MLP: The School Years
Part II: After School Shenanigans
“Ughhhh…” Dash leaned back in her chair, running her hands through the mess of rainbow colored hair. “Is class over yet?” She looked around the circle of desks surrounding her at her group members, who happened to be her closest friends in the world. One of them, with a purple streak in her long, black hair, spoke up.
“No it isn’t Dash. We still have another ten minutes left, and we all need to get focused and make sure we know what we’re doing on this project.”
“Yea, whatever Tori. What’s this project supposed to be on anyway?” Dash asked, looking out of the window.
“Weren’t you paying attention at all for the past hour?” Dash shot Tori a look that clearly said that she hadn’t been. Tori sighed, “We’re supposed to be doing a project on local history.”
“I know ‘bout the history of my farm…” AJ spoke up, “Can I write about that?”
“Alright class,” Luna stood up from behind her desk, “I’ve finished grading your tests from the other day, and I have to say that I am disappointed. We have a lot of work ahead of us this year if we want to become the best class this school has seen. Please get back in your rows so that I can pass back your tests.” The class grumbled and the sound of scraping desks and chairs filled the room as they moved. Luna moved between the rows, handing back the tests. Tori could hear people groan as they saw their grades.
“I can’t believe that she assigned us another test so soon after the first. We’ve barely learned anything,” AJ grumbled under her breath.
Luna walked past Tori and placed her test face down on her desk, then gave Tori a little smile. Tori flipped over her test and saw a 100, written in a neat, precise hand in red ink with a little circle around it. Tori quickly flipped the paper back over and looked around to see if anyone had seen her grade. It seemed no one had, Dash was looking out of the window like always and AJ was quietly arguing with Rachel about something, probably AJ’s apparent lack of care about her appearance. They quickly stopped as Luna walked by and handed each of them their tests. They both grimaced when they saw their grades. Phoebe thanked Luna in a quiet voice when she got her test back, and showed little emotion as to what her grade was, whereas Penelope didn’t even look and shoved the test into her backpack.
The bell rung and Luna walked to the front of the class. “You all are dismissed; don’t forget that you have a project due next week.” The class stood and gathered their things, talking about what they were going to do with the rest of their day. Most mumbled about the grades that they received, complaining that the test was too hard, or was on things that they hadn’t learned yet.
Tori stood and turned to her friends, who were all putting their things away. “We should meet up later today to work on that project. We can use my loft above the library, so we’ll have someplace to work.”
“If we do,” said Dash, standing up and stretching, “it’ll have to be after five…Practice runs until then and I can’t skimp out early.”
“Yea…sorry sugarcube,” AJ plopped her hat back onto her head. “I’ve got a bit o’ work cut out for me on the farm today. Might be able t’ show up near the evenin’ tho’.”
“Is there anyone who can show up sometime before the evening?” asked Tori, sounding exasperated. She looked around at the group, who all were looking down and shuffling their feet. Tori sighed, “Fine…I’ll start researching while you all are out doing your things. Just show up if you can.”
“Lighten up…” said Dash, patting Tori on the shoulder. “You shouldn’t keep yourself cooped up in a stuffy old library all day.” Her face brightened up as an idea blossomed in her head. “You should come and hang out with us as we do our after school stuff!”
“Yeah!” said Penelope enthusiastically. “It’ll be great! I can show you the bakery where I work and you can get free samples and help me make cupcakes and everything else!” She started bouncing up and down before AJ put her hand firmly on her head, forcing her to the ground.
“I could always use an extra hand on the farm, what’dya say about helpin’ out?” AJ looked at Tori, smiling.
“Well…” Tori took a step back, “I don’t know…I mean, Spike will be wondering where I went if…”
“Can’t you just give him a call, darling?” Rachel looked Tori up and down, “Also, your body type is simply perfect for the dress I’m designing. I simply must have you model for me. You can bring your friend Spike along too, of course. I don’t think that we’ve met him yet.”
“Fine…I guess I could take a quick break from studying. After all, there aren’t any tests coming up in the immediate future.” Tori pulled out a small cell phone and dialed a number. The phone rang twice and then someone picked up on the other end.
