//------------------------------// // Love & Geometry // Story: Afterlife // by Star Sparkle //------------------------------// I ran past the last few ponies heading inside, and quickly sat down at my desk. My mind was going in a loop, ‘Why ME? Why?!’ Alongside other ponies, Diamond Tiara entered the classroom and walked over to me and asked in a concerned voice, “Hey Star, is something wrong?” I didn’t want to talk to her about this. She would lie, and try to manipulate me. “I’m fine!” I snapped at her, looking away. As everypony was seated, I shifted my sight on the blackboard and Miss Cheerilee, as she said, “Today we’re working with shapes, as many professions have the concept as their foundation.” Miss Cheerilee drew a square on the board and said, “I’ve got a square, and need to find out how big the area inside is, does anypony remember how to do that?” I, like everypony else, raised our hoof, but in the corner of my vision I saw Snails didn’t, his head just tilted towards his desk, as his eyes looked up, disinterested. “I know Miss Cheerilee,” Twist said. “It’s the length times the width.” I would have said that it was just the width squared, since it’s a square, but Miss Cheerilee was one beat ahead of me. “Well done Twist, but remember, the width and length are the same in a square. But how do we find the area in a rectangle? Snips, will you like to try?” Snips then answered unsure of his answer, “Umm, is it just the same?” “Well done Snips, you’re correct! In rectangles the length and width are different, but the way to work it out is the same” Miss. Cheerilee then drew a triangle, with a dotted line inside, properly as its height and asked, “Does anypony know how to find the area here?” That’s easy, I thought, but again Miss Cheerilee pointed towards a Pegasus colt who said “It’s the width times the height, but then divided by 2.” “Well done Featherweight!” Miss. Cheerilee praised before she wrote the formula underneath the shape, “Now today we’re going to learn a new shape,” she then drew a trapezoid and continued, “Can anypony tell me about this shape?” A few hooves went up alongside mine. “I know,” Sweetie Belle said, “Isn’t it that siege weapon, like from the history books?” “Well, it does sort of look like a trebuchet, Sweetie Belle, but can you tell me something else?” Sweetie Belle shook her head before Miss Cheerilee asked, “Can anypony else tell me anything about it?” As I looked around almost all hooves went down, all but mine. “What can you tell us about this shape, Star?” I thought for a second. “Well, it has exactly 1 pair of parallel sides- that’s how you can tell it apart from other quadrilaterals.” Cheerilee nodded, and seemed about to speak, but I wanted to beat her to it, and so I continued. “The parallel sides are used as the base, and once you know the bases, the area is given by the formula ‘h brackets a + b, all over 2’.” As I looked around class everypony looked really confused and Miss Cheerilee coughed, after having written my formula on the board, h(a+b)/2. “While that is correct, Star, that’s not quite how we will be learning it today.” She said, making me blush, as I maybe should have stopped.. Miss Cheerilee then began to write on the board ‘1’, ‘2’ and ‘3’ before she said, “Now today we’ll take it slow, but let’s start at step one, but before we start does anypony have any questions?” Silver Spoon raised her hoof, “Yes, Silver Spoon?” “What was it Star said about h brackets and a + b? Are we going to learn about what that means?” “Oh no, what Star explained was the formula to what we’re going to work on now, but she only told us the final formula, not what the formula means.” Miss Cheerilee said and as there were no more questions, she continued, “Step one, you’ll need to add the length of the base and top together. Step two, multiply this by the shape's height. Make sure to not use a slanted side, as that is not the height.” Ponies again wrote it down, but even if I wanted to write it down, I didn’t need to, and I would just break something. As the ponies finished, miss. Cheerilee continued, “Step three, divide the answer to that by 2, and then you have the area.” As the ponies were finished writing miss. Cheerilee said, “Alright class, if you could divide yourself into groups of two or three, then I’ll give you a worksheet to complete.” Diamond Tiara turned around at once and opened her mouth, but as I saw that I looked towards Twist, “Twist? You