//------------------------------//
// The Call Of The Wild 
// Story: One In A Million 
// by ocalhoun 
//------------------------------//

 squinted my eyes against the glare of the light. “No, I'm not getting up!” I wasn't sleepy – even though I hadn't slept all night – but I had given up on this school. I wanted no part of it anymore.
“Worm, why isn't the Chicken awake yet? I told you to get her up!”
“She won't get out of bed – she'th not thleeping, but she won't get up.” I hated to be getting Whisper in trouble with River, but I had already resolved to stay in bed all day.
Suddenly, I could feel River's silent presence behind me. “I thought I had given you enough lessons on what happens when you don't do what I say.” She poked me harshly – and very uncomfortably – right between the joints of my wings. “Get up!”
I still refused to move. “I'm done with playing your games, River. I'm done with all of it. I don't care!”
“You're lucky the Worm did all of your work for you, or I'd make you get out of bed and then punish you properly, but... I've got breakfast to get to.” She turned and headed for the door. “Later, losers!”
“Thcootaloo, she'th gone now, you can come out.”
“I told you, I'm not coming out.” I pulled the blankets over my head.
“But... today ith the levi-ball day. Mith Honeydown thays it's gonna be really fun. And besideth, everypony hath to go.”
“I don't care.”
“But Thcootaloo, you–”
“I don't care! Go away.”
No response came from Whisper this time. A moment later, I heard the door open and close again, finally leaving me alone with my thoughts.
They weren't nice thoughts, of course. Ever since I had come to magic kindergarten, things had just been getting worse and worse. Even when they seemed to be getting better, it would just be a precursor to an even greater fall. So why try anymore? Why do anything? Maybe I could just wait it out, not even getting out of bed again until it was time to go home.
Crying myself to sleep last night might have been a relief, except that I neither cried nor slept at all. Even though they weren't here to see me now, I still couldn't give River and Ruby the satisfaction of my tears. That would make their victory over me complete.
I just wanted my time here to end somehow. I would do anything, as long as it meant I could go home, as long as it meant I didn't have to spend another wretched day in this place.
I should have known. I should have never given Ruby a second chance after he stabbed me in the back once already. That colt was a snake, and now I knew I could never trust him. I should have realized it sooner, if only I hadn't been so stupid... and what about Whisper? I had blown her off and cast her aside when she was the only real friend I had here. How could I ask her to forgive me when I couldn't even forgive myself?
My thoughts continued turning in dark little circles all morning as I hid from the world under my blankets. Hours passed, and yet, I didn't feel hungry or thirsty or anything. All I wanted was to stay here and keep the horrible world at bay.





I winced as I heard a harsh clank from the lock on my door being magically forced open. That could only mean that another interruption was coming.
“Scootaloo, is that you there?” I instantly recognized the perpetually strained voice of Missus Primrose.
“Yeah,” I mumbled, as quietly as I could.
“You've missed the entire first half of the levi-ball game.” 
I let her disapproving words fade into the silence of the room without a response. 
“Are you feeling ill?”
“No.”
A cold magical grip seized my whole body, and I flew through the air to land squarely on my feet in front of my scowling teacher.
“Then you will immediately cease this lazy truancy and get out of here!”
I had never heard Missus Primrose raise her voice like that. “Yes ma'am,” I called out before even realizing it.
“Now,” she continued, “it is already nearly lunchtime, so I suggest you make your way to the kitchens and complete your allotted discipline there.” She glared at me with her eyes squinted with one brow raised.
That rekindled my spirits just a little, actually. I would be able to talk to Sugar Cookie. He was perhaps the only real friend I had left here. I knew he wouldn't be able to fix any of it, but at least he deserved to know what happened. I slunk out of the room under the watchful eye of my teacher, only to pick up my pace as soon as I made it out into the hall.
The dining hall dully echoed my own hoofsteps back at me as I charged inside. Not a single pony had arrived yet. Nevertheless, I hurried through it and into the kitchens.
