It was a beautiful day in Canterlot City. The birds were chirping, the sun was shining, and the halls of Canterlot High were pretty normal. Many students were just coming into school to start a new semester. One student in particular, Sunset Shimmer, was just walking through the door when she noticed Principal Celestia standing in front of the school entrance doors. Sunset noticed that while she greeted students coming in, her gaze was fixed outside mostly. Sunset decided to run up and see what was up.
"Principal Celestia?" Sunset asked as she approached the rainbow-haired woman.
Celestia seemed a little startled by Sunset's mentioning her name, but turned and smiled upon seeing her student. "Sunset Shimmer! How are you today?" she asked, sounding rather excited about something.
"I’m good, thanks," Sunset said. She then quirked an eyebrow and added, "Say, just curious, but what are you doing hanging near the front entrance of the school? I get a feeling it's not just to greet returning students."
"Oh! Well, I have some rather exciting news, Sunset. Today, Canterlot High is welcoming FIVE new students!" She held up five fingers to emphasize.
Sunset was amazed at the news. "Really!? Five!? Wow, that’s so cool!"
Celestia nodded. "Indeed, it certainly is. That’s why I’m waiting here to show them around the school so that they know where to go."
Just then, four cars came up: one a minivan, a 1984 Gremlin, a 1976 Ford sports pickup, and a regular sedan. Soon, five kids stepped out of these vehicles. Two blonde haired boys stepped out of the minivan. Based on their identical looks, Sunset assumed them to be twins, and they looked to be about the age of some of her friend's sisters. Another boy with flat brown hair and wearing cargo pants got out of the sports pickup. Another boy with brown hair who was more on the chubby side got out of the Gremlin. Finally, ANOTHER boy who had had brown hair, but curly stepped out of the sedan.
Celestia's smile widened. "Wonderful! They're here! I can’t wait to sho—"
Suddenly, Vice-Principal Luna raced forward. "Celestia! Celestia!" Luna shouted, fjnally arriving at the principal and huffing and puffing a little. "I've been (puff) looking (huff) all over (huff)!
Celestia looked shocked at her sister's actions. "My goodness, Luna! Whatever is the matter?"
Luna finally caught her breath and faced her sister and boss. "The two people are here to interview for the counselor and maintenance man positions."
Celestia's face registered even more shock at that news. "Wait, that’s TODAY!? I completely lost track!"
Sunset looked back and forth, slightly confused about this whole situation herself. "Excuse me, but what’s going on, Principal Celestia?" she asked.
Celestia turned to Sunset. "Well, you see, we're interviewing two potential candidates for the school counselor and janitor and maintenance man positions. We were supposed to have those positions filled years ago, but never got the funding. However, we did so good this year on grades that the government gave us a little extra.
So now we can afford to hire two more faculty members."
Sunset smiled at the news. "Seriously?! That’s great!"
Luna nodded. "Yes it is. Unfortunately, we’re supposed to meet with them NOW." She glared a little at her sister, no doubt upset about her forgetfulness.
Celestia sighed and placed a hand on her head.
"Oh dear. I'm so sorry, Luna. I’m supposed to show the new students around. I suppose in THAT excitement, I forgot all about this." She stroked her chin in thought. "Hhmm... what am I to do? I can't abandon my new students, but I can't afford to ignore these men. Not after they came from far away to be here." Her eyes then alighted on Sunset. "Of course! Sunset Shimmer, would you show the new students around school today?"
Sunset was surprised by Principal Celestia's request, but smiled. "It would be my honor."
Celestia beamed. "Wonderful! Now, make sure you show them everything, and remember to stop by my office real quick afterward so I can give them their schedules. Wouldn't do to have them getting confused on where to go on their first day, would it?"
Sunset shook her head in response. "No, it wouldn't."
Luna then piped up again. "Sister, we really should-"
"Oh! Yes, yes, I’m coming!" Celestia said, waving goodbye to Sunset. "Good luck, Sunset! We'll let your teachers know of the situation so you don't get in trouble for being late!"
Sunset then responded with a chuckle and a wave in kind. "You too, Principal Celestia! Good luck with the new faculty!" She then looked out the window. "I wonder what these new guys are going to be like."
Meanwhile, the new students were saying goodbye to their relatives and guardians, Zack and Cody Martin being such two.
"Now listen, you two," their mother, Carey, said. "I want you to stay out of trouble at this new school, you hear?"
Cody smiled widely. "Don’t worry, mom. We’ll be fine."
Zack nodded as he waved off her worries. "Yeah mom. Everything will be ok. There’s nothing to worry about."
Carey rolled her eyes. "Yeah. With you there’s ALWAYS something to worry ABOUT," she said drily. Her face grew serious. "Now please listen. I want you two to be on your very best behavior. You’ve both been given a second chance at this school and I don’t want you to waste it. So Zack? No more pranks and study hard like your brother. Cody…" she trailed off a bit. "Maybe don’t study TOO hard."
Zack sighed. "Ok, fine."
Cody also sighed. "Alright, Mom."
Carrie nodded. "Good. Now, give Mommy a kiss before she leaves for work. I'm so excited to sing at that new club in town, Club Crystal."
Both Zack and Cody kissed their mom before she waved goodbye. "Love you, boys!" she called as she drove off.
Zack and Cody shouted goodbyes and waved too as they walked toward the front doors.
Cody turned to his brother. "So… you nervous?"
Zack simply scoffed. "Pfft! Nah, when have I ever been nervous about anything?" he asked, ignoring Cody's exasperated eye roll.
As this went on, Freddie Benson was saying goodbye to his Uncle Travis who was his distant father's younger brother and owned a restaurant near the Canterlot Mall. He had a Southern accent and liked football, which Freddie found cool. He was also the only one of his father's family who still had contact with Freddie and his mom after his dad had left in disgust of Nora Benson's constant rules and overprotectiveness. As Travis explained, he was actually quite like her as a young man; very worried and slightly paranoid, before he actually mellowed out. So some of what Nora did didn't phase him as much. As such, he wasn’t as overprotective as Freddie's mother, but just as caring as any uncle should be. As a result, he was one of the few people Nora trusted Freddie enough to send him to live with.
"Now Freddie," Travis said. "Ah want ya to be better this time, ya hear?"
Freddie nodded. "I will, Uncle Travis."
"Now Ah don’t know why y’all got expelled from Ridgeway High, but Ah imagine it was some sorta mishap."
Freddie frowned. "Well, what happ—"
Unfortunately, he was cut off by his uncle.
Ya see, Fred,'' Travis started, "there two types of people in this here world. There are winners like your uncle who built himself a five star BBQ restaurant and makes a lot of money from it." Freddie rolled his eyesat that. "And there are losers. Now you, Freddie, are NO loser! You're a part of my family, plus a BENSON! Even if it's yer ma's name, I consider myself one as well. And ya know what Bensons are? Smart! Intelligent! Winners!"
Freddie sighed but chuckled a little (deciding not to mention that Travis had just said two things that meant the same). "Ok, Unc. Whatever you say."
Travis grinned. "That’s my nephew! Now, y’all get in there and make me and your mama proud. Ah gots ta get back to the restaurant, so Ah'll see ya back house!
Freddie waved goodbye."See ya, Uncle."
Travis squealed his vehicle out and drove off in a cowboy like fashion whooping, "YEEEE HAWWWWW!!!!!" Freddie chuckled at his antics. This was one of the really nice things he liked about staying with his uncle rather than his mom.
The spontaneity was rather refreshing.
Meanwhile, Freddie's pal, Gibby Gibson, was saying goodbye to his great-aunt. It was such a coincidence that Freddie and Gibby had family in the Canterlot area that they could stay with. Gibby's Aunt Sheila was an older woman who was his mom's aunt. She was a hairdresser with a New York/Italian accent. A little sassy and snippy (no pun intended) but she loved her family and hadn't hesitated to bring Gibby in.
"GIBBY!" Sheila shouted.
Gibby winced. "Aunt Sheila, you don’t have to shout. I’m standing right here."
Sheila smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. Force of habit from work. Now listen, sweetheart, they need me back at the salon. I gotta mudpack appointment in half an hour and this lady, Spoiled Rich? BROTHER, does she need a SWAMP! You gonna be ok by yourself?"
Gibby nodded. "Yeah, sure Aunt Sheila. I’ll be fine.
Sheila smiled. "That’s my boy." She leaned over and pecked him on the cheek. "Ok now, see ya after school. Hug, hug, kiss, kiss!"
"Later, Aunt Sheila!"
Once Aunt Sheila had driven away, Gibby headed towards Freddie and they walked together toward the front doors.
Finally, the last new kid, Diceneo "Dice" J. Corleone, was saying goodbye to his cousin, Esteban (not to be confused with the bellhop from Zack and Cody's old home), who was a Mexican-American with a little bit of a Mexican accent. Esteban owned a grocery store in Canterlot City that sold fresh produce. He was energetic, but gentle and kind, which Dice liked about him.
"Primo, you sure this is the right school?" Estaban asked.
Dice looked it over and said, "Yeah cuz, this is the place."
Estaban nodded. "Ok, so hey now, listen to me. Your mama sent you to live with me to get you away from trouble, so don’t LET trouble find you, papi"
Dice smiled. "Don’t worry, cuz. I’ll be fine."
Estaban chuckled at that. "Hehe. Ok, primo. Now you go in and have a very good first day, but hey, stay out of trouble, remember?"
Dice gave him finger guns and a smug smile as he ran toward the entrance.
As he did that, Freddie and Gibby chatted a little as they approached the the doors
"So Fredster," Gibby asked. "You ready?"
Freddie looked a bit nervous, but covered it up.
"Uh, sure! Ready as I’ll ever be, I guess."
Gibby nodded proudly. "Yeah, me too! It’s a whole new me! New school means new personality!"
Freddie quirked an eyebrow. "New personality?"
"Sure! I mean, back at Ridgeway, I was the weird kid until iCarly. Here? I can be anything I want and I’m gonna be," he pulled up the collar of his t-shirt, "Gibby, the ladies man." He said this in an attempted smooth voice, but didn't quite succeed.
Freddie couldn't help but chuckle at that.
"What?" Gibby asked, confused.
Freddie smirked. "Dude, if it makes any difference, you were a pretty good ladies man back at ridgeway. I mean the girls you went out with? Man!" He thought back to a couple of the knockouts Gibby had gone with.
Gibby soon got lost in thought as well. "Yeah…"
"Yeah," Freddie said before coming out of the thoughts. "Oh and speaking of iCarly? Ummm, let’s NOT tell anyone that we’re those guys from that web series. At least not yet.
Gibby looked confused. "Really? Why?"
Freddie rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I mean...umm you said it yourself. You want a new you, right? Well, I kinda want that as well."
Gibby nodded, but still looked confused. "Yeah, but come on, Freddie! We're hit web series stars!"
He then thought for a moment. "Well, I am anyway."
Freddie simply gave him a dry look for the slight jab at the fact Freddie was the cameraman and often heard, but not seen.
Gibby ignored it and continued. "We ARE recognizable. Someone’s gonna notice us eventually."
Freddie sighed. "Then we'll just deny it, ok?"
Gibby could tell his pal was bothered by something, but chose not to push. "Fine, ok. Maybe it's better that way anyway. I mean, nobody NEEDS that much fame."
While they talked, Dice soon came up to the doors where Zack and Cody were already waiting.
Dice waved to the two. "Hey!"
Cody and Zack answered respectively, "Hi!/Sup!"
Just then, Freddie and Gibby walked up to the front doors too.
"Are you guys new here too?" Freddie asked
Zack answered, "Yep."
Gibby nodded. "Hey cool, we're all new guys. They should call us the New Men Five!"
Everyone just stared at Gibby with a weird vibe.
"Why?" Zack simply asked.
Gibby just shrugged. "I-I don’t know. I just thought it would be cool."
Freddie sighed and shook his head. "Not a good start on the 'not weird' personality buddy."
They all then looked up to find a girl with red and yellow hair, wearing a turquoise dress and a leather jacket greeting them with a smile.
"Hello! Welcome to Canterlot High! We are so happy to have you here! My name's Sunset Shimmer and I’ll be showing you around the school today before classes start."
The guys stared a little as she was quite pretty. Zack however sauntered up and began his usual flirting. "Well, well. Hello, sweet thang. It’s definitely a pleasure to meet you too."
Cody simply facepalmed at his brother's antics.
Oh THIS was starting off JUST great.
Sunset was a little put off by the one twin's statement, but brushed it off. "Err, right. Well, come on, guys. Classes have technically started, but we have special permission to take a bit of time as I show you around." She then opened the doors and showed them the school with a sweep of her arm. "Welcome to CHS!"
She was pleased to see all the guys seemed impressed by the size of the building, which was confirmed when the larger boy said, "Man, this place is big."
Sunset nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we fixed it up after it got damaged a while ago."
The smaller brown-haired boy looked curious. "Really? What happened?"
Sunset then blanched. She remembered WHY it was fixed. Because of her insane ego trip and lust for power that damaged much of the school! She did NOT want these guys to know about THAT! Or about Equestrian magic in general! "Oh, um, n-nothing. Just an accident is all. Freak tornado, actually. You know how these things are, heheh."
The boy stared at her for a bit before shrugging. "Okay. If you say so."
Sunset inwardly sighed with relief. Good, they bought it. "Right. SO anyway, as you can see, CHS has won many different awards in numerous scholastic achievements." She gestured to the large trophy case nearby.
One of the twins smiled proudly. "Well, you may just have another winner in that case."
His brothers scoffed. "If they let you put any more trophies in there, they'd have to get an aquarium to donate a tank to hold them all, Brainiac."
The first boy glowered at him.
Sunset chuckled. "By the way, I never asked your names. Sorry."
"It's fine," the one boy with brown hair said. "I'm Freddie."
"Names Gibby," the heavier boy said.
"I'm Cody, and this is Zack," one of the twins stated while jerking his thumb to his brother.
"Me, I'm Diceneo J. Corleone. Dice to friends, " the younger brown-haired boy said.
"A nickname, I take it?" Sunset asked, to which he nodded. Zack snickered, causing Dice to glare and Cody to also send an upset look at his brother.
In order to prevent a problem, Sunset quickly said, "So anyway, let's continue." She then led them down a hall. "Here's our science lab." Inside were a couple of students, working on experiments in their science class. One concoction accidentally blew up in one student's face, leaving it ashed.
"Whoa! This is incredible!" Cody exclaimed.
"It is pretty neat," Gibby agreed. He then turned to Sunset. "Do you guys do a lot of experiments here?"