wanna work together!?” “Alright, I’ll be right over.” She smiled. “Sorry Twist,” Diamond Tiara said with a superior voice, “Star is going to work with Silver Spoon and I.” “Forget it Diamond Tiara.” I turned to Twist and smiled, “I’ll go to your desk Twist.” As I reached Twist’s desk I noticed that the crusaders had formed a group, but hopefully they saw that I’m still no longer friends with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Since Twist’s desk was in the front, we got the papers first and I looked at it briefly, and even though doing math in my head was something I hadn’t done in a few years, it looked obvious. Twist then began, “First we need to add the length of the base and top together, and then-” “It has an area of seventy square-centimeters.”  Twist looked a little surprised that I had worked it out so fast, but to her credit she wrote it down anyway.  “How did you know?” She asked, almost suspiciously. “That’s easy, I just did the multiplication in my head.” I replied, and when I noticed twist’s pencil hover over the next question, added: “That square there has an area of 64, by the way.” Twist scribbled this answer down too. “This is gonna be a piece of cake!” she said,  giving me a conspiratorial smile.  Miss Cheerilee was just walking back to her desk with her empty tray of worksheets when I raised my hoof and called for her.  She turned around and trotted over, smiling warmly. “What’s the matter Star, are you confused by anything?” “No, nothing’s wrong Miss, we’ve finished, see! Is there anything else we can do?” “There’s no working out on this sheet, Star. Did you let Twist help, or did you do this all yourself?” “Well yeah, was I not supposed to do that? But I did tell Twist what to write.” I said. Miss Cheerilee looked at Twist with a little disappointment in her eyes, but sighed after a second. Chatter started as Miss Cheerliee thought, but the room was silenced as she said, “Sit tight, everypony, I am going to the storeroom to find Star a more challenging question- Star, would you bring a chair to my desk? And Apple Bloom, could you take Twist in your group?” “Of course Miss Cheerilee.” Apple Bloom responded with joy in her voice, something that took me back to better times and I just lowered my head. “You can take my chair Star.” Twist offered. “Thanks Twist.” I gave her my best smile. This only took me back to my own school time, being alone again, but this was different, I knew that. For one I’m a girl, a colt had just asked me out; I only got asked on a date as a joke back then. After yesterday I felt I didn’t even have any friends here, Twist might be a nice pony to hang around with, but my thought just went back to the crusaders. I sighed internally, please, just let this day end already. I had gotten the chair over to miss Cheerliee’s desk and waited. As Miss Cheerilee came back, she walked over to her desk and laid the paper down, and it looked really complicated. As I looked for something to write with, Miss Cheerilee said, “So, this is saved for finals this year- but for another grade. Still, I want to see how you do on it.” “Alright, I’ll try,” I gave a weak smile, and she took a pencil. I got to work and said what she needed to do, the only break was when she was called down to a desk leaving me to figure out what to do next, I was lost so many more times than I cared to count. As Miss Cheerilee walked down and helped the others, I was still stuck on what to do next, so my mind turned to Snails, and how horribly I treated him. The least I could have done was to say no, or say anything really, but to just run and try and forget, he didn’t deserve that, anypony would. I began to remember when I went to school and the girls would just scream and run away. A few tears fell, and I wiped them away. I didn’t just cry because it was a human memory, or because my stomach hurt and I felt like throwing up. I felt awful because I was just as terrible to Snails as those girls were to me. Snails had done nothing against me, he had only helped me. I needed to talk to him at recess, to apologize. But also to make it clear to him that we can only be friends. The bell finally rang, signaling the end of another long hour, and I gave a long sigh of relief. Finally that math class was over. In the end, I hadn’t been able to get an answer to the problem I was on without Miss Cheerilee’s guiding hoof, leaving me exhausted and defeated. I pushed Twist’s chair back to her