Falling For Our Stars

by bobdat

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

For the rest of the term, I was at a loose end. Rarity was always occupied with making our dresses for the end of term dance; Miri was out canvassing votes so she could beat Minty to the role of head filly; and Fly was going to her extra literature sessions, which left me with nothing to do except hang around in our room and dread sports day. To pass the time, I tried hanging around with Rarity and lending a hoof.

“You can hold the tape measure,” Rarity said warily, giving me a distrustful look. I obliged, pinning it in place with my magic, while she made the necessary cuts with her scissors. “Okay, well why don’t you look after the tape measure permanently?” she added, glancing at me. I nodded, rolling the tape up and waiting patiently for her next instruction. As usual, she was quickly engrossed in her sewing and left me sitting there for ten minutes before looking up again.

“Oh, sorry Cat. I don’t think I’ll need the tape measure again for a while.”

I went to find Miri, who was guaranteed to be more interesting to work for than Rarity.

“Hey you, if you want a head filly who works for you, vote for Miri!” she shouted at me as I walked over.

“It’s me, Miri. You don’t need to tell me.”

“Oh, sorry,” she said, relaxing and putting down the box of ribbons she was holding. “I didn’t recognise you at first. I’m so used to seeing first years at the moment.”

“How’s it going? Got many votes?”

“I think so. Lots of ponies are wearing my ribbon,” she pointed at a group of small-looking ponies, all of whom had a red ribbon tied in their manes, “and I haven’t heard any more from Minty for ages.”

“Rarity is just sewing and being boring so I came down to see what you were up to,” I explained, inspecting her ribbons. “How come you didn’t give any of us a ribbon?”

“They’re for ponies who need to be persuaded,” Miri replied. “I’ve already persuaded you so I’m not going to waste them.” I pouted at her and she giggled, before abruptly turning and shouting at a first year. “Oi you, if you want a head filly who works for you, vote for Miri!” she yelled once again, trotting over and carefully tying the red bow into the unsuspecting victim’s mane. “When the head filly voting starts, who will you vote for?”

“Um... Miri?”

“Yes! You can go.”

We trotted off towards a different area of the school, hoping to catch the fourth years as they finished their lessons. We rounded a corner and Miri locked eyes with Minty, who was already occupying the area, clutching a box of green ribbons.

“You stole my idea!” both ponies shouted simultaneously, before intensifying their fiery gazes.

“Come on, let’s just be calm. We’ll be on our way,” I said, grabbing Miri by the leg and starting to drag her in the opposite direction.

“You’re going down, Minty,” Miri said, her voice acidic.

“Not very likely, Miriam,” Minty replied, eyes narrowed. “You’d be the worst pony in the whole school to get elected.”

“I hate Minty,” Miri complained as we headed for the gardens to try and catch ponies there. “She always steals my ideas and then pretends they’re hers.”

“Well, you’ll win anyway so it doesn’t matter.”

“She just really annoys me,” Miri said sourly, sitting down heavily and sighing. “I don’t think I could take it if she were to win.”

I put my hoof around her. “Well, I’ll tell everypony I know to vote for you. I don’t know why any of them would vote for Minty anyway.”

We all had to cast our votes in the morning, which meant I couldn’t lounge around until lunchtime reading magazines. Skipping breakfast every day meant that I had actually lost a bit of weight, which Rarity was bemoaning as we headed for the voting boxes in the hall.

“I keep having to adjust the waist on your dress because of all this,” she said, rolling her eyes. “You need to go back to eating until after the dance.”

I shook my head. “I’m finally looking more like I want to. I’ll go back to breakfast when I finally reach the right weight.”

There were little pieces of card to fill in, so I ticked the box next to Miri’s name and folded it in half, before dropping it into the metal box. I hoped it helped Miri win, since she’d be unbearable to live with if Minty won. There seemed to be more green ribbons in the hall than red ribbons as Rarity dropped her vote in.

“I wouldn’t worry. Miri has been getting lots of first and second years, who voted at breakfast. It was a sea of red,” Rarity reassured me. “Of course, you’d know this if you’d got up a bit sooner.”

“No way. I like staying in bed and reading,” I grinned, wondering how to pass the rest of the day. The results were announced after the evening meal, so I had nothing to do until then.

