before her sides were lost. She thought the horrified look on Trixie’s face would be from something else.
>Trixie’s shaking hands drop the weapon, letting it his the damp grass with a soft thud.
>She decides what to do next.
>A sliding glass door soon opens. It's already obvious that the sound came from the house which the yard belongs to.
>Trixie's mind sets itself to running inside, not even considering picking up the now and arrow.
>"What in the world was that?" A man's slightly familiar voice reacts to whatever the arrow sticks into on the other side of his backyard.
>Sugarcoat expects his voice to become plagued with despair any second now. She has seen the guy have his episodes before, being one of his neighbors and all.
>She braces herself, turning back to her desk and slightly wincing.
>"Oh... oh my god." The voice carries itself into Trixie's ears, blaring like a looming horn of judgment. "Honey, come look! Something happened to that raccoon!"
>The man nearly skips out of the house towards the twitching animal holding onto its life by a thread.
>Neither Trixie nor Sugarcoat can see the animal from the angles the spectate from, but they notice the mixture of shock and relief on the middle aged man's face.
>"Hello?" The man spins around in search for whoever fired the arrow.
>Trixie still remains silent, knowing how loud her footfalls would be had she made a run for it.
>"Who did this?" The man asks into the open air, momentarily lowering his voice to speaking to himself. "They're my got-dang hero right now, that's for sure."
>Every little ounce of Trixie's heart shifts up in the opposite direction. Her pupils dilate in delightful realization.
>"What is it, Hank?" The man's wife emerges from the sliding glass door.
>She shrieks at first before her husband rushes over to console her.
>"It's alright, Peggy. It's gone now." He turns back towards the lane and the two rows of fences separating the would be archer from his sight. "Whoever this is, you can come out now! You're not in trouble or anything like that. Hell, I should get you some kind of a medal or something."
>Trixie's ego flares aggressively upon hearing the word "medal".
>"Mr Hill?" Trixie has already recognized the man's voice from before.
>"Wait a minute." Hank steps out into the lane and starts to look into the mostly fenced in yard. "I think I know you. Are you one of those girls who lives across the lane from me."
>Trixie steps into view with the bow and arrow back in her hands and a proud grin on her face.
>She already knows that Sugarcoat must have gone back to her desk right now to not even give her stepsister the luxury of seeing the defeated look on her own face.
>"I though I recognized your voice. I knew that I heard you're pretty handy with a bow and arrow. You must be Sugarcoat." He takes a closer look. "Where are your glasses?"
>Trixie jumps internally when she realizes she gets to correct him with her own name instead of Sugarcoat's.
>"I'm actually Trixie."
>Hank raises his eyebrows, rippling the surface of his forehead even more than before.
>"Well I'll be darned. I didn't know both of ya were the sporty types." He turns back to the raccoon. "That raccoon has been being the worst kinda pest I've seen in a while. I can hardly let Ladybird out anymore these days without worrying about it biting her or something."
>"Well... I knew that it wasn't supposed to be in your yard. And I remember you've already been trying to kill it. Is that correct."
>Hank passionately nods his head. "Eyup. But that dang thing was always too smart to fall for the poison traps Peggy and I had set up. It's like that dang raccoon can spot a pest control watermark from a mile away, I tell ya hwhat."
>"Oh, my lord!" Peggy Hill emerges from the backyard, steps over to Trixie and hugs her. "Thank you so much for doing that. That damn thing has been giving us living hell ever since spring started up."
>"Yup. Thank you so much uhh... Trixie. Really appreciate it."
>"It's no problem." Trixie eyes Sugarcoat's empty bedroom window.
>...
>Trixie's footsteps echo through the kitchen.
>Sugarcoat furrows her brow at the sound, hearing the girl arrogantly, and gradually stomping up the stairs with glee.
>"Well, looks like we have a winner."
>Sugarcoat spins in her chair to face her stepsister. "Two things. One, you completely missed the target you were AIMING for. Two, hitting that raccoon was dumb luck."
>"Was it?" Trixie brushes some dust off of her shoulder with a sly grin plastered onto her face. "Trixie supposes that she forgot to inform you about the raccoon she spotted through the slits of the fence boards."
>"Yeah, the fence boards that were painted white and blue from the target you were aiming for. And missed."
>"Trixie simply wasn't aiming for the target."
>Sugarcoat huffs, knowing through deductive reasoning exactly where this argument is going to go if she drags this out; nowhere.
>But Trixie continues anyway. "The shot Trixie took was merely impromptu, when she spotted that nasty little rodent in the Hills's backyard. She decided to kill two birds with one stone and prove herself right while also solving a pest problem. Or should Trixie say... kill one raccoon with one arrow."
>"Dumb. Luck. And you know it."
>"The Great and Powerful Trixie does not rely on luck. She relies on her instincts. The instincts hat told her to shoot the raccoon instead at the last minute."
>"This is some serious overly confident damage control. Even for you, surprisingly."
>"Say what you want. But Trixie's success speaks otherwise."
>"You better hope they have a raccoon running around with dumb luck charms at the talent show. Because that's the only way you'll-"
>"OH WOW! YOU'RE SO FUNNY, SUGARCOAT! NICE JOKE!"
>"I wasn't trying to be funny. I'm trying to insult you. But you're too deluded and stupid to insult."
>Trixie's grin only widens. "Thank you for the compliment."
>Sugarcoat slams her palm against her face as Trixie parades out of the room.
>Wow. Just wow.