//------------------------------// // Chp 20: Preparations (Pt. 2) // Story: Bully: Manticore Academy // by the silver-maned pony //------------------------------// Manticore City was split into four different sections: Manticore Ville, Manticore Town, Manticore Academy, and New Delphi. The first three sections were well off in economy and reputation, but New Delphi, which was the oldest and biggest section, was known for its large number of poor ponies and high crime rates. New Delphi was once filled with warehouses that were booming with business and train tracks that were always running with trains filled with steel and other materials. It all ended when the all of the business owners decided to take their business toward the edge of New Delphi, which was nothing but land and beaches, to start a shipyard. It was now one of the largest shipyards in Equestria. While that part of New Delphi, now referred to as Delphi Prime, was bustling with business and ponies, the rest of New Delphi was a hollow shell of its former self. Only ponies who couldn’t afford to live in Manticore Ville or Manticore Town lived in New Delphi. It was exceptionally drab and quiet; the old apartment buildings and now vacant warehouses casted dark shadows over the streets. However, this suited the greasers just find. Ever since the greaser clique formed in the early years of Manticore Academy, they needed a place to hangout. New Delphi was the perfect option since they were already used to that kind of environment. It was the first greasers that decided to go into one of the warehouses in New Delphi and, using their mechanical skills, renovate it. Generations of greasers continued to work on the warehouse until the job was finally finished. The once old warehouse was turned into an indoors bike park; which they used to store the bikes they worked on and to test them out using the large number of ramps within the warehouse. The warehouse was usually filled with greasers during the school year, but since most of them went home for vacation, the warehouse was usually vacant. However, it wasn’t empty today. At the far end of the warehouse, which was a filled with tables, chairs, and a refrigerator, were four greasers. One of them was Applejack, the current leader of the greasers. Her leather jacket, orange blouse, and Stetson were resting on a nearby chair while she was hanging onto a low pipe with her legs and doing upside-down sit ups. “69…70…71…” Applejack counted. While she was doing that, the three other greasers, Carrot Top, Cloudchaser, and Flitter, were sitting by a nearby table, eating and watching Applejack doing sit-ups. “How does she do that?” Flitter asked in amazement as Applejack reached seventy-five, “I would have passed out after about thirty of those things if I wasn’t allowed to use my wings.” “It’s probably because she’s an Earth pony.” Cloudchaser said, “But even then, that’s still a lot. I mean, I know Carrot Top couldn’t do that match and she’s an Earth pony too.” Carrot Top raised an eyebrow at Cloudchaser, “What makes you think I can’t do seventy-five sit-ups?” Cloudchaser grinned, “Well, you have been getting kinda sloppy in the athletic department. I mean, remember two weeks ago, when that prep challenged you and she got a couple of good hits in.” Carrot Top rolled her eyes, “I already told you that I was distracted. I was looking through my flash cards for my finals when the prep issued the challenge. I was too focused on my cards that I agreed haphazardly, so she got the first few shots in before I fully realized what was going on. Besides, I know for a fact that I’m more athletic than both you and Flitter.” “Why am I being dragged into this?” Flitter asked. Carrot Top gestured to the food she was eating, “Compare what I am eating to what you two are eating.” The twin pegasai looked down to what Carrot top was eating. It was a salad comprised of a lot of different vegetables, but the majority of them were carrot slices. The pegasai then looked down at their food, which was the number four at Hay Burgers: two double cheeseburger with large fries and a large drink. Cloudchaser picked up one of her cheeseburgers, looked at Carrot Top, and took a large bite out of the burger. She said, “I’m not giving up the finer things in life just to be what you call ‘athletic’.” “Besides,” Flitter said as she shoved some fries into her mouth, “We burn off a lot of calories when we fight, so it all balances out.” Carrot rolled her eyes good-naturedly and giggled, “You two never change.” “100!” Applejack shouted, surprising the three other greasers. Applejack jumped off the pipe and landed on her feet “Whooee!” Applejack said as she wiped the sweat from her forehead, “I finally beat my previous score.” She walked