“Heya Tori! What’s going on?” came Spike’s voice from over the phone.
“Hello Spike, I’ve had a slight change of plans. Instead of going straight back to the library, I’m instead going to…hang out…with my new friends. They say it’s fine if you show up too…”
“Yea, sure. I really didn’t want to spend all day at the library anyways. Where should I meet you?”
Tori looked at her friends, who shrugged. “I guess you can meet me at the track, we’re going to watch Dash practice for a bit, and then we’ll find out what we’re doing from there.”
“Alright…I’ll start heading over right now. See ya there!” The line went dead and Tori put away the phone. Everyone waved goodbye to Tori and began to walk their separate ways, headed off to wherever they went after school. Tori hurried to catch up with Dash, who was walking out to the track.
“Dash,” said Tori, catching up to her. “What do you do at practice? Is it just running, because that doesn’t seem that hard…”
Dash scoffed, “Not that hard…I’d like to see you try the workout that I put myself through almost daily. I run at least a couple miles every day, almost all of it sprinting. There’s a reason that I’m the fastest in the school…no, the county.”
“Wow…you sound really confidant about your ability. How fast can you run?”
Dash stopped in front of a large board posted on one of the walls in the athletics wing. “This is the records board; I hold most of them for the events that I run.” She pointed out some of the events which, sure enough, had Dash’s name on a small plaque next to them. “So far no one’s even come close to them. I think that they’ll be safe long after I leave. Is that an answer as to how fast I can run?”
Tori scanned the board and saw one name that was different in the sea of Dashes. “Who’s Serena Muse? It says here that she still holds the record for the 400-meter dash.”
“Only the coolest person I’ve ever seen!” said Dash. “She was the one who really got me interested in track after I saw her run. I’ve been trying for most of my track career to get as good as she was. Now I only need to beat her record to prove that I’m just as good.”
They walked out of the building, talking about Serena’s track records and Dash’s attempts to be just as good as she was. It was a warm day out, not overly hot, but pleasant. Only a couple clouds in the sky marred what was otherwise a perfect day. Tori looked around for Spike and saw him waving at her from the bleachers. “Over here Tori!” he called out, drawing the attention Tori and Dash. Dash gave Tori a little wave, then headed over to the locker room. Tori walked over to where Spike was sitting. He had taken off his purple hoodie and had it balled up next to him, using it as a cushion. “Where’s everyone else?”
“They’re off at their jobs, or wherever they go after school. I guess we’re going to go visit all of them.” Tori sighed and sat on the bleachers next to Spike. “Why can’t I just go back home and study? I really don’t want to be roaming around town all day.”
“Aww, cheer up Tori. You always look at the worst of things. It’ll be fun, plus I can’t wait to meet all of your friends. So where are we going to next? I don’t think that Dash expects us to stay here all of practice.” Spike looked at Tori questionably. “You do know where everyone is, right?”
“Of course I do Spike. I just hope that Dash won’t mind us leaving before her practice has even started. I think that we should stick around at least until she starts running.” Dash pulled a small book out of her backpack and began leafing through it. Several minutes passed before Dash walked back out of the locker room, wearing a light blue tank top and a pair of athletic shorts with a thunderhead on the side. More people followed her out, talking and laughing, all dressed in work-out clothing.
Dash’s voice rang out over the crowd. “All right everyone! Warm-up! Gimme four easy laps then we’ll get to work.” Everyone began jogging around the track, some going faster than others. Dash, of course, was at the head of the group, jogging and looking bored. After the warm-up laps were completed, Dash lead everyone in stretching. Tori was surprised at the amount of leadership and control that Dash had over the team, they all seemed to listen to her and respect her, even the larger and older boys. An adult who must have been the coach walked out onto the track and addressed the team, assigning different groups different work out schedules.
“Why’s everyone getting different work-outs? I thought that all they had to do was run…” Tori mused out loud.
“It’s cause there’s different events in track,” Spike said. “For a smart person, you can sure be oblivious sometimes Tori. Where to next?”
