//------------------------------//
// Ch. 8 Great start of the new year. 
// Story: School! Flying! Falling! Goofing! 
// by Lazydrill 
//------------------------------//

The stallion turned around to face you, his eyes were ember colored, his mane and tail were a slightly darker color than his eyes, his coat was a light tint of brown and his cutie mark was of a cloud with a brown tornado on it. You grinned as the stallion fully faced you. "Still as stupid as ever. It is good to see you again, Dust."

The stallion chuckled as he extended his right hoof and you extended yours. Interlocking the two hooves, you both pulled on it and wrapped your free front leg around the other's neck. "It is good to see you too, Static. I haven't seen you throughout summer because I was on vacation. I should have probably told you that before I left, though," Dust said as you two released each other.

You made your face look like you were truly hurt by the sudden absence of your friend, brining a hoof up to your chest. "You almost broke my heart, Dust! I went to your house with a bouquet of flowers in one hoof and chocolate in the other! I finally got the courage to ask you to be my coltfriend, but when you didn't open the door after I read my poem for you... I was deeply hurt!" you finished with letting out a fake tear.

Dust cringed his face into one of mild surprise. "Dude, I know you love me. But that goes a little bit fast, I don't think I'm ready for such a commitment to you." He took your left hoof in both of his, and locked eyes with you. "But, for you, Static. I'm willing to make that change," Dust said as he inched closer to your muzzle, his lips pouting out to meet yours.

Your eyes widened at the sudden advance of your best friend, feeling creeped out by him, you leapt a little back, freeing your hoof from his. "WOW! Dust, calm your hormones, dude. Did you inform your fillyfriend that you wanted to start a herd with her and me?" 

Dust looked saddened and surprised by your retreat, before shrugging. "Nah, I broke up with Daisies this summer. She became really too clingy for my taste, she always wanted to be with me. And I really mean, ALWAYS. The mare wouldn't give me space to breath, so I ended it."

You glanced at him with surprise. "Dude, why are you so picky on the mares? you have had like, what, three fillyfriends last school year?"

Dust shrugged before locking eyes with you again. "That is because I haven't found the 'one' yet. But when I gaze into your eyes now, after being so long away from you, I realize that you are the 'one' for me," Dust said as he slowly made his way closer to you again.

Your face cringed in mild disgust towards him. "DUDE! enough with bromance already, sheeze. What the hay did you do in summer vacation anyway? Not enough mares for you or something?"

Dust wasn't fazed by your look, and continued to inch closer to you while you slowly backed away from him. "There are a lot of mares, you know that. But there is only one 'you', Static."

Dust was brought out of his advancing by a harsh 'wack' to the back of his head. He groaned lightly while he stopped in place and sat down on his haunches. Rubbing the hurt spot on the back of his head, he craned his head to his right, where a bit smaller pegasus mare than Dust was standing, retracting her hoof as she glared at Dust.

Dust chuckled at the mare next to him. "Where the hay was that for, sis?" Dust groaned lightly as he still rubbed the back of his head.

You glanced over to the mare next to him, she had the same eyes as Dust, as well as the same mane color, only her mane and tail had streaks of a lighter color going trough them, her coat was a mint green. You smirked at the mare, bowing a little in gratitude towards the mare before saying, "Thanks, you always know when to jab sense into him, don't you, Lightning?"

The mare put her hoof down before turing her muzzle to face you. Her eyes and ears perked up when she looked towards you, her muzzle turning into a smirk. "You bet I know that! Who else than his big sister to wack him back to his senses?"

You chuckled at her as you raised your head again. You raised your right hoof up in the air and made circular motions with it. "Hurrah, for the all powerful sister, Lightning Dust," you finished with making fake cheers sounds.

Lightning narrowed her eyes at you, her muzzle still carrying the smirk. "You should be grateful, Static. If it wasn't for me, you could be getting caressed by Dust right about now, and have a nice 'colt on colt' session here in front of the school."

You cringed at the smirking mare, quite disturbed by the picture that appeared in your head. "Jeez, Lightning. I didn't know that you were into that kind off stuff, especially when your brother is involved."