over to a nearby chair with an old-looking towel. She turned to the three greasers as she dried herself off with the towel and said, “Who here knows what time it is?” All three greasers checked their watch and Cloudchaser was the first to say, “It’s eleven-fifty five.” “All right.” Applejack said as she finished drying off. She walked over to the other chair holding her clothes and said, “Are you three ready?” “We’re always ready to deal with preps.” Carrot Top said. “I still can’t believe that those preppies were bullying Applebloom.” Flitter said in disgust, “I mean, she’s just a kid.” “That’s what Rainbow Dash told me.” Applejack said. She was now fully clothed and began to throw a couple of jabs at the air, “Remember the plan. When Dash brings in Colgate, Aloe, and Lotus, let me do the talking.” “Wouldn’t it be easier to just beat them up and get it over it?” Cloudchaser said. “Just because something is easy doesn’t make it right.” Applejack said, “Rainbow Dash said she didn’t actually see the bullying being committed. She just made an educated guess. I need to hear a confession from the preps upfront if I want to confront them.” “And what will we do if they confess?” Flitter said. Applejack finished her air sparring with a roundhouse kick. She said, “Then we will show them what happens when they mess with our kin.” Carrot Top, Cloudchaser, and Flitter all nodded in agreement. The four greasers then heard the warehouse door open and slam shut. “Let’s go girls.” Applejack said. The three other greasers got up and they all made their way to the warehouse entrance. ________________________________________ Rainbow Dash walked into the old warehouse with Colgate, Aloe, and Lotus walking right behind her. “So, Dash,” Colgate said, her voice magnified due to her apparent annoyance, “why did you bring us to this filthy warehouse.” “It’s a surprise.” Dash said, not bothering to look back at the prep. The four continued walking until they reach what appeared to be the center of the warehouse. The three preps looked around the warehouse, but their vision was impaired by the amount of tall ramps that filled the place. It was then that they heard footsteps approaching them from the other side of the warehouse. “Who else is in here?” Aloe said. Nopony answered her. After about half a minute of waiting, the four greasers, Applejack, Carrot Top, Cloudchaser, and Flitter finally arrived at the center and faced the three preps. Once Colgate saw the greasers, she got into her fighting stance and yelled, “It’s a trap!” Aloe and Lotus also got into their fighting stance. The prep twins turned to Dash and their jaws dropped when they saw the pegasus walking toward the greaser side. “I’m sorry, girls.” Dash said as she joined the greasers in staring at the preps, “I told them about Applebloom.” Applejack placed a hand on Dash’s shoulder and said soothingly, “There’s no need to apologize, sugarcube. You did the right thing.” Applejack then turned her attention to Colgate and said with a voice now void of warmth, “A couple of days ago, Dash told me something interesting. She said that she had good reason to believe that you three were bullyin’ my little sister, Applebloom.” Aloe and Lotus shared a nervous glance. Colgate, however, rolled her eyes and said, “And you believed her.” She scoffed, “I thought you greasers were good at information gathering. If you were, then you would know that Rainbow Dash hates Aloe, Lotus, and I. And if you had any brains, then you could conclude that she would lie to you in order to get us in trouble.” Flitter then stepped forward and said, “Why don’t you stop trying to worm your way out of this and just confess!” “Easy, Flitter.” Applejack said. Even though she said that in a calm voice, Flitter looked as though she was just scolded and quickly went back to standing with her sister. Applejack made sure the rest of the greasers were stationary before turning back to the preps, “Whether or not Dash hates you three is not the issue right now. Although, from the information we gathered, Dash does not hate you. She’s seems to be rather friendly with you preps.” She turned to Dash, “I would actually like to talk to you about that later on, if you don’t mind.” Dash nodded, “Sure, I don’t mind.” Applejack gave Dash a nod before turning back to the preps, “The issue right now is the bullyin’. Now, I want you to look me straight in the eye and tell me the truth. If you are telling the truth, then I will apologize for jumping to conclusions and y’all will be free to go.” Everypony, except for Applejack, Colgate, and Rainbow, waited with baited breath. The leader of the greasers took a step forward and stared down the prep. Applejack said, “Did you bully Applebloom?” Colgate stared back at the