“Well…we are going into town, so I guess we should stop by AJ’s farm. It is on the way, after all. If we hurry we can still catch the bus there.” Tori gave a quick wave to Dash, who nodded goodbye, then she and Spike took off at a run to catch the bus.
* * *
A short bus ride later, Tori and Spike found themselves standing outside of a wooden gate with a sign posted above it reading, “Sweet Apple Acres.” Tori looked around, awkwardly.
“Do we knock, or just go right in? I’ve never been to a farm before so…”
“Tori! Y’ showed up!” came AJ’s voice from a distance. Spike and Tori looked and saw her running towards the gate. AJ unlatched it and pushed it open, letting them in. “Glad to see ya made it sugarcube. This here must be Spike, right?”
“Yes, this is my very good friend Spike.”
“I can introduce myself…” grumbled Spike.
AJ laughed, “Well okay then…Let me show ya around. You’re in luck, most o’ my family’s in town, so ya get to meet all’a them too!” AJ beckoned them to follow her, beaming. “We’ve just gotten done with most of the bakin’ for tomorrow’s festival.”
“Festival? What festival?” asked Tori, confused.
“Don’cha know? It’s the official start of Fall tomorrow, can’t believe that a bookworm like you wouldn’t know somethin’ like that.”
Tori scoffed, “I did know that Fall began tomorrow, I just didn’t know that this town celebrated something like that. It always just kinda…went by where I used to live.”
“Yeah,” Spike added. “There wasn’t really that much celebrating back where we used to live.”
“Well…that don’ sound fun at all. We sure do celebrate a lot down here. Anyway, let me introduce ya to the family.” With that, AJ walked around the farm, introducing Tori and Spike to each family member. By the end of it all, Tori’s head was spinning. She didn’t know that AJ had so many relatives. AJ looked around, slightly confused. “Now where in Equestria could Mack and Annabelle be? Can’t seem to find them anywhere on the farm.”
The sound of a truck pulling up behind them made them all turn to face it. An older boy, with the same straw-blonde hair as AJ and wearing blue jeans and a red shirt, stepped out of the truck and walked up to AJ. He was much taller than her and well muscled, his skin tanned from years of work out on the farm. “’Lo there, sis,” he said in a deep southern accent.
“There ya are, Mack. I’ve been looking everywhere for ya. This here’s Tori, and her friend Spike. They were just visitin’ and seein’ the farm. Do’ya know where Annabelle is?”
“Here I am!” Mack grunted as a small girl ran up and jumped on his back. She had medium-length, red hair that was tied back with a large pink bow and wore a plain yellow shirt with denim overalls. She smiled at Tori and Spike from over Mack’s shoulder. “Howdy y’all! My name’s Annabelle, pleasure to meetcha!”
“It’s nice to meet you too,” said Tori. “Is there anything else you wanted me for here? I still need to visit everyone else and get back to work.”
“Aww, come on sugarcube. Ya still need t’ try some’ve our delicious apple products. Stuff like apple pie, apple fritter, red delicious, golden delicious, granny smith, and apple cakes. Y’know, good stuff.”
“I really can’t…” said Tori, looking around for a way out.
Annabelle looked sad and hung her head, “Aren’tcha gonna stay an’ try some? Pleeassseee?” She gave Tori puppy dog eyes and sniveled a bit. Tori sighed and looked at Spike.
“I guess we can stay for a bit after all. It’s not like everyone is going to go anywhere while we’re here.” Annabelle brightened up immediately and jumped down from Mack’s back. She grabbed Tori’s hand and led her inside, with Mack, AJ, and Spike following closely behind.
* * *
“Ugh…” Tori moaned softly on the bus ride into town. “I think I ate too much pie.”
“I don’t know…I thought that it all was really good. I’m just upset that we couldn’t stick around for seconds.” Spike looked out of the window of the bus and pointed, “Isn’t that our stop right there?”
Tori looked out of the window at where Spike was pointing and saw a store with a large sign over it reading “Carousel Boutique”. The bus rolled to a stop and Tori and Spike hopped out and walked up to the store’s entrance. A small bell chimed as they both walked into the store and a voice came from the back.