Sunset nodded. "Yeah. Everything from biology to chemistry."
Zack then smiled flirtatiously at her. "You know, I'm feeling a little 'chemistry' between us. Know what I mean?"
Sunset found his flirting to be both amusing and a touch odd, especially since he was around the age of her friend's sisters. "Uhhh..."
Cody abruptly yanked Zack back. "Will you stop it? Honestly, you're like a science experiment yourself sometimes."
"Hi, Pot. I'm Kettle. Have we met?" Zack asked sarcastically.
'Boy, these guys are alot like my friends. Nice boys, but a little hard to deal with at times,' Sunset thought." Um... what say we move on, shall we?"
Thankfully, that snapped the group out of the small tension of the twins' spat. Freddie nodded. "Say, does this place have a videography class or club?"
Sunset, thankful to be able to continue, nodded. "Actually yeah, it does. It meets about now with students with Free Periods Follow me."
Sunset soon led them to the AC/Video room. There, she witnessed an interesting sight. Microchips, Flash Sentry (who was also Sunset's ex, but now somewhat acquaintance), Sandalwood and Photo Finish were all complaining and arguing around a computer.
Once they entered, the arguing stopped as Flash took notice. "Oh, uh, h-hey, Sunset," he said. "What are you doing here?"
Sunset waved awkwardly. Despite being on better terms (especially after his episode of being mind-controlled by the Dazzlings), things were still odd between the two, but she tried not to let it bother her right now. "Oh, well I’m just showing the new students around." She gestured to the group around her, who all nodded or waved. Sunset then noticed their faces and just how distressed they looked. "Hey, what’s going on here anyway? I heard a lot of shouting."
Microchips rolled his eyes. "Oh that. Well Photo Finish here thought it would be a good idea to download her photos at the same time we were uploading Flash’s band videos!"
Photo Finish glowered through her thick red lenses. "Ach! How vaz I zuppozed to know it vould go all hayvire!?"
Flash glared at her. "Yeah, well thanks to you, the computer now has a virus."
Sandalwood nodded. "And we have a bunch of bummerlicious glitches and spam we can’t get rid of. Totally harshing our mellow, man."
Sunset's face fell at that news. "Oh no! Now how will the videos be uploaded to the CHS news page?"
"I don't know!" cried Microchips, throwing his hands in the air. "I've tried everything I can think of!"
Just then, Freddie walked over "Mind if I have a look?" he inquired.
"Be our guest," Microchips said with a shrug.
Freddie looked at the computer screen. He then inspected it and then did a little typing. He then put in a USP drive, did a few more typing and then, all of a sudden, the computer screen lit up like new.
"There we go," Freddie smiled.
Macrochips gaped in shock. "Wha-what!? How-how did you...?"
Freddie waved a hand. "Oh, it was nothing really. You see, your computer had a virus which is actually pretty common, just not around these parts.However, by using a 7.3 giga xsavtor USB Drive, the data from the drive eradicates all the viruses, debugs the program, and as a bonus, saves all data from being a erased by the virus."
Macrochips stared in shock. "Wow! Just wow! That’s incredible!"
Flash nodded as he looked at the computer. "Hey, yeah, it’s all fixed! Say, you're alright, um...?
"Oh. Benson, Freddie Benson," he said, shaking Flash’s hand.
Suddenly, Photo walked forward. "Wunderbar, Frederick! You haf done us a great serviz!" she exclaimed. "I, Photo Finish, vill now kiss you!" She then proceeded to grab his face and give him a kiss on both cheeks. The others gaped in slight shock. Immediately, Freddie's face turned as red as Sandalwood's shirt.
"Whoa!" Gibby stated. "Already a hit will the girls, eh pal?" He walked over and patted Freddie on the back, which he didn't seem to register due to the shell-shock of a girl kissing him like that.
Zack was incredulous. "Can you believe it!? He acts geeky, fixes a computer, and a girl KISSES him!"
Cody smugly smiled at his twin. "And YOU'VE always laughed at my knowledge of programming. Now you see where it can get you."
Dice nodded. "He's gotta point, man. I should brush up on MY tech skills. Heck, maybe I can get a date out of it!"
Microchips then coughed a bit to ease the tension. "You know, Freddie, the Videography Club could really use someone like you."
Freddie seemed to come out of his trance at that. "R-really!? Wow! Well sure, I would be more than interested in j—"
Sunset then interrupted the conversation.
"Um, if you guys don't mind, we should probably continue our tour. Though I'm sure Freddie will keep your offer in mind."
"Yeah, yeah. Totally," Freddie said, nodding.
Sunset then pulled Freddie toward the rest of the group, as they all waved goodbye to the club members. She then led the group back down the hall to show them the rest of the school.
This room is one of the math classrooms, and this classroom is the room where the party planning committee usually meets."
"You guys have a party planning committee?" Dice inquired.
"Yep, and let me tell you our president is quite-"
Suddenly, a flash of pink and blue came out of nowhere and got in her face.
"HI, SUNSET!" a high-pitched voice screeched. The guys all leapt back in shock, but Sunset knew exactly who this was.
"Oh. Hi, Pinkie," she said. "What are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be in class?"
Pinkie Pie nodded. "Yeah, but I was just using the bathroom! I was coming back when I noticed you down the hall and had to say hello! You're lucky Principal Celestia said you had something to do today. Miss Harshwhinny is sure living up to her name! Luckily Fluttershy is taking notes for you!"
Sunset let out a sigh of relief. "Tell her I said thanks and I'll pick them up later."
Pinkie nodded before looking behind her and seeming to notice the group for the first time.
"Oh wow! These must be the new students I heard you were showing around!" Her eyes alighted on Zack and Cody. "And twins as well! Oooh! Which one is the evil one!?"
Sunset was a little surprised by the question, but suddenly, Cody immediately jerked a thumb next to him.
"Zack," he answered simply.
Zack simply stood there for a second before putting his hands in his pockets and shrugging. "Eh," was all he said. He then turned to Pinkie.
"Please pay no attention to him. I'm Zack and this walking calculator is Cody. And I MEAN calculator. He can say the first hundred digits of this weird number called pi."
Pinkie brightened. "Hey, that's MY name!"
Cody then looked confused. "But Sunset said your name was 'Pinkie.'"
"Don't know how THAT'S any MORE normal. Honestly, some odd names around here," Zack mumbled. Cody then promptly elbowed him sharply in the ribs, causing Zack to wince and rub them.
Sunset gestured to her friend. "Her name's Pinkie PIE, actually. With an 'E' at the end."
"Actually, it's Pinkamina Diane Pie," Pinkie piped up, using her full name.
"Again, not too normal," Zack said before Cody abruptly stomped on his foot, causing Zack to hop up and down and groan a little. "Will you quit it!?" he hissed to his twin.
Cody folded his arms and glowered. "Apply for a filter and I might."
Pinkie then excitedly left the bickering brothers to zero in on Freddie, Gibby and Dice. "Oh! And other new guys! It is so awesome to meet you! Who are you all anyway?"
Upon seeing Pinkie apparently meant no harm, the three seemed to calm down. Dice introduced himself first. "Diceneo J. Corleone. My friends call me 'Dice.'" He then looked at Zack. "And another chuckle out of you, I deck you, got it?"
Zack quickly stopped the snicker obviously threatening to come out to hold up hands in a placating gesture. "I surrender. My face is my best quality."
Cody just rolled his eyes.
Pinkie however seemed to find it cool. "Ooo! Dicccce!" She said this as she made slow smoothing gestures with her hands and made a hissing sound as she said it. "Now that is cool." She turned to Gibby and Freddie finally. "And you guys?"
"Freddie, and this is Gibby," the tech head said, jerking his thumb to Gibby.
"Hey!" the boy in question said, holding up a hand in greeting.
"Hiya! Say, where have I heard both those names before?" Pinkie tapped her chin thoughtfully, then her face lit up. "Wait! I know! iCarly! Freddie and," she then said in a deep voice, "Gib-beh!"
The two blushed a little at that
Freddie then chuckled nervously. "Yeah, that's us."
Sunset gaped at them. "Wait. You guys are THAT Freddie and Gibby?" She remembered Pinkie talking about a web show she enjoyed watching and how there were some funny characters on the show.
Freddie nodded, though he was frowning. "Yes and, if you wouldn't mind, we'd like to keep it on the down low."
Zack looked dumbfounded. "Why? I mean, you're internet celebs! Major cred, dudes."
Pinkie agreed. "Yeah! And I'm sure everyone would LOVE to be your friends!"
Gibby then interjected. "That's sort of the problem. We're not WITH iCarly anymore and we'd sort of like to move on. You know, be normal kids."
Dice snickered. "Says the guy who's most famous for taking off his shirt."
Gibby glared at him. "Hey! The chicks dug it, for your information!"
Pinkie frowned, but seemed to relent. "Okay. If you don't want me to tell anyone, I won't. Pinkie Promise!" She then went through the familiar motions.
"Okay, well... don't we have a tour to get back to?" Cody asked.
Sunset then realized that they'd been talking for about five minutes. "Oh, that's right! So long, Pinkie."
Pinkie smiled widely. "So long Sunset, fellas! Oh! And come by the music room after school! Have I got a big surprise for you!" She then zoomed off at an inhuman speed.
The group then stared at where she was for a bit, as if not fully understanding what it was they'd just witnessed.
"Okay, she's like if coffee and pure sugar had a baby or something," Dice stated.
Freddie looked at Sunset. "Does she ever calm down?"
Sunset shook her head. "Trust me, a calm Pinkie Pie is NOT really something you want to see. That's even MORE disturbing." She shuddered a little, remembering the LAST time Pinkie had been like that. "Anyway, Cody's right! On with the tour!
Meanwhile, unknown to the others, Vice-Principal Luna was showing two men around the school as well. One was a bald African-American man wearing a dark blue suit, and the other was a man with glasses wearing a grey jumpsuit.
"Now Mr. Moseby, as School Counselor, your responsibilities are going to be ensuring the students focus on their education, to aid them with whatever problems they may be having with their school lives, and to ensure that they don’t act lazy in their studies."
Mr. Marion Moseby nodded. "Ah, well not to worry, Vice-Principal Luna! I have a degree in Child Psychology which was something of a boon in my old job (even if it DID end up being thrown out the window in more ways than one)." He ignored the odd look Luna gave him. "Plus, I was a Hall Monitor at my old high school, 3 years in a row! I know the everyday distractions of the modern teen can make one go off-track! I can assure you though that my focus will be to ensure that every student is working as hard as they can in their studies and to make sure every student is in class on time! If they ever have a problem, they just need to see old Mr. M!" He tugged his collar proudly.
Luna nodded with a smile. "Wonderful!" She then turned to the other man. "And Arwen, I’ll need that power generator up and running by tomorrow."
Arwin Hochauser then saluted. "Yes sir! I mean, ma’am! I mean, yes Mrs. Luna! MISS-" Luna put her hand over his mouth before he could continue.
"I'll take just the 'yes,' thank you," Luna said drily, to which Arwin nodded.
"Wish I'D thought to do that before," muttered Moseby.
Shortly down the way, Sunset Shimmer was leading the new students down the hall. Currently, she was showing them the library.
"And this is the library. As you can see, it’s pretty impressive." She gestured with a wave of her hand. The guys then walked a little ways in to look around, though not too far from Sunset.
Cody gazed in awe. "Wow! Look at all the books here! This place is cool!"
Zack rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you WOULD find this place exciting," he stated sarcastically.
Cody frowned. "Oh sure, this coming from a guy who never picked up a book in his life."
"Not true," Zack protested. "Remember? I read that book with the guy from outer space."
Cody then rolled his own eyes. "Science-Fiction doesn’t exactly count, Zack."
"Does so!" Zack argued.
"Okay!" Sunset said, quickly getting between them before the argument got too loud and they got thrown out. "Well, if you ever need help, just ask for Miss Cheerilee, the librarian." She gestured to the pink haired woman at the desk who waved. Cody waved enthusiastically while
Zack gaped.
"You know, I might come by here often to… brush up on MY reading skills," Zack said flirtatiously.
"Ugh!" Cody sighed. "Of course you'd decide to come to the library if there was a pretty lady who was the librarian."
Sunset liked these guys- honest she did- but these petty arguments were fraying her nerves. Suddenly, she spotted another way to distract the twins.
"Oh! Hey, Vice-Principal Luna!" She grabbed Zack and Cody and pulled them over to the blue-haired lady, who was standing outside the library.
Luna turned and smiled. "Sunset Shimmer. How are you?"
"Oh, pretty good. Still showing the new guys around, but we should be about done. Oh! Zack and Cody Martin, meet Luna, the Vice-Principal of Canterlot High."
Cody shook Luna's hand in a polite fashion. "A pleasure to meet you, ma'm."
Zack instead fist bumped Luna. "Sup."
Luna was surprised by the action, but didn't seem to mind. "Ahem. Yes, well, I do hope Sunset has been showing you the rest of the new students all the beat parts of Canterlot High.
"Oh man, this place is great!" Cody exclaimed as he counted on his fingers. "A giant library, a science club and a-"
"A great lunch room," piped up Zack. "Not to mention plenty of… OTHER sights, if you catch my drift." He said this with a smirk, causing his brother to facepalm.
Luna figured what he meant and inwardly sighed. Another hormone obsessed teen to deal with, but she didn't say that out loud. "Well, I'm glad you've found such… interesting sights, Mister Martin."
"Say, Vice-Principal Luna," Sunset said, no doubt to switch the conversation. "Aren't you and Principal Celestia showing some new guys around too?"
"Yes, I'm actually showing around the new school Guidance Counselor. He’s currently in the bathroom as we speak. Meanwhile, our new maintenance man has gone downstairs to look at what he has to work with down there."
Just then, Mr. Moseby walked out of a nearby men's room, whistling a cheery tune and sauntering over to meet up with Vice-Principal Luna again. Suddenly as he passed Zack and Cody, his whistling and saunter got slower and softer until he stopped completely and turned to see the twins. All of them had looks on their faces like they couldn't believe what they were seeing.
Luna then walked up. "Ah, there you are. Zack, Cody, Sunset, I’d like to introduce you to Canterlot High's newest Guidance Counselor, Mr. Mos-"
But she was cut off by Cody exclaiming, "Mr Mosbey!?"
Mosbey's eyes grew wide, seemingly having his fears confirmed, then let out a low, "Ooooh no."
Sunset and Luna looked at each other confused, then back to the twins and Moseby. "Uh, I don’t know what’s going on here," Sunset said, "but it seems like it’s an awkward moment."
