//------------------------------// // Day 1 Part 1: Diamond is not a filly's best friend // Story: St Trineighans School for Fillies // by SamuelK28 //------------------------------// Despite going to bed early the previous evening, Apple Bloom had still collapsed on her new bed as soon as they’d returned to the dormitory and proceeded to fall asleep as soon as her head had met the pillow. Part of that might have been due to the headache that still lingered in the back of her head, whilst another logical reason was a reaction to the strange injection Starlight had given her. Her sleep had been a dreamless and restful one until Scootaloo had awakened her by dangling a feather in front of her nose as the school clock chimed four times in the distance. This had resulted in Apple Bloom awaking with a start and falling out of bed, taking Scootaloo with her as she fell to the floor in a heap. “BUNDLE!” Screwball screamed as she along with Sweetie joined the mass of flailing limbs. “This did not go as well as I had hoped,” Scootaloo groaned before Apple Bloom gave her cheek a lick. “Eww, wolf slobber,” she grumbled trying, unsuccessfully, to get one of her hooves free to wipe said cheek clean. “That’s for waking me up,” Apple Bloom replied as she forced her way out from underneath Screwball and Sweetie Belle causing the pile of ponies to collapse. As the four fillies lay on the floor giggling, a barely audible knock came upon their dormitory door. “Enter,” Scootaloo called. The door opened slightly and a timid looking pale-yellow face with a pink mane covering one of its eyes poked its way around the door. “H-hi girls, I-I’m h-here to assess the damage to your w-wind…” Fluttershy stuttered before she caught sight of Apple Bloom, still in wolf form. “Oh, my, word, she’s so cute!!!” Fluttershy squeaked. Before Apple Bloom knew what was happening, Fluttershy had lifted her off the floor with her forehooves and had begun to nuzzle her nose with Apple Bloom's. “When Starlight informed me your new dormmate was a werewolf, she didn’t inform me she was going to be so adorable! Who’s a good girl, who’s a good girl,” Fluttershy cooed lowering Apple Bloom to the ground as her three new friends sniggered behind her. Apple Bloom blushed in embarrassment as Fluttershy continued to dote her with affection, giving her a good scratch behind her right ear that prompted Apple Bloom’s back right hoof to begin stomping uncontrollably. “Fluttershy, Apple Bloom. Apple Bloom, Fluttershy, groundsmare, animal caretaker and best teacher in the entire school although sadly she only looks after the early entry students,” Scootaloo explained righting herself from the floor. “Damn, you seem to be really enjoying that…” “AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO,” Apple Bloom howled in reply before she clamped a hoof over her mouth in embarrassment. Scootaloo immediately fell back onto her back howling with laughter. “Oh, that was priceless,” she finally managed to wheeze. By this point Fluttershy had finished doting on Apple Bloom and had moved to the window to take some measurements with a measuring tape. After a couple of minutes, she turned away from the window and addressed Scootaloo, depositing a few shards of glass into a satchel slung over her back. “I should be able to source a new pane for you within a few days. Starlight will be along then to put it in for you. How are you all feeling about becoming first years? Nervous?” “Excited,” Screwball exclaimed bouncing up and down on the spot. “Both,” Scootaloo responded. “Especially now I’ve got another one to… where did you get THAT?” she exclaimed pointing at the ginormous meaty bone Apple Bloom was now gnawing. She turned and glared at Fluttershy who whistled and looked up at the ceiling as guilty as guilty could be. “Eugh, just please don’t get blood all over the room. I don’t want one of the other teachers coming in here thinking we’ve murdered somepony.” Apple Bloom waved a paw dismissively at Scootaloo and continued her attack on the bone. “And what about you?” Fluttershy asked ducking her head under Scootaloo and Sweetie’s bunk where the latter had retreated to with her ball of flame. “You know very well I don’t bite but we do need to have a talk about yesterday’s episode.” Sweetie shook her head and pushed herself further under the bed. “Shame, I guess I’ll just have to give this strawberry cupcake I brought with me especially for you to Scootaloo instead,” Fluttershy sighed removing her head from under the bed. Scootaloo chuckled, “3” “2,” Screwball added in between munching on a cupcake of her own. “1,” Scootaloo finished as Sweetie’s head popped out from underneath the bed followed by a hoof. “Oh no, you’ve got to come and sit next to me on the bed here,” Fluttershy said softly yet with a stern and commanding undertone. Sweetie lay there thinking for a moment. “Sweetie, I suggest you hurry. Screwball just finished hers and you know what she’s like when cupcakes are