“Hey dere, little filly, you here early!” Even though he seemed busy chopping vegetables, he rushed over to see me. “How your date went?”
The way my face fell silenced his enthusiasm.
“Dat bad, huh?”
I just nodded.
“Well, you come up next ta me while I chop up dese carrot an' tell Cookie all 'bout it.”
Where should I start? As I took a seat on the stool next to Cookie's chopping table, I sighed. “Well, it all started with how you told me to be on the lookout for new friends where I least expected...”





“ ...and then all three of them just laughed at me. It had been their plan all along. So, well, I ran away. What else could I do?”
“Dat Ruby colt sho is a col' one.”
“I know, right?” I shook my head. “How could he do something like that?”
“He musta been da best actor anypony ever seen, an' 'ave a heart o' stone.”
I went back to my sulking, and the tears in my eyes weren't entirely due to the onions Cookie had moved on to chopping. “I just can't take it anymore. I've gotta get out of here somehow.” I lowered my voice to a whisper. “Somehow, no matter what it takes... even if it's something drastic like–”
“Don' you even say it, filly,” Cookie's voice boomed out, “Don' you even think it!”
“But–”
“You got jus' two days lef'. I ain't hearin' no fool filly talk 'bout hurtin' herself to get outta jus' two days!”
“Two and a half days,” I corrected, “Today's not over yet.”
He just stared me down, reminding me that his point still stood.
“Cookie, I can't–”
“Who you is?”
“Huh?” He knew who I was. “I'm Scootaloo.”
“I know ya name, filly. I'm askin' who ya is.” He stomped a big hoof onto the table. “A name don' mean nothin'. What make you special? What you good at?”
“Well...” It made me think. “I've always wanted to be like Rainbow Dash.”
“An' would dis Rainbow Dash be scared o' two days?”
“No.” I looked down at the floor. “But any chance of being like her died when I found out these stupid wings”– I fluttered them –“are for magic instead of flying.”
“An' who say you cain't use magic to be like 'er?”
“Are you kidding? I can't...” I thought back to my practice session earlier, when I had begun to get good at short-range teleporting. “Well, maybe I could use magic for stunts, but–”
“No 'but'!” He patted me on the back. “Imma tell you a little secret. Sometimes ya cain't depend on other ponies to help ya. Sometimes ya gotta jus' be you, even when da whole worl' say diffrent.” He tilted my chin up with a hoof, bringing me up from staring at the floor to looking into his soul-piercing eyes. “Filly like you ain't got nopony but 'erself to tell 'er 'ow good she is... but dat's okay, 'cause when you get right down to it, das all anypony's got, ya hear?”
I gave him a reluctant nod, unsure that I like the sound of being all alone.
“An' when ya respect yaself an' is yaself, den you might just earn some real respect. Ain't nopony gonna respect you for tryin' to be somepony else – you want respect, you gotta earn it ya own way.”
“Thanks, Cookie.” I gave him a big hug that seemed to take him entirely by surprise. “Thanks for everything.”
Before I pulled away, the school's bell rang. Cookie chuckled and patted me on the back. “Ya very welcome, lil' filly.” Setting me down, he shoved me away. “Now dat's fo you – time you be getting' back to ya playtime instead o' bein' punished with me!”
I could tell from the sly grin on his face that he wasn't serious, and I laughed along with him. We both knew this 'punishment' was the highlight of my day.
“Run along now, filly, don' be late.”
I waved back at Cookie on my way out, but again, I had no intention of participating in any group sports. I had an altogether different destination in mind.





Moving as slowly as I could to avoid drawing any attention, I edged my way around the outside of the colts' dormitory. All the other ponies, even the teachers, seemed to be too engrossed in their levi-ball game to even look in my direction. Still, I figured that I should be careful; I didn't even know what the penalty for sneaking around the school grounds while skipping a mandatory activity might be, but I didn't care to find out.