Zack then tried to manage a smile and meek wave. "H-hey Mr. Mosbey. Long time no see."
Mosbey didn't seem to hear him as he stumbled over to a wall of lockers and, with each new word, banged on the metal. "Ooooh nooooo!!!!!" he said almost whiningly. "No, no, no, NO, NO!" He then looked upward to the heavens. "I give up! I can’t get rid of them! They're just like the flu! Every time you think they're gone, they come back!" He then even started crying a bit.
Luna seemed to finally get the jist of what was happening. "Oh, I'm guessing you already know each other?"
Mosbey stopped crying and turned to the twins, eyes burning with fury. "Oh yes. I know these two hooligans ALL too well. They're the ones who cost me my job as a high paid hotel manager…" He then switched to yelling. "AND REDUCED ME TO LOW SALARY GUIDANCE COUNSELOR!!
Luna, upon realizing what he had said, shot him a slightly dry look.
Mosbey then appeared to realize what he said was in front of his new boss and he smiled and chuckled sheepishly. "N-not that I don’t APPRECIATE the job, of course!"
Cody seemed to remember what Luna had said about the Tipton's former manager. "Wait, so YOU'RE this school's new guidance counselor!?"
"I'm starting to question the sanity of the teachers here," Zack muttered to Cody.
Luna shot Zack a look that silenced him.
"That's right. Mr. Moseby here is going to be Canterlot High's newest counselor," she explained. "He will be in charge of aiding students with problems they might have in school, as well as making sure everyone stays focused on their studying and education. Now Mr. Moseby, if you'll just follow me, I’ll show you to your office."
Luna then walked off, but Mr. Moseby then turned to Zack and Cody, once again with a serious and stern look.
"Alright, you little goblins! Now listen up because this is the only time I’m gonna say this! You two had better behave or I will personally ensure this will be the LAST school you EVER attend!"
Zack smiled at Mr. Mosbey, seeming to try and put him at ease. "Mr. Moseby, would we ever put your job In jeopardy?
Mosbey sent him an annoyed stare.
"...Again?" Zack quickly amended.
"What we MEANT to say is we’ve become better people since that incident," Cody interjected.
Moseby nodded, but the look he gave indicated he didn't believe a single word they said. "Good, because I’ll be keeping my eye on you two VERY closely."
"Mr Mosbey! This way please!" Luna called out.
Mosbey looked up and answered in a pleasant tone, "Coming, Vice-Principal Luna!" He then turned to the twins. "Remember," he hissed. "I’ll be watching... clossssely." He slowly walked backwards and made the universal sign of "I'm watching you."
As Moseby rounded the corner (continuing his actions as he did so), Zack glowered at Cody. "And YOU said this school was great!"
"How was I supposed to know he'd be here!?" Cody cried, throwing up his hands.
"Okay. Just WHAT was that all about?" Sunset asked, having been quiet for most of the exchange between the Martin's and Moseby..
Zack sighed. "Well, you see, it all beg-"
Cody however interrupted. "Um, it’s a LONG story. Probably best for another time."
Sunset stared at them for a second before shrugging. It seemed to be a secret of sorts, but who was she to judge? She was keeping a few herself. "Oh. Well ok. Um, let’s get the rest of the guys and continue, shall we?"
Just then, the others came up to the trio.
"Hey guys, we're back," Freddie said. "Gotta say, this place is pretty…" He trailed off upon seeing the twin's faces. "What's with you guys?"
"Yeah. You look like you've seen a ghost," Dice added.
"Trust me, we did. A ghost from our past," Zack sighed.
The guys looked to Sunset who mouthed, "Long story."
"Alrighty. Let's see what else is here," Gibby said.
Sunset soon led them down the hallway.
"Well, that pretty much concludes our tour, and classes should be ending in about 20 minutes or so. Now before then and before I take you guys to get your class schedules, there’s one more place I want to show you."
Sunset walked to a pair of doors and opened them to reveal the gymnasium. Everyone was a little impressed as the place was rather large, featured a stage, large windows, a large floor suitable for playing sports, and what seemed to be a supply closet in the corner for storing sports equipment and cleaning supplies.
"Man, this is AWESOME!" Zack exclaimed.
"Yeah, it's pretty neat,"Freddy agreed, looking at the stage.
Just then, they heard noises to the side. The group looked over to see a girl with hair the color of a literal rainbow who was shooting hoops.
Sunset smiled and waved. "Hey, Rainbow Dash!"
The girl- "Rainbow"- looked up and grinned as she jogged over to the group. "Hey, Sunset! What’s up?"
"Oh, I'm helping to show some new students around. I see you're using the last bit of your free period to shoot hoops in here." She then frowned. "Though technically, aren't you supposed to get permission before you do? Won't the coach be cross if he catches you?"
Rainbow chuckled. "Don’t worry, Sunset!" she said, jerking a thumb to another door slightly ajar. "I checked and he's in his office doing paperwork while listening to rock music. The old bull doesn't even know I'm here!" She then looked at the group gathered behind Sunset. "Now, aren't you gonna introduce me? Can't keep this awesomeness all to myself, ya know!"
Sunset rolled her eyes with a smile. "Right." She then gestured to the athlete. "Everyone, this is Rainbow Dash. She's the head of the athletic and sports club here at CHS. RD, these are Freddie, Gibby, Dice, Zack and Cody." She gestured to each in kind.
"Sup, guys?" Rainbow said, giving a two finger salute.
The guys all nodded a greeting as Zack walked forward. "Hmm. Nice shooting, ya did out there," he said in a slight taunting tone.
Rainbow didn't seem to notice as she spun the ball on her finger. "Yeah, I come here often to work on my aim," she said smugly. She then turned and shot the basketball into the hoop with one shot. As the ball bounced over to them, Zack caught it and spun it on his own finger.
"Ya know, back in Boston, I was the best player on my basketball team. They called me 'Zackset.' You know, 'Zack' and 'basket?' Eh? Eh?"
Cody leaned in and whispered to her, "They didn’t REALLY call him that."
Zack then turned around and shot the ball into the hoop without looking.
The group gaped in surprise at the feat.
"Reaaalllly?" Rainbow said, sounding a little intimidated.
Cody then made a "so-so" motion with his hand. "Well… not ALL the time."
Rainbow narrowed her eyes before her smile returned and she walked to Zack, who'd turned back to catch the ball. "Tell ya what, 'Zackset.' Howsabout you and I have a little competition?"
Zack returned the smile with one of his own. "Shoot," he said, tossing the ball to her.
Rainbow's smile became a smirk. "Okay." She then did the exact same thing as Zack did, shocking him a bit if the look on his face was any indication. "Here's what we'll do. We play up to 10 points," Rainbow said as she caught the ball. "Whoever manages to get to that, the loser buys from the vending machine out in the hall whatever the winner wants. So, you game?"
Zack merely grinned. "You got it!"
Cody walked up to his brother and grabbed his shoulder. "Zack, have you forgotten about the tour?"
Zack removed Cody's hand. "Oh, will you relax, worrywort? The tour's basically over anyway. Besides, I'll have those 10 points racked up easily!" He then turned to Sunset and grinned flirtatiously. "So Sunny, babe. You wanna be the one to start us off?" He then snatched the ball from Rainbow (who looked slightly miffed at that) and handed it to Sunset.
Sunset rolled her eyes at the comment. "I suppose I could."
Zack smirked and did gun fingers with a wink.
"Thanks, sweet thang."
The others looked in shock at Zack. "Is he always like this?" Gibby whispered to Cody.
Cody let out an exasperated sigh. "You have NO idea."
Across from them, Rainbow and Zack faced each other as Sunset stood between them, ball in hand.
"Alright, let's have a good clean match. No rough housing, no cheap shots and no…," she paused to look at Rainbow, "OTHER assistance. Understood?"
Rainbow looked a little put out by Sunset's last comment, but nodded. "You got it."
"Ditto," Zack said, though he seemed a bit confused.
"All right," Sunset said. "Go!" She tossed the ball into the air and Rainbow went for it immediately. However, Zack grabbed it before she could. He dribbled the ball around Rainbow and made a shot, sinking a basket.
Zack flashed a grin to the others. "Like I said: easy!"
Rainbow glared, but then smirked. "Not bad, but let's see you do that again."
"You're on!" Zack declared.
He grabbed the ball and once again tried to repeat his previous success. This time though, Rainbow blocked it, then ran to grab the ball and managed to get it in the basket.
"Ha!" Rainbow crowed.
Zack just let out a "Humph!"
The next few minutes were a blur as Zack and Rainbow constantly managed to shoot a basket against the other. First Zack, then Rainbow. Zack. Rainbow. It went on like this for about five minutes.
The others meanwhile were enjoying the game. As Rainbow scored another basket to tie her and Zack up at 9 each, Dice and Freddie even jokingly started acting like sports announcers.
"Well folks, this is it! Last point and Zack's got the ball!" Dice stated.
"Yeah, but Rainbow hasn't been doing bad either, Dice. It's anybody's game!" Freddie added.
Zack and Rainbow were both breathing hard from exertion. "Nice try, Rainbow. I'll say this, you ARE good." He then ran forward. "But NOT good enough!" He shot the ball in hopes of making the basket.
"Says you!" Rainbow shouted. She leapt up and swatted the ball away from the hoop. However, Zack missed catching it and it bounced into the adjacent office door Rainbow had pointed to earlier. After a second, a crash and a scream like a bull's bellow were heard. The game abruptly stopped as everyone stared in horror.
"Was that...?" Sunset squeaked.
"RUN!!!!" Rainbow cried.
Everyone beat feet out of the gym and into the hall. Thankfully at that moment, the bell to end the period rang and students began giving out of classrooms.
Rainbow took the lead. "Behind this corner! Quick! With all these kids, he won't know where we've gone!" The others immediately ducked behind it and were left gasping for air.
"What the heck was-!?" Dice asked before he got his answer in the form of another bellow.
Rainbow quickly tried to shush him. "SHHHH!!!!"
She then poked her head out behind the corner a tad. Standing in the middle of the crowd was a tall muscular figure wearing a dark blue shirt and black pants that were covered with coffee. He had a white hat with horns on it and a whistle around his neck. Strangest of all, he had a nose ring.
"Alright!" he shouted. "Who was in my gym!?! Huh!?!" A few students nearby fled in panic at the angry teacher. "Nobody, eh? Well, let me tell you something if you're listening, punks! When I get my hands on you, I'll show you exactly how they made footballs back in the day! And you'll get first hand experience!!" He snorted like a bull before turning to leave back for the gym. "Man, my dry cleaning is going to be murder," he muttered.
As he left, Rainbow let out a little breath of relief.
"Whew! Talk about cutting it close.c
"Who was THAT!?" Cody asked, shaking like a leaf.
"Coach Ironwill," Synset explained. "Sorry about that. He’s got a bit of a…temper."
"You're telling me!" Zack exclaimed. "The guy looks like he uses TRAINCARS for weights!"
Rainbow laughed at the crack. "Ha! Good one!" She then gave him a high five.
Sunset sighed. "Well anyway, now that class is over, we should get going to Principal Celestia so she can give the guys your school schedules. Therefore, I hereby declare this game a tie!"
Rainbow and Zack sighed. "Oh well." She then perked up. "Next time, Martian, you're going down!"
Zack chuckled. "Yeah, we’ll see."
"Well, see ya, guys! Nice meeting ya!" Rainbow then ran to her locker to pick up her books.
The guys all waved goodbye to her.
"Ok, guys. This way!" Sunset said as she led the group down the hall.
The guys then followed Sunset to Principal Celestia's office. Sunset knocked on the door.
"Yes? Come in!" Celestia's voice said.
Sunset walked in with the guys and Principal Celestia, who was doing some paperwork, got up out of her chair to greet them.
"Principal Celestia, I just finished showing the new students around," Sunset stated.
Celestia nodded proudly. "Excellent. Now, I bid you all welcome to Canterlot High. I’m Principal Celestia. I trust Sunset Shimmer gave you a good tour of the school? "
Gibby nodded. "Yeah, I think we're gonna like it here."
Celestia clasped her hands. "Wonderful! I would have done it myself, but being principal of a school is such a busy position. I’m just glad to have more well adjusted minds here at CHS, ready to learn and be educated."
Sunset smiled. She felt the same way, though she couldn't help but think that Zack (and even Dice; he gave off a sort of mischievous vibe) would be a bit difficult. "Yes, well if you’ll excuse me, it’s time for me to get to class.
"Ah yes," Celestia said. "I thank you for your help, Sunset."
Sunset waved to the others as she left for her locker. "I'll probably see you guys later. It was nice meeting you."
"Same here," Cody said.
"So long, sweet thang," Zack flirted, leading to an eye-roll from her.
"Bye/See ya/Thanks a lot," said Freddie, Dice and Gibby respectively.
Once Sunset left, Principal Celestia opened a desk drawer and took out five pieces of paper. She then handed them to the guys.
"Here you are, boys. Your Canterlot High class schedules."
The guys took a look at their schedules and compared them.
"Hey, Zack, Dice! We have the same class next up- Math with Mr. Doodle!" Cody said excitedly.
"Oh joy," said Zack sarcastically.
"We're in Math too, Gibby. Timeturner's AP Math."
"Yeah, and we can all meet up for lunch soon," Gibby said, pointing it out.
Celestia clapped her hands. "Ok, fellows. Technically you missed your first class, but I alerted the teachers about it. You'll get those tomorrow. You all better head out. Can’t be late on the first day."
As Principal Celestia led them out the door, she shook each of their hands.
"It was a pleasure meeting all of you, and again, welcome to Canterlot High."
She closed the door, leaving the group alone with their backpacks.
"Well, it was nice meeting you guys, but we’ve got to get to AP math." Freddie said.
"Yeah, later," Gibby waved as the two left down the hall.
Cody then realized something. "Wait! Could you gu-!" Before he could finish though, Freddie and Gibby were already walking around a corner.
Cody then turned to his brother and Dice. "Do either of you guys remember how to GET the room where this class is located?
Zack just shrugged.
"I would have remembered, but I was too busy staring at Sunset Shimmer's beautiful blue eyes." He sighed dreamily. "Like the ocean they were…"
Cody rolled his own eyes. "Oh sure! Her eyes you remember, but not the class we’re supposed to go to," he said in a sarcastic manner. "Man, can’t believe we’re gonna be late on literally our first day!"
Dice smiled. "Relax guys. I’m pretty sure I remember Sunset mentioning a Doodle being on the first floor. Probably him."
"Well, let’s go! We’re gonna be even more late just standing here!" Cody cried.