greaser without a hint of worry and said, “Relax, I did not punch, kick or caused any physical harm to your sister.” Applejack quickly scanned Colgate’s face for a sign of a lie, but Colgate’s face was cool and collective. After about a solid minute of staring, Applejack looked down at her feet and said, “Looks like you’re telling the truth.” Aloe and Lotus both breathed a sigh of relief and their shoulders sagged. Carrot, Cloudchaser, and Flitter looked surprised. “I told you so.” Colgate said with a confident smile. Applejack nodded, “You’re telling the truth when you say you didn’t hit my sister. However,” Applejack looked back at Colgate and gave her a harsh glare, “bullyin’ comes in other forms besides a physical one.” The warehouse’s temperature suddenly dropped, and it wasn’t because it was winter. Aloe and Lotus slowly got into their defensive stance while the greasers waited for Colgate to speak. Colgate crossed her arms and said, “What do you mean?” Applejack got closer to the prep and said, “Did you put my little sister in any form of a negative state with the intention to cause harm or humiliation?” Colgate smirked and said, “Wow, those are some pretty complicated words you just used. Do you want to take a minute to rest your brain?” “You’re stalling.” Applejack said. “Looks like this greaser finally decided to open a book and learn something else besides how to roll in the dirt.” Colgate said as she turned to Aloe and Lotus. Applejack sighed, “I figured you preppies would do something like this. I reckon it’s no surprise since Rarity is your leader.” Colgate’s smirk was replaced with a frown. She said, “What do you mean by that?” “What I mean is that Rarity must be a terrible leader.” Applejack said, “After all, ponies follow the examples set by the leader. For you to be acting like this must mean that Rarity-” “Careful now, Applejack.” Colgate said, “I suggest that you stop talking about Rarity right now.” Rainbow raised an eyebrow at the preps. She noticed that they were all clenching their fists and slightly baring their teeth. ‘What got them so mad?’ Dash thought. Applejack continued to talk, “I reckon I’m right when I call Rarity a bad leader. If Rarity is sending you three to pick on my sister, then she is a tactless coward. Even if Rarity does not approve of your bullyin’, then you must not respect her enough to follow her. Although, if my memories of her still hold strong, then I can see why you do not respect her.” “Shut up!” Aloe said, her eyes glaring intensely at the greaser. Everypony but the preps were taken aback by this sudden outburst. “Don’t you dare talk about Rarity like that while in our presence!” “Aloe is right!” Lotus said, looking as livid as her sister, “We wouldn’t follow her and we wouldn’t be friends with her if she was terrible. Her generosity knows no bounds and her heart is as radiant as she is.” Colgate’s cool composure was changed with anger. The prep said, “She is too respectful to be slandered. And besides, she was not a part of us messing with your sister.” Applejack bared her teeth, “Is that a confession?!” “Yes!” Colgate yelled, “And I would do it all over again because your sister is the most obnoxious, vile, disrespectful…” Colgate continued to yell insulting things about Applebloom. For ever insult the prep gave, Applejack’s body began to tremble more and more. After the sixth insult, Applejack could not contain her anger anymore. She clenched her fist and brought it up, prepping for a punch. However, she stopped when Rainbow Dash suddenly came into view, flapped her wings, and performed a pegasus uppercut on Colgate, which connected with the prep’s chin. Everypony could only gawk in shock as Colgate was flung backward. She was caught by her two friends. Nopony spoke or made a sound as the event that just transpired processed within everypony’s mind. Flitter was the first to come to her senses and she yelled, “Charge!” Carrot Top and Cloudchaser snapped out of their daze and the three greasers rushed toward the three preps and attacked. Applejack took a step forward to join in the fight, but she was stopped by Rainbow Dash, who held her by her shoulder. “Easy there, cowgirl.” Dash said, “If you start swinging punches in the state you’re in, you’re gonna hospitalize somepony. Something tells me you wouldn’t want Rarity to come marching into New Delphi and start asking questions.” Applejack opened her mouth to protest, but she could actually feel her heart beating rapidly in her chest. The anger she felt when Colgate was insulting Applebloom was still coursing through her veins. The greaser leader took a deep breath and said, “You’re right.” The two stood as they watched the three versus three match between the preps and the greasers. The preps