A sudden cheer broke out from the middle of the courtyard. The ball flew high and fast towards the far side, a dozen different colors of magical aura surrounding it, and all the players in red vests frantically chased after it, all of them shouting to each other the whole way.
It was just the opportunity I had been waiting for. With everypony else's eyes glued to the game, I made a dash for the building's door and slipped inside, unseen by anypony.
As soon as the door clicked shut behind me, the musty stillness of the empty hallway struck me. After all the commotion outside, the stale air and muted echoes inside gave me the shivers.
I gingerly stalked around the corner into the main hall, for some reason reluctant to break the silence around me. I could feel it, as if it were somepony hiding right behind me, waiting to pounce as soon as I made a wrong move.
Shaking off the disturbing feeling of being quietly and malevolently watched, I hurried to the magic practice room. I knew nothing and nopony was there, of course, but something about the achingly empty schoolhouse did have me looking back over my shoulder more than necessary.
A wave of relief washed over me as soon as I set foot in the practice room. Even though this room was just as empty as the hall outside, the bright light filtering in through the windows onto the warm wooden floor somehow made the emptiness welcoming rather than eerie, and the sparkling motes of dust caught in the sunbeams made the silence feel tranquil rather than foreboding. Now I could relax and finally begin my secret practice session.
I took a deep breath. How to begin? When I had mentioned to Cookie that I might use magic for stunts, it had seemed so obvious and straightforward, but now I found myself stuck at the very basic question of 'how?'
Well, I seemed to have a knack for teleporting... why not start there? I tried to clear my mind as I stepped over to the black scorch mark in the center of the room. I couldn't help but anticipate all I might do today – the scorch mark did remind me to be careful, though. I briefly wondered what kind of spell-gone-wrong had caused it, and what kind of unicorn could have had so much power even just in magic kindergarten.
Reaching the center of the room, I paused for a moment. Should I really be here, all alone, trying to–
I shook my head. No more doubts, no more questions – it was time to start already! I concentrated and flapped my wings, feeling the now-familiar buildup and flow of magical energy. With only a slight strain, I focused my will onto being in the far corner of the room.
With a pop and a purple flash, I was there. Repeating the exercise, I popped back into the center of the room. This was foal's play for me now, after having practiced it so much in class. Still, lots of unicorns could teleport. It hardly counted as a 'stunt'. I needed something different, but what?
I had practiced teleporting as far as I could within the classroom already, and besides, nopony would think much of it even if I could blink from horizon to horizon. That was nothing new for a powerful unicorn. I needed something new and different.
Maybe I could teleport faster? I pooled my energy again, focusing on speed this time, and blinked just a hoof-length to the left.
I nodded my head in approval, appreciating my already-impressive speed. What would happen if I practiced that even more?
Grunting as I strained myself, I fluttered my wings as fast as they would go, and I dared to draw on more magical energy than I ever had before. Once, twice, three times I flashed myself over just a hoof-length or so, and I felt the magic rush through me. It was the most exhilarating thing I had ever experienced, and I realized that the smaller the distance I went, the quicker and easier it became.
Would that trend keep going, all the way down? Grinning confidently, I knew I had to try it! Again, I gathered my energy – it seemed to be getting easier each time – and focused on being where I wanted to go, the tiniest nudge to the right. With a barely discernible pop and flash, I was there, and I hardly even noticed the missing energy... Now I just needed to repeat it. I began again, working faster and faster, teleporting dozens, hundreds of times in a row, each one over a tiny distance. I kept at it, improving my speed until the tiny pops meshed together into a single high-pitched whine and the tiny flashes merged into a continuous glow. Before I knew it, I had reached the far wall of the room without taking a single step. Now that was a stunt! Unable to contain myself, I used the technique to send myself zooming all the way around the outer wall of the room.
I finally stopped back in the center of the room, sweating and panting, but feeling more alive than I ever had. This trick was awesome, and the trail of screaming sound and purple glowing sparks it left in my wake just made it even cooler! There was no way it could be topped, unless...