The three then ran down the hall and towards some stairs.
About a minute or two later they'd been running around and STILL hadn't found the class. The halls were mostly devoid of students and they didn't want to burst into a class to ask.
"It's like we're going in circles!" Dice exclaimed.
Just then, the group ran into a tall figure.
"Oof!" the figure said. "Don't you kids know you're not supposed to be-!" He stopped upon laying eyes on Zack and Cody. "ZACK! CODY!" the figure cried.
Both Zack and Cody's eyes gaped in shock at who it was. "Arwin!" they exclaimed, jumping forward to hug the spectacle wearing man.
"Oh, I missed you guys!" Arwin laughed.
"But what are you doing here?" Cody asked.
Arwin puffed up his chest. "Well, I’m the school's new maintenance man," he stated.
Zack then looked around and noticed a bucket and mop nearby. "Then why are you mopping the floors?" he asked.
Arwin noticed and blushed a little. "Oh. Um, well I’m also the school's new janitor, heh. It does pay pretty well."
"Wait, what happened to your job at the Tipton?" Cody asked.
Arwin blanched. "Well, er, remember when Moseby got fired for what you guys did?"
"You mean what ZACK technically did to the lobby? Cody asked.
"Hey! It was the football's fault, man! Not mine!" Zack protested.
Arwin sighed. "Well my newest invention was also sort of to blame, so… yeah."
"You got fired too?" Zack asked.
"Yep. But it’s not so bad. Principal Celestia's a great boss. Better than Moseby was. And like I said, this job pays better."
Dice then coughed into his hand.
"Oh right. Arwin, meet our new pal, Dice" Zack said.
"Nice to meet ya," Dice said. He then turned to the twins. "Listen fellows, I hate to ruin this little reunion, but we need to get to math class, remember?
"Cranky Doodle's class?" Arwin asked.
Cody brightened. "Yeah, you know where it is?"
"Sure! Go straight down the hall and turn right. It’s the first door on the left."
"Thanks," Dice said. Just then, the bell for the class rang. "Aw jeez! Come on, guys!
The group started running down the hall, but the twins called over their shoulders.
"Great to see ya again, Arwin!" Zack said.
"Yeah, we'll catch up later," Cody added.
Arwin chuckled. "Okay, ya little tykes!" He then sighed happily. 'Boy, nice to have them here. And hey, if they're here, that means Carrie's here too! I know I can woo her yet!' He then looked at the bottle and frowned. "Oh wait. This isn’t bleach."
Zack, Cody, and Dice finally reached the class. Once they entered (breathing with exhaustion), an older man in an obvious toupee looked up from the blackboard. The other students looked up as well.
"Hmmm. The Martin Twins, I presume. And Mr. Corleone?"
"(Huff, huff) Sorry (huff) we’re (huff) late." Zack panted.
The obvious Mr. Doodle glared at the three.
"Tardiness is inexcusable in my class, boys. However, since this is your first day, I'll overlook it. Just take your seats."
Zack, Cody, and Dice walked three empty desks and each took one.
"Okay, now where was I?" Mr. Doodle mused. "Oh yeah! Please get out your math books from your desks and turn to page 300."
Zack, Cody and Dice did that as they also looked at their new neighbors. Dice was sitting next to a purple-haired girl wearing a black hoodie and cargo pants. Cody was next to a redhead with a pink bow and green shirt. Finally, Zack was next to a girl with mulberry and pink hair, a yellow dress skirt and red jacket.
Zack smiled what he thought was a charming grin to his neighbor. "Mmm. Gotta say, your lookin' great, sweet thang.
The girl just groaned.
As this was going on, Freddie and Gibby had managed to reach their class right before the bell rang and avoid being late.
"Well, here we are, Gibs. Mr. Timeturner's AP Math," Freddie said.
"Yep. Man, I hope this goes well for us."
The two entered the classroom and there was a man with brown hair and a green bow tie standing at a chalkboard writing a complex looking equation. He then stopped and looked at them.
"Ah! Hello there!" he said in a British accent. "You must be Messers Benson and Gibson, correct?"
Freddie had never really heard anyone use that word, but nodded. "Yes sir."
Mr. Timeturner grinned. "Well then, take a seat, boys. Class is about to start. Mister Gibson, take the seat next to Mister Winds," a boy with curly hair waved and Gibby went to sit, "and Mister Benson? Why don't you take a seat behind to Miss Apple?"
Freddie looked and saw a blonde girl wearing cowboy boots and had a stetson hat hanging on her chair. She smiled and waved. Freddie walked over behind her and sat down.
"Wonderful!" Timeturner said. "Now, let's get to work, shall we?" He then resumed writing on the board.
The blonde then leaned back and whispered,
"Howdy. Ah'm Applejack. Nice ta meetch."
"Hi, I'm Freddie Benson," Freddie whispered back.
"Pleasure." Applejack then seemed to think for a second. "Say, Ah've heard that name 'fore. Are you th' same Freddie from that there show a friend o' mine always likes? iSomethin' or other?"
Freddie was surprised and a little embarrassed, but nodded before whispering back. "Yeah, me and Gibby were both on it, but I'd prefer to keep a low profile for now."
Applejack nodded. "I gotcha. Celeb status, right? I kinda know about that."
Freddie looked away. "Something like that," he said with a bit of uncertainty.
Applejack grinned. "Sure. Ah'll keep it on the downlow, Sugarcube. And I can tell my friends ta do the same."
Freddie smiled. "Thanks." Freddy was glad about that. He looks up at Timeturner, still working on the equation. He quirked an eyebrow. "Um, any idea what formula he's supposed to be doing?"
Applejack shrugged. "Sorta. The way he's doin it is more complicated, though. I heard that he was a theoretical physicist or somesuch before coming here."
Freddie was surprised at that. A physics expert teaching at a high school. "Really? Why'd he leave?"
"Ah actually heard he was fired for tryin' to make a time machine and nearly blowin' up the place."
"Woah." That would explain why he was here. Not many would probably want to hire someone who almost blew up a lab.
"Eeyup." She paused. "Say, ifin ya want, Ah could help ya in understanding what he's doin up there." She jerked her thumb as Timeturner continued on with his writing. "Like Ah said, there's an easier way."
Freddie nodded. "Thanks, Applejack."
Applejack smiled. "Call me AJ, Sugercube."
Later at lunch, Freddie, Gibby, Zack, Cody, Dice were in line for lunch. After those two classes, they DEFINITELY needed some good food. And the food being served certainly looked good.
Meanwhile, at a table, sat Sunset, Pinkie, Rainbow, Applejack and two other girls. One was an extremely pretty girl with alabaster skin, violet hair and sapphire blue eyes, wearing purple boots and a skirt to match. She had a hairclip of three diamonds. The other was a yellow-skinned girl with very long pink hair and aquamarine eyes with a white butterfly clip. She wore a green skirt with three other butterflies on it, green boots, and a white tank top.
Sunset was currently speaking. "So what do you girls think of the new guys?"
Rainbow Dash smirked. "Well, Zack is honestly a pretty great B-ball player. Don't you think they're cool, Fluttershy?
The girl- Fluttershy- nodded. "They seem nice."
"I agree," Sunset said. "Though Zack seems like he'll be driving plenty of teachers crazy. Plus, Dice seems like something of a troublemaker. He just had that vibe, I don't quite know why."
Applejack agreed. "Yeah, well, Freddie seems really smart. Shame he and his friend are choosin' ta keep their fame a secret though.
I know!" Rainbow cried."I mean, think of all the popularity they would have if they told people they are the Freddie and Gibby from iCarly, rated number one Internet web series two years running, BTW. Plus, having celebs would TOTALLY help boost school spirit!"
"Yeah," Pinkie said. "So why keep it a secret? I mean, I'm glad Applejack told the rest of you guys who didn't know so I wouldn't have to break my Pinkie Promise, but I still would think they would like the admiration of dozens of people wanting to be their friends!"
Sunset shrugged. "Maybe they just don’t want that kinda of life anymore. Moving to a new place. They could be looking for a fresh start. They DID mention something like that."
Rarity sighed. "Well I suppose fame isn’t for everyone. I myself have yet to meet them personally, but they do seem quite nice." She smirked flirtatiously. "Plus, that Benson boy IS quite good looking~."
Applejack rolled her green eyes and scoffed. "You WOULD notice THAT." Though she also snuck a small peak herself and blushed a smidge, which thankfully no one commented on.
"Listen girls, I think there's something we really need to talk about, regarding... you-know-what," Sunset stated, causing the others to look at her curiously. They knew what she meant and wondered what it could be Sunset had in mind.
As the discussion was going on, Freddie and Gibby were looking for someplace to sit, as were the twins and Dice.
At a table, Flash Sentry noticed the guys looking around. He then stood up and waved.
"Hey Freddie! Over here! We've got room!"
Freddie and Gibby shrugged and went to sit over at Flash’s table. He was sitting with the two guys from the Video Club.
"Thanks," Freddie nodded.
"No problem. I don’t think we’ve been property introduced. I’m Flash, Flash Sentry. That's Microchips (who you already kinda met), and that’s Sandalwood."
Sandalwood held up a hand in greeting. "Sup, bro."
"Nice to meetcha. This is my pal, Gibby."
"Yo."
Microchips nodded to him before turning to Freddie. "So, Freddie. Have you considered our offer?"
"To join your club? Yeah, sounds great," Freddy stated.
Microchips clapped his hands. "Superb! We’re always looking for new members. And perhaps you could even join our Photography Club."
"Oh cool, "Freddie said. "So, what does the Photography Club do exactly?"
Sandalwood smiled. "Oh, it's great, bro!" He then got a peaceful look on his face as he connected his thumbs and forefingers. "We take pictures of Mother Gia and the beauty of her children, as well as the works of excellence of the human world, and transcend those images into true works of tranquility, man."
Freddie and Gibby looked at each other in confusion before turning back. "What?" Freddie asked.
Luckily, Flash jumped in to translate. "They take pictures of beautiful things, often turning them into artwork."
"Oh," Freddie said, nodding.
"Yeah. Photo Finish is also the president of the club. I'm sure she'd be ECSTATIC to have someone like you be a part of it." He said this with a small smirk, no doubt recalling the kisses she'd given Freddie, who's face blushed red upon hearing the name.
"Oh… um, well, er," he stammered, rubbing the back of his neck, embarrassedly.
Everyone chuckled at that before Flash turned to Gibby. "Hey Gibby. Are you interested in joining any of our clubs?"
Gibby shook his head. "Nah. Photography isn’t really my thing, dude. I’m actually interested in joining the Magic Club. I saw a poster for it in the hallway."
The three CHS residents all got looks of exasperation.
"Well, it's your choice and we wish you well, but I feel the need to warn you that the president of THAT club is a bit… eccentric. Even more so than Photo." Microchips stated.
"Yeah, you'll definitely need some patience with her, Gibs," Flash stated.
Gibby however wasn't unnerved. "I'm sure I can handle her."
The guys simply shrugged.
Meanwhile at another table, three girls were speaking of the new students as well, similar to another table, which happened to include their sisters.
The girl with the pink bow asked, "So, what do y’all think of the new guys?"
The girl with the red jacket rolled her eyes and scoffed, "Honestly, Apple Bloom? That Zack Martin is SUCH a womanizer. He reminds me of Rarity whenever there's an attractive guy around, always flirting and trying to act so cool."
The girl with the hoodie shrugged. "He’s full of himself, I’ll give you that, Sweetie Belle, but that Dice kid seems okay. Nice hair too. Though Zack's brother Cody seems like a bit of a nerd." She snickered. "Wizkid better watch out. I think Mr. Doodle may have found a new teacher's pet."
Apple Bloom frowned at her friend's comments.
"Aw, c'mon, Sweetie, Scootaloo. Let’s give 'em a chance. Granny always says, 'first impressions are important, but second and third outweigh 'em.'" She looked up and smiled. "Look, they're there right now!"
Sure enough, Zack, Cody and Dice were still looking for a place to sit.
Apple Bloom stood up and waved. "Hey, new guys! Why don’t y’all sit with us?
The guys looked at each other and shrugged, going over to sit with them.
Cody nodded to them. "Thanks. We were wondering if we would have to sit in the hall or something. It's pretty crowded." He looked at them as he sat next to Apple Bloom. "Say, we met you in Math, didn't we?"
Apple Bloom nodded. "Eeyup! Ah'm Apple Bloom." She then gestured to her friends. "This is Scootaloo, and that’s Sweetie Belle."
Zack, who had sat next to Sweetie, smiled with a wiggle of his eyebrows. "Oh yeah. She's sweet alright. So sweet, I could taste her~." He added a growl.
Sweetie narrowed her olive green eyes. "If your tongue comes anywhere NEAR me, you won’t be tasting ANYTHING ever again," she said in a voice tinged in venom.
Zack at least seemed to understand as he quickly zipped away to sit beside Cody.
Cody stared at the exchange for a bit before trying to salvage the situation. "Ahem, well, umm, wiping clean the memory of that incident I'm sure we'd all like to forget, I’m Cody and the idiot is my twin brother Zack." Cody ignored the look Zack gave him.
Dice smiled. "I’m Michael Corleone, but call me Dice."
Apple Bloom turned to the twins on her left. "So Zack, Cody where y’all from?"
"Boston," Zack answered.
Scootaloo grinned at that. "Neato! what’s it like?"
Cody shrugged. "It's dangy, smelly, and rat infested, but it does have its perks. Like the Red Sox and stuff."
Apple Bloom stared for a minute before shrugging. "Huh. So, uh, Dice, where're YOU from?"
"Los Angeles," Dice answered.
Sweetie Belle's eyes gleamed. "Really?!" Wow! I've always wanted to go there! What's it like?"
Dice shrugged himself. "It's got its ups and downs. The film industry is located there, and it's a place you can often see movie stars walking down the street. Though on the down side, the souvenirs are overpriced, weather's always at its extreme point, and crime is up to its highest. So basically like living in New York, except you see a guy walking around in a lobster costume every second Tuesday."
Sweetie Belle gaped a little, obviously shocked at the bluntness of the statement.
Scootaloo hummed to herself. "Well, I guess EVERY place has its ups and downs." She then turned to the LA native. "Soooo, ummm, why do they call you "Dice'?"
Dice grinned at her. "Because if you roll me, you're guaranteed to get lucky," he stated with a wink.
Scootaloo's eyes widened at the statement with cheeks tinged pink a smidge. Was he serious or was he… flirting?
"Umm, uh," she stammered.