Lightning looked confused as she raised an eyebrow at you before realization hit her and she cringed as well. Dust Cloud decided to join into the conversation, he stood up and glanced towards his sister. "I know you, sis. You aren't into that stuff, but you are into Static..." he said as he raised an eyebrow with a smirk and pushed her lightly with his right hoof.

Lightning's eyes went wide as a light blush crept unto her muzzle. Your eyes widened as well as you looked towards Lightning who was now fidgeting on her hooves and looking away from you and Dust. "Y-you have a crush on me, Lightning?!" you said in surprise.

Lightning still refused to look at you. She stammered a bit as she rubbed her right hoof with her left, "Well, m-maybe a little..."

You stared at her with your mouth half open. Dust began laughing loudly at you and Lightning, struggling to breath as he laid down onto the clouds. And, as always, your parents came joining the conversation at the right moment. "Oh? I did't know you liked my son, Lightning Dust. If you really like him, you should work for it now, though, since he has a crush on an another mare," your mom chirped in from your left.

Lightning Dust instantly glanced your way with wide eyes. "H-he has?!" 

Your mom and dad both gave a nod to Lightning. You groaned as you smacked your forehead with your right hoof. "Mom, Dad, for the last time. I don't have a crush on Rainbow Dash!" you groaned out towards your parents as they smiled at you.

"WHAT!? you have a crush on Rainbow Dash?!" Lightning screamed out.

You and your parents were taken back by the sudden outburst. Lightning Dust was now glaring at you, her wings spread out and her teeth were showing as she gritted them. You quickly shook your head. "N-no! I don't have a crush on her!"

Your dad coughed while saying, "Cough.. yes, you do..cough.."

You half closed your eyes in an unamused look as you glanced over towards him. Your father smiled innocently at you. "And that is the reason why I never want you around my school."

A bell chimed trough the air, signaling that the students had ten minutes to wrap up everything they were doing and get to their classes. "Saved by the bell..." you thought to yourself as everypony glanced towards the school. Dust crawled back onto his hooves again, glancing to you, he took a look of annoyance on his muzzle. "Static. You know what our first lesson is, right?" he said with his voice pitched lower, matching a pony who was desperate.

There was only one thing in Equestria, were he would take on that voice. Your ears dropped to the side of your head as your eyes widened. "Please, you don't mean what I think you mean..."

Dust slowly nodded his head. "I'm afraid so." He gulped loudly before he spoke the worst thing that could ever be said between you two, "Math."

You swung your hooves up into the air, while screaming in agony, "NNNNOOOOOO!!" 

Your dad chuckled at you. "Don't be like that, Static. Math is a very important subject. Besides, last year you did pretty good."

You huffed at your dad. "Dad, I finished last year with just enough to make it."

Your dad grinned at you. "That is good enough for me. As long as you make it, you're pretty good at it."

"Thanks for the pep talk, Dad," you said, rolling your eyes.

"Anytime, son," he said as he ruffled your mane.

You slapped the hoof of your dad away with your own, groaning as he faked a face of hurt as he brushed his swatted hoof. Ignoring the drama queen next to you, you turned your muzzle to face Dust and Lightning as they watched you and your dad perform.

"What?" you asked as you raised an eyebrow at the two.

"Dude, your father said that you're good at... 'math'."  Dust almost whispered the last part, as if afraid that some upper being would punish him for outing the Tartarus subject. 

"I'm not that good at it, I barely survived last year."

"Still, you are better than me. Can I copy your work? PPLLEEAAASSSEEEE?" Dust pleaded as he bowed before your hooves while swaying his body up and down on his knees.

You gave Lightning an unamused look and pointed with your left hoof towards the idiot in front of you. Lightning grinned at you and nodded, she got beside her brother and raised her hoof up. She brought her hoof down at the same time as Dust tilled his head up again.

WACK

Dust's head slammed down into the clouds, burying his face in it. You shuddered, as you were certain that you heard something crack when Lightning slammed the backside of her brother's head. 

With his face still buried in the clouds, Dust trowed his left foreleg lazily from the ground up into the air, his words muzzled by the clouds, "Fhanks, sjis. I eeded ath."

You raised an eyebrow at the face-buried stallion in front of you. "Dust, didn't that hurt? from my point of view, Lightning should have wacked your head off of you."