Still panting, I shook my head. That would be too good to be true. There was no way it was going to work... but... what if it did?
As soon as I caught my breath, I started again. This time, though, instead of focusing on tiny sideways steps, I focused on going up. Immediately, I shot into the air, accompanied by the now-familiar trail of sound and light. I was flying! It may have been by magic instead of wingpower, but I was flying!
I let myself get so worked up with that realization that I forgot to keep the spell going when my head hit the ceiling. Down I crashed, sprawling painfully out on the wooden floor. I didn't let that bother me in the slightest, though – I had been through plenty of worse crashes – the important thing was that I has just flown under my own power! I couldn't wait to show my friends back home. What would Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle think of it? What would Rainbow Dash think of it? This was going to be perfect!
Dropping into the spell again – it hardly took any effort this time – I combined the two techniques and flew a screaming, sparkling victory lap around the room. Coming down for a safe landing this time, I couldn't help but prance with joy; I finally knew I had found my true talent, and it was awesome!





With one more loop, I perfected my triple back flip. I'd be catching up to Rainbow Dash levels of awesome in no time! I stopped my spell, let myself drop back down to the floor, and wiped some of the sweat from my forelock.
Instead of the room fading back into a restful silence, though, I could hear shouts and laughter from out in the hall.	
The cold realization was already stabbing into me, but I had to be sure. I rushed to the door, opened it just a crack, and peeked outside.
All the school's colts were filing through the hall, laughing, shouting, and crying out to each other as they headed back to their rooms for the night.
I quickly – but quietly – shut the door and pressed my back against it, panic already gripping at me. How could I have missed both the dinner bell and the dismissal bell? How could I have let time get away from me like that? And what would I do now? As soon as I left the room, everypony there would know I didn't belong here. I couldn't just wait it out either; I knew the teachers would be in their offices for hours, and I couldn't risk being caught by them. Stay here all night? River would notice me missing, and she'd be sure to get me in as much trouble as possible for it.
I collapsed down onto the floor. I was doomed – no matter what I did now, I would be in for a lot of trouble and embarrassment. I could already feel the tightness in my chest just thinking about what I was in for. What was I thinking, sneaking off like that? I should have known I would get in trouble for it! Now there was no way out... unless... I shook my head. It was a stupid idea; there was no way I could pull it off. Yet, it would solve my problem... Could I teleport all the way back to my room? I had never teleported anywhere near that far before, and I'd never gone anywhere I couldn't see before. What was my other option, though? Jump out in the hall and try to blend in with the colts? Wait for one of the teachers to find me? With a little nod to myself, I made up my mind – why not try? What was the worst that could happen, anyway?
I paced my way back to the scorch mark in the center of the room; it just seemed appropriate somehow. Now, if there was anything my teachers had drilled into me about teleporting, it was to have a clearly defined destination before you even start. Where should I go? I couldn't go straight back to my room – River would turn me in for doing magic without permission. I couldn't go to the hallway either, for the same reason – the hallway would still be full of little fillies, all of them ready to tattle on me. So where else? Where would be empty this time of day? The lunchroom. I grinned to myself. That would be the perfect place.
Now I just had to... well, do it. I giggled nervously at my own hubris. That would be the easy part, right? I closed my eyes, cleared my mind, and pooled more magical energy in myself than I had ever dared to before. Slowly at first, but quickly building up speed, I began flapping my wings.
Suddenly, the familiar glow of magic flowing through my wings flared up far brighter than I had ever seen before, dazzling me even through my closed eyes. I cried out and tried to stop it, but the spell seemed to have a life of its own now. I strained to keep my destination in mind, desperate to keep the spell under control. I didn't know what would happen if I lost it, but I was pretty sure it wouldn't be good. I clung to the thought of the school's cafeteria. It was my only lifeline in the maelstrom of energy flowing around me. With an even brighter flash and a strained groan, the world around me vanished.