“Be with you in a second, darling. I just have to finish up something.” After a minute, Rachel walked out of the back of the store, pushing a rack of clothing with her. She stopped when she saw Tori standing there, looking at the different dresses put up on display. “Tori! What a wonderful surprise, I wasn’t expecting you until later.” She looked at Spike and frowned. “And this must be your friend Spike, right? I have to say, your choice of colors seems to match very nicely. Nice to see that someone in this town has fashion sense.”
To Tori’s surprise, Spike looked down and shuffled his feet, blushing. She had never seen Spike blush like that before. “So…now that I’m here, what are we going to do?” she asked Rachel.
“Well…I guess I can help you out with your fashion sense. Goodness knows you need all the help you can get.” Rachel began to walk to the back, motioning for Tori to follow her. “Come along, darling. We’ll get you suited up into something more proper for you.” Spike got up to follow them, but Rachel held up a hand, stopping him. “And just where do you think you’re going?”
Spike looked flustered, “Well…I…uhhh…” He shrugged, “With you and Tori, I guess.”
Rachel shook her head. “Goodness no, you can’t be back here while we’re changing and trying things on. Just wait out here and we’ll be out in a while.”
Tori looked at Spike and smiled sheepishly, “Sorry Spike, but Rachel has a point. I don’t think that we’ll be that long. Read a book or something while I’m gone.” With that she followed Rachel into the back room, leaving Spike alone and grumbling.
The back room was littered with mannequins and fabrics of all sorts, with half finished dresses and clothing draped over chairs and tables. Rachel had no trouble finding what she needed, however, and soon pulled out a long sleeved, light purple shirt and a darker purple vest to go over it. “Try these on; they’ll help bring out your beautiful hair. Where did you get it done? I simply must know.”
Tori stepped into a changing room and began to change. “My hair? I got it done in Canterlot. I lived there until I moved here.” Suddenly Rachel’s head poked into the room, causing Tori to squeak with alarm and try to cover herself up.
“You lived in Canterlot? You must tell me all about it there. I’ve always wanted to go and visit…” Rachel trailed off and realized that Tori was standing in the corner, still looking alarmed. “Sorry, darling. I didn’t meant to barge in on you like that.” She withdrew her head from the room and continued the conversation. “So, what’s it like there?”
“Well…” Tori said, pulling the purple shirt over her head and adjusting it. “It was busy, that’s for sure. There were a lot of people, but I really didn’t know anyone that well. I was too busy with my studies. The parks were great; there was this one tree that provided some of the best shade to read under.” She stepped out of the dressing room and let Rachel look her over.
“Much better. I’m glad that I was able to do something about that.” Rachel folded her arms and looked at the vest, frowning. “That’s rather plain, I think I can do something to spruce it up, however. Maybe an emblem or something…yes, that’d work fine. What do you like that I could sew onto that vest for you?”
Tori thought for a moment. “Well…I love to read, so maybe a book?”
“No,” Rachel said immediately, “that’s far too corny. Pick something else.”
“What about stars? Stargazing was one of the things that I loved to do back in Canterlot.”
“Stars…yes, that could work. Tell you what; give me that vest and I’ll make something work for it.” Rachel held out a hand and Tori pulled off the vest and handed it to her.
“What about the shirt? Should I get changed back into my old clothes?”
Rachel laughed, “Of course not. You can hang on to that, it was just taking up room back here anyways. Consider it a welcome gift from me.”
“Thank you,” said Tori, giving Rachel a quick hug. “Thank you so much!”
“It was nothing. I just don’t want to see you running around dressed horribly again, or else I will personally come over to where you live and redo your wardrobe.”
Tori laughed, “All right, you have yourself a deal. I’d better get going, Spike must be bored out of his mind by now.”
Sure enough, Tori found Spike slumped down in a chair in the front room, staring blankly at the far wall. He perked up when Tori walked out and stood. “There you are. I’ve been waiting for hours!”