Dust shrugged. "Nah, only a bit. Lightning has jabbed my head so many times that my skull is used to it, and I'm pretty sure my brain is missing a few parts back there..." Dust said as he crawled straight up onto his hooves again and rubbed the back of his head.

"Are you foals done? we need to get to class before Miss Pi is going to saddle us up with a wagon load of homework!" Lightning complained.

You and Dust both groaned at the same time. "Do we really have Miss Pi, again? sheez. We have had her every year so far. And every year she hate's our flanks more," Dust yammered.

You nodded at him. "She likes everypony, except us. I bet that if she could, she would cut our tails off and use it to explain under which angle it is cut the best."

Your friend nodded is head rapidly. Miss Pi, your math teacher for the past three years on High Altitude, is a pony who praises hard working ponies. And really dislikes you and Dust, because you two are almost the complete opposite of those. So for that past few years, she held a grudge against you and Dust, and was every year surprised that you two, somehow, succeeded in getting a high enough score in math to actually go to the next year.

"Sweetie, I think it is better if you go to class," your mom told you softly.

You glanced to your left to your mother as she looked to you. You smiled at her and nodded with, "Okay, Mom. I think that would be the best right about now."

Your mom nodded at you, she leant towards you and gave you a soft kiss on the forehead, and a light nuzzle on the cheek which you returned.

"I'll be waiting here again when you're done with school, okay?" your mom said as she craned her neck away from you.

You nodded once more at her to which she smiled. Your dad ruffled your mane again, making it a mess as a few strains of your mane dropped over your left eye. "Go to work, Dad," you said as you blew the strains out of your face.

Your dad grinned. "I love you too, Static."

Your dad walked around you, towards your mother and kissed her passionately on the lips. You made a gagging noise, putting a hoof to your mouth and faking to throw-up.

Your parents broke their kiss. "Hun, I'm going to work, I'll see you around five," he said as he gave your mother another peck on the lips. Your mother nodded at him with a loving smile, your dad jumped into the air and flew off towards the Cloudale's Weather Station.

As your dad flew off in the distance, your mom turned her muzzle to you and chuckled. "Don't be such a foal, Static. This year you'll taste love yourself. And you will like it."

"Oh, yeah? and how do you know that?" you said as your raised an eyebrow at her.

Your mom smirked at you. "Rainbow Dash? Lightning Dust?"

You gulped loudly to which your mom chuckled again. "Anyhoof, I'll see you in the afternoon, sweetie," your mom said as she nuzzled your cheek again. "And it was nice seeing you as well, Dust Cloud," she said as she turned her muzzle to the stallion that was now on his haunches, writing in a notebook.

"It was nice seeing you too, Miss Spark."

Your mom shook her head, letting out a small sigh, muttering, "Foals," before spreading her wings and taking off into the sky. You watched your mother fly away, waving at her as she disappeared over the cloudy buildings. 

You turned your head over to Dust with your eyebrows raised at him in question. "Dust? what the hay are you doing?"

"I'm taking notes," Dust said without looking up from his notebook.

""Taking notes? you? on what?"

"On what happened here in the last few minutes, between you and your parents."

"For Luna's sake, why?"

"So I can annoy you with this in the future, you never know when a perfect opportunity arises to agitate you with this."

You facehooved, groaning as you watched Dust continuing to take notes. You looked around, noting to yourself that nopony was around anymore, even Lightning was gone. "Dust... I think we should go befo...." you were interrupted as the bell chimed again.

You and Dust both shot your muzzle up towards the school. Looking back towards each other, you both mouthed at the same time, "We are so bucked."

Dust slammed the notebook back in his saddlebag as you spread your wings and pulled on his tail as you launched towards the entrance. Dust yelped in surprise as you hauled him after you, his face scraping over the cloudy floor, leaving a small trench in it. You zipped over the two stair steps in front of the entrance, Dust's face bouncing up the steps with soft 'skipping noises' as you raced into the school. Stopping in the main lobby of the school, you looked about, trying to find where the classroom was to be found. "DUST! which class room?!" you asked your friend as he was trying to stand up again.

"F3C!" Dust yelled at you.

"F3C?! BUCK! That is on the third floor!" you cursed.

"I Know! just go!" Dust encouraged you.

