//------------------------------// // Pink and Bubbly // Story: Not a Monster // by Dreamscape //------------------------------// My heart thumped heavily against my chest as I approached the school. I had managed to arrive somewhat later than I wanted solely due to the fact of my hesitation at home. A river of students made their way inside the building, causing me to wonder how large of an ocean lay inside. My answer was given quickly. As I opened the door, the roar of hundreds of students speaking at once filled my ears; I was already uncomfortable. The halls were so crowded that nearly every student was either touching or brushing shoulders against one another. Foot traffic was clogged; I watched two backed up lines of students struggling to push their way through the crowds, one line approaching me, the other going off in the opposite direction. I decided to slip my way past a few of the students while I scanned the halls for a familiar, beautiful face. My drive to continue pushing ahead faltered easily; I knew it would. I grew more and more uncomfortable the farther into the crowd of unfamiliar faces I went. My stomach fluttered with anxiety and my body was practically shaking. Unable to fight back any longer, I let my instincts take over, flight rather than fight. I managed to get myself turned around as quickly as possible, and took the straightest path back to the entrance that I could find. A sigh of relief pushed its way from my mouth as I escaped the hectic, oppressive atmosphere of the chaotic scene that lay behind me. The open world around me seemed incredibly silent, my ears still adjusted to the loud rumbling of voices inside. As with the previous morning, there was a slight chill in the air, nothing I couldn’t handle, especially when it provided peace and quiet as well. Not wanting to stand in the center of the main pathway to the school, I strolled off towards a bench which I had spotted in the lawn. It was nothing special, a simple wooden bench beside a tree, but at least it was calm and without any unwanted activity. I flung my backpack aside before plopping down onto the hard, wooden surface. I let out another sigh as I adjusted my bag so that it sat beside me, and then began rubbing my hands across my eyes. I was already stressed, and the day hadn’t even started. Unsure of what to do to pass the time, I pulled out my phone and skimmed through my Ponyhoof feed. It seemed as though our world had some strange obsession with naming things after equines, Ponyhoof, Canterlot High, Wondercolts. I thought to myself how odd that sounded, but then realized what a pointless question it was. It was better just to accept the fact. “Hiya!” My body jolted at the sudden and extremely chipper greeting, then froze as I felt a pair of hands wrap around my shoulders. I craned my neck so that I could see exactly who the pink hands belonged to. I was greeted by one of the widest grins I had ever witnessed, and bright blue eyes which sparkled with excitement. “I’m Pinkie Pie! You must be our newest student and my newest friend. Without warning, she hopped over the back of the bench, her incredibly curly hair bouncing as if it were made of springs. Before I even had the chance to move my backpack, she was already sitting directly on top of it. “Oopsie,” she giggled after realizing what she’d done. She pulled the bag from beneath her bottom and set it in my lap. “Hey there, Pinkie, and yeah, I am the new one, I guess.” “You guess?” she eyeballed me suspiciously. “I mean, yes, yes I am.” Her grin returned. “Okie dokie! I heard Sunset was the one who gave you a tour, did ya like her, huh?” “Uh… yeah,” I nodded my head, the mentioning of the name bringing thoughts of her to mind. “Well, good! I’m super-duper happy that you got to meet her before you heard anything about her from anyone else, you know?” “Not really?” I questioned, shaking my head. I was curious as to what exactly she meant by her statement. Were there bad rumors and gossip going around about Sunset? That was high school though, a horrible cesspool of humanity. “Never mind then,” she said, giving me a suspiciously fake smile. “But you and me, we should totally hang out sometime, okay?” I nodded my head once more, not exactly sure how to respond. “Awesomemazing, I’ll be looking forward to it. Here!” she quickly snatched my phone from my hand. I stared at her wide-eyed, at first unsure of what she was doing. The phone was returned with her name in my contacts and a grinning emoji beside it. I can’t say I had ever had a girl forcibly give me her number before Pinkie. She was certainly an energetic and outgoing one, I’ll give her that. The shrill, distant ring of the bell gave an abrupt end to our conversation. I quickly got up onto my feet and placed the straps of my bag over my shoulders. Pinkie continued to sit, looking up at me with her wide, sparkling blue eyes as if in shock from being cut off. “Aww!” she pouted, smacking a fisted hand against the seat of the bench. “I really wanted to get to know you better.” “Uh… we can always talk later,” I said as comfortingly as I could. I knew my words had worked when she hopped up gleefully from her seat. “Sounds like a plan! See ya!” she cheered, a slight giggle in her tone. With that, she skipped off to class. I would have walked with her, but her pace was much too fast for my liking; that, and I had no idea where her first class was located compared to my own. Pinkie Pie, the name was a perfect fit for a girl like her. It seemed as if every school, whether it be fictional or real had a student like her. The bubbly, extremely outgoing, and silly girl who is friends, or at least wants to be considered a friend of everyone in the school. She was quite cute, both her looks and personality. I began to wonder if she was interested in me. I knew that most likely it wasn’t the case. She was simply attempting to be friendly. It would be nice to spend some time with her anyways, even if it wasn’t anything close to a date. Besides, I had my eyes set on the first girl I’d met in CHS. I already had a feeling that Sunset would make a much better companion. My heart jumped when I realized that I was still standing in front of the bench. In a near-panic, I rushed of towards the school, not running due to the fact that I did not want to look like a complete idiot, but walking at a rather quick pace so I could hopefully reach my first class on time.