//------------------------------//
// School, For The Second Time 
// Story: Ice Petal's One and Only Destiny 
// by TwilightSparkleForever 
//------------------------------//

	Ice Petal peered beyond her musty surroundings and the many square panels of glass that were the bus windows. She looked outside, scanning for anything of interest. Cars zoomed by, with taxis mixed into the throng. Red cars, white cars, blue cars, silver cars, gold cars, and yellow taxis, the same yellow that the school bus was. Their dusty, dirty black wheels, perfect for a small tire swing, one that could just barely fit two fillies, sent them zooming past the bus as it stopped to pick up a certain filly with ruffled, rebellious-looking hair and what looked like a colt's hiking backpack. A clear plastic water bottle was stuck in one of the navy blue side pouches, and the other, perfectly lined up with the one that held the almost-full water bottle, was completely empty except for a few grains of sand and some little bits of dirt. 
"G'morning, Arid," said the bus driver, as the small but tough-looking filly growled at him and muttered, "It's Brick, thank you very much." 
The filly sat herself down in the very front seat, right beside Ice Petal. 
"Hey, Brick," said ice Petal. "I..uh..was wondering...if you'd...if you'd..." 
Ice Petal suddenly realized that she had no idea how to explain this to Brick, or any of the other ponies that could possibly help her. She stuttered continuously, trying to find a good way to tell Brick what she wanted her to help her with.
"Well, I-" 
Brick stared impatiently at Ice Petal, waiting, tapping one hoof on the ground. 
"I'm running away," said Ice Petal in one breath determined to get it over with. 
Brick stared at her like she had just come up with the best idea in all of Equestria. 
"To where?" Brick asked. 
Ice Petal shifted towards the window, turned her head towards the vast land beside them, and thought. "To Ponyville." Her hoof pointed out of the slightly open window and towards the patch of forest in the distance that shrouded the city of Ponyville. Brick gave her a smile as she turned back from the window. 
"So...why are you telling me this?" 
Ice Petal froze. What did she want to tell her? What did she want her to help with, anyway? 
"Well, I was thinking you could help me..." 
"If I do, can I come with you?" 

Ice Petal hadn't been expecting this as an answer. "Well, uh, I-I suppose so...but why would you want to?" 
Brick smiled at her, levitating a colorful piece of paper out of her backpack. A flyer for the Ponyville Dueling Club. "You want to join the Ponyville Dueling Club?" She shifted around in her seat as the bus came to a quick stop in front of  a traffic light. Brick nodded. "I intend to surpass all of the ponies there. Their magic is quite shabby compared to us Canterlot ponies, you see, although no Canterlot unicorn who wants to be proper, snobby and formal would join a dueling club. My mom thinks it's for 
(have to go to bed, will finish later)