Chapter 3: lunchtime, falcons and sandwiches.
Fanta was worried. Cheerilee had let her sleep in the staffroom at the back of the school for a few hours, but lunch break was coming up. The way Fanta saw it, the little angels were still dozy from waking up, which was why she didn't have too much trouble counting them as they went in. Now, they would be fully awake, and ready to stretch their legs after some listening to the boring mumbo-jumbo that the teacher had been feeding them.
She made her way into the schoolyard and observed her surroundings. A playground, with swings and slides. A box with toys like jump ropes, and some number squares on the ground for jumping in. Good, nothing too explosive or dangerous. She had never cared much for playgrounds as a filly, much preferring to climb trees and shoot erasers into her teacher's coffee.
The school bell rang, and Fanta steeled herself for the worst. This would be a test of her courage and skill. She was not disappointed, as a steady stream of giggles and excited tiny hooves burst out of the schoolhouse, scattering into the yard and sitting on benches and slides with their lunch boxes. Fanta could feel them looking at her, their inquisitive eyes tracking her every movement. She tried to ignore it, sitting down with her lettuce and sunflower sandwich. As the foals began eating their own lunches, she could hear the murmurs being passed between them.
"Is she a pirate? Look at her eyepatch!"
"She looks really grumpy, I wonder why?"
"She tells really bad jokes, listen to this one she told me..."
Judging from the giggles she heard in that direction, she guessed her sense of humour wasn't that terrible after all.
Fanta peered up at the clock tower. There were ten minutes of break left, she had to make sure nothing went awry for just another ten minutes. Her dreams of getting off lightly were shattered when she heard a colt yell:
"Hey! Give me back my lunch!"
Her head snapped around, eye locking in on the foolish bird that had just stolen her charge's sandwich. She may dislike kids, but she'll be damned before she fails a mission.
She took off after the bird, absentmindedly wondering if she was taking school duty a bit too seriously.
The avian thief landed on a thatched rooftop, seemingly pleased it had pulled off a heist so flawlessly. It did not expect Fanta to clamber up the side of the cottage in question, grab the bird in her magic, and pry the sandwich from its talons. The bird, confused and frustrated, flapped away as soon as it was released. The unicorn stood triumphantly on the rooftop, before remembering that roofs in Ponyville are not particularly sturdy, and she should probably get down.
Upon her return, she was hailed as a hero, and she returned the colt's sandwich before going to her corner to finish her own. Her privacy was duly invaded by a dozen curious foals who had thought up a ridiculous number of questions, and wasted no time in pestering her over every little thing. Thankfully, just before she was fully convinced that they were actually all assassins assigned to end her career as a mortal being, Cheerilee called them in, and suddenly the hordes were back behind their desks.
"They really like you! You should do school duty more often!" Cheerilee exclaimed, leaving Fanta to wonder how many gods had fallen to the purple pony in battle.
The unicorn nodded in dumb awe, relieved as Cheerilee disappeared back into the classroom. She sighed, and turned to eat her sandwich.
About a mile away, a small falcon was pecking at the remains of a lettuce and sunflower sandwich. He realised he now had a death warrant on his head, but it was worth it to hear the growls of frustration emanating from the direction of Ponyville.