on the table.” Scootaloo added. That did the trick. Sweetie had lost out on a number of cupcakes to Screwball in the past and this had taught her a valuable lesson on how hesitancy could prove to be very costly, especially when cupcakes were concerned. As she sat tentatively down next to Fluttershy and reached out in expectation with a hoof, Fluttershy spoke firmly, looking down at Sweetie like a mother would a naughty foal. “No, first I want to know why you did what you did yesterday. None of us mind your fondness for fire but you must remember to only act on such desires either in one of the magically reinforced classrooms or outside and nowhere near the forest. Has all my help and confidence building sessions been for nothing these past four years?” Sweetie turned her head away and looked down at the bed as her horn emitted a light green aura. “I got over excited at the prospect of a new friend and wanted to impress her,” she murmured barely above a whisper. “I was afraid she wouldn’t… EWWWWWWWW, stinky dog breath,” Sweetie groused as Apple Bloom, abandoning her bone momentarily, came and gave Sweetie’s face a massive lick before pushing her down onto the bed. “Pinned ya,” Apple Bloom chuckled before feeling a lump crash into her back. She didn’t move an inch. “Why did that sneak attack play out better in my head?” Scootaloo wheezed toppling off the bed and onto her back on the floor. Simply crashing into Apple Bloom had winded her. “Because you’re a lightweight Pegasus designed for flying and I’m an earth Pony designed for manual hard labour,” Apple Bloom deadpanned. “Me being a werewolf probably also does your case no favours.” “Fair point,” Scootaloo wheezed. “Here Bloomy, here,” came Screwball’s voice all of a sudden. The other earth Pony had picked up Apple Bloom’s bone. Apple Bloom’s eyes went wide as her canine instincts kicked in. Screwball threw the bone. Not thinking clearly, Apple Bloom leapt after it. The eyes of Scootaloo and Sweetie went wide as the bone flew through the air and out the broken window followed by Apple Bloom. “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Fluttershy screamed. They were four floors up. “Oops,” Screwball chuckled as Fluttershy prepared to dive out the window after Apple Bloom only for said filly and her bone to float back in with a note attached: For safety reasons, please refrain from playing fetch in your dormitory, thank you, Vice Principal Glimmer. “Good thing I saw Vice Principal Glimmer out there before doing that, wasn’t it? Otherwise, that could have got messy although they do say a werewolf can heal from any wound aside silver,” Screwball stated with a cheeky grin. “Maybe we should test that at some point?” A second note floated through the window. P.S. Only under strict supervision in a classroom setting. “How?” Screwball stated but no one else in the room was willing to give her an answer. Fluttershy looked like she was having a heart attack, taking deep breaths in and out of a paper bag to calm her totally frazzled nerves. Scootaloo meanwhile was too shocked at what Screwball had just done to form a reply. And Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle? The two new friends had snuggled up together on the floor, the former gnawing at her bone whilst the latter had finally gotten her hooves on that elusive cupcake. * A little over an hour later the four fillies found themselves heading to where Scootaloo believed the dining hall was located. She explained on the way to Apple Bloom how the early years students are kept in a separate annexe from the rest of the students and that they’d only a few days ago moved into their new room and as such were still getting used to the layout of the castle themselves. After eventually reaching the huge hall of a side corridor they found the whole place alive with activity, in particular at a table against the wall opposite them. “ROLL UP, ROLL UP,” a voice boomed. “All bets now being taken for the annual year one initiation obstacle course. Everything from team and individual winners to how many students will get set on fire and lose a limb this year.” “Set on fire? Lose a limb?” Apple Bloom gulped as they trotted towards the table. “I don’t like the sound of that.” “Oh, that’s just Miss Dust, the Physical Education teacher. She’s a little bit reckless and apparently her safety record is appalling but overall, I don’t think she would truly put us in any serious danger. Most the times we had P.E she would just give us the equipment then go take a nap on a cloud after telling us “I don’t care what you do over the course of the next hour, just leave me in peace.” She was also an awesome cover teacher when Fluttershy and Vice Principal Glimmer were unavailable as we could literally do anything we wanted as long as it didn’t wake her up.” “Okay, that’s somewhat reassuring but still, have you any idea what this obstacle course contains?” Apple Bloom requested, her nerves yet to be soothed. “Oh, that’s