were using their boxing skills to easily dodge the blows going to their heads, but the greasers were surprisingly quick with their feet. As the greasers missed their punches to the preps’ head, they would follow up with a kick to the stomach. They continued to watch the fighting when Dash turned slightly to Applejack and said, “I know for a fact that Rarity does not like bullying and if she knew about, she would have stopped it. It was just these three that were bullying.” Dash paused before saying, “I don’t think Lotus, Aloe, and Colgate are bad ponies. They’re just stupid and overly sensitive. So don’t treat them too badly.” Applejack didn’t say anything. She just stared at the fighting and appeared to be in deep thought. Dash took the chance to continue talking, “I don’t know the messed up history between you greasers and preps, but from what I can tell, you and Rarity seem like pretty cool ponies. Rarity may seem like a pompous drama queen, and she kind of is, but she is does know what is right and what is wrong. The preps were right when they said she is a pretty damn generous pony.” Applejack wasn’t looking at the pegasus when she said, “A couple of weeks ago, the preps were suddenly challenging just about every student in Manticore Academy. I was starting to get worried that they would eventually declare war on us, but something strange happened. The preps suddenly stopped challenging ponies and began to apologize. The greasers and I were all surprised when this happened and we wanted to know why. We asked around and eventually found out that when the preps stopped fighting, ponies began to see you and Rarity hang out a lot more often.” Applejack turned to Dash, “So, did you stop the preppies?” Dash smirked and puffed out her chest, “It was all…” she suddenly stopped and deflated slightly. She remembered that while she was fighting Rarity at the preppy’s gym, her friends were there to provide back up. Dash’s smirked turned into a happy smile and she said, “It was a team effort. It was the former bullies, the nerds, Scootaloo, and me.” Applejack smiled, “I’d like to hear this story over a drink. Maybe later today? Around four o’ clock?” Dash smiled, “Aren’t we a little under-aged?” Applejack chuckled, “Don’t worry. My brother owns a pub here in New Delphi and he has a large selection of non-alcoholic drinks. The pub’s called Vintage Cider. It’s a little ways away from here. Just keep your ears open for cello music and you’ll find it.” Applejack then turned to the six mares fighting in front of her. The greasers and preppies were both panting, but it was the greasers who were still standing while the preps were on the floor, clutching their bodies in pain. The greasers moved in and raised their feet in preparation to stomp the rich ponies. However, Applejack intervened, “Enough!” she yelled. The greasers immediately stopped and back away. Applejack walked toward the downed preps and said, “Let this be a lesson. If I hear y’all are bullying my sister or anypony else I will personally tie y’all up and deliver some good ole’ frontier justice.” The preps painfully got off their backs and looked up at the greaser. They all looked at each other and nodded. Colgate then said, “While your penalty is a little too western for us, we understand. We won’t touch a single hair on anypony’s head…unless provoked. But, if I can make a suggestion; can you please have a talk with your sister. I was not lying about her showing absolutely no respect for us preps.” “Respect it earned. It can’t be inherited or bought.” Applejack said. With that, Applejack walked toward the door of the warehouse and gestured the three other greasers to follow. Rainbow Dash watched as the greasers reached the door and exited. Applejack was the last to leave. The leader yelled, “I better not find a single screw missing in this warehouse when y’all preps show yourselves out.” She then, tipped her hat toward the direction of Dash, smiled, and left. Dash stood still and looked at the preps, who were looking right back. No pony moved as they all listened carefully. They also looked around the warehouse for anything suspicious, like a hiding greaser. After a while of looking and listening, they all breathed a sigh of relief. “Well, that worked better than expected.” Colgate said. She, Aloe, and Lotus stood up with no effort at all. All the previous pain they were displaying was now non-existent. “Yeah, and you’re welcome by the way.” Dash said, “Thanks to me, the greasers now have no reason to stalk you girls any more. Right?” Dash added as she raised a suspicious eyebrow. Lotus nodded, “The greasers stay away from our business as long as we stay away from their business. That’s how it usually is.” Aloe said, “And now that the whole ‘Applebloom business’ is over, we are free from their dirty clutches. Thank you, Rainbow.” “Yes, thank you.” Lotus said. The twins bowed in unison and wore friendly smiles on their faces. “No problem.” Dash said. She then turned to Colgate, who looked back with a frown. “What?” The preppy unicorn said. “Where’s my ‘thank you’?” Dash said. “It was probably knocked off when you uppercutted me!” Colgate said as she pointed to her now red chin, “Wasn’t the point of your plan to not get any visible bruises from the greasers?” Dash couldn’t help but smile at her self-proclaimed genius plan. She figured that the three preps would eventually get beaten by the stalking greasers, which would then lead Rarity and the other preps to retaliate. Dash decided that the best course of action was to come clean with Applejack personally since she seemed quite sensible. After many hours of arguing and promises of safety, (which required Dash to buy sports padding from the sporting goods store for the preps to wear under their winter clothes to dull any blows in case the deal went south) Dash convinced the preps to come clean. However, Colgate told Dash that she had to be the one to tell Applejack the truth. The prep was convinced that Applejack would think something was amiss if the preps decided to suddenly come clean and the only thing worse than a greaser was a paranoid greaser. Colgate said that it would be best to let the greasers think they had the upper hand in the situation, so Dash had to pretend to be on the greasers’ side while secretly keeping the preps safe. “Hey, I wouldn’t have had to punch you if you didn’t start going of the rail with the insults.” Dash said. Colgate scoffed, “I wouldn’t have if Applejack kept her mouth shut about Rarity.” “Rarity doesn’t deserve any insult.” Lotus said as she stretched, “She’s a good mare.” Aloe nodded in agreement, “Yeah. She never does things half-heartedly, unlike that greaser Applejack. Have you seen how unorganized those greasers are. No meetings, no schedules, no nothing.” “And yet they have probably the best information gathering network in Manticore Academy.” Dash said. “They’re just lucky.” Colgate said. She sighed and looked up at the ceiling. Dash looked curiously at Colgate, who appeared to be deep in thought. When Dash was about to ask what was on her mind, Colgate said, without looking at Dash, “Did you mean what you said to Applejack?” Dash blinked, “What are you talking about?” Colgate, still looking up at the ceiling, said, “When Aloe, Lotus, and I were fighting the greasers we could hear your conversation with Applejack. I was wondering if you were sincere when you defended Rarity and us.” Dash turned her head sideways, “Um, yeah. Why would I lie about that? When are you ponies gonna realize that I actually consider Rarity a friend. You three, however, need serious attitude adjustments. But, Rarity sees something good in you three, so I guess you’re all not so bad.” Aloe and Lotus walked up to Dash and they each grabbed a hand. They booth shook vigorously. Aloe smiled and said, “Dash, you may now consider us your friends.” Lotus also smiled and said, “We know it will take a lot more to fix our past conflicts, but we might as well start now.” Dash grinned and looked at Colgate. The pegasus’s jaw dropped when she saw the unicorn bowing slightly. The prep said, “I’m being truthful when I say thank you. I may never like you as much as my friends, but I can at least respect you.” Rainbow couldn’t help but laugh; to think that these three ponies were once out for her blood. The pegasus’s laugh caused the twin preps to start giggling. Colgate smiled slightly as she watched the three laughing. After a while, Colgate interrupted the moment when she said, “Does anypony know what time it is?” The two preps stopped laughing and checked their phones. Aloe was the one to answer, “It’s ten past twelve.” “Alright then.” Colgate said, “We have a little more than an hour, but we should still hurry.” “What’s going on?” Dash said. “Our monthly review session for our boxing club is today.” Lotus said, “I don’t suppose we can convince you to come. We know that you have already rejected our previous invitation, but Rarity would really like for you to attend.” Dash frowned, “I didn’t get any ‘previous invitation’.” “Yes you did.” Colgate said. “Don’t you remember? I was the one sent to invite you and you turned it down. I asked you a couple of days ago when you were at the library. You kept ignoring me, so I assumed that was a rejection.” Dash searched through her memories for a couple of seconds before she remembered, “Oh right. Sorry, but I wasn’t really paying attention.” She said as she smiled guiltily, “I kinda have the habit of sleeping with my eyes open whenever I