Tori looked at her watch. “It’s only been twenty minutes Spike. You need to stop exaggerating so much. Do you like my new shirt? Compliments from Rachel.”
Spike shrugged, “I don’t think it looks much different. It’s just a different color. Where are we going next?”
Tori walked out of the store, followed by Spike. “I don’t know, let’s just walk down Main Street and see where we end up. I think that Penelope and Phoebe work around here.” A breeze brought the smell of fresh baking to Tori’s nose. “On second thought, let’s go and visit the bakery, I've heard that they make the best sweets in town. Plus, I seem to remember Penelope saying that she works there. This would be a good time to go and see her.” Tori poked her head back into Rachel’s store and called, “Rachel, do you know how to get to bakery?”
“Down the street and to the left. Give Penelope my regards,” came the reply.
Tori thanked her and began walking down the street, following the smell of baking. The smell led them to a small store with tons of pastries and cakes in the window, through which Penelope’s mess of pink hair was clearly visible. Tori walked through the door and was almost immediately set upon by an older woman wearing an apron.
“Hello there! Welcome to Sugarcube Corner. How can I help you today?” said the woman.
“Uh…well,” Tori said, taken aback by the woman’s enthusiasm. “I’m here for…”
“TORI!!!” came a shout from behind the counter. Tori looked up just in time to see a mass of pink hair come hurtling towards her. She soon found herself engulfed in a huge hug, with Penelope babbling away in her ear. “I’m so glad that you came over! I have soooo much I want to show you! Ohhh! You can help me bake some stuff, I don’t know what yet, but I’m sure that we’ll think of something! Why’d it take so long to get here? Did you visit other people before me?” Penelope stopped to take a breath and saw Spike standing awkwardly nearby. “Is that Spike? He’s sooooo tiny! What grade’s he in?”
“I’m not that small!” said Spike, puffing himself up. “And I’m in the 8th grade, for your information.”
“Yes…anyways. Who was that who greeted me when I walked in?” Tori glanced towards one of the entrances, where the woman had walked out of.
“Oh that? That’s Mrs. Cake! She and her husband own the shop! They’re really, really nice once you get to know them! They taught me a whole bunch of stuff about baking, and by that I mean almost everything. But I think that I’m better than them now at it, just don’t tell them!”
“Okay?” Tori looked at Spike and smiled, “What did you have planned for us to do?”
“We’re going to bake, silly! We’re making a cake! It’s gonna be sooooo tasty!” Penelope grabbed Tori’s arm and dragged her back into the kitchen. The ingredients needed were already laid out on the counter, as well as the bowls and other cooking utensils.
Tori looked at everything, then turned to Penelope. “This all looks nice and well, but there’s still the problem that I don’t know how to cook at all.”
“That’s no problem! Just follow my instructions and you’ll make the best cakes you’ve ever tasted!” Penelope grabbed an apron and threw it over Tori’s head. She pulled a pink one with balloons embroidered on the front over her head and tied her hair back, so it wouldn’t get in the way of the cooking. “I’m not sure what your favorite color is, so I’m just giving you a white apron, is that okay?”
“Yea, sure. I don’t see a problem with that.” Tori pulled the apron on and looked around. “And it’s purple, just so you know. Where do we start?”
Penelope began to direct Tori on how much of each ingredient to put into the different bowls, and soon Tori found herself having a blast. Penelope made cooking fun, singing and twirling around the kitchen all the while mixing ingredients and directing Tori. This must be what it feels like to be Penelope, thought Tori, laughing as Penelope cracked a joke about cooking. Just having fun all the time.
Soon, the mixture of ingredients was cooking in the oven, and Penelope and Tori were sitting at a table, enjoying some cupcakes that Penelope had prepared the day before. Penelope was in the middle of a story of how she had thrown a huge party when her cell phone went off. Checking it, Tori saw a message from Spike. It read, “Got bored, went to go wander around town. Call me if you need me, or when you get done. Whichever works. Spike.”
