Chapter One
Canterlot City’s weather almost always saw bright and sunny days, very few rainy days, and a fair number of snowy ones, but today was a bright and sunny day: Pinkie Pie’s favorite. Today was a Monday, and while most moaned and groaned about the day, Pinkie was cheerful about any day; even Mondays. The young bubbly girl didn’t live too far from the school — she was within walking distance, so she would skip, hop, and jump her way to school, happy and carefree as a young child would be. That day, Pinkie wore her usual teal skirt, light blue boots, white shirt, and pink sweater. Even though she had a closet full of other outfits, Pinkie almost always chose to wear this ensemble, stating time and time again that it was her favorite.
Pinkie arrived at the high school along with various other students, a bright and contagious smile plastered on her face as she approached the double doors. Taking a deep breath, Pinkie passed through the doors and made her way into the foyer. The bright gold trophies behind the glass walls shined and beamed in their glory. Pinkie always liked looking at the various prizes the school had won over the years. It always made her feel proud to be a “Wondercolt” and she would make sure she wore that title with pride and honor. As she passed by the various trophies and medals, she began to make her way down the west wing of lockers, where she would surely find one of her friends.
As Pinkie skipped her way down the hallway of lockers, she spotted Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. The two seemed to be in a conversation and were trading words with one another, but Pinkie couldn’t make it out from afar, so she made her way over to the duo.
“Hey guys!” Pinkie happily chirped. The two acknowledged Pinkie with a kind wave. “What’re you guys talking about?”
“Nothing really… the school’s wanting to try this new thing now,” Rainbow said, leaving Pinkie without any information. Fluttershy decided to properly fill Pinkie in with details.
“The school started a new student exchange program. Since it’s new they’re starting small. I would sign up, but I don’t think I could handle a big change like that for a whole month. Meeting new people and whatnot.” This piqued Pinkie’s interests. New people? New people mean new faces, and new faces mean faces that can be made into happy faces! Pinkie liked this school exchange idea already.
“Ooh! I wanna sign up! Where do I go to sign!?” Pinkie asked excitedly.
“Woah, Pinkie, hold up for a sec. You’d be moved to a whole new school for a whole month, you’ll be staying in some crappy hotel that the school pays for, and you’ll have to start all over in your social life. That doesn’t sound too good to me,” Rainbow warned.
“Oh, how bad could it be, Dashie? New people means new friends! And I think I’m real good at making friends!” Pinkie said happily.
“I have to agree with Pinkie Pie. She is really good at making friends: maybe she can do this without any problems,” Fluttershy said in her usual soft tone.
“Look, if you want to sign up, that’s cool. Just don’t come back crying to us when you realize that the whole trip wasn’t worth it,” Rainbow said, her arms crossed giving her a disapproving look.
“Oh, Dash, quit being a party pooper! I’ll definately love the school I’d go to!” Pinkie cheered
“If you’re picked…” Rainbow interrupted.
“If I’m picked… but I’ll still like it anyways! Besides, Dashie, what’s the worst that could happen?” Pinkie asked. Before she gave Rainbow the chance to ask, she turned to Fluttershy. “Do you know where I could sign up?”
“Just go to Vice-Principal Luna’s office. She’s taking care of all the sign-ups,” Fluttershy informed her.
With that, Pinkie dashed her way to Luna’s office, a puff of pink smoke taking her former place as she disappeared down the hall.
“Why were you so against letting her go, Rainbow?” Fluttershy asked.
Rainbow sighed and turned to Fluttershy. “Promise not to tell anybody?”
Fluttershy nodded.
Rainbow bit her lip and breathed a breath of air. “I’d miss her…”
~***~
Pinkie sped down the halls towards Vice-Principal Luna’s office door, coming to a skidding stop before running into the door. With a bright smile, she held up her fist to knock on the door. Three knocks.
“Vice-Principal Luna!”
Three more knocks.
“Vice-Principal Luna!”
Three more knocks once more.
“Vice-Principal Luna!!”