“You can help me with my extra homework if you’re not busy,” Fly said, appearing from nowhere grabbing me with her wing. “I’ve got to learn a whole load of quotes and you can help by moving the flashcards for me.”

“You’ve got six limbs, why can’t you do it?”

“Because you’ve got a horn. Now come with me.” Actually, her grip was so strong that I didn’t have much choice, and I waved goodbye to Rarity as we ascended the stairs to the library. “Plus, if you don’t help me, you’ll just loll around in our room and get nothing done.”

“Hey! I’ve been reading.”

“Fashion magazines don’t count as reading, especially since you mainly look at the pictures.”

I was astounded when Fly got out her flashcards. There must have been thousands. I had been expecting about twenty or something, but I was sorely mistaken.

“Okay, we’re going to start with romantic poets and work our way forwards. All you need to do is show me the quote and I’ll tell you who wrote it, what work it’s from, and when it was written. Sound easy?”

“I suppose.”

“Okay, let’s do it.” She rubbed her hooves together happily and pushed the first stack over to me. I levitated the first one over to her.

“Ooh, that’s Swirly Daze, the work is The Hayseed, and the year was... I can’t remember.”

“So, how’s the coltfriend?” I asked the pegasus, resting my hooves on the table. Fly had got bored after hundreds of flashcards, so now she was carefully writing an essay. At least it meant I could just sit around, although I was supposed to be putting all of the flashcards into order.

Fly glanced up at me. “Oh, he’s fine. I haven’t really seen him much lately.”

“Oh? Problems?”

“No no. It’s just that with me being away at school and him being at his school, we don’t get many chances to meet up,” she told me, pencil scratching away. “The train is too expensive, so we’ve agreed to just meet up during the holidays.”

“A long-distance relationship. Sounds like hard work,” I commented idly, trying to get one of her spare pencils to spin on its point. “When do I get to meet him?”

Fly looked thoughtful, but I wasn’t sure if it was because of my question or because she was trying to remember some prose. “I don’t know. Maybe in the summer holidays if you come down for a visit. We could go on a double date if you invite River.”

“Probably too far for both of us to go,” I replied.

“I have no idea then.”

“Maybe it’ll be at your wedding,” I said with a smirk, and Fly blushed.

“I think it’s a bit soon to think about that.”

I went down to the dining hall with Fly after she’d packed up her books and paper. Miri was waiting for us, looking pained.

“Hi, I’m really nervous,” she said quickly, glancing around. Everypony seemed to have taken their ribbons off by now, but there was definitely an air of tension.

“You’ll do fine,” I said, hugging her. “I’m looking at the next head filly of Buckingham.”

“Thanks Cat. Have you seen Minty? I’m trying to avoid her.”

“No we haven’t. We’re going to get a table, come and sit with us. Rarity will be along soon,” Fly suggested, before grabbing Miri as forcefully as she’d grabbed me earlier in the day and dragging her over to a table. I followed, keeping an eye on the stage area where the voting boxes were.

Miri hardly ate, despite Rarity’s best efforts when she finally arrived, late. (“If you don’t eat, you’ll lose weight and then there will be two dresses I have to constantly adjust!”) Minty was sat as far away as possible, which seemed to reassure the earth pony, but she still fidgeted and kept glancing over to see whether Minty looked as nervous as she did. In my opinion, Minty looked much worse, but Miri couldn’t see that.

“She’s so calm! Maybe they’ve already told her the result?” Miri panicked, flailing a hoof and knocking over Fly’s water.

The pegasus used a napkin to mop it up. “There’s no way they’d do that. You’re being paranoid,” she soothed, patting Miri on the hoof. “Only a few minutes to go.”

Eventually the head mare got up onto the stage and cleared her throat, causing the hall to go silent. Since it was still set out for food, there wasn’t enough space for everypony to fit in, so the younger ponies had been sent away so the older ones could come in and listen for the result.

“Well, as you all know, it’s time for the results of the head filly competition. I must congratulate both our candidates on some excellent campaigns this year. Those coloured ribbons have definitely been making the corridors brighter,” the head mare waffled. Miri looked like she might explode with the anticipation.