I flashed into the corner of the lunchroom, surrounded by an explosion of wasted magical energy. I winced and groaned as I picked myself up off of the floor. My mane and wings were singed black at the tips, and I could already feel the beginnings of a massive headache, but I did it! I was free and clear!
The sound of somepony clearing his throat brought my attention back to the real world.
I looked up to see Cookie staring at me over the top of a half-cleaned table, his hoof still holding a dripping rag. Despite the growing pain in my head, I managed a smile and a wave.
Cookie didn't move, except for slowly raising an eyebrow.
Not wanting a confrontation just now, I rushed for the door.
Cookie called out to me as I scuttled away, “You be careful now, lil' filly!”
As I slipped out through the door into the hallway, I stumbled, barely catching myself before I hit the floor. I shook it off easily, of course, but the painful straining, stretching feeling spread from my head to everywhere else in my body. My joints felt like they were cracking on every step of the way up the staircase, and my wings were on fire as I weakly plodded through the hall to my room.
Magic overload, of course. Missus Primrose had warned me about it in that very first safety lecture. I had stretched my abilities too far, and now I had to pay the price. I pushed open the door to the room and limped in, heading straight for my bed. Maybe sleep could cure it.
The soft pillows and blankets wrapped around me as I plopped down into my bed. I breathed a sigh of relief; just being able to lay down and relax my tense muscles was a huge relief.
A violet face and a dark blue mane popped down from the top of my bunk, ruining any chance I had of relaxing. “And just where have you been all day, Chicken?”
I rolled over, turning my back to her. River was the last pony I wanted to deal with right now. “Leave me alone, River.”
“Are you telling me what to do?” Her voice took on a venomous edge. “Now tell me where you were, and remember your place this time.” I could hear the faint sound of her horn glowing with magic.
I groaned. “They stuck me in detention all day because I wouldn't leave my room.”
She giggled, and I could hear her flop back into her own bunk. “And good riddance! Levi-ball is a unicorn's game. The only reason I wanted you there is so I could kick you out of the game, but it looks like my dad beat me to it!”
I snuggled up into my pillow and let River keep her fantasies, grateful she believed my lie. I was in no mood to argue with that pony, or anypony else for that matter. Still, it had been a good day. I'd gotten my secret practice session in and gotten away with it, and I wasn't going to let Ruby's betrayal keep bothering me... right? I couldn't believe that colt; for him to spend the whole day like that just to–
I forced myself to stop. That line of thinking was only making my aches worse. I wasn't about to let that happen when instead I could have my first good night's sleep in nearly a week.





“And you tied the bow on completely backwards!” River shoved the offending fashion accessory into my face, her eyes burning with rage.
I just shook my head. River Star had been in rare form today, and it was getting old. I had no idea how anypony could even tell if a bow was backwards or not. “River, I can't even–”
“Of course you can't!” She growled at the ceiling. I had never seen her like this before. “But is it because you're a dumb, useless Chicken who can't even do magic, or is it because you're just lazy?”
I refused to respond to that. Instead, I just let my face express how I felt about her taunting.
“Worm! I think Little Miss Pegasus here needs some extra punishment time. You stay here and make sure the Chicken doesn't leave until breakfast is over.
Whisper shrank a little further behind the chair she had been using for cover since River's tirade began. “But... um, River–”
River whirled around and shot just a moment of her rage at the blue filly.
With a terrified squeak, Whisper dropped out of sight completely, behind her chair. “Oh – ah, okay.”
River turned her attention back to me just long enough to favor me with a contemptuous sneer. “See you at exercise class, losers!”
As River slammed the door behind her, I rolled my eyes. I knew today was the talent demonstration in exercise class – then I'd show her just how much magic I could do!
In the meantime, though, I could use some breakfast, especially after my overexertion and skipping dinner yesterday. “Okay, Whisper, she's gone now, you don't have to do what she says anymore.” Taking Whisper's silence as agreement, I headed for the door – only to be blocked by her. “Aw, come on, Whisper!”
She shrank down, but she didn't get out of the way. “I'm thorry, Thcootaloo.”