Thankfully, Dice didn't seem to notice her stumble as he continued. "Also, I do a few things like gambling, which is another reason for the nickname. Plus, I sell certain… stuff. Check it."
Dice reached into his pocket and grabbed a blue stick of gum with a picture of a kid with a balloon head and green cap that said, “Bubblehead Blast." He sat on the table and Scootaloo quickly grabbed it.
"No way!" she cried, mouth agape. "This is Bubblehead Blast bubble gum! They don’t make this anymore! Where did YOU get this!?"
Dice buffed his fingernails on his shirt with a smug smirk. "Oh, I know a guy at the candy factory where they used to make it. He owes me some favors. I pay him to supply me with any old candy he can give me."
Cody got a thoughtful look on his face. "Wait a minute. I remember this stuff. Wasn't it discontinued by the FDA after it was found out that under certain circumstances while chewing, the chemical composition would turn into something akin to glue and seal the mouth for up to two days before it fully dissolved?"
Zack rolled his eyes. "Thanks for the history lesson, Professor Brainiac," he snarked. He then got a look on his face of contemplation. "So it can seal the mouth, huh? Wonder what it does with clothes…"
Sweetie then looked at Dice with a quirked eyebrow. "So wait, wait! You're like some kind of black market dealer?"
Dice scoffed. "That, my dear Sweetie Belle, is such a harsh phrasing. I prefer the term 'Obtainer of Rule-Breaking Items.'" He then got a slightly nervous look. "Also, maybe keep that on the downlow. If the peeps in charge found out… well, let's say it wouldn't be good for me. And I DEFINITELY don't want the fuzz involved." He shivers and hugged his arms. "I just can't…"
The CMC and even Zack and Cody looked at each other awkwardly, knowing there was something there, but not wanting to pry.
Scootaloo smiled. "Tell you what, Dice man? You get me two of these and I’ll keep your secret."
Zack piped in. "Get me three and I’ll take it with me to my grave!"
"I want one/Me too!" Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle stated respectively.
Even Cody smiled a little. "Weeeell, I HAVE been fascinated with looking at that composition to figure out how they did it. I'll take one too."
Dice chuckled at this enthusiasm. "Done."
Meanwhile at the Rainbooms table, the older girls were just finishing their discussion.
"So it’s all agreed we don’t tell the new guys about Equestria," Rainbow stated.
They all nodded or made affirmative noises.
"Probably for the best, Darlings," Rarity stated.
"Right," Fluttershy piped up meekly. "I mean... they probably wouldn’t even believe us anyway."
"Well duh!" Pinkie stated. "I mean, the idea that Sunset is actually a magical talking unicorn from a land of similar magical ponies who was her world's ruler's student until she let her arrogance and spite get the better of her, leaving her to run away to here where she became human, became a bully and essentially ran the school like a tyrant, then became a demon after getting ahold of an ancient powerful magical artifact and tried to take over everyone's minds in order to take over the magical land with an army of brainwashed teens until she was stopped by us and the ruler's new student (who's also a princess) with help from magical anthro pony forms and leading to Sunset learning the power of friendship and becoming a better person just in time to help Twilight (the mentioned princess, btw) later on help us stop three evil diva Sirens from using their powers to corrupt the whole school and make it into a cesspool of hatred and anger to feed them as well as to give them their own magical pony forms, all while using the power of rock n roll to strip them of their powers and make them normal girls, and in the process, totally repairing Sunset's reputation!?!" She then chuckled. "Yeah, that is totally cray-cray!" She emphasized this by twirling her fingers at the temples, crossing her eyes and somehow producing a "kookoo" sound.
The others just stared, amazed that she'd said all THAT in one sentence with no air.
Just then, the bell rang signaling lunch was over.
The girls bid their goodbyes to each other as they split up to get their stuff from their lockers. As Sunset reached hers, she then decided to write to Princess Twilight really quick before class started up again. She took out the magic book from her locker and wrote stuff down as she walked.
“Dear Twilight,
How have you been? Things are going good here at Canterlot High. Nothing too out of the ordinary has happened since the “Siren Incident,” but today, we DID have a few new students have arrive at the school: a pair of twins, one kid with great-looking hair, and two minor celebrities. Other than that, I don't know that much about them, though they seem to be keeping some secrets, though I won't pry unless I feel the need. Speaking of secrets, we've decided not to tell them about all the stuff that's happened here with magic and all. It sounds pretty fantastical anyhow. Plus, the magic has been on the down low so no need to worry about them finding out any time soon. I miss you and Princess Celestia and our friends miss you. I hope everything’s going ok in Equestria. Here’s til I write to you again.
Your friend,
Sunset Shimmer”
"Whatcha writing there?"
A voice from behind startled Sunset, causing her to yelp in surprise. "Aaah!!" She flung the book into the air and quickly caught it as it came down. Turning, she saw one of the twins. "ZACK!" She then got a confused look. "Or is it Cody? Which one is it? I can’t tell."
The twin gave her a dry look. "Am I hitting on you?"
Sunset tilted her head. "Umm, no…?
He nodded. "Then I’m Cody." He then looked at the book in her hands. "Interesting book you've got there."
Sunset looked down and started to sweat a bit. "Oh yeah. This, this is my uh….my ummm….my journal! Yeah!"
Cody quirked an eyebrow. "Pretty big for a journal."
Sunset shrugged while slowly backing away. "Oh well, you know, I've got a lot of stuff to write so…..yeah. Okaynicetalkingcodygottagobye!"
With that, she zoomed away and Cody watched, looking at her strangely before shrugging and heading to his next class before the bell rang.
At the Home Ec room, Gibby walked in and couldn't help but sniff and smile at the slight scent of food cooking. He then walked over to an empty chair at one of the counters with different ingredients. Looking up, he was surprised to see an older woman with her grey hair in a bun standing at the front of the room. She looked familiar.
"Well howdy, younguns! I see we gotta couple new faces in the class today, so I'll do a little intro spiel. The name's Mrs. Smith, but y’all c'n call me Granny ifin ya earn it. I’m here to ta teach ya the art of fine cookin'! Knowing how ta cook is an important parta life and I'll show ya how ta make good food that's easy to assemble. Now, for today’s class, yer gonna be put into teams." She then pulled out a clipboard and some reading glasses. "Alrighty, here the teams: Flash Sentry and Trixie Lulamoon." Gibby looked over to see Flash facepalm as a girl with platinum blonde hair and wearing a blue hoodie preened. "Bon-Bon and Lyra Heartstrings.” Two girls (who were obviously best friends) squealed and hugged. “Sunset Shimmer and Photo Finish.” Gibby looked to see Sunset awkwardly waving at the same girl from before who'd kissed Freddie. She responded by pulling up a camera and taking a pic, the resulting flash making Sunset's eye dilate a little. "And last but not least..." She paused as she looked closer. "Gibby Gibson and Pinkie Pie.”
Gibby looked to see the pink haired girl he and the guys had met today flash a big smile.
"Oooo! Yay!" She cheered.
Gibby was surprised to say the least, but figured a girl like that must know a lot about baking.
"Sweet," he said, nodding.
Granny chuckled. "Nice choicea words, Gibby, cause fer today’s class, yer all gonna create an apple pie. Though not just any pie, but a recipe passed down in my family fer quite some time now: a super mega deluxe apple pie filled with apple custard and topped ala mode!"
Gibby had to keep himself from drooling from how good that sounded. He really hoped they'd be able to eat some once they were done.
"The recipe card is on the table. Now, you youngins got about an hour, so you best get cracking! If'n ya need anything, jus' give a holler!" Granny said. And with that, she left the groups to their work, going over to her desk to read a book.
The groups then all started moving together to start, Gibby moving over to Pinkie.
"Okay. So what's it say to use first?" Pinkie asked.
Gibby picked up the card in front of him. "Well, first it says that we need to mix a pound of butter, two cups of milk… basically what you would use to make a pie. We can most likely find ingredients in the fridge and pantry." He pointed to said objects on the other side of the room where students were getting them out.
Pinkie nodded. "Yeah, well, that's good and all, but I can show you a way to make this recipe more... interesting." She gave a sly smile at that.
Gibby's face scrunched up in confusion and a little concern. "Interesting how?"
Pinkie answered by pulling out a bag of Pop Rocks and a plastic bag full of colorful confetti. "Check it out! We'll throw these in with the mix, and when we pull it out, the pie will bubble and pop a little and cause this edible confetti to burst out! Neat, huh?"
Gibby scratched his head at one of the things she'd just spoken. "Edible… confetti?"
Pinkie nodded rapidly. "Yup-a-rooney! My own personal creation and patent pending! It's WAY easier to clean up if you know what I mean. Now, let's get cookin', Gibster!"
Gibby looked at her for a few seconds. He wasn't sure that this was a good idea. He remembered Sam having similar ideas that usually ended up with messes. Then again, some great foods came from experiments, like french fries. Also, it sounded kind of cool. So he simply shrugged and nodded. "Well, it couldn't hurt, I guess. As long as we put the ice cream on top.
"Of COURSE!" Pinkie exclaimed. "That's like the most important part!"
So they got to cooking, doing as the recipe said, but adding in the Pop Rocks and confetti. They then put it in the oven and once it was finished, took it out and put it on their counter for the finishing touch- a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. Granny then went around to inspect them all. The two high fived each other, sure to succeed at getting praise for their cool idea.
"Well, I must say, these pies are looking mighty fine," Granny declared as she looked over each. She then got to Pinkie and Gibby's pie. "Say, now that's quite the scrumptious lookin' one," she said.
"Thanks, Mrs. Smith," Gibby said, smiling proudly.
"Yeah! Plus, we added a little something extra!" Pinkie stated.
"Didja now?" Granny asked curiously. "An' what might that be?"
Just then, Flash spoke up in a nervous tone. "Um, weird question, but is it supposed to be moving?"
Gibby and Pinkie looked at each other in shock.
"MOVING!?" Looking down at their pastry, they saw that the pie WAS indeed bouncing and shaking, as well as bubbling, but more like boiling water than a couple bubbles.
"Uh-oh," Gibby squeaked.
"She's gonna blow!" Sunset cried.
"Everybody duck and cover!" Pinkie screeched. At once, everyone dived behind the counters.
Everybody except Granny, who was looking at the pie in confusion.
"What in Sam Hill-?" was all she managed to get out before a deafening "BOOM!!!!!" sounded. The school shook for a second as students and faculty tried to figure out what that was. From within the Home Ec room, it looked as though a humongous pie fight had occured as the place was covered with bits of pie, apple custard, and Pinkie's confetti drifting slowly down. Everyone slowly rose up from their hiding places. Pinkie and Gibby then looked up and saw Granny, arms akimbo, with her eyes narrowed angrily and covered in a mess.
Pinkie let out a nervous giggle. "I… guess the confetti didn't react well to the apples," she said sheepishly.
At that moment, the ice cream that had been stuck to the ceiling, came loose and plopped onto Granny's head. The old woman glared bloody murder at the two incompetent bakers.
Gibby figured that if he was going to die, he'd go out with a joke. "At least we didn't forget the ice cream. Heheheh."
Later, the bell rang, signaling it was finally the end of the day. Everyone went to their lockers and got their stuff. As Cody was getting his stuff, Zack stopped by.
"Hey dude, did you hear that crazy explosion today?" Zack asked.
Cody nodded as he got out his backpack and started walking. "Yeah I did. Wonder what caused it."
"Don’t know, but I want to ask them how they did it!" Zack said with a grin.
Cody rolled his eyes before deciding that now would be a good time to speak with his brother about Sunset's odd behavior. "So, Sunset was sort of acting weird today," he started.
Zack's eyes lit up. "How weird? Was she thinking of me?" He said this last part with a sly grin.
Cody rolled his eyes. "I said acting WEIRD, not TERRIFIED." he said jokingly.
Zack in turn rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay, you're being serious. How exactly was she being 'weird'?"
"Like, she was writing in a journal. A pretty big one at that. When I asked her about it, she got all nervous. She started stuttering and making excuses to leave."
Zack scoffed at that. "Pfft! That’s just a girl being a girl. You know how they are with their secret diaries and stuff."
Cody thought for a moment before nodding.
"Yeah, you're probably right. I was just overthinking things."
Just then, Mr. Moseby walked up with a disconcerted look.
"Oh, hey Mr. Moseby!" Zack said, waving.
Upon seeing the twins, Mosbey groaned. "Oh joy. And here for one blinding second, I thought that maybe seeing you two this morning had all been a terrible hallucination."
"Nope, still here in all our glory," Zack said, spreading his arms.
"How bully," said Mr. Moseby sarcastically.
Cody then got in on the conversation. "Say Mr. Moseby, do you know what caused that explosion a while ago?"
"As a matter of fact, I do," Moseby said. "I had originally thought it had been you two hooligans up to your usual tricks. However it turns out that it was caused in the Home Economics room. Two students decided to mix an apple pie with Pop Rocks and some insane type of confetti. Needless to say, the end result was the room looking like a confectionery Nagasaki. The two responsible have been given failing grades on their assignments and were forced to clean up the room as punishment."
"Wow! Wish I could see that," Zack said excitedly.
Mr. Moseby gave him a mocking grin. "I'm sure you DO." He then glowered. "Well, since we're going to be once again in the same vicinity for the foreseeable future, I just want you two to know that I’m gonna be keeping a very sharp eye on you. Can’t have you two ruining this career too!"
Cody sighed. "Oh come on, Mr. Moseby! It can’t be that bad!"
Moseby's glare intensified. "I work for minimum wage, I have to deal with hooligans who think it’s alright to run up and down the halls and I have to deal with THE CONSTANT YAMMERING of other students' problems!"
Zack and Cody stared at the irrate guidance counselor. "Well… at least you have your health," Zack said with a shrug, which unfortunately did nothing to placate Moseby.
"Well, you have a degree that helps you with the job. That should count for something," Cody said.
Moseby rolled his eyes. "Yes, well it was either that or architecture, and can you see me in a hard hat and overalls?"
The twins shared a glance and shuddered.
"That's what I thought," Moseby grumbled. "Besides, I never thought I'd actually USE it." He then returned to glaring at Zack and Cody. "Now as I said, you two WEREN'T behind this, much to my surprise, but I want you to know that if anything goes wrong, if anything happens that turns out to be BAD for this school in any way, I’ll know JUST who to talk to."
And with that, Mosbey walked away.
"Sheesh! He's SO uptight!" Zack exclaimed.
"Can you blame him?" Cody asked his brother.
"Ah agree. He really doesn’t seem to like y’all, does he?"