“Anyway, without further ado, I’ll announce this coming year’s head filly. And the winner is,” she said, unfolding a piece of paper and examining it through her glasses, “by a margin of twenty-seven votes, Miriam!”

Miri jumped clean out of her seat and landed on all four hooves, emitting a whoop of happiness. Everypony else just cheered and applauded, except for Minty who looked like she’d eaten a lemon.

“Congratulations Miriam!” the head mare finished, before stepping off the stage and heading over to congratulate her personally.

Fly, Rarity and I got out of the hall as quickly as possible so that Miri wouldn’t have to give a speech or anything. Once the teachers were finished shaking her hoof and instructing her as to what she had to do next, she’d come back to the room so we could congratulate her.

“Okay, the reason I was late is because I was setting this up,” Rarity said dramatically as she opened the door. The entire room was decorated in streamers and balloons, and a large banner with ‘Congratulations Miri’ painted onto it was hanging in the middle. My bed had been converted into a kind of table for snacks, which looked delicious even though I’d only just eaten.

“What would you have done if she hadn’t won?” Fly asked as I made myself comfortable on her bed.

“Hmm? Oh, I was pretty sure she’d win. She’d pretty much got the votes of the entire first and second year,” Rarity said, re-tying a bunch of balloons deftly with her magic. “If disaster had struck, I would have just galloped back here in a hurry to clear it away.”

“Well, you did a great job,” I said, bouncing a little and levitating some crisps over. “She’ll probably be really pleased.”

“She should be! She’s the new head filly. All kinds of famous ponies are ex-head fillies of Buckingham,” Fly informed us.

“Oh wow! This is amazing!” Miri said as she stepped into the room, her eyes beginning to overflow with tears. “I can’t believe you did this for me!”

“Well, Rarity did most of the work,” Fly said quietly, shortly before the three of us were ambushed by one of Miri’s hugs.

“I donated my bed,” I added, wishing Miri wouldn’t squeeze my neck so tightly. She let go a few seconds later, then started bouncing on the spot.

“Congratulations, darling. We’re all so proud of you. Now have some snacks, since you barely ate dinner,” Rarity said, guiding Miri over to the snack bed.

Since the head filly elections were over, there was nothing left to do except worry about the upcoming sports day. As the new head filly, Miri was expected to give her first speech on the day, so at least I had a companion in my fretting.

“Okay, so I need to write at least half a page,” Miri informed me after the snacks were eaten. “But I have no idea what to write.”

“Just talk about how excited you are to do sports,” I suggested, not liking to think about it.

“No no, this is for the end of the day.”

“Then say how excited you were when you were doing sports.” Miri studiously wrote this down. “Also mention about how great you think everypony was and stuff like that.”

The sports day was only a few days away, so I began my rain dances in earnest. If it rained, they’d have to call off all of the outdoor events, which made up ninety percent of the day. I’d found an umbrella in my suitcase and had taken to carrying it everywhere and waving it around whenever I got the chance.

“Stop that Cat, or you’ll hit someone,” Fly scolded me when I was in the middle of a particularly vigorous dance.

“Hey, if she’s going to get it to rain, then leave her to it,” Miri replied. She was still writing her speech.

I developed a complicated dance routine that I had to perform five times an hour. It was actually very tiring and involved a lot of spinning, but I stuck to it. If unicorns could do magic, then earth pony rain dances could make it rain. Miri often joined me when she wasn’t worrying about her speech. Fly thought we were being foalish and Rarity was above such silliness, so it was just the two of us waving umbrellas around.

“Your dresses are nearly finished, and I think you’ll all look great,” the unicorn told us. “I know it’s not the best dance, but I think it will be fun. But you have to stop making yourselves look so stupid.”

My fervent prayers for rain came to nothing. By the time sports day arrived, the weather had taken a turn for the better, and bright sunshine and warmth greeted us as we muttered angrily about getting sweaty and looking stupid, all lined up on the school’s lawn.

“Okay everypony, you’re divided up into your coloured teams. Each team must volunteer two ponies to take part in each event, which will be divided by age,” the head mare informed us. “We’ll begin in ten minutes.”

“You’re with me,” Rarity said. We were both wearing blue headbands, which marked us as members of the blue team. Miri and Fly were together on the yellow team.

There was always a sixth year team captain, so I was eager to get them chosen so I could blend into the background and avoid doing any actual running.

