//------------------------------// // Chapter 2- Day 1 // Story: Hitting The Books // by CrypticMetaphor //------------------------------// The hours that followed were by far my worst nightmare taken form. Not only did I not know anyone at the school aside from Twilight and that Shimmer girl I smacked into, but I was stuck in the horrors of high school once more. Let’s just say for all intents and purposes I didn’t have the most…thrilling experiences of my life at the establishment I enrolled in. To this day it still left a very bad taste in my mouth any time I thought back on those days. Currently I was stuck in math class staring at work I had done before and robotically wrote down the answers like an actor who rehearsed his part for years. Upon the assignment of the day’s completion I reluctantly stood and handed in the sheet, the amount of eyes on me made me want to turn invisible. One thing you never want to do if you want a decent reputation in the school society is to come off as a know it all or nerd, unfortunately I made that mistake already and it seemed to repeat itself. The teacher who possessed brown skin, a dark tweed suit and brown hair spiked downward smiled, “Impressive Mister Scribe,” he produced a pocket watch with an hourglass on it, “AND twenty minutes before the end of class no less. If you’re trying to get in my good books you’re doing a good job of it.” I then chuckled halfheartedly, “Yeah…of course.” I slowly took my seat and smacked my forehead on the desk in anguish, god what else could happen? I felt someone tap me on the shoulder causing me to look up and turn around. The girl seated directly behind me had rainbow hair that was long yet had a tomboyish feel to it and cyan skin, don’t see that every day. Her maroon eyes were focused upon me as I took in the rest of her. She wore blue boots that looked like they were stretched out sneakers with what I could guess rainbow socks of equal length due to them poking just above the top of the boots. She wore a violet skirt with a thick white line on the left and right side, underneath were black shorts, rainbow sweatbands also seemed to adorn her wrists. On her torso was a white T-shirt that possessed a cloud with a rainbow lightning bolt on the chest, over that was a dark blue coat of which the sleeves covered her biceps. The girl leaned forward, “Hey…uh, Scribe right?” I nodded slowly which brought a small smile to her face, “Could you give me a hand with these problems?” My answer came in the form of me walking over to her side with no objections from the teacher, “So which ones do you need help with?” The girl sheepishly pointed to her blank page, “Hehe, all of them?” I rolled my eyes, “Seriously?” The girl leaned back, “Math’s not my strong suite.” “Clearly,” I think the comment came out a tad more sarcastic than I intended earning me a dirty look from her. I quickly apologized and began to offer as much of my assistance as I could. Soon the clock had ticked down to two minutes before next bell and the girl’s problems got to the halfway mark. The bell soon rang to herald the end of class which I greatly took advantage of and rushed out the door. However I was snagged by the rainbow haired girl with ease upon crossing the threshold. She chuckled in amusement, “What’s the rush? You late or something?” I became flustered as I pulled away, “Yes, I’m kind of new and don’t want to make a bad impression.” The girl laughed and raised her hand, “Alright, no need to blow a vein or anything. By the way thanks for the help, names Rainbow Dash.” *Odd name, odd girl*, I reached out and shook her hand, “Cryptic Scribe, nice to meet you Rainbow Dash.” Dash had a grip like a karate master, “So new guy, if you ever want someone to hang with just look me up.” I let go of her hand and shook it a few times, “But I barely know you.” Dash smiled, “Yeah I know, but you seem like a cool guy. Plus I sort of owe you from Math Class and rest assured, Rainbow Dash always pays back her debts.” I nodded slightly and darted my eyes to the side, “Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.” I was soon sprinting down the hall toward…SWEET, Home Ec! * Rainbow Dash nodded after the new guy, “Hm, seems cool. But something’s off about him.” All of a sudden a pair of hands covered her eyes and a familiar voice was heard, “Guess who?” A big smile stretched across the rainbow haired girl, “Twilight!?” Rainbow turned around and hugged her friend, “Oh man we missed you!” Twilight smiled, “I missed you all too.” Rainbow stepped back though, “Wait a minute, is there something bad going down? Do you need our help again like with-“ Twilight cut her off, “NO! No! I just wanted to come back for a prolonged visit. By the way how much time has passed here?” Rainbow smiled, “The new school year just started, you came just in time.” Twilight exhaled, “That’s a relief.” Rainbow Dash snapped her fingers in realization, “Oh! By the way, Sunset’s doing fine…I think.” Twilight tilted her head, “You think?” Rainbow nodded slowly then glanced around, “Don’t tell her I told you this, but she’s been a little distant lately. Not that it’s a bad thing she still talks and hangs out with us. It’s just that when she’s silent or alone she’s sort of there but at the same time she’s not. We’re all worried about her.” Twilight nodded, “Well it makes sense. She’s probably still a little shaken up after the whole ordeal at the Fall Formal, something like that won’t go away overnight.” Rainbow nodded, “Yeah, everyone else is still giving her a good berth when she walks by and staring at her like she could go all…”, she then made a scary face, “…again.” Twilight looked a tad hurt at that for Sunset’s current predicament, “I understand, what occurred that night was devastating for everyone and not many would forgive so easily. One must earn the trust and respect of those they have wronged, its harsh, but we’ll help her where we can.” Rainbow placed her arm around Twilight and began to escort her down the hallway, “Of course we