Upon hearing the unexpected voice, the boys jumped a bit and spun around to see the three girls they'd gotten to know at lunch. Who were all looking at them oddly.
"So THAT'S the new councilor?" Scootaloo asked. "You'd think a guy who helps us with our problems would be a little more… helpful."
The twins sighed. "Yeah, he's… not exactly the sweetest of fellows," Cody said, rubbing his neck awkwardly.
"There’s actually a lot of, uhh, 'history' between us and Mr. Moseby," Zack stated.
The girl then looked interested. "Well, we were about to go to get some food. Lunch was a ways back and we wanted to get a snack. The place we're going to has got good milkshakes." Sweetie Belle said.
"Really?" Cody asked.
Apple Bloom nodded. "Yeah. If yer gonna live here, ya gotta know the best places to hang out. Our sisters often hang out at the Sugarcube Cafe a little down the street. We enjoy it too, but we're more McHoofs girls."
"Yeah, it's this cool burger joint!" Scootaloo said. "So, you wanna come with?"
"We’d lov-" Zack began (obviously thrilled at the idea of eating out with three cute girls) before Cody quickly pulled on his arm to talk to him.
"Zack, what about Pinkie's welcoming party?" he whispered.
Zack's face then went down. "Oh yeah. Forgot about that." He then looked at the girls. "Sorry girls, can't make it. We have to go to some party Pinkie Pie is throwing us."
The girls looked disappointed before Apple Bloom perked up. "Hey! My sis is friends with her. She can tell her you guys are gonna be with us."
"You got a point there," Zack nodded. "Besides, Gibby and Freddie are probably gonna be there. She can hold it for them."
Cody thought for a moment, and then nodded. "I suppose that would be okay. Girls, we’d love to join you."
"Awesome," Scootaloo cheered. "A.B., text Applejack and let her know about this! Come on, guys!"
The group walked towards the front door when they spotted a familiar face. It was Dice, apparently doing one of his aforementioned deals with Bon Bon.
"So are you sure this exotic cream will fix my skin rash? My best friend Lyra and I are going to the movies this Saturday and I don’t want her seeing it," she said.
Dice waved a hand. "Trust me. This stuff is manufactured in Thailand, made to purify every pore of your skin. I promise by tomorrow, you’ll be begging for more."
Bon Bon stroked her chin before nodding. "Well, ok. So long as nothing bad will happen." She handed Dice his money and walked away.
"Don’t worry! It's one hundred percent safe!" Dice called out. Then after thinking for a moment, he added, "Unless you're allergic to lingonberries! Then you'll get covered!" By that time though, she was too far away to hear. Dice then shrugged. "Eh, she'll be fine. What are the odds?"
"Yo, Dice man!"
Dice turned and noticed his friends walking towards him. "'Sup, guys. What's going on?"
"Wanna join us for a bite? The girls are showing us a local hangout," Cody said.
Dice nodded. "Sure I could eat. Let’s go."
As the group walked to the door, Zack leaned into Sweetie with a flirtatious face. "Soooo… is this a date?"
The girl simply responded by elbowing him hard in the ribs causing him to pause and double over wheezing.
"Not on your life, Martin," she simply said as Zack restabled himself and followed again, this time at a distance.
Meanwhile, the party Pinkie was throwing was in full boom. There was music, food and all sorts of fun stuff. When A.J. had gotten a text from her sister that Zack, Cody and Dice had gone with them to McHoofs, Pinkie was disappointed. However, she brightened up when A.J. reminded her that she still had two other new people coming and Pinkie vowed to make it greater than great for just two special guests.
Speaking of said guests, Freddie and Gibby were having a great time. At that moment, the two were standing by the food table and Gibby was recounting what had happened in the Home Ec room. Something Freddie found hilarious.
"What?" he chuckled. "Dude. You CAN'T be serious!"
Gibby sighed. "I'm telling you, man! She blew up the pies using confetti. Confetti! I got a F in Home Ec on my first day! Not only that, Mrs. Smith had us cleaning up the whole room from top to bottom! I should be glad Pinkie was able to help get it all scrubbed. Though where she got that vacuum, I don't know. I didn't see her grab it beforehand."
"Yeah, she DOES seem pretty darn random," Freddie agreed.
Suddenly, Freddie felt something bump into him, causing him to spill a bit of punch on himself. He turned around, a slight scowl on his face before he saw the culprit. It was Fluttershy (though he didn't know her). By the look on her face, it was as if she thought she'd kicked a puppy and was afraid he'd do the same to her.
"Oh no! Oh, I’m sorry!" she exclaimed.
Freddie realized she must have seen his upset face and thought he was upset with her. He'd been upset about getting the punch, but it was an accident. Hoping to alleviate her worries, he quickly said, "No, no. It's fine."
Fluttershy then grabbed some napkins and began helping to clean up.
"I really am so very sorry," Fluttershy said quickly as she continued to dab at the area the punch had splashed.
Freddie quickly attempted to once again halt her worries. "Honestly, it’s ok. I, uh, wanted this shirt in red anyway," he said in a slight joking manner to ease the tension of the moment.
Just then, the rest of the Rainbooms walked up.
"Yo, guys! What's up?" Rainbow called out as she waved.
Upon seeing her friend, Sunset smiled. "I see you’ve met Fluttershy."
Fluttershy's eyes widened. "Oh! You're THAT Freddie and Gibby. It’s, um, very nice to meet you
Gibby nodded with a smile. "Same here."
Sunset smiled. "Well, you guys have met most of my friends in one way or another except for this one," she said, gesturing to Rarity. "This is Rarity."
"So charmed to meet you, darlings," the fashionista said. "I can't believe I'm actually meeting true internet celebrities. It really is an honor. I've watched the show you boys were on. It was rather amusing to be sure."
Gibby and Freddie looked at each other, embarrassed a bit by the praise. "Well, that's nice of you to say. I hope we can be good friends," Freddie said.
"But of course," Rarity said, and she leaned in close to Freddie and fluttered her eyelashes. "And you needn't worry about your former status getting out, dear. Sunset explained it to us and your secret is safe."
Freddie blushed a little at the pretty girl's actions and rubbed the back of his neck, awkwardly chuckling. "Th-thanks a lot."
"Okay, Rares. That's enough," Applejack said, yanking her friend away from the flustered shutterbug. The violet-haired girl merely glared at the farmgirl and "humphed" a bit, crossing her arms in annoyance.
Sunset watched the display and also chuckled nervously. "SO, you guys having a good time so far?" she asked.
Freddie grinned. "Yeah, this is great! How in the world did you get a chocolate fountain AND a portable dance floor on such short notice, Pinkie?"
Pinkie simply shrugged. "It helps when the music store and the candy factory owe you favors." She then frowned. "Though, I wish Dice, Zack and Cody could be here. I mean, this was supposed to be for ALL you new guys."
Freddie and Gibby saw she seemed pretty despondent, so Freddie put an encouraging hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure it would be. But keep in mind, they're a bit younger than us. They may want to make friends of that age, if what Applejack mentioned about them going off with her sister and her friends is true."
Pinkie sighed, but then got a big smile on her face. "Yeah. I guess But I put this party together just for them and you guys!"
Sunset chuckled. "Don’t worry, Pinkie. I’m pretty sure Zack and Cody would have loved the party if they were here. Dice too. This just means you get to throw an even BIGGER party later." She threw in a wink at saying this.
Pinkie then gave an even bigger smile. "You're RIGHT, Sunset! I'll just make an even more AWESOME party that blows this one out of the water!"
Applejack patted her on the back. "That's a girl." She then turned to Gibby with a smirk. "So Ah hear you and Pinks here are the ones who blew up the Home Ec room, eh?"
Gibby gaped at her. "Did news of that REALLY spread that quickly!?"
"Well actually, the teacher's my grandma who also works as the lunch lady here."
Gibby shivered. "I thought she looked a bit familiar. I REALLY hope she doesn't do anything to me for that."
Pinkie giggled. "Naw! If anything, she'll just give you lumpy food for the next week or so! Believe me, what happened was NOTHING compared to what happened in Freshman year!"
Fluttershy and Rainbow shivered. "Now THAT was bad," Rainbow stated.
"Do we WANT to know?" Freddy asked cautiously.
"Well, it happened like this…"
Meanwhile, with the younger members of the group, they were currently eating burgers and fries at McHoofs. The place was pretty good and relatively ordinary. A somewhat bright looking restaurant with booths and tables. The main defining feature however was the upside down yellow horseshoe behind the restaurant. The twins had just finished telling an incident from their Boston days. A story which got the others laughing.
"Ha ha ha! Oh man, get out of here! Did you REALLY do that?" Scootaloo asked through her chuckles.
"Yep! You should have seen the look on Zack's face!" Cody snickered.
Zack in turn glowered at his brother. "It wasn’t THAT funny. Besides, we really DID see a ghost in Room 613!"
Cody shook his head. "No, what we saw was some sort of illusion stimulated by the creepy room and all that we were doing. Our minds were playing tricks on us."
Zack scoffed. "Whatever, Scully."
Apple Bloom finally stopped her laughing. "Well, it sounds like y’all had a pretty great life at that hotel."
Zack and Cody then frowned. "Well, we did," sighed the former.
Dice quirked an eyebrow. "Does this have anything to do with what you mentioned with Zack's football and your pal the janitor?"
Sweetie Belle gave a confused look at that. "We don't know about that, but we do know that apparently the new guidance counselor knows these two and believe me, the way he acted, you'd have thought they were Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid or something."
"Yeah, time for an explanation, guys," Scootaloo stated, leaning forward on her elbows.
Zack and Cody both looked at each other.
"Now wait a minute," Apple Bloom interjected. "If they don't wanna tell us, we can't just-"
"No, no we don’t mind," Cody said quickly.
Zack sighed. "Okay, so keep in mind, some of this we later learned by secondhand accounts and looking at security footage later on. Now see, it started like any other day at the Tipton Hotel for us…"
At the Tipton Hotel, Zack and Cody were playing with a football in the lobby.
"Cody! Go long!" Zack called out!.
Cody however hesitated. "Zack, do you REALLY think we should be doing this? After all, Mr. Moseby said-" He was cut off by the ball being lodged at him and he quickly caught it.
"Mr. Moseby says a LOT of stuff," Zack said. "Not a lot of it enjoyable. Now toss it back!"
Just then, Estaban the bellboy came over.
"Oh Little Blonde Peoples, you shouldn’t be playing ball in here, not today," he stated with a slightly worried look.
"Why not? We do this practically every day," Zack stated as he caught the ball when Cody tossed it to him.
"Yes, but today is a very important day. You see, Mr. Tipton is coming over for his 20 year business inspection. He takes these inspections very seriously, you know."
Zack smiled calmly. "Relax, Estaban. I’m pretty sure he won’t be here for a while. When he does, we'll leave so his precious inspection goes well."
Just then, Mr. Moseby stepped out of his office. Panicking, Zack quickly tossed the football to the other side of the room where Mr. Moseby wouldn't see it. It thankfully landed on a chair. He then tried to act nonchalant.
"Ah, the Trouble Twins," Moseby stayed upon seeing the Martins.
"Hey, Mr. Moseby. How's it going?" Zack asked in his most normal tone.
"My day was going quite grand before two clouds of destruction rolled in," the hotel manager drawled
Cody (ever blind to snark and sarcasm) got a confused look. "Funny. The weather report says that it's sunny all day."
Zack rolled his eyes at his clueless twin before turning back to Mr. Moseby. "So, Mr. Tipton's coming today?"
"Indeed. And I would greatly prefer that you don't cause any calamities while he's here."
Zack smiled one of his usual disarming smiles. "No problem. We'll be on our best behavior."
Mr. Moseby didn't seem to totally believe the statement, but he just nodded. "Good. Also, as an added warning, the Boston Beekeeper Society and Massachusetts Chicken Raisers are both having their annual meetings in two of our ballrooms, so PLEASE try not to bother them."
"Ooo! I wonder if I can introduce my pet rooster Dudley to the Chicken Raisers!" Estaban said excitedly.
Moseby just glared. "If they can't, neither can you. Besides, I need all hands on deck today, what with Mr. Tipton coming here. Speaking of, a room on the fourth floor is checking out. See to it their bags are brought down."
Estaban saluted his manager and raced to get a luggage cart.
The twins then looked at Mr. Moseby after watching Estaban leave. "Relax, Mr. Moseby. We won't cause any problems."
Zack however muttered, "Not intentionally, anyway."
Mr. Moseby swiveled to him and glared harsher. "What was that?" he asked dangerously.
Zack gave a nervous chuckle. "Uh, we won't cause problems in any way! Yeah, that's what I said!"
Mr. Moseby looked at him a bit before nodding sharply. "Good." Thankfully, he left right after, going back to his office like a lion going back to its den.
Cody and Zack then both let out a sigh of relief.
"You know, maybe we better play it safe today. I mean, it's only once every twenty years, right?" Cody said. "Come on. Let's go upstairs and play some video games. That way, we're out of Moseby's hair."
Zack nodded. "Good idea. That is, if he ever grows any."
The twins couldn't help but laugh at the manager's expense (much easier since he was out of the room). They then left via the elevator, but unfortunately in the ensuing conversation, Zack completely forgot about his football, leaving it on the chair.
An hour later, Mr. Tipton himself arrived at the hotel, sounded by his usual entourage of guards.
Upon seeing the big man in charge (or as much as he could since he was covered with bodyguards) Mr. Moseby immediately raced over and began postraiting to him. "Ah, Mr. Tipton, sir! How are you today? So nice to see-!"
"One moment," Mr. Tipton said from within the crowd of burly men. "Guards! Unshroud me!" The men then separated a bit to allow Mr. Tipton to walk out and address Moseby. "Mosbey, I've come to see how the business is doing," he stated matter-of-factly.
Mr. Moseby chuckled. "Well you certainly have come at the right time, sir. I have just recently booked the ballroom for the annual beekeeping society convention, as well as the annual chicken farm festival. We are booked full for the week," he stated proudly.
Tipton nodded. "Excellent job, Moseby, very excellent. More people means more money. And more money means more for me to spend."
Moseby grimaced at that a tad, but quickly covered it up. "Of course, sir. I aim to please."
Tipton then scratched his chin. "You know, now that I think about it, I have recently acquired an opening for an executive position. One of my men was recently caught trying to convert a swimming pool into a bar without a proper license and was jailed. My thoughts for a replacement are on you."