“Poor Spike,” said Tori, looking at the message. “I keep leaving him to sit around and do nothing the entire time.” She looked up at Penelope, who had half a cupcake lodged in her mouth. “I’d better get going, I still have to visit Phoebe and then catch up on the studying I’m missing. I’ll come back tomorrow or something to help finish the cake.”
Penelope swallowed the rest of the cupcake and smiled at her, “It’s fine! Phoebe could use some visiting, and I’ll finish the cake. I’m making it for someone special anyways, so I don’t want anyone to see the icing that I’m going to put on it, or else it’ll be ruined!”
Tori looked taken aback. “Oh…okay. If you’re sure that you don’t need any help.”
“Don’t look so glum! I promise the next cake that I bake you can help ice! Anyways, that’s the most fun part, ‘cause you get to make the cake look all pretty and colorful and you said that your favorite color was purple, right?”
“Yea, but what does that have to do with…”
“Nothing! I just love knowing everyone’s favorite color, like Rachel’s is white and purple, Phoebe’s is yellow…”
Penelope began rambling on to herself about everyone’s favorite colors, so Tori gave her a little wave and walked out of the store, saying goodbye to Mrs. Cake on the way out. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialed Spike’s number. After a few rings, he picked up.
“H’lo?”
“Spike,” said Tori, walking down the street, “Where are you?”
“I’m in our flat above the library. It was really messy from your studying spree, so I’m just cleaning it up. Where are you?”
“I’m headed over to where Phoebe works, you can meet me there if you want.”
“Yea, sure. I’ll be right over.”
* * *
Tori found Spike waiting for her outside of a small building with the silhouette of a person and a dog on the front. There was writing over the picture that read, “Veterinary Clinic.” Tori gestured to the door, “After you.”
The inside of the building was relatively empty, with a line of chairs along the wall for people to wait on and a couple plants. A bored looking man was sitting behind the counter, idly flipping through a magazine. He looked up when Tori and Spike walked up to the counter. “Can I help you with anything?”
Tori glanced around the room, “We’re just here to see Phoebe, she told us that we could come in and say hello.”
The man sighed, “She’s in the back. Just don’t cause too much trouble.”
Tori walked past the counter and into the back. There were cages lining the walls with all sorts of animals in them, even a small section of tanks for fish. It was pretty quiet from what Tori knew about vet offices, and soon Tori saw why. Flitting from cage to cage was Phoebe, softly speaking to each animal and administering aid where it was needed. She was so caught up in her work that she didn’t notice Tori and Spike approaching from behind. Tori reached out and tapped Phoebe’s shoulder. “Hey Phoebe, we just dropped in to say hello.”
Phoebe leapt into the air and dropped an empty water bowl onto the ground with a loud crash. The noise startled the animals, which in turn startled Phoebe even more. She squeaked loudly and backed up into the cages, trying to curl up and disappear. “I’m sooo sorry Phoebe,” said Tori. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Oh, it’s just you.” Phoebe breathed a sigh of relief. “You startled me is all. I was just looking after the animals. I love being with them all and helping them out so much. I want to become a veterinarian one day, so I figure that working here is the best way to get practice.”
“Well, I guess that this is a good of a way as any. I’ve only read about veterinary studies.” She looked at all the cages and suddenly had an idea, “Hey! Since I’ve only read about vets and what they do, think that you can give me a real life example?”
Phoebe’s face brightened considerably. “Oh I would love to! That is…if you really want me to.”
“Yes please! What are we going to do first?”
The next hour flew by as Phoebe showed Tori the ropes of her job. They both had a blast feeding and walking the various animals that Phoebe was taking care of. It was like Tori was seeing a whole new side of Phoebe that she had never seen before. It wasn’t like at school, where she was quiet and withdrawn. Here with the animals Phoebe was confidant and happy. “You must really love it here,” Tori mentioned offhandedly as they finished locking everything up. “I’ve never seen you act so happy and outgoing before.”
“Oh yes, it’s so much fun looking after them all and helping them get better.” She glanced down at her watch and gave a start. “Oh dear, I’m afraid that I’m late for something.” Phoebe grabbed her bag and ran to the door. “I guess I’ll see you around…I think.” With that she dashed out of the door, leaving a flummoxed Tori standing in the waiting room. Spike walked up to her.
