//------------------------------//
// Chapter five 
// Story: Bruce Wayne, welcome to Ponyville 
// by ultronquake 
//------------------------------//

	It had been about a week since Bruce's first day of school, and so far he was really liking it.  He got to sit with his sister and Silver Spoon in the front of the class, and with that came a sense of fearful respect from the other students.  As they all poured in the classroom that morning they were hoofed over their report cards by Ms. Cheerilee.  "How did you girls do?" asked Bruce.

"Urgh, B's and C's in everything." said Silver Spoon.

"How about you sis?" asked Bruce.

"I'm not telling!" Diamond replied, clutching the tiny card to her chest.  

"I almost got straight A's!" said Bruce with pride, holding out his card for them all to see.  He had a nice row of little A pluses and A minuses, the row was only marred by a solitary B+ under social studies.  Bruce was still trying to figure out all the intricacies of pony life, slowly but surely he was mastering it.  Everything else, science, mathematics, Equestrian (which he was quickly learning was just the English language with horse puns thrown in everywhere) it all was coming naturally to Bruce.

Diamond was shocked by his success, "How the hay do you have that many A's?  The best I have is a D+"  Both of her companions went silent.  "What?  The lessons are really boring."

"Sis that's really bad." said Bruce.

"Well so what?  All I have to do is tell daddy and he'll fix it." said Diamond, her tone was innocent, naive to what 'Fixing her grade' meant.  

Bruce cringed at the idea, he knew that was the kind of stallion his father was, but he would never be that kind of pony.  And he didn't want his sister to be that kind of pony either, "Well what are you going to do when you actually have to use those skills?"

"Bruce when in life would you ever need to use hypothetical numbers?"  Bruce had to admit she had a point, it was hard to imagine how 'A - C / Z = ?' could ever be of any real life benefit.

"Well that's not the point, even if you have the grades saying so, it doesn't mean a thing if you don't have the knowledge to back them up." said Bruce.

"Maybe it's easy for you 'Mr. Straight A's'  But It's not for me."  Diamond said while crossing her forelegs grumpily.

"I'm not perfect either Diamond, you just need to apply yourself and focus.  I know you can do it if you try." said Bruce.

Before they could continue their discussion further Ms. Cheerilee entered the room.  "Good morning class, today you'll all be working in pairs for an upcoming project.  While normally I would allow you all to pick your groups yourselves, today I’ll be assigning them myself.  I'd like you all to use this as an opportunity to get to know your fellow students outside your circle of friends." said Ms. Cheerilee.

There was shared groaning from all the foals in the class, "Now don't be that way, it's not like you’re never going to see your friends again.  This project will only last today and over the weekend and you can still hang out together on the playground."  Cheerilee moved over to the chalk board and started pairing students.  

The pairings she wrote down went as such, Berry Pinch - Scootaloo.  Snips - Dinky Doo.  Diamond Tiara - Apple Bloom.  This pairing in particular caused much grief.  Both parties tried unsuccessfully to get a different partner.

Sweetie Belle - Snails.  Silver Spoon - Pipsqueak.  Bruce Wayne - H.D.  There were many more but Bruce stopped paying attention after his pair was written down.  "Who's H.D.?"

Bruce's answer came when a Pegasus colt stood up.  He looked to be about a year younger than Bruce, he had a pristine white coat and a slick red mane.  "I'm H.D."  He said as he trotted over to Bruce, "Looks like we'll be partners."

"Well it's nice to meet you, um can I ask-" H.D. stopped Bruce right there.

"What H.D. means?  Sorry it's top secret, it's a code name.  Only a select few can know." He put on a pair of shades to extenuate the secret agent act he was putting on.

"I know what it is." Silver Spoon said leaning in.  "You want me to tell him?"

Panic took hold of H.D. "No please anything but that!"

"Aw but it's such an adorable dorky name." retorted Silver Spoon.

"I'm begging you please!" said H.D.

"Har-"

"Please anything!"

"-dnose Dimple." with the truly awful name out in the open Silver Spoon started laughing, she then got Diamond Tiara's attention.  " Di, Di guess what, I got to do another H.D. reveal!"

She pulled away from Apple Bloom to join the fray, "Wait he's still trying to get away with calling himself that?"

"I know right?" Silver Spoon said in bemusement.

Now Apple Bloom came in, "You’re making fun of that poor colt again!  Why don't you bullies just leave him alone?"

"What, all were doing is telling the truth when he's lying.  Isn't your sister the 'Element of Honesty' or something like that?  I would think you'd be the first to appreciate the truth." said Silver Spoon.

"Wha-huh?  That's not being honest it's just being plain mean!" Apple Bloom said hastily.

Bruce had been so wrapped up in the argument that he hadn't noticed his partner was no longer there.  He wasn't in the school house anymore, so Bruce started searching outside.  It didn't take long to find him, Dimple was sulking up on top of the play set, his spy glasses thrown away.  

"Are you okay H.D.?" asked Bruce.

"Don't call me that, I thought if I introduced myself as that to somepony new, then they might think I was cool.  But it never works, I’m stuck with this stupid name and nopony wants to hang out with someone called Hardnose."  He started kicking the playground equipment and banging his head on it.

Bruce couldn't help but sympathize, he was stuck with a name unlike any other's he had encountered in this world.  "I don't think it's bad, it kind of sounds like a detective name."

"You think so?" asked H.D. who paused his head banging.

"Yeah, it's much better than Bruce, that's for sure."

H.D. shook his head, "No you have a great name, it just..."