The door then swung open to reveal a slightly annoyed Luna. But, she quickly calmed down and replaced her irritated look with a kind smile. “Oh, hello, Miss Pie. What brings you here?” she asked formally.
“I heard you’re holding the sign-ups for the student exchange program!” Pinkie chirped.
Luna seemed excited to hear that, on account of her darting back to her desk and grabbing a clipboard with a signup sheet on it. “Oh, would you like to sign up, Miss Pie?” Luna asked with a smile.
“I sure would! I’d love to meet new people at a new school! Sounds like so much fun!” Pinkie exclaimed.
“I’m sure it would be, especially for you it would be.” Luna handed Pinkie the clipboard and a pen. “I’m glad you’re here to sign up, Miss Pie. Not a lot of students signed up, or wanted to… yet, I’m still confident the sign-up sheet will be loaded with names!” Luna said happily.
“I’m sure others will want to sign up when they hear about it! I mean, who doesn’t like meeting new people!? I really hope I’m picked!” Pinkie exclaimed.
After trading more words, the two said their goodbyes and Pinkie went about her way to her daily classes.
Once Pinkie was gone, Luna began to speak with herself, something she considered a normality. “With that attitude, she may just be chosen…”
~***~
It was around lunch time and Pinkie was sitting with her little group of friends, minus Sunset and Applejack who were still in line to get their lunch. Pinkie wanted to wait until all of her friends got to the table to reveal she had signed up for the student exchange program. And while it was a little hard to hide her excitement, she did it pretty well. It took a little while for Sunset and Applejack to arrive at the lunch table, but Pinkie was glad they were there. Once they took their seats and said their hellos, Pinkie got the table’s attention.
“So have you all heard of that student exchange program?” Pinkie asked.
This seemed to spark something in Sunset’s memory. “Oh yeah, I heard of it. I’m thinking about signing up, but I don’t really know if I want to move away from you all for a whole month,” Sunset said with an earnest tone.
“Well, I signed up earlier today, and I might be chosen to go to another school for a month! Isn’t that exciting!?” Pinkie asked.
While Fluttershy and Rainbow weren’t too fazed given the fact they already knew about Pinkie signing up, the others were quite shocked.
“Pinkie, why in tarnation are you wantin’ to go to some random school across the country?” Applejack asked.
“I don’t know. I just really like the idea of meeting new people and making them happy! Besides, I think it’s totally worth it, I’ll be able to make new friends for one!” Pinkie reasoned.
“That’s cool and all, but I still don’t know why you’re so eager to go. Won’t you, you know… miss us or something?” Rainbow asked.
“Oh yes, definitely! But, I still think meeting new friends will be worth it,” Pinkie responded.
Fluttershy just stayed silent, not seeing a reason to speak.
“But darling, won’t you be needed at the Cake’s bakery? What if they need a babysitter? Or they need extra hands in the shop?” Rarity asked.
“I’m sure they’ll understand! Besides, I’m not the only babysitter for the twins. I’m sure they have a whole phonebook full of babysitters. And if they need help, you all could always help. You’ve done it before. Especially you, Sunset — remember when you came to help me take care of the twins while I ran the shop?” Pinkie asked.
Sunset’s eye twitched at the memory of the twin’s hijinks and trouble making.“Oh yeah… I sure do,” Sunset said without much emotion.
“See, I’m sure you guys can handle things while I’m gone.”
“If you’re picked…” Rainbow reminded.
“Right, Dash — if I’m picked!” Pinkie corrected herself.
“I don’t know, Pinkie. I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say we’d miss you. It wouldn’t be the same without you around. Especially for a whole month!” Sunset said.
“Yeah, and what if the kid who they exchanged for you is some punk?” Rainbow asked.
“Yeah, that’s another thing, sugarcube. What if we get some jerk or somethin’?” Applejack questioned. Before Pinkie Pie could answer, a voice boomed through the intercom.
“Pinkie Pie, please report to Vice-Principal Luna’s office. Pinkie Pie, please report to Vice-Principal Luna’s office.”
Pinkie and friends stayed silent. Pinkie then grew an excited face and scanned her friends. “I think it’s for me…”