a closely guarded secret, even to the younger years. Now I’m not supposed to take bets from those competing but if you want to place a bet on you winning or your dorm winning as a collective, I don’t see any harm in that,” Lightning Dust said slyly as the group of first years neared one less crowded end of the table. Apple Bloom’s eyes followed Lightning Dust’s hoof as she indicated to the whiteboard behind her. And, as she slowly took in what her and her dormmates nickname was, her hoof met her face. 1 day, 1 day: Obstacle Course winners – live odds Dorm 1: The Posh Kids 10/1 Dorm 2: The Crazies 3/2 Dorm 3: The Jocks 1/5 Dorm 4: The Nerds 2/1 A mixture of emotions bubbled up inside of Apple Bloom and before she knew just what exactly she was doing she was slamming the ten-bit note Applejack had entrusted her with on the table. Growing up on a farm, cash was a luxury one could ill afford to use recklessly or squander on trivial pursuits or unnecessary items. Heck, she was grateful for the one bit her family would come together to give her on her birthday and the few meagre gifts they managed to give her each Hearths Warming. In recent years, it had not escaped her attention that no other member of her family received anything for Hearths Warming. Everything they had had gone toward putting a smile on her face and that for them was a present no amount of money could buy. Anyhow, she had been stunned when Applejack had slipped the ten bit note into her hoof this morning and refused to take it back, whispering in her ear as she forced it into her hoof to “make good use of it”. Right now, that was exactly the opposite of what she was doing but the arrogance and smug attitude of the Pegasus had riled her. “Ten bits on The Crazies!” she cried with more confidence than she felt but before she had a chance to think about her decision and possibly retract her offer the ten-bit note had been swept away from her and replaced with a slip of paper. More money than she’d ever had in her life and she’d gone and blown it because of her hot headedness. Applejack was going to kill her for blowing her savings, however meagre they may have been. Meanwhile both Scootaloo’s and Sweetie’s eyes had gone wide behind her. “Cow dung,” she muttered under her breath but Lightning’s sharp hearing had still caught it. “No take backs. Good luck!” She had chuckled before zipping off to goad her next sucker. Apple Bloom turned and chuckled nervously. “Well, now I’m going to either win this obstacle course or die trying, because otherwise my sister will do the latter for wasting her life savings. Who’s with me?” Screwball clapped her hooves and whistled. Scootaloo and Sweetie looked nervously at one another before turning back to Apple Bloom. “Tartarus yeah!” Scootaloo cackled as she walked up and pushed past Apple Bloom on her way up to the makeshift betting station. “Ten bits on the Crazies,” she declared confidently before being followed by Sweetie and Screwball who made similar bets. * Apple Bloom’s hooves were still shaking as she sat down to eat breakfast. She couldn’t believe they’d just bet forty bits on themselves wining the obstacle course. Were they crazy? Well, according to the board they were so in actual fact it made perfect sense. She cackled like a loon having taken inspiration from Nightmare Moon during last night's meeting. “What’s so funny?” Scootaloo enquired looking at Apple Bloom a little perplexed. “The fact that we just proved Miss Dust right. We are a bunch of total nutjobs,” Apple Bloom responded. “Who else would bet forty bits on themselves to win a competition they have no idea what either the competition is or who the other competitors are?” Apple Bloom chuckled. “Fair point,” Scootaloo chuckled in reply. “At least we can hope being classed as crazy might prevent others from messing with us,” Apple Bloom stated optimistically as she leaned over to take a croissant from a bowl on the table. Eating breakfast at six in the evening rather than six in the morning sure was going to take some getting used to. As if on cue a snide voice remarked behind her. “Oh, look what the cat dragged in. Seriously? I thought my dad was sending me to the best school money could buy. How did you get in here?” Apple Bloom’s face paled and her breathing quickened as her canines started to extend. Not her, please not her. Slowly she turned her head and came face to face with Diamond Tiara, the pink filly with a purple and white mane who had bullied her non-stop during her schooling in Ponyville over the past five years and had very nearly led to Apple Bloom’s expulsion on several occasions not to mention some really awkward conversations with her sister. “I suppose, at least you’ve got your cutie mark at last but what’s that even…” Diamond Tiara stopped as she saw the fur grow on Apple Bloom and her nose steadily change. “Apple Bloom, you need to listen to me and take deep breaths. Whatever she’s done in the past, trust me, it’s not