Mr. Moseby's eyes then opened wide and a huge toothy grin appeared on his face (as Zack and Cody would later state, it looked rather creepy on a guy like him). "Really!?" he asked excitedly in a squeaky voice. Mr. Tipton looked at him oddly before Moseby coughed and recomposed himself. "I mean… really? How very interesting, sir."
"Yes, you do seem to do good work here, Moseby. I could use someone like you in my organization."
Mr. Moseby then chuckled and blushed. "Oh? Well, Mr. Tipton, I-"
"BUT!" Mr. Tipton interrupted, causing Moseby to straighten up. "I'm getting ahead of myself. I still need to do my inspection first to see if you're really keeping up to my standards. Then, once I'm done, we can discuss it. Now! Guards! Shroud me!"
And with that, the guard wall reshrouded him and Mr. Tipton left with the entourage up the elevator. The moment he was out of sight, Mr. Mosbey then did a jolly ballerina dance (something Zack and Cody said was scarier than the big smile).
At that moment, Estaban came by with the luggage cart and watched his boss unknowingly make a fool of himself. "Oh, Mr. Moseby! You look just like my Aunt Rosetta the archeologist when she found that genie lamp in the Temple of Rahkeshina, which filled her with much joy!"
Realizing he was being watched, Moseby quickly halted his pirouette and attempted to make himself look dignified again. "Ahem! Yes, well. I have good news, Estaban my boy! I have finally been recognized by Mr. Tipton! At long last, almost twenty years of scraping and boot licking is FINALLY going to pay off! He's at long last going to promote me, I know it! And let me tell you, not even those two hooligans could ruin this mom-!"
Just then, Arwin came out of the hallway in a hurry, pushing something on a cart covered with a sheet. "Gangway! Excuse me!" he called out.
"Arwin! What is the meaning of this!?" Mr. Moseby demanded.
Arwin stopped in front of the manager and smiled broadly. "Well, you know how the beekeeping society has said it is having trouble handling the bees without proper queen bees?"
"Yes, I heard them mention that," Estaban said. "Apparently they are as difficult to herd as the Rocky Mountain Llama of my home country. Trust me on that. I know from experience."
Arwin nodded. "Well, it gave me the idea to try out my newest invention." He whipped off the tarp to show a machine that almost looked like an old gramophone with some futuristic buttons. "I call it the Beesummoner 9000! See, it mimics an invisible frequency that the queen bee admits to order her workers about. That way the bees will follow OUR orders instead of the queen's!"
"Oh my! So brilliant!" Estaban stated. "Perhaps we should turn it on and see if it works?" He reached for the biggest button before Mr. Moseby quickly slapped his hand away.
"OH NO! NONONONONO! NO TOUCHY! You," he pointed at a shocked Estaban who was cradling his hand, "are not going to do anything of the sort! And YOU," he pointed at Arwin, "are not going to do anything… inventive today! My entire future depends on Mr. Tipton being impressed and I will NOT let anything jeopardize that! Especially not an out of control invention built by our resident Mr. Fixitstien! Esaban, get back to work, please." The bellhop saluted again and promptly left. "And Arwin? You are to take this...thing back down to the basement."
Arwin let out a dejected sigh. "Alright, fine."
Mr. Mosbey nodded. "Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have important work to do in my office as I await Mr. Tipton's return from upstairs."
Mr. Mosbey then walked into his office again and shut the door. Arwin sighed again before moving to cover the Beesummoner when he looked down and bent over to tie his shoes.
As this was all happening, two farmers carrying two crates full of chickens walked through the door as a British looking beekeeper holding a hive of buzzing bees walked out of the elevator.
"Boy, these here prize winning hens is really heavy," one farmer said, panting.
"Careful now, ya hear?" the second one admonished. "Them chickens are mighty afraid of bees and one o' them fancy beekeepin' groups is here. These boxes block out all noises so's they c'n be calm. But they go an' act all berserker when they even hear the buzzing of them critters. Something happens to these crates, we're as good as… well, something bad."
The two farmers then slowly made their way through the lobby, with the first farmer accidentally bumping into the chair with Zack's football on it, knocking it to the floor. Just as that happened, the beekeeper was slowly making his way through the lobby carrying the hive.
"Must be careful now. Certainly cannot drop this hive. Easy does it, old chap," he mumbled to himself.
Then, it happened. Everything seemed to happen all at once.
The beekeeper then slipped on Zack's football, which then flew through the air and hit Arwin on the head as he was standing up. This caused him to dazedly hit the on button on the machine. As the beekeeper flung the hive into the air, it shattered causing a huge swarm of bees to buzz around the lobby angrily.
Upon seeing the furious bugs, guests started shrieking, "BEEEEEESS!!!!! AHHHH!!!!!!
This led to the farmers screaming in terror and fright as the bees swarmed everywhere. Distracted, they also slipped and their own crates went flying. This caused the chickens to jump out and, upon seeing and hearing the bees, become scared and act crazy. Soon, everything was going out of control as numerous people raced for the front door, almost trampling poor Norman the doorman.
At the noise, Mr. Moseby came out of his office.
"What is all this ruk-!?" Unfortunately he was cut off by a few of the bees coming right at him. "OW! OOH! OUCH! OW OW! AHHH MAMA!"
The manager shrieked as he ran away, but kept getting stung all over. Just when things couldn't POSSIBLY get any worse, Mr. Tipton then walked out of the elevator into the lobby, surrounded by his guards.
"MOSBEY! WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!" He demanded from inside the guards.
Mr Moseby froze in front of the large imposing men and blanched. "Mr. Tipton! It's not what it looks like!"
He suddenly turned around upon hearing clucking and buzzing. An entire flock of chickens was being chased by a swarm or the bees. Moseby let out a girlish scream as he quickly ducked. Unfortunately, THAT caused the bees and chickens to leap right onto the guards and Mr. Tipton.
"Ahh!! Aaaaaahhhh! My face! My beautiful, handsome, rich, millionaire face!!!! Aahhhhaaahhhh!!!!!"
Just then a miracle happened. Arwin managed to get a window and opened it to allow the bees and a couple of the chickens to go straight out.
"There. All gone," Arwin panted. Unfortunately, the poor guy was covered in bee stings, which soon caused him to faint from pain.
At that moment, Zack and Cody came off the elevator, bickering slightly.
"Dude! You SO cheated!" Cody stated.
"No. I'm just better than you," Zack said smugly.
"Oh yeah? Well I think yo-" Cody's retort was cut short as soon as he saw the now wrecked lobby, covered with feathers, honey and broken or strewn about furniture ".....Whoa," was all he murmured.
"Geez oh man! What happened here!?" Zack exclaimed, seeing the destruction for the first time.
Then, from the floor in a corner of the room where he'd crawled to safety, Mr. Mosbey got up on shaky legs. His suit was in tatters, his face covered with red bee stings, and to top it all off, a broken egg was on his head. Zack and Cody walked up to him.
"Hey, Mr. Moseby. Wow, the place sure looks EGGcellent!" Zack joked as he and Cody chuckled.
Mr. Moseby gave them an angry look, then looked around at the ruins of his lobby.
Then he spotted something; Zack's football on the ground. The manager then seemed to be beginning to put two and two together. At that, a fire the likes of which the twins hadn't seen before began to blaze in his eyes. He picked it up and began approaching them with apparent murderous intent. "You... you... YOU...!"
Zack and Cody nervously backed away from Mr. Moseby. "Say, uh, did you know you sound a little like an owl? Great impression by the way, heheheh," Zack joked shakily, but all this did was seemingly enrage Mr. Moseby more.
"Mr. Moseby, let's calm ourselves down before we do anything we'll regret," Cody said, holding up his hands in a placating gesture that unfortunately did NOT placate the irate Moseby, who was all but snarling at them now.
Just before Mr. Moseby got close enough to possibly put his hands around the twin's throats, a bellow erupted! "MOSEBY!"
Mr. Moseby's look of fury turned to one of horror as he plastered an obviously nervous smile on his face. He slowly turned to the wall of guards, some of whom looked pretty bedraggled thanks to the chicken pecks and scratches and bee stings. "Yes... Mr. Tipton? Sir?" he asked in a squeaky voice.
"Guards! Unshroud me!" The wall slowly parted to reveal Mr. Tipton, whose face was so covered in bee stings he looked like a ripe tomato. Though whether it was that, his fury that rivaled that of Moseby, or a combination, it was unknown. "Never in all my years has something like this occurred at any of my hotels! It's clear to me now that you are unfit for the executive position!"
Mr. Moseby gaped in shock at his boss's words. "But-but-but-but-!" he stammered.
Cody snickered. "Now he sounds like a motor boat. He's getting good at these impressions."
Mr. Tipton then continued angrily chewing Moseby out. "On top of that, it also seems clear you are unfit to run this place as efficiently as you claim!"
THAT got both Moseby and the twin's attention. They didn’t quite like where this seemed to be going.
"M-Mr. Tipton, sir, what are you saying?" Moseby asked in disbelief.
Mr. Tipton sneered. "I am saying that at approximately 10:00 p.m. one week from tonight, you are relieved of your position here!"
Mr. Moseby gained a horrified look. "You don’t mean...?"
Unfortunately, it seemed he DID as Tipton bellowed the three horrible words:
"YOU ARE FIRED!"
Mr. Moseby seemed to be going into a slight state of shock, as if his brain was having trouble processing it. Zack and Cody meanwhile stared in disbelief. They disliked Moseby quite a bit, and often tried to get him out of the way in order to have fun. However, they realized that he was still a relatively fair guy, compared to some of the other people who could be running the hotel. Like that Ilsa woman who had briefly replaced him. She had been a NIGHTMARE and they had worked to get Moseby back. Now, it seemed it was happening again, this time permanently.
Cody then looked confused. "Wait, why give him a week? Why not fire him on the spot?"
Mr. Moseby then turned to him with an annoyed expression. "Zip the hole that utters the words, you little-!"
"I figure I can be a LITTLE lenient since Moseby will probably want to say his goodbyes and pack up his things!" Mr. Tipton snapped. "But remember, Moseby! 10:00 p.m., one week from tonight! Guards! Shroud me!"
The disheveled guards then covered Mr. Tipton and moved out the door, some of them limping as they did. Mr. Moseby tried to say something to him, but it was as if his voice had (miraculously) dried up.
It was at that moment that Carrie then came out of the elevator.
"Say, Mr. Moseby, do you think we could talk about-?" Much like her sons, she stopped mid-sentence and looked around flummoxed by the mess. "My God, what happened!?" she exclaimed.
Mr. Moseby then turned at her, Zack and Cody with a dry look and hollow look in his eye.
"Mrs. Martin? Carrie?" he stated in a seemingly sickening sweet tone. "In all your family's time here, your sons have constantly pushed my buttons, caused havoc to my precious hotel, and continued to badger me to no end." He stepped forward to them, causing Carrie to put her arms around the boy's shoulders and slowly back away, not quite liking where this was going. "Now, I have always tried to be gracious and forgiving, merciful and kind. But THIS," he exclaimed, holding up Zack's football, "IS THE FINAL STRAW!"
Carrie gaped at him. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that your hooligans, inadvertently though it may have been, caused this terrific mayhem with this horribly misplaced piece of pigskin!" Mosbey spat as he shook the football in Carrie's face, causing her to absent-mindedly brush some spit off her face. "And now, I have been dismissed from my position here at the Boston branch of the Tipton Hotel!"
"You mean you've been fired?" Carrie asked, shocked.
Mr. Moseby nodded solemnly. "Effective one week from tonight at 2200 hours, I am to vacate these premises posthaste! Mr. Tipton gave me that long to clear out my office here and set my affairs in order. But if I am going, I'm goin' out with a bang, baby!" As he shouted that, he squeezed the football in his hand so hard it burst loudly.
"Hey, that was mine!" Zack stated incredulously. Mr. Moseby then shot him a venomous glare, causing the boy to hold up his hands in acquiesce. "Never mind. Keep it. I can get a new one."
Moseby breathed in deeply through his nose. "I want the lot of you gone by the end of month! I'm leaving a letter to my repla- replac- replaaaaa- '' For some reason, he just couldn't say the word. It was as if speaking it was too painful.
"Replacement?" Cody asked simply.
Mr. Moseby shot him the glare he'd given Zack before. "Yes. Thank you. I'll tell THEM that that is my last executive decision as manager of this hotel! That should give you enough time to gather all you need to and get out! And wherever you go," he shook the remains of the football at the twins, "I hope there's a special punishment for you two loathsome troublemakers! Now if you'll excuse me, I should start packing right now. I only have a week, after all." With that, he turned on his heel and began to march to his office.
Carrie however tried to stop Mr. Moseby. "Wait, Mr. Moseby! Please! You can't be serious! Surely there's something that can make you change your mind!"
Unfortunately, at that moment, the chandelier (which had apparently been loosened from the ceiling in the stampede of fleeing guests) crashed down to the side of the group. They quickly jumped back as Carey shielded her sons and Mr. Moseby raised his arms. After that, he just stared at it, then slowly looked at Carrie, his face slowly turning crimson.
Carrie gulped and smiled nervously. "On second thought, we'll start packing." She grabbed the twins around the shoulders and hurried them away.
As they left up the elevator, Arwen woozily woke up. "Hey, Mr. Moseby. I'm up. Sorry about all that."
Mr. Moseby then sharply turned on him and pointed. "You're out too, you addle-brained Einstein! Out! Do you hear me!?" After that he marched away to his office, slamming the door behind him.
Arwen stood there for a moment, then frowned as he let what had just been said settle in. "Yeah, I'm out." He promptly fainted again.
Scootaloo and Dice then burst out laughing.
"Guys! It ain't THAT funny!" Apple Bloom scolded.
"Y-yeah, we know," chuckled Scootaloo. "But you can't deny the part with Mr. Tipton being covered in bee stings was pretty hilarious!"
The others couldn't help but chuckle.
"Yeah, it kinda was," snickered Zack.
Once the laughter died down, Sweetie asked, "So what happened after you guys were kicked out?"
"Well after that, we kinda wondered for a bit," Cody said. "Our dad heard about what happened and set us up in hotels for a bit while Mom searched for a new job."
"Who's yer dad?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Kurt Martin," Zack said proudly.
Dice's eyes lit up. "No way! Your dad is Kurt Martin, the rock musician!? Man, you GOTTA get me his autograph! You know how much that could sell for!?" The others looked at him oddly. Realizing what he was saying, he chuckled nervously. "Sorry. Continue."
"So, anyway," Cody continued. "We traveled the States looking for a new place: San Francisco, Chicago, New Orleans."
"Mardi Gras was particularly well done that year," Zack stated.