desk, then walked to my own and sat down. “Alright my little ponies, recess! Star, will you stay behind?” I nodded, “Of course Miss Cheerilee.” As ponies left the room, I walked over to Miss Cheerilee with my lunch bag in mouth “Sorry for holding you up Star, but I just wanted to know how you’re doing.” I understood that she asked me this shortly after I started, and this is technically still the first week, so it might make sense for her to ask me. But I wondered if she had been looking out for me, I mean, at first I was friends with five ponies, but now it was a completely different story. I should just tell her the truth, but without worrying her. “It’s going okay... Kinda? I guess?” “Oh my, can I do anything to help?” She asked calmly. “It’s okay, I’ve already talked to Twilight about it, and it’s better now.” “That’s a relief, to know that you’re not going through it alone. I also noticed that you liked to work with Twist. So would you be okay to work with her, on group assignments that is?” “I don’t mind, she seems nice.” “That settles it then, but remember that you can always come to me, okay? Now run along now my little pony, enjoy your recess.” “I’ll remember Miss Cheerilee.” I took my lunch and headed out, hoping to find Snails. As I stood in the doorway and looked out the crusaders played at the swings, while Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon hung out in the shade, and Snails played a ball game with Snips, Twist, and Featherweight, so I walked over to them. “Hey, Snails, can we talk?” He looked apprehensive, maybe not even wanting to talk to me. “I’m sorry for running away last recess, it wasn’t fair to do, I was just surprised, I just couldn’t imagine you had those kinds of feelings towards me.” “You look really pretty,” Snails said, and I couldn't help but blush, and blushed more as I didn’t want to blush, “You’re also really smart and talented, I knew you wouldn’t go out with me, but I just wanted to ask. It’s okay if you say no, I get it.” I was lost for words, he really seemed genuine and I stumbled as I said “Wow, I- I, um... Thank you, but I’m not interested in a relationship, sorry.” “It’s okay, but can we be friends?” Snails asked, a bit unsure. “Sure, but uh… I’ll go and have my lunch.” I said. “Do you wanna play with us Star?” Twist asked. “No thank you Twist, but thanks for the offer.” We gave each other a smile and I again took my lunch over to the bench and ate. As I ate the final bites of my lunch, Snails came over to me, and sat down on the grass. “Hey Snails, what’s up.” I greeted. “Hey Star, umm, I know what you said earlier, but would you like to get an ice cream someday? And maybe go to the comic book store with me? Not as a date, but friends.” “Sure, I could go for some ice cream, and maybe I’ll find a comic book to share with Spike. He really likes umm, some ponies with powers, I don’t know.” “The Power Ponies?” Snails asked. “I think that’s the one?” I answered, hesitantly. His face lit up immediately, and eagerness was clear in his tone. “I’ll show them to you, they’re really cool!”  “When should we go?” “Hmm… ” Snails paused for thought. He didn’t get to finish however, as Snips called over to him, “Snails! Recess is nearly over! Come on, let’s play!” “I gotta go back, but I can walk you home from school, then we can talk some more?” “Sure, we can walk home together.” As Snails went back to the others, I walked back over to the area with the flowers from the last recess, and believed I made the right choice, a friend could also help to get my mind away from the crusaders. I lay down by the flower and closed my eyes. I took a deep breath and exhaled, then opened my eyes, and looked at a flower, my aura engulfed it, and much faster than normal. I heard the wind in the trees, and I pulled the flower as hard as I could, while still remembering that I should be careful. I pulled and pulled until I heard a crack, by accident I pushed myself up in the air and fell on my back. As I opened my eyes I saw the flower, with the sky behind it. I still held it in my aura, and I focused on keeping it up in the air. The task grew too exhausting and I lost my aura, causing the flower to gracefully fall down towards my face, I blew it up in the air and then relaxed When the bell rang, I walked back to class and sat down, as did the rest of the ponies. “Welcome back my little ponies, now, as this is Star’s first time in homeroom, can anypony explain what