“Okay, so there are only five of us sixth years,” Rarity said, after doing a quick count. “I vote Cat is captain.”

“Wait, no! I don’t want to be captain!” I complained loudly.

“You’re always saying you want to stay in shape,” Rarity smirked. I was officially voted blue team captain in a matter of moments, so I put on my best pout and ignored Rarity’s smirk.

“Everypony, you’re on my team. If we’re going to get sweaty and ruin our manes, we might as well win,” I said to my team of unhappy-looking ponies. “So I want two volunteers for every event without fail. If I have to, I’ll push you over there myself.” I pointed a hoof over towards the freshly-painted running track. “You’d be better off volunteering for the easy events than being forced to do the hard ones.”

“Well said, Cat,” Rarity said to me as everypony went back to muttering. “You definitely sound like a leader.”

“In return for you electing me captain, I’m going to make sure you have to run the long-distance race,” I said to Rarity, glaring at her. “No excuses.”

As captain, I had to volunteer myself for a number of races when nopony else would put themselves forward. I had to run, jump, throw, and practically anything else undesirable. In the hot summer sun, I was soon sweating and trying to brush my damp mane out of my eyes.

“Doing well, Cat!” Fly called out to me. She seemed to be being friendly, so I smiled and waved back before going back over to my team.

“Okay, so we’re still in second. The red team are always beating us, so in the next event we need to really beat them. Who wants to do the five hundred metres?” I asked hopefully, and predictably got no response. I sighed and flashed an unhappy glance at Rarity.

“Next up, the two mile run. Now, Rarity has kindly volunteered herself for this one,” I said, getting satisfaction in my revenge, “so let’s cheer her on with all of our blue team spirit!” Our ‘blue team spirit’ pretty much amounted to a few of the first years cheering occasionally and everypony else just sitting in the sun and gossiping. The only reaction we ever got was when somepony fell over, which caused a ripple of laughter and cheering. Somewhat unfortunately, this was exactly what happened to Rarity as she started the last lap. I was suddenly struck with horror; what if Rarity never forgave me for forcing her to humiliate herself?

The elegant white unicorn picked herself up off the ground and trotted onwards, her cheeks tinged with pink. She paused to wave at the cheering crowds with the utmost grace before continuing. At least she took it well.

“Rarity, I’m so sorry...” I trailed off, looking at her face and trying to work out what her reaction was going to be as she trotted back over. I deserved a hoof squarely in the face.

“Oh, don’t worry about it Cat. It happens to the best of us,” Rarity replied, hugging me. “Anyway, didn’t you hear them cheer? It was almost like being a famous fashion designer at a red carpet event.”

I couldn’t help but giggle at that description. “I am sorry though. I was just in a sulk.”

“Really, it doesn’t matter. Anyway, I didn’t come last, so we must’ve got a few points for the championship,” Rarity said, looking over at the scoreboard.

I turned to my team, who had gone back to gossiping. “Alright, we’re closing in on the red team, and the next event is an easy one, so I need volunteers right now. If we try, we can beat them, I’m sure of it.”

Rarity waved as Miri ran past in the current event, but Miri didn’t seem to notice. “You know what would be nice? Water,” Rarity said, sighing and trying to fan herself with a hoof. “Do you think we can get some?”

If water was required, the intrepid blue team could get it. “Okay, I need volunteers to go and get water. Anypony volunteering for this will be exempt from the next twenty events.” Now I had nearly everypony volunteering. “Okay, someone needs to fake an injury, others carry them inside, then you need to find as many bottles as you can and fill them with water and bring them back.” I hoof-picked five ponies to go, who dashed away to pull off the deception with enthusiasm.

“You know, if we actually get a load of nice cold water, the other teams will be really jealous,” Rarity said, now lounging on the grass and regaining her strength.

They were very jealous indeed. We surreptitiously enjoyed our refreshing beverages while other teams just looked hot and sweaty. None of the teachers noticed our ploy, and suddenly our athletes were looking fresher and faster. Maybe Cat, the inventive blue team captain, could lead her team to victory on the back of a bright idea? If I could just pull it off, it would go down in pony history at Buckingham. Or at least it would until the current first years were seventh years and left school.