I shook my head. With friends like this, who would ever need enemies?





Despite my lingering aches, and rumbling belly, I actually looked forward to exercise class today. I walked into the room with my defiant spirits high. This would be the day everypony saw what I was truly capable of, and I couldn't wait to see the looks on their faces.
I spotted River in her usual seat as soon as I stepped in. Her expression, of course, was anything but charitable. I wasn't concerned about it, though. I'd just wait and see what she looked like after she'd seen my special talent.
She patted the empty seat next to her, beckoning Whisper and me over.
I sighed and took the proffered seat. I knew that if I went somewhere else, she'd just follow me there anyway.
“Let's quiet down, now, please,” Miss Honeydown cooed, even though the fillies and colts in the room weren't all that loud in the first place. As the students settled into their seats, she continued, “Today, we're all going to be demonstrating our special talents. Everypony has a special talent, and for nearly all unicorns, that talent is where their magic is strongest.” She turned around in the middle of the ring of students, seeming to look at each and every one of them. “Now, who would like to go fir–”
“Oh! Oh! Me!” All eyes, mine included, were drawn to River.
“That's very nice of you to volunteer, River–” Miss Honeydown smiled warmly at her “–but I know you're going to have quite the amazing performance...”
River beamed a pride-filled smile.
“ ...And that means that some of the other ponies who go after you would find it a tough act to follow and feel bad about themselves. Let's have somepony a little less talented go first.”
I saw the teacher's gaze slip from River to me. Oh no. She had to be kidding! Was she really going to give me an introduction like that?
“Scootaloo, would you like to go first?”
Yep. She did.
With a sigh, I stood up from my chair and prepared to show off my talent. After a moment to think about it, though, this might be just the thing. She didn't want to make the others feel bad because they couldn't match the first performance? Well I did want to make them feel bad after how they had all looked down on me... and I had just the performance to do it!
I made sure to make a show of stretching out my wings before I started, proud of them for the first time since I came here – well, that, and because stretching them out really felt good after all those overload aches.
With a smug grin, I gathered my energy and flapped my wings. This was going to be epic. With only a single deep breath to prepare myself, I jumped into the micro-teleportation spell I had invented yesterday.
Instead, a huge purple explosion flashed in front of my face.
I was thrown backwards, bouncing a couple times against the rough wooden floor and skidding to a halt.
I groaned and tried to make sense of the room swirling around me. I was laying on my side now, and as I lifted my head up to see what had happened, my headache returned with a vengeance.
“Oh my goodness! Are you okay?” Miss Honeydown was by my side in no time.
“Ugh. I'm fine,” I lied, “I – I don't know what went wrong.”
“Are you sure you're okay?” The look of concern in her eyes would have been heartbreaking if there had been any sincerity behind it.
With a heroic effort, I rose to my feet. “Yeah. I'm fine.”
She smiled, but seemed to be at a loss for words for a moment. “Well, ah... That was quite an... um, impressive backfire, for a pegasus. Keep practicing and I'm sure you'll catch up.”
With a frustrated sigh that turned into a pained groan as soon as I moved, I limped back to my seat, staring at the floor the whole way and valiantly trying to ignore the hushed giggles of my classmates.
“Maybe your special talent is failing,” River whispered to me as soon as I sat down.
I slowly shook my head, wary of my growing headache. I still knew my talent, and I still had plenty to prove, and that was something... I just hoped that this exhaustion would fix itself before the magical exam tomorrow.





I plodded my way into the school's kitchen, head held low and tail dragging the ground. Missus Primrose hadn't been kidding when she warned that magical overexertion would sap all the strength and energy from a pony.
“Whoo-wee! What dey did to ya now?” Cookie stopped chopping vegetables and beckoned me over with a hoof. “Come tell me all 'bout it.”