we normally do?” Everypony raised a hoof, “Yes, Apple Bloom?” “Every other week we have an event like a treasure hunt that we’ve helped make parts of. We also sometimes go to Sugar Cube Corner and make cupcakes or other kinds of delicious foods. The other weeks we just have fun and relaxing!” “Well done Apple Bloom! And this Friday we will be enjoying each other’s company! Does anypony have any questions?” I shook my head as I noticed her looking towards me, “Then enjoy yourself my little ponies, and I’ll get you some snacks.” Ponies cheered all around the class as Miss Cheerilee went to the storage room. I looked around the room as the three crusaders went to the corner of the room and began to giggle. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon sat together with a magazine, with the front cover of a dress, so maybe it was a fashion magazine. “Do you wanna play with us Star?” Twist asked, as she must have snuck up in front of me, “Snips, Snails, Featherweight and I are going to play ‘go fish’.” “Sure, I would love to join.” I wondered if it would be that same as the one I know. I walked with Twist over to the others, and had to sit the closest to the crusaders, while being next to Snails and Twist. Twist got the cards out, “This is a brand new deck, so be careful, my mom bought it for me last weekend.” She then gave us cards. As I, very clumsy, took my cards up, I looked at them. They were the same kind of cards, with spades, hearts, clubs and diamonds. The ace and number two up until number ten were normal, but the last three were a pink Alicorn, Luna, and Princess Celestia. Who was this pink Alicorn? She looked pretty, and the two others were the princesses, was she related to them? I’ll just ask Twilight when I get home, it might be odd that I don’t know, especially if this is somepony important. As the game began, Snips asked first, “Do you any... Love cards, Twist?” “Aww that’s not fair.” Twist said and handed over two cards with the pink Alicorn on to Snips, “Your turn Star.” “Umm, Snips can I have your three love cards?” I got the cards and placed all four down. “Hah! beginners luck!” Snips commented in a jokingly manner. “Your turn Twist.” I said. As the game progressed my ears picked up that Moonday to Sunday the crusaders would have a sleepover at Rarity’s, so I guess that it would be a bad time to visit her. “Star, it's your turn.” Snails said. “Oh right, Fearthweight, do you have any threes?” “Go fish.” He said, a bit smug. I fished and the game proceeded as we got snacks, and I got second place in this game, so I got four points and Snips got five points as he had most pairs of four down. We started over and just enjoyed ourselves, laughed as Twist, and I, both lost our cards at some point. Many games later, the bell rang as I got my first and the last four cards down, meaning I lost that game, big time, so I got fourth place in total, but it was still really fun. “Alright my little ponies, could everypony please return to their desk, so you can begin your weekend.” Everypony with speed returned to their desk and sat down, and after I sat down as the last, Miss Cheerilee began, “Thank you all for a great week and remember the homework for next week. But that’s it and have a wonderful weekend!” Ponies sped out of class, wishing Miss Cheerilee and each other a good weekend. I got my saddlebag on, and with Snails, we walked out of the classroom, saying our goodbyes to Miss Cheerilee and walked into the sunshine. “Finally!” I expressed, glad to at last be done with the day. Honestly, it hadn’t been as bad as I had thought it would be. “Ugh! You can’t be serious, Star,” the familiar and annoying voice of Silver Spoon said, “come on Star, one last chance before you make the worst decision of your life, and dating Snails.” “You could do so much better, Star,” Diamond Tiara added, “And you can still come to my sleepover, if you lose the loser.” Before I could even respond Snips spoke, “We’re friends.” “I would rather eat dirt than being with you two bullies, and calling one of my friends a loser, you really think I’ll want to forgive you now?” Diamond mumbled something before she exploded, “So be it, blank flank! Have fun with your boyfriend.” Diamond Tiara then ran with Silver Spoon following. Silence fell upon us. “That was odd,” I responded, “I’m sorry about those two.” “Ahh, it’s okay, but can I still walk you home?”  “Sure, let’s go.” I responded as we went on our way.