In the end, the red team did overcome us, and my epic bid for the history books was foiled.

“Don’t worry Cat, at least it’s over,” Rarity said, hooking her hoof around my shoulders. “No more sports day ever again. Plus, at least Fly and Miri didn’t win.”

I giggled. “That’s true. Coming a close second is better than last like they did.”

“Where are they, anyway?” Rarity asked, looking around to try and spot them. “I thought they were in front of us after Miri’s speech, but now I can’t seem to see them.”

Fly and Miri had pulled a strategic move and galloped back to the room first, leaving the moment Miri was finished talking. When we arrived, Fly was standing protectively by the bathroom door, and we could hear Miri’s singing coming from inside.

“Aha! You may have beaten us at sports, but we beat you to the bathroom! Enjoy feeling sweaty for the next hour,” Fly said gleefully. Rarity sighed heavily and sat down on the floor, looking dejected.

“You know, I don’t think I will be able to get my mane back to normal before the dance,” the unicorn complained, poking at it with a hoof. “It’ll just look awful.”

Miri continued to sing loudly, so I pounded on the door with a hoof. “Hurry up in there, we’ve all got to have a turn.”

“You snooze you lose!” she sang back at me. I stamped my hooves in annoyance before turning away and storming over to my bed.

“Why is it so hot?” Fly asked, fanning herself with a wing and looking out of the wide-open windows. “It’s always really good weather at the end of term, but then once the holidays start it’ll just rain.”

“It won’t rain on our holiday!” Rarity exclaimed, before going over to the bathroom door. “If you don’t get out of there soon, you won’t be coming with us!” she yelled.

“Oh, Cat, I forgot to say, there’s a letter for you,” Fly said to me, pointing to it. “It must have been put under the door when we were outside.” I picked it up and examined the envelope, but it didn’t give anything away. Not wanting to get my bed sweaty, I sat on the floor near the windows and opened it. It was from River.

Dear Cat,

Sorry that I got so upset with you. I think it was just the stress of the exams. I’m really nervous now! If you want, we can meet up during the summer. I’m free almost all of the time, so I’d recommend sometime in August. Let me know if this is okay and I’ll get permission from my parents.

I miss you.

Love from River xxx

“Awwww! That’s so sweet!” Rarity said, reading over my shoulder. “You’re going to have a romantic summer date!”

“Maybe. I need to work out when we’re going to do it, and where we can meet up,” I replied, putting the letter back into the envelope. “I’m just relieved that she’s forgiven me.”

“If you go to her house, you could stay the night,” Miri shouted through the door.

“That would be so romantic and grown-up,” Rarity said, sighing with happiness.

“I don’t know... it would probably be awkward.”

“It would be like a sleepover with any of us, just with more kissing,” Fly giggled.

The last few days of our sixth year slipped away after that. We spent most of the time in the school grounds, enjoying the hot summer weather. Before long, it was the night of the dance, and the next day my parents would be arriving to take all of my belongings back home.

“Okay everypony, final dress check,” Rarity said, adjusting the thousands of pins in her mane. “Make sure it fits properly in all places, I can still do final adjustments. Don’t smear your make-up. It’s only fifteen minutes until we leave.”

“I think the hem has come down here...” I said, looking at the dress. Rarity bustled over and quickly sewed it up with her magic.

“Miri, hurry up and get out of the bathroom!” Rarity screeched, hitting the door daintily. “I still have to do your tail!”

I dropped a few more of my clothes into my suitcase, folding them carefully. “It’s a shame about your coltfriend, Rarity.”

“Oh yes, it is. But I’m seeing him tomorrow before my flight leaves,” she said, smiling.

“Only three weeks until our holiday!” Fly added. “I’m really excited already.”

Miri finally left the bathroom. “Okay, just my tail to go and we can leave,” she said serenely, watching Rarity’s rage rising.

Fly and I hung around near the door, waiting for Miri to be finished. Rarity absolutely had to make sure everything was perfect before we left, and I knew from experience that there would be at least two further checks on the way to the hall.

“One minute,” Fly warned as Rarity stuck three more pins into Miri’s tail.

“I think that’s done. I’ve got spare pins in my bag if anything comes loose,” Rarity said, grasping her bag tightly as if it was precious.