One hoof at a time, I climbed my way up the barstool-like seat next to his own. The exhaustion was taking a toll on me; normally I would have just hopped onto it. “Well, it wasn't really anything somepony else did to me.” I hesitated for a moment. “It was more like well... I guess I did it to myself.”
“Now why ya done did somethin' like dat?”
I laughed, and even though doing so grated against my aching head, doing it made me feel better overall. “I didn't mean to!”
“I know, lil' filly. I know.” He chuckled a little at his own joke. “But what did ya do?”
“Can you keep a secret?” I asked, glancing around the room.
“You gotta ask?”
I grinned. Cookie was my friend; I knew he wouldn't rat me out. “Well, instead of going to the levi-ball game yesterday, I kinda went to the magic exercise room instead and practiced.”
Cookie's eyes widened and his brows rose, but all he said was a noncommittal “Huh.”
“And, well, I invented this really neat new trick with teleporting that I can use to zoom around. I can even fly!” I paused for a moment, just savoring that thought, and enjoying the sound of it in my own voice. I could fly now! “But then, I sorta lost track of time, and the building started filling up with colts.”
“Now how you done manage to get away wit' dat?” He leaned back, his face scrunching up in skepticism.
I let my pride show through on my face. “I teleported. All the way to the lunchroom in one jump.”
“Ah, dat's what happened to ya. Ya dun burned yaself out.” He laughed at the face I made. “Don' ya go lookin' so surprised dere, lil' filly. Ya cain't serve up meals in dis school fo twenty-fo years without hearin' 'bout what happen to a pony when dey use too much magic.”
“Oh, right.” I scratched at the back of my head. I should have known that he'd pick up on some things about magic here, earth pony or not. “Well, that's why I'm so worn out today.”
“Dat sho ain't good, wit' da final exam bein' tomorra'.”
I sighed. “You're right. I just hope I get better by then. As long as I can pull off my magic flying trick, I'll pass for sure... I guess.”
“I ain't sho even dat woul' be 'nuff. Dey ain't gonna be impressed by no flyin' pegasus.”
“Huh?”
Cookie shook his head from side to side. “I done overheard da headmaster talkin' at da teachers in da breakroom. He said deys gonna fail you. Only way ya might pass is if ya do somethin' so amazin' dat dey cain't possibly jus'ify failin' ya.”
“What?” I groaned. “That is so unfair!”
“It sho 'nuff is.” He started cutting up vegetables again. “Don' make it no less true.”
“Ugh. How am I gonna pass now? I'm not even sure that I'll be able to do the trick I know! Now I have to come up with something even better? It's impossible!”
Cookie paused his cutting again and turned towards me, laying a hoof on my shoulder. “Don' give up hope, lil' filly. You's special, and you's diffren' fo' a reason. Ya gonna think of somethin'.”
“You're sure?”
“I's sho. Ya gonna do jus' fine as long as ya stay true to yaself an' remember dat you got a bigger future waitin' for you.” He used the blade of his knife to shove a pile of freshly chopped carrots in front of me. “Oh, an' as long as ya eat ya carrots.”
“What?” That came out of nowhere. “But I hate carrots.”
“Eat 'em up anyways. Dey's got vitamins dat's real good fo' recoverin' from burnout.”
I sighed heavily and popped a piece into my mouth with a wince. The bitter aftertaste was just as terrible as I remembered, but if it meant the difference between success and failure, I supposed I could do it. “Did you really mean what you said, about me being different for a reason?”
“I sho' did. Dere's importan' things in ya future, lil' filly.” He smiled, starting to chop vegetables again.
“But I'm just a regular old–”
The school's bell cut me off.
“Ya hurry on now – ya don' wanna be late fo' ya final theory tes'!”
“But I–”
“Go!” He shooed me on, dumping my uneaten carrots into a paper bag for me. “We'll have time fo' dat later.” He tossed the bag to me, motioning toward the door.
I sat there a minute longer with the bag in my teeth, unsure about what I should do, but he was right – I couldn't afford to be late for my theory final exam. Finally, with a muffled “Okay, thanks!” I ran off to the test.