//------------------------------//
// Science Class 
// Story: That Gangly Kid 
// by Plumage 
//------------------------------//

I walk into the classroom. It's pretty empty: there's ten minutes before the bell. I plonk down into a seat next to one of my friends, Dime, and she grins at me.
“ 'Sup, Discord?”
She's a coppery gold with a sparky kind of mane. She's the most excitable in the whole class. Not kidding. But she's one of my best friends. And she is the funniest pony I know. So I'm not complaining.
“Well, it was the sky yesterday, but I don't know whether that has changed,” I say, glancing upwards.
Dime laughs. It's not hard to make her laugh. It's even easier for her to make others laugh.
I smile.
“So what did you do in the weekend?” she asks.
“Nothing. You?”
“Well, someone stole my golden hoofslippers,”
“I'm sure it will be so hard for you to make more.” I say sarcastically.
Dime's special talent is manipulating all kinds of metals. So it would be pretty easy for her to make some more.
“I'd just broken them in and they were PERFECT,” she complains.
“Oh, come on,” I say. “Don't act like you'll never have another pair ever again.”
She glares at me. I grin back. “I can see you're in a wonderful mood this morning.” I say.
“Yo!” comes a loud voice from next to me.
I turn around, not even flinching to see a black pony with insect wings staring back at me expectantly.
I raise my eyebrows.
She pokes her tongue out at me. “Come on, it used to be so easy to make you double-take,” she says.
“That was before you were my friend,” I say, tweaking her nose.
She scowls.
“Aw, what's wrong, ickle Chryssy-poo?” I pout in a mock-caring voice. “Wanna go home to mummy because meanie Discord didn't do what you wanted him to do?”
She narrowed her eyes. “Yes, hi, Chrysalis.” I add.
Turning away from me, she says, “At least I have a mummy,”
“Hey!” I protest. “Low blow, Chrysalis! Low blow!”
She puts some headphones in her ears. With a smug glance at me, she takes out her music player and presses Play.
Great. I huff impatiently. Why can't class start?
Dime puts a hoof to her lips. Shh.
She ducks underneath the table as Chrysalis's eyes close and her head starts to bang up and down, a quiet rustling every time she moves.
Dime comes up on Chrysalis's other side, eases one of her headphones out slightly and practically screams in Chrysalis's ear,
“CLASS IS ABOUT TO START!!”
Chrysalis jumps so high into the air for a second I think she'll hit the ceiling. But she comes smack-bang all the way down again into her chair.
I'm laughing so hard I'm almost crying, and from what I can hear, so is Dime.
“Class IS about to start, so if I were you, I'd shut up.” says Chrysalis irritably.
I snap open my eyes and try to compose myself. Dime is still sniggering.
Looking around the class, I see Chrysalis is right. Class is about to start.
I can see the little girly group who always sit at the front, the bullies a few seats in front of us, of course they will be annoyed that we have the back again. Shame on them. We're not moving.
And the three spare seats in the middle.
“Where are those little celestial brats?” Chrysalis asks.
“You mean Luna, Star and-”
“And Celestia, yes,” Dime cuts in, grinning at me. “What, are you worried about your Juliet, are you?”
Chrysalis, who has taken new interest in the conversation, is showing she is paying attention by making disgusting kissy-kissy noises.
“No,” I say hotly. “I'm just-”
“He IS worried!” says Chrysalis gleefully. “Worried about his sweetheart! You gonna save her if she's stuck up a tower with those wonderful wings of yours?”
“I don't like-”
“You do! Dissy and Tia up a tree!”
“K-I-S-S-I-N-G!” Dime chimes in with the next line.
“First comes love,” sings Chrysalis.
“Then comes marriage,”
“Then comes the baby in the baby carriage!”
Just then the bell rings, and the teacher, Mr Hoovestien, gets up to start the lesson, and he glares at Dime and Chrysalis, who are still singing soppy love songs about me and Celestia, and he snarls at them, “Miss Dime and Miss Chrysalis, detention.”
They stop singing and I feel like laughing, but I can't otherwise I'll get a detention too.
So I just grin cockily at the two of them.