have a book in front of me. Twilight’s been on my case about studying more often so I’ve been trying to, but I usually end dozing off. So, sorry I didn’t say anything.” Aloe, smiled, “It is okay. So, would you like to come?” “I doubt you would like it, Dash.” Colgate said quickly, “It’s mostly just business talk. You know, lots of numbers and legal terms. Even I consider ditching meetings because they’re just so boring.” Lotus giggled, “That has to be the biggest lie I have ever heard you say, Colgate. I know for a fact that you love the meetings. After all, you’re always so happy during the meetings.” “A happy, non-sneering, Colgate?” Dash said, “I have to see this. After all, aren’t we trying to become better friends? Colgate sighed and said, “I would prefer if we took baby steps. Anyways, we better hurry up. I’d like to have enough time to look presentable.” “Wait!” Dash said, “Is this a formal thing?” “Don’t worry, Dash.” Lotus said, “Aloe and I have you covered.” She then grabbed onto Dash’s left arm. Aloe grabbed Dash’s right arm and said, “The four of us are going to our family’s spa in Manticore Ville for a quick clean up. I’m sure you will love it.” “I’m pretty sure you two already know I don’t like the idea.” Dash said as she tried to wiggle out of the sister’s grasp, “By the way, have you two gotten stronger?” “Just a tad.” The twins said at the same time. Colgate was at the exit and had already looked outside when she said, “Come on! The coast is clear. Let’s go!” ________________________________________ Scootaloo, Applebloom, and Sweetie Belle were standing in front of a large garage door at Manticore Academy. As Applebloom searched for the key to open the door, Scootaloo, who was carrying the bag containing the new skateboard, looked at her surroundings. Piles of crushed cars stood high and strong-looking fences were placed in front of the cars to stop an unexpected car-avalanche. This part of the academy was kind of a maze because the stacked cars blocking most of the view. Only the ponies taking auto-shop or engineering classes, like the greasers, knew how to navigate the maze with ease. Scootaloo was actually surprised to see the place was completely abandoned. Whenever the pegasus passed by the area, she always saw greasers hanging around the entrance or walking in/out of the maze. Scootaloo assumed that the lack of greasers was because of the winter break. “Found it!” Applebloom cried victoriously. She pulled out the key from her inner jacket pocket and unlocked the lock on the garage door. She squatted to get a grip of the door and struggled to lift it up. “Do you need help?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Relax, prep.” Applebloom said, “I wouldn’t want you to break a nail and then sue the school.” Sweetie huffed indignantly. She then squatted and grabbed the door as well. Scootaloo helped out too and the three were finally able to lift the door enough for them to crouch down under it. Applebloom breathed deeply, “Thanks. I guess the cold weather must have messed with the garage door.” “Sure it did.” Sweetie Belle said with a smirk. Applebloom turned to the prep, “Hey, at least I’m humble enough to be thankful for assistance.” “Easy you two.” Scootaloo said. She entered the garage and was shocked to see how the walls were completely filled with tools of all kinds. There were also blueprints covering one wall, and tool boxes were scattered around the large garage. There was also a furnace at the corner and piles of wood and metal on another wall. Most of the center of the garage was comprised of stationary work benches. The garage was about half the size of the preppies’ gym in Manticore Ville. “Wow.” Scootaloo said, “It’s a lot bigger on the inside.” “It’s pretty weird though.” Applebloom said as she entered the garage, “Rumor has it that it was the chemistry teacher Dr. Whooves that designed the place. To make things stranger, the garage has been around for at least fifty years.” Scootaloo blinked, “Wait, that doesn’t make any sense-” She stopped when a loud sound echoed through the empty garage. Scootaloo and Applebloom turned to see Sweetie Belle quickly picking up what appeared to be a tool box. “What are you doing?” Applebloom said. Sweetie Belle placed the tool box onto a nearby workbench, “Sorry, I was just cleaning this workbench so we can work on the skateboard. I grabbed the toolbox and I didn’t expect it to be so cold, so I dropped it.” “It is pretty chilly in here.” Scootaloo said, “You think we can turn on that furnace-“ “Who’s in there?!” said a loud voice outside the garage. The three fillies froze up when they saw somepony grabbing the bottom of the garage door and easily lifting it up completely. The ponies were surprised to see who it was.