//------------------------------// // 3. School's Out // Story: Sweetie's Shadow // by Note Sketch //------------------------------// "Hurry now my little ponies." A pink mare said as she welcomed all the colts and fillies storming her school. "Class is starting!" "Yes Miss Cherilee!" They called out, obediently going in and taking their seats. As each child walked in, the teacher counted them, no doubt taking roll as she saw them pass. A frown took the place of her smile as she saw the last pony walk in and with a sigh looked off into the distance. Just as she had expected, two small fillies were running as fast as their small legs could take them. An annoyed look upon the mare's face, she 'patiently' waited until the arrived to speak to them. Panting and sweating, the two fillies looked up at their teacher who was blocking the door way with forced smile and embarrassed expressions. "Uh...good morning Miss Cherilee..." Scootaloo said as she looked up at the mare whose only response was to raise and eyebrow. "Got held up again?" Cherilee asked as she eyes them from head to hoof. "How'd you guess? Heh..." Switching her gaze instead to Sweetie Belle who was still trying to catch her breath, she sighed once more. "Scootaloo I was expecting to be late, but you? Sweetie Belle, you're usually the first pony here." "Something happened this morning!" The white filly said as she jumped. "You wouldn't believe it, but I somehow-" "They probably just don't take their studies seriously. It's no wonder they can't get their cutie marks yet." A rather annoyingly high pitched voiced said as she poked her head out towards the fillies being scolded. "Shut up Diamond Tiara!" Scootaloo shouted back at the laughing filly. "That's enough." Cherilee said as she placed a hoof to her forehead. "It's way too early for this. Just get inside now. We're about to start the presentations." She finished as she lead the way inside. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle both glared at the pink filly who had insulted them on their way in. What a brat. A voice echoed once more in Sweetie Belle's head. This time for sure she knew she wasn't just hearing things. It was a voice she recognized. "King Sombra?" She said under her breath as she walked to her seat. You can hear me? "You can talk to me?!" She erupted in surprise. "Uhh, yeah, but no pony wants to." The tiara wearing filly spoke as she took prideful strides across the classroom to her own seat. "Good one DT!" Her ever obedient companion Silver Spoon said as she offered a hoof bump. The sound of the hooves coming together in a clap was enough to irritate Sweetie Belle. The stallion within her shadow took notice and if he had a face to show his expression, he would have a smirk of amusement. You know, I wouldn't be opposed if you told me to kill those two. Just putting that out there. Sweetie Belle didn't respond. Whether it was because she didn't want to look like she was talking to thin air or because she was actually considering Sombra's proposal, no pony could really know. Suddenly a hoof pressed against her shoulder, bringing her back to reality. "Don't listen to them. Those two are always just tryin' to cause a scene." A filly with a large pink bow said. "I know..." Sweetie Belle responded as she climbed into her seat. "But I still don't like them." "Ah know. None of us do." Applebloom said with a smile. "Yeah well I wish some pony showed them a lesson! Or at least Diamond Tiara." Scoots spoke as she flailed her arms around in exaggeration. She, like every pony else in their little circle of friends, had just about had it with their bully. I volunteer. Sombra spoke again from within Sweetie's head. Was he kidding? Was he serious? She wasn't exactly sure, though she didn't exactly have the opportunity to question it. Drawing attention was the last thing Sweetie Belle wanted to do right now. Students were beginning to do their presentations. "My role model is Spider-Mane!" A colt said as he stepped up to the podium. Many giggled at what he said though that didn't seem to affect him in the slightest and continued to give his presentation on his role model. Spider-Mane? Who in their right mind would put spiders in their mane? Sombra asked out. "No, Spider-Mane is a comic book super hero." Sweetie Belle whispered to herself. And what, pray tell, is a 'comic book'? "It's like a story book with a lot of pictures." And how is that any different than a regular book? "Uh...well I guess it's cause its all pictures and the only writing is what the character say." Sounds odd... "It is! I never understood why colts like them so much." Sweetie Belle said, though her speech had gone from a whisper to almost a shout, causing herself to become the center of attention. No doubt every pony thought she was talking about the presentation that she interrupted. "Uh...sorry." She said in a blush. Sombra chuckled at his 'master's' expense as she felt herself melt into her desk. "That's not funny..." She said in a whisper again. It is from where I'm standing. "Where are you standing anyway? I thought you were back with Twilight." I was...until you got too far away. You forgot that I'm bound to you. I can't be very far from you or else I will simply return to your shadow. "Oh...that's weird." You're the one who bonded me. How do you not know? "I told you. I didn't do it on purpose. I was trying to get rid of my fear of public speaking." "Next pony please! How about you Scootaloo?" Cherilee asked out as she stood up to help the colt down form the podium. "Sure!" The orange pegasus shouted as she grabbed her saddle bag and ran up to the front of the class room. Quickly taking everything out, she built up a large poster of the pony every pony knew would be her role model. Rainbow Dash's image proudly stood up for all to see. 