“Let’s go then!” I said, pretty sure that whatever happened, this dance would be a better experience than the last one.

Miri disappeared away with Fly, so I hung back to walk with Rarity. Apparently this was deliberate, because Rarity began whispering to me urgently.

“You’ve been with Fly all day and we haven’t been able to get you away from her! Her coltfriend is coming to the dance to surprise her, but we need you to keep her occupied until the perfect moment. Don’t let on and just keep her from leaving the hall, okay?”

“Okay. I’ll do my best. How long will it take?”

“I don’t know, just don’t let her leave.”

I was suspicious that this meant distracting Fly for hours, which was difficult since Fly didn’t really enjoy dancing all that much. Rarity hurried forwards to adjust something on the back of Miri’s dress before we arrived, then turned and started picking invisible dust specks from mine.

“What’s the surprise?” I whispered to Rarity.

“He’s going to meet her near the fountain with lots of flowers, and then they’re going to go on a moonlit carriage ride, I think.”

“Oh wow, she’ll love it!”

“Yes, so you need to make sure she doesn’t get wind of it.”

Throughout the dance, I did my best to stop Fly from getting bored and wandering off. Rarity and Miri had completely disappeared, and Fly kept asking where they were, so I made up a lie about Miri having some kind of dress malfunction. I think she believed me, since she didn’t go anywhere to try and find them.

“So, what do you actually do in these extra classes you’re having?” I tried asking, running out of conversation topics that didn’t involve other ponies’ dresses.

Fly blinked at me. “Well, I mainly just do extra work. Writing essays and reading books, that kind of thing.”

“Oh, wow. What kind of essays?”

“Long ones. Usually comparing two poems.”

“Interesting.”

I started to panic. I needed to use the little filly’s room, but I couldn’t possibly leave Fly by herself or take her with me. There was no sign of Miri or Rarity.

“So what’s your favourite poem?” I asked, doing my best to look interested. Fly launched into a long explanation that I didn’t listen to, spending most of my time desperately scanning the room in the hope that one of my other friends would return.

“Are you okay?” Fly asked. “I think we should go and find Rarity and Miri, they might want our help.”

“No, I’m sure they’re fine...” I said weakly, and Fly stood up and began heading for the doors.

By some miracle, Miri appeared at the door just as Fly was about to walk through it.

“Oh, hi Miri. Where have you been all night?” Fly asked. Miri looked at me, and I tried pointing to my dress.

“I’ve been... admiring the dresses of the fourth years. Really impressive,” she said, looking at me with a blank expression. I smacked my hoof into my face.

“Cat seemed to think you’d damaged your dress somehow?”

“Oh yes, of course! I did. I er, broke it. Yeah.”

Fly was now officially alerted that something was going on.

“Fly? Oh, I’m glad you’re here. I lost my necklace in the fountain and need you to get it. You know, by flying over to it,” Rarity said, saving the day.

“Okay. Why were you outside?” the pegasus asked, giving us all looks that suggested she thought we were insane. “Cat said you were inside, fixing Miri’s dress.”

“Er, I’ll explain later. Just go,” Rarity said, pushing her gently outside. “It’s urgent.”

“Alright then...” Fly grumbled, being careful not to snag her dress as she disappeared out of the doors and headed for the fountain.

We watched at a distance as Fly’s coltfriend greeted her with the biggest bouquet of flowers I’d ever seen, and then invited her to take a seat inside the silver carriage that was waiting behind him. I could see her wings flapping with happiness as he helped her up the steps, and before long the carriage was disappearing into the darkness.

“The carriage was really late, I’m sorry Cat,” Rarity explained. “You did a great job keeping her from realising what was up.”

“I’m glad it worked out. Another minute and you would have been caught,” I said, shaking my head. “Next time, tell her coltfriend to make sure he’s on time.”

We went back to the dance and spent the rest of the time discussing our relief that we’d got away without Fly noticing. The dance itself wasn’t too impressive, mainly being filled with first and second years running around playing tag. We talked about the holiday we were going on, and stuff we could remember from being a sixth year, and what we were looking forward to doing as seventh years. Our night ended when Miri accidentally unpicked a carefully-tacked hem on her dress and the entire thing unravelled, leaving Rarity in fashion agony.