worth it,” Scootaloo’s voice echoed in her ear. To Apple Bloom it felt like she was talking from several miles away. A fire that threatened to rage out of control had ignited inside Apple Bloom and she was barely able to quell it but somehow she managed to take a deep breath and… “Correction, look what the dog dragged in. Dearie me, was the dog pound full in Ponyville? Or maybe Princess Luna came along and knew such a worthless mutt would only be put down and felt pity for you? I don’t even need to guess which dorm they must have put you in. The special needs weirdos,” Diamond Tiara snickered coldly. Silver Spoon, her right-hoof mare, a medium grey filly with a light grey mane, joined in next to her. That was to much. Yet somehow Apple Bloom managed to hold herself back. Instead, she stood up on the bench she was sat on, turned around, and then proceeded to spray the two bullies before sitting down and going back to her breakfast, whilst slowly returning to her pony form. “You little brat,” Diamond Tiara growled with disgust. “How dare you!” “I was marking my territory that you’d invaded and threatened, as all good mutts do. You have a problem with that you can deal with me and my pack but I’d be careful if I was you. As you just witnessed, us special needs fillies, as you so rudely referred to us as, are a little unstable and if you mess with one of us, there is no denying just what the rest might do. So, what will it be?” Apple Bloom stated not even bothering to turn around and face the two filles whilst addressing them. Diamond Tiara stammered and spluttered before finally walking off in a humph pulling Silver Spoon with her. “Just you wait, Bloom; this isn’t over!” She hollered over her shoulder heading straight out of the hall and back towards her dormitory for a much-needed shower. “Woah, care to explain?” Scootaloo asked after the two fillies had gone. “Not really but I guess you deserve something. They tormented me for years at my old school and because of Diamond’s father’s money no pony did jack manure about,” Apple Bloom replied solemnly as she pulled out and started to examine her timetable for the year whilst munching an apple. “Instead, I nearly got expelled three times when I finally lost it and socked her one. The last time her father nearly took our damn farm after I fractured her jaw. That took a lot of negotiating to prevent but she still didn’t stop yet by then I’d realised one more slip up and it could lead to my whole family being homeless. Only reason I didn’t lay into her right now. I don’t want to be expelled or get you in trouble on my first day.” The remains of the apple slammed into the table and turned to mush under Apple Bloom’s right forehoof. “Woah, that’s messed up,” Scootaloo replied “Eeyup. She’s bad news but I think with you guys around she’s realised she’s going to have to be a lot more careful. Just watch out because now you’ve sided with me, she won’t hesitate to…” Apple Bloom paused as Scootaloo gave her a questioning look. “What I mean is her family has money and influence and that means if you touch her, or turn her to stone, she’ll go squealing to daddy at the first oppurtunity and you’ll probably be expelled,” she explained. “Aah, okay, yeah, now I understand and no Sweetie, we cannot set her on fire,” Scootaloo sighed looking across the table at the white unicorn who was holding up her left forehoof that was somehow alight. A manic grin adorned her face that slowly descended into a pout as Scootaloo rejected her silent suggestion. “Erm, should we be worried her hoof is on fire?” Apple Bloom questioned. “Nah, she’s learnt self-combustion. She’ll be fine,” Scootaloo stated nonchalantly. “Although, she must be seriously mad if that’s happening.” “Self-combustion?” Apple Bloom questioned. “Yeah. She’s learnt to use her magic so that she can ignite any part of herself without hurting herself. The only downside is she's yet to master control of it and as such it sets everything she touches on fire,” Scootaloo answered. “Woah,” this time it was Apple Bloom’s turn to be shocked by a revelation. “I could hypnotise her and then sacrifice her to Discord if you’d…” “No Screwball, no sacrificing to your god,” Scootaloo cut in firmly. “Aah shoot,” Screwball replied. “Girls,” Apple Bloom interrupted. “Can we just drop it for now and enjoy breakfast?” Apple Bloom sighed as she finished a second apple and unexpectedly found a leg wrapped around her. “Hey, don’t you worry. There’s one thing you’ve got now that you didn’t have back at your old school,” Scootaloo said with a cheeky grin. “What?” Apple Bloom queried. “A pack of friends who won’t let anything bad happen to you,” Scootaloo exclaimed, tightening her grip around Apple Bloom as both Sweetie and Screwball nodded in agreement across the table. Apple Bloom’s tail began to wag as a wide smile crossed her face. She’d tried for five years to make friends at her old school to no avail and now, in less than a day, she had three.