"Eventually, Mom got a job offer in Canterlot City to headline as a singer for a club here, so we moved to this place," Cody finished.
"Wow! So both your parents are involved in music? That's so neat!" Sweetie Belle said.
Zack smiled in a charming way (or at least what he THOUGHT was charming). "Thanks. You know, I'm pretty good with music too. I bet WE could make some sweet music together. What do you say, Sweet Cheeks?"
Sweetie then grabbed him by the shirt from across the table and yanked him close. "I think if you call me 'Sweet Cheeks' again, I'll teach you to sing a VERY high note by hitting certain 'keys,' if you get my drift."
Zack stared wide-eyed and nodded rapidly. Sweetie then let him go and Zack collapsed into the booth seat.
"Will you EVER learn?" Cody groaned.
After a bit of awkward silence, Scootaloo then spoke up. "Wow. That still sort of sucks, you know? Being kicked out for something that technically wasn't really your fault."
Sweetie dropped her angry face and got a sad one instead. "Yeah. Sorry that happened to you guys."
Zack had also recovered from his fright as he sighed and shrugged. "Yeah, well, what can you do, ya know?"
"I agree," Dice said, a certain melancholy in his voice. "Sometimes fate deals you a bad hand and you have to leave the things you care about."
The twins and Scootaloo looked at him oddly, as if he knew something about that.
Apple Bloom however piped up. "Aw, c'mon, ya'll! Let's not dwell on the past. Ah mean, sure it's sad, but somthin' good DID come out of it."
"What's that?" Cody asked, confused.
Apple Bloom then gave a big smile. "Meeting new friends, of course. If you hadn't guys hadn't moved here, we wouldn't have two new friends." She turned and gestured to Dice. "Or three even!"
Zack and Cody looked at each other and, after a bit, smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, I guess that IS something good," Zack said.
Cody then grabbed his milkshake glass and raised it up. "I propose a toast. To new friends!"
"TO NEW FRIENDS!" The group echoed as they all clicked their glasses together.
A little while later, the party ended and everyone started to head for home. The Rainbooms walked outside the school via the front entrance. Pinkie was going on and on about the great next party she was going to plan for Zack and Cody.
"...And it's gonna have an even BIGGER chocolate fountain, and a petting zoo, and a-!"
Rainbow Dash then put a hand on Pinkie's shoulder. "Okay, Pinkie. Maybe write it all down or something and then send it to us."
Pinkie tapped her chin for a moment before breaking into a grin. "Yeah! That sounds great! Thanks, Dashie. Well, I'll see you guys tomorrow!" She then skipped away for home.
"Yeah, I'm out too. Later." Rainbow said, waving before walking home with Fluttershy, who lived close by as well.
Rarity bid the others farewell before heading home, leaving Applejack and Sunset.
"Say, you alright, Sugarcube? Ya seem a bit worried 'bout somthin'." AJ said.
Sunset, who was currently lost in her thoughts, was snapped out of them by AJ, turning to face the farmer.
"Oh! Sorry, AJ. I guess… It just seems like the others are hiding secrets from us. Like, there is a reason why they all moved here and why Freddie and Gibby want to keep their celeb status a secret for now." She then looked down. "I've also got a weird feeling that our plan to keep the magic under wraps won't last too long. Don't ask me why, I just do."
Applejack looked at Sunset sadly, then placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled. "Well, whatever happens, we'll be rahght there ta help. And the fellas will tell us what's up in their own time."
Sunset smiled back. "I suppose you're right. Thanks, Applejack." The two then shared a quick hug before splitting up to leave for their respective homes.
As the girls were leaving, Gibby and Freddie also walked out of the front entrance.
Flash Sentry, Micro Chips, and Sandalwood were finishing up talking to Freddy.
"Later, Fredster," Flash said.
"Yeah. Later, dude," waved Sandalwood.
Micro Chips also waved. "Farewell, Freddie. See you at the Videography Club meeting tomorrow."
"See ya, guys," Freddie called out. He went over to where Gibby was talking with Trixie.
"So," the girl said. "You are interested in joining the Magicians Club? Well, the Great and Powerful Trrriixie will have to see if you are magician material."
Gibby nodded. "Don’t worry, I'm pretty good with magic."
The girl- "Trixe"- looked him over. "We will see. Not just anyone can join MY club. I'll see you tomorrow."
Gibby looked at her a bit awkwardly, but chuckled. "Later, Trixie." She turned and left after that.
Freddie then walked over once the girl had flounced away. "So, THAT'S the girl the guys were talking about?" he asked with an amused expression.
Gibby sighed. "Yeah and she's EVERY bit of a handful as they said."
Freddie chuckled. Don't worry. If you can handle Sam, you can handle her." He then grew quiet upon saying that.
The two walked down the path to get to where it split off to their respective homes.
Gibby sighed. "So. Aside from the Home Ec Incident, the first day at a new school? Not too bad, huh?"
Freddie shrugged, still in thought. I suppose so, Gibs."
Gibby then saw the look on his friend's face. "What’s the matter, dude?"
Freddie sighed. "It’s just I miss Carly and Sam so much…..huh?"
Gibby saw his friend's face screw up in surprise. "What?"
Freddie turned to him. "I just said I miss Sam. Wow, I must REALLY be sad." The way he said it though was as a joke.
Gibby chuckled. "To be honest, I miss them too." He then smiled. "Well, let’s see what they're up to, shall we?"
"You mean…?" Freddie asked.
Gibby answered by pulling out his phone and pulling up the iCarly web page.
Sure enough, upon clicking the latest video, the familiar faces of Carly and Sam popped up and began doing the usual opening spiel.
"Hi! I’m Carly!"
"And I’m Sam!"
"AND THIS IS ICARLY!!!" The sounds of the cheering from the remote Sam used sounded out.
After calming down a little, Carly turned to the audience in Videoland. "Today’s episode of iCarly goes out to a very special someone. He’s a bit of a dork…"
"A real big nerd," Sam interjected.
"He’s great with technology…"
"He’s also a wimp and loser," Sam piped back up.
"Sam!" Carly scolded lightly, though from her tone and face, she could tell Sam was slightly faking it.
Sam continued in a more professional tone.
"We’re, of course, talking about our ex- cameraman, Freddie Benson."
Carly sighed sadly. "Much like our good friend Gibby, Freddie unfortunately is no longer with us."
"And no he’s not dead. Though I'm sure some people would like to think he is," Sam interrupted.
Freddie rolled his eyes at the comment while Gibby snickered.
"Still the same old Sam," he chuckled.
Carly continued. "Much like with Gibby, Freddie has moved on to a different city. Which means he’s somewhere else now."
Sam then got serious. "But we kinda like to think he’s still here. I mean, the geek was with us right at the beginning of our show, helping with tech and stuff like that."
Carly then smiled. "Which is why to commemorate Freddie, I had my older brother Spencer make a statue dedicated to him."
"Okay, Spence! Roll it out!" Sam bellowed.
Spencer then came in, rolling out what looked like a giant chocolate statue of Freddie. He put it in front of the camera and spread his arms out. "Ta-da!"
Freddie and Gibby's eyes widened at the sight. The statue looked just like Freddie.
"Whoa," the guy in question whispered.
Gibby nudged him. "Dude, you look tasty."
Back on the screen, Sam sniffed the chocolate.
"Mmm! This is gonna be hard for me to say, but Fredster here looks good enough to eat."
The guys chuckled up on hearing that.
Carly then looked to the screen. "Freddie, if you're hearing this… we miss you."
"Yeah, we may not have gotten on too well, but you were a great tech guy and… a pretty cool friend," Sam said, not very reluctantly with a smile of her own.
"And next week, we'll be hosting a show in honor of our other absent pal, Gibby," Carly said happily.
"So be prepared to see much, MUCH shirtlessness as we show off some of his best moments!" Sam declared.
"Hey, c'mon! Are we gonna eat this guy or what?" Spencer asked
At that, the group then turned to take pieces off the chocolate statue to eat and waved to the audience, which included their two friends. The video then stopped, pausing to show them all smiling.
Freddie stared at the screen with a small sad smile. Gibby then turned off his phone and put it back in his pocket. As he looked at Freddie, he noticed a small tear leak out of Freddie's eye.
Gibby put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey dude, it's gonna be ok. I miss them all too."
Freddie wiped his eye. "I know, *sniff.*
"Say, tell you what? How bout we watch the episode they said was going to air next week? I want to see which moments they pick," Gibby suggested.
Freddy gave a watery chuckle. "Sure, sounds like a plan. Hey, I’ll see ya tomorrow, okay Gibbs?"
Gibby nodded. "For sure. See ya."
Gibby and Freddie then bro fived and left in separate directions. However, Freddie still felt a little down. After what had happened that forced him and Gibby to leave their old school and town, he had started wondering if they were ever going to get used to their new surroundings. As Sam had mentioned, he'd been with iCarly since the beginning. It had been a huge part of his life and the reason he'd had some many crazy adventures with Carly, Sam, Spencer, and even Gibby. Now all that was done.
But then, he thought back to the visit at the school. Meeting Sunset and her friends as well as the other new kids. The folks of the Videography Club. The fun party and everyone welcoming him and Gibby with open arms. Freddy had to admit though it would be difficult, he could probably get used to Canterlot.
As the older guys were headed out, so were the younger ones. Zack Cody and Dice and the CMC were just leaving the restaurant.
"Man, for fast food, that was actually pretty good," chuckled Zack.
"I agree," Cody stated. "I could get used to eating here."
Apple Bloom smiled. "Glad you fellers enjoyed yerselves. Well, this has been fun y’all, but Ah've gotta get back to the farm. Granny will kill me if I miss my curfew again."
"Yeah, I better get home as well," Sweetie Belle agreed.
"See ya tomorrow, guys," Scootaloo waved.
"Yeah, totally," Zack stated, Cody nodding in agreement.
"For sure," Dice agreed.
The three girls then walked away towards their homes.
As they went one way, the boys went the opposite.
"That was pretty fun," Cody stated. "I'm glad we were able to connect with some of the locals here so quickly."
"I'd definitely like to connect with Sweetie, if you catchy drift," Zack stated with a smirk.
Dice shook his head. "I dunno, man. The way she acted, she probably thinks you're like a bug she wants to get rid of."
"Well, I'll wear her down eventually. No gal can resist the ol' Zack Martin charm for long," Zack assured.
"You know, if you stopped bathing, spoke French and we dyed your hair black with a white stripe, we could call you 'Pepe,' instead" snarked Cody.
"Oh ha ha," Zack stated sarcastically. "Why don't you go jump in le river?"
"Okay, okay. Calm down, guys," Dice said, playing peacekeeper. Thankfully the twins took his advice and calmed down. "You know what I find funny?"
Dice asked, hoping to get a new topic started.
"You guys have an Esteban where you're from when I have a cousin with the same name."
Cody looked shocked. "Get out of here! Really?"
"Yeah, my cousin's named Esteban too. Though he's obviously a lot younger." He then looked at the street sign above them- Baker's Avenue. "Speaking of, here's their street. And by extension, mine. I better get home and fast. If I’m late again, my Aunt Nia's gonna make me rub foot cream on her infected toe again." He and the twins shared a shiver at that. "Well, later guys."
"Later, Dice Man," Zack called out.
"Yeah, so long!" Cody added.
The three all gave a fist bump before splitting up.
As Zack and Cody started to walk the other way toward their home at a somewhat leisurely pace (knowing their mom would be out late due to her job at the club and not having to worry about them getting home too late) they enjoyed the beautiful Canterlot City suburb scenery. Having lived in a big city for most of their lives, they rather enjoyed the less hectic quiet.
"It’s kinda nice, don't you think?" Cody asked.
"Guess so," Zack said with a shrug. "Sort of like a smaller Boston, except you know…. less bums on the streets." He said this as a joke and they shared a laugh.
"Hey, you remember the time a hawk landed on the Tipton rooftop?" Cody inquired.
Zack smirked and chuckled at the memory. "Yeah, hehe. Mr. Mosbey wanted to get rid of it, and Maddie started protesting the hawks' freedom."
"Yeah, then the hawk laid an egg and we raised the baby!"
The duo laughed before continuing their metaphorical trip down memory lane. "Also, remember the time we tried to save the Tipton horse Tippy from being sold to that mean farmer?" Zack inquired.
Cody snickered. "Yeah, so we tried to hide Tippy in Arwin’s office, but he got lose and we had to try and find him!"
The twins shared another hearty laugh at that.
Once he caught his breath, Cody sighed and stopped walking. "You know, all are best moments were at that hotel. Now that we don’t live there anymore, I hate to think that….well they're all over now." He frowned at that.
Zack shared the sentiment, looking down gloomily. But he then perked up a tad. "Well, they don’t have to be, dude."
Cody looked at his brother, confused. "What do you mean?"
Zack shrugged as he smiled at his brother. "Think about it. It wasn’t the HOTEL that made our lives so awesome; it was us! You and me!
"Huh?" Cody inquired.
Zack continued. "Every time there was some random incident or-or some wacky moment, you were always by my side, man!"
Cody then started smiling. "Yeah! Every time Moseby would be angry at us, you would by my side too!"
Zack started getting excited. "And very time there was a smoking hot babe, or a fortuitous and adventurous moment of excitement, we would always work together to make it usually come out in our favor!" he declaired, pointing a finger into the air.
Cody then glanced at him, wide-eyed. "Ok, you're starting to use fancy words like 'fortuitous' and 'favor,' and that kinda scares me," he stated.
Just like that, Zack's moment faded and he flopped the raised arm to his side as he sighed and rolled his eyes. "Look, my point is that we don’t need the Tipton to live the sweet life, dude! We make that life all by ourselves by being who we are! Me being the cool, suave ladies man, and you the brainiac that actually manages to come up with interesting factoids once in a while!"
Cody then got a pensive look on his face and pondered his brother's words. Zack was right. Even when they'd been away from the hotel, they more often than not got into nutty adventures and the like just by being themselves. Who's to say the same couldn't happen here? "Yeah… yeah, I guess you're right. Thanks, Zack."
Zack chuckled. "Hey. What are brothers for, amiright?"
The two then did their special handshake where they bumped elbows, then bumped the opposite ones, and finally waved their hand and cheered, "Eheheeheeehe!"
The duo chuckled as they finally started walking down the street to their house. As they did so, the sun began to set.
"Say, you think Mom left us money to order a pizza?" Cody asked.
"I sure hope so," Zack said.
As the sun continued to set and the stars began to emerge, the boys were now content in the fact that as long as they stuck together, they could only continue to live the "suite life."
THE.END