"Class?" Cheerilee stood at the front of the room trying to quiet her class. "I have a very important announcement! We will be getting a new student!"
The room erupted with questions.
"Now, now! Remember to please raise your hooves so that everpony may get a turn!"
The class was immediately quiet. Cheerilee was dismayed to see that nearly every single one of her students were raising their hooves. "Okay, I'm not going to be able to pick all of you, but I will take questions until he gets here."
A few of the students put there hands down.
"Yes! Another guy!" Featherweight called out, then quickly shut his mouth realizing that he had said that out loud. "Sorry Ms. Cheerilee! It won't happen again."
The school-teacher nodded. "Very well. Hm...let's see...how about Twist! What's your question deary?"
"Nopony cares about her opinion Cheerilee!" Diamond Tiara sneered.
"Diamond Tiara, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all! Also, you should call me Ms. Cheerilee, not Cheerilee! I'm afraid that you'll be having a letter home," Cheerilee scolded. "Now, where was I? Oh, right! Twist!"
Twist just shook her head.
"She wanted ta ask where he was comin' from!" Apple Bloom explained.
"I came from Trottingham!" a voice in the doorway announced. The school ponies all turned their heads around so quickly that Cheerilee was afraid that they would snap their necks. A collective gasp came from the crowd as the figure came into the light.
"Ha! He is marked like a cow!" Diamond Tiara laughed. Soon nearly the whole room was laughing. The little colt didn't seem to care, he just smiled.
"Excuse me class! I would like you to all introduce yourselves!"
Names were shot out down the row; some audible, some not: Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, Featherweight, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Rumble, Scootaloo, Twisht and Dinky were the ones that were able to be heard.
"Mighty nice meeting you all, my name's Pip Squeak!" the cow splotched colt replied to all of the names.
Giggles came from Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Cheerilee looked like she was about to reprimand them, but she just gave up. "Dinky? Would you mind helping Pip Squeak while he gets settled?" she asked. The purple filly shook her head. "Great! Would you please go and sit next to Dinky in the back?" Cheerilee asked Pip.
"No problem ma'am!" he replied, already racing to the back. Sitting down, he extended a thin hoof to Dinky and said, "Pleasure to meet you!"
Dinky shook his hoof, not fully paying attention as Cheerilee had started the lesson.
"What are we learning about?" Pip Squeak asked, not understanding.
"We are learning about the Civil War of the Alicorns...did you know that Celestia and Luna aren't actually sisters, but they were the only alicorns left so they kinda adopted each other?" Dinky replied, happy to share her knowledge with this newcomer.
"Really? That's cool!"
"Yeah...we kinda need to listen now!"
The two ponies in the back popped into Cheerilee's history lesson.
"...was the bloodiest war fought on this soil. It was said to take place here, before it was established as Ponyville...any questions?"
Most ponies were asleep by now, but Dinky rose her hoof.
"Yes, Dinky?" Cheerilee asked.
"Why did this war start?"
"Ah, a very good question. That brings us into the very heart of the problem: power. The alicorns were very powerful, all equally powerful, so none of them could take the throne. Remember my little ponies, that this was when the tribes were still separated. Since nopony took the throne, they argued very much. Eventually it got to be too much. Some believed that they should take the lesser species and use them as slaves, others didn't. That is as far as we can go for now; that is, until I get your permission slips back!" The bell rang. "Lunch time!"
As the class rushed out of the door, Dinky stayed sitting in her seat. "What are you doing?" Pip Squeak asked, wondering why she stayed seated.
"Oh...um...I get trampled if I go into that throng so I wait until they leave," Dinky replied in a sheepish voice.
Pip nodded. "Then I'll wait with you!"
Once the rest of the ponies left, the purple filly and the white-and-brown colt went over to the saddlebags.
"Do you have a lunch?" Dinky asked.
"No...but I'll be fine..."
"Absolutely not! I can share with you!" Dinky insisted.
They trotted outside together, unaware of what it looked like. "OOHH!!" Diamond Tiara yelled. "DINKY AND PIPSQUEAK SITTIN IN A TREE! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"
Dinky just kept walking along, unfazed by the taunting.
"Aren't you going to do something?" her companion asked.
"No," Dinky sighed, feeling slightly depressed. "It only makes it worse."
"I don't believe that! We just need a crowd of supporters!"
"I don't really have friends," Dinky replied, hanging her head.
"Nonsense! You have me!"
The purple mare blushed and felt slightly weird.
"I'll get some friends, and we can stand up to Diamond Tiara! See how she feels then!" Pip ran off to the table with Featherweight and Rumble.
Dinky smiled to herself and sat down in a dry patch of grass. Opening her lunch box, she saw that she had a sunflower sandwich and a muffin that her mom had baked. It may have been a little bit burnt, but she didn't care. Carefully leaving half of the sandwich for when Pip came back, Dinky dug into her food.
"Aw, your coltfriend left you for some rascally boys!"
"Yeah!"
"Leave her alone!" Pip's Trottingham accent rang through the schoolyard.
"That's right!"
Featherweight?
"Go bug somepony else Diamond Tiara!"
Rumble?
Dinky looked up and saw the three colts standing bravely over Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Gathering up her courage, she joined them.
"That's right! Stop picking on me!"
Four ponies proved to be too much for the bullies and they sped off.
"Brilliant buddies! That was amazing!" Pip smiled, feeling very proud of himself.
Dinky slunk away so that she wouldn't interfere with the fun. Pip caught up with her on the grass. "Where are you going?"
"I-I don't wanna bug you guys..."
"You aren't being a bother! Bring you lunch and we can have a picnic!"
Dinky again felt that strange sensation in her stomach. I must be really hungry... she thought.
Bringing her lunch onto the hill was no problem; joining the conversation, however, would have been a problem if not for Pip. He constantly brought her in, and the guys seemed to like her. Every time Dinky accidentally touched Pip's hooves, she felt her cheeks get warm and her stomach do gymnastics. What is wrong with me?
Finally, it proved to be too much. "Guys? I have to go see Ms. Cheerilee, I'll be back!" Dinky explained as she left the picnic.
Once inside the classroom, Dinky took a deep breathe. "Ms. Cheerilee?"
"Yes, deary?" came the response. Ms. Cheerilee poked her head out from behind a door. "Are you okay?"
"Um....I don't know...my cheeks keep getting hot and my stomach feels like it wants to be a gymnast..." Dinky replied.
"Come here," instructed the violet teacher. She thoroughly inspected Dinky and found nothing wrong with her. "When did you feel this?"
"Um...whenever Pip touched me...."
Cheerilee nodded. "You aren't sick, so go out to recess! Have fun!"
Once Dinky was outside, Cheerilee chuckled. "Young love!"
Ms. Cheerilee didn't tell me what was wrong...wait! Dinky stopped walking. I felt weird every time we touched...does that mean that I have a crush?