'Rainbow Dash is my role model!" Scoots proclaimed out to every pony. Ah, yet another one of my murderers. "You keep saying that, but did my sister and her friends really...kill you?" You tell me Necromancer. "Stop calling me that, I don't even know what that word means!" "What? A Sonic Rainboom?" Scootaloo asked from her podium as she held a pointer to a chart that she too had made and brought to emphasis her presentation. "I've told you like a bizialian times." "I..uh..." Sweetie said, not sure how to excuse herself this time, though the chuckling in her head wasn't exactly helping. "Yeah, I kinda...forgot?" "Oh, well I'll just explain it again!" Scoots replied with a smile as she began to dig into her saddle again. Many grunts and sighs were heard as she was once again going to go over her favorite subject. Necro means dead. Mancer means he that controls. That's the simple explanation. "So you're saying I...control the dead?" You control me by some spell, and I'm dead. So yes, you're a necromancer. "So you're like, dead dead?" Killed by your sister and her friends. Yes. "That's mean of them!" She said in a hushed tone, barely raising her voice up. You're telling me. Though I don't blame them. We each had something we needed to do. Too bad I simply wasn't strong enough to accomplish it. "What did you want to do?" ... A pause. For once Sombra kept quiet. It was a strange feeling to Sweetie Belle. Was he still there at all? She certainly couldn't feel his presence, let alone know if he even heard her at all. But for some reason, that silence in her head made her chest ache. Wait. Was it her chest that was aching? Or Sombra's own feelings bleeding through to her? "Sweetie Belle?" Cherilee asked out to the filly who was in a daze of sorts. Quickly jumping back into reality in a yelp, she stared blankly at her teacher. "Uh, yes Miss Cherilee?" "Since you have been so...into the presentations. Why don't you go next?" She asked with a slight annoyance in her tone. "But...I um, forgot my flash cards!" Sweetie tried to excuse herself out of it. Though it didn't seem to matter to the pink mare staring down at her. "It's alright. Since you wrote it down you at least know what it's about. Just got on up and try it out. We won't laugh at you." "I will." Diamond Tiara whispered to her friend in a giggle fit. Sweetie Belle was trapped in corner and feeling defeated she slowly nodded. Walking up to the podium to trade spots with Scootaloo, she kept her head down as her heart began to race. Clearing her throat and looking out to her classmates, she began to talk. "M-My role model is...my sister Rarity and...and..." Sweetie Belle began to trail off now that every pony had their eyes glued to her. It was overwhelming for her. All those ponies staring at her, waiting for her to continue. It scared her. She gulped as she tried to re-hydrate her dry throat. It was no use however since no matter how much she tried her voice would not come out. Sweating and more nervous than before, she began to look around the class room for a source of comfort. Seeing her friends all smile at her brought some sense of security to her though it didn't last long. Over in the corner of the room she saw Diamond Tiara laughed. No doubt at her. "I think she's going to choke." She said with a giggle. "I...I..." "Are ya okay Sweetie Belle?" Applebloom asked, clearly worried about her. Falling down and curling up behind the podium, Sweetie Belle began to mumble to herself. "I wanna go home...Some pony make it so I don't have to do this stupid presentation!" She said as tears began to weld up in her eyes. Arggh... She heard Sombra grunt out. "Wait, no I didn't mean to-" It was too late. Sweetie Belle's shadow moved away from her and slid across the floor and out through a nearby window. Once outside, Sombra's image bled out and rose from the ground as his horn began to spark out in green and purple lightning. Quickly shooting out a bolt of dark magic, he aimed at the bell that was placed at the very top of the school. A large BONG was heard as the bell crashed down on the roof. Every pony remained quiet as they looked up at the ceiling. "What...was that?" Silver Spoon asked out as she stood up from her chair. "Who cares." Her friend responded she returned her gaze to the podium. "I just want to start hearing the poor little Sweetie Belle cry. No doubt she's about to cry like the little baby she is." She finished with a devilish smirk, not at all paying attention to the ever increasing cracks appearing above her. At once, another cracking noise was heard as the room above them began to bend and let down some dust and debris. Diamond Tiara didn't even have time to react. The ceiling above her burst open and the school bell landed on her, trapping her in the bronze cone as her screams were muffled by the thick casting of the bell. "Every pony out!" Cherilee shouted as she opened the door for her students to flee. The school was coming down and pieces of the roof were beginning to fall on top of them. All at once the colts and fillies ran out trying to stay clear of the falling debris. Sweetie Belle, on the other hoof, just now peeked over the podium to see what was going on. While looking around at her panicked classmates Sweetie Belle didn't notice the large support pole that was falling down towards her. In a dark flash, the small filly felt something grab her by the nape as she was swung around and thrown into the air. Landing on a soft grey coat, she looked down to see Sombra running around the falling pieces of wood as he dash towards the window on the other side of the school. Jumping out and sliding on the grass outside, Sombra panted as he looked back to the school that was now nothing more than rubble. "Y-You saved me." Sweetie Belle said in surprise as she looked down to the stallion who's back she was riding. "Yeah, don't get used to it..." He said as he turned around to see two rather angry looking mares. Both Twilight and Rarity just appeared on the scene on time to see two things. Sombra jumping out of a school window and the school itself destroyed. "It's...not what it looks like..." He said with a nervous chuckle. "It's not? Care to explain then?" Twilight asked out, though her tone didn't really say, 'understanding'. "Is any pony there?" A muffled voice asked out form the wreckage. Diamond Tiara was still alive it seemed, but there was no way of getting to her under the bell with all the broken wood panels and other debris on it. Many rushed to try to dig her out, but they seemed to make little progress. "Okay. It's exactly what it looks like."