"It just doesn't fit here, right?" asked Bruce.

"Yeah that's it," said H.D.  "How did you get a name like that anyway?"

Bruce paused, he wasn't sure if he should try explaining he's not even a pony and he comes from a world of tall fleshy people who walk on two legs.  Instead he went with, "I'm not from Equestria."

"Oh, I guess were sort of similar then.  My dad hadn't been in Equestria very long before I was born.  And instead of picking out a naming book he just picked the first random thing in the dictionary." said H.D.  "And my mom gave me the name Dimple cause of my, well you know dimples."

"See at least your name means something, Bruce Wayne doesn't have any meaning.  At least not in this world," as the two conversed about the meaning and nature of names they were still outside when the first bell rang.  "Come on let's go!"  


*****


The two managed to find seats next to each other in the back row, just in time for the assignment.  "Alright class, now that you've had a chance to talk with your partners I'm going to give you all your assignments.  For the rest of today, and during your weekend you'll all be creating a profile of each other, what your partner likes, dislikes, everything about them."  

Cheerilee wrote down all the criteria on the board, "There is no minimum length but I want to see at least five likes and dislikes.  Once we're all back at the start of the school week, everypony will put on a presentation of what they learned about their partner."  

Some of the foals in the class were getting pretty excited, after all how often do you get an assignment where you get to talk about how much you like Power Ponies?  Others like Diamond Tiara and Apple Bloom were loathing the prospect of spending any amount of time together.  Bruce was feeling good, H.D. was a pony he wanted to know more about.

"So how should we start out?" Bruce asked. 

"We could do likes first, I’ll give one and then you can give one." said H.D.

Bruce thought that sounded fair so they got to it, sliding their desks so they were facing each other, they began.  "Okay, um I like spy stuff.  That's why I gave myself a code name." said H.D.

Bruce wrote down 'Spy stuff' in his note book, "I like, I really like having a family." said Bruce.

"Really? Okay, but that sounds all mushy." said H.D.  "I like Canterlot, have you ever been there?  It's awesome!" 

Bruce shook his head no, "Ponyville's the only town I've been to."  

H.D. wrote down 'Only Ponyville?'  

"I really like Zorro!  I got to go see a Zorro film with ...  never mind." The memories were starting to flood back in, instead of letting them take over Bruce focused on the project.  "Okay your next."

"Wait what's Zorro?  Is that like Zecorro the masked hero?" asked H.D.

"Yeah that's it, I guess I got the name wrong haha." Bruce was not so subtly trying to brush it under the rug.  

H.D. wrote down, 'Knock off Zecorro'  "Anyway, I like going camping with my parents."

"I like jazz music, it seems to sooth my soul." said Bruce.

"I like flying, it's really fun!" said H.D.

"One thing I really like, is being a pony." said Bruce, H.D. wrote down 'Being a pony, as opposed to what?'

"Last one... Ooh I know!  I really like love!" said H.D.

Bruce was flabbergasted, "Love?  I thought you said me liking my family was mushy?"

"I don't mean being in love, I just really like being around ponies who are in love.  It feels nice," said H.D. his cheeks turning red.

Bruce wrote down, 'Really likes love.'  Now it was time for Bruce's last like, "I like the color black, sorry probably should have put that somewhere before family, right?"

"Naw its fine." said H.D.  "Well we breezed through the likes do you want to try and get through dislikes too?"

"Sure, let's do it!  Um, I don't like some of the dishonest things my father does."  Much as he tried to overcome it, that indecent in the courthouse was really weighing on his mind.

"I don't like my name, obviously." said H.D.

"I don't like only having plants and hay to eat." said Bruce.  This one really turned H.T.'s head, he wrote down 'Wants to eat ???'

"I don't like ponies who already judge you before you've ever met them." said H.D.  Bruce wrote down 'Is there a prejudice against pegasi?'

"I hate rock and roll, because punk is nothing more than death and crime and the rage of a beast!" Bruce was unsure why he said that, the words seemed forced.

"I hate having to move all the time!" said H.T.

"I hate being alone!" said Bruce, his tone was getting more and more upset.

"I hate Princess Cadence!"  H.D.'s loud declaration turned a few heads in the room.

"I HATE CRIMINALS!"  Bruce shouted, he was getting so worked up the veins on his neck were visible.  His little outburst caught the attention of the entire class, "Sorry everypony, I got too excited."  H.D. wrote down in his note book 'Has a history with crime.'

Each one took several deep breaths, it felt good to vent.  "Uh I guess I've got the last one then."  H.D. struggled to find one more thing, "Dang now I feel like you did with the likes Bruce.  I dislike mashed potatoes, sorry it's all I got." 

Bruce finished taking his notes and H.D finished taking his.  "Wow, that was ... intense.  So do you want to hang out tomorrow and work on writing these together?" asked Bruce.

"Sure, you can come over to my place!  Let me write down my address," H.D. filled it out on a scrap of paper and gave it to Bruce.  "I'll tell my mom you'll be there at noon.  Anytime we have company she feels the need to clean the whole house top to bottom.  It's like a nervous habit or something."

Both shook hooves and left school, parting ways at the fork in the road.  As Bruce walked home with Diamond Tiara he opened up his notebook once more and added one more note bellow the others.  It read, 'H.D. hiding something, need to investigate.

And at the same time H.D. was flying home, he opened up his book and scrawled 'Bruce Wayne obviously hiding secret.  Further investigation needed.'  Both colts’ investigations would have to wait for the next day, for now it was time for dinner.