Spreading your wings again, you grabbed the tail of Dust, who looked back to his tail before sighing as his head got slammed back into the cloud floor. You launched from the floor again, pulling Dust behind you as you ascended the main lobby staircase. Unfortunately for Dust, the staircase had more than twenty steps. As you dragged him onwards behind you, Dust's head bounced against every single step that you past by, with every step, you heard him groaning, "Ou...ou...ou...ou....ou...ou."

"Sorry, Dust!" you yelled over your shoulder as you reached the second floor.

Dust groaned into the floor, "Its okay, dude. You're the fastest of us, and not only with flying..."

You narrowed your eyes at him as you hovered on the first floor. "Oh, wait. We need to go up another set of stairs," you said smirking at him.

Dust sighed loudly into the floor, not bothering to raise his head up, "I hope you sprain a wing, Static."

"If I haul your fat flank behind me all day, I will sprain both of my wings."

"And maybe get some muscle when your at it." Dust retorted.

"Says the one that can eat ten muffins in thirty minutes, and still be hungry."

"Just get us to class already. We can discuss our relationship there."

"Fair enough."

You aimed to your left where the second staircase was build, and shot towards it while smirking as you heard Dust's head bounce off of the steps, "Ou...ou...ou...ou....ou...ou..."

Reaching the top of the stairs, you made a sharp left turn into a hallway with multiple doors on each side. You scanned with your eyes past the doors, to the little signs that were hung next to the door, informing which class it was. "F3A, F3B, F3C, F3D. Ah ponyfeathers, flew past it," you groaned.

You angled yourself towards the left wall, extending one of your hoofs while holding Dust's tail in the other, you pushed yourself from the wall, making a jump for the wall on the other side. You did the same here, extending one hoof and pushing yourself off again, making an one-hundred and eighty degree turn in a hall not wider than four meters. As you turned, you heard Dust's face scraping over the floor as his face stayed in the same place but was rotating as his flank was turned around.

You stopped in front off the classroom door and released Dust's tail. Craning your head towards it, you put your ear onto the door. You tried to eavesdrop to what was being said on the other side. You heard that the teacher was busy at the moment with counting heads and doing an introduction round. Gulping, you slowly inched your right hoof over to the doorknob, opening it inwards with just a crack. Peering trough the crack in the door, you noticed that the teacher was turned towards the windows at the other side of the classroom, facing away from the door entirely.

"Okay, Dust. If we do this quietly, we can sneak in without being noti..AAHH!" you yelped as your whole body was pushed into the classroom from behind. The door slammed open as your face met the cloudy floor.

"Ah, Misters Static Spark and Dust Cloud. What a joy to see that you two finally made it."

Pulling your muzzle from the ground, you glanced up towards a middle aged pegasus mare with glasses. Her mane was pulled into a small bun behind her head. Her coat was a light shade of red. Her mane and tail were a light shade of violet, she wore a brown suit with a small name tag on it, displaying; Miss, Pi.

You chuckled awkwardly as you scrambled back onto your hooves, "Hehe, hey, Miss Pi. I hope you have had a good summer?" you said, raising an eyebrow and putting on your best fake smile on your muzzle.

"Take a seat," Miss Pi said with a professional tone.

Sighing, you looked around the classroom. The classrooms were all similar build, There were three by three rows school benches were three ponies could sit next to each other. You spotted Lightning sitting in the middle of the bench at the window side, paired by two other mares that were sitting beside her. You noticed that behind her, the last bench was completely empty. You trotted over to the bench with Dust trailing behind you, glancing over your shoulder as you walked down the path between the middle row and the window row, you noticed that Miss Pi was facing towards the school board and was struggling with a few wires that were next to the board.

Turning your muzzle to the front again, you reached the desk at the back row of the window side, you slide out the chair with a hoof and sat your saddlebags down on the cloud floor, next to your chair. You glanced over your shoulder as Dust took the seat next to you, noticing that he had simply dropped his saddlebags against the wall behind you. "You realize that we need those books in your saddlebag, right?" you asked with a raised eyebrow at him.

Dust crossed his hooves as he laid them on the desk and buried his muzzle in his forelegs. "Wake me when we need them, then I will take them out of their wrappings."