“Why do you always take so long doing everything? I almost feel asleep waiting for you.”
“You could have come with us,” said Tori, walking out of the door. “In any case, it’s starting to get late; we should probably head back to the library.”
Spike sighed. “I really don’t get why you had to rent a room right above the library, Tori. There were rooms in the dorm so we wouldn’t have to walk as far or catch the bus.”
“I like the library, Spike. Plus, I’ve heard that life in a dorm can be…distracting. You wouldn’t want me to be distracted from my studies, would you?” Tori began walking in the direction of the library. “Come on Spike, I need you to help quiz me on what I learned today.”
“Can’t I just do what I want for a change?” grumbled Spike under his breath. “It’s not like I’m your servant or anything like that.”
After a short walk from the veterinary clinic, Tori and Spike stood outside of the library, which was a large three story building with a small flat on the third floor. It really was a nice library, just not as good as the one that she was used to back at her old home. As she walked through the entrance, the head librarian looked up from some paperwork on her desk. “Ah, Miss Tori. I wanted to speak to you about something. Some people stopped by earlier and asked about you. They said that they were your friends, so I sent them up to the flat. Just remember that this is a library too. I don’t want too much noise or anything.”
“All right…” Tori said, confused. What was going on? Walking up the stairs to the entrance of the flat, Tori thought that she heard movement inside her room. Opening the door slowly, she called out, “Hello? Anyone there?”
“SURPRISE!” came a loud shout from inside the room as the lights were flicked on, revealing Penelope, Phoebe, Dash, AJ, and Rachel all standing the room, smiling.
“What’s this? A party?” Tori asked, looking around at everyone.
“Of course it is silly!” Penelope came bouncing over to her and dragged her into the room. “Didn’t I say a couple of days ago that I was going to throw you a party? Sorry it took so long, I just didn’t know where you lived or what your favorite color was or anything really about you so that I could throw this super special welcome party! Oh this is going to be so much fun! I’ve already set up everything, you know, like party games and the music and food. Ooooo, you’re going to love the cake that we baked today! I even decorated it with the stuff that you love!” She stopped to draw breath and Tori cut in.
“So this party’s for me? Just for arriving in town? I really don’t think that this is necessary…”
“Aw don’ get like that.” AJ clapped Tori on the shoulder, causing her to wince. “Jus’ sit back and enjoy the festivities. Penelope worked mighty hard to get all o’ this set up. Ya might wanna thank her fer all this.”
Before Tori got a chance to talk to Penelope again, Rachel interceded, holding a small bag with the Carousel Boutique logo on it. “Here,” she said, handing the bag over to Tori. “I finished that vest you left at the store, and I have to say it looks simply marvelous. Go on, try it on.”
Tori pulled the vest out of the bag and held it up to look at. Emblazoned on the upper right of it was a beautifully sewn light purple star, with other, smaller purple stars surrounding it. Tori pulled it over her head and smiled, “Thank you so much! This looks amazing, I’m just surprised at how fast you got it done.”
Rachel scoffed, “Oh it was nothing, darling. Just a simple bit of stitching. Next time come to me with something a bit more…difficult. I could use a challenge.”
“How’d you land yourself with such a swell apartment Tori? All of us are stuck in the dorms.” Dash said, poking around the room and staring out of the window. “Quite a view you got up here.”
“Oh…this apartment isn’t mine. I’m just renting it for the time being, but thanks for the complements…”
“Is this a party, or just time to talk?!” interrupted Penelope. “Let’s play some music and have some cake! Let’s party!!” She flicked a switch on the stereo and music came blasting over the speakers. Penelope began dancing with herself in a space that she had cleared in the middle of the floor and was soon joined by AJ and Dash. Phoebe was talking to Rachel out of the way and Spike was eying the cake hungrily.
“Girls!” said Tori loudly over the music. Everyone looked at her. “Listen, I appreciate this a whole bunch, it’s just that...we have school tomorrow and I have to study. So can we make this kinda…quick? Plus the librarian said that we have to keep it quiet for the people who are still in the library downstairs.”