will! What kind of-“ Umbra almost walked into both of the girls, “Oh, scuse me ladies.” Twilight followed his exit, “Who’s that?” Rainbow grumbled, “Umbra Glare, he transferred in about a month before school started. He pretty much thinks he’s a big shot.” Twilight grinned, “He beat you didn’t he?” Rainbow looked like she was about to pull her hair out, “At track and field no less! Man I wish I had those wings again so I could whoop him in a rematch.” Twilight laughed, “Yeah, but wouldn’t that be an unfair advantage?” Rainbow huffed in annoyance, “Yeah I suppose your right.” Twilight’s eyes widened as a familiar figure rounded the corner. The boy was about the same age as Twilight with pale, light grayish amber skin and had spiked back two toned sapphire blue hair. His clothes consisted of a pair of jeans, black sneakers, a white T-shirt with a large blue shield with a yellow lightning bolt in the center in plain view in the center. Over that he wore a black jacket with one horizontal white line atop a red one going from the back all the way around both sleeves. He noticed Twilight and approached, “Hey, long time no see.” Twilight blushed a tad, “Hi Flash, how are things going here?” Flash Sentry shrugged, “Can’t complain, it’s been pretty boring here without you though.” Rainbow turned her head and mock gagged which Flash laughed at. Flash then bowed, “Your highness I am honored to be in your presence.” Twilight looked from side to side as other students did the same before going about their business, “Hey there’s no need for that! I’m just a regular girl right now, nothing else.” Flash shook his head, “That’s not true. You’re a LEGEND!” Twilight blinked, “I am?” Flash gestured to a picture in a nearby case that depicted all six friends in their dresses sporting their pony ears with their long pony tail extended hair, “You ALL are, you saved us all and brought Sunset down to Earth.” Twilight nodded at the last part, “Has she talked to you at all?” Flash nodded with a slightly worried expression, “Every now and then. Thing is I have forgiven her but I just think she hasn't forgiven herself yet.” * I sat in Home Economics class with a grin, out of all the courses at my old school I EXCELLED in this one most of all. My grandmother always said I had a knack for cooking and boy did I. Pretty soon the other students filed in and my eyes widened in surprise, that girl Sunset Shimmer walked in with two other girls at either side of her. One pretty much was all pink, especially her hair which resembled cotton candy. Her blue eyes darted around in excitement; she wore a harlequin purple dress with a white top that had a pink heart on it. Over that was a light teal jacket with a dark blue bracelet on her left wrists and a pink one on her right. Her boots were a bright blue with a single small pink bow on the tops, on left side of her skirt was a symbol of three balloons, two blue and the middle yellow. She noticed me and she took a seat beside me. She was all smiles, “Hiya!” I smiled in returned, “Hi.” Sunset Shimmer sat across from me in silence as the second girl sat down beside her. This one I found was quite cute, her skin was a light shade of orange and she was blonde as well. Her hair was tied in a ponytail and atop her head was a brown Stetson. Her shirt was white with a green western vest like design for the torso. She also had a brown belt with an apple belt buckle that held her jean skirt in place. Brown cowboy boots was her foot wear giving her an even more country feel, on both were the same symbol of a trio of shiny red apples. Sunset then broke the silence, “This was the guy I was telling you about.” The pink girl extended her hand which I shook, “Names Pinkie Pie, head of the party planning committee here at the school. It’s nice to meet you Cryptic.” I forced a smile, “Thanks, nice to meet you too Pinkie.” Pinkie pointed at the cowgirl, “And that’s Applejack.” Applejack extended her hand as well which I shook and immediately regretted, “Nice to meet YIII!!!” A cracking was heard in my hand as I pulled it back, “Jeez, you got a grip.” Applejack chuckled, “Sorry partner, ah sometimes ferget my own strength.” I wringed my hand, “No worries, I think it’s still working.” Sunset then reached into her coat pocket and handed me back the lead pencil I had been missing, “Here, you dropped this.” I smiled as I took it, “Thanks.” Soon the teacher entered and class began. We all were split into groups of four and you can guess who I was partnered with, the dish we had to make was a cheesecake. We all took different jobs; Pinkie and Sunset were on preparing and baking duty while Applejack and I were on dish duty. Everything was running quiet smoothly until we reached a halt. Applejack walked over leaving me to do the rest of the dishes, I then heard a bit of a squabble with my fellow partners. I looked over their shoulders, “What’s up?” Applejack glanced at me for a second, “We’re trying to figure out whether or not the cakes done.” Sunset rubbed her temples, “I’ve already said we could have just used the internal thermometer to check but we just HAD to lend it to Trixie’s group didn’t we?” Pinkie Pie pointed at her, “Hey she was done before we were and it was a nice gesture.” As the girls bickered I opened a drawer and produced a butter knife. With the straightest face I could muster I stabbed the knife into the center of the cake surprising and effectively silencing the arguers. With a calm expression I yanked the knife out and checked the blade, a few specks of mix stuck to the cool blade. I then placed the knife in the sink, “Five more minutes ought to do the trick.” Sunset stuck the cake into the oven as Pinkie Pie confusedly asked, “How did you?” I merely replied, “It’s an archaic method but it’s still effective, stick a knife cleanly in and pull it out. If some mix is stuck to it it’s not ready yet.” Pinkie Pie produced a notepad and quickly wrote it down, “Neat!” I shook my head with a smile. Soon the bell rang and we were dismissed for lunch.