"...I really can't blame you on that one. Mine are still wrapped, too," you said while shrugging.

"Mister, Static. Please sit down," came the voice of Miss Pi in front of the class.

You glanced over to the front of the class, noticing that Miss Pi was tapping her right hoof on her desk while looking at you with slightly narrowed eyes. You smiled innocently and sat down on your chair. "Ouch..." you groaned to yourself. As you sat down, your tail was directly underneath your flank, hurting it as you sat down on it. "Sometimes I forget I have a tail.." You stood up slightly from your chair and swung your tail through the opening in the back of the chair.

Finally sitting down, you directed your attention, from what you could manage, towards the teacher in the front who seemed happy that everypony was here at last.

"Alright, class. First, let me congratulate everypony on succeeding the previous school year, and making it to the last year. But just because it is the last year you're here, doesn't mean that you can all sit on your flanks doing nothing. All in all, this will be the most difficult year you'll have on this school, so I expect everypony's best throughout the year. And if you don't succeed, you can try it once over. After that... you'll have to find out for yourself," she finished with gazing towards you and Dust.

"Thanks for the ever so 'motivational' pep talk, Miss Pi, you're becoming better at it every year," Dust said without raising his head up from the desk.

You snickered inwardly as you saw the annoyed glare that Miss Pi was shooting your friend. The annoyed teacher sighed and shook her head, "It surprises me that of everypony I had in my classes, you and Static are almost the 'laziest' I have ever had. And still make it this far, I expected you two to fail the first year, and yet here you are, last year of school. And still as lazy as ever, even on the first day."

"Call it talent, Miss Pi," Dust groaned out again.

"Talent? in math?" Miss Pi asked with sarcasm dripping from her voice.

"No, in laziness of course. Who the hay gets a talent in math? except for you Miss Pi," Dust mouthed, now pulling his head from his front legs and instead laying his chin on them.

"HEY! shut up Dust!" a voice from the middle row of benches yelled through the air. 

You and Dust glanced over to the middle row. On the first bench of the middle row in front of the class were two mares seated next to each other. 
The mare in the middle of the bench was scribbling in a note book, while the mare to her left was glaring at Dust. The glaring mare had a dark blue coat, her mane and tail had two yellow tinted streaks going true them. Her cutie mark was a light grey 'plus'.

"I apologize for my friend here, Digit. Dust has just found out that he is pregnant, that is why he is like this, you know, hormones and stuff," you said to the mare in front of the class. 

"Dust is pregnant? Congratulations Dust! who is the father?" Digit asked teasingly.

"Yeah, brother, tell us. I'm pretty sure that Mom and Dad would like to know as well. How long do you know it?" Lightning spoke while grinning from the bench in front of you.

Dust sat straight up before lazily sliding down his chair, his back now against the back of the chair. He rubbed his belly softly before speaking up, "Well, sis. I wanted to tell Mom and Dad when I found the courage to tell them. And I have found out this morning," he said as he looked with half lidded eyes down to his belly. "And to answer your question, Digit."

Dust Glanced over to you with half closed eyes. "Static is the father."

Your mouth fell open as the rest of the class began laughing at you and Dust, who was back to rubbing his puffed-out belly. You saw that even Miss Pi was laughing at you two. "Well, congratulations to the both of you, Static. I'm sure that these upcoming months will be exciting for you and your 'fiancé'. If your truly love each other, you will make it," Miss Pi said smirking from the front.

You groaned and smacked your forehead on the desk, trying to ignore the class as they were glancing over to you and the still belly rubbing Dust, that was apparently your 'fiancé'. "Don't you have something to teach us, Miss Pi?" you asked as your face was still slammed on the desk.

"In fact, I decided that we would begin this new year with a two hour 'documentation' on the life cycle of a Perrasprite," Miss Pi said as she unrolled a white screen that was rolled up above the board. Out of her desk drawer she grabbed a little grey remote and tapped the top button of it as she was aiming towards a projector that hang from the ceiling in the back of the class. The projector came to life as it aimed the film on the unrolled screen in front of the class. On the screen appeared in big black letters; Life of a Perasprite.

You and Dust groaned a little as you both turned to face each other. "Better than math?" Dust asked you.

"Better than math."