“Well then looks like we’ll have to cram a whole night of partying into a short amount of time!” Penelope bounced over to the cake. “Here, I want you to have the first slice, seeing as you helped bake it and all! Look! I decorated it with your favorite color and other things!”
Sure enough, it was the cake that Tori helped bake earlier that day, decorated with heaps of purple and pink icing and lots of sugar stars. Tori took the offered slice and bit into it. Surprisingly enough, for something that she had baked it wasn’t that bad. Everyone else seemed to think the same, offering compliments and praise for Tori’s baking. After the cake was finished, they all gathered in the middle of the room and showed off dance moves to each other. Then dancing eventually wore into talking, all of them gathered in a small circle on the floor, sharing fun stories about their lives and work. With a start, Tori realized that their quick party had worn on well into the night.
“Wow…look at the time. I think that we should call it a night and just meet up again tomorr…” A sudden knock on the door to the flat made all of them jump slightly. Tori got up to answer it and found herself facing the head librarian. “Oh, hello ma’am. Is something the matter?”
“I just got a call from my daughter. She got kicked out of her apartment and needs somewhere to stay, so I’ve told her that I’m going to clear this flat out for her. I’m sorry, but you’ve got one week to find a new place before you’re evicted.” With that, the librarian closed the door and made her way back downstairs.
Tori stood in the doorway, shocked. “Who was it?” asked Rachel.
“The librarian, and my landlord.”
“Well what did she want?”
Tori turned to face everyone. “I’m getting kicked out in a week so that the librarian’s daughter can have a place to stay.”
AJ stood up, angry. “Well she jus’ can’t do that! You own this place, don’cha?”
Tori shook her head. “I’m just renting, and it’s well within the landlord’s right to evict tenants if they so wish. It’s just…I don’t have anywhere else to stay. I don’t have any family in town or anything to stay with…”
“Hey!” said Penelope, a smile plastered on her face. “There’s that empty room on our floor at the dorm! You can move in there with us!” The rest of the group murmured their agreement. “Please do it Tori…We’ll have lots of fun together!”
“Well…what about Spike?” asked Tori. “I mean…I think it’s a good idea, but you gotta keep in mind that Spike’s a boy, and he can’t sleep in my room.”
“Oh there’s bound to be an open room in the boy’s dormitories. He can just stay there.”
Tori smiled, “Well, it’s good to see that this crisis was so easily averted. I just hope that I can get that room and live with you guys. In the meantime, however, how about one last dance before the night is out?
Author’s Notes
Hey y’all. Thanks for being so patient with by overly long writing time for Part II. Just puttin’ it out there that Part III is underway, and I have plans for Parts IV-VI at the least. But I need ideas, scenarios and whatnots to put into this…piece of work.
That’s where y’all come in. As people who have put the time and effort into reading this…piece of work…please, comment on what you’d like to see in upcoming parts. Or just comment on what you liked or disliked, I can take criticism. Enclosed is a list of things that I have planned out, to save somepony out there the trouble of commenting or requesting something that’s already in the works:
Glida: She’s showing up, so is most of Griffon the Brush-Off episode.
Zecora: Don’t have any plans for her yet. With my setting and all it’s kinda hard to work her character in.
The CMC: They will all show up. Do not fear.
Shipping?: Yes. There will eventually be shipping done. I’m just going to put out that Dash will be involved in it and it will be light shipping at worst. And by light I mean nothing past second base…wherever that stands nowadays.
The Ticket Master: It’s a thing and will happen, along with the Gala.
Winter Wrap-Up: As much as I love this, it just doesn’t work out with my story’s setting and whatnot. There will be Running of the Leaves tho’.
If there’s anything else that y’all have questions about/want to see included, just let me know and I’ll take it into consideration.
Until next time,
-Æther
(Edit: I apologize in advance for Part III...It was the least loved part when I posted on EqD and it caused my rating to drop. But I don't care, it's necessary to